Sunday, September 21, 2014

LGBT in Ugunda/ Smile for a Lifetime program

Sept. 1 LGBT in Ugunda: I read in the Metro on Aug. 18, 2014 “Ugundan LGBTs live in fear despite overturned anti-homosexuality law.”

Brizan Ogolloan, founder of an aid organization that works in Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp: “They knew at an international level and at the diplomatic level, the decision is going to have an impact, but at the local level, it won’t really.  You can overrule the law, but you can’t overrule the mind.”

My opinion: This is sad.  At first it’s good that they overturned the law, but in the article it goes on to talk about how gay people are still living in fear, hiding, and leaving the country.

Me to We charity: I read in the Metro on Aug. 7, 2014 “Giving back with a backpack.”  If you buy anything like backpacks, lunch bags, reusable water bottles from the Me to We Back to School Collection, half of the net profits go to a child or family in the Free the Children community overseas.  Go here to shop:


Adam Levine: He is the lead singer of Maroon 5.  I read in the Metro on Jul. 22, 2014 that he got married to model Behati Prinsloo.  They asked that instead of buying wedding gifts, they asked their 100 guests to make donations to the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles.

Selena Gomez: I read in the Metro on Jul. 22, 2014 that she at first tweeted “Pray for Gaza.”  Her followers were picking fights with her and each other.  There was a backlash, so Gomez tweeted a stock photo of meditating woman: “And of course to be clear, I am not picking any sides.  I am praying for peace and humanity for all.”

Smile for a Lifetime program:  I read in the Metro on Jul. 31, 2014 “Service and a smile.”  It covered how a then 12 yr old Wynne Thompson-Dick had teeth pulled out and have metal spacers in her mouth to get braces on.  Then her father got terminally ill, and lost dental coverage at his work.  Her orthodontist wouldn’t finish the treatment without pay.

Edmonton orthodontist Dr. Amer Hussien then stepped up and completed the work for free.  He is now offering free braces to kids who can’t afford it.

Dr. Amer: “There are lots of kids that are high achievers but lack self-confidence- they don’t smile.” 

He is offering up to 6 children a year (aged 11-17) free braces through the Smile for a Lifetime program.

Wynne’s mom Andrea: “It has made a huge difference to us; this has been a gift.”  Their 14 yr old son James also got free braces from Hussein.

Pure Orthodontics, an advisory board of community leaders, guidance counselors and others, Dr. Amer is gathering applications for children to get the 2-3 yr treatment of braces.  The $6000-$10,000 will be paid for by Dr. Amer.

Go to www. pureorthodontics.ca for the program intake.

My opinion: That is so nice of Dr. Amer.  My siblings and I had braces.  I felt so sorry for Wynne when they can’t put braces on her.  I was like: “So take out the metal spacers?”  If Dr. Amer wasn’t there, I guess the family could start looking for the cheapest orthodontist and easier payments to make.

Date rape drug detector: I read in the Metro on Aug. 5, 2014 “Date-rape drug detector coming to a bar near you?”  The pd.id or Personal Drink ID looks like a USB drive, and it’s a drug detection for common date-rape drugs.  You dip it in your drink and seconds later, it will show if it’s safe to drink on the LED display.  David Wilson from Toronto created in when he was creating a cancer-scanning technology in hospitals.

The pd.id combined with a smart phone, will tell if the drink has been spiked.  It can even “call the user’s phone with a recorded message, giving a potential victim an opportunity to get out of the situation.”

My opinion: Now this is a good and useful product to save lives.

Women’s rights: I read in the Metro on Aug. 5, 2014 “Turk women miss punchline.”  Women’s rights activists and legislators filed a complaint against Turkey’s deputy prime minister Bulent Arinc who said that women should not be allowed to laugh in public.

Legislator Aylin Nazliaka filed a complaint against him because it’s violating charters on gender and discrimination and allowing women to become “targets” of possible violence.  It may not go to court, but it does tell Arinc that his comment is unacceptable.

My opinion: I also later read that Turkey women are taking pictures of themselves laughing in public and putting it up on the internet.

Saudi women: I read in the Metro on Dec. 17, 2013 “Education for Saudi women is improving, but jobs still limited.”  Females make up 58% of grads, but only hold a third of jobs in the public sector.  There are lots of female-only campuses in Saudi Arabia because the country spend billions of dollars to improve women’s education.  However, they still have to wear a black abaya robe when they leave the campus.

There are still “moves to ease restrictions on women in the kingdom, where the word of strict ultraconservative Wahhabi clerics is virtually law.”

Aziza Yousef (professor at the women’s college of King Saud University): “No matter what happens, women are still bound by male guardianship laws and strict cultural norms.”

My opinion: There are a lot of situations with pros and cons.  There are a few small steps forward.

Sept. 4 Crazy video: Here’s a video “2 women survive ordeal along Indiana rail bridge.”  The video shows two women walking on the tracks and this train was about to hit them.  They got out of the way fast.


Stupid criminals: I found this Yahoo news: “Woman Caught When she Posts Stolen dress Selfie on Instagram.”

Comments:

“A lack of taste, stupid, and a social media junkie - not exactly a catch now is she.”
 
 “She is a catch, after all, she got caught!”


A Nova Scotia woman thrust into the spotlight after winning the heart of an Irishman on a plane says she’s flattered her “easy on the eyes” flight mate started a campaign in hopes of finding her.

Katie Moreau of Riverport says she was shocked to learn Jamie Kelly, the Galway man she sat next to on a Ryanair flight from Barcelona to Dublin, was so infatuated with her that he took to national Irish radio to find her.

“I was obviously very surprised and flattered,” she wrote in an email to CBC News. “When I was on the plane I talked to him incessantly because I had just been travelling for two months in Italy and Spain and it was just so nice to be around English speaking people, plus I'm a talker. We had lots in common plus he was very easy on the eyes.”



Happy news: I found this Yahoo article “Exposed by my Children for what I really look like.”  Here’s an excerpt: 

“I took that of you in Tahoe,” he says. “You looked so beautiful laying there. I couldn’t help it mom.”

“You need to ask me before using my phone to take pictures,” I say.

“I know,” he says. “But mom, seriously, look how pretty you look?”

I look at the picture again and try to see what he sees.

My daughter walks over and takes a look.

“That could be a postcard mom,” she says smiling. “You’re so beautiful. I love it.”



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