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Update: You can see many more of these fantastic ads here . I think I will start posting selections from these regularly. My favourite might be "Let Us Fix Your Tie". Many thanks to Redsock for finding them.

A couple of weeks ago, there was some buzz about a post by Judith Warner, a feminist writer who writes the blog Domestic Disturbances for the New York Times . Warner wrote "Outsourced Wombs" in reaction to an NPR piece about women in India who are bearing surrogate pregnancies for wealthy American couples. The voice was commanding, slightly disdainful and officious. "The legal issues in the United States are complicated, having to do with that the surrogate mother still has legal rights to that child until they sign over their parental rights at the time of the delivery. Of course, and there’s the factor of costs. For some couples in the United States surrogacy can reach up to $80,000." This was "Julie," an American thirtysomething who'd come to India to pay a poor village woman to bear her baby. She went on: "You have no idea if your surrogate mother is smoking, drinking alcohol, doing drugs. You don't know what she’s doing. You have a third...

I happened to notice this local headline this morning: "Don't call it 'Scarlem' - Scarborough councillors to debate today if area gets fair shake from city". Scarborough is the east end of Toronto, once a separate town, now incorporated into the city. It has a bad reputation, although there are certainly nice areas in it. Trontonians like to call it "Scarberia," pronounced in withering tones of disdain. Now, as a New Yorker, I'm all for withering disdain. But is this headline supposed to be a reference to Harlem? The article says: ". . . an invitation to Toronto Life magazine representatives to discuss an article portraying the former city as a bleak, gang-infested "Scarlem."" Bleak, gang-infested? Harlem?? Scarborough wishes it was as vibrant, happening and desirable a place to live as Harlem! People all over the GTA would be flocking there to buy expensive homes on historic, tree-lined streets, eat at hip restaurants, go to ja...

EDITED WITH CORRECTED INFORMATION Voting in round one of the Canadian Blog Awards is now open. Wmtc is nominated in three different categories. That's a bit ridiculous, as far as I'm concerned, but if you'd like to vote, feel free. You can vote once per round. One vote per IP address, which means partners, roommates and other families get one vote per household. Not fair! Allan blog - which last year won Best Sports Blog! - is nominated again. Now, he does care about this award. He's at a disadvantage, since the sport in question is not in season, so his regular readership is more limited. So if you'd like to indirectly help wmtc by helping Joy of Sox , please do! Voting is here. More specifically: Best Sports Blog Best Political Blog Best Progressive Blog Best Blog (What can I say? The man is my biggest fan.)

At Progressive Bloggers , I've seen many posts about Ezra Levant's drama-queen turn in front of the Alberta Human Rights Commission. Most progressive bloggers, as far as I can tell, are ridiculing Levant . It's tempting: the neocon blowhard is an easy target. But I'm disappointed at how many progressive people seem to think the Human Rights Commission is doing the right thing, and that Levant is the transgressor. The man's opinions are loathsome. But are we so myopic that that we only believe in free speech for ourselves? And if we are so selfish (and unprincipled) that we care only about our own rights, can't we at least understand that any law prohibiting certain speech or writing will eventually be used against us ? Thanks to Rusty Idols , I saw this Glenn Greenwald column defending Levant's right to free speech. If you're not up on this bit of Canadian news, Greenwald will fill you in. I've written several times before about the oppressive, dang...

As you may (or may not) have noticed, I'm not blogging about the Democratic primary races. It's impossible to block out altogether, but I'm paying as little attention to the circus as I can. If you read this blog, you know I think the whole US election system is a bankrupt, corrupt, anti-democratic sham. No viable candidate will make meaningful change, and any candidate who would try, will not be viable. We'll all be happy to see the face of the US change (if indeed it does - I won't be surprised if " something happens " and they dispense with even the pretense of elections), but will the direction of the US change? So. I don't care about the Democrats, and I care very little about this election. And you damn well know I don't care about Hillary Clinton ! But I do care about sexism. It comes as no surprise that a female presidential candidate is earning a special place in hell from the rabidly right-wing US media. Canadian media is not immune to se...

I think a lot about the hidden costs of war. Last July, the cost in dollars was $12 billion a month . This in a country where millions of citizens do not have access to basic health care or decent education, where thousands are still homeless from a hurricane (that private corporations continue to profit from ). The most obvious cost is measured in lives - as of today, estimated to be between 80,000 and 90,000 Iraqi civilians and 4229 "coalition" (3922 US). But as terrible as those numbers are, they are only the beginning. Amputation, paralysis, blindness, poverty, homelessness, mental illness, alcoholism, drug addiction, suicide... What else? What am I missing? Today the New York Times - you know, the paper that did so much to justify the invasion ? - began a series called "War Torn" . Subtitle: A series of articles and multimedia about veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who have committed killings, or been charged with them, after coming home. It...