© ...steph...



My legs itch, I nicked myself twice, and I want to know who came up with the bright idea that women should shave!

Did you know Neanderthals used to engage in this pain-in-the-butt ritual? That can't be a good sign. And women specifically have engaged in depilatory practices since about 4,000 B.C.

That's how long humanity has been hung up on smooth legs. It's madness I tell you.

And even though I've been at this for over half my life, I haven't found the magic formula to make it simple and worry free. And yes, I've read up on the topic.

I'm thinking laser-zapping them to oblivion is the only real solution.

© mushroom and rooster



Every year the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons puts out a report on human trafficking in order to raise awareness on this modern form of slavery.

Part of the report sorts international governments according to how much their efforts conform to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.

Now this is a US law, not an international law, but tracking this is one way the US tries to raise awareness on the topic, recognize the efforts of other countries, and encourage other governments to do more.

Countries are classified in four tiers.

"Tier 1 countries aren't perfect, but they meet what are called the minimum standards for combating human trafficking in the U.S. law that governs how we prepare the report."-Ambassador Mark Lagon, Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons

The only Tier 1 country in Latin America is Colombia. That's it. All other Latin American nations are in Tier 2. The ambassador mentions significant improvement in Mexico, Venezuela, and Brazil.

As for the US, it does not situate itself in the tier system, but does report to congress and make records public on domestic performance in fighting this heinous abuse.

Human Trafficking is the third largest global criminal enterprise, and Latin America, while not the most vulnerable, is still a major source for this market that buys and sells men, women, and children.

It's worth learning more and increasing our understanding.

© ||. мαкατ .||



I hate passing by a group of men and getting harassed. A girlfriend and I have have been talking about it online lately, mostly because of all the headlines of protesters in Cairo demanding men on the street stop this bad behavior.

Unfortunately this sort of thing goes on everywhere. Dealing with it within institutions isn't easy, but at least it usually comes with guidelines.

What do you do when the blatant harassment is out in the street?

Sure, if you have a black belt or happen to be a Charmed one, you can just kick their butt and stuff them in a barrel without breaking a nail. But what if you're not?

Is there another option besides completely ignoring them and pretending you don't realize the person they're targeting is you?

© g_leon_h



The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) added the beautiful Mexican town of San Miguel de Allende to its list of Wold Heritage Sites.

The UNESCO World Heritage Convention is a treaty that has become, over the past 30 years, the foremost international legal tool in support of the conservation of the world's cultural and natural heritage. Today, 178 countries (called States Parties) have ratified the Convention, making it an almost universally accepted set of principles and framework of action.-UNESCO

El Universal stated in their article that this acceptance makes Mexico the country with the greatest number of sites on this international list. They exaggerated a bit (Italy has more), but it's true enough for the Americas.

According to the UNESCO list, Mexico has 29 places included so far and 34 tentative sites.

Making the list means the international community has recognized a particular place as part of world heritage and worth protecting. Member nations and private donors contribute to the Word Heritage Fund, and with this income UNESCO provides assistance for educational and promotional activities, technical cooperation, emergency assistance, etc., in an effort to conserve these sites.

San Miguel's largest industry is tourism, so support for their conservation efforts is more than good news, it's income-producing great news.

© *clairity*



Mexico city is looking at another green urban project, besides the much anticipated HSBC green tower. There are plans for an environmentally friendly neighborhood in the heart of the city.

The effort is somewhat of a rescue mission since it's located in one of the roughest neighborhoods.

Part of the plans includes the use of solar panels, underground irrigation, and chemical toilets. These dry toilets are supposed to be non-polluting-and deodorizing. Let's hope so.

© hjl



My my, Latin America is getting digital!

Mozilla's Mexican community has grown to the point that a contest is being held to find a Mozilla logo just for México.

If you want to give your ideas a go just know you'll need to conform to all stylistic and license-related specs. And Mozilla also advises contestants to create something that reflects Mexico's great cultural diversity. The results should be interesting considering the high emigration rate to very cyber-savvy parts of the world where many of Mexico's people live.

Mexicans away form home reside in the US, Canada, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Argentina, Holland... the list goes on.

Submissions are already pouring in. And voting will be, of course, done online-a medium that makes perfect sense now that the region is much more connected to the Internet. As of last year, over a fifth of the population of Mexico is now online.

Anyway, it'll should be fun to see which new logo Mozilla chooses for Mexico, especially in light of the call for art the reflects so much diversity.