Martin Adolfsson

Finally, recognition for my plagiarism! ...err, I mean, appropriation.

 

Conversation (series I)

 

B&W Photography

Intro to Black and White-
shot with a Pentax ME-F (R.I.P. my friend- the shutter mechanism has since died) on kodak 400tx film

...and one photogram just because.

peace

Darfur. Genocide.

The worst humanitarian crisis in the history of the world
In one of the most remote locations of the world, in Darfur, the western corner of the country of Sudan, a major crisis transpires.

Genocide: the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national,racial, political, or cultural group.

This very definition is being lived out right now by hundreds of thousands of people. For over three years ongoing violence has devastated the remote region of Darfur in Sudan. Conflicts between government financed militias and African tribes have left over 2.5 million people displaced, living in temporary camps where the conditions are practically unbearable and where the food is scarce. Fighting has reduced villages to rubble and ashes, turned crops to barren fields. Up until now approximately 400,000 Sudanese have died as a result of violence, malnutrition, or disease. Of course, this figure keeps rising at a rate of 2500 people each week with no sign of slowing down any time soon. This humanitarian crisis is only getting worse. The camps are full beyond their capacity and UN peacekeepers have been prohibited from intervening in this crisis.

There has been tension between the Arabs and the Africans ever since the 1970’s. This tension was propelled primarily by the competition for scarce natural resources in this arid land. The situation rapidly escalated in February 2003 when the two rebel groups of African Muslims: Sudan Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/M) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM)(These rebel groups are forged from members of the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic tribes.), demanded power-sharing within the Arab-ruled Sudanese state, and called for an end to the economic marginalization they were experiencing. As a result, the Khartoum government, which is the national Sudanese government, retaliated by arming local militias to suppress these revolts.

These militias, knows as “Janjaweed,” persistently and incessantly terrorize the Africans in the Darfur area. They destroy villages, maim and kill the men, systematically rape the women to weaken tribal ethnic lines, drain the food supply, and deplete the remaining resources by blockading any international aid. The government is directly carrying out an ethnic cleansing campaign because of their financing and supplying of the Janjaweed. There are reports that the local government has instituted a policy known as “forced starvation” by allowing the militias prevent food delivery. Of course, these reports are backed by the fact that the militias are not allowing access to many of the Darfur refugee camps within Darfur.

Needless to say, this report only represents a drop in the bucket compared to the atrocities that are going on in Sudan. International aid is being repressed and no one is allowed to enter the killing zone. It is impossible to know how many people have actually perished at the hands of the Janjaweed, disease and malnutrition. The figure of 400,000 could actually be several hundred thousand below the true death toll. It is evident that the Sudanese government has directly tried to ethnically cleanse “their land.” Conditions in this torn and tormented region are repulsive and shocking. These people have completely forgotten the meaning of the word “hope.” Time is running out. The violence, the rape, the hunger, the disease; they are all issues that need to be dealt with, but who will step up and do something about it?

peace.

Zapatero- politics of inaction

Can you see the resemblance between
Zapatero ( the president of Spain) and Mr. Bean?

Sadly, their appearance is not the only thing they share in common. Just as Mr. Bean is erratic and humorously dysfunctional, Zapatero, also, suffers these features.

Example1: Terrorists bomb T4 in Barajas, Madrid. In a press conference concerning this plot, he referred to it as an accident. AN ACCIDENT! Since when is the premeditated killing, by way of plastic explosives, of innocent, unarmed civilians considered "an accident"? He was not applaed by the bombing. He did not seem concerned with bringing justice to those involved. Some may call it a tongue slip. I think that this is not the case. He does not want to take action against the terrorists, ETA, for fear of causing more bloodshed. He is not leading his country, he is hiding behind political discourse and cleverly conceived words.

March 11 is another example. On this day ten bombs rocked the city of Madrid the weekend before the National elections. This terrorist attack was extremely politically weighted. The Socialist party PSOE was loosing by a considerable amount in the pre-election polls. This attack caused a massive change of voter choice seeing as the PSOE won by a landslide against the PP. And that later, the investigators were shut down at every turn. I will give you one guess as to whose people are shutting down the investigations.

Does anyone else find it quite convenient for Zapatero's government to be covering up an investigation of the greatest terrorist attack ever perpetrated in Spain in the entire history of this nation which also caused a major shift of power within government? 191 deaths and 1,500 wounded. Zapatero is not making progress with the fight against terror. There had been a time when I claimed that the government was affiliated with the attacks in order to gain power. I can, however, no longer believe this, but I can believe that they benefited from the acts of terrorists who also had a political agenda.

I understand these are extremely grave charges and I pray that no authorities opposed to my views read this report as it may be reason for prosecution.

The face of cowardice lies behind the face of Zapatero. His extreme liberal policies and wide spread tolerance are merely a mask for his insecurity since he does not want anyone to think he is an inept or discriminating leader. He will do WHATEVER it takes, say WHATEVER it takes, to keep the public on his side.

until next time,

josh

Canon EOS 30D?

Canon 30D body
17-85mm lens (upgrade from 18-55mm)

first post.

This is really an entry with little, if any, substance. It is simply a declaration of the fact that this post is, in fact, my first, and so long as inspiration transpires from my lips, be followed by the second, and shortly later, by the third and so on and so forth.

Of course, I have no clear idea what prevalent theme this blog will take. I suppose it may contain a little of everything. Some may be important issues, or a call to action. Others will undoubtedly be pointless, or humorous. And yet others might simply be photos, videos, bits of art I have drawn. Whatever comes out of this blog, however, will be a reflection, as everything we do in life, of what I am feeling, learning, thinking, experiencing, at that point in my life.

peace.