At ‘Breastaurants,’ Business Is Booming

Published on Mar 21, 2013
While many restaurant chains are struggling, Twin Peaks, Tilted Kilt and others are thriving.

America, Iran Find Common Ground on the Wrestling Mat

Published on Feb 22, 2013
On the eve of nuclear talks, international athletes square off in friendly competition.

Muslim students forced to pray outside

Published on Feb 22, 2013
No prayer room for Muslims. That’s a prospect that could take place at a university in London. These are Muslim students signing a petition against the university’s policies to restrict their access to prayer facilities on campus. Muslim students here feel discriminated against, and want a room to congregate for Friday prayers. Previously they had to find empty classrooms to pray together, but now they are making an open stand.

Documentary elicits changes in U.S. military

Published on Feb 22, 2013
CNN discusses how the Oscar-nominated documentary “The Invisible War” has helped address sexual abuse in the military.

100-Year-Old African American Sorority Leaves Its Mark

Published on Feb 22, 2013
February is Black History Month in the United States. It draws attention and pays tribute to people, organizations and events that have shaped the history of African Americans and their contributions to American society. VOA’s Chris Simkins reports on a black women’s organization that has fought for civil rights and has made a difference in the lives of many for more than a century.

Fracking Hell? South Africa’s Gas Dilemma

Published on Feb 20, 2013
Caught between the promise of prosperity that natural gas extraction in the Karoo Basin might bring and concerns about environmental and health impacts, citizen resistance to fracking is growing in the Republic of South Africa. Earth Focus correspondent Jeff Barbee reports.

Palestinian Kids in East Jerusalem Face Poor School Conditions

Published on Feb 17, 2013
Palestinian schoolchildren struggle with insufficient educational facilities and textbook censorship in their East Jerusalem neighborhood, according to a new report. Some say Israel should let Palestine handle schooling in the area. Linda Gradstein reports for The Middle Line.

Sanctions hit life-saving drugs in Iran

Published on Feb 17, 2013
Despite the concerns of Israel, the U.S. and its Western allies, Iran denies it’s developing atomic arms under the cover of a civilian nuclear program. Meanwhile, the severe international sanctions are hitting the lives of everyday Iranians in need of medicine, as RT’s Maria Finoshina has found out.

Ronnie Dunn – Cost Of Livin’ (2011)

LYRICS
Everythin’ to know about me
Is written on this page
A number you can reach me
My social and my age

Yes, I served in the army
It’s where I learned to shoot
Eighteen months in the desert
Pourin’ sand out of my boots

No, I’ve never been convicted of a crime
I could start this job at any time

I got a strong back, steel toes
I rarely call in sick, a good truck
What I don’t know I catch on real quick
I work weekends, if I have to, nights and holidays

Give you forty and then some
Whatever it takes
Three dollars and change at the pump
The cost of livin’s high and goin’ up

I put Robert down as a reference
He’s known me all my life
We attend the same church
He introduced me to my wife

I gave my last job everythin’
Before it headed south
Took the shoes off of my children’s feet
Food out of their mouths

Yesterday my folks offered to help
But they’re barely gettin’ by themselves

I got a strong back, steel toes
I rarely call in sick, a good truck
What I don’t know I catch on real quick
I work weekends, if I have to, nights and holidays

Give you forty and then some
Whatever it takes
Three dollars and change at the pump
The cost of livin’s high and goin’ up

I’m sure a hundred others have applied
But rumor has it you’re only takin’ five

I got a strong back, steel toes
I’m handy with a wrench
There’s nothin’ I can’t drive
There’s nothin’ I can’t fix

I work sunup to sundown
Ain’t too proud to sweep the floors
The bank has started callin’
And the wolves are at my door

Three dollars and change at the pump
The cost of livin’s high and goin’ up

Inside North Korea – VICE Travel

Published on Dec 19, 2011
Vice founder Shane Smith managed to get into North Korea after a year and half of trying and is witness to the craziness of this hermit nation.

Published on Dec 19, 2011
Shane visits the North Korean side of the De-militarized Zone (DMZ) and surprisingly finds that it’s more relaxed than the South however the propaganda and is out of control. North Korea is serious.

Published on Dec 19, 2011
The next stop on VICE’s tour of North Korean propaganda was The People’s Library, this place is weird and creepy – just like everywhere else in North Korea. The creep keeps on coming.

True Believers in Justice: A Young Public Defender’s Struggle in the South

Published on Jan 24, 2013
The filmmaker Dawn Porter follows Travis Williams, a young public defender in the Deep South, who struggles against long hours, low pay and staggering caseloads to bring justice to all.

Top 10 Television Sitcoms of the 1970s – social commentary

Published on Jan 17, 2013
This was the decade when sitcoms came of age and became a tool for social commentary. Join http://www.WatchMojo.com as we count down the Top 10 Sitcoms of the 1970s.

Chinese ‘Apartheid’? Hukou System Comes Under Fire

Published on Feb 1, 2013
Hukou, China’s controversial household registration system, was originally designed to monitor the population and limit mass migration from the countryside to major cities. LinkAsia contributor Mark Dreyer reports that Chinese have taken to social media to voice their complaints about the injustice of the houkou system.

Watch more at http://linkasia.org.

IMAGE: Zhan Haite poses for a picture at home in Shanghai, December 21, 2012. Police broke up a small protest in Beijing on Saturday calling for reform of China’s divisive household registration system, an action prompted by a Shanghai schoolgirl’s widely publicized plea for equal access to the education system:

2012 – Russia’s Worst Year for Human Rights Since USSR Collapse

Published on Jan 31, 2013
Human Rights Watch releases 2012 annual report, warning of the steady decline in human rights in Russia after President Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency.

Full story:

A representative from Human Rights Watch said on Thursday that 2012 was the worst year for human rights in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Human Rights Watch Europe and Central Asia Division Deputy Director Rachel Denber spoke with journalists in Moscow.

She says Russia’s human rights last year was the worst she could remember in her 20 years of work in the former Soviet Union.

[Rachel Denber, Deputy Director, Human Rights Watch Europe and Central Asia Division]:
“After the return of Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin, and I would say even before then, not only was the cautious progress towards liberalization of the ‘Medvedev-era’ liquidated, but in these months, authoritarianism in Russia reached a level unseen in this country’s recent history. The foundation of this authoritarian turn was a package of laws adopted by the State Duma. I don’t think it’s necessary to describe them in detail now, but I will just list them: this is restrictions on the freedom of assembly, restrictions on Internet content, the return of criminal liability for slander—which had been cancelled by Medvedev in the previous months—and this, of course includes the law about so-called foreign agents.”

Last summer, shortly after Putin was sworn into office, Russia passed a series of laws branding many rights and campaign groups as “foreign agents”.

It’s a move opponents say was an attempt to stifle protests against Vladimir Putin.

Denber says the decline in Russia’s human rights situation has been steadily worsening.

[Rachel Denber, Deputy Director, Human Rights Watch Europe and Central Asia Division]:
“For a decade since the so-called ‘colour revolutions’, the Russian authorities have been attempting to marginalize, demonize, and discredit opposition politicians, human rights activists, civil society organizations, and the political opposition.”

Human rights organizations are voicing the rights issues against the fact that Russia is set to hold the Winter Olympics in February 2014.

[Rachel Denber, Deputy Director, Human Rights Watch Europe and Central Asia Division]:
“Soon, in almost one year, the Olympics will take place in Russia, in Sochi, and I want to say that this is, of course, a very joyful occasion. But I want to say that the attack on civil society and this excessive suspicion towards foreigners is simply not compatible with the role of Russia as an Olympic Games host country. This, in my opinion, contradicts the Olympic spirit.”

Human Rights Watch says they have noted abuses such as expropriation of property, linked to Russia’s preparations for the 2014 Olympic Games.

Other issues raised include the harassment of Kremlin critics and human rights activists, and the Russian legislation banning so-called ‘homosexual propaganda’.

Also raised were the failures of the Russian Ministry of Health and Social Development to meet World Health Organization standards.

MEGAPOST: German-Jewish Heritage Around the Globe

Jewish Artists – The Influence of Exiles | Arts 21

Uploaded on Nov 13, 2011
It’s well known that many Jewish scientists and artists fled Nazi Germany. Less well known is their cultural influence in the countries that took them in. A major study by the Moses Mendelssohn Center in Potsdam focuses on just that. We spoke with the Center’s Director, Julius H. Schoeps.