Kayla. 21. Nerdfighter. Vegetarian. INFJ. Book worm. Graphic novel enthusiast. Cake decorator. Aspiring teacher. Secular humanist. Pacifist. Human rights activist. Movies. Art. Inspiration.
why are we spending so much money on foreign aid when we have people jobless in the middle class???
he said: it’s really not nearly as much as some make it out to be.
he should have said: because people in other countries are humans too. we are not the only human beings worthy of eating, drinking, sleeping and “living” in general. Americans are no better than any other person, no matter what citizenship he or she holds.
real question: why do we only think about ourselves? do we not have a single ounce of humanity left for anyone “not American”? plus, what people fail to realize is we don’t give “aid” to anyone we don’t directly or indirectly benefit from, for the most part (except for natural disaster relief, among other things).
I think it’s also interesting to note that Americans think we spend 25% of our federal budget on foreign aid and would instead like to see us spend about 10%. In actuality, less than 1% of our federal budget goes towards foreign aid.
(and we still give more than every other country)
When it comes to the total amount of foreign aid given, yes, the United States gives the most but you also have to remember that we have a lot more money than the rest of the world. When sorting the amount of foreign aid given by GNI or per capita, the United States ranks rather low.
(Source: feminishblog)
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in an unusually outspoken declaration on Sunday, told African leaders they must respect gay rights, an issue that is controversial in many African states.
“One form of discrimination ignored or even sanctioned by many states for too long has been discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity,” Ban said at an African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital.
“It prompted governments to treat people as second-class citizens or even criminals,” he added.
Homosexuality is outlawed in most African countries and discrimination against gays and lesbians is rife on the continent, with South Africa being the only country that recognises gay rights and same-sex marriage, at least on paper.
However, previous external criticism of restrictions imposed on homosexuals has attracted angry responses from African leaders, who claim it is alien to their culture.
(Source: caraobrien)
To keep my mind off of the cold, when switching from one class to another, I like to count things.
Today, I counted how many people have a North Face jacket.
My walk is about 3 minutes long, and I saw 17 people.
That is 5.6* people, let’s say 6 people, per minute.
Lawrence Lessig in Republic, Lost (via think-progress)
Previously: Iraq war facts & stats
(via kateoplis)
A Scientific Look at the Dangers of High Heels
Does it fundamentally matter if a woman’s calf muscle fibers shorten and she neglects her tendons while walking, especially if she loves the looks of her Louboutins?
That question is difficult for a biomechanist to answer, Dr. Cronin admits. Aesthetics are outside the realm of his branch of science. But the risk of injury is not. “We think that the large muscle strains that occur when walking in heels may ultimately increase the likelihood of strain injuries,” he says. (This risk is separate from the chances that a woman, if unfamiliar with heels, may topple sideways and twist an ankle or bruise her self-image, which is an acute injury and happened to me only the one time.)
The risks extend to workouts, when heel wearers abruptly switch to sneakers or other flat shoes. “In a person who wears heels most of her working week,” Dr. Cronin says, the foot and leg positioning in heels “becomes the new default position for the joints and the structures within. Any change to this default setting,” he says, like pulling on Keds or Crocs, constitutes “a novel environment, which could increase injury risk.”
It should be noted, he adds, that in his study, the volunteers “were quite young, average age 25, suggesting that it is not necessary to wear heels for a long time, meaning decades, before adaptations start to occur.”
So, if you do wear heels and are at all concerned about muscle and joint strains, his advice is simple. Try, if possible, to ease back a bit on the towering footwear, he says. Wear high heels maybe “once or twice a week,” he says. And if that’s not practical or desirable, “try to remove the heels whenever possible, such as when you’re sitting at your desk.” The shoes can remain alluring, even nestled beside your feet.
*Click above to read the full article
