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.