Segacs’s World I Know

Still no deals with Jose Theodore or Michael Ryder. Despite strong denials, could there be anything to the Roberto Luongo trade rumours? Let’s hope not. Luongo’s good, and a swap for Theodore might make reasonable sense, but definately not if shoulda-been-rookie-of-the-year Ryder is thrown into the deal.

Most of the Habs’ other key players are already signed, with the exceptions of Andrei Markov and Yanic Perreault. But some key players are only on one-year contracts, including Koivu and Ribeiro. And we haven’t done particularly well in bolstering our team during the off-season. With strengthened rivals within our division, I’m not sure how optimistic I’m feeling right now about our chances. Still, I’m hoping that the team pulls it together.

42 days till the puck drops – it’s getting exciting!

Update 8/26: Markov signed a 2-year deal yesterday. Still nothing on Theo or Ryder.

A new report says the doctor brain drain has reversed; more doctors came to Canada last year than left. However, none of this is helping Quebec, whose ridiculous regulations are driving most medical school graduates to leave the province to start their careers, because there aren’t enough positions in Montreal. Upon graduation, new doctors have a choice: they can go work in the “regions” or accept a 30% pay cut. That leads most of them to take the third choice: go to Ontario or elsewhere for double the pay.

This is a frequent source of frustration among friends currently in med school, many of whom would like to stay here but can’t get jobs in Montreal. This despite the fact that the province has a shortage of hundreds of doctors, and the shortage is actually worse in Montreal than it is in many outlying regions. Anyone who’s tried to find a GP lately can attest to that.

The Quebec government needs to realize that a stick-only approach only works when you can restrict people from leaving; when they have other, better options, you’d better break out the carrots.

In the meantime, if you get sick, you’ll be better off in Alberta or Ontario.

The President of Turkmenistan has banned lip synching:

He has outlawed opera and ballet and railed against long hair and gold teeth, but now President Saparmurat Niyazov is determined to wipe out another perceived scourge: lip synching.

Niyazov has ordered a ban on lip synching performances across the tightly controlled Central Asian country, citing “a negative effect on the development of singing and musical art,” the president’s office said Tuesday.

Milli Vanilli will have to skip the Turkmenistan stop of their next tour, I suppose.

Abbas and Sharon are making the usual meaningless statements about “working towards peace” and starting a “new page” in Israeli-Palestinian relations.

In the meantime, Hamas is giving the real picture:

Hamas and Islamic Jihad announced on Monday that they have reached an agreement with the Palestinian Authority according to which the two groups would not be disarmed.

[ . . . ]

“We stressed during the meeting that the Palestinians have the right to continue the resistance [against Israel] and that there would be no attempt to collect weapons from the resistance groups,” he added.

“The weapons of the resistance were founded to defend the Palestinian people and resist the occupation. The Gaza victory was achieved with the weapons of the resistance, which is the only strategy to drive Israel out of the rest of our lands.”

Any questions?

Imshin says we should not avert our eyes. She’s probably right. Israelis – and those of us who consider ourselves in solidarity with Israel – need to be engaged during this painful time of disengagement.

But Meryl describes perfectly how horribly difficult it is:

I have found myself unable to read the stories, or watch the news reports, or even think very much about it, because no matter whether or not you agree with the removal of the settlements, if you have a heart, you cannot but be upset to see people uprooted forcibly from their homes.

I cannot watch Jews fight Jews and remain dry-eyed. I can’t even read about it and not choke up. And I find that I cannot write very much about it, either.

[ . . . ]

Here is what I think is going to happen in the next few months: The terrorist attacks will continue, redoubled, as soon as Mahmoud Abbas feels comfortable enough with doing so. Israeli will not invade Gaza in response; world opinion will prevent her from doing so. The terrorism will move to the West Bank, as the IDF already realizes. Rockets will fly at Israel proper. The world will tell Israel to “show restraint.” The UN will condemn any Israeli actions.

Nothing will change. Nothing. The Bush administration has proven that they believe in the Exception Clause when it comes to condemning terrorism against Jews. I’m not buying this op-ed in the Times; Zev Chafets is an optimist, and he is overlooking the Exception Clause. The EU and the UN are still slaves to Arab oil, Arab money, Arab voting blocs, and their own barely-repressed history of anti-Semitism. They still refuse to fully condemn Hamas and Hizbullah, whose leaders have a new rallying cry, and who insist they are winning the battle with Israel.

Did I say nothing will change? That’s wrong. Israelis will no longer be murdered in the Gaza Strip. But only because they aren’t there.

These days, I find I’m just as pessimistic as Meryl. And equally unable to write about it.

Michaelle Jean, the new appointee for Governer General of Canada, has been generating a ton of controversy since she was named. The attacks stem mostly around speculation that she and her husband have sovereigntist leanings, or that she may have conflicting loyalties because she also holds French citizenship. She’s issued a denial of the separatist accusations, and the latter doesn’t seem to make much of a difference, but her naming has still generated tons of criticism.

It seems a little bizarre that in the entire country, there was not a single candidate who could be found for the job who didn’t come equipped with such heavy baggage. But to me, all those things miss the point.

The thing is, amidst all the speculation and all the attacks, I’ve yet to see why Michaelle Jean even deserves the position in the first place.

Sure, one could argue that the job of Governer General isn’t exactly rife with prerequisites. It’s a largely ceremonial post, one that many Canadians argue should be abolished altogether. But scoff at it or not, it does have its share of demands.

Like her predecessor, Adrienne Clarkson, Jean is a minority woman. She’s also a Quebec francophone. But nobody has told me about a single real qualification that she holds for the job, other than the colour of her skin and the language of her speech. Oh, and the fact that she’s photogenic and has TV experience. But how does that qualify someone to represent our country?

For a purely political appointment, Martin could’ve done better. Much better.

I still don’t have time to properly blog, but I wanted to at least mention some of the newsworthy items in the passing show these days.

Disengagement is depressing. I can barely read the news – from any perspective – because it just gives me a giant headache. The whole issue is so clearly lose-lose that I can hardly work up the energy to take a position. Of course the terrorists are viewing this as a victory and an excuse for more violence. Of course it’s tough on the families who have to uproot. Of course Israel is dangerously close to civil war, as people are pitted against each other in a gut-wrenching emotional issue. And of course it has to happen, now that the die is cast – and maybe it’s the only way to break the stalemate. But there seems to be very little to say that hasn’t been said by many others already.

A plane crash in Greece killed 121 people yesterday. There don’t seem to be any signs of terrorism.

Here’s a new one: a Muslim cleric suspected of terrorism agreed to be deported from the United States. Usually these guys drag the fight against deportation out for years. I wonder what this guy’s in such a rush to get to Pakistan for. I doubt it’s ballroom dancing lessons.

The CBC has locked out most of its unionized workers, because they’re fighting over whether they can hire less full-time people and more contract people. So now, not only are billions of tax dollars going to fund a useless network that also competes for advertising money and shows no programming anyone wants to watch… but it’s also operating without 60% of its staff. Would someone finally yank the cord on the CBC and put it out of its misery?

Regular posting should hopefully resume shortly.

I’ve been a bit too busy to blog – but never fear, I shall return soon!

Two more U.N. officials are being accused of taking kickbacks:

The former head of the U.N. oil-for-food program, Benon Sevan, was accused on Monday of receiving nearly $150,000 in kickbacks, and another U.N. official was arrested on charges of pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars from U.N. contractors.

How much lower can the U.N.’s credibility sink?