Condi Rice
well, condi rice was in town last night, and a small number of us protested her presence here outside the prime minister's residence. the number, again, was small - but then it was a last minute plan.

here's a link to the ottawa sun story:

Ottawa Sun story

it was interesting to see two buses full of police in riot gear sitting on a back street. i wasn't aware of their presence until i headed home. they were strategically placed in behind those of protesting.

homeless
It's quite interesting. having chosen to chuck most of my material possesions and travel/write i spend a great deal of time in homeless shelters. in fact, sometimes (like now) i actually spend from 3 to 4 months in this community. now i recognize that is a deliberate choice, and certainly if you ar going to be a writer focsing onthe human condition and social issues the homeless cannot be ignored. and yet how to protect yourelf from the lot of this community.

the two biggest issues from a personal point of view are the malaise that permeates this cimmunity in which i find myself, and the prejudice of the rest of the city to those who are homeless. out of this i find it very easy to eventually succumb to this malaise and prejudice. it becomes a matter of perception vs realty, and the line between the two blurs.

it is a struggle to maintain everyday existence and not allow yourself to become a "victim." on the other hand, i have learned many of the requisite skills to survive the streets, and perhaps these will put me in good stead as i travel elsewhere in the world.

no to bush wars protest
well, we had about 200 people turn out for the march. it was good to know this was in conjunction with the protests in washington and elsewhere. i guess my only complaint is the march became a catch all for a number of issues, which i think tends to defuse the focus. however, all the issues are imprortant to address and certainly reveals the fallacy of canada as a natoin of peacekeepers.

tomorrow is the 24th of september and we have a march planned for downtown ottawa. this march will be in conjunction with marches around the world to protest bush's aggressive policies. we are protesting canada's complicity in the wars in afghanistan and iraq. and we want us war resistors to be able to stay in canada.

i hope the turnout is good. more tomorrow.