Mikhaelin+B

[] February 21, 210 Filipino Group Helps Women Find Life Outside Of Trafficking David Challenger Women

In the Philippines, an estimated 60,000 to 100,000 children are involved in the sex trade, which involves prostitution rings and human trafficking. One example of this is a girl named Joy, who was fifteen when she became a prostitute in order to support her child. It was recommended to her that she go to Angeles City, because the pay for prostitutes is so much higher there. She signed a contract with the promise of good money. Joy was forced to take drugs and serve around twenty men a day with the threat of being put in jail with out food if she refused to serve.

[]  February 19, 2010 Girl's Arrest For Doodling Raises Concerns About Zero Tolerance Stephanie Chen Education  In Forest Hills, New York, 12-year-old Alexa Gonzalez was arrested for "doodling" on her school desk. "I love my friends Abby and Faith. Lex was here 2/1/10 :)" is all she wrote, using a green marker. Her principal called the police, and Gonzalez was escorted out of the classroom and across the street to the police station, hands handcuffed behind her back. "I didn't want them to see me being handcuffed, thinking I'm a bad person," she recalled in reference to her classmates. She' d been expecting nothing more than a few detentions for breaking the policy on doodling. Critics believe that schools are going too far by calling the police, even if there is a zero tolerance policy for doodling on the desks. "We are arresting them at younger and younger ages [in cases] that used to be covered with a trip to the principal's office, not sending children to jail," said Emma Jordan-Simpson, who is the executive director of a national children's advocacy group. And Alexa Gonzalez isn't the first to face a punishment of this sort for writing on her desk. In 2007, a New York 13-year-old wrote the word "Okay" on her desk and was also arrested and handcuffed by the police. Today in New York there are almost 5000 members of the New York Police Department who are employed by schools, which is greater than the entire police force of Washington, D.C.  It really does not seem worth it to have students arrested for doodling on their desks. The police should never be involved unless there is a serious crime going on that the adults in the school can't handle themselves. The police have more important things to do than arresting twelve-year-old girls for appropriate drawings that could wash off with some simple cleaning supplies. The author of this article did not seem to be bias, but just wrote the facts. However, it's possible that some information was left out of the article, for instance, maybe the students were all warned that police would be called if they doodled on their desks. It's surprising how much school punishments have changed in the past fifty or so years, and if it keeps at this rate it seems like there will be a policeman in every classroom. I understand that the police are used to enforce the seriousness of the situation at hand, but in reality the situation is just drawing on a desk. It isn't that serious, and if all these children are involved with the police at such a young age, when they get older being arrested won't be a big deal at all.

[] February 11, 2010 Kenya Rounds Up Zebras To Feed Starving Lions Unknown Environment In Kenya, around 4,000 zebras and 3,000 wildebeest are being held in captivity, waiting to be transferred by truck to Amboseli National Park. Amboseli has lost about 80% of its herbivores during a drought, and the carnivores' reaction has been to feed off nearby livestock. Now the park is awaiting the arrival of the animals that they will then feed off hungry lions and hyeenas. “There are only 2,000 lions left nationwide, and we are concerned because the numbers are dropping,” said one spokeswoman. After arriving in Amboseli, it is expected that the herbivores will breed enough to sustain the hungry carnivores for quite sometime. But this plan is not cheap in the least. It is going to cost an estimated $1.4 million to transfer the zebras and wildebeest to Amboseli, and a chunk of this high price comes from simply getting the animals into the trucks. Using helicopters, the animals will be herded into funnel-shaped enclosures. From there they will be loaded onto the trucks that drive them down to the park. But the park feels that this will all be worth it, as tourism is an important moneymaker in Africa, and the lion attractions are very important in this exchange. Among other big wildlife attractions in Africa are elephants, rhinos, buffalo, and leopards.

I’m really not fond of this plan. Besides the fact that it costs a lot of money that could be put towardsmany more important causes, it’s not fair to move 7,000 herbivores from their homes for the solepurpose of using them as food for less than 2,000 carnivores. If that many zebras were dying offbecause of the drought, something should have been done to prevent it. But instead of preventing thedeath of 80% of the herbivores, the Kenya Wildlife Service is going to spend $1.4 million to prevent thedeath of the carnivores just because they’re a larger tourist attraction. I can understand that the lions need food, but surely there are less extreme ways of going about it. The author of this article did notseem to be biased. The information that this article contains is important both in the near future and thedistant future. If the herbivores are properly moved to Amboseli (in the near future) the lions will be well-off, hopefully, for a long time into the future.

--- [] February 5, 2010 Indian Police Target Valentine's 'Obscenity' Harmeet Shah Singh Middle East

In Maharashtra, India police are already warning citizens against Valentine's day celebrations. Members of the community have been instructed to "limit displays of affection as you celebrate Valentine's Day or face prosecution." Authorities have banned what they refer to as "shows of obscenity, noisy celebrations, and the use of liquor and colored powders." In India, colored powders are a traditional part of celebration and are typically thrown into one another's faces. On past Valentine's Days, Hindu activists have held violent protests in Maharashtra because their religious beliefs clash with the Christian holiday. The police's ban refers to gatherings both public and private and isn't to be relinquished until February 15.

It's strange how different cultures are from one another. Around here authorities would never get away with banning the celebration of a holiday no matter what religion it pertains to. It would be so weird for everyone to be banned from having/going to go gatherings or showing affection in public, especially considering this is basically happening as a religious rebellion. The author of this article seems to be unbiased. The information in this article is important currently and in the near future, up until the authorities in India release their ban on the fifteenth, and later than that for those who disobey the police and are prosecuted.