This is one of those lists that, for me, feels nearly limitless: 12 people from the past who you would like to meet. I'm sure I could name several dozen.
To narrow it down, I'm arbitrarily defining "the past" as people who have been dead at least 50 years. (I turn 50 this year, and I'm deciding I can't use anyone who was alive during my lifetime.) So I can't hang out with Howard Zinn, and Cesar Chavez is out, along with my first writing hero, John Steinbeck, and my pal Woody Guthrie.
They must be people who are known by name. I would love to time-travel and hang out with an ordinary pre-contact Incan, an ancient Mesopotamian, the people who built Stonehenge, some radical labour organizers from the early 1900s, World War I war resisters, Europeans who hid Jews from the Nazis. And on and on. But for this list, we'll name specific people whose names we know.
Please put aside any concerns about how overwhelmed you might be, how silly you might act, how inarticulate you might feel. We'll just assume we could have a pint, talk about life, find out who these people were. No language barriers, either.
I've chosen people I revere and admire, but I know some readers will choose people they revile. I expect a few dictators will pop up in these lists.
I'm finding it really difficult to limit myself to 12! But here are 12 of the many people in history who I would like to meet.
1. George Orwell
2. Margaret Sanger
3. William Shakespeare
4. Lou Gehrig
5. Harriet Tubman
6. Amelia Earhart
7. Michelangelo
8. Charles Dickens
9. Samuel Pepys
10. Emma Goldman
11. Oscar Wilde
12. Mark Twain
Your turn.
[Update: My number one "should have included": Clarence Darrow. Not sure who I would lose - Wilde or Twain.]
1.08.2011
hockey fans for peace: support your team, not the war
Many thanks to Kimball Cariou of Hockey Fans for Peace for this excellent piece in The Straight. As a baseball-loving leftist, I relate on many levels!
It's been an interesting few days since Hockey Fans For Peace hit the media radar. As cofounder, I've watched the small membership of our Facebook group suddenly triple, and I've done some major radio sports-talk-show interviews.Read it here, and join Hockey Fans for Peace here.
This whole thing was largely sparked by Cherry's ugly rant at the inauguration of the new city council in Toronto. Cherry supporters argue that he simply "supports the troops".
That claim was demolished over Christmas in Kandahar, where Cherry fired off artillery, autographed bombs, and bragged about "chasing the Taliban".
But many hockey fans across Canada have been disturbed by a larger trend—the strategy of the Harper Conservatives to turn athletes and the Canadian Armed Forces into props for their war-making agenda.
It's difficult these days to find a major sports event which does not incorporate reference to "our brave troops in Kandahar". For me, the most gut-wrenching was at the Oct. 31 Saskatchewan Roughriders vs. B.C. Lions game at Empire Stadium in Vancouver.
The psychological aim of this strategy is to sow divisions among Canadians, particularly among the solid majority who want an early return home for the troops in Afghanistan. "Real" hockey fans and "real" Canadians, we are urged to believe, all "support the troops" and therefore back the alleged aims of the military mission.
Anyone who questions this reasoning is immediately under suspicion. Such individuals are somehow not considered true fans or "patriotic" Canadians.
Supposedly we "spit in the faces" of the troops. We are even accused of being "Taliban recruiters". (A Toronto Sun writer hurled this absurd slander at me on Jan. 7 during a call-in on 640 AM's "Opie Show"!).
1.07.2011
airport sexual assault, cadets for christ and the bleating heart of the usa
The only thing that scares me more than the fascist shift are all the sheeple who willingly march to the bleat.
In December, Claire Hirschkind, a 56-year-old rape survivor who has a type of pacemaker implant, was arrested and banned from an airport for refusing to submit to having her breasts handled by a stranger. Emphasis mine.
Hirschkind said because of the device in her body, she was led to a female TSA employee and three Austin police officers. She says she was told she was going to be patted down.
"I turned to the police officer and said, 'I have given no due cause to give up my constitutional rights. You can wand me,'" and they said, 'No, you have to do this,'" she said.
Hirschkind agreed to the pat down, but on one condition.
"I told them, 'No, I'm not going to have my breasts felt,' and she said, 'Yes, you are,'" said Hirschkind.
When Hirschkind refused, she says that "the police actually pushed me to the floor, (and) handcuffed me. I was crying by then. They drug me 25 yards across the floor in front of the whole security."
An ABIA spokesman says it is TSA policy that anyone activating a security alarm has two options. One is to opt out and not fly, and the other option is to subject themselves to an enhanced pat down. Hirschkind refused both and was arrested.
Other travelers KVUE talked to say they empathize with Hirschkind, but the law is the law.
"I understand her side of it, and their side as well, but it is for our protection so I have no problems with it," said Gwen Washington, who lives in Killeen.
"It's unfortunate that that happened and she didn't get to fly home, but it makes me feel a little safer," said Emily Protine.
Claire Hirschkind being sexually assaulted is "for our own protection" and "makes me feel a little safer". I keep reading and re-reading these words, marveling at how thoroughly brainwashed USians are, how perfectly their government has instilled fear in their hearts, how weak, compliant and complicit in their own oppression they have become.
Speaking of sheep, have you heard about this? A Christian cult called Cadets For Christ is operating within the United States Air Force. Cadets for Christ is part of the "shepherding" movement, which teaches that females are sheep, males are shepherds, and you do the math. Go read Ed Brayton, with links to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and HuffPo.
I was a bit suspicious when I read the family name of the people who have gone public about their daughter's brainwashing: they are Peter and Jean Baas. But this has been documented for at least a year. It is not a hoax.
Thanks to James for sending. I couldn't resist the juxtaposition of these various ruminants.
"no more shikata ga nai": frank emi, japanese-american war resister
One of the most shameful episodes in both US and Canadian history is known in the US as Executive Order 9066: the treatment of citizens of Japanese descent during World War II. Innocent citizens, with no recourse to due process, were rounded up, forced into concentration camps where they lived in barracks, surrounded by barbed wires and armed guards, their homes and property confiscated. Executive Order 9066 is a chilling story of scapegoating and a cautionary tale of how easily democracy can be smashed in the name of security. And this while the country was at war, supposedly to defend democracy!
Heaping insult onto injury, young Japanese-American and Japanese-Canadian men were drafted into the war while their families were still being held in the camps. The majority rushed to join the war effort to prove their patriotism. But some did not. Some resisted.
Frank Emi was one such resister. He was also an organizer: he helped others to resist, too. He and others formed a committee to protest the draft, saying they would serve only after their rights had been fully restored. More than 300 detainees in the 10 concentration camps joined. Later in his life, Emi would say, "We could either tuck our tails between our legs like a beaten dog or stand up like free men and fight for justice."
They had little support from their own community, and certainly no sympathy from the larger culture. Emi was sentenced to four years in federal penitentiary for "conspiracy to counsel draft evasion"; he served 18 months.
Researching this post, I discovered a documentary chronicling this Japanese-American draft resistance, screened on PBS, called Conscience and the Constitution. The companion website, where you can read much more about Frank Emi and the Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee, is here at Resisters.com (not to be confused with our own Resisters.ca).
Frank Emi died this past December at the age of 94. Here is his obituary from the New York Times; many thanks to Mike from VFP for sending it to me. I have a few Canadian friends whose lives were affected by this - one whose husband (now deceased) was interned, and two whose parents were in the camps. Janet, Kim and "Malory," this is for you.
Heaping insult onto injury, young Japanese-American and Japanese-Canadian men were drafted into the war while their families were still being held in the camps. The majority rushed to join the war effort to prove their patriotism. But some did not. Some resisted.
Frank Emi was one such resister. He was also an organizer: he helped others to resist, too. He and others formed a committee to protest the draft, saying they would serve only after their rights had been fully restored. More than 300 detainees in the 10 concentration camps joined. Later in his life, Emi would say, "We could either tuck our tails between our legs like a beaten dog or stand up like free men and fight for justice."
They had little support from their own community, and certainly no sympathy from the larger culture. Emi was sentenced to four years in federal penitentiary for "conspiracy to counsel draft evasion"; he served 18 months.
Researching this post, I discovered a documentary chronicling this Japanese-American draft resistance, screened on PBS, called Conscience and the Constitution. The companion website, where you can read much more about Frank Emi and the Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee, is here at Resisters.com (not to be confused with our own Resisters.ca).
Frank Emi died this past December at the age of 94. Here is his obituary from the New York Times; many thanks to Mike from VFP for sending it to me. I have a few Canadian friends whose lives were affected by this - one whose husband (now deceased) was interned, and two whose parents were in the camps. Janet, Kim and "Malory," this is for you.
For nearly four years, through scorching summer heat, dust storms and frigid winters, 11,000 residents of the United States were forced to live in barracks, surrounded by barbed-wire fences, guard towers and searchlights at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center in the northwest Wyoming desert.
They were among more than 110,000 Japanese-Americans, most from the West Coast, who were herded from their homes to inland detention centers after President Franklin D. Roosevelt, within three months of the attack on Pearl Harbor, issued Executive Order 9066, deeming them threats to national security.
“The military escorted us to the camp with their guns and bayonets, so there really wasn’t much thought about standing up for your rights at that time,” one internee, Frank Emi, later told the Japanese-American oral history project at California State University, Fullerton.
The phrase he heard among the detainees was “Shikata ga nai” — it can’t be helped.
That would change two years later, after the government had begun drafting detainees into the military. Ordered to fight for the country that had imprisoned them, many were defiant, Mr. Emi (pronounced EH-me) among them. At Heart Mountain they formed a committee to organize a protest, arguing that they would serve only after their rights had been fully restored. More than 300 detainees in all 10 detention camps joined their cause.
For Mr. Emi, the mantra became “No more shikata ga nai.”
Mr. Emi, the last surviving leader of the committee, died on Dec. 1 in West Covina, Calif., said his daughter Kathleen Ito. He was 94 and lived in San Gabriel, Calif.
Not all Japanese-Americans were opposed to serving in the military. After the War Department, at the urging of Japanese-American leaders, decided in 1943 to allow detainees to volunteer for an all-Japanese-American unit, many signed up. Their unit, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, went to Europe under the rallying cry “Go for broke.” The 442nd would become one of the most highly decorated regiments in United States history, earning 9,486 Purple Hearts and 21 Medals of Honor.
But when the government decided to start drafting Japanese-Americans in January 1944, scores of internees saw it as the last straw.
“Many of the internees took the reopening of the draft as an unwarranted test of their patriotism,” Eric Muller, a professor of constitutional law at the University of North Carolina and the author of “Free to Die for Their Country” (2001), said in an interview. “Some young men decided they had had enough. Why should they and their families, who had lost all of their rights and privileges of citizenship, be asked to shoulder its greatest burden?”
Mr. Emi and six other internees at Heart Mountain formed the Fair Play Committee. They held meetings in mess halls, distributed fliers throughout all the camps and sought to initiate a court case to re-establish their rights as citizens.
To those who believed that they were doing harm to Japanese-Americans over all, the resisters became known as the “no-no boys.” Some, particularly those so proud of the volunteers in the 442nd Regiment, called them cowards and traitors. But as far as Mr. Emi was concerned, he told The Los Angeles Times in 1993, “We could either tuck our tails between our legs like a beaten dog or stand up like free men and fight for justice.”
Charged with draft evasion, all of the more than 300 resisters were sentenced to prison terms of approximately three years.
In separate indictments, Mr. Emi and six other leaders of the Fair Play Committee were charged with conspiracy to counsel draft evasion. Four, including Mr. Emi, were sentenced to four years; two received two-year sentences, and the seventh was acquitted. They were sent to the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., where they were surrounded by hardened criminals.
“Frank was a black-belt judo expert,” Professor Muller said. “The first thing they did at Leavenworth was stage a judo exhibition in which the little guys threw the big guys. After that nobody bothered them.”
Three months after the war, the convictions of the committee leaders were overturned by a federal appeals court; they were released after serving 18 months. The 300 charged as draft resisters lost their appeal, but on Christmas Eve 1947, President Harry S. Truman pardoned them all.
Frank Seishi Emi was born in Los Angeles on Sept. 23, 1916. His parents owned a food market. When his father was injured in a car accident, Mr. Emi dropped out of college to run the business.
He was married and had one child when Executive Order 9066 was issued. The business and the family home were never recovered after the war. He later worked as a postal clerk.
Besides his daughter, Mr. Emi is survived by his second wife, Itsuko; another daughter, Eileen Tabuchi; a stepdaughter, Rie Nishikawa; a sister, Kaoru Sugita; nine grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
For decades, Mr. Emi and other draft resisters faced disapproval from other Japanese-Americans. During the war, the Japanese American Citizens League had called for them to be charged with sedition. But in 2000, at its national convention in Monterey, Calif., the league formally apologized.
And two years later, at a league ceremony honoring the resisters, Senator Daniel K. Inouye, a veteran of the 442nd Regiment and a Medal of Honor recipient, addressed the crowd in a videotaped message.
"Some young men answered the call to military service," Mr. Inouye said, "and they did so with honor and with great courage. Some young men chose to make their point by resisting the government's order to report for the draft. They too were honorable and courageous."
1.05.2011
in which i purposely try to get a lower grade, or how to succeed in graduate school without really trying
When I started graduate school in September of 2009, I approached it the same way I had approached my undergraduate studies. I intended to do all the work, and do it well, and on time. I assumed this was possible. And I almost drowned.
I was absolutely miserable. There was so much reading, and much of it was impenetrable academic gobbledygook. My experience in university was completely irrelevant. In those days, I was young, I had a lot more energy, and school was my full-time job. Now school is only one of the many hats I wear, I have a lot less energy, and I quite literally have fewer working hours in each day, as my health demands I get adequate rest. For a while there, I thought I might not be able to do it. I thought I might quit.
But as the weeks of the first term went by, I learned to do more with less. As my friend AWE, who went to law school in her late 30s, said, instead of working harder, I worked smarter. And the less work I did, the better my grades were. (How far can I push this trend? If I do no work at all, will I ace everything?)
Eventually I came to realize two things. One, what matters is understanding the concepts, not reading every word of every article assigned. And two, my grades don't matter. I only have to get the degree.
From that point on, my approach has been this: attend class, be attentive and participate, and when it's time to do assignments, figure out the minimum reading I need, and get the assignment done. And that's it. Much of the assigned reading has improved, too - more relevancy, more readable writing - so that helps. But regardless, this is my method. So far I've gotten As in every class, with one A-minus.
Eventually I'll have to participate in some extra-curricular projects and get a part-time library job (more on those in a future post), so not getting bogged down in useless academic reading will be even more important.
But it's one thing to say I don't care about grades. Actually not caring is another thing entirely. Grades are the only reward system we have in school. And getting good grades was one of the few things I was praised for through my whole young life. Other non-athletic, slightly misfit people may recognize this syndrome. I did eventually find a niche, eventually I had friends, and I did come to see myself as a leader of sorts. But long before any of that happened, I was a brainy kid, and that's all I had - and that is reflected in grades, and only grades.
All through school until high school graduation, I got excellent grades without effort. In university, I had to apply myself, and I learned how to do that, because I wanted to get good grades. (Also because I recognized I was being given a great opportunity, and I wanted to take advantage of it.)
In high school, when I wasn't naturally adept in a subject - when math was no longer simple - I was not encouraged to work harder: I was advised to take easier classes! I was told, "You'll never use this stuff, so don't sweat it." And off I went into below-average math and science classes, because the only thing that mattered was Getting Good Grades.
When something is this deeply embedded, it's not easy to simply not care.
* * * *
Last term was a great example of this. For my management class, I wrote a paper on disability diversity in the workplace. It was a very strong paper, and I was fairly certain it would earn an A-minus. But I also recognized its weakness, and I saw where it could be improved. That would have involved a lot more work: first more research, then extracting what I needed from that research, cutting part of the paper to create space for the new information, and re-knitting the whole thing back together. Was I willing to do that just to bring my expected grade from an A-minus to an A?
No, I was not. Allan and I talked it over - a lot - and I forced myself to stop working on the paper. It was difficult! I like my work to sparkle. But I reminded myself: it is one paper in one class. In the long run, it means nothing. And the difference between the A and A-minus means less than nothing. I turned it in without the improvement - and I got an A.
* * * *
This term I'm taking two required classes, one highly relevant, interesting and necessary to my future librarianship practice, the other exactly the opposite, or so it seems.
Intro to Reference touches on the very heart of librarianship. Reference is the mediation between the library's resources and library users. It is everything from "Can you recommend a good book?" to "I have a term paper to write and don't know where to start," to "I need information on...". It requires fully understanding what the library has to offer, being able to help people feel comfortable asking for help, knowing how to discover people's information needs, and helping them feel good about the library. (I get really excited about this!)
My professor is terrific - tremendously knowledgeable, brimming with enthusiasm, and meticulously organized. Rather than assigning a mountain of reading of questionable potential, she has assigned a carefully selected, manageable reading list. Readings I actually might want to do.
My other class, Research Methods, is the class I have been most dreading. It's designed mainly for students intending to (or considering) writing a thesis or getting a PhD. Neither applies to me, but it is required nonetheless - which I resent. Today, in our first class, the teacher took pains to explain why, even if we are not intending to do our own academic research, this class may be useful to us. I'm skeptical. But the good news is, she seems excellent, and the class may be more interesting - at least not nearly as dreadful - as I thought.
But. Here's the but. Research Methods could be fine, if I stick to my approach: go to class, be attentive, do as well on the assignments as I can, and resist the urge to always submit stellar work. But in this course, if I apply Laura's Method of Minimal Work, I am unlikely to do A-level work.
Can I live with that? I want to be able to live with it. I am really going to try.
I was absolutely miserable. There was so much reading, and much of it was impenetrable academic gobbledygook. My experience in university was completely irrelevant. In those days, I was young, I had a lot more energy, and school was my full-time job. Now school is only one of the many hats I wear, I have a lot less energy, and I quite literally have fewer working hours in each day, as my health demands I get adequate rest. For a while there, I thought I might not be able to do it. I thought I might quit.
But as the weeks of the first term went by, I learned to do more with less. As my friend AWE, who went to law school in her late 30s, said, instead of working harder, I worked smarter. And the less work I did, the better my grades were. (How far can I push this trend? If I do no work at all, will I ace everything?)
Eventually I came to realize two things. One, what matters is understanding the concepts, not reading every word of every article assigned. And two, my grades don't matter. I only have to get the degree.
From that point on, my approach has been this: attend class, be attentive and participate, and when it's time to do assignments, figure out the minimum reading I need, and get the assignment done. And that's it. Much of the assigned reading has improved, too - more relevancy, more readable writing - so that helps. But regardless, this is my method. So far I've gotten As in every class, with one A-minus.
Eventually I'll have to participate in some extra-curricular projects and get a part-time library job (more on those in a future post), so not getting bogged down in useless academic reading will be even more important.
But it's one thing to say I don't care about grades. Actually not caring is another thing entirely. Grades are the only reward system we have in school. And getting good grades was one of the few things I was praised for through my whole young life. Other non-athletic, slightly misfit people may recognize this syndrome. I did eventually find a niche, eventually I had friends, and I did come to see myself as a leader of sorts. But long before any of that happened, I was a brainy kid, and that's all I had - and that is reflected in grades, and only grades.
All through school until high school graduation, I got excellent grades without effort. In university, I had to apply myself, and I learned how to do that, because I wanted to get good grades. (Also because I recognized I was being given a great opportunity, and I wanted to take advantage of it.)
In high school, when I wasn't naturally adept in a subject - when math was no longer simple - I was not encouraged to work harder: I was advised to take easier classes! I was told, "You'll never use this stuff, so don't sweat it." And off I went into below-average math and science classes, because the only thing that mattered was Getting Good Grades.
When something is this deeply embedded, it's not easy to simply not care.
* * * *
Last term was a great example of this. For my management class, I wrote a paper on disability diversity in the workplace. It was a very strong paper, and I was fairly certain it would earn an A-minus. But I also recognized its weakness, and I saw where it could be improved. That would have involved a lot more work: first more research, then extracting what I needed from that research, cutting part of the paper to create space for the new information, and re-knitting the whole thing back together. Was I willing to do that just to bring my expected grade from an A-minus to an A?
No, I was not. Allan and I talked it over - a lot - and I forced myself to stop working on the paper. It was difficult! I like my work to sparkle. But I reminded myself: it is one paper in one class. In the long run, it means nothing. And the difference between the A and A-minus means less than nothing. I turned it in without the improvement - and I got an A.
* * * *
This term I'm taking two required classes, one highly relevant, interesting and necessary to my future librarianship practice, the other exactly the opposite, or so it seems.
Intro to Reference touches on the very heart of librarianship. Reference is the mediation between the library's resources and library users. It is everything from "Can you recommend a good book?" to "I have a term paper to write and don't know where to start," to "I need information on...". It requires fully understanding what the library has to offer, being able to help people feel comfortable asking for help, knowing how to discover people's information needs, and helping them feel good about the library. (I get really excited about this!)
My professor is terrific - tremendously knowledgeable, brimming with enthusiasm, and meticulously organized. Rather than assigning a mountain of reading of questionable potential, she has assigned a carefully selected, manageable reading list. Readings I actually might want to do.
My other class, Research Methods, is the class I have been most dreading. It's designed mainly for students intending to (or considering) writing a thesis or getting a PhD. Neither applies to me, but it is required nonetheless - which I resent. Today, in our first class, the teacher took pains to explain why, even if we are not intending to do our own academic research, this class may be useful to us. I'm skeptical. But the good news is, she seems excellent, and the class may be more interesting - at least not nearly as dreadful - as I thought.
But. Here's the but. Research Methods could be fine, if I stick to my approach: go to class, be attentive, do as well on the assignments as I can, and resist the urge to always submit stellar work. But in this course, if I apply Laura's Method of Minimal Work, I am unlikely to do A-level work.
Can I live with that? I want to be able to live with it. I am really going to try.
1.03.2011
back to school tomorrow
Classes start tomorrow and I'm roiling with anxiety. This is not new. This is me on the eve of a new term. It's been building all week - waking me up earlier and earlier, until I finally got the point and took some anti-anxiety meds before bed - and today my stomach is one giant knot. If patterns hold, tomorrow I will be completely fine. On my way to school, I'll feel a bit happy and excited to be on my way to ticking off two more courses. And that will be that, at least for a while.
There's no rational reason for this anxiety. But there's no avoiding it, either. I'm glad I believe in taking medication. I'd hate to go through this without.
I had an excellent winter break. I did everything I had planned: lots of organizing and household chores that had piled up, some socializing with good friends (and dogs), lots of time lying on the couch reading. (Look for an upcoming "what i'm reading" post.) Cooked a few nice dinners, took long walks with Tala. Did not commute into Toronto, not even once, and did no paid work whatsoever.
Allan and I watched a few movies, but mostly we binged on "The Larry Sanders Show," watching several episodes a night while drinking wine and eating yummy things from President's Choice. I can confirm that Larry Sanders is the best television show ever.
When I finish this term, I will be halfway done with grad school.
There's no rational reason for this anxiety. But there's no avoiding it, either. I'm glad I believe in taking medication. I'd hate to go through this without.
I had an excellent winter break. I did everything I had planned: lots of organizing and household chores that had piled up, some socializing with good friends (and dogs), lots of time lying on the couch reading. (Look for an upcoming "what i'm reading" post.) Cooked a few nice dinners, took long walks with Tala. Did not commute into Toronto, not even once, and did no paid work whatsoever.
Allan and I watched a few movies, but mostly we binged on "The Larry Sanders Show," watching several episodes a night while drinking wine and eating yummy things from President's Choice. I can confirm that Larry Sanders is the best television show ever.
When I finish this term, I will be halfway done with grad school.
statement against security certificates: please sign and circulate
Canadian readers, please sign and circulate this important statement opposing the use of so-called certificates. Under sections 9 and 76 through 87 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, these provisions allow for the imprisonment of refugees and permanent residents without anything resembling due process - and the deportation of non-citizen residents, even if they face torture or execution in their country of origin. The latest court-mandated revision of these provisions is mere window dressing.
The Security Certificate process violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and every human rights document to which Canada is a signatory: the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations Convention on Refugees, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the United Nations Convention on Torture.
Please read the full statement in both English and French, please sign and please share with everyone you know. In a country that fancies itself a democracy and a bastion of decency, the existence of these provisions is a travesty.
The Security Certificate process violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and every human rights document to which Canada is a signatory: the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations Convention on Refugees, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the United Nations Convention on Torture.
Please read the full statement in both English and French, please sign and please share with everyone you know. In a country that fancies itself a democracy and a bastion of decency, the existence of these provisions is a travesty.
happy anniversary to us
January 3, 1987: Allan and I spent the morning digging a U-Haul out of the snow, then drove all his worldly possessions from Vermont to Brooklyn.
January 3, 2011: the adventure continues.
We're celebrating later this week, going to Kaji, widely reported to be the best sushi in the Toronto area. It has no menu, only omakase, the sushi version of a tasting menu. We're very much looking forward to it.
I was tempted to write the story of that momentous U-Haul-and-blizzard day 24 ago today, but discovered I have already done so, on the first anniversary we spent in Canada.
Two years ago, I did a little wrap-up of anniversary celebrations past. Being broke, we seldom go out right now, so we're very excited about our upcoming sushifest.
Next year will be a milestone number: 25! I'm hoping to spend it in Quebec City.
January 3, 2011: the adventure continues.
We're celebrating later this week, going to Kaji, widely reported to be the best sushi in the Toronto area. It has no menu, only omakase, the sushi version of a tasting menu. We're very much looking forward to it.
I was tempted to write the story of that momentous U-Haul-and-blizzard day 24 ago today, but discovered I have already done so, on the first anniversary we spent in Canada.
Two years ago, I did a little wrap-up of anniversary celebrations past. Being broke, we seldom go out right now, so we're very excited about our upcoming sushifest.
Next year will be a milestone number: 25! I'm hoping to spend it in Quebec City.
public service announcement: troll alert
If you're reading this at Progressive Bloggers, please recommend this post so as many people can see it as possible. Thank you!
The boy who posts as Magnolia or Magnolia_2000 is a troll. He is not my friend. He does not contribute to the conversation or debate in any possible way. He exists solely to make trouble.
I know some bloggers make it a policy to allow all comments, no matter what, but if you won't reject or delete Magnolia's comments, please, at least avoid engaging with him.
I banned Magnolia from wmtc almost four years ago, yet he still leaves comments, even though they never appear on the blog. It's bizarre - and sad. I never even see most of Mags' comments. Allan and I both have moderation privileges for each other's blogs, and Allan will just tell me, "Mags was around yesterday," or "Guess whose comments I rejected last night?"
Right now Mags is visiting blogs of people who comment on wmtc, or blogs that I link to, for the sole purpose of attempting to create trouble. Loathsome as it is to give this boy the attention he craves, this post seemed like the best way to alert the blogosphere to his presence.
For more on Mags, see my essay The Trolls Among Us at The Mark.
The boy who posts as Magnolia or Magnolia_2000 is a troll. He is not my friend. He does not contribute to the conversation or debate in any possible way. He exists solely to make trouble.
I know some bloggers make it a policy to allow all comments, no matter what, but if you won't reject or delete Magnolia's comments, please, at least avoid engaging with him.
I banned Magnolia from wmtc almost four years ago, yet he still leaves comments, even though they never appear on the blog. It's bizarre - and sad. I never even see most of Mags' comments. Allan and I both have moderation privileges for each other's blogs, and Allan will just tell me, "Mags was around yesterday," or "Guess whose comments I rejected last night?"
Right now Mags is visiting blogs of people who comment on wmtc, or blogs that I link to, for the sole purpose of attempting to create trouble. Loathsome as it is to give this boy the attention he craves, this post seemed like the best way to alert the blogosphere to his presence.
For more on Mags, see my essay The Trolls Among Us at The Mark.
1.01.2011
greenwald: what wikileaks revealed to the world in 2010
The incomparable Glenn Greenwald, December 24, 2010.
See the column for headlines and screenshots.
Throughout this year I've devoted substantial attention to WikiLeaks, particularly in the last four weeks as calls for its destruction intensified. To understand why I've done so, and to see what motivates the increasing devotion of the U.S. Government and those influenced by it to destroying that organization, it's well worth reviewing exactly what WikiLeaks exposed to the world just in the last year: the breadth of the corruption, deceit, brutality and criminality on the part of the world's most powerful factions.
As revealing as the disclosures themselves are, the reactions to them have been equally revealing. The vast bulk of the outrage has been devoted not to the crimes that have been exposed but rather to those who exposed them: WikiLeaks and (allegedly) Bradley Manning. A consensus quickly emerged in the political and media class that they are Evil Villains who must be severely punished, while those responsible for the acts they revealed are guilty of nothing. That reaction has not been weakened at all even by the Pentagon's own admission that, in stark contrast to its own actions, there is no evidence -- zero -- that any of WikiLeaks' actions has caused even a single death. Meanwhile, the American establishment media -- even in the face of all these revelations -- continues to insist on the contradictory, Orwellian platitudes that (a) there is Nothing New™ in anything disclosed by WikiLeaks and (b) WikiLeaks has done Grave Harm to American National Security™ through its disclosures.
It's unsurprising that political leaders would want to convince people that the true criminals are those who expose acts of high-level political corruption and criminality, rather than those who perpetrate them. Every political leader would love for that self-serving piety to take hold. But what's startling is how many citizens and, especially, "journalists" now vehemently believe that as well. In light of what WikiLeaks has revealed to the world about numerous governments, just fathom the authoritarian mindset that would lead a citizen -- and especially a "journalist" -- to react with anger that these things have been revealed; to insist that these facts should have been kept concealed and it'd be better if we didn't know; and, most of all, to demand that those who made us aware of it all be punished (the True Criminals) while those who did these things (The Good Authorities) be shielded.
See the column for headlines and screenshots.
canadian weblog awards winners announced
The winners of the the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards have been announced.
I am pleased to note that wmtc was honoured with second place in the political category. Congratulations to my blog-friend Tornwordo, whose Sticky Crows won third place in the LGBTQ category.
Although I'm quite certain wmtc is not the second-best political blog in Canada, or anything even close, I do appreciate the recognition and all the hard work Schmutzie and the other Ninjamatics put into the awards. Thank you very much, and congratulations to all the nominees and winners.
The full list of winners is here.
I am pleased to note that wmtc was honoured with second place in the political category. Congratulations to my blog-friend Tornwordo, whose Sticky Crows won third place in the LGBTQ category.
Although I'm quite certain wmtc is not the second-best political blog in Canada, or anything even close, I do appreciate the recognition and all the hard work Schmutzie and the other Ninjamatics put into the awards. Thank you very much, and congratulations to all the nominees and winners.
The full list of winners is here.
update: heys backpacks suck
Before I started grad school in September 2009, I treated myself to a new backpack, one designed to carry and cushion a laptop. I got this "ePac" from Heys, which looks sharp and is full of compartments and all kinds of organizery fun.
Less than two months after I started using it, the mesh slots on each side - usually used to carry an umbrella and a water bottle - developed holes. The backpack comes with a five-year warranty, which Heys customer service initially told me by e-mail would likely cover this issue.
When I went to the Heys offices, located nearby in Mississauga, the rude, dismissive people at the front desk told me to take a hike. This was considered "normal wear and tear" - which means, of course, that their warranty is a useless fraud. They said that mine was the first and only complaint they had ever received about this backpack. Who knows what I had been carrying in those compartments? They could not be responsible for those tears.
I persisted, writing a letter to attempt to bypass the surly front-desk staff. Heys offered me a coupon for 50% off my next purchase. So I can spend yet more money on their crappy products with their useless warranties. No thank you. (Something I might have included on our strengths list: tenacity.)
When I rejected their coupon, I also sent them all the Heys-related posts I had written, noting that if one Googles "heys customer service," these posts come up just after the company's website.
Eventually they called and told me I could pick up a new, replacement backpack at their office. Although I was pleased to have succeeded, I was disgusted at Heys' terrible customer service and the poor quality of their products.
[If you want to read my emails to them and their reply, the story in detail is here, here and here.]
Three weeks after I began using the replacement backpack, the mesh pockets tore again. Same holes in the same places. Now I suppose I had the only two Heys backpacks in existence to have this problem. What are the odds!
Over my winter break, I took the backpack to a shoe and bag repair person to see it could be repaired. I thought he might replace the mesh with a stronger fabric, but he said that wouldn't work. Instead, he sewed two strips of soft leather over the areas with the holes. It looks all right. It's actually barely noticeable if you're not looking for it.
I was also pleased because now I know an old-fashioned shoe repair place in the area, something I hadn't found before. His tiny, narrow shop, stuffed with shoes and smelling of leather and polish, is exactly like the shop my mother used to frequent when I was a little girl. That man's name was Vinnie Buffalo; he always had classical music on a little radio, and he handed out lollipops. The Mississauga version brought back a nice memory.
However: don't buy Heys.
Less than two months after I started using it, the mesh slots on each side - usually used to carry an umbrella and a water bottle - developed holes. The backpack comes with a five-year warranty, which Heys customer service initially told me by e-mail would likely cover this issue.
When I went to the Heys offices, located nearby in Mississauga, the rude, dismissive people at the front desk told me to take a hike. This was considered "normal wear and tear" - which means, of course, that their warranty is a useless fraud. They said that mine was the first and only complaint they had ever received about this backpack. Who knows what I had been carrying in those compartments? They could not be responsible for those tears.
I persisted, writing a letter to attempt to bypass the surly front-desk staff. Heys offered me a coupon for 50% off my next purchase. So I can spend yet more money on their crappy products with their useless warranties. No thank you. (Something I might have included on our strengths list: tenacity.)
When I rejected their coupon, I also sent them all the Heys-related posts I had written, noting that if one Googles "heys customer service," these posts come up just after the company's website.
Eventually they called and told me I could pick up a new, replacement backpack at their office. Although I was pleased to have succeeded, I was disgusted at Heys' terrible customer service and the poor quality of their products.
[If you want to read my emails to them and their reply, the story in detail is here, here and here.]
Three weeks after I began using the replacement backpack, the mesh pockets tore again. Same holes in the same places. Now I suppose I had the only two Heys backpacks in existence to have this problem. What are the odds!
Over my winter break, I took the backpack to a shoe and bag repair person to see it could be repaired. I thought he might replace the mesh with a stronger fabric, but he said that wouldn't work. Instead, he sewed two strips of soft leather over the areas with the holes. It looks all right. It's actually barely noticeable if you're not looking for it.
I was also pleased because now I know an old-fashioned shoe repair place in the area, something I hadn't found before. His tiny, narrow shop, stuffed with shoes and smelling of leather and polish, is exactly like the shop my mother used to frequent when I was a little girl. That man's name was Vinnie Buffalo; he always had classical music on a little radio, and he handed out lollipops. The Mississauga version brought back a nice memory.
However: don't buy Heys.
what i'm watching: must-see movie: the yes men fix the world
Have you all seen this movie? It's out on DVD, and it's a must: anti-capitalist, activist humour. It's a kind of companion video to Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine, humour edition.
Check out the website and the trailer.
Check out the website and the trailer.
12.31.2010
wishes for 2011: political and personal
When we state our wishes and dreams - out loud, in public - we open ourselves to ridicule and snark. So many people claim to know the future with great certainty - which is, of course, impossible.
Wishes and dreams are too important to scoff at. All positive change begins in our imaginations. If we can't imagine something, we can't create it. Our dreams may not become reality, but I'd rather work towards a dream than ridicule dreamers.
In 2011, I'd like to see...
1. The end of the Harper Government.
2. A provision enacted by Parliament allowing Iraq War resisters to stay in Canada - and for those now in the US to be allowed to move or return here if they wish.
3. The beginning of the re-building of a liberal Liberal Party and a truly progressive New Democrat Party.
4. A full withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan and Iraq. (Remember, I said "dream".)
5. Bradley Manning released from prison.
6. A widespread understanding of the difference between support for a free Palestine and anti-Semitism.
Personally, I'd like to get...
1. A better day-job, allowing me to:
1a. pay off debt, and
1b. have a little money to travel.
2. A part-time library job.
3. A new sister for Tala. (That one's easy!)
Here's hoping 2011 is good to almost everyone. I hope Stephen Harper, Jason Kenney, Peter MacKay, Lawrence Cannon, Vic Toews, Bev Oda, John Baird and the rest of them have a very bad year.
Happy New Year!
Wishes and dreams are too important to scoff at. All positive change begins in our imaginations. If we can't imagine something, we can't create it. Our dreams may not become reality, but I'd rather work towards a dream than ridicule dreamers.
In 2011, I'd like to see...
1. The end of the Harper Government.
2. A provision enacted by Parliament allowing Iraq War resisters to stay in Canada - and for those now in the US to be allowed to move or return here if they wish.
3. The beginning of the re-building of a liberal Liberal Party and a truly progressive New Democrat Party.
4. A full withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan and Iraq. (Remember, I said "dream".)
5. Bradley Manning released from prison.
6. A widespread understanding of the difference between support for a free Palestine and anti-Semitism.
Personally, I'd like to get...
1. A better day-job, allowing me to:
1a. pay off debt, and
1b. have a little money to travel.
2. A part-time library job.
3. A new sister for Tala. (That one's easy!)
Here's hoping 2011 is good to almost everyone. I hope Stephen Harper, Jason Kenney, Peter MacKay, Lawrence Cannon, Vic Toews, Bev Oda, John Baird and the rest of them have a very bad year.
Happy New Year!
wmtc redesign is complete: goodbye L-girl
For anyone interested, the wmtc redesign is complete. All the tabs (static pages) along the top are now written.
Tonight at midnight, "L-girl" will be retired and "laura k" will take her place.
I've used the name L-girl since I first got online in the late 1990s, as part of a bisexual women's community. I feel a bit sad saying goodbye to that name. But it's time.
Tonight at midnight, "L-girl" will be retired and "laura k" will take her place.
I've used the name L-girl since I first got online in the late 1990s, as part of a bisexual women's community. I feel a bit sad saying goodbye to that name. But it's time.
12.30.2010
in which a woman draws a cartoon about sexism
In which we betray our gender, by gabby of Gabby's Playhouse.
Let me state unequivocally that I am proud to know many feminist (i.e. non-sexist) men. Indeed, any male I call my friend qualifies, by definition.
Gabby's observations are no less accurate because of this. A quick perusal of the comment thread will confirm.
Many thanks to James for sending this - long ago!
Let me state unequivocally that I am proud to know many feminist (i.e. non-sexist) men. Indeed, any male I call my friend qualifies, by definition.
Gabby's observations are no less accurate because of this. A quick perusal of the comment thread will confirm.
Many thanks to James for sending this - long ago!
12.28.2010
what i'm reading: history online
Disunion is a blog about the US civil war, the bloodiest, deadliest (to Americans) war in US history. The New York Times began running Disunion, as far as I can tell, on October 31, 2010, with this preamble.
A US history teacher writes about Disunion:
I'd very much like to read this, but I'm a bit intimidated. I would have to go back to the beginning - I can't do it any other way. I discovered the blog in early December, but still haven't read more than a few words. It feels like I've already missed too much to start now.
I'm still reading The Diary of Samuel Pepys online. Samuel Pepys was a 17th Century protoblogger: he kept a private journal chronicling both his personal life and the political and social goings-on if his era. It's one of a very few firsthand accounts of British or European history of its time, and the only one so richly detailed and wonderfully readable. The Diary contains eyewitness accounts of major events in British history, such as the Great Fire of London, the plague and a war with the Dutch. Equally important, it's a window - a sharply focused, vivid window - into the standards, values and mores of another world.
In 2003, a web designer and all-around creative guy named Phil Gyford started uploading a diary entry each day, beginning on January 1, 343 years to the day after Pepys (pronounced "peeps") began writing his diary. Hundreds of people read the The Diary each day, and a small, loyal group of readers annotate the entries for further edification.
I've been reading The Diary since the beginning. Although I'm no longer part of the commenting group, I know many of the annotators online and know them all through their copious and fascinating entries. Many in the Pepys crew are beginning to spy sadness on the horizon: Pepys stopped writing his Diary in 1669, which translates to 2012 for us.
[For more on Samuel Pepys Diary: I first blogged about it here (and have mentioned it several times since); here is Pepys' Wikipedia entry; and here's the "about" from the Pepys Diary blog.]
So I'd like to read Disunion - to get caught up, then read it daily or weekly, the way I read Pepys - but do I really need one more thing to do?
But can I resist?
The story of the Civil War will be told in this series as a weekly roundup and analysis, by Jamie Malanowski, of events making news during the corresponding week 150 years ago. Written as if in real time, this dispatch will, after this week, appear every Monday. Additional essays and observations by other contributors, along with maps, images, diaries and so forth, will be published several times a week.
A US history teacher writes about Disunion:
Imagine modern web coverage of the U.S. in the early 1860s, day-by-day! I often find that our history textbooks, even the really good ones like Brinkley and Foner, fail to provide students with a sense of the immediacy and uncertainty of the historical present, often because that is exactly what makes for quality history...the distance and perspective to see things more clearly (or at least more fully). Nevertheless, imagining the historical present is a valuable skill for teachers to develop in students. . . . It's a really great resource for students to see into the fog of war and the unpredictability of the future.
I'd very much like to read this, but I'm a bit intimidated. I would have to go back to the beginning - I can't do it any other way. I discovered the blog in early December, but still haven't read more than a few words. It feels like I've already missed too much to start now.
I'm still reading The Diary of Samuel Pepys online. Samuel Pepys was a 17th Century protoblogger: he kept a private journal chronicling both his personal life and the political and social goings-on if his era. It's one of a very few firsthand accounts of British or European history of its time, and the only one so richly detailed and wonderfully readable. The Diary contains eyewitness accounts of major events in British history, such as the Great Fire of London, the plague and a war with the Dutch. Equally important, it's a window - a sharply focused, vivid window - into the standards, values and mores of another world.
In 2003, a web designer and all-around creative guy named Phil Gyford started uploading a diary entry each day, beginning on January 1, 343 years to the day after Pepys (pronounced "peeps") began writing his diary. Hundreds of people read the The Diary each day, and a small, loyal group of readers annotate the entries for further edification.
I've been reading The Diary since the beginning. Although I'm no longer part of the commenting group, I know many of the annotators online and know them all through their copious and fascinating entries. Many in the Pepys crew are beginning to spy sadness on the horizon: Pepys stopped writing his Diary in 1669, which translates to 2012 for us.
[For more on Samuel Pepys Diary: I first blogged about it here (and have mentioned it several times since); here is Pepys' Wikipedia entry; and here's the "about" from the Pepys Diary blog.]
So I'd like to read Disunion - to get caught up, then read it daily or weekly, the way I read Pepys - but do I really need one more thing to do?
But can I resist?
12.27.2010
we like lists: list # 6: five strengths
Our last list - alternate realities - didn't get a huge response. Perhaps the topic didn't resonate with many readers, or maybe the timing was off. Or it could have been a fluke, who knows. That thread is still open if anyone wants to chime in.
"Alternate realities" was our dreams of people we might wish to be. Today's list is the flipside: positive aspects of the people we already are.
I'd like you to list five things that you do well. Not the top five things you do best; just five things that you do well, things you are good at, qualities about yourself that you like. Five strengths.
And these are the rules: no apologies, no disclaimers, no qualifiers. No acknowledging that other people might do these things better. No telling us that others may disagree with your list or that our mileage may vary. Only this: five positive statements about yourself, affirming five personal strengths.
Here's mine.
1. I write good letters.
2. I'm a good organizer.
3. I am fully at ease with all kinds of people - a diversity of age, background, ethnicity, ability, and so on.
4. I deeply appreciate human creativity - music, writing, handwork, performance, visual arts, etc.
5. I love having new experiences.
Now you try. Mind the rules!
"Alternate realities" was our dreams of people we might wish to be. Today's list is the flipside: positive aspects of the people we already are.
I'd like you to list five things that you do well. Not the top five things you do best; just five things that you do well, things you are good at, qualities about yourself that you like. Five strengths.
And these are the rules: no apologies, no disclaimers, no qualifiers. No acknowledging that other people might do these things better. No telling us that others may disagree with your list or that our mileage may vary. Only this: five positive statements about yourself, affirming five personal strengths.
Here's mine.
1. I write good letters.
2. I'm a good organizer.
3. I am fully at ease with all kinds of people - a diversity of age, background, ethnicity, ability, and so on.
4. I deeply appreciate human creativity - music, writing, handwork, performance, visual arts, etc.
5. I love having new experiences.
Now you try. Mind the rules!
12.26.2010
dear mr mackay and mr cherry: war is not a game. it does not save lives.
Further to my open letter to the CBC News of yesterday, it only gets worse.
The Ottawa Citzen reports that it was a laff riot in Kandahar on Christmas, as Don Cherry and Minister of Defence Peter MacKay yucked it up, war-school style. Cherry was allowed to launch a live artillery shell, shouting, "Taliban, here I come," as MacKay quipped, "Don, this is a different type of 'He shoots, he scores'."
MacKay also treated the troops to this Orwellian nugget.
It should be illegal to deceive people in this way. Some truth-in-advertising laws must apply.
And "Taliban, here I come?" I expect that kind of slap-happy war talk from my country of origin. Which says a lot about Don Cherry and the war-loving government he supports.
Thanks to Sister Sage's Musings for the link to my earlier post and for this fresh insanity.
The Ottawa Citzen reports that it was a laff riot in Kandahar on Christmas, as Don Cherry and Minister of Defence Peter MacKay yucked it up, war-school style. Cherry was allowed to launch a live artillery shell, shouting, "Taliban, here I come," as MacKay quipped, "Don, this is a different type of 'He shoots, he scores'."
MacKay also treated the troops to this Orwellian nugget.
The greatest gift you can give is the gift of life, which is what you are doing here -- you're saving lives. . . . Make no mistake, things are improving because of the heavy load you bear.
It should be illegal to deceive people in this way. Some truth-in-advertising laws must apply.
And "Taliban, here I come?" I expect that kind of slap-happy war talk from my country of origin. Which says a lot about Don Cherry and the war-loving government he supports.
Thanks to Sister Sage's Musings for the link to my earlier post and for this fresh insanity.
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