Economic Update
Blah blah, I work for Finance. Not saying boo. Go look it up yourselves.
Chilean Miners.
WOO HOO!
Honestly, talk about human perseverance. Trapped down there since August 5th. I have to say, even now I have goosebumps thinking about that little note attached to the end of a probe, just saying "All 33 of us are well inside the shelter". 17 days after the initial collapse. Goosebumps.
I know they're being proclaimed heroes, which seems a bit skewed since they didn't choose to be trapped in a mine for 69 days. So maybe heroes isn't the right word. Tenacious. That men took charge and kept them together, organized into three teams that did rotated shift work so keep their bodies and minds occupied. That's some serious leadership, tenacity, strength and fortitude.
As I'm sitting here typing away happily above ground, half of them have safely come out from their Tartaran womb. Here's hoping the rest emerge as smoothly.
UN, 1. Canada, 0.
So we didn't get in. Canada, for the first time in roughly 60 years, is not on the United Nations Security Council, and the mud is flying over this one. Do we blame Iggy? Do we blame Harper? Do we proclaim ourselves happy, cause we didn't want to be part of their birthday party anyway?
That last feels like a little bit of a backpedal with a side of saving-face, but might not be too far off base. I think we can all agree that blaming Iggy is downright ridiculous. He may have urge Canadians to question whether or not we've earned a place at the UN, but unless you actually believe that our opposition party has so much influence on the world forum to sway other countries' policies (insert eyeroll here) and I think we can all thank John Ivison for helpfully pointing out: "This explanation will work for those people who want to think the worst of the Liberal leader, no matter how implausible the story. For those of a more reflective nature, no matter how thin you slice it, it’s baloney."
We could totally blame Harper, since it's his foreign policy that got us into this mess for the good or the bad of it, but I haven't had the time to brush up on our latest international blunders so let's move on.
There has been ongoing criticism surrounding the current state of the UN, which isn't surprising when you take any global body of countries, get them all in the same room and then try to agree on anything. It's more recent criticism happens to be over the whole Israel - Palestinian shebang.
Now, the middle east is a whole can of worms that I am willing to admit completely outdistances me. I am not qualified to offer an opinion. I also read Exodus as a young, impressionable mind, so I'm slightly biased based solely on literary love.
But I do read other people's opinions (that's actually my job). And Kelly McParland turns a well fashioned phrase when he says:
Getting rejected by this lot is no embarrassment; if anything it’s something to be proud of. It illustrates exactly how the UN works: You start with a set of beliefs, and then you compromise them over time, currying favour with other countries... Given the anti-Israel bias that pervades the UN, campaigning for a seat on the Security Council — if it requires the OIC’s approval — is the international equivalent of applying for membership at a club that bans Jews.The OIC, by the way in case you don't know because I didn't, is an international Muslim organization with a permanent UN delegation, which "aims to preserve Islamic social and economic values".
Now, I'm not anti-muslim. I'm not anti-religion. (I am an ex-religion major, before I realized that outside of academia my chances for employment were slim to nil). But in the same way that you never bring up politics at a dinner party, it seems to me a little counter-productive to have a delegation based solely on religious background have a permanent presence, and outrageous influence, over an organization whose stated purpose is cooperation and world peace.
Religion and World Peace? Oil and Water? Oh, oops, maybe I shouldn't bring up oil amid all this middle east muslim talk.
Alright, let's bring this back around since I strayed far afield.
Canada didn't win it's UN seat. Boo-freaking-hoo. It did so due to the fact that it's foreign policies and international relations didn't jive with what the current incarnation of the UN is looking for. If we're comfortable with our foreign policies, then let's give the UN the middle finger (politely, we don't want to get bombed) and get on with it.
If we have problems with our foreign policy, let's negate or criticize it based on it's own merits, not on the merits of how popular it's going to make us.
We're Canada. Everyone loves us anyway.
