[ARTICLE] That Persistent Canadian Duality

From Reality TV World:

Although we aren't sure that those of us in the States will ever hear Stephanie [Lapointe, finalist of Star Académie] perform, we are struck by the idea that Anglophone Canada has followed the lead of the U.K. and the U.S. in preferring Pop Idol, while Francophone Canada has followed the lead of France in preferring Fame Academy. Maybe now we know why the Quebecois chose not to secede from Canada -- they already have achieved a de facto cultural secession.

[BRIEF NOTE] More on Adam Yoshida

The odyssey of Adam Yoshida--first noted on this livejournal in this post just before he managed to get expelled from Livejournal, then here when I noted his bizarre plan to build up US military assets in space to prepare for, among other things, preemptive genocides of extra-terrestrials--continues.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with dear Adam, see the first post. In particular, see the apt comments made by countess_sophia back in October 2003 to the effect that Adam's writings consist of "[r]ightwing neo-con cant mixed with liberal - he'd hate that word to be used about him - doses of bigotry, hatred and empty macho posturing which completely fails to hide obvious massive social and sexual insecurity."

I admit that I don't follow Damelon Kimbrough's sage advice on linking to sites and blogs run by eccentric people. Perhaps I have a perverse sense of humour. Perhaps I don't shock easily. Certainly, I don't care just how utterly badly Adam is soiling his online reputation.

I am impressed by how Adam is consistent, at least, about his desire to subjugate non-human cultures. See his comments in the comments thread associated with a post where he wished that an abused inmate at Abu Ghraib had died:

What's wrong with enslaving actual aliens?

Certianly human rights, even in their broadest conception, can't be extended to people who are not human.

He was perhaps inspired by this to write an entire post devoted on this theme, ostensibly about native Americans:

The history of humanity is the history of the destruction of weaker cultures and civilizations by stronger ones. This is not something to be mourned or regretted, for it is this very process of creative destruction which drives us forward though time.

[. . .]

Given the limited supply of usable land on the Earth, any land which is inhabited by no more than a scattering of savages must be considered Terra Nullius- no man’s land. It is the right and, indeed, the duty of superior civilizations to seize that land and to bring the blessings of modern life to it.

This is an important point to consider because we are on the verge of an age of great space exploration. The cult of Indian victimhood, if it is allowed to endure, is very likely to deter our descendents from simply displacing by force alien primitives they might encounter on some far away and Earth-like world. It is only though the re-interpretation of our history (or, more accurately, the re-re-interpretation of our history) that we can make it clear to those who come after us that they have a sacred duty to conquer and civilize the lands of primitives. It would be the height of folly to abandon useful land for the sake of a few scattered tribes.

It’s time to stop feeling guilty about our history. After all, none of us would even be here had history turned out differently. The Indians simply met their destiny and, in the end, their decedents get to live in a civilization which is a hundred times greater than anything that they, on their own, ever could have provided.

Oh, I know I will be attacked as “unfeeling” and “uncaring” for this, but I truly don’t care. Countless cultures and civilizations have been destroyed over time and I see nothing which does not suggest that all this was to our great benefit. The only reason we care more about the Indians then, say, the lost glories of Abyssinia or Carthage is that the North American Indians have better press. Hell, Carthage and Abyssinia are bad examples in that they were actual civilizations. We mostly don’t know the names of the European equivalents of the Haida or Sioux since they were pretty much all dealt with, one way or another, long before anyone was keeping real records. The level of sophistication displayed by the North American Indian is comparable only to that of African tribes, and who cares about them?

Wow. Impressive stuff, innit?

The irony--and, for anyone who isn't Adam Yoshida, the sad truth--is that as Adam's posts increasingly lose contact with conventional concepts of geopolitics, morality, reality, et cetera, he does increasing damage to the cause of people like myself who like the United States, thanks to the abundance of quotable material he provides. As Tyge wrote,

[Adam]'s sort of argumentation [. . .] is counterproductive both to those of us on the right side of the political playground in general and to advocates of specific goals, be that a constructive American role in leading the world, space exploration, education reform, protection of liberty etc.

Such people might well end up harming, in what limited power they ever have, what they seek to protect. Some friends are worse than enemies. I mean, show some of the stuff to a suitably deranged anti-american fanatic and I bet they won't be less inclined to shoot a defender of the United States, like the guys and girls on duty putting their life at risk in Iraq.

And not only deranged fanatics, I'd add. Quite a few middle-of-the-road Iraqis who were vaguely pro-American immediately after last year's invasion lost their Ameriphilia as soon as they say the photos of sexual and physical abuse at Abu Ghraib. One can only hope that Adam's rantings don't get nearly as broad an audience as those photos.

[POLL] What should I do about my laptop?

Today in Kingston, it's a beautiful spring day. Actually, the environment--perfectly clear blue skies, a light breeze, moderate heat--reminds me of summer on Prince Edward Island, proof I suppose that the mainland climate when summer kicks in will be something requiring an air conditioner wherever I end up living. With the trees out in green and the people of Queen's University dressed fetchingly in shorts and light clothes, I'd love to be outside doing my work on my laptop.

But, I can't. You see, my laptop is an old model, a LTE 5200. All of the parts still work, thankfully, save the battery. The battery can store only enough power to run the laptop for five minutes, at maximum. Whenever I use it, I have to find the nearest electrical outlet, and since those are hard to find at the best of times I'll never be able to use the laptop as freely as I'd want to use it.

I can buy a battery, of course. Checking with the local Compaq dealer, though, a new battery would cost on the order of 185 dollars. I could get it more cheaply used on eBay, but I'm wary about such a big-ticket purchase.

And so, I leave it to my readers to decide for me.

[Poll #294681]

If you can't vote in this poll, E-mail me with your vote.

[BRIEF NOTE] Genocides and Denial

An American army regulation
Says you mustn't kill more than 10% of a nation
'Cos to do so causes permanent "psychological damage"
It's not permanent but they didn't know that
Anyway during the supposed "famine"
We lost a lot more than 10% of a nation
Through deaths on land or on ships of emigration
But what finally broke us was not starvation
BUT ITS USE IN THE CONTROLLING OF OUR EDUCATION
Schools go on about "Black 47"
On and on about "The terrible "famine""
But what they don't say is in truth
There really never was one

- from Sinéad O'Connor, "Famine," Universal Mother (1994)

I'm quite fond of this song of Sinéad's and not only from a music perspective, since it hits upon a central fact in Ireland's demographic trauma of the 1840s: The Irish famine wasn't nearly so much an agricultural or a climatic failure as it was a massive political and economic failure, and its effects were magnified by the British government's utter lack of concern.

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( And now, to Anatolia and the Caucasus. )

I'm disappointed that even now, after three generations, official Turkey still feels the need to deny the fact of the genocide of the Armenians under the Ottoman Empire. Just as (West) German recognition of tremendous Polish suffering under a previous German regime was a prerequisite for the relatively friendly modern relations between reunified Germany and Poland in a reunited Europe--indeed, may have been a prerequisite for German reunification--so must Turkish recognition of tremendous Armenian suffering under a previous Turkish regime be a prerequisite for relatively friendly modern relations between Turkey and Armenia in a greater Europe.

During the First World War, large numbers of Armenians--and more specifically, large numbers of Armenian civilians--were systematically slaughtered by the Ottoman Turkish government. How many were killed? The figures vary, given the lack of proper statistics-keeping in the Ottoman regime, the fuzzy question of what an Armenian actually was, and the extreme disorder prevailing throughout Anatolia and the Caucasus in the decade after the beginning of the First World War. Certainly in excess of a million Armenians were killed, possibly as many as 1.5 million. The scale of the massacres, and the degree of planning involved, is enough to qualify it as the first of the 20th century's genocides.

As I said, I wish Turkey well. Forgive me, though, if I'm skeptical of its candidacy for European Union membership so long as the Turkish government engages in what is basically officially sanctioned Holocaust denial. How can a regime be trusted in the future when it can't be trusted on the past?

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UPDATE (11:12 PM) : Crossposted to Living in Europe.