New Year, Same Old Resolutions

Alright, here's my list of goals I want to achieve in the new year.

1. Quit Smoking. How: Read positive reiforcing books such as "Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking," and "The Road Less Traveled. And, of course, STOP SMOKING!

2. Move into a new job which is authentic to my needs -- both work related (social services) and monetarily (earn at least 10k more than I currently earn). How: By continuing to send feelers out, keeping my eyes open for job postings and continually revisit the interview in my mind and possible questions that may arise. Hopefully, this will mean I am ready to go to an interview within a moment's notice.

3. Save more money (no more lunches out on a regular basis even if this means P-B-and-Jay every day. Also, by quitting cigarettes, I will save $9.00 every two days).

4. Plan a trip to Freeport, Bahamas to scuba dive as a reward for follwing through on #1 and #3.

5. Write an article (an article, one article, on a topic -- any topic) and submit for publication to a paper ( a paper, any paper). Getting published is not the goal, writing an article good enough to submit is the goal.

Okay, that's plenty for now. Any advice? I'm reaching out here, people -- throw me a bone!

Animals!

We visited the Toronto Zoo with the kids on boxing day.

I always enjoy my visits to the zoo, but also come away with mixed feelings. This visit was no different.

I should back up and explain that on the way to the zoo, I ran over a squirrel which darted under the car. It was too late to hit the brakes and I felt a small bump as the rear tire ran the little guy over. My eyes immediately darted to the side view mirror and I saw the squirrel on its back twitching as if it was having a grand-mal seizure. I drove on without stopping.

At the zoo we saw a single Sumatran Rhinocerous standing in an indoor enclosure about the size of my living room. In other words, not that big of an enclosure. He simply stood there for the seven minutes that we were there. The floor of the enclosure was cement and the walls were not adorned with anything resembling a natural setting. At some point, the rhino turned his face away from the crowd and seemed to be "mooning" us.

Later, I went to a fast food restaurant at the zoo and ordered a hamburger.

If these animals actually had the capacity to reason, what a cruel, callous bunch of boors human would seem to them. Not only do we trap them to show our appreciation of nature; not only do we cage large and small creatures in solitary (sometimes group) confinement very unlike their natural habitats; but we actually put a restaurant in the middle of this carnival where we proceed to EAT some of their brethren.

We are truly fucked. At some point in the past slavery was acceptable. And for the Romans, sacrificing humans for entertainment was also acceptable. Is it really okay to capture and keep trapped hundreds of animals for a few minutes of my entertainment? I think not. If I truly loved animals and nature, wouldn't it make more sense to go see them in the wild?

There is a great article examining this issue at goodzoos.com A site that promotes itself as "the essential guide to the best zoos, wildlife parks and animal collections on the planet."

A Ghazal For You - Merry Christmas!

apne haathon kee

apne haathon kee lakiron mein basa le mujhko
main hoon tera to naseeb apna bana le mujhko

mujhse too poochne aaya hai wafa ke maani
ye teri sadaa-dili maar na Daale mujhko

khud ko main baant na daaloon kahin daaman-daaman
kar diya tune agar mere hawaale mujhko

bada fir bada hai main zehar bhi pee jaaoon 'qatil'
shart ye hai koi baahon mein sambhale mujhko

What Am I Reading Now?

I have been desperate to read something, anything, that will hold my attention and last longer than a week. I didn't even know the name of the Da Vinci Code guy, wasn't interested in seeing the movie or reading the book. The masses are almost always wrong, too much hoopla around the book, I'm too literate for that crap, who knows...anyways, didn't read the Code. Walking through Wal-Mart yesterday, and desperated for something to read I came upon Dan Brown's, Deception Point. Yes, the same Dan Brown.
It's thick (752 pages...yep, size matters) and after the first 3 pages -- I'm hooked.

Leaving

Don't disappear. . . . Give me your palm.
I am written on it--this I believe.


Yevgeny Yevtushenko

Remeber Darfur

This is 85-year-old Abu Hamid Omar. Not only was he burned and branded in an attack by the Janjaweed and Sudanese Government forces, but his village was burned to the ground. Abu Hamid Omar was the ONLY villager to survive the persecutory assault. Photographed October 11, 2004, by Benjamin Lowy.


So This Is Christmas

So this is Christmas
And what have you done?
Another year over
And a new one just begun

And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young.

A very Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The road is so long

And so Happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight.

A very Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

So this is Christmas
And what have you done?
Another year over
And a new one just begun

And so Happy Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young.

A very Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

US Mulls Measures on Darfur

"Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says Washington is exploring a range of measures relating to the troubled region of western Sudan.

The options include exacting travel bans on Sudanese officials, freezing assets and imposing a no-fly zone in Darfur.

"There are already standing sanctions resolutions in the [United Nations] Security Council," Dr Rice said.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said he would support a no-fly zone as part of a sanctions package if Sudan continues to refuse to allow in a hybrid force."

AND SUDAN SAYS:

"Statements like this ... do not enhance peace," said Al-Samani al-Wasiyla, the Sudanese state minister for foreign relations. "They prolong the crisis," he said.

Sudan has rejected a UN Security Council resolution authorising the deployment of 22,500 UN troops and police in Darfur, where experts say around 200,000 people have been killed since the conflict flared in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government, accusing it of neglect.

Sudan says Western media have invented and exaggerated the crisis in Darfur and only 9,000 people have died there.

AND THE U.N.?

In the latest indication of how bleak the situation is, the United Nations recently evacuated its staff from El Fasher, capital of northern Darfur, one of the two major centers for its relief operation to what the world body itself has termed "the world's worst humanitarian crisis."

(The above report was written by J. Peter Pham (director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs at James Madison University), and Michael I. Krauss (professor of law at George Mason University School of Law). Both are adjunct fellows of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. The full article is worth a read as it gives a good synopsis of the current situation in Sudan.

Aegist Trust on Blair's Blather

The Aegis Trust is a United Kingdom-based anti-genocide campaign founded in 2000 by Drs James and Stephen Smith. In response to Blair's comments (see my previous post below) the Aegis Trust has issued the following statement:

The Sudanese Government and the rebel movements ‘will be judged on the basis of actions, not just words’, the Prime Minister says in his statement on Darfur today. That applies to Britain and the International Community too – so merely hinting at possible sanctions against Khartoum ‘if rapid progress is not made’ shows that he still has no new plans for action, just more words.

Blair on Sudan -- Again!

Saturday, 09 Dec 2006

Tony Blair has hinted that sanctions could be imposed against the Sudanese government if progress to resolve the situation in Darfur is not made.

"If rapid progress is not made, we will need to consider alternative approaches with international partners," Mr Blair warned.

Latest Tony Blair Pronoucement on Darfur

On October 31, 2006, (see my previous post) Reuters reported on British Prime Minister Tony Blair thusly:

Blair met Sudanese Vice President Salva Kiir in London and (Blair's spokesman told reporters)Blair said..."We are reaching the crunch point. It's important that the Sudanese government be in no doubt at all of our seriousness.

Blair told Kiir there must be (clear progress by November 24 when African Union leaders meet to discuss Darfur.

On November 22, 2006, (see my previous post) Reuters reported that Prime Minister Blair told Sudan's President, Omar Hassan al-Bashir:

to implement a U.N.-brokered agreement aimed at ending the Darfur crisis or face a response from the international community...Before the phone call, Blair told parliament that there was international diplomatic support for "tougher measures" if Khartoum fails to implement the agreement. But he did not specify what such measures might be.

Currently, a press briefing dated December 5, 2006, on the 10 Downing Street site states that British Prime Minister Tony Blair's press secretary said,

"the Prime Minister hoped to drive forward the promises made by G8 leaders on Africa at Gleneagles in 2005. On Darfur, he said the Prime Minister will argue that pressure must be maintained on the Government of Sudan and President Bashir.

I know I've said this before but I REALLY REALLY think Blair means it this time.

Current number of people dead: "A U.N. agency's survey cites at least 200,000 deaths, but other studies say the death toll could be closer to 400,000 or more." (Source: (Associated Press)

People currently at risk: "Overall, the U.N. says, 4 million people in Darfur are in desperate need of aid." Source: (Associated Press)

How Long?

"How long will you assault a man? ...this leaning wall, this tottering fence?"

Psalm 62