The Unit

Alright, I like TV. I like it especially on netflix without the commercials. I like the hour long show as compared to the hour and a half to two hour movie. I can watch a tv show while having dinner then get on to something else.
I like the Unit. This is a military soap opera, with absolutely fantastic cutting edge elite force action, male comraderie and the story of the wives and children going on parallel along side. I like the gender balance. I like the episode on base with the sick child couple with the father soldier fighting his way to safety in a far away land.
I love the American patriotism of the show. It's a group of men and their wives serving their country in an honorable and responsible way. It's not intellectuals living in the safety provided by working men and women and criticizing everything about their present and past.
I love the down to earth quality of the Unit. I like the philosophical and even spiritual moments. The soap opera quality is all the human qualities of relationships and humans being human. It's just at a higher level than afternoon tv. It's written with the working person with a job as opposed to the person at home on welfare. The Unit aired in the evenings at prime time. It's prime time TV and deserves whatever awards it's received. Each character is believable and the acting is superb.
It's Saving Private Ryan and Brothers in Arms. It was based on the Delta Force but I think it's own kind of special.
I've watched dozens of episodes over several years and I still come back to it whenever I can. I like the message that democracy is worth fighting for. I know it's 'politically incorrect' . All that is good and true in the world is politically incorrect.
The Unit is realpolitick. It's action and suspense and real human beings trying to love in a really tough disruptive service. It's about life on the base. It's about all the sacrifices that the military has to make.
It's about Americans and the American empire. These are the legionaires of the present day but the American presidents aren't Nero. They're more like Claudius and Constantine. America is indeed the best choice in my mind of some really bad alternatives.
It's often 'politically correct' to malign the US except the alternatives to date have been empires lead by Russia which simply killed 80 million citizens out of hand and jailed more than American ever hoped to. It's devolved into gangsterism and after years of pogroms against the Jews it's bolstering it's own depravity with attacks on gays and lesbians. Alternatively there's China which killed 120 million of its citizens, though some suggest that number is only half of the true number killed by the Chinese government. It's certainly not a country known for civil liberties, religious freedom, occupational safety standards or health care and old age pensions. Yet there continue to be Westerners who knock the US not realizing that without the US the most likely country to fill the vacuum with an army of single men and the women aborted in the womb is China.
Then there is the Moslem mainstream. True there's a minority of Moslem moderates and many of the highest spiritually developed of individuals but all the Moslem lead countries have tended to maintain almost medieval tyrannies resulting in dessert spring with its mass killings of protesters. America had Kent State in comparison , a few dead. True a few more blacks were killed but American leadership didn't turn chemical weapons on its citizens or kill tens of thousands of dissenters. Even the relatively enlightened Turkey allows police brutality in the streets which makes the beating of blacks by LA police look like love taps. There's no free media in these countries and intellectuals are told what they can think and routinely shot if they step out of line.
So I like the Unit because I believe that America and it's military are presently what stands between barbarian hoards and corrupt communist gangster regimes lead by the likes of the throwbacks in North Korea and the pirates of West Africa.
America, Russia, France and England are all arms dealers. No one is a saint but I choose America over the alternatives. Europe is America's ally and given the difficulties of the European Union it isn't as reliable as America.
And yes I'd love world peace and I could write a speech for Miss America and I could tell any intellectual all sorts of things about what the problem in America is but I don't have or see a better solution. That said, I like the Unit because it brings home the complexity and shows that the men and women doing their jobs aren't the ignoramus hillybilly lame brained killers that the effete protected priviledged intellectual class would paint them.
I like the Unit. I really do.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Morning after the American Election

We're still here. Civil War hasn't broken out in the US. I suspect that one day there will be a disclosure of the tricky dicky maneuvers this election has. Not because it's Obama but simply because both the Democrats and Republicans approach elections like American football games without referees. Like their money management of the world. It doesn't matter how we play the game, it's whether we win or lose. It's like war and marriage in that regard. All's fair. War hasn't changed but marriage has and will continue to evolve as societies change. The best comment I saw on Facebook was "We live in Canada." After that my favourite was "We survived Bush, we can survive Obama." According to the global warming group we won't have long to go. We'll all be black as toast in a year and it won't have anything to do with politics. But then I'm old enough to reflect on a life time of catastrophising by media who according to my personal 'conspiracy' theory are definitely in bed with booze and drugs so they can sell more anti anxiety "self medication". And we will never know if the Democrats got in because more people are smoking dope in the US than ever before. They're still drinking as much but on good days they keep peace, hunt down terrorists, send missions to Mars and develop some amazing technological advances. People quickly forget that everyone is trying to leave the Communist countries and the medieval countries with tyrants would be emptied but for one thing. America doesn't let everyone in. We may criticize Obama and Bush but that's where the world's people want to go. It's the new Rome. It's London and Paris and of course the Chinese want to be Washington but what Communist Country ever could compete since their principle atheist strategy is to kill tens of millions so they don't have dissent and with loss of dissent naturally lose creativity. Russia became great stealing American technology and China is doing the same. In contrast I put my faith in the western world where Canada recently was awarded for having the greatest personal freedom. No wonder people want to come here from all over the world. It's just sad that we 'sell' off the land letting bureaucrats and politicians get kickbacks for their sales. I'm concerned about Obama. I was concerned about Bush. I think Troudeau who was as concerning as any of them, including Harper, who I personally like, said it all, when you're a mouse living beside an elephant you have to pay attention even when you sleep. It's all way above my pay grade. I'm actually rather thankful that someone else takes care of the nitty gritty of government. Most of the people I've heard being critical of government only do that, criticize. I see those who are 'volunteering' and those who are actively involved in matters of state showing a great deal more humility. I have held many leadership positions in my life and frankly it sucks. You can't please everyone and there are in the US guys on the right and the left who think assassination is acceptable. We've seen Presidents get shot. It's not the Canadian way of doing things but Americans are footballers and not hockey players. I'm thankful that the Vancouver Riotters are being fine and put in jail by the extremely fine British Columbia judiciary which respects hockey. Hockey is not soccer where fans use the game as an excuse to get drunk and beat each other up in the stands. Hockey is not American Football where they have to have cheerleaders to keep the audience attention while everyone stands around and talks most of the game. If life was a hockey game Obama and Romney would be a different story. Who knows who would be the puck and who would be the stick in that universe. Parallel universe's exist as surely as heaven and hell. Despite threat of nuclear war all my life and rank stupidity and sometimes downright psychopathic sociopathic economic and political deceit, I'm thankful for this morning and this sunny day. Congratulations America for having yet another election without shooting voters or aborting female fetuses to fix the elections years in advance. One day I trust America and the world will ask Canada to lead but not too soon. We have hockey games and miracles to attend to. Right now our health care system and welfare system and defence system are all in as much need of help as the media here. So rather than gawking south and criticizing our neighbours we probably should get down to hewing wood and drawing water. That's what the Americans will probably be doing once they get over this outrageously wasteful and expensive political "party" boon dangle.

Sino Indian Wars

The Communist Chinese like the Communist Russians before them insisted that they do not attack other nations. Like paranoids, they insist they are only defensive. Their propaganda is that western imperialists are offensive. They would include Canada in that grouping.
Tell this to the Dalai Lama. Tibet was a once peaceful nation invaded by the Communist Chinese.
When people suggest neutrality they forget the fate of so many neutral nations like Tibet. Instead they point to Switzerland which just happens to be one of the major banks of the world for gangsters and tyrants. Further the populace is individually armed. The Swiss Guard which protects the Pope is a mercenary force of Swiss. Nothing granola about them.
The Sino Indian war is an interesting historical fact.
I'd like to be neutral as much as the next guy but I can't afford a spaceship to find utopia. In the meantime I'm grateful to the empires that among other accomplishments have reduced cannibalism in my neighborhood .

Sunny Day Vancouver

It's a manic depressive city. The mania is triggered by light. The streets are crawling with people. I've been among them. Joy in the air. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is real. Northern Lights Technologies make superb high intensity full spectrum lamps that with 20 minute a day use give the equivalent antidepressant benefit that 10 to 20 mg of fluoxetine (prozac) would give. The real thing is even more spectacular. St. John's Wart, the herbal antidepressant proven in German and Swiss studies with pharmaceutical pure ingredients not the "food supplements" that are 'knock offs' to the real things sold at obscene profit by big business preying on people's fears, (that said), St. John's Wart, works for SAD too.

But nothing is as great as the joy and conviviality of just getting out and enjoying the streets with the Vancouver sunshine. The fashion alone, ranging from hip to hockey is a delight. I enjoyed the girl with the wool mini skirt and tights but the crotch of the tights were around her knees and she was merrily making eyes at a young guy of the 'don't look down' politically correct set, fortune for her. Driving by in my truck I enjoyed what might well be a Canadian fashion trend, Surrey Rap. Here on commercial the girls are strutting their boots. There's no snow but lots of high fashion mucklucks. Alot of young guys have gone in for the black winter jacket to complement their ball caps. Commercial is the local new capital of lesbianism so the women are more entertaining to watch, the men being mostly out of work actors.

I just came from a meeting on Davie and tight leather winter jackets were in for guys. More fashionable gay. Robson is the overall fashion capital of Vancouver but I didn't have any reason to go there as there's nothing boating.

I've already been to Granville Island. I went looking for my water bladder but Kits boats was closed. I did get Rule boat bilge pumps at Steveston Marine and a marine TV antennae at West Marine. The guys at Steveston also cut me some floating dinghy rope. Checking the dinghy last night on deck while filling the water tanks I saw the sun and sea had done my old rode in. The marine environment respects nothing, least of all rope and sail. Even my steel boat is hard pressed to resist the forces of nature.

I've enjoyed another Waves Coffee shop panini and American. There's as many computers as people in this packed coffeeshop with all that Good Commercial Road feel. When I first came to Vancouver 25 years ago it was the haven of Italians and Greeks with soccer running on all the tv's. Today there's students, actors and the latest influx of more Lesbians. West end rental costs rose and more of the gay community moved east. There's always been a political flavour to the street with left wing book stores and now more social consciousness.

I've enjoyed listening to CBC radio 88. 1 in the truck. Heard a delightful interview with Skye a playwright talking of the gender bending of the 60's and laughing about the gay mainstreaming movement. "They're all into suit's." Harry Hay was mentioned as the original gay movement protagonist with his "fairies". Quite a shift.

After that I listened to General Hillier, who has a new book, talking about Kundahar and the Canadian troops in Afghanistan. I came away thinking of Barbara Fromm and "it's happening" and how CBC has contributed so much to my sense of Canada, the diversity and commonality.

It's good to be a Vancouverite today. The sun does that. I'm glad to be Canadian most days. Prime Minister Harper surprised everyone by improving relationships with China and not caving on the human rights issue which the businessmen had told him had to occur if the Chinese were to appreciate Canada. Then today's news item was how many Canadian Chinese are going to China to establish business. It's the Pacific Rim and we're apart of it.

Europe to the east and Asia to the West. Now I'm off in search of a Mexican Store a friend told me was here on Commercial. Inexpensive silver jewelry. In keeping with the metro male image I admit I 'm glad men can wear earrings. Tie clips were fine but without the tie, they didn't hold onto the front of a shirt that well.