Blog about politics (mideast and pro-Israel, Canadian and local Montreal), world events, and random thoughts.

""

The World I Know is updated on a semi-regular basis by segacs.

Think I'm the greatest thing since chocolate-covered strawberries? Think I'm certifiably insane? E-mail me at segacs2.at.yahoo.ca.

Buy me a present! Visit my Amazon Wish List.

Frequently asked questions about me and this blog.

Atom site feed

Comments are open and unmoderated, although obscene or abusive remarks may be deleted. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of segacs's world i know.

---

<< List
Jewish Bloggers
Join >>

 
1:36 PM
3 million dollars

That's how much extra the Montreal Jewish Community has to raise this year to pay for extra security at local Jewish schools and campuses:

Sylvain Abitbol, president of Montreal's Federation of Jewish Community Services, said the arson attack [at U.T.T.], "combined with the defacing of many of our cemeteries and the rise in anti-Semitism in the world, led us to decide to raise the security level at our schools."

Security agents will patrol the community's 22 schools and 40 campuses at a cost of three million dollars (2.3 million US). The Jewish community is raising money to pay for the extra security.

"I worry for Montreal, but it is obvious that there are worries at the national level and my colleagues in other cities are asking themselves the same questions," Abitbol said. "They all are considering the same type of measures."

Will the money be raised? Of course - and then some. It's going to be the theme of this year's annual Federation CJA campaign, and the community is sure to be generous.

But just because they will succeed in raising the money doesn't make it right. That $3 million should be spent on pressing community needs, such as helping the poor, seniors, social programs, advocacy, and Israel support. Not on security guards to make sure that nobody tries again to blow up our elementary schools.

I find it sad that the community needs to foot the bill. I find it even sadder that schools need security guards in the first place. This isn't the Canada I know and love.

|

 
1:34 PM
Finally, a medal in a real sport: silver in rowing. We missed gold by 8/100 of a second.

|

 
12:04 AM
Good news, bad news

So the good news is, Canada finally won another medal in Athens - a silver, this time.

The bad news is, it's in trampoline.

Trampoline??? That's an Olmypic event??? Okay this confirms it: there are way too many sports in the Olympics.

|

 
11:13 AM
Well we didn't have to wait long to see what our new foreign minister's attitude towards Israel was going to be:

Canada rebuked Israel over a plan to build 1,000 new homes in existing settlements in the West Bank, saying the move hindered hopes for peace with the Palestinians.

Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew suggested that the swelling settlements were a contravention of the internationally-backed roadmap peace plan.

"Canada is very concerned by Israel's decision," Pettigrew said in a statement.

"It contravenes international law and goes against the Quartet's Road Map for peace in the Middle East, agreed to by the parties, which requires the freezing of all settlement activity."

"Final status issues such as land and borders can only be resolved through a negotiated agreement between the parties.

"The deliberate expansion of settlements in the occupied territories hinders the prospect for achieving a peaceful resolution to the conflict."

Right. As though the Road Map were still on the radar screen. As though the Palestinians fulfilled even a single obligation of theirs spelled out by the Road Map. As though the "hopes for peace" were still alive and well.

Canada's official foreign policy: denial of reality.

|

 
12:07 AM
Bronze for Israel

We Canadians may be depressed about only winning one bronze so far. But Israel, on the other hand, is ecstatic about its bronze medal in judo, won by Arik Ze'evi. The medal is Israel's first in Athens and fifth in the country's entire Olympic history. All the more so because the medal was won in the sport of judo, in which the gutless Iranians refused to face Israel.

Way to go!

|

 
10:34 PM
One week. One bronze medal. Zero glory.

This sucks.

|

 
6:11 PM
Less people on welfare

The Globe and Mail is reporting that a study claims that less people in Canada are getting welfare cheques... but by the wording of the article, they seem to be implying that this is a bad thing:

The number of Canadians receiving social assistance cheques fell sharply in the second half of the 1990s, a new study says, blaming reforms to the welfare system that made many more people ineligible for the money.

Blaming?

That one word pretty much says everyting you need to know about the good ol' Canadian attitude about being a welfare state. I mean, it would be tyrannical of us to expect people to quit abusing the system and actually get jobs!

One element of this study, at least, was no surprise:

For poor people in Quebec and in Newfoundland and Labrador, the welfare rate rose sharply in 1993, then remained high through to 2000. The rate in those provinces surpassed that of all other provinces by 2000.

In 2000, Quebec had the highest overall welfare rate of 21 per cent, but Newfoundland and Labrador had the highest welfare rate for couples with children.

In other words, more than one in 5 people in Quebec sit around and live off handouts. And while I can accept that some of them legitimately need it, there's no way that 21% of the Quebec population is utterly incapable of doing anything useful to make a living.

But why work when you can get paid to sit at home and drink beer, right? It's the Canadian way!

Update: Justaguy pointed out that, according to Statistics Canada, that figure is actually 21% of "unattached" people in Quebec on welfare. I still think that's pretty sad.

|

 
11:55 PM
Mmmm... beer...

Do you suppose we could call him a guzzly bear? (Hat tip: Mark).

|

 
11:31 PM
"Lack of progress" in Darfur

Reuters reports that the U.N. is concerned about "lack of progress" in Darfur:

The United Nations says it is concerned by Sudan's lack of progress in bringing security to Darfur, where more than a million people have fled their homes for fear of militia attack.

Sudan has less than two weeks to prove to the U.N. Security Council it has made progress towards disarming marauding Arab militias known as Janjaweed, or face possible sanctions.

Let's review, shall we?

Was the U.N. "concerned" about the years of fighting? Was the U.N. "concerned" about the ethnic cleansing and genocide (a word that they still refuse to say) that has so far cost 40,000 people their lives and sent a million more fleeing for theirs? Where has the "concern" been all these months while the Sudanese government backed and armed the janjaweed, who have been brutally killing, raping, and torturing tens of thousands?

But hey, it's happening in Africa and it's so far away, so who really cares anyway right? And what do we know about Sudan, or about Chad, besides that there's a lot of people there starving and dying? And besides, it wouldn't be politically-correct to say that what's actually happening is Muslims killing black Africans. Especially because there's no way to blame George W. Bush, and there's no way to blame Israel.

Go read this horror story. Now imagine a million or two more like it. Then try to tell me that we should be relying on the U.N. to ensure international security.

The U.N. fucked up royally in Darfur, just like they fucked up royally in Kosovo, in Rwanda, in the DRC... in virtually anywhere else there's been a conflict. And, as usual, it is the innocent who pay the price.

|

 
11:03 PM
Rowing heartbreak

We Canadians don't exactly have an abundance of medal-contenders at these games. Which makes this all the more painful:

[Dave] Calder, a native of Victoria, and Chris Jarvis of St. Catharines, Ont., were disqualified from the men's pairs Olympic rowing semifinal Wednesday for leaving their lane just before the finish line.

The story seems a bit fishy, though, because the Canadian team will be allowed to compete in the B-finals:

Jarvis, 23, said the decision was "not a sensible outcome."

"First, we displayed medal potential the entire race," he said. "If FISA is willing to change the ruling to allow us to race, why not allow us to race in the final that we have qualified for?

Why indeed?

The South African team claimed that the Canadians interfered with their oar, but the Canadians insist there was no contact. In any case, this is a really tough break for the Canadian team, which was certainly in medal contention until this time. All that training, all those years of hard work... all to end in a tough break. Ouch.

|

 
9:31 PM
Likud votes down coalition

A vote by Likud to reject a coalition with Labor to push through Gaza disengagement is being presented as a major setback for Ariel Sharon:

Likud's Central Committee, its decision-making body, voted by a 58% majority to prevent PM Ariel Sharon from negotiating with the opposition Labor party. By a narrow margin, even Sharon's modest proposal to allow him to talk with any Zionist party was rejected. The PM vowed to pursue his course and talk with Labor anyway. Most Likud Ministers and Knesset Members supported him.

In his speech, interrupted by frequent catcalls and boos, Sharon attacked the "rebellious and irresponsible" parts of the body that opposed him. "Unfortunately, there is a group within the party that has been plotting against the government since its establishment," he said. "This is not the behavior expected from members of the ruling party."

That last bit sounds like Jean Chretien speaking to Paul Martin. But anyway...

This is one of the problems with fighting a war in a democracy. All the decision-making is done in public; all the dirty laundry gets to be dissected by the international press. Arafat, in contrast, can just shoot anyone who opposes him. Much less messy or controversial, I suppose.

Anyway, the opposition is busy talking about how bad this is for Sharon's government:

A Labor Party spokesman said that the decision would inevitably lead to elections: "The Likud convention decided that it wants to see the Likud refusing peace and destroying any chance of ending violence in the region. If this position is adopted elections will be required."

But ultimately, the disengagement plan will happen. Ariel Sharon is - politically - the cat with nine lives. Every other week, some media outlet predicts the collapse of his government and the end of his political career. They've always been wrong until now. We'll probably see that repeated again here.

|

 
9:09 PM
Blogosphere Roundup

I haven't done this in a while, and I think some of my fave bloggers are feeling neglected. Not that they care about the 2 hits they'll get from these links, but hey, I think they're great reads... so you should too :)

Lynn is not impressed by Arafat's mea culpa and neither is Meryl. Neither am I, for that matter. Arafat's line about how "even the prophets made mistakes" sounds more like an egotistical attempt for Arafat to compare himself to a prophet than anything else. I guess megalomania comes with the territory for dictators. Whatever.

LGF has the Muslim self-congratulations for vote influence in Canada, which is a logical follow-up to some of what I posted before the election.

Damian has some thoughts about the backlash against Springsteen for participating in the concerts for John Kerry. I think he nails the issue - it's silly to boycott all celebs for their political views unless they're extreme. But if people want to boycott, or to criticize, that's part of freedom of speech as well. Personally I wish celebs would butt out of politics and stick to their areas of expertise, but I know that's about as likely to happen as peace in the middle east.

And finally, a shout-out to the newest link on my blogroll, Autonomous Source. Bruce is a blogger from right here in Quebec, and definately worth a read.

|

 
10:04 AM
La Belle Dictatorship

Last time, they threw out our ballots and bribed election officials. This time, they may not even make a pretense of allowing the people to have our say.

Jacques Parizeau wants the PQ to declare sovereignty without a referendum the next time they get elected:

Rather than wait for a referendum, the Parti Québécois should run Quebec as if it is independent after it wins a provincial election, says former leader Jacques Parizeau, giving tacit support to a growing core of members who want to change the PQ's modus operandi of the past three decades.

"Many sovereigntists have concluded that the game isn't playable under the current conditions and that we need to find another way. ..... Quebec entered the Canadian confederation by a vote of lawmakers, despite calls for a referendum. It can leave in the same fashion," Mr. Parizeau wrote in an essay published in the newspaper La Presse.

Because after all, according to Parizeau, what does the will of the people matter? Especially the dreaded "money and the ethnic vote"?

The Parti Quebecois has not been averse to trampling the will of the people in order to push its unpopular agendas. The forced municipal mergers - just partially undone this year - were perhaps the best recent example. Quebec governments have always had a somewhat paternalistic attitude, figuring that they know what's best for us even if we strongly disagree.

But this would be beyond the pale. Taking Quebec out of Canada without the clear support of the population simply goes too far. Maybe Parizeau is conceding that he doesn't think the PQ could win a referendum? Or maybe he just doesn't care about the will of the citizens.

Even Bernard Landry recognizes this idea as a non-starter:

"The birth of a country cannot take place without the support of a majority of the men and women of Quebec. That's a matter of dignity," he said during one of several broadcast appearances.

Analysts said the idea might be well received by the "impatient" wing of the party but is unlikely to find support in the population at large, which has elected PQ governments but said no to secession.

That said, the PQ has a history of using hardliners like Parizeau to float trial balloons that meet with universal opposition and then somehow end up on the party's agenda.

I'd almost love to see them try to pull a stunt like this. It would surely fail, and lose them about a zillion votes in the process.

Assuming - that is - that our votes still count.

|

 
4:21 PM
Medal for Canada

It's about time too. We finally won one - a bronze - in women's synchronized diving. It went to Emilie Heymens and Blythe Hartley.

Well, at least we're up on the board. On the other hand, finishing the first three days with nothing but a bronze medal is pretty depressing.

|

 
10:31 AM
And it's business as usual for AP, writing underdog pieces about their favourite Palestinian media darlings trying to stand up to the big bad evil tyrants of Israel.

This time, the issue is a hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners, which is about as made-for-the-media an event as I can possibly imagine:

Palestinian prisoners launched a hunger strike Sunday, in what was shaping up to be the biggest showdown between thousands of inmates and the Israeli authorities since the outbreak of fighting in 2000.

[ . . . ]

Mr. Barghouti is taking part in the hunger strike, his daughter Aruba said. The strike started Sunday with 1,600 inmates in three prisons and was to spread to others, with all 7,500 prisoners to take part by the end of the week.

The Palestinian government said it backed the prisoners and declared Wednesday a day of solidarity. "We fully support the legitimate demands of the prisoners and the ending of the policy of collective punishment, torture and terror by the Israeli prison administration against the prisoners and their families," Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said in a statement.

Torture and terror, my ass. There's a sort of irony in watching the Palestinians imprisoned for terrorism accuse Israel of terror.

Their chief complaints? They want more phone access and more liberal visiting hours for their families. Poor babies.

But then, they know full well that the world doesn't care why they're in jail, or how many innocent people they've murdered... a hunger strike will still get them front-page coverage and worldwide sympathy. Excuse me while I gag.

Meanwhile, sometimes I wish that the Israeli officials who get interviewed for this stuff wouldn't make it so easy for the press by obliging with statements like this one:

Israeli Public Security Minister Tzachi Hanegbi said over the weekend that Israel would not give in to the prisoners' demands. "The prisoners can strike for a day, a month, even starve to death, as far as I am concerned," Mr. Hanegbi said.

Would it kill the Israelis to at least try to make their case in the press? I realize their attitude of frustration is largely a result of years of biased coverage, and they figure why bother being polite. But come on, this stuff just makes it so easy for the Palestinians to spread their propaganda. A few classes in media relations for any Israeli in a position to be speaking to the foreign press might be a wise investment.

|

 
10:12 AM
Here we go again...

Brace yourself for yet another UN-led Israel-bashing session, as a proposed Arab-Israeli nuclear conference next year is sure to devolve into just that:

The UN nuclear agency will next year host a conference, including Israel and Arab states, to discuss steps to make the Middle East into a zone free of nuclear weapons, the head of the U.N. watchdog said Sunday.

As Israel is the only Middle Eastern country believed to have nuclear weapons, the talks would effectively boil down to what the Israeli government would require to abandon the nuclear option. Israel has never confirmed nor denied having the nuclear bomb.

At a time when the world should be raising the alarm about Iran's nuclear program - which actually poses a great threat to the entire world - the UN has chosen to revert to type and once again focus its energies on the traditional scapegoat, Israel.

I can't wait.

|

 
9:58 AM
Weekend update

I'm not Jimmy Fallon or Tina Fey, but hey, this is a blog, not a late-night TV show. Deal with it.

The devastation caused by Hurricane Charley is a real nightmare. So far, at least 16 people are dead. Hundreds more are homeless, having lost everything. The estimated damages have run into the billions.

It hasn't been a very good start for Canada in the Olympics. Two days, zero medals. This is getting embarrassing. If Australia can dominate the medal count, why can't we put on a better showing?

|