Back in the day

Gimmie, gimmie, gimmie

Friday at the UN should be interesting for all sorts of reasons. The Palestinian Authority, at least the West Bank portion, will ask for recognition as a state independent from Israel. The US will of course veto it and the discussion will continue to fester. Turkey will try to set itself up as the 'honest broker' in all this and Israel will insist on direct talks. In the middle of all this nonsense, Hamas in Gaza will denounce the whole thing and not care about their people, just their power.

 The problem here is that, for all their complaining, the arab population of pre-Israel Palestine WAS offered an independent state along with the Jews and Zionist Federation by the UN. The Jews said, 'it's not perfect but we'll take it', while the Arabs said, 'no way, lets kill all the jews first and then take the land'. A generalization of course, bur essentially true. After the 1948 war, the areas designated as a Arab state were taken over by Egypt and Jordan and the dream of an independent state died. Since the end of the 1973 war, Israel had offered at least twice to give the 'Palestinians' what they wanted for a state, only to be rejected out of hand. The objections? No-one wanted to share Jerusalem and the Palestinians wanted (and want) Israel to allow displaced families and refugees to reclaim their land in Israel.

It's a very convoluted issue and there is right and wrong on both sides. It's hard to be objective about these things when there is so much propaganda and half-truths thrown around willy-nilly. I think that people need to step back and use their brains to really understand the issue. Just because you are a Muslim doesn't mean you are going to explode any time soon and just because you are a jew doesn't mean that you are Israeli or support Israel in everything. As a jew myself, goodness knows I have criticized Israeli politics and actions  - after all I'm Canadian, not Israeli.

I certainly can understand why the Israelis are very reluctant to allow an independent Palestine. Look at the Gaza fiasco. Israel unilaterally decided to withdraw from Gaza to show both the international community and the Arab states that they were prepared to make unpopular moves to assist the course of peace. Did it help? Of course not - attacks against Israel from Gaza have never really stopped and Hamas seems to do anything rather that promote a happy co-existence AND  Gilad Shalit is still 'somewhere' in Gaza - we think. In all, a very unhappy state of affairs all round.

It wasn't me!

Now that the anniversary of that awful day 10 years ago is past, we can reflect on the results and residue of the reactions. First, we must address the conspiracy twits out there - you know who you are.

There is NO evidence at all that the 9/11 attacks were not what they appeared. I do agree that the attacks were, in some ways, a godsend to the Bush administration. It allowed the covert war to Afghanistan to become an overt war with UN backing and also gave a slender excuse for the Iraq mess - a totally unneeded and unnecessary war. However, saying that this was a government scheme to allow thousands of US citizens to be killed is plain wrong. There are some conspiracy stories out there that have some basis in fact and some that don't. We did land on the Moon and Roosevelt did not know about Pearl Harbour in advance. However, Churchill did allow the bombing of Coventry in order to hide the fact that they were reading German codes and there IS enough doubt about the killing of JFK by a 'lone gunman'.

We are told that the World is a safer place now - does anyone truly believe that piece of propaganda? The World is very much a place 'on edge' and seeming to be sliding down a deep dark hole. Racial, religious and national tensions appear higher than ever and travelling (especially by air) is a royal pain in the rear. To me, it seems that the western world and especially the US are constantly looking over their shoulders and expecting terrorist attacks any time. However, when I hear of people blaming the Bush administration for this and that, I am reminded that this current World situation was a result of a major terrorist attack against a mighty enemy that resulted in the slaughter of thousands of American lives. I'm sorry, there is no explaining that away with platitudes and 'understanding'. It was murder, plain and simple.

Away with this bauble!

In some respects, I feel that our PM is happy that he won't have to face Jack Layton across the house at question time. Whether you agreed with Jack's politics or not, he was an 'in your face' aggressive opponent that would not take 'no comment' for an answer. With him gone, who is left to take the government and it's members to task?

It seems that, especially in Canada, that we lack the political people that actually make politics exciting, unpredictable and fun. The cleverness and biting wit of politicians of old is noticeably lacking today - even with the media insistence of the 'sound bite'. The responses and probing questions of people such as Churchill, Lady Astor and Benjamin Disraeli are part of our fabric of parliamentary debate. The quote above is paraphrased from Oliver Cromwell's dismissal of parliament in 1653 which contained the impassioned cry, "You have sat too long for any good you have been doing lately. Depart, I say; and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!" In fact his speech to the House was amazing, he called them every vile name under the sun before throwing everyone out and locking the doors.

Maybe we need another Cromwell (despite what the Irish think), however that is not the point I am trying to make. The need is for people to stand up and not be afraid to be heard. If you believe something is wrong, stand up and say so long and loud until you are heard. No government should be allowed to do what it likes without public debate and parliamentary procedure. The purpose of an opposition is to oppose and not just meekly sit by and let the world go past. We, the people, demand and expect much more than that.

Protect and serve?

In the 'good old days', when I was a nipper, the police were the people we were told to respect and look up to as the arbiters of steady and reliable paragons of virtue. If we were ever in trouble, it was a policeman that we were to go to.  We were shown Dixon of Dock Green on TV as the ideal of British law and order and imagined every copper was as reliable and honest as good old Jack Warner.

Unfortunately, the last few days in the UK and the recent nastiness at the G20 and in Vancouver shows a rather different and unsettling reality. If it is the duty of the police to 'protect and serve', what does that really mean in the 21st Century?

We have seen massed police standing and watching as rioting, looting, burning and general mayhem erupts in front of them and they do nothing to prevent it. Oh yes, they are great at 'containing' things, but isn't that  just part of  the job. I've yet to see the police in Britain baton charging the looters to arrest and disperse them. I'm not surprised that there is a backlash against the perceived lack of action by police and the meaningless platitudes of politicians and pundits alike. We have the mayor of London, the Miller-like Boris Johnson more worried about the Olympics rather that peoples lives and property, the idiot MP's advising parents to 'closely question' their offspring and take them to the police and the social observers blaming the troubles on racial tension, lack of jobs, government cutbacks and boredom. It's a real zoo.

Yes, I agree that many of the underlying issues in British and western society in general are part of what we see, but it's really not that easy to answer the question of why. I think the issue is now how to deal with this rampart social disintegration. We need to see more aggressive intervention by the police to actually protect businesses and citizens, the use of tear gas, rubber bullets and even water cannon - we need it NOW! Mind you, my personal opinion - shoot looters on sight - that would solve the issue damn quick.

Hear that noise?

Can you hear it? That loud cracking noise? It's the beginning of the fall of the American Empire.

The recent unpleasantness in the USA surrounding their atrocious economy is the first real indication that not all is well with our Uncle Sam. It's not just the issue with the deficit, but with the nonsense that swirls around it. The recent weeks have shown, not only the US citizens, but also the World  just how badly run and administered government is in the USA. The political infighting, the inability of the president to actually lead and the unwillingness to take swift needed and unpopular action has all combined to fatally weaken the Union.

The downgrading of their credit rating is no surprise and, as usual, the main parties are blaming each other rather that trying to fix things. I suppose that Obama will make another speech about this - its all he seems to do. Don't get me wrong, I do admire the man for his determination and honest attempts to change things but....he seems to just talk rather than lead. The USA needs strong and decisive leadership and that is noticeably lacking.

Has it always been this bad - the distrust of the government and it's ability to actually make hard decisions? Perhaps it has. In my opinion, I think we will point to this time in history books as the beginning of the end for the UNITED States of America and it's hard won 'empire'. The unfortunate thing is that the fall of the American Empire will have major effects of Canada and indeed the whold world and its economy, not to mention military dominance.

We may see a more militant Islam (if that's possible), a China more willing to stretch its muscles (watch out Japan and India!) and maybe a resurgent Soviet Union (of sorts). The old proverb 'may you live in interesting times' seems to be the one to live by.

Ignorance is truth

As you are no doubt aware, I have a real issue with how history is taught in Canada and how ignorant people are about the past and how it relates to today's world. This book by James Loewen 'Lies my teacher told me' is a masterful explanation of the difficulties facing students in actually learning history well.

The main problem is that textbooks supply facts, figures and trite answers to all of history's questions. Nothing is allowed to be controversial and political interference and correctness is the rule. No bad stories are allowed to sully the memory of our self-created heroes and models from the past. Students are not given the tools to question or even 'connect the dots' from one action in history to another. Rather than giving people the tools to connect A to B and thus finding C - they are just given C by itself.

The examples in this book are ones that many Canadians can identify with and, I'm sure, will be quite surprised by the real facts about Columbus or Helen Keller. So much of our history has been hijacked by people with their own narrow agendas to follow. We sanitise the past to make our current situation look like a planned and sensible result. Unfortunately, the world doesn't work that way.

I am sure that many people would be horrified at how Canada treated political minorities during the early and middle 20th century. Perhaps if people were more informed and knowledgeable about Afghanistan and the Middle East they may have a more balanced and clear view of things. We talk about 'truth in advertising' - how about 'truth in history'?

What a waste

It's the end of an era - the last Space Shuttle flight is in two days. It's been a long journey from 1981 to now and seems just like yesterday that I saw the first shuttle, Enterprise, being flown up the River Thames on the back of a 747. In some ways, this amazing technological wonder will be missed; in others, it  will be seen as a magnificent failure.

We were told that the shuttle would be the next phase in space exploration and use - a true 'space truck'. The idea was to have regular launches that would allow cheaper access to space in a safe and controlled manner. Instead, we had an expensive, error-prone device that never made good on it's promise. Some people have the impression that it was overly dangerous too - this at least I would refute. Two disasters over the 30 years of operation is a pretty good record for such a potentially dangerous operation, Unfortunately, when a shuttle goes wrong, it is several people that are it's victim.

In my opinion, the money lavished on the shuttle would have been of much better use if it was used for more traditional space exploration. It is quite on the cards that  we would have had a functioning Moonbase by now and possibly a man on Mars. The mining of the asteroids would have been more a reality that a current 'pipe dream'. Oh well! Thems the breaks I suppose.

Redbeard attacks!

An interesting week in history for our friends in Russia. They are remembering that terrible day of the 22nd of June in 1941 when the Nazi hordes stormed across their borders (more Polish borders really) and the Germans began their two-front war. People are still amazed that Stalin just sat and waited for the storm to break. It wasn't that he didn't know that this whirlwind was coming; he certainly had plenty of warning going back months, if not years. We will probably never really know what went through his head - maybe a good thing. It's a tribute to the toughness of the Russian people that within four years Berlin fell to their victorious armies and the Nazi threat expunged from Europe.

However, they should also remember a day 139 years earlier. On the 23rd of June 1812, the massed armies of Napoleonic Europe led in person by  their emperor swarmed into Tsarist Russia. In 1805, after Austerlitz, Napoleon himself said he would be good for another seven years - and so it seemed. The invasion of Russia in 1812 has been analyzed and documented many times and certain salient themes reappear. If Napoleon had stopped in Smolensk instead for forging ahead to Moscow it may have been a very different campaign. In 1812 Moscow was just an rather unimportant target; the capital was St. Petersburg (Leningrad in 1941). If Napoleons troops had not retreated along the same route that they advanced on perhaps the terrible suffering his troops endured due to lack of food, fuel and fodder would not have been as bad.

I wonder if Hitler saw Napoleons fate as a lesson or as inspiration. Untimately, the results of invading Russia ended up pretty much the same. Hitler and his nasty little regime was destroyed and the empire of Napoleon began its decline and fall. Sometimes people just don't learn from history.

The title of the blog? Redbeard is the translation of Operation Barbarossa.

Aaaaargh!!

I'm going to go off topic for this particular post due to circumstances pretty much beyond my control. Are you sitting comfortably? Good, then I'll begin.

About three years ago, my brother-in-law and his family came to Canada as refugee claimants. In his native Guyana, he had been the victim of a nasty assault and robbery at gunpoint and he feared for his life and that of his family. In addition, coming to Canada would provide his teenage son with better prospects. Since arriving here, he and his wife have found jobs, rented an apartment and their son has excelled in school and obtained a place at college. In other words, they have become the very model of responsible and law-abiding Canadians.

However, just last week they were informed that their application has been denied and they have about three weeks to leave. Now, I can understand being denied an application, but being asked to leave NOW is just plain wrong. I firmly believe that a family like this is just what Canada needs and surely they would be better in the country than out of it.

We hear all these stories about immigrants and refugee seekers being burdens on the country and a drain on the economy. So what is done with a hard working family like this? They are essentially thrown out! Also, by giving them hardly any time to prepare, they have no time for any response to this decision. It seems that Canada is more attuned to allowing the law-breaking and fraud committing people to come here rather than the folks that will truly benefit our country. We would rather spend our hard earned taxes on paying for the wrong people to stay here. Maybe there seems to be a rather odd logic going on. I'll close with one more thing. It's about time something was done about the sleazeball immigration 'specialist' that seems to leach off the people coming here. These folks are really the lowest of the low and take peoples money for no work at all. Must be a nice little earner.

Normal service will resume next post - promise!

Pride before a fall

7o years ago in Berlin, there must have been a satisfied little man with a silly moustache. Adolph Hitler's plans for the Nazi domination of Europe and the eradication of Communism seemed to be relatively on track. The recent overrunning of the Balkans and Greece and the looming victory in Crete must have bolstered his belief in the invincibility of his goose-stepping legions. Although the May 20th invasion of Crete initially seemed a disaster for his parachute troops; luck and good leadership had turned it into a stunning victory - it would all be over by June 1st.

This Balkan distraction caused by the inept plans of Mussolini had disrupted the Nazi plans for Russia - Operation Barbarossa would be delayed by six weeks or so. However, I'm sure that the Austrian Corporal was not too concerned. There was no doubt that the battle hardened Wehrmacht with it's recent victories would finish off the Soviet behemoth in no time - home before the snow flies. Of course, we all know how THAT turned out. Fours years later Germany was prostrate and devastated while it's erstwhile leader blew his brains out.

Are there lessons for today? Are our leaders so sure of their political and military supremacy that they see no problems that they cannot solve? I believe the answer is a very clear 'yes'!

The 'adventures' in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Pakistan have shown an almost arrogant assumption that we are right and that our 'way' is the best. The naive support of the various uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa in the belief that they are 'democratic' in nature is a good example. All these people want is a better life with different people at the top. Look at Egypt; replaced one military based leadership with another much the same. Has there been a 'sea change' in how the Egyptians live or how they treat their minorities or women?

We are contently told how wonderful a change we are making in Afghanistan despite the loss of so many fine and brave Canadians. I have a lot of trouble believing that bit of propaganda to be honest. It's the analogy of placing your hand into a bucket of water - after you remove the hand, nothing has changed. I don't think you can impose western freedoms and values at the point of a gun without a bit of the extremest coming out. As citizens we must ask these uncomfortable questions and hold our leaders accountable - after all, they are OUR employees. Maybe they need reminding of that.