Blog Action Day 2013

Today is Blog Action Day. This year's topic is human rights and the aim is to encourage bloggers from around the world to raise awareness about human rights by posting something about it. I posted a Blog Action Day badge in my left hand column last week. I hope you guys have been clicking on it.

You may think that's a stupid question but it happens every day all around the world. Sadly, the chief targets are women, children and the poor. Violence, human trafficking, ethnic cleansing, child labour, the arrest, torture and in some cases killing of demonstrators against abuses of human rights are just some of the types of activities which impact on individuals' human rights.

But it doesn't just happen somewhere else. It happens in our own backyards too. Here in Canada I think of the plight of the poor and of Aboriginal people as two examples. In my province of Quebec, the government has come up with a Charter of Values that would forbid public employees from wearing religious and cultural artifacts in the workplace. This would include such items as kippas, turbans, burkas, hijabs and large crosses.

That's just plain silly. And it makes about as much sense as the following.

In one African nation, government officers wrap themselves in a cloak of invisibility while it tramples the human rights of their people. But I see through that.

Elsewhere, a Middle Eastern nation issues leather uniforms to their officers as Human Rights offences mount. But they can't hide from me.

Meanwhile, in a somewhat odd approach to force the population to bend to the will of the government enforcement officers' uniforms in another nation bear the digits 666 on the front and back. Ah, but I've got their number.

The issue of human rights violations is far more serious than my punny attempt at humour betrays. Think about it today. Visit the Blog Action Day website and see what other bloggers are saying. And leave your views in my comments.

In the meantime, take two and a half minutes to view this thoughtful video which summarizes the 30 articles of human rights...

My Back Pages - November

I know, I know, I know I should have reported in before now. But sometimes real life just gets in the way. I attempted 5 books in November. I say attempted because I slapped a big DNF (did not finish) on Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon. I just can't seem to get into this guy. It's the second or third of his I've given up on, Not so the other four, starting with a biography of Stephen Stills called Change Partners. This followed by a hilarious biography of the guy responsible for National Lampoon called A Stupid and Futile Gesture - How Doug Kenney and National Lampoon Changed Comedy Forever. I ended the month reading yet another biography, this one of the man behind Rolling Stone magazine,. It was called Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine. A fascinating read. So last month I hit the magic number 50 I'd imagined for myself back in January. If I roll this month into my yearly total I'm at 54 books. And I still hav...

The Polka Dot Door

A long time ago, when I was 22, my first child was born. That kid grew up on a little Canadian kid's show called Polka Dot Door, produced by the TV Ontario network. And Dad, more often than not, sat through those shows with his little one. Nine or so years later when a brother, and a year after that when a sister came along number one son was moving on to Knight Rider and The Dukes of Hazzard. But there was a nice overlap where his siblings picked up where he had left off with Polka Dot Door. And Dad was right there to welcome them. So you're looking at a Polka Dot Door veteran. The show began in 1971 and ran to 1993. I didn't watch the full run but I did get in my fair share. The formula was pretty simple. A young male and female host, which seemed to change every week, sang songs, told stories, made crafts and generally did their best stimulate little brains. The show opened as follows... Imagination Day! Oh boy! ...

30 Days of Photos III #4 Sour

Check out Ziva's Inferno for the rest of today's photos.

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