test blog #10

Here's what happens when you don't follow pop culture: people you know are on major TV shows, and you never even hear about it. Friend of wmtc mkk (my sister-in-law) just sent me this very cool story from the New York Times . Check out the picture at the top of the story: that's Sarah Reinertsen , who I've written about several times. Reinertsen is a extraordinary athlete, an excellent writer, a very smart woman, and an amputee. And as everyone but me probably already knew, she has been a contestant on "The Amazing Race". Wow! The Times story is titled "Clearly, Frankly, Unabashedly Disabled" ; in my line of work, we call that Disability Pride. Pride means no longer viewing disability as a tragedy to be overcome, but as a natural, normal, beautiful part of human diversity. Reinertsen is one of many poster-girls for Disability Pride. As she lives her life to the limit, she helps young amputees - and there are thousands of them - feel good about them...

The front page of this morning's Toronto Star featured a huge colour photo of Toronto Football Club , the city's new Major League Soccer franchise. Fans were celebrating* the club's first goal, and first win. Those of you who follow Life Without Borders know that Toronto FC's public address announcer is none other than our own Mason! Mason was the PA announcer for the Colorado Rapids (also MLS). People from Maple Leaf Sports, which owns Toronto FC, were blown away by his audition and scooped him up just in time for the start of the season. Don't believe me? Check this out! How cool that a newcomer to Toronto and to Canada is already so involved in the life of the city. Of course, Nick is also integral to Toronto. But he's only helping troubled families and children live normal lives. Nothing as important as announcing for a soccer team.** I don't follow soccer, but I was pleased that Toronto's team was given a proper football name, not the silly nick...

Our little Tala Bobala is very sick. Two nights ago, I was up all night with her. We both stayed home yesterday and were back and forth to the vet all day - blood work, x-rays, the works. Last night she had a quiet night, and this morning there seemed to be improvement. But then, more backsliding. Most worrying are signs of internal bleeding. It might be an obstruction in her intestines, requiring surgery. Or it might be a chronic condition, requiring meds and special diet. Or it might be... something else. First we had to stabilize her, and now the vet is still assessing the diagnostics. I'm at work today, but Allan is home with the patient. She seems happy and perky, so that's a relief. I'm very grateful we've found a vet who we trust and feel good about. She's in Port Credit, near our old place, recommended to us by our former neighbour, who has a dog with some special needs. Based on our considerable experience with vets, if this doc wasn't as good as she is...

Attention US-to-Canada crew: you may be interested in this project. From Pandora Hopkins, who has voted with her own feet: Voting With Their Feet is an oral history project designed to document politically-motivated emigration from the United States during the last quarter century, from the Reagan administration, or even before, to the present time. It consists principally of recorded interviews with individuals who have chosen to leave the United States, driven away by the implementation of a series of reactionary social, political, economic and military policies. The tape recordings and accompanying materials will be housed in an archive to be used for academic purposes and only with the written permission of the contributors. The immediate aim of the project is the publication of material from the taped interviews in book form, a work to be edited by Victoria Fontan, Ph.D, (Costa Rican office) and Pandora Hopkins, Ph.D. (Mexican office), with Angelica Perez Paulin G., coordinator o...

Last year, I blogged about how much happier and calmer I feel since moving to Canada. I mentioned that I also experienced a (coincidental?) drop in my blood pressure. My blood pressure. I want to tell you more about it. If you hate when people blather about their medical conditions, skip this entry. It's a personal post, to be sure, but as we feminists say, the personal is political, too. Some medical history. I had elevated cholesterol all of my adult life, which was not responsive to diet or exercise - meaning, it was just me. About 10 years ago, I also developed hypertension, or high blood pressure. This didn't come as a surprise, as both my mother and my sister had been taking medication for high blood pressure for a very long time. They are both thin and very fit, but (as with my cholesterol levels) hypertension seems to be part of their makeup. As cardiovascular disease runs rampant in one half of my family - multiple heart attacks and strokes - I couldn't very well ...

Too many people in the US liberals act as if the election of Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama would spell the end of all worry. They'll sweep out the corrupt, lying warmongers and usher in a bright new day of a new New Deal. There's no doubt the unelected criminals in Washington are much worse, and if they allowed a fair election (big "if" there), we would all be very - if temporarily - happy. But what would really change? The Democrats' Iraq plan authorized an additional $100 billion towards the occupation - $25 billion more than the Resident asked for. Whoever heard of ending a war by increasing funding for it? With a few notable exceptions, the Dems didn't utter a peep about about two stolen presidential elections, preferring to protect their own images. That, they protect. Not labour, not reproductive freedom, and certainly not the equal rights of Americans in same-sex relationships. What about health care? From The Corporate Crime Reporter . The Corporate...

People never learn. Or they learn the same things over and over. I think this all the time. What's prompting the thought today is yet another battle over an Endangered Species Act. The debate currently taking place in Ontario sounds exactly like the ones that occur regularly in the States: the old false bugaboo of environment vs jobs. In this version, the provincial MPs get to look like they're protecting the environment, when in reality amendments added to the legislation render it almost useless. The culprit? The need for votes from a misinformed public. Toronto Star political columnist Ian Urquhart explains. A legislative committee is expected to give approval today to a bill to protect Ontario's endangered species, ranging from the woodland caribou to the eastern prickly pear cactus. But with a provincial election looming in the fall, some of the politicians casting their votes may also be on the endangered list, for the Endangered Species Act has become a major polit...