There is, even if not as jubilant as the outrageous "Mission Accomplished" charade a few years ago, celebration that ... the war is over.
 
There is only one problem with this problem: the war is not over!
 
And the war can never be over... until the truth is told.
 
How many were killed? Innocent people killed? and WHY?
 
How many have committed suicide (including US soldiers and Iraqis)? and WHY?
 
How much has this cost? and WHY?
 
How transparent, honest, decent, and truthful has the Government been in communicating the reasons for this "war" alongside the tactics used? and WHY?
 

 Six months later... and there is still Haiti...
Six months ago, the world stood still, for a moment, and observed the incalculable devastation of Haiti. Three-hundred thousand people killed. Hundreds of thousands more left homeless. Buidlings, homes, schools, hospitals, roads, everything, brought down to an unsaintly pile of rubble. Things were already difficult in Haiti before this tragedy. The world held hands, and vowed to help, to be there, to not leave, to uplift the bond that links humanity. Some $11 billion dollars were raised.
As of today, less than 10% of that sum has been sent to Haiti, and much of that amount has been used to pay for the US military presence.
We can do something!

Democratically-elected President Zelaya of Honduras has spent the past four months in exile in his own country, and is now being shipped to Domincan Republic as part of an agreement established under the new, what Zelaya calls "sham", regime. The US wil be represented at ths inauguration by a senior State Department official. The six military officers, graduates of the School of the Americas (enough said), have been given amnesty for their role in kidnapping and forcefully removing Zelaya from office.
 
Democracy should mean something but does it?
 

Haiti needs our help. With the country being in crisis for years, the catastrophic earthquake that hit the island yesterday has literally shattered the nimble infrastructrure that existed. The is a human tragedy, one that should not happen in a world of such wealth.
 
It is time to stop the senseless quest in the name of hegemony, empire and military domination, and to seek peace. Canada, the US, France, Britain and other countries need to focus on helping people, and our governments should be compassionate, generous, and strident in providing the solidarity that is required.
 
Haiti does not deserve this incessant torture, and we are not idle passers-by on the street.
 
We can, and should, do something.
 

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/714240--police-fend-off-prote...

Obama = Peace?

I’ve been travelling in Brazil and Argentina with my partner for the past two weeks, and will spending another ten days here before heading back to Canada. We spent the first week in Florianopolis, Brazil, at an Intercultural Research conference, the second week in Buenos Aires, and the final phase is being split between Sao Paulo and Rio de Janiero. Here are a couple of thoughts on this trip.

I agree (with Ozlem) that it is not hard to beat the catastrophe known as the Bush regime.

We're pleased to report that the Canadian Association of Foundations in Education (CAFE) has honoured our

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Some musings that may not be amusing...

Thanks, Joe.

Thanks for sharing,

Thanks for sharing how to share,

Thanks for sharing your smile, your laugh and your hugs,

I was just conversing with a student, a likable guy who supported McCain, and asked him how he felt about the entire world being so jubilant about Obama's victory. His answer was so prophetic, simplistic and penetrating that I thought it worthy enough to share. He responded by saying that "the world would not be so jubilant when they find out that he is an American".

Wow!!! Obama is, afterall, an American. Will that mean that he cannot, will not and should not be engaged in and with the world? Obama faces an uphill battle in balancing the needs of human decency and maintaining control of the US agenda.

What does it mean to be an American? Can minorities also be "Americans"? (The same questions could be posed using Canadians, French, British, Norwegians, Swedes, Spaniards, Greeks, Italians, etc.)

But, ultimately, there is something in the air, for right now anyway, that is different.

After two solid years of observing every potential foible, character idiosyncrasy, banality, triviality, and, otherwise, generally irrelevant piece of information about THE candidates, little has been discussed within the mainstream mass media context about the big issue in this campaign, and, for that matter, every campaign: