test blog #10

I've just come home from an excellent meeting called by the International Socialists in support of striking city workers in Toronto - and in support of working people everywhere. I have many thoughts to share on why all of us - union and non-union, public workers and private, employed and unemployed - should support public employees in their fights against concessions. Tomorrow morning, along with many people who attended tonight's meeting, I'll join the picket at a garbage-transfer station. When I come home, I'll write about the meeting, and the strike, and me, and you. Meanwhile: solidarity. Their fight is our fight is all of our fight.

This excellent story about the Canadian health care system doesn't break any new ground, but it's a clear, concise overview. I'm posting it in the hopes that it will help progressive USians in their efforts to bring sanity to the US's health care crisis. ("Crisis" seems like too small a word for the health care in the US. Disaster? Catastrophe?) It is estimated that 18,000 Americans die each year from lack of health insurance. And that's only the deaths. How many more suffer diminished lives? [ Update. Sarah O. just alerted me to this study: "Make that 22,000 uninsured deaths" .] The Institutes of Medicine, a source of hard facts on science, medicine, and health, has studied the effects of lack of health insurance on USians, and issued a series of reports. Many Americans believe that people who lack health insurance somehow get the care they really need. Care Without Coverage: Too Little, Too Late , the second report in a series of six from t...

Recently I heard someone say, "The only person happy about Michael Jackson's death is Mark Sanford." Suddenly the scandals around the South Carolina Governor's whereabouts, lies and extra-marital escapades are no longer front-page news. But did you know Sanford is really a Democrat? Well, not really, but Fox News said he was. Please click through for screen shots! When does an embattled Republican suddenly become an embattled Democrat? When Fox News is covering him, of course. The network known for its conservative leaning ran footage of Mark Sanford admitting to an extramarital affair on Wednesday with a Chyron identifying the South Carolina Republican -- near tears -- as a D, for Democrat. Fox News apologized for the "mistake" (no unnecessary quotations here!), but what about all the other "mistakes"? InterShame.com - "Shaming bad behavior on the WWW since 1995!" - has gathered screen shots of Fox News identifying scandal-plagued Repu...

This Calgary Herald story by Norma Greenaway really sums up the situation with the Harper Government's intransigence on Iraq War resisters. Please click through to see a great photo of Campaigner Patricia Molloy (the true identity of NCF revealed!) protesting Jason Kenney's appearance in Oslo! Jason Kenney's most memorable assault on U.S. war deserters seeking refuge in Canada occurred soon after he became immigration minister in October 2008. Kenney dismissed them as "bogus refugee claimants," a phrase that set off loud alarm bells among the deserters’ supporters because it was more loaded than anything said before by his Tory predecessors in the job. The phrase cannot be found in more than 300 pages of department briefing notes, e-mails and other documents relating to the issue obtained by Canwest News Service under Access to Information legislation. Not surprisingly, the language in the documents, including background briefing notes for the minister and his pa...

I've mentioned that the Campaign , along with our Parliamentary supporters, are concerned about what will happen to U.S. war resisters in Canada this summer. Several war resisters are at risk for deportation - Jeremy Hinzman, Dean Walcott, Patrick Hart and Kimberly Rivera, among others. There is good reason to fear that the Harper Government will use the Parliamentary recess as an opportunity to aggressively go after them - to send them back to the U.S. authorities, to face court martial and imprisonment - while there are fewer avenues of appeal, and less media to report on it. This has already happened twice, in the summer of 2008, and the winter of 2008-09. As part of an ongoing strategy to support war resisters during that time, all three Opposition Immigration Critics have sent an open letter to Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. This is the text of the letter. Please feel free to circulate this and use it however you can. CANADA HOUSE OF COMMONS - CHAMBRE ...

It turns out that Canadian diplomats had advance knowledge of Afghanistan's "rape law", weeks before the laws were passed. Antonia Z has some questions. 1. If Canadian diplomats knew but didn't think it worth a briefing, what do they understand about our mission in Afghanistan? 2. If Canadian diplomats knew and actually did give the government a briefing, why didn't we hear about this law sooner? 3. Why are Canadian men and women dying to keep Karzai in power? 4. Isn't our "mission" in Afghanistan supposed to be humanitarian? Please click for links and details. Canada out of Afghanistan now.

Abdihakim Mohamed is a Canadian citizen. He's 25 years old, of Somali heritage, and he's autistic. He's been stuck in Kenya for more than three years. All Mr. Mohamed needs to return to Canada is a passport, or some similar travel document. Canada won't issue him one, and there's no good reason why. * * * * Mohamed is at risk in Kenya, and if he's deported to Somalia, he'll be in grave danger there. In Kenya, Mohamed faces a life without adequate supervision and care, in a culture where there is said to be a great stigma against people with disabilities. He has been harassed by police, and likely faces more police abuse in the future. If, because he is ethnically Somali, he's deported to Somalia, he faces more danger there. Somalia is one of the countries for which Canada has issued an official warning: " Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada advises against all travel in Somalia. Canadians in this country should leave. There is no residen...

Forty years ago, when Canada signed the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees , it agreed not to expel anyone within its borders to any place where their lives or freedom would be threatened because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. And Canada has been looking for loopholes ever since. There's a good, lengthy feature in the Montreal Gazette about Canada's refugee policy, both historically and currently. It ran on June 20, which was World Refugee Day . (By coincidence, I spent the day transcribing a war resister's IRB hearing!) "Sometimes A Safe Haven" lays out the facts and myths about the Canadian refugee system - who it serves, who it fails, and how it measures up. Unsurprisingly, as this endless Conservative government smears its fingerprints over every aspect of Canadian life, refugee claimaints are waiting longer for resolution, a smaller percentage of claims are being...

Happy Pride, everyone! Today's Pride Parade in Toronto will feature the "No Pride in War" contingent, organized by CUPE Toronto District Council and Educators for Peace & Justice. From the organizers: Take a stand against the military presence in our Pride 2009 celebrations. Help us as we unfurl the beautiful billowing banner boldly proclaiming: NO PRIDE IN WAR! Pride is political! Queer rights are meaningless without human rights! Demand: An end to the militarization and corporatization of our Pride! An end to military recruitment. Hamilton Pride has done so; why can't we? An end to Israeli Apartheid! Indigenous sovereignty! Status for all! Justice and dignity for immigrants and refugees! An end to Canada's occupation of Afghanistan! An end to colonialism, imperialism, occupation and war! March with: Educators for Peace and Justice Teachers for Palestine Queers United Against Israeli Apartheid No One Is Illegal Toronto Coalition to Stop the War ...and other p...

At long last, Abousfian Abdelrazik comes home to Canada today, thanks to citizen pressure and an independent judicial system. A contingent of peace activists are meeting Abdelrazik at the airport to welcome him home. A man who knows better than any of us how Mr Abdelrazik may have suffered draws attention to something very rotten and very disturbing happening in Canada. Maher Arar , writing in the Globe and Mail , asks how many more Abdelraziks we'll see. Recently, it seems like every new day has brought new revelations about the depth of involvement of Canadian government agencies, past and present, in the torture of Canadian citizens. Despite the clear conclusions of Mr. Justice Dennis O'Connor's inquiry and the findings of former Supreme Court judge Frank Iacobucci's inquiry, the unique stamp of Canadian involvement in the torture of its citizens is actually growing. An inquiry into the case of Abousfian Abdelrazik, which now seems inevitable, will certainly shed mo...

I have a letter in the Globe and Mail today - or, I should say, a portion of a letter. This one was edited beyond recognition, no doubt to make room for the flood of anti-union, anti-worker letters the Globe is receiving. Today there are two pro-union letters, mine and one other person's, which I've reprinted below. The bracketed portion of my letter did not run. [ I am dismayed at the lack of public support for striking city workers. When union employees gain good salaries and benefits through collective bargaining, all workers benefit, as standards are raised for everyone. The anger and vitriol being directed at the striking workers should be saved for the CEOs who cash out of sinking companies with massive bonuses, not working people who are trying to hang on to a decent living. ] In my non-union workplace, there have been layoffs, deteriorating working conditions, and benefit cuts. I wish I could challenge these unilateral decisions, but without representation, my fellow...

The issues behind the Toronto CUPE strike explained for you . A discussion about unions and why we need them is going on in this thread: i support striking city workers and you should too .

David Corn, writing in Mother Jones , has a portion of an interview with Wendell Potter, a former spokesperson for CIGNA, the fourth-largest health insurer in the US. The interviewer is a writer with Columbia Journalism Review . Trudy Lieberman: Why did you leave CIGNA? Wendell Potter: I didn't want to be part of another health insurance industry effort to shape reform that would benefit the industry at the expense of the public. TL: Was there anything in particular that turned you against the industry? WP: A couple of years ago I was in Tennessee and saw an ad for a health expedition in the nearby town of Wise, Virginia. Out of curiosity I went and was overwhelmed by what I saw. Hundreds of people were standing in line to get free medical care in animal stalls. Some had camped out the night before in the rain. It was like being in a different country. It moved me to tears. Shortly afterward I was flying in a corporate jet and realized someone's insurance premiums were paying f...

James sent me this disconcerting image: a New Orleans business that contracts out personal-assistant work, with a clever, sexist marketing twist: the assistants are called "wives". Image and excellent commentary here: The Occasional Wife . This must be a great site, because the comments won't make your head explode. I'm sure many of you are familiar with the classic feminist essay, "Why I Need A Wife," often misattributed to Gloria Steinem, but actually written by Jane Schlosser. You can read it here.

How much is Canada's pointless presence in Afghanistan costing Canadian taxpayers? Stephen Harper doesn't want you to know the answer to that question. And no wonder! The Treasury Board says that the cost of Canada's military mission in Afghanistan for the next two years will be $1.35 billion higher than projected a year ago by the Defence Department. [emphasis mine] Those revised estimates of the incremental costs of the Canadian Forces mission in Afghanistan are posted on the Treasury Board website. The Defence Department, citing national security provisions, censored an Access to Information request by the federal NDP that asked for those figures three weeks ago. The Treasury Board says the military mission will cost $822 million in the fiscal year 2009-10 and $943 million in 2010-11. It also estimates that the mission will cost $178 million in fiscal 2011-12, when Canadian troops are expected to pull out of combat roles in Afghanistan. It's the first time figures ...

An significant decision - somewhat positive, somewhat negative - from the United States Supreme Court was just announced. I've followed this case with interest through the ACLU. I was encouraged that the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, but the outcome - although partly positive - leaves a lot to be desired. In a ruling of interest to educators, parents and students across the country, the Supreme Court ruled, 8 to 1, on Thursday that the strip search of a 13-year-old Arizona girl by school officials who were looking for prescription-strength drugs violated her constitutional rights. The officials in Safford, Ariz., would have been justified in 2003 had they limited their search to the backpack and outer clothing of Savana Redding, who was in the eighth grade at the time, the court ruled. But in searching her undergarments, they went too far and violated her Fourth Amendment privacy rights, the justices said. Had Savana been suspected of having illegal drugs that could have ...

I've wanted to visit The McMichael Canadian Art Collection for a long time, and my mother's visit gave me the perfect opportunity. She had actually been there before, but a very long time ago, on a sightseeing trip to Toronto and Ottawa. Allan, my mother and I did this yesterday. The McMichael, located north of Toronto - near the suburbs of Richmond Hill, Woodbridge, and Vaughan - exhibits only Canadian art. Their permanent collection emphasizes Tom Thomson, Group of Seven, First Nations and Inuit art. Although Thomson and the Group of Seven are perhaps the best known Canadian visual artists to Canadians, I had never heard of them before moving here, which is perhaps a commentary on how Canadian art is viewed (or not viewed) in the US. We perused the whole Thomson and Group of Seven collection. I can't say I'm a huge fan of this work, but it was interesting to learn about the artists' social and historical significance. Their work was the first major attempt at ...

My mother went home this morning. We had a very nice visit, a good mix of sightseeing and hanging out, grilling in the backyard and a few restaurants, watching baseball and playing with the dogs. On Tuesday we went to the Textile Museum of Canada , in downtown Toronto. Connie, my mother, is a huge appreciator of handcrafted work of all kinds, as well as an expert knitter and talented needleworker in her own right. A textile museum is perfect for her, and a nice thing for us to do together. I really enjoy small museums, the kind where you can easily see the entire museum in one visit. For example, in New York, although I love the Metropolitan Museum of Art, my favourite museum is The Frick . In Paris, although I'm glad I've been to the Louvre, I prefer the Marmottan or the Musée Rodin . So when we arrived at the Textile Museum, I was pleased to learn it is just two floors of a small building. My mom and I explored one floor, had lunch at Java Joe's across the street, then ...

For those of you, who - like me - were unable to attend last week's fundraiser and update for the War Resister Support Campaign, I can update you a bit here. There's a lot going on. War resister Kimberly Rivera, who received an emergency stay of deportation in late March, goes to court on July 8. Lawyer Alyssa Manning will continue to fight for the right of Kim, her husband Mario, and their three children to stay in Canada. Several other war resisters have impending court dates or are waiting for potential deportation dates. We have reason to fear that the Harper Government will use the Parliamentary recess as an opportunity to aggressively go after war resisters. In other words, to turf them while they think no one is watching. This has happened twice before: last summer, and over the 2008-2009 winter recess. Campaigners went to Ottawa last week, to brainstorm with supportive Members of Parliament for ideas and strategy. In attendance were: Hon. Maurizio Bevilacqua (Vaughan), ...

You may recall that Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration - a/k/a Minister of Censorship and Deportation - was having trouble avoiding members of the War Resisters Support Campaign . It seemed like he couldn't turn around without tripping over a protest. Mr Kenney appeared at an event in Mississauga: we were there . Mr Kenney appeared in Toronto: we were there , and there . Later that week, he appeared in Barrie: we were there . That's about the time when the Ministry stopped announcing his whereabouts. No matter. He appeared in Calgary: we were there . And again in Toronto: there is no escape . Are you ready for this? Yesterday Jason Kenney appeared in Oslo, Norway. And guess what? From the Ministry's media release: Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney leaves tomorrow for an official visit to continental Europe and the United Kingdom. The Minister's agenda in Europe will include travel to Norway, Hungary, the Czech Republi...

I am completely disgusted at the vitriol being directed at striking city workers in Toronto. Apparently everyone wants other people to have less than what they have. Anyone Who Has More should be knocked down a peg. And god forbid the People Who Have More are paid with My Taxes! I don't want My Taxes to keep anyone comfortable! Everyone should suffer! Hey, if Those People were slaves, we wouldn't have to pay any taxes at all! Whoo-hoo! Many of the people brimming over with anger and resentment towards striking city workers are well-paid and comfortable themselves. Some are even members of other, non-affected unions! Newsflash, angry Torontonians. Gains for unionized workers raise the standards for all workers. We all aren't lucky enough to belong to a strong union that fights to get us better pay, benefits or working conditions, or to keep what we already have. But the strong unions' efforts help all of us. That's been proven throughout history. Without the higher ...

I am no fan of Michael Ignatieff. Long before I decided to come to Canada, I read his work in The New York Times , and was repulsed. No matter what his apologists say, Ignatieff defended and rationalized U.S. foreign policy, and all the invasion, occupation and torture that goes with it. As Liberal leader, Ignatieff has been a tough-talking hot air balloon, pounding his fist but doing nothing, propping up a government that should have been brought down long ago. Despite my feelings about Ignatieff, and the ineffective Liberal Party in general, I find the Conservatives' personal arguments against the Liberal leader ridiculous - and dangerous. Watch out folks, this man is well educated! He's an elite! Are we to believe Stephen Harper grew up in a trailer park? Such a transparent attempt to appeal to Joe Six Pack with anti-intellectualism should be beyond the pale of Canadian politics. But of course, nothing is beyond the pale for the Conservatives and their US-style campaigning. ...

My mother arrives today, staying until Thursday morning. I miss her and I'm excited to see her. Connie - my mother - has been coming up every year since we moved here, but we've never done any sightseeing together. The first year, when Allan and I lived near the Lake , we all worked around our house, walked on the Waterfront Trail , and poked around Port Credit. The following year we had several plans, including the ROM , but shortly before the trip, Connie had injured her ankle and could barely walk. (She eventually needed surgery, but is fine now.) Then last year, it was my turn. I was recuperating from a huge writing project, and we just did errands and relaxed. We always have a good time, so whatever happens is fine, but this year, I hope to be a bit more active. I have two destinations in mind. Naturally, expect a report.

Hey wmtc, check it out. The post you read here , is now here (also on the home page right now). The post is much better with your comments. Maybe we should all sign up at The Mark and re-create our conversation.

Sign here. Text of Petition: Petition to Prime Minster Stephen Harper Dear Prime Minster Harper, We Canadians are lucky enough to live in a country where our government representatives listen to us and act when the people demand assistance. So now, we the voting public of Canada, are requesting you to listen to us and act upon our request. I am sure you are all aware of the current coup d'état, demonstrations, violence and the silencing of the voting public by the Iranian government. The past few days have been filled with violence and death in Iran. The wounded are unable to go to a hospital to receive care and treatment because they are being arrested and removed from the hospital before they receive treatment. What a shame it is that people are safer in foreign embassies than at their own hospitals. What an even bigger shame is that Canada (a country known for its generosity and caring for people less fortunate then them) has not yet opened their doors to the wounded. So far the...

I miss my quiet work weekends, reading Pepys Diary and Impudent Strumpet , scanning Common Dreams and Rabble for essays. There was work, but there was down-time, too. But when a company slashes one-third of its support staff, down-time becomes a thing of the past. After so many years of saving certain reading for work weekends, I've yet to develop a new system, carve out new time, for my must-reads. Things are piling up. Uncomfortably so. I'll need a full week of vacation just to explore this delicious site: Flip Flop Fly Ball . Check it out. Its creator, Craig Robinson, says, "A love of baseball plus a love of infographics equals Flip Flop Fly Ball." I say, wow, I love the internet, because it brings me all this creativity and wonder. Many thanks to M@ for turning me and Allan on to this.

In case - while you were distracted by Liberal bluster and the revolution in Iran - you missed this. A single sentence contained in an email between RCMP brass in the weeks after Robert Dziekanski died has derailed a public inquiry, raising questions yet again about the testimony of four police officers and prompting calls for further investigation of the national police force. As closing arguments were set to begin on Friday, a lawyer for the inquiry revealed a previously unreleased email that suggested the RCMP officers developed a plan to use a Taser before they arrived at Vancouver's airport. All four insisted in their testimony that they did not. . . . The email was written in November 2007, just weeks after Dziekanski's confrontation with the Mounties. In it, Chief Supt. Dick Bent and RCMP Assistant Commissioner Al McIntyre were discussing their media strategy for the release of the now-infamous amateur video of the fatal confrontation. Bent recounted a conversation with...

For those interested, as I am, in Woody Allen, and to a lesser extent, in Larry David: When Woody Met Larry , by Brian Johnson, in Maclean's . Of course it will be ages until I see "Whatever Works," but I very much look forward to it. Thanks to Redsock.

Happy Summer Solstice! On this day of maximum sunlight, I'm thinking about how much I'm enjoying my new suburban lifestyle. I know it's not that new anymore - August 30 will be four years - but I still appreciate it every day. I will always love cities, and a part of me will always miss urban life. But after living a very urban lifestyle from the time I started university in 1978 until moving to Canada in 2005, I am so enjoying the difference. Living in a house, and having a backyard: those were the two main reasons we chose to live in Mississauga. For the rent we could afford, we could find a nice apartment in Toronto, but we really wanted a whole house. And the backyard. The backyard! We adore it. In the warm months, weather permitting, we eat dinner outside every night, and I work outside on the patio as often as possible. On beautiful spring days, I like to email friends who are stuck in offices: "I'm sitting on the patio with an iced coffee...". Ha! But...

Well hallefuckinlujah, saints be praised, the Harper Government says it will comply with a federal court order and allow Abousfian Abdelrazik to come home. It's completely shameful that it took a protracted public battle and a court order to make this happen. Even after the ruling, the Government delayed, saying it needed time to study the situation and decide whether or not to appeal. But finally, at long last, the Government will obey the rule of law. One down, how many to go? Omar Khadr must come home to Canada. And, as Parliament has voted twice , Iraq War resisters seeking sanctuary in Canada must be allowed to stay. * * * * I'm typing my little fingers off for peace today, so - barring some new insane outrage - wmtc will be quiet for a bit. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves.