DIA MUNDIAL CONTRA EL TRABAJO INFANTIL

Procedo a copiar el documento oficial emitido por la OIT sobre esta fecha, establecida a partir del año 2002.
Día mundial contra el trabajo infantil 2011
¡Atención! Niños en trabajos peligrosos - Erradiquemos el trabajo infantil

La más reciente estimación mundial de la OIT revela que 115 millones de niños están involucrados en trabajo peligroso. Se trata de trabajo que, por su naturaleza o por las condiciones en que se lleva a cabo, es probable que dañe la salud, la seguridad o la moralidad de los niños. Los niños que trabajan en muchas industrias y ocupaciones distintas pueden estar expuestos a tales riesgos; el problema es mundial y afecta tanto a los países industrializados como a los países en desarrollo.
El trabajo peligroso es una de las peores formas de trabajo infantil cuya eliminación es uno de los objetivos de la comunidad internacional para el 2016 . La necesidad de emprender una acción urgente con el fin de alcanzar esta meta fue el tema de la Conferencia mundial sobre trabajo infantil de La Haya de 2010 en la cual se adoptó una Hoja de ruta para la eliminación de las peores formas de trabajo infantil, que fue ratificada en el Plan de Acción Mundial de la OIT.
El Día mundial contra el trabajo infantil de 2011 centrará la atención pública en el trabajo infantil peligroso, y hará un llamamiento a la acción urgente para luchar contra el problema. En este Día mundial se exhortará a:
Actuar con urgencia para identificar y luchar contra el trabajo infantil peligroso, como uno de los medios importantes para lograr progresos respecto de la consecución de la meta mundial de eliminar las peores formas de trabajo infantil.
Reconocer que el trabajo peligroso es parte del problema más vasto del trabajo infantil, ampliando los esfuerzos a nivel mundial, nacional y local contra todas las formas de trabajo infantil mediante la educación, la protección social y estrategias para promover el trabajo decente y productivo para los jóvenes y adultos.
Favorecer una acción tripartita sólida sobre la cuestión del trabajo infantil peligroso, fundamentada en las normas internacionales y la experiencia adquirida por las organizaciones de empleadores y trabajadores en las esferas de la seguridad y la salud. Agrego este fragmento de Wikipedia: En todo el mundo, y en franca violación de los derechos de la infancia, cientos de miles de niñas y niños realizan trabajos que los privan de la educación, la salud, el tiempo de ocio y las libertades elementales. De estos niños, más de la mitad están expuestos a las peores formas de trabajo infantil, como el trabajo realizado en entornos peligrosos, la esclavitud u otras formas de trabajo forzoso, actividades ilícitas como el tráfico de estupefacientes y la prostitución, así como la participación en conflictos armados.

SURREALISMO

Smoke and mirrors: The surreal life and work of René Magritte
Al margen que esta exhibición se hace a miles de km. de distancia, nos permitimos destacar la obra de Rene Magritte, surrealista belga supremo. Toda la nota del diario Independent de UK en este enlace.
La metáfora de este cuadro es un indicador de la complejidad del mundo surreal, así como la vida misma. ¡Excelente!

LES PAUL BIRTHDAY

LES RECOMIENDO INGRESAR AL PORTAL DE GOOGLE HOY, PARA PODER APRECIAR EL DISEÑO HECHO EN HONOR DE LES PAUL. Lamentablemente no se puede copiar para pegarlo acá. No tengo audio disponible, pero ustedes pueden tocarla y hacer su propia música.
Today's Google Doodle commemorates Les Paul, the father of the modern electric guitar, and it's amazing for many reasons.
First of all, it's a beautiful design, and abstract guitar shaped like a Google logo. Second of all, the guitar is playable, both with your mouse and keyboard. Third of all, it's all done in HTML5 and no Flash, showing how impressive the technology can be. Unfortunately, we weren't able to embed it.
Aquí un video.

SALMOS

He aquí una noticia relacionada con la recuperación y exhibición de un antiguo libro de salmos que data del año 800 de nuestra era, el que estuvo enterrado en un pantano de Irlanda hasta el año 2006. En la muestra se pueden apreciar otras antigüedades.

Public gets first look at ancient book of psalms

By Grainne Cunningham
Wednesday June 08 2011

AFTER hundreds of years lying in a muddy bog, one of the country's most important antiquities went on public display for the first time yesterday.
The Fadden More Psalter, a book of psalms as old as the Book of Kells, was found by turf cutters in a Tipperary bog in 2006.
Conservationists have spent the past five years painstakingly preserving the vellum pages and leather cover and the psalter, which dates from 800AD, now sits centre stage at a new exhibition in the National Museum in Dublin.
Visitors can view the tattered pages, with their meticulous lettering, as well as a replica of the original which shows "what it looked like in all its majesty", according to the keeper of Irish antiquities, Ned Kelly.
Mr Kelly said the psalter was "a very unique find".
The exhibition, which includes major pieces of church metalwork such as the Cross of Cong and St Patrick's Bell, has an ecclesiastical feel, with individual pieces housed in towering glass boxes, beautifully illuminated and set out in a style resembling a cloister.
Also on display for the first time ever is a unique ivory crozier from Aghadoe, Co Kerry. It is on loan from the Statens Historiska Museum in Stockholm.
Mr Kelly predicted that the Irish public would be "gripped by the craftsmanship and magnificence" of the objects.
An audio guide, which can be downloaded onto smart phones, takes visitors through the exhibition. Children will love the opportunity to make brass rubbings of some of the Celtic designs.
Arts Minister Jimmy Deenihan, who opened the exhibition, said it spanned "an outstanding period" of the country's history -- "our golden age".
He said the Fadden More Psalter was "our Dead Sea Scrolls" and that it was one of the most important finds ever in this country and perhaps in the world.
Grainne Cunningham
Irish Independent

PERIODIC TABLE

Esta es una noticia altamente especializada, pero cabe destacarla pues es en el avance de las ciencias puras y aplicadas donde reside el progreso y el bienestar del género humano. Esta imagen debe sumarse a una anteriormente publicada en este mismo blog, la cual pueden encontrar en el buscador. La fuente es The Independent de UK.

Periodic Table gets new elements (but no one knows what they do)
By Tom Peck
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
They have existed for less than a second each, but two new elements have been added to the Periodic Table.
Evidence for the existence of the two elements, the heaviest yet to be included, has been mounting for several years. A number of research teams had claimed to have produced the heavy elements by smashing together the nuclei of lighter atoms. But it took a three-year review before they received official status.
The teams behind the discoveries will be invited to suggest names for the new elements, and unless particularly outlandish requests are made, they are likely to be accepted. An announcement is expected soon.
In the meantime, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) has assigned the elements the names ununquadium and ununhexium, derivations from their atomic numbers of 114 and 116, respectively.
Also considered were claims for discoveries of elements with the atomic number 113, 115 and 118 – but the report of the Joint Working Party for the Discovery of New Elements, made up of representatives from the Union of Applied Chemistry and the Union of Applied Physics, dismissed the evidence for these as not strong enough.
Heavy elements tend to be radioactive, as their atoms have many more neutrons than protons and so decay quickly. There would seem to be no practical use for an element which is stable for less than a second before decay, but it moves research closer to developing elements with 120 or more protons. Nuclear theorists think these super-heavy atoms might remain in a stable condition for several decades and exhibit useful chemical properties.
"The discovery moves us closer to the island of stability," said Dr Paul Karol, chairman of the joint working party. "Although 116 to 120 might seem like a small leap, it isn't. But once we get there everything should get easier again. These elements should exist for longer, so we can observe their chemical properties. No one knows if they will remain stable for a few minutes or years. They may be able to power nuclear reactors, or be useful for nuclear weapons. No one's sure – but you can always suspect the military will be interested."
Scientists have been unable to ascertain much about the properties of the new elements. "The quantities produced were very small and did not exist for very long," said Dr Karol. "Elements need to remain stable for almost a minute before much useful observation can be made of them."
Plutonium, with an atomic number of 94, is the heaviest naturally occurring element. All the elements heavier than this, including Einsteinium, Rutherfordium and Californium, have been produced synthetically and decay rather rapidly.
Dr Terry Renner, the executive director of IUPAC, said: "If you got to 120 or 126 you might get something with an infinite half life. If that was the case you could possibly manufacture compounds from the new materials that might be useful in computer technology and medicine. But no one really knows, and it's really all theoretical."

DERECHOS HUMANOS

Copio una noticia recibida a través de un mail de la Fundación Naciones Unidas respecto de abusos cometidos en Irlanda en instituciones católicas sobre jóvenes mujeres a las que, presuntamente, querían reformar.
UN panel urges Ireland to probe Catholic torture
GENEVA (AP) — A United Nations panel has urged Ireland to investigate allegations that for decades women and girls sent to work in Catholic laundries were tortured.
The panel said the government failed in its obligation to oversee the nun-run laundries "where it is alleged that physical, emotional abuses and other ill-treatment were committee." It has asked for compensation for the victims.
Human rights groups say young women were abused after being sent to the so-called Magdalene Laundries, a network of 10 workhouses that operated in Ireland from the 1920s to the mid-1990s. Many of the victims were teenagers who arrived as punishment for petty crimes or for becoming pregnant out of wedlock.
The Geneva-based U.N. Committee against Torture said the Irish government "should institute prompt, independent, and thorough investigations into all allegations of torture, and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment that were allegedly committed" at the laundries.
Although such abuses were publicized in films such as "The Magdalene Sisters," Ireland has been slow to confront abuse within Catholic dioceses and church-run institutions.
The U.N. panel's report, published Monday, recommended that the Irish government "in appropriate cases, prosecute and punish the perpetrators with penalties commensurate with the gravity of the offenses committed."
It also called on authorities to ensure all victims received the right to demand compensation.
An Irish campaign group called on the government to respond swiftly to the U.N. recommendations.
"This is a population of women who are aging and elderly," said the group Justice for Magdalenes, which campaigns for the victims and has demanded a formal apology from the Irish government.
"Having suffered torture or ill-treatment, in which the state directly participated and which it knowingly failed to prevent, the women have the ongoing right to an investigation, an apology, redress and treatment with dignity," said rights expert Maeve O'Rourke, who presented the group's submission to the U.N. panel last month.
The panel made similar recommendations about alleged abuses in boys' institutions.

BATALLA DE ARICA

Hoy se conmemora un aniversario más de otro de los episodios de la Guerra del Pacífico, la Batalla de Arica, el 7 de junio de 1880.
De Wikipedia les copio un fragmento muy significativo, el número y armamento de ambos contrincantes:
Fuerzas en combate
Peruanos 1.901, chilenos 5.379
La infantería chilena estaba armada con fusiles Comblain y Gras repotenciado a bala Comblain, de tal manera que utilizaban el mismo cartucho. La caballería y artillería chilena utilizaba carabinas Winchester modelo 1866, carabinas Remington y sables.
La artillería chilena estaba compuesta de 3 brigadas que agrupaban 22 cañones Krupp de campaña de calibres de 78,5 mm y 75 mm, además de 2 ametralladoras.

Todas las fuerzas peruanas estaban armadas con rifles Chassepot, que utilizaban cartuchos de papel y se trababan después de 50 a 100 tiros. La excepción era el Artesanos de Tacna N°29 armado con fusiles Peabody Martini y el Granaderos de Tacna N°31, armado con fusiles Remington.
Me eximo de mayores comentarios. Pobre coronel Francisco Bolognesi y compañía...