On March 28, the annual Canadian harp seal hunt is set to begin. It is the only commercial hunt in which the target is the infant of a species. Baby harp seals, 2-12 weeks old.

For 6-8 weeks, the ice floes of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Newfoundland & Labrador will turn blood red as hunters use clubs to bash in the skulls of 275,000 baby seals.

Every year, 15,000 to 150,000 baby seals manage to get away. They die anyway, of their injuries. Sometimes they fall off the ice floes and drown in the ocean because they’re still too young to swim.

The Canadian government has legislated a “total allowable catch” of 275,000 baby seals.
Remember, the ones that got away don’t count. They die wearing their fur.

In 2001 a report by an international veterinary panel concluded that 42% of the animals had been conscious when they were skinned.

The baby seal pups (mostly dead, but not all) are skinned on the ice; their carcasses left behind or tossed in the ocean. The hunters want only the fur. Their little bodies becomes garbage.

The pelts are then shipped to Norway, Finland, Hong Kong, Turkey, Russia, and other countries, where they are used to make designer clothing, toys and accessories.

For the first time in history, a Canadian politician is proposing a law to end the suffering of baby seals.

Senator Harb he has asked all Canadians to help flood Canada’s Senate with messages of support. Please help us reach 275,000 emails: one for every seal that will be killed this year.

Click here to sign the petition

If you are a Canadian blogger please pass this on. Snow shouldn’t be red with the blood of babies. Let’s get Senator Harb one signature for every seal pup that will die this year. Together, we can make a difference.

Warning: Graphic Photos Below…

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Want to know more about the seal hunt? Read more here

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On March 8, 1857, women from clothing and textile factories in New York staged a protest against poor working conditions and low wages. Police attacked and dispersed the protestors, but more protests followed on March 8 in years to follow.

On March 8, 1908 15,000 women marched shoulder to shoulder through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights.

Persistance finally paid off.

• In 1910 the first international women’s conference was held in Copenhagen, and an ‘International Women’s Day’ was established.
• In 1975, the United Nations gave official sanction to and began sponsoring International Women’s Day.
• In 2005, the British Trades Union Congress overwhelmingly approved a resolution calling for IWD to be designated a public holiday in the United Kingdom.

Not surprisingly, International Women’s Day encountered violence in Iran in 2007, when police beat hundreds of men and women who were planning a Women’s Day rally. Police arrested dozens of women… some were released after several days of solitary confinement. Several community activists were released after a fifteen day hunger strike.

Today?
Today, International Women’s Day is an official holiday in Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Croatia, Italy, Laos, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Zambia.

I find it Ironic not to see Canada, Australia or the USA listed among the countries that recognize International Women’s Day. Unless, of course, wikipedia is wrong, which is entirely possible.

Source: wikipedia

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Hey Fraccy…. is it spring yet?

P.S. Course, I still lose the weather game to Aussie Sis. *sigh*

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My sis lives in Oz. (Australia) It has been really hot in South Australia for over a week… 40+ degrees Celsius everyday. She got this from a workmate and sent it to me. It was so cute I had to share. Talk about cute overload!

These are photos from a family that lives in Maude, South Australia.  The photos are of a little Koala which just walked onto their back porch looking for a bit of heat relief.  They filled up a bucket with water and this is what happened…!

Click to see more koala photos .. Continue Reading »

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Corneille will never forget the night she left her aunt’s house to fetch water and was attacked and raped. She’d crawled back to her aunt’s house and said nothing, ashamed.

She says that her baby, named Joy, is the only brightness in her future. Corneille is 13 years old.

Some mothers get to choose what their children eat.
Oatmeal instead of Sugar Pops.
French fries instead of veggies.

Other mothers have to choose which children will eat - and which will die.

“It’s horrible. They have to choose among their children,” says Patricia Wolff, executive director of Meds & Food for Kids. “Sometimes they make the decision that this one has to go.”

Every 5 seconds, a child dies from hunger. 16,000 children died of hunger yesterday. 16,000 more will die today. 16,000 will die tomorrow.

200,000 children in Africa are sold into slavery every year because their parents or guardians know that at least slaves get fed.

It makes me weep.

How dare you?

How dare you go to a public community and serve up your opinions; correcting anyone for what they believe or for the choice of their words?

You, with a roof over your head and running water and a computer connected to the Internet; how dare you speak about right and wrong, chastising anyone, when your words feed nothing and no one but your own ego?

These are questions I ask myself daily.

They help me battle the demons of human ego.

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