A new survey jointly conducted by public health researchers at Harvard and Northeastern Universities gives a fuller and edifying picture of gun ownership in the US. There are, says the survey whose results were first published in The Guardian, 265 m guns in the US, which is more than one for every adult. Here is the intriguing statistic, 133 m of these guns are in the hands of 3% of US adults. This suggests an average of 17 guns per super gun owner. The US gun stock has increased by (more…)
Danielle Levy
-
Human Trafficking: From Nigeria to Paris
Benin City is not on most of our radars, not in the news. In the south of Nigeria, it is not a priority for the Nigerian government which is busy with Boko Haram in the north. It makes it easy for traffickers who prey on the girls who live around there particularly in the rural areas near the city. They are well- organized groups, who prey on the poverty and the need for young girls—some as young as 12—to seek education and a better life. They are promised that in Paris that is what they will find, and “mamas” guide them through the process. They know that they will have (more…)
-
Refugee Children
UNICEF has issued a report which puts the plight of today’s uprooted children as a global crisis in stark perspective. I’ve been reading about children as victims of war, and refugees, and the consequences of the number in several publications I follow. An article by Alexandra Zavis in the 9/19/16 LA Times put it in a way that makes quoting from it readable. The report says 50 million have fled from wars, persecution and poverty.
About half of the 50 million children driven from their homes is due to conflicts and persecution, the other half is in search of a better life. (more…)