Segacs’s World I Know

We were teased with spring. But now, winter’s back in full force, with high winds, blowing snow, and 10 centimetres predicted in the city by the end of the day.

Figures that I’d have picked today to schedule my car for maintenance. The normally pleasant 10-minute walk from the metro to my office was loads of fun, let me tell ya. I can sure pick ’em.

On the bright side, this is great news for the ski hills – they’re predicting 20cm in the Townships.

We now enter the year of the Rooster, which, according to the predictions on the radio this morning, is a bad year to get married, a year in which married people are likely to break up, and, for people born in a Rooster year, a bad year for career advancement. Remind me again why we’re celebrating?

Oh yeah. The excellent Chinese food.

Flippancy aside, here’s wishing all people celebrating the New Year a healthy, happy and prosperous one.

Employees voted 76% in favour of the new contract agreement, and they’ll be heading back to work on Friday after two and a half months of striking:

Reports say the union managed to negotiate more permanent and temporary positions, and a guaranteed minimum number of hours, while the SAQ got more flexibility to operate.

Yawn. Someone please explain to me why it took months to reach this deal, when everyone knew the government would cave? Actually, never mind, I’m still trying to figure out why “guaranteed hours” for part-timers should be offered to anyone in retail, let alone people selling such a seasonal product like alcohol.

Oh well. People in Quebec can rest easy now, knowing that our liquor demand will be fulfilled by diligent part-timers earning nearly twice minimum wage, paid fully by our tax dollars. Ain’t life grand?

The state of Virginia is declaring war on fashion, with the introduction of a bill to ban low-ride pants:

Del. Algie T. Howell Jr., a Democrat, has filed legislation that would levy a $50 fine on anyone who “exposes his below-waist undergarments in an offensive manner.”

Cause, you know, all them new-fangled fashion trends are really confusing and all, so let’s ban the younger generation cause everyone knows that fashion reached its pinnacle fifty years ago. No new trends allowed or we’ll sic the fashion police on you.

Isn’t America supposed to be the “land of the free”? Not, apparently, when it comes to fashion.

That’s what my dad likes to claim, anyway. I don’t know about that. But for Jean Chrétien, testifying at the sponsorship inquiry, the claim is probably more like golf is politics:

In one of the statements that particularly angered Mr. Chrétien in December, Mr. Justice John Gomery, who is presiding over the inquiry, said the fact the fact the sponsorship program was used to buy golf balls with the former prime minister’s signature on them “small-town cheap”.

Upon questioning by his own lawyer, David Scott, Mr. Chrétien’s pulled out a number of golf balls he said had been given to him by “small town guys” including one George W. Bush from Crawford, Tex., along with other examples of “small town guys” such as former democratic leader Al Gore, and former president Bill Clinton.

He also had golf balls provided to him by Ogilvy Renault, a Montreal law firm which includes Judge Gomery’s co-counsel, Bernard Roy. He said those couldn’t be called “small-town cheap” because the firm is located in Westmount, a wealthy district in Montreal.

Chrétien’s deadpan delivery of the parting shots to Gomery made his disdain for the whole inquiry process plainly obvious. I mean, do we really need to be spending 60 million dollars finding out why money was spent on golf balls?

This AP report of today’s cease-fire declaration between Israel and the Palestinians is, like most reporting on the issue, optimistic.

Reading between the lines, though, we see the telling of an entirely different story. For example, the article claims that the “sides are moving quickly”. Let’s see what each side has done so far:

“Today, in my meeting with chairman Abbas, we agreed that all Palestinians will stop all acts of violence against all Israelis everywhere, and, at the same time, Israel will cease all its military activity against all Palestinians everywhere,” he said.

Yay, no more violence. But…

But the Palestinian militant group Hamas immediately called the deal into question. The group’s representative in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, told The Associated Press it would not be bound by the Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire declarations.

So in other words, the terrorists will continue their attacks, and Abbas will continue Arafat’s tradition of claiming to have no control over them and nothing to do with them. Meanwhile, Israel will have tied its hands in being able to respond.

Moving on…

In signs the two sides are working quickly, Palestinian negotiator Hassan Abu Libdeh said the leaders agreed that 500 Palestinian prisoners would be freed immediately by Israel, to be followed by 400 more at a later stage.

So Israel is sending more terrorists back on the streets, freeing them to kill again. What are the Palestinians doing in return?

Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, a key parliamentary committee narrowly approved a bill that would allow Mr. Sharon to carry out his planned pullout from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank in the summer. The vote passed 10-9 on a subject that has split the party and angered one of its main constituencies — settlers and their supporters.

Nope, that’s another move by Israel. A biggie. Still searching for a Palestinian concession here.

During the summit, Mr. Sharon also invited Mr. Abbas to visit him at his ranch in southern Israel and Abbas accepted, according to a senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official, Gideon Meir. Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said that meeting would take place soon.

Nice gesture. Maybe they can go snorkeling together. But I’m not sure how this amounts to any kind of Palestinian concession.

Gissin said that as part of Israel’s halting of military operations, it would stop its controversial assassinations of wanted Palestinians, as long as the Palestinians kept militants under control.

Another concession from Israel. Where are the Palestinian confidence-building moves?

Whoops, we’ve reached the end of the article. I haven’t seen any yet.

I suppose it’s that people are so sick of war, they’re grasping at straws for hopes for peace, even though they’ve all been down this road before and they know full well where it leads. Sad, but not really unpredictable.

Washington, D.C. in early February – so warm that you can walk around outside without so much as a jacket. Even the brief snowfall just melted as soon as it hit the ground.

Unfortunately, I spent most of my time there in hotel conference rooms. But I did return home this weekend to a pleasant weather surprise of our own: warm, sunny Montreal temperatures.

Yesterday was a great day to be outdoors. We went up to Tremblant and joined the crowds skiing on the thin snow coverage and taking the sun in the long lift lines. It was so warm, in fact, that we needed air conditioning in the car on the way home.

I know it’s just a ruse, and that winter will be back in full force shortly. I know that at the first temperature dip, everything that melted will freeze back over and turn Montreal’s streets and sidewalks into a skating rink. I know that the minus 25 temperatures and windchills are not over, they’ve just called a temporary truce.

But hey, my theory is to enjoy it while it lasts.

What could be more perfect for the pro-gay marriage camp than finding out that the anti-gay marriage camp was being financed by Americans:

Powerful religious groups in the United States are quietly sending money and support to allies in Canada fighting same-sex marriage.

Moreover, some U.S. groups say they are prepared to spend whatever it takes to ensure same-sex marriage does not become legal north of the border.

This plays into everyone’s stereotypes. If you’re on the left, it’s only too obvious that those bible-thumping, gun-totin’ rednecks from evil America would be trying to circumvent our precious Canadian human rights. If you’re on the right, then the Americans are the only ones willing to protect the precious institution of marriage, and us Canadians should observe and learn something from the red states. And if you’re Stephen Harper, you might as well kiss your hopes of leading Canada goodbye.

Really, the hype about this is somewhat nonsensical. Gay marriage will pass in Canada, no matter where the funding for its opponents is coming from. Intolerance is intolerance on both sides of the border. And the religious groups do have a right to their opinion, whatever that may be. There’s still freedom of expression in this country.

But sheesh, if groups against gay marriage need to resort to funding from American interest groups, their support here in Canada must be even lower than I thought.

Allison points out this article at Israel21C about how gay Palestinians are seeking refuge in Israel:

Between Open House, its ‘sister’ community center in Tel Aviv, the gay-friendly commercial spots and pick-up parks here and there around the country, the annual gay pride parades in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and a fairly indifferent street-level attitude toward open homosexuals, Israel offers a refuge for Palestinian gays.

In their everyday lives at home, they must hide their sexuality because revealing it – or having it revealed against their will – would put them in violation of one of the most forbidding taboos in Arab society. Palestinians exposed as homosexuals are liable to be killed by Islamic or nationalist activists, or by their brothers or other male relatives.

Next time you go to a left-wing rally on a university campus and see someone holding a sign reading “Queers for Palestine”, why not give them a copy of this article?