This week on Everywoman we take a look at the rates of maternal mortality in Africa, US elections and Colombian prisons.

Visit http://www.marchofdimes.com to find out how you can help.

Argentina is seeing a troubling and sharp increase in the number of babies dying before their first birthday. Al Jazeera's Lucia Newman repors from Argentina where the situation is particularly desperate for millions of mothers living in urban ghettos.

Afghanistan had the second highest maternal mortality rate in the world after Sierra Leone. One in every 9 Afghan women die during or shortly after giving birth, this makes it a death every 21 minutes. In the US and Japan one in over 12,000 mothers die in childbirth. Al Jazeera's Dan Nolan reports from a hospital in Nangarhar Province, east of the capital Kabul.

Nearly 10 million children under five die every year. Almost 90% of all child deaths are attributable to just six conditions: neonatal causes, pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, measles, and HIV/AIDS. The aim (Millenium Development Goal 4) is to further cut child mortality by two thirds by 2015. How can this be achieved? Which countries make sufficient progress? And with which rate did a country like Norway reduce its child mortality the last 100 years? Watch Gapcast #11 to understand the background and the current status of a Millenium Development Goal.

Gorguts - Waste of Mortality

Shocking Infant Mortality Rates in Woonsocket, Rhode Island

I didn't make this video, i find it at a Russian Anime site. From: Dragon Studios Music:"What ever it takes", Sinead Lohan Movie: Ah! My Goddess, The Movie. I hope you like it.

NEW YORK, USA, 13 September 2007 -- The world has reached an important milestone on child survival. For the first time in modern history, the number of children dying before the age of five has fallen below 10 million per year. New survey figures reported by UNICEF today show solid progress, with worldwide child deaths at a record low of 9.7 million per year -- down from almost 13 million in 1990. UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman called the new figures "historic" but also stressed the work that remains to be done. "The loss of 9.7 million young lives each year is unacceptable," she said. "Most of these deaths are preventable and, as recent progress shows, the solutions are tried and tested." To read the full story, visit: http://www.unicef.org/childsurvival/index_40850.html

Jennie Joseph's Thoughts on what we need to do to stop and prevent this epidemic.

Commentary on the passing away of Roger, The Boring Dispatcher and how it has affected the Youtube Community. Also, my thoughts on facing our own mortality.

NEW YORK, USA, 12 September 2008 Fewer children under the age of five are dying today than in past years, according to the latest data from UNICEF. Globally, the number of young children who died in 2007 dropped to 9.2 million, compared to 12.7 million deaths in 1990. Since 1960, the global under-five mortality rate has declined more than 60 per cent, and the new data shows that downward trend continues, UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman said as she announced the new figures. UNICEFs Chief of Health, Dr. Peter Salama, attributes the decline in the rate of child mortality to improved maternal health care and disease prevention and control programmes. Botswana, for example, is providing a very important example of a country with a very high HIV prevalence that has turned the corner and where under-five mortality is starting to go down, said Dr. Salama. We think that is really because theres been enormous progress in coverage of anti-retroviral treatment for adults, and increasingly for children, and the coverage for prevention of mother-to-child transmission has been extremely high. To read the full story, visit: http://www.unicef.org/childsurvival/index_45612.html

During the United Nations Millennium Summit in September 2000, representatives from countries across the globe met to discuss development problems plaguing the human race. As a direct result of their discussions, the Millennium Declaration was drafted and approved by 189 nations and 147 state government leaders. It was from this declaration that the eight Millennium Development Goals emerged, aiming to make immense progress on humanitarian issues facing our world. • Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger • Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education • Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women • Goal 4: Reduce child mortality • Goal 5: Improve maternal health • Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases • Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability • Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development The center of this project was Goal 4 – reducing child mortality. By the year 2015, the Millennium Campaign seeks to reduce by two-thirds the under-five child mortality rate. Currently, about 26,000 children under five die each day, mostly from preventable causes.

Sept 18th, 2008: Flashmob put on at the University of British Columbia - Point Grey Campus by the Oxfam UBC Campus Club. The Flashmob was around maternal mortality rates. One woman dies every minute during childbirth because of a lack of basic healthcare. That is 1400 women every day. We call on the G8 to come through on their Millenium Development Goals and provide the basic public services, which they have so often promised!

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2008/02/02/David_Rieff_Swimming_in_a_Sea_of_Death David Rieff, son of the late author Susan Sontag, gives his thoughts on modern medicine and mortality. ----- David Rieff talks about Swimming in a Sea of Death, a memoir and an investigation, and loving tribute to his mother, the writer Susan Sontag, and her final battle with cancer. Rieff's brave, passionate, and unsparing witness of the last nine months of Sontag's life, from her initial diagnosis to her death, is both an intensely personal portrait of the relationship between a mother and a son, and a reflection on what it is like to try to help someone gravely ill in her fight to go on living and, when the time comes, to die with dignity. Rieff confronts the blunt feelings of the survivor - the guilt, the self-questioning, the sense of not having done enough. And he tries to understand what it means to desire so desperately, as his mother did to the end of her life, to try almost anything in order to go on living. David Rieff is a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine. He is the author of seven previous books, including the acclaimed At the Point of a Gun: Democratic Dreams and Armed Intervention; A Bed for the Night: Humanitarianism in Crisis; and Slaughterhouse: Bosnia and the Failure of the West. He lives in New York City - Cody's Books

Good quality video footage of Sydney's Transcending Mortality (great Melodic Progressive/Power/Classic Heavy Metal quintet) playing 'Twilight' in full plus a few minutes of 'Beyond Remembrance' at Utopia Records in Sydney on November 25th, 2006. This performance occurred just prior to the launch of their debut album 'The Last Horizon'. Should be especially of interest to fans of Iron Maiden, Dream Theatre and Dio. Video care of Pyro http://www.PyroMusic.net/ // http://www.PyroVesten.net/

Contact me for uploads.

One of my favourite stand up moments, taken from the long deleted video "Too Much Information Tour", probably around 1997. David Baddiel makes jokes about the reasons people died, but the jokes are not needed - the bills of mortality are enough. Even now, whenever I watch the news and they announce someone has died, I still think they will continue the sentence with "of flux, flux, scouring and bloody flux".

NEW YORK, USA, 19 September 2008 A report released by UNICEF today reveals a shocking discrepancy between the toll that pregnancy and childbirth takes on women in the developing world compared with those in industrialized nations. Progress for Children: A Report Card on Maternal Mortality shows that more than half a million women die unnecessarily every year due to complications from pregnancy and childbirth and 99 per cent of those deaths occur in developing countries. The worst regions in which to give birth are sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, which together account for 84 per cent of maternal deaths. The worst country in the world for maternal mortality is Niger, where the risk of death is estimated at one in seven. To read the full story, visit: http://www.unicef.org/childsurvival/index_45681.html

The Gift of Mortality, from the original soundtrack, by James Horner. Enjoy :)

Hilarious animation featuring Samuel L Jackson from Pulp Fiction vs Rainman in a funny arcade style fight to the death. When a simple friendly coffee escalates into full-blown fisticuffs, some of the moves are so violent they're retarded.

Believer - Extraction From Mortality Progressive Christian Death Thrash Deathrash Metal album Extraction From Mortality Lyrics: Rise up, so you can take a stand against the schemes of evil Courage, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power Struggle, not for flesh and blood but against dark forces Rulers and authorities of sin from the spiritual world Attack, oppose the Prince of Death in the heavenly realms Power from the armor, you must stand your ground We will UNITE AS ONE We'll stand and FIGHT AS ONE Take up the potent shield of faith with which you can extinguish Flaming arrows of the one who seeks to slay the chosen Uphold the double edged sword which is the Living Word Piercing unlike any other blade judging thoughts and actions Weapons of divine power to destroy all strongholds Fighting the good fight of faith intent on final conquest Join us disciples of the light in this spiritual warfare Take hold of eternal life saving souls from Hell [Romans 7:23, 8:37, 12:5; Ephesians 4:13, 6:12; Galatians 3:28; Timothy 6:12; 2 Timothy 2:4]

In a recent Public Health Notification, FDA informed healthcare professionals about new data on mortality rates associated with the AneuRx® Stent Graft System. This endovascular graft, made by Medtronic, is used as an alternative to open surgery in preventing the rupture of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). The new information suggests that the average aneurysm-related death rate several years after treatment is higher in patients with the AneuRx® device than in patients who receive open surgery. FDA's Notification focused on the AneuRx® product because it's the only device of its kind with significant long-term mortality data. Based on these new findings, FDA recommends that the AneuRx® graft only be used in patients who meet the appropriate risk-benefit profile. In deciding on whether to use open surgery or the graft, physicians should take into account that the average risk of late mortality related to the aneurysm may be greater for AneuRx® than for open surgery. However, they should also consider other factors that can modify these risk comparisons. For example, the mortality rates with both open surgery and the graft may be considerably higher than average if performed in institutions or by physicians who have little experience with these procedures. The risk is also higher with open surgery if the patient has cardiac, renal or pulmonary co-morbidities. For a 70-year old patient, the risk could range from 2 percent with no risk factors to over 40 percent with multiple co-morbidities. Another factor that could influence this risk comparison is the willingness of the patient to comply with the follow-up schedule required with the endovascular graft. If a patient were non-compliant, this could increase the risk associated with the graft. Finally, FDA recommends that clinicians stay abreast of the information in the product labels and in the yearly clinical updates from Medtronic and other graft manufacturers. FDA Patient Safety News: May 2008 For more information, please see our website: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/psn/transcript.cfm?show=75#7

ANCHOR: Lack of adequate nutrition and killin the children of India's eastern Orissa State. STORY: 15-year-old Subasini Juang lost her first child due to malnutrition. Now she is trying to save her second child in what has become a common situation in one of India's poorest states. [Subasini Juang, Mother]: Female (Oriya) "We are poor and don't know what is happening to our children. It is difficult to ensure two meals a day. Oftentimes we have to sleep without food. Due to extreme poverty we can't take care of our children and they become weak." The Chief District Medical Officer says over 7000 babies, age 1 to 5, have died from to malnutrition in the last five years. It is also reported that over half of all children ages 1-3 born in Orissa suffer from malnutrition. But one UNICEF State Representative says poverty shouldn't stop kids from getting proper nutrition. [Omol Shadrak, State Representative, UNICEF]: English "Experience shows that poverty is not a barrier to improving the condition of children...The challenge which we face is how to involve the community and develop appropriate strategies." But poverty is an obstacle for many in Orissa. The average age of girls getting married in Keonjhar district is 18. And the rising cost of food is making it even harder for new mothers to feed themselves and their families.

Funny animation with Scarface vs Meg Ryan from When Harry met Sally. Al Pacino is his usual hilarious and violent self as Tony Montana, in this tale of domestic bliss gone horribly, horribly wrong. When their pillowtalk broaches the controversial subject of the female orgasm, an argument begins that can only climax (ahem) with a gruesome fight to the death.