Music Swap

Tired of all my moralizing, moaning about hypocrisy and suggestions for fighting climate change? Let's talk music! I want to share three bands that I'm listening to currently. I'll try and do this from time to time from now on. Feel free to write in comments about bands you're listening to because I'm always on the lookout for new tunes. Not that I have anything against the big guys like Radiohead or Arcade Fire but let's try and share some music that others might not have heard of.

1) Arab Strap

When I first downloaded these guys I wasn't that impressed. But their music is totally growing on me; maybe it has something to do with my current state of mind. It's very mellow, excellent chill out music. It feels like good head bobbing music for nights on the couch. The singer sounds like absolutely the coolest dude in the world. My guess is that they're from Scotland but somewhere in the British Isles nonetheless.

Current Favourite Song: The Shy Retirer

Favourite lyrics: ". . . you know I'm always moaning but you jump start my serotonin . . ."

2) TV on the Radio

Super high energy band from New York City. All the songs I've heard by them are brilliant and instantly lock themselves inside your head. Like a lovely addiction you always want to listen again and again. I haven't had that feeling since high school when I just played CDs through over and over. They are coming to Toronto soon; expect to see me in the front row.

Current Favourite Song: Dry Drunk Emperor

Favourite lyrics: "Baby boys dying under hot desert sun; watch your colours run. Did you believe the lie they told you, that Christ would lead the way, and in a matter of days, he'd hand us victory? . . ."

3) The Most Serene Republic

Wonderful! I didn't even know these guys were Canadian until I found their myspace. I actually saw them in concert with the Strokes but didn't realize that I'd hate the Strokes and love them; nothing against the Strokes but a super rockstar fool in all white kind of turned me off. Unfortunately I missed much of Most Serene Republic's intro having arrived late. But I've made up for it since. This is another very fun band much like Broken Social Scene--they share the same label actually.

Current Favourite Song: Epilogue

Favourite Lyrics: "I think we all know the words; I think we all know the words; I think we all know the words; I think we all know the words . . ." (it comes out of nowhere but, trust me, you'll be singing along before you know it)

Give Justice Not Aid

Donors are meeting in Sweden in the coming days to discuss the reconstruction of Lebanon following the country's bombardment by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Despite failing to defeat their stated enemy, Hizbullah, and rescue their two kidnapped soldiers, the Israelis did make short work of the Lebanese national infrastructure including roads, bridges and power plants. And let's not forget all those apartment buildings in the wrong part of Beirut. According to the logic of the IDF these were fair game. Bizarrely, it seems, they were punishing an entire country for the actions of a tiny minority.

And now the world is coming to the rescue. And their approach indicates that they are not interested in the least in analyzing the causes of the war just throwing money at the Lebanese (with North American, Japanese and European contractors getting the business). I expect that after all these roads and bridges are rebuilt they will be destroyed again in some future war between the IDF and Hizbullah.

Isn't there something wrong with the US and Britain sitting down with other donor states to dole out aid to poor little Lebanon? Didn't the US provide the bulk of the weapons that Israel used to decimate Lebanon? And didn't Britain allow emergency weapons shipments to Israel from the US to pass through their territory unchallenged? I guess it's good business to fund the destruction and rebuilding of a country; you make money on both ends. How does aid make you rich, you might be thinking? Isn't it just a donation? All aid has a price. Nothing is done from the goodness of one's heart in international politics. Lebanon will have to agree to strict demands set down by donors to receive their aid.

And for individuals like ourselves, perhaps aid for aid's sake is not enough when a war is the cause. Maybe we shouldn't give aid but should fight for justice instead; at the very least we should do both at the same time. I have felt this for some time. Well meaning Canadians will give aid to help the Lebanese and the Israelis but this really isn't enough. Those people need to get active and think about the issues and fight for justice; that will be different to different people of course but ultimately it might get people thinking about power and justice in places like the Middle East. And best of all, you won't have to answer the door for another financial appeal from Christian Aid or Oxfam. You would have done their job yourself.

Bottling Health

Every time I go to a grocery store or am waiting for a bus, I see people lugging around cases of bottled water. It's especially bad near McMaster University where students, spoonfed the idea that Hamilton is the most polluted city on earth, drink exclusively from bottles of water. I wonder if the water fountains at McMaster University are even ever used.

Credit advertisers for making a market where there should be none. And it's growing all the time. Unfortunately bottled water is not the wonderous product it seems. Some bottled water contains deadly toxins, presumably from its plastic wrapping. Some bottled water is just tap water straight from a municipal service. So one wonders what the actual benefit of bottled water is. Apparently it's the dividend in dollars that companies hand over to their shareholders.

As an aside, here's an interesting quote from Health Canada. " Yes. You can store large quantities of bottled water in a basement or cold storage area in case of problems with municipal supplies, in case of a natural disaster such as an earthquake or tornado, or in case of war or nuclear fall-out. The water should be disinfected in well-sealed containers, kept in cool, dark storage areas and changed every year. Bottled water manufacturers indicate that their product has a two-year shelf-life." After a nuclear war, according to a confident Health Canada, expect to find bottled water annually at your local grocery store. Otherwise it might not be safe. Please ignore the boils on your skin.

Yesterday I got into a conversation about the future of municipal water given the growth of the bottled water industry. My argument was that if, in ten years, no one but the very poor drink their water exclusively from the tap then the city will have no reason to maintain a safe system; a public good is only valid when everyone buys in. As an alternative to the current system, I expect the middle and upper classes will install their own filtration systems before water enters their houses so that it is safe for watering their lawns and plants and showering and washing their hands; I expect that their pets will receive bottled water, nothing less for a pure bred poodle.

But, my friend replied, the middle and upper classes have a sense of decency and wouldn't let the system decline. But if they are not participating in that system then what use is there for them to demand a certain standard? And we all know how powerful a voice the poor speak with in Hamilton. Of course, those condemned to drinking from the tap will be subject to illness and disease. Therefore they would be a strain on Canada's healthcare system. Since we all pay for this system then surely this would mean that the middle and upper classes have a reason, however selfish, to speak up. Unfortunately in this future I expect that their private health plans will expand to cover more than dental and physiotherapy. Healthcare will be a poorly funded service for the squalid masses. And then the poor will realize that to survive they will need to steal from the middle and upper classes. Hence the need for private security and gated communities. Canada reborn in our southern neighbour's image.

I don't want to sound defeatist and claim that this future will come to pass whether or not we fight it or not. I pledge to never drink bottled water unless my life depended on it and even then reluctantly. From what I read though this picture seems quite plausible. How long before some intelligent corporate executive at Nestle decides to sell us "clean air"? How quickly would Hamiltonians gobble up that particular service while obliviously driving in their hummers to the corner store?

Running the Show

A report came out this week that stated boldly that the so-called War on Terror has boosted Iran's standing in the Middle East and raised its level of influence in its war torn neighbours, Iraq and Afghanistan. After Israel's current misadventure in Lebanon, Hizbullah, backed by Iran, is now the darling of the Middle East. On the surface, Iran seems to be running the show in the Middle East. But I want to suggest that something else is going on.

Iran seems to be unstoppable according to media reports. They are making a mockery of the UN Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency with their nuclear (weapons) program. They can turn off the oil as the world's fourth largest supplier and cripple the global economy at any time if challenged. And now they are conducting war games to demonstrate their resolve against any interloper on their territory. Iran is ascendant.

Compared with this Iranian power, bizarrely given the facts, the US seems punchdrunk. They are thwarted at every turn by Europeans, Russians or the Chinese and they can't make things work in Iraq and they certainly can't find Osama bin Laden. Blundering seems to come with all US foreign policy. Is this blundering perhaps purposeful?

You see there has been a massive void in US strategic thinking ever since the Cold War ended. How do you justify spending $400 billion on defense every year without a powerful enemy like the Soviet Union? Hence George W Bush's Axis of Evil and now his Islamic fascists; the new Nazi Germany apparently. And Iran fits snuggly into that terrorist mould. But unlike Al Qaeda with their relatively small operations, we are told that Iran could really supplant the US given time. This is laughable but this case is being made, everyday. And more and more of us are believing it. This is deliberate.

By attempting to paint Iran into the role of the new Soviet Union or Nazi Germany, the US is desperately searching for a reason to maintain its empire and its massive stockpile of weapons. Unfortunately the world has changed. Maybe the US should try and talk to Iran instead of expressing this traditional polarized worldview. Maybe they should divert much of that money away from defense and into real battles, like those against HIV/Aids or countless other diseases. Maybe they should ensure that everyone on earth has clean drinking water, for free. And then there's climate change which is the true threat, not Iran.

Happy Hundredth

This entry marks the passing of a milestone. Though some of my entries remain drafts, today I'm told that I've passed one hundred entries. This blog has been personally very fulfilling, even if no one reads it. So I thought I'd go with a personal entry, a rarity if you've read this blog before. It's a quote from a great Canadian novel, Fifth Business:

". . . I think you are Fifth Business.

You don't know what that is? Well, in opera in a permanent company of the kind we keep up in Europe you must have a prima dona - always a soprano, always the heroine, often a fool; and a tenor who always plays the lover to her; and then you must have a contralto, who is a rival to the soprano, or a sorceress or something; and a basso, who is the villain or the rival or whatever threatens the tenor.

So far, so good. But you cannot make a plot work without another man, and he is usually a baritone, and he is called in the profession Fifth Business, because he is the odd man out, the person who has no opposite of the other sex. And you must have Fifth Business because he is the one who knows the secret of the hero's birth, or comes to the assistance of the heroine when she thinks all is lost, or keeps the hermitess in her cell, or may even be the cause of somebody's death if that is part of the plot. The prima dona and the tenor, the contralto and the basso, get all the best music and do all the spectacular things, but you cannot manage the plot without Fifth Business! It is not spectacular, but it is a good line of work, I can tell you, and those who play it sometimes have a career that outlasts the golden voices. Are you Fifth Business? You had better find out."

Who Really Hates Freedom?

So what really motivated these young men that apparently were planning to blow up 20 airplanes enroute to the United States from Britain last week? If you listen to the rotten British Labour Party, you'll be told quickly that the West's foreign policy had nothing to do with it. They are merely crazy and "hate freedom"; the usual retort. Have you ever known anyone that hated freedom? I haven't. I'm really getting sick and tired of these facile statements that seem to convince normally intelligent people.

The truth is that even if it wasn't the entire reason, Britain's decision to invade and occupy Iraq alongside the Americans, to support Israel against Hizbullah and the Palestinians and their country's ongoing war in Afghanistan does have an impact on these young men's extreme choices to detonate themselves at 30,000 feet. Add to that British support for dictatorial regimes in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt and you've got the beginnings of an interesting recipe. Who really hates freedom?

When you see disturbing images on television you easily put yourself in the shoes of the oppressed; this is empathy. My father has told me that when the Israelis first invaded Lebanon, when I was just a baby, he saw them bombing Beirut apartment buildings on television. Like a normal human being, he empathized with the Lebanese because those apartments looked like ones he had known living and working in Bombay only a few years earlier. He didn't take up arms but he was outraged. Human beings can feel what others feel and suicide bombers are no different.

When justice is absent what do you do?

When these young men turn on their televisions at home and see sights like bombed out apartments and refugees they feel empathy and anger all at once; these people could easily be you. It is relatively easy for them to be manipulated by extremists into believing that they are avenging the weak by self-immolation. So ultimately our collective foreign policy is helping to drive some people to terrorism.

Perhaps what's needed is a nonviolent "terrorist" recruiter at every mosque, who can channel this rage into constructive actions. But the British government doesn't want that. They don't want to actually change their behaviour in other lands or at home. Violence justifies violence. That's the real truth that both terrorists and "freedom lovers" believe.

And then suddenly . . .

Your problems seem kind of small by comparison. That knot in your chest you've been feeling for days, it seems pathetic. Your father's financial problems are mere trifles. Getting idling cars off the road should become getting cars, period, off the road.

Our climate is changing. Models are produced all the time, a supercomputer fuelled crystal ball into the future. The latest from a researcher in the UK has painted a fairly bleak picture of the results of a modest rise of between 2-3 degrees Celsius. Chaotic weather, droughts, floods, heatwaves and worst of all the death of between 30-60 percent of the world's forests. Like a chronic smoker we are destroying our lungs and our beautiful body for a fleeting moment of pleasure.

Sadly it's almost at the point where there's nothing we will be able to do to reverse these changes. Even if we stopped all greenhouse gas production tomorrow there's still enough gases in the atmosphere to continue warming the planet for the next 100 years. And do you really think that humans are going to stop burning the fuel that fires their industries, wars and lives? We are global warming personified in busy little blast furnaces.

How are we going to react to climate change? How am I going to react to climate change? How are you? I think that we'll stay the course, burning up and living fast, because the alternative is too shocking to consider. Maybe no more DVDs. Maybe no more cottages. Maybe no more bananas and avocados from far off lands. Our lives, so sweet, changed irrevocably. Denial is a powerful thing.

We are encouraged to think only of ourselves. Climate change is a challenge that demands we think of our great grandchildren. What kind of lives will they have?

You know I was going to end the entry there, bleakly, but instead I'll offer some suggestions for you to join the fight against climate change starting with the simple to the more complex:

• Stop idling your car needlessly. Turn off your engine whenever you are stopped for more than 10 seconds. This is pure waste.
• Buy a programmable thermostat for your house. It will save tons of natural gas by making sure your house is comfortable only when you are home and keeping the temperature down at other times.
• Use air conditioning sparingly or turn it up a few degrees; who wants to live in an ice box? Most of heat we hate is caused by humidity after all.
  
• Eat most of your food from local sources. Those apples you eat in winter often come all the way from Chile. That's a lot of oil burned to bring them to your table.
• Contact a local organic farm and buy a share in a Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) scheme. You could probably find one online or through a natural food store in your city or town.
• Eat less meat. Meat requires a lot of energy to be produced. Do you really need to eat meat 3 times a day, 7 days a week? No, and your body will thank you for giving it a break too.
  
• Buy a tree or two for your home. Make sure you cover the base with lots of mulch.
  
• Don't use your car all the time. Walk more, bike more, use mass transit more.
  
• Ask your boss if you could work remotely or from home to save on your commute. Asking won't hurt. Explain why you're concerned.
  
• Move closer to work.
• Buy less crap. Did you really need that shit from the dollar store or Wal-Mart?
  
• Call your politicians and tell them you are concerned about climate change.
  
• Run for your city council and start where you live.
  

Gandhi was right when he said "We must be the change we wish to see in the world". Start with some of these suggestions and soon you'll be changing the world. Climate change is a choice and is not inevitable. I for one don't want to live on a planet that resembles Venus or to condemn my children and their children to such a hellish home.

Mono Amine Genocidase

The aboriginal population of New Zealand that Europeans first encountered were the Maori people. Instantly the Maori were recognized as a warrior people by the Europeans with their elaborate weapons and war dances. Another perfect example of the noble savage.

Today this view was reinforced by genetic research that claimed that Maori men are twice as likely as men of European backgrounds to have the gene known as the warrior gene, mono amine oxidase. Some New Zealand politicians have seized upon this new research as evidence that violence in contemporary Maori communities stems from genetic factors.

Of course an argument could be made, and to be fair, researchers have raised this issue, that social factors including poverty, malnutrition and discrimination play a more important part in explaining the violence experienced by the Maori community in New Zealand or as it is known in the aboriginal community, Aotearoa.

It's ironic that European "explorers" and, shortly afterwards, colonialists, who were arguably the most aggressive, systematically murderous and destructive, were less likely to carry the so-called warrior gene. Despite the pervasive notion that Europeans and other northern peoples possess a superior culture to all others one should not forget the systematic conquest of most of the world by Europeans. This is not the distant past and its effects are felt even today despite common perceptions.

I patiently await research that reveals that men of European backgrounds are more likely to carry the genocidal gene or the structural violence gene or the xenophobic gene. But don't expect funding made available for such controversial research. It's best left in place, justifying what we already "know" about our conquered minorities.

A Fair Proposal

But fairness rarely enters international politics. I have to credit my father with expressing this idea first but the suggestion has bounced around inside my head since the proposal to deploy a UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon was raised. This force will take up the Israeli Defense Forces current posture in occupation of southern Lebanon. One wonders what problems this force will face in containing or attempting to disarm Hizbullah. I fear this force will leave shortly after it sets foot in Lebanon. At which point many of the roads, bridges and power plants will be rebuild, just in time to be destroyed again at the hands of the Israelis.

So my father's proposal was that in addition to the 20 km peacekeeping zone established in southern Lebanon a matching 20 km zone should be established in northern Israel. This would show the world that the UN is not taking sides in the conflict and is serious about keeping both sides apart. In addition, Israel agreeing to a peacekeeping force on its territory would demonstrate a commitment to not meddle in southern Lebanon. No drones sent across the border, or worse, fighter jets to provoke the Lebanese and Hizbullah. Israel, as I have mentioned before, is the most provocative state in the Middle East so even with UN peacekeepers in place I expect they'll often be after intelligence across the border.

So I propose a 40 km demilitarized zone along southern Lebanon and northern Israel. And the UN should throw in a no-fly zone to prevent drones and fighters from disturbing the negative peace and upsetting families on either side. Is this going to happen? Of course not. Israel would never agree. But one cannot deny that this is the just and fair solution.

Rest assured that if my father and I thought about this solution, most newspapers and people in the non-Western world are thinking about it as well. Again it comes back to hypocrisy but I'm sure you've had enough of my use of that word.

The Medium is Not the (Only) Message

I'm starting to get a little worried as a brown guy who sports a beard; pretty soon I'll be looking over my shoulder for that angry pitchfork wielding mob. I think that Bush and Blair and the gang have finally convinced the average Joe that all Muslims are evil, irrational and completely and utterly focused on violence and the destruction of our way of life. I've come to this realization since hearing from friends and co-workers on the airline bomb plot in Britain. To counteract these bizarre statements given the facts, I think a little lesson is in order.

It seems to me that no one I run into can understand a suicide bomber or anyone that engages in violence. Personally I can understand this logic but I would never engage in it because I think that violence is counterproductive and doesn't lead, even when it is successful, to a positive result. Nonviolent action is clearly superior though much much harder. But sometimes the harder choice is the right one.

But still why can't moderately thoughtful people understand someone who clearly has political, secular goals? You can disagree with these bombers but to not even view them as having a legitimate motivation is ridiculous. Let's outline some of these goals with a focus on Islamists like those accused of participating in yesterday's plot:

• Most Islamists want Israel out of Palestine and now Lebanon; they don't want the Palestinians humiliated and exploited any more.
  
• Similarly, Iraq, Afghanistan and much of the gulf is occupied by US and other nations' militaries; again Islamists want them out.
  
• In Kashmir, Muslims are tired of occupation by both India and Pakistan; so they blow up trains in Mumbai.
  
• China mistreats its Muslim minority as well.
  
• Muslims in Central Asia are tortured for practicing their religion, demanding a say in their governments and demanding their human rights guaranteed them under international law.
  
• Inside Muslim states in the Middle East and North Africa, Muslims are tired of hearing about democracy when no one demands it of their kings and autocrats; when they stand up for themselves they are brutally put down and the west, generally, looks the other way.
  
• Even in Britain and much of Europe, Muslims are treated as second class citizens and despite the democratic nature of these states, they are sick and tired of it.
  

These are actual grievances that can't be ignored. Read Osama Bin Laden's speeches, or those of Sheik Nasrallah or any number of Islam-based violent political movements around the world. Obviously Allah and Islam will dominate the message but look closer and you'll see that they are making reasonable secular and practical demands of their opponents.

By disparaging them and ignoring these requests we just enrage them further. No one should give in to terrorism but one must accept that terrorists have a point not that they are just insane. I'm tired of living under "leaders" that spread this moronic, small-minded message. Shame on you Justice League!

War Is Over (?)

Apparently the United Nations Security Council has agreed on a new resolution to the "Crisis in the Middle East" (though I don't have cable, I guarantee that CNN is referring to it as such). As usual, it's heavy on very clear statements that Lebanon must do this and that while leaving Israel with murky suggestions; though unfair, this is vintage UNSC. Israel will also be authorized to engage in defensive operations where needed; aren't all the Israeli Defense Forces' operations defensive? So we are left with a miserable solution. I would expect nothing less from the US dominated Security Council. Of course this is a recipe for future conflict but isn't it a fact that tomorrow never comes?

Yet as the conflict seems to be nearing its end, Israel has made a bold request of its mighty patron. Just today, while the Security Council is meeting, Israel requested a fresh shipment of M-26 artillery rockets from the US ostensibly for use against Hizbullah.

As this writer is always urging, lets ponder this request for a moment instead of just accepting it.

If you're about to have ceasefire why would you need a rush order of heavy munitions? Could Israel be assuming in advance that any resolution is doomed to fail? How does this help to build confidence in the UN let alone peace in the region? Even if Hizbullah was considering disarming (which I doubt) now they've got to be wondering about Israel's intentions. Maybe it's time they put in a call to Iran or Syria for some new rockets of their own.

Let the dance begin again . . .

Knowing Is Half the Battle

Reading the Guardian's online coverage of this stillborn "terrorist" plot against airplanes in the United Kingdom, I was struck by the number of stories devoted to the War on Terrorism, or the Long War or the Struggle Against Extremism or whatever the hell they are calling it this month.

First there is the obvious coverage of the "Aircraft Terror Plot". As I scrolled down, I read about the mighty Israeli Defense Force struggling to take a single hill occupied by determined Hizbullah soldiers. Then this was followed by a story on yet another daily bombing in Iraq and one comparing the current level of fighting in southern Afghanistan with that of the Korean War. Reading these stories, one would be inclined to think that we're not doing so good in these wars; we might even lose.

First of all, I must say that I consider very few of these wars to be just. Some might have just aspects but with all the vice it's hard to recognize. We have gotten into these wars for childish reasons, dressed up as serious, humanitarian motivations; essentially, you hit me so I'm going to hit you back. The truth is that we reacted thoughtlessly and now we are paying the price. Mindfulness is always a virtue. So let's think about our spending priorities given the front page of today's Guardian Unlimited.

Given that the US spends $400 billion on defense annually, surely we should be receiving a better return on investment. Add to that the military budgets of other NATO and "Coalition of the Willing" countries and the total probably climbs to maybe $450 or $500 billion (way to blow away the competition US). I propose that it's time that we rethink our priorities. Guns and bombs and tanks are inherently disposable whereas goodwill isn't. The 20 tanks that Hizbullah destroyed today aren't coming back, but rest assured that Israel will replace them at great expense. Seems to be a moronic waste of money given that having these advanced and deadly weapons can't prevent a determined guy from blowing up his shoe in the mid-Atlantic and spreading panic in the airline industry.

How about for one year, just one year, we divert our defense spending? With all that money, we could treat and possibly even cure all the major diseases like HIV, malaria, tuberculosis that torment millions of the world's poor. We could even use say $10 billion to bribe the Israelis to leave the West Bank and Gaza Strip because God knows they're not leaving any other way. And then spend another $10 billion giving the Palestinians rock solid infrastructure and housing as the foundation of their new state. Instantly most of the support for Islamic extremism would dry up. Hell we might even be able to bribe India and Pakistan to leave Kashmiris to decide their own futures which would further erode popular support for Islamists in South Asia. Ultimately we could spend this vast sum of money differently and I would argue better. Slowly we are realizing that warheads and tanks don't provide security. Only solidarity and cooperation builds security.

You see my fellow Canadians, foreigners can smell our hypocrisy every time we enter a room. We think that by being a rich donor nation that we are entitled to respect; that's our tax dollars after all right? And when we lecture the powerless on the need to make peace at any cost, while we never would, they retch. There comes a point when our hypocrisy, which we are blind to, drives them mad and they decide to take up arms (or shoes) against us. They have tried to explain their grievances to us peacefully but we are blissfully unaware and laugh them off. In response to their crimes we claim they merely use violence for violence's sake (as so many ridiculous politicians claim and we ape) without any actual, tangible grievances. But in as much as we have justice on our side so do they. Once we recognize this we'll be able to move forward.

And last but not least, it's interesting that the UK's emergency committee that meets when a major attack is underway is called COBRA. I hope that wasn't a Freudian slip. Tony, I guess you didn't you watch G.I. Joe. Lots of young males like me were raised on that trash so when we read that you're calling yourself COBRA we are understandably confused. Are we the good guys or the bad guys? Perhaps there is no good or evil, just choices with consequences? Do you really want us peons asking those questions, or any questions for that matter?

Strategic Value?

Unfortunately the prophetic words of the Israeli Chief of Staff that Israel would turn back the clock in Lebanon by 20 years seems to be happening. No one will be spared it seems. We have heard about the destruction of bridges, roads, highways and power plants; in the case of one power plant, the resulting oil spill off the coast has had far reaching environmental consequences.

But there are smaller stories that bear reporting and exposing. These small targets demonstrate that Israel has little interest in removing the Hizbullah threat (partly because it can't) and is pathetically sowing misery all across Lebanon to punish each and every Lebanese man, woman and child for the actions of a minority.

Journalists that visited one city in the south of Lebanon reported massive destruction. In addition to many homes and apartments razed in Baalbek, a milk factory and the Middle East's second biggest glass factory were also destroyed by Israeli jets. The glass factory was actually Indian owned so it is doubtful that Hizbullah profited from this enterprise. And rotting milk helps no one, not even vengeful Israel.

Why were these targets chosen? What possible strategic value do milk and glass hold for Israel? None. This was spite, pure and simple and it's pathetic.

Hizbullah and Lebanon will not cry over this spilled milk but for each home and small business destroyed their hatred for Israel will grow. Not a good recipe for a state claiming to be desperate for peace with its irrational Arab neighbours. As you well know Israel, memory is long.

Prolific

Today celebrates the 61st anniversary of the first ever use of nuclear weapons. The United States of America dropped two nuclear weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima (August 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (August 9, 1945). The death toll was monstrous with hundreds of thousands killed. This was the first and only use of nuclear weapons in human history. Will it be the last, a stain on America's self-proclaimed righteousness? This is worth considering as all our small lives happen, still, under the shadow of the atom bomb.

If you're interested in learning more about the bizarre history of nuclear weapons research I urge you to visit PBS's online nuclear proliferation map. It's a bit short on analysis but at least it covers all the major events and times. Though the map omits it, one shouldn't forget that both the United States and the Soviet Union conducted an obscene amount of nuclear tests until the early 1990s.

Did you know that Canada most likely supplied the nuclear fuel needed for the first two explosions? Are we responsible for Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Also Canada had operational control over between 250 and 400 nuclear warheads following the second world war. Canada was therefore a nuclear weapons state. After the US, are we not the second most in denial and self-righteous nation on earth?

According to the map, the second state on earth after the US to open a nuclear weapons program was Switzerland. Yes tiny Switzerland. Protecting all those dictators millions requires the biggest guns I suppose; maybe they didn't want to give up all that looted Nazi gold without a fight. I'm sure this note says more about Switzerland's current openness than it does about the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union's slowness. After witnessing the destructive power of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki blasts, they probably instantly founded programs but, as with all things nuclear, secrecy was the first priority and remains so.

Israel, as I've mentioned elsewhere, challenges the UK, France and China for the third most advanced and prolific nuclear power in the world; this is a fact and one that shouldn't be forgotten. South Africa benefited most from Israel's nuclear know-how, conducting joint tests and even constructing a number of bombs; they dismantled them quickly at the end of Apartheid lest uppity blacks get their hands on them. Sweden even had a clandestine nuclear program well into the 1970s. It's riveting reading.

And if you thought nuclear weapons were part of a by-gone age you can forget about it. Forget Iran and North Korea, George W Bush has declared that he would use nuclear weapons first and his country is modernizing their nuclear arsenal as I type. The nuclear option never wasn't one. The only country ever to use the power of the atom in war is likely to be the next country to do so again. Why not tell him what you think before it's too late?

Peace Through Discs

Chatting with a friend on MSN just now, we lamented that we weren't able to play ultimate frisbee as he is on the other side of the world and discless and I'm hobbled (still after two months, pathetic I know) with a badly sprained ankle.

There is something so soothing and pleasing about throwing a perfect hammer or forehand to a teammate on the field. The flight of the disc, the chase. When it's perfect you know it and you feel it, deep. There is no time for anger and hatred when you're throwing a disc. It all melts away.

Therefore I'm pleased to announce the first ever ultimate game to be played between the men and women of the IDF and Hizbullah. The game will be played on August 17, 2006 at 6pm, Golan Heights Standard Time (GHST) on a field in the disputed Shebaa Farms where Lebanon meets Israel and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. It will conclude, as usual, when the first team reaches 15 points or the sun sets. Given the athleticism of both the IDF and Hizbullah we expect a fast-paced, competitive match.

Ali Hassan, a handler with the Hizbullah Hammers, said of the match: "Inshallah we'll play hard and win for our nation, the Muslim nation". If they lose does that mean that it wasn't God's will, or that they just blew it?

At the prematch press conference attended by Hassan, Ari Fleischer, formerly George W Bush's press secretary and current coach of the Ultimate Defense Forces had a lot to say as usual. "This match, in which the UDF will triumph unlike our two botched invasions of Lebanon, will showcase the humanity, determination and courage of Jewish people everywhere".

Conveners with Discs for Peace have warned the IDF that they may have to offer some of their women to the Hizbullah team as they are likely to be short (yes my dear Nasrallah, girls can play ultimate and shoot guns too). Fleischer joked that he would not let Hizbullah "kidnap" any UDF players. It's rumoured that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's elite ulimate team might send some female players to bolster the Hammers.

"That sure beats Katyusha rockets", said a confident and smiling Fleischer.

See the game live on Al Jazeera. Inshallah . . .

Superhero

Keep up the good work Steve! Hey if his new best friend George can call him Steve then surely so can I. Steve's done what I have no doubt the Liberals desperately wanted to do but decided against due to overwhelming public opinion against it: Join the Axis of Good also known as the Justice League of America. Instead of Superman, the Flash, the Green Lantern and Thor, you've got George W Bush, Tony Blair, John Howard, Ehud Olmert and Steve Harper. Anglo-Saxon warriors all along with their Jewish sidekick busting uppity Muslim heads around the world. Who would have thought being good would have been so fun!

Steve is clearly positioning himself as a superhero a la Bush. Let's not forget Steve's heroic decision to fly his plane to Cyprus following the G8 conference in Russia. He personally picked up a handful of Canadians to bring them home and out of the war zone. What a man! He's starting to sound like Rambo! Thankfully most rescued Canadians saw through his grandstanding and it was widely recognized that Steve's micromanagement of the rescue actually slowed down the government's response and endangered the lives of Canadians.

By joining the Justice League, Steve has demonstrated that public opinion means nothing to him. It doesn't matter that barely a third of Canadians support their Prime Minister's declaration that Israel is engaged in a 'measured response' to Hizbullah's provocations. Obviously Steve can't do math and has no understanding of the word power. Remember when the Israeli Chief of Staff pledged 'to turn Lebanon's clock back 20 years'? This is the definition of measured for Steve. Even now his caucus is meeting to discuss the Middle East and the PM's dismal poll numbers; their proposals include the ludicrous notion that they should continue to blatantly support Israel and just throw the Lebanese and the Palestinians some scraps of aid to offset their bias.

Steve's unconditional support for Israel, even as an unarmed Canadian UN observer is blown to bits as well as a few Lebanese Canadians (we know they don't count Steve), demonstrates that he's uninterested in winning a majority government in the next election. He was well on his way to achieving this goal, much to my chagrin. He was joking around, occupying the middle ground evacuated by Paul Martin and courting Quebec; now he looks a joke, stands with occupiers and has alienated Quebec.

Phew! Keep up the good work Steve. Don't change a thing.

Over Hearing

As I took the bus home from work tonight, I overheard two teenaged ladies next to me talking about the current misadventures in the Middle East. One identified herself as Jewish and stated that her family was waiting until the Hizbullah rocket attacks ended before embarking on a trip to the Promised Land. This same young lady's analysis of the conflict was that it was all about religion. Actually, I wanted to tell her, it has little to do with religion like most wars. This one is about land, stuff as always.

So the war in Lebanon continues. Washington has clearly sided with the Israelis and is vetoing any early end to the conflict as has our own thoughtful Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The only prerequisite for an end to hostilities according to Bush and Olmert is the destruction or at least the disarming of Hizbullah. Unfortunately this is easier said than done; Israel failed to in the 1990s and had to flee southern Lebanon thanks to Hizbullah's fighters.

According to an insightful Guardian report that criticized Tony Blair's reaction to the conflict: "To lump together the Taliban, al-Qaida, Hizbullah and Hamas under the heading 'reactionary Islam' is oversimplification to the point where it interferes with the facts. The description of what is happening in Iraq or Afghanistan as 'battles between the majority of Muslims in either country who wanted democracy and the minority who realize that this rings the death knell of their ideology' might just pass in an army recruitment pamphlet, but not as serious conversation between consenting adults."

So Israel will continue to chase a few thousand Hizbullah fighters around southern Lebanon without sanction by anyone. They are assisting in the global war against irrational and mad Islamist terrorists just like the US after all; these people are driven by their religion and couldn't have reasonable political goals right?

Hizbullah by contrast is alone fighting one of the most advanced militaries in the world. I'm sure that their propaganda corps wouldn't have it any other way. Expect them to do quite well in the next Lebanese elections, whenever they happen.

And I'm going to make the bold prediction that short of the nuclear annihilation of southern Lebanon (an option available to Israel), Hizbullah will still be there in two months and even two years. Even if Israel's international force arrives in southern Lebanon (why not northern Israel as well to be fair to both belligerents), it won't last long. Personally I wouldn't save Israel from itself by committing troops to that terrible idea being promoted by Washington and Tel Aviv.

Every day and every bomb dropped by Israel raises their national debt. War is expensive. Hizbullah is going to hang on for months at least which is months of increasing debt for Israel. We shouldn't forget that Hizbullah fights its wars on the cheap and that Lebanese and Palestinians are used to occupation and misery; Israelis are similarly used to fear much like the young lady I overheard on the bus. And that young lady's family will continue to stay away as long as the rockets fly. Which tourist wants to visit a war zone?