test blog #10

It's amazing how much housing is available in the GTA, both to rent and to buy. In New York, 30 people are fighting for every available space. Every move comes with two questions: what's the rent, and how'd you find it. I was never in this position myself, but people routinely resort to deceit, bribery and subterfuge to find a place to live. Here, it's a buyer's - or renter's - market. I also don't think the rents are bad at all, contrary to popular belief. If you don't have to live in the hippest neighbourhood, there are plenty of decently priced places. (Obviously, that's if you have a decent job. Public housing for people without is still needed.) We're seeing five houses today - one in the Mimico section of Etobicoke, one in the Beaches, two in the Guildwood section of Scarborough, and one in Mississauga. For non-Torontonians, Etobicoke and Scarborough were once separate suburbs, but are now technically part of Toronto - Etobicoke is the west...

A brief report on the Canada Out Of Afghanistan rally in Toronto, from the Star .

As you know, Allan and I work on the weekends. He works Friday, Saturday and Sunday; I work Friday, Sunday and Monday, but am trying and hoping to have my Monday changed to Saturday. In New York, we both worked Saturdays and Sundays, and Allan worked all the Monday holidays, like Memorial Day and Labor Day. Here, because our salaries are lower, we had to add the third day. These are long days, 12 or 13 hours, so on days we work, we really only work. Working the three-day week is very important to us - it's what enables us to pursue our writing careers, and write what we want. (And damn, do we ever miss the two-day week!) And the three-day week usually means weekends. In New York, a 24/7 city, this was never a problem. We'd miss the occasional event that we might have wanted to attend, but generally, with five days and nights to work with, we could do anything we wanted. But is working weekends going to be a problem in Toronto? Theatre has weekday performances, so that's fin...

I didn't go. I'm feeling stressed and anxious , and didn't want to be around people. With packing and unpacking looming, I need maximum time to do my own work, and to have some down-time to myself. This week, we're going to check out south Scarborough, especially the Guildwood, Rouge Hill and Birchcliff Village neighbourhoods. If it seems like a good fit, there are lots of ads to answer. We'll continue to look in Etobicoke South (Long Branch, Mimico, Lakeview) and keep our eyes out for anything in Mississauga South (Port Credit, Lorne Park Estates, Clarkson). And, thanks to friend of wmtc Doug, I now know there are places in The Beaches we can afford. I'm very sure we'll find something really nice in our price range. I'm not worried about that. I just positively dread the prospect of packing and unpacking. (Not so much the moving part, because I'm not going to be doing that work!) It feels like such an intrusion on my time. Sorry for being so whiny...

The more I learn about history, the more I know that it's the most reliable way to understand the present. From Lord Arthur Ponsonby 's, Falsehood in Wartime: Propaganda Lies of the First World War , published in 1928, in which he analyzes the making of war propaganda: 1: We don't want war 2: The enemy bears all the responsibility. 3: We are not waging war against a people, but against an evil leader. 4: We are fighting for a noble cause, not for material interests. 5: The enemy commits atrocities. 6: The enemy is using weapons that are not permitted. 7: Our losses are limited, the enemy's losses are high. 8: The artists and intellectuals support our cause. 9: Every war is a 'holy war'. 10: Anyone who calls the propaganda into question is a traitor. Facts must be distorted, relevant circumstances concealed, and a picture presented which by its crude colouring will persuade the ignorant people that their Government is blameless, their cause is righteous, and that...

We have to move. Our landlord's friend just gave him 90-day's notice, and our landlord, in turn, did the same to us. Although we knew this was a possibility , it still came as a shock. Damn. After the shock subsided a bit, we picked up our Toronto Star and started circling rentals. If we wanted nothing more than a nice apartment or townhouse somewhere in Mississauga, we could choose from dozens of places right away. There's no shortage of housing here, which is certainly nice (and very different from New York). And even with our somewhat more complicated criteria, we still called four or five places yesterday, and went to see one last night. So we're confident we'll find a nice place and we'll be happy there. But damn. We don't want to move. The worst part is the physical inconvenience - the packing, moving and unpacking. Last time we did that - after 13 years in the same place - it was with the excitement and expectation of moving to Canada. Now it's j...

Have you seen this? You might think in this media age, where every sound bite can be captured and preserved, those in power wouldn't have the audacity to do this sort of thing. But these guys are always pushing the envelope, testing what they can get away with. So far they've gotten away with everything. I'm astonished that people still call them incompetent. If there's ever been a more efficient and skillfully disguised dictatorship, I'm not aware of it. There oughta be a new word for Orwellian. Something that would out-Orwell even Eric Blair 's most Orwellian nightmare.

Keith Olbermann on Republican fear-mongering : 'To fill or overpower with terror; terrify. To coerce by intimidation or fear' By this definition, the people who put these videos together: first, the terrorists and then, the administration, whose shared goal is to scare you into panicking instead of thinking, they are the ones terrorizing you. By this definition, the leading terrorist group in this world right now is al Qaeda, but the leading terrorist group in this country right now is the Republican Party. ... Of course, the gruel of fear is getting thinner and thinner, is it not, Mr. President? And thus, more and more of it needs to be made out of less and less actual terror. After last week's embarrassing internet hoax about dirty bombs in footballs stadiums, the one your Department of Homeland Security immediately disseminated to the public, a self-described former CIA operative named Wayne Simmons cited the fiasco as quote "The, and I mean, the perfect example o...

Next year, Ontario voters will decide whether or not to adopt proportional representation for provincial elections. Ontario voters could be casting ballots for more than just who represents them when they head to the polls next October. They could be voting to change the election process. Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Marie Bountrogianni is introducing legislation that would allow a referendum question on electoral reform to go on next year's ballots. The question will depend on what recommendation, if any, is put forth by a citizens assembly tasked with reviewing the current system. There's been a growing push across Canada to change elections so winners more closely reflect the popular vote. MSS, our resident political scientist, blogged about Ontario , with links to his earlier posts on the topic. A similar referendum failed not long ago in British Columbia. In Ontario, as in BC, a supermajority (60%) will be needed for the change to take place, although the vote would...

Nick and Mason came over for dinner last night. (Unfortunately for us, they didn't bring Athena and Cian, who we were hoping would romp around in the yard with Cody.) I had such a good time. We all talked endlessly, and once again - just as when we met Nick when he was here in August - I felt like I was among old friends. They are just great guys, and a really cool couple. They're closing in on their first month in Canada, and we're beginning our second year. We compared impressions and observations of our new lives and our new country. Like any group of recent immigrants, there are some things that only people who lived there and now live here can appreciate, and it was really good to affirm them. I also realized how Denver-to-Toronto was a far greater change than New-York-to-GTA. Nick and Mason have had a bigger culture shock, and so are going through a bigger adjustment, than we did. Even our urban-to-suburban change isn't as huge, as Allan and I both grew up in ...

In a more important, and more sensible ruling, an Ontario judge has struck down part of the Anti-terrorism Act . Justice Douglas Rutherford of Ontario Superior Court ruled that a section of the Anti-terrorism Act that defines "terrorism" violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The ruling does not mean that Mohammed Momin Khawaja, the first person charged under the act, will be freed. Khawaja has been in custody since he was arrested by police on March 29, 2004 in connection with seven criminal charges related to allegations he took part in and helped an extremist organization in Britain. Khawaja, 27, a software developer who was living in the Ottawa area, was expected to face a trial in January. Rutherford decided to sever a section in the law that defines ideological, religious or political motivations for criminal acts. The rest of the law remains in place. "Motive, used as an essential element for a crime, is foreign to criminal law, humanitarian law, and the law...

Here's an item brought to my attention in comments. Friends of wmtc Scott M and Doug both noticed this craziness from a US judge. Why are so many judges in the US so damn stupid ? An American teacher convicted of having sex with a 15-year-old student has been exiled to Canada as punishment in an unusual case that has immigration experts divided over its legality. A U.S. judge gave Malcolm Watson a choice between serving as much as a year behind bars or agreeing to a three-year exile at his home in Canada. Watson, a 35-year-old former teacher at Buffalo Seminary in New York state, chose Canada. Under the sentence for sexual abuse imposed by Cheektowaga town court, Watson can enter the United States only to report to his probation officer. Watson lives in St. Catharines, Ont., with his Canadian wife and three children. His sentence started Monday. Robert Kolken, a Buffalo immigration lawyer, told the Toronto Star that exiling a citizen is unheard of. "I don't see how a judg...

This Saturday, October 28, Canadians can join their neighbours in demanding: Canada Out Of Afghanistan . Demonstrations will be taking place all over the country: a list of events is here . There's a demonstration in Mississauga , but I'll attend the one in Toronto , because I don't have a car on Saturdays. Plus, the first time I demonstrate in my new country, I want to march in front of the US Embassy. Canadian readers, if you oppose your country's growing military involvement in Afghanistan, come out on Saturday, add to the numbers, make your voice heard. Canadian bloggers, will you help publicize this? Canadian Peace Alliance Toronto Coalition to Stop the War StopWar.ca (Vancouver) Collectif Échec à la guerre (Montreal) Halifax Peace Coalition PeaceCalgary.ca NoWar-Paix.Ca (Ottawa-Gatineau) Peace Alliance Winnipeg St. John's There are also events planned in: Digby (NS), Antigonish (NS), Banff (AB), Charlottetown (PEI), Comox Valley (BC), Cornwall (ON), Edmonto...

Some good, some bad. Last week, in a positive ruling for free speech and democracy, an Ontario court threw out parts of Canada's secrecy law. An Ontario court has struck down sections of Canada's secrecy law in throwing out RCMP warrants used to search a reporter's home. The Ontario Superior Court judgment released Thursday quashes three sections of the so-called leakage provisions of the Security of Information Act, passed following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States. The provisions were directly drawn from the decades-old Official Secrets Act, long criticized as archaic and poorly drafted. David Paciocco, a lawyer for Ottawa Citizen reporter Juliet O'Neill, says the ruling underscores the media's role in protecting democracy. "It's a tremendous affirmation of the importance of freedom of the press and freedom of expression," Paciocco said after reading the judgment. "This is also an ultimate vindication of Ms. O'Neill." S...

It finally slowed down at work, giving me an opportunity to do one last go-round on wmtc. Now all the photos are reposted, and every internal, self-referential link is working. I've been getting really sick of this ongoing project, and now it is done. If you happen to find an old link that still points to the blogspot address, please let me know.

No post yesterday and I don't know if I'll be able to write anything today. It's been annoyingly busy on my day-job, making me miss the days when I was paid 50% more to work 90% less. I'm also missing last year's autumn weather, which was crisp, cool and clear through September and October. We had the luxury of not working for the first six weeks we moved here (courtesy of some very hard work the months before), and the lovely weather just enhanced our feelings of joy and good fortune. Looking back, it was one of the happiest times of our life together. Not that I'm complaining now, mind you. I'll leave this up for your own news and the inevitable off-topic comments. Hope you're all well.

Corpus. The body. Habeas Corpus. Produce the body. Produce the dead body of democracy. Habeas Corpus is a corner stone of a just judicial system. It's a cornerstone of democracy. The ruling junta in the US has made it disappear. If you're not up to speed on this, the Military Commissions Act is now law. Contrary to what (for example) the Globe And Mail says , this is not a "tough on terror" bill. This is a suspension of the democratic process, and a sea change in American law. Here's the text of the law itself, and some important portions explained . Human Rights Watch has a thorough analysis written in Q&A form. From the Washington Post : Moving quickly to implement the bill signed by President Bush this week that authorizes military trials of enemy combatants, the administration has formally notified the U.S. District Court here that it no longer has jurisdiction to consider hundreds of habeas corpus petitions filed by inmates at the Guantanamo Bay ...

Would one of the many people visiting wmtc from filepile.org please share the post where I'm linked? I'm curious. Usually when I find wmtc on a forum or message board, I can join and see what's being said. But this place is locked up tight. Update. Now I'm receiving nasty emails from this filepile crew. Apparently I had the audacity to mention their secret sandbox in public and it made them cry. Updated update. Now filepilers are emailing to apologize on behalf of their community, and to explain the confusion, and to attempt to taunt me. It's quite bizarre. From one of the emails: Some other members are trying to figure out who sent you the nasty e-mails, but I wanted to apologize on the community's behalf. Most of us are pretty nice people, I swear, but like any online community, there are a few jerks out there. We're fairly secretive -- it's one of our quirks -- but harmless. (Your commenter "Stewart" was in error: we're not an offsh...

Several people have asked why I haven't written about the Liberal leadership race. Oh, a lot of reasons. I'm not into critiquing campaigns and theorizing on what might happen. It's just not my thing. Of course, just because I don't blog about something doesn't mean I'm not paying attention to it. But at this point, my thoughts on the leadership race and the next election are pretty brief. First, I recall how, after the last election, so many people were absolutely convinced that Harper's Conservatives would win the next election with a strong majority. Many acted as if it were an absolute certainty. But there are no certainties in politics, especially before a government even has a record. I fully appreciate how important it is to prevent a Conservative majority government. I think it looks pretty unlikely at this point, and, at the same time, I'm anxious to see the Liberals run a strong candidate and a strong campaign. I was pleased to see a recent surv...

If you want to see Hazel McCallion resplendent in her sari , I've added a pic.

Bill Moyers has co-written, with Scott Fogdall, an excellent piece about the corporate takeover of the internet. Now we have an Internet infrastructure that is rapidly evolving, in more ways than one. As often occurred on Rome's ancient highways, cyber-sojourners could soon find themselves paying up in order to travel freely. Our new digital monopolists want to use their new power to reverse the way the Internet now works for us: allowing those with the largest bankrolls to route their content on fast lanes, while placing others in a congested thoroughfare. If they succeed in taking a medium that has an essential democratic nature and monetizing every aspect of it, America will divide further between the rich and poor and between those who have access to knowledge and those who do not. The companies point out that there have been few Internet neutrality violations. Don't mess with something that's been working for everyone, they say; don't add safeguards when none have...

Allan, Cody and I drove up to Forks of the Credit provincial park , for a hike and supposedly to see foliage - but all the tree were completely bare! According to this post from the same park, almost exactly one year ago, there were plenty of colours this time last year. A function of the warmer autumn, perhaps? Fortunately, there are plenty of beautiful colours here in Port Credit. We had a nice hike, though, and I'm (again) reminded that this is something I want to do more of. There are many reasons we haven't - we were in Peru in the spring, we hide from the heat in the summer, I've been exploring Toronto, writing deadlines - but I want this to be more than an annual tradition . On the way up Highway 10, I was looking at the map of Ontario, noting how completely huge it is. (Cross-ref Arrogant Worms, I know. Although I can't find the lyrics with the famous phrase anywhere.) I was wondering about the relative sizes of the larger US states compared with the large Cana...

It's leaf-raking time in Port Credit. Last year at this time, our first months in a house, we had to start from scratch. We had to buy rakes, work gloves, a wheelbarrow, snow shovels - everything. This year it's a little easier. In our neighbourhood, full of big, mature trees, the town comes by with a huge leaf vacuum. This is apparently pretty common now, but neither of us had ever seen it before. On the advice of our neighbours, we bought a tarp. You rake the leaves onto the tarp, then drag it to the curb, dump out the leaves, and they get vacuumed up on designated Leaf Vacuum Weeks. We have so many leaves, we couldn't wait for a Leaf Vacuum Week. Last week, raking only the front yard, we filled five huge trash barrels, packed down with leaves. This week we did just the backyard, and filled five tarps like this: It's so nice to work outside and have Cody with us. Last year at this time, Buster was still alive. Since he couldn't be off-leash, he'd stay inside, ...

In today's Star , I notice that Ontario liquor laws will be modernized a bit. When I saw the headline, I naturally wondered about our recent LCBO discussion . But that doesn't appear to be up for debate. These are a few obscure laws such as making it legal to drink a glass of wine while on a winery tour, or for makers of beer, wine and liquor to sell samples of their drinks on their premises. That one's odd because they appear to do that now. The central idea of the changes, however, is rape prevention. New laws would make it legal for people in bars to take their drinks into the washroom with them, rather than leave their drink unattended. Anything that brings awareness to the terrible problem of Rohypnol-induced rape is a good thing. I would hope by now women (especially college-aged women) know not to leave their drinks unattended, and if anything prevents them from taking drinks into the washroom, they are either flouting the law or throwing away their drinks. I'm ...

An elegy for CBGB , by one of my favourite writers. In some ways CBGB, which opened in December 1973, ended its life as it had started. It never moved from its initial location, which was originally under a Bowery flophouse, now a homeless shelter. It never changed its floor plan, with a long bar lit by neon beer signs on the way to an uneven floor, a peeling ceiling, a peculiarly angled stage and notorious bathrooms. Through the years, the sound system was improved until its clean roar could make any power chord sound explosive. Mostly, however, CBGB just grew more encrusted: with dust, with band posters stuck on every available surface, with bodily fluids from performers and patrons. Ms. Smith did some casual spitting of her own during her set. But in a historical long shot, CBGB got lucky. The concepts of bands booked there turned out to be durable ones: Ms. Smith's blunt, visionary and primal songs; Talking Heads' nervously oblique funk, and especially the Ramones' ters...

If you haven't yet seen the documentary "Born Into Brothels," please put it on your list. The DVD hung around our house for half the year, but we finally watched it last week. It's well worth your time. Zana Briski, a photographer based in New York, went to India to live with and photograph the women in Calcutta's red light district. Briski became friends with the women's children, and began to teach them photography. From this, an idea was born. Briski became determined to get the kids a decent education and help change their future. "Born Into Brothels" is much more than your standard "get out of the ghetto" story. These kids were absolutely destined to live the same lives as their parents. The outside world shuns them. Good schools will not accept them, because their parents live illegally. There is literally no choice. For the girls, it is only a matter of time before they become sex workers, too. They know this, and they dread it, but ...

Why is there terrorism? What conditions help produce a terrorist? (We're using the conventional definition of terrorists here. The Resident and the US don't count, just for the sake of this discussion.) There are a lot of theories floating around, but few of the theorists have actually spoken to anyone who engages in political violence. In yesterday's Toronto Star , there was an interview with someone who has. Talks began last week to restore self-rule to Northern Ireland after the Independent Monitoring Commission, the body charged with, among other things, monitoring paramilitary activity in the province, said in a major report that the Irish Republican Army was no longer engaged in terrorism. It was a major step to a lasting peace in Northern Ireland, which has suffered under 30 years of conflict between Catholic Irish Republicans and pro-British Protestants, during which 3,600 people have been killed. John Alderdice, a psychiatrist, former member of the Northern Irelan...

Happy Birthday to my best friend ! More later.

More than a year ago, I blogged about the impending demise of CBGB , the seminal punk club in New York City's East Village. It was no surprise that it was closing; the wonder was it had survived that long. The club's owner, the one and only Hilly Kristal, wasn't in mourning. "You want old stuff?" he said. "Go to Europe." And now, the end is here. Tonight is CBGB 's last night. Patti Smith will grace the stage one last time. I saw her play CBGB in 1970-something, my first time in a New York club, and was instantly smitten. After this last show, Kristal will pack up everything movable, and cart it all to Las Vegas, where he plans to set up shop anew. Las Vegas. Think of it. AP story, via the Toronto Star, here.

Here's a perfect example of why I couldn't stand being in the US anymore. I know this is hyperbole, but I felt sometimes like I literally could not take it anymore, like I had reached my limit, and could only either live in a permanent state of anger and depression, or leave. So many good Americans are working so hard to raise the alarm about stolen elections, to rectify the problems in the voting system - to restore democracy. And meanwhile, the system is getting worse. A report from Common Cause shows that Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin have made it more difficult for people to vote . * * * * Our hero Keith Olbermann is sounding the alarm again. Watch (or read) him on "the Bill of Right" . Thanks to Crooks and Liars for making this available.

Anyone read Italian? Check out this blog entry , which links to wmtc and a few others in our little community. I ran it through the Babelfish translator , but you know how that goes. It sounds odd at best. The title comes out as "Why to move itself in Canada". It is to laugh. We could use a human translation. The last sentence, via Babelfish: All persons who apparently have completed one chosen on the base of the quality of the life, rather than on the economic necessity. This is true.

I'm writing this for the "how to" column on the right, which I haven't updated in more than a year. People interested in emigrating email me very frequently, and many of them ask the same questions. With the usual disclaimers * , here are some answers. 1. During the application process, after you complete your medical exam, you may be asked for more medical information. This seems to happen to a huge number of applicants, including me. It's very disconcerting. You receive a sealed envelope which you are instructed not to open. You must bring the envelope to the doctor who performed your medical exam, and await further instructions. Chances are there'll be some lag time after you receive the letter but before the doctor can speak to you, and your imagination will run wild with worry and fear. Try not to panic. The doctor who did my medical told me, "Ottawa always wants something else. So we give them more information, and that is that." He said that i...

You might want to check back on the thread called "freedom" . Some good comments were added after we'd moved on.

Each year, the US-based National Organization on Disability rates the most inclusive cities in the US, in a contest called Accessible America. We're not talking curb cuts and prime parking spaces here. From their website for the 2006 contest: The winning cities or towns designated in the Accessible America 2006 competition will be places where citizens with disabilities have opportunities for full and equal participation in the life of their community, including access to education, jobs, voting, transportation, housing, religious worship, and a full range of social, recreational, cultural, and sports activities. Another area that NOD is giving special focus to is emergency preparedness for people with disabilities. The competition highlights community-wide progress and inspires replication of best practices programs and ideas. The 2005 winners were (in order, first to fifth): Cambridge, MA, St. Paul, MN, West Hollywood, CA, Miami Beach, FL and Austin, TX. The cities are profiled ...

Wmtc readers who are interested in the recent plane crash in New York might want to visit A Red Sox Fan In Pinstripe Territory . Our friend Jere, who was five blocks away from the site, has pictures and in-the-moment commentary. I'm mentioning this because some of you posted about it in comments. I'm not particularly fascinated by this event, nor does it remind me 9/11, nor do I think it's a shattering blow for New York or the Yankees. It's a tragedy for two people and their families, and a small miracle for everyone in the building and on the ground, as no one else was killed. But I'm not there, and Jere was. Check out his blog for an on-the-scene account. There are several posts, so scroll down a while to get them all.

The Niagara wine region is lovely. It reminded us both of upstate New York, which makes sense, since it's pretty much the same land mass. The foliage, the country roads, the farm stands, small towns and old churches - it was all very familiar, in a very good way. And so nearby! That's extra nice. We can pop down there to buy some wine any day, and I'm sure we will. Yesterday it was gray and off-and-on drizzly, but not too prohibitive, and today it cleared up and got cold. The foliage was beautiful. This is my favourite time of year, and I love to be outside, drinking it in. (I guess that's another unconscious pun?) On Wednesday we went to many wineries and sampled many wines, enough that my ordinarily great navigational skills took a nap and we got lost a few times. Nothing major, just a few missed turns and some extra back-and-forth driving. But enough that I was proving myself all day today with extra back-road short cuts. Most of the wineries we visited were in the G...

We're off today to the Niagara wine region . We'll visit a winery or two in Beamsville , then head to Niagara-On-The-Lake for more tasting, and stay at a historic inn in that town. The weather is being extremely uncooperative. It's raining here and looks to stay that way all day and tomorrow. I guess we'll spend less time outside walking and more time inside tasting.

Another high-minded post from me this morning. We are really enjoying the new season of "Corner Gas". The most recent episode (height, thermostats) was very funny. I've started to think of this show as the rural "Seinfeld". I also like "Jeff Ltd". It has a "Curb Your Enthusiasm"-like vibe, with a not very likeable central character for whom everything goes wrong, because of his insistence on being who he is. We also like "Puppets Who Kill", if only because we're not used to seeing so much sex, violence and profanity on TV. Great stuff. US readers, think a seriously R-rated "Greg The Bunny". These shows, to their credit, eschew that vile scourge of sitcoms, the canned laugh track. Canadian comedy is doing well in this house. On the other hand, I've already confessed to not liking "Trailer Park Boys". I just don't laugh.

We're one step closer to finding out if we can stay in this house or not. As you may know, we rent a small, old house, in an neighbourhood where property values have skyrocketed. Most owners have torn down the original houses and built McMansions, but our landlord doesn't seem inclined to make that investment. LL lives nearby, in a larger, more modern house (but not one of the monstrosities), the home of friends of his who are living and working in the US. Each year, his friend's contract is extended, the family stays in the US another year, LL remains in their house, and continues to rent out the one we live in. We've known all along that the friends might come back from the US, in which case LL would move back into his little house, and we (especially I) would be very sad. On the other hand, the friends might stay in the US indefinitely, LL could buy their home, and keep ours as a rental. This idea has become more appealing, now that he has such excellent tenants. I.e...