Last night at the Bell Centre, the Habs made an excellent recovery from Saturday’s disaster in Toronto to beat Ottawa, one of the hottest teams in the NHL right now, 3-1.
But it was Ken Dryden’s night. The legendary goaltender (and now elected MP, since in this country we know full well that hockey players make the best politicians, and the rare *smart* hockey players make even better ones) had his number retired last night. He accepted the honour with humility and humour:
“Watching, waiting, not doing much of anything,” Dryden joked to the crowd about his signature stance. “That is pretty much what the 1970s were all about – that and a whole lot of Stanley Cups.”
Today’s Habs have a lot to live up to. But, judging by how they played last night, they were inspired to at least try.
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The media still insists on calling it a truce, despite this:
The air strike came a day after a Palestinian bomber killed three Israelis at a bakery in the Red Sea resort town of Eilat. The two radical groups that claimed to have sent the suicide bomber said they were trying to end weeks of Palestinian infighting by taking aim at Israel instead.
Ya think?
But Abbas thinks it ‘won’t affect’ the cease-fire. After all, why should it? Israel should just sit calmly and allow its citizens to be killed, right Mahmoud? Pretend it never happened? Sure, whatever you say there.
*Sigh*.
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Police are investigating:
Police are investigating vandalism at Edmonton’s oldest synagogue, where a swastika and anti-Semitic graffiti was written just minutes before a visit by Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach.
Shortly before Stelmach arrived at Beth Israel Synagogue for its 100th anniversary celebrations, an unidentified culprit used a black marker pen to draw a swastika and scrawl ”This means not welcome – get out” on the outside wooden doors.
A quick cleanup job, however, prevented it from affecting the celebrations, which included a gala dinner attending by local dignitaries.
The recent act of vandalism comes seven years after the same synagogue was attacked with Molotov cocktails. A 21-year-old Palestinian immigrant from Lebanon later turned himself into police.
Coincidence? Unlikely.
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Montreal will be hosting the 2009 NHL all-star game.
Anyone know where I can get my ticket?
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Beirut is on fire.
The war between Lebanon and Syria is once again coming to a head, with Hezbollah fighting for Syria by proxy. Today’s “strike” was initiated by Hezbollah to escalate the fighting.
The aim of Hezbollah is to topple the Lebanese government and take over Lebanon for Syria. It has never made any secret of this. To achieve this goal, Hezbollah uses violence, force, threats, and terrorist tactics. The “political arm” of Hezbollah exists only to further the aims and successes of the terrorist group. It’s a foreign army, paid for by a foreign country, with the goal of invading and taking over Lebanon for a foreign government.
So why, then, does the international media insist on legitimatizing Hezbollah by calling it the “opposition”?
Let’s call this what it is: A war between Syria and Lebanon, fought on Lebanese soil but paid for with Syrian money. To use the word “opposition” is to give Hezbollah a legitimacy does not deserve.
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The Habs finally woke up. Efforts from such underperformers as Kovalev, Samsonov and Plekanec, not to mention a stellar performance from all-star goalie Huet, led the Habs to a much-needed 4-1 victory over the Thrashers last night.
That sound you’re hearing is Guy Carbonneau’s giant sigh of relief. Let’s hope they can keep it up!
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Okay, so it’s not closing. But it is scaling way back. One of the Montreal Jewish Community’s most beloved institutions, the Saidye Bronfman Centre, is cutting its fine arts classes to focus exclusively on theatre and performance:
The school employed 85 artists and had 1,800 students learning painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, calligraphy, printmaking, design, jewellery, ceramics and more.
[ . . . ]
The facilities are state of the art(s). Fletcher cited the Saidye’s printmaking and ceramic studios as among the best in Montreal.
“The school is unique and vital,” he said. “It’s essential that it keep going.”
There’s a web petition circulating on the subject, but it’s unlikely to do much in itself. As with any issue, the real question will come down to dollars and cents. By raising awareness, we might hope to get the big machers interested in the cause. Perhaps someone will step in at the eleventh hour to save these programs that are so unique and important to the community.
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Today is Raoul Wallenberg Day in Canada. Not many people know that. I knew but forgot, and had to be reminded by this article in today’s paper:
He is one of only two honourary Canadian citizens (along with Nelson Mandela), yet few know of him. One of the greatest humanitarians of the 20th century, yet virtually unknown in the country that chose to make him one of us. There’s something wrong here.
Why should we still care about Raoul Wallenberg? After all, it has been 62 years since he was arrested by the Russians, on Jan. 17, 1945, and vanished into another totalitarian killing machine, never to reappear.
Here’s why.
In the face of the darkest evil during the Second World War, Wallenberg left his quiet neutral country, Sweden, and went to Budapest, one of the bloodiest places of the war, to save people of a different religion, ethnicity and tradition.
Defying the Nazis, he rushed to death-camp deportation sites, using his consular status to hand out coveted papers with the seal of the government of Sweden.
He rescued those bound for death and delivered them to safe houses where they were protected from the Nazi death machine. He saved thousands – 100,000 people would certainly have been murdered if not for his intervention. Acting alone in Budapest, on his own initiative, he saved more lives during the Holocaust than any government in the world. Sounds impossible, but it is true.
I am constantly amazed at his staggering achievement, and the terrible irony of his life story – the hero rescuer who is himself imprisoned and silenced.
Read the rest. And, if you can, pause for a moment to pay tribute to this man who was truly one of the Righteous among the Nations.
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This was not okay. And neither is this:
Students and staff at one of Montreal’s largest Muslim schools expressed shock today after windows in their building were smashed and the school bus was vandalized overnight.
“Parents are very angry and teachers are afraid,” said Principal Sawaf Layla, at École Les jeunes Musulmans canadiens where shards of glass lay in the school’s entrance.
Rocks and bricks crashed through about 15 windows at the school sometime between 9 p.m. Monday night and 5 a.m. Tuesday, police said.
Nobody knows what motivated this attack; unlike the UTT attack there was no note or message left, so it theoretically could have just been a random act of vandalism. But if it turns out this was a hate crime, then whoever was responsible should be prosecuted under the full extent of the law.
Muslim schools, Jewish schools, Christian schools, public schools, it doesn’t matter. All should have one thing in common. No matter your sick, twisted beef with the world, whatever your prejudices or hangups or politics or racist views. No matter what, one message needs to be made perfectly clear:
Kids. Are. Off. Limits.
Period.
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… Coming to an Urban Outfitter’s near you!
Leslie has the scoop.
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