PETITION SITE - Please help stop September 15 deadline for death of Harp Seals at Aquarium des Iles, Quebec, Canada, Sep 13, 2012

 "We are writing to urge you and your organizations to take immediate steps to help save the lives of Zak and Mika, two captive 6-month old Harp Seals pups. They were captured from the wild this spring as newborn pups by Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO-MPO) for the purpose of providing them to the Aquarium des Iles in Quebec for tourism display."

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

Consumers International - Are consumer groups heading for extinction? Sep 13, 2012

 "Following the CIVICUS World Assembly, CI’s Luke Upchurch reflects on the relevance of consumer groups in a changing civil society.
Last week’s three-day CIVICUS World Assembly in Montreal, Canada was a heated, energetic affair, reflecting a civil society movement grappling with its place in a rapidly changing world.
This year’s event brought together civil society organisations from across the globe to look at defining a new social contract. Following Rio+20, Occupy, the Arab Spring and the EU/US economic crisis, many of the organisations present at the event were questioning the role and relevance of traditional civil society organisations - something the consumer rights movement itself must do.As consumers turn to user-generated sources of information about products and services; as single-issue groups take on traditional consumer rights issues; and as online activism challenges the conventional thinking around what constitutes action, our movement is left wondering what it can offer the next generation of consumer rights advocates."

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

VOGUE News, Sep 13, 2012

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

IRISH TIMES - Child mortality declines significantly, Sep 13, 2012

 "Countries across the world are making rapid progress on child survival rates, showing it is possible to bring down child mortality significantly in two decades, the United Nations Children's Fund said today.
In its latest report on child survival, Unicef hailed a sharp drop of about 40 per cent in the number of children under the age of five dying, with the estimated global toll falling from nearly 12 million in 1990 to 6.9 million in 2011.
There was progress across diverse nations with varied wealth, Unicef said, providing evidence that neither a country's regional nor economic status was necessarily a barrier to being able to reduce child death rates."

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

DAILY BEAST - Did Obama Err in Tolerating Egypt's Intolerant Muslim Brotherhood? Sep 13, 2012

 "Egyptian protesters burn the US flag during a demonstration against a film deemed offensive to Islam on September 12, 2012 outside the US embassy in Cairo. (KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/GettyImages)
Mitt Romney has received much (deserved) criticism for his maladroit comments on the 9/11 embassy attacks.
But you know what? There is a critique to be made of the Obama administration's approach to Islamism, especially in Egypt - and it doesn't require anyone to hurl false charges that the president "sympathizes" with the killers of Americans.
The critique is this:
The Obama administration has staked its foreign policy on the assumption that the best way to deal with radical Islam is by engaging with radical Islam, thus splitting the men of violence from the men willing to try politics.
By this theory, the problem with radical Islam was its method (terrorism), not its goals (establishing Muslim Brotherhood style governments)."

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

TIMES FREE PRESS - For Sept. 11 anniversary, a turning point passed? Sep 11, 2012

"NEW YORK (AP) — As the sun rose over the World Trade Center on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks, the neighborhood around ground zero seemed more normal than in previous years, with fewer police barricades and commuters rushing out of the subway.
At the southwest corner of ground zero, a lineup of airport-style metal detectors has been set up to clear visitors entering the ceremony.
The detectors are several hundred feet from Engine 10 and Ladder 10, and the company's dozens of firefighters are preparing for the ceremony."

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

DAILY MAIL - London 2012 Paralympics: Closing ceremony brings down curtain, Sep 11, 2012

 "Stunning effects and raw courage signalled the end of the Paralympic Games in London on Sunday night.
The closing ceremony - billed as the Festival of the Flame - lived up to its name as flame throwers, blazing torches and a gigantic heart of fire lit up the Olympic Stadium.
An awed audience roared with delight, particularly for Britain's joint flagbearers wheelchair racer David Weir and cyclist Sarah Storey, who each won four golds

ALEXANDER LANGUAGE SCHOOLS