test blog 3

I recently complained about this on someone else's blog, so I might as well bring it here and vent at a more appropriate place. In a baseball-related discussion, someone wrote that my partner's blog "often has a hair trigger on political correctness matters". I hate this. Hate it! For centuries whole segments of the population were disparaged and referred to in less than human terms. Now some of us insist this is wrong. We ask that we all refer to people as people, the way we ourselves wish to be spoken of. This supposed "hair trigger on political correctness matters" means commenters on that blog don't ignore racism, sexism, homophobia or xenophobia. We see it, we call it. In another irritatingly wrong usage, people who fancy themselves speakers of unvarnished, unpopular truths will say, "It may be politically incorrect to say so, but...". As if being so-called politically correct demands we not speak plainly, that we coddle difficult facts i...

No, Condi has not been locked up. Oh well. But while I was visiting Impudent Strumpet , I realized I have neglected to blog about Free Rice . Word lovers, test your vocabulary skills and donate food through the United Nations Food Program . Careful, it's addictive. Which is a good thing. Free Rice

There's a lot of war resister news both here in Canada and in the US. Here's some of it. According to our newest resister in Toronto, US military jails are overflowing with soldiers who are refusing to participate in the occupation of Iraq. One of those is Ryan Jackson , who will be court-martialled on June 3. The Army is holding Jackson in pre-trial confinement. Apparently this is almost unheard of for a non-violent offense, but Jackson is outspoken, and the Army wants to keep him quiet. Ryan served in the military for two and a half years, including two tours in Iraq. Jackson applied for conscientious objector status, and was denied. In his application, he wrote: I feel ashamed every day. I feel ashamed for taking part in the killing of others, and for allowing my comrades to be killed themselves. By putting on a uniform, I am showing my support. . . . I can no longer be a part of the Armed Forces or any organization of a violent nature. . . . Interviewed by Courage To Resi...

Europe's favourite scapegoat is being persecuted again, and believe it or not, it's not the Jews. It's the Roma people, known popularly as Gypsies. I urge you to read the whole story; it is chilling. In cruel and unusual concert, Italy's new government, its police and paramilitary carabinieri, and even its gangsters, have turned their joint might against the nation's enemy number one: the Gypsies. Yesterday Pope Benedict XVI and a small number of left-wingers raised lonely voices in central Naples against the national hardening of hearts towards Europe's perennial outsiders. To little avail: the Pope's appeal for a spirit of welcome and acceptance was met with a hail of angry rejection in blogged comments on news websites. But what will remain scorched in the nation's memory – as a mark of shame, or a beacon pointing the way forward, depending on how you see it – are the flaming structures of the Gypsy camp burnt in the Ponticelli district of Naples on W...

The mind-snatchers grab another space . (Thanks to Allan .) And some advertising misogyny: here and here . (Thanks to James .) The tie ad is from 1939. I don't know how many North Americans were buying ties or having breakfast in bed during the Great Depression. But the slacks-and-rug ad dates from 1970, corresponding with the re-emergence of the women's movement on the mainstream radar. Come on, men, don't fall for that shit: dominate! I don't know about you, but I find seeing a woman's head without a body more than a little disgusting.

Not only are fat people lazy, self-indulgent and visually offensive, they are helping to destroy the planet. Obesity contributes to global warming, too. Obese and overweight people require more fuel to transport them and the food they eat, and the problem will worsen as the population literally swells in size, a team at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine says. This adds to food shortages and higher energy prices, the school's researchers Phil Edwards and Ian Roberts wrote in the journal Lancet on Friday. "We are all becoming heavier and it is a global responsibility," Edwards said in a telephone interview. "Obesity is a key part of the big picture." A key part of the picture? Really? Is an overweight person who takes public transportation more of a threat to the environment than a thin person who drives an SUV? (What about if the thin person drives back and forth to the gym in an SUV every day?) Do you know how much the thin person eats? Ther...

This week, the Globe and Mail ran two excellent essays in their "Facts & Arguments" section. They were both stories of healing from sexual assault, and they ran on back-to-back days. Read them while they're still accessible: Taking Back Control , by Allison Haley, and The Burden of Silence , by Janet Goldblatt. Although each person's experience is unique, it's remarkable how so many stories of sexual trauma sound alike. Both these women use almost the exact same words I have used when writing about my own experience. The first writing I ever had published was about my own recovery from rape, and, like these women, my essay was published nationally. That was quite an experience in itself. For a while it was the only clip I had to send to editors, which was a bit strange! I hope Allison Haley and Janet Goldblatt know that by speaking out, they are helping survivors - women and men - everywhere. I thank them both.