Don't Discriminate

That was the video for article two of the UDHR done by Youth for Human Rights. Human right number two makes freedoms and equalities even more clearly universal than does human right number one.  The text of article two of the UDHR begins as follows:

"Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status."

This intends to cover any reason one person might have to think that he or she is more deserving of rights and freedoms than another.  The point?  We are all entitled to rights and freedoms, and we are all entitled equally.

There are several places in this world where people are discriminated against for the very reasons that this article guards against.  I'm going to touch on one of these and suggest some ways to do something about it.

Racial discrimination is currently heightening in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  This is probably the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world right now.  DRC's troubled history coupled with the leftovers of the humanitarian crises in neighboring Rwanda, Uganda, and Sudan make for an awful situation.  Human Rights Watch reports that "since August 28, fighting has intensified in many areas, causing deaths, rapes, lootings, forced recruitment and further displacements of civilian populations.  The population has thus been immersed in unspeakable suffering."  

What can you do, other than feel bad?  Obviously you can give money.  If you can afford that, I recommend the International Rescue Committee.  They have been working effectively in DRC since 1996 with special focus on helping the victims of sexual violence, which is way out of control in many parts of the country.  

If you're short on cashola, simply WRITE TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVE.  Ask what your government is doing to slow the violence and ask how your government is supporting the United Nations as they do their peacekeeping thing.  Here's a link to get in touch with your American congressperson or your Canadian member of Parliament.  It's pretty easy to shoot off an email to your representative.  And they'll usually get back to you pretty quickly with where they stand and what they're doing about it, which are both things that you should ask about.  They are representing you, after all, so they ought to take note of what is important to you.

Alrighty, that's what I've got for you today.  Next week is the Right to Life.

Projects

I am working on a variety of projects at the moment, but for now I will show you the rice bag I made yesterday. It's the first time I've used the sewing machine, so it was pretty exciting. There's the rice bag in front of my sewing machine. It's not a left-handed sewing machine, but looks backwards because apparently that is what Apple's Photo Booth application does to photos. Anyways, I made the bag two layers thick, and the outer layer has an open side so that I can wash it. I'm kind of hoping to get a bit of a headache someday soon so I can see if it helps.

Sewing is SO fun, my sort of hobby for sure. I inherited the sewing machine when my great-grandma passed away last spring and I really value it a lot. She was an incredible seamstress. I also got the quilt that she had been working on. It's not quite finished. I hope to one day have the skills to finish it, but for now I will stick with things I can manage. Like rice bags, which can be any shape, so there's really no such thing as messing up. Unless you don't leave a hole to pour the rice in, a mistake I almost made but managed to avoid.

Rice is the cure.

I had a brutal headache last night. I've been getting them a lot. They're even making me throw up, and I am not generally a throw upper. But most of the time they just hurt. Anyways, it was pretty bad, I couldn't drive myself home, blah blah blah. So I promised Sam and her mom that I'd go see a doctor today and I did. He said they are caused by stress and tension. I tried to explain that I don't lead a stressful life at all, but that was his answer. Oh well, at least he prescribed me some good drugs for it.

The reason I tell you this is that I also want to tell you that I sewed my very own rice bag! Using the sewing machine I inherited last spring and a pair of old jammies. Rice bags are supposed to be great for relieving tension in the shoulders and neck, so maybe it will help with these headaches. If not, at least I've got my narcotic analgesics now (how do you like my drug vocabulary, Sam?).

Question:

Where do you like to sit to clip your toenails?  I am just curious.

We Are All Born Free and Equal

Let's get right into the first human right.  Remember, I'm taking these from the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article by article.

Human right number one, which states that we are all born free and equal, is SO important because it sets a stage for the following thirty-nine.  It puts everyone on an equal playing field.  Human rights cannot be meaningful if they are not presumed for all humans.  Neither can they be meaningful if they are presumed for some more than others.  Here is Youth for Human Rights' video depiction of article one of the UDHR.

I know I said I'd give you practical suggestions and ways to promote each human right.  This first one, though, is pretty general, and I think there must be at least a million ways to stand up for freedom and equality.  I'm going to keep it simple today and ask you to simply think about a few things.  Hopefully this will make for a good starting point and enable a bit of healthy self-analysis.  I don't actually have right answers to these questions and would love any insight.

Do we really consider ourselves equal to every single other person?  What are some things that cause us to think that we are better or worse than others?  What does it mean to be free and why is that an important right?  What do you think? What are some other important things to ask when considering the freedom and equality of all?

I'll close with a relevant quote from a good book I'm reading right now written by Desmond Tutu and titled God Has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for our Time:

"To treat a child of God as if he or she were less than this is not just wrong, which it is; is not just evil, as it often is; not just painful, as it often must be for the victim; it is veritably blasphemous, for it is to spit in the face of God."

Holy Mac-kerel!

I got a new MacBook last Thursday and am finally prepared to tell you how FREAKING AWESOME (FRAWESOME) it is.  Seriously.  I'm grateful for a couple of reasons, though, for the months I spent putting off and talking myself out of the purchase.  First, Apple just came out with a new MacBook.  Of course, they're always doing that, but whatever.  Second, I think the months of trying to get a little more out of my slow and old notebook really made me appreciate this new machine.

Also, this is very vague, but isn't the Internet amazing?  I can sit here and learn about anything I want to learn about.  It's crazy, I think.  Does that make me sound old?

Some Foods Make Me Very Sleepy

Many of you have witnessed the effect that curried foods have on me. It's so glorious. First I get really warm, then I get really sleepy. I used to eat those Tasty Bite prepackaged Indian meals for dinner (almost) every night back when I was living at the Wilsonian. After every dinner, I'd get really warm and go to bed, it was so great.

Sam and I went for Thai food on Saturday night with the gift certificate that her parents got me for my birthday. It was SO good. The place is called Thai Nongkhai and it's the first place I've found in Calgary that is comparable to the amazing Thai food you can find in Seattle. You should come visit me, we'll go eat there. Anyways, last night I had some of the leftovers for supper at 5:00pm, then took a nap right afterwards. Did I mention that I didn't even wake up that day until 2:00pm? I'm telling you, curry is amazing!

Changing Gears

Truth be told, I am out of material for Fair Trade Fridays. I will share information on more products as I discover them, but for now I'm going to broaden the focus and look at human rights. I'll start today with a bit of an overview on what I'll be presenting in weeks to come.

The major international document on human rights is called the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which is a part of the International Bill of Human Rights. These are both United Nations (UN) documents. The UDHR has 30 articles, each dealing with a unique aspect of human rights.

What I'm going to do is summarize each one and give examples of ways that you can promote human rights, both on local and international levels. I'll also post a video for each one, all of which will be taken from the Youth for Human Rights website. My aims in doing this are twofold: to give myself a more thorough knowledge in the area of international human rights (the best way to learn is by teaching, after all), and to encourage anyone who may be reading to find issues they are passionate about and willing to put some time and energy into. I'll get this up and running next Friday.

Until then, here is a link to the text of the UDHR.

Friendly Reminder

I just wanted to remind you that my friend Sam has a blog and she is very saddened by the fact that I am the only one who ever comments on it.

http://samanthajt.blogspot.com

Marda Loop Justice Film Festival

Cost: FREE
Location: River Park Church Auditorium (3818 - 14A St. SW)
Dates: This Friday through Sunday (11/14-11/16).
Times: See film lineup here.

If you're around Calgary, you should make some time to check out one or two or all of the justice-themed films this weekend.

Fair Trade Friday (Oops)

In all the election excitement of last week, I forgot to do Fair Trade Friday and blogged about how Madeline mothers me instead. Here it is. I'll keep it short and simple.
No Sweat is a clothing company. All of their products are union-made and sweatshop-free. It's a great source for common, simple things like socks and plain old t-shirts. I'm planning on getting a couple of pairs of socks off of their site when my current socks get holey.

i threw up

sooo hard it came out my nose

LAST NIGHT

I THREW UP

"I'm mothering you!"

So the other day I picked Madeline up from school. She was in a funny mood. As in, she was being funny. She got all up in my grill and started squishing her face against mine.

"What are you doing Madeline?"

"I'm mothering you!"

"You're not my mother, what are you talking about?"

"I'm mothering you! It's when you get too close to someone."

"OH. Smothering. You're smothering me."

Now she "mothers" me all the time, it's really quite funny.

Oh my stars!

Wow. We really did it! I think this is what those people meant when they sang about walking on sunshine. I know I'm probably sounding a bit overly dramatic about all of this, but please remember that over half my life has been spent under presidents who go by the last name of Bush.

I think Nelson Mandela did a good job of summarizing the significance of the moment in the letter he wrote to President-elect Barack Obama congratulating him on his victory:

"Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place."

The best part is that it doesn't end here.

... a long time ago.

I think I'll go for a walk down to the Apple store to pass the time. I'm thinking of getting a MacBook. And I should really get out of the house, as all of the election news is freaking me out.

Also, I just heard a funny news brief. Starbucks was initially going to offer a free cup of coffee to anyone who voted, but it turned out to violate an election law that bans giving gifts for voting. So, instead, anyone who asks gets a free cup of coffee regardless of whether or not they voted.

So, if you are in the states and looking to pass some time on this election day, go get yourself a free Cup of Joe (no reference to the plumber intended). You never know how long election night is going to be, after all.

Unless you are Sam or Sam's mom, you probably have not heard that I am a non-student again. It's true, and rather frustrating.

Just into my third week of the course, I was informed by the university that I no longer had an instructor. They gave me the option of continuing the course with no instructor until they found one, but I kind of always thought that one of the benefits of a university education is being taught by people who are experts on the topics that are being presented. So, I decided to withdrawl from the course. Perhaps I will re-register if a new instructor is found but, for now, I would rather not do assignments with no opportunity for feedback and with no idea of what the new instructor's expectations will be.

UW refunded my tuition, but not my registration fee, which I think is ridiculous. So, now I have to write them a petition. Did I mention that they sent me a fatty course reader that I specifically requested not to be sent to me, and now I have to mail that back for a refund as well?

Forget University of Washington, I'm transferring to University of Calgary.

Phew... sorry about the rant. Once in awhile you just gotta, you know what I'm saying?