good morning! welcome to another vlog! happy wednesday! i am about to go work at the salon today let me show you what i'm wearing it is a super hot day out so i went actually shopping yesterday i went to ari because i had oh it was my birthday on monday and i had a coupon from ari and american eagle so i was like let me go get some more things i needed some more like comfy shorts and sports bras and stuff so sports bra and shorts actually the sports bras ari shorts are american eagle and then i just threw on this flannel that i think is from the men's section in walmart it's really old these necklaces are both from vibe season earrings are from anna louisa and then i just have these slides that are actually also american eagle but they're very old wednesdays are actually my shorter days at the salon so i only have one client today i haven't seen her in a really really long time like i want to say it's been a almost a year yeah i think the last time i saw her was last summer she naturally is like a dirty blonde we had did a copper color on her last i saw her and now she wants to be blonde so it's gonna be a little bit of a color correction situation and then after i'm done with my client i'm gonna actually do my own hair i don't know if you can tell the camera's gonna pick it up but at the new house where i moved into a few months ago we have well water and it's hard water mineralized water so my hair has felt disgusting so if you live somewhere that's like a more rural area and you have well water you might find that this happens with you too where your hair can have a green tint to it it can have a weird smell like every time it gets wet it has just like a even even when it's dry honestly it like i don't know like whereas before my hair used to just smell like whatever shampoo i was using and it would smell good now it just always has this like mineral kind of smell to it it's gross it just feels dirty and it just feels heavy and just i don't know like even when it's freshly clean it still doesn't feel a hundred percent clean it just feels like weighed down a little bit i feel like it doesn't style as well so i'm gonna do a clarifying treatment at the salon to remove all of this this is something that i do on clients all the time and it's so cool and so satisfying because you can literally see all the crap coming out of your hair it is amazing so i'm gonna share that with you i'm gonna just gather everything that i need to bring with me and then i'll see you at the salon just finished my client's hair it came out beautiful that copper color on her end came out really easily luckily we only had did that color one time because i'm pretty sure when i did that last summer it was on her virgin hair and it was professional color so i was able to come out very easily but keep in mind that's not always going to be the case for everyone depends what you use depends how long you've been doing it for how many times you overlapped it etc now it's time to do my hair okay step one put on tape so what i'm going to be doing is i'm going to start off shampooing my hair with the malibu hardwater wellness shampoo to prep the hair this is a nice clarifying shampoo but it's not enough i have so much buildup in my hair that i need more than just this so this is just good to use like once a week or so in between treatments and then the treatment i'm going to do is the malibu crystal gel um this just pulls out any oxidized minerals from the hair whether it's minerals from hard water chlorine anything that it even helps if like say you over toned your hair and it came out a little bit too dark and you want to pull some of that out it'll pull that out a little bit too without causing any kind of damage the ingredients are mainly just vitamin c so you have to mix this with i believe three ounces two ounces two ounces of warm water i'm going to squeeze the bottle a little bit first then put my finger over the top and shake it up so that way it doesn't all explode and come out the top of the bottle it's happened to me so many times and then it has to sit for just like a minute or so to become like a nice thick gel consistency so in the meantime i'm gonna go wash my hair so let's go over to the sink this is gonna be interesting okay i'm just gonna put this on this chair next to me oh i need a processing cap too we're gonna take the shampoo i'm gonna shampoo my hair two times i'm gonna take the treatment and i'm just gonna apply it all over my i'm going to saturate it as evenly as i can really work it in there make sure all the hair sucks i'm just gonna put on a processing cap to contain everything and you ideally want to let this process under heat so it can really get everything out of your hair so i'm gonna sit under this heat lamp yes i'm gonna shake money for a walk first then i'm gonna sit under this heat lamp it needs to process anywhere from 10 to 45 minutes i'm gonna leave it for the full amount of time so i'll see you guys in 45 minutes okay the timer just went off i think it'll probably be easier to mix up my toner and just apply it when i'm at the sink after i rinse this out so i'm gonna get that mixed up really quick so i'm using redkin jzq i'm gonna do six na and four m because i just want something that's gonna be a little bit more ashy but not like too too dark because i actually had my hair blonde last summer and then every few months i kind of gradually was going darker and darker i kept adding low lights to my hair and then i eventually just went dark all over but i still have some pieces throughout that were bleached underneath so it gives my hair a little bit of dimension which i really like so i want to still maintain that dimension i don't want it to just be all one super dark flat color but i want to definitely tone it down make it a little bit ashier my hair just naturally especially from being out in the sun and stuff it just gets like really red and warm and i don't love that i like it to be a little bit more like neutral i'm just gonna mix that up with equal parts processing solution oh i'm surprised i thought that it would definitely be more colorful than this there's been clients that i've done this treatment on and i swear when i pull everything out it's like a teal color but this actually isn't too bad it smells so gross like it smells like that mineral smell i was talking about like kind of like a sulfur smell i don't know so i'm going to shampoo this out i'm going to shampoo two times again with that same malibu shampoo make sure i'm getting all of this stuff out of my hair then i'm going to towel dry it and then apply the toner and leave that on for about 15 minutes that's it for 15 minutes and then i'm just gonna rinse it out condition my hair and that'll be done i don't think i'm gonna bother styling in all that um because i'm just gonna go straight home anyway so i'll do that when i get home and i might blow it out straight i might leave it curly i'm not sure we'll see but i'll show you what it looks like when i get all right i'm home now i know you can't really like necessarily tell a visible difference but trust me when i say my hair feels amazing it feels so clean and it actually smells clean finally it just feels so good it feels like so much lighter i'm like less weighed down and i kind of was thinking that maybe i should blow it out straight because believe it or not i have not done a blowout on my hair in three weeks three or four weeks i've just been embracing my natural curls i know you guys have been saying that you love it and you've been wanting me actually to talk about how i've been doing my natural hair and what i've been using and all of that all i've been doing is i've been using a little bit of the plummetal invisible wear velvet cream and i just put it on my hair damp like maybe about that much just kind of apply it all over because this is supposed to give like a little bit of lightweight definition which is what i like i don't want my hair to feel crunchy or stiff and i don't you know i don't necessarily want it to feel like there's product in it and then these front pieces tend to get a little bit straighter and a little frizzy so i just twist them away from my face so just scrunch that up in there and then depending on the day like what i'm doing if i have time i will usually just leave it and let it completely air dry by itself but but if i am in a rush and i need it to dry quicker then i will diffuse it with my Dyson so i'll show you guys just for the sake of the vlog because i'm not going anywhere the rest of the day but i figure i might as well show you how i do that if i'm blowing my hair out straight then i'll do it on the highest speed and the highest heat but when i'm diffusing my hair i do it on hottest heat but lowest speed because i don't want a whole bunch of air blowing super fast into my hair blowing it all over the place and making it frizzy i just want to dry it and like define the curls so hottest temperature lowest speed and i literally just grab pieces and i just place it in the diffuser and just lift up and i just hold it there for a few seconds and because you're lifting the curls as you're drying them this definitely gives them more body and bounce i mean look at this side already compared to this if this were to just air dry it's just like being weighed down a little bit more so you can see the difference from this side compared to this side and honestly now that i did that clarifying treatment i feel like my hair is bouncing up even more than it was because it's not weighed down way so much crap as you saw i'll like flip my head upside down and diffuse that way and that way it gives me more volume too okay i wanted to get nearer windows but i could show you in natural light look how freaking curly and defined the front pieces though i think just like these front hairline pieces always get like the most damage just normally anyway so i think that's why they're not as curly but wow it doesn't feel like there's anything in my hair so that velvet cream stuff is really nice for that um i nothing to me is more annoying than crunchy stiff hair and you can see the color there's still definition in there it's not just like all one flat color but no red tones if you have any recommendations for a um like shower head filter a water filter that i can get because i know that they do make them but i just i don't i'm open to recommendations i don't know which is like which ones actually work well because i don't mind having to do the treatment obviously every so often but it would be nice if you know you just don't have to deal with that in the first place hello it is many days later it's actually sunday night right now i just washed my hair and it gave myself a blowout it's the first time i washed it since you saw me do it on wednesday and i have this airpot in because i was editing this vlog that you're watching um but yeah i decided let me blow it out straight for the first time a i wanted to see if it grew anymore because like i said it's been like a month since i last um weren't straight it's growing it's getting there i was honestly on the fence like last month i was really really tempted to chop it really short again like above my shoulders but this is the longest that it's been in a while and also like the healthiest that it's been so i'm just gonna leave it be but i wanted to also blow it out so that i could see how the color came out because i feel like sometimes with the curls um it's a little bit harder to tell and of course the lighting in my bathroom right now is very warm so that's gonna make my hair look warmer but you can see how it's still there's still some dimension in it i know every so often i get asked about my hair color and what i've been using to tone it with so now you guys saw what i did sorry i keep staring in the viewfinder because i haven't seen myself like this in a long time i'm gonna wrap up this vlog here thank you guys so much for watching i will put links to all the products everything i used and talked about in the description let me know what you want to see in the next vlog and i'll see you guys in my next video bye


I told my team like, guys, you're going to get Mr. Rogers. They're going to be looking at you like, who is that guy? All right, man. Good luck, man. That's the workforce. Did you hit the lottery with me today? I'm like, Mr. Rogers. Hey, great call, John. I don't think I'm as nervous as Kevin is. We're right where we like to be right now. You got to take great command today. Great command. That pass was like, that thing was like a Georgian missile when you guys were a war with Russia. That thing was like, it almost broke the backboard. You got a couple in you, right? I can't run you in the middle of the game. That's one. That's one. That's two. You got more than a couple? You got to be a little bit more physical on the offensive end. Why does he only make threes against us? He doesn't make them against anybody else. They got eight threes. Holy Christmas. Yes, sir! Get them to react to you. Only takes a couple stops when you're right back in this game. Understand that? Let's go, boys. Stay together. Stay together. There we go. 20 more. Failing on three. One, two, three. You got to break some errors.   Understand?  Then we got to get some stops now. All right, head up. You connected. We got to get some, right? You got to grid it out and finish the possessions down there. It's a two possession game. No! No way! No way! No way! No way! That's it. Hard to finish. That was a full load of passing. Who turns down? Hey!


Have you ever had days where all you wanted to do was lie down and do nothing? You felt like you've lost your sense of direction in life and didn't know what else to do?  We've all felt lazy, unmotivated, and uninspired from time to time. We live in such a cutthroat, hyper-competitive society that's so obsessed with the pursuit of wealth and success that it's made us feel guilty for the time we spend not earning money or doing something productive. Living a life with this kind of pressure can create a chronic level of stress if we constantly overwork ourselves and is bound to have some adverse effects on our mental and emotional well-being. But what if it's more than that? What if your laziness is more than just emotional burnout? What if it's already become something much more serious? Well, with that said, here are six warning signs to help you figure that out. Laziness can creep up on us when we have something important to do or if we've been working ourselves too hard for too long. But depression? Depression isn't a choice and it's definitely not something you can just shake off or get over. Oftentimes, depressive episodes reoccur throughout a patient's life so months of therapy may be required. Another clear sign is you often struggle with feelings of unexplained loneliness, sadness, and hopelessness along with it. Not only are you exhausted and low in energy, but you also feel downcast and disheartened for reasons you don't understand. When you're battling depression, not even doing the things you used to love the most or spending time with your loved ones can make you feel better. If your laziness has made you lose motivation and interest in everything, not just school or work, then something can be seriously wrong. People suffering from depression tend to lose interest in their hobbies and emotionally withdraw from those around them. Do you feel that your laziness is getting out of hand? Has it become too much for you to manage? Is it getting in the way of your work, your school, or your personal life? If you answered yes to any one of these questions, then you may be dealing with depression, not laziness. Psychologists tend to look for the four D's of abnormality. That is deviance, distress, danger, and dysfunction. So if your laziness is significantly interfering with your everyday tasks and living your life, then it may be time to see a mental health care professional about it. Oftentimes, laziness manifests as procrastination and may be caused by a number of different reasons. Some believe it reflects a lack of self-esteem. While others would argue it's because of a lack of positive recognition by others. It could also be due to a lack of discipline, self-control, and interest. But what about depression? What brings about depression? Well, the truth is, psychologists don't really know. So if you're feeling down, disheartened, or feeling un-energetic all of a sudden, this may be the reason why. Finally, but perhaps most importantly, the key difference between depression and laziness is that laziness is changeable while depression isn't. If you're feeling tired and unmotivated, you can do something about it. You can get some rest and try out different productivity hacks to help you get out of your funk. But with depression, it's not that easy. Anyone who's experienced clinical depression will tell you that if they had the choice to snap themselves out of it, they would do it in an instant. In fact, patients with depression often report feelings of extreme guilt, shame, and helplessness as well. So don't ever say that anyone with depression is just doing it for attention. Mental illness is so much more than that. So do you relate to any of the signs mentioned here? Have you been feeling extremely lazy lately and wondering if anything is more serious? If you or anyone you know are experiencing serious feelings of depression, don't hesitate to reach out to a mental health care professional and get help today. Because the earlier we can diagnose depression, the easier it is to treat.


This is the roadmap that I wish I had when I started my career. There's no right or wrong approach. Having a good roadmap will save you hundreds of hours piecing things together. There are six steps to becoming a UI UX designer and we're gonna go over them now. Watch until the end to get a special bonus that'll help you start your career. The first step is understanding the fundamentals of UI UX design. As an aspiring designer, it's essential to have a clear understanding of what the field entails. UI UX design is all about creating user interfaces that are not only aesthetically pleasing, but also meet the needs of both the users and the business. To do this, UI UX designers must have a deep understanding of the design process and to be able to conduct for a user research to identify the needs and pain points of the users. The role of a UI UX designer is multifaceted and requires a combination of technical and creative skills. From conducting user research and creating wireframes to designing user interfaces and testing prototypes. UI UX designers must be able to wear many hats and wear collaboratively with stakeholders to ensure that the final product meets the needs of everyone. To get started on your journey to become a UI UX designer, it's important to familiarize yourself with the fundamentals of the field. This includes understanding the design process, conducting user research and learning about design tools such as Sketch, Figma and Adobe XD. I'm actually interested in what your favorite tool is so far, so let me know in the comments. Additionally, it's important to develop strong communication and collaboration skills as well as presentation skills. You'll need to communicate your ideas and solutions to stakeholders and users. By taking time to understand the fundamentals of UI UX design, you'll be well equipped to tackle the challenges of the field and create user interfaces that meet the needs of everyone. So take the first step and start learning about the basics of UI UX design today. I've made a video of it that you might like up here. Step two is grasping the design process. The design process, also known as the design thinking process, involves five stages. As a UI UX designer, it's essential to approach each project with the right mindset and to always remember that I'm not the user. By following the design process, you can effectively understand the needs of users and create solutions that meet those needs. The defining stage is about clearly defining the problem you're trying to solve and establishing the goals and objectives of the solution. The ideation stage is all about generating ideas and exploring potential solutions. This involves brainstorming, sketching, and creating rough prototypes to test your ideas. The prototyping stage involves creating a working model of your solution to test its functionality and usability. This stage is all about testing your ideas and refining your solutions until it meets the needs of users. You can put a work in prototype together in Figma. The testing stage is where you gather feedback from users and stakeholders and favor refine your solution. This stage involves conducting user testing, gathering data to improve your solution. The advertising stage is about promoting your solution to stakeholders and users. This stage involves creating marketing materials, presentations, and other material to communicate the benefits and values of your solution. By following this specific design process, you can ensure that you're creating solutions that meet the needs of users and stakeholders and actually get implemented. Step three, developing your skills. As a UI UX designer, it's important to have both a combination of technical and soft skills. Technical skills include proficiency and design tools such as Figma, knowledge of visual design, user interface design, and UX design. However, soft skills such as communication, collaboration, and presentation skills are just as important. Effective communication is crucial in the role of a UI UX designer as you'll need to communicate your ideas and solutions to stakeholders and users. Good collaboration skills are also important as you will often be working in a team environment to create solutions. Presentation skills are equally important as you'll often need to present your solutions to stakeholders and get the buy-in of users. In addition to the above, UI UX designers should also develop product thinking, workshop facilitation skills, and critical thinking. Design thinking involves the ability to understand the needs and goals of users. Workshop facilitation skills are important for leading workshops and engaging with stakeholders and users to develop solutions. Critical thinking skills are essential for analyzing and evaluating information to make informed decisions. It's important to stay up to date with the latest trends and best practices in the industry. This can be achieved by reading books, articles, attending workshops, conferences, and networking with other designers. By continuously refining your skills and portfolio, you'll become a sort after UI UX designer and continually improve throughout your career. This will lead to more money and opportunities. Step four, mastering the craft. In order to become a really successful UI UX designer, it's important to master the craft design. This involves learning about user research, data analysis, and information architecture. User research is the process of gathering information about users to understand their needs. Data analysis is the process of analyzing data to make informed decisions. And information architecture is the process of organizing information to make it easy to navigate and understand. You'll also need to master design tools such as Figma and learn more about graphic design such as colors, typography, and imagery to enhance the look and feel of your solution. UI design is the process of creating the user interface such as buttons and menus to enable users to interact with the solution. Whereas UX design is the process of creating a solution that is easy to use that meets the user's needs. They go hand in hand. In addition to technical skills, it's also important to develop a strong design aesthetic and an eye for detail. This will help you create solutions that are not only functional, but also visually pleasing. And don't forget writing skills. These are also important for UI UX designers. Mastering the craft of UI UX design requires a combination of technical skills, design skills, and a deep understanding of the needs of users. Step five, networking and putting yourself out there. As a UI UX designer, it's important to make connections within the industry and just put yourself out there. This will help you stay informed about the latest trends and best practices and give you an opportunity to collaborate with other designers. There are several ways to network and get your name out, including attending industry conferences and events, joining online communities and forums, and participating in design workshops and mentorships. I've got my own free course where we design a project in Figma together and it's available for free over at AnthonyCombo.com. We go through the whole process. Additionally, it's important to document your learnings and progress along the way. Keep a portfolio of your work with case studies and regularly updated with your latest projects. This portfolio will be a valuable tool when you start applying for jobs and seeking feedback from industry experts. And don't be afraid to reach out to other designers and ask for feedback on your work. I'm sure they'll be happy to help. Getting feedback from others in the industry will help you identify areas for improvement and give you a better understanding of what it takes to become a successful UI UX designer. Step six, applying for UI UX design jobs. Once you've honed your skills and have a solid understanding of the design process, it's time to start looking for job opportunities. To be successful in this, it's important to have a well-rounded portfolio that showcases your skills and for process. This includes case studies, design samples and written documentation of your work. You need to show the whole process. In addition to having a strong portfolio, it's important to research potential employers and tailor your portfolio and resume to the specific job that you're applying for. This is going to help you stand out and show that you're serious about the opportunity. When preparing for interviews, it's important to practice your communication skills and be prepared to talk about the design and your thought process. Be ready to answer questions about your design experience and be prepared to provide examples of how you solve design problems in the past. This is the key aspect of a good case study and what I look for as a hiring manager.  Keep learning, refining your skills and building your portfolio. The more experienced you're getting, the more attractive you'll be to potential employers and keep networking, putting yourself out there and eventually you'll find the right opportunity for you. The journey to becoming a UI UX designer is long and challenging, it's not easy, but it's also rewarding and fulfilling with greater in the potential. With a solid foundation of skills, knowledge and experience, you'll be well positioned to stay ahead of the curve and continue to grow and evolve as a designer. Remember to stay focused, be persistent and never ever stop learning and you'll eventually find success in this exciting field. Now for the free bonus. I've included in the description a step-by-step roadmap that you can follow to become a successful UI UX designer. So check it out. And now that you've had a taste of what to do to become a UX designer, I can't wait to dive deeper into UX design. In the following video, you'll learn all the essentials of UX design and why it's so valuable for creating products that meet users' needs and goals. See you there.


Immerse yourself in a tale as old as time, woven from the threads of mystery and intrigue, the story of the Voynich manuscript. An ancient handwritten book, it brims with bizarre illustrations and an unintelligible text, whispering secrets from a bygone era that no one has yet managed to unravel. The manuscript owes its name to Wilfred Voynich, a rare book dealer who stumbled upon this enigma in the early 20th century, precisely in 1912. This coded book, with its strange symbols and illustrations, has been a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, defying all attempts at understanding its cryptic language. Linguists, cryptographers, scholars all have tried and failed to decipher this elusive script. The pages of the Voynich manuscript are a carnival of the strange and the surreal. The book is bedecked with intricate illustrations that are as puzzling as the text itself. They depict a motley collection of plants, celestial bodies, human figures, and fantastical scenes. Yet they bear no resemblance to any known species of flora or any astronomical phenomena, adding another layer to the veil of mystery that surrounds this book. The authorship and origin of the Voynich manuscript are as elusive as its content. Theories abound, speculating it might be a product of Central Europe from the 15th or 16th century. There is no concrete evidence to back these claims or to reveal the identity of its author. Some see the Voynich manuscript as a scientific or herbal manuscript, its pages filled with depictions of plants and herbs. Yet here too the book confounds us. The plants illustrated do not match any known species, intensifying the enigma that is the Voynich manuscript. Carbon dating has given us a glimmer of light in this enshrouded mystery, placing the creation of the manuscript between the early 15th and early 17th century. But even this discovery leaves more questions than answers about the manuscript's purpose and content. The Voynich manuscript has confounded the brightest minds of our time. Cryptographers, both professional and amateur, have attempted to crack this code, but to no avail. Despite a few claims of success, a consensus eludes us, and the manuscript's code remains unbroken. Theories about the Voynich manuscript are as plentiful as the stars in the sky. Some propose it's a ciphered alchemical or herbal text. Others see it as an elaborate hoax or a work of fiction, yet despite all these theories the Voynich manuscript remains a mystery. Its secrets locked away in its undecipherable text and otherworldly illustrations. So we continue to delve into the depths of this enigma, hoping to one day unravel the secrets of the Voynich manuscript. Until then, it remains a tantalizing puzzle, a testament to the unfathomable depths of human knowledge and the enduring allure of the unknown. And so, we reach the end of our journey into the enigma of the Voynich manuscript. We hope you've enjoyed this intriguing exploration into one of history's greatest mysteries as much as we have. But remember the journey of discovery doesn't stop here. We encourage you to share your thoughts and theories about the Voynich manuscript in the comments below. Who do you think it is? Who do you think authored it? And what secrets do you believe it holds? We're eager to hear your perspectives. If you found this exploration fascinating and want to join us on more journeys into the unknown, don't forget to hit that subscribe button and ring the notification bell. This way, you won't miss out on any of our upcoming content. Until next time, keep questioning, keep discovering, and keep exploring the unknown. The world is full of mysteries waiting to be uncovered and we're excited to dive into them with you.


Welcome back to Think Tech. I'm Jay Fidel. This is our series called Transitional Justice, and today we're going to talk about transitional justice in South Sudan with a member of the Project Expedite Justice Organization, who just happens to be in non-PEN, that's where he's from, his name is Atatep Mies. Thank you, Atatep. Thank you, Tepp, for joining us today. Thank you for having me.  A few weeks later, there's some other raw meat story, and they don't report about Sudan anymore. But I want to be clear, Sudan is still happening. South Sudan is still in violence, and there's two generals battling each other and killing people who were in the crossfire. And Project Expedite Justice is still on it from its people all over the world, including you. So tell us what you know about, you know, how this is evolving in South Sudan right now. So in order to understand the current conflict, you would have to go back when to Sudan itself became independent. That was in 1956. And ever since Sudan was just engulfed in a series of civil wars, I believe there were two that ranged from 1962 to 2005. And in 2005, that's when peace talks started to take place. There was this drafting and almost the adoption of a comprehensive peace agreement called the CPA, which would be a resolution for the northern government and the rebellious south to agree on peace, essentially. And it was until 2009 that talks of South Sudan's autonomy and independence began. And in 2011, that's when South Sudan actually became independent. But not for long. It was soon enough. We had a lot of violence. Can you talk about the more recent experience with violence in Sudan? Oh, there were multiple instances of violent eruption of violence within South Sudan, even after the country gaining independence. Fun fact, it is still it still maintains the title being the youngest country in the world having gained independence in 2011. But in 2013 to 2015 to 2018, and as of recent in 2020, there were a series of violence where allegations by the international community surfaced that South Sudan, the various factions fighting within the country are committing grave and atrocity crimes such as war crimes, crimes against humanity or potentially genocide. It's hard to wrap your mind around the fact that this these war crimes and atrocities and violations of human rights and the like are between people who are in the same country. They're all Sudanese and the two generals that are battling it out now, they're Sudanese and the people who are wounded and killed and the victims of war crimes and in the crosshairs are being killed by their two Sudanese armies. This is, you know, hard for American people to understand because we haven't had that, not not on the same level. And and therefore, you know, you have to sort of change the culture, don't you? You have to find who is responsible for this and and show the Sudanese people, whatever institutions there are, and the world, that this is not acceptable. And one of the ways to do that is you investigate and find out who has done what. So tell me about the you know, the state of investigation, if you would, as to all the war crimes that have happened in Sudan, South Sudan, over the past few years. Who's investigating? Who is encouraging them, organizing them to investigate? What kind of, what is investigation along these lines? And where does that lead? The current situation is in South Sudan, it is not short of interested players who are conducting these investigations onto these serious human rights violations and also atrocity crimes, PEJ being included. I won't speak so much about the international players, but rather, I will just focus on what PEJ is doing within South Sudan. We are, well, we no longer hope it was a previous project. But as we were operating, we were helping local CSOs and NGOs within capacity building, mentoring and training local investigators, where they would go onto these conflict affected areas within South Sudan, nine regions were our focus at the time. What these investigators will do is that they document these atrocity crimes from witnesses and victims. They bring them back to us. And we sort of sanitize these reports for accountability purposes, whether it's in the form of publishing it as an investigative report or maybe submitting that to a judicial body, whether it's a domestic or an international court such as the ICC. Yeah, the ICC, we've been covering that a little bit and finding out that the primary method of referral of war crimes to the, for the prosecution of the ICC is done by the United Nations, even though the two are distinct organizations, the United Nations, is where the charge comes from, so to speak. But the United Nations is locked up because in the Security Council, we have two wayward members at least, and one of them is Russia, one of them is China, and they don't particularly want to go after war crimes because they are conducting war crimes themselves. It's understandable. So the problem is that the United Nations doesn't refer a whole lot of cases to the ICC. There are other arrangements, other possibilities for referring cases by the prosecutors themselves and others in the community. But it strikes me that there are so many places in the world of war crimes being investigated, but the ICC hasn't had any trials. It hasn't had any live prosecutions. The only places you can think of lately is Germany, where they prosecuted a Syrian general a year or two ago, and that was somewhat encouraging. And then France, where the Supreme Court of France has been behind a legal wall, and up till just this year, the Supreme Court of France really didn't allow for a lot of war crimes prosecution under the notion of universal jurisdiction, but they changed it and we'll see what happens. I think France has a way to go to get to where Germany is. And of course, you can go into the country itself. You can go into South Sudan to the extent that there are institutional institutions that can actually prosecute and conduct trials, but there's not a whole lot of options. So I pose to you this possibility of lots of investigation or lots of reports, but no prosecution. What are your thoughts about that? So it really depends on, so international experts have posited the notion of the possibility that the case of South Sudan may appear within the ICC's jurisdiction for two reasons. First, by way of Article 12, Item 3 of the Rome Statute, which the ICC may incur its jurisdiction onto South Sudanese perpetrators, which may possess a dual citizenship, especially with a country that is a state party to the Rome Statute. As of current South Sudan... Talking about universal jurisdiction in Europe, right? It could... No, it's more about the principle of complementarity under the Rome Statute. So the ICC can prosecute those who have possessed dual citizenship if the other citizenship is of a country that is a party to the Rome Statute. So this is similar to the... It's an analogy. It's not a direct example, but really I think to bring the closest example that I can think of is the case of Myanmar and the Rohingya Muslims, where even though the ICC does not have jurisdiction to look into the situation of Myanmar, they have conducted investigations onto the Muslim victims that have crossed the Myanmar border into Bangladesh, being a party to the Rome Statute. So a similar situation may happen, but it is very slow. Second is an even slower solution. I'm not sure whether it's even a possibility, but it is to await the election of a new leader that would possibly ratify and consent to the ICC's jurisdiction, and possibly could also agree for the ICC to look retroactively into crimes that took place even before 2013. So those are the two possibilities, but there are a lot of geopolitical issues with the ICC and also African leaders, especially with the recent backlash of them thinking that the ICC is very biased towards African nations. Now, the problem is that the world is watching. There's enough media out there to make the world aware, I think, but the world also is likely to react. Well, that's nice, but gee whiz, how about some prosecutions? In the case of Ukraine, you see it on television. You see the witnesses like in 60 minutes, a couple of days ago, you see I see the witnesses essentially telling their stories about the atrocities against them, but it's only media, and it doesn't result in prosecutions or convictions or sentences. And the average person says, well, this system isn't working very well, because it's only a story. It's not a result. And so my feeling about more crimes is we have to develop a better system. But let's talk about the investigation and the capacity building. I guess the first thing we need to do, and this goes back to Berkeley, doesn't it? The Berkeley agreement, the Berkeley agreement where you have standards for investigation. And so what are the standards in general? And who is investigating? And what do you do to investigate? So we sort of structured our investigating process after the Berkeley protocol too. One of the main principle that we want to abide by is taking a human rights-centered approach to the investigations, and that is to prevent risk of re-traumatization. I forgot to acknowledge too that PHH role with its investigations onto the situation of South Sudan, we do place an emphasis on gender-based violence, which the risk of re-traumatization is much, much higher. You mean like against women? Against women, yes. And young girls too, because when you hear these stories, it just angers you. Women who are placed in refugee camps are sometimes they would need to go out to nearby forests to fetch some water or firewood to bring back to the camps. And along their journey, you would constantly hear reports of them encountering the different military factions, whether it's from the government or other rebels, and they are then raped. If lucky, they survive. If not, they're a shock on the spot. So it angers you. And it's not only women. There's no discrimination as the age of victimization really, because you hear also stories, young girls as young as 10 years old who are also sexually assaulted, raped, and usually they pass away from the incident too, because of succumbing to their injuries. But why do people, never mind, I mean it is a question, why do people do such things?  That was the main question amongst external viewers too. When they look into the situation of South Sudan, they just can't wrap their heads around as to why these incidents are happening. And throughout my work, it appears to be on an ethnic basis where even though South Sudan is very ethnically diverse, they're also very loyal to their ethnic groups. So anyone who is outside of their group, they would not treat them so fairly. So PEJ is investigating. PEJ is, you're in Penang Pen. And we have other PEJ people we've talked to who are outside the country, like for example in Kampala. And how can you investigate at long distance that way? How can you encourage the investigation or organize or train investigators remotely that way? I would want to be privy with the namings of our partners too, but we do have, we help these local investigators, we sort of get connected to them and we sort of post calls on a bi-weekly or sometimes a monthly basis just to check up on them. They document these atrocities, they put it in a Google Doc form or a Word document. They send it to us. We sort of help review and help provide comments essentially because some of the reports do not have all the elements that is needed to establish a crime. And sometimes they often confuse with what is a domestic crime and what is an international crime, which can render some of these evidence inadmissible before an international forum. And so we sort of help guide them to drafting these reports to be admissible and as clean as possible before being submitted for an international judicial body. That's very interesting. So they use computers and they type it out on Google Docs or whatever program it is and then they email it to people like you and the woman I mentioned, her name is Cynthia Ibali in Kampala. And you look at it and say, this may or may not be useful.  Am I right? Why don't you go back to this witness that you spoke with and ask some more questions and flesh out this report so it can be more useful for more jurisdictions? Am I right? Yep. And I can't help but say this enough. Their work is incredibly admirable because they are putting themselves and their lives and their families' lives on the line by going into these conflict-affected areas to document these atrocities because the government can always find ways to trace back who are helping these prospective victims. And that could present a lot of dangers to these local investigators. And there were also an instance, I think, I believe back in late 2019 or early 2020 where civil society organizations were have their offices raided in linkage to a demonstration that took place in Juba, the capital of South Sudan. So there's a lot of danger in the face of these investigators. Yet still, they want to help their countrymen. They want to help find accountability for the victims and hold perpetrators to account. These documents should get in English or some other language. They are in English, yes. But there is a process, I believe, a process of translations too because not all victims or witnesses speaks English. They speak in their native tongue, the majority being Dinka or Noor. Those are the ethnic dialects or languages within South Sudan. And most likely, they are translated into English and then sent to us. And then we provide guidance and we send it back to them. You know, Tep, one picture is worth a thousand words and that's really true and shown to be true in our time. So, Querie, do these reports that the investigators make and send to you and others, do they include graphics, pictures, maps, footage of any kind or is it just written down? It is only a written statement, but the details are incredibly disturbing. I believe in one of the reports that I remember back when I just freshly graduated from uni, I did not have. So I've heard of criminal cases before and it can be incredibly graphic, right? But I've seen it on TV and I never really saw it for myself until I started working for PEJ. I read, I started reading these reports and when you read, you started making, you started to visualize it in your head, right, as to the events that took place within this particular story. And there was this one victim who encountered five armed men from the military. He was accused of helping some of the rebels and they sort of took him to a nearby bush.   It was incredibly, incredibly. Oh, that is disturbing even to think about it. So the investigators were at some risk. What's interesting is that you have two warring factions, both of them are conducting, am I right? Both of them are conducting war crimes and atrocities, both sides. And so it doesn't matter which side your report writes up. It doesn't matter which side you're investigating.  So that makes it very dangerous for anybody who is out there in the field talking to witnesses, am I right? Exactly. It started with two, mainly the Sudan's Liberation, Sudan's People Liberation Movement or Army, the SPLA or M. Usually the names are very convoluted when it's being reported by different players wishing to investigate. And the other is the Sudan's People Liberation Movement or Army in Opposition, the SPLA IO. The conflict started between the infighting of these two groups where the president accused the president being Salva Kier at the time. In 2013, he accused his vice president, Rick Mishar, of conducting a coup d'etat, but it was a failed coup attempt. And then when the party lines sort of split, the soldiers who remained loyal on an ethnic basis sort of separated from the main Sudanese government, which gave rise to the term in opposition of the SPLA IO. And then the fighting between these two groups sort of spread across South Sudan, creating more and more defections, more splinter groups, more rebels, so on and so forth. And every group sort of fight upon or fight for this idea of patriotism. They're fighting for their countrymen, but at the same time, they're always looting, they're always destroying, they're always killing their own people under the accusation of, oh, you're supporting Party A or Party B, why aren't you supporting me? Right? So that is the situation of South Sudan in a nutshell. Yeah, that's madness. So the other thing that comes to mind is that if I'm a witness, and if the investigator has talked to me or wants to talk to me, and I'm a witness and I'm either writing it down or talking to the investigator to report what I have seen, what I know, I'm also at great risk, because I'm also I'm also a target for both sides, because in reporting the truth, I make myself the enemy of essentially of both sides. And so gee whiz, I would want to stay secret. I would want to stay out of harm's way, just as the investigator wants to stay out of harm's way. So here we have the report, the report is written, and maybe it's, you know, there's supplements to it, as you said. And ultimately, it's going to be submitted to a court or an international organization that conceivably could make a prosecution out of it. But when that happens, the names of the individuals come out. So isn't it possible that those who conducted the war crimes at whatever level at the, at the, you know, trooper in the field level or the general level, they're going to find out the names of the people involved and, and go after them, isn't that ever happening? So as part of the do no harm principle, we also try to maintain the safety and security of those and the investigators' interviews. And essentially, there is a process of redaction where their names, personal and other personal information are redacted, but they are withheld by the investigating organization. We're not the ones conducting the investigation, rather we help the investigating organization. We help guide them as to make good and sanitize, investigate reports to be admissible before a court. Speaking of a court, I forgot to mention that there was this prospect of the establishment of a hybrid court within South Sudan. A lot of people have been longing for it. It is also part of the peace agreement when all of this conflict sort of broke out. But there is this constant lack of political will and also, you know, it's just perpetrators knowing that they will be prosecuted someday, that they do not want to have this be successfully executed because they're going to be facing jail time. Is there a death penalty in the law? I cannot recall. I do not think so within South Sudan's constitution. So the other thing you mentioned is trying to achieve the trust of the people involved to socialize it, not only among the investigators, but among the witnesses. How do you do that when there is such a risk for them to tell you what happened? How do you make them trust your investigator and trust, you know, all the organizations involved? That is also incredibly difficult because there was an assessment done by the South Sudanese Law Society and they surveyed what people think, what is the definition of transitional justice or justice in general within the context of South Sudan. Some people wanted the war to end, others wanted accountability. But these groups do not, there seems to be no consensus. They're so extreme on both points where the people who are not affected by the conflict just wants the conflict to end and the victims just wants accountability. So it is incredibly difficult and incredibly stagnated, but we can only hope that in due time progress is made and justice is served. Well, you know what, of course, I think it's valuable for people who are conducting war crimes to know that they are being investigated and that one day they may wind up in jail and lose their liberty, their freedom, and be punished. And maybe that is a factor in what they do and for how long they do it. But it strikes me that the threat of accountability may not be the solution to a civil war. It may not be the solution to people who are out there killing and raping and doing atrocities every day. So the question I put to you is what role does that, that is the investigation and ultimately, hopefully, the prosecution of these atrocities, what role does that play in the larger, what do you want to call it, historical process, the process by which hopefully someday this will stop? What will it take to stop it? I can't say for certain because you have in the transitional process, you're going to have different groups with different competing interests. And that was also one of the questions for, I believe, I forgot what the specific name was called. It's a human rights, it's a UN Human Rights Commission that talked briefly about this. And they also pointed out the issue of who to prioritize first, the two aforementioned groups, the people who wants accountability, the others who wants just for the conflict to end. But I believe the first step for South Sudan to take is to stop the fighting. And it has been doing that to be fair to South Sudan, but there's still small scale fighting that is happening. It has decreased admittedly ever since 2020, I believe, but still the small scale violence also produces more numbers of victims. One is more than enough. I can't answer that question directly today. No, I understand. Maybe it's unanswerable. What do you do to stop the madness? Because rationality is not necessarily a solution here. And I've suggested to other people who have appeared on our shows that maybe it's just a fatigue theory, where as society, including the war criminals, just get tired of doing it. And they find out there's really no benefit in it, and they just get tired and stop. After a time, some people anyway would not be interested in doing that. That's the only thing I can think of as a factor that would determine the end of the process of the criminal war process. So I want to know about your view of this and how you feel about it. You've alluded to that.  Cambodia has had its own problems. We've discussed that. But how do you feel about what's going on? I mean, it's also happening in Ukraine. And I suppose we could look at other places in the world where there are atrocities taking place on a regular basis. It must be a hard life for you to hear these stories, examine the testimonies of the witnesses and so forth. It must get on your nerves, doesn't it? It does. Again, it feels incredibly sad that one person is so small and you cannot help in a conflict as big as a civil war. But all that we can do right now as investigators is to document as much as we can so that when the judicial process or proceedings starts, it goes smoothly. And there are no delays. And as you said at the start of the show, if justice is delayed, justice is denied. Right? Yeah. We are doing the best that we can when it comes to the investigations. I wonder about your commitment to deal with this. Your commitment to invest your time and your education, your interest in dealing with these atrocities. What does it look like from here for you? I think diplomacy would be a big, big contributor to stopping the conflict. Because if one knows how to properly conduct a characteristic approach to the parties involved, then most likely the conflict will end much more sooner. Because as you said, there's no point as to fighting. And sometimes waiting for the fighting to fatigue, it's very time consuming. There's no right or wrong approach, but I believe that if people can talk it out properly, people can sort of see on a bigger picture as to what is happening, how many people have died and how much resources they are wasting as opposed to just developing the country. Maybe it'll bring them back to the road of development and prosperity for the country. Well, I hope you do that. I hope you commit your whole life to it. I think it's a very valuable way to spend your time and I admire you for your commitment. Inatep Mies, joining us from Nampen, Cambodia, a part of Project Expedite Justice. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me, Jay. Aloha. Thank you so much for watching Think Tech Hawaii. If you like what we do, please click the like and subscribe button on YouTube. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Check out our website, ThinkTechHawaii.com. Mahalo.


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