Daily Archives: March 8, 2015

Mount Everest base camp. Photo by Flickr user Kyle Taylor.

For every moneyed thrill-seeker who thinks climbing Mount Everest is a novel post-college adventure, there is a mound of human waste sitting on top of the mountain to account for their privilege. According to Reuters, the NepalMountaineering Association is apparently really concerned about the ever-growing volume of shit piling up on Mount Everest, caused by the more than 700 people a year who spend two months clamboring up its sides in search of a sense of purpose and a really sick Instagram photo.

There are four camps situated along the route to the top,and around each one there are heaps and heaps of poo hidden beneath the snow. Climbers usually dig holes to do their number twos. Over the years, this method of disposal has acumulated an unhealthy amount of poo, which now sits right under the surface, making the mountain a petri dish of fecally transmitted diseases.

It is a health hazard and the issue needs to be addressed, said one sherpa to Reuters.

This poo problem is part of a larger issue regarding trash on the mountain. The Nepalese governments mountaineering department already enforces rules that require each climber to come down with a bag of garbage weighing at least 18 pounds. It will be more difficult to convince people to carry around a bag of human shit for two months, although some more consious climbers already do so.

Visit link:
Human Poop is Ruining Mount Everest

GOLDEN About 60 Jefferson County children most of them girls are either being sold for sex or at high risk of becoming sex-trafficking victims, the county district attorney's office says.

Those kids are being exploited not far from the public's view through Internet advertising sites and in motel rooms lining busy thoroughfares. Young girls living on the streets, many of whom are runaways from abusive homes and whose numbers are growing, have become "walking targets."

"That's unconscionable," said District Attorney Peter Weir. "We have an absolute responsibility to do what we can on behalf of those kids."

Weir's office last month created the first-of-its-kind unit for a Colorado district attorney's office aimed at helping at-risk children before they become victims. The office is partnering with police and representatives from the county's department of human services to battle child sex trafficking one case at a time.

Many law enforcement agencies in Colorado and across the country try to battle sex trafficking. What sets Jefferson County's unit apart from others is its progressive identification tool and a "team-based" approach of equal parts prevention and prosecution.

"We recognized that law enforcement, to a large extent, was not aware of the extent of the problem and did not have the resources to dedicate to addressing these issues," Weir said in an interview last week. "It does take some special expertise to investigate and some special expertise to prosecute."

Peter Weir says, "We have an absolute responsibility to do what we can on behalf of those kids." (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post)

The unit wants to set an example in Colorado at a time when trafficking is becoming more recognized and after new statutes went into effect in July aligning state laws with federal ones. Weir's office played a prominent role in the writing of those new statutes.

Too often, those trying to stop human trafficking struggle with poor interagency communication.

"I think what's great about the entire effort is that it is meant to be comprehensive," said Amanda Finger, executive director of the Denver-based Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking. "Jefferson County is really piloting this to see how it will work, to see how it will support youth and to see if it is something that other counties throughout the state that can model."

Read the original here:
Jefferson County is battling sex trafficking, one child at a time

The United States has for the first time named an international envoy for gay rights to help fight violence and discrimination around the world.

The State Department named Randy Berry to the post. He is a longtime foreign service officer and currently the consul general to the Netherlands.

In a statement Monday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said, "defending and promoting the human rights of LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] persons is at the core of our commitment to advancing human rights globally - the heart and conscience of our diplomacy."

He said a specific priority for Berry will be to work to overturn laws that criminalize consensual same-sex conduct in more than 75 countries around the world.

"Too often, in too many countries, LGBT persons are threatened, jailed and prosecuted because of who they are or who they love. Too many governments have proposed or enacted laws that aim to curb freedom of expression, association, religion and peaceful protest," Kerry said.

He said Berry has served at U.S. posts across the world, including Nepal, New Zealand, Uganda, Bangladesh, Egypt and South Africa. He described him as a "motivator" and "leader," and said "most importantly for this effort, he's got vision."

The Obama administration has made the protection of gay rights part of its effort to promote human rights around the world.

Read the original:
US Names First Envoy for Gay Rights