The article Joseph Kony On The Move As Manhunt Steps Up, UN Envoy Says by Louis Charbonneau told that finally Kony is beginning to be deeply pressured. Before, Kony stayed at one place for perhaps a few months, now he is moving almost daily. Joseph Kony is the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, one consisting of thousands of children, some who become sex slaves. Thousands of children have been killed during the three decades Kony has been operating. Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and the Central Republic have joined together on a 5,000 strong manhunt to apprehend Kony. The pressure only increased when Khartoum is deciding whether to close its borders for Kony and Chad’s president agreed to try to capture Kony if he came into Chad. The recent Kony 2012 viral video has raised awareness about Kony, with over 80 million who now know about the atrocities. The authorities are closer to finding out where Kony is, because defectors and traces showed where he has been and how Kony feels.

My main question for this topic is: how are the millions that know about Kony going to help? Although they did put pressure on him, no DIRECT action has been done. I have that question because I really wonder how much is being done about Kony. The big message in this article is that something IS being done about Kony, and that slowly, but surely, the authorities are closer to Kony. Joseph Kony has killed thousands of children, used them as sex slaves, made them kill others, and has been doing this for 30 years. Why does this matter? He has abused children for decades, yet little has been done until now. The only problem is that there is someone else like Kony who is also charged for war crimes - General Bosco Ntagand. If Kony is captured, perhaps that will show an example on what everyone can accomplish, and capture other criminals.

If I was involved in this situation, I would first close borders to Kony around where we know he is. Then surround the area and silt through area by area, closer and closer to the center to find Kony – little chance for escape. At first, I foolishly thought that maybe Kony 2012 was fake. Now I realize how much effort has been put into the capture of this man, and how much that man has affected tens of thousands of lives. Our responsibility is to contribute in the search for Kony and prevent anything similar happen in our communities.

This article comes back to the issue of violence in Egypt. Unknown and armed individuals have again assaulted protesters for/against people in the upcoming elections. As said in the article, the Army must end attacks on protesters amid renewed violence. Amnesty International has renewed its call on the protection of the protesters – many have been killed because of the lack of protection. A group of armed people started fighting with the protesters. Guns, stones, and Molotov Cocktails were all used in the conflict. One was found dead, and over a hundred were injured. The authorities did very little until 1 o’clock – when the army had to intervene. One has been found with his throat cut. Overall, the Egyptian authorities say that about seven people were killed. No one knows who is responsible for the assaults. Both under Former President Mubarak and Egypt’s Supreme Council of Armed Forces protesters were attacked, and the intervention from the army always came too late.

A very interesting question puzzled me after I read the article. It is simply: Why did the authorities respond so lamely? The attacks happened many times, but no action was taken. Also, I see no purpose in the armed individuals creating violence – why are they attacking the protesters? Perhaps, the “unknown” are against the opinion of the protesters? I think that the main message of the article is to point out that the army must end the attacks and do something to prevent the violence to happen again. It matters because the government/army is not protecting its citizens, instead leaving the bloodshed to occur for a while.

If I was the army, I would’ve at least tried to put barriers and send out troops to monitor and limit the violence. Being a bystander of all the action like what the Egyptian army did is intolerable. If I was one of the protesters, I would’ve simply try to go away. All the gunfire and shotgun pellets can result in injury or damage. It is not worth risking your life for something like this. Once again, there is another article showing the irresponsibility that the government portrays to the world. As a person, I’m not much of an influence, as this matter goes up to the government. I cannot change their opinion. As a community, we sadly cannot do much either. Egypt is out of our grasp of influence. As a world though, we CAN change their opinions. The power of 7 billion people is simply overwhelming. Think about it.

In the article BP Oil Spill Aftermath: Eyeless Shrimp, Clawless Crabs and Fish with Oozing Sores by Casey Chan talks about the effects of the BP Oil spill two years later. When BP spilled the oil, the company didn’t use environmentally friendly chemicals to clean up the mess. What they used greatly harmed the environment and living species. The biggest effect was on fish. The mutations ranged from tumors, to lesions, and to even dying from within. The higher levels of nickel and vanadium only adds more evidence. There is also an effect on humans. Some of these effects are: headaches, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pains, chest pains, respiratory system damage, skin sensitization, hypertension, central nervous system depression, neurotoxic effects, cardiac arrhythmia and cardiovascular damage. The seafood shortages caused by the death of fish will affect the US a lot. 40% of the US seafood is in the Gulf of Mexico – the place of the spill. Poly-cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are thought to be the cause of  the majority of problems. Lastly, the government has lost control of the situation.

At first, when I read the article, I simply could not believe it! It has been such a long time that I forgot about the after effects. The most shocking part is that the government has lost control.  Also, BP doesn’t take the blame…now what lying is that? If BP doesn’t take the blame, does it mean that the company doesn’t have to responsible for the seafood dying? I think that the biggest message in this article is that something has to be done about the spill. BP has tried to stop it, but only caused more environmental damage to seafood. Also, this matters. The food we eat may be contaminated, and can harm us too. 40% of the US seafood could be mutated or dead if nothing is done about the chemicals.

There is not much I can do though if i was in the situation. This problem is gigantic, and to stop it will be beyond my power. Even raising awareness would not be effective in taking away all the chemicals – a process which will surely cost billions. In this world, money and reputation means a lot, so the companies wouldn’t take the blame for such a horrific disaster. The responsibility of our community is to make sure that the companies take responsibility of their mistakes and do something about it which does not harm others. I can still relate the part about the pink masses over the fishes’ eyes and gills…it reminds me of the horror of Vietnamese restaurant aquariums.

It was 1879. A feared assassin was out loose. The Devil’s Assassin escaped from a top security jail cell. The public was in panic. His nickname among the people was simply Scythe. It was rumored that he carried one around. No one ever saw him, and if they did, they were dead. No one knew his identity. On April 15th, 1879, Scythe celebrated his birthday, alone. Exactly on that day, he received a message from his dog – the only one he could trust. Inside, was written:

Scythe,
I have another assignment for you. I’m not sure if you know him or not, but I need you to assassinate another man…I’m sure that is no problem for you. The man in question is Grante Levonta. As you probably already know, he is the richest man on the planet. He has been a great pain for me, so his death would bring a smile to my face.

       Your Never Seen Friend,
Richard Zeirta

P.S. Since I never seen you, never heard your voice, and don’t know where you live or even your real name, you can simply treat me as your employer.

That was all the message said. Simple, easy, and Scythe knew exactly where Grante Levonta lived. In fact, he was Grante’s third nephew. He never liked Grante, so killing him would not bring tears. The Levonta Family is the richest family in the world – worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Now, Scythe thought, he would bring it to an end. Sadly, to stop his own family, more sacrifice have to be made than simply killing one person. He will have to kill all the main people associated with the family business. First, he will have to start with the hardest kill.

There was only one person in the world which Scythe admired and was in love with – Claire Sibela. She was Grante’s assistant. He fell in love with her long ago, but never caught her attention. Then one night, he found out that Claire had a boyfriend. Scythe even killed Claire’s lover, but she found another one. That was a few years ago, but now he is going to kill her. Slowly but surely, Scythe creeped up behind Claire, and before contemplating about his affection for her, he swung his scythe. Claire Sibela is dead. Scythe stood over the body and gazed. He took out a flower from his jacket and put it on her. He then walked away.

Next on the death list was Dan. As Dan was Grante’s favorite nephew, Scythe always hated him. Dan was appointed to succeed Grante after his death. That means that if Grante is killed, the ownership transfers to Dan. Scythe couldn’t permit that. Grante’s three nephews all live in huge mansions, except for Scythe’s. He preferred a simple, but comfortable house. Scythe woke up, and was already on the way to Dan. A few minutes later, Scythe was already next to Dan’s sleeping body. Scythe thought, “Should I make this long or short?” He decided to have the job done as fast as possible. Scythe slit the throat. In no time, the body was cold and statuesque. He placed a flower horizontally on the mouth, to make it look like Dan was a Spanish dancer with a flower in his mouth. Scythe smirked, and left silently.

By then, everyone was going crazy. A member of the Levonta Family and one associate have been murdered. Everyone suspects Scythe is to blame, as he is the top assassin. Nevertheless, Scythe continued. Actually, I lied. Only one person knew Scythe’s identity. His cousin. Sarah was unfortunate to see Scythe kill a random stranger on the road a decade ago. If Scythe killed Grante, Sarah would uncover the secret. At the same time, he and her played a lot when they were small. Feelings aside, Scythe came up to Sarah and asked, “If I killed someone…close to us, would you uncover our secret?” Sarah said she would uncover it. Scythe did not hesitate. The neck was violently twisted sideways and snapped – defined by the distinguishable noise when the neck breaks. Another flower was left on her body. Scythe tried to ignore his emotional side as he walked back home.

The city officials have begun a massive investigation. Flowers was the only lead they had. Anyway, who would think that Scythe would kill his own family? To eliminate the worst scenario, Scythe decided to kill the head of investigation, Rick, Grante’s son in law. Scythe began to walk across the main road when suddenly, metal touched Scythe’s forehead. “Don’t move, or I’ll shoot.” That was Rick. Scythe calmly observed his surroundings. There was no point in struggling. Rick wouldn’t actually shoot him if Scythe tried to escape – Rick would squeeze the air from him instead. Scythe innocently asked Rick what he wanted. Rick made a deal with Scythe. Rick would let Scythe live after all those murders if Scythe will live according to the law, and if everyone thinks he is dead. So that was it. The gossip of the city – Scythe found dead, no identity found. Sadly for Rick, Scythe already injected a toxin into Rick while he was sleeping. It’s only a matter of time. He left a flower on the injection point.

The only man left to be dead is Grante Levonta. A brother, sister, father and grandfather to everyone in the family. He is loved, revered, and he is filthy rich. Grante Levonta was at his study room, thinking about the situation at hand. A few days earlier, Rick sent Grante a letter the day before Rick was killed. Apparently, Grante’s third nephew wanted him dead. The letter told everything Scythe did in the past. He was assassin, so he was hired. Grante thought about his competitors. In a few minutes, he concluded – the employer had to be Richard Zeirta. Grante and Richard had a bad history together. In school, Richard was the bully and Grante was the victim. Now Richard still wants Grante dead. the Zeirta family have been life time rivals with the Levonta family, so it made sense. Grante patiently waited for Scythe’s arrival.

Scythe didn’t know about Rick’s letter. Scythe thought Grante barely even remembers him. Scythe climbed over the gates of the mansion. He walked across the garden. It was three o’clock in the morning. Scythe walked past all the rooms, and slowly twisted the doorknob of the study room – Grante sleeps there. Scythe stepped in. “Stop there.” Scythe was shocked. Grante expected him. “Why would you want to kill me?” “I was given an assignment.” “By who?” Scythe felt there was no point in hiding the truth. Four men approached from the back and held up guns, ready to shoot if he tried to escape. “It was Richard Zeirta.” “Of course…John, can you do me a favor?” “Why should I?” “I saved your life a few years ago. I took a bullet for you. It’s now a scar in my chest.” Scythe thought about that. Even though he did not like Grante a lot, he did feel obliged to pay back Grante’s sacrifice. “What do you want?” “I want Richard Zeirta dead. Grante and Scythe shaked hands. Grante said, “Next time, you ask me for assignments.” Scythe put a grin on his face – his first for years.

I think the rest of this story is quite obvious. The next day Richard Zeirta was found dead. Scythe sent a flower to Grante Levonta with a note saying: “This flower was supposed  to be meant for you.” Grante collected the other flowers from the investigators. He put them in a frame, and hung it in his study room. 133 years later, it is still there.

Blogspot

In the article “In South Sudan, Girls Are Given Away to Settle Family Feuds” by Tom Rhodes, many different human rights declared in 1948 by the UN are violated. As there is no jail system in South Sudan, a tradition is used to solve problems. When a someone kills another man, the killer has to give away one of his family’s girls to the victim’s family as compensation. The girl given away is then forced into slavery. The family often revenge the death of their family member by hitting and abusing the girl. Something which also commonly happens is that the girl is forced into marriage, and then is raped continuously in an attempt to produce a child to replace the dead family member. A factor of this mess could be the fact that after the civil war, the country is still underdeveloped – only 19% of people over the age of 15 are literate. No proper system to solve crime is in place, so the horrible traditions continue.

Many questions arose when I read the article. Are the countries which agreed on The Universal Declaration of Human Rights have to obey them? If so, is South Sudan part of the countries? This tradition goes against womens’ rights, freedom, right for no slavery, no torture or cruelty and many more rights! How come the government isn’t doing anything? Families lose the ones they love just because one of their own killed someone else. Lastly, my biggest questions are: “Who chooses who has to be given away?” Wouldn’t the man fight to keep his sister or relative with him instead of giving her away? The last one nags me so much that I can’t even imagine applying that situation here in Vietnam. If you don’t have a girl, do you have to give away your mother? I think the message the article is trying to get across is that there are many cruelties in this world, and that we can do something to help – it doesn’t have to be a specific human right in this article.

Frankly, this article doesn’t connect to me or my community. We don’t have any problems with women’s right, and no one is truly being abused and forced into slavery (except the occasional “Discipline Time” with your parents). If I was involved, it’s hard to know what I will do. Will I have the courage to stand up against the old tradition or will I simply follow it out of fear and simply sulk? I hope I’m brave enough. Living in a caring family, I wouldn’t bear see someone be given away as compensation, knowing that their life will be a living hell. I thought that womens’ rights were established long ago, but apparently not. Human rights are violated all the time, and this article shows a case where multiple rights are violated. Our community has the responsibility to prevent any cruelty mentioned in the article, and as a world, to live together in PEACE and to resolve all the suffering millions have to go through.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/17/opinion/blow-the-curious-case-of-trayvon-martin.html
The Curious Case of Trayvon Martin by Charles M. Blow

Trayvon Martin

Trayvon Martin’s case deserves lots of attention from the media.  The article hinted a lot about the racism in this murder (or possibly manslaughter). Most of all, I’m disgusted by the fact that Ge0rge is not even arrested. It’s obvious that he was the one in pursuit of the innocent teenager. So why isn’t he arrested? I think it has to do with Trayvon’s race. Even his family’s lawyers said that if Trayvon was the one who shot, he would be arrested immediately – clearly a show of racism. Some questions that haunt me are: Why did George follow Trayvon? What made Trayvon look so suspicious that George had to kill him? If I was a grown man, I would’ve not been taking out my gun a teen simply walks near your house, but does nothing.

Statue representing Independence

Preamble

As the course of time rolls on, It may become necessary to sever all ties from all others. We believe that we, the students of SSIS and the children of parents, deserve to be independent. SSIS has given us knowledge, skills, and the chance to befriend others. Our parents represented our childhood, and governed our actions. Now we are grown up, less a child, more of a mature mortal being. To respect our opinions, as man was given free speech, we will state the causes which persuaded the student body to declare total separation from SSIS and our parents.

Statement of Beliefs

It’s self-evident, that all humans are created equal, and are endowed with unalienable rights: life, liberty, happiness, and satisfaction. All the students in the world have the right to sever ties with their connections if the masters, governors, and time wasters of our limited life span of approximately 80 years become destructive to our well being. It’s also the right of all students, for when all connections are severed and when responsibility of the school and the 18 year agreement to the parents’ consent is taken off our shoulders, to establish common ways to sustain ourselves without our previous masters. Masters should not be changed for trivial and sufferable reasons, as experienced in everyday life by every mortal human being. Only when constantly bombarded by the fiery arrows of physical and mental pain, actions played unjust against our will, then is action to separate necessary. Only when constant decisions are made without the voice of all students – thus representing that all humans are not created equal, which goes against the unalienable rights of all of humanity. Only when the long chain of abuses and ignorances which are aimed toward us either by purpose, or without purpose but without will to change, then it is the right to take away the masters from our lives. Our history with SSIS, and our parents, was a poor one. The repeated injuries and mental pain created by you, finally caused us to reach this event horizon. There is no way back. The tyranny over our lives in this already complex world of the obsolete education system, lack of money to pay off all debts in the world, and much more, will be obliterated to smithereens and shall serve as a dark reminiscence, engraved on time, forever.

List of Grievances

Many days have passed of our obedience, reverence of our parents, and respect to our teachers. We were patient and stood below you, believing that you would lead us to success in the future by arming us with the knowledge, health, and life skills to survive the next couple of decades, which are described by the intimidating stories of the hard work required to be successful. We also believed, that while we are in our rare state of childhood, you would bring us happiness and the will to live on the way it is. You have given us the opposite. Below, are the grievances put on us, carefully elaborated with the reasons and the examples that apparently, you have missed to notice, and have missed to change your temperament and actions toward us. Our grievances:

• The redundancy and inefficiency of assigned homework terrorized our time, which could’ve been utilized for more efficient and interesting tasks.

• The imaginary numbers of the GPA and the useless letters of our subject grades have been forced to be improved by us, enforced by our parents. The ultimate goal is to achieve an A+ and a 4.00 GPA, both not representing us as a human, a friend, a benefactor to different causes, a hard working studier, and much more. WE are NOT perfect, and so is not our knowledge of every subject.

• Even during school time, our only few minutes of break, previously 15 minutes, has been shortened to only 10. Many times the students are excused late from class, and having to do quick bathroom breaks, by the time they go downstairs to eat or play in the gym there is only five minutes left.

• The teachers “carefully” and “coincidentally” scheduled all the tests/quizzes to be taken on the week before the spring break – only adding more stress – forcing us to study more, waste more time, and have a near – death experience by the time Friday rolls by, to ring the bell of freedom at three o’clock post postmeridian.

Statement of Prior Attempts to Redress Grievances

Multiple attempts have been made by us, students of SSIS and children of many parents, to try to bring change to our treatment, and bring attention to us. Our opinions, apparently, are of no value to the ones we tell. Our parents, our teachers, grandparents and even other schools simply walked away from the matter. We were not to change the ways, we were told. Even after a peaceful, and organized meeting with the people stated above, nothing we presented stayed in their minds; our voices diminished once again.

Declaration of Independence

We, therefore, students of SSIS, assembled together at an anonymous building, appealing to all of our former representatives: parents, teachers, mentors, relatives etc., hereby the acts stated above, we declare independence from your control of our lives, and we shall be treated as an equal, the way every human should be treated. We have the right to make our own decisions, take care of ourselves, and hold the responsibility of our own problems and our own well-being. We have the choice of our allies and our enemies, and the choice of what to do for the future. We pledge our dignity, life, and wealth to support the ultimate cause – the declaration of independence.

A Typical Metro Ride – in Moscow
Busy in metro,
Some man falls onto train tracks,
Death so near but saved.

Nighttime Fire Alarm in Camp
Dreams of randomness,
Night fire alarm rings out loud,
A fly starts it all.

The Revenge of the Jellyfish
Poking jellyfish,
Then revenge – ambushed by twelve,
Escaped from shock and stings.

Building Tents in a Forest
Building tents outside,
Burned the tent with a lighter,
Never play with fire.

Food in the U.S.
French fries and burgers,
Went to Pizza Hut to eat,
Payed double for food.

Skiing in France
Skiing in East France,
Tripped on a black slope and stuck,
Slided down hill – safety.

A Bus Ride in Abu Dhabi
Bus ride to airport,
Exchanged emails with new friends,
Sad to separate.

I’m most successful with balance in life because I make time for activities  and people outside of school. I always participate in activities such as swimming, tennis, piano, guitar etc. One example is that I’m part of the ABC Swimming Gala this March, and our swim team is going to compete against many international schools in the city. I also play tennis twice a week. Many weekends, my family or my friends would go out to play – either by eating together in the restaurant, or going over to my friends house and play video games. Recently, my family watched “Journey 2″ in Crescent mall. This clearly shows that I’m very balanced in life, by spending time with my family, friends, and participating in many sports and activities.

We are humans, therefore, there is always something we are less successful in than other things. That is respect for all. It might be hard to admit, but it’s true. I’m least successful with respect for all because I treat people with less respect than they deserve.  Sometimes, I’m even disrespectful to the teachers! An instance would be (not mentioning any classes or names) when I would either take quick naps or daydream about other topics – while the teacher is talking to the class. Another flaws of mine is judging others, and then respecting them based on what I judged. When I see a new person, I first judge them by their looks, and then their personality (which is not good). Maybe it’s human nature, but maybe it’s simply my bad characteristic. My respect then can be very low for them, even though they never brought me any harm or annoyance.

My lack of respect for all actually affected me in my life – negatively. The main way is that others treat me back  with less respect: “Taste of your own medicine.” There are a few ways that I can succeed in this core value. An easy solution would be to actually pay attention to the teacher. I would show respect and be more productive in class. When it’s time to take notes, I’ll take notes too, so when the teacher is talking, I can actually listen. Lastly, I should start treating everyone with the amount of respect they deserve. I’ll be more open to their thoughts and ideas, and even if they don’t respect me back, I shouldn’t be the same to them. By taking these solutions into action, I’ll be more successful in respect for all, and become a better person.

I have many strengths and weakness with the ESLR’s (core values) of SSIS. My balance in life helps me be closer to succeeding in all core values, while I need improvement in respect for all. I’m very active in sports and participate in many activities. I also spend time with my friends and my family. This all shows balance in life. By being more respectful to others, I’ll improve my respect for all. If I succeed, I will have a more satisfying life, while bringing happiness to others.