How to use this Page

Today we bring you our weekly sampler of the cool youth media and marketing gigs. If your company has an open position in the youth media or marketing space, we encourage you to join the Ypulse LinkedIn group, if you haven’t yet, and post there... Read the rest of this post

Check out the original songs (by the cast of “Glee.” Ryan Seacrest got the exclusive debut today on his radio show, and from the sound of it, he’s a fan. New York Magazine, however, not so much) (Billboard) - Surprise! Online... Read the rest of this post

Amazing – 6 degrees of separation.

Who should turn up at The Hughenden but renowned conductor and counter-tenor David Vivian Russell.

Strange

David landed unexpectedly in Sydney, where he accidentally met Barry Humphries and they chatted as they know each other.

Stranger

David was looking for accommodation and noticed the heritage  Hughenden in the arts area -he enjoys this area. Then he noticed that I’m a Director of The Hughenden.

Stranger & stranger

David knew I was an author. He had read my story backwards-frontwards & inside out -”To east Timor With Love from Australia’ which opens the IBBY-Nami Island international anthology ‘PEACE STORY’.

Why did he know my story?  Because he was the overall editor and designer of  Namibooks PEACE STORY!!!

Stranger & stranger & stranger

He books into The Hughenden  and starts laughing. There’s the satirical portrait of Barry Humphries painted by protrait artist Jules Sevelson.

Stranger & stranger & stranger & stranger

David wanders up to his room and sees the powerful portrait of Paul Dyer by artist Stephen James. He stops gob-smacked. Paul Dyer is the artistic director of the baroque Brandenburg orchestra and one of Paul’s good friends and collaegues.

 David Vivian Russell is  one of Australia’s leading counter-tenors and an expert in Baroque music, an international conductor-artistic director.

Stranger & stranger & stranger & stranger

We have a wonderful breakfast at The Hughenden before he headed overseas. We talked about “Peace Story’ where 22 authors, 22 illustrators, 22 countries contributed their work on youth and peace as a Nami Island, IBBY, UNICEF initiative.

‘Peace Story’ is already being published in Pakistan and there is interest across the globe.

David and I plan to meet again at the Hughenden when he’s next in Sydney.

Loved meeting you David.

Today we bring you our weekly sampler of the cool youth media and marketing gigs. If your company has an open position in the youth media or marketing space, we encourage you to join the Ypulse LinkedIn group, if you haven't yet, and post there... Read the rest of this post

MySpace launches its redesigned interface today (though the overhaul won't be complete until mid-November. A new design is part of the struggling site's shift toward music and movies — an attempt to transform the social network into a "social... Read the rest of this post

Clare on Mount Saleve, where Eglantyne … drafted her pioneering statement of children's human rights … Today I interview Clare Mulley, author of The Woman Who Saved the Children: a biography of Eglantyne Jebb, founder of Save the Children. Welcome Clare! In the previous three weeks we've already uncovered a great deal about Eglantyne's journey. Today, I am particularly interested in hearing

The Woman Who Saved the Children: a biography of Eglantine Jebb, founder of Save the Children by Clare Mulley First published by Oneworld Publications, Oxford, England 2009. Released in Australia as a Paperback in 2010 A slab of marble in St Georges Cemetery two miles south of the city of Geneva in full view of Mount Salève, and on the end of a sparsely populated row, by a gravel path marks the

Mabel Kaplan Isn't serendipity wonderful? ...I visited my local library yesterday, and the first thing I noticed was the poster by the 'in' desk: UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in Child Friendly Language. I looked at the credits and found the poster to be a collaborative Childrens Week Project between the Community Development Office for Children and Youth, Meerilinga Young

By Susan C. Mapp

On December 23, 2002, the United States ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. This document defines a “child soldier” as a person under the age of 18 involved in hostilities. This raises the minimum age from the age of 15 set in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Neuroscience is now providing us with the tools to see what many have long suspected: the adolescent brain has not yet fully developed. In particular, the prefrontal cortex, which regulates complicated decision-making and calculation of risks and rewards is not yet fully developed. The American Bar Association used this knowledge in its support of the ban on the death penalty for minors.

Article 7 of this document states that nations who are parties to it will cooperate in the, “rehabilitation and social reintegration of persons who are victims.” The Declarations and Reservations made by US related primarily its recruitment of 17-year-olds and noting that the ratification did not mean any acceptance of the Convention on the Rights of the Child itself, nor the International Criminal Court, thus indicating its acceptance of Article 7.

However, the United States frequently detains and incarcerates child soldiers. The United Nations has noted the “presence of considerable numbers of children in United States-administered detention facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan” (p.6). The New York Times states the U.S. report to the UN regarding its compliance with the Optional Protocol states that it has held thousands of children in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002. The same report also states that a total of eight children have been held at Guantanamo Bay.

The United States is currently in the process of trying a child soldier who has been held at Guantanamo Bay for the past 8 years. Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen, is accused of throwing a grenade that killed an American soldier, Sgt. Christopher Speer. Omar was 15 years old at the time, well below the minimum age for child soldiers. The head of UNICEF, a former U.S. national security advisor, has stated his opposition to the trial:

The recruitment and use of children in hostilities is a war crime, and those who are responsible – the adult recruiters – should be prosecuted.  The children involved are victims, acting under coercion. As UNICEF has stated in previous statements on this issue, former child soldiers need assistance for rehabilitation and reintegration into their communities, not condemnation or prosecution.

The Paris Principles, principles and guidelines on children associated with armed groups, was developed in 2007 to provide guidance on these issues. Developed by the United Nations, it has been endorsed by 84 nations as of 2009, not including the United States. It states that “Children … accused

Recent floods in Pakistan have immobilized the country and have put many lives at peril and risk.  Of course, among the many affected are children.  Response to the disaster has been slow but there are places where one can donate specifically to help children such as UNICEF, World Vision,  Save the Children in addition to the Red Cross.   PaperTigers has covered a number of books about Pakistani children in distress, particularly those in refugee camps on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and those working as child laborers.  The plight of children in distress and the way their stories can be told in books is the focus of Pegi Shea’s Personal Views piece in this month’s PaperTigers issue which is about refugees.

Today we bring you our weekly sampler of the cool youth media and marketing gigs you can expect to find on our Ypulse Jobs Board. If your company has an open position in the youth media or marketing space, we encourage you to post there. Post a... Read the rest of this post

Some of my ‘babies’ promoting STORY as a way to reach the world for 2010 are:-

International Conference in GOA India – January 2010 

SCBWI International Conference at The Hughenden 17-19th September 2010

The Kids & YA Literature Festival at the NSW Writers Centre Rozelle 3rd July 2010

My new book ALWAYS JACK comes out for Breast Cancer Awareness month October 2010

I AM JACK in the USA published by Tricycle (Random House USA)

PEACE for Kids – 5th Nami Island Children’s Book Festival, South Korea – IBBY (IBBY), UNICEF, UNESCO - November 2010

Storytellers, Partners in Crime, Sydney Writers & Illustrators Network, Launch of ‘Fear Factor – Terror Incognito Picador – at The Hughenden 2010 www.thehughenden.com.au

More News coming … let’s make 2010 an amazing year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR  TO ALL!  

HappinessThisWay.com

Competition  -- Submit your design by 7th October

Today we bring you our weekly sampler of the cool youth media and marketing gigs you can expect to find on our Ypulse Jobs Board. If your company has an open position in the youth media or marketing space, we encourage you to post there. Post a job... Read the rest of this post

There is a lot of talk about change at the moment with elections on both sides of the border. Want real change? Then Bilaal Rajan’s your man! Bilaal is the author of the just released book - Making Change: Tips from an Underage Overachiever.

Bilaal has recently been named one of the Top Twenty Under Twenty and is the current UNICEF Child Ambassador. Bilaal also holds the title of “Youngest Orca Author.” Watch the video below to learn more about him.

Sounds like a law firm, doesn’t it? I’m going to mention the Schneider Award for one reason and one reason only: The winner of the middle school category is Tracie Vaughn Zimmer for Reaching for Sun. The announcement of this book was heralded by some definite whoops in the audience. The Coretta Scott King author award goes to — no big surprise here — Elijah of Buxton, by Christopher Paul