Earthquakes and Civil War

The last few weeks has had a torrent of news, especially as of Friday morning when the large 9.0 earthquake ripped through the northeast of the main island of Japan. One report I read says that the whole island has moved over 8 feet and that the earth's axis moved 4 inches due to the quake. I have spent most of my time today watching videos and waiting to read updates of what is going on over there. The nuclear power plant issue is a scary one as well. My girlfriend watched some of the stuff with me, but had to stop because she felt it was too emotional for her. I agree with that.

It is quite disheartening and sad to see those people suffer. It is a crude reminder that no matter how much we try to conquer our environment, Mother Nature can strike back and put us back dozens of years in a matter of minutes. I wish the best to everyone in Japan and hope that things improve quickly for all. It is a daunting task no doubt, but if the whole world helps out, we can work past this tragedy and prepare for the next one.

In Libya, the situation is still tense. Gadhafi forces have retaliated and are starting to take back territory that the opposition had claimed earlier. The anti-government demonstrations, turned violent, turned civil war situation is a delicate one and the international community is very weary of what to do to help out. I can understand this as the West does not want to be seen as the bad guy here. We are all seeing something probably not seen in the Middle East ever, where the general public has risen up against governments. In the past, there have been military coups, and strong individuals taking over, but this time, things are different.

I am surprised that there has not been a strong single leader in the opposition to stand out and find focus for the opposition. This is a good thing because that means there are people that want to share roles and responsibility with other citizens, which hopefully will lead to a dynamic and properly representative government. However, in terms of being able to remove Gadhafi from Tripoli and the western side of the country, the lack of military leadership or some kind of strong leader, has made it more difficult. Everyone seems adamant to change things over, but there is no real central command to organize and execute military force. This is where outside support could come in.

Understandably, however, the United States, NATO, and the U.N. are edgy as they do not want to cross over the lines of what is acceptable intervention to the leaders of the Middle East and Africa. Good news this evening that the Arab league has approved a potential no-fly zone (Two countries, Algeria and Syria were against it).

While I have no idea what may happen for the near future of Libya, I do see that there is currently two countries. West Libya, controlled by Ghadafi, and East Libya, controlled by a transitional council that is quickly building its structure to govern what they currently reign over. If Eastern Libya can establish a strong central system of government before Ghadafi pushes to the opposition headquarters, then there is a real fighting chance for change. The longer the new government stays in control in the east, the more likely the rest of the world will acknowledge their existence as a state (France was the first country to do so).

The issues in Libya are a tense one and I hope that in the end, the causalities are not too severe and that the people may soon get back to normal life.

Both the situations in Japan and Libya are examples of how humans try to persevere. Even with a natural disaster or a civil war, people are sacrificing themselves to help others to rebuild lives that may have been lost. In Canada, we are lucky to live in a relatively peaceful and beautiful country. What is happening in other parts of the world is a prime example of just how fortunate we are. So, then next time you go out to see your friends, family, or even a complete stranger, be sure to hug them and appreciate what we have.