DRC Paraplegics Take On Social Stigma through Music

A group of disabled singers and musicians from the Democratic Republic of Congo have banded together to challenge discrimination and stigma through music. Their refusal to accept the disdain of DRC society and impoverished, unfulfilled lives on the fringes is a testament to the human spirit.

 Ok, so that might sound cliché, but I mean it. Most of us pass through lives that would widely be considered mundane or “normal” – fretting over “normal” problems like paying the bills, little Billy’s school grades and mowing the lawn. These artists have taken a horrendous situation and turned it into a positive. How many of us “normal” folk can say that?

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A leader for the times: Maldives President Nasheed

You have to give Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed gold stars for perseverance and creativity. At a time when our planet is in desperate need of creative leaders willing to “think outside the box” to address a host of critical common threats to the human family, Nasheed stands out as a man unwilling to give up in the face of indifference.

Nasheed took 11 of his cabinet ministers out to a coral reef near one of the Maldives islands for the world’s first underwater cabinet meeting last week. Decked out in scuba gear and seated around a horseshoe table amidst the coral, the officials passed around an “SOS” agreement calling for carbon gas emission cuts.

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Enjoy the Silence

Just a quick entry here to apologize for the dead silence of the last couple weeks. 

I’ve had to tend to a family medical situation, but will be back to full time writing shortly.

Meantime, I’ll have a couple of short too-good-to-pass-up entries coming up in the next couple days.

Systematic Failure: Too many children left behind ….

I have to cringe when I hear or read right-leaning politicians and commentators wax poetic about how the U.S. has the “greatest” system in the world – the best health care, the best education, the best government, etc, etc, etc. It’s not that I don’t support the effort for the U.S. to be the best it can, but to categorize things as the “greatest” or “best” implies that these accolades represent achievements perfected and maintained to a level we need no longer worry our pretty little heads about it.

All one has to do is take a walk down the street – pretty much any street in the country with the exception of perhaps Rodeo Drive – to see that we are a long way away from the best we could be.

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Here chickie, chickie ….

Disturbing video captured by an animal rights activist who secured employment at an Iowa hatchery raises some serious questions over how we get our food supply.

 Honestly I barely made it to the one-minute mark of the 3:44-long Hatchery Horrors video – I just couldn’t get past the grinding machine.  I guess most of us are aware – dimly – that the meat and other food we buy at the store may come to us poisoned by actions we would normally find repulsive, but it’s different to actually see it.

 According to the group responsible for the video, Mercy for Animals, this one hatchery slaughters over 30 million male chicks every year. The males are killed because they cannot produce eggs and won’t grow fast enough to be sold profitably for meat. (The surviving females, the group and other advocates point out, will spend their lives in confinement under cruel conditions.) Perhaps the most disturbing aspect is that those 30 million male chick deaths represent a fraction of the number ground up by the industry – it’s almost beyond imagining.

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Reasonable health care debate? Thank the Child

Hands down the best thing I’ve encountered said, written, posted or screamed about health care in recent weeks is a letter to President Obama from 12-year old Californian Nick Armitage. (So, ok, his parents probably helped him write it or a teacher put him up to it, but who cares – this kid was able to frame the argument in its most simple form; and any person of conscience can’t argue against it.)

 “Health insurance is not a privilege but a necessity,” says Armitage’s letter, as seen here on the Huffington Post.

 Finding a reasonable way to ensure all Americans have some basic coverage for medical expenses is a laudable goal —  long, long, long overdue.  If we can all agree that Mr. Armitage’s sentiment is sound, then we should be able to find a reasonable solution.

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Signs everywhere ….

The sight of someone holding a hastily scribbled plea for assistance has become a depressingly normal occurrence in the Tampa area. You see them at intersections, outside restaurants and in local parks.

Most of the signs are neither noteworthy nor particularly memorable – a few words like “Hungry,” “Out of Work,” or “Vet in need of help” on a small piece of cardboard. (Some people spare a second and some change to help.)

But this past week there were two attention-grabbing and completely opposite signs worthy of mention.

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Applause for Clinton over Congo

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton paid a visit to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo this week to highlight her concerns over the absolutely appalling level of sexual violence occurring as competing forces battle for control over the region’s natural resources.

Few international dignitaries venture to the war-torn region and Clinton (whatever the politics behind the move) deserves applause for giving attention to a situation that has sickened even the most seasoned humanitarian workers.

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Attention Shoppers: Beefcake in Aisle 1

File this one under “I must be getting old.”

Much as I hate to admit it publicly, no matter how hard I try to stick to the healthy household grocery list, I routinely impulse buy at the grocery store. It’s those “buy one, get one” offers on the junk food (especially Double-Stuff Oreos) – they just unlock the impulse reflex. It’s a test of self-discipline I routinely fail.

During my latest grocery shopping jaunt it wasn’t the Oreos, Doritos or donuts that prompted a reflex action, and I wasn’t buying – it was the beefcake, and the inspired reflex was to gag.

It was young man, maybe about 20, walking through the store shirtless wearing nothing but flip-flops, a pair of those shorts that sit down around the bottom of the butt and bright pair of blue underwear.  Yes, bright blue underwear, and no, I really didn’t need to know that… and neither did you.

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Courage of the One

The case of Lubna Hussein is one of those rare instances where an individual chooses to step forward and challenge an unjust system knowing full well the effort may fail. Her bravery should serve as a reminder to us all of the importance of standing up to act for what we believe in.

 Hussein, a Sudanese journalist working in the media department of the United Nations mission, was arrested with a dozen other women on July 3 by members of the public order police for wearing pants in a restaurant. Most of the women were reportedly flogged at the police station.

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