An avenue for the mind

A French newspaper reported that Bin Laden is . According to the report, the Al Qaeda leader died of typhoid in Pakistan, because adequate medical assistance is impossible in his isolation conditions. US government is skeptical about Bin Laden's . What do you believe? Anyway, even though that was the case, the same seeds of that instilled that man (and many others) to forget Islamic compassion remain. Does anybody know a good non-fatal herbicide?

In Colombia we don't celebrate San Valentine's day. We rather have a 'Love and Friendship day' every third Saturday of September. But obviously many people go out on Friday night to party for celebration. That was what I did for the first time last Friday. I called my boyfriend and he told me he'd got two tickets for a concert in an important gay disco in Bogota called 'Theatron'. I'd been never there, so -though I was not very interested in the artists- I decided to go.

I felt he was a little tired (I hope so), but we got a lot of fun. Because the place is very exclusive, it could be a little hard to get in but undoubtedtly worthy. Well, though we had to stay in a zone full of chairs. Indeed, the disco was formerly a traditional Bogotan theater and it preserves some of that atmosphere: there's a scenario separated from the 'audience' (now the people partying), the place is very wide, the ceiling very high, there are many arranged chairs... I think the zone around the scenario had chairs in the past, but now it's a dance floor.

I was feeling guilty that night because I spent all my afternoon chatting to some friends and nothing more, instead of the many things I have to do for the next week. But I forgot my guilt at night with my boy in the disco and in... Well, the rest of the story is just for us, OK? All I have to say now is that I'm surprised: I can't say he drives me crazy, but as times goes by I love him more and more and I feel he deserves it. And just that. That's enough to feel happy to have got him.

Five years later, we remember again for the nth time. The world was going to change and up till now we can't be sure it was for good. I can see again the horror of innocents through TV screens, their desperate efforts to save their lives; and then the two proud towers, deadly hurt, falling on the proud city of New York. The vengeful devil had said he was going to do it, and so he did.

Just one or two hours (less time?) after the first crash, there were special issues of newspapers in the streets released for the sole purpose of reporting that event. In my university, the furious radical leftists (fortunately not all leftists are so radical), students as me, announced it as a victory against imperialism. They had been preparing some molotov bombs for a riot on campus to 'welcome' some important US political figure arriving to my country that day; but, given the news, they decided to make the riot for celebration. Oh, what a terrible hate.

The crash was enough motive for almost all governments around the world to support USA initiative to defeat the Taleban regime in Afghanistan militarily. And many people understood. Terrorism was going to be understood in a different way.

These are the effects of hate and fear. Two countries were invaded and the only results are more innocent victims and more opportunity for hate seeds to grow. The tragedy didn't end that day, the tragedy didn't begin that day. More devils will arise and more children will be offered in sacrifice.