Stina Action Hero

QUALITIES OF A HERO

Stina — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:34:21 +0000

Courage – Courage is that firmness of spirit and swell of soul which meets danger without fear.

Courage must be one of the most fundamental characteristics of a hero. Courage is needed in a huge number of areas and can manifest itself in so many ways so I’ll have to write about this very characteristic MANY times.

Since courage can be manifested in so many ways, there is also no easy label on what it is and it’s not possible to say that a brave person looks like (James Bond…?). And sometimes you can meet a person every day and never even know what an enormous courage the person carries on!

People can show you a facade that signals joy and peace, while they are actually fighting a battle every day. A battle we can hardly imagine …! I could list many such heroes around me.

And today I want to present to you, a fabulous woman: Hafize. She looks like a dream! A princess! And shows a courage of the sort of bear protecting her cubs!

I am impressed and humbled by the courage she shows! And wish to have a little piece of that kind of courage within me!

Action Hero Quote of the week

Stina — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:27:58 +0000

Human obligations?

Stina — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:10:51 +0000

Today I ended up in a conversation about what it means to be a good role model. The person I talked to found it limiting to say that one should be a good role model. This because you will end up having a lot of demands on yourself with everybody else’s definition of what it is being a good role model.

I don’t think you need to make it so complicated. Sure, there will always be the fact that different people find different things important. Some one might think the most important thing is to travel with public transporting. Some might think it is important to volunteer working with young people. Someone think it is important not to drink alcohol, etc., etc.. And you might not find the issue of alcohol important or interesting, you may have no skills or interest working with young people and so on.

We are all role models whether we want it or not. So we better try to be good ones! I do believe that there are some basic things that are good to begin with. To be more specific: not violating someone else’s human rights. It is an issue big enough …

It is quite easy to talk about our rights… but if we talk about rights we have to talk about obligations! May be that is even more important? Obligations not to violate others rights…

So I have to do my best to think of the role I actually have in society whether I want it or not… After that it’s up to me to choose a topic that suits me, and try to specialize! When I have formulated in my head how I can be a good role model and for whom, I can formulate the”public” goal and focus on a concrete plan!

It is huge and hard! And I am sure I will again and again, but I do believe it is my duty to try and to try again.

Your conviction will lead you – and me mine! - And the journey of life and the people we meet along the way will help us modify and develop to be able to become a better role model every day!

Eco Heroes and Eco Bandits

Stina — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:03:39 +0000

At my children’s preschool they talked environmental issues and eco-heroes. Eco Heroes and Eco Bandits. Eco Heroes are those who will do anything to save our nature and Eco Bandits are destroying the environment.

We are probably a little bit of both I’m afraid. We try to buy as much organic as we can, we try to sort our garbage and recycle, use public transport and so on. But unfortunately there is still much we ought to do …. much to learn.

Today I am at Miljöstegen, a company that helps our organization Yennenga Progression to present our environmental work and have a clear strategy forward.

I am here at the first training day to get started and hopefully becoming a little less Eco Bandit and a little more Eco-Hero!

Care for stranded public transport travelers!

Stina — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:01:12 +0000

My morning excursion with public transport resulted in two hours later arrival than was intended to the office. By then I was very cold and had to sit the rest of the morning with a teapot in my lap to regain feeling in my toes and the right color on my face.

About 3,000 people were waiting at the train replacement bus, and fighting to get to the taxis picking up the frozen and stressed travelers. There were security guards stationed to keep peace …

At this moment a car stopped, opened the door and shouted: I’m going to Gullmarsplan, and I have room for three people.

It was unfortunately not me who entered the warm car, because I was still in line far from the road, in the looooong queue, but it was heroic! Very nice! The world needs more such heroes!

Acton Hero Quotes

Stina — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 08:18:56 +0000

Golden Rule

Stina — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:57:52 +0000

Being a hero ought to be something that requires that you are consistent in your positions? Not that you can not learn something new and change opinion, but that “what you want others do to you, you should also do to them”?

I am grateful for Johan Norberg’s post in Metro today on CAP and EU’s trade policies and agricultural subsidies.

Often when I get attacks on the issue of fair trade (living up to the most basic human rights in a work situation), it is precisely the argument that it is better to have free trade (as if it were a given contradiction…?)

It is easy to ask poor countries to open all their borders, while the EU subsidize their agriculture into absurdum, protects its borders and also dump their over production on markets that are likely to be totally wiped out by these subsidized products …

It does not rhyme well with the heroism… Cowards!

Executives and Presidents, please make yourself heard! You will be historical!

Stina — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:11:05 +0000

Yesterday I attended a seminar with a panel with Global Witness, Swedwatch, MakeITfair, Nokia, a representative from the European Union, and the Swedish Defence Research Agency.

Informative, clear, different interesting approaches from those speakers’ different perspectives, and substantive solutions.

On Conflict Minerals.

It was noted soberly that the conflict in Congo (DRC) has over 5 million deaths and the highest rape rate in the world …

There was talk of laws and regulations that we all know will take many long months or years, of juggling before all EU countries agree and before we convinced China and other countries which are also involved to join …

A conflict in which the map of abuse matches with the map of where the mineral resources are to be found.

If we stick to non-personal feelings about this conflict, it was a good seminar. If we start listening to the stories from all the Congolese who sat in the audience, we know we missed out an important dimension.

Indignation over the world of silence …

There are heroes out there who defies death threats and choose the hard way to stand up for what they believe. It is easy to hide behind multinationals beautiful facades, but we must say: this is one of the worst conflicts and abuses committed in the history of the world!

And major economic interests help to keep the conflict alive. Far beyond the boarders of Congo.

I feel small and I am looking for heroism behind the thick wallets of executives and presidents.

“Executives and Presidents, please make yourself heard! You will be historical!”

How much does it take to be a hero?

Stina — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:39:45 +0000

Good enough to buy shoes second hand?

Action hero Quote of the week

Stina — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 08:04:08 +0000