Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Fascist aesthetics in North America

Between the gaudy American and O'Leary, North American fascism has a distinct and tacky aesthetic compared to the martial notes of its European and Latin American ancestors. Instead, our wazzocks are fond of expensive ties and a Vegas aesthetic from about 1975.


Friday, January 08, 2016

IlLiberal advice

So the Grit briefing book suggests "deepening" ties with Saudi Arabia, hence the deal for the little tanks.

Seriously, who gives this advice? And why in good heavens would a Liberal listen to it? (Dion, you're a sociologist and should get this.)

LOOK at the trend, the violence across the region is worsening, spilling over borders along Sunni and Shia lines.  Well armed regional powers, Turkey, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, the actors in the strange civil war in Syria, are the defining actors. Powers like Russia and the US are playing supporting roles, largely reacting to events, trying leverage one favourite or another. The are not really dictating to or controlling anyone or anything.

Supplying arms to any side simply lubricates the downward slide. If (WHEN!) things slide further, there is not guarantee whatsoever that the 'side' anyone backs now will continue to look in any way favourable.

Canada has no dog in this fight beyond the role of peacemaker. We are not arsonists.

Thursday, January 07, 2016

Strait of Hormuz 2017

[Speculative news, 2017] The internal disintegration of Saudi Arabia continues apace, with the monarchy attempting to hold on to power amid violence between radical Islamist movements spilling over from Iraq, Syria and moderate Saudis pushing for democratic reform.

Troops with newly supplied Canadian-made armoured vehicles were filmed yesterday firing on unarmed protesters in what Twitter has rapidly coined the Riyadh Massacre. This follows intensifying exchanges between the air and naval forces of Iran and Saudi Arabia resulting military casualties and the loss of a number of ships and aircraft. These include the three Saudi Typhoons shotdown this week to what are thought to be Russian-supplied Iranian S-400 surface to air missiles.

In Canada, the Liberal government has come under sustained criticism for its failure to cancel the armoured vehicle deal made under the previous Conservative government. The Canadian foreign minister, Stéphane Dion announced his sudden resignation in a brief press release, and the prime minister's office has not yet responded to Dion's announcement or events in middle-east, although an announcement is scheduled for tomorrow.

Many experts interviewed by the media have stated that yesterday's events were entirely predictable given the steady disintegration of region since the post-9/11 invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq by US-led forces.

"Why the Trudeau government continued such awful Tory policies in the region is a bloody mystery. I warned them!" complained one source, an early advisor to the Trudeau government who said he  resigned after he felt his advice was ignored. Others have suggested that pressure from international allies and domestic pressure around manufacturing jobs contributed to the Liberal decision not to cancel the vehicles deal.