Last night, rabble.ca, The Daily Nuisance, New Internationalist, and the Canadian Peace Alliance held an event about the challenges alternative media and independent journalists face when reporting on events in Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan.

Today I'm going to be speaking at an event called Building Social Movements Through Alternative Media and I thought I'd share my remarks with rabble readers here in our staff blog.  (Warning: this will be a looooong post!)

First of all, I want to wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day.  As a mom myself of a politically astute 11 year-old son, and as a woman who has a strong and amazing mom who raised me to be a strong woman, a lovely stepmom, and an inspiring and interesting grandmother (or Oma, as I call her), this is a special day for me, and I'm sure that it is for many of you as well.  So thanks for sharing this special day with me.

I have a confession to make this Valentine's Day: I'm in like with Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) workers!  I like them so much, I'll be giving Valentines to as many as I can today, tomorrow, and Valentine's Day.  And so will over 70 other people.

TTC workers I have been in like with over the years include:

The many subway drivers who delighted in being our tour guides when trains were rerouted through the mysterious and unused Lower Bay Station in 2007...