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In light of the new scathing report on G20 police abuse , and continued calls for an independent inquiry, this seems like a good time to post an update on my own relatively minor police complaint. I've just written the final chapter in the saga. For those just tuning in: Part I: What happened . Part II: My complaint is "withdrawn". Part III: The OIPRD calls me . Part IV: I feel I have no choice; the complaint becomes an investigation . * * * * A few weeks ago I received the finding of the investigation, the gist of which is summarized in this paragraph. Taking into consideration all the information we have received to date, I am of the view that based on reasonable grounds the allegations cannot be substantiated. There is insufficient reason to conclude misconduct was committed by the officer. There is an opportunity to request a review by the OIPRD. I did not do so, but I did write this letter. * * * * I am writing in response to the findings in the above-referenced com

I spent a fair amount of Reading Week reading, but not a word of it was for school. I did not achieve my goal of getting caught up to the current post of Disunion , but I did start at the beginning and make it through early January. But it doesn't matter how far I got, because now I am totally hooked. I can't believe I got myself into another long-term reading commitment, with at least two years of overlap between the Pepys Diary and Disunion! But it's too late to turn back now. I am absolutely loving Disunion . If you enjoy reading and thinking about history, you can't do much better than this. Did you know there was almost a state called Franklin ? Did you know that the state of West Virginia was created when people in the western end of Virginia chose not to secede with the rest of their state? (They weren't anti-slavery, but were more economically tied to the North.) Allan and I have come to the conclusion that we were taught just about nothing. Perhaps that&#

From IVAW, on Common Dreams: Iraq Veterans Against the War to Troops: “We Are Public Employees Too!” Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) calls on all U.S. military service members to refuse and resist any mobilization against workers organizing to protect their basic rights. IVAW stands in solidarity with the multitude gathered in Madison, Wisconsin and many other cities to defend their unions. by Iraq Veterans Against the War We believe military service members are public employees too. It is dishonorable to suggest that military personnel should be deployed against teachers, health care providers, firefighters, police officers, and other government employees, many of whom are themselves serving in the National Guard. Workers with prior military service often seek jobs in the public sector because government agencies are the only employers that follow hiring preferences for veterans as a matter of law. According to the Army Times, veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan are unemployed at a

In January, as part of Let Them Stay Week 2011, there was a Day of Action in Toronto in support of US war resisters in Canada. I neglected to post an audio report by John Bonnar, posted at Rabble, along with an excellent photo album . The audio is a bit under 20 minutes. I'm listening to it right now. It's Jim Loney, first reading from the Bible, with an interpretation that may surprise you, then reading from Joshua Key's The Deserter's Tale . Loney, of Christian Peacemaker Teams, says, "We have been possessed by the demon of war. We are spending up to a trillion and a half dollars every year on weapons, on death, on occupation, on blood. We have to stop this." Listen here. Update: John also wrote this excellent report on Ashlea Brockway's talk. Listening to Ashlea speak about her husband Jeremy's ordeal is heartbreaking. And realizing the Canadian government is refusing to admit the Brockways - and other families like them - to Canada is enraging.

Here's a brilliant and inspiring video from "Democracy Now!", bringing you inside the Wisconsin State Capitol. These are thrilling times, watching people all over the world discover their voices and their power. How 'bout it, Canada?

Last night's news from Wisconsin was the best yet. Governor Scott Walker ordered the capitol building cleared of sleeping bags, saying he would close the building for the weekend. Police said: No. The union representing Wisconsin's police officers issued this statement (click to enlarge): Law enforcement officers know the difference between right and wrong, and Governor Walker's attempt to eliminate the collective voice of Wisconsin's devoted public employees is wrong. That is why we have stood with our fellow employees each day and why we will be sleeping among them tonight. When police officers recognize that they have more in common with other workers than with the state whose edicts they are asked to carry out, we are really onto something. These cops are the civilian equivalent of war resisters. More power to them!

This is a tangent to my previous post , but it deserves an entry of its own. I want to point out this excellent article by Adam Gopnik in The New Yorker : "How the Internet gets inside us" . Gopnik reviews a pile of recent books about the internet and society, dividing them into three themes: technology is our saviour, technology is our demise, and technology has always been met with these same two responses. Gopnik calls them "the Never-Betters, the Better-Nevers, and the Ever-Wasers". It's a perceptive and entertaining assessment of how we conceive of technology in our lives. Here are a few bits I especially enjoyed. One of the things that John Brockman’s collection on the Internet and the mind illustrates is that when people struggle to describe the state that the Internet puts them in they arrive at a remarkably familiar picture of disassociation and fragmentation. Life was once whole, continuous, stable; now it is fragmented, multi-part, shimmering around

One of the more interesting ideas I've encountered at the iSchool is questioning why internet access is controlled through private corporations. Broadband internet access is now a necessity, but we must pay private, for-profit services for access. From the start, internet access could have been fashioned as a public utility, much the way access to water and electricity is, or - depending on where you live - should be. If our governments were more interested in public access (democracy) than in corporate access (free-market capitalism), it might be. Much as been written and said about this (a sample of the issues can be heard in this debate on NPR ); I mention it only to note that the concept was new to me, and immediately made perfect sense. Expensive monthly fees for broadband access is only one of many roots of the digital divide, the chasm that separates the internet-literate haves from the internet-illiterate have-nots, but it's an important one. The digital divide is ofte

Q. How do you take a nutritious, pure, easy-to-prepare food and turn it into garbage? A. Ask the experts: McDonald's. In this excellent little piece, Mark Bittman deconstructs McDonald's self-described "bowl full of wholesome", which in reality contains 11 not-food ingredients, more sugar than a candy bar, and only 10 fewer calories than a McDonald's cheeseburger. This is a perfect example of so much that's wrong with the industrial food chain, how advertising lies, and why fast food should be avoided. And if you need some ideas for quick, nutritious breakfasts, Bittman has those, too. How To Make Oatmeal... Wrong by Mark Bittman There’s a feeling of inevitability in writing about McDonald’s latest offering, their “bowl full of wholesome” — also known as oatmeal. The leading fast-food multinational, with sales over $16.5 billion a year (just under the GDP of Afghanistan), represents a great deal of what is wrong with American food today. From a marketing persp

Here's a tough, somber look at the situation facing US war resisters in Canada. The writer is quite pessimistic, but I still believe that we can do this. Canada, it's up to you. Sanctuary Denied: America’s war deserters face deportation from Canada — and then prison , from In These Times .

On Saturday, February 19, Zimbabwean police raided a meeting of the International Socialist Organisation. 52 people were arrested - students, union members and workers - and are still being detained at Harare Central prison. Please see below for how you can help. The Central Intelligence Organisation infiltrated the meeting, where people were discussing the events in the Middle East and the fall of Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak. Munyaradzi Gwisai, the director of the Labour Law Center, is among those detained. The most recent report is that none have been released and that they are being charged with treason . This is a very serious charge that carries the death penalty. This directly from Ashley Fataar, Claire Ceruti and Shone Igene of the group Keep Left, South Africa: Our contact went to court this afternoon. All 52 were at court an hour before the Magistrate arrived. The prosecutor looked surprised that the Magistrate – and the lawyers for the accused – wanted the comrades to app

Scott Walker, the embattled union-busting Governor of Wisconsin, had a little chat with his favourite ultra-rightwing financier, David Koch. Or so he thought. From AMERICAblog: Last night, the Republican Governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, delivered an address to the people of his state. But, yesterday, Walker also got on the phone with someone who really matters to him - billionaire GOP activist David Koch, who is behind much of what is happening in Wisconsin, but also funds far-right GOP activism nationwide. Well, that's who Walker thought he was talking to. . . . . Ian Murphy, a blogger at Buffalo Beast, managed to talk to Governor Scott Walker by pretending to be Koch. . . . [Ed note: the Buffalo Beast site is down. The post, called "Koch Whore", should be here . The call has been confirmed by the governor's office.] More details from the call are emerging - Greg Sargent at the Washington Post has a few: * Walker doesn't bat an eye when Koch describes the o

I meant to include this in my earlier post about Ted Rall's new book . Just as well, it's worth reading on its own. Advo­cate: Speak­ing of the Left: in your book you are pretty harsh on some very well liked and admired fig­ures on the Left. Michael Moore, for instance, and the Yes Men, whom I think are really hilar­i­ous... TR: They are hilarious. Advo­cate: So, what’s up with that? What’s the prob­lem with what they do? Aren’t they allies in your cause? TR: I would say the rea­son I picked them is because they are so good. They are the best that the offi­cial Amer­i­can Left has to offer, in the same way that Obama is the best, in terms of the main­stream polit­i­cal sys­tem, that the sys­tem has to offer. Michael Moore has got this immense audi­ence of tens of mil­lions of peo­ple, his movies can open up in hun­dreds of the­atres, he can talk about things that no one else can talk about, he’s got this great Mid­west­ern folksy sen­si­bil­ity, he has a gen­tle deliv­ery; he

I've been meaning to post this interview with cartoonist and activist Ted Rall ever since Allan said, "You must read this - he sounds exactly like us." Rall's new book is The Anti-American Manifesto ; this interview is in the CUNY [City University of New York] Graduate School Advocate. Reluctant Revolutionary: An Interview With Ted Rall Advo­cate: . . . In your new book you explic­itly advo­cate the use of rev­o­lu­tion­ary vio­lence. It’s hard to get any more rad­i­cal than that and I can’t imag­ine the deci­sion to write such a book was an easy one to make. Indeed, in con­ver­sa­tions with friends about the book I’ve found that even the men­tion of rev­o­lu­tion­ary vio­lence is almost uni­ver­sally greeted with dis­dain, shock, or dis­be­lief. I am really inter­ested in how you came to this deci­sion to write the book, the events or ideas that led you to this argu­ment, and why you felt com­pelled to write this book now? Ted Rall: Well, it was a very dif­fi­cult d

From the definitely better late than never department, I neglected to mention a historic victory in the Canadian House of Commons. Bill C-389 , Bill Siksay's private member's bill that would give transgendered people explicit rights under both the Human Rights Act and the hate-crimes provision of the Criminal Code, passed second reading in the House of Commons. Nearly all opposition members stood up to cheer and applaud when the results were announced. While the entire NDP and Bloc caucuses voted for the bill, five Liberals abstained and seven voted against. Six Conservatives voted for the bill, including four cabinet ministers, while one minister abstained. Most of us watching this bill were pretty surprised to see six Conservative MPs - John Baird, Lawrence Cannon, Shelly Glover, Gerald Keddy, John Moore and Lisa Raitt - vote in favour. While everyone points out that Baird is an openly closeted gay man, I'm not sure that's ever caused him to do the right thing before

A few weeks ago, I highlighted three long magazine articles that, taken together, demonstrate so much of what is wrong with the profit-driven system that dominates our world. They document how capitalism is destroying the environment, health care, and in general, people's lives. Well, I'm back to repeat myself. This story by Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone is a brilliant piece of investigative journalism almost guaranteed to amaze you. The depth and breadth of corruption - in both financial and legal systems designed to increase the wealth and power of giant banks while destroying low- and middle-income Americans - are simply mind-boggling. Do yourself a favour and read this: "Invasion of the Home Snatchers: How the courts are helping bankers screw over homeowners and get away with fraud" . If you are interested in health care, and why it needs to be publicly financed, why profit needs to be removed from the system, don't miss "Making A Killing," by Carl

Many of you may know James from comments on wmtc, or if you've been to a wmtc party, you know him, his partner L and their wonderful pups . Our two-person, two-canine families are all friends. James is an avid cyclist, as well as a techie guy, and he combined those two passions in this video. It's a time-lapse animation of five years worth of cycling in the GTA, totalling almost 8100 kilometres. As you watch, the red path represents five minutes of cycling. A version of this video - updated to include 2010 for a total of almost 12,000 kilometres - is included in an art installation currently running at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre . The exhibit is called " Plotting A City ": "Eight artists document the city through an active plotting by creative activities such as photography, painting, sound, walking and installation." I'm going to this today, and it's also the first time I've been to Harbourfront, so I'm looking forward to that, too. I

[allan guest post] There are far too many US politicians - on both sides of the aisle - who despise equality, hate women, and have no shame in pushing legislation that would sound right at home in any of the world's worst dictatorships. Here are what two of them are doing. Georgia Representative Bobby Franklin wants abortion classified as murder (of course), but he also wants to force the police to investigate all "miscarriages" (the antiquated term for a spontaneous abortion) to make sure that they were indeed spontaneous. From Daily Kos : Franklin wants to create a Uterus Police to investigate miscarriages, and requires that any time a miscarriage occurs, whether in a hospital or without medical assistance, it must be reported and a fetal death certificate issued. If the cause of death is unknown, it must be investigated. If the woman can't tell how it happened, than those Uterus Police can ask family members and friends how it happened. Hospitals are required to ke

Have you seen this? I love it! From Slate, via Politico: In an act of intercontinental solidarity, an Egyptian has ordered a pizza for Wisconsin protesters, reports Politico . The call from Africa is just one of many streaming into the Madison, Wisc., pizza parlor Ian's from all over the world. So far, people from 12 countries and 38 states have rung up looking to help get free pizza to the Wisconsin protesters clustered in the Capitol. On Saturday, Ian's distributed more than 1,000 free slices and sent 300 pizzas to the Capitol. The trend continued on Sunday, as staff member fielded calls from as far away as Turkey, Korea, Finland, China, and Australia. The trend began when a mother of a University of Wisconsin student called in offering to donate $200 to feed the people occupying the Capitol. The pizza chain's postings on Twitter and Facebook soon led to so many donations that they had to shut down on Saturday night. Also: Libya! What atrocity. What courage. ( War resist

Last year, I highlighted a story about a study proving that "almost nothing we do with our brains that is hard-wired . Every skill, attribute and personality trait is moulded by experience." This inspired one of my better posts, "science proves that men and women are from the same planet" , relating the belief that so-called traditional gender roles are innate to to a right-wing worldview, especially anti-intellectualism and anti-feminism. I thought of those ideas when I read a column about Peggy Orenstein 's recent book, Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture . I haven't read the book yet, but I have read Orenstein's superb 1994 book Schoolgirls: Young Women, Self-Esteem and the Confidence Gap . I was working with teens at the time, and this book was so powerful, I wrote to the author - on paper, pre-email! - to thank her. So when I see Orenstein's name, I pay attention. This column by Catherine Por

My filter is malfunctioning. My trusty filter, the one that makes possible my total ignorance of celebrity relationships, reality TV and big-budget science fiction movies, appears to be broken. This filter is the reason I can honestly claim total ignorance of Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and Lindsay Lohan. I guess if my mental shield were invincible, I wouldn't even know those names. But come on, this filter blocked out the entire 2008 US presidential election campaign, so you know it has superhero powers. But clearly, my filter is malfunctioning. I have become aware that two people from the UK are getting married. Once married, they will Visit Canada, and some Canadians care. Some Canadians care quite a bit. Luckily, plans for this Visit do not include Toronto, so we in the GTA won't have to deal with traffic and security and other annoyances, such as enthralled co-workers. But still. The fact that some Canadians care so much about this impending Visit is depressing. I try not to

I will try not to overdo the Disunion posts, but I can't promise anything. This entry is worthy of Howard Zinn: "Jim Crow on West Broadway" . There was always resistance! Meet Charles Sanders and Elizabeth Jennings, 19th Century forerunners of Rosa Parks, along with the organizing efforts of black New Yorkers, and a Georgia man who refused to chop wood, declaring that since Lincoln had been elected, he was now free. Go read. Try not to get distracted by that house for sale on West 9th Street. At one time that would have topped my lottery list .

I don't know if Freedom To Read Week is purposely timed to coincide with Reading Week, the mid-winter break for university students, but I'm celebrating my own freedom to read by diving headlong into "Disunion" . I'm starting at the beginning, with the goal of being caught up with the current post by the time classes resume next week. My friend Alan With One L should be happy to read this: he learned about Disunion through my post here , and like me, he couldn't just pick up in progress, he had to start with the first post . I have to thank him, too. I thought I was too far behind to get caught up, but his enthusiasm convinced me otherwise. Now we can gush about this together in April. So far, this blog is amazing, a must-read for history lovers, especially if you're into the 19th Century, as I am. It was no surprise to me to read that political life in mid-1800s America was louder, more divisive and more violent than it is today. Hurled brickbats, smashe

This week is Freedom To Read Week , the Canadian cousin of the ALA's Banned Books Week. FTRW is sponsored by the Freedom of Expression Committee of the Book and Periodical Council . They say: Freedom of expression is a fundamental right of all Canadians, and freedom to read is part of that precious heritage. Our Committee, representing member organizations and associations of the Book and Periodical Council, reaffirms its support of this vital principle and opposes all efforts to suppress writing and silence writers. Words and images in their myriad configurations are the substance of free expression. The freedom to choose what we read does not, however, include the freedom to choose for others. We accept that courts alone have the authority to restrict reading material, a prerogative that cannot be delegated or appropriated. Prior restraint demeans individual responsibility; it is anathema to freedom and democracy. As writers, editors, publishers, book manufacturers, distributors