Puke In Space

“I’m interested in man’s march into the unknown put to vomit in space is not my idea of a good time. Neither is a fiery crash with the vomit hovering over me.” –William Shatner (courtesy of Master Wong).

From Andoo comes a link to the Indian version of The Simpsons.

From Brother Hrab comes this unsurprising NY Times article confirming what most thinking people have known for some time: that factions of the US military are rallying points for white supremacist groups. According to the article, there is a conscious movement of violent white supremacists into infantry units bound for Iraq and Afghanistan. Yeah, these are the people the Americans need to help promote the image of “we’re here to help”. Yeah.

But on the flip side, at least there are people like Elizabeth Stinson who actively resist the military’s attempts to hoodwink young people into signing up. Let me be clear: I think the military is an excellent career option for a lot of people. I thought of joining myself many times when I was younger. But join for the right reasons and without any misconceptions about the nature of the work you’ll be expected to do. But with their current recruitment targets falling short, and perpectual war a seeming reality, the US military is getting desperate to fill more uniforms. That’s why Stinson’s work is critical to provide a check against the more disingenous and creepy recruitment practices.

Deonandia reader Farah has asked me to publicize an upcoming concert by virtuoso qawwali singer, Shahid Ali Khan in Toronto next month. Khan performed an incredible charity gig to raise money for our tsunami relief efforts a year ago. I highly recommend the show for anyone interested in this music. The show is at 7pm, Oct 19, at the Lula Lounge in Toronto (1585 Dundas St W). Tickets are only $10 and you can get them by contacting Farah.

I want to end today with a very interesting story out of India. It seems the Indians are sending the world’s first all-women policing force to Liberia. The rationale is a good one: “Female peacekeepers are seen as bringing a different style to international policing by appearing less threatening and more approachable for women and children.” The world will watch their performance quite closely, I think, as a possible response to those endless armchair philosophers who declare, without evidence one way or another, how better/different the world would be if it were policed by women.