The Killing Fields Of Africa And The World's Shame (Tuesday's First Hour)
Hello everyone. Well, tonight was much better than the tease we got last night, wasn't it? Before we start off, I think I should give a disclaimer. I'm able to do this reviewing and spit all this info back at you guys in a fairly fast manner because I'm a news junkie and at least have some sort of background knowledge of basically everything 360 covers. However, when it comes to the Congo, I have no such knowledge. Basically I'm asking you guys to please bear with me here and if you know I've got something wrong, don't hesitate to tell me. Yeah, I know I could check it all against the transcripts later, but I barely have enough time to do this as it is. Alrightie then, on with the show!
We begin tonight with Anderson in Goma, but he immediately throws it to John Roberts in studio. John's got the latest on the Foley fallout. Today it was revealed that Foley is gay and was molested by a clergyman. He's gay? Really? Uh, was that ever in question? Because I kind of thought that was a given. Anyway, this intros us into a Joe Johns piece that rehashes some of this material and also informs us that Foley had cybersex with teens...while voting! Wow. Hastert is taking a lot of heat and has gone to talk radio to defend himself. Meanwhile, majority leader Boehner seems to be turning on him.
Following the piece we have Joe Johns, Candy Crowley, and Dana Bash joining us live. Joe thinks these new revelations are Foley's lawyer's attempt to humanize his client and Dana says she's hearing congress is getting an earful from their constituents on this. On the Bush front, Hastert has basically gotten a 'heckuva job' from our dear leader and Candy says it's because Bush's first instinct is loyalty. Even for child predator protectors apparently. However, Bush is going at this with a little more caution as things come out. John mentions how some are now blaming democrats for sitting on this, but that's complete BS because as Joe points out, outside groups brought the Foley problem up months ago and nothing was done.
Transitioning now back to Anderson, but first we get Mr. Announcer man. Due to the serious subject Mr. Announcer man seems to have taken a Xanax and, well, now he just sounds creepy.
Also, the voiceover might be more subdued than normal, but the graphics are on speed. Anderson than gives us a piece on the background of the Congo and I really tried here to get this down, but I pretty much failed miserably. I wish I had time to do it properly. Anyway, Congo has always been exploited for its resources beginning with King Leopold and rubber. The country claimed independence in 1960, but was then seized in 1965 by a corrupt leader and became Zaire. After that, Rwanda and other surrounding countries with the Hutus and Tutsis got into the mix to cause trouble. The country became the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1997 and the next year the brutal war started, lasting eight years. During that time about four million people died. Now even though the war is over, this country of 63 million people still loses about 1200 daily to malnutrition and disease. Basically it's the kind of country that really, really makes you feel good about where you live.
Anderson then throws back to John for updates (over which we can hear Anderson talking) and then we're back in the Congo for another Anderson piece. Anderson and crew are on a quest to find Laurent Kamuda, a rebel leader accused of some horrible crimes. There's a warrant for his arrest, but no one in authority seems to be doing much to find him. However, it doesn't take our intrepid 360 crew long. After a long trek and going through a bunch of check points, Anderson is talking to the man himself and asking him if he is guilty of the crimes people say he's done. "In this area or out of this area?" Kamuda replies. Ooookay. You'd think he'd just flat out deny and not want the area specified. Does not make you feel good. Of course the denial does come, but he is of course lying since there's plenty of documentation of his crimes--one of these crimes being the raping of children by his troops. Disgusting. Unfortunately no one is coming after this monster and he's just sitting pretty waiting for the runoff elections that are to be held soon.
Hmm, I think I'm going to have to lighten the mood before this next piece. Check out Anderson's many layers. How many pieces of clothing is the man wearing? Are you smiling now? Good. Because after this you won't be. Next we have a piece from Jeff Koinange that
regular (perhaps fanatical) 360 viewers will recognize as a few months old. It aired on a Wednesday night. Don't ask me how the heck I remember that. Anyway, it still is just as horrific even after the first viewing. Jeff goes to a rehab center full of women that have all been raped, many of them over and over again, sometimes even for days at a time. And it's not just regular rape (if there is such a thing) either. Knives are thrust into these poor women as well as guns that are then discharged. I'm typing it, but it's something I can't comprehend. Jeff says that men in uniform rape at will and that while it's easy to find a rape victim, there is no effort to find the rapists. After his piece we have Jeff live and he states that in Darfur women's issues don't rate at all. He has no hope the rapes will end soon.
On now to a Sanjay Gupta piece from Chad where he and an NGO attempt to bring some aid to the camps. In this piece we learn that sometimes the battle in providing aid is just getting there.
The big snag is that the best road in Chad is flooded. However, Sanjay and team think they can make it. Oh boy. Yeah, you can pretty much guess what happens. The car gets completely stuck. Maybe it's because I come from an area that has flash flooding, but we here are constantly told not to drive through water more than six inches high. That water is way over six inches. Where are your doctor smarts, Sanjay? Chad Meyers would have told you not to do that. Anyway, Sanjay then proceeds to get on top of the car while everyone else tries to pull it out. Hey mister, get your fancy pants doctor butt down there and help. I guess he's "supervising". Unfortunately, the pulling doesn't help and they eventually just give up and decide to wade through the chest deep water. Sanjay tells us that aid groups often try to preposition materials ahead of the rainy season, but today they couldn't even do that. After the piece we get Sanjay live and he basically rehashes all this.
Next up we have an Anderson piece on the threatened (threddened) mountain gorillas. It's a long trek to get to them and you have to hack your way there. In Rwanda these gorillas bring in
a lot of tourist dollars, but in the Congo unstable conditions have kept away the tourists and the gorillas are under attack from all sides (poachers, farmers...). Interestingly, while there are guards to protect them, they're paid by the UN and other groups and not the Congolese government. When the crew finally come across the gorillas, Anderson whispers to the camera, I guess so as not to disturb them. Then later a big one walks right behind him! So cool. Oh, I'd love to that. Not walk behind Anderson, hang out with the gorillas. Heh. Although I'm probably going to need to leave the country for that. Lack of money will forever be my nemesis. We round out the hour with The Shot, which is some humpback whales. Cool, but not as cool as mountain gorillas. Great show tonight. A-
Awesome screencaps by liberation337 and bcfraggle.
I keep forgetting to add a question. So who wants to go hang with the gorillas? Also, is this the first you're hearing about the Congo situation?
We begin tonight with Anderson in Goma, but he immediately throws it to John Roberts in studio. John's got the latest on the Foley fallout. Today it was revealed that Foley is gay and was molested by a clergyman. He's gay? Really? Uh, was that ever in question? Because I kind of thought that was a given. Anyway, this intros us into a Joe Johns piece that rehashes some of this material and also informs us that Foley had cybersex with teens...while voting! Wow. Hastert is taking a lot of heat and has gone to talk radio to defend himself. Meanwhile, majority leader Boehner seems to be turning on him.Following the piece we have Joe Johns, Candy Crowley, and Dana Bash joining us live. Joe thinks these new revelations are Foley's lawyer's attempt to humanize his client and Dana says she's hearing congress is getting an earful from their constituents on this. On the Bush front, Hastert has basically gotten a 'heckuva job' from our dear leader and Candy says it's because Bush's first instinct is loyalty. Even for child predator protectors apparently. However, Bush is going at this with a little more caution as things come out. John mentions how some are now blaming democrats for sitting on this, but that's complete BS because as Joe points out, outside groups brought the Foley problem up months ago and nothing was done.
Transitioning now back to Anderson, but first we get Mr. Announcer man. Due to the serious subject Mr. Announcer man seems to have taken a Xanax and, well, now he just sounds creepy.
Also, the voiceover might be more subdued than normal, but the graphics are on speed. Anderson than gives us a piece on the background of the Congo and I really tried here to get this down, but I pretty much failed miserably. I wish I had time to do it properly. Anyway, Congo has always been exploited for its resources beginning with King Leopold and rubber. The country claimed independence in 1960, but was then seized in 1965 by a corrupt leader and became Zaire. After that, Rwanda and other surrounding countries with the Hutus and Tutsis got into the mix to cause trouble. The country became the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1997 and the next year the brutal war started, lasting eight years. During that time about four million people died. Now even though the war is over, this country of 63 million people still loses about 1200 daily to malnutrition and disease. Basically it's the kind of country that really, really makes you feel good about where you live.
Anderson then throws back to John for updates (over which we can hear Anderson talking) and then we're back in the Congo for another Anderson piece. Anderson and crew are on a quest to find Laurent Kamuda, a rebel leader accused of some horrible crimes. There's a warrant for his arrest, but no one in authority seems to be doing much to find him. However, it doesn't take our intrepid 360 crew long. After a long trek and going through a bunch of check points, Anderson is talking to the man himself and asking him if he is guilty of the crimes people say he's done. "In this area or out of this area?" Kamuda replies. Ooookay. You'd think he'd just flat out deny and not want the area specified. Does not make you feel good. Of course the denial does come, but he is of course lying since there's plenty of documentation of his crimes--one of these crimes being the raping of children by his troops. Disgusting. Unfortunately no one is coming after this monster and he's just sitting pretty waiting for the runoff elections that are to be held soon.Hmm, I think I'm going to have to lighten the mood before this next piece. Check out Anderson's many layers. How many pieces of clothing is the man wearing? Are you smiling now? Good. Because after this you won't be. Next we have a piece from Jeff Koinange that
regular (perhaps fanatical) 360 viewers will recognize as a few months old. It aired on a Wednesday night. Don't ask me how the heck I remember that. Anyway, it still is just as horrific even after the first viewing. Jeff goes to a rehab center full of women that have all been raped, many of them over and over again, sometimes even for days at a time. And it's not just regular rape (if there is such a thing) either. Knives are thrust into these poor women as well as guns that are then discharged. I'm typing it, but it's something I can't comprehend. Jeff says that men in uniform rape at will and that while it's easy to find a rape victim, there is no effort to find the rapists. After his piece we have Jeff live and he states that in Darfur women's issues don't rate at all. He has no hope the rapes will end soon.On now to a Sanjay Gupta piece from Chad where he and an NGO attempt to bring some aid to the camps. In this piece we learn that sometimes the battle in providing aid is just getting there.
The big snag is that the best road in Chad is flooded. However, Sanjay and team think they can make it. Oh boy. Yeah, you can pretty much guess what happens. The car gets completely stuck. Maybe it's because I come from an area that has flash flooding, but we here are constantly told not to drive through water more than six inches high. That water is way over six inches. Where are your doctor smarts, Sanjay? Chad Meyers would have told you not to do that. Anyway, Sanjay then proceeds to get on top of the car while everyone else tries to pull it out. Hey mister, get your fancy pants doctor butt down there and help. I guess he's "supervising". Unfortunately, the pulling doesn't help and they eventually just give up and decide to wade through the chest deep water. Sanjay tells us that aid groups often try to preposition materials ahead of the rainy season, but today they couldn't even do that. After the piece we get Sanjay live and he basically rehashes all this.Next up we have an Anderson piece on the threatened (threddened) mountain gorillas. It's a long trek to get to them and you have to hack your way there. In Rwanda these gorillas bring in
a lot of tourist dollars, but in the Congo unstable conditions have kept away the tourists and the gorillas are under attack from all sides (poachers, farmers...). Interestingly, while there are guards to protect them, they're paid by the UN and other groups and not the Congolese government. When the crew finally come across the gorillas, Anderson whispers to the camera, I guess so as not to disturb them. Then later a big one walks right behind him! So cool. Oh, I'd love to that. Not walk behind Anderson, hang out with the gorillas. Heh. Although I'm probably going to need to leave the country for that. Lack of money will forever be my nemesis. We round out the hour with The Shot, which is some humpback whales. Cool, but not as cool as mountain gorillas. Great show tonight. A-Awesome screencaps by liberation337 and bcfraggle.
I keep forgetting to add a question. So who wants to go hang with the gorillas? Also, is this the first you're hearing about the Congo situation?
posted by eliza at 12:40 AM
2 Comments:
I don't want to hang with the gorillas, heh. "Walking behind Anderson" was my option. In the second hour, (which you haven't done), Anderson got all cracked up because a baby gorilla was "sniffing my armpit!" I laughed really loud at that. Plus a buttcrack shot- *snorf!* they shoulda cut that out :)
That piece done by Jeff I HAD seen, but, I cried AGAIN when I saw it. It's awful. How AWFUL, I don't know what else to say other than someone needs to THREDDEN THOSE MORONS. I said so on my own blog- volunteered to shoot them myself :)
Jeff is awesome. I like that guy. And Sanjay- that was indeed funny with him sitting on top of the truck, watching. I do believe he MAY have actually gotten stuck almost on purpose, you know, to prove his point.
Tuesday's show was excellent. I was kind of nervous watching Anderson interview Kamuda, Anderson seemed a little tense and he asked some pointed questions, but you could tell he was careful in how he asked and worded them. One of Kamuda's guards was filming Anderson during the interview, weird. I hope someday they get Kamuda for the atrocities he and his men have committed. What will it take to do it though?
The African women who were brutally raped are amazingly strong, it's incredible what human beings can endure. I feel so horrible for what these women have gone through.
Anderson's moments with the gorillas were fantastic, the silver-backs are so majestic, one was watching Anderson as he gave his report. I wonder if the gorilla that was sniffing AC's armpit liked the scent, sometimes Anderson and crew can't bathe when they go on location! Very good show.
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