Then, Now, Next
The UN has worked tirelessly to end wars and prevent conflicts. COVID-19 could make it harder.
09.15.20
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In 1945, the world had just endured the bloodiest war in history. World leaders were determined to not repeat the mistakes of the past. They wanted to build a better future, one free from the "scourge of war" so they signed the UN Charter — creating a global organization of nations that could deter and repel aggressors, mediate conflicts and broker armistices, and ensure collective progress.
Over the following 75 years, the UN played an essential role in preventing, mitigating or resolving conflicts all over the world. It faced new challenges and new threats — including the spread of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, a Cold War and brutal civil wars, transnational terrorism and genocides. Today, the UN faces new tensions: shifting and more hostile geopolitics, digital weaponization, a global pandemic, and more.
This slideshow shows how the UN has worked to build peace and security around the world:
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Malians wait in line at a free clinic run by the UN Multidimensional Integrated Mission in Mali in 2014. Over their 75 year history, UN peacekeepers have deployed around the world in military and nonmilitary roles as they work towards human security and peace. Here's a look back at their history.
Photo credit: UN Photo/Marco Dormino
Culture
Artist gives a modern twist to Disney's most beloved characters to explain today's world
09.18.20
Artist Tom Ward has used his incredible illustration techniques to give us some new perspective on modern life through popular Disney characters. "Disney characters are so iconic that I thought transporting them to our modern world could help us see it through new eyes," he told The Metro.
Tom says he wanted to bring to life "the times we live in and communicate topical issues in a relatable way."
In Ward's "Alt Disney" series, Prince Charming and Pinocchio have fallen victim to smart phone addiction. Ariel is living in a polluted ocean, and Simba and Baloo have been abused by humans.
<p>Not all the news is bad though. LeFou form "Beauty and the Beast" has finally come out of the closet and his crush, Gaston, appears to be pretty accepting of the revelation.</p><p>Although, was it really such a shock?</p><p>Ward believes that his illustration of Artur from "Sword and the Stone makes" a particularly strong point. "I also think the message of Arthur from The Sword in the Stone sitting on his phone has some resonance today," he said. "He's too engrossed in his phone to experience other opportunities and realize his true potential in life."</p><p>You can see more of <a href="https://www.instagram.com/tomwardstudio/" target="_blank">Ward's work on Instagram.</a> Click through the photos to see the slideshow. </p>
1. Pinocchio's selfie
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Back Market
Between the new normal that is working from home and e-learning for students of all ages, having functional electronic devices is extremely important. But that doesn't mean needing to run out and buy the latest and greatest model. In fact, this cycle of constantly upgrading our devices to keep up with the newest technology is an incredibly dangerous habit.
The amount of e-waste we produce each year is growing at an increasing rate, and the improper treatment and disposal of this waste is harmful to both human health and the planet.
So what's the solution? While no one expects you to stop purchasing new phones, laptops, and other devices, what you can do is consider where you're purchasing them from and how often in order to help improve the planet for future generations.
<p>Typically, new device models don't feature that many noticeable advances, meaning waiting in line every September at the Apple store when a new iPhone comes out isn't necessary. A better solution is to instead buy refurbished. </p><p><a href="https://bit.ly/3kAq42B" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Back Market</a>, for example, sells all types of refurbished devices, including smartphones, computers and laptops, tablets, wearables, and more from your favorite brands. Plus, their team of experts check each device's functionality and works to restore it to the best condition possible. You can also rest easy knowing your refurbished device comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee and a one-year warranty. </p><p>Refurbished devices, while not brand new, are certified by an expert and are available at up to 70% lower prices. Not only are refurbished devices better for the environment because less waste is being generated, they're also better for your wallet. </p><p>Back Market also offers amazing deals on the items students need for <a href="https://ad.doubleclick.net/ddm/clk/476024540;282046943;f" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">back to school</a>, plus an <a href="https://ad.doubleclick.net/ddm/clk/476250672;282110393;d" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">extra 5% off</a> the already discounted prices to those enrolled in a college or university, so there's really no excuse not to buy refurbished.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDM5NDAyNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NjM3ODU0N30.Ie1AR5tXsGsRY8N2wXIzU_byVz4WuxJGZHwOmKO7gR4/img.jpg?width=980" id="329df" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="48aeb587fafc0f3e5237c31d3040e2d6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Back Market</small></p><p>While we can't reverse the damaging effects e-waste has already had on the environment, making responsible purchasing decisions can help slow down the amount being produced each year and have a lasting impact on the planet.</p><p>According to a <a href="https://collections.unu.edu/eserv/UNU:6341/Global-E-waste_Monitor_2017__electronic_single_pages_.pdf" target="_blank">2017 Report from the U.N</a>, all the countries in the world combined generated a staggering 44.7 million metric tons, or an equivalent of 13.4 pounds per inhabitant, of e-waste in 2016. Most of this waste is going straight into the landfills.<br></p><p>The same report states that only 20 percent was collected and recycled. But even the e-waste that is recycled is often improperly handled, being exported to developing countries where people work to recover valuable materials from the devices and end up exposed to toxic chemicals, according to <a href="https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2018/08/27/growing-e-waste-problem/" target="_blank">Columbia University</a>. E-waste toxins are also known to contaminate the air, soil, and groundwater. </p><p>While concern for the environment is high, particularly among younger generations, many people don't know what e-waste is.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDM5ODA5NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNzAyMTA2MH0.XHNEy8r4LoRZXgZFJqycufXZMrFjsQ6ppM6NFrOgUWk/img.jpg?width=980" id="65650" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4e96c313ecdfa4624be0ac680dac45ad" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Vivianne Lemay</small></p><p>According to a <a href="https://www.decluttr.com/us/store/e-waste" target="_blank">survey</a>, 71% of millennials and Gen Z consider the environment to be a more important concern than the economy, but 60% of them were unfamiliar with e-waste and its impact on the environment.<br></p><p>With the effects of global warming becoming increasingly apparent, taking measures to slow down the production of e-waste is crucial.</p>
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It sounds like a ridiculous, sensationalist headline, but it's real. In Cheshire County, New Hampshire, a transsexual, anarchist Satanist has won the GOP nomination for county sheriff. Aria DiMezzo, who refers to herself as a "She-Male" and whose campaign motto was "F*** the Police," ran as a Republican in the primary. Though she ran unopposed on the ballot, according to Fox News, she anticipated that she would lose to a write-in candidate. Instead, 4,211 voters filled in the bubble next to her name, making her the official Republican candidate for county sheriff.
DiMezzo is clear about why she ran—to show how "clueless the average voter is" and to prove that "the system is utterly and hopelessly broken"—stances that her win only serves to reinforce.
In a blog post published on Friday, DiMezzo explained how she had never tried to hide who she was and that anyone could have looked her up to see what she was about, in addition to pointing out that those who are angry with her have no one to blame but themselves:
<p><em>"None of it is a secret. I couldn't possibly have been more upfront about who I am, or my position on things. Did none of you pay attention to the election two years ago, when I criticized Eli Rivera for not going far enough with his sanctuary policy? Did none of you remember the <strong>six foot tall tranny who ran for sheriff and then city council</strong>?</em></p><p><em>You could have easily looked at a sample ballot prior to the election, and you could have simply looked up the candidates in a search engine. By doing so, you, like the good citizen in Rindge, would probably have been appalled, and probably wouldn't have voted for me. I wouldn't have begrudged you for that. I was, after all, rather upfront about it. I went into it expecting that I would lose the primary to a write-in candidate, because I didn't think that so many voters were just… <strong>completely and totally oblivious </strong>about who they are voting for.</em></p><p><em>Because the fact is that you didn't bother. You trusted the system. You trusted the establishment. You trusted the party. You felt safe. You were sure that there must be some mechanisms in place to prevent from occurring <strong>exactly </strong>what just occurred. Your anger is misplaced if you direct it at me. Please listen. Your anger is with the system that has lied to you. Your anger is with the system that convinced you to believe in it, trust in it, and have faith in it, when it is completely and utterly broken.</em></p><p><em>More than 4,000 people went into the voting booth on September 8 this week, and they all filled in the circle by my name despite knowing <strong>absolutely nothing </strong>about the person they were nominating to the <strong>most powerful law enforcement position in the county</strong>. That's a level of recklessness of which any decent human being should be ashamed."</em></p><div id="0de94" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c6a32446b27ab6bce737466b362d3e65"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1305330277527572485" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#AriaDiMezzo, a “polyamorous transgender Mississippian lesbian anarchist atheist,” running on a Liberterian "F*** t… https://t.co/eZFkq5eUkk</div> — Frank Smyth (@Frank Smyth)<a href="https://twitter.com/SmythFrank/statuses/1305330277527572485">1600049964.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Regardless of how you feel about DiMezzo, her message, or her methods, she's absolutely right about one thing—voters too often go to the polls woefully uninformed, especially when it comes to local politics. Local elected officials are the ones who generally have the most direct impact on our daily lives, and it's our responsibility as citizens to learn about the people running for these positions. <br></p><p>DiMezzo isn't lying when she says her stance wasn't a secret. Six days before the election, she posted <a href="https://twitter.com/Aria_DiMezzo/status/1301284328098455554" target="_blank">a horribly offensive meme </a>about the police on her Twitter account, reminding people to vote for her. </p><p>And interestingly, people did. Here's the breakdown of votes by town in the county. </p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="43f4c1ba86d12141766e8bad110c6341"><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/aria.the.writer/photos/a.245906769094033/1247577458926954/"></div></div><p>There was apparently one person who did realize that DiMezzo was not exactly what the Republican party had in mind for county sheriff, and who organized a write-in campaign. It still wasn't enough even in that one town to outnumber the votes DiMezzo received, but she praised that person for trying to spread the word. <br></p><p><em><span></span>"For those of you who actually did research, <strong>thank you</strong>. I'm not being snide. I'm glad that <strong>someone </strong>bothered to actually look at to whom they were handing <strong>power over theirs and other people's lives</strong>. Sadly, you number in the minority. The write-in campaign in Rindge was exceedingly well done–a testament to the power of grassroots, decentralized communication–yet it saddens me that it was even necessary. <strong>One person </strong>did their research prior to the election, and he spread what he found everywhere. Good on him. That is a person I respect. But those people who learned of me because of this person should have <strong>already known</strong>. They didn't, though. Because they trusted the party. They trusted the system. The system, they thought, surely would <strong>never </strong>let them down.</em></p><p><em>I'm running for sheriff because I oppose that very system, and the sheriff has the most hands-on ability in Cheshire County to oppose that system. The system that let you down by allowing me–the freaking transsexual Satanist anarchist–be your sheriff candidate is the same system I'm attacking. I'm sorry, and I know it hurts to hear, but that system is a lie. The entire thing is a lie. It's broken from beginning to end, and my existence as your sheriff candidate is merely how this reality was thrown into your face."</em></p><div id="6e7e5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a2a5f426feb84a5e05c2f85ba1ec0305"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1305160169261801473" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Aria DiMezzo ran for Sheriff with the slogan "Fuck The Police"
People just voted (R) for the GOP nomination and di… https://t.co/ducoRQxnV2</div> — Tim Pool (@Tim Pool)<a href="https://twitter.com/Timcast/statuses/1305160169261801473">1600009407.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Even though this was a local election, it should be a wake-up call for all of us to really examine the system. Even if we're not anarchists opposing the system like DiMezzo, we should at least understand it and invest in it fully if we agree with it. The passive approach to civic engagement has real consequences. DiMezzo made her point with the Republican ticket, but an unopposed candidate on a Democraft primary ticket doesn't automatically make them an ideal candidate.<br></p><p>We often focus on getting out the vote, but people also need to know who and what they are voting for. That's the whole point of DiMezzo's run for sheriff, and even if we don't agree with her on everything, we should all humbly heed the red flag she has raised. </p>
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School responds to a parent's book complaint by reading it aloud to the entire student body
09.18.20
Schools often have to walk a fine line when it comes to parental complaints. Diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and preferences for what kids see and hear will always mean that schools can't please everyone all the time, so educators have to discern what's best for the whole, broad spectrum of kids in their care.
Sometimes, what's best is hard to discern. Sometimes it's absolutely not.
Such was the case this week when a parent at a St. Louis elementary school complained in a Facebook group about a book that was read to her 7-year-old. The parent wrote:
"Anyone else check out the read a loud book on Canvas for 2nd grade today? Ron's Big Mission was the book that was read out loud to my 7 year old. I caught this after she watched it bc I was working with my 3rd grader. I have called my daughters school. Parents, we have to preview what we are letting the kids see on there."
<p>The book in question, "Ron's Big Mission," highlights a true story from the childhood of <em>Challenger </em>astronaut Ron McNair, who had experienced discrimination as a child in South Carolina because he was Black. In 1959, when he was nine years old, McNair wanted to check out books at the library, but the librarian told him the library didn't loan books to "coloreds." McNair refused to leave the library until he was allowed to check out books. Rather than give him a library card, the librarian called the police, who ultimately convinced her to just let him check out books. </p><p>Seriously, what issue could this parent possibly take with such an inspiring story of a kid standing up to injustice and fighting for the right to educate himself? This was a child who single-handedly changed a library's racial segregation policy and grew up to be an astronaut—a genuine, real-life hero. What is there to take issue with? The parent didn't specify, so we're left to conjecture, but if there's any other possible reason than racism, I can't think of one. </p><p>Rockwood Education Equity and Diversity Director Brittany Hogan told KMOX News Radio that after hearing of the complaint, other parents responded immediately in the book's defense.</p><p>"They were saying this is amazing that they were buying copies of the book," Hogan said. "One of our parents came out and said she was going to purchase a copy for every second-grader at the elementary school that her children attends."</p><p>Hogan called McNair a hero and said, "He deserves to be celebrated. His story deserves to be told to our children. It's important that we continue to move in a space that embeds diverse curriculum." </p><p>And the school responded in the best possible way—by announcing the book was going to be read aloud to the whole student body via Zoom. That's how you shut down a bigot. Boom. </p><p>Here's Pond Elementary Principal Carlos Diaz-Granados reading "Ron's Big Mission" to students via Zoom and sharing why he thinks it's an important book for kids:</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="165ecac72ff33aee2a89df24f1a941eb"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Syk4Ostd__s?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Pond Elementary Principal Leads Schoolwide Read Aloud of "Ron's Big Mission"</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syk4Ostd__s" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
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