Tony Blair: newer, bolder, and really f***ed up

I always considered Tony Blair to be somewhat reasonable. Emphasis on "somewhat". Maybe he has always just seemed more reasonable than Bush (although that is hardly difficult). When I read this article, however, I was simply at a loss for words. Here is an excerpt:

"CHILDREN below the age of 10 will be subject to antisocial behaviour orders for the first time under sweeping new powers to combat yob culture.

The “baby Asbo” or “Basbo” would see a troublesome child barred from verbally abusing neighbours or banned from parts of an estate. But it would be a lighter punishment than a full Asbo and youngsters would not be named and shamed.

The move comes amid growing concern in No 10 over “pre-teen” crime and antisocial behaviour. However, government lawyers are concerned about the move because the law says a child under 10 cannot be held responsible for a crime.."

And it gets better. Other measures include:

"Problem families being moved to “sin bins” — secure gated communities patrolled by wardens and CCTV cameras, where they would face curfews and be kept away from the rest of society."

Apparently, "The controversial respect bill is being secretly drafted by Downing Street officials. The prime minister has told his officials that the bill is a top priority as he seeks to demonstrate that his mind is fully focused on the domestic agenda once more.

Unusually, the bill is being drafted by No 10 with the intention of putting it straight into law, rather than the usual Home Office consultation paper."

Just, go read the article. It is shocking.



Ok, now read this article. Seriously, go read it. I honestly don't know what to say about it. Here is the title: "We can clamp down on antisocial children before birth, says Blair".

Am I missing something here? Or is this really as messed up as I think it is?

A tale from Africa

It has been a while since I've updated my blog, and even longer since I've written a proper entry. I can only suppose that, in the meantime, those few who once checked my blog have stopped entirely. My interest in writing has resurfaced recently however, and henceforth I expect that I shall update slightly more frequently.
Although I have not mentioned it, for most of may, as well as the beginning of june, I was in Africa with my family, having the time of my life. On the flight from London to Cape Town I watched the movie Tsotsi. For those who have not seen this movie, and I doubt many have, it is a South African film, filmed in the township of Soweto. It is not the best thing to watch prior to your first visit to South Africa. Unless you want to spend a lot of time looking over your shoulder. What I realized over the first few days there however, was that most people, in fact everyone we met, could not have been more different than those in the movie. It would be like watching City of Gods before going on vacation in Mexico City. Believe it or not, most mexicans are not gangsters.
What I experienced in South Africa, however, went far beyond this. Not only were people not unhappy or criminal, but they were often genuinely in very high spirits. I had expected, given the incredible poverty some of them face, that there would be a great deal more desperation than there was. To the contrary, they seemed, on average, just as happy as Canadians are, despite living in conditions far below the canadian poverty line. ...(Insert more preachy stuff here)... Anyway, let's make a long story short: Once upon a time there was Apartheid, then it ended, and now everyone is trying to live happily ever after. The morale? After years of oppression, the black population, despite continued poverty, has hope for a better life. And you know what? In some sense that has already been accomplished, because a life with hope is a better life.

Philosophy parties

The other night we had a gathering at Ted's, and it occured to me that philosophy students are an unusual bunch. To give you an idea of what I mean, here is a brief list of happenings on this eve:
A) Someone passes out from excessive drinking.
B) You have a lively discussion about the content of an essay someone wrote last term.
C) Multiple people "crash" for the night, and sleep on the floor/couch/spare futon.
D) You discuss how excited you are about the (annual) philosophy conference you plan on attending 9 months from now, 1300 km away.
E) There is a pillow fight.
F) Before leaving in the morning, you borrow a textbook from a class you had been unable to take.
G) You spend the bus ride home bemoaning the fact that you didn't take the class. Because the textbook is just that fascinating.

Self-reflexive blogging

Sometimes I write blog posts that I feel are overly sentimentalist or dramatic - either because they are or because people read them as such- and hence I do not post them. They sit as drafts in the bowels of blogger.com, patiently hoping for revision. So, in lieu of posting something new, I shall now post one such draft, ostensibly with the aim of revealing something interesting about me. If this does not sound exciting enough then I offer you the following gibberish: "Uncut, unedited, never before seen blogage!". In any case, it was written March 2nd under the title "Lord of War".

" On tuesday I saw "Lord of War" at the UBC theater. At first the narrative style bugged me. Especially the opening scene. But by the time I walked out of the theater I had little doubt that it was a good movie. That counts as a recommendation by me for you to go see it. The best description I can give to it is: action movie turned political commentary. Perhaps the most interesting thing for me about that movie had nothing to do with the movie itself, but with the way I react to the movie.
3 years ago that movie is exactly the type of thing that would make me angry with the world. "How can we stand the state the world is in?" "Is there no justice at all?" Those are the types of questions my younger self would have asked. The answers at the time were, of course, "we can't" and "there isn't" respectively. But those arn't the things I think about anymore. When I saw the movie, what did it make me think about? Well, it made me think about 3 years ago. It also made me think of 2 years ago, and the change I had undergone. I doubt that is the effect the movie was going for. Those who knew me 2 years ago will be quick to recall that that was not the happiest time of my life. In fact, it would be fair to characterize that period as the worst time of my life. What I sometimes forget, however, is that my depression had far more to do with the content of this movie than it ever did with the personal events in my life at the time. That is what "Lord of War" reminds me of. I used to care with all my heart about the injustice of the world, and it nearly killed me. Now, I just accept it. I'm inherently worthless. Humans are not only greedy, short-sighted, and violent, but will always be so. Once those are the standards you hold the world to, the world becomes a beautiful, wonderful place."

An Update

At 330 last thursday (7 days ago) my stressful school workload ended. Since then I have done almost no work. I have relaxed however. Something I have tried to do several times in that week period was to update this blog. The task of trying to cover everything I havn't had time to say since my last entry proved too difficult however, and thus I have now decided to say none of it, or at least very little. Suffice to say, I was busy and I was stressed. Then my work ended and I became lonely and pensive. Now I'm back at something closer to normal. I am however a bit worried by my current routine; I get up late, feel tired and lazy all day, and then go to bed early. I think I need to fix that.

Dulce et Decorum est

There was a great deal I felt like writing about immediately following the election, but (as is plain to see) there is little indication of it. I shall spare you my diatribes, fulminations, and declamations on the matter. Suffice it to say that I was less than pleased with the outcome (albeit, it could have been worse). Although, while the war was lost, my riding of West Vancouver ousted the conservatives (under whatever name) for the first time since 1974, a most unexpected and pleasant surprise.

Lately I have been rather devoted to catching up on the medley of readings that I need to do for my various classes. I am, as of this moment, still significantly behind, but the margin is narrowing. Thus far tonight, I have eschewed my readings in favour of an anthology of poetry (no doubt jointly responsible for my unusually jargonistic affection), but due to my seminar tommorow, shall take to them again presently (or, after this entry that is). In any case, this entry was intended to exhibit some moving poetry, and thus without further ado I give to you Wilfred Owen:

DULCE ET DECORUM EST

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.

March, 1918

Storm clouds a'comin

"There's no question that the minute I got elected, the storm
clouds on the horizon were getting nearly directly overhead."
-George W. Bush

Well, it is voting day in Canda, and that means most of you should be voting. All signs point to a conservative minority government (please don't let them have a majority). All the same, go out and vote. Get the practice. Chances are we will have another one in a year or two. Of course, if you plan on voting conservative, then there is no need to go vote. Why don't you just relax in the warmth of your home? Voting isn't important anyhow. For the rest of you: go vote!