Angua's First Blog

Deep Thoughts on the Democratic Win in the US

2006-11-08T11:15:00.000-05:00

Deep Thoughts on the Democratic Win in the US

A variety of issues are facing us ("the West," "North America," "Anglosphere" -- take your pick). Some are personal issues for individuals, like gay marriage. (If gays were being rounded up and put into concentration camps en masse, we would have a societal issue. If Adam and Steve must make do with a "commitment ceremony" and living wills, instead of an official government-sanctioned marriage, this really is not a life-changing problem for the rest of us.) Of course, we should not ignore personal issues. And when you are on a holiday from history, personal issues are all you really have to worry about.

But there are also societal issues that need confronting. History is back with a vengeance. The conservatives in the US seem to recognize that something is afoot. They have not dealt with this "something" very well, or at all, but "knowing is half the battle." You can discuss the best tactics to approach the war we are in, and disagree about them. I have no clue about how wars are fought -- the ones I know best were won by the countries most willing to kill their own citizens. This is not what I want for my country. Pretending that there isn't a war does no one any good. We need a societal change that accepts that the war is on, and goes on from there.

History shows me three ways of creating huge societal change:

A more-or-less benevolent dictator makes things happen or kills you trying.
A people riots wildly in the street.
Very slow minute changes that take centuries to come to fruition.

I do not want to see Thing One or Thing Two happening in my city. And I am afraid to trust Thing Three, party because I do not know if we have centuries. What I want is Thing Four, where a society agrees that there is a problem and moves to deal with it -- at a reasonable pace, with minimal disruptions to their way of life, and without blood running in the streets. I am afraid that the people will ignore the issues until it is too late -- not too late to deal with them, but too late to deal with them without resorting to something drastic.

If you elect Democrats because you think they have a better way to deal with the huge radical issues of the day, more power to you. Maybe they do -- it would be hard to do much worse than the Republicans. But if you elect Democrats because you think they will make the big bad things to go away, or because there are no big bad things... Then I am afraid for us ("the West," "North America," "Anglosphere" -- take your pick).

Looking into the abyss

2006-03-15T15:34:00.000-05:00

It's not that I would personally go out of my way to kill these people. I might even piss on them if they were on fire, and I wasn't in any particular hurry. But if about three-quarters of the commenters were quietly culled during the night... I would have a hard time recalling why I consider human life to be intrinsically sacred. I do, honestly. The life of a single human being is more valuable that all the strongly-held beliefs put together. But there is something about these particular human beings that makes me want to vomit and I know exactly what it is -- ignorance combined with bigotry combined with the unassailable sense of rightness of their "opinions". (They are not actually opinions by the dictionary definition, since most definitions tend to relate to "judgment" or "knowledge" of some kind.)

I think I had always presumed that most people are not as knowledgeable or bright as the rest of us -- and fair enough. Most of us are not as pretty or as mechanically inclined or as able to learn languages as the rest of us, and the world would be a bloody boring place if we were all the same. But more and more, I am convinced that most people as just more intentionally hate-filled and malicious than the rest of us, and I am struggling hard to see any value in being open-minded.

There are maybe as many as three or four people on the planet who combine intelligence with knowledge and good judgment. A few more have one or two out of three. I've always known this, but somehow lately I am just so disgusted with humanity as a whole that my "escape fantasies" are getting wackier and wackier. I no longer want to move to Ireland to work. I am sitting here, looking my PC, and wondering semi-seriously if it is too late to give up and become a hermit.

The likelihood of me meeting those three or four people is kind of slim. And *everyone else* really does make me nauseous when they talk about anything outside of their immediate environment. It's as if humanity's brain is stuck somewhere in the hunter-gatherer mode, and anything more complicated reverts to the basics.

Try this: I know I am smaller than you. Here is a submissive posture so that you won't hurt me.
Comments include:

I accept your submissive posture.
I do not accept you submissive posture. Kick!

Or this: Your tribe not perfect.
Followed by many various replies on the topics of:

You ugly!
You smelly!
Your tribe stupid!

What's the point of trying to communicate with anyone, never mind across oceans or cultural divides, when almost no one has anything useful to communicate? Is there anything to be learned about anything at this point? Will I ever again read anyone's opinion and encounter something new?

Even new facts seem to be added an endless unchanging pool of facts that no one is able to logically organize for any purpose. The Jews brought the world the idea of history as a process of moving forward. At least according to The Gifts of the Jews, previous world views saw history as cyclical -- as it goes, so it is. Well, this Jew is finding it hard to see the world as going anywhere fast, except back to where it came from. As it goes, there it is, and I am bloody sick of it all.

PS -- Also funny: Comment Is Free: Subjects A - Z. Gather the best of the British commentariat, augment them with the best of the world-wide blogosphere and the occasional stunt blogger. Guess what the number one topic of discussion is? I'll give you a hint: it's a small Middle-Eastern entity, starts with an I, ends with a big fucking boom. Add the various Palestin* subject names, and it's twice as popular as the nearest competition. And I laughed and laughed...

PPS -- The sainted Oliver Kamm agrees with me (without knowing he is doing it). And he takes fewer words to say it than I do -- a first for both of us, I am certain. (If I knew as many word as Kamm, I would use them all as well. Why not?)

PPPS -- So does the lovely Randy McDonald. Have I tapped into some kind of zeitgeist, for the first time in ever?

Argh!

2006-01-26T15:31:00.000-05:00

After these past federal elections, I gained a new and slightly shocked respect for the Canadian voter. The Canadian voter turned out not to be an interpretive dancer/graduate student living in a Kensington squat. She also turned out not to be a bible-thumping child-beating cow-molester from rural Saskachewan. In fact, the Canadian voter turned out to be a middle-class, middle-of-the-road kind of quiet fellow who picked a nice solid safe choice to lead the country for the next little while.

Canadian voter, please don't fail me now!

i am not back

2005-12-09T15:14:00.000-05:00

I am not back

It's just something funny (not ha-ha funny) I thought of when I was reading this fascinating post fron Lisa:

Nobody, nobody in my family, as far as family records and memories go, has been able to live in the country of his father. Nobody.

I am running on the assumption that my grandchildren will live in Canada. But if they don't, I can promise you one thing: they won't define themselves by how much they hate Canadians. Otherwise, I would be rotting in Toronto hating Romanians, Moldovans, Russians, Ukranians, Byelorussians and Germans, instead of paying Canadian taxes and trying, in my small ways, to make Canada a better place for all.

What to hear my views on the elections? Put the party you think I will vote for in the comments, and I will shock and amaze you all.

2005-10-19T23:53:00.000-04:00

Whoever subscribed my non-anonymous home email address to the news from the Kavkaz Centre (you Google them, I am not providing links): NOT FUNNY.

Update: Fasci-FUCKING-nating.

ATTENTION! Administration of Kavkaz-Center informs that russian special
services in an effort to carry out a provocation are sending out unsolicited
emails (SPAM) to internet users on behalf of our agency.
Kavkaz-Center
notifies that it has no relation to this.

I don't think the FSB is quite as technically adept as all that. Like their predecessors, they tend to focus on locking your pregnant wife in a closet for a 72 hours. But I would certainly accept KC's assertion that they are being joe jobbed.

2005-09-24T19:54:00.000-04:00

I have a friend who needs several beers and also some undemanding male companionship. Where shall I send her at 8 pm Saturday night in Toronto?

Breast cancer is not nice

2005-09-22T15:38:00.000-04:00

Breast cancer is not nice

If you want to support me in the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure, send me a quick email or leave a comment on this post.

It's funny 'cause it's true

2005-09-14T20:22:00.000-04:00

It's funny 'cause it's true:

http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/getfuzzy/archive/getfuzzy-20050910.html

Spectator sports, phaw. It's a time-waster for little boys, right? Part of the globalized consumerism culture that prevents us from rising up against the corporate oppression, right?

On a totally unrelated topic, anybody got a spare ticket?

2005-09-08T11:15:00.000-04:00

Harry's Place is doing up leaflets on Galloway's US tour. He'll be in Toronto next Friday, September 16, speaking at Convocation Hall.

The idea of leafleting his Toronto appearance goes against my deeply-held belief that 90% of all people are dumber than Chaircat Meow (the one who walks into walls and then looks all offended). The rate of stupidity hits 100% as the size of the mob gows. Pointing out that their hero is a supporter of the insurgency and a pathological Jew-hater would only make him more attractive in their eyes. Seriously, I am just not sure he is the enemy for whom I should break the "no public political activity" rule I held since I hit the age of majority. What do you think?

CanCon Post #80A (They Keep Piling Up, What-Oh?)

2005-09-01T13:09:00.000-04:00

CanCon Post #80A (They Keep Piling Up, What-Oh?)

Toronto Star Columnist Joey Slinger is an unfunny, slow-of-thinking, feaces-flinging, populist baboon.

I would have voted Michael Ignatieff for dictatator-in-chief if all I had read by/about him was Blood and Belonging. Ignatieff is never going to run for the leadership of the Liberal Party and/or Prime Minister of Canada (you read it here first!), not because he has no financial backing or a constituency machine ready to spring into action. He will never run because he believes that actions have consequences and that this nation is not a hotel. That kind of heresy is just not part of the Canadian political landscape right now.

Operating in Canada

2005-08-26T16:57:00.000-04:00

While physically in Canada, people committing crimes in the US have been arrested and might be extradited. Cue ranting, raving, and gnashing of teeth, 3, 2, 1...

Oh, it's not folks like us, it's criminals. Never mind, then.

Obligatory CanCon Post #78

2005-08-23T12:44:00.000-04:00

Obligatory CanCon Post #78

I am somewhat bothered by Master Cpl. Arron Perry's descration of the corpses of al-Qaeda fighters. Even in a theatre of war, certain conventions apply. They apply even if the enemy disregards these conventions. I'd rather we were the better man, here -- "al-Qaeda desecrate their enemy corpses" is not much of an argument with me. This is especially true for something purposeless, like here. It's not like we are using impermissible torture to extract useful information, or using a Red Cross vehicle to get somewhere we couldn't otherwise. I am willing to weigh Marquess of Queensbury niceties against real-world benefits. I am not willing to weigh them against stress relief.

And this seems to me to be the point people are missing here. Why is Master Cpl. Perry reduced to pooping on bodies for stress relief? Is he in a position that is totally incompatible with his training (like the Airbourne were in Somalia)? Is there no appropriate activities for soldiers to blow off steam in a healthier way (checkers, booze, hookers, Harry Potter)? Is there something in the military culture that refuses to see violence inherrent in the job ("peace"-keepers for 100 years, my lily-white arse) and so refuses to deal with the consequences of training men to kill?

Or is Perry a lone nut that should have been sent home ages ago, regardless of any shooting prowess?

I have no idea. You?

the wonderful, beautiful imshin

2005-08-22T11:51:00.000-04:00

the wonderful, beautiful imshin

... a great sadness for those of us ... who are so entrenched in beliefs
and conceptions of what is right and what is wrong and who is good and who is
bad, that we are unable to find room in our hearts for any real compassion or
love. It’s no big deal to have compassion for those we feel straight off are
worthy of it. It is a big deal to feel compassion for those we don’t like, don’t
understand, and see as inherently undeserving. In order to feel compassion for
such people we must look deeply into ourselves and into what makes us tick and
that can be very frightening.

This is what I was trying to get at in my inadequate response to the popinjays here. *I* am an evil well-poisoning, world-running, baby-killing, blood-sucking Zionist. And I still feel compassion and sadness when Palestinian children lose their homes -- even if I think their parents should not have been using these homes to smuggle weapons. I feel compassion and sadness for teenagers brainwashed into killing other teenagers, pawns in old men's game. I feel compassion for Palestinian labourers waiting for hours to get into Israel, stuck in an endless cycle of militant action -- Israeli punishment -- militant action, until anyone's patience would run dry. I am not a wealthy person, but any of my charity giving is aimed in the direction of trying to help Palestinians and Israelis both.

I feel compassion for German women systematically raped by Russian soldiers in 1945, even though these women felt no compassion for the Jewish neighbours slaughtered by their husbands. This does not make me a special or wonderful person. I think it just makes me human.

And this is why, reading the varied opinions, I want to cry. I was not expecting much Palestinian compassion, though I am a bit surprised to not find any. What I find odd is the total lack of compassion from most European and Canadian commenters*, certainly from those on the pro-Palestinian side of the fence. Where does all this seething hatred come from? And how do these people, these millions of clever, fit and comfortable people, kiss their kids at night before going to bed, cuddle their husbands, celebrate birthdays, with these black stones where a human being would keep a heart? I wish I was evolved enough to feel compassion for them.

* Especially the British. It's not that I do not appreciate the unique specialness of the people whose bloody fault the whole mess is whinging about it. It's that the specialness tends to fade after a while.

disengagement

2005-08-21T17:48:00.000-04:00

disengagement

kyklops asks again:

Angua,
I'm a relatively new visitor to this blog, so I don't really know you. From here in Japan I've been seeing images on the BBC of the Gaza pullout. I really would be interested to read your thoughts about what is happening...

first things first: the coverage i have seen on the bbc so far has been almost incredibly lacking in bias. i do not forsee this lasting forever, but, for now, the bbc is a decent place to watch this.

second thing: get your views from israelis and palestininans when you can. the wonderful jonathan edelstein has a post with some great links to various blogs. i can also add ihath for the palestinian views. review those blogs, and look around jonathan's blog -- he is quite unique as being a sane person with a postive outlook.

third thing: my view.

here is what will happen:

the idf will not need to waste resources on protecting the gaza settlers any more.

here is what will not happen:

the palestinian leaders will not suddenly agree to any reasonable two-state solution. in fact, the vast majority of palestinian leaders will not agree to any two-state solution at all.
the majority of the palestinian people will not decide that taking care of sewage or encouraging tourism is more worthwhile than killing jews. their arab paymasters will stop them from taking care of sewage or encouraging tourism if that means that jew-killing will stop. their eu and un paymasters will not pass any judgement on whether tourism or jew-killing is best for palestinians.
anti-zionists will not see the disengagement as any kind of a positive step or something to be encouraged. in fact, in 6 months, nobody will remember the disengagement or the israeli losses, but everyone will be talking about israeli control of the gazan airspace or other terrible israeli crimes against humanity.

when an animal has two strong urges in an opposite direction (an urge to fight and an urge to flee, for example) the animal will often display a displacement activity -- such as sudden unexpected grooming.

i hope against hope that this is a first step in a creating of two secure and healthy states. i believe, based on the history of the jewish people and the nature of thier enemies, that this is the first step in the dismantling of israel and the murder of most of its inhabitants. i will to go off and groom now.

Hmmm.

2005-08-17T12:23:00.000-04:00

Hmmm.
Shall I stroll over after work and take a quick look? I think I might.
PS -- The last time they had one of these shindigs, no one invited me. Not that I am bitter.

Lorne writes

2005-08-07T00:19:00.000-04:00

Lorne writes:

as long as Isreal continues to
cooperate with and support the US
attacks on Arab nations they will rightly be percieved as anti-Arab as well as anti-human rights.

We hit our heads against walls.

Which Arab nations has US attacked with Israel's support? I can only think of one country the US had conflict with in the last 57 years that even vaguely fits the definition. I suppose Iraq is a partly-Arab country, but Israel has very pointedly done nothing to even appear involved in the current conflicft. The last Gulf war, Israel's involvement consisted of being shot at without retaliating. Or are we talking of Lebanon, where the US fought against Israel?

On the human rights issues topic, I just wish I had a handout to share, instead of repeating myself like a doofus. Here is the partial list of countries that have some human rights issues. Is Israel one of the top 5, top 10, or even top 50 offenders? Pick a human rights issue and check. Israel is not perfect, but it's nowhere near the worst offender on any of them. The entire Israeli-Arab conflict has had the same number of casulaties (Palestinians, Israelis, work accidents, collaborators, teror victims) as most other conflicts put away in a month.

And this is why I do not know whether Israel will be a normal European country in 10 years, or even exit in 10 years. It does not merely need the support of knowledgeable friends to sort out its issues. It also needs to stop being attacked by semi-literate ignorant bigots.

Kyklops asks

2005-08-05T12:38:00.000-04:00

Kyklops asks:

I found your April 22 comments interesting-"<...> the more Israel is
likely to fight to remain a refuge for all Jews (rather than a European country
with a majority Jewish population, which it would rather be<...>" Should I
jeep hoping?

We answer.

There are two ways Israel can go.

The Israelis can be allowed to internally work out their synagogue-state separation, which is already a pretty large crack. The vast majority of Israeli Jews consider themselves secular. Any religion-inspired laws are either ignored or worked around. The reason the religious people and parties have so much power has to do with politics, not faith. And politics can always turn around.

Similarly minority rights issues. Most minorities (migrant workers excepted) already have equal legal rights on paper. Israeli courts keep pushing for these paper rights to become better applied, and the Israeli public, generally, approves.

I firmly believe that, left to its own devices, Israel could and should become just another European country, which happens to have a majority Jewish population. In fact, many intelligent people think it's already there.

But there is another way to go. Israel can be ambushed and attacked at every turn for every real and perceived sin. Israelis can be made to feel that there is no room for them in the community of nations. In addition, the population can be augmented by even more immigrants who've decided that being a Jew anywhere but Israel is just not a secure option any more. (And I am not talking about physical security here, but about emotional abuse, which is probably worse for the "hands across the borders" issues. A Jew who is escaping starvation in Moldova will vote for cooperation with his British colleagues. A Jew who feels the need to escape harrasment in the UK -- not so much.)

And if this keeps happening, all bets are off.

You know

2005-08-04T12:01:00.000-04:00

You know...

If the Joooos could get a dollar for every time we are accused of nefarious murderousness , we wouldn't need to resort to nefarious murderousness to get our evil ways. Everyone wins! (Please send small unmarked bills to Angua Von Uberwald, etc....)

Serious question

2005-04-22T14:38:00.000-04:00

OK, so here is a serious question. Is it that these sad losers don't realize that the more they demonstrate their Jew-hatred, the less British Jews feel at home there and the more Israel is likely to fight to remain a refuge for all Jews (rather than a European country with a majority Jewish population, which it would rather be)? Or is the that they do?

And I think it's really cute that the three BBC stories that come up with the boycott story are:

Which goes to my whole "are you punishing the crime or the perpetrator" question. If Israel is punished regardless of what it does (free prisoners, punish its own soldiers, get attacked on "non-occupied" land), what incentive does it have to change or improve?

Of course, if your purpose is not improving Israel's human rights record or the lot of the Palestinians, it really doesn't matter what Israel does.

I do wonder what your purpose is, though.

Actually, I don't.

PS: I've been reading other blogs on this, always an awful idea. And it put me in mind of an old quote from someone behind the Iron Curtain, "I just want to live somewhere where I do not need to lie to get through a day." I am a Zionist (in its basic definition of a believer in a Jewish state), most of my friends and acquantances are non-Jews, I get most of my news from the BBC/CBC, and my hobbies and my job bring me in contact mostly with middle-class educated long-term Canadians. And this is why I am so rabid about this issue. "I just want to live somewhere where I do not need to lie to get through a day."

2005-04-06T15:58:00.000-04:00

Don't think
If you think, don't talk
If you talk, don't publish
If you publish, don't be surprised

From an Amazon.com review of Anna Politkovskaya's engrossing Putin's Russia, my read of the day. Every page is full of the kind of heart-breaking detail that would turn me into a political activist - if I did not believe that the whole country is basically unsalvageable.

More wimpering

2005-04-05T17:47:00.000-04:00

It's not so much a profoundly anti-military culture we have here as a profoundly a-military one. One of the side effects of growing up certain more militarized societies (former Soviet Union, say) is that you see miltary service on a daily basis. You see cute boys in uniform sneaking smokes and men in uniform on public transit and your father is a reservist and your best friend's father is a career officer and your teachers tell you war game stories and it's all always there. You see the military as you see going to college -- it's not something that everyone will do, but it's something that everyone could do, including people from your class, your culture, your neighbourhood. (Except, of course, girls -- but that's a different story entirely.) It has surprisingly little to do with patriotism or bloodthirstiness. It's just awareness of the reality, enhanced by history books and popular culture.

Growing up middle class in middle Canada, you don't really see the military. You might see it if your bus ends up in Petawawa for some reason. You might see it if there are servicemen in your family. But most people never end up in Petawawa. Military is simply not a reality for many of us. More so if you live in the Annex or in Westmount, where most of our culture producers live. And even more so if you only took the basic Canadian history in school, where post-WWII military is simply non-existent, and pre WWII-military is defined mainly by killing Indians and much-protested drafts.

Which explains why our military is "them" as far as our culture is concerned. Statistically, they might well belong to our class, race, gender. Mentally, they are just "not us". Who can say what motivates "them" or what "they" might end up doing?

It also explains why, faced with something like 9/11, most people turned to their usual resources - sing-alongs, candlelight vigils, and ranty newspaper editorials. Unless you are and excessively patriotic history geek, or one of the very few Canadians who've met a serviceman in their natural habitat, the military is just not an option on your radar.

PS - Pat Tillman.

Still whimpering

2005-03-31T16:21:00.000-05:00

Still whimpering

One of the many things wrong with Israel, made partly right. It's almost as if it's a real country, constantly improving and changing, rather than a monolithic entity with the word EVIL stamped on it in indelible baby blood. Or something.

not a bang, but a whimper

2005-03-17T13:25:00.000-05:00

not a bang, but a whimper

i've finally figured out the definitive mathamatical proof why israel is not an apartheid state. sorry, randy.

i goes something like this:

the more culprit (south african government, the stupidest of my cats, etc.) commits sin (apartheid, shitting on the livingroom rug, etc.), the more you punish it (boycott, slap upside the furry stupid head, etc.)

if your intention is to punish the sin, not the culprit, the reverse also holds true:
when south africa emancipated its blacks, the first reaction is to stop the boycotts -- in fact, to encourage tourism and trade.
when my cat stops shitting on the rug, the first reaction is hugs, kisses, and treats.

when the sin is real, if the cuprit reduces the sin, you reduce the punishment. the message you are are trying to convey is "i think you are redeemable/cute 'n fuzzy, BUT i hate what you do." the stupidest of my cats has figured it out -- this cannot be beyond an MA.

when israel's arabs have more equallity than ever in the country's history, the first reaction is to say "it's taken 50 years!"
when you learn that arabs and jews in haifa are the most integrated, the first reaction is to say "but if the jews weren't there, it would be even better!"
when a peace of sorts appears closer that it's been in decades, the first reaction is to go looking for bad "olds" (example: ever since the tomb of the matriarchs was looted and desecrated, guess what -- there is security at the door. this has been true for most of a decade. but let's get all het up about it RIGHT NOW!!!!!, when hebron is next on the list of cities to be handed over to the palestinians.)

when the main purpose is to punish the culprit, the punishment increases reagrdless of what the culprit does. if the sin were real, we would be punishing it.

QED

So, how is your depression going?

2005-03-03T11:13:00.000-05:00

So, how is your depression going these days?

If I pull my hair back, no one realizes I haven't washed it in weeks. Right?

So, how is your depression going these days?
I know your deepest thoughts and things way below your puny consciousness. Are you afraid of me? You should be.

So, how is your depression going these days?
I can't sleep at night. I can't wake up in the morning. I crave carbs like weaker people crave crack. My body is out of my control. And I hate you.

So, how is your depression going these days?
I hate you. And you. And him. And her. And that guy over there.

So, how is your depression going these days?
Hey, I like the way the street people back slowly away from me for a change.

So, how is your depression going these days?
[Vocalizes strangely.]

So, how is your depression going these days?
Why would I want to see people if I could stare at this wall instead. It's white. Wall. White wall.

So, how is your depression going these days?
Who cares? I don't.

Note: Still not a cry for help. More of a "Sorry I am not fixed, honey. I honestly thought I was."

Why the UN is more useless than a bag of doorknobs

2005-01-27T11:34:00.000-05:00

Why the UN is more useless than a bag of doorknobs, reason 4532-76Q

The two top stories on my BBC News RSS feed:

World marks Auschwitz liberation - 1 hour ago
Hundred killed in Darfur air raid - 33 minutes ago

And can I just mention how sick of Auschwitz I am at this point? Can we please take one-thousandth of one per cent of the Auschwitz commemoration stuff and put it towards either preventing Jew-hatred today or preventing genocide today? I am not actually that picky -- some graffiti on a London synagogue is fine by me if that means that someone somewhere will do something other than tsk about Sudan.

what a bunch of maroons

2005-01-19T19:39:00.000-05:00

what a bunch of maroons

So, if I read this correctly, if a Jewish school "associates" itself to public school board, presumably following accepted public school board standards in education, it will get the same funding as a public school. This is a terrible thing because... I am not quite sure, actually, but the pur laine folks are all in a huff.

I am not a believer in private schools in general and in private schools funded by public funds specifically. This is about the only way I would accept private schools -- connected and supervised by a public body. Anything that discourages self-segregation for cultural or religious communities is OK by me -- and should be OK by the people who claim they want the allophones to integrate.

This, incidentally, is where any Jewish person sees precedents and connections and 5,000 years of history. So, instead of seeing a bunch of maroons, the kind of losers who walk around measuring the size of your "back in 5 mins" scribbles, we see a goup of people taking their place in a long line of bastards trying to segregate us and push us down. And then they are shocked - shocked! - that we see them in this context of history. And we are shocked - shocked! - that sometimes people are just small-minded bigots without pining for a solution for the Jewish problem.

Segacs has a bit of background.

UPDATE: Pathetic! And anti-Semitic. Or Jew-hating, if you prefer.

And may I just add...

2005-01-18T18:04:00.000-05:00

And may I just add...

That, of all the search-engine hijackings, the ones that pop up when you are looking for a charity are by far the barfiest. Seriously. If you are looking for "doggy-style s3x with extra persons of colour plus a sheep" and don't get quite what you are looking for, my heart does not bleed for you somehow. But when I am looking for "preemie knitting charity" and the first 20 results try to sell me life insurance, I get out the ol' Uzi and start taking names. And you should, also.

I am off

2004-12-23T13:47:00.000-05:00

I am off.

brain flash

2004-12-15T16:12:00.000-05:00

brain flash

Jews are more likely to have mental illness because we cannot blame "the Jews" for our problems.

No, I do not know how to explain diabetes.

Crooked?

2004-12-14T13:33:00.000-05:00

Crooked?

Crooked Timber is not one of my regular reads. So I am willing to believe that, on every other day, they are full of fairness, honesty, and academic rigour. But, every time I do venture in there, the nastiness (at best) and lies (at worst) directed at anyone to the right of Marx is, frankly, disturbing.

Victor Davis Hanson's acticle on the Europeans as Tolkienish Ents is certainly... odd. But the Crooked Timber criticism of it focuses on the the fact the VDH did not write enough about anti-Muslim violence in Europe. Fair cop -- it's context, and an honest writer should certainly include condemnations of violence even as he approves of, say, compulsory integration programs. But is it really honest of Crooked Timber and the majority of the commenters to not refer to the other context of the discussion, that of Muslim violence? Even a pro-forma denounciation of, say, the killing of Theo Van Gogh would help CT seem like someone looking for a discussion, not someone looking for a circle jerk.

Coming up

2004-12-13T17:19:00.000-05:00

Coming up

I need a convenient way to help my future husband keep track of "reasons my future wife is a wholly-undeserved gift from the heavens". Somewhere near the top of the list: I would never expect to be either proposed at or have my reception here. Not even if my Zionist Conspiracy check did not bounce this month.

Also, that I feel that three grey-and-white cats is definitely preferable to eight. Though eight grey-and-white cats make cute pictures.

Now that I am getting married...

2004-12-03T13:55:00.000-05:00

Now that I am getting married...

Yes, husband and wife really can play wrestling. It's what we in the decadent Zionist Western call "kinky". And "fun".

To be fair, I agree with 90% of what the Imam has to say on the subject of husbands and wives, except this bizarre prohibition.

(Aren't we all glad I am anonymous now? I know I am.)

New Katyn inquiry

2004-12-01T18:09:00.000-05:00

New Katyn Inquiry and am I nuts?

I have now officially lost my wee little mind. My first reaction on reading this, "Finally. Good for them!" [I do not trust Russian inquiries as far as I can throw them.] My almost-immediate second reaction, "They'll blame the Jews for this, won't they?"

I do not like living in a paranoid state, regardless of whether they are after me. Want a new knitting-catting-reading-eating-cooking-traveling blog after I come back from my honeymoon? Leave a comment or email me at anguank at netscape dot net.

UPDATE: I suspect that the problem is this -- for all that I love knitting, cats, cooking and such, I do not feel passionately about them. They make my life more pleasant than it would be otherwise.

But these Jew issues are just not going away. They are a constant sickening dental-drill-like buzz in the background, which for some reason I cannot ignore. Why?

I just don't belong

2004-11-22T13:45:00.000-05:00

I just don't belong

I am disturbed by pro-war bloggers who are still justifying their decision based on the "removing a dictator" common good. Not that it's not true, but it's sounding increasingly hollow after all this time.

For example, as the Afganistan intervention goes on, the benefits of it keep growing, as is everyone's conviction that this was a good idea at the time. (Frankly, I am not as bothered by opium as I am by the Taliban.) The same does not seem to be true for Iraq, right now, whether or not it was a good idea at the time.

I am still a lot more disturbed by the anti-war bloggers. It feels like every Iraq-related point, or Bush-related point, or, in fact, every non-cat-blogging point comes down to the fact that it's all Israel's/the Neocons'/the Likudinks' fault.

Yes, I realize that it also does for me. But here's the thing. There are two kinds of people who see everything through the prism of "how is it for the jews"? One is, well, the jews. [And before you start, yes, it's possible to say, "this sucks for the jews but benefits Canada, so I will support it.] What the fuck is wrong with the rest of you?

What do I think?

2004-11-18T16:24:00.000-05:00

I want Canadian MPs to be more concerned about what happens in Canada than what happens in the US. I want them to think of the US as it concerns Canada (biggest trading partner, popular travel destination, etc.) and not as if they are stakeholders in internal US politics. I want the Canadian electorate to concern themselves with Canadian politics on every level. I am fully capable of disliking Bush or Chirac or Blair without pretending that they are the alpha and the omega. My disagreements with Sharon or Queen Beatrix or Schroeder do not stop me from being able to name my mayor, MPP, and Prime Minister, which is, frankly, a lot more than most of the mob howling for Martin's head will be able to do.

I am not a huge fan of him in general, but, whenever I see the "Go Carolyn, tell it like it is" crowd, I see something in a old Jonah Goldberg column:

I hate blue cheese. I mean I hate it. But ... even if you tripled my hatred for it, it would still just be a musky fromage ... . It would not, through the mysterious alchemy of hatred and bile, become poison. Sure, I could call it Sarin or
Anthrax but that would not make it so. Because, you see, hating an object
doesn't change an object. Only the most arrogant and solipsistic fool would
argue or convince himself that his hatred of something increases the
importance of that thing.

And that's how I think of all these people ... . They believe they are so important, so
noble, their hatred and fear must be rooted things of Great Consequence. It's
just so prosaic to hate Republicans. I am better than that. So, Republicans must
... be a threat to the whole world and to the sanctity of everything I hold dear because anything less would not be worth my time. George Bush can't simply be someone I disagree with. No, his popularity must be an indication of mass hysteria, of Nuremberg-style devotion to evil.

His [Bush's] self-evident and overwhelming evilness must be so great that it would cause me to forget the ingrained worship of all things Canadian -- politeness, the middle ground, political correctness, soft power... Otherwise, I am just a populist boob who gets my news from Jon Stewart.

Bush is just a man. The Bush doctrine is just a point of view. The US is just a country. And every TV show, newspaper article, and brain cell devoted to anti-Americanism or the Bush Derangement Syndrome would be better spent deal with the real, serious, concrete, and relevant problems of this country.

Holy mother of dog!

2004-11-17T13:43:00.000-05:00

Holy mother of dog!

Wily Jews and their untraceable poisons, in one of the country's main newspapers. Because, Lord knows, there is no other reason a 73-year-old man with a less-than-healthy lifestyle may kick the bucket!

Does this ever happen to you?

2004-11-16T17:19:00.000-05:00

Does this ever happen to you?

You stumble upon a great, great book. In the process of looking for more of the same, you stumble upon the author's blog, and it's just snidely inane, complete with references to Blair as Bush's lapdog. Do you start questioning the pleasant hours you spent curled up with the book, a cat, and a nice mug of tea, suddenly wondering if he's as brilliant as you orginally thought?

2004-11-01T20:16:00.000-05:00

I've started reading blogs again.

Were they always so shrill, self-righteous, and absolutely blind to the other side's views (or, if fact, humanity)?

I think I am stopping now.

Old Soviet-time Russian joke

2004-10-19T16:56:00.000-04:00

Old Soviet-time Russian joke

Ex-Russian Jew is reading Pravda on the street in Tel Aviv. His neighbour comes up and asks, "Moshe, why reading Pravda? There's all sorts of newspapers you can read here." "Well," says Moshe, "every Hebrew newspaper tells me that unemployment is going up, shekel is going down, Arabs are developing new ways to attack us, and nobody is willing to help. But, according to Pravda, we are rich, have super-weapons under bed, and run the universe to boot!"

Every time I look at the Guardian, front page news is along the lines of "Bush and Kerry dance to the tune of Ariel Sharon, but I cannot tell you about it, since Sharon also controls all banks and media, in fact a Jew is about to take away my typewrite..... [sound of silenced dissent]"

Maybe I've been looking at it the wrong way all along. Ariel Sharon runs the universe, and controls all banks and media. Jews the world over are safe in their beds, with every major political figure in every country safely bought-and-paid-for. Everyone who even looks at us the wrong way gets into a mysterious "accident". The Mossad never ever screws up, thanks to magical Jew-power. Every article about Israel in the major world media is perfectly balanced. Journalists worry more about 70,000 dead Africans than about 70 inconvenienced Palestinians. This is a good thing. From now on, it's the Guardian all the way for me, boy.

thank you / al-Reuters

2004-10-14T13:04:00.000-04:00

thank you thank you thank you

i got a new job -- for way more money, with more interesting tasks, and with a much reduced commute. i must have done something right sometime :)

huge thanks to everyone who wrote and linked. The email address on the left is a spam sewer, but I promise to waddle through it and reply to everyone eventually, with a real solid, please-do-not-distribute email address. (I will be deleting the netscape address soon. If you want to be able to contact me again, you can write, too.)

Al-Reuters?

I don't like to be jumping on every news item that seems odd to me as some well-planned anti-Semitic/anti-Israel assault by the united Jew-haters of the world. But then there are things that just make me go umm...

Now that I work in the financial district, I walk by a huge Reuters news ticker every morning. This morning's top story: "Sharon can't find flack jacket to fit girth."

For one thing, I simply refuse to believe that flack jackets in a country with universal conscription only come in men's size medium. Sharon is not some 700 lb grossly obese monstrosity - he is fat, but he is as wide as plenty of fit muscle-men I saw working out at the Y. But, for the main thing, is this REALLY honestly truly what Canadian movers and shakers need to know this morning: Not the explosion at Halifax airport, not Paul Martin's latest adventures in France, not the threat of Russians buying Stelco? Not even the latest death toll from Iraq or the results of the US presidential debate? It's Sharon's sartorial difficulties?
It's difficult to imagine that this daily assault of inconsequential Israel-in-negative-light news does not affect people's views and perceptions. And the alternative to someone somewhere setting this as company policy is that hourly, a different Reuters flack decides that what the world really needs to know is some inconsequential bit of Israeli news that invariably puts Israel in a negative light. Which is realize is the truth, but it is still difficult to entirely comprehend.

2004-09-10T11:46:00.000-04:00

shit shit shit

lost my job. want a creative talented experienced technical writer/editor? want to pet me on the head? want to send me a pile of unmarked twenties? email or leave a comment.

UPDATE:
Sorry, didn't realize that the previous post got published (three times, before I came along with the pattented post remover). The offer still stands. Angua is not a happy warewolf these days.

shit shit shit

2004-09-08T09:31:00.001-04:00

shit shit shit

guess who's unemployed? go ahead, guess!

in unrelated news, a talented, experienced, and creative technical writer and editor is now available for freelance, contract, and full-time work.

We interrupt the hiatus...

2004-08-25T13:56:00.000-04:00

We interrupt the hiatus to state unequivocally:

Muslims -- some good, some not so much.
Right-wingers -- some good, some not so much.
Left-wingers -- some good, some not so much.
Crooked Timber commenters and posters -- bigoted self-important navel-gazing group-thinking onanating idiots. All.

UPDATE:
OK, OK, sorry. Not all. But the undeservedly self-congratulationary tone in that one particular post is enough to make you sick. And I am actually someone who's been consistenly uncomfortable with demonizing of Muslims from otherwise sane people for (scarily enough) years.

Back

2004-06-28T19:00:00.000-04:00

Back.

Turkey (the country, not the bird). Very nice indeed. Go now!

Going, going...

2004-05-20T12:29:00.000-04:00

Going, going...

Out of the country for a couple of weeks. When I come back: Words have meaning. Even words like genocide, racism, bigotry, anti-Semitism ('tis true, dowingba), and fascist. Unless we speak the same language, we have no chance of understanding one another. Discuss.

Thanks, Norm!

2004-05-17T17:36:00.000-04:00

Thanks, Norm!

That was a fun self-knowledge exercise.

2004-05-11T16:38:00.000-04:00

Dear Imshin,

There is another way to look at it. Maybe, for the vast majority of the kind of "caring people concerned about Palestinian rights" you are talking about, there is actually nothing "not about the Palestinians that is worth listening to." Frankly, I would not waste my time. It's not like convincing a "pro-life" person that there are specific cases of incest, rape, or illness that may possibly allow abortion. It's like trying to convince a "pro-life" person that any child under five should be freely killed by his or her parents.

UPDATE: Here is what I mean: ihath is a wonderful writer. (I was going to write "blogger", but she is much more wonderful than that. She is funny, intelligent, poignant, and every time I read her blog, I feel like I've learned something, be it a new way of looking at Iraq or just a new turn of phrase.)

But here is the thing: when it comes to Israel or the Palestinians, new rules apply. For example: Israelis are the most evil people ever. She lived in Israel for five years, and did not mange to meet one nice Israeli. Now, I have never lived in Israel. But, I bet, had I been able to live in Nazi Germany, I would have been able to find a nice German. Not Ihath and Israel, because Israelis are the most evil people ever.

Similarly, the rules you thought were universal, aren't. Here is the Merriam-Webster definition of genocide: "the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group". Here is an example: 800,000 Tutsi Rwandans killed in 100 days. Here is the Ihath definition: "from 914,000 in 1950 to more than four million in 2002". How do I know: because Ihath cannot write a poignant, thought-provoking, unique article on the situation in Iraq without making sure to mention "slow genocide against the Palestinians".

Point being: if you cannot convince Ihath that there is something you may say, not about the Palestinians, that is worth listening to, you certainly cannot convince the 95% of the human race who are stupider and less open-minded than Ihath. I wouldn't bother.

Incidentally, Angua, why not just close down shop?

2004-05-11T12:49:00.000-04:00

Incidentally, Angua, why not just close down shop?

Because we had a local black-out at work yesterday. I work in a software shop -- five PCs per desk, mysterious electronic-related stalactites and stalagmites, server rooms guarded more thoroughly than the Temple of Doom, that sort of thing. A blackout gets noticed. My first reaction was, "I blame the Jews! Who wants to go see if the coffee-maker still working?" It took a full 30 seconds of people staring at me oddly to realize that I said the first part with my "outside" voice.

So, I do still need a place to say things that are better left unsaid in polite company. That is all.

2004-05-04T17:53:00.000-04:00

London, England, first week of June

2004-05-03T15:31:00.000-04:00

Incidentally, Angua, what happened to your blogging?

Well, I could amuse myself with the latest from

Tim Blair

Gary Farber

Damian Penny

Pejman Yousefzadeh

Juan Cole (Shorter Juan Cole 1: When INSERT BAD THING HERE happens, it's Israel's fault. Shorter Juan Cole 2: Trying to blow up the World Trade Centre in 1993 is the natural and expected reaction to American torture of Iraqis in 2004.)

My favourite news source

etc.

etc.

etc.

etc.

Or I could go home, fuck my fiance, cuddle my cats, watch the Simpsons, and eat almond croisants from Bregman's with some spiked hot chocolate. What would you do?

Yes, I am coming back eventually. But not now, not yet.

2004-05-03T12:40:00.000-04:00

How pathetic, useless, and sub-human must the average Canadian teenager be...

... if the only way for him to experience compassion or empathy is by being humiliated, threatened, and left to freeze outside overnight?

The saddest part of this, of course, is that, if Canadian teenagers really are this inhuman, all they will learn from this experience is that they do not like being frozen, humiliated, or threatened. The ability to project these feelings to others takes emphathy and compassion -- the very things that we presume that these students lack. Because, if they had the modicum of human feelings, they would be able to learn with amazement that having your parents killed in from of you is not just like going on a picnic, from merely listening to Winston Harmon's story. I did, but I guess there must be something wrong with me.

Patience, young Jedi

2004-04-22T23:24:00.000-04:00

It's coming.

2004-03-24T08:05:00.000-05:00

This is not funny, really. But, in the "missing the point entirely" department:

Over the weekend, the Star of David and the phrase "Revenge 4 Nazis" were spray-painted on the rear-entrance doors of St. Elizabeth Catholic High School on New Westminster Drive in Vaughan.

2004-03-21T23:20:00.000-05:00

Of course I am irritated, annoyed, and pissed off. What did you expect me to be? Scared?

PS -- Stories covering the issue on the www.cbc.ca web site as of late Sunday night: none.

UPDATE: We get results.

2004-03-21T22:41:00.000-05:00

Lovely time at the poliblogger bash. Details here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. (Oh, and the Drake verdict from a girl who stays up past midnight every night of the week: nice.)

2004-03-09T17:21:00.000-05:00

Unless "natural causes" now include being slowly drowned in your own filth, I am not happy. Sorry.

2004-03-05T01:40:00.000-05:00

What's the bettin' that the "spying for the Americans" bit will go down a lot worse than the "we are an Al-Qaeda family" bit?

2004-01-31T00:05:00.000-05:00

Laptop go bye-bye

I am lending the laptop to a friend for a month. This means no working from home. (Darn you, friend! Darn!) It also means no blogging. I will still read and respond to emails. Please, please, please, email (anguank at netscape dot net) especially if you are coming to town, organizing a blog-bash, or finally getting that thing you've been talking about for months. Oh, and if my comments are infested by some brain-dead troll again.

This also means I am unlikely to infest your comments sections. Breathe a sigh of relief.

Oh, and please email me if you've added me to your blogroll. I will find ways to reciprocate.

I may attempt the occasional guest-posting at Tacitus' place, most likely book review-ish "think"-pieces. (What do you do without a TV or a computer, other than read books?) Tac is on the run again, and Bird Dog just does not provide the baby-killing Zionist tool propaganda quota, especially now that Trickster is turning the place into Commie Central.

That's it for me till beginning of March. Be safe. Be blessed. Be good.

And, of course -- I love you, honey-bunny.

UPDATE: That was a single sole specific honey-bunny, not a generic honey-bunny directed at all my admired readers. I may be quaint, but I am not that quaint.

2004-01-30T23:37:00.000-05:00

I am not a huge proponent of the "war of civilizations" theory. Israel is fighting a war of survival. Canada is in Afghanistan because rogue states are dangerous to all of us, even Canadians. US and UK are in Iraq because rogue states led by insane dictators are dangerous to all of us, even Americans and Brits. When Saudi and Pakistan implode, Canadian and/or US forces will go in because rogue states are dangerous to all of us, etc. etc. It has nothing to do with inherrent evilness of Islam or inability of brown people to lead productive lives.

If Göran Persson announces tomorrow the overthrow of the Swedish Monarchy, the imprisonment of members of any party other than Sveriges Socialdemokratiska Arbetarparti, and his appointment as divine ruler of all Nordic states for life, he too would find himself a leader of a rogue state with all the expected consequences. And if you think this will never happen, you have not studied European history.

But my paper today had two headlines, one on top of the other: "Driver never saw suicide bomber coming" and "Suicide bomber victim lived in Toronto". Until I read them, I did not know which suicide bombing each was referring to. It's not that I suddenly agree with the "war of civilizations" theory, but I see how the proponents reached their conclusion.

2004-01-30T01:02:00.000-05:00

I am basically a Canadian, a westerner. Russia is an old nightmare that happened, mostly, to someone else. It serves as the cause for my parents' humourous accent and the source of my comfort foods.

But sometimes, I look at the people around me, and read their writings (not just Canadians, the Europeans a few entries down, and definitely Americans) and I ask myself what planet they live on. Do they not realize that life is, at bottom, unfair, as well as being bloody, brutish and short? It is the nature of the world we live in that, for many people, including you, LIFE WILL SUCK ON OCCASION. If you are seriously lucky, this occasion will not last for most of your adult life. But this presumption that suckiness and unfairness are somehow an anomaly, something to be fixed -- what bloody arrogance! I mention this in someone else's comments and people react with their own shock. But I am not stating the way things ought to be, or are in the ideal world. I am stating the way things are right now on this planet: 18 year old boys in uniform will make tragic mistakes and civilians will die. 18 year old boys will be overcome by hormones and deep thoughts and not being able to hold their booze. It is the nature of 18 year old boys. Trust me, I have one conveniently located for experiments. And it is the nature of uniforms. They give you an invincibility that not being "tagged" doesn't. Mistakes will happen. Not just by 18 year old boys. Earthquakes will happen and kill thousands at a swoop. Rapes of pre-teen children will happen. Futile and preventable deaths will happen. Perfectly nice ex-Russian Canadian Jewesses will get diseases that put a serious damper of their quality of life. Life sucks. Not for me, right now, but for everyone in general. The only exceptions are the rare moments of clarity and joy -- "a cigarette, or a chocolate cookie, or a five second orgasm," in the words of a philosopher. It is not my fault for knowing this. It's everyone else's fault for acting like this is a revelation.

Or it could be the Russian poet in me trying hard to get out.

2004-01-28T17:23:00.000-05:00

Flit waxes poetic.

I am ill. I have happy times when life is a generous gift from a benevolent god and fucked-up times when life is barely worth living. I don't think I ever look back and feel that the fucked-up times weren't as fucked-up as I felt at the time. What I've been trying to do, over the last few years, is to appreciate and take advantage of the happy times as much as possible.

2004-01-28T02:29:00.000-05:00

I get concerned when I find myself ranting and raving, because, with all due respect to the lovely ladies involved, I would prefer not to grow up to be Meryl Yourish or Diana Moon. However, if I EVER, for ANY reason, get this fucking nuts, just shoot me. I beg you. Put me out of my misery.

2004-01-28T02:08:00.000-05:00

You know what? You know what?

This kind of bullshit, coming out of the Russian embassador to the Court of St James, should get a lot more people concerned than embassador Mazen doing ANYTHING less spectacular that running naked through Gamla Stan and bitch-slapping Swedes. Seriously.

On march 15, there will be the election of the President, not many people hesitate to predict the result, and it is not because we live in a society where everything is predictable, it is because the personal record of President Putin is absolutely obvious.

Hey, every word of that is technically true.

2004-01-28T00:40:00.000-05:00

white pebble has an un-useless cat! with pictures.

i was working from home today, for obvious reasons, and fatcat has moved from the couch exactly twice, to waddle over to the foodbowl and MWAAA-Meeep pitifully at me.

2004-01-27T15:21:00.000-05:00

RIP. Flit has some comments.

Something odd I notice when Canadian casulties' ages are listed. And here. Even here. They seem older than American casualties. Or is that just an impresson? (In that last link, BTW, if you look at the Spanish or Italian casualties, they seem to skew even older.)

2004-01-26T23:54:00.000-05:00

There was this story I read decades ago about some dude who flies to mars or the moon or what-not. By the time he comes back to earth, the civilization has moved on. There is some pill that everyone takes that makes humans all docile and stuff, but what you lose is the humanity, the myriad of different emotions, some nice and pleasant and some not so much. (remind me the fucking name of this thing and you get the angua slap-on-the-forehead no-prize.)

anyway, you know why I am so shrill and boring that I offend even my own fragile sensibilities? Cause it seems that a huge part of the civilized world has taken the moo-cow docile pill, with a side order of sanctimoniousness. Seriously, what kind of a fucking argument is "you Israelis only care about what's good for Israel!" (I am not an Israeli, but that make me spit my cheerios.) like Swedes live in some parallel universe where there actually exists one country that has ever acted out of anything but self-interest on at least one occasion? Like there exists a single human being in this parallel universe that acts out of anything other than, at best, benign indifference?

even if we forget the fucking Jews and the bleeding holocaust -- and I am bloody sick of 'em both, aren't you? -- every European country was born in a river of blood and continued a basically brutish and occasionally bloody existence until maybe MAYBE the middle of last century. Maybe even not until the closing decades of last century. (hi, Greece!) even now, every European country, to a greater or lesser extent, has a class of mistreated second-class citizens, be they the German Turks or the Danish Greenlanders. (I am sure someone will leave me a comment about Andorra or Bulgaria pointing out the peaceful beginning and the happy coexistence of minorities there. Good for you, Andorra or Bulgaria! You are the exception that proves the rule.) but that's ok. Belgium can owe a lot of its cozy existence to the ineffably brutal occupation of the Congo AND it still has the moral authority to pronounce on war crimes. Sweden can have gangs of neo-Nazis roaming the streets (the only country from my travel in western Europe where the guidebooks' "safety" sections advised, basically, not being a visible minority) and retain the moral high ground when it comes to the matters of modern art. And I LIKE Sweden and Belgium. What I don't like is the moral high ground their citizens think they occupy, because it is built, more or less, on thin air.

and one more thing. I am a Canadian, first and foremost. If I was going to root out the injustice in the world, I would start here. Maybe here. It would probably be an incredible waste of time and effort (more on this, later), but this would be place I feel my responsiblities lie.

incidentally, I do realize I am shrill and boring. Does that count for something?

2004-01-26T14:34:00.000-05:00

love vs. marriage. discuss.

2004-01-26T00:58:00.000-05:00

My linking policy:

I never ever ever would have the guts to cold-contact someone and ask for a reciprocal link. (Not unless a bunch of additional converstaion was involved.)

If someone demonstrates the good taste and style by linking to me, I link back as soon as I find out about it. This does not constitute approval of them or their posts.

2004-01-25T21:01:00.000-05:00

Case in point

There has never ever ever ever been a teacher or professor in the Soviet Union who has ever put forward the kinds of notions about capitalism described at the Volokh's place about communism:

When I was in elementary school and high school, the teachers would often say things like the following:

Communism is the best system in theory, although capitalism may work better in practice.

...

In general capitalism and communism were presented as equally valid choices with communism perhaps holding the moral high ground. This was pretty shocking and memorable to me, since my family had escaped a communist country when I was very young.

I am just saying.

2004-01-23T18:25:00.000-05:00

Jews, I try my best, but sometimes you'all is just freaky, OK:

Thank you for visiting JudaicaHeaven.com. Our online store is currently closed for Shabbat or a Jewish Holiday. We close every weekend from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday in observence of the Shabbat. Please return Sat. evening, and we'll be open until next Friday! Additionally, we close for all Jewish holidays.

I mean, I apprecaite the sentiment and all, but you can see how other people may consider you slightly... odd.

2004-01-21T15:55:00.000-05:00

Why. why, WHY!!!! does typing things into my browser's address bar take me to Yahoo search, which beats only Yahoo news for complete uselssness? Why?

Yahoo mail, for reasons known only to the gods, works like clockwork to keep out spam and organize my mail for me.

UPDATE: Why do I hate Yahoo Search and wish death and destruction upon its creators (or at least occasional indigestion)? Because when I want to look up a hotel, the hotel web site is #28 in the search, following all the redirection cheapo hotel deal web sites. Argh!

Ok, I just checked, and it's actually worse on Google, the hotel web site is on the third results page. A pox on both of their houses! You think I get worked up about Israel? It's like nothing to me getting worked up about usability.

2004-01-21T13:28:00.000-05:00

A multi-quotation, live-update post, for my one remaining reader. Guess what incident in the news has been on my wee mind lately?

How much time he gains who does not look to see what his neighbour says or does or thinks, but only at what he does himself, to make it just and holy.

2004-01-15T01:16:00.000-05:00

Say you want to go to Israel, for the first time, don't speak Hebrew and don't know anyone there. You probably want to join some kind of group/tour thingie, right? Not a "this is Tuesday it must be Tel Aviv, wake up at 6 AM for your bus tour" thingie, but some kind of an organized something, rather than being seriously on your own. Don't you?

OK, now imagine you are neither a Jew nor a Christian (nor a Muslim). You are a mere agonostic/atheist Canadian interested in Jewish history and culture, and in Israel. You are pro-Israel, but not fanatically so. Is there any group, tour, or organization out there that can help you find your way around, or at least not make you feel like dirt when you contact them? Does being married to a Jew hurt or help?

Or is being on your own really OK? You've travlled in various European counties on your own before without incident, including freaky East European ones. Can you trust yourself to figure safe and interesting places to go, and reasonable ways of getting there?

UPDATE: I asked the question above to the three Israeli bloggers I read on a regular basis. Only one acknowldged my question.

UPDATE x 2: Enetation is buggered again. Pretend this is in the comments: "Dear Joel, thanks. This situation is a bit different. For one thing, the question is for a freind of mine, a man, who is non-Jewish and thus appears to be unwelcome at Ulpanim. For the second thing, he only has one or two weeks to play with, not a year. But your trip sounds marvelous, all the same."

Thanks Allison and Dave, for helpful advice. More, please.

2004-01-02T18:52:00.000-05:00

You know what else?

One does not become smarter if one goes from reading Instapundit a dozen times a day to reading CalPundit a dozen times a day. One becomes smarter by reading both a half-dozen times a day. One becomes happier by reading neither.

I remember an old stat showing that the happiest Americans were not the skinny rich famous ones. By every definition, they were the fat white-trashy (of every colour) folk in Florida's cheap beach motels.

My New Years resolution is to be happy, not right.

2004-01-02T00:15:00.000-05:00

I would never consider this blog to belong in the same entry as the others on this list. (Except, of course, in a sentence such as, "Unlike the well-researched and analysed information found in The Head Heeb, Angua's First Blog contains the occasional paranoid rant interspersed with pathetic tales of broken-heartedness.")

Incidentally, I suspect that no more tales of broken-heartedness are forthcoming in the forseeable future, Insha'Allah. Stay tuned for Scenes from a Marriage.

2003-12-24T19:05:00.000-05:00

Trolls! Trolls! More Trolls!

You have to forgive me for my excitement, I've just never been personally trolled before. I know the proper procedure, and will implement it from now on: I will ignore my troll completely BUT I will donate $10 to a Jewish or Israeli charity in his name for every blog he trolls, in appreciation of the hours of fun he has provided me.

So far, the list of blogs I am aware of that have an infestation is:

this one

Segacs

Andrew Ian Dodge

Melanie Phillips

That's only $40 so far, but I have a sneaky feeling there's more out there.

The charity I am thinking of is Canadian Magen David Adom, but I am open to other suggestions.

UPDATE:

Found another one:

Israellycool

We are up to $50.00 now. More, please?

UPDATE 2: Am I cheating if I add
Whacking Day to the list? $60.00, mike!!!

2003-12-24T13:02:00.000-05:00

[never mind]

2003-12-22T13:05:00.000-05:00

Some good stuff happening in my personal life that will have to stay personal for now. To honour the good stuff, this will be a continuously updated entry for non-trivial news that made me smile.

EU stand on behalf of Israel

If I Were A Rich Man

2003-12-22T12:22:00.000-05:00

National Film Theatre: Crime Scene: Literary event

This is an event I really would like to have seen -- two of my favourite living authors in conversation. Maybe next year? Though for all the things I'd like to see and do, I am not sure life is long enough.

Another place I'd like to go next year: Harrogate Crime Writing Festival.

2003-12-19T15:24:00.000-05:00

Jews! You run the world by proxy. You invented democracy. You know everyone's IP address. You control the vertical, you control the horizontal. Can you provide me with an edible onion-free latke recipe?

2003-12-17T01:06:00.000-05:00

We get hate mail

I like it how you pre-banned my IP from commenting on your site long before I ever even glanced at it. How does it feel, to be little more that an indeologically confused little tool of Israel?

Oh, and your "writing" sucks.

Be Proud!

How does it feel to live in a world where Jews have magical skills not permitted to lesser humans, like the ability to predict who out of a billion internet users is a rude brainless prick, and "pre-ban" them accordingly? Using Enetation, of all things, which (in its free version) has all the reliability and usablity of my correspondent's brain.

2003-12-16T10:07:00.000-05:00

As you may or may not know, I've been separated for a bit over a year now. Now is the good time for me to fish or cut bait. So, aside from the usual stressors in my life, I am trying to decide on the meaning of marriage, what I want from it and from life, and what it all MEANS, man. Little help here?

2003-12-16T05:01:00.000-05:00

Quoting the sainted David P. Janes:

Carnival of the Canucks #1

Go read it. Now!

That is all.

2003-12-12T05:58:00.000-05:00

When you find me posting more than usual (i.e, more than 200 words every 10 days, thanks, Marc), it is a good sign that I am on deadline and no sleep. I've been up for about 40 hours now, no actual end is in sight, and this song* ably reflects my professional capabilities at this point. But I will keep chugging. Please email or message me to cheer me up now, or at least wake me up.

There is a huge formal party I am supposed to be sane and sociable at tonight. Ha! If I do not sacrifice too many small animals on stage while chanting in tongues, they should consider themselves lucky, I say!

When I get back to sanity-land, remind me to tell you about the interesting sociological lessons gained from reading 30-year-old Swedish mysteries.

* Song link courtesy of Belmont Club.

2003-12-11T20:19:00.000-05:00

I am not too sure about Diana, but she does have an interesting thought on why there's no anti-Semtism in India, despite the existence of Jews. This goes along with the fact that he most religious-conflict-free intermarried couples I know have a Hindu partner.

This goes along, too, with my answer to the stock "Why the Jews?" question. Because there wasn't anyone else to mark as "other" handily available. Where there was another identifiable "different" group, you bet your bippy they were marked too. (I am deliberately picking other "white" groups. "Pure" racism is a somewhat different beast.)

2003-12-11T15:36:00.000-05:00

I will get back to that whole immigrant identity bit, but here is Tony Pierce on Kwanzaa, and my feelings on the "look at them for'ners dance and sing funny" school of multiculturalism:

black folk, the racists want us to have kwanza. it makes us look ridiculous and lost. kwanza represents something missing from being Christian. racists dont want black folk being Christian. they dont want to be equals to us. they dont want to share beliefs, they dont want to have anything to do with us, cuz they know that familiarity destroys ignorance, and only the ignorant can remain hateful.

worst thing you could do to a racist is go to his church, stand next to his daughter, sing the songs better, know the word better, and exclusively talk about america as if its your home and has been for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years longer than him.

watch him smile when you talk about africa, cuz thats where he wants you.

2003-12-10T02:35:00.000-05:00

Think about a topic. Go ahead. Saaaaay... gay marriage. Why not?

Everyone can imagine a variety of stands on the subject. Here is one extreme: everybody should fuck whoever they like and marry them, too. Any combination, farm animals included. Do it like they do it on the Discovery Channel, baby! But with insurance benefits. Here is another extreme: sex should only be for married people, for the purposes of procreation. Anything else is distasteful, and should probably be illegal. And marriage is just for men and women. Did God create Adam and Steve, eh? QED. And here is a moderate view, close to my own: I think gay partnerships and adoption should definitely be legalized. I think gay marriage should be permitted, but I don't think ministers of religion should be forced to perform it if it contrasts with their views.

The think the extremes are pretty extreme, but I can see how someone holding those views came by them. I can see how they can be talked out of them. If I showed my missionary position extremist "The Song of Solomon," for instance, I may be able to prove that sex does not need to be done in the dark. God seemed to be pretty into it. I can see how my own view can move a few steps to the right or the left. If I met some polygamists who are not nuts, for instance, I could maybe see how legislating polygamous relationships could be beneficial. Right now, I am just overcome by the yuck factor. But you theoretically could convince me, and I theoretically could convince you, if we put forward logical arguments for our positions.

And then, you see, there is my late Great-Aunt Miriam's view on the subject. In the last couple of years of her long life, Great-Aunt Miriam became convinced that "homosexuals" were out to kill her and destroy up the world. Now here is an amusing thing: I honestly don't think Great-Aunt knew who "homosexuals" actually were. I mean, she would not have been able to give you the basic "girls who like kissing other girls" definition of homosexuality. She certainly would not have been able to recognize one if she saw one on the street. But somewhere inside here dementia-addled mind, she placed the label "homosexual" onto the confusion and stress and horror she experienced in those last months. There was pain everywhere, and strangers kept calling her "Auntie," even though she was quite sure she wasn't old enough to have kids, and she woke up in a strange room every morning, and all these spoons, phones, pens, and things looked vaguely familiar, but she wasn't quite sure what they were for... And then she could say to herself, "ah, the homosexuals probably did it," and that gave some kind of order and explanation to her otherwise scary and confusing life.

Here is a thing about Aunt Miriam, in her last few months. It's not just that I was not particularly interested by her views on gay marriage. The family was not that concerned about her views on anything. We loved her, respected her, admired her, and wanted what was the best for her. But when the family got together to decide whether this or that illness required hospitalization, for example, she did not get a vote. Her view was not based on whether moving her would cause more stress, whether something like a flu may just get worse in a ward with more flu patients, whether the symptoms seem to be receding anyway, etc. Her view was based on the fact that the pit to hell was right outside the front door (put there by the homosexuals).

See, I keep thinking about Great-Aunt Miriam whenever I read that "the Americans are Jews," for example. It's not a just an extreme view on the sane-ish "Jews are better than everyone else -- Jews are just like everyone else -- Jews are worse than everyone else" axis. It is not even on the same plane. It does not use a recognizable definition of the terms in question. It's delusional. So is believing the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. And the blood libel. And Holocaust denial. And I would really really like to know why views of people who are obviously demented are being taken any more seriously than my Great-Aunt's fear of falling into the pit of hell-fire just outside her door.

(No, I don't mean "Muslims". I am not a racist, or like woss-name whose answer to every question is "nuke the Middle East". The world is filled to the brim with perfectly sane Muslims, whose views I may agree or disagree with. But Baby Assad, say, who thinks that this is a perfectly valid interpretation of history. It's not his religion I mind, it's his insanity, and the fact that for some reason everyone needs to tiptoe around it, rather than bringing out the white coat with sleeves that tie in the back.)

================

By the way, from the department of the immoderate thinking: canaries in a coal-mine. If a suicide bombing is a valid expression of political will in Haifa, guess what -- it's a valid expression of political will in Moscow, as well. Right? Right. I still think it's wrong.

2003-12-01T01:45:00.000-05:00

There is no freaking heat in my freaking apartment and I am eating a pomegranate. Coincidence? I think not.

Incidentally, everyone should eat a pomegranate. "Eat the pomegranate, for it purges the system of envy and hatred," said the Prophet Mohammed, apparently, and I am totally with him. There is no way to hurry pomegranate-eating. There are no elecrical pomegranate-peelers. To get at the pomegranaty goodness, you must get your hands dirty, and be patient, and slow, and steady, and all those other attributes we don't get enough of in these modern fast-paced days.

Incidentally, what the fuck happened to my country while I was sleeping?! If I wanted to live in South Africa, I would move to South Africa, OK? Stop it. No TV or video games for anyone. And the enforced meditation will continue until morale improves. This is the kind of thing that makes me want to give up my career and go straight into fostering or something.

Incidentally, should I go on a yoga retreat?

2003-11-27T00:17:00.000-05:00

On a somewhat unrelated topic, would you marry someone whose idea of a come-on is "you can occupy my territories any time"? Is there something wrong with me that this went into the "pluses" column?

2003-11-26T21:15:00.000-05:00

OK, busy, busy, the usual story, am reading up on a political post while Tacitus is AWOL again...

But I know you will love this: Of all the people I am trying to connect with for dating purposes, the one I seem to have the most in common with, whose sense of humour meshes the best with mine, whose hobbies and work fascinate me, and who seems to find me both attractive and intelligent, is (wait for it) a Muslim. Yeah, I thought it was freaking hillarious also. We haven't talked politics yet, however. So we shall see.

2003-11-21T21:11:00.000-05:00

You know what I'd like to know more about, smart military-type people? This.

Nuts!

2003-11-19T00:11:00.000-05:00

Nuts!

OK, here's my problem with George W. Bush, in a nutshell. People who criticize him are often nuttier than a squirrel in nut-gathering season. This makes it difficult, though not impossible, for me to call him a bigoted nut when he acts like one.

Incidentally, I would not have a word to say on the subject if the statement had included something along the lines of "At the same time, I will work together with gay Americans to ensure their rights are protected and they do not experience any discrimination in this country." I understand playing to the audience. The majority of American voters are not New York Times columnists. But even they would be willing to live, I bet, with some kind of "partnership registration" intermediate status for homosexual relationships. But not even putting something like that on the menu is just insensitive.

One in a continuing series of "Jewish men, argh!" posts

2003-11-18T19:09:00.000-05:00

One in a continuing series of "Jewish men, argh!" posts:

Sweeping generalizations and unfair stereotypes ahoy!

The Jewish men I know fall into at least one of the many stereotypes described below:

Too fucking nuts even for me. And you have to know me: I accept weird hobbies and freaky obsessive tendencies in people I like. (The kind of thing I mean: LukeFord.net. You may think he is exceptionally nuts, but this internal monologue, paying attention to every little thought inside their own head, and every trivial reaction one may encouter, goes on inside these people all the time. There's no room for paying attention to other people in your life when you are obsessed with (A) yourself and (B) what other people think of you. I mean, I am sure he is a lovely person and an interesting conversation partner, and certainly fascinating to read, but... At one point, someone has to take out the garbage. And it won't be the person trying to decide whether they are open to trying Orthodox Judaism again, because a pretty girl at the supermarket smiled in their general direction.)

Have insane criteria for what they are looking for in a woman. (Jewish mothers, you are to blame. There is healthy self-esteem and there is a total lack of relationship to reality.) This guy is at least a billionaire. (Thanks, weisblogg.) You CAN buy love, popular movies of the 80's to the contrary. But I've had a coffee with an unemployed graphic designer whose list of criteria for a potential mate was at least as long. (This is the same umemployed graphic designer who asked me what I was reading when we met and I turned the book around to show him the cover page. The reply from the self-advertised "erudite lover of reading and literature"? "Oh, that title is too long for me to read." True story.)
Are like this guy who contacted me last night. Against my better judgement, I am seeing him for a coffee on Sunday. [Why against my better judgement? He is unemployed ("I seem to end up in dead-end jobs"), does not have a degree ("I found school too hard so I dropped out"), does not drive... I don't drive because I live in one of three cities in the country where this does not affect my mobility. If I was living in Brampton, you bet your sweet bippy I would be driving. Or I would not be living in Brampton.] But he has sent me a dozen instant messages today, letting me know he is going out, he is coming back, he is eating lunch, he is going to the loo ... This man does not know from Adam, he's had no chance to find out my wonderous personality and fall in love with that, he hasn't even seen my picture. But just the idea that he has someone with boobs to talk to makes him develop all the gravitas of a six-week-old puppy with a new toy. "Ohmygod, ohmigod, ohmigod! Here I will run up an lick you and try to hump your leg!!! And now I will run around in cricles! And now I will widdle in the excitement!!!" Really. I haven't met you yet, I am not going to make plans for the next month with you. Sheesh. I don't think I am being too unreasonable here.

This does not mean that they are not lovely people who deserve all the love and support in the world. One of my best friends is waiting for the tall blonde extra-hip shiksa of his dreams to overlook his shortness, baldness, dumpiness, social awkwardness, and (not surprisingly, really) increasing bitterness, to reach the swell guy within. I don't see this as a very sucessfull potential mating strategy, but I wish him the best of luck with it.

I only feel justified in being so sweeping in my generalizations because I fit into none of the stereotypes reserved for Jewish women my age. I am not an 8-minute-date-addicted Hebrew school teacher living in Thornhill, I am not a deeply politicized lesbian on her 3rd PhD, I am not a housewife in Forest Hill with 2.4 kids and a Filipina nanny...

So what I am trying to get, in the nice Jewish boy department, is a nice Jewish boy who also lives outside of stereotypes. I personally know a half-dozen, but I am either related to them or they are married to my best friend.

Or I can do what I always do, and use the default Mick setting. They only get maudlin when they drink, they don't look for deep meaningful meanings (now with extra internal monolog!) in every fucking little thing, they are able to blow their nose without telling me every detail, and, if they don't have any idea what I am talking about, they don't see it as an insult to their fragile little egos.

Immigration

2003-11-11T19:49:00.000-05:00

I started writing this a while back, and I have more to say on the subject of Immigration. But, for now, read this, before the trail goes totally cold.

Joey and Kathy and David and Rick are having an immigration discussion -- a perennial favourite in my city of immigrants.

Wise words on "official" multiculturalism come from noted Family Compact member Neil Bissoondath. His 1994 book Selling Illusions sums it up thusly:

Encouraging people to view each other as simply Canadian, discouraging the use of the marginalizing hyphen, would not solve such problems - humans, in times of fear and anger, have a unique ability for seeking out bull's-eyes in each other - but it might help deflect some of the resentment, so that in expressing our pain we do not also alienate our fellow citizens. Differences between people are already obvious enough without thier being emphasized through multiculturalism policy and its growing cult of racial and ethnic identity.

I think the problem is that the city is more diverse than the diversity mavens can appreciate. We do not need a city which has an Azeri day and an Armenian day, and Azeri and Armenian day schools where Azeris and Armenians can learn to foster age-old grievances from half-a-world away. What we need, and what we have, for now, is a city where my half-Azeri, half-Armenian friend can be at peace.

2003-11-05T00:02:00.000-05:00

Haiku to PMS:

Boobs huge and hurting.
All are hateful. You! Stop it.
Must eat chocolate.

Inspired by Moe Lane, super-genius. Incidentally, Tacitus is back. Please adjust your bookmarks.

2003-11-02T01:01:00.000-05:00

Three questions:

Is it full moon or something? *I* am being rude to people on their own blogs. (Um, sorry.) CalPundit and Yglesias are being nasty to Michael Toten and Armed Liberal. (Look up yer own URLs, they are all on the left.) (Left. Ha! Get it?) And The Sideshow is being condescending Amygdala.

Is there such a thing as true love? And, if there is, is it supposed to be hard like work?

Toronto blogbash end of November. You know you want it.

2003-11-01T21:42:00.000-05:00

Apparently there's this party and I was invited, but no one bothered telling me, or something:

Last Chance City

Like with, well, practically anything, I am divided on the issues of this election. And this one is much more likely to affect appartment-renting, transit-riding, restaurant-going, tax-paying me, than almost anything done federally or provincially. Easy enough to know whom not to vote for. But what if you disagree with the guy you'd like to vote for on the one issue that seems the centerpiece of his campaign, hmm?

I can meander in the general direction of the frozen-in-time Toronto islands tomorrow.

2003-10-31T11:46:00.000-05:00

BBC News:Back on track

Our correspondent says any criticism of Jewish people is still a taboo in Germany, which makes this incident extremely embarrassing for Mr Hohmann's party.

2003-10-29T02:15:00.000-05:00

BTW, what about all that sex and men you've been trying to tempt us with, Angua? What happened at that famous party of yours?

A couple of things... Someone who I thought was a friend turned out not to be. And I appear to be in love with probably the last person in the city I should be in love with. So I am off men for a bit. Sorry.

2003-10-29T01:06:00.000-05:00

Them's blog-fighting words....
(in real blogs read by more people than my cat)

Warren Kinsella (October 27 post) is cancelling his National Post subscription... because he "dislikes" Colby Cosh.

Cosh, meanwhile, is someone I dislike - and vice-versa, naturally (he calls me his "adversary;" personally, my rule of thumb is that actual adversaries are only those who rise up to your level). I was astounded that the Aspers would hire someone like him. I am quite certain he costs a lot (a lot) less than Mark Steyn - but Steyn had a panache, and an intelligence, that Colby Cosh could not achieve in a lifetime of trying. Cosh clearly aspires to be Mark, but Mark he is not.

I marvel, too, that the Post apparently paid scant attention to Cosh's recent past as Senior Editor at Report, which was a mean little publication based in my home province. For many years, plenty of us were certainly of the view that Report was anti-native, homophobic, misogynistic and borderline anti-Semitic. (On the last point, the defunct magazine's May 8, 2000 edition actually contained an article suggesting there existed a secret "kosher tax," a canard long favoured by anti-Semites around the globe. And in April 2002, the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission found, after a lengthy investigation, that the magazine had published material that indicated "discrimination against the Jewish people." ) So Cosh's addition to the Post was bad enough - but Coulter's inclusion in the Post's editorial pages made the cancellation odecision an easy one.

On the one hand, it is difficult to picture Colby as some kind of closet anti-Semite. On the other hand, the Toronto Star offers Antonia Zerbisias, who thinks whatreallyhappened.com has a valid alternative view on the orgins of 9/11 (hint: the Jews did it). On the third hand, Kinsella certainly knows his anti-Semites, and does not strike me as being hysterical. So, cool. When do we see blood?