Sun setting

The war may be over but the memory still lives on....

it has been 14 yrs since The Rwandan Genocide in 1994 were mass killing of hundreds of thousands of Rwanda's Tutsis and Hutu political moderates by Hutus under the Hutu Power ideology. Over the course of approximately 100 days, from the 6 April through mid-July, at least 500,000 people were killed. Most estimates indicate a death toll between 800,000 and 1,000,000, which could be as high as 20% of the total population.
Today i was in an international relations class and we are studying the UN and the role they play in the world and in sustaing peace world wide. when my professor was talking over these past days about the role of the UN I was actually pleased that there was a group of leaders who work together with other countries to prevent wars from happening or genocides fron repeating itself.but today 6th October 2009 i saw a different side of life that brought tears to my eyes and anger. When the Movie hotel Rwanda was released it was a good movies but had its falls of not showing how the people died and how the bodies decomposed themselves as the people wait for help and the UN did nothing. This documentary was told from a another professors point of view of while the people were dying the UN was taking its time to come up with a solution of how they were going to end the genocide and save the people. The fact that after world war two the UN promised that there will not be another war or genocide in the near future was all talk and no action. if that was true than how come so many people died in Rwanda? How come the Un only sent in a few troops to help the people? how come after a couple of months the UN decieded to pull out and call back thier troops back home and leave the people, with newly born babies and children to die? how come they have soilders to go and collect the "white" people who where working in Rwanda at that time and leave the rest to die? How come the UN only sent soilders to Rwanda months after they had said at a general meeting that they would sent troops to go and help the people ? the NERVE of US former president Bill Clinton to go to Rwanda after the genocide and to say that they are SORRY they did not realise that things would get so bad..... were they waiting for the bodies to float or pill up before they actually took action and helped those helpless people? Their apology will never bring back the families of those who have lived to see today. their sorry will never erase or heal the pains of those who saw thier parent s being killed or those who were raped repeatedly by more than one man. how can one have faith in the UN while even till today the Somali incicdent has not been resolved.....im trying to understand that how do these people sleep at night when they think to themselves that they could have saved so many people's lives if only they took action...or even those soilders who left the church where thousands of the people where hidding out to go back to Belguim because they were told to come back.... you might think that the past is in the past but the pain still lives on and memeories. people who i looked up to thinking that they were my hero's are infact murderers. a journalist was interviewed during the documentary and she said that she wanted to take these people and help but the UN plane only has space enuf for the people they were sent to fetch. during the documentary the white people were seen taking thier belongings and dogs on the plane.....DOGS????? were dogs mosre important than human lives? im not a racist or attacking the white people some may see it but the fact that people died while the rest of the world did nothing fills me with anger. i guess it is up to our generation to make a differnce and make our world a better place. Im just a student speaking what is own my mind, as a journalist i plan on telling the truth as it is im part of a generation that will make a difference and speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. i stand up for what is right because only the truth shall set you free. hate me or love me but you shall be hating me for telling the truth and speakin my mind because thats what real journalists do TELL THE TRUTH!

Who Am I?

A blog is a space in which a person can record their feelings, thoughts and emotions, similar to a personal diary or journal. However, unlike a personal diary a blog can be viewed, followed or “creeped” on by anyone with a computer and an internet connection. So anyone anywhere in the world can take time out of their day to read what you have to say about your lovely little life. The trick is to try and make it really interesting so that you can gather as many followers as possible and then you can feel all warm and fluffy inside. In my view it an extremely narcissistic exercise but that’s the way everyone seems today. However, I do understand that it can be a beneficial exercise and that there are thousands or even millions of blogs that are extremely important and have been helpful in some way to countless people.

Who Am I? So far I have established quite a negative persona, and if you are reading this and know me personally, or think you know me, this attitude may surprise you as I am always seen to have one of these J on my face. Consider this quote from Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, "L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux". When I look at our world it makes me depressed, not happy. We keep ourselves busy with meaningless chatter, Fbook, casual flings and “maring”. I require a daily fix of music, tea and friendly people to keep me smiling. I am aware that my current pessimistic attitude is filtering through into my writing, but “I write what I like.” I recently spent a weekend at the beach in Kenton which was filled with both euphoria and melancholy and I have since earned such nicknames as “Captain Planet”, “Anti-Human” and “Lobster” because of my lovely sunburn. While at the beach I left my friends and spent some time alone wandering among the dunes and swimming in the sea, pondering my past and future, and I emerged back into civilization with a rather negative outlook on society in general. As my man Hunter said, “"He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man". I just need a few days to return to a normal state of numb complacency. I must admit that writing this has already had a calming, cathartic effect on my tormented soul.

As our blog name suggests we will be treating this blog as a diary of our lives in little Grahamstown. As journalists we have been given permission to blog what we like, of course so long as we meet the assessment criteria, don’t step on any toes, submit it on time, make it “gleam” and so on. So as a blogger my aim is to try and keep everybody happy, including myself, while blogging what I like. I hope you enjoy, or at least appreciate, what I have to say. Have a nice day.

land of the aliens - District 9 movie review

Movie Info

Genre(s): Sci-fi

Written by: Neill Blomkamp
Terri Tatchell

Directed by: Neill Blomkamp

Release Date:
Theatrical: August 14, 2009

Running Time: minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: R for bloody violence and pervasive language

Starring Sharlto Copley, and David James

Over twenty years ago, aliens made first contact with Earth. Humans waited for the hostile attack, or the giant advances in technology. Neither came. Instead, the aliens were refugees, the last survivors of their home world. The creatures were set up in a makeshift home in South Africa’s District 9 as the world’s nations argued over what to do with them. Now, patience over the alien situation has run out. The tension between the aliens and the humans comes to a head when a human field operative, Wikus van der Merwe, contracts a mysterious virus that begins changing his DNA. Wikus quickly becomes the most hunted man in the world, as well as the most valuable – he is the key to unlocking the secrets of alien technology. Ostracized and friendless, there is only one place left for him to hide: District 9. (Sony Pictures)

www.metacritic.com/film/titles/district9

What university was like...or is like

Okay so they made us do this quick exercise of what university was like 20 years ago. All the non- whites in my lecture theatre were asked to go to the front, and only the whites were left behind. I wondered briefly, is it still not like that, people just see the people who have the skin colour like them. We totally ignore people of the other race. This is just a thought proving what has been said over and over again, the new generation is segregating itself, because of things that have nothing t do with us. And the second activity was for males to go the front so we could see what the theatres were like when men were at war, again in the BA degree we hardly ever see males, esp. at Rhodes.

Are'nt we still fighting that battle

In the journalism industry it works like that, how far you take a story depends on the colour of your skin. I mean take David Bullard, had it had been a black person would the story still have been thought of as "reeking of nineteenth century racism" ( his editor said that) or would it just have been seen as a funny columist with too much to say? Why was David Bullard seen as rascist at that time, with that article look at all his articles they are all the same:www.moneyweb.co.za/mw/view/mw/en/page292677

Interesting Freedom of the press? Anyway there is nothing much to tell you. Dave
wrote the column. Dave got fired. To say the least I am sad. I loved his stuff.
Nice and controversial

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In South Africa its like that and it ain't about to change anytime soon. Maybe its that mentality that is keeping us behind.