Promiscuity and labels

Hello everyone! This blog has been a desolate wasteland of activity recently, so I thought it was time for some guest post action! Um, yeah, so I was in my politics tutorial today and we were discussing "sexuality and modernity". One of things that came up was why there existed a double standard in the labelling of men and women who had a number of sexual partners. I.e. a woman who has a lot of partners is labelled a "slut" or a "whore" or "loose" and yet no such negative terms for men exist (to the best of my knowledge), only positive labels like "player". I thought it was an interesting question (you may have thought about it before), and wanted to pose it to y'all.

My thoughts were that it has to do with the gender roles we have constructed for men and women - it is traditionally a man's role in society to initiate things, and a woman's to waylay his advances. It's a woman's place to say no. If a woman is not conforming to that role of protecting her body from advances, and instead has sex with abandon, society labels her a deviant and the men she sleeps with popular people or something. But yeah, I didn't get very far. Why do you think such a discrepancy in labels exists?

Um. Last year to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the UDHR, a series of films were made to demonstrate the fundamental significance of human rights. This was one of them,.

Impasse from Reel 13 on Vimeo.

Coca Cola

How many of you drink it?
Will you still, when you learn that when Colombian trade unionists have been killed fighting for better working conditions at the Colombian coca-cola bottling factories? Many have also been tortured or kidnapped by Coke's paramilitary forces that they have contracted/directed to in order to suppress dissent (from 1990-2002, 8 men have been killed).
Coca Cola has also over exploited India's water source not only through usage but through their waste, polluting the waters (www.indiaresource.org). However, it's not only India, but Mexico and Ghana as well.
Coca Cola has also been pinned for benefitting from child labour in cane fields in El Salvador (as documented by Human Rights Watch www.hrw.org (but...i also found out in the US, Coca Cola has been using Corn Syrup instead since 1985, so....))
Coca Cola basically practices anti-worker and anti-environment conditions world-wide, generally in places more easy for exploitation of course (www.studentsagainstsweatshops.org & www.waronwant)
I don't think this is particularly nice of Coca-Cola and I am really glad i don't drink soft drinks.
They're not so summery after all.
And, why can't we have anti-commercial commercials as commercials?/Anti consumerism ads as ads?

I'm sure anyone knows by now (excepting the urban hermit), that New World now charges $0.5 per checkout plastic bag. So friendly and thoughtful of them! Mother Nature shall bless them and forget all the other plastic bags new world has on dispensible rolls to put 1 apple in or 3 carrot sticks, or, the countries of Glad-Wrapped half Cabbage and Pumpkin pieces. Yes but no, but- it's actually a great step forward but it's just made me wonder when did the bio-degradable status of their bags also get kicked out?

VETO THE VETO

As part of Model UN this year, I participated in a model security council.  And I learnt something.  THE SECURITY COUNCIL IS PURE EVIL.  

For those of you who don't know, there are two most important branches of the UN are the general assembly and the security council.  The general assembly what most people think of when they think of the UN - all the delegates from all the countries sitting in rows, Krushchev beating his shoes on the table.  An international parliament, if you will.  However, the GA actually has very little power.  It can only recommend actions for member states to take, not enforce them.  The security council, however,  welds a large amount of power, as, unlike the GA, its resolutions are binding for all member states.  The security council is the select branch of the United Nations responsible for dealing with "threats to world peace".   The security council does many things - it controls the UN peacekeeping forces, it can demand a ceasefire, it recommends candidates for the Secretary-general position, and it can authorize"enforcement measures"  such as economic sanctions, suspension from the general assembly and military action, on member states who do bad things.  (a better explanation of the powers and responsibilities of the security council)

The security council is made up of ten rotating members who are elected to the council by the GA in year terms.  Then there are the permanent five, five member states who have sat on the security council since 1945 and will continue into the forceable future.  They are: 

• THE UK
• FRANCE
• RUSSIA
• CHINA
• THE USA

These five members of the security council have veto power.   This means that if any one of them chooses to vote against a resolution, that resolution automatically fails.  During the Cold War, the presence of both Russia and the USA as permanent members of the security council meant that its effectiveness was greatly compromised - everything just got vetoed.   Since then, the rate of actual vetoes has been greatly reduced.  This is deceptive, however - there is still a great imbalance of power, and, as I quickly learnt at mun, it is still possible of the P5 to manipulate the Security Council without actually vetoing.  The mere threat of a veto is usually enough to force through any amendments desired, as faced by a decision between an altered resolution and no resolution at all, the other members will usually agree to make the amendments.   This is known as a "hidden veto" and can often mean that a resolution is passed only after its most worthwhile clauses have been removed.  

So why should these countries have such great power?  Well, simply, because they won World War II.   The UN was established in 1945, after a decision made by Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt during the Yalta conference.  As the victors of the war, Britain, the USA and the USSR were the greatest world powers at the time, and so were made the permanent members of the security council.  Their ally, France was also made a permanent member, because it was struggling to remain a power and losing control of its colonies, and the others need it to be a powerful nation so it could help keep an eye on Germany, amongst other things.  Oh, and China was there so the rest of the world didn't feel totally left out.

But the world has changed a lot since 1945.    The superpowers of 1945 are no longer the superpowers of today.  Then, most of Africa and Asia were western colonies, now they are free and independent states.  Britain and France never really got over the strain of two successive world wars (and the loss of all their colonies), but new powers are rapidly emerging.  More and more, people are calling for reform of the security council, to change it so that it reflects a modern world order.  

Many believe the easiest way to do this would be to expand the security council, adding more permanent members -  current world powers, who represent a wider range of areas.  Brazil, Japan, India, Germany, Nigeria and South Africa have all tried to persuade the world they should be permanent members.  However, some believe that this would only hinder the Security Council, making it harder for consensus to be reached.  Others support the idea of a larger security council, but not more permanent members.  It doesn't really matter though, because the only way it can be changed is by changing the UN Charter - which requires the agreement of all five permanent members of the security council.  And they don't want to share the power.

But you know what?  I don't think the security council needs anymore permanent members.  I don't think it needs ANY permanent members, much less ones with that much power.  Call me idealistic, but I think that we should get rid of the veto all together.  Think of it like this - if the UN is like an international parliament (which it isn't really), then the Security Council is like, the cabinet ministers.  Or something.  And the P5 are the evil (possibly schizophrenic?) dictator at the top.  It's not democratic.  And how can we expect to fix the problems of the world if those with the most problems have no say?  

I AM IN NO WAY SIMPLY WRITING THIS TO POST THE PHOTO

OBAMA AND MY ALL TIME BFF DMITRY MEDVEDEV AGREED TO CUT NUCLEAR WARHEADS BY ABOUT 1000 A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO. THIS IS TOTALLY EXCITING. BE EXCITED OR PUTIN WILL KILL YOU IN YOUR SLEEP FOR HURTING DIMA'S FEELINGS.

Iran Update

Source: Christiane Amanpour's facebook page

Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri of Iran has posted a statement on his website (which I'm not going to link to because it's in FARSI, not English. there's a translated version of the letter here though.) condemning the rigging of the elections. For those of you not in the know, the grand Ayatollah is like, one of the top clerics of Islam in Iran. There are, like, 20 Grand Ayatollah's in the world, and they're basically like super-priests.In Iran, his views and opinions have a lot of sway over the people. Montazeri was slated to take over from the Supreme Ayatollah Khomeini, who was basically insane (and insanely powerful; he was the guy who ordered the fatwa on Salman Rushdie), but Montazeri is way cool, supporting things like civil and womens rights, so they didn't give him the job. Anyway, his Wikipedia page if you need to know more, is here, (and his official website, if you can read Farsi) but I'm going to post the letter below anyway to make your life easier.

In the name of God

People of Iran

These last days, we have witnessed the lively efforts of you, brothers and sisters, old and young alike, from every social category, for the 10th presidential elections.

Our youth, hoping to see their rightful will fulfilled, came on the scene and waited patiently. This was the greatest occasion for the government’s officials to bond with their people.

However, unfortunately, they used it in the worst way possible. Declaring results that no one in their right mind can believe, and despite all the evidence of crafted results, and contrary to the people’s protestations, in front of the eyes of the same nation who carried the weight of a revolution and 8 years of war, in front of the eyes of local and foreign reporters, attacked the children of the people with astonishing violence. And now they are attempting a purge, arresting intellectuals, political opponents and Scientists.

Now, based on my religious duties, I will remind you:

1- A legitimate state must respect all points of view. It may not oppress critical views. I fear that this will lead to the loss of people’s faith in Islam.

2- Given the current circumstances, I expect the government to take all measures to restore people’s confidence. Otherwise, as I have already said, a government not respecting the people’s vote has no religious or political legitimacy.

3- I invite everyone, especially the youth, to continue reclaiming their dues calmly, and not to allow those who want to associate this movement with chaos succeed.

4- I ask the police and army personnel not to “sell their religion”, and be aware that receiving orders will not excuse them before God. Recognize the protesting youth as your children. Today, censorship and cutting telecommunication lines can not hide the truth.

I pray for the greatness of the Iranian people.

Also, this was the hundreth post to the AC blog

If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament

As it was recently brought to the attention of what I hope was everyone in the Active Collective, by the fantastic speaker from Both Eyes Open (whose name very temporarily escapes me), abortion in New Zealand is still illegal. And while, in practice, I believe that the system is relatively lenient, it still leaves the question of why we aren't more involved in the debate on abortion. In that vein, (and mostly because I can't be arsed writing a lengthy post that no one reads anymore, anyway) I'd like to leave you with a link.



The cartoon above I'm pretty sure I've seen in a NZ paper, although why and how I'm not quite sure...



It's essentially a collection of editorial cartoons on abortion. As pointed out in the prompt for the post,

"…when pregnant women are depicted, they are often faceless, voiceless, or shown without any agency. Oftentimes they are not depicted at all, and the fetus is used as the cartoonist’s mouthpiece."

I thought this was really interesting, and I was wondering if any of y'all had an opinion on why this is. As shown by the second cartoon above, and a couple of others at the source, it's something that happens in both pro- and anti-abortion images. is it because, as the cartoon above suggests, cartoonists are simply making them representative of all women? Or is it because the debate over abortion is one no longer concerned with individual women, rather the law-makers and abortion advocates?

Where democracy fails.

Now don't get me wrong; having democratic systems of government, as opposed to power by force, is the only way to guarantee that governments are accountable to their people. Countries that aren't democratic have far higher rates of human rights abuses, because, really, they don't owe their citizens anything. Democracy, overall, is the best system we've got. But sometimes you just have to over-rule the will of the people.

Sometimes democracy is bad. People aren't always nice. Occasionally, we promote things solely to benefit ourselves, ignoring the detrimental effect that it has on others. Take, for example,lower taxes for the rich, stealing, slavery. As Darwin kind of said, it's survival of the fittest, a dog eat dog world out there. And the will of the majority is often to harm the minority.

And that is exactly what democracy promotes; instead of a select few imposing their will on everyone, instead, sheer numbers create ruling classes. When you say the will of the people is always right, someone has to ask back, which people? Governments are only accountable to slightly over half of their people. National has a fair idea of who voted for them, and it certainly wasn't those on welfare; so why help them?

Recently in the U.S.A, teh California Supreme court refused to nullify Proposition 8, because it believed its role was to interpret, not alter the constitution. But if not them, who? When the human rights of a minority are being violated, it is not the masses who will stand up for them, so those with authority must. The American people didn't issue the Emancipation Proclamation
, a man ignoring the will of the people who elected him, Abraham Lincoln did. Was he right? Heck yes! So why aren't more people willing to stand up, against popular opinion, for human rights?

(Quick sidebar, click here for Rob Thomas' fantastic piece on why we should support gay marriage, especially over civil unions, which is what NZ (and most other nations) have currently)

democracy is not always the bastion of civilisation. People who aren't willing to think deeper, or to see the effects of decisions beyond their own backyards, are those who the people in charge are often kowtowing to. President Obama, who overwhelmingly won the US presidential election because he promised change has been forced to reneg on many of his campaign promises (for example, the closure of prisoner dentention camp Guantanamo Bay), because his Seante wont fund him. Why wont his Senate fund him? Because he wants to do what is right, but not politically popular; people are suddenly willing to trash their values in favour of peice of mind, because the reality of having dangerous prisoners that close is now too much for them. And that's what this boils down to; for a truly democratic society, are we willing to sacrifice doing what we know is right?

Things that make me go "blerg".

Because all my friends are dancing the night away at the semi-formal and I am stuck here at home in my pajamas with a streaming nose and hacking cough, I am going to make a list of things that are really getting up my goat at the moment. Actually, it is pretty awesome staying at home in pajamas not going to the semi and watching American Idol instead. But I'm going to make the list anyway!

• The military junta in Myanmar/Burma who've charged pro-democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi with violating her house arrest after an American man allegedly snuck into her home last week. She now faces a prison sentence of up to five years, weeks away from the end of her house arrest. It's clearly been timed so she won't be present for the elections the junta has promised. Last election in 1991 her party won a landslide vote, but she has been in house arrest for 13 of the last 19 years. Call for her release here.


• The National government, predictably. This time they've decided to abolish the Department of Labour's Pay and Employment Equity Unit. Even though NZ women on average are paid 12% less than men in the same positions. But that seven kazillion dollar motorway way more important, eh John? (Okay, I don't really know what motorway I'm talking about. But I'm sure it exists.)


• New Zealand's Next Top Model. Arrrgh. This is surely one of the worsts programs on television at the moment, and this is coming from a huge fan of Dawson's Creek. But seriously, tonight this contestant Ruby was measured by some sleazy Hollywood model agent and was declared "too fat" to be a proper model and told she needed to slim down. She's 17 years old, and so is half the audience. I think that probably launched a thousand eating disorders. Okay, I know modelling is a harsh career and you've got to have the right stuff and they're just preparing her blah blah blah but this girl is HEALTHY sized and aren't non-skeletal models all the rage in the fashion world at the moment? They are with me anyway.


• Danny Gokey. (American Idol contestant.) Hmmmm. How can I fit this in with activism? That scream at the end of "Dream On" was a violation of my Hearing Rights. Sounds like Human? Okay, okay, sorry, moving on.


• The Producers of Avatar. Stoopid.

Happy weekend everyone!

Coffee Break photos!

Thank you everyone for helping out with the Coffee Break yesterday! Everyone contributed in some form or another and it was great especially to see our newest members getting involved.

It seems this event is also a bit famous on the web. Here is Lily, Georgia, Bonnie, Flora and Jessica on the front page of the school website.

Also, I signed us up on the Big Action Big Change website. You can view our profile by clicking on the link under the heading "Winner of the Day"- that's right, we won! Specifically a Trade Aid goodie pack worth $100. While I haven't been contacted about it yet, when it arrives, are you thinking shared lunch? Because I so am!

John Oliver hates Unfair Trade

Hey ladies! Coffee Break was AMAZING, I'll have some pictures up soon. In the meantime here is a video from my favourite Daily Show correspondent (okay, apart from Wyatt).

John Oliver: Terrifying Times
John Oliver - Unfair Trade
comedycentral.com
Joke of the Day Stand-Up Comedy Free Online Games

Opinion Piece on Fair trade

This is a thing about my personal experience not eating non fairtrade coffee, chocolate, or anything with cocoa in it. So if you don't want to, dont read it.
I'm in a mood so it may be a slight fatalistic.

As you all know, I am a mere mortal and am prone to weakness. You have all seen me breakdown, however loudly or quietly, and cast aside my morals, to eat chocolate. Obviously when I hit all time lows, even if i try to keep it inside, i do occasionally eat chocolate. Afterwards, I feel like a failure as a person, with no self control on top of that, for not standing by my scruples. I often feel the need to regurgitate it all, it makes me feel sick, but I don't normally carry this out, don't worry!

Because, I have drilled into myself so often that non-fair trade chocolate is bad, that it hurts so many people and brainwashed myself with thoughts and images of the horrors many families go through, I often almost can mentally taste their blood in it.
I know if I went to a supermarket with the intent of buying an apple, and saw slaves, or children, or a starving, uneducated, poor, impoverished family walk outside to pick it for me, I wouldn't eat it. The problem is, we don't see this. Or if we see it online, we block it out.

I read a story in some pamphlet of children who had to work with sugar, and were paid nothing, and beaten if a certain ammount wasnt harvested/ picked/whatever. I can't remember what they did with the sugar. I remember that when some children tried to escape, they cut the children's feet with razors to punish them, so they wouldn't attempt it again.

The point of this rambling is that we just don't care and don't want to know.
Because we're human. And all of us are failures. That's why there is poverty.

Beeee-yoootiful!

You need to click on it.

An Impassioned Plea.

I had a dream.

I had a dream where one day, the active collective would rise up out of room 56, and produce something amazing. 

I had a dream where we'd try and share our thoughts and ideas with the rest of society,  where we'd do something to take action against the injustices of the world. 

I had a dream where I'd eventually hold in my hands the creamy white pages of The Active Collective Zine.  

But now that dream is dying, and  I'm asking myself all sorts of disheartening questions - Why doesn't anybody want to write any zine articles? Does anybody love me?  What's my purpose in life? Is the active collective actually active, or are they all just talk and tetris playing?

I know you've all got something to say; that's why you're in the the active collective. (I assume.  Although we do also get cool badges.) The zine is the perfect venue for you guys to speak out about those things you're passionate about, whether that be the environment, body image, the middle east, human rights, the economy, fair trade, or just what's wrong with our own school.  Everybody in the Active Collective is above averagely informed about most of these issues, and this is our chance to share what we know and think about these issues with our peers,  hopefully encouraging them to think about them too.

So please,  make the world a better place.  Write a zine article today!  

Send it to jessiewhoisawesome@gmail.com

People who have made false promises of zine articles and whom I therefore no longer love: Romana, Lily, Emily G & Helena, Julia.

Happy Easter Everyone

Thanks Romana for putting an end to the blogging drought- it's been far too long since we've updated.

The subject of Romana's post, aid, will be the focus of our meetings for the beginning of next term, so why not spend your easter weekend researching aid? Hmm, okay, maybe not, but if you're interested, check out the Institute of Policy Studies' website for some of the powerpoint presentations of the speakers at the Symposium Jessie and I attended. I particularly recommend Salil Shetty's presentation. That dude's awesome.

So just relax, do some research, maybe write an article for the zine(!) and we'll be back ready to roll in term 2!

To finish off, here's a recipe for fair trade easter eggs. Yum. Alternatively, I think Scarborough Fair makes chocolate easter eggs.

Charity still sucks.

Clearly, I'm saving up all of my amazing blogging skills for the zine, but I had something i'd like to share with y'all.

Basically, there's this woman named Dambisa Moyo, making waves everywhere beacuse she wrote a book asking the west to stop giving aid to Africa. I'm far to tired to write a proper, attention grabbing description beyond that, but please, click here, even if you don't agree with what she's saying. We should be constantly reviewing how effective 'solutions' to global problems are, and hearing her out would be a really massive step in doing this.

North Korea's aid rejection

North Korea recently rejected food aid from the United States and have, i think, began to reject all other aid from other countries as well. I honestly find this so sad. I can't even hear the voices of the people over there. They've all been silenced under the egotistical and willfully ignorant dictatorship of Kim Jong-Il. Things will only become increasingly worst since they have chronic food shortages and are incredibly reliant on aid to help with these food shortages.
Also, North Korea has announced that it is going to launch a satelite, but it seems as though it is a cover for a long-range missile test (or so Obama and the rest of Oriental Asia is concerned).
Why can't Kim Jong-Il just get his ass out of nucler advancement? Hostile states, right? Beacuse someone would like to bomb economic failure North Korea. I just wish he used it to focus on the people, and actually, i think he'd find why people are so hostile to "him" rather than "North Korea". I just really wished we could do something.
Also, can't believe Mugabe ain't assasinated yet.

The Day I Nearly Joined Greenpeace

yes you read that right
i got attacked on the street by a very friendly lady from greenpeace and (without really knowing what i was signing up for)
i started an application to join greenpeace cause i was like yeah be a member and not do nything! woo!
but then she found out i was under 18 and she was all like NOOOOOO you cant join!
cause apparently you cant just be a member of greenpeace, you have to donate to them to be a member
which is extremely silly. but i guess they just want money
i mentioned to her that i was part of an activism group at school and she gave me a high 5

but the point of this post was to say i know that we are not that into envronmental stuff in the AC but i wanted to highlight some of the things greenpeace is doing

did you know that (actually you probably do im just telling you what the lady told me)
that the earth is on a tipping point
basically that means that soon even if we turn around and embrace mother earth..nothing will change
we will have killed the planet

so what can we do?
greenpeace says:
We want you to take part in an energy revolution. To go from a world powered by nuclear and fossil fuels to one running on renewable energy.
Our Energy [R]evolution outlines a global plan for a sustainable renewable economic future. It shows us how we can get from where we are now, to where we need to be to avoid a climate change disaster. It was developed with specialists from the Institute of Technical Thermodynamics at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) and more than 30 scientists and engineers from universities, institutes and the renewable energy industry around the world.


so you can check out greenpeaces website for more information...

lotsa love

Don't Corrupt Aid

Many non-Government organisations like Amnesty International, Oxfam and Christian World Service are spearheading a new campaign called Don't Corrupt Aid. This campaign stems from recent comments from new foreign affairs minister (aka FAIL minister) Murray McCully, who, well, I'll let them explain it.

www.dontcorruptaid.org.nz is a campaign to keep New Zealand’s international aid focussed on addressing poverty.

We think aid should be spent on meeting the needs of people in developing countries, not advancing the interests of the government of the day. Aid should not be used as a political football.

This campaign results from comments made by New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully stating that New Zealand’s aid should change from ‘poverty elimination’ to a broader focus on economic development. Additionally, Mr. McCully wants New Zealand’s aid agency NZAID to lose its status as a semi-autonomous body.

The Minister has instigated two reviews into NZAID which may result in the responsibility for aid being absorbed into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Our concerns:

• 
  Aid will become a tool of foreign policy − the focus will shift from meeting the needs of people in developing countries to whatever suits the political agenda of the government of the day
• 
  An 'economic development' focus will lead to money going to projects in the interest of wealthy elites, ignoring the needs of the poor
• 
  The reviews are being conducted hastily, with no public consultation or parliamentary scrutiny and without advice from development experts
• 
  NZAID will lose the skills which make it a world leader in effective aid delivery
• 
  This is an unjustified reorganisation, with no evidence that it will increase aid effectiveness or deliver better value for money

Our aims:

• 
  To keep NZAID as a semi-autonomous agency that delivers effective aid
• 
  To ensure that any reviews of NZAID are open to public debate, parliamentary scrutiny and independent expert advice
• 
  To ensure that New Zealand’s aid targets the needs of poor and vulnerable people in developing countries, and is not used to reward ‘obedient’ governments.
• 
  In short: Don’t Corrupt Aid!

So folks, I know the AC is an advocate of long term economic solutions to poverty, not the 'band aid' methods like the 40-Hour Famine or child sponsorship, but the fact is, countries do need aid from governments until the long term solution is found.

And, as my auntie works for MFAT, I can safely say it has an entirely different role than an aid agency would. Their work is political, and aid needs to be neutral so it can be implemented effectively with countries that may not have stable governments (often the cause for the need of aid). Look at the situation in Fiji, for example. The New Zealand High Commissioner was removed from her post because of the hostile relationship between the Fiji and New Zealand governments. If MFAT also offered aid in Fiji, what would happen?

If you agree with the campaign then they have options for you to take action here.

Mind Game concept; "Free-will"

Against the concept of Free-will- "Buridian's Ass" (which for better sounding sake, i changed the example to a horse...Buridian originally used a starving dog image though...)

Say, a horse is placed between, in equal distant, from two identical bundles of hay. The horse, with no basis to decide on one over the other will end up starving to death. Humans in initially inclined to do/choose that which his reason/ethics tells her/him is the greater good, but, humans may delay making that choice until her/his reason has had sufficient time to gather all the information it needs to in order to exact this final decision or enforce or reinforce his reason. And the information comes from?

The ZINE!

So,  you may have heard  a rumour that the active collective is gonna have a ZINE!  Ain't that exciting?  Now, slightly worryingly, Lily has put me in charge of editing the written content.  So, I'm here to recruit you. We need some articles for the first issue, which we want to get out as soon as possible. So, if you have an idea for a blog formulating in your mind, an issue which you think needs to be addressed, why not hand a copy to one of the Zine Team - me, Romana, Sharmila & Emily Reid (our very important children's section editor).  You don't have to be in the active collective elective to contribute to our socially conscious media.

Homophobia much?

So, once again, I have no point to make, except maybe that some people in this world are ignorant, disgusting bigots. Here, I'll save the outrage for you.






Pretty much, a group in Utah called 'America Forever' took out a full page ad in the Salt Lake Tribune saying, well, you can see for yourself. There's a really great article about it, and the reaction here. What's more, is that this comes on the back of the Governor of Utah declaring his support for Civil Unions, and attempts to overturn the ban of them in the State's constitution.


Word to your mother, hate speech is way uncool.

Section 92A

Okay, so, many of you will of heard of Section 92A.  It's the law which is being brought in which means that if your internet providers suspect you of copyright infringement (i.e illegal downloads) they are supposed to cut you off.

Ew.

This law is backwards for many reasons, regardless of your stance on illegal downloads, and is opposed by most of New Zealand's computer industry, including most of the internet service providers themselves. Internet providers are supposed to stop you from accessing the internet based on suspicion and accusations, not evidence.  There is no requirement for them to prove that you are downloading illegal documents.

Now, Article 11 of the UDHR clearly states that everyone charged with a penal offense has the right to be "presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial".  This law effectively removes the human rights of all the thousands, nay, millions of New Zealanders who download material which is not strictly legal.

 Copyright law and illegal downloads is definitely a hot topic at the moment, and if you're interested, check out the Creative Freedom Foundation NZ, a local group which "views the internet as an opportunity for artists, not a threat, and seeks to bring copyright laws into the 21st century". 

A New Year

Hey guys,

It's a bit late but I just wanted to say how amazingly happy I was with the turnout and contributions to the meeting on Wednesday! It was truly mindblowing and I think the AC are destined for great things this year...

If this is your first visit to the AC blog, welcome! There's some great blog posts here, so have a dig around the archives. Next meeting I'll ask for your emails so I can add you all as bloggers.

I'll have the Oxjam leader list up in the common on Monday for the year 13s.

What A Twist!

Oh look,Elsie posted something! Good God!

Okay, as at least a few of you know, M.night Shymalan, Hit and miss minority Director, has been hired to direct a trilogy of Live Action movies based on the american Anime-styled, Asian/Inuit-influenced cartoon, Avatar: The Last Airbender.
As a few of you also know, the cast for the four main characters(all of whom are noticeably Asian or Inuit, even in animated format)was announced early last year.
I'll refresh. Anime Style. Based on and heavily influenced by Asian and Inuit culture. Names, traditions, food, location, landscapes, weaponry, costumes, character design, even the goddamn writing is solely in Chinese characters. So, you may understand my slight confusion and righteous Outrage when it was announced that ALL FOUR MAIN CHARACTERS WOULD BE PLAYED BY WHITE ACTORS.

I have no grudge against the actors in question(except Jesse McCartney), and do not mean to imply that they're poor actors, but seriously, dude, what the Hell?

This guy said it far better than I ever could. In fact, it was him that convinced me to join the Anti-Avatar movement, and not simply dismiss this casting horror as Hollywood being moronic.

http://derekkirkkim.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-day-in-politics-same-old-racist.html

I can't believe we all missed this

Yesterday, the 11th, was everyone's favourite Governor of Alaska, and most awesome failed vice-presidential candidate, Sarah freakin' Palin's 45th birthday.

This post had no more relevancy than that. Feel free to bitch about/defend (psshaw!) the Palinator/the Republican Party/moose hunters in the comments.

Seriously. People need to start leaving more comments here. Or Sarah will swim here via Putin's house and shoot you in the ear.

That is all.

Informative Newsletter

I'll be writing up a short informative newsletter for the new cuties of Active Collective about who we are/what we are(for those who came late and may have missed Lily's intro) and of course, some interesting information relative to what we stand for.

If you have anything at all that you'll like to say, please do so!
E-mail me at milkyun@gmail.com or, alternatively, just talk to me sometime.

The AC's future looks quite bright, doesn't it?＼(≧▽≦)丿
Marketing!!

The Homeless

Okay, so, I've been travelling around a few of the world's larger cities recently, and one thing I have noticed is that there are an awful lot of homeless people around, and people begging.  Now, in Wellington, we don't have a lot of that.  We have the blanket man, of course, but he never begs, as far as I know, and he seems a reasonably happy guy.  It's reasonably easy to go about your day without having to worry about somebody sleeping in the gutter.

However, in New York, London and Paris, the plight of the homeless is a lot harder to ignore.  In fact, it's very much in your face.  The subways and underground trains all have homeless people begging or even just sleeping in the corner, and even out on the street its fairly common to come across someone curled up in a doorway.  And when it's the week before christmas, temperatures are below zero and you've just spent the whole day shopping, the sight can really make your heartstrings tug.

But the thing is, if you gave money to everyone you saw who looked like they needed it, even if its just a little, you'd soon be homeless yourself.   And another thing, as a tourist, you are feel very much like a target.  There are many people whose lives aren't quite as terrible as they make out, who are trying to make money off concerned tourists.  So people just walk on by. It's awful to see how many people are so used to the sight of people sleeping on the street that they don't even give them a second glance.

And sure, many homeless people are homeless due to their own actions, addictions etc, and lots of their stories aren't strictly true, and yes, there are shelters and soup kitchens to help them. So, no,  I didn't give much of my money away.  But I felt terrible.  The reasons why some people end up homeless aren't simple, and you just don't know for sure.  Maybe they really do have three starving kids at home.

Good show young man, now get back to work

On January 20th 2009 at 12.00pm, Barack Obama became President of the United States. Let's just get it out of the way: YIPEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The moment was groundbreaking in so many ways, however, being a Pakeha I think it's hard for me to grasp just how groundbreaking it is for black Americans to have a president who reflects their race and heritage, or even to have a president who is not a priveleged white man. So what I'm most excited about is to have an American leader who is vaguely competent.

We all know Obama is not a Messiah who will solve all the world's problems with one wave of his hand, however today I had a quick read of his agenda on whitehouse.gov and I was pleased to see fairly progressive stances on, among others: civil rights (including rights for both POC and LGBTs), energy & the environment and women's rights.

Here are some items on the agenda that immediately popped out at me :

• The repealing of Don't Ask Don't Tell
• Plans to invest in renewable energy resources and cut greenhouse gas emissions
• The closure of Guantanamo Bay
• Continued support for Roe V. Wade and increased funding for family planning and safe sex education (though unfortunately no mention of ending the Global Gag Rule)

These are a few items out of over a hundred, I strongly urge you to go check it out yourselves and report back on anything you think is worth mentioning, positive or negative.

It would be ridiculous to suggest Obama will carry out all these promises, however even if he does a few things like prevent a global depression, end prison torture, end the war on Iraq and tighten up environmental regulations, and improve the health care system even slightly he'll have made a huge, huge improvement on the Bush presidency. And it is a relief to see that he does have a plan, not just a vague notion of "hope".

However, one section in the foreign policy agenda really disappointed me.

"Barack Obama and Joe Biden strongly support the U.S.-Israel relationship, and believe that our first and incontrovertible commitment in the Middle East must be to the security of Israel, America's strongest ally in the region. They support this closeness, and have stated that the United States will never distance itself from Israel.

During the July 2006 Lebanon war, Barack Obama stood up strongly for Israel's right to defend itself from Hezbollah raids and rocket attacks, cosponsoring a Senate resolution against Iran and Syria's involvement in the war, and insisting that Israel should not be pressured into a ceasefire that did not deal with the threat of Hezbollah missiles. He and Joe Biden believe strongly in Israel's right to protect its citizens.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden have consistently supported foreign assistance to Israel. They defend and support the annual foreign aid package that involves both military and economic assistance to Israel and have advocated increased foreign aid budgets to ensure that these funding priorities are met. They have called for continuing U.S. cooperation with Israel in the development of missile defense systems."

Judging by the Democratic Party's general stance on the Israeli government (They just love it! In fact, it's the main subject they wholeheartedly agree on with the GOP), I hadn't had high hopes that Obama would come out to condemn the attacks in Gaza. Still, it's a major disappointment.

I just can't see supporting (and sending billions of dollars in military aid to) a government that has just killed over 1000 Palestinians in an extremely disproportional response to attacks from a government that was democratically elected by a people who were slowly being pushed out of their own country and suppressed by the Israeli government in question. This is despite evidence that the majority of Democrats (the people who elected you Obama, duh) did not support the offensive on Gaza. Not to mention, uh, most other countries in the world (apart from New Zealand. Nice one, McCully).

I'm sure it was a big relief to Obama that a ceasefire arrived in Gaza before his inaugaration, so he can pursue the much more apolitical issue of the global economic crisis. But he'll have to address Israeli-Palestinian relations sometime in the near future, let's just hope he comes to his senses before then.

On a lighter note, did anyone get up to watch the inaugaration ceremony? It was pretty awesome. I watched it on CNN of course, so I could get my required daily dose of Anderson Cooper. Any thoughts on the occasion?

I'll see you all at school very soon!

Bush Leaves, World Breathes a Sigh of Relief

Ahhh. At last. Watching the CNN coverage of President (!) Obama's inaugaration ceremony today, the sweetest sight was seeing Dubya climb into the helicopter, hopefully never to be seen again. I'll be posting a bit more on the 'Bama's presidency soon, but for now let's just bask in the glory of that final wave goodbye.

By the way, were you (after possibly hiding under a rock for the last eight years) wondering why everyone hates Bush so goshdarned much? I think this video pretty much sums it up, I take no responsibility for any cussing involved.

Days of International Observance.

Something horrible happened to me today. I found out that the day after my birthday was International Waffle Appreciation Day. Then something worse happened; I found out that my actual birthday is International Tuberculosis Day. (And my birth was bloody induced! Stupid birthday!)

Here are some more days for you to remember...

Okay, so it's kinda late (like, 9.30 in the evening), but today the 11th) was International Day for Peace in Kenya. I'm not really aware of what happened/is happening in Kenya, so, as I write this, I'm gonna find out.


Wikipedia says : "Recent events in the country left Kenyans in fear of their future. The stalemate between the political leaders has created opportunity for destructive forces, and organized militia, which have risen to kill innocent people (more than 450 killed, thousands injured and over 250,000 displaced - initiated by (Kenya Welfare Foundation & Kenya Development Network and Consortium)"

Shit.

That was last year. Would anyone happen to know what the situation in Kenya is right now?
Here's a link to the wikipedia page if you're interested


That kind of depressed me.



Today was also World Religion Day. I hope you guys all appreciated religion of every kind today! Me, personally, am still mourning the end of Santa's Dreidel Week.

Coming up we have International Holocaust Remembrance Day, on the 27th, and the day after that is Data protection day. Cheerful month, January.

On a lighter note, tomorrow is 'Organize your home day!' So get shelving!


(Sorry for spamming the blog. On the bright side, you have plenty to read (and think about) now!)

Israel + Palestine from John Green

I know I've already posted a vlogbrothers video, and this is kind of lazy, but this is pretty much the only thing that helped me understand Israel + Palestine. Enjoy.

It's coz we aint black

There's something I've been hearing a lot of lately, and that thing is racism. A recent study by York University in Canada found that many people (who, I assume, would never think of themselves as racist people) failed to call an actor out on a variety of racial slurs, including the term 'clumsy nigger', and were in fact more inclined to pick that person as a partner when asked to choose (about 63% of the participants picked the racist actor). I am ashamed to admit that, as an active collectivite, I failed to call people out on blatant racism in the past week. I was thinking about it last night, and this morning, and I realised that we (well, at least me) encounter so much racism on a daily basis, and fail to act, purely because it's not directed at us, because it's easier to let a sleeping dog lie.

Why are people in New Zealand (a supposedly inclusive society) and all over the world, racist? I feel like, because we as a country, didn't support things like slavery (although it did happen), we feel free to point at countries like the States and say that they're the country to be looked at if you want to see racism. Sure, we have done better than some countries (like Australia, where much of the Aboriginal population lives out in shanty towns, marginalised still by the rest of the population), at trying to repair the havoc colonization wreaked. But I still hear racist stereotypes all the time - PI's favourite restaurant is KFC, all Maori people are on the DPB etc.

Personally, I believe that a large part of the blame is on separatism. Not that I begrudge anyone of maintaining their own, separate cultural identity, but surely the government allocating more money to schools with Maori and Pacific students, on the assumption that they're poorer or dumber than their white or yellow counterparts. Labelling people as this and that - black, white, red, yellow, brown; Maori, European (effing European! you were born in New Zealand for chrissakes! You're Australasian! Jeez), African, Scandinavian etc. It encourages stereotypes, and a stereotype, being an impression of a group based on a small cross-section, is the underlying root of racism.

The definition of racism, according to wikipedia (that great and holy bastion of knowledge) "is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race." Essentially, that we are different from each other because of our race. This idea is bullshit, and yet perpetuated by our government and media. When scientific studies of health and education are published in New Zealand, they always separate NZers into categories (seriously. Check for this next time), saying things like, Maori and Pacific Islanders are more sensitive to diabetes, that people of Asian descent are smarter. Yes, there are differences, but they are primarily cultural, and no more significant than the differences in educational achievement between the kids that study for two hours every night, and the kids who go to Macca's instead (mmmm...mcdonalds....). And this racism is flying under the radar, subconsciously reassuring (primarily) white New Zealanders that it's okay to discriminate.

(Just as a side-note, I also feel that the anti-PC movement is to blame. Just because it's not politically correct be racist, doesn't mean that you should discriminate against someone to support the identity you're attempting to create for yourself, as someone who takes no bullshit. News flash, racism is bullshit.)

What can you do about it? Short of writing to the government and research bodies of New Zealand, and asking them to stop differentiating, and thus discriminating (, start by calling people out on their racism (and homophobia. And their anti-Muslim, anti-Jewish and anti-American feelings). When your father or auntie or cousin curses 'those bloody Asian drivers', tell them off. Tell them that they're racist (something that they probably haven't considered, and would be horrified to think of), and that you're not cool with it, and that they're hurting people every time they make a prejudiced remark. Stop stereotyping, even if it's just a 'dumb blonde', and maybe get people to consider that what they perceive as racial differences may actually be cultural ones, and thus not apply to everyone. Race is just a skin colour. Nothing more.

Just a Question...

Well I was surfing Bebo the other day I happened across Romanas page and saw that she had that application called 'Collect Rice' now as far as I know all the prices of food and such are rising because there is a shortage of these staple foods such as rice so therefore my question is:

If the rice shortage is as bad as it seems then things like http://www.freerice.com/ (which is a brilliant site!) and the 'Collect Rice' are we making it worse or will these sites be outta busniess soon as rice gets too expense?

Sorry if the answer is painfully obvious and I'm just not up with the play....

lovelovelove

Kermit_2.0


http://www.stuff.co.nz/4500195a6026.html