I just returned from my trip to visit my kid sister in Spain this week. I will write more about that and post pictures soon--but not all 596 of them. It was such a nice trip to such a wonderful place, and I can't believe I never did a study abroad program when I was in school! Silly silly me.
I mentioned earlier that I was going to be reading the first of the Twilight books soon. And it finally happened during this trip, as I lay beside the twinkling turqouise waters of the Mediterranean. Yeah, it's pretty silly. "It's an easy read," noted my sister. And what more could you want for beach reading? I will still finish them, although I am struggling at the beginning of the second one. They do not come close to comparing to my beloved Harry Potter. And I didn't expect them to. But it is so nice to dive into a world that is not real, because I reckon life itself is real enough.
Happy weekend! I'm off to celebrate the most deserved college graduation of all time--CONGRATULATIONS LEAH! I've got my party boots packed...
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Friday, May 15, 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
something more serious than swine flu
As this whole swine flu "crisis" spirals out of control I can't help but feel sort of hopeless with mankind. In the past 6 days we have seen countries all over the world closing their borders to Mexico, cancelling flights, closing schools and businesses, and dedicating hours upon hours of riveting media coverage to the sitation. It's really incredible the extent that people have acted--and how quickly. Which is why I feel like we are all a little deluded.
I am a little ashamed that people have reacted to strongly to a virus that hasn't actually affected that many people in the grand scheme of things, especially as the there are many much more serious situations that are largely ignored. The one that weighs the heaviest on me is the war in Darfur. Since it began, there have been as many as 675,000 deaths--murders I should say as it is actually a genocide, and more than 5.5 million people have been displaced.
I will be honest, I did not know the extent of this terrible situation until I read the book What is the What, which is the story of Valentino Achak Deng who was a refugee of the Sudanese civil war in the 80's and 90's. Although his story mainly takes place before the current war in Darfur, it gives a heartwrenching account of how and why the whole conflict began in the first place. All of the proceeds from the book help to fund the The Valentino Achak Deng Foundation and to aid the Sudanese in both American and Sudan. Their website has so much information about the war, and also about how people can volunteer. Another very good organization is World Vision, which focuses on sponsoring children.
I also recently read this comment on a blog post:
I taped a map of North Africa over my bed and studiedDarfur. The war appeared in the media in 2004 but it had begun in the 1890s when the English drew borders that boxed the Arab north and African south inside the same nation now known as Sudan. The English developed the north but left the south a desert. After Sudan gained its independence in 1956, the Arabs saw themselves a degree better than the Africans, and since then both have fought over the identity of the nation. In between the rounds of war, old rituals continued. Each season, Arab herders drove cattle tothe southern region of Darfur, where Fur, Masaaleit and Zaghawa tribes welcomed them. The cattle fertilized soil and helped carry supplies. In 2003, adrought in the North dried wells, turning earth to sand and forcing Arab herders south. They wanted more than grazing for cattle; they wanted new land. Rifles were handed out to African tribesmen. Anger crystallized into rebel groups, among them the Sudanese Liberation Army and the Justice and EqualityMovement. After the rebels raided a military outpost,the Arab dominated government, flush with oil money, bought weapons for the Arab herders creating a militia we now know as the Janjaweed. They galloped into villages; shooting men down, ripping women apart, stuffing bodies into wells or ravines. Refugees fled to the neighboring nations of Chad and the Central African Republic. In the years that followed, 2.5million people were driven from their homes and up to 255,000 were killed.
I hope that more and more people become aware of this situation and talk about it. Something needs to be done soon.
I guess the whole point of this post is to communicate my frustration with how the media selectively covers stories, and blows them out of proportion or leaves them out altogether. We rely on them to let us know what's going on in the world, and they rely on us to get in a tizzy and panic when they say we should. There are a lot more important and serious things going on right now than the swine flu--at least for the flu there are vaccinations and anti-virals. But what vaccine can we give the people of Darfur to save them from the misery they endure every single day?
I am a little ashamed that people have reacted to strongly to a virus that hasn't actually affected that many people in the grand scheme of things, especially as the there are many much more serious situations that are largely ignored. The one that weighs the heaviest on me is the war in Darfur. Since it began, there have been as many as 675,000 deaths--murders I should say as it is actually a genocide, and more than 5.5 million people have been displaced.
I will be honest, I did not know the extent of this terrible situation until I read the book What is the What, which is the story of Valentino Achak Deng who was a refugee of the Sudanese civil war in the 80's and 90's. Although his story mainly takes place before the current war in Darfur, it gives a heartwrenching account of how and why the whole conflict began in the first place. All of the proceeds from the book help to fund the The Valentino Achak Deng Foundation and to aid the Sudanese in both American and Sudan. Their website has so much information about the war, and also about how people can volunteer. Another very good organization is World Vision, which focuses on sponsoring children.
I also recently read this comment on a blog post:
I taped a map of North Africa over my bed and studiedDarfur. The war appeared in the media in 2004 but it had begun in the 1890s when the English drew borders that boxed the Arab north and African south inside the same nation now known as Sudan. The English developed the north but left the south a desert. After Sudan gained its independence in 1956, the Arabs saw themselves a degree better than the Africans, and since then both have fought over the identity of the nation. In between the rounds of war, old rituals continued. Each season, Arab herders drove cattle tothe southern region of Darfur, where Fur, Masaaleit and Zaghawa tribes welcomed them. The cattle fertilized soil and helped carry supplies. In 2003, adrought in the North dried wells, turning earth to sand and forcing Arab herders south. They wanted more than grazing for cattle; they wanted new land. Rifles were handed out to African tribesmen. Anger crystallized into rebel groups, among them the Sudanese Liberation Army and the Justice and EqualityMovement. After the rebels raided a military outpost,the Arab dominated government, flush with oil money, bought weapons for the Arab herders creating a militia we now know as the Janjaweed. They galloped into villages; shooting men down, ripping women apart, stuffing bodies into wells or ravines. Refugees fled to the neighboring nations of Chad and the Central African Republic. In the years that followed, 2.5million people were driven from their homes and up to 255,000 were killed.
I hope that more and more people become aware of this situation and talk about it. Something needs to be done soon.
I guess the whole point of this post is to communicate my frustration with how the media selectively covers stories, and blows them out of proportion or leaves them out altogether. We rely on them to let us know what's going on in the world, and they rely on us to get in a tizzy and panic when they say we should. There are a lot more important and serious things going on right now than the swine flu--at least for the flu there are vaccinations and anti-virals. But what vaccine can we give the people of Darfur to save them from the misery they endure every single day?
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Wednesday
Today started out a bit sketchy. First of all, I had to go to the doctor... the doctor. Which is, of course, never pleasant. It's usually a 45 minute drive to the office, but today it ended up being an hour and a half thanks to rush-hour traffic. I had to go to the bathroom SO badly, and after waiting 20 minutes to get through one light, and much gnashing of teeth, I finally came upon a gas station, which was lucky because I was also out of gas. But once I tried to pump the gas the actual nozzle would not go into the tank. If this ever happens to you just know that violently thrusting the nozzle in the general vicinity of the tank will not make it go in, and no combination of obscenities will get the job done either. My advice is move on. Which I did, with much squealing of tires, back into the rain and traffic. Luckily I did not run out of gas. After the appointment I went to work, and for some reason all I could think about was spending quality time with chocolate glazed donuts. Go figure.
The rest of the day was good though. On my drive home I listened to some talk radio. It seems like everyone is talking about the border control problem. I think this is ironic as I am desperate to get into another country myself. But for some reason sailing a small boat over the Atlantic has not yet entered the realm of possibilities for me yet. I wonder what it's like to be so desperate to get into the States that you would spend huge amounts of money and risk your life to do so. I don't think that it's something many people can relate to. I read a really good book last year called Coyotes, by Ted Conover, which is an account of a journalist who joins up with some illegal migrants from Mexico to see what their lives are like as they go back and forth across the border, and from one job to the next in the US. It is incredibly eye-opening--and more importantly mind-opening I dare say. I recommend people read it who feel resentment and condescension toward illegal aliens in this country.
Anyway, as I was listening to these broadcasts I realized that I truly do not know how I feel about it all. Should we let more people in? People who would have much better quality of life here, or keep them out and say it's not our problem. Look out for ourselves or look out for others. There are definitely good arguments to both sides I reckon. This is the problem though, I don't usually feel very strongly either way in political matters. So I am going to attempt to even if it's awkward. I don't want to be a flaky fence-sitter so I am going to have opinions. Some might say that I already am opinionated enough for my own good, and I would say to those people, "You are correct."
So it begins...
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