Personal Response on the article: "James"

In northern Uganda, young children are being captured or abducted by an organization called the Lord’s Resistance Army. They are being forced to work as slaves and sometimes trained to become child soldiers. These innocent children are in fact being introduced to violence at a very young age, and this would badly affect their lives in the future, if they manage to survive until then. One boy who got abducted by the Army was James.

Unlike other typical children, James was being abducted during his school holidays to work as a slave in the Lord’s Resistance Army. He was also forced to brutally kill his own brother who too got abducted with him in a method too gruesome to be said. When the camp which the Army was located finally got raided, the children were set free. But though James is out of captivity, he still suffers from the mental horrors of his experience in the Lord’s Resistance Army.

How can a boy as young as James receive such harsh treatment from the Lord’s Resistance Army? It would definitely be a bad memory which would haunt him for the rest of his life. He would need enormous amount of emotional and spiritual help to enable him to recover from this traumatic experience and be able to lead a normal live once more.

Personally, I feel that slavery is a very terrible and horrible thing. It is the violation of human rights when a particular group of people are seen to be more superior then others, thus they would be the masters of those whom they despise, and treat them as slaves. Every living human being has their basis rights to survive, to do whatever they want freely and not be treated by others as animals.

But slavery is still happening in the world as it has been for hundreds of years. The slaves are being imported from foreign countries, either abducted or fooled into some scams where they are told of some promising land where they can get rich easily. They work under harsh conditions and the goods which they produce get sold at high prices and they receive a small percentage of the profit only while they masters get filthy rich. For example, Nike, a popular sports brand has sweatshops in various parts of the world where they employ slaves to help manufacture their high quality goods. These slaves earn very little income while the Nike gets rich quickly.

I feel that the government of every country in this world should help abolish slavery once and for all. There should also be more campaigns like The Amazing Change to aid in the process of creating awareness of slavery in the world. Just like environmental issues, everyone has a part to play to help remove slavery complete, be it writing of petitions or spreading stories like James’ to people to create awareness. I myself would contribute by boycotting companies which mistreat their slaves and continue to support fair trade.

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from: http://www.theamazingchange.com/james.html

James

Whether in the U.S. or in countries such as Uganda, most fifth graders spent last summer escaping the rigors of school and enjoying the activities of a lazy summer vacation. Not James, an 11-year-old boy from northern Uganda. An abducted child kept as a slave in the Lord’s Resistance Army, he was forced to brutally kill his own brother who had been abducted with him. He was rescued from captivity, but demonstrates the fragile psyche of a child victim forced to kill or be killed.

James is now in a transit center in Lira, and the details of his abduction and captivity are just beginning to emerge from his silence. His deadened eyes and unwilling tongue betray the horror of recent months, when he was one of three brothers abducted by LRA rebels from their village. When one of his younger brothers tried to escape, the rebels pronounced a sentence of death as punishment as an example to other abducted children who would consider escape. The rebel leaders designated James and the third brother to execute their sibling using means too horrific to detail here. Adding to the horror, sometime later when James picked up a piece of cassava to chew on without permission, his overseer cut off part of his ear as punishment.

James was rescued in an army raid, but he is traumatized by the abuse of his captors, and although now free he needs enormous emotional and spiritual help if he is to recover and lead a productive life. This is the kind of enduring and critical help ChildVoice is trying to offer children enslaved by war.

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Personal Response on the article: "Waking up to An Inconvenient Truth"

GLOBAL WARMING, the two words which have been appearing in the media recently. Surely everyone knows what it is, and that the present situation in critical and our future looks grim. There have been cases of severe droughts and hurricanes these few years, and all these are due to climate change. But how much are we doing to reduce and stop it?

Scientists and environmentalist are more than 90% certain that global warming is indeed occurring and that human activity is the main cause for it. The most disturbing however is the fact that this trend will continue for at least a century and the window of opportunity for effective mitigation is closing very rapidly.

Different countries have different approaches towards global warming. Government in the various countries would organize Green Weeks, Tree Planting days, etc. All these events help to promote environmental awareness and hope that the people can help reduce natural resource consumption as well as combat the issue of pollution. Recently, even entertainers have been actively participating in environmental campaigns too. Even in Singapore, there have been some environmental awareness events going on.

For example, on certain days, shoppers of NTUC Fairprice need to bring their own shopping bags. Those who did not bring their own bags have to pay for the plastic bags which they are usually provided with. Reusable bags can also be bought at NTUC counters for a relatively cheap price. Even though many people may find this very inconvenient, it is a good practice and should be continued. This may seem to have minimal impact on the environment, but at least it is a small step towards reducing environmental pollution.

I feel that a government of a country should not be just content even of they have managed to solve the issue of pollution in the country. They should extend their help to other countries to help make a difference. For example in Singapore, our government should offer help to Indonesia to help them cope with the problem of farmers who carry out slash-and-burn, because during certain months of the year, the haze caused by these farmers can spread to Singapore and the health of the people may be affected badly. But on the other hand, we must pity these farmers as they have to clear the forest for agriculture and to support their families. Thus the government should offer subsidies or plans for the poorer farmers.

It is not the government responsibility to conserve our environment, but the responsibility of everyone. Everyone has a vital role to play in this conservation, for ourselves, as well as for the future generation. True, one can hardly make a difference to the environment, but if everyone where to combine their efforts, there would be an opportunity for us to mitigate further warming. We can play our part by using CFC-free products, practicing the three Rs (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle), using hybrid cars which are environmentally friendly, or just take the public transport.

Headlines:

Waking up to An Inconvenient Truth

Source:

The Straits Times, Wednesday, 18th April, 2007

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Even if the world agrees with the findings on climate change, it disagrees on the remedies.

GLOBAL warming is shaping up as a momentous issue this year.

Doubt has given way to certainty and widespread awareness.

The topic has drawn an unusual media interest.

Sceptical politicians are forced to embrace science.

US President George W Bush mentioned it in his budget; Australia is changing light bulbs - although both countries had repudiated the Kyoto Protocol, the controversial global blueprint for greenhouse gases reduction.

The EU has set a target to cut emissions by 20 per cent by 2020 and by 30 per cent if other nations follow.

But big changes are taking place in the US. States and American businesses, including insurers and oil companies, are clamouring for action.

More important, the US Supreme Court has weighed in, ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency has the power to set emission standards.

Thus, the US auto industry may make more energy efficient cars in the future.

At least 10 states have taken a cue from California, which has set a target of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases by 25 per cent by 2020 and by an ambitious 80 per cent by 2050.

Auto companies argue such moves will require doubling the fuel economy of their vehicles.

Will slipping sales and market reality make them eventually see the need?

Private industrialists like Richard Branson and Vinod Khosala are betting big on renewable energy technologies and alternatives like ethanol.

Madonna and the Red Hot Chili Peppers are among the 150 musicians who will hit some big cities with the green message in July.

The world indeed is waking up to the 'Inconvenient Truth' which former US vice-president Al Gore portrayed in that Oscar-winning documentary.

Environmentalism is shifting beyond tree huggers.

Global views have been converging in a series of studies, most importantly the one from the UN commission, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The panel, composed of the world's top 60 scientists, has issued a stark message: the effects of climate change are broad and too serious to ignore.

Its February report said the earth is 'incontrovertibly' getting warm and it is 90 per cent certain that humans have caused that warming.

Early this month, the IPCC said the world must adapt to global warming since it cannot reverse the trend.

Last October, a study by former World Bank economist and UK treasury official Nicholas Stern underscored the economic cost of inaction.

By devoting one per cent of global wealth annually to check global warming now, the world could offset 20 per cent loss of gross domestic product by 2050.

The reports set the world brooding over how it would cope with increased drought in some areas and flooding in others as well as death and disease due to heat waves and storms of the future.

Fewer deaths due to cold in temperate areas and higher crop productivity at mid to high latitudes are among the positives but are outweighed by the negatives.

Up to a billion people will be affected.

While some still maintain that the threat is overblown, some others contend that the politically charged process by the IPCC is understating the danger.

Indeed, it is difficult to escape the latter impression when the big polluters and countries with vested interests like China, the US, Saudi Arabia and Russia ganged up to tone down the panel's February findings.

So 'hundreds of millions of potential flood victims' was watered down to 'many' in the final text.

A reference that up to 120 million people will be at risk of hunger because of global warming was axed.

The panel's next report in May will deal with mitigation of global warming.

But it warns that even the most stringent mitigation will not turn the clock back.

Adaptation is essential to reduce the near term impact.

'Unmitigated climate change would, in the long term, be likely to exceed the capacity of natural, managed and human systems to adapt,' the latest report warns.

Even if we agree with the findings, we will disagree on the remedies.

Already, the efficacy of the measures proposed under the Kyoto Protocol is being challenged. The cap and trade system, which forms the central plank of the Protocol, is found wanting in practice and can be subject to cheating.

Industry limits are placed on emissions, and companies exceeding the limits buy 'unused' carbon credits from less polluting companies.

Planting trees by the rich polluters in their countries and in less polluting nations also buy carbon credits.

But apart from the occasional cheating involved, it will create more heat by trapping sunshine unless it is in tropical areas, a new study says.

Carbon tax may be more effective but it has not gained sufficient support with business or politicians.

The Kyoto Protocol's successor will have to deal with this, come 2013.

The Group of Eight will engage the issue in June.

But tangible results will flow only from the wholesome support of the US, the principal polluter, and China.

Mr Bush has moved from the denial stage, but he is not prepared to shed the economic-cost argument and deflect from the demand of equal participation by major developing countries.

A groundswell of grassroots-level support has influenced the political thinking elsewhere.

Presidential candidates, Republicans and Democrats alike, are concerned about global warming.

Newt Gingrich, a potential Republican candidate, has now authored a book: Contract with Nature.

The corporate world is gearing up too.

General Electric, Alcoa, Lehman Brothers, Royal Dutch Shell, AIG and ConocoPhilips are among the companies giving a concerted push to the cap and trade system and want the US to take the lead role.

The world may have to find an approach between British evangelism and official American tepidity.

How to power our plants with clean fuel and how to end the addiction to crude oil for transportation are the conundrums.

Mr Stern noted both China and India, though not bound by Kyoto, are moving.

One of the goals of the Chinese presidential visit to Japan was to obtain Japan's expertise in achieving energy efficiency.

Such moves will give the US one argument less against Kyoto.

While solutions take time, erratic monsoons and melting glaciers will perennially haunt us.

California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who gives star power to the environmental movement in the US, says it should be made 'hip and sexy'.

Positive marketing will put passion into the movement - just as bodybuilding got a boost from his movie Pumping Iron.

He uses alternative fuel and hydrogen in his Hummers.

He is working on promoting carbon trading and has sought British expertise with a goal of creating a cap and trade system for greenhouse emissions.

When mitigation becomes a shared value, the Hummers will become more affordable and acceptable in the ecosystem.

Meanwhile, governments will face the question how much they should spend to reduce or delay the impact of climate change and to improve our adaptive capacity.

Washington has advocated technological solutions, but none of them - like ethanol - is energy efficient.

GM says Europe's clean diesel proposal will violate US regulations and plug-in cars lack batteries; hydrogen is still far off.

But hope rises when Germany and Singapore showed off the first zero-emission hydrogen jet soaring to the sky.

German Air and Space Centre (DLR) and Singapore-based Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies and others collaborated on the ultra-light aircraft Hyfish.

Immense possibilities are on the horizon.

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