Houda Nonoo is the first woman ambassador of Bahrain to the united states. Not only that , she is also the first Jewish ambassador of Bahrain.

I first read about this here . Nonoo, at only 43 has been a lawmaker in Bahrain for the last 3 years and is also the head of watch the Bahrain human rights organization.

This is so much more important on so many levels than just her personal appointment! This is another break through for women, in a country that if I am not very much mistaken is not very advanced from the feminist point of view.

I know that the separation of the religion from the state is considered an important achievement that allows for liberalism, free choice and freedom, but I want to make a case here for allowing some form of religious discussion in the classroom.

No I’m not talking about teaching all children that they have to believe in god and forcing them to pray and I sure not thinking about forcing the mind of children to fit in the Dogma’s of this or that religion.

On the contrary. I feel that the decision not to teach religion at the schools has led to extreme situations that inhibit the student’s freedom to explore.

Why not allow for programs in the schools that present the children with the diversity of the thought about religion, there are many ways to enable children to get the answers they need and often go out on their own and seek after the schools fail to help them in this enquiry. Eco to the unfulfilled needs of children in the education system can be found in posts like this.

What I suggest is to hold special days when the student would meet representative of many school of thought, religious, secular, scientific, philosophical and others including the more and more popular new age.

Are we doing them a favor by depriving them responsible information for developing their world view? I really don’t think so. Instead of deciding for them what they should think we can help them choose responsibly by giving them the tools and the knowledge to decide what reflect their truth the most.

There are many devoted people out there that actually care enough about the world to try and make it a better place.

This time I want to focus on the people that give up a lot of their time and effort to the issue of war crime trials.

There are those who gradually put an end to the freedom with which each this or that nation treats the lives of whom they perceive to be their enemies at each passing moment and bring rules, regulations and limits to those leaders that feel they can do anything.

There are others such as this group that runs a blog specifically to report war crime trials around the world and brings interesting information that can really open your minds to the happenings in other corners in the world.

I feel it is important for us to take the time and get involved as one step at a time we can turn the world into a better place.

With the recent attention that Asia gets in the news as a result of the recent events in Burma and China, I wanted to introduce you to a very interesting project of the graduate school of journalism of Berkley university.

The project called covering Asia has a unique fresh perspective on journalism that enables us who care for the people and what’s happening to them to really feel what they are going through for example in this paragraph:

On Tuesday morning, Wang Guofei and his younger brother drove to look for their mother in the rugged southwestern county of Beichuan, where at least 5,000 people have died as a result of Monday’s earthquake. But the road had been washed out by a landslide, and Mr. Wang said he would return the next day and search for his mother on foot.

It is an important project that brings the lives of the people of Asia closer to our home.

Did you know that the average American woman makes only 77 cents to every Dollar the American man makes?

Most people are unaware of the differences in pay with people from different genders doing the same job.

But the sad truth is - there is no equal pay for comparable employment and social conditioning is still directing women to lower payed caregiver jobs and men to higher payed power suit jobs.

Liz Funk wrote an excellent very thoughtful post about this (which I recommend reading as it raises some points for thought)

Liz talks about social conditioning and the “reasons” behind discriminatory pay, (Woman wouldn’t know what to do with and do not need so much money) and how this is still embedded in us in a strange way (even in the woman) I was not aware of the root of this problem - or should I say the “reasoning” behind the difference.

I would have thought that it had much more to do with the womans roll as mother and main care giver - employers are prepared to invest less in women - even if she doesn’t have children in the event of her suddenly taking off to go and get herself a family….

Giving the matter some second thought - maybe Liz does have a point about the social conditioning - in fact, it is intertwined with the motherhood/caregiver factor.

I find that her points are no less annoying than my previous thoughts on the matter - It really is nobodies business what woman do with the money after they earn it - and who is to say who needs what? and if she doesn’t want I giant aquarium she shouldn’t make millions?

Sounds a bit to socialistic for a purely capitalistic society…

Many humanitarian organizations are in the midst of trying to help the victims of the two natural catastrophes to hit Asia recently.One such organization is the Humanitarian agency Church World Service. The Rev Chuck Currie says

In the China earthquake’s aftermath, officials with the Amity Foundation, a long-time Church World Service partner in China, report that many buildings, including government facilities, have collapsed or are severely damaged, and that the demand on local emergency responders is great.

Donations to the appeal will help fund relief efforts by Amity Foundation, whose staff members now are assessing the damage from Chengdu and other affected areas. Amity already has provided 1 million Yuan (approximately US$143,000) to purchase and distribute drinking water and food for heavily-damaged Du Jiangyan.

Amity will focus its relief on some 8,000 families whose homes are destroyed and who are among the most-vulnerable. Amity expects to ensure that 16,000 of the most vulnerable individuals have sufficient food (15 kilos of rice per person) during the immediate emergency period; that 8,000 families have sufficient additional protection against cold weather in the form of quilts; that 8,000 homeless families also have the added protection of plastic cloth to help them survive heavy rains forecast for the quake center areas.

As part of the recovery effort Amity will help rebuild 600 damaged or destroyed houses, 10 schools and five hospitals or clinics, and also will rehabilitate five water and irrigation systems.

The total budget is estimated at close to $1.5 million.

I can’t complain, being here safe at home, clicking away at my keyboard, but the most frustrating aspect of these disasters is the feeling of complete helplessness against the power of nature and the fragility of life.

People like the Amity Foundation and the Church World Service help both the victims and us - who want to help and now can do so from the comfort of our own homes.

for more information on the efforts go to Rev. Curries site and to help the effort finacialy you may donate online here.