the magical power of a ray of light

i hav gotten back my aircraft design yesterday. did pretty well despite of all those hard times 2 even study for it. in the end of the day i jus gotta study for a few hours for it. well i really din even hope for anything for that paper and i thot i was doomed. jus as i thought that itz gonna ease up my mounted pressure a bit, i found that i was really wrong. i was sucked deeply into an undescribable warped world of helplessness when i wanted 2 do more for my final year project. hopeless was the only answer after i had desperation for some time. i was so tensed (that i felt like pullin my hair[regardless of wat purpose it served]) until i decided to be a man n do the right thing 2 talk 2 my supervisor. of cuz i was scolded. but then i was so much relieved after discovering that i dun have to dig so deep a shithole for my final year project. well to be really honest i could c a ray of light showering me (w some gothic music and flying pigeons as the background) when i was about 2 lose all hope and leave myself (& my FYP) to b swallowed into the darkness. :P

On the other hand, Mr Annan announced his outlines for a radical UN makeover yesterday. it encompasses a change on UN managerial practices to address the problems of mismanagement and the whole oil for food programme scandal. Among his proposals, there r calls to outsource certain UN functions for eg the current translation engine in New York city which is now unaffordably expensive.

besides that, a special unit of peacekeeping force will be established under the command and maneuver of the secretary general. and that's supposed to attend some urgent missions. well given that itz probably one of the toughest jobs on earth, he's not really doin that badly. despite of a pretty vocal urge for him 2 step down last year over UN's inability to react in opposition's of the big 5 in certain issues, he remains in his position, not without a reason. war on iraq, us's unilateralism, inability to express condemnation on Israel's walls with the amplification of the UN, all the results of UN's inherent frailties of inevitable reliance on those countries militarily and financially, were suddenly his fault as the SG.

wat the world has forgotten is wat he's done right while swarming us with charges against him on wat he;s done wrong. the world has 4got the big5 pressure that he has to deal with (as the main contributors financially and militarily) wheneva he wants to forward a peace loving people caring resolution. (for more on his contribution , we can refer to http://www.kituochakatiba.co.ug/annan.htm). well m not gonna keep on trumpeting his contribution here, not that i'm really a hardcore fan of him.

the point here is the proposals that he announced were not really addressing to the problems that many member states define. it doesnt discuss about any change in the security council nor any active measures in limiting the "menace of veto power". (quite frankly, after the cold war only a handful of vetoes r used, not to say that its justified tho). however, wat it offers is a more probable hand to countries that hav no interests to offer to the big5 to step in. in contrast for some ppl who drum for a drastic total remake of the security council(m not really gonna talk about that as a means to gain publicity n more support here), these small lil changes r probably more comforting. not only that itz more probable (well cuz itz not really a credible SC if u dun hav those big 5 2 stay, therefore u need 2 offer some carrots in exchange for their 'favor'), it solves the problems subtly to certain extent 2. the main current of the extreme make over propagators is that military involvement is highly dictated by the big5, regardless of itz necessity, severity and urgency. now that there's a special unit under the SG's command, there's a bridge to introduce other non SC members to decide on certain military issues, if not to the SG himself. of cuz there r concerns of the backlash like abuse of more power given to the SG. but its between the options of the SC and someone else. given that popular vote is not even close to the slightest probability so far, jus as the proposed make over plan, probably we can only try to give our good faith in it. besides, by having a troop under him, he cant possibly maneuver it to attack a country in which its leader shows him his middle finger rite? without dismantling the UN, this kinda indirect effort to fragment the concentration of power cant really b a really drastic one. at least not really those proposed so far. a ray of light mite not be strong enough to a lot of ppl, but at the same time it represents that darkness is gonna end soon. lol i hope its at least applicable 2 my own case.

jus like the attack in iraq. it has aroused the awakening of HR practice in its neighbours. women in Iran were rallying for equality yesterday. to think about this is worse than absurd not to long ago, but it happened yesterday. n we hav had more women representation at the parliamentary level in a handful of the arab countries after Iraq. i'm pretty sure this wasnt a part of US plan(despite how much they r tryin to snatch it). the point is when ppl see a glimpse of hope, they fight for their betterment. a hope of change in any case is not a bad one.

sometimes slight change can b 2 lil a progress and a lightyear far from the idealistic pic, but a lot of changes need to evolve slowly. drastic changes arent necessary all the times (most of the times itz jus a sensational gesture to draw ur attention to further some parties' self interests). this is especially true in the grand project in elimination of racial/ ethinic conflicts, or discrimination. this is becuz systemic changes alone don change ppl's perception, but a change of ppl's perception will always result in a fairer/ more representative systemic change. we have to bear in mind that we dont wanna destruct the the existing framework, we jus wanna improve that. those who always push for droppin UN neva said anything like who will do the job if not UN. similarly, those who wanna smash the veto neva said anything about who will execute peace orders if not them or who will bear the operational cost of sustainin UN. the only answer they hav is that itz unjustifiable, its unfair, its hegemonic. how about a more realistic try? they neva hav any founded / concrete ideas as wat they will really do that ensures the existence of the UN or similar body if the domimant parties retract from the frontline.

even if we wanted to get rid of their dictation, there r some prerequisites. one of them is that the other member states have to be militarily and economically strong enough to take over big5's jobs. but are we ready? for them, they jus wanna do it. probably they jus wanna feel great talkin 2 a gr8 compassionate audience and to lead high-spirited street protests. of cuz those r only my personal assessment. but the fact is, they dun provide a sound alternative which i think is pretty irresponsible. cuz even tho UN is not perfect, it's done pretty much to help. unless a bttr alternative is offered, we should keep it.

a ray of light in the darkness mite not be enough to make everything shiny, but the hope associated with that is really of tremendous thrust to fight for a bttr course. as for me, getting rid of the hopelessness for my project has definitely pulled me back in d positive track.

life is still beautiful to me