Good times, good times

When I arrived home from work today, I took the time to make sure that I hadn't received any new phone messages. I usually don't bother because I rarely receive them, and when I do they are from a) friendly neighborhood realtors; b) my landlord; or c) Jack Layton (in the last federal election, Jack left me an upbeat message a couple of times, even though I don't live in his riding. I suspect he wanted a piece of this weblog's 'juice', since it is regularly read by literally dozens of people).

Anyhoo, my dearth of messages reminded me of 1995, when I moved to Toronto straight from 6 months of hell in Lake Louise Alberta. I didn't know a single person in Toronto, having accepted a job as a cook at Bar Italia after a phone interview. So I had never met my new boss or the owner, let alone laying eyes on the restaurant where I would be working.

Needless to say, I was a bit lonely until I had been here for a few weeks and had made some friends. The strongest memory I have from that period, new in a big city, was getting home and seeing the blinking of my answering machine's 'message' light for my new Toronto number.

It turns out my new number was really the old number of a defunct crisis hotline (probably cancelled by the Harris Conservatives).

Every night, I would get home, and listen to my messages. From day 1, they were desperate pleas for help from lost people. There didn't seem to be any kidders or pranksters. It was just really depressed people leaving a synopsis of their heartaches for someone, anyone, to listen to.

I altered my answering machine message to state "Hi, this is Pete. This telephone number is no longer a Crisis Hot Line".

But it didn't matter. People kept on leaving heartbreaking tales of personal loss and sorrow.

I must admit I fast-forwarded through a lot of the longer messages, but what can you do. It's not my job!

Welcome to the big T.O., bro!

Well, I got what I wished for...

And now Stéphane Dion is the leader of the Liberal Party. I should be happy, and I was very, very happy when I heard the 3rd round results. Why, then, do I now have this feeling of doom in the pit of my stomach?

I'll tell you. By Sunday, columnists in the Toronto Star (?!?), let alone the other papers, were commenting on how pathetic the Liberal Party will be with Dion leading it. A response to my previous posting seems to sum it up: Dion as the Liberal leader is handing Québec to the separatists.

Despite how often I hear this, I still do not understand the logic. What does it matter if Québec sovereigntists will stay away from the Liberals under Dion? Wouldn't they vote BQ anyway?

Would it be better that sovereigntists pretend to support the Liberals under, say, Iggy, then betray them later, Like Bouchard & co. did to the Mulroney Conservatives?

When Dion and Kennedy made a deal to move their support to the stronger of the two on the second ballot, the idea was that Kennedy and Dion were both strong in their home provinces, and almost non-existent in their ally's home ground. So this implies to me that Dion does have strength in Quebec. (Or, that Kennedy isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. Zing!)

Be a little more optimistic, all you Liberal power-hungry sluts. For once, you have chosen (distractedly, it seems) someone who isn't part of the red-tie/expense-account-padding establishment.

The next general election could be framed, for example, as a clear choice between a 'Nice Guy' and an 'Asshole' (as my dad would say). What more can you ask for?

Maybe you won't be seen as such opportunistic whores this time! Cheerfully abandon that perogative to the Conservatives would be my advice.

The Liberals' Big Day fast approaches!

Who will emerge as the next leader?

The Lurch-like Michael Ignatieff? The elfin Bob Rae? Perhaps even the semi-literate Gerard Kennedy? Or maybe one of the other guys?

Who can say? A Liberal convention is even harder to call than normal elections since more things go on 'behind the scenes'. As far as anyone can tell Ignatieff has the first ballot support of about 30% of the delegates. It could be higher, no one is sure. But this is sure: If Ignatieff doesn't hit well over 30% of votes on the first ballot, he is doomed.

Why is this? Because all the other candidates hate his guts, including his supposed good buddy Bob Rae. So if the first vote doesn't show definite movement towards Ignatieff, he will receive insignificant increases in support in subsequent balloting.

Assuming that Iggy gets little more than 30% on the first ballot, what will happen? It will be a competition amongst the other candidates to become the 'anyone-but-Ignatieff' candidate who will, I believe, end up winning.

In my heart, I hope it is Dion, but judging from what I have read over the last few weeks my head tells me it will be Rae.

Either Dion or Rae (or even Kennedy!) would be infinitely better than Ignatieff, but recent polls appear to indicate that Rae has the best chance of any of the candidates to help the Liberals deny the Conservatives a majority in the next federal election.

It saddens me, because I would like to see the NDP gain a greater voice in the Commons and Rae (or to a lesser extent Dion) would grab votes from border-line NDP supporters like myself.

On the other hand, if Harper's Conservatives form a majority government, it would be a catastrophe. And according to the aforementioned polls, Bob Rae is the best person to prevent that.

Still, I hope for the miraculous victory of Stéphane Dion. Mostly because I really like Frenchies!

Addendum: I should mention that it seems to me that although Martha Hall Findley was the most personable, well-spoken, and non-'full of shit' of all the candidates, she was never given serious attention. Luckily, she is young, so I hope that we will see more of her in Liberal leadership campaigns to come.

Good golly! I was wrong, gracious me

It appears that I will have to rethink alot of my previous prejudices. We aren't witnessing Berlin '33 all over again. The Republicans are not the budding fascists I thought they were.

They are the incompetent, ersatz grand-nephews of fascists that actually knew how fix an election. Why would the Republicans suddenly be competent in this case (I hindsightedly ask myself), when they are so uniformly incompetent in every other way?

This is my mea culpa.

Who are they trying to kid?

Well, it is now noon on mid-term election day in the Great Satan, and I have grown a bit tired of all these projections that the Democrats (the other 'Business' party) will take control of the House and/or the Senate.

Where have these people been? Living in some fairytale where the electoral process hasn't been perverted to the point that the Democrats will never, ever win again?

The Democrats have about as much chance of gaining seats as the Communists did in the Reichstag in 1933.

The citizens of the Great Satan have baked their bread, now they can eat it.

American Tourister




Can you think of a worse name for a company that produces luggage? 'American' is bad enough, 'Tourister' is just an irritating made-up word that caps it off. Why not write "KILL ME" on some masking tape and stick it on your forehead? At least you would be viewed with curiosity and/or fear, rather than distaste, contempt, and/or hatred.

Why do I own American Tourister luggage in the first place? Five or so years ago, I bought American Tourister luggage at a discount warehouse because it was really, really, cheap. So, apparently, did everyone else. My luggage looks exactly the same as 50% of the other bags dropping from the hopper.

My personal identifiers are green ribbons tied to the handles with "One Ireland" printed on them in white.

Before my next trip, I plan on putting masking tape over the pseudo-metal permanent logos on the luggage (an example of which is highlighted in the screengrab serving as a banner at the top of this posting) in an effort to avoid future bavardage.

An appeal from the heart

I have searched high and low on the internet, but I cannot find that photo from last summer of Jack Layton and Olivia Chow in a canoe, paddling through a Canadian Shield-type landscape.

The reason I am obsessed with that shot is that, at the time, I ignored it as another meaningless photo opportunity. Then, later, I read a column (I forget where) in which the writer stated that Jack Layton was the only person he had ever seen that could look indignant while paddling a canoe.

This got a big laugh from me because, in my mind's eye, Jack did look angry about something, like maybe someone off-camera had loudly farted.

Maybe it is the moustache? It looks bristly and, well, indignant. As supporting evidence of my theory, I cite 'Gorgeous' George Galloway. He has a closer cropped, toothbrush-style moustache, but he also looks indignant, almost by default.

Truth be told, I would grow a moustache if I could, be damned the grey hairs!

Anyhoo, does anyone out there have a graphic of that shot that they can send me?

Is Michael Ignatieff 'triangulating'?

The concept of 'triangulation' was first popularised in the '90s by the administration of puffy sleaze-bag Bill Clinton. In practice, this meant that he would alter his ideas on legislation depending on how the political wind was blowing. Triangulation is defined, kindly, in Wikipedia as:

The act of a candidate presenting his or her ideology as being "above" and "between" the left and right sides of the political spectrum.

Now Iggy seems to be following a similar path to power. A couple of months ago, he mentioned in a press interview that he wasn't losing sleep about Israeli actions in Lebanon. The result: lots of criticism from the Quebec and Youth wings of the Liberal party.

Suddenly, this week, in a french-language interview, Iggy is singing a different tune: he described certain Israeli actions in Lebanon as "war crimes", which pissed off the 'Israel right or wrong' wing of the Liberal party to the extent that his campaign manager resigned.

Beyond the pathetic squabbling of the Liberals, this latest statement implies, to me, that he wouldn't lose any sleep as Prime Minister when informed about any future war crimes.

This sort of whatever! attitude may be ok for you and me, since we as everyday Canadians (ie. not Jewish, Muslim, Lebanese, Israeli, or evangelical Christian) probably didn't lose much sleep over it either.

But then you or I have no driving need to lead this country.

Perhaps, due to his total lack of experience in government, Iggy can be excused for his apparent ability to piss off everyone concerned regarding an important international issue. But who can excuse his staff? By all accounts, he has the majority of the Liberal 'brain-trust' behind him whole-heartedly.

Good luck at the convention, Iggy, you deep-thinker you.

Heck of a job, Brownie!

The sooner toffee-nosed war criminal Tony Blair ignominiously abandons his office and steps into the pages of history, the sooner I can redirect my spite to where it belongs: Canadian politics.

To that end, I encourage all the theists out there to drop to their knees, wince sharply, then set about pleading with their deity or deities to put Tony Blair out of his misery: I don't care if the event is his resignation, his passing away from natural causes, or a tomahawk to the skull. Just make it happen.

Brownie might not be much, but at least he isn't Tony 'Toadie' Blair.

If you have the strength to witness something fairly gruesome, choose to experience this 2005 ad starring Tony and Gordon (I wonder if Canadian political ads seem as cheesy to foreigners as this seems to me):

Russell Brand: wanker?

I was recently perusing the football section of of the Guardian Online when I came upon a fairly amusing opinion column by a fellow named Russell Brand. A quote:

At half-time I made the mistake of using the lavatory in the Dr Martens stand unaccompanied. Further autographs and photographs ensued. This caught the attention of a group of what I can only describe as lads. Or possibly yobs. As they queued to buy drinks, I became the focus of their good-natured chants beginning with: "Who the fucking hell are you?" Moving on to: "Brandy is a wanker." Followed by a burst of: "Sex case, sex case, 'ang 'im, 'ang 'im, 'ang 'im." Borrowed from the film McVicar. High jinks, yes, but unnerving none the less. And then: "Where were you when we were shit?"

Well frankly, I internally remarked, "we were shit in the first half, I was in my seat watching us being shit." But of course they meant where were you in previous, less successful seasons. To which I would like to rather belatedly respond. I was here but you didn't recognise me because I didn't have a famous hair-do. Obviously I didn't have the confidence to articulate that at the time because I was too busy maintaining control of both my frontal and rear sphincters. The tone of these taunts was essentially garrulous, ribald tormenting as opposed to an aggressive onslaught. Blessedly I was given a chance to redeem myself.

...

Many ran to congratulate and hug me. I was accepted. One, to show his acceptance (I don't know what manner of ritual this is), tipped some beer on my head. I've never felt more loved. Then, before I reached the lavatory, Zamora equalised, chaos erupted and I was swept off my feet. Embraced. More beer sloshed about on to my, retrospectively, ill-advised footwear - the flip-flop...

I have always been interested in the phenomenon of people that are celebrities in Britain, but not North America, so I did a search for Russell Brand on google.co.uk (I had no choice in this, because recently, at some step in a google free-app 'wizard', I indicated I preferred UK spelling rather than US spelling, which means I now bounce to google.co.uk, rather than google.ca regardless of my IP address) and it turns out Russell Brand is quite a celebrity as a comedian in the UK.

Being an enterprising sort (at least when it comes to searches, as opposed to actually doing anything physical) I found that Russell is the MC of Big Brother's Big Mouth, something that runs daily with Big Brother UK. I searched for "Big Brother's Big Mouth" on youtube.com and got more than I had expected: Russell Brand isn't the intellectual comic I had expected to see. He is a lisping, flaming, unfunny cunt, as Bob Geldof would say.

I must presume that he hides the sly humour exposed in his column because the lads prefer his pensées celebrating his 'ball bags'.

Sad. But I still love his way with words: "To which I would like to rather belatedly respond...".

That, my friends, is what is known as 'well-spoken'.

My Canada doesn't include Alberta

Well, it was a long time coming, but finally King Ralph has abdicated his throne. Come to think of it, wasn't "King Ralph" a feature film, with John Goodman in the leading role?

In celebration of Ralph's many years of stout service to the good citizens of Alberta, please entertain this proposal: that Alberta separate from Canada.

Regard this proposal objectively: isn't the rest of Canada only holding Alberta back?

Think about it from the Albertan perspective: no more GST, equilisation payments, or the need to co-label everything in french. Plus, without the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, they can make damn sure no Sikh will try wearing his turban in a Legion Hall again.

At the same time, think of the benefits to the rest of us: no more having to endure lectures on fiscal propriety from a province awash in oil revenue; a drastically lowered Canadian dollar that would stop the loss of manufacturing jobs in Ontario and Quebec; not having to hear GOD repeatedly mentioned by the Prime Minister in his speeches.

Albertans like to talk big, "We gonna separate if we can't decide fer everyone what's right 'n' wrong, y'all", but I don't think they have the huevos for it. I wish they did!

Is it just me, or is the Globe & Mail trying a little too hard to push pro-occupation propaganda?



Articles from today's print edition include:

"The Afghan mission is not a failure" by boring, boring windbag Lewis MacKenzie

"The Afghan mission is not a failure" by only slightly less boring windbag Afghan ambassador Omar Samad

Nota Bene: The Toronto Star has a similar setup of pro/con columns in their editorial section, just like the G&M's. The difference with this G&M innovation is that it is a pro/pro discussion. Everyone wins! The G&M op-ed page debate: "Lewis, the Canadians are doing hard work." "Omar, I know it. Let freedom ring!"

"Love the soldiers? Love the soldiering" by cop-meat, hockeyplayer-meat, now soldier-meat lover Christine 'dry doe' Blatchford

"Canada's valuable role in Afghanistan's fight" by a nameless editorial writer, presumably whoring White House stooge Marcus Gee

And these 4 articles were all on the same 2 page spread!

When the G&M amasses this level of mental firepower on one subject in one edition, you know something big is going on. The only power player missing was Margaret Wente! (Maybe she was too busy pulling yet another hapless citizen out of a ditch with her SUV. Zing!)

To quote Diane from Cheers: "Methinks thou doth protest too much".

Well, "methinks they doth protest too much". They know the Canadian public is increasing turning against our involvement in the occupation of Afganistan, so the shadowy forces that inexplicably favour foreign interventions are growing increasingly desperate.

We can expect more displays of this sort.

Kerala sticks it to the man,  part deux

Those CPI(M) swine in the Kerala state government are once again bolstering their Nazi bona fides, this time by pulling a "krystal nacht"-type manoeuver on Microsoft, that defender of the downtrodden.

From the New York Times (registration required):

In a new attack on multinational corporations, the Communist government in India’s southern state of Kerala is campaigning to eliminate Microsoft from use in public institutions, just weeks after it imposed a ban on Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
...
Microsoft was not being banned, he said, but the government was actively encouraging Kerala’s 12,500 schools to switch to the Linux operating system, available around the world free of charge.

P.S. Want to see another sexy photo of Bill Gates? I know I sure do, and I've got what you need! From an artistic perspective, please note that in this shot the sexy binder and foreground monitor props have been replaced by a fanned pile of 1.44 floppies, allowing Bill more space to splay himself comfortably across his desk.

Anyone but Michael Ignatieff

I can't believe this guy is the presumptive front-runner in the Liberal leadership race. But then again, Liberals are such a bunch of power-hungry sluts that they would elect Ben Mulroney as leader if they thought it would get them a majority.

Ignatieff's political views on important international issues of the day closely resemble those of the Great Satan's present administration: pro-Iraq invasion, pro-Afghanistan occupation, and a believer in the moral rightness of torture, at least as long as the torturers are in the employ (officially or otherwise) of the Great Satan.

Worse still, not only is he a war crime enabler, he is dreadfully boring, at least while speaking publically. I saw him on "Question Period" last spring and he was horrible.

To call his performance 'wooden' would be unfair to wood because at least wood has a bit of 'give'. If you can imagine a shorter, swarthier Lurch from the Munsters giving a speech, but with less emotion and his torso tilted to leeward at about 15 degrees, then you can imagine what Ignatieff was like.


But enough! The anti-Michael Ignatieff movement continues to build in preparation for this fall's Liberal Leadership convention. Lots of ammo for rewarding water-cooler chit-chat can be found at StopIggy.com.

An amuse-gueule from StopIggy:

Iggy spends a lot of time in ‘The Lesser Evil” describing how various forms of torture are not really torture at all, including, “forms of sleep deprivation that do not result in lasting harm to mental or physical health, together with disinformation and disorientation (like keeping prisoners in hoods) that would produce stress.” This is all an unpleasant but necessary part of “the war on terror” for Iggy, and he goes on at great length about concepts such as “torture warrants” that would allow U.S. agents to legally torture suspected terrorists. In another article, “Evil Under Interrogation: Is Torture Ever Permissible?” Iggy expands his list of permissible torture to include “permanent light or permanent darkness, disorienting noise and isolation.” For Iggy, what international law calls “torture” becomes “permissible forms of duress”.

Kerala sticks it to the man

The government of the Indian state of Kerala has taken a historic step in the globalisation battle (ie. the rights of local communites versus the rapacious money-lust of international corporations).

Not only have they banned Coca-Cola Co. and Pepsi Co. from operating bottling plants in Kerala, they have taken it one step further and banned even the SALE of Coke and Pepsi products in their state.

From Counterpunch:

The Coca-Cola bottling plant in Plachimada has remained shut down since March 2004 because of community opposition. Government and independent studies have confirmed the presence of toxic waste around Coca-Cola's bottling plants across India. "We will take steps to close down the Pepsi factory in Puddussery village in Palakkad district of Kerala," the chief minister added.

Last week, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a leading public interest research and advocacy group in India, released a study that found a "cocktail of between three to five different pesticides in all samples" of Coca-Cola and Pepsi products they tested in India. On an average, the CSE study said, the pesticide residues were 24 times higher than European Union (EU) standards and those proposed by the Bureau of India Standards (BIS), the government body responsible for standardization and quality control.

(snip)

Efforts are underway in India to develop regulations that will govern safety standards for soft drinks to ensure consumer safety. The Centre for Science and Environment has accused the Coca-Cola company and Pepsico, as well as "powerful interests in the government", of blocking the adoption of the standards.

"The government of India must also ensure that there are laws that protect our groundwater, and that regulations are in place to put an end to the kinds of rampant pollution that we have seen with the Coca-Cola company," said Amit Srivastava of the India Resource Center, an international campaigning organization.

The Supreme Court of India has also ordered Coca-Cola and Pepsico to reveal the ingredients in their products in six weeks, or face a potential national ban.

On a side note, one interesting statistic I read (that I have no immediate link for) is that it takes 4 litres of good, potable water to produce 1 litre of Coca-Cola.

Hot Buttered Rum

This weekend, while reading Rum: the Epic Story of the Drink that Conquered the World, I came across a very interesting
sounding recipe for Hot Buttered Rum:

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
.5 cup sifted fruit sugar
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups vanilla ice cream, softened
rum
boiling water

In a small mixing bowl, beat together butter, sugar, spices. Beat in ice cream. Put in container, seal, and freeze.

To serve, spoon about .33 of a cup into a mug, add a jigger of rum, and .5 cup of boiling water.

Why present this recipe to the public? Because I care.

Stephen Harper isn't so smart, after all.

All he had to do was show up at the 16th International AIDS Conference in Toronto, shake a few hands, voice a few platitudes, then sit back and enjoy his improved polls in urban ridings. But no, his angle seems to be a Bushesque "I stand by my principles" 'thing'. And since his 'thing' doesn't seem to include reaching out to the gay or ethnic communites, he isn't going.

I was terrified that he would, in a last minute publicity stunt similar to his Cyprus airlift photo op. But he couldn't make himself do it, even though his presence would reassure nervous Ontario and Québec voters that he is not the mouth-breathing, bible-thumping neanderthal that many continue to suspect he is.

From the Globe and Mail:

Forty million people worldwide are living with HIV-AIDS. The disease is crippling sub-Saharan Africa, and concern is emerging about epidemics in Russia, India and China. In Canada, one-third of all new HIV infections occur in aboriginal populations. Thousands of conference delegates are discussing profound issues of access to treatment. They rightly expected Mr. Harper, as political leader of the host country -- one of tremendous wealth and prestige -- to likewise participate or, at the very least, to welcome and wish them well.

Canadians are engaged in all the struggles of the world around them, not just the military ones. By playing against type, Mr. Harper could have lit up the room. Instead, he is being roundly roasted. "I think part of the problem is that he's ignorant about the issue," said Laurie Edmiston of the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange. "Mr. Harper, you have made a mistake that puts you on the wrong side of history," said Mark Wainberg, conference co-chair and director of the McGill University AIDS Centre. "It's a lost opportunity to tell the world how Canada feels about this pandemic," said Stephen Lewis, United Nations special envoy for HIV-AIDS in Africa.

Where has Ian McShane been all my life?


He is 65 years old and yet I had never heard of him before Deadwood! Impossible, says I to myself, since I am well nigh omniscient when it comes to the particulars of popular culture.

He is the standout star of Deadwood, my new favourite TV series (thanks to the twin miracles of high speed internet and peer-to-peer file sharing), and apparently he has had a long and successful career in tv and motion pictures.



Consulting the NY Times entertainment database reveals these credits, and incredibly enough I have hardly seen any of them. Of the ones I have, I was too young to notice and he probably had only a couple of lines:

2006 Scoop Actor: Joe Strombel
2004 Nine Lives Actor: Larry
2003 Agent Cody Banks Actor: Brinkman
2003 Terror in Moscow Actor: Narrator
2002 Bollywood Queen Actor: Frank
2001 D.R.E.A.M. Team Actor
2000 Sexy Beast Actor: Teddy Bass
1995 Soul Survivors Actor
1992 Con Man Actor
1990 Columbo: Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo Actor
1990 Perry Mason: The Case of the Desperate Deception Actor: Andre Marchand
1990 Turgenev's Month in the Country Actor
1989 Blood Sport Actor
1989 In the Frame Actor
1989 War & Remembrance: The Final Chapter Actor
1989 Twice Shy Actor
1988 War & Remembrance Actor
1988 The Great Escape II: The Untold Story Actor
1987 High Tide Actor
1987 Grand Larceny Actor: Flanagan
1986 Rocket to the Moon Actor: Willy Wax
1986 The Murders in the Rue Morgue Actor
1985 Braker Actor: Alan Roswell
1985 Evergreen Actor: Paul Lerner
1985 Too Scared to Scream Actor: Hardwick
1984 Torchlight Actor: Sidney
1984 Ordeal by Innocence Actor: Philip Durrant
1983 Bare Essence: The Final Chapter Actor
1983 Grace Kelly Actor: Prince Rainier of Monaco
1983 Exposed Actor: Greg Miller
1982 The Letter Actor
1982 Marco Polo Actor: Ali Ben Yussouf
1980 Cheaper to Keep Her Actor: Dr. Alfred Sunshine
1979 The Great Riviera Bank Robbery Actor: The Brain
1979 Yesterday's Hero Actor: Rod Turner
1978 Harold Robbins' The Pirate Actor: Rashid
1977 Code Name: Diamond Head Actor
1977 Jesus of Nazareth Actor: Judas
1977 The 5th Musketeer Actor: Fourquet
1975 Freelance Actor
1974 Journey into Fear Actor: Banat
1974 Ransom Actor: Petrie
1973 The Last of Sheila Actor: Anthony
1972 Sitting Target Actor: Birdy Williams
1972 The Left Hand of Gemini Actor
1971 Villain Actor: Wolfe Lissner
1971 The Devil's Widow Actor: Tom Lynn
1970 Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You Actor: Fred
1969 If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium Actor: Charlie
1969 Battle of Britain Actor: Sgt. Pilot Andy
1966 The Pleasure Girls Actor: Keith Dexter
1966 Gypsy Girl Actor: Relbin
1964 The Young and the Willing Actor
1962 Young and Willing Actor: Harry Brown

I recognise some titles, "Agent Cody Banks", "Sexy Beast", "Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You", "If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium", "Battle of Britain", but it is the only last 3 mentioned that I have actually seen. And I don't remember him.

One of my colleagues said that he was "Lovejoy" in a British TV series, so the list above might well be incomplete.

I will look into it.

Are Canadian troops using depleted uranium munitions?

Because, if so, that would suck. I have a hard time understanding the benefits of using ammunition that not only pollutes the environment for, what, a half life of 5000 years or something, as well as poisoning the soldiers firing it, not to mention the surrounding populations that will suffer the resultant genetic defects (essentially) forever?

What is the benefit of DU munitions? Longer range? Greater penetration? Even if true, why would they use it? A fleeing teenager in his or her pajamas will be killed or maimed just as soundly by a good, old-fashioned chunk of lead.

This flippant use of environmentally hazardous materials reminds me all too much of the Great Satan's military/industrial decision to spray DDT (Agent Orange) over huge swathes of Vietnam, as well as bordering countries, in the whimsical expectation that denuding Vietnam's forests of their leaves would allow the Great Satan's aircraft the visibility necessary to ensure that the dominoes will stop falling.

Anyhoo, there is no point in "jumping the gun", so to speak, until I find out whether Canada is using them or not (I doubt it would be proudly broadcasted, if true). If there is no easily available answer on line, maybe I can lobby one of the local NDPers to ask about this during question period in the next parliamentary session.

I'm looking into it.

Interested in knowing what is going  on in Lebanon?

Really going on, militarily at least, minus all the political spin and associated bullshit? I recommend the War Nerd's most recent column- A Hezbollah Upon All of Thee!

The War Nerd is a very opinionated and annoying asshole. Luckily for us, he also has an interesting take on global conflicts, as well as a sense of humour (sort of).

From the article linked to above:

Hezbollah has great soldiers. That's one reason I can't help liking them. They're some of the most underrated soldiers on earth facing what I consider the most overrated military force on earth, the IDF. The Israelis have been coasting on their reputation for a long time, but way back in Gulf War I it was clear they made their record like a Don King fighter, padding their Win column against a bunch of bums. When I saw those pitiful Arab "soldiers" crawling toward US camera crews on their hands and knees to surrender, the first thing that went through my head was, "Whoa, so that's the kind of opponent the Israelis have been showboating against? Well Hell, my high school marching band could've beaten those Arab chickenshits!"

I'm not alone in that conclusion either. One of the top US commanders in GW I called the IDF "a bunch of arrogant pricks who wouldn't last ten minutes on a European battlefield." Well, that bit about a "European battlefield" is another sad case of our NATO obsession, but the point is, the IDF doesn't deserve its rep. It did once, back in 1948 and during Suez, when it was manned by double-tough survivors of the European Jews who were determined to show up the book-nerd stereotype by kicking ass from Haifa to Damascus. Those dudes were truly tough.

But we're talking demographics again, dude. Passage of time, plus difference in birthrate, means that by now the IDF has a thin, real thin, crust of Ashkenazi brains'n'brawn on top and a bunch of flabby mama's boys under them. See, those whitleather-tough survivors wasted their genes on the whole socialist kibbutz commune experiment, had a kid or two, or none. Their kids are old now. Meanwhile, Israel admitted every loser from Russia or Ukraine or Yemen who could claim a grandpa who liked carp or a grandma who carried the overprotective gene or whatever, anything that could make them look Jewish. Half of them were just lying to get out of their native Hellholes, and none of them were willing to die for Israel the way that kick-ass first generation was.