| Wide opposition to war energizes protests WASHINGTON: Jane Fonda ...
(01-28) 04:00 PST Washington -- Tens of thousands of protesters converged on the National Mall on Saturday to oppose President Bush's plan for a troop increase in Iraq in what organizers hoped would be one of the largest shows of anti-war sentiment in the nation's capital since the war began. The event drew demonstrators from across the country, and many said that in addition to taking their discontent to the streets, they planned to press members of Congress to oppose the war. "When we voted, it was a directive to bring our troops home now," said the Rev. Graylan Hagler of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington, referring to the November elections in which Democrats won control of Congress. Demonstrators listened to speeches from a roster of politicians and entertainment figures, including the Rev.
Doing Its Bit for Charity
The Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2007 is doing its bit for charity. It has joined hands with Concern India Foundation to give several NGOs a platform for their causes. The Afternoon has handpicked a few organisations to look out for as much for their products as for their profiles.
Children dont read anymore and that is the sad fact of modern life. While you wait for the latest Harry Potter it might be a great idea to re-introduce quaint folktales into their lives. Comet Media Foundation, a non-profit organisation that focuses on childrens education, deals in unusual books at unusual prices and educational toys. So you have traditional folktales from China, Japan, Thailand and India translated into neat and simple English for the average three-year-old to understand. These are sweetly illustrated by various artists.
Lil' Rapper and Golfer Taking the World By Storm
Dressed in a red, white and blue USA jersey and jeans, pint-sized Jordan Eugenio, 9, pumps up the crowd and asks the students of Garnet J. Robertson Intermediate School in Daly City if they are ready for his next song. Lil’ Jordan, who is Filipino, Korean and Chinese, turns his Oakland A’s hat backwards so the audience can see his face. He tells the crowd that the next song, "Puppy Luv," is about his first crush, which has girls, "oohing and ahhing." Slow hip-hop beats start to blare from the speakers of the gym. "I always try to find you when we go for lunchtime and we play, and we run, and we laugh every day. It’s so fun. … I’ve been thinking about giving you a Valentine, asking you to be the one … you’re my puppy love," croons Jordan, who already sounds and acts like a seasoned rapper, though he has been performing for less than a year.
New Tags Mark Service Animals As More Than Pets
When Raven tries to enter a business, store employees often try to bar his way. But the new all-access pass tied around his neck makes life a little easier.
"The tag has really helped," said Barbara Barr, the owner of Raven, a trained medical alert dog.
The city has started offering new service animal identification tags after an increase in complaints in the last three years about access problems for the furry assistants.
The identification tags are white and contain the words "Service Animal" in bright orange letters. Businesses must admit individuals with service animals wearing the tags without question.
Service animals are exempt from "no pets allowed" policies, according to the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, because they are not considered pets.
Got Mobility?
Patrick, my significant other, and I park in the handicap zone at the grocery store. We limp to the entrance, where he climbs laboriously into an electric cart, only to realize that it is attached to the wall – two carts over. Patrick solves the problem by hooking the cord with his crutch, but not before I have tried various acrobatics to slip between, climb over, or move another cart to reach the plug. This is a last straw. In the eighteen months that Patrick has suffered knee problems (he recently had a knee replacement and is on the mend), I’ve learned a lot about the accommodations our society makes for the disabled, and how far we still have to go. For example, designers tend to think of mobility impairment as having to do with wheelchairs. They place the handicapped parking slots a long distance from the door, sometimes, as at the new Stapleton theater, around the corner and down the block.
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