On the Road for Kids

Since we can't say too much about the work we're doing in Thailand/Burma, I've been enjoying posting stories to my daughter's blog. The entries are written for Isabelle - who is almost three - but I think the stories, videos and pictures may be of interest to adults, too - especially if you want to share the stories with your own kids.

www.IsabelleMarjanMurphy.blogspot.com

It's Mango Season in Thailand

We are in Thailand right now filming with Physicians for Human Rights. And since much or what we are filming is too sensitive to discuss right now, I thought I'd talk about mangoes! It is mango season here, after all. And when I'm not making documentary films, I crave things related to fitness and health. My fitness blog has the whole story:

www.iamaseizer.blogspot.com

U.N. Review of Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty

A series of events focused on abolishing nuclear weapons unfolds in conjunction with the U.N. conference to strengthen the 40-year-old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

An International Planning Committee comprised of NGO's from around the world organized a two day international conference on Nuclear Abolition, Peace and Disarmament - scheduled to fall on the eve of the NPT review at the United Nations. The conference was held at the Riverside Church in New York City, where peace leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. have spoken in the past. A wide array of participants, including the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban-Ki Moon, spoke at last weekends conference. Additionally, thousands of Hibakusha - Japanese atomic survivors - were in attendance for both the conference and for the rally and march on May 2nd.

The rally took place in Times Square, followed by a march through the street of New York City from Times Square to the U.N. Tens of thousands of participants flooded the streets of New York to send a message to the world: By 2020, all nuclear weapons must be abolished off the face of the Earth.

Representatives of the world's nations gathered today at the U.N. to commence the 5-year NPT review.

Poison Attacks on Afghan School Girls

At least 88 girls in Kunduz, Afghanistan were sent to hospitals after a series of poison gas attacks. This recent rash of terror in girls schools highlights the continued challenges that Afghan girls will face in the future, even if the Taliban are defeated. A police officer said that the attacks were likely not a Taliban initiative, but rather "the act of miscreants who just don't like the idea of girls being educated." The deep-rooted opposition to the education of women and girls remains an important issue that needs to be addressed in the culture at large.