Iraq and Afghanistan Vets of America (IAVA) has teamed up with the six-word memoir folks have launched a six-word memoir project for vets. There are only a few, but they definitely tell a story. I hope they keep making them.
Kathleen
Jul 022010
Even though I have a fair amount of gadgets (MacBook Pro, G1 smartphone, Lumix camera, Flip, the list goes on…), I have not done a great job tracking the impact of buying and using them. Well, it’s time for me to make sure that my enjoyment of these things doesn’t cost other people their lives.
I just got to see this new video explaining the problem of “conflict minerals” in my electronic devices:
This video is from Raise Hope for Congo, a group working to end the long-running war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A war whose course is shaped by the ability of armed people to enslave people to extract highly-profitable minerals that Western companies buy and use in our phones and gadgets. There are some great resources to explain the connection, including a recent NY Times editorial and this resource page on the raisehopeforcongo.org site.
I’ve taken the pledge to stop my purchasing of devices unless I can get them conflict-free.
If my smartphone dies before a new, conflict-free Android phone is out, this should get interesting for me. But as much as I love having fun with my smartphone, no one should be killing or dying for me to have it.
Jun 062010
The attack of the flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza has brought attention to the crisis there. Some useful links:
Democracy Now has, as usual, great reporting, including interviews with people who were on the ship.
Avaaz has set up a page for people to sign a petition to the UN calling for an international investigation into the attack on the freedom flotilla, and an end to the blockade of Gaza. They are closing in on their goal of 500,000 signers from around the world.
Anera is an aid organization that has been delivering aid to people in Gaza and continues to do so in the wake of this new crisis.
I also really like this HuffPost article that my colleague Annah brought to my attention: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-koehler/davids-slingshot_b_599767.html
