Don't let your Senators keep Guantanamo open

I got this from Amnesty International: 

 http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/site/c.6oJCLQPAJiJUG/b.8745865/k.5035/Close_Guantanamo__Call_Your_Senator.htm?msource=W1307EHSHR1&kntaw48281=5E7437BDEB6A413ABE53299015839C0D

Dear Tracy,

We are at a pivotal moment in our efforts to close Guantanamo. Soon each and every Senator will vote on Guantanamo transfer provisions in the next National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). It all comes down to Rights 101 - all detainees must be charged and fairly tried in U.S. federal court or released.

Pick up the phone and tell them to support closing Guantanamo now!

Amnesty supporters have already been making the phones ring off the hook this year for offices in the House of Representatives and White House. It seems like our message is finally beginning to get through! Last month, President Obama announced concrete steps to close down the shameful detention facility once and for all.

But some Senators—like Ayotte of New Hampshire and Inhofe of Oklahoma--are vowing to keep the shameful prison open.

That's why it is critical we keep up the pressure now! Call the Senate switchboard and ask to be connected to your two Senators at 202.224.3121. Be sure to tell us how your call went so that we can follow up during our next visit to Capitol Hill.

Senator Levin recently released his draft NDAA bill. Good news - the Guantanamo provisions are an improvement over last year's legislation. Now it's up to us to protect these improved provisions as the bill goes through the full Senate.

This fight is not going to be easy, but we're in this for the long haul.

Thank you for your unwavering commitment to closing Guantanamo! We'll continue to keep you posted as things progress.

Sincerely,

Zeke Johnson
Director, Security & Human Rights Program
Amnesty International USA

Demand freedom for Bahraini human rights defender and prisoner of conscience Abdulhadi al-Khawaja

I got this from Amnesty International: 

http://e-activist.com/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1770&ea.campaign.id=21506&ea.url.id=156680&ea.campaigner.email=4PH318B4QP8bTUURO9nMPBFFMe9grgD0&ea_broadcast_target_id=0

Call for the immediate release of prisoner of conscience Abdulhadi al-Khawaja: unjustly jailed, beaten and tortured for peacefully demanding democratic reform in Bahrain.

Abdulhadi al-Khawaja is a human rights activist and co-founder of The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, who faces life in prison after an unfair trial before a military court in June 2011.

His crime?  Being one of the leaders of popular and overwhelmingly peaceful anti-government protests in February and March 2011.

At the height of the so-called “Arab Spring” in early 2011, many thousands of Bahrainis took to the streets demanding change.  Security forces reacted with a violent crackdown n which almost 50 people were killed and hundreds injured. Hundreds were arrested and tried before military courts. Many are still imprisoned.

Security forces detained Abdulhadi al-Khawaja in the middle of the night on April 9, 2011. He was beaten so brutally during and after his arrest that his jaw was broken.  After several surgeries at the Bahrain Defence Force military hospital in al-Riffa’, he was returned to prison only to face further torture including the threat of sexual assault.

During their first visit in late 2011, Abdulhadi told his family "I really want to smile, but I can’t". His face is now held together by 18 plates and 36 screws.

At trial, no evidence was ever presented that Abdulhadi had committed any recognizable crime or used or advocated violence. And yet, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Please join me in demanding that the Bahraini government immediately and unconditionally release Abdulhadi al-Khawaja from prison.

Sincerely,

 

Alex Neve
Secretary General,
Amnesty International Canada

double life/ bullying/ Cory Montieth

Jun. 22 Double Life: Here's a 3:50 video about a man who was living a double life.  He says he's a retired psychiatrist and he wasn't.  This woman named Sheri Brown married him after 4 months of knowing him.  Then the bills started coming in and she ended up supporting him for 6 months and $50,000 was spent on him. I'm guessing the lesson is: "Don't marry so soon and really get to know the person before you do." http://ca.screen.yahoo.com/team-reveals-husband-double-life-033200312.html Jun. 23 Apocalypse: I was on Post Secret and here's one: "2 weeks ago I blacked out and woke up in bed of a UN Policy advisor.  He told me the world will end in 3 months.  NO JOKE.  He had a nipple fetish.  I had a panic attack."  Me: What?  Is the world ending again?  This is the 3rd time in 3 yrs.  Once in 2011 was "The rapture" and in 2012 was "Dec. 21, 2012."  So now I should mark my calender that is Sept. 23? I had to look up on the internet that the rapture's date was May 21, 2011. Jun. 24 Karen Klein: She is the woman who was bullied as an NY bus monitor.  She got lots of donations which was supposed to send her on a vacation. "Klein used $100,000 as seed money for the Karen Klein Anti-Bullying Foundation, which has promoted its message of kindness at concerts and through books. Most recently, the foundation partnered with the Moscow Ballet to raise awareness of cyberbullying as the dance company tours the United States and Canada." She seems to have saved the money and will use it for retirement.  There isn't any lavish spending. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/bullied-ny-bus-monitor-message-kindness-video-prompts-161053456.html Jun. 25 Charity: I was reading in 24 newspaper today that singer Avril Lavigne created a summer program for children with disabilities.  It's called CAMP Summer Time Avril Rock Stars (Camp STARS) at 5 different locations across Canada this summer.  Good. Jun.28 Homeless boy steals talent show: I was listening to Basement Jaxx on Youtube as I research companies.  I then found this inspirational video about Choi Sung- Bong who auditions for Korea's Got Talent.  He is a manual worker.  He tells the story about how he was left at an orphanage when he was 3yrs old.  He ran away when he was 5 yrs old because he was getting beaten up by the people there. He survived on the street by selling gum and energy drinks and lived like that for 10 yrs.  He lived alone and slept on stairwells and washrooms.  He didn't go to school.  He took a GED test to get his elementary and middle school degrees.  High school was the first school he went to. He was selling gum in front of a night club and he saw a singer who sang with sincerity.  He sang very beautifully with an opera voice.  The judges and the audience were crying.  He got on to the next round. Here is the 8min video with subtitles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ46Ot4_lLo Though your life may be hard, there are people who can triumph over adversity. Jun. 30 Bullying: Anne Laurie sent me this article "How to Help a Child who is being Bullied."  The article goes on about how some kids just want to rant and tell their parents about it, and that's it.  They don't want the parent to think of a solution and jump in right away.  Here are the tips: "Stay connected with the child’s friends by allowing and encouraging him to have friends over." "Give your children a break from the pressures of their social media life."   "Fully listen to the child’s side of the story." "When a child shares an incident of bullying, respond with loving concern rather than trying to immediately fix the problem." "Ask the child how he wants to be helped before jumping in to fix the problem."  "Validate the child’s emotions." "Rather than making blanket statements, ask the child questions to help him look at the issue from a different perspective." "Avoid being too directly involved in any issues your children has with their peers." http://www.gonannies.com/blog/2013/how-to-help-a-child-who-is-being-bullied/ Jul. 1 Post Secret: "I envy people who get to spend their holidays in solitude." Me: That's kind of ironic.  A lot of people don't want to spend holidays alone.  Here's an email: Hey Frank, I am curious about orgasms and secrets. I have had an orgasm horseback riding and have talked with other women who have also had them outside of any sexual experience, during everything from holding hands to an especially memorable shampoo and scalp message. Can you post this message at the bottom of the Sunday Secrets and invite people to comment below (anonymously or not) on the unusual and surprising nonsexual ways they have experienced orgasms? Thanks! There are now 691 comments below. Jul. 4 Job scams: A couple of weeks ago I sent my friends this email: "Should I take this job?"  My friends Angela, Sherry, and Leslie were all saying that this is a scam.  I think it wasn't as obvious to me because I found the ad in the Edmonton Journal and not Kijiji.  As for Kijiji, there are lots of ads that says: "15-25 immediate openings.  $18/hr starting wage.  Processing emails." http://badcb.blogspot.ca/2013/07/meek-ceramics-scam.html Here's another one also from the Edmonton Journal.  Due to my friends tips, I was able to see that this other email sent to me was also a scam.  It's similar with saying "Hello Applicant", asking for you to fill out your info, and this: "I need your service because I am constantly out of town on business as I own a electronics and clothing store in California as-well but want to open another store in Your Area." "Your Area" is so fake.  I did email my friends and said: "Thank you so much for the tip.  I was thinking: "I'll just wait for the phone call about the interview."  The main problem I had was that there wasn't a building yet and the place wasn't open yet.  I wanted to wait until it was open before I do anything." http://www.badcb.blogspot.ca/2013/07/jamie-breshears-scam.html Jul. 15 Cory Montieth: He is on the TV show Glee and he passed away on Jul.13, 2013.  He was found dead in his hotel room.  It's not determined how.  A lot of speculation that he died of drugs or alcohol.  He was in rehab earlier this year, so I thought he would be fine.  I was reading about it in the Edmonton Journal today and I was surprised he died.  I then read an article in 24 and the Globe and Mail where I learned he helped homeless youth.  I remember seeing him on MuchMusic where he was wearing a toque and said that if you bought it, the profits will go to charity. http://www.ecorazzi.com/2013/07/15/remembering-cory-monteith-an-advocate-for-homeless-youth/ Jul. 17: It's been confirmed.  He has died of alcohol and heroin overdose. Jul. 18 Charities: I was reading in the Globe and Mail on Jul. 17 by Sunny Dhillon and Marsha Lederman.  Montieth's friends and family said to donate to these charities: Virgin Unite: (Montieth was an ambassador). http://www.virginunite.com/default.aspx?nid=bd3e0811-5be5-4998-afa2-cce8d812cc93 Chrysalis: A California agency that helps homeless people find employment. http://www.changelives.org/ Here's the Alberta location: http://chrysalis.ca/ Project Limelight: It's a theatre program for kids.  On the site it mentions Montieth. http://www.projectlimelightsociety.org/

Take action before Warren Hill is executed tonight.

I got this from Amnesty International: 

http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=6oJCLQPAJiJUG&b=6645049&aid=520052&&msource=W1307EADP1

Dear TRACY,

If the state of Georgia gets its way, Warren Hill -- an African American man with an IQ of 70 who was convicted of murder in 1991 -- will be executed at 7pm tonight.

Tell Georgia officials to stop this execution now!

If Georgia executes Warren Hill, the state is:

• Going against the wishes of the victim's family, who say they do not want Hill to be put to death.
• Going against the rule of the Supreme Court, which banned executions of "mentally retarded" individuals more than a decade ago.
• Going forward with an execution despite the fact that Hill has a petition pending at the Supreme Court on this very issue, due to be considered on Sept. 30.
• Going against the beliefs of several jurors on the case, who would have sentenced him to life in prison without parole if given the option.

Despite the Supreme Court ban, it's down to the individual state to prove who is intellectually disabled, and Georgia requires proof 'beyond reasonable doubt', higher than any other U.S. state. Warren was not found to meet this standard, but since then, the three doctors who gave evidence for the state have changed their minds, and are now among the seven who unanimously believe he is intellectually disabled.

Warren has already come within hours of death at the hands of the state. Eighteen people have been executed in the US so far this year. Please take action today to ensure that he is not the nineteenth.

Act now to stop the execution of Warren Hill tonight.

The state should not have power over life and death in any situation -- especially in a country that applies the death penalty in disproportionate numbers to African American men.

Please forward this email on. We need as many people as possible to speak out today.

In solidarity,

Brian Evans
Director, Death Penalty Abolition Campaign
Amnesty International USA

PS - if you are in Atlanta this afternoon, please join us for a march to the state capitol in solidarity with Warren.

Stop mob assaults on Egyptian women

 I got this from Amnesty International:

 https://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/site/c.6oJCLQPAJiJUG/b.6662481/k.2BA2/Donate_Now/apps/ka/sd/donorcustom.asp?msource=W1307EDWMN1&utm_expid=44777695-22.weEWqfgGTdqpZUGSk7aoSQ.0&utm_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fca-mg5.mail.yahoo.com%2Fneo%2Flaunch%3F.rand%3D8bch0nn3uqlm6

Dear TRACY,

What if protesting put you at risk of sexual violence?

Mobs of men are sexually assaulting women and girls protesting in the vicinity of Egypt's iconic Tahrir Square. Law enforcement and other leaders are standing idle; some are blaming the women themselves and denouncing the protests.

Nearly 200 brutal attacks were reported in just four days. Will you help us pressure Egypt's leaders to condemn the violence now?

Please make an urgent donation to Amnesty so we can continue to document human rights abuses like these in Egypt and around the world.

This is not a new phenomenon. Attacks on women protesters have been reported during past protests in Egypt. However it is clear they have greatly increased in the latest unrest.

Amnesty has sent researchers to Egypt to document the abuses and provide videos and other materials that we can use to:

• Show the media what is happening to women and girl protestors in Egypt.
• Support activists calling on leaders in Egypt - including prominent women in public life - to condemn the violence and press for action.
• Help call global attention to the crisis and demand an end to violence against women in Egypt.

The time is now. Your donation will provide help and hope to peaceful protestors who face violence for speaking out against government oppression in Egypt and around the world.

Sincerely,

Cristina Finch
Managing Director, Women's Human Rights Program
Amnesty International USA

marketing a book/ imagination/ Post Secret

Jul. 5 Marketing a book: Ginny Grimsley sent me this article about how to market a book like send it to a contest.  If it wins, you can put that award on the book cover so book stores will put the book out and people will read it.

http://badcb.blogspot.ca/2013/07/article-marketing-book.html

Jul. 7 Secret Life of the American Teenager: I was reading in the Globe and Mail that Molly Ringwald from the movie The Breakfast Club has recorded and released a jazz album called Except Sometimes.  It said she ended her run as a mom on the TV show Secret Life of the American Teenager after 5 yrs. 

Me: What the show is cancelled?  I have to look it up.  Here it is:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/10/secret-life-of-the-american-teenager-canceled_n_1953905.html

Here are a couple of comments that dissed the show:

Rockgirlkeh: I am suprised this show was canceled, but I can't say I'm unhappy about it. My teenage sister used to watch it, so I caught a handful of episodes. I feel like the show was damaging to young girls. Though it might have been created in the hopes of discouraging teen pregnacy, I feel it greatly missed the mark. The show portrayed a girl having a baby and then keeping it, supported by a strong network of friends and family. It also showed this girl having a dramatic love life and social life.

As someone who has had several close friends and family members become teen moms, the show's version of reality is not at all accurate. Though I'm sure it wasn't intentional, the show's message was less "being a teen mom is hard, so don't become one" and more "if you become a teen mom you'll have this baby that loves you and you'll gets lots of attention and everything will be fine." Young girls see this and don't have the ability to understand that it is entertainment. They just want to have an exciting life like Amy and a baby that will love them unconditionally. I think shows like this, including the whole Teen Mom saga, are detremental to the young women who watch them. Glad to see it go.

Ccrafty1: I am glad to see this show go. I watched this with my neice and was surprised at the story line again and again. I don't believe that every teen is talking about nothing else but engaging in gossip, back stabing or having sex to the point that it was protrayed in this show. It was never about anyone who would actually study, participate in sports, care about grades or do one thing for their community. No one had one single thought that wasn't connected to sex....not realistic.

Me: I haven't seen this show since the 2nd season ended.  I watched the first season and read the twop.com snarky comments when it came out in 2009 on City TV.  Then City TV cancelled it and then I watched it on Youtube and read the comments.  Then I stopped.  By then it was 2010 and I was busy doing productive and important things like looking for a job because it was The Year of Unemployment.

Of course, I continued to watch TV, but good shows like The Vampire Diaries. 

Imagination: I was working all day at the restaurant and my mind wandered.  I was thinking about that out-of-control- teenage girl on Jenny Jones again.  The one who got pregnant at 13 and had an abortion.  What if the mom was able to find a really rich adoptive parents?  The adoptive parents could then pay for the bodyguards to watch the 13 yr old girl 24/7 to make sure she doesn't smoke, drink, or do drugs, or hurt herself.

If the mom was able to find rich parents who are desperate enough to put up and support  this girl for 9 months.  It's mainly the bodyguards who will deal with her.  But then I thought: "What if the child grows up and wants to know about her birth mother?  What do you tell her?"

I guess: "You birth mom was a really young teen mom.  She was 13 yrs old.  This is a closed adoption."  Maybe the baby will turn 18 yrs old and hire a PI to find her birth mom.

There is also finding the adoptive parents who will pay for this 13 yr old girl to be watched.  After dealing with her, they may think: "Do we really want to have a kid?  What if the baby turns out to be like her?  I know it's nurture vs. nature, but what if we raised our baby in private schools and all that, and she still ends up out-of control?" 

I would ask: "How desperate are you?  Are you in your late 30s and hear your biological clock ticking?  How much money are you spending on IV to have a baby?  What if it has birth defects?  Do you want to adopt kids internationally?  That's expensive.  How much time, money, and effort are you willing to put into getting a healthy baby from a 13 yr old girl?"

It's hard.  There are probably lots of adoptive parents who would say: "I will take my chances on IV and other adoptions."  It's like finding a needle in the haystack to find parents to pay to take care of a pregnant 13 yr old girl.

Post Secret: I found this secret of a 2 yr old girl and she only has a thumb on one hand:

"I wish you could forever be the 2-yr old that thinks they come over and stare, because they want to play with you."

Email:

Frank,

I just wanted to let the parents of the two year old know that it will get better.

I was born without a hand, and I know my parents had many fears as I grew up. This world is scary enough even with "normal" kids. They empowered me to try anything I wanted to, made it a non-issue, and kept people in my life who embraced me for who I was.

People will always stare and talk and decide for you who they think you will become, but with encouragement and love, we all can overcome the things that make us different whether visable to outsiders or not.

I've found someone who loves me for who I am and have had a healthy eight year relationship with him, I have two degrees, I can play the violin, and when people ask what happened, I smile and tell them. Curiosity is in all of us, and likely satisfying that curiosity and moving in stride with confidence is all it will take to silence those who doubt her.

When I look at that picture I don't notice what's wrong with her, I see a beautiful little girl with the potential to accomplish great things.

Jul. 8: To add to the pregnant 13 yr old girl: Who puts 24/7 surveillance on a 13 yr old girl?  You would if you are watching a newborn- 2 yr old because a baby needs to be watched constantly.  In this case of a pregnant 13 yr old girl, you have to watch her.

If a woman is in her late 30s and has a baby, the baby will have a higher chance of birth defects like autism and down syndrome.  If the 13 yr old girl is healthy, takes her prenatal vitamins and care, doesn't smoke, drink or do drugs, there is still a risk the baby isn't going to be healthy because the mom is so young.

The baby could be born premature and underweight.

big companies/ renovations/ buying home tip

Jun. 22 Big companies:

Chevron: I was going through the Career Options magazine and I found this company.  There is a location in Edmonton in the West End.  This is a really big company with all kinds of departments like business, environment, legal, etc. 

http://www.chevron.ca/careers/

Brenntag: Have you ever heard of this company before?  I haven't.  It's an international company with locations in AB, Canada, Asia, etc.  This distribute chemicals. 

http://www.brenntag.ca/en/

Cangene: They are a lab that fights infectious diseases.  It's in Winnipeg.  I've never heard of them. 

http://www.cangene.com/careers

Aegon Canada: This is an insurance and pension company.  It's on the
west end of Edmonton.

http://www.aegoncanada.com/

Rio Tinto: This is an international company and they provide mining and mineral resources.

http://www.riotinto.com/our-business-75.aspx#canada

Proctor and Gamble: This is a huge company because they make so much stuff that we buy and use everyday like food, detergent, etc.  There weren't any locations in Edmonton.

http://www.pg.com/en_CA/brands.shtml

Jun. 24 Tile Town: I was looking for a job and found this store.  The website is good with nice pictures of all their tiles on their rooms.  I thought the mascot was funny.  It's a tile named Tyler.  lol.

http://www.mytiletown.ca/

Certa Pro Painters: I find this company and Google "Is Certa Pro Painters a scam?" and it lead me to this website with lots of consumer complaints.


http://certa-pro-painters-reviews.measuredup.com/2978/Reviews/Consumer-Complaint-1

Switchboard: I see that the switchboard job that I worked at back in 2012 is hiring again.  I did training and job shadow for a day, and I really thought about it.  It wasn't a really good job because I see that there was so much training, and the skills weren't very transferable.  It's about answering phones professionally, but there wasn't really good job security.  So I didn't take it.

It may not be a good fit for me, but someone may be reading this and think that's the job for them.

Telemarketer: I also see that Telemarketer #1 is hiring again.  I don't see any point in applying because I gave it my 100% best shot at this job for 4 days and didn't sell anything.  I then did Telemarketer #2 job and gave my best effort and didn't sell anything. 

Jun. 26 Renovations: I was thinking about how renovations are really expensive, time consuming, and usually not necessary.  It leads people to a lot of debt.  It's too much of a hassle.  It's probably because I read the business and homes section in the newspaper a lot.  In the business section, there are couples and families who ask for advice like: "Should we put more into retirement or can we afford to renovate?"

Then of course the home section in the newspaper talks about renovating and decorating.

Businesses: If you are to renovate for a business, it can be helpful to make the business run more efficiently.  For example, the Bebe store in West Edmonton mall was big, and then it renovated to make it half the size.  I think it was good to make it half the size to utilize the space more, and it's cheaper to run in the long term because of less electricity is being used, and there may even be less rent to pay because it's smaller.  I don't know about the rent.

Homes: I remember watching Oprah years ago and this woman wants her kitchen to be renovated because it's so small.  She doesn't even have to get up to clear the table because she is sitting right by the sink.  It was really small, and in this case, I think she should.

Basement: In my experience, my family renovated the basement in the mid- 90s.  My friends have never seen my basement before it was renovated.  Back then there were all these boxes in where the home office section is.  The boxes of stuff belonged to a family friend.  The entire basement had concrete floors, and now only the laundry room does.

I asked my dad how much it costs to put purple carpets and a white linoleum floor in the basement, and he said it was like $20,000.  We needed to renovate the basement so we can all have our own
bedrooms and live comfortably.  We're not renovating for fun and because we're bored or don't like how the house looks like.  After the basement was renovated, that was it.  We didn't renovate anything else.

I met a woman a month ago and she told me she renovated her basement like I did.  However, she spent $65,000 for a kitchen, nice granite counters, heated wooden floors, etc.  She rents the basement out and she says it pays for itself.  I would say the same for my own basement.

Buying home tip: I was reading Ramit Sethi's book I Will Teach You to be Rich and he says buying a home is not an investment.  He says how he met people, and the first thing they want to buy is a home.  Like if you have a lot of debt and student loans that you have to pay off, you should pay that off first before buying a home.

I would say the same thing because don't buy a home, unless you 100% have to like you are living with a big family and need the space.  This reminds me of that time I went on a date a few years ago and met a guy who said he plans to buy a house.

Me: Well why would you buy a house if it's only for 1 person to live there?
Guy: It's not just for me, but if I were to have a family then we would need the space.

(Afterwards we never saw each other again because he really wanted to have kids and I didn't.)

After you buy a house to raise your kids, you will have to retire and then downsize to a condo.  It's the cycle of life.

Job interview: Today I went to a job interview.  I researched the company before I went.  I got there on time and it was a little difficult to find.  Two people interviewed me.  I know what the company does.  However, it seemed like a hard job.  They were looking for a graphic designer and I did take graphic design at NAIT.  I told them the programs I used like Adobe Photoshop, Indesign, and Corel Draw.

They need to convert a JPG and have it redrawn.  Like redraw it on Corel and blow it up 100 times to make it bigger, and the picture will still be clear and not all blurry with pixels.  They said they didn't have any other graphic designers to train me, and need one right away.  So I didn't get hired.  That's fine, because now I know for sure that this job is not for me.

Be fast: I applied for a job on Mon.  On Mon. afternoon I got an email to do an interview on Wed. evening.  I checked that email on Wed. morning. and emailed them back to set up a time.  They emailed me back in the afternoon and they said they made a decision yesterday.  They will keep my resume on file.

I didn't check my email on Tues. because I was busy working and had to stay later than usual at the restaurant.  When I came home I was tired.  Even if I did check my email on Tues. and set up an interview to go there that night or Wed. night, I may not have even been hired.  That's okay.