International Day Against Homophobia

The cause for the International Day Against Homophobia, its central topic of interest, the common theme that provides information for each of its endeavours remains a universal, multi-faceted and historical phenomenon: homophobia. To show support, wear rainbow or red to show your pride on may 17th.

In Canada, recognition, for lesbian and gay communities, has been first and foremost a judicial acceptance brought about by the adoption of the Charter of Human Rights. However, judicial advances will remain only that until a complete, unlimited social acceptance of homosexuality is achieved and homophobia wiped out. To achieve this goal, the Fondation Émergence proposed in 2003, along with partners, to hold each year a special day dedicated to the social recognition of homosexual experience.

If you want to do more for the cause go to www.homophobiaday.org

The Reading Tub: Don’t you just love the logo?

The Reading Tub is one of the two 501c3 literacy projects endorsed and supported by the Dreamblogue. The Library Project (Asia) and the Reading Tub (US) share the ad revenue generated by the blog of dreams.

The single most significant factor influencing a child’s early educational success is an introduction to books and being read to at home prior to beginning school. National Commission on Reading, 1985 60% of the kindergartners in neighborhoods where children did poorly in school did not own a single book. The Patterns of Book Ownership and Reading, D. Feitelson and Z. Goldstein, 1986.

The most successful way to improve the reading achievement of low-income children is to increase their access to print. Communities ranking high in achievement tests have several factors in common: an abundance of books in public libraries, easy access to books in the community at large and a large number of textbooks per student. Newman, Sanford, et all. “American’s Child Care Crisis: A Crime Prevention Tragedy”; Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2000.According to the National Academy on an Aging Society, 73 billion dollars is the estimated annual cost of low literacy skills in the form of longer hospital stays, emergency room visits, more doctor visits, and increased medication. “Toward a Literate Nation”, Luis Herrera, Public Libraries, Jan/Feb 2004.

The reading tub is intermittently blocked in China and you may need to use this link: http://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-www.cgi/http://thereadingtub.com