Living Down to Expectations

Stephen Harper has failed to surprise by disappointing us again, proroguing Parliament for political advantage.

Just over a year ago, if I had been Governor-General, I would have exacted a price for assenting to that prorogation, allowing it only if accompanied by Harper's resignation as party leader and (thereby) Prime Minister. This would discourage future would-be dictators from seeking to close down parliament to avoid a vote of confidence.

By now, it's all standard procedure, and the precedent has been set. Prime Ministers can avoid facing parliament on any pretext.

The Olympic Ideal . . .

Count me among the many who don't think the Olympic Games are such a great idea. Let me count the ways:

1. They stimulate an orgy of consumption. You don't think they're sponsored by a bank out of idealism, do you?
2. They promote competition in an unhealthy way.
3. They usually stick taxpayers with a large bill and a lot of sports facilities that promote watching more than participation.
4. They encourage nationalism.
5. They give the athletically gifted a sense of entitlement out of proportion to their value to society.
6. They're run by a bunch of aristocratic snobs who also have a sense of entitlement out of proportion to their value to society.
7. They encourage Olympic sites to sweep the marginalized under the rug for the duration.
8. They encourage the belief that physical activity is something to watch, rather than to do.

The far-reaching power of waste

Chris Jordan's immensely powerful images of the damage wreaked by human waste and carelessness in one of the most remote parts of the planet could make you weep.

http://www.chrisjordan.com/current_set2.php?id=11

It makes you proud to be human. . .

In today's news:
The world's most influential man, according to a survey by askmen.com, is a fictional character who smokes, drinks, and beds women in a 1970s world (Don Draper in Mad Men).

A Calgarian was mauled by a tiger after breaking into the Calgary zoo and crossing a fence meant to keep people at a safe distance from the tiger cage. Apparently he and a companion broke into the zoo just for the hell of it.

Women still do more of the housework than men in two-job families.

The Nova Scotia bishop who was caught with child porn on his computer had been reported to a church superior 20 years ago as showing porn to adolescent boys, and warned about it. "Obviously my message didn't get through to him," says Kevin Molloy, who passed the information on to the man who was archbishop at the time.

A leading sumo wrestler has been chastised for smiling and raising his arms after winning a tournament, horrifying the panel of judges.

Michael Jackson: I don't understand.

The recent death of pop star Michael Jackson has led to endless accolades. He is apparently widely regarded as a great and influential originator.

This point of view, though widely held, confuses me. Ignoring his messy private life, his actual musical contributions don't impress me. He always seemed to me to be a novelty act. First came the novelty of being a little kid in a family group. Then came his skillful use of video with his cleverly deceptive "moonwalk" dance moves, and his mannerisms like the single glove. All these things seem to me to be shallow attention-getting tricks of no real significance to music. He didn't take music in new directions like Bob Dylan or the Beatles, or even open up a style of music to new audiences like Elvis Presley.

But that's just my opinion.