test blog 3

Are we leaving because we have to? No. Although in my college days I had the uncanny knack of getting my picture in the newspaper every time I attended a protest rally, I do not really think I'm being watched. I do sometimes wonder if Allan is on some kind of watch list, given his 9/11 research . If he is... No fair! I want on it, too! (Who was it that was always annoyed he didn't make Nixon's Enemy List?) I've always had activist friends who wouldn't mention certain subjects on the phone and such. I always thought, Don't flatter yourself. I don't think the government gives a poop about me one way or the other. I do, however, keep this wonderful cartoon prominently displayed near my monitor.

Am I leaving to do abortion-access activism in Canada? People have asked if I'm moving to Canada in order to begin a Canadian outpost of the Haven Coalition. Alas, I can only wish I was so dedicated to any movement, that I would uproot my life for the cause. That said, if the election goes the wrong way and the religious right continues their takeover of American laws, it's conceivable that Haven's work could become illegal. We are fond of calling Haven an underground railroad of sorts, which it is. But Haven could, theoretically, become a real underground railroad, illegally smuggling women into Canada for abortions, just as British women have done for their Irish sisters for decades. Whether or not it would... who knows. Let's do everything in our power to make sure we never have to find out. Right now, Haven does serve some Canadian women. In a concession to the Catholic Church, the province of Quebec (which has separate laws from the rest of Canada) has stricter a...

We are in the midst of an ongoing clean-out, throw-away, sell-it project. Allan is a pack-rat of the first order -- a collector, an accumulator, a saver. I am a minimalist. I do save some things, but I am always paring down. I like  s  p  a  c  e.  It's always been a juggling act: he can't save absolutely everything he would like to, and I can't have as much empty space as I would like. Mostly we've been pretty good at it, though I suspect we each feel we've compromised more than the other. Now, with our impending move, even my favorite pack-rat knows he has to get rid of lots of stuff. First of all, you pay for moving by the pound. Beyond that, why move with stuff that's been sitting in boxes, untouched and un-looked at, for years, only to have it sit in the same box in a different (Canadian) closet? I started the process early, knowing it was the only way. He's got boxes and boxes and boxes (etc. etc.) to go through. If we wait til the last minu...

I'm going to make this a recurrent entry. I love to talk about books. If everyone weren't so shy about leaving comments, emailing me instead, we could discuss books together! So the first What I'm Reading entry is The Power Broker : Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, by Robert Caro . This book, which won the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction in 1975, is always talked about in the most superlative terms. People just do cartwheels over it, calling it one of the greatest books ever written about New York City, power and politics, and one of the great biographies of all time. I am here to tell you that the praise is completely deserved. It is absolutely masterful. Anyone who is interested in cities or New York City history - for that matter, in American history - would love it. And Robert Moses himself! If he hadn't lived, no one could have invented him: he simply would have been too incredible for fiction. Moses, an evil genius if ever there was one, was surely one of the...

I'm finally reading The Power Broker , Robert Caro's masterpiece about Robert Moses and New York City. It's been on my to-read list forever, and it seemed like a good thing to tackle while I still live here. Reading it on the subway this morning, I came across a passage that is perfectly applicable to our present times - so much so, that I'm surprised I haven't seen it before from the ACLU or a Constitution-loving writer. (Of course it may have been used many times, I just never came across it.) Caro refers to Robert Bolt's play A Man For All Seasons : In A Man For All Seasons , Sir Thomas More warns young Roper about the consequences of letting ends justify means. When the young man says he would "cut down every law in England" to "get after the Devil," More replies: "Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you -- where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat?" That says it all, doesn't it? With...

Haven!! The Haven Coalition coordinating committee had an important, long-planned meeting last night. Our organization has grown exponentially in the last year, and so has our bond to each other, our enjoyment of working together, our feelings of strength and pride in our accomplishments. Also our anger that our work is so necessary! Haven is one of the hardest things about leaving New York. It's more than the time and energy I've invested, though that is very significant. It's the friends I've made, the deep connections I feel to the women who do this work. For those of you who don't know, Haven is a volunteer network that assists women who travel to New York City for second trimester abortions. Abortion, though still legal, is inaccessible to millions of American women. Women motivated and determined enough to travel to New York City, usually with very limited resources, then face the daunting prospect of having to stay overnight for a two-day procedure. Haven...