Your chance to change the world October 3, 2008
Posted by jewaira in Announcements, Blogging, Inspiration.1 comment so far
Blogger buddy Myrtus spreads positive activism and today’s post is from her blog.
“Google is celebrating its 10th birthday by giving you a chance to change the world.
Project 10^100 is a call for ideas to change the world by helping as many people as possible.
Why this project?
Never in history have so many people had so much information, so many tools at their disposal, so many ways of making good ideas come to life. Yet at the same time, so many people, of all walks of life, could use so much help, in both little ways and big.
In the midst of this, new studies are reinforcing the simple wisdom that beyond a certain very basic level of material wealth, the only thing that increases individual happiness over time is helping other people.
In other words, helping helps everybody, helper and helped alike.
The question is: what would help? And help most?
At Google, we don’t believe we have the answers, but we do believe the answers are out there. Maybe in a lab, or a company, or a university — but maybe not.
Maybe the answer that helps somebody is in your head, in something you’ve observed, some notion that you’ve been fiddling with, some small connection you’ve noticed, some old thing you have seen with new eyes.
If you have an idea that you believe would help somebody, we want to hear about it. We’re looking for ideas that help as many people as possible, in any way, and we’re committing the funding to launch them. You can submit your ideas and help vote on ideas from others. Final idea selections will be made by an advisory board.
Good luck, and may those who help the most win.”
Submission Deadline:
October 20th, 2008
Pro-Choice October 3, 2008
Posted by jewaira in Abuse, Film & Ads, Life, Links, News, Women.4 comments
One of the Ramadan TV serials I followed last month was Al-Dayyah, a Kuwaiti work that takes place in a pre-oil Gulf environment. The central theme in the story is of rape and its consequences on all the people involved.
It is the story of Moza who is attacked and raped by a man as she is walking in the dark, unlit paths between the clay houses, on her way to get some medicine for her sick infant. Her husband is away at sea and there is no one else to fetch the medicine which is why she has ventured out into the dark night. The attacker covers her face but not before she recognizes him.
When she discovers she is pregnant by her rapist, she has no choice but to go to Ghalia, the dayyah (servant/ midwife played by Hayat Al-Fahad) to whom she confesses all. The dayyah keeps Moza hidden until she delivers and then dies, leaving the dayyah with a heavy legacy which will have tragic consequences.
The story was written by Hayat Al-Fahad, who also acted as the midwife. In an interview with her on Al-Watan TV, she commented on how the theme of rape is a timeless one which people can relate to at any point in history. She remarked on the options available to women nowadays if they were raped and became pregnant and how an abortion would be an acceptable, viable option. Society and a husband nowadays would more likely stand by the victim’s side rather than label her as an adultress, as would have been the case in the past. In the past, Al-Fahad said, a rape victim would not stand a chance of living if it was known she was raped as it was a matter of honour.
I was interested in Hayat Al-Fahad’s open-minded stance on the issue of abortion of an unwanted foetus especially those victims of abuse and rape especially since I had been watching an interview earlier in which Sara Palin, the Republican VP candidate, had expressed the complete opposite opinion.
What a difference.
