Conflation and Inference

I stole this from the comments on liberal catnip.

" Seek the truth in Harper's roots, perhaps?

The key to Harper's micro-management of his ministers might lie in his core political beliefs.

Perhaps this applies? In From Riel to Reform: Understanding Western Canada, October 26, 1999, Professor Tom Flanagan writes:

"Historians and political scientists have identified three major features of western politics that seem to perpetuate themselves across the generations in the various new parties as they arise. I would describe these three characteristics as suspicion of external control, rejection of Canada’s federal parliamentary system, and a thirst for fundamental solutions."

Harper's rigid control of "the message" shown by his latest directive, is consistent with his roots – if Flanagan is right, it probably springs from his rejection of the parliamentary system, and his thirst, as a political revolutionary of messianic bent, for fundamental solutions.

Messiahs seldom tolerated dissent with their teachings, even while they encouraged revolution against and dissent from the prevailing order."



Tom Flanagan is one of Harper's trusted advisors. We will see if Clément Chartier, president of the Métis National Council, was prescient in his belief that "If Flanagan continues to be part of the Conservative machinery and has the ear of a prime minister,"..."it's our existence as a people that's at stake."

Hey, we gotta blame somebody.

Canadian Soldiers in Afghanistan Not Worth (Re)consideration?

I find it odd that any government, no, society (that's you and me, boys and girls) would send its soldiers into one of the most violent places on earth and not consider, daily, the decision to send them there. Debate it in parliament, in the coffee houses, in our living rooms and around the water cooler. And as long as it makes sense to continue endangering the lives of our sons, daughters, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, then certainly, continue the mission. But the moment the reasons for their continued deployment fails to make sense, that's the moment we should bring 'em home.

Is a debate really harmful to the welfare of our soldiers and their morale? Hardly. More harmful by far is the apathy displayed by the vast majority of Canadians who don't care - don't demand to know:

a) why?
b) for how long?
c) what's the desired end-state?
d) is that end-state achievable?
e) how many Canadian lives is it worth to achieve it?

So get informed. Ask yourself. Ask your friends. Ask your MP. Let it weigh heavily upon your conscience. The least we can do for our soldiers risking life and limb daily, is to make damned sure their risk is worth it, and know exactly what "it" is.

Mr Pointyhead
Cyprus '89-90
Gulf War '91
Bosnia '98

Mourning Milosevic's Death

Am I the only one who was disappointed by the news of Slobidan Milosevic's death this week? Anyone else feel sad that he died an untimely death? Terrible shame, really ... and so young....

Milosevic had ho shortage of fans, so he must have done something right. And it seems curious - the circumstances of his death ... no? Curious, and sad.

Thumbsucker: Derivative Movie seeking Depth

We recently viewed last year's Sundance Festival favorite, Thumbsucker. The movie is sold as a teenager's quest to become "normal" and figure out who he is. He largely gets super-productive and focused taking Ritalin but rejects what that makes him and he turns to pot and and a girl who is just "using him". He finds happiness by lying on his application to NY University so that he can break free of the confining aspects of small town Oregon and find himself in the Big Apple.

The movie is sold as being in the Napoleon Dynamite genre but it really isn't. There was nothing meaningful to be taken from Napoleon Dynamite; it was more a series of sketches making fun of people that Jon Hedder grew up with. The movie is particularly kind to any of the people; they are largely there to ridicule. This is exactly the kind of movie that you would expect a bitter high school nerd to make. Thumbsucker is different. It seems to be more the creation of a writer trapped in the mind of a pretentious college junior with English as a major. First of all, there have been lots of movies about moody and weird teenagers. When you really try to trace through the various "inspirations" for this film, you will find Catcher in the Rye, Garp, Elephant and even Pleasantville. There is really little that is new in this film that hasn't been in other films.

That said, there are two pearls to take from this movie. First, Keanu Reeve's poorly developed character comes with the meaning of life: "It's really about learning to live without an answer". Second comes from the protaganist's "normal" younger brother who says: "Did it ever dawn on you that in being so weird you put a lot of pressure on me to step up and be normal?" Well that's about all you get for 96 minutes. True its a lot more than you get from a movie with Jennifer Aniston in it, but hardly enough to justify the $5 rental from blockbuster.