A Crazy Start To May

In the past 48 hours, two events not directly related to my own personal life have preoccupied my thoughts. One, I received with great joy and just a little trepidation; the other, pretty much the opposite! I guess maybe that means the universe is still in balance?

First came the welcome news Sunday night that U.S. forces had finally located and put down the mad dog responsible for the Sept 11th attacks. I can't deny that at least some of my growing intolerance for religious fundamentalism over the past decade stemmed from the actions of Bin Laden and his ilk, who seek to force their own centuries-out-of-date view of the universe onto the rest of the world. I personally couldn't care less what anyone believes... but as soon as they start inflicting their anti-Science superstitions onto others, I take exception. The Christian fundamentalists in the U.S. are not quite as bad, in that they're not planning mass murder as far as I know, but it's all of a piece to my way of thinking. I therefore rejoiced upon hearing that Bin Laden had been executed, and only worried a little about the inevitable backlash that will likely follow. Neverthelss, major kudos to Pres Obama for doing, in just over 2 years, what George W Bush couldn't manage - despite promising it repeatedly - in more than 7 years in office. Good riddance to bad rubbish, who's at least apparently finally doing some good by feeding the fishies now.

Last night, I watched as the Harper Conservative government finally got the majority they've craved for several years, in an election they didn't even want... though one wonders now why they resisted it so vigourously! Were they really worried about losing? The NDP were the other big winners, with the Bloq and Liberals playing the part of Charlie Brown this time around, in historic proportion. While I can't quite imagine that Harper and his cronies will really do as much damage here as the Bush administration did south of the border between 2001 and 2009, it's still a pretty big concern. Our government's head-in-the-oil-sands attitude toward Climate Change is both shocking and embarrassing, leaving me to wonder if many of us will soon appreciate what liberals in the U.S. went through in the previous decade. On the other hand, maybe if Harper's politics turn out to be extreme enough, the Canadian people will revolt against it 4 years from now and the pendulum will begin to swing back the other way. Are we really a country that wants to screw over the poor and do favours for the wealthy? I can't believe we are, despite last night's results.