December?

It's been a busy week. P arrived Wednesday evening - in the rain, hallmark of our entire Canadian adventure. But, we were glad it was rain and not freezing rain or snow as we feared that she might end up spending the night in Toronto.

Since that we have tried to unpack - mostly kitchen stuff - and get a bit more settled. It is a bit inaccurate to say "we" as my legs have rendered me quite useless. I was great at folding the packing paper and bubble wrap for re-use, but forget carrying much of anything up the stairs. It is very frustrating as normally I would have done 5 times the "settling" that's been done thus far. There are blinds to hang, photos to hang, cupboards to organize... but I'm moving at a fraction of my normal pace. Oh, well. It will happen eventually.

We need to get 7YO's room set up as we have promised that when that is done he can get two pet gerbils. I had a mouse and a hamster (at different times) when I was young - though not this young - and when we stopped at the pet store I asked myself, "I agreed to this why?" Oh, well. He's soooo excited. I guess that alone makes it worth it. And, it is all about taking on greater responsibility - his, not mine!

P has done little more than unpack and cook. We had a nice quiet "Thanksgiving dinner" today. P got to play in her new kitchen! Tomorrow she has to buckle down and start studying. She's here until the 10th and then it's back to Minnesota for 12 days of final exams. But, come the 22nd, she's here to stay.

I can't believe that tomorrow is December. Fortunately I have no real holiday shopping left. 7YO's gifts are stashed in my office. And, we agreed, as a family, to work toward a more low-key holiday. We'd really like 7YO to think about it as more about family and giving and less about the gifts. Although P looked out the window this morning and thought that we might actually find a suitable tree on the back of our lot, but I think that next week we'll be going to the Farmers' Market to find one.

That's about it for catching up. I'm trying to follow what I can of the goings-on in Ottawa. I have to make time to do more preparing for the class that begins in early January. And, I continue to wish that I could move a little more quickly. But, as I've said before, we're here!

Imagine my surprise...

Yesterday morning I woke up and, glancing out the window, thought, "Oh, my!" It had snowed. It was snowing. I had no idea it was coming. I snapped this picture out the side door.


As I was taking the photo, I could hear gun shots. No kidding. But, yesterday was the last day of deer season. The things you have to learn...

We were on our way to pick up pup, via the Farmers' Market. We live on a street that, at some points, is probably at about a 45 degree angle; up from a street that, at some points, is probably at about a 45 degree angle. That street connects to a road that, while it eventually deadends is a major thoroughfare in the community. As I was approaching the "T" where you turn onto that road, we just kept sliding. All I could do was say to myself, "I hope there's nobody coming." Fortunately there wasn't. We made our way, slowly, to the market downtown, and then out to the boonies to pick up the pup. Let's just say that the first time I went I told the proprietor, "I'm glad I didn't have to find my way at night," meaning it would be frickin' dark. Her reply was to laugh and say, "Heard the banjos, did ya?" But, telling myself not to care about the people who were probably annoyed, I refused to drive any faster than I felt comfortable doing. Ask me how glad I am about our new Blizzaks! But, what was with the radio - whose station is just up the street from the market - saying that we were expecting a few flurries. Had they looked out the window?

We then made our way back home and seeing that the road had not yet been plowed decided to forego yesterday's scheduled swimming lesson and hunker down. Unlike yesterday, which was gray, gray, gray, today looks to be a beautiful blue sky with sun. And, no hunting. Maybe we'll take the pup for a stroll in his new neighborhood.

Here's a photo taken yesterday afternoon. This is what I see when standing at the kitchen sink.


Beats the view we had in Saint Paul!

Here's what's happening...

1. We have Internet access. My lifeline. On Wednesday, I stopped at a friend's house to pick up blinds that I had had sent to her place, not knowing when I'd be able to receive mail at home. She said, "So you don't have utilities?" And I said, "Oh, we have water, electric..." She cut me off and said, "But no Internet. It's 2008. I consider that a basic utility." I was really pleased to hear somebody who "got" that!

2. We went to a hotel on Tuesday night because the house/construction zone was just too crazy. We came back on Wednesday. Phone and Internet went in Thursday. Almost all of the builder's stuff is out of the house. With a few minor things, what will remain inside is what may end up being know as "the list of 1,000 deficiencies." Oh, well.

3. This morning 7YO and I were outside while the guys framed up the concrete forms for the garage. He wanted to play and I thought, “Great!” I told him he could go just to the edge of the trees as long as he could see me. Then it dawned on me that I had been told that one of the concrete guys was going to be late because he was going to “get in a morning hunt.” So, I asked, “What are the rules about hunting around here?” Two of the guys debated whether it was 250 metres or 400 metres from housing. Then D said, “If he’s going in the trees he ought to have an orange vest on.” Holy @#$% Batman! So, I told 7YO to stay in the “yard.” That would be the open area that is the septic field. Fortunately, deer season ends this weekend. Life in the "country."

4. I hate shopping at Wal-Mart. In the US, I hadn't set foot in a Wal-Mart for years. But, here my choices for run of the mill household stuff are basically Zellers or Wal-Mart. And, Zellers just doesn't seem to offer much in the way of selection. Some things I can get at Canadian Tire. Others, I cannot. I hate shopping at Wal-Mart.

5. It's Friday night. Tomorrow we get to go pick up our pup from the kennel. Well, he's 9 and a half, but he's our pup. He's been there for five weeks. I would never have dreamed it would be that long... 7YO has a new job - taking pup outside. He's never not had a fenced in yard. I wish it weren't already so damn cold. And dark. I hope I don't end up dealing with his encounter with an animal while I'm here alone. Do skunks hibernate?

6. It's Friday night. P arrives Wednesday night. Since her flight should get in before this time, that's technically fewer than five days. I think I might stay in bed for two weeks. She can't wait to get in the new kitchen, clean, organize, etc. I'm toast. Dried up, left in the toaster too long, crispy, toast.

I guess that's it for now. Tomorrow it's an early run to the Farmers' Market and then off to pick up the pup. Back to the house to get him familiarized with the new space, etc. Off to 7YO's swimming lessons. Back to the house to do more cleaning. My legs/knees are screaming at me for the little bit of box moving I did earlier today. But, so it goes. And, again, I'm toast. Crunch.

Five Months

We arrived in Fredericton five months ago today. The theme of this journey has been rain. It rained for most of our trip from Minnesota. It rained for weeks this summer, delaying the building of our new house. And, it's raining today...

But - tomorrow night we will be sleeping in our new home. For those of you who don't visit the blog or catch me on Facebook, here's a snapshot from ten days ago.


There's still a lot to be finished outside, but the goal has been to get us inside. BTW, the roof is galvanized metal, not white.

7YO is exploding with excitement. He can't wait to be in his room. So, tomorrow morning I'll drop him off at school and when I pick him up - new house! Meanwhile, I'll unload the car, start moving things up from the basement, and try to get somewhat settled. Fortunately I've been told that the guys doing the build will be standing by to help move the beds, table, etc. up. This is going to be one crazy busy week! And, P arrives in 10 days!

Lesbian Moms Attacked

This is so sad - and frightening...

This aspect doesn't appear in the above article, but I feel compelled to add it here. The perpetrator has alleged that one of the women used a racial epithet toward him. She denies it. I have no idea. I wasn't there. I will say that, even if it is true, it doesn't justify the assaults. But, it does complicate things. Ugh. The whole thing is so ugly and unfortunate.

I also have to add that, thus far, I have had nothing but overwhelmingly positive experiences at 7YO's school. I wait for him, outside the school doors, each afternoon. There is always the same group of us. One father from England, another who just moved back after living in the US for about a dozen years, a young mother who has probably never been outside the province, a stay-at-home mom closer to my age whose husband is an academic... We chit-chat - often about the weather, of course. Although they've only met me, they know that 7YO has two moms. It came up in talking about why we moved here. At least one of these parents attended the school, as did 7YO's teacher. The school has about 100 kids. It's a very close-knit and comfortable community. Hard to imagine something like this incident. That's not to say there aren't folks who will choose to keep their distance, but so far things have been great. This incident a good reminder that you just never know what absolute nutcase is going to appear. So sad.

More on Prop 8 - Please Read!

This - also reproduced below - says it so much better than I ever could have. Please read! It conveys exactly what I have been feeling about the Obama/Proposition 8 "tension."

Judith Warner
November 13, 2008, 9:00 PM
What It Felt Like to Be Equal

I had barely finished sniffling over Barack Obama’s victory when I received an e-mail message from Amy Silverstein, the wife of my best friend from high school, Angela Padilla.

She had been glad to read last week’s piece on “the groundbreaking immensity of the election of our country’s first African-American president,” she said.

Up to a point.

“I wanted to make sure you knew and appreciated that despite this seeming like an amazing step forward for all who have suffered discrimination and/or who are deeply committed to eliminating it, this election was anything but that for G.L.B.T. people and our families,” she wrote. “Especially in California, but in three other states as well, the electorate convincingly voted to deny us basic civil rights and made clear that we are a long way from being seen and treated as equal. Protecting traditional marriage is simply code for discrimination. There is no ‘triumph’ for us, and the long period of pain, indignity and injustice continues.”

There’s nothing worse than being told you have a major blind spot. That your self-assured joyousness is built upon exclusion.

Particularly when the person telling you this is right.

Now, I hadn’t exactly ignored the spate of anti-gay ballot initiatives that had passed — in California, Arkansas, Florida and Arizona — on Nov. 4. I’d read about the success of Arizona’s long-attempted gay marriage ban and California’s Proposition 8, which prohibited gay marriage just six months after the state’s Supreme Court ruled that the right to marry was fundamental, and constitutionally protected, for all.

I’d read about how voters in Florida had decided to target not only same-sex marriage but all relationships that were the “substantial equivalent” of marriage, like domestic partnerships and civil unions, and how in Arkansas, where gay marriage was already banned, voters had decided to deny anyone “cohabitating outside a valid marriage” the right to adopt or be a foster parent.

How strange, I’d thought, reading about how, on the day of progressive victories — Obama’s historic win, South Dakota voters’ rejection of a wide-ranging abortion ban, Californians voting down a ballot initiative that would have required parental notification for abortion — these states had passed such uniquely reactionary and discriminatory measures. How ugly. That’s really too bad.

And then I’d moved on. As most people who were not directly affected by the anti-gay rights measures did. There was just too much else to feel good about.

“I think the country was like, ‘Look, you get Obama, call it a day and go home,” is how Kyrsten Sinema, a Democratic state representative in Arizona, who’d opposed her state’s anti-gay ballot initiative, put it to The Times last week.

Ed Swanson couldn’t move on.

The day after the election, the San Francisco lawyer and his husband, Paul Herman, a stay-at-home dad, had had to face the fact that Proposition 8 could mean that their marriage would be invalidated. They’d also had to go to parent conferences and tell the teachers that their five-year-old daughter, Liza, might be struggling in school because she was scared that her family might fall apart.

Liza, who has a twin sister, Katie, had peppered Swanson and Herman with questions once she’d realized that marriages uniting “a boy and a boy” were no longer allowed.

“They can’t take yours away, right?” she’d asked her parents. “They can’t take yours away when you have children, can they?”

“That’s when we realized she was afraid something would happen to us,” Swanson told me by phone on Wednesday. “We said, ‘They can’t take us away from you. We will be here for you forever.’”

“It’s difficult to explain to a five-year-old why it is people don’t want your parents to be married,” he continued. “They’re young enough that there was a chance they could have grown up thinking all their lives that their family was equal and accepted. Now they’re not going to have that chance. They’ll have to spend at least part of their lives knowing that their family is something that people don’t feel is acceptable.”

Jeanne Rizzo, the C.E.O. of the Breast Cancer Fund, can’t quite move on either. She spent election night in a reception room at San Francisco’s Westin St. Francis Hotel. She and her long-term partner, Pali Cooper, were married in September, one of 18,000 California couples who managed to wed in the short space of time between the California Supreme Court’s decision to legalize gay marriage and the passage of Proposition 8.

In one room, Obama supporters were jubilant. In another, opponents of Proposition 4 — the parental notification initiative -– shouted their glee. In hers, the opponents of Proposition 8 saw their joy at Obama’s election turn quickly to “absolute disbelief and pain” as the results of the ballot initiative came in. “It was such a kick in the stomach. The whole hotel was just rocking with joy. We felt so disconnected from it,” Rizzo recalled when I talked to her on Wednesday.

It wasn’t that she begrudged Obama his victory. It was just that his historic triumph made the insult to her community all the more painful. An awful thought came to her that night: Now we’re the designated cultural outcasts. “It’s almost like we’re the last group you can be openly bigoted about,” she told me.

“You look around and you think more than half of the people in this state voted to take this away from us? At a time when we’re celebrating the election of an African American to the White House? I don’t know how you heal from it,” she said. “It’s hard to get it out of your bones.”

It’s easy, if you’re straight, to file away the gay marriage issue in a little folder in your mind, to render it, essentially, inessential. It can fall into the category of “bones you throw the religious right because things could be so much worse.” Or “things that would be great in a perfect world.” Or “what’s the big deal?” because you don’t actually get what a big deal it is to be able to get married when you’ve never had to consider the alternative.

Many of the gay men and lesbians I spoke or e-mailed with this week didn’t fully realize what a big deal it was to be married either. Until they were.

“I don’t think I had realized until then what it felt like to be equal,” Swanson told me. “Paul and I went on a honeymoon in Santa Fe. People would ask and we’d say we’re on our honeymoon; we just got married. We could say it not because it was a political statement but because it was a fact.

“I don’t feel equal anymore. It was a great feeling, while it lasted.”

New - maybe - Expat Blog

Allow me to introduce Kurt and Laurie, of Nanaimo, BC and Roseville, MN. Their blog can be found here. I met Laurie back in Minnesota, though, as I recall, we originally "met" through some immigration listserv. As you will see if you visit their blog, they'll be spending the winter in Nanaimo. They are permanent residents and even own a home (currently rented out) in Nanaimo, but are still trying to decide whether to really make the move, for good. Take a minute to visit the blog and welcome them!

Olbermann on Prop 8

This morning I received three emails from my sister, in California, making sure that I had received the link she had sent me. She wanted to be sure that I saw Keith Olbermann's "Special Comment" on Prop 8. Both the text and the video are available at the Countdown website.

I couldn't bring myself to read through the comments - in a scroll I could see too much ignorance and hatred - but I posted this:

I can't think of the right adjective to describe KO's comment. The degree to which he accurately addresses this (red herring) issue of "redefining marriage" is the best I've ever heard - and I teach about sexuality and the law. My sister, in California I might add, forwarded me the link with the note, "I love him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She forwarded it to me because I couldn't watch his show.

You see, I'm now living in Canada - where my family has legal recognition, where my partner and I are married and treated equally. Our son is able to live in a country where his family "counts." Lest you think, "Ah, but that's just legally. How do people really act?" Let me tell you that we're in a fairly conservative province and nobody bats an eye. Even compared to (formerly) progressive Minnesota, it's just a non-event when people realize that we're a family.

Perhaps you're reading and saying, "Good riddance." Well, so be it. Between the two of us we have two master's degrees, two law degrees, and a Ph.D. Not exactly slackers. But, we were willing to take our chances in a new country because of the hatred that persists across the US. Oh, and on this veteran's day, let me add that I'm also a veteran of the US Army and Army Reserve. Yeah, not welcome there either.

So, Keith... right on. You said it best. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. My family thanks you - albeit from a distance.

******

I have to add that one of the coolest things about this moment was my sister's inclusion of the comment, "I love him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She is a very reserved person and, even in email, this was really something.

So, if you're down here and you haven't seen the video, please watch if you are able. Thanks!

BTW - Before you offer corrections, I do know that some cable subscribers in Canada do get MSNBC. I do not. And, yes, in Canada, today is Remembrance Day.

Young People Making a Difference

Please go here to read about one of our graduates and what he will be doing for the next year.

If anyone can spare even $5 or $10 to help fund his efforts, that would be terrific. Thanks!

State Sanctioned Hatred

This is long, but worth reading -

Bans in 3 States on Gay Marriage

SAN FRANCISCO — A giant rainbow-colored flag in the gay-friendly Castro neighborhood of San Francisco was flying at half-staff on Wednesday as social and religious conservatives celebrated the passage of measures that ban same-sex marriage in California, Florida, and Arizona.

In California, where same-sex marriage had been performed since June, the ban had more than 52 percent of the vote, according to figures by the secretary of state, and was projected to win by several Californian news media outlets. Opponents of same-sex marriage won by even bigger margins in Arizona and Florida. Just two years ago, Arizona rejected a similar ban.

The across-the-board sweep, coupled with passage of a measure in Arkansas intended to bar gay men and lesbians from adopting children, was a stunning victory for religious conservatives, who had little else to celebrate on an Election Day that saw Senator John McCain lose and other ballot measures, like efforts to restrict abortion in South Dakota, California and Colorado, rejected.

“It was a great victory,” said the Rev. James Garlow, senior pastor of Skyline Church in San Diego County and a leader of the campaign to pass the California measure, Proposition 8. “We saw the people just rise up.”

The losses devastated supporters of same-sex marriage and ignited a debate about whether the movement to expand the rights of same-sex couples had hit a cultural brick wall, even at a time of another civil rights success, the election of a black president.

Thirty states have now passed bans on same-sex marriage.

Supporters of same-sex marriage in California, where the fight on Tuesday was fiercest, appeared to have been outflanked by the measure’s highly organized backers and, exit polls indicated, hurt by the large turnout among black and Hispanic voters drawn to Senator Barack Obama’s candidacy. Mr. Obama opposes same-sex marriage. [bolding mine]

California will still allow same-sex civil unions, but that is not an option in Arizona and Florida. Exit polls in California found that 70 percent of black voters backed the ban. Slightly more than half of Latino voters, who made up almost 20 percent of voters, favored the ban, while 53 percent of whites opposed it.

Julius Turman, a chairman of the Alice B. Toklas L.G.B.T. Democratic Club, a gay political group here, said he called his mother in tears when Mr. Obama won the presidency, only to be crying over the same-sex marriage vote in a different way not much later.

“It is the definition of bittersweet,” Mr. Turman said. “As an African-American, I rejoiced in the symbolism of yesterday. As a gay man, I thought, ‘How can this be happening?’ ”

Proposition 8’s passage left only Massachusetts and Connecticut as states where same-sex marriages are legal, though both Rhode Island and New York will continue to recognize such ceremonies performed elsewhere. Civil unions or domestic partnerships, which carry many of the same rights as marriage, are allowed in a handful of states. More than 40 states now have constitutional bans or laws against same-sex marriages.

On Wednesday, five months of same-sex marriages in California — declared legal by the State Supreme Court in May — appeared to have come to a halt. “This city is no longer marrying people” of the same sex, Gavin Newsom, the mayor of San Francisco, announced at a grim news conference at City Hall, where hundreds of same-sex couples had rushed to marry in the days and hours leading up to Tuesday’s vote.

The status of those marriages, among 17,000 same-sex unions performed in the state, was left in doubt by the vote. The state’s attorney general, Jerry Brown, reiterated Wednesday that he believed that those marriages would remain valid, but legal skirmishes were expected.

The cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco, and Santa Clara County, as well as several civil rights and gay rights groups, said on Wednesday that they would sue to block the ban.

Some opponents of the proposition were also still holding out slim hopes that a batch of perhaps as many as four million provisional and vote-by-mail ballots would somehow turn the tide.

The victory of the social and religious conservatives came on a core issue that has defined their engagement in politics over the past decade.

The Rev. Joel Hunter, an evangelical pastor in Florida, said many religious conservatives felt more urgency about stopping same-sex marriage than about abortion, another hotly contested issue long locked in a stalemate.

“There is enough of the population that is alarmed at the general breakdown of the family, that has been so inundated with images of homosexual relationships in all of the media,” said Mr. Hunter, who gave the benediction at the Democratic National Convention this year, yet supported the same-sex marriage ban in his state. “It’s almost like it’s obligatory these days to have a homosexual couple in every TV show or every movie.”

Supporters of the bans in California, Arizona and Florida benefited from the donations and volunteers mobilized by a broad array of churches and religious groups from across the ethnic spectrum.

The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, a pastor in Sacramento and president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, said the campaign to pass Proposition 8 had begun with white evangelical churches but had spread to more than 1,130 Hispanic churches whose pastors convinced their members that same-sex marriage threatened the traditional family.

“Without the Latino vote,” Mr. Rodriguez said, “Proposition 8 would never have succeeded.”

Frank Schubert, the campaign manager for Protect Marriage, the leading group behind Proposition 8, agreed that minority votes had put the measure over the top, saying that a strategy of working with conservative black pastors and community leaders had paid off.

“It’s a big reason why we won, no doubt about it,” he said.

Proposition 8 was one of the most expensive ballot measures ever waged, with combined spending of more than $75 million. Focus on the Family and other religious conservative groups contributed money to help pass the same-sex marriage measures in all three states.

Forces on both sides viewed California as a critical test of the nation’s acceptance of gay people, who have made remarkable strides in the decades since the 1969 riots in New York at the Stonewall Inn, considered the beginning of the gay rights movement.

Scholars were divided on how large a setback Tuesday’s votes would be for that movement. Andrew Koppelman, a professor of law at Northwestern University and the author of “Same Sex, Different States,” a study of same-sex marriage, said the outcome had a silver lining, namely that it was closer than in previous statewide measures.

A 2000 ballot measure establishing a California state law against same-sex marriage passed with 61 percent of the vote. That law was overturned in May by the State Supreme Court.

In Arizona, where same-sex marriage was already against the law, the victory for Proposition 102, which amends the State Constitution, was met with a shrug by some.

“I think the country was like, ‘Look, you get Obama, call it a day and go home,’ ” said Kyrsten Sinema, a Democratic state representative who led opponents against Proposition 102. “And frankly, I’ll take it.”

Jesse McKinley reported from San Francisco, and Laurie Goodstein from New York.

Back to the US?

If you are a US2CA expat who, with Obama's election, plans to move back to the States - or you know someone who fits that description - please contact me. I have a media contact who would like to speak to such an individual. Thanks!

Post-mortem

I've been reading others' posts, in blogs and on Facebook, thinking about the election results. Compared to many of my friends and acquaintances, I feel like a real "party-pooper."

I'm glad to see history being made. I'm relieved that we don't have to worry about Palin becoming the president. I'm thrilled that McCain lost. But, I don't really believe that change is coming. How will "change" be measured? Will the chokehold of capitalism, consumption, and individualism be lessened? Will we really be out of Iraq any time soon? Will all citizens of the US be granted the same rights and privileges regardless of sexual orientation? No, no, and no.

In California, a constitutional amendment to ban marriage for same-sex couples is winning 52% to 48% with 92% of the precincts reporting. That is incredibly disappointing. In Florida, one of the places I grew up, a constitutional amendment banning marriage and all legal protection for same-sex couples passed 62% to 38%. Not surprising, but still offensive. In Arizona, where I attended graduate school, a second attempt at a constitutional amendment banning marriage for same-sex couples passed 57% to 43%. And, in Arkansas, a ballot initiative banning adoption and foster care for all unmarried couples passed 57% to 43%. So much for truly caring about the lives of kids.

One acquaintance, on her Facebook page, wrote that she is "is disgusted in CA, AZ, AK, and FL. Suck it hatemongers." One of her "friends" replied via comment, "Not everybody has a problem with how AR voted." Ick.

To be fair there were some "good," imho, results (e.g., Massachusetts, Michigan, South Dakota...), but when it comes to writing discrimination into state statute or constitutions, bigotry prevailed. So sad.

I put off posting anything today because I just didn't know what to say. I don't want to rain on anyone's parade. But, I can't help but thinking that if I were still sitting in Minnesota, nothing in my life would really have changed, or even feel like it had changed. I would still be a second class citizen. My family would still not have legal recognition. And more people have expressed their belief that it never should. Sorry, but I just can't find it in me to be more joyous about yesterday's results.

Voting Problems?

November 4, 2008
Actor waged 5-hour battle to cast vote
From CNN's Mythili Rao

Robbins' name was missing from rolls.

NEW YORK (CNN) — When Academy Award-winning actor Tim Robbins showed up at his West 14th Street YMCA polling center in Manhattan to vote Tuesday morning, election officials told him that his name was missing from the register.

"I went to vote where I normally vote and I was not listed. I asked for an explanation; they had none," Robbins told CNN.

He said he has been voting in the same district since 1992. He has not missed one election, and has not changed addresses or political affiliations.

"The poll worker said my name was in the book for the primary two months ago, but missing for the general election," he told CNN.

Although Robbins was offered the opportunity to fill out a provisional ballot, he was set on using the voting machine instead.

"Refuse provisional ballots — they're throwing those out, they can throw those out," he told viewers of "Real Time With Bill Maher" last month.

"If that's your last resort, take it, but fight for your right to vote," he said. "It's your right as an American."

It took Robbins a total of five hours — and a judge's order — to do so today.

"I'm just waiting for an explanation. I want a real explanation, and I want that explanation for the hundreds and thousands of people in my district and throughout the city who are experiencing the same thing today," Robbins told CNN.

A New York City Board of Elections representative did not return CNN's calls.

Polling places nationwide have seen heavy turnout — and accompanying delays and glitches — for the presidential race between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama.

********

How many people - without the tenacity, connections, or whatever - will have had this experience, and not the same outcome?

Four Years Ago

Four years ago last night, P and I sat up watching the election returns. But, what interested me was not so much the presidential race, but the results of the various ballot measures across the country. In particular, I watched as state after state, 11 in all, passed efforts to amend their state constitutions to "define marriage as between one man and one woman." The language varied and some were even more all-encompassing in their discrimination. I said, as we watched, "I think we need to get out of here." Now, four years later, we're "out of here" which has become "there." And, while it has not been without its challenges, I'm sooooooo glad to be in Canada.

I have had various folks ask why I'm not a big fan of Obama. Aside from the things that have been thoroughly addressed elsewhere on the US2CA blogs, the stick in my craw is his position on same-sex marriage. I routinely explain that I have no use for his "separate but equal" stance as separate is never equal. But, this article, brought to my attention by P, is a good one for answering the question. As she suggested, maybe he's taking a page from the Wellstone playbook. The late Paul Wellstone (D-MN) supported the Defense of Marriage Act, but later said that he had changed his mind regretted having voted as he did. Only time will tell.

So, here it is, the eve of the US election - the outcome of which, I think, is not a done deal. And, while P is, physically, in Minnesota. "We" are here. The house is almost done, 7YO is settled into his new school, winter is approaching... And, to echo sentiments expressed elsewhere - [though I do want Obama to win] his presidency won't do anything to improve my life, or that of my family. We'd still be second class citizens. Oh, Canada! Oh, Canada!

Update on John McKendy

FREDERICTON - Police recovered a body Saturday they believe is that of a man wanted on a Canada-wide warrant in the killing of St. Thomas University professor John McKendy.

John McKendy, a 60-year-old sociology professor at St. Thomas University is shown in this undated photo from the university's website.

RCMP said they received a call just before 11:30 a.m. after the body of a man was discovered inside a car at a hotel parking lot in Moncton, N.B.

"We were alerted by someone in the region who called the RCMP in Moncton. We dispatched officers and discovered the body," said RCMP Cpl. Claude Tremblay, at a news conference in Fredericton.

"Police have determined that the car was rented earlier in the week by 27-year old Nicholas Wade Baker."

Police stressed that no positive identification of the body had been made.

They said it was found inside a silver coloured Chrysler with a Nova Scotia plate on it. It was a rental car from a company in Fredericton.

Just prior to the discovery Tremblay said the Mounties had laid a charge of first degree murder against Baker in the killing of McKendy.

The 60-year-old sociology professor's body was discovered in his Douglas, N.B., home early Friday.

Baker was identified as a suspect by police shortly afterward. They said he had no fixed address but had family in South Carolina.

Although police hadn't offered comment on family ties the Globe and Mail reported Saturday that Baker was married to McKendy's daughter and that she was found injured in the home and taken to hospital for treatment.

Canada Border Services were notified and police issued two pictures of the suspect, described as being about five-foot-eight with a slim build.

Despite what appears to be a major break in the case there are still more questions than answers. Police didn't release any further information, including how the man in the car died.

"We're not going to talk about that," said Tremblay. "It doesn't serve any purpose for the investigation, and out of respect for the family, they've gone through enough and don't need to see that."

Meanwhile, investigators still haven't revealed how McKendy was killed.

McKendy, a Quaker, came to the Fredericton school in 1974 and his research focused on social inequality and the sociology of religion and work.

On Saturday, Dawne Clarke, who teaches criminology at Saint Thomas, remembered her friend.

"He was kind and compassionate and gentle," Clarke said. "He never said a harsh word about anyone ever."

Her husband Stephen Pidwysocky, also a Saint Thomas professor, said McKendy was an example to others.

"We always talk about what a kind person or a nice person should be like. He was that, he was just a very nice, kind person," he said.

"John was a person who opposed all forms of violence."

University president Michael W. Higgins said McKendy's commitment to learning was exemplified by his passion for teaching.

Higgins said the campus ministry and grief counsellors would be brought in to provide assistance as needed.

A vigil was planned for Saturday afternoon in the university chapel.

Source

Homicide in Douglas/Fredericton

Some of you will likely see this story in the Canadian papers. Some of you may remember that we're building our house in Douglas. Others might remember that I'm a sociologist. Thus, I thought I'd post that I didn't know John McKendy, though, given his social justice work, it is highly likely that our paths would eventually have crossed. Anyway, I just thought I'd post this since some of you may "connect the dots" and wonder if his department is the one with which I'm affiliated (no, he was at St. Thomas), etc.

I was driving this morning and heard the report of a "suspicious death on Island View in Douglas." That's exactly where 7YO and I were going this evening. When I got to his school for pick-up at 1:30, they had the place in lock down. So, tonight we went to his friend's house, on Island View, and had to drive right by the street - it's actually off Island View - where you could see the police tape across the street. I haven't seen any coverage. What's particularly heartbreaking is that he was, apparently, a Quaker; had done volunteer work in Africa; was a great teacher, etc. He recently presented at an event called the New Brunswick Social Forum. The title of the session at which he spoke? Alternatives To Violence: War From Renous To Afghanistan.

May he rest in peace.

Miscellaneous thoughts...

CNN is talking about how "only" 13 US soldiers died in Iraq in October... and "only" 6 were combat deaths, or some such. WTF? I am so disgusted, offended, by the use of the descriptor "only." I know what they mean, but it still pisses me off. I can guaran-fucking-tee them that the families of those soldiers aren't thinking of them as "onlies."

I haven't been following much of US politics - and I use the term loosely - until recently. So, I just found out that in addition to anti-gay, anti-family initiatives in California and Florida, there's more hatred and stupidity out there. I didn't know that my former home of Arizona is trying again. And, in Arkansas, people will vote on prohibiting adoption by unmarried couples. Guess we know who that is aimed at.

And, in Colorado -
"The approved ballot title reads:
Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution defining the term “person” to include any human being from the moment of fertilization as “person” is used in those provisions of the Colorado constitution relating to inalienable rights, equality of justice, and due process of law?

The proposed initiative says:
Be it Enacted by the People of the State of Colorado: SECTION 1. Article II of the constitution of the state of Colorado is amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION to read: Section 31. Person defined. As used in sections 3, 6, and 25 of article II of the state constitution, the terms "person" or "persons" shall include any human being from the moment of fertilization.

Because the amendment defines a fertilized egg as a person, even before being implanted in the uterus (a common definition for the beginning of a pregnancy), opponents suggest that the amendment may outlaw certain methods of birth control that focus on interfering with the egg's implantation."

California and South Dakota are at it, too.

In California, "'[t]he initiative would prohibit abortion for unemancipated minors until 48 hours after physician notifies minor’s parent, legal guardian or, if parental abuse has been reported, an alternative adult family member."

In South Dakota, "If the state's voters approve it, the South Dakota Constitution will henceforward ban all abortions in the state except for those performed because of rape, incest or to protect the woman's health."

Just my opinion, of course, but... WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?

Note: If any of these have, for some reason, been kept off the ballot at the last minute, I've not read about it. Feel free to post updates via comments.

Quebec Immigration

Immigrants must sign paper pledging Quebec values

"Quebec has introduced a mandatory declaration for immigrants requiring them to sign their commitment to respect the province's common values.

The immigrant declaration follows on recommendations issued by The Bouchard-Taylor Commission, a provincial public inquiry on the issue of so-called reasonable accommodation of cultural and religious beliefs."

What do you think?

Palin - A bitch, witch, and moron

Now, using such language to describe another woman is something I reserve for the exceptional. For example, people like Michele Bachmann. Add Sarah Palin to the list. The other day she said, while talking about the role of government, "I don't know what to think of having in my family Uncle Barney Frank or others to make decisions for me." I completely agree with this interpretation of that remark: "Barney Frank is a high profile Gay Democratic Congressman. In cases of child molesting, the term funny uncle is a derogatory term for a family member who molests children. Conservatives believes gays are predatory child molesters and what better way to make that point than to make gay Congressman Barney Frank the uncle." Source

For an interesting, imo, exchange on this comment, go here.

She is, or should be, a complete embarrassment to the Republican party. I don't know which is worse, the fact that she is truly stupid or the fact that she's a bigot. I guess in the role of vice president - or, worse, president - I'd have to go with the former. But, I am so tired of the degree to which people running for public office choose to wave the flag of homophobia as a badge of honor - and feel empowered to do so.

In talking with Andy Scott the other day, he echoed a sentiment I've heard from others. In short, politicians in Canada would be fired or run out of town for saying some of the things that in the US garner the bigots more support. Interesting.

Why, given the polls, do I even bother? Will anyone remember Sarah Palin in a year? For extensive discussion of why I think we should be concerned, go here.

BTW, in an earlier post I wrote about not being sure about voting. I do not like Obama because he thinks I'm a second class citizen. But, the thought of Palin in the White House should terrify the world. So, holding my nose, I did submit my vote for Obama/Biden. I'm so glad I'm here...

Harvey Milk

I can't wait to see this movie. I may have to drive to Halifax. I may have to drive to Boston. But, I really want to see it on the big screen.



But, for the real thing, check these out, too: