Higher, Further, Faster: Marvel's First Female Cinematic Superhero

Introducing Captain Marvel: she’s a smartass fighting intergalactic evil. (Chris Reid and Marvel)

“Being a woman in a male-dominated industry sort of sucks, but it doesn’t suck any more than being a woman in the world. My advice? Be terrifying.” — Kelly Sue DeConnick, Captain Marvel comic book writer. 

When the Captain Marvel movie opens on March 8, coinciding with International Women’s Day, it will be Marvel Studios’s first female-superhero led film and many people will be lined up to see this much anticipated flick and to enjoy one of Captain Marvel’s trademark specialties: fighting galactic evil.

But more than just fighting aliens, Captain Marvel represents a strong female superhero with an intricate and complicated past. She struggles with anger issues as well as a sense of purpose. She’s also a sparkle-fisted smartass.

In the last decade, Captain Marvel has become a prominent character in Marvel comics. She’s a member of the Avengers, was the face of one side of the second superhero Civil War, and is a mentor to the new Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan. In the hands of writers DeConnick, Margaret Stohl, Michele Fazkas, Tara Butters and Kelly Thompson, Captain Marvel has a rich context for cinematic success.

A new hero for a new era

“Let’s rewrite some history, shall we?” — Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers)

The Carol Danvers character was originally created by Thomas and Gene Colan in 1968 as a regular person in the U.S. Air Force. Almost a decade later, she gained her powers through an accident and turned into Ms. Marvel. But the Captain Marvel we’ll be seeing on the screen is highly indebted to comic book writer Kelly Sue DeConnick’s narrative. There are even rumours that DeConnick has a cameo in the film.

In 2012, DeConnick created something of a masterpiece when she breathed new life into Captain Marvel. The female superhero first appeared in 1977, and originally named Ms. Marvel as a nod to the iconic feminist magazine, Ms.. She was a minor character but with DeConnick’s writing, Captain Marvel was re-developed to become one of the central characters in the Marvel Universe.

DeConnick’s reboot was also accompanied by a new look — leaving behind thigh-high boots, a swim suit and a mask for shorter hair, a Chuck Yeager jumpsuit and sensible footwear.

DeConnick’s comic book narrative begins with a touching tribute to Carol Danvers’s mentor and fellow air force pilot Helen Cobb — stressing the importance of inspiring female role models. Readers find out that Captain Marvel has tremendous powers drawn from her half human, half Kree DNA. Soon, Danvers is transported back in time and joins the Banshee Squadron, an all-female fighting unit in the Second World War doing battle and using Kree technology to advance the fight.

Carol Danvers also winds up being present at the moment of her superhero origin. Instead of following the 1977 narrative, where she was the victim in an explosion that would give her powers, DeConnick re-writes the narrative as a choice.

Danvers has the opportunity to prevent the explosion but chooses to let the past unfold in alignment with her current desire to be a superhero. This gives Captain Marvel’s reboot a compelling edge. She’s chosen her own destiny to become “the stars we were always meant to be.”

A poignant and hilarious character

Captain Marvel was part of the Ultimates, a mini-series about superheroes preventing cosmic threats (they transform the planet-eating Galactus into a golden fertility god), and became the “boss of space,” taking up residence with Canadian supergroup Alpha Flight on the Alpha Flight Space Station. Captain Marvel also joined the Guardians of the Galaxy and was part of A-Force, an all-female Avengers.

DeConnick’s run was poignant and hilarious and if the movie can keep pace, audiences will be in for a treat. We may also see something special from her cat Goose. (In the comics, Goose is known as Chewie — Captain Marvel is a huge Star Wars fan.) In the movie, Goose will likely steal a scene or two.

As the trailers for the film have shown, Captain Marvel will be punching aliens and blowing stuff up and we’ll definitely see why she has the moniker “Earth’s mightiest hero.” The movie is set in 1995, borrowing elements from Roy Thomas’s comic, “Kree-Skrull War” (originally published as Avengers #89–97 in 1971), and follows Danvers as she becomes Captain Marvel.

Captain Marvel is Marvel Studios’s 21st film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the first with a female-led superhero. Captain Marvel will also make a highly anticipated appearance in Avengers: Endgame, to be released in April, where she will no doubt square off against cosmic threats.

About Today's Contributor:

Kenneth MacKendrick, Associate Professor of Religion, University of Manitoba

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

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UNICEF: 'Alarming Global Surge Of Measles Cases A Growing Threat To Children '

On 9 February 2019 in Yemen, children vaccinated in Aden during a mobile Measles and Rubella vaccination campaign. © UNICEF/UN0284426/Fadhel (CNW Group/UNICEF Canada)

UNICEF warned today that global cases of measles are surging to alarmingly high levels, led by ten countries accounting for more than 74 per cent of the total increase, and several others that had previously been declared measles free.

Countries with ten highest increases in cases between 2017 & 2018

1. Ukraine: 30,338
2. Philippines: 13,192
3. Brazil: 10,262
4. Yemen: 6,641
5. Venezuela: 4,916
6. Serbia: 4,355
7. Madagascar: 4,307
8. Sudan: 3,496
9. Thailand: 2,758
10. France: 2,269  

Globally, 98 countries reported more cases of measles in 2018 compared to 2017, eroding progress against this highly preventable, but potentially deadly disease.

"Vaccines work. They save millions of lives a year and are an important reason why more children today survive," said David Morley, President and CEO of UNICEF Canada.

Ukraine, the Philippines and Brazil saw the largest increases in measles cases from 2017 to 2018. In Ukraine alone, there were 35,120 cases of measles in 2018. According to the government, another 24,042 people were infected just in the first two months of 2019. In the Philippines so far this year, there have been 12,736 measles cases and 203 deaths, compared to 15,599 cases in the whole of 2018.

"This is a wake-up call. We have a safe, effective and inexpensive vaccine against a highly contagious disease – a vaccine that has saved almost a million lives every year over the last two decades," said Henrietta H. Fore, UNICEF's Executive Director. "These cases haven't happened overnight. Just as the serious outbreaks we are seeing today took hold in 2018, lack of action today will have disastrous consequences for children tomorrow."

Measles is highly contagious, more so than Ebola, tuberculosis or influenza. The virus can be contracted by someone up to two hours after an infected person has left a room. It spreads through air and infects the respiratory tract, potentially killing malnourished children or babies too young to be vaccinated. Once infected, there is no specific treatment for measles, so vaccination is a life-saving tool for children.

In response to a recent outbreak of measles in British Columbia, Morley added: "Canada must invest in comprehensive monitoring and reporting to close the data gap in vaccination rates and identify populations at risk during outbreaks. We applaud the commitment in mid-February by Canada's Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, to tackle misinformation around vaccinations."

UNICEFs global response

In response to these outbreaks, UNICEF and its partners are supporting governments to urgently reach millions of children in countries around the globe. For example:

• In Ukraine, UNICEF has provided ongoing support to accelerate routine immunization across the country and address vaccine hesitancy, including additional efforts to stop the most recent outbreak that has claimed 30 lives since 2017. In February, the Ministry of Health, with UNICEF's support, launched an immunization drive at schools and clinics in the worst-hit Lviv region in western Ukraine, where negative attitudes toward immunization, and previous shortages in vaccine supply, have resulted in low vaccination rates.
• In the Philippines, the government, with support from UNICEF and partners, will conduct a campaign to vaccinate 9 million children against measles across 17 regions. Using social media, campaigners plan to encourage apprehensive parents, and health workers.
• In Brazil, from August to September 2018, the government carried out a campaign against polio and measles, targeting more than 11 million children under five. UNICEF encouraged people to get vaccinated, and trained health monitors working in migrant shelters for Venezuelans. UNICEF has included the measles vaccine as part of the Municipal Seal programme that covers 1,924 municipalities.
• In Yemen, where years of conflict led to an outbreak, local authorities with support from UNICEF, WHO and GAVI vaccinated more than 11.5 million children in February.
• In Madagascar, from 3 September to 21 February, 76,871 people were infected by measles and 928 died, a majority of which were children. In January, the government, with support of partners including UNICEF, launched an immunization campaign to target all 114 districts. Over 2 million children were immunized in 25 districts. In February, 1.4 million children were vaccinated, with another 3.9 million more to follow in March.

"As one of the largest donors of vaccines in the world, Canada has long shown its leadership for immunizing children, which plays a key role in preventing life-threatening illnesses such as polio, pneumonia, tetanus and diarrheal disease," added Morley.

Notable reported measles cases in 2018 in countries with no reported cases in 2017

• Brazil: 10,262
• Moldova: 312
• Montenegro: 203
• Colombia: 188
• Timor-Leste: 59
• Peru: 38
• Chile: 23
• Uzbekistan: 17

Poor health infrastructure, civil strife, low community awareness, complacency and vaccine hesitancy in some cases have led to these outbreaks in both developed and developing countries. For example, in the United States, the number of measles cases increased six-fold between 2017 and 2018, reaching 791 cases. More recently, the U.S. has seen outbreaks in New York and Washington state.

"Almost all of these cases are preventable, and yet children are getting infected even in places where there is simply no excuse," said Fore. "Measles may be the disease, but, all too often, the real infection is misinformation, mistrust and complacency. We must do more to accurately inform every parent, to help us safely vaccinate every child."

To fight measles, UNICEF is issuing an urgent appeal to governments, health care providers, and parents to do more to contain the disease by:

• Understanding that vaccines are safe and effective and can save a child's life
• Vaccinating all children between the ages of six months to five years during outbreaks
• Training and equipping health workers so they can provide quality services
• Strengthening immunization programmes to deliver all life-saving vaccines

About the Measles and Rubella Initiative:

UNICEF is part of the Measles and Rubella Initiative, a private-public partnership of five global partners including WHO, CDC, United Nations Foundation and American Red Cross that has been spearheading a global push towards measles and rubella elimination.

SOURCE: UNICEF Canada

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'The Wandering Earth:' Learns And Differs From Hollywood

'The Wandering Earth' - Poster

The following is a news report by China Mosaic on The Wandering Earth:

"The Wandering Earth" achieved huge box office success during the Lunar New Year period. As China's first homemade sci-fi blockbuster, the film has sparked extensive discussions. The New York Times reported that "it will represent the dawning of a new era in Chinese film making." Director James Cameron also wrote on Sina Weibo that he wished good luck to "The Wandering Earth" and the voyage of Chinese sci-fi films.

The commercial film with high-quality special effects was adapted from the novel of Asia's first Hugo Award Winner Liu Cixin, which boasts a boldly imaginative plot of "building giant planet thrusters to move Earth out of its orbit and to sail it to a new star system."

Frankly speaking, the film has much to learn from the Hollywood industry in terms of framing, scriptwriting, etc. However, it conveys values different from what is typical of Hollywood's films, namely one or a group of superheroes saving the world.

At the end of the film, rescuers from various countries jointly complete the mission to save mankind. What the film aims to reflect is not the heroism of a person, a country, or a nation. Even "collectivism" is not a precise word for its theme since the "community" in the film includes all mankind. In the space station, astronauts use a simultaneous interpretation system to interact fluidly across language boundaries. This frame upholds the vision for a community with a shared future and highlights communication and collaboration as the best ways to address risks.

The film also features Chinese people's attachment to the place where they have lived for a long time and their unwillingness to leave it. Instead of seeking for a new habitat, humans display deep affection for their homeland by "wandering" with Earth to save their civilization.

Liu Cixin said that China now has a strong "sense of future." China's Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) first discovered a radio millisecond pulsar. The cotton seeds carried by the Chang'e 4 have sprouted on the moon. Such breakthroughs drew worldwide attention. China's rapid modernization in recent decades also allows fertile soil for scientific literature and films to grow. We hope that the soil will yield more amazing fruits of Chinese sci-fi film making.

The China Mosaic News Report - Video:

SOURCE: China.org.cn

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Looks Like China And India Are Leading The Way In Making The Planet Greener

China And India Are Leading The Way In Making The Planet Greener 

The following is a news report by China Mosaic  on the "greener" Earth:

NASA happily reported earlier this month that the Earth is greener than it was 20 years ago. Satellite data shows that the Earth's green leaf area has increased by five percent since the early 2000s, an area equivalent to all of the Amazon rainforests. China and India are two leading contributors, jointly responsible for a third of the foliage increase.

This good news surprised many internet users, who had thought that China and India, two populous Asian neighbors, were suffering or would suffer land degradation caused by over-exploitation. Even NASA itself called the finding "counterintuitive." An article published in the journal Nature Sustainability explained that the effect comes mostly from intensive agriculture in both countries and productive tree-planting programs in China.

China launched its National Forestry and Grassland Administration last year, as part of the institutional reform process. Over the past seven decades since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the administration in charge of national forestry affairs has changed its name several times, from the Ministry of Forestry and Land Reclamation to the Ministry of the Forestry Industry, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and the State Forestry Administration, etc. Its original names suggest that, in the period of socialist construction when China needed to tap its vast resources, the administration mainly undertook the tasks of developing and utilizing forests.

Today, the focus is more on forest protection and restoration, and taking a more scientific, systematic, holistic and forward-looking approach. Relevant efforts have been made on many fronts, including knowledge diffusion, scientific research, planning, industrial support and individual subsidy. As a result, the people who once cut down trees now plant them, and many deserts have been turned into forests. At present, China's total forest coverage has reached 207.69 million hectares, or 21.6 percent of the land area.

A Chinese proverb says, "We shouldn't squander the fortune left by our ancestors or make trouble for future generations." What we are doing today to promote afforestation will benefit the generations to come. In the film "The Wandering Earth," which we discussed in the last episode, humanity has started a journey that will last 2,500 years or 100 generations to save the Earth. The Chinese people really have the resolve to protect their homeland for subsequent generations. Moreover, the Earth is not as damaged as the film depicts, but rather a beautiful planet. To protect it deserves the efforts of everyone.

Words are but wind, but seeing is believing. Data and satellite images may fail to make an intuitive impression. So, we welcome friends from around the world here to feel a "greener" China.

The Video:

SOURCE: China.org.cn

3 Things Schools Should Teach About America's History Of White Supremacy

A Ku Klux Klan parade in Washington, D.C., in 1926. (Everett Historical from shutterstock.com)

When it comes to how deeply embedded racism is in American society, blacks and whites have sharply different views.

For instance, 70 percent of whites believe that individual discrimination is a bigger problem than discrimination built into the nation’s laws and institutions. Only 48 percent of blacks believe that is true.

Many blacks and whites also fail to see eye to eye regarding the use of blackface, which dominated the news cycle during the early part of 2019 due to a series of scandals that involve the highest elected leaders in Virginia, where I teach.

The donning of blackface happens throughout the country, particularly on college campuses. Recent polls indicate that 42 percent of white American adults either think blackface is acceptable or are uncertain as to whether it is.

One of the most recent blackface scandals has involved Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, whose yearbook page from medical school features someone in blackface standing alongside another person dressed in a Ku Klux Klan robe. Northam has denied being either person. The more Northam has tried to defend his past actions, the clearer it has become to me how little he appears to know about fundamental aspects of American history, such as slavery. For instance, Northam referred to Virginia’s earliest slaves as “indentured servants”. His ignorance has led to greater scrutiny of how he managed to ascend to the highest leadership position in a racially diverse state with such a profound history of racism and white supremacy.

Ignorance is pervasive

The reality is Gov. Northam is not alone. Most Americans are largely uninformed of our nation’s history of white supremacy and racial terror.

As a scholar who researches racial discrimination, I believe much of this ignorance is due to negligence in our education system. For example, a recent study found that only 8 percent of high school seniors knew that slavery was the central cause of the Civil War. There are ample opportunities to include much more about white supremacy, racial discrimination and racial violence into school curricula. Here are three things that I believe should be incorporated into all social studies curricula today:

1. The Civil War was fought over slavery and one of its offshoots – the convict-lease system – did not end until the 1940s

The Civil War was fought over the South’s desire to maintain the institution of slavery in order to continue to profit from it. It is not possible to separate the Confederacy from a pro-slavery agenda and curriculums across the nation must be clear about this fact.

A Confederate treasury note from the Civil War Era shows how reliant the South’s economy was on slave labor. (Scott Rothstein from shutterstock.com)

After the end of the Civil War, southern whites sought to keep slavery through other means. Following a brief post-Civil War period known as Reconstruction, white southerners created new laws that gave them legal authority to arrest blacks over the most minor offenses, such as not being able to prove they had a job.

While imprisoned under these laws, blacks were then leased to corporations and farms where they were forced to work without pay under extremely harsh conditions. This “convict leasing” was, as many have argued, slavery by another name and it persisted until the 1940s.

Southern jails made money leasing convicts for forced labor in the Jim Crow South. Circa 1903. (Everett Historical / shutterstock.com)

2. The Jim Crow era was violent

While students may be taught about segregation and laws preventing blacks from voting, they often are not taught about the extreme violence whites enacted upon blacks throughout the Jim Crow era, which took place from 1877 through the 1950s. Mob violence and lynchings were frequent occurrences – and not just in the South – throughout the Jim Crow era.

The body of Rubin Stacy, 32, hangs from a tree in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as neighbors visit the site July 19, 1935. White lynchings of blacks were common during the era. (AP)

Racial terror was used as a means for whites to maintain power and prevent blacks from gaining equality. Notably, many whites – not just white supremacist groups like the Klu Klux Klan – engaged in this violence. Moreover, the torture and murder of blacks was not associated with any consequences.

During this same time, white society created negative stereotypes about blacks as a way to dehumanize blacks and justify the violence whites enacted upon them. These negative stereotypes included that blacks were ignorant, lazy, cowardly, criminal and hypersexual.

Blackface minstrelsy refers to whites darkening their skin and dressing in tattered clothing to perform the negative stereotypes as part of entertainment. This imagery and entertainment served to solidify negative stereotypes about blacks in society. Many of these negative stereotypes persist today.

3. Racial inequality was preserved through housing discrimination and segregation

During the early 1900s, a number of policies were put into place in our country’s most important institutions to further segregate and oppress blacks. For example, in the 1930s, the federal government, banks and the real estate industry worked together to prevent blacks from becoming homeowners and to create racially segregated neighborhoods.

This process, known as redlining, served to concentrate whites in middle-class suburbs and blacks in impoverished urban centers. Racial segregation in housing has consequences for everything from education to employment. Moreover, because public school funding relies so heavily on local taxes, housing segregation affects the quality of schools students attend.

All of this means that even after the removal of discriminatory housing policies and school segregation laws in the 1950s and 1960s, the consequences of this intentional segregation in housing persist in the form of highly segregated and unequal schools. All students should learn this history to ensure that they do not wrongly conclude that current racial disparities are based on individual shortcomings – or worse, black inferiority – as opposed to systematic oppression.

Americans live in a starkly unequal society where health and economic outcomes are largely influenced by race. We cannot begin to meaningfully address this inequality as a society if we do not properly understand its origins. The white supremacists responsible for sanitizing our history lessons understood this. Their intent was clearly to keep the country ignorant of its racist past in order to stymie racial equality. To change the tide, we must incorporate a more accurate depiction of our country’s racist history in our K-12 curricula.

About Today Contributor:

Noelle Hurd, Scully Family Discovery Associate Professor in Psychology, University of Virginia

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

Related Stories:

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• White Supremacists Are On The March, But The Ku Klux Klan Is History
• New Film Exposes America's Forgotten History of Scientific Racism
• National Geographic Publishes "The Race Issue", a Special Edition Single-Topic Issue Exploring Race and Diversity in the 21st Century

Jack Lake Productions Inc. Introduces Binah Moon's Fantasy Art Collection

Binah Moon's Fantasy Art Collection (image via Jack Lake Productions Inc)

Jack Lake Productions Inc. announced today the release of Korean Canadian artist Binah Moon's Fantasy Art Collection.

The collection is made up of 35 high quality 13" x 29" poster prints, each print sells for $25.00 US plus shipping and handling charges. 

⏩ Each print has also been signed by the artist.

Binah Moon is a graduate of Georgian College, Ontario, Canada. Binah worked for Jack Lake Productions Inc. starting in 2003 as a freelance artist, remastering and digitizing the Classics Illustrated Junior comics from the 1950s and 1960s. 

 ‘The Mystic Island” by artist Binah Moon. (image via Jack Lake Productions Inc.)

She has also had many one-man art shows and in 2015 she published, through Jack Lake Productions Inc., her first 32 page comic, "The Mystic Island" (also available on the website).

Binah Moon's Fantasy Art Collection (image via Jack Lake Productions Inc)

Binah Moon's Fantasy Art Collection are works she produced since 2000, and her art is a whimsical escape into romantic fantasy emphasizing love, nature, children and the feminine form.

SOURCE: Jack Lake Productions Inc.

Deloitte & Ella the Engineer Join Forces in New Comic Book Series to Spur Student Interest in STEM

The inaugural Ella the Engineer comic book issue in collaboration with Deloitte features Janet Foutty, chair and CEO, Deloitte Consulting, helping Ella recover the class pet by applying analytical problem solving skills supported by technology.

Today, Deloitte and The Ella Project, creator of Ella the Engineer, announced the launch of a new collaborative comic book series with the goal of exposing girls to STEM in a fun and unique way. 

The graphic novel series features comic book character Ella solving various problems using her STEM skillset under the guidance of various Deloitte leaders, including Deloitte Chair and Consulting CEO Janet Foutty and Chief Innovation Officer Nishita Henry.

Geared toward inspiring educational and student groups around the country, Ella the Engineer was created to showcase a young, female role model with a passion for science, technology, engineering, math, and entrepreneurship with whom many students can identify. 

The series champions problem-solving skills, tech-savviness, collaboration, and various emerging technologies to get to the bottom of hijinks and challenges facing the main characters. In the inaugural issue with Deloitte, Janet Foutty encourages Ella to use analytics to piece together the whereabouts of her stolen class pet. Deloitte's involvement in this creative project underscores its long-standing commitment to diversity, inclusion and STEM education.

"Deloitte is committed to creating opportunities for women and underrepresented minorities to enter into productive careers in STEM and STEM adjacent fields – and it starts with early education," said Janet Foutty, chair and CEO, Deloitte Consulting LLP. "We are thrilled to team with The Ella Project to advance the possibilities for young women's futures, showing how adventurous and meaningful a career in STEM can be – and have a little fun along the way."

Despite ongoing efforts to gain parity, women currently only represent 28% of STEM jobs in the U.S. The need for STEM workers will permeate every industry, as noted by a recent study by the National Association of Manufacturing and Deloitte. The study revealed a need for 3.5 million STEM jobs by 2025, with more than 2 million going unfilled due to the lack of highly-skilled candidates to meet current demand.

Deloitte's collaboration with The Ella Project is the latest in its efforts to create multiple pathways to STEM and STEM adjacent skills development and career opportunities to help build an inclusive and tech-savvy workforce. Examples include Deloitte's work with Salesforce to develop Pathfinder, a first-of-its-kind program that works with community colleges, veterans, and other professions looking to re-enter to workforce to develop in demand technical and business skills. In addition, The Deloitte Foundation works with Base 11 in creating a nationally scalable STEM career accelerator model for high school students through experiential learning curriculum.

"We are thrilled to have the support of Deloitte for The Ella Project," said Ella founder Anthony Onesto. "This collaboration allows us the opportunity to highlight real life female role models in STEM, as their stories are woven into edutainment we know to be invaluable to our future leaders. Ella, our tech savvy hero, is someone who young kids, girls and boys alike, can relate to and encourages the importance of critical-thinking throughout her exciting adventures."

"The goal of our collaboration with The Ella Project is to give young girls a role model to inspire them to learn more about STEM," said Nishita Henry, chief innovation officer, Deloitte Consulting LLP. "These adventures with Ella show that developing STEM skills is a gateway to a great career and empowers girls to have a deeper understanding of solving problems in our day-to-day world."

The series will be four comic books, plus a graphic novel. Other Deloitte leaders to be featured include Catherine Bannister, managing director, Deloitte Consulting LLP and chief talent officer, technology; and Kelly Herod, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP.

Ella the Engineer

The graphic novel series will be circulated to schools and educational groups around the country in an effort to inspire new generations of tech talent. 

⏩ You can read about Ella's adventures with Deloitte's leaders here.

About The Ella Project:

The Ella Project was created to ensure that girls passionate about science, technology, math, engineering, computers, entrepreneurship, and other similar interests have a hero with whom they can identify. 

In addition to publications like Ella The Engineer, The Ella Project aims to bring together remarkable women in one place, share their inspiration, provide a glimpse into how they've achieved success, and offer advice to future leaders. 

⏩ You can learn more about The Ella Project at theellaproject.com.

SOURCE: Deloitte

Facebook: Issue Corrections To Fake News! [Petition]

This photo went viral in France as a symbol of police brutality... but it's completely fake!

Dear friends,

This shocking photo of a young woman, left beaten and bleeding by police at a protest, went viral on social media in France. 

It’s the sort of thing Avaaz might launch an urgent campaign on. But there’s just one problem -- the image has nothing to do with France. It was taken in Madrid, years ago. It’s fake. Untrue. A lie.

And it’s dangerous.

Disinformation like this has the power to turn protests violent, destroy trust in our democracies and make us hate, even kill each other. But there's a simple solution to this threat: distribute corrections to dangerous fake news -- to EVERYONE who has seen it!

Avaaz has pitched the idea to key decision-makers all over the world, and many of them love it. Facebook is sensitive to its public image, and Avaaz staff are meeting top executives there this week -- let's get massive public backing from people everywhere for them to correct the record on fake news!

⏩ Tell Facebook: Correct the Record! ⏪

In many countries newspapers are required to issue corrections if they print false information -- why shouldn’t the same rules apply to Facebook and Twitter, who reach many times more people?

This isn’t about censorship -- no content would be taken down or deleted. Instead, the social media companies would make sure people who had been given false information were provided with the full facts so they can make informed decisions.

The Avaaz team has pitched this idea to politicians across the planet, as well as regulators, experts, academics, free speech advocates, and to social media executives at all the major platforms. Most of them see that this could really work, but it's still missing massive public demand to make it happen.

If Facebook moves, others will follow. Sign the petition calling on Facebook to correct the record on fake news, and when this is huge, we’ll deliver our voices direct to Facebook and to lawmakers all over the world:

⏩ Tell Facebook: Correct the Record! ⏪

Armies of bots and trolls, often bought and paid for by billionaires and governments, thrive on a social media drowning in their lies. They'll fiercely attack our effort. But Avaaz has always stood for the authentic voice of the people, let's make sure that voice gets heard loud and clear, before more lies are spread.

With hope and determination,

Loup Dargent
On behalf of Christoph, Luca, Martyna, Alice, Risalat, Fadi, Ricken, and the rest of the Avaaz team

More Information:

• Europe’s most hackable election (Politico)
• Fake news on WhatsApp swayed Brazil’s election. India should be worried (Quartz India)
• EU steps up fight against ‘fake news’ ahead of elections (AP)
• Four ways to verify images linked to France’s ‘Yellow Vest’ protests (The Observers)

The Petition:

To Facebook, Twitter, and all technology platforms:

As citizens across the world, we urgently call on you to 'Correct the Record' -- by working with independent fact checkers to show effective corrections to each and every person who sees verifiably false or misleading content on your platform. It’s the best thing you can do to restore public trust and protect democracy and freedom of speech.

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Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood Announces New Aquaman Exhibit

Aquaman will be making a splash as the latest addition to DC Universe: The Exhibit. Fans will get a first-hand look at the intricate details etched in the armored suits of Aquaman, Mera and more.

⏩ Aquaman fans can get ready to immerse themselves in the world of the King of the Seven Seas with the all-new exhibit opening to the public on March 5, 2019. 

Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood (WBSTH) guests can step into the realm of Atlantis in the new Aquaman exhibit at DC Universe: The Exhibit, one of the many stops on the Studio Tour. Joining the immensely popular Wonder Woman exhibit, guests of the Studio Tour can relive the iconic scenes straight from the set of DC's latest action-packed origin story, bringing them closer than ever to the entertainment they love.

Located on the first floor of the Warner Bros. Archive, guests will journey through the visually stunning underwater world of Atlantis brought to life on-screen by director James Wan in vivid detail. 

The exhibit will also feature recreated sets from the most memorable moments of the film, including the Sunken Galleon, where fans get up close to the authentic costumes worn by Willem Dafoe (Vulko) and Jason Momoa (Arthur Curry), and the Ring of Fire, reliving the thrill of the epic underwater battle between Aquaman (Momoa) and King Orm (Patrick Wilson). 

⏩ As an interactive photo op, fans can sit upon the Dead King's Throne seen in the film to become King or Queen of Atlantis.

Within the exhibit, guests will find various costumes worn by Momoa, showcasing the evolution from his human upbringing as Arthur Curry to his final ascendance as Aquaman, King of the Seven Seas. 

In addition, fans will see the real costumes and props belonging to Mera (Amber Heard), Arthur's mother Queen Atlanna (Nicole Kidman), father Tom Curry (Temuera Morrison), the vengeful Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and King Orm (Patrick Wilson).

"Aquaman's roots run deep in the DC universe," said Gary Soloff, Director of Marketing, Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood. "His story has captivated fans across the world, and we're excited to bring the on-screen characters to life and provide guests the opportunity to dive deeper into Atlantean civilization."

Opening Spring 2019, the King of the Seven Seas will join DC Universe: The Exhibit with an all-new immersive and interactive display

In this action-packed, underwater spectacle, celebrated for becoming the highest-grossing DC movie ever made, director James Wan chronicles the adventures of an outcast trying to save worlds both above and below sea level. Through the Aquaman exhibit, fans can relive the story of cultural diversity, environmental advocacy and – in true superhero form – standing up for the greater good.

With the always evolving exhibits and experiences, WBSTH continues to offer its guests from around the world an intimate look at how Hollywood magic is made. 

Through behind-the-scenes tours and exclusive looks at costumes and props used in production, fans can get closer to some of their favorite films and TV shows such as Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Batman, Shameless, Casablanca, Wonder Woman and more.

SOURCE: Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood

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"Aquaman" (Image via LoupDargent.info)