U.N. troops accused in deaths of Haiti residents
From Reuter's AlertNet:
15 Jul 2005 15:01:08 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Joseph Guyler Delva
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, July 14 (Reuters) - Opposition groups and residents of two Port-au-Prince slums say dozens of innocent people were killed during anti-gang raids by U.N troops and Haitian police last week, but U.N. and police officials denied the accusations.
The Lawyers Committee for Individual Rights, a group known as CARLI and regarded as one of the most independent rights groups operating in Haiti, said U.N. peacekeepers and Haitian police killed unarmed residents, including children and elders, in the slums of Bel-Air and Cite Soleil, strongholds of supporters of ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
"We have credible information that U.N. troops, accompanied by Haitian police, killed an undetermined number of unarmed residents of Cite Soleil, including several babies and women," Renan Hedouville, the head of CARLI, told Reuters this week.
An assistant to Brazilian General Augusto Heleno, commander of the U.N. force, called the accusations unfounded.
"We have no information about any killing of unarmed civilians, ladies or babies by our forces," Brazilian marine Commander Alfredo Taranto said.
"Our action was directed against the armed gangs and only against the armed gangs," said Taranto. Haitian police officials also denied the accusations.
On July 6, about 400 U.N. troops with 41 armored vehicles and helicopters, and several dozen Haitian police officers, conducted a raid in Cite Soleil, Haiti's largest slum, to root out gunmen. The slum harbors a number of gangs, many of them loyal to Aristide.
"The foreign soldiers came with helicopters and their war machines and started shooting on everything that moved. They killed 40 people who carried no weapons," said Rene Momplaisir, a spokesman for a pro-Aristide grass-roots movement in Cite Soleil.
Aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) said it treated more than two dozen people that day, including a pregnant woman who survived surgery but lost her baby.
'WOUNDED BY GUNSHOTS'
"We received 27 people wounded by gunshots on July 6. Three quarters were children and women," said Ali Besnaci, the head of the MSF mission in Haiti. "We had not received so many wounded in one day for a long time."
A U.N. military spokesman, Col. Elouafi Boulbars, said U.N. troops killed five "criminals" during the operation. But after those bodies were taken away, a Reuters TV crew filmed seven other bodies of people killed during the operation, including those of two one-year-old baby boys and a woman in her 60s.
All seven were killed in a house in the Bois-Neuf area of Cite Soleil, a territory controlled by one of Haiti's most wanted gang leaders, Emmanuel "Dread" Wilme. He is believed to have been killed during the raid, but U.N. and Haitian officials could not confirm his death.
Dread Wilme's lieutenants and several hundred of his supporters last Saturday took part in what they called a funeral ceremony for Wilme. But they refused to allow reporters to verify whether there was a body in the buried coffin.
Residents said the number of people killed in that area on July 6 ranged from 25 to 40.
"I counted 18 bodies, but a friend of mine who lives on the other side of Bois-Neuf told me he saw seven bodies. He, too, almost got killed," said Bernard Desrosier, 24, a resident of Cite Soleil. "It is a real massacre."
The same day, residents in another slum, Bel-Air, blamed Haitian police officers wearing black uniforms for the killing of 12 people.
At least 18 other people were reported killed last Friday in similar circumstances in the same slum. A Reuters correspondent saw several of the bodies.
"It is absolute necessary that the security forces neutralize criminals, but nothing can justify the murders of innocent people as it is occurring now in those poor areas," said Hedouville.
U.N. peacekeepers were sent to stabilize the troubled Caribbean country after Aristide was forced into exile in February 2004 by a bloody rebellion and under pressure from the United States and France to quit.
The U.N. mission, now numbering 6,207 soldiers and 1,437 civilian police, has been criticized for failing to curb violence and disarm both criminal gangs and former members of Haiti's disbanded army who participated in the rebellion.
The Haiti Action Committee, a San Francisco-based activist group, condemned what it called a "massacre" in Cite Soleil. The group said at least 23 people were killed.
Canada's dubious role in Haiti
From the Toronto Star:
by AARON MATé
Recently the Council of Sages, the Western-backed body that has overseen Haiti's political affairs since the February 2004 ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, made a startling recommendation. Blaming the exiled Aristide and his Lavalas party for continuing "to promote and tolerate violence," the council urged the interim regime that it appointed to "disqualify the Lavalas Family Party from the electoral process."
The council needn't worry. International intervention, in which Canada has played a major role, has all but assured that it will be next to impossible for the country's largest political party to run freely in the scheduled fall elections.
On July 6, international troops with MINUSTAH, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti, conducted a raid on the Port-au-Prince slum of Cité Soleil, a Lavalas stronghold. The U.N. claimed the operation was part of an ongoing effort to confront the gang violence that has been plaguing the country.
But witnesses and observers cast the operation in a far harsher light. CARLI, a respected lawyer-headed human rights group, said it had "credible information that U.N. troops, accompanied by Haitian police, killed an undetermined number of unarmed residents of Cité Soleil, including several babies and women."
While the U.N. claimed it had killed only five "armed bandits," Reuters reported that its local TV crew "filmed seven other bodies of people killed during the operation, including those of two 1-year-old boys and a woman in her 60s."
Ali Besnaci, head of the Médecins Sans Frontières mission, said his hospital had treated 27 residents for gunshot wounds.
Although Canadians were not involved in the raid, Canada is still an integral member of the MINUSTAH force, contributing more than 100 police officers and overseeing its logistical planning.
Canada is also helping to train the Haitian National Police, which has also been implicated in serious abuses. Earlier this year, the Miami Herald reported that "Haitian police opened fire on peaceful protesters (on Feb. 28), killing two, wounding others and scattering an estimated 2,000 people marching through the capital to mark the first anniversary of Aristide's ouster."
It's not difficult to surmise why poor Haitians are targeted. In large numbers, they are calling for the return of the government they elected.
One of Aristide's most popular decisions while in office was to disband the feared Haitian military, whose remnants later led the armed rebellion that ousted him. Today, a recent Reuter report stated, "the police high command is now dominated by ex-military," with "only one of the top 12 police commanders in the Port-au-Prince area" not from its ranks.
Aristide-led governments were also marred with some credible allegations of corruption and human rights abuses. But the fact remains that no other political party "comes close to the support enjoyed by the Fanmi Lavalas," as Gallup found in a March 2002 poll, one of the last to widely survey Haitian public opinion.
What is not clear is why popular sentiment is being suppressed with Canada's support. While none of Haiti's Caribbean neighbours has recognized the installed regime, the Liberal government has showered it with diplomatic ties, $180 million in aid, and lofty public apologia. At a June 17 press conference, Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew rejected a question about Haitian police abuses, declaring his belief that "the Haitian police is doing its very best in extremely difficult circumstances."
Pettigrew continued that while he had not even heard of the police shootings reported in the mainstream press, he could confidently dismiss a critical human rights report put out by the University of Miami's Center for Human Rights as "propaganda which is absolutely not interesting."
"What interests me," he concluded, "is the future of Haiti, it is the future of Haitians, it is the progress of democracy, and the progress of the rule of law."
Some Haitians will certainly be heartened by Pettigrew's interest in their democratic future. Prominent bureaucrats and ex-military police chiefs come to mind. Residents of Cité Soleil, however, and the many other poor Haitians struggling for their basic democratic rights, will likely have a far different reaction.
Aaron Maté is a Montreal-based journalist. He travelled to Haiti in December.
Why the U.S. and France hate Haiti
From San Francisco Bay View:
by Ed Kinane
Let’s begin with 1492. Since that year, when it was “discovered,” no country in the Caribbean has suffered more pain per capita than Haiti.
In the 15th century, according to Columbus, Haiti was an island paradise. Now it is an ecological disaster. In the 18th century, Haiti was the richest colony in the New World. Now it is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.
In the early 1500s, Haiti’s indigenous people, the Taino, were rendered extinct. Alien disease took its inevitable toll. But it was the Spanish obsession with gold and Columbus’ brutal ways of extracting and extorting what little gold there was that sealed their fate.
Soon thousands of West Africans were imported every year to fill the labor vacuum. Africans, under the lash, were put to work raising indigo and then cane sugar.
So savage was the slave regime, at first under the Spanish and then under the French, that a slave’s life expectancy upon reaching Haiti was only several years. Slaves didn’t live long enough to assimilate “Western civilization.” To this day, Haiti remains essentially an African country.
In the 1790s, the Afro-Haitians revolted. In 1804, led by the slave Toussaint L’Ouverture, the Africans succeeded in whupping Napolean’s army and driving it off the island.
This was the world’s first successful slave revolt. Ignored in our history books, it was an accomplishment as significant and as liberating as the French or U.S. revolutions.
Western civilization – France and the other white colonial slave-holding powers – has yet to forgive the Afro-Haitians. Like Sandinista Nicaragua and Castro’s Cuba, liberating itself was Haiti’s original sin. Two centuries later, the forces of counter-liberation are still relentlessly applied against it.
For years, few nations would recognize Haiti’s independence. The United States, despite the lofty sentiments of its founding documents, did not recognize Haiti until our own slave regime crumbled in the 1860s. France, despite the ideals of its 1789 revolution, would not recognize Haiti until it paid a crushing multi-million dollar indemnity.
In the Catholic theology of my youth, we are all born – like Haiti – with original sin. And many of us go on to commit grievous sins of our own. These are called mortal sins.
In the last dozen or so years, unrepentant Haiti and President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, whom it keeps electing, has committed a number of these. This is why the so-called “international community” – especially the United States and France – is determined to keep Haiti in hell.
In Haiti’s 1992 presidential election, the U.S.-financed candidate, Marc Bazin, was pre-ordained to win. At the last minute, however, a Catholic priest preaching liberation theology entered the race. Father Aristide won the election by a 67 percent landslide.
Within eight months, a U.S.-sponsored coup toppled Aristide. The next time Aristide stood for election – in 2000 – he won by an even greater share of the vote. And this was an election internationally certified as fair. Aristide was, and continues to be, the choice of the vast majority of Haiti’s people.
But on Feb. 29, 2004, Aristide was again overthrown. The U.S. military abducted Aristide at gunpoint, transporting him to the Central African Republic, one of the most isolated countries on the planet.
Why does the U.S. government hate Aristide so?
For five centuries, the imperial powers have seen Haiti only as a dark, placid pool of super-cheap labor. Upon first becoming president, however, Aristide sought to raise Haiti’s miserable minimum wage. A major no-no.
Aristide kept up his offensive behavior. In 1994 when he returned from exile and resumed his presidency, he abolished Haiti’s brutish military.
And, finally, consider this brazen deed. During his second term, Aristide sued France for reimbursement of the aforementioned indemnity. Aristide presented France with a bill – corrected for inflation and with 5 percent interest compounded. The bill, still outstanding, totals $21 billion.
For the time being, President Aristide lives in South Africa. Aristide’s party, Lavalas, has once again been forced underground. Even so, it insists there can be no elections in Haiti without the return of its president and the democratic constitutional order he embodies.
In the 1990s, Ed Kinane worked in Haiti with Peace Brigades International. Email him at edkinane@a-znet.com. This commentary was originally published by www.MinutemanMedia.org.
---------------------------
What you can do:
Visit Haiti Action Net to learn more.
Visit the Democracy Now! to learn more about the July 6th massacre.
Keep an eye on the Canada Haiti Action website, for upcoming protests and information.
Sunday
Friday
i heart gorillas
I love going to the Toronto Zoo just to see the gorillas.
However, there aren't many left in the wild.
They are gentle, intelligent creatures.
Scientific Classification:Animalia Chordata Mammalia Primates Hominidae Gorilla [gorilla/beringei].
Since they are so much like us, perhaps we need to rethink and improve our relationship with them and other primates.
However, there aren't many left in the wild.
They are gentle, intelligent creatures.
Scientific Classification:Animalia Chordata Mammalia Primates Hominidae Gorilla [gorilla/beringei].
Since they are so much like us, perhaps we need to rethink and improve our relationship with them and other primates.
the big T
I went to Toronto. Then I came back.
First supper was at Spring Rolls. It was very yummy, but I don't recommend the Pad Thai. I do recommend the Thai Iced Tea.
Torontonians aren't good pedestrians.
I like these little pieces. Probably not hoi polloi enough to be considered artsy, though. But they make me laugh.
The proof I was there:
We explored the St. Lawrence Market.
First supper was at Spring Rolls. It was very yummy, but I don't recommend the Pad Thai. I do recommend the Thai Iced Tea.
Torontonians aren't good pedestrians.
I like these little pieces. Probably not hoi polloi enough to be considered artsy, though. But they make me laugh.
The proof I was there:
We explored the St. Lawrence Market.
art
We went to the Art Gallery of Ontario. And we were disappointed.
Granted, they were under major reconstruction, so our timing was completely off. However, we were in Toronto, so to the Art Gallery we must go.
We didn't enjoy it.
First, you must know, that we had been plagued by roaming groups of screaming children during our stay in Toronto. So it did not surprise us to see, at 10am, there there was a large group of screaming children entering the Gallery.
Second, despite the major reconstruction and the ensuing closure of most of the gallery, the ticket prices remained the same, at $8. Nik had high hopes, so we forked over that money. To see the special exhibit, the Shape of Colour, they wanted an extra $10 per person. We were getting very low on funds, so we declined this special offer.
Third, it turned out that it was a "white guys" museum. You know -- the people with the passes to get behind the closed doors were white guys, the featured artists were white guys, the featured artists in the gift store were white guys, and there was a lot of "naked chick as art piece" pieces of art done by white guys. And the stereotypes played even further -- the coat check person was a white female, the people at the ticket counter were white females, and the security staff were all non-white men.
The visit lasted less than an hour. At least they had nice washrooms.
Granted, they were under major reconstruction, so our timing was completely off. However, we were in Toronto, so to the Art Gallery we must go.
We didn't enjoy it.
First, you must know, that we had been plagued by roaming groups of screaming children during our stay in Toronto. So it did not surprise us to see, at 10am, there there was a large group of screaming children entering the Gallery.
Second, despite the major reconstruction and the ensuing closure of most of the gallery, the ticket prices remained the same, at $8. Nik had high hopes, so we forked over that money. To see the special exhibit, the Shape of Colour, they wanted an extra $10 per person. We were getting very low on funds, so we declined this special offer.
Third, it turned out that it was a "white guys" museum. You know -- the people with the passes to get behind the closed doors were white guys, the featured artists were white guys, the featured artists in the gift store were white guys, and there was a lot of "naked chick as art piece" pieces of art done by white guys. And the stereotypes played even further -- the coat check person was a white female, the people at the ticket counter were white females, and the security staff were all non-white men.
The visit lasted less than an hour. At least they had nice washrooms.
Saturday
vacation - day one
After not being able to sleep in at all, and after Nik took the dogs for a two hour walk, we decided to walk to Strathcona Park. We did, after stopping at a florist's shop to order flowers for someone whose birthday is this Monday. And after the coffee shop. I had never before been to Strathcona Park.
It had a washroom, which is the only positive thing I can say. Yes, it has a nice view, but the neighbourhood is all ritzy.
Anyway, we stopped at Perfection, Satisfaction, Promise for lunch. We both had the baked potatoes: Nik had his with veggies with cheese sauce AND chili; I had mine with tamari-basted tofu AND pesto-sour cream. Yummy!
We then continued to Mags'n'Fags to browse the magazines, then we headed home. (Oh, Santa Claus was at the Christmas Store -- very scary!) We realized when we returned home that we completely forgot to stop at the Byward Market to pick up some fresh berries. Oh well, that's something we can do tomorrow.
Upon our return, I had a delicious little nap. Afterwards, I chatted online with some friends, and planned our trip to Toronto.
And now here we are! A slow, relaxing day.
It had a washroom, which is the only positive thing I can say. Yes, it has a nice view, but the neighbourhood is all ritzy.
Anyway, we stopped at Perfection, Satisfaction, Promise for lunch. We both had the baked potatoes: Nik had his with veggies with cheese sauce AND chili; I had mine with tamari-basted tofu AND pesto-sour cream. Yummy!
We then continued to Mags'n'Fags to browse the magazines, then we headed home. (Oh, Santa Claus was at the Christmas Store -- very scary!) We realized when we returned home that we completely forgot to stop at the Byward Market to pick up some fresh berries. Oh well, that's something we can do tomorrow.
Upon our return, I had a delicious little nap. Afterwards, I chatted online with some friends, and planned our trip to Toronto.
And now here we are! A slow, relaxing day.
Thursday
Monday
My grandfather recently won this award:
It's because he discovered the Furbish's Lousewart growing along a river in New Brunswick. Because of his find, this little plant's environment is being protected. In fact, it's rediscovery in 1975 by my grandfather halted the construction of a dam.
It's because he discovered the Furbish's Lousewart growing along a river in New Brunswick. Because of his find, this little plant's environment is being protected. In fact, it's rediscovery in 1975 by my grandfather halted the construction of a dam.
Saturday
silliness at work
I know I can be silly. It really comes out at work, where I'm surrounded by sadness and suffering. I'm prone to bouts of black humour.
One day last week, I received a phone call from an upset tourist about an injured ground hog at the National Art Gallery of Canada. "Where is it?" I asked. "In between the giant spider and a wall near the garden," he replied, his cell phone crackling.
I radioed the driver. "Injured groundhog at the NAG," I said. "I'm about thirty seconds from your desk," Emily radioed back. "I'll come get the information."
I pulled up the Maman webcam, and showed Emily exactly where to go. "I'll get a screen capture of you," I said, jokingly.
Emily is a good sport -- she stopped and radioed us in front of the spider to let us know her location and to give us a chance to get a good shot. (She's the one in the front, right of centre, holding a carrier covered by a pink blanket.)
One day last week, I received a phone call from an upset tourist about an injured ground hog at the National Art Gallery of Canada. "Where is it?" I asked. "In between the giant spider and a wall near the garden," he replied, his cell phone crackling.
I radioed the driver. "Injured groundhog at the NAG," I said. "I'm about thirty seconds from your desk," Emily radioed back. "I'll come get the information."
I pulled up the Maman webcam, and showed Emily exactly where to go. "I'll get a screen capture of you," I said, jokingly.
Emily is a good sport -- she stopped and radioed us in front of the spider to let us know her location and to give us a chance to get a good shot. (She's the one in the front, right of centre, holding a carrier covered by a pink blanket.)
Sunday
nigerian prince
GQ article
Read the story of Minnesota banker Marty Johnson, who looked into his past and found wlecomed surprises.
Read the story of Minnesota banker Marty Johnson, who looked into his past and found wlecomed surprises.
Saturday
moxie loves her blue ball
My dog is insane.
She goes insane over big bouncy balls.
She starts to pant in the brachicephalic-dog kind of way. And she tries to hump the ball. While it rolls away from her. She makes us laugh.
She goes insane over big bouncy balls.
She starts to pant in the brachicephalic-dog kind of way. And she tries to hump the ball. While it rolls away from her. She makes us laugh.
Friday
beautiful picture
I probably shouldn't steal photos from the internet, but here's this beauty:
Haitian women seek shelter under an umbrella and a tree in Les Cayes, Haiti, during a rainstorm caused by Hurricane Dennis on Thursday, July 7, 2005.
Photo: Ramon Espinosa/AP
It's almost like an impressionist's painting, it's so misty and dreamlike.
Haitian women seek shelter under an umbrella and a tree in Les Cayes, Haiti, during a rainstorm caused by Hurricane Dennis on Thursday, July 7, 2005.
Photo: Ramon Espinosa/AP
It's almost like an impressionist's painting, it's so misty and dreamlike.
clean air?
If I had the energy I would hyperlink to a trite news article about the US and their lack of concern for the environment. But I don't -- so you'll have to go to news.google.ca and search for it yourself.
Wednesday
i can be so juvenile
The Facts about Farts
A favourite quote:
Do even movie stars fart?
Yes, of course. So do grandmothers, priests, kings, presidents, opera singers, beauty queens, and nuns. Even Yoda farts.
A favourite quote:
Do even movie stars fart?
Yes, of course. So do grandmothers, priests, kings, presidents, opera singers, beauty queens, and nuns. Even Yoda farts.
Tuesday
Oak Island
Oak Island is up for sale. (Only $7million.)
CBC News article
Wikipedia's Oak Island entry
Skeptical Enquirer's article
the Unmuseum article
If anyone wants to go in on buying it with me, send me an email!
CBC News article
Wikipedia's Oak Island entry
Skeptical Enquirer's article
the Unmuseum article
If anyone wants to go in on buying it with me, send me an email!
the fun part of my job
The fun part of my job is seeing normally far away things up close. Like this belted King Fisher:
(Her eyes look really weird because the picture was taken with one of those preventing-red-eye flashes, that gives off a "pre-flash" before the real flash. It's just her eyelids half-shut.)
It's a female belted King Fisher. I don't know how to age them, so I don't know how old she is. She's lethargic, and is being sent to the Wild Bird Care Centre to be rehabilitated. Rest assured, she's going to be ok. I've only ever once seen a king fisher in the wild, so to see one up close is an amazing experience.
(Her eyes look really weird because the picture was taken with one of those preventing-red-eye flashes, that gives off a "pre-flash" before the real flash. It's just her eyelids half-shut.)
It's a female belted King Fisher. I don't know how to age them, so I don't know how old she is. She's lethargic, and is being sent to the Wild Bird Care Centre to be rehabilitated. Rest assured, she's going to be ok. I've only ever once seen a king fisher in the wild, so to see one up close is an amazing experience.
Monday
four leaf clovers
In honour of HJC's 31st birthday yesterday, I will boringly recount my experiences with four leaf clovers.
HJC and I must have been about 5 or 6 when we dedicated a day to hunting for four leaf clovers. I remember the boredom of wasting an afternoon pacing across other people's lawns, and the disappointment of the failed quest. But I do remember the surprise a few days later, while being forced to play outfield in a bad game of neighbourhood baseball, of glancing down while sitting dejectedly in the grass and spotting an honest to goodness four leaf clover.
Since that day, I've been haunted by the accursed things. Throughout the summer months, no matter where I am or where I'm wandering, I can't escape them. It's like they send me telepathic messages: "Over here! Look down over here!" (It helped to have been forced to stand in the outfield during gym class baseball games. None of the guys would let me catch a ball -- what else was I to do?) There hasn't been a summer since that I haven't found at least one of these so called good luck charms.
The bible I received as a high school graduation gift from my church is full of them.
By the way, I loved baseball as a kid. I loved to spend Sunday afternoons with my dad while he watched a "game." I loved to play baseball in the backyard -- I couldn't catch or throw very well, but I could always be counted on to whack the ball pretty hard. (Unless I got sly and surprised everyone by bunting.) And I could run. But gym classes of junior high school and high school, with the overly-serious jocks trying to show off their abilities, completely destroyed my love for the sport.
Damn jocks.
HJC and I must have been about 5 or 6 when we dedicated a day to hunting for four leaf clovers. I remember the boredom of wasting an afternoon pacing across other people's lawns, and the disappointment of the failed quest. But I do remember the surprise a few days later, while being forced to play outfield in a bad game of neighbourhood baseball, of glancing down while sitting dejectedly in the grass and spotting an honest to goodness four leaf clover.
Since that day, I've been haunted by the accursed things. Throughout the summer months, no matter where I am or where I'm wandering, I can't escape them. It's like they send me telepathic messages: "Over here! Look down over here!" (It helped to have been forced to stand in the outfield during gym class baseball games. None of the guys would let me catch a ball -- what else was I to do?) There hasn't been a summer since that I haven't found at least one of these so called good luck charms.
The bible I received as a high school graduation gift from my church is full of them.
By the way, I loved baseball as a kid. I loved to spend Sunday afternoons with my dad while he watched a "game." I loved to play baseball in the backyard -- I couldn't catch or throw very well, but I could always be counted on to whack the ball pretty hard. (Unless I got sly and surprised everyone by bunting.) And I could run. But gym classes of junior high school and high school, with the overly-serious jocks trying to show off their abilities, completely destroyed my love for the sport.
Damn jocks.
Sunday
smells of the morning
I wish I could share with you, dear reader, the smells I enjoy. The limitations of technology mean I can only share words, pictures, and (awkwardly) some sounds with you. I can't convey the world of smells that my super-sniffer nose enjoys.
Take, for example, this morning.
The smell of a peach. A peach offers a textile pleasure while enjoying its smell. Hold the peach against your upper lip and nose. Close your eyes. Breathe deep the round, fruity perfume. Let your lips explore the fuzzy exterior. Appreciate the eons of history and evolution that led to this exact, perfect moment: from slime came this beautiful fruit; from slime came this beautiful person with amazing sensory capabilities. This is being alive.
Also, the smell of summertime dew. I don't have the words to describe it -- but climb out of bed early some sunny dawn and stand in the clean coolness of the fresh day. Inhale the morning smells. Feel the greenness of the growing things invade your body and invigorate your blood. If only we could bottle this experience.
Take, for example, this morning.
The smell of a peach. A peach offers a textile pleasure while enjoying its smell. Hold the peach against your upper lip and nose. Close your eyes. Breathe deep the round, fruity perfume. Let your lips explore the fuzzy exterior. Appreciate the eons of history and evolution that led to this exact, perfect moment: from slime came this beautiful fruit; from slime came this beautiful person with amazing sensory capabilities. This is being alive.
Also, the smell of summertime dew. I don't have the words to describe it -- but climb out of bed early some sunny dawn and stand in the clean coolness of the fresh day. Inhale the morning smells. Feel the greenness of the growing things invade your body and invigorate your blood. If only we could bottle this experience.
Saturday
it's saturday night
It's Saturday night and I'm too tired to post.
Here's my top ten reasons for not poking my eyes out with a stick:
1. It would really really hurt.
2. Poking the first eye would be easy, but the second eye would be very hard to do.
3. I'd rather be deaf than blind.
4. The eyes would get infected.
5. Nik would dump me for someone who could appreciate his artwork.
6. Enkidu could trip me and cause me to break my neck from a fall down the stairs.
7. Who would clean up the mess?
8. They'd force me to take therapy.
9. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a carton of milk and a carton of orange juice.
10. Reading wouldn't be as much fun.
Here's my top ten reasons for not poking my eyes out with a stick:
1. It would really really hurt.
2. Poking the first eye would be easy, but the second eye would be very hard to do.
3. I'd rather be deaf than blind.
4. The eyes would get infected.
5. Nik would dump me for someone who could appreciate his artwork.
6. Enkidu could trip me and cause me to break my neck from a fall down the stairs.
7. Who would clean up the mess?
8. They'd force me to take therapy.
9. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a carton of milk and a carton of orange juice.
10. Reading wouldn't be as much fun.
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