Amnesty Internationa- IRAN: Silenced for making a movie? It’s outrageous.

"It is hard to fathom the idea of being incarcerated for six years simply for speaking my mind, or to be banned from making films for 20 years." – Oscar-winning filmmaker Paul Haggis ("Million Dollar Baby," "Crash") Help free expression prevail over persecution. Defend human rights in Iran and the world over with a gift to Amnesty International.

Dear Farhad, I have often gotten in trouble for opening my mouth, but I could never imagine being imprisoned and silenced for making a film. Distinguished filmmaker Jafar Panahi and his artistic collaborator, Mohammad Rasoulof, were each sentenced to an exceptionally harsh six years in prison because they make socially critical films in Iran, where a brutal artist crackdown is escalating. Jafar and Mohammad were also outrageously forbidden to travel, make movies or even speak to the press for an unimaginable period of 20 years. They broke no laws. They expressed their views peacefully. Yet they are paying an awful, inhumane price for exercising their human rights. Stand with me today against this travesty of justice. Don't let Iran silence filmmakers and smother free expression. Help secure basic human freedoms for Jafar and Mohammad and artists the world over with a gift to Amnesty International. Gagging artists and suppressing art are corrosive and dangerous threats to civil society. Repression of dissent is growing at a frightening rate in Iran. Still, we know the voices of freedom and human rights can overcome the forces of persecution and injustice. Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi was once held in Iran's notorious Evin prison on trumped-up charges of espionage. Roxana was freed after Amnesty International and other organizations rallied for her unconditional release. I urge you to raise your voice now, for Jafar and Mohammad and courageous human rights activists everywhere, to say, "Stop." Joining you are Sean Penn, Harvey Weinstein, Martin Scorsese, actress and AIUSA spokesperson Nazanin Boniadi and dozens of other artists. These great talents are working with Amnesty to raise awareness of Jafar and Mohammad's plight and dial up the international pressure on the Iranian government to drop the preposterous charges against the filmmakers. When we shine our lights together, we can open prison doors and set the innocent free. No special effects needed, just the unwavering commitment of human rights defenders like you. Please make your contribution today and help Amnesty continue this vital work.   Thank you, Paul Haggis, Filmmaker for Amnesty International

MSF Report on Haiti: Despite Massive Aid Response, Huge Needs Remain

	The Field: Special Edition	January 2011
	Haiti One Year After
	Despite Massive Aid Response, Huge Needs Remain One year after a devastating earthquake, Haitians continue to endure appalling living conditions and a nationwide cholera outbreak despite the largest humanitarian aid deployment in the world. Read More >
	News and Updates                   Haiti, One Year Later > A video presentation on Haiti today   Op-Ed: Where Aid Failed > by Dr. Unni Karunakara, President of the International Council of MSF                 Children More Vulnerable to Cholera > The outbreak continues, counting the young among its victims   Taking Your Questions > Send questions for MSF's January 13 teleconference with field and HQ staff.
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	Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an independent international medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural and man-made disasters, or exclusion from health care in nearly 60 countries. New York office: 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY, 10001.

Jan 29 I Voices for children gala

Every little helps -- helping children of Ghana

Every little helps — helping children of Ghana

Dear Friends,I hope you are all well and happy. I wanted to let you all know about a project in Ghana that Lisa and I are leading for an organization called Orphans’ Heroes.

We are planning to build an environmentally friendly, low-energy, cost-efficient school for a village with 800 residents, 216 of which are children. The nearest school is an hour away and currently less than 20 of the older children attend school.

Andokope is in the Upper Volta region of Ghana, in an area where child slavery is a big problem. The people are incredibly poor and often have to make terrible choices — like whether to sell one child into slavery to feed three others or to watch them all starve to death.

The children who are sold are often sent to fish on Lake Volta and work long hours, often without being fed for days at a time. Having to climb out of a boat and into the crocodile-infested lake to untangle a fishing net is a terrifying thought for anyone. Consider most of the children cannot swim and you can only imagine their fear.

The plan is to make an environmentally friendly school using local materials. It will be low-cost, low maintenance and the goal is to make the school independent and self-sufficient within 5 years. We will use Compressed Earth Blocks (CEB) to construct the building and will use solar panels to bring light to the village, where there is currently no electricity. We will provide students with two meals a day and the chance to have an education. If the children eat two meals a day at the school, the burden of feeding them will be lifted from their parents and more families will remain intact.

You can get more information on the Orphans’ Heroes website: http://www.orphansheroes.org/Orphans_Heroes/Donate__Andokope_School.html

In Ghana, $5 provides health care for a child for one year, $12 can buy a bag of cement and $50 can buy a window and screens for a classroom, $1600 will pay for a compressed earth block machine (similar to this one).

We know that times are hard. Please consider donating whatever you feel you can to the school, a little goes a long way and we appreciate any help you can give.

Donated land for the school

If you would like more information about our plans, the technology we will use, how we hope to make it self-sustaining, etc. please feel contact me or Lisa. All donations are tax deductible for people who live in the US.

Please forward this e-mail to anyone you think might be interested and willing to help these children from poverty and slavery.

Wishing you all a healthy, happy and prosperous new year.

Love,

Lisa, Farhad & Mawunya

More to read:

• Child Slavery in Ghana?
• Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery
• Reports on child trafficking in Africa
• Africa’s bitter cycle of child slavery

Unicef help request for Haiti: She thought she could fly

The world's kids need our help. Make your tax-deductible gift today. Dear Farhad, She never did tell me her name or her age. She just told me that when the earthquake struck her home in Haiti, she thought it was God teaching her to fly. In fact, her world had been shattered, and her family was gone. Hers was but one of the real lives I encountered this year on my travels to see UNICEF at work. There are thousands of others whose stories I'll not share. But I worry most about the lives cut short: 22,000 kids who died every day from a preventable cause. Every 6 seconds, a child died from malnutrition. Every day, 400 children died from measles. They aren't statistics. They're kids. Just like the kids you know – only born in desperate places, victims of grim circumstances. And they need our help. For the world's neediest kids - donate now to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF – and help us reach our goal of $2 million by December 31. Every donation is 100% tax-deductible. No matter where I go, kids are kids. Sit on the ground, and a kid will climb into your lap. Visit the aftermath of a natural disaster, and you'll find kids playing with sticks and balls. Too often, what makes these kids' futures so different from that of our own comes down to luck. Farhad, will you join thousands of others who will donate to change these kids' lives? Your 100% tax-deductible gift will support the best child survival and protection team on the planet: Education – In the aftermath of war or natural disaster, children often feel safest in a classroom. UNICEF developed the School-in-a-Box kit so that a classroom could be set up anywhere to restore a sense of normalcy and help break the cycle of poverty. Emergency relief – Children are often separated from their families in the chaos after a disaster. UNICEF sets up child protection centers to provide these kids with a safe environment, clean water, shelter and help in finding their lost loved ones. Safe drinking water – When children are thirsty, it doesn't matter if a river is clouded and polluted, they'll drink from it. UNICEF's simple solutions like clean water tablets make it safe for children to drink when they are thirsty – anywhere, anytime. Every day of every year, UNICEF uses these proven, low-cost methods to save kids living on the brink. And it's working. The annual number of under-five deaths dropped from 13 million in 1990 to 8 million in 2010. Still, 22,000 children die each day from preventable causes. We believe that number should be zero. There is no reason why a child should die from a cause that has long been solved in the developed world. Help UNICEF save kids – donate to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF now and help us reach our goal of raising $2 million by December 31. No other organization has saved more children's lives than UNICEF. This holiday season – join us as we save even more lives. Together we are getting to zero. Warm wishes, Caryl M. Stern President & CEO U.S. Fund for UNICEF     Copyright © 2010 U.S. Fund for UNICEF 125 Maiden Lane, New York, NY 10038 All rights reserved. Privacy Policy Unsubscribe If this email was forwarded to you, please join us! Subscribe to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.

Shoe away the war criminals: protest Gates and Clinton visit in Australia

SHOE AWAY THE WAR CRIMINALS!

Robert Gates (Bush-Obama defense secretary and former CIA deputy director) and Hillary Clinton (Obama's secretary of state) will be in Australia for talks with the pro-war Julia Gillard government. Even Gates admits that the US-NATO war and occupation in Afghanistan is not going well. RAWA has accused Clinton of lying when she says the Western occupation can continue while the women of Afghanistan are saved.

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Australia is training militia connected to Uruzgan warlord Matiullah Khan. Perhaps that explains why Afghan president Hamid Kazai praised the PM for working with "warlordy types" when she visited Afghanistan last month.

Send a message to Gates, Clinton and Gillard that the troops have to get out of Afghanistan and Iraq ... and bring your spare shoes!

When: Monday 8 November 2010

Time: 1-2 pm
Where: Outside US Consulate, Martin Place.
Contact: MORE @ FB




Outside Parliament House, Canberra, when the farcical debate on Afghanistan was begun inside.

HUMAN RIGHTS DAY ORGANISING MEETING
6.30pm Monday November 8, 2010
Room 318, Level 3, Building 1
University of Technology, Broadway, Sydney
(near Central R'way station)
INFO 0412 139 968

Afghan feminist speaks


Malalai Joya on Afghanistan today
Tues, Nov 16, 5.30pm
University Hall, Level 2, Room 23 Building 4 (Faculty of Science)

University of Technology, Harris St, Ultimo

Ultimo, Australia

RSVP Rebecca Huntley
rhuntley@netspeed.com.au


DONATE to Stop the War Coalition
We rely on your support. Big or small donations help Stop the War Coalition organising ...

Stop the War Coalition
PO Box 458
BROADWAY NSW 2007

DIRECT DEPOSITS TO:
Stop the War Coalition
Commonwealth Bank
A/C No. 06 2498 10046565

A Few Short Farsi Jokes

آنگاه كه موسى در سرزمين قزوين عصاى خود را برزمين انداخت ندا آمد :

اى موسى! حالا اگر خايه دارى خم شو عصا را بردار

 

 

. چرخش روزگار ببین چیه: سوسک از موش میترسه،موش از گربه،گربه از سگ، سگ از مرد،مرد از زن،زن از سوسک.     ﻣﻴﺪﻭﻧﻲ ﻛﺎﺭ ﻋﻀﻠﻪ ﺑﺎﺳﻦ ﺧﺎﻧﻤﻬﺎ ﭼﻴﻪ ؟ ﺗﻨﻈﻴﻢ ﺣﺮﻛﺖ ﻣﺮﺩﻣﻚ ﭼﺸﻢ  ﺁﻗﺎﻳﺎﻥ        وا:دوستم داری؟ ادم:مگه چاره دیگه هم هست؟  (و این گونه بود که خداوند عشق را افرید)     اگه گفتي : "love is your face " يعني چي?? يعني جمالتو عشق است     میدونی چرا دخترها وقتی ار خواب پامیشن چشماشونو میمالند؟ چون تخم ندارند.     میدونی چرا بقالی سرخیابون به همه محرمه ؟ چون به همه شیر میده‎.‎       به آخونده میگن حاج آقاازشما کون گشادترم پیدا میشه میگه آره اونيكه ميگه حاج آقاالتماس دعا

 

 

 

 

سوراخ عقبى به سوراخ جلويى ميگه: ببخشيد كه ما خيلى سرو صدا داريم سوراخ جلويى ميگه:

اختيار دارين شما ببخشيد كه ما خيلى برو بيا داريم .