60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Tomorrow

Earlier in the year I introduced you to the Elders, and the Every Human Has Rights campaign. Tomorrow is the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Every Human Has Rights website allows you to personally show your support by signing the Declaration yourself, and provides lots of material for you to find out more and get informed. As of today 43,477 people have signed. Yes it can be anonymous. This turnout for such an important and fundamental campaign is appalling. Where the hell is everybody? Why are people not passing on the word?

This is an opportunity to join with some of the world's most respected people and make a stand against human rights violations worldwide! What can be more important than the basic rights of a human being? None of us would allow anyone to take these rights away from us without a fight, and yet we seem to be utterly indifferent when it comes to the violation of the same rights of someone else. How ludicrous! I can think of no reason why someone would not wish to type their name, select their country and simply click a button to show their support. It takes about 30 seconds.

So there is one explanation, the word is simply not getting out. It has been a year, and knowing the internet as I do, the word should have spread by now. I implore anyone reading this to get outraged at the indifference shown towards this cause, and email everyone you know, asking them to sign and do the same. Let's try to make an effort and redeem our race in the last 24 hrs.

I choose to sign this declaration because:
I wish to take responsibility for upholding the goals of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in my daily life and in my community. I will do my best to speak out to protect the freedom and rights of others in my community.

I affirm the following principle: “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”
I believe Every Human Has Rights.

For those of you wondering "what the hell is a Universal Declaration of Human Rights?", I have reproduced the ENTIRE DECLARATION below.

Please join us tomorrow in sending the following message to whomever you can, however you can:
“Today is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights' 60th anniversary.
I believe that Every Human Has Rights! www.everyhumanhasrights.org”

THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Preamble
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in cooperation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,
Now, therefore,
The General Assembly,
Proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.


Article 1
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Article 11
1. Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
2. No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 13
1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State.
2. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

Article 14
1. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
2. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15
1. Everyone has the right to a nationality.
2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 16
1. Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
2. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
3. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 17
1. Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20
1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
2. No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21
1. Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
2. Everyone has the right to equal access to public service in his country.
3. The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Article 23
1. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
2. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
3. Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
4. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25
1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26
1. Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
2. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27
1. Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29
1. Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
2. In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
3. These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

PLEASE VISIT WWW.EVERYHUMANHASRIGHTS.ORG TO SIGN THE DECLARATION

Pod racing becoming a reality?

Imagine for a moment, that you are looking out from the cockpit of a state of the art rocket-powered aircraft. The flag has yet to go down, and you are waiting with intense anticipation. All around you a vast crowd is yelling team slogans and various professions of support for you. Suddenly you see the countdown begin, and you brace yourself. 3...2...1 *Whoooooooosh* you engage the twin thrusters of your vehicle, and are pressed back in your seat as you accelerate to a top speed of around 400 kph (350 mph). You hold your line, aware of the nine other racers above, below...all around you, like you, following the 3d paths sent to their individual HUD's inside their helmets. 4 laps later, your adrenaline ebbing, you eke out the final burst of power from your engines and scream over the finish line. You have won, you are a hero.

Anyone who thought the pod-racing was the coolest thing (apart from darth-maul's lightsaber) in Star Wars Ep1 listen up!

Enter the Rocket Racing League: an up and coming sports and entertainment league that will provide a platform for high-powered LOx (liquid oxygen)and kerosene ran rocket-planes who will clash ailerons with each other around a fast-paced 3d aerial racing circuit.

Granted, there will be few if any pod-racer style courses with close calls through canyons and the like, but I can see this kind of thing being added along the way as the competition evolves.

Founded in 2005 by two-time Indianapolis 500 champion team owner Granger Whitelaw and aerospace pioneer and X PRIZE Foundation founder Dr. Peter Diamandis, the league promises a virtual nascar of the air. See the video below for a sneaky peak at this exciting future competition.



As a fan of both rocketry and aviation, this video gets me giggling like a three year old girl. Imagine the mid-air collision mayhem!

I believe the league is set to have its first season in 2010, with hour and a half long races, with 6-10 races throughout the season, each race involving up to 10 rocket-planes!

Until then...

Meh...

In a great day for "The Simpsons" fans and anyone under 30 worldwide, the word "meh" has today been awarded a permanent place in the Collins English Dictionary.

"The origins of "meh" are murky, but the term grew in popularity after being used in a 2001 episode of The Simpsons in which Homer suggests a day trip to his children Bart and Lisa.

"They both just reply 'meh' and keep watching TV," said Cormac McKeown, head of content at Collins Dictionaries."

The dictionary defines "meh" as an expression of indifference or boredom, or an adjective meaning mediocre or boring.

Full story here.

Can anybody think of any more words that have become used in everyday speech, yet aren't in the dictionary yet?

hmm...

(Actually it seems that "hmm" is another one)

No more bank fees!

So a little while ago, I decided I was sick and tired of being charged through the nose for loaning banks my money for a miserly interest rate, and then charged some more every time I withdrew from an atm without their label on it. What to do?

About a year ago, a transaction account with no fees sounded a bit like an urban myth. One that a friend of a friend had read about in a tabloid. Not long after that, something changed, and a few banks began to offer fully online bank accounts.

My first experience with a fee free account was with an HSBC Online Savings Account. The only problem I had here was, living in a regional area there were no local HSBC branches. As such, the account creation process was a protracted and frustratingly error-prone affair. In the end the account was set up, I had a visa debit card, and an interesting little security device that generated random access codes for further online security.
This was all great, but I found that the online interface of HSBC's online banking began to get me down, and there were a few unexplained issues with some of my scheduled transactions which worried me. So I decided to shop around for another.

For a while previously I had maintained a high interest, fee free online savings account with BankWest, the Telenet Saver. This is a terrific account with easy access online and an above average interest rate. You simply link it to your existing transaction account from any institution, and are then free to transfer back and forth. Brilliant to set up a regular savings plan. Then I had a look at other BankWest offerings. This is what I ended up with:

A Bankwest Zero transaction account (you need to credit at least $2K per month) with a Mastercard debit card, with which you can access funds from any atm in the country for free! There are no account keeping fees, and if you like online banking, then this is the one for you. If you link the Telenet saver account I mentioned previously to this one, you get instant transfers between both a high interest and a transaction account, all with no account keeping fees!

This is the best deal I have found so far, and remote account creation was a cinch (for those who don't have a branch nearby).

Currently, the BankWest Telenet Saver is offering a 6.35% p.a. intro interest rate for the first 12 months. This is exceptional in the current economic climate.

If anyone finds out about a better or equally good deal, let me know!

Until next time.

Paid Surveys: Are They Any Good, Or Just Scams?

Seeing how this post on making money online has featured high in the keywords referring to my blog, I thought I would expand on one of the elements mentioned: paid surveys.

Are they any good?

Well, after trying out a fair few myself for more than a year, I can decisively say...maybe. Now don't all jump down my throat at once, I am not avoiding the issue at all. The fact is that a few sites that offer paid surveys are reasonable, and most are either useless, outright scams, or simply a waste of time.

Straight off the bat, try to avoid sites that offer to give you a list of sites offering paid surveys. You don't need them, and they are not offering from the goodness in their e-hearts. These sites either want you to pay, or receive commission from the sites they endorse. There are a few sites out there that do link you to the actual companies conducting the market research without trying to rip you off in some way; these are obviously different from the ones mentioned above in that they do not promise you untold riches and 10 virgins if you tick a few boxes now and then.

This brings me to my next point. You will almost certainly not make enough cash from paid surveys to feed yourself, let alone make any serious dint in your mortgage. Surveys come intermittently, and pay only a few dollars if you're lucky, and if you qualify for them, and if you have reached the necessary amount to get a cash payment. In my experience, I have only completed surveys from one site that has ever sent me anything in return. Valued Opinions pays fairly well in comparison to most survey sites, and from them I have received and used two $20 Coles gift vouchers. Not a fortune to be sure, but it paid for a few meals.

If I were to receive nonstop surveys from Valued Opinions, qualified for them all, and had the time to do them, I could make around 12 dollars an hr. This is just not feasible considering I receive a good survey once every few days, not 3 or 4 times an hr.

A few of you have asked questions about http://www.surveyadvise.com. I have been a member there for a long while, and granted, they introduced me to valued opinions. However, I never completed their $10 offer challenge, as some of their suggestions requested too much personal information. As a member, they send you emails regarding some site or other that is offering paid surveys or some other money making opportunity. I must say that 99.9% of their suggestions are filled with the sort of hype I warned you about in the post I linked to at the top. In effect they are rather useless, though not really a scam as far as I can tell. I believe they get commission from the sites they link you to should you sign up.

So to finish up, some are almost certainly scams, most are useless, and a few provide a genuine tiny bit of extra cash.

Have fun and be careful kids.

Hey! Long Time No See!

Well, I have to apologise. I have been on hiatus for far too long. No real excuse, but since I see people have been visiting the site in my absence, I think it's high time I started giving you some more info to boggle your minds with. There have certainly been some interesting events in the world recently.
Here's to a bright new future guys and gals :D

On a lighter note....

Here is something I just received via email^^

HUMOR FOR LEXOPHILES (LOVERS OF WORDS)

I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.

Police were called to a day care where a 3-yr-old was resisting a rest.

Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.

The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference.

The butcher backed up into the meat grinder & got a little behind in his work.

To write with a broken pencil is pointless.

When fish are in schools, they sometimes take debate.

The short fortune teller who escaped from prison was a small medium
at large.

A thief who stole a calendar got 12 months.

A thief fell & broke his leg in wet cement. He became a hardened criminal.

When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, U.C.L.A.

The dead batteries were given out free of charge.

A dentist & a manicurist fought tooth and nail.

A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.

A will is a dead giveaway.

Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.

A backward poet writes inverse.

In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your Count that votes.

A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.

If you don't pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.

A guy fell into an upholstery machine. He's fully recovered.

A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor in France, resulting in Linoleum Blownapart.

You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.

A calendar's days are numbered.

A lot of money is tainted: 'Taint yours, and 'taint mine.

A boiled egg is hard to beat.

He had a photographic memory which was never developed.

Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

When you've seen one shopping center, you've seen a mall.

When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.

Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.

Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.

Enjoy your day :)

Are you a nerd?

On a lighter note, I just took an online test to check my nerdiness rating.
This is my score for space stuff.



Click on it to take it yourself, and you can also find the link to the actual nerd test. I refuse to reveal what I got on that one, because my family and girlfriend may disown me :)

I think of myself more as a geek, simply because I don't behave or look like a nerd...most of the time.

Desmond Tutu Calls for Release of Aung San Suu Kyi

I will reproduce here a recent announcement by Elder Desmond Tutu, concerning the illegal imprisonment of Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel laureate and rightful leader of the Burmese people:

May 25, 2008

(Cape Town, South Africa) Statement by Desmond Tutu, Chair of the Elders:

"On behalf of the Elders and people of conscience everywhere, I call for the immediate release of Burmese human rights advocate and fellow Elder Aung San Suu Kyi. This brave and beautiful woman is the world's only imprisoned Nobel Laureate. According to Burmese law, her detention should expire today, allowing her the freedom that she has sought for so many others. The people of Burma chose her as their national leader seventeen years ago. Yet their vote goes ignored and their voices unheard. The country's leadership has an opportunity to begin to right that wrong, to respond to the people's will and to abide by their country's laws."



"At the same time the Burmese junta should open their country to the aid that has been offered in the wake of a terrible cyclone that has claimed over 100,000 lives. This has been a time of tragedy for so many Burmese families. Let it be a time to celebrate the newfound freedom of this visionary leader who stands up for peace, justice and human dignity - and stands up for the Burmese people who have suffered for too long."

This is a powerful statement, by an increasingly influential group.


Happier times, 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner.

I would also call your attention to the summit on the abolition of cluster bombs currently taking place in Ireland. Apparently the Australian delegation is making trouble. See www.avaaaz.org to send an email to Kevin Rudd, and show your support for the destruction of these indiscriminate explosives. They look like toys to kids, who are regularly killed and maimed when they pick them up.

Ooh! Toys!


Look away...I dare you!

Your's
Jetsam

Update on the Hmong Refugees

In a new show of "Samak Logic", on the 24th May the cerebrally challenged Thai PM Samak Sundaravej authorised troop action on the Hmong refugees at the Ban Huay Nam Khao camp in Thailand. What do you do when you have a community of genuine refugees who would rather die than be returned to the country from which they fled? According to Samak, you fire tear gas and pepper spray at them to force them onto the buses.

"In reaction to the Thai troops now deployed to the Hmong refugee camp, the Hmong refugees have laid down on the road and are refusing to move, waiting instead for the buses or trucks to run them over so they can die in Thailand instead of returning to Laos," stated Dr. Jane Hamilton-Merritt, Southeast Asia Scholar. http://www.tragicmountains.org

On May 16, eight members of the U.S. Senate wrote a letter appealing to Prime Minister Samak and U.S. Secretary of State Rice to grant asylum to some 8,000 Hmong refugees and not force them back to Laos. What good this will do, I have no idea. In light of recent history, I would be inclined to say there is very little that could convince Samak that human-rights are worth fighting for when the issues are staring him in the face. Not only is he breaking bread with famed human rights violators such as Than Shwe (Burma's top piggy), he is cooking a scrumptious meal for them. If he wears an apron for much longer, I fear Samak will become yet another example of Thailand's disposable democracy.


"Hooooo! Is that bacon I smell?"

If you are interested in the plight of the Hmong, which really, everyone should be, then take a look at the following two videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnvTjs3-Ytc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mi68GYu64k&watch_response