u=mgh

u=mgh
There is a great potential in everything. The words, the actions, the currents of fate seem determined by some underlining norm, yet there is potential nonetheless. As physical law mandates: an object being held above the ground has no kinetic energy. However, this object stores energy of its own, potential energy. In our lives, this force is almost always overlooked. We draw our attention to the moving, the acting, but we ignore the waiting.

Although elementary, this concept has plagued my thoughts for the past weeks. As I sit in class, I think not of what is happening, but what can happen. Every second that passes is growing suspense. The ruffling of papers and the ticking of the clock may as well be the sounds of the crackling fuse and the revolving chambers of a pistol. Is the bomb a dud? Is the pistol loaded? These are the questions that have driven me to a state of unrest. At any given moment in class, I could kick my desk over and:

A) Punch a whole in the wall.
B) Sprint out of the building to the nearest Peace Corps office.
C) Claim that I have been possessed by the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and demand the worship of my peers.
D) All of the above.
E) None of the above.

Fortunately for my peers, I continue to choose E. Although each option is relatively hilarious, the point becomes much too clear when A through D are replaced with acts of violence.

The following series of unorganized and underdeveloped thoughts is most certainly destined to be misconstrued. The very least I can do at this point is promise that the focus of this writing will return shortly.

Of course, this tangent has been generated by my reflection of one of the nastiest genocides to scar the face of humanity, Rwanda. It was so different. It was not the systematic extermination that the Holocaust was. It lacked the calculation, the precision, the cool blues and grays that I associate with the Nazi death machine.

This is interesting, because when reflecting upon genocide, I find myself differentiating between exterminations by referring the Modus Operandi of the exterminators. What else is there to look for? Although the victim of one murder is different from that of another murder, the piles of corpses, the mass graves, the scenes of people laying about the ground as if some large entity had spilled them there have become the universal trademark of genocide. In the end, the true victims of genocide are a constant.

Is it for this reason that I find it easier to empathize with the killers? As I mentioned, this thought is condemned to misunderstanding. However, because of some unseen circuit of logic or some unchecked emotional predisposition, I have an easier time putting myself in the shoes of a living Hutu than a deceased Tutsi. Perhaps this is natural. After all, the only thing we truly know is existence. This is undoubtedly the root from which religious belief of the afterlife stems. In this light, there is no wonder why I cannot seem to feel pain of the genocide victims, for I do not believe in an afterlife. Pain is a chemical response as well as a staple of the human psyche or as some would call it, the soul. Nevertheless, the victim dies, and so dies the soul and my chances of real empathy.

I'll write some more tomorrow.... hopefully I'll get back to the point.

Tomorrow came already. In fact, tomorrow was some months ago. Many more tomorrow’s came and went without further thought and certainly without progress towards this vague and invisible geist I mechanically identified as “the point". Several minutes ago, however, something dawned on me, and I was compelled to get to the point.

On April 6, 2011, I was standing rather composed but undeniably uncomfortable inside as Murphy’s law threw up all over the most important school presentation of my student career thus far. I remember looking at the clock; it was 1:25pm, my exact birth time eighteen years ago. Eight hours from that moment, I planned to take a moment of silence in order to reflect upon the death of Former Rwandan dictator, Habyarimana and—more importantly—the genocide that followed in his wake. Eight hours from that moment I did just that.

Several minutes ago a terribly exciting realization came over me. Habyarimana’s plane was shot down at Kigali airport at exactly 8:25pm.

Kigali.
Kigali, Rwanda.

I felt like an idiot. I went to convert the time online and a bold “1:25pm” stared at me through the screen.

Well shit…

At the exact moment my parents were most likely cradling and embracing their gigling, one-year-old future in their arms, a plane went down and with it came everything but a destined bloodbath for a tortured country. I had thought about this concept of simultaneous contrasting reality before, but I had never felt it. I never felt it this close.

Neighbors come to celebrate a family; neighbors come to destroy a family. This was the way the world worked.

Possible Focus Points of the Solutions Project

1. Education: The public education system of the St. Louis area is disjointed. The program that buses inner-city students to suburban public schools is a cop-out on the public school system of the city of St. Louis. Instead of this strategy, state/federal funding would be better spent in the overhauling of inner-city schools. In the mean time, organizations such as K-12 Connections are designed for the betterment and not the abandonment of the public school system of the city of St. Louis.

2. Anti Drug Abuse Education: St. Louis has been deemed the Nation's most dangerous city by the 2010 CQ Press crime reports. While there are a number of different ways to confront this issue, the most efficient way to end anything dangerous and infections is still to locate the source and eliminate it. According to a study called "Project DARE: No Effects at 10-Year Follow-Up", The D.A.R.E. program has had no effect on keeping kids and teens across the country off of drugs. In some areas, children who graduated from the program even showed higher rates of drug abuse than children who had not taken the 10-week course. Recently, D.A.R.E. has taken these criticisms and attempted to re-design its approach. Further research will be needed on the new program, but depending on its success level, it could be possible to recommend it to the public school system of St. Louis city.

3. St. Louis Identity Crisis: While attending a leadership conference in the summer of 2009, I had the opportunity to mingle with students from across the country. Before this conference, I thought St. Louis was a legitimate city with a sizable reputation. However, after a day at the conference, it was clear that most of the students believed that St. Louis was just like every other rural area in the mid-west. After students met me with surprised expressions because of my "normal" attire (this meant that I was, in fact, not wearing overalls and toting a pitchfork and/or firearm), I decided that St. Louis had an identity crisis on its hands. This still surprises me because of the City's rich ancient history. Over five-hundred years ago, St. Louis was home to one of the largest Native American cities in American history. This civilization had trade and cultural influence as far west as Arizona and as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. While Cahokia mounds is well known to St. Louis residents, the massive cave network under the streets of the city that once marked an even more massive hub of trade, politics, and culture is almost unheard of. St. Louis has enough ancient history to fill Museums. A revival of this history could also mean a revival of the urban culture of St. Louis. For these reasons, this aspect of our identity must take a larger step forward. The Missouri Archaeological society (MAS) is filled with experts whose knowledge of this topic is abundant. As a five-year member, I believe the society's involvement would be necessary in order to move this idea forward.

"Enemies of the People"

...I hope you enjoy it?

Research Question

What has the government of Turkey done to put an end to the clear human rights violations of its penal system since the 70's?

What I will need to find out:
-the violations in the 70's
-the government's reaction to "The Midnight Express"
-international pressure

Tentative Research Proposal

To be honest, I had not even looked at this assignment until recently. I had no idea what I wanted to research. Nevertheless, a topic hit me right in the face last night as I watched the movie, "Midnight Express". Initially, I denounced this as a topic simply because it would be too easy to "illuminate" the already illuminated human rights violations in the Turkish prison such as torture. After giving the subject more thought, It would be more interesting to research this from a legal perspective. For example, Articles 10, 11, and 14 are prevalent in Billy Hayes's experience in the foreign penal system. If I were to research the applications of human rights to the topic of foreign penal systems as a whole, other articles that could apply are articles 5, 7,9, and 28.

I am unsure about whether I should research the Billy Hayes story in detail or foreign legal systems in general, but I at least have a topic that interests me.

Here are some sources that have assisted the growth of my interest and knowledge in this topic:
http://www.daemonstv.com/2010/06/28/billy-hayes-the-real-midnight-express-exclusive-interview/
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/locked-up-abroad/all/Overview
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Hayes_(writer)
http://www.usp.com.au/fpss/index.html

Although I am gaining  firmer grasp on this topic, I do have a few questions that would further narrow my focus as I continue research:
1. Would it be more beneficial to focus on the story of Billy Hayes or the larger issue of legal treatment while incarcerated abroad?
2. Even if they are in violation of the UDHR, is it plausible to make a case against foreign penal systems?
3. Are there any stronger stories to research besides that of Billy Hayes? (After reading his interview, there were quite a few details that could lessen an audience's sympathy for his experience).

The Difficulty of Defining Human Rights

The difficulty of defining human rights becomes evident when one examines the very purpose of "human rights", for between its purpose and its origins, there lies a deep contradiction. Human rights were created in order to protect the liberties of all human beings. They describe a plethora of instances in which all humans are entitled to this and that. However, the human rights themselves were written by a single comity. It seems almost futile for a small group of people -most of whom coming from privileged Western or European societies- to write the rules for all of the human race.