<r*!f |3ürthuiô (Dhseriier
Page 8
May II, 2011
Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the vifws o f the
Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and
story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com.
New Prices
Effective
May 1 ,2 0 1 0
Martin
Cleaning
Service
Carpet & Upholstery
Cleaning
Residential &
Commercial Services
Minimum Service CHG.
$45.00
A small distance/travel charge
may be applied
C A R PE T CLEAN IN G
2 Cleaning Areas or
more $30.00 Each Area
Pre-Spray Traffic Areas
(Includes: I small Hallway)
1 Cleaning Area (only)
$40.00
Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area
(Hallway Extra)
Stairs (12-16 stairs - With
Other Services): $25.00
Area/Oriental Rugs.
$25.00 Minimum
Area/Oriental Rugs ( Wooly.
$40.(X) Minimum
Heavily Soiled Area:
I Additional $10.00 each area
(Requiring Extensive Pre-Spraying)
U PH O LSTERY
C LE A N IN G
Sofa: $69.00
Loveseat: $49.00
Sectional: $109 - $139
Chair or Recliner:
$25 - $49
Throw Pillows (With
th
Other Services): $5.00
%
AD D ITIO N AL
SER V IC ES
• Area & Oriental Rug
Cleaning
• Auto/Boat/RV Cleaning
• Deodorizing & Pet
Odor Treatment
• Spot & Stain
Removal Service
• Scotchguard Protection
• Minor Water Damage
Services
SEE CURRENT FLYER
FOR ADDITIONAL
PRICES & SERVICES
Call for Appointment
(503) 281-3949
A Generation Exhales with Bin Laden’s Death
Emotions run
high for youth
who grew up
after 9/11
bv L aurence
H ull
I feeJ it's somewhat jarring to
see the images of Americans
marking this historic moment by
partying outside the White House
and across the country. We may
be effectively guilty of celebrat
ing death and exhibiting the
worst of Western excesses,
while we continue to con
done drone strikes in Af
ghanistan and Pakistan that
kill terrorists and civilians
alike.
However, from the per-
The enthusiastic
flag-w aving. The
gaudy red, white,
and blue jumpsuits,
the booming chants
o f "U S A , U SA ,
USA." The huge
crowd of jubilant young people
g ath ered o u tsid e the W hite
House, celebrating Osama bin
Laden's death.
Is it right to celebrate the death
of an individual, even one as
abhorrent as bin Laden?
His death won't bring home spective of someone who was
the thousands of troops fighting only 11 years old when the 9-11
and losing their lives in the name attacks happened (as were many
of "nation-building" in Iraq and o f the college-age revelers),
Afghanistan. The "Global War there's a real em otional and
on Terror" (a never-ending war mental aspect to this event that
on a tactic) won't end with bin is being overlooked.
Laden's death. Is it really appro
Every young person in my age
priate to engage in such unre- group vividly remembers where
^Uaioed p ity in g ? ......................... Jxe.Qi; shQ was .when the. terrorist.
attacks happened. I remember
hearing the news crackle through
the radio on my school bus in
London and then seeing the hor
rific images of the attacks once
I got home.
While my contemporaries and
I may not have had the ability to
look at the events through a criti
cal lens, the images from those
days will be forever burned into
our psyches. There was a defi
nite feeling that the world we
knew before the attacks was
sible in whole or in part for mur
dering thousands of people, en
couraging a climate where hu
man rights and freedoms are
limited, destroying the popular
image of Islam as a religion, and
radicalizing the debate on iden
tity so that it has become "them
vs. us."
Perhaps with my generation,
he has become a literal bogey
man of someone who changed
the world we live in for the worse.
The kind of celebrations that
erupted in front of the White
House could be seen as a dis
turbing sign of people who have
been whipped up into a j ingoistic
frenzy. However, I suggest that
these celebrations are something
else: the collective "exhale" of a
group of young men and women
gone and that things would never who have grown up in a world
be the same again.
that lacked confidence, belief,
For those o f us who grew up and any semblance of "peace."
in the West under the shadow of
Laurence Hull is a former
the attacks in New York, W ash Foreign Policy In Focus in
ington, Madrid, and London, tern at the Institute fo r Policy
Osama bin Laden is really the Studies. He lives in London
embodiment of a world that has and is studying history and
become gripped in fear and ha international studies
at
tred. A man who was respon Morehouse College in Atlanta.
There was a definite feeling that
the world we knew before the attacks
was gone and that things would never
be the same again.