"You have to be stronger than your fears if you want to get anything done in this life"
from The Translator - a tribesman's memoir of Darfur by Daoud Hari.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Incarcerate those who fight for human rights
How do you get the mineral rich land belonging to the Adivasis(tribals). Either buy it or drive them off the land. Sadly, the Indian government chose to do the latter in Chattisgarh. Being a democracy, the government could not do it directly. So, create a militia, supply them with arms and ask them to driver the tribals away. Give a oxymoron name like Salwa Judum (Peace Mission) and publicize that they are fighting the naxals with this militia.
If anyone opposes the activities of Salwa Judum or brings out the atrocities committed by it, kill him or incarcerate him. Dr. Binayak Sen happens to be one of those who spoke out about human rights violations and has been jailed for over a year without any clear charges.
We have two choices:
1. Keep quiet and worry only when your rights are violated.
2. Fight for the human rights of fellow citizens as you see their struggle as part of your own.
I along with many others chose the latter for this reason.
Hundreds of Activists from a broad coalition of 48 international human rights groups that includes AID(Association for India's Development), Amnesty International and SANSAD (South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy), took to the streets on two Global days of Action, May 13 & 14, to protest the continued incarceration of human rights crusader, Dr. Binayak Sen. Simultaneous protests were held outside the Indian consulates in London,
New York, Washington D.C., San Francisco and Vancouver.
I was one among the 25 protesters who went to Indian Consulate in San Francisco to make it clear to the Indian government that we will continue to fight against the blatant violation of human rights in Chattisgarh and demanding release of Dr. Sen.
You too could show your support. Visit www.aidboston.org/FreeBinayakSen
If anyone opposes the activities of Salwa Judum or brings out the atrocities committed by it, kill him or incarcerate him. Dr. Binayak Sen happens to be one of those who spoke out about human rights violations and has been jailed for over a year without any clear charges.
We have two choices:
1. Keep quiet and worry only when your rights are violated.
2. Fight for the human rights of fellow citizens as you see their struggle as part of your own.
I along with many others chose the latter for this reason.
Hundreds of Activists from a broad coalition of 48 international human rights groups that includes AID(Association for India's Development), Amnesty International and SANSAD (South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy), took to the streets on two Global days of Action, May 13 & 14, to protest the continued incarceration of human rights crusader, Dr. Binayak Sen. Simultaneous protests were held outside the Indian consulates in London,
New York, Washington D.C., San Francisco and Vancouver.I was one among the 25 protesters who went to Indian Consulate in San Francisco to make it clear to the Indian government that we will continue to fight against the blatant violation of human rights in Chattisgarh and demanding release of Dr. Sen.
You too could show your support. Visit www.aidboston.org/FreeBinayakSen
Oh! that sweet chocolate
It is tough to imagine that the sweet chocolate I am about to pop into my mouth is tainted with the blood of slave child labor. Since I read about it in this BBC article, I started looking more into the chocolate industry. The multi billion dollar chocolate industry dominated by Nestle, Mars(remember M&Ms, Snickers..etc), Hersheys, Cadburys and Lindt is riddled with human rights violations and lack of fair price to the farmers. According to this ethical accreditation report , Nestle and Mars seem to be the worst of the lot with a long history of ignoring pleas from human rights activists.
So, is there a choice. Of course. You could go for the fair trade chocolate. This site has a good compilation of the fair trade chocolate. The popular names in fair trade and indeed very tasty chocolates are Dagoba, Endangered Species, Equal Exchange, Green & Blacks, Rapunzel, 365 by Whole Foods.
You do spend a bit more, but it does not have the blood of child slave labor on them.
So, is there a choice. Of course. You could go for the fair trade chocolate. This site has a good compilation of the fair trade chocolate. The popular names in fair trade and indeed very tasty chocolates are Dagoba, Endangered Species, Equal Exchange, Green & Blacks, Rapunzel, 365 by Whole Foods.
You do spend a bit more, but it does not have the blood of child slave labor on them.
Should India adopt GM crops?
Get the facts before you dive in.
At first, Genetically Modified(GM) crops sound as a technological break through to provide a better food security to mankind. The promises range anywhere from increased yield, pest resistance to exotic things like enhanced vitamin and protein content.
But once you scratch the surface, the ugly reality crops up. With genetic modification, one could insert human gene into rice plant. The impacts of such changes to natural plant are many fold. It could:
1. Alter the toxicity and nutritional value of the plant. It could take decades to see the impact of such toxins on human consumers and their offspring.
2. It could cause ecological disaster. GM plants could kill beneficial and vital insects and bacteria. It could cross pollinate and contaminate the non-GM crops.
3. Threaten food security. The introduction of GM crops is irreversible. Once they pollinate and render all the non-GM crops in the surrounding fields to be toxic, then there would nothing that is non-GM. If then, we find that the GM crops are bad to humans, there will be nothing of that crop left for human consumers. Imagine not being able to eat rice or wheat for eternity.
GM crops marketed as resistant to herbicide, providing an easy way of weed control. But that resistance of the GM crops only works if the farmer uses the herbicide sold by the company that also sells the seeds. GM crop is resistant to pests because a toxin is created in the seed that kills the pests. How safe is that toxin to humans?
USDA (US Dept. of Agriculture) has clearly stated that GM crops have not shown significant increase in yield from GM crops compared to traditional crops.
All the safety tests done by major GM seed manufacturers are never fully published and kept under a tight lid. They even sue the poor farmers whose field gets contaminated by the GM pollen. Read the story of Percy Schmeiser.
Only 12 countries in the world have opted to adopt GM crops. USA, Argentina and Canada account for 90% of the GM crop. Cotton, Maize, Soybean and Canola account for almost all of the GM crops in these countries.
More details at the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA) article.
Most countries in Europe require marking on GM products. In USA, products that are marked "Organic" are GM free. There is no such thing in India yet. Indian consumers should be aware of the changes in government policy with adopting GM crops and voice their concern before it is too late. It is our kids' future we are talking about.
At first, Genetically Modified(GM) crops sound as a technological break through to provide a better food security to mankind. The promises range anywhere from increased yield, pest resistance to exotic things like enhanced vitamin and protein content.
But once you scratch the surface, the ugly reality crops up. With genetic modification, one could insert human gene into rice plant. The impacts of such changes to natural plant are many fold. It could:
1. Alter the toxicity and nutritional value of the plant. It could take decades to see the impact of such toxins on human consumers and their offspring.
2. It could cause ecological disaster. GM plants could kill beneficial and vital insects and bacteria. It could cross pollinate and contaminate the non-GM crops.
3. Threaten food security. The introduction of GM crops is irreversible. Once they pollinate and render all the non-GM crops in the surrounding fields to be toxic, then there would nothing that is non-GM. If then, we find that the GM crops are bad to humans, there will be nothing of that crop left for human consumers. Imagine not being able to eat rice or wheat for eternity.
GM crops marketed as resistant to herbicide, providing an easy way of weed control. But that resistance of the GM crops only works if the farmer uses the herbicide sold by the company that also sells the seeds. GM crop is resistant to pests because a toxin is created in the seed that kills the pests. How safe is that toxin to humans?
USDA (US Dept. of Agriculture) has clearly stated that GM crops have not shown significant increase in yield from GM crops compared to traditional crops.
All the safety tests done by major GM seed manufacturers are never fully published and kept under a tight lid. They even sue the poor farmers whose field gets contaminated by the GM pollen. Read the story of Percy Schmeiser.
Only 12 countries in the world have opted to adopt GM crops. USA, Argentina and Canada account for 90% of the GM crop. Cotton, Maize, Soybean and Canola account for almost all of the GM crops in these countries.
More details at the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA) article.
Most countries in Europe require marking on GM products. In USA, products that are marked "Organic" are GM free. There is no such thing in India yet. Indian consumers should be aware of the changes in government policy with adopting GM crops and voice their concern before it is too late. It is our kids' future we are talking about.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Finding a day care for the baby
So far, the baby has been getting full attention and care from her grand parents. After another 3 months she has to go to a day care. For one, she will be old enough that she needs and enjoys the company of other toddlers. Another is we don't have a choice, but to send her to day care.
It is always a tough transition for parents and kids. Both have a tough time adjusting to the change. It is tough for us as we have to trust some one we don't know to take care of the baby. It is a lot more tough for the baby as she has to get adjusted to new place, new company and reduced attention. Thinking of what the baby has to go through makes it tough for us.
So, coming to the actual meat of the topic, we started by identifying good day cares based on references from friends and colleagues that are in the 5 mile radius from our work. We found 4 good ones:
It is always a tough transition for parents and kids. Both have a tough time adjusting to the change. It is tough for us as we have to trust some one we don't know to take care of the baby. It is a lot more tough for the baby as she has to get adjusted to new place, new company and reduced attention. Thinking of what the baby has to go through makes it tough for us.
So, coming to the actual meat of the topic, we started by identifying good day cares based on references from friends and colleagues that are in the 5 mile radius from our work. We found 4 good ones:
- Mission college child care
- Kinder care
- Children's creative learning center
- Rainbow Montessori
Making a spread sheet of all the questions, we set off to visit them one by one. After all the visits, we found Mission college to be on the top, followed by Rainbow Montessori.
Our conclusion could have been biased by the person who gave us the tour and what we saw on the day of the visit. Some of the differentiating factors we used to come to the conclusion. I say the differentiating factors because they all ranked similarly on many other important factors.
Our conclusion could have been biased by the person who gave us the tour and what we saw on the day of the visit. Some of the differentiating factors we used to come to the conclusion. I say the differentiating factors because they all ranked similarly on many other important factors.
- The level of congestion of the baby room and the cleanliness of the facility
- How happy did the kids, care givers appear and were they having a good time
- Is the day care open to parents coming in at any time to spend some time with the kids
- Is the day care flexible to incorporate cloth diapers and potty training
- Are they using/trying new child developmental methods like sign language, etc.
We will know the reality once we get past the waiting list (which is as long as 1 year at Mission college child care) and our baby starts going there.
There is also an option of licensed home day care where there is more flexibility. There you are trusting an individual rather than an organization. We visited a couple of home day cares. The kids to care giver ratio and space were not as good as the institutional day cares. So, dropped the idea of home day care.
There is also an option of licensed home day care where there is more flexibility. There you are trusting an individual rather than an organization. We visited a couple of home day cares. The kids to care giver ratio and space were not as good as the institutional day cares. So, dropped the idea of home day care.
Potty training an infant
This is a highly debated topic with two orthogonal thought groups. One says that babies as young as a month have the ability to communicate about nature calls, provided we watch and encourage such communications. Other group says that the baby should be old enough to talk and tell by herself before she is ready to be potty trained.
We agreed more with the first camp, but with a little twist. We waited for 6 months, till her back was a little strong to sit on the little potty. Making a "pissss..." sound tells her to pee. After a few days, she started to take the cue and pee whenever we seat her on the potty. Going to poop was also similarly trained in a few days. Between every diaper change, we make sure she gets to sit on the potty for a pee. While our parents were taking care of her, they made sure that the potty training was encouraged and maintained. In fact we even carry it along if we go out of town.
It has been about 5 months now and she has been consistently using potty for poop. She still pees a little bit in her diapers, but holds most of it for the potty time.
We agreed more with the first camp, but with a little twist. We waited for 6 months, till her back was a little strong to sit on the little potty. Making a "pissss..." sound tells her to pee. After a few days, she started to take the cue and pee whenever we seat her on the potty. Going to poop was also similarly trained in a few days. Between every diaper change, we make sure she gets to sit on the potty for a pee. While our parents were taking care of her, they made sure that the potty training was encouraged and maintained. In fact we even carry it along if we go out of town.
It has been about 5 months now and she has been consistently using potty for poop. She still pees a little bit in her diapers, but holds most of it for the potty time.
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