I have to tell you that I am so impressed with an Organization that can literally change a child's world in 45 minutes. Operation Smile is such an organization. They are an international children's medical charity that heals children's smiles, forever changing their lives.

Did you know that  every three minutes a child is born with a cleft ? This condition  often leaves them  unable to eat, speak, socialize or smile. In some places these children are shunned and rejected. And in too many cases, their parents can't afford to give them the surgeries they need to live a normal life. This is where Operation Smile comes in. They have an amazing resource of Doctors who kindly volunteer their time to provide FREE operations for children all over the world and it is through donations and volunteers like you and me that these surgeries can continue to take place.

When you see the value of what $24o.00 dollars can do, it is astounding that there are still people who don't or won't give to such an amazing cause.

Imagine.. having a huge hole in your face where your lips/mouth and pallette should be…Then imagine that in 45 minutes, that disfiguring hole is seamlessly closed and a formerly shunned child can now have a friend and family members who will love them.

Thank you all so much for caring and if you can, please give even 20 dollars a month to help a child SMILE!

You can donate by going here…https://secure.operationsmile.org/site/Donation2?df_id=11220&11220.donation=form1

Meet John..

John Maina was a street child from Thika, a town near to Nairobi, where an Operation Smile Medical Mission was taking place.

Right now, 10 of thousands of people are dying in Somalia which has been seized by a drought and famine in one of the worst Humanitarian Crises in decades.  Starvation combined with a decades old war is causing folks to flee their homes as widespread hunger and war weakens them and/or kills them, especially the children. This armed conflict has been placing children in the crossfire of its battles for years, and today, Amnesty International is raising the alarm about abuses – mostly war crimes – affecting children in Somalia.

Children are being recruited into armed groups and used as soldiers, while being denied access to food and medical care. They are being attacked while in school, and killed or injured in numerous attacks in densely populated areas. "One day I went to school and when I came back for lunch my family was not there and the house was destroyed." - A 15 year old girl from Mogadishu.

Please support human rights in Somalia and around the world.If you don't know how to help, you might start by either joining or renewing  membership with Amnesty International.

The international community has not investigated war crimes and other grave human right abuses in Somalia, usually a first step to accountability. Instead, the Somali people are left on their own in a deadly cycle of violence with no justice. Amnesty's new report, "In the Line of Fire: Somalia's Children Under Attack," tells the story of a 15 year old boy from Mogadishu: "They took my brother. He was recruited by al-Shabab [an armed Islamist group] when he was eight years old. He was taken while he was playing football. We went to the place where we know that they make them fight and we found his dead body there."

Children should NOT have to live like this. We must involve ourselves in this crisis and help the innocents who can not look after themselves.

Armed conflict leaves lasting scars, including family separations, trauma from horrific abuses, and lack of education and opportunities for an entire generation – even in areas where it is safe to bring such support, such as refugee camps in countries neighboring Somalia. As a 19 year old Somali woman put it, "The youth are the people who can build peace in our country. We just need a chance."

Ever since I can remember, I loved horses. What girl doesn't? I maybe went beyond a year or two of fascination as I even kept a scrap book of jockey Avalino Gomez because I was going to be a jockey one day and I admired him.

My father always promised me a horse and what he promised he delivered. I was 10 years old when I go my first horse and it was love at first sight. His name was Cavalier, he was pure white with blue eyes, surely a horse for a princess?

My fascination with horses still runs strong today and couple that with my activist sensibilities and empathic intuitivness, this story coming out of Nevada  has me crying at a soul level.

I ask  would like to ask that EVERYONE who ever loved horses or those who hate cruetly to animals respond to this story.

Last week the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a temporary injunction and granted the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) the right to continue with the Triple B roundup in Nevada, which would remove around 1,700 horses from the range.

The Cloud Foundation, along with ecologist Craig Downer and Lorna Moffat, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Nevada under the premise that the BLM had no evidence that wild horses are actually damaging the ecosystem.

The BLM insists that 1.7 million acres is not enough to sustain the 2,200 horses that are currently there and wants to bring that number down to between 500 and 900 and the decided they need to do it now …during foaling season …in the midst of a heatwave.

On July 15 U.S. District Court Judge Howard McKibben ruled in favor if the BLM. Rachel Fazio, who represented the Cloud Foundation, filed an appeal and a temporary injunction was granted by Judge Richard Paez. Unfortunately, four days later Paez, Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw and Chief Judge Alex Kozinski declined to grant an emergency injunction arguing that they failed to show that lifting the injunction would cause irreparable harm.

“The BLM puts out all this rhetoric and assertions about damage to the range caused by the horses and there’s not a single document in evidence that shows that is the case,” Fazio told the AP. 

Have you ever driven the STATE of NEVADA? I have! It's a wasteland and a dead end spot for penetentiarys. THAT's IT.. Its hot dry desert and if the horses can run free and sustain themselves, then who cares?

OH is their MONEY in this? Is there a developer lurking in the background? Ask yourself these questions and maybe a few more. Why is BLM so insistent on killing horses?  frankie

The case will be heard by the federal court of appeals on August 12.

Take a minute to watch this video from the Cloud Foundation to see what the BLM has does with these mustangs and leave a comment at the White House or call 202-456-1111 asking for a moratorium on roundups until the BLM can prove its claims

Please watch this video and respond to the WHITEHOUSE as I myself did today. .http://youtu.be/emB9LjHLltY    WHITE HOUSE http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Dirk has  Just Found a HOME and will have Surgery to fix his bum leg.  But there are TONS of other's just like him.. Click here daily to help all the domestic cats and dogs ..http://www.care2.com/click-to-donate/pets/Hi there..

I would like for you to meet Dirk. Isn't he gorgeous? He is a white German Shepherd Male who is about 1.5 years old and currently lives with a GS. Rescue group in San Diego, California. 

Unfortunately,  Dirk has a bum leg that needs repair but it doesn't slow him down. The Vet who works with this Rescue Unit,assures us that it will be good as new after his surgery, but his impairment might be one of the reasons he is not getting adopted.  He is affectionate, playful and very sweet tempered.

My sister Sandra, rescued another beautiful German Shepher, named Roxy last year  from this same group, and when they became desperate, they reached out to her again to see if she could Foster Dirk, since he will soon have to be put down if no one comes forward. Sandy takes him out on weekends but can't adopt him because she lives in a tiny condo with another dog already. I live in Canada so it's not feasible for me either.

Last weekend, my mom went out hoping to solicit donations at her Local Pet Smart to pay for Dirk's Surgery, costs estimated at around $2500.00.  I know that if we all chipped in, this amount can be quickly raised.

If you would like to donate to Dirk's fund, please use my pay pal donation on the UFP the Coach,page. Scroll to the very bottom of the page and you will see the link.

This will allow  you to donate any amount you wish.

If you would like to ADOPT DIRK, then PLEASE CONTACT ME IMMEDIATELY and I will put you in touch with the right folks.

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The Cove is a disturbing, haunting and essential film made possible by an elite team of activists who want to stop the Dolphin Slaughter in Japan. The film was made possible through their courage and determination against arrest and even death.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HELP, PLEASE SIGN THE FOLLOWING PETITION AND SHARE THIS MOVIE WITH EVERYONE YOU KNOW.

Hi there.. I would like to share this website with you. By clicking on the following link, you will be feeding a child today. Did you know that the NUMBER 1 health risk in the World is hunger?

That's correct and approximately 60% of the world’s hungry are women and one-fifth are under the age of five.

I bet you think that most of them live in Africa, but you would be wrong. 578 million of the world’s hungry live in Asia and the Pacific, compared to 239 million in Sub-Saharan Africa and 53 million in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Test your hunger IQ and feed a child in need. It's easy! (not the quiz) http://t.co/P9HEFqB   Just click on the link and feed a child today..World Hunger really is an amazing organization that WORKS!

All around the world there are those who have no say in the decisions that affect their lives. They are  people who live in great poverty and today, they are demanding dignity. They want an end to the injustice and exclusion that keep them trapped in deprivation and they want their voices to count for something and they want to be heard.

Please add your voice to raise the volume on this issue.

Come and travel around the world and see if you could stand to be silenced about the human rights and poverty that you see.  Listen to the stories and add your own after you have made your experiential trip.

To start your journey, click here…http://www.amnesty.org/en/demand-dignity

My dear friend Dianne Lang, author of 'Saving Mandela's Children' was given notice last week, that she has  just a few weeks to live.

A cancer that she has held at bay for many years is now viciously robbing her of her most prized possession, no, not her life, but her fabulous mind. The cancer has metastasized into her brain and the pressure is causing confusion, hallucinations and memory loss. This is Dianne's greatest regret.

You may remember that Dianne was on the lamb, living in England as a way to escape the Scorpions, South Africa's Secret Police. These faceless, nameless men have hounded, harassed and threatened her for years, yet  she has stood bravely  stalwart in the face of their accusations, Accusations that were falsely laid and charged. Accusations that cost Dianne, her beloved children, and  the Dianne Lang Foundation, the orphanage she built with her blood, sweat and guts to house, educate and love the 70 plus orphans she saved from the streets. Dianne has always walked with her head high, because she has the TRUTH on her side, and one day soon, the rest of her story will come out to the world.

If you don't know who she is, well Dianne is one of the most prolific and outspoken Human Rights Activists in South Africa today, and has been the recipient of no less than 6 Humanitarian Awards including the “Clarins Eau Dynamisante Woman of the Year 2004 “, Top 100 women of SA award 2005, and the coveted South African Hero Award 2006.d

As her visa ran out, Dianne had no option but to  return to the country of her birth,  knowing full well that the medical care she so vitally needed, would not be at hand.

Dianne is at peace with God's plans for her, but she still sits in the Directors Chair. She wants to die with Dignity and grace, but before she does,she has asked that I would tell  everyone just how magnificent the Sunshine Coast Hospice has been to her. She has no money to pay for treatments yet daily a doctor, a nurse, volunteers come to her home and assist her with all the changes going on in her body, talk to her and her family about her transitioning, and making sure she is well medicated and comfortable.

Dianne has asked me to encourage folks  if possible, to please make a donation to the Sunshine Coast Hospice, the work they do funded by people like you and me.  They rely heavily on Donations to operate and for 1000 Rand a month, the Hospice looks after dying patients like Dianne. That is ONLY about $135.00 a month US.

I heard from Zelda Elliot today, the Administrator for the hospice and   If you would like to help or make a donation in Dianne's name, here are the banking details. 

At the end of our lives, we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made or how many great things we have done. We will be judged by ‘I was hungry and you gave me to eat. I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless and you took me in.’  

Hungry not only for bread-but hungry for love. 

Naked not only for clothing-but naked of human dignity and respect. 

Homeless not only for want of a room of bricks-but homeless because of rejection. 

This is Christ in distressing disguise…Mother Theresa

A WSPA investigation has revealed that reindeer are being subjected to immense suffering in large-scale round-ups and slaughter in Sweden and Finland.

Footage obtained by WSPA clearly shows the suffering and distress inflicted on herds of reindeer as they are rounded up, transported and finally slaughtered for their meat. You can see the video HERE

If you like, you can also sign a letter to the Nordic Council of Ministers urging them to end the cruelty by going here"

http://e-activist.com/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=24&ea.campaign.id=8670&ea.param.extras=Organization:WSPACA&ea.param.extras=Source:Enews