It' s a little after 9 am on the first day of 2007 here in Seychelles, and I've just watched the ball drop in Times Square. Anderson Cooper was doing his usual over-animated, cute-little-news-guy-taking-himself-WAY-too-seriously thing on CNN, and the crowd was going wild. Playing "Imagine" just before the last minute of the year EST primed my pump for an emotional reaction to the whole hullabaloo and had me wondering what our world might be like if John Lennon hadn't been killed. That spun off into a series of 'what ifs' that amounted to nothing... more

Continued from here ...

Adoption continues as a non-option for tsunami kids, by the way. Many thousands of children lost parents the day after Christmas, 2004, and many thousand more have been left behind by mothers and fathers who suddenly had nothing left to give. Some have been taken in by relatives, and we can hope that has worked out to be a good thing for most of them, but reality dictates that we acknowledge that this circumstance does not always work out to be for the benefit of the child. Kids have fallen through huge gaps in systems that were less than adequate... more

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Two years later, and how is it going? That depends on who you ask. UNICEF has just published their report on the two year anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami, called, "Much Done, More to Do".

They're proud of accomplishments, or at least their very effective PR machine is cranking out the 'good... more

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News is slow to travel in Seychelles, and with the power out we were cut off. Cell phones weren't working effectively, but eventually calls starting coming through from people on the east side of the island: town was flooded; bridges were gone; there were fish on the runway at the airport. Since Mark's parents live right on the beach, we decided we should get home while the getting was good so he could... more

Living as I do among many Brits, and with Mark being half English, we've developed a Boxing Day tradition in our family. In some ways, I prefer it to the Christmas frenzy, as although it still involves friends, it's a smaller, more relaxed group, and since the meal we congregate over consists entirely of leftovers, it's a low-prep, easy-clean version of the previous day's feast. We do this at Gay's, because that's where the leftovers were left. Adhering to no schedule, we're sometimes even enjoying a bit of dessert while waiting for gravy to... more

In thinking back over the past two days ... Christmas Eve and Christmas Day ... I'm inspired to contemplate the great good fortune that allows me to enjoy the cultural diversity life on this island provides. Yes, Christmas is Christmas with all of its roots and definitions, but in my world the occasion is in no way bound by religious affiliation or geographic origins. Like my family that's come together from all corners of the globe ... if it happened to be square instead of globe-like and came with edges and corners... more

I thought to look today for fitting material for blogging ... something festive, but meaningful; heartfelt, but light.

Christmas Eve is special in my history, and the occasion deserves a special story.

Ask, and receive! (How lucky am I?) I've been side-swiped this morning by a story that has bells ringing a number of different tunes.

First, it comes from my oldest son's second home town, Baker City, Oregon ... a tiny... more

Continued from here where the topic is female infanticide ...

Government officials and UNICEF are shocked and up in arms. Give me a break.

In a statement marking International Women's Day, UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy issued a strong attack against culturally-sanctioned homicidal violence directed at women and girls around the world. She said 'honour' killings, acid violence, female infanticide... more

I wrote the other day about how sex selection among immigrant groups is affecting the population in Canada.

... there's enough pre-natal sex selection going on in that country these days to skew the demographics much like they skew in China and India.

There the issue is the aborting of female fetuses ... quite the dichotomy for pro-choice feminists with abortion on demand deemed a basic right,... more

I have so much stuff to write about today, but I'm feeling as though I should be giving some nod of the head to the whole festive season thing. I'll start with some news, though, then move into something more seasonal ....

A story about the U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Humanitarian Needs in Southern Africa talking about the needs of orphans and vulnerable children in Mozambique is interesting and gives lots of... more