Afghanistan Mission Extension + Help Out The Black Halos
Lance accidentally bought me Marlboro Light Menthols last night. The only person that I know that smokes them on a regular basis is Dale Jr., therefore smoking them reminds me of being in North Carolina for some reason – so a big hey to all the DM residents courtesy of the flavor of mint.
I haven’t commented on it yet, so I suppose I should. Our government has voted in favour of extending the mission in Afghanistan until 2011. There are conditions though. The first is that NATO must commit 1,000 troops to combat operations in the region. The problem, of course, is who will agree to it? None of the major members of ISAF, beyond the US and the UK, have been prepared to thus far, so it’ll be interesting to see if the extension will survive even if that condition isn’t met. The other two stipulations are that we are given access to unmanned surveillance drones and helicopters.
As you’re all aware, I have exhaustively detailed my position on this topic, so I’m not going to do it again here. You can use the search function at the bottom of the page and simply type in the keyword “Afghanistan” if you’re at all interested.
That said; if there is one thing that I simply will not abide it’s when politicians use events of this nature to convolute the dichotomy of policy and military service. After the motion passed, MacKay remarked with regards to our troops overseas…
“It shows confidence in everything they’re doing…”
No, Mr. MacKay, it shows confidence in what the government of this country sent them there to do. The men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces do not set policy, your government does. When it comes to combat operations, or any other operations that require the military, the armed forces act on policy. Therefore, in this case, the success of the motion does not represent confidence in what they, as individuals, are doing, but in the policy that has them currently fighting, and dying, in Afghanistan.
Further, if you want to be democratic about it, remove the press gag placed on our troops and allow the media to ask them direct questions about how they feel the mission is progressing.
Help Out The Black Halos
Vancouver’s The Black Halos recently had their tour van and trailer stolen in Montreal – meaning all of their gear and possessions. If you’re in Montreal, and have any information, please contact Danny Cameo at dannycameo@shaw.ca. For a full list of what was stolen, visit the band’s official message board.
March 19th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
they still make menthols? jeez. of course they make flavored vodka now too so what the hell
March 19th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
oh, and that really blows about the Black Halos. my son and his band toured with a van and trailer. they were hand to mouth the whole time. I hope all that all their things are recovered.
March 19th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
“Further, if you want to be democratic about it, remove the press gag placed on our troops and allow the media to ask them direct questions about how they feel the mission is progressing.”
I especially like that comment, not once have I heard or seen on the news a member of the armed forces state his/her opinion on the progress of the mission.
P.S. kudos for bashing McKay
March 19th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
its a scary thought that this will be continuing for another 3 years. just thinking about it is exhausting.. three years is a loooong time.
and as for the black halos, thats just a really shitty thing to have happen to them. i hope whoever’s responsible gets what they honestly deserve.
take care matt, hope you manage to fall asleep tonight.
March 19th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
[quote comment="46562"]they still make menthols? jeez. of course they make flavored vodka now too so what the hell[/quote]
And strawberry tequila…
March 19th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Way to go Lance…
Sheesh…
Had I still been around, I’d have purchased Pedialyte (orange & grape flavor), Premium Plus saltines, and Marlboro LIGHTS…
Thanks for adding the ‘Halos note… shows you are a mensch…
Right now those guys are about as low as a band can get…
March 19th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Have you had a chance to hear any of Bush’s latest speech about the war? I had CNN on in the background today while doing some classwork…it struck me as another parade of lies, out-of-context half truths, damn lies, fucking lies, fear-mongering, and more lies.
March 19th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Yeah, after the 5th anniversary of the war today, apparently ‘the arabs are now rising up against Bin Laden’. Sure.
I recently saw a clip whereby a comedian pointed out that every time Bush gets a sentence right he does this little self-smile thing to himself almost in disbelief, his eyebrows raise up and his forehead wrinkles and he’s just brimming with pride at what he just accomplished, a correctly uttered sentence.
This is what I focus on more these days during his speeches, its amazing. For a second you want to forget the 4,000 dead US troops and 80,000 dead Iraqi civilians. No matter how much his fat lying face wrinkles at his own personal victories in his jihad against english however, I just cant quite let it go, call me closed-minded.
March 19th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
What is with people sealing gear in this country??? First I read that Matt Costa had all of his gear stolen, from inside the “locked” venue and now the Black Halos? It’s a shame.
March 19th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
I wouldn’t mind hearing your opinion on what Canada should do. Not alot of people out there have a better solution to clean up the mess that Bush started.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
Kellyj, what is it with people stealing gear EVERY fucking where!? My husband’s band has thankfully never had anything major stolen while on tour, but they’re just about the only band I know that’s been so lucky. And they’ve definitely wound up missing smaller things like microphones etc. Gets to the point where you can’t even trust the club you’re playing at (like they weren’t going to dick you out of money in the first place), or the opening bands. So sad! (Plus, any “locked” venue is likely to have a couple (several? a few?) dozen people at LEAST that are able to walk in and out at will, and who a lot of the time, have surprisingly little to do with anyone involved with the show — trust no one! Oh man, the shit I could have stolen if I wasn’t such a super person…)
Do not leave your luggage unattended.
March 20th, 2008 at 4:08 am
I’m done blaming Bush - Canada is master of its own destiny with respect to its involvement in Afghanistan.
I believe the Afghan in the search engine will produce numerous hits for proposed solutions.
March 20th, 2008 at 4:25 am
“Further, if you want to be democratic about it, remove the press gag placed on our troops and allow the media to ask them direct questions about how they feel the mission is progressing.”
Indeed, watching the news segment on MacKay’s visit to Afghanistan last night on the news was merely bothersome. There was footage of him talking towards Afghan and Canadian soldiers, and of him “winning the trust” (those were the actual words of the anchor) of Afghan children. It was all too much like a bad performance. And all I could think was what do those soldiers, or the parents of those children have to say.
But no, for the six o clock news, there were smiles all around regarding MacKay’s visit. There were certainly no actual updates or opinions presented. I guess that would be too risky.
[quote comment="46602"]I’m done blaming Bush - Canada is master of its own destiny with respect to its involvement in Afghanistan.
[/quote]
I could not agree more.
March 20th, 2008 at 5:48 am
Wow - the vitriol that comes out towards Bush is amazing - and I have yet to see convincing evidence presented by anyone without an obvious bias that Bush is lying about all of this. I have 7 family members serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, and not one of them has contradicted the basic premise that things have turned around dramatically in Iraq - that the locals have indeed risen up against Al Qaeda. Afghanistan is a different story - things are tough there and it is a country that barely exists in the 19th century outside of the major cities. But no one is lying about that either as far as I can tell.
I also think that the point McKay was trying to make wasn’t that the troops are choosing to be there and the vote confirms that - but that the vote shows confidence in how capable and how well they are doing the job they were sent there to do.
All of this anger makes it impossible to find any real solutions and shows a serious lack of analytical thinking about the circumstances and what to do. Here in the states we have people still arguing about whether we should have invaded Iraq 5 Years later. What good does that debate do? None - that is the debate you have after the war.
March 20th, 2008 at 8:23 am
I still find it strange that “free” nations still have to deal with whatever type of media censorship that the government sees fit.
March 20th, 2008 at 10:19 am
They had a 1960’s Gibson stolen…. omg omg omg…some crackhead is gonna sell it for $500 to a pawn shop im sure…
March 20th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Can anyone tell me why my posts are disappearing - do we not like what I have to say that much?
March 20th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
[quote comment="46813"]Can anyone tell me why my posts are disappearing - do we not like what I have to say that much?[/quote]
If you’re new to the site your first comment(s) will be automatically submitted to the moderation queue. This is to prevent spam accounts and abusive subscribers.
Its nothing malicious, just the process of a public forum which does need some degree of guidance.
As for the time it takes to moderate, Matt is on tour and as such can’t moderate, so those of us who work on the site do so when we have the opportunity to log on.
March 21st, 2008 at 5:26 am
Thanks for the response - I hope you didn’t take my question as any kind of attack - I was just confused by the delay - I appreciate your time and efforts