Segacs’s World I Know

Israel will be entrusting the Egyptians with the task of ensuring border security in Gaza:

The Israeli parliament on Wednesday approved a deal to hand control of a buffer zone along the Gaza-Egypt border to Egyptian security forces after Israel completes its pullout from the territory.

The agreement, sanctioning the deployment of 750 Egyptian border police on the Egyptian side of the Gaza frontier to replace Israeli troops stationed in the volatile “Philadelphi Corridor,” passed by a vote of 53-28, the Knesset said.

This deal has been in place for about a month, and you can bet that the Islamic Jihad and Hamas have been busily recruiting, threatening or bribing Egyptian officials in preparation for the opening of the floodgates.

Here in Montreal, the chief effects of Hurricane Katrina have been a bit of rain and higher gas prices. Not much of a price to pay, considering.

It’s times like this when I’m grateful to live in Montreal; we may get cold weather and ice storms, but at least we avoid the more disastrous weather phenomena such as earthquakes, tsunamis or hurricanes.

To make a donation to the relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina, the Canadian Red Cross is accepting donations.

Update: Most official estimates say hundreds of people have likely been killed as a result of Katrina. The mayor of New Orleans fears that the death toll may run into the thousands as the city prepares to evacuate tens of thousands of residents to Houston. Estimates are that most of New Orleans will be uninhabitable for months.

Update #2: At least two radio stations have decided to pull the song I’ve been ironically humming for days off the air for the moment:

Ottawa’s rock radio stations The Bear 106.9 and CHEZ 106.1 have both decided to pull The Tragically Hip classic New Orleans is Sinking from their playlists at least until Hurricane Katrina abates and the Louisiana city gets back on its feet.

Am I the only one who finds the song suddenly more appropriate?

This blog meme is floating around asking people to go here, find the top 100 songs from the year they graduated high school, and list them crossing out those you hated and underlining the ones you really liked.

Most of mine, not too surprisingly, are cross-outs; songs that do well on the charts rarely appeal to me. Especially by 1997, when all the early-to-mid 90s good music was over. But here goes:

1. Candle In The Wind 1997, Elton John – I liked the original but the remake in the wake of Princess Diana’s death was cheap and exploitive.
2. Foolish Games / You Were Meant For Me, Jewel
3. I’ll Be Missing You, Puff Daddy and Faith Evans – this was when he was still called “Puff Daddy” and was just discovering how filthy-rich you can make it in the music biz by ripping off someone else’s work. At least Elton John (see #1) was only plagiarizing himself.
4. Un-Break My Heart, Toni Braxton
5. Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down, Puff Daddy
6. I Believe I Can Fly, R. Kelly
7. Don’t Let Go (Love), En Vogue
8. Return Of The Mack, Mark Morrison
9. How Do I Live, LeAnn Rimes
10. Wannabe, Spice Girls – I actually had a whole website at the time dedicated to my hatred of the Spice Girls… and of the Backstreet Boys (see #11).
11. Quit Playing Games (With My Heart), Backstreet Boys
12. MMMBop, Hanson – a classic SNL skit defined “torture” as being forced to listen to this repeatedly.
13. For You I Will, Monica
14. You Make Me Wanna…, Usher
15. Bitch, Meredith Brooks – Yep, that’s me
16. Nobody Keith Sweat
17. Semi-Charmed Life, Third Eye Blind
18. Barely Breathing, Duncan Sheik
19. Hard To Say I’m Sorry, Az Yet Featuring Peter Cetera
20. Mo Money Mo Problems, Notorious B.I.G.
21. The Freshmen, Verve Pipe
22. I Want You, Savage Garden
23. No Diggity, BLACKstreet Featuring Dr. Dre
24. I Belong To You (Every Time I See Your Face), Rome
25. Hypnotize, Notorious B.I.G.
26. Every Time I Close My Eyes, Babyface
27. In My Bed, Dru Hill
28. Say You’ll Be There, Spice Girls
29. Do You Know (What It Takes), Robyn
30. 4 Seasons Of Loneliness, Boyz II Men
31. G.H.E.T.T.O.U.T., Changing Faces
32. Honey, Mariah Carey
33. I Believe In You And Me, Whitney Houston
34. Da’ Dip, Freaknasty
35. 2 Become 1, Spice Girls
36. All For You, Sister Hazel
37. Cupid, 112
38. Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?, Paula Cole
39. Sunny Came Home, Shawn Colvin – this won the Grammy that year if I recall correctly; I still can’t figure out why, cause it’s fairly mediocre
40. It’s Your Love, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill
41. Ooh Aah… Just A Little Bit, Gina G
42. Mouth, Merril Bainbridge
43. All Cried Out, Allure Featuring 112
44. I’m Still In Love With You, New Edition
45. Invisible Man, 98 Degrees
46. Not Tonight, Lil’ Kim
47. Look Into My Eyes, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
48. Get It Together, 702
49. All By Myself, Celine Dion
50. It’s All Coming Back To Me Now, Celine Dion – it’s all coming back to me just how much I can’t stand Celine Dion
51. My Love Is The Shhh!, Somethin’ For The People
52. Where Do You Go, No Mercy
53. I Finally Found Someone, Barbra Streisand and Bryan Adams – normally I like Bryan Adams but come on
54. I’ll Be, Foxy Brown Featuring Jay-Z
55. If It Makes You Happy, Sheryl Crow
56. Never Make A Promise, Dru Hill
57. When You Love A Woman, Journey
58. Up Jumps Da Boogie, Magoo And Timbaland
59. I Don’t Want To / I Love Me Some Him, Toni Braxton
60. Everyday Is A Winding Road, Sheryl Crow
61. Cold Rock A Party, Mc Lyte
62. Pony, Ginuwine
63. Building A Mystery, Sarah McLachlan – I’m a fan but this isn’t one of my fave songs
64. I Love You Always Forever, Donna Lewis
65. Your Woman, White Town
66. C U When U Get There, Coolio
67. Change The World, Eric Clapton
68. My Baby Daddy, B-Rock and The Bizz
69. Tubthumping, Chumbawamba – gave Hanson a run for their money for most annoyingly awful song of the year.
70. Gotham City, R. Kelly
71. Last Night, Az Yet
72. ESPN Presents The Jock Jam, Various Artists
73. Big Daddy, Heavy D
74. What About Us, Total
75. Smile, Scarface
76. What’s On Tonight, Montell Jordan
77. Secret Garden, Bruce Springsteen
78. The One I Gave My Heart, w Aaliyah
79. Fly Like An Eagle, Seal
80. No Time, Lil’ Kim
81. Naked Eye, Luscious Jackson
82. Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix), Los Del Rio – was this the remake? I remember the Macarena being earlier than 1997.
83. On and On, Erykah Badu
84. Don’t Wanna Be A Player, Joe
85. I Shot The Sheriff, Warren G
86. You Should Be Mine (Don’t Waste Your Time), Brian McKnight Featuring Mase
87. Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, Madonna
88. Someone, SWV
89. Go The Distance, Michael Bolton
90. One More Time, Real McCoy
91. Butta Love, Next
92. Coco Jamboo, Mr. President
93. Twisted, Keith Sweat
94. Barbie Girl, Aqua
95. When You’re Gone / Free To Decide, Cranberries
96. Let Me Clear My Throat, DJ Kool
97. I Like It, Blackout Allstars
98. You’re Makin’ Me High / Let It Flow, Toni Braxton
99. You Must Love Me, Madonna
100. Let It Go, Ray J

As I suspected, that’s 85 strikeouts on a list of 100 songs. Of those I didn’t strike, I was generously indifferent in several cases and only found two I could tentatively underline; even those were a stretch.

I move that 1997 be nominated the worst year in music history.

Update: On second thought, there was plenty of excellent music in 1997. None of it made the charts, though. But I was having a very good music year in my personal history then. I attended my first three Collective Soul concerts that year, for example. The problem wasn’t with the music, it was with the charts. That’s my theory.

Residents of New Orleans are evacuating ahead of the expected devastation of Hurricane Katrina:

A statement from the National Weather Service in Slidell, near New Orleans, Louisiana, warned that much of the affected area “will be uninhabitable for weeks, perhaps longer.”

With highways out of the city jammed and people seeking refuge in the Superdome, things are certain to be a mess there for a while. I guess that’s what happens when you build a city below sea level. Here’s hoping that everyone stays safe.

A Palestinian suicide bomber struck today at a bus station in Beersheva:

An Israeli police spokesman said nearly 50 people wounded in the bombing in the city of Beersheba were treated at hospital, most of them for shock. The two guards, who chased the bomber, were critically hurt, the spokesman said.

[ . . . ]

Palestinian militant factions say a “period of calm” they announced in March at Abbas’s urging will expire at year’s end.

What period of calm?

To echo Lynn, is it peace yet?

Damian Penny thinks that the evidence of Jean’s separatist leanings is fairly convincing and that Martin should have chosen someone “less polarizing”:

Being a former Quebec separatist shouldn’t, all by itself, disqualify you from being Governor-General. But when Jean won’t say how she voted in the 1995 sovereignty referendum, and when her “loyalty” statement contains little more than weasel words about never belonging to “a political party or the separatist movement”, well, what are we supposed to conclude?

For a completely opposite (and more optimistic) view, here’s Josh Freed in last week’s Gazette on how Michaelle Jean can be considered the first “cool” federalist in Quebec – and perhaps could even start a trend:

As long as I’ve followed politics in this province, the fun, cool, party people have always been on the separatist side, while the federalists have been square. Sovereignty attracts all the singers, artists, poets, writers, dancers and everyone else who dresses in black. Federalism attracts business types who look grey.

In Quebec’s 30-year-old Cool War for the hearts and minds of young francophones, the federalists have been massacred. To even suggest in public that you back Canada can get you tarred as a nerd.

So when Jean recently announced she was “proud to be Canadian” and “fully committed to Canada,” she became the first cool federalist I can recall to come out for Canada since, well, Pierre Trudeau. That’s probably why she’s such a threat to hard-line sovereignists. They seem to spend every waking hour issuing documents to show Jean is really a separatist, as if they’ve ever really cared who represents the queen they can’t stand.

I guess they sense that Jean may make it fashionable to be a federalist in Quebec and threaten to close the cool gap.

[ . . . ]

As governor-general, Jean is a great new role model: she’s a highly articulate woman and a Haitian immigrant who became a TV star. She’s in a mixed-race marriage with an adopted child – and she speaks five languages.

She couldn’t be more 21st century unless she was gay, too. And yes, she’s also a great dancer.

Maybe she once drank a toast to independence at a party. Sure, her husband was probably in favour of sovereignty. But to paraphrase Mark Twain, you can’t throw a stone in Quebec without hitting a separatist. Most francophones have flirted with independence at some stage in their lives and many still double-date even if it irks their English-speaking partner.

All that federalists should want is to make it easy for more Quebecers to release their inner Canadian child – and Jean seems willing to be the poster girl.

Who knows? She’s so appealing Jean might even tempt a couple of other trendy Quebecers to come out for Canada, and help make it as fashionable to be a Quebec federalist as it is to be a Quebec separatist.

That would be cool.

Yeah, I’m not so sure… but hey, could happen.

I must be tired, cause this sounds oddly tempting:

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) — Short on sleep? The Mall of America in Minnesota is selling naps for 70 cents a minute thanks to a Boca Raton company. The mall already has a 74-foot Ferris wheel, a shark tank and a dinosaur museum.

The nap store will be called Minne-NAP-olis. It’s aimed at weary travelers who need a nap after a long flight but aren’t staying long enough to book a hotel room or for spouses of shoppers traversing the mall’s more than four miles of storefronts.

In the Gazette, columnist L. Ian MacDonald claims Canada’s biggest problem in the softwood lumber dispute is getting the U.S.’s attention:

“I will be speaking to the president when the timing is appropriate,” Martin said in Regina. “It’s very important as far as I’m concerned that that phone call take place when it is right for Canada to have it take place, and that will be quite soon.”

Translation: the White House hasn’t returned the call from the Prime Minister’s Office.

In any event, it’s not the kind of problem that can be resolved with a phone call. It takes a relationship, and Martin has gone out of his way not to establish one with Bush.

The problem is, Martin wants it both ways. He wants to be seen as anti-American when it’s convenient, but when he wants the U.S. to respect Canada, he is unwilling to reap the consequences.

Like the CBC’s labour dispute, the biggest risk in Canada playing trade harball with the U.S. is that they’ll realize how easy it is to ignore us. Carolyn Parrish can go on stomping on Bush dolls if she wants; it’s pretty obvious that the real Bush doesn’t really care much.