test blog #10

First of all, it's not a boycott. It's a strike. And a  wildcat strike to boot. When the players on the Milwaukee Bucks chose not to play in the NBA playoffs -- joined by their baseball counterparts, the Brewers, with other teams quickly following -- they became part of a tradition that reaches back to Tommie Smith and John Carlos, to Muhammad Ali, to Carlos Delgado, all the way to the present, to Maya Moore and Colin Kaepernick.  The striking NBA players are part of Black Lives Matter. They are part of the present-day civil rights movement. But they are part of something else, too. They are part of the labour movement. Professional athletes are workers.  They may be wealthy -- though all are not as wealthy as the top earners -- but their working life is perilously short, and throughout history, has been awash in exploitation. If some earn huge salaries today, that's because so many people are profiting from their labour.  Strike vs boycott So why is this action a...

This story in The New York Times made me miss New York City more than anything has in a very long time.  All over the city, artists have created murals protest racism and police abuse. This critic surveys the murals , and compares them to the Neolithic cave art in the caves of France and Spain. We saw cave art in Spain (stories here and here , but no pictures), something that I had longed to do ever since I first knew they existed. It was a peak travel experience for me. I love street art, and I love New York, and I love that someone links these things together.

In the entire history of human beings on this planet, has there ever been a criminal enterprise more devastating -- to as many people, over as long a period of time -- as the Catholic Church? The largest empires of the world -- Roman, Spanish, Dutch, British, American -- lasted 500 years at most. The Catholic Church has been at it for thousands  of years. If it was fiction, no one would believe it -- an organized crime network so vast, and so evil, that virtually no aspect of human civilization has been untouched by its rabid influence. Persecution, torture, and execution of scientists, philosophers, independent thinkers and non-Catholics. Wars intended to slaughter adherents of other religions.  Profit from slavery.  Support for murderous dictatorships all over the world. The slaughter and forced conversion of Indigenous people all over the world. Forcing untold numbers of families into poverty, children to starvation and death, women into death from desperation, by proh...

I thought Black August was something newly created by Black Lives Matter, but it turns out it has existed since the 1970s. I'm sorry I haven't heard about it sooner, and I thank the Movement for Black Lives for bringing it to my attention. Black August commemorates the rich history of Black resistance. Revolutionary moments such as the Watts Uprising, Haitian Revolution, Nat Turner Rebellion, Fugitive Slave Law Convention, and March on Washington all happened in August. Also, many of our revolutionaries, such as Marcus Garvey and Fred Hampton, were born in August. Black August was started in California prisons in the 1970s by Black freedom fighters who wanted to honor the lives and struggle of Black political prisoners killed by the state. Fifty years later, groups like Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and New Afrikan Independence Movement continue the Black August legacy of celebrations by amplifying our history of resistance and creating spaces for Black people to come toget...

How To Be An Antiracist is an important, powerful, thought-provoking book. With unflinching precision, Ibram X. Kendi defines the roots of racism and explains how we can work to eliminate it. The structure of the book is disarming: the explanatory chapters are interwoven with the story of Kendi's personal journey from racist thinking to antiracist thinking. Yes, the author is Black, and he has had racist thoughts, and has engaged in racist behaviours.  He spares no mercy for himself as he looks back, cringing at his beliefs -- although understanding the tradition that they grew from. I hope Kendi's openness and his willingness to publicly criticize himself helps more readers approach his ideas with an open mind and less defensiveness. Kendi believes that our typical conception of racism as a product of fear and ignorance is wrong, and he makes a very strong case for that belief. He shows that racist policies are made by racist people in order to further their own interests. Ra...

Cookie recently had a fear reaction, and we're working on desensitization. I thought I would share our experience with changing fearful behaviour.  Diego Not long after we adopted Diego , we learned he had an extreme fear reaction to anything involving his ears. Neither Allan nor I can remember exactly how we learned this, whether he growled at the vet during an exam, or something else. But I distinctly remember that, when he saw a Q-tip in my hand, Diego showed his teeth for a split-second -- then instantly looked sorry and guilty. Poor guy! The vet could see that Diego had a very severe ear infection. Not wanting to traumatize him further or cause him pain, she suggested general anesthesia, a full-on ear cleaning, then a program to desensitize him to ear-touching.  Diego was highly  food-motivated, so it was not difficult to re-program him. First we associated the Q-tip or cotton ball with the treat -- so that he earned a treat just for seeing the Q-tip, then for smelli...

Revolutionary thought of the day: Wherever capitalism appears, in pursuit of its mission of exploitation, there will be socialism, fertilized by misery, watered by tears, and vitalized by agitation. It will also be found unfurling its class-struggle banner, and proclaiming its mission of emancipation. Love and labor in alliance, working together, have transforming, redeeming, and emancipating power. Under their benign power, the world can be made better and brighter. Eugene V. Debs

At Your Library:  Make Screen Time Count with Library E-Resources for Kids and Teens You know I’m always going on about the great e-resources you can access through your library. “E-resources” means e-books, digital magazines, streaming music and movies, plus ways to learn new skills, expand your small business, and so much more. But did you know that Vancouver Island Regional Library (VIRL) has e-resources just for kids and teens? My favourite e-resource for kids is TumbleBookLibrary . It offers picture books, graphic novels, children’s classics, early readers, and more. There are even “read-alongs” -- your child can read the book while it’s also being read to them. With TumbleBookLibrary, your kids always have fresh new books to read, and you always have a way to help build their reading skills. OverDrive is the library’s most popular way to access eBooks and eAudiobooks – and it has a kids’ section. Download the “ Libby ” app and you can get started right away. Don’t worry: eBo...

Ancestry Library: Your Library Can Help You Discover Your Roots As the lockdown began, I posted some "At Your Library" columns that were suddenly irrelevant, among them a column about Ancestry Library , then only available from a library branch -- and the branches were all closed. Shortly after that, Ancestry was made available from all computers -- but the newspaper wasn't publishing.  As it turns out, that column didn't  run before the lockdown. I submitted with some changes in July, and I was able to announce that this e-resource is now available from any computer. So I'll check that off my list. *  *  *  * The next column feels sadly ironic. As more library services move online, we can reach more people. But the "digital divide" grows wider, and we fail our most vulnerable customers. Libraries everywhere are working on ways to address this, but it's another sad ripple effect of the pandemic. Your Library Online: fun and safe ways to enjoy your li...

Since the lockdown ended, I've been writing my column in the free local newspaper again. These columns seem very specific and not of wide interest, but since I started collecting the columns on this blog, I want the record to be complete.  At Your Library: Your Library Is Coming Back… One Step at a Time Welcome back! I’m so very happy to welcome you back to your local branch of the Vancouver Island Regional Library (VIRL).  I hope you weathered the lockdown in relative comfort and safety, and that you and your loved ones are all healthy. It’s been such an unusual time, with so many unknowns, and for many people, a real struggle. I can speak for all library staff when I say, we missed being able to help you through it. VIRL is taking steps towards a gradual return of library services. We’ve worked hard to design a system that protects the health of our customers and library staff, follows all the provincial health guidelines, and still provides access to your library. Quit...

A piece of New York City died this week. Pete Hamill, a legendary New York journalist and possibly the last of a breed, died yesterday at age 85.  Obituaries describe him as a "tabloid poet" or "tabloid hero". If he hadn't existed, perhaps Raymond Chandler would have invented him.  It seems only fitting to let the Daily News tell his story. Legendary journalist and author Pete Hamill, a tabloid hero and teller of New York tales, dead at 85 Pete Hamill, the Brooklyn-born bard of the five boroughs and eloquent voice of his beloved hometown as both newspaper columnist and best-selling author, died Wednesday morning. Hamill, who worked at five New York newspapers and outlived three, was 85.  Hamill, four days after a Saturday fall that fractured his right hip, died in New York-Presbyterian Hospital Brooklyn Methodist, said his brother and fellow ex-Daily News columnist Denis Hamill. Though Hamill underwent emergency surgery, his heart and kidneys ultimately failed. ...