September 24, 2018
Mercy Day
2013 List of Further Resources #3
December 20, 2013Part Three of the Complete Selection of Further Resources published in Mercy E-News throughout 2013. If you hadn't time throughout the year to read, watch and listen to these, you might like to do so over the Christmas holidays and before Mercy E-news returns on 22 January 2014.
Note: Timebound news items, including UN observances, conferences and other highlighted events, have been deleted and monthly links to newsletters such as Stop Trafficking and LCWR have been replaced by a link to the year's issues at the end of this list on #4
JULY
Worth reading:
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| Image courtesy of winnond at FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
Millenium Development Goals. Thirteen years after the world set the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), countries have made big strides to meet the eight anti-poverty targets by their 2015 deadline, says a United Nations report released on Monday, which stresses that the unmet goals are still within reach, but nations need to step up their efforts to achieve them.
Worth Reading:
LCWR Annual Report 2012-2013: Navigating the Shifts. Read it here (PDF)
Source: LCWR
'This is a man’s world: Shock quiz results show how women are left disengaged by politics'
Men score more highly in political quiz in 10 nations because, say campaigners, they dominate the debate.
Read the article here
Source: The Independent
'...Photos, once slices of a moment in the past — sunsets, meetings with friends, the family vacation — are fast becoming an entirely new type of dialogue...' Disruptions: Social Media Images Form a New Language Online. Read the article here.
Source: The New York Times
Worth Watching:
Let's Step Up #MDGMomentum (2:39)
Released 10 days ago, this video produced by the United Nations Department of Public Information in partnership with the Millennium Campaign, shows the world's progress and the challenges that remain as we come closer to 2015. Mercy has made a commitment to supporting the MDGs. Help drive #MDGmomentum. To learn more, visit: www.un.org/millenniumgoals or watch Mercy and Justice Shall Meet.
Source: UN
Worth Watching:
-Malala Yousafzai addresses United Nations Youth Assembly
Education activist Malala Yousafzai marked her 16th birthday, last Friday, 12 July 2013 at the United Nations by giving her first high-level public appearance and statement on the importance of education.
Dressed in a shawl that had belonged to Benazir Bhutto, politician and stateswoman who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan , Malala declared 'Malala Day' to be the day of 'every woman, every boy and every girl who has raised their voice for their rights'. 'Thousands of people have been killed by terrorists, 'I am just one,' she said.
It was a moving and inspiring speech (17.43). Watch it here
Source: UN
-The History of Typography - Animated Short
Take 291 Paper Letters, 2,454 Photographs and 140 hours of work and you get...a paper-letter animation about the history of fonts and typography. Fascinating, delightful and most informative. (5:10) Watch it here
Worth Remembering:
Wellspring programme
The excellent videos and related texts from the 2013 and 2012pmonth long renewal programmes are easily accessible online. View these materials here and share your ideas about how you have or plan to use these presentations. Find them here
Worth Watching:
-A Song of Our Warming Planet
When faced with the challenge of sharing the latest climate change discoveries, scientists often rely on data graphics and technical illustrations. University of Minnesota undergrad Daniel Crawford came up with a completely different approach. He’s using his cello to communicate the latest climate science through music.
Watch it here (3:53)
-William Jefferson Clinton, keynote at the Nelson Mandela International Day
United Nations, New York, 18 July 2013 - H.E William Jefferson Clinton, Former President of the United States of America, shares his memories and his learnings of years working with and being a close friend with Nelson Mandela.
Watch it here (12:56)
Worth Visiting:
The CORI website offers a number of recent resources worth exploring including:
-Poetry in a Time of Affliction, a talk given by Paul Murray, op at the CORI 2013 AGM. Download the talk here (PDF)
Videos drawn from iCatholic including:
-Trócaire Lecture March 2013 – Br Philip Pinto cfc: " Who is My Neighbour? Building a 'Civilisation of Love' in an Unequal World" . Watch it here (45:07) or Download the talk here (PDF)
-Option for the Poor and for the Earth – Donal Dorr SPS. Donal Dorr discusses his expanded new edition of his classic study of Catholic Social Teaching – Option for the Poor. Watch it here (10:12)
Worth Watching:
The Power of Words. Watch it here (1:48)
Discover the power of transforming your own words. See Andrea Gardner's book 'Change Your Words, Change Your World' at http://amzn.to/xfrT2U
Worth Reading:
Wellbeing of the poor has deteriorated over past 15 years, says CAFOD
Research from four countries reveals the worst situations of poverty are caused by a complex web of old and new issues. Read the article here
Worth Visiting online:
The Guardian Activate Summit held on 9 July was a one-day summit for leaders across all sectors to explore how the web and associated technologies are reshaping our world. Among the kenote speakers was Helen Clark, administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and former prime minister, New Zealand, who explained how the UNDP is using technology to involve people in shaping the next global development agenda. So far, more than 700,000 people have participated in the online exercise (promoted in Mercy e-news) to help shape the post-millennium development goals. Watch the video here (21:34)
AUGUST
Worth Watching:
Remember that great animation 'The Girl Effect' from 2008? Many Mercies found out about it in a presentation made at the Bridging the Gap Conference in NY that year. Then we put it out in E-news. Didn't see it? Watch it here.
Five years on and it has been updated to reflect the current situation for girls in the global south.
After screening the updated version at the Guardian Activate Conference last month, Maria Eitel, chief executive officer and president, Nike Foundation, explained how investing in adolescent girls has a powerful impact across the world. In her talk, Maria outlined the importance of focusing upon root causes and innovation to unleash the potential of 250 million adolescent girls to help their families, neighbours and nations. Watch it here, watch her, here.(16:13).
2015. The end of poverty starts with girls. Check the website
Worth Watching:
Ilia Delio OSF
Those interested in learning more about Ilia Delio OSF in preparation for the lectures being given in ANZ might like to view the talk 'Gospel Life in the 21st Century' where Sr Ilia addresses the issue: 'What does it mean to live the Gospel life in an age that is global and plural and scientific?' This talk, given at Mt Alvernia College, Qld, Australia, is presented in 12 segments of approx 10 minutes each. Access the series of clips here.
In Every Age
This is a cover version of 'In Every Age' by Janet Sullivan Whitaker. Nicely done and when the original isn't available to view...Watch it here
Worth Watching out for in 2014
HarperOne – Harper’s faith imprint – have announced that next April they’ll publish “A Nun on the Bus,” named after the widely watched USA national bus tour Sr Simone and other Sisters launched last year to oppose US Congress member Paul Ryan’s budget plan. Sr Simone will be writing her memoirs with Catholic journalist David Gibson.
Worth getting involved:
An opportunity to participate in Alzheimer's research by taking two simple online tests. Mindcrowd are trying to reach one million participants via the internet. Check out the link to see if you would like to participate in their data collection in working towards a cure and/or early diagnosis of Alzheimer's. Visit the site here
Worth reading:
The public, the Church and asylum seekers: The 43rd Barry Marshall Memorial Lecture – Opinion – ABC Religion & Ethics (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) by Frank Brennan SJ AO. Read the article here
The article 'Unnatural Gas: The spiritual implications of fracking' by Ken Homan SJ in the latest issue of America online is worthwhile background reading for Global Frackdown Day on 19 October. Read the article here A practical example of a religious congregation opposing fracking is seen in the efforts of the Sisters of Loretto who are refusing to allow energy companies to survey their 780 acres in order to build a natural gas pipeline that would connect fracking operations in Pennsylvania with an existing pipeline that runs from Kentucky to the Gulf Coast. Read and view their efforts here
Climate Panel Cites Near Certainty on Warming. A draft of the next big report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says it’s 95-100% certain that humans are the main cause of global warming, and dismisses a recent slowdown in warming as short-term. Read the article here
Worth looking at: Forty maps that explain the world. (28) Child poverty in the developed world,(34) How people think their economies are doing, (40) The world as seen from space, over a 12-month time-lapse.
A whole new set of perspectives on the planet, from the Washington Post. View the maps here
Worth Reading:
New drilling technologies could give us so much oil, the climate won’t stand a chance. Read the article here
Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) aims to put the entire world online. Read the article and visit the website
On 25 August, the British Home Secretary, Teresa May, announced her intention to introduce a "modern slavery" bill that tightens the laws on human trafficking in an attempt to eradicate an "evil in our midst". Read the details and view the many resources on this issue on The Guardian's Trafficking page. Read the article here
"Still, God Helps You" by Melissa Pritchard
Snatched from a marketplace in Sudan and sold into slavery at the age of six, William Mawwin became one of millions of people in the world enduring some form of involuntary servitude. This is his extraordinary story. Read it here
AUGUST
Worth Watching:
Seamus Heaney: Out of the Marvellous
An intimate and original look at Nobel Prizewinner Seamus Heaney, the man and the artist, who died on 30 August. This wonderful, beautiful documentary film, made in 2009, explores the key personal relationship in Heaney's life, that with his wife Marie, and follows him to Harvard, New York and London, to readings, signings and public interviews.(Length 01:14:45). Don't miss this. Make the time. Only online for another 17 days. Watch it here on RTE
Worth Watching:
Interview with Joan Chittister
Joan Chittister OSB was profiled at the end of August on PBS TV’s Religion and Ethics Newsweekly. View that interview here (07:30) An extended interview with Sister Joan was also recorded. View the extended interview here (15:58). Anne Wambach OSB, prioress of the Erie Benedictines was separately interviewed. View her interview here (03:55)
Worth a Smile:
The Typewriter
You couldn't do this on a Mac (or Pc)!
A performance of Leroy Anderson's The Typewriter by members of the National Orchestra and Chorus of Spain in Madrid. The (typewriter) soloist is Alfredo Anaya. Wonderful entertainment. Enjoy it here (04:34)
Worth Reading:
Human Trafficking
Trafficking in persons has gained recognition in recent decades as an issue of serious international concern. But while the problem is increasingly acknowledged by the global community, there is still significant confusion about its risks and how it should be dealt with. In other words, what are the security implications of human trafficking, and how can they best be addressed? This article from the International Affairs Review (Spring 2013) addresses 'Human Trafficking: A Security Perspective'. Read the article here (21 pps)
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's Office has developed a human trafficking prevention manual. While developed to to help criminal justice professionals dismantle human trafficking operations, the manual provides significant background information on the realities of human trafficking and therefore deserves a broader audience. The manual is now online in PDF format. Download the manual here (38 pps)
Worth Looking at:
Decisions on a new global plan for ending poverty and protecting the environment must be informed by 'the grassroots experience of those facing poverty, disease, hunger and injustice', says Rowan Williams, Chair of Christian Aid and former Archbishop of Canterbury, in his foreward to the Christian Aid report published 12 September, about what should follow the MDGs when they expire in 2015.
The World We Want To See: Perspectives On Post-2015, carries commentaries by 17 Christian Aid partner organisations from Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, about the future world they want. Download the report here PDF (44 pps)
Worth Viewing:
Cosmology/Eco Justice
'Fracking explained: opportunity or danger'
What is Fracking? How does it work? What impact does it have? Uploaded only two weeks ago (3 September), this infographical instructional video has already been viewed more than one million times! Accessible viewing for secondary school (second level) students and above. Watch it here (05:04)
Worth Knowing About:
"The Fun Theory" proposes that the easiest way to change people's behavior for the better is by making the desired change a fun experience . Watch this short video to see one application of the theory. Watch it here (01:48)
Worth Listening to:
Teresa Forcades OSB has been labelled 'one of Europe's most influential left-wing public intellectuals'. This year, thousands have joined her anti-capitalist movement, which campaigns for Catalan independence, the reversal of public spending cuts and nationalisation of banks and energy companies. Read about Sr Teresa here. The BBC recorded a radio interview with Sr Teresa, played on 'Heart and Soul' on BBC World Service on 14 September. Listen to the radio interview here (26:44)
Worth Watching:
Cosmology/EcoJustice
'Do Trees Communicate?'
University of British Columbia Foresty Professor Suzanne Simard is a forest ecologist whose research focuses on how organisms living in soil – like fungi – help trees establish and grow. In 1997, Simard was part of a team of researchers that discovered that trees were connected to one another through an underground web of mycorrhizal fungi. She also helped identify something called a hub tree, or “Mother Tree.” In this video made last year, Simard shows that all trees in a forest ecosystem are interconnected... Remarkable Watch the video here (04:41)
'Dirt!
"We depend on dirt to heal and purify the systems that sustain us," so commences the narration of the trailer for Dirt! The movie. This instructive documentary film was inspired by the acclaimed book with the marvellous title Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth by William Bryant Logan. Watch the trailer here (01:46) The complete film is now available online for public viewing. Watch the complete film here (1:20:26)
Spirituality
Chagall's Jewish Jesus.
A selection of Chagall’s paintings from the exhibition “Chagall: Love, War, and Exile” at the Jewish Museum in New York: Video with commentary. A meditative experience. View it here (04:25)
Worth Learning About:
Stephen Hawking's big ideas ... made simple - video animation
What is at the centre of a black hole? What happens at the edge of a black hole? In just two and a half minutes, Alok Jha explains Stephen Hawking's big ideas. Watch it here
Worth Reading if you Haven't Seen it Elsewhere:
'A Big Heart Open to God'. This interview with Pope Francis took place over the course of three meetings during August 2013 in Rome. Read the interview here in America magazine online.
