What a strange day in Ottawa

Today Wednesday 22 October 2014 is certainly a very unusual day for us all in Ottawa and in the country. Who knew that the incident of yesterday in a parking lot of a mall in Quebec where a crazed so called convert to Islam who drove his car into two soldiers, killing one would repeat itself today with even more violent consequences.

At around 10am at the Canadian National War Memorial in Ottawa an unmarked car with no licence plate stops and a man jumps out running towards the Memorial and opens fire on the Honour Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, killing Cpl Nathan Cirillo, 24 yrs old. of the Highland Regiment.

National War Memorial, Ottawa

The gunman then ran across Wellington Street unto Parliament Hill, he entered the Central block at the main entrance under the Peace Tower, which is only used for ceremonials. That is where he started to shoot up at the guards and from the video tape he ran down the Hall of Honour towards the Library of Parliament. Luckily for us all, he ran pass the two main committee rooms where the political caucuses were meeting, this being Wednesday which by tradition all Members of Parliament and the Prime Minister meet to talk about Parliamentary business. Had the gunman known more about the inside of the building, it could have had far more dire consequences. It was the Sergeant at Arms of the House of Commons who is responsible for security and order in Parliament who caught up with the gunman in this mad run through the corridors and shot him dead. You can clearly hear on the video the gun shots inside Parliament, many, some say up to 50 shots fired, I do not doubt it. One never thinks if you see the Sergeant at Arms walking down the corridor every day Parliament sits carrying the golden Mace which is the symbol of the Authority of Parliament in his formal uniform and bicorne hat that his role is anything but Ceremonial but Kevin Vickers today proved otherwise and is hailed as a hero for saving Parliament.

Sergeant at Arms carrying the Parliament Mace followed by the Speaker.

I am personally incensed at anyone thinking they can use violence against bystanders to make a statement what ever that might be. But in this case to attack our National War Memorial and kill a soldier guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and then run to Parliament and do the same is a
direct attack on Canadians. To my way of thinking this is the same as running into my house and trying to kill me and my family. The gunman has been named as Michael Joseph Abdul Zehaf-Bibeau, 32 yrs old, it is known that his step-father was a Libyan Immigrant, his mother a senior government official, the parents had lost track of him 5 years ago. We will no doubt find out more about this idiot, who is also a drug addict and a convicted felon in the days to come.

This day has disturbed many of us living in Ottawa, our security has been shaken badly and it has offended our values and the image we have of our society as peaceful and law abiding.

Parliament of Canada

Update: The RCMP says that the gunman had no links to any Jihadist groups, he was mentally deranged, friends and family says he had a difficult childhood, a string of criminal convictions, petty theft, etc, he had no fixed address and was wandering around Canada for the last 2 years. He had tried to convert to Islam but had failed at this and was told to leave the Mosque because he was too disruptive, the Imam said that he had stolen items from the Mosque and disturbed many people with his incoherent rants.

Strike, the first in 45 years.

Currently the Canadian Foreign Service Officers are on strike, the first time in 45 years of being unionized. They have been without a contract since June 2011 and the Government has refused to modify its wage proposal, showing a great deal of inflexibility. The Government's position is that the offer is fair, they are offering 1. 5% increase.

Service is affected in all programs of Canadian Embassies and Consulates around the world. The greatest impact is in the Immigration and Visa program, where Officers have been on strike and refused to return to business as usual. Already the Tourism industry claims a loss this summer of $300 million dollars with tourists who need visas to enter Canada going to other destinations.

To settle this dispute would cost about 4.2% of the total pay envelope of the Foreign Service, much less than what has been loss in tourism revenues alone not to mention the disruption to normal Embassy business or  Ministerial trips, etc... The Foreign Minister's Office claims there has been no disruption and is dismissive of the Officers on strike.

The whole matter revolves around pay equity, equal pay for equal work. Pay equity has been a long standing issue with the Foreign Service, for many years FSO did not have job description and pay was given based on the flavour of the day in job classification. For a period of 10 years during the 1990's salaries were frozen, despite cost of living increases due to inflation. So today we are looking at a discrepancy of $3000 to $14000 dollars per officer in their annual salary for similar jobs in the Government of Canada.

What is troubling is the numerous falsehoods and comments the Government Ministers responsible have been throwing out in the public to dismiss the actions of the Foreign Service. Again it has to be understood that all communications and messaging in the Canadian Government today comes from the Prime Minister's Office. They are negative messages and attack individual Civil Servants, like retired Ambassador Derek Burney who sided with the FSO.

The arguments of the Ministers are factually wrong or false, but all is good if you are trying to sway the public who is largely ignorant of what the Foreign Service is all about. The Ministers play on the Hollywood image that the Foreign Service is a life of luxury at the expense of the average tax payer.

Ministers and Government Members of Parliament have said in public that the Foreign Service get ''Perks'' the word itself is pejorative, there are no ''perks'' but compensation for the lost of income when you are posted abroad. Opinion pieces in National Newspapers paint a negative picture of the Foreign Service. These so called opinion pieces are written by people who are sympathetic to the Right wing agenda of the Harper administration.

Claims of ''perks'' like a free car, free rent, free Private tuition for children, free first class plane tickets and not having to pay income tax have been repeatedly made. So much so that the public or at least those who are the most ignorant of the basic facts are under the impression that the Foreign Service is good for nothing and expensive to boot.

None of this is true, Canadian Diplomats pay rent as they would if they lived in Ottawa, your employer in our case is also our landlord, you bring your own car to post, you pay all your living expenses like everyone else, you do pay income tax and often without being able to claim any benefits. The rate of income tax paid can be punishing in some cases because of family situations. You are posted to countries where the living conditions are far from stable or secure, where your health and that of your family is put at risk, where you can become the target of violence, many have.

If you are married your spouse will have to give up on their career and pension. Meaning that in retirement you will have one pension and not two like most Canadian couples. You will have to make some real family and personal sacrifices that most Canadians would simply not accept as part of  conditions of employment.

The retention rate in the Canadian Foreign Service is at an all time low with a turn over of 54% after 9 years of service, you can well imagine any private corporation having such a turn over of staff would quickly go bankrupt. Again Government Ministers brush this aside as not important.

On Twitter, Treasury Board Minister Tony Clement and Foreign Minister John Baird have made negative comments and other MPs and Parliamentary Staff have joined in, all messaging coming from the Prime Minister's Office and the wording is strangely repetitive in its negativity.

It does not help when Cabinet Ministers make controversial comments on twitter.

The Official Opposition in Parliament through Paul Dewar MP has criticized Minister Baird, PC MP for positioning himself against his own Officers in the Foreign Ministry, a first in Canadian History.
The Harper Government has clearly demonstrated that they do not care for the Foreign Service musing publicly on why we even had a Foreign Service.

On Monday 29 July all 15 large Canadian Missions around the world will be shut down as an escalation after Treasury Board Minister Tony Clement rejected binding arbitration to settle the dispute.

Other Unions around the World and in Canada are supportive of PAFSO and the strike action.

Finally, in the last Cabinet shuffle a leak from the Prime Minister's Office indicated the need for a list of enemies in the Public Service to be circulated to new Ministers. As Members of the Opposition in Parliament have remarked, it is is truly extreme paranoia when within the Cabinet the Public Service is seen as the enemy.



 


  

Reading newspapers

I ask myself sometimes what is the point of reading newspapers either in print or on the internet. Most National papers in Canada are now owned by large corporations who have little to do with the news world, owning a paper is a matter of prestige and more to the point of pushing ones business/corporate agenda on the public. Canadians believe or want to believe that newspapers are independent and stories based on facts, editorials are serious unbiased reflections on events. Not so anymore, the news is all about entertainment and influencing public opinion.

This past week I read about the Harper government doing away with the Canadian Health Board which  monitors health program delivery in all provinces in Canada. Reason given by PM Harper is that as of 2014 the agreement on health care program funding between the Federal government and the Provinces will come to an end. The Federal government will no longer be involved and this means that Western Provinces who currently are wealthier will have better health coverage than poor Eastern Provinces (this includes Ontario), in general the health of Canadians will be affected.

In Parliament the New Democratic Party (NDP) who are the Official Opposition are presenting a motion on the secret FIPA treaty between China and Canada, the life of this so called free trade treaty is 31 years. The Chinese Government will be able to sue secretly Canadian Companies and demand damages which is to be paid by the Federal Government. You can well imagine that the Communist Party in China will go after all Canadian companies, think Bombardier and will undermine them so that Chinese companies can take over, economic colonization. PM Harper sees nothing wrong with that claiming it will create jobs. Canadian companies will not gain anything in the process and certainly will not be able to sue Chinese companies (mostly owned by the Communist party) for damages in China.
Strangely the little Western African Country of Benin has been able to negotiate a better trade deal with the Chinese.

Parliament is broken, it was revealed by the Whip of the Conservative Party that Members of Parliament do not represent their constituents but the views of the Party Leader. In Canada we do not elect our Prime Minister, the leader of a Political Party is chosen to form a Government by the Governor General based on the majority of seats won by any Party after an election. Something most Canadians do not understand. The right of Members to ask questions in the House on what is of concerns to their Constituents has been taken away by the Party Leaders and instead MPs ask questions based on what the Party Leader wants to hear. The Speaker of the House has become a lap dog to the Prime Minister.  Currently there is a fight in Parliament for more independence for Members of Parliament so they can re-assert their rights. Otherwise what is the point of Parliament if the business once conducted in the House, like the latest Budget, is now handled by un-elected staffers in secret who work for the PM.

In the last 7 days the attack ads against Justin Trudeau have been shown more than a quarter of a million times on television by the Conservative Government of Mr. Harper. Who pays for all this, the taxpayers.  On Radio-Canada this morning a commentator gave this analogy, it was Herr Goebbels, Propaganda Minister to the Fuhrer, who said repeat a lie 10 times and it is still a lie, repeat it 1000 times and it becomes the truth.

The Minister responsible for the now defunct Canadian International Development Agency (now a branch of the Dept of Foreign Affairs) asked for all his briefings to be written in English only, in other words ''Speak White''. The Harper Government tried to deny this but unfortunately for them, there is a paper trail pointing to the Minister. So much for Official Languages in Canada, most of the Members and Ministers of the Harper Government do not speak French and have no interest in respecting Bilingualism. It was Sir John A. MacDonald our first Prime Minister who said in 1867 that if you wanted a man to vote for you, you had to speak his language. Sir John A. a Conservative, spoke French.

Also this morning a story in the papers about a Cézanne discovered in the vaults of the National Gallery of Canada. The morning show on Radio-Canada said that the painting had been lost in 1983 and was only discovered again by accident last week. Great deal of laughter all around, how can you loose a Cézanne. However in the English paper The Ottawa Citizen, the story is very differently presented. Apparently this painting which is just a sketch and is unsigned though it is known to be a Cézanne arrived in Canada from Europe via Bermuda during the Second World War and it is believed that it could be part of stolen art works belonging to a Jewish family or someone, that is not clear. The Citizen goes on to suggest that maybe the NGC knew this all along and was not forthcoming in returning to painting to its rightful owners whoever that may be, no one knows despite research into the matter.

The Ottawa Citizen has always been anti-museum, its editorial line is, why do we need to spend money on art in general, its not efficient and it brings in no money, its for the elite, the masses have no need of art and culture, unless we are speaking of Justin Bieber.

The Director of the NGC pointed out correctly that the National Gallery does not claim to own this painting, it is only acting as custodian for the time being, it is a very complex situation given the lack of records on it and no known owner. The director pointed out that the NGC has never in its long history been involved in looted or stolen art works, The Ottawa Citizen appears unsatisfied.

I have also noticed how the Globe and Mail which use to be a respectable National Newspaper has now sided very clearly with the Prime Minister, the editorial line now appears to be Mr. Harper can do no wrong, while the Opposition and the new Liberal Leader are fumblers.

Canada use to be known as a wealthy country, it is now referred to by political commentators as a relatively poor country.

There is a lot more, this is why I wonder why read the news.



 

Food for thought

Carolyn Bennett, M.P., P.C. published this today on a Tweet that I happen to read. Parliament just returned to work on Monday 17 September. I think this is food for thought in the current political context. Some of the 14 points are relevant to our experience. In particular points 1,3,4,7,8,9,10,11,12 and 14. In a democracy it is always important to ask ourselves as Citizens where are we going and what direction is our country taking. Indifference or a laissez faire attitude can be dangerous. People living in advanced develop countries where rule of law is the norm can be vulnerable to slippage in the democratic process. One sign of just such slippage is the low voter turn out at election which is alarming in Canada. Another one is a lack of knowledge of political issues or development surrounding certain political issues and their impact on everyone's lives. This is when things can start to happen without anyone quite understanding or noticing what is going on.


Defining Characteristics of Fascism
By Dr. Lawrence Britt
Source Free Inquiry.co
5-28-3

Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:   1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.   2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.   3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.   4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.   5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.   6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.   7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.   8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.   9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.   10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.   11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.   12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.   13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.   14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.   From Liberty Forum   http://www.libertyforum.org

Is democracy dead as a concept?

When we were living in Rome we saw the workings of the Roman Catholic Church at Vatican City up close and we had a privilege entry into the world of the Holy See which is not open to ordinary people. In fact most people who visit St-Peter's Basilica only see the religious trappings which is mostly window dressing for the gullible. The real drama is behind the scenes but that is not for public consumption.
Maybe it was too close, you see the warts and all and you start to realize that faith in God has little to do with the institution of the Church run by the Pope. You have Faith but this is a personal belief not one based on the trappings of an organization.

Back in Ottawa the Capital of our Dominion of Canada, I wonder if we as a people have not come to the end of participatory democracy. Are we entering another age, a new feudal age, big business are the new Lords and our politicians the new Princes who rule over us the people, the great masses. Yes we vote and yes we can toss out a group of politicians as we did in May, is that it?

So many people do not vote anymore, so many people take no interest in what is going on in Parliament. Participation is at an all time low, not a good thing.

In the USA, Social Security is about to collapse, unemployment is at historic highs, millions of Americans live in poverty, the figure of 15% of the population is given, imagine 15% out of 300 million people. This number is growing, these Americans cannot hope for a dignified life. Same in Canada where more and more people, children in particular live in poverty.

The Republicans in Congress and in the US Senate could not care less, the greater good is of no importance to them.  Can this explain why only 12% of Americans believe their representative are doing a good job.

Wealthy Americans do not want to share their wealth and pay their fair share to help the nation. Poor Americans are not seen as fellow American Citizens but as an inconvenience, lazy and not worth the bother. Since when in a Democracy do you have two levels of Citizens. If a so called democracy is to function at all it must include everyone, all Citizens without exception, the common good is the most important element in a democratic society.

I do have the impression that our politicians realize that we are at a cross road and that if they do not act in a responsible manner there could be great upheaval in our societies. A democratic society must provide for all its Citizens not just those with money, power and privilege.

Biladi, Biladi, Biladi, Misr! People Power in Egypt!

Well despite the terrible speech of last night, this afternoon confronted with huge crowds gathering at the Presidential Palace in Heliopolis, the army realized that they could not march against the people, I do not think that the army wanted to choose between people or Mubarak. The crowds were continously growing and Mubarak after 18 years of turmoil, fled by helicopter going off to Sharm El-Sheik. The Egyptian Army Council has taken over for now with Field Marshall Mohamed H. Tantawi. If this is possible in Egypt the largest and most ancient country in the whole region, anything can happen in the Middle-East. Mabrouk to the people of Egypt!

Egypt

In the last few weeks change has swept a part of the world where change did not seem possible. First Tunisia, a small country on the North African Coast. Regime change came fast, much faster than any thought possible, faster than any invading army could do.  In Tunisia a dictator once the ''good friend'' of many governments in the West, ''notre ami Ben Ali'' as he was described by the French government, became a tyrant the day those governments who had found him useful, no longer thought he could be of any possible use. So many despots in Asia, in Latin America, in the Middle-East and Africa have known the same fate, a friend one day and a useless tyrant the next. As long as they did what they were told and protected trade, all was well. Saddam Hussein was once a good friend, the ally against Iran, until that fateful day in 1990 when he invaded Kuwait.

Egypt is now in turmoil, though being the biggest, oldest, most populous of all Arab countries, not being really Arab since the Egyptians think of themselves as a distinct people, with a national history going back to the beginning of Civilization, once a great Empire, Egypt is a very different story.  Their President has been part of the national scene since the fall of the Monarchy in 1952.  As a young man in the army, he attached himself to people like Sadat and Nasser. He was there when Nasser died of a heart attack and Sadat succeeded him. Again he was on the podium the day Sadat was killed and assume the mantel. He has become the intimate of many heads of State, a good friend, someone they found reliable and provided stability for the region. Protecting investment and trade and a buffer for Israel. You do not abandon such an old friend and this is why so many governments in the West have been very reluctant to ask for his departure. The exception, the British PM, but then again is it wise for England to be so bold, they have a long controversial story with  Egypt, often seen in Egypt as would be colonial masters or aggressive power as during the Suez Canal Crisis in 1956.

What I find interesting about the crisis in Egypt is the response of Western Governments, on the one hand all important trade could be disrupted like the shipping routes through the Suez Canal, not a good thing, but how do you say this publicly without doing a double speak on democracy and human rights when you are one of those governments always hectoring the dictators.  Yes you might say democracy and the aspiration of ordinary people is important but not to the point of upsetting trade and investors. It is as if the aspirations of the Egyptian people are less important than those of Europeans or North Americans, Equality and Democracy yes, but some people are more equal than others. Its the old North-South Dialogue, the have and have not, developed and developing.

Mubarak says I cannot go, there will be chaos, really, there is chaos now. The ruling party has been shaken and all the other countries of the region have taken notice. Their despots are worried, notice how Colonel Khadafy next door in Libya is quiet. What the region does not have and cannot provide to its people is a dignified life, jobs, public services, like clean water, decent housing, health care, good schools, safe food and opportunities. When your population is 80% under 30 years of age, it is difficult for any old dictator to satisfy the young, having so little to offer.

In the West, we are scared of Islam and Islamist, thinking if dictators are swept away, for sure Islam will take over. That is a very simplistic analysis and insults the intelligence of the populations of countries like Tunisia and Egypt and all other Arab countries and our own intelligence. You have to be a simpleton to believe such idiocy, unfortunately it is still an argument found and reported in the media.

Then the other concern is if Mubarak who was present when Egypt made peace with Israel and inherited the legacy of Anwar Sadat, if he should go what then. Maybe the next fellow will not follow the same policies. So far all the actors involved on the scene and who are around Mubarak have not shown any signs of departing from the established peace treaty, why should they. Let's not forget that Egypt lives from tourism and also receives billions in foreign support to maintain the peace with Israel. It is very unlikely that any new government in Egypt would renege and change course, it would be too costly.

The Government in Israel has reasons to worry, unwise policies and aggressive attitudes of the past 60 years may come back to haunt them. But then again the poverty of all its neighbors and the enormous need for improvement at all levels would occupy any new government trying to satisfy the needs of a young population. The priority would not be Israel or a new war but instead how to satisfy the enormous  expectations of any regime change in the Arab world. Israel and the conflict would be quickly forgotten and put on the back burner.  Look at Tunisia, since the change of regime in that country a few weeks ago, the population has been enjoying the new freedom to simply do and say what you want without fear. They are looking at economic improvements and a new horizon.

Let us not forget that any people ruled by a dictator is just as deserving of the liberties we enjoy. Let's not deny them those same rights and opportunities because they happen to live in what we believe to be less advanced countries or because we want to protect our lifestyle, trade and investments before human dignity. 

Cultural world

When I was a kid, Walt Disney had developed a sanitize theme for the world with a little song which became sort of the theme song of his amusement park. It's a small world after all, was the song that was supposed to make everyone feel warm and fuzzy and happy and bring world peace and understanding to all. I disliked the idea and its presentation and the sugar sweet way in which it was presented, somewhat like those nauseating Christmas TV specials when it was proclaimed that it was Xmas all over the world and everyone wished for roasting chestnut, roasted turkey and snow.

Even though I was just a kid, I knew this could not be and it made no sense to me in the same way the song by Disney was plain dumb. Sure it made some people see the world as less of a threat if everyone is the same and wear funny costume like at a masked ball. I was lucky enough to start traveling at the age of 12 and soon realized that the Irish in Ireland had nothing to do with the North American stereotype or the French or the British for that matter.

When I joined the work force, I was and have been fortunate to travel the world and see that people are not all the same and do not wear colorful costumes unless it's a show for silly tourists longing for something safe. This is what makes the world interesting; we are all different and not necessarily dangerous, just different.

Different languages, different eating habits, different philosophy of life, different beliefs, different colour, just different. On the whole humans are not violent, everyone just wants to get along and be respected.

This is why most conflicts today come down to a fundamental lack of respect for the other party and wanting to reform them, to bring things to them, be it democracy, fundamentalist Christian values, globalization aka North American values, standardized norms and practices or our understanding of what is important. But I also noticed that in Asia, China loves to push its neighbors around under the idea that they represent all of Asia, being so big. Same in Africa or in Latin America, in Europe, France and Germany dominate the EU. So it is a fairly common trait amongst humans, always trying to tell the other guy what to do.

A few years ago, a colleague from that great Republic asked me why Canada did not ditch the Monarchy and have a Republican system instead. Canada being a Constitutional Monarchy, the great Dominion. My colleague obviously did not know his own history and how the history of our two countries was so vastly different. To this day we maintain very different attitudes on many topics, like gun control, same-sex marriage, gays in the military and strong banking control, to name a few topics his country is still struggling with.

But he was all ready to tell me the errors of our ways and how we could just be like his country. I pointed out to him that me and my fellow countrymen had no wish to be like him and his countrymen.

Then today I got a phone call out of the blue, from someone I met in Egypt 21 years ago. I had lost track of him and his family in the last 7 years and it was quite a surprise to hear him on the phone from Abu Dhabi. It reminded me how his family and he had been so very kind to me while I lived in Egypt. His parents were teachers, very decent and kind people. His mother was a great cook and she always prepared meals to feed an army whenever I visited them in the Fayoum south of Cairo. He and his brother were just nice and fun to be with, through them I learned a lot about Egypt and its people and my view of the country was shaped in many ways by what I learned talking with them. In the same way, when I lived in Jordan I met many Palestinians and Bedouins and was amazed how different they were as two people despite the fact that they lived in the same small kingdom in a mix of Christians and Muslims.

My time in Asia and Africa also taught me the same thing, people are different and they may even think very differently than I do as a Westerner but in the end their ideas are just as important and valuable as any western idea or value.

This is why I am often distressed when I hear politicians saying things along the lines of; we are bringing them democracy and rule of law, as if other people in other countries had lived until now in a state of lawlessness.

By reading about other civilization, one can see the wealth of human experience. But I wonder why we prefer to see only our point and not the other fellow's. Maybe if we reflect on it quietly we can come to a better understanding.

Greece austerity, votes 172 for to 121 against

I just saw the vote in the Greek Parliament, the photos of the crowds outside Parliament on Syntagma Square an area I know very well since I stay in that area when I am in Athens. The austerity is harsh and for the Greek people this is a very difficult time and it will continue to be difficult for years to come. I have friends in Greece and I think of them and how they will do in this time of crisis.
Greece is a special place, every time I go to Athens I always go up to the Acropolis to see the Parthenon.
To me this says Western Civilization like no other places on Earth, this is our inheritance and our values. I am not Greek but nonetheless feel a connection with the place. This is why all this news of austerity and budget and sacrifice is such sad news. But as a professor of the University of Athens said tonight on the BBC World News, those who are responsible for this situation are not going to pay, it is like all crisis the citizens foot the bill. That has to stop, in any democracy, no one should be allowed to take advantage of citizens and if parliamentarians fail in their duty to protect the citizens, then they should be prosecuted.