I agree. This is indeed so wrong and heartbreaking! Let's pray for an immediate truce between Israel and Hamas as well as comfort and aid to the suffering and innocent.

Good for Michael Jackson since it appears converting has made him happy. Apparently Michael's brother Jermaine converted long before him. Whatever gives someone comfort and peace is a good thing and should be embraced (i.e. we should be happy for people when they find a sense of peace in this world). Also, Michael has been an outcast in the US for a while now. Maybe he met some lovely Muslim people who treated him kindly and made him feel welcome in their community.

Thanks for the report, cartoon, videos and associated news stories GoGreen.  I had so much fun watching the show last weekend.  It was highly entertaining, and I laughed out loud often.  Sarah Palin was indeed tested, and she did a good job.

Thank you for the story drawab.  This is extremely upsetting to me, and we must continue to encourage coverage on this topic so it results in more global awareness.  V-Day is the best movement/organization (I'm aware of) dedicated to preventing violence against women around the world.  The website is http://v10.vday.org/.  Victims should contact the V-Day movement directly no matter where they live in the world.  This is the description from their website.

V-Day is a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. V-Day is a catalyst that promotes creative events to increase awareness, raise money and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations. V-Day generates broader attention for the fight to stop worldwide violence against women and girls, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM) and sexual slavery.

Yes, let's be glad it was a small one!

Wow, thanks for the info. onomatopoeia.  Cheers ~

Yea, SD is great state!  It must be great not having to worry about earthquakes as well as being so close to Canada.  Cheers Roxanne!

You are absolutely right.  She'd have been perfect for McCain but is too associated with Bush!

Too bad Condi isn't a Democrat because she would've been a great VP choice for Obama's ticket to compensate for his lack of foreign policy experience.

I love Condi, too.  She's a classy, intelligent and talented woman with an impressive background and political record.

Great story Punditty.  And you are completely right that this should not be about Bristol Palin (bless her heart as she is only 17 and clearly wasn't given good guidance by her mother).  This is about the judgment of John McCain and Sarah Palin.

I suspect the Obamas agree, but Barack obviously feels he's not in a position to comment on this particular matter.  He's too high-profile, and it's sensitive as it involves an 17 year old.  Politicians get ugly enough, and it's best that they don't comment on each other's families.  However, it can be a good thing when citizens are outspoken and question the judgment of fellow Americans without being hateful.  It can be good dialogue to have and can foster the positive evolution of our society.

I think this story is very sad for 2 reasons.  First, it's of course sad that 2 of the infants died.  However, they should've never been born in the first place.

The second reason I think this is sad is because this couple already has 3 healthy girls in a world with 6 billion people!  They obviously don't think they're lucky enough to have 3 girls.  I recognize their desire for a boy (to the point that they used fertility drugs which only increased the likelihood of multiple births), but I view having more than 2 children in 2008 as extremely selfish.

Yes, it is considered a person choice to have children in the modern world, but doesn't anyone think about the future?  Is everyone so selfish, unconscious and ignorant to the realities that they fail to recognize/acknowledge population predictions which will have a devastating effect on our already over-stressed environment?  What about the future environment these children will live in?  Shouldn't we now consider personal RESPONSIBILITY over a selfish personal choice?  It shouldn't matter where you live, what your religion is, etc.  Certainly this issue is difficult in countries where there is no access to birth control, education about family planning, etc.  People still need to be educated and cognizant of this issue!

Even in the U.S. I hear people making excuses for large families so they can justify their choice.  I've heard things like, "I'm sure a pandemic will come and kill off 2/3 of the world's population to even things out."  I wonder how they'd feel if their children were part of that 2/3.  And is that how we should approach the future (i.e. expect/rely on tragedy and more suffering to fix the problem as opposed to plan intelligently)?  I've also heard, "Well, the population explosion isn't happening here in the U.S.  It's happening in developing countries."  Yes, that's true.  There's no explosion here, but it's still growing at a rate the environment can't handle.  Predictions show the U.S. at 449 million people by 2030 which will only be exacerbated by legal and illegal immigration.

The population RATE must go DOWN in order to stabilize the population so our environment can sustain it.  Even at 3 billion people worldwide (which by the way was ONLY 30 years ago), we were already seeing negative effects on the environment and seeing the extinction of species.  China had to finally legislate reproduction because people failed to show self-control or plan intelligently.  WAKE UP WORLD!  The future is not bright at this rate.  The Wachowski brothers were right when they wrote in their film THE MATRIX that human beings are like a disease that spreads and consumes all the natural resources until there's nothing left.

And just to note, I adore children (so that's not the point), but I have none yet so I'm not a hypocrite.  We need to increase the volume and dialogue on this issue.  I was so saddened and depressed when my friend told me she went home to place she'd had visited in years only to find none of the open spaces left (hills, meadows, valleys, etc.) left due to overdevelopment caused by demand which is fueled by population growth and migration.  There was nothing left there but track houses and condos.

Thanks for the report JamesLukeDavid.  It's an interesting theory and real possibility, and I'm waiting to see what happens!

This kind of Chinese appetite makes me sick! I do not judge eating strange things, but China in general has proven to have a total lack of respect for and lack of intelligent approach toward the environment. This of course does not apply to the entire population, but the fact that the culture in general allows this is pathetic, selfish, ignorant and repulsive. I do not deny other types of environmental ignorance in the US, but this problem doesn't exist in the US.

Dennis Gray from The Associated Press wrote a great article about this in April of 2004 titled "Asia's wildlife hunted for China's appetite - Beliefs about health and sex drive the destruction" (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4585068/). Gray explains "the trade network that funnels fauna and flora from across the region to satisfy a seemingly insatiable demand in China." He describes how "parts of vanishing species from Southeast Asia's forests are laid out for Chinese buyers seeking sex boosters, cures for cancer and exotic food." He also notes that "with China's growing affluence, more can afford exotic wildlife dishes once served only at banquets of the elite." The fact that China has overpopulated it's own country increases demand further.

Apparently the Chinese government is trying curb the trade but obviously not enough. It's the tradition culture that feeds the demand. Gray warns "ecologists agree the current harvest is unsustainable and will inevitably lead to the eradication of species." Clearly the Chinese are unwilling to evolve their way of thinking and prefer to blindly follow traditional culture despite a changing world and fragile eco-system. China's superstitions in this regard are nonsensical especially since it's the 21st Century and science can disprove these notions.

Shame on you China for allowing and encouraging an appetite for endangered or outlawed wildlife! I consider this necessary judgment ( eg like judging our own country for dependence on oil, overconsumption, etc.). I will not buy anything from China nor visit the country again until this stops.

 

Yes, this is egregious and a total abuse of human rights.  It's good to hear they're holding rallies in Pakistan for her release.  Let's speak out and raise the volume here on allvoices and rally people online to fuel/encourage more rallies.  Hopefully that will add additional pressure on authorities.

I agree with 'snail' that this issue is extremely disconcerting. And yes, it seems some people are reverting back to old behaviors and not learning from mistakes in history. There is no excuse for this kind of hatred, and it is driven by complete ignorance. It is important to bring attention to this issue, continue the dialogue, help enlighten people and discuss solutions.

And to be crystal clear, when I refer to "sacrifices" I mean those relating to the environment (i.e. modern conveniences/lifestyle).

Snail, I completely agree with you that people need to educate themselves on environmental issues and that each person needs to be willing to make sacrifices now and not later (and they're NOT even hard sacrifices!). From my perspective, many Americans (for example) don't even know what really tough sacrifices are like. I, myself, don't even feel I've had to experience hard-core sacrifices compared to many other people around the world which is why I see recommendations (such as those from the World Wildlife Fund) as easy to implement. People need to evolve their consciousness, behave intelligently, take personal responsibility and resist/control their selfish default setting (i.e. how we're all born) for the greater good. Too often people get caught up in trivial things in life and caught up in being busy, and they ignore or are oblivious to what is really happening.

It is very easy to do our part individually (see http://www.worldwildlife.org/climate/item3797.html for what you can do to fight climate change). Not a day goes by where I don't worry about our beautiful environment, and I struggle with weightiness of the problems because they're depressing. I feel an intense connection to the environment (as it is where I feel most at peace and the most spiritual) which is why I'm acutely conscious of the issues. The environment is precious to me, and we all need it. It is extraordinarily frustrating that not everyone cares as much or is as conscious as others. This sounds harsh and judgmental (but it's necessary and good judgment), but many people are often too selfish, lazy and in denial about the problems. We hold our children's future and the future of the environment in our hands and cannot afford to be passive! And there is no excuse for people in developed nations not to take the lead and set the example. After all, with regards to consumption, etc., we are the ones causing the majority of the damage.

Dh, thank you for reporting this story on allvoices and bringing attention to these particular issues in Florida. Yes, I agree it is unacceptable that the current state attorney does not practice more balanced law enforcement and fails to enforce white collar crimes. And if your report/statements are accurate, which they probably are as it's not hard to believe, it's egregious. You are indeed right that these are illegal and ignorant violations showing total lack of regard and respect for the environment, local citizens, etc. Hopefully by making the facts public and exposing these crimes it will help to initiate intelligent resolution to these injustices.

I agree with Watergate that the hope is for humans to deal with issues in the most humane way possible regardless of religion. Even as modern people, we have a long way to go. If we are not always striving for peace, evolving our consciousness, etc. then we are not behaving as intelligent beings and certainly not encouraging a brighter future. Dialogue on all global issues is extremely important. I love the fact that allvoices enables dialogue on important news/issues in a fantastically designed forum.