This week a triangle of three major catastrophes form an axis between East Africa, Norway and London. The Norway corner is the most upsetting and surprising as it came out of the blue on Friday 22nd through the madness and determination of a white guy with very extreme views as those espoused by Al Queda and the like but from a different perspective. Day after was death of the talented London musician Amy Winehouse while East Africa continue to loom in a famine that rekindle memories of the 1984 Ethiopian starvation. Are these awful events new? Hardly.
Amy Winehouse in action in 2007 (pic from Wikipedia)
A few months ago Japan experienced a terrible earthquake while freedom demonstrations erupted in the Middle East. Endless episodes; as continuous as our rotating earth. Nonstop.
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In 1995 Timothy McVeigh an extreme American lone man killed 168 and injured 680 in Oklahoma. He was executed in 2001 while David Copeland another young fascist set up bombs in several places in London in 1999 and killed three wounding 129. Lucky for him the British don’t execute murderers; he is in jail. And so... killer Anders Beivrik wiped out almost a hundred people for “serving the interests of the free indigenous peoples of Europe and to fight against the ongoing European Jihad.” Photographs before, during and after Oslo and Utoya island massacres show a very focussed and calm individual. His message is outlined in his manifesto “2083 European Declaration of Independence.” You just have to read online comments regarding this deranged individual to grasp our divided mother earth.
First, bewilderment:
“What is the world coming to...” and then; “I can’t believe one of our own would do this to us. Does he not have a heart? Killing innocent children as they beg him to spare them? 86 children!”
Blaming security:
“Why did it take police 90 minutes to go for only 20 kilometres?”
Interpretations:
“Oppressed society creates extreme reactions from people too...”
And:
“Do you criticise all Muslims or just the ones who take their religion so far? And do you criticise everyone who takes their religion too far including other Religious and Political ideas?”
And: “It was a Christian extremist stupid! A freemason...we need to go after the freemasons including the Norwegian royal family and members of the parliament...freemasons are the terrorist.”
I also stumbled a comment on You Tube questioning why Anders Beivrik is being referred as a "gunman", as having "committed crimes against humanity" even "killer" or " mad man" by main Western broadcasts (Sky, CBS, CNN, BBC , etc) instead of" terrorist" as is the usual case when reffering to Islamic extremists...
So much intensity.
Saturday 23rd Soul singer Amy Winehouse was found dead. In her brief career the 27 year old exhibited an amazing voice and intelligent lyrics. She has also been credited for contributing to the recent rise of female stars in the music industry namely Adele, Duffy, Lilly Allen and recently Lady Gaga. Sebastian Danchin of The Encyclopaedia of Rhythm, Blues and Soul termed it the “Winehouse phenomenon”; however, self destruction killed her. She was introduced to drugs via her ex husband (presently in jail), Blake Fielder Civil. This indiscipline saw her concerts cancelled due to either fatigue, booze, forgetting lyrics on stage etc. Normally alcoholics and drug addicts are offered treatment in rich countries known as Rehabilitation (rehab) centres. The late Jewish artist rebuked this hospitality in her famous song Rehab:
“They tried to make me go to rehab but I said 'no, no, no'
Yes I've been black but when I come back you'll know know know...”
Yes I've been black but when I come back you'll know know know...”
London’s Daily Mail columnist Melanie Philips asked: “How many ordinary lives have been shattered ...because of the addictive example set by such celebrities and the massive influence they wield as style and fashion icons over the impressionable young?”
Not many will have heard or known her in East Africa. Do young people really need these types of heroines in East Africa? What with the ongoing hunger problems?
Early this week media reports quoted aid agencies asking European citizens to donate money to help famine in Kenya and Somalia. One billion pounds are needed to sort out a terrible calamity which is reported to have been refuted as propaganda by rebel group Al Shabaab.
Conclusively, are these incidents hinting us that something is seriously wrong with our societies? Are our leaders addressing the root causes of drugs, governments being unable to feed the hungry and the constant danger of security and safety? What exactly are we being reminded regarding non- commitment, fake political leadership and selfish motivated systems?
http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/editorial-analysis/20-analysis-opinions/13222-a-triangle-of-significant-events-spelling-troubling-times
Published in Citizen Friday 29th:
That's a great article, I like it brother.
ReplyDeleteI think that most problems that mother Earth is undergoing through are caused by either our uninformed conscious or mal informed ones and nothing else. And the trend seems to be increasing especially now as the World keeps on shrinkig thanks information revolution!