Welcome- Editorial -
*Note: We are now out of the office for the holidays. Next Issue Jan 10th 2004

Tis the season of goodwill- darn it – it means that we have to be nice to everyone. That by definition must mean President Bush and I guess his enemies Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein too (now he is safe in custody.) I guess that means we even have to be nice to the Tony Blair too. The last name might seem just too hard to swallow. Goodwill is necessary each year in this month of the ‘Christian’ calendar. No matter if you are a Muslim, Hindu or other, it affects you too, for it’s just one month in twelve that we on our side attempt to repair the damage of the other eleven. Since 2001 we have had massive attacks by those who would destroy civil order in New York, Bali, Turkey and Baghdad. Indiscriminate bombs and suicide bombers that kill their own as well as their ‘enemies’. Those who kill randomly are trying to kill hope, yet ironically they rekindle faith and opposition to anarchy.

It’s hard for many to recall now but once that glorious leader of Palestine Mr Arafat was once out there indiscriminately blowing up planes, killing hundreds in the name of ‘terror’. in the 1970’s. He achieved legitimacy and (it is rumoured riches) but what exactly did the Palastinians achieve? Is their cause advanced by terror or doomed by terror. You decide. Sinn Fein and the IRA were blowing up London at the same time and now they too are winning at the ballot box in Northern Ireland. But is this peace permanent? Too early to call I think.
Terror works in the short term. Governments respond to it by restricting liberties that have taken decades to build. The result is an absence of goodwill to government in general. Terror comes not just in the shape of shoe bombers, bombs strapped to the idealistic young with martyrdom in their sights. Terror comes from governments too self-obsessed with self-aggrandisement. It’s time to remember the oppressed in Zimbabwe by a corrupt Marxist thief called Mugabe who has totally destroyed a once prosperous country. There are many other countries where government corruption makes life hell for those who live there.

But lets look on the bright side, if we could make one wish this season, it would be that if all those in Governments right across the world who devote their energies to making citizens lives more miserable and overgoverned were to direct their attention to destroying terrorism with the same effectiveness, the world might be a safer place. Itıs just an idea.

December in Hacks: James Skinner concludes his nightmare scenario for War & Peace in the 21st century, James Campion ponders US politics, we sample life in Atlanta, Africa, Manitoba, and the first chapter from Jeff Hunt’s first novel about life on the road and in Austin, Texas. JT Brown reviews 2003 and makes predictions for 2004. Ian Middleton walks in Hawaii's Volcano Park and we review David Payne's wonderful new novel and Alexander Mccall Smiths.Tabytha Towe is back with an update of her diary, Colin Haslett has a guide for atheists at Christmas, Sidi Benzahra has a new short story about Sweden. And don't forget other new fiction in the Dreamscapes section. Happy Holidays from Hackwriters. We will be taking a break for Christmas and back in the saddle Jan 6th, so enjoy and watch your speed this holiday,Big Brother really is watching you.
Next new edition Jan 10th 2004
Editor
editor@hackwriters.com

Previous Editorials:
December: Peace and GoodWill
November: Moving Home
October: Stairway to Heaven and other memories
September: 29th Deauville American Film Festival
August: Deathrate 2003 and Being Your Age
August: Summer Movies -London heat
July: London Art Fair
July: Readjusting
June : Saying Goodbye
Returning to Blighty
May: Dystopia
Art and the Matrix
Blossom Time
Forget your troubles - April
Oscars -March
Oscars have a message
Waiting for War February
Winning the Peace
The Munster House
Renting in Kits
Winter Escape to the UK
Hacks takes a break
••••
TOO MANY MOVIES- IT'S AN AVALANCHE OF CULTURE
What will you seeing at the movies? November
VANCOUVER REALLY IS A FUN CITY October
'The city where everyone gets to live a millionaire lifestyle'
It’s SECTION 9 in the N.Y. Sunday Times
A cornucopia - October
LADY LUCK
The Kids stay in the picture- August
PEOPLE IN GLASS HOUSES
Hacks visits the new Museum of Glass in Tacoma- August
Hot Sweats in a Cold Read at the Anza Club- August
LIFE ON FAST FORWARD - Vancouver on speed -September
SUPERNOVA NINA & ROAD
SweetSista'Shorts Carousel Theatre- Granville Island - Off Fringe
ROUNDHOUSE FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. - September
Arts in the Community is for real -
WE ARE ALL GURUS NOW - September
Time to enrol
MOVIEWORLD October
Vancouver Film Festival Trade Show report

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