The Abandoned City of the Chernobyl Disaster | Pripyat, Ukraine
Pripyat, Ukraine – once home to 50,000 people was swiftly abandoned immediately after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 (Wiki).
For the past 22 years the city has been totally uninhabited with the exception of a few (about 300 or so) elderly people who returned to their homes in surrounding villages.
Today Pripyat remains an empty and dreary desert of concrete, wild animals, and rampant flora. There are plants busting through pavement to reach the sky and wild horses roam free through vast open fields…untouched for 22 years by manking, perhaps for the better.
These are some photos I pulled together from various sources around the interwebs – enjoy!
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Cuba’s Reforms, Solidarity in Latin America, and Declining US Influence
Raul Castro has officially been president of Cuba since February 25, 2008, when his brother Fidel Castro stepped down from the post for good. Just before retiring from his presidential post Fidel ensured his nation that “this is not my farewell” – and even today there is no doubt that Fidel’s influence remains significant, if not compulsory. That said, Raul Castro is making a lot of changes to the the way Cuba operates – we’re witnessing a slow departure from communism and the simultaneous introduction of capitalism into Cuba’s economy – quite similar to the situation in China.
Domestic Reforms.
Some recent changes include the legalization of cell phone usage throughout Cuba, increasing the amount of state land available to private farmers, and the allowance of some citizens to seek title for their homes. Perhaps one of the most impressive moves was today’s announcement that Cuba is abandoning the egalitarian ‘same wage for all’ scheme – now all workers will be entitled to compensation based on skill and performance – an essential component of free market capitalism.
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What’s Killing Children? Diarrhea – Policy, Sanitation, and Handwashing
Global Handwashing Day, October 15, 2008. A brilliant idea being implemented by the right organization, the United Nations. With diseases flourishing and spreading at a rampant pace throughout the developing world this initiative comes at a most critical moment.
In the U.S. and other ‘developed’ nations diarrhea is something we treat with over the counter (OTC) medications and very rarely seek medical attention – the problem just goes away and one returns to ‘regularity.’ Well, this is not the case in the third-world, where diarrhea is a real threat – it’s a fatal disease; in fact, it is the second most common cause of death for children under the age of five. Globally, about 2 million child deaths (children under five) occur every year. (UNICEF)
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DC Single Container Beer Ban, Even-handed or Unfair
Several wards in Washington DC have finally decided to pass legislation that bans local stores from selling single containers of beer. This means that residents will not be able to walk into their local shop and purchase a bottle of beer – instead they’ll have to buy a multi-pack. Community leaders that support this ban are hoping to see a decline in curb-side drinking and a huge litter reduction. It should be noted that retailers can appeal and gain exception to the legislation if they have a good enough reason.
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Reborn Babies, Real Dolls, and the People Who Buy Them
As a child I watched on as my grandmother meticulously maintained and added to her collection of figurines and dolls. It’s not like grandma didn’t have anything to do with her time – it seemed as though all she did was cook, clean, and entertain guests. I thought her obsession with dolls was strange…until I learned about two strikingly life-like dolls that have both enjoyed television specials on BBC America. I’m talking about Real Dolls and Reborn Babies.
These dolls are made my a select few niche manufacturers, and likewise, they are purchased by a very specific type of customer. The people that buy these dolls don’t buy them to decorate their bedrooms, they use these realistic-looking rubber creations to replace their real-life counterparts…human babies and women.
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Cause-Specific Websites: The Flood Gates are Open
A couple weeks back I introduced the new nonprofit social startup Causecast.org. I have since learned of two great websites that put Causecast back in the ‘contender’ category – because they have been around a lot longer and both enjoy a substantial amount of members.
In fact, SocialVibe.com and Ammado.com share many of the same ’causes’ . Both websites provide visitors with a wide selection of nonprofits to follow. SocialVibe wins my vote as the most efficient, usable, and well-designed website. The website allows you to ‘join’ as many causes as you wish – once you join a cause you can contribute to the nonprofit’s SocialVibe community by submitting donations, uploading multimedia (photos, videos), writing in a cause-specific forum, and finally, you can share the nonprofit’s SocialVibe page on other social networks (MySpace, Facebook, etc.). The ‘One Laptop Per Child’ cause has a well-utilized page on SocialVibe.
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Pakistan, Motivation to Succeed, and US Intervention
There is no doubt that the US has been earning itself a poor international reputation…and this most recent decade of bad PR has definitely helped to negate just about everything ‘good’ the US has sponsored throughout the world. For example, USAID is one of the main reasons behind the success of two of Pakistan’s most elite business schools, including the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). It is also the source of funding for efforts to improve maternal health and water quality – just two of the terrible ailments that keep the bulk of Pakistanis at the very bottom of the pyramid.
There are many potential reasons for the current dilapidated state of the nation, in fact, the left, right, conservative and liberal populations often have overlapping theories. Each political party selects facts that appreciate their respective agendas, whether it’s the sixty years of overwhelmingly out of touch rule, a consistently increasing percentage of poverty (currently at least 25%), or the shameful 50% adult literacy rate – all ideas seem to point to a consistently increasing divide between the upper class (ruling class) and lower class (majority).
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Youtube launches ‘In My Name’ video project for poverty elimination
Today, Youtube launches a new philanthopic effort aimed at addressing the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MGDs) to end global poverty. Starting today, through November 1st, site visitors throughout the world will be able to submit videos of themselves addressing a local and/or global poverty-related issue.
If executed effectively the ‘In My Name’ project will prove to be one of the most effective povert-related campaigns ever executed, both online and offline. Youtube’s massive reach (estimated 73.5 million per month) is the main reason for the campaign’s inevitable success. Today’s teens and young adults are spending more of their free time online than watching tv and reading magazines – if any youth-focused marketing campaign is to prove effective it must have a substantial online component. The youthful and tech-saavy demographic that accounts for the majority of Youtube’s daily audience is a huge plus on its own.
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Strategic Philanthropy: Often Overlooked, Corporations & Nonprofits Both Cash In
Cause Marketing, Corporate Citizenship, Corporate Responsibility — these are todays keywords. Partnerships between nonprofits and for-profit companies can create highly successful campaigns that ensure gains for both organizations. This also works when nonprofits team up with high-profile celebrities to work on specific campaigns.
Nonprofit organizations, constantly suffering a limited amount of resources, benefit from capital funding as well as the image of the partner corporation. Corporations stand to improve their reputation as socially responsible enterprises while developing priceless emotional connections with their stakeholders.
Lately we’ve seen prominent celebrities attaching their names and faces to nonprofit campaigns…these campaigns have in turn achieved levels of brand awareness that rival that of today’s most prominent corporations. Examples of celebrity-cause partnerships are Bono and Product (Red); Angelina Jolie and UNICEF; and who can forget Lance Armstrong and his own cancer fighting organization LiveStrong.
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Chrysler’s Jedi Mind Trick: “Let’s Refuel America” – $2.99 per Gallon Gasoline Guaranteed for Three Years
Chrysler’s new campaign “Let’s Refuel America” gives customers that buy one of its cars a guarantee that will ensure them gasoline at $2.99 per gallon for the next three years (CarReview.com, 2008). This is such a great idea – hats off to the marketing team that came up with this campaign. The fact is that consumers still ends up having to shell out more money since Chrysler is way behind in the fuel-efficient car category. Just check out this Consumer Reports article that breaks down the financial aspects related to purchasing a Chrysler instead of more fuel-economic cars. A consumer could purchase a hybrid Honda, which is the only company that actually turned a profit this last fiscal cycle, and save a lot more money. Besides, Chrysler has announced that it will shutdown its factories for two weeks this July just to cut costs (NPR, 2008)
That’s all fine though…the marketing was great…and even though Consumer Reports found holes in the plan I don’t think this is a tough one to push past a sizable amount of consumers. This campaign sure sounds less shady than the ‘employee pricing’ ploys.
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