A suicide car bomber has killed at least 88 people at a volleyball game in a northwest Pakistan village. A man detonated his vehicle, which was packed with explosives, as fans gathered at a field to watch two local teams in a volleyball tournament in the village of Shah Hasan Khan, in Bannu district, which borders the Taliban stronghold South Waziristan.
More than 20 houses on both sides of the open ground were heavily damaged, some with families inside. The tournament had been organised by the local peace committee, who had supported a government operation to expel militants from the area.
On Friday in North Waziristan district, missiles fired from a US drone air craft killed three suspected militants 15 kilometres east of Miranshah, the main district town close to the Afghan border. It is understood US strikes in Pakistan, have killed at least 662 people since August 2008 and greatly inflame anti-American sentiment in the Muslim nation.
A separate, earlier US drone attack killed four militants in Machikhel village, about 25 kilometres east of Miranshah.
Also on Friday, an anti-Taliban tribal leader and four others were killed in a roadside bomb in Bajaur tribal district, the latest in a wave of attacks against respected elders allied with the government against the extremists.

On this last day of the year 2009, at the edge of the century’s new decade, an old war drags on. Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) are the method of choice for killing in a land-locked Asian country, whose connection to Canada, deepens.  Today our media reflect with us on the death of 4 men and one woman, a journalist described by her colleagues as “curious, open-minded and decent.” Is it too romantic a generalization to think of these qualities as quintessentially Canadian, when we are at our best? Perhaps. Canada as benign versus Canada as a dark place of disappearance and suppression. Canada as banal. Canada as a country whose major cities rarely give up any war dead but whose smaller places since 2002 do just that.

Home towns of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan in 2009 (source: cbc.ca – apologies for any errors)

Cambridge, ON

Edmonton, AB

Edmonton, AB

Yarmouth, NS

Victoria, BC

Calgary, AB

Saskatoon, SK

Loretteville, QC

Chute-A-Blondeau, ON

Beauport, QC

Warwick, QC

Val D’OR, QC

Sept-Iles, QC

Ste. Hyacinthe, QC

Montreal, QC

Saint-Calixte, QC

Peterbourough, ON

Edmunston, NB

Quebec City, QC

Brownsberg-Chatham, QC

Wicklow, ON

Les Mechins, QC

Hearst, ON

Port Colborne, ON

Ripples, NB

Sault Ste. Marie, ON

Mississauga, ON

St. Catherines, ON

Baie-Comeau, QC

Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NFLD

Pinawa, MB

Ottawa, ON

Canadian Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan in 2009: totals by Province

QC       12                               

ON      10

AB       3

BC       1

SK       1

NS       1

NB      2

MB      1

NFLD  1

 I write a collection of prose-poems – fragments that comprise The Canada Project about my birth in Pune and then my journey to Canada, across its provinces: a meditation on the nature of dates, numbers, place names – each of us, carrying inside, our own roll calls. After a year’s procrastination, I begin to read Roberto Bolano’s 2666. More fragments.

A “routine” presence patrol in District 2, Kandahar close to the Dand district, where reporters say Canada has established a “model village.” A friend sends me an email, with this culled news clipping statement: “Witnesses described panic among locals, as Canadian soldiers rushed to secure the area and airlift the victims to medical care. Nevertheless, Brig.- Gen. Menard, commander of coalition forces in Kandahar, declares that Dand remains a “safe area” and expresses confidence that this was an isolated incident.

“Expresses confidence that this was an isolated incident.”

 Those who support our efforts in Afghanistan – from the general to the policy analyst to the veteran reporter to the non-fiction writer – hold opinions that must be placed alongside those of Rory Stewart, writing in the New York Review of Books,

            “We armed militias in 2001, disarmed them …in 2003…rearmed them again in 2006 as community defence forces…we allowed local autonomy in 2001, pushed for a strong central government in 2003, and returned to decentralization in 2006. First we tolerated opium crops; then we proposed to eradicate them through aerial spraying; now we expect to live with production for decades…Through all these bewildering years, a subtle and refined edifice of justification for troop increases has emerged, in which arguments are…reinforced with analogies and precedents.”

Percentage disapprovals for Canada in Afghanistan by province remain highest in Quebec.

From Nik Nanos, in an email to subscribers, December 30, 2009

The Leader with the Best Vision for Canada’s Future

Stephen Harper: 30.0% (-2.3)
Michael Ignatieff: 14.8% (-5.6)
Jack Layton: 14.0% (-0.6)
Gilles Duceppe: 3.4% (-0.6)
Elizabeth May: 2.8% (-0.9)
None of them/Undecided: 34.9% (+10.0)

Leadership Index Score

Stephen Harper: 94.6 (-5.1)
Michael Ignatieff: 39.0 (-15.8)
Jack Layton: 41.2 (+2.3)
Gilles Duceppe: 15.4 (-3.2)
Elizabeth May: 9.7 (-4.3)

 ”Nanos Poll.” http://www.nanosresearch.com/main.asp

See the specific composite of indicators for the “leadership index score”: http://www.nanosresearch.com/library/polls/POLNAT-W09-T408E.pdf

 2002-2009 Canadian Soldiers Killed in A/Stan: totals by year

2009       32

2008       32

2007       30

2006       36

2005       1

2004         1

2003       2

2002       4

Total       138   (see wikipedia for an detailed chart by year of Canadian war dead in Afghanistan)

In 2006, the nature of the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan changed. In 2010, we will continue to ask: what happened and was it worth it, is it worth it? I remain steadfast: we will not be leaving in 2011. I hope to be wrong.

This, from a CF statement:

Four Canadian soldiers and one Canadian reporter embedded with Joint Task Force Afghanistan (JTF-Afg) were killed, while four other Canadian soldiers and one Canadian civilian official were injured in an IED incident in Kandahar province, on Wednesday December 30, 2009.

The incident occurred 4 km south of Kandahar City at approximately 4:00 p.m., Kandahar time, Wednesday afternoon as a result of an improvised explosive device attack on an armoured vehicle during a patrol.

We will not release the names of the soldiers, as notification of next-of-kin is ongoing at this time. Further information on the incident will be provided once this has been completed.

All of the injured personnel were evacuated to the Role 3 Multi-National Medical Facility at Kandahar Airfield. They are undergoing medical examination and treatment, and their names will not be released.

This, from CanWest:

A Canadian journalist and four Canadian soldiers died in Afghanistan on Wednesday in the blast of an improvised explosive device. Calgary Herald reporter Michelle Lang, 34, was on secondment to Canwest News Service and was travelling with a provincial reconstruction team in Kandahar when the attack occurred ….

Condolences to the families, colleagues and friends of the fallen, and hopes for a speedy recovery to the wounded.

Update (1): From a statement from the Governor-General:

This new tragedy, like all those before it, is shocking. It reminds us of the underhanded, blind, daily violence facing our Canadian soldiers, journalists and humanitarian workers in Afghanistan, who are working alongside the local population already hard hit by decades of terror.

Here here.

Remember this?

One more try (this from MERX, PDF of posting here), this time, looking for both explosive AND mine-detecting poochies:

…. The use of certified Explosives Detection Dog (EDD) and Mine Detection Dog (MDD) teams are intended to increase the number of IEDs discovered and improve the effectiveness of search operations. Joint Task Force Afghanistan (JTF-Afg) aims to achieve a reduction in casualties from explosive hazards and an improved freedom of CF movement through the use of EDD/MDD teams.

JTF-Afg requires EDD/MDD services to execute force protection requirements in support of operations on a 24/7 basis. EDD/MDD teams will conduct effective searches of, but not limited to, structures, vehicles, open areas, choke points, and routes in concert with CF or the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to detect hidden explosives and explosive devices….

Deadline for proposals:  just before midnight 13 Jan 10.

More here in the Statement of Work (via Milnet.ca).

When Sam was at the VA hospital in Palo Alto during a previous Christmas season, there were always Christmas Cards in a basket in the day room.  The “get well” cards were from local school children “to a wounded soldier” and it was always a treat reading what they had said and looking at the pictures they drew for the wounded men and woman.  Erin would take a few cards into Sam’s room and read them to him to cheer him up.  It was such a good feeling knowing that there were teachers in the local area who where teaching the children about the sacrifice our service men and women make for their country. 

About three months ago I contacted the local elementary school that Erin attended and asked if any of the teachers might like to sponsor Sam and Erin and send get well cards to Sam (Sam is also from Citrus Heights).  I received a very courteous and apologetic reply from the school passing on my request.  The reason was basically that the “war” in the Middle East is controversial and it might upset some students or some parents may object to their children’s participation. [It is not my intention at all to point the finger and any individual or institution so I won’t be mentioning any names…I understand this situation could happen anywhere in our country…sadly].

When I was a young child in elementary school, we would always start out the day by standing next to our desk, put our right hand over our heart, face the flag and recite the pledge of allegiance.  I truly believe this was part of the foundation for the love I have for our country.

I Pledge Allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which it stands,
one Nation under God, Indivisible,
with Liberty and Justice for All.

I wonder if the “Pledge” is still being recited in our elementary schools today? And if so, are the children being taught what it means? [see Red Skelton’s monologue for review] “with Liberty” — do they know what those two words represent?  Do they understand that men and women of our military fought and died for our right to say those words?  Sadly, I think not.

A few weeks ago, I told the above story to a lady who’s daughter goes to another elementary school our town.  In fact, I wrote a blog about her daughter and a club at their school called the Barrett Battalion.  We were all visiting Sam at CareMeridian and this family had come to support Sam and hear myself, my wife and a few friends play Christmas carols for the patients and their families.  A few days ago, we had a small get-together at my parents house and this family was invited.  Towards the end of the evening, the mother pulled out a gift bag and presented it to Erin and me.  It was a beautiful binder with about 120 Christmas letters to Sam written by students from Carriage Elementary and John Barrett Middle School.  Many of the children expressed their appreciation for the sacrifice Sam has made for our country and wished him a speedy recovery.  What an incredible Christmas gift for Sam and Erin…and what an incredible gift these children have been given by their teachers—the gift of respect and honor for their country and those who have sacrificed their lives and health to keep it strong.

Merry Christmas to all…
Tony

Good Morning to All,

It has been a tremendous holiday season with many miracles unfolding around us. Even in the face of diminishing resources, (the county in which I live and work is nearly broke, and from which we derive most of our funding to feed the homeless). My job has seemed to double in scope. Greater need + less resources = miracles of God’s provision. Our annual turkey drive netted us more than double what it did last year; FEMA has come thru with some awesome donations of highly useable foods, and a federally funded program has enabled us to pay young people to gain work experience in our kitchens. Although we should expect the miraculous from God, we often don’t and then act surprised when it happens. The Sam Nichols story is proof that prayer changes circumstances. Prayers offered for Sam from the Nichols and Neria families, our extended families across the country, and a host of friends from around the world that believe in his total restoration; continue to drive his progress in a positive direction.

Erin loves the attached picture. She says that when he attempts to smile, is the only time you can tell the brain injury by merely his appearance. His smile is lopsided and just makes him all the cuter. Sam has had quite a month which includes getting to eat ice cream, the rediscovery of some emotions he hasn’t displayed since the injury, and the introduction of some new and experimental drugs by a new Doctor. His physical therapist is smart and often rewards his hard work with some tastes of ice cream. He thoroughly enjoys this time and it is often the social aspect of the moment that makes it special for him. Although everyone agrees that the new display of emotions is a positive step in the right direction; the behavior is hard to imagine from him as he has been so placid up until now. When Erin brings comfort to another patient, (a young man with a brain injury) by adjusting his pillows in his wheel chair; Sam doesn’t like it. He becomes agitated and surly. When Erin asks what is bothering him, he just replies that he doesn’t like the guy. Ha! Of course he denies that he may be jealous of Erin giving another some attention, and then the next day it is all forgotten and peace has returned. I understand that this type of behavior is to be expected from recovering brain injury patients, but Erin and I can’t help but see the humor in it. It just underlines the man in Superman Sam….Erin is very excited to get to try some treatments for Sam that may or may not be beneficial. He has had some positive reactions in the past to some brain stimulants, so it may be in God’s plan to have these be a part of his recovery. The one thing I always notice is that until he becomes accustomed to the new drug; it totally wipes him out and he gets sleepy. Rest is a good thing as his body does what God intended at creation to help heal itself.

Someone had caught a baby lizard just outside the home where Sam resides and given it to him to observe and hold. He named it Sebastian and when Erin asked him what he wanted to do with it, he replied to keep it in a box. Erin foresaw that pandemonium would ensue from a lizard loose in the rehab home and talked him to letting it go in the garden. He reluctantly agreed. It put me in mind that Sam was the one when small wanted creatures around the house. We had snakes in an aquarium, lizards and bugs in terrariums, crawdads, goldfish, and dogs…It was good training then and I believe has value now.

As Christmas approaches tomorrow, I ask simply that you all remember the reason for the season, and that’s Jesus. It is because he came into this world to reconcile man to God, and restore our blessings that we can boldly stand on God’s statement of fact that by his stripes, Sam is healed. Not will be, but IS! Not some future hope, but now. Faith is evidence of things not yet seen, so just because we haven’t seen it yet doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have it. Rejoice with us in the knowledge that Sam is healed this Christmas….

Much love,
Eric

Title: Coppola: A Pediatric Surgeon in Iraq
Author: Christopher Coppola, M.D., LTC, USAF
ISBN: 978-0984053117
Pages: 285
Publisher: NTI Upstream (February 1, 2010)
Category: non-fiction
Review source: Library Thing Early Reviewers
Rating: 4.5/5

There is no one around and the housing compound is silent. The oscillating razor feels warm against my forehead as I slide the stainless steel blade across the crown. I suppose shaving my head is a kind of acceptance of the rotten situation of having to be here. I feel a lot of things-loneliness, fear, concern for my family back in Texas. As the last vestiges of my stateside life pile in black-gray clumps on the wet earth, I take a full breath. No longer is there any doubt my part in this war is real. Until now, the war has been something I have critiqued from afar as a mistake, a missed opportunity to deal with the stability of Iraq as a world community. But now I am in the middle of it and it is personal.

Coppola: A Pediatric Surgeon in Iraq reads a bit like M*A*S*H in the Middle East. There are some funny times, poignant moments, absurdities and plenty of new friendships spawned during Dr. Chris Coppola’s two four month tours. To pay for medical school, Coppola agreed to service with the USAF and earned two tours of duty in Iraq. He received his medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine and trained in surgery at Yale University. He completed pediatric surgery training at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

When Dr. Coppola arrives in Iraq, his twelve surgeon team of general surgeons and specialists—orthopedic, urology, neurosurgery, pediatrics, ophthalmology, maxillofacial—replaces the team that has been there for the past four months. Most of his team are from Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio but others are reservists that have been called up for duty or from smaller Air Force Hospitals. So at least Dr. Coppola recognizes some familiar faces.

During his tour of duty, he faces some tough cases, professionally and personally. His writing style is not overly sentimental or too detached. He’s right there in the mix of it all– with the destruction of families and lives. Of Americans and Iraqis. Although by the second tour of duty, Dr. Coppola’s narratives read a bit more jaded, tired and matter-of-fact.

On Election Day, a 7-year-old boy got struck in the head with a piece of shrapnel during a bombing. An insurgent bleeds out after pre-maturely detonating an IED. [“The patient is a mess. His entire body looks like it was run through a meat grinder.] An Iraqi man brings in his son with a problem. His son has an intersex anomaly—he has been born with some female and some male parts. He has female reproductive organs that need to be removed so he can live his life as a regular boy. But the father is adamant that nothing is wrong. Dr. Coppola worries that the boy will not receive the care he require: the surgery or hormone therapy. After taking care of a two-year-old girl with severe burns for a month, the girl, Leila, died. It deeply affected Coppola. [“But tonight I am broken.”] He had completed several arduous skin graft surgeries on her which at first seemed promising.

Coppola: A Pediatric Surgeon in Iraq is quite enlightening in that it shows the destruction and cost of life and health of a war from the viewpoint of a surgeon, someone who takes care of both the “enemy” and the allies. Dr. Coppola has quite the memory for detail as he wrote the entire time he spent in Iraq. The book is filled with these details whether gory or touching [his dinner at an interpreter’s home before his return to America] or frustrating. If you are at all interested in the human loss during war, Coppola: a Pediatric Surgeon in Iraq is well worth the read.

** Coppola: A Pediatric Surgeon in Iraq is currently available on the website. On February 1 it will be available through online and other booksellers. A partnership has been created with the not-for-profit organization War Kids Relief. NTI Upstream, will donate 10% of book sales to the Helmand Children’s Medical Fund (HCMF).
Money raised will provide medical aid to children living in Kabul’s largest internally displaced person camp. In the U.S. led effort to hunt down Taliban, many civilians have lost their homes due to bombing and violence. Thousands of families have fled Helmand Province and are currently living in makeshift camps on the outskirts of Kabul, where open defecation, lack of toilets, and poor sanitation, have accelerated the spread of disease. Currently, more than 70% of the 2,000 children living there have pneumonia.

This review is part of the Coppola: A Pediatric Surgeon in Iraq virtual book tour.

Book received as part of LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Guest Post by Dr. Christopher Coppola
Author: Coppola: Pediatric Surgeon in Iraq

It is difficult to select the most memorable operation from my time in Iraq, for several reasons. On the one hand, so many of the operations have blurred together in my mind. Night after night we were treating so many people who had been seriously injured in explosions. It seemed like I was endlessly scrubbing burned flesh, digging out hundreds of embedded fragments of shrapnel, and cutting away more and more dead tissue. There were also so many striking operations — things I had never done before, like removing destroyed eyes, bizarre pieces of shrapnel, six-foot lengths of rebar or shards of human bone; simply horrifying combinations of injuries.

But the operation that is most memorable from both of my deployments was barely an operation at all. One afternoon, we received several victims from a shooting. Insurgents had opened fire on a busload of women going to worship. One of the victims was a woman who was eight months pregnant. She had been shot through the right hip, and one of the bullets had pierced her uterus near her unborn baby’s head. The mother was bleeding internally and slowly dying. None of us were obstetricians, and we were quite nervous about taking care of her. We called a few friends at home for some quick advice, and called on the help of one of our ICU nurses who was an OB nurse back home. In the OR, we had her anesthetized and her abdomen prepped with iodine liquid. I cut across her lower abdomen and found several liters of blood in her belly. Her uterus was stretched thin over her baby’s body, and there were tattered edges where the bullet had torn the muscle. I opened the uterus, and reached in to feel the baby’s head. The cord was wrapped around his neck, so I carefully worked my fingers under it and pulled the cord up over his head. I delivered the baby boy, clamped and cut the cord, and quickly carried him over to the infant warmer. My friend stayed with the injured woman to control her bleeding and get her safely to the ICU. On the warmer, I suctioned the child’s mouth and nose, gave him a flow of oxygen across his face, and listened to his breathing. He coughed twice, took a deep breath, and let out a loud healthy cry. I am pleased to report that both mother and child left our hospital in excellent health.

The most difficult operation I performed in Iraq was not for trauma at all. Even though I am a pediatric surgeon, I was deployed to Iraq as a general trauma surgeon. After I had been at the hospital in Balad for a while, word got out that there was a pediatric surgeon available, and I started to get consultations from the surrounding cities and other military bases. A surgeon in Tikrit sent a child and her parents to see me. She was a one-and-a-half-year-old who had a congenital illness of her liver called biliary atresia in which the liver becomes scarred and cannot pass bile into the intestine. It is a rare illness, and I had only treated a few cases in the United States — but I was honestly the only pediatric surgeon the family had available to them. It was unfortunate that she was as old as she was, because the best chance for these children to survive long term is if they get the operation before they are two months old.

It took some convincing to get our OR nurses and anesthesiologists to participate in the operation. The only way I was able to get them on board was to find a pediatric anesthesiologist who happened to be stationed at a nearby base and convince him to fly in. Over the next six hours, we worked as a team to carefully bypass the scarred tissue at the base of her liver with a healthy length of intestine. It was difficult, especially in a hospital designed for combat support, but we were able to get her through her recovery. It is a sad ending to her story, she died a year later; but I try to take some comfort from the fact that her parents told me they appreciated having another year with her before she passed away.

I think the child with whom I developed the greatest bond was a two- year-old girl named Leila. She was the daughter of a local commander in the Iraqi National Guard. One of the insurgents in our city threw an incendiary device like a Molotov cocktail through the window of their home and burned the man’s wife and two daughters. For a month I worked so hard to get Leila through her burns. I operated on her nearly every other day, and even got skin grafts to grow over a portion of the burns on her legs. Every day I would speak with her parents and discuss her progress. I could see the anguish in their eyes as they watched their daughter cry out in pain as I changed her dressings. At first she showed some hints of promise that she might pull through, but in the end she succumbed to an overwhelming infection. I had become so attached to her and so hopeful she would make it that her death was just a terrible blow. I still think of her often and wish I could have found some way to get her through.

–Christopher Coppola, M.D.

Visit website to purchase book.
On February 1, 2009 Coppola: A Pediatric Surgeon in Iraq is available at online and other booksellers.

COPPOLA: A PEDIATRIC SURGEON IN IRAQ HAS CREATED A PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NOT-FOR-PROFIT ORGANIZATION WAR KIDS RELIEF. NTI UPSTREAM, WILL DONATE 10% OF BOOK SALES MADE TO THE HELMAND CHILDREN’S MEDICAL FUND (HCMF).

MONEY RAISED WILL PROVIDE MEDICAL AID TO CHILDREN LIVING IN KABUL’S LARGEST INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSON CAMP. IN THE U.S. LED EFFORT TO HUNT DOWN TALIBAN, MANY CIVILIANS HAVE LOST THEIR HOMES DUE TO BOMBING AND VIOLENCE. THOUSANDS OF FAMILIES HAVE FLED HELMAND PROVINCE AND ARE CURRENTLY LIVING IN MAKESHIFT CAMPS ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF KABUL, WHERE OPEN DEFECATION, LACK OF TOILETS, AND POOR SANITATION, HAVE ACCELERATED THE SPREAD OF DISEASE. CURRENTLY, MORE THAN 70% OF THE 2,000 CHILDREN LIVING THERE HAVE PNEUMONIA.

http://www.ied.it/Portfolio/News/Torino/read-news.html?docId=ita_{D897B44F-ACE5-DE11-8452-001A64CA1238}

Adopted from http://inqlabi.wordpress.com

پشاور میں دھماکے میں آخری خبریں آنے تک ١٢٠ سے زائد کیڑے مکوڑے اپنی جان کی بازی ہار گئے۔ کیڑے مکوڑے اس طرح کہ اگر گھر کے پالتو جانورں کی بھی اتنی ہلاکت ہو جائے تو ایک قیامت برپا ہو جایا کرتی ہے۔ لیکن حکومت کے معاملات جوں کے توں وہی دعوتیں وہی ملاقاتیں وہی عشائیے اسی طرح سیاسی دکانداریاں چمکی ہوئی۔ حدتو یہ ہے کہ اب ہمارے ٹی وی چینلز کے لوگو تک سیاہ نہیں ہوتے۔

ہاں مکروہ تریں ذہنیتوں کے حامل سیاست دانوں کا جذباتی بیان کہ “دہشت گرد ہمارے حوصلے پست نہیں کر سکتے “

حضور جان کی امان پائوں تو عرض کروں!!!

آپ کے حوصلے تھے ہی کہاں جو پست ہوں گے۔ آپ کے توحوصلوں کا تماشا ہر روز ہم سڑکوں پر دیکھتے ہیں۔ جب آپ کی شاہی سواری گذرنے سے گھنٹوں پہلے سڑکیں بند، بندہ بو بندہ بو کسی بھی ذی روح کو کتے کی طرح سونگھتے اہلکاروں کی دیوار کسی تڑپتے سسکتے گھر کے واحد کفیل کی جان ایبولینس میں جاتی ہے تو جائے لیکن آپ کے بھیانک حوصلے کا تماشہ لگا ہے۔ اس میں آپ کی گاڑی سیکڑوں محافظوں کے جلو میں آپ کے حوصلے کا بوجھ اٹھائے بجلی کی تیزی سے نکل جاتی ہے۔

جناب آپ کی اولاد کی لاشیں کسی یونیورسٹی میں تڑپیں تو ہم مانیں کہ آپ کے حوصلے پست نہیں ہوں گے۔

آپ ڈھٹائی سے کہ دیتے ہیں ہم نے دہشت گردوں کی کمر توڑ دی ہے۔ حضور اک مثال پیش ہے دنیا کا کوئی پاگل تریں شخص بھی یہ قیاس نہیں کر سکتا کہ دس افراد ملک کے سب سے بڑے عسکری مرکز پر قبضہ کر لیں گے دنیا میں کبھی عسکری مرکز کے قریب حملہ بھی نہیں ہو پاتا اور ٹوٹی ہوئی کمر والے دہشت گرد آپ کو ٤٩ گھنٹوں تک مفلوج رکھتے ہیں۔ میرے جسم میں لرزہ طاری ہو جاتا ہے جب یہ خیال آتا ہے دہشت گردوں کی اس ٹوٹی کمر پر جب ان مہاجروں کی کمک کا پلستر لگے گا جن کو آپ نے سوات سے بے گھر کیا پھر ان پر آپ نے روٹی لینے کی قطار توڑنے پر گولیاں برسائیں۔ اس لمحے کیا عالم ہوگا جب مٹھی بھر چینی اور آٹا لینے کے لیئے جواں سال بہنوں سن رسیدہ مائوں کو پولیس کے ڈنڈے کھاتے دیکھنے والے نوجوانوں نے سوچنا شروع کیا کہ بہت ہو گیا۔ تذلیل ہی ٹھہری تو کیوں نہ پورے معاشرے کی کیوں نہ ۔پھر کیا عالم ہو گا؟؟؟

لیکن ابھی کاٹھ کی ہنڈیا چڑھی ہوئی ہے۔ عوام حکومت کی جذباتی ڈگڈگی پر بندر کی طرح ناچ رہی ہے۔ اس کے پاس آسان حل ہے لاشیں گریں تو بس قبائیلیوں پر دس اور بم مار دو اگر دھماکے کی شدت ذیادہ ہے تو جہازوں سے حملہ کر دو۔ قوم کو پاگل بنائے رکھو۔ لیکن کیا عوام کبھی یہ سوال اٹھائے گی کہ صرف مرنے والے ہم ہی کیوں؟

تو جان کی امان پائوں تو عرض کروں حضور اب آپ کے اس طالبان کے سر پر ہر مسئلہ ڈالنے کے کریڈٹ کارڈ میں پیسے ختم ہو چکے ہیں۔ عوام اب پوچھنے ہی والی ہے۔ کہ اگر دہشت گرد بقول آپ کے بیرونی ایجنڈہ پر کام کر رہے ہیں تو یہ بیرونی ایجنڈہ کیا سری لنکا کا ہے؟ کیا یہ ایجنڈہ ایتھوپیا کا ہے؟ جناب آپ کو بتانا پڑے گا کہ یہ بیرونی ایجنڈہ ان آقائوں کا ہے۔ جن کے اشارہ ابرو پر آپ کو وزارتوں اور صدارتوں کے قلمدان ملتے ہیں آپ کے کندھوں پر قیادتیں سجتی ہیں۔ پھر آپ ان کے مفادات کی حفاظت کے لیئے اپنی دھرتی آگ میں جھونکتے ہیں۔

لیکن ابھی سحر دور سہی لیکن تمہاری لوریوں کا اثر اترنے کو ہے

Adopted from http://inqlabi.wordpress.com

پشاور میں دھماکے میں آخری خبریں آنے تک ١٢٠ سے زائد کیڑے مکوڑے اپنی جان کی بازی ہار گئے۔ کیڑے مکوڑے اس طرح کہ اگر گھر کے پالتو جانورں کی بھی اتنی ہلاکت ہو جائے تو ایک قیامت برپا ہو جایا کرتی ہے۔ لیکن حکومت کے معاملات جوں کے توں وہی دعوتیں وہی ملاقاتیں وہی عشائیے اسی طرح سیاسی دکانداریاں چمکی ہوئی۔ حدتو یہ ہے کہ اب ہمارے ٹی وی چینلز کے لوگو تک سیاہ نہیں ہوتے۔

ہاں مکروہ تریں ذہنیتوں کے حامل سیاست دانوں کا جذباتی بیان کہ “دہشت گرد ہمارے حوصلے پست نہیں کر سکتے “

حضور جان کی امان پائوں تو عرض کروں!!!

آپ کے حوصلے تھے ہی کہاں جو پست ہوں گے۔ آپ کے توحوصلوں کا تماشا ہر روز ہم سڑکوں پر دیکھتے ہیں۔ جب آپ کی شاہی سواری گذرنے سے گھنٹوں پہلے سڑکیں بند، بندہ بو بندہ بو کسی بھی ذی روح کو کتے کی طرح سونگھتے اہلکاروں کی دیوار کسی تڑپتے سسکتے گھر کے واحد کفیل کی جان ایبولینس میں جاتی ہے تو جائے لیکن آپ کے بھیانک حوصلے کا تماشہ لگا ہے۔ اس میں آپ کی گاڑی سیکڑوں محافظوں کے جلو میں آپ کے حوصلے کا بوجھ اٹھائے بجلی کی تیزی سے نکل جاتی ہے۔

جناب آپ کی اولاد کی لاشیں کسی یونیورسٹی میں تڑپیں تو ہم مانیں کہ آپ کے حوصلے پست نہیں ہوں گے۔

آپ ڈھٹائی سے کہ دیتے ہیں ہم نے دہشت گردوں کی کمر توڑ دی ہے۔ حضور اک مثال پیش ہے دنیا کا کوئی پاگل تریں شخص بھی یہ قیاس نہیں کر سکتا کہ دس افراد ملک کے سب سے بڑے عسکری مرکز پر قبضہ کر لیں گے دنیا میں کبھی عسکری مرکز کے قریب حملہ بھی نہیں ہو پاتا اور ٹوٹی ہوئی کمر والے دہشت گرد آپ کو ٤٩ گھنٹوں تک مفلوج رکھتے ہیں۔ میرے جسم میں لرزہ طاری ہو جاتا ہے جب یہ خیال آتا ہے دہشت گردوں کی اس ٹوٹی کمر پر جب ان مہاجروں کی کمک کا پلستر لگے گا جن کو آپ نے سوات سے بے گھر کیا پھر ان پر آپ نے روٹی لینے کی قطار توڑنے پر گولیاں برسائیں۔ اس لمحے کیا عالم ہوگا جب مٹھی بھر چینی اور آٹا لینے کے لیئے جواں سال بہنوں سن رسیدہ مائوں کو پولیس کے ڈنڈے کھاتے دیکھنے والے نوجوانوں نے سوچنا شروع کیا کہ بہت ہو گیا۔ تذلیل ہی ٹھہری تو کیوں نہ پورے معاشرے کی کیوں نہ ۔پھر کیا عالم ہو گا؟؟؟

لیکن ابھی کاٹھ کی ہنڈیا چڑھی ہوئی ہے۔ عوام حکومت کی جذباتی ڈگڈگی پر بندر کی طرح ناچ رہی ہے۔ اس کے پاس آسان حل ہے لاشیں گریں تو بس قبائیلیوں پر دس اور بم مار دو اگر دھماکے کی شدت ذیادہ ہے تو جہازوں سے حملہ کر دو۔ قوم کو پاگل بنائے رکھو۔ لیکن کیا عوام کبھی یہ سوال اٹھائے گی کہ صرف مرنے والے ہم ہی کیوں؟

تو جان کی امان پائوں تو عرض کروں حضور اب آپ کے اس طالبان کے سر پر ہر مسئلہ ڈالنے کے کریڈٹ کارڈ میں پیسے ختم ہو چکے ہیں۔ عوام اب پوچھنے ہی والی ہے۔ کہ اگر دہشت گرد بقول آپ کے بیرونی ایجنڈہ پر کام کر رہے ہیں تو یہ بیرونی ایجنڈہ کیا سری لنکا کا ہے؟ کیا یہ ایجنڈہ ایتھوپیا کا ہے؟ جناب آپ کو بتانا پڑے گا کہ یہ بیرونی ایجنڈہ ان آقائوں کا ہے۔ جن کے اشارہ ابرو پر آپ کو وزارتوں اور صدارتوں کے قلمدان ملتے ہیں آپ کے کندھوں پر قیادتیں سجتی ہیں۔ پھر آپ ان کے مفادات کی حفاظت کے لیئے اپنی دھرتی آگ میں جھونکتے ہیں۔

لیکن ابھی سحر دور سہی لیکن تمہاری لوریوں کا اثر اترنے کو ہے

KABUL – U.S. Marines and Afghan troops have killed at least seven Taliban fighters during the first U.S.-led offensive since President Barack Obama announced a new American war plan this week, Afghan officials said Saturday.

American and Afghan troops have met little resistance since Operation Cobra’s Anger was launched Friday to disrupt Taliban supply and communications lines in the strategic Now Zad Valley of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, Marine officials said.

About 1,000 Marines and 150 Afghan troops are taking part in the offensive, including hundreds of Marines dropped behind Taliban lines by helicopters and MV-22 Osprey aircraft. A second, larger Marine force pushed northward from the Marines’ main base.

“We’re not taking for granted the low level of contact,” Marine spokesman Maj. William Pelletier said Saturday. “Just because it’s quiet now doesn’t mean it will be in 24 hours. Part of the operation is to have a disruptive effect on the Taliban resupply activities. The Marines and Afghan forces are continuing the clearing operation, continuing to move through the valley.”

No coalition casualties have been reported. Daood Ahmadi, spokesman for the governor of Helmand province, said 11 Taliban fighters have been killed and five captured. The Afghan Defense Ministry said seven militants were killed and two captured.

Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. general in charge of both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, told The Associated Press on Friday that the offensive was part of preparations for the arrival of 30,000 new U.S. reinforcements. Petraeus said the military has been working for months to extend what he called “the envelope of security” around key towns in Helmand and Kandahar provinces.

Now Zad was one of the largest towns in Helmand until fighting drove away the 30,000 inhabitants. Now the area is a major supply and transportation hub for Taliban forces that use the valley to move drugs, weapons and fighters south toward major populations and to provinces in western Afghanistan.

Back in August, U.S. forces launched “Operation Eastern Resolve II” in the Now Zad Valley to help provide security for the Afghan presidential elections and disrupt enemy activity in the area. Pelletier said the latest offensive was launched before the reinforcements arrive because it was the best time to limit the militants’ freedom of movement in the area.

“We have sufficient forces to clear this area, especially when you consider that our number of Afghan partners has almost quadrupled since July,” Pelletier said. “So we felt this was a mission we could do without additional troops and without stretching our forces too thin.”

The Afghan government has approved a new seventh corps of the Afghan National Army — Corps 215 Maiwand — to be based in the Helmand capital of Lashkar Gah where the first fresh U.S. troops are expected to arrive. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said the Afghans have vowed to deploy 5,000 members of the new Afghan army corps to Helmand, to be partnered by British troops next year.

Elsewhere, three Taliban militants were killed Friday during a gunbattle with Afghan National Police at a checkpoint in Nimroz province, provincial Gov. Ghulam Dastagir Azad said Saturday. Five other militants and five policemen were wounded in the clash in the Khash Rod district. The battle started after the Taliban fighters attacked the checkpoint with mortars and machine guns, he said.

NATO reported that a joint Afghan-international security force detained a handful of militants Saturday in Logar province, including an individual linked to senior leadership in the province who allegedly was helping militants move and train in the area.

The joint security force targeted a compound near the village of Sejawand in the Baraki Barak district of Logar in eastern Afghanistan and recovered AK-47 rifles, pistols, fragmentation grenades and chest racks fully loaded with AK-47 magazines, NATO said.

___i don’t take credit for this post, i’m just passing it along for informational purposes only!

Associated Press writer Rahim Faiez contributed to this report.

Militants have attacked a mosque in Rawalpindi killing at least 39 people. They threw hand grenades then fired on worshippers near Pakistan’s military headquarters after Friday prayers. The mosque is frequented by military officials in the garrison town of Rawalpindi.

The rail line is a vital link between Moscow and St Petersburg Source: BBC NEWS Russian police are appealing for witnesses following a bomb blast which derailed an express train north of Moscow on Friday, killing 25 people. The BBC’s Richard Galpin, in Moscow, says investigators want to talk to a group of people seen close to the scene shortly before the derailment. Forensic experts returned to the crash site on Sunday to comb the debris of the Nevsky Express for clues. No-one has claimed responsibility for the explosion. Police said an “improvised explosive device” derailed the last three carriages of the express, one of Russia’s fastest trains, which links Moscow with St Petersburg. Foreigners injured Officials originally said 26 passengers had been killed, but revised the figure down on Sunday. More than 100 people were injured, some of them seriously. Authorities said six foreigners were among them – an Italian, a Belgian, an Azerbaijani, two Belarussians and one Ukrainian. Our correspondent says the investigation is focusing on witnesses who may have seen suspicious activity near the town of Bologoye, about 400km (250 miles) north-west of Moscow. In particular, a group of people were seen milling around the track on Friday. Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev told Russian media they believed several people had taken part in the attack. He released a description of one suspect – a stocky man of about 40 with red hair – based on statements from local residents. Correspondents say key suspects in the investigation will be militants from the volatile North Caucasus region and extreme Russian nationalists. The Nevsky Express is an expensive, high-speed train popular with government officials and business executives. In 2007, a bomb on the same line derailed a train, injuring nearly 30 passengers. That blast has been blamed on Chechen separatists.

]]> http://worldnewsandpolitics.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/act-of-terrorism-derailed-a-high-speed-train-in-russia/ Sun, 29 Nov 2009 05:06:49 +0000 tonguesoffire http://worldnewsandpolitics.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/act-of-terrorism-derailed-a-high-speed-train-in-russia/

clipped from www.foxnews.com

A homemade chemical bomb planted on the tracks in an apparent act of terrorism derailed a high-speed train in Russia carrying hundreds of people Saturday, killing at least 26 and injuring scores more.

“There is little doubt this is terrorism,” a source in Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s office told Fox News. Who was responsible for the derailment or why it occurred “remains unclear,” the source said.

Russian Railways officials report it was a bomb attack on a luxury passenger train – the second in two years – between Moscow and St Petersburg which has killed up to 39 people and injured nearly 100.
An investigative committee of Russian prosecutors found and removed elements of an explosive device at the site.
Echo of Moscow radio reported a hardline nationalist group (speculated to be a Chechen separatist movement) had claimed responsibility.

Hari Arofah adalah hari di mana Allah menyempurnakan Islam dan menyempurnakan nikmat-Nya ketika itu. Hari Arofah adalah hari haji Akbar menurut  mayoritas salaf. Hari Arofah juga adalah hari istimewa bagi umat ini.

Anas bin Malik pernah mengatakan, “Hari Arofah lebih utama dari 10.000 hari-hari lainnya.”[1] Siapa saja yang berpuasa ketika itu akan mendapatkan ampunan dosa (yaitu dosa kecil) untuk dua tahun.

Mengenai hari Arofah, Nabi shallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam bersabda,

مَا مِنْ يَوْمٍ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ أَنْ يُعْتِقَ اللَّهُ فِيهِ عَبْدًا مِنَ النَّارِ مِنْ يَوْمِ عَرَفَةَ وَإِنَّهُ لَيَدْنُو ثُمَّ يُبَاهِى بِهِمُ الْمَلاَئِكَةَ فَيَقُولُ مَا أَرَادَ هَؤُلاَءِ

“Di antara hari yang Allah banyak membebaskan seseorang dari neraka adalah hari Arofah. Dia akan mendekati mereka lalu akan menampakkan keutamaan mereka pada para malaikat. Kemudian Allah berfirman: Apa yang diinginkan oleh mereka?”[2]

Ibnu Rajab Al Hambali mengatakan, “Hari Arofah adalah hari pembebasan dari api neraka. Pada hari itu, Allah akan membebaskan siapa saja yang sedang wukuf di Arofah dan penduduk negeri kaum muslimin yang tidak melaksanakan wukuf. Oleh karena itu, hari setelah hari Arofah –yaitu hari Idul Adha- adalah hari ‘ied bagi kaum muslimin di seluruh dunia. Baik yang melaksanakan haji dan yang tidak melaksanakannya sama-sama akan mendapatkan pembebasan dari api neraka dan ampunan pada hari Arofah.”[3]

Ibnu Rajab selanjutnya menjelaskan bahwa siapa yang ingin mendapatkan pembebasan dari api neraka dan pengampunan dosa pada hari Arofah, maka lakukanlah hal-hal berikut.[4]

Pertama: Melaksanakan puasa Arofah. Dari Abu Qotadah, Nabi shallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam bersabda,

صِيَامُ يَوْمِ عَرَفَةَ أَحْتَسِبُ عَلَى اللَّهِ أَنْ يُكَفِّرَ السَّنَةَ الَّتِى قَبْلَهُ وَالسَّنَةَ الَّتِى بَعْدَهُ وَصِيَامُ يَوْمِ عَاشُورَاءَ أَحْتَسِبُ عَلَى اللَّهِ أَنْ يُكَفِّرَ السَّنَةَ الَّتِى قَبْلَهُ

“Puasa Arofah dapat menghapuskan dosa setahun yang lalu dan setahun akan datang. Puasa Asyuro (10 Muharram) akan menghapuskan dosa setahun yang lalu.”[5]

Kedua: Menjaga anggota badan dari hal-hal yang diharamkan pada hari tersebut.

Ketiga: Memperbanyak syahadat tauhid, keikhlasan dan kejujuran pada hari tersebut karena semuanya tadi adalah asas agama ini yang Allah sempurnakan pada hari Arofah. Nabi shallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam sendiri sering memperbanyak hal-hal tadi dan beliau menyebutkannya setelah menyebutkan bahwa do’a pada hari Arofah adalah sebaik-baik do’a. Disebutkan dalam hadits,

خَيْرُ الدُّعَاءِ دُعَاءُ يَوْمِ عَرَفَةَ وَخَيْرُ مَا قُلْتُ أَنَا وَالنَّبِيُّونَ مِنْ قَبْلِى لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لاَ شَرِيكَ لَهُ لَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

“Sebaik-baik do’a adalah do’a pada hari Arofah. Dan sebaik-baik yang kuucapkan, begitu pula diucapkan oleh para Nabi sebelumku adalah ucapan “Laa ilaha illallah wahdahu laa syarika lah, lahul mulku walahul hamdu wa huwa ‘ala kulli sya-in qodiir (Tidak ada sesembahan yang berhak disembah kecuali Allah semata, tidak ada sekutu bagi-Nya. Miliki-Nya segala kerajaan, segala pujian dan Allah yang menguasai segala sesuatu)”.”[6]

Keempat:Memerdekakan seorang budak jika mampu. Karena barangsiapa yang memerdekakan seorang budak mukmin, maka Allah akan membebaskan anggota tubuhnya dari api neraka karena anggota tubuh budak yang ia merdekakan.

Kelima:  Memperbanyak do’a ampunan dan pembebasan dari api neraka ketika itu karena hari Arofah adalah hari terkabulnya do’a. Dari ‘Amr bin Syu’aib dari ayahnya dari kakeknya, Nabi shallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam bersabda,

خَيْرُ الدُّعَاءِ دُعَاءُ يَوْمِ عَرَفَةَ

“Sebaik-baik do’a adalah do’a pada hari Arofah.”[7]

Dan untuk mendapatkan pembebasan dari api neraka dan pengampunan dosa, hendaklah pula dijauhi segala dosa yang dapat menghalangi dari mendapatkan ampunan. Di antara yang harus dijauhi adalah:

Pertama: Sifat sombong dan takabbur. Allah Ta’ala berfirman,

وَاللَّهُ لا يُحِبُّ كُلَّ مُخْتَالٍ فَخُورٍ

“Dan Allah tidak menyukai setiap orang yang sombong lagi membanggakan diri.” (QS. Al Hadid: 23)

Sebagaimana pula Nabi shallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam mengatakan,

لاَ يَنْظُرُ اللَّهُ إِلَى مَنْ جَرَّ ثَوْبَهُ خُيَلاَءَ

“Allah tidak akan memandang siapa saja yang menjulurkan celananya (di bawah mata kaki) dengan sombong.”[8]

Kedua: Tidak terus menerus dalam melakukan dosa-dosa besar (al kaba-ir).[9]

Itulah yang dinasehatkan oleh Ibnu Rajab agar seseorang bisa mendapatkan ampunan dan pembebasan dari api neraka pada hari Arofah.

Semoga Allah menjadikan kita termasuk orang-orang yang mendapatkan ampunan dan pembebasan dari api neraka pada hari tersebut.

Ya Allah, terimalah setiap amalan kami di hari Arofah yang mulia ini dan jadikanlah kami termasuk orang-orang yang mendapatkan pengampunan dosa dan pembebasan dari api neraka. Sesungguhnya engkau Maha Mengijabahi setiap do’a-do’a kami.

Segala puji bagi Allah yang dengan setiap nikmat-Nya segala kebaikan menjadi sempurna.

Penulis: Muhammad Abduh Tuasikal

Artikel http://rumaysho.com

Diselesaikan pada sore hari di hari yang baik untuk beramal sholih, Pangukan-Sleman, 7 Dzulhijah 1430 H

[1] Latho-if Al Ma’arif, Ibnu Rajab Al Hambali, hal. 489, Al Maktab Al Islamiy, cetakan pertama, tahun 1428 H.

[2] HR. Muslim no. 1348, dari ‘Aisyah.

[3] Latho-if Al Ma’arif, Ibnu Rajab Al Hambali, hal. 482.

[4] Ini adalah penjelasan yang kami olah dari pemaparan Ibnu Rajab dengan sedikit penambahan dari kami.

[5] HR. Muslim no. 1162, dari Abu Qotadah.

[6] HR. Tirmidzi no. 3585, dari ‘Amr bin Syu’aib, dari ayahnya, dari kakeknya. Syaikh Al Albani mengatakan bahwa hadits inihasan.

[7] Idem

[8] HR. Bukhari no. 5783, dari Ibnu ‘Umar.

[9] Lihat Latho-if Al Ma’arif, 493-496.

Giorgio Vasta col suo romanzo di esordio entra nei 12 finalisti del Premio Strega 2009. Il suo libro si chiama Il tempo materiale, edito per i tipi di minimum fax. Martedì 24 novembre la lezione di Giorgio Vasta ha il titolo “Scrivere di sé, per sé, per gli altri”.

Iniziamo con una domanda facile facile… perché scrivi?

Perché mi è utile dare forma alle percezioni e alle esperienze attraverso il linguaggio. Mi è utile perché da essere umano (organismo, biografia e qualche altra cosa) devo procurarmi degli strumenti per produrre senso. Di sicuro non scrivo perché non potrei fare diversamente o perché mi è indispensabile o per altre ragioni di questo tipo, che in generale mi sembrano automitizzazioni eroiche.

Parliamo del tuo metodo: dove, come, quando scrivi?

Non ho un metodo. Scrivo in casa, quando posso, quando ho terminato il resto del lavoro. Mi capita molto spesso di usare le vacanze.

Cosa pensi dell’ispirazione? Aspetti che arrivi lei per scrivere, o pensi che si faccia viva a forza di lavorare?

Dell’ispirazione non penso niente, faccio fatica a capire cosa possa essere. Quando ne sento parlare mi sembra un’invenzione utile a far concepire la scrittura come un’azione disponibile solo ad alcuni “ispirati”, come fossero dei prescelti, quando invece credo che la scrittura sia un’azione che ha a che fare soprattutto con la responsabilità. L’ispirazione mi sembra un fumogeno elitario, una retorica strumentale a un tipo di cultura, quella della cosiddetta “vocazione”, che non mi piace.

Chi è il tuo lettore ideale? E pensi serva qualcuno di fidato a cui far leggere il lavoro in anteprima?Al di là degli interlocutori strettamente editoriali, ci sono alcune persone delle quali mi fido e alle quali domando di leggere quello che ho scritto nel momento in cui penso di avere terminato la prima stesura di un testo. Sono persone diverse tra loro, ognuna mi dà suggerimenti e spunti differenti. Ogni “discorso” su quello che ho scritto, sia quando sono d’accordo sia quando non sono d’accordo, mi è utile perché mi mette nelle condizioni di tornare criticamente, anche facendo molta fatica, su quello che sta sulla pagina. Che la stesura ultima sia il risultato anche di questo dialogo con altre persone è qualcosa che considero molto importante, soprattutto molto bello.
Per rispondere alla prima parte della domanda, non ho idea di chi sia il mio lettore ideale. Il desiderio è che sia, nei limiti del possibile, reale.

Quali sono i tuoi autori e artisti di riferimento?
Lasciando da parte la letteratura – il discorso si farebbe troppo articolato – e facendo ugualmente un torto al cinema, nomino soltanto due registi: Robert Bresson e Jacques Tati. Entrambi, in modi diversi, attraverso il loro modo di concepire le inquadrature e la recitazione mi hanno chiarito che cosa possa essere una storia e quanto importante sia essere perentori. Non arroganti – l’arroganza è vanità – ma determinati nelle scelte.

Qual è stato il libro che ti ha fatto pensare “anch’io voglio scrivere così”? E quello “posso fare meglio di così”?

Credo, in entrambi i casi, nessuno. Non per presunzione o per diplomazia ma perché non mi viene in mente un libro che sia stato da solo germinale rispetto a impulsi di questo genere. Semmai, davanti a un libro che mi è piaciuto molto, e ce ne sono tantissimi, quello che mi viene da pensare è che desidero leggerne altri fatti in quel modo; davanti a un libro che non mi piace mi auguro di non leggerne altri, per lo meno in tempi brevi, dello stesso tipo. Un sentimento imitativo o di superiorità di solito non lo avverto.

Qual è il peggiore momento nella stesura di un testo? E come lo superi?

Per me non c’è tanto un momento preciso – per esempio iniziare o finire o tenere sotto controllo la storia che si sta raccontando – quanto qualcosa che come una membrana contiene tutto il lavoro nel suo complesso. Il momento peggiore non è dunque un tempo specifico ma uno stato d’animo generale nel quale, nei confronti della scrittura, coesistono impulsi opposti – quello alla costruzione e quello alla distruzione, l’impulso alla fiducia e quello allo scetticismo, il desiderio di tenerezza e il bisogno di spietatezza. Riuscire a sostenere psicologicamente questa coesistenza conflittuale, fare in modo che questa membrana non mi si disintegri tra le mani, è di fatto, per me, il problema maggiore da affrontare (e forse non solo nella scrittura).

Come affronti le critiche?

Con molta calma e con una specie di curiosità antropologica. Penso che le critiche siano sempre del tutto legittime, anche quelle approssimative, trascurate oppure lapidarie e offensive. Se poi, a critica espressa, si produce uno spazio di discussione, bene, sta succedendo una cosa utile perché nella frizione tra punti di vista diversi e argomentati si può generare intelligenza delle cose. Se invece questo spazio non si produce, ed è possibilissimo, pazienza: ci si fa una ragione di fatti ben peggiori.

La tua lezione per Incipit riguarda la costruzione di un personaggio: ce la presenti in poche parole?

Nella nostra esperienza quotidiana tendiamo a percepirci come i notai della nostra memoria, i certificatori della sua capacità di contenere verità storiche; i ricordi sono nostri, quindi sono giusti. Soltanto che con questa somma di certezze non si costruisce una narrazione credibile. La disponibilità al meticciato tra memoria e invenzione può essere quello che fa la differenza. Durante la lezione tenteremo una breve esplorazione del modo in cui funziona la nostra memoria (sottraendole qualche certezza) e ragioneremo su alcuni modi in cui una strategica distorsione dei ricordi può servire a dare forma a una storia.

Per finire, un consiglio per gli aspiranti.

Scrivere con calma e fare in tempo.

Nota biografica

Giorgio Vasta vive a Torino dove lavora come editor e consulente editoriale per la BUR. Insegna alla Scuola Holden e presso lo IED.
Collabora con “Nazione Indiana” e cura il progetto Esor-dire, evento dedicato allo scouting letterario che ha l’intento di promuovere la narrativa italiana under 35 e si svolge ogni anno a novembre durante Scrittorincittà a Cuneo. Il suo primo romanzo è Il tempo materiale (Minimum Fax).

Promemoria in conclusione

Giorgio Vasta ci parlerà di come Scrivere di sé, per sé, per gli altri nella sua lezione del 24 novembre, come sempre alle ore 19.30.

Another bomb has exploded at a branch of Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, or BBVA, in eastern Santiago, no one was injured.

Chile has experienced more than 100 bombings since 2004, most of them involving low-power, homemade explosive devices. No one has died in the incidents or claimed responsibility yet.

This, from MERX (PDF of posting here if link doesn’t work):

The use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) and other explosive hazards requires the Canadian Forces (CF) deployed in Afghanistan to use resources that allow detection of these hazards to mitigate their effects. Detection dogs have proven to be an effective tool in locating concealed explosives and explosive devices.

The use of certified Explosives Detection Dog (EDD) teams is intended to increase the number of IEDs discovered and improve the effectiveness of search operations. Joint Task Force Afghanistan (JTF-Afg) aims to see a reduction in casualties from explosive hazards and an increase in freedom of CF movement through the use of EDD teams.

JTF-Afg requires EDD services to execute force protection requirements in support of operations on a 24/7 basis. EDD teams will conduct effective searches of, but not limited to, structures, vehicles, open areas, choke points, and routes in concert with CF or the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to detect hidden explosives and explosive devices.

The Contractor shall deploy a team to Afghanistan consisting of one (1) Kennel Master / Project Manager, two (2) EDD Trainer / Supervisors and fourteen (14) EDD Handlers, who must meet and maintain the qualifications, experience and certifications specified in the Request For Proposal (RFP)….

More in the Statement of Work (PDF).