Bad weather & assassinating a world Leader?

It's been as typical a week as it can get for me so far. I've had to battle my way through traffic each morning and night. Montrealers must be among the worse drivers out there. I know every citizen claims it's city's drivers are the worst but honestly we're up among the worst of them all. I've driven in Rome and Athens and admittedly they are "special" as people would say here... in fact so special in Rome I was forced off the sidewalk by an oncoming car once... ok so Rome is ahead of Montreal but let me tell ya we're right on their heels LOL..

There are some interesting things in the news lately though. This morning they announced a study that showed that Quebec has the worst weather in all of Canada. Apparently we have the most cloud, the least amount of sunshine, the most rain, the second highest snow accumulation by the end of January and the most rain during the summer months. There were more categories as well we topped but I can't remember them. I'm a bit surprised because I would have guessed Vancouver or some place in the Maritimes/Newfoundland would hold the most rain or cloud category. Anyways, if this is the worse then it's not all bad. It's been a beautiful summer and with all that rain I guess we probably have the lushest gardens in the country...?

Another quirky thing came out of the US last night. This just brings out the irony of American thinking. For all the criticism the US has thrown out at extremist Islamic leaders they now have one of their own to point a finger at. Pat Robertson an Evangelical Minister in the US has called for the assassination of Venezuela's Communist President Hugo Chavez. Ok, I know many people might think assassinating a brutal dictator would be unethical but at the same time would be less risky to the lives of soldiers and of course more cost effective. Forget that it's illegal and immoral and against the principles we fight to protect. Forget the "If we can do it to you then you can do it to us" factor. Forget that we preach freedom and liberties which presumably means the right to be something other that what the USA wants.

Regardless we do mutter about the possibility of this type of action among ourselves. You have to admit it would be a lot cleaner and cheaper than sending thousands of troops to war and potential death... but it would open a pandora's box of countries taking out the leaders of nations they don't like. It would end up like the Old Wild West and the OK Corral. The thing is however if it comes out in public I'd expect it from someone like Howard Stern not Pat Robertson. Now we have radical American religious leaders speaking fire and brimstone. It only goes to prove that even among a civilized democratic society we too can produce nut balls that lack common sense. I'd like to see how a Christian Leader can justify murder as a solution to any problem. Pat, you should have kept this to yourself now you look like an idiot even if most likely a lot of people agree with you. *Sigh*... anyways, Chavez of all people. isn't Iraq's Saadam or instigating brutality like in pre-genocide Rwanda, at least isn't to my knowledge. If he's as brutal then I'd like to know what all the press and media have been doing lately because it sure hasn't made the news if so. This was a totally irresponsible comment which probably reveals a lot about what right wing religion in the US is really all about. I wish the US would genuinely seperate religion and the State. I hate seeing political decisions being made based on religious principles. Not everyone is of the same religion and it opens the door to all sorts of conflicts and accusations.

Sadly there was another plane crash this week. It was a TAN Airlines Boeing 737-200 based in Peru. I think this is the 5th crash in as many weeks. It is a strange blip in the statistics I would imagine. Add to it a nose gear collapse of a Northwest 744 in Guam and a couple of other emergency evacuations that made the news and the public is starting to get a bit jittery about flying again. There is no reason to be like this but the media of course brings out the fear and I guess the reaction is logical.

Sheila and her cousin came over last night to watch The Others on DVD. It was the Nicole Kidman suspense thriller about a family living in a haunted post war English countryside home. It is an excellent film with a real surprise twist at the end. I loved it when I saw it in the theatres and loved it even more after watching it last night. They played off Kidman's character's madness, the strange sounds of the "ghosts" and the fears of the kids perfectly. It had both Sheila and her cousin wrapped up in pillows and squirming all over the couch LOL.

Anyhow… I should get to work. Lots of little projects are on my plate and I have to be in touch with my Dutch counterparts so hope your day goes well :)