#if you can’t donate then please use your platform and speak up about the atrocities that are happening in palestine as we speak

[numberonechoptopfan]

I'm Doreen from Gaza. Am sorry for sending you this request without your permission. My house was destroyed in the war, and my family lost everything. We've been displaced multiple times, but there's no safe place here. I'm battling Type 1 Diabetes and can't afford insulin, and my mother needs treatment for kidney failure outside Gaza. Any donation, no matter how small, can help us survive and get my mother the care she needs. A friend outside Gaza is helping with the donation program. Please reach out if you need more details.

i’m so sorry to hear that you have lost everything due to the war, doreen.

thank you for reaching out, i will do everything i possibly can in order to make sure that you and your mother receive the proper care that you both need and deserve.

i urge everyone who sees this post to please, use your humanity and donate to doreen’s cause. if you are unable to donate, please use your platform and spread awareness about the atrocities that are currently happening in palestine/gaza as we speak. 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸

[timobeechalamet]

i know we all come here for escapism, relaxing, banter, maybe having a chat - but please let’s take a moment to talk about what’s happening in sudan.

if you’re not familiarised with the issue, there has been a peaceful protest going on for weeks now, in which civilians were fighting for a democracy (something we in the west take for granted. go vote.) the people successfully managed to get the president to resign, and the power was handed over to a transitional military council which was supposed to take charge while they made the transition to a democratic system. instead, the council and other militias have turned against the civilians and the army. what this means is that for the past few days hundreds of people have been beaten, killed and their bodies dumped in the nile. public spaces, in particular schools and hospitals, are being looted and burned to the ground sometimes with people inside. dozens of men and women have been raped; amongst them 2 doctors who were helping the wounded in a makeshift hospital and a 6 year old girl who was gang raped in a mosque during eid celebrations. these are the stories that we know, let alone all of those that go unnoticed.

i might sound crude or harsh but there’s no sugar coating these atrocities that are being committed on our doorstep and to which we - as a society - have once again decided to turn a blind eye on, because they “don’t concern us.” you open your typical news outlets and you’ll find articles about football and some other irrelevant shit. for me, it just so happened that one of my friends is sudanese and suddenly she was desperately sharing information and posts on her insta stories about a conflict i hadn’t even heard of. thankfully we’ve got social media and people have taken upon themselves to spread awareness, but the internet has been mostly shut down in sudan for a few days and it’s hard to access information.

i was reading up on all of this last night and i went to bed thinking about the amount of suffering we inflict upon each other, thinking that we truly are our worst enemies. feeling once again so powerless and useless and the worst part is i’m 20 and this is a feeling i’ve grown accustomed to and familiar with. but then i realised that i’ve got this platform where i can share things with thousands of people and this really feels like a responsability now. if all of my followers donated $1 we’d make enough money to potentially save a lot of lives. and i understand not everyone is in a position to make donations, but please consider going without coffee for a day or packing yourself lunch instead of eating out or skipping drinks after work. and if you really can’t, please share this post so it’ll reach someone who maybe can, and talk about it. speak up. spreading awareness is key in these situations - looking back to certain historical events, so many nations and people have excused themselves by saying they couldn’t have known. that doesn’t work anymore when everything is a click away. honestly this is a really fucked up era we’re living in, but we can choose which side of history we’re in. links below x

Bank transfer donations

GoFundMe

Sudan Crisis Explained

Updates and info

UNICEF statement

[mccarsonsmind-blog]

Technology in my opinion is such a wonderful gift in today’s world. I don’t know how many times I’ve said that I would have loved to have the tech tools and toys we have today when I was growing up. I’m the nerd that has camped out at Apple Stores and always thinks I have to get the first of whatever new hot product is being released next, so when I say I’m really in to it, I’m not exaggerating. Unfortunately, when it comes to many things that go hand in hand with new phones, tablets, etc., I have very mixed or maybe even negative feelings. I guess my biggest complaint is the whole social media hype. Now please don’t take this out of context and know that I’m not hating on social media as a whole by any means and feel that as a whole, it’s been a great tool and if utilized correctly can produce some fantastic results in several aspects in the professional world as well as personally. Of course, with every great thing, there’s always a downside. The following are just a few ingredients that I feel contribute to the “downside” of social media and in some cases, have the potential to give the whole platform a negative stigma. These things that I speak of are not just my feelings or thoughts, they are real life experiences or extended observations and research. The first and probably more bothersome of the two negatives I find with the social media addiction is the many people who seemingly become instant advocates for the less fortunate or maybe they suddenly become a “voice” or spokesperson” for an injustice or atrocity that they recently read about via social media of course. Now I say instant advocates or spokesperson totally out of sarcasm and without any belief at all that these people would comprehend advocacy anyway. I’m talking about these people (we all know one or many) who see something sad, unfortunate, or maybe an injustice and make a comment or post something on their social media account in reference to whatever it may be. After doing this they get all of these likes and thumbs ups or whatever it is, basically they get patted on the back as if they just saved a small village from a pack of hungry lions. My question or complaint really is why? Why are people encouraging and cheering for someone who just made a comment about something sad or wrong. I mean of course most humans don’t enjoy seeing others suffer so when did a person become a hero for saying how sad it is for someone to be homeless or whatever it may be? This person is no hero at all!!! In fact, this person is worse than the person who says nothing about whatever it may be. My point is, if you want to do something to help and really feel bad about all the less fortunate the surrounds us everyday, next time your walking down the street posting about the sad homeless person, put your phone in your pocket and pull out some cash and give it to the homeless person you just walked by, looking the other way. I mean seriously people, stop encouraging this behavior. If you want to help or feel so passionate about something, donate or volunteer and REALLY make a difference. Practice what you preach, I guess is one way of putting it. You are NOT special because you posted a comment or reposted something referring to someone in need or in pain. You are NOT a hero and don’t deserve a pat on the back because you have done NOTHING! Now don’t misunderstand who I am speaking about. I’m not referring to the individuals who want to make the public aware of a tragedy or injustice, usually those people are not only bringing awareness but they are taking action or providing some type of assistance. I’m referring to the “false advocates” that ignore atrocity when exposed to it but will happily repost a comment about how sad it is. Stop encouraging these people!!! To encourage them or “like” their insincere comment is only saying that it’s okay to not actually do anything about the world’s issues because posting a comment about how sad it must be is basically just as good. One more thing on this, if you do decide to actually do something rather than write a comment, do it and keep it to yourself. Don’t post your good deed for everyone to see. Seriously, you will be rewarded one day, you don’t need all the attention and reassurance for doing something that we all should be doing anyway which is serving others when and if we are able to do so. Social media isn’t supposed to be a platform to boost or grow our egos and create false impressions of ourselves, at least I don’t think it is. For those that feel otherwise, I will enlighten you to this, you are only a hero and superstar in your own mind when it’s all said and done. The second behavior flaw that I’ve observed with social media is the false sense of popularity or hope that people get based on their social media account. Seriously, when people start believing that the number of “virtual friends” or “likes” they have determines their personal success or popularity in life is, for lack of a better term, just pathetic. Again, I say this from my own experiments on social media in addition to much observation and research. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t really believe at one time that I actually had over 1000 friends that really liked me and thought I was a cool guy, but I’m a realistic person who sees things for what they really are and not how they virtually are. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case with many. These people who have realistic and virtual lines blurred are often publicizing their relationship issues, personal problems, family drama, and information that should otherwise not be broadcasted to hundreds, thousands, and sometimes more, just depends on how dirty or how entertaining it might be. Here’s the thing, these aren’t just teenagers doing this, I’m talking about grown men and women, professional, educated people in many cases! Why can’t these people see that this behavior has so much potential to result in humiliation, heartbreak and often even more destructive consequences? I mean really?!? Does it take a genius to realize that the majority of your “virtual” friends probably hardly know you to start with and to disclose such personal and private information about yourself or your family’s life is nothing but entertainment or a reason for these people to pass judgement on you? Maybe I’m wrong, but it just doesn’t seem like that’s a healthy and productive way to overcome or solve one’s personal and private matters. Sure their going to get feedback, comments, and attention from doing this and maybe that’s what they are starving for and genuinely need, but they have to know that very little of the response they receive is sincere! I’m not saying it’s all bad and it doesn’t have it’s positive aspects in some rare circumstances. I’m speaking primarily about the single guy or girl who dates someone for a few days and posts about how they’ve met an angel and they’ve finally found the “one” so perfect! Within 30 days they are posting how they just can’t understand how anyone could be so hateful and mean and thoughtless, all men or women are spawns of satan and they’ve never been so hurt in their life, and they will never love again. Then the exact same scenario is often repeated many, many times over the years. I mean do people not see what they’re doing? If you are doing this and think that you aren’t being mocked and judged by all these “friends” you think you have, you are sadly mistaken. Here’s some free advice, just because you have a high number of friends in the virtual world does not, by any means, reflect that you have a high number of friends in the REAL world, and that is okay. Believe me one or two true friends is 1000x better than the hundreds of fake virtual friends! Just use good judgement on the material that you broadcast to the world and remember, not everyone is concerned about or cares about the same things that you care about and I assure you, your issues will work out just fine and without prejudice if you handle them with faith, prayer, and talk with your real friends in private. Your personal problems are called “personal” problems and not “public” problems for a reason. When you broadcast on social media, it goes from your personal problem to others entertainment or fun. It’s unfortunate but many people in our society find joy in hearing about others downfalls or mistakes. Don’t feed these people, let them watch the news or read a magazine at the grocery checkout to get their satisfaction. You are better than that and I promise you can get thru whatever it is your dealing with by praying, having faith in God, and leaning on the few real friends that God has blessed you with. Disclosure This is by no means a bash on social media or anyone who is on social media. Hopefully this article will be taken, not as an insult to those who participate on social media, but as a caution or wake up call to those who have a false sense of what social media is and more importantly what it has made you think you are or are not. I personally think there are many positive uses for social media such as business networking, public awareness, advertising, communicating, organizing, and providing information. There’s a fine line in some cases I guess, so don’t let that line get blurred.