I’ve written about the radio show The Ongoing History Of New Music here, in the past, on my way to a more relevant point. And, ever since that post, I can’t say I’ve spent too many Sunday morning’s not listening to Alan Cross do his thing. Even though his interpretation of certain events and circumstances seems flawed, to me at least, but what do I know. It isn’t often I find too much to gripe about.
Then there was this morning…
November’s edition of Bill Blum’s monthly essay contribution is a “rager;”
“If machismo explains war, if men love war and fighting so much, why do we have to compel them with conscription on pain of imprisonment? Why do the powers-that-be have to wage advertising campaigns to seduce young people to enlist in the military? Why do young men go to extreme lengths to be declared exempt for physical or medical reasons? Why do they flee into exile to avoid the draft? Why do they desert the military in large numbers in the midst of war? Why don’t Sweden or Switzerland or Costa Rica have wars? Surely there are many macho men in those countries…”
Check it out!
With all the seemingly ill-informed and panicked hysteria surrounding the flu, and it’s vaccine, specifically, this year, I think it’d be a wise idea to relax, take a deep breath, sit down, and read Shannon Brownlee’s new article, “Does the vaccine matter?” It wouldn’t kill you to watch her interview on Democracy Now this morning, as well.
Get some perspective, people, and calm down…
With The United Nations Climate Change Conference, quickly approaching, and the situation growing more and more dire with each passing day, stories like the one I heard on Tuesday’s Democracy Now broadcast are going to become much more prevalent;
“In Canada, about 200 young people staged a protest inside the House of Commons Monday forcing lawmakers to shut down the question period. The activists were calling on the Canadian Parliament to pass a bill setting out deep cuts in carbon emissions. Six people were reportedly detained, and the police beat at least one protester.”
Or, at least, it’s my hope it becomes more prevalent. The protests, I mean, not the brutality. Even if it is the inevitable, not to mention expected, knee-jerk reaction from a lethargic government hoping to quell civil disobedience…