About "The Fifth Estate"

Having watched the report called "Sticks and Stones", I can say that the CBC didn't really get it. It did appear biased in favor of leftists, simply because they didn't acknowledge the Left's role in slandering and shouting. While it's true that the Right runs most of the call-in shows, it did not indicate that the Left should watch what it says as well. Also, they focused too much on Bill O'Reilly and Ann Coulter, people whom I consider to fall short of sensible, rational thought. And what about Al Franken? Was he really crying over what they said? Those people will say just about anything for the sake of shock value. The only thing that disturbs me about Bill and Ann is that anyone takes them seriously, for or against. People like Franken should not be concerned with what people like that say, learn to respond with "whatever." People in general should learn to chill out about politics.

A Sinister Thought
 
On today's episode of "Gaywatch", we out a character from "Arthur". As far as conspiracy theories go, this is getting more and more far-fetched. I was willing to give them Tinky-Winky, but I'm starting to think they're getting way off-track.

On Iraq
 
I believe the conventional wisdom is for this experiment to fail, and fail horribly. It's my sincere hope that this does not end in disaster. It is just not sporting to take joy in its ultimate failure, assuming it does hit the fan. Pray to God it doesn't.
I don't believe that you can simply "give" people freedom, it has to be earned. Yet, it seemed to work in Japan after the war. Could someone explain that?

Here, Bush is making sense.

Egad! What A Week!

I spent the last 3 days at my parents' place. I just intended to stay there overnight Saturday but as many of you know, we on the East coast were hit by our third snowstorm in less than a week. Even when we had "White Juan" last year, I think it was just two snowstorms.

Here is an interesting (4-part) article by Fareed Zakaria in this week's Newsweek, concerning the increasing likelihood that Bush Inc. is going to be smacked in the face by gravity eventually, and another article worth checking out about alternative lifestyles, sorry, not that.

I would agree with Bob and Dana that Paul Martin is overrated as far as managing the nation's finances, though I'm sure we would disagree in what ways.

Off topic entirely, you gotta love Dr. Seuss.

Still OT, more on Creationism.

I don't like Januarys

Home
 
Here on the East Coast, we've been hit with two snowstorms. Taking the bus can be a nightmare at the best of times, this week it's caused me unbearable stress. On the other hand, I have had more time to stay home and get things done.

Away
 
So what is Bound by Gravity doing tomorrow? He'll be attending a planning session for the Conservative Party Policy convention in March. It does need a formalized party policy, which it apparently lacked in the last election. And I'll venture to say that the proposed CPC platform for aboriginal rights and self-government does look very reasonable (look under "Making Policy"), but I won't speculate as to whether it will be considered enough or not. Instead, I'll question whether or not it will be taken at all seriously, and if it is, will they scrap it as soon as they are elected, as both federal parties seem fond of doing? (examples in chronological order, Trudeau "Zap! You're frozen!", Mulroney "No Free Trade", Chretien-Martin "The Red Book") I allude to a link to an earlier post as to what party leader Stephen Harper and his power-behind-the-throne Tom Flanagan really feel about aboriginal rights. On a positive note, some good news for Labrador Innu. It seems to be easier to resolve land claims with people living in the frozen north, but progress is progress.

Abroad
 
How many of you have seen the pictures on Steve Gillard's web site? I won't provide links to them, because they almost made me cry. I don't think that any proponent of the war would dare justify that sort of thing. I sincerely hope no one does.

So who saw Bush's inauguration speech. Did you see it condensed on The Daily Show? I think that the more people use certain words, like "freedom" and "liberty", the less meaning that they have.

Lastly, a word about the planned invasion of Iran. This will be the blow from which America will never recover, like Napoleon and Hitler's invasions of Russia. But no one should cheer that, it will bode horribly for the world to lose America as a superpower. That's my prediliction of doom for the day.

So who won last night?

Or for that matter, why does anyone care? I'm talking about the Golden Globes. A dubious award from a very secretive organization probably being run by someone named David Manning. Isn't it the Hollywood equivalent to professional wrestling? And still on the subject of ... what am I talking about? Dishonesty? So how about conservative commentators Armstrong Williams and Bill O'Reilly? I think this is Williams' first strike, but with the other guy, it's probably his third or fourth.

The Genesis War 

So where do you stand on the subject of where we came from? I have to admit, biosciences are not my specialty, but I do like to read up on it once in a while. On the subject of creationism, I say that it's possible, but the old Adam and Eve story is just one of many folk tales from different cultures trying to explain when and where the human race began. And about evolution, it is just another possibility. I would not be offended if the Missing Link was actually found and we were actually descended from apes, heck, I am willing to believe that we all started out as microbes in primordal soup, which is the conventional wisdom now. The thing is, we just don't know for sure. Darwin's theories are still just that. Theories. And the science is always changing. Most of what we know now may ultimately be proven wrong.

Local News

Judy Sgro has resigned, but apparently, her accuser is less than reputable. It's too early to say "Good riddance!"
 
Does anyone reading this watch French TV, even though like me, you only have high school French? There is this program on 7:30 ET Sunday nights on Radio-Canada called "...Et Dieu Crea LaFlaque", which is a computer animated news programme starring a Gerard LaFlaque, a fat, grumpy, middle-aged husband and father who interviews real personalities, both in CGI and in real life. As I said, my French is limited at best, but I still couldn't stop myself from laughing at times. It's sort of like Larry Sanders/Newsroom + Spitting Image (in a computer generated sort of way). It's really up on current events too, check it out.

Not for 30 and under

Don't you miss vinyl records? I do. This guy makes some really valid points. It does seem that in most cases, for everything gained, we lose something. It's one more reason I feel sorry for kids today. They don't experience art in any remotely pure form as we did. Don't I sould like an old fuddy-duddy? Not entirely, who misses 8-track tapes? Speaking of which, my father got an old-fashioned record player for Christmas. But on closer inspection, it does have some new features as well, and I bought him an old Catherine MacKinnon record that he used to have on 8-track. Again, who misses 8-tracks?

Please don't let me be misunderstood

The other day, I seemed to provoke outrage from The Tiger In Winter when I commented on how Canadians can dish it out, but can't seem to take it. I agreed with him on that point, but then I made some assertions, which he addressed, and I want to respond to his responses.

For the first issue, I seemed to imply that if we don't agree with America all the time, we're Public Enemy No. 3, behind Germany and France. Being ignored isn't an entirely bad thing. They could have been really nasty to us if they wanted, but overall have not been. On the yes-man issue, I believe that feeling prevailed throughout most of the Cold War, and if it is not true about the vast majority of Americans now (I don't believe), it is certainly true about their government, especially if you want to work for them. Thirdly, I made a reference about Canada becoming more Americanized. I won't speculate as to whether the Americans are in any way behind it, in fact, I would maintain my first assertion and look upon it as a positive. As I mentioned in a recent post, the last few governments, both Liberal and Conservative, have been making Canada more American, and I believe that the current PM, Paul Martin, is a lot more conservative than you think. It's almost like they're trying to annex us to the Americans.

Perhaps the tone of my queries was a bit inflammatory, if so I apologize. The last thing I want to do is add to the raving emotionalism and ill-feeling that seems to accompany political discourse these days. In response to the other things you were saying Tiger, I agree that most Canadians are being quite nasty, and in general being very unfair to the USA. I also believe that all those who profess that Americans are a lower form than the rest of us, whether here or abroad, are really ignorant and foolish people, and they need to be set straight about it quickly. You can refer them to my blog.

Look at it from their POV, if America thinks that the rest of the world hates them and can do no right, why should they listen to us, they do have feelings too, they are no less human than the rest of us.

It's not like the Americans have not made their share of mistakes, but I think that being one of two and now just the one superpower in the world, I think that for that reason, we should allow them a larger margin of error, and help try to save America from whom I feel are their biggest enemies, their own people.
And as for our military, I heartily agree that we are in desperate need of one, and the recent record of what little we have is at best spotty, and we need to change that post haste.

Globalization at its best and at its worst

So has anyone reading this not heard of David Holcberg's article yet? I don't think that it's online anymore, not on the original site anyway, but it reproduced the best bits in a Louisville, Kentucky newspaper, and I have seen it reported (presumably verbatim) in its entirety on Usenet, where I'm sure that it's been immortalized on Google. It that his real name? If so, he might want to change it.

In an age where we are swinging back to the classical liberal, free-market ideals of the 19th century, it appears that no one, not even the neo-cons, has the nerve to try to defend this point of view (but hopefully he won't be killed for it, I'm with Voltaire on that issue).

If any good can come out of the tsunami, it is the relatively quick response by governments who are able to do something about it. What is the point of acting like a global village if we don't act like good neighbors?

Back to the 19th century, it seemed to me that it was pure, free-market capitalism at its apex (with all the abuses and sheer inhumanity that went along with it), yet, there are those who say that it has never really been tried, which is what others say about communism. Anyone want to contribute a differing point of view?

The original article came from the Ayn Rand Institute, where they seem to be ard. As mentioned earlier, it's probably not there anymore.

Lastly, some news from CNN that you cannot be indifferent to, if you have any idea who Tucker Carlson is.

Time to shine a little light in your lives

Here's a link about Stephen Harper that illustrate some of what I was talking about in my previous post, thanks to Captain Flynn.

Here's another important history lesson, and another look at Lucrezia Borgia, and if you're thinking that the use of torture is acceptable in some cases, check this out.