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sadBelow is a link to my memorial for those who died on Sept/11/01 and in wars throughout history.
It's strange, the poem, "In Flanders Fields" starts off "In Flander Fields, the poppies grow", and the NATO troops in Afghanistan are in one of the heaviest poppy areas of the world.
https://qualteam.tripod.com/theangelathotelcalifornia/id10.html (My Website War Memorial)
Five years after 9/11, there's still costly wars in the Middle East both with regards to casualties and money. Added to the never-ending struggles are the activities of al-Qaeda and bin Laden who are still channelling money and troops into these conflicts.
The great poverty and dispair in the Middle East is a breeding ground for the creation of willing Mujahedeen(Holy Warriors).
The oil money and organizations are there to continue these wars and sap the economic strength of the Western Nations.
In any great conflict cutting off the supply lines of the enemy is essential to defeating it. Again, this is dealing with the sources of terrorism and not just the effects.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Qaeda (History Of Al Qaeda)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0911/p10s01-wogi.html (The Goals Of Al Qaeda)
It's time to calculate the wins and losses in the "War On Terrorism". Obviously, the most apparent losses in this war are in Iraq where the country could fall into civil war at any time.
In Afghanistan, some progress has been made in containing the Taliban to certain areas, but the country still depends too much on poppy production and warlords still hold too much sway over some provinces.
In Lebanon, the Hezbollah seemed to gain a political victory over Israel in a quest for influence in this country.
In my opinion, the firepower of the U.S. and Israel hasn't reduced the number of terrorists or insurgents in the Middle East. The bad guys have won there.
However in the Western World, terrorists plots in Canada and the U.K. have been foiled. The good guys have won here.
It appears to me that Israel, U.S. and NATO tactics haven't succeeded against guerilla groups like the Hezbollah and the Taliban. Does this situation remind you of Vietnam and the Viet Kong?
As long as the insurgents/terrorists can find recruits and arms, the battles will continue. These recruits come from Madrassas(Fanatical Muslim schools in Pakistan, Iran and elsewhere). If these schools are not discovered and terminated, they will continue to produce Mujahedeens(Holy warriors).
The cost to Canada of the war in Afghanistan has been 33 soldiers and 3 billion dollars of military and economic support. The cost to the U.S. and the U.K. has been astronomical.
We must fight smart to win victory in the Middle East:
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/09/09/ndp-afghanistan.html (Critics Appear On Canada's Role In Afghanistan)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4683073.stm (Madrassas)
sadAfter only five years, it's still tough to watch gut-wrenching 9/11 material.
This original A&E film grabs you by your heart strings and never lets go. Done in real time, it's like reliving the nightmare again.
Who'd ever think that talking on cell phones would have such an emotional impact?
The Lord's Prayer with an Air Controller is probably, the most moving moment.
The only weakness of this movie was that the climax didn't immediately occur after "Lets Roll". Three stars.
http://www.aetv.com/flight_93/ (A&E's Flight 93)
energeticHave you ever thought of what life might be like as a hologram or a photonic being?
The website below gives you a glimpse of life in a cyberspace world. You choose an avatar that interacts with other avatars in a game of your choice or someone else's choice. You use your imagination to create powers, situations and great costumes.
Second Life relies heavily on the fantasies of the players. There's the mature over-18 aspect of the game and I know you can visualize what some of the fantasies are. Fortunately, the under-18 part of this virtual game is non- sexual and simply invites players to interact with each other on a meaningful level (e.g. Discussions on AIDS and poverty, etc.).
I can see this software in the future being used to connect life forms (i.e. humans, spirits, aliens, angels) to one common cybermeeting place. Wouldn't it be interesting to communicate with non-humans for a change?
https://secondlife.com/ (The Second Life Website)
a-okFascinating docudrama of heroism and tragedy inside the Twin Towers on Sept/11/01. The movie cuts between the actors trying to escape and the actual survivors who lived to tell the tale.
This is an incredible story that answers the divine question "Who is my brother's keeper?" One fireman carried a woman with bad legs down the stairs. A person beside him said that he could ignore her and nobody would know. He answered back that he would know and he didn't want her eyes bothering him for the rest of his life.
There were five or six stories told. Not all of them with happy endings.
This is one of the most riveting and moving films that I've ever seen. Unfortunately, it's a TV movie made for Discovery Channel and you may have to wait to see it again. Four stars. It's hard to beat real life drama.
http://discoverychannel.ca/on_tv/releases/flight_faught/ (9/11, TV Movies On Discovery Channel)
specialRecently, I discovered another memory project at www.memoryarchive.org. An historian, Marshall Poe created this website. He wants it to be a collection of mankind's memories and I hope bloggers and surfers leave an entry. I did.
The software follows the "Wikipedia Encyclopedia Format". If you want to upload a picture or create links, you can do that too.
The universal internet and mind continues to grow. Be part of it. Be part of history.
surprisedThis would be from Bill Carrigan,financial writer, in the Toronto Star. Bill's forte is the technical graph. For over 30 years, he's been following stock markets using trend charts. Some of the time, he's wrong, but I'd say he's right about 90% of the time. He can also be a funny guy in gaging the "human herd reactions" to bull or bear market movements.
Below is a tip on the telecom giant "Nortel Networks" which at one time had a share price of $125 in 2000. It has since plunged to .67 cents and recently recovered to $2.31. Nortel's not a big player like it used to be, but could become a take-over target very soon.
Here's Bill's line on it:
"What is the technical rule relating to insanity and investing? You qualify as insane if you do the same thing over and over and expect a different result. I now qualify for technical insanity status because on Tuesday I bought the shares of Nortel Networks Corp. at $2.31.
Technically, Nortel has a lot of positives in spite of it being one of most out-of-favour big cap stocks on the TSX. At this time I am also bullish on Nortel's technology peers".
Information and telecom technology have been out of favour for five years. However, with an expanding global economy expecially in Indian and China, now could be the time to invest in this sector. The graphs in this area have begun to move.
http://www.gettingtechnical.com/ (Bill Carrigan's Website)
luckyWhile much has been made of the "Pirates the Caribbean", there was little known about the "Pirates of Newfoundland".
Perhaps, this was the case because pirates from the Caribbean went to Newfoundland to hide their treasures. It was an out-of-the-way location. It's rumoured that there are massive caches of gold, silver and pearls in the caves of Newfoundland.
Maybe, the secret remains a secret because, Peter Easton's, first mate guards the treasures today.
That's a story that has be to told and I'll be telling it in "The Pirates Of Newfoundland".
http://www.infonet.st-johns.nf.ca/green/petereaston.html (Peter Easton, The Pirate Admiral)
http://www.infonet.st-johns.nf.ca/green/pirate.html (More Newfoundland Pirates)
The most memorable thing about Katrina was the force of the hurricane, itself. This was captured on video by someone in Biloxi Mississippi. It has never been shown on television.
Of course, a lot negative things stick in my mind like the dead body two National Guardmen passed by because they weren't ordered to "pick up corpses". The body lay on the street for over two weeks.
While the repairs were quickly made to the tourist's area of New Orleans like "Bourbon Street", the districts inhabited by poor blacks were almost completely ignored. None of the 110 billion dollar relief fund apparently has reached there yet.
And the statistics are grim: 2,000 dead, 60% of population still somewhere else, 180,000 jobs lost.
However, there are some angels of mercy out there like Oprah Winfrey and "Habitat For Humanity." Homes are being built for the poor along a new road called "Angel Street".
I'll never forget the expressions on the audiences' faces when they were told that they would all get houses on this street. It moved me to tears.
See it for yourself. There are good people in America who care deeply for their fellow citizens.
http://www2.oprah.com/index.jhtml (Oprah's Website)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5954521938928173924 (Hurricane Katrina Up Close)
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