In a time when the conditions in Darfur are worsening, Maw Books Blog is leveraging her more than 20,000 monthly visitors to raise awareness about Darfur.  For the month of September, blogger Natasha Maw will be Reading & Blogging for Darfur.

The Olympics open today in China to a multitude of emotions, including anger from Tibetan, Darfurian, and Burmese human rights activists about China's role in the conflicts in these countries.

In less than a week, my firstborn child, my baby girl Ava will turn 4. While this isn't often considered a major milestone, it is still very dear to my heart, being her mother and all. It got me thinking about how good we have it here in North America. I feel fortunate to live in a country where we have access to things such as clean water, nutritious food and medical care.

One of the world's challenges that disturbs me the most is genocide. Perhaps it is because my generation was raised reading The Diary of Anne Frank and watching dozens of movies about the Holocaust. Over and over we were told, someone should have said something. Someone should have done something. If it happens again, you need to do something.

Luxury handbag manufacturer Louis Vuitton is suing a 26-year-old artist over an image she created for the organization Divest for Darfur. Ecorazzi recaps the ABC story:At the center of all the angst is a tee designed by Nadia Plesner. It features a ‘fashionista’ Darfur victim looking very similar to Paris Hilton — something Plesner intended to convey the media’s disconnect with important issues. “I wanted to try to portray how distorted it is, how parts of the media prioritize between small and big world news. Even with the terrible genocide going on in Darfur, Paris Hilton is getting most of the attention,” she said. “If all it takes to make the front page is a designer bag and a small dog, maybe it’s worth trying that for the people who really need attention.”

On Thursday, May 15, Blogcatalog.com is challenging bloggers to Unite for Human Rights by posting words, pictures and/or videos. While the words might change from country to country and are sometimes taken for granted, human rights represent one of the universally agreed upon ideas — that all people are born with basic rights and freedoms that include life, liberty, and justice. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations.

After reading Denise's BlogHer post last week that the gift of maternal health is the perfect Mother's Day gift, I thought "this really is perfect!" I blogged it and suggested that not only is it a great cause, but it is also a great consumerism/stuff-free gift, something that I feel, in our consumerism-driven society, is so important, but so ofte

Right now, thousands upon thousands of women and children like these (above) who took shelter in a Buddhist temple need our help. This morning, BlogHers Act and GlobalGiving expanded our Mother's Day fundraising initiative to save women's lives to include the tens of thousands of people devastated by Cyclone Nargis. Now, in addition to donating to hand-picked and carefully vetted programs to help women and children in Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Darfur, Nepal and South Africa, you can use the BlogHers Act donation widget (see below and the left-hand column on every page of BlogHer.com) to help get water and shelter to thousands of people whose lives are in danger. And we'll help!

Have I told you lately how much I love how smart this community is? Here's what I'm on about: Over the weekend, BlogHer community member Valiens of A Brain Like Mine blogged great questions about the BlogHers Act fundraiser to save women's lives: "I'm wondering whether the women's health care available in any given country is able to provide birth control in any meaningful way, and I'm wondering what the general attitude and practice is among the providers in the various countries about abortion....I'm also wondering if any of the organizations being supported are specifically political in nature, or in support of, or being supported by, political organizations, and which ones they are, and what their mission statements propose. Again, this could be an important factor regarding donations. Transparency is most desirable.On top of that, I'm willing to say I have some potential donors who would have questions about vaccinations, AIDS treatments, religious involvements...more" I love Valiens' questions because it gives me an opening to talk more about BlogHer's philosophy for our BlogHers Act fundraiser, and why we chose to work with GlobalGiving to support five projects we deliberately selected with an eye to exactly the issues she raises. Here goes...

How many women's lives can we save with donations from the BlogHer community, between now and Mother's Day, May 11, 2008? If you will download this widget today and encourage your readers to donate, we can find out. Won't you join us?

"[Y]ou don't necessarily have to solve a problem. You just have to take the steps that are available to you. . . . I focus on the fact that I don't have to solve it. I just have to do what I can. " --Jerry Fowler, Executive Director of the Save Darfur Coalition, during an interview on the Voices on Genocide Prevention Podcast.

Thursday, December 6, from 8:00 – 9:45 pm ET/PT, HBO will screen a documentary by Paul Freedman about Darfur, Sand and Sorrow. If you don't have HBO, like me, you can watch a live stream of the full film on the HBO web site December 7-9. George Clooney is the film's narrator and Executive Producer.