It's difficult to believe that genocide can take place today. Tens or hundreds of thousands of men, women and children being systematically killed? Impossible. Someone would surely stop it before things escalated to that… wouldn't they?
Since 2003, rebels and government forces in the Darfur region of Sudan have killed hundreds of thousands, kidnapped, murdered, maimed, and raped citizens, poisoned wells, burned entire villages, and displaced more than 3 million people.
Being a refugee does not mean you've escaped and are out of harm's way. Roughly 80% of deaths in Darfur have been among displaced people, most as a result of unsanitary living conditions.
The documentary, The Last Survivor examines the idea of genocide in the 21st century. It tells the story of survivors of four different genocides: the Holocaust, Darfur, Rwanda, and the Congo.
We've all heard the line:
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
In each case of genocide, thousands died before anyone stepped in. The Last Survivor takes a look at how we face similar issues today.
In honor of World Refugee Day, make this the next movie you watch. It's been winning award after award at film festivals, but you can watch it online for free here.
Don't have time to watch today? Plan another night to watch with friends or family. There's plenty you can do right now. It takes less than a minute to sign this petition, urging Congress to support laws and actions that prevent genocide.
In 1994, more than 800,000 people were killed in Rwanda as the rest of the world stood by. President Clinton later said that he regretted not sending the 5,000 peacekeepers requested and lamented that that single action could have saved 500,000 lives.
After signing the petition, complete a short activity in support of one of the following organizations on SocialVibe, working to support peace and human rights around the world:
Invisible Children works to educate rescued child soldiers and stop the LRA. More about the LRA here.
The American Red Cross works around the world, providing medical supplies, skilled response workers, and financial assistance to communities in crisis.
The Censorship Research Center provides uncensored Internet access to oppressed people, while protecting their identities.
A Saudi woman was arrested Saturday after posting a YouTube video of herself driving. She has an international license and was abiding by local traffic laws. Her crime? Driving while female.
Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world to ban both Saudi and foreign women from driving.
Despite the lack of a written law prohibiting women from being behind the wheel, the religious police strictly enforce the country's interpretations of Islamic teachings.
Women who can't afford $300-400 each month on hired drivers must rely on male family members to drive them to work, school, the grocery store or even the hospital. In fact, Saudi women are often prevented from working, going to school, traveling, purchasing phones, getting married, or even accessing health care without permission from male guardians (called "mahrams").
Part of public school curriculum in Saudi Arabia is teaching boys how to use their guardianship rights.
Perhaps motivated by the powerful effects social media movements have had in the region lately, human rights activists started a Facebook and Twitter campaign, encouraging women in the country with international licenses to drive on June 17th.
To get things started, Manal al-Sherif, a 32-year-old mother and computer security consultant who learned to drive in the United States, posted a YouTube video of herself driving – a bold move as women who've tried in the past have been banned from travel and even lost their jobs.
In part due to public pressure, Al-Serif was released after signing a pledge to no longer drive, but authorities arrested her again the following day and she is now being held for "violating public order."
Al-Sherif recalls crying, as she stood stranded and alone on the street one night, unable to drive herself home despite having a license. She couldn't find a cab or get a hold of any male family members to pick her up, and became frightened as Saudi men harassed her for being out alone.
Another woman, Najla Hairiri, said that, although she did not get video footage of herself, she drove for 4 days last month, before being stopped, to show her daughter that women can and should be able to drive.
The campaign's Facebook page had 11,000 supporters by the time Saudi censors removed it.
From the page:
"We women in Saudi Arabia, from all nationalities, will start driving our cars by ourselves. We are not here to break the law or demonstrate or challenge the authorities. We are here to claim one of our simplest rights. We have driver's licenses and we will abide by traffic laws."
Saudi censors apparently do not have a problem with the page put up to counter the movement. Nearly 6,000 have "liked" the page, which demands that women who attempt to drive be whipped.
Want to help? Support the movement by sharing the message on Facebook or sending a Tweet.
As the Democratic and Republican parties shift father away from each other, more and more Americans are saying "sayonara" to both.
Info is everywhere, not just in those pamphlets political parties mail to you, and increasing numbers of Americans are making up their own minds about individual issues.
Just because you oppose gun control, doesn't necessarily mean you're against gay marriage. There are people that are both pro-life and against the death penalty or pro-choice and for it.
With so many of you freethinkers choosing not to align yourselves with either major political party, "moderate" is fast becoming a pretty vague description.
For those of us who appreciate being able to place everyone into neat little boxes, a non-partisan, "fact-tank" has created a quick quiz that sorts everyone into one of nine groups, ranging from conservative-to-the-core to liberal-as-they-come.
Take the official quiz here and find out if you're a "Post-Modern," "Disaffected," or one of the other seven types.
Believe it or not, we have had a president that fulfilled every one of his campaign promises. Read on for some fun fast facts about former leaders of the free world.
An orphan, dog-lover, Stanford grad and engineer, Herbert Hoover (1929-1933) decided that he would never take money for performing a public service. When he became president, he was required by law to accept a salary but donated the entire sum to charity. We heart him.
John Quincy Adams, skinny dipper
John Quincy Adams (1825-1829) was all about self-improvement and enjoyed 5am swims in the icy Potomac River. He became the first president to be interviewed by a woman, thanks to a female journalist’s knowledge that he swam naked. She showed up one morning and sat on his clothes until she had an interview.
James K. Polk (1845-1849) did every last thing he said he would do, if elected. He settled a dispute with Britain over the Oregon territory, established a sub-treasury, acquired California from Mexico, and lowered tariffs. He did it all within one term, then retired – talk about efficient!
George Washington's not-so-pearly whites
Here's one last tidbit for you - contrary to popular belief, George Washington never wore wooden dentures. However, he did have dentures made of human teeth, ivory, and animal teeth... ick!
Learn more about all 43 (yes,43!) U.S. Presidents at nps.gov.
Below is a guest blog post from Heros star and International Spokesperson for The Whaleman Foundation, Hayden Panettierre.
October 29, 2010
Hey everyone,
It’s the 3rd anniversary of my fateful trip to Taiji. On October 29, 2007, I witnessed first hand the brutal slaughter of a pod of pilot whales. Unfortunately, even with the Oscar win by “The Cove” and all of the international media attention, the slaughter in Taiji continues.
Just two days ago, the fisherman killed about 60 bottlenose, striped, and Risso’s dolphins. In all, they have killed more than one hundred dolphins so far this season but, thankfully, there is a little bit of good news to report.
The Mayor of Taiji and Fisheries officials have finally agreed to meet with us, along with other groups who oppose the hunt in Taiji.
This meeting will take place next Tuesday and could be the crack in the door we have been hoping for. We have been asking for meetings with the Mayor since our first trip in 2007. On our recent trip to Taiji this past March, the Mayor once again refused to meet with us.
I’m currently on set in Italy and unfortunately will not be able to attend this first meeting. My personal hero, Jeff Pantukhoff, the founder of The Whaleman Foundation and creator of our Save the Whales Again! campaign, will be there to share our message.
Accompanying Jeff will be prominent Japanese businessman, Steve Nakada. Jeff and I met Steve in Tokyo on our last trip to Japan and Steve has agreed to be at the table with Jeff, representing all of us and the concerned citizens of Japan.
Please watch for my next exclusive blog right here on SocialVibe next week, when I’ll report on what took place at the meeting.
Thanks again for all your support. Together, we can make the positive change we want to see in the world.
We all encounter inequities in our lives and, although most of us recognize them as wrong, not everyone will step up and take action to change the status quo. Check out these real-life women who became champions of causes from workers’ rights to nuclear non-proliferation, often risking everything along the way. They made their mark on the world by standing up for what they believed in and their stories inspired some of the best movies to come out of Hollywood.
Naiomi Watts & Valerie Plame
Valerie Plame not only dreams of a world without nuclear weapons, she’s been actively working toward that goal for most of her adult life. As a highly trained covert officer in the CIA, she managed spies in the nuclear industry and worked to keep nukes out of Iran. In 2003, her identity was revealed by a former aid to Dick Cheney after her husband wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times, criticizing the Bush administration. Her career in the CIA was over, but her work to rid the world of nuclear weapons was not.
The new film about Valerie Plame, Fair Game, features Naomi Watts as Valerie and premiered in New York last week.
Karen Silkwood & Meryl Streep
In 1974, Karen Silkwood was a chemical technician at a plutonium fuels production plant. Concerned that the company she worked for was negligent in maintaining safety, she began gathering evidence to support her claims. One November night, she was on her way to deliver an envelope containing details of health and safety violations to a New York Times reporter when she was killed in a mysterious one-car crash. The envelope containing details of the violations inexplicably went missing that night.
Karen was played by Meryl Streep in the 1983 movie, Silkwood, which reached number one in theaters.
Dian Fossey & Sigourney Weaver
Most of us know what it’s like to get wrapped up in a cause but few take it to the level that Dian Fossey did. She moved to Rwanda in 1977 and became the world's leading authority on gorillas. Though hunting gorillas has been illegal since the 1920s, park conservators could be bribed easily by poachers. Horrified to see the "dignified gentle giants” slaughtered so the infants could be sold to zoos, she began to take it upon herself to patrol the National Park. She destroyed nearly 1,000 poacher’s traps, began to speak out against zoos, and worked to discourage tourism in gorilla habitats. Eventually, she abandoned research and focused entirely on preventing the killing of gorillas, going as far as capturing poachers and burning their hunting camps. Her actions were controversial (to say the least) and in 1985, was found murdered in her bedroom, her skull split with a machete.
A movie was in the works at the time of her death. Sigourney Weaver played Dian, whose story was immortalized (and embellished) in Gorillas in the Mist.
Check out the full list of ten amazing women whose stories have been turned into movies here.
Stephen Colbert will be on Capitol Hill Friday, but not to conduct another joke interview with a Senator. He’ll be testifying – in character - before members of Congress, during an immigration hearing.
Colbert spent a day working on a farm in August after the United Farm Workers President appeared on his show to promote “Take Our Jobs.” The campaign aimed to make people realize that America’s food supply really is dependent on these workers.
"Farm workers are ready to welcome citizens and legal residents who wish to replace them in the field. We will use our knowledge and staff to help connect the unemployed with farm employers."
Despite more than three million people visiting the website, only seven (yes, 7) have taken them up on their offer to work in agriculture.
The AgJOBS Bill would grant undocumented farm workers who are already working on farms here in the US, the ability to earn their citizenship by continuing to work on farms. Colbert will be there to support it.
Like it or not, celebs often have more influence than many (if not most) members of Congress. They have the ability to call attention to legislation that might go unnoticed by the general public, but should they be able to appear before our representatives and weigh in on policy issues like health and immigration?
Though extraordinary people can be found in every corner in the world, a gifted child born in a wealthy society has a significant edge over one born into poverty.
Image of poor child via charity: water (Ethiopia)
The same goes for the rest of us average folks. Looking at health, education, economy, and politics, Newsweek has ranked the top 100 countries in the world to find out which offer the best opportunities to live a “healthy, safe, reasonably prosperous, and upwardly mobile life.”
They refer to billionaire philanthropist Warren Buffett saying that his wealth and success can be attributed to being born in the United States at the right time and set out to learn whether those born in the US today have the same benefits.
Check out the top 20, as ranked by their team of experts:
1. Finland
2. Switzerland
3. Sweden
4. Australia
5. Luxembourg
6. Norway
7. Canada
8. Netherlands
9. Japan 10. Denmark
11. United States
12. Germany
13. New Zealand
14. United Kingdom
15. South Korea
16. France
17. Ireland
18. Austria
19. Belgium 20. Singapore
Do any of the rankings surprise you? Which criteria do you believe are most important to success? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Loading ...
