Friday, September 30, 2005
British Subway Bombings
I gotta say whoever came up with this plan was a moron. Hitler tried to bomb London into submission for a year, without success. It's hard to imagine that anyone thinks they could do more than the Luftwaffe was able to do. The British people are an extremely hardy bunch. These acts have only served to solidify their resolve and perhaps change a lot of people's minds about the war on terror. The chances of the British withdrawing from Iraq are now next to none! Exactly what was the plan supposed to do? As I said, A plan designed by very foolish people indeed.
Speaking of Internet Control
The Chinese continue in their efforts to control what is seen by it's people on the Internet. Many western companies have assisted in this goal. Alas, there is still great hope that the shear numbers of people who are using the internet in China will make the job difficult if not impossible. The internet is certainly a dangerous place, but I would still prefer this danger to the concept of governments controlling all that goes on there.
Control of the Internet
The Americans currently control the Internet as a result of it essentially being developed there. There is now a drive to hand over the control to the U.N. I'm not sure this is a good idea even if I don't think the Americans should have exclusive control. Actually I have a problem with any disfunctional body keeping control and the only thing more so than the U.S. these days is the U.N. In fact, it's probably not a good idea for any single organization of any type have absolute control of this system.
An American Double-Standard
The Americans are now trying to get the Japanese to lift their ban on American beef. Seems incredibly hypocritical considering their absolute refusal to allow Canadian beef into the U.S.
Venezuela is pointing the American hypocrisy regarding terrorism due to their refusal to extradite a man accused of blowing up a Cuban passenger jet in 1976. The reason, he might be tortured if returned. Again, amazing in the light of the systemic torture that prisoners have received at the hands of their American captors. I guess torture is only allowed when conducted by American personnel. This risk of torture was not enough to prevent the kidnapping of a man in Italy by American CIA operatives and brought to Egypt to be tortured. Their are now multiple warrants for the arrest of the American agents for what the Italians consider a gross violation of their sovereignty.
This apparent state of hypocrisy, lies, and essentially disfunction has not been lost on the average American. The result is the failure of the American forces to meet recruiting goals by a long margin. Can anyone say loss of faith? One of the many problems in the U.S. today is their absolute refusal to join the rest of the world in the drive for fairness and equity. The Yanks are at the top, it seems that no horror is to much a price to pay to keep them there.
Venezuela is pointing the American hypocrisy regarding terrorism due to their refusal to extradite a man accused of blowing up a Cuban passenger jet in 1976. The reason, he might be tortured if returned. Again, amazing in the light of the systemic torture that prisoners have received at the hands of their American captors. I guess torture is only allowed when conducted by American personnel. This risk of torture was not enough to prevent the kidnapping of a man in Italy by American CIA operatives and brought to Egypt to be tortured. Their are now multiple warrants for the arrest of the American agents for what the Italians consider a gross violation of their sovereignty.
This apparent state of hypocrisy, lies, and essentially disfunction has not been lost on the average American. The result is the failure of the American forces to meet recruiting goals by a long margin. Can anyone say loss of faith? One of the many problems in the U.S. today is their absolute refusal to join the rest of the world in the drive for fairness and equity. The Yanks are at the top, it seems that no horror is to much a price to pay to keep them there.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Talk about Stating the Obvious
You're not going to believe this. Someone has come to the conclusion that poor people may be having a difficult time eating balanced, healthy meals. Can you imagine? Someone is suggesting that it costs less to eat Kraft Dinner every day than to eat fruits and vegetables. I can't help but wonder how many millions are being spent or have been spent to come to this lofty conclusion. They would have only talked any doctor who regularly treats the poor to hear the same thing.
Nepalese Officers Show their Humanity
They were convicted of torturing and killing a fifteen year old girl. She became the lucky candidate when they failed to find her mother and took her instead. It's sad to say, but it would appear that this type of abuse by those in the employ of various governments is all too common. One might think that in this day and age we would have evolved beyond such things but they persist, even by those in the employ of the U.S. as we are seeing over and over.
The Warming Question
More and more studies are showing that we are indeed getting warmer. This doesn't say that it's our fault but at least one scientist thinks we are at least partly responsible. This is also very much indicated by the arctic ice conditions. The arctic ice is now melting at a never before recorded rate and it is feared that we may have already crossed the " tipping point" where it will not be able to recover.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Blacks Eliminated from Amazing Race
I normally don't watch this program. I watched under pressure from my wife this evening. I was sorry to see this family go so soon in the race. In the end though, no matter what happens it was a great treat to have the chance to see this young family. They may have not won the million but they have something that many millionaires, not to mention the rest of us, don't. The father of these young kids showed patience, caring, and intelligence far beyond what most fathers have, including myself. No matter what happened he was supportive and constantly telling these boys what a great job they were doing and encouraging them. From what I saw, the guy is virtually an ideal father. What that family has together can never be given a monetary value, it's value is infinite. They were severely handicapped by having two kids so young when most of the teams are made up of adults, yet they performed with grace and a hell of a lot of class. We should all salute them!
The Environmental Movement
One of the problems with the movement today is the fact that they have become in many ways not much different than a political party. As a result, they lose credibility. I recognize that they are fighting the good fight and all that, and that they must compete with other influences who take full advantage of the media and misinformation. The thing is that we musn't lose sight of the big picture which is to figure out how we can live on this planet with nature. Nature itself is very brutal. We all like to think of it in a romantic light, but the fact is not many of us could actually survive there without significant training and weapons. Certainly it must be preserved, but I'd still prefer to observe many of it's creatures from a nice safe distance. When I travel in the Bush I go armed. I don't do this to hunt! Guns are loud, this is usually enough to scare off the average bear. As much as I love the woods, I prefer not to sacrifice one of my kids to romantic misconceptions about it's dangers. I have had a fair bit of experience hiking and camping in the Canadian bush. I have never had to shoot anything. I also make a great deal of noise while there so as not to surprise anything, this is probably the reason why I have never had any problems. The best defense is common sense and a little knowledge. As much as I enjoy the wilderness, I never forget that many of the animals there would have no problem having me for lunch!
Which all brings me back to the main point. And that is that the environmental movement must first stick to it's cause. The cause should be to figure out through credible research the answers to some of the problems we are facing today. Less money on offices and administration, more money on research and field work!
Which all brings me back to the main point. And that is that the environmental movement must first stick to it's cause. The cause should be to figure out through credible research the answers to some of the problems we are facing today. Less money on offices and administration, more money on research and field work!
Women and Islam
This article makes some good points regarding the problems with some Islamic cultures and their treatment of women. It goes on to tie this into the great war on terror. While the two are obviously connected I doubt that one has motivated the other. The real battle we all face on this planet is ignorance in all it's forms. The repression of women is one of the big ones. It is important to remember that even in Western Society inequality still exists for women. We have come a long way, but we're not there yet!
The Blame Game Begins
The investigations into the Katrina failures have begun and as expected the blaming has also begun. FEMA's Brown has started by pointing the finger at the mayor of New Orleans and the Governor. Suffice it to say that there was plenty of mistakes all around so rather than spend time and money laying blame why not simply try to address the failures so that they can be corrected. On that note it seems fitting to recognize that even after the experience of Katrina, there were plenty of mistakes made with Rita also.
Which leads to the New Orleans police dept. They are now starting to investigate the loss of 250 officers in the crises. No, not dead, they left. To be fair, it must be remembered that during something like Katrina, officers can hardly be blamed for leaving to help family or friends. A certain degree of sympathy is also due to those officers who left simply because they could no longer deal with what they were seeing. The fact that some of these guys might have left for this reason makes them human, not criminals. As many a soldier can attest, the only person who wouldn't be tasked to the limit of their sanity in such a situation is likely already crazy. This should be remembered during these trials and not make these cops the scapegoats. What this really shows is the fact that the ones who stayed are heroes and should be seen as such. Another victim of the disaster would have to be the police chief of New Orleans. He has been criticized heavily for the department and has now resigned. I don't know about the guys record, I do know that this man shouldn't bear the blame for a situation that even the federal experts seemed unable to handle.
Which leads to the New Orleans police dept. They are now starting to investigate the loss of 250 officers in the crises. No, not dead, they left. To be fair, it must be remembered that during something like Katrina, officers can hardly be blamed for leaving to help family or friends. A certain degree of sympathy is also due to those officers who left simply because they could no longer deal with what they were seeing. The fact that some of these guys might have left for this reason makes them human, not criminals. As many a soldier can attest, the only person who wouldn't be tasked to the limit of their sanity in such a situation is likely already crazy. This should be remembered during these trials and not make these cops the scapegoats. What this really shows is the fact that the ones who stayed are heroes and should be seen as such. Another victim of the disaster would have to be the police chief of New Orleans. He has been criticized heavily for the department and has now resigned. I don't know about the guys record, I do know that this man shouldn't bear the blame for a situation that even the federal experts seemed unable to handle.
Monday, September 26, 2005
Firefox Rise Continues
Firefox is now used by around thirty percent of those who view this site. Internet Explorer has now dropped to the sixty percent mark. This is a good thing. The more competition, the better they all become. I have grown very tired of the Microsoft only world and welcome all attempts to break the strangle hold, for the good of everyone. That doesn't mean I don't respect Bill Gates for his achievements or condemn him for his competitiveness. I don't blame someone who plays by the rules of the time and wins big through discipline and innovation. It's up to us to make sure the rules are in place to make the game fair. Bill has also shown his desire to give back in the last five years at least. It is also noteworthy the stories about the employees at Microsoft who have enjoyed the success along with him, in other words, to my knowledge he hasn't been greedy.
is it true firefox gives more internet protection? i use it now.
As to it's ultimate vulnerability, I don't know. I do know that I use it because of it's versatility and pop-up blocker. Firefox has had much less security concerns to date. This may be as much do to the fact that Internet Explorer is used by more people therefore it comes under attack much more. This may change in the future. For now, Firefox is the one for me and appears to be much more secure!. Thanks again!
Note: I had the chance to read some of Rumi's work, while not Bark's translation, I did find it very good. If I remember correctly the theme was on death, or rather priciples of life. I enjoyed it very much! Thanks.
By 
Wil Smith, at
10:20 p.m.
Global Warming
It is becoming more and more apparent to me how little we actually know about this. There are so many variables that we know of that the equation becomes extremely complex, and that doesn't include what we don't know. The Earth does seem to be warming, at least a little. What is probably a bigger factor is the surface level increases caused by human uses such as roads and cities. There is also the questions of long term warming and cooling cycles, ice ages, and solar flare cycles. There can be no doubt humans are having an affect on the equation the debate arises as to whether this net effect is trivial in comparison to the others. Another more significant variable might be our devastation of the forests. The point of all this is to say that we need urgently much more study, and one of a different kind than we have become used to. The problem should be researched without association with those who fund such studies. This is the only way to get accurate results. Every experiment is flawed if it is conducted by the person who designed it. It has been proven that we find what we seek, that's why drugs go through double blind studies before they are approved. Environmental research must be conducted in the same manner for it to hold merit. The way it stands now, everyone involved has their own motives and this taints the results of the studies. I believe that we are having detrimental affects on the over-all ecosystem, including global warming. What I'd really like to know is how much and what this will do. Our current level of knowledge doesn't even begin to allow me to make any accurate guess.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
On an Environmental Note
New York is following other cities in banning lighted offices after a certain hour of the night. This is in an attempt to reduce the number of bird deaths that this practice causes. A classic case of small changes being able to make big differences. Meanwhile a British commision has found that the spraying of pesticides has not received enough study and may in fact be causing much more harm than was previously thought. The operative phrase here is may be causing, the fact is we just don't know. The fact that we just don't know yet can be applied to almost all of man's understanding of the near infinately complex organism that is life on this planet.
The Value of Life
In some places in the world life has virtually no value at all, or put another way is valued so little as to be worthless. This is caused by many factors the most important of which is poverty followed quickly behind by war. We seem to be catching up here in North America, where random violence is cheapening life for all of us. All of which has been brought to my attention,again, by the death of a young woman in India. This also brings to mind the application of justice in other places such as the lynching of a man in Nigeria after having confessed to ritual murders.
Friday, September 23, 2005
Heaven Forbid that Visa and Mastercard Should be Held Responsible
Visa and Mastercard are planning to fight the lawsuit over their responsibility to inform the public of a failure in their security arrangements. They contend that it's the banks responsibility and therefore the banks should notify customers when their data is stolen. I would think that this responsibility would be shared by both and that in the interests of their customers both parties would make every attempt to prevent their customers from suffering unnecessary losses because of a failure in the notification system. By not notifying people as quickly as possible, they would become partly responsible for losses suffered after the date that they discover the theft of data.
Water for Sale
This is another classic example of a government or company assuming ownership of a resource and then selling it back to the people who have much more right to it's use than any government or company can righteously have. Resources can not be owned by any one person or even generation. We are only entrusted with their care for the duration of our lives and have a duty to ensure it's availability to our descendants.
Rita Closer, New Orleans Levees Break
The dikes in New Orleans have breached again. Many are now questioning the logic of re-building in the area. Many more are questioning the logic of the government insuring against floods in such areas. Many of those evacuated from Katrina are now being evacuated again. Perhaps it's time to alter the building codes for areas such as these to make them more resistant to floods and hurricanes. Meanwhile, a man who escaped Katrina has been shot five times and is dead in Tennessee. Reminds me of that man who survived the killing fields of Cambodia only to be gunned down on the streets of L.A. a couple of years later.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Bird Flu in Indonesia
The bird flu has struck in Indonesia and their health minister is warning of a pandemic. Slowly but surely this thing is spreading. Mutation remains a high danger.
I Did Not Know That
According to the latest studies, even light cigarette smoking carries heavy penalties. I would have thought that by being a light smoker, your chances got much better. Apparently not.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Sitting On the Edge
Now Houston is being evacuated. The rest of the southern U.S. is bracing for what is now being called the strongest storm in U.S. history. Rita is now a category five storm and seems to be headed for Texas. The feds appear to have learned a little and are sending a massive amount of emergency supplies. The obvious questions are now being asked by the rest of the country. Why does everyone have top pay to re-build over and over again in flood and hurricane prone areas through the federal flood insurance program. In any case, it looks like someone down south is about to get pounded the likes of which has never been recorded before.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Not Again
Rita is gaining strength and has a chance of hitting New Orleans, again! They say that Bush plans another visit, perhaps they can station him with Cheney and Rumsfeld along the coast, facing south. That way, they could blow a little of that hot air and deflect the storm. I sure hope this one misses, these people could use a break. Sooner or later we run into limits on how many of these things anyone can deal with. I don't expect it to get better, in fact it is in all likelihood, going to get much worse. Tornados in Bangladesh? You never know, maybe something good can come from all this, maybe a new level of awareness in the U.S. about the plight of their own poor. There's always hope!
Monday, September 19, 2005
Jackson Stumbles Again
One might think that Mike Jackson would want the whole episode to go away. On the contrary, he has just given an interview where he talks about the trial and what he's been doing since. That's just what his career needs, reminding everybody about his charges!
Sunday, September 18, 2005
The Elusive American Dream
The Dream is not the problem. The problem is the inability of so many Americans to achieve it. As with all great ideas, they often have to evolve in order to continue to move forward. The American Dream is an ideal, a great one. To date, it has remained a dream for a great many Americans. In fairness, this is all new ground. In essence, the U.S. is a great experiment in government, democracy, an sociology. They are charting a path which many are following to one degree or another. When charting new ground, you run into unforeseen obstacles. How we deal with them determines whether the experiment is going to have positive results.
It's Always Their Fault
The American Ambassador has made comments which reflect a recurring theme in American Foreign Policy. That is, no matter what the border topic, it's never the American's fault. If illegal immigrants enter the U.S., it's not the U.S. Border services fault, it's the fault of whatever country they entered the U.S. from. If drugs enter the U.S. the same applies. But when American guns are coming into Canada at an alarming rate, hold on a minute, that's the Canadian's fault. So no matter which way the flow of illegal activity is going, or what the illegal activity is, it's never the American's fault. Sweeet! In any case, it looks like the American Government is not mature enough to take responsibility for their actions, certainly they must be at least partly responsible for something. Their refusal to accept this fact gives them a maturity level somewhere around that of a child, doesn't it?
Zapatista Go Public
Mexico's Zapatistas have decided to change their tactics by going on a cross-country tour. The Zapatistas have long been the lonely voice of the Mayan people in Mexico and have worked tirelessly to improve their living conditions. These people have also long been either ignored by the government or outright repressed and taken advantage of. The Zapatistas have gotten the worlds attention to their plight and as a result is forcing the Mexican government to treat them with more respect. An intensely secretive organization, with damn good reason, it is good to see them increasing their presence on the Mexican political scene.
Friday, September 16, 2005
Musharraf Lets Slip
President Musharraf has demonstrated that the problems for the women's rights movement and justice in general are ingrained and continue right to the highest ranks. I have seen far to many examples of the results of theses types of attitudes to have any doubt whatsoever about their righteousness. If Muslims want life to improve for all, they must not embrace laws which punish far too harshly and many times indiscriminately. The law, and justice must be applied equally for all, man, woman, Christian and Muslim... all. American society practices law with this in mind, in reality though, the law and it's application varies greatly based on media coverage and economic means of those charged.
No Justice for U.S. Teen in Aruba
It's incredible that this matter hasn't been resolved before now. The Aruban courts have released the men likely responsible for the murder of the teen. These men have admitted to police to drugging and raping the girl. Yet they are free. I wouldn't recommend that anyone travel there anytime soon. According to investigators, it is a common practice to drug and rape young female tourists just before they are to return to there homes. This makes the chance of reporting the incident and having the girl's departure delayed, much less likely. In this case they even have the bartender's statement that he in fact put the drugs in the girls drink and that they did this very frequently. Is this the kind of place that you would want to send one of your kids, much less go there with them.
Judge Sees the Light
Looks like there is at least one judge left in the U.S. with the brains and guts to do the right thing. The old lady grabbed for looting has been freed from state prison after spending more than two weeks for what appears to be crimes she didn't commit.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Advances in Space
Japan and China for that matter are going full steam ahead with their plans for space exploration. So much so in fact that they now threaten to unseat the Americans as the predominant country in space. The Russians are actually ahead when it comes to space medicine, a subject which they have focused heavily on.
The U.N., a Great Idea, But....
Ideally, the U.N. has the potential to solve many of the worlds problems. It's actual operation has fallen far short of that. The new agreement on U.N. reforms, by all reports, will do little to make things better. In my view this is a serious blow to the future prospects of the planet. We are going to need all the co-operation we can get if we are going to survive the coming storm.
It's Amazing Crap Like This Even Happens
In all the goings on in New Orleans recently, I would have thought that everyone involved had much more important things to do than to subject this little old lady to the kind of treatment and injustice she has received. What's even more scary is that this wasn't stopped almost immediately.
Ontario Bans Religious Arbitration
Once again our leaders have shown their wisdom by banning religious arbitration in Ontario. This causes me great concern for several reasons. One of them has to be the fact that this type of arbitration has been used to the benefit of all in Ontario for many years. It saves court time and money and is often a far less painful and expensive way of resolving a dispute. I can understand their actions. It is a lot easier to make a carpet law like this than to face the more difficult task of addressing the problems within the Sharia law system. Here's another point. Ever watch Judge Judy? This is not a real court except for the fact that the people involved sign a legally binding agreement to accept the Judge's ruling. The same could be done here. If the parties sign an agreement to accept the ruling, than the matter could be arbitrated by anyone, including religious elders, couldn't it? Again, a very poorly thought out piece of legislation.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
New Orleans Couple Charged
They're charging them with negligent homicide. We don't know all the facts in this one but so far it seems a little suspect. From what I gather, the couple was charged as a result of their failure to move the residents of their nursing home. I can't help but note that a lot of people didn't leave and those who went to official evacuation sites also died. I also can't help but note the over forty deaths at a New Orleans hospital, are we to see charges in this case as well? What about the mayor, who didn't evacuate the stadium using busses, the Governor, who didn't call out the National guard earlier, or the President, who didn't feel it was needed for him to return from vacation until two days following the disaster? The same laws and rules should apply to all equally, that includes politicians and CEOs. So far, this one is looking mostly like some feeble attempt to distract the publics attention from the failures of their leaders. Think about it for one second, this couple would not benefit in any way from loosing their charges lives. They only get paid for living residents! There is also reports that during the crises their actions were heroic, unverified. It's too bad that none of the medias covering this case have seen fit to give us a more complete rundown on the alleged facts.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Mike Brown Resigns
It's obvious by now that Brown had limited experience in dealing with natural disasters. I'm not altogether sure that this had anything to do with the initial failures in the rescue operation. For any operation of this magnitude to be effective, their are several requirements that were not met. One of the most important is to have a clear plan of attack to the problem. Another would be to have all the lines of authority clearly understood and the approval process streamlined to allow for immediate response. The lines of communication between FEMA and all other levels of government must by clean and direct with an operations center to track and allocate resources based on availability and need. There were many failures at all levels of response to this one. This was compounded by a massive American bureaucracy that has become so unweildly as to make it inefficient and ineffective at quick response.
Soil Adding to Warming
As the planet gets warmer so does the soil. The result is the release of more carbon dioxide which further fuels the warming. It's the first time I've heard of this outside of the arctic but it makes perfect sense. According to the article I read, the increase in CO2 is enough to negate any gains made to date in Britain.
Monday, September 12, 2005
Katrina Continues to Dominate
Katrina continues to lead the headlines as the White House's policies get more scrutiny. The American people are rising to the challenge of dealing with the results of the hurricane. Fema has sent Brown back to Washington. It's looking more and more like he's the one who is going to be blamed for the failures of the rescue effort, not altogether fair as the process was not in place before the disaster which would have worked more smoothly and efficiently.
The bad publicity has not stopped the friends of George et.al. from cashing in on the windfall. We might have thought that by this point George might have at least pretended that the contract process was fair, legal, and righteous, no such luck for the American people. What is a disaster for the Southern U.S., and by association and compassion the rest of us, is looking to be great news for our favorite corporations Bechtel and Haliburton. The stench out of Washington knows no bounds! The federal effort may in fact most resemble to incredible success of the whole Iraqi thing.
Which leads to the quick decline in Bush's polling results. The striking thing is that it has taken this long for people to see George in his true light. Depressing and disturbing enough but made even more so by the release of the The Doctrine for Joint Nuclear Operations outlines the plan for using Nukes to stop terrorists. The more I hear from this Administration, the more scared I get.
The bad publicity has not stopped the friends of George et.al. from cashing in on the windfall. We might have thought that by this point George might have at least pretended that the contract process was fair, legal, and righteous, no such luck for the American people. What is a disaster for the Southern U.S., and by association and compassion the rest of us, is looking to be great news for our favorite corporations Bechtel and Haliburton. The stench out of Washington knows no bounds! The federal effort may in fact most resemble to incredible success of the whole Iraqi thing.
Which leads to the quick decline in Bush's polling results. The striking thing is that it has taken this long for people to see George in his true light. Depressing and disturbing enough but made even more so by the release of the The Doctrine for Joint Nuclear Operations outlines the plan for using Nukes to stop terrorists. The more I hear from this Administration, the more scared I get.
Friday, September 09, 2005
A Clash of Ideals
In this case it involves the death of a young woman apparently killed by her family over an affair with a Christian. The family went on to burn the homes of the amorous man's family members. I don't know the solution, other than education, to this problem. I respect people's right to practice tribal law except to the point where it punishes those who are completely innocent of any wrongdoing in the matter or the punishment far outweighs the crime. This only creates feuds or wars instead of justice.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
The Water is Toxic, it's not Toxic
One guy is saying that the water in New Orleans is lethal and should be avoided at all costs. Another guy is saying that the levels of toxins aren't really so bad. In either case, I don't think I'll be going swimming there anytime soon.
Meanwhile, the hunt is on for a fall guy! In my view they should start with the incompetence of Bush. There should be a clear strategy in place for dealing with such an event starting with communication lines, authority, and asset allocation. Knowing what you have to use and who needs what and where is always a good start.
Horror of all horrors, Hillary agrees with me about the ludicrousness of having George head up an inquiry about the handling of this disaster. I'm scared, I'm really scared!
Meanwhile, the hunt is on for a fall guy! In my view they should start with the incompetence of Bush. There should be a clear strategy in place for dealing with such an event starting with communication lines, authority, and asset allocation. Knowing what you have to use and who needs what and where is always a good start.
Horror of all horrors, Hillary agrees with me about the ludicrousness of having George head up an inquiry about the handling of this disaster. I'm scared, I'm really scared!
Canadian Shooting Spree Continues
The shots keep raining out in the night in Toronto and other Canadian cities. What has happened in the last ten years to create this problem? Gangs, guns, shootings, random killings... these were previously pretty much unheard of here. The proposed laws to control it to date have been and will be ineffective at best. We might start by giving our youth a little more to look forward to than they have now. Another step might be to lessen the crippling poverty that so many in our society have to live with, makes gang money much more attractive. Gangs have been driven out of communities before, they can be again!
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
The Bushs and Katrina
George is coming under quite a bit of fire over his handling of the disaster thus far. His mother certainly hasn't helped with her blatant admission of her total lack of empathy for those affected. It now seems to becoming a question of lack of regard for the Black-Americans as well as the poor!. The rest of the world is taking notice! So George has admitted that things didn't go the way they should have, in fact there's going to be an investigation, headed by non other than Bush!. Isn't that the same as saying " There has been allegations of incompetence on my part, I have launched an investigation into these accusations headed by myself"?
On the upside, the broken levee has been patched. On a lesser note, half the refineries are almost ready to be re-started. All in all, it's going to take a very long time to fix this one.
On the upside, the broken levee has been patched. On a lesser note, half the refineries are almost ready to be re-started. All in all, it's going to take a very long time to fix this one.
the bahrain article is really fascinating. Thanks for passing it on.
By Aisha, at
11:02 p.m.
I particularly liked the last line of the Bahrain article.." the Americans can learn many things from Katrina". Never has a more loaded statement been uttered after reading the piece.
Monday, September 05, 2005
Iraqi Heroes Give Hope to All
During the recent Iraqi stampede that claimed so many lives, the actions of a couple of young men stand out. One was a Sunni, one was Shia, both were heroes. The young Sunni died trying to save yet another person from the water. A clear sign that not all share the venomous hatred for the other that we hear so much about. And young men at that! Great things can come of the actions of one, let's hope that this is one of those times.
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Situation Begins to Improve for Those Trapped in New Orleans
The evacuation is really starting to bear fruit as things begin to ease in New Orleans. There has been a lot of legitimate criticism of the relief efforts to date. This does not detract from the super human efforts of many of the rescuers, police, and businessman, not to mention ordinary people. Normally I consider Wallmart as a sign of all that is wrong in the world, but in this instance I feel that special mention must be made of the actions of one Wallmart store. I can't remember where this store is exactly, I know that it was close to the disaster. I know also that in the days following, this store opened it's doors and allowed those in need to come in and take supplies that people needed to survive. This is the only store that I have heard of who has done this. I hope that there were many more.
The stories keep coming out about the horrors at the shelters, complete with murder and the rape of children. The rest of the world reacts with shock at how this can happen in the world's most powerful country. The situation is being compared to the Tsunami. In specific, it has been noted that no tourists were robbed or raped in the far East in the aftermath. The level of civilization of the Americans has also been brought into question. Many are now saying that perhaps the American way isn't so fair and democratic after watching so many poor being neglected and victimized. A four month and a six month old baby have died at the stadium. Quite simply, none of the emergency plans had taken into account a tragedy of this magnitude and once it occurred, the poor and desperate were pretty much ignored in the immediate efforts.
One thing I hadn't really given any thought to was the reaction of the lenders and mortgage companies to the events. They are now saying that the banks will put everything on hold for those affected, at least for the time being! What surprises me is the fact that this is even news at all. I would have thought that this would be an automatic thing once a state of emergency was declared!
And finally, climatologists are issuing new warnings. These are mainly about the fact that the storm season is not over and that they expect more category storms to come!
The stories keep coming out about the horrors at the shelters, complete with murder and the rape of children. The rest of the world reacts with shock at how this can happen in the world's most powerful country. The situation is being compared to the Tsunami. In specific, it has been noted that no tourists were robbed or raped in the far East in the aftermath. The level of civilization of the Americans has also been brought into question. Many are now saying that perhaps the American way isn't so fair and democratic after watching so many poor being neglected and victimized. A four month and a six month old baby have died at the stadium. Quite simply, none of the emergency plans had taken into account a tragedy of this magnitude and once it occurred, the poor and desperate were pretty much ignored in the immediate efforts.
One thing I hadn't really given any thought to was the reaction of the lenders and mortgage companies to the events. They are now saying that the banks will put everything on hold for those affected, at least for the time being! What surprises me is the fact that this is even news at all. I would have thought that this would be an automatic thing once a state of emergency was declared!
And finally, climatologists are issuing new warnings. These are mainly about the fact that the storm season is not over and that they expect more category storms to come!
Arctic Ozone and Warming
The latest reports on the environment are pointing out that the years ozone layer over the South Pole will be among the worlds largest on record. I've managed to stay away from the sunblocks to-date, but I think soon everyone is going to have to wear it if the trend doesn't change.
The global warming debate continues to heat up right along with the temperature. Some U.S. states are fed up with waiting for Bush to do something so are making agreements on their own. At the same time, Christian organizations are starting to recognize human's sacred duty to preserve this planet and act as stewards, a great idea as the more attention that is drawn to the problem, the greater the likelyhood of success.
Finally, the Greenland glaciers are receding at an extraordinary rate. Aboriginal peoples from all over the world are sounding the alarms and giving dire warnings to the rest of us as to how this will impact the globe. We should listen!
The global warming debate continues to heat up right along with the temperature. Some U.S. states are fed up with waiting for Bush to do something so are making agreements on their own. At the same time, Christian organizations are starting to recognize human's sacred duty to preserve this planet and act as stewards, a great idea as the more attention that is drawn to the problem, the greater the likelyhood of success.
Finally, the Greenland glaciers are receding at an extraordinary rate. Aboriginal peoples from all over the world are sounding the alarms and giving dire warnings to the rest of us as to how this will impact the globe. We should listen!
Friday, September 02, 2005
More New Orleans
The reports continue to come out of New Orleans, not much of it good. The evacuation continues and will hopefully now start to pick up steam. The tourists are huddling in fear and are telling their own stories of witnessing rapes by armed men who were carjacking vehicles with female tourists trying to escape in them. It quite hard to believe that this is happening in North America today, yet, it takes time to move 20,000 men in trucks across the country.
The growing severity of the storms is starting to get more attention drawn to the global warming issue. Perhaps they'll actually start to do something.
The growing severity of the storms is starting to get more attention drawn to the global warming issue. Perhaps they'll actually start to do something.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Zero Tolerance!
Bush appeared with Dianne Sawyer this morning. When asked about those looting in order to get water and food he responded that they should be treated with Zero Tolerance! I think this demonstrates better than anything else why this man should never have been President. Perhaps he should go without food, water and airconditioning as long as anyone in New Orleans is going without. Perhaps then he might find a little more compassion for those who are dying because of his lack of leadership capabilities. I agree in general that looters during this time should be treated harshly, with the exception of those who are doing so for food or water, gas, anything needed to survive the extended delay while waiting for anyone in authority to help them!
