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

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

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10:28 AM
Female hockey fans - this is news?

Note to Natasha Aimee Hall in today's Gazette: I don't know what you're smoking, or if you went to sleep 40 years ago and suddenly woke up yesterday. But I suggest you take a good hard look around.

As a female hockey fan, I find this article downright insulting. You write as though women have suddenly just discovered that - hey, guess what? - our national pastime can be lots of fun to watch!

I'm not sure which is worse: The suggestion that female fans just like to ogle the hot players, or the implication that women are more into hockey these days because we're "entering" the business arena and pursuing equality in other areas as well. Wake up, guys, this is 2007; we've "entered" the business arena a good long time ago, and the hockey arena as well.

Women make up nearly half of all fans attending NHL games. We follow the plays, read the papers, look at the statistics and the trades, debate the coaching strategies and line juggling, and appreciate a great comeback or an exciting goal just as much as any man does. One of my favourite girls' night activities is going to a Habs' game with a girlfriend, or getting together with a bunch of friends to watch a game on the big screen. We are devoted fans and have been for a long time. Reporting this as "news" suggests to me that you are completely out of touch with reality.

And that's just women who watch the sport. You have completely failed to mention those who play it. The number of participants in women's hockey has increased 400% in the past decade. Women play in leagues - both competitive and recreational - all over the country. I think if you asked Cassie Campbell, Danielle Goyette, Hayley Wickenheiser, or any of our gold-medal winning national team players, they might point out that not only do Canadian women play hockey, but they play it exceptionally well.

It's attitudes like those expressed in this article that ensure that women's hockey constantly gets the short shrift, both in terms of funding and in terms of publicity. Women like hockey, period - and we don't need pink Habs' t-shirts to be fans, either.

I politely suggest that you get your head checked. Into the boards. Hard.

Update: The Gazette published my letter on the subject.

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10:16 AM
"Best of the worst"

That's how a colleague described yesterday's Habs' 4-2 victory over the Flyers. An ugly game to be sure, but two points are two points, and we'll take 'em whenever we can get 'em.

Still, Carbs had better get the team in shape in time to face the surging Sens by tomorrow, who are only three points back.

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10:03 AM
Darfur refugees in Israel need help

Yesterday's Ynet had a piece about female Sudanese refugees from Darfur who have found their way to Israel and the private shelter that has offered them a refuge:

Eleven young women and 18 of their children are living in a shelter in a community in the Carmel region. The only difference between them and the rest of the residents is their origin: They have all escaped from the terror of genocide in Darfur, they have all somehow infiltrated into Israel and left behind families that they will never see again.

These women are not only haunted by the atrocities they have endured and by the family they have left behind - probably never to see again - but they face extreme hardships in Israel. Most crossed the border illegally from Egypt after enduring many hardships in their journeys, and their husbands are in prison. They are young women struggling to raise babies alone without any means of support besides the donations that keep the shelter running. They are in a land and culture that couldn't be more different from their own. And the Israeli government, despite being openly sympathetic to their plight on a world stage, is not offering much help:

“The state claims that the refugees are a security threat because they are citizens of an enemy country, and I want to mention that during the Holocaust Jewish refugees were turned away from numerous countries with the excuse that they were German citizens. We cannot forget that we are talking about human beings, even if their religion and skin color is different. We have to give them the opportunity to continue on with their lives and overcome what they have lived through”.

I don't mean to pick on the Israeli government here; obviously, Israel needs to balance its security concerns against its humanitarian ones. And the whole world should be doing more, Canada included.

Still, these women are eager to try to rebuild their lives in any way they can:

“The most important thing for them is education. They want to send their children to kindergarten and to school and to learn Hebrew. They all willingly learn about Judaism and the traditions of the Jewish people, and every Friday we have a Shabbat party.

"They also want to go to work, and are always asking me to try to arrange work for them. Every visitor is inundated with questions, maybe he has news from their husbands in prison, or knows when they will be allowed to go to work.”

The shelter needs help, and I encourage everyone to consider making a donation:

The shelter subsists solely on donations and needs all possible supplies: baby supplies such as blankets, sheets, clothing, cribs and carriages; a dryer; toys; and books in Arabic and English ,and Hebrew and English school books. To donate email [email protected]

Let's spread the word.

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9:43 AM
Beckham moves to La La Land

The world's most famous footballer, David Beckham, announced yesterday that he's leaving Madrid to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy in the rich-in-cash, poor-in-fan support MLS.

Beckham claims the reason for his move is to promote soccer to American kids. I'm thinking it may have more to do with the lure of some of Beckham's favourite things: glitz, glitter, glamour and celebrity.

Not to mention the 5-year deal worth $250 million - one of the largest ever awarded to any sports player anywhere. Of course, the money is more for his profile off the field than for his talent on it, which makes me wonder why the MLS bothered changing their salary cap rules to allow for signing him at all when they could have simply offered him a massive celebrity endorsement contract.

In any case, he's on his way. And while it's debatable how much of a boost he'll provide to American soccer, it's a certainty that he - and his Spice-girl wife - will provide an immediate boost to the paparazzi industry.

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9:39 AM
Attack of the killer rabbits

This is the seemingly-innocuous beginning to the plot of pretty much every B-grade horror movie:

A German pensioner who won a prize and worldwide fame for breeding his country’s largest rabbit — Robert, a 10.5kg (23lb) bruiser the size of a dog — has been offered an unusual opportunity to exploit his talents overseas.

Karl Szmolinsky has been given a contract by North Korea to supply giant rabbits to help to boost meat production in the reclusive Communist country, which is suffering severe food shortages. The only problem is that such huge rabbits consume vast quantities of food themselves as they grow.

Of course, if they ever get around that problem, we could be in for trouble. Today, it's simply breeding large rabbits to feed starving people. Tomorrow, the supersized bunnies could be roaming the globe. They're big... they're furry... and they bite!

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9:04 AM
Lines in the sand

Stephane Dion is wasting no time clarifying the policy differences between his Liberals and Stephen Harper's Tories, with his promise to scrap the GST cut to fund the environment:

He told the university audience that he would not follow through with a promise by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to reduce the GST to five per cent, from six per cent, by 2011.

"(The GST cut) is $5.5 billion out of the economy every year and it will not transform the economy and it is not a good social policy," Dion said.

Instead, he would introduce tax measures that would encourage people to choose appliances that conserve electricity, cars that use the least amount of gas and for retrofitting homes to reduce heating fuel consumption.

"We want to make a link between your wallet and the planet,'' he said, adding that such measures will be part of the party's next election platform. ''It's the way you change the culture."

This is actually pretty savvy of Dion. The announcement is clear-cut, it's easy to understand, and it comes at a time when the environment is at an all-time high as a voter concern.

Now, we can argue all we want about whether it's a good idea to reverse tax cuts to try to use the government for social engineering, or whether the GST cut was a silly idea to begin with, or what the best way really is to help the environment. But whichever side of this one you're on, the most encouraging sign is that suddenly we have a debate that's once again about vision and policy, rather than about scandal and character. If this is a sign of things to come, I, for one, find it downright refreshing.

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8:54 AM
Terrorism in Greece

It appears as though the people who attacked the U.S. Embassy in Athens were domestic terrorists:

An anti-tank shell was fired at the U.S. embassy early Friday, striking the front of the building but causing no injuries. Greece's Public Order Minister said the blast was probably an act of domestic terrorism -- raising fears of resurgent violence by far-left Greek militants.

"It is very likely that this is the work of a domestic group," Vyron Polydoras said. "We believe this effort to revive terrorism is deplorable and will not succeed."

He said Greece "strongly condemns" the attack on the heavily guarded building -- the first major attack against a U.S. target in Greece in more than a decade.

"We believe it is a symbolic act," Polydoras said. "It is an attempt to disrupt our country's international relations."

Polydoras said police were examining the authenticity of phone calls to a private security company claiming responsibility on behalf of a militant left-wing group.

Or, maybe it was the work of some French tourists who were tired of having to compete with so many Americans for the good beach hotels in the Greek islands each August.

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12:58 PM
Flying pig moment

Hamas acknowledges Israel exists:

Hamas acknowledges the existence of Israel but formal recognition by the group will only be considered when a Palestinian state has been created, the movement's leader Khaled Meshaal said on Wednesday.

Softening a previous refusal to accept the Jewish state's existence, Meshaal said Israel was a "reality."

"There will remain a state called Israel, this is a matter of fact," Meshaal said in an interview in the Syrian capital, where he lives in exile.

"The problem is not that there is an entity called Israel," said Meshaal. "The problem is that the Palestinian state is non-existent."

Before anyone gets too excited, let's keep in mind that Hamas has refused to change its charter calling for Israel's destruction, has refused to formally recognize Israel despite Western pressure, and continues to call for the so-called "right of return" of Palestinian refugees that would, in effect, destroy Israel through demographics. Not to mention that it continues to launch rockets and suicide attacks into Israel at every opportunity.

Still, this soundbyte is a baby step, even despite the convoluted logic that only a terrorist could come up with:

"As a Palestinian today I speak of a Palestinian and Arab demand for a state on 1967 borders. It is true that in reality there will be an entity or state called Israel on the rest of Palestinian land," said Meshaal.

"This is a reality but I won't deal with it in terms of recognizing or admitting it," he added.

Um, yeah.

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