REVIEW: A Look Back at My Wishlist for 2012

Tomorrow sees the end of 2012, so I'd like to look back at the wishlist I posted (duplicated below) on this blog back in January, just to see how the year panned out after all...

Here is a mix of things that I look forward to (or really hope happen) in 2012 (in no particular order):



* NO WAR IN IRAN!
OK, this is quite possibly my biggest wish for the world in 2012. The United States and its cohorts (lapdogs) must stop being global bully. The world simply cannot afford this war - thankfully no war has yet occurred with Iran, although 2013 could be quite a different story...

* More of Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert weaving their magic against the financial terrorists on the Keiser Report and all over the alternative media - and thankfully Max and Stacy, now married (what a couple they must be!), continued to rant and rave like no one else on television...all to their inimitable credit

* Wikileaks getting back to its deserved prominence of 2010 - we need them - unfortunately, the premier whistleblowing organisation in the world was very muted during 2012 - disturbingly so, perhaps?

* Julian Assange beating his extradition to Sweden/ not being found guilty for the trumped up charges against him in that country - he may (for now) have escaped extradition to the United States...I mean, Sweden...but the price he's had to pay for that 'freedom' is to be holed up like an exile in the Ecuadorean embassy in London.

* The alternative media going from strength to strength - I'm not sure about 'strength to strength,' but it certainly didn't capitulate to Orwellian media tactics either

* A 'two-tier', more corporatist Internet being stopped in its tracks! NO! Still stopped...or is on hold? For now...

* Greece declaring bankruptcy and exiting the Euro - hooray to the drachma! Neither happened, which were amongst my biggest disappointments of 2012. Instead the pathetic 'Euro project' lumbers along and Greece continues to fall to pieces...

* Sarkozy losing the French Presidential election - the diabolical Merkozy grip on the EU must cease He may have lost, and we thankfully no longer have to cringe at 'Merkozy' cuddling each other on the world stage, but getting the driest French politician in living memory instead (Hollande) is somewhat of a Phyrric victory

* Syria not going the way of Libya -Not yet, but it worsens day by day, as Western- and Islamicist and Gulf regime-backed 'rebels' hack away at what is left of Assad's regime

* A weakened military and truer democracy in Egypt - Fat chance. Morsi is cover for the Muslim Brotherhood, and now all we can do is watch Egypt slide hopelessly down the slope of grubby, fanatical Islamic fundamentalism and the joys of sharia law...what a waste of a revolution (for now)...

* The continuation and growth of the Arab Spring - Not much of a Spring this year, although the rumblings and protests do continue in Bahrain of all places... 


* Less madness in Iraq - That certainly didn't happen in 2012

* Ditto in Afghanistan - Ditto to the situation in Iraq...


* Palestine getting more recognition by the international community - Amazingly, this did occur just a few weeks at the General Assembly of the United Nations - it may only be 'observer status' but it was a BIG victory for those wanting an eventual state of Palestine

* Israel being less of the apartheid bully state it loves to be - Not a chance. Israel may be 'fighting for it's survival' amidst a sea of belligerent and frankly despotic Islamicist nations (which, let's be honest, most of them are), but that still gives it no right to oppress the Palestinians as they continued to do in 2012

* The continuation and growth of Occupy Wall Street and every other 'Occupy' movement around the world - The world economy, certainly in the United States and Europe, is very far from being out of the proverbial woods, and the middle classes continue to get eroded, but there is no denying that the OWS movement was a shadow of its former self in 2012

* Michael Schumacher winning races again in Formula 1 and proving why he's the best ever - go Michael! Alas, it was not meant to be. Not a win for the entire season, and, worse still, Michael decided to retire for a second time at the end of this season past. Thanks anyway, Michele!

* Ferrari winning races and doing a lot better this F1 season - Forza! Ummmm, 2nd in the World Drivers' Championship and second (by a mile) in the Constructors' Championship, and only three victories in the year - it wasn't an horrific year to be a tifoso, but neither was it a stellar year. How one yearns for the halcyon Schumacher-Brawn-Todt era at Maranello...

* More meaningful and practical international dialogue on climate change - Much ado was made of this year's COP held in Doha, but I remain skeptical...in fact, I really hate saying it, but I become more despondent on this issue with each passing year...

* Less environmental disasters, wherever and however possible It wasn't exactly the apocalypse in 2012, but there were still environmental disasters aplenty, great and small

* More medical breakthroughs, especially in stem cell research - Can't really comment on this, as nothing noteworthy caught my attention - however, I wouldn't presume to know if any huge breakthroughs did occur - my attention was too often elsewhere...

* Less conspicuous consumption, less greed - the planet can't take it (I can't take it) Jeez, what was I thinking to be wishing for this...?!

* Less religious fanaticism of all stripes - religious lunacy remains one of the biggest cancers in the world - Again...what was I thinking...?!

* More social and political unrest and upheaval in China - it needs it, we need it - Didn't come to pass this year - and all the more the pity for that...may those revolutions yet come

* Less stupidity, bad grammar and bad manners, thank you very much! As if!!!

Those are some of my bigger wishes for 2012.

Oh, and the American Presidential election? Who the hell cares...Yip, that pretty much summed up that...great foresight, Vittorio! ;-)

MAN OF THE YEAR 2012: BRADLEY MANNING

Courtesy of bradleymanning.org

Because his neverending imprisonment defies logic

Because his imprisonment is dangerous, dangerous, dangerous precedent

Because he is a mirror to the moral vacuity that is American power today

Because he has been held in prison for over 900 days

Because his imprisonment is a travesty of justice

Because his imprisonment is a mockery of morality

Because one doesn’t flatten a molehill with a bulldozer

Because he exposed state-sanctioned murder and cover-ups

Because his 'dereliction of duty' was a service to truth

Because he leaked those classified military documents for all the right reasons

Because he believed what he did was the right thing to do – and just

Because Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King were also named 'enemies of the state'

Because no state has the right to be that monstrously secretive

Because he should be an icon to all gay men

Because he should be an icon to everyone who believes in truth and freedom of information

Because he is fast becoming the conscience of a generation

Because he is us

For all these reasons, and many, many more, I found it inevitable and only correct that I make Bradley Manning my Man of the Year for 2012.

Unfortunately, I felt compelled to do so.

May his ordeal come to an end - very soon - and in the right and morally proper way.

CARTOONIST OF THE YEAR: Carlos Latuff

Time and time again this year and years past I have come across cartoons online that have made me laugh, piqued my interest and provoked thought.

And time and time again the confident, fully legible signature on the cartoon has read: Latuff

Carlos Latuff is the name, and drawing stunningly intelligent cartoons is his game.



Photo of Carlos Latuff courtesy of Ziomania

Latuff is a Brazilian freelance political cartoonist who has credentials that I for one consider impeccable: anti globalisation, anti-capitalist and anti-American intervention everywhere it possibly can. In fact, he is clearly a man of conscience who is anti everything that is unjust, unfair and inhumane.

Like any cartoonist worth his salt, I will allow just a few of his cartoons (all of them courtesy of the Latuff Cartoons blog) do the talking:

On the future of an Islamist Egypt:



The American obsession with guns:



The European Union being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize:




The hypocrisy of the 'anti-gay' movement (from a Brazilian publication, in which the pastor shouts out, "Cure this gay now!", and then thinks to himself, "Hmmmmm! He is cute!"):



Netanyahu and Zionist imperialism:


More on Israeli aggression:



His cartoons go on and on and on. I could dedicate entire pages of my blog just to his brilliant, often humorous and thought-provoking artwork. In fact, I could dedicate an entire blog just to that!

It is the simplicity of his lines and his unflinching manner of conveying a message that first caught my eye and continues to appeal to me, time and time again.

This is the first time that I have selected a Cartoonist of the Year for my blog. But this genius artist deserves no less.

I do so unreservedly and looking forward with much glee and anticipation to many more years of this man's outstanding wit and artistry. I cannot wait.

Viva Latuff!

Photo courtesy of Ziomania

NOT the Man of the Year: Barack Obama

Time magazine had this to say:



Ummmm, sorry Time, but you got that very wrong. Yet again. No he is not.

SENTENCE OF THE YEAR: Poached Thai

Well, at least in South Africa, the trial and sentence that most pleased me this year was that against a certain man from Thailand called Chumlong Lemtongthai. Yes, pleased me, and, yes, a Thai.

Or, to be more exact, a rhino poacher.

With the plight of rhinos being the environmental cause célébre that galvanized ordinary South Africans this year, it seemed fitting that one of the most amazing judicial decisions of the year should be against one of the heartless bastards who hack these magnificent animals for their horns so as to satisfy their own greed and the ludicrous superstitions of their clients.

Photo of a mutilated, dehorned and recuperating female rhino, courtesy of MSN News


It is not surprising that it was an Asian who was tried and found guilty in this case. Without the vociferous Oriental appetite (mostly Chinese, but also other Far Eastern countries) for rhino horn and their supposed ‘magical’ powers and other concoctions, there would be no trade in rhino horn. It’s as simple as that. Usually this barbaric mutilation of wildlife is to boost sexual prowess and other such nonsense, although in this case it was purportedly for a 'cancer cure.'

It is said that rhino horn is worth $65 000 a kilogram in countries like China, Thailand and Vietnam, making it worth more per ounce than gold.

This barbarian had taken advantage of the country's legislation which permits foreigners to hunt rhinos and then send the horns back home as part of trophy hunting' (in itself an outrageous travesty of a law which can only attract barbarians such as this and which must change in South Africa).

In the space of just seven months over two dozen rhinos had been killed for their horn due to 'special permits' obtained by this Thai 'businessman.' Rhino henchman is more like it.

The final judgement against this Thai bastard? 40 years.

Yes, 40 years.

That is more than even the mandatory sentence for murder in South Africa.

In delivering his momentous decision, the South African jurist, Judge Prince Manyathi, was quoted as stating that rhinos were a symbol of the country and the entire continent of Africa, adding that, “We cannot allow anybody to take our pride away."

Strange jurisprudential logic to equate rhino poaching with "the pride of a nation", but, I'll take a groundbreaking legal victory like this anyway it is served!




Artwork by the Wildlands Conservation Rhino Trust, courtesy of Behance

Fundisile Mketeni, deputy director general of South Africa's environment ministry said it very well: "South African citizens are serious about this. This is the heritage of the people of South Africa. It is the heritage of the people of Africa. It is the heritage of the people of the world."

You're damn right about that.

Down you go, Chumlong Lemtongthai - you, and all the other swill who dare to desecrate our beautiful and irrecoverable natural heritage.

RANT: Mors(i)ls of Egyptian Democracy

The outcome of Egypt's Arab Spring has been leaving me very uneasy for some time now. What was so exciting and so energizing for me to witness on TV and on the Internet last year, has become disconcerting and disturbing. 

Because for some time now I have realized that democracy and a 'new dawn' in Egypt has been nothing more than smoke and mirrors and wishful thinking. An excellent article by Chris Hedges posted on Monday on the Common Dreams website has offered me the insight into the Egyptian situation that I have been wanting and know that I have been missing.

Things have come to a head in Egypt with the first round voting for the country's new Constitution, which formed the basis for Hedges' article, and which is entitled. "Morsi: Egypt's New Pharaoh."


Courtesy of Carlos Latuff at Latuff Cartoons

President Mohamed Morsi has been unsettling more than just a few million people in his own country. Many liberal and progressive thinkers and activists, both within Egypt and worldwide, now know that Morsi is part of a much wider and deeper and malevolent conspiracy to achieve absolute power in Egypt - power that is anything but democratic. As Hedges reports:
"It is the story of most revolutions. The moderates, who are crucial to winning the support of the masses and many outside the country, become an impediment to the consolidation of autocratic power. Liberal democrats, intellectuals, the middle class, secularists and religious minorities including Coptic Christians were always seen by President Mohamed Morsi and his Freedom and Justice Party—Egypt’s de facto political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood—as “useful idiots.” These forces were essential to building a broad movement to topple the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak. They permitted Western journalists to paint the opposition in their own image. But now they are a hindrance to single-party rule and are being crushed."

So that is what all the 'brotherhood' on the streets of Cairo last year was a ll about - it wasn't about the brotherhood of men trying to topple the odious Mubarak regime, but the Muslim Brotherhood of men trying to topple the odious Mubarak regime. Except they were behind the scenes rubbing their hands with glee as they used their "useful idiots" and now manipulate their puppet, Morsi, to do their political bidding.
As Hedges states:
"The referendum masks the real center of power, which is in the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood. The party has no intention of diluting or giving up that power. For example, when it appeared that the Supreme Constitutional Court would dissolve the panel—stacked with party members—that was drafting the new constitution, the Brotherhood locked the judges out of the court building. Three dozen members of the panel, including secularists, Coptic Christians, liberals and journalists, quit in protest. The remaining Islamists, in defiance of the judges, held an all-night session Nov. 29 and officially approved the 63-page document."

He continues by adding:
"The draft constitution is filled with disturbingly vague language about democratic rights, civil liberties, the duties of women and the role of the press. It gives Islamic religious authorities control over the legislative process and many aspects of daily and personal life. One reason the constitution is expected to pass, apart from voting fraud, is because many liberals, secularists and Copts have walked away in disgust from electoral participation."


Hedges is of the opinion that the Brotherhood were reluctant when the Arab Spring took hold in Tahrir Square and spread all over Cairo and beyond in early 2011, only to seize the opportunity as events unfolded. I am not so sure. Hedges definitely knows his Middle East politics far better than I, but somehow I feel that the Muslim Brotherhood may have very well manipulated this whole 'Spring' far more than he thinks, probably from the very outset.
How very, very nifty and cunning of the Brotherhood. And how very stupid I feel - the gullible, naive Westerner so convinced that real, meaningful change was coming to the nation of the Nile. Stupid, naive me.

And now the Muslim Brotherhood orchestrates their grand takeover of Egyptian politics, society and life. And up in smoke will go the aspirations of a democratic, secular dawn for Egypt. Now all it seems is that an authoritarian, Islamist nightmare awaits that nation.

What a waste all of that emotion and jubilation and blood of Tahrir Square, as yet another nation is laid waste to the grubby, vicious fanaticism of religious fundamentalism.

What a great, great shame.

Do you get my point?

RANT: Guns 'n Bodies: Is It Not Enough?

Bombs went off in the Middle East this week, and many people died. Countless people no doubt died around the world due to guns and bombs and other timed explosives, and all matter of destructive man-made forces.

All of this news, day in and day out, is shocking and upsetting. Well, at least it is upsetting. How shocked can one keep being with all the constant bad news?

Yet the shooting spree this week that left 26 dead, including twenty children as young as six years of age, at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut shocked me most of all, as it no doubt did millions of people around the world.


Graphic courtesy of Yahoo! Images

It's not that the lives of mostly white American children and adults are more important than those of Afghan or Pakistani or Palestinian children and adults. It is that there is something fundamentally and profoundly sick about a single shooter entering a primary school of all things and killing children left, right and centre. It is shocking to the core - and always will be, whether it occur in Gaza or Kabul or Newton, Connecticut.

The obsession with protecting the Second Amendment right to 'bear arms' is a peculiarly and ferociously American obsession. And this week that obsession was, yet again, laid very bare, and very obscenely so.

There is NO fundamental right on this planet that affords the person to amass an armory of assault weapons and other such violent paraphernalia. Yet people will defend that right to the nth degree, and not only in the United States.

Offering protection and even unavoidable as weapons may sometimes be, but the ability to kill another human or an animal with any weapon of any type is de facto anti-life.

All the weapons and all the ammunition in the world are the very antithesis of what makes us human. They make a mockery of our humanity, and have done so since time began.

Will we ever learn? Will this bloodthirsty human race ever rise above its basest instincts? Never - after all, weapons define us. They always have.

Suffer forever the children and all the other innocents cut short by a weapon? Yes.

Do you get my point?

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Jean Baudrillard

A few weeks ago I came across this very ironic and thought-provoking quote by French sociologist and philosopher Jean Baudrillard:

"The skylines lit up at dead of night, the air-conditioning systems cooling empty hotels in the desert and artificial light in the middle of the day all have something both demented and admirable about them. The mindless luxury of a rich civilization, and yet of a civilization perhaps as scared to see the lights go out as was the hunter in his primitive night."


It does say a lot about our (so-called) civilization and the primal fears that yet remain firmly entrenched within most of us. It does for me.

Will we ever see the light?

RANT: Of Mice and Sell-Outs

A golden opportunity came and went here on the southern tip of darkest Africa. I usually don't write about South African politics because (1) it bores me to tears (2) it's hardly democracy anyway and (3) I frankly don't give a damn anyway.

But in the past few days a momentous time occurred here in this banana republic. Or, rather, it should have been momentous. What happened is that the (mis)ruling African National Congress (ANC) had their annual powwow in the city of Mangaung (Bloemfonetin to the rest of us). It was the annual meeting of all the diehard sell-outs...ahem, delegates of the ANC to choose the leader of the party, deputy leader, chief cookie maker, etc etc.

Usually it's all very boring and of absolutely no interest to me or 99.7% of the country's population, but this year was a bit more important. Because this was the year when all the incompetencies, gross corruption and general pathetic state of Jacob Zuma should have finally come to the fore and he should have had his sorry (fat) ass kicked out of being party leader and, therefore, President of this sorry country.

But, alas, it was not meant to be. Instead, the political geniuses that are the ANC cadres decided to give the decrepit twerp another chance. How typically African - 'let's keep giving the corrupt, inane and ego-driven leader just one more chance because, hey, we're all about second chances and ubuntu and all that other nonsense.'  

So, instead of waking up to a new dawn in South African politics with a more modern, forward-thinking and less populist leader like the charismatic Cyril Ramaphosa:



Photo courtesy of Forbes

Ramaphosa might be a king player in the ultra-rich black elite of South Africa and he may have become a multi-billionaire with (much) thanks to the nonsense social engineering that is black economic empowerment (BEE), but at least he has a business mind and half-decent credentials. It's more than one can say (on any level) for Zuma.

He did come second in the voting, so is now deputy-head of the party and, therefore, should now be the Vice President of this merry little republic.

Although as for that McDonalds pin on his lapel in the photo above...ahem...

We instead continue to fumble along in the stupor that is South Africa being ruled by one of the most inept, uneducated and frankly embarrassing leaders that ever walked African soil (and that is against some damn stiff competition as we all know). This is what continues to be the leader of the richest and most powerful country in Africa:





Photo courtesy of the (ludicrously titled South African site) Football is Coming Home

Yip, the above is what this nation continues to be saddled with - a populist, divisive buffoon writ large and with way too much power.

Thank you so much to the ANC delegates at Bloemfontein. The mock democracy that is that of South Africa continues to dawdle along like some child that simply refuses to pass into adolescence, never mind adulthood.

Then again, and as I always say whenever bad and rotten leadership raises its ugly head anywhere in the world: a people gets the government it deserves.

Do you get my point?

RAVE: The Sublime Works of Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer's greatest legacy must surely be the layout and design of most of the futuristic buildings of what was to become the new Brazilian capital city, Brasilia. His sublime, futuristic design included the main government buildings and parliament building itself, some of which can be seen in the photos below:




Congresso Nacional do Brasil, Brasilia - photo courtesy of Scoop Italia




Catedral Metropolitana Nossa Senhora Aparecida, Brasilia - courtesy of Chiquero



Palácio da Alvorada, official residence of the President of Brazil, Brasilia - courtesy of Chiquero

Just compare the stunning elegance and splendor of the presidential palace in Brasilia as above, and compare it to the dowdy, fuddy-duddy neo-Classical carbuncle that is the White House in Washington D.C., and you tell me which official residence you think is more fitting of a modern president. I know which one I would choose if president. Such is the foresight and sheer brilliance of Niemeyer.

Some more of his outstanding work over the decades:




Museu de Arte Contemporânea, Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro - courtesy of Wikipedia

Casino Funchal, Madeira, Portugal - courtesy of Wikipedia



Olho Niemeyer Curitiba, Brazil - courtesy of Wikipedia

Tribunal Superior Eleitoral, Brasilia - courtesy of Wikipedia

Auditorio Ibirapuera, Sao Paulo - courtesy of Wikipedia 

His work just goes on and on and on...I never had any idea he was so prolific and so determined an architect (given his range and until how recently he was still designing outstanding works) until I started looking through his list of works today. 

Simply breathtaking.

If this man could not be given the plaudit of 'visionary' in his field, then who, pray tell, could be bestowed that honour.

Thankfully, though he may have passed at the advanced age of 104, his legacy will remain for all of humanity for many, many years to come.

RIP: Oscar Niemeyer

This past week saw the passing away of the brilliant Brazilian architect, Oscar Niemeyer. He was most certainly one of the most influential architects and brilliant design visionaries of the 20th century.

 Photo of Oscar Niemeyer in the 1940s - courtesy of Scoop Italia

Some may even argue that he was possibly the most influential and most visionary architect of them all. 

I certainly believe more and more that he could very possibly have been the most influential and most brilliant architect of the mid- to late-20th century. This I will attempt to prove with a showing of some of his best works in my next post after this one.

As quoted in Wikipedia, it is well known that Niemeyer was "most famous for his use of abstract forms and curves that characterize most of his works, and wrote in his memoirs:

I am not attracted to straight angles or to the straight line, hard and inflexible, created by man. I am attracted to free-flowing, sensual curves. The curves that I find in the mountains of my country, in the sinuousness of its rivers, in the waves of the ocean, and on the body of the beloved woman. Curves make up the entire Universe, the curved Universe of Einstein. "

He was also a committed Marxist well into his old age, which explains why he had to go into exile in Paris during the hideous fascist dictatorship that gripped Brazil from 1964. He only returned to Brazil in the 1980s once the dictatorship had been replaced by a (type of) democracy in his home country.

Not only was he a design genius, but clearly a man of conscience too. He was also an atheist his entire life, marvelling rather in the wonders of the Universe and the human mind and immense capacity and ability, as any true humanist who doesn't believe in fairytale religiosity would believe. 

Even more commendable was Niemeyer's incredible longevity. Because he died this week at the ripe old age of 104.

Photo courtesy of The Guardian UK

That's correct - 104.

He had been recently asked to what he attributed his admirable long life and tremendous vitality, to which he simply replied was his never-die, and ultimately optimistic outlook on everything in life. 

His simple philosophy in life does make a likely mirror to his relentlessly modernist, always forward-looking and, yes, undeniably optimistic design aesthetic. 

A quiet revolutionary who revolutionized the world of architecture with an eye for design that was anything but quiet, and everything that uplifted the soul and made it soar.

An atheist who may have been, but Oscar Niemeyer was surely one of the most spiritually profound architects and artists of the modern era. 

Filho do Brasil, inspiraçao de nos todos...obrigado, Snr. Niemeyer.

R.I.P.

“

RAVE: Zara's Seasonal Green

Greenpeace announced yesterday that Spanish fashion giant Zara had finally relented to pressure by the eco-activist group to commit to cutting down on its hazardous chemicals used in the making of its garments and supply chain.


 Courtesy of Greenpeace International

As reported on the Greenpeace site:

Zara, the world’s largest clothing retailer, today announced a commitment to go toxic-free following nine days of intense public pressure. This win belongs to the fashion-lovers, activists, bloggers and denizens of social media. This is people power in action.

Greenpeace campaigners began a dialogue with Zara (a brand within the Inditex group) in 2011 about eliminating releases of hazardous chemicals from its supply chain and clothes. But it wasn't until this week that the fast-fashion giant caught on to the urgent need to solve its toxic pollution problem.

Zara has now committed to eliminate all discharge of hazardous chemicals from its supply chain and products by 2020. And they're going to get rid of some of the worst chemicals, such as PFCs, even sooner. As a significant user of PFCs, Zara's commitment to eliminate this chemical group by the end of 2015 is a breakthrough.

The Detox commitment announced today covers Zara and the seven other brands in the Inditex group: Pull & Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home and Uterqüe.

I was just one of the many, many thousands of people who signed the online petition sent to me by Greenpeace, and I was really happy to see the outcome of this global petition targeted at Zara be so swift and so positive. 

I get one of these online petitions almost every other day, whether it be from or through the likes of Common Dreams, Greenpeace International, Greenpeace Africa, Avaaz and others. I diligently sign up to most of them, adding my name to the countless others from around the world. But I'm sure I'm not the only one who sometimes wonders: do all these online digital signatures and letters en masse really work??

Well, it seems that they do work. As Greenpeace pointed out in their press release about their victory with Zara:

Last Tuesday we launched the Detox campaign globally with a fashion show and press conference in Beijing. Related images and comments began to rise like a spring tide on social networks within hours of the story breaking. Zara's Facebook Page quickly filled with comments from fans calling on the company to Detox. Thousands of people began to share their desire for “fashion without pollution!” and demands for Zara to Detox on Twitter and Sina Weibo, China's leading microblogging site.

You can see who's commenting about the campaign on Twitter and Weibo in one place – people around the world speaking out in a dozen languages to a combined reach of more than 7.1m followers. On Twitter alone there were at least 43,800 mentions of Zara and the Detox campaign this week. More than 300,000 people signed up to join the campaign to Detox Zara, and many tens of thousands of people emailed and tweeted directly to the company for an ambitious Detox commitment.

Well, I for one am glad that not only were Greenpeace so successful in this Zara campaign, but that 'people power' in its most digital guise really can work...at least sometimes. 

And I will take every such victory, however small it may seem, as a major step forward for all of us....and for all the right reasons.

Do you get my point?

RANT: (Mostly) Shameful Numbers

As this is my 100th post of 2012 (and the first time I have hit the 100-post mark in a given year with this blog), I thought it only fitting that I mark the occasion by looking at some important numbers:

Here are some important numbers at this moment in time - shameful numbers at that:

455: the number of rhinos killed in South Africa this year to the end of October:

 
    Courtesy of Eye Witness News, South Africa


729:   The international barcode number designated for products from Israel:


   Courtesy of Zazzle UK


918: The number of days Bradley Manning has been imprisoned without trial:


   Courtesy of The Bean Blog


150: The number of acres of rainforest burnt every minute of every day:



 Courtesy of NASA Earth Observatory

37: Number of Palestinian children killed by Israeli attacks in 2012:



18-month-old Eyad Abu Khosa, killed in the November Israeli airstrikes - photo by Mahmud Hams, courtesy of Russia Today


0: Number of Israeli children killed by Palestinian attacks in 2012:



 Courtesy of Al-Jazeera

They are in no particular order, as they all carry their own gravitas, and there are many, many other important numbers out there. The above were just a few numbers that have caught my attention thus far this year.


But there was a good number that came out of New York City last night:

138: The number of countries who voted in favour of Palestine being granted observer status (like the Holy See has) at the UN - 41 nations abstained and only 9 were opposed (I am proud to say that South Africa, Italy and Portugal all voted in favour)


   
    Courtesy of Mondoweiss
  
There are indeed statistics, statistics and more statistics, but sometimes a number can tell the story.

Do you get my point?