I just saw on the news that an ad was refused air time during SuperBowl because it was Anti-Bush. The name of the organization is http://www.moveon.org." rel="nofollow">LINK How interesting is that? Bush is very lucky to have friends in the right places. The American people, however, are not. That reminds me a lot of Laura Bush canceling the white house symposium on poetry because she heard poets were going to speak against the war.

In retaliation, a gentleman, a poet by the name of Sam Hamill published a collection of poems against Bush and the war (Poets Against The War) and dedicated it: “For Laura Bush” It is the best anthology I have yet to read. No joke, I brought with me to my cousin’s bachelor party just because I couldn’t put it down. If you enjoy poetry, I highly recommend the book.

Here are two quotes of interest from the book:

“When a handful of conglomerates clutch virtually the entire media, repeating the official party line hour after hour, we approach a fascist state.”

And:
“Laura Bush called off her symposium on ‘Poetry and the American Voice.’ It is my privilege to offer in its stead this single-theme anthology of living American voices. These are the voices of our poets; they come from every segment of society. And if they form a single chorus in opposition to war, they also celebrate our country by expounding a compassionate view of the universe. A government is a government of words, and when those words are used to mislead, to instill fear or to invite silence, it is the duty of every poet to speak fearlessly and clearly.”

Sam Hamill, I applaud your anthology and your fearlessness.

I only cite these quotes because they are pertinent to understanding the Komagata Maru story. The media was used then, as it is used now to “instill fear” and “invite silence.”

Thank you for listening.
Jess

Everyone's talking about what you've done! I told a few people about this e-interview--how long will you be with us?You should know that my dad wants to give you a big, big hug. He's an emotional guy and he's just very proud that something positive has been written about our ancestors. I also wanted to tell you that I ordered your book at Indago. A signed book would be awesome!!!!!!!!!! Oh ja...Canada never apologized for it cause my dad would have known about it. So I think i'm gonna start emailing ALL the MPs!!!!

I had a quote for you but I lost it...something Wingston Churcill said about history and how he has nothing to worry about cause he's the one who's gonna write it!!! That is totally like what your saying.

NK

Hon.Grewal's E-Mail:



NK

I read on the liberal website that Paul Martin encourages
Canadians to contact him about issues important to them.
I contacted him about this cause its important to me. If it's important to you give hime a shout...



Jess...you should put email addresses on your site to make it easier for people to do the whole "Microvave" style activism! that's something I'd do

NK

Jess READ this...

http://www.montrealmuslimnews.net/bigmediarules.htm


NK


these are other links that i thought would interest you
Canadian Media Control...

http://www.nupge.ca/news_2002/news_ma02/n12ma02b.htm


Links to the Canwest controversy:

http://www.montrealnewspaperguild.com/canwestlinks2.htm

http://www.canadiandimension.mb.ca/extra/d0416hh.htm

http://www.aba.gov.au/ABANEWS/news_releases/1997/38nr97.htm

Jess, Its only been four days since we got this thread going and we already have more than 500 hits for this thread. I've never seen that kind of interest in any other thread.
For the readers...please feel free to ask your own questions to Jess. I'm sure he'll be glad to answer them.

Jess, here are more from me..albeit in a slightly different tone.

How long ago did you embark on writing this book? What were the personal obstacles you faced on the way and how much support did you receive from family and the community in your endaevour?

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Nadia, thank you for the links and addresses. And tell your dad his hugs are most welcome

Jacob, I think on-line interviews are really great. Gives me a chance to interact with Canadians all over Canada. 500 hits! The web is a serious power; I’m glad it’s being used to bring people together.

To answer your question:

I’ve wanted to write this story ever since I was a teen. I just didn’t have the skill or patience to write more than a sentence a night. Writing can be extremely taxing and annoying, especially when you’re surrounded by distractions. Just try and write when everyone’s calling you to do something. You end up watching movies or playing pool or playing XBox when really you should be focusing on your art. So when I graduated from Concordia I decided to leave for Seoul to train, teach, and write. I did all three and truly felt what it was like to be alone, what it was like to go through culture shock, and, when I returned, what it was like to go through reverse culture shock.

I felt really alone in Korea. Alone without a single English sign to read. Alone without a single conversation to listen on to in a café. Alone and faced with myself. Being alone gave me a chance to hone in on my skill and dig within for my voice as a writer. And being in Korea gave me the opportunity to meet expatriates from all over the world especially since I worked as an editor for the only expatriate magazine in Seoul. Like Jacob, I was giving expatriates interviews about life in Seoul. It was a great experience. Being alone also taught me the importance of positive thinking and the power of Gatorade. No, I’m not being paid by Gatorade. It’s just that when you go through culture shock you in essence go through a depression. What Gatorade does is replenish your electrolytes and keep you hydrated. Very important to counter depression which depletes your electrolytes and dehydrates you. When you’re dehydrated you’re tired and sluggish and you don’t want to do anything. Gatorade hydrates you and gets all those electrolytes fired up again.

The other thing I learned in Korea was how to make friends when there is a language barrier. I learned the best way to make friends in a foreign country is to take classes, and the best class to take, by far, is salsa. Dancing and music does something to the soul, which I think scientists still can’t figure out. In any case, turns out a lot of expatriates thought like me as I made tons of friends. And I’ll take a good friend over Gatorade any day! So for those of you going through what I went through in Seoul, I highly suggest: 1) Friendship; 2)Dancing and 3)Gatorade. The ideal anti-depression evening being: meeting a friend for a good cup of Gatorade as a precursor to a night of dancing. (In Montreal, there are free lessons at Club 649 on St.Catherine Monday and Thursday evenings.)

All this just to say this book could not have been written without the money I saved in Korea, the experiences I underwent as a foreigner, and the full support of my family and community. Jacob, let’s just put it this way, when I went to Surrey, my cousin Sukhi made sure I got on a boat to see what it was like in the Burrard Inlet(that’s where the steamer was anchored off ). I am ever so grateful to Sukhi and all his friends. It was an indescribable feeling to be out there. For one thing, it made me realize how unbearably cold it is out there. It was cold, Jacob, really cold, and that was in June! I would have never guessed that it would have been that cold out there in summer. And that little detail wouldn’t have been in the book had I not had the full support of the community. So in my book you will read that it was cold and really windy and it is there because I was there. For the life of me I can’t figure out how the passengers did it especially considering they were starved by the immigration officers. Cold, hungry, and ever-undefeated. You want a lesson in positive thinking, take it from the passengers of the SS Komagata Maru.

Thanks for listening.
Jess