Their are over 50,000 Americans living in Egypt. All of them are trying to get out. It is not safe there anymore with the looters and mass chaos. Many people tried to flee the country yesterday, but no one could get out yet. One man said that four looters broke into the hotel where he was staying and held them up at gun point. Egyptians have set up neighborhood watches to keep looters out. This is so scarry its like the whole country has been thrown into mass anarchy. I pray for the Americans trapped over there. I also pray for the people of Egypt. I hope that this is the worst of the looting, and that no more innocent people are killed. I am still standing behind the people of Egypt they are truly an inspiration of democracy.
This is a report from CNN at the American Embassy in Egypt.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Social Media & Riots
Wow! Social media is changing our world! If you do not know social media such as twitter and facebook have played a vital role in the riots in the middle east. The people their are not happy with the government. The protesters have started to use these social networks to tell people where they are going to protest at. If one protest is shut down another one can just pop up! This is spreading democracy at an amazing rate. Social media has started a revolution, and personally i don't think it can be stopped. Earlyier on CNN they announced that Egypt has buckled down its security on the protesters. They have also tried to shut down social networks like twitter and facebook. The protesters in Egypt are not poor people they are the middle class rising up. Despite the Egyptian Governments efforts the riots are getting worse. As of today 31 people have died in riots in Alexandria. Now protests are popping up in America. As of today 300 Egyptians started to protest outside of the UN, Chicago, and Washington. What do the protesters want? They want the President Hosni Mubark's resignation. I think its amazing that social networks can and have played a vital role in the world. Its mind blowing. I clap my hands for the Egyptian people. They are standing up for something they believe in. I hope they stay strong, and create a free expression Egypt.
The picture and information is from CNN.COM http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/01/29/egypt.protests/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1
Monday, January 24, 2011
The Situation in Sudan
http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusRel.asp?infocusID=88&Body=Sudan&Body1=
The web-link above connects to the United Nations web page. It has updated information on the situation in Sudan.
You are probably wondering why I chose Sudan for my first blog post? This is a subject I am very passionate about. I have kept up with the situation in Sudan and Darfur for years now. I remember reading about Darfur in 2008 and i was immediately moved by the stories of horror and survival. People have asked me before why care about them they are an ocean away? Ill tell you why because they are humans. They feel pain, love, and experience every feeling we do. They need our help. The things these people went through should never happen to any human being. If you do not know Darfur is a region of Sudan. Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir was convicted for genocide in 2008 for his actions in 2004, which lead to 500,000 innocent people being slaughtered and 2.5 million being displaced. So far the government has not handed him over yet and he is still president. You may wonder what the reason for this genocide was. It is called "ethnic cleansing". It has mostly been tribal warfare, but religion has played a key role in it also. Northern Sudan is mostly Muslim and the South is Christian. In 2010 the south decided to have a vote in early 2011 in trying to secede from the North. This is causing yet again another backlash, because the south holds 80 percent of Sudan's Oil. Hope is not lost though due to so many other countries and media getting involved it has actually prevented what could have been a bloodbath, or another Sudanese Civil War. Activist and actor George Clooney took NBC's dateline right into the heat of the fight. When asked why Clooney was doing this he said "I want to make it harder to kill people", and he did just that. The elections took place in January 2011. It went relatively smooth from what it could have been. So far only 9 people have been killed. The voting was considered a success. If everything goes according to plan southern Sudan can declare its independence in June of 2011. Being a broadcast journalism major this is a beautiful story of hope and rising from the ashes. Using the media in a positive way has prevented the deaths of innocent people. If we shed light on those who seem to be forgotten we can save them. I want to do what Clooney says I want to make it harder to kill people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=MZIT_g4FCV0#t=28s
This is also a link to a video about the civil war in Sudan. Keep in mind this video is very disturbing its not for the faint of heart.
You are probably wondering why I chose Sudan for my first blog post? This is a subject I am very passionate about. I have kept up with the situation in Sudan and Darfur for years now. I remember reading about Darfur in 2008 and i was immediately moved by the stories of horror and survival. People have asked me before why care about them they are an ocean away? Ill tell you why because they are humans. They feel pain, love, and experience every feeling we do. They need our help. The things these people went through should never happen to any human being. If you do not know Darfur is a region of Sudan. Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir was convicted for genocide in 2008 for his actions in 2004, which lead to 500,000 innocent people being slaughtered and 2.5 million being displaced. So far the government has not handed him over yet and he is still president. You may wonder what the reason for this genocide was. It is called "ethnic cleansing". It has mostly been tribal warfare, but religion has played a key role in it also. Northern Sudan is mostly Muslim and the South is Christian. In 2010 the south decided to have a vote in early 2011 in trying to secede from the North. This is causing yet again another backlash, because the south holds 80 percent of Sudan's Oil. Hope is not lost though due to so many other countries and media getting involved it has actually prevented what could have been a bloodbath, or another Sudanese Civil War. Activist and actor George Clooney took NBC's dateline right into the heat of the fight. When asked why Clooney was doing this he said "I want to make it harder to kill people", and he did just that. The elections took place in January 2011. It went relatively smooth from what it could have been. So far only 9 people have been killed. The voting was considered a success. If everything goes according to plan southern Sudan can declare its independence in June of 2011. Being a broadcast journalism major this is a beautiful story of hope and rising from the ashes. Using the media in a positive way has prevented the deaths of innocent people. If we shed light on those who seem to be forgotten we can save them. I want to do what Clooney says I want to make it harder to kill people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=MZIT_g4FCV0#t=28s
This is also a link to a video about the civil war in Sudan. Keep in mind this video is very disturbing its not for the faint of heart.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
The start of a beautiful blogship
Wow! My first blog post ever! I am pretty excited about this assignment. At the same time I am a little nervous about writing an interesting blog. I hope I can appeal to my readers and relate my posts with things I feel are relevant in my life. I have never written anything that other people could read such as: a blog. This is all very new to me. I want my readers to really get something from my blog. I want to do my first blog post on the Sudan and how the media can change the world for the good or bad. I also want to be able to relate to my readers. I will post regularly on a number of things. I want to put pictures on my blog posts also that might spark some more interest in my blog or help the reader connect with the blog through pictures I post.
The name of my blog will be “Three pennies and a button: The effects of media”. The name of my blog is kind of silly I know, but one day I opened my wallet and that was all I had in there. I do know the direction I would like this blog to take. I want my blog to reflect how the media affects aspects of our lives, even though we might not notice the effects now. I also want my blog to make my readers really think about things. Maybe even reach my readers on a deep level. I also want to make my readers aware of what is going on with media in other countries.
I am feeling very enthusiastic about blogging. I cannot wait to subscribe to other blogs that interest me as well. I will be subscribing to Sudan watch, fashion bomb, and fitsugar. I know I will come across other blogs that interest me. When I do find websites that can relate with my blogs I will post the links. I think It Is really cool how everything can connect in this wonderful blog world. I really hope everyone will enjoy this J.
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