The right to die?
domingo, 8 de março de 2009Recently, there has been a massive debate in Italy. Why? Because of the legalisation of euthanasia. The question came when Eluana Englaro, 38, died in February after her feeding tube was removed. The thing is that The Vatican is located in Italy and catholic church is anti-euthanasia, so it'll be interesting to know what they'll do about it. We all have the right to live. But, and in my humble opinion, euthanasia should be allowed in some circumstances. When people are really suffering and just want to die, or the family is really suffering, and there's no chance for the person to survive, I think it should be done. I'm not for or against euthanasia, it depends. What about you? Are you for or against? Why?
Source:
- http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/sda/lowres/sdan58l.jpg
Women's Day - Equal Job Rights?
I'm not going to post a definition of women discrimination ok? ;) That would be really boring, I know. :)
Today is the Woman's Day, and I just came across a new that says that Portugal is the 2nd country where there's job discrimination. For example, when a woman has the same job as a man and the same skills and qualifications, the man receives more 20% than the woman. So, it just had me thinking that we live in the 21st century. Things like this happened like... a hundred years ago, but nowadays?? It's almost unbelievable. How can we say we live in a developed country? How? When women are still discriminated? Women represent 60% of the world's 550 million working poor. It's the reality. And it's also true that women are still discriminated, specially in a country which claims to be a developed one and open minded. I seriously almost didn't believe it at first. And I'm not even going to talk about job discrimination when a woman is pregnant... that's even more serious, but anyway... This can be changed, this must be changed. And I hope it's changed. I personally don't want to work in a world like this.
Here you can see some cartoons about women discrimination I just found:
Sources:
- http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/for0588l.jpg
- http://www.newyorkemploymentlawyerblog.com/13157133.jpg
- http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/ksm/lowres/ksmn955l.jpg
The Secret Life of Bees - The fight for the Civil Rights
sábado, 7 de março de 2009Recently, I watched a great movie called The Secret Life of Bees. It's based on a novel with the same name, which I also read. It's a great book. Here's the synopsis of the movie:
Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life is shaped by her blurred memory of the afternoon of her mother's accidental death. When Lily's black "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three racists in town, they escape to Tiburon, South Carolina.
Lily is lonely at home and feels that she is unloved by her father, T. Ray. However, with the help of August Boatwright, she is able to find that she has many people that love and care for her.
Lily is faced with trying to find out who she is because at her home she is not allowed to ask questions about her past. Lily does this in many ways, such as writing down her thoughts in a notebook, and finding her first love, Zachary Taylor. She finds out who she really is when she learns about her mother's past.
As you can see, this story happens in 1964, in South Carolina, where the discrimination was much rougher. And if you read one of my previous posts about American Civil Rights Movement, you come to the conclusion that it happened in the middle of that.
There's a situation in the movie where Rosaleen goes to register as a voter right around the time of the Voting Rights Act, and as she's going there, 3 white men ask her where she's going and say that she can't vote if she can't write her own name, and start insulting her. So, with her bottle of chewing tobacco, she writes with that liquid her name in the shoes of one of those white. She gets punched right after and beaten by the three men, and she's arrested.
Specially with this moment, we can see how discriminated black people were and how police would always stand for white people. Here's a video of that scene:
Sources:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Life_of_Bees
Ellen DeGeneres - An assumed human being
Ellen DeGeneres is an american talk show host. One of the best, by the way. One of the greatest comedians. She looks perfect. You look at her for 1 minute hosting, and you understand why she's considered one of the best in her job. She won several Emmys and even hosted the 2007 Oscars! A perfect career, isn't? There's just one thing 'limited' people will never accept: she's homosexual. She dated Portia de Rossi since 2004. They married in 2008 as soon as gay marriage was legally approved. And some people still don't accept it. Personally, I think that personal life shouldn't influence her career. I could be here all day talking about Ellen, and showing hundreds of videos of her talk show called The Ellen DeGeneres Show, but I won't. I just wanted to make clear that gay discrimination also happens to celebrities, which I think it's pretty sad.
Recently, she had a little discussion with John McCain about Gay Marriage. Check the video at the bottom:
Here's a video of Ellen's show best moments. She's hilarious.
And here's a random video, really funny.
Sources:
- http://youtube.com
Apartheid
quinta-feira, 5 de março de 2009This context of pure prejudice has changed only in the 50's. It was motivated by the African National Congress and led by Nelson Mandela.
In 1960, a demonstration against apartheid in a peaceful manner had serious consequences: 60 blacks were killed by the police. This news of violence against blacks won the world, thus won the support of public opinion. In 1973, the UN General Assembly condemned the actions that occurred in South Africa and classified as crime.
Sources:
- http://www.brasilescola.com/geografia/apartheid.htm
- http://www.africanaencyclopedia.com/apartheid/apartheid.html
- http://www.ibge.gov.br/ibgeteen/datas/discriminacao/apartheid.html
What's going on?
quarta-feira, 4 de março de 2009So the question is: What's going on?
If you want, you can check the lyrics here.
Sources:
- http://youtube.com
- http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/allstartribute/whatsgoingon.html%22
The most multiracial population
quinta-feira, 26 de fevereiro de 2009Some facts:
- About two million American children have parents of difference races.
- In the United States, marriages between blacks and whites increased 400 percent in the last 30 years, with a 1000 percent increase in marriages between whites and Asians.
- In a recent survey, 47% of white teens, 60 % of black teens, and 90 % of Hispanic teens said they had dated someone of another race.
Sources:
- http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Census-2000-Data-Top-US-Ancestries-by-County.jpg
- http://marriage.about.com/od/entertainmen1/p/bradpitt.htm
Brain drain
So, what means this?
The opposite is called brain gain, and consist on the immigration of qualified persons to our country. Brain drain can be stopped by providing career opportunities and giving to the people opportunities to prove their capabilities.
In 2000, a study revealed that, over the years, Latin American countries were very damaged. They had suffered considerable losses of specialized professionals. This is visible on the percentages:
- Argentina....2.9 %
- Brazil..........3.3 %
- Chile..........5.3 %
- Ecuador......10.9 %
- Colombia...11.0 %
- Mexico......14.3 %
The same study revealed that during the '90s, a significant number of those who emigrated from Latin America were specialized professionals, constituting the following proportions as a percent of each country's volume of emigrants:
- Mexico.........2.6 %
- Peru............10.0 %
- Chile.............15.6 %
- Argentina....19.1 %
Sources:
- http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?ID=324
- http://www.oecd.org/document/11/0,3343,en_2649_33935_39276939_1_1_1_1,00.html
- http://www.clarin.com/diario/2005/04/28/sociedad/s-03601.htm
Live 8
segunda-feira, 23 de fevereiro de 2009Bob Geldof was at the event at Hyde Park in London, England and made numerous appearances on stage, including a performance of "I Don't Like Mondays". Special guests appeared throughout the concerts. Both Kofi Annan, then Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Bill Gates made speeches at the London show and Nelson Mandela addressed the crowd in the South African venue. Guest presenters, ranging from sports stars to comedians, also introduced acts. The final event was held in Edinburgh, Scotland on 6 July 2005. It featured further performances from some of the artists from the other concerts, and was the closest of the eleven to the actual location of the G8 summit.
Some examples of artists involved with Live 8 were Bryan Adams, Our Lady Peace (concert in Barrie), Audioslave, Green Day, Daniel Powter (in Berlin), Dido (in Cornwall), McFly, Natasha Bedingfield, Sugababes (in Edinburgh), Mahotella Queens (in Johannesburg), Joss Stone, Mariah Carey, Robbie Williams, Paul McCartney, Madonna, Pink Floyd, U2 (in London), Pet Shop Boys (in Moscow), Amel Bent, Shakira, Alpha Blondie (in Paris), Alicia Keys, Black Eyed Peas, Linkin Park (in Philadelphia), Laura Pausini (in Rome) and Good Charlotte (in Tokyo).
Sources:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_8
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Live_8_artists
American Civil Rights Movement
What was it?
The American Civil Rights Movement was a phase with many protests such as civil disobedience, nonviolent resistance, marches, boycotts and ‘freedom rides’ in the United States with the goal of ending legal racial discrimination against African Americans, especially in the South.
This period lasted 13 years – from 1955 to 1968 – and its main figures were Malcolm X, Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks.
How did it started?
Everything started when, in December 1955, Rosa Parks, an African American seamstress, refused to give her seat on a bus to a white man. She was then arrested and charged for violating racial segretation laws in Montgomery, Alabama. Right after that the movement started with the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which was a protest campaign intended to oppose the city’s policy of racial segregation on its public transit system. It lasted from December 1955 to December 1956.
Hate vs Success
After the Montgomery Bus Boycott, other protests were made which were the key for the end of legal racial discrimination.
Since the beginning of the movement until its end there were some major hate moments, which were fighted with some success moments:
Hate:
- Jim Crow Laws
- The arrest of Rosa Parks
- The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing
- The Ku Klux Klan
- The assassinations of Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X
Success:
- Banning of segregated buses
- Brown v. Board of Education
- Sit-ins
- March on Washington
- Civil Rights Act
- Voting Rights Act
How did it end?
This movement was finally stopped when the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act were signed in 1964 and 1965, which outlawed racial segregation in schools, public places, and employment, and would establish the right to vote. Of course there were still some protests, but this period was the most important one. American Africans made their voices heard, and had a dream that came true.
Sources:
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC62HmApl0g
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_Street_Baptist_Church_bombing
- http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/16thstreetbaptistchurch/a/16streetbombing.htm
- http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aopart9.html
- http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/par0int-4
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_on_Washington_for_Jobs_and_Freedom
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Board_of_Education
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964
- http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAvoting65.htm
The Holocaust
The Holocaust was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, as part of a program of deliberate extermination planned and executed by Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler. The Jewish population wasn’t the only target, though. Other groups were also persecuted and killed, like the Romani, Soviet civilians, Soviet prisoners of war, ethnic Poles, the disabled, homosexual men and political and religious opponents. Most scholars, however, define the Holocaust as genocide of European Jewry alone, or what the Nazis called the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question." The total number of victims of Nazi genocidal policies is generally agreed to be between 9 and 11 million.
The first major camp, Majdanek, was discovered by the advancing Soviets on July 23, 1944. Auschwitz was liberated, also by the Soviets, on January 27, 1945; Buchenwald by the Americans on April 11; Bergen-Belsen by the British on April 15; Dachau by the Americans on April 29; Ravensbrück by the Soviets on the same day; Mauthausen by the Americans on May 5; and Theresienstadt by the Soviets on May 8. Treblinka, Sobibor, and Belzec were never liberated, but were destroyed by the Nazis in 1943. In most of the camps discovered by the Soviets, almost all the prisoners had already been removed, leaving only a few thousand alive—7,000 inmates were found in Auschwitz, including 180 children who had been experimented on by doctors. Some 60,000 prisoners were discovered at Bergen-Belsen by the British 11th Armoured Division, 13,000 corpses lay unburied, and another 10,000 died from typhus (like Anne and Margot) or malnutrition over the following weeks. The British forced the remaining SS guards to gather up the corpses and place them in mass graves.
Source:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust
Martin Luther King's Quotes
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
“Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man’s sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.”
“Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: - ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’” – I Have a Dream speech
“At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.”
“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”
“I submit to you that if a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”
“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.”
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” – I Have a Dream speech
“Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.”
Source:
- http://www.themartinlutherking.info/50-martin-luther-king-jr-quotes.html
Rage Against The Machine - Renegades of Funk
Here’s a song by Rage Against The Machine. It talks about people who weren’t afraid of being different, exposing their beliefs and fighting for them, being criticized/chased/arrested/etc. for doing it, the so called ‘renegades’. It shows us that we can actually leave our mark in this planet if we raise our voice. The band declares that it is ‘a new musical revelation’, therefore presenting something never seen before and standing out, like the ‘renegades’ whose actions changed the world and are applauded today.
These are the lyrics if you’d like to sing along:
No matter how hard you try, you can't stop us now
No matter how hard you try, you can't stop us now
We're the renegades of this atomic age
This atomic age of renegades
Renegades of this atomic age
This atomic age of renegades
Since the Prehistoric ages and the days of ancient Greece
Right down through the Middle Ages
Planet earth kept going through changes
And then no renaissance came, and times continued to change
Nothing stayed the same, but there were always renegades
Like Chief Sitting Bull, Tom Paine
Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X
They were renegades of their time and age
So many renegades
We're the renegades of funk
We're the renegades of funk
We're the renegades of funk
We're the renegades of funk
From a different solar system many many galaxies away
We are the force of another creation
A new musical revelation
And we're on this musical mission to help the others listen
And groove from land to land singin' electronic chants like
Zulu nation
Revelations
Destroy our nations
Destroy our nations
Destroy our nations
Destroy our nations
Destroy our nations
Destroy our nations
Now renegades are the people with their own philosophies
They change the course of history
Everyday people like you and me
We're the renegades we're the people
With our own philosophies
We change the course of history
Everyday people like you and me
C'mon
We're the renegades of funk
We're the renegades of funk
We're the renegades of funk
We're the renegades of funk
Poppin', sockin', rockin' puttin' a side of hip-hop
Because where we're goin' there ain't no stoppin'
Poppin', sockin', puttin' a side of hip-hop
Because where we're goin' there ain't no stoppin'
Poppin', sockin', rockin' puttin' a side of hip-hop
'Cause we're poppin', sockin', rockin' puttin' a side of hip-hop
Poppin', sockin', rockin' puttin' a side of hip-hop
We're the renegades of funk
We're the renegades of funk
We're the renegades of funk
We're the renegades of funk
We're teachers of the funk
And not of empty popping
We're blessed with the force and the sight of electronics
With the bass, and the treble the horns and our vocals
'Cause everytime I pop into the beat we get fresh
There was a time when our music
Was something called the Bay Street beat
People would gather from all around
To get down to the big sound
You had to be a renegade in those days
To take a man to the dance floor
Say jam sucker
Say jam sucker
Say groove sucker
Say groove sucker
Say dance sucker
Say dance sucker
Now move sucker
Now move sucker(x2)
We're the renegades of funk
- http://www.ratm.net/lyrics/renegades/ren.html
- Video posted by YouTube user dunky182.
Amnesty International
How everything started...
He was reading the newspaper 'The Observer' and he noticed on a news that mentioned the case of two Portuguese students who had been arrested after they have yelled in public "Long Live to Freedom!" during the Salazar's regime in Portugal. Benenson at once appealed to the countries take measures to help people who didn't have freedom for their political or religious convictions, and also to help who suffered of racial/language prejudice or persecution. After two months of his appeal, the representatives of five countries created a basis for an international movement to defend human rights.
Some campaigns
- Stop violence against women
- Defend the rights and dignity of those trapped in poverty
- Abolish the death penalty
- Oppose torture and combat terror with justice
- Free prisoners of conscience
- Protect the rights of refugees and migrants
- Regulate the global arms trade
They have more than 2.2 million members and subscribers in more than 150 countries and regions (including Portugal) and they coordinate this support to act for justice on a wide range of issues.
Some images of their campaigns
Sources:
- http://www.amnesty.org/
- http://www.amnistia-internacional.pt/
- http://amnistia.iscte.pt/2006/03/o-que-amnistia-internacional-ai.html
Independence Day
History
During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the American colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia. After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a committee but with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4. One of the most enduring myths about Independence Day is that Congress signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The myth had become so firmly established that, decades after the event and nearing the end of their lives, even the elderly Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had come to believe that they and the other delegates had signed the Declaration on the fourth. Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, two founding fathers of the United States and the only two men who signed the Declaration of Independence to become president, died on the same day: July 4, 1826, which was the United States' 50th anniversary.
Celebration
Nowadays, families often celebrate Independence Day by hosting or attending a picnic or barbecue and take advantage of the day off and, in some years, long weekend to gather with relatives. Decorations (e.g., streamers, balloons, and clothing) are generally coloured red, white, and blue. Parades often are in the morning, while fireworks displays occur in the evening at such places as parks, fairgrounds, or town squares.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(United_States)
'Sister, If You Only Knew'
sábado, 21 de fevereiro de 2009It talks about the pressure experienced by Aboriginals women when they and their families go to the city, and it talks also about the effect that these pressures have on their husbands and their children.
In spite of all life's difficulties, women seem to survive the urban environment better than men. Their humour and intelligence in the face of adversity shines through.
They were asked if they wanted to change anything in the content of this film, and their answers were "it tells the truth and that is what is important".
All the cast is composed by Aboriginal people, like Leila Rankine, Glad Elphick, Ruby Hammond and Mary Williams.
The film is also an expression of the desire of Australian feminism to properly encounter and comprehend the experience of Indigenous women. Ruby Hammond was a noted activist and public servant and she went on to become the first Aboriginal woman candidate in South Australia, in 1988.
Sources:- http://www.abc.net.au/aplacetothink/html/sister.htm
- http://www.creativespirits.info/resources/movies/sister-if-you-only-knew.html
Australian Aborigines
domingo, 15 de fevereiro de 2009Australia’s Aboriginal people were thought to have arrived here by boat from South East Asia during the last Ice Age, at least 50,000 years ago.
Indigenous Australians are the first human inhabitants of the Australian continent and its nearby islands. They are distinguished as Aboriginal people or Torres Strait Islanders.
Today, the Aborigines represent only 1% of the Australian population. When the colonizers arrived, Australia had more than 300 thousand Aborigines, who inhabited the continent for more than 25 thousand years (this was proved through tests of carbon in paintings on rocks).
They were scattered in 300 clans and spoke 250 languages and 700 dialects. Each clan had a spiritual connection with a specific piece of land.
Curiosities:
- On the beginning of the colonization (1770), they were so primitives in technology that they didn’t know the metal.
- Their artifacts were made of wood, stone or bones.
- The boomerang, characteristic of Australia, was not primarily a tool for hunting, but a toy for fun in the village.
In 1806, the racism of the colonizers and soldiers came to a point to violate the holy places just for pleasure.
Later, Aborigines were recruited to work on farms. The payment was ridiculous compared to a white person and they were considered slow and insolent, because they accepted work for 2 pounds per week, while the whites didn’t accept less than 9.
In 1900, Australia was already independent from Britain, but the race discrimination against any person who was not an English descent still existed.
A few years later, a very serious thing happed. The fact is known as "The Stolen Generation", where Aboriginal children were taken from their villages and disappeared to never be seen again. The goal was break morally and psychologically any attempt of Aboriginal to intervene in politics.
In 1965, the population of pure Aborigines came to just over 40 thousand, because of the colonizers. They were literally massacred and expelled from the land, and they were forced to migrating to the desert regions of northern Australia, where the most part of English people would have difficulties in adapting to the heat of almost 50 degrees.
Recently, the ex-Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard deplored this, but didn’t apologize officially, because this would result in millions of dollars to pay to the families or their descendants.
Some several anti-discrimination laws were introduced by the government in Australia. Racial discrimination has become a serious crime. Although many Aborigines are highly integrated in society today, they have also the right to vote, but the majority still living in isolated areas far from land and large cities.
Sources:
- http://www.australia.com/about/history.aspx
- https://www.nassirimusic.com/wp-content/gallery/australia/australia-download-1.jpg
- http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abor%C3%ADgene_australiano
- http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficheiro:Bathurst_Island_men.jpg