Sunday, 25 March 2012
Tuesday, 20 March 2012
Kony-
Joseph Kony is the head of a Ugandan guerrilla group called the LRA or Lords Resistance Army. He says he is the spokesperson for god. Initially, he had public support, the LRA turned on its own supporters, aiming to 'purify' the Acholi people and turn Uganda into a theocracy. Kony claims to be a spokesperson of god and a medium of the Holy Spirit, which the group beliefs comes in many forms. They are aiming to achieve a state based on the Ten Commandments and local Acholi customs. He ordered the abduction of children and made them into child soldier and child sex-slaves, feeding them propaganda and making them kill their own parents. An estimated 66, 000 children have been turned into child soldiers and 2 million people have been 'displaced' since 1986. In 2005, Kony was arrested for war crimes, but has evaded capture.
The Ugandan military has attempted to kill Kony, but he is in hiding. In the latest attempt to track him down, former LRA members have been unlisted to search remote areas in the places he has been last seen. The USA army has been helping with the manhunt. their goal to help regional forces to remove Kony and senior LRA leaders. A group called Invisible Children inc have brought on a surge of awareness throughout the world when they released a video called Kony 2012 on the Internet. The film by Jason Russel is intended to bring attention to the manhunt for Kony in an effort to increase the involvement of the US. The video has been viewed over 80 million views as of March 17.
My opinion is that what Kony has been doing definitely has to be stopped, if it's all true, of course. I mean, its easy to put together a video that portrays one thing, but really is only a series of lies or propaganda. I think you should base your opinion on personal beliefs and how much trust you are willing to put into a video that is on the Internet and made by strangers. I think the video seems sincere and I don't think anyone could lie about something so serious.
The Ugandan military has attempted to kill Kony, but he is in hiding. In the latest attempt to track him down, former LRA members have been unlisted to search remote areas in the places he has been last seen. The USA army has been helping with the manhunt. their goal to help regional forces to remove Kony and senior LRA leaders. A group called Invisible Children inc have brought on a surge of awareness throughout the world when they released a video called Kony 2012 on the Internet. The film by Jason Russel is intended to bring attention to the manhunt for Kony in an effort to increase the involvement of the US. The video has been viewed over 80 million views as of March 17.
My opinion is that what Kony has been doing definitely has to be stopped, if it's all true, of course. I mean, its easy to put together a video that portrays one thing, but really is only a series of lies or propaganda. I think you should base your opinion on personal beliefs and how much trust you are willing to put into a video that is on the Internet and made by strangers. I think the video seems sincere and I don't think anyone could lie about something so serious.
Tuesday, 13 March 2012
book reveiw-
I read The Hunger Games, the first book in a trilogy of teen novels by Suzanne Collins .Its set in a county called Panem, which is in North America. Every year the council forces its citizens to take part in the hunger games: a gruesome fight, where two 'tributes' (a girl and a boy) from each district in Panem are forced to fight to the death. The carnage is broad casted on national TV, with the families of the tributes forced to watch. Its entertainment for some, but for the districts who have to give up two of their children, its a reminder of the power of the council, and to never try to rebel ever again.
The book is about Katniss Everdeen, from district 12, a poor coal mining district in Panem. She bravely volunteers to take part in the hunger games, instead of her 12-year-old sister Prim. She and her co-tribute, Peeta, become unwilling Friends, when they know that in the end one of them is going to have kill the other. There is much confusion in the arena.
They start to play out an on-screen romance, in order to win over the audience and get sponsors. Playing to be star-crossed lovers turns out to be an effective strategy, but what happens when the cameras stop rolling? When the gamekeepers announce that two people from the same district can survive, she hurries to Peter's side to nurse him back to health.
I would rate this book 10/10 because it was very original and it kept me up all night, because of all the suspense.
The book is about Katniss Everdeen, from district 12, a poor coal mining district in Panem. She bravely volunteers to take part in the hunger games, instead of her 12-year-old sister Prim. She and her co-tribute, Peeta, become unwilling Friends, when they know that in the end one of them is going to have kill the other. There is much confusion in the arena.
They start to play out an on-screen romance, in order to win over the audience and get sponsors. Playing to be star-crossed lovers turns out to be an effective strategy, but what happens when the cameras stop rolling? When the gamekeepers announce that two people from the same district can survive, she hurries to Peter's side to nurse him back to health.
I would rate this book 10/10 because it was very original and it kept me up all night, because of all the suspense.
Monday, 20 February 2012
#2- creative writing
I'm hungry. So hungry. My little sister, Sophie, and I are having what we call a hollow day, where no matter how much food we can find, it still can't fill us up. I'm picking through the scraps of some fancy restaurant for food. It looks like the rubbish truck just came through so there is nothing edible in sight. With Sophie waiting for me back at our home in the woods, I know I can't go back empty handed. So, taking a deep breath, I crept into the kitchen through the back door and took two massive burgers from the counter. There's no way I'd be able to eat half of one of these, so these should last a long time. Sophie will be delighted, she loves burgers. I practically skip through the woods, I'm so happy with my catch. After half an hour of walking, I arrive at the hut. It took a week to perfect our home in the woods, but we did it. The hut is made of tree branches, leaves and mud. I used to love making huts with my parents in the woods behind our house. But I can never do that again. They're dead.
"Sophie!" I yell. She bursts through the trees around our small clearing. Sophie is the cutest little thing in the world. She's tiny, with long, blond ringlets, which are dirty and knotted right now but they're beautiful when clean. But she has hard lines on her face and the sad eyes, from everything we've been through. She's nine years old, only three years younger than me. Our parents died in a car crash and now we're running away from our crazy uncle, who wants to adopt us. He broke my arm when I was 5 because I spilled his beer. He's a good liar so even my parents didn't believe me, when I insisted I didn't jut fall over. I know he's very persuasive, so he'd definitely get custody. I took off with Sophie into the woods, just for a little while, until I can think up a better plan.
Anyway, when Sophie and I finish our burgers, we curl up in the hut to go to sleep, as its dark. Sophie has the gift of falling straight asleep as soon as she lies down. But for me, it takes a lot of tossing and turning for a comfortable spot and even then I can't seem to sleep. Frustrated, I get up to go outside. The stars are so bright out here, it feels like daylight and the moon is so big, I could reach out and touch it. I wonder about my parents, where the are, if they're watching over us. That's what I'm thinking about as I fall asleep under the stars...
I wake up drenched in sweat and to the smell of... smoke? Smoke! I jump up.
"Sophie? Sophie!" I scream.
I'd heard horrible stories about the forest fires in this area but they were only supposed to happen about once every 5 years.
"what? What is it?" My little sister asked.
"It's a fire!" I yelled, "C'mon lets get our of here."
She nodded, looking alert. Just then, I see an endless wall of fire raging toward us, the wind pushing the wave of fire, urging it on. I know it's hopeless now. I know it's too late for Sophie and I, but that doesn't mean I won't try. I grab my sisters hand and sprint away from the fire, but it keeps flying toward us, swallowing anything in its path. I can feel the blistering heat it gives off, but I keep running, keep trying. I can't breath, the smoke is suffocating me. I'm helpless and so is Sophie. This is something I can't protect her from. We are going to die and there won't be anyone to morn us. Sophie and I stop at the same time, but we don't turn toward our death. We face each other. She looks so brave. At that moment, she is my anchor. The fire crashes onto us, like a wave, and miraculously, I don't feel any pain. I feel free. I know Sophie and I are finally going to be with our parents.
"Sophie!" I yell. She bursts through the trees around our small clearing. Sophie is the cutest little thing in the world. She's tiny, with long, blond ringlets, which are dirty and knotted right now but they're beautiful when clean. But she has hard lines on her face and the sad eyes, from everything we've been through. She's nine years old, only three years younger than me. Our parents died in a car crash and now we're running away from our crazy uncle, who wants to adopt us. He broke my arm when I was 5 because I spilled his beer. He's a good liar so even my parents didn't believe me, when I insisted I didn't jut fall over. I know he's very persuasive, so he'd definitely get custody. I took off with Sophie into the woods, just for a little while, until I can think up a better plan.
Anyway, when Sophie and I finish our burgers, we curl up in the hut to go to sleep, as its dark. Sophie has the gift of falling straight asleep as soon as she lies down. But for me, it takes a lot of tossing and turning for a comfortable spot and even then I can't seem to sleep. Frustrated, I get up to go outside. The stars are so bright out here, it feels like daylight and the moon is so big, I could reach out and touch it. I wonder about my parents, where the are, if they're watching over us. That's what I'm thinking about as I fall asleep under the stars...
I wake up drenched in sweat and to the smell of... smoke? Smoke! I jump up.
"Sophie? Sophie!" I scream.
I'd heard horrible stories about the forest fires in this area but they were only supposed to happen about once every 5 years.
"what? What is it?" My little sister asked.
"It's a fire!" I yelled, "C'mon lets get our of here."
She nodded, looking alert. Just then, I see an endless wall of fire raging toward us, the wind pushing the wave of fire, urging it on. I know it's hopeless now. I know it's too late for Sophie and I, but that doesn't mean I won't try. I grab my sisters hand and sprint away from the fire, but it keeps flying toward us, swallowing anything in its path. I can feel the blistering heat it gives off, but I keep running, keep trying. I can't breath, the smoke is suffocating me. I'm helpless and so is Sophie. This is something I can't protect her from. We are going to die and there won't be anyone to morn us. Sophie and I stop at the same time, but we don't turn toward our death. We face each other. She looks so brave. At that moment, she is my anchor. The fire crashes onto us, like a wave, and miraculously, I don't feel any pain. I feel free. I know Sophie and I are finally going to be with our parents.
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
#1 -my holidays...
We travelled there from Ohope, which took about three hours. We stayed at a campsite in Te Aaroa, which was about 5 minutes from the beach. My favourite thing about the camp was that there were hundreds of horses surounding the campsite. After 5 days, we drove to another place called Anaura Bay and took lots of day trips from there. My favourite thing about that campsite was the water. We stayed there for 7 days because it was so beautiful. After that we went to another campsite right in the middle of Gisborne. Then we drove home through Rotorua and it took 7 hours. I really enjoyed all the sun, water and sand!
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