but we do know it will happen again

Thank you, Antonia Zerbisias, for using the word that the media won't learn: femicide.

So, World Wrestling Entertainment superstar Chris Benoit – a.k.a. "The Canadian Crippler" – sent "several curious text messages" to friends last weekend before apparently strangling his 43-year-old wife Nancy, smothering his son Daniel, 7, and then hanging himself.

Atlanta authorities suggest he may have suddenly snapped in a fit of 'roid rage.

Or was Nancy about to toss him out of the (marriage) ring?

Meanwhile, east-end Toronto sewing machine technician Alton Beckford killed his common-law wife, her mother and himself Monday night, just after returning from his 13-year-old stepdaughter's Grade 8 graduation. The girl escaped with self-defence wounds.

Beckford had reportedly lost his job five weeks ago because, according to what he told neighbours, he had complained about unsafe working conditions.

Guess he must have "suddenly snapped" after five weeks of hormone rage of a different sort.

Or were the women about to boot him?

After all, the Star's Betsy Powell tells me, Beckford felt burned by another woman.

In any case, the bottom line is, three more women and one more child are dead, victims of the men in their lives.

And always, the storyline is the same.

Each case is treated as an isolated incident. Nobody connects the dots. The word "femicide" is never used – and indeed is not even recognized by my spell checker.

In the U.S., reports the FBI, men murder an average of three women – and often their children – every single day. That's down 25 per cent from the period 1976-1996, perhaps because there are more shelters. But fears are that as the personal bankruptcies increase and employment nosedives, the killing will increase.

Canada's record is also spattered with blood.

Yes, as in the U.S., our rate of spousal homicides has declined in recent years. Women's groups report an average of 80 femicides in Canada per year – and that's unacceptable. Some 25 women a year are killed every year in Ontario alone, while the health-care system staggers under the $1.5 billion cost of abuse.

Most of these deaths are deemed "preventable and predictable" by the experts. The warning signs are well-documented.

At the University of Western Ontario's Centre for Research on Violence Against Women, there are stacks of studies, including a 2005 Domestic Violence Death Review Committee report to Ontario's chief coroner.

It shows that the "most consistent" and "most common" factors are "an actual or pending separation; a prior history of domestic violence; and depression (or other mental health or psychiatric problems)."

We're not talking severe mental illness. We're talking depression. Like losing your job, your family, your home, your manhood.

So, it's never a simple matter of a woman recognizing the threat to her life – she knows a broken jaw when she feels it – and sticking around for more punishment because she's too dumb to go.

There's little chance of getting out, once you're in.

And, as anybody who reads the posters in the TTC knows, you often don't know you're in until you're pregnant. That's usually when the violence begins.

Maybe we will never discover what really happened in Fayette County, Ga., or in Scarborough.

But we do know it will happen again. And again. And again.

In the end, only one thing needs to "suddenly snap" and that's the outrage.

what i'm reading

I finished Miriam Toews's A Complicated Kindness. It's very good. The book is funny, sad and hopeful. It has some profound things to say about religion, love, forgiveness and hope, and it says all of them through the story and characters, not through preaching. A really nice book.

I'm about to start The Darling, by one of my favourite authors, Russell Banks. When I blogged earlier about A Complicated Kindness, I mentioned I am attracted to novels with teenage narrators. Banks wrote one of the quintessential teenage-narrated novel, Rule of the Bone. ROTB is the child of Catcher in the Rye and the grandchild of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the latter in a very conscious way. Banks's novel Cloudsplitter, about the radical abolitionist John Brown, is his masterpiece. I've read several other books by him, too. I don't know anything about The Darling, but I'm expecting good things.

Don't you love the library?

one door closes, another door opens

Here's a great example of what can happen when you keep an open mind and an eye out for possibilities.

Last week I answered an ad on Craigslist, someone looking for drivers in Mississauga. Pick up a few kids in the morning, drop them off at a summer program, pick them up in the afternoon, drop them off at their home. $50 per kid per week, cash. I thought, hey, it's worth a look.

It turns out to be an ESL program. This is how I came to think about tutoring as a possibility.

I went to the office today. It's a one-woman operation, a former ESL teacher who started her own teaching and tutoring business. She seems to run a quality service, and she's thrilled to find me.

Next week I'll start ferrying some nearby kids to their summer program, earn $200 cash a week and have all day free in between trips. She groups kids together by location, so they'll be somewhat nearby.

Beginning in the fall, her clients contract for tutoring in packages of 8 hours, paid in advance. Tutors set their own fees; the company gets $5 per hour off the top.

This summer, I'll refresh my memory about materials and teaching tips. I imagine there's plenty of information online.

This might be a great compliment to notetaking, or possibly some income in between college terms.

Here's something that made me uncomfortable. The company owner is an Asian Canadian woman; her clients run the full spectrum of Mississauga immigrants. She told me that most parents want white tutors. She quotes them as saying, I didn't take my kids halfway around the world to get them teachers who sound like me. They want white teachers only, and the fact that I'm American will be a huge plus.

She made a big point of telling me that she disagrees with it, but found that her clients insist.

* * * *

I don't have much else to blog about right now. I'm so focused on my employment situation, and getting ready for wmtc2. It's this Saturday! If you're going to be in the area and feeling brave, it's not too late to score an invite.

i can't do it

I'm sure this comes as no surprise. In the freedom vs security dilemma, I've chosen freedom.

I had a good first interview with HR, and they scheduled a second interview with the department supervisor, and extensive testing. It seems like LFF would be a good employer, and that they might offer me a decent full-time job... if one wanted such a thing.

I just can't do it, not while I still have other options.

I'm cancelling the second interview.

Meanwhile, I thought of another option for September: tutoring. There are several Mississauga companies that offer ESL classes, tutoring and other educational help. I'm not qualified to teach ESL, but I have a lot of tutoring experience, and I enjoy it.

Onward.

unstoppable

I forgot to wish everyone a happy Pride Weekend. My thoughts go out especially to the folks spending their first Pride in Canada - and even more especially to Gito and Juan, who fought so hard to be together, and now they are, in their new home. Next year, I'll say that for Tom and Emilio!

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend. Lots of love to all.

job update: major dilemma approaching

Reading about the trials and tribulations of my job search must be getting pretty boring. But I've learned to stop apologizing for the content of my posts. I finally got it that if you don't want to read it, you'll just skip this one.

Tomorrow I have an interview with a Large Financial Firm for a full-time document production position. It's normal Monday-Friday daytime hours. I've already done a phone interview, and I'm reasonably certain I'll get an offer. The question is, do I want the job?

Advantages:

Good, steady money and other benefits like paid sick and vacation days. Easier living, which we had before I quit my job at Really Crappy Firm. The end of our financial worries for a while.

It's not a law firm, so if a Fri/Sat/Sun law firm job becomes available, I could bolt with no negative consequences.

I don't think leaving Really Crappy Firm after only 3 weeks on the job will reflect badly on me, but doing that twice in a row would not be good. Even if I don't put these jobs on my resume, the Toronto corporate legal world is pretty small, the HR managers all know each other, and I can't make a habit of taking jobs and leaving. LFF would presumably be outside that loop, so if a weekend spot came up somewhere else, I would just leave.

Since Allan and I wouldn't be working the same hours, we wouldn't need dog-walking services, which is a major expense. I'd be able to begin paying back the money we've borrowing from our savings right away.

Daytime hours would mean I would still be home for grilling in the backyard and baseball with my sweetie four nights a week, which is tremendously important to me right now. It might just be the nicest summer we've ever had, and I'm incredibly reluctant to see it end.

Disadvantages:

Conventional hours feels a bit like going to prison. I haven't worked Monday-Friday hours in more than 15 years. I took a Mon-Fri job briefly last year, but that had the possibility of changing to three 12-hour days, and it did. This job would have no possibility of that, as LFF does not have weekend or evening shifts.

Working conventional hours means no writing. I did it when I was younger - waking up at 5:00 a.m. to crank out pages on my novel before going to work as a secretary - but I don't have the energy or motivation for that anymore. It basically means a life of work for money (with no other incentive), watching baseball, staying home on weekends (Allan will have the car) and waiting for a better job to come along.

What happens if I don't take the job:

We can manage the way we have been through the summer. Money is tight but doable, and we are using money from our moving-to-Canada savings. In August I'll apply for the notetaking work, and presumably start that in September. In between terms, I'll fill in with copyediting and other work, and sweat.

Notetaking may lead to more work, as I'll be on college campuses, and will look for international students in need of an editor. I've also been picking up work from my Craigslist ad.

Of course those are not guaranteed salaries. Freelance work is always variable and less secure.

So. Money and security, now, with the end of freedom, relaxation and writing time? Or very tight finances, with more time and freedom?

One moment the choice seems clear: if I'm offered the job, I must take it. The next moment it seems equally clear in the other direction.

call it whatever you like, just bring the troops home

This morning's headlines tell us that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has "softened" his stance on extending Canada's military presence in Afghanistan, and will seek "consensus" before keeping the troops there longer.

If you read a bit further, however, Harper manages to "soften" while still blaming the Liberals for a potential pull out.

I don't want to send people on a mission if the opposition is going to, at home, undercut the dangerous work they're doing in the field.

So Canada won't leave Afghanistan because that's what most Canadians want, and it won't leave Afghanistan because it has no business being there. And it certainly won't leave because the Tories needs votes in Quebec, where polls show a whopping 70% opposition to the war. Certainly not. Canada will leave because the Liberals are undercutting the mission. Uh huh.

But politics aside, the main thing is that the debate is out there, that the discussion is moving forward. That gives us hope for Canada to do the right thing.

what i'm reading: a complicated kindness by mirian toews

I've started A Complicated Kindness, by the Canadian novelist Miriam Toews, the first of a few novels I took out of the library to give my brain a break from overly dense history.

I really like the book so far, especially the voice of the teenaged narrator. I'm always interested in books with a teenage narrator, especially ones that are not necessarily written for young people. Toews's narrator feels very authentic and not forced, which can be a common pitfall.

I had A Complicated Kindness from the library last year, but for some reason I never got to it. While it was sitting around the house, Allan picked it up, and he found the depiction of growing up in a repressive religious environment rang true as well. I'm enjoying the dark humour and the pointed observations.

more brief updates

The "Engrish" editing job may not have been a scam after all. And here I deleted the question mark from the title of that post! They're looking into other methods of payment. If they'll use PayPal, I'll do it.

I realized I can do the notetaking work without making a long-term commitment. If no weekend doc-pro spot comes up through the summer (which I suspect will be the case), I can apply for notetaking work in August, and if I'm accepted, start work in September. Notetaking during the college term will buy me some time to wait for a good doc-pro job, as opposed to taking a schedule I dread. So while there's not enough work for my main employment, it might be an interesting and well-paid stop-gap.

I've been copyediting websites for various people who are not native speakers of English. I enjoy the work, and I wouldn't mind doing a lot more of it. I put an ad on Craigslist (me and a zillion other people), and I'm brainstorming other avenues to find work. Woti-Woti suggested contacting universities about thesis editing, which I have to look into. Feel free to jump in if you've got ideas.

canada out of afghanistan

The head of NATO is doing a PR stint in Quebec, trying to bolster support for the Afghan "mission" in that province. (Don't you love that euphemism? Why don't they start calling the soldiers "missionaries"?)

NATO is now pushing Canada to stay in Afghanistan past the current commitment, which expires in 2009. Let's hope an autumn election quashes any notion of that. From today's Star:

NATO has had a tough time convincing members of the 26-member military alliance to deploy troops alongside the Canadians in the dangerous regions of southern Afghanistan, where insurgent activity is highest.

Now it's facing the possibility that two of the nations already there – the Netherlands and Canada – could pull up stakes with no nations waiting in the wings to take their place.

The Netherlands, Scheffer's home country, is due to decide on its troop presence in southern Afghanistan this summer, a debate that could influence Canada's own decision, which isn't expected until next year.

Just this week, the Commons' defence committee issued a report calling for an immediate debate in Parliament on the future of Canada's presence in Afghanistan.

Immediate debate, then immediate withdrawal.

toronto city vehicles to remain political billboards

For a few months, Toronto fire and ambulance vehicles have been displaying "support our troops" ribbon-shaped decals. The stickers were supposed to be removed in September, but some city councillors wanted them left on indefinitely.

Mayor David Miller correctly pointed out that may people view the decals as support for Canada's military presence in Afghanistan, which he termed "very controversial". Yesterday Miller was quoted: "There are calls from people saying, 'Why are you expressing support for war in Afghanistan?'" he said, adding he wasn't made aware ahead of time that the decals would appear on city vehicles."

This morning we learn that the mayor, caving to pressure, will keep the decals on city vehicles for some indeterminate period.

I'm not blaming Miller alone, although he could have shown a little spine. The City Council vote was 37-0 in favour of leaving the stickers on. Pressure must have been pretty intense, because those who wanted to vote against it absented themselves instead.

But unease with the motion, voted on twice, prompted a few councillors to abstain with their feet.

The first vote was 37-0, and a second was taken to give some who weren't present another chance.

Councillor Pam McConnell absented herself both times.

"My father died in (World War II) and so I was orphaned by the war. My nephew has returned (from Afghanistan) and I am aware this is a war," she said.

McConnell said she felt that though she supports the troops – "How can you not support people who are giving their lives?" – it was important to make a statement against the war in Afghanistan.

"In order to show my support for both my father, my nephew and other people who are being hurt, maimed and who have died in wars, I left the chamber. I felt it was the most important thing I could do.

"I was not going to vote against my conscience or my beliefs," she said.

Councillor Janet Davis, who said Tuesday she doesn't believe city vehicles should be used to "promote political messages," was present for the first vote but absented herself for the second. She later said she supports Canadian soldiers, but not extending the ribbon campaign.

Councillor Gord Perks, present for the first vote, left for the second, explaining later that he felt the subsequent vote was being used to embarrass those who were abstaining.

Sounds more like a small-town mob than the city council of Canada's largest city.

You all know how I feel about support-our-troops stickers. (I should invite Crabbi over. She's the most rabid anti-stickerite I know.) Here are a few questions.

Does putting a sticker on a truck mean you are more patriotic than the person driving a vehicle without a sticker?

What does "support the troops" actually mean? How are you supporting the troops by putting a sticker on your truck? The Star story says "Proceeds from the decal sales go to a fund helping Canadian military people and their families." That's pretty vague. But if you contribute to that fund, why do you need to advertise your contribution to the world? Wouldn't your contribution go further if there weren't an exchange of goods involved?

Why should a city-owned vehicle bear a political statement of any kind? And how can this possibly be viewed as apolitical?

Do I support the troops any less because I want Canada to bring them home now?

Can you tell me what Canada is doing in Afghanistan? Not what it's supposed to be doing, what it's really doing. What's being accomplished, besides death.

As an aside, this incident should (but won't) remind us to pause before we make these kinds of changes. Once you ramp up, it's very hard to reverse. That's why they're still singing "God Bless America" during the 7th-inning stretch at Yankee Stadium, and why we still have a news crawl on the bottom of our TV screens during news programs. Once the sticker goes on, it becomes an act of sacrilege to remove it.

As usual, the Star's Jim Coyle has the right idea.

If you support our troops and can't remember the names of any of the Canadian kids killed in the last year, get rid of the ribbons. If you support our troops but have never done so much as sent them a message saying so, have never sent a note of condolence and thanks to the bereaved families of soldiers killed in Afghanistan, lose the decals.

Ribbons have become symbols – once local and personal, now mass-produced – that in their ubiquity have less meaning, not more.

They're rather like the American flags plastered on every football helmet, baseball jersey and political lapel in that nation, an excess that speaks of diminished, rather than enhanced, self-confidence.

It's long past time, moreover, to put paid to the notion – which seems to have started in New York after Sept. 11 six years ago – that emergency services are the nearest thing to an arm of the military and, quite literally, vehicles for advertising.

Firefighters and paramedics have jobs to do and political commentary ain't it.

It goes without saying that they support the troops. They're entirely free to plaster their own vehicles with ribbons saying so if they choose.

But they really have no more business making political billboards out of equipment owned by their employers than I do hanging Ottawa Senators car flags from trucks that deliver the Toronto Star.

Here's some reader opinion from the Star. It's interesting to see the full gamut of opinion, from the staunch supports of peace to those too myopic to comprehend why anyone could possibly object.

job update: disappointment

I've been researching the computerized notetaking gig - gathering information, laying the groundwork - and have been increasingly excited about the possibilities. I was looking forward to the work, and especially the change of lifestyle it would bring. The pay turned out to be better than I thought, and the hours per week would be perfect.

Yesterday I found the catch, and I can't find a way around it.

There aren't enough work weeks. Notetakers work during class time only, not during reading periods (I didn't know what those were, but apparently Canadian college students have study breaks before exams), or during exams, and of course not between terms. I was told the rule of thumb is seven weeks on, seven weeks off. The pay is nice, but not enough thta I could work only half the year.

If I earned more money from my writing, this would be the perfect compliment. But although that happens occasionally, I can't count on it or plan for it. That's why I need the day-job in the first place. I could certainly supplement the notetaking work with writing and copyediting jobs, but it would only be supplemental, not an entire second income.

I've thought myself silly over this, but I can't come up with a way around it. Very reluctantly, I must give up the idea. Damn.

All work has a downside, and I easily recognize the downside that disappears as this option falls through: the insecurity of true freelancing. The constant hustling for work, the inability to turn down jobs, no matter how odious or inconvenient, because you don't know when the next offer will come in. I've done that, and that's why I settled on the steady day-job at a law firm.

I really wanted this notetaking gig, and I was willing to accept the downside with the bargain, at least to try it for a year. But now that I see it won't work, I can focus on the comforting prospect of seeing a steady paycheque deposited into my bank account every two weeks, and the luxury of paid vacations and sick time.

Trouble is, I still have to find one of those!

My dilemma: If I don't find a job with my preferred schedule, when do I give up and interview for jobs with conventional full-time schedules (which will feel something like going to prison)? There's no clear answer to this.

the first victim

Archaeologists have uncovered the human skeleton of what appears to be the earliest known gunshot victim in the New World. The skeleton was found in an Inca cemetery outside Lima, Peru.

Digging in an Inca cemetery in the suburbs of Lima, they came on well-preserved remains of an individual with holes less than an inch in diameter in the back and front of the skull. Forensic scientists in Connecticut said the position of the round holes and some minuscule iron particles showed that the person most likely was shot and killed by a Spanish musket ball.

Ceramics and other artifacts in the 72 examined graves established the approximate time of the burials, archaeologists said, and this indicated that these were casualties of combat between Inca warriors and Spanish invaders, who seized the Andean empire in 1532. Spanish chronicles describe a pitched battle, a last stand of the Incas that was fought in the vicinity in 1536.

Conquistadors were equipped with some of the first effective firearms, which had been developed recently in Europe, military historians say.

The National Geographic Society announced yesterday the discovery of the gunshot victim by the independent Peruvian archaeologists Guillermo Cock and Elena Goycochea, who have conducted research at the Puruchuco cemetery for years. A Nova-National Geographic television program on the research is scheduled for next Tuesday.

The fact that Incan remains were found in a European-style cemetery is in itself evidence of subjugation. The Incas left their dead in a crouching position, facing northeast, in a rock niche or similar opening, so the soul could be carried to the next life by a condor-shaped god. Catholic missionaries ordered those types of burial sites destroyed, and forced the Incas to bury their dead underground, in prone position. In the Incan belief system, this destroyed a person's chance for passage into the next life. Nothing spells subjugation like an eternity without peace.

More from the New York Times story:

Dr. Cock said that at least 35 of the excavated skeletons bore evidence of violent injuries: cheekbones crushed by heavy blows, broken hands and limbs, a smashed chest. Some had presumably fallen in hand-to-hand combat or been trampled by Spanish horses, another instrument of warfare new to the Americas.

No similar evidence of a death by gunshot this early has been found elsewhere in the Americas, Dr. Cock said. The musket shot appeared to have entered the back of the man's skull, punching a piece of bone from outside to inside, and emerged through the face.

"The individual may have been escaping from the Europeans," the archaeologist said.

These particular graves attracted the attention of the excavators because they were shallow and the bodies appeared to have been interred hastily. They were not ritually wrapped in shrouds and placed in a crouched position facing northeast, as was customary in Inca burials.

Forensic experts at the University of New Haven, in Connecticut, confirmed the violent nature of the deaths. Albert B. Harper, executive director of the Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science at the university, said, "We tried to rule out all kinds of causes of the hole — a rock from a slingshot, spear, sledgehammer."

An examination of the skull with a scanning electron microscope detected the otherwise invisible iron traces, Dr. Harper said, sealing the verdict of death by a musket ball fired from a range of perhaps 100 feet.

I think forensic archaeology is fascinating. The same experts have been called upon to determine cause of death in modern exterminations on the same continent.

The remains of this earliest gunshot victim was found outside Lima, the capital of modern Peru. The Incan capital was Cuzco. In Cuzco, you can see the original Inca stone foundations of the city, which have survived in near-perfect condition through centuries of earthquakes and attempted human destruction. You may recall how these stones blew me away last spring. They were among the most astounding human creations I have ever seen.

Slightly over 100 kilometres away in Machu Picchu, you can see the remains of a glorious Incan city that the Spanish never found, an absolute wonder of human ingenuity, engineering, industry, heartbreak and loss.

are we safer yet?

I feel so much better now that Canada's no-fly list has been implemented. How has the country managed to avert disaster all this time without it?

What's that you say? Terrorists don't fly with their own names and passports? Civil what? That's so pre-6/19/07 thinking!

Well, it can't be pre-9/11 thinking. We've been managing without it since then.

pop answers

Answers and explanations are now in comments.

our man ko

Amazing stuff from our man in the mainstream media, Keith Olbermann.

On the restoration of habeas corpus, and what its costing the US to ignore it.

Turley: "The greatest irony of the Bush Administration is that his legacy will be to show the dangers of walking away from those rights that define us. We're very much alone today. He can't go to Canada without people protesting, Miss America can't even go to Mexico without being booed. We're viewed as a rogue nation and it is a dangerous world to live in when you’re alone."

On the nexus of politics and terror:

. . . from the mind-bending idea that four guys dressed as Pizza Delivery men were going to out-gun all the soldiers at Fort Dix . . . to the not-too-thought-out plan to blow-up J-F-K Airport . . . here we go again. Time for an update of our segment "The Nexus of Politics and Terror".

And, to refresh our memories, the first part of that timeline.

Thanks, as always, to Crooks and Liars for hosting Mr Olbermann.

letter: green cities

I have a letter in today's Toronto Star. A recent article about Toronto's environmental plans looked at three other cities: San Francisco, Chicago and New York.

Perhaps the writer just wanted to use three US cities, or perhaps it's de rigueur to compare Toronto to New York. But New York's environmental policies are so weak, that the article cites Mayor Bloomberg's proposals, none of which exist yet - and many of which, knowing New York, may never exist. I wrote this.

If Toronto wants to emulate New York City's successes, it shouldn't look at proposals for programs that don't exist, and may never, like Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposed vehicle congestion tax.

Where New York should and can be imitated is its massive public transportation infrastructure. Driving into Manhattan's business district is an unnecessary luxury. Owning a car at all in New York is a luxury, not a necessity. Can Toronto say that?

I think a vehicle congestion charge is an important and necessary idea. I'm sure you know that Ken Livingstone, the forward-thinking mayor of London, pioneered its use. Its success led Livingstone to push on, introducing a pilot program to one area of London, in which drivers pay tolls based on vehicle emissions.

I'd like to see New York City ban private vehicles from downtown and midtown Manhattan altogether. Buses and cabs only. I've been saying this for years.

But London and New York City both have an incredible amount of public transit. How can Toronto reduce vehicular use in the city without offering enough alternatives? Toronto needs more subways, and the suburbs need more trains.

And if you want to make a green city, don't look to New York as your model.

what i'm reading

I'm completely stalled on At Canaan's Edge. This is the final book in Taylor Branch's trilogy subtitled "America In The King Years". It's a huge doorstop of a book, and very dense. So were the first two books, and I loved those. This one... I'm having some problems with.

Branch has an unfortunate tendency to overwhelm the reader with details. While the well-chosen detail brings clarity and focus, mountains of extraneous detail can obscure all meaning. The book is full of long, winding sentences, clauses looped onto clauses, often using odd constructions that force me to read a sentence two or three times before I understand it. One after the next after the next.

I feel more like I'm plowing through this book to absorb information than actually enjoying the experience of reading.

This is a big disappointment, as I loved the first two books, and was eagerly awaiting this one.

I long ago stopped forcing myself to finish every book I start, as long as I give it a good chance. (After giving up on a book, I'll often wonder if I did give it a fair shot, and I'll try again - almost always with the same result.) But having read the first two 1,000-page books in this trilogy, and a good two-thirds of this last one, there's no way I'm going to quit.

But I am going to take a break.

My library card plus a list of novels I want to read will save me. Then I'll come back to King, Hoover, Johnson, the Klan, George Wallace, Robert McNamara, Stokeley Carmichael, Watts, Chicago, Selma, Vietnam, and everything else in the world in 1967.

pop quiz

1. Whose blog is this?

2. Is the answer to that question difficult to find?

3. Is there anything about this blog that causes you to think someone other than [answer to question number one] writes this blog?

Please answer below. Thank you.

khadr and makhtal, the us and canada

From Thomas Walkom:

Governments like to say there is only one class of Canadian citizen – that no matter whether we were born here or naturalized, no matter our religion, ethnicity or political views, we receive equal treatment from the state. That is what governments like to say.

Unfortunately, this is not true – particularly when citizens find themselves in trouble abroad. If a middle-class Canadian tourist is killed in Mexico, the story is front-page news. The minister of foreign affairs makes statements; the Mexicans are asked to explain. Similarly, if a Canadian is mistreated by a country we disapprove of – like Iran or even China – Ottawa is happy to talk tough. The former Liberal government roasted Iran over the jailing and murder of Zahra Kazemi. Stephen Harper, the current prime minister, is taking China to task over its imprisonment of Huseyin Celil.

But if a Canadian is unlucky enough to run into trouble with a country that Ottawa does not wish to offend, it is a different story. In those cases, the government says little and does less. If the Canadian is unpopular or lacks media-savvy supporters, the government pays even less attention.

So it was with software engineer Maher Arar at the beginning of his torture-imprisonment ordeal. So it is still with Omar Khadr, the 20-year-old Canadian imprisoned for five years by the U.S. at Guantanamo Bay. The Canadian government finally moved on the Arar file, in large part because his wife cut a sympathetic figure with the public. The government is able to stall on the Khadr file, in large part because his family does not.

Bashir Makhtal is one of the latest to fall victim to this cruel double standard. Born in the rebellious Ogaden province of Ethiopia, raised in Somalia, a Canadian citizen since 1994, Makhtal – like many others in the Somali diaspora – returned to Mogadishu to do business. In his case, business consisted of importing used clothing.

In December, when Ethiopian troops invaded Somalia to oust the government of the day, he fled to the Kenyan border.

What he didn't know, however, was that the geopolitics of the region had shifted. With a new military command based in Ethiopia, the U.S. quietly helped its client state unseat an Islamic government in Somalia that Washington didn't much like. Kenya was also onside with the Americans. Makhtal was caught in the middle.

Along with 84 others, he was illegally transferred by Kenya to Ethiopia via Somalia for interrogation and imprisonment. A letter received by his relatives in Hamilton says he was threatened with torture and forced to make a false confession. Consular officials have not been allowed to see him.

Ottawa's response has been spectacularly anemic. Makhtal's name been raised only once in the Commons. Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay has said his usual little. He has not taken Kenya to task for deporting a Canadian to a country with a dodgy human rights record. Nor has he pressured Ethiopia to release Makhtal. The reason, it seems, is America. Amnesty International says U.S. agents have been involved in the interrogation of the Kenyan deportees. And when Washington is involved, the Canadian government stays mum.

Makhtal's relatives and friends continue to push for action. It is an uphill battle. They hold demonstrations that no one reports on. They receive only minimal attention from politicians. As someone who is neither famous nor beautiful, Makhtal does not lead the newscasts. In this very brutal version of Canadian Idol, he does not get many audience votes.

A group of lawyers, politicians and human rights organizations have called on Stephen Harper to negotiate directly with the US to bring Khadr home to Canada. Peter MacKay says Canada must wait until the appeals process is finished. The appeals process! As if any part of this process has a shred of legitimacy. A teenage boy is held in a concentration camp for five years, then after he's cleared him of all charges, Ottawa still won't intervene to bring him home to Canada.

I dream of a Canada that stands up to the bully south of the border. A Canada unafraid to assert its own values - which, from a selfish point of view, could only increase its standing on the world stage. Instead, I see a Canada that blithely brushes off human rights, international law and basic decency, so as not to ruffle the feathers of its major trading partner.

As much as some wmtc readers - mostly in the US - love to point fingers at Harper and MacKay, there's little evidence that Khadr would fare better under a Liberal government. A Liberal government got Canada into Afghanistan, then did nothing to help Khadr for four years before the Conservatives were elected. I sometimes wonder at the venom spewed against Harper, when in many ways he's just maintaining the status quo.

When it comes to the US's war of terror, Canada is still the US's handmaiden. Maybe there's some tough talk at election time, but that's where it ends. It's naive to think this is a Harper issue. This is a Canada issue.

Here's an excellent long article from Rolling Stone on Khadr's ordeal, and background from Amnesty.

If you're unfamiliar with Bashir Makhtal's ordeal - or what we know of it - here's some background. Also: Friends of Bashir Makhtal.