disability pride

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 themselves. You can read more about her here; among other things, Reinertsen was the first amputee to complete the Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Hawaii.

Thinking about Disability Pride reminds me of another Sarah I know.

This summer, the city of Chicago will see its fourth annual Disability Pride Parade. One organizer of this joyous event is Sarah Triano. If you want to learn more about Disability Pride, one of the best things you can do is read what Triano has to say. Follow the links on the left side for some serious enlightenment.

the voice of toronto fc

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 nicknames that so many teams are forced to carry. From the looks of it, Toronto FC has a built-in fan base, hungry for footie and ready to rabidly support the home club.

Perhaps Mason will stop by and tell us about announcing the team's very first goal.

Now for Maple Leaf Sports to realize that Mason should be announcing Leafs games, too...


* By throwing their souvenir seat cushions onto the field!
** Why is it anytime I use sarcasm in a post, I'm afraid readers won't get it?

pupdate - updated with good news!

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, we'd probably be seeking a specialist by now.

Allan is very good at staying in the present and not worrying. Me, not so much. Upon leaving her at the vet's office yesterday for x-rays, I burst into tears. After losing Buster, it took us so long to be ready to love another dog. I can't bear the thought of anything happening to her.

Is there some Law of Nature that says we must have one high-maintenance dog at all times? Does the Universe bring us dogs with issues lurking, because we will see them through no matter what?

* * * *

UPDATE!

Tala's symptoms have greatly improved. Whew!

We still have to figure out what's wrong, and how we can prevent a return engagement. And of course we have to be super careful about her diet and meds. But right now, there's a great improvement. Whew!

Thank you for your thoughts and good wishes, both in comments and by email. I really appreciate it.

voting with your feet

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 of the Mexican Regional Collection.

This is a global project documenting the dissatisfaction of U.S. citizens with their government's policies over the last quarter century and more. If you are one of the people who decided at some point to "walk with their feet," let us know. We would very much like to hear from you. Please contact us by telephone or e-mail.

612-122-7120
044-612-1402804
voting_feet@hotmail.com

better living through canada

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 walk around with untreated high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

I started taking red rice yeast capsules, a natural statin (cholesterol-lowering drug). I saw a dramatic improvement in my cholesterol levels, and have taken it ever since. (I've recently added fish oil capsules to the mix.)

When it seemed clear that the elevated blood pressure readings weren't flukes, I also went on blood pressure medication. It was very effective, with no noticeable side effects.

[As an aside, please note that neither of these conditions figured in to my medical exam for immigration. Most people in the application process worry greatly about the medical exam, and no one believes me when I tell them they cannot be rejected for ordinary conditions such as these. But it's true.]

So when I moved to Canada, I was taking red rice yeast to keep my cholesterol levels in check and prescription high blood pressure meds.

Fast-forward to this time last year: we return from three weeks in Peru. For the past two weeks, we've been in a desert - zero humidity, zero pollen, zero pollution. We come home to Port Credit and everything is in bloom. Plus, the blooms are different here, and there's a lot more of them than there were in New York City. I have a major allergy meltdown.

I try to treat it myself, and it gets much worse. I end up with a horrendous, uncontrollable cough that borders on asthma. Finally I go to the doctor.

I get a bunch of prescriptions, mostly for my lungs, and I switch to the new allergy medication Aerius (desloratadine). I improve.

While I was hacking my lungs up, I was concerned that my blood pressure medication could be contributing to the cough. Coughing can be a side effect of these meds, and when I switched to the generic brand in Canada, I did think it made me cough a bit. So without consulting my doctor, I stop taking the blood pressure meds, figuring I will go back on when my allergies calm down.

On a follow-up visit - which I can do in Canada with no concern for cost - I mention this to my doctor. She checks my blood pressure and says, "It's normal. I wouldn't treat you for high blood pressure with this reading." She suggests we monitor my blood pressure closely to see if I can stay off the meds or if I should go back on.

Because of my family history, at first she asks me to come in twice a week. I can do this in Canada with no concern for cost. That is: I can take simple preventative measures that might prevent a serious, even life-threatening, incident later. I don't lay out any money out-of-pocket, because I already pay for my health care with my taxes. Which, by the way, are the same as what I paid in the US. Got that?

After the twice-weekly blood pressure checks, we drop to weekly, then every-other week, then monthly. Normal, normal, normal. I'm having normal blood pressure readings for the first time in 10 years.

I'm not doing anything differently: same eating habits, same exercise habits. At that time, I probably was getting less exercise, as it took me a long time to get into a new exercise routine after moving to Canada, and I don't walk as much as I did living in NYC.

After normal readings for several months, my doctor declared me good to go. But, as an extra precaution, she doesn't write too many refills for my other medications. This way I have to come in her office at least every three months, and she can then check my blood pressure. I can do this in Canada with no concern for cost.

This year, I've decided to use the absence of blood pressure meds as a motivation to get more exercise. Exercise is the single-best way to keep your blood pressure down. I'm swimming a lot and it feels great.

But because of my family history, not monitoring my blood pressure concerns me. Two weeks ago, I finally acted on a recommendation from both my former doctor in New York and my current doctor in Mississauga. I bought a blood pressure monitor and I'm checking it myself a few times a week.

Normal, normal, normal. Not just in the normal range, but actually normal.

Is it a coincidence that my blood pressure dropped to normal after I left the US? There's evidence that Canadians, on average, live longer and are healthier than Americans. But on a very personal level, as I've said before, I feel markedly happier and calmer living in Canada. I feel more at peace. And there is actually a health benefit - possibly a life-saving or life-extending health benefit - to feeling at peace with oneself.

I wish I could give everyone this gift I've found.

* * * *

My mother used to suffer from debilitating migraines. I have a childhood memory of coming home to a dark house, and having to be very quiet because my mother had a killer headache. She doesn't get the headaches anymore. How did she get rid of them? Divorce!

She left my father. Let me tell you, the man was a headache of brain-tumour proportions.

If you can cure migraines by leaving an insane, abusive spouse, you must be able to cure high blood pressure by leaving the United States. The parallels are too obvious.

corporate democrats, or why you shouldn't blame the us's problems solely on republicans

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 Democratic Party is into snuff politics.

The target this month – single payer, Medicare for all.

The motive – protect the corporate health insurance industry.

Democratic snuff politics was on display yesterday on Capitol Hill.

Senator Ron Wyden was on the Hill surrounded by his corporate supporters – Steve Burd, CEO, Safeway Inc., Art Collins, CEO of Medtronic, Inc, H. Edward Hanaway, CEO, CIGNA, Steve Sanger, CEO, General Mills, and Ronald Williams, CEO, Aetna, Inc.

Wyden has introduced legislation that is similar to that introduced by Republican Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Republican California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

All claim to create universal health care.

None can, do or will.

What's the common denominator between Wyden-care, and Romney-care and Schwarzenegger-care?

Individual mandates.

The individual must get health insurance or the individual is violating the law.

As opposed to single payer.

Which says to the health insurance companies – get out.

We will take care of our people.

If you sell basic health insurance, you are violating the law.

Everyone is in one insurance pool.

Nobody is out.

All are covered.

No bills, no co-pays, no deductibles.

No losing your health insurance when you change jobs.

No escalating premiums when you get sick.

Cheaper than the current system.

With better outcomes.

One approach sets up a system that outlaws individual wrongdoing.

The other sets up a system that outlaws corporate wrongdoing.

The corporate executives were at the press conference to support Wyden's plan and to push their own newly created Coalition to Advance Healthcare Reform.

The key element focused on by the CEOs – a market-based health care system.

The goal – derail publically funded single payer legislation that will cut administrative waste.

The single payer bill has 70 sponsors in the House of Representatives and is supported by 52 percent of the American people.

When asked why he doesn't support single payer when 52 percent of the American people do, Wyden didn't blush.

"The people of my state, not a poll, but at the ballot box in 2002, they voted by about 3-1 against a single payer proposal," Wyden said.

Well yeah, after the insurance industry dumped millions to scare people into believing the government was going to take over their lives.

"If you go to a community meeting and take a poll in my state, what people want is coverage like their member of Congress gets," Wyden said. "They want benefits like their members of Congress. They want the quality of care that their members of Congress get."

But can't single payer deliver exactly that?

Mildly irritated by this question, Wyden reminds reporters in the room that single payer is not the topic of this press conference.

(No, the topic is snuffing out single payer.)

"My guess is that single payer is more government than Americans want, number one," he says. (The CEOs nod their heads in approval.)

"And number two – how do you get there from here?" he asks.

How do you get there from here?

Pass single payer.

Wyden actually means – how do you get there from here if you anger the CEOs of Aetna and CIGNA and all of the other CEOs standing behind him at the press conference by supporting single payer?

. . .

So, the political reality of health care in America can be summed up as a tale of Two Big Cons.

Big Con One – the conservatives offering prosperity for all and delivering cronyism and favoritism for the rich.

And Big Con Two – the progressive Democrats, promising universal health care, and then joining with corporate Democrats and corporate America to snuff out single payer.

Read the story here. Then talk to a Canadian to see how the system works. Single-payer is the answer. Canada has proven that.

I wonder if health-care advocates in the US are trying to demonstrate that. In light of the constant lies and disinformation the US media spreads about the Canadian health care system, an information blitz about how Canada's system really works is long overdue.

Perhaps I'll try to contact a few groups about that.

woodland caribou and plastic bags

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 political battleground at Queen's Park.

It did not start out that way. During debate in the Legislature last month, there seemed to be an all-party consensus in favour of the legislation, which was given second reading by a vote of 39-1. The lone dissenter was Cambridge MPP Gerry Martiniuk, a Conservative.

In the subsequent committee hearings, however, the MPPs were deluged by appeals to water down the legislation from farmers, native people, unions, hunters, trappers, developers, municipalities, and mining and logging companies.

The testimony was quite emotional at times. Picking up on an environmentalist's suggestion that we could live with any diminishment in economic activity as a result of the legislation, Thunder Bay Mayor Lynn Peterson declared: "Economic activity is not a thing. It's people who get up in the morning and go to work and raise their children and pay their mortgages." And while most presenters started off by saying they support the "objective" of saving flora and fauna from extinction, they then recommended amendments that would effectively gut the legislation, including:

- Restoring political discretion to the decision on whether to list a species as endangered. The bill would give that authority to a committee made up of scientists and persons with `aboriginal traditional knowledge." The environmentalists say that is essential to the integrity of the legislation.

- Loosening the definition of the "habitat" to be protected. The bill's definition is "an area on which a species depends, directly or indirectly, to carry on its life processes." Again, environmentalists see this relatively broad definition as essential.

- Deferring to existing "forest management plans" between logging companies and the crown. Environmentalists say this proposed change would essentially exempt the companies from the act.

- Compensating companies and property owners negatively affected by the act. The government is proposing a "stewardship fund" of $18 million over four years, but has ruled out full compensation. The environmentalists say compensation would drain money away from efforts to improve habitats.

In committee today, the Conservatives and the New Democrats – with a bow to their respective rural and northern bases – will present amendments reflecting some or all of the above.

Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay, who is responsible for the legislation, suggested yesterday that the opposition is succumbing to "fear-mongering" about job losses. He said that the Endangered Species Act, as written, is flexible enough to ensure that the livelihoods of northerners and rural Ontarians aren't threatened.

I was disappointed to see that on the provincial level, the NDP sides with the Conservatives.

Also on Ontario environmental policy, I have a question about the proposal to drastically reduce plastic bag usage.

In general, cutting down on unnecessary bags and packaging is an excellent idea, something we all can and should do. But what about bag re-use?

We've always used plastic supermarket bags for trash bags. In the past 25 years, I've probably bought a total of two boxes of trash bags for household use. If we didn't have plastic bags from our grocery shopping, we'd have to buy trash bags on a regular basis.

Buying extra bags specifically made for trash certainly seems more wasteful and less environmentally conscious than re-using bags that once held groceries. Isn't this a major flaw in thinking about reducing plastic bag usage? Or am I missing something?

wmtc night at skydome, part 2

Last night was another successful wmtc night at Skydome, with a handy 9-3 Sox win. The dome was open, Dice-K was on, and a good time was had by all, I think. We met Woti-Woti, who reads both JoS and wmtc, and is a long-time Canadian Red Sox fan and all around good guy. Also in attendance: Mason of Life Without Borders (Nick was home with the flu), M@, James and Lori, Scott M and Dawn, and Dianne, a silent but loyal reader.

Scott M is the friend of wmtc who volunteered to get us half-price tickets, then arranged the whole thing. Allan and I are going to every Red Sox-Blue Jays game this year, all at half price, courtesy of Scott (and Ted Rogers). Blog-friends are so cool.

Our poor Tala is very sick. We've decided to treat this one symptomatically, and we'll keep her on the special diet. But if these intestinal troubles recur one more time, we have to start some testing to see what might be causing it. Did I always worry about my dogs this much? Or did our terrible experience with Buster leave me this way?

ottawa will have to wait

Ah well, we've had to cancel our trip to Ottawa. Or, I should say, postpone until some later, undetermined date.

So many reasons. Tala's sick and we really need to monitor her condition. We both have writing assignments, and being out of town cuts into our time too much. To cap it off, money is tight right now, mostly because of vet bills.

Unfortunately, this means that I'll have to interview Steven Fletcher by phone. But then, that's how I do most interviews. It's not a big deal.

The upside is I am suddenly not pressed for time! That's almost better than going away.

Thanks very much to readers who made suggestions for this trip. We will definitely go to Ottawa some other time, and whenever that is, I'll have your ideas with me.

red sox vs blue jays part 2

The roof was open at Skydome last night, and the first-place Red Sox thrashed the last-place Blue Jays 9-2. I don't usually follow standings this early in the season, but the standings are so much fun right now, it's irresistible.

The open dome completely changes the experience at the Rogers Centre/Skydome; it makes it a really nice ballpark. Blue Jays fans were feisty last night, if ill-informed. They're not the most baseball-savvy fans I've ever seen, but they're making noise and getting behind their team. As one of Roddy Doyle's characters would say, can't say fairer than that.

Tonight is the second wmtc baseball night. I think we'll be treated to the night sky again. But the real treat will be Daisuke Matsuzaka! I'm excited to see him again.

But first, it's back to the vet this morning. Tala's having some issues. How quickly they are resolved will determine whether or not we go to Ottawa next week, as planned, or suddenly have a lot more time. We shall see.

one-man rule? that's called dictatorship

Friend of wmtc James sent me an excellent article by Glenn Greenwald, formerly of Unclaimed Territory, now writing for Salon. Greenwald is a lawyer, writer and expert in First Amendment and Constitutional issues, and the author of How Would A Patriot Act? Defending American Values from a President Run Amok.

In this recent Salon post, Greenwald dissects an article by Harvey Mansfield, a right-wing Harvard professor.

The Wall St. Journal online has today published a lengthy and truly astonishing article by Harvard Government Professor Harvey Mansfield, which expressly argues that the power of the President is greater than "the rule of law." [WSJ essay here.]

The article bears this headline: "The Case for the Strong Executive -- Under some circumstances, the Rule of Law must yield to the need for Energy." And it is the most explicit argument I have seen yet for vesting in the President the power to override and ignore the rule of law in order to receive the glories of what Mansfield calls "one-man rule."

That such an argument comes from Mansfield is unsurprising. He has long been a folk hero to the what used to be the most extremist right-wing fringe but is now the core of the Republican Party. He devoted earlier parts of his career to warning of the dangers of homosexuality, particularly its effeminizing effect on our culture.

He has a career-long obsession with the glories of tyrannical power as embodied by Machiavelli's Prince, which is his model for how America ought to be governed. And last year, he wrote a book called Manliness in which "he urges men, and especially women, to understand and accept manliness" -- which means that "women are the weaker sex," "women's bodies are made to attract and to please men" and "now that women are equal, they should be able to accept being told that they aren't, quite." Publisher's Weekly called it a "juvenile screed."

. . .

But reading Mansfield has real value for understanding the dominant right-wing movement in this country. Because he is an academic, and a quite intelligent one, he makes intellectually honest arguments, by which I mean that he does not disguise what he thinks in politically palatable slogans, but instead really describes the actual premises on which political beliefs are based.

And that is Mansfield's value; he is a clear and honest embodiment of what the Bush movement is. In particular, he makes crystal clear that the so-called devotion to a "strong executive" by the Bush administration and the movement which supports it is nothing more than a belief that the Leader has the power to disregard, violate, and remain above the rule of law. And that is clear because Mansfield explicitly says that. And that is not just Mansfield's idiosyncratic belief. He is simply stating -- honestly and clearly -- the necessary premise of the model of the Omnipotent Presidency which has taken root under the Bush presidency.

. . .

I just want to add one related point here. Much of the intense dissatisfaction I have with the American media arises out of the fact that these extraordinary developments -- the dominant political movement advocating lawlessness and tyranny out in the open in The Wall St. Journal and Weekly Standard -- receive almost no attention.

While the Bush administration expressly adopts these theories to detain American citizens without charges, engage in domestic surveillance on Americans in clear violation of the laws we enacted to limit that power, and asserts a general right to disregard laws which interfere with the President's will, our media still barely discusses those issues.

They write about John Edwards' haircut and John Kerry's windsurfing and which political consultant has whispered what gossip to them about some painfully petty matter, but the extraordinary fact that our nation's dominant political movement is openly advocating the most radical theories of tyranny -- that "liberties are dangerous and law does not apply" -- is barely noticed by our most prestigious and self-loving national journalists. Merely to take note of that failure is to demonstrate how profoundly dysfunctional our political press is.

Read it here. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Many thanks to James for doing my work for me. I'm feeling very time-pressed these days, and I know wmtc is suffering for it. Feel free to email me anything you'd like me to share. I may not post it but I will always consider it.

thinking blogger awards

As you know, I never post "memes", as I don't find lists very interesting to write or to read. But The Thinking Blogger Award is a nice opportunity to highlight some thoughtful blogs that you may not be aware of. And since two blog-friends included me in their lists, I felt I should join in.

First, many thanks to Miche and to teflonjedi for giving wmtc a Thinking Blogger Award. It goes like this:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog).

My five Thinking Blogger Awards go to:

• The Best Dog in the World: David is a recovering Christian Conservative, struggling with issues of faith, tolerance, and humanity, and how to keep them all together.

• Impudent Strumpet: thoughts on life from an intelligent, open-minded, quirky human being.

• City in the Trees: everyone's favourite wmtc commenter, Lone Primate, in his natural habitat.

• Jon Swift: very well written political satire.

• The Joy of Sox: baseball is life. I know you'll think I'm biased, but the man makes me think all the time.

There! That wasn't so bad.

sonny rollins at massey hall

We saw Sonny Rollins at Massey Hall on Saturday night.

I am relatively new to jazz (compared to my other musical interests) and this was the first Jazz Giant I have seen in person. It was also the first live music we've heard in ages - strange, because live music was central to our lives for so long. We took a very rare Saturday night off work to go.

Sonny Rollins is a fascinating person, and a quintessential artist. At 76 years old, he's been making music for six decades. He's collaborated with the likes of Miles Davis, Coleman Hawkins and and Thelonious Monk, among others. He's also famously taken long hiatuses from performing: for a time living on Lower East Side in New York City and practicing his horn at night on the Williamsburg Bridge, and another extended period studying Buddhism, yoga and other Eastern practices in Japan and India.

Rollins's music is hugely expressive. It's exuberant, but also restrained. It's melodic, open and optimistic, and it swings like crazy. His tenor sax is rich and full, with big, fat notes and a smokey sound.

For my personal tastes, Rollins's music embodies everything I love about jazz and avoids everything I dislike about it. The show on Saturday night avoided that worst of all jazz excesses, self-indulgence. Even the dreaded drum solo was a light call-and-response with Rollins's sax. (Sorry drummers, but you seldom have anything to say on your own.)

The lineup on his current tour features Clifton Anderson on trombone (he's amazing!), Bobby Broom on guitar, Bob Cranshaw on bass, Koie Watkins on drums and Kimati Dinizulu on African percussion. The double percussion gives the sound a lot of depth.

Rollins's website is terrific; there are lots of audio and video clips, and tons of great information. You might also want to read about Rollins's life and carreer on Wikipedia.

wmtc on pause

I forgot how stressful starting a new job can be. The learning curve at New Firm is a little steeper than I anticipated.

I'm going to take a break from blogging for a couple of days while I work my way over this hump. Talk to you all soon.

star wars day

Today's my first (non-training) day at New Firm, which I really should refer to as Improved Hours, since that's my main concern. I'm so looking forward to my new schedule. But this spring weather makes it difficult to get yourself to work, doesn't it?

May the Fourth be with you.

thought police

Lately I've noticed an increasing number of stories like this one, in which students making fun of a teacher on Facebook were subject to school discipline.

How far into a student's life does a school's authority extend? The school can legitimately seek to govern internet usage on school time and with school equipment, just as most of our employers do. But it shouldn't have jurisdiction over what a student does on her own time. Ridiculing a teacher on the internet is no different than ridiculing a teacher in the pizza shop.

This letter to the Star from a future teacher expresses my thoughts perfectly.

As someone who is planning a teaching career at the university level, I am deeply disturbed by the encroaching powers of the school system over the Internet, as reflected in the discipline of students at Willowbrook Public School and elsewhere.

Regardless of the "inappropriateness" of students' comments on Facebook.com, the fact is that students always have and always will vent about and make fun of teachers and other authority figures, just as newspapers publish political cartoons and workers lampoon bosses. This is a typical response to a situation of power imbalance.

If teachers want to prevent students from saying potentially hurtful things about them, the solution is not to become thought police, but to hire better teachers who treat students with fairness and respect. Such teachers rarely get made fun of; even when they do, many students will stand up for them against the disgruntled few.

If you don't like what students are saying on Facebook.com, then get a Facebook account and participate in the dialogue. But administrators have no right to discipline students for online conversations that are conducted off school premises and after school hours, just as they have no right to punish them for the same conversations that have always taken place in the streets, parks, shopping malls and hockey arenas. --Jeff Denis, Toronto

It would great to see some libertarian-minded parents challenge this. Of course most parents agree with the schools, because they're more concerned with authority and discipline than with self-expression and personal freedoms. If the news stories are accurate, this is even more so in Canada than in the US; no surprise there. But I'd love to see a family stand up to this kind of authoritarian bullying.

our first spring hike

Yesterday we followed up on my resolve to go hiking more often. I have a tendency to get focused on my to-do list, and not give myself enough down-time. The list is always there; what's the difference if something gets done this week or next week? If we're not working, and it's not raining or too hot, and I don't have a writing deadline, I have to remember: go. Just go. So that's what we did.

We went to Hockley Valley, and had a great hike through woods - still bare - and meadows. Following up on what you guys told us, I see on my map of Ontario that there are dozens of provincial parks and conservation areas straight up Highway 10. I guess saw I this last year, too, but I was more focused on getting to know our own area, exploring the nearby section of the Waterfront Trail, Mississauga, and Toronto. As I mentioned in that earlier post, it's a huge difference in my life to have nature - for lack of a better word - so nearby and accessible.

The dogs had a great day. We were very pleased to see Cody still going strong, walking easily without strain, enjoying the long walk. She has to be almost 10 now, and we watch her carefully for signs of aging, having lost all our dogs before they reached 12. But she's doing great.

Tala was insane the whole way up in the car, the whole hike, and the whole way back. Young dogs are amazing. How can a dog bark at every car on the road for 2 hours, then walk 5 kilometres, then bark at every car on the way back, and then come home and chase birds off the lawn?! She clearly missed the memo directing dogs, on the way back from a hike, to be sacked out, sleeping, all the way home. This must be the famed Husky stamina. Meanwhile, we've added barking-at-cars-on-the-highway to our list of behaviours to work on with her.

As for me, I'm in heaven. Here's my idea of a perfect day. Spend a gorgeous spring afternoon walking in the woods with my sweetie and our pups, come home and grill dinner, hang out sipping wine enjoying the peaceful green of our backyard while the dogs lounge in the grass, then watch a ball game at night, and the Red Sox win.

foca

The US pro-choice movement has responded to Gonzales decision - the Supreme Court's recent anti-woman, anti-health, anti-common sense ruling upholding the Federal Abortion Ban - with the re-introduction of the Freedom of Choice Act. FOCA 2007 (the bill was originally introduced in 2004) is sponsored in the Senate by Barbara Boxer of California and in the House by Jerry Nadler of New York.

Since 1995, more than 500 anti-choice measures have been enacted on the state level. These laws disproportionately affect low-income women, leaving reproductive rights available to those who can afford them.

Now, with the Gonzales decision, a woman's health, if compromised by a pregnancy, is no longer constitutionally protected. Once Roe v. Wade is overturned, and the right to abortion is legislated on the state level - and then when laws are passed outlawing interstate travel to terminate a pregnancy - all American women will be at risk.

There are millions of American women - right now, today - for whom abortion, although technically legal, is inaccessible and unavailable. Without FOCA, it won't be long before only women who live in a handful of states will be able to legally and safely terminate a pregnancy.

No one who cares about human rights can afford to ignore this.

FOCA would restore and secure reproductive rights by establishing a federal law. It would remove the onerous obstacles now standing between American women and their ability to safely terminate a pregnancy, and thus control their lives. It would protect women's rights even when Roe v. Wade is inevitably reversed.

If you live in the US, or if many Americans read your blog, please urge your readers to contact their Senators and Congresspeople about FOCA. It's long overdue, it's the best way to fight back, and it stands a greater chance of passage than you might think.

Read Kim Gandy, president of NOW, on the Gonzales decision and on why we need FOCA.

partner promo

If you'd like to read an excellent interview with Allan Wood, a/k/a Redsock, a/k/a my best friend, go here.

may day

It's May Day!

May Day is the international worker's holiday, celebrated in most countries in the world, except for the US, Canada and South Africa. Contrary to popular belief, May Day did not begin in the Soviet Union. Its roots are in the US, with the struggle for the eight-hour day.

A brief essay on the origins of May Day is here.

This is a day to reflect on the dignity and worth of all working people, and the right of all people to earn a living wage.