July 9, 2013

• Report # 1020

  Hey everyone, I hope that you’ve all been having a great week so far. It’s hard to believe that tomorrow I’ll already be going back to Vancouver, and then in just four days I’ll be in Mexico again…. the time has just flown by. On Saturday afternoon I went shopping with my grandmother and she actually bought me a brand new pair of running shoes, and a new pair of dress shoes as well, so that was just super nice of her and I was very thankful and happy. The running shoes I’ve been using are from 2006, so I really think it’s about time to retire them. I did buy a pair while I was in Mexico, but they were so cheap they only lasted me a few months. I definitely learned that paying 20 dollars for running shoes was a lousy idea.

  My grandmother had lots of points to use at Shoppers Drug Mart so she could get 80 dollars off or something like that, so I was able to get some items to take to Mexico such as another toothbrush, soap and shampoo. I also bought some maple syrup for a friend, so I’m pretty prepared now in terms of having all the things I need to have to take with me. I will have to see what Air Canada’s limit is on international flights for a carry on luggage, as this time I could take a backpack and fill it up with stuff as well so I don’t have to worry about going over the 50 pound limit.

  I have ran around the golf course everyday since I’ve arrived in Calgary, and it’s a great thing too because obviously I’ve been eating more than I usually eat. On Sunday morning I went with my aunt and grandmother to the Grey Eagle casino, which is one of those super huge and fancy Native run casinos. I have to say, I don’t think anyone runs casinos better than Native people do. The buffet was excellent with so much food, so many different cakes and cookies, and I ate way too much. My grandmother got to play on the slot machines for about an hour and a half and my aunt played as well for a few minutes, so we all had a good time.

  Later in the day I actually ran around the golf course twice as I wanted to compensate for eating so much at the buffet. Some evenings I’ve actually gone out for a walk as well, so I’ve been doing about as much as I can to get exercise. In the evenings I’ve usually been playing cards with my aunt and grandmother. I play rummy with my aunt, which I’ve done exceptionally well at this time, and 31 with my aunt and grandmother. I didn’t win once the other night, but I still think I’m up a few quarters since I arrived. On Sunday night my aunt and I went with her friend to Mount Royal University to see a performance of Shakespeare in the park, Romeo & Juliet.

  I think this might have been the first time in my life I’d actually seen a  Shakespeare play, so it was very cool. While I was in highschool I did read A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth and Hamlet, so I was somewhat familiar with Shakespeare, but all of this of course has now been over 10 years ago ! The show was supposed to be on Prince’s Island, but do to the flooding, they moved the show to an outdoor ampitheatre at the university. It was a nice, sunny, and warm evening, in a great venue, and everyone enjoyed the show. I can definitely still say though, that Shakespearean really is a language in it’s own, very difficult for the average English speaker to understand.

  Afterwards we drove down to the river to see a pedestrian bridge that had been destroyed by the high waters during the flood. We could see some disposal bins on the streets, debris and mud lying on the curbs, and many trees completely knocked down. It was just more evidence of what had happened here just a couple of weeks ago and how much work it will be to clean up a number of these areas still. The houses on the other side of the river are on such a low level I could actually imagine them being flooded in any given year. Unfortunately the people who chose to live there decided to go for natural beauty over common sense !

  Yesterday I got completely soaked as it was absolutely pouring as I ran around the golf course. It wasn’t so nice, but I wasn’t going to allow the rain to cancel my run. In the afternoon I went shopping with my grandmother, and I later walked up to Tim Hortons to have only the second iced cappuccino since I arrived. I better make sure I enjoy them over these last few days as there certainly aren’t any Tim Hortons in Mexico. Yesterday we had a nice meal of sausages and hashbrowns, and I played some rummy with my aunt before going to bed. Today is 100 % super sunny, and it’s going to be 25 C (77 F) so hopefully we get outside somewhere nice and enjoy the beautiful weather.

  I’ve been reading a lot about Eric Snowden in the past week or two, and it really is a fascinating story. Some of the articles and letters in the paper and on the internet have been highly critical of him, while others are thinking that the US government has overreacted incredibly and what they have done with him has been wrong. Now Mr. Snowden must have been 100 % aware of the situation around Julian Assange, so he couldn’t have been an idiot to expect that absolutely nothing would happen if he were to reveal what he indeed did reveal. Thinking of this guy as a terrorist or a traitor however I think is grossly over-exaggerating, and really not granting the man any of the liberties that any citizen should be granted which are freedom of speech, and innocence before proven guilty.

  I’m not saying that Mr. Snowden was right in revealing all that he did, but certainly some of the information that has come out is deeply troubling and now has the U.S. government in some hot water. When news comes out that the U.S. government was spying on citizens and other countries, that of course is something that will cause great alarm in the world, and of course a lot of foreign leaders, and citizens will be questioning what on earth has been happening. The U.S. government has not handled this situation well by revoking the passport of Mr. Snowden and acting as if he is some world terrorist which clearly is not the case.

  Of course on the other hand, Mr. Snowden is no hero either. He had an important position, was paid a great salary, and with that position came responsibilities and rules, and clearly Mr. Snowden broke certain rules. Understandably there would be a punishment for that sort of thing, but I mean the U.S. government has gone too far in terms of how they are treating this case, and in the end they have just made themselves look pretty silly around the world. I just view this story as one that isn’t black or white and one where people can’t really fully take one side of the story. Mr. Snowden is no hero, but he’s no terrorist either.

  Clearly he won’t have any sort of life if he ever goes back to the U.S. or is handed over to U.S. government authorities, so obviously he has to stick with whatever few options he has left. If he can somehow get there, it sounds like his future will be in either Nicaragua or Venezuela, but it will be very interesting to see what happens. Lessons from this story should be that when we sign up to do a certain job and we agree to certain things, those rules should be followed, unless of course, we strongly in our hearts believe that something very wrong is happening…. and who am I to say, maybe Mr. Snowden truly believed he was doing something noble.

  I don’t know the guy, I don’t know his reasons, and I don’t know what he wanted to get out of all of this, but he obviously knew there would be great risks involved, and he decided to do what he did anyways, so clearly he did feel strongly about what he was doing. Now we got a diplomatic nightmare going on and this is taking the attention away from far more important causes in the world such as poverty, so whatever happens, I hope there is a solution soon. So as I’ve stated above, I’m certainly not saying Eric Snowden is a hero, but this man is no world terrorist, and he hasn’t killed anyone, so people need to put this into perspective here.

  He should still be treated fairly, and since he understands he won’t be given an opportunity for a fair trial in the U.S., he has to try and carry on with his life in another country. I hope countries understand through all of this though that the privacy and sovereignty of nations around the world are of the utmost importance and any abuse of those two things should not be tolerated. And I hope that people like Eric Snowden think long and hard before doing something as he has done, as clearly it creates a lot more headaches than anything else, and no one wants a headache ! For the next question:

  What do you think about Eric Snowden and what he has done ? How should the situation be resolved ?

  Today I will leave you all with some photos from Vancouver. I wish everyone all of the best with everything. Take care and I’ll talk to you all on Friday, bye for now.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  • 1:18 pm
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