Friday 18 April 2008

Chocolate Slaves

Chocolate is one of life's guilty pleasures. But recent reports of child slave labour on African cocoa plantations have given the guilt aspect a whole new meaning. Here is a surprising association between chocolate and child labour in the Cote d'Ivoire. Young boys whose ages range from 12 to 16 have been sold into slave labor and are forced to work in cocoa farms in order to harvest the beans, from which chocolate is made, under inhumane conditions and extreme abuse. This West African country is the leading exporter of cocoa beans to the world market. Thus, the existence of slave labor is relevant to the entire international economic community. Appropriate response from the chocolate industry, government officials, and consumers concerning whether there should be boycotting, establishment of government legislation to put "made by slaves" labels on products, or whether some type of international cooperation is needed to ensure improved working conditions. The complexity of the problem makes finding an effective solution a challenging task. Children have rights as human beings and also need special care and protection but child labour is a real problem in many countries, not only in Africa. Should this situation happen in our century?

Saturday 12 April 2008

Next step: Your life after school!


Your performance in the classroom impacted you alone, while at work your performance impacts the organization as a whole, your bosses, and your co-workers. The transition from school to work isn't a simple process. Starting a new job can be very stressful. More will be expected of you when you're no longer a student. You'll have to form new relationships, learn where everything is, and who you can trust, in addition to learning how to do your new job.
Making informed career decisions requires reliable information about opportunities in the future. Opportunities result from the relationships between the population, labor force, and the demand for goods and services. Population ultimately limits the size of the labor force—individuals working or looking for work, which limits the goods and services that can be produced. Demand for various goods and services is largely responsible for employment in the industries providing them. Employment opportunities, in turn, result from demand for skills needed within specific industries. Opportunities for medical assistants and other healthcare occupations, for example, have surged in response to rapid growth in demand for health services.
So, be prepared to face a new step in your life!

Tuesday 8 April 2008

Mobile phone bullying problems


Abusive mobile phone text messages are often sent through websites using the names and phone numbers of people who had nothing to do with the message but who were blamed for it. Cyberstalking is frightening and illegal and the people who do it are not as anonymous as they think. Be careful when giving out your telephone number. Mobile phones are relatively inexpensive and if you start getting abusive calls or text messages then it might be better to get another SIM card so that the bullies can't contact you. Keep a note of the times and dates of abusive messages. Don't reply to them or delete them but tell your parents so that they can make a complaint to the police. Many pupils are being targeted with cyber bullying in their own homes, by phone texts, silent calls, on instant messenger and by abusive websites and forums, which causes humiliation and embarrassment. Fortunately, no matter how careful the bully is to cover his/her tracks, there is no hiding place in cyberspace and the police can track their digital fingerprints down to an individual computer or mobile phone.

Friday 4 April 2008

Tattooes


A tattoo, or dermal pigmentation, is a mark made by inserting pigment into the skin for decorative or other reasons. Tattoos on humans are a type of decorative body modification, while tattoos on animals are most commonly used for identification or branding.
Tattooing has been practiced worldwide. The Ainu, the indigenous people of Japan, wore facial tattoos, as do some Maori of New Zealand to this day. Tattooing was widespread among Polynesian peoples, and among certain tribal groups in the Philippines, Borneo, Mentawai Islands, Africa, North America, South America, Mesoamerica, Europe, Japan, Cambodia, New Zealand and China. Despite some taboos surrounding tattooing, the art continues to be popular all over the world.

(wikipedia)