Straight from Lebanon

So I read this morning in the news about some of our MPs and their fact-finding mission to Lebanon. Of course there was the usual and expected condemnation of war and those who allegedly support said wars. What shocked me most was the call by some to remove Hezbollah from Canada's list of terrorist groups.

The logic behind this, if you can call it that, is that by changing our designation of Hezbollah we can better position Canada to negotiatiate and work for peace. Wow. To me, that's kind of like someone in the medical community saying that we can better treat diseases like cancer if we just say they're not deadly. I can see it now. "Yes, Mr. Patterson, you have lung cancer. But we'll just call it the common cold so that we can all sleep a little easier at night." Brilliant, simply brilliant.

What makes this all the more interesting is finding that after eyebrows had been raised across the country, we have a denial that no such things were said. Misunderstanding or not, the very fact that there seems to be significant effort on the part of the Liberals to distance themselves from the very suggestion is enough for me to play the ol' BS card.

The problem for folks in the LPoC and the NDP is that they're trying far too hard to play both sides of the issue. When you can't even take a prinicipled stand without worrying about what others might think about you, you lose credibility. As unpopular as the decision has been, you have to give credit to Mr. Harper for taking a side and sticking with it, a move that is extremelely difficult, and nearly impossible, for anyone in politics to do.

Here's hoping that our three, wise fact-finders don't turn out anymore intellectual nuggets. Ideas like that, and especially the dumb ones, have a tendency to become a little contagious.

The Black Hole that is Summer Employment

To the handful of people who might make some attempt to regularly visit my huymble blog, please accept my sincrest of apologies. I have spent much of the past two months working 50 to 60 hours a week landscaping. Needless to say, any spare time I do have is eagerly consumed spending time with my wife and son, who just recently took his first steps. Don't get me wrong, though, because I really do love the work. There's just something really neat about transforming piles of dirt and clay into something that looks truly remarkable. I'll even give my boss some free advertising. You can get an idea of the kind of work we do here.

Much has been happening in the world as of late. More Canadian soldiers have been killed in Afghansitan. Israel has been at war with Hezbollah. Edmonton mourns the dismal performance of their beloved Eskimos. All in all, it's been crazy just as anyone could expect it to be and I don't really have much to add that hasn't already been said. The price of being a lazy blogger I suppose.

I will say one thing about the conflict in the Middle East and the recent ceasefire introduced by the UN. To be honest, I don't have high expectations for any sort of lasting peace. After seeing how ridiculously one-sided Kofi and his merry band have been, it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. Hardly even a mention of Hezbollah. Wow... now that's an honest broker right there. Yep.

I am not an advocate for war. However, I do support the use of force where necessary because sometimes it is the only way to get things done, period. It's nice that people can be idealistic and hope that talking things through and getting in touch with one another's feelings will solve each and every world problem. Unfortunately, not everyone wants to be all warm and fuzzy, especially when it comes to those who are different.

Hezbollah advocates for the destruction of the state of Israel and the Jews. Not exactly the most lofty of ambitions. Maybe I'm in the minority on this one but I'd like to think that there wouldn't be too many people who would just sit back if your neighbors hated you and sought to find ways to kill you.

I admit that this is an extremely complicated issue that I cannot even begin to properly elaborate on. I do feel very strongly that Israel is doing something that needs to be done. This will be interesting to watch in the coming weeks.

Now, off to bed for me. I have a busy day ahead of me tweaking sprinkler systems. With the summer winding down I should hopefully be able to post more often to you, my loyal reader (Hi, Mom).