UFO: invasion, ly

UFO:

The invasion

     Since a long time ago, scientists believed of another form of humans, living in an unknown planet outside of the solar system. Finally it seems like alien intercepted one of this discussion and started moving to place curiosity in human mind. Phenomenons like UFO appeared and their visit multiplied, increased more and more in time. After broadcasting informations about them: films, comics books were created. The story used witnesses scenes descriptions and their incredible swear of having seen strange creature. Do you think UFO is the Man's product of imagination? The answer resides in disconcerting testimonies presented in this documentary. A lot of UFO sight was reported, but particularly three marked the history which two are explained in it.

VARGINHA CASE

 

     The issue is that not only one alien landed on earth but several.  The Varginha story or «the second Roswell» could be finished but a lot of witnesses saw aliens and testified of a strange presence of creature. A night, when three girls go home back from school, they took a short way off where they saw a strange «man» crouching in the coin of a wall. Afraid, they run away and told their mom of the evil sight. As soon as the girls talked about it, the press interviewed them. The three girls had the same description: red bulging eyes, brown shiny skin, three bump on its bigger head, claws, arm – hand – feet just as similar as ours a different point, its feet were bigger and in form of a «V» 

; three blacks men entered in contact with these girls and promised them money if they keep mute but refused the offer affirmed these girls.

A few days later, the military who touched the alien in the hospital died, the army told to the family to bury him without even a funeral. The family mechanically obeyed and did it, after the military's blood sampling examination, they found an unknown toxic substance. It is then that they tried to have funeral in complaining to the justice, but no response to their expectation. They knew that this case was classified national secret and abandoned the fight.

    

      Another strange creature knowing as « Chupacabra » is a type of vampire country people encountered, facing him when it was sucking blood of their animals. Bizarrely, the description seemed to be the same as alien’s, and when the journalist show several picture of the alien’s representation, they all doubtless identify it to the « Chupacabra ».

But finally, military shut the subject up by tracking witnesses able to diffuse any information susceptible to influence people.

     A famous comic book drawer retraces the history of this case and the testimonies in « L'affaire Varginha » in 2009 by Philippe Auger. A very well written comic book which procure stress. Some very disturbing interview extract combined with oppressing atmosphere, create a real effect. This comic book will make you pass from “I can believe” to “I believe”.

MIB

      Do you know them? Do you know who they are? I'm sure you don't.

MIB (Men In Black) is most known as a fantasy film. The Hollywood product film MIB was inspired of strange human interpreted by folks as UFO. MIB appeared in the nineteenth century. It is the first time ordinary people had contact with a kind of modern UFO. MIB are usually seen dressed with black suit like government agent and introduce them self as agent. They are interpreted as a group with the unique goal which is to shut up UFO witnesses to keep them quiet about what they have previously seen. As many encounters have been counted, people think they are observing us. For their inhospitality, witness admit they are really freaking and then they see them as evil, they were like for reasons the bad alien version. Many “victims” of MIB’s tell of telepathic powers, mind control tricks and paranormal auras. The theory that these mysterious men are hallucination of people fears is of course not undeniable.

     But a story tells in the past, of a certain organization group, the International Flying Bureau founded by Albert Bender. Their study object is based on discovering the alien phenomenons. They were they were determined and ready for anything to brighten the subject. Unfortunately, they were obliged to dissolve the group. A threatening group of Men In Black had a contact with them. This meeting was unexpected; the parole of the MIB with Albert Bender shocked him and marked his life. Menaces and encounters increased, oppression came and destroyed their will power of fighting. 

     Another story, a night, a journalist was preparing for a radio presentation about UFO at home. Hours passed, the doorbell rings. She opened the door, two men in black. She was scared, because she knew who they were. Stepping a path back, the men asked her number, not the phone number but like a identity number, their way of speaking were like robot, they didn’t have a recognizable accent. After that, they went back to where they came. Closing the door, returned to her business, her documentaries disappeared.  In an instant, she could not see them around. Both of these story has a very strange aspect, it is up to you to construe.

     It is very funny to see the comparison between the story and the film, every detail are opposing.

The MIB film relate of two super secret agents who have the duty to protect the planet earth against alien invasion. Using their modern technology, passing unnoticed in front of human's eyes, they suppress every memories of  aliens.

Can you see the contrast? MIB are here represented as the good. It is like if the government planned this film, they want us to be confused and see the MIB like fantasy creature invented by human.

 

INTERVIEW

   A lot of people in group don't believe in UFO. But I really wanted to know their true feeling. That's why, I asked in single, students from the Pontonniers high school. I was very interested in their true way to see the UFO perspective, so I asked them this question:

Do you think UFO's are the product of man's imagination?

–Yes. I don't believe in UFO but I do think that there is other form of life that we don't know for the moment.

–Of course! Men believe in extraordinary facts or being because they like to think that there is something beyond the real world.

–In a way, I think men like to be scared and to invent “scandals”. But, as far as I am concerned, I'm not able to say “it exists” or “it doesn't exist”. I think there are some mysterious things we don't know the existence.

–I think there is elements that can make us think about the existence of other forms of life but that we don't have any obvious evidence. In fact, everybody need to make his own opinion, mine is that the universe is infinite, so I think that forms of life are infinite.

–Yes, humans need something that is stronger and smarter than them (like God and religion) to watch over them.

   

    

    

    

Racism in Alsace

Alsace is a French region, next to Germany. It is a particular place, because it has often changed nationality because of wars between these two countries. The last change happened during the second world war, which is recent enough for many Alsatians to still feel marked. Indeed, when the region was occupied, they had to change their language and they had the same laws as Germany. After, peace came the two countries became united by a strong friendship. However, today, a lot of Alsatians are racist against immigrants ; they might feel that immigrants want to occupy the territory as Nazis did. Of course, this is not true, but we can understand why they (wrongly) fear such an occupation. However, every Alsatian is not racist and, even if we can understand their fears, we can't let them influence the future of Alsace.

So hatred against Arabs is becoming increasingly present in Alsace and across France. Such politicians as Sarkozy want to exclude immigrants from France while the “Front National”, the FN, say more or less that immigrants are at the origins of our economic problems, and that expulsion is the solution. Of course, they can not express their opinions explicitly as maybe people would understand that their plans are quite similar to what Hitler did to Jews. However, many people and especially older people are going to vote for racist politicians because they have been convinced by their arguments. This is above all shown by the results of the presidential election where after the first round Sarkozy and Le Pen were beating the other candidates in Alsace.

“Le Mois de l'Autre” (the Month of the Other) was created in Alsace, to educate people on the idea of the “other”, to make people understand them, because when they understand they often accept. The section of the Strasbourg’s “Ligue des Droits de l’Homme” also organized a “Café des Droits de l’Homme”, a meeting to debate racism in Alsace, and racist and xenophobe actions. Many administratively important people took part, including a historian and a philosophy teacher from our high school.

Similarly the Catholic Worker Action, the ACO, holds debates to discuss politics and racism in France. A friend of mine, Gerard, is a retired priest who attends those meetings. He was very pleased to talk about racism in France with me.

“-Hi Gerard ! I have a few questions for you... I think, as you see a lot of people in the street and everywhere, that you are often confronted to racism, and its consequences... Do you know where it comes from and how does it manifest itself?

-Hi! Yes indeed, there are approximatively 100 000 people from the Maghreb in France. A lot of people vote Le Pen (the “Front National”) in Alsace, but in fact, the further you go out from cities, the more people are racist. But we can't say that everyone voting Le Pen is racist. The FN says that 3 000 unemployed persons are 3 000 foreigners who should not be here. However foreigners are not the cause of the economic crisis in France. We are always looking for scapegoats, but this crisis is a result of the policy of relocation. When I go to supermarket, the security guards are usually black people, and people working in public works are usually from the Maghreb. We clearly see that foreigners are doing the painful jobs that the others don't want to do.

-What do you think is the cause of those reactions?

-For me, in this time of economic crisis, xenophobic and racist reactions are increasing mostly because people don't know why everything is going so badly. That is why so many associations, such as the ACO, are trying to meet people, to help them know about the other cultures and to create better social links. The key is to know we urgently need to meet people to understand them better. Foreigners are not our enemy, they are our wealth.

-Yes I totally agree with you, we all need to act! Do you know why there are immigrants in France, didn't we need them in the past years...?

-You're not wrong! In the 1960s and 70s France brought people from Sub-Saharan and North Africa, because we needed workers. Afterwards everyone thought that they would go back to their own countries, but they took root. They then became foreigners in two countries, like the young girl I met to the JOC (Christian Worker Youth) who comes from Portugal. In France, everybody called her “the Portuguese” and in Portugal they called her “the French”.

Racism and xenophobia are a social cancer.

-How would you explain the place immigrants hold in our society now? Because they seem to be the victims of the crisis, not the cause.

-Yes indeed! Standing up against foreigners and accusing them of being the cause of the crisis is easy, but those who are genuinely taking advantage of the situation are the bankers and the shareholders; the immigrants are the victims, as you said. Our society is taking advantage of immigrants while xenophobic movements, above all the FN, say that they are the cause of everything. There are stereotypes in every society : in Holland, Belgium, France and everywhere else where the xenophobic extreme right gets hold of people. Consequently, even people in the street think that immigrants are taking advantage of grants and subsidies (…) but this is not true!

Racism is deeply anchored in our society and a lot of people are suffering.

I think that the majority of people are being fooled.

-Thank you so much Gerard for all the information you've given me ! I'm happy to see that people like you are raising up against injustices !

-You're welcome ! Bye !”

To close up, racism is very present in Alsace, due to the historical context of this region, but with the efforts of people like Gerard, who are very engaged, and with the many associations, we can go against the tide because even if your family can (wrongly) think that way, it doesn't mean that you have to be the same. Being in international schools, being open to others, to differences, might help some to feel more comfortable with the “others” ! We are all the same and our generation can change the future by understanding that being racist won't lead us anywhere... except back to WW2 !

Camille D

Image's source :

France 3 [Online]. France 3, 2012 [consulted on : May 2012]. Available at : http://alsace.france3.fr/info/elections-2012/presidentielle-2012--n-sarkozy-en-tete-en-alsace-73527066.html

Worldnet3 [Online]. Worldnet3, 2012 [consulted on: May 2012]. Available at: http://www.worldnet3.org/valeur.php?i2

Education gouv [Online]. Education gouv, 2012 [consulted on: May 2012]. Available at:

http://www.education.gouv.fr/vie-lyceenne/cid59627/en-mars-les-lyceens-d-alsace-celebrent-le-mois-de-l-autre.html

Lana Del Rey, new musical icon or fad?

 

You see this woman at the top of the page? Her name is Lana Del Rey, which is a mysterious name for a mysterious woman. This 25 year old New York singer-songwriter recently released her second studio album, Born to Die. With a debut single like Video Games, everyone was expecting a new shock in the industry of music and finally the results are pretty mixed. Actually the expectations were huge as this lady seemed to be promising to return Hollywood to the glamour of the 1950’s and 1960’s. Some people seemed disappointed by songs that are too repetitive. Yet others say that she just took their breath away. It is obvious that a lot of people felt sympathy for this sweet fresh voice. So the question is, Lana Del Rey, are you really honest about your music, or is it only about money and plastic surgery?

First it is undeniable, after having watched her three videos, that she doesn’t bring us into an old fashioned universe with its colours and the quality of the videos but it still feels like Lana is not really genuine. Some of the lyrics and melodies of her songs are really too similar. Take Born to Die for example, add some sensual phrases and whisper them and you have National Anthem. This album is a good album but describing every song would be a waste of time as the 3 songs, Born to Die, Video Games and Blue Jeans, bear the same shadowy melancholy as the rest of her songs. Here is the real problem: she came like a fury with three aces and then she had nothing left to offer. Lana Del Rey would be some sort of artifice in the way she captivates people with her entrancing voice and music yet, in reality, she is only singing flat lyrics.

The ambiance of the beginning of Hollywood is also obviously there but in a wrong way. Did you know that her first album Kill Kill, produced when she was still known under the name Lizzy Grant, was a total disaster? Maybe this is just a coincidence. Maybe she has simply been formatted in her music and in the way that she looks. Despite our criticism we “give” that album a 6/10 because of the unique tone of voice and a surprising recycling of the vintage universe.

I chose to interview Cléa B, a 17 year old teenage girl who is deeply in love with her boyfriend, to learn what youth thought about this new musical phenomenon

Interviewer: Good evening Cléa so you obviously listened to Lana Del Rey's album Born to Die. First what did you think about it? Did you like it?

Cléa: Actually, I only knew the song called "Video Games" and when I listened to the whole album, it was completely new for me. This album is amazing. Lana Del Rey's voice is absolutely wonderful and all the songs are beautiful. It calms me down.

Interviewer: Yeah I personally also like it. What about the lyrics? Did you connect with them? Do you think this album can be listened to at any time and anywhere?

Cléa: I like listening to Lana Del Rey's songs when I’m in my bed, they calm me down a little.

Her lyrics all speak about love, pain, and desire. It's hard to identify yourself with them but they're beautiful.

Interviewer: You probably know that Lana Del Rey was not always that famous. She underwent surgery and her new music is not the same as it used to be. Do you think she was pushed to become a pop icon or do you think she just wanted to get to the top by herself?

Cléa: I heard she was thinking about stopping music. So I think that she didn't want to become that famous. She has been criticized a lot and she has taken it very badly. But anyway, even if she underwent surgery, we're not supposed to judge her on that. Her music is important.

Interviewer: Finally do you think she and her work are meant to last in time?

Cléa: If she said she was about to stop music, I don't think so! But her songs will last, that's for sure.

Interviewer: Thanks a lot for your time it was interesting and very pleasant talking to you.

Cléa: You're welcome!

Survey

Our journalists asked people to listen to songs from the first and the second album of Lana Del Rey and they had to decide which one they preferred, results below:

	Percentage
1. Kill Kill	7,2
2. Born to Die	92,8

First according to the people prefer her second album, which proves us that this music was meant to be listened to by a large audience. However her debut album feels much more natural which is why it was maybe more aimed at a jazz loving and knowledgeable audience. Nowadays music is for sure working old genres and it is such a shame to make business out of this. This story is probably not over Lana Del Rey certainly has another trick in her pocket and this time we might be more surprised.

                                                                                 A.

The Help : Memories of the Old South

Memories of the Old South

“God says we need to love our enemies. It's hard to do, but it can start by telling the truth.”

Aibileen Clark, a maid

     After discovering segregation through the eyes of a little girl of the American south, Harper Lee’s in To Kill a Mockingbird, the movie The Help offers us a new perspective about one of the darkest times of America’s history. The film focuses on the daily life of coloured maids in the segregated city of Jackson in the 1960s, through the point of view of Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan, a tonic young woman who dreams about becoming a famous writer. The movie, released in 2011, reminds us that in thirty years between the time of and To Kill a Mockingbird in the 1930s, and the time of The Help, nothing changed.

     Tate Taylor’s film introduces us to three different categories of characters: first, the help, that is the coloured employees, then the stereotypically southern characters, and finally the young spirits who want to make a change. Once the grounds are laid, the director follows the path of Skeeter, performed by Emma Stone, who has just got a job as a cleaning advice giver at the local newspaper. She decides to ask hints from her friend’s black maid, Aibileen Clark. Aibileen, magically portrayed by Viola Davis, has spent her whole life raising white people’s children, instead of taking care of herself and her own children. Sadly, her son died in a tragic accident few years ago. Here starts the real story. Rather than giving Skeeter cooking or cleaning tips, Aibileen decides to accept the young woman’s offer and to give her testimony about her life as a black maid in southern homes. There is only one problem: writing a book which criticizes social codes at the time is strongly forbidden by the Jim Craw law, “Separate but Equal”. Secret meetings with the other maids they convince to participate to the collection will continue throughout the movie, until the triumphant, but anonymous, publication of the book.

     The film treats a difficult subject, but is quite well handled by Tate Taylor and his outstanding feminine cast, lead by Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer and Bryce Dallas Howard. Such a female cast clearly put the men out of the front scene. The particular care given to the historical reenactment, costumes and set brings great credibility to the film, which could, at first, pass for a caricature of the different classes of the time. However, the movie is marked by significant omissions, such as historical events simply skimmed through, for example, the murder of Medgar Evers by a Ku Klux Klan member. He was a young black activist and member of the NAACP, who was investigating the murder of Emmett Till. Thus, the film does not show enough to the viewer about the real dangers incurred by coloured people at the time. Considering the almost nonexistence of the Civil Rights movement, every isolated “rebellious” act would be severely and violently repressed by the states or even by racists groups like the Ku Klux Klan.

     I met a young girl, Elena, who cried and laughed while watching the movie. She studies English at high school and is really interested in America's history. Even though the events took place about fifty years ago and on the other side of the world, she feels very concerned about these socials issues. I asked her a few questions about the film and Segregation in the United-States.

     I believe you really liked this movie, so, why did you enjoy it so much and what did you think of the choice of telling us the story through Skeeter's and the maids' eyes ?

     Elena : As far as I’m concerned, I really enjoyed seeing this film. This story reminds us how terrible it was to be a coloured person during Segregation, above all, in Mississippi. The originality of this movie comes precisely from this switching of different points of view. In fact, I’ve seen lots of films about Segregation, including Mississippi Burning, and I’ve always thought that the point of view of people who lived segregated wasn’t highlighted enough. That’s why I think this film is really special. I also enjoy this film because of its, compared to the sadness of this period. Moreover, I’m keen on the different maids who each had anecdotes to share. I also admired Skeeter, not only because she had the bravery to write about maids during this dark period, but also because she made her dream came true by becoming a brilliant writer.

     Did this film teach or make you discover new things about Segregation in America and about what happened at this time, or do you think, like many critics, that it's mostly a dramatic movie ?

     Elena : As I said before I've seen a lot of films about Segregation, so I didn’t really discover new things which I didn’t know before. Instead, this film reinforced my opinion about the cruelty of Segregation. Saying that it’s a dramatic movie is not really fair, considering the film is based on true stories. In my opinion, films like this can not only teach facts of history, but also the mentality of white and black people who lived during this period. Human beings always need a scapegoat in order to shift their hatred onto somebody else. During this period, it was the black people who took the rap. This is awful to say, but sadly, it's the ugly truth and you can observe this type of comportment through world's history.

     And finally, do you think it's good, today, to still talk and make films about this dark period, which a lot of people think we should all forget ?

    Elena : Our mistakes help all of whole humanity to go further. According to me, it is essential to talk about this dark period, and not only this one but the others, like World Wars or dictatorships. We must not forget about these periods which show the cruelty, nastiness and the narrow mindedness of human beings. People often want to forget about these times, but I think that it's our duty to remember past mistakes.

            In spite of real absence of important points of history, The Help, and especially its cast, marked the memories. Indeed, Tate Taylor, signing here his third movie, films a cruel reality with a light touch. Let's hope that nobody will ever forget the courage of these women.

Mattia C.

The end of the world records ?, by Joelle

As the 2012 London Olympic Games approach, tensions and dreams are at their peak. Each of us is looking out for our favorite champion and hoping this Games will be even more passionate than the previous years. How many tears of joy or deception will be shed? These are questions every supporter asks himself. Unfortunately, specialists of the French institute of biomedical research and epidemiology (IRMES) , think that sportsmen will shortly reach their limits. For the last 40 years, records have tended to stagnate. Breaking a record has become an extremely rare event, to such an extend that Jean-Francois Toussaint, director of the IRMES, believes that : “We will have to forget the old motto of the Olympics game “faster, higher, stronger” and replace it by “as fast, as high, as strong”.” In 20 years, half of the records will not be breakable anymore. And then, will sport still be as interesting ? Will the Games still thrill us ? Do not worry, we can count on scientific and technical advances to maintain the suspense.

History of an unbeatable record :

The record of the highest jump has not been broken for 15 years ! In 1993, Javier Sotomayor, a Cuban athlete, jumped 2m45. Since this date, nobody has managed to perform better. Why ? Simply because jumping higher goes beyond human limits. Doctors says that higher than 2m50, muscles and tendons could break ! All the athletes, who were close to this record have been badly injured.

The decline :

The end of the world records is getting closer. Every scientist agrees : we are reaching our human limits. The IRMES have ask mathematicians to study the tendency of the records to find the ceiling of several disciplines in the hope of determining when records will no longer be able to be broke. Results are striking ! For 40 years, the number of records being broken has not stopped falling. When we look closer, we can see that history has already known two similar falls : during the two world wars, men and women could not think about sport. However, it is the first time we notice a such slowing down of performances without any particular reasons. Then what are we going to do ? Without records, will sports still be attractive ? Fortunately for enthusiasts, several solutions appear to specialists.

                                  RECORDS HAVE STRAGNATED SINCE 20 YEARS

                                                       http://www.20minutes.fr

Sciences serve sport :

Although, at first sight, a scientist does not seem to have much in common with an athlete, he turns out to be very useful for certain number of athletic disciplines. The creation of new lighter and finer swimming costumes allows the swimmer to improve their performances of more than 1 second by 100 meters which is very good since usually refereeing uses the hundredth of a second to announce a winner. It is that phenomenon which allows swimmers to break 16 records at the world championship of swimming in 2008. Indeed observations show that once a new technical innovation is designed, records increase quickly.

Birth of G.M.O sportsmen :

However, lots of federations want to limit the place of the innovation, as they disagree with the transformation of their sports. That is why, the level of illegal drug-taking may rise in the next few years. Federations are afraid of scientific improvements, which could lead to the creation of “genetically modified athletes”. Such use of science will be very hard to control. For the time being, we can only hope that sports' values are strong enough to dissuade sportsmen from using this kind of innovations. Let's hope audience pressure and the happiness of honest victory will make convincing arguments

Exclusive interview !

Ishan Meyer, a common supporter and great basketball player, has kindly accepted to answer our questions. He knows different sides of sport very well and has strong convictions about sport's future.

_ Hello Ishan, thanks for answering our questions.

_ Hello

_ First of all, what is port for you in your daily life ?

I am a basketball player. I am 17 and I started playing when I was a very young boy, maybe 4 or 5 years old. Now I referee matches in Alsace. In my free time I also enjoy watching sports on T.V : basketball, of course, but also every kind of sport.

_ So why do you like practicing and watching sport on T.V ? What does it offer you ?

I think that watching sport and practicing sport are two different things, two different views of sport. Actually I practice basketball. It allows me to concentrate, to empty my head, to relax and to have fun at the same time.

Watching sport on T.V helps me to react to recent events, including world championship. It is an occasion to learn things about disciplines I do not really know, and to form my own opinion.

Refereeing is the convergence between these two activities. I have to express myself and be self-confident, but I need to stay focused. However I never forget to enjoy it !

_ Did you know athlete have almost reached their human limits ? Do you think the fact the records have become more and more unbreakable will reduce the interest we give to sport ?

I did know that but, to me, the end of the world records is a blessing in disguise. Of course, for people who are watching it risk to be less interesting because sport will be less impressive. But for the athlete who practice sport, it will increase the feeling of taking up challenges. After all, with perseverance and hard trainings, a sportsman could still improve a record even if it is supposed unbreakable !

It depends on everybody, but I think if you are really interested in something, it is not just because there are no records anymore that you have to forget about training. For the time being, athletes and spectators feel the need to practice and watch their favorite sport.

_ In your point of view, how can sport still be interesting in the future ?

In the future, the challenge will surely be to give the spectator the urge to watch sport. It is quite clear they will have to make the difference between collective or individual sports since collective sports are not only interesting for the performance but for the team spirit too. The organizers have to make the spectators want to live the passion of the sport. For example, federations should help national teams and motivated athletes to increase media coverages and so reach all of the viewing audience. For me, this challenge is the same as today.

_ Do you think scientific innovations are an advantage or a drawback for sport ?

As far as innovations are concerned, as long as they do not disturb the athlete I do not think they are a disagreement. To me, and for people who practice sport innovations are not very useful since not everybody wants to break a record.

Nevertheless, it is very important for the media because they always have something new to say. But in my point of view, sport depends on sportsmen.

For the future, I hope federations or media will not put too much pressure on the athletes because it would be a shame to distort sportsmen just to break records.

Indeed, according to numbers, sportsmen are reaching their human limits. Scientific innovations have already helped several disciplines, including swimming, to become more exciting. Unfortunately, science can not save the sports industry. However, as Ishan suggested, there are still many others alternatives. In the future, strategic sports may become more and more interesting. Historically such sports as rugby or basketball have changed their rules in history when records stagnate. It helps them to stay attractive. Finally, with the London's Olympic Games coming, future of sport surely depends on supporters' opinions and crazy imaginations !