History of Political and Civic Unrest in Zimbabwe

The United Kingdom granted Zimbabwe its independence on April 18, 1980. Prior to this, the country was referred to by one of three names--Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia, or Zimbabwe-Rhodesia.

The country declared a state of emergency from 1985-1987. A number of organizations made efforts to reform the government by introducing a tricameral instition--a white, a colored and an indian parliament. During this period press freedom was resticted.

In the 2000s, economic instability led several members of the military to try to overthrow the government in a coup d'etat.

When I researched the history of Zimbabwe without using the Internet, I realized that the information in books are often more accurate because the authors had to do research themselves before compiling the books. However,research using books and hard copies of articles proved to be a tedious and lengthy exercise. It takes much longer to skim the pages of books as opposed to Web pages.

When I researched using the Internet, search engines, helped me find the relevant information in quick time by narrowing my searches. Google even presented the pages in chronological order beginning with the most recents articles on the subject. This is possible because most Web sites are updated periodically. In addition, the articles contained links to related references. However, some articles seemed to be sensational and I questioned their reliability. In fact, on Wikipedia, a note stated: "The neutrality of this article is disputed."

Human Race Machine

The Human Race Machine, invented in 2000 by Artist Nancy Burson, has been experienced by 150,000 people worldwide. It celebrates diversity awareness.

The machine is used to teach observers that there is no gene for race; the DNA of any two humans is 99.97 percent identical. A person’s race is made up of a variety of inherited genes, including the melanin that determines color, the size of the eyes, nose, jawline, and face contours.

The machine works by snapping a photograph of the user’s face. Then the participant uses the machine’s joystick to embed a mark at the corner of each eye, the corners of the nose and lips, and the center of the chin. Then, as the user clicks on the various race options, the photograph is altered accordingly, depicting features that the participant would have if s/he were any of 5 other races.

Participants around the world said that the experience makes them more appreciative of their own race. Critics caution that morphing images could lead to a belief that racial and cultural differences don't matter.

The machine also has the ability to age a participant by about 20 years, and to show the face with a variety of medical deformities. In 1987, Burson sold the rights of the Age Machine (another of her inventions) to the FBI and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children who have used it to help locate victims of kidnapping.

The Couples Machine (also invented by Burson) combines photographs of men and women in varying percentages to allow couples to view their potential offspring.

The Human Race Machine is accessible at the New York Hall of Science, American Visionary Art Museum, and The William Benton Museum of Art.

References
http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2009/oct/16/human-race-machine-will-change-your-face/
http://cbs11tv.com/local/Human.Race.Machine.2.942904.html
http://www.nancyburson.com/pages/publicart_pages/hrmachine.html
http://www.villagevoice.com/2000-09-19/news/the-human-race-machine/1
http://www.wolfmanproductions.com/racemachine.html
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/egg/205/burson/index.html

Who Owns NPR?

National Public Radio (NPR) delivers breaking national and world news in addition to top stories in business, politics, health, science, technology, music and culture.

NPR is a private, not-for-profit corporation chartered by the District of Columbia and qualified by the Internal Revenue Service as a "501(c)(3)" organization exempt from taxation.

NPR is funded primarily by a single source: fees paid to NPR by public radio stations (almost 700 of them) for the right to broadcast particular NPR programs. These program fees account for slightly more than 50 percent of the annual budget, which for 2000, was just over $100 million. This is the largest single source of money for NPR and it comes overwhelmingly from the stations and their listeners.

The rest of the money comes from organizations (usually corporations) and foundations.

That support is known as "underwriting" and the on-air acknowledgements are called "credits." To some listeners the credits sound like plain old advertising. In fact, they aren't. They must conform to federal law which expressly forbids "advertising" on public radio stations. In fact, recently, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) found one public radio station guilty of "broadcasting advertisements and failing to maintain its public file," after a complaint by a listener.

Reference
http://www.npr.org/yourturn/ombudsman/2001/011228.html

Everybody Tweet Tweet

I learned that within a day, not to mention 48 hours, there is a whole lot of information that one can learn from reading and responding to tweets. I have also realized that Twitter can have many functions.

Twitter can be used as a news source. People who have the information, share it and their followers receive it and may even be able to add to that information. Someone wanted to know the scores from the football game between Midwestern State University and West Texas A&M and I knew them so I responded. Twitter brings the information to you as opposed to your having to look for it. I like to stay abreast of what's happening in the world so on Twitter, I am following some news anchors. As news stories develop, I receive tweets and then I just have to follow the stories which interest me. Otherwise, I would be forced to sit in front of my television or computer in order to catch up with the news.

Twitter can also be used as a an advertising medium. Someone used it to let people know that she had a dog for sale. I used it to let people know that the Caribbean Students Organization was having a calypso competition on Sunday.

In addition, Twitter is very convenient. Throughout the day, persons can recall and report various snippets of their life. They can tweet at a time that is best for them instead of having to wait for friends and relatives to sign in to a live chat program. People can tweet and be on their way and the appropriate people will get the information and respond at their convenience. Additionally, having only 140 characters per tweet makes you stick to the point of your message. I believe that small pieces of information that are on point are more likely to be read than long emails.