My Little Soap Box

If I was on the TV reality show Celebrity Apprentice, my charity would probably be one that fights teen violence and bullying. Whether its AIDS awareness, gay rights, cancer research or helping the homeless... we all have an issue we're willing to get on a soap box for. This is mine. I've already served up one blog entry about the need for teens to establish a "digital line" and I'm sure similar issues concerning this broad topic will continue to creep in here.


If you've been living underneath a rock, you may not have heard about the altercation between entertainers Chris Brown and Rihanna. As this story developed, I felt the need more and more to write a blog about the situation.


What first made me want to add my two cents about the situation was the out pore of SUPPORT for Brown and his actions against Rihanna. According to the LA Police Department Report, Brown allegedly choked, bit and repeatedly punched Rihanna on the eve of the Grammy's. Recently, the Boston Public Health Commission released survey results from 200 teenagers. 46% of them said Rihanna was responsible for what happened to her. The idea that so many young people in this country think there is any reason for a man to choke, bite, punch and threaten another human being, let alone a woman is shocking and disgusting. In a world where 1 in 4 teens experiences some kind of sexual, verbal, emotional, or physical abuse, parents and youth leaders need to ask themselves where they've gone wrong.


Now everyone, from Oprah to Donald Trump, is weighing in. The general consensus: it's time to open up a dialogue about teen violence. And I've found a great web site that does just that...

It's called DoSomething.org. This site helps teens take a stand about a wide range of issues, including violence and bullying. In addition to showing teens 10 ways they can take a stand against teen violence and providing resources on how to have a healthy relationship, the site has also sponsored a video that uses the LAPD Police Report to re-enact what exactly happened between Rihanna and Chris Brown. I believe this video shows teens this was truly a horrible act and something no one deserves. I won't post the video here because of its graphic nature, but if you are so inclined, you can view it here.

Other notable web sites that help end dating violence and violence against women:

Break The Cycle

UNITE To End Violence Against Women
VDAY

National Archives Experience

Okay, here's one for you history buffs. The Digital Vaults. This site has all kinds of cool documents, everything from the U.S. Constitution to UFO siting investigations.

Personally, I like the photos. It's extremely addicting, a quality I believe should be in every good web site. Not only can you browse topics you enjoy, you can also try your hand at the Pathways Challenge. The game tests your visual and historical knowledge by asking you to search through the archives for certain materials. I'm not really a history "know it all," so I started out on the beginner level. I think the game breaks down all the site has to offer. All the different materials can feel overwhelming sometimes, and this game simplifies things. If it's your first visit to the site, I definately recommend starting there. Here are a few photos I enjoyed:

Here's a photo of Eleanor Roosevelt, before she became a First-Lady,

Survivors of the Titanic and a 70's Bridal Party.

Now, here's what really caught my attention about this site: the create tab. You can take all your favorite images, themes or time periods and create videos and posters. I created a simple video for you to check out about World War II here.

Talk about a great tool for history projects. I could have totally used this in my high school AP History class.

Free Rice Free Vocab

Today I want to tell you about a site that you can literally sit at all day long and not feel guilty. It's called Free Rice. You may have heard about it before, but nows the time to visit. Free Rice asks you a series of vocabulary questions and for every one you get right a donation of 10 grains of rice is made to the United Nations World Food Program. 10 grains may seem like a small amount, but since its conception in 2007 this site has generated over 60 billion grains of rice. The rice is paid for by the web sites sponsors, including From Hunger To Hope, the World Food Programme and private donors.

But this site doesn't just give you a lesson in vocab. You can also brush up on a lot of other subjects. Including many different languages, famous paintings, chemistry symbols, geography, grammar and basic math.

It's almost like those brain tool commercials you see on TV. You know the one's where the goal is to decrease your brain age... But I digress...

This is a site I have bookmarked and one I try to visit every day. In 5 minutes I donated 190 grains of rice to someone who needs it, and in the process I learned ophidian means snake-like and intenerate is just another word for soften.

One Site Leads To Another

I was going to write this next entry about an awesome music site called Pandora, but then I found Imeem. Both sites are Internet radio stations that customize play lists to your own personal genre. If you're looking for a site that will mix things up for you, go the Pandora route. Pandora takes one song or artist you like and builds a play list with similar music styles. I like to listen to Pandora when I have friends over and want music playing in the background. It makes great party mixes that you can just let run all night long.

But I think Imeem has the upper hand here. Imeem does everything

Pandora does, but it lets you pull up any song you want at any time. If you wanted to hear your favorite song, you can request it in Pandora, but there's no guarantee the song will play.

But with Imeem the instant gratification is easy.

All you have to do is a simple search of your favorite song and there

it is. You can even pull up entire albums from your favorite artist. That's because Imeem is the only music streaming site that has song rights from every major record company. For a girl who recently lost all her music when her computer crashed... this site is ideal. It lets me listen to all the songs my computer swallowed. Plus, not only does it let me listen to my favorite tunes... I can also buy and download my favorite albums or singles directly from the site. The downside to Imeem: mini commercials between songs. But personally, I think it's worth it.