occupy toronto vigil for iraq veteran and peace activist scott olsen


If you missed the story: 24 year-old Iraq War veteran beaten into critical condition by police.

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"you guys": change language, do no harm, but can we please leave space for learning and growing?

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First reactions: the language police I've recently learned that calling a group of people you guys  may be considered insensitive to transgender people.  My first reaction to this was an inner eye-roll, and thoughts along the lines of, "Oh come on, that's going too far."  The same reaction I had to learning that the word crazy  is not to be used -- in any context -- because it's insensitive to people with mental illness. Why are people policing my language this closely? Is this really important? Who determined this is now inappropriate speech? I've always thought of guys  as gender-neutral, and you guys  represents a group of people of any gender -- in the appropriate context. Clearly some people say "guys and girls," and in that context guys means men and boys. But words have different meanings in different contexts, and most speakers of any given language are able to distinguish among those contexts.  Is you guys  really so offensive, to the po...
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let them stay reason # 5: because iraq is an environmental disaster

The sixth of a ten-part series: top ten reasons why US Iraq War Resisters should be allowed to stay in Canada. Reason # 5: from Rex Wyler, ecologist, author and Vietnam War resister. Reason # 6 from Naomi Klein , award-winning author, filmmaker, activist, Canadian. Daughter of war resister. Reason # 7 from Olivia Chow , Member of Parliament. Reason # 8 from Bill King , musician, producer, Vietnam war deserter. Reason # 9 from Maude Barlow of the Council of Canadians . Reason # 10 from Alex Neve of Amnesty International . Here's 85,000 more reasons. The Iraqi government has released its first official death toll report. It says 85,000 Iraqis were killed from 2004 to 2008 . Other ongoing sources for civilian death tolls: Iraq Body Count , invasion of Iraq casualties on Wikipedia.
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the day in court, in brief

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About 25 or 30 supporters of war resisters woke up early and bundled against the damp, chilly morning to show their support for Jeremy Hinzman and other war resisters seeking refuge in Canada. This blogger and a friend drove in from Buffalo; my friend M@ was there holding a banner; many Quakers attended, as they always do; plus a few Campaigners who don't work regular hours. Those who could stay made our way through security and sat in the back of the courtroom. The court was kind enough to supply extra chairs, and we all squeezed in. Lawyer Alyssa Manning was masterful. When the Crown rose to respond, you could hear crickets chirping. They had nothing. I took copious notes and can report at length tomorrow if anyone is interested. (Yes? No?) Meanwhile, here's a story from Canadian Press via CBC. [Link has been fixed.] A Canadian immigration official failed to consider the hardships a high-profile American deserter and his family would face if forced to return to the United S...
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