Hear about the earthquake in Italy?

At least 150 have died and over 1,500 people injured after a powerful magnitude 6.3 quake hits L'Aquila, in central Italy.

This video takes us to the damaged area, and those affected by the disaster.



b3

Las Muertas De Juarez (dead women of juarez)

As we hear the increasingly sharp criticism of the drug traffic in the boarder city of Juarez, Mexico, the real issue in my eyes is being ignored. I agree that drug violence on the boarder is a problem but what is really going on in Juarez?

Since they have been counting in the early 90's, hundreds of young women in Juarez have gone missing or have turned up dead. Some of the dead women that where actually found are burnt and dressed in another woman's clothes. Some police are in on it because they try to convince the victim's families that Any body they find is their family member. The victims are easy to dismiss because they are almost all impoverished. Adding to the problem, Mexican government estimates 1.3 million residents, but the real population may be closer to 2 million. How can you miss a thousand people if they "weren't there" in the first place.

This is obviously a huge sex-trafficking ring. I never wanted to believe that this happens in modern times but the slave trade is alive and well - on the U.S. boarder. Why is this issue ignored? Why are drugs more important than women in the Administrations eyes? While no doubt they are connected, the focus away from femicide makes me realize that women's rights still have a long ways to go. Activists have been met with coordinated violence and terrorism. Does America not care about women or is it that they just don't know? I would like to think that is a hopeful ignorance - but one we need to correct.



WTF - b3

* via current

Chaos, Abuse, and Neglect

Dani was 7 years old when Florida police finally came to investigate allegations of child abuse at her house. Weighing just 46 pounds, she had spent most of her young life curled up alone in her room, and was never allowed outdoors—even to go to school or see a doctor. The neglect was so severe, one expert says, that she would have been better off if she had been raised by animals.
Her story—including her adoption by a remarkable couple and her astonishing steps towards recovery—was featured recently on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," after her case was first exposed in a poignant multimedia story in the St. Petersburg Times. Bruce Perry, M.D., Ph.D., was the featured guest on the program. He has evaluated Dani and is consulting on her treatment—and has also seen about 150 similar cases.

When police found her in a small, Plant City, Florida rental house, Dani was naked except for a heavy diaper. The stench was so strong that the officers expected to find a dead body.
Instead, they discovered a feral child: A girl so profoundly neglected that she had never learned to eat solid food, speak, or even understand language. Dani wasn't toilet-trained, and although she could walk, her gait was crab-like and uneven: She skittered on her toes.
Seemingly oblivious to the filth around her, Dani's mentally impaired mother told the officers, "I'm doing the best I can."
Although such extreme stories are rare, child neglect can be as harmful as abuse, and is sadly very common. More than two-thirds of the 905,000 confirmed cases of child maltreatment reported to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System in 2006 involved neglect.

*via MSN

wow, b3