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The U.S. Navy has begun its Court Martial of Lieutenant Commander Matthew Diaz, a 10-year veteran of the Navy. Diaz's crimes? Upholding international law, upholding the Constitution, and telling the truth. From Harpers : Commander Diaz ... faces charges that he disseminated "secret national defense information" with "intent or reason to believe that the information was to be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation." The charges carry a possible prison sentence of 36 years. What exactly did Commander Diaz do? It appears from press reports that he mailed a New York law firm a list identifying detainees who were being held at Guantánamo. The government had a legal obligation to disclose the names to the Red Cross — an obligation imposed by the Geneva Conventions, and followed by fifty years of military tradition. That obligation exists for simple reasons. Throughout human history, persons held in secret detention have been t...

I am still unemployed. The firm I originally called Crappy Firm is indeed crappy. After recruiting for this position since January, they've now decided to eliminate it. They're not hiring me or anyone else. No other weekend spots are available right now at any of the big law firms. This means that I have to broaden my search and look for any job in my field, whatever the schedule. This sucks in so many ways. The consolation is that, despite several degrees of suckitude, I think it would have been worse to stay in the job that was making me so miserable. And of course, whether or not that's true, that's in the past, so why am I thinking about it. Onward.

Thank you, Cindy Sheehan, for everything you gave us. Thank you for your strength and courage, for being a model of commitment, for channeling your pain into action. Shame on so-called liberals who condemn this woman's decision. Shame, shame, shame. Good Riddance Attention Whore by Cindy Sheehan I have endured a lot of smear and hatred since Casey was killed and especially since I became the so-called "Face" of the American anti-war movement. Especially since I renounced any tie I have remaining with the Democratic Party, I have been further trashed on such "liberal blogs" as the Democratic Underground. Being called an "attention whore" and being told "good riddance" are some of the more milder rebukes. I have come to some heartbreaking conclusions this Memorial Day Morning. These are not spur of the moment reflections, but things I have been meditating on for about a year now. The conclusions that I have slowly and very reluctantly come to ...

This Saturday, June 2, the Royal Ontario Museum will officially open its new addition, the "crystal" designed by Daniel Libeskind . The building is almost universally loathed in the Toronto area. I can only imagine what Canadians elsewhere, who already roll their eyes at Canada's largest city, think of it. Torontonians can't sneer loudly enough. They don't simply dislike it. They hate it. They're outraged. There's little doubt that the new ROM addition is a fabulous building. It may end up being a Great Building. But it's different , and most people don't like different. Bring us the same old thing, please. Bring us the comfortable. Don't move our minds in new directions. Don't expand our horizons. Christopher Hume, urban issues columnist for the Toronto Star , wrote an excellent piece about this reaction, placing it in context of critiques of new buildings everywhere, always: "Build It, And They Will Shun" . Next Saturday, when ...

I'm still not working. This firm made an offer , but they can't get it together to give me paperwork or a start date. Meanwhile I'm checking other possibilities. I like having more writing time, and I've got plenty to do. But the lack of income is starting to get a little creepy.

I know that an important step we can each take towards reducing greenhouse emissions is buying locally grown produce. I want to know: how many of you do that? Do you buy only locally grown produce? Where do you buy it? Do you not eat fruits or vegetables that have to be flown to your area? How do you weigh locally grown vs organic but grown in a distant region in your shopping decisions? Do you extend the locally-grown mantra to other products that can be imported without refrigeration? I'll go first. In recent years, I've been making an effort to buy more organic produce, knowing that the more people who buy it, the more supermarkets will stock it, and the more producers will use organic methods. I do this equally for labour (the effects of conventional pesticides on farm workers), health and environmental concerns. (My niece E should be proud that she has influenced me so much on this.) I also make an effort to buy local produce, and I always have. Growing up, my family was ...

Tala and Cody Originally uploaded by JnL James took these amazing photographs of Cody and Tala . I told James I wanted some good shots of the pups for some new frames I bought. Allan and I are decent photographers, but more so of scenery than moving objects. Plus, our digital camera is not very good, and we've been too busy (and money is too tight) to deal with our better film camera. I knew James would oblige, but these are even better than I anticipated. Have a look. The photos were taken on Victoria Day, when James and Lori and their puppy Cobalt were at our place. We were supposed to take all the dogs to Jack Darling Park, the huge leash-free park in Mississauga, but we couldn't get in! We're usually there on weekdays when there are maybe 10 cars in the whole parking lot. That Monday, the lot was filled to capacity, and the overflow lot was also completely full. That's one of the benefits to working weekends: we never see those crowds. We ended up just ba...