sourcing the news

(july 9, 2008)

i don’t get much news when i can only steal wireless periodically and there are no english language newspapers around these parts. i depend on the cbc podcasts to get my fill of current events.

with the news comes opinions and here are mine.

i am one of the two thirds of canadians that supports the awarding of the order of canada to dr Henry Morgentaler, one of the pioneers of the pro-choice movement. but that shouldn’t really surprise anyone.

Phillip Gourevitch has written another book, this one about the stories behind the photos at abu ghraib prison in iraq. i never had much of an interest in the photos or what is going on in iraq (i know, i know, i feel as though i should considering i’ve been a student of international relations and am involved with someone whose employer spearheaded the invasion), but now that Gourevitch has written a book, i am going to look it up. the man did a phenomenal job with his book about rwanda and i am interested in what he has to say.

alberta’s government has been to the uk to recruit 50,000 workers and the dude in charge at the legislature is selling the prospect by saying that you can enjoy the winter delights of alberta, including curling. and who wouldn’t move to northern alberta so that they can spend their free time at the fort mcmurray rink learning the great sport of curling while their snot freezes and people growl at them to hurry hard! no wonder people think we are such nerds.

canada was not a vocal participant in getting the cluster munitions treaty passed in dublin recently. we were there, we signed, but we advocated to dilute the treaty. now, if you are fighting alongside an ally who has not signed the treaty (america, america, america...) you are free to use them too. when is canada ever going to be in a position to demonstrate that it is against the use of such weapons if we are constantly beside the us in all armed warfare? here’s hoping obama jumps on the dublin bandwagon that had over 100 states sign.

why do so many people think that the un can save zimbabwe, including Morgen Tsvangeri? the un will not save zimbabwe and cannot act in a country without that country’s permission. it is as ludicrous as saying that the un should have sent peacekeepers into kenya – peacekeepers are not deployed as world police, they are positioned to maintain peace between two belligerent sides of a conflict. and my thinking on this is that few countries are keen on deploying their soldiers anywhere to undertake peacekeeping at the moment, including and especially canada. and we invented peacekeeping.

Maxime Bernier seems like a bit of a doofus, if you ask me. good riddance.

canada and scandanavia are the areas that stand to gain from climate change. not that there is much of an upside to the whole global warming phenomenon, but if there were, that’d be it.