Sarah The Strange

Current Event #4

2009-01-11T11:03:00.000-08:00

In Sri Lanka many Tamils (a minority in Colombo) are being kicked out. The government has suspected many Tamils of helping ethnic separation rebels. Though the government has not pressed charges on the over 400 families they have kicked out of Sri Lanka. Many human rights activists have been questioning whether or not this is a legal way of ethnic cleansing. The families have been sent to Vavuniya between rebel and government territory. This violates the right to free movement in and out of the courty (article 13 of the UNDHR). This violates that article because the Tamils are nto alowed to stay in their homes with in thier country, though the government is considering to let them return.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/09/world/asia/09lanka.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=colombo%20human%20rights&st=cse

Human Rights #3

2009-01-05T15:19:00.000-08:00

In India, the Sikh's are constantly killed in confrontation with police officers. This has been a big issue in India for the past 5 years when the Sikhs wanted To becomes their own state. They now gather mainly in New Delhi. The police officers are allowed to go into houses to investigate without warrant in New Delhi. They are often brutal with the tenants. Many Sikhs have been hurt, tortured and killed with police brutality. This directly effects Article 5 of the UNDHR: which states "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" (http://www.udhr.org/UDHR/default.htm) and article 18 which says that everyone is entitled to freedom of beleif and religion. Article 5 is being violated because the people of New Delhi are being torured, and killed by police officer for no reason. They are also being discriminated against because of their religion and beleifs, which is against article 18.

Article used:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE5D6113DF935A15751C0A96F948260

Current Events 2

2008-12-14T09:54:00.000-08:00

In La Oroya Peru the air is poisoned with lead and arsenic, as well as many other toxins. Not only do the toxins affect everyones health, but it kills the vegetation. The cause of all these toxins is a company called Doe Run in the center of the town. Even worse, the company is the main proprietor of the town. Since hardly anyone can make a profit off of farming, they rely on employment from Doe Run. Doe Run has made improvements to the factory sice they bought it; however, it is still not enough. They have a sister company in Missouri that does the same things, but it does it safely. They spent 10 million dollars improving their factory and buying out the negihboring town. So what puts American lives ahead of the lives of the poeple in Peru? Maybe its because people are so reliant on the company that they are afraid to speak out. After all the company sponsers many things in the town, including several schools. But all the toxins in the air are, in my opinion, violating article 25 in the UNDHR by creating unsafe living conditions.

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35822

Current Events

2008-12-07T13:19:00.000-08:00

The Russian government is not being fare with its trials. For a long time, human rights activists said that the Russian judicial system is corrupt and the judges are not independent. Now russia has passed a bill that wants to "abolish jury trials for serious crimes like terrorism, espionage and organizing mass demonstrations" (Nytimes.com, Dec 6). They are not giving fare trials which violate number 6 and 7 of the U.N.D.H.R. Russia's government is corrupt and the peple dont fight back, this is why they are able to do what they want, and the people in power are not picked based on merit, but on who they know.

Homework; November 11, 2008 "Sold" by Patricia McCormick... Reveiw of all pages up to 2;5

2008-11-11T10:38:00.000-08:00

When the troubles of my life
Seem so difficult
And take up all the spaces in my mind
And all I can feel is my sadness
But the there are others
Who are faced with more than me
Their life filled with unjust behavior
And other lives put before theirs
And they are still hopeful
That one day things will change
And life will be simple
Where all they have are basic necessities
And they will be happy
Living a simple life
Were there is nothing to worry about,
But only just enough to live
And they will always be hopeful
They will never be afraid of whats to come
But they will still let their minds wander
To the far ends of the world.

My declaration for children

2008-11-11T09:49:00.000-08:00

Preamble:
Children all over the world are being violated. Most children are still learning right from wrong and they wont know if what is happening to them is wrong. They can not defend themselves and therefor they need protection from their government, or from the rest of the world. They are defenseless and can not voice their opinions too well so we need to do it for them!

Article 1: The right to free education.
-Children are the future of their country, they need to have knowledge so they can lead thier country in a good way.

Article 2: The right to religion.
-No one should be forced to give up what they believe in due to peer pressure, children need to learn how to express themselves, and part of them is their religion.

Article 3: The right to safe passage way to and from school.
-If schooling is free but children (especially girls) are afraid to walk their then it is just as bad as not having schooling, because either way they are not getting a proper education.

Article 4: The right to food and water.
-Food and water are two of the most basic necessities to life, with out these two things the child is sure to die.

Article 5 The right to shelter.
-They need a home/shelter so that they can protect themselves from the weather and people who are out late. This is also a basic necessity.

Article 6: The right to a life with out discrimination due to sexual orientation race, color, sex, language, political or other opinion, or where they were born or who they were born to.
-No one should be discriminated against for any reason what so ever. No one, especially kids should have to deal with teasing that can elevate to the level of beating or even emotional trauma.

Article 7: The right to special care if handicapped in any way.
-If you are handicapped then you should get special privileges so that you can get to school, and get around your home, or even get a form of welfare to live if your parents can not get a job.

Article 8: The right to doctors if you are sick.
-If you were to take a sick person and leave them laying around they will surely die, children are more susceptible to diseases and viruses than adults and therefor need medical care.

Article 9: The right to not working before a specified age, and working in a safe environment for their age.
-Some children need to work to help support their families, but they should not be forced to work before a certain age were they an actually do the work required, and when they do work, they need to be protected against hard labor that their bodies can not take.

Article 10:The right to learn about peace and tolerance.
-Since children are the future they should be taught ways to help make the work a better place.

Aid In India Resource Review

2008-11-06T09:37:00.000-08:00

Which website did we use? www.humanrightswatch.org

In my group we only used humanrightswatch.org.

We liked this website because they have reliable information and an abundance of it. I found the information useful although i sometimes found that the information was repetitive. For what I needed, the information was easy to find, and easy to understand. It tells you the basics of what you need to know, and more detail if you need it.

How did my group worked together?

My group cooperated well together. Though I had a lot of work to do for being absent, I had a group that could pick up my extra slack. I worked hard, but I feel that Ari worked the hardest, he did all his work and more, and was able to edit it. Brittne also did a very good job and did all the work she was assigned. Caroline, was able to use her detailed notes, and in the end we were able to come together and we all created a flowing podcast.