Tid Bits
Conflict in the Congo
Vive and I attended the HIAS & DCJCC's joint program last night on the Conflict in the Congo. To quote the invitation, "The conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo has claimed 4 million lives over the past 8 years... The Victims of a Forgotten War. Yet as the death toll rises, the world continues to respond with indifference and inaction. We all carry a piece of the Congo with us every day. Help us raise awareness of this deadly conflict by learning about what's happening in the Congo and find out how we're all connected to this war-torn country."
Panelists included the former Director of HIAS Kenya, Executive Director of the Friends of the Congo, and an Activist from the Congo.
Basically, the purpose of the event was to raise awareness about the issues occurring in the DRC. Lobbying and letter writing to Senators won't help until the constituency cares. With the media concentrating only on Darfur lately, it is even more impossible for the Congo to get the support it needs at this time. A graphic movie and even more graphic story about the abuse of women in the DRC helped highlight the tragedies (though, Vive almost threw up listening to one story about a woman's leg being chopped off and fed to her children).
More than 1,000 Congolese die every day. Because the Congo river holds every element in the periodic table (including 70+% of the world's uranium), the DRC could be a much richer country. Bad government contracts with major companies have led to major exploitation of the resources in the Congo. Specifically, the DRC has the following natural resources: cobalt, copper, cadmium, petroleum, industrial and gem diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, germanium, uranium, radium, bauxite, iron ore, coal, hydro power, timber.
The first nuclear bomb was created from uranium found in the Congo. As the Activist, Nita Evele, said last night (amidst fear tactics Vive and I were put off by, actually) "If you don't care about the lives and safety of the people in the DRC, think about the fact that uranium is being sold to Iran and other countries without being monitored. A man was caught trafficking some to Saddam Hussein a while ago. That should make you care about what's going on in the DRC."
The goal of the group is to get the issues on the front page of newspapers now. Then, they can properly petition for help and change from global leaders.
iTap English on the Razr...
has waaaaaaaay more issues that T9 Word on my old phone. The set words don't even make sense half the time. I think they got iTap Spanish mixed with iTap English. Lasy bums at Motorola. For example:
If I type in 469, I'm looking to write "How." I get "Hoy." Because hoy is such a common thing for people to type in text?
If I type in 669, I'm looking to write "Now." I get "Moz."
If I type in 84373, I'm looking to write "There." I get "Viere."
If I type in 668, I looking to write "Not." I get "Nov."
I'll save you the rest of the issues. Seriously though, someone needs to be fired from the programming desk at Motorola. (Update: Blogger spell check just suggested alternate words for every single one of these. WTF?)
Guy with the Striped Shirt
Vive brought me to Kramer Books last night after the Conflict in Congo event to see a book she thought was hysterical. It was pretty damn funny. Called Look at My Striped Shirt!: Confessions of the People You Love to Hate. I'd highly recommend it. From the back of the book:
Target. Observe. Ridicule.
You run into them every day—the striped-shirt guy, the karaoke master, the dude with a pencil-thin beard, the guy who won’t shut up about his fantasy football team—characters who annoy, irritate, and incense us all.
Based on the wildly popular essay on ThePhatPhree.com by Mike Polk, this book is a look inside the heads of the most infuriating douchebags on Earth. It’s the best of ThePhatPhree.com plus more than fifty all-new, hilarious pieces written by some of your favorite writers from this site.
Everyone’s (Least) Favorite, The Striped-Shirt Guy …I will valet tonight! I will treat the valet with contempt and make sure that he knows that I am superior to him. I will tell him, “Take it easy on the brakes, champ”! When I do not hook up with a girl at the club, I will say that the place is “full of skanks” and wait in line at another bar, only to strike out again!
Your “Cool” High School Teacher …Here are some things I allow in my class that other teachers don’t: eating, drinking,swearing, dancing, smoking, fighting, cell phones, Texas hold ’em, iPods, and sex. Like my Goo Goo Dolls tee? Anyone else here down with the Dolls? No? Me either. I’m just wearing it as a goof.
The Guy with Amazing Taste in Music …Personally, I haven’t listened to the radio in fifteen years. If you have ever heard a band on the radio, then I can assure you, I am not a fan. I stopped listening to American music about ten years ago.
Yawn. The entire city seems out of Red Bull. What's a girl to do??? I'm going to have to splurge on a Grande Latte. Don't think badly of me.
Vive and I attended the HIAS & DCJCC's joint program last night on the Conflict in the Congo. To quote the invitation, "The conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo has claimed 4 million lives over the past 8 years... The Victims of a Forgotten War. Yet as the death toll rises, the world continues to respond with indifference and inaction. We all carry a piece of the Congo with us every day. Help us raise awareness of this deadly conflict by learning about what's happening in the Congo and find out how we're all connected to this war-torn country."
Panelists included the former Director of HIAS Kenya, Executive Director of the Friends of the Congo, and an Activist from the Congo.
Basically, the purpose of the event was to raise awareness about the issues occurring in the DRC. Lobbying and letter writing to Senators won't help until the constituency cares. With the media concentrating only on Darfur lately, it is even more impossible for the Congo to get the support it needs at this time. A graphic movie and even more graphic story about the abuse of women in the DRC helped highlight the tragedies (though, Vive almost threw up listening to one story about a woman's leg being chopped off and fed to her children).
More than 1,000 Congolese die every day. Because the Congo river holds every element in the periodic table (including 70+% of the world's uranium), the DRC could be a much richer country. Bad government contracts with major companies have led to major exploitation of the resources in the Congo. Specifically, the DRC has the following natural resources: cobalt, copper, cadmium, petroleum, industrial and gem diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, germanium, uranium, radium, bauxite, iron ore, coal, hydro power, timber.
The first nuclear bomb was created from uranium found in the Congo. As the Activist, Nita Evele, said last night (amidst fear tactics Vive and I were put off by, actually) "If you don't care about the lives and safety of the people in the DRC, think about the fact that uranium is being sold to Iran and other countries without being monitored. A man was caught trafficking some to Saddam Hussein a while ago. That should make you care about what's going on in the DRC."
The goal of the group is to get the issues on the front page of newspapers now. Then, they can properly petition for help and change from global leaders.
iTap English on the Razr...
has waaaaaaaay more issues that T9 Word on my old phone. The set words don't even make sense half the time. I think they got iTap Spanish mixed with iTap English. Lasy bums at Motorola. For example:
If I type in 469, I'm looking to write "How." I get "Hoy." Because hoy is such a common thing for people to type in text?
If I type in 669, I'm looking to write "Now." I get "Moz."
If I type in 84373, I'm looking to write "There." I get "Viere."
If I type in 668, I looking to write "Not." I get "Nov."
I'll save you the rest of the issues. Seriously though, someone needs to be fired from the programming desk at Motorola. (Update: Blogger spell check just suggested alternate words for every single one of these. WTF?)
Guy with the Striped Shirt
Vive brought me to Kramer Books last night after the Conflict in Congo event to see a book she thought was hysterical. It was pretty damn funny. Called Look at My Striped Shirt!: Confessions of the People You Love to Hate. I'd highly recommend it. From the back of the book:
Target. Observe. Ridicule.
You run into them every day—the striped-shirt guy, the karaoke master, the dude with a pencil-thin beard, the guy who won’t shut up about his fantasy football team—characters who annoy, irritate, and incense us all.
Based on the wildly popular essay on ThePhatPhree.com by Mike Polk, this book is a look inside the heads of the most infuriating douchebags on Earth. It’s the best of ThePhatPhree.com plus more than fifty all-new, hilarious pieces written by some of your favorite writers from this site.
Everyone’s (Least) Favorite, The Striped-Shirt Guy …I will valet tonight! I will treat the valet with contempt and make sure that he knows that I am superior to him. I will tell him, “Take it easy on the brakes, champ”! When I do not hook up with a girl at the club, I will say that the place is “full of skanks” and wait in line at another bar, only to strike out again!
Your “Cool” High School Teacher …Here are some things I allow in my class that other teachers don’t: eating, drinking,swearing, dancing, smoking, fighting, cell phones, Texas hold ’em, iPods, and sex. Like my Goo Goo Dolls tee? Anyone else here down with the Dolls? No? Me either. I’m just wearing it as a goof.
The Guy with Amazing Taste in Music …Personally, I haven’t listened to the radio in fifteen years. If you have ever heard a band on the radio, then I can assure you, I am not a fan. I stopped listening to American music about ten years ago.
Yawn. The entire city seems out of Red Bull. What's a girl to do??? I'm going to have to splurge on a Grande Latte. Don't think badly of me.
posted by Sam.I.Am @ Thursday, February 22, 2007
1 Comments:
At February 22, 2007,
I-66 said…
Aha! So that's the problem! I figured some T9 issues were at hand when your "there" was "viere", "tall" was "talk", and "now" was "moz".
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