Ok, well maybe not so dramatic. For various reasons, I have decided thatit's time I set up a new forum for VSL.

Since moving VSL to a single sign-on CMS platform (PHP) I have constantlystruggled with what I should do with the forum, which is still on the originalASP platform on which the original site was built. Migration of posts and userswas not an option for technical reasons and of course there are a lots ofdiscussions which I couldn't get rid of.

Seeing that things are pretty quiet here (spammers are most popular thesedays) with our most regular posters seemingly no longer frequenting the forum(thank you, facebook); I thought now is a good a time as any for the move.

So this is the thing, we're now have a new forum but obviously using itshouldn't be difficult. You can now use the same sign on as you do for theentire website. If you do not have a VSL account on the main site then I'mafraid you're going to have to sign up again. if you have forgotten yourpassword, you should be able to use the "forgotten password" link.Permissions for members with additional priviledges will be restored, and we'llprobably have a few more moderators as well.

I have also scaled back the forum to only those that appear to generate themost interest. I am obviously open to creating new ones or restoring old onesif there is popular requests to do so.

I want to apologise for any inconvenience cause but this had to happen atsome point and I am confident that we now have a better more integrated forum.

As I am sure you will agree that the VSL forums have proved a very usefulresource over the years and with your help I hope this can continue to be thecase. I want to appeal to members to continue supporting visitors to the forumand continue the debate in all things Sierra Leonean... or not.

MARCH 23^rd 2011 (Wednesday):

MARCH 24^th 2011 (Thursday):

 April 1^st 2011 onwards:

 April 18 – 20

 APRIL 19^th 2011 (Tuesday):

  APRIL 22^nd 2011 (Good Friday):

  APRIL 23^rd 2011 (Saturday):

 APRIL 23^rd  2011  (Saturday):

 APRIL 24^th 2011 (Sunday):

 APRIL 25^th 2011 (Monday):

 APRIL 26^th 2011 (Tuesday):

APRIL 27^th 2011 (Wednesday):

 APRIL 28^th 2011 (Thursday):

 APRIL 29^th 2011 (Friday):

  APRIL 30^th 2011 (Saturday):

MAY 31^st – 3^rd JUNE 2011 (Tuesday-Friday):

For those who watch News Media, you must have heard leaders, Political Analysts, Presidents, Senators, Congressmen, Governors, celebrities, Lawyers, Judges, Law Enforcement Agents and other talk about human Rights gazzilions of times; What is it?

From Wikipedia, “Human rights are "rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled."^[1] Proponents of the concept usually assert that everyone is endowed with certain entitlements merely by reason of being human.^[2] Human rights are thus conceived in a universalist and egalitarian fashion. Such entitlements can exist as shared norms of actual human moralities, as justified moral norms or natural rights supported by strong reasons, or as legal rights either at a national level or within international law.^[3] However, there is no consensus as to the precise nature of what in particular should or should not be regarded as a human right in any of the preceding senses, and the abstract concept of human rights has been a subject of intense philosophical debate and criticism.

The human rights movement emerged in the 1970s, especially from former socialists in eastern and western Europe, with major contributions also from the United States and Latin America. The movement quickly jelled as social activism and political rhetoric in many nations put it high on the world agenda.^[4] By the 21st century, Moyn has argued, the human rights movement expanded beyond its original anti-totalitarianism to include numerous causes involving humanitarianism and social and economic development in the Third World.^[5]

Many of the basic ideas that animated the movement developed in the aftermath of the Second World War, culminating in its adoption by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. While the phrase "human rights" is relatively modern the intellectual foundations of the modern concept can be traced through the history of philosophy and the concepts of natural law rights and liberties as far back as the city states of Classical Greece and the development of Roman Law. The true forerunner of human rights discourse was the enlightenment concept of natural rights developed by figures such as John Locke and Immanuel Kant and through the political realm in the United States Bill of Rights and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

—Article 1 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)^[6]

^{Read the rest here:}

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights}

^It is good to understand what is said to be able to understand how, when and where to act. Is it a Human Rights Violation? We live in a classical world therefore, we need to think and act classic. Think!

Redcap, not all Libyan's are pro-ghaddafi; otherwise, the conflict there could not have taken place. Some Libyans are Pro-Ghaddafi, while the others are opposed to the regime.

According to BBC, “Heavy casualties are reported as Colonel Gaddafi's forces attack the rebel-held Libyan city of Zawiya, with clashes also reported in Tripoli and other cities.” That could not have happened had Libyans been pro-Ghaddafi.

CNN also reports that “while many countries have criticized Gadhafi in the aftermath of protests that have left more than 1,000 people dead and many more injured, according to the U.N., some of his allies, including Venezuela and Zimbabwe, refuse to publicly criticize Libya.”

However, the key players here would be the Libyan people, both pro and anti-Ghaddafi, the United Nations, the African Union, the Arab League, the Arab Parliament.

The United Nations, particularly the International Criminal Court might, in fact, have threatened, to bring charges against Colonel Ghaddafi for Human Rights abuses. So there are potentials that if Colonel Ghaddafi wins the battle, and I am only saying that for logistical problems in existence, the International Community might bring charges against him for the aforementioned charges. We have seen it happen in Kosovo and Liberia among the many countries whose leaders were brought to justice, or charged to court for similar charges.

Therefore, to say that Ghaddafi has lost the plot is an understatement. The only thing that could have made it straineuos for any charge to be brought against him is, if the Arab League sees it as a “Zionistic interference” into the Arabian affairs but I cannot see that happening.

However, as I said in my earlier posts, politics can be a dangerous game particularly for Third World. It can be very uncertain but the world is moving at a faster pace now, whereby,  every nation is seeking democracy, where people would be given the right to vote, where the Rule of Law is the king no more no less, where people would be given the right to speak free as enumerated in majority democratic countries constitution as the 1^st. Amendment of the United States and where people can grow and succeed based on their determinations and foresights, talents, unlike other places, where people have to (stand- in-line) for success regardless if they are educated, qualified and legal, in contravention of constitutional mandates.

Ultimately, democracy is what Libya will get when the dust settles.

Let us continue monitoring the news and see what happens but I strongly believe that Libya will never ever be the same again after this conflict.