5.07.2010

Mother's Day Idea

Just got an email from NASCAR.

There are not many mothers that this would work for...but I hope I am this kind of mother some day.

Make Mom's Special Day Unforgettable

To celebrate Mother's Day, Auto Club Speedway is offering an incredible package for the Pepsi 400 that offers a little something for everyone at an unbelievable price.

- Pepsi 400 Reserved Grandstand Seat
(rows 1-23, turn 1 sections 93-119)
- Lot 3 Parking (closest to your seats)
- Race day treat for mom: Sprinkles CupcakeAdults - $34.00
Children (12 and under) - $19.00

HOW TO PURCHASE
By Phone: 800-944-RACE (7223)
In Person: At the Auto Club Speedway ticket office
So...thought I'd pass it on if anyone is looking for a last minute gift idea.

5.05.2010

I'm still here

Hey! I’ve been off the map for a while. I’m still here – I’m just trying not to fail my LAST QUARTER of graduate school. Seriously, after being in graduate school for five years, you are so unmotivated at the end I think they should provide you with a personal assistant. And I am taking one of the worst classes I have taken my entire time here – that does not help the motivation at all. And yet I press on. 4 weeks left – I have no idea how I will get all the work done, but I say that every quarter so I am sure I will somehow manage. (HOWEVER, if any of you wants to write a paper or two, I am more than willing to delegate!)


Anyway, I graduate on June 12th – you’re all welcome to send me money, flowers and presents to say congratulations!


Then I will head off to MEXICO for about two months. I get the privilege of staying with and observing Becca Wynia who is the interim director of the Interaction Language School. I am excited to refresh (er…learn) Spanish and the other various things we have planned for this time. It will be nice to just get away, relax, debrief and begin to contemplate this next phase of life. What am I planning on doing? No idea – if you have ideas, let me know (but I kind of need a paycheck!)


Pretty crazy all that Maoist activity going on in Nepal right now, yeah? I remember a couple years ago, when I was trekking the Annapurnna’s, getting stuck in Pokhara for a few extra days because of a strike. Those strikes are no joke – everything gets shut down and food begins to become scarce. I hope things get resolved soon. It is pretty frightening how much damage those Maoists can cause when they get together. I fear for that fragile country.


On a totally unrelated note – I am real excited about how popular my blog is becoming with spammers. 51 comments in two months…not one of them real. Awesome.


That’s all I’ve got for right now. Pressing on….

1.31.2010

Who to trust

The BBC reported THIS STORY today on Haiti children being take across boarders when they are not actually orphans.

Here is just a little exert from it: [full story here]
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The five men and five women, from Idaho-based charity New Life Children's Refuge, were arrested on Friday night.

They were stopped while travelling on a bus with the children on the border with neighbouring Dominican Republic.

The Americans said the youngsters had all lost their parents in the quake.

But George Willeit, a spokesman in Port-au-Prince for SOS Children's Villages, which is now looking after the children, says at least one of them, a little girl, said her parents were alive.

He told journalists the girl said she had believed she was being taken to a boarding school or summer camp.

Mr Willeit said many of the children had been found to be in poor health, hungry and dehydrated.

One of the smallest - just two or three months old - was so dehydrated she had to be taken to hospital, he added.

Haitian authorities said none of the children had documentation or proof they were actually parentless.

-----------------------

This story brings such sadness to my heart. Such vulnerable children in the face of tragedy, scared, looking for someone to trust, and all they are met with are a group of people essentially abducting them. This is what happens when children are not given a voice - someone should have been listening to that little girl when she tried to say her parents were still alive.

I don't know whether this group was trying to actually help these children, or just make a buck through the adoption process - but it is already a scary world for children - and now they can't even trust the relief workers that come in claiming to offer them aid and protection.

11.22.2009

Sex trafficking in Indonesia

A recent report by CNN looking into the trafficking situation in Indonesia

11.18.2009

Somali woman stoned for adultery

A 20-year-old woman divorcee accused of committing adultery in Somalia has been stoned to death by Islamists in front of a crowd of about 200 people. This comes from a report on BBC News.

A judge working for the militant group al-Shabab said she had had an affair with an unmarried 29-year-old man.

He said she gave birth to a still-born baby and was found guilty of adultery. Her boyfriend was given 100 lashes.

It is thought to be the second time a woman has been stoned to death for adultery by al-Shabab.

The group controls large swathes of southern Somalia where they have imposed a strict interpretation of Islamic law which has been unpopular with many Somalis.

'Lenient'

According to reports from a small village near the town of Wajid, 250 miles (400km) north-west of the capital, Mogadishu, the woman was taken to the public grounds where she was buried up to her waist.

She was then stoned to death in front of the crowds on Tuesday afternoon.

The judge, Sheikh Ibrahim Abdirahman, said her unmarried boyfriend was given 100 lashes at the same venue.

Under al-Shabab's interpretation of Sharia law, anyone who has ever been married - even a divorcee - who has an affair is liable to be found guilty of adultery, punishable by stoning to death.

An unmarried person who has sex before marriage is liable to be given 100 lashes.

BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross says the stoning is at least the fourth for adultery in Somalia over the last year.

Earlier this month, a man was stoned to death for adultery in the port town of Merka, south of Mogadishu.

His pregnant girlfriend was spared, until she gives birth.

Last month, two men were stoned to death in Merka after being accused of spying.

President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, was sworn in as president after UN-brokered peace talks in January.

Although he says he also wants to implement Sharia, al-Shabab says his version of Islamic law would be too lenient.

The country has not had a functioning national government for 18 years.