Keep it down – Voices Carry

An article originally written by a Mr. Richard Sanders puts it all far more eloquently than I ever could:

How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and how hard it is to undo that work again! – Mark Twain

On March 25, 2003, during the “shock and awe” bombardment of Iraq, then US Ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci admitted that “… ironically, Canadian naval vessels, aircraft and personnel… will supply more support to this war in Iraq indirectly… than most of those 46 countries that are fully supporting our efforts there.”

Cellucci merely scratched the surface of Canada’s initial “support” for the Iraq War, but he had let the cat out of the bag. As then Secretary of State Colin Powell had explained a week earlier, “We now have a coalition of the willing… who have publicly said they could be included in such a listing….And there are 15 other nations, who, for one reason or another, do not wish to be publicly named but will be supporting the coalition.”

Canada was, and still is, the leading member of this secret group, which we could perhaps call CW-HUSH, the “Coalition of the Willing to Help but Unwilling to be Seen Helping.” The plan worked. Most Canadians still proudly believe that their government refused to join the Iraq War. Nothing could be further from the truth. Here are some of the ways in which we joined the fray:

Escorting the US Navy: Thirteen hundred Canadian troops aboard Canada’s multibillion dollar warships escorted the US fleet through the Persian Gulf, putting them safely in place to bomb Iraq.

Leading the coalition Navy: Canadian Rear Admiral Roger Girouard was in charge of the war coalition’s fleet.

Providing war planners: At least two dozen Canadian war planners working at US Central Command in Florida were transferred to the Persian Gulf in early 2003 to help oversee the war’s complicated logistics.

Commanding the war: In 2004, Canadian Brigadier General Walt Natynczyk commanded 10 brigades totalling 35,000 troops. He was Second-in-Command of the entire Iraq War for that year. When Governor General Clarkson gave Natynczyk the Meritorious Service Cross, her office extolled his “pivotal role in the development of numerous plans and operations [which] resulted in a tremendous contribution… to Operation Iraqi Freedom, and… brought great credit to the Canadian Forces and to Canada.”

Helping coordinate the war: Canadian military personnel working aboard American E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System warplanes helped direct the electronic war by providing surveillance, command, control and communications services to US war fighters.

Providing airspace and refuelling: Countless US troop and equipment transport aircraft have flown over Canada, to and from the Iraq War, and many refuelled in Gander, Newfoundland.

Providing air transport: At least three Canadian CC-130 military transport planes were listed by US military to supply coalition forces during the Iraq War.  Freeing up US troops: Canada’s major role in Afghan war has freed up thousands of US troops for deployment to Iraq.

Providing ground troops: At least 35 Canadian soldiers were directly under US command, in an “exchange” capacity on the ground, participating in the invasion of Iraq.

Testing weapons and drones: Two types of cruise missiles (AGM-86 and -129) and the “Global Hawk” (RQ-4A) surveillance drone, used in Iraq, were tested over Canada.

Depleted uranium (DU) weapons: Canada is the world’s top exporter of uranium. Our government pretends that Canada’s uranium is sold for “peaceful” purposes only, but absolutely nothing is done to stop the US from using DU in their weapons. America’s A-10 Wart Hog warplanes have fired DU munitions in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq, while each cruise missile contains three kgs of DU ballast. Providing RADARSAT data: Eagle Vision, a US Air Force mobile ground station, ­which controls Canada’s RADARSAT-1 satellite and downlinks its data­, was used from the start of the Iraq War.

Diplomatic support: Former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien supported the “right” of the US to invade Iraq, although Kofi Annan said it was an illegal occupation. Chrétien criticized Canadian citizens who questioned the war, saying they provided comfort to Saddam Hussein.

Training Iraqi police: Canada has spent millions sending RCMP officers to Jordan to train tens of thousands of cadets for Iraq’s paramilitary police force.

Training Iraqi troops: High-level Canadian military personnel joined the “NATO Training Mission in Iraq” to “train the trainers” of Iraqi Security Forces who are on the leading edge of the US occupation.

A Canadian colonel, under NATO command, was chief of staff at the Baghdad-based
training mission.

Canada was the leading donor to this centre, providing an initial $810 thousand.

Funding Iraq’s interior ministry: Canada provides advisors and financial support to this ministry, which has been caught running torture centres.

Thousands of its officers have been withdrawn for corruption, and it has been accused of working with death squads that executed a thousand people per month in Baghdad alone in the summer of 2006.

Military exports: At least 100 Canadian companies sold parts and/or services for major weapons systems used in the Iraq War. Quebec’s SNC-TEC sold millions of bullets to the US military forces occupying Iraq. General Dynamics Canada, in London Ontario, sold hundreds of armoured vehicles to the US and Australia.  Between October 2003 and November 2005, these troop transport vehicles logged over six million miles in Iraq. Winnipeg’s Bristol Aerospace sells cluster-bomb dispensing warheads used by US aircraft in Iraq.

Canada Pension Plan investments: Canadians are forced to invest their pension money in hundreds of military industries, including most of the world’s top 20 weapons producers, which are the leading prime contractors for virtually all the major weapons systems used in Iraq.

So the next time a proud fellow citizen tells you that Canada didn’t join the Iraq War, remind them of Mark Twain’s famous quip: “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”

Canada has never been a global peacemaker. NEVER. You think Canada has no military, no nuclear weaponry…want me to show you the sites where they are stored?

Canada: The Gemini country.

Which side do you want to keep looking at?

If I can point my finger at things America does, then I can do the same here in my own backyard. There are no clean hands to be found.

I am reminded of a line from Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ -

“All are punish’ed!”

A Book By Its Cover

Show me how to lie
You’re getting better all the time
And turning all against the one
Is an art that’s hard to teach
Another clever word
Sets off an unsuspecting herd
And as you get back into line
A mob jumps to their feet

Now dance, fucker, dance
Man, he never had a chance
And no one even knew
It was really only you

And now you steal away
Take him out today
Nice work you did
You’re gonna go far, kid

With a thousand lies
And a good disguise
Hit ‘em right between the eyes
Hit ‘em right between the eyes
When you walk away
Nothing more to say
See the lightning in your eyes
See ‘em running for their lives…

The Offspring, ‘You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid’

Forgive my lack of updates. Times have been hectic, both at work and also ‘at work’. When things settle down a bit, I will have intriguing new things to share.

For now, I’ll just leave a small thought here for interested parties to mull over a bit.

In war, there are many different units and teams deployed, depending on the task at hand. People with particular skillsets are selected to serve in their unit because it will best utilize the abilities they offer. Some units, such as tanks, are very visible. Tanks are vital to the war effort, and they are well-equipped to stand out and do their work in broad daylight in front of everyone. Something like a stealth bomber, though…well, if it is doing its job correctly, you will never see it. You won’t hear it. It will fly in, do its task, and be gone.

Which of these two units are more important?

Neither. They are both working on the same team, and they both share the same goals. It’s important to keep that in mind.

The Well Has Run Dry

Sing me a new song. Tell me a new tale. Read me some new words.

You really don’t have my attention.

I can’t remember the last time I did a double-take so I could marvel at some creative genius. I haven’t enjoyed a thoughtful, introspective television program since HBO’s ‘Six Feet Under’ ended (alright, The Sopranos was pretty good too, but more on an educational than creative level). I can’t count how many song remakes and remixes I’ve heard on the radio in the last five years – but I know when I hear an electric guitar rocking out a ‘new’ version of Cindy Lauper’s ‘Time After Time’ we are in a very bad place.

Call me cynical, call me jaded, but I believe that humanity has bled creativity dry and is now trying to pass off its recycled plasma as ‘the real deal’. In an age where scientists can clone life itself, writers and artists are doing a similar thing – cannibalizing each other’s past creations and infusing them with a slight twist, then pawning them off as ‘better than the original’.

Want to know the real reason behind the Reality TV craze? It’s a lot easier to just tape a lot of people being stupid on their own for entertainment than it is to think and create quality writing. Making fun of people never gets old (come on, you know the best part of ‘American Idol’ is when they show those terrible auditions…); laughing at people who hurt themselves never gets old (I think that’s the ONLY reason America’s Funniest Home Videos survives); and watching other people’s dreams get crushed so you feel better about your own failures is absolutely timeless.

But what about the children? How do they fare while we wade through the shallow pools presented to us? Surely there must be better things for the generations to come!

Well, at the ripe old age of 26, I remember a few things very distinctly – Ninja Turtles, He-Man, Strawberry Shortcake, Speed Racer, Transformers, Ghostbusters, and Alvin and the Chipmunks. I had the shirts. I had the backpacks. I had the puffy scratch-n-sniff stickers. And…wowee-zowee! It seems that I am buying these very same characters on t-shirts and backpacks for the younguns in the family every holiday! Oh yes, Alvin has a hoodie now, and the coloring in the new Ninja Turtles episodes is a lot more vibrant and crisp, but…c’mon. If I was only seeing these things in a Hot Topic, I’d most likely just chalk it all up to the 25-year-old emo kids still living at home desperately clinging to their childhoods.

But we know better.

I am not a creative person. Perhaps it may seem hypocritical for me to be sniping about these things here, since I don’t have the ability to do any better myself. However, my occupation is not creativity – I don’t get paid to have good ideas. I do pay for cable, DVDs, MP3s and books though, and as of late I really question whether or not I am getting my monies worth.

Even more importantly, I question how many of these modern artists have genuine talent or respect for the intelligence of the people paying into them. Perhaps they really don’t need to, because there are enough stupid people in the world with lots of money.

Just watch a reality show.

In Your Homes, In Your Heads

Hosea 4:6 – My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Slowly the veil is being lifted on all the government’s dirty little secrets. We can recognize secret handshakes. We know the real reason behind particular ‘laws’. We know that they are in our homes. Some of us are clever enough to put the pieces together and look at how the scraps all come together in ‘the big picture’.

What is already done cannot be undone. To rage and rally against the past is as useful as pissing against the wind. Events have been set into motion that can’t be stopped, even at the cost of your life. So now is not a time for rage and indignation. Now is a time for decisions – what can I do with what is left?  How can I salvage my little piece of the world? How can I help others?

The key to successfully moving forward is to leap backwards.

We, humans, were not always living as we do now. The ‘information age’, the ‘look at me’ generation, the instant gratifications and communications. The things we have been coaxed into depending on are the things that ensnare us. Your cell phone tracks you. Your internet surfing profiles you. Your grocery store ‘club card’ gathers information on how to best poison you. Your passport traces you. Your vehicle tracks you. Cash is becoming obsolete because plastic leaves a paper trail that is far superior.

The key to living in these times with some measure of privacy is to stay off of the ‘grid’ as much as possible. Keep your cell phone off unless you are using it at that moment (and if you can get away without having one at all, that is even better). Try to be old-fashioned about your purchases – save up and pay cash whenever possible rather than charging. Speak face-to-face whenever possible rather than sending e-mails or making calls. Utilize public transit if you can. Shake up your schedule – don’t go to the gym at the same time, same days of the week. Don’t purchase pre-built computers such as offered by DELL and HP – buy the components and build it yourself (or, have a trusted friend put it together for you if you can’t do it yourself). Never leave webcams or mics connected to your PC unless they are in use. Keep your television/stereos off unless they are in use. Use your vehicle only when absolutely necessary (this will also help with the awful prices of fuel). Protect yourself from the garbage that is put in your foods by eating as simple as possible – buy your base ingredients and make as many things from scratch as you can. Try to avoid getting caught up in the public medical system – keep your body fit and healthy so only serious illness or injury will bring you down. Contact old relatives and ask them about home remedies they used to use years ago and implement them into your household (90% of sicknesses can actually be fought with readily-available components rather than prescriptions).

Self-sufficiency should be the goal of anyone looking to live a peaceful life that isn’t held ransom by the elite few. As it is a ‘goal’, don’t feel bad if you are not there yet, or not even close to it. It’s something to work towards as you get through life as it is now.

Learning how people used to live before we entered the digital age is key. The very thought of living simple and ‘backwards’ like that is repulsive to many, or overwhelming. The powers that be don’t have adequate contingency plans for people who think that way or choose to live that way. They can’t keep tabs on simple people. They can’t trace them.

There is still so much to learn.

Ending Better Than You Started

A few short years ago I was a very negative person. I had a rough start in life, and I suppose somewhere inside myself I thought that meant things would always be difficult. When you don’t know what good days are, you don’t live expecting them. You white-knuckle it through life, taking one day at a time and self-medicating any way you have to so you can see tomorrow.

Along the way, my mindset changed. A combination of good spiritual learning and positive people influenced me enough to have me question my own mental state and take inventory. I met people who had upbringings just as bad as my own (even worse in some ways), and yet they were still relatively happy every day. These people were Christian, but they didn’t ‘preach’ me to death. They didn’t say too much at all about it really, but they did something far more profoud – they lived in front of me. They lived a life that said ‘we may not have everything we want, but we’re still happy’. They lived a life that said ‘we’re healing from hurts we’ve been carrying around, but we’re happy’. They lived a life that said ‘we know how bad things are, but if we don’t try to do our best and change things while being positive, than we have lost our purpose anyways’.

Needless to say, these were not the stereotypical average Christians that make up the majority of that religion today. To see these people beside your passionless Sunday-morning churchgoer is a difference between night and day. They are not even the same species.

Anyways, what I am really aiming to say here is that what these people had – the peace, the confidence, and the positivity – I wanted it.

With prayer and insight, it came to my attention that the first thing I had to do was change my attitude. And to change my attitude, I first had to change my thoughts. Our thoughts are incredibly powerful things – they can make our break our day all on their own. You can wake up feeling refreshed and energetic, but then ten minutes later you can feel hopeless and depressed because of a memory. It was a struggle to break these habits and change these cycles. It’s like trying to re-wire your brain – you can remember things, or think of things, but you can’t let the reaction be the same anymore. You can’t let the emotions stay the same. So you have to change your entire perspective on the things you think about so the other variables change as well.

This is still something I am working on. I think that even when you get good at it, it will always take a bit of effort to maintain. But the results have been amazing. I haven’t ‘gone stupid’ or blinded myself to the realities behind me and before me, but I no longer allow them to steal from me. Peace is a free gift, and it is something I pursue relentlessly.

Two weeks ago I started getting rid of things that reminded me of negativity. I found that I had to dispose of a lot of music. Funny, but I don’t think people realize how strongly music ties in to memory. If you receive bad news or go through something traumatic, often times there is some sort of sound around you when it is happening. You may not consciously know it, but when you next hear that same sound/song again, you will remember that instance. Music may also remind you of people you’d rather not think too much about as well.

Music also ties in to emotions in a major way. If you go to a gym, what are you going to hear? Celine Dion ballads? No. You are going to usually hear something much heavier, a lot of guitar and aggression. Why? This music gets you ‘pumped up’. It gets the blood flowing, it taps into some determined rage, and that is a good motivator for pushing your body to keep going. If you go to a restaurant that has a licensed bar, you are going to hear more ‘classic rock and pop’ – why? Because most of the people who will buy drinks at a place like that rather than the newest nightclub grew up with 80’s music. It makes them feel younger and that in turn makes them feel happier, so they buy alcohol more freely. It’s all marketing and psychological manipulation really, but it does work.

So a lot of my old music is gone. Yes, goodbye angst-medicine. Goodbye needless rage triggers. Goodbye girly-music Laura likes so much…! (ok, not really, but I can always dream…).

It’s all good stuff.

So here’s to another good day! It’s a sunny Saturday morning, and I actually have the day off! I’ve made a pot of tea and I have a few Joyce Meyer episodes to catch up on ( http://www.joycemeyer.org/OurMinistries/Broadcast/ ), so for a few hours I’m going to set aside my responsibilities and the troubles looming on the horizons and just enjoy being alive.

I wish I’d figured out some of these simple thing sooner.

The Still Life

I didn’t know what else to title this first entry. I wanted something witty and clever, something to really grab everyone’s attention and make them take notice – but then I decided that that’s not what this is about. This world is screaming to get your attention with neon lights, billboards, loud music and flashy magazines. I don’t want to add to that noise.

 

If anything, I want to turn down the volume. I want to sit with you in a quiet place, share a pot of green tea, and speak in hushed tones. I want to pause and think before I give answers, and I want to answer as simply as possible. If I have nothing meaningful to say, then I want to share companionable silence.

 

I want the chaos to stop. I want the waters to be calm and smooth like glass.

 

There’s more to life than what we are seeing and feeling. And I’m finding more and more every day that those invisible things are what matter most.