Right, I have no idea who reads my blog anymore, and certainly, I have no idea how many of you are in Montreal. But, if you are in Montreal or happen to be in the neighbourhood, I just got word of a vigil to stop the escalation of violence in Burma to be held at the McGill Campus on Monday. There will be vigils all over Canada. It is one possible action to take as the brave citizens of Rangoon continue to protest in the face of a military ready to crackdown. In the impoverished country these crackdowns are leading to other problems of with lack of food being sold on the streets and water. Where this will end is anyone’s guess and hopefully the UN Envoy who is on his way might help.

Details:

Vigil- to stop the escalation of violence in Burma

• Monday, October 1, 2007
• 12:00pm - 4:00pm
• Roddick Gates

Well, you know, when you hear about violence and atrocities and even see the same type of video day in and day out, it’s easy to get desensitized. But sometimes you read stuff and you can just feel the pain in people’s hearts. Here are some comments posted to the BBC Web Site from inside Rangoon today, despite the Internet being cut into Burma, some people have private satellite links from which these were sent:

A group of more than 50 soldiers and riot police just passed in front of our office. They are planning something but I do not know what. About 14:00 I saw a group of protesters - about 30 people - being arrested and prepared to be taken somewhere else by soldiers with green scarfs. They were also forced to squat with their hands behind their heads like prisoners. Teargas was used but I heard no gun shots. One of my colleague just told me that there is a large group of protesters in another part of town. He said that they were swearing at the riot police. The internet is down since last night. People are saying that the government did this to prevent Burmese people sending information to foreign media about what’s going on in the country. Only a handful of people, including me, have access to the internet as embassies and big companies have their own satelite links for the internet. Myat, Rangoon

Police are everywhere in Yangon (Rangoon). They are arresting demonstrators on the streets, searching houses and arresting innocent people. They don’t want the UN envoy to see the truth of the demonstrations in Burma. The foreign media is not getting the number of deaths right, I am sure that there are many more killed than the BBC is reporting. Shan, Rangoon

People seem to be determined to continue, despite the bullets, beatings and killings. I hear right now that shooting is still going on near our office. What we need from the international community is not just discussion on sanction or verbal pressure. Defenceless citizens are risking their lives simply to make their voice heard to live in a country free of oppression and extreme poverty, which they have been enduring for the past 19 years. Now is the time for the international community to take action. Anonymous international resident, Rangoon

Now all the internet connections and phone lines are cut. The government worries that we will send evidence of their terrible acts to the outside world. Our people are sad and angry with this government. We are all suffering from their terrible rule. But we don’t have the capacity to do anything against them. If we do something, we will be killed and our families will suffer. We don’t have any choice, because we are born in Myanmar (Burma). We know it will be over one day. We only wish this day will come soon. B L, Rangoon

Taken from the BBC News Web Site

Well, it looks like my fears of a crackdown by the military junta ruling Burma is being realized. People are continuing to gather and demonstrate and one can only hope that perhaps a strong forest can withstand the storm of the military. The junta seems to be trying to squash hope and freedom, yet again. This was sent to the Free Burma McGill mailing list. If you are in Montreal, join the list for more information. I present the plea from Amnesty International in full. However, I personally am not hopeful that a letter writing campaign will ever reach the ears of General Than Shwe. I am not sure that at this point they care about the outside world and their opinion. I suspect that they probably care most from their partners in China and India. China most definitely will not step in, but with the Olympics at their doorstep, not sure that they will want to be seen supporting the military junta either. I certainly do suggest a letter to the Ambassador in Ottawa. For your consideration though:

Fear of torture or ill-treatment / Health concern
26 September 2007

MYANMAR

Myint Myint San (f), National League for Democracy (NLD) member
Paik Ko (m), NLD Member of Parliament, Pakokku
Par Par Lay (m), comedian
Zargana (m), also known as Ko Thura, comedian
Tin Aung (m), NLD Member of Parliament
Tin Ko (m), NLD youth member in Meiktila
U Win Naing (m), politician
Up to 300 others, including Buddhist monks

Around 300 people were reportedly arrested in a crackdown on anti-government protests launched by the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in the evening of 25 September in the former capital Yangon, the second-biggest city, Mandalay, and also Meiktila, Pakokku and Mogok. Amnesty International was told that a number of people had gone into hiding.

Some were reportedly arrested in the evening of 24 September, but most were seized during the following 36 hours, as the crackdown by security forces escalated. Among those arrested were between 50 and 100 monks in Yangon. Parliamentarian Paik Ko and at least one other member of parliament from the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), which is led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, several other NLD members and other public figures, including the famous comedian and former prisoner of conscience Zargana ere also reported to have been arrested.
Amnesty International believes these and other detainees are at grave risk of torture or other ill-treatment.

Officials confirmed to journalists that at least three monks were killed in Yangon: one was shot and two were beaten to death. Unofficial sources told Amnesty International that up to 50 monks had been injured.

Despite the high tension, thousands of people continue to take to the streets in continued anti-government protests, led by monks, who have reportedly asked ordinary civilians to stay away, in an apparent effort to protect them.

The security forces have reportedly beaten demonstrators with batons, used teargas to disperse crowds defying a recent ban on gatherings of more than five people, and fired warning shots into the air.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Peaceful demonstrations began in August in response to sharp increases in fuel prices. They have grown rapidly in size and number. Buddhist monks, who took the lead in the protests after reports that monks had been injured by security forces in the town of Pakokku, have called for a reduction in commodity prices, the release of political prisoners and a process of national reconciliation to resolve deep political divisions.

In the evening of 25 September, the authorities began a crackdown on the protesters, introducing a 60-day 9pm-5am curfew and issuing public warnings of legal action against protesters.

Human rights violations in Myanmar are widespread and systematic. They include the use of child soldiers and forced labour. There are laws that criminalize peaceful expression of political dissent. At the end of 2006 most senior opposition figures were imprisoned or administratively detained, among more than 1,160 political prisoners held in deteriorating prison conditions.
People are frequently arrested without warrant and held incommunicado; torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment are common, especially during interrogation and while in custody awaiting trial. Judicial proceedings against political detainees fall short of international standards for fair trial: defendants are often denied the right to legal counsel and prosecutors have relied on confessions extracted through torture.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Using your own words, please choose a few of the suggestions below to create a personal appeal

- expressing concern at reports that hundreds of monks and other peaceful protesters, including well-known comedian Zargana and member of parliament Paik Ko have been detained;
- urging the authorities to release them immediately and unconditionally, unless they are to be charged with recognisably criminal offences;
- calling on the authorities to ensure that, while they remain in custody, all the detainees are held only in official places of detention, and are given immediate access to lawyers, their families and any medical treatment they may require;

- calling on the authorities to ensure that the detainees are not subjected to torture or any other ill-treatment;
- calling on the authorities to ensure that all people in Myanmar are able to peacefully exercise the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly without fear of harassment, intimidation or arbitrary detention, in line with international human rights standards.

APPEALS TO:

State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) Senior General Than Shwe c/o Ministry of Defence

Naypyitaw, Union of Myanmar
Salutation: Dear General

Foreign Minister Nyan Win
Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Naypyitaw, Union of Myanmar
Fax: 011 95 1 222 950 or 011 95 1 221 719
Salutation: Dear Minister

U Aye Maung
Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General, Office No. 25

Naypyitaw, Union of Myanmar
Fax: 011 95 67 404 146 or 011 95 67 404 106
Salutation: Dear Attorney General

Brig-General Khin Yi
Director General, Myanmar Police Force

Naypyitaw, Union of Myanmar

Salutation: Dear Director General

COPIES TO:

Mr U Maung Maung
Chargé d’Affaires, Embassy of Myanmar
85 Range Road, Suite 902/903
Ottawa, Ontario K1N 8J6
Fax: (613) 232-6999
E-mail: mofa.aung@mptmail.net.mm

Appeals sent urgently are vital, and appreciated.

Well, there’s no doubt in my mind that at some point you will all realize that there is no one better to be ruler of this world than myself. Actually, as some of you have pointed out, in reality the ruler will be my cat, I’ll just be his puppet while he controls the world’s tuna supply. Either way, in order to properly rule the world, I need a base. Every super villain always has a fantastic base from where he launches his minions and has conferences on a big glass table with his Number 2 (position still open, applicants accepted).

This morning I have discovered that such a base as seen in James Bond and Austin Powers is now available to me for a mere 1.5 million with 300,000 down. Yes, an abandoned military base is for sale and contains missile silos, fueling bases, a couple targeting structures and antenna silos. Naturally this got me thinking. I don’t have the 3 million dollars to buy and refurbish this (even with the US dollar reaching its current lows) unless you all decide to donate a few dollars my way (I’ll send you my secret Swiss bank account number).

However, where would I want to rule the world from? A military base in the middle of the US seems awfully east to target after all. A bit more public than I would care for.

Mountain Side Resort: Somewhere deep in the Canadian Rockies, I could build a base directly into the side of the mountain. Only accessible by a steep mountain road with many places to ambush the smart-aleck secret agents sent to stop me. Naturally it would have to have a helicopter or jet pad which rolls out of the mountain side at the push of a button. Several mountains would need to be connected in a secret set of tunnels and missile silos in several peaks. Winter would suck.

Under the sea: Kind of like in Dr. No and Spy Who Loved Me an undersea base would have to be somewhat based on the new set of undersea resorts and hotels planned around the world. I’d put in several gigantic nets with large numbers of man-eating sharks around to stop smart-aleck secret agents and no possible way to get there by road (hence preventing a modified Lotus submarine-car). Unfortunately I have fear of deep water.

Desert hideout deep in Mongolia: Now this might actually work better, simply because of its remoteness. Who would think to look in Mongolia for a super-villain base? I could build a personal airstrip into the middle of the Gobi and rule from there. My tan would be exceptional. The only problem with this is trying to stop smart-aleck secret agents. I wouldn’t really be able to put in a moat with piranha and there would be no passes to ambush them. I could probably try a giant laser. Every super villain has to have a giant laser.

Australia: Well, it’s been one of my dreams. I think Australia (yes, all of it) would make a fantastic super-villain hideout. Of course I’d have to enslave the entire country, but that would be a small task for a super villain. Of course, infiltration by smart-aleck secret agents might be a problem but, come on, in super villain circles, telling people your base is “Australia” kind of makes it hard to “keep up with the Jones’” you know. It has a certain amount of panache.

Oh yes, in each case I’d have a giant red button labeled “Destroy the world with my nuclear-powered giant retroscopic telephonic hydrostatic comnumblufying space laser” which I would spend the day caressing as I fleece the world’s governments. And I would never explain my plans to the smart-aleck secret agents. Or have a good looking secretary that they could seduce.

Repressive, brutal, corrupt. So often around the world these three words are used to describe the rulers of a country. With a great deal of luck, we in Canada have been exempt from using those words to describe our leaders (instead our leaders tend to look and act like greasy used-car sales people). In Burma, they are not so lucky. The rightfully elected leader and Nobel Prize Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest and a repressive, brutal and corrupt military junta keeps its people under their tight fists.

Well, until this week at least. This week the revered Buddhist monks of the country are marching, tens of thousands of them, joined by civilians, local celebrities and more. The military meanwhile have ordered them to stop. They say they will crackdown and enforce law and order and are calling on the dissident monks to stop. Unfortunately in the case of this military government, they might possibly use force and thousands of innocent people are likely to get hurt or die.

In the end though, I have faith in humanity. In the end, every repressive, brutal and corrupt regime comes to a crashing end at the feet of their victims. In the end, they may kill one, but like a strong forest, when thousands march, guillotines churn and regimes smile down from tops of pikes instead of battlements. I can only hope and pray that as those lone gunmen, trained to fight and protect those in power are faced with the awful choice of squeezing a trigger, they look beyond the faceless and instead look upon a human being; A human being with every right to live and love as themselves.

Now the question is what can we do? Right now, I don’t know. I’m searching for something, some sign that we as Canadians can send out to say “hey, we’re over here, we see you marching and we stand with you!” I used to be part of Canadian Friends of Burma and hope that I can find something out over the next few days. If you happen to know anything, please leave a comment.

In the meantime, I’ve been scouring the news sites about the latest developments and noticed a couple of weird things. A long time ago I came to the conclusion that there was no such thing as “unbiased journalism”. It’s just a term that editors use to justify their editing. The bias in journalism comes in many forms, ordering of the paragraphs, specific words, how an interview is cutup and juxtaposition’d with the graphical elements. You can also show a certain bias with how you refer to a country.

For example, on the BBC News site, they refer to Burma, well as Burma and Rangoon as well, Rangoon. You see, Burma was renamed Myanmar and Rangoon, Yangon. However, both of these changes (and moving the capital) was done by the military junta and few of those against the regime have ever accepted the changes as legitimate while Aung San Suu Kyi languishes in detention.

Our own venerable CBC however, continues to write about Myanmar and Yangon. So here’s a really quicklisting:

• BBC News (Burma)
• Guardian (Burma)
• NY Times (Burma, Myanmar, uses Burma in headline)
• CBC (Myanmar)
• CNN (Myanmar)
• Globe and Mail (Myanmar)
• Strait Times (Myanmar)

Note: Since writing this entry, CBC has actually put a heavy emphasis on calling the country “Burma, also known as Myanmar”. Truly when I first looked on their site for the initial coverage, that particular sentence was not in use!”

To many it may seem like nitpicking, and it probably is, but it just goes to show the politics in a name.

Regardless, I pray and hope that this will end in peace and freedom for the Burmese people.

…or colour blind Indian policemen to become the best marksmen. Yes, this just in, be amazed, be bewildered, sit and laugh at the super-human prowess of one Indian state. In the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh a committee has discovered a few things about the police force which they call rather “bizarre”.

Taken directly from the BBC News article:

• A total of 7,000 candidates were interviewed in three and a half days. Taking into account eight-hour working days, that would mean 250 candidates were interviewed every hour, or more than four candidates every minute.
• A random sampling of recruits revealed that 370 of them were suffering from varying stages of colour blindness, which disqualifies them automatically from the job.
• One candidate found to be colour blind ranked second in the shooting practice test. The investigators wondered he could excel in identifying objects having multiple colours from 100 mts on the shooting range.

Now, you really have to live and/or travel in South Asia to start understanding the wonders of corruption. It is amazing how much work is done by government departments when you realize that they actually sleep most of the day. But that’s actually normal. As it turns out, we South Asians have managed to figure out the ability of working while in a meditative state just like the fellow above who has managed to overcome his amazing colour blindness to become an expert marksman.

I remember one conversation between my father and a customs official in the Port Authority in Colombo, Sri Lanka almost twenty years ago. On that occasion, we were taking into possession a shipment of household goods from our place in Hong Kong. The official scanned the document several times, sighed, sleepily tried to look officious and then said to my father:

“Now Doctor Sir, we can inspect every item of yours in the warehouse. It is hot and very tedious, you might be here a couple of days! Or you could pay us a special administrative fee and we’ll examine it at your leisure at home. Much quicker, much easier, not so hot.”

It’s amazing how many customs shipments coming into the Port Authority in Sri Lanka at the time must have been cleared so fast and efficiently.

A friend of mine is considering the possibility of going back to university. That place of higher learning where girls become women, boys become men, and where students’ brains attempt to mop up the secretions of knowledge from unsympathetic professors. Don’t get me wrong, I loved university, I thought Memorial University in Newfoundland was the best thing that ever happened to me. Most of my best friends came through there, my knowledge of web sites and web programming started there, my love for history was fostered there and my love for writing and getting sued was explored at the student newspaper.

But I almost never made it there. Fifteen plus years ago my family, then living in Hong Kong, was at a crisis point and I elected to go to the cheapest university that foreign students could go to in the English-speaking world. In Canada the two cheapest universities were University of Saskatoon in Saskatchewan and Memorial University of Newfoundland. Well, as they say, the rest is history.

Why am I mentioning all this? The aforementioned friend and I were discussing tuition fees and it struck me how important that single factor was for me to attain a higher education. Memorial remains one of the cheapest places to attain an undergraduate degree as a foreign student in Canada and certainly, the cheapest as a graduate student. However, oddly, with the rising cost of tuition, even Memorial’s current costs (tuition plus incidentals, books, union fees and rent) would probably have put Memorial beyond my ability to afford at the time. What a difference that would have made in my life, and perhaps, for the many friends that I made in Newfoundland and Canada. Though I suspect that many of my friends would be pleased as they would probably be more comfortable in many of the fine establishments where I have since managed to embarrass myself.

I can honestly say that I am not an Einstein, and likely never will be, but it does make you wonder at how many aspiring students never get the chance that you and I had. How many around the world never make it to the halls of higher education? The scary thought isn’t how many cannot study and learn, but perhaps, how many of those that do not are “hidden Einsteins”. There’s the village brainiac in the deepest jungles of Cambodia who might have the brain structure capable of turning the world on its ear. Or perhaps the street urchin who manages to survive in the harsh reality of Bombay and might have been the toast of Hawking. Or even the girl with the disability who was shut away in an orphanage in southern Russia and might have become the next Picasso.

The answer to the “hidden Einsteins” issue is something we will never truly be able to comprehend. Like George Bailey who discovers his own worth in It’s A Wonderful Life, we are effectually only able to see our own tunnel vision to our fortune that has brought you to read this.

Maybe, in some parallel universe or far into the future, there will come a time when all humanity has the same opportunities and I will never have to wonder if we missed out on genius by a mere quirk of fate or an accidental blast of Pompeii-leveling Vesuvius.

Note the day; mark it on your calendar. For the first time since 1976 the Canadian dollar has reached parity with the US dollar. What an amazing change of fortune for Canada’s currency which just a few years ago was at 0.60 cents to the US dollar. Like many currencies the Canadian dollar is not pegged to the US dollar but a free floating currency on the financial markets and from time to time this happens. Either the Canadian economy is strong or the US is tanking or both.

But we must quickly examine what this means…

You have the usual pundits talking about the health of the economy and the disaster this will be to the Canadian tourism and export industries. However, let’s look at the other stuff.

For years we’ve had to deal with those folk south of the border ridiculing our flailing currency. And really who wouldn’t? At one point, our currency was on the verge of collapse, on life support with a bunch of people trying to perform emergency CPR. Unfortunately imagine a bunch of paramedics who didn’t know basic human anatomy (such as where the mouth was): that would give you a clue as to how dire it all seemed. South of the border, we had the nightly jokesters, from David Letterman to Jay Leno pointing out our third-worldness. Yes, you’re strong currency could own everything I had and then some.

In the famous adage of “here’s my 2 cents”, the Canadians were almost only left with half an opinion.

For years when we went south to ski or spend time at holiday golf or gambling resorts, kind resort owners would sink low enough to offer Canadian dollars at parity so they could attract our business. It was like you had invited your poor relatives for an evening out and told them to move the decimal point in the prices ahead by a figure so they could afford to be there. Oh joyous.

Well, my friends, the tide has turned. And I for one, am going to enjoy it while it lasts (which, knowing the stupidity of various Canadian politicians, might only be a couple weeks).

My opinion is finally worth as much as those of you in the states now, and if the trend continues, my 2 cents are going to be worth more than yours. In fact, soon, we’ll probably need to offer Tim Horton’s at parity with the US dollar so that you can afford our fine donuts and coffee. Heck, we’ll even offer a place for the hockey players discovering that playing for the United States might actually be sending them to the poor house.

However, not to worry my friends, you are more than welcome to bring your pesos across the border. We still love you. Don’t mind if we come down there and treat you as our neighbouring Mexico. It’s kind of fun. You know what I mean?

I’ve been asked a number of times since I trekked across the country about how I’m finding Montreal. Well, let me allay any fears: Montreal is a fantastic city. One of these days I’ll have to write about all the things that make the city such a fantastic place. However, this post is not going to be that post.

On Saturday I seem to have finally figured out exactly how to let out the “Montreal Groan”.

This is when you witness something so stupid that you realize that this could only happen in Montreal and you let out a heartfelt, almost pathetic-sounding groan. For those not in the know when you enter Montreal off the Champlain Bridge you are directed onto the infamous Turcot Interchange. It is more commonly referred to as “Spaghetti Junction”. It is where I was perfecting the “Montreal Groan” this weekend.

Montreal’s (and most of Quebec’s) roadways are in dire need of fixing. I have serious concerns about the cement mixing that happened prior to construction. So far one overpass has collapsed and several more are shutdown. The Turcot Interchange seems to feature the same cement composition that is similar to a crumbly apple pie. The Interchange was set up architecturally to evoke a sense of future weightlessness as each autoroute merged with another. The lanes weave in and out through the air suspended on massive apple pie crumbly pillars. If you don’t believe me, witness the beauty of Spaghetti Junction as seen from Google Maps:

However, the madness of the Turcot Interchange itself (reminiscent of a knotwork puzzle given to occupy small children) wasn’t really what let out the “Montreal Groan”.

We entered town across the Champlain bridge on a Saturday evening that should have been pain free. Well, the operative word is “should”. Just as we approached the bridge, traffic thickened and within minutes we became molasses being poured through a very tiny hose. Minutes ticked by. First was the horrific thought that perhaps some tragic accident lay ahead. Twenty minutes and a kilometre later, we figured a hundred people must be working on another collapsing portion of Quebec’s autoroutes. Thirty minutes later we reach the Turcot Interchange, and there, shoved to the side as if it were an afterthought, stood a flashing sign exhorting motorists to “Avoid the Turcot Interchange, works in progress”.

And I let out the Montreal Groan.

Only in Montreal would you find a sign to avoid a junction, after you had entered the junction.

Oh and we didn’t see any sign of workers, there was no accident, but instead two main arteries closed and a gigantic diversion. As my friend Mike exclaimed, “Even Satan would have more class than to cause this much aggravation, this is a special kind of malevolence!”

Montreal Road Works: Hell bent on reconstructing Montreal, even if it means recreating Hell itself.

Air travel is one of the safest ways to get around. According to one set of figures (and now remember kids, don’t believe everything you read on the Internet), the chance of you being involved in a fatal air disaster in the industrialized world is 1 in 5 million. Another set of numbers states that in the United States, it would be three in 10 billion passenger miles. Regardless of which set of numbers you look at, those are some pretty good odds. In fact, these are probably about the same odds as winning the lottery.

However, when a disaster does happen, it’s tragic. Just this morning a flight from Bangkok to Phuket crashed killing at least 87 people. A further fourty odd are injured and in hospital.

Every time I read about a plane crash my heart just leaps into my mouth. If you travel a lot by air, you get a little skittish and there is definitely something unusually frightening about falling to your death in a tin can that you have no control over. It’s even worse when you look at the passenger lists.

You see, when a disaster happens anywhere in the world, we see the numbers: 87 dead here, 140 dead there, 17 in a bus crash, 10 in a road side bombing. They are numbers, pure and simple. They are dehumanized numbers. It’s easy to gloss over the reality, take a deep breath and continue on. It’s totally different when you see the human scale of disaster.

Exactly a decade ago, a Korean Air plane crashed while trying to land in Guam en route from Seoul, almost all were killed. That same day, my good friend Craig Welsh boarded a Korean Air plane in Seoul and headed back home to Newfoundland. When he arrived at the airport, I told him how much we had freaked out a bit when the news had hit. His mouth hit the floor, he had not been told. He had watched the folks get on that doomed plane bound for Guam, it had left just moments before his own. That’s the human scale to any disaster.

Just seeing these passenger lists bring a chill down my spine. Just a few years ago, friends of mine and I had boarded a similar no-frill, budget airline from Bangkok to Phuket. Our names were probably on similar passenger lists. Just seeing those names puts a human person to each of those 87, at least for me. What must they be going through to suddenly wake up and find a loved one gone, or those families now finding out over the Internet?

If you do any dangerous sport or activity, you tend to console yourself with the idea of death and loss. It’s kind of part and parcel of what you do. However, to see disaster in normal everyday life, now that’s much harder to accept, and that, I guess, is the fragility of life.

My best wishes and prayers to the families, friends and victims of flight OG 269.