test blog 5

Two heartbreaking and inspiring views on the war in Iraq. From the National Catholic Reporter , "What the Rest of the World Watched on Inauguration Day," by Sister Joan Chittister. I'm sure you saw the photo. I liked Sister Joan's description of Dublin commuters confronting their morning papers. And on the growing war number of soldiers who are refusing to fight this immoral war, "'They Can't Throw Us All In Jail'", by Geov Parrish . I am very attracted to these stories of dissenting servicepeople. I feel called to help. I have no idea yet what I'll do, but I have a feeling an opportunity will present itself.

A little closer to home, Mayor Michael Bloomberg thinks our financially strapped city - where ancient subway signals are spontaneously combusting and neighborhood activists are chaining themselves to firehouse doors - should increase the net worth of his billionaire friend Robert Wood Johnson IV, owner of the New York Jets. New York doesn't need this stadium. It doesn't want this stadium. And the stadium plan itself is laughable. Who in their right mind would build a 75,000-seat football stadium without parking facilities? No city in America has ever made money from building a stadium. People get rich all right, but it ain't us. Bob Herbert recently wrote a nice screed against this insanity, in which he says: To take the public's money, which should be used for schoolkids, for subway riders, for hospital patients - for any number of projects that might truly serve the public's interest - and hand it over to a billionaire who will use it as seed money to further his...

Continuing the abortion-rights theme here at wmtc, yesterday, January 28, was the 17th anniversary of the Morgentaler Decision. That decision by the Supreme Court of Canada decriminalized abortion and effectively ended legal restrictions to abortion in Canada. In 1969, in defiance of the law, Dr Henry Morgentaler opened Canada's first freestanding abortion clinic. After a series of trials where Quebec juries refused to convict him, Dr Morgentaler served time in prison. It won't surprise you to learn I admire people with that kind of courage and commitment. Like every movement for social change, this was a long, circuitous battle, culminating in the 1988 Supreme Court decision. Thanks to ALPF, today I read about Dr Morgentaler's work and life (and about the Canadian reproductive rights movement). Morgentaler is also a survivor of the Nazi slave-labor camp in Dachau. He is still a leader in the struggle for equality and access to reproductive-related medical care; you can rea...

You may know that Wal-mart has launched a multi-million dollar advertising blitz to counter its well-deserved image as an enemy of the people. The company bought hundreds of TV and newspaper ads to spread its propaganda and defend its indefensable policies. Purple Ocean, the political arm of the Service Employees Union (SEIU), is fighting back with a different sort of weapon. Through a grassroots, hand-to-hand campaign, people who care about workers, the environment and community life will help spread the facts about Wal-mart. I encourage you to read the facts and invite your friends to read them, too. You can track who has accepted your invitation on an animated map that follows your fact sheet as it spreads across the country. Check it out here . I think it's an excellent opportunity to put the old activist's axiom in motion: each one, reach one. The smart folks at the SEIU have also linked the campaign to a contest. From the original email: Start the chain by passing on the ...

I woke up this morning thinking about baseball. Spring training is just around the corner!

Second-term drinking game for ya: You chug a beer every time you hear the phrase "a contentious but futile protest vote by the Democrats". By the time Jeb Bush is elected, you'll be too wasted to notice the war in Syria. Jon Stewart, on Condoleezza Rice's confirmation as Secretary of State Can’t you see? You're not making Christianity better, you're making rock and roll worse! Hank Hill, on Christian rockers Do Canadian readers know Hank Hill? Also, some LOTD from ALPF: "U.S. Christian right leader urges Canadians to oppose same-sex marriage." Is Dobson really a Christian right "leader"? Or just a wacko with a great publicist? A very smart man in Pakistan says: "George Bush is a very simple, very violent person with very extreme views, as well as being very much an ignoramus. This is a very dangerous combination." And finally, why "they hate us". Hint: it ain't because we love freedom. A Saudi Arabian op-ed on Ji...

In this wrap-up about the respective states of same-sex marriage in Canada and the US, I liked this bit: Indeed, many Canadians have come to regard same-sex marriage as an affirmation of secular values that bind their diverse nation. Acceptance of minorities and respect for individuals' rights are paramount in national politics, even if they clash with moral and religious beliefs. A Canadian woman is quoted as saying, "I think people will look back and feel bewildered that there was even an issue at all." I agree. One day the same-sex exclusion will seem as bizarre as "whites only" drinking fountains seem today. The article also notes that the opposition backlash in Canada is getting a substantial helping hand from the American religious right. Not content to meddle in their own national affairs, they cross borders to spread their bigoted, exclusionary, pseudo-morality. Thanks again to ALPF, scouring the web so we don't have to.