My condolences and prayers to the people of London. May justice be swift. Politics is from the Greek root Politikos, meaning: of citizen or of state. Polite is from the Latin root Politus, meaning: refined or elegant. The etymology of both words are different. My Story: Having been a soldier in the Canadian Armed forces, I was stationed in the West Bank and the Golan Heights in 1979 with the UN 2nd Emergency force. I was 17 at the time. My job essentially was to convoy garbage from the town of Nabulos in the West Bank to the port of Elaf on the Gulf of Aqaba. At that time, UN soldiers carried rifles (mine was a FN C1 7.62 mm of Belgian manufacture) we were not permitted to have ammunition. But we still carried our weapons as if we did. Howerver, both the Palestinians and Isrealis new the UN peacekeepers were essentially unarmed. Palestinian children used to follow our truck and jump in the back to rummage thru the garbage for anything of value. The streets were very narrow and we had to travel slowly, so it was easy for the kids to jump onto our vehicle. At first I used to kick them off, but they were so persistent that after a few days of this, you tend to give a blind eye to it. To make a long story short, one day someone threw a grenade into the back of our truck (at least I think it was a grenade). The blast from a grenade is nothing like you see in the movies. Its very quick, with very little smoke and no fire, and a whole lot of shrapnel. I was slumping in my seat, so I wasn't hit by any shrapnel. My driver, lost his right ear. I couldn't hear anything, due to the blast, so the screaming of the kids that were in the back went unnoticed to me for a while. But when I finally gathered myself, I was sickened to see the shrapnel-torn bodies of the young Palestinian children. Two were dead, one would die on the way to the hospital but two others survived. The Palestinians blamed us, for they thought we were secretly transporting live explosives hidden in the garbage. We were quickly surrounded by an angry mob. Since we were essentially unarmed, we were at the mercy of the crowd. Luckily, an Isreali patrol happened by and proceeded to extricate us from our peril by shooting two aggressive young Palestinian men. I was further sickened by that. I thought it was unnecessary. At any rate the crowd dispersed. I stayed on for a few more days, but fell into a deep depression. Our base chaplain, a dutch colonel, saw my condition and had me transferred to a calmer peacekeeping mission in Cyprus whereby I pretty much stayed in a state of constant inebriation. My apologies to any Cypriots here, but I did not get to know your island at all. I've seen death and destruction up close. And I express genuine sympathy to the families of those Londoners who will never see their loved ones alive again. I feel the same towards all those who have lost their lives in Iraq, the Balkans and any number of African nations who are in a perpetual state of civil war. @LSD; I do not comprehend your callousness towards those who express sympathies towards the recent tragedy in London. My only thought is that you must be very young and idealistic. But your idealism is pointed in the wrong direction. And quoting a passage from a pulp fiction writer like Frank Herbert only reveals your immaturity. You may as well have quoted Luke Skywalker or Captain James T. Kirk. One day, when you mature, you'll look back on your youthful folly with a smile but also with a little embarassment. If you are not young, then I feel sorry for you my friend. May you be spared such tragedy in your life.

<strong>bandolin</strong><br />
[Former 3DS Max forum coordinator]<br />
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