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Women’s rights are
human rights?
Stephen Henry Lewis,
United Nations’ envoy for HIV AIDS in Africa, 2006, said:
“[Women's rights have] never been made real, and so long as men control the levers and bastions of power… it never will be real. The demeaning diminution of women is everywhere evident… where freedom from sexual violence, the right to sexual autonomy, to sexual and reproductive health, social and economic independence, and even the whiff of gender equality are barely approximated. It’s a ghastly, deadly business, this untrammeled oppression of women in so many countries on the planet.”
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Refer Wikipedia.
Note 1: The Venetia Diamond Mine is South Africa’s largest producer of diamonds. It is situated…in the Limpopo province…within the 360 km² Venetia Limpopo Nature Reserve.
The open-pit mine is one of De Beers’ six remaining diamond mines in South Africa and the only major diamond mine to be developed in the country during the past 25 years. As such, the mine represents one of De Beers’ single biggest investments in South Africa.
In 2004 the mine had 955 employees and recovered 7,187,300 carats (1437.5 kg) of diamonds from 5,871,000 metric tons of ore.
Note 2: [Begun in 1888, De Beers has been mining for more than 125 years. De Beers is a privately held company with ties to Great Britain, the colonizers of the African continent. Not only do they mine the diamonds, they also own 26 retail diamond jeweler outlets in most major cities’ upscale locations around the globe. De Beers has recently expanded mining into Canada.]
Note 3: Over the last century, De Beers has been highly successful in increasing consumer demand for diamonds. One of the most effective marketing strategies has been the marketing of diamonds as a symbol of love and commitment.
A young copywriter, Frances Gerety coined the famous advertising line “A Diamond is Forever” in 1947, allegedly while she was dreaming.
In the year 2000, Advertising Age magazine named “A Diamond Is Forever” the best advertising slogan of the twentieth century.
[Above brackets are mine.]
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Simple as One, Two, Three
November…the month of one of America’s favorite holidays! Its temptations, tales, and traditions have been part of our culture since 1565, the first recorded feast and celebration by Spaniards arriving in what is now St. Augustine, Florida. During good times and the worst of times, Thanksgiving has been a day to celebrate gratitude, congregate families, and commemorate history.
This 2008 November has certainly earned its place in the annals of historical significance for the American people! Voters chose the nation’s first man of color and multi-cultures to be its 44th president. Whether our tables are laden or lacking this year, I wish for President-elect Obama and for all of us he represents, the compassion and understanding that can bring peace and abundance to our entire global family. The oceans, Earth, and heavens are all we have to share, and now is the only time we’ve been guaranteed.
With each breath, let us be grateful for the gift of life—perhaps the only living beings breathing in a finite universe filled with unfathomable opportunities and possibilities. Sisters and brothers are we, for to the best of our knowledge, there are none others. Let us cling together and face the future bravely.
One of Three
In many parts of the world such as Zimbabwe, Africa, the future is bleak, hopeless, dreaded by its citizens. HIV/AIDS was once thought to result from consensual sex amongst male homosexuals but is rapidly becoming ‘a women’s disease,’ even in retro-Victorian countries where females are anything but promiscuous. One of three (approximately 35%) Zimbabwean HIV/AIDS victims is female. Why is this devastating and deadly disease seemingly jumping genders? Possibly because of diamonds which in some societies have long been considered ‘a girl’s best friend’!
The diamond mines near Johannesburg, South Africa, have produced multi-billions of dollars in precious gem stones, industrial grade diamonds, and iron ore from the hidden treasure buried in Earth’s crust. Whether harvested for industrial use or for ‘bling,’ diamonds are coveted in most cultures for multiple reasons. But beyond the high-security fences of the protected mines, not all lifestyles are positively affected by the presence of these rare crystalline carbons.
The majority of mining work is performed by males, many of whom are from the northern countries bordering South Africa. Most reside in mining camps where living conditions are barely tolerable. But one perk that can always be found in profit centers where males cluster are prostitutes, willing or forced, whose purpose it is to (a) keep males from killing each other as testosterone surges; (b) prevent males from humping each other after they’ve punched out on the time clock; and (c) keep the workers happy and ensure they stay close to the work site.
Many of the prostitutes are sex slaves ‘belonging’ to a pimp, or they are at the mercy of a government pimping for larger sums of foreign aid, greater profits from the sale of natural resources, or simply unwarranted power over others. In most cases, she has been denied education, yet expected to help feed her family by whatever means she can devise. But the sale of her body most often does not include protection from sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), unwanted pregnancy, or undeserved physical and emotional abuse.
The male miners are notorious for venturing home to their villages whenever possible to take stock of their spouses and families, too often carrying a deadly virus within their bodies that is unknowingly spread to an unsuspecting wife, girlfriend, or same-sex partner. Because treatment is seldom adequate and almost always too late, murder by proxy ensues with each infection of HIV/AIDS, of which there are currently more than 40 million.
Thanksgiving…a time of gratitude for health, happiness, and freedoms.
Two of Three
In stark contrast to the immensity of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, it is heartening to know that women are two of three 2009 TED Prize Winners, a prestigious award accompanied by $100,000 to each winner.
Prior to the 20th century, females could have frequently been described as lacunae (a missing part, blank space, gap) in the scientific community. But now, thanks to organizations such as TED, the expertise and achievements of women are surfacing as never before. Two of the three 2009 TedPrize Winners are females, and their careers have been dedicated to the extreme heights and depths of scientific realms:
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Sylvia Earle is an oceanographer, explorer, author and lecturer with a deep commitment to research through personal exploration. Her work has been at the frontier of deep ocean exploration for four decades…involving more than 6,000 hours underwater….In 1979, Sylvia walked untethered on the sea floor at a lower depth than any other woman before or since. She is a dedicated advocate for the world’s oceans and the creatures that live in them. Her voice speaks with wonder and amazement…and with urgency to awaken the public from its ignorance about the role the oceans play in all of our lives and the importance of maintaining their health. Refer TED.
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Astronomer Jill Tarter is Director of SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute …. [Jill] has devoted her career to hunting for signs of sentient beings elsewhere, and almost all aspects of this field have been affected by her work…a decade-long SETI scrutiny of about 750 nearby star systems…. Jill is committed to the education of future citizens and scientists…[and] was Principal Investigator for two curriculum development projects funded by NSF, NASA, and others….Life in the Universe series…for grades 3-9. The other project, Voyages Through Time, is an integrated high school science curriculum on the fundamental theme of evolution in six modules: Cosmic Evolution, Planetary Evolution, Origin of Life, Evolution of Life, Hominid Evolution and Evolution of Technology. Refer TED.
Thanksgiving…a time of appreciation for women and men with intelligence, foresight, and commitment.
Three of Three
Women must become the muckrakers of the HIV/AIDS black hole that is sucking in victims faster than we can calculate for statistical reporting. As Stephen H. Lewis laments, while the endless U.N. and G-8 discussions, meetings, and indecisions continue, thousands of new infections are happening every 24 hours.
Since Lewis’s presentation (refer Lynne’s Resources Page) at the 2006 conference during which he stated that 52% of the world’s population are females, the numbers of females has dropped to less than 50% in just two years! This is an alarming statistical change, and left unchecked, could possibly have an irreversible effect on the DNA diversity of the African populace within a very short time frame. Multiple wars and genocides have also taken their tolls of females during the last two decades, as well as contributing greatly to the spread of HIV/AIDS.
At least three steps must be taken to halt the disease and its decimation of the female gender in particular and the human family in general:
1. Adequate priority funding.
2. Global education on prevention.
3. Gender equality to end female subjugation.
Albeit, researchers and scientists are dedicated to their particular fields of interest, they must rally the general populace to this greater cause. I dare say that had the same amount of time, resources, and expertise been devoted to the eradication of HIV/AIDS as that which was devoted to the development of Viagra, military weapons, and advertising campaigns for diamonds, the dreaded, deadly disease might already be a thing of the past.
Thanksgiving…a time of gratitude to those who serve causes greater than their own passions.
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