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Monday, March 05, 2007









A Soapbox Open Page

Have yourself a wee rant....











Photo From Hyde Park, England

I've got a busy morning this morning, so no time to get a new article up. Which means I'm going to use the opportunity to attempt to start an Open Page tradition I've stolen from Daily Kos, one of my favourtite US blogs. (Who knows where they got it from. Besides, just because I'm a "left-radical" Canadian nationalist, doesn't mean that I really hate "everything" US, and certainly not their "progressive" folks.)

I'll get something new up this afternoon, meanwhile don't be shy and have yourself a rant, and talk about whatever you want.

Coyote


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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

ohhhh, this is waaaay too irresistable...an empty podium....like meringue on lemon pie...and a great idea.

Did anyone see the Brian Stewart CBC interview last night with Scottish adventurer Tory Stewart? Really fascinating...and gives you hope.

Stewart is trying to preserve Afghanistan's heritage on their terms and he notes in the interview how he has been told by so many of the Afghan people how refreshing it is that instead of the usual outsider approach of self-righteous interference and smug superiority (eg. "we will make you healthy" "we will make you better" "we will make you just like us")... instead in Rory Stewart's interest and respect for their traditions, they found acceptance and an admiring curiosity towards their unique qualities and history - a focus on their strengths and on their creativity.

Equally fascinating what he has to say about his experiences in Iraq.

A quote from CBC inteviewer, Brian Stewart (no relation):

"He has just published a book on Afghanistan, "The Places In Between", hailed as a "modern masterpiece … almost too good to be true" by the New York Times. A former soldier and diplomat, Stewart set out in 2002 to walk alone across Afghanistan just as the Taliban were forced from power. This was a wildly dangerous exercise, staggering in its daring, but one which brought him almost uniquely close to the Afghan people and culture. Rory Stewart has now founded The Turquoise Mountain Foundation in Kabul to help this nation conserve what it has every right to feel proud of … I met this most unusual man who is dapper, yet tough as steel, at his foundation headquarters outside Kabul."

Coyote said...

I did indeed see this as interview as well. A fascinating man with, I would say, just exactly the right attitude, as an outsider, to be working with the citizens of Afghanistan in an extremely difficult time for them. But then, he is a Scot. One could not expect otherwise. :-)

Generally, as a matter of course, I greatly distrust, even despise the "do-gooder" and his/her intentions. This fellow though, even I had to admit, was possessed of an important difference: The ability to not look down his haughty, superior Western nose at what is generally characterized here, by both the "liberal" and "neocon" media and mindset, as an "inferior" culture, and the parallel ability to see what is positive in,by us, a typically derided culture. He sees the important subtleties, the history, the real people, and has a "there but for the grace of God and imperialism, go I" natural instinct.

Clearly, I liked the guy, despite all my attempts to dislike him over the interview.

But by the end, I was won over. One could see why the Afghanis would make the connection with him. Defintinely not your average "Western" liberal do-gooder. Or mind-warped Neocon-, like say that "Brent Something" goon on CNN.(A Sentinel type, only with his own show. :-)

And again, of course, a Scot. :-) lol

The Sentinel said...
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