World Day Against Child Labor is today. Long outlawed in the United States, child labor is still a major issue throughout the world, particularly in poverty stricken regions where the lure of cheap, easily exploited children is often taken advantage of by employers while at the same time many children living in poverty tragically feel forced to work in order to contribute to their family’s wellbeing. Currently the UN International Labor Organization estimates that 165 Million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are involved in child labor practices throughout the world.

This year the focus of the annual event is on education as a route to reduce child labor and on gender equality between boys and girls. Countries throughout the world from Africa to Asia to South America to the Middle East to Europe and beyond are staging events to reduce the unfair exploitation of children.

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Just yesterday, I posted about Greensburg, Kansas being rebuilt into a model green community. I believe the words “the model green community” might have even been used. Well, Abu Dhabi caught me moving after it yelled red light and has sent me back to start. The nation that sits on 10% of the world’s oil reserve is building what has to be considered the model green city. Sorry, Greensburg, you got served.

The city will be known as Masdar City, and costs are anticipated to begin around $22 billion. However will they find the money?

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Morgan Spurlock’s latest film Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?” opens today. In the movie Spurlock traveled from Morocco to Afghanistan, and nearly every stop in between, to ask about not only the whereabouts of bin Laden, but how the Middle East became so ripe for his brand of violent extremism. Check out the trailer here:

For more on the film vist where www.whereisobl.com

Lucien Samaha is uneasy about Beirut. Sadly, for more than thirty years there has been plenty to be uneasy about in the city that once upon a time was known as the “Paris of the Middle East.” The exhibition “Lucien Samaha is Uneasy About Beirut,” currently in its final week at the Sara Tecchia Roma New York gallery, showcases Samaha’s haunting imagery from the capital of war torn Lebanon. Since 1975, this beleaguered country has witnessed a 15+ year Civil War, been used a proxy battleground by both neighboring countries and global powers, and still teeters on the brink of plunging back into chaos as sectarian strife continues.

The artist, who was born in Beirut and now resides in the United States, used a mix of film and digital processes to obtain the eerie images of a city that has been repeatedly pushed to the brink. Grainy, foreboding street scenes take on the weight of history amidst the bombed out buildings of this once peaceful and prosperous place.

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It is understandably difficult to pay attention, be outraged, and be depressed by all of the tragedy, atrocities, and terror that surrounds us. At the same time, art, film, and photography have an uncanny ability to snap us out of our desensitized states, and turn the political into personal, and the news into news worthy. Below are some recent photos and click here to see an amazing photo essay from Human Rights Watch of people in Gaza who are being denied medical treatment by the blockade.

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George Bush will make his first visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories as president on Wednesday. The president also confirmed with the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot that he foresees a peace agreement being signed between the Palestinians and Israelis before he departs from the area.

National security advisor, Stephen Hadley, says that Bush is hoping to expand on the “advances” made during the peace talks in Annapolis. His three-fold strategy for a peace agreement includes creating a shared vision of a future Palestinian state, helping Palestinians to build more effective security measures, and improving Arab-Israeli relations across the Middle East.