Boston

One day, two young men - residents of Boston, Massachusetts - decided they would go into the city center and kill some people.  As many people as possible. There was a marathon sporting event being held that day and many had come to enjoy the event. Men, women and children. The young men took home made bombs and placed them where they thought the most people could be maimed, injured or killed. In fact, three were killed, hundreds were injured. Some lost their legs, some lost their arms. Later on, the two killed a policeman. They bragged that they had achieved all their goals. Kill a policeman, check. Kill a child, check. Kill a woman, check. Thrilled by their achievement, they planned to travel to New York City next and continue their spree. As it happened, they were tracked down. The older brother was killed in a firefight with the police. The younger was caught, convicted of murder and now faces either life in prison or the death penalty.

And so we face the question in America of whether the death penalty is right, just as Indonesia has recently faced the same question.

The only way I can find of answering this question in my own mind is to very honestly ask myself whether I could face any of the victims - mother's of the deceased, fathers, brothers and sisters, strong young men who are now crippled for life, young women whose future has been cursed forever by the careless, twisted acts of these killers - to ask, in my heart of hearts, whether I could tell any of them, face to face, that the person who planned and coldly carried out their ruination should be spared from death.

And I conclude that I could not. I cannot. It was the young men themselves who decided their fate when they decided to murder innocents. It is not yet known whether the State will or will not be merciful. What is known, however, is that these two were not.

The Old Men's League

A meeting today of the League of Old Men, attended by representatives from four nations, Australia, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia and the USA (not otherwise known as 'the big four') resulted in no agreements, decisions nor recommendations for the future. The meeting took place at JCO Donuts, in Sanur, Bali. Local and international issues were discussed one by one in no very intelligible way until, at last, the meeting was adjourned due to the threat of rain. In a general sense, Switzerland remained doggedly neutral while Czechoslovakia struck a position of stubborn irritation (probably due to stomach discomfort). The representative from the USA was of the general frame of mind that a rousing chorus of Yankee Doodle would probably be most helpful in every case, which was countered by Australia's conviction that cloves of raw garlic, chewed, can counteract most any ill (whose representative then fell asleep). More meetings are planned for the future, subject to the weather, and old men from other countries are welcome to attend. Coffee is served, compliments of JCO (for Rp. 26000).

Just a heads up to support movie about one woman's struggle with MS. See teaser below.


Please view the extended trailer for PC594 here.

Circle K

Five boys roll up to the Circle K on two motorbikes. I'd say the oldest is 10. Two of them are wearing dark glasses. I didn't notice whether they were driving or not. It's about 8 o'clock at night and it's raining lightly. Three more show up on another bike. They all gather at the table next to the door. Not one of the eight has a helmet, although they are all wearing hats. Because it's raining. Someone in the little warung next door is playing a guitar that is in dire need of tuning, as is his own heart-filled crooning. The air is filled with the scent of strange spices and the trill and rattle of Balinese slang. I look up from my little story and notice that there are a number of flies swimming in my coffee. Time to go home.

Fluoxetine

Having read that fluoxetine, aka prozac, may slow the progression of MS, I started taking it some days ago at a dosage of 20 mg per day. One cannot know, in the short term, whether it is slowing progression, but I did become immediately aware that it seems to have significantly quieted the ringing in my ears and also chased away the severe daily headaches - two unanticipated benefits. I also picked up some plain old ibuprofen, which seems to deal fairly well with milder headaches. So I'm feeling much more comfortable these days and able to function much better, rather than just sitting at home with an icepack on my head. 

Lies

For a long time now, a lie has been circulated on the conspiracy theory sites to the effect that no Jews died in the attack on the WTC. The intent of the lie is to somehow implicate Israel in the attack. However, this is simply not true. One can easily discover the truth for oneself by simply looking it up online. In fact, more than 370 Jews died in the buildings. You can find their names, photographs and short biographies.

Benefits

The great thing about having MS is that you can re-read a book or re-watch a movie, and it's always like the first time you've seen it.