Rose's Place

By a fetus fetishist. I thought they were against murder. Turns out they’re just against women and people who help them live their lives without pain and fear. It’s time to treat people who claim that “abortion is murder” like the terrorists they are. UPDATE *ahem* ALLEGED murderer found out to be a regular poster at Operation Rescue! … [Read more...]

A … [Read more...]

Those of us with children know that there are times when they come across bullies. And we often tell them that bullies are people who having such a terrible life, or being inept at things or feeling badly about themselves seek to hurt others in order to make themselves feel good. Never has such an example been made of this theory than has been made with the Conservative attack ads. It started with the attack on Dion being shown during the afternoon on a children’s programming network. I blogged about how upset my son was about this. He still talks about it and wonders why such an ad would … [Read more...]

I was surprised to read in yesterdays spectator that charges against the radical anti-abortion extremist James Charles Kopp had been dropped. I wondered at the time if it had to do with the fact that he is currently serving a life sentence in the States. Today’s article would seem to indicate that that is the case. The announcement said Kopp remains a “person of interest” and the “investigations remain open.” That technically leaves the door open to future work on the cases, although Kopp — the only person ever identified as a suspect — is locked away for … [Read more...]

In October of 2005, Amy Steele - a notable writer in Calgary - wrote the following piece about a pro-life campaign that misled women to believe that an abortion could cause breast cancer: A campaign by a pro-life group to convince women that there’s a link between having an abortion and getting breast cancer doesn’t have any credible scientific basis, says the Canadian Cancer Society. And the executive director of the Calgary Birth Control Association Sexual and Reproductive Centre, Pamela Krause, questions the motivation behind the campaign. (The campaign) could act as a scare tactic and is … [Read more...]

Yes, I’m sure I could eat raw heart too, and I imagine it would taste much like sushi – i.e. like not much at all. Fresh as it is, I’m sure just a few bites would contain your RDA in iron and B12 vitamin, in addition to all that good animal protein and blood. Probably chewy too; good for the teeth. You’re not risking much, eating fresh heart muscle – apart from the brain, it’s one of the most sterile organs you can find in the body. OK, enough with the nutrition lesson. Yesterday in Nunavut, Michaëlle Jean recently proved that she can not only eat heart, but … [Read more...]

Those aren’t my words – those are from Tom Regan himself, one of the Grand Old Men of the animal rights movement. (Actually, he looks and talks as if he were 50 instead of 70.) The event he was referring to was the colloquium on animals and the law held in Montreal this past Thursday and Friday, May 21-22, 2009 and organised by GRIDA (Group de recherche international en droit animal) at the Université du Québec à Montréal. The promise of seeing Regan in person, in addition to getting an hour or so of continuing ed credits was more than enough to pry me out of my rural hideaway … [Read more...]

I've been watching HBO's 'True Blood.' It is dripping with sex, rage and down-and-dirty life. It is a strange show to watch for someone who receives blood infusions. In the narrative, Japan has invented synthetic blood so vampires have 'come out of their coffins.' Synthetic blood is commodified and sold as a beverage called Tru Blood so that vamps can subsist without feeding on humans. Likewise, vampire blood which is acquired by violently draining vampires is sold as an illegal drug called V Juice which seems like an ecstasy and acid kinda combo that makes people hyper-sensitive, euphoric and … [Read more...]

A New Zealand couple were shocked to learn their 3 year old had bought an £8000 backhoe while they slept. Sarah Quinlan told the BBC that she had been looking for toys online, and using an automatic log-in to an auction site. But a shock was in store when she got up the next day. “When I found an email from a guy who said ‘can you deposit the money?’ I thought – hang on – this isn’t quite what I expected,” she said. The toddler had only first used the computer the week before. Good thing she wasn’t looking for stuffed animals who knows what she … [Read more...]

I just cannot do without my garden backyard or no backyard. This years garden is off to a good start with a couple of pots of tomatoes a couple of pots of cucumbers and various pots of flowers. I still have a window box I want to plant with herbs and I need a few more flowers to round things out. The bird feeder is getting busier and busier though sadly I have yet to see a chickadee and certainly don’t see the variety of birds I did in Lindsay. Gone are my waxwings, juncos, nuthatchs, woodpeckers and numerous other varieties. No doubt they are near but they eschew the balcony.Back to the … [Read more...]

Points to both the Globe and Mail and the University of Saskatchewan (which has always been one of the best institutions in Canada when it comes to Indigenous peoples’ concerns) for this story here.   The quick summary of the situation is that a woman offered to donate a $250,000 scholarship to the University of Saskatchewan to be awarded on the basis of financial need, but with the condition that the recipient must not be an Aboriginal person. Her argument, of course, was your standard bullshit reverse discrimination claim, including the comment that Aboriginal people are “basically … [Read more...]

... that 'Status Indians' face threat of extinction, since the Indian Act was implemented specifically for the purpose of eradicating indigenous peoples and culture. Indian Status was designed to reduce the Indian population, a neat solution to the "Indian Problem".Within a few generations, it was assumed, the Indian population would nearly disappear. This was ensured through the restrictive nature of Indian Status: an indigenous woman who married a white man lost her status, as did her children, plus if you were enfranchised to vote or got a university education you were no longer considered an … [Read more...]

Member of Parliament Alex Atamanenko (NDP) has reintroduced his Private Members Bill (C-343) to ban the release, sale, importation and use of Terminator technology.What is Terminator? Terminator Technology genetically engineers plants to produce sterile seeds at harvest. It was developed by the multinational seed/agrochemical industry and the US government to prevent farmers from re-planting harvested seed and force farmers to buy seed each season instead. Terminator seeds have not yet been field-tested or commercialized. In 2006, Monsanto bought the company (Delta & Pine Land) that owned Terminator. … [Read more...]

I was reading through this thread at the Silence of Our Friends the other day, skimming the comments and thinking about what I might want to add, and came to this quote by Fire Fly: The point of intersectionality is that we have a stake in each others’ liberation, the point is solidarity. And solidarity can’t be about who’s better at being a martyr. Sometimes it needs to go both ways. And along with what Donna said in the OP there, I honestly felt like there was nothing I could add after that. That statement sums it up more concisely than I ever could. I’ve been thinking … [Read more...]

Inter Pares – Take Back the Day CELEBRATE Mother’s Day the way her-story intended: with a little peace and justice. MOTHER’S DAY was born from the dream of a devoted activist and mother who first organized women into public health brigades, and then founded “Mothers Friendship Day” to reconcile communities torn apart by the U.S. [...] … [Read more...]

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This is one of those topics about which I have so much to say that I end up feeling like I can’t say anything at all. This was a few weeks ago now, but being as I was only semi-present at that point I didn’t post anything, and also, it’s one of those topics that I don’t think deserves to be subjected to the whims of blog/news cycles that suggest there’s only something to say about it when a big important thing happens, and then it disappears again three days later. CBC Story: Pope expresses ‘sorrow’ for abuse at residential schools. The title Chrome Beach … [Read more...]

Once upon a time, I was an extremely competitive person. I still can be when it comes to games, as I’ve repeatedly demonstrated with my pathological unwillingness to give up on a Rock Band song before someone else does, but for the most part, I’ve actually come to hate competition. I don’t mean sports or games or challenges, really, I mean the competitiveness that seems to characterize everyday interactions with others. I think for a long time that this was one of those flaws I almost tried to cultivate in myself, because obviously, there are plenty of cultural forces that are … [Read more...]

For a good chunk of time, I wasn’t writing here or commenting on others’ blogs because there was literally no room in my schedule for the kind of reading, thinking and processing that it would have required. Within the past few months, my schedule has actually opened up substantially, but I still haven’t been writing. I’ve alluded a bit to some of the reasons that might be the case – mainly the feeling that I was struggling with some of the particular negativity that pervades the blogosphere – but I’ve also had in the back of my head the sense that there’s … [Read more...]