How NOT to name a body of water

"Desert Lake". 'nuff said. It's not particularly dry, nor is the surrounding area. 'Canoe Lake', which is not more than 10 minutes away at least has a water-related name. Anyhow, at least it's a nice place. My Aunt and Uncle have a cottage on the lake, and there were a lot of us there over the weekend. The temperature, of course, dropped to below the "swimming is comfortable" threshold, but at least that meant the "Beach Party" planned on the other side of the lake really didn't happen (normally, it's Bad Music Fest until 11 or so). Anyhow, I'm back, but feeling a little sick today. Time for PJs and watching Star Wars on VHS. Normally, I'd dismiss tapes as the awful media they were, but the re-mastered DVD editions of SW annoy me.

(I'll try to keep this quick, as I need to do a little bit of political ranting before this post is done) I'm always called a 'nitpicker' when I say that I do not like it when Greedo (the green dude in the bar who corners Han Solo, for those not In The Know) shoots first in the re-release version of SW. I actually find it an important character moment for Han Solo; when he kills ol' Greenie first, he is the quick-draw badass. If not, he's nothin' special. In addition, Greedo's lousy aim in the re-release makes him look like a goof, which really kills the scene. I'm not trying to point out that "as a Corellian, Han Solo " or "given , the chance that Greedo would is next-to-nil". I'm pointing out a legit flaw in the scene that is created by the alterations. It was as needless as giving the cops in ET walkie-talkies instead of guns. Why do moviemakers take a chance that would allow them to IMPROVE a movie, and then waste it on details that have either no effect, or even wreck a scene. The LOTR series might have been a full hour too long per movie (some would say) when extended, but at least the stuff they added actually ADDED to the movies. Finally, to all you SW haters: I don't worship Lucas, nor do I wear Jedi robes. (I would, however, love to have a Force-FX lightsabre, or something similar, but I digress). SW is a 'comfort' movie of mine. I DO know all kinds of stupid SW trivia, but at least I actually play competitive trivia (Reach For the Top). It HAS come up, so it IS useful to me.

And now, on to my politics rant du jour. It seems that (shock, gasp!) there is an even divide among Canadians about our government's stance on the Israeli - Hezbollah conflict. At this point, I take my leave of the pacifist left. I do not support a war, but unrealistic assumptions that 1) Terrorism is some kind of noble rebellion against globalization, and 2) that Terrorists want peace and happiness for their own peoples - are foolish. Islamic terror is generally in support of a very global, all-Muslim community, under Sharia law. I am afraid of all religious governments, so I find this appalling. This is not an attack on Islam, but on the nature of any and all religious regimes to be antagonistic to the sort of freedoms I currently enjoy.

With that out of the way, I find it odd that people are so adverse to the Government taking a stance on the issue. It isn't as if you can't DISAGREE with the stance, and you can write your MP if you want it to change. Democracy is about discourse, not habitual fence-sitting. If the government says nothing, it is safe to be apathetic, or at least inactive. Now that the government is taking sides, it's up to YOU to voice your opinions about what that position should be.

In addition, I once read an article about Yasser Arafat, maybe 2 years ago. I think that what it said about his motives is true for Hezbollah, and Hamas; they do not want happiness for their people, because that would put them out of a job, and leave them without new recruits. At least Israel tries to protect its citizens, rather than keep them in a state of misery for its own ends. I don't think Israel is right, but some people seem to let Hezbollah off easy for being very wrong.

In case I haven't said so already, I'm an atheist, so my bias may be against theocracy, but Israel can't play the "never again" card as they visit murder on another ethnic group. Oh, the hypocrisy.