I have been following this young girl since she first appeared in the AGT’s auditions and Mel B pressed the Golden Buzzard.
This child is amazing.
She’s very talented in so many ways. She sings (with her mouth closed, she’s a ventriloquist and her charisma fills the room. Her performance in the quarter finals was so cute and incredible.
Darci Lynne Farmer is predicted to win “America’s Got Talent” after she wowed the crowd on Tuesday’ live show with her new ventriloquist dummy, Oscar the mouse. This talented tyke from Oklahoma City, OK first won over the judges back on May 30. Mel B was so impressed that she pressed the Golden Buzzer, sending Farmer straight through to the live shows.
Farmer made that moment part of her routine on the first live show of this season of “AGT.” “Ever since you got the Golden Buzzer, I’ve fallen in love with Mel B,” confessed Oscar.
In return, the feisty Farmer scolded him by explaining that a mouse couldn’t set up house with a human.
Replied Oscar, “Well, I didn’t think that would be an issue. I mean, Heidi Klum was married to a Seal!”
Planting Peace’s latest display of solidarity with the queer community involves a Pride flag, a high altitude balloon and a GoPro camera.
The group, which regularly launches social activism campaigns to raise awareness about issues like LGBT rights and de-worming children in developing countries, used the balloon to elevate a rainbow flag up through the Earth’s atmosphere.
It eventually reached its peak altitude approximately 21.1 miles above the planet.
The flag remained airborne, floating in outer space for just over three hours before making its descent back to Earth, in what Planting Peace says is a symbolic declaration of the universe as an LGBT-friendly space.
“It was an honor to send the first Pride flag into space, and it provided a wonderful opportunity to show that Planting Peace will not stop fighting for LGBTQ rights until all sexual and gender minorities experience full, fundamental rights in every corner of the universe.”
“The backdrop of space gave us a stunning, inspiring and peaceful canvas for our message of hope to our LGBTQ family.
I would love for LGBTQ children who are struggling to see this, and look up to the stars and remember that the universe shines brightly for them, and they are not alone.”
Aaron Jackson, President of Planting Peace, told The Huffington Post.
Over the last three years, Planting Peace has engaged in a number of high-profile displays of LGBT visibility and activism.
The nonprofit created The Equality House, a rainbow-colored building across the street from the Westboro Baptist Church compound in Topeka, Kansas, in 2013 and purchased another home nearby earlier this year to create the Transgender Pride House.
These houses stand in opposition to the Church’s hate ― both literally and figuratively ― and operate as safe spaces for queer people in the area.
The Water Song (Grandma Says) was written to honor the message of the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers; to send positive energy, raise the vibration of waters worldwide, and inspire people to protect our precious lifeblood.
Its intention is to pay respect to the Grandmother Spirit and the understanding that empowering our women with their connections to spirit and country is vital to the healing of mother earth.
The opening is a water prayer in one of the 13 Bundjalung languages of the Northern Rivers, New South Wales, honoring the people and the ancestors of this land.
Lyrics
I wake up in the morning and I drink from the stream
This is where I get my clarity
I am warrior, step out into the world
With water as my guide I will give this Earth something else
Grandma says pay respect to the water as it runs through you like a river..
These veins of life they sustain us all
Cleanse and purify our soul
So as we jump in, remember we are whole
Give thanks and praise to the water as it flows
Grandma says pay respect to the water as it runs through you like a river . ..
~~Water Song in Honor of the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers~~
~~Published on Mar 18, 2016~~
The Water Song was written to honor the message of the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers; to send positive energy, raise the vibration of Waters worldwide, and inspire people to protect our precious lifeblood.
The annual awareness and fundraising campaign of the Australian Koala Foundation
(AKF)
The AKF is the principal not for profit, non-government organization which has, for 25 years, been dedicated to saving the wild koala and its habitat.
This year the theme is “give me a home among the gumtrees!”
The reason is self explanatory – Koalas need their trees! The AKF estimates that no more than 80,000 and probably closer to 43,000 koalas remain in the wild.
Prince Harry explains how he got the Queen to do Invictus Games video
BBC News
~~Published on May 9, 2016~~
Prince Harry reveals to BBC News how he asked the Queen to get involved in the Invictus Games video after being challenged by the Obamas. He also told Andrew Marr about how his experiences while serving in Afghanistan – and the injuries that he witnessed fellow soldiers endure – were a “turning point” in his life.
But he played down comparisons between his charity and campaigning work and that of his late mother, Princess Diana.
He also spoke about the intrusion into his private life is “incessant”.
“Everyone has a right to privacy … Sadly, that line between public and private life is almost non-existent any
more.”
The International Day of Forests, the 21st day of March, was established by resolution of the United Nations General Assembly on November 28, 2012.
Each year, various events celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests, and trees outside forests, for the benefit of current and future generations. Countries are encouraged to undertake efforts to organize local, national, and international activities involving forests and trees, such as tree planting campaigns, on International Day of Forests.
The Secretariat of the United Nations Forum on Forests, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization, facilitates the implementation of such events in collaboration with governments, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, and international, regional and sub-regional organizations.
International Day of Forests was observed for the first time on March 21, 2013.
Each year more than 13 million hectares (32 million acres) of forests are lost, an area roughly the size of England. As go the forests, so go the plant and animal species that they embrace – 80% of all terrestrial biodiversity.
Most importantly, forests play a critical role in climate change including global warming: deforestation results in 12-18 percent of the world’s carbon emissions – almost equal to all the CO2 from the global transport sector.[citation needed] Equally crucial, healthy forests are one of the world’s primary ‘carbon sinks.‘
Today, forests cover more than 30% of the world’s land and contain more than 60,000 tree species, many as of yet unidentified. Forests provide food, fiber, water and medicines for approximately 1.6 billion of the world’s poorest people, including indigenous peoples with unique cultures.
Forests are vital to our water supply. They influence how and where rain falls, and they filter and clean our water. By protecting the world’s forests, we are also protecting the clean water that we depend upon for our survival.
Nature Is Speaking – Lupita Nyong’o is Flower
10 March 2015
It is deeply unsettling that humans pick flowers to make them feel better or beautify the superficial part of their existence.
We kill a flower to momentarily bring beauty into our lives. A week passes and the flowers end up in the garbage. Most of us don’t even have the decency or common sense to return the flower to the earth.
Lupita Nyong’o lends her voice to the flower in this episode.
Beauty and scent aside, Nyong’o explains that life begins with the food flowers create. From fruit, to potatoes, to corn, to rice, the majority of our food comes from these pretty plants. “People underestimate the power of a pretty little flower,” said Nyong’o against flourishing blooms.
Designed by advertising legend Lee Clow, who co-created Apple’s seminal “1984” commercial, the Nature Is Speaking videos debuted Monday morning at the opening of the SXSW Eco conference. The initial six videos are gorgeous montages of oceans, forests, and deserts delivered alongside a message that isn’t so pretty.
“As it appears in … full read/full credit”
Launches Celebrity Studded Awareness Campaign Nature Is Speaking
Nature doesn’t need people. People need nature.
That’s the message of the provocative, celebrity-studded campaign Conservation International (CI) has launched. Nature Is Speaking aims to raise awareness that people need nature in order to survive.
Launches Celebrity Studded Awareness Campaign Nature Is Speaking
Nature doesn’t need people. People need nature.
That’s the message of the provocative, celebrity-studded campaign Conservation International (CI) has launched. Nature Is Speaking aims to raise awareness that people need nature in order to survive.
“I have fed species greater than you, and I have starved species greater than you … I am prepared to evolve.
Are you?” asks “Mother Nature,” voiced by Julia Roberts in the first film of the series.
Conservation International worked with the Audience Behavior Lab (ABL), a division of TBWA\Media Arts Lab, to create the campaign under the creative direction of TBWA\MAL Chairman, Lee Clow.
“We thought the idea of giving nature a voice, nature having been around billions of years longer than humans, might make it clear to all of us that the planet will evolve with or without humans. It’s our choice,” said Clow.
The campaign also takes aim at the current dialogue around environmental issues. “The environmental movement has missed the mark when talking about nature because it tends to present nature as something that is separate from people,” said Dr. M. Sanjayan, Conservation International’s executive vice president and senior scientist. “By making it clear that people need nature to survive, we are turning the conversation around and making the movement relevant to entirely new audiences.”
Recent polling suggests the campaign is particularly well-timed and needed. According to an American Psychological Association survey of high school seniors and college freshmen, younger Americans are less interested than ever in the environment and taking action to save nature. Only 20% of those surveyed from 2000-2009 expressed interest in involving themselves in cleaning up the environment.
Human beings are part of nature.
Nature is not dependent on human beings to exist.
Human beings, on the other hand, are totally
dependent on nature to exist.
The growing number of people on the planet
and how we live here is going to determine the future of nature.
And the future of us.
Nature will go on, no matter what.
It will evolve.
The question is, will it be with us or without us?
If nature could talk, it would probably say it doesn’t much matter either way.
We must understand there are aspects of how our planet evolves
that are totally out of our control.
But there are things that we can manage,
control and do responsibly that will allow us
and the planet to evolve together.
We are Conservation International and we need
your help. Our movement is dedicated to managing
those things we can control. Better.
Country by country.
Business by business.
Human by human.
We are not about us vs. them.
It doesn’t matter if you’re an American,
a Canadian
or a Papua New Guinean.
You don’t even have to be particularly fond of the ocean
or have a soft spot for elephants.
This is simply about all of us coming together
to do what needs to be done.
Because if we don’t, nature will continue to evolve. Without us.
“This first World Day against Trafficking in Persons is a call to action to end this crime and give hope to the victims, who often live unrecognized among us. To stop the traffickers, we must sever funding pipelines and seize assets. I urge all countries to ratify and fully implement the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocol on Trafficking in Persons.”
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
At any given time, an estimated 2.5 million people are trapped in modern-day slavery.
Men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers both in their own countries and abroad. Every country in the world is affected by human trafficking, whether as a country of origin, transit or destination for victims.
Slavery, in both its ancient and modern forms, is not only shameful, it is as the abolitionist John Wesley said “the execrable sum of all villanies,” and has no place in our world.
In 2010, the General Assembly adopted the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, urging Governments worldwide to take coordinated and consistent measures to defeat this scourge. The Plan calls for integrating the fight against human trafficking into the UN’s broader programmes in order to boost development and strengthen security worldwide. One of the crucial provisions in the Plan is the establishment of a UN Voluntary Trust Fund for victims of trafficking, especially women and children.
In 2013, the General Assembly held a high-level meeting to appraise the Global Plan of Action. Member States also adopted resolution A/RES/68/192 and designated July 30 as the World Day against Trafficking in Persons. This resolution declared that such a day was necessary to “raise awareness of the situation of victims of human trafficking and for the promotion and protection of their rights.”
Emphasizing that the practice of slavery still plagues modern society, the United Nations marked its first-ever World Day against Trafficking in Persons by calling on the international community to end impunity for perpetrators and help victims, especially women and children, who continue to be particularly vulnerable to the perfidious trade.
“Most of those trafficked are vulnerable women and children deceived into a life of suffering. They are exploited for sex and forced to work in conditions akin to slavery,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his statement to mark the World Day.
Millions of people are trafficked a year – women, men and children sold and forced to work in sweatshops, fields and brothels. The purposes of trafficking in persons range from forced and bonded labor to various forms of sexual exploitation, forced marriage, organ removal and other contemporary practices similar to slavery. And women and children account for three quarters of identified victims.
Calling for an end to a “callous” industry that preys on the most vulnerable and their hopes for a better life, Mr. Ban stressed the need to stop traffickers in their tracks not only by severing funding pipelines and seizing assets but also by addressing deeper underlining issues.
“Enforcement, cross-border cooperation and information-sharing can all be effective, but ending human trafficking also means tackling the root causes,” he said. “Extreme poverty, entrenched inequality and a lack of education and opportunity create the vulnerabilities that traffickers exploit – ultimately, the best protection is to accelerate development for all.”
Ricky Martin Foundation … actively working against human trafficking!
~~25 Painfully Disturbing Facts About Human Trafficking~~
~~Published on Jun 4, 2014~~
Did you know that there are more slaves today than ever before in history?
These are 25 painfully disturbing facts about human trafficking. Researchers argue that as the economic crisis deepens, the number of people trafficked for forced labor will increase. Human trafficking is one of the fastest growing criminal enterprises because it holds relatively low risk with high profit potential. Criminal organizations are increasingly attracted to human trafficking because, unlike drugs, humans can be sold repeatedly There are more slaves in the world today than ever before in history
It Is What It Is 