The Old Tin Shed

This unlike thousands and thousands of blog posts is not a tribute to those that were lost on that day but more of a reflection of what has happened since and how our worlds changed forever. This month Discovery Channel have been running a series of programs as September 11 draws closer and 10 years have passed.  I remember like millions of others watching the whole thing live on BBC World, I remember the horror as the second plane flew into the towers.  I remember thinking oh my god please let them get out. Even today nearly ten years on I cant watch documentaries that show any images of that day, I simply burst into tears, in fact even writing about it now is upsetting.  In those short hours our worlds changed for ever, our feeling of safety removed.  I was interstate on September 11 the following day I attended half a dozen meetings and it was all surreal, no one wanted to work, we were in a state of shock.  One of the meetings that day was in North Syd...

Of interest today has been Pakistan's continued assault on Taliban positions in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, their sudden willingness this year to take on this powerful religious group, and religious fundamentalists, seems to have come after a visit by Hillary Clinton. One wonders if Pakistan understood what a threat to its own security these people were, just weeks before the first offensive the government had done a deal with these extremists giving them a self governed region not 100 kms from the capital. The news report this evening on SBS world news, stated that the Pakistan army was moving well against the enemy forces taking a key town, and forcing the leaders higher into the mountains. They also stated that Taliban fighters were deserting and blending in with the local population fleeing the war zone. If the report is true and they are leaving maybe it means that they realize the fight is over for them. Only by securing these remote mountain areas on the borde...