Colony Collapse Disorder : Blogging Against Disablism Day � Andrea’s Buzzing About:

This is a great post from another blog, Andrea's Buzzing About, which gets you thinking...

Colony Collapse Disorder : Blogging Against Disablism Day � Andrea’s Buzzing About:: "The honeybees are in danger.

I don’t care; I hate bugs!

Too few people with disabilities complete their education or are fully employed.

That’s not my problem; I don’t know any of Those People.

Curiously, these two things are more related than you might imagine, at least on the social level."

Disabled Access

Disabled Access
Originally uploaded by Edward Horsford

Err...really??

Harsh

Harsh
Originally uploaded by Dan Barham

I think that I would be very upset if I were to be clamped!!

Arms Control

OK, off the usual subjects for a post, but I do feel that this is actually linked to Disability; as I know of several people who are now disabled due to to crimes where weapons were used, and they were shot.  Prevention is always better than cure.  We need to have stricter arms controls all over the world, but especially here in South Africa...

Therefore I have joined, and would encourage any readers of this blog to join, the Amnesty International Control Arms project.

Some startling figures for you:

• There are 640,000,000 guns in circulation in the world.
  
• 8,000,000 are being produced each year.
• Every minute someone dies from armed violence...in the same minute the world produces another 15 weapons.
• 153 Governments voted in December 2006 to start to work towards an international Arms Trade Treaty.
• 24 Counties abstained.
• 1 Country voted against the treaty - the USA...
• 85% of all killings recorded by Amnesty International involve the use of small arms and light weapons.
• 60% of the world's firearms are in the hands of private individuals.
• 2 Bullest are produced for every man, woman & child on the planet each year.

If you are also appalled by the figures above, then please join the campaign.  Go to www.controlarms.org and sign up

The Nth Degree Catalog: Advocacy Shirts

There are some excellent shirts here...the only problem is which one(s)!!

The Nth Degree Catalog: Advocacy Shirts: "SAME STRUGGLE CLOSER LOOKsame struggle shirt image see text description below ORDER IT DESCRIPTION: Black shirt with white handwritten message on front saying 'Same struggle, Different Difference.'"

The Elders

I am watching this latest development "The Elders" with huge interest & hope!!! Please have a look at http://www.theelders.org/elders/ and show your support...

The ONE Campaign | Issues

Please go to this website, and even if you don't sign up, read up on the issues...

The ONE Campaign | Issues: "MORE AND BETTER AID


International assistance saves lives, directly helping and empowering individuals to help themselves. Increasing international assistance by an amount equal to just ONE percent of the U.S. budget will:

* Reduce by half the number of people in the world who suffer from hunger.
* Provide free access to primary education for 77 million out-of-school children.
* Provide access to clean water to 450 million people and basic sanitation to 700 million people.
* Prevent 5.4 million young children from dying of poverty-related illnesses each year.
* Save 16,000 lives a day by fighting HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria."

South Africa and Iraq: the missing example David Mikhail - openDemocracy

Hmm; an interesting, thought provoking article. But I do feel that the author slightly underplays the significance that the world's only living statesman played in all this: Mandela (or Madiba, as he is affectionately known by all here).

South Africa and Iraq: the missing example David Mikhail - openDemocracy: "The successful transition to democracy in South Africa could be an inspiration to Iraqis struggling with their own legacy of violence and dictatorship, says David Mikhail."

BBC NEWS | Business | Africa aid target 'may be missed'

Credit where it is due (pun intended!); we may argue that 0.51% is too small... but at least one country made it; pity a few more could not achieve the same...

BBC NEWS | Business | Africa aid target 'may be missed': "The European Union (EU) set a target for its 15 established members to give 0.51% of Gross National Income (GNI) in aid by 2010 and 0.7% by 2013.

In 2006 the UK provided �6.85bn in aid which amounts to 0.52% of Gross National Income."

Doing my little bit, and showing my support...in the hope that they may still find Alan Johnston alive. I use the BBC extensively, for news, and research. I believe that they offer a valuable, relatively unbiased report on most news events. I wish that people would realise that a free media is a prerequisite for a free world. Without reporters like Alan Johnston, we would not be able to learn about a whole raft of different issues. Somebody, and possibly some organisation knows...we can only hope that enough pressure can be applied, not just from politicians, to allow us to find out what has happened, and hopefully find Alan alive.

BBC NEWS | Business | Pressure grows on World Bank boss

This is the quite dreadful neo-conservative who was foisted on the World Bank by the Bush administration to deal with the perceived corruption within that organization. Is this a case of gamekeeper turned poacher? I believe that it is yet another example of cronyism and blatant corruption within the neo-conservative ranks of the present White House administration. Their arrogance and hypocrisy never fail to amaze (and shock) me. Shock and awe indeed!

BBC NEWS | Business | Pressure grows on World Bank boss: "In an editorial, Britain's Financial Times newspaper called for Wolfowitz to step down.

'If the president stays, (the World Bank) risks becoming an object not of respect, but of scorn, and its campaign in favour of good governance not a believable struggle, but blatant hypocrisy,' it said."

Religious right launches rival to 'un-American' Wikipedia

This is so funny! I use Wikipedia a lot, and find it a very useful resource. On one level, I think it is hilarious that the American religious right wing feels so threatened by "non American" spelling of words... That would be the correct way then?? (Try being a "real" English user, and the battles we have with the stupid spell checkers with Microsoft...yes, I know we can change to English (UK), but it keeps changing back to English (US)). But on another level, I do find this quite disturbing; if they are so insecure, and bigoted then we should only expect more trouble from them. This is designed to be a project for home-schooled children, and they hope it will become the "largest & most reliable" online educational resource of its kind...I sincerely hope not, and I hope enough people see this silly, zenophobic, racist project for what it really represents.

Religious right launches rival to 'un-American' Wikipedia: "DINOSAURS. They may not exist, but they're just launched their own online encyclopaedia. Conservapedia claims to be 'a much-needed alternative to Wikipedia, which is increasingly anti-Christian and anti-American.'

Rather than having anything as mundane as posting rules, Conservapedia has Commandments. The first Commandment is ' Everything you post must be true and verifiable.' Strange that, I always thought it was 'Thou shalt have no other gods before me.' But Conservapedia is 'the encyclopedia you can trust' – apart from knowing how to spell 'encyclopaedia', obviously – so I must be mistaken. Oooh, hang on, Commandment Five says that American spelling of words must be used. And as everyone knows, both Jesus and his dad were born in the USA.

Coming back to Conservapedia's First Commandment, it will be interesting to see exactly how any reference to the Bible will be verified as fact. Obviously, as a new site, many subjects have yet to appear, or are in need of expansion. This is the full article on Iraq, for example:

A Middle-Eastern country, currently occupied by U.S. Troops.

We feel sure that all God-fearing INQUIRER readers will step up to the plate and fill in a few of these gaps for them. If you don't, the turrists will have won"

Sweet Photo

This is a sweet photo - found on Flickr. Well done 'Light Saver"!

CYCLING; Cycling Race Says It Failed To Test for EPO - New York Times

This is bizarre at best, but it is also completely crass. Drug taking has spoiled the enjoyment for me of many (most?) sports. Now, whenever a sports person manages to pull off an amazing feat, or struggle through adversity, there is always the nagging doubt that they could have cheated. I remember watching Landis after his 'victory' on that stage in the Tour de France last year. He looked like he was "on" something: his eyes were darting all over the place, I could not believe it. I even said to my wife at the time, that he looked really odd, and that I guessed he was taking some drug. Yes; I think he is a cheat. I am also suspicious of Armstrong too. And I hate being suspicious of sportsmen and women like that. Sport should be inspiring and uplifting, but in recent years, first the communist blok countries, and then so many different sportsmen and women (predominantly from the USA) have been caught cheating. The US officials have an appalling record of hiding the results of doping tests, and allowing this systematic cheating to continue.

CYCLING; Cycling Race Says It Failed To Test for EPO - New York Times: "And now, organizers of the Tour of California, who boasted after last year's race that no riders tested positive for banned substances, have acknowledged that riders were not tested for what has become the sport's most abused drug -- the blood booster known as EPO.

That failure is more surprising because the lead sponsor of the Tour of California is Amgen, the California biotechnology company that produces the genetically engineered version of EPO, which is sold primarily to help cancer and dialysis patients battle anemia."

Enham - News Articles

This is not surprising, but nevertheless worrying, information. I would recommend that people read Vash "The Psychology of Disability". In her book she explores this in some depth. I use this knowledge when I am called upon to speak to a group; it has been proven that a person sitting in a wheelchair carries less "weight" than if that person were standing, and this is even true when the audience is made up of predominantly wheelchair users too. I therefore use other techniques (rolling about the stage, raising and lowering volume and tone of my presentation or lecture, etc.)

Enham - News Articles: "NEW RESEARCH REVEALS PREJUDICE AMONGST DISABLED PEOPLE

Dr Mark Deal, Research and Development Manager at Enham and PhD student at City University, London, has conducted a study which surprisingly reveals prejudice amongst disabled people against other impairment groups and that there exists a hierarchy of impairment based on a range of factors. For example: both disabled and non-disabled people rank those with a mental illness or learning disability as the least desirable, with deafness followed by arthritis as the most desirable or accepted form of impairment."

Piri Reis Map

My business partner & I had one of our many interesting debates recently. While we agree on most things related to business (fortunately!), we do have different approaches to other matters. Anyway, amongst discussions, the topic of the Piri Reis Map came up. Given our different approaches to other matters, it was not surprising that we each had a different 'take' on the map. I think we had both (certainly from my point of view) come to hear about the map through Hancock's "Fingerprints of the Gods". But we obviously came away with quite different perceptions from reading that book... I thought it basically well written (he is a journalist, & not a scientist after all!), but his theories left me cold. Although he gave a lot of space to the map in his book, there were few other cartography references (other than some vague, odd references to a retired US Admiral).

But the conversation sparked an interest, and (as is my wont), I decided to find out a little more about the map. Putting Piri Reis into any Internet search engine will trigger an avalanche of hits...the job is to sift through all the garbage until you begin to find a picture... There is lots and lots of complete nonsense written about this map, that is for sure. One site that did appear to give a good, logical, description was Professor Steve Dutch's site, and I would encourage people to have a look at his explanation.

Some FAQ's

Very interesting Web Pages:

Some FAQ's: "Why Don't Politicians Ever Tell The Truth?

They do. Every election there are politicians that defy conventional wisdom and tell the plain truth. And every Wednesday after Election Day the papers have a name for them: defeated."

Microsoft Survey of People who may benefit from Accessibility Features

This is a very interesting, large, survey. The results speak for themselves:

Examples: "In 2003 and 2004, Software giant Microsoft commissioned a representative survey of the range of abilities across the working age population and its likely impact on computer technology and usage. The goal was to identify the range of physical and cognitive abilities among working age adults and current computer users in the US, and also to identity the types of difficulties and impairments that limit computer use, their range and degree of severity, and the number of people who could benefit from accessible technology.

The 15,000 people sampled delivered a clear and very powerful message: 57% of them could benefit from accessibility features that are often buried within the operating system, rather than being made evident to the mainstream user. In other words, software developed for what Microsoft regarded as a minority of the population - disabled and older users - offers benefits to the majority. The impact of this research on Microsoft has been significant, pushing accessibility high up the agenda for management and software developers alike."

Doubts grow over South Africa as host | World Cup | Football | Sport | Telegraph

I think this is a well thought out article, and I hope it serves as a wake-up call to the many people involved with the 2010 Soccer World Cup here. From our own involvment, we have been staggered at the arrogancy of some people (mostly politicians) invloved with this. There is much to do, and very little time to complete it in. We need to collectively extract our digits and get on with the work.

Doubts grow over South Africa as host | World Cup | Football | Sport | Telegraph: "Doubts grow over South Africa as host

By Oliver Brown in Cape Town
Last Updated: 12:54am GMT 23/03/2007

Have your say Read comments

In the lush surrounds of Cape Town's Metropolitan golf club, you are hard pressed to find signs of South Africa's struggle to be ready for the next World Cup. For on these fairways an auspicious 'sod-turning' ceremony is being held, to mark the first visible step in the creation of the city's 68,000-seat Green Point Stadium. But, as the speeches and blessings drag on, one question becomes inescapable. In three years' time, this site will host one of the tournament's semi-finals, so should there not, by now, be more than a spade in the ground?"

GPS navigation plan to help blind

This is a very exciting use of new Technologies. I shall be watching this closely.

An Italian technology company is pioneering a GPS satellite system that will give blind people greater independence and mobility.

The Easy Walk service has been developed by Il Village, a firm in Turin in northern Italy.

It is currently being tested by a group of 30 people from the Italian Blind Union who are providing feedback. The plan is for Easy Walk to be launched to blind and partially sighted people in Piedmont in the autumn.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6458005.stm