Lost in Utopia

After yet another failed blog/journal/website, i'm doing something I haven't done before: trying to ressurect a failed project.

I don't like failing in things i undertake. It's too easy to make up convenient excuses like: "I've been so busy!" and "I just don't have the time". We all know that's false. Everyone has a few minutes to write a peice about something and share their thoughts with this ever-growing monster that is the internet.
 

 

in reality i suffer form a common case of ADD. I do it with everything. It's the way i work, the way i eat. Sometimes I'll eat nothing but tuna sandwiches for 3 weeks, and then not have another one for six months. When i work, I'll often work on 4 different projects and once, hopeing that they'll all be done roughly when i need them to. And well, my interest in the journal is the same thing i guess. but i digress.

Time to ressurect this beast!

 So since I’m coming up to the time when I will be eligible for Canadian citizenship, I decided that I might have to check with my buddies in Washington and Paris if they have a problem with me swearing an oath to the Queen. This was a surprisingly frustrating ordeal. On the US side, no one would talk to me. All my questions were forwarded to the US Citizenship Call Centre, which for some reason only accepts calls from inside the US, and it seems that the operators at the US consulate in Montreal and the embassy in Ottawa have taken a 5-hour long lunch break at the same time. Finally I found a guide issued by the US on citizenship in general, which had a short passage on dual-citizenship. Of course everything I read needs to be carefully examined, because I’m not applying for dual-citizenship, but tri-citizenship (if this word did not exist before, it does now). So anyways, in this guide, I was quite shocked to see that the US really has a way of seeming tolerant with something, but also having the stance of being (nearly) violently opposed to something. They acknowledge the need for dual-citizenship in the world, but explicitly state that: not only does the US have no official policy on it, they STRONGLY recommend against it (imagine if I ask them about having 3 passports!). In the text there is a table which speaks volumes about the sentiment of the US, in which the benefits of dual citizenship are compared to the problems associated. Here’s what’s listed, verbatim.

Against

1.       Competing loyalties – particularly becomes an issue if the two countries were to be at war

2.       Exit option – can retreat to other nation in times of conflict, thus fostering “less than responsible” exercise of duties

3.       Double voting – may lead to unfairness in the political process

4.       Instructed voting – voting in one country may be influenced by the leaders of the other country

5.       Traditions and culture of the nation – dual nationality may bring unwanted changes to practices and beliefs held by the original citizens of the country

6.       Complications for diplomatic protection – one country may not recognize the other country’s right to protect that citizen

7.       Military service – requirements of the two countries may conflict, especially during times of war

8.       Conflict of laws – the two countries’ laws may be in conflict concerning issues such as civil status, inheritance, taxation, etc.

For

1.       Reflects deeply felt affiliations, connections, and loyalties to both countries

2.       Promotes naturalization and integration

3.       Facilitates free movement between states

4.       Promotes inclusiveness

So basically, there is only one argument FOR dual-citizenship according to the State Department, which is number 3, because reasons 1, 2 and 4 are basically fancy worded BS. But let’s break down the “against”.

1.       Typical kind of crap you’d expect to hear from modern the USA. Half the people in the US itself are not loyal to the US decisions, ESPECIALLY those concerning who to go to war with.

2.       Avoiding conflict and war is a bad thing? Since when did I become a soldier?

3.       Maybe I just don’t get this one, but how is having a vote in each of your countries a bad thing?

4.       This happens regardless of whether you’re a dual-citizen or not. People who are socially conscious will judge governments by how they treat other nations. This rule for me sounds like they wouldn’t want people to live outside the US either.

5.       Change is good… Isn’t it?

6.       Huh? Am I eligible for the US to protect me? Too much emphasis on war.

7.       See #2. More war.

8.       Ok, now this one is the only really valid one in my opinion. Especially in the case with inheritance. But generally you abide by the laws of where the assets were held, so it’s not a major issue

So there you have it. The USA is most certainly culturally open to multi-nationals…

In other news I’m, not eligible for Canadian citizenship for another 4 months because I travel too much :(. Sucks to be me!

To be truly honest, I’ve never really understood activists. Whenever I’m at home and I see someone protesting on TV and eventually getting arrested/deported/beaten/etc…, I always instinctively think: “wow what a moron” because it’s plainly obvious, to me anyways, that most people protesting in the truly polemic matters know that they’re going to get some kind of unwanted attention. But, in spite of my judgemental nature, I often reconsider my words, and think about these people.

I’ve always viewed people who protest as people who do not support the cause. For some reason, I have it in my head that 99% of young people who take to the streets for any cause are simply there because they want to fight the establishment, and have nothing better to do, something which I not only consider extremely stupid, but is also hypocritical to the maximum degree. I may be wrong (I am known to be wrong on some occasions), but I don’t think I trust humanity enough to think that everyone who is protesting is there because they know the entirety of the situation and genuinely believe in what they are doing. I imagine many people at a protest because they feel like they need to give a damn about something, or because it’s trendy to protest with their friends. There is nothing more that I hate than people supporting things because they are the flavor of the day. And that, my friends, is why I hate the Brazilian National Football team.

But recently I’ve seen things that are making me wonder. I mean, wow, some of these people. The other day I read about 4 protesters (2 Americans and 2 British people) who hung up some “Free Tibet” banners right outside of the Olympic park in Beijing. They were promptly gathered up and returned home. Now I ask myself why these people did what they did. Now I’m no travel agent, but I know enough to know that a round-trip ticket to Beijing from the US and the UK during Olympics time is not cheap. Are there seriously people in the world who would pay 3-4 thousand dollars for 15 minutes of time to put a banner up which gets torn down 30 seconds after it’s up? Is that really worth it? Well, realistically, it is worth it for some people, because these guys did really do it, and they paid the price for it. Maybe I am just too superficial. Maybe 3000 dollars is too much money for me to give a crap. Perhaps it’s just me that cares more about my bank account than peace in the world.

Now this really does not mean to say that I disagree with what these people have done, because I don’t, I just don’t understand it. I think that many of the issues that people protest about are serious things which are overlooked with a disconcerting sense of casualness as the people responsible simply act as if the problems don’t exist. Don’t get me wrong, I’d be willing to pay 10 times the monetary price these guys paid if the world could fix itself, but I know that would never happen. But I just don’t understand how posting banners of people protesting fur coats is going to solve anything. Here’s a point: people who wear fur coats wear fur coats because THEY DON’T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT THE ANIMALS WHO DIED. And I’m sorry my friends, but people who eat meat are the same way. The cows that we eat are not treated right, and neither are the chickens, pigs, etc…. So when I hear someone protesting against fur, they better damn well be a vegetarian, or else, they are hypocrites.

So I think my grief with the world is not about the protests themselves, it’s about the protesters. I’ve always loved having a heated debate about a controversial matter. In my opinion, nothing is better than a debate about a polemic subject with someone who knows the situation, and who is clearly interested in the matter to the point of being able to defend a point of view. But I find that so many people who protest these controversial subjects have no idea what is going on! I’ve dispatched many a: “The IMF is evil” protesters in my life with some very simple conversation such as: “Do you actually know what the IMF really does?”. But then again, I have found a few people that have been able to concretely argue why the IMF has failed in the past, enough to make me agree that no organization can ever truly do what it set out to do. And this is not to say that people need to be educated to care, education has nothing to do with it. It has to do with truly caring enough to find out the facts. Find out exactly what is going on, and also, find out about the other side of the coin.

BUT WELL…

Maybe in actual fact it is me that is empty. Maybe I just haven’t found an unjust cause that I find important enough to give a lot away for. Maybe one day I will find something, and I’ll understand. But until then, I’m content to judge the world, because that is what humanity is best at: judging people and judging situations.

Well with work cranking up, dragon boat and my computer crashing, not too much time to write! 

I'm very pleased because I was able to salvage (with the help of a very awesome colleague of mine) one of my old hard drives. This drive happened to have a bunch of my old stuff, such as the only microsoft Word copy of my masters thesis, as well as some old writings and poetry. Will share soon!

So my main computer because garbage the other night, but i was able to fix it after investing in a 100 buck external hard drive. Costly, but a fun toy all the same.

ANyways, back to summer! Mr. Bunny (ahh that's a funny name) aka Warboss is taking me to see the Montreal Allouettes tonight, so I'm pretty stoked!!

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As many of you know, my favorite hockey player is eternally-underrated (and low priced) goalkeeper Cristobal Huet. As of a few minutes ago it was said that he had just signed with the Chicago Blackhawks away from the Washington Capitals.

Apparently the Caps preferred the services of Jose Theodore, in my opinion a very bad move. While Theo is definately on the up (from where he was there was no room to go down), he's flaky, and IMO not a good athlete. He has good form but no confidence, something that a team with youth is going to need.

Long term, it's an excellent choice for Huet, who will have the pleasure of playing with very underrated ex-rookies Johnathan Towes and Patrick Kane. I was telling one of my buddies the other day that i expect in the next 2-3 years that the Blackhawks will explode.  Wether or not Huet will still be there is to be seen. They have great youth, and are guided by the wise hockey legend Denis Savard, so you can't ask for much more than that. All they need to do is get rid of that costly contract they have with Martin Havlat.

So to sum it up... the Blakhawks have just gained a new fan. I'm still shouting: HUET! HUET!!


EDIT: Well i just found that Huet signed for 5.6 million a year for 4 seasons, which is exactly what a goalie of his caliber deserves. So maybe the Caps wanted him, but werent prepared to pay what he asked for. On top of that, the Chicago Blackhawks signed the towering Brian Campbell for around 7.1 million for 7 years! Denis Savard is going to have a roster full of talent next season, mark my words!

So Spain won the Euro 2008 in a thriller last night against Germany.
I just want to say it once, right here, so that I don’t need to say it to everyone I see…

“I TOLD YOU SO”

There, it’s done. And I do feel a certain satisfaction that the team that beat my Azzurri went on to win it. Also that Liverpool’s own Fernando Torres scored the winner.

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I think one of the most critical things you can say of someone is that they never finish what they started. Unfortunately for me, I find that this statement is often applied to me. I like to daydream. I often think of things that I’d like to do, things that I should do, things that I NEED to do. Most of the time, I start doing those things, and don’t end up making a significant enough effort to make it last, either that or I don’t even do them at all.

One of these things, although not very high in terms of importance, is starting a blog. I’ve made a few attempts in the past, most of which fizzled after a few posts. I guess I just lost interest. Either that or I believed that I didn’t have anything important to say. But then again, I’ve noticed that nothing we ever say is truly important. Nothing that I’m going to say is going to be paramount in my life or in the lives of others, thus there’s no point just gauging what we say on these things by how ground breaking it’s going to be.

So in other words, this is my latest attempt at proving to myself that I can finish what I started, however menial the task. If you’re interested in reading what I have to say, be my guest, please leave comments/criticisms. If not, move along, these are not the words you are looking for.

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