My hands smell funny. I don't know why. I hate it when that happens. So gross.

Ok, I'm going to get the big stuff over with first of all, cuz it's foremost in my head. Don't worry, nothing traumatic like getting mugged. I've been trying to formulate in my head a coherent argument against the war in Iraq, and I've been having trouble, partly because I was trying to argue on the same terms as the pro-war camp. Obviously, I'm against war because it involves killing people, destruction, stuff like that. And that's all very bad. Of course if we didn't have the war, Saddam Hussein could be doing the same thing to his own people. That's not right either. But I cannot justify evil by saying that it is used to prevent a greater evil. By now you might have an idea as to why I had so much trouble arguing with any success against the war-mongers; they're arguing from a pragmatic standpoint, while mine is idealistic. But through the help of a couple friends, I've been able to organize my thoughts enough so that I can come up with an argument that is strong enough at least to satisfy me.
I had suggested an assassination attempt to remove Saddam Hussein from power. My friend Will told me that it would be illegal for the U.S. to do that. I thought that unfortunate, in a way. I don't condone assassination any more than I do war, but I figured it'd make more sense to do that, since it would involve a lot fewer deaths than a war. Assassination might be illegal, but war is definitely more damaging. Not to say that it's more immoral. I don't believe in shades of right and wrong, but I realize that there are no absolutes, at least not in our own limited fields of perception. In fact, I would not condone assassination any more than I would war. I was simply trying to offer a more satisfying choice for everyone involved.
But I don't condone assassination for the same reasons I'm against capital punishment. It's not our right to judge whether someone has the right to live or die anymore than the person who killed in the first place. But I digress.
A lot of what I'm writing is written with the arguments of one person in mind, but this post is meant to speak to all who have an interest in the war in Iraq. I've worked as hard as I know how for as long as I can remember to acknowledge the validity of arguments and opinions that I disagree with. I can't expect anyone to listen to my opinions if I don't listen to theirs. And when I say listen, I don't just mean not talking while waiting for the other person to stop talking, I mean paying attention to what the other person is trying to express and considering the possibility that they may be right.
A lot of what I hear on the news and in the newspaper is that the Canadian government is acting out of cowardice by not participating in the war effort. If I truly believed that the war was justified (and I don't, for logical reasons that I have a lot of trouble explaining articulately), I would support Canadian participation. But in a certain sense, doesn't it take a different kind of courage to stand against the rest of the world and say that what is being done is wrong?
Another point that disturbs me, one that I've heard repeated on TV and in the papers is that Canada is betraying our greatest ally and friend by not supporting them in the war effort. How do we show friendship for others? By joining them when they're doing something that we believe is wrong? I'd say that two wrongs are committed in that case: going to war, and going to war even though we believe it's wrong so that we can please our friends. You don't honour your allies by saying what they're doing is right, when you don't believe it. You should confront your friend and hold them accountable for their actions.
A lot of people think that my simplistic reasoning doesn't work in the real world. I'd say that right and wrong never needs to be complicated. If killing people is wrong for Saddam Hussein, it's wrong for us too. By doing to him what he's doing to his own people, we become exactly like him.
One last point to consider: In war, truth is the first casualty. No matter how real what you see on tv appears, you can't know for sure what is happening over there.

In other news, I'm really P.O.'d about not getting a lot of hours at work. Seems my boss gave me two shifts this coming week, which I managed to get upped to 3. He was as surprised as me when I showed him the schedule. That makes me feel better, cuz now I know it's not because of anything I'm doing wrong, and makes me feel worse because this isn't the first time this has happened. I'm not sure what he's smoking when he makes up the schedule. Having to deal with crap like this is really aggravating though.
I've been watching Star Trek: the next Generation on Space religiously; even though I've watched pretty much every episode of that series, I still love watching it. I think it has some of the best acting of any Star Trek series, which isn't saying much, cuz I think a good chunk of acting out of all the series sucks bigtime. I'll be glad when they get past the first season though, as much fun as it is to find out who the C.E.O.T.W. (Chief Engineer of the Week) is, the old uniforms really bug me.
Oh hey, I got rejected for a student loan, so that was fun. I'm not too sure what, if anything I can do about it.
Ok, I'm done. Now go away.