Fasting from blogging is good for productivity...
Okay, my current blog-fast has lasted nearly five whole days. In that period I've wrestled with some big issues in Chapter 4 of my new book and.... just about nailed it!
The writing process is still a little intuitive here, but I think the book will have seven chapters. In other words, I'm over the hump. Yay!!!!!
Ch. 4 is about human rights. Can anyone suggest great, informative graphics that will reproduce well in black and white and which are easily procurable (i.e. no big hassle getting repro rights, no huge licensing payments, etc.) These could be informative maps, charts, or B&W photos. My mind, which found it easy to think of good ways to integrate graphics with text in the first three chapters, has drawn almost a complete blank on this one.
(One of the points I'm making here is that Economic and Social Rights are just as important as Civil and Political rights. So I suppose I could use some infographics from the HDR or someplace... )
Zapiro's Mail & Guardian cartoons are here:
The ICRC offers info ressources and among all the stuff they are offering you'll find pictures too :
Here is a link to the entry page. There are explanations concerning the way you can order them. I didn't read everything, but I assume that their main goal it the dispatching of their HR message, so they will probably cost less than other ressources (unless they are trying to fund their mission). There is a section concerning anti-personnel mines and unexplosed remnants of conflicts scenes and their long term effect on population which seems particularly worth of interest. At first sight, there are no B&W pictures, but you should just ask them, I'm sure that they have B&W pictures too. If not, it's relatively easy to convert color pictures to B&W and I could lend you a hand there if you need (although the ones looking good in color aren't necessarily the ones looking good in B&W), so one has to bear that in mind while choosing amond different pictures. The pictures are ordered by themes and by countries of intervention.
They do also have a lot of other material, for instance maps (but they are broken by countries) and their annual reports which are very complete (almost 450 pages, more than 10meg to download, but well organized and easy to read) offers a lot of interesting figures, of which it would be easy to make EXEL charts.
The World Food Program (of the UN) also has a photo gallery, although it's not clear how things will go for copyright. Probably that many Aid organization also have that kind of picture. The ICRC has a series of links to many organizations, whether UN organizations, governmental or non-governmental organization (caveat : it's not a link to their info material).
Helena,
Ch. 4 is about human rights.
Are we in short of writing about human rights?
How much writing we need to get human rights be respected and applied a cross?
What really need to do to get human rights highlighted and respected from the majority of international communities?
What Iraq war and Guantanamo experiences, the big players who are waving to the reset of the world about the basics of human rights specifically Iraq in particular while Iraq under US control which US causing a sever problems with human rights this is not just due Iraqi themselves as Peter Graff reported from Iraqi prisoners telling us terrifying images for the suffering of innocent guys but also lets not forgot tens of thousand’s of Iraqis are killed humiliated and still suffering from the abuses of human rights.
Peter Graff showing us from one side of terrifying stories of Iraqi detainees camps, what important is what those tens of thousand’s (22,000 detainees) which he did not telling or showing us their suffering even the Red Cross did not telling what their daily suffering inside those US and UK camps.
Rare footage from inside a Baghdad prison camp shows hundreds of inmates packed into wire-mesh tents, protesting their innocence.
"I have been jailed for two years and have never been put before a judge or court!" one prisoner is shown shouting.
The video pictures were given to Reuters Television on Saturday by the office of Sunni Arab Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, who visited the Rusafa prison compound in eastern Baghdad with his Shi'ite counterpart.
The director of the prison visited by Hashemi, Major-General Jumah Hussein, told Reuters by telephone the tented camp was opened a month ago to relieve overcrowding at prisons throughout Iraq, and the complex now held 2,779 prisoners.
He said the tents were built "according to international standards", with air conditioning and 24-hour electricity.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20070818/tts-uk-iraq-prison-cff01a2_2.html
Some reports recently US talking to some official about a deal of releasing of those killer and criminal who have link (in fact he is from Hezbollah Party and he is Lebanones) caught in action in Iraq two years ago and he was holed by US forces from that long now reported that US official may agree to give him to Lebanon in exchange with and Iraqi guy that US thing he have links to the insurgency “Resistance” in Iraq. (I forgot his name).
If this criminals and other get freed or let them out why then those thousand of innocent as Peter Graff reporting to us hold for that long but no one bother from Iraqis, or US and the human rights ageneses do investigating their cases and help to release them.
We need to think in more innovating ways that bring the human rights to high priority and will be the one aspect above of the rest things that any one should do.
Let take some examples:
From US rerunning presidential election all we hear for those promoted none of them bring or say any word about human rights, they talking about immigrations, and they talking about heath issue they talking about Iraq war, if people like Helena and others who believe in human rights values and have their voices loud to be heard for the rest, we should hear from those promoters some words about how US society bring back and encouraged to stick with high level or respect of human rights?
Other example in regards to ME countries, some may be rush to judge me of hangings our problems on the west, but I am not, I agree with you totally that we as ME and Muslims we need a revolution to change our attitude towards human rights, this is a fact that all ME/Muslim word need to rethink and change themselves to be a effective partner with other nations who promoting and believing in human rights.
So, let us take Saudis or other Gulf states these kings and Aimers are treating their nations as if they are the fathers or the head of a family of their nation and each one should hold to his orders which obviously these kings and Aimers are far from respecting the human rights.
One thing we need to be discussed can we teach the basic human rights to our kids from early age and to be a part of the teaching systems from early age?
Is that making a difference?
I think yes, and should be taken seriously and in account.
What about Human Rights Watch images? Many are on topic, black and white, and have a creative commons licence as detailed here:
http://hrw.org/about/faq/permissions.htm
Also did you try a large image search on those keywords in Google images? You will find quite a number. Gives you the scope of what's out there.
By the way re Google and an earlier question I believe one can also make customised overlay Maps to Google Earth. Your book could link to a download placed on your blog or other website.
"Yet there were still serious objections to the idea of universal human rights. In 1775 Jeremy Bentham ridiculed the idea of natural rights and later claimed instead that a utilitarian principle ("the greatest happiness of the greatest number") was a better basis for determining just laws and policies. In other words, the safety of the majority can justify sacrificing the rights of the individual. His argument has been updated as the ticking-bomb theory, which everyone from President Bush to 24's creative staff has used to defend harsh interrogation techniques."
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=how_rights_became_human
H,
Will you be writing on Sunni/Shia discord, and the regional implications of such tensions?
This seems to be a key dimension of global security matters, as well as a matter for those versed in conflict reduction processes. Indeed we are witnessing a spillover of this dynamic in Lebanon.
Cheers,
KDJ