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OK, so I announce I'm taking a break from blogging, then three hours later, I post. Hello, my name is Laura, and I'm addicted to blogging. We just watched the movie "North Country," a powerful, if somewhat predictable, story of one person standing up for her rights, who ends up changing the law, and changing the world. It's a loose dramatization of the story behind Jenson vs. Eveleth Mines , the landmark sexual harassment case that introduced the concept of "hostile climate" to the US workplace. I vividly recall this 1998 ruling, mostly for the shock and revulsion people felt upon reading the details of what women workers endured in the all-male environment of mining. So here's why I quickly interrupted my time off. I want to ask you all a question. Why do many men act this way? Why are many men so offended, so disgusted, so threatened , by the presence of women in a previously all-male environment? What's going on, underneath? Just to say "

I'm taking a little break from blogging, maybe a week, maybe more. My day-job is very busy, we have to file two sets of taxes, prepare for our trip to Peru - something's got to give. Later this week I'm going to New York (and points nearby) for an extended weekend, Thursday night til Monday morning. My mom will be back from Florida, we'll celebrate my sister's 50th birthday, and I'll see a couple of good friends. Allan will pick me up in Buffalo on Monday morning, just in time for... [trumpets, drums, marching band] ... Opening Day! Can't wait. But there is at least one good post coming up. When I get back from the Old Country, I'll be ready to send invitations to our early-summer party. I'll let you know how you can get one of your very own. Tune in for that next week. Til then, hope you're all well and happy. I'll miss you, but I'll be back.

One of the best blogs on the net is up for a literary award . The book Baghdad Burning , a collection of entries from the blog of the same name , is on the long-list for the BBC Four Samuel Johnson Prize. This is an honour richly deserved.

Last time I blogged about something that annoyed me , many of you thought I was seriously angry. So I'll begin by saying that the only things that make me seriously angry have serious consequences: war, injustice, discrimination, child abuse, environmental destruction. (Not an exhaustive list, but that's the idea.) Everything else is simple annoyance. Pet peeves. Just stuff I don't like. So let's agree that I'm not seething, steam is not coming out of my ears, and this is not a rant. This is just something I don't care for. I dislike when bloggers ask for donations. I first noticed this a couple of years ago, while visiting a popular female blogger who I won't name. With time to kill on my old weekend job in New York, I dropped her a line to ask what exactly her readers were being asked to contribute to . I mean, she's using Blogger, the software is free. She appeared to be writing just like the rest of us, not performing any special activism or offering

I saw an interesting movie last night, one I'd like to recommend to you: "Watermarks" . In Vienna, in the early part of the 20th Century, there was a Jewish sports club called Hakoah, Hebrew for "The Strength". Jews were prohibited from participating in Austrian sports clubs, so they founded their own. Hakoah became hugely popular, with thousands of members throughout Europe, and hugely successful, both their women's and men's teams winning championships in several sports. In the 1930s, Hakoah became best known for its female swimmers, who dominated national competitions in Austria. After Hitler annexed Austria in 1938 (with overwhelming popular support from his native Austrians), the Nazis shut down the club. Hakoah's president and its swim coach, high on the Gestapo wanted list, managed to escape. From safety in England, they smuggled out every swimmer and their families. So Hakoah gave these young women direction and purpose, and it ended up savin

Here's a great column I want to share with you, written by Jon Carroll of the San Francisco Chronicle , which I found through the NOW newsletter that appears in my inbox. Carroll writes, in part: Last year the Ford Motor Co. started to buy ads in several publications aimed at gay readers. They did so, one presumes, because they realized that gay people buy automobiles, and Ford has, alas, not been selling many automobiles lately. Then the company got assaulted by the American Family Association, a creation of the Rev. Donald Wildmon, a clever right-wing agitator with a hate-based agenda. So Ford announced that it would stop advertising in gay publications. But then, whoops, Ford reversed its reversal and said, never mind, it was going to advertise in gay publications after all. So then a representative of the AFA announced that it was reinstating its boycott. "We cannot, and will not, sit by as Ford supports a social agenda aimed at the destruction of the family." What a

I noticed in my Statcounter that several readers had come from Norwegianity , one of the other Koufax finalists in the Most Deserving of Wider Recognition category. I suppose it's meant to be a humourous post; not really my brand of humour, but that's not important. Reading that post, I realized I hadn't looked at the other finalists in this category. Truth be told, I'm not a big reader of blogs. I read a lot: hard news with as little commentary as possible, well constructed leftist essays, novels, history, political thought - but not a whole lot of blogs. So I used Norwegianity's post as an impetus to look at all the finalists in this category, and I suddenly thought, This is ridiculous. The whole idea of a blog competition is ridiculous. Not that the Koufaxes are ridiculous. The good folks at Wampum work hard to introduce more of the lefty blogosphere to each other, and they do an excellent job. (I have a problem with blog fundraising drives, but that's a pos

Those of you who follow the burgeoning theocracy to the south may already have seen this, but it bears repeating. From Indianz.com : Oglala Sioux president on state abortion law "When Governor Mike Rounds signed HB 1215 into law it effectively banned all abortions in the state with the exception that it did allow saving the mother's life. There were, however, no exceptions for victims of rape or incest. His actions, and the comments of State Senators like Bill Napoli of Rapid City, SD, set of a maelstrom of protests within the state. Napoli suggested that if it was a case of "simple rape," there should be no thoughts of ending a pregnancy. Letters by the hundreds appeared in local newspapers, mostly written by women, challenging Napoli's description of rape as "simple." He has yet to explain satisfactorily what he meant by "simple rape." The President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Cecilia Fire Thunder, was incensed.

Spring in the Old Country. Pale Male and Lola, the famous Fifth Avenue hawks, are nesting again. Via green-links , via Main St. USA , who hopes the birds have good aim, via Redsock .

Hey, I just realized something! In comments here and here , readers were talking about "ParticipAction" , Canada's physical fitness promotion from the 1970s. Someone mentioned Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod, and I asked who they were. I just realized that I see these two wankers all the time. Since I've been working full-time, before I go to sleep - too tired to read or even watch "The National" - I've been watching "Seinfeld" reruns. Before the show, there's a cheesey public-service ad for "Bodybreak" , and last night I actually listened to their introduction: "Hi, Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod here..." They were someone's pick for Most Annoying Canadian, and although I would still vote for Canadian Tire Guy, these two are definitely in the running.

Ah, the weekend. And a real weekend, because all my current writing assignments are in. I can spend two days relaxing and doing things around the house and the neighbourhood. The firm where I'm temping wants to hire me, which is not surprising - if only I was as good a writer as I am legal secretary and word-processor! What is surprising, and great, is that they're trying to accommodate my need for an unusual schedule. They have several employees who work unconventional schedules, like four 10-hour days or three 12-hour days. Not every law firm is open to that, and it shows flexibility on their part. As corporate law firms go, this one is a very nice work environment - relaxed and friendly. Knowing they're considering offering me a better schedule makes it a whole lot easier to do the Mon-Fri 9-5 thing. I feel like I'm making an investment, with a chance of some kind of payoff down the road.

I wanted to post this the other day with my Wallace & Gromit post , but Blogger wouldn't comply, and I had to go to work. So here it is tonight, for no reason.

Final voting for the Koufax Awards is closing soon. Vote here for wmtc, or vote by email: wampum @ nic-naa.net subject: Koufax Best Blog (non-pro): Best Blog Community: Best Blog (pro/sponsor): Best Group Blog: Best Post: Best Series: Best Writing: Best Expert Blog: Best Single Issue: Most Humorous Blog: Most Humorous Post: Best state and local Blog: More Deserving of Wider Recognition: Best New Blog: Best Commenter: Please remember, one vote per category per person.

A coyote was caught in Central Park two days ago, but only after leading New York City police, parks department workers and the media on a wild chase. I remember the last time a coyote appeared in New York City, in 1999. Coyotes are extremely intelligent and among the most adaptable of mammals - and their habitat is always being developed by humans - so you never know where they'll turn up. Even so, how an animal like this ends up in Central Park makes me shake my head in wonder. This one's bound for a wildlife rehabilitation farm in upstate New York. Last night we saw another adorable canine: Gromit . We watched "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit". It's very enjoyable, and if you don't know Wallace and Gromit, this is a good place to start. We've been fans of Nick Park and his insanely detailed plasticine animation since seeing "Creature Comforts" and "A Grand Day Out" ages ago at New York City's Film Forum. The

Trying to shoehorn my life around this full-time work schedule isn't leaving me much energy for creative or interesting blog posts. But I'm only working these hours until we leave for Peru, so we'll get back to our interesting discussions in May, if not sooner. Meanwhile, I'll do something easy, but important. A good email from United For Peace and Justice caught me up on events around the country and the world marking the third anniversary of the US's invasion of Iraq. Much is made of the obvious fact that the antiwar movement in the U.S. has not yet reached the level of, say, the anti-Vietnam protests in 1973. But don't forget, the U.S. was involved in Vietnam (secretly) in the 1950s . It was another decade before the public was aware of the war, and many more years until the peace movement gained the huge numbers that are now associated with it. Don't let anyone tell you there's no peace movement in the U.S. There is one, and it's growing strong

Allan keeps telling me I'm supposed to post my Globe And Mail essay. I did update the link , but it's timed out, and now you can only read it with a subscription. So, ok. By special request, and because Allan made dinner tonight, here it is. Cross a border, adjust a mind-set by Laura Kaminker A number of months ago, my partner and I moved to the Toronto area from New York City. Unlike many immigrants who come to Canada in search of economic opportunity, we came seeking something more abstract: a healthy democracy. We didn't leave because of George W. Bush, although his placement in the White House by the Supreme Court gave our feelings sudden, irreversible clarity. No, the Bush-Cheney White House was just one last, very large, straw on a pile that had been building since the Reagan era. After years of frustration with the country's rightward drift, we decided we'd had enough. We were tired of feeling so alienated. We wanted to live in a society with values more lik

Thank you for making we move to canada a finalist in the Koufax awards! I wanted to make the next round of voting, and thanks to you, I did. I don't know that wmtc deserves more recognition than any of the other finalists in the category. In fact, I'm sure it doesn't. But it's fun to win stuff, and it's fun to have readers. So if you want to vote for wmtc again, or for any other blog (I won't be offended), here's how: You can leave a comment here , naming your choice for Blog Most Deserving of Wider Recognition. You don't have to use your real name, but please only vote once. You can also leave a comment to vote in any of the other categories - once per category. Go here and scroll down to see a separate post for each category. Or, you can send an email to: wampum @ nic-naa.net. (subject: Koufax) Here's a list of categories to cut and paste: Best Blog (non-pro): Best Blog Community: Best Blog (pro/sponsor): Best Group Blog: Best Post: Best Series: B

I thought this was very interesting. According to an in-depth panel study, Canadians prefer a national child-care program to cash payments directly to parents. Canadians favour a national child-care system over direct cash payments to parents, a new study sponsored by the YWCA Canada suggested Monday. The report's findings were drawn from the work of four panels from representative communities of Halifax, Vancouver, Cambridge, Ont., and Martensville, Sask. The panels met over the course of a year with business and labour, aboriginal, ethnic, community, women's and parent groups, profit and non-profit service providers and municipal and provincial officials. "The findings dispense with many assumptions that Canada is too vast and diverse to make a national child-care program viable," YWCA chief executive officer Paulette Senior said. "We found that both mothers at home and those in the labour force want early-learning programs for their children." . . . . Ac

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Amendment I, U.S. Constitution If we can make pre-emptive war, certainly a little pre-emptive arrest and imprisonment is no big deal. By way of Attytood , via Redsock (again), this story from Jim Dwyer , one of the good guys writing for the New York Times : In five internal reports made public yesterday as part of a lawsuit, New York City police commanders candidly discuss how they had successfully used "proactive arrests," covert surveillance and psychological tactics at political demonstrations in 2002, and recommend that those approaches be employed at future gatherings. Among the most effective strategies, one police captain wrote, was the seizure of demonstrators on Fifth Avenue who were described as &

Last time I posted about sexual assault in the military , a pro-military blog picked up the post. Wmtc weathered a brief inundation of military defenders who accused me of being both gullible, because I found the story very credible, and "intellectual dishonest," because I didn't want to scrap with the other side. This time the story doesn't involve Abu Ghraib or Janis Karpinski, so chances are the wingnuts won't be Technorati'ing, and I won't have to lean on the delete key quite so much. From ABC News: Reports of sexual assaults in the military increased by nearly 40 percent last year , the Pentagon announced Thursday, saying the increase was at least partly due to a new program that encourages victims to come forward. According to a report released Thursday, there were 2,374 allegations of sexual assaults reported during 2005, compared to 1,700 in 2004. Of last year's reports, 435 were initially filed under a new program that allows victims to report

Japan is the champion of the first World Baseball Classic, after cruising past Cuba by a score of 10-6. Now I'm really ready for baseball! Less than two weeks to Opening Day.

He says :"We will fight them in Iraq, we will fight them across the world and we will stay in the fight until the fight is won". Who are they? Where are they? How will we know when the fight is won? While he lives in comfort and peace, young men and women will die, and will kill people who have done them no harm. What will he sacrifice? He makes me sick. Elsewhere, an exhibit about how easily we can turn people into them .

Everyone will wish you a Happy Solstice, but how many people remember the Vernal Equinox ? Happy spring! It's a good time to be in Mexico .

Our own Lone Primate was one of the winners in the ten words or less impeachment contest. To complete the sentence, "*** should be impeached because...", Lone Primate answered: ...To Protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." Simple and brilliant. Some of our other answers are here. Also, back by very popular demand: the ribbon!

Congratulations to the Canadian sled hockey team for bringing home the country's first gold medal in sled hockey. Canada beat the powerhouse Norwegian team by a score of 3-0. There's a good CBC story here . Canada also took the gold for the new sport of wheelchair curling. Don't laugh - unless you laugh at curling anyway. It's almost exactly the same sport. Too bad we couldn't see either game.

A few days ago, I posted a link to an essay by Canadian athlete Rick Hansen , arguing for greater visibility for the Paralympics when the Games are hosted by Canada in 2010. Amateur alerted me to an opposing opinion , also from the Toronto Star . Amateur, I thank you for pointing this out, because I'd like to demolish it. "You can't force people to care." Ms Ormsby, no one is trying to force anyone to care about anything. However, people can't care about what they haven't been exposed to. If Canadians were exposed to Paralympic sport, they might care very greatly. They might find themselves caring about the country's Paralympians as much - or as little - as they do its Olympians. Or they might not. Right now we have no way of knowing. Only equal media exposure would answer that question. You can't guilt them into cheering for athletes in sports for which they have no passion. Guilt has nothing to do with it. Nothing. The last thing any athlete with

The flooding in our backyard has receded. Now the ground is soft and mushy, but at least it's ground, and not a pond. Our landlord came over with a shovel, and cleared the trench at the back edge of the property. Now we'll know where that is for in the future. Little white flowers have popped up all along the borders of the lawn. Marnie tells me they are snowdrops. They're lovely, a harbinger of spring. I'm halfway through this full-time temp assignment. No, it has not gone quickly. Time drags every day, the week is interminable, the weekend is an eye-blink. It's very unpleasant to work full-time, then spend my weekend doing my "real" work as a writer. It was hard enough when I was young and didn't know better. Now it's just dreadful. Nevertheless, I am halfway through. Four more weeks of this, including an extended weekend in New York and New Jersey, then a week to myself - then Peru! This law firm would love me to continue working there when I re

Felicitaciones a los Cubanos por su victoria sobre la Republica Dominicana en la semifinal del Clasico Mundial de Beisbol. (I sure hope that's correct.) Not only did Team USA fail to make the semifinals, but the little island that the US is so afraid of will play in the final game. Too sweet. The other semifinal game is tonight, Japan vs Korea. The winner of that game plays Team Cuba for the championship on Monday. I will have to root for our Spanish-speaking Communist neighbours. I enjoy Latino cultures, and I love to love whatever the US hates. Sometimes in New York, when we watched a Yankees-Red Sox game - which meant the local Yankees announcers - we'd listen to the Spanish-language broadcast instead. That way we got the crowd noise, but Allan didn't have to listen to the announcers he hated, and I didn't have to listen to Allan complain. I would try to follow the Spanish, and I could do well for a while, but it was too exhausting to do for more than an inning or tw

This is (approximately) the third anniversary of the United States's invasion of Iraq. What a terrible, terrible waste. From United for Peace and Justice : The human cost of the U.S. war in Iraq is staggering: Over 2,300 U.S. military men and women have lost their lives in Iraq. Over 30,000 -- and possibly as many as 100,000 -- Iraqi civilians have been killed since the invasion. Over 16,500 U.S. military men and women have been wounded in combat. Over 4,000 U.S. military men and women have been seriously maimed in combat. Over 4,000 Iraqi police and military men and women have been killed. The war in Iraq has already cost the United States $251 billion. The estimated long-term bill for Iraq will exceed $1 trillion. The infrastructure of Iraq has been devastated with no rebuilding in sight. The Iraq war has created "a training and recruitment ground (for terrorists), and an opportunity for terrorists to enhance their technical skills." (source: U.S. National Intelligence

Cheers to the Globe And Mail for featuring Paralympic athlete Brian McKeever on the front page. And many more cheers to the Mexican Baseball Team for eliminating the US from the World Baseball Classic! Redsock must be thrilled, as the man he calls Fathead took the loss. Now it's "Viva La Dominicana!" in the semifinals , although I'd be equally happy if Cuba won.

I've gotten quite a lot of mail from the Globe And Mail essay. I answer every email, however briefly, but I'm asked the same questions over and over. To that end, an FAQ. New readers may find this educational, veteran wmtc readers may find it amusing. 1. Have I seen Rick Mercer? This is the most frequently asked question. Sometimes it's phrased in the form of advice and instruction. I have seen Rick Mercer. I do not care for him. I just don't find his show funny or compelling in any way. Sorry. My thoughts on his show are here and here . 2. Will I travel in Canada? Yes, definitely. I plan on seeing as much of the country as possible, a little at a time. Thank you all for your travel suggestions. 3. Will I move to [your city here]? Probably not. The GTA is a very good fit for us in many ways: jobs, baseball, proximity to family and friends in the NYC area. We like Toronto, and we love Port Credit. People on the west coast are particularly adamant, some saying that I ca

By now we've all heard how international aid worker Mark Budzanowski would have been harmed or killed had he not been Canadian . Apparently his captors' mood softened when they learned Budzanowski wasn't American. I'm sure US wingnuts will spin this to imply Canada is a friend to terrorists. What it's really about, of course, is how the US's policies put their citizens in danger.

One of my favourite athletes, wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc, carried the Canadian flag at yesterday's opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. From the Toronto Star : In Chantal Petitclerc's first trip to the Commonwealth Games, officials chased her and other wheelchair athletes off the track, complaining their tires would damage the racing surface. But that was 16 years ago. Since then, Petitclerc has won 11 Paralympic gold medals and smashed many world records and social barriers. These days Petitclerc, now the most accomplished wheelchair racer in the sport, isn't merely welcome at the Commonwealth Games. She's an equal. Petitclerc, 36, carried Canada's flag at today's opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. She is the first athlete with a disability to serve as Canada's flag-bearer in an Olympic, Pan American or Commonwealth Games, and symbolizes the progress disabled athletes have made since

During my last few years in the US, there was an attitude among many liberals that the country had now - just now - fallen off the rails. There was a steady stream of op-eds and columns lamenting, "Where is the America of my youth?" and "What has happened to American values?" I clearly remember bristling when MoveOn called the invasion of Iraq "unprecedented". If only. The "Where is the America of my youth?" cry comes from a place of ignorant privilege. It's like when fans talk about "the good old days" of baseball: I always say, when was that, when only white men could play? Or when the players were paid minimum wage and owned by their teams? In the US, the 1950s are the good old days - if you're white. Or the 1970s - if your family didn't have a son in Vietnam. Or the 1920s - if... you get my point. I felt that people who called themselves liberals should know better than to say the US we see today was ushered in by W. The

I was about to post my annoyance with one Stephen Harper, when I turned over the newspaper and saw my essay in the "Facts & Arguments" section. I didn't expect it to run so soon. What's more, I didn't expect the editor to leave the reference to wmtc, including the URL. Cool! (Welcome, new readers!) I think it will be online only today, then tomorrow I'll post the piece here. Many thanks to Marnie for providing me with an ending - and for all your good wishes, in advance. Because now I have to go to work.

We saw "C.R.A.Z.Y." last night, a French Canadian film that has won all kinds of awards. It was excellent. It's a coming-of-age story, and a family story, funny, sad and profound, and somehow manages to tell an old tale in a very fresh and engaging way. If you haven't seen this, you should. We have seen so many excellent films Quebecois . It seems like a disproportionate number of good movies come from la belle province .

The folks who run the Koufax Awards are trying to be very fair . Not an easy job with internet voting. What a shame that not everyone can be trusted with the honour system.

Late today, but still here. I had the day off, as we had already scheduled weekday morning doctors appointments when I started working. Our first appointment, last month, was a consultation and chat. This one was a physical. I really like the doctor a lot. So, it looks like I lucked out again. Finding a good doctor was a real concern of mine. Everyone told me it would be hard to find any doctor taking new patients, and then, who knows if you'll like the person who's available? It turned out there were several available doctors in our area, some of whom were female (which I strongly prefer for a family doctor). We chose someone close by, and today, I got a really good feeling about her. Once again, we see a doctor, there is no charge to us, and we say, This is amazing . Universal health insurance is like a miracle to me. * * * * I've learned another difference between health care in the US and Canada. In the US, if you have decent insurance coverage, certain cancer screening

Voting for the Koufax Awards has been extended until midnight tonight. You can vote for wmtc (or any other blog) for Blog Most Deserving of Wider Recognition here or here .

Thanks to a tip from James , I caught the beginning of the CBC miniseries "Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story ". Before this, the only things I knew about Douglas was that he's called "the father of medicare," that he was an NDP leader, a long-time Premier of Saskatchewan, and that he was voted "The Greatest Canadian" by viewers of the CBC series of that name. I learned this since coming to Canada, of course. Previously, I shared with all other Americans a complete ignorance of Canadian history. Now that I know a little more about Douglas, I'm extremely impressed with his being chosen as Greatest Canadian. It speaks volumes about this country. From the CBC: Not just because he was the father of Medicare, but because he changed the way we live. The eight-hour work day, guaranteed minimum wage, government funding for the arts, the first declaration of human rights that outlawed discrimination on the basis of race or gender ... that's all Tomm

Seven questions for Billy Bragg , by Carl Wilson of the Globe and Mail : Born Dec. 20, 1957, raised in working-class Barking, Greater London. In the early 1980s, became an electric-guitar-toting troubadour, singing of sex and socialism in cult hits A New England, Between the Wars, Levi Stubbs' Tears. In 2002, released England, Half-English, a concept album on English identity and multiculturalism. He's completed his first book, on the same subject, and put out Volume One, a nine-disc compilation of his first four albums and bonus material. Volume Two is due this fall. It's a shock to realize the boyish socialist bard with the broken-nosed Essex accent is pushing 50. As documented in his new box set, his anthems of revolution and romance date back to 1981. But going grey doesn't mean he's looking backwards. When you listen to those early albums, what do you think of the guy you hear? It's the alternative James Blunt, isn't it? . . . No, really, the records st