America Is Not The World (thank you, Morrissey)

A few thoughts about some things I've heard on the news today or lately

(1) Someone on the news said today that China's refusal to allow the US Navy to use its ports showed that China was not supporting 'our troops'. Um...(a) they're not 'our' troops from China's point of view and (b) China is a sovereign nation. Surely it's allowed to decide who can use its territorial waters?

(2) On a related point, the White House saying that refusals to extend funding means that those congress people aren't supporting 'our troops' either. Oy, the jingoism - how about, oh, supporting the troops by not making them cannon fodder? I can vaguely remember the tail end of Vietnam - I don't particularly enjoy being a fully grown adult watching its repetition from the beginning - another ugly spectacle of imperialism and interference...not that I think some kind of intervention and assistance mightn't be necessary or advisable or admirable, but still...

(3) In light of the fact that Canada has decided it will no longer fight extradition or call for clemency on death penalty cases in the US (though the US Supreme Court is currently judging again on whether the death penalty is cruel and unusual (to me, duh - to the court, I can just guess...)), and given that murder is a willful taking of someone's life - if, posthumously, it is determined that a person put to death was innocent, I'm presuming the executioner will be, in turn, executed, and, given the unequivocal proof of his/her guilt (witnesses, live murder), immediately killed by kangaroo court justice? Just wondering...(and, of course, Stephen Harper as an accessory to murder - an even more cheery thought...it would be so much more exciting if Julian Fantino, Ontario Commissioner of Police, were somehow tied up in it as well - I just might need a towel...)

(4) In which point - OJ Simpson going to jail for life, potentially? What a shame he's already 60...

A few rants and rambles

(1) So the Catholic Church is concerned about THE GOLDEN COMPASS, citing its usual fears of anti-Christianity (wait until they reach book 3 - drop dead, little Pope!), sexual implications(um, the Vatican barn doors have already swung SHUT on your historical role in protecting the sexual innocence of youth) and a host of other little concerns (the witches thing, too, I'm sure).

Now, I can't help but wonder if, despite the Marianism of some branches of the church, they're just a little irked at the saviour of the worlds being...a girl!?

(2) I was talking to some young fellow sexual deviants tonight, and they were actually surprised that Canada Customs used to seize material coming into Canada. What ARE they teaching the youth in school? Where is the vital role of educators in corrupting future generations and ensuring they're nice radical queers? I'm so disappointed...(having said this, I also wonder if I look old enough to have been in school in 1973, since, after sharing a story about how I had to get a parental leave slip signed at the age of nearly 19 in order to interview someone at the local queer organization for a paper, I was told that, after all, it was still a mental illness then by classification. Now, I don't have a Canadian stat at hand, but the APA delisted homosexuality in 1973...I can't imagine Canada was LATER...not that legalization is a key, since Quebec made homosexuality no longer illegal a good five years before the rest of Canada did, and there are countries where homosexuality is not strictly illegal, but, sadly, neither is electro convulsive therapy...).