Half a Million

Approximately half a million is the number of women and children who have  been raped over the last ten years in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The war in the DRC is still going on. The January 2011 issue of Marie Claire magazine has said:

One of the most dangerous places for women, it has been named 'the rape capital of the world'.

I was disturbed and shocked by the rape stories mentioned in the article. My first thought after reading the article was that I wished I could transport all the women and children of the DRC to a place where they will not have to live with the constant threat of being raped or violated in some other way.

On 1 January, a film called Unwatchable will be released. Made by British film company Dark Fibre Films, it shows soldiers breaking into the home of a British family, raping the teenage daughter, and killing the parents in front of the six-year-old daughter. The idea behind making the film is that it will make people fully aware of the atrocities happening in the DRC. Imagining  such a thing happening to my family makes me feel as if I'm about to throw up. It's too horrific to fully comprehend. I don't know if I could face watching Unwatchable.

Worldpress.org has a concise yet thorough article on the war in the DRC.
Women for Women International  is an incredible programme that is helping to empower female survivors of war with skills to earn a good living, as well as counselling. Even if I can't make donations, I hope that telling people about what is happening in the DRC will help in some small way.

Superfreakonomics is blowing my mind

Superfreakonomics is the sequel to the incredible book Freakonomics (by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner).

Chapter 5, titled What do Al Gore and Mount Pinatubo have in Common?, has blown most of what I thought I knew about global warming and saving the environment right out of the water. For example: when I first read about being a ''locavore''(a person who eats only locally grown food), I thought it was a great idea. But - being a locavore can be worse for the environment than eating imported food. According to a recent study by Christopher Weber and H. Scott Matthews, buying food grown close by ''increases greenhouse gas emissions.'' The reason? Almost all the greenhouse gas emissions that come from producing food come about during production. Smaller farms are less efficient than bigger farms, and ''transportation represents only 11 percent of food emissions''.

I don't believe that I should stop eating locally grown food - instead, I think that I should try to find out how the food is produced (I know this might be difficult to find out), and how the production process affects the environment.

One of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard

Recently I listened to  Finnish band Apocalyptica for the first time. They play cellos metal-style, which creates an incredible sound. This song is a cover of Metallica's Nothing Else Matters.

Injustice

This story appeared a few weeks ago, but it's stayed on my mind. A Pakistani woman may be hanged for blaspheming. I think that this punishment is far, far too harsh. Saying something objectionable does not justify the possible execution of Asia Bibi, who is a wife and mother. Read the full story here.