vacation turns deadly

This post is all about what happened in Manila. If you have been hiding under a rock, a bus full of Hong Kong tourists was taken hostage by an ex-cop in Manila, Phillipine. The hostage taker was seen looking out the window numerous times, yet the Manila SWAT did not take the shot. A lot of things transpired during the whole ordeal, most this blogger thinks is completely ridiculous "tactics" (using one hammer, aggravating the hostage taker, arresting his brother, no media black out...) by the SWAT. It ended with their SWAT storming the bus, after the hostage taker had open fired on the hostages, killing 8 of them.

While watching this unfold, I thought if how lucky I am to be in Toronto, where we have a well-trained ETF. In 2004 there was a hostage situation in downtown Toronto at the very busy Union Station. There was one hostage and the hostage taker had already fired off shots in the underground P.A.T.H system. The ETF team made the very appropriate decision in taking the shot and eliminating the hostage taker. I strongly believe that while a peaceful resolve is the best way, when the hostage taker shows that they are not willing to release the hostages, the police must make the correct decision in shooting. The hostage taker had their chance to surrender, yet did not do so. The lives of the innoncent are at harm, they MUST choose to save them; instead in the Manila hostage situation, the SWAT did not shoot when they had multiple clear views of the hostage taker. Poor decision-making, poor training meant that 8 innoncent people on vacation are dead. How do we make sense of this? Not just what the hostage taker did, but what the Manila SWAT did not do.

Everyone say a little prayer for those who have died; for those who watched their loved ones murdered infront of them; those who will be recieving the dead bodies of family members instead of a joyous hug. Today showed just how inhumane humans can be.

urgh....

i am sure people make mistakes at work... i am sure sometimes those mistakes aren't even apparent at first... sometimes we overlook and sometimes we see but do not see an immediate problem that requires immediate attention. this post will grapple with this situation as it happens in every occupation but is emphasized a million times in mine.
at some point you have to trust your clients/customers to tell you if they do not agree with the service/product they are receiving and if you have no new information for them, haven't you already done your best? if someone higher up on the food chain has spoken with the client/customer and they do not have a remedy or solution to their problem, what more can you do? and if the problem got worse while you are off the job, does it mean that the blame gets carried onto you? how much weight can a written piece of paper or document hold? do people not lie in them as they will verbally? in fact, i think it is more likely that false information will be placed into a written document than verbally since they do not have to speak face to face with someone and have all the time they want to make everything fit. i am so sick of the politics that are played out at the workplace, i am so sick of the environment that they have because you come to the point that you are scared to even slightly admit a mistake has taken place, or even ask/speak with your "supervisors"; they will make an example out of you and all of a sudden your workplace colleagues look at you in disgust. of course they will not look at you directly, but instead from the back or the side; they snigger and gossip away while smiling infront of you.
so i come back to the problem, that was already there, but had not gotten worse; of course until i am off the job. i am but one worker in a workplace of hundreds, maybe a thousand; if someone with more education and more power is not concern nor has a solution to the problem, how do you expect me to understand it? and if they knew about it and did nothing, should they not be the ones who are called first?

links....

nothing much new for me lately. went camping and the best part was that there was no bug bites again this time. probably just because it was quite chilly at night time. definately crawled into my sleeping bag and covered myself up nice and tight.
got more nice incense from kuumba. i finished all of my previous purchases from them and i was having a hard time trying to get them via the net; there was some available but the shipping seemed out of control! so lucky me, had a family member go through hk and brought back the clotXkuumba lemon tea incense peep it.... www.hypebeast.com/2010/05/clot-kuumba-lemon-tea-incense/
since i have no real update for myself, here are some things for you to look at... links...
HALB fall/winter 2010 line-up for men.
something about the military style that i like to see incorporated for everyday use.
www.hypebeast.com/2010/08/halb-2010-fallwinter-collection
Blackberry Torch 9800
i have used sony ericsson for a long time now, but the x1 was quite disappointing for me. it feels as if se has given up the race. my keyboard is almost completely useless, the phone itself runs quite slow and no new updates are available. so i am quite interested in this new blackberry phone that is to come out. (yes, i am still fighting the apple. what can i say? i hate the celebrity hype and fad...)
http://na.blackberry.com/eng/devices/blackberrytorch
Hard Graft
but if you do have apple products (iphones/ipods/ipad/macs....) i love what this company makes for them. i have bought one for my itouch and i love the feel of the leather and the wool. completely different case for your apple then what is readily available.
http://shop.hardgraft.com
Good Islamic News
in the west, we always associate negative things with islam/islamic. look no further than the islamic centre that is about to be built 2 blocks away from ground zero; although i'm not against them building a centre, the time and location of that particular one is not good. the wound is still open for many (not just those who lost loved ones in 9/11, but the ones who lost soldiers in the war and those who still have family in the war). but a great bit of news is how they have stepped up to help Pakistan while they are dealing with the flood.
www.thestar.com/news/world/pakistan/article/845175--islamists-step-up-aid-as-rains-lash-flooded-pakistan?bn=1

well, that's all for this update kiddies...