The Country Edition

Well the move went very smoothly thanks to tons of help from friends and family. Despite the rain and cold last weekend, we loaded up in Toronto and unloaded in Georgetown to the tune of about 7 hours. Things are still a frightful mess here and we've had our share of fun new homeowner finds like an oven that shot sparks out and set off the smoke detector, a bathroom sink that doesn't want to drain NOR give us cold water, and a bedroom with two sliding glass doors that likes to pretend I'm a giant baked potato (I've taken to sleeping downstairs where it is cooler and less...oh I don't know HELLISHLY FREAKING HOT- the good news is as long as the oven is on the fritz we can safely cook baked goods in the bedroom from 10am-2pm!). We are working on these problems :) Also I seem unable to decide exactly where my desk should go in my office, luckily I have the non-felonious Martha Stewart (aka Shelley) to help direct me in the proper set up of desk, computer and bookshelves. I threw all the books up on the shelves with no attention really to organization which leaves the King James Bible wedged between Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban and a collection of reviews by Roger Ebert- librarians throughout the world shudder. Shell has managed to make it through the commute for a few days. It's a little tricky for her but she's a good scout. The weather here in the Greater Toronto Area has been really hot and humid which has played havoc with my senses at work. Here's what happens- The loading dock gets a fair bit warmer than normal and when the doors to the freezer open, the warm steam hits the ceiling releasing the frost build-up creating SNOW!!! It is quite a remarkable sight. This weekend Shell and I will be pricing a new kitchen and also seeing the movie Troy (the odds are 3 to 1 that my wife will enjoy the Home Depot trip far better but she's kooky that way). All in all things are going well at the new digs! We look to have lots of you visit over the course of our stay (don't forget to try the veal and tip your waiters and waitresses). This weeks deeper thought: Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc (after it therefore because of it). Cause and Effect, the study of how things relate to one another, the basis of logical reasoning. However there's a flaw in there somewhere because things sometimes happen for reasons we cannot understand OR for reasons that are far more complex than on the surface. The case in point is the recent murder of Nick Berg at the hands of Al-Qaeda thugs, who claimed it was a retaliation for the prisoner abuses. There have been way too many voices this week with tacitly apologizing for the actions of Berg's killers. In effect, the more people lend credence to those stated "reasons" the more they give them validity. Berg wasn't executed because prisoners were abused. He was murdered because he was an American. He was murdered because he had a Jewish sounding name (and perhaps was Jewish). He was murdered (and it was displayed for all the world to see) because the true aim of the band of terrorists is to make Americans cower and bend to will of Al-Qaeda. Vietnam, Beirut, Somalia- all have served as test cases for the theoretical means to "defeat" America. This was the real reason for Berg's public slaughter. The war on terror is a war on fanaticism. Sadly there have and always will be fanatics, therefore there is likely always to be a war on terror. No real amount of American military might will ever be able to beat back that fanaticism because it exists in the hearts of and minds of the fanatics. Sure, we can take measures to make us safer, but it will always linger. In the case of radical Islam, the battle must really be waged by other Muslims, who take a stand against terrorists hiding behind scripture. Can they do it? Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, the Taliban, Saddam Hussein, Yasser Arafat...this is the legacy of Arab Muslim inaction. While I sound this deeply pessimistic tone I point out a scenario of hope that Iraq is slowly, without realizing it, gaining some small measures of democratic freedoms. Democracy and liberty, though every person's birthright, is something that must be preciously guarded and rigidly cultivated. While at the moment it seems only the bad seeds are being planted, there are good ones as well. Time is our only salvation. Cheers Ron