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What a year this has been. Big? The biggest. In the first part of 2005, we were mostly just waiting. In January, we heard from Immigration : the request for additional documents. In February and March, applied for our FBI clearances, had our medical exams , collected whatever other documents were needed. End of March, mailed our second round of documents - although even much of that time was spent waiting. I had a good amount of writing work, but not overload. I spent my time getting together with people I seldom saw, enjoying New York, making lists, waiting for the mail every day. Waiting, waiting. "The Gates" came to town, I adored them (more here , and some little blips here and here ), then: waiting, waiting. Then the pace picked up. Buster gets sick - and keeps getting sicker. A monster writing assignment falls into my lap - a major writing challenge, impossible deadlines, more money than I'd ever been paid to write anything in my life. And we hear from Canada . Al

A generous friend of wmtc, Peregrinato , sent me some terrific reading material: "Peace, Order and Rocky Government: A Survey of Canada", from The Economist . Articles include: * Alienating the west: Canada gets its very own Texas. * A dream that does not fade: Quebec might yet quit Canada. * Living with number one: Relations with the United States are fraying. * A funny sort of government: Canada's dysfunctional politics. * The perils of cool: Canada has everything, except perhaps ambition. It's The Economist , so it's well researched and well written, although I think some of it leans too heavily on stereotype. I've been reading it for a while, trying to figure out how to blog about it, to no avail. There's too much of it, and no link. But I do recommend it. So let me put it this way, if you'd like to read more, email me .

Several years ago, I trained myself to stop using the word "our" when referring to the United States. It was a change of habit I picked up from Allan and from other peace activists. I despised the way Americans referred to "us" in military terms: "we bombed Baghdad". You know the old punchline, "Who you calling 'we', white man?" That's how I felt. That's not me. Don't include me in that us. Old speech habits are hard to break, but I got accustomed to referring to the US as that: the US. "We" might be women, or working people, or progressives, but not the country, and certainly not the government. Obviously, it was something I felt very strongly, because here I am. Now I've noticed how Canadians use the same word, and how different it sounds. There's an ad on the CBC right now for a show about Canadian comedy , and several times it says things like "our brand of humour" or "our comedy". I a

We're not big on New Year's Eve in our house. We never go out or even look for anything to do. We get a bottle of champagne, make popcorn, watch some comedy, and when the time is nigh, tune in to the ubiquitous countdowns. In 1999, I really enjoyed watching the celebrations all over the world as the big odometer clicked over to 2000. It was wonderful thinking of people all over the planet sharing this event. But other than that, I don't generally find New Year's Eve too exciting. Our anniversary is three days later, and we save the real celebration for that. This year we've rented the first season of Corner Gas on DVD. It's become one of our favourite shows. ( RobfromAlberta , do you know I have you to thank for that?) We watched the first three episodes last night, and were really impressed. Often, when you see early episodes of good comedies - even ones that became monster hits, such as Seinfeld or, going further back, MASH or Mary Tyler Moore - you find they

I forgot to watch the Queen's Message to Canada on Christmas Day. It occurred to me that I've never heard the Queen speak, and my mental image of her is Scott Thompson ! So I just downloaded the Queen's Message from the CBC News website (Real Player only). Well, very nice, Queen. Very strange, this whole Queen thing. A figurehead monarch is a nice idea, I suppose. But a bit outdated, eh? I understand it in theory, but I'll never really understand it in my bones. Some part of me will always be American. Speaking of royalty, has anyone seen the TV movie Wallis & Edward that CBC is running? Did you like it? I might try to catch a re-broadcast.

Once again, Canada is everywhere, and I don't mean outside my window or under my feet. Yesterday we tested the new audio connection on our DVD player (it's finally hooked up to the stereo). What else would we choose for a test run but " The Last Waltz "? It's our favourite music movie - and one of our favourite movies, period. I have no idea how many times I've seen The Last Waltz, but it must be dozens, dating back to 1978, when I skipped school and snuck into the city with friends to see it on the big screen the week it opened, on to all those video rentals when Allan and I were still long-distance, to our first VCR. When we got our DVD player, it was the first disk we bought. We know every word of dialogue, every squeezed-out guitar note, every drug-dilated pupil, and of course, when to fast-forward (Neil Diamond!). So after all that, did I really never notice, until yesterday, that in the opening interview sequence, Robbie Robertson is sitting in front of

We saw a great movie last night, which I highly recommend: "I'm Not Scared" ( Io non ho paura in the original Italian). It was directed by Gabriele Salvatores, who made the wonderful film "Mediterraneo", among many others. I can't say too much about I'm Not Scared without giving away the movie's well-done susprises. (Trust me and don't read the plot summary.) It's part coming-of-age story, and part suspense-thriller. A 10-year-old boy in rural Italy taps into his innate courage and sense of morality, at great risk to himself, and in defiance of the corrupt adults around him. It's beautifully shot and excellently acted. A great rental if you're home this holiday weekend.

It's good to see numerous conservative columnists catching on . It's also good to see those headlines Google sends to Gmail coming in handy for something.

Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of The Nation , writes on her blog that "the I-word" is picking up some traction in mainstream media circles. The I-word has moved from the marginal to the mainstream--although columnists like Charles "torture-is-fine-by-me" Krauthammer would like us to believe that "only the most brazen and reckless and partisan" could support the idea. In fact, as Michelle Goldberg reports in Salon, "in the past few days, impeachment "has become a topic of considered discussion among constitutional scholars and experts (including a few Republicans), former intelligence officers, and even a few politicians." Even a moderately liberal columnist like Newsweek's Alter sounds like The Nation, observing: "We're seeing clearly now that Bush thought 9/11 gave him license to act like a dictator." As Editor & Publisher recently reported, the idea of impeaching Bush has entered the mainstream media's circulator

The extensive coverage of yesterday's anniversary of the Asian tsunami was extraordinary. We watched an amazing CBC Fifth Estate that had moment-by-moment interviews with several survivors. Their stories were harrowing and surreal, beyond imagination. From my own experience, and from interviewing people who've survived many kinds of trauma, I know that anniversaries can be very meaningful, and very difficult. The first one - the first few - can be especially painful, but also especially significant. My heart really went out to the people gathered on the beaches of Thailand and Sri Lanka and Indonesia, and all the people struggling privately with their memories. The tsunami anniversary was an odd juxtaposition with the endless ads for Boxing Day sales, and the glimpse of Boxing Day Sale Mania on the news. I notice many stores have invented something called Boxing Week as a way to extend the buying frenzy. In February in the US, not only have two Presidents' birthdays been m

Various observations on sport this morning. I see that the Winter Olympics is much bigger here in Canada than in the US - which completely makes sense. I have a lot of mixed feelings about the Olympics in general. I'm turned off by all the nationalism, the IOC is notoriously corrupt, and the presence of professional athletes exposes a strange farce. Yet despite all that, it's fantastic to see people compete at that elite level, especially (for me) in sports that enjoy little or no widespread recognition. In Canada, where the winter sports are much more part of the national psyche, and where nationalism isn't as offensive to me as it is in the US, I'm ready to get caught up in hockey, skiing, speed skating, and all the rest, even the crazy luge and skeleton. I'll also be watching to see how much coverage, if any, Canadian media gives to the country's Paralympic athletes. The Paralympics, the Olympics for athletes with physical disabilities, is where the true flam

Another dispatch from the Land of the Free, brought to you by Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post . I guess the Cheney White House has pissed off even conservative writers now, by personally treading on their turf. I found this at The Huffington Post , where you can find many good things to read. Bush Presses Editors on Security By Howard Kurtz Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, December 26, 2005; C01 President Bush has been summoning newspaper editors lately in an effort to prevent publication of stories he considers damaging to national security. The efforts have failed, but the rare White House sessions with the executive editors of The Washington Post and New York Times are an indication of how seriously the president takes the recent reporting that has raised questions about the administration's anti-terror tactics. Leonard Downie Jr., The Post's executive editor, would not confirm the meeting with Bush before publishing reporter Dana Priest's Nov. 2 article disclosi

I always say: to be a Jew and an atheist at Christmastime is to know the meaning of "I was a stranger in a strange land". (I do always say it: I wrote the exact same thing last year . I am so boring!) Even as a child, the sight of the Christmas tree at the White House bothered me, and I never understood why Christmas is a national holiday in a country that isn't supposed to have a state religion. Still don't. So this bullshit that has the religious right in its latest snit - the notion that Christmas somehow needs "saving", this bizarre campaign to portray the vast Christian majority as persecuted - is beyond the scope of my imagination. All I can do is shake my head in disbelief. Last year I wondered if I would feel just as alienated during Christmastime in Canada. Readers conjectured that I probably would, as the Christian tradition is predominant. The Christmas onslaught does seem more low-key here, but I'm shielded from large parts of the culture, w

I don't celebrate this holiday, but I do like some of the music we get to hear this time of year. Of course, some of it, I hate. I never need to hear another note of Winter Wonderland, White Christmas or Little Drummer Boy again, no matter who is singing. Other songs are fun and slightly less over played. Here are my picks for a Christmas Music CD, with songwriting and performance credit, where they're different. River - Joni Mitchell 2000 Miles - The Pretenders Washington Square - Chris Isaak Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Blane/Martin) - Aimee Mann [that gets the sad songs out of the way] Blue Christmas (Hayes/Johnson) - Elvis Presley Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree (John Marks) - Brenda Lee Run Run Rudolph (Chuck Berry) - Keith Richards Merry Christmas I Don't Want To Fight Tonight - The Ramones Merry Christmas Baby (Chuck Berry) - Bruce Springsteen O Tannenbaum (trad.) - They Might Be Giants (It's Gonna Be A) Punk Rock Christmas - The Ravers Rock And

Since traffic will be light this weekend, I'll direct anyone who happens to come by over to Redsock's blog (now inexplicably re-named), so you can read about how the US government protects its citizens . I know I feel safer knowing that vegans, peaceniks and same-sex kissers are being closely monitored. As President Cheney says, it must be working: the country hasn't been attacked by vegans in a long time.

Since I can't send you all paper mail, I'll blog my holiday greetings. Here are some of our homemade cards over the years. Shows you what limited imagination and even more limited skills can do! There were many years between these cards, so no one noticed the repetition... 1995 2002 [front] [inside] 2005 [front] [inside] Happy Holidays to the whole wmtc crew!

There is now proof that New York City used police-state methods to infiltrate and disrupt peaceful, legal protests against the invasion of Iraq and the Republican National Convention. Long suspected but very difficult to prove, these blatant First Amendment violations were usually chalked up to protestors' paranoia. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly have the gall to claim their right to violate citizens' rights because of - surprise, surprise - September 11th. It is beyond the pale. The excellent journalist Jim Dwyer tells the whole story , including a brief history of the legality of such police-state tactics under the Handschu case. The text is here, but the original has photos and videos that you really should see. Undercover New York City police officers have conducted covert surveillance in the last 16 months of people protesting the Iraq war, bicycle riders taking part in mass rallies and even mourners at a street vigil for a cyclis

I hope you've all seen the excellent movie Spellbound. I'm referring not to the 1945 Hitchcock classic, but to the 2002 film about the Spelling Bee . This terrific little movie follows eight regional spelling champions, all under fifteen years old, as they compete in a crazy American phenomenon called the National Spelling Bee . If you haven't seen Spellbound, you must! You won't believe how a spelling bee can generate edge-of-your-seat suspense. Having seen and enjoyed Spellbound when it came out, last night we saw a movie in a similar vein: Word Wars , about the National Scrabble Championships. Word Wars is about obsession and obsessive people more than anything else. It follows the "tiles and tribulations" (groan!) of four people who live, breathe and sleep Scrabble. They've memorized tens of thousands of words (not their meanings, just their existence), studied strategy, explored the upwards limit of mental endurance - and have given their lives over t

There was another excellent court decision yesterday, as I'm sure you've heard. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that clubs that allow group sex do not harm Canadian society and should not be considered criminal . This ruling marks a step forward in personal freedom and civil liberties. The court has rejected the vague, paternal notion of "community standards" in favour of treating Canadians as adults. They've said, in essence, as long as all participants are consenting adults, there isn't a problem - and it doesn't matter what the neighbours think, because no one's forcing them to participate. These letters about the ruling on the CBC News site show broad support and understanding, as well as a minority of misunderstanding and finger-wagging. That's exactly what makes the ruling so important. The finger-waggers can wag all they want, but they're not allowed to run other people's lives. A quieter story involves a case more than 120 years

Transit strike ! I can't believe it! There's a transit strike in New York City and I'm not there! During the last transit strike, in 1980 - legendary at 12 long days - I was in school in Philadelphia. Twenty-five years later, I leave the city, and they strike four months later. This makes me homesick. Yes, I wish I were there. It's exciting. It's a little extra insanity added to the everyday insanity. It's New York City history. Damn, I wish I were there. It's interesting to see how the local media and most - although definitely not all - New Yorkers descend on the Transit Workers Union in a feeding frenzy of blame. To a person, New Yorkers loathe the MTA, the incompetent and corrupt agency that runs the city's otherwise amazing transit system. "I hate the MTA," is the shared language of all New Yorkers. Yet so few of them imagine having that hateful agency as an employer , and automatically blame the union for the strike. Self over solidarity

Now that Allan is working long hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and I'm trying to use those as my main work days, too, we've gotten in the habit of going out for dinner on Monday nights. I've been really into discovering good food out here in Mississauga, with the help of Chowhounders and wmtc readers. Not long ago, Lone Primate and M@ told us where to get dim sum, and great Chinese food in general, close to home. So last night we went to the big Chinese shopping plaza on Dundas near Cawthra, instantly recognizable by the huge pagoda-like arch over the entrance. The food was excellent. I was thrilled to find Chinatown-quality food, serious menus and typical dim sum banquet halls a short drive from home. I knew it had to be out here somewhere. There are far too many Chinese Canadians living in Mississauga for there not to be really good food. Same goes for great Indian food, which we had last week (although further away). Port Credit is great for pubs and casual bar

Did you know that anybody in Canada "with any ambition at all, or intelligence, has left Canada and is now living in New York"? What, you say, you are a Mensa member, brimming with ambition, and you live above the 49th parallel? No, I'm sorry, that can't be true. You and everyone you know has left for New York. I know this for a fact. And do you know how I know this? Because Tucker Carlson said so. Yes. Tucker Carlson, eminent sociologist, distinguished journalist, sharp-eyed trend-spotter. He said so. Carlson knows. He's done no research, looked at no statistics, interviewed no one. He doesn't have to. He just knows . U.S. pundits bash 'retarded cousin' Canada By Beth Gorham Canadian Press Washington — Canada has been described lately by a conservative U.S. television host as "a stalker" and a "retarded cousin." Another pundit recently asked if Canadians weren't getting "a little too big for their britches." There'

Among the catcalls I used to hear from wingnuts, outraged that someone might actually want to leave the US, was "Enjoy being taxed to death!" or words to that effect. Several American friends - decidedly non-wingnuts - also mentioned that Canadians pay very high taxes. And many Canadians have the impression that Americans pay significantly less taxes than they do. If this were true, Allan and I had no problem with paying higher taxes in return for living in a decent society. The main question for me has always been, Where do my taxes go? In the US, my money was supporting foreign wars and no-bid contracts for billionaires. In Canada, a portion of my earnings support health care - my own, and everyone else's. This is a simplification, of course, but there's truth in it. However, the wingnuts' comments begged the question, Don't you pay taxes, too? We paid taxes in the US - plenty of them. And since starting work here in Canada, we don't see much of a differ

This story has been out for a few days, but a recent comment from Redsock reminded me to mention it. Bush admits to approving secret spying CBC News U.S. President George W. Bush has acknowledged that he authorized secret monitoring of "people with known links to al-Qaeda." But his admission has drawn heated criticism from politicians who say Bush overstepped his authority. . . . . In an eight-minute radio address on Saturday, Bush said he personally approved the interception of communications more than 30 times since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "In the weeks following the terrorist attacks on our nation, I authorized the National Security Agency, consistent with U.S. law and the Constitution, to intercept the international communications of people with known links to Al-Qaeda and related terrorist organizations." He called the program a "vital tool" in protecting American lives against future attacks. Bush criticized a news media leak drawing attenti

A follow-up for folks reading the ever-scintillating heating oil thread. I learned from our landlord that the oil tank capacity is 935 litres. The recent fills were 351.3 litres and 423.5 litres. The tank wasn't empty, but the oil company doesn't let you get more than half-empty in the winter. So we actually had not drained the tank in three weeks, which would have indeed been alarming. The landlord also had the furnace and tank checked just before we moved in. They were given an 84% efficiency rating, which is considered excellent: 80-85% Excellent 75-79% Satisfactory 71-74% Marginal Below 70% Wasteful Condition So, we'll see if we can tighten things up at all: weather-stripping on the doors and sealing up the attic entrance are two likely culprits. And we might be able to decrease our night-time temperature a little. Other than that, the moral of the story is: oil heat is expensive. The end.

Two clips from today's Globe And Mail , both subscriber-only, so here they are. First, a poem by book editor John Allemang. Arnie the barbarian by John Allemang News report: Tookie Williams, gang leader turned activist, was executed in California after beleaguered Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger refused to commute his death sentence. In Terminator: Judgment Day, You never had to stop and say, "If I don't kill this low-life freak, Will soccer moms decide I'm weak?" Death's simpler in your movie roles, Where no one stopped to check the polls When Conan made revenge seem sweet And gangsters ended up dead meat. But now the swing vote plays a part In firming up your hardened heart, And you send Tookie to the grave Because you've got a job to save. "I'd like to let him off, I would, But clemency's misunderstood As weakness in the face of force, So I'll just say he lacks . . . remorse." It took him quite a while to die. Like you, he was a bul

This is the wallet kind of ouch. We live in an old house. The appliances are new and it's been well maintained, but it was built in the 1940s: it's heated by oil, and not well insulated. I knew that would mean an expensive winter, but no one could tell me even approximately what kind of expense we were getting into. Our landlord lived here briefly, and he showed us his old heating bills, but the price of heating oil has changed a lot since then, and he wasn't working at home. In any case, even if we had known the exact figures, we still would have taken the house, so it barely matters. Three weeks ago when we came home from our little Thanksgiving trip, there was a receipt in the mailbox informing us that the oil tank had been filled in our absence. That alone, however, is meaningless. The real test is how long that tank lasts. Well, two days ago I was shocked to see the oil truck pull up again. Three weeks?? That fill-up lasted only three weeks? Gulp. The plastic has bee

I watched the English-language debate last night. Apparently the four candidates were more peppery in English than en Francais . (Is that true? Did any wmtc readers watch the French-language debate on Thursday night?) I can't say I learned anything new, but I did enjoy seeing the Fab Four in action. As much as I think Paul Martin is a grandstander and a gladhander - not quite Clintonesque, but aspiring - I do agree with much of what he says. Yes, I'm aware of the disconnect between what politicians say and what they do. I am from Planet Earth. I think Jack Layton is really cool. Or maybe what's cool is that there is an NDP - a active, viable, left-of-center party. One more reason to apply for citizenship when I'm eligible. Giles Duceppe strikes me as completely bereft of ideas. Maybe he doesn't need any. All he has to do is stand there and repeat, "Referendum. Liberals stole money. Referendum. Liberals stole money." The Sponsorship Scandal doesn't bo

We decided that a special dinner was the way to go for our upcoming anniversary . Perhaps in 2007 - number 20! - we'll go away for a few days, but for 2006 we'll be wining and dining in T.O. For the very special restaurant experience we're looking for, the consensus at Chowhound was Splendido . I got names of several other restaurants that sound very good, but Splendido seems to be the favourite. They're closed during the holidays, so our anniversary dinner will be a week late. No problem. So just now I called to make a reservation. After taking our information, the man asked, "Will you be celebrating a special occasion?" "Why yes," I said, "it's our anniversary - our first in Canada." And he said... "Ah, I saw your post at Chowhound. Thank you for choosing us." !!!! How small is this town? Or perhaps the question should be, how big is Chowhound?

Well, I didn't get sick, or not sick enough to need a doctor, so I don't have a report on a walk-in clinic. In fact, I don't have a report on anything today. Cody woke me up late (we've got to re-set that dog's internal clock!), and I must get to the pool before Allan needs the car for work. So I'm taking the lazy way out this morning, letting Paul Krugman do my work for me. Here are two of his recent columns, now accessible only through the Times 's pay service, reprinted here in their entirety. (Freelancers hate the New York Times and their anti-writer policies. Any excuse to subert them.) Here's Krugman on two of my favorite topics: Wal-Mart, and Iraq New Orleans. Please read and discuss - the columns, or anything else. The Promiser in Chief By Paul Krugman December 9, 2005 Sometimes reconstruction delayed is reconstruction denied. A few months after the invasion of Iraq, President Bush promised to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure and economy. He -

After I blogged about the shooting of a mentally ill passenger in the Miami airport, faithful wmtc readers Kyle_From_Ottawa and Redsock posted some links about the murder. Here, independent journalist Lila Rajiva asks some questions , and a blogger at the Lew Rockwell site adds some of her own . An article on Prison Planet , which documents creeping totalitarianism, takes an in-depth look at the shooting, and compares it to the killing of Charles de Menezes in London. Prison Planet might look a little out-there, but the writers are engaged in an important task: documenting the disintegration of democracy, civil liberties and human rights before the stories fall down the memory hole. (If I use that expression, do I owe Russ Kick a nickel?) Kyle also pointed out that soon US train, bus and ferry passengers will also have air marshal "protection" .