Dare to be Different

Mauvreen Allan, Grade 8

In communities all around the world, bullying takes place every day. There are many different kinds; some you can see, others go on "behind the scenes." One of the most common ways in which people are bullied seems harmless but can in fact be very hurtful. This kind of bullying happens between friends, with comments directed at your clothing or style. Often, kids go to school or a friend’s house and experience negative criticism because their "friends" do not like what they’re wearing. Their friends may say things along the lines of "I'm sorry but that’s hideous, it looks like something an old person bought you." They say it in a harmless way, not thinking that it could actually hurt someone. If a friend ever says something like that to you, then maybe you need to evaluate if they’re truly your friend. Even if they say "sorry” or "don’t take it personally," it’s still extremely rude, and if it hurts you, don’t just pretend everything’s fine, call them out. Tell them it’s rude and it hurt you. Tell them you don’t care what they think about your clothes, if you like them then it doesn’t matter what other people think. They’re not the "Fashion Police." Dare to be yourself, even if it’s different from other people! If you ever see anyone being bullied or you’re a victim then tell someone, don’t just close your eyes and pretend the problem doesn’t exist. You can do something to help them or yourself. You can do something in your community to prevent bullying. Don’t just sit back and watch do, something about it; don’t help the bully by doing nothing. Maybe someone you love is being bullied and you don’t even know, maybe you’re bulling people without knowing. Every word said can have an impact on someone, negative or positive. Think before you speak. If you’re a victim, then don’t put up with bullying, you can make it stop. Tell someone or talk to the bully, don’t just hide. If you hide then that bully will not only continue to bully you, but other people, and they won’t learn to stop. Help everyone out by speaking up, whether you’re the victim or not. Help the world, save a soul.

Greenpeace Still in Russian Prison

Anika Fairholm

Wednesday, September 19th, thirty Greenpeace members were taken prisoner in Russia after peacefully protesting against the country’s oil drilling in the arctic.

Greenpeace is a non-government environmental organization. It started as a formation of peace and anti-nuclear activists in Vancouver in the 1960s and 70s, and now has offices in over forty different countries. It is one of the largest environment organizations in the world, and is known for their take-action attitude, which has sometimes resulted in the death of their members. They have dealt with issues concerning global warming, deforestation, overfishing, toxic waste, commercial whaling, genetic engineering, and anti-nuclear protests.

The situation in Russia started on September 18th when two Greenpeace activists climbed aboard an oil rig belonging to the energy company, Gazprom, and tried to hang a banner. After trying to dislodge the activists by spraying them with water cannons, the Russian authorities made an appearance and arrested the entire thirty-strong Greenpeace party at gunpoint. The party consisted of 28 activists, a freelance photographer and a freelance videographer. Two of the members are Canadian citizens, Alexandre Paul from Montreal and Paul Ruzycki from Ontario.

The activists are being held in Murmansk, Russia, and were charged with hooliganism, “a gross violation of the public order which expresses patent contempt for society, attended by violence against private persons or by the threat of its use, and likewise by the destruction or damage of other people's property,” which has a maximum sentence of seven years. A few weeks later, they added on a charge of piracy, which could push the time to ten to fifteen years. Protests were planned and carried out in forty-eight countries as Greenpeace supporters fought to free the imprisoned activists, especially in the eighteen countries from which the crew was put together, including Russia.

Many officials have attempted to plea with Russia, including Quebec’s minister of international relations, the foreign minister of the Netherlands, the Dutch foreign minister, the European Parliament, and even Russian President Vladimir Putin, who stated that “I don't know the details of what went on, but it's completely obvious they aren't pirates.”

Spokespersons from Greenpeace, government officials, and protestors have tried everything to plead their case for the activists, ranging from the fact that they are a peaceful organization, to the illegal detention of the Dutch ship that the activists were using. One of the activists, Alexandra Harris from Britain, said this in a letter to her family:

“…The blizzard blew my very poorly insulated window open and I had to sleep wearing my hat. I'm nervous about spending winter here…I should be going to court next week for my appeal, which is pointless because they have already been rejected…I'm worried about what's going to happen…”

Letters such as these have stirred many protests from the families of the activists held in Russia. However, the charges only seem to be increasing, as accusations such as “posing a threat to the oil platform”, “making an attempt on lives and health of the representatives of the authority”, “possession of narcotics”, and “illegal boarding into Russian waters”. Furthermore, the release on bail for all of the activists has been rejected, due to their supposedly dangerous nature.

The activists have been held in Russia for over seven weeks now, and rather than listening to the appeals of Greenpeace and their allies, the Russian Investigative Committee are constantly adding charges to those already existing, and refusing any chances of having the activists return to their families. Online protests and campaigns have been continually increasing in their directness as Greenpeace supporters try to free the activists in Russia. Even improving the conditions in the prison would be a victory for the supporters, as they report losing weight and being woken up by snow in their cells.

If you want to send a letter to your local Russian Embassy, please visit http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/climate-change/arctic-impacts/free-our-activists/





Sources:

http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/environment/environmental-protection/greenpeace-always-bearing-witness/greenpeace-inc.html

http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2013/10/04/greenpeace-admits-to-a-protest-against-oil-drilling-but-whats-this-about-piracy/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/greenpeace-holds-vigils-for-activists-jailed-in-russia-1.1914008

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-asks-russia-for-clemency-in-greenpeace-arrests-1.1927610

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/netherlands-seeks-release-of-greenpeace-activists-in-russia-1.1912962

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-may-add-drug-charges-to-greenpeace-piracy-case-1.1958616

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/18/letter-greenpeace-protester-russia-cell

http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/

http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/features/Greenpeace-responds-to-allegations-by-Russian-authorities/

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/features/From-peaceful-action-to-dramatic-seizure-a-timeline-of-events-since-the-Arctic-Sunrise-took-action-September-18-CET/

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-31/wife-of-australian-facing-jail-in-russia-demands-action/5061992

http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/freepaulandalexandre/

Cracking Rocks

Chris Spangenberg

Yawning Saturday came slow that week, like all preceding Saturdays and all oncoming Saturdays, typical burning wreckage in the fast lane of the suburbs. Fresh air over into lunacy, each moment driven near to desperation... And they haven't even seen the daily papers yet, picked up their lifeless phones, nor stepped out of bed with the wrong foot. But there is something terrible afoot, erstwhile conversations halt to a grind-house when the body detects the undercurrent. Flushing skin and bristling chicken hairs, lead in to rapid breathing and cue speeding heart rate, zooming down the M1 for a pack of milk and a carton of eggs. It must be oil. Only the black smear curdling in the gas tank can tear hair out, form cartels, rape oceans, and drop the dollar faster than a ton of lard. Or it's the rising influx of immigrant workers from the South, or from the East; hell, they might even be coming from outer space! Some point with hat in hand to the economy, that slump hiding under the rug, leaving no hump at all. Pressure points tethered to a cobweb of possibilities, all bad. But how strange, these ideas! Like Soylent Green without people. How so very strange indeed...

Fossils belong in museums; not in privatized gas tanks where they are grilled mercilessly and pooped through the exhaust; not in drums of steel where they gather dust; not in sentimental value jet fighters taking off to bomb the next Baghdad; not in toxic plastics which choke little children; and most certainly not in the Enola Gay that dropped the bomb. All of the above most notably, but the war machine must be fed. Its stomach roars like Jim Cramer without crack, and we are more than content to feed it. Though it looked like nukes have been in for a while now, coming up shortly to North Korea and the flat stares of Middle Eastern ambassadors shaking hands with political America. Beside the point, it has been posed that we must look for more sustainable sources of wanderlust and bloodlust and power. Sustainability, in the sense that we must sustain our Western habit of bleeding the planet dry, whilst hounding everyone else in the third world not to act the same we act so as not to disturb the delicate ecosystem of political power. Real Promethean dastardliness, the kind of bastards we'd hang out to dry... usually. But this is old news, revisited merely for the purpose of re-visitation. The only true point was that dirty pots and pans in the kitchen will still be there the following day, thus, something must be done.

That is why I propose... We need midnight oil to fuel the new world... No aerospace cubs whizzing like bees and bombing poor faceless empire ants. People have come from all over the First World to get their share and they won't leave without it. It is the most vital commodity out there this moment, right now, that one second a second ago. And that commodity is time, that of which everybody thinks they already have, like pre-purchased tickets to the show. For in this exciting age; with plenty of entertainment, ways to kill the time, and plenty information to lose your mind to, there is simply no time to do everything. No time at all; yet the presumption of an existing correlation between money and time, or time and fuel to sustain, are wrong. It is only the flashbulb condition of the world or person that is altered, not sustainability. The correlation is made in the mind, and the mind is false. We first need to differ our perimeters and physiological understanding of time, and until we have time, only then can we worry about fossil fuels and funhouses. People think they have all the time in the world. They're wrong. They only have a moment, and that moment is already over.