Friday, April 09, 2004
Bruce Edwards, RIP
By reading the inimitable Lorne Rubenstein's golf column in this morning's Globe and Mail, I learned of the death of Bruce Edwards, the long-time trusty caddy of legend Tom Watson. Edwards had been struggling with Lou Gehrig's disease and finally succumbed to this terrible illness Wednesday night. Amazingly, Watson managed to play yesterday. I got teary-eyed watching Bruce on Watson's bag last year as Watson nearly won the U.S. Senior Open. Diseases like Gehrig's are so sad because you see the person physically deteriorate right in front of you and there is absolutely nothing that can be done. There will be a dark cloud over Augusta this weekend because of the loss of Bruce Edwards. (A new book has just been released on his life, which I'm going to pick up.)
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By reading the inimitable Lorne Rubenstein's golf column in this morning's Globe and Mail, I learned of the death of Bruce Edwards, the long-time trusty caddy of legend Tom Watson. Edwards had been struggling with Lou Gehrig's disease and finally succumbed to this terrible illness Wednesday night. Amazingly, Watson managed to play yesterday. I got teary-eyed watching Bruce on Watson's bag last year as Watson nearly won the U.S. Senior Open. Diseases like Gehrig's are so sad because you see the person physically deteriorate right in front of you and there is absolutely nothing that can be done. There will be a dark cloud over Augusta this weekend because of the loss of Bruce Edwards. (A new book has just been released on his life, which I'm going to pick up.)
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Terrorists 'R Us
If this isn't what's wrong with Canada in the post-9/11 reality I don't know what is. The Khadr family are avowed terrorist supporters. So here is a group of people who have ties to bin Laden and openly express support for his aims, but, as it was it was explained to me, they have not committed any crime under Canadian law and are therefore not punishable or deportable. This doesn't make sense to me.
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If this isn't what's wrong with Canada in the post-9/11 reality I don't know what is. The Khadr family are avowed terrorist supporters. So here is a group of people who have ties to bin Laden and openly express support for his aims, but, as it was it was explained to me, they have not committed any crime under Canadian law and are therefore not punishable or deportable. This doesn't make sense to me.
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Damn, these guys are good
Four -- count 'em, 4 -- holes-in-one at Augusta during Wednesday's Par-3 course contest.
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Four -- count 'em, 4 -- holes-in-one at Augusta during Wednesday's Par-3 course contest.
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Thursday, April 08, 2004
Wish I were there, but TV will have to do
I'll be doing some blogging this weekend in the spare moments I have when not fixated on the tube watching my favourite golf tournament of the year. Happy Easter and happy belated Passover.
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I'll be doing some blogging this weekend in the spare moments I have when not fixated on the tube watching my favourite golf tournament of the year. Happy Easter and happy belated Passover.
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Wednesday, April 07, 2004
Rosett's boldness
Check out this important oped today by the Wall Street Journal's scrappy Claudia Rosett on Libyan dissident Fathi Eljahmi. Mr. Eljahmi has been "missing" since March 26 and no one can find him. Rosett actually publishes the man's phone numbers, asking readers to call him and see for themselves that he's not picking up. If you are interested, the numbers are:
Home: +011-218-21-360-8921
Mobile: +011-218-91-371-9129
Some would call the printing of the phone numbers questionable journalism. I say it's great and Rosett is doing a great service pushing her ideals through her writing. We need more "activist" or "civic" journalism on the Right. It should be the sole property of the Left.
Rosett's point here is that there is still a long way to go in Libya, despite progress on some fronts like its WMD program. Of course, she's right.
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Check out this important oped today by the Wall Street Journal's scrappy Claudia Rosett on Libyan dissident Fathi Eljahmi. Mr. Eljahmi has been "missing" since March 26 and no one can find him. Rosett actually publishes the man's phone numbers, asking readers to call him and see for themselves that he's not picking up. If you are interested, the numbers are:
Home: +011-218-21-360-8921
Mobile: +011-218-91-371-9129
Some would call the printing of the phone numbers questionable journalism. I say it's great and Rosett is doing a great service pushing her ideals through her writing. We need more "activist" or "civic" journalism on the Right. It should be the sole property of the Left.
Rosett's point here is that there is still a long way to go in Libya, despite progress on some fronts like its WMD program. Of course, she's right.
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Tuesday, April 06, 2004
Wither charity spiels?
Check out my latest National Post curling column on the recent decline of some of the country's big charity bonspiels.
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Check out my latest National Post curling column on the recent decline of some of the country's big charity bonspiels.
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That Palestinian Arab democrat...
A nice piece by Nir Boms and Erick Stackelbeck at National Review Online. I kinda like the topic myself. Let's keep hope alive, gents.
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A nice piece by Nir Boms and Erick Stackelbeck at National Review Online. I kinda like the topic myself. Let's keep hope alive, gents.
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Moqtada al-Sadr: Iraq's Howard Dean
Who is this man? The mysterious Moqtada, this crazy cleric (and apparent murderer) wreaking havoc in Shiite Iraq? Well, the guy is basically the Howard Dean of Shiite politics. He's a real zealot. Below are two pictures I took while in Baghdad last May. As you can see, even back then he and his followers were whipping up anti-US setiment. What I remember is that his supporters are young, radical, zealous men -- Islamist idealists in their 20s. Now, these pictures were taken almost a year ago. So, you get a sense of how long Sadr has been working on stirring up the masses. What's happening now in Iraq is a product of a year's worth of effort.
Young Iraqis holding a pro-Sadr sign, downtown Baghdad, May 2003
Men gathering in downtown Baghdad for a pro-Sadr/anti-US occupation march, May 2003
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Who is this man? The mysterious Moqtada, this crazy cleric (and apparent murderer) wreaking havoc in Shiite Iraq? Well, the guy is basically the Howard Dean of Shiite politics. He's a real zealot. Below are two pictures I took while in Baghdad last May. As you can see, even back then he and his followers were whipping up anti-US setiment. What I remember is that his supporters are young, radical, zealous men -- Islamist idealists in their 20s. Now, these pictures were taken almost a year ago. So, you get a sense of how long Sadr has been working on stirring up the masses. What's happening now in Iraq is a product of a year's worth of effort.
Young Iraqis holding a pro-Sadr sign, downtown Baghdad, May 2003
Men gathering in downtown Baghdad for a pro-Sadr/anti-US occupation march, May 2003
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Monday, April 05, 2004
2004 Pulitzer Prize winners...
...have been announced. And at first glance I know they've made at least one good choice: the prize for general non-fiction has gone to Washington Post writer Anne Applebaum for her monumental tome Gulag: A History. Nice to see the Pulitzer Committee reward this work, which is quickly becoming the definitive exposé of Communism's horrors.
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...have been announced. And at first glance I know they've made at least one good choice: the prize for general non-fiction has gone to Washington Post writer Anne Applebaum for her monumental tome Gulag: A History. Nice to see the Pulitzer Committee reward this work, which is quickly becoming the definitive exposé of Communism's horrors.
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Sunday, April 04, 2004
Rubin on America's wrong-headed even-handedness
Absolutely must-read piece by former CPA staffer Michael Rubin in the Los Angeles Times today (subscription required) highlighting the senselessness of America's policy of not taking sides in post-war Iraqi politics. As Rubin notes, in a society as conspiracy-minded as Iraq's, NOT openly bolstering liberal secularists in the post-war power struggle appears to Iraqis like de-facto support for the Islamist, Iranian-backed or Gulf-state supported bad people. Wake up America -- the people being supported by the region's other countries are not the kind of leaders who will champion Western-style democratic values in Iraq. (Note: Rubin's credibility is pretty unimpeachable. He has just returned from several months of work in Iraq where spent his time roaming the country talking to real people, not hiding behind the US-fortified "Green Zone" with the rest of the CPA mandarins.)
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Absolutely must-read piece by former CPA staffer Michael Rubin in the Los Angeles Times today (subscription required) highlighting the senselessness of America's policy of not taking sides in post-war Iraqi politics. As Rubin notes, in a society as conspiracy-minded as Iraq's, NOT openly bolstering liberal secularists in the post-war power struggle appears to Iraqis like de-facto support for the Islamist, Iranian-backed or Gulf-state supported bad people. Wake up America -- the people being supported by the region's other countries are not the kind of leaders who will champion Western-style democratic values in Iraq. (Note: Rubin's credibility is pretty unimpeachable. He has just returned from several months of work in Iraq where spent his time roaming the country talking to real people, not hiding behind the US-fortified "Green Zone" with the rest of the CPA mandarins.)
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Saudis continuing to fund terror
Michael Isikoff of Newsweek is one of Washington's best investigative reporters -- if not the best. Story after story, he digs up the dirt on the House of Saud and their shady financial dealings. An FBI probe into the bank accounts of the Saudi Embassy in Washington has found more than US$27-million in "suspicious" transactions -- including money to charities, clerics and students. According to this report, Riggs Bank has dropped the Saudis as a client because they were "unable to provide an explanation that was satisfying" about where this money was going. Good for Riggs.
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Michael Isikoff of Newsweek is one of Washington's best investigative reporters -- if not the best. Story after story, he digs up the dirt on the House of Saud and their shady financial dealings. An FBI probe into the bank accounts of the Saudi Embassy in Washington has found more than US$27-million in "suspicious" transactions -- including money to charities, clerics and students. According to this report, Riggs Bank has dropped the Saudis as a client because they were "unable to provide an explanation that was satisfying" about where this money was going. Good for Riggs.
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Talk about packing punch into every little word of a book title
Via Paul Tuns: The name of a new book by Steven F. Hayward on Jimmy Carter:The Real Jimmy Carter: How Our Worst Ex-President Undermines American Foreign Policy, Coddles Dictators and Created the Party of Clinton and Kerry. Wish I had thought of that.
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Via Paul Tuns: The name of a new book by Steven F. Hayward on Jimmy Carter:The Real Jimmy Carter: How Our Worst Ex-President Undermines American Foreign Policy, Coddles Dictators and Created the Party of Clinton and Kerry. Wish I had thought of that.
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