Last week while waiting for Question Period to begin, I happened to see a CPAC video about the Canadian federal election of 1917, also called the "Conscription Crisis of 1917".
As the Great War in Europe brought massive death tolls, people (rather understandably) stopped volunteering. I love how this Wikipedia article puts it: "After the Battle of the Somme, Canada was in desperate need to replenish its supply of soldiers; however, there were very few volunteers to replace them." Hmm yes, after more than a million lives are wasted in one freaking battle, it might be just a tad difficult to convince yet more living people to fall into formation. Britain and Canada needed to force young men to serve. The propaganda machine was cranked up, but Quebec wasn't buying.
If you're curious, you can go here and click on "the 1917 federal election".
Seen more from Quebec's point of view, we have this video on YouTube.
Both are relatively short and very interesting.
I've read a lot about World War I, not military history - not exactly my thing - but mostly historical novels. Many draw unmistakable parallels to our own time - nationalist propaganda, war profiteering, imperialism, the dehumanization of peoples to construct enemies. Also great resistance - to imperialism, to conscription, to nationalism, and to capitalism. I find myself returning to those examples again and again. Allan's book also takes place during World War I, and through his research, we both became interested in the political climate of that era.
The powers that be in Canada like to wave the flag around the Battle of Vimy Ridge, another bloodbath of unimaginable proportions that they claim forged Canadian national identity. It's useful to remember that - even then - not everyone played along.
(Thank you again, Howard Zinn.)
5.11.2010
pots and kettles to spare: china tells off u.s. on human rights
When I wrote about my personal boycott of the Beijing Olympics because of China's hideous human rights abuses, several readers (at Common Dreams, not on wmtc) said some version of "But the U.S. does it, too!"
To which I can only say, "And...?" The undeniable existence of the US's many human rights abuses does not negate any other country's own long list. And vice-versa.
With that in mind, I read with interest China's 11th annual report on the US's human rights record.
Here are some excerpts from Human Rights Record of the United States in 2009, from the government of China. I included only a few examples under each category, but there are many more, all sourced and cited.
+ + + +
I. On Life, Property and Personal Security
Widespread violent crimes in the United States posed threats to the lives, properties and personal security of its people.
In 2008, U.S. residents experienced 4.9 million violent crimes, 16.3 million property crimes and 137,000 personal thefts, and the violent crime rate was 19.3 victimizations per 1,000 persons aged 12 or over, according to a report published by the U.S. Department of Justice in September 2009 (Criminal Victimization 2008, U.S. Department of Justice, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov). . . .
The United States ranks first in the world in terms of the number of privately-owned guns. According to the data from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), American gun owners, out of 309 million in total population, have more than 250 million guns, while a substantial proportion of U.S. gun owners had more than one weapon. Americans usually buy 7 billion rounds of ammunition a year, but in 2008 the figure jumped to about 9 billion. . . . In the United States, about 30,000 people die from gun-related incidents each year (The China Press, April 6, 2009).
Campuses became an area worst hit by violent crimes as shootings spread there and kept escalating. The U.S. Heritage Foundation reported that 11.3 percent of high school students in Washington D.C. reported being "threatened or injured" with a weapon while on school property during the 2007-2008 school year. . . .
II. On Civil and Political Rights
In the United States, civil and political rights of citizens are severely restricted and violated by the government.
The country's police frequently impose violence on the people. . . . According to the Amnesty International, in the first ten months of 2009, police officers in the U.S. killed 45 people due to unrestrained use of Taser guns. The youngest of the victims was only 15. From 2001 to October, 2009, 389 people died of Taser guns used by police officers (http://theduckshoot.com).
Abuse of power is common among U.S. law enforcers. . . . In major U.S. cities, police stop, question and frisk more than a million people each year - a sharply higher number than just a few years ago (http://huffingtonpost.com, October 8, 2009).
Prisons in the United State are packed with inmates. According to a report released by the U.S. Justice Department on Dec. 8, 2009, more than 7.3 million people were under the authority of the U.S. corrections system at the end of 2008. . . . The basic rights of prisoners in the United States are not well-protected. Raping cases of inmates by prison staff members are widely reported. . . . The New York Times reported on June 24, 2009 that according to a federal survey of more than 63,000 federal and state inmates, 4.5 percent reported being sexually abused at least once during the previous 12 months. It was estimated that there were at least 60,000 rapes of prisoners across the United States during the same period (The New York Times, June 24, 2009).
Chaotic management of prisons in the United State also led to wide spread of diseases among the inmates. According to a report from the U.S. Justice Department, a total of 20,231 male inmates and 1,913 female inmates had been confirmed as HIV carriers in the U.S. federal and state prisons at yearend 2008. . . . A report by the Human Rights Watch released in March 2009 said although the New York State prison registered the highest number of prisoners living with HIV in the country, it did not provide the inmates with adequate access to treatment, and even locked the inmates up separately, refusing to provide them with treatment of any kind. (www.hrw.org, March 24, 2009).
While advocating "freedom of speech," "freedom of the press" and "Internet freedom," the U.S. government unscrupulously monitors and restricts the citizens' rights to freedom when it comes to its own interests and needs.
The U.S. citizens' freedom to access and distribute information is under strict supervision. According to media reports, the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) started installing specialized eavesdropping equipment around the country to wiretap calls, faxes, and emails and collect domestic communications as early as 2001. The wiretapping programs was originally targeted at Arab-Americans, but soon grew to include other Americans. The NSA installed over 25 eavesdropping facilities in San Jose, San Diego, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Chicago among other cities. The NSA also announced recently it was building a huge one million square feet data warehouse at a cost of 1.5 billion U.S. dollars at Camp Williams in Utah, as well as another massive data warehouse in San Antonio, as part of the NSA's new Cyber Command responsibilities. . . .
After the September 11 attack, the U.S. government, in the name of anti-terrorism, authorized its intelligence authorities to hack into its citizens' mail communications, and to monitor and erase any information that might threaten the U.S. national interests on the Internet through technical means. The country's Patriot Act allowed law enforcement agencies to search telephone, email communications, medical, financial and other records, and broadened the discretion of law enforcement and immigration authorities in detaining and deporting foreign persons suspected of terrorism-related acts. The Act expanded the definition of terrorism, thus enlarging the number of activities to which law enforcement powers could be applied. On July 9, 2008, the U.S. Senate passed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Amendments Act of 2008, granting legal immunity to telecommunication companies that take part in wiretapping programs and authorizing the government to wiretap international communications between the United States and people overseas for anti-terrorism purposes without court approval (The New York Times, July 10, 2008).
Statistic showed that from 2002 to 2006, the FBI collected thousands of phones records of U.S. citizens through mails, notes and phone calls. In September 2009, the country set up an Internet security supervision body, further worrying U.S. citizens that the U.S. government might use Internet security as an excuse to monitor and interfere with personal systems. A U.S. government official told the New York Times in an interview in April 2009 that NSA had intercepted private email messages and phone calls of Americans in recent months on a scale that went beyond the broad legal limits established by U.S. Congress the year before. . . .
The so-called "freedom of the press" of the United States was in fact completely subordinate to its national interests, and was manipulated by the U.S. government. According to media reports, the U.S. government and the Pentagon had recruited a number of former military officers to become TV and radio news commentators to give "positive comments" and analysis as "military experts" for the U.S. war in Iraq and Afghanistan, in order to guide public opinions, glorify the wars, and gain public support of its anti-terrorism ideology (The New York Times, April 20, 2009). . . .
III. On Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Poverty, unemployment and the homeless are serious problems in the United States, where workers' economic, social and cultural rights cannot be guaranteed.
Unemployment rate in the U.S. in 2009 was the highest in 26 years. The number of bankrupt businesses and individuals kept rising due to the financial crisis. . . . In September, about 1.6 million young workers, or 25 percent of the total, were jobless, the highest since 1948 when records were kept (The Washington Post, September 7, 2009). In the week ending on March 7, 2009, the continuing jobless claims in the U.S. were 5.47 million, higher than the previous week's 5.29 million (http://247wallst.com, March 19, 2009). . . .
The population in poverty was the largest in 11 years. . . . From August 2008 to August 2009, more than 90,000 poor households in California suffered power and gas cuts. A 93-year-old man was frozen to death at his home (http://www.msnbc.msn.com). Poverty led to a sharp rise in the number of suicides in the United States. It is reported that there are roughly 32,000 suicides in the U.S. every year, nearly double the cases of murder, which numbered 18,000 (http://www.time.com). The Los Angeles County coroner's office said the poor economy was taking a toll even on the dead as more bodies in the county went unclaimed by families who could not afford funeral expenses. A total of 712 bodies in Los Angeles County were cremated with taxpayers' money in 2008, an increase of 36 percent over the previous year (The Los Angeles Times, July 21, 2009).
The population in hunger was the highest in 14 years. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported on Nov. 16, 2009, that 49.1 million Americans living in 17 million households, or 14.6 percent of all American families, lacked consistent access to adequate food in 2008, up 31 percent from the 13 million households, or 11.1 percent of all American families, that lacked stable and adequate supply of food in 2007, which was the highest since the government began tracking "food insecurity" in 1995 (The New York Times, November 17, 2009; 14.6% of Americans Could Not Afford Enough Food in 2008, http://business.theatlantic.com). The number of people who lacked "food security," rose from 4.7 million in 2007 to 6.7 million in 2008 (http://www.livescience.com, November 26, 2009). About 15 percent of families were still working for adequate food and clothing (The Associated Press, November 27, 2009). Statistics showed 36.5 million Americans, or about one eighth of the U.S. total population, took part in the food stamp program in August 2009, up 7.1 million from that of 2008. However, only two thirds of those eligible for food stamps actually received them (http://www.associatedcontent.com).
The number of homeless has been on the rise. Statistics show that by September 2008, an upward of 1.6 million homeless people in the U.S. had been receiving shelter, and the number of those in families rose from 473,000 in 2007 to 517,000 in 2008 (USA Today, July 9, 2009). . . .
IV. On Racial Discrimination
Racial discrimination is still a chronic problem of the United States.
. . . The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that while African-Americans make up 12 percent of the US population, they represent nearly half of new HIV infections and AIDS deaths every year (The Wall Street Journal, April 8, 2009; revised statistics released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
. . . . Racial discrimination in law enforcement and judicial system is very distinct. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, by the end of 2008, 3,161 men and 149 women per 100,000 persons in the U.S. black population were under imprisonment (www.ojp.usdoj.gov). The number of life imprisonment without parole given to African-American young people was ten times of that given to white young people in 25 states. The figure in California was 18 times. In major U.S. cities, there are more than one million people who were stopped and questioned by police in streets, nearly 90 percent of them were minority males. Among those questioned, 50 percent were African-Americans and 30 percent were Hispanics. . . . .
Since the Sept. 11 event, discrimination against Muslims is increasing. Nearly 58 percent of Americans think Muslims are subject to "a lot" of discrimination, according to two combined surveys released by the Pew Research Center. About 73 percent of young people aged 18 to 29 are more likely to say Muslims are the most discriminated against (http://www.washingtontimes.com, September 10, 2009). . . .
V. On the Rights of Women and Children
The living conditions of women and children in the United States are deteriorating and their rights are not properly guaranteed.
Women do not enjoy equal social and political status as men. Women account for 51 percent of the U.S. population, but only 92 women, or 17 percent of the seats, serve in the current 111th U.S. Congress. Seventeen women serve in the Senate and 75 women serve in the House (Members of the 111th United States Congress, http://en.wikipedia.org). A study shows minorities and women are unlikely to hold top positions at big U.S. charities and nonprofits. The study reveals that women make up 18.8 percent of nonprofit CEOs compared to just 3 percent at Fortune 500 companies. Among the 400 biggest charities in the U.S., no cultural organization, hospital, public affairs group, Jewish federation or other religious organization is headed by a woman (The Washington Times, September 20, 2009).
Women have difficulties in finding a job and suffer from low income and poor financial situations. . . .
Women are frequent victims of violence and sexual assault. It is reported that the United States has the highest rape rate among countries which report such statistics. It is 13 times higher than that of England and 20 times higher than that of Japan (Occurrence of rape, http://www.sa.rochester.edu). . . According to a report released by the Pentagon, more than 2,900 sexual assaults in the military were reported in 2008, up nearly 9 percent from the year before. And of those, only 292 cases resulted in a military trial. The report said the actual numbers of such cases could be five to ten times of the reported figure (The evening news of the Columbia Broadcasting System, March 17, 2009). Reuters reported that based on in-depth interviews on 40 servicewomen, 10 said they had been raped, five said they were sexually assaulted including attempted rape, and 13 reported sexual harassment (Reuters, April 16, 2009).
American children suffer from hunger and cold. A report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed that 16.7 million children, or one fourth of the U.S. total, had not enough food in 2008 (The Washington Post, USA Today, November 17, 2009). The food relief institution Feeding America said in a report that more than 3.5 million children under the age of five face hunger or malnutrition. . . . In 2008, nearly one tenth of the children in the United States were not covered by health insurance. It was reported that about 7.3 million children, or 9.9 percent of the American total, were without health insurance in 2008. In Nevada, 20.2 percent of the children were uncovered by insurance (http://www.census.gov, the Washington Post, September 21). . . .
Children are exposed to violence and living in fear. It is reported that 1,494 children younger than 18 nationwide were murdered in 2008 (USA Today, October 8, 2009). . . .A survey conducted by the U.S. Justice Department on 4,549 kids and adolescents aged 17 and younger between January and May of 2008 showed, more than 60 percent of children surveyed were exposed to violence within the past year, either directly or indirectly. Nearly half of all children surveyed were assaulted at least once in the past year, about 6 percent were victimized sexually, and 13 percent reported having been physically bullied in the past year (The Associated Press, October 7, 2009). . . . According to research of U.S.-based institution and public health media reports, in the U.S., one third of children who run away or were expelled from home performed sexual acts in exchange for food, drugs and a place to stay every year. The justice system no longer considers them as young victims, but as juvenile offenders (The China Press, October 28, 2009).
Child farmworkers are prevalent. An organization devoted to protecting children's rights disclosed that as many as 400,000 children are estimated to work on U.S. farms. Davis Strauss, executive director of the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs, noted that for decades, children, some as young as eight years old, have labored in the fields using sharp tools and toiling amongst dangerous pesticides. . . .
The U.S. is the only country in the world that does not apply parole system to minors. Detentions of juveniles have increased 44 percent from 1985 to 2002. Many children only committed only minor crimes but could not get assistance from lawyers. Many procurators and judges turned a blind eye on abuse in juvenile prisons.
VI. On U.S. Violations of Human Rights against Other Nations
The United States with its strong military power has pursued hegemony in the world, trampling upon the sovereignty of other countries and trespassing their human rights.
As the world's biggest arms seller, its deals have greatly fueled instability across the world. The United States also expanded its military spending, already the largest in the world, by 10 percent in 2008 to 607 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 42 percent of the world total (The AP, June 9, 2009). . . .
The wars of Iraq and Afghanistan have placed heavy burden on American people and brought tremendous casualties and property losses to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. The war in Iraq has led to the death of more than 1million Iraqi civilians, rendered an equal number of people homeless and incurred huge economic losses. In Afghanistan, incidents of the U.S. army killing innocent people still keep occurring. Five Afghan farmers were killed in a U.S. air strike when they were loading cucumbers into a van on August 5, 2009 (http://www.rawa.org). On June 8, the U.S. Department of Defense admitted that the U.S. raid on Taliban on May 5 caused death of Afghan civilians as the military failed to abide by due procedures. The Afghan authorities have identified 147 civilian victims, including women and children, while a U.S. officer put the death toll under 30 (The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 9, 2009).
Prisoner abuse is one of the biggest human rights scandals of the United States. A report presented to the 10th meeting of Human Rights Council of the United Nations in 2009 by its Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism showed that the United States has pursued a comprehensive set of practices including special deportation, long-term and secret detentions and acts violating the United Nations Convention against Torture. . . . In June 2006, three Guantanamo Bay inmates could have been suffocated to death during interrogation on the same evening and their deaths passed off as suicides by hanging, revealed by a six-month joint investigation for Harpers Magazine and NBC News in 2009 (www.guardian.co.uk, January 18, 2010). A Somali named Mohamed Saleban Bare, jailed at Guantanamo Bay for eight years, told AFP the prison was "hell on earth" and some of his colleagues lost sight and limbs and others ended up mentally disturbed (AFP, Hargisa, Somali, December 21, 2009). . . .
The U.S. government held more than 600 prisoners at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. A United Nations report singled out the Bagram detention facility for criticism, saying some ex-detainees allege being subjected to severe torture, even sexual abuse, and some prisoners put under detention for as long as five years. It also reported that some were held in cages containing 15 to 20 men and that two detainees died in questionable circumstances while in custody (IPS, New York, February 25, 2009). An investigation by U.S. Justice Department showed 2,000 Taliban surrendered combatants were suffocated to death by the U.S. army-controlled Afghan armed forces (http://www.yourpolicicsusa.com, July 16, 2009). . . .
The United States has been building its military bases around the world, and cases of violation of local people's human rights are often seen. The United States is now maintaining 900 bases worldwide, with more than 190,000 military personnel and 115,000 relevant staff stationed. These bases are bringing serious damage and environmental contamination to the localities. Toxic substances caused by bomb explosions are taking their tolls on the local children. It has been reported that toward the end of the U.S. military bases' presence in Subic and Clark, as many as 3,000 cases of raping the local women had been filed against the U.S. servicemen, but all were dismissed (http://www.lexisnexis.com, May 17, 2009). . . .
The United States is using a global interception system named "ECHELON" to eavesdrop on communications worldwide. A report of the European Parliament pointed out that the "ECHELON" system is a network controlled by the United States for intelligence gathering and analyzing. The system is able to intercept and monitor the content of telephone calls, fax, e-mail and other digital information transmitted via public telephone networks, satellites and microwave links. . . . .
Conclusion
The above-mentioned facts show that the United States not only has a bad domestic human rights record, but also is a major source of many human rights disasters around the world. For a long time, it has placed itself above other countries, considered itself "world human rights police" and ignored its own serious human rights problems. It releases Country Reports on Human Rights Practices year after year to accuse other countries and takes human rights as a political instrument to interfere in other countries' internal affairs, defame other nations' image and seek its own strategic interests. This fully exposes its double standards on the human rights issue, and has inevitably drawn resolute opposition and strong denouncement from world people. At a time when the world is suffering a serious human rights disaster caused by the U.S. subprime crisis-induced global financial crisis, the U.S. government still ignores its own serious human rights problems but revels in accusing other countries. It is really a pity.
We hereby advise the U.S. government to draw lessons from the history, put itself in a correct position, strive to improve its own human rights conditions and rectify its acts in the human rights field.
+ + + +
Full text here.
To which I can only say, "And...?" The undeniable existence of the US's many human rights abuses does not negate any other country's own long list. And vice-versa.
With that in mind, I read with interest China's 11th annual report on the US's human rights record.
"As in previous years, the (U.S.) reports are full of accusations of the human rights situation in more than 190 countries and regions including China, but turn a blind eye to, or dodge and even cover up rampant human rights abuses on its own territory," said the Information Office of the State Council in its report on the U.S. human rights record.
The Human Rights Record of the United States in 2009 was in retaliation to the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2009 issued by the U.S. Department of State on March 11.
The report is "prepared to help people around the world understand the real situation of human rights in the United States," said the report.
The report reviewed the human rights record of the United States in 2009 from six perspectives: life, property and personal security; civil and political rights; economic, social and cultural rights; racial discrimination; rights of women and children; and the U.S.' violation of human rights against other countries.
It criticized the United States for taking human rights as "a political instrument to interfere in other countries' internal affairs, defame other nations' image and seek its own strategic interests." . . .
"At a time when the world is suffering a serious human rights disaster caused by the U.S. subprime crisis-induced global financial crisis, the U.S. government still ignores its own serious human rights problems but revels in accusing other countries. It is really a pity," the report said.
Here are some excerpts from Human Rights Record of the United States in 2009, from the government of China. I included only a few examples under each category, but there are many more, all sourced and cited.
+ + + +
I. On Life, Property and Personal Security
Widespread violent crimes in the United States posed threats to the lives, properties and personal security of its people.
In 2008, U.S. residents experienced 4.9 million violent crimes, 16.3 million property crimes and 137,000 personal thefts, and the violent crime rate was 19.3 victimizations per 1,000 persons aged 12 or over, according to a report published by the U.S. Department of Justice in September 2009 (Criminal Victimization 2008, U.S. Department of Justice, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov). . . .
The United States ranks first in the world in terms of the number of privately-owned guns. According to the data from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), American gun owners, out of 309 million in total population, have more than 250 million guns, while a substantial proportion of U.S. gun owners had more than one weapon. Americans usually buy 7 billion rounds of ammunition a year, but in 2008 the figure jumped to about 9 billion. . . . In the United States, about 30,000 people die from gun-related incidents each year (The China Press, April 6, 2009).
Campuses became an area worst hit by violent crimes as shootings spread there and kept escalating. The U.S. Heritage Foundation reported that 11.3 percent of high school students in Washington D.C. reported being "threatened or injured" with a weapon while on school property during the 2007-2008 school year. . . .
II. On Civil and Political Rights
In the United States, civil and political rights of citizens are severely restricted and violated by the government.
The country's police frequently impose violence on the people. . . . According to the Amnesty International, in the first ten months of 2009, police officers in the U.S. killed 45 people due to unrestrained use of Taser guns. The youngest of the victims was only 15. From 2001 to October, 2009, 389 people died of Taser guns used by police officers (http://theduckshoot.com).
Abuse of power is common among U.S. law enforcers. . . . In major U.S. cities, police stop, question and frisk more than a million people each year - a sharply higher number than just a few years ago (http://huffingtonpost.com, October 8, 2009).
Prisons in the United State are packed with inmates. According to a report released by the U.S. Justice Department on Dec. 8, 2009, more than 7.3 million people were under the authority of the U.S. corrections system at the end of 2008. . . . The basic rights of prisoners in the United States are not well-protected. Raping cases of inmates by prison staff members are widely reported. . . . The New York Times reported on June 24, 2009 that according to a federal survey of more than 63,000 federal and state inmates, 4.5 percent reported being sexually abused at least once during the previous 12 months. It was estimated that there were at least 60,000 rapes of prisoners across the United States during the same period (The New York Times, June 24, 2009).
Chaotic management of prisons in the United State also led to wide spread of diseases among the inmates. According to a report from the U.S. Justice Department, a total of 20,231 male inmates and 1,913 female inmates had been confirmed as HIV carriers in the U.S. federal and state prisons at yearend 2008. . . . A report by the Human Rights Watch released in March 2009 said although the New York State prison registered the highest number of prisoners living with HIV in the country, it did not provide the inmates with adequate access to treatment, and even locked the inmates up separately, refusing to provide them with treatment of any kind. (www.hrw.org, March 24, 2009).
While advocating "freedom of speech," "freedom of the press" and "Internet freedom," the U.S. government unscrupulously monitors and restricts the citizens' rights to freedom when it comes to its own interests and needs.
The U.S. citizens' freedom to access and distribute information is under strict supervision. According to media reports, the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) started installing specialized eavesdropping equipment around the country to wiretap calls, faxes, and emails and collect domestic communications as early as 2001. The wiretapping programs was originally targeted at Arab-Americans, but soon grew to include other Americans. The NSA installed over 25 eavesdropping facilities in San Jose, San Diego, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Chicago among other cities. The NSA also announced recently it was building a huge one million square feet data warehouse at a cost of 1.5 billion U.S. dollars at Camp Williams in Utah, as well as another massive data warehouse in San Antonio, as part of the NSA's new Cyber Command responsibilities. . . .
After the September 11 attack, the U.S. government, in the name of anti-terrorism, authorized its intelligence authorities to hack into its citizens' mail communications, and to monitor and erase any information that might threaten the U.S. national interests on the Internet through technical means. The country's Patriot Act allowed law enforcement agencies to search telephone, email communications, medical, financial and other records, and broadened the discretion of law enforcement and immigration authorities in detaining and deporting foreign persons suspected of terrorism-related acts. The Act expanded the definition of terrorism, thus enlarging the number of activities to which law enforcement powers could be applied. On July 9, 2008, the U.S. Senate passed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Amendments Act of 2008, granting legal immunity to telecommunication companies that take part in wiretapping programs and authorizing the government to wiretap international communications between the United States and people overseas for anti-terrorism purposes without court approval (The New York Times, July 10, 2008).
Statistic showed that from 2002 to 2006, the FBI collected thousands of phones records of U.S. citizens through mails, notes and phone calls. In September 2009, the country set up an Internet security supervision body, further worrying U.S. citizens that the U.S. government might use Internet security as an excuse to monitor and interfere with personal systems. A U.S. government official told the New York Times in an interview in April 2009 that NSA had intercepted private email messages and phone calls of Americans in recent months on a scale that went beyond the broad legal limits established by U.S. Congress the year before. . . .
The so-called "freedom of the press" of the United States was in fact completely subordinate to its national interests, and was manipulated by the U.S. government. According to media reports, the U.S. government and the Pentagon had recruited a number of former military officers to become TV and radio news commentators to give "positive comments" and analysis as "military experts" for the U.S. war in Iraq and Afghanistan, in order to guide public opinions, glorify the wars, and gain public support of its anti-terrorism ideology (The New York Times, April 20, 2009). . . .
III. On Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Poverty, unemployment and the homeless are serious problems in the United States, where workers' economic, social and cultural rights cannot be guaranteed.
Unemployment rate in the U.S. in 2009 was the highest in 26 years. The number of bankrupt businesses and individuals kept rising due to the financial crisis. . . . In September, about 1.6 million young workers, or 25 percent of the total, were jobless, the highest since 1948 when records were kept (The Washington Post, September 7, 2009). In the week ending on March 7, 2009, the continuing jobless claims in the U.S. were 5.47 million, higher than the previous week's 5.29 million (http://247wallst.com, March 19, 2009). . . .
The population in poverty was the largest in 11 years. . . . From August 2008 to August 2009, more than 90,000 poor households in California suffered power and gas cuts. A 93-year-old man was frozen to death at his home (http://www.msnbc.msn.com). Poverty led to a sharp rise in the number of suicides in the United States. It is reported that there are roughly 32,000 suicides in the U.S. every year, nearly double the cases of murder, which numbered 18,000 (http://www.time.com). The Los Angeles County coroner's office said the poor economy was taking a toll even on the dead as more bodies in the county went unclaimed by families who could not afford funeral expenses. A total of 712 bodies in Los Angeles County were cremated with taxpayers' money in 2008, an increase of 36 percent over the previous year (The Los Angeles Times, July 21, 2009).
The population in hunger was the highest in 14 years. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported on Nov. 16, 2009, that 49.1 million Americans living in 17 million households, or 14.6 percent of all American families, lacked consistent access to adequate food in 2008, up 31 percent from the 13 million households, or 11.1 percent of all American families, that lacked stable and adequate supply of food in 2007, which was the highest since the government began tracking "food insecurity" in 1995 (The New York Times, November 17, 2009; 14.6% of Americans Could Not Afford Enough Food in 2008, http://business.theatlantic.com). The number of people who lacked "food security," rose from 4.7 million in 2007 to 6.7 million in 2008 (http://www.livescience.com, November 26, 2009). About 15 percent of families were still working for adequate food and clothing (The Associated Press, November 27, 2009). Statistics showed 36.5 million Americans, or about one eighth of the U.S. total population, took part in the food stamp program in August 2009, up 7.1 million from that of 2008. However, only two thirds of those eligible for food stamps actually received them (http://www.associatedcontent.com).
The number of homeless has been on the rise. Statistics show that by September 2008, an upward of 1.6 million homeless people in the U.S. had been receiving shelter, and the number of those in families rose from 473,000 in 2007 to 517,000 in 2008 (USA Today, July 9, 2009). . . .
IV. On Racial Discrimination
Racial discrimination is still a chronic problem of the United States.
. . . The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that while African-Americans make up 12 percent of the US population, they represent nearly half of new HIV infections and AIDS deaths every year (The Wall Street Journal, April 8, 2009; revised statistics released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
. . . . Racial discrimination in law enforcement and judicial system is very distinct. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, by the end of 2008, 3,161 men and 149 women per 100,000 persons in the U.S. black population were under imprisonment (www.ojp.usdoj.gov). The number of life imprisonment without parole given to African-American young people was ten times of that given to white young people in 25 states. The figure in California was 18 times. In major U.S. cities, there are more than one million people who were stopped and questioned by police in streets, nearly 90 percent of them were minority males. Among those questioned, 50 percent were African-Americans and 30 percent were Hispanics. . . . .
Since the Sept. 11 event, discrimination against Muslims is increasing. Nearly 58 percent of Americans think Muslims are subject to "a lot" of discrimination, according to two combined surveys released by the Pew Research Center. About 73 percent of young people aged 18 to 29 are more likely to say Muslims are the most discriminated against (http://www.washingtontimes.com, September 10, 2009). . . .
V. On the Rights of Women and Children
The living conditions of women and children in the United States are deteriorating and their rights are not properly guaranteed.
Women do not enjoy equal social and political status as men. Women account for 51 percent of the U.S. population, but only 92 women, or 17 percent of the seats, serve in the current 111th U.S. Congress. Seventeen women serve in the Senate and 75 women serve in the House (Members of the 111th United States Congress, http://en.wikipedia.org). A study shows minorities and women are unlikely to hold top positions at big U.S. charities and nonprofits. The study reveals that women make up 18.8 percent of nonprofit CEOs compared to just 3 percent at Fortune 500 companies. Among the 400 biggest charities in the U.S., no cultural organization, hospital, public affairs group, Jewish federation or other religious organization is headed by a woman (The Washington Times, September 20, 2009).
Women have difficulties in finding a job and suffer from low income and poor financial situations. . . .
Women are frequent victims of violence and sexual assault. It is reported that the United States has the highest rape rate among countries which report such statistics. It is 13 times higher than that of England and 20 times higher than that of Japan (Occurrence of rape, http://www.sa.rochester.edu). . . According to a report released by the Pentagon, more than 2,900 sexual assaults in the military were reported in 2008, up nearly 9 percent from the year before. And of those, only 292 cases resulted in a military trial. The report said the actual numbers of such cases could be five to ten times of the reported figure (The evening news of the Columbia Broadcasting System, March 17, 2009). Reuters reported that based on in-depth interviews on 40 servicewomen, 10 said they had been raped, five said they were sexually assaulted including attempted rape, and 13 reported sexual harassment (Reuters, April 16, 2009).
American children suffer from hunger and cold. A report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed that 16.7 million children, or one fourth of the U.S. total, had not enough food in 2008 (The Washington Post, USA Today, November 17, 2009). The food relief institution Feeding America said in a report that more than 3.5 million children under the age of five face hunger or malnutrition. . . . In 2008, nearly one tenth of the children in the United States were not covered by health insurance. It was reported that about 7.3 million children, or 9.9 percent of the American total, were without health insurance in 2008. In Nevada, 20.2 percent of the children were uncovered by insurance (http://www.census.gov, the Washington Post, September 21). . . .
Children are exposed to violence and living in fear. It is reported that 1,494 children younger than 18 nationwide were murdered in 2008 (USA Today, October 8, 2009). . . .A survey conducted by the U.S. Justice Department on 4,549 kids and adolescents aged 17 and younger between January and May of 2008 showed, more than 60 percent of children surveyed were exposed to violence within the past year, either directly or indirectly. Nearly half of all children surveyed were assaulted at least once in the past year, about 6 percent were victimized sexually, and 13 percent reported having been physically bullied in the past year (The Associated Press, October 7, 2009). . . . According to research of U.S.-based institution and public health media reports, in the U.S., one third of children who run away or were expelled from home performed sexual acts in exchange for food, drugs and a place to stay every year. The justice system no longer considers them as young victims, but as juvenile offenders (The China Press, October 28, 2009).
Child farmworkers are prevalent. An organization devoted to protecting children's rights disclosed that as many as 400,000 children are estimated to work on U.S. farms. Davis Strauss, executive director of the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs, noted that for decades, children, some as young as eight years old, have labored in the fields using sharp tools and toiling amongst dangerous pesticides. . . .
The U.S. is the only country in the world that does not apply parole system to minors. Detentions of juveniles have increased 44 percent from 1985 to 2002. Many children only committed only minor crimes but could not get assistance from lawyers. Many procurators and judges turned a blind eye on abuse in juvenile prisons.
VI. On U.S. Violations of Human Rights against Other Nations
The United States with its strong military power has pursued hegemony in the world, trampling upon the sovereignty of other countries and trespassing their human rights.
As the world's biggest arms seller, its deals have greatly fueled instability across the world. The United States also expanded its military spending, already the largest in the world, by 10 percent in 2008 to 607 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 42 percent of the world total (The AP, June 9, 2009). . . .
The wars of Iraq and Afghanistan have placed heavy burden on American people and brought tremendous casualties and property losses to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. The war in Iraq has led to the death of more than 1million Iraqi civilians, rendered an equal number of people homeless and incurred huge economic losses. In Afghanistan, incidents of the U.S. army killing innocent people still keep occurring. Five Afghan farmers were killed in a U.S. air strike when they were loading cucumbers into a van on August 5, 2009 (http://www.rawa.org). On June 8, the U.S. Department of Defense admitted that the U.S. raid on Taliban on May 5 caused death of Afghan civilians as the military failed to abide by due procedures. The Afghan authorities have identified 147 civilian victims, including women and children, while a U.S. officer put the death toll under 30 (The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 9, 2009).
Prisoner abuse is one of the biggest human rights scandals of the United States. A report presented to the 10th meeting of Human Rights Council of the United Nations in 2009 by its Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism showed that the United States has pursued a comprehensive set of practices including special deportation, long-term and secret detentions and acts violating the United Nations Convention against Torture. . . . In June 2006, three Guantanamo Bay inmates could have been suffocated to death during interrogation on the same evening and their deaths passed off as suicides by hanging, revealed by a six-month joint investigation for Harpers Magazine and NBC News in 2009 (www.guardian.co.uk, January 18, 2010). A Somali named Mohamed Saleban Bare, jailed at Guantanamo Bay for eight years, told AFP the prison was "hell on earth" and some of his colleagues lost sight and limbs and others ended up mentally disturbed (AFP, Hargisa, Somali, December 21, 2009). . . .
The U.S. government held more than 600 prisoners at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. A United Nations report singled out the Bagram detention facility for criticism, saying some ex-detainees allege being subjected to severe torture, even sexual abuse, and some prisoners put under detention for as long as five years. It also reported that some were held in cages containing 15 to 20 men and that two detainees died in questionable circumstances while in custody (IPS, New York, February 25, 2009). An investigation by U.S. Justice Department showed 2,000 Taliban surrendered combatants were suffocated to death by the U.S. army-controlled Afghan armed forces (http://www.yourpolicicsusa.com, July 16, 2009). . . .
The United States has been building its military bases around the world, and cases of violation of local people's human rights are often seen. The United States is now maintaining 900 bases worldwide, with more than 190,000 military personnel and 115,000 relevant staff stationed. These bases are bringing serious damage and environmental contamination to the localities. Toxic substances caused by bomb explosions are taking their tolls on the local children. It has been reported that toward the end of the U.S. military bases' presence in Subic and Clark, as many as 3,000 cases of raping the local women had been filed against the U.S. servicemen, but all were dismissed (http://www.lexisnexis.com, May 17, 2009). . . .
The United States is using a global interception system named "ECHELON" to eavesdrop on communications worldwide. A report of the European Parliament pointed out that the "ECHELON" system is a network controlled by the United States for intelligence gathering and analyzing. The system is able to intercept and monitor the content of telephone calls, fax, e-mail and other digital information transmitted via public telephone networks, satellites and microwave links. . . . .
Conclusion
The above-mentioned facts show that the United States not only has a bad domestic human rights record, but also is a major source of many human rights disasters around the world. For a long time, it has placed itself above other countries, considered itself "world human rights police" and ignored its own serious human rights problems. It releases Country Reports on Human Rights Practices year after year to accuse other countries and takes human rights as a political instrument to interfere in other countries' internal affairs, defame other nations' image and seek its own strategic interests. This fully exposes its double standards on the human rights issue, and has inevitably drawn resolute opposition and strong denouncement from world people. At a time when the world is suffering a serious human rights disaster caused by the U.S. subprime crisis-induced global financial crisis, the U.S. government still ignores its own serious human rights problems but revels in accusing other countries. It is really a pity.
We hereby advise the U.S. government to draw lessons from the history, put itself in a correct position, strive to improve its own human rights conditions and rectify its acts in the human rights field.
+ + + +
Full text here.
5.10.2010
hello cic, nice to see you're still reading wmtc
Well, this is interesting. I've just received proof that someone at the CIC is still reading this blog.
As you may recall, last summer a member of the War Resisters Support Campaign filed an Access to Information request, seeking to learn why a page about Canada welcoming Vietnam-era war resisters was removed from the CIC website.
He had to jump through many hoops, but eventually he received thousands of pages, most of them heavily redacted, that showed us how closely the government watches our campaign. And among those pages were emails containing links to this blog! We could clearly see that some CIC staffer was receiving the wmtc feed and reporting on Campaign activities. Even if you remember this, you might want to go back and read that old post: "internal documents show harper govt obsessed with war resisters". After all, I am the "principle blogger" for the "war deserts".
That was last summer. Fast-forward to a very recent wmtc post, in which I announced that we received a date to write our citizenship exam. I said:
That post is dated April 26. On Friday, May 7, Allan had a voice mail waiting for him at work. It was the someone from the CIC, clarifying that we should study the new citizenship guide! What the...??
I assumed they first had tried to call us at home, but we've changed that phone number, and we must have listed Allan's work phone as the alternate contact. He's only there on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so we didn't get the message until Friday.
But how did they know I had a question? They could only have learned that here, on wmtc.
The caller left a number, and we spoke this morning. She acknowledged that the letter contains old, incorrect information, "because we haven't updated it in the computer yet". (So what are you waiting for?)
I asked her how she knew about my question, since I hadn't contacted the CIC. She said someone forwarded her an email that had been forwarded "about 10 times" through the Ministry until it found its way to her desk. That email contained a link to "someplace where you were asking people which book you should use, and various people had answered your question, people were talking back and forth".
I asked if she could forward that email to me, but she said she is not allowed.
Wow! Not only is someone at CIC still reading this blog - and not just the war resisters posts - but he or she is so involved that she's attempting to help me, while still remaining anonymous. In a way it shows how thorough she is, and in some sense, impartial. But from another angle, it is downright creepy!
As you may recall, last summer a member of the War Resisters Support Campaign filed an Access to Information request, seeking to learn why a page about Canada welcoming Vietnam-era war resisters was removed from the CIC website.
He had to jump through many hoops, but eventually he received thousands of pages, most of them heavily redacted, that showed us how closely the government watches our campaign. And among those pages were emails containing links to this blog! We could clearly see that some CIC staffer was receiving the wmtc feed and reporting on Campaign activities. Even if you remember this, you might want to go back and read that old post: "internal documents show harper govt obsessed with war resisters". After all, I am the "principle blogger" for the "war deserts".
That was last summer. Fast-forward to a very recent wmtc post, in which I announced that we received a date to write our citizenship exam. I said:
This says our test is based on the old citizenship guide, but they may be using a form letter that was never updated. An earlier letter I received said our test will be based on the new guide.
Hm, what to do... Study both? "Before I write the test, could you please tell me if the test is based on the neoconservative wishful-thinking version of Canada, or the progressive wishful-thinking version?"
That post is dated April 26. On Friday, May 7, Allan had a voice mail waiting for him at work. It was the someone from the CIC, clarifying that we should study the new citizenship guide! What the...??
I assumed they first had tried to call us at home, but we've changed that phone number, and we must have listed Allan's work phone as the alternate contact. He's only there on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so we didn't get the message until Friday.
But how did they know I had a question? They could only have learned that here, on wmtc.
The caller left a number, and we spoke this morning. She acknowledged that the letter contains old, incorrect information, "because we haven't updated it in the computer yet". (So what are you waiting for?)
I asked her how she knew about my question, since I hadn't contacted the CIC. She said someone forwarded her an email that had been forwarded "about 10 times" through the Ministry until it found its way to her desk. That email contained a link to "someplace where you were asking people which book you should use, and various people had answered your question, people were talking back and forth".
I asked if she could forward that email to me, but she said she is not allowed.
Wow! Not only is someone at CIC still reading this blog - and not just the war resisters posts - but he or she is so involved that she's attempting to help me, while still remaining anonymous. In a way it shows how thorough she is, and in some sense, impartial. But from another angle, it is downright creepy!
5.09.2010
kanellos the greek rebel dog
I hope you all know about Kanellos, the Greek Rebel Dog. He's smart, fearless and good-looking. What more can you ask for in a rebel? I just wanted to honour him and his human cohorts on wmtc.
If you haven't heard about Kanellos yet, Raw Story has it, with more pics.
needed: a fence to keep out inappropriate disclosures
Recently my neighbours' dog died. It wasn't actually their dog, it was their daughter's and son-in-law's dog, but Daughter often dropped off H-Dog at her parents' house for daycare. Mr Neighbour especially spent a lot of time with H. Poor H died suddenly, at the dog park. Making it worse for H's parents, their previous dog had also died young. When we lost a dog suddenly, only 8 months after another dog had died, our hearts were unspeakably broken. I can easily imagine how bad they must have felt.
I rarely see Ms Neighbour. I can count on one hand the number of conversations I've had with her, and none of them lasted more than five minutes. Allan sees her a bit more, because our homes share a front yard and they do the lawn mowing. I can't even call Ms Neighbour an acquaintance, because I don't know her name. (I once asked, but have forgotten.) We are friendly neighbours, nothing more.
The only reason I knew that H died was because Mr and Ms Neighbour came over with H's treats for our dogs. Allan went over to say thanks and got the story. So the next time I happened to be outside at the same time as Ms Neighbour, I spotted her through the cedars and said, "So sorry about H."
So Ms Neighbour told me the story of H's death, and how upset Daughter and Son-in-law are. In that context, she said, "The dog was so important to them, because they can't have children."
Clunk.
This was completely inappropriate, for so many reasons!
The pain of suddenly losing a beloved animal needs no further explanation. If the couple had children or not, I would expect the loss to be horrible.
And not having children requires no explanation! I don't have children. Does this woman assume I "couldn't"?
And this inappropriate disclosure isn't even her information to give. Why is she sharing this very personal information about her daughter, who I have never even met? Does she tell everyone her daughter and son-in-law can't have children?
My guess is Ms Neighbour is not comfortable with Daughter's childfree state. It probably requires explanation in her own mind. So she needs a little lag time between thought and speech!
I didn't say any of this, of course. I said something like, "We also don't have children, so I know how much her dogs mean to her." It was just the first thing I could think of. What I really wanted to say was, "Why the fuck are you telling me that? Does your daughter know you're such an idiot?"
I rarely see Ms Neighbour. I can count on one hand the number of conversations I've had with her, and none of them lasted more than five minutes. Allan sees her a bit more, because our homes share a front yard and they do the lawn mowing. I can't even call Ms Neighbour an acquaintance, because I don't know her name. (I once asked, but have forgotten.) We are friendly neighbours, nothing more.
The only reason I knew that H died was because Mr and Ms Neighbour came over with H's treats for our dogs. Allan went over to say thanks and got the story. So the next time I happened to be outside at the same time as Ms Neighbour, I spotted her through the cedars and said, "So sorry about H."
So Ms Neighbour told me the story of H's death, and how upset Daughter and Son-in-law are. In that context, she said, "The dog was so important to them, because they can't have children."
Clunk.
This was completely inappropriate, for so many reasons!
The pain of suddenly losing a beloved animal needs no further explanation. If the couple had children or not, I would expect the loss to be horrible.
And not having children requires no explanation! I don't have children. Does this woman assume I "couldn't"?
And this inappropriate disclosure isn't even her information to give. Why is she sharing this very personal information about her daughter, who I have never even met? Does she tell everyone her daughter and son-in-law can't have children?
My guess is Ms Neighbour is not comfortable with Daughter's childfree state. It probably requires explanation in her own mind. So she needs a little lag time between thought and speech!
I didn't say any of this, of course. I said something like, "We also don't have children, so I know how much her dogs mean to her." It was just the first thing I could think of. What I really wanted to say was, "Why the fuck are you telling me that? Does your daughter know you're such an idiot?"
what i'm watching: one week, my favourite movie of my 2009-10 season
In my annual movie ratings post, I wrote that my favourite movie of our last Movie Season was "One Week," a Canadian film written and directed by Michael McGowan.
The IMDB listing is here and you can watch the trailer here.
The plot is simple; I can relate it without spoilers. A young man, about to be married, learns that he has a very aggressive, usually fatal form of cancer. On a whim, he buys a vintage motorcycle and takes off from his home in Toronto, heading west through Canada.As he travels across Canada, you don't know if he will break off his engagement, or return to Toronto for treatment, or maybe drive west and never return.
"One Week" is about the ticking clock of our lives. The randomness of human connection. The existential sadness underlying a conscious life, in which death is always implicit.
Ben, played perfectly by Joshua Jackson, hears his own clock ticking louder than most of us usually do, so his conflicts are suddenly thrown into high relief. But Ben's conflict lurks in all of us, especially if we lucky enough to age. How can we do the things we want to do - how can we live the life we dream of - before our time runs out?
"One Week" is also about the lure of the road. The urge to take off, to run away, to escape, in conflict with the need for comfort, stability and domesticity. This really hit home. My wanderlust versus my life.
And "One Week" is also about the magnificent natural beauty, and quirky comedy, that is Canada. Canada is really the co-star of the movie. On a wisp of a budget, the cast and crew of set out by bus, in search of Canada. The characters Ben meets on his trip were cast along the way, so they were able to travel lighter and more flexibly. They found no shortage of beauty and wonder and amusement. The results are stunning.
Seeing this movie revived my desire to drive from Toronto to the west coast - the longer, all-Canadian route. We're talking about doing it when Tala is our only dog, so I'm in no rush. But I'm going to make it a priority.
I suspect that if you see "One Week" because of this post, you will say, "I liked it, but not as much as you." This movie spoke to me in a very special way.
The IMDB listing is here and you can watch the trailer here.
The plot is simple; I can relate it without spoilers. A young man, about to be married, learns that he has a very aggressive, usually fatal form of cancer. On a whim, he buys a vintage motorcycle and takes off from his home in Toronto, heading west through Canada.As he travels across Canada, you don't know if he will break off his engagement, or return to Toronto for treatment, or maybe drive west and never return.
"One Week" is about the ticking clock of our lives. The randomness of human connection. The existential sadness underlying a conscious life, in which death is always implicit.
Ben, played perfectly by Joshua Jackson, hears his own clock ticking louder than most of us usually do, so his conflicts are suddenly thrown into high relief. But Ben's conflict lurks in all of us, especially if we lucky enough to age. How can we do the things we want to do - how can we live the life we dream of - before our time runs out?
"One Week" is also about the lure of the road. The urge to take off, to run away, to escape, in conflict with the need for comfort, stability and domesticity. This really hit home. My wanderlust versus my life.
And "One Week" is also about the magnificent natural beauty, and quirky comedy, that is Canada. Canada is really the co-star of the movie. On a wisp of a budget, the cast and crew of set out by bus, in search of Canada. The characters Ben meets on his trip were cast along the way, so they were able to travel lighter and more flexibly. They found no shortage of beauty and wonder and amusement. The results are stunning.
Seeing this movie revived my desire to drive from Toronto to the west coast - the longer, all-Canadian route. We're talking about doing it when Tala is our only dog, so I'm in no rush. But I'm going to make it a priority.
I suspect that if you see "One Week" because of this post, you will say, "I liked it, but not as much as you." This movie spoke to me in a very special way.
talas on parade
When I posted this about Jungle Cat World, several people mentioned that our Tala --
-- bears a striking resemblance to an Arctic Wolf.
In fact, Allan and I have noticed that Tala bears a striking resemblance to a lot of dogs. White Shepherds are all over the internet, and we love to look at them. Tala is not really a white German Shepherd, she is a very beautiful and Shepherd-Husky mix, but we just love this look.
Is this Tala? Just look, don't listen!
Is this Tala singing?
Or spinning? We totally have to get her one of those pools.
Was this Tala at five weeks old?
At 11 weeks?
This nine-month-old looks exactly like the first picture we saw of Tala. (Yay, there's our girl!)
Two Talas
Four Talas
And finally, some seriously cute Tala puppies.
-- bears a striking resemblance to an Arctic Wolf.
In fact, Allan and I have noticed that Tala bears a striking resemblance to a lot of dogs. White Shepherds are all over the internet, and we love to look at them. Tala is not really a white German Shepherd, she is a very beautiful and Shepherd-Husky mix, but we just love this look.
Is this Tala? Just look, don't listen!
Is this Tala singing?
Or spinning? We totally have to get her one of those pools.
Was this Tala at five weeks old?
At 11 weeks?
This nine-month-old looks exactly like the first picture we saw of Tala. (Yay, there's our girl!)
Two Talas
Four Talas
And finally, some seriously cute Tala puppies.
current musical obsession
Also, Grooveshark is just what I've been looking for. I've tried some similar sites, but this is my favourite.
5.08.2010
thoughts on george rekers: rent-boys, homophobia and self-hatred
By now I'm sure you've all heard about the tribulations of George Rekers, a professional homophobe who has succeeded in outing himself. One always suspects that people who are so militantly anti-gay are themselves gay, but there is seldom evidence to prove it. Rekers was spotted traipsing through Miami International Airport with a young man, the two returning from a ten-day European holiday.
The younger man, dubbed "Lucien," is being described in most circles as a "rent boy," one who earns a living by selling his good looks and sexual services. The older man, Rekers, has made a career out of telling other people how to live, and attempting to make life miserable for gay people and modern women. With fellow homophobe James Dobson, Rekers is the co-founder of the ultra-right-wing, anti-gay, anti-feminist, anti-human Family Research Council.
When questioned about his relationship with "Lucien," Rekers said he needed the young man "to carry his luggage". So that's what we're calling it now?*
There can be no reasonable doubt that Rekers knew "Lucien"'s profession before he hired him. Miami New Times:
The whole episode might be hilarious if Rekers was just some guy who happened to be a homophobe. Homophobe guy "protests too much," we suspect he is deeply closeted, then we discover we are correct when guy embarrasses himself. End of story.
But Rekers is not just some guy. He is on the front lines of the war against equal rights for LGBT people. More than that, he is a five-star general in the army of bigots marching to deny LGBT people the right to exist.
The incident has made me think about what could go on in a man's psyche to cause him to live this way.
It's bad enough that anyone living in 21st Century North America or Europe should feel compelled to be closeted. We only get one life, and it's very short, and ridiculously fragile. To spend our time on this earth being anyone other than ourselves is just so sad. No excuses about family upbringing or small-town isolation. You can only play that tune for so long. Most of us have to break away from the expectations of our families. It's called growing up.
It is absolutely tragic that millions of people had to live in the closet through history, and that millions still do in many cultures today. But to live in a place and time when you can be yourself, yet not take advantage of that, and choose to remain so deeply in the closet, is, to me, intensely sad.
That's bad enough. But to be so deeply conflicted - to be filled with such profound and thorough self-hatred - that you make life miserable for the very people who could be your own community, if only you could release your essential nature - to expend so much time and effort opposing that which you are... That sentence trails off. It's so sad, it defies description.
But more than sad, it's enraging. You are riddled with issues? You have profound conflict over your own sexuality and identity? Get help.
Or don't. Live your whole life in the damn closet if you must. But stay the hell out of other people's lives!
-----
* H/t The Larry Sanders Show
The younger man, dubbed "Lucien," is being described in most circles as a "rent boy," one who earns a living by selling his good looks and sexual services. The older man, Rekers, has made a career out of telling other people how to live, and attempting to make life miserable for gay people and modern women. With fellow homophobe James Dobson, Rekers is the co-founder of the ultra-right-wing, anti-gay, anti-feminist, anti-human Family Research Council.
When questioned about his relationship with "Lucien," Rekers said he needed the young man "to carry his luggage". So that's what we're calling it now?*
There can be no reasonable doubt that Rekers knew "Lucien"'s profession before he hired him. Miami New Times:
In his interview with New Times, Lucien didn't want to impugn his client, but he made it clear they met through Rentboy.com, which is the only website on which he advertises his services. Neither Google nor any other search engine picks up individual Rentboy.com profiles, any more than they pick up individual profiles on eHarmony or Match.com. You cannot just happen upon one.
The whole episode might be hilarious if Rekers was just some guy who happened to be a homophobe. Homophobe guy "protests too much," we suspect he is deeply closeted, then we discover we are correct when guy embarrasses himself. End of story.
But Rekers is not just some guy. He is on the front lines of the war against equal rights for LGBT people. More than that, he is a five-star general in the army of bigots marching to deny LGBT people the right to exist.
For decades, George Alan Rekers has been a general in the culture wars, though his work has often been behind the scenes. In 1983, he and James Dobson, America's best-known homophobe, formed the Family Research Council, a D.C.-based, rabidly Christian, and vehemently anti-gay lobbying group that has become a standard-bearer of the nation's extreme right wing. Its annual Values Summit is considered a litmus test for Republican presidential hopefuls, and Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter have spoken there. (The Family Research Council would not comment about Rekers's Euro-trip.)
He has also influenced American government, serving in advisory roles with Congress, the White House, and the Department of Health and Human Services and testifying as a state's witness in favor of Florida's gay adoption ban. A former research fellow at Harvard University and a distinguished professor of neuropsychiatry at the University of South Carolina, Rekers has published papers and books by the hundreds, with titles like Who Am I? Lord and Growing Up Straight: What Families Should Know About Homosexuality.
"While he keeps a low public profile, his fingerprints are on almost every anti-gay effort to demean and dehumanize LGBT people," says Wayne Besen, a gay rights advocate in New York City and the executive director of Truth Wins Out, which investigates the anti-gay movement. "His work is ubiquitously cited by lobby groups that work to deny equality to LGBT Americans. Rekers has caused a great deal of harm to gay and lesbian individuals."
Rekers is a board member of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), an organization that systematically attempts to turn gay people straight. And the Huffington Post recently singled out Rekers as a member of the American College of Pediatricians — an official-sounding outfit in Gainesville that purveys lurid, youth-directed literature accusing gays of en masse coprophilia.
The incident has made me think about what could go on in a man's psyche to cause him to live this way.
It's bad enough that anyone living in 21st Century North America or Europe should feel compelled to be closeted. We only get one life, and it's very short, and ridiculously fragile. To spend our time on this earth being anyone other than ourselves is just so sad. No excuses about family upbringing or small-town isolation. You can only play that tune for so long. Most of us have to break away from the expectations of our families. It's called growing up.
It is absolutely tragic that millions of people had to live in the closet through history, and that millions still do in many cultures today. But to live in a place and time when you can be yourself, yet not take advantage of that, and choose to remain so deeply in the closet, is, to me, intensely sad.
That's bad enough. But to be so deeply conflicted - to be filled with such profound and thorough self-hatred - that you make life miserable for the very people who could be your own community, if only you could release your essential nature - to expend so much time and effort opposing that which you are... That sentence trails off. It's so sad, it defies description.
But more than sad, it's enraging. You are riddled with issues? You have profound conflict over your own sexuality and identity? Get help.
Or don't. Live your whole life in the damn closet if you must. But stay the hell out of other people's lives!
-----
* H/t The Larry Sanders Show
5.07.2010
we movie to canada: annual wmtc movie awards, 2009-10 edition
I can't believe it's taken me until May to write my annual movie awards post! During school, such things are impossible. After school, there is such a long to-do list.
A note about my movie life for newcomers or a refresher course for veterans. There are two seasons in Chez L-Sock: baseball season and movie season. Movie season runs from immediately after the Red Sox are no longer playing until Opening Day. We rent everything, usually through Zip, sometimes from pay-per-view. This means we don't see a single movie from April to November. We used to watch movies on any night there was no baseball (off-days and day games), but now on those nights, we sit on our patio, talk, listen to music, drink wine. So we're always at least six months behind everyone else, often closer to a year.
This past movie season, we saw even fewer movies than usual. For one thing, we were working our way through a six-part Ken Burns feature. And for another... this is embarrassing. We were watching "Dallas"! (I wrote about my thing for Dallas here.) Some nights after school, I was so exhausted that I couldn't even concentrate on a movie. My favourite soap was the perfect relaxation. Then there'd be a cliffhanger, then another, and before we knew it, we had watched three or four episodes in a row.
Two years ago, I rated the movies I saw according to famous Canadians: comedians for 2006-07, musicians for 2007-08.
Last year, I rated movies according to my beverage of choice.
This year, I am honouring (or dishonouring) famous people who left this world in 2009.
First up, the Howard Zinn.
Few people have given our world as much, or have meant so much to me personally, as the late Howard Zinn. In keeping, few movies rise to this standard of excellence. These are the must-sees, movies that were as good as they possibly could be.
One Week
-- This was my favourite movie this season. I will be writing a separate post about it soon.
Waltz With Bashir
Food, Inc.
Precious
Doubt
Next up, the Les Paul.
Les Paul was a great musician and an unparalleled innovator. Music is very important to me, but social justice comes first. In keeping, these movies don't rise quite to the level of the Zinn; I might have a small criticism here or there. But these are all truly excellent movies that I highly recommend.
Capitalism: A Love Story
Polytechnique
Julie & Julia
-- I believe this was Allan's favourite movie this season.
Cairo Time
The National Parks: America's Best Idea
-- A separate post about this is also coming soon.
Star Trek
In the midway spot, the Bea Arthur.
Bea Arthur was a talented actor who had a long, rich career, and a life of engagement and activism. It is no slight to be in this third category. These are good, solid movies.
The Brothers Bloom (borderline Les Paul/Bea Arthur)
Whatever Works
Pontypool
Adventureland
Sugar
Bolt
Bart Got a Room
The Hangover
The Navigators
Tickets (borderline Bea Arthur/William Safire)
Triumph of the Nerds (borderline Bea Arthur/William Safire)
-- Documentary about the birth of the home computer industry.
O'Horten
Behind The Sun
Every Little Step
-- A must-see for theatre fans.
Adoration
The Illusionist
Sin Nombre
Slumdog Millionaire
-- I thought I would hate it, but it was all right.
Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder
Not dead last, but almost, we have the William Safire.
As a speechwriter for Richard Nixon and cheerleader for the Iraq War, he was terrible. As a observer of language, he was amusing. These movies won't kill you, but you're better off without them.
Michael Jackson's This Is It
RiP: A Remix Manifesto
Che
Love & Savagery
Stone of Destiny (borderline Bea Arthur/William Safire)
Frost/Nixon
-- We both liked this a lot more until we learned the middle-of-the-night phone call was fiction. For me this dropped it down a peg; for Allan it killed it dead.*
Talk To Me
-- This also lost points for purporting to be history, but actually being mostly fiction.*
In last place, we have the Oral Roberts.
Bigot, hatemonger, huckster, con-artist. Don't bother with these movies.
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
My Winnipeg
-- This also wins the Michael Jackson Award, for being talented and strange, but ultimately a disappointment.
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
The Hurt Locker
Gomorrah
-------
* We talk about this a lot. Although Allan is more bothered by it than I am, I generally agree with him. If you want to write history, stick to history. Even when you enhance, edit and embellish, as filmmakers always will, get the basic facts right. Don't blatantly distort. If history doesn't suit your story, then write your own story and call it fiction. But don't write fiction and sell it as history.
A note about my movie life for newcomers or a refresher course for veterans. There are two seasons in Chez L-Sock: baseball season and movie season. Movie season runs from immediately after the Red Sox are no longer playing until Opening Day. We rent everything, usually through Zip, sometimes from pay-per-view. This means we don't see a single movie from April to November. We used to watch movies on any night there was no baseball (off-days and day games), but now on those nights, we sit on our patio, talk, listen to music, drink wine. So we're always at least six months behind everyone else, often closer to a year.
This past movie season, we saw even fewer movies than usual. For one thing, we were working our way through a six-part Ken Burns feature. And for another... this is embarrassing. We were watching "Dallas"! (I wrote about my thing for Dallas here.) Some nights after school, I was so exhausted that I couldn't even concentrate on a movie. My favourite soap was the perfect relaxation. Then there'd be a cliffhanger, then another, and before we knew it, we had watched three or four episodes in a row.
Two years ago, I rated the movies I saw according to famous Canadians: comedians for 2006-07, musicians for 2007-08.
Last year, I rated movies according to my beverage of choice.
This year, I am honouring (or dishonouring) famous people who left this world in 2009.
First up, the Howard Zinn.
Few people have given our world as much, or have meant so much to me personally, as the late Howard Zinn. In keeping, few movies rise to this standard of excellence. These are the must-sees, movies that were as good as they possibly could be.
One Week
-- This was my favourite movie this season. I will be writing a separate post about it soon.
Waltz With Bashir
Food, Inc.
Precious
Doubt
Next up, the Les Paul.
Les Paul was a great musician and an unparalleled innovator. Music is very important to me, but social justice comes first. In keeping, these movies don't rise quite to the level of the Zinn; I might have a small criticism here or there. But these are all truly excellent movies that I highly recommend.
Capitalism: A Love Story
Polytechnique
Julie & Julia
-- I believe this was Allan's favourite movie this season.
Cairo Time
The National Parks: America's Best Idea
-- A separate post about this is also coming soon.
Star Trek
In the midway spot, the Bea Arthur.
Bea Arthur was a talented actor who had a long, rich career, and a life of engagement and activism. It is no slight to be in this third category. These are good, solid movies.
The Brothers Bloom (borderline Les Paul/Bea Arthur)
Whatever Works
Pontypool
Adventureland
Sugar
Bolt
Bart Got a Room
The Hangover
The Navigators
Tickets (borderline Bea Arthur/William Safire)
Triumph of the Nerds (borderline Bea Arthur/William Safire)
-- Documentary about the birth of the home computer industry.
O'Horten
Behind The Sun
Every Little Step
-- A must-see for theatre fans.
Adoration
The Illusionist
Sin Nombre
Slumdog Millionaire
-- I thought I would hate it, but it was all right.
Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder
Not dead last, but almost, we have the William Safire.
As a speechwriter for Richard Nixon and cheerleader for the Iraq War, he was terrible. As a observer of language, he was amusing. These movies won't kill you, but you're better off without them.
Michael Jackson's This Is It
RiP: A Remix Manifesto
Che
Love & Savagery
Stone of Destiny (borderline Bea Arthur/William Safire)
Frost/Nixon
-- We both liked this a lot more until we learned the middle-of-the-night phone call was fiction. For me this dropped it down a peg; for Allan it killed it dead.*
Talk To Me
-- This also lost points for purporting to be history, but actually being mostly fiction.*
In last place, we have the Oral Roberts.
Bigot, hatemonger, huckster, con-artist. Don't bother with these movies.
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
My Winnipeg
-- This also wins the Michael Jackson Award, for being talented and strange, but ultimately a disappointment.
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
The Hurt Locker
Gomorrah
-------
* We talk about this a lot. Although Allan is more bothered by it than I am, I generally agree with him. If you want to write history, stick to history. Even when you enhance, edit and embellish, as filmmakers always will, get the basic facts right. Don't blatantly distort. If history doesn't suit your story, then write your own story and call it fiction. But don't write fiction and sell it as history.
5.06.2010
question for wmtc community
I have a question for you all. I need an honest answer, not the answer you think is best for me. A challenge for Canadians, I know! But please try.
Last year wmtc4 - our annual backyard bash - was a pot luck; we supplied the liquid refreshments and guests did the rest. The original impetus was the sad state of our finances, but it turned out to be so much fun. There was a huge variety of delicious food, and I felt like people really enjoyed themselves and felt connected to the gathering. For people who don't cook, I suggested bringing chips and salsa or buying cookies, and that seemed to work out, too.
Now we're starting to think about wmtc5, and I'm of two minds. I feel as a good host it's nicer to simply invite guests and ask nothing of them. I love our wmtc parties and I love being as generous as possible. Truly, it makes me very happy. On the other hand, I thought the pot luck was great. We are more broke than ever, thanks to my being in school, so the pot luck helps in that respect, too.
Whether or not you were there, what do you think? When you get invited to a pot luck, do you feel it's too much work, not enough of a party? Is it more fun to just show up? Or do you really enjoy pot lucks? Does the variety of food and the act of contributing enhance the experience?
In your opinion, wmtc5 should be:
(a) a pot luck,
(b) BYOB but no food,
(c) bring nothing, or
(d) no preference.
While I'm on the subject, wtmc5 will be Saturday, August 28. June is crazy in Toronto this year, with massive organizing around the G8/G20 and the usual busyness around Pride. We're away off and on in July. So we decided to have the party on (almost) the actual 5th anniversary of our move, which was August 30.
If you're reading this and you're not the CIC or a troll, you're invited. Save the date!
Last year wmtc4 - our annual backyard bash - was a pot luck; we supplied the liquid refreshments and guests did the rest. The original impetus was the sad state of our finances, but it turned out to be so much fun. There was a huge variety of delicious food, and I felt like people really enjoyed themselves and felt connected to the gathering. For people who don't cook, I suggested bringing chips and salsa or buying cookies, and that seemed to work out, too.
Now we're starting to think about wmtc5, and I'm of two minds. I feel as a good host it's nicer to simply invite guests and ask nothing of them. I love our wmtc parties and I love being as generous as possible. Truly, it makes me very happy. On the other hand, I thought the pot luck was great. We are more broke than ever, thanks to my being in school, so the pot luck helps in that respect, too.
Whether or not you were there, what do you think? When you get invited to a pot luck, do you feel it's too much work, not enough of a party? Is it more fun to just show up? Or do you really enjoy pot lucks? Does the variety of food and the act of contributing enhance the experience?
In your opinion, wmtc5 should be:
(a) a pot luck,
(b) BYOB but no food,
(c) bring nothing, or
(d) no preference.
While I'm on the subject, wtmc5 will be Saturday, August 28. June is crazy in Toronto this year, with massive organizing around the G8/G20 and the usual busyness around Pride. We're away off and on in July. So we decided to have the party on (almost) the actual 5th anniversary of our move, which was August 30.
If you're reading this and you're not the CIC or a troll, you're invited. Save the date!
5.05.2010
discover harper's canada at the mark and straight goods
A condensed version of my piece about the new CIC guide to Canadian citizenship is appearing at The Mark: here.
A slightly different version is also here at Straight Goods.
A slightly different version is also here at Straight Goods.
we will not stfu: another look at nancy ruth, reproductive rights and the harper agenda
After my brief post about Senator Nancy Ruth's "advice" to those of us concerned about reproductive rights in Canada, I followed the advice of many progressive bloggers and looked into it further. I understand Ruth is considered a feminist and earned that tag many times throughout her career. At least a few progressives felt the rest of us had jumped the gun and taken Ruth's remarks out of context.
So I read, and read some more. Here are two of the best pieces I found.
Judy Rebick, writing at Rabble, and on her blog Transforming Power: "It's not the first time feminists have been told to "shut the fuck up." If we had listened women would still be in the kitchen". She writes:
Dr Dawg reminds us that retaliation is Harper's middle name: 11 women's groups have seen their federal funding cut in the last two weeks alone.
Dawg ends his piece this way:
Rebick closes with this:
I agree. I agree with every cell in my body, the body that I have fought like hell all my life to control, standing beside thousands and millions of women and men who feel the same way.
The very last thing we need to do about abortion is shut up. It should be obvious that we must do exactly the opposite. We must make noise, make loud noise, make the sustained, loud noise of The People. Speak up and don't stop speaking up. The vast majority of Canadians do not believe the government should be involved in people's reproductive decisions. We must ensure Canada's laws continue to reflect that, and its foreign policy respects it, too. And we won't accomplish that by being quiet.
Women's rights are human rights. Make a very loud noise.
So I read, and read some more. Here are two of the best pieces I found.
Judy Rebick, writing at Rabble, and on her blog Transforming Power: "It's not the first time feminists have been told to "shut the fuck up." If we had listened women would still be in the kitchen". She writes:
Nancy Ruth is a great pro-choice supporter but she is also a Conservative Senator. Her advice to feminist leaders to "shut the fuck up about abortion" so as not to threaten Harper's initiative on maternal health is no doubt her honest opinion about how best to advance women's rights under this profoundly anti-feminist, anti-choice government, but she is very very wrong.
Dr Dawg reminds us that retaliation is Harper's middle name: 11 women's groups have seen their federal funding cut in the last two weeks alone.
Dawg ends his piece this way:
As the old joke ran, somebody once had to explain to creationist Stockwell Day that The Flintstones isn't a documentary. Now--and it's no joke--it's high time to let Harper and his buddy McVety know that The Handmaid's Tale isn't a user manual.
Rebick closes with this:
Some women in this discussion express a fear that abortion could become an election issue. Harper knows as well as I do that the vast majority of Canadians are pro-choice. If abortion is an election issue, he will lose the election. So to that I say, bring it on.
I agree. I agree with every cell in my body, the body that I have fought like hell all my life to control, standing beside thousands and millions of women and men who feel the same way.
The very last thing we need to do about abortion is shut up. It should be obvious that we must do exactly the opposite. We must make noise, make loud noise, make the sustained, loud noise of The People. Speak up and don't stop speaking up. The vast majority of Canadians do not believe the government should be involved in people's reproductive decisions. We must ensure Canada's laws continue to reflect that, and its foreign policy respects it, too. And we won't accomplish that by being quiet.
Women's rights are human rights. Make a very loud noise.
5.04.2010
raw story: u.s. school for disabled tortures students with electric shocks
Other than repeating WTF WTF WTF over and over, I post this without comment.
See original for more and links.
Update: Please see comments for context I felt but was unable to write.
US school for disabled forces students to wear packs that deliver massive electric shocks
Mental Disability Rights International (MDRI) has filed a report and urgent appeal with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture alleging that the Judge Rotenberg Center for the disabled, located in Massachusetts, violates the UN Convention against Torture.
The rights group submitted their report this week, titled "Torture not Treatment: Electric Shock and Long-Term Restraint in the United States on Children and Adults with Disabilities at the Judge Rotenberg Center," after an in-depth investigation revealed use of restraint boards, isolation, food deprivation and electric shocks in efforts to control the behaviors of its disabled and emotionally troubled students.
Findings in the MDRI report include the center's practice of subjecting children to electric shocks on the legs, arms, soles of feet and torso -- in many cases for years -- as well as some for more than a decade. Electronic shocks are administered by remote-controlled packs attached to a child's back called a Graduated Electronic Decelerators (GEI).
The disabilities group notes that stun guns typically deliver three to four milliamps per shock. GEI packs, meanwhile, shock students with 45 milliamps -- more than ten times the amperage of a typical stun gun.
A former employee of the center told an investigator, "When you start working there, they show you this video which says the shock is 'like a bee sting' and that it does not really hurt the kids. One kid, you could smell the flesh burning, he had so many shocks. These kids are under constant fear, 24/7. They sleep with them on, eat with them on. It made me sick and I could not sleep. I prayed to God someone would help these kids."
. . . .
Mother Jones magazine published an extensive investigative report on the Rotenberg Center in 2007 titled "School of Shock." Reporter Jennifer Gonnerman asked, "How many times do you have to zap a child before it's torture?"
Children at the Judge Rotenberg Center are often shackled, restrained and secluded for months at a time, the report says. Social isolation, and food deprivation as forms of punishment are common. Mock and threatened stabbings -- to forcibly elicit unacceptable behaviors resulting in electric shock punishments (Labeled as Behavioral Research Lessons or BRLs, by the center) were reported to MDRI as well as state regulatory bodies. . . .
"One girl who was blind, deaf and non-verbal was moaning and rocking," a former teacher says in the report. "Her moaning was like a cry. The staff shocked her for moaning. Turned out she had broken a tooth. Another child had an accident in the bathroom and was shocked."
The rights group investigation found that the Rotenberg center is the only known facility in the United States, "Or perhaps the world," that employs the use of electricity, long-term restraints and other punishments to deliberately inflict pain upon its children and then refer to it as "treatment."
See original for more and links.
Update: Please see comments for context I felt but was unable to write.
jason kenney's cic prevents woman from visiting her mother's grave in canada
First the Canadian government prevented a Chinese woman from attending her mother's funeral. Then it twice denied her a visit to the graveside.
Lai Ai Yu was an elderly Canadian citizen, born in China, who lived in Vancouver. In 2003, Yu was struck by a truck driven by an unlicensed driver; she was dragged down the street and died from her injuries.
In China, Yu's daughter, Xiu Lan Huang, requested an urgent visa from the Canadian immigration office, so she could come to Canada to bury her mother. Libby Davies, the MP in Yu's s riding, offered a personal guarantee that Huang would return to China after the funeral.
The visa was denied.
Huang has since tried two more times to come to Canada to visit her mother's grave. Also denied.
CIC Minister Jason Kenney says: ""Our government does not believe visa decisions should be politicized." If not politicized, than privatized. Canada has outsourced much of its foreign visa processing to a private company.
How would it hurt Canada if a 58-year-old Chinese woman entered the country to say goodbye to her mother? Huang has a husband and grandson in China, and no ability to work in Canada - much incentive to return and little to stay. What's more, a Member of Parliament is offering to make sure Huang does go back.
Just another example of the CIC's utter lack of humanity and compassion.
Read the story here.
Lai Ai Yu was an elderly Canadian citizen, born in China, who lived in Vancouver. In 2003, Yu was struck by a truck driven by an unlicensed driver; she was dragged down the street and died from her injuries.
In China, Yu's daughter, Xiu Lan Huang, requested an urgent visa from the Canadian immigration office, so she could come to Canada to bury her mother. Libby Davies, the MP in Yu's s riding, offered a personal guarantee that Huang would return to China after the funeral.
The visa was denied.
Huang has since tried two more times to come to Canada to visit her mother's grave. Also denied.
CIC Minister Jason Kenney says: ""Our government does not believe visa decisions should be politicized." If not politicized, than privatized. Canada has outsourced much of its foreign visa processing to a private company.
How would it hurt Canada if a 58-year-old Chinese woman entered the country to say goodbye to her mother? Huang has a husband and grandson in China, and no ability to work in Canada - much incentive to return and little to stay. What's more, a Member of Parliament is offering to make sure Huang does go back.
Just another example of the CIC's utter lack of humanity and compassion.
Read the story here.
ko: "last friday night my father asked me to kill him"
If you missed this video when it made the rounds a few months back, I highly recommend watching it. Wait til you have 15 minutes of alone time and a box of tissues handy.
Keith Olbermann, our great hero of the mainstream media, lost his father recently, and he used the experience as a platform to call for change.
Both my brother-in-law and my sister-in-law lost their fathers during this past year - two good men who had been a part of my life for a very long time. Each illness death was, of course, a unique and painful experience. But both families had good care, and they had choices. It helped, a lot.
Keith Olbermann, our great hero of the mainstream media, lost his father recently, and he used the experience as a platform to call for change.
Both my brother-in-law and my sister-in-law lost their fathers during this past year - two good men who had been a part of my life for a very long time. Each illness death was, of course, a unique and painful experience. But both families had good care, and they had choices. It helped, a lot.
thomas jefferson isn't the only thing they're not teaching
In the grand tradition of unintentional wingnut hilarity, Some Guy With a Website asks: "What's the difference between a Tea Party Protest and a Rally for Immigrants' Rights?"
A: The immigrants can spell.
Go here for a lesson on Teabonics.
Take back Amercia, indeed. No excetions!
Many thanks to James for sending!
On a more serious note, Tim Wise asks, "What if the tea party were black?"
A: The immigrants can spell.
Go here for a lesson on Teabonics.
Take back Amercia, indeed. No excetions!
Many thanks to James for sending!
On a more serious note, Tim Wise asks, "What if the tea party were black?"
jungle cat world update
When we went to Jungle Cat World in March, one of the tigers was pregnant, and we said we'd go back as soon as the new little guys were old enough to see and touch. Our friend J got a sneak preview ahead of the general public.
It turned out we weren't able to go last week. C and J went without us; here's a bit of what we missed.
But... J came back with news that made me happy we put off our visit: wolf puppies! Jungle Cat World is acquiring two wolf pups. One is a gray timber wolf, and the other is an arctic wolf, who eventually will be a mate for the beautiful Bianca. Bianca lost her mate a while back and has been alone in her enclosure since then, which is very sad to see.
Both pups will be hand-raised. I think for my birthday this year, I'm going to play with a wolf pup!
This is Bianca. While we were admiring her, she broke out in a howl, and the wolves in another enclosure sang back to her. It gave me chills.
It turned out we weren't able to go last week. C and J went without us; here's a bit of what we missed.
But... J came back with news that made me happy we put off our visit: wolf puppies! Jungle Cat World is acquiring two wolf pups. One is a gray timber wolf, and the other is an arctic wolf, who eventually will be a mate for the beautiful Bianca. Bianca lost her mate a while back and has been alone in her enclosure since then, which is very sad to see.
Both pups will be hand-raised. I think for my birthday this year, I'm going to play with a wolf pup!
This is Bianca. While we were admiring her, she broke out in a howl, and the wolves in another enclosure sang back to her. It gave me chills.
5.03.2010
tories on women's rights: stfu
I know every progressive Canadian blogger must be saying the same thing, but it is just plain irresistible.
Conservatives on women's equality: "Shut The Fuck Up".
This party is melting down left and right. Imagine if we had a real opposition!
Conservatives on women's equality: "Shut The Fuck Up".
This party is melting down left and right. Imagine if we had a real opposition!
5.02.2010
rich: it's not just arizona, it's the state of the u.s.a.
Frank Rich puts the racist Arizona law into perspective.
Read it here.
The question I've yet to see anyone meaningfully address is: what would the US do without illegal immigrants? What would happen to the hotel industry, the food production industry, the restaurant business? Who will be the nannies, the gardeners, the day labourers? Who will clean the offices, who will kill the chickens, who will pick the fruit, who will scrub the floors?
Do all these employers want to pay decent wages and adhere to labour codes for employees who might file grievances or sue them?
Or can they all pay off local law enforcement so they can hire the workers by the busload?
Whether they will admit it or not, every business owner and board of directors in the US knows that the entire US economy would collapse - more so than it has already - without illegal immigrant labour.
Don't blame it all on Arizona. The Grand Canyon State simply happened to be in the right place at the right time to tilt over to the dark side. Its hysteria is but another symptom of a political virus that can’t be quarantined and whose cure is as yet unknown.
If many of Arizona’s defenders and critics hold one belief in common, it’s that the new “show me your papers” law is sui generis: it’s seen as one angry border state’s response to its outsized share of America’s illegal immigration crisis. But to label this development “Arizona’s folly” trivializes its import and reach. The more you examine the law’s provisions and proponents, the more you realize that it’s the latest and (so far) most vicious battle in a far broader movement that is not just about illegal immigrants — and that is steadily increasing its annexation of one of America’s two major political parties.
Arizonans, like all Americans, have every right to be furious about Washington’s protracted and bipartisan failure to address the immigration stalemate. To be angry about illegal immigration is hardly tantamount to being a bigot. But the Arizona law expressing that anger is bigoted, and in a very particular way. The law dovetails seamlessly with the national “Take Back America” crusade that has attended the rise of Barack Obama and the accelerating demographic shift our first African-American president represents.
The crowd that wants Latinos to show their papers if there’s a “reasonable suspicion” of illegality is often the same crowd still demanding that the president produce a document proving his own citizenship. Lest there be any doubt of that confluence, Rush Limbaugh hammered the point home after Obama criticized Arizona’s action. “I can understand Obama being touchy on the subject of producing your papers,” he said. “Maybe he’s afraid somebody’s going to ask him for his.” Or, as Glenn Beck chimed in about the president last week: “What has he said that sounds like American?”
Read it here.
The question I've yet to see anyone meaningfully address is: what would the US do without illegal immigrants? What would happen to the hotel industry, the food production industry, the restaurant business? Who will be the nannies, the gardeners, the day labourers? Who will clean the offices, who will kill the chickens, who will pick the fruit, who will scrub the floors?
Do all these employers want to pay decent wages and adhere to labour codes for employees who might file grievances or sue them?
Or can they all pay off local law enforcement so they can hire the workers by the busload?
Whether they will admit it or not, every business owner and board of directors in the US knows that the entire US economy would collapse - more so than it has already - without illegal immigrant labour.
take a canadian citizenship test here
This morning I took a sample citizenship test through the Toronto Public Library. I scored 56 out of 61.
Do you want to take one? I think all the Canadians here will pass easily.
There is a section specific to your region or province, so questions will vary. Here are sample test questions from:
a library in Richmond (BC-centric),
some random site,
the CBC, and
the Toronto Public Library (Ontario-centric).
Let us know how you do!
Do you want to take one? I think all the Canadians here will pass easily.
There is a section specific to your region or province, so questions will vary. Here are sample test questions from:
Let us know how you do!
standing up for workers on may day and every day
For months now, I have been reading and hearing about the workers' resistance in Greece with great interest. I haven't blogged about it, because I have nothing insightful to add - just my attention and admiration, my solidarity and my envy. But whenever I don't blog about something because I think everyone already knows all about it, and I have nothing interesting to say, Allan always encourages me to post, because, well, you never know.
In Greece, there have been a wave of general strikes, and massive and sustained protest against announced wage cuts, privatization, budget cuts to health, education, public jobs and pensions, along with tax increases that will force working people to pay for corporatist excess. It's classic shock doctrine as described by Naomi Klein, using debt bailouts as an excuse to force countries to accept extreme neoconservative (or neoliberal, as it is called outside of North America), anti-worker, corporatist economic measures.
It has been thrilling to see the Greek people stand up for themselves and for all working people. Canadians managed to take to the streets when Prime Minister Harper shut down Parliament, as long as the message was apolitical - "get back to work" - and nothing more was asked of them. When I see the kind of resistance mounted elsewhere, I am amazed and envious. The general strikes - which Greeks have staged several times over the years - are especially exciting to me. I'd work like mad to see such a thing here.
Although police have used tear gas, firebombs and the usual brickbats to keep the Greek protesters down, the people just keep coming. Yesterday was May Day, and while the western world read that the protests in Greece "turned violent," video shows that well-protected police are dishing out a rich variety of violence not available to protesters - while eyewitnesses describe peaceful protest is the norm by far. Little mention, too, of the violence done to people's lives, health, opportunities, and ability to provide for themselves and their families.
This May Day, there were demonstrations in Turkey for the first time since a massacre there in 1977. People turned out in great numbers throughout Asia, Europe, South America... pretty much everywhere in the world.
In Canada, demonstrations took place in Halifax, Montreal, Calgary, Toronto and elsewhere, many of them focusing on "foreign temporary workers," the hidden shame of the Canadian labour force. Even more impressive, hundreds of thousands of people marched in 70 US cities, denouncing the racist Arizona anti-immigration law.
I hope to learn more about the Greek resistance movement at Marxism 2010. I can only attend on Friday and possibly Saturday night because of work, but whatever I glean, I will share with you.
In Greece, there have been a wave of general strikes, and massive and sustained protest against announced wage cuts, privatization, budget cuts to health, education, public jobs and pensions, along with tax increases that will force working people to pay for corporatist excess. It's classic shock doctrine as described by Naomi Klein, using debt bailouts as an excuse to force countries to accept extreme neoconservative (or neoliberal, as it is called outside of North America), anti-worker, corporatist economic measures.
It has been thrilling to see the Greek people stand up for themselves and for all working people. Canadians managed to take to the streets when Prime Minister Harper shut down Parliament, as long as the message was apolitical - "get back to work" - and nothing more was asked of them. When I see the kind of resistance mounted elsewhere, I am amazed and envious. The general strikes - which Greeks have staged several times over the years - are especially exciting to me. I'd work like mad to see such a thing here.
Although police have used tear gas, firebombs and the usual brickbats to keep the Greek protesters down, the people just keep coming. Yesterday was May Day, and while the western world read that the protests in Greece "turned violent," video shows that well-protected police are dishing out a rich variety of violence not available to protesters - while eyewitnesses describe peaceful protest is the norm by far. Little mention, too, of the violence done to people's lives, health, opportunities, and ability to provide for themselves and their families.
This May Day, there were demonstrations in Turkey for the first time since a massacre there in 1977. People turned out in great numbers throughout Asia, Europe, South America... pretty much everywhere in the world.
In Canada, demonstrations took place in Halifax, Montreal, Calgary, Toronto and elsewhere, many of them focusing on "foreign temporary workers," the hidden shame of the Canadian labour force. Even more impressive, hundreds of thousands of people marched in 70 US cities, denouncing the racist Arizona anti-immigration law.
I hope to learn more about the Greek resistance movement at Marxism 2010. I can only attend on Friday and possibly Saturday night because of work, but whatever I glean, I will share with you.
leslie buck, we are happy you served us
In New York City, before there were three Starbucks on every block, there were hundreds of coffee shops and diners, most owned by Greeks and Greek-Americans. The surviving coffee shops - I feel I know and love each one - still are. At each of those 24-hour restaurants and about a zillion small take-out delis, New Yorkers get their take-out coffee in cups like the one above.
(The cup pictured above is actually a ceramic version of the iconic take-out cup. I wrote about it here and drink my coffee from it every morning.)
The man who designed this classic form died recently. His name was Leslie Buck. He was an immigrant, a holocaust survivor, a Jew, a New Yorker. And a talented designer.
Most of us seldom, if ever, think about who designs the objects we use and the images we see every day. Especially now, as ownership of ideas is seen as outdated at best and at worst an outright evil, and so many people believe that every creation should be free for the taking. But individual artists and designers change the world around us. It's good to know who they are.
Here's Leslie Buck's - né Laszlo Büch - obituary from the New York Times. Click through for photos.
It was for decades the most enduring piece of ephemera in New York City and is still among the most recognizable. Trim, blue and white, it fits neatly in the hand, sized so its contents can be downed in a New York minute. It is as vivid an emblem of the city as the Statue of Liberty, beloved of property masters who need to evoke Gotham at a glance in films and on television.
It is, of course, the Anthora, the cardboard cup of Grecian design that has held New Yorkers’ coffee securely for nearly half a century. Introduced in the 1960s, the Anthora was long made by the hundreds of millions annually, nearly every cup destined for the New York area.
A pop-cultural totem, the Anthora has been enshrined in museums; its likeness has adorned tourist memorabilia like T-shirts and ceramic mugs. Like many once-celebrated artifacts, though, the cup may now be endangered, the victim of urban gentrification.
The Anthora seems to have been here forever, as if bestowed by the gods at the city’s creation. But in fact, it was created by man — one man in particular, a refugee from Nazi Europe named Leslie Buck.
Mr. Buck, a retired paper-cup company executive, died on Monday, at 87, at his home on Long Island, in Glen Cove. The cause was complications of Parkinson’s disease, his son Robert said. Mr. Buck, previously a longtime resident of Syosset, N.Y., also had a home in Delray Beach, Fla.
The Anthora has spawned a flock of imitations by competitors over the years, but it was first designed by Mr. Buck for the Sherri Cup Company in Kensington, Conn.
Mr. Buck’s cup was blue, with a white meander ringing the top and bottom; down each side was a drawing of the Greek vase known as an amphora. (“Anthora” comes from “amphora,” as filtered through Mr. Buck’s Eastern European accent, his son said.) Some later imitators depict fluted white columns; others show a discus thrower.
On front and back, Mr. Buck emblazoned the Anthora with three steaming golden coffee cups. Above them, in lettering that suggests a Classical inscription, was the Anthora’s very soul — the motto. It has appeared in many variant texts since then; Mr. Buck’s original, with its welcome intimations of tenderness, succor and humility, was simply this:
We Are Happy
To Serve You.
Though the Anthora no longer dominates the urban landscape as it once did, it can still be found at diners, delis and food carts citywide, a squat, stalwart island in a sea of tall, grande and venti. On the street, it warms the harried hands of pedestrians. Without the Anthora, “Law & Order” could scarcely exist.
Laszlo Büch was born on Sept. 20, 1922, to a Jewish family in Khust, then in Czechoslovakia. (It is today in Ukraine.) His parents were killed by the Nazis during World War II; Laszlo himself survived Auschwitz and Buchenwald.
After the war, Mr. Buck made his way to New York, where he Americanized his name and ran an import-export business with his brother, Eugene, who had also survived the camps. In the late 1950s or thereabouts, the brothers started Premier Cup, a paper-cup manufacturer in Mount Vernon, N.Y.
Leslie Buck joined Sherri Cup, then a startup, in the mid-’60s. Originally the company’s sales manager (for a time, he was its entire sales force), he later became its director of marketing.
Sherri was keen to crack New York’s hot-cup market. Since many of the city’s diners were owned by Greeks, Mr. Buck hit on the idea of a Classical cup in the colors of the Greek flag. Though he had no formal training in art, he executed the design himself. It was an instant success.
Mr. Buck made no royalties from the cup, but he did so well in sales commissions that it hardly mattered, his son said. On his retirement from Sherri in 1992, the company presented Mr. Buck with 10,000 specially made Anthoras, printed with a testimonial inscription.
Besides his son, Robert, and brother, Eugene, Mr. Buck is survived by his wife, the former Ella Farkas, whom he married in 1949; two daughters, Beverly Eisenoff and Linda Rush; and four grandchildren.
In recent years, with the gentrification of the city and its brew, demand for the humble Anthora has waned. In 1994, Sherri sold 500 million of the cups, as The New York Times reported afterward. In 2005, the Solo Cup Company, into which Sherri had been absorbed, was selling about 200 million cups a year, The Times reported.
Today, Solo no longer carries the Anthora as a stock item, making it only on request. Other companies still turn out versions of the cup, though not in the quantities of its 20th-century heyday.
But given the tenacious traditionalism of many locals (“Avenue of the Americas,” anyone?), it is safe to assume that the Anthora and its heirs will endure, at least for a while, in the city’s steadfast precincts. For some time to come, on any given day, somewhere a New Yorker will be cradling the cup, with its crisp design and snug white lid, the stuff of life inside.
MSEH sent me this obit from CNN, also very nice. His daughter is quoted:
His daughter describes him as a self-made man, "He came here with nothing, no parents, no job, no savings. He had nothing."
But that didn't stop him. "Because of what he suffered in the concentration camps he was somebody who really believed in respecting humanity, really was about loving your neighbor and respecting your neighbor," his daughter said.
It was this respect that led him to spend hours in the library, researching Greek history and design. He wanted to honor the heritage of the Greek diner owners who bought his products and gave him his livelihood.
Thanks, Mr Buck. We are happy you did.
5.01.2010
a few canine stories
Some dog-related items that are hanging around my inbox.
Apparently some 35,000 street dogs live in the city of Moscow. And they use the subway.
If you've traveled anywhere outside of North America, you've probably seen sizeable numbers of street dogs. There are street dogs in most US cities, although you're unlikely to see them if you're a tourist. Homeless dogs usually gravitate towards low-density residential areas, or even less populated areas like warehouse districts or large parks.
In New York, we lived near two large parks, both with heavily wooded areas, and we saw street dogs all the time. We knew several of them by sight and had our own names for them. Many people would leave food in certain spots, hoping the dogs would find our offerings before rats and birds did. One bitter cold day, I had an encounter with our favourite little shepherd mix, making direct, intense eye contact. It just about broke my heart. It hurts thinking about it even now.
These street dogs are just like street children. Although not loathed when they grow up. The story linked above has some video.
* * * *
There are wild domesticated dogs, known as strays, then there are wild dogs who aren't really dogs at all, but another canine species - and an endangered one. New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof learned about them on a trip to Zimbabwe.
From Painted Dog Conservation:
And here's an ordinary domestic dog who did an extraordinary thing.
Video here.
If you've ever gone on a hike or long walk with a herding dog without a leash, you'll immediately recognize that "occasionally turning around to check if you are there" behaviour. They'll run ahead for a bit, then turn around to check on you, wait til you almost catch up, then run ahead again. While a terrier or a hound will zoom off after any small, fast creature, a shepherding dog will tend to its flock.
When I sent the link about the Shepherd and the house fire to Allan, he emailed three words in reply: "I love dogs."
That's it. I love dogs.
Apparently some 35,000 street dogs live in the city of Moscow. And they use the subway.
Every so often, if you ride Moscow's crowded subways, you notice that the commuters around you include a dog - a stray dog, on its own, just using the handy underground Metro to beat the traffic and get from A to B.
Yes, some of Moscow's stray dogs have figured out how to use the city's immense and complex subway system, getting on and off at their regular stops. The human commuters around them are so accustomed to it that they rarely seem to notice.
"In Moscow there are all sorts of stray dogs, but... there are no stupid dogs," Dr. Andrey Poyarkov, a biologist who has studied Moscow's strays for 30 years, told ABC News.
As many as 35,000 stray dogs live in Russia's capital city. They can be found everywhere, from markets to construction sites to underground passageways, scrounging for food and trying to survive. Taking the subway is just one of many tactics the strays have come up with for surviving in the manmade wilderness around them.
"The street is tough and it's survival of the fittest," says Poyarkov. "These clever dogs know people much better than people know them."
Poyarkov says that only a small fraction of strays have figured out how to navigate the maze that is Moscow's subway system.
What's most impressive about the subway dogs, says Poyarkov's graduate student, Alexei Vereshchagin, is their ability to deal with the Metro's loud noises and packed crowds, distractions that domesticated dogs often cannot handle.
. . . .
Author Eugene Linden, who has been writing about animal intelligence for 40 years, told ABC News that Moscow's resourceful stray dogs are just one of what are now thousands of recorded examples of wild, feral and domesticated animals demonstrating what appears, at least, to be what humans might call flexible open-ended reasoning and conscious
thought.
. . . .
Moscow's strays have also been observed obeying traffic lights, says Vereshchagin. He and Poyarkov report the strays have developed a variety of techniques for hunting food in the wild metropolis.
Sometimes a pack will send out a smaller, cuter member apparently realizing it will be more successful at begging than its bigger, less attractive counterparts.
Another trick the researchers report seeing is the bark-and-grab: a dog will suddenly jump up behind a person in the street who is holding some snack, enough of a surprise that the food gets dropped for the grabbing.
If you've traveled anywhere outside of North America, you've probably seen sizeable numbers of street dogs. There are street dogs in most US cities, although you're unlikely to see them if you're a tourist. Homeless dogs usually gravitate towards low-density residential areas, or even less populated areas like warehouse districts or large parks.
In New York, we lived near two large parks, both with heavily wooded areas, and we saw street dogs all the time. We knew several of them by sight and had our own names for them. Many people would leave food in certain spots, hoping the dogs would find our offerings before rats and birds did. One bitter cold day, I had an encounter with our favourite little shepherd mix, making direct, intense eye contact. It just about broke my heart. It hurts thinking about it even now.
These street dogs are just like street children. Although not loathed when they grow up. The story linked above has some video.
* * * *
There are wild domesticated dogs, known as strays, then there are wild dogs who aren't really dogs at all, but another canine species - and an endangered one. New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof learned about them on a trip to Zimbabwe.
We humans are suckers for certain kinds of wildlife, from lions to elephants. I hadn’t known I was a zebra fan until I drove my rented car into a traffic jam of zebras here. My heart fluttered.
As for rhinos, they’re so magnificent that they attract foreign aid. Women here in rural Zimbabwe routinely die in childbirth for lack of ambulances or other transport to hospitals, and they get no help. But rhinos in this park get a helicopter to track their movements.
Then there are animals that don’t attract much empathy. Aardvarks. Newts. And, at the bottom tier, African wild dogs.
Wild dogs (which aren’t actually wild dogs, but never mind that for now) are a species that has become endangered without anyone raising an eyebrow. Until, that is, a globe-trotting adventurer named Greg Rasmussen began working with local villages to rebrand the dogs — and save them from extinction.
. . .
Once the African wild dog was found by the hundreds of thousands across Africa, but today there are only a few thousand left, mostly in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Tanzania and South Africa.
Wild dogs are not dogs, which split off from wolves only in the last 30,000 years. In contrast, wild dogs last shared a common ancestor with dogs or wolves about 6 million years ago. They are the size of German shepherds and look like dogs, but they don’t bark and have different teeth and toes. And although many have tried, they have not been domesticated.
“Chimpanzees and gorillas are closer to us humans than wolves are to painted dogs,” Mr. Rasmussen said.
Note that terminology: “painted dogs.” Central to Mr. Rasmussen’s effort to save the dogs has been a struggle to rename them, so that they sound exotic rather than feral.
. . .
The conservation center has also started economic development programs for nearby villages. The idea is for local people to benefit from the dogs’ presence and gain incomes so that they won’t feel the need to poach wildlife.
“What we’re trying to achieve here is a model not just for painted dogs, but something that applies for any species,” Mr. Rasmussen said. “Conservation has to be inclusive, and lots of people have to benefit.”
If clever marketing and strategic thinking can take reviled varmints such as “wild dogs” and resurrect them (quite justly) as exotic “painted dogs” to be preserved, then no cause is hopeless.
From Painted Dog Conservation:
They have a sort of Three Musketeers enthusiasm – all for one and one for all – and it’s a totally amazing social structure.
. . .
Painted Dogs are intensely social animals, living most of the time in close association with each other. While a minimum of six dogs are necessary to successfully hunt and breed, a pack can be as small as a pair, or as large as thirty. Pack allegiance, such as pups getting first feed at a kill or members caring for the sick and injured, is an integral part of pack survival.
The power structure resides in an alpha male and female pair, whose pups are nurtured by auntie ‘baby sitters', regardless of their mother. The alpha female selects a denning site, digging the spot by herself with the help of the pack members, though she might choose an abandoned site, such as an aardvark hole.
. . .
The strength of the Painted Dog pack is attributed to three unique aspects of behavior - socialization, vocalization, and hunting methods.
Socialization clearly translates into the unity that is formed between bonded peers and pack leaders. Over years of research, it has been learned that the dogs clearly mourn deceased pack members, which is a sign of emotional ties. The good news is that new packs can be created by respectful intervention - and the dogs have proven to adopt new members.
Adding to this is the trait of the Painted Dog to vocalize - the audible extension of the pack's social world. It is the underpinning of an advanced communication that plays out in the squeaky, thin call of their voices. It extends into the position of their ears and the message of their body posture. Communication is a vital, unique, and important strength of pack unity.
Finally, the Painted Dog hunting methods keep the pack strong. . . . Among the fastest and most efficient of Africa's predators, Painted Dogs hunt during the morning and before dusk, and also show a preference for utilizing the light of a full moon. Their goal is to draw minimum attention from stronger predators. But while they share the victory of tireless pursuits with the pack, often the longer chases end with more powerful competitors, such as the hyena, stealing their rewards. . . .
And here's an ordinary domestic dog who did an extraordinary thing.
A German Shepherd dog in Alaska has been given a hero's award for saving his owner's house from a fire.
Five-year-old Buddy guided a team of Alaska State Troopers through winding back roads to the property in a remote area some 55 miles north of Anchorage.
His owner, Ben Heinrichs, 23, was working on his truck inside his garage when a spark ignited near some fuel and caught fire, setting his clothes alight.
Mr Heinrichs managed to run outside, closing the door to stock the fire from spreading, and rolled in the snow to extinguish the flames on his clothes.
But he suddenly remembered the dog was still in the workshop and ran back to fetch him.
While Buddy escaped unscathed, his owner suffered minor burns on his face and second-degree burns on his left hand.
The dog subsequently ran off after his master said he needed help.
He was found on a road by the Alaskan police who had been alerted to the fire but had got lost.
As the police were about to turn down the wrong road, they caught sight in their headlights of Buddy who made eye contact with them and raced ahead down the right road, occasionally turning round to check they were behind him.
Video here.
If you've ever gone on a hike or long walk with a herding dog without a leash, you'll immediately recognize that "occasionally turning around to check if you are there" behaviour. They'll run ahead for a bit, then turn around to check on you, wait til you almost catch up, then run ahead again. While a terrier or a hound will zoom off after any small, fast creature, a shepherding dog will tend to its flock.
When I sent the link about the Shepherd and the house fire to Allan, he emailed three words in reply: "I love dogs."
That's it. I love dogs.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)