Head Over to http://meerajane.net

The good people of Britain always give credit where its needed.

Treo – the most awesomest Labrador, has been awarded with a medal for his work in Afgahnistan.

Black Labrador Treo, eight, was awarded the Dickin Medal at the event at the Imperial War Museum in London.

The now retired dog, from 104 Military Working Dog Support Unit, North Luffenham barracks in Rutland, twice found hidden bombs in Helmand province.

Treo is the 63rd animal to receive the medal created by veterinary charity the PDSA to honour gallantry in war.

The medal, which is the highest accolade a military animal can be awarded, was presented by Princess Alexandra.

A total of 26 other dogs, 32 World War II messenger pigeons, three horses and one cat have won the award, introduced in 1943 by Maria Dickin, the founder of the PDSA – People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals.

Treo was working as a forward detection dog in Sangin when in August and September 2008 he found two hidden “daisy chain” bombs made out of multiple explosives wired together. His handler said Treo’s detective work saved the lives of many soldiers.

Sgt Heyhoe added the pair had a “rapport” and understood each other.

“Everyone will say that he is just a military working dog – yes, he is, but he is also a very good friend of mine. We look after each other.”

He said the award was for every dog and handler working in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Maj Chris Ham, officer commanding the Canine Division at the Defence Animal Centre in Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, said dogs played an important role in missions overseas.

He said: “It’s being recognised more and more in this day and age that the key capability the armed explosives dog does have lies particularly in finding improvised explosive devices.”

Content via BBC.com

One word: RAD.

Happiness + Joy whilst having a dance with the pixies frolicking in Sherwood Forest.

The latest single from Kate Nash’s upcoming single: Listen: Doo Wah Doo – Kate Nash

Loved Foundations and Nicest Thing off her previous album made from bricks.

Safe to say, many have been looking forward to Slash’s upcoming album – expected to launch in May.

Seriously – its an all star cast of music legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Izzy Stradlin, Chris Cornell, Alice Cooper, Dave Grohl and IGGY POP.

True Genius. The only person he didn’t seem able to sign on was Jack White (he was too busy drumming with the Dead Weather).

One of the first tracks on Slash’s album has just been leaked out via Spinner.com.

Listen: Slash feat Andrew Stockdale – By the Sword

I think I’m still 50:50 on this one. Its an awesome track. But it sounds like a Zeppelin + GNR mash . Don’t get me wrong, it’s hot – its old school goodness and when listening to it, you can feel the lift as Stockdale’s vocals and Slash’s magic crescendo into one.

The riffs are beautifully crafted and you could almost see the development of this song from jam session to Rock N Roll. But the distinct similarity of Stockdale’s Wolfmother/ Zeppelin-esque influence doesn’t add enough. Slash on the other hand, is an absolute magical maestro with the guitar.

Looking forward to see what comes next on this album. Track listings for the upcoming album are-

01. Ghost (Ian Astbury)
02. Beautiful Dangerous (Fergie)
03. Nothing To Say (M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold)
04. Crucify The Dead (Ozzy Osbourne)
05. Promise (Chris Cornell)
06. By The Sword (Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother)
07. Doctor Alibi (Lemmy Kilmeister)
08. Saint Is A Sinner Too (Rocco De Luca)
09. Watch This (Dave Grohl/Duff McKagan)
10. I Hold On (Kid Rock)
11. Gotten (Adam Levine)
12. We’re All Gonna Die (Iggy Pop)
13. Starlight (Myles Kennedy)

Very excited to hear track 12, with the genius who is Iggy Pop, I don’t think we can expect anything below Legendary.

]]> http://meerajane.wordpress.com/2010/02/27/slash-andrew-stockdale-by-the-sword/feed/ 0 M http://meerajane.wordpress.com/2010/02/27/street-anatomy-15-things-you-should-know-about-breasts/ http://meerajane.wordpress.com/2010/02/27/street-anatomy-15-things-you-should-know-about-breasts/#comments Sat, 27 Feb 2010 05:15:07 +0000 swiyana http://meerajane.net/?p=968 ]]>
Via: Online Schools

When looking at the collection, you can’t help but be drawn into the simplistic beauty of the pieces. The collection as a whole, was like a step back in time, to that Mad Men era. Pencil skirts, clean lines, strong texture.

The symphony of clashing prints would make Anna proud. I especially love the ruffles on the second dress. Its like a bit of triffle on top of a dress. You’ve got to love it.

Photos courtesy of Women’s Wear Daily

This is the question Sunita Krishnan, a well known social activist in India asks when she recently gave a talk on sex slavery in India. The topic of sex slavery is something, I personally, find difficult to stomach. Hearing about the torture inflicted on women and young children – scares me and unfortunately, ignorance is bliss.

The topic of sex slavery, is something usually reserved to be discussed as an issue, without statistics, pictures and stories. We know it exists, we’ve seen MTV’s Stop Trafficking campaigns, we heard about Angelina Jolie’s involvement with UNICEF. But we haven’t taken the time to understand it or read about it because it hurts and its too difficult a topic to discuss.

At its most recent count, the global slave trade, accounts for 27 million people, most of whom are from South Asia.

There are more slaves in the world today than at any point in history.

Fact: 4 million women and girls are trafficked annually (United Nations)

Fact: An estimated one million children, mostly girls, enter the sex trade each year. (UNICEF)

Fact: In a study of 475 people in prostitution from South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, USA and Zambia – 62% reported having been raped in prostitution, 73% reported having experienced physical assault, 92% wanted to escape prostitution immediately.

Human trafficking as a “sector” of the global salve trade is the fastest growing criminal industry and many believe it is set to outgrow drug trafficking. It is the 3rd largest organized crime syndicate and 10 billion dollar industry.

This is an amazing presentation made by Sunita Krishnan, at TED India, about the issue of sex slavery in India which has consumed the lives of countless women and children. Many of them having been born or sold by relatives into the trade.

Internationally, the fight for human rights has fallen to a stand-still. It seems like many have abandoned this cause, talking about it occasionally at International Human Rights Day or throwing it out as part of a speech. But the question is simple – what are democracies, the West and the world doing about it?

Some examples -

• Europe Union: Earlier this year European nations handed the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, one of the major organizations tasked with promoting human rights in Eurasia, to Kazakhstan, a country accused by human-rights groups of arbitrary arrest, detention, and torture.
• Japan: In Japan, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has promised a new dialogue with North Korea, rather than pressuring Pyongyang to first release alleged Japanese abductees. In contrast to predecessors such as Junichiro Koizumi, Hatoyama prefers a soft approach to China as well, calling for far closer ties while all but ignoring the growing climate of repression under the government of Hu Jintao.
• Australia: The Australian government, once known for stinging critiques of China, Burma, and other autocratic regimes, now collaborates with Indonesia and other neighbors to prevent refugees from Sri Lanka and elsewhere from entering the country, instead detaining the migrants in a Guantánamo-like camp on remote Christmas Island. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has refrained from criticizing China, even for the arrest of an Australian mining executive on what many observers see as a trumped-up spying charge.
• France: In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy has failed to deliver on his campaign promise to champion human rights and end the country’s old ties to African dictators. Instead of the “new relationship” with Africa that Sarkozy promised, his government has backed the new ruler of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba, despite widespread claims of fraud in his election, and offered a state welcome to Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, the general who launched a coup in Mauritania. Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, the cofounder of Médecins Sans Frontières, a unique kind of human-rights organization, admitted in an interview, “There is a permanent contradiction between human rights and the foreign policy of a state.”
• Thailand: During the Vietnam War era Thailand sheltered tens of thousands of Indochinese refugees. But most recently it has forced some 3,000 Hmong back to Laos, where they could face persecution.
• Africa: The persecution and arrests of gay and lesbians.

(Source: Newsweek, February 2010)

This isn’t even the entire story. Once again, much is left unknown. Why? Because ignorance is bliss.

It seems like the age of human rights advocacy has fallen into the dark ages. Have our individual values system fallen foul and deteriorated to only be discussed as a whisper as we claw our way to economic success?

Has education become a tool to achieve societal glory, financial profitability and personal success? With the global recession, rocketing unemployment in the US and global economic uncertainties, things are only going to get worst.

Recognizr promotes itself as The Internet Business Video Card

“An application that lets users point a smart phone at a stranger and immediately learn about them premiered last Tuesday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Developed by The Astonishing Tribe (TAT), a Swedish mobile software and design firm, the prototype software combines computer vision, cloud computing, facial recognition, social networking, and augmented reality.”

Its functionality, as may be seen from the video above, is simple. You own a smartphone with a 5 megapixel camera, take a photo of yourself, register it with Recognizr.

In future, if someone snaps a picture of you at a bar, restaurant or the gym, Recognizr will be able to tell him/ her (creepy stalker person) your name, together with all relevant social media links including Facebook & Twitter. To say anonymity is a lost cause, would be inaccurate at this point. Recognizr, as a product allows its user to opt in. In other words, if you don’t want strangers to be able to access your world from a single photo, don’t register.

However, there are a couple of things to keep in mind

1. Facebook & Twitter privacy no longer exists – just because you block “Jack” from being a Facebook friend, it doesn’t mean he won’t be able to see what you’ve been up to via Facebook mutual friends like “Jill”/ RTs on Twitter from @RandomPersona1

2. Nothing you say online is ever private – someone out there in cyberspace might think a recent picture of you, a recent event, wallpost or tweet is interesting and this “interesting” article could turn up on a few blogs, Google Popular (1000+) and almost 5-6 billion will know

3. What happens at Starbucks might possibly turn up on YouTube. With the surge in smartphone sales over the past year what happens offline will be seen online.

4. There no longer any distinction between online and offline. Both worlds have merged.

So back to the question – is anonymity online losing its relevance?

Is it no longer existent? After all, there are some people out there who create multiple facebook/ myspace/ twitter accounts for the purpose of being “unsearchable”.

6 Degrees of separation – has it shrunk down to 2?

Great article by Tac Anderson – You Can’t Hide from the Web