Power, Control and What Matters More

Wow.  That was fast.   One week and we have an agreement reached by the UN for a no-fly zone over Libya and troops on the ground to save the Libyan people from a "rogue dictator".  It seems incredible to me that a decision on that scale can be made that fast with the wide variety of agendas at play at that level.  Now let's compare that to the time it took for UN delegates to come to an agreement, sort of, on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.  It was adopted by the General Assembly in 2007 but the idea for the Declaration began in 1982 and so, in total, was 22 years in the making.  It then took 3 more years before the four dissenting countries (Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States) signed on, with Canada's statement of support containing qualifiers and clarifications to prevent any idea that there may be a commitment contained in the document.
So, to sum up, it was 22 years for the UN to agree on the wording of a non-binding declaration that Indigenous people have rights and 7 days to agree that military action was required to intervene in a civil war in a country that coincidentally contains the largest proven oil reserves in all of Africa.  22 years versus 7 days.  It speaks clearly to the values held by those in power and I guess I shouldn't be surprised.  Power, control and access to energy (petroleum in this instance) have always trumped humanity.  Perhaps that's because the primary energy sources we rely upon are not renewable resources and, up to this point, human beings are.  

Schneiderman, Schneiderman

So as I watched Corey Schneider play goal for the Canucks against the San Jose Sharks last week, it occurred to me that this young rookie could use a cool nickname to have on his mask.  I mean cool, not the usual lame "er" added to the last name, which he already has built-in (Schneid...er) or a shortened version with "ie" or "s" added.  You've seen them on other masks and you say to yourself, "Where has the imagination gone in hockey?"  (Kipper, Giggie, Wardo??)
The old timers didn't have a mask on which to paint their nickname and assorted logos.   They did, however, have some interesting, if not cool, nicknames.  The Chicoutimi Cucumber (George Vezina),  "Gump" Worsley, Emil "The Cat" Francis, ".  Even when masks came into fashion there was little room to paint your personality onto the front for all to see (except for Cheevers).  Eventually we got to see some very cool masks, like CuJo's dog and Van Biesbruck's panther.
But back to Schnieder's new nickname and accompanying mask.  I am proposing Schniederman.  The mask will look great, the headlines are too easy and the potential for spin-offs (and maybe lawsuits) is without boundaries.  Come on, let's get on board.  It will finally give the Canuck fans something besides "Go, Canucks, Go" and "Leafs Suck" to chant during a game.  "Schneiderman, Schneiderman, does whatever a Schneider can"?