Today’s suggestion is about working with others to change the world. This can be done by making a pledge online at the pledge bank. This is a great suggestion and for more information visit:
A response to reading ‘365 Ways to Change the World,’ by Michael Norton
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
‘Shameful Flight’ relates the history of the final years of the British Raj in India, including the partition of India into both Pakistan (West and East) and India, and the early hostility of the two new nations destined for perpetual warfare in such regions as the Kashmir.The history of this era of political instability on the subcontinent includes all the main players from Great Britain, India and Pakistan.These main players include Winston Churchill, Viceroy Louis Mountbatten, Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru and Quaid-i-Azam Jinnah. There is not a single figure in this history of India’s partition who comes out of it in a good light, though several seem to have had very well-intentioned aims and motivations. It is the true story of lost opportunity and the devastating consequences of human pride and selfishness that have reverberated down through the decades to the present day and remain visible in the continuing clashes between India and Pakistan, as well as in the extremism expressed in both the Islamic and Hindu communities throughout the sub-continent. It is a story of perpetual tragedy and human suffering with no end in sight.
This book is extremely easy to read, passes on a wealth of historical information and whets the appetite for further research on the India/Pakistan situation. It provides enlightenment, by bringing understanding to the current political instability in both India and Pakistan, by clearly revealing the root of the problem – the manner of the birth of both nations out of British imperialism and that nation’s final haphazard departure aptly described as a ‘Shameful Flight.’ This is a great book for understanding the sub-continent and the wounds it still carries to this day.
This book was provided to me for review by Oxford University Press – www.oup.com
Today’s suggestion is to get involved in the Open Directory on the World Wide Web by applying to be an editor for the directory. The idea is to assist in manually categorising web sites submitted to the directory
For more information on the Open Directory visit:
I have enough work in maintaining and adding to the many web sites, blogs, etc, that I own. So I’ll opt out of getting involved in this project, but none-the-less think it is a very worthwhile one.
The suggestion for today is about protecting the rights of children. Here in Australia it is sometimes said that children have more rights than their parents and to some extent this does appear to be a sound argument. More needs to be done to ensure parental rights in the area of discipline (note I didn’t say child abuse), etc.
However, throughout the world children face regular exploitation and abuse. The more that can be done to prevent this sort of abuse the better.
For more information on the rights of children visit:
I will always seek to protect the rights of children wherever I see them threatened. This is something that I believe begins right where you live.
A response to reading ‘365 Ways to Change the World,’ by Michael Norton
Today’s suggestion is one that I won’t be getting involved in. Sure, it is an amusing suggestion and I’m sure that some of the results of it would be funny. However, I have better things to do with my time.
The suggestion is to join in pie-throwing at politicians. This is meant to be an amusing way of protesting what you don’t agree with and drawing media attention to the plight of whatever it might be you are protesting. Not for me.
For more information on pie-throwing, visit:
Today’s suggestion for changing the world is to form a ‘Food not Bombs’ group. The theory behind such a group is to gather food from various sources (fresh vegetables running out of shelf life, etc) and to seek to feed the local hungry people – such as the homeless, poor, etc.
These groups also protest against war.
This suggestion is also not for me – but not because I don’t like the idea. It is a great idea and one others may like to pursue. Visit the web site below for more information:
Today’s suggestion for changing the world is to prevent genocide – what a truly noble suggestion and aim. Is it possible? Sadly, history would say no, none-the-less we should be doing what we can to stop it. Wouldn’t it be great if world leaders did more to prevent it?
Is there really any serious action going on to stop the Darfur genocide in Sudan? It seems to me that most of the action by western world governments has been reluctant at best. Perhaps there isn’t enough oil? Who knows what the real reason is – but a reason there is for not doing enough.
A web site with more information in Australia:
http://www.darfuraustralia.org/
So what can I do? I certainly can’t storm Sudan – but is there something I can do? Perhaps something that is symbolic will play a part, even a small part to get something done. Perhaps it will help to get the ball rolling (or keep it rolling)?
I can sign the pledge against genocide at Genocide Watch – that is something that I can do. It is also something that you can do. Just have a look at the links below:
http://www.genocidewatch.org/getinvolved/pledgeagainstgenocide.html
A response to reading ‘365 Ways to Change the World,’ by Michael Norton
At the BookShelf 