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When we state our wishes and dreams - out loud, in public - we open ourselves to ridicule and snark. So many people claim to know the future with great certainty - which is, of course, impossible. Wishes and dreams are too important to scoff at. All positive change begins in our imaginations. If we can't imagine something, we can't create it. Our dreams may not become reality, but I'd rather work towards a dream than ridicule dreamers. In 2011, I'd like to see... 1. The end of the Harper Government. 2. A provision enacted by Parliament allowing Iraq War resisters to stay in Canada - and for those now in the US to be allowed to move or return here if they wish. 3. The beginning of the re-building of a liberal Liberal Party and a truly progressive New Democrat Party. 4. A full withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan and Iraq. (Remember, I said "dream".) 5. Bradley Manning released from prison. 6. A widespread understanding of the difference between sup

For anyone interested, the wmtc redesign is complete. All the tabs (static pages) along the top are now written. Tonight at midnight, "L-girl" will be retired and "laura k" will take her place. I've used the name L-girl since I first got online in the late 1990s, as part of a bisexual women's community. I feel a bit sad saying goodbye to that name. But it's time.

In which we betray our gender , by gabby of Gabby's Playhouse. Let me state unequivocally that I am proud to know many feminist (i.e. non-sexist) men. Indeed, any male I call my friend qualifies, by definition. Gabby's observations are no less accurate because of this. A quick perusal of the comment thread will confirm. Many thanks to James for sending this - long ago!

Disunion is a blog about the US civil war, the bloodiest, deadliest (to Americans) war in US history. The New York Times began running Disunion, as far as I can tell, on October 31, 2010, with this preamble. The story of the Civil War will be told in this series as a weekly roundup and analysis, by Jamie Malanowski, of events making news during the corresponding week 150 years ago. Written as if in real time, this dispatch will, after this week, appear every Monday. Additional essays and observations by other contributors, along with maps, images, diaries and so forth, will be published several times a week. A US history teacher writes about Disunion: Imagine modern web coverage of the U.S. in the early 1860s, day-by-day! I often find that our history textbooks, even the really good ones like Brinkley and Foner, fail to provide students with a sense of the immediacy and uncertainty of the historical present, often because that is exactly what makes for quality history...the distanc

Our last list - alternate realities - didn't get a huge response. Perhaps the topic didn't resonate with many readers, or maybe the timing was off. Or it could have been a fluke, who knows. That thread is still open if anyone wants to chime in. "Alternate realities" was our dreams of people we might wish to be. Today's list is the flipside: positive aspects of the people we already are. I'd like you to list five things that you do well. Not the top five things you do best; just five things that you do well, things you are good at, qualities about yourself that you like. Five strengths. And these are the rules: no apologies, no disclaimers, no qualifiers. No acknowledging that other people might do these things better. No telling us that others may disagree with your list or that our mileage may vary. Only this: five positive statements about yourself, affirming five personal strengths. Here's mine. 1. I write good letters. 2. I'm a good organizer. 3.

Further to my open letter to the CBC News of yesterday, it only gets worse. The Ottawa Citzen reports that it was a laff riot in Kandahar on Christmas, as Don Cherry and Minister of Defence Peter MacKay yucked it up, war-school style. Cherry was allowed to launch a live artillery shell, shouting, "Taliban, here I come," as MacKay quipped, " Don, this is a different type of 'He shoots, he scores'." MacKay also treated the troops to this Orwellian nugget. The greatest gift you can give is the gift of life , which is what you are doing here -- you're saving lives. . . . Make no mistake, things are improving because of the heavy load you bear. It should be illegal to deceive people in this way. Some truth-in-advertising laws must apply. And "Taliban, here I come?" I expect that kind of slap-happy war talk from my country of origin. Which says a lot about Don Cherry and the war-loving government he supports. Thanks to Sister Sage's Musings fo

Students at the University College London are - right now - engaged in a sit-in to protest the massive tuition increases announced by the UK government. Tuition will double and, in some cases, triple, as part of the government's overall program to force working people to pay for debts they had no hand in causing. Journalist Johann Hari stopped by to address the protesting students. Here's what he had to say about the unforeseen effects of protest. I would only disagree with one point: in my view, public protest against the war in Vietnam was not a failure. It ended the war. Likewise, protest is the only thing that will stop these wars and occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. Many thanks to longtime wmtc reader deang for sending the video!

Dear CBC News: In a story about Don Cherry's Christmas visit to Canadian troops in Afghanistan , I am disgusted by your description of Mr. Cherry as "one of their fiercest backers". In what way does Mr. Cherry "back" the troops in Afghanistan? By ridiculing people who want peace? By unquestioningly supporting war? By describing Mr. Cherry as one of the strongest supporter of the troops, you equate supporting war with supporting soldiers, thus implying that people who oppose war do not support the troops. Those of us who want Canada and the US to withdraw from Afghanistan support soldiers in a way we believe is far more meaningful. We want as few of them injured and killed as possible. We want them safe. We want them home. Your description of Mr. Cherry befits his publicist more than a news source. Shame on you! Sincerely, Laura Kaminker

It appears that the tone of this post may be more angry and emotional than I intended. I wish everyone who celebrates Christmas a joyous day. I'm not ranting or raving, merely expressing my thoughts on this holiday's unique place in our world. * * * * I hate seeing consumer capitalism on overdrive. I hate that a Christian holiday is a national holiday in nation where Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Sikhs, atheists, Shintos and pagans - and whoever else - are supposed to be equally welcome. I hate being told that Christmas is no longer a Christian holiday, that it's now a secular holiday. I don't know if that's wishful thinking or amnesia or maybe guilt, but as far as I'm concerned, it's bullshit. I hate the assumption I need to substitute some other holiday or tradition for this holiday that I don't celebrate. I know people mean well, but asking me what I celebrate instead of Christmas makes as much sense as asking my Christian neighbours what they do

Please read these two important pieces by David House, who regularly visits Bradley Manning, and by Glenn Greenwald. But more importantly, please see below for information about the public campaign to alleviate the inhumane treatment of Manning. Please don't assume the Pentagon is immune to public pressure; many examples prove otherwise. Manning needs our support. Sending a letter is the least we can do. David House on Firedoglake: In my visit to see Bradley at the Quantico brig, it became clear that the Pentagon’s public spin from last week sharply contradicts the reality of Bradley Manning’s detainment. In his five months of detention, it has become obvious to me that Manning’s physical and mental well-being are deteriorating. What Manning needs, and what his attorney has already urged, is to have the unnecessary “Prevention of Injury” order lifted that severely restricts his ability to exercise, communicate, and sleep. My Visits to Manning in Quantico I am one of the few peopl

Our last list recounted fantasies that money can buy . Today we'll list the ones money can't buy. (I promise the next list will be less wistful and more affirming, but let's do this one first.) Name five things you wish you could do but can't or won't. Not something you can't afford - that's the lotto list - but something outside your capabilities or your life path - activities or lifestyles out of your reach, but that you would love to be able to do. Here's my list. Only the first item makes me sad. The rest are just dreams. 1. Write a truly great novel, something read for generations. 2. Sing with a band. When I was younger I wanted to be Chrissie Hynde. Now I'd go for Lucinda Williams. 3. Be athletic enough to play any sport reasonably well. I'm not talking elite-level here. Just to be competently athletic, enough to have the confidence to try any sport or physical activity without fear or embarrassment. 4. Have no fixed address. Be a perpetua

What happens when people speak truth to power? Sometimes power hunts them down, locks them up, draws on its various arms to cut off their resources . And once in a while, power reveals its weak, petty core. Bradley Manning has been in solitary confinement for seven months for allegedly showing the world a bit of truth about the occupation of Iraq. This latest development shows why it's vitally important that we keep Manning's story in the news and on our blogs as often as possible. The Guardian : The United Nations is investigating a complaint on behalf of Bradley Manning that he is being mistreated while held since May in US Marine Corps custody pending trial. The army private is charged with the unauthorised use and disclosure of classified information, material related to the WikiLeaks, and faces a court martial sometime in 2011. The office of Manfred Nowak, special rapporteur on torture based in Geneva, received the complaint from a Manning supporter; his office confirmed

This is the last day to donate to the current ChipIn campaign to help US Iraq War resisters stay in Canada. Please give if you can. Click here to donate or for more info.

Columnist Rosie DiManno has intelligently and independently told the truth about police violence at the G20 summit (see my posts here, here and here ). So I'll let DiManno begin for me, writing about the arrest of one police officer in the assault of Adam Nobody. And then there was . . . well, just the one. Out of all the police officers behaving badly during the G20 protests — swinging batons recklessly, kicking, punching — a single cop was charged on Tuesday by the Special Investigations Unit. Const. Babak Andalib-Goortani — you da man. Assault with a weapon is the charge. Perhaps somewhat unfairly, Andalib-Goortani is the only law enforcement member to wear the scandal of overzealous and allegedly criminal protester-pounding from that chaotic week last June. He made the mistake of lifting his face-shield, which rather defeated the purpose of removing his epaulet badge number. In videotape obtained by the Star, Andalib-Goortani is clearly recognizable — Mr. Policeman with a Goat

In the US, one in seven people - and in some states, one in five - are now receiving food stamps. The use of food stamps has increased dramatically in the U.S., as the federal government ramps up basic assistance to meet the demands of an increasingly desperate population. The number of food stamp recipients increased 16% over last year. This means that 14% of the population is now living on food stamps. That's about 43 million people, or about one out of every seven Americans. In some states, like Tennessee, Mississippi, New Mexico and Oregon, one in five people are receiving food stamps. Washington, D.C. leads the nation, with 21.5% of the population on food stamps. Some months ago, Maclean's ran a story called " Third World America " - subtitled: "Collapsing bridges, street lights turned off, cuts to basic services: the decline of a superpower". It was interesting to see a theme I've written about for so many years tackled by mainstream media, espec

I happened to see this on Saturday night, and have been waiting to find it on YouTube. The show pretty much sucks, but once in a while it has a moment. "What are the differences between Mark Zuckerberg and me? Let's take a look. I give you private information on corporations for free and I'm a villain. Zuckerberg gives your private information to corporations for money and he's man of the year." When I was a kid, my family subscribed to Time and I thought "Man of the Year" - as it was called then - was a real thing, an actual award with meaning, like a Pulitzer, rather than a promo for the magazine. In 1975 Time named a dozen women Women of the Year. Doesn't everyone know the conversion rate of female to male achievement is 12:1? "Tonight I want to congratulate Time magazine on the excellent selection of Mark Zuckerberg as Person of the Year. Time magazine - always on the cutting edge; discovering Facebook only weeks after your grandmother.&quo

I'll probably write a combined "what i'm reading" post for everything I read on my winter break. But right now I'm reading a novel I love so much, that I just couldn't wait to tell you about it: Apex Hides the Hurt by Colson Whitehead. I don't want to give too much plot away, because I love the way the novel unfolds, but here's enough to go on. A "nomenclature consultant" is hired to help a town re-name itself. This is a man who dreams up the names that brand our world - the popular pharmaceuticals, the cell phones, the toothpaste, household cleaners and video game systems. Now he's going to judge which name best suits an old town with a new look - new money and new computer-related jobs. But the town already has a name. Gentrification and job growth are important, but what about tradition? Which leads to the question... whose tradition? Turns out, the town's current and historic name was itself a re-naming, not unlike "America&

In this thread , there is some discussion about a possible name-change: L-girl becoming laura k. I thought I would try "laura k (aka L-girl)" for a while, then drop the parenthetical. But now I see that if I change my blogging name, it changes on all posts on the entire blog. I should have realized that, since the new, more stable Blogger templates also appear on all posts - meaning, from the beginning of the blog until the current post. I like the idea of being laura k in the present and future, but I don't want to erase L-girl from the past. I may change back.

From the Abortion Support Network : December 16, 2010 Abortion Support Network disappointed by the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights on the challenge to Ireland’s abortion ban Abortion Support Network is extremely disappointed with today’s ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in relation to the challenge to Ireland’s abortion ban by three women who underwent considerable hardship and trauma by being forced to travel to England in order to access a safe and legal abortion. As an organisation that provides support to women who are forced to make this journey, we know the significant distress, worry and financial burden that women in Ireland are made to bear by being denied an abortion in their own country. Every year thousands of women are forced to make this journey, and do so under extremely difficult, often desperate, circumstances. They face the struggles of finding the money to pay for the cost of the trip and procedure, of taking time off work, and sometimes the

Earlier this year - and more than once - I promised to upload the documents submitted by the applicants (our side) in the suit against the federal government for refusing to allow George Galloway into Canada. Finally, for those interested, here they are: • the brief itself , and • the timeline of the email chain between CIC and CBSA , which the government sent to the applicants by mistake! , but which the court ruled could not be suppressed. They open as read-only Word documents. Sorry for the delay, and enjoy.

This video was made by an Afghan-American woman, and although it is about the US, it certainly applies to Canada in equal measure. There's only one thing missing: the real reasons for the continuing occupation of Afghanistan. No mention of oil, no mention of pipelines. No mention of strategic regional control of resources. Excellent video, though. Please share.

Michael Moore: ¡Viva WikiLeaks! SiCKO Was Not Banned in Cuba . Read and enjoy.

A Veteran Being Arrested at the White House, December 16, 2010 Yesterday, 131 people, about 100 of whom were veterans, were arrested in front of the White House. Veterans for Peace staged the civil disobedience, protesting the war in Afghanistan on a day President Obama invoked 9/11 to justify the continued killing there. Daniel Ellsberg, Ann Wright, Ray McGovern and several members of Code Pink were among those arrested; there were solidarity rallies in New York and other cities. I'm very heartened by this action. I hope it's the beginning of a trend. For more about these and other committed peace actions, see Stop These Wars . Read their Call To Action here . Read, join, support.

Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of leaking the Collateral Murder video that brought WikiLeaks to the spotlight, is now enduring his seventh month of solitary confinement. He is being held in deplorable conditions. His health is deteriorating. His supporters are being threatened and harassed. We must never forget Bradley Manning. We must do everything we can to help him know he is not alone, although physically he is very much alone. From The Guardian : As Julian Assange emerged from his nine-day imprisonment, there were renewed concerns about the physical and psychological health of Bradley Manning, the former US intelligence analyst suspected of leaking the diplomatic cables at the centre of the storm. Manning, who was arrested seven months ago, is being held at a military base in Virginia and faces a court martial and up to 52 years in prison for his alleged role in copying the cables. His friends and supporters also claim they have been the target of extra-judicial harassmen

Of all the email alerts I get about various important causes, I find the updates from NRDC's Save Biogems the most alarming and depressing. Taken together, the subject lines read like chapters in a book entitled "How Humans Are Killing the Planet". Or, more accurately, "How Capitalism is Killing the Planet, since, globally, most humans are the victims, not the culprits, of these crimes. Sitting in my inbox from NRDC from the last few weeks: mountaintop removal, the continuing war on wolves, tar sands, polar bears, oil and gas exploitation of the Rocky Mountains, energy exploitation in Patagonia. Of course the emails all contain action alerts, easy clicks to contact representatives, speak out and donate. But with energy and financial interests controlling the governments of the world's major nations, it's difficult to feel hopeful. Haliburton Forest Wolf Centre, Ontario, 2009 I haven't posted any updates about the terrible situation regarding wolves in a

Michael Ignatieff thinks Rob Ford's election as Mayor of Toronto bodes well for the federal Liberals: " The same people who elected Rob Ford elected me. " Good lord. The federal Liberals imagine they can refashion themselves as populist bullies who oppose public services, immigration, and "elites" - that is, the Michael Ignatieffs of the world? Yet in the one area the Liberals could benefit from Rob Ford's experience - tough talk and strong campaigning - they are utterly bereft. Michael Ignatieff, you will never get it right. And your party will never form a government until it dumps you.

I've wanted to do this for a very long time! It was the one thing on my summer to-do list that didn't get crossed out. So now at last... the new look. I think it's clean, readable, simple but with a bit of a personal look, and kind of classy. As you can see, I've retired the artwork in the masthead. I've also officially changed the blog's name to wmtc, since that's what I call it, and I've kept "we move to canada" as the subtitle. I'll be populating the tabs over the next few days and weeks. Most of what was in the sidebar will now be in tabs. I'm also considering retiring the name "L-girl," which has been my name since I first got online in 1996. The alternative would be "laura k," which I also post under. I have mixed feelings about letting L-girl go. But it might be time. Two CSS questions for you experts out there. How do I change the titles on the sidebar to all lower case? (Got it!) And how can I reduce the sp

Naomi Wolf, HuffPo: How do I know that Interpol, Britain and Sweden's treatment of Julian Assange is a form of theater? Because I know what happens in rape accusations against men that don't involve the embarrassing of powerful governments. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is in solitary confinement in Wandsworth prison in advance of questioning on state charges of sexual molestation. Lots of people have opinions about the charges. But I increasingly believe that only those of us who have spent years working with rape and sexual assault survivors worldwide, and know the standard legal response to sex crime accusations, fully understand what a travesty this situation is against those who have to live through how sex crime charges are ordinarily handled -- and what a deep, even nauseating insult this situation is to survivors of rape and sexual assault worldwide. Here is what I mean: men are pretty much never treated the way Assange is being treated in the face of sex crime char

Please read this excellent column by Linda McQuaig, which ran in yesterday's Toronto Star : In the aftermath of the G20 fiasco here last summer , one thing Torontonians agreed on was that such summits should be held in isolated venues — on military bases, on ocean-going vessels, on melting glaciers — anywhere but where lots of people reside. But beyond being upset with the expense and disorder that weekend, many Torontonians (and city council) sided with the police, assuming that the arrest of 1,105 people must have somehow been justified, given the rampage of a small group through the downtown core. What is now unmistakably clear — with the release of a searing report by Ontario Ombudsman André Marin and startling new video evidence of police beatings obtained by the Star’s Rosie DiManno — is that the vast powers of the state were unjustifiably used against thousands of innocent protesters, as well as against others doing nothing more subversive than riding a bike or picking up gr

"The Profit," by Mr. Fish , used with his kind permission. Friend of wmtc Joe Grav sent me the official Fuck Christmas rant , taunting me with the notion that my annual "i hate christmas" post cannot compete. He's right, of course, so I won't even try.* Instead, enjoy this excellent video, finally available online for Canadians. I'm actually expecting a brilliant December 25 and 26 this year, involving humour from The Larry Sanders Show, food from President's Choice, beverages from grapes, and company from my favourite person. Plus - an extreme rarity in our home - paid time off. And if that particular magic can only be conjured through an ahistorical mashup of ancient pagan rites and hollow Christianity and out-of-control capitalism, then so be it. * Although I still need the mall for one thank-you gift. I reserve the right to rant if necessary.

We did ordinary joys , and ordinary irritations . Now we move to the stuff of fantasy. You hit lotto. It's a huge jackpot, enough to afford anything money can buy for the rest of your life. What do you do? Top 10. 1. Travel. Go everywhere. Travel for three or four months a year. 2. Fully fund the War Resisters Support Campaign so we never have to fundraise again. (If this no longer applies, fully fund other grassroots military-resistance/peace organizations.) 3. Fully fund pit bull education, advocacy and rescue programs, like this one . 4. Create a foundation to support progressive grassroots activism. Hire great administrators to give the money away. 5. Give a ton of money to the National Network of Abortion Funds . 6. Adopt a whole bunch of dogs. This appears to clash with travel, but I'll figure it out. 7. Drop money on various friends and family who need a mortgage or school loans paid off. 8. Buy a small house on a lake, to live in quiet semi-solitude when not traveling.

Jack Todd, a sports columnist in Montreal whose book I wrote about here , has some thoughts on Don Cherry. When Cherry dives in to right-wing politics with both feet firmly in his mouth, he is over the line - the line that separates commentary on hockey from such complex issues as public transit, health care and the war in Afghanistan. Shameless to the core, Cherry has even devoted one entire segment of Coach's Corner to his own self-aggrandizement as Canada's self-appointed No. 1 soldier. But Cherry the soldier is as phoney as Cherry the bluecollar guy. I know someone who has held the same bluecollar job for at least the past 15 years. Cherry has walked past this person on a regular basis for all those years - and never once said hello. Still, Cherry wants us to believe that he is blue-collar, while guys like me are the elite, bicycle-riding columnists. You want a tough, blue-collar guy, Don? A real one, not a phoney? Well, I grew up with one. A father who was a combat vetera

Another term down! That's three down, five to go - or six of 16 classes completed. I just submitted a totally rockin' final paper. I am tired but happy! Winter break begins right now . Last year I had four weeks of break, but this year only three. On the other hand, Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year's Day all fall on the weekend, so it will be a true vacation. There's the possibility of some very well-paid overtime from my weekend job during my break. We really need the money, so if I'm offered it, I must say yes. But I dread the thought of spending any of my precious time-off working. I'm both hoping I get called and hoping I don't.

Well, this is a surprise. Wmtc is a top-five finalist in the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards , in two categories: Political and LGBTQ. Schmutzie , who coordinates this effort, uses some kind of jury system, not an online vote. Details here. It's nice to see blogs listed that aren't the usual suspects. However - with much respect to my friend Tornwordo, whose excellent blog Sticky Crows also made the top five - for my money, the best Canadian LGBTQ blog can only be Slap Upside The Head . In any case, many thanks to Schmutzie and company for the honours.

Students of US political history know that Richard Nixon was a virulent racist and antisemite. Nixon famously hated a lot of people, but there was a special place in Nixonian Hell for Blacks and Jews. But who knew there'd be a war resister connection mixed in the bigotry? New tapes released this week by the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum show that one reason Nixon vehemently opposed any sort of amnesty for Vietnam War resisters was because so many of them were Jewish. Nixon also strongly hinted that his reluctance to even consider amnesty for young Americans who went to Canada to avoid being drafted during the Vietnam War was because, he told Mr. Colson, so many of them were Jewish. "I didn't notice many Jewish names coming back from Vietnam on any of those lists; I don't know how the hell they avoid it," he said, adding: "If you look at the Canadian-Swedish contingent, they were very disproportionately Jewish. The deserters." If you're wonde

Can hell freeze over twice in one week? Again, I thank conservative Toronto Star columnist Rosie DiManno. First DiManno called for Chief of Police Bill Blair's resignation over G20 police abuse. Now she announces that a newly acquired video corroborates key portions of Adam Nobody's account of his beating by plainclothes police officers - after he had been assaulted by uniformed cops. DiManno's balanced column weighs the available evidence and acknowledges the possibility of doubt. But she is clearly inclined to believe Nobody's story. Those images — a handcuffed Nobody being led out of camera range by uniformed officers , in the process of being arrested last June 26, not a drop of blood on him — support the 27-year-old’s formal complaint that he was immediately afterwards subjected to another vicious beating by a couple of plainclothes detectives behind two parked police vans. After this second purported assault, Nobody's face was left bloodied, he says, his ch

If you're in Toronto on Tuesday morning, please join supporters of peace and conscience in a show of support for US Iraq War resister Dean Walcott. Details below. Dean has served two tours of duty in Iraq, but it wasn't until he was stationed at a US military hospital in Germany that he saw the true cost of war. Dean joined the United States Marine Corps in 2000, a few weeks shy of his 18th birthday, hoping to get a college education and some structure in his life. Dean knew if the US went to war, he would be expected to fight, and he fully accepted that risk. In 2003, he was involved in the United States' invasion of Iraq, and was deployed to Iraq a second time in 2005. Between those two deployments, Dean was stationed at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, a US military hospital in Stuttgart, Germany. There, families of mortally wounded US soldiers are flown in to see their loved one for the last time. Alarmed by the high suicide rate among Landstuhl patients, military br

In celebration of International Human Rights Day , the Toronto Friends House is holding a banquet and fundraiser tonight in support of Iraq War resisters in Canada (details below*). We attended this dinner last year. It was a wonderful evening, and among other joys, I learned about Conscience Canada , a war tax resistance group. For more on what members of Conscience Canada do and what they work for, I encourage you to read this older post . Shortly after that, I found that wmtc post linked on the website of a US tax resister. David Gross, who writes The Picket Line combines tax resistance with a more general resistance to consumerism, acquisitiveness and capitalism at large. He has withdrawn his support for the military-industrial killing machine by deliberately living below the threshold for paying taxes. Like most Amer­i­cans , I sup­ported the gov­ern­ment and its wars — I can look at an old W2 form to see just how much. I didn't want to sup­port the gov­ern­ment, but my op­po