Today's thoughts...
1) STEPHEN HARPER IN KANDAHAR: I admit I'm partisan, but this impressed me. Not just that he went, but that he stayed with our troops. One of my colleagues at work (who voted NDP, incidentally) said "awww, it's all an act." That's as may be, but neither Martin nor Chretien ever bothered.
There is growing public unease about the Afghanistan mission, as, apparently, many thought it would be a picnic. Our soldiers knew better...and yet went anyway. Some of them--including at least one of those killed in action--made a point of taking this mission on, despite having other options.
Ask your great-grandpa, who fought at Vimy, and your grandpa, who stormed the beach at Normandy, about the proud Canadian military tradition. It burned brightly until Trudeau got hold of the country, and ever since the emphasis has been on something called "peacekeeping". What Kandahar makes clear is that sometimes, peace has to be made before it can be kept.
To those who claim this is not our war, perhaps you're right. Has any war been our war, at least back to 1812?
Hey! At least we're not trying to secure ourselves some oil.
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2) Warmest winter in a century: any shock there? Virtually every locale in Canada has reported above normal temperatures. It averages out to 3.9 degrees Celsius higher than normal.
Do you have any idea how much that is? Two-tenths of a degree is considered significant. Four degrees is astronomical. In fact, this past winter has been the most overheated season on record.
And we hear this news, or something like it, with increasing frequency. Is it sinking in, or are we tuning it out? Are we at all concerned, or are we just happy our heating bills are lower?
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3) My other thought had to do with prostitution. But it's a post in itself. I'll save that for next time.
2 comments:
I have to say, I was impressed with Mr. Harper visiting our troops, too. I don't think it was merely a photo op, either.
Hey Ken. I just posted something similar on my blog re: the huge jump in temp. this past winter. Ten years in a row now we have seen above average temp's in the winter. And no, I don't think it is sinking in - most ppl are just happy that it isn't as cold and we aren't getting as much snow - they don't seem to see the big picture.
And btw - Chretien visited the troops in Afghanistan in 2003. He just did it to much less fan fare :)
Can't wait for the prostitution piece - would be interesting to see your thoughts on the world's oldest profession.
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