Segacs’s World I Know

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

What do you get when Canadians try to jump on the reality TV bandwagon? A hockey reality show.

Yes, we’re proud of living up to our stereotypes.

The Athens 2004 Summer Olympics kick off today with the opening ceremonies airing on TV tonight. And, as usual, I find myself getting caught up in a bit of Olympic Fever.

My favourite Olympics are the Winter games. That’s where Canadian athletes really shine, and where we get to see cool sports like fixed-judge figure skating, pot-a-rific snowbording (“awesome, dude!”), or loonie-lucky hockey that gives us 4 years of bragging rights over the Americans.

The Summer sports I most enjoy watching are the gymnastics, the diving, and the swimming. I’m also looking forward to seeing the games hosted in Athens; despite the countless problems that the Greeks have had in preparing for this moment, there’s something to be said for the historical implication.

Go Canada!

Just back from a couple of days in New York on business. While there, I noted that the news that was most consuming people’s minds tended to be about one of four endlessly-discussed subjects: The Scott Peterson trial (who cares?), the election (on which I’ve promised no mention on this blog until September), the Republican National Convention (mostly about how inconvenienced they would all be because of it), and the weather (hurricanes in Florida = badness).

Then the Governor of New Jersey, Jim McGreevey, resigned – he claimed – because he is gay and had an extramarital affair. And that became front-headline news.

I watched a bit of the media circus with increasing distaste.

I must confess, I had hardly even heard of McGreevey before. So my initial reaction when I watched him was admiration for his willingness to take responsibility, and disgust that his stated reasons for stepping down should – in 2004 – force anyone out of politics.

Then I started seeing the reports about the alleged real reasons McGreevey resigned: He’s facing a sexual-harassment lawsuit from a former security advisor (an Israeli, of all things), and allegations of widespread corruption in his office.

I’m disgusted that personal lives continue to be fair game for political attack.

I’d like to see it stopped. After all, knowing a man had an affair means I’d be wary of dating him, not of electing him. And knowing or learning he’s gay wouldn’t affect my political opinion of him at all.

But by giving these personal, irrelevant excuses for a resignation clearly motivated by indiscretions that are relevant to office, McGreevey essentially told the public that it’s okay to make sexual orientation or marital fidelity into political issues.

We should be working to firm that line, not to blur it. After all, this is 2004, not 1904. The number of gay men and women who have achieved success in public life tells us that it’s time for this to stop being an issue. The Clinton years showed us that most voters will even forgive someone for having an affair, assuming – correctly – that this is a matter between spouses, not fodder for public consumption.

The fact that gay groups are supporting McGreevey simply compounds the absurdity. If I were them, I’d have nothing but contempt for a man who is essentially telling voters that it’s okay to resign in shame for being gay, while trying to use the issue to cover up real problems.

That’s the kind of abuse that happens when the personal and the political become one and the same. And that’s what makes this story so sad.

Update: Wonkette on the subject (via Damian Penny):

McGreevey’s speech was stunning, inspiring and perhaps even profound. . . It’s too bad he’s so corrupt.

Well put.