Interview with James Topham of War Child

Normally on Fridays I bring you the funniest political moments around the web. This weekend instead I would like to introduce you to a tremendous organization. An organization that is helping children in the war zones of the world and how we can help them.

I recently had a chance to sit down with James Topham, Communications Director at War Child and he shared with me some insight about an amazing organization http://warchild.us that is making some real impact on a subject that is rarely covered in the mainstream media. That being children in the war zone.

56:  James thank you for your time and your work that you do.

James:  It’s a pleasure. We’re so grateful for this opportunity. We’re new to the  Social Vibe community, so to get picked by you as a charity of choice is really something special.

56:  How did Warchild begin?

James:  War Child began in the UK in 1993, in response to the Bosnian war. As you can imagine, that conflict had a great impact in Europe – it was taking place in what only a couple years ago was a holiday destination. It was started by two film makers who were making a documentary on artists in warzones for the BBC. They found themselves spending more of their time smuggling food and medical supplies in than filming, and so they decided to go back to the UK and do a fundraiser. That fundraiser led to the establishment of War Child. War Child in north America started in 1999 in Toronto. It is affiliated with the UK and Dutch branches but is an independent organization with its own board and mandate.

56:  James, what is the purpose of Warchild?

James:  The purpose of war child is essentially what our name implies – to help children affected by conflict build a brighter future for themselves.

56:  How long has Warchild been active in North America?

James:  Since 1999 in North America.

56:  How did you get involved?

James:  I’m a lifer! I first got involved in 1994. I was working for the musician, Brian Eno, and he was determined to do something to help Bosnia. He came across War Child and we did all of their fundraising for the first four years. Brian was a founding member of Roxy Music and has worked with Talking Heads, David Bowie and U2, amongst others, so his address book was quite helpful at the beginning!

56:  Where does Warchild currently carry out their activities?

James:  We currently work in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Darfur, Uganda, the DR Congo, Sierra Leone, Georgia and Haiti.

56:  What kind of projects would you say is a normal job of Warchild?

James:  All our projects are long-term development and are designed to give local people the capacity to rebuild their lives. It is always our intention to leave a country as soon as possible but only when the communities we have been working with are in a position that is sustainable.

56:  What is an exciting thing Warchild has done that you never pictured in a thousand years you would be doing when you started with Warchild?

James:  I once had to make a 3′x3′ replica of the Saturday Night Fever dancefloor for the Pet Shop Boys to sell in a War Child auction. Never saw that one coming!

56: What void do you fill that say the United Nations, Red Cross or Red Crescent fail to?

James:  We’re so much smaller that we’re not even comparable. The larger institutions are facilitators – they organize the various smaller organizations, distribute money and so on. Then there are bigger international organizations who take on the ‘heavy lifting’ – large-scale feeding programs, field hospitals. But however many of these there are, there will always be needs that aren’t being met. For example, in Uganda, where we found that girls were being abused and raped with impunity because of a lack of legal aid and a lack of awareness about women and child rights within the community. So we are providing free legal aid and carrying out a large-scale awareness campaign through workshops and radio broadcast. And we are now seeing the abusers brought to justice.

56:  How is Warchild received in those areas that you operate?

James:  We work almost exclusively with local partner organizations, so we are working with community members to build their capacity. As such, we don’t ship in fleet loads of white 4x4s stocked with expats. So, we are welcomed because we are empowering the people themselves.

56:  Where does Warchild get most of their funding from?

James:  We get about 50:50 institutional funding and public donations. We would prefer that to be more balanced towards public but programmes like the one in Uganda are not as easily understood as, say, buy a goat….

56:  Normally how do you distribute those funds? Is it mostly for infrastructure? Or getting fresh water and medicine to children? Rehabbing child soldiers? Changing the thought process of a culture about children soldiers?

James:  Our focus is on three areas – education, poverty reduction and child rights protection. How we implement depends on circumstances. So, for example, in the Congo we are rebuilding and re-equipping schools, because 75% were destroyed in the conflict. In Afghanistan we are training single mothers and giving them micro finance loans to start their own business. Families are being pulled out of destitution that way. So it varies – there is no set prescription.

56:  Can you give my readers an example of what a day in the life is like for some of these children? What they have on their minds as opposed to some one in the United States or Canada?

James:  What is so extraordinary isn’t so much the differences but rather the similarities. Kids in the Congo have lived through one of the most brutal wars since the WWII and yet they still want to go to school, they still want to learn and they have aspirations to be doctors, engineers, Presidents, just like kids here. The normalcy of their aspirations is actually awe-inspiring.

56:  In a perfect world what would Warchild like to see?

James:  In a perfect World, War Child would not exist.

56:  Do you ever think that one day there will be no need for an organization like Warchild?

James:  It is what we strive for every day. It probably won’t happen in our lifetimes but one has to hope that humanity will evolve to the point where other options but conflict present themselves.

56:  I understand a lot of celebrities have given either their time or money to help the cause. Who are some that have gone above and beyond the call of duty?

James:  Yes, we have had a lot of support from the music industry. Everyone from David Bowie to Beck to Feist to Radiohead. Radiohead have actually been one of our most consistent supporters over the years – they have given us three exclusive songs. But we’re humbled by the support of all donors, famous or not.

56:  How can my readers make your job easier? What do you need? I am sponsoring with Visa through the SocialVibe widget to raise funds for Warchild. Do you know the exact specifics of what my readers need to do and what that will do for WarChild?

James:  SocialVibe’s first goal is to raise enough points to pay for an hour’s worth of radio programming in Uganda – the project I mentioned earlier. So all people have to do is go to the site, sign up, pick War Child and then follow the instructions. It’s easy and costs nothing. If people want to give then it’s easily done on our website. You can also find us on Twitter – @samanthanutt is our founder and @TopsAtWarChild is me – or on Facebook. And if you get in touch with@alysonrowe, she has a ton of other ways you can get involved.

56:  Great! On behalf of my readers and myself I want to thank you James for your time and you and your organizations effort to help make this world a better place by helping the most unfortunate and weakest of society. The children. Thank you.

James:  No, thank you. And if anyone would like more information, tweet me! Oh, and our websites are warchild.us and warchild.ca. One of these days I will combine them and make my life a whole lot easier!

J.P. Douglas

I want everyone who reads this to think about how easy we have it in America and to take 2 minutes out of your day to go to the top of the page click on the Social Vibe widget/box and just do 1 activity! That’s it. If you can do more great! If you want to do more James explained what you can do by going to the Warchild.us website and donating.  But all I ask is for you to step up to the plate this one time and press the Social Vibe Widget and help Warchild so they can help out these children. Thank you and pass this on to anyone you know who wants to help make this world a better place.

A moment of internet enlightment “Unicorns in the Garden”

One night I was surfing the internet. I came across the phrase “unicorn in the garden”. Apparently it was written by the scientist Richard Lenski to the founder of Conservapedia, Andy Schlafly. On the internet it became known as The Lenski dialogue. It basically boiled down to the battle between a scientist who could “prove” evolution against a Conservative who disagreed that evolution was possible.  Also the Conservative had no scientific background. The best part about it was that I found out that Conservapedia was the right’s answer to Wikipedia, which apparently is filled with liberal educational “facts”, such as evolution and little things like that. So to give you a taste. Just a little taste of what Conservapedia has to offer I present these nuggets that were on the home page:

“Spain, with its socialism and same-sex marriage, has unemployment of nearly 20% and has not yet won a single medal at the Winter Olympics.”– Conservepedia–FACT!

“Atheists, don’t mess with Texas churches! Two young men are charged as suspects related to a string of Texas church fires. One of the men had books on atheism and demons in his home. If found guilty, the suspects could face life imprisonment.[5] YouTube Christian video producer, Shockofgod, predicted the church burnings would have some tie to God haters.”– Who would have thought “God Haters” were burning down churches? Way to go Sherlock!

“Missile Defense Agency, Obama Campaign Logos Cause Stir. The Missile Defense Agency, which is part of the Defense Department, now features a circular red, white and blue logo on its Web site that has been characterized in some reports as “scarily” similar to President Obama’s former campaign symbol. Others have noted that it has a crescent and star design, evoking a common symbol for Islam.”–Conservapedia

You know what…now that you mention it!

The Boy Scouts celebrate their 100th birthday, but the gay-dominated national media ignore the milestone.–Curses to that “gay dominated national media”!

J.P. Douglas

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Related articles by Zemanta

• Obama Logo Revealed (brainz.org)
• Conservapedia proposes de-liberalized Bible (boingboing.net)

Wargame: Attacking Iran “could be disastrous”.

Image via Wikipedia

In a recent wargame conducted at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, part of the Washington-based Brookings Institution. With diplomacy failing, Israel launches a pre-emptive strike against Tehran to destroy or set back their quest for nuclear weapons.

Mission accomplished? Not exactly. Then things start to get interesting. The President and his National Security Team try to calm the situation down while being infuriated that the Israeli’s launched without giving a heads up to the Americans. The U.S. tries to contact Iran diplomatically but is rejected.

Instead Iran attacks Israel with its vassals Hezbollah and Hamas. It mines the Strait of Hormuz the main artery of the oil producing Middle East. That sparks a clash and a major military reinforcement in the Middle East.

As in all wargames  different decisions can be made that vary from what the real actors may do. The bottom line is that once things get started they may get out of control. Real quick.

The number one consideration of Foreign Policy on President Obama’s plate is he cannot let Iran get the bomb. He can not. The irony of letting a country that invented the suicide bomber get a nuclear weapon could be catastrophic.

Invading Iran in my opinion is a serious non-option. Unless it’s done with a global coalition similar to Desert Storm. I don’t see that happening. Obama and the Israeli’s have their hands full. Any decision could bring significant pain to their countries and the region. While doing nothing is not tolerable. Doing something could turn out to be even worse.

J.P. Douglas

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Why the Senate is Not Overpaid!

Image via Wikipedia

Is the United States Senate overpaid? Let’s take a look.

1789-1815 — $6.00 per diem, N/A

1815-1817 — $1,500 per annum , N/A

1817-1855 — $8.00 per diem, N/A

1865-1871– $5,000 per annum, N/A

1871-1873 — $7,500 per annum, N/A

1873-1907 — $5,000 per annum, N/A

1907-1925 — $7,500 per annum, 1925 inflation= $91,944.43

1925-1932 — $10,000 per annum, 1932 inflation=$156,596.35

1932-1933 — $9,000 per annum, 1933 inflation=$148,525.62

1933-1935 — $8,500 per annum, 1935 inflation=$133,106.90

1935-1947 — $10,000 per annum,1947 inflation=$96,204.93

1947-1955 — $12,500 per annum, 1955inflation=$100,063.90

1955-1965 — $22,500 per annum, 1965inflation=$153,240.71

1965-1969 — $30,000 per annum, 1969inflation=$175,370.84

1969-1975 — $42,500 per annum, 1975inflation=$169,476.25

1975-1977 — $44,600 per annum, 1977inflation=$157,893.57

1977-1978 — $57,500 per annum, 1978inflation=$189,200.58 (5)

1979-1983 — $60,662.50 per annum, 1983inflation=$130,665.10

1983 — $69,800 per annum, 1983inflation=$150,348.22

1984 — $72,600 per annum, 1984inflation=$149,907.47

1985-1986 -$75,100 per annum,1986inflation=$147,004.82

1987 (1/1-2/3) -$77,400 per annum,1987inflation=$146,172.22

1987 (2/4) -$89,500 per annum ,1987inflation=$169,023.43

1990 (2/1) -$98,400 per annum, 1990inflation=$161,518.29

1991 — $101,900 per annum, 1991inflation=$160,508.96

1991 (8/15) -$125,100 per annum,1991inflation=$197,052.71 (3)

1992 — $129,500 per annum, 1992inflation=$198,022.39 (2)

1993 — $133,600 per annum, 1993inflation=$198,353.93 (1)

1994 — $133,600 per annum ,1994inflation=$193,401.78 (4)

1995 — $133,600 per annum ,1995inflation=$188,071.81

1996 — $133,600 per annum ,1996inflation=$182,677.78

1997 — $133,600 per annum, 1997inflation=$178,580.33

1998 — $136,700 per annum, 1998inflation=$175,972.99

1999 — $136,700 per annum,1999inflation=$172,170.45

2000 — $141,300 per annum, 2000inflation=$176,039.94

2001 — $145,100 per annum, 2001inflation=$175,772.55

2002 — $150,000 per annum, 2002inflation=$178,880.21

2003 — $154,700 per annum, 2003inflation=$180,374.31

2004 — $158,100 per annum, 2004inflation=$179,556.91

2005 — $162,100 per annum, 2005inflation=$178,066.81

2006 — $165,200 per annum, 2006inflation=$176,865.32

2007 — $165,200 per annum, 2007inflation=$171,967.33

2008 — $169,300 per annum, 2008inflation=$168,697.67

2009 — $174,000 per annum, 2009inflation=$174,000.00

Note: Since the early 1980s, Senate leaders — majority and minority leaders, and the president pro tempore — have received higher salaries than other members. Currently, leaders earn $193,400 per year.

I also ranked the Top 5 Years that the Senate was paid adjusted for inflation. Those numbers are in parentheses. So next time someone shouts out”This Senate is over-paid!” You can tell them not by the Senate from the early 90′s. But at least those guys left us with a surplus.

All inflation numbers calculated

J.P. Douglas

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Everything Afghanistan

56Rebels presents some material that could bring you some insight into what is happening in Afghanistan. Great photos of Afghanistan, Pakistan, the U.S. Military fighting the Taliban. And a rare and behind the scenes video of the Taliban setting up to kill Americans.

“A younger brother of Haqqani network leader Siraj Haqqani has been reportedly killed by yesterday’s suspected U.S. drone strike in North Waziristan” -AFPAK

In Pakistan Raid Taliban Chief Was “Extra Prize” – NY Times

As Mr. Karzai said after being roused from a nap: “No one has ever asked me to decide before.”- Wall Street journal talking about the progress of the Afghanistan Leadership in the Marjah offensive.

A son of veteran Afghan militant commander Jalaluddin Haqqani was killed in Thursday’s US drone attack on a village in North Waziristan.- Dawn.com Haqqani’s son is killed.

This is a bizarre story by Fox news about how gay the Pashtuns are. The Pashtuns make up most of the ethnic group that makes up the Taliban.

Dead Terrorists Tell No Tales

Is Barack Obama killing too many bad guys before the U.S. can interrogate them? – Foreign Policy

Ambassador to Doha was in what some say was a violent confrontation while trying to break up a meeting with Hillary Clinton involved.

Video of Taliban behind the Scenes to be on Frontline

That’s pretty much all the information you will need for your Afghanistan fix.

Did Obama treat the Dalai Lama like garbage?

So the leader of a worldwide recognized religion comes to your home. He preaches and represents one of the most fundamental philosophies in the world. Non-Violence. He’s also won a Nobel Peace Prize. And for good measure, the country that you will compete with for the next century, hates him. So how do you treat him? Well, if your the Obama adminstration you don’t break out the fine china. No pun intended. Do you let this man into the Oval Office? No. You go to the Map room with him. Hopefully this man pointed out, where his country used to be, and how it has been taken over. So maybe the map room was quite appropriate. Do you stand in front of the cameras and shake his hand and say,”America stands with all people’s under the rule of tyranny”? Not our President. Do you make him walk by, a heap of garbage, on the way out the side door?  Yes! That’s what Obama did to the Dalai Lama.

Another foreign policy disgrace.

Thanks for coming Dalai Lama but don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Hurry, before the Chinese see us! You have got to be kidding me. To treat a world famous person like this on a visit to the White House is a disgrace! I wrote a post awhile back about how Obama and the Dalai Lama should act towards China when they met. It appears that Obama is treating the Dalai Lama like this because Obama cowhers at the thought of confronting or angering China. This President makes the Dalai Lama walk by a pile of garbage yet bows to the Mayor of Tampa. No wonder China feels so emboldened. They know weakness when they see it. Just ask Tibet.

J.P. Douglas

Why America should write-off the I.R.S. attacker!

Today in Austin, Texas Joseph Stack burned down his house and crashed a small airplane into a federal building that employs I.R.S. employees. The F.B.I. found the remains of two people. The pilot left a manifesto with his writings.

I read the manifesto and it appears to be nothing more than the ramblings of a self-important tax cheat. A man who ALWAYS HAD to be right. Never wrong. A guy who felt the world owed him for being alive and that the rest of society doesn’t realize that they have a genius among them

Does Obama endorse the R – word?

Does Obama endorse the R- Word?

Screen shot of blog calling Palin a retard while following the White House on Twitter.

That is an actual blog post. The funny thing about it is that’s the kind of people who follow this Administration on Twitter. The media wants to call out Tea-Partiers as the crazy fringe groups.I wonder how the President would feel knowing that his “followers”,out of all the people to follow-on Twitter, they picked you. What does that tell you about these people. To taunt a woman because she has different political views in such a juvenile and painful way. That is outrageous! What did Sarah Palin ever do to you to warrant such vitriol? She hasn’t taken food off your table.

I must underscore that I am in no way a supporter or admirer of her anymore than Rachel Maddow is. I just think that kind of political attack is so 1830′s. It’s 2010 we need people to talk about these issues. I have to admit for the transparency of this blog I have used the R-word, the same way as Rahm Emanuel did or has. Even the way Obama used it on the Tonight show. It’s another word that is now taboo. The liberals want to be so caring of other’s feelings and look how they act behind closed doors.

If  that wasn’t enough they had this great article implying that people who go to Church actually prayed for the President to die. Particularly Palin.

This stuff is getting nasty. Meanwhile we have kids fighting in Afghanistan. I don’t think anyone should be praying for people to die. My question is Obama gave a big speech to the Republicans about “turning down the rhetoric“. Will he do the same to his base?

J.P. Douglas

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Is America bracing for something BIG?

Two days ago I got an anonymous tip from someone who told me plain and simple. Use any search engine and look for-

“A new report by the Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute“

with quotations. So I did. What came back was page upon page from the left-wing groups like the environmentalists to the right-wing groups like the militias. The report is chilling-

“A new report by the Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute
states flatly the U.S. military must prepare for “a violent, strategic
dislocation inside the United States” that could be provoked by
“unforeseen economic collapse” or “loss of functioning political and
legal order.”

“Late last year, The Washington Post noted the incoming Obama
Administration is going to “earmark” at least 20,000 troops returning
from Iraq to deal with “domestic emergencies.” Since then, the Army
Times has broken the story that the domestic emergency army unit has
been increased to 80,000 troops, who are being trained right now in
Georgia.”

“In short, U.S. officials expect big trouble ahead — but they are
not warning the general public about the danger (much less urge the
unsuspecting masses to make basic preparations).”

Here is the Google search . You can search it yourself and literally pick any page to see the information I am discussing.

The other thing that has disturbed me is yesterday I wrote a post and had a link to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. On table C. in the 2nd column it said “2010 population control effect“. What does that mean? Can the government put anything more chilling than those words. Especially with the way the Right Wing feels about the Progressive Conspiracy to enforce population control through eugenics and abortion.

To my readers I would tell you that you can see with your own eyes something big is coming. Get a gun. Get food. Get water. And then get another gun. We can see some of the meltdown happening in Greece.

American politicians are deciding not to even run. The incumbents are stepping down at an alarming rate. What do they know? Will they warn us if there is going to be a major meltdown? Is America bracing for something big?

J.P. Douglas

You can subscribe to my blog by pressing the “Become a Rebel” button or the Feed Icon to have it sent directly to your reader.  Leave a comment by pressing the annoyingly small comment button.

Obama Report: 95,000 Jobs To Come Each Month – Politics News Story – WSB Atlanta

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via Obama Report: 95,000 Jobs To Come Each Month – Politics News Story – WSB Atlanta.

95,000 x 12 = 1,140,000  Obama report predicts in one year.

Economic News Unembargoed on FEB 5, 2010 Highlights and Lowlights.

unemployment rate fell from 10.0 to 9.7 percent in January

Good news!

unemployment rates for most major worker groups--adult men
(10.0 percent), teenagers (26.4 percent), blacks (16.5 percent), and 
Hispanics (12.6 percent)--showed little change

Mediocre.

In January, the unemployment rate of veterans from Gulf War 
era II (September 2001 to the present) was 12.6 percent, compared with 10.4 
percent for nonveterans.

When you get out of the military not guaranteed you'll have a job.

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) 
continued to trend up in January, reaching 6.3 million. Since the start of 
the recession in December 2007, the number of long-term unemployed has risen 
by 5.0 million.
 

These Long term unemployed is at 6.3 Million.

Among the marginally attached, there were 1.1 million discouraged workers in 
January, up from 734,000 a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.)  
Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they 
believe no jobs are available for them.


Table C.  December 2009-January 2010 changes in selected labor force        
measures, with adjustments for population control effects                   
                                                                            
(Numbers in thousands)                                                      
                                                                            
____________________________________________________________________________
                                     |           |            |             
                                     |           |            |  Dec.-Jan.  
                                     | Dec.-Jan. |    2010    |   change,   
                                     |  change,  | population |  after re-  
              Category               |    as     |   control  |  moving the 
                                     | published |   effect   |  population 
                                     |           |            |   control   
                                     |           |            |  effect (1) 
_____________________________________|___________|____________|_____________
                                     |           |            |             
Civilian noninstitutional population.|     -92   |    -258    |     166     
  Civilian labor force...............|     111   |    -249    |     360     
    Participation rate...............|      .1   |      .0    |      .1     
   Employed..........................|     541   |    -243    |     784     
    Employment-population ratio......|      .2   |      .0    |      .2     
   Unemployed........................|    -430   |      -5    |    -425     
    Unemployment rate................|     -.3   |      .0    |     -.3     
                                     |           |            |             
_____________________________________|___________|____________|_____________
                                                                            
   1 This December-January change is calculated by subtracting the population 
control effect from the published over-the-month change.
  

This was very weird. In the second column it say's "Population Control Effect 2010". What does that mean?

The link for that chart is above where it say's News Unembargoed. 

56Rebels