Hotel Rwanda is the Schindler’s List for Africa. A lot has happened and is happening in that continent that the rest of the world don’t know or don’t even care about. One of those is the massacre of Tutsis by Hutus extremists in 1994. In the middle of this madness, a reluctant hotel manager was thrust into a situation where he can do what is right. He chose to do so. He opened the hotel he was managing to as many refugees as he can accomodate and used his contacts and influence to feed and protect them.
The sad thing is that while one man did what he can, the rest of the world, especially the US, didn’t do anything at all. It was left up to the Tutsis themselves to rid Rwanda of the Hutu extremists who carried out “acts of genocide” as the U.N. calls the mass murder of almost a million.
Today, “acts of genocide” are being carried out in the Darfur region of Sudan. And probably elsewhere too. But has the world learned its lesson and do something? So far it doesn’t seem that way.
Rating: 4/5
Crash
The Impact XL is an underwater flashlight that can also be used for above-water outdoor activities or, if you prefer, an above-water flashlight that can also be used for underwater activities. Per manufacturer specifications, it is waterproof up to 100m. It has a single Luxeon LED bulb which can throw 170 lumens of light as far as 50m. 4 AA batteries provide burn-time of up to 50 hours. Its tough plastic body is clad in molded rubber for grip as well as additional protection. A lanyard loop at the tail end allows for the attachment of a lanyard, wrist strap, or clip. The switch is a rotating bezel. It has enough rotations to minimize the chance of opening and flooding the batteries while underwater. However, you turn it in to activate so there’s a chance, albeit pretty small, that a push, say from water pressure, will move the head in and activate. Other than that, I’ve no real complaint about this light. Highly recommended.