You're now looking at the newest freelancer for patch.com!
Actually, if you're looking at me and I don't have pants on I am kind of scared. Please don't hurt me.
If you're wondering why I haven't been posting recently, it's because I tried out for the regional editor job at patch.com. Unfortunately, I wasn't experienced enough to get that job, but they liked my writing enough to hire me as a freelancer for Acworth, GA. For the meantime, there aren't a lot of stories to do because the site isn't ready, but once it is I will probably be rather busy writing and hopefully making some dough.
Thank you for all the well wishes and look forward to hearing more from me in the future.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Why Western Sahara Could Be The New Darfur, and Why The Hell Isn't Anyone Talking About It?
There is disturbing news out of Western Sahara today, according to an AP report:
"RABAT, Morocco (AP) - A human rights activist says Moroccan soldiers and police are patrolling the streets of the main city in the Western Sahara after unrest that officials said left seven people dead.
Galia Djimi tells The Associated Press the city is largely calm after riots Monday triggered by a police raid to dismantle a huge tent camp set up by local Saharawis pressing for better living conditions in the vast desert territory claimed by Morocco.
Djimi told AP most Saharawis were staying in their homes Tuesday because of the heavy military and police presence in the capital, Laayoune.
Morocco's official news agency MAP says five members of the Moroccan security forces were killed Monday. The pro-independence Polisario Front says two demonstrators died in Laayoune"
It seems as though the Moroccan government and army wishes to expand their influence in Western Sahara, a desert area unofficially under their purview. Unfortunately for the native Saharawis who have lived in the deserts for generations, the Moroccans want them gone.
Reports claim that Moroccan authorities have imposed a media blackout in the region, and have quietly shooed away inquisitive reporters and NGOs. Only the Spanish media has covered the establishment of the Saharawi "protest" camp, the subsequent raid of the camp by Moroccan police, and the pro-Saharawi riot that has broken out in the nearby town of Al Aaiun.
By and large, the world seems to be ignoring this issue, just like it sat on its hands during the Rwandan Genocide. I am not by any means claiming the actions by the Moroccans are on par with the crime of the Akazu (yet), but driving indigenous people away from their homes to move others in their place certainly sounds like a crime against humanity to me. I wonder how you say "Lebensraum" in Arabic?
Unfortunately, you and I know these things have happened before, are happening now, and will happen forever. What I'm most upset about is the fact that the media, supposedly the protectors of the oppressed and the defenders of truth, sit largely mute on this issue. I find the contrast between the clandestine journalists of Rimjingang, bravely risking their lives to let the world know what's going on in their little corner of "paradise," and the silence of the mainstream media on this potential genocide in the desert.
Someone e-mail this blog to George Clooney. Maybe he will take care of this one, too.
-Justin
"RABAT, Morocco (AP) - A human rights activist says Moroccan soldiers and police are patrolling the streets of the main city in the Western Sahara after unrest that officials said left seven people dead.
Galia Djimi tells The Associated Press the city is largely calm after riots Monday triggered by a police raid to dismantle a huge tent camp set up by local Saharawis pressing for better living conditions in the vast desert territory claimed by Morocco.
Djimi told AP most Saharawis were staying in their homes Tuesday because of the heavy military and police presence in the capital, Laayoune.
Morocco's official news agency MAP says five members of the Moroccan security forces were killed Monday. The pro-independence Polisario Front says two demonstrators died in Laayoune"
It seems as though the Moroccan government and army wishes to expand their influence in Western Sahara, a desert area unofficially under their purview. Unfortunately for the native Saharawis who have lived in the deserts for generations, the Moroccans want them gone.
Reports claim that Moroccan authorities have imposed a media blackout in the region, and have quietly shooed away inquisitive reporters and NGOs. Only the Spanish media has covered the establishment of the Saharawi "protest" camp, the subsequent raid of the camp by Moroccan police, and the pro-Saharawi riot that has broken out in the nearby town of Al Aaiun.
By and large, the world seems to be ignoring this issue, just like it sat on its hands during the Rwandan Genocide. I am not by any means claiming the actions by the Moroccans are on par with the crime of the Akazu (yet), but driving indigenous people away from their homes to move others in their place certainly sounds like a crime against humanity to me. I wonder how you say "Lebensraum" in Arabic?
Unfortunately, you and I know these things have happened before, are happening now, and will happen forever. What I'm most upset about is the fact that the media, supposedly the protectors of the oppressed and the defenders of truth, sit largely mute on this issue. I find the contrast between the clandestine journalists of Rimjingang, bravely risking their lives to let the world know what's going on in their little corner of "paradise," and the silence of the mainstream media on this potential genocide in the desert.
Someone e-mail this blog to George Clooney. Maybe he will take care of this one, too.
-Justin
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Have You Been Injured in a Car Accident or by Taking Bad Medicine?
Or do you want to go to some technical school?
As an unemployed person, I now have a lot of free time between updating my resume and writing cover letters to watch daytime TV. It really makes me feel that we as a country and society are doomed to a horrible demise. However, I loves me some baby mama drama, for the sheer hilarity of it all. I shouldn't take pleasure in the pathos of others, but Schadenfreude is a very tricky thing.
Regardless, I decided yesterday that the reason that nobody is banging down my door is because I don't have ameth lab in my basement very good resume. I entreated some of my online compatriots to look it over and one totally reformatted it and made it look much, much better. I hope that this resume facelift makes me more attractive to prospective employers; I feel that my work experience and accomplishments can stand on their own, but if nobody is getting far enough in my resume to see said awesomeness, then what difference does it make?
For all you cub reporters still in school, make regular pilgrimages to your school's career office. I built my first resume around their suggestions, but I never went back. I feel if I had constantly been in there slogging through resume samples and cover letter examples I might be slogging away at a newspaper or television station by now. C'est la vie.
I think some of my issues stem from a longtime lack of self-esteem. My therapist is working with me to turn my fears and doubts into productive outlets, and I certainly feel more assertive than I did six weeks ago. I think a personal goal I should set for myself is to do stand up comedy in the near future, but I do not know how to get started apart from "1: Be funny." If anyone has any pointers or helpful advice in that respect, please do not hesitate to enlighten me.
Today, I sent my revamped resume and a nice shiny cover letter to TimeWarner. Hopefully it wows someone up in New York City and I get a phone call before long. In the meantime, I'd better start writing down some jokes!
-Justin
As an unemployed person, I now have a lot of free time between updating my resume and writing cover letters to watch daytime TV. It really makes me feel that we as a country and society are doomed to a horrible demise. However, I loves me some baby mama drama, for the sheer hilarity of it all. I shouldn't take pleasure in the pathos of others, but Schadenfreude is a very tricky thing.
Regardless, I decided yesterday that the reason that nobody is banging down my door is because I don't have a
For all you cub reporters still in school, make regular pilgrimages to your school's career office. I built my first resume around their suggestions, but I never went back. I feel if I had constantly been in there slogging through resume samples and cover letter examples I might be slogging away at a newspaper or television station by now. C'est la vie.
I think some of my issues stem from a longtime lack of self-esteem. My therapist is working with me to turn my fears and doubts into productive outlets, and I certainly feel more assertive than I did six weeks ago. I think a personal goal I should set for myself is to do stand up comedy in the near future, but I do not know how to get started apart from "1: Be funny." If anyone has any pointers or helpful advice in that respect, please do not hesitate to enlighten me.
Today, I sent my revamped resume and a nice shiny cover letter to TimeWarner. Hopefully it wows someone up in New York City and I get a phone call before long. In the meantime, I'd better start writing down some jokes!
-Justin
Monday, November 8, 2010
Why You've Never Heard of Rimjingang Before Now and Why You Now Love Them
Imagine a place where the leader of your country is your god, and so are his father and his son. You never have enough to eat, but your government apparatchiks are constantly placated with Mercedes-Benzes and the finest in food, drink, and women. Where you are constantly told to prepare for war with the world, but your own neighbors spy on you (and you on them) like a war zone.
Welcome to North Korea. A place where "committing journalism" can be punished by imprisonment or execution of not only yourself, but three generations of your family. A decade ago, nobody outside the reclusive country knew what happened across the 38th parallel. The only news the west got from North Korea was written by the North Korean government to showcase its perverted ideal of heaven on earth. Despite the comedy factor of the official reports coming from the Korean Central News Agency, journalists and laypersons alike were more or less shut out of the country.
That is about to change.
Meet Jiro Ishimaru, the president of Asia Press' Osaka office, and the de facto Editor-in-Chief of Rimjingang, a publication written by North Korean citizen journalists who smuggle their stories out of the country at great risk to themselves and their families. This "clandestine journalism" is blowing the doors off of our previous perceptions of the reclusive country; in recent years, clandestine journalists (though not necessarily Rimjingang journalists) have smuggled out footage of public executions and quasi-legal "jangmadang," private markets that are the only things that keep many North Koreans from dying from starvation. In the mid 1990s, there was no such capitalist safety net for the North Korean people; as a result, nearly two million North Koreans died of starvation.
In an interview with another clandestine journalist organization, the defector-run Daily NK, Ishimaru explained the purpose of his organization's unique and effective approach to news gathering in North Korea:
"... [T]he purpose is to plant the seed of journalism. It is the demands of time that spurs on North Korea’s necessity for independent journalism. Media is indeed an essential element in creating a democratic society. The outside world must know what is taking place inside North Korea, and it is the insiders that must release this information to the outside world."
This sentiment is what journalism, to me, is all about. Today, too many people put stock into pseudo-journalistic enterprises such as TMZ and Perez Hilton, and, although the aforementioned organizations are very good at what they do, it can hardly be described as "journalism." These brave North Koreans who are risking their lives to let the outside world know how horrible their country really is merits considerable praise: after all, that's what journalists do; shed light on uncomfortable and (in this case) downright horrifying aspects of the human condition in order to allow people to better live their lives.
Training North Koreans (many of whom have never used a camera or cell phone) to become media-savvy in the 21st Century has not been an easy task for Mr. Ishimaru. Fortunately for Ishimaru, and humanity as a whole, a brave soul stepped to the plate in the person of Lee Joon. Lee is one of those ideologues who feels it is his duty to change the world through journalism. Ishimaru taught Lee how to be a modern journalist, and since 2004 Lee has been reporting from inside the most reclusive country in the world. He has also been teaching some of his countrymen what he knows, and these brave journalists are the background of Rimjingang.
The journalists are not allowed to know each other for their own safety. According to Ishimaru, none of the reporters are from the elite of North Korean society, but some are able to report from the elite-only capital of Pyongyang. The rest of the reporters operate in the "capitals" of the provinces; those who operate in the strictly controlled border regions (such as Sinuiju and Hyesan) must be extremely careful to avoid the secret policemen who are tasked with their destruction.
Rimjingang has published its first English-language edition. Unfortunately, it comes in at a hefty $110, but its importance in shedding light on the horrors of the Kim regime in North Korea makes it worth its weight in gold. I highly encourage those of you who are able and interested to purchase Rimjingang, and allow some of the bravest journalists on the face of the Earth to show you why they do what they do.
Welcome to North Korea. A place where "committing journalism" can be punished by imprisonment or execution of not only yourself, but three generations of your family. A decade ago, nobody outside the reclusive country knew what happened across the 38th parallel. The only news the west got from North Korea was written by the North Korean government to showcase its perverted ideal of heaven on earth. Despite the comedy factor of the official reports coming from the Korean Central News Agency, journalists and laypersons alike were more or less shut out of the country.
That is about to change.
Meet Jiro Ishimaru, the president of Asia Press' Osaka office, and the de facto Editor-in-Chief of Rimjingang, a publication written by North Korean citizen journalists who smuggle their stories out of the country at great risk to themselves and their families. This "clandestine journalism" is blowing the doors off of our previous perceptions of the reclusive country; in recent years, clandestine journalists (though not necessarily Rimjingang journalists) have smuggled out footage of public executions and quasi-legal "jangmadang," private markets that are the only things that keep many North Koreans from dying from starvation. In the mid 1990s, there was no such capitalist safety net for the North Korean people; as a result, nearly two million North Koreans died of starvation.
In an interview with another clandestine journalist organization, the defector-run Daily NK, Ishimaru explained the purpose of his organization's unique and effective approach to news gathering in North Korea:
"... [T]he purpose is to plant the seed of journalism. It is the demands of time that spurs on North Korea’s necessity for independent journalism. Media is indeed an essential element in creating a democratic society. The outside world must know what is taking place inside North Korea, and it is the insiders that must release this information to the outside world."
This sentiment is what journalism, to me, is all about. Today, too many people put stock into pseudo-journalistic enterprises such as TMZ and Perez Hilton, and, although the aforementioned organizations are very good at what they do, it can hardly be described as "journalism." These brave North Koreans who are risking their lives to let the outside world know how horrible their country really is merits considerable praise: after all, that's what journalists do; shed light on uncomfortable and (in this case) downright horrifying aspects of the human condition in order to allow people to better live their lives.
Training North Koreans (many of whom have never used a camera or cell phone) to become media-savvy in the 21st Century has not been an easy task for Mr. Ishimaru. Fortunately for Ishimaru, and humanity as a whole, a brave soul stepped to the plate in the person of Lee Joon. Lee is one of those ideologues who feels it is his duty to change the world through journalism. Ishimaru taught Lee how to be a modern journalist, and since 2004 Lee has been reporting from inside the most reclusive country in the world. He has also been teaching some of his countrymen what he knows, and these brave journalists are the background of Rimjingang.
The journalists are not allowed to know each other for their own safety. According to Ishimaru, none of the reporters are from the elite of North Korean society, but some are able to report from the elite-only capital of Pyongyang. The rest of the reporters operate in the "capitals" of the provinces; those who operate in the strictly controlled border regions (such as Sinuiju and Hyesan) must be extremely careful to avoid the secret policemen who are tasked with their destruction.
Rimjingang has published its first English-language edition. Unfortunately, it comes in at a hefty $110, but its importance in shedding light on the horrors of the Kim regime in North Korea makes it worth its weight in gold. I highly encourage those of you who are able and interested to purchase Rimjingang, and allow some of the bravest journalists on the face of the Earth to show you why they do what they do.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
"It's a shame that unemployment came at at time when so many people were out of work"
The title of today's entry comes from a line from one Vaughn Meader. Back in the 60s, this guy was the first presidential impersonator. His dead-on JFK impersonation made him rich and famous overnight. Unfortunately, after Dallas his career went to the dogs. Lenny Bruce's opening remark in his stand-up routine a week after November 22nd was "Man, Vaughn Meader is screwed." Mr. Meader soon became hooked on heroin and various substances, but turned his life around and became a popular folk singer in his native Maine.
(Look him up on YouTube, funny as hell. I will warn you, though, you will need a decent grounding in U.S. foreign policy in the early 1960s to get some of his best routines)
I did my patriotic duty yesterday and voted. I will try to avoid politics as much as possible on this blog so I will just leave it at "I voted." This is a journalism blog, not Politico.
No news on the job front. Thursday, I will probably be going to Wal-Mart to seek a seasonal job, because nothing says, "I'm a masochist" more than working retail around Christmas. Well, maybe whips and chains too, but I don't want to work at that store.
I'd also like to congratulated the relocated New York Giants on their first World Series title since going out west. I also think Brian Wilson should host Saturday Night Live in the coming months; the guy is just kooky enough to be the next great baseball personality. Could he be this generation's Yogi Berra? Only time will tell. In the meantime, Brian needs to rage.
Speaking of the New York Giants, I had a dream last night that I was watching a game at the Polo Grounds for some damn reason. I remember there was a place called the "Ebbets Field Bar" (sacrilege, I know) inside the place like a modern stadium, but the rest of the joint was just as beautiful as I imagine a dream of a baseball park that was torn down 25 years before I was born can be.
PS: Here is a picture of the Polo Grounds
PPS: Here is a picture in color from inside the Polo Grounds in 1950:
(I have no claim on the two above images, I'm just sharing them so people can step inside my dream world. Don't sue me.)
Nostalgia is weird sometimes.
-Justin
(Look him up on YouTube, funny as hell. I will warn you, though, you will need a decent grounding in U.S. foreign policy in the early 1960s to get some of his best routines)
I did my patriotic duty yesterday and voted. I will try to avoid politics as much as possible on this blog so I will just leave it at "I voted." This is a journalism blog, not Politico.
No news on the job front. Thursday, I will probably be going to Wal-Mart to seek a seasonal job, because nothing says, "I'm a masochist" more than working retail around Christmas. Well, maybe whips and chains too, but I don't want to work at that store.
I'd also like to congratulated the relocated New York Giants on their first World Series title since going out west. I also think Brian Wilson should host Saturday Night Live in the coming months; the guy is just kooky enough to be the next great baseball personality. Could he be this generation's Yogi Berra? Only time will tell. In the meantime, Brian needs to rage.
Speaking of the New York Giants, I had a dream last night that I was watching a game at the Polo Grounds for some damn reason. I remember there was a place called the "Ebbets Field Bar" (sacrilege, I know) inside the place like a modern stadium, but the rest of the joint was just as beautiful as I imagine a dream of a baseball park that was torn down 25 years before I was born can be.
PS: Here is a picture of the Polo Grounds
PPS: Here is a picture in color from inside the Polo Grounds in 1950:
(I have no claim on the two above images, I'm just sharing them so people can step inside my dream world. Don't sue me.)
Nostalgia is weird sometimes.
-Justin
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