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Do We Know Our Rights?

It's often quite depressing to look inside a newspaper or watch the news with my dad on CNN or BBC. For the most part the news is never good. Earthquake in some place , famine in another, War in some place, diseases in another. My Dad and i often shake our heads and if I can't take the disappointment of listening to more bad news anymore, I often just take the remote and switch to the sports channel. It's comforting to know that none of this stuff happens to us, and so it's probably easier not to watch the news and read the newspaper, so we don't hear about rapes and killings, imprisonments and mass graves and other stuff like that. Accept that if we were to ignore these things, we are actually turning our back on the so many violations of human rights in many other countries. Maybe it's not our problem but I beg to differ.
Last week while walking out of class towards our cafe I saw a student. He was tall and a bit more mature than most. He had a more Caucasian look to him and he was wearing a T-shirt that said "Srebrenica July 2005: Never Forget". I didn't think much of it until I read this:

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/world/article/serb-general-hunted-for-massacre-to-face-tribunal/

There are people who walk among us who bear the scars and the pain and sorrow that comes with the violation of human rights, many of us have never experienced these things but you must connect with them you must show solidarity because we are human just as they are.

In watching the video " the Story of Human Rights" we look at the most precious thing we all have. It's the right  not to be treated like an animal, the right to be treated fairly and the right to be all the things you want to be and dream of being because you are an individual with a heart, soul and mind.

I'd like to hear from you and ask you what you think about the video on human right you watched last week. I'd like you to tell me what you think and what you feel about this video or how it makes you feel inside. I'd like you to be honest too and tell me why you feel the way you feel.

You're All I Need- Making sense of the price we pay for civilization.

I am aware that not many of you might be Radiohead fans. But as a fan myself I've always been drawn to Radiohead's firm commitment to make their music not just for people to enjoy but to use it to send a message to inform and alert people about the issues in our world. This music video certainly made me think about what goes on in other countries where kids are not as well off as us here. We can brush off things like this and say that it's just things that happen all the time and that we can't really do anything, but I think that we can. Even if we can't really help people so far away from us, it's good to know that these things happen and that we should not be afraid to tell people some of the ugly truths about the things that happen in this world. I'd really like to hear your opinions on this video. I'm not talking about the music but I'm talking about its very clear message. How do you think this video is speaking to you?

The Story Of Stuff

Hi everyone, when we were discussing the issues from the video The Story of  Stuff. I noticed some of you nodding. (I’m not sure if it’s because you are falling asleep, but I sure hope not) As a lecturer, it's really good to see things click inside your head. I've posted the video that we watched in class this week so that you can recap what you have learnt from it and hopefully you can watch it again and really think about how you feel about this video.

Here are a few questions that you might want to look at to help you think about this video that you have just watched.

1.     After you watch a video like that, how do you feel?

2.     Do you agree with what was said about the stuff we use and consume? (Do you believe what she says?)

3. What do you think we can do personally to solve some of the issues we are going through because of these problems?

Remember you have a limit to the amount you can write. Up to 350 words only so make it count. Another video will be posted together with this video below. 

Welcome Group 2!!!!

Welcome to the Culture and Ideas Group 2 Blog!!!
It's important for all of us to know that this is a safe place to share knowledge and experiences together so there are a few ground rules that need to be put down before we start posting comments.

1. This is a place where your opinions are heard. So it's important to hear other opinions just as much as other people hear yours.
2. We don't learn anything by attacking someone personally or by calling people names on this blog. It's a     childish act and it makes you look really bad. Remember we can learn from each other.
3. You will automatically fail this section worth 10% if you say anything offensive about someone's race, religion, sexual orientation or anything that I feel is demeaning or offensive to anyone else in the blog.    Respect your fellow participants.
4. Username: Please register with a username that I can recognize because I will be giving marks for this blog. If your username is cherrysexylover92 I will not know who you are unless your real name is Cherry Sexy Lover :p

Ok that's it. We can start now. Stay tuned for a video that's coming out on the Blog soon. I hope you will enjoy learning from this blog as much as I know I will. If we work together as a collective we will find that our learning can definitely move beyond the classroom.