Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Bloggers Unite: Human Rights Day

Tomorrow -- December 10, 2009 -- is "Human Rights Day".

Most people don't realize how many people around the nation -- not just around the world - are denied their basic rights. some of these are constant court battles in the U.S., so at least they are being addressed... but what about people around the world? Privileges that we take for granted on a daily basis are something that many people yearn for their whole life in other parts of the world.

To name just one of the many issues i am concerned with, don't you think medical care should be a right that everyone has? to think of how many people in the U.S. alone are not able to receive medical care because they can't afford it or health care insurance and then to think about those across the world who lack the technology, the science, and enough educated doctors to be able to provide medical care is beyond devastating.

Blogger's Unite lays out the Objective of "Human Rights Day" as to "celebrate Human Rights Day and stand up with people all over the world who want to make human rights a reality for everyone".

For a little more background information:
Human Rights Day marks the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) adopted on December 10, 1948 that set down the basic principles at the very heart of the human rights movement. The UDHR has enabled remarkable progress in human rights, inspiring international human rights standards, laws and institutions that have improved the lives of many around the world.

Click here for more information on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

I came across "Guidelines to Live by" on here earlier, quite randomly, and thought i would share it since it's the same subject matter:


You are human.
In that, you are the same as everyone else; no more and no less.
You have a right to be here. You have a right to the necessities of life, 
including food, shelter, warmth and companionship.
You have a right to stand tall. Accept your individuality. 
Be honest about it, for your individuality is who you are.
You have a right to be respected. No matter what you look like, 
what your beliefs may be, or where you come from, you have a right to 
be free from persecution.
You have a right to strive for what you value.
You have a right to be happy.


In your interactions with others, remember that every one has the same rights as you. 
Respect one and all. Before all else, do no harm – and let no 
harm be done due to your own inaction.
Seek not to impose your beliefs on others. People are not ignorant. 
They have their own beliefs, equally precious as yours.
Do not judge others by your own standards, for those standards will always be biased. 
Judge instead, if you really must, on whether their intentions are good.
When conflict comes – which it will, given the diversity we live in – listen. 
Seek common ground. Strive to act in ways to limit the conflict, not compound it.


Remember that when you are gone, 
others – many yet to be born – will inherit the things you leave behind.
They too have their rights. Therefore, seek ways to leave them peace. 
Seek ways to leave them prosperity.
Seek ways to leave them with the resources and knowledge they need
 to build their lives as they see fit.


Saturday, December 5, 2009

Snow, Classes, RU Football

It FINALLY snowed today for the first time this season! When i read in the newspaper a couple of days ago about the forecast for snow for today, i'll admit i got super excited for it - but i didn't really think it would end up snowing... or that if it did, it wouldn't snow a lot and definitely not stick (considering it was almost seventy degrees two days ago).

the rain this morning, however, quickly turned into wet snow... and then snow that stuck... so we have a nice blanket of snow outside! I LOVE snow as it is falling and the blanket of white snow on the ground, until it starts getting dirty. it was only an inch or two of snow, but it was great nonetheless. I hate the cold temperature that comes with the snow, but LOVE snow - i guess because i grew up in Canada (actually i don't know about that reasoning since the rest of my family is not so fond of snow).

On a different note, this coming week is my last week of classes - just days more days of classes! I also have two of my exams on thursday, and i will be done with exams and all on december 21st. As the semester draws closer to an end and the fact that i had my senior photos yesterday, the realization that i have only one semester left at Rutgers as an undergraduate is finally hitting me. I can't believe how fast the past three and a half years have gone by, and i'm sure my last semester will go by just as fast.

Ttoday was also the last rutgers football game of the regular season ( the bowl game happens in a few weeks). i didn't get to go to today's game even though it was a home game, but it was a great game.  it would have definitely been nice to have gone, considering it was my last game as a student, but oh well. it may be just as well considering the weather and the temperature - risking getting sick right before finals would not have been too great. anyhow, we played against west virginia university (who has beat us every year since 1994, unfortunately). we didn't win, but the game was close with the final score being WVU - 24, RU - 21.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Tiger Woods' Fifteen Minutes of Negative Fame

Normally, I do not take the time to write about an athlete and his (wrong)doings... but for a week now, all i keep hearing about are the million variations in the story and it's driving me crazy.
  1. first i hear that Tiger Woods has been involved in a "serious" car accident (near/outside his home).
  2. then i hear that Tiger Woods' wife used golf clubs to break the rear windows of Tiger's car to get him out of the car after the car accident.
  3. then i hear that Elin (Tiger Wood's wife) was actually hitting Tiger's car (aiming for Tiger) with the golf clubs after the two had been fighting about Tiger's possible infidelity- and was not trying to get Tiger our of the car after his accident as earlier reported. news surface of Tiger's affairs with two other females.
  4. at this point, Tiger has refused to speak to the police i think like three times. Suspicious? sure.
  5. more rumors continue to spread.
  6. then, five days later, today - Tiger Woods issues another statement saying he has let his family down, and regrets the "transgressions" among other things, but does not admit to an affair or offer any other information. 
Let me get this out - i do not think athletes/celebrities/politics, etc. owe us (the public) anything about their private lives. If Tiger Woods had done something in his athletic field or something that would directly effect athletics (like steroids), by all i means i would be pressing for more information or an explanation. However, it is not.

Famous or not, your actions have consequences for not only you, but for your family members too unfortunately. While it saddens me that yet another person has not only let their own family down but embarrassed them publicly, i still do not think it is the right of the media nor anyone else to press on this matter for the sake of his family.

If Tiger Woods is indeed guilty of what is claimed, you can not honestly tell me that Tiger did not know he would be caught. Politicians, athletes, celebrities are hounded every minute and every thing they do is released to the public (from what they are wearing and eating to anything extraordinary), so it was only a matter of time before such news would come out. nonetheless, it is hard to fathom why people do the things they do. I'm sure this is what Woods will be remembered for (unless he does something worse in the future), so i don't understand why he would risk all of his success.

And another point, I don't know why he denied the claim/lied (only to later confirm it). Like we weren't going to find out ? Come on people, in this day and age of technology, we find out things the instant it happens in so many cases.... so lying is only making it that much worse. Like i said, they owe us nothing... and they don't have to say anything or release statements to the public, but lying to the public on their free will... is ridiculous.

The bottom line is - What politicians, athletes, celebrities, etc. do in their private sphere should be their own business. Until it effects or comes into their public sphere, it should be left alone. And no, i am not naive - i don't think this will ever happen... but it is wishful thinking.

I do not know the complete truth of what Tiger did or did not do, but i'm sure i'll find out soon - simply by opening a newspaper or reading the news online. Why such things are "breaking news", i will never understand.

Oh well, happy Wednesday everybody! Until another (and more intriguing) story breaks...

How to Automatically Include Signatures in Blog Posts

It took about two years (i started blogging end of December '07), but i FINALLY figured out (by accident) how to have new blog posts automatically include my customized signature in blogger.

I have been searching online periodically but never found the answer, and then tonight i was just playing around with settings and stumbled upon how to do it. I know i've been trying to figure it out for a long time, so chances are that some other people are too. I'll share the steps here:

1. from your dashboard, click on "settings".
2. click on the "formatting" tab near the top

3. scroll all the way to the bottom, to where it says "post template". type in the html code for your signature and click on "save settings". In this space, you can enter whatever you want to be automatically included in each of your new posts, and not just a signature.

Hope this helps!

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