Parliament @ MindSay 
Still no word on my submissions to those two agents in NYC, but I'm hoping, especially with one of them. In the meantime, anyone want to help me edit my new book? The second half absolutely blows, and I know I went off-track somewhere... I just can't figure out where.
Reading one of my favorite sections of Proust's In Search of Lost Time... the second part of In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower, the part where he, at sixteen, goes off with his Grandma and falls in love with a little gang of girls(?) (question mark because he's known to have switched the genders of people he'd been in homosexual relationships with) at the gorgeous seaside resort of Balbec on the Normandy coast. My first time through, I was struck by the beauty of this 320-page section. This time through, I'm still struck by the beauty and clarity of the writing, and plus I have a whole passel of memories from the first time I read this section, when I was hanging out on the Sorrento Coast of southern Italy. That's the great thing about rereading Proust... not only is one of his themes the layering of memories, but his writing makes you do the same thing with your own memories as well.
Oh, and jewfroart and I are going to see George Clinton and Funkadelic in Providence this Saturday. Whether you're into funk or not, I've heard that they put on an amazing show. Should I survive, I'll let you know how it was.
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
April 12, 2007 – President Bush today condemned a suicide attack on the Iraqi parliament building in Baghdad's heavily fortified International Zone. The attack, which occurred today in the building's cafeteria as it was crowded for lunch, killed at least eight people, Iraqi officials reported.
President Bush, speaking at the White House during a ceremony for the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act, strongly condemned the attack. "It reminds us ... that there is an enemy willing to bomb innocent people in a symbol of democracy," Bush said.
"It is in our interest to help this young democracy be in a position so it can sustain itself and govern itself and defend itself against these extremists and radicals," Bush said. "Our hearts go out to those who suffered as a result of this bombing.
"My message to the Iraqi government is: 'We stand with you as you take the steps necessary to not only reconcile politically, but also put a security force in place that is able to deal with these kinds of people,'" Bush said.
The attack killed at least one member of Iraq's parliament, Iraqi officials in Baghdad said. The Council of Representatives has vowed to meet tomorrow despite the attack, the official said.
"Today's attack on the Iraqi Council of Representatives was an attack on democracy by individuals who oppose the concept of government that is representative of and responsible to the people of Iraq," Army Gen. David Petraeus, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, said in a written statement.
"The soldiers of the Multinational Force Iraq extend condolences to the families of the Iraqis who were martyred in this attack and salute the Council of Representatives for their commitment to convene again tomorrow to demonstrate that democracy in Iraq will not be deterred by the barbaric acts of terrorists," Petraeus said.
A Multinational Force Iraq statement said the attack was aimed to cripple the government body "that speaks for all Iraqis." The attack was intended to "frustrate Iraq's efforts to build a secure, stable, and prosperous future," According to the statement.
The council is working on legislation that will share oil revenue fairly among all Iraqis, on so-called de-Baathification legislation, to reconcile ethnic and religious groups in the country following 30 years of brutal misrule under Saddam Hussein.
Article sponsored by Criminal Justice online leadership as well as police and military personnel who have authored books.
For some reason, powerful and famous politicians are much more accessible in Jordan than compared to the United States. For in the past week, I have been able to interview a former Foreign Minister and a former speaker of the parliament.
My interview with Dr. Jawad Anani, the country’s former Foreign Minister came first. This was certainly a very cool experience. All around his house were pictures of him standing with various world leaders such as Khomeni, Yasser Arafat, President Clinton, King Hussein, and King Abdullah. Lasting about three hours, our conversation ranged from politics and history to cinema. During the interview, I was able to understand the thought process possessed by the King and his closest advisors. More or less, they are realist minded politicians who base their decisions on preserving their power rather than on emotion or ideology.
I also had the chance to discuss to Israeli-Palestinian conflict with him, something that he has good perspective on since he was the Minister of the Peace Negotiations between Jordan and Israel. Interestingly, he believes that Israel does not want peace because he believes it is not in their interest as he predicts that a two-state solution would only lead to the Arabs demanding even more land. In addition, I also threw some conspiracy theories at him to get his opinion. For example, he agrees with the assertion that the Bush I administration wanted Saddam Hussein to invade Kuwait, so that they could have a war with him.
Overall, the interview was more like a relaxed conversation, a conversation that I will not forget until quite some time.
A few days later I was able to interview Dr. Abdul Latif Arabiyatt, the former speaker of the Jordanian parliament. Because of Dr. Arabiyatt’s personality, this interview was more formal and structured. Also, unlike Dr. Anani, Dr. Arabiyatt was a member of the opposition as he was the former secretary-general of the Islamic Action Front. His interview gave me a good insight into what the Islamists view of the Hashemite monarchy in Jordan.
Currently, the IAF views itself as being punished for following the rules of the game. Dr. Arabiyatt continuously voiced his support for democracy and believed that his group was being unfairly suppressed by the monarchy simply because it is the greatest political threat the regime faces; however, Dr. Arabiyatt still believed that the strategy of the group should be to follow the democratic [process].
Getting the perspectives of these two leaders was quite enlightening.
Apparently, our MP sincerely congratulates me on my graduation and "academic accomplishments"! There's a nice little letter and a colourful certificate in a green hard plastic folder.
I'm flattered, but a little puzzled. I have no idea why I received this! I've never met our MP--or if I did, I don't remember it!--and I've not taken many actions to express my patriotism and interest in "the democratic process.". Neek says one probably needs a GPA of 90 or over. That makes a lot of sense, actually.
Anywho.
It's a pleasant mystery--although I wish there were monies attached!--and I think I'll be fine just accepting it. But if you've any ideas why a mouse like me gets the MP's attention, I'd appreciate the insight!
Happily yours,
--Driftee
Watching today's session of Parliament televised on CPAC, free on cable here in Ontario anyway, I assume it's country-wide.
In particular I found a debate regarding gas prices underway in the house and various ways to address it. Part of the debate included issues like whether it's a provincial issue or a federal issue. Oh bother! Another shining point in the debate disclosed an interesting basic belief that we all might have and could do well to shake off! The concept that things always get more expensive. Why do we choose to buy into that?
When I was in the manufacturing sector, 15 years ago there were great changes underway, many processes which were labour intensive, sometimes dangerous and costly in terms of person-hours in labour were being automated. That automation should have brought the costs of things down but for some reason they didn't. Why? Pretty easy to figure that out - the companies keep the profits! Why would they have to lower prices? There is absolutely nothing that would provide accountability on that level is there? It likely has no precedent in history to even make it possible to cite past laws or legal decisions..
Oil companies are making record profits, they can't deny that, they have reported that, shamelessly, it seems to me. While they claim they were hurt by such calamities such as Katrina and other hurricanes, they are insured and those things can be corrected relatively quickly, plus they have record profits to cover it so sympathy for Esso, Exxon or BP won't be forthcoming. Instead the oil companies benefit from blips in the supply/demand chain whether it be crude oil or refined oil products. These same companies are involved in refinement and seem to feel no desire to increase the number of refineries which would improve the supply and should then (ha, ha, theoretically {micro-economics 101}, ha, ha!) lower the price.
Apparently Canada's refineries have improved by over 20% since the early 1990's - gee did anyone across the country see a drop in prices over the past 16 years? Never - other than the regular weekly up and down price adjustments the gas stations make - the prices have continually increased over that time frame.
One Minister from Alberta, Kevin Sorenson of Crowfoot, suggested that the high commodity prices are good for the eonomy and helps to grow the economy and increase investment and provide jobs, etc., etc.. I was amazed at how similar his speech was to the one George Bush gave to the Chamber of Commerce - televised just this morning! Such a telling tale! This new government and our new Conservative Prime Minister, Steven Harper, smell so much like the American conservatives that it's scary! It's far more blatant than Brian Mulroney ever was when he chummed up with Ronnie Reagan and this new cheeky fellow doesn't even have a majority government!
Go figure! Look out - Canada may become the next state before long! Yikes!
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