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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 352 responses total. |
eprom
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response 314 of 352:
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Dec 21 01:05 UTC 2003 |
yeah, this is a little old, but I just read about it today:
After more than 15 years, the mastermind behind the gruesome and
infamous murder of renowned gorilla researcher and protector, Dr. Dian
Fossey whose life was portrayed in the 1988 movie Gorillas in the
Mist, may finally be in custody in Belgium. Protais Zigiranyirazo, the
former Governor of the Ruhengeri province in Rwanda, brother-in-law of
the assassinated Rwandan president, and one of the country s most wanted
criminals for his creation of death squads, which killed 800,000 in
1994, was captured by Belgian police while trying to flee Kenya on June
9, 2001.
http://www.awionline.org/pubs/Quarterly/Fall2001/fossey.htm
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mcnally
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response 315 of 352:
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Dec 21 02:27 UTC 2003 |
Fossey's death was a terrible crime, but does it strike anyone else
as just a bit out of proportion to remember this guy as the guy who
ordered Fossey's death and not as the organizer of death squads that
killed 800,000 Rwandans?
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gelinas
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response 316 of 352:
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Dec 21 02:53 UTC 2003 |
Sadly, more people are likely to remember the one than the
eight-hundred-thousand. After all, it's just another eight-hundred-thousand
of millions. Joy Adamson and Dian Fossey are _names_, the others are
just _numbers_. :(
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i
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response 317 of 352:
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Dec 21 04:21 UTC 2003 |
Diane Fossey was white and noteworthy. Roughly speaking, no whites have
any noteworthy involvement in Africa's genocides. Worse, the victims
have virtually zilch in the way of influential white friends. What does
the American media do with the following stories:
-Five innocents are killed in Israel/Palentine violence today, graphic
video footage in hand
-Based on survivors' reports, the UN now estimates that 6,000 more
innocents were killed in inter-tribal violence in Africa
-Half the annual anti-AIDS funding in an African country has been
stolen by the dictators' cronies; World Health Ass'n officials
estimate that 70,000 more people will die of AIDS as a result
...my experience is that the first story gets top or near-top billing;
the other two aren't even considered for inclusion, unless a thick
newspaper has some spare room back on page 47J. If there's no angle
that a culturally & racially self-centered WASP can identify with, then
the victims weren't human and no crime was committed.
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mcnally
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response 318 of 352:
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Dec 21 06:41 UTC 2003 |
re #317: I don't think it's quite as bad as that, though I can certainly
see plenty of evidence to support your position.
I think gelinas has a point in #316, too. It's much easier to visualize
the death of an individual person whose name you know than imagine a
nameless statistic, let alone 800,000 nameless statistics.
It's certainly not Fossey's fault -- she deserves justice as much as
any one of the Rwandan genocide victims does -- but it just struck me
as a particularly grim example of the limitations of public empathy..
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mdw
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response 319 of 352:
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Dec 21 08:48 UTC 2003 |
To me, the horrible thing about Fossey's death is that means the Gorilla
lost a champion, which the species badly needs. Future generations may
be less willing to forgive the extinction of the gorilla, and may not be
at all sympathetic concerning temporary reductions in Africa's
overpopulation problem. Given the current US "official" position
regarding population control (ie, birth control in 3rd world nations)
and the general % of world resources consumed in the US, I doubt the
future will judge us much better.
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remmers
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response 320 of 352:
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Dec 21 13:34 UTC 2003 |
To put the issue of the emphasis on one particular person into a wee
bit of perspective: The story referenced in #314 appeared in a publication
called "The Animal Welfare Institute Quarterly".
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mcnally
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response 321 of 352:
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Dec 21 22:16 UTC 2003 |
> Future generations may be less willing to forgive the extinction of
> the gorilla, and may not be at all sympathetic concerning temporary
> reductions in Africa's overpopulation problem. Given the current US
> "official" position regarding population control (ie, birth control
> in 3rd world nations) and the general % of world resources consumed
> in the US, I doubt the future will judge us much better.
re #319: boy, "temporary reductions in Africa's overpopulation problem"
sure sounds a lot kinder than "the genocidal machete dismemberment of
800,000 men, women, and children," doesn't it? I know enough about
Marcus to have formed a pretty strong opinion that he isn't a cold-blooded
type, so how do we get to a point where an intelligent person like
Marcus makes an unconscious equivalence like the one above?
I don't know what the answer or answers here might be, but I'm pretty
consistently appalled by just how messed up our thinking about the
situation has gotten.
You're right that the gorilla needs a champion, but I really hope that
if that champion appears, it doesn't turn out to be someone who sees
nearly a million people as removable inconveniences.
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mary
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response 322 of 352:
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Dec 22 01:20 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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mcnally
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response 323 of 352:
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Dec 22 02:46 UTC 2003 |
Probably well past time to move this out of the general announcements
item. I announce that I apologize for the inadvertent item hijacking.
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carson
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response 324 of 352:
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Dec 22 14:20 UTC 2003 |
(Russ [power] is in town through the first week of January. we'll likely
get together tonight for some deep dish pizza from Anthony's.)
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tpryan
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response 325 of 352:
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Dec 22 14:52 UTC 2003 |
Happy winter you all!
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remmers
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response 326 of 352:
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Dec 22 14:57 UTC 2003 |
(Oxymoron alert!)
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gull
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response 327 of 352:
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Dec 22 16:22 UTC 2003 |
Re resp:317: There's a less racist interpretation -- the U.S. has an
active national interest in the Israeli situation, but has basically no
ties to anywhere in Africa.
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tod
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response 328 of 352:
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Dec 22 17:41 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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twenex
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response 329 of 352:
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Dec 22 17:50 UTC 2003 |
Where in Africa?
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tod
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response 330 of 352:
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Dec 22 18:07 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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twenex
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response 331 of 352:
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Dec 22 18:20 UTC 2003 |
Ah. heh. Sierra Leone.
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albaugh
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response 332 of 352:
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Dec 22 19:19 UTC 2003 |
When I entered agora, I expected to see a roll into winter...
Well, a couple of Santa related comix to make you smile:
http://garfield.ucomics.com/index.html?uc_comic=ga&uc_full_date=20031221
http://www.ucomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1992/12/20/
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aruba
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response 333 of 352:
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Dec 22 21:37 UTC 2003 |
I like that Calvin and Hobbes one. :)
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slynne
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response 334 of 352:
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Dec 22 21:51 UTC 2003 |
Me too. Those are the best. :)
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jep
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response 335 of 352:
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Dec 23 03:09 UTC 2003 |
My son and I spent Friday night on the museum submarine, USS
Silversides, in Muskegon, MI, along with Cub Scout Pack 673 of
Tecumseh. I would have to rate this as one of the coolest overnight
trips I've ever heard of for Cub Scouts (and their parents).
You can read about the Silversides at http://www.silversides.org if
you're interested.
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gelinas
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response 336 of 352:
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Dec 23 03:16 UTC 2003 |
I think you can also read about it at
http://courtofappeals.mijud.net/Digest/newHTML/16408221.htm
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jep
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response 337 of 352:
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Dec 23 04:36 UTC 2003 |
Yours doesn't say much about the submarine.
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gelinas
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response 338 of 352:
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Dec 23 04:39 UTC 2003 |
True, but the submarine _was_ the causus belli. :)
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