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First of all... Merry Christmas to all!
The other night, as I was fading in and out of sleep... I came upon a memory. I remembered the flying, a lightness of being... something I knew I could do when I was younger and more carefree. Something I could do when I cared less for gravity and logic.
I don't know if I was remembering old dreamstates or something real, but the thought of having lost the ability to fly, even in my dreams...
*sighs*
I have heard people say that the Conservative Party in Canada has more in common with the American Democrats than the Republicans. That's just not true anymore, if it ever was, is it?
For me, the creation of the Conservative Party and the amalgamation of the Canadian Right in it (despite the vying platforms of the parties that made it up) is a sign of the increasing infection of the polarization (or partisanship, if you prefer) of global politics, already systemized in the United States, that I have been ranting about for years. A unified party espousing conservative Christian, free-market only policies (until recently with the economic crisis) that shy away from the older Conservative notions only serves to enforce an either/or choice between left or right hardline ideologies.
It doesn't help, as with the recent attempt at coalition, that the left, in reaction only serve to further the idea of an either/or choice. It's become a part of the way we understand politics even here in Canada, where we once prided ourselves in being level-headed and middle-of-the-road in our politics.
Battery on this lappy's running dry, so I'll finish it up... you've probably heard me talk about this enough already.
I have no solutions, since the language and the way we speak of politics has changed fundamentally. I'm just pointing out the symptoms. Maybe it'll help.
I find myself missing people in my past again.
I need a response to this question and quick. If you're reading this on my blog, please send me an e-mail or call me... and if you're reading it on Facebook, leave a comment.
I am looking to get an iPod Touch to replace my older one, which broke this summer while traveling. Since I order mine off Apple's website, they do free engravings... which is why my old one was named vaderPod and was engraved with a wonderful vader quote concerning the dark side and under-estimating it.
Now, since I'm looking to get an iPod Touch... I need a new engraving. I was going to go with a quote by Nietzsche, "Ohne Musik wäre das Leben ein Irrtum" or "Without music, life would be meaningless"... but not only is it a little pretentious, but it has an accented character in it, which can't be engraved.
So I need suggestions! The only one I can think of (and the one I like the most right now)... because of the iPod Touch's Wifi capabilities and the ability to stay connected with the rest of the world, encyclopedic resources, and Google Maps just about anywhere you can get a signal... I was going to have...
"Don't Panic"
... engraved in it, in honour of Douglas Adams and the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy... but any other suggestions are welcome and strongly encouraged! And if you like "Don't Panic" then say so!
Love,
Me.
This may be a little politically incorrect, and so I'm warning you ahead of time (now). You read on at your own peril.
What I want to know right now, and I'm extremely curious about, is how long it takes to properly train someone in the Afghan National Army. The Europeans had all sorts of horrific problems training many of the fighting men from the colonies simply because they were not used to the European way of organizing men and materiel. With the intensified training and the fighting spirit you can't just get out of training though they did end up producing some of the best troops the world has ever seen.
Compounding problems are the reports of widespread opium and hash use within the ANA when between firefights, the fact that the most aggressive and capable of the population fights on the other side or someone else... that the guys that kicked the Russkies out of town are doing their best to kick everyone else out and the guys who aren't with the other side are in militias belonging to warlords (some of whom are in the new government... with their own private armies) that will need to be disbanded and incorporated into the new army somehow... add to that the fact that most of the ANA come from different tribes with longstanding rivalries...
... and I think, wow. I really wonder how long it takes to build a modern army from scratch in that kind of environment. Because it's obviously working, the ANA are receiving the best training and the graduates are for all intents and purposes modern infantrymen, with all the discipline and other stuff that entails. And I mean, I scour the net for videos of their training and I realize it's just kids... I mean, either the older generation doesn't want anything to do with it or they're on the other side... and I think... you know what? It might take a few years... but I do think we might be able to get out of there and leave behind a stable enough government that can actually enforce its own peace. I feel rather bad that their own kids will be dying and cleaning up a mess we made but at least we'll have given them the tools to do so? And I hope with enough work the government they'll be working for won't collapse into another godawful mess?
At the end, despite the fact that we lefties are supposed to be the evil heartless ones that want to pull out as soon as possible without condition (hah! like that would work) I think most of us want to see an Afghanistan we can put in our 'win' column in the long run. We've screwed up enough times by pulling out too soon (not a sexual metaphor) and not committing the resources to fix a problem. A win would be nice, yeah?
An open letter to the politically minded of Canada:
I have refrained from commenting on the coalition thus far because I wanted to see how it would pan out... there was most certainly a part of me that thought that it would fall on its ass, for various reasons, and though I'm not quite certain how it will pan out thus far I do have a word I'd like to get out there.
Though I do think Harper's attack on the coalition's ties to 'separatists' was an expected (though shrewd, not to mention effective) political move, I find myself extremely bothered by some of the language used by either side, and especially by young supporters. It has echoes of something extremely sinister and evil.
So I'll point it out right now, and feel free to hate on me for it, but it bears saying. Couching your attack on the other side on grounds of patriotism, or even your language in such phrases as 'putting Canada First' or such other language, is the lowest form of political discourse that I can think of. It not only bears some resemblance to the unfortunate 'Real America' dialogue used in the recent American election, but above that it bears an unfortunate resemblance to the hate speech that is so often couched in pseudo-patriotic language.
Perhaps its a result of the increasing polarization of politics, and perhaps it isn't. Attacking someone's patriotism, however, should never be acceptable. Ever. Declaring either side of the ideological debate 'the real citizens of this nation' is never acceptable.
You know who you are, you all should know better.
Finally, a reprieve from work... I caught a nap today, my first real sleep in weeks.
If there's one thing missing from my life I had when I was younger... it's the notion of Hollywood romance. Romance itself is wonderful but the notion that two people can meet and fall in love... ahhh.
I think back and it seems like that's how all of my great relationships... the ones that lasted, the ones that mattered... it's how they started. We may not have gotten together till much later, explored the depths of friendship first, and then fallen into it much later... but we knew way before that we were in love. It could've been something so simple as a touch, a glance across a room, but we knew.
What is it about youth that makes that kind of connection so much stronger? Or is it that, being jaded and having for so long shut out the very idea of romance (in my life, anyway) I've completely missed the signs?
That's what scares me in this concept... that I can no longer recognize love when it comes knocking, that I may have missed such opportunities because I've so thoroughly excised it from my life that I'm ... well, that oblivious idiot who just doesn't get it anymore, that the only cue that can set me off is a signpost the size of Texas or a lewd invitation... which is obviously not in the least bit the sort of thing I'm referring to. Or, I have so removed my personality and moral code from that of normal people that I don't just *click* with someone... but I refuse to believe that.
It doesn't prevent me from seeing it in other people, certainly. I spoke to an old friend today who, before I had even introduced them to someone, I knew would fall deeply in love. When they did finally meet they clicked... it was obvious and wonderful and it's that sort of thing that makes me delightfully happy. And if I can see it in other people surely I can see it in myself... or when someone feels that way about me?
Or maybe not. I hope I haven't lost that... I really do. Life would just lose so much of its meaning and delight otherwise.