Category Archives: 2008

Blogs for 2008

Nov 5 2008

Obama’s historic win

I remember running in on the streets of London in my T-shirt with the phrase ‘Sanctions Yes, Apartheid No‘.
It was my way of defying and declaring my disgust at how the Tory regime was too slow in asking for change.

In the last 2 years the momentum of the Obama campaign has been amazing.
OK, lots of money has been spent on the campaign but like Obama said in his winning speech last night…

And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

The victory is an achievement. Even if we put cynicism aside for what may not be achieved, the result speaks for itself…

Today we have a chance to embrace new ideas and work for closer world harmony both in terms of relationships but also in how we live.

Change will not be easy as it will need people with money and power, especially multi-national corporations to accept that they have a role to play to achieve profit in an ethical manner.

Change comes from within…

Those of us who want to know more about how the US election system works, the following is innovative view of the process!

By drsavi • Posted in 2008
0
Nov 4 2008

When Poverty becomes entertainment

I try not to watch kids TV in the morning but have to admit that Crazy Town is an awesome programme to inspire kids to exercise, get on with each other and eat nutritional food.

However, I was appalled by a 10min film on this morning’s Milkshake programme entitled ‘PLAY’, broadcast on Channel 5 (UK) at 6:45am. It went something like this…

Imagine a grey concreted street in India. The sun shines yet kids roam the streets watching their mothers use large steel bowls to wash their or others clothes.

The camera focuses on hose pipes ejecting clean water then slowly moves into a wide angle shot to reveal the inside of peoples homes… concrete shells.

The voice-over narrative then starts with a gentle female voice talking about how a child has just had a wash. The mother wraps the child in a thin grey towel hugging her to keep her warm.

The next scene shows a naked child, possibly no older the 2 years old walking towards another mother. The child blinks slightly and then points to her mother. This mother is crouching down pulling out cloths and then beating them to the ground to rinse out germs.

The voice over narrative resumes suggesting that the child is now joining her mother to wash clothes and how fun it is.

The video continues to communicate what the children depicted must be thinking, adding further tones of fun on what looks like a desperate situation…

At the end the context is left unclear.

  • Why are they washing their streets in public in such a way?
  • Is this acceptable for people who live in these countries?
  • Should we as society show these images as reality with a subtext of apathy?
  • Are the women aware that they are being filmed?
  • What kind of message is this video communicating to a child – That poverty is a matter of fact and that nothing can be done to help change?
  • The programme is called, ‘PLAY!’ – Sadly, I was left in shock thinking about the 75% of people in that country that are still trying to eat.
  • Yes, we know nothing of the circumstances of the people featured but they clearly do not have what some of the other people have who live in India, i.e: Washing machines…

The following is what I sent to OFCOM today as a note of concern/complaint:

As humanity we need to strive to make poverty history. However, narrating to a child through 10mins of people washing their cloths on the streets of India has the potential to condition children to accept poverty. For youngsters this kind of portrayal is damaging and does not help in motivating change.

I also suggested…

Next steps:

I think the producers of this programme need to question their motives in potentially promoting poverty in such an apathetic way.

Oct 17 2008

Obama’s perspective

In this day and age it is great to see someone speaking frankly, humbly and portraying a good sense of humour.
It was nice to see Obama make a great comic delivery – see the first 3-4 minutes of part 2, the first video below.
Later, I love the way that he implied that community is important, especially for us to all come together to help.
Although he refers to the US, the same is true for the world.

There is clearly a need for greater harmonisation, especially in a world where there are some who have so much and many who have nothing.

If his passion is for real then there is a ray of optimism in the air for us all, with fresh perspectives and ideas.

If I was cynical I would say that we cannot change institutions away from their greed.
Being optimistic I like to think that soon the world will wake up and recognise that we are all the same and all we need is for us to ask ourselves and our institutions to think beyond the dollar. Harmonisation through community based projects could be a great way to unite the world and give everyone a fair chance.