Move Over


Settling in

While there is some unpacking left to do, and the question of whether to have a phone put in, I'm officially relocated and ready to resume contact with the outside world.

Bell Canada is backed up five weeks for new installations. I was told many of their workers were down in Mississippi and Louisiana, cleaning up after the hurricanes. So I've been giving out my cell phone number and wondering if I really need a land line. It will be another two weeks before they can get to me. I've already cancelled my dsl Internet service and the replacement cable connection is much faster. Maybe I'll try to get that VOIP phone stuff working on the computer.

Lots has happened since I went offline. There are over two thousand rss entries in my newsreader. There is no way I'm going to catch up. But there are three things I'd like to mention.

- A pioneer in the Canadian gay rights movement has died. George Hislop was most recently known for winning pension rights for surviving spouses in same sex relationships. When I met him in the mid 1970s he was already one of the more experienced activists, the founder of the Community Homophile Association of Toronto. Over the decades he continued to wield a strong influence in city politics. A few years ago he and I marched together at the head of Toronto's Pride Parade as part of the the old guard of the Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights in Ontario. He was happy and pleased that day, and his enthusiasm was, as always, contagious. He will be missed.

- Efforts in Windsor to challenge Canada's role in Haiti have continued. A few weeks ago film maker and journalist Kevin Pina came to the University to show his latest documentary, Haiti, the UNtold Story. The film shows how UN troops, under Canadian supervision, have allowed and even carried out the slaughter of innocent civilians who were supporters of president Aristide. Afterwards member of parliament Joe Comartin joined the discussion, describing how the Bloc Quebecois had joined the Liberal government in supporting the coup, limiting the opportunities for debate in the house of commons.

A group of volunteers has begun a letter writing campaign aimed at journalists and politicians and is looking to join up with the Canadian Haiti Action Network. The network is planning a week of protest November 12 to the 20.

- The new constitution of Iraq was ratified by 78% of the voters in the October 15 referendum. Nevertheless it was a close call, with the Sunni minority coming close to a veto, not quite achieving the required two thirds rejection in three provinces. The next step is the December 15 elections for a new parliament.

There is another book on my reading list, and I recommend it to anyone trying to understand why some leftists like myself believe the Iraq war was necessary and just. A Matter of Principle: Humanitarian Arguments for the War in Iraq, edited by Thomas Cushman, is getting some good reviews. Jeff Weintraub reprints two of them in his post Restating the moral case for the Iraq War. In a postscript he offers an explanation why the moral case against the war seemed more believable coming from conservative rather than left wing sources.





Posted: Mon - October 31, 2005 at 11:34 AM          

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