Happy New Year (belatedly)!

Sorry, I've been inconsistent in my return to blogging. Happy 2010, everyone. I hope that all had a very Merry Christmas, a Happy Hannukah, yadda, yadda, yadda................No Top Tens or Bottom Tens in sports this week, though I will have some sports comments to offer.

1) Everyone I know is riveted by the ongoing disaster in Haiti, which was struck by a magnitude 7.3 earthquake five days ago. Estimates of the number of dead range from 45,00-50,000 on the conservative side to as many as 500,000. My heart goes out to the unfortunate citizens of that country, who never seem to catch a break, either from their fellow human beings or from mother nature. I would ask that to the extent that you can, please donate to the relief effort, be it in the form of money, time or goods. Those people can use whatever help we can provide. Just be careful about how you donate the money. There are a lot of bogus sites and groups trying to scoop up your well-intentioned donations, and even some of the legitimate ones are having "issues" (Wyclef Jean has been accused of personally profiting from the aid organization he set up, an accusation he has denied. As well, if you're a supporter of Israel, don't donate to the International Red Cross, which hates and discriminates against Israel. Donate your money instead to the American Red Cross, which is a separate entity). As an aside, I note that the countries who responded most quickly are the "usual suspects": Canada, the United States, Israel (which it's sending aid and disaster recovery teams). China's chipping in with ONE plane of relief supplies (gee, thanks!), and as far as I know, the Saudis have given exactly nothing. I guess that unless it involves building madrassas, they're not interested.

2) In the U.S., very close attention is being paid to the special election in Massachusetts, which will fill the Senate seat left open when Ted Kennedy passed away last year. I have a few thoughts on this. First, the Democrats never expected that they'd have to pour serious money or time into defending this seat. After all, Massachusetts hasn't elected a Republican senator since 1972, and Martha Coakley, the state Attorney General, was a household name. As well, the Republican challenger, Scott Brown, was a virtual unknown before the election. However, he has run a strong grassroots campaign, unlike Coakley, who didn't think that she really even had to run. After all, initial polls had her 30+ percentage points ahead in the polls. Recent polls, however, have seen Brown surge, and in some of them he is holding a four point lead. It's a sign of the worry that Democrats are experiencing that President Obama is campaigning for Coakley this weekend. Unlike her, he still polls very strongly in the state. The stakes in this election are huge. If the Republicans win, they will have a 41st senator, and a potential to filibuster against legislation they don't want to see passed. Still, there is one thing about this election that really has me irritated, and that is the assertion by some Democrats that "This is the Ted Kennedy seat". Umm.......I thought that that this was the people's seat. When did the Kennedy family assume ownership of it? That sense of entitlement and ownership is so, well, Kennedy-esque........

3) California's about to get some rain. No, make that a LOT of rain. The state, which has been in drought for what seems like decades, is about to get some rain. No, make that a lot of rain. Estimates for the rainfall over the next week range anywhere from 1-3 inches in some spots to as much as 10-15 inches in the northern part of the state. Parts of the Sierra Nevada are expecting as much as 1o feet of snow. Most experts expect that the precipitation will put a significant dent in the drought. I have friends and family in the Golden State, so I can only hope that they're right.............

4) I'm a bit late to the party, but I'm finally reading the Harry Potter books. I must say that I absolutely love them. I'm about 1/3 of the way into the sixth book. The last long series of books which I enjoyed this much was the Narnia Chronicles which, to this day, remain my favourite books of all time. Other series which I truly enjoyed: The "Assassin" trilogy by Robert Ferrigno; the "Worldwar" series, by Harry Turtledove (I really love alternative history--the "what ifs" of history have always fascinated me).

5) A truly sad development today in the sports world: Gaines Adams, a Chicago Bears defensive end and the fourth overall pick in the 2007 NFL entry draft, died today at the very young age of 26. The preliminary autopsy results are that he died from cardiac arrest caused by an enlarged heart.

6) Cindy Sheehan continues to try to keep herself in the news. Her latest effort was through a protest at the home of former Vice-President Dick Cheyney as well as the CIA headquarters. What were they protesting? The use of unmanned Predator drones in the fight against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan, because they consider it to be "immoral". Funny, I never see them protesting against homicide bombings, Qassam launchings, Somalian piracy, etc., etc. And, hasn't anyone told her that Cheyney hasn't been the Vice-President in almost exactly a year, and that the CURRENT President, Mr. Obama, has maintained the policy of using Predator drones? I guess not............

7) The NFL playoffs are well underway, and I've found a new team against which I can cheer (other than the Dallas Cowboys, against whom I will always cheer). That is the Indianapolis Colts, who tanked their last two games of the year in order to "save" their starters for the playoffs. If it's possible, let's leave aside the fact that the Colts were 14-0 at the time, and were seemingly in line to achieve NFL history by become the first team to go 19-0 (assuming that they won the Super Bowl, unlike the 2007 New England Patriots, who went 16-0 and then lost the Super Bowl). No, what really irks me about what they did (and the New Orleans Saints too, for that matter), is that they continued to charge fans full price for these games which they obviously considered to be nothing more than glorified exhibitions. If you're going to play your starters half the game, they really should have charged them half the price..........

8) So Mark McGwire finally came clean and admitted that he used steroids, including during his record-breaking 1998 season. Big shock there, I know. However, Big Mac wasn't as honest as he could have been, as he still refused to admit that the steroids helped him hit home runs. Either he's really, really stupid, or he thinks that we are...............

9) Alabama won the B(C)S title game with a methodical 37-21 win over a Texas team that lost starting QB Colt McCoy to an injury early in the second quarter. Texas had its chance to win, or at least put some serious doubt into Alabama's mind, when it had two early possessions which saw it drive deep into Crimson Tide territory, only to end up with field goals instead of touchdowns. A 14-0 or even a 10-0 Longhorns lead might have put some doubt into the minds of the Alabama players. Instead, they had to think that they'd dodged a bullet. At halftime, the score was 21-6 for the Crimson Tide, and though the Longhorns battled back to make it a 24-21 game, I never got the feeling that Alabama was in serious trouble. And, for those who don't like Alabama (or the SEC in general), you're in trouble, because this team is poised to repeat.

10) In the NHL, my Montreal Canadiens continue to flounder around, winning some games, losing others, and (at this point) clinging to the eighth and final playoff spot. Let's face facts: Even if Montreal does make it to the NHL's post-season dance, it's not going very far. A four-game sweep at the hands of Pittsburgh or New Jersey is inevitable. So, what would the end result of General Manager Bob Gainey's radical remaking of the team be? The exact same playoff seeding and playoff result as last year. And, that's assuming that the Canadiens even make the playoffs. If they don't, or if the team gets crushed in the first round, it's likely that Gainey will be looking for employment next season.

11) In the NBA, we could be looking at history, and not in a good way. The New Jersey Nets are an almost unfathomable 3-36, after a league record 0-19 start. Now, I still suspect that the Nets will find a way to win at least seven games the rest of the season, in order to avoid breaking the 1973 Philadelphia 76ers' futility record of 9-73, but they'll certainly give it a run.

And how many electoral college votes do they have?

A BBC-commissioned survery of some 22,500 people in 22 countries across the world found that those polled overwhelmingly favoured Barack Obama over John McCain: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7606100.stm. Well, well, well, what a shocking development THAT is! Obama would defer to everyone, so why wouldn't those living in other countries like that in a U.S. President? The problem is, he's elected to represent US, not THEM. Ultimately, they have no stake in this election. They won't be the ones paying the taxes or the consequences of his policies. So, at the risk of sounding arrogant, I really don't care what they think.

Silence in the face of tragedy

A little over a week ago, a tropical cyclone struck Myanmar (Burma), killing 23,000 according to the corrupt military junta which runs the country, and over 100,000 according to more objective sources. Countless more have been rendered homeless and have no access to food or fresh water. Yet, what does the government there do? It blocks foreign aid, allowing only a trickle in, and seems far more focussed on an upcoming referendum which would "legitimize" its rule: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/story.html?id=bad79639-c716-4083-9559-edf349914f36.

This is one case where the world community seems ready, willing and able to avert the catastrophe which may already be occurring. I will add this, though: The U.N. Security Council has said nothing about this tragedy. The despicable Human Rights Commission is also mum on the subject. So, the U.N. is still following its script. I guess that tens of thousands of dead Burmese don't equal a fractional number of dead Arabs on the West Bank or in Gaza...........

The end of the line for Red Ken?

Early returns from the local elections across the U.K. are indicating that the ruling Labour Party took an absolute beating from the opposition Conservative Party, and that even Red Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, may very well have lost: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mayoroflondonelection2008/1920348/Mayor-election-2008-Tories-look-to-Boris-Johnson-to-seal-election-success.html.

Given that Red Ken was an Islamofascist-loving, anti-Israel freak, I feel no sense of loss whatsoever at his defeat..............

Two Brits get it

One is Pat Condell. The other is Michael Gove, a Conservative Member of Parliament, who penned an erudite discussion of how common anti-Semitism has become these days, to the point where even the most base of accusations (the one that Jews manipulate foreign policies of countries for their own good) is not only widely accepted, it is now praised: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/michael_gove/article3653736.ece.

This is not a good time to be a Jew.........if there ever was such a time.

An unfathomable possibility

Imagine the Taliban (and its al Qaeda brothers) with nuclear weapons. That is the goal of the Jihadist movement, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto was but one step along the road towards that goal: http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110011053.

The Wall Street Journal has it exactly right. Blame has been leveled at Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf for Bhutto's assassination, and Bhutto herself had written an e-mail just days before her death in which she apparently said that Musharraf should receive the blame in the event that she was killed. Logically, though, and ironically, Musharraf is the one with the most to lose by what happened yesterday, and like him or not, trust him or not, he is no dummy. He realized that. As facts continue to come out, I may be proven wrong, but I would be very, very surprised if he was behind the assassination.

On the other hand, the instability created by Bhutto's death benefits the Islamofascists (and their many supporters in the Pakistani military apparatus). The more unstable the Pakistani government becomes, the more likely it is that an Islamist could end up in charge of the country and its nuclear weapons. That would and should concern everyone in the West, and equally importantly, it would cause a lot of concern in the country directly to the east of Pakistan, India. You can be sure that New Delhi is watching the goings on in Pakistan with great concern, and don't be surprised to see an increase in the military preparedness of the Indian Army. As well, I wouldn't be shocked if there were some kind of plan put into place to seize the Pakistani nukes in the event of an Islamofascist takeover of the country.

Afghanistan Redux

News item: NATO Mission in Afghanistan is failing because of a lack of troop commitment: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/07/18/afghanistan-nato.html. No................REALLY? YOU THINK?

Canada wants to pull its troops out. Germany and Italy won't let their troops fight. This story is supposed to surprise people? The unfortunate fact is that Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri are right. We in the West do NOT have the heart to fight them. We always give up because any casualty is one too many, and our enemy couldn't care less about casualties.

A wider war in the Middle East

I have long been of the opinion that this is inevitable, given the growing perception that the West in general and Israel and the United States in particular are in headlong retreat. We get attacked, we respond to the attacks by going to the sponsors and saying "Please sir, can we have some more?" The Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigade (a branch of Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party) kills Israelis, Israel responds by turning over money and weapons (which are then used to kill more Israelis). Iran funds terrorist attacks in Iraq and actively combats U.S. troops, we follow the advice of James "F--- the Jews" Baker and whine at them that we should hold peace talks.

Here is an excellent Op-Ed from the Wall Street Journal discussing this very issue: http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010256.

Ah, those Russians.............

........They're such good allies, aren't they? So, their President, Commissar Lite Vladimir Putin, compares us to the Nazi Germany: http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/5/10/121731.shtml?s=ic. No big deal, right?

Look, we ignore the growing threats from countries such as Russia and China at our own risk. There is a reason why they are so supportive of Iran--they ARE our enemies. Can we do business with them? Yes, but we shoud never lose sight of the fact that they are not our allies and DO want to see us fail...........

Somalia

We all remember the Clinton Administration's abortive humanitarian mission in Somalia, which led to the infamous "Blackhawk Down" episode. Well, the situation there has once again deteriorated to the point of anarchy: http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_JDJDNQS. It hasn't received much attention here in the U.S., with all that has been happening in Iraq and the ongoing, low-level conflict in Afghanistan, but this is a situation that bears watching. Somalia is the prototypical failed state, and it has the very real potential of destabilizing the entire region, which would include Ethiopia, Egypt, Kenya, and Tanzania. If you think that this won't matter, picture Darfur on a scale ten times worse. This could get very, very bad..........

Boris Yeltsin Dies

Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin has died at the age of 76: http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/2007/04/23/644437.html. Leaving aside the fact that I'm surprised that he made that long, Yeltsin was a seminal figure in the history of the late 20th century. Arguably, he finished off the old Soviet Communism. Did he really, though? The rampant corruption which permeated virtually every level of the Russian government he led resulted to a large degree in the rise to power of current Russian President Vladimir Putin, a former KGB chief who harbors the ill-concealed goal of reviving, at least in part, the old Soviet Empire.

Update: More on the same issue from David Satter of the Wall Street Journal: http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110009983