MetaFilter posts tagged with darfur

Does Africa Need Wealthy White Celebs to help her Survive and Prosper?

dawson — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:54:10 -0800

There is something creepily colonialist in Madonna’s attitude to Africa. First we had the White Man’s Burden -– now we have the White Madonna’s Burden. More and more celebrities are treating Africa as a wide-eyed child that needs a Hollywood hug -– or as a wicked devil that needs a Hollywood hammering. There is something Kiplingesque in this celebrity swarming of Africa. Kipling branded colonial subjects on the dark continent as “half–devil and half–child” –- and today that old poisonous prejudice finds expression in the celebrity view of Africa as a child that must be adopted (Malawi) or as a devil that must be punished (Sudan). Africans once resisted the armies of colonialism; now they should consider resisting the armies of celebrities, camera crews, make-up artists and hairstylists who are seeking to turn Africa into a stage for celebrity expressions of cheap moral bombast. Via: A&L Daily NB: Article written by not everyone's favorite, Brendan O'Neill

Genocide Olympics

homunculus — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 17:30:29 -0800

The Genocide Olympics. The human rights group Dream for Darfur is trying to use the Olympics to pressure China to change its policies on Sudan and the genocide in Darfur. Here's Mia Farrow's original editorial.

First Do No Harm

cal71 — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 14:22:59 -0800

Newsweek's "Packaging a Tragedy" After which, two Darfur experts, John Prendergast and Alex De Waal have a heated debate over the role of the Save Darfur Campaign, wondering whether its advocacy has helped or hurt the chances for peace in the region. De Waal has argued that the seduction of humanitarian intervention has impeded progress in Darfur, while Prendergast has urged more robust intervention. Both want the same thing, an end to the killing, but both get extremely heated in disagreeing about how.

Zoe's Ark: Charity or Kidnapping?

Sticherbeast — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 10:15:33 -0800

So, apparently some of those Sudanese orphans were neither Sudanese nor orphans. The organization Zoe's Ark may have fucked the fuck up.

Internet users can now interactively view satellite images of individual devastated villages.

jne1813 — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 19:47:48 -0800

Google maps the Darfur crisis To Find Darfur on Google Earth 1. Download Google Earth 2. Open the program; in bottom-left corner, click open tabs 'PrimaryDatabase,' then 'Global Awareness,' then 'USHMM: Crisis in Darfur.' Check the box next to 'Darfur' so markers appear over the region.Double-click the word 'Darfur' to automatically zoom in on the region. 3. Use mouse or navigation tools in top-right corner to move around the map.

Christmas in Darfur

notsnot — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 04:53:23 -0800

What can two nerds from Chicago do about the crisis in Darfur? Donor fatigue means the marginal value of each life has effectively dropped to zero. Kill 5 people, kill 500, kill 500,000 - it makes no difference - each added fatality has absolutely no policy impact and won’t change the situation one iota. It’s not that as many as 500,000 (essentially an entire Seattle) have died in Darfur. The horrific thing is that they could kill another 500,000 and nobody will bat an eyelash.

Darfur/Darfur Exhibit

matteo — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 11:40:51 -0800

"I couldn't face the prospect of my child growing up and asking me, years later, what I had done, and having to say: 'Nothing.'" Last spring Leslie Thomas, a Chicago-based architect, read a story detailing the fallout of hostilities between the Sudanese government and the rebels -- more than 200,000 dead, 2.5 million made homeless -- and decided to put together DARFUR/DARFUR: a traveling exhibit of digitally-projected changing images. The goal: to raise $1m with at least 24 venues in 24 months. The photographs have been taken in Darfur by photojournalists Lynsey Addario, Mark Brecke, Helene Caux, VII's Ron Haviv, Magnum Photos's Paolo Pellegrin, Ryan Spencer Reed, Michal Safdie, and former U.S. Marine Brian Steidle. On a sidenote, Pellegrin has just been awarded the W. Eugene Smith Grant.

Blog of UN diplomat

Harry — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 11:30:23 -0800

When you have a blog , and you're the Special Representative of the UN in Darfur, be careful about what you write. Jan Pronk's blog gives you a good idea in what a high level UN diplomat actually does, and how difficult it is to get anything done in a country torn by war. Oh, and check these photos out, if you just want the non-political goodness.

he argued strenuously against giving antiretroviral drug treatment ... to the 25 million Africans infected with HIV.

amberglow — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 21:06:32 -0800

Meet our new Special Envoy to Darfur, where genocide is taking place-- Andrew Natsios--he did a heckuva job at the Big Dig in Boston, and in misunderestimating the costs of Iraq, and --while head of USAid--at refusing funding AIDS drugs in Africa because many Africans 'don't know what Western time is.

G-d hates (smoking of) fags

ericbop — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 13:42:25 -0800

Jewsfilter: Rabbinic Council of America bans smoking for all Orthodox Jews "Jewish law is fully able to incorporate new realities, recognize new and reliable scientific findings, and embrace the need to change heretofore acceptable behavior." Read the full technical legal opinion here. [pdf] Now if only the Orthodox Union would stand up for the LBGT community in same the way that it has for Darfur, stem cell research, heck, even global warming...