Greetings from Amsterdam

This is just a quick "hello" and reminder that I'm not posting because I'm in Amsterdam until 12 June. Please check out "Amsterdam 2006" for postings from here. Thanks!

"Mounties get their men - each other"

Yesterday's Halifax ChronicleHerald reported that "on a Friday night in Yarmouth this June, Const. Jason Tree and Const. David Connors will don their scarlet dress uniforms, stand before family, friends and co-workers and wed in the first same-sex marriage in the RCMP’s storied history." And, again, one is prompted to ask - how is it that two nations, that to the rest of the world appear so similar, be so different?

Meanwhile, US Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has scheduled a vote on the Marriage Protection Amendment (aka the Federal Marriage Amendment) for the week of 5 June. This amendment to the United States Constitution would define marriage as between "one man and one woman."

Here in Minnesota we have about three days before the end of our legislative session. While anything could happen, it looks like we've managed to keep a similarly hateful piece of legislation off November's ballot once again. Keep your fingers crossed!

Off to Amsterdam

On Monday I leave to spend three weeks in Amsterdam. I'm taking twelve undergraduates as part of a sociology course, "Law and Social Policy in the Netherlands." We will all be posting to a class blog, "Amsterdam 2006." For the first eight days my family will also be there so I hope to post to our family travel blog, "Traveling Without Unraveling." Links to both are also on the right hand side of this page. Wish me luck!

It's Over

Yes, our alternative reality no longer exists. Sure, we have five - soon to be six - sets of each season on DVD, but President Bartlet is gone. President Santos was just a flash. If you don't know what I'm talking about, well, you missed one of the best television programs of all time. The West Wing. Last night was the series finale. Wow.

We knew it all along...

From today's New York Times -
Conservative Christians Criticize Republicans
"Some of President Bush's most influential conservative Christian allies are becoming openly critical of the White House and Republicans in Congress, warning that they will withhold their support in the midterm elections unless Congress does more to oppose same-sex marriage, obscenity and abortion. . . . When the group met in the summer of 2004, it resembled a pep rally for Mr. Bush and his allies on Capitol Hill, and one session focused on how to use state initiatives seeking to ban same-sex marriage to help turn out the vote. [bold mine] This year, some participants are complaining that as soon as Mr. Bush was re-elected he stopped expressing his support for a constitutional amendment banning such unions."

So, to those on both sides who claimed that the issue was not a political ploy - yeah, right.

Now Playing at the Minnesota Capitol

From Senator Ellen Anderson's "Week in Review"
"During an otherwise uneventful vote to make the Honeycrisp apple the state fruit, Sen. Warren Limmer (R-Maple Grove) offered the following remark: 'I just want to remind some of the senators here that when we talk about state fruit designation, some of the members might want to excuse themselves from voting.' 'Senator Limmer needs to explain his bizarre comment,' Minnesota DFL [Democratic-Farmer-Labor] Chair Brian Melendez said. 'It appears that he has taken this otherwise fun and harmless occasion to make an ignorant and homophobic remark. If it was simply an ill-timed joke made out of ignorance, he can easily explain himself. Let's hope that Senator Limmer will explain himself and put to rest the notion that his comment was of a more spiteful nature.'

And then there's that pesky business of the NSA tracking phone calls and the Hayden nomination...

Germany: Update

Wow! On Wednesday, 26 April I mailed my application for the Police Good Conduct Certificate to Germany. Today, less than two weeks later, I received it with the notation "Keine Eintragung," or no registration. Yea! If only everything else went as smoothly and quickly! Well, just wanted to share that tiny, but important, update!

George and the Almighty

President Bush: "I based a lot of my foreign policy decisions on some things that I think are true. One, I believe there's an Almighty, and secondly, I believe one of the great gifts of the Almighty is the desire in everybody's soul, regardless of what you look like or where you live, to be free. I believe liberty is universal. I believe people want to be free. And I know that democracies do not war with each other. And I know that the best way to defeat the enemy, the best way to defeat their ability to exploit hopelessness and despair is to give people a chance to live in a free society." If you care to, and can stand it, read this April speech in its entirety here.

Call me crazy, many have, but I would like to think that foreign policy decisions are based on something besides his apparent direct-line connection to the - capital "a" - Almighty.

North American Security and Prosperity?

Excerpt from the Council of Canadians -

MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 8, 2006
Council challenges Ambassador Wilkins on continental integration plan
Ottawa - The Council of Canadians has a message for Ambassador David Wilkins who will be speaking today to Canadian businesses involved in the security industry about the North American Security and Prosperity Partnership. The organization plans to present the Ambassador with a letter expressing its strong opposition to the deal negotiated in Cancun by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, President Bush and Vincente Fox.

"The Canadian public was not consulted and there has been no parliamentary debate on this plan developed by our governments behind closed doors," says Brent Patterson, director of organizing at the Council of Canadians. In Cancun, only representatives of large corporations were allowed to sit at the table with the three leaders. "We are taking this opportunity to let the American government know how Canadians outside the big business community feel," says Patterson.

The organization is part of a larger movement of civil society organizations across Canada who have expressed concerns about the harmonization of Canadian domestic and foreign policies with those of the United States. From November 2004 to March 2005, the Council of Canadians toured the country to consult Canadians of all walks of life on the issue of continental integration. A report of their findings was released in October 2005.

"Increasing public disapproval of foreign policy initiatives such as the mission in Afghanistan shows that the majority of Canadians, unlike Stephen Harper, do not want our country engaged in the so-called war on terror," says Patterson. "We do not share Bush’s vision of global security and the Canadian government has failed to represent the interests of the general Canadian public in its meetings with the U.S. government."

The public advocacy group hopes Ambassador Wilkins will take its message to Washington.

********

So close, and yet so far away...

Putting in a plug

As I typed that "title," I couldn't help but think about kayaking... soon, soon! But, thanks to the guys at Moving to Vancouver, what I wanted to post was word of a new book - The Canadian Way: An Immigrant's Guide to Settling in Canada, by Jo Davenport of Nova Scotia. The book is available as an e-book or in print from either Amazon or from eBookstand. Also, check out her web page, The Canadian Way.

More on the budget...

The Globe and Mail has a short piece outlining key aspects of the budget. These include a 1% reduction in GST as well as other tax cuts; moves not supported, thankfully, by the Liberals or the NDP. But, the budget is expected to pass, regardless of their opposition. While I'm not happy about the Conservative move to decrease "sales" taxes while increasing income taxes - figure out who wins there - I do have to confess to being glad at the prospect of saving close to $1000 in landing fees.

In related news, as I write, the Canadian dollar is worth about 1.10 USD. Wow. This means that the 15,563 CAD in settlement funds that we must have will take 14,097 USD. Quite a change from the roughly 12,500 USD it would have taken when we started this process. But, like the advertisements and the entry on Mason and Nick's blog, Priceless, I expect it to be worth every penny!

Budget 2006 - Dateline Ottawa

Budget 2006
The Right of Permanent Residence Fee
"This budget delivers on the Government's commitment to reduce the Right of Permanent Residence Fee to help immigrants and their families with the costs of starting a new life in Canada. The fee will be reduced from its current level of $975 to $490 effective on May 2, 2006. In addition, the Government will provide partial refunds to those who have already paid the $975 fee but have not been granted permanent resident status or have not yet arrived in Canada. The cost of this initiative in foregone revenue is $224 million over two years."

As I understand it, the budget has to be voted on in Parliament, but it is expected to pass.

Stephen Colbert does the White House

Stephen Colbert is absolutely the best! I thought I'd post this here just in case you hadn't heard about it. Enjoy!