![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Apr. 27th, 2006 12:19 amIt's time for my take on the whole flag flap.
For those who haven't been following or can't follow Canadian news, recently there's been a brouhaha because our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, decreed in his wisdom that the flag over the Peace Tower in Ottawa should no longer be flown at half mast whenever a soldier is killed in action. Furthermore, it has been decided not to allow the media to photograph the arrival of caskets being returned from Afghanistan.
Now, the latter I can kind of understand, but I find Harper's logic faulty. Yes, it can be said that when a soldier's body is returned, and the family is grieving, some privacy should perhaps be given to the family. Harper further said that the funeral itself is the proper place for the media to get its pictures. Personally, I think he has it reversed. The soldier represents us all, and when one falls, we should all be given the opportunity to mourn. Taking pictures of a casket being removed from a plane on a tarmac is, to my mind, orders of magnitude less invasive than crowding the actual memorial service. If I were a family member of a dead soldier, I would much rather have the press photographing my grief from a distance.
With regard to the flag issue, I disagree completely with the government's stance. There is no good reason not to lower the flag when a soldier dies. The only possible justification is to hide the death from the public, because we can see the number of times the flag is lowered. And - the flag in question is the one which flies over the Peace Tower. It was constructed to commemorate the end of WWI, and as such it is intrinsically connected to our armed forces and our history. It seems fitting that when a soldier dies, the flag should be lowered in respect.
Of course, I would much rather that our presence in Afghanistan hadn't been necessary, and that these soldiers had not died. That being said, the United States was attacked by agents of the Taliban government of Afghanistan, who gave sanctuary to terrorists. It made perfect sense that we should be there, as allies of a government that had been attacked. Since we are there, let's show a little respect to those who are sacrificing themselves in that cause. Note: I'm referring specifically to Afghanistan here. I don't want to see our armed forces sent into Iraq. I feel that it was a mistake for the U.S. to go into Iraq, and I don't want to see that mistake compounded. (That being said, I don't want anything bad to happen to those who are there. And I'm not just saying that because![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nonstopdrivel is reading this. *grin* I know someone else who was there, and I'm glad that he's now home and safe.)
Okay, political rant over.
I'm beginning to think that I have a mild form of obsessive-compulsive disorder. I often joke that I'm forced to keep some of my clothes dirty at all times because I don't have the space to put them all away when they're clean. Well, today I was down to my last pair of socks, and so I had to do laundry; a chore I usually put off as long as possible because it takes me forever to get through all of my email, friendslist, TrekBBS, newspaper, and other daily tasks, and I don't want to take the time to do something that can be done when I'm less busy. So I gathered up two loads of laundry - one white, one dark - and put them in. When I went back downstairs to transfer them to the dryer 45 minutes later, I took another two loads down with me. Rinse and repeat.
I did sixteen loads of laundry today. Every article of clothing that I own (except for what I'm currently wearing) is clean. Even a pair of pyjama bottoms... and I have no idea where they came from, or even when I might have last worn them. It's the first time I've seen my bedroom floor in its entirety in months.
I had to go out around 6 because I'd run out of coat hangers. Fortunately, there's a dollar store in the mall at Yonge and Eglinton. I went in and rummaged around until I found the coat hangers. They had 26 (not counting pant hangers, baby clothes hangers, and other inappropriate types of hanger). I bought them all. And I still have 13 shirts laying on my bed that need to be hung up. Not to mention about 30 t-shirts on top of one of my two dressers and my bedroom desk, for which there's no room in the drawers.
See why I don't do laundry that often?
Tomorrow I may do the linens. After I go out and buy more coat hangers. Hopefully everything will fit into the closet. (Yes, I do closets where clothes are concerned. :P )
On the convention front, we have a couple of guest announcements imminent for TT. I'll say no more, but watch the website!
We also have a couple of guest announcements immenent for Gaylaxicon.
It's been a busy week, and it's only Wednesday. It feels weird to have gotten so much done on a Wednesday. Obviously I'm compensating for the lack of bowling - and yet, I forgot to watch Bones, which I haven't seen since it moved from Tuesdays. OTOH, I watched two hockey games tonight, and saw bits of a third. Only one of the three teams I was cheering for won tonight, though - the Colorado Avalanche just beat Dallas in overtime. Montreal (hey, I may be a Leafs fan, but I like Carolina less than Montreal) and Buffalo (ditto re liking Philadelphia less) both lost. Tomorrow night, I'll be cheering for Tampa Bay, Calgary, Edmonton, and Nashville.
For those who haven't been following or can't follow Canadian news, recently there's been a brouhaha because our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, decreed in his wisdom that the flag over the Peace Tower in Ottawa should no longer be flown at half mast whenever a soldier is killed in action. Furthermore, it has been decided not to allow the media to photograph the arrival of caskets being returned from Afghanistan.
Now, the latter I can kind of understand, but I find Harper's logic faulty. Yes, it can be said that when a soldier's body is returned, and the family is grieving, some privacy should perhaps be given to the family. Harper further said that the funeral itself is the proper place for the media to get its pictures. Personally, I think he has it reversed. The soldier represents us all, and when one falls, we should all be given the opportunity to mourn. Taking pictures of a casket being removed from a plane on a tarmac is, to my mind, orders of magnitude less invasive than crowding the actual memorial service. If I were a family member of a dead soldier, I would much rather have the press photographing my grief from a distance.
With regard to the flag issue, I disagree completely with the government's stance. There is no good reason not to lower the flag when a soldier dies. The only possible justification is to hide the death from the public, because we can see the number of times the flag is lowered. And - the flag in question is the one which flies over the Peace Tower. It was constructed to commemorate the end of WWI, and as such it is intrinsically connected to our armed forces and our history. It seems fitting that when a soldier dies, the flag should be lowered in respect.
Of course, I would much rather that our presence in Afghanistan hadn't been necessary, and that these soldiers had not died. That being said, the United States was attacked by agents of the Taliban government of Afghanistan, who gave sanctuary to terrorists. It made perfect sense that we should be there, as allies of a government that had been attacked. Since we are there, let's show a little respect to those who are sacrificing themselves in that cause. Note: I'm referring specifically to Afghanistan here. I don't want to see our armed forces sent into Iraq. I feel that it was a mistake for the U.S. to go into Iraq, and I don't want to see that mistake compounded. (That being said, I don't want anything bad to happen to those who are there. And I'm not just saying that because
nonstopdrivel is reading this. *grin* I know someone else who was there, and I'm glad that he's now home and safe.)Okay, political rant over.
I'm beginning to think that I have a mild form of obsessive-compulsive disorder. I often joke that I'm forced to keep some of my clothes dirty at all times because I don't have the space to put them all away when they're clean. Well, today I was down to my last pair of socks, and so I had to do laundry; a chore I usually put off as long as possible because it takes me forever to get through all of my email, friendslist, TrekBBS, newspaper, and other daily tasks, and I don't want to take the time to do something that can be done when I'm less busy. So I gathered up two loads of laundry - one white, one dark - and put them in. When I went back downstairs to transfer them to the dryer 45 minutes later, I took another two loads down with me. Rinse and repeat.
I did sixteen loads of laundry today. Every article of clothing that I own (except for what I'm currently wearing) is clean. Even a pair of pyjama bottoms... and I have no idea where they came from, or even when I might have last worn them. It's the first time I've seen my bedroom floor in its entirety in months.
I had to go out around 6 because I'd run out of coat hangers. Fortunately, there's a dollar store in the mall at Yonge and Eglinton. I went in and rummaged around until I found the coat hangers. They had 26 (not counting pant hangers, baby clothes hangers, and other inappropriate types of hanger). I bought them all. And I still have 13 shirts laying on my bed that need to be hung up. Not to mention about 30 t-shirts on top of one of my two dressers and my bedroom desk, for which there's no room in the drawers.
See why I don't do laundry that often?
Tomorrow I may do the linens. After I go out and buy more coat hangers. Hopefully everything will fit into the closet. (Yes, I do closets where clothes are concerned. :P )
On the convention front, we have a couple of guest announcements imminent for TT. I'll say no more, but watch the website!
We also have a couple of guest announcements immenent for Gaylaxicon.
It's been a busy week, and it's only Wednesday. It feels weird to have gotten so much done on a Wednesday. Obviously I'm compensating for the lack of bowling - and yet, I forgot to watch Bones, which I haven't seen since it moved from Tuesdays. OTOH, I watched two hockey games tonight, and saw bits of a third. Only one of the three teams I was cheering for won tonight, though - the Colorado Avalanche just beat Dallas in overtime. Montreal (hey, I may be a Leafs fan, but I like Carolina less than Montreal) and Buffalo (ditto re liking Philadelphia less) both lost. Tomorrow night, I'll be cheering for Tampa Bay, Calgary, Edmonton, and Nashville.
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif){kind=small}