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Two more goodbye dinners this week. First, dinner with my very close friend AWE; along with my friend NN who I mentioned earlier, these are my closest female friends. I see AWE more than any other friend because we live in the same neighborhood and often meet for dinner. In New York City, that is a rare and wonderful treat, and we have really cherished it. But my friendship with AWE far pre-dates both our moves to Upper Manhattan. We've been through more than 20 years of life together, including a relationship with the same man. (Who has since died !) Saying goodbye to AWE would totally floor me, if it were not for the fact that she is leaving New York City at the exact same time. In many ways, her move from NYC to L.A. will be as great a change as our move to Canada. And last night we had dinner with our great friends Alan and Fred. (Alan is a loyal wmtc reader, who I sometimes refer to as Alan With One L or Alan The Handheld Evangelist.) I remember hanging out with A&F before...

Several people have sent me links to stories on the rise of guns from the US showing up in Canada. (Thanks to all, and I'm sorry that I've lost track of those links.) I know there's been an outbreak of gun violence in the T.O. area. Frankly, I'm glad to see what big news it is; here, it would hardly be noteworthy. ALPF sent this very good feature from Macleans . It begins: John Butcher had fallen on hard times. His wife of 33 years had died after a lengthy battle with multiple sclerosis. He'd lost his job in the financial services industry, he'd run out of money and, in his late 50s, the expat Englishman had been forced to move in with his daughter. With only an entry-level job at a golf course and moonlight gigs as frontman of a blues band to earn his keep, he felt like a burden. So when a close friend approached him with a shady sounding proposition -- $500 per trip to squire envelopes stuffed with U.S. cash into Canada from Detroit -- he swallowed hard and ac...

Have you met teflonjedi ? He is a Canadian living in the US, and he writes the farnorthblog . (I commend teflonjedi for his lower case!) Well, guess who paid t-jedi a visit? That's right, it's our intelligent, well-informed friend Kyle Couch. Excuse me while I cough up this sarcasm. In this comment , teflonjedi reports. Kyle wrote: ---------------- Subject: more thought Hey Spacenut, as you suggested I've given it more thought. My conclusion is that I'm not just repeating that this country is great. I am stating a fact. This Country believes in individualism. This is the place where you can achieve whatever goals you set for yourself w/ hard work and tenacity. Unlike the socialist gov't you prefer, where we all have to Shaaaare. To hell w/ that. I work for my family and I pay for my family. I expect no handouts. Once again unlike you and your socialist tendencies. In exile? I can't blame them for kicking you out. I would too. IN all seriousness you can't be ...

This spelling thing everyone keeps warning me about is more complicated than I thought! This page runs through the terms of the debate. Check it out - it's informative and amusing. Thanks to ALPF, of course.

From Reuters : The Rolling Stones, not exactly a band at the forefront of rock 'n' roll activism, are taking aim at the American right with a new song on their upcoming album, according to Newsweek magazine. The track, "Sweet Neo Con," boasts the line, "You call yourself a Christian, I call you a hypocrite/You call yourself a patriot, well I think you're full of shit," according to the weekly newsmagazine. "It is direct," singer Mick Jagger was quoted as saying, adding that his collaborator, Keith Richards, was "a bit worried" about a backlash because the guitarist lives in the United States and Jagger does not. In an interview to be broadcast Wednesday on syndicated TV show Extra, Jagger said the song was not aimed at anyone specifically, such as President Bush. "It certainly is very critical of certain policies of the administration, but so what! Lots of people are critical," Jagger said, according to an advance transcript...

Once again I am asking you to spend your hard-earned currency. The last time I plugged an article from Harper's , it was something I found fascinating and entertaining. This time, it's essential. I've been waiting for someone to write this article, someone who could pull all the evidence together and put it in context. The brilliant Mark Crispin Miller has done it. Here's the beginning of "None Dare Call It Stolen: Ohio, the election, and America's servile press". Whichever candidate you voted for (or think you voted for), or even if you did not vote (or could not vote), you must admit that last year's presidential race was - if nothing else - pretty interesting. True, the press has dropped the subject, and the Democrats, with very few exceptions, have "moved on." Yet this contest may have been the most unusual in U.S. history; it was certainly among those with the strangest outcomes. You may remember being surprised yourself. The infamousl...

Whoa, Kyle Couch may not be as dumb as we thought. He's apparently been spying on us, and knows how Redsock spends most of his time. Check out this email Mr Couch sent to Allan this evening. Subject line: "asshole". yeah I know your type. You root for the red sox while living in NYC so it gets you a little extra attention. you are in need of therapy. I can tell that you have been asleep and drunk for most of your existence. You need rehab as well. The next time you resort to name calling just come on down to Texas and look me up. I will be glad to kick your canadian loving ass all the way back to the border. your daddy Kyle Kyle Couch, you are cordially invited to southern Ontario. You may kick our collective asses anytime after August 31. Watch out, though, one of our dogs may kick back. We haven't had this much fun at wmtc since the days of Big Soccer!