Litui.Net

PeaceCalgary is holding an anti-war rally on February 15. A good idea and all if it were in a place sure to get media attention. At present, it looks like it’s being held at Millennium Park which isn’t exactly a prime media location but I suppose it’s decent for a large gathering.

What exactly is this rally supposed to be for? A large group of people gathering in one place to oppose the looming war I suppose… but the rally part of it… if these people are already opposed to war, isn’t it just preaching to the choir?

I may drop by and have a look, but I sure hope it doesn’t sit at the same level of hypocrisy as the G8 Protests. If I get there and see a bunch of hate-mongering angry leftists and anarchists, I’ll have nothing to do with it.

I can state that over the past two days I’ve seen much commotion in downtown Calgary but not much in the way of protesters. As far as shutting down G8 goes, it’s an admirable dream but not going to happen. What can be hoped for is that such groups as the G6B are successful in bringing useful propositions to the G8 leaders. Perhaps future elections of leaders who give a damn about Africa and starving nations would benefit such summits. So far what I’ve seen is a small number of anti-capitalists, anarchists, and independent citizens opposing elected leaders in “democratic” countries. Such indicates something far more wrong with the system than a single conference.

If people around want to protest I’m sure the groups will welcome the extra help, but don’t go and do anything illegal or stupid. You can do very little to help others from jail. Use the system. Make yourself aware. It’s apathy that gets us into a situation of having leaders who don’t represent the views of the people. Make others aware. Teach them, inform them. Become politically active, form watchdog parties/organizations, learn other languages and visit other places. Knowledge is power. The G8 leaders didn’t get into their positions by throwing themselves in front of trains, getting naked in front of The Gap or trying to blockade cities with human chains. They used the system and changed it to suit their needs. I know there are millions of people out there more brilliant than any of the G8 politicians who are easily capable of making the system work to the advantage of the world. The system isn’t so broken that it can’t be mended through the effort of bright minds. Educate the people, elect a government that represents the beliefs of more than 30% of the people, hold the corporations responsible as it is your right and duty as the consumer to do, and do not risk your life for foolish short term hopes. Nothing comes without effort.

Yesterday afternoon, in spite of a splitting headache, I went to the Public Library downtown. The guards there were making daytime rounds. I renewed my card, grabbed a couple books on esperanto (they had a few books anyway…nothing for materials written in the language, however) and walked to the building where I do my once a week consulting in order to grab some water and fix a firewall issue quickly. Along the way, I spotted two security guards picking on some skateboarders at James Short Parkade. Not entirely out of the ordinary.

I entered the building using my swipe card (as the building is now locked down), met with 3 new security guards and had to sign in before I could hit the elevators, all of them giving me suspicious looks the while.

I got upstairs, had some water, and relaxed a bit in an attempt to ease my throbbing head. As one of the guards doing his rounds wandered down our corridor, we got to chatting a bit. Apparantly he’s a fire spinner/eater when he’s not keeping buildings safe from pesky terrorists. Cool. As is expected at this time, the security firm he works for is growing at an incredible rate and always looking for people. Good to know.

After fixing the problem, I went back to the lobby and signed out. There were now 4 guards sitting at the entrance including Fire Eater. Silly. While waiting for the train moments later, I noted that 4 guards were making rounds of the perimeter of TD Square. Wonder how many in total are on payroll there at the moment.

By the time I got home, my head was in a disastrous state. I tried to sleep for a couple hours with both my head throbbing and my stomach churning. When I woke up I locked myself into the washroom and prayed to the porcelain god, at which point what little I had eaten found a way to no longer be in my stomach. My head still hurt. I went to bed again, only to get up once more to grace the bowl with my presence and more foul output (from where, I don’t know since I was pretty sure I’d been emptied on the last go-round). At this point enough was enough and in spite of my dislike of drugs, I yoinked one of my roommate’s Extra Strength Tylenols, went to bed and eventually fell asleep. It was a pretty shitty night all in all.