Loooocally Assembled

How do you get pubic hairs on top of the urinal? Really, how tall are these people?

Greetings from the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad, my droogies, where I am enjoying the narcotic pleasures of an air-conditioned bar and free wireless internet. A bar is an interesting place to observe some aspects of Trini culture. Right now I am watching a fellow chat up two attractive women; he's doing a good job of it, too. And across from me, two men are engaged in a seriously intense Scrabble match, played atop one of the most alluring rotating boards I've ever seen. It seems the Trinis take their Scrabble very seriously; one of the men is even brandishing a championship Scrabble trophy! I am deeply envious.

(To the uninitiated, I used to engage in some cut-throat Scrabble playing against primo droogie and Podium co-founder Ed Wong, who happens to also be a Trini. Coincidence? Hmmm. Mind you, Ed used to try to pass of fake words based on the argument that they sound real; words like "stooky".)

Let me catch you all up. Yesterday, I was very happily taken to a cricket match between the West Indies and India. We sat in a section called the "Trini Posse", which is an expensive portion of the stands where the booze and food are both all-inclusive. Throw in scantily clad women, freebies from corporate sponsors, a live DJ and a penchant for people to burst into suggestive dance, and you have something resembling mini-Carnival right there in the cricket stands. There's something particularly nice about a culture that encourages you to drink rum under the hot sun, and that feeds you curry on top of it. Truly, I felt right at home.

I never tire of meeting white-skinned Caribbean people. The disconnect between the pale skin, blue eyes and thick Caribbean accent is always a pleasurable shock. The fellow next to me in the stands was one such creature. "Yuh bettah watch out," he said, pointing up to a splotch of fluid on the ceiling, which threatened to drip into my drink. "Yuh might get some Vitamin Pee!"

When I asked him where he was from, he crooned in a thick Trini sing-song accent, "I am looooocally assembled!" The fellow was a grandfather in his mid-40s and raucously celebrating his recent divorce. I've rarely encountered a person so happy to be free of his spouse. "Misery loves company," he said of marriage.

"Were you misery or company?" I asked.

"Oh she was misery, man. She was misery!"

The day was topped off with a trip to my hosts' family village in rural Trinidad, where I was once again reminded of all the similarities between Indo-Caribbean peoples. These folks were of my gene pool, cooked food that I was used to, and used words and expressions that I am familiar with from my own family. It was, of course, a very pleasurable and warming experience.

But this morning it was back to business, with one radio and one television interview. Sometimes my ability to orally spout endless bullshit even surprises me. I will try my best to secure copies of all media appearances to be reproduced on this site, 'cause I'm good like that.

Okay, the beer is going to my head now. Time for a nap.

Testing

This is a test of blogger's email interface. I'm
trying to upload today's blog entry via email, rather
than via the blogger web portal. Yadda yadda.

Greetings from sunny Trinidad. This really is a
terrifically beautiful country. A Sri Lankan
girlfriend once remarked, pon her first visit to Tamil
Nadu in India, that Tamil Nadu was like heaven, what
Sri Lanka would be without its wars and other issues.

Well, one can argue the same relationship between
Trinidad and Guyana. The two nations are of pretty
much the same ethnic mixture, histories and gene
pools. But Trinidad is, in many ways, everything
Guyana could have or should have been. This is, I
believe, largely due to Trinidad's comparative wealth.
The nation is an oil producer, after all, which is
not surprising given its proximity to Venezuela.

The facilities are of Western quality, the people more
or less well educated, and media penetration is much
greater than in some other parts of the Caribbean,
including Guyana.

My arrival here was a bit shaky. After 3 hours of
sleep the night before, a great deal of stress, low
air pressure, and two glasses of cheap wine, I
actually fainted on the plane. Kind of scary, really.
Luckily, I had my headphones on at the time, and when
I came to, the same song was playing, so I know I
wasn't out for very long. Scared the flight
attendants wacky, though.

And of course, I had to survive on another night of 3
hours sleep as we attempted to fly to Tobago Saturday
morning. This plan was thwarted by an overzealous air
carrier, so instead we spent the day frolicking on the
beaches of Trinidad. It was at this point, I believe,
that I full realized the magnitude of my involvement
here: it seems that Tuesday, in addition to my
scientific presentation at the CSA conference, I will
be giving a speech at an official event for India
Arrival Day, to be attended by some serious
dignitaries, including various politicians and
ambassadors. How much you want to bet I say something
embarrassing?

This is pretty much guaranteed, as I was referenced in
a speech given by the very charming president of the
National Council for Indian Culture last night:
"Professor Deonandan will be our guest speaker Tuesday
night. I'm told he is a powerful speaker and an
expert on matters of Indian indentureship." I did a
classic spit take. Now, I'm a fairly competent public
speaker, but "powerful" is not a word I'd use to
describe myself. Moreover, I'm definitely not an
expert on Indian indentureship.

But that's okay. One of the great joys of being a
fiction writer is that you can talk in general terms
about almost anything and sound almost smart about it.

Seriously, though, this is a great honour afforded me
by this nation, and I will do by best not to embarrass
or disappoint my hosts. India Arrival Day is actually
very sober business with some political meaning here,
and I find it all quite fascinating to be a part of
it.

Why Are We In Afghanistan?

Since I recently posted a pic of Podium co-founder Ed Wong's baby girl Madelyn, it's only fair that her little brother Adam get some face time on this blog, as well. As is well know among Wong family friends, Adam has mutant psychic powers. Here he is mesmerizing Prof Wat and compelling him to do the short one's bidding.


I'm heading to Trinidad in a few hours, but I needs my bloggy fix. Let us begin with a good summary of what this whole "PM Harper vs the Parliamentary Press Group" affair is really about. Antonia Zerbiasis has posted an email from the Star's Ottawa bureau chief Susan Delacourt here. It's worth a read if you're interested in this issue.

Meanwhile, Darth Vadum sends us this spoof of Al Gore's climate change movie. Dude, mockery doesn't make Gore less right.

Today I am going to tersely tell you why I do not support NATO (i.e., American and now Canadian) military action in Afghanistan. I was actually torn when the US invaded that country, because on the face of it, it seemed like a somewhat justified action. But after years of consideration, I'm pretty sure I'm opposed to it. It just doesn't add up. I'm proud that at the time, I sent a pointless but symbolic letter to PM Chretien on this issue. Of course I didn't expect anything to result from the letter, but I think it's important for citizens to put their voices on the record.

Here are some things to consider:

• Why is NATO/US/us there? Is it in retaliation for 9/11? Well, the Taliban likely had nothing to do with that. By all accounts, that particular plot was hatched in Germany, and the Taliban played no part in its planning or implementation.
• Are we there to capture or kill Osama bin Laden? Well, it now seems that in 2001 the Taliban had offered to deliver bin Laden to a neutral country for arrest by US officials. But the US refused. Why would they do that?
  
• Are we there, as the conservatives now insist, to help the Afghan people? Really? Let's recap. After the Soviets lost their invasion bid, the country was beset with lawlessness, drug production and mass rapes on an epidemic level. Mullah Omar and his talibs stepped in and created order, protected the women, and shut down the opium fields. Sure, he also brought in some of the less attractive aspects of his dogma, as well, such as severely reduced civil liberties. But since our invasion, the rapes have returned, lawlessness is back and opium production is back on top. Are we really helping? And are our allies not worse criminals than many claim the Taliban to have been? I don't know, but the claims that we are there "to help" are, unsurprisingly, looking like so much hooey.
  
• What have we accomplished in Afghanistan? We've killed a lot of mostly innocent people. We have increased the world's heroin supply. We've installed a puppet president who is nothing more than the mayor of Kabul. Meanwhile, the Taliban are still there, comfortably hiding out in on the Pakistani border. And when "we" leave, as we will, the Taliban or their heirs will quietly resume their rule of the place.
  
• Canada has spent billions on its war efforts in Afghanistan for these slim outcomes. We are not the USA or Britain. We cannot afford billions on something so questionable.
• Oh yes.... this is what the West has accomplished in Afghanistan. "We" now have a pipeline from the Caspian Basin, one of (if not the) largest untapped reservoirs of oil in the world, to Pakistan. Interestingly, the American invasion of Afghanistan coincides pretty closely with the Taliban's refusal to allow the pipeline to be built.

Need I draw a picture? The American, and now Canadian, military misadventure in Afghanistan has very little, if anything, to do with fighting terrorism, avenging 9/11 or standing up for the rights of Afghans. Judging solely by measurable outcomes, it seems to have everything to do with securing access to a big pool of oil.

Maybe somebody should have mentioned that during the so-called 6 hour "debate" in Parliament last week.

And This Is Why I Am No Longer A High School Teacher

Mischa sends us this article by a fellow who suggests Al Gore will not run in 2008. Sure, all the signs are there to deny a run for the big office. But my gut says Gore in '08, and my gut is.... well, it's almost always wrong, but that's never stopped me from making pronouncements before!

The Irish have shown yet again why they have consistently been at the vanguard of civilization, with the new Irish Supreme Court ruling that some elements of statutory rape laws are unconstitutional. Now, before some of you get all righteous over this, let's examine this affair closely. The law states that if a man has sex with a woman who turns out to be under 16, even though he reasonably believed her to be older, then he is automatically guilty of rape. In almost all other aspects of criminal law, intent is a mitigating factor. For instance, whether or not you intended to kill someone might determine the difference between a murder or manslaughter charge. Yet, for some reason, intent has been brushed aside where sex with teenagers is concerned. It is, in this blogger's opinion, patently unconstitutional according to many nations' statutes, and I'm glad that Ireland has taken steps to address this injustice. As the article states:

"it was inconsistent with the right to a fair trial to deny her client the defence of mistake or mistake on reasonable grounds."

And hey, the unfairness implicit in these laws detrimentally affects some women, too. Imagine being one of those pixie-ish 30-something women who is constantly mistaken for an adolescent waif. Decent, law-abiding men would rightfully be afraid to have sex with you, regardless of what ID you produced to prove your age!

...Which brings up an interesting corollary. If intent really is a factor, then what if a man has sex with a 30-something woman he believes to be 14? In his mind, he is deliberately breaking the law. Is he then guilty? Some would argue that no actual crime had been committed, so the answer is no. However, that logic does not stand up in vice squad busts. For example, if a cop poses as a prostitute and successfully solicits a John, she can and does charge him with purchasing the services of a prostitute.... even though no such transaction actually occurred.

Hey you lawyers out there, help me out!

I leave you with this interesting essay by Jimmy Carter called, "Punishing Innocent Palestinians Is A Crime."

P.S. I'm headed to Trinidad tomorrow for 5 days, and will attempt to blog from there. But I may or not be successful. Be forewarned!

Bush Lite Is Not Low Carb

Arrrrgh! I spent an hour writing an enormous blog post, then Firefox crashed and I lost all the edits! Grrrr! Serenity now...serenity now... Must think of happy things, like this weekend's 4th birthday party with the uber-cute Madelyn Wong, pictured here betwixt moi and big-headed Sean M.

We begin today with a quote from that old curmudgeon Charley Reese, who echoes what I've been saying in this space for 5 years now:

"We are, I believe, living in the twilight of Euro-American domination. We are like a former world champion gone to seed from luxurious living."

A sure sign of a civilization's decline is when it devolves from its commitments to the values it claims to espouse. There are few better examples of this than the situation in Guantanamo Bay, where so-called "enemy combatants" are held without trial, charge, and protection from the Geneva Conventions, presumably for either the duration of their lives or the until the end of an undeclared and bottomless "war on terror." It is thus not surprising that Gitmo is experiencing a spate of suicides. If any other nation had perpetrated such acts, the "free" world would have rightly branded them as war criminals.

Meanwhile, here in Canada our new PM continues to mistake a minority government for a true mandate, and is dragging our nation toward the neocon pole. Unsurprisingly, Stephen "Bush Lite" Harper continues to wage war against the media, Rove-style, in an attempt to muzzle debate on his increasingly controversial policies. Mischa sends us this article on a boycott by parliamentary press who rightly resent the PM's attempt to manage their messages. Antonia Zerbiasis has a report on the accelerating war between our barely-elected leader and the press. What the Harperians need to realize is that Canada is not the USA; our media is very different. Our journalists don't look forward to millionaire salaries and celebrity status, so they can't be easily cowed into keeping silent.

The Harperians have deepend Canada's involvement in Afghanistan, much to the detriment of our moral certitude and our ability to intervene elsewhere in the future. Most Canadians don't realize that "our" mission there has changed. We are no longer engaged in somewhat autonomous nation-building actvities, but rather are out Taliban-hunting, often under direct command of US forces as part of so-called "Operation Enduring Freedom". Is this really what Canadians want our soldiers to be doing in our name? I suspect that most would say no.

The recent "coalition forces" killing of villagers in a raid admittedly intended to target Taliban hold-outs complicates the Canadian mission. By being complicit in this action, Canadian troops have compromised decades of good will accrued through peacemaking and peacekeeping. Like BushCo, the Harperians will leave nothing behind except waste and a legacy of lessened international prestige and trust.

Domestically, they have already made a lasting negative impact. Duncan Cameron summarizes the things Canadians have already lost in less than 6 months of Conservative rule:

1. We no longer have a child-care plan.
2. The Kelowna accord on Aboriginal rights is dead, despite the support of every province.
3. The government has foregone about $5 billion in tax revenue through its GST cut.
4. The military expedition to Afghanistan has been renewed without adequate discussion or debate.
5. The Canadian delegation to the meetings on climate change was instructed to derail an internationally agreed timetable for progress on reducing harmful emissions.

In fact, my contacts tell me that the Conservatives are busily dismantling many, if not all, of the few efficient and cost-saving federal projects built by the previous Liberal governments, including pretty much all of the climate change stuff. As one friend in government put it, the Conservatives will be in power just long enough to do irreparable damage to programmes that cost us decades of work and hundreds of millions of dollars to set up ...and all for no good reason other than sheer ideology.

And remember.... this site no longer engages in maintaining the "daily perv link". It's gone. Kaput. Nada. So don't click here. While you're at it, don't read Slate's take on the whole phenomenon here.

Dem Pagli Guyana People

This past weekend was Guyanese Independence Day, commemorating the 39th anniversary of Guyana's independence from British rule. As a moe-or-less proud Guyanese ex-pat, I happily manned a booth to advertise the HIV/AIDS/Tb/STD project that I consult on. The responses of passersby were interesting. Some were more interested in me than in the project, which is a nice homey Caribbean thing. Others were not particularly hesitant in their homophobia, scoffing at the HIV/AIDS part of our mandate. Interestingly, the most vocal of the homophobes was interrupted in his rant by a male friend wrapping his arms around him from the rear and cooing his name. They might as well have been standing in an open closet.

The festival, hosted by the consulate of Guyana, was fairly well presented --by "pagli" Guyanese standards. (I can't find a link for the word "pagli", so maybe you can do your own digging.) Mayor David Miller was there, as were several MPs, MPPs and the brass of the Toronto police force. In fact, one Trinidadian cop made it a point to try to get me to join the force. Apparently, they accept applicants up to 65 years of age! Hey, my fragile ego can do with a badge and a gun; maybe I should consider it? Seriously, there are worse options out there, and Toronto can always do with more brown cops, no?

There was also a corner dedicated to Guyanese writers. On one table was the big bibliography of all authors of Guyanese extraction. I happily thumbed through it. All my friends and contacts were there: Sasenarine Persaud, Paloma Mohamed, Ruel Johnson, David Dabydeen, Cyril Dabydeen, Frank Birbalsingh, Harrichand Itwaru... But wait! Where was I? Yes, I confess, I searched twice. I was nowhere to be found in any of their author literature, not even in the comprehensive directory of writers!

Now, I don't like to make a stink out of things like this; it's undignified. But I must confess to feeling more than a bit slighted. I mean, really, I won the country's freakin' national book award! Surely, that warrants a simple one line entry into the big book of writers? Yet, once again, I have been slighted by the nation of my birth. I wonder if it has something to do with a sentiment Ruel expressed in this article, about me not being Guyanese enough.

I won't lie; it's all a tad hurtful. We Indo-Guyanese ex-pats already suffer from a little identity crisis. Are we Guyanese, are we Indian, are we Canadian/American/British? I've tried to walk the tightrope between all points, with mixed results. But I won't forget that in February, India accepted me, with extremely open arms, as a writer of note, while Guyana, despite bestowing upon me the single greatest literary honour of my career thus far, seems intent on diasvowing me.

Fine, then. From now on, I'm Indian-Canadian. The Guyanese portion is in the dog house.

Aside from my bit of whining, there is a lesson here. It is this: all lists, bibliographies, diectories and registries are of flawed methodology. I've been involved in making such things in the past, and ultimately one collects names through word of mouth, through people campaigning for inclusion, and through stealing names from other peoples' lists. So I will get over my bit of huffery by tomorrow morning and will be a proud Guyanese ex-pat again by lunch. Until then, though: hmmph.

Oop Oop

The ultimate perv link: according to a new study, human and chimp ancestors interbred after the two species separated from a common ancestor. That, my friends, is the power of alcohol.

You're All Chicks!

At last! I have finally got around to posting the results of the Deonandan.com reader's survey. The survey was left up months longer than was intended. Even so, I only got 65 responses.

Let me remind you of the reason for the survey. Hosting a website and a blog is fraught with a great many insecurities. Writing every day, it's easy to forget that there's an army of unspeaking readers out there who may agree or disagree with my posts. One tends to end up writing only for oneself and for that handful of readers who leave comments. (The survey says that just over a quarter of you have left comments.) So I felt it appropriate to attempt to measure the characteristics of the nameless, faceless majority. Now, I still have no idea whether these results are representative of the true whole, since the majority of lurkers chose not to respond. But it's something.

Here are the key findings:

1. You're all chicks! 60% of respondents were female
2. You're all in need of dates! 61.5% are single.
3. You're all barren! 75.4% are childless
4. The single biggest age group is 31-40 years
5. Over 80% are university grads, with half those having post-grad training
6. Unsurprisingly, 70.8% of you are office workers, with 30.8% reading from work!
   
7. Interestingly, my readers are either white (47.7%) or brown (41.5%). The number of brownies is actually higher, since several Indo-Caribbean types self-identified as "other"
8. Surprisingly, almost a quarter of you consider yourselves to be religious
9. You're all a bunch of boring straight people (80%)
10. Most of you are in Canada (63.1%) or the USA (32.3%)
11. Most of you (51.8%) personally know me, 10.7% of you got here from a friend's recommendation, 14.3% of you stumbled upon this site by using a search engine (by using terms like, I dunno, "bestiality in Paris") and almost 20% of you "met" me in another online capacity
12. Interestingly, after this blog, the most popular Deonandan.com page is my cv!
    
13. While only a quarter of you have read any of my books, 62% (!) have read some of my newspaper articles, and a third have been to my auxiliary site to read the crap there
14. This is important.... exactly half of you tend to agree with me often, and the proportion of disagreeable trouble-makers among you is only 12.5%
15. Following on that theme, about 63% of you are politically Lefties, with only 7.4% identifying as Righties

You can visually appreciate the results by clicking here.

Here are some of the comments about how I could improve this site:

1. " Wonderful site. Has a certain sincerity to it."
2. " get a life."
3. " you're doing well..i just visit to make sure you're alive..and seeing you post daily confirms it. Saves me the long distance phone calls."
4. " make up games and add them to the blog."
5. " It seems that it's doing just fine."
6. " I think you should pictures of me on it"
7. " excellent site"
8. " One can't improve on perfection."

So from the comments, it seems you folks are, on average, content with the way I do things here. Or maybe only the content ones are motivated to take the survey? Ahhh, the old detection bias rears its ugly head. As for you, respondent who gave comment #6, send some pics and I'll put them up!

Thanks for filling out the survey, all you left-leaning, straight, young, university-educated, childless, single white/brown chicks from North America.

Gore in 2008

My blog post from last Wednesday has legs. Not only will it be published by in June by India Currents Magazine, but the progressive news site Rabble.ca will e-publish it, too (assuming I can figure out how the rights thing works). Again, this is strong evidence that there can be a valid and potent overlap between the worlds of blogging and traditional media. The article is available here.

Regular readers of this site will know that I've been shouting for six years that the next President of the USA will be Al Gore. Six years, people. Oh, I've heard the scoffing; don't think I haven't. Well, the mainstream is almost in line with my predictions. Courtesy of Andrew Sullivan comes this blog post by none other than Dan Savage, who is now actively pushing for Gore in '08. It's gonna happen, I tells ya. And when it does, poor President Gore will have to clean up the mess left by BushCo, and will likely be unfairly blamed for all of it.

Who's Full Of What Now?

We begin today with a refreshingly candid article from, of all places, the Edmonton Sun. It's about how much George W. sucks, and actually challenges his supporters to deny the claims made in the article. Cool.

I was remarking to Brother Hrab last night that one of the exciting aspects of the 21st century blog revolution is the trend of disparate bloggers meeting in the flesh. As I mentioned yesterday, I met for the first time fellow blogger Phil Gomes, who resides in Australia; and I commented something to the effect that it's an exciting and unique development that individuals from opposite sides of the world can come together, bonded solely through an incorporeal intellectual connection.

This trend is not a personal one. It appears to be happening all over the world. Nasty Nick met a fellow blogger during a recent trip to California, and Rondi appears to be plugged in to a whole network of life-minded political commentators who seem to meet in person regularly.

Brother Hrab accurately pointed out to me, though, that this is not a new thing. In fact, blogging is increasingly resembling the networked intellectual activities of 19th century European writers, who would go to great lengths to remain in touch with each other across borders, languages, continents and cultures, their bonds being solely of the intellectual variety, as well.

Maybe that's what we're witnessing here. Maybe the internet is allowing for a free return to the glory days of gentlemen scholars and citizen scientists, when the educated common fellows, and not necessarily the mega-funded professionals, were the ones producing much of the world's intellectual content, linked to each other through letters and books and ideas.

Or maybe, as is always possible, I'm just full of crap.

Another Beta Test

My post from last Wednesday has been re-worked into an op-ed and is being beta tested here. And not a moment too soon, since it's already been picked up by India Currents Magazine. It'll be published there next month. I guess my earlier concerns about blogging detracting from my prolificity in traditional media were unfounded after all. Thanks to all the commenters for inadvertently helping me to work out some of the kinks.

Blah Blah Blah

Oh, so many unrelated items today...

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there, and happy birthday to my own mother, whose anniversary conveniently coincides with Mother's Day every year. Interestingly, there's another progressive Guyanese blogger whose mother shares this birthday: Australia's Phil Gomes, a regular reader of this site and a firebrand political commentator of fearless focus. I had the great pleasure of meeting Phil and his partner in Toronto this weekend. It was rather surreal, really, to meet someone from the other side of the world whose connection to you is solely an intellectual one, brought about by the reading of blogs.

My horoscope for Sunday read, "You could spend time with a large group of people...You might chat with cousins, siblings, or other extended family. It's good for you to connect with other members of your tribe. Share news with your cousins and in-laws. Spend some time playing with your nieces and nephews." Ironically, Sunday was also when I took part in the annual Toronto Walk for Autism, because my cousin's kid Joshua is autistic. So I got to spend some excellent time, just as the stars predicted, with my cousins and erstwhile "nieces and nephews". It was a singular joy to converse for a whole hour with my 6-year old "niece" Ashley, who was quite adept at offering all sorts of needed advice. Now, I've always known that Ashley and her siblings are part Sri Lankan (and part Guyanese), but I only now discovered that their Sri Lankan origin is from the same area that my earlier tsunami relief efforts had focused on! So, by some strange kismet, while trying to help complete strangers, I was in fact helping my own family. Funny how that happens.

Speaking of autism, have you heard this outrageous story about US army recruiters signing up an autistic boy? Yes, the authorities are investigating. But I suspect they're investigating how they got caught rather than how such chicanery happened in the first place. I ask you, Dear Readers, what do you think the chances are of a draft happening the US within the next 2 years?

And speaking of our relief project in Sri Lanka, one lesson learned that quite surprised me was that one of the items most in demand int he tsunami affected regions wasn't antibiotics or food or medical supplies. It was feminine hygiene products. Yep, tampons and maxipads are items we rarely think about as emergency supplies, but they are actually quite important. It seems in Zimbabwe there is a dire shortage of these items, giving rise to a heroic and sad sort of activism. Now, some British celebrities are taking up the cause, trying to raise money for these items in Africa. Yes, we can call it, "blood money."

There's apparently an epidemic of Morgellon's Disease in Texas. I don't know much about this seemingly psychological disorder. But I think it's worth watching.

Speaking of things to watch, another incredibly racist site set off my alarm bells today. This one is called NewNation.org, and it appears to argue for reduced immigration to the USA, but really just lists instances of non-white people commiting crimes against white people, regardless of whether they are immigrants or not. I am loathe to give such sites publicity, but I think it's important that we all be aware that they exist, and that such sentiments are possibly more prevalent than we think. I'd rather have them out in the open.

What? Can light now move backwards? While we're at it, it seems our universe was not the first. Well, duhh, ask any Hindu!

Here's a story about the BBC mistaking a black French cab driver for a white English computer expert. You can see the actual video footage here. My friend the comedian and techie Andrew Currie thought this link was more funny.

In other news, a super model mistakes a bus exit door for ...God knows what. Hilarity and injury ensue.

I leave you with this interesting story about a tribe of hunter gatherers in Colombia walking out of the jungle to join "modern" civilization. That is their right, of course, and I am heartened to see the Colombians making an effort to ease the tribe's transition. But it highlights a trend, that of the depletion of traditional peoples, wisdoms and ways of life. With such total, global gentrification comes a decrease in creativity. There, for example, goes one fewer living example of a market-free economy.

Vegetarianism And Animal Miscegany

Thanks to Anju G. for sending us this story about a cannibalism chef ni Arizona. Read at your own peril. But, really, if we are going to eat meat, then it's fairly hypocritical of us to get all queasy about eating human meat.

I'm not a vegetarian, but I want to be one. I think it's ultimately healthier (all other things being equal) and more moral. What with the evils of factory farming and the negative ecological impact of the meat industry, it's hard to argue against the good ethics of a vegetarian lifestyle. My problem is that I love the taste of meat, and that I do believe that there are some vital nutrients that we can only obtain from animal protein. So the path I currently take is one that resembles as much as possible the diet of our nomadic ancestors: maximum fibre (via leafy greens and nuts), sugar from fruits, minimal complex carbs from processed sources, and limited lean meat. In fact, I no longer prepare meat in my home, and only eat it when I go out. (Of course, this means I go out a lot more often that I used to!)

Here's a story about a USC lecturer whose personal website contains "inappropriate" photos of her semi-naked self. Yes, the story includes a link to her website. And yes, the lecturer sounds like a dogmatic nutcase, given her over-the-top and simplistic political views. But the best part of this story, though, is the rational and correct response of USC administrators: no policies had been violated so they will not act to pressure her to take down the site. Good for them.

An interesting thing happened in Canada's north: a hunter shot and killed what has been proven to be a natural polar-grizzly bear hybrid, the result of a male grizzly bear gettin' it on with a female polar bear. Apparently, this has been observed in captivity before, resulting in fertile offspring. From what I was taught in highschool biology, this pretty much makes grizzlies and polar bears the same species.

Dig this comment on Rotten.com's forum by a user named "misterjeff":

"I wonder if all the lady grizzly bears are all pissedoff now that their fine-ass man bears are getting with white bears."

Animal hybridization is a fascinating field. The most famous chimerae are the "liger" (a cross between a male lion and a female tiger) and the "tigon" (a cross between a female lion and a male tiger.) Interestingly, ligers are bigger than either tigers or lions, while tigons are smaller than both parents. This may be due to the fact that female lions transmit a growth-inhibiting gene and male lions transmit a growth-promoting gene.

Yet another fun science fact from Dr. Ray!

Thursday Round-Up

My op-ed on Opal-gate has been e-published on Chowk.com, a pretty good website dedicated to South Asian issues.

Remember... the daily perv link is no more. It's gone. No more sordid sexual tales will be linked from this site. None. I don't need people falsely accusing me of advocating for certain marginalised and criminal activities, when all I'm really doing is trying to figure out, epidemiologically, if increased media reports of a certain act are representative of a genuine increase in incidence or merely of a detection bias. So that bit of public service and passive science is done with. Got me? So, whatever you do, don't click here.

The public health project in Guyana that I consult on is well profiled in this blog post.

A Swedish study confirms what I've been arguing for years, and is summarised by Slate here: 1) sexual orientation is mostly biologically based, not a choice; and 2) Sexual orientation is more biologically based in men than in women. This explains that annoying subset of young women, the "LUGs", or "lesbians until graduation."

Thanks to Mischa for this link to a Salon article summarising the failures of America's complicit lapdog media.

Canada's best blogger, The Star's Antonia Zerbiasis, has an interesting post on the battle between blogs and the mainstream media (MSM). Print media's revenues are down, largely due to the web's ability to seduce advertisers with cheaper rates and unlimited space. But the MSM will never die, the post argues, because blogs are parasitical by nature, feeding off of actual news that only the reporters of the MSM can create. In this view, blogs are replacing the commentary/columnist function of the MSM, but not the reporting.

I believe there is some truth to this, though conversations with Nasty Nick have caused me to massage that viewpoint somewhat; blogs can produce news, since anyone can now report on events as they occur. Whatever happens, we are seeing an exciting evolution of both media and journalism, and indeed of power dynamics in general. Increasingly, control of information will be decentralized. We have an interesting few years ahead of us.

The False War Between Civilizations

About 20 years ago I was in my mid-teens and becoming vaguely aware of the way grown men are perceived and expected to act. One day, while riding the Toronto subway, a woman and her small blond-haired son, about 7 years old, rushed to try to get into the subway car. Because of the boy's dawdling, he barely made it onto the car before the doors closed, but his mother was left behind on the platform. As the train pulled away, the woman scowled at her son from behind the door and growled something like, "See what happens when you don't hurry?"

As the subway trundled along, the boy stood alone in terror, tears beginning to pool in the corners of his eyes. Now, our car was populated entirely by men, and while I felt that one of us should do something, there was all about us a palpable fear of "getting involved". See, at 16, even I was cognizant of society's judgement of strange men who approach children on subway cars.

Finally, a rough looking young Arab-looking man, 20-something and bedecked in leather, beckoned the boy over to him. "Do you know where you're going?" he asked in a Middle Eastern accent, to which the child responded by shaking his head. "Okay," the man said, "come with me."

Out of both curiosity and concern, I followed the pair as they exited together at the next stop. I saw them wait on the platform for the next subway car, from which the boy's mother emerged, snatching the boy without so much as a tender look for her child or a word of thanks for the youth who had protected him.

I learned several things from that small vignette of city life. First, the negative weight of political correctness, so much in the news in those days, was a thing of real behavioural force that had the power to compel adult men to choose discretion over assisting a child in distress.

Second, I learned that one should never make assumptions of character based upon appearances alone. That the only person to act in the boy's best interests was a young, tough-looking man of Arab extraction is a poignant observation, especially now in a time rife with ready criticisms of non-Western societies.

There is a trend among some circles of creating a "war of civilizations", ostensibly between the West and the nominative "Muslim world". Certainly, terror master Osama bin Laden is known to favour such a conflict. But Western personalities are also guilty. And while we can fulminate all we like about the crimes and motivations of bin Laden and his ilk, it is perhaps most useful to first examine the indefensible behaviours and bloviations of representatives of our own Western cultures.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, in September 2001, contended that Western societies are superior to those of other parts of the world. "We should be conscious of the superiority of our civilization," he said. His position has found resonance and support in the writings of mainstream "conservative" voices, such as syndicated columnists Mark Steyn (who once contended that, "the Muslim world... is economically, militarily, scientifically and artistically irrelevant") and Ann Coulter (who once wrote that Muslims "smell bad"). And there are many others. In the words of philosopher David Dieteman, "For [conservative] writers such as John Derbyshire and Jonah Goldberg, the war [on terror] is a chance to sing paeans to Western civilization."

Well-heeled academics, like Victor Davis Hansen, give intellectual cover to such racist attitudes. Davis regularly argues for the superiority of Western civilization over "Muslims". One would think that an educated man like Hansen would know better than to monolithically attribute to a billion heterogeneous people behavioural and attitudinal traits generalized from a few select individuals. Such an act is, after all, the hallmark of racism. Yet this is the same tack taken by almost all the writers of such screed, to taint the whole with the actions of a few.

These writers do make some valid observations. Nations with majority Muslim populations tend to be more theocratic and autocratic than others, and tend to disallow certain freedoms more often. It is important to note, however, that in almost all such cases, the nations in question were either artificially created by Western powers (e.g., Iraq), had autocratic rulers imposed upon them by Western meddlers (e.g., Iran) and/or had autocratic rulers deliberately strengthened by Western support (e.g., Egypt, Iraq, Turkmenistan). Thus it is logically impossible to draw any causal relationships between the culture of these nations and the nature of their governance.

Moreover, there is a logical flaw in the manner in which Goldberg, Steyn and Hansen in particular have chosen to evaluate the two nominative civilizations. Cultural anthropologists recognize this flaw and so typically adhere to the provisions of cultural relativism, a concept necessarily abhorred by ultra-conservative writers because it easily deflates their racist arguments. The flaw is this: these writers argue that Western civilization is better than "Islamic civilization" because, essentially, the West is more Western. That's like arguing that men are better than women because they are more male; both are circular arguments that pre-suppose that the qualities of maleness or of Westernness are indeed the ones that are most vital.

There is certainly a seductive quality to their argument. After all, who among us of the West does not value democracy, freedom of expression, etc., at least in principle? But, as the episode in the subway 20 years ago taught me, not all of our civilization's tenets are necessarily the most important ones, not if we can't even find the moral strength to help a lost child.

Rummy On The Ropes

An elementary school principal bans a kid from singing an anti-Bush song at a school event. You gotta wonder, would she have been banned if the song were pro Bush? Or what if the song were anti-Clinton? Hmm.

It seems yesterday's blog topic has proven to be quite the thought provoker. There were many fine comments, for which I am grateful. It was additionally pointed out to me that, part and parcel of my "slippery slope" argument against a two-tiered citizenry, even birth citizens should be nervous, since we'd only be a hop anf skip away from limiting their rights, too, perhaps based on such defining characteristics as religion or descent. Internment camps, anyone?

Moreover, with the threat of deportation looming over new citizens who might attract the ire of holders of whatever doctrine the current power base embraces, I suspect that more political activities would be forced into the underground. And that is not that kind of society I think any one of us wishes to see evolve.

Here's an interview with an activist/lawyer that captures some of what we're talking about. Meanwhile, it has come to my attention that Dr Sharma (the pundit mentioned in yesterday's post) has been receiving what has been described as hate mail. This is very concerning and disappointing news indeed.

Thanks to I. for this CNN video showing protestor Ray McGoevrn peacefully asking Donald Rumsfeld all the right questions. McGovern writes about the event here. Two interesting observations about the episode: (1) Rumsfeld not-so-subtly blamed the CIA for everything that he has done wrongly; and (2) he is buffered by a small army of sycophants and mindless cheerleaders.

While it's warming to see so many non-partisan Americans turning on Rumsfeld for the ridiculousness that is Iraq, I am not so sanguine. See, such people aren't becoming anti-war because they suddenly see the deep immorality and duplicitousness of the adventure. Rather, they are upset because, to put it bluntly, their side is losing. This does not fill me with hope.

So I leave you today with this quote by Jim Caroll:

"I love my country, and the American people are good
people. But we are allowing the government to do
things in our name that are wrong, they are criminal.
If I could say something really outrageous, I think
that the American people today have turned against the
war in Iraq for the wrong reasons. They've turned
against it because we're losing. We should be against
this war because it's wrong and unnecessary. If this
war had gone the way Rumsfeld and company thought it
would go, Americans would have been fine with it. And
that's appalling. And of course if it had gone the way
they thought it was going to go, we'd be in Iran
today. That's the tragic good news here. This war has
gone so badly that the American imperial enterprise
has been stalled. Thank God for that."

The Apartheid of Canadian Citizenship

My hero of the day is Dr. Nandita Sharma (another bio is here), who kicked some serious ass on this week's episode of TVOntario's Diplomatic Immunity. The debate was on changing immigration policies in the wake of terrorism. The author of a report for the Fraser Institute, Martin Collacott, had suggested that immigrants must overtly offer a loyalty oath to the nation of Canada, and risk post-citizenship deportation if they engage in specific criminal activities, such as supporting criminal groups.

Of course, Collacott's argument is understandable and born of a limitedly rational fear that some people use Canadian citizenship as a foundation for mounting political activities abroad. But Dr. Sharma put her finger on the crux of the matter: when you suggest that there should exist separate and unequal legal regimes for different classes of people, the word for it is apartheid. After all, if one can potentially be deported after having obtained legal citizenship, then what we would have is a de facto system of two classes of unequal people: naturalized versus birth citizens.

It was suggested in the debate that it is rational to remove citizenship for those who "support terrorism." An eloquent law professor, Sharryn Aiken, pointed out that one cannot practially distinguish between supporting human rights efforts and supporting terrorist efforts. For example, if one assists the Tamil Tigers in providing tsunami relief, is one aiding terrorism?

What was not discussed is the unavoidable slippery slope of criminalization. Once government is given this blunt legal tool for removing citizenship, rest assured that this tool will eventually be abused. All it would require is a shifting definition of "support for terrorism". And one thing I have learned from watching the duplicitous government to our south is that one cannot trust a government with such a tool.

This is an important topic, and it concerns me that these subtle racist suggestions are percolating upward from conservative think tanks like the Fraser Institute. This is a last gasp of those who cling to a fading world order. The borderless world is in sight; maybe not in my lifetime, but I think it's coming; citizenship as a concept will be outdated very soon.

In the mean time, I continue to advocate for birth citizens to be given the same testing that immigrants must undergo before they, too, can participate in political life. It would encourage everyone to gain some basic understanding of civics, and maybe we'd have a moderately less stupid voting population.

Kudos to Nandita Sharma. Her laurel wreath is in the mail!

Moussaoui Or That Guy From Hooty And The Blowfish?

Zacarias Moussaoui belongs in jail. I wouldn't want to know him. I wouldn't want anyone I know to know him. I wouldn't even want to be in the same country as him. And today, jurors gave him life imprisonment for his role in the 9/11 attacks.

But there are aspects of his story that leave me a tad uncomfortable. In a system where, more than a few times it seems, rapists and murderers get off with a few years in prison or --worse yet-- community service, it's interesting that a man who has not actually directly killed anyone gets life imprisonment, and indeed almost got the death penalty.

Yes, there appears to be evidence that he was somehow involved in planning the events that deliberately resulted in the deaths of thousands. So ultimately my confidence lies with the 12-person jury system: if they reached such a verdict based on their rational appraisal of the facts, then that has to be enough for me. (Same goes for OJ, by the way.)

More to the point, much has been said of how this trial represents a critical test of whether the USA can deal with terrorism with the supposed objective and fair methods of its justice system; i.e., will Moussaoui get a fair trial? And the Americans must be commended for making that effort. Indeed, I will go further to say that the entire prosecution of the so-called "war on terror" should be one directed by the justice system and not by the Pentagon. Al Qaeda-style terrorism is the action of an international criminal conspiracy, and the extent to which actual states are involved is, in my opinion, exaggerated beyond the point at which military action is necessitated. In other words, let the FBI and Interpol, not the military, run the show. Give everyone in Guantamo a lawyer and a trial date. Moussaoui's case shows that this is possible.

But I am nonetheless dismayed that Moussaoui seems to have been tried more on emotion than on facts; more on rhetoric than reason --which increasingly is becoming the theme for our time. Jurors were presented with many disturbing images of the sites, post-attack -- images that were deemed to gruesome for public disclosure. What relevance are these if not to incite a vengeful response? And what the heck was Giuliani doing testifying at the trial?

Nevertheless, at least a trial was held. Now let's offer the same to all those illegally held prisoners in Guantanamo. The way I see it, there is no logical or legal rationale for holding them in military prisons and trying them in military tribunals. Give them lawyers and civil trial dates. And, of course, brace for the litany of civil suits that will come raining down once all the rights violations become known.

Harper And Colbert -- Which Stephen Eats Babies?

I was going to begin today by discussing the new Canadian federal budget. But even I'm not that masochistic. I will say, however, that I'm disappointed that the Kelowna deal is dead. What does it take to get good aboriginal health care in this country? I've done a tiny bit of consulting work for the Aborignal Health wing of Health Canada, and none of what I've learned has dissuaded me from the impression that native health in Canada, in many reservations, is seriously compromised, mostly by some of the basics, including poor water supplies.

Officially, we begin instead with this story about a high school student, whom fellow students teased for his supposed resemblance to Osama bin laden, being expelled because he responded to his taunters that if he wereOsama, he'd have pulled a Columbine. This is clearly a case of school board overreaction (when will they learn the stupidity and futility of "zero tolerance" policies?), and even more a case of teachers and administrators not understanding what they teach. The kid did, after all, couch his threat as a conditional, not a declaratory, phrase. I hope his lawyers sue that board to the bones. One of the commenters on Rotten.com's forum, dankbear420, summarized the situation well: "why isnt there a zero tolerance policy for asshole school administrators?"

A recent Washington DC photo opp featured congressmen giving good lip service to the need for new energy sources, and even dramatically driving off in a series of hydrogen-fuelled vehicles. Well, dig this great photo of House speaker Dennis Hastert parking his hydrogen car a few blocks away, and climbing right back into his gas-guzzling SUV.

Apparently, Stephen Harper eats babies.

Everyone and his cousin has been pointing me to the clip of Stephen Colbert slyly bashing the right wing and right wing media in the belly of the beast itself, the White House; so I include it for you, as well. (Thanks to Shaila M. for that particular link.) Another version of the video is here. Kos has the transcript here. (Sorry, Mischa, your link didn't work.) Strange times when comedians are the only ones brave and respected enough to speak truth to power. The Washington Post talks about it less philosophically here.

Bloggers At War

My horoscope for today:

"A fabulous chance to earn more money and gain greater prestige may come your way - but you will need to be on the ball to grasp the chance. It is also possible that a new job may mean relocating to a new place which you will be quite happy about."

Hmm...

Remember, the daily perv link is no more. No more, I say! You are not following this link, and you did not discover it on this site. Got it?

The war against blogging continues, with this story about a blogger in Maine being sued by the state because his comments may have adversely affected the local tourism industry. The story is a bit more complex than that, though, since the blogger may have infringed on a copyright (bad!) and engaged in libelous or defamatory behaviour (perhaps not so bad, depending on the context). While I have my suspicions about the guy, I come out in favour of his right to bitch. His opinions are sacrosanct; end of story. But his use of the state' s iconic images might be a problem.

Sorry, people, blogging --or some variant of it-- is here to stay. What we are seeing with these developments is the mainstream struggling to place the new media in a context understood by the old media. In the short term, the status quo will win out. But ultimately, how society deals with multipolar criticism, copyright, anonymous defamation and unfettered, truly free speech will have been changed forever.

As for me, I continue to use this medium to test and refine ideas. Sadly, I still have one foot in the old media. Thus, my droogs, I'm beta-testing yet a new op-ed, this time on Opal-gate, here.