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Rwandan Genocide

Today the world marks 20 years since Hutu extremists killed in the region of 1 million ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus over a 3 month period – one of the worst epsidoes of prolonged violence the world has ever seen. 

A father cradles his sick baby during the 1994 cholera outbreak which claimed thousands of lives in Goma, Zaire, after one million people fled fighting in Rwanda. Photo By Tom Stoddart

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My name is Debbie Chilton and I am proud to stand tall each year and say I am a epileptic a neurological condition that a affects around 50 million people each year. For a percentage of us our seizures are not controlled by medication and we are challenged by the limitations and social stigma that still exists in society.  Purple Day was start be a 12 year old girl Megan Casidy, who asked her school friends to wear purple to school on March 26th as a symbol that she was one of them.  In solditarity the whole town wore purple in support of Megan that year.  Purple day is now celebrated internationally on March 26th each year.

  As I seek to live a full life, I am supported by Epilepsy Action Australia, in thanks for their support I am holding my second annual online art auction to raise funds for the support the provide to people with epilepsy.  Some of the services they provide include: education for new diagnosed patients; online diaries to assist members track seizures, to enable specialist identify triggers and potential cause, online training for support staff and families as well as on the ground training to groups on request.

(via Debbie's Discussions: Art For A Cause!)

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Mandela called freedom from poverty a “fundamental human right.” Mandela considered poverty one of the greatest evils in the world, and spoke out against inequality everywhere. “Massive poverty and obscene inequality are such terrible scourges of our times — times in which the world boasts breathtaking advances in science, technology, industry and wealth accumulation — that they have to rank alongside slavery and apartheid as social evils,” he said. He considered ending poverty a basic human duty: “Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life,” he said. “While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.” (via Six Things Nelson Mandela Believed That Most People Won't Talk About | ThinkProgress)

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Mandela Newspaper Covers

The Mercury --- Durban

The Times --- South Africa

Le Soir --- Belgium

La Stampa --- Italy

** **

De Standaard --- Belgium

El Informador --- Mexico

** * El Colombiano_--- _Medellin, Colombia

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser_--- _Honolulu, Hawaii USA

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Freedom to Marry mourns the passing of human rights legend Nelson Mandela.

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Nelson Mandela; loved, respected, admired. ❤

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We don’t often think about where these material things come from. Sure, you may check the label and see that it’s made in Australia – and that will justify the extra $$ on the price tag – or you may prefer to buy something made in the USA over made in China.

But are you aware that the clothes you buy and the choices you make are inextricably linked to human rights?  (via Are Your Choices Supporting Modern Day Slavery? - The Pursuit of Adventure)

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Autonomous weapons already in use, as noted in this Associated Press article:

"— The U.S. Phalanx system for Aegis-class cruisers, which automatically detects, tracks and engages anti-air warfare threats such as anti-ship missiles and aircraft.

— Britain's Taranis jet-propelled combat drone prototype that can autonomously search, identify and locate enemies but can only engage with a target when authorized by mission command. It also can defend itself against enemy aircraft."

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"From a military point of view, the step toward mechanical soldiers is logical: remote controlled robots are tireless; they can conduct riskier maneuvers than human pilots, who always face the threat of being shot down. But, even remote control has its limitations: Communications between the system and the operator can take a few seconds that, in turn, can decide on a mission's success or failure." (via Killer robots instead of soldiers? | World | DW.DE | 21.05.2013)

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"Ostensibly these robots will also be able to disperse crowds of terrorists, round up terrorists for imprisonment or questioning, or even “neutralize” terrorists that haven’t yet done anything wrong but that the Russian state finds to be potential threats. Fortunately these robots will only be used against terrorists, because if you replace “terrorist” with just about any other group of people this paragraph becomes fairly unsettling." (via Russia Is Building Robots To 'Neutralize' Terrorists | Popular Science)

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VIDEO- A look at some of the robots that Russia has developed.

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Hear the flip-side to technology- not always positive. Drones, autonomous robots; a report by the UN Human Rights Council (which will be debated in Geneva on May 29th) looks at the ethic repercussions that autonomous weapons have. Jeremy  Kaplan covers. 

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(via The UN Debates Whether Killer Robots Have A Place In This World | Elite Daily)

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Last week the US Navy ran its first fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles in California. The US, UK, Israel, South Korea and Japan all have developed fully/semi-autonomous weapons, according to the newly released United Nations reports on robotics. This clip gives a good overview of autonomous weapons as well as the UN report in a concise 5 minute video clip.

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(via Street North East | Bad Bots Review)

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U.N. protecting us from killer robots

"Forget the human rights abuses commonplace around the world — particularly those happening in countries now serving on the U.N. Human Rights Council. That group is protecting us from a more serious threat: killer robots."

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"A U.N. report released earlier this week called for a global moratorium on developing highly sophisticated robots that can select and kill targets without a human being directly issuing a command. These machines, known as Lethal Autonomous Robots (LARs), may sound like science fiction – but experts increasingly believe some version of them could be created in the near future. "

Should Robots Be Able to Decide to Kill You On Their Own? | Politics News | Rolling Stone