Segacs’s World I Know

It was inevitable, I guess, though the timing surprised some: IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz has submitted his resignation.

Olmert expressed his disappointment, but he has other things on his mind.

They just keep flocking to the race to succeed lame-duck Bush. The latest to throw his hat into the ring? Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, rising star in the Democratic party and many people’s Great Black Hope.

It’s still early for analysis, but this piece in The Independent has an interesting – if perhaps a bit optimistic – perspective on how things might play out.

If you picked this week, you may want to start mentally planning what you’re going to do with all the cash. The secrecy surrounding Castro’s condition would seem to indicate that he’s going from bad to worse.

Luckily for Fidel, he’s already managed to pass his revolutionary torch.

It’s about flippin’ time, too! It’s just not January when you can see the grass.

But this one’s the Muppets, so of course I just had to take it. (Via Red “Swedish Chef” Rabbit):

The Muppet Personality Test

Note to Natasha Aimee Hall in today’s Gazette: I don’t know what you’re smoking, or if you went to sleep 40 years ago and suddenly woke up yesterday. But I suggest you take a good hard look around.

As a female hockey fan, I find this article downright insulting. You write as though women have suddenly just discovered that – hey, guess what? – our national pastime can be lots of fun to watch!

I’m not sure which is worse: The suggestion that female fans just like to ogle the hot players, or the implication that women are more into hockey these days because we’re “entering” the business arena and pursuing equality in other areas as well. Wake up, guys, this is 2007; we’ve “entered” the business arena a good long time ago, and the hockey arena as well.

Women make up nearly half of all fans attending NHL games. We follow the plays, read the papers, look at the statistics and the trades, debate the coaching strategies and line juggling, and appreciate a great comeback or an exciting goal just as much as any man does. One of my favourite girls’ night activities is going to a Habs’ game with a girlfriend, or getting together with a bunch of friends to watch a game on the big screen. We are devoted fans and have been for a long time. Reporting this as “news” suggests to me that you are completely out of touch with reality.

And that’s just women who watch the sport. You have completely failed to mention those who play it. The number of participants in women’s hockey has increased 400% in the past decade. Women play in leagues – both competitive and recreational – all over the country. I think if you asked Cassie Campbell, Danielle Goyette, Hayley Wickenheiser, or any of our gold-medal winning national team players, they might point out that not only do Canadian women play hockey, but they play it exceptionally well.

It’s attitudes like those expressed in this article that ensure that women’s hockey constantly gets the short shrift, both in terms of funding and in terms of publicity. Women like hockey, period – and we don’t need pink Habs’ t-shirts to be fans, either.

I politely suggest that you get your head checked. Into the boards. Hard.

Update: The Gazette published my letter on the subject.

That’s how a colleague described yesterday’s Habs’ 4-2 victory over the Flyers. An ugly game to be sure, but two points are two points, and we’ll take ’em whenever we can get ’em.

Still, Carbs had better get the team in shape in time to face the surging Sens by tomorrow, who are only three points back.

Yesterday’s Ynet had a piece about female Sudanese refugees from Darfur who have found their way to Israel and the private shelter that has offered them a refuge:

Eleven young women and 18 of their children are living in a shelter in a community in the Carmel region. The only difference between them and the rest of the residents is their origin: They have all escaped from the terror of genocide in Darfur, they have all somehow infiltrated into Israel and left behind families that they will never see again.

These women are not only haunted by the atrocities they have endured and by the family they have left behind – probably never to see again – but they face extreme hardships in Israel. Most crossed the border illegally from Egypt after enduring many hardships in their journeys, and their husbands are in prison. They are young women struggling to raise babies alone without any means of support besides the donations that keep the shelter running. They are in a land and culture that couldn’t be more different from their own. And the Israeli government, despite being openly sympathetic to their plight on a world stage, is not offering much help:

“The state claims that the refugees are a security threat because they are citizens of an enemy country, and I want to mention that during the Holocaust Jewish refugees were turned away from numerous countries with the excuse that they were German citizens. We cannot forget that we are talking about human beings, even if their religion and skin color is different. We have to give them the opportunity to continue on with their lives and overcome what they have lived through”.

I don’t mean to pick on the Israeli government here; obviously, Israel needs to balance its security concerns against its humanitarian ones. And the whole world should be doing more, Canada included.

Still, these women are eager to try to rebuild their lives in any way they can:

“The most important thing for them is education. They want to send their children to kindergarten and to school and to learn Hebrew. They all willingly learn about Judaism and the traditions of the Jewish people, and every Friday we have a Shabbat party.

“They also want to go to work, and are always asking me to try to arrange work for them. Every visitor is inundated with questions, maybe he has news from their husbands in prison, or knows when they will be allowed to go to work.”

The shelter needs help, and I encourage everyone to consider making a donation:

The shelter subsists solely on donations and needs all possible supplies: baby supplies such as blankets, sheets, clothing, cribs and carriages; a dryer; toys; and books in Arabic and English ,and Hebrew and English school books. To donate email sigal@hotline.org.il

Let’s spread the word.

The world’s most famous footballer, David Beckham, announced yesterday that he’s leaving Madrid to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy in the rich-in-cash, poor-in-fan support MLS.

Beckham claims the reason for his move is to promote soccer to American kids. I’m thinking it may have more to do with the lure of some of Beckham’s favourite things: glitz, glitter, glamour and celebrity.

Not to mention the 5-year deal worth $250 million – one of the largest ever awarded to any sports player anywhere. Of course, the money is more for his profile off the field than for his talent on it, which makes me wonder why the MLS bothered changing their salary cap rules to allow for signing him at all when they could have simply offered him a massive celebrity endorsement contract.

In any case, he’s on his way. And while it’s debatable how much of a boost he’ll provide to American soccer, it’s a certainty that he – and his Spice-girl wife – will provide an immediate boost to the paparazzi industry.