TIM BELFORD

Summit reflections

That well known humorist, singer, and Harvard math prof, Tom Lehr, wrote an interesting little ditty back in the sixties.

If Irecall correctly one of the lines went, "They're rioting in Africa, tra la la la la la la, there's war in Siam."

The tune came back to me this week asIwandered around Quebec City.

Now, don't get me wrong,Ibelieve there are some serious problems with globalization.

I'm also quite sure they're not going to be solved by boffing a cop on the head with a hockey puck. Or a ball bearing, a hunk of lead, or a nice bit of concrete.

The one thing that stood out was that the number of violent protestors likely exceeded their collective I.Q.

Take the graffiti.

Side by side scrawled on one wall were the following slogans.

"Viva Cuba. Long live Fidel" and "Let Democracy reign."

Is it just me, or do some of you notice the inconsistency here?

If that wasn't enough to cast serious doubt on the mental acuity of the stone throwers, all you had to do was listen to their interviews.

One black-clad, gas mask sporting so-called anarchist was asked if he felt the rioting hindered getting their message across.

He replied through the mask with something that sounded like "Goshbrevel misfritz canteleple."

Which turned out to be a lot more comprehensible than the actual answer he gave after taking his gas mask off.

One sopping wet protestor railed at length at the brutality of the water cannon.

This, only moments after he and his cohorts had finished frolicking in the spray like New York city kids with an open fire hydrant.

But the best complaint came from an individual who looked like a cross between the masked marvel and a ninja turtle.

The wall, he said, was a provocation and should never have been there.

He didn't explain what he might have done if there had been no wall between him and the delegates.

Mind you, anybody who pays the least bit of attention to our neighbours to the south knows exactly what the presidents security detail would have done to him.

The wall?

Thank god for small mercies.