- Getting Men to Want to Use Condoms & Reinventing the Condom & A Reinvented Condom, That's only Part of the Challenge - I am apparently a little late to the party on this one, but I thought it was such a great idea and challenge that it is definitely worth sharing. As the NYTimes article points out, the goal of a condom is two fold: prevent "unintended pregnancies and STDs like AIDS. Condoms cheaply and effectively prevent both, but around the world only 5% of men wear them and there are 2.5 million new HIV infections a year. To stem that tide, health experts say, the number of men regularly using condoms needs to double."
- Froome Leads Next Generation of Tour de France Contenders - The 2013 Tour de France (TDF) starts on Saturday!!
Protests & Treason (or is it Whistle blowing?)
- Brazil's President Meets Protests with an Anti-Erdogan Response & Brazil Police Kill "Drug Traffickers" Following Favela Protest - I think this is a great quote from President Dilma Rousseff, "Transportation is terrible, education is terrible, public health is terrible...I think it's a miracle that people took so long to demonstrate" I don't know much about her, or her Presidency in general, but she seems like a smart lady, at minimum that is an insightful comment.
- Public Split over Impact of NSA Leak, But Most Want Snowden Prosecuted & Meet the Press interview with Glenn Greenwald - I had a very intersting conversation with a Canadian Colleague of mine. He was expressing his wish that if Snowden had been truly concerned with the NSA lying to Congress and to the American public, that he had just released domestic wiretapping information. Instead he actually took state secrets regarding our enemies and other foreign countries and shared it with them. The line between whistle blowing and treason, in his mind had been crossed at that moment. I have to say I agree. That's what bothers me so much. He says, "I'm a patriot" "I was worried about the lies and secrets" but all he really did was make us more vulnerable and insecure. Although kudos to him and Wikileaks and Bradley Manning for bringing this dark secret into the public consciousness for open debate and discussion.
Religion
- Extremism Rises Among Myanmar Buddhists - I remember having a conversation with a former colleague of mine about Buddhists and their amazing poise in the face of persecution. I find it very fascinating to hear of those who have finally had enough. The consequences of belief when faced with a stark reality. I will be curious to see how this evolves for their system of belief.
- US Must Separate Religion and Iran Policy - Just food for thought.
