Terror in London

As the people in London said... it was inevitable. This was going to happen eventually. Al Qaeda had already taken its vengeance to Australia and to Spain. The only ally left was England (or Great Britain). And today, July 7 it happened. Though we are still waiting for confirmation that Al Qaeda is responsible, there have already been deaths after the terrorist attacks.

They happened this morning as four bombs exploded. Three of them exploded in the famous London "Underground" and the last one in an also famous double decker bus. You can read the full news article in Spanish here:
http://estadis.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/292532.html

To sum it up: 37 dead, 700 wounded that leaves a city and a nation in chaos. Thousands, if not millions, of tears and that dreaded feeling of uncertainty, specially after mobile services stopped working in London. Service on the "Underground" was also suspended and people had to walk home or search for their loved ones by feet.

I can't really say anything more that our President, Vicente Fox or the rest of the world's leaders have already said. I express my deepest and most sincere regrets to the English people, specially those who lost their lives today or are suffering because of the attacks. I also must express my condemnation to these terrorist attacks that don't distinguish between military and civilians, women or children.

Honestly: I'm sick and tired of this.

I'm sick and tired of the intolerance, the lack of respect and the violence. And I'm not just talking about these terrorist attacks. I am also talking about the hatred that's shown toward the muslim people. I'm also talking about the clear agression to them and others around the world by the US. I also speak about the lack of comprehension and tolerance between religions.

We must ask our neighbour, the US, to stop following a foreign policy that emphasizes aggression and the lack of respect to other countries and worldwide organizations. Lets ask them to play fair and to allow the Middle East to develop in the fashion that their own people have decide. Lets ask them to play fair and make business with these countries just like everyone else in the world does - without invading or threatening them. They will find that in respecting others, others will respect them too. If they continue like this, they will only continue to put their citizens in danger.

For those of us in the rest of the world or living outside our countries, we must remind our own governments that respect and not aggression and greed, will make our world better and safer.

Goodbye to an Australian Monument

From what I am told (since when I went I only remember being told the story about the "London Bridge") there are only 8 apostles left out of the original 12. These "apostles" are really lovely rock formations that are part of the landscape of the southern Australia coastline (near Melbroune on the famed Great Ocean Road).

This past 3rd of July another apostle dissapeared. It was victim of nature itself - the ocean wave's constant erosion. It still makes me sad to see something so beautiful leave us and know no one else will be able to see it. There's no doubt that we have to cherish the things we now have and take advantage of all our opportunities. There's no reason to say "I can go any day I want" because perhaps when we do go, it won't be there anymore.

Here's the news article as written by the Sydney Morning Herald: http://smh.com.au/articles/2005/07/03/1120329317510.html

And here are some photos too. The first one was taken by me in 2001 and the second one I found in the Sydney Morning Herald article.

BEFORE

















AFTER

Live 8: Canada Helps Africa

Yesterday, around the first world there was a series of concerts named Live 8 to help solve the root of the problems that have Africa in such poverty. Canada, being one of those first world countries, was home to one of those concerts in the city of Barrie (40 minutes to the north of the Canadian city by excellence - Toronto).

The tickets were free so that wasn't the source for donations as one might think. Instead, what really mattered was to present a unified "voice and presence" of people at those concerts. In other words, it serves as a way to protest and put pressure on the leaders of the G8 (USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia) to help Africa. Some other objectives to this concert was to get other goals done like those Bono from U2 has to cancel the debt of the world's poorest nations and to double foreign aid to them. These goals (and bettering export conditions for African nations) are also supported by leaders such as Tony Blair, the European Union and the United Nations.

If you can remember, last month, a big step had been taken already as the debt for 18 poor nations was forgiven (14 of these were African nations (http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impreso/noticia_busqueda.html?id_nota=35979&tabla=INTERNACIONAL_h) and before the concert many European countries, under the advice of Tony Blair, accepted allocating a significant amount more of their money for aiding Africa.

So... how relevant was the concert? I personally think that the relevance of the concert remained on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Canada has continued to fall short in its commitment to aid less fortunate countries and we all know that in the US, George W. Bush has continuedly denied aiding Africa in the same way Europe has. And of course, it is worrisome that the US - being the most powerful country in the world- would not want to participate in this plan with a vision for a better future for our African brothers and sisters. The pressure and voice of this concert, should now be focused on these two slow or clearly reluctant countries.

Regarding Africa, I also feel that the concerts should also look to put pressure on the governments of Africa to find peace, democracy, respect for human rights, and (perhaps most importantly) transparency and the end of corruption. Even with our best intentions and the best intentions of the leaders of the G8, if these African nations continue with either authoritarian or corrupt governments, then the money received in aid will never reach the poorest and neediest of the population. And also, how much can aid do to help a country grow if there is no political nor financial environment that is good for economic growth.


So let's not forget that we have to help in every aspect. It is not enough to just give money and not care to what use it is put. We have to help give and make sure that money is used well. I believe, that perhaps Live 8 missed out on this last bit.

I include a link to a post that my friend Jacobo made about Live 8 too. It's in Spanish though:
http://www.jakovo.net/modules.php?name=MiDiario&dia=1120363200