Below is a guest blog from Heros star and avid supporter of The Whaleman Foundation, Hayden Panettierre.
June 24, 2010 Agadir, Morocco
Hey everyone,
First, I want to thank the over 230, 000 of you who signed our petition to stop all commercial and scientific whaling by Japan, Norway and Iceland and end the brutal dolphin and porpoise hunts by Japan and the Faroe Islands.
Earlier today in Agadir Morocco, at the 62nd annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), my personal hero and Whaleman Foundation founder, Jeff Pantukhoff, was there to represent all of us and deliver our petition to the IWC.
On all of our behalf, Jeff presented our petition to Monica Medina, the United States Commissioner to the IWC, who gladly accepted it on our behalf.
Jeff then delivered the following statement to the all the delegates representing IWC’s 88 member nations:
“On behalf of The Whaleman Foundation and its membership, we are pleased to participate as a non-governmental observer to the 62nd meeting of the International Whaling Commission and thank the Government of Morocco and the city of Agadir for hosting this meeting.
On behalf of the over 230,000 people from all around the world who have signed our petition, we take this opportunity to present our petition to the member nations of the IWC and their respective government leaders."
To: All Member Nations of the International Whaling Commission and their respective Government Leaders
"We, the undersigned, call on all member nations of the IWC to vote to immediately stop all commercial whaling and lethal scientific research whaling by Japan, Norway, and Iceland and to enforce the current global whaling moratorium.
Furthermore, we call on the Governments of Japan, Denmark, and others to cease their hunting of dolphins, porpoises, pilot whales, and other small cetacean species.
Whaling poses an unnecessary and unacceptable risk both to the health and recovery of surviving cetacean populations and to the people who consume cetacean meat which has been shown to contain extremely high levels of contaminants including Mercury, Dioxin, DDT, PCBs and is unsafe for human consumption.
The Whaleman Foundation urges all delegates to vote against the 'Chair’s Proposal' and to vote against any proposal unless it truly upholds the whaling moratorium and ramps down and ends all commercial and scientific research whaling by Japan, Norway, and Iceland."
Our petition was the only petition that was formally presented to the IWC and the good news is your voices have been heard and the “IWC Chair’s Proposal” to overturn the moratorium and legitimize whaling by Japan, Norway, and Iceland was defeated!!!
The bad news is that Japan, Norway, and Iceland are going to continue to kill thousands of whales in their blatant defiance of the whaling moratorium so we are going to need your help now more than ever.
Very soon, we will be once again calling on each and everyone one of you to continue to help us in our efforts to stop this brutal and needless slaughter once and for all!!!
It’s a tough connection to make; how can your shiny new gadget be linked to violence in the Congo, including rape that fuels the spread of HIV/AIDS?
Your favorite electronics contain minerals like tin that most often come from conflict zones. As the vid below points out, it turns out that Macs and PCs have something in common after all.
Controlling resources used to produce most major tech products is a lucrative business. Armed groups in the Congo use rape, violence, and murder to instill fear in civilians and control mines and trading routes. They make hundreds of millions each year selling the tin, tungsten, and tantalum they collect to electronics companies.
As consumers and voters, we DO have the power to help stop this! Without your vote, politicians don’t get elected. Without your money, electronics companies don’t make any.
According to John Prendergast, human rights activist and co-founder of the Enough Project,
"A year ago most members of Congress hadn't even heard of conflict minerals. In the middle of a turbulent legislative calendar, activists all over the country were heard loudly and clearly: We demand conflict-free products and we expect our legislators to do all they can to ensure that."
Here’s what you can do right now:
1) Let your favorite electronics company know that you like their products and will gladly buy them again once they stop using conflict minerals. Take the pledge to be part of the solution here.
2) Fill out this quick form to ask your representatives to support the Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 2009. If passed, we’ll be able to hold companies accountable for their supply chains. Kudos to the Senate for already giving it a thumbs up.
3) Tell someone! Real change happens when enough people demand it. Send a tweet, post an update, pass it on.
The Commander in Chief and the eccentric pop singer are in the ultimate modern popularity contest – the race to be the first individual with 10 million fans on Facebook.
In one corner, Leader of the Free World, Barack Obama who distributed his $1.4 million Nobel Peace prize money to charities, has given boatloads of his own cash and supported just about every cause under the sun in one way or another.
In the other, Lady Gaga who’s been extremely active in helping raise funds and awareness about AIDS and HIV, donated proceeds form a January concert to earthquake victims in Haiti and recently teamed up with Virgin’s RE*Generation to help homeless youth.
Technically, Michael Jackson has them both beat but passed the 10 million mark after passing away a year ago so the distinction of being the first living person to pass 10 mil is still up for grabs.
Facebook publicists informed the both the pop icon and the Pres last week about the race but neither seemed too concerned about beating the other.
Lady Gaga’s status updates last week let us know that she likes beer after a workout, loves New York, something about “dead bodies, wheelchairs and tiaras,” and that she has a new iPhone/iPod app out.
Obama posted status updates about a speaking engagement at an LGBT Pride Month reception, implementing patient’s bill of rights protections, being “on the verge” of Wall Street reform, and… his new iPhone/iPad app.
Early Friday, Obama was in the lead, but rabid Gaga fans have jumped at the chance to help her win the distinction and she’s now in the lead - 9,416,541 fans to his 9,245,326.
Fan Obama here or Gaga here. We’re fans of anyone who helps out worthy causes, which makes both "candidates" fan-worthy in our book!
While, everyone goes through rough patches in high school, they’re much rougher for some. Many, if not most, LGBT students face severe discrimination on school campuses. Is creating separate, LGBT-oriented schools the answer or just a band-aid that postpones real solutions?
Consider the case of Tarrell Hogle. One of just a few openly gay teens at his high school in Wisconsin, he was routinely bullied and often cut class on days that he just couldn’t take the harassment. Absences got him suspended and his schoolwork and grades suffered. Halfway through 9th grade, he transferred to The Alliance School in Milwaukee and now excels in his classes.
“It’s hard to pay attention when other people are taking your things and trying to provoke you.”
Tarrell’s experience throughout the first half of his freshman year was not unusual; a survey by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) revealed that a whopping 61% of LGBT students feel unsafe at school. Nine out of ten have been verbally harassed and nearly half have experienced physical harassment by prejudiced classmates.
According to The Trevor Project, the leading US organization focused on crisis and suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth, LGBTQ teens are 4 times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers.
Despite the current problems, Rick Garcia of the LGBT advocacy group, Equality Illinois, says that by separating the students, other schools could be less likely to address the problem on their campuses.
"If we create ‘Homo High,’ we don’t have to prohibit this behavior in other schools. The reality is, we have to live as neighbors. We have to learn to tolerate one another, if not accept one another. All our kids should be safe in all our schools; segregation is not the answer."
What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments.
To “honor” South Africa as host of the 2010 World Cup, an Arizona restaurant has decided to offer their customers the option to order lion burgers.
Look tasty?
“We thought that since the World Cup was in Africa …that the lion burger might be interesting for some of our more adventurous customers.”
The restaurant owner also said that, although many people were outraged at the idea of serving up the majestic (and endangered) animals in burgers, some were less upset when he explained that meat comes form lions raised on a farm in Illinois.
Despite the fact that they’re not killing the lions in the wild, this brings up a whole new issue. Ecorazzi makes a good point:
“It’s difficult to determine what the real story is here—that a restaurant is serving King of the Jungle burgers or that there is a farm in Illinois that raises the big cats for human consumption. No matter, the decision to serve meat from a threatened species as a tribute to an international soccer—or football, depending on your locale—event is mind-boggling.”
More troubling is the fact that, according to the Chicago Tribune, no one can seem to find the farm.
A farmed tiger being smuggled from Thailand
CNN has reported that the meat actually came from a butcher shop whose owner has been fined and jailed for selling lion meat - which (sadly) is legal - that actually proved to be meat form critically endangered tigers, which is most definitely not legal under any circumstances.
What do you think about the restaurant's decision to serve the King of the Jungle to US soccer fans? Share your thoughts in the comments.
A space-themed graduation card has been removed from store shelves after members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) called the card “offensive to black women” and demanded it be pulled.
The card talks about the solar system and refers to planets and those “ominous” black holes. The trouble started when NAACP members heard something other than “holes.”
Hallmark seemed surprised, as the card has been sold for several years and is not intended to be anything other then a graduation greeting. Still, they apologized and complied.
"The intent here is to say that this graduate is not afraid of anything," explained Hallmark spokesman Steve Doyal.
One NAACP member said "it sounds like a group of children laughing and joking about blackness, again.”
One writer at Discover Magazine worries that instances like this hurt the overall cause of fighting racism:
“When anyone accuses someone else of racism when it’s not there, it hurts the overall cause. Given the press this has received, it’s the LA NAACP’s credibility that has taken a hit, not Hallmark’s. Crying wolf diminishes the NAACP’s work, and will make it harder for them to fight real racism the next time it pops up.”
It’s Pride Month and The Trevor Project wants to hear your vision for making the world a better, safer, and more supportive place for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) youth.
Make a vid, explaining what you’re doing (alone or with others) or what you think would be the best way to ‘be the change’ and make a difference in the lives of LGBTQ youth. It can be something as simple as encouraging acceptance in your community or a grand plan for the entire world.
Upload your video here (memelabs.com/thetrevorproject) before July 14, 2010. The winner will receive a digital camcorder and four runners-up will win digital cameras. Best prize of all? Knowing you could be the one to inspire someone else to be the change in their own way.
Everyone feels alone at times and we all want to be accepted, but LGBTQ youth often face additional pressure from family/peer rejection as they deal with issues surrounding their identity. LGBTQ youth remain up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers.
We can change that by making the world a more accepting place for everyone, regardless of their sexual identity. No one should have to reach a point where they feel that the only way out is to take their own life.
”For every youth in crisis, there are many more who find acceptance from loved ones and are in a place in their lives where they can utilize their strengths and talents to support other youth, educate the general public, and advocate for the rights of LGBTQ youth throughout the world. Change starts with having a passion, an idea, a dream or a vision that can transform thought into action. Your story could inspire others to be the change.”
You can earn free donations for The Trevor Project to support their amazing work, providing crisis and suicide prevention resources to LGBTQ youth, by supporting them on SocialVibe.
Utah’s Attorney General ruffled some feathers on Friday with a series of tweets about the execution of a prisoner.
Ronnie Lee Gardner had a hood placed over his head and a paper target pinned to his chest before being killed by a firing squad just after midnight on Friday.
Attorney General, Mark Shurtleff decided to keep his 7,000 followers updated as the macabre events unfolded with tweets like the one above and "with my final nod, Utah will use most extreme power & execute a killer."
Many responded with disgust but Shurtleff says that their anger is misdirected and should be aimed at the man who killed two people before being sentenced to death himself.
The outrage however, is not over whether or not the man deserved to die; it was the fact that an elected official announced it on Twitter.
Twitter pages, especially those belonging to politicians are used for self-promotion, and it it did feel a bit like he used the execution for publicity. He followed his first few tweets with this:
"We will be streaming live my press conference as soon as I'm told Gardner is dead. Watch it at www.attorneygeneral.Utah.gov/live.html"
Gardner had been on death row for 25 years (more than half of his life) after shooting an attorney during a botched escape attempt while on trial for the shooting of a bartender.
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