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Dates - Blog Posts
NaruHina + Ichiraku Ramen ♥ BONUS:
*spends an hour researching calendar dates, doing weird math, and revising a huge part of my story*
Me: Wait, what was I doing?
Me: Oh, yeah!
*Googles where commas go in dates*
World Water Day is celebrated internationally on March 22. Declared by the UN 25 years ago, this day annually focuses on our most important resource: water. But damaged ecosystems, water pollution, and climate change are hurting the supply. The 2018 theme for World Water Day is how we can use natural solutions to solve modern-day challenges. Replanting forests and protecting water-based ecosystems will balance the water cycle. Recycling and reusing wastewater can provide energy and water to urban areas. Solutions are everywhere, and its time we started looking for them.
We use water in our homes to drink, cook, and clean with. But 95% of water is used outside the home, for agriculture, industry, and textiles. The rising population in our developing world requires more water than ever. In a decade, we might need twice as much water as Earth can supply.
In places like Cape Town, South Africa, droughts are breaking records held for over a century. The city awaits “Day Zero,” when, likely this summer, it will shut off it’s taps. My youth choir has the chance to travel on international goodwill tours every other summer. Last August, we traveled to South Africa, spending two out of our three weeks in Cape Town. The drought had been going on for years at that point; shower times were limited to two minutes, and every public building we performed in had signs reminding us to conserve water. When “Day Zero” comes, Cape Town’s schools, libraries, and homes won’t have running water. Until it rains, residents will have to get their water by other means. I don’t want to think about such a catastrophe happening here in Boston.
So what can you do? Water woes are endless, and go way beyond a few plastic bottles. But here’s some small steps (shameless plug lol) to help you conserve our most important resource.
Buy less. As goods travel around the world, so does the water that made them (metaphorically, of course). Buying one less shirt or cooking pot can save up to 700 gallons on another continent. By changing your habits, you can have a global impact.
Flip the Switch. Water is used to prepare coal, extract oil, and build solar panels. The energy that lights your homes is the top user of water, after agriculture. So conserving electricity is a double pat-on-the-back for you.
Go (Part-time) Vegetarian. A single burger uses up to 600 gallons of water. Taking meat off the menu one or two days a week will cut down on your water footprint (so to speak). So if you’ve grown up in an Italian household like mine where vegetarianism will get you disowned, no problem: a part-time no-meat diet will do.
& Now the Basics… Turn off the faucet overtime you brush. I know you’ve heard it before, but you can save up to 4 gallons every time you brush. Thats almost 3,000 gallons a year.
Today, over 2 billion people are living without clean drinking water at home, and over half of them draw from contaminated sources. 663 million people spend countless hours each day trekking and queuing to distant sources, effecting their health and education. Since our actions have a direct impact on the global supply, celebrate your World Water Day by spreading the word about these issues and the many ways to solve them.
It’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day, everyone! Today we honor the legacy of one of the most inspiring and dedicated leaders of the Civil Rights Movement.
Before the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, racial segregation was a part of daily American life. MLK Jr. saw the injustice in this, and wanted to fight against it. A preacher and an activist, as well as a loving husband and father, he dedicated his career to improving the lives of African-Americans. Sit-ins were jeered and people were arrested, but Mr. King continued his work. He encouraged many Americans, black and white, to fight for racial equality. In the end, they succeeded. Today we honor this man’s life, and the effect his message has had on America. The right’s and opportunities of this great country should never be denied to anyone - Martin Luther King Jr. helped teach us that.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (simplified form):
We Are All Born Free & Equal. We are all born free, with our own thoughts and opinions. We should all be treated the same.
Don’t Discriminate. These rights are everybody’s, regardless of our differences.
The Right to Life. We all have the right to our lives, and to live in freedom and safety.
No Slavery. Nobody has the right to subject us to slavery. We cannot make another person our slave.
No Torture. Nobody has the right to hurt or to torture us.
You Have Rights No Matter Where You Go. I am a person just like you.
We’re All Equal Before the Law. The law is the same for everyone, and it must treat us all fairly.
Your Human Rights Are Protected by Law. We can all ask for the law to help us when we are not treated fairly.
No Unfair Detainment. Nobody has the right to put us in prison or send us away from our country without good reason.
The Right to Trial. If we are put on trial, it should be in public. The people who try us shouldn’t let anyone tell them what to do.
We’re Always Innocent Till Proven Guilty. Nobody should be blamed for doing something until it is proven. When people say we did a bad thing we have the right to prove it is not true.
The Right to Privacy. Nobody should try to harm our good name. Nobody has the right to come into our home, read our letters, or bother us or our family without a good reason.
Freedom to Move. We all have the right to go where we want in our own country, and to travel as we wish.
The Right to Seek a Safe Place to Live. If we are frightened of being treated badly in our own country, we all have the right to go to another country to be safe.
Right to a Nationality. We all have the right to belong to a country, and to be granted citizenship.
Marriage and Family. Every grown-up has the right to marry and raise a family if they choose to. Men and women have the same rights when they are married and when they are separated.
The Right to Your Own Things. Everyone has the right to own things or share them. Nobody should take our possessions from us without a good reason.
Freedom of Thought. We all have the right to believe in what we want to believe, to have a religion, and to change it if we wish.
Freedom of Expression. We all have the right to make up our own minds, to think what we like, to say what we think, and to share our ideas with others. The Right to Public Assembly. We all have the right to meet others and to work together peacefully to defend our rights. Nobody can make us join or leave a group if we don’t want to.
The Right to Democracy. We all have the right to take part in the governance of our country. Every grown-up should be allowed to choose their own leaders and to vote.
Social Security. We all have the right to affordable housing, medicine, education, and childcare. We all have the right to enough money to live on and medical help if we are ill, old, or disabled.
Workers’ Rights. Every grown-up has the right to do a job, to have a fair wage for their work, and to join a trade union.
The Right to Play. We all have the right to rest from work and to relax.
Food and Shelter for All. We all have the right to a good life and necessary goods. Mothers, children, people who are old, unemployed or disabled, and all people have the right to be cared for. Everyone should have access to what they need to have a good life.
The Right to Education. Education is a right. Primary school should be free, so that all young people can get an education. We should learn about the United Nations and how to get along with others. Our parents and guardians can choose what we learn.
Copyright. Copyright is a special law that protects one’s own artistic creations and writings; others cannot make copies without permission. We all have the right to our own way of life, and to enjoy the good things that art, science and learning bring.
A Fair and Free World. There must be proper order so everyone can enjoy rights and freedoms in their own country, and anywhere else.
Responsibility. We have a duty to others as well as ourselves, and we should protect others’ rights as well as our own.
No One Can Take Away Your Human Rights.
In December of 1948, the United Nations officially adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as Resolution 217 at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris, France. It was created to ensure safety, security, and freedom for all people. At the time, there were 58 members of the UN. 48 voted in favor, with zero opposed, while eight abstained and two didn’t vote. The articles were drafted by representatives from all over the globe, from all backgrounds, and the document has been translated into over 500 languages since.
The United Nations was founded after WWII, in 1945, to ensure that such a horrific conflict would never again occur. In San Francisco, CA, 51 countries gathered to sign the Charter, officially creating the United Nations. Out of the 247 existing countries and territories, 193 are currently part of the UN. It’s objective is to protect everyone’s human rights, support sustainable development, and provide humanitarian aid and resources. Since then, it’s members and volunteers have been working with governments worldwide to maintain international security and peace.
Each of these rights is important, and serves a purpose to benefit the lives of all people. Everyone is entitled to each of them, and is therefore an equal of everyone else. We’re all a part of the larger human race, and must respect and be kind to each other regardless of who we are and where we come from. Our differences make us who we are, and what makes this planet, 7 billion strong, so diverse and beautiful. It’s our job to give back to others.
October 11 is National Coming Out Day! Happy day to all those in or out of the closet - you are valid no matter what. I’m grateful we have a day to recognize these milestones, both in our lives and as members of the LGBT+ community.
(P.S. I know I’ve posted like three times in less than a week, but allow me to lower your expectations to once a week updates. For my sanity, il mio amore)
Real Indian Mango Chutney - Chutney
Relationship Advice
Sooooooo, this is gonna be long but I need opinions and such. Somebody help me lol. I need thoughts and opinions.
Okay so the situation, I’ve been dating a guy for awhile now. Our first day was the day before Halloween and we have been hanging out/going on dates almost every single day since then. In Decemeber, I asked him if we were exclusively dating at this point b/c we had never talked about our relationship/status it just was and still is. He said he was considering us exclusively dating since the very beginning but in terms of bf/gf terms it was too soon for him to say. I was okay with that, as long as I got confirmation that we weren’t dating other people. Never talked about it again until recently, he comes over my house all the time and we hangout/watch movies/talk so I asked again since it’s now February if we were on bf/gf terms and he said yes, at this point it would be crazy not to call each other that. He’s the one who initiated the buying of gifts for Christmas, I thought it would be too soon to buy each other presents and he got me another “early” gift for valentine’s day and plans to get me more. But the thing is that he’s met my parents and my siblings and close family but I’ve never met his. I’ve only met his best friend and the bff’s fiancé, I think he’s worried about me meeting his mom since she’s a religious fanatic and has talked about how Jesus has come to her in her dreams telling her it’s time for her to come “home” and she burned his Supernatural poster in his room when he was out because she thought it looked satanic. I want to ask him why/if he wants or when I should meet her since things have been pretty serious. I just don’t know how to bring it up, I don’t want to be the person who is always asking these questions in the relationship but I am. I feel like it makes me seem needy or somethin but I really want to know and my closest friends are asking why I haven’t met her yet since he’s met mine and gets invited/comes to family events/gatherings and I don’t have a good answer for them.