Aid for Pakistan? It's Complicated

It's time to get back to doing things I love - exploring housing needs in a changing world.

Just look at what is happening in Pakistan. A fifth of the country is washing away down the Swat River system. Whole cities, not to mention the main agricultural land, hundreds of centuries old villages, roads, railway systems - just gone! When flooding stops, the problems will really begin. Given the world's ever-shortening attention span, once the countryside dries up, all those millions of people will continue to need support, housing, potable and reliable water, roads, railways, bridges, sanitation, electricity, and it will all need to be long-term support.

The land is gone, the soil has washed away - yes, frequently because of very poor land management practices - all the more reason for international organizations, both governmental and NGO, to insist on accountability from the Pakistani government, such as it is, for any and all monies, goods and services the rest of the world sends its way. And given that the Pakistani government consists of wealthy landowners and business leaders (dynastic), the same ones who own the devastated landscape and all the lives within it, there is little reason to doubt the scepticism expressed by some of my Pakistani friends now living in Canada who are reluctant to send funding and aid 'home' since they are quite sure it will go straight into the private pockets of the wealthy castes.

I wish all those poor people all the best in their struggles to stay alive - can't help being sceptical, myself.

Regardless, there are millions of lives at stake - if you can find a way to help even one person, please do so.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Pakistan_floods

Thoughts on the American Elections: One Canadian's Perspective

Since 9/11 I have followed the news from the US with trepidation and, I admit some fearfulness.

Shock, denial, paranoia, abject fear, a closing up of the psyche, reactionary attitudes and terrible aggression. But I've also watched as more & more Americans have taken the time to really learn about the rest of the world, too. Travelling to other countries, reading more about themselves as others view them, taking the time to examine the issues from a different perspective, become in turn frightened, frustrated then angry as they realize how they have been used, manipulated and denied more and more freedom in their own country by those in elected office and those with enormous corporate power.

And the result is a new willingness to take power back into their own hands. To not allow their fears to paralyze and dictate an empty arrogance in the face of internal and external disapproval and economic chaos.

Yesterday I watched with admiration as democracy was taken back and used, by the majority, for the good of all. I'm not saying that either Mr. Obama or Mr. McCain should have won or lost. I am saying that I now have some admiration again for the American people as a nation. They have accepted that change is necessary and that their voices and actions have come through loud and clear.

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