The Tsunami disaster has meant that we are in full emergency mode here at work. So blogging will be light for a little while.
Not the greatest blogging start to 2005, I know. But hey, I didn’t make any New Year’s resolutions to blog more often. (Actually, I didn’t make any New Year’s resolutions at all, since I never actually keep them.)
“It’s been a long December and there’s reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last.” – Counting Crows
There are no words to express the horrors of the Tsunami earthquake disaster that so far has claimed over 80,000 lives and completely destroyed millions more. I won’t attempt to find them.
But even though I’m on vacation – from work, from the blog, from reading the papers – I, like many other bloggers, felt it would be horribly remiss of me not to at least make mention of what is pretty much the only news story these days that matters.
First of all, to help: pretty much every relief organization in the book is accepting donations. Money is being collected in the biggest disaster relief effort in history – from individuals, from governments, from the whole world. And all this much-needed help is being accepted… with one notable exception. If you do want to help through Jewish channels, the JDC is taking donations. For Canadians, the CJC is collecting on their behalf.
At times like this, though, the thing I always think about is, well, how big a disaster does something have to be to encourage people to help? Until last week, money was pouring in to help the millions in desperate need in Sudan, as the “conflict” that the UN doesn’t have the guts to call genocide in the Darfur region rages on. But now, the story that food aid to the region is being suspended because it’s too dangerous for aid workers, well, that’s lost in the shuffle. After all, only 40,000 people have died in the Sudan crisis. That’s nowhere near the staggering 80,000 who have died so far in just a couple of days in Tsunami.
80,000. 40,000. Do these numbers even have meaning anymore? Where do we draw the line? Do we donate only when there are four zeros? Record-high generosity for the Tsunami relief funds is much needed and appreciated, but the cold reality is that disasters mean an influx of cash for some at the expense of others who aren’t grabbing as many headlines because their work doesn’t have as many zeros.
Of course, we can’t help everyone everywhere. We all do what we can in small ways. But sometimes I wonder how much of what we do is all about a numbers game.
Merry Christmas to all my Christian readers… and to anyone else who likes the lights, the cheesy jingles, and the vacation time. Especially the vacation time.
Jean Charest’s Liberals might reopen the constitutional debate if they are somehow miraculously re-elected:
The Charest government could reopen constitutional talks if it wins another mandate from the Quebec population.
“I think that we should never forget that it’s important to eventually come to a system where the provinces would be better represented in a reformed senate,” said Intergovernmental and Native Affairs Minister Benoît Pelletier in an interview.
No no no no no, Jean! Didn’t you learn anything from the Mulroney years? From Meech Lake and from Charlottetown? From the events that led up to the 1995 referendum? Why in god’s name would you even suggest stirring this up again?
Hey Liberals: are you desperately trying to do everything in your power to lose the next election? Because you’re sure doing a nice job at it. And the mere word mention of the C-word “constitution” is even dirtier than the R-word “referendum” among most Quebec voters. Even the threat of restarting that nonsense is sure to get your MPs a one-way ticket to the unemployment line.
What is it about politicians and their total utter incapability of learning from past mistakes, anyway?
Newfoundland has legalized gay marriage, making it the eighth Canadian province or territory to do so:
The province of Newfoundland and Labrador became the eighth of Canada’s provinces and territories to legalize same-sex marriage after its high court authorized such unions.
The provincial court’s decision came 12 days after Canada’s Supreme Court gave the federal government authorization to change the definition of marriage. The government will introduce the legislation in the House of Commons early next year.
Of the holdouts, most will probably quickly fall in line once Canada passes federal legislation on the subject, as is expected early next year. Most likely, there were simply no cases for them to rule on yet.
Alberta, however, is a question mark. The conservative province has vowed to fight, thoughit’s unclear what recourse they would have against a federal law. Albertans, like many Americans, seem to maintain an irrational fear that gay marriage will somehow destory their lives. Then again, maybe all the men in Alberta are just terrified that they’ll somehow be forced to marry Ralph Klein…
Tony Blair is in Israel holding meetings this week with Israeli and Palestinian leaders (separately, of course):
The centerpiece of Blair’s visit is his initiative for a conference in London focused on strengthening the new Palestinian leadership. Sharon said Tuesday that Israel will support the conference but will not attend. He said the conference is meant to influence the promotion of reforms in the PA, and to consolidate support for a sweeping plan to rehabilitate Gaza and the Palestinian economy.
Analysts are saying that Blair sees an opportunity with Arafat’s death and is trying to capitalize on it.
Blair sees an opportunity alright… but it has nothing to do with helping the Palestinians, and everything to do with his own political career.
Ever since Blair cast his lot with Bush by joining the campaign in Iraq, his political stock among Europeans and a good number of Britons has plummeted. The Israeli-Palestinian issue is his pet project to try to score back some brownie points.
And while he seems to be proceeding cautiously for the moment, I can’t help but think that Blair is wading into waters that are much too deep for him. I only hope the Israeli people don’t pay the price.
Current Montreal temperature: A balmy -26°C, with a windchill factor of minus -40°C. In this weather, exposed skin will get frostbite in less than thirty seconds. I hear a coworker whistling “Let it Snow” – probably less as a Christmas song, and more as a plea for the temperature to warm up enough to snow.
Yep, winter’s here.
I’ll be away from my computer this weekend (yay!) so posting will resume Monday. Have a good one!
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