test blog 3

Special mention goes out to ALPF - for new readers, that stands for Anonymous Link-Posting Friend - one of wmtc's earliest and most steadfast readers. ALPF doesn't just read this blog, she or he helps keep it running. In fact, without ALPF, I'd be reduced to posting "We are still waiting..." and "Buster is so cute..." every day, and none of you would ever come back. Now don't all start writing in saying I forgot about y'all. I thank each and every one of you for reading, ok?

My cool new blog-friend Crabletta wrote a great appreciation of the beautiful randomness of blogdom. She obviously has a government transmitter and has been stealing thoughts from my brain. (Oops, did I say that? Let me take the tin foil off and try again.) Crabby says: Perhaps the "next blog" button is how Al of Not the Country Club happened upon the Crab. He commented on one of my posts, which led me to his most interesting blog. I now read it regularly. It was there that I commented on one of L-Girl's comments and checked out her blog, about her upcoming move to Canada. She added a link to me, and then cool music guy commented on that. Don't stop there. Go read the whole post , because she connects these thoughts to a larger issue: building our progressive movement. I also love the random-chance of the world of blogging. A guy from Ottowa and another from Alberta start leaving comments on my site, the next thing you know, they're discussing and debating on...

Today is International Women's Day. For some excellent reading about the state of women's human's rights, check out Equality Now . Their focus has been on trafficking, sex tourism and genital mutilation, and they epitomize the activist credo to "think globally, act locally". All over the world, in countless ways, it has been shown that the key to development and the elimination of poverty is greater gender equality. The education of girls and women is the single biggest factor in lowering birth rates and all the good that follows. International Women's Day has its roots in socialism. Though it's hardly a radical event now, IWD sprang from such radical ideas as equal pay for women, universal suffrage, equal educational opportunities, and the right to control one's earnings and property. It's always worth remembering that those were once radical, incendiary ideas. In some places on the planet, they still are. And that's why the struggle continues...

Like this? The war in Iraq was hardly a month old in April 2003 when an Army general in charge of equipping soldiers with protective gear threw the brakes on buying bulletproof vests. The general, Richard A. Cody, who led a Pentagon group called the Army Strategic Planning Board, had been told by supply chiefs that the combat troops already had all the armor they needed, according to Army officials and records from the board's meetings. Some 50,000 other American soldiers, who were not on the front lines of battle, could do without. In the following weeks, as Iraqi snipers and suicide bombers stepped up deadly attacks, often directed at those very soldiers behind the front lines, General Cody realized the Army's mistake and did an about-face. On May 15, 2003, he ordered the budget office to buy all the bulletproof vests it could, according to an Army report. He would give one to every soldier, "regardless of duty position." But the delays were only beginning... Read ...

We're doing our taxes today. More money for the Canada fund, but not a lot of time to post. Then again, I posted enough this weekend to keep you all busy for a while.

we move to canada welcomes Crabletta of the The Curmudgeonly Crab , the best-named blog I've seen since... I dunno. I just really like the title. Crabletta found me while I was being attacked (and defended) over at Not the Country Club . Thanks, Crabby! Now you have six readers.

thanks to redsock, as always!