Segacs’s World I Know

Remember the infamous roadmap? The one under which the Palestinians were obliged to disarm and dismantle their terrorist groups and infrastructure?

Well, it seems the US has forgotten all about it:

“Our views on Hamas are well known. Hamas is a terrorist organization. We will not deal with a terrorist organization. However, we believe that it’s up to the Palestinians to determine who will participate in their election,” the senior administration official said.

Their explanation is equally winning:

U.S. officials and diplomats have said that any shift in policy was pragmatic: Hamas-funded social services are popular with many Palestinians; it is winning local races and could make a strong showing in the parliamentary elections. Some Hamas-backed politicians and affiliates are seen as moderates.

European allies, including Britain and France, have been pushing behind the scenes for Washington to drop its call to dismantle Hamas completely.

Anyone who thought that the EU would be a helpful or neutral party in the peace process should pretty much end that notion with the last statement.

That’s what the U.N. is saying about the earthquake in Pakistan:

The United Nations said yesterday the earthquake in Pakistan was a worse disaster than last year’s tsunami, as its secretary general, Kofi Annan, warned of a second “massive wave of deaths” if international aid were not dramatically scaled up. “This is a huge, huge disaster … perhaps the biggest ever that we have seen. It is a race against time to save the lives of these people,” Mr Annan said in New York.

Unfortunately, due to donor fatigue from the Tsunami and from Hurricane Katrina, the dollars aren’t pouring in at the rate they’re needed.

It’s easy for us to be cynical. I’m the first to admit it. Because of my line of work, often my first reaction to an emergency isn’t “how awful” but “looks like we’re going into emergency mode at work and not sleeping for a week”. Not very compassionate, true, but part of the job.

Still, it’s hard for anyone to look at the numbers and not react. Last week, when we sent out the emergency mailings for our clients, we were using the number of 40,000 as the death toll. Today it’s up to 79,000. And it could still go higher. The numbers are absolutely staggering.

Please, if you have the means, make a donation to the aid effort. It doesn’t take much and it can really help.

Lowy out. Lajeunesse in.

And for the student unions, it looks like it’s no more mister nice guy:

A grandfatherly Al Pacino lookalike with a non-confrontational style mirroring his training as a psychiatrist, Lowy was admired for his warmth, grace and intelligence.

Yet critics sometimes pined for a leader with a harder edge willing to stare down fractious students and quell faculty rivalries.

When the time came to replace him, Lajeunesse, bilingual engineer and president of Ryerson University in Toronto, who spent seven years heading the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, was alone on the short list.

Search committee chairperson Alain Benedetti cited Lajeunesse’s research credentials, “excellent management skills and track record in managing change.”

In other words, enough with the excitement already.

In other words, the student unions are going to have a hard time walking all over this guy, or so it seems.

He hasn’t wasted any time stirring the pot, either. His office isn’t even finished, and already he’s beating the war drums:

Concordia students may be taken aback by Lajeunesse’s blunt endorsement of higher tuition.

“If you go to university, your income is going to be vastly superior to that of someone who didn’t. I think it’s only fair you should pay for that privilege.

“I’m not saying I think students should graduate with $100,000 in debts. But I think it’s a bit unfair that those who don’t go to university should be paying for those who do.

“Socially, it’s not the best way. I’m not one to support zero debt, necessarily.”

He notes Quebec tuition is a third what Ontario students pay.

“Tuition rates are not a deterrent to going to university. Maybe at $20,000 they would be, but not at $5,000.

“Obviously, when it’s cheaper to send your kids to university than daycare, something is out of whack.”

Finally, some sensible talk on the tuition issue. But those are also fighting words. And my experience with the Concordia Student Union tells me that they’re not going to take this sort of challenge lying down.

Hurricane Wilma is heading towards Florida in what seems like an extra underline to this year’s horrible “act of God” season:

Tropical Storm Wilma is the 21st named storm of the 2005 season and is expected to become a hurricane before heading to Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula and possibly the battered U.S. Gulf coast by the end of the week.

The last time this many storms formed since record-keeping began 154 years ago was in 1933.

Am I the only one who finds it a bit anachronistic that insurance companies still refer to “acts of God” in those words in their policies?

Still, I bet the religious nuts – the ones who believe that the end of the world is imminent – are having a field day this year. Hurricanes, tropical storms, earthquakes, tsunamis… it’s all way too biblical for my taste.

A report by the United Nations says Syria assassinated Hariri:

High-ranking Syrian and Lebanese officials were involved in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, with suspicion cast even on President Emile Lahoud, a U.N. investigation said on Thursday.

The inquiry led by veteran German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis into the February 14 killing of Hariri established “that many leads point directly toward Syrian security officials as being involved with the assassination,” said the investigative report submitted to the U.N. Security Council.

It was therefore now incumbent on Syria “to clarify a considerable part of the unresolved questions” facing investigators, the report said.

Harsh language. I bet the Syrian dictatorship is shaking in its boots happily ignoring the report because it knows how toothless the U.N. is to actually do anything about it.

Prediction: Next week’s U.N. report will find a way to pin Hariri’s death on Israel.

I’m back after another brief business trip, this one to lovely Windsor, Ontario. Well, okay, maybe “lovely” is a bit of a stretch… but in fairness, I didn’t see that much of the city. Like most business trips, this was an airport-hotel-meeting-hotel-airport kind of circuit. The big Windsor sightseeing will have to wait till next time, I suppose.

The Windsor airport is really tiny. They never seem to have more than one flight there at a time; security and the gates are open only for about 20 minutes before each flight boards. However, it’s got a certain amount of charm. The staff are all suspiciously friendly, even the security personnel. There’s a food counter that makes real, edible food (which is more than I can say for Pearson airport in Toronto, Canada’s largest). There’s even high-speed wireless internet, albeit for a price. Since I was flying standby and had to spend several hours there, I was especially grateful for that last one.

Anyway, it’s good to be back. Regular blogging to resume, well, now. Those of you who missed me (all two of you) ought to be relieved.

Of course, the big story is the earthquake in Pakistan that has claimed a staggering 30,000 lives so far. All the aid organizations are accepting donations, as they do their best to rush aid to the survivors.

Iraqis vote on their constitution tomorrow, as they struggle to implement democracy despite increasing attacks and sabotage.

And, with rookie Yann Danis in nets for the first time, the Habs shut out Carolina on Wednesday. Next, they’ll take on the Leafs at home… and I’ll be happily cheering them on from the reds!

Have a good weekend, everyone.

Wednesday in the office was one of those do-a-zillion-things-at-once-to-try-to-leave-before-the-holiday-starts days. So of course I didn’t hear about this until it was time to leave and try to make it to the West Island with enough time to eat something before the fast started:

A toxic spill in the West Island yesterday forced people to stay indoors and shut down part of the Trans-Canada Highway, causing chaos for motorists.

[ . . . ]

The driver escaped without injury, but the accident burst open the truck’s container, exposing its contents to the atmosphere.

A hazardous materials response team from the Montreal fire department worked with local firefighters to attempt to limit the danger. But the chemical ignited about three hours after the truck turned over.

The “hazardous material” was sodium hydrosulfate, which, upon igniting, filled the air with its by-product, sulfur dioxide. The rotten egg smell was especially pleasant to be breathing while sitting in traffic that looked something like this:

Photo credit: Montreal Gazette

Anyway, they got it all cleaned up eventually, and hopefully nobody will get cancer because of this in 30 years.

(By the way, I even made it to Kol Nidre services on time).

Hope everyone had a meaningful fast, and best wishes for a good year.

Here in Montreal, anyway… when Rosh Hashanah is “late”, like this year, it coincides with the peak of apple season. Fresh-picked apples and honey… mmmmm….