On the Move

CD in Play: Mojo Presents Psych Out!

So I am moving over to North Delta, a short hop away from where I am now. Gavin and Maria are crossing the river to live over in Maple Ridge. I will not have a phone for a while (two weeks) but no big deal since no one actually calls me aside from work anyhow. (bastards) Also the only internet access I will have is at my Dad's and at work as my new landlord doesn't have the outlet for it. The new place is temporary as I am aiming to get on with Translink sometime soon, after my road test. Once I am on with TL or some other employer (looking at Customs as well) I can afford a bigger place and maybe something in Vancouver or North Burnaby.
So I off I go into the void for a while.

Viva Chavez!

CD in Play: The Flaming Lips, At War with the Mystics.
DVD in Play: Sly and Robbie, Superthruster.

Hugo Chavez stuck it to the Man yesterday while speaking to the UN. Chavez enetered the US alone to speak to the UN, as far as I know, after the US declined to grant his security personal visas to enter the country. Since the US had backed a coup to oust Chavez back in 2002, I think he could have some legitimate concerns over his personal safety in that country.

The Washington Post ran the Transcripts of his speech yesterday and I have posted it below. UN Ambassador John Bolton belittled the speech by Chavez and US state department spokesman Tom Casey stated it was unfortunate to hear a head of state speak this way. But the anger out there is palbable and people can only take being pushed around so much. It is easier to be complacent when you and everyone you know are living in luxury.

Also see Greg Palast on Chavez.

[*]
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

CHAVEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): ... over our heads. I had considered reading from this book, but for the sake of time, I shall just leave it as a recommendation. It reads easily. It's a very good book. I'm sure, Madam, you are familiar with it.
(APPLAUSE)
The book is in English, in Russian, in Arabic, in German.
I think that the first people who should read this book are our brothers and sisters in the United States, because their threat is in their own house. The devil is right at home. The devil -- the devil, himself, is right in the house.
And the devil came here yesterday.
(APPLAUSE)
Yesterday, the devil came here. Right here. Right here. And it smells of sulfur still today, this table that I am now standing in front of.
Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, from this rostrum, the president of the United States, the gentleman to whom I refer as the devil, came here, talking as if he owned the world. Truly. As the owner of the world.
I think we could call a psychiatrist to analyze yesterday's statement made by the president of the United States. As the spokesman of imperialism, he came to share his nostrums, to try to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world.
An Alfred Hitchcock movie could use it as a scenario. I would even propose a title: "The Devil's Recipe."
As Chomsky says here, clearly and in depth, the American empire is doing all it can to consolidate its system of domination. And we cannot allow them to do that. We cannot allow world dictatorship to be consolidated.
CHAVEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): The world parent's statement -- cynical, hypocritical, full of this imperial hypocrisy from the need they have to control everything.
They say they want to impose a democratic model. But that's their democratic model. It's the false democracy of elites, and, I would say, a very original democracy that's imposed by weapons and bombs and firing weapons.
What a strange democracy. Aristotle might not recognize it or others who are at the root of democracy.
What type of democracy do you impose with marines and bombs?
The president of the United States, yesterday, said to us, right here, in this room, and I'm quoting, "Anywhere you look, you hear extremists telling you can escape from poverty and recover your dignity through violence, terror and martyrdom."
Wherever he looks, he sees extremists. And you, my brother -- he looks at your color, and he says, oh, there's an extremist. Evo Morales, the worthy president of Bolivia, looks like an extremist to him.
The imperialists see extremists everywhere. It's not that we are extremists. It's that the world is waking up. It's waking up all over. And people are standing up.
I have the feeling, dear world dictator, that you are going to live the rest of your days as a nightmare because the rest of us are standing up, all those who are rising up against American imperialism, who are shouting for equality, for respect, for the sovereignty of nations.
CHAVEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Yes, you can call us extremists, but we are rising up against the empire, against the model of domination.
The president then -- and this he said himself, he said: "I have come to speak directly to the populations in the Middle East, to tell them that my country wants peace."
That's true. If we walk in the streets of the Bronx, if we walk around New York, Washington, San Diego, in any city, San Antonio, San Francisco, and we ask individuals, the citizens of the United States, what does this country want? Does it want peace? They'll say yes.
But the government doesn't want peace. The government of the United States doesn't want peace. It wants to exploit its system of exploitation, of pillage, of hegemony through war.
It wants peace. But what's happening in Iraq? What happened in Lebanon? In Palestine? What's happening? What's happened over the last 100 years in Latin America and in the world? And now threatening Venezuela -- new threats against Venezuela, against Iran?
He spoke to the people of Lebanon. Many of you, he said, have seen how your homes and communities were caught in the crossfire. How cynical can you get? What a capacity to lie shamefacedly. The bombs in Beirut with millimetric precision?
CHAVEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): This is crossfire? He's thinking of a western, when people would shoot from the hip and somebody would be caught in the crossfire.
This is imperialist, fascist, assassin, genocidal, the empire and Israel firing on the people of Palestine and Lebanon. That is what happened. And now we hear, "We're suffering because we see homes destroyed.'
The president of the United States came to talk to the peoples -- to the peoples of the world. He came to say -- I brought some documents with me, because this morning I was reading some statements, and I see that he talked to the people of Afghanistan, the people of Lebanon, the people of Iran. And he addressed all these peoples directly.
And you can wonder, just as the president of the United States addresses those peoples of the world, what would those peoples of the world tell him if they were given the floor? What would they have to say?
And I think I have some inkling of what the peoples of the south, the oppressed people think. They would say, "Yankee imperialist, go home." I think that is what those people would say if they were given the microphone and if they could speak with one voice to the American imperialists.
And that is why, Madam President, my colleagues, my friends, last year we came here to this same hall as we have been doing for the past eight years, and we said something that has now been confirmed -- fully, fully confirmed.
CHAVEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I don't think anybody in this room could defend the system. Let's accept -- let's be honest. The U.N. system, born after the Second World War, collapsed. It's worthless.
Oh, yes, it's good to bring us together once a year, see each other, make statements and prepare all kinds of long documents, and listen to good speeches, like Abel's (ph) yesterday, or President Mullah's (ph). Yes, it's good for that.
And there are a lot of speeches, and we've heard lots from the president of Sri Lanka, for instance, and the president of Chile.
But we, the assembly, have been turned into a merely deliberative organ. We have no power, no power to make any impact on the terrible situation in the world. And that is why Venezuela once again proposes, here, today, 20 September, that we re-establish the United Nations.
Last year, Madam, we made four modest proposals that we felt to be crucially important. We have to assume the responsibility our heads of state, our ambassadors, our representatives, and we have to discuss it.
The first is expansion, and Mullah (ph) talked about this yesterday right here. The Security Council, both as it has permanent and non-permanent categories, (inaudible) developing countries and LDCs must be given access as new permanent members. That's step one.
CHAVEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Second, effective methods to address and resolve world conflicts, transparent decisions.
Point three, the immediate suppression -- and that is something everyone's calling for -- of the anti-democratic mechanism known as the veto, the veto on decisions of the Security Council.
Let me give you a recent example. The immoral veto of the United States allowed the Israelis, with impunity, to destroy Lebanon. Right in front of all of us as we stood there watching, a resolution in the council was prevented.
Fourthly, we have to strengthen, as we've always said, the role and the powers of the secretary general of the United Nations.
Yesterday, the secretary general practically gave us his speech of farewell. And he recognized that over the last 10 years, things have just gotten more complicated; hunger, poverty, violence, human rights violations have just worsened. That is the tremendous consequence of the collapse of the United Nations system and American hegemonistic pretensions.
Madam, Venezuela a few years ago decided to wage this battle within the United Nations by recognizing the United Nations, as members of it that we are, and lending it our voice, our thinking.
Our voice is an independent voice to represent the dignity and the search for peace and the reformulation of the international system; to denounce persecution and aggression of hegemonistic forces on the planet.
CHAVEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): This is how Venezuela has presented itself. Bolivar's home has sought a nonpermanent seat on the Security Council.
Let's see. Well, there's been an open attack by the U.S. government, an immoral attack, to try and prevent Venezuela from being freely elected to a post in the Security Council.
The imperium is afraid of truth, is afraid of independent voices. It calls us extremists, but they are the extremists.
And I would like to thank all the countries that have kindly announced their support for Venezuela, even though the ballot is a secret one and there's no need to announce things.
But since the imperium has attacked, openly, they strengthened the convictions of many countries. And their support strengthens us.
Mercosur, as a bloc, has expressed its support, our brothers in Mercosur. Venezuela, with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, is a full member of Mercosur.
And many other Latin American countries, CARICOM, Bolivia have expressed their support for Venezuela. The Arab League, the full Arab League has voiced its support. And I am immensely grateful to the Arab world, to our Arab brothers, our Caribbean brothers, the African Union. Almost all of Africa has expressed its support for Venezuela and countries such as Russia or China and many others.
CHAVEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I thank you all warmly on behalf of Venezuela, on behalf of our people, and on behalf of the truth, because Venezuela, with a seat on the Security Council, will be expressing not only Venezuela's thoughts, but it will also be the voice of all the peoples of the world, and we will defend dignity and truth.
Over and above all of this, Madam President, I think there are reasons to be optimistic. A poet would have said "helplessly optimistic," because over and above the wars and the bombs and the aggressive and the preventive war and the destruction of entire peoples, one can see that a new era is dawning.
As Sylvia Rodriguez (ph) says, the era is giving birth to a heart. There are alternative ways of thinking. There are young people who think differently. And this has already been seen within the space of a mere decade. It was shown that the end of history was a totally false assumption, and the same was shown about Pax Americana and the establishment of the capitalist neo-liberal world. It has been shown, this system, to generate mere poverty. Who believes in it now?
What we now have to do is define the future of the world. Dawn is breaking out all over. You can see it in Africa and Europe and Latin America and Oceanea. I want to emphasize that optimistic vision.
We have to strengthen ourselves, our will to do battle, our awareness. We have to build a new and better world.
Venezuela joins that struggle, and that's why we are threatened. The U.S. has already planned, financed and set in motion a coup in Venezuela, and it continues to support coup attempts in Venezuela and elsewhere.
CHAVEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): President Michelle Bachelet reminded us just a moment ago of the horrendous assassination of the former foreign minister, Orlando Letelier.
And I would just add one thing: Those who perpetrated this crime are free. And that other event where an American citizen also died were American themselves. They were CIA killers, terrorists.
And we must recall in this room that in just a few days there will be another anniversary. Thirty years will have passed from this other horrendous terrorist attack on the Cuban plane, where 73 innocents died, a Cubana de Aviacion airliner.
And where is the biggest terrorist of this continent who took the responsibility for blowing up the plane? He spent a few years in jail in Venezuela. Thanks to CIA and then government officials, he was allowed to escape, and he lives here in this country, protected by the government.
And he was convicted. He has confessed to his crime. But the U.S. government has double standards. It protects terrorism when it wants to.
And this is to say that Venezuela is fully committed to combating terrorism and violence. And we are one of the people who are fighting for peace.
Luis Posada Carriles is the name of that terrorist who is protected here. And other tremendously corrupt people who escaped from Venezuela are also living here under protection: a group that bombed various embassies, that assassinated people during the coup. They kidnapped me and they were going to kill me, but I think God reached down and our people came out into the streets and the army was too, and so I'm here today.
But these people who led that coup are here today in this country protected by the American government. And I accuse the American government of protecting terrorists and of having a completely cynical discourse.
CHAVEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We mentioned Cuba. Yes, we were just there a few days ago. We just came from there happily.
And there you see another era born. The Summit of the 15, the Summit of the Nonaligned, adopted a historic resolution. This is the outcome document. Don't worry, I'm not going to read it.
But you have a whole set of resolutions here that were adopted after open debate in a transparent matter -- more than 50 heads of state. Havana was the capital of the south for a few weeks, and we have now launched, once again, the group of the nonaligned with new momentum.
And if there is anything I could ask all of you here, my companions, my brothers and sisters, it is to please lend your good will to lend momentum to the Nonaligned Movement for the birth of the new era, to prevent hegemony and prevent further advances of imperialism.
And as you know, Fidel Castro is the president of the nonaligned for the next three years, and we can trust him to lead the charge very efficiently.
Unfortunately they thought, "Oh, Fidel was going to die." But they're going to be disappointed because he didn't. And he's not only alive, he's back in his green fatigues, and he's now presiding the nonaligned.
So, my dear colleagues, Madam President, a new, strong movement has been born, a movement of the south. We are men and women of the south.
With this document, with these ideas, with these criticisms, I'm now closing my file. I'm taking the book with me. And, don't forget, I'm recommending it very warmly and very humbly to all of you.
CHAVEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We want ideas to save our planet, to save the planet from the imperialist threat. And hopefully in this very century, in not too long a time, we will see this, we will see this new era, and for our children and our grandchildren a world of peace based on the fundamental principles of the United Nations, but a renewed United Nations.
And maybe we have to change location. Maybe we have to put the United Nations somewhere else; maybe a city of the south. We've proposed Venezuela.
You know that my personal doctor had to stay in the plane. The chief of security had to be left in a locked plane. Neither of these gentlemen was allowed to arrive and attend the U.N. meeting. This is another abuse and another abuse of power on the part of the Devil. It smells of sulfur here, but God is with us and I embrace you all.
May God bless us all. Good day to you.
(APPLAUSE)
END

Bush vs.Ahmadinejad

CBC has an interesting feature on their site featuring exerpts from the speeches given by US president George W. Bush and Iranian president Mahnoud Ahmadinejad. The link is here, but I decided to run the blocks of speech below.

Bush on Terrorism

"At the start of the 21st century, it is clear that the world is engaged in a great ideological struggle between extremists, who use terror as a weapon to create fear, and moderate people, who work for peace.
"Five years ago, I stood at this podium and called on the community of nations to defend civilization and build a more hopeful future. This is still the great challenge of our time.
"It is the calling of our generation."

Ahmadinejad on War and Conflict

"By causing war and conflict, some are fast expanding their domination, accumulating greater wealth and usurping all the resources, while others endure the resulting poverty, suffering and misery.
"Some seek to rule the world relying on weapons and threats, while others live in perpetual insecurity and danger.
"Some occupy the homeland of others, thousands of kilometres away from their borders, interfere in their affairs and control their oil and other resources and strategic routes, while others are bombarded daily in their own homes; their children murdered in the streets and alleys of their own country and their homes reduced to rubble."

Bush on Iraq

"To the people of Iraq: Nearly 12 million of you braved the car bombers and assassins last December to vote in free elections. The world saw you hold up purple ink-stained fingers. And your courage filled us with admiration.
"You stood firm in the face of horrendous acts of terror and sectarian violence. And we will not abandon you and your struggle to build a free nation.
"America and our coalition partners will continue to stand with the democratic government you elected.
"We will continue to train those of you who step forward to fight the enemies of freedom. We will not yield the future of your country to terrorists and extremists. In return, your leaders must rise to the challenges your country is facing and make difficult choices to bring security and prosperity."

Ahmadinejad on Iraq

"Occupation of countries, including Iraq, has continued for the last three years. Not a day goes by without hundreds of people getting killed in cold blood. The occupiers are incapable of establishing security in Iraq. Despite the establishment of the lawful government and National Assembly of Iraq, there are covert and overt efforts to heighten insecurity, magnify and aggravate differences within Iraqi society, and instigate civil strife.
"There is no indication that the occupiers have the necessary political will to eliminate the sources of instability. Numerous terrorists were apprehended by the government of Iraq, only to be let loose under various pretexts by the occupiers.
"It seems that intensification of hostilities and terrorism serves as a pretext for the continued presence of foreign forces in Iraq."

Bush to Iranians

"To the people of Iran, the United States respects you. We respect your country. We admire your rich history, your vibrant culture and your many contributions to civilization.
"You deserve an opportunity to determine your own future, an economy that rewards your intelligence and your talents, and a society that allows you to fulfill your tremendous potential.
"The greatest obstacle to this future is that your rulers have chosen to deny you liberty and to use your nation's resources to fund terrorism and fuel extremism and pursue nuclear weapons.
"We're working toward a diplomatic solution to this crisis. And as we do, we look to the day when you can live in freedom, and America and Iran can be good friends and close partners in the cause of peace."

Ahmadinejad on Nuclear Activities

"All our nuclear activities are transparent, peaceful and under the watchful eyes of IAEA inspectors. Why then are there objections to our legally recognized rights?
"Which governments object to these rights? Governments that themselves benefit from nuclear energy and the fuel cycle. Some of them have abused nuclear technology for non-peaceful ends, including the production of nuclear bombs, and some even have a bleak record of using them against humanity.
"Which organization or council should address these injustices? Is the Security Council in a position to address them? Can it stop violations of the inalienable rights of countries? Can it prevent certain powers from impeding scientific progress of other countries?
"The abuse of the Security Council, as an instrument of threat and coercion, is indeed a source of grave concern."

Bush on 'Freedom'

"Freedom, by its nature, cannot be imposed. It must be chosen. From Beirut to Baghdad, people are making the choice for freedom.
"And the nations gathered in this chamber must make a choice as well. Will we support the moderates and reformers who are working for change across the Middle East, or will we yield the future to the terrorists and extremists?
"America has made its choice. We will stand with the moderates and reformers."

Ahmadinejad on the Equality of States

"No one has superiority over others. No individual or states can arrogate to themselves special privileges, nor can they disregard the rights of others and, through influence and pressure, position themselves as the "international community.
"Citizens of Asia, Africa, Europe and America are all equal. Over six billion inhabitants of the Earth are all equal and worthy of respect. Justice and protection of human dignity are the two pillars in maintaining sustainable peace, security and tranquility in the world.
"It is for this reason that we state: Sustainable peace and tranquility in the world can only be attained through justice, spirituality, ethics, compassion and respect for human dignity. All nations and states are entitled to peace, progress and security. We are all members of the international community and we are all entitled to insist on the creation of a climate of compassion, love and justice."

Do your own research on either man and judge for yourself what they had to say.

The Rain, It Raineth Every Day

CD in Play: Neko Case, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood.

I was initially going to entitle this post, "Hey Nonny-Nonny, I Love You" but well...

The rain has returned to the Lower Mainland of British Columbia and it is none to soon, in fact I would say it is about damned time. Everything was drenched when I got off work this morning and it made me happy. As I type at 3:08 pm there is sun breaking through and patches of blue surrounded by beautiful fluffy white and grey. The weather is temperate to cool and I can finally sleep. This summer was too hot and too sunny, it felt wrong.
There are two BC's present today: British Columbia and British California. British California is often used as a derogatory term, however it also best describes the place that many Canadians desire to be. British California is sunshine, beaches, free of snow and low precipitation. With global warming, British California has been becoming a reality. Last winter was unbelievably dry. There was a rainy spell and then only a very little bit of rain. This summer was very uncharacteristic, very hot and dry. When the sky clouded over, more often than not, it came to nothing. Talk to some people from other areas of the country and they love the transformation of BC into British California.
The Lower Mainland of British Columbia is a temperate place, in fact we have built up over top areas that had been temperate rain forrest and wetlands. As a kid growing up out here, it rained a lot. When tourists think of BC they think about sun-filled scenes of postcard beauty and huge images spread across the pages of coffee table books. And British Columbia is certainly all that, but it it is so much more. Some seem to forget that what keeps the "Beautiful British Columbia" of the tourism ads and travel brochures beautiful is rain... and lots of it.
Periodically, I talk to people who were born here in the Lower Mainland - and we seem to be increasingly rare as other Canadians migrate here in the search for some kind of Shangrala - and we often agree: we miss the old, throughly drenched British Columbia. Rain is an old friend who doesn't come around much anymore and is sorely missed.

Massacre Town

CDs in Play: Neko Case, Fox Confessor Brings The Flood. Mojo Presents: The Roots of Bob Dylan.

*Revised, see below*

People who know me are bound to ask me about the recent school shooting spree in Montreal, (my favouite city) but I really don't have a lot to say at this point. I would have to know more to venture an opinion. It seems so senseless and meaningless and maybe that's the point.
Cologne, Columbine, Concordia, Dawson, Dunblane, École Polytechnique, Erfurt, Monash University, Osaka, Red Lake High School, Rocori High School, Sanaa, W.R. Myers High School are the noted school massacres. I'm not even going to try and list the number of spree shootings that have happened elsewhere.
It is sick and I am saddened.

In Addendum - 0120 am 15th, Septembre 2006

My friend Thoth posted on his blog that Kimveer Gill had a first person shooter called "Super Columbine Massacre RPG, which has players mimic the infamous high school killings in Columbine, Colo., the morning of April 20, 1999, through the eyes of the teenage killers." I am livid. I checked the game out, enraged that some profiteering corp was making money in such a crass and way, and it should be noted this isn't a high calbre looking game like Doom or Call of Duty, it looks very much like the Shockwave Cybermen games on the BBC's Doctor Who website. While the creator of the game states he wished to explore why such horrible things happen, to challenge society to look in the mirror, to issue a wake-up call - it was an un-bloody-believably stupid and irresponsible thing to do. There some among us who would understand his aims, mature enough to try and comprehend the sociological query that creator Danny Ledonne was trying to make - Kimveer Gill was not one of these. Kimveer Gill was an immature, petulant, self-centred pinhead who was probably incapable and unwilling to get Ledonne's point. He was anti-social - he thrived on being anti-social. He was 25 and still dressing and acting like some mopey teenage twerp. As he stated in his blog:

I hate this world I hate the people in it I hate the way people live I hate god I hate the deceivers I hate betrayers I hate religious zealots I hate everything I hate so much (I could write 1000 more lines like these, but does it really matter, does anyone even care) Look what this wretched world has done to me.

Have I ever felt that way? Yeah. Would it justify me killing a bunch of people? No. As someone in Montreal said to me, you have to kick yourself in the ass to get out of depression - if you decide to stay depressed its your problem. Gill decided to foist his depression on others. Boo hoo hoo, look at what this world has done to me. Should have tried looking in the mirror bitch.
Gavin is right, he deserves our prayers. Gill was stupid but also sad. There is something sick and rotten at the core of society, something beyond the capacity for evil in every soul, something that is driving that evil to the forefront. It will be easy to condemn the game and Danny Ledonne for making it, but there is something larger at play here. Human life has become quite cheap, but that is another post. I hope Ledonne reconsiders his query, and hope that Gill serves as that wake up call his game could never have been.

Septembre 11th, 2006

CD in Play: Super Furry Animals, Rings Around the World.

My disgust with betablogger has caused me to become somewhat reticent about posting. However, work has gone into this blog and my blogging friends are all on blogger, so...

Septembre 11. I don't have much to say aside from the fact that I have been avoiding anything that looks like pro-War on Terrorism propaganda. Funny, I remember the actual event fairly clearly so I guess it is one of those defining moments of our society.
I was living in Montreal at the time, working a crap job but living extremely well. I had just received notice the night before that my paternal Grandmother had died of undiagnosed lung cancer. My Father had made arrangements for me to fly into Edmonton on the evening of 13th for the funeral. I had planned to leave on the 14th for New York City for a week, staying in areas of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens as the people I was travelling with had friends down there. That would have been my first time in NYC.
At 9:10 am I woke up five minutes before my alarm was set to go off. I didn't feel like listening to the radio or flipping on the television that morning. I had a cup of coffe, ate a few spoonfuls of plain yogurt and two, day old croissants. I left my flat by 9:35 am and set off for the Jean Talon Metro station. There were a lot of people on the street and all hussling along at a good pace.
Once on the Metro line heading to Place des Arts I noticed that a lot of people seemed to be on the Metro heading in the other direction - not something you expect to see on a Tuesday morning. I walked up the street to the building where I worked, which is kitty-corner to Notre Dame Cathedral. When I got upstairs the receptionist was going saying, "Isn't it horrible?", "My God, I can't believe it". I had no idea what she was on about so she turned the television she had been watching around and I saw the footage of the two smoking towers.
I forgot my Grandmother for the next bit and stared at the television. My boss, Sergio, came out and emphatically asked what was I doing at work so early. The point was moot. Americans were an essential component to the job and there was no way in hell we would be up and running for the next week or so. People were fleeing from the downtown core of Montreal, afraid we were next. I never believed that. Toronto or Ottawa sure, but who would even think about Montreal aside from some pro-Western Canada whack job?
I couldn't go to the funeral, obviously, neither could my cousins in Ontario and New Brunswick. They had to use a freezer truck to haul my grandmother's body from Vancouver up top Edmonton so she could be buried along side my Grandfather. That day people just sort of wandered around stunned. Around 8 pm I wandered down to Bifteck (a bar and not a steakhouse as the name implies) to meet up with friends. There was no music on at first, just CNN. The conversation was minimal and soft. People sat in disbelief, slowing drinking their pints. Quite a few people had friends or family working in or around the Trade Towers. Karen was one. One of her Dad's oldest friends had worked in there. Latter in the week she found out he was dead. There was a lot of embracing going on. I had been embraced by a crying women I didn't really even know in a meaningful way on route to Bifteck.
I recall Bush trying to pass it off on Iraq even then, something the commentators on CNN had dismissed right off. Two days later there would shots of white trash folks with signs reading "Nuke Iraq" and "Get Saddam". It was cheap. The War on Terror is cheap, and it makes a mockery of all those deaths. It was the clinch for America: would it stand up for civilization and the precepts of the civil society or would it match the barbarians with more barbarism? The latter, I think, is true.

Betablogger Sucks Pond Water!

Dear Blogger/Gmail team - I want out of Betablogger right f#@%ing now! Set me free! Return me to the old system - I demand the option!!! I am fed up and cannot stand it any longer.