test blog #10

Getting caught up over at Rob's place , I realized I never congratulated Canada on The World's Stupidest Government Award . As you can imagine, competition was tight, what with the U.S. and North Korea in the running. Fear not, America Firsters, your guy didn't go home empty handed. W won Stupidest Statement of the Year with one of my personal favorite Bushisms: "They never stop thinking of ways of harming America, and neither do we." In a surprise, sexist upset, Ann Coulter won Stupidest Man of the Year. Yes, I still call out sexism, even when it's against anti-feminist, wingnuttified women who I hate. It's like being against the death penalty for Donald Rumsfeld. Oh yeah, just call me Mahatma.

Don't you hate when people say "more later," then disappear? I've had a busy day, actually working for my salary today. Have you heard that the new Iraqi constitution, as presently drafted, compromises the rights of women? It would actually take away some rights Iraqi women had under Saddam's secular dictatorship. David Cho was surprised I hadn't blogged about this, with good reason. I find thinking about women's rights on an international level so depressing. It makes me feel sad, and helpless. Also very grateful. There but for some random chance go I. Geography is destiny. From the Feminist Majority Foundation : Iraqi Women May Lose Rights Under New Constitution In response to provisions in the draft Iraq constitution limiting women's rights, approximately 200 women protested in Baghdad last week to demand full equality between women and men. Activists have also met with constitutional committee members to lobby for women’s rights. Iraq’s new draft c...

The counter is under 30 days! We are getting really excited. Time is very tight, my schedule is packed, the days are flying by in a whoosh . Butterflies are flitting in and out of my stomach. More later.

Look at this. Don't be scared, it takes two clicks to get to the really scary stuff.

Perhaps you haven't all heard about this. On July 26, a supervisor with the Gray Line bus company reported that five "suspicious men" had just boarded one of the company's double-decker tour buses. Here's why the men were suspicious: they had purchased their tickets in advance, they carried backpacks, and they were wearing something else that caused bulges to appear around their waists. Oh, did I mention they appeared to be South Asian? The men were British citizens, and Sikhs. The Gray Line ticket-taker called his supervisor. The supervisor called the police. The police cordoned off the area. That is, Times Square. The five men were ordered off the bus, handcuffed, and forced to kneel on Broadway while bomb-sniffing dogs searched the bus. The bulges were fanny packs. The men were questioned and released. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg apologized to the tourists, defended the police, and criticized the Gray Line employees for overreacting. This in a city wi...

I recently started reading Silver Rights by Constance Curry. It's the (nonfiction) story of a family of African-American sharecroppers who pioneered desegregation in 1965, in the rural Mississippi Delta. Most of us are somewhat familiar with the stories of the brave black Americans who desegregated Ole Miss and the high schools in Little Rock, Arkansas. They had enormous courage. They also had a supportive community, the protection of federal troops and national media coverage. The people of the deep rural south had none of this. Mississippi had used a clever bit of fiction to skirt the desegregation order mandated by the Civil Rights Act of 1964: the "Freedom of Choice" law. All a Mississippi family had to do was sign a paper, and their children could attend any school they wanted. Naturally, it was a hoax. In a climate of lynchings, house burnings, midnight shootings and no end of physical and psychic harassment - that is, in a climate of terrorism - few African-Americ...

In many cases the urge to know surpasses what can be known; questions without answers. Many people, finding this impossible to accept, seek solace in mythic expressions. So attuned is the human mind to look for and find answers that sometimes it extracts meaning where none exists: the face of an old man, a witch, or the image of a monster, seen in an inkspot; psychic portent attributed to mere coincidence; the cry of "why me?" when natural disaster strikes, as if the agent of disaster chooses its victim; the perception of supernatural anger expressed in the violence of an earthquake. Human consciousness demands explanations about the world and is resourceful at creating explanations where none naturally exist. From Origins Reconsidered , by Richard Leakey and Roger Lewin A nice review/tribute here , my previous post here , the Leakey Foundation here .

Bob Herbert says, It's the oil, stupid. It is now generally understood that the U.S.-led war in Iraq has become a debacle. Nevertheless, Iraqis are supposed to have their constitution ratified and a permanent government elected by the end of the year. It's a logical escape hatch for George W. Bush. He could declare victory, as a senator once suggested to Lyndon Johnson in the early years of Vietnam, and bring the troops home as quickly as possible. His mantra would be: There's a government in place. We won. We're out of there. But don't count on it. The Bush administration has no plans to bring the troops home from this misguided war, which has taken a fearful toll in lives and injuries while at the same time weakening the military, damaging the international reputation of the United States, serving as a world-class recruiting tool for terrorist groups and blowing a hole the size of Baghdad in Washington's budget. . . . What has so often gotten lost in all the t...

Paul Krugman asks, "Senator Rick Santorum, are you reading this?" Americans tend to believe that we do everything better than anyone else. That belief makes it hard for us to learn from others. For example, I've found that many people refuse to believe that Europe has anything to teach us about health care policy. After all, they say, how can Europeans be good at health care when their economies are such failures? Now, there's no reason a country can't have both an excellent health care system and a troubled economy (or vice versa). But are European economies really doing that badly? The answer is no. Read "French Family Values" . **** Local columnist Clyde Haberman notes that when New York State Governor George Pataki announced he would not seek re-election, he managed to utter four words before invoking September 11th. That was probably a first for Pataki; he usually doesn't waste that much time.

We saw Murderball yesterday, the movie I mentioned here . It was terrific. I think most of you will find it moving, entertaining and eye-opening. Plus one of the story lines is a US-Canada rivalry, with surprising results.

From Black Box Voting : Jim March, a member of the Black Box Voting board of directors, was arrested Tuesday evening for trying to observe the Diebold central tabulator (vote tallying machine) as the votes were being counted in San Diego's mayoral election (July 26). According to Jim Hamilton, an elections integrity advocate from San Diego, he and March visited the office of the registrar of elections earlier in the day. During this visit, March made two requests, which were refused by Mikel Haas, the San Diego Registrar of elections. 1) March asked that the central tabulator, the computer that tallies up the votes from all the precincts, be positioned so that citizens could observe it. According to Hamilton, this would have required simply moving a table a few feet. 2) March also asked for a copy of the ".gbf" files -- the vote tally files collected during the course of tabulation – to be provided for examination after the election. During the tallying of the election, t...

Should we give up on Roe v Wade ? Many people think so. As Katha Pollitt writes in her most recent column, "A chorus of pundits--among them David Brooks in the New York Times and the Washington Post's Benjamin Wittes writing in The Atlantic--argue that Roe's unforeseen consequences exact too high a price: on democracy, on public discourse, even, paradoxically, on abortion rights." Pollitt examines if this would be a good idea for the people who it will effect: American women. Please read her excellent essay here.

TWOT is over. (Thanks Kyle, I might have missed it.) "We" are now fighting a global struggle against the enemies of freedom . Where's George Orwell when you need him? If you wonder why I always invoke the spirit of Mr Orwell, please read (a) 1984 and (b) "Politics and the English Language" . If it's been more than 10 years since you read 1984 , it's time to read it again. I promise. Political language . . . is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. George Orwell, from "Politics and the English Language," 1946.

Random notes today. ALPF found two more Americans making the move . By coincidence, I registered at 43things.com a few months ago, just so I could encourage yet another American thinking about Canada. A commenter has an alternative view on Costco. After reading the lyrics to " The Toronto Song ", Wrye had this to say , reprinted here because I enjoyed it so much. Ah, marriage... Y'know, Canada does turn up in nineteenth century novels and early feminist/suffragette works as the place of last resort to flee to when escaping marriage and/or the patriarchy (normally invoked, as near as I can tell, in the same tones as Siberia would be, if it had been the British hands). DISCLAIMER: Wrye makes no claim, explicit or otherwise, that Canada is currently patriarchy free. Do not consume patriarchy if pregnant, able to become pregnant, or if prone to high blood pressure, ulcers, or underemployment. Emigration to Canada is a major step and should not be attempted without first con...

...to violations of your rights. I saw some subway-search cops for the first time yesterday. I also saw a woman stride purposefully towards them with her bag open. Sheeple. I wasn't carrying a backpack, just a small bag. I just avoided eye contact and walked through the turnstiles. A commenter named Matt has some better ideas. Matt stopped by to tell us about the Flex Your Rights Foundation , which has created The Citizen's Guide to Refusing New York Subway Searches . You can also download it as a flyer in .pdf form. From the intro: In response to the recent London terror attacks, New York police officers are now conducting random searches of bags and packages brought into the subway. While Flex Your Rights takes no position on the usefulness of these searches for preventing future attacks, we have serious concerns that this unprecedented territorial expansion of police search powers is doing grave damage to people's understanding of their Fourth Amendment protections ag...

As of August 28, I am officially unemployed!

Costco is the anti-Wal-Mart. In a New York Times business story (now unavailable), captured and commented on by The B.S. Corner , we read that Jim Sinegal, the chief executive of Costco Wholesale (fifth-largest retailer in the US) has a radical notion. He does the right thing. Sinegal pays his employees a decent living wage, he doesn't force them to pay their own health-care costs, and he doesn't fight them if they choose to unionize. He rejects Wall Street's assumption that to succeed in discount retailing, companies must pay poorly and skimp on benefits, or must ratchet up prices to meet Wall Street's profit demands. At Costco, one of Mr. Sinegal's cardinal rules is that no branded item can be marked up by more than 14 percent, and no private-label item by more than 15 percent. In contrast, supermarkets generally mark up merchandise by 25 percent, and department stores by 50 percent or more. Mr. Sinegal, whose father was a coal miner and steelworker, gave a simp...

Who says wingnuts don't grow on maple trees? I must thank AndyM at funcentral . Without Andy, I never would have found Richard Evans , Canadian Wacko. I thought this was a parody. But no, the guy is just a parody of himself. Richard baby, I'm a'comin' to ruin your country!!! Mwaaaahahahaha... Poking fun of Evans is only one of many reasons to visit funcentral. Hey, check out my nifty new countdown clock. Redsock found it and was quite keen (Britishism there) on my using it. It was originally a countdown to the MLB trade deadline , which we eagerly await. Although not nearly as much as we await wmtc. I never did get to give notice yesterday , my supervisor must be on vacation. (What a job, eh? I never see my supervisor, and I speak to her about three times a year.) I'll keep trying. I feel so free and happy, despite having a zillion things to do. One month of seeing friends, enjoying New York City, making lists, doing errands, packing up. "I love it when a plan ...

The decision last week to have police officers inspect the belongings of thousands of subway riders has opened a thicket of legal and constitutional issues, involving criminal procedure, transit security and concerns about potential misuse of the new tactic. Yesterday, Donna Lieberman, the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said the organization had begun work on a federal lawsuit, which could be filed this week. Such a challenge will most likely claim that the policy violates the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against "unreasonable searches and seizures." And at a news conference in Brooklyn, Capt. Eric Adams, the president of a group of black police officers, said its members were worried that riders of Middle Eastern, African or Asian descent would be disproportionately targeted in the searches, despite official assurances to the contrary. The Fourth Amendment has always been one of the more elastic clauses in the United States Constitution. It...

I take another big step today: I'm giving notice on my day-job. I know I speak for Allan, too, when I say these are tough jobs to leave. Not that we love our work so much, but we have the perfect day jobs. We don't expect to see the likes of them in Toronto, at least not for a while. After making the decision, in the mid-1980s, to pursue writing more seriously, I've held an array of different jobs. I've been a nanny, a proofreader, a teacher, an assistant to a crazy artist, a data-entry operator, a political organizer, and probably a few things I don't even remember - and usually more than one at a time. Once I gave up nanny-ing (which I did in exchange for rent), I needed something much higher paying. There's a whole culture in New York of writers, actors, musicians and students who "temp," and I heard the money was good. I didn't even have a computer in those days - very few people did. I had one friend who was cutting edge! I would go to her pl...

Our friend B.W. Ventril has some interesting thoughts on where we might be headed. He lived in the UK during the IRA bombings, so his perspective is different than that of Americans or Canadians. I'm not big on predicting the future - somehow it always turns out differently than we think. (Unless we're George Orwell.) But history is our only guide, and this is an interesting recent historical perspective. Check out his post.

Maybe this is something you all can help me with. I am trying to get an essay published, and am looking for places to sell it. I am looking for: - as wide a readership as possible, - either print or web or both, - if print or the website of a print magazine, then a paying market (i.e. they pay me). The essay is: - personal, with a political overtone, and - pegged to the anniversary of the September 11th attacks. So as not to be cryptic, it's an essay comparing my recovery from rape to New York City's recovery from the trauma of 9/11, and our fear of terrorism to the fear of the "every day terrorism" of sexual assault. Don't freak out, it was a long time ago. I speak publicly about my recovery and have written about it for national media. I also write about sexual assault and related issues for teens. It's just never come up here. So there it is. Here's what I've done so far. The essay is currently being read for the " Lives " column of The Ne...

I can't even comment on it yet. I have no words. I just feel sick. I knew about this from reading Seymour Hersh, but I guess I left it behind for a while. Thanks to Redsock for reminding me. No sarcasm intended there, we can't let this fade from our consciousness. If Donald Rumsfeld calls an act sadistic....? I can't even finish that sentence.

Here's an idea that I wish someone else would implement. I would like to see a map of the blogosphere. Who links to whom. It could take the form of a Venn Diagram , or a road map, with different color lines for two-way and one-way communication, or some other form that I can't visualize. It couldn't take in the entire blogosphere - I suppose that would be impossible, as it's fluid - but it could represent a good-sized chunk. I was thinking how when I visit a blog, that blogger and I share some readers, and not others. And how a few clicks will land you in an entirely different blog country. When I visit Crabletta , I see G , Rob and Sleepybomb , who read wmtc, but I also see arse poetica , who probably doesn't. I visit Zydeco Fish , who also visits G, but maybe doesn't visit Crabbi. A new reader, Niobium , found wmtc through (I think) Barbara from California (who I found randomly), and is now turning up at Library Bitch, among other places. Barbara has a compl...

The Amazing Wonderdog asks, Now are we all Egyptians? My only quibble is that this isn't about the blogosphere (which, after all, is only made up of people - good, bad and stupid). Many of us were decrying the "today we are all Londoners" shit. But still. TAW is correct.

The man shot dead in Stockwell tube station yesterday was not connected to the attempted bombings of London on July 21, police said tonight. Police said the shooting was a "tragedy" and they expressed "regret". I bet his wife and kids regret it even more. Tragedy? I call it a crime. Guardian story here. Thanks to B.W. Ventril of It's Time .

A recent comment from G, and a link to his post about this craziness , reminded me of something I meant to tell you guys. Driving to Boston the other day, we stopped for some caffeine, and noticed a Tim Hortons off the highway. It was the first time we saw one in the US! Naturally we chose Tim's over the other fast-food choices. Along with the iced coffee (for me) and hot tea (for Allan), we gave in to temptation and got a couple of donuts. But they were not real Tim Hortons donuts! The Tim Hortons donuts we had in Canada were heavy and cakey. The Tim Hortons donut we found in Connecticut was of the Dunkin' Donuts variety - not as airy and overly sweet as a Krispy Kreme, but not the heavy, cakey kind either. I suppose Tim Hortons (owned by Wendy's) doesn't want to introduce Americans to a new breed of Canadian donuts. We were disappointed!

As sung by Groucho Marx, actual composer unknown. Mr. and Mrs. Klein, They lived a life so fine, Until the relatives came. Uncle und tante Wolf, Brought over the little Wolfs, Like wolves they lived up to their name. One week went by, Klein started to cry, It looks like the Wolfs mean to stay. So he tells his wife one night, That while they were sleeping tight, Let's leave them, and we'll run away. Say, it's better to run to Toronto, Than to live in a place you don't want to. With twenty wolves in front of me, My house looks like a menagerie. Imagine the cheek from the tante, To bring all the Wolfs from Toronto, And, oy, how they can eat, At least a pound of meat. Say, they take what they want, when they want to. Just think what the bills will amount to. Every day they are growing more and more. They eat one meal a day, that's right, They start in the morning and finish at night. It's going to be a cold cold winter, And I can't keep the Wolfs from the door.

The MORONs are at it again. That is, the Main Organization Revealing Obvious Numbskulls are handing out the annual World Stupidity Awards. Who will be declared Dumbest Of Them All? With W in the running, there is some mighty tough competition. The United States will face tough competition from Canada on Friday but this time it has nothing to do with hockey or softwood lumber. The two countries are going head-to-head for top honours at the World Stupidity Awards, where doofuses get their due. "This is a year where Canada could do very well and, as a Canadian, I'm very excited," enthused Albert Nerenberg, of the Main Organization Revealing Obvious Numbskulls, which organizes the event at the Just for Laughs comedy festival. "The Canadian government has been nominated in the dumbest government of the year category and this is one year where we feel we've got a chance." Canada will be vying against the United States, Iran, North Korea and the United Nations for ...

I just turned in the final chapter of the ancient civs book. All I can say is... I'm done, I'm done, I'm done done done done done, done done done done-done-doooone... (Sung to the tune of the "Dallas" theme song.) This weekend I'll start catching up on the outside word, so expect comments on your blogs, or at least a uptick in page views. Whooofuckinghooo! I'm off to pour myself a glass of wine.

Well, isn't this convenient. U.S. Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts provided legal advice to Gov. Jeb Bush in the weeks following the November 2000 election as part of the effort to make sure the governor's brother won the disputed presidential vote. Roberts, at the time a private attorney in Washington, D.C., came to Tallahassee to advise the state's Republican administration as it was trying to prevent a Democratic end-run that the GOP feared might give the election to Al Gore, sources told The Herald. The maneuver, which the Democrats never attempted, might have kept the state from sending its list of official "electors" -- the Electoral College members who actually cast the votes that count -- to Congress and the National Archives. If the names were not forwarded to Washington in a timely fashion, Republicans feared, Gore might be declared the winner because Florida's 25 electoral votes wouldn't be counted -- and the Democrat had garnered more elec...

I wonder how long this will last . The police last night began random searches of backpacks and packages brought into the New York City subways as officials expressed alarm about the latest bomb incidents in the London transit system. The searches, which will also include commuter rail lines, are not a response to a specific threat against the city, said Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who authorized the searches shortly before he announced them at a morning news conference. The police have previously inspected bags at major events like parades and demonstrations, and the authorities in Boston conducted random baggage searches on commuter rail lines during the Democratic National Convention last year, but officials here could not recall a precedent for a broad, systematic search of packages in the New York City subways, which provide 4.7 million rides each weekday. At some of the busiest of the city's 468 stations, riders will be asked to open their bags for a visual check before they ...

I'm late this morning, because we spent a good portion of last night at the emergency vet with Buster. He's OK. (And thank you for your concern.) It wasn't exactly an emergency, but he needed to see a doctor, and our vet is on vacation. Apparently so is everyone else's vet, because the place was packed. This brings us further complications, because Buster can't be around other dogs (except his Cody ). So we waited outside: I stay on dog-alert, while Allan runs Buster back and forth across the street as all the dogs in the neighborhood go out for their walks. Eventually an exam room opened up, so we could wait in there. This too brings complications: Buster spends the whole time shrieking and crying. Ah yes, a very pleasant four-hour wait. As for Buster, he's having the same intestinal trouble we've been battling off and on for two months. Through it all, he seems perfectly happy, not distressed in any way or in pain. But he's losing weight, and his coat,...

Thanks for all your good wishes, you guys. We had a lovely day. Fenway Park has always been my favorite ballpark. It's really one of my favorite places, period. And although I watch or listen to a baseball game almost every day, because I no longer enjoy going to Yankee Stadium, I haven't actually attended a baseball game all season. I miss it! When I walk up those steps and see that brilliantly green grass, and that crazy green wall, I feel pure joy. The weather was beautiful - hot, but not humid, and breezy - we had excellent seats behind the Red Sox dugout, and the Sox breezed to a win. To cap it off, Allan surprised me with this: Cool, huh? (In case you can't read it, it says "The Red Sox wish a Happy 20th Anniversary to Allan Wood and Laura Kaminker".) It's funny, I never thought that celebrating the day we met was unusual, but judging from yesterday's comments, I guess it is. As I've mentioned in other contexts, we don't celebrate any of the ...

"It was twenty years ago today..." July 20, 1985, somewhere on West 22nd Street, a bored young New Yorker in a mini-skirt met a skinny, long-haired guy from Vermont. We're celebrating the 20th anniversary of that great day by driving up to Boston for a baseball game. Here's to the next 20 years. Hope you all have a wonderful day - see you tomorrow!

Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive , writes two-minute commentaries for the magazine's daily radio show (which I think you can listen to here .) His copy is always punchy, short and worth reading. Today it's called "Hillary on the Right" : how the darling of the Democrats, and the most hated woman in America, wants to expand the empire, because she is a "strong proponent of a forceful American military presence abroad". "Reframing" the abortion debate , increases in military spending - the Dems have got it all. They have finally figured out how to imitate the Republicans, but still be themselves: adopt all their policies, but not get elected anyway.

Cindy Sheehan wants to hear the sound of a nation waking up. Sheehan is the mother of Spc Casey Austin Sheehan, killed in action in Iraq on April 4, 2004. She is the founder of Gold Star Families for Peace . Today in Common Dreams, Sheehan writes : The saddest thing about the obscene sounds of violence is that they never should have been heard in the first place. From Maine to California, and from Baghdad to Falluja, these dirges were unnecessary. In my travels, and from hundreds of emails, phone calls, and cards and letters, I am discovering that people who formerly supported the invasion of Iraq are withdrawing their support. I even believe that many of our fellow citizens who still support the ignominy of Iraq are doing so because they are clinging to the deceptions so desperately, because they want the deceptions to so be the truth. It will be painful to come to terms with supporting the lies of this administration. It will be painful to know that wholesale killing of innocent peop...

This is it. My final deadline for the children's book I'm writing is Friday. I'm out of town on Wednesday, so that leaves four days. I'm in good shape, but only if I bear down. So you'll understand if I'm mostly absent from comments this week.

We don't want your beef, but will you take our disgusting, polluted water? Long-time wmtc readers may remember my friend Alan With One L, also known as The Handheld Evangelist, the man who turned me on to the joys of iPAQ . (Isn't she beautiful? I am still in love.) Alan has alerted me to yet another US-Canada border war. Canadians often get angry when the United States throws up barriers to their exports, such as cattle or softwood. But now Canada is desperate to block an unwanted American product. Officials are meeting their counterparts in Washington, DC, to try to stop the state of North Dakota from draining the polluted waters of Devil's Lake into their own Lake Winnipeg. Undeterred, the authorities of North Dakota plan to let the waters flow when a channel is completed later this month. Devil's Lake lies about 160km (100 miles) south of the Canadian border. It has no natural outlet, shedding water solely through evaporation. But a recent series of wet years have s...

"New York run by the Swiss." So said actor Peter Ustinov, describing the city of Toronto. Why didn't anyone ever tell me this? New wmtc reader James finally alerted me to this quote. To a New Yorker, this is a bizarre description. Nothing could be less New York than the stereotype of clean, efficient Switzerland. Which is not to say New York couldn't be improved by an injection of Swissness. Googling the phrase, I found this New York Magazine note , which ran after the 2004 election. It's a semi-sarcastic look at which Canadian city disgusted Americans might move to. Let me know what you think of the caricatures. Here's something seldom seen at wmtc: a little celebrity trash. From Zydeco Fish , I bring you Tom Cruise Is Nuts . I haven't the slightest idea what's going on with the whole Tom Cruise thing. I have read exactly one item relating to it, and that was Brooke Shield's New York Times Op-Ed . Anyone who speaks publicly about mental and emoti...

That's what this post will cost US readers. Canadians might pay a little more, but you won't be disappointed. You must all run out right now and buy a copy of Harper's . The article is called "Mighty White of You - Racial Preferences Color America's Oldest Skulls and Bones," by Jack Hitt. It's about anthropology theories, the ridiculous (and constantly changing) social construct of race, how we perceive ourselves and our prehistoric ancestors, and above all, the persistence of racism - subtle but unmistakable - in every facet of our culture. It is fascinating and very entertaining. It's the kind of article that makes me grateful Sir Redsock still subscribes to Harper's . Go. Buy. Read. P.S. I just googled the "mighty white of you jack hitt" and found several other bloggers urging their readers to do the same - along with some highly offended junior anthropologists and white-power dudes. I promise you the story is worth $6.50, but if you...

Thanks to G , I read "A War of Disabilities" by Ronald Glasser, in the most recent issue of Harper's . (And thanks to Redsock , who had the magazine in one of his many piles of paper.) I wanted to post large chunks of this great article, but it's only available in print. Imagine that. I did find this excellent post about it by corrente . I take exception to the idea (in the above post) that being kept alive with serious disabilities is a "questionable blessing". It's better to be alive, period. But people with disabilities need medical care and other support services. Why do we doubt the US government will be providing these to the huge crop of people whose disabilities they caused ? For an idea of the article, visit corrente , it's an excellent blog. For more, please visit your favorite bookstore to pick up a copy of Harper's . There's a really cool story by Jack Hitt about how some amateur anthropologists want to imagine our prehistoric an...

Someone has a blog about The Daily Show's new set . What's more, Blogger has chosen it as a Blog of Note.

On June 27, the Supreme Court once again turned back the clock on social progress. For some, this reversal will be fatal. In the not-distant past, when the police were called to a home because of domestic violence, it was up to them whether or not they made an arrest. Traditionally, they did nothing. Because domestic violence was perceived as a private, family matter, rather than the criminal behavior that it is, many women and children were killed by raging husbands, boyfriends and stepfathers. (Occasionally the genders are reversed, or both victim and abuser are the same gender. I'm using the most common scenario.) The cause-and-effect link between police discretion and escalating violence or murder has been well documented. Anti-domestic-violence activists have worked very hard, on the state and county level, to pass mandatory arrest laws. Mandatory arrest means that when the police are called to a domestic violence scene, someone is going to spend the night in jail. In some sta...

A while back, I posted about a gay teen who had been abducted and detained by some fascists calling themselves Christians. The New York Times has got a hold of the story - and they're running it in tomorrow's Style section . What is up with that? Do they think more gay people will see it in Style? Is Style a code-word for gay? Which means they think only gay people care about this? (Or only stylish people?) Perhaps when Roe v. Wade is overturned, I'll read about it in the Home section. You know, where we ladies clip our recipes. If I've jumped the gun - maybe this story has a fashion angle I'm not aware of - do let me know. Meanwhile, I'll let the Times know how I feel. New York Times story here.

ALPF in absentia sent me this cool story . If you're planning on buying the new Harry Potter book, be sure to pick up a Canadian edition: it's printed on recycled paper, produced from non-old-growth forests. What would Harry Potter do if Hogwarts forest were being destroyed? He'd act to save it, of course, and that's what his American fans are being urged to do by buying "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" — not in the United States but in Canada, where J.K. Rowling's latest book is printed entirely on recycled paper. A coalition of conservation groups and Rowling herself have likened the mythical Hogwarts forest to old-growth trees used by paper suppliers around the world. The author and the activists also have praised Raincoast Books, the publisher of Harry Potter books in Canada, for using paper that's recycled and certified as being free of pulp from ancient trees, generally defined as trees that are at least 150 years old. Raincoast's pr...

Here's a man after my own heart. Dave Zirin has written a book called What's My Name Fool? Sports and Resistance in the United States . If you think it's an odd subject, you're not alone. Then in 1996, a basketball player named Mahmoud Abdul Rauf refused to stand for the National Anthem. Rauf believed the flag to be "a symbol of oppression and tyranny," and was willing to suffer the consequences. His courage was stunning, but even more shocking was the howling cries for his head. When Rauf was suspended, some news reports resembled lynch mobs. But others likened him to Muhammad Ali, whose title was stripped for being a draft resistor during the Viet Nam war. This was a history I barely knew. As Rauf began to buckle under the tremendous pressure of right wing bombast, it became clear that our side needed a history of the resistance in US pro sports. To aid this effort, I started writing a column called Edge of Sports, and just completed my first book "What...

John Gibson of Fox News says that Karl Rove should be given a medal. I agree: Mr. Rove should receive a medal from the American Political Science Association for his pioneering discoveries about modern American politics. The medal can, if necessary, be delivered to his prison cell. What Mr. Rove understood, long before the rest of us, is that we're not living in the America of the past, where even partisans sometimes changed their views when faced with the facts. Instead, we're living in a country in which there is no longer such a thing as nonpolitical truth. In particular, there are now few, if any, limits to what conservative politicians can get away with: the faithful will follow the twists and turns of the party line with a loyalty that would have pleased the Comintern. . . . I don't know whether Mr. Rove can be convicted of a crime, but there's no question that he damaged national security for partisan advantage. If a Democrat had done that, Republicans would call...

An American requests I hurry out . An anonymous Albertan would rather I stay . If only I could introduce them to each other.

From this morning's New York Times : Iraqi civilians and police officers died at a rate of more than 800 a month between August and May, according to figures released in June by the Interior Ministry. . . . While the figures were not broken down month by month, it has been clear since the government of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari took over after the Jan. 30 election that the insurgency is taking an increasing toll, killing Iraqi civilians and security workers at a faster rate. In June the interior minister, Bayan Jabr, told reporters that insurgents had killed about 12,000 Iraqis since the start of the American occupation - a figure officials have emphasized is approximate - an average monthly toll of about 500. The issue of civilian deaths in Iraqi has been a delicate one, with some contending that the Bush administration and the Pentagon have deliberately avoided body counts to deprive their critics of a potent argument against the war. Estimates have ranged from the 12,00...

Hockey's back! Almost. From ALPF: it's cheaper to get sick in Canada. The hospital cost of a coronary artery bypass procedure is nearly twice as high in the U.S. as it is in Canada. Yet despite the increased cost, there is no difference in outcome... From Rob: Rosie O'Donnell says Canada rocks. The story is actually about gay tourism. Take that, USA: equality is good for business. So if you're a gay hockey player with heart disease, you would definitely prefer Canada.

Or, why "reframing" to appear more moral (by someone else's standards) will only only back us further into a corner. Or, reason #62 of Why I Hate The Democrats. I'm referring to the drive to "reframe" the debate on abortion. George Lakoff's ideas on how to present abortion in terms supposedly more palatable to the mythical center, though well meaning, are regressive and dangerous. If we fight on the other side's turf, with their language and their weapons, we can only lose. As many of you know, I stand unapologetically on the militant end of the pro-choice spectrum. (Yes, I hate babies! Abort them all!) Abortions are a necessary medical procedure. In all societies, but especially in one without access to affordable, reliable contraception, many women will need an abortion at some point in their lifetimes. I say "need" and not "choose". Yes, it is technically a choice, in the same sense that taking antiobiotics for strept throat i...

The hydro account (that's what you guys call it, right?) is now in our name. The house is actually ours as of August 1, so that's taken care of. And Rogers is coming the day after we arrive. Since our home phone and internet connections both run off cable, it's important to do right away. Plus it's September - pennant race season. Things are moving along!

You may have heard that baseball and softball have been dropped from the Olympics , beginning with the 2012 Games. I was surprised by this, and disappointed, although more so about softball. The Olympics is a great stage for women's sports, and softball is a great women's game. This morning I noticed an op-ed by former Commissioner of Major League Baseball Fay Vincent , and thought I might post it. Then I read this line... We Americans have long endured being punished for our wealth and our might and this may be yet another example. ...and thought better of it. Any examples of this punishment, Mr. Vincent? Did someone snub you when you spoke overly loud English in Paris? Did you read a nasty letter to the editor in the Guardian? What a terrible punishment that must have been. My my, how the rich and powerful suffer. Vincent asks Fearless Leader to intervene with the International Olympic Committee on baseball's behalf. I don't suppose he sees the irony in that. Don'...

Canada, are you building weapons of mass destruction? Are you harboring terrorists, perhaps? Are you sure? U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow visited Alberta's oilsands on Friday, highlighting the growing importance of the region as a supplier of energy to America. Snow toured an oilsands plant and the booming city of Fort McMurray with Finance Minister Ralph Goodale before leaving for Calgary, where he met with Goodale and oil executives. Canada is the leading foreign energy supplier to the U.S., with oil, gas and electricity sales worth more than $50 billion a year, Goodale said recently. Story here , thanks to ALPF.

Every year I think I don't care about the All Star Game, then it comes around, and I'm psyched for the American League to win. Home Run Derby, the day before the All Star Game, is just a good time. The new twist this year is the players representing the countries of their birth, a celebration of the international flavor of Major League Baseball. I'll root for the Dominican Republic (first) and Canada , in that order.