Simple pleasures & harsh realities

I came across this light-hearted declaration in an unlikely place - behind the door in a gallery restroom in Hobart.

There's a lot to be said for simple pleasures. My own today have included watching the tuis at their sugar-water chalice, at attempt at turning a macrocarpa Lazy Susan (an arbitrary extra on an old-but-solid outdoor table picked up at a local auction on Wednesday) into a bird table; hanging linen on the line, sweeping the last of the fallen leaves into scuffable piles, keeping company with blackbirds and earthworms, baking a carrot cake.

And then... an email came in from Avaaz* with the following statement and an accompanying plea to sign a petition to stop execution by stoning in Iran -

"Yesterday a massive global outcry stopped an Iranian woman, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, from being stoned to death.

But Sakineh still faces execution, and today, fifteen more people await execution by stoning.

Sakineh's brave children's international campaign shows that worldwide condemnation works. Let's turn this family's desperate appeal into a movement that ends stoning for good - sign the petition and send to everyone:

To sign the petition against these atrocities, please click on this link http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_stoning/?cl=652625041&v=6766

* Avaaz is an international civic organization that promotes activism on issues such as human rights, climate change and religious conflicts. Its stated mission is to "ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making."