Shakira recorded the track "Timor", on her latest album, in a protest against the lack of media coverage on the problems there. We know she can shake her hips and sing like an angel, but that isn't the motivation for this entry. We (Australia) have deployed troops once again to stop the massive carnage in which many many innocent people are subject to all kinds of abuses. In short, the war torn country has erupted into chaos due to the perceived lack of proper distribution of power throughout the country, and the sacking of 600 troops, in which some, were on strike. (Note to the PM, Mari Alkatiri. It is a seriously bad idea to fire 40% of the military. Give your head a shake.) Hundreds of well organized protesters arrived in a convoy of over 40 buses and trucks to negotiate with the defence minister and to demand the PM be fired within 48 hours or more violence would ensue. 
Now let us step back a bit. This is not the first time violence has flared in this region. East Timor, on the 28th of November, 1975 declared independence from Portugal. Nine days later, Indonesia invaded and occupied it. Eight months later, it became a province of Indonesia. A short time of resistance was expected, but it actually lasted nearly 2 decades. Allegedly, the vast majority of the 100-250 thousand people who lost their lives, were slaughtered by Indonesian troops in an effort to stem the rebellion. Finally, in 1999 the UN intervened. Why would it take 20 years? Well....
What was news in the late seventies? I can tell you the Cold War was in full swing. The space shuttle had a few successful missions and one short one. Charles and Diana married then divorced. The Berlin Wall fell. Diana died. There were many sexier events going on than worrying about some small impoverished area which was experiencing war. But but wait there is more....
Everyone likes to hear about backroom deals.
It seems there was one in this case. Suharto, the Indonesian PM did seek council from the US. Lets be serious here. Some tin pot nobody wants to have a meeting with the President of the United States of America. "Yeah, okay, send him in. What is his name again?" Yeah right. President Gerald Ford and Henry Kissinger met with him the day before the invasion. Why? Because Indonesia "helped" against the big bad Ruskies during the Cold War. A so called "policy of silence" was advised. "It is important that whatever you do succeeds quickly," Kissinger said to Suharto. The green light was given. A slight footnote.... the weapons in the conflict were Made in America. One Billion dollars is the estimated revenue spent on the endeavor by Indonesia to acquire weapons and training, provided by Uncle Psam... whoops I mean Sam.Now let us go about a quarter step further back. It has been alleged, by some, that Australia helped train the East Timor troops to withstand the pressure against the Indo's. Lets be serious now, how could a war go on for 20 years if the other side wasn't getting weapons too.
Another couple of notes. It seems there is a boundary dispute between East Timor and Australia about some sea beds which contain oil. Amazingly enough it has been agreed to equally share the revenues for the next 5o years.
Australia donated 1 Billion dollars to Indonesia after they bore the brunt of the Tsunami.
Talk about diplomacy.
Now to finish up...Did Billy Joel's song ( we didnt' start the fire ) feature Timor? And ending up back where we started.... what country does the seemingly, short, small siren, Shakira come from?
Sea... see...is for Calculus. Chanks. end. full stop.
16 comments:
Shakira comes from Barranquilla, Colombia.
As for the rest, I will have to think on it.
AV
no,, the word Tinor is not mentioned in the song, could it have been elluded to, of course.
It's amazing how we as ppl pick our friends, we can't pick our family but we chose our friends. Look at them, why do you like them? The world is no different, each country picks it's Allies for certain reasons, something to gain is the name of the game.
Just like we as a human race can turn a blind eye to certain events b/c we just don't want to deal with it, the world can and does the same. Each country's leader for some reason or other appears to acknowledge or deny everything that is happening in todays world, and each country has their reasoning for feeling this way.
It reminds me of some boards games Axis and Allies, along with Risk and I think Diplomacy as well. It's all about the world and who are friends and who are not friends.... in the game you can play and pretend but it's still going on in a larger scale in todays world.
Like I said you can pick your friends but you can't pick your family, but we would all fight for our family........
Actually Tara,
the saying goes like this:
You can pick your friends...
AND!....
You can pick your nose...
BUT......
You CAN'T pick your friend's nose.
Any bats in the cave?
oh darn,, but I will let you in on a lil secret....sssshhhhhh!!!
*peeks over shoulder to ensure no one is looking or listening, then whispers* but you can pick your kids noses....sssshhhhh don't tell k?!?
teeee heee heeeee
C is for cookie
C is for Calculus
C is for {a + bi : a,b ∈ R}.
No Billy Joel's song ( we didnt' start the fire ) did not feature Timor. It features the world. History repeating itself over and over. Same mess different pile.
Psam seems alittle quiet on this one.
Psam, should there be soldiers sent into this conflict from outside countries? Or do we let Indonesia and Timor co-exist?
bench, it sounds like you know better than I about what is the right way to handle this problem. I think you might agree with me that praying for them accomplishes more than sending in military, I believe you're a strongly religious man, so the power of prayer should be evident to you, as the futility of military exploits is evident to me.
NEWBIE!! WHERE did you find the means to produce symbolic group theory in the text available on this website?!?! That's BRILLIANT!! c squared equals a squared plus 2abi minus b squared. N'est-ce pas?
TARA!! PLEASE give me a way to stop my gut from hurting after laughing at your last comment!! That was BRILLIANT!! chankslee they both deserve extra points for those entries.
Oh I forgot to mention! I wanted to tell everybody here I finally got a chance to get out and see the Da Vinci Code! Good times, baby, it's the best movie I've seen since Ghostbusters.
glad that I made you laugh :D
but it's true
Psam, Good Point! The Power of Prayer. It's hard to see the big picture. WW2 millions of innocent jews died, why? An innocent man was hung on the Cross. This man I believe was the Son of God but he was cruely slain. What's my point?
My point is I don't see the big picture, I don't have all the answers. Maybe there is a higher purpose to some events. Maybe prayer won't stop someone from suffering.
I believe in God but I also believe there is a devil and that we all have a thing called human nature. Good vs Bad, could it be that simple? Psam, I think our difference of opinion stems from the fact that you feel humanity can co-exist. There is good and love in all of us. I don't put faith in mankind. There are some who try to do the right thing, but there are others who are only out to serve themselves. My reaction to human suffering is to stop it.
When things like ethnic cleaning exist I think we have a duty as fellow human to stop it. Military is about the only option I can see. Human life means nothing to people like that. I sure the people being wiped out would appreciate military intervention.
Good afternoon all, I'm hoping that this entry goes through as 2 that i have sent got lost in space and the blog was down the other day. I have a tendency to believe somehow the world could co exist, how, I don't know. I still believe teaching our children love and respect for mankind is a start. Far too often I see children that are misguided and cynical because of something they were taught. A huge part of schools circulum today still focuses on war and suffering, when I think there are so many other events that have shaped the world in a positive way that they know nothing about. Our children have become immune to human suffering, even violence on tv does not faze them. Perhaps I am naive in my thinking but I can only hope that eventually there will be more people that think like me. I have talked to many people through the years that come from different countries and backgrounds and their thoughts on war scare me, I will never see the good in bombing countries, watching mothers bury their children and listening to the government go on about how these soldiers are heros.....they are dead, tomorrow another soldier will be killed and the wars will continue with little thought to these people. I respect differences in opinions but I don't have to agree or like them, doesnt mean they are wrong though, just like many will not agree with mine.
Hope everyone is having a great day!
Deb, can I borrow those rose colored glasses?
Have you ever been in a grocery store and seen an undisciplined child throw a temper tantrum because he thought his parents should buy him a candy bar or whatever and has refused to take NO for an answer?
Our government has taken away our parental rights along with the capabilities to teach our children to respect us and others.
To discipline your child is to show them love.
Well, that's one man's opinion.
Exactly! Discipline your children! When they say they want to join the army, take away their cars. When they say they hope those people in the middle east that hit the World Trade Center get killed, tell them that thousands of other innocent people out there have been killed in the quest to find "those people" and now after years they've only got ONE, and there's STILL just as much violence and suffering expected ANYWAYS, so they can move out of your place and rent on their own.
No matter how you slice it Psam, it all comes down to one thing. Government and the control they have.
If they want to make war then they make war. Why it even boosts the economy.
Edwin Starr -- War. He had the right of it.
Barry McGuire -- Eve of Destruction. 1965 Over 40 years and we haven't learned a thing.
Well, this is my opinion!!!
AV
deb I have no idea how old your children are, but I know mine worry about war and fire and bombings, they have an all too real grasp on death for their young ages. They are only immune to what I dictate they are, after all being one of their prime influences I have the ability to mold and shape their morals and values. A childs personality is developed in their first 5 years of life and if you say they are immune to certain things or don't respond then I am sorry to say you have no one to blame but yourself.......
All a child needs to learn is taught to them by their parents........
Post a Comment