High Noon in Ramallah

Chaos and mayhem are not peculiar to just the Gaza Strip. Ramallah is experiencing open gun battles in the streets reports Ynet News:

Twenty Palestinians were wounded, two critically, in exchanges of fire between warring factions in the Palestinian Authority Friday. Sixteen people were wounded in Ramallah, four in Gaza. Fatah officials reported that several Hamas gunmen have barricaded themselves in the Nazer mosque in the city of Ramallah and are firing at Fatah and Palestinian security forces inside the mosque compound.

Witnesses added that PA security forces have begun covering their faces with masks as they try to overpower protestors and gunmen from both factions, mostly against Hamas. The atmosphere in the city is reminiscent of a battlefield say residents, against the soundtrack of massive gunfire. In Ramallah reports say that the Palestinian government has begun training a special security force in the West Bank which will answer directly to the government, similar to the one formed in Gaza which operates under the direct command of the minister of the interior.

According to a Fatah source it would appear that Hamas is seeking to emphasize that the movement also has power and presence in Ramallah – the largest West Bank city and home to President Mahmoud Abbas. The Fatah official expressed concern that further deterioration of the situation will cost many lives.

Witnesses told Ynet that some of the wounded are bystanders and protestors who were beaten by Palestinian security forces seeking to clear the streets, primarily from the center of town which was declared a closed military zone.

The Jerusalem Post is reporting the injured toll from the clashes in the streets of Ramallah now stands at 32.

Meanwhile Hamas trades threats with Fatah and points fingers at Dahlan for the attack on Hamas leader Haniyeh’s convoy yesterday. Taken from the Jerusalem Post account:

The street battles came amid Hamas accusations that senior Palestinian official Mohammed Dahlan orchestrated the previous night's assassination attempt on Hanieyeh that left a 24-year-old bodyguard dead and others wounded, including Haniyeh's own son, Abdel Salam, and his political adviser, Ahmed Yousef. Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Ismail Reduan said that Dahlan had planned the attempted hit as he led the group of Presidential Guard members who raked the convoy with gunfire.

During a press conference in Gaza, Reduan said that Dahlan was leading incitement against Hamas in order to enflame the Palestinian streets and cause a civil war. He called on Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to withdraw his Presidential Guard and Fatah's Force 17 from the Rafah Crossing and the streets of Gaza. Dahlan denied the accusation and said that those to blame for the attack were the gunmen who stormed the Rafah Crossing. He claimed that Hamas was trying to cover up this week's killing of three children of Fatah members.

Reuters has just posted an online account suggesting that Fatah forces have opened fire at a Hamas led rally in the West Bank.

The Terror Match of the century and there are no good guys to cheer on to victory.

High Noon never ends in the Gaza Strip

Who knew that things would start to heat up on the Pally Watch front the minute I was otherwise engaged in training my replacement before I start my holiday tomorrow. Ynet News carries this report:

A Palestinian official said one of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's bodyguards was killed when his convoy came under fire as he left Rafah Thursday night. Another bodyguard, the prime minister's son and a political adviser were wounded, the official said, holding members of Abbas' presidential guard responsible. The son was not seriously wounded, officials said.

Hamas followers of Haniyeh exchanged fire with rival Fatah forces several times during the day, and the gunfire continued as Haniyeh’s convoy passed through the checkpoint from Egypt after a long wait. Israel had banned him from entering Gaza with millions of dollars in cash.

Earlier it was reported that Haniyeh's passage from Egypt into Gaza was delayed due to the fact that European monitors, who eventually approved his entry into the Strip, refused to make their way to the Rafah crossing for fear that the thousands of Hamas supporters who had gathered there would attack them. As word of the drama in Rafah spread throughout the Strip, Hamas leaders called on thousands of the group’s supporters to make their way to the crossing and assist in taking it over.

During the gathering, exchanges of fire took place between Hamas gunmen and members of Mahmoud Abbas’ Presidential Guard; additional gun battles erupted between Hamas gunmen and Egyptian security officers, who attempted to prevent the crowd from reaching the border fence.

Has there has ever been a border which Europeans won’t run from?

My next thought was to wonder who tipped off the Israelis to Haniyeh and his stash of cash? And then, who and what induced the Israelis to actively intervene in parting Haniyeh from his stash of cash. This isn’t the first time a Hamas member has returned bearing cash but it is the first time Israel has actively intervened.

So who did Haniyeh trust enough to hold onto the US$30 million he has reputedly raised from a fund rising tour of Arab states.

What is the message Fatah wants to send by using Abbas’ President Guard to open fire on Haniyeh’s convoy? Perhaps, even more importantly, we should be speculating who actually made the decision and gave the order to Abbas’ Presidential Guards to open fire on Haniyeh’s convoy.

My gut says it’s not Abbas. He has been expending a great deal of energy trying to come to some kind of compromise position with Hamas. Despite the hoopla, Abbas cannot afford to get into an open confrontation with Hamas. Abbas does not have the strength to overcome Hamas by boots/guns on the ground. The Fatah leadership is seriously divided and Abbas holds the weak hand. Abbas is not in position to make good on his threats to dissolve the Parliament and call either an election or general referendum, as he and Fatah stand a good chance of being wiped off the electoral board which is why all he does is threaten in the last three months. But obviously someone else is feeling a mite cocky. So who not only holds the loyalty, but the command of Abbas' Presidential Guards?

Update: Abbas expresses regret for attack on Haniyeh's convoy

Was Litvinenko - just the spy who wasn't loved enough?

This Reuters report would be very reassuring if it was credible:

BERLIN (Reuters) - The head of an organization of former Russian spies was quoted as saying on Thursday Stalin-era policies of Moscow assassinating enemies had ceased, and ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko was probably murdered by criminals.
Former KGB agent Valentin Velichko, head of a Moscow-based Russian nationalist foundation called "Dignity and Honor," said in an interview that Litvinenko, who died on November 23 from severe radiation poisoning, was a traitor but was not killed by Moscow.

"That was long ago. It belonged to the days of Stalin," Velichko told Die Welt newspaper. He was referring to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, who in the 1930s led a campaign of political persecution, repression and executions.

"In those days there was a special department called "V," which handled the liquidation of political opponents," said Velichko, who also heads the Veterans of Foreign Intelligence. Asked about the assassination of Bulgarian dissident writer Georgi Markov, who was killed with a poison dart coated with deadly ricin shot from an umbrella in 1978, decades after Stalin's death, Velichko said this was probably the last one.

"In the system of Russia's secret services there was and is no department for liquidations," he said. Velichko was asked if some people in his organization might have wanted to settle scores with Litvinenko. He said, "No." "I see it (Litvinenko's murder) as a dispute among criminals," he said. At the same time, Velichko said Litvinenko had revealed secrets, which "made him a traitor under the law."

However, the denial sounds like it just came straight out of the old KGB playbook, which in turn could be explained away by saying the FSB has adopted a decidedly 'green' ethos.

Fatah's General Intelligence unit makes a one time arrest

Reuters is reporting this interesting development:

GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian intelligence agents arrested a member of a militant group in Gaza on Thursday in connection with the deaths of three young children earlier this week, witnesses and a security source said.

The General Intelligence unit of the Palestinian security forces, a body allied to President Mahmoud Abbas, arrested Hisham Mukhaimar, a member of the Popular Resistance Committees, at his home in Gaza City, the group and witnesses said.

A Palestinian security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the arrest was linked to the investigation into the killing on Monday of three schoolboys whose father was an intelligence official considered close to Abbas. The General Intelligence unit would not comment on the arrest. Because General Intelligence rarely arrest members of militant groups, Thursday's operation was considered significant, political sources said.

A spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) demanded Mukhaimar's immediate release and threatened retaliation if he was not set free. "The PRC condemns the arrest by tens of masked men from the General Intelligence of a member of the PRC after they threw hand grenades and opened fire at his house," Abu Amir said. "We demand his immediate release or else." Hours later, masked gunmen abducted a General Intelligence member in Gaza City, security sources said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The security sources said they believed the abduction was related to Mukhaimar's arrest.

No guff Sherlock.

On the one hand, this may help to shore up support for Abbas within Fatah, but I wouldn’t take it as a sign that Abbas will attempt to establish the rule of law. Gaza is a place where the only law seems to be rule of the jungle.

New Provincial Motto "Ontario - Liberals to Plunder"

Can anyone who lives in this province honestly be surprised that the McGirlieman Liberals have introduced legislation and will extend the sitting of the provincial legislature to ensure this bill gets passed; thereby, giving MPP’s a 25% pay hike? Taken from the Toronto Star report:

Despite angry calls to phone-in shows and criticism from watchdog groups, Premier Dalton McGuinty said today he would not offer any apologies for giving Ontario politicians a 25 per cent pay raise.

When Ontario’s integrity commissioner issued a report last week recommending provincial politicians get a raise or risk becoming a ``farm team” for the House of Commons, the Liberal government said salary increases were not a priority.

But on Tuesday, the government introduced surprise legislation to allow the pay hike, and announced the legislature would extend its sitting until next week to ensure the bill passes before the Christmas break. “I changed my mind,” McGuinty admitted before a cabinet meeting. “I’ll be judged on this by Ontarians as I’ll be judged on all the things I do, but I want them to understand that I honestly believe this is the right thing to do.”

After complaints from backbenchers and party organizers about losing talent to higher-paying jobs in Ottawa or even in municipal politics, McGuinty said he decided a raise to three-quarters of a federal MP’s base salary would be appropriate. It will mean a $22,000 jump for backbenchers to $110,000, and a $39,000 raise for the premier to $198,620 a year.

“We shouldn’t apologize for saying all we’re looking for is a 25 per cent pay gap between MPPs of this house and members of Parliament,” McGuinty told the legislature. “I think it’s fair, I think it’s justifiable, and I think it’s high time.”

Just remember people, these are the same people who thought using taxpayer’s money as venture financing of a theatrical production of Bored of the Rings was not only a savvy business proposition but the proper use of the public coffers.

Now they want a 25% pay increase. Seriously, this makes me long nostalgically for the days of Mike Harris’ Ontario when there were real fiscal conservatives sitting in the provincial legislature building.

Since the Premier has shown such panache and largess in his re-branding efforts; I suggest its time to change the Ontario provincial motto from “Ontario Yours to Discover” to more accurately reflect the Liberal governance of this province to “Ontario – Liberals to Plunder.”

And what exactly is wrong with being the farm team? I rather like farmers, and if MPPs had to emulate any particular group in this country, I’d rather it was the farmers, than say - CUPE.

Red really is a gang colour

While McGirlieman & the provincial liberals are busy patting themselves on the back for a job well done by passing legislation making it illegal for teenagers to leave secondary school before a diploma is obtained or an 18th birthday passed; I would like to take the time to point out just two of the unintended consequences of this piece of legislation.

1.

It will now be mandatory for all teenage drug dealers, thugs and gang-bangers to stay in school and continue to share the school with everyone else’s children.

2.

All the teenagers who have spent the first two years of secondary school making life in the classroom almost intolerable for others (who do want to learn) are now free to continue to poison the learning environment for the next two years.

Good Intentions always makes for bad law.

Sincerely,

Kateland Young-sam
Mother of Many

How about that ceasefire!

I guess the Pally’s don’t get the same feeling of satisfaction by killing their own children so they have resumed more traditional methods of terror. 5 Rockets Launched at Sderot reports Ynet News.

Three Qassam rockets once again violated the calm in the Sderot area Tuesday evening. The Color Red alert system was sounded in the city at around 5 p.m., and residents reported hearing sounds of blasts. Palestinian Authority officials said that the Islamic Jihad was responsible for the fire, but the organization refused to claim responsibility.

But of course, we are to believe that neither Fatah or Hamas can control or police the smallest group of terror operatives in the Gaza Strip - where everyone knows not only knows your name but the name of your mother, your father, your grandparents, your brothers, your sisters and all the names of your second cousins twice removed.

Out of step with the times

The longer I blog, the more I realize how utterly stupid I am and the less I understand the world I find myself living in. Most of what I have been taught to be true is apparently not true anymore. It’s a very surreal feeling. I feel like everyone else got the memo but me and I haven’t a clue as to how I am to go about getting my email address on the list for future reference.

Take this Sea-Tac Christmas tree kafuffle. I never realized that the general wisdom dictates that Christmas trees are now considered a secular symbol of the ‘holiday’ season. What seems incredibly apparent to me, but not to my obvious betters, is that to even refer to a tree as a “Christ-mass” tree would dictate a religious connation. Let’s not even discuss what “holiday” we are referring to when we talk about the ‘holiday’ season.

This actually goes a long way in explaining why I had so many emails asking when one should put up the Christmas tree or decorate the home for Christmas. I kept saying one does it at the beginning of Advent which lead to more emails from Christians asking what is Advent and when does it begin.

I could understand if you were Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim or Hindu asking what is Advent and when does it begin, and as far as I know most religious Jews, Buddhists, Muslims or Hindus don’t bother putting up Christmas trees as it concerns a religious tradition in Christianity. I am obviously stupid so I am probably wrong about that assumption as well. It was just, I couldn’t understand if you were a Christian why one didn’t know what and when Advent begins as it’s an integral part of Christian religious teaching. If you didn’t know the religious tradition just why would one go to all the hassle up of putting up a tree and decorating it?

I get it now. Christmas trees are a traditional secular symbol used in a generic holiday season which falls in December. Mea Culpa.

Who are you going to believe?

Dope Doctor or an RCMP Officer. Victoria Times Colonist reports:

The RCMP, which has publicly taken a neutral position on Vancouver's Supervised Injection Site for drug addicts, has produced an internal report harshly critical of the pilot project.

The three-page analysis, obtained by the Vancouver Sun, suggests that the "harm reduction" approach -- helping addicts avoid overdosing or contracting HIV/AIDS -- actually encourages drug use.

"There is considerable evidence to show that when the perceived risks associated to drug use decreases, there is a corresponding increase in number of people using drugs," states Staff-Sgt. C.D. (Chuck) Doucette, Pacific region co-ordinator of the RCMP's Drugs and Organized Crime Awareness program.

Doucette's analysis, obtained through the Access to Information Act, was produced in July while Insite, which opened on a trial basis in late 2003, lobbied to have its licence extended for three years. Skeptical of the project, Prime Minister Stephen Harper would agree only to extend it to December 2007.

Harper, who said he would rely partly on the advice of the RCMP, also cut federal research money for the site. Dr. Thomas Kerr, one of the authors of a recent report on the Vancouver facility, reviewed the Mountie report and said he finds it "frightening" that the Harper government is relying on such analysis.

Kerr, a research scientist at the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, said Doucette made numerous errors and lacks credibility -- and should "really leave that type of evaluation activity with qualified scientists."

Staff-Sgt. CD Doucette's report is summed up this way:

In his report, Doucette said overdose deaths in Vancouver increased from 2004 to 2005 despite a corresponding decrease in the rest of the province. He also said there's "no evidence" to show that Insite users are going to drug treatment, and said there has been no decrease in public drug use in the area around the facility. Kerr, however, said peer-reviewed and published scientific studies have shown that Insite users are going into detox facilities and that drug use in the area has been reduced.

Look, I am still upset that the City of Toronto is disturbing free “safe” crack kits to junkies. I can’t speak to the general health level of crackies in my neighborhood, but open drug activity in my neighborhood has a rather dramatic and pronounced element to it since the distribution. – just ask Darcey.

Via National News Watch

We are all doomed.

Because absolutely nothing is sacred anymore. Sponge Bob Squarepants does “It’s Hanukkah!”.

British Home Secretary Upholds Traditional and blames scapegoats

If this is represents best reasoning and chattering by the British political classes; then they are doomed. Taken from Ynet News:

The fight against Muslim terrorism will last at least 30 years and it is "highly likely" that Britain will witness terror attacks over Christmas, Home Secretary John Reid told the Daily Telegraph on Monday. Reid said British security services are handling 30 terror plots being planned in the country, warning that although the MI-5 is doing its best to ensure the public's safety he cannot guarantee 100 percent success.

"We can never guarantee that we will get 100 percent success but we do get 100 percent effort from the security services." Reid said the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians was fueling "international terrorism," urging its resolution.

"The aim of the terrorists is to divide the community, to pretend that this is a war between Muslims and everyone else, when it isn't. In a funny way they reflect the views of the extreme Right of politics who argue the same thing — that the big division is between Islam and everyone else. It isn't — it's between the terrorists and everyone else and only with that unity can we ultimately defeat them."

My oh my, and here I thought al Qaeda was last out the door to the Palestinian block party. And who knew, the threat from al Qaeda had nothing to do with an ideology but the Jews? I say, we write Britain off right now and just cut our losses while we can.

Life on Mars on Earth

Iran’s Holocaust Conference is officially underway. It’s the largest gathering of its kind since the fall of the Third Reich but what I find extraordinary is the statements being made by the Pots & Kettles at the conference. Case in point, Ynet News carries this statement made by Iranian Foreign Minister at the conference:

Mottaki also described anti-Semitism as a unique Western phenomenon. He said that there was never any anti-Semitism or racism in Iran, and that "not only does this phenomenon not exist in Muslim countries, but throughout history many Jews can be found in these countries who have reached senior positions."

How peculiar, I just can’t recall the names of any Jews who have worked for the House of Saud.

Somebody is going to have to go without Kassams this Christmas

Ha’artez is carrying an article wherein Hamas promises to fund US$50,000 to the residents of Bethlehem to spruce it up for Christmas:

The fundamentalist Islamic Hamas government of the Palestinian Authority is promising $50,000 to dress up Bethlehem, Jesus' traditional birthplace for the Christmas holiday, more than twice the amount spent in previous year.

Yet even the extra cash - if Hamas pays up - may not be enough to bring Christmas cheer to Bethlehem, hit hard by the last six years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting. The biblical town is now walled in by Israel's West Bank separation barrier, poverty is deepening and Christians are leaving Bethlehem in droves.

Palestinian Tourism Minister Joudeh Morkos has modest expectations. Last year, only about 2,500 foreign visitors came on Christmas, but he's counting on the usual busloads of Christians from Arab towns in Israel to boost turnout. Before the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising in 2000, Bethlehem drew more than 90,000 pilgrims a month.

With just two weeks until Christmas, Bethlehem is only sparsely decorated. Bethlehem Mayor Victor Batarseh, a churchgoing Catholic from a leftist party, said Saturday he won't start decorating until he has the money in hand. A few neon stars are nailed to storefronts on the main streets. The only decoration on the Lutheran Christmas Church in a busy market area is spray-painted graffiti below the pointed steeple that reads "Islamic Jihad" - a Muslim militant group.

I really take issue with the idea that the separation barrier/wall/fence is what is discouraging tourists from Bethlehem in droves. It’s not the fence but the need for the fence that discourages tourists. Its time for the Palestinian Authority to understand what they term the glorious resistance to the Israeli “occupation” is keeping tourists away.

It really doesn’t matter how holy a religious site may be but what risks one has to assume to visit. If I have to risk kidnapping or sniper attacks; I’d rather just not visit. If you’re a Christian, the Vatican represents better value for your life without the risks.

I’ll be visiting Israel next year with my daughter but I have no intention to go anywhere near the West Bank. It may not keep us safe from terror attacks but why enter into the valley of the belly of the beast needlessly? It’s a shame too, because I would have liked to have gone to Hevron, but if I have to choose between consigning our safety to the Israeli security forces or rely on the good will of the Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority’s ability to keep law and order; I vote for the Jews.

A Night at the Ballet 2

It was pointed out to me in an email that the Canadian Ballet Theatre’s production of the Nutcracker on December 16th and 17th at Toronto’s Winter Garden Theatre will be featuring; Veronika Part, current soloist with American Ballet Theatre and formerly a soloist with the Kirov Ballet, as well as Marianna Ryzhina, principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet; and Yan Godovsky, a leading soloist with Bolshoi.

I think I can stand to risk one more quasi-student production. It's not often that the Bolshoi dancers come to town. Besides it will be interesting to see how the students of the Canadian Ballet Theatre stack up against the National Ballet School. Think of it as a showdown between the English/Italian schools verus the Russian team. One never knows, but that new building on Jarvis for the National Ballet school may just come to naught much ado at all.

A night at the ballet

I took the Last Amazon to see the Nutcracker Suite at the ballet last night. As strange as it may sound, I have never taken my children to see any ballet. The Last Amazon did beg for ballet lessons. Eventually I caved but not before I found a suitable Russian ballet mistress for a couple of lessons. I also knew that Madame would terrify all desire to dance out of her. It only took three lessons for the Last Amazon to succumb to my adult wisdom and realize that gymnastics was really more her style.

I never wanted my daughter or sons to dance. I did it. Ballet is very harsh mistress. Really it’s as rewarding as having a lover who you love beyond all distraction who refuses to set you free but will never leave his wife either. To this day my children never fail to tell me how ugly my feet are and there is many a day when the knees and one ankle never let me forget they make up a critical part of what’s left of my body.

The best performances are usually at night and my children were always early to bed and early to rise. Besides, most of the decent ballets are far too long for a mother of young sons to manage to keep her boys suitably still and quiet - short of tying them down in their seats and gagging their mouths. If I did that, no doubt some well meaning soul would have reported me to the Children’s Aid Society thinking I was abusing my children, rather than understanding; I was doing my duty to humanity and my fellow patrons. And it’s not like I could have counted on support from my other half. Getting him to a ballet would have necessitated a great lie, lots of illicit drugs, as well as a vague promise of munchies held out till the end.

The Last Amazon was absolutely breathless with excitement and anticipation with the thought of going to see the National Ballet of Canada in action. The National Ballet of Canada has ranked up with some of the great ballet companies of all times and should be a national treasure. I know the Nutcracker Suite very well, and through the years I have seen many different stagings of it by various ballet companies. It’s a great introduction to ballet. The music is lends itself so well to dance, and when you couple it with the pageantry that the story line requires it becomes a visual musical feast of epic proportions.

I knew the National Ballet Company had changed its staging in the hopes of giving the ballet a new look for a bit of a lift which struck me as odd. It’s a classic and the NBC had one of the best stagings of it around which made it a guaranteed crowd pleaser and cow cash – that is, until former artistic director James Kudelka got his hands on the staging.

Rumours had reached even my isolated ears that the Kudelka had changed the staging significantly but I really hadn’t paid enough attention to how dramatically it had changed. Silly me, I had thought it was more in the line of costume and props, adding or deleting a scene rather than the very fabric of the production’s soul.

Let me try to state the positives first. The costumes design and lighting are wonderful… except for Snow Maidens in Act 1 Scene 3. Those have got to be the lamest designs for a classic tutu I have ever had the misfortune of seeing. They look like they are wearing some kind quilt holder suspended by white mosquito netting hung about their waists. It made me think Space Age Frisbee does ballet and it utterly takes away from the dance.

The stagehands at the new opera house are worth every penny but I have two issues; one with the sound engineer running the board (like where were you bud? I kept looking for you.) and the other with the orchestra. Now, if a ballet orchestra is too loud, it really takes away from the theatre, but it has to play loud enough that the sound of the dancer’s feet are masked. That is just one of the little things a sound engineer is suppose to listen for.

Nothing takes away from the theatre and magic of a ballet when one hears each dancer’s foot pounding down on the stage. It’s not only distracting but positively grating. And I wasn’t close to the stage. For all you non-initiates to the inner workings of ballet dancing; a dancer’s feet have to hit the ground quite hard most of the time. One needs to pound to ensure proper placement and one needs the momentum of a good push as a lift up. The art is making the audience believe that one’s step is all airiness and light.

A final word to the wise; if you are ever going to watch a ballet in a small theatre which either has a small orchestra placed along the side or uses taped music - do not sit up front close to the stage. You stand a good chance of being covered in dancer’s sweat.

Call me hopelessly old-fashioned but having the orchestra dressed in mostly jeans is just downright tacky for classical ballet. I fail to understand what was wrong with the standard uniform of black suits/white shirts for the men and women in a little black dress. All those wild coloured sweaters and jeans are an affront to the audience whenever one of the orchestra comes into view. Standards people!

Speaking of standards, I was completely fluxed when the audience started to applaud when a dancer did one measly fouetté en tournant. This is a standard kind of whipped turn which is executed as a series of 32 turns per fouettes – if you will. One never does a single revolution for a fouetté en tournant. One does 32 or 64 or 96 so what’s the big deal with a 32 turns to make a single fouetté en tournant? Trust me on this, any dancer who cannot execute a single fouetté en tournant fails their intermediate exams. This is no cause to applaud especially when executed with a limp extension. No one expects anyone in the audience to be able to do any of the turns, but its not cause to applaud a single movement and it’s just down right stupid to do so. Nothing says “Rube” better.

I got the tickets for free so I suppose I don’t have cause to gripe about the fact that I thought I was going to see the National Ballet of Canada stage the Nutcracker Suite rather than the National Ballet School of Canada featuring a few dancers from the National Ballet Company of Canada. But if I had shelled out $155 per seat for my daughter and me - I would be feeling positively murderous. At the very least, I would be writing the Ministry of Consumers Affairs to report NBC for false advertising and consumer fraud.

It is ballet tradition for ballet companies to use students for some of the roles in the Nutcracker Suite. Depending on the staging, the role of Clara might or might not be a promising student, and the crowd scenes at the beginning are often filled by students. Many a promising dancer has had a career wrecked by the inability to handle stage fright effectively in a critical role. The Nutcracker is the perfect venue for showcasing and acquiring the necessary skills to get a handle on a case of nerves. Nothing to demanding or complex for the students, but still lets them get a taste and wets their toe shoes. But a professional ballet company should do 99% of the dancing and make up 99% of the performers on stage at any given time.

In this production, the quality of the dancing is incredibly spotty throughout,. Whatelse can one reasonably expect from High School students? Even my daughter, who does not know the name of a single ballet position or how it is to be corrected executed, turned to me at the end of Act 1 and asked; “Why are the dancers all so shaky? And what’s up with the hands?” I just gritted my teeth and said “Nerves.”

The performance is probably a better staging than your ordinary high school production, and certainly its better choreographed, costumed, and light than your average high school production, but it’s a far cry from the minimum of what expects from a professional ballet company.

I now understand why all the Russian character dances were cut from the choreography. The production relies so heavily on students who do not have enough mastery of dance to be able to execute them, but utilizing a dance of A Flock of Sheep for Bo Peep is downright lame. And what’s up with dancing Waiters, Chefs and a Bee? It was cute but totally irrelevant within a “Christmas” ballet.

Just pray tell; when do the toys come to life? Besides, I missed the great fight scene between the Toys and the Rat King’s mice. A bit of trivial from the old staging. The fight scene was not highly choreographed, so every season the Nutcracker was mounted there usually was some mishap or another. A sprained or broken arm/limb/finger or someone falling off the stage but it made for great drama.

I would talk about the Sugar Plum Fairy’s performance but by that time she entered, I was struggling so hard to stay awake that it took all my attention not to fall out of my seat over the balcony and land on the patrons below. The way I see it, you can save your money until the time the National Ballet of Canada rediscovers what it use to do well. I’d love to see the NBC stage this same cast and production at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. What a riot that would be – and I mean that literally; as one can always count on the Russians to be enraged when they are being cheated and robbed.

Or you can take a chance for a third of the price of decent tickets for the NBC and catch the Canadian Ballet Theatre’s production of the Nutcracker – (mainly Russian trained young dancers perform it.) Generally, one can count on the instincts of Russian trained dancers and choreographers to get it right. Or save your money for a trip to New York and watch New York City Ballet stage George Balanchine’s (another Russian) version of the Nutcracker.

Hat Crimes

There is this hat that has been weighing on my mind a lot lately. Now I love hats and always have. I think it’s absolutely atrocious that hats for women and men have gone out of style per say. Nothing says jaunty like a decent fedora on a man. Stable and yet, mysterious, all at the same time. Forget baseball caps – they just make everyone look bad.

I inherited a bunch of hats from my great grandmother and grandmother, and then I had the good fortune in the early eighties to discover one of the last great milliner’s shops for women on Queen Street West in Parkdale.

It was a dark day for me when she finally retired and sold off her stock. Why she retired was beyond me. I mean, if I had her energy and natural good taste I would consider it my duty to humanity to keep going - even if I was 85.

Between the children and my upstairs neighbors repeated flooding out my flat my collection of hats has been left tattered beyond repair. I am still weeping inside over the Jackie Kennedy original pill box hats I had. Go try and find a decent pill box hat. It’s like searching for the King Arthur’s Holy Grail or that saying in the bible, ‘go yea out into the streets and byways of Jerusalem and see if yea can find a man’ or in this case pill box hat. There was a time when I wouldn’t buy a coat if I couldn’t find a decent hat to go with it. Mostly, I have only fall or winter hats now as it has been years since I found decent summer hats.

This brings me to my present quandary. I lost two hats which I bought to go with my dark green and brown trimmed polar fleece coat. One was in the matching green, and the other, in dark metallic rust which really picked up the coat. Now I don’t have a single hat to match it.

A few weeks ago I spied this great hat in the Bay. The only problem was it was $100 dollars. It’s not that I can’t come up with $100 dollars but I just can’t justify buying a soft fabric hat for $100 when I have three children who have yet to finish school. I mean it is only a hat and it’s not like it’s a dual purpose hat which would go with any of my other coats, plus the coat itself is on its last legs. I can still wear it this year and maybe next at the most. Then what would I do with it? And for $100 I can buy a fair amount of books, music, games, clothes which would last longer than one season or two.

Last night the Last Amazon and I were in a rush to get to the ballet so we ventured into the subway. It was while we were riding the subway that I spied my hat on this perfectly hideous woman. Talk about a crime against a perfectly good hat. Why she even ventured out in public in that get-up is beyond me. If you are going to be self-indulgent for a hat, at the very least one needs to ensure that it matches one’s coat.

So much for a socialist paradise

Taken from the Toronto Star:

HELSINKI, Finland — Alcohol is now the leading killer of Finnish adults, with consumption reaching an all-time high last year, officials said Friday. More than 2,000 people between the ages of 15 and 64 were killed by alcohol poisoning or illnesses caused by alcohol consumption last year, the government's leading welfare and health agency said. Nearly 1,000 people died in accidents or violent incidents caused by alcohol.

"This is truly a worrying trend," said Kristiina Kuussaari of the National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health. "The serious negative effects will continue to grow for years to come." Alcohol was responsible for 17 per cent of all deaths among 15- to 64-year-old men, surpassing heart disease for the first time, the agency said. Alcohol also caused more than 10.5 per cent of all deaths in adult women, alongside breast cancer, for the first time.

Since 2003, the cost of treating alcohol-related illnesses has grown by 14 per cent, peaking at the equivalent of C$1.3 billion last year in the country of 5.2 million.
The government has traditionally kept a tight control on alcohol consumption with high prices in its Alko monopoly retail outlets and supermarkets do not sell beer with higher alcohol content.

However, in March 2004 it slashed alcohol taxes by more than 40 per cent to discourage growing "booze cruises" to Russia and neighbouring Estonia, where alcohol is much cheaper. The move caused an outcry from health officials who warned of negative health effects and police who reported a rise in public drunkenness and anti-social behaviour.

This is what happens when the government meddles in cradle to the grave – people never learn the value of standing their own or taking responsibility for their own behaviour. The Toronto Star makes no reference to it but I would bet money there are Fins crying for the government to step in and do something.

Shameless and Depraved

Though I am not terribly surprised or shocked as it was a Liberal Party Convention.

How long will Di-yawn delay?

Apparently, newly elected liberal party leader Di-yawn says he is willing to give up his French citizenship if it poses a problem for Canadians. So I have to ask: what’s the hold-up?

Cause to Hope

Last year when the Last Amazon had to choose her classes for this year she ended up in a bit of a quandary as she couldn’t get the electives she wanted without giving up either Physics or Chemistry owing to the demands of her time table. She ended up with a compromise elective of Canadian Law.

This week the class has been studying the firearms law and gun registry with all the appropriate tie-ins to Montreal Massacre. The teacher remarked that she has never before taught a class that is so overwhelmingly pro-gun but anti-gun registry and asked rhetorically if she should be afraid. The Last Amazon retorted fear is a normal response when only the thugs are carrying arms.