Segacs’s World I Know

Two car bombs in Istanbul targeted Jews praying at a synagogue. 20 are dead and at least 250 injured:

Turkish officials said al Qaeda might have had a hand in it.

“It is clear that this is a terrorist event with international links,” Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said as emergency services struggled to treat those caught up in the blasts, which wrecked cars and buildings over wide areas.

Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said he could not rule out a role by Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda, blamed for attacks on other Jewish targets around the world in the past 18 months.

[ . . . ]

Istanbul health authorities said 20 people had been killed and 257 wounded in the two attacks, which hit the central Neve Shalom synagogue and another, Beit Israel, in the Sisli district around 9:30 a.m. (0730 GMT). The Neve Shalom — “Oasis of Peace” — was especially busy for a bar-mitzvah coming of age ceremony.

But many of the casualties were not Jews but people passing by on the busy streets outside the heavily protected synagogues.

What good is heavy protection when people are killed in acts of terror regardless?

Turkey is, relatively speaking, one of the friendliest countries with Israel in the Middle East. Aside from Turkey’s Jewish population – about 30,000 in Istanbul – thousands of Israeli tourists also flock there each year on vacation. This has an uncomfortable similarity to last year’s bombings in Mombasa, Kenya.

The real question is, who is responsible?

A radical Turkish Islamist group, widely believed to be backed by Iran, claimed responsibility, but Aksu said he doubted a local group could mount such a large-scale operation.

“It is difficult for any Turkey-based organization to carry out an attack of this magnitude,” he said at the scene.

Denial and wishful thinking? Or fact? Either local Turkish terrorists are targeting Jews – praying in synagogue, of all things! – or else the international cooperation between terrorist groups is getting stronger. Neither is a pleasant prospect.

As usual, in the differences between factions in the Muslim Middle East, the Jews are the convenient scapegoat. Ironically, the terrorists who target them also want to destroy Israel – do they realize that each attack of Jews outside of Israel only bolsters the reasons why Israel must continue to be strong?

I’ve decided that the ultimate in cruelty is bringing a box of fresh Krispy Kreme doughnuts to the office on a Friday. How on earth do they expect me to resist???

Canada has finally outlawed three more Palestinian terrorist groups:

The addition of the Palestine Liberation Front, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command bring to 34 the number of blacklisted groups.

“The Government of Canada has determined that these entities knowingly engaged in terrorist activity,” Easter said in a statement.

“Any person or group listed may have its assets seized and forfeited.

Great, so tomorrow they’ll rename themselves something else, and start illegally raising money again.

But hey, at least Canada’s admitting that they’re terrorists. That’s a big step for our country – we usually prefer to go the “don’t piss anyone off” route. I like being able to sew my flag on my backpack just as much as the next Canadian traveller, but hey, there’s a line somewhere, and I’d say purposely blowing up innocent people definitely crosses it.

I’ll echo Damian‘s sentiment of “better late than never”.

Tuesday was Remembrance Day. No, I didn’t forget. But I feel remiss for not having commemorated it here on the blog. It had nothing to do with feeling it’s unimportant – on the contrary, in fact – and more to do with simply not having time to write an entry. So forgive me if this is a couple of days late. As they say, better late than never.

The big scandals in the media were about a local IKEA store and some CIBC branches that refused to allow veterans to sell poppies on the premises. Both were quickly shamed by public outrage into reversing their decisions. And rightly so. After all, it’s only thanks to the veterans and their sacrifices that we’re able to go about our daily lives in the first place.

It’s unfortunate that it took a media scandal to bring more attention to the day this year than usual. 364 days a year, we get to take our freedoms for granted. These include the freedom to work, study, shop, travel, spend time with our families, or even to go to a peace rally denouncing war. The last one of course is the ultimate irony.

All the brave people who sacrificed so much for these freedoms are asking for is one day to pause and remember. And not even a full day – just a moment of silence. But think about it: how many of you really stopped answering the phone, typing the e-mail, typing the report, or studying for the exam at 11am on Tuesday? I can admit freely that I didn’t – it wasn’t till about a quarter to 12 that I realized that, in the midst of my hectic work routine, 11am had come and gone. At that point, I paused and reflected for about 10 seconds, until real life came calling once again.

If it’s true that “those who forget history are doomed to repeat it”, then we’re in big trouble. Look around, you might say, we’ve been repeating the same mistakes for centuries, even millennia. Why should now be any different?

So it’s easy to be an armchair activist… or an armchair pacifist… so long as we’re not called upon to actually do anything. Wave flags? Maybe. Hand out flyers? Perhaps. Show up at a rally or to hear (or jeer) a speaker? Once in a while. But to be called upon to serve one’s country takes a different brand of courage. The veterans who fought recognized that some values are worth fighting for – even dying for. And for that, they deserve to be remembered, honoured, and quite simply, thanked.

The talk of the blogosphere has been the article in this week’s Onion: Mom finds out about blog.

Yeah, that’s gotta suck. I personally nearly split my head open from falling off the chair when I read it. It’s funny cause it’s true… we’re willing to publicize our lives for total strangers, but are horrified to think our parents might google us and catch on.

(Mom, Dad, if you guys are reading this, I swear, those weirdos who keep flaming my comments fields aren’t stalking me!)

Update: Actually I changed my mind. Mom, Dad, if you’re reading this – just don’t, ok?

Second update: Blogger has come out with an official response full of advice for mom-weary bloggers.

As you have probably noticed, I’m on a bit of a blogging break. Other craziness happening in life has got to take priority right now. I hope to be back soon.

(Incidentally, try saying “bit of a blogging break” ten times fast.)

I must have blinked and missed a drastic political shift in Quebec: it seems our province has the “distinction” of favouring two-tier healthcare:

A poll conducted last month by Environics and CROP for the Centre for Research and Information on Canada shows support in Quebec for a two-tiered health care system has been steadily rising over the past three years. While only 38 per cent of Quebecers supported the concept in 2001, that figure rose to 49 per cent in 2002 and 53 per cent this year.

However, the picture in Quebec is distinctly different than in the rest of the country. The poll found 52 per cent of Canadians think governments should increase health care spending rather than allow private companies to deliver health care services to those who can afford it. Only 37 per cent favoured allowing the private sector to deliver services while 9 per cent would limit the availability of some treatments and medications.

The Gazette article is sensationalizing somewhat. People said they favoured the private system providing some services to supplement the public one. They weren’t asked outright if the rich should have better healthcare than the poor; I am sure that the results would have been drastically different if the question had been phrased that way.

But since when did Quebec ever position itself to the right of the other Canadian provinces on any issue before?

I really, really, really hate having to go to the dentist.

Thanks to the person who bought me Six Days of War from my Amazon.ca Wish List. You know who you are. It’s always nice to get presents.