Adieu, Wendy
It's hard to imagine a world without Wendy Babcock. She died three days ago at the age of 32. After a truly horrible life including life on the streets as…
Family
Why work?
Actual conversation between my 7 year daughter and I yesterday. Daughter: When are we going to Montreal? Me: Well, I’m not going. You and your brother and Mommy are going…
Pubic Humiliation: The Case of the Ugly Vagina
Earlier in the month, when I clicked an inbox link to a webpage for a fundraising campaign, I did not expect to get lost in the political quagmire of women’s…
How low will Rupert go?
Former British PM Gordon Brown has gone on the offensive against Rupert Murdoch. He stated today that while both PM as well as Tony Blair's Chancellor, his banking records and…
Tent-caterpillar
He’s just a baby now, you said, holding the fuzzy blue-and-black caterpillar on your hand. When he touches me it’s like little tickles, his baby feet and fingers are soft.…
Not pictured
View Full Album I am mindful, on this Father’s Day, that I do not have many photographs of Thomas Arnold (“Arnie”) Chaplin. (The additional ones I do have are wedding…
A change in “Mr. G’s eye exam”
Mr. G’s eye exam has been changed again, maybe for the last time, so that the antagonist, though dead for more than a decade, might only be identified by his…
Little Victor Update | Speed demon
Victor has been walking since April. Every day he gets more confident in his stride, and the motions get less jerky. Unfortunately the confidence is leading him to move at…
Simplify the tax system and give us back the lost decade and a half
My beef this Sunday morning is taxes. I haven't had much time to think about the "revised" federal budget, and there's not much point in tearing it apart, any honest…
Sometimes dipping your toes is a full immersion
The smell of the sea and tears-tasting salt water still cling to me as I dress/undress for bed. My skin is red where the sun kissed it a little too…
The Social Determinants of Health
(Note: This post contains a portion of the talk that I gave last month at the 16th International Conference of the Association of Psychology and Psychiatry for Adults and Children…
Releasing Government Bad News Under Cover of a Hockey Game
Based on the bad news coming from the BC and Canadian governments under cover of game one of the Stanley Cup finals, we should be wary of the Canucks going…
Nestlé’s War on Breastfeeding Mothers Takes Shameful New Turn
Infant formula is a medical necessity for those who are unable to breastfeed their infants. There are a host of medically sound reasons why a mother, in conjunction with her…
Splitsville for Ahnold, Shriver
Divorce is never a simple matter. Especially when it involves Arnold Schwarzenegger and his soon to be ex wife Maria Shriver. It is just possible if the truth above his…
A Snapshot of the Vulnerable Underclass of Foreign Workers in Canada
There are lots of ways to look at Canada’s checkered history with immigration. Europeans welcome, French to a lesser degree after they lost a war or something, Chinese railroad workers,…
The Positive Women’s Network Enriches Community Fabric
I’m constantly impressed with the caliber of community cooperation in Vancouver. The Positive Women’s Network is holding a film screening fundraiser on May 26th at 7pm at Vancity Theatre. VIFF…
Masturgate: The Little Scandal That Couldn’t
It’s election time and everyone is abuzz with the ostensibly shocking allegation that Jack Layton might have, possibly, received a happy ending at a rub-and-tug 15 years ago. Let’s let…
Victor takes his first walk
At the tender age of seventeen months, my son has started to walk. He has taken short steps before, about a month ago he taught himself how to appear to…
Tunisia’s Deposed Ben Ali Family: Canadian Immigration’s political statement
Yesterday reports appeared in the Canadian press, TV and radio, about the arrival in Montreal of family members of the deposed Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his…
X-spouse from Hell
I have been reading up on the new 2010 changes to family law in Australia. Apparently significant changes have been made there with respect to family law and child rights.…