Christy Clark and the Inner City

published in Megaphone Magazine‘s June 24, Issue 81 edition

Premier Christy Clark has ridden her wave of success on a family first platform, promising to rebuild the province through effective leadership. But what exactly are her prerogatives to deal with the ongoing problems in Vancouver’s oldest and most notorious area, the Downtown Eastside (DTES)?

In an exclusive interview with Megaphone, Clark, who was elected party leader on March 14 and eventually elected as MLA in Vancouver-Point Grey on May 12, was asked specific questions to uncover what the DTES community can expect from her.

“Addressing the issues in the Downtown Eastside is a high priority for this government,” Clark told Megaphone in an email interview. “That’s why we’re improving access to critical addictions services, investing more in housing than ever before and partnering with the City of Vancouver to create over 1,530 units of housing.”

The 1,530 units will be at 14 sites in the city for the at-risk homeless, according to Clark. The Burnaby Centre facility, providing care for addicts that fell through the cracks of the conventional health care system, will also see 100 new beds.

“The challenges in the Downtown Eastside are complex, and there isn’t one simple solution,” Clark said. “They require a broad approach that looks at a combination of supportive housing, addictions treatment, economic opportunities and community safety.”

Clark also noted the previous commitments made by the government, such as the 24 Single Room Occupancy hotels in Vancouver equipped with more than 1,400 units. She said this year the government also invested $10-million in supportive housing.

“I think this is a positive start, but there’s no doubt that more can and should be done to support all those living in the DTES and we’re working with our partners to reach these goals,” she added.

However, Clark did not answer Megaphone’s question asking for specifics on any policy, legislation or plans she and her party are considering for the diverse community.

When asked what the number one problem in the DTES is and how her government intends to address it, Clark answered:

“We’re taking real concrete action on a number of fronts to address the challenges of the community. Trying to focus on a single issue isn’t what’s needed in the Downtown Eastside, which is why we are working to build better access to housing, treatment and other vital services in that community and across British Columbia.”

Despite congratulating Prime Minister Stephen Harper on a majority government win on May 2, which is the same leadership that is trying to close Insite, Clark stand by the progressive safety-injection site.

“Studies show clearly and consistently that Insite prevents deaths and our government supports the B.C. Court of Appeal’s ruling that Insite is constitutional,” she said. “Safe-injection sites are a much-needed component of providing comprehensive services for vulnerable addicts.”

On May 6, Clark received some media attention as she strolled through the DTES with Vancouver Police Department officers. In a Global BC interview she mentioned how an enforcement approach to the area makes a difference for safety.

“I’ve committed to spending a day working in various jobs around B.C.,” she explained. “So far, I’ve served coffee in a community restaurant, and this particular visit to the DTES was on the day that I took a ride-along with the Vancouver Police Department as part of that initiative. I look forward to visiting the Downtown Eastside in the future and speaking to various organizations to get their perspectives on the community as well.”

Clark also said her government tries to communicate and reach out to the various DTES community groups.

“Our government works closely with numerous housing providers and health agencies in the Downtown Eastside–reflecting the broad approach that’s needed to address the challenges facing the community,” she said. “We work in partnership with the city, Vancouver police, churches, the Carnegie Community Centre and Vancouver Native Health.”

However, Mark Smith, executive director of RainCity Housing and Support Society, told Megaphone that as of May 25 he hadn’t yet met Clark.

“I’m not sure what I think about Premier Clark, and I really can’t speak for the Downtown Eastside community–it’s far too varied,” he said. “It’s difficult to ascertain precisely what her plans are, beyond the statements she’s made about families being important.”

Smith said he didn’t completely know what type of family she’s referring, whether it’s a traditional nuclear family, families of community or nuclear/extended biological families. Either way, he’s not clear on her dedication to ending homelessness.

“In terms of whether or not she is committed to ending homelessness, I just don’t know.”

One Downtown Eastside figure is more candid about her opinion of Clark.

“Christy Clark is an abolitionist. She supports the eradication of the sex industry,” said Susan Davis, development coordinator of the West Coast Cooperative of Sex Industry Professionals. “She chooses to ignore the facts and honours her own opinions over the truth. I think her complete disregard for the work police are doing with sex workers is disgusting.”

Davis has been an active sex worker for 25 years and disagrees with Clark’s previous statements concerning enforcement in the DTES. She said the police are taking a more positive approach with sex workers rather than resorting to force.

“Enforcement is not what is achieving greater trust between sex workers and police. Dialogue is what’s working,” she added.

Davis has debated with the premier before, when Clark hosted her own radio program on CKNEW. Davis was on the show last September when an Ontario court decision struck down Canada’s prostitution laws. She had heralded the ruling as a step forward to provide protection to sex workers in that province.

“She yelled over me, insinuating I was supporting pimps and traffickers in the quest to gain rights and safety for my community,” Davis claimed (CKNW does not keep records online or in-house that are over four months old). “She does not have the experience or heart necessary to run this province.”

Davis is especially disappointed with the government after the recent decision to reject the recommendation to fund aboriginal, sex workers and other DTES groups in the upcoming Robert Pickton inquiry.

“One group commented [on May 25] at a press conference I attended that this government has reacted more quickly to the culling of dogs and the disappearing salmon than they have to the 32 unaccounted for women missing from the Downtown Eastside,” she said.

What the provincial government is doing now mostly came from decisions made by the previous premier and the MLAs while Clark was hosting her CKNW radio show. Clark recognizes the DTES as one of B.C.’s leading issues that needs a solution. But with the legislature on break for summer, the community will have to wait longer to see what the government’s next more will be.

Yaletown company helps put city on the video game map

Still from the game ModNation Racers

Ever wondered where video games come from? Canada and even Vancouver happen to be two places that are really beginning to make their mark on the burgeoning entertainment industry.

One Yaletown company, formed in 2007, has busted onto the international video gaming platform with its first game, ModNation Racers. Recently, the game was awarded Most Innovative Game Award at the Canadian Video Game Awards (CVA) that was hosted in Vancouver.

“It is a great honour to receive an award from our peers, so getting two from the CVAs is double the fun,” says Julian Bleak, UFG executive producer. “Last year ModNation Racers won Most Promising Game of 2010. So to receive an Innovation Award makes us feel we delivered on that promise.”

Development for the game began in 2007 and more than 100 people worked on it. With its first video game an international hit right off the bat, Bleak’s team doesn’t seem to worry about buckling under the pressure to follow it up.

“United Front Games was formed to make games that stand beside the best in the industry,” he says. “That is why we are here and so we will do everything we can to achieve this each and every time we create a fun game experience for our fans.”

Bleak said Vancouver’s gaming industry is ripe with jobs and creativity.

“Vancouver’s gaming industry has been around for a few decades, about as old as it gets,” he explains. “It’s filled with smart and motivated people with a passion for entertainment. The only possible outcome is great games. This is the place we want to be.”

“When you mix a Vancouver start-up made up of gaming veterans with a passion for innovation and a publisher who has the ideal platform for a race, create, share game you get Modnation Racers,” he says. “United Front Games and Sony Computer Entertainment brought a mix of design, software, hardware, network and experience together to build this game.”

ModNation Racers was developed for the PS3 and PSP. It incorporates online user-created content in a big way that sets it apart from other racing games.

“Fans have made well over two million creatures in our game,” he says. “Every creation can be played by every other player for free. This kind of value is easy to understand.”

As far as advice for others looking to crack into the growing industry, Bleak says to look no further than your own city.

“The first place to look would be our local schools; they have a great reputation and teachers are often experienced industry veterans that have a lot to offer,” he adds. “Once you have the knowhow, and if you have a passion for games, it’s a fantastic industry to be in.”

Not spilling the beans on what’s next for United Front Games, Bleak says the company is putting its efforts into each game and looks forward to what the future holds.

“We are excited about the future, but just like the Canucks we focus on one game at a time,” he says. “You’ll have to wait just a little longer to see what we are up to next.”

Protocol opens up the territory for exploitation

This story went online first for the Ha-Shilth-Sa on May 12.

An international protocol regarding rights to genetic resources and protection from bio-piracy threatens ownership of Aboriginal traditional knowledge in Canada, including within Nuu-chah-nulth territory.

The Nagoya Protocol is a United Nations agreement internationally adopted last October in Japan by those who were also involved with the Convention on Biological Diversity. Through the protocol, Canada assumes sovereign jurisdiction over natural, biological and genetic resources within Canadian borders without explicitly acknowledging Aboriginal rights.

Merle Alexander is a Tsimshian/Heiltsuk lawyer practicing Aboriginal sustainable development law. He spent 12 years doing pro-bono UN treaty negotiations relevant to the protection of Aboriginal knowledge, and was involved in the Nagoya Protocol negotiations from 2003 to just before it was adopted.

According to Alexander, the protocol assumes that Canada will determine who grants genetic resources rights within all Aboriginal territories, unless otherwise established by individual tribes.

Genetic resources are linked to traditional knowledge in this way. Generally it started at the academic level: Researchers were looking for an element that would, say, reduce pain. They went to indigenous groups to find their traditional treatments for pain. The researchers would then take that knowledge and start to manipulate the genetics of the elements in traditional medicines and break it down to make them commercially viable.

“So if they find chemical xyz, they’ll take it and ramp up its potency so that it can be taken in high dosages and so on, but the first contact came up from academic researchers [getting answers from] the indigenous shaman,” he said.

What indigenous advocates want is the protocol to recognize that the original discovery for such products were often from indigenous peoples themselves, therefore, they had rights to the eventual outcome, or access-benefit sharing of the profits made by pharmaceutical companies on borrowed information.

Currently, the protocol would only seek to recognize established genetic rights.

“I’d be surprised if the Canadian government signs the protocol,” Alexander told Ha-Shilth-Sa.

“It would make things very complicated,” he said. “Canada probably prefers an unregulated environment. Right now the Canadian government doesn’t have to do anything. There’s no obligation for them to really govern genetic resources. They don’t have to invest anything in it. They don’t have to expand the mandate to make a traditional knowledge law component to the Canadian intellectual property office, which is probably what they’d have to do.”

Alexander said it could pose a substantial financial commitment to set up the regulatory regime that’s required under the Nagoya Protocol.

“They would have to create, essentially, a new department; they’d have to create a couple of institutions,” he explained. “They probably can’t financially justify it right now, which is why there’ll probably be quite a bit of a delay on the Nagoya Protocol implementation, because worldwide, countries aren’t looking for new programs to spend on.”

If Canada signed the protocol it would require them to make legislative changes to biodiversity, intellectual property, Aboriginal, natural resources and environmental laws.

Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council President Cliff Atleo, Sr. became aware of the Nagoya Protocol a year ago. He went to a meeting in Nanaimo regarding the UN protocol, but was surprised by the poor attendance on such an important issue.

“The information was good and we were collectively agreeing upon a lack of First Nations involvement in this whole exercise,” he added.

Although Canada has not signed the protocol, Atleo said he does not expect much if they do.

“I expect very little in terms of benefits for our people,” he added. “I expect negative impacts against our people.”

Keith Hunter of First Nations Wildcrafters, B.C. based in Port Alberni agrees. He has his own concerns with the Nagoya Protocol and its implications.

“I never thought we would ever come to a point in time to where ownership of DNA and the question of who owns the knowledge we passed down through generations, carried [by] grandfathers and grandmothers to their next generations would ever even be a question,” he said.

The important thing, Hunter points out, is to stay informed on what happens at international and domestic levels.

“I do believe that we have a common struggle and challenge as grassroots people to take care of what has been passed down and to accept our responsibility to ensure that these treasures of knowledge and resources are there for the unborn generations,” he said. “These things do not belong to us. What belongs to us is the responsibility.”

Paul Joffe is a lawyer from Quebec with 37 years of experience in indigenous issues, both internationally and domestically. He is working with the Grand Council of the Crees by pursuing a joint submission, along with other groups worldwide, called the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing: Substantive and Procedural Injustices relating to Indigenous Peoples’ Human Rights.

“The Canadian government is likely to take some positive measures to safeguard Indigenous peoples’ traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources,” he explained. “Whether such measures will be sufficient remains to be seen.”

Joffe added that the Canadian government should not attempt to separate the rights of Aboriginal peoples’ knowledge from their rights to genetic resources.

“Where indigenous traditional knowledge relates to genetic resources, the rights to both should be respected and protected as an integral whole.”

Home birth advocate labors on the West Coast

This was published on the Ha-Shilth-Sa website on April 5, 2011

The spirit’s birthing journey down from the Milky Way is a rite of passage, according to the Nuu-chah-nulth culture, and the only midwife in Ahousaht believes it should be met with a traditional, sacred ceremony only a midwife and family can provide at home.

Hupacasath member Sacheen Seithcham lives in Ahousaht and, after much research, discovered that the remote island has not had a practicing midwife since the 1960s or 1970s.

“I’m a really big advocate on home birthing,” said Seithcham. “People say, ‘I didn’t know we could do that.’”

Seithcham, 34, is a mother and grandmother. Her experience in giving birth in a hospital is completely opposite to her experience of having children at home.

“While it was not easy, because birth is hard work, it was rewarding and empowering to be the first mother in my family and peer group to have a traditional home birth,” Seithcham explained. “After my births I was asked about midwifery and I started a movement to birth at home.”

“I feel strongly connected to my ancestors and I was blessed and given healing hands specifically for this. It is my passion and my life’s work.”

The mother of nine has wanted to be a midwife for the last 15 years. She’s practiced for the past year and has learned from her own pregnancies, midwife mentors and a helpful family doctor.

“My home births were traditional with Nuu-chah-nulth singing to help me throughout the labor and delivery, and to help the baby spirit find the way to the physical body,” she said. “They were peaceful and loving.”

Seithcham’s birthing business offers several packages for pregnant woman, which covers pre-natal, birthing and newborn care.

“What I do is a more holistic approach, more natural, instead of focusing on more scientific-based medical care, where the woman is not nurtured or taken care of on a personal level. And that’s what midwifery offers.”

The option to give birth at home can come as a monumental relief to women on the West Coast especially.

From Ahousaht to Hot Springs Cove, and Tofino to Ucluelet, having a child can be a challenge in the region because Tofino General Hospital has not had the capacity in more than a decade to allow pregnant women to give birth there.

“People are having to get taken out of their home communities to go [as far as Nanaimo or Port Alberni to] have their babies,” she noted. “The moms are often isolated up to a month at a time…. They’re sent away from their home communities to go and stay in hotels in Port Alberni.”

The isolation and loneliness caused by the distance is not only costly, but can also wreak havoc on the mother’s frame of mind, and this is what brought Seithcham to Mamma Primativa, which is an online educational resource and traditional midwifery program.

“Nuu-chah-nulth women have to travel out of the community and often they suffer from postpartum depression because they were separated from their families, and I wanted to be able to offer home birth,” she said.

While most midwives go to school for up to eight years and become nurses first, Seithcham said she wanted to become a traditional midwife right away.

“So, that was my struggle for a lot of years, was that I didn’t want to become a nurse,” she explained. “I wanted to become a midwife and take care of babies.”

Seithcham’s ultimate goal over the next 10 years is to have a thriving Nuu-chah-nulth birthing clinic on the West Coast and pick up where Tofino General Hospital has left off.

“It’s pretty much been my dream for the past 15 years,” she added. “I believe in traditional teachings and knowledge, but I am also very safety conscious and I have only the health of the baby and mother in my sights when I am helping a mother in pregnancy, in child birth.”

Although Seithcham said she specializes in safety, she also recognizes the important role hospitals play with high risk birth and complications.

“Sometimes, intervention is necessary and saves lives and I am grateful we live in a time that if a mother is high risk or a birth has complications they are able to be cared for by a doctor and in a hospital.”

Seithcham is fundraising and finalizing her plans to go to Haiti to do her practicum for one month in June.

“I am going to get the last bit of hands-on knowledge about rural birth and emergency birth protocol so that I can practice safely,” she said.

Her goal is to raise $5,000, which will provide for her return flight, food and accommodation in Haiti. To donate, or for more information, email her at mamazonscreations@gmail.com and check out her site at indigimama.weebly.com.

“For the most part, home birth is very safe,” she said. “A good midwife will not take on a patient with health issues beyond her scope as her duty is to ensure the health of mother and baby.”

When Seithcham is finished her practicum it’s only a matter of time before midwifery can make a full impact in her region.

“My main goal is to reconnect our women with our bodies and to foster confidence in the body’s ability to do the work of birth naturally and without intervention,” she emphasized.

“And to bring birth home to the West Coast.”

Could city politics go virtual?

This was posted April 7, 2011 on OpenFile Vancouver

While many city councillors currently text or tweet during Vancouver city council’s regular meetings, they could soon replace themselves with a computer screen.

The use of teleconferencing technologies may not be on the table for this year’s council, but advances with the tool in other municipalities means Vancouver could be left in the dust of other councils.

Last Jan. 25, the District of Tofino adopted a policy amendment allowing a council member to attend a public council or council committee meeting electronically up two times a year. The small town joined other public bodies within the region that had already adopted similar policies.

Vancouver councillor Ellen Woodsworth says the technology could be worth a try if it’s set with clear limits. “It seems to me that it should be something we should be taking a look at,” she says. “I think it’s something that could work and could help, particularly the mayor who has so many obligations.”

But she points out that council may be reluctant to allow enhanced internet coverage on city hall’s third floor. “We don’t even have access to the internet for people to come and sit in the council chambers,” she says. “We’re hooked up. But if you just came in and were a student, you can’t get access when you’re in the council chambers or anywhere on the third floor.”

She says there’s a number of things that need to be done to bring Vancouver’s government “into the modern age.” But on the flip side, says she has received complaints from the public doubting the attention span of fellow councillors who are heavy internet users.

“Some councillors use Twitter, some people go up on their computers, some people are using their iPhones or their Blackberries,” she explains. “I think the public notices and cares that they’re not paying attention.”

Woodsworth says if electronic attendance is investigated by staff and given set limitations, such as only being allowed when passing an uncontroversial bylaw or staff report, or when there are no speakers present, it would prove useful.

“I will be interested to follow what they’re doing in Tofino and see how it works,” she says. “Whether it would work for us in a situation where it’s pretty straightforward [and] there have not been any controversies.”

Frances Bula is a Vancouver journalist who has covered the city’s civic affairs and urban issues for more than 20 years. She says council should deliberate extensively on the pros and cons of electronic attendance.

“Being able to participate in meetings by Skype, if there’s a really crucial vote where it’s fairly important to get everyone on the record and not have something skewed just because some people had not been able to be there [is a plus],” she says. But, she adds, “there’s a reason why things are done in person.”

She stresses that convenience does not always translate into efficacy. “I think we all need to understand what being present really is.”

Tesla Tuesday

Sometimes I start blogs for fun and this includes a new one I just started on Tumblr called, you guessed it, Tesla Tuesday. As a journalist there’s almost nothing I enjoy more than following leads, writing and procrastinating to my next deadline as much as possible. So, last Thursday, I was reading another article about Nikola Tesla when I decided to do a blog where every Tuesday I’ll have one or two posts of either a quote, fact, video or anything Tesla-related.

 

The man himself

So check it out!

I do have a few blog posts coming up here though. I’m just…procrastinating.

Update: fetus-themed products post on Etsy

In one of my last blog posts I explored some pro-life and pro-choice products sold on the popular shopping website Etsy.  I had written an email to Etsy’s press department asking for a comment about what they think of products such as this:

 

Yeah. I’m still at a loss for words.

Anyway, the reply I had received was, to say the least, a major disappointment. I was expecting a defense of their sellers’, which was great and what I was looking for. What I got instead was this, initially:

Hello Stefania,

Thank you for contacting us. Etsy permits items to be sold on the site
that comply with our Terms of Use, which can be read here:
http://www.etsy.com/policy/terms?ref=ft_terms

Can you tell us a little bit more about the piece you are working on,
and for what publication?

Thanks so much,
Emily Bidwell

It didn’t help my blog post because I could not really say it myself, that everyone has the right to sell and think whatever they want, which is what I believe too. It makes it stronger when someone else says it.

Then the other day I checked my email and received this:

Dear Stefania,

This is Adam Brown, I’m the press manager at Etsy. Thank you for getting in touch, and I’m glad to hear that you’re a fan! About this issue, we would say:

Etsy is a diverse global marketplace and community, with thousands of independent shops. We respect that our members come from all walks of life and may hold different beliefs and express their artistic perspective in many different ways. Etsy does not pre-screen users or the content or information provided by users. User-generated content reflects only the opinions and perspectives of the person who posted it.

Best Wishes,
Adam

Adam Brown
Etsy Press

I thought it was only fair to add it. Finally, the honest response I was looking for.

You are entering a spin zone

Konrad von Fickenstein, CRTC chairman

Watch your head.

The Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission is at it again, this time lowering the standard of Canadian journalism as a whole.

I’m not one to sign petitions or give money to any political party or charity because I do not want to be associated with anything that could compromise a story I cover in the future, but this is different.

In less than 48 hours the CRTC is considering a decision that will basically put a gigantic loophole in the fair and balanced rule meant to prevent the media from blatantly lying to the public.

Go Canada!

Why is this decision even being considered when the CRTC’s job is:

As an independent organization, the CRTC works to serve the needs and interests of citizens, industries, interest groups and the government.

?

Great question. I’m really glad you asked this one.

This pending decision comes at a time when Fox News North, actually called Sun TV News, is getting ready to press start on their television machines. The new addition to Canadian media came when Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his party vocalized their annoyance with seemingly one-sided, self-serving and very left-leaning media serving this country. Approval for the channel, owned by Quebecor, happened last November.

Last year, Avaaz.org started a petition that received enough Canadian signatures to prevent Sun TV News, which has promised to mimic Fox News in its right-leaning sensibilities (hence the nickname), to be paid for with public dollars. Now a new petition is out, nearing 60,000 signatures (as of the publishing time of this post) to keep the quality of journalism that we have now, or at the very least prevent it from getting any lower.

It’s not about disallowing right-leaning journalism or promoting left-leaning journalism. It’s about not letting the watchdogs lie to the public it’s meant to serve.

 

Tags: canada, canadian, CRTC, fair and balanced, Fox News North, journalism, loophole, truth

Really? The rainbow of fetus-themed products

Let’s start off by saying I am an avid visitor to Etsy’s site. I’m a member and some-times consumer. I think I first started visiting the site about four years ago. Etsy is an online shopping website where people who want to sell their hand-made or vintage treasures can set up a profile and an account where others can browse for their product and purchase it directly from them.

Etsy describes itself as follows:

Our mission is to enable people to make a living making things, and to reconnect makers with buyers.

Our vision is to build a new economy and present a better choice:

Buy, Sell, and Live Handmade.

This site reaches across the globe. I’ve purchased things from Canada, America, Europe and even Israel. This past January alone, $33.5 million of goods were sold, more than 370,000 members joined and there were 1,062,455,691 page views.

The gross merchandise sales of 2010 was $314.3 million, there is a total of 7.2 million members and about 400,000 sellers–across the world. It’s the little shopping website that could. It’s been covered in the press at an exponential rate, check out this page showing that.

The other night I was on after a long day of freelance research and writing. My partner was making dinner and I was perusing Etsy’s website, which I sometimes do in my spare time. I decided to search for some zombie items. Etsy is known for its extremely talented graphic artist sellers who design spiffy shirts and such, or even jewelry. I was slightly bored and intrigued by the idea. Again, I’ve bought maybe eight or nine things since being on the site for four years. I’m a browser.

I came across this cool necklace and I also liked the other products this seller had, who shall remain nameless. This is the necklace I’m talking about:

There are even better ones(pro-zombie you could say), but this made me giggle.

However, as I was browsing the rest of this seller’s products I came across even funnier pieces of her hand-made jewelry. Then I came across, well, something else.

Out of Etsy’s 7.7 million items on sale, this is the one I accidentally came across in my search for a funny “zombie” item:

This followed shortly after the "zombie hunter" necklace.

I guess, immaturely, I find it a bit funny/timely after the whole “rape rape” argument that was going on in the U.S. a few weeks ago regarding federally funded abortions. Basically, the GOP House of Representatives were trying to bring in a ‘no tax payer funding for abortions act’. Federally funded abortions would be limited to cases resulting from ‘forcible rape’ (this term was not defined at all in the bill), which would exclude instances of women seeking an abortion who were drugged and raped, rape under age or if a handicapped woman was raped. To sum it up, here’s a Jon Stewart clip. It’s from the February 2 show. “Rape with benefits”. Classic. A Mother Jones reporter broke the story and needless to say from all the bad press it received it was dropped. Logic prevails.

Back to Etsy.

When I came across the above pro-life sentiment product, I was a bit taken aback. Perhaps because I was enjoying the seller’s other products, nestled between creative zombie-themed ones, to a bracelet with razor blades (an ode to cutters, I presumed), to a soldier wife necklace–I didn’t expect it. I’m almost embarrassed by my naivete, or my brazen withdrawal from political debates when I’m just browsing a shopping website online, but I have to admit this took me off guard. All I could think was, “Really?”

I understand and I respect the seller’s wish to distribute this item. Is it any different from selling a Hello Kitty doll, or a shirt that says something insulting about a politician or what have you, at the end of the day? For some reason it confused me when I saw this. Confusion stemming from minor disbelief.

While I appreciate the sentiment, is it appropriate? Is it real? Is it a joke? Is it a weird attempt to suck zombie lovers in just to buy a pro-life necklace for all to see?

I don’t know. I can’t attempt to answer the question because I refuse to pick a side.

I am a journalist after all.

I guess if I could compare it to something, it would be as if I were some really religious person and I was shopping on Etsy in search of a lovely cross necklace. I found a seller who has crosses predominantly and as I click from page to page on their account looking at a whole bunch of crosses and seeing a pretty gold one, then a pink one. I then click for the next page and there’s a poster of a naked girl riding a donkey. I think, once again, my brain would be scrambling for reasoning as my eyes played “One of these things is not like the other.” Perhaps this is a hyperbolic comparison, but there it is.

Then I had the idea to search for pro-choice products on Etsy. Why not? Was there a mini-Etsy war of pro choice versus pro life occurring that I wasn’t aware of?

This is a taste of what I found:

What is going on?

This one's called an Abornament or 'Festive Crack Baby'. In the description it says you can do whatever you want with the spoon... Upside? Proceeds of the sales goes towards a pro-choice, family planning organization.

I decided to email the seller of the first pro-life charm necklace to find out what the story behind it is. I did this last Friday and I’ve yet to receive a response. I tried to stress that I wasn’t looking for an argument or that I shared pro life or pro choice sentiments. I told the seller I was really curious as to the story behind it. No dice.

I also e-mailed Etsy’s press contact. My response was as follows:

Hello Stefania,

Thank you for contacting us. Etsy permits items to be sold on the site
that comply with our Terms of Use, which can be read here:
http://www.etsy.com/policy/terms?ref=ft_terms

Can you tell us a little bit more about the piece you are working on,
and for what publication?

Thanks so much,
Emily Bidwell

I see it as getting the same amount of sentences asking me who I am and who I’m writing for than an actual honest response to my question. I was expecting maybe a long-winded argument about freedom of choice or speech, civil rights or whatever, which I’m not challenging. In fact I’m not at all saying that these products should not be allowed or censored. Who am I to determine that?

I’m simply questioning the reasoning behind them and I’m curious about the story and creative/thought process behind each one too; regardless if it’s a pro-choice or pro-life sentiment. The only uniform opinion I have for each is, is this tasteful? I can’t figure out the answer.

Well, check out the next Etsy-approved item below:

Look at it.

Really, there’s nothing wrong with it. In the description, it clearly states it’s not a political statement. I guess it’s just meant to be fuzzy and cute. I don’t know.

The whole messy affair of pro life or pro choice is a long one and a part of me wishes, you know it being 2011 and all, that everyone would be adult about it and make a compromising decision. It’s complicated. I get that it runs very deep in people’s emotional response. Abortion is a choice and it’s not an easy one; Whether it’s a result of a broken condom, rape or someone who is completely unprepared to become a parent.

Regardless, it’s no one’s business if you have had an abortion or not–whether or not it’s paid for by taxpayers. Whether it’s legalized or not, the reality is it happens. It’s similar to the existence of a safety injection site. People will shoot up no matter what, so why not give them a clean place to do it, proper tools and surround them with professionals who are there to support them on their journey, with no single person, group or organization around pointing fingers at and saying if it’s right or wrong.

No one’s perfect.

I understand the freedom of speech for all sides of this long-winded and historical debate. It’s still pretty incredible that people don’t see the positive in allowing abortions for women for the betterment of their health and decrease the risk of death with legitimate doctors. The reality is, legal or not, abortions will always exist. After this entire train of thought and rigmarole, all I come back to thinking is, “Really?”

Come on!

Tags: aborniment, abortion, bracelet, civil rights, donkey, etsy, freedom, jewelry, naked girl, necklace, online, pro choice, pro life, shopping, speech, zombie

Girl Meets Boy and Video Games (via Games ‘n’ Shit)

This is a side project right now for Sam and I, but we’re really passionate about it. We hope whoever listens to it has as much fun as we did making it.

For the record: I was born in Vancouver.

Thanks for listening!

The podcasting has begun. It's 33 minutes long, so we forgive you if you don't have the time.

IntroCast download link (right click and save as). The concept: My professional journalist/non-gamer girlfriend, the lovely Stefania Seccia, questions me, the professional journalist/lifelong gamer man, about all things gaming. None of the five W's are left untouched. This is the introdu … Read More

via Games 'n' Shit