Teaching a man to fish

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Thursday April 16, 2009 · 12:25 PM PDT

2009/04/16 · 12:25

Everyone knows the old adage "If you give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime."

Edit: Okay, thank you everyone who commented on my usage of an inane and inaccurate cliche. I do realize that there is much more wrong with the world and poverty-stricken areas specifically other than a lack of "fishing" skills... or any other skills. I now also know that fishing is no longer a sustainable source of food. I was trying to represent the side of the story saying that the problem with poverty isn't really a lack of money, just like the problem with HIV education isn't really a lack of information. There is a lot of money in the world, and we have a lot of knowledge about HIV. The problem is... distribution. It's broken systems and people who gain by maintaining a status quo. And THAT is what I'm trying to fix.

In the spirit of that timeless wisdom, I will be travelling to South Africa this summer to provide HIV and life skills education to children and teens in an area devastated by the disease. Many of these children have been orphaned because of AIDS.

Read on to learn about my trip, why I'm going, and how you could even help!

Crayola

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Tuesday October 21, 2008 · 1:34 PM PDT

2008/10/21 · 13:34

Today I came across a video of McCain/Palin supporters at a rally in Johnstown, PA.

I know that in the past few days there have been no shortage of examples if you want to see the worst aspects of American hate. We've seen the dead bear, the slashed tires, the broken windows and death threats.

But even more disturbing, to me at least, is the level of hate among even the average supporters.

Crayola

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Thursday July 31, 2008 · 8:03 PM PDT

2008/07/31 · 20:03

You may have seen it in comments recently, but I have been working recently to convince two people very close to me to support Senator Barack Obama over Senator McCain this year. I can't say it's going terribly, but neither seems quite convinced yet.

One is my mother; the other my boyfriend.

I decided to make this diary so instead of collecting little tips in replies to my comments, people could better understand the situations and maybe help out. Who doesn't like a little problem-solving?

Poll

54 votes Show Results

Voting McCain would be:

54 votes Vote Now!

Voting McCain would be:

A bad life decision

16 votes

The worst life decison

38 votes

I saw some Obama fans... so what?

Crayola

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Monday July 28, 2008 · 8:04 PM PDT

2008/07/28 · 20:04

If I told you that yesterday I saw a bunch of people with Obama signs and stickers, you might smile, but you wouldn't be particularly surprised. Sure, it's wonderful that people are so energized by this campaign, by a Democratic candidate, by all of the other things Barack Obama in some way stands for... but it's pretty commonplace nowadays.

If you checked my profile, you'd see that I'm currently attending the University of Wisconsin, which means I'm living in Madison. You won't be surprised when I tell you there is no shortage of support for Obama here.

What if, however, I told you I saw all those Obama stickers and signs and supporters was the town of Plain, WI: Population 791?

Crayola

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Thursday April 03, 2008 · 5:02 PM PDT

2008/04/03 · 17:02

I am an independent voter. I am lucky in that sense because I live in a state (Wisconsin) with an open primary, so my not being affiliated with either party did not preclude me from voting in this primary. My parents, also, are independents, even though my dad is part of union and worked at an automotive factory that closed down this year. He voted against George W. Bush both times and pretty consistently for Democrats for president, but says that he prefers Republicans as governor.

Although many of you will probably agree, there is nothing wrong with that.

Crayola

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Monday February 25, 2008 · 12:07 PM PST

2008/02/25 · 12:07

So much has been made of Obama being the candidate who bridges deep divides in America. He is half-black and half-white. His father was an immigrant, his mother was from small-town Kansas. He's young but still has substantive experience in making policy, spanning the generation gap. He has lived in America and Indonesia. He works with Democrats and Republicans.

So many of these facets of his life are considered overwhelmingly positive traits. Yet on one issue, Obama has faced a consistent uphill battle.

Religion.

Poll

268 votes Show Results

Can atheists be good people?

268 votes Vote Now!

Can atheists be good people?

Yes. You can be moral without religion.

263 votes

No. Religion dictates our morals, if you don't have one you can't really have the other.

5 votes

Not sure.

0 votes

RSS

Teaching a man to fish

Disturbing Levels of Hate at Palin Rally

Help me Daily-Kos Kenobi; You're my only hope!

I saw some Obama fans... so what?

Independents Are Not Your Enemy

Obama's Mixed Background: On Being an Atheist in America