test blog 5

As I mentioned last week , US war resister Chuck Wiley is on a speaking tour in Nova Scotia. The schedule of event is posted here ; you can still catch him in Halifax today and tonight. This story ran in the Halifax Chronicle Herald . If you live in Nova Scotia, please consider writing a letter to the editor in support of Chuck's bid to stay in Canada. He needs your support. By the time he reached the age of 38, Kentucky native Chuck Wiley thought he would be retired from the United States military and working at a civilian power plant "until I was too old to get out of bed." Instead, the trained nuclear engineer has been living in Canada since 2007. He has not spoken to his parents since moving north and is waiting to learn if he’ll be deported back to the United States, where he’s sure he’ll be jailed as a deserter from the U.S. navy. A former chief petty officer, Wiley has paid a high professional and personal price for his decision to oppose the Iraq war. "I wis...

Ontario readers, are you participating in the Ontario Health Study ? Where did you hear about it? If you decided not to participate, why was that? I saw ads for the study on the Toronto subway on my way to school. I've been looking for ads in Mississauga, but I haven't seen any. I'm wondering where non-urban, non-transit-riding Ontarians will hear about the study. Perhaps there are TV ads that fall outside my viewing habits. I'm participating. It seems like an easy, perhaps even fun, way to contribute to public health. The goal for the study is two million people - a huge sample! About the study: The Ontario Health Study (OHS) will be the biggest community-based health study ever done in Ontario, and one of the biggest in the world. The OHS is a long-term study that will help us understand the causes, prevention and treatment of diseases such as cancer, heart disease, asthma, and diabetes. . . . The Study began with an initial phase in which more than 8,000 adults livi...

Aaron Wherry in Maclean's : This is no time for democracy! Stephen Harper says we can't have another election until the world is completely stable and at peace. If you think about the implications, you'll know that would suit Harper just fine.

Raw Story reports that Robert VerBruggen, editor of the ultraconservative National Review , is speaking out against the US Army's torture and abusive treatment of Bradley Manning. I assume everyone already knows that P. J. Crowley, the US State Department spokesperson who called the treatment of Manning "ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid," was forced to resign. Much to his credit, Crowley did not backpedal or detract his statement. VerBruggen also comments on Crowley's statement. Bradley Manning has found yet another unexpected defender. An editor at the conservative National Review magazine is speaking out on behalf of Manning, the Army private accused of leaking U.S. State Department cables to WikiLeaks. Robert VerBruggen declared Tuesday that there was "no excuse" for subjecting Manning, who has not been convicted of a crime, to harsh conditions. Manning attorney David Coombs revealed earlier this month that for at least two nights in row, the A...

FreeKibble donates pet food to animal shelters all over the world. You answer trivia questions, and right or wrong, your click provides 10 pieces of kibble to a homeless animal. Today, all the food donated through FreeKibble will go to animal rescue efforts in Japan. Click now! It's free, and the more you click, the more food is donated. (And don't forget to test your vocabulary and support the World Food Programme by clicking on FreeRice .)

The election hasn't even been called yet, and the Tory candidate in my riding is already campaigning. Our riding will be very hotly contested: it's in the coveted "905"s, and our Liberal MP is retiring. Looks like I will have to edit this sign -- -- to read AND NO CONSERVATIVES .

This is painful to watch, and important.