August 21, 2004

• yah that damn UN ought to just shut it's fucking face. if this was actually anything important Our Preznitint of Uhmurkuh would have declared war on it.
• Funny how the UN is interested in this now, when back in 1994, they made every attempt to ignore and impede the peace proccess. Maybe this time the Western World won't turn their back. Then again, what am I saying, it's not like they've learned anything. (Reading Romeo Dallaire's Shaking Hands With the Devil right now and it's really opening my eyes about how inept the UN can be at times.)
• I was in Africa ten years ago to this date helping with Rwanda/Burundi relief efforts. I can' t believe this crap is continuing.
• Considering that all we hear about Africa is war, death, violence, apartheid, the remains of apartheid, disease, famine, etc., are there any African nations where the people get along with eath other reasonably, and have established a fairly decent standard of living? Basically, does anything good ever happen in Africa?
• shawnj: Given that the UN was given the power to speak, but not to act decisively, it's not surprising that they're inept. If you consider that any member of the security council can withhold funding or support, at any time, for any reason, is it really any wonder? We helped build the UN, but then failed to give it the teeth. It can only bark.
• It's less of a bark and more of a whine
• I was in [insert world region] ten years ago to this date helping with [insert ethnic group] relief efforts. I can' t believe this crap is continuing. Considering that all we hear about [insert world region] is [insert examples of typical human behavior, plus death, just for kicks] are there any [insert world region] countries where the people [don't act like humans]? Just saying. Okay, maybe you don't hear any shitty news outta Greenland, but that's because it only has six people and plenty of alcohol to go around.
• Exactly quonsar, IF it was anything important...
• spackle - that seems more than a little rude. Why did you take that tack? It really didn't contribute anything. And yes, rolypolyman really should have given more detail, but your comment seems to indicate that either you don't believe he was there, or it wasn't important that he was there. Or, maybe that the situation in Ruwanda isn't important. Gimme your best shot, here. I'll be rooting for you to give us your expertise.
• But I do like your chickens.
• ...really opening my eyes about how inept the UN can be at times... They aren't inept, they're decisive and good at excusing themselves from the responsibility.
• Sorry, path, I didn't mean to cast asparagus on rolypoly's veracity. I am just allergic to naivete and sometimes the itchy rash makes me cranky. My point there, badly made, was that expecting humans to change their wicked bloodthirsty ways overnight is not a reasonable expectation. And drivingme's sweeping generalization about an entire huge vast continent annoyed me. (Why must ALL of you people ALWAYS generalize? Hee hee.) Other people in the world can say the same things about Asia, and Europe, and the Americas, and even the relatively peaceable Australia. Deliberate tunnel vision is an easy way to dismiss other societies as primitive while reinforcing one's own sense of superiority. I just don't think that's a useful attitude for trying to understand world affairs. When machete massacres occur in Rwanda and Burundi, or genocide continues in Sudan, we don't like to admit that we are also capable of such evil and even culpable, so we tend to minimize the issue by saying things like "Why can't Africa get it right?" The problem is not Africa. The problem is evil done by people who are just like us. And the problem is people just like us who do nothing while their neighbors commit evil. I realize this all sounds very cynical but I'm truly a hopeful person at heart. I think that if you see evil behavior as an anomaly you can't personally relate to, instead of a fact of human nature (including your own, under the right circumstances), it's a lot easier to pretend that other people's problems are not yours. But we live on a small planet and it's getting smaller every day. What the world needs now is love, sweet love... and more hopeful cynicism... and a fancy chicken in every pot.
• What you heard from me were words of frustration, not anything profound or insightful. I don't have any answers here, either; it just is what it is. Please take it at face value.