troll alert

After laying low for a few days, the racist, sexist, homophobic, clueless troll is back. He is visiting blogs that link to wmtc, and leaving nasty comments as either "I-girl", "Magnolia_2000" or "redsock." (note the dot). I guess the idea is that people who have been reading this blog for years will believe that I have suddenly revealed my evil nature, thus shunning me and driving traffic away from wmtc.

This is how a man spends his time.

As much as we'd like to believe otherwise, this troll is not a kid. He seems to be an adult male - and Canadian.

I wish I could interview one of these losers, in-depth, over the course of several days. I'd love to know more about the mentality behind this. Can you imagine spending your time this way? Can you imagine having this much time?

A strange hobby indeed.

short break

Wmtc is on hiatus for a few days. See you soon.

cheap shopping, health care and imperialism

Long-time wmtc readers may remember a discussion we had about Canadian perceptions of the US - of the positive variety - which I called cheap shopping vs. health care.

When I tell people I am from the US - not that I advertise it, but it tends to come up in conversation - reactions fall into a few different categories. Some people are happy and excited; they understand the difference between the two countries and why an American might choose Canada. Interesting conversations ensue. But one fairly common reaction repeats itself nearly verbatim: "Why would you want to move here? We all want to move there!"

I first heard this during an interview at an employment agency, and let me tell you, I was taken aback. I hardly knew how to respond in a way that would be appropriate for a job interview. I laughed, played it down and changed the subject.

Since then, I've heard it many times, mostly from co-workers, but also from Canadian-born neighbours and in other casual interactions. To generalize, I would describe the people who say this as apolitical, largely ignorant of and unconcerned with events outside their own lives, and superficial. People who live in their own little world of family, friends, work and shopping.

For background, you might like to read that post, plus readers' comments.

This recently happened again while I was getting my hair cut. The woman cutting my hair is Vietnamese-Canadian. Most of her family lives in the US or in Vietnam; she and her mother live in Canada. In our conversation, she sighed wistfully and said, "I wish I lived in the States."

I said, "No, you don't. Unless you're rich, it's not a very nice place to live."

She said, "Yes, I've heard that. It's the health care, right?"

I nodded.

She said, haltingly, "It's not... it's not free, right?"

Not free, yeah, you could say that. I tried to explain that health care is very expensive, and the more money you have, the better health care you receive. And the less money you have...

She nodded, but she seemed unconvinced.

Then I said, "You know, we pay about the same in taxes."

"What?" She was stunned.

I said, "That's right. Our taxes didn't go up when we moved here. They're about the same. Except now we don't have to pay our health care costs, too."

"Wow," she said. "I didn't know that. What do they do with all the money?"

I thought, thanks for the cue. "It all goes to the military."

She looked aghast. She said, "I didn't know that. Wow. Learn something new every day."

As I mentioned, this woman is of Vietnamese descent. I don't know if the words "United States military" strike a chord with her, but I hope so.

I'm reading Overthrow, by Stephen Kinzer, right now, so the US's misadventures in Vietnam are on my mind.

Today I read the chapter on Chile, when the US destabilized a democratic country, overthrew their president-elect (Allende) and installed a dictator (Pinochet). And I remembered that one of my former co-workers who was part of the health-care-vs-cheap-shopping discussion is Chilean-Canadian. Her parents escaped Chile right after Pinochet came to power.

Now, maybe these two women are completely apolitical, and living in the country that tore apart the homelands of their parents and grandparents wouldn't bother them. But maybe they're smarter than that.

How dangerous it is when people don't know their own history.

toronto star today: let them stay

From today's Toronto Star:

Canada has long opened its doors to refugees from violence and oppression in far-off lands. But what about deserters from the armed forces of our neighbour, the United States? Surely, it is said, we should draw the line there, no matter how much we might disagree with the American war effort in Iraq.

Actually, four decades ago we opened our doors to draft dodgers and deserters – more than 50,000 of them – who were fleeing participation in another American war, in Vietnam.

Today, there are barely 200 American deserters seeking asylum here. Still, the parallels between Vietnam and Iraq are telling. American involvement in Vietnam was based on highly dubious premises (the Tonkin Gulf resolution and the "domino theory"), as in Iraq (weapons of mass destruction and the "war on terror"). The prosecution of the war in Vietnam led to charges of war crimes or violations of the Geneva Conventions in the treatment of non-combatants, as in Iraq. In neither war was the American involvement sanctioned by the United Nations. And in each case, Canada stayed on the sidelines.

Finally, as with Vietnam, most Americans were supportive of the war in Iraq at the outset but have turned against it as the deception of their own government has become apparent. Indeed, the front-running presidential candidate, Barack Obama, has promised to end the war.

Yet this week we have deported a U.S. army deserter – potentially the first of many. Robin Long, who could face a prison term back home, sought refuge here because he was "morally" opposed to the Iraq war, just as his predecessors conscientiously objected to the Vietnam War.

The difference between then and now, we are told, is that the American forces in Vietnam were conscripted, whereas today it is an all-volunteer U.S. army. But is that really such a difference in the case of a war that is widely seen as illegitimate, even by Americans?

"A soldier who is told to fight (in Iraq) faces a conflict of values and loyalties," wrote Bob Rae, the Liberal foreign affairs critic, on our Comment page last week. "His president has told him things that he later discovers are quite untrue. His congressman and senator say they were misled and would not have authorized the invasion had they been given accurate information. He realizes that what he's being asked to do is in no way authorized by international law. Political support for the mission is drying up. Hence the refusal to serve."

Apparently persuaded by that argument, the House of Commons voted last month in favour of a resolution calling on the government to allow deserters from "a war not sanctioned by the UN" to stay in Canada. But the government has ignored the vote, and dozens of deserters – those who don't end up before a sympathetic judge or refugee panel – face deportation and possible imprisonment as a result.

It is time to reverse this process and recapture the spirit of the 1960s, when we welcomed those fleeing from a previous unjust war.

Your letter in response to this will also reach a lot of people. Keep it short (aim for 150-200 words) and factual. James Burmeister's heartbreaking story is a good reference point.

wolf slaughter escalates in the u.s.

Last time I blogged about wolves, it was 30 days after the US de-listed wolves from the Endangered Species Act, stripping them of protection from needless slaughter. At that time, 37 wolves had been killed.

Now it has been 118 days, and 106 wolves have been killed.

If the states of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana have their way, at least 900 wolves - nearly 60 percent of the population - could be exterminated this fall, when a massive public hunt would begin.

Wolves were nearly exterminated in the US in the 19th Century, and Canada joined the killing spree in the 20th. It's taken decades of public education and concerted wildlife management to bring them back to anything resembling healthy numbers.

Now decades of work has been erased. The wolves are being erased.

This is heartbreaking to me, and sickening.

The NRDC has a petition drive going. I don't know if anyone is listening, but it certainly can't hurt. This group has had a lot of success in court and with Congress. They're very politically savvy and in order for a campaign to be effective, they do need to show popular support. A little international support from the Yellowstone wolves' North American neighbours can't hurt either.

Wolves are highly intelligent, social animals. They need certain numbers of their own kind to survive. If the alpha wolves don't mature and form families (known as packs), they can't reproduce, and their population will dwindle even faster than humans can kill them.

Wolves are, of course, no threat to human population or livelihood. That the irrational and unfounded hatred of wolves persists into the 21st Century is almost beyond belief.

Click on the category "animals (other than dogs)" for some photos of these magnificent creatures. And please sign the petition.

pentagon releases new statistics, u.s. casualties climb by more than 1,000

As the Pentagon plays with numbers, people's lives are shattered.

US military occupation forces in Iraq suffered at least 102 combat casualties in the week ending July 15, as the official casualty total reached at least 67,203. That total jumped by 1,314 because the number of non combat-injured and sick casualties became available for the first time since March 1. It includes 33,766 dead and wounded by what the Pentagon classifies as "hostile" causes and more than 33,437 dead and medically evacuated (as of May 31) because of "non-hostile" causes.*

The actual total is over 87,000 because the Pentagon chooses not to count as "Iraq casualties" the approximately 20,000 casualties discovered only after they returned from Iraq - mainly brain trauma from explosions.**

US media divert attention from the actual cost in American life and limb by routinely reporting only the total killed (4,121 as of July 15) and rarely mentioning the 30,409 wounded in combat. To further minimize public perception of the cost, they cover for the Pentagon by ignoring the 32,673 (as of May 31)*** military victims of accidents and illness serious enough to require medical air evacuation, although the 4,121 reported deaths include 764 (no change) who died from those same causes, including at least 13 from faulty electrical work by KBR and 145 suicides as of March 1.

* The number of wounded is updated weekly (usually Tuesdays) by the Pentagon at http://www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf

** see USA Today, Nov. 23, 2007

*** the number of "non combat" injured was reported by the AP

From Michael Monk, via After Downing Street. Thanks to James for sending.

update on james burmeister: bad conduct discharge and more

The judge that heard Robin Long's final appeal for a stay of his deportation said that Robin had not proved he would suffer harm if sent back to the US. Robin could be forced to deploy to Iraq. Seems like that constitutes harm, no? Forced deployment - conscription - is a human rights violation. Unless the United States does it.

What kind of harm do resisters face if deported?

James Burmeister was court martialled yesterday. The entire proceeding took a few hours and he was led off in shackles.

James received a loss of rank, a loss of pay, and a nine-month prison sentence in a military prison. Worst of all, he was given a Bad Conduct Discharge. This means he will be permanently ineligible for veteran benefits, including medical care. He will have the equivalent of a felony offense. He can't get a mortgage, can't get student loans, in many state he can't vote. He also won't be able to return to Canada.

James will turn 24 years old this month. He suffered traumatic brain injury in Iraq, and has severe PTSD.

After his sentencing, James told his parents that that no matter how bad things seemed, that at least it was not Iraq. At least he would not be participating in war crimes.

It's clear that James' punishment was so severe because he was outspoken about what is really happening in Iraq. The US Army is making an example out of him.

That is why I fear for all my resister friends who have spoken out - and continue to. Each and every one of them is my hero.

We can't let this issue fade away. Robin Long has been deported, Corey Glass is safe for now, but the fight is far from over. Hundreds of US war resisters in Canada need our help.

Please: keep calling and emailing Stephen Harper, Diane Finley and your own MP.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper
613.992.4211 Prime Minster's office
403.253.7990 constituency office
harper.s@parl.gc.ca

Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Diane Finley
613.996.4974
519.426.3400 constituency office
minister@cic.gc.ca
finled1@parl.gc.ca

follow-up: u.s. poor suffering from tropical diseases

I'd like to draw your attention to an excellent comment from Epimetheus in this thread, about low-income people in the southern US having high incidences of disease found in Africa and Asia. Just in case anyone was interested in further discussion. Thanks.

vigil for robin long in bellingham tonight

Robin Long is being held in the Whatcom County Jail in Bellingham, Washington, just over the border from Vancouver. We believe Robin will next be taken by US Army officials to Fort Carson, Colorado, but we don't know when.

The Sanctuary City Campaign of Bellingham will host a peace vigil tonight to show community support for Robin and opposition to his arrest. Members of the War Resisters Support Campaign from BC will join them.

Where:
311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham, in front of the county jail

When:
6:00 to 10:00 p.m.

the first internment: ukrainian immigrants in canada, 1914-1920

Did you know that there was a national round-up and internment in Canada decades before that was done to Canadians of Japanese descent?

I learned this completely by accident while in Newfoundland. We were having breakfast at a little cafe and CBC radio was on, running stories for Canada Day. There was a long feature (excerpts from a new documentary) about the internment of Ukrainian immigrants in Canada.

I don't know the name of the documentary CBC was featuring, and I can't seem to find it. (Someone is sure to post it in comments.) Here's a National Film Board film that tells the story.

Freedom Had a Price tells the little-known story of those Ukrainian immigrants who, described by the Canadian government as "enemy aliens" at the outbreak of World War One, found themselves subject to discriminatory and repressive measures for the next six years.

Between 1914 and 1920, about 80,000 Ukrainian immigrants were forced to register as "enemy aliens," report regularly to the police, and carry government-issued identity papers at all times.

Over 5,000 of their compatriots suffered an even more severe fate, imprisoned in internment camps across the country. Treatment was often harsh, and conditions grim. Some died in the camps, many were sick or injured, and several were killed by guards while trying to escape. By means of archival footage, vintage photographs, the compelling testimony of survivors, and the commentary of such prominent Canadian historians as Desmond Morton and Donald Avery, award-winning filmmaker Yurij Luhovy weaves a moving human story of Canadian history that has all but disappeared from public consciousness.

And as I looked up this information, I learned that a similar round-up - less harsh, but no more just - was perpetrated against Italian-Canadians in 1940.

It's vitally important that we know this history and never forget it.

And lest we become complacent, certain that such injustices could never happen again, we should be well versed in what's happening right now.

omar khadr, robin long, canada's shame

Last night we watched a bunch of news broadcasts from the west, as well as a few national broadcasts, to see how the news of Robin Long's deportation was treated. Because of that, we ended up seeing how the Omar Khadr video was treated in several different broadcasts.

It was disappointing, and somewhat surprising.

Reports on the first US Iraq War resister in Canada to be deported were minimal. A brief story with a mention of protests in Vancouver and Toronto was the norm. No mention of the June 3 resolution. No mention of the other resisters, or stop-loss, or the controversy in public opinion - no context whatsoever.

When it came to the Omar Khadr video on national broadcasts, I was surprised that Global was more sympathetic than CBC.

CBC packed their segment with "anti-terrorism experts" declaring that the interrogation was no big deal, a soldier who had fought in Afghanistan decrying public sympathy for Khadr, and repeated references to "the legal process" that Khadr will supposedly face in the US. No matter that it's not legal, and he has been held for six years with barely a process at all! No mention that the US has no right to hold Omar Khadr in the first place. It's so disheartening to see Canadian media lend legitimacy to that rogue state.

Global offered a much more sympathetic view, emphasizing Khadr's age and the fearful circumstances under which the interrogation took place. They mentioned the other side, of course, but in the same parenthetical way that CBC mentioned the truth.

It was depressing. I said to Allan, if the Harper government doesn't give a shit about bringing this Canadian citizen home, why would they ever care about American citizens in Canada who oppose the war? After all, if it had been up to Stephen Harper, Canada would have been in Iraq.

Not that I ever expected the war resisters to get help from the Harper Conservatives! But this confluence of events - the release of the Khadr video and Robin's deportation - vividly underscores their priorities. Appearing to be an ally to the Bush regime is the most important thing to this Government. Justice, the rule of law, sovereignty, even public opinion - that can all go to hell.

bob rae... and who else?

Hey, I had a letter in the Sunday Toronto Star and I didn't even know it. It's here. Many thanks to Bob Rae for writing that excellent op-ed.

Too bad the rest of the Liberals are so quiet on this issue. A majority of MPs vote for something, a minority government ignores it, and the Liberals don't make a peep. You'd think they were taking lessons from the Democrats.

shame on canada

Robin Long has been deported from Canada. We presume he is on his way to Fort Knox, Kentucky.

This is a dark day for Canada. Let's make it a catalyst for change.

to the barricades

In Vancouver:
9:00 a.m.
Protest at the Peace Arch.
More info here.

In Toronto:
12:00 noon
Protest at Federal Court of Canada.
180 Queen Street West (just west of University Avenue, north side of Queen Street)

Whether or not you can attend: call, email, fax.

what you need to know today

Minister of Public Safety Stockwell Day
day.s@parl.gc.ca
days1@parl.gc.ca
613.995.1702
250.770.4480

dear stockwell day

Impudent Strumpet asked why we are suddenly asking people to call and email Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day. I neglected to explain this!

Once the refugee claimant's final appeal is denied, the case is turned over to Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) for removal. CBSA falls under the Public Safety Ministry.

Apparently Robin Long is a threat to public safety! For anyone who knows Robin, this is obviously sarcastic. He's a very laid-back, hippie kind of guy. A threat to no one.

* * * *

To the Honourable Minister Day:

I am writing to urge you to stop removal proceedings against Robin Long, resident of Nelson, BC.

Mr. Long has lived in Canada for two years and has a Canadian-born son. If returned to the United States, Mr. Long faces court martial, imprisonment and possible deployment to Iraq against his will.

On June 3, a majority in the House of Commons passed a motion calling on the Government to allow people who have refused to participate in a war not sanctioned by the United Nations to remain in Canada, and for all deportation proceedings against such people to cease.

A recent poll showed that nearly two-thirds (64%) of Canadian people agree with this.

Whether or not you personally believe Mr. Long should be deported, you must respect the democratic process and the will of the Canadian people.

Mr. Day, do you work for the Canadian people, or do you work for George Bush?

Sincerely,

Laura Kaminker
[address and phone number]

to-do list

Things to do tomorrow:

1. Call Stockwell Day. Demand he stop the deportation of war resister Robin Long.

2. Join a demonstration to demand the Harper Government respect the will of the Canadian people and implement the June 3 motion calling for war resisters to be allowed to stay in Canada.

3. Call Stockwell Day.

4. Email Diane Finley and Stephen Harper.

5. Call Stockwell Day.

6. Spread the word, get others to call, email and fax.

7. Keep fighting.

Things not to do tomorrow:

1. Lose hope.

2. Give up.

emergency action: stop the deportation of robin long (updated with more details)

Tuesday July 15

In Vancouver:
Protest at the Peace Arch
9:00 a.m.

Supporters of Robin Long and war resisters from both the US and Canada will gather in a peaceful protest under the Peace Arch at the border. While the Peace Arch is neutral ground, supporters should bring appropriate identification in the unlikely event they are required to pass through Canadian Customs.

You can check here for more details on the Vancouver action. As of this writing, the Vancouver website has not been updated - the action posted was from this morning. But keep checking back. Or better yet, just be at the Peace Arch tomorrow morning.

In Toronto:
12:00 noon
Federal Court of Canada
180 Queen Street West (just west of University Avenue, north side of Queen Street)
subway: Osgoode

We will gather at the Federal Court building to stand in solidarity with Robin, to show our outrage at this unjust decision and to demand to know why the federal government is supporting the punishment of courageous Iraq war resisters.

Bring signs, bring banners, bring friends. If you support war resisters in Canada, now is the time to take to the streets and show your support.

In a recent Angus Reid poll, almost two-thirds of Canadians said they want U.S. Iraq war resisters to be allowed to stay in Canada. The deportation of Robin Long also flies in the face of the Parliamentary motion adopted June 3 by a majority of MPs, which calls for US war resisters to be allowed to stay in Canada and for deportation proceedings to cease immediately.

We cannot allow Stephen Harper to make Canada the enforcement arm of the Bush White House.

robin long's appeal denied: call stockwell day immediately

Sorry for the delay, I was away from my computer.

Today, July 14, in Vancouver, US Iraq War resister Robin Long was told that his appeal to have his deportation order stayed was denied.

Please email and/or phone Minister of Public Safety Stockwell Day, and ask him to immediately stop the deportation of US Iraq war resister Robin Long.

Ask Mr Day why the federal government is refusing to respect the will of the Canadian people and the Parliament of Canada, which have called for war resisters to stay in Canada, and demanded that deportation proceedings against them cease.

In a recent Angus Reid poll, almost two-thirds of Canadians said they want US war resisters to be allowed to stay in Canada. Demand to know why the Harper government is unwilling to be accountable to Canadians.

Minister of Public Security Stockwell Day
day.s@parl.gc.ca
days1@parl.gc.ca
613.995.1702
250.770.4480

I'll post information on Robin's status and emergency actions as soon as I get it (which is probably the same time you get it).

Robin may be deported as early as tomorrow.

this is your daily reminder to call stephen harper and diane finley

Robin Long is still in jail. They are moving him around, and we are afraid CBSA may try to deport him before his hearing tomorrow morning.

We must keep the pressure on.

In case you haven't memorized the info yet:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper
613.992.4211
pm@pm.gc.ca

Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Diane Finley
613.996.4974
finley.d@parl.gc.ca
finled1@parl.gc.ca

I know it's late in the day, but it's not too late to call. Tomorrow morning works, too.

from nyc to gta, from coffee shops to starbucks

It all started with iced coffee.

I love iced coffee. I need it. In the summer, I am addicted to it. (I am a caffeine addict anyway, and in summer it becomes more intense.) I came to southern Ontario, and there was no iced coffee. To quote myself:

When we landed in Canada on August 30, 2005, little did I know that a smooth, cold, delicious iced coffee, ice cubes rattling in a plastic cup, my summer safety valve, my five-month-a-year addiction, would become an elusive quest.

Where is iced coffee?? Not frozen cappuccinos, not "Coolattas" or "Icespressos" or Mochafrappuyaddayaddaccinos. Iced Coffee.

. . .

Last year I was shocked to find that this simple recipe was unobtainable from my local Second Cup. Tim Hortons was no better. But we were very busy - painting, unpacking, filling out forms, buying everything in Ontario - and I ignored the warning signs of growing dread.

Here we are eight months later, warm weather on the way, and not an iced coffee in sight.

The closest I can find is Starbucks' Iced Americano. This is bad on so many levels. First, must I order something called an Americano? Next, must I go to Starbucks? And lastly, must I go to Starbucks and order an Americano??

This urgent problem was solved by two friends and Starbucks.

In New York City, I avoided Starbucks on principle. You cannot imagine how that company has taken over the landscape of New York, how much blame it assumes for The Great Homogenization. If I told you there was a Starbucks on every block of midtown, you'd think I was exaggerating, but you'd be wrong. World domination by coffee.

I wouldn't have minded so much if they weren't all exactly alike. You young 'uns may not know this, but there was a time when every cafe and restaurant had individual character and its very own menu.

I will admit I broke my private boycott after I got my iPAQ. Starbucks offered wireless hotspots from my cell-phone provider, and that was a big thing back then. But I still kept my Starbucks usage to a minimum, and only went there when I needed an internet connection.

Then we moved to the Toronto area, and I couldn't find iced coffee. Starbucks was my only option. I still tried to avoid it, and felt a bit guilty whenever I succumbed.

Then two things happened that put me over the edge.

One, someone at work gave Allan a Starbucks card as a gift. He turned it over to me. Free coffee! Free yogurt parfaits! Then I reloaded it...

And two, Starbucks started carrying iced brewed coffee.

The end. I am now a Starbucks user all the way, happily reloading that same card, guzzling refreshing iced coffees in the summer and yummy extra-shot lattes in the winter.

I don't like the coffee at Tim Hortons at all, and only drink it in a pinch. I do like Second Cup, but they don't serve iced coffee. What's a girl to do.

african-american county in ohio denied public water service - for 47 years

Much of the Canadian media acts as if the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama illustrates the end of racial divisions in the US - that racism, when it still exists, is an anachronism. An individual bad apple, not something institutional.

There's been a lot of progress, for sure. Then there's something like this.

Residents of a mostly black neighborhood in rural Ohio were awarded nearly $11 million Thursday by a federal jury that found local authorities denied them public water service for decades out of racial discrimination.

Each of the 67 plaintiffs was awarded $15,000 to $300,000, depending on how long they had lived in the Coal Run neighborhood, about 5 miles east of Zanesville in Muskingum County in east-central Ohio.

The money covers both monetary losses and the residents' pain and suffering between 1956, when water lines were first laid in the area, and 2003, when Coal Run got public water.

The lawsuit was filed in 2003 after the Ohio Civil Rights Commission concluded the residents were victims of discrimination. The city, county and East Muskingum Water Authority all denied it and noted that many residents in the lightly populated county don't have public water.

Coal Run residents either paid to have wells dug, hauled water for cisterns or collected rain water so they could drink, cook and bathe.

"As a child, I thought it was normal because everyone done it in my neighborhood," said one of the plaintiffs, Cynthia Hale Hairston, 47. "But I realized as an adult it was wrong."

Colfax described the verdict as unique among civil rights cases nationally, both in the nature of the ruling and the size of the award.

The jury in U.S. District Court found that failing to provide water service to the residents violated state and federal civil rights laws. The lawsuit was not a class-action. Colfax said 25 to 30 families live in Coal Run now.

The water authority must pay 55 percent of the damages, while the county owes 25 percent and the city owes 20 percent, plaintiffs' attorney Reed Colfax said. The water authority no longer exists, and the county would be responsible for paying that share of the judgment.

Zanesville attorney Michael Valentine said in court that he intended to appeal but declined to comment further. The county commission also plans to appeal.

Attorney Mark Landes, who represented the county and water district, called the verdict disappointing. He said jurors were not allowed to hear defendants' testimony that neighborhood residents were offered water service years ago and refused it.

Colfax said he was unaware of any evidence that was excluded from the trial.

"This was a case that was started and fired by out-of-town lawyers who saw an opportunity for a cash settlement," Landes said.

The plaintiffs' attorneys will receive a separate amount to be decided later by a judge, Colfax said.

John Relman, a civil rights attorney based in Washington, D.C., who represented the residents, said the jury heard hours of testimony and saw hundreds of pages of documentation over the seven-week trial.

"This verdict vindicates that this (treatment) was because of their race," he said. "The jury agreed with that and issued a verdict based on a full airing of the facts."

Ohio Attorney General Nancy H. Rogers said she was pleased.

"This decision speaks firmly about the importance of treating citizens with equal respect, regardless of race," she said in a statement.

Plaintiff Frederick Martin said the long wait was worth it.

He and his nine siblings shared two tubs of water between them on bath nights when he was growing up. He left Coal Run, built on a former coal mine, in 1970 so his children wouldn't have to endure the same living conditions, he said.

"Today I feel that we are really blessed, to know and to see justice being met," Martin said. "And to see, regardless of who we are, there is a price to pay if you discriminate against people."

The plaintiffs' attorneys successfully argued that the decision not to pipe water to the plaintiffs was racially motivated, painting a picture of a community with a history of segregation. Black residents of Coal Run Road were denied water over the years while nearby white neighbors were provided it, they said.

Landes countered that about half of Muskingum County residents are not tied into the public water system even today. Among those without it are county commissioners, judges and other prominent officials, he said.

Zanesville has about 25,000 residents on the edge of the state's Appalachian region. One in every five families is below the federal poverty level, and the unemployment rate in Muskingum County in May was 7.4 percent. The national unemployment rate that month was 5.5 percent.

Note the lawyer for the county claiming the lawsuit was "started and fired by out-of-town lawyers". These dumb coloureds are too stupid to dream up a scheme like this their ownselves. Our peoples was right happy before these outside agee-tators came along.

from my hometown

These blogs are making me homesick.

NYC Donut Report!! is written by Duane Reade, international donut reporter, because "the donut watch never stops".

Most wmtc readers probably don't know that Duane Reade is the name of a huge drugstore chain in New York City. New Yorkers walk around town carrying stuff in big Duane Reade shopping bags. The store itself is named for two downtown streets. There are more than 250 Duane Reades in New York, and everyone who works in one has a pierced nose.

Anyway, the donut report. It's not that I care very much about donuts. I rarely eat them, and I'm almost always sorry when I do. (I only like the first bite.) But donuts are as integral to the culture of New York as they are to Canada. Kramer didn't spot Joe DiMaggio in a Starbucks.

NYC Donut Report!! captures New York's authentic spirit, something timeless, neither hip nor nostalgic. A little piece of the dirty, misshapen collection of neighbourhoods under the corporate glitz.

In Found in Brooklyn, Lisanne McT, Wanderer and Dilly Dallier, chronicles a similar space. What is found in Brooklyn? It might be a woman's hat, or some graffiti, or the bottom of a pool. The tiny observation that illustrates the whole.

Lisanne's blog makes me feel like I never saw my city, like I missed it all in the 22 years I called it home. That's not true, of course. I was a constant wanderer myself. But every seeker finds different treasure. This blog makes me miss my urban life, however much I love my current suburban one.

Found in Brooklyn links to some excellent blogs that are trying to keep what remains of their authentic city from being paved over and destroyed. Among them are Hotel Chelsea Blog, No Land Grab, Washington Square Blog and Jeremiah's Vanishing New York, but all the blogs on Found In Brooklyn's roll are important. Check out the photos on the sidebar of The C.O.R.D. Blog to see a neighbourhood uprising in action.

Taken together, these blogs document part of what made it easier for me to leave my beloved New York. The City is constantly changing, and often at a bewildering pace. I would never say "it's not what it once was," because it never was that.

So it's not that I wanted the city to stay the same. That would be both futile and completely counter to the spirit of the place. But the nature of the change that's been occurring is all of one type, moving the city in one, seemingly irreversible direction: the homogenization and suburbanization of New York. Cumulatively, it's a great loss.

I didn't mean for this post to end on a sad note. Everyone go eat a donut.