Peace Report

In college, I was very much into activism against violence against women. (I still am, only now I’m so domesticated that my presence is largely in the form of emails and phone calls rather than marches and protests.) Of all of the causes that I support and believe in, this has been the closest to my heart since I read about female genital mutilation in Marie Claire while I was in high school.

For years, it was my personal mission to inform people about young girls and teens having their clitorises cut off and sewn shut so that only a small opening was left for urination, sex, and childbirth (all made painful from the process)—an opening that usually had to be re-sewn several times because of these acts—an opening that was inflicted on over 130 million women and girls worldwide, from most continents and many, many countries, including our own. Read more

It’s very appropriate that February happens to be National Mend a Broken Heart Month. Why should happy lovers, after all, have all the fun? Members of the Broken Hearts Club should also be able to commiserate and have some time for themselves this month, don’t you think?

But broken hearts aren’t just for lovers. They’re for estranged couples, bereaved friends and families, former friends; many times, mending a broken heart means making peace and giving forgiveness, even when it feels like we’d rather hold onto all of that pain and heartache until it makes us explode. The thing is, holding onto all of those feelings is worse for us than it is for those who’ve hurt us; it’s not making them lose sleep, after all, and only serves to manifest more suffering in our own lives. Read more

Haiti EarthquakeI haven’t watched much of the footage from Haiti, not because I don’t care, but because I don’t have cable tv. This hasn’t stopped me from reading about it, thinking about it, and wondering what responsibility we in the West have for preventing these kinds of disasters or what we can do now to help.

The two most straightforward ways remain the same for every type of disaster. They need donations of either your time or your money. I chose money, but only a little bit and then felt bad about my donation and its usefulness or lack thereof after reading an article on Gawker criticizing the “netiquette” of using social media to promote your cause.
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All I can say is finally.

Yes, human trafficking and slavery has been getting a bit more attention lately due to different movements and films (from documentaries to fictional movies like Taken). I appreciate that. But it seems like the general public is still in denial that modern day slavery and human trafficking—human kidnapping and sale—is still very much alive and afoot. In fact, it’s the third largest industry in the world,  generating $32 billion every year with 14,500 to 17,500 foreign nationals trafficked into the U.S. annually alone. Read more

Humanitarian Day is a holiday that honors the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by promoting unity, remembrance, and respect. Here are a few ways you might wish to celebrate.

Light a candle in your home for all of the freedom fighters who have passed on—Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Miep Gies, Mother Theresa, Harriet Tubman, Susan B. Anthony, Gandhi—any of your heroes who have fought for freedom. You could also light one for all of the victims who have suffered and died due to slavery, sexual slavery, and violence both in the past as well as those who suffer today.

Vow to be a humanitarian. Talk about what it means to be one with your family. Decide together how you’ll do this—by volunteering, spreading a message of peace, acceptance, and love, traveling to other areas to volunteer as well as expand your global awareness, etc. Read more

Many Mexico City Residents Have To Get Their Water Delivered.The water situation in Mexico City is going from bad to worse. With a  rising population and dropping water levels in local lakes, government officials and residents alike are watching water sources like Lake Avandaro drop to lows like they have never seen before.

"I was born here and I have never seen it at that level," said Carlos Gonzalez of the Los Pericos floating restaurant.

Lake Avandro is one of the places authorities in Mexico City turned last year for water during the drought and in that case it brought such shock and resistance from wealthy vacationers there that there had to be a deal worked out with government officials to keep the lake at 75% of capacity. Read more

I like, very much, the concept of "pay it forward."

It's a bit disconcerting to realize that the concept as currently presented, especially in online culture, is most closely associated a slight novel that's so full of saccarine that my teeth hurt just looking at the cover blurb, and a film that's actually even more annoying. Nonetheless, the concept itself is utterly fabulous. Sometimes called "alternative giving," or even "random acts of kindness,""pay it forward" has deep roots in both legal and American culture. Read more

It makes the politics go round...It’s been a while since I did one of my politics is money posts, and just today a headline caught my eye that makes me double-down on that certainty- Reuters is reporting that the senate has just approved more than $600 billion in new military spending. So the message is- if you want more than half a trillion dollars for the military, no problem, we’ll get that through without a problem. If you want something like that for health care, prepare for a drawn out debate and question marks even after that. Frustrating.

The bill also carries provisions to extend jobless aid and sends money to supplement Medicare payments and rates for another 2 months, but the thrust of it is to fund military spending in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s a pretty simple jump to say, “Where are our priorities?” Read more

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When I was watching an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit the other day, I was shocked when a suspect was able to pay a scientist to fake a detective’s DNA in order to frame her in a crime she did not commit. Dude, I thought, good thing this is fiction! Then it hit me: Law and Order shows typically base their stories on events that have happened in real life—or at least, real science, stories, or other cases. Read more