January 2008 |
Searching for political humour tonight, I found this video comparing the rhetorical skills of George Bush today and 10 years ago. There is a striking difference - he actually appeared to have something to say 10 years ago. He could speak English. The video suggests that he suffers from presenile dementia, and that this condition is responsible for his declining speaking ability. There is a longer article about it here. This would explain so much. |
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I've been hearing about a video Tom Cruise apparently did for the Church of Scientology, and decided to find it on YouTube. You can watch it here. Cruise is talking a lot of criticism for the video. Now I don't know much about Scientology, but I have to say that Cruise doesn't do a very good job selling it. If this was supposed to be a recruiting video, it misses the mark. His odd slightly psychotic laugh alone would send me running. And if mentions the words "scientology" or "scientology" even one more time. Having said that... His criticism, near the end, of prescription-crazy psychiatrists isn't entirely wrong. I'm not suggesting dianetics as an alternative, nor am I suggesting that medication isn't sometimes prudent and necessary, but psychiatrists can be too quick to medicate minor psychologist problems when other alternatives exist. |
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I've been paying more attention than I generally do to the American Primary elections, mainly those for the Democratic Party. As I've previously mentioned, I was disappointed to see Dennis Kucinich drop out so early. However, his leaving caused me to turn my attention to the other candidates. There appears to be a real surge in support for Barack Obama. Yesterday's endorsement from Ted Kennedy is a real sign of this surge - I would have expected him to endorse Clinton. I wonder if Kennedy's decision is about seeing a real opportunity for change in Obama - perhaps even a renewal in American politics that could erase some of the cynicism of the last couple of decades. Is Kennedy passing Obama the keys to camelot? I disagree with Obama on a lot of issues (though this is true of every remaining candidate for either party - they are all too "right" for me). However, if Obama can really incite the kind of change people are talking about - if he is the "real deal" - then that is a possibility worth getting excited about. Maybe Neal Young had it right. |
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As an alternative to traditional news sources, I've been watching The Real News Network for the last few months. |
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I've just watched "Cruel Camera" on the CBC's Fifth Estate. The documentary, about the treatment of animals used in the entertainment industry, is a follow-up to one done 25 years ago on the same program. While it is very sad - some of the things people will do to get an animal to obey are shocking - that wasn't the real surprise. Sadly, the abuse wasn't surprising at all. However, I was surprised to discover the depth of staging used in some wildlife programs. I grew up on Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, and was surprised to find out how much of it was staged. Apparently I'm not paying attention - this was actually reported in the original documentary. One explanation for this is that it is very difficult to film animals in the wild, and their behaviours can be duplicated with trained animals. While this may well be true, why not tell us this is what we are watching. To be fair, Wild Kingdom is not the only program to use staged settings. It is, apparently, fairly common. Of course, there is also the concern about the treatment of the animals used to make these documentaries as well. I do not object to the use of animals for valid scientific research where no alternative means of investigation exists (as long as the animals are treated humanely). But using - or abusing - animals merely to entertain is disgusting |
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Today's Iowa Caucuses caused me to be interested in the American election for the first time, and I thought I'd see what Democratic candidates are saying. I saw no point in finding out much about the Republicans (though I suppose anything would be an improvement over the current President). Looking at the 3 main contenders (Clinton, Obama, Edwards), I was unable to find much substantive difference on the issues most important to me. My research then led me to a blog which included a question and answer page to assist in picking a candidate. It asks a serious of questions and asks the user to weigh the importance of the issues they ask about. I took the quiz and found that Dennis Kucinich matched my own views almost perfectly - far better than any other candidate. It is great to see that there is a real left-wing in America after all. |
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