Human Rights Day, Dec. 10th what can you do???

When we discussed human rights day in class today some asked me to blog this site so they can investigate later so here it is. We looked at the Lubican Cree situation up north and there is a video that is 36 minutes long that will tell of their plight. Let me know what you think and/or discuss further in class. Suggestions for human rights day welcomed!?
Two extra links worth checking out youth for human rights and/or human rights.org also worth a look.

Out of the mouth of babes...strong social message

This Declan is quite the singer but his lyrics are quite incredible. For a 12 year old the time of this song, this is  simply beautiful and meaningful and if you're like this emotional Italian type, have a tissue handy.  Ton's of political/economic implications in this song, give me a an email on it if you'd like. Enjoy!

Human development index...some new twists

In it's 20th year of statistical research there are some new features to this United Nations based index which can be found here. For example, when they measure a countries health, they are going beyond wealth and using 'sustainability' into the equation. By doing so it reveals a more accurate picture of a countries wealth. For example, the United States rank based on it's human health index without taking into account environmental health is 4th in the world but in new rank it drops to 24th taking into account it's ecological footprint. A new term called the Multidimensional Human Index, takes into account the factors of education, health and living standards to get a more complete look at how a country is truly doing. As well, the usual statistical information on wealth, poverty, education is available. It's a long report but do take some time to look at some of the statistics, I find it all interesting and hopefully so will you...do send me notes on anything you find interesting in the report.

Friends of medicare

As we discussed in class, here is the link you'll need if you want to investigate the issue of health care and privatization. The 4 minute video you will find on this page will give you a sense of what path the Friends of Medicare believes the new Alberta Health Act will take. Do view the video and read the report on the Health Care Act or seek out other perspectives on the direction health care seems to be taking. For a list of the five principles that guide health care, take a look here. Looking forward to reading your responses.

Keith Olbermann on the Tea Party

Is this rant against the Tea Party Republican's warranted? Is his rant just a another liberal voice in the sea of conservatism that 'seems' to have been sweating through the States? Certainly media outlets like Fox news with their disciples like Glenn would have us believe this. However, as I listened to this 20 minute video, I couldn't help ask myself, are the policies some of these folks in the Tea Party really good for them? Do folks really think the mess America is in could have started with Obama? I'm looking forward cautiously I might add to Tuesday's results. If you want to listen to the rant (first 5-10 minutes will give you the drift and last 5 are very powerful), you can find it here.

The Empathic Civilisation

Nimo from my block class sent this one to me, truly amazing research on our empathetic impulses. What implication/s does this have in our social, politic and economic lives? I'd love to hear your your reactions, you can find the 10 minute video here.

Resolution 1325 ten years later calling on ending violence....

against women in conflict areas and allowing women to participate in peace building. The UN certainly has the political message right but what about action? How are our politicians pursuing this just cause? Here's an idea, write your MP and find out? Here's a link to MP's mailbox's. Why not ask him/her about progress being made in this regard? If you send a letter, cc it me and a response when/if you get one. Here is the link for the UN article, there is a short side bar video as well (about one and half minutes to go along with it).

Working Class Hero

To commemorate John Lennon's 70th I thought I'd post a song seldom heard anymore. It has a lot of significance given our current unit of study. Listen intently and if need be google the song's lyrics then send me an email with how it relates to what we've studied in economics. The song can be found here.