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Legendary oral historian, author and radio journalist Studs Terkel has died in Chicago at age 96. Terkel was an early influence on my thinking, after I read his classic Working when I was a teenager. When I read he had been influenced by my hero Woody Guthrie, I felt a kinship with him. Since then I've read many of his oral histories. I loved his work and I'll miss him. From NPR. For nearly half a century, Terkel crisscrossed the country interviewing people from all walks of life about war, their jobs and a variety of other subjects. His conversations with the prominent and the uncelebrated became books that chronicled much of the history of the 20th century. Terkel often said that America suffers from what he described as a sort of national Alzheimer's disease. So he wrote books such as Working, Hard Times and his Pulitzer Prize winner, The Good War — oral histories of labor, the Great Depression and World War II, respectively — to help jog the nation's memory. Born

Before I write another word, here's a disclaimer and clarification. This blog reflects my own opinions and views, not the official thought or policy of the War Resisters Support Campaign. I bring you news about the status of war resisters in Canada, and about our fight to Let Them Stay, but I'm not an official spokesperson and don't claim to be one . I use the first-person-plural "we" when speaking about the Campaign because I'm a working member. One of the beautiful things about our Campaign - one of its great strengths, in my opinion - is its diversity. Campaigners and resisters represent a wide range of ages, backgrounds, politics and world views. There are people of many faiths and people with no religion, leftists, liberals and libertarians, people who oppose all wars and people who would support some wars. There are octogenerians and twenty-somethings, queers and straights, families with children and without. And on and on. Many - perhaps most - of the

Here's the latest wmtc check-in on the US's largest employer. You'll find many Wal-Mart related posts on this blog, usually under the labour category . A few choice bits on Wal-Mart's political influence... With over $12 billion in profits in 2007, Wal-Mart is the biggest and arguably most influential corporation in America. The majority owners, the Waltons, are therefore also one of the most influential families with a net worth of more than $100 billion. Over the past year, we have conducted an exhaustive study of public records related to political giving by Wal-Mart and the Walton family in order to determine how this influence is used to affect politics. The conclusion is clear. The Waltons are strong supporters of an extreme right wing agenda. Wal-Mart Profits Lead to Right Wing Influence The Walton family's political influence around the country is truly remarkable. They exert it through four primary mechanisms: private Walton family political contributions;

Allan has been updating the most recent US election fraud thread regularly, so I hope you're all subscribing to that, or checking back for more news. Recently from The Brad Blog: Vote-Flipping Diebold Machine Removed, Quarantined in CO Karen Long, Adams County Clerk Takes Action After Voter Sees Vote Flip Repeatedly to Republican Candidate in State With Long History of E-Voting Failures Watchdog Group Issues Press Release Calling for No 'Recalibration', Immediate Removal, Impounding of Such Machines. A county clerk in Colorado has finally done the right thing for the voters by removing a touch-screen voting machine from service, and quarantining it, after it was discovered to be flipping votes from one candidate to another. The failed machine in this case was a Diebold Accu-Vote, a frequent flipper. And: More Vote-Flipping in TX by Machines Other Than Those Made by ES&S Direct Recording Electronic Voting Systems Made by Hart InterCivic and Diebold Also Reportedly Now F

We've just learned that war resister James Burmeister was unexpectedly released from prison three weeks early. There is some hope that James's discharge may be upgraded from Bad Conduct to Other Than Honourable, and he may be able to keep his veteran's benefits. That part is still unknown, but he is home with his family in Eugene, Oregon. Good news indeed.

In comments here , Gerry Condon , peace activist and organizer of military resistance, quoted Frederick Douglass. This prompted me to find a fuller version of the quote in the wmtc archives . Always worth re-reading and contemplating, this is one of my favourite sources of inspiration. Let me give you a word of the philosophy of reform. The whole history of the progress of human liberty shows that all concessions yet made to her august claims, have been born of earnest struggle. The conflict has been exciting, agitating, all-absorbing, and for the time being, putting all other tumults to silence. It must do this or it does nothing. If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightening. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both mor

Speaking of cross-cultural observations, here's a post by Geoff, who is studying International Relations at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick. Geoff has Canadian roots, grew up in the US, and now has returned to Canada. His blog is here. For the record, after I get Canadian citizenship, I'm not going to use the Canadian-American or American-Canadian tag. I'll follow the example of my Campaigner friends who came to Canada during the Vietnam War. If asked, I'll say I'm originally from the US, but I'm Canadian now. That works better for me.

It's been a very long time since I wrote a "difference between Canada and the US" post. I'm no longer constantly observing the subtle cultural differences the way I did when we first moved here, and no longer surprised by them like I used to be. You could say I'm assimilated now, for the most part. But I did make one observation during this election season, something I have a feeling will resonate with USian readers and the US-to-Canada immigration community. Bumper stickers. Bumper stickers are a rarity on Canadian vehicles. At least that's the case in any part of Canada I've driven - all over southern Ontario, on the road to Ottawa and Quebec City, in Montreal, and all over Newfoundland. The occasional bumper stickers I do see are silly ("What if the hokey pokey is what it's all about?" "My other car is a..."). And I've seen only one exception to this. But if you cross the border, every car is announcing the politics of the d

Today the Globe and Mail ran this excellent Op-Ed. Thomas Jefferson once remarked that those who don't read newspapers are better informed than those who do, even as the former may know nothing, the latter only know falsehood and error. This brings to mind Margaret Wente's recent column about Olympic official Dick Pound, who said, "400 years ago, Canada was a land of savages." Ms. Wente's Saturday column has likely set back the first nations' campaign for an accurate representation of native peoples in the mainstream media by 10 years. In fact, a brief survey of the original peoples of this continent illustrates an array of accomplishments that rival civilizations around the globe, including those in Western Europe. Yet today, in North America, the ancestors of those from both continents live side by side, separated by a canyon of misunderstanding. To gain insight, we need only turn to indigenous oral traditions, wampum belts, birchbark scrolls and Tsalagi a

I thought this message from Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU, was very moving. I love that he's thrown his personal perspective into the political fight. Please read, and if you know anyone in California, please contact them. Urge them to VOTE NO on Proposition 8 . Dear ACLU Supporter, I'm angry and heartsick about what may happen in California on November 4th. In the most personal way possible, I'm writing to ask you for a favor: help us ensure that gay couples all across California keep their fundamental right to marriage -- the basic right to be treated just like anybody else. I hope you will forgive the indulgence when I speak from the heart and tell you my personal story. You see, I grew up in a loving and supportive household, where my family believed I could be anything I chose -- anything except being an openly gay man. Neither of my parents finished high school, and yet, they believed I could accomplish all I set out to do as I went off to Princeto

I had been saving this story for a time when I could write some insightful commentary, but rather than grow old waiting, I'll let the story speak for itself. It ran in the New York Times a few days before the start of the Beijing Paralympics. I hope you'll read the whole thing. (Emphasis mine, of course.) I've covered this lawsuit and similar actions before for a disability audience, and I was thrilled to see a major mainstream story on it. Many thanks to Alan Schwarz for his excellent coverage of the Paralympics for the Times . Schwarz really gets disability sports. Too bad the United States Olympic Committee doesn't. When he rolls to the starting line for the 1,500-meter wheelchair race at the Paralympics, the Olympics for disabled athletes that begin Saturday in Beijing, Tony Iniguez will wear his Team USA uniform with pride. He will compete for the United States's Olympic program. He is also suing it for discrimination. Iniguez is one of many Paralympians who

The ACLU has filed a Freedom of Information Act request, demanding more information about the reports that the US military is being deployed for domestic operations. The American Civil Liberties Union today demanded information from the government about reports that an active military unit has been deployed inside the U.S. to help with "civil unrest" and "crowd control" – matters traditionally handled by civilian authorities. [ FOIA request here. ] This deployment jeopardizes the longstanding separation between civilian and military government, and the public has a right to know where and why the unit has been deployed, according to an ACLU Freedom of Information request filed today. "The military's deployment within U.S. borders raises critical questions that must be answered," said Jonathan Hafetz, staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project. "What is the unit's mission? What functions will it perform? And why was it necessary to

When I worked on voter registration before the 2004 US "election", one anti-voting tactic we encountered from the other side was very memorable. Republican operatives in Pennsylvania were circulating postcards saying that Republicans were to vote on November 2 (election day) and Democrats should vote on November 3. They blanketed rural areas with this disinformation, and if it strikes you as naive or foolish of the residents to believe it, you haven't studied how propaganda works. Of course the Republicans denied any responsibility. The perpetrators were acting on their own. The strategy must have been somewhat effective, or at least worth another try. A phony State Board of Elections flier advising Republicans to vote on Nov. 4 and Democrats on Nov. 5 is being circulated in several Hampton Roads localities, according to state elections officials. In fact, Election Day, for voters of all political stripes, remains Nov. 4. The somewhat official-looking flier - it features

Since I posted yesterday's letters in the Globe and Mail responding to Margaret Wente's offensive column , I'll complete the picture with today's letters. There was one in agreement with Dick Pound, here . And then these. Margaret Wente is judging first nations, and all societies, by the wrong yardstick. Almost six decades ago, anthropologists stopped measuring races on a crude evolutionary scale, recognizing that culture rather than race was the basis of society. What distinguished societies was not their place on an evolutionary scale but their adaptation to their local circumstances. Those that lived in arable areas developed horticulture, as the Iroquois did. Those who lived in subarctic regions depended on hunting and fishing, as the Innu of Quebec did. And, by the way, environmental historians have found that Iroquois farmers were more productive than settlers during the first period of colonization. Moreover, first nations had developed political, diplomatic a

After a long day - and evening - of waiting, we've learned that US war resister Matt Lowell will not be deported tomorrow. WHEW! As in the cases of Jeremy Hinzman and Corey Glass, a federal court has ruled that Matt should not be forced to return to the US at this time. Matt can now ask the court for leave to appeal. If granted that leave, he can then appeal the decision of the Immigration and Refugee Board. Many, many thanks to the wonderful Alyssa Manning for successfully arguing Matt's case, and to all Matt's supporters, especially the crew in London who has spearheaded the fight. Another victory! Let them stay!

Allan has a letter in today's Toronto Star . In her letter of Oct. 24, reader Patricia MacKay calls Colin Powell "a man of great honour." Does Ms. MacKay know that in 1968 then-Major Powell, while stationed in Chu Lai, Vietnam, was instrumental in the first actions to cover up the My Lai massacre, during which the U.S. Army killed between 347 and 504 unarmed civilians? Allan Wood, Mississauga

The sign on the ground says "Choose Peace". Olympia, Washington (AP) - Thurston County prosecutors have filed misdemeanor charges against 26 of the 42 anti-war demonstrators who were arrested at the Port of Olympia protesting Fort Lewis-Iraq war shipments. Each of the 26 was charged Friday with one count of attempted disorderly conduct and one count of obstructing a law enforcement officer. Most of those charged were women. For one week in November, protesters blocked shipments of Stryker vehicles and other military cargo from the Port of Olympia to Fort Lewis. The military equipment was used in the Iraq war. Larry Hildes, a lawyer, said he was angry the charges were filed so close to the one-year statute of limitations running out. Hildes said some of the women who were arrested Nov. 13 were forced to disrobe in plain view of policemen at the Olympia City Jail. An increasing number of stories like this are appearing in my inbox. The incidents are either unreported in the m

There are a lot of letters in today's Globe and Mail about Margaret Wente's recent column, and they're all from one side. It's safe to assume that if the newspaper had received even one letter in support of Wente's bigotry, they would have run it. G&M readers are not shy to express unpopular or antiquated opinions, nor does it seem the newspaper is reluctant to print them. Wente's column here , my post about it, with reader comments, is here . Today's letters: While there is much that is objectionable in Margaret Wente's crudely provocative and blandly Eurocentric piece, as an indigenous Canadian I must commend her candour in going public with some sensitive, and indeed sensational, family lore: "We robbed and mistreated aboriginal people for a very long time..." Kudos to Ms. Wente for shining a brave light on the dark underbelly of a troubling family history. Greg Pruden, Winnipeg * I would suggest that Margaret Wente avail herself of th

I have a great gift idea, for yourself or someone you want to pamper. Stella Marie Soap Company is the passion of Kim Gonzaga of Providence, Rhode Island. Kim lives with Jere, who writes this Red Sox blog , and is a mainstay of the Joy of Sox community. (I recently blogged about Jere's book , Dirty Water .) * * * * First of all, I love the look of the Stella Marie website - the funky names with movie, rock or baseball themes, the bright colourful layouts, the almost edible look of the soaps themselves. When we travel, we always walk through the local markets; I really dig all the different colours and shapes and textures, the visual array. The Stella Marie website gives me that same feeling. I ordered some products, which arrived in a funky red lunch-baskety cardboard container full of beautiful but minimalist wrapping. Fun! It's the kind of package you want to leave on your kitchen table to admire for a few days before diving in. But I finally did unwrap my Stella Marie, and

Ontario's highest court has upheld the province's unreasonable ban on any breeds classified as pit bulls. Irresponsible owners of dogs of other breeds can do what they please, yet any dog that anyone thinks is a pit bull can be confiscated and killed. If it weren't for some kind Mississauga Animal Services worker, our Buster might have met that fate on our third day in Canada . The dog whose life we worked so hard to save, the dog of my heart, could have been taken from us and killed - because a nosy neighbour saw him react to another dog, while on a leash. Breed-specific legislation is bigotry. "Punish the deed, not the breed." For facts on "bully boys," see Bad Rap .

Tomorrow, October 27, US war resister Matt Lowell and his lawyer will appear in federal court to request a stay of deportation. If they succeed, Matt will have more time in which to request "leave to appeal" from the court. If unsuccessful, Matt will be ordered to leave Canada on Tuesday, October 28. Join your neighbours in Toronto, London and Ottawa to protest this deportation order and the potential deportations of all Iraq War resisters in Canada. If Matt gets a stay, we will celebrate - but we will still be protesting the Harper Government's decision to ignore the will of the Canadian people. Let Canada not be an enforcement arm for the US military! You may recall that the day before Matt Lowell received his deportation order, war resister Patrick Hart also received his. The Harts have been granted a temporary extension so that their six-year-old son can finish the school term. In January - unless we have secured a political solution by then - Patrick's order will

From Amnesty International's Urgent Action file: If Canada sends a conscientious objector to the Iraq war back to the United States and he is imprisoned, he would be a prisoner of conscience. Matthew Lowell (m) 24, conscientious objector On 28 October, the Canadian authorities are scheduled to deport US serviceman Matthew Lowell to the USA. He fled to Canada in October 2004 because of his conscientious objection to the war in Iraq and his objection to serving in the United States army. If deported to the USA, he risks being court-martialled and imprisoned for between one and five years and would therefore be a prisoner of conscience. Matthew Lowell enrolled in the US army in April 2002, when he was 17 years old and still in high school. He joined his military unit several months later, when he was 18 years old. In his affidavit, submitted to the Canadian authorities as part of an application for a stay of removal, Matthew Lowell explained that he had concerns about the legality of

In the " reminder: obama can't win if they don't count the votes " thread (the second thread by that name), there's an ongoing discussion of US election fraud. I posted many old links, and Allan is posting links to many current stories detailing what is happening right now . I encourage you to read further.

In today's Globe and Mail , La Wente defends Dick Pound's recent statement calling aboriginal cultures "savagery". Was Canada once a land of savages? And is saying so tantamount to racism? Many people would answer no, and yes. That's why Dick Pound, the high-profile Olympics figure, is in a heap of trouble for describing the Canada of four centuries ago as "un pays de sauvages." He was talking to a reporter from La Presse about the Beijing Olympics and the issue of human rights. "We must not forget that 400 years ago, Canada was a land of savages, with scarcely 10,000 inhabitants of European descent, while in China, we're talking about a 5,000-year-old civilization," he said. Wente says Pound was stupid for saying this, but that he spoke the truth. Because I have an abiding interest in ancient cultures, it's impossible for me to think of any ancient peoples as savages. On the contrary, I'm generally in awe of how much they knew, wh

Congratulations to all my gay friends. Your cunning plan has finally paid off: you have succeeded in taking over Canada ! Alright! Way to go.