Saturday, March 12, 2005
Friday, March 11, 2005
Ahhh!
Well, isn't this special -- Beleaguered Harper endures week from hell
Try to imagine how little I care.
Try to imagine how little I care.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
And this is why we keep voting for Martin
Canadian Politician Equates Gay Marriage With Mad Cow Disease, Accuses PM Of Racism
Here's another Conservative MP who is not quite ready for prime time. "The article, on Alberta MP Monte Solberg's website, criticizes Martin for defending gay marriage as a right under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. If Martin defends same-sex weddings as a Charter right, then an argument can be made that reopening the Canada-U.S. border to Canadian cattle is also a Charter right for farmers, Solberg suggests. 'Remember, it's all in the Charter and if you don't think so, then you can just take your hairy knuckles back to Selma, Alabama, where you obviously belong,'' he wrote." Here's the website article which this story refers to.
UPDATE: But then there's this one, too -- Liberal apologizes for suggesting Canada "embarrass" U.S. over trade. Does this leave the NDP as the only party without foot-in-mouth disease?
Here's another Conservative MP who is not quite ready for prime time. "The article, on Alberta MP Monte Solberg's website, criticizes Martin for defending gay marriage as a right under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. If Martin defends same-sex weddings as a Charter right, then an argument can be made that reopening the Canada-U.S. border to Canadian cattle is also a Charter right for farmers, Solberg suggests. 'Remember, it's all in the Charter and if you don't think so, then you can just take your hairy knuckles back to Selma, Alabama, where you obviously belong,'' he wrote." Here's the website article which this story refers to.
UPDATE: But then there's this one, too -- Liberal apologizes for suggesting Canada "embarrass" U.S. over trade. Does this leave the NDP as the only party without foot-in-mouth disease?
No wonder we keep voting for Calvert
CTV.ca | Sask. Party MLA suggests shooting premier
This is why the NDP keeps getting reelected here in Saskatchewan -- the alternative, a combination Reform/Conservative/Liberal coalition called the Saskatchewan Party, keeps demonstrating that its not quite ready for prime time.
This is why the NDP keeps getting reelected here in Saskatchewan -- the alternative, a combination Reform/Conservative/Liberal coalition called the Saskatchewan Party, keeps demonstrating that its not quite ready for prime time.
Alienation and rage
In his article Don't Stop With Syria's Occupation Juan Cole states an interesting thesis when he writes: "You want to end terrorism? End unjust military occupations. By all means have Syria conduct an orderly withdrawal from Lebanon if that is what the Lebanese public wants. But Israel needs to withdraw from the Golan Heights, which belong to Syria, as well. The Israeli military occupation of Gaza and the West Bank must be ended. The Russian scorched-earth policy in Chechnya needs to stop. . . . The U.S. needs to conduct an orderly and complete withdrawal from Iraq. And when all these military occupations end, there will be some hope for a vast decrease in terrorism. People need a sense of autonomy and dignity, and occupation produces helplessness and humiliation. Humiliation is what causes terrorism."
But Cole doesn't discuss what is sometimes called "domestic" terrorism, perhaps because this doesn't fit his thesis quite so well, The IRA, the Basque separatists, the FLQ and groups like this don't really fit his model, nor do the pocket-sized US secessionist groups. That is, unless governments are perceived to be "occupying" any land at all which is claimed by a separatist movement. Organizations like the Red Brigade in Germany and Italy don't fit the model either.
The terrorism practiced by these groups is not caused by humiliation, but rather by a toxic combination of alienation and rage -- the group is alienated from the political authority through which they might have been able to resolve their grievances, and this authority becomes the focus of their rage.
So we get the FLQ blowing up mailboxes and Timothy McVeigh blowing up the Oklahoma City federal building.
But Cole doesn't discuss what is sometimes called "domestic" terrorism, perhaps because this doesn't fit his thesis quite so well, The IRA, the Basque separatists, the FLQ and groups like this don't really fit his model, nor do the pocket-sized US secessionist groups. That is, unless governments are perceived to be "occupying" any land at all which is claimed by a separatist movement. Organizations like the Red Brigade in Germany and Italy don't fit the model either.
The terrorism practiced by these groups is not caused by humiliation, but rather by a toxic combination of alienation and rage -- the group is alienated from the political authority through which they might have been able to resolve their grievances, and this authority becomes the focus of their rage.
So we get the FLQ blowing up mailboxes and Timothy McVeigh blowing up the Oklahoma City federal building.
Monday, March 07, 2005
Trouble for the United States at the UN
Bush Picks Critic of U.N. to Serve as Ambassador to It
Oh, you've got to be kidding me - John Bolton as UN Ambassador? Jethro Foot-in-Mouth? The Mustache That Walks Like A Man? Mr. F*ck-Them-All? That John Bolton?
The NYT quoted Condi Rice saying "The president and I have asked John to do this work because he knows how to get things done."
Well, if they want to start a war with Cuba and North Korea and Iran, plus piss off Japan and China so maybe they'll start selling off their dollars, plus make sure the UN Security Council won't support a single US initiative, well, I guess Bolton can do that job just fine.
I think Rumsfeld and Cheney convinced Bush that Bolton will be able to bully the Security Council into supporting sanctions against Iran. They think the rest of the world is populated with stupid, weak-willed schmucks -- we're all Old Europe now -- and so we'll just roll over and play dead as soon as Mr. Moustache tells us to.
Well, we'll see how that works out, eh? You know how it goes, fool me once shame on me, fool me twice, shame on me again.
Here are some top quotes from the Bolton hit parade:
- “It is a big mistake for us to grant any validity to international law even when it may seem in our short-term interest to do so – because, over the long term, the goal of those who think that international law really means anything are those who want to constrict the United States.” *
- ". . . the Europeans can be sure that America's days as a well-bred doormat for EU political and military protection are coming to an end." *
- "Why was the 1998 [Pentagon] report on Cuba so unbalanced? Why did it underplay the threat Cuba posed to the United States?" he asked, replying "A major reason is Cuba's aggressive intelligence operations against the United States."*
- Bolton mocked supporters of the test-ban treaty as "misguided individuals following a timid and neo-pacifist line of thought." In an interview with Arms Control magazine, after taking office, Bolton caused a stir by seeming to back off the 'no first use' of nuclear weapons doctrine that has been the underpinning of the non-proliferation treaty.*
- "I believe that the United States should support the efforts of the Republic of China on Taiwan to become a full member of the United Nations: and "diplomatic recognition of Taiwan would be just the kind of demonstration of U.S. leadership that the region needs and that many of its people hope for… The notion that China would actually respond with force is a fantasy, albeit one the Communist leaders welcome and encourage in the West." The article containing these quotes also notes that in April, 2001, the Washington Post reported that Bolton was paid a total of $30,000 by the government of Taiwan for "research papers on UN membership issues involving Taiwan."
Oh, may you live in interesting times!
Oh, you've got to be kidding me - John Bolton as UN Ambassador? Jethro Foot-in-Mouth? The Mustache That Walks Like A Man? Mr. F*ck-Them-All? That John Bolton?
The NYT quoted Condi Rice saying "The president and I have asked John to do this work because he knows how to get things done."
Well, if they want to start a war with Cuba and North Korea and Iran, plus piss off Japan and China so maybe they'll start selling off their dollars, plus make sure the UN Security Council won't support a single US initiative, well, I guess Bolton can do that job just fine.
I think Rumsfeld and Cheney convinced Bush that Bolton will be able to bully the Security Council into supporting sanctions against Iran. They think the rest of the world is populated with stupid, weak-willed schmucks -- we're all Old Europe now -- and so we'll just roll over and play dead as soon as Mr. Moustache tells us to.
Well, we'll see how that works out, eh? You know how it goes, fool me once shame on me, fool me twice, shame on me again.
Here are some top quotes from the Bolton hit parade:
- “It is a big mistake for us to grant any validity to international law even when it may seem in our short-term interest to do so – because, over the long term, the goal of those who think that international law really means anything are those who want to constrict the United States.” *
- ". . . the Europeans can be sure that America's days as a well-bred doormat for EU political and military protection are coming to an end." *
- "Why was the 1998 [Pentagon] report on Cuba so unbalanced? Why did it underplay the threat Cuba posed to the United States?" he asked, replying "A major reason is Cuba's aggressive intelligence operations against the United States."*
- Bolton mocked supporters of the test-ban treaty as "misguided individuals following a timid and neo-pacifist line of thought." In an interview with Arms Control magazine, after taking office, Bolton caused a stir by seeming to back off the 'no first use' of nuclear weapons doctrine that has been the underpinning of the non-proliferation treaty.*
- "I believe that the United States should support the efforts of the Republic of China on Taiwan to become a full member of the United Nations: and "diplomatic recognition of Taiwan would be just the kind of demonstration of U.S. leadership that the region needs and that many of its people hope for… The notion that China would actually respond with force is a fantasy, albeit one the Communist leaders welcome and encourage in the West." The article containing these quotes also notes that in April, 2001, the Washington Post reported that Bolton was paid a total of $30,000 by the government of Taiwan for "research papers on UN membership issues involving Taiwan."
Oh, may you live in interesting times!
Sunday, March 06, 2005
What kind of Christianity is this?
Why am I reading such scary stuff about Christianity lately?
There's this -- Eschaton: Bobo's World about a 6-year-old first grader being suspended from a Christian school because his mother refused to spank him.
And there's this, from Buzzflash -- Bill Moyer's article on how the belief in the Rapture appears to absolve Christians from doing anything to protect the environment or advance political welfare. Moyers writes:
Now, I grew up in the United Church, and I have also attended an Anglican church sometimes. These churches were, at heart, humble -- the ministers took their texts from the Bible and didn't talk about crazy stuff like the Rapture. The congregations were a hundred or two hundred famlies, at best - large enough to support the church's ministry, but small enough that the minister could personally visit any members who were in hospital or grieving. And many of the people attending these churches tried sincerely to be Christians in their daily lives -- tolerant, kind, self-effacing, helpful.
Now the Christianity I read about is intolerant, boastful, mean, spiteful, and infested with hate talk about gays and Muslims. Considering how the support of the gay marriage amendment has translated into open season on all kinds of intolerance and hate against gays in the States, I worry that if the Supreme Court allows municipal displays of the Ten Commandments, the Christian Right will inflate this into state endorsement of their own brand of evangelical, militant Christianity, declaring open season on all other religions and on any disagreement with their beliefs. It's scary stuff -- and what would Jesus do?
There's this -- Eschaton: Bobo's World about a 6-year-old first grader being suspended from a Christian school because his mother refused to spank him.
And there's this, from Buzzflash -- Bill Moyer's article on how the belief in the Rapture appears to absolve Christians from doing anything to protect the environment or advance political welfare. Moyers writes:
There are millions of Christians who believe the Bible is literally true, word for word. Some of them . . . subscribe to a fantastical theology concocted in the nineteenth century by two immigrant preachers who took disparate passages from the Bible and wove them with their own hallucinations into a narrative foretelling the return of Jesus and the end of the world. Google the "Rapture Index" and you will see just how the notion has seized the imagination of many a good and sincere believer . . . The plot of the Rapture—the word never appears in the Bible although some fantasists insist it is the hidden code to the Book of Revelation—is rather simple, if bizarre . . . Once Israel has occupied the rest of its "biblical lands," legions of the Antichrist will attack it, triggering a final showdown in the valley of Armageddon. As the Jews who have not been converted are burned the Messiah will return for the Rapture. True believers will be transported to heaven where, seated at the right hand of God, they will watch their political and religious opponents writhe in the misery of plagues—boils, sores, locusts, and frogs—during the several years of tribulation that follow. I'm not making this up.And the Globe had a terrific feature in Saturday's paper about mega-churches in the States (it doesn't seem to be listed on their website) which talked about how these evangelical churches are moving into stadiums, their services are so large, and how they offer a total-lifestyle, shopping-mall experience to their thousands of member families.
Now, I grew up in the United Church, and I have also attended an Anglican church sometimes. These churches were, at heart, humble -- the ministers took their texts from the Bible and didn't talk about crazy stuff like the Rapture. The congregations were a hundred or two hundred famlies, at best - large enough to support the church's ministry, but small enough that the minister could personally visit any members who were in hospital or grieving. And many of the people attending these churches tried sincerely to be Christians in their daily lives -- tolerant, kind, self-effacing, helpful.
Now the Christianity I read about is intolerant, boastful, mean, spiteful, and infested with hate talk about gays and Muslims. Considering how the support of the gay marriage amendment has translated into open season on all kinds of intolerance and hate against gays in the States, I worry that if the Supreme Court allows municipal displays of the Ten Commandments, the Christian Right will inflate this into state endorsement of their own brand of evangelical, militant Christianity, declaring open season on all other religions and on any disagreement with their beliefs. It's scary stuff -- and what would Jesus do?
Climbing Everest
Hockey night on Mt. Everest
Ever since I read Into Thin Air I have been fascinated with the annual Everest expeditions. They begin each year in March, when the climbers arrive at the base of the mountain. They work their way up the Everest base camps throughout April and into May, gradually acclimatizing to the altitude, the cold, and the lack of oxygen. The one-day push to the summit from the fourth base camp usually happens sometime between May 5 to 25, depending on weather. A number of the expeditions now run websites which are compelling to check, particularly as the climbers ready themselves for the last day, the climb to the top -- by then, the climbers are close to their limit in managing at these altitudes, with some of the trickiest climbing just a few meters from the top.
This year's Canadian expedition aims to play hockey on the Khumbu glacier -- the Sherpas will undoubtedly view the whole thing as just another example of Western madness. Hey, maybe this is where they can award the Stanley Cup this year!
Here is the glacier where they will be playing:
Everest is the mountain on the left. See here for other Everest photos.
Ever since I read Into Thin Air I have been fascinated with the annual Everest expeditions. They begin each year in March, when the climbers arrive at the base of the mountain. They work their way up the Everest base camps throughout April and into May, gradually acclimatizing to the altitude, the cold, and the lack of oxygen. The one-day push to the summit from the fourth base camp usually happens sometime between May 5 to 25, depending on weather. A number of the expeditions now run websites which are compelling to check, particularly as the climbers ready themselves for the last day, the climb to the top -- by then, the climbers are close to their limit in managing at these altitudes, with some of the trickiest climbing just a few meters from the top.
This year's Canadian expedition aims to play hockey on the Khumbu glacier -- the Sherpas will undoubtedly view the whole thing as just another example of Western madness. Hey, maybe this is where they can award the Stanley Cup this year!
Here is the glacier where they will be playing:
Everest is the mountain on the left. See here for other Everest photos.
Meaningless positioning
Anti-Abortion Dem. to Seek Pa. Nomination
You know, I get a kick out of headlines like this.
The only thing worthy of note about this man, apparently, is that he is anti-abortion and a Democrat.
And his being anti-abortion, in this particular electoral office, is virtually meaningless -- what power has any Senator ever had to outlaw abortion? None, really. Yes, they passed some kind of late term abortion law a couple of years ago, but wasn't it overturned?
Anyway, what gives me a chuckle is how often politicians run on, or get publicity about, policies about which they can do nothing.
Its like a rural alderman running on a platform of relieving taxpayers from education taxes -- easy to say this, considering that municipal governments have nothing to do with how the schools are managed.
Or a provincial politician running on a platform of changing the equalization formula -- this is a federal formula, not a provincial one, so provincial MLAs can't really promise to do anything about it.
Or a federal politician saying he will make sure new highways are built in the constituency -- again, this is a provincial matter and all the feds can do is give provinces some money and hope they might use it to improve a particular highway.
But politicians won't stop doing this kind of thing until their public draws them up short, and says -- hey, tell me what you CAN do something about, instead of pandering to me about policies that you are powerless to implement.
You know, I get a kick out of headlines like this.
The only thing worthy of note about this man, apparently, is that he is anti-abortion and a Democrat.
And his being anti-abortion, in this particular electoral office, is virtually meaningless -- what power has any Senator ever had to outlaw abortion? None, really. Yes, they passed some kind of late term abortion law a couple of years ago, but wasn't it overturned?
Anyway, what gives me a chuckle is how often politicians run on, or get publicity about, policies about which they can do nothing.
Its like a rural alderman running on a platform of relieving taxpayers from education taxes -- easy to say this, considering that municipal governments have nothing to do with how the schools are managed.
Or a provincial politician running on a platform of changing the equalization formula -- this is a federal formula, not a provincial one, so provincial MLAs can't really promise to do anything about it.
Or a federal politician saying he will make sure new highways are built in the constituency -- again, this is a provincial matter and all the feds can do is give provinces some money and hope they might use it to improve a particular highway.
But politicians won't stop doing this kind of thing until their public draws them up short, and says -- hey, tell me what you CAN do something about, instead of pandering to me about policies that you are powerless to implement.
Saturday, March 05, 2005
Friday, March 04, 2005
Changing feet
POGGE points to this Paul Wells post Why doesn't Frank McKenna resign?
McKenna seems to open his mouth only to change feet.
So what's he going to say next? Let's have a contest!
Will he sympathize with the US about the recent WTO ruling on their cotton subsidies by telling them how we subsidize our lumber even more?
Or maybe he'll start talking about how Canadians appreciate the US for letting us fight with them in Afghanistan even though our soldiers aren't really doing anything important.
Or maybe he will entangle us in the red state/blue state thing by telling Americans how Canadians only enjoy visiting the blue states.
Or maybe he will talk about how important it is for Canada to keep its Muslim citizens out of sight and away from the border, so the Americans don't get pissed off.
Gee, there's just so many things he could say, aren't there . . . stay tuned.
McKenna seems to open his mouth only to change feet.
So what's he going to say next? Let's have a contest!
Will he sympathize with the US about the recent WTO ruling on their cotton subsidies by telling them how we subsidize our lumber even more?
Or maybe he'll start talking about how Canadians appreciate the US for letting us fight with them in Afghanistan even though our soldiers aren't really doing anything important.
Or maybe he will entangle us in the red state/blue state thing by telling Americans how Canadians only enjoy visiting the blue states.
Or maybe he will talk about how important it is for Canada to keep its Muslim citizens out of sight and away from the border, so the Americans don't get pissed off.
Gee, there's just so many things he could say, aren't there . . . stay tuned.
You ain't seen nu-nu-nuthin yet
Winnipeg Sun: Way to go, rock fans Every time we watch a show on CTV now, we are deluged with ads for the Junos. Why I don't know, because there are no tickets left, and its still weeks away -- my son says its because the ads for a Canadian TV show also count as "Canadian content" in the CRTC rules -- can this be true?
Anyway, every time I saw a Juno ad about some star who would be performing, all I could think of was how stupid the Juno organizers were -- making such a big deal about holding this event in Winnipeg, and then not inviting Randy Bachman or Burton Cummings to perform, the people who put Winnipeg on the map musically. We've seen both Bachman and Cummings do shows over the years, and they are both terrific performers, too.
So now, though still with obvious bad grace, the Junos have caved -- Bachman and Cummings will perform.
And they will blow everyone away.
Perhaps the reason the Juno organizers didn't want them was exactly that -- they are so good, they will show up the award-winners!
Anyway, every time I saw a Juno ad about some star who would be performing, all I could think of was how stupid the Juno organizers were -- making such a big deal about holding this event in Winnipeg, and then not inviting Randy Bachman or Burton Cummings to perform, the people who put Winnipeg on the map musically. We've seen both Bachman and Cummings do shows over the years, and they are both terrific performers, too.
So now, though still with obvious bad grace, the Junos have caved -- Bachman and Cummings will perform.
And they will blow everyone away.
Perhaps the reason the Juno organizers didn't want them was exactly that -- they are so good, they will show up the award-winners!
Tragedy with a gun
Police Probe Mountie Killings As Canada Mourns
Its been over a century since four Mounties were killed in a single incident.
I am sad for them and their families and coworkers, of course, but also for the town. We visited some friends in Mayerthorpe a few years ago. -- they were so happy there, so proud of the town in which they had built their life and raised their children - showing off the town swimming pool, their store, their comfortable house. Now, the whole town has this tragedy to deal with. But they are strong, and they will heal.
Its been over a century since four Mounties were killed in a single incident.
I am sad for them and their families and coworkers, of course, but also for the town. We visited some friends in Mayerthorpe a few years ago. -- they were so happy there, so proud of the town in which they had built their life and raised their children - showing off the town swimming pool, their store, their comfortable house. Now, the whole town has this tragedy to deal with. But they are strong, and they will heal.
One simple-minded atrocity at a time
Digby's piece Kill Chill talks about the broader implications of the Afghan prisoner who was left to freeze to death --
The justification for this barbarity is a self-indulgent and self-serving perception of 9/11, resulting in panic and hysteria.
There are many, many questionable deaths and not in the field of battle. Junior's ill advised edict to "take the gloves off" resulted in unknown numbers of innocent or only mariginally involved people being killed, tortured and imprisoned. It seems that every day new evidence emerges that troops were ordered to behave like animals in the pursuit of this enemy and for no real purpose except indulging a barbaric bloodlust.
The justification for this barbarity is a self-indulgent and self-serving perception of 9/11, resulting in panic and hysteria.
. . . the overarching theme of abject panic at the threat of 'Islamofascism' applies to all aspects of the Republican approach to the 'GWOT.' From the minute the WTC was attacked their immediate response was to say that this threat is completely unprecedented. Therefore there are absolutely no limits to how much pain and suffering we are allowed to inflict and no limit to the freedoms we are allowed to restrict because this is the worst thing that ever happened to any nation or people in the history of the world. And anyone who doesn't agree is nothing more than a treasonous girly man. The only problem is, it just isn't true. These guys were nothing but quivering hysterical panic artists. Why they are considered to be such tough guys, I will never know. Grace under pressure certainly isn't their strong suit, that's for sure.
The damage they have done to this country's sense of itself as a moral force for good, however, cannot be papered over with soaring speeches about freedom and liberty. Leaving that naked prisoner (so many naked prisoners!) to die of the cold that night is just one of the many ways in which these puerile egotists sold this country down the river one simple minded atrocity at a time.
She's out
Yahoo! News - Martha Stewart Leaves Federal Prison
And I am glad.
The Stewart conviction was a miscarriage of justice -- the jurors seemed to think they were striking some kind of blow against the rich by finding her guilty, though the evidence of her guilt just wasn't there. I admire her for sucking it up and doing the time. She'll be back on top pretty soon.
And I am glad.
The Stewart conviction was a miscarriage of justice -- the jurors seemed to think they were striking some kind of blow against the rich by finding her guilty, though the evidence of her guilt just wasn't there. I admire her for sucking it up and doing the time. She'll be back on top pretty soon.
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