Catching a Nightmare
Article of the week: Joseph Kony On The Move As Manhunt Steps Up, UN Envoy SaysThis weeks article talks about how the everyone is turning the man hunt for Kony up a notch. It is believed that Kony may be becoming nervous due to the pressure of the defense forces that are after him. He’s moving all over the place, avoiding the capture of his life. The article mentions that, ”the pressure must continue,” because when people are scared they tend to do silly things, so by pressuring Kony they are probably waiting for him to freak out and make a mistake.
My Brother Once Lived
My family has never been the same since the day my brother was stolen. The lord’s resistance army took him. If he’s still alive, I don’t know. I think about him everyday that I work around the house. In my mind I see him come up next to me and tell me to work faster, calling me a slow turtle. He always called me a turtle. However, now he’s gone, no one calls me turtle, they don’t even call me by my own name. My father leaves the house to do work every morning and comes home after I go to sleep, so , I never really see him anymore. On the other hand, my mother is always around the house, but she doesn’t see me, her youngest son, I don’t think she truly sees anything anymore. So, here I am, a nameless boy, it doesn’t seem to matter that I’m still alive and here because my older brother took away the life of this family with him.
Tonight, my mother is sitting by the entrance to our shack, she is staring out into the horizon, her mind is lost. I stare at her face, it is like a sculpture of monumental sadness. She has the face of a loving, healthy mother, but that face is blank and emotionless. I love my mother she is the dearest woman I’ve ever met and I know that is the same way that my brother once though of her. If only he was here. I miss him. We all do. “Goodnight mother, I am sleeping now.” She nods without changing the direction of her gaze. I stare at her face one more time, “I love you mother,” this time she makes no movement to show that she heard me. I stumble all the way to the back of the shack and I sleep behind the counter. For the past 300 days since my brother was taken I’ve been sleeping back here because it is close to the back exit of the house, and if our family is in danger I can easily escape. So I lay upon my mat and start drifting to sleep. Sleep is overwhelming like a deep dark chaos and I immediately have thoughts of my brother enveloping my mind. Just I’m about to fall into a huge void of sinking sadness I hear a shout. Suddenly a little bit of weariness appears in my mind. “Mama..” Is that my mother shouting? I raise my head slightly from the side of my mattress. and pear through a gap in the counter. I see the back of my father, but the odd thing is that his hands are in the air. Then, I see my mother, and she is kneeling at his feet. Why is she on the ground? As I look in front of both of my parents, I see him! My brother! He’s back! But, wait a minute, he’s holding a gun. A gun to my mothers head. Why?
“Darling, we love you. Just do what you have to,” my mother whispers her words with such adoration that I feel like crying. Why is she so calm? I don’t understand what’s happening but then I see the men behind my brother, and I see his pain stricken face. “It’s okay son,” my mother lifts her head to stare into my brothers face. A gun shot fires. My brother just shot my mother. The brother I loved shot the mother I loved. I hear my father sob and see him fall to his knees. As if on cue, my entire body jolts and I’m squeegeeing out through the back door with out getting noticed. Once outside I race as fast as I can into the trees. I don’t look back. I can’t look at the murderer they made my brother into.
In the article of the week it is stated that “Kony has evaded the region’s militaries for nearly three decades” But, three decades is much longer than I’ve been alive. He’s been successful at stealing children since before I was born. It amazes me that all through my life he has been kidnapping children.My short story represents a nightmare that I feel those stolen children may have gone through.
The King and His Warmth
Article of the week: Cambodian Environmental Activists Press Murder Probe
This week, I chose an article of the week about a Cambodian Environmental activist that was murdered. The article mentioned that the man was very defiant about saving the environment. He was aware of illegal lodging in Cambodia which the government is said to often turn a “blind eye” on. So, whilst sticking up for what he believed to be right, he was killed and now the government is finally taking consideration of the problem, after his murder. So in order for the government to pay attention to illegal lodging, did this man have to die? This is my question.
The following short story represents the way I see the situation in Cambodia.
The King and His Warmth
There is a time in every year where winter comes around in the mountains. Winds chill people to their bones, and snow covers every thing like a thick white blanket. However, there is a problem with winter in the mountains. The mountains are filled with great mystical magic, but when winter time appears that powerful magic becomes evil. During winter, the evil magic that envelopes the mountains keeps everything freezing cold, and doesn’t allow any warmth to be composed. So, each year the people of the mountains look towards the king to provide them with his warmth because he is the only one powerful enough to defy the evil magic of winter. However, the King never provides them with his magic. Instead the King acts as though he doesn’t understand the fact that the people are suffering, and that they need his protection. The King carries on with his life, in his castle, during winter time. Since the rest of the people don’t live with him he doesn’t feel like they are his problem. To himself he says, ” Pshh… They will survive, nothing bad has happened yet. What’s wrong with the loss of some warmth?” Obviously, the King doesn’t understand that the people can only take a certain amount of chilling evil before they die.
So, one winter time a young man was defiant enough to stand up to the King. The young man walked all through the cutting coldness of winter, all the way to the Kings castle gate. “Let me in!” he shouted, “let me in, then, provide your people and I with the warmth that you can, most necessarily, construct with your magic!” The young mans voice roared with such ferociousness that the Kings guards were too scared to go out and confront him. So, they just left the young man out side of the castle to rant to himself. The young man yelled all night long, but the King never heard. The King was happily fastened in his little bubble of relaxation.
The next day, as the sun raised, the King’s two gate guards went outside to check if the young man was there, because they couldn’t hear him shouting anymore. Right after they stepped out the gate, they found the young man slumped against the castle wall. He was dead. The evil winter had killed him. He was killed whilst trying to protect the rest of his community. The guards were utterly stunned and they didn’t know what to do. So out of pure worry they ran in to the castle to receive the King. All the men in the castle, along with the King were soon outside to observe the death of the young man. The King had never seen one of his people die before, besides death at old age. Sorrow for the young man filled the Kings heart and the King realized the difference he had to make in order to prevent this from ever happening again. The King knew that he had to look upon the people of the mountains and he had to protect them from danger.
In my story the people of the mountain are like the trees in Cambodia. Too much lodging will eventually cause huge environmental problems, and the Cambodian activist that took a stand against illegal lodging was killed before the government was willing to pay attention to the matter. In this I would like to say that people should pay attention to their surroundings more, and they should take all life into consideration. Even if you don’t consider the lives of trees as important as the lives of people, you have to think about how the trees help peoples lives, and how they are a part of what our world needs, in order to function. In order to keep us alive as well.
Free Write 4: Missing
Beautiful flowers float around in the air, wind sighs onto the mountains, the sky glows with crystal blue clarity, and lastly I’m here, in this picture, sitting on the surface of the world with a befuddled head. I can’t remember anything. I don’t know what this amazing place surrounding me is. The only information that I can surely find in my head is basic knowledge that I should have learned at school, however I know what school I went to. To what I perceive–I live within the universe, in a galaxy, in a solar system, on earth, and I’m currently encircled by mountains that seem to be washed in the beginning of spring.
What is this world that I’m in? I’ve been here before. I know it. But, I don’t know how. What has happened in this world, or even better, I would like to know what is happening. I want to know what the politics of the world are like. I want to know of the countries there is. There is countries, isn’t there? That means there is people too, but where are they? Where am I? How did I get here? Wait, Who am I? I don’t know my name. I have no name. I’m empty.
I stand up, and twirl around to soak in my view. Huge mountains surround me, and snow crests their tops. As I walk around at the base of a mountain, trees hang above me, and occasionally a flower will sail down from them. The view is extravagant and it chills me with it’s mystical allure. This world scares me, because I’m not sure about what kind of a world it is.
Everyone is Closer to Being “Something” Than They Are to Being “Nothing”
Article of the Week: Dhaka slum dwellers live under threat of eviction by Syed Zain Al-Mahmood
Everyone Exists by Taneeka
Even if everything we have is destroyed, we are still people. As long as we are alive we will always be closer to “something” than “NOTHING.” So, in this article of the week that talked about the demolition of the homes, in the Dhaka slum, I was horrified to know that people were injured and stolen from. It is not right for a person to murder another human, but isn’t what the Bangladesh’s capital did to those people close to murder, or at least attempted murder?
I understand that the capital took away more land that they had originally said they would. So, in doing that they destroyed the homes of many people, taking away everything they had. I don’t understand how the capital can justify their actions. They put the lives of those people in danger, not only by almost running people over with a bulldozer, but by taking away their shelter, their protection, and their food. I wonder, did the bulldozers purposefully go towards the residents? They were putting peoples’ lives at risk. Didn’t they notice that there was people there? They just started demolishing houses without checking that the cost was clear. Were they even aware that they weren’t abiding by what they had told the residents? They lied. Did those people have no sympathy? They didn’t even notice. Did they not care? They didn’t care. In conclusion of the capitals actions, I don’t think they mind if they happen to be murderers, I guess.
“I lost everything I had,” said Islam, a man whose home was destroyed in the demolition. Isn’t it in all of our human rights to live? Compared to the standard of life that I am a part in, these people are barely living, if they are living at all. They are simply surviving the best they can. And they will probably continue surviving till their bones wear out and they drop dead. As devastating as that may sound, I think it’s probably true.
Pay the Price
Article of the Week: In South Sudan, Girls Are Given Away to Settle Family Feuds By Tom Rhodes
Pay for your own mistakes. I believe that people should try to fix their own mistakes, nobody else should have to solve their problems for them. So after saying that, I would like to look upon the situation in South Sudan where young girls are given to people as the compensation for crimes. This is not right. It isn’t right according to my personal opinions. It isn’t right according to our unalienable human rights as people. So why is it happening?
The image of what is happening to girls that are traded between families is abominable. It makes me think of what I would be like in that sort of situation, or what my youngest sister would be like. Being abused, raped, and used completely as a slave, I would;t be able to cope. Probably, then in just the same way as the girl quoted in the article, I would want to kill myself. However, I don’t think that anyone should feel that way. I don’t think that anyone should want to die because they are treated like trash. The article mentions how the girls are used to supposedly compensate for the crimes of their other family member, but, for the new family to make the girls feel like dying, that makes the new family just as bad as the criminal from the girls family, or worse. Why would the new family want to murder the girl, and sink to as low a level as the murderer of their own son? Are they thinking straight? Or have those people really not even thought about the system they take part in? Most of all, I wonder, where is the humanity in those people, don’t they realise the girls they are using are humans just like them.
Sisters Never Let Go by Taneeka Johnston
Price is something that we put on items. As humans we have our own independent minds and bodies, so people shouldn’t be able to apply a price to us. If the crime system that they used in South Sudan was put up where I live, my family would probably evacuate the country straight away. We are a family with three daughters, and I know for sure that my dad would never let any of my sisters or I to be given away with out our own approval. My parents love us to death, so they would not cope with the idea of my sisters or I being raped or abused. The girls in South Sudan should be able to have the same treatment I have from my community. They should be respected for the young ladies that they are. Also, I think that families shouldn’t be torn apart if the situation can be avoided. I don’t think that those girls in South Sudan are treated RIGHT. Not by the people, not by their own families. They should be able to feel loved and happy.
New Rules
Article of the Week: China shuts down 16 websites in effort to curb rumors
After reading the article about the Chinese government having conflicting problems with its people and social media, the word that stood out to me most was “control.” The word seems like the high light of what the Chinese government want. This is what they think is right and it is what they find to be the one of the most vital keys to continuing as a country. However, the Chinese Government shouldn’t be singled out in this situation. Many other governments in our world probably feel the same way. They are all straining for control over their people, other wise, systems will become hectic and out of control.
Some rights reserved by em-si
In the article, Jeremy Goldkorn, director of Danwei.com, a website focused on Chinese media and Internet, said that the restrictions on social media sights is “not an extreme act of censorship but reminds everybody of who is in charge; it sends a signal to the Internet companies and users that the government is watching you.” I love how he mentions the government is watching us, it’s a clear statement that hits the reader and makes them feel kind of scared. But, to be honest, I think that it is acceptable for governments to watch over people and what they do. Of course, people are going to feel like their freedom of voice is being restricted. However, from the perspective of governments in the world, they need to make rules, they need to make sure everything is in order and they need CONTROL. How else would we survive with over 7 billion people in out world? With out any order in the world, our lives would be hectic. We don’t want that to happen and I think that’s the bigger idea of why governments are made. To keep order.
Governments are watching us. They are in control and it’s all for a purpose.
Declaration of Independence to Alter my Education
It has become evident that as people, my peers and I have found it necessary that we need to alter the forms of our instituted education. We’re growing and advancing in our lives, therefore we should now have the right to choose how we wish to be educated. Now, it is only right for us to justify the reasons which have made us come to this decision.
We believe it’s obvious that all people are equal, and that they have the rights to controlling their own lives, having freedom, and chasing happiness. Schools establish education to prepare us for our futures, however if that education is depriving us of our human rights, we have the ability to change or eradicate its methods. We will then organize new methods of learning that will better care for our futures and happiness. New methods of learning, placed, will not be changed over light problems or petty dislikes. However, if the form of education is not benefiting the students and isn’t providing them with what they need, then it is the duty of the students to protest against it, and provide a new educational system to ensure the potency of their futures. –Such has been the suffering of us, students; and as we just explained, those are the reason that make it necessary for us to call for an alteration in our education. The ways of institutional education have caused repeated problems, all having the endowment of absolute despotism over students.
Until now, students have dealt with the ways of education at schools, however, with such a long history of unequal treatment and standing in our education, it is now time to announce what has been going wrong.
- We are confined to classrooms whilst learning daily.
- We are compared to other students and have grades, or numbers set to represent us.
- We are ordered to listen to teachers even if we are not learning anything from them.
- We are not allowed to dictate whether we find a class necessary to partake in.
During all of our mistreatments in our education, we have constantly complained to and discussed with our schools about how we feel, still all of these efforts have been ignored. In addition, we even tried to discuss matters with our parents, yet to find that no action was made to fix our problems. So, we have decided to announce that we find it necessary to declare the rights of our independence in choosing the type of educational methods we want to learn by.
We, therefore, the representatives of the students confined to institutional learning, put these facts forward for the rest of the world to see. We declare our independence from adults that dictate the methods used to educate us. We give ourselves the power to decide how we will be educated to move forth in our lives. In support of our declaration we pledge our lives, honor, and all that we stand for!
Men That Stand On Their Own Feet
If no man thought,
If no man judged,
If no man saw,
If no man heard.
Would we justify him a man?
If not, then for every other man,
That thinks, judges, sees, and hears
Shall we not pledge him with truth?
The British oppose our country,
They abandon our wills,
They don’t justify our remonstrations,
They tell us they’re invincible.
Different men often see the same subject in different lights,
But I speak forth my sentiments freely.
I guide my feet with my will,
Not by the conduct of the British.
Our lives are dear.
We are worthy wise men,
We shall forbid submission,
And we shall contend!
Can You Rate Bullying?
‘Bully’ Documentary: Weinstein Company Loses Appeal Over R-Rating
From watching the trailer for the movie ‘Bully,’ I feel very intrigued to watch the documentary. It seems like it has an amazing message to give out and I truely want to see what happens to other children in the world around me. However, the only thing that is holding me back from watching the ‘Bully’ documentary when it’s finally out is the rating the MPAA has put on the movie. This is rather scandalous. The fact that a documentary that could be used to educate me about the world I live in is rated ‘R’ so that I specifically can’t watch it is unfair. How can I make a difference, how can other teenagers like me make a difference when we aren’t even aware of exactly what’s going on.
In my mind, the most ridiculous part of this whole conflict is that they rated the documentary ‘R’ simply because there was explicit language used. Everything in our world isn’t bliss. The documentary obviously portrays that fact, but it also presents encouragement for teenagers to make a difference. The articlle stated that, “one f-word means PG-13 and two means R.” This is incredulous! I respect any parents that don’t wish for their children to be opened up to the bad things in life, that don’t want their children do have to hear foul language. It is their choice on how they raise their children. So, I think that the movie should have a warning to notify people that the movie has foul language. Though, I don’t believe that it was the right decision when the MPAA made it a RULE for teenagers not to watch it. If the MPAA aren’t the parents of all the children in the world, then why are they allowed to have a say in how some else’s child is raised? By putting an ‘R’ rating on the documentary they are restricting us, children, from being educated on the world around us. They are restricting us from seeing the reality of life, just because it involves a few F-words.
Class Content Grade 8 Middle School: episodic wirting mckinnon
by Taneeka
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The Southern Hemisphere Under the Sun
I. The Beach Life
I sat in the sun,
With sand in my white diaper
At New Castle beach.
II. Tasty
It was “Grandma time.”
At the market eating pies.
The best summer treat.
III. Fun
My cousins and I,
We played tag in the garden.
Young, wild, and running!
IV. Invigorating.
The first time ever.
I arrived in Aus. alone.
To welcoming arms.
V. Stunning
Christmas day had come.
I woke my cousin up early,
Off to the grand tree.
VI. The Perfect Summer
Surfing the huge waves,
My family surrounded me.
Sweet summer loving.
