A Conversation with U.S. War Resisters in Toronto

Last night I attended an event with the War Resisters Support Campaign here in Toronto moderated by Andy Barrie, himself a Vietnam veteran and resister who came to Canada in the 60s. Ten men and one woman from all over the United States, many of them spouses and parents, spoke about their experiences in the military and as conscientious objectors. Many did tours in Iraq and all of them are officially AWOL for resisting participation in the war.

The legacy of the resister in the United States is fraught with accusations of "draft dodger" and "traitor" but it becomes glaringly obvious when talking to these resisters that their decisions to refuse military service come at great personal cost. Chuck Wiley, who worked on an aircraft carrier before going AWOL, is giving up opportunities for high-paying work back in the States. The kind of mechanical work he is trained for requires security clearance from the military for him to be hired, otherwise his skills are completely unmarketable. Some resisters face rejection from their own families for their decision, all are faced with an uncertain future.

To stay in Canada legally, the resisters need to be granted refugee status by the Canadian government and could otherwise face deportation and jail time in the States. Corey Glass had just received his deportation date that day, and now has about three weeks left before he could face prison time or Iraq. After that, Glass' prospects are few. A bad conduct discharge from the military is the equivalent of a civilian felony. Yet the resisters prefer this uncertain fate to being tools of an illegal and unethical military occupation. Said Jeremy Hinzman "we didn't join to kill innocent people."

But hope is not lost, MP Olivia Chow was in attendance and preparing a motion to allow the resisters to remain in Canada. Time is of the essence, especially for Corey Glass. More information on helping the resisters can be found here.

I was really struck by the hard work these men and this woman were going through to get by here and stay in the country. They live here now, work here, pay taxes to Canada. Many said they would stay in Canada indefinitely if not permanently if granted permission. They're living here and contributing to Canadian society like new Canadians. Were it not for the political implications of their immigration, they would just be settled here normally.

Word.

Kudos to Drew of Married to the Sea.

McCain gets more disappointing

I used to think of John McCain as a respectable Republican, a true compassionate conservative, an experienced war vet who was even willing to cross the proverbial aisle and work with Democrats on an anti-torture bill. Those days are long gone. For me, the first disappointment was when McCain was one of the many Republicans who were "too busy" to attend a debate at a historically black college. That was just cold.

Not content to ignore only African-Americans, McCain has recently stepped up his act by brushing aside women's issues as well. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was filibustered by Senate Republicans Wednesday. The Act would have restored available solutions for pay discrimination based on gender and improved workers' ability to contest discrimination. Though McCain didn't bother to show up for the vote he did comment that all women needed to gain equality in the workplace was a little more "education and training." This answer is simply illogical in light of the fact that women are beginning to outnumber men as students in higher education. In fact it has come to the point where some college enact a sort of 'affirmative action' policy to keep the gender balance 50/50 when the number of female applicants is especially high. Women not only outnumber men but apparently their grades tend to be better as well. Yet the wage gap persists.

Someone set McCain straight.

Blog for Fair Pay Day

As an undergraduate I have plenty of trepidation about my future in the job market. Will I be able to get a good job? Will I be able to strike a healthy balance between work and life? Will I feel good about what I do? Managing a career is complicated enough without the specter of unequal pay. But the reality is that women in the United States still earn only 77 cents of their male counterparts' dollar. When you break the statistics down by race the gap is even more stark. African-American women earn 63 cents to the white male dollar, and Latino women 52 cents. The job market is scary enough without these gross inequities and it's high time that something is done about it.

Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber was a major setback in workplace equality, the decision stated that a person could not challenge pay discrimination if it has been going on for more than 180 days. Since victims of unequal pay rarely find out that they are being payed less until years after the discrimination has begun, the decision was illogical and downright negligent. Happily the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act may reverse this decision. The Act would ensure that the law could be interpreted so that every unequal paycheck is an act of discrimination and workers have time to protest unfair treatment. Contact your Senators to urge them to vote yes on the Act and find out more about wage inequity here.

Major feminist blog off the air over plagiarism issues

I almost feel like I shouldn't comment on this at all given my relative unfamiliarity with the feminist blogosphere. From what I've been able to piece together (Thanks Bitch, Feministe, and Alas! among others), feminist powerhouse Brownfemipower (BFP) has pulled her blog off the web. Apparently BFP's extensive work on racism and sexism in immigration was blatantly plagiarized in an article by Amanda Marcotte of Pandagon. As Marcotte is white and BFP a woman of color, the incident raises plenty of questions beyond 'why didn't you cite your sources?'

Even without all the racist implications of a white woman writing about racial and sexual oppression but ignoring the work of a fellow feminist blogger and woman of color, you gotta cite your sources. It's not ok to exclude the hard work of others. No one is isolated from the influence of other writers, no idea is completely original, and you've gotta give credit where credit is due. This is basic research paper stuff and Marcotte should know that. At the same time, I think Holly and Amp are right, playing the blame game won't solve anything. We live in a racist society and we're not immune to its influence. We can never really quantitate how it effects us the same way we don't always now what influences our ideas.

My apologies, this is a bit of a fluff post without much original content. But I would like to say that this incident has taught me a lot, as a student journalist and writer. Also, I really hope to see BFP come back. Everyone who has written about her obviously has a great amount of respect for her and naturally I'm itching to see her work now. Hopefully she'll see how many people are behind her and revive the blog but that's a decision only she can make.

Province saves First Nations school at last minute

It's almost a cliche, white North American leaders breaking pacts with Aboriginal citizens for the silliest of excuses. Ontario is no exception. The First Nations Technical Institute (FNTI), Aboriginal owned and run since 1985, recently faced drastic federal funding cuts that almost closed the school. Luckily the province stepped in at the last minute and the Institute can complete the school year. Only catch: there's no guarantee for funding next year.

When I talked to Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario Communications Coordinator Ken Marciniec, he almost laughed at the apparent absurdity in the province's actions. The school has been very successful, around 90% of graduates find work and the organization also runs a secondary school and after-school programs. Yet this is not the first time they've run into funding problems with the government. As Marciniec said: "It is unthinkable that the two governments have not come together yet to figure out a plan because this is not a new problem. The First Nations Technical Institute has not had predictable and sufficient funding for at least four years.”

“We’re talking about students who in many cases have no other educational opportunities provided to them.” And yet they receive less funding per student than other postsecondary institutions in the province, like my own university. It's pretty obvious that the government just doesn't consider the education of these students a priority, especially considering the $2 billion surplus.

Talking to the president of the Institute, Karihwakeron Tim Thompson, I was surprised by his matter-of-fact demeanor as we discussed the school's possible demise. It was evident that FNTI had experienced similar financial upsets before, repeatedly in fact. Let me reiterate that this is a organization that has 90% of grads employed while running a secondary school AND after-school programs. I admire the president's optimism: “The funding insecurity does lead to issues from time to time but overall we feel very strong. We feel very encouraged that there’s a great future ahead.”

PS the article I wrote about this in the Varsity.

Is Neopets guilty of fascism?

When I was 14, Neopets was the coolest thing in the world to me. I played the games, I collected Usukis, I saved up neopoints and even got myself a Lost Desert Shoyru (to use Neopets jargon). Neopets has changed a lot since I was 14, and not for the better. Controversies, from the presence of gambling games on the site to CEO Doug Dohring's Scientologist beliefs, rage about the game. In particular Neo has received flack for its tactic of "immersive advertising" which blends advertisements with gameplay and especially targets the young children who are the majority of Neopets players. Ralph Nader's Commercial Alert even has a few words to say about the practice.

The big stink about Neopets now is fascism. Yes, the term has actually been applied to Neopets by online critics of the site, though not always so eloquently. There is a small anti-Neopets movement, not well-organized by any means but there nonetheless. These critics call into question Neo's chat boards restrictions and freezing policy, arguably quite draconian. When communicating with other users on the site, players are very restricted in what they can talk about and certain words are banned (usually those of a sexual or racist nature). When 80% of players are under 18, it is important to keep boards free of certain content and provide a safe environment that parents can rely on.

In recent years however, the rules have become more and more strict. Users complain that they have had their accounts permanently frozen for minor or accidental infractions, and sometimes for no reason at all. Apparently criticism of the site itself or its policies can also be grounds for banning, effectively stifling dissent. I was surprised to find that some users intentionally post critical statements they know will get them frozen to get dissenting ideas to their fellow players. When they're frozen, they just create a new account and do it again. The Anti-Neopian forums contained many plans to cause a ruckus within the game and show resistance to the neo-dictators.

Another unsavory aspect of Neopets is the addictive factor. Neo brags about the site's stickiness and the addictiveness. I recall that I spent more time than I probably should have earning "neopoints", the game's currency, to buy virtual items. I was not the only one. Many players are extremely invested in the game, spending hours a day earning neopoints, trading rare items, and socializing with other players.

Neopets shares many characteristics with other notoriously addictive games such as World of Warcraft. For example, both contain rewards for spending more time in the game and the opportunity to build friendships with other players. Despite this, virtual pet games such as Neopets have not been examined as critically as games like WoW. In fact many users play multiple pet games. When Neo is offline, they surf over to Subeta or Marapets, just examples of the many games inspired by Neopets. The game goes on.

Considering that a majority of Neopets players are so young, in fact 39% are under the age of 13, it's no wonder they haven't made a concerted effort to make the game less oppressive. Many get sucked in, invest hours in the game, get frozen, and sign up again only to waste more of their precious time playing a game that doesn't benefit them with a staff that doesn't even seem to care about them. Those smart enough to realize what the game does to its players just leave. The anti-Neopians try to make their unenlightened counterparts quit, but it's hard when those with administrative power are so dead-set against it.

So where do we draw the line? What responsibilities does the now Viacom-owned site have to its child players? And what are the rights of said players in a virtual world owned by a corporation?