Segacs's World I Know

Phone call recap

2009-10-20T19:57:00.002-04:00

Me: Hello?
Him: (in fairly good, though heavily-accented English) May I please speak to [segacs]?
Me: Yes, speaking?
Him: I'm a volunteer calling from the Harel campaign team and I was calling to ask you about the municipal election. Are you aware that there's an election on November 1st?
Me: Yes, I am.
Him: (a little embarrassed) And, may I ask if Mme Harel can count on your vote?
Me: (laughing) Well, I would definitely have to say... not.
Him: (laughing a little) Okay, thank you.

Even the volunteers know that when they get an anglophone on the phone, it's a lost cause.

On the other hand, in an election where our choices are Gerard corruption-is-my-middle-name Tremblay, Louise I-hate-anglos Harel, and Richard cars-and-corporations-are-evil Bergeron, I can't help but feel that my best bet on November 1st will be to stay home.

Anti-Israel crowd targets TIFF

2009-09-04T11:29:00.003-04:00

The usual list of celebrity idiots are protesting the Toronto film festival for highlighting Israeli films and culture:

The group is circulating a letter of protest and has drawn more than 50 signatures from artists around the world including American writer Alice Walker, Canadian writer and activist Naomi Klein, U.K. filmmaker Ken Loach and American actor Danny Glover.

“Looking at modern, sophisticated Tel Aviv without also considering the city’s past and the realities of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza strip would be like rhapsodizing about the beauty and elegant lifestyles in white-only Cape Town or Johannesburg during apartheid without acknowledging the corresponding black townships of Khayelitsha and Soweto,” the letter states.

Same bullshit, different day. But what's almost more shocking is the response of the festival organizers:

Festival co-director Cameron Bailey responded with a statement defending the program, although he acknowledged “Tel Aviv is not a simple choice and that the city remains contested ground.”

Excuse me? Tel Aviv is "contested ground"???

There are no words.

The Little (Israeli) Mermaid?

2009-08-14T12:38:00.003-04:00

Mermaid sightings in Kiryat Yam have been reported for the last several months:

An alleged mermaid, said to resemble a cross between a fish and a young girl, only appears at sunset. It performs a few tricks for onlookers before disappearing for the night.

One of the first people to see the mermaid, Shlomo Cohen, said, "I was with friends when suddenly we saw a woman laying on the sand in a weird way. At first I thought she was just another sunbather, but when we approached she jumped into the water and disappeared. We were all in shock because we saw she had a tail."

There's a million-dollar reward announced by Kiryat Yam's tourism board for the first person who manages to photograph the mermaid. No word on whether that reward gets doubled if you present it alongside a photo of the Loch Ness Monster.

How to become a dictator, step seventy-three

2009-08-14T12:27:00.002-04:00

Why, indoctrinate the children, of course.

And Venezuela continues its steady slide into repression.

Bank sez: Recession's over

2009-07-23T20:45:00.001-04:00

Haven't you heard? The recession's over! This according to the Bank of Canada, which has waved its magic wand and proclaimed an end to all things R-word.

Something tells me that the record number of unemployed people might disagree with that assessment.

Hillary's priorities

2009-07-23T16:27:00.002-04:00

So apparently, Hillary Clinton is not okay with a nuclear North Korea... but she doesn't seem to have a problem with a nuclear Iran.

Better hope that umbrella is big enough to protect you from the ensuing shitstorm, Hillary.

Montreal-isms

2009-07-22T19:08:00.003-04:00

Bixi is apparently having a problem with too many bikes ending up downtown and not making it back to the Plateau. You'd think someone might have anticipated this issue when they introduced a public bicycle service in a city built on a hill, no?
Montreal has claimed the #1 spot on AskMen.com's Top 10 list of Canadian riots... as well as the #2, #3, #5, #8 and #9 spots. Clearly, something to be proud of.
Apparently, Montreal's festival season might be one festival short this year, thanks to idiots in the federal government.
T-shirt slogan of the week: "My drinking team has a hockey problem".
I just got offered a hot pepper by a random guy in an elevator.

The hockey team we deserve

2009-04-20T22:17:00.002-04:00

Well, the Habs are down 3-0 against the Bruins, and the season is a hair's breath from over. But, watching from the reds this evening, I couldn't even work my way up to being upset about it.

From the minute the sellout crowd booed loudly and rudely through the U.S. National Anthem, I knew it was going to be a long night. There is no excuse for that kind of disgusting display. If you don't want to sing, fine, but stand quietly and show some respect.

The boos continued all night for the likes of Zdeno Chara and company. The cheers, on the other hand, were loud and boisterous for hits, checks and fights, but were mostly absent otherwise. Last season, the Bell Centre was so loud during the playoff games that you couldn't even hear yourself think. Not so this season. When the team needed the crowd to rally behind them as they limped their way through a scoreless third, it was so silent you could hear a pin drop.

This fanbase eggs on the likes of Laraque and Stewart and encourages the team to play like thugs. Meanwhile, the so-called "big bad Bruins" beat us on skill, not might.

Yes, it's true that a good number of our key players were injured. Yes, it's true that Gainey has made some incredibly questionable decisions, including giving Carey Price a stranglehold on the starter's job for no apparent reason.

Ultimately, the better team won all three games. Boston has outplayed us, outmatched us, outdueled us in every critical category, and has walked away with the victories fair and square.

And until we fans start demanding better and acting with class, we can expect more of the same. This season, Montreal fans truly got the hockey team that we deserved.

Shame on us.

Carbo out, Gainey in

2009-03-09T20:34:00.003-04:00

Turns out Bob Gainey wasn't completely accurate when he said he wasn't going to make any more moves this season. He didn't trade any players on deadline day, but he did just fire Guy Carbonneau as coach.

It's hard to argue that the Habs' recent woes can be blamed solely or even largely on Carbo. On the other hand, sometimes fault doesn't come into it. Sometimes it's just about shaking things up.

Can't help but feel bad for the guy, though. I liked Carbonneau as a player and I liked him as a coach. He led the Habs to their best record in over a decade last season, and this season started off promising as well. Then again, I guess the higher you rise, the further you fall.

Montreal-isms

2009-02-23T19:00:00.001-05:00

Seen today in Square Victoria metro station: A busker playing the didgeridoo. Yes, that's right. The didgeridoo.

Did I mention how much I love my city?

Lieberman endorses Netanyahu

2009-02-19T11:48:00.003-05:00

Looks like it will be an Yisrael Beiteinu-backed Likud government.

One potential monkey wrench: Lieberman made his support of Netanyahu conditional on forming a broad-based coalition. And so far, Livni looks prepared to keep Kadima in opposition.

So, as they say, it ain't over till Shimon Peres sings.

It's about time

2009-02-17T09:17:00.000-05:00

The GSMA have announced measures to standardize mobile phone chargers by 2012.

100 Years

2009-02-15T21:25:00.002-05:00

On February 15, 1909, exactly 100 years ago today, ice gorges dammed Niagara Falls, a New Zealand ship wrecked when encountering penguins, and the Lusitania had a rocky voyage, six years before it was sunk by a German torpedo in WWI.

And in no less important news, at least from a personal perspective, a baby boy was born in Montreal.

My grandfather died four years ago, at the age of 96. He would have been 100 years old today.

We miss you lots, Zaida!

Losing streak snapped

2009-02-13T23:36:00.001-05:00

Shots: 48-22 in favour of Colorado. Final score: 4-2 Habs.

Halak stole that one for us. At least one of our goalies seems to have rediscovered his confidence, even if it's the wrong one. But that was a really dismal performance by the rest of the team.

Let's hope that this victory - however undeserved - helps energize the rest of the team to turn things around for real.

Bad to worse

2009-02-12T19:02:00.003-05:00

Trying to find an adequate word to describe the Habs' dismal performance as of late. "Disastrous" just doesn't seem strong enough.

Gainey's got a busy couple of weeks ahead. He'll need to do something to turn things around before the trade deadline.

Update: The carnage continues.

Meanwhile in Venezuela

2009-02-12T18:35:00.002-05:00

Hugo Chavez is trying again to become dictator-for-life, after being narrowly defeated last time around. Venezuelans vote in a referendum this Sunday to get rid of term limits. Observers are pessimistic that the opposition will be able to pull off a miracle a second time, but polls are close enough to think that the "no" side at least has a fighting chance.

Meanwhile, without George W. Bush in office anymore, Chavez has redirected his efforts towards the world's favourite scapegoat: Venezuela's Jewish community. In the past few years, antisemitism in Venezuela has reached staggering levels, and there's every indication that things are only going to get worse.

Another truce for Hamas to blatantly violate

2009-02-12T17:20:00.003-05:00

Reports out of Egypt that Hamas is going to agree to a long-term truce with Israel for Gaza.

Read between the lines. We have:

The truce being contingent on the re-opening of border crossings. Translation: Hamas is low on weapons supplies, and wants a time-out with easy access to re-arm.

An expiry date on the truce of 18 months, after which all bets are off and the whole song-and-dance will start all over from scratch.

Hamas doesn't refer to this as a "truce", but as the Arabic word "hudna", which has a completely different meaning. It's got nothing to do with a desire for reconciliation; instead, it's viewed as a tactical move.

And of course, no deal for the release of Gilad Shalit.

But we all know what will happen. Hamas will announce the truce with great fanfare. It will then blatantly proceed to ignore and violate the truce daily. Israel will close its eyes as long as possible before finally having no choice but to respond. And then the world will universally condemn Israel for "violating the terms" of the truce.

I wonder if Meryl Yourish will launch another Shudna Watch in her blog?

Choose your own coalition

2009-02-11T19:30:00.003-05:00

Speak Hebrew? Think you can fix Israel's political mess? Try your hand at coalition building with this fun tool.

(Hat tip: Yonah.)

Surprising narrow lead for Livni

2009-02-10T20:19:00.002-05:00

With over 85% of votes counted, Tzipi Livni's Kadima has a narrow lead over Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud in today's Israeli election.

Netanyahu had a commanding lead in the polls and the election looked like it was going to be a wash, but Livni fought back and now it's almost too close to call.

Even if Kadima wins, it doesn't necessarily mean that Livni will be the next Prime Minister. She had trouble forming a coalition government after Olmert resigned last year, and conditions now are even less favourable for Kadima than they were then.

Should be interesting times ahead as the post-election political jockeying begins.

The Israeli blogosphere has been up late following the events as they unfold, of course. Aussie Dave was liveblogging all day. Imshin thinks it's gonna get ugly. And Allison posts her excellent analysis on Pajamas Media.

In a related story, Meryl Yourish has more on what's passing for journalism at AP these days.

Yes we can... make great ads

2009-02-05T11:57:00.002-05:00

Freakin' brilliant ad campaign by a Tel Aviv ad agency for Berlitz, using a play on words on the Obama campaign slogan:

Sometimes, the greatest ideas are the most obvious. (Hat tip: Matt).

Enfin

2009-02-04T13:09:00.002-05:00

The Habs looked like themselves again last night, handily beating the Penguins 4-2 and playing like they meant it.

About time. Hope they can keep it up.

Israeli election update

2009-02-04T12:58:00.002-05:00

Benjamin Netanyahu, whose Likud party holds a commanding lead in the polls ahead of next week's Israeli election, says he wants to form a unity government to deal with "unprecedented challenges":

That's election-speak, if anything. The game keeps changing and everyone feels like challenges are "unprecedented", but a leader with some perspective ought to know that there's nothing all that new about Israel facing an existential threat.

So far, it looks like Kadima's reaction amounts to "thanks, but no thanks". But again, what gets said during a camapign and what happens afterwads aren't necessarily one and the same.

Egypt blames Hamas

2009-02-04T12:40:00.002-05:00

Further evidence of the increasing antagonism between Iran-backed Hamas and the Arab nations, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak publicly blamed Hamas for bloodshed in Gaza:

"How long will Arab blood continue to be spilled, only to hear those who admit to miscalculating the scope and scale of Israel's response?" Mubarak asked in a speech marking Egypt's national day to honor its police force.

Mubarak's comment came in reference to remarks reportedly made by Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal, who admitted at the end of the three-week Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip that he did not anticipate the scope of Israel's operation. Similar sentiments were expressed by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah at the end of the Second Lebanon War between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.

Mubarak went on to say that resistance movements must take responsibility over the welfare of their people. "The resistance must take into account victories and losses. It is responsible for the people, who in turn should settle the score [with the resistance] over the gains it has achieved, but also the sacrifices, the pain and the destruction it has caused," he said.

The split in the Middle East is heating up, with the rival Palestinian factions serving as proxies, as usual:

The Egyptian president also hinted that Hamas and other militant Palestinian factions are serving the Iranian agenda in the region, especially since the fighting in Gaza ended. "They are trying to take advantage of Israeli aggression to force a new reality on the current Palestinian and Arab situation. A new reality that will alter the equation and reorganize the balance in favor of known regional powers and will serve their agenda," Mubarak said. His comment came in response to Meshal's recent calls for the establishment of an alternative Palestinian body, to rival Fatah in representing the Palestinian people.

It's not much of a secret that there's no love lost between Hamas and Egypt, which supports Fatah in the factional struggle. Mubarak is appealing to the EU and the international community to try and maintain the regional balance of power. But analysts speculate this could be costly for him at home, where the extremist Muslim Brotherhood (from which Hamas is an offshoot) could make political gains in Egypt at Mubarak's expense. The peace between Israel and Egypt has always been chilly and fragile, and it's looking shakier than ever.

As for Israel? As long as Palestinian factions gain popular support by being perceived as the toughest against Israel, Israeli citizens will continue to pay the price for this power struggle.

London in the snow

2009-02-02T11:39:00.002-05:00

This is what happens when it snows in England.

A friendlier bus system?

2009-01-30T17:41:00.004-05:00

On the way home today, the STM bus driver on my route not only greeted every passenger with a friendly "bonjour", but he proceeded to announce the direction and terminus of the bus, as well as every stop along the route.

What city is this and what have they done with Montreal? What's next, roads without potholes?

If this was the initiative of one lone bus driver, kudos to him. If this reflects some sort of new STM policy - and I highly doubt that it does - then it's about damn time.

Now if only they could get the buses to show up on schedule...