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September 28 is International Safe Abortion Day , a day to reflect on how many women around the world do not have control over their reproduction -- that is, do not have control over their lives.  Abortion is the sine qua non  of women's liberation. Without the ability to choose whether and when to have children, women are slaves to their reproductive organs, and to the governments that control them.  We would all prefer contraception to abortion. But, like abortion, contraception is not universally available. And more importantly, contraception fails. Sometimes that results in happy accidents. Sometimes it results in unwanted pregnancies that would be disastrous for the pregnant person's life.  There is no reason for an unwanted pregnancy to ruin a woman's life. Abortion is a safe and harmless procedure. But thanks to governments that allow themselves to be controlled by religious zealots, millions of women don't have access to this option. Not about RBG, not about ...

As my Facebook friends know all too well, I have been struggling with severe urticaria -- hives -- for two months. I have been going out of my mind with unrelenting itching. My skin is on fire. For six weeks, I had no idea what had caused the urticaria, and nothing known to me relieved the itching. At the end of a day of itching and burning,  Aveeno soothing baths and a thick eczema balm help calm things down.* Ice packs offer some relief.  Antihistamines do nothing, although I continue to take them, fearing it will be worse if I don't. I've seen a doctor twice, which was almost useless, although he did refer me to a dermatologist. There can sometimes be very long wait-times for specialists, and apparently dermatology is one of those. I don't expect to see a specialist for months. I've heard allergists are even worse. A friend recommended a naturopath who practices in a few different towns, including ours, and I thought, why not. I had a very thorough consultation; sh...

We activists like to paraphrase the legendary labour activist Joe Hill  by saying "First mourn, then organize". Larry Kramer, who died yesterday at the age of 84, defined the phrase. He taught a generation -- he taught an entire culture -- how to use grief as fuel, how to channel anger into action. How to use a nearly constant state of mourning to propel an entire movement into the next phase of liberation. As if that wasn't enough, Kramer was a talented and powerful writer. Kramer's play "The Normal Heart" broke new ground in the New York theatre landscape. He also wrote the film adaptation . If you haven't seen it, you should: it's great . The obituaries will tell you Kramer was a provocateur, that he understood how to use shock power to gain attention for his cause. That is true. But his cause was always the greater good -- health, justice, love, liberation. He understood those as necessary and inextricable. The obituaries will also tell you how p...

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma is famous among trauma survivors and the professionals who treat them. I can say without hyperbole or exaggeration that it's one of the most fascinating and meaningful books I've ever read. The Body Keeps the Score is divided into two parts. The first part of the book examines the brain's and body's physical response to trauma. There are essentially two kinds of trauma: the sustained, multiple traumas of childhood abuse and neglect, and adult trauma from a specific event. Many people, of course, survive multiple traumas, as both children and adults. For me, this part of the book was absolutely revelatory. Bessel van der Kolk explains the neuroscience of trauma -- and the many scientific studies and clinical observations that have led to this understanding -- in clear, plain language, using lots of analogies and examples. I am not a fast reader, and I struggle with poor concentration from fibromya...

1. Wealthy urbanites are fleeing to their second homes -- buying out grocery stores, expecting personal shoppers and home delivery, swelling vacation towns' size to summer proportions. This is the epitome of the egocentric, classist arrogance that often pervades the United States. 2. In India , a planned lockdown of more than a billion people is expected to leave millions dead of starvation. As people become desperate, there will inevitably be rioting, police shootings, and all forms of rampant violence. In this case the response seems far worse than the pandemic itself. 3. Many people seem to have forgotten that the majority of COVID-19 case are not fatal. I'm not minimizing the potential, but numbers of confirmed cases does not equal the same number of deaths. 4. Our experience of the pandemic often depends on our employment situation. For me right now, it's a vacation. Health care workers have so much added risk and all the stress that comes with it. Supermarket workers...

A reader pointed out that my previous post is very negative, and doesn't mention any of the very positive responses to the pandemic that are being rolled out. So: A prohibition on evictions. Water and electricity not being cut off for nonpayment. Student loan forgiveness. A relaxation of rules for employment insurance, and emergency funds for those who don't qualify. In some cities, free public transit. Paid sick leave. A suspension of rules about needing doctors' notes for sick days. And Every single one of these decent, humane responses to this health crisis injects a piece of socialism into our world. When the crisis has passed, governments will have to work overtime to erase our memories and return to ruthless business as usual.

We're all struggling to take in the magnitude of coping with a global pandemic. Personally I've had to cancel a long-awaited vacation to vist family, and with libraries closed, I may soon be applying for EI. The shelves at our local supermarket are empty; we're hoping folks who did the right thing, remained calm and didn't hoard, won't be repaid with severe shortages. And of course I'm hoping that the relatively fast and decisive actions taken by Canada and my own province of BC will protect us from the worst. But I'm also acutely aware that my personal inconvenience is nothing compared to the misfortunes of so many others. I don't mean those who are necessarily sick with COVID-19. I'm thinking of those who simply cannot prepare, and those who are suddenly faced with a total loss of income. All the families who live paycheque to paycheque, cobbling together an income from various part-time and casual jobs, who suddenly find themselves unemployed. All...

I've never cancelled a trip because of external circumstances. Until now. In 1994, we were heading to Mexico -- to travel through the country, not to stay in a resort -- when revolution broke out in the state of Chiapas. We went anyway. In 2001, we were booked on a flight to Ireland, two months after September 11, and less than 24 hours after a plane crashed immediately after takeoff from the same NYC airport. We went anyway. In 2017, we were finally going to Egypt, when a bomb went off in a Cairo church. We went anyway. In about a month from now, we were to take a road trip with our dogs, to visit family and friends in Oregon and California. We've cancelled. Travel in the US seems ill-advised right now, even more so because we would be seeing my 88-year-old mother who already has respiratory issues. What if were exposed to the coronavirus and then infected her? It was a simple decision, yet such a painful one. I am so disappointed! I haven't seen my west-coast nieces and n...

There's a movement to put the face of Tommy Douglas on the next Canadian $5 bill. Wouldn't that be wonderful? And wouldn't it be a kick in the pants to those who seek to privatize our health care system? Go here to nominate Tommy Douglas.

Today is International Safe Abortion Day. Because without access to safe, legal abortion, women can never be free. In North America, you can help ensure that women are able to access safe abortions by donating to abortion funds. The National Network of Abortion Funds (N-NAF) can show you how.

I'd love reader feedback on these three questions. I know most people will reply on Facebook, which makes it really difficult to save reader reaction. But there's no stopping that train, so... copy/paste/save. Instapot Yes, I know it's an Instant Pot. I like to call it an Instapot. I think the Instant Pot folks missed an opportunity. I'm late to the Instapot bandwagon, but I'm glad I waited before jumping on. I bought a huge 8-quart Ultra, which is big enough for the batch cooking I prefer, has all the features, and has more safety features than the early models. I love  making steel cut oatmeal in this thing, and also rice. It is so easy, and it comes out perfect  every time. Steel cut oats don't actually take less time in the Instapot than on the stove top. Factoring the time to pressurize and the natural release, it's about the same time on the clock. But using the stove top, you have to stand there and stir. And if you don't pay attention, and someti...

So far, my experience with health care in our small BC town has been excellent. Limited sample size, anecdotal, non-scientific, yes. I'm just reporting on what I've experienced and observed in the past nine months, plus a few facts about funding. Port Hardy Our town of about 4,200 people has a primary health centre and a hospital. It's a regional hub for many tiny communities on the North Island. (There are also two other health units in neighbouring towns.) The health centre is a bright, clean, thoroughly modern facility. The signs are all in English and Kwak'wala, the local Indigenous language. There is a big, affirming, trans-positive sign on the washroom. I haven't been able to get a family doctor yet; all the doctors' rosters are full. However, we are always able to see a doctor, either whoever is on duty that day, or you can request an appointment with a specific doctor. So even though I don't have a family doctor, I make appointments with a doctor tha...

Today I attended a working meeting that included almost all the service providers in the region. These service providers were brought together by the Mount Waddington Health Network to build a coalition that will deal with the housing crisis. I was there mainly to stay informed and to network, and to keep the library visible -- and because so many groups that I will work with were also there. Three thoughts. * * * * These organizations are doing amazing work by working together rather than in silos -- more efficient (no duplication of effort), more strategic (not competing for the same funds), and stronger (speaking in one voice). This process -- a multi-year plan -- has seen real results in several places, and I expect it will in the North Island, too. The people are great -- sharp, committed, experienced, inclusive, taking a holistic view. I was so impressed. But. But I can't help thinking, all this would be unnecessary if housing were a human right in our society, and if this...

I am very frustrated by progressive reaction to Doug Ford becoming the leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party. People are acting as if Ford has already won an election that is three months away. I understand there is great -- and well-deserved -- anger against Kathleen Wynne's Liberal party. But are we progressives going to stand helplessly staring at polls as we are thrown from frying pan to fire? Under 20 years of Liberal governments, public spending has been frozen, resulting in a decrease of more than 40% in public resources. Corporate taxes are at all-time low. Privatization is strangling both services and jobs. And now -- supposedly -- we're all going to vote for more of the same. Either literally more of the same in the Liberals or worse than that in the Conservatives. And supposedly, we won't vote NDP because the NDP can't win. We won't vote for a party because the party can't win because not enough people will vote for it. How stupid do yo...

I recently attended the CUPE Ontario Library Workers Conference, which has become a highlight of my year since I first attended (and was elected to the organizing committee) in 2015. It has eclipsed and replaced the OLA Superconference as the most relevant and enjoyable must-attend conference in my schedule. When I first got my librarian degree, I was very excited about attending my first "OLA" (as it's always called). But I quickly learned that the sessions are a crap-shoot, sometimes relevant but often obvious and dull. There's also a great deal of boosterism by OLA and the member libraries. For the difference between the two conferences, for OLA, think employers and libraries , for CUPE Ontario, think  labour and library workers . In recent years, our Library Workers Conference has focused on precarious work and health and safety issues, two themes that are inextricably linked. This year's conference was called "Sex, Drugs & Bed Bugs," a light ...

As part of my continuing efforts to post here rather than -- or at least in addition to -- Facebook, here are some thoughts on the latest horrific massacre in the US, the country music festival in Las Vegas. First, the inevitability of recurrence. When hearing about mass shootings in the United States, the worst part -- the most tragic, the most outrageous part -- is the certainty of knowing that nothing will change. That it will happen again, and again, and again. A solution is known, of course. We won't end the culture of violence that permeates the US, but we can end access to large numbers of deadly weapons. The fact that the vice grip of a deadly special interest group outweighs the basic human rights of life and safety speaks volumes about the US political system. The congressmembers and senators who are bought and paid for by the NRA can never wash the blood off their hands. Second, the true body count. Allan and I were talking about what it might have been like to be there...

This month, four decades of anti-woman, anti-abortion hysteria in the US hit a new low. Last August, an Indiana woman sought medical attention after a premature delivery resulted in the death of the fetus. The emergency-room doctor called the police. In April, that woman was sentenced to 20 years in prison. From WaPo : Indiana woman jailed for "feticide." It's never happened before. ...Informed that officials were heading to her home, Patel told her doctors that she'd had a miscarriage and had left her stillborn fetus in a dumpster behind a shopping center. Still in his hospital scrubs, McGuire followed police cars to the scene and examined the fetus, which he pronounced dead on arrival. Patel was charged with child neglect, and later with killing her fetus, and on Monday she was sentenced to 20 consecutive years in prison. The verdict makes Patel the first woman in the U.S. to be charged, convicted and sentenced for "feticide" for ending her own pregnancy, ...

A few days ago, the Federal Court of Canada ruled that the Harper Government's denial of health care to refugee claimants from certain countries is unconstitutional and cannot stand. In a surprisingly strongly worded statement Friday, the federal court ruled Ottawa’s cutbacks to health-care coverage for refugee claimants are unconstitutional because they constitute “cruel and unusual” treatment. The decision was quickly lauded by many, including the Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care, the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers and Justice for Children and Youth — groups that, along with two refugee claimants, challenged the law. Of course the Government plans to appeal, but the decision will be difficult to overturn. The Government and its complicit media partners can lie to the public - fabricated stories of refugee claimants who supposedly receive better health care than Canadians, calling refugees whose claims are rejected by the Government "bogus" - but hoodwinking th...

I want to share two articles from well-respected venues reflecting on what's happening to Canada now - where it is and where it may be going. In The Lancet Global Health , one of the foremost medical journals in the world, there's "A rising tide: the case against Canada as a world citizen", Chris David Simms. It begins: A generation ago, Canada was perceived to be an exemplary global citizen by the rest of the world: it took the lead on a host of international issues, including the Convention of Child Rights, freedom of information, acid rain, world peacekeeping, sanctions against South Africa's apartheid regime, and humanitarian and development assistance—much of this under conservative leadership. During recent years, Canada's reputation as a global citizen has slipped, in recent months more precipitously than ever before, and in new directions. The Climate Action Network recently ranked Canada 55th of 58 countries in tackling of greenhouse emissions. Resul...

It's so hard to talk when you want to kill yourself. That's the first line of Ned Vizzini's excellent 2006 youth novel, It's Kind of a Funny Story . By the time I read the book this year, the author was already dead. Vizzini committed suicide last December; he was only 32 years old. Those facts alone are tragic. But now that I've read this book, I find Vizzini's death even sadder. On some level, I chide myself for that: every person's life is of equal value, and every early death is a loss. But we feel the way we feel, and Vizzini's suicide feels, to me, inexpressibly sad, a monumental loss. Vizzini wrote youth fiction in a natural, straightforward voice, with deep insight and wry humour. It's Kind of a Funny Story is a slightly fictionalized account of the onset of the author's depression as a teenager, and the five days he spent in the psychiatric unit of a hospital in Brooklyn, New York. It's a funny book, often poignant, sometimes very ...