Noelle's Gift honours the spirit of slain kindergarten teacher

Noelle Paquette was a substitute kindergarten teacher in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. A graduate of the University of Ottawa and Nipissing University, she was a close friend of a coworker and a former coworker of mine. Last week, through those connections, I received a desperate plea to share a "missing person" story. It was Noelle. She had left a New Year's Eve party alone, and had not been seen again.

Via Facebook

In the days that followed, the worst nightmare of any parent — or friend — unfolded. Sarnia police announced that Noelle had been found. Then that a body had been found. Then the body was identified as Noelle. And with a rapidness that surprised everyone following the case, two people were arrested almost immediately and charged with her murder.

There is a lot of rumour and speculation about this case, specifically about the motives. But it appears that this young woman, said to be beloved of students and certainly by friends, was targeted for no reason other than being momentarily vulnerable.

Noelle's friends, however, want her to be remembered "for the woman she was and not for the way she died." As some of them work in advertising and the not-for-profit sector, it was natural that they branded and launched an online appeal in Noelle's memory.

Via  noellesgift.ca

After returning to her hometown of Sarnia for a teaching job covering a maternity leave, Noelle "immediately made an impact... taking it upon herself to go above and beyond her assigned duties," according to the memorial site, noellesgift.ca. "She was passionate about helping students grow and ensuring they were able to have a positive experience, often supplying meals, classroom supplies, and clothing to those students in need."

And Noelle, in spirit, will continue that commitment to Sarnia's students in needs. The fundraising site is structured to allow donors to provide children with gifts in $5, $10 and $20 packages, providing classroom supplies, nutritious meals and clothing, respectively. Funds are managed by the Paquette family.

The site also links to the Facebook page, Prayers For Noelle Marie Paquette.

I asked my friends if there was anything to do to help them deal with their loss. The obvious answer was to try to share Noelle's memory and this cause, which was closest to her heart. Please pass it on.

noellesgift.ca

How Pussy Riot became the cause of 2012

Back in January, I blogged on Osocio about a Russian punk band called "Pussy Riot" that made headlines for its guerrilla gigs against Vladimir Putin.

Here they were in Red Square with "Putin Pissed":



At the time, they seemed like another expression of post-Soviet feminine frustration with the continued male dominance of — and corruption in — politics. Like Femen, but with balaclavas instead of bare breasts.

Also in common with their Ukranian sisters-in-protest, they continued to push boundaries. After a a guerrilla performance in Moscow's main cathedral, in which they sang to the Virgin Mary to protect Russia against Vladimir Putin, Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich were arrested for "Hooliganism" and "Inciting Religious Hatred". In August, they were sentenced to two years' hard labour. (Two other band members fled Russia.)

And then the whole world took notice.

Amnesty International  proclaimed the group Prisoners of Conscience, and set their global membership to work demanding their release. Paul McCartney, Sting and Madonna joined the cause. (Well, they did sort of ask for her help.) Alicia Silverstone demanded they have access to vegan meals. Peaches held a concert for them in Canada.

Not to be outdone, Femen sent prominent member Inna Shevchenko out to chainsaw down a wooden memorial cross in Kiev... topless, of course. (She had to flee to France afterwards, to avoid arrest and/or angry religious mobs.)

Free riot from FEMEN Video on Vimeo.

With all this attention, mainstream reporters and news editors suddenly found themselves writing "Pussy" over and over again, sometimes with amusing results.

Pussy Riot even made a conceptual appearance at New York Fashion Week (see photo at top), their colourful balaclavas co-opted in the Gerlan Jeans runway show. Quite the strange journey for a anarcho-feminist collective.

There are many people in the world who suffer for free speech. Why are Pussy Riot the ones everyone got behind?

Never underestimate the power of branding. The name gets your attention, especially in a year in which frank discussion of women's sexual parts has become mainstream political conversation. "Free Pussy Riot" is one hell of a slogan, and lends itself easily to memes.

And then there are those balaclavas. 

They're anonymous and frightening, combined with the hardcore music, but also use warm colours and soft fabrics. It's a look easily copied by supporters, and make a memorable symbol of protest.

And the music. Fast, guitar-driven punk with one political barb after another. The band kept releasing new material, even with three in prison:



Sex, balaclavas and rock 'n' roll... it's a powerful combination for a fringe movement in need of popular support. And it's working.

Just last week, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called for the three members of the punk band Pussy Riot to be freed, saying "In my view, a suspended sentence would be sufficient, taking into account the time they have already spent in custody." They have an appeal scheduled for October first.

Branding your message matters. Always.

F'd Ad Fridays: Inmate pranks cops with stealth piggie decal

That took balls.

AZ Central  reports that an unidentified inmate at St. Albans prison in Vermont managed to alter the State Seal when producing stickers for police vehicles, hiding a pig in the cow's pattern.

The stickers are now being removed.

Thanks to Jackie for the tip.

F'd Ad Fridays: Senior citizens gone wild!

This was a PSA of The Day at The Daily What, who wrote:

"Lancashire Police are warning resident to be on the lookout for a band of menacing pensioners roaming the streets and wreaking havoc. 

The (mostly) tongue-in-cheek PSA attempts to convey the message that anti-social behavior of any sort would not be tolerated in Lancashire, irrespective of age."

It is a rather silly ad, using the overdone "old people acting like young people" trope that Pepsi used to rely so heavily on.

Plus, it's hard not to think about Monty Python the whole time...

Don't steal computers belonging to people who know how to use computers

This seems too awesome to be real.

The Consumerist shared the story of Reddit user markbao, who had his laptop stolen recently. But thanks to technology:

The alleged victim was able to get the video remotely by accessing the storage cloud the laptop automatically backed itself up to. The video now has over a million hits on YouTube.

In addition, he says he was able to piece together enough information from the browsing history to identify the guy through Facebook.

It gets even better. According to the victim,

"Yep, the guy turned the laptop to the police this morning, and he sent me a heartfelt message asking me to remove the video.

Which I'm not going to do. He's not in a position to bargain."

Someone even posted the alleged thief's pitiful plea:

"

hey Mark.

I am sorry for all that I have done. I would ask for forgiveness in person but I am not allow to go back on campus for what I did. I was being a dumbass for thinking I could get away with something like this. I hope I didn't cause you so much trouble over it either. I went to your school at 2 am so i can try to fix things. I left the laptop there with campus police. I left a statement and I am waiting on the detective to look over the police report to see what will happen to me. Like I have said. I am truely sorry for what I have done and I promise you and myself that it would not happen again. I am not this kind of person. I am a respectful person and I don't know why I did something like this. I am sorrry for that.

I know I am in no position for asking you for favors but Can you please put down the videos that you have put up of me. I know what I did was wrong and if i was a different person line leave it up but I do have two Professional Jobs that iif something like that gets leak I can get in morre trouble and be more embarress as well. So I will Ask for that huge favor.

lf you want we can meet up so I can say sorry in person. I feel like that would be a good idea. It would not change much but at least I can say I said it in person."

Like I said, almost too awesome to be true. If it isn't the start of a brilliant viral campaign, I'm sure some marketing genius will rip off the idea within days...