| Username: |
vox humana |
| PersonId: |
10 |
| Created: |
Thu Apr 23, 2009 at 00:37:22 AM EDT |
vox humana's RSS Feed
 |
|
Wed Jan 20, 2010 at 21:31:08 PM EST
|
|
This came to me via e-mail from a friend who is very interested in environmental issues. This blog entry by Sasha Kramer comes from the website of SOIL, or Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods. Ms. Kramer is one of the co-founders of the organization. If you are not familiar with them (I certainly wasn't), they are "a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting soil resources, empowering communities and transforming wastes into resources in Haiti."
They do this in various ways, one of the most interesting and practical being to provide composting toilets for families and for communities, as well as doing work in recycling and composting in general. It would appear that their expertise will be particularly useful now. They also appear to be an organization that is popular within Haiti, as demand for their sanitation services could not keep up with supply before the earthquake.
I highly recommend this group and their website and Facebook page to your attention. If you visit these sites, you may find yourself wandering about them for quite some time, as they are fascinating. Since her entry is excellent, I will share it below in its entirety. It confirms what many of us have suspected all along: that the claims of violence and lawlessness have been exaggerated in the interest of presenting a "juicier" story. But her writing is much better:
|
|
There's More...
:: (2
Comments, 910 words in story)
|
|
Wed Jan 13, 2010 at 00:45:35 AM EST
|
( - promoted by Laura)
Friends: I am not sure how helpful this may be, but in between arguments we may have about our own unemployment and Jane Russell, I would like to introduce a discussion about the current state of Haiti.
I have found a couple of links to assistance and welcome any others you may have:
This is a project of the Miami Herald and the United Way- Miami. As you may know, there is a large population from Haiti in southern Florida.
If you are most comfortable helping the children of Haiti via the UN, go here.
I am less familiar with this organization, but offer it nonetheless as a first-responder to the crisis. I hope contributors will correct and add links and information as needed.
|
|
There's More...
:: (26
Comments, 378 words in story)
|
|
Tue Dec 22, 2009 at 01:00:41 AM EST
|
|
You know, once in a while, political action works. The group of parents, students and interested community members are pushing back against the horrific No Child Left Behind and remarkably similar Race to the Top and are slowly forming some coherent strategies. And they do involve online action.
|
|
There's More...
:: (77
Comments, 385 words in story)
|
|
Mon Nov 30, 2009 at 23:29:31 PM EST
|
|
Again, a copy of e-mail with gloss, but I think it's important to give a notice of the next step in the protests that are building. As you may recall, last week people were urged to contact the White House to request an end to the war in whatever way they saw fit.
|
|
There's More...
:: (9
Comments, 998 words in story)
|
|
Tue Nov 24, 2009 at 00:50:47 AM EST
|
|
Again, modified from e-mail and other information. Please consider action....
Today, we have much news to share about our Afghanistan peace campaign and an opportunity for action.
First, thank you all for your calls to the White House last week -- and for your photos and comments on our Facebook Postcards to Obama initiative.
This week, we are redoubling our efforts. Peace and justice groups are joining together in calling for White House Call-in Days, Monday through Wednesday. We need your help.
Last week, the White House held three meetings to reach out to academics and peace activists, development agencies, and representatives from faith communities to elicit their views on Afghanistan strategy. An AFSC colleague of ours in Washington attended the faith communities meeting, and tells us that the Obama Administration is clearly listening.
So, this week's call-in days are all the more important.
Please take action today and join with the pro-peace majority in calling for an end to this war.
Call the White House to Say "No More Troops in Afghanistan"
National White House Call-In Days
Monday, November 23 - Wednesday, November 25
|
|
There's More...
:: (69
Comments, 491 words in story)
|
|
Thu Nov 19, 2009 at 01:11:03 AM EST
|
|
[partially taken from an e-mail I received]
Help end the war in Afghanistan! AFSC and many others are focusing on calls and actions on President Obama to make sure he knows that the majority of people want the US out of Afghanistan. Below are several options for joining this campaign. These things need to be done quickly, as a decision will probably be made fairly soon.
Ways to help:
• Join the "Send a postcard to President Obama" campaign. See below for how to get involved.
• Call the White House comment line. Watch for details of a call in day. Meanwhile, here is another phone comment line phone number: 1-888-310-8637.
|
|
There's More...
:: (39
Comments, 189 words in story)
|
|
Fri Sep 25, 2009 at 22:41:41 PM EDT
|
|
So, the great Spanish pianist Alicia de Larrocha has died at the age of eighty-six. This woman packed more musicianship per square inch in her tiny four-foot six-inch frame (more or less) than anyone might hope to have.
|
|
There's More...
:: (9
Comments, 216 words in story)
|
|
Mon Aug 31, 2009 at 23:25:18 PM EDT
|
|
History is fascinating.
O Fortuna
velut luna
statu variabilis,
semper crescis
aut decrescis;
vita detestabilis
nunc obdurat
et tunc curat
ludo mentis aciem,
egestatem,
potestatem
dissolvit ut glaciem.
Here is a story of a laborer, told in his own words. Cause for hope or for despair? How does it end? And why do times always seem so much simpler when they are not our own?
Thank goodness the WPA collected these stories; otherwise we would have no idea what it was like. So much is different for laborers now. I have taken the liberty to bold items that might be puzzling to the modern reader, not having experienced them.
And remember, people read text back then... no pictures; so tread with care.
|
|
There's More...
:: (9
Comments, 3299 words in story)
|
|
Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 02:06:14 AM EDT
|
|
Working People Dream of Health Care in Spring.
No doubt, Ms. Clinton would have preferred to set an example by going to a public emergency room and paying out of pocket. There just wasn't time.
Secretary Clinton appreciates the professionalism and kindness she received from the medical team who treated her this evening and looks forward to resuming her full schedule soon.
At least they serve cake while people wait in these emergency rooms. Let them eat it. Professionalism and kindness. And getting back to one's full schedule. That's what it's all about, after all.
|
|
There's More...
:: (52
Comments, 8 words in story)
|
|
Mon Jun 08, 2009 at 22:01:23 PM EDT
|
|
Well, friends, once again we at the fringes of the blogging world find ourselves the leaders in consideration of the issues of anonymity, pseudonymity, real-life consequences and all around mayhem that follow the practice of commenting on blogs, whether under our real names or under an assumed name or under multiple names (though the article does not delve into that particular issue... yet to catch up with this part of the blogworld, I suppose.
At any rate, I highly recommend "The Outing of publius" and its well-made points concerning what we do when we decide to post under a given name and what it all means.
|
|
There's More...
:: (84
Comments, 1017 words in story)
|
|
Wed Jun 03, 2009 at 00:23:29 AM EDT
|
or "self-injurious behavior" if you prefer. Most of us know it by its real name: suicide. At Guantanamo.
A Yemeni detainee at Guantánamo Bay who had been on a long hunger strike apparently committed suicide late Monday, military officials said Tuesday.
The death was the first at the prison since President Obama took office, and detainees' lawyers said it would focus new attention on conditions at the detention camp.
The detainee, 31, was identified as Mohammad Ahmed Abdullah Saleh al Hanashi, who has been imprisoned since 2002 at the naval base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Pentagon officials said he was a Taliban fighter who claimed at the camp that he had never killed anyone.
A terse announcement from the Pentagon described the death as an "apparent suicide" and said guards "found the detainee unresponsive and not breathing" while doing routine checks. It did not disclose a specific cause of death but said lifesaving measures had failed.
|
|
There's More...
:: (15
Comments, 465 words in story)
|
|
Tue May 26, 2009 at 00:26:02 AM EDT
|
I
The truth is, when I first had come to learn of blogging,
For all the world it was as if all people who had masked
Their true political convictions could in privacy retreat
Yet still be public: Through pseudonymous writing show
Desires to share thoughts, ideas, maybe actions - and with patience
And a slow-wrought dialogue maybe to bring change.
|
|
There's More...
:: (8
Comments, 406 words in story)
|
|
Mon May 04, 2009 at 23:47:18 PM EDT
|
|
It was the best of crimes, it was the worst of crimes.
A local television station just had an interesting report about local contractors. Due to hard times, it seems many of "small-time" home contractors are not keeping their licenses and insurance current. The result would be that if they were injured at your home, you and your homeowner's insurance company would be liable.
As is often the case with local television stations, the reporter identified this problem, created the appropriate "Call for Action" and proceeded to film a state sting operation. This is the sort of thing I adamantly oppose for many reasons, but this time I saw something I had never seen before.
|
|
There's More...
:: (11
Comments, 302 words in story)
|
|
Fri Apr 24, 2009 at 00:21:10 AM EDT
|
|
One of the best traditions of early fsz was the tendency of all different posters to put up open threads. Sometimes there were two or three going at once. It seemed like Fate, but fortunately none were ever cut short....
Anyway, hurrah for the free-for-all! Why make the creator of the place responsible for providing venues for the gift of gab, other than the fact that she has a gift for putting up funny pictures that sparkle? Can our conversation do the same?
And, yeah, since I put this up I decided to use Friends "plain language" for the dates. [Gentle Teaching Moment Alert! Proceed at your peril!] The original thought was that the numberings were more honest... for example: early Friends wouldn't have had a problem with "October," if it had actually been the eighth month in the calendar as per its name! Nowadays, though, it makes it clear to the bank if anyone tries to forge our checks. If only anyone ever wrote checks any more....
Anyway, have fun! Get serious! Try to be as nice as you ever feel like being... unless you don't feel like it. In which case, don't.
But... please do?
|
|
Discuss
:: (41
Comments)
|
|
|
|
|
|
