Written Rebellion

NEWS FLASH

2008-08-26T00:22:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Walter Ludwig, Bornstein for Congress, 202-251-0670, walter@juliebornstein.com
Campaign website: juliebornstein.com

DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE JULIE BORNSTEIN
CALLS MACK MAILER "MISLEADING"
Says Republican's Ideas Won't Help Middle-Class Families

PALM DESERT, CA, August 25, 2008 — Democratic Congressional candidate Julie Bornstein called Rep. Mary Mack's (formerly Mary Bono) recent taxpayer-paid campaign mailing "mostly misleading, and full of bad ideas that will hurt the environment but won't lower gas prices for middle-class families."

"Drilling in ANWR and increasing oil shale development will provide no price relief to the families of Riverside County, will have potentially catastrophic environmental consequences and will make billions for huge oil and gas companies like ExxonMobil," Bornstein said.

Energy conglomerates have contributed over $250,000 to Rep. Mack since she has been in Congress, and her financial disclosure forms show she owns substantial stock in several of them. "When voters look at the candidates, they should ask why Mack supports these ideas, and votes to give big oil and gas companies billions in taxpayer money," Bornstein said.

Background
Earlier this month, Rep. Mack sent postcards — resembling campaign mail, but costing taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars — to voters throughout the 45th District. The postcards were printed and mailed using Mack's Congressional "franking privilege," originally designed to allow members of Congress to communicate actual news to constituents.

From the postcard: Mack called for opening ANWR (the Alaskan Natural Wildlife Refuge) for drilling and for increasing oil shale development.

Fact: The US Department of Energy estimates that even in full production, drilling in ANWR would lower the price of crude oil between 41 cents and $1.44 per barrel — in the year 2025. That's between a penny and three cents a gallon of gas, 17 years from now. For that small possible benefit, the real price would be permanent damage to one of the last pristine places in North America.

Fact: Oil-shale extraction also does little to decrease the price of fuel to consumers, and releases more greenhouse gas than regular oil extraction. Most processes are only in experimentation now, use huge amounts of water and cause devastating pollution.

From the postcard: Mack says: "The sooner we expand our domestic energy supply, the sooner we can realize a more secure energy future."

Fact: Oil is traded on a global market. Increasing US oil and gas production will not affect the price of gasoline in this country very much, if at all. It will, however, benefit the bottom lines and stock prices of US-based oil companies, who will sell the oil on the international market.

From the postcard: The postcard features a photo montage of windmills and solar panel arrays. In the text, Mack says: "Our region is home to abundant sources of renewable energy — from wind to solar to geothermal." She also writes about the importance of tax subsidies for conservation.

Fact: Rep. Mack voted NO on HR 3221, the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2007 (roll call no. 832, 110th Congress, 1st session). This bill, which passed the House, promoted alternative energy purchases by electric utilities, increased development loans for conservation, created grants for small business to improve energy performance, and authorized up to $1 billion in loan guarantees for bio-fuel refinery construction. She also voted NO on HR 5351 (roll call 84, 110th Congress, 2nd session), which extended tax credits for wind farms, geothermal and solar energy facilities, extended the 30% tax credit for solar property, and increased the homeowners' tax credit for solar from $2,000 to $4,000. Both bills' provisions would have promoted alternative fuel industry and created jobs in the 45th District.

Other Notable Mack Votes on Energy: 1) NO on HR 6251, requiring oil companies to to develop existing leases before applying for new off-shore drilling (roll call no. 469, 110th Congress, 2nd session); 2) YES on HR 4 (roll call 320, 107th Congress, 2nd session), which provided over $30 billion in taxpayer subsidies for oil and gas conglomerates.

Mary Mack Has Received Over a Quarter-Million Dollars in Energy Company Contributions
According to the Federal Election Commission and opensecrets.org, Rep. Mack has received $227,295 in campaign contributions from energy and natural resources company PACs and executives since she was first elected to Congress, including over $75,000 from the oil and gas business, and over $95,000 from electric utilities.

Mary Mack Owns Significant Stock in Energy Companies
According to the Sunlight Foundation, Rep. Mack's most recent personal financial disclosure form to the Clerk of the House shows direct ownership of between $22,000 and $155,000 in oil and gas industry stock. (Disclosures are made in very broad ranges). Among the companies whose stock she owns are ExxonMobil, Devon Energy, Dominion Resources, Emerson Electric, Progress Energy, and Baker Hughes. The disclosure form (and those for previous years) also shows that Rep. Mack is an active trader in energy stocks.

NOTE TO REPORTERS/EDITORS: A scanned copy of the Mack mailer is available on request. E-mail walter@juliebornstein.com.

In case you missed the latest Onion videos...

2008-07-02T23:31:00.000-07:00

Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency

Today Now!: How To Pretend You Give A Shit About The Election

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

If I Was A Terrorist

2008-05-16T07:03:00.000-07:00

h/t to my very good friend over at Open Letters to George W. Bush.

What do you Know About Iraq?

2008-05-13T11:38:00.000-07:00

It takes a commitment to understand the ongoing impact of the war and occupation in Iraq. Here is a test you can take to measure how well you have kept up with events.

1) How much does the U.S. pay per day for the war in Iraq?

a) $100 million
b) $270 million
c) $525 million
d) $720 million

2) If the U.S. spent $1 per day in Iraq, how much would go to repair and humanitarian assistance?

a) 7 cents
b) 13 cents
c) fraction of one penny
d) 1 penny

3) What is the population of Iraq?

a) 53 million
b) 12 million
c) 27 million
d) 100 million

4) How many Iraqis have been displaced from their homes?

a) 8 million
b) 100,000
c) 5 million
d) 3 million

5) How many Iraqi have been killed?

a) 750,000
b) 1 million
c) 500,000
d) 17,000

6) How many Iraqis are now refugees outside the country?

a) 3.7 million
b) 750,000
c) 900,000
d) 2.4 million

7) How many Iraqi refugees has Syria accepted?

a) 75,000
b) 1.4 million
c) 500,000
d) 900,000

8) How many Iraqi refugees has the U.S. accepted?

a) 750
b) 100,000
c) 725,000
d) 1,700

9) How many U.S. troops are in Iraq? (Not including mercenaries and private contractors.)

a) 50,000
b) 325,000
c) 700,000
d) 165,000

10) What countries border Iraq?

a) Lebanon, Palestine, North Korea, Pakistan
b) Yemen, Sudan, Somalia
c) Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
d) Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan

Answers coming soon!

Pssst. Do Something.

2008-04-21T15:30:00.000-07:00

Bad Blogger

2008-03-14T18:33:00.001-07:00

I've been a terrible blogger these last few months. I am so sorry.

Must See TV

2008-03-02T21:03:00.001-08:00

I can't say how proud I am of the good folks up in Montana who have organized such a tremendous response. :)

Hope

2008-02-21T12:36:00.000-08:00

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

-Emily Dickinson

Happy Feminist Birthday

2008-02-18T08:10:00.000-08:00

Audre Lorde 1934-1992

"I am a Black Feminist. I mean I recognize that my power as well as my primary oppressions come as a result of my blackness as well as my womaness, and therefore my struggles on both of these fronts are inseparable."

This is Interesting.

2008-02-15T15:19:00.000-08:00

0.0.0.0 [Label IP Address] 0 returning visit

Date Time WebPage

February 14th 2008 16:06:11 No referring link
February 14th 2008 18:19:46 No referring link
February 14th 2008 18:41:35 No referring link
February 14th 2008 18:43:14 No referring link
February 15th 2008 09:18:20 No referring link

Seems as though nobody's been looking at my blog.

Unbelievable

2008-02-14T14:18:00.000-08:00

This comes from The Hill:

Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) recently played a gag on Rep. Mike Simpson
(R-Idaho) on their Middle East congressional delegation trip last month.

Rehberg left an “Idaho Travel Package” on Simpson’s airplane
seat.

Contents included a stuffed sheep with gloves attached to it (draw your
own conclusions), a Village People CD, books on cross-dressing and sign language
and a T-shirt that reads, “My senator may not be gay, but my governor is
Butch.”

Rehberg is proud of the gift bag. “I spent a bit of time putting the
things together,” he boasted.

Simpson was amused but not surprised that Rehberg was the bearer of
such presents. “You can always find those materials in Montana,” he said,
laughing.

Mr. Rehberg, you disgust me. You are an embarrassment to your elected office and to your constituients, and you disgrace the public trust with your blatent disregard for the dignity and worth of all Montana's citizens.

(H/T Matt Singer at Left in the West)

Tears

2008-02-13T21:25:00.000-08:00

Salty expressions

of emotion

shake the stability

of my world.

Wet confetti

with which I celebrate

the wonders

and the tragedies

of living.

Why do I vote pro-choice?

2008-01-22T08:00:00.000-08:00

Because this is not a medical instrument.

Alka Seltzer Solution

2008-01-20T15:58:00.000-08:00

The new word of the week is "economic stimulus package."

Everyone is for it.

The President wants it if only because he knows a worsening economic crisis will leave his Administration in deep doo-doo, the way it did his dads' back in '92. Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, is all for it if only because all of his rate cuts and "injections" of money into the financial system have not turned the US economy around.

He told Congress Thursday: "put money into the hands of households and firms that would spend it in the near term." This is likely to take the form of tax rebates and direct assistance.

And all the candidates-well most of them---want it too. Or at least they want something upbeat that will stimulate voters. John McCain lost Michigan, it is said, because he was too negative. Mitt Romney won because he promised to wave a magic wand, repeal Globalization and make Detroit what it one was.

Dream on.

The stimulus idea is simple-give people some money to spend and, presto, our problems will disappear. This is the "Alka Seltzer solution." Take one tablet and when it fizzes, you're better in the morning.

The only problem is that the real world isn't so simple and simplistic solutions will not work.

We didn't get into this mess because one thing went wrong. Many things went wrong -and over a long time.

This crisis may seem brand new. It isn't. And please dump that word "recession" because it doesn't do justice to what we are talking about here. The highest inflation rate in 17 years and the biggest housing crisis in a quarter of a century didn't just happen. Major banks writing down billions of dollars practically every week is not normal. Wall Street going from boom to gloom almost overnight was not caused by somebody making a mistake.

The political causes of this are deep and long standing. Writer Robert Kuttner calls this "the most serious downturn since the Great Depression." He blames the rise of right-wing ideology, and "the domination of our politics by a financial elite, and the lack of a true opposition party."

You can't fix that with pathetic stimulus packages and minor tinkering.
This is a structural crisis that's been spawned by decades of shifting our economy from making things to buying things, from production to consumption. It has spawned "financialization' a well heeled credit and loan complex powered by legal and illegal shenanigans in an unregulated market-driven environment. Both parties have benefited from it and are complicit in its consequences. All of our biggest banks were part of the subprime/subcrime-led credit collapse which enriched so many before bringing so many down.

This crisis is still unfolding, rippling, and infecting more sectors of the economy. It is a "contagion" that has yet to be contained.

Writes the Mclatchey Newspapers: "The unwinding of debt is all-encompassing. It's from the little homeowner out there to the big corporation," said Larry Moss, senior vice president for the Raymond James investment firm in Birmingham, Mich.
The credit crunch overlaps with other negative trends, most noticeably the poor housing market and weakening consumer spending. The fear is that tighter credit and weaker spending will reinforce and amplify each other, creating a downward spiral leading to a recession.

"Once you get in that cycle, then it becomes really, really scary," said Amiyatosh Purnanandam, a professor of finance at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan who has studied tight-credit periods."

For starters we need some stimulus from a study of history to understand how greed and corruption of any and all ethical principles stimulates this type of frightening business cycle. We need to stimulate a deeper debate.

Writes Satyajit Das, author of Traders, Guns & Money, explains: "Recent history has been a period of 'too much' and 'too little' - too much liquidity, too much leverage, too much complex financial engineering, too little return for risk, too little understanding of the risk."

He told one of India's leading newspapers, The Hindu, "This will reduce economic growth (the US looks likely to slow down sharply) and asset prices (houses and shares) around the world. It is perhaps the most serious crisis that we have faced in a very long time."

Let's break this down: Lets say we give every household $1000 bucks ($800 is the number under discussion). What happens? What do will recipients do first? What will they/we stimulate?

Will they rush out to the mall and buy the latest and the greatest? Unlikely. Why? Because so many of us are already in hock beyond our ears. Millions are drowning in debt and barely hanging on to homes, cars or even student loans. We are groaning under the burden of higher interest, higher prices and higher fees, as a recent study by United for A Fair Economy explained:

"Increases in the cost of housing, education, and health care, paired with an increase in payroll taxes of 25%, and massively decreased government investment in affordable housing, employment, and job training, have left most of America cash poor. Americans found the liquidity needed to pay daily bills through debt: credit cards, refinancing, subprime loans. The American middle and working classes are maintaining their lifestyle on a foundation of quicksand (debt they cannot afford).

If current indicators are correct it is quite possible that the entire US economy will sink into the debt that the middle and working class have developed over the last twenty years."

This is not a very 'stimulating' environment. No wonder most Americans think the country is going in the wrong direction and have lost confidence in the economy. No wonder, crime is rising along with foreclosures. Let's not forget the wars that are also draining the economy, growing the deficit and pouring billions of dollars and so many lives into a rat hole without end.

So, please candidates, loose the cheery rhetoric of economic stimulus. Do nothing about the debt burden and you do nothing. We don't need stimulus; we need economic change, and economic justice. We need white-collar predators in jail. We need restructuring, not repossessions. We need mechanisms for the redistribution of wealth from the greedy to the needy. And just like the folks in Africa living under a crushing burden of debt we need genuine debt relief. We need to buck this system, not get a few bucks in the mail.

If we have any hope of getting out from under, we also need a media to tell the truth about how this crisis happened, and investigate those that profited on the destruction of our economy, the bankers and brokers that stole our treasure and future. We need movements to fight back and politicians that will stand up for economic fairness, especially on the day we honor Dr. Martin Luther King and the movements he led.

News Dissector Danny Schechter directed the film IN DEBT WE TRUST (http://www.indebtwetrust.com/) which forecast this crisis. He explores the roots of the problem in a new e-book SQUEEZED (Downloadable from Coldtype.net)

A Reversal of Questions

2008-01-17T15:47:00.000-08:00

Homophobia: A Self-Assessment

What do you think caused your heterosexuality?

When and how did you first decide you were a heterosexual?

Is it possible your heterosexuality is just a phase you may grow out of?

Is it possible your heterosexuality stems from a neurotic fear of people of the same sex?

Isn't it possible that all you need is a good, gay lover?

Heterosexuals have histories of failures in gay relationships. Do you think you may have turned to heterosexuality out of fear of rejection?

If you've never slept with a person of the same sex, how do you know you wouldn't prefer it?

If heterosexuality is normal, why are a disproportionate number of mental health consumers heterosexuals?

To whom have you disclosed your heterosexual tendencies?

Your heterosexuality doesn't offend me as long as you don't try to force it on me. Why do you feel compelled to seduce others into your sexual orientation?

If you choose to nurture children, would you want them to be heterosexual, knowing the problems they would face?

The great majority of child molesters are heterosexuals. Do you really consider it safe to expose your children to heterosexual teachers?

Why do you insist on being so obvious and making a public spectacle of your heterosexuality? Can't you just be what you are and keep it quiet?

How can you ever hope to become a whole person if you limit yourself to a compulsive, exclusive heterosexual object choice and remain unwilling to explore and develop your normal, God-given homosexual potential?

Google Has a Sense of Humor

2008-01-16T21:27:00.000-08:00

Per my stat counter, today someone in Cape Coral, Florida, typed:

Love Poems for when ur in a Fight

into their Google search engine.

Not only did they find MY site...they found THIS post.

Wonder if it helped. :)

Happy Hero Birthday

2008-01-15T12:42:00.000-08:00

January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968

I have struggled for days to try and think of something, anything, to say that might somehow express how I feel about this man. Part of this reflection has involved rereading some of my favorite speeches, letters, and writings of Dr. King and placing them in their historical context. For me, this means exploring the sights, sounds, and smells of the moment or moments in which the words that inspire me were recorded. In this journey, I have also spent a great deal of time in a time warp...applying Dr. King's words to the sights, sounds, and smells of today.

I do not pretend that I am first or the only to suggest that half a century has done little to impact the relevancy of Dr. King's message. Other, more qualified authors have waxed eloquent on the truths of love, peace activism, non-violence resistance, and the promise of a more socially and economically just world.

So instead, in honor of one of my heroes, I publish three quotes, all on silence, that speak to me. They are what fuels my passion and inspire me to speak my mind, even if my voice shakes.

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

Find a way.

2007-11-30T19:47:00.000-08:00

For what, you ask? Here's your answer. (h/t Quaker Agitator.)

Daily Dose of E-Activism

2007-11-29T10:15:00.000-08:00

From the Human Rights Campaign:

Matthew Shepard Act in Serious Jeopardy

Right now, the fate of the Matthew Shepard Act depends on you.

House and Senate leaders could decide in the coming days to detach the bill from a larger Department of Defense bill, where it currently resides. The move would almost certainly eliminate its chances of becoming law, setting back our progress by months or years. We likely have less than a week to convince them.

We've spent a decade fighting tooth and nail for a Federal hate crimes bill – we cannot let last-minute political challenges defeat us now. It's time to make a ruckus. Write your lawmakers today, then spread the word.

Then, sign this petition. It doesn't matter if you don't live in Montana. Representative Rehberg needs to hear from people all over the country. Let's send him a clear message: "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." So far, he's been silent on this very important matter, and we need his support to finally pass comprehensive, inclusive, hate crimes legislation in Montana.

Today is...

2007-11-22T21:50:00.000-08:00

Adbusters has all kinds of great stuff up.

Participate by not participating.

Give Thanks

2007-11-22T09:02:00.000-08:00

Aahhh, isn't this perfect?

Look at how those nice English colonists are
taking good care of those hungry, heathen, brown people.

Kara posted the real story over at her place last year.

She also has a wonderful post up THIS year.

(Buy the book here.)

I've always had a hard time with this holiday...mostly because I feel like if I participate in any celebrations then I am somehow also complicit in the mythology of the history of Thanksgiving. Pottersville provides us with brilliant, articulate commentary on Cowboys and Iranians. (h/t Undeniable Liberalism), and Here's a great list of things to be thankful for this year, courtesy of Think Progress.

Happy, peaceful day, everyone.

The Strike...A summary

2007-11-21T21:28:00.001-08:00

Pencils Down means Pencils Down

United Hollywood

In Memoriam

2007-11-20T10:59:00.000-08:00

Day Of Remembrance -S. Bear Bergman

I’m scrolling and scrolling,

names on my screen keep rolling,

more than I expected to see, hundreds,

too many to count quickly,

too many to die so early,

one day before they would have is

too early,

outrageous,

sentenced to death for being courageous,

living out loud in an age such as this,

where every border’s guarded and marked with gendered piss,

this here is only for us,

only for you,

what is it mommy?

not now honey, that’s rude — why is it rude?

that’s a bad attitude, that’s what you’ll do?

Parents, that’s unworthy of you,

if something’s unusual,

let children know what’s different,

buy him a tutu - let that be the end of it,

let them grow unencumbered by expectation,

there’s all kinds of situations,

gender, race, ethnic variations,

none of them cut or dried, no lie,

cause otherwise,

we get “boys don’t cry”,

we tell our boys not to cry,

they swallow the tears, the fears,

they erode every other feeling until it explodes,

looking like Gwen in a shallow grave by the road,

like Marsha being fished out whole,

looking like Brandon full of anger’s holes.

We won’t accept this, the idea is ludicrous,

you want to kill a kid because he wants to wear a dress?

Ridiculous.

We will not go gently, not into any night or memory,

we’re here today remember our family, taken too early,

I hope they come back to haunt their killers fully,

inhabit their uncertainty,

give them their own inescapable enemy,

and for those of us still alive,

stand up!

stand up and shout,

stand up and be what it’s about,

be the change you want to see in the world,

live like a flag unfurled,

be heard,

today we are here to remember,

today we are peaceful in honor,

today we are heard together,

but tomorrow this event’s a lesson to miscreants,

anyone with ill intent, our spirit unbreakable,

a lot at stake, our numbers unmistakable,

proclaiming, I’m here with my tribe,

this family’s my wealth, and

I would die with them before I would live by myself.

Today is the ninth anniversary of the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Rita Hester’s murder — like most anti-transgender murder cases — has yet to be solved.

Although not every person represented during the Day of Remembrance self-identified as transgendered — that is, as a transsexual, crossdresser, or otherwise gender-variant — each was a victim of violence based on bias against transgendered people.

We live in times more sensitive than ever to hatred based violence, especially since the events of September 11th. Yet even now, the deaths of those based on anti-transgender hatred or prejudice are largely ignored. Over the last decade, more than one person per month has died due to transgender-based hate or prejudice, regardless of any other factors in their lives. This trend shows no sign of abating.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance serves several purposes. It raises public awareness of hate crimes against transgendered people, an action that current media doesn’t perform. Day of Remembrance publicly mourns and honors the lives of our brothers and sisters who might otherwise be forgotten. Through the vigil, we express love and respect for our people in the face of national indifference and hatred. Day of Remembrance reminds non-transgendered people that we are their sons, daughters, parents, friends and lovers. Day of Remembrance gives our allies a chance to step forward with us and stand in vigil, memorializing those of us who’ve died by anti-transgender violence.

From http://www.gender.org/.

Thank You...

2007-11-11T15:48:00.000-08:00

...to all our veterans, but especially to this one, my little brother:

Today's observance was intended not to glorify war, but as a solemn way to recognize its end. In that spirit, today I continue my commitment to advocate for a peaceful resolution to end the war in Iraq, and prevent war with Iran. We do not need more veterans. Instead, we need to honor those we have by fully funding services designed to meet the challenging and diverse needs of the men and women who have served in our military.

We can say 'thank you' with the immediate elimination of waiting lists for care and benefits.

We can say 'thank you' by ensuring that the mental health needs of returning soldiers are considered a medical priority and providing the adequately trained staff in sufficient numbers so as to guarantee that every solider receives the best standard of care possible.

We can say 'thank you' by the immediate elimination of pay and benefit inequities between U.S. military personnel and private paramilitary contractors who often perform the same work, in the same situations, for a fraction of the compensation. Those who wear our uniform deserve more pay, not less.

We can say 'thank you' by keeping our recruiting promises to help pay for college in a realistic and meaningful way that accurately compensates veterans for the true costs of higher education.

We can say 'thank you' by encouraging a real national conversation about the toll of war on the future of this country, not just in dollars and cents, but in the loss of production and innovation that will come as a direct result of the permanent disabilities of our wounded.

We can say 'thank you' by redefining what support means. Forget the rhetoric. It isn't about showing respect to the flag and it isn't about whether you wear a lapel pin. It isn't about a 99 cent magnet flung on the back of some car. This is what true support would look like: not one homeless veteran. Not one.

We can say 'thank you' by working as a nation to eliminate the stigma associated with PTSD, depression, and other identifiable and treatable mental health issues so as to eliminate this debilitating barrier to service provision.

We can say 'thank you' by finally ending the flawed 'don't ask, don't tell' policy. We must bring honor to all our veterans by allowing them the respect and dignity they deserve. Sexual orientation has nothing to do with patriotism or the ability to do one's job. Existing benefits and supportive services must be extended to the families of LGBT military personnel and they must be permitted to serve openly without fear of discrimination or harassment.

We can say 'thank you' by praying for peace.

Update: The web is full of wonderful, powerful Veteran's Day posts like this one, this one, and this one.

Justice IS Blind

2007-11-04T16:14:00.001-08:00

Happy Pride!

2007-11-04T12:56:00.000-08:00

Today was our annual Palm Springs Pride Parade. The weather was wonderful, the crowd was amazing, and the atmosphere, well, see for yourself:

Audre Lorde said, “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences." Today my community celebrated the rich diversity it contains and I was so proud.

(More pictures coming soon!)

Boo!

2007-10-30T20:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a collection of cartoons in honor of Halloween...

I don't know how you're feeling, but I am having trouble imagining anything scarier than the current condition of our foreign policy and Bu$hCo's drumbeat for war with Iran. It's our very own reality show nightmare.

Personally, I'm neck-deep in my thesis draft, so I won't be attending any festivities this year. Though, the kid in me has reserved a prime-time hour to watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. It's an annual tradition.

Here's wishing everyone has as much fun as a World War I Flying Ace. (And of course, by this, I am referencing Snoopy's imagination and am not, in any way, meaning to imply that any of our military service persons are having fun...Yes, someone did send me a comment about this.)

Update: Here's a link to someone who really knows how to carve a pumpkin, though none of them are nearly as good as this one:

Killing Me Softly

2007-10-28T23:01:00.000-07:00

Sports fans may think that this is old news, but I saw it for the first time this afternoon, and this really makes me mad.

In 1999, Jean Kilbourne published her now famous book Can't Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think And Feel. In it, she outlines her observations of advertising's images of women. If you haven't read it, please take the time to watch this 34-minute lecture during which the author outlines her central thesis:

This beer commercial is an example of what Kilbourne would call "advertising and violence" since sex in advertising is more about disconnection and distance than connection and closeness. The ad dehumanizes and objectifies women and it fetishizes its product.

This commercial reduces women to mindless robotic subjects of men's fantasy and transforms our wombs into refrigerators.

And, if anyone STILL doesn't think that this stuff as a real, measurable effect on the way we think and feel, think again.

Dumbledore is WHAT?!?!?!?

2007-10-26T18:49:00.000-07:00

So, there's a woman in my school program who posted this up on her MySpace blog. She has a better sense of humor than I do, and her tongue-in-cheek writing left me in stitches. I loved it and hope you will too.

My friends, JK Rowling has outed Dumbledore as a flaming homosexual.
:)
In front of a full house of hardcore Potter fans at Carnegie Hall in
New York, Rowling, sitting on the stage on a red velvet and carved wood throne,
read from her seventh and final book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," then took questions. One fan asked whether Albus Dumbledore, the head of the famed Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, had ever loved anyone. Rowling smiled. "Dumbledore is gay, actually," replied Rowling as the audience erupted in surprise. She added that, in her mind, Dumbledore had an unrequited love affair with Gellert Grindelwald, Voldemort's predecessor who appears in the seventh book. After several minutes of prolonged shouting and clapping from astonished fans, Rowling added. "I would have told you earlier if I knew it would make you so happy."

But, really, who didn't know that? The oh-so-mahvelous robes? The weird relationship with Grindewald that no one really understood? Okay, so most people probably didn't pick up on those hints at the time. What is hilarious are the reader's comments on all of these article that always begin with the words (in one form or another) "I'm not homophobic, but..." and then go into detail proving exactly how homophobic they are:

"why did there have to be a gay character at all?"

For that matter, why do we have to have BLACK people in our movies and
books??? Why can't the whole world just be rich, white, republican
assholes who look and think and act EXACTLY like me? OR you can stop being
so terrified of everyone who isn't exactly like you and become an actual, decent
human being! Whichever.

"why did Dumbledore have to be gay, why not some other
[background] character? Now I can never look at him the
same!"

So what you're saying is that you don't mind if people are gay, as
long as you have no interaction or emotional attachment to them? WOW,
that's so progressive and compassionate of you!

"homosexual characters have no place in a children's
book."

In that case, we should ban every story ever written about a prince
rescuing a "helpless" princess and marrying her. Since you seem to have
such a problem with your children knowing anything about families that don't
look like yours, maybe you should just keep them from reading (or watching t.v.)
altogether, we wouldn't want them to, you know, think critically about how
jacked up your morals are.

"this ruins the whole series for me."

Good you bigot. I don't want to think that we have the same
taste in literature. I mean, Seriously? the fact the you found out a
character is gay (after the series was over and said series never made a single
reference to the character's orientation), ruins it for you? remind me
never to come out to your judgemental ass.

Oh, and I especially love this comment:

"umm...i guess i now understand why dumbledore spent so much time
with harry alone in his office.... :/ "

Cuz, you know.... gay = pedophile.

I couldn't resist looking at the comment pages and I found some of my own that are real winners:

"First of all, Dumbledore is a really old guy, and there's no romantic storyline anywhere in the series that involves him. If there were, there probably shouldn't be anyway."

Homophobia AND ageism all rolled into one little package, because, as we all know, old people aren't sexual, or they shouldn't be.

"She doesn't sell enough books without having to include a homosexual? Give us a break!!"

Yeah. You guessed it. She felt obligated to script a gay character for her personal financial gain. Never mind that the revelation came well after she's already made like a gazillion dollars on royalties. Why don't you give ME a break?

"Many Harry Potter readers, not all, but a good many, are too young to grasp the concept of a gay character in a children's series."

I'd love to ask this guy at what age he thinks individuals CAN "grasp the concept of a gay character," or how old he thinks one should be before they are exposed to ignorance. Obviously he knows nothing about emotional, cognitive, or moral development. I could go on, but I won't bother.

"So, what's next? Heidi was molested by her grandfather and Dorothy was doing no-no activity with her dog Toto?"

Yes. Obviously. Because gay men prey on children and lesbians prefer sex with animals.

For People of Difference

2007-10-25T17:06:00.000-07:00

Brothers, sisters
of difference,
people of color,
people of poverty,
gay and straight,
black, white, Asian, Hispanic,
jew, Christian, Muslim,
or whoever you are,
hitherto invisible ones,
stand together and
affirm yourselves,
in your difference,
and in your unity.
Do not accept for
one more minute
the insidious forces
that hold you back
by act, word, or tone.
Forge a chain and
break the chains,
you do not stand alone.
And to you beyond the walls,
in mental hospitals,
in prison stalls,
in chairs of steel,
in hospice beds,
in boxes made of cardboard,
or numbered by substances that
eat away at brain and heart,
for you who bear the stigma
of difference
and the judments of all,
join together, make it start!
Do not go silently;
do not withdraw;
do not say "yes sir"
even once more.
Trust what you think
and what you know and feel.
Cry, shout, scream,
find your anger,
dare to dream,
find your strength locked
arm in arm.
Do not go gently or in shame.
You have a legacy of hope,
of courage more than pain.

- Judith A. Lee

Equal Opportunity - Unless You're GLBT

2007-10-22T19:50:00.000-07:00

This comes from Human Rights Campaign:

In most states, you can be fired for being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, regardless of your performance or qualifications. HRC has been fighting since 2004 to pass a federal law to end this injustice.

Congressional leaders have decided to push a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that includes sexual orientation, but not gender identity. Tell Congress to support the Baldwin Amendment to ENDA, which would place gender identity back into the bill - and ensure all GLBT people have full employment equality.

This is a historic vote. For the first time ever, the House of Representatives is poised to vote on employment protections for the GLBT community. Help us make sure every member of the GLBT community is included in those protections.

Make sure the Baldwin Amendment passes! Call Congress today at (202) 224-3121, and tell your representative to support the Baldwin Amendment to ENDA.

Then, be sure to send an email to reinforce your call.

We must do this. It is long overdue.

Happy Birthday to MY Dad

2007-10-21T20:51:00.001-07:00

I'll bet that when this picture was taken...

You never anticipated we'd take one like this:

I love you, Dad, and I'm so full of thanks for another year.

And the Winner Is...

2007-10-21T10:40:00.000-07:00

I take it back.

2007-10-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

Today, in the heat of a moment filled with the stress of the demands of my graduate school program, I turned to my dogs and said in a hungry, pathetic voice:

"I am SO sick of bean burritos and Velveeta Shells and Cheese. I just want something good to eat!!"

Then I read this.

I have never been this hungry.

What the AP fails to mention is that the person in this story is not alone. It is estimated that there are more than 38 million Americans who are "food insecure."

In fact, according to this national survey, requests for emergency food assistance increased an average of 12 percent in 2005. That same year, 18 percent of all requests for emergency food assistance went unmet. In more than half of the cities participating in the survey, food assistance facilities were not able to provide an adequate quantity of food. 68% of cities report either decreasing the quantity of emergency food assistance distributed or putting limits on the numbers of bags distributed or decreasing further the number of times families and/or individuals can come to get food.

Forty-three percent of the cities report that emergency food assistance facilities may have to turn away those in need because of lack of resources.

In 87 percent of the cities, families and individuals relied on emergency food assistance facilities
both in emergencies and as a steady source of food over long periods of time.

That's some report card for the land of plenty we call the greatest nation in the world.

My mom used to encourage me to eat brussel sprouts with gratitude because, "there are starving children in China." She forgot to mention that there are starving children in America.

I have never been this hungry.

I take it back.

Another Child Left Behind

2007-10-10T22:47:00.000-07:00

Read the story at Common Dreams.

We don't have the political will to provide adequate

mental health services to citizens of this country.

Who's going to help this little boy make sense of his world?

Tickle Fuzzy Hug

2007-10-10T19:18:00.000-07:00

It's all in the semantics.

To Summarize...

2007-10-06T18:43:00.000-07:00

$720 Million?

2007-10-01T21:19:00.000-07:00

Just look what this kind of money can buy.

Happy Birthday Landen!

2007-09-20T10:14:00.000-07:00

Wish I was there to see you blow out your birthday candles.

Think Outside The Bottle

2007-09-11T22:20:00.001-07:00

While catching up on some blog reading, I found an EXCELLENT link over at Mary's place which took me to this article.

Please read it. Then go out and get one of these.

Charge...Clear...Still V-Tach

2007-09-11T21:01:00.001-07:00

A thought.

2007-09-03T21:04:00.000-07:00

It probably can be shown with
FACTS and
FIGURES
that there is no
distinctly
American criminal class
except
Congress.

~Mark Twain

(Leave your proof in the comments.)

Yup. I agree.

2007-08-17T15:22:00.000-07:00

Minimum wage workers made $5.15 an hour when Harry Potter became a sensation a decade ago, and nothing more until July 24, three days after the final Harry Potter book release.

The same year Harry Potter and the $5.15 minimum wage made their debuts, in 1997, Business Week declared CEO pay was "Out of Control." Since then, CEO pay has gotten more out of control.Average CEO pay at the top 500 companies jumped 38 percent to $15.2 million in 2006 -- the year we broke the record for the longest period ever without a raise in the federal minimum wage.

The July 24 minimum wage increase from $5.15 to $5.85 is so little, so late, that the minimum wage is still worth less than it was back in 1997, when it was $6.67 in today's dollars.

Minimum wage workers had more buying power when Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton opened his first Walton's 5 & 10 in 1951.

CEOs make more in 90 minutes than minimum wage workers make in a year.

The two longest periods in history without a minimum wage increase have occurred since 1980. Those long draughts without a raise have left minimum wage workers in the dust. In 1980, the average CEO at a big corporation made as much as 97 minimum wage workers. In 1997, the average CEO made as much as 728 minimum wage workers.

Last year, CEOs made as much as 1,419 minimum wage workers. "As the productivity of workers increases, one would expect worker compensation to experience similar gains," a 2001 U.S. Department of Labor report observed. Instead, the gains have gone to record-breaking profits, CEOs and other have-mores.Between 1980 and 2006, worker productivity went up 70 percent, average worker wages went nowhere, the minimum wage fell 32 percent, and domestic corporate profits rose 256 percent, adjusting for inflation. A red light for minimum wage was a green light for accelerating greed. Adjusting for inflation, men in their thirties make less today than their fathers' generation made in the 1970s.

It's time to stop overpaying CEOs enough to keep their families rich for many generations to come at the expense of workers paid poverty wages today. Even the state with the highest minimum wage, Washington at $7.93, doesn't match the buying power of the federal minimum wage at its peak in 1968. Worth $9.56 in today's dollars, the 1968 minimum wage was more than $2 higher than the scheduled raise in the federal minimum wage to $7.25 on July 24, 2009.

Too bad we can't use Hermione's magical Time-Turner to send the minimum wage and CEO pay both back to 1968. The minimum wage sets the wage floor. If the minimum wage had stayed above $9, Wal-Mart and McDonald's, our nation's largest employers, couldn't routinely pay wages much lower. Wal-Mart's wages would be closer to Costco, which pays starting wages over $10 an hour. Costco CEO Jim Sinegal has long asserted, "Paying your employees well is not only the right thing to do, but it makes for good business." McDonald's starting wages would be more like In-N-Out Burger, which has a minimum wage of $9.50 an hour and has long ranked first or tied for first nationwide among fast food chains in overall excellence.
Our nation's minimum wage would be closer to Harry Potter's U.K., where the minimum wage already tops $10, child poverty rates have fallen sharply, and the economy is stronger than ours.

Overpaying CEOs and underpaying workers is bad for business. Studies show that showering stock options on chief executives lowers shareholder returns, and increases the likelihood companies will cook their books, default on debt and go bankrupt. Higher worker wages benefit business by increasing consumer spending, reducing costly employee turnover, raising worker morale and productivity, and improving product quality and company reputation. In the words of Gary Theilen, owner of Theilen Farm and Cattle in Enid, Okla., "As a small-business owner who has always paid well above the minimum wage, it has been my experience that paying living wages makes good business sense. It is good for business, workers and the community. "Theilen has joined business owners from across the nation in endorsing higher minimum wage at Business for a Fair Minimum Wage (http://www.businessforafairminimumwage.org/).

Paying workers enough to live on is the minimum employers should do.

Holly Sklar is co-author of "A Just Minimum Wage: Good for Workers, Business and Our Future" and "Raise the Floor: Wages and Policies That Work for All of Us."

She can be reached at hsklar@aol.com.

It's Never Too Early to Start Training...

2007-08-10T09:17:00.000-07:00

The War Prayer

2007-08-08T15:55:00.000-07:00

Samuel Clemens, a.k.a. "Mark Twain," wrote "The War Prayer" after the Spanish-American War of 1899-1902, which Twain supported when it was promoted as a war for democracy, concluded in the Philippine-American War, in which US troops brutally suppressed a popular insurgency that had helped defeat the Spanish power in the Pacific archipelago. "The War Prayer" was rejected by his publisher, and was found after his death among his unpublished manuscripts. It was first published in 1923 in the anthology, Europe and Elsewhere. I discovered it here.

WHERE THE FUCK IS MY DEBATE?

2007-08-07T19:24:00.000-07:00

Shamelessly stolen from a dear friend:

I am sitting at my desk watching the AFL-CIO debate for all of the Democratic presidential candidates. It is taking place in Illinois, which is the largest industrialized state that voted AGAINST WOMEN BEING IN THE US CONSTITUTION. Let me repeat that, it isn't just that they did not pass the ERA ~ IT IS THAT THEY VOTED AGAINST THE ERA. This is not a fine, hair-splitting distinction - this is FUNDAMENTAL. Could they possibly consider boycotting states which voted against gender equality?

The debate is being held in the new Soldier's Stadium (soldiers?) which cost millions of taxpayers' money. Obvious questions are about bridges, mines, war, universal health care, NAFTA, WTO - it is a debate hosted by the unions after all. As Hillary boasts and beams about being a daughter of Illinois; her father a Bear's fan. Really! Oh, and is this Obama land? What did he do for women while in public service to the people of Illinois? He proudly stated that he voted to build the stadium but what did he do to ratify the ERA in Illinois?

The subtitle of today's debate is WORKING FAMILIES VOTE 2008. What families? Women-head-of-household families? Soldiers' families whose primary wage earner is on the third tour overseas? LGB families who are denied the benefits of federal and state recognized marriage? The families of the 2 million people who are in US prisons?

Please pardon my language but WHERE THE FUCK IS MY DEBATE? Where is the debate hosted by women for women, about women. I am not stupid, I know that every issue is a women's issue but we have watched debates by CNN, Youtube, LOGO, AFL-CIO, Christians and Howard University. Between both of the main parities there are 16 men and one woman. There have been no women moderators. 20% of the Youtube questions aired were by women.

I want a WOMEN'S DEBATE. I want it hosted by women, with women in the audience, all questions about how every issue is a women's issue. I want to see an audience of women from the military, the clergy, teachers, nurses, doctors, attorneys, manufacturers, law enforcement officers, etc. and the unemployed. I want to see mothers; single, married, gay, straight. I want to see seniors and students. I want it on a women's campus. I want questions about the Supreme Court, reproductive autonomy, pay equity, marriage rights, prison reform, immigration as it affects families. I want questions about THE NUMBER ONE WOMEN'S ISSUE IN THE US AND THE WORLD ~ SAFETY: sexual safety, public safety, in-home safety. We must begin to talk publicly about VIOLENCE against women. (how can we make this happen? ~ please help make this happen.)

WHERE THE FUCK IS MY DEBATE?

Please go HERE to read more. Zoe is a friend of mine and I love her.

Happy Birthday to ME!

2007-06-25T11:20:00.000-07:00

I am becoming
the woman I've wanted,
grey at the temples,
soft body, delighted,
cracked up by life
with a laugh that's known bitter
but, past it, got better,
knows she's a survivor-
that whatever comes,
she can outlast it.
I am becoming a deep
weathered basket.

I am becoming the woman
I've longed for,
the motherly lover
with arms strong and tender,
the growing up daughter
who blushes surprises.
I am becoming full moons
and sunrises.

I find her becoming,
this woman I've wanted,
who knows she'll encompass,
who knows she's sufficient,
knows where she's going
and travels with passion.
Who remembers she's precious,
but knows she's not scarce -
who knows she is plenty,
plenty to share.

-Jayne Realford Brown

Dear World, From Congress

2007-06-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

Pentagon Confirms It Sought To Build A 'Gay Bomb'

2007-06-10T22:23:00.000-07:00

From CBS News
Hank Plante, Reporting

A Berkeley watchdog organization that tracks military spending said it uncovered a strange U.S. military proposal to create a hormone bomb that could purportedly turn enemy soldiers into homosexuals and make them more interested in sex than fighting.

Pentagon officials on Friday confirmed to CBS 5 that military leaders had considered, and then subsquently rejected, building the so-called "Gay Bomb."Edward Hammond, of Berkeley's Sunshine Project, had used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain a copy of the proposal from the Air Force's Wright Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio.

As part of a military effort to develop non-lethal weapons, the proposal suggested, "One distasteful but completely non-lethal example would be strong aphrodisiacs, especially if the chemical also caused homosexual behavior."

The documents show the Air Force lab asked for $7.5 million to develop such a chemical weapon...

Read the rest of the article here.

Seriously, people, a "gay bomb?"

Finals are on Tuesday and then I'm BACK! (I can hardly wait!)

No BBQ's Today

2007-05-28T15:14:00.001-07:00

In Memorium

2007-05-27T23:04:00.000-07:00

SONG OF THOSE WHO DIED IN VAIN

Sit down and bargain
All you like, grizzled old foxes.
We’ll wall you up in a splendid palace
With food, wine, good beds and a good fire
Provided that you discuss, negotiate
For our and your children’s lives.
May all the wisdom of the universe
Converge to bless your minds
And guide you in the maze.
But outside in the cold we will be waiting for you,
The army of those who died in vain,
We of the Marne, of Montecassino,
Treblinka, Dresden and Hiroshima.
And with us will be
The leprous and the people with trachoma,
The Disappeared Ones of Buenos Aires,
Dead Cambodians and dying Ethiopians,
The Prague negotiators,
The bled-dry of Calcutta
The innocents slaughtered in Bologna.
Heaven help you if you come out disagreeing:
You’ll be clutched tight in our embrace.
We are invincible because we are the conquered,
Invulnerable because already dead;
We laugh at your missiles.
Sit down and bargain
Until your tongues are dry.
If the havoc and the shame continue
We’ll drown you in our putrefaction.

Primo Levi
Italian Chemist
Author
Auschwitz Survivor
Poem written 14 January 1985
(before Rwanda, Iraq, Afghanistan, Darfur)

Today's Press Conference Wrap Up

2007-05-24T15:07:00.000-07:00

I know this girl.

2007-05-24T10:09:00.001-07:00

She rocks.

Action Alert

2007-05-21T18:47:00.000-07:00

Dear activists, colleagues, and friends,

The Gonzales hearings made plain for all to see that the highest law enforcement officer in the land is unwilling to tell the truth under oath.

Think about that.

He doesn't recall. He doesn't know. He evades, answering questions with questions, and yet, the President has not fired him. He continues to damage our country.

It's all there on TV for everyone to see, although few have the time or patience to watch. That's why we at Brave New Films have produced a 2 minute video (with an assist from George Bush) to boil the story down to its essence.

Watch it here: http://impeachgonzales.org/

Let's not be shy. Let's use the "i" word -- IMPEACHMENT. Say it, SHOUT it loud and clear. It has a good patriotic feel to it. And yes, the attorney general CAN be impeached. It is legal, it is proper, and it is time.

The Senate is expected to hold a "no confidence" vote on Gonzales sometime this week. We need to show them there is broad grassroots support to go further.

McJoan from DailyKOS notes the political importance: "Gonzales's refusal to resign and Bush's refusal to force it are part and parcel of the effort to protect Rove, Miers, and ultimately Bush. Which is precisely why Alberto Gonzales must be impeached."

So here is your ammunition for impeachment -- a video, a petition, a whole campaign to get the House Judiciary Committee to launch this action, NOW. We and our friends and partners at Democracy for America want and need your help.

Watch it here: http://impeachgonzales.org/

Don't just be angry, don't just be annoyed, don't yell at the ones you love. IMPEACH GONZALES.

Let's get to work! Watch the video and send it to everyone you know.

Democracy is a beautiful thing.

Robert Greenwald and the Brave New Films team

P.S. For some background on impeachment see this New York Times editorial from Mizzou law professor Frank Bowman.

An open question for the President

2007-05-20T19:49:00.000-07:00

The Department of Defense has identified 3,397 American service members who have died since the start of the Iraq war.

It confirmed the deaths of the following Americans over the weekend:

GAUTIER, Aaron D., 19, Pfc., Army; Hampton, Va.; Second Infantry
Division.

HAMM, Jonathan V., 20, Pfc., Army; Baltimore; Second Infantry
Division.

PACKER, Steven M., 23, Sgt., Army; Clovis, Calif.; 10th
Mountain Division.

SCHOBER, Anthony J., 23, Sgt., Army; Reno, Nev.;
10th Mountain Division.

Mr. Bush, this is your:

What did you do this weekend?

For Mother's Day: Peace

2007-05-08T07:39:00.000-07:00

Arise then...women of this day!

Arise, all women who have hearts!

Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!

Say firmly:"We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,

Our husbands will not come to us,

reeking with carnage,

For caresses and applause.

Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn

All that we have been able to teach them

of charity, mercy and patience.

We, the women of one country,

Will be too tender of those of another country

To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.

From the voice of a devastated

Earth a voice goes up withOur own.

It says: "Disarm!

Disarm!"

The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.

Blood does not wipe our dishonor,

Nor violence indicate possession.

As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil

At the summons of war,

Let women now leave all that may be left of home

For a great and earnest day of counsel.

Let them meet first, as women,

to bewail and commemorate the dead.

Let them solemnly take counsel with each other

as to the means

Whereby the great human family can live in peace...

Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress,

not of Caesar,

But of God -

In the name of womanhood and humanity,

I earnestly ask

That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,

May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient

And the earliest period consistent with its objects,

To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,

The amicable settlement of international questions,

The great and general interests of peace.

Julia Ward Howe

1870 Mother's Day Proclamation

UPDATE! For an EXCELLENT read on the real history of Mother's Day, go here.

Moving Beyond Anti-War Politics

2007-05-06T21:04:00.000-07:00

ZNet Commentary

By Phylis Bennis and Robert Jensen

As Congress sends its bill requiring partial troop withdrawals from Iraq to the White House for a certain veto, it has never been clearer that mobilizing against this war is necessary, but not enough.Congressional Democrats may be willing to stop there, but demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq is only the first of our obligations to help create the conditions for real justice and peace in the Middle East and around the world. It's crucial that we also advocate for an entirely new foreign policy based on opposition to the long U.S. drive toward empire.

That first step is, of course, crucial. When 78 percent of the Iraqi people oppose the presence of U.S. troops and 61 percent support attacks on those troops, it's clear that our presence in the country is causing -- not preventing -- much of the violence. Pulling out U.S. troops (including the 100,000-plus mercenaries who back the U.S. military) won't eliminate all Iraqi-on-Iraqi violence, but it will remove the reason many Iraqis are fighting. That would take away the protective umbrella that the widely supported anti-occupation violence currently gives the real terrorists -- those engaged in killing civilians for political or sectarian reasons. Once U.S. forces are gone and the reason for the legitimate resistance to foreign occupation is eliminated, the ugly terrorist violence will be exposed for what it is - and it will be possible for Iraqis themselves to isolate the terrorists and eliminate them as a fighting force.

But what comes after a U.S. withdrawal? We clearly owe the Iraqi people massive reparations for the devastation our illegal invasion has brought. Only in the United States is that illegality questioned; in the rest of the world it's understood. Equally obvious around the world is that the decision to launch an aggressive war was rooted in the desire to expand U.S. military power in the strategically crucial oil-rich region, and that as a result the war fails every test of moral legitimacy.

As we organize against the occupation, we also must work to end U.S. support for Israeli occupation and try to prevent an aggressive war against Iran. But all of this is part of a larger obligation of U.S. citizens: We must challenge U.S. empire. The U.S. troop withdrawal and reparations should be accompanied by a declaration of a major change of course in U.S. foreign policy, especially in Iraq and the Middle East. We need a new foreign policy based on justice, relying on international law and the United Nations, rather than the assertion of might-makes-right.

This takes us beyond a critique of the mendacity of the Bush administration, to recognize that similar dreams of conquest and domination have animated every administration, albeit in different forms. From the darling of the anti-communist liberal elite (John F. Kennedy) and the champion of so-called "assertive multilateralism" (Bill Clinton), to the crude Republican realist (Richard Nixon) and the patron saint of the conservative right (Ronald Reagan), U.S. empire in the post-World War II era has been a distinctly bi-partisan effort.

In his 1980 State of the Union address, President Jimmy Carter called for domination of the Middle East: "An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force." In other words: We run the region and control the flow of its oil.

George W. Bush took earlier administrations' power plays to new heights of reckless militarism and unilateralism, seizing the moment after 9/11 to declare to all nations: "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime." In other words: We demand global capitulation.

The only way to transcend this ugly history is through an honest national dialogue and a promise of a sea change in U.S. policy.

Look around the world at the results of U.S. strategies. Rhetoric about democracy and free trade has masked the enforcement of political and economic subordination to the United States and U.S.-based multinational corporations. The people of Latin America, much of Africa and the Middle East, and many parts of Asia can offer compelling testimony to the impact of those policies, enforced now through more than 700 U.S. military bases spread across the globe in over 130 countries.

Such empires are typically brought down from outside, with great violence. But we have another option, as citizens of that empire who understand how this pathology of power damages our country as well as the world. Imagine what would be possible if we -- ordinary citizens of this latest empire -- could build a movement that gave politicians no choice but to do the right thing.

Imagine what would be possible in the world if an anti-empire movement were strong enough to make it clear that ending military violence requires a just distribution of the resources of this world.

Imagine what is possible if we work to make inevitable one day what seems improbable today -- the justice that makes possible real peace.

Phyllis Bennis is a Fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies and author of Challenging Empire: How People, Governments and the UN Defy U.S. Power. She can be reached at pbennis@ips-dc.org

Robert Jensen is a professor of journalism at the University of Texas at Austin and author of Citizens of Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity. He can be reached at rjensen@uts.cc.utexas.edu

1.2.3.4 We Won't Take It Anymore!

2007-04-25T19:23:00.000-07:00

Okay.

Here's the deal.

The California State Univeristy Board of Trustees proposes a 10% hike in student fees for 2007-08. If this fee increase is realized, this means that students will be paying almost twice as much as they were in 2002.

Meanwhile, classes are more crowded, it is harder and harder to enroll in required courses, and student services are being slashed.

So yesterday, we had a big rally on campus, including a huge march through campus and the halls of the Administration building, expressing our collective outrage that six-figure executives think it's appropriate that:

• Last fall, the CSU Trustees awarded campus presidents and the top administrators in the Chancellor’s Office 19% increases in compensation -- including salary increases averaging 13.7% per person.

• At their January 2007 meeting, CSU Trustees will vote on another 4% salary increase proposed for the same executives.

• With these raises:
-the average 2-year salary increase = $42,000
-salary paid to the top execs in 06/07 will be 19% more than in 04/05

• By contrast, since 2002, CSU faculty received only a 3.5% raise, in July 2005.

• Compensation increases awarded to some executives in 2005 totaled more than the annual salary paid to full-time faculty.

One of my classmates, Jay Tena shared this message with the audience. Oh how I wish I had a way to embed the audio!

First, I would like to thank all of you who showed up in support of our
cause which is to address the rampant increase in student fees. Without you, we
would not have a cause. Without you, we would not have a university to attend.
You are the most important people here and I appreciate the chance to talk to
you. This rally is about the misappropriation of funds endorsed by those in
power that have their own agenda, padding their bank accounts at the cost of
student’s education. This action is not congruent with such ethical issues as
accountability, equality, and the right of every individual to achieve their
highest potential. For many this includes a college education. For many in the
Inland Empire, college is the one way to pull themselves out of the cycle of
poverty that exists in our community. Here are just a few of the problems that
exist at all 23 California State Universities:

1) Chancellor Charles Reed and the Board of Trustees are requiring students to pay an additional 10% increase per year in student fees which have been raised 76%
since 2002. In addition, they plan to keep raising fees by 10% until 2010. This
not only insures that the marginalized population in the Inland Empire will lose
the ability to receive a college education, but it also effects the middle class
where students must work a full time job, support their families , and attempt
their dream of a college degree, which would allow them to support their
families at a higher level.

2) Often, students can’t get the classes they need to graduate on time because the administration will not allot money for additional full-time professors.

3) In addition, the lecturers they hire don’t have offices so students can’t get valuable 1:1 time to address any questions they may have about their course work. This is an attempt to save money as lectures are paid very little money and don’t quality for benefits for many years while working for the university.

4) Briefly, I would like to address one of the biggest atrocities the administration is proposing. CSU administration and the Board of Trustees intend to increase the student population enrollment by 2.5% while cutting or significantly reducing funds for student outreach programs such as the Educational Opportunity Program, better know as the EOP Program. Here is the Mission Statement of the EOP Program:

The mission of the EOP program is to provide access to higher education for
historically low-income, first generation disadvantaged students who have the
potential to succeed at the university level. EOP recruits, retains and
graduates students by providing a comprehensive program of support services
which include admission, academic advisement, career and personal counseling,
tutoring, financial assistance and graduate school information.

To lose this vital program would be a disgrace to our community and our school. We
must not allow budget cuts to affect this service to those in San Bernardo and
Riverside Counties, thus perpetuating the cycle of poverty in our community.

There is some hope however, a Joint Legislative Audit Committee voted
unanimously to explore all 23 CSU’s campuses to find how much money was paid
from state appropriations and student tuition and find where that money was
spent. As much as 4 million dollars in special perks and extra compensation has
been paid to departing CSU officials without public disclosure by the chancellor
or the Board of Trustees. State Senator Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, is pushing
a bill through the Senate to compel CSU trustees meet in public when discussing
and deciding executive compensation issues.

In summery, here are a few of our demands:

1) Roll back student fees to the 2002, 2003 level

2) Fund more classes not executives

3) Increase funds for outreach and retention programs such as the EOP Program

4) SHOW US THE MONEY. Let CSU’s allocation of funds be public record to
guarantee above the board policies

5) And PUT STUDENTS FIRST

Finally, I would like to thank the California Faculty Association, the professors and staff at all 23 CSU campuses who support our cause, and the students who are advocating for this ethical issue. Let our CSU campuses reflect a sterling example of
people working together for a common goal; equality and accountability and a
quality education.

While student after student addressed the crowd and gave their personal testimony, CSU President Albert Karnig, who makes an annual salary of $237,072, and also receives an annual housing allowance of $50,000 and an annual car allowance of $12,000, requested to speak to us.

But we didn't let him.

There is nothing that he could say to excuse the misappropriation of student resources.

Here I am with a few of my MSW's to be. I'm the one on the left with my handmade sign.

What We Need To Do

2007-04-23T08:26:00.000-07:00

I spent some time in San Diego this weekend at the California NOW conference. It was a whirlwind trip for me, filled with lots of emotional ups and downs. The experience is worthy of a longer, detailed post, but I am buried in homework and reading assignments, so here are the highlights:

The theme of this year's conference was Crossing Borders: Examining the Walls We Build Around Ourselves.

I attended four workshops - The Commonality of Oppression, Immigration is a Feminist Issue, Marriage Equality and current LGBT Legislation, and Feminists Who Changed California.

I had the opportunity to speak briefly with Dolores Huerta, and shared a great lunch with Bluegrrrl. This was a special treat for me, as she is the first of my blogging community that I have met in "real life!" Getting to know more about her makes me love and admire her even more!

Here we are with Dolores. This picture is particularly meaningful to me as today is the anniversary of Cesar Chavez's death. It saddens me that I did not develop a political consciousness in time to have marched with him in the struggle to bring social and economic justice to our farm workers, and I consider it an honor to have had the privilege to know Dolores.

The elections for our executive leadership resulted in an historic victory for grassroots leadership of our state NOW organization. I was proud to support the young slate and I am excited by the promise of possibility for feminist activism in California.

You can read about our newly elected officers, who will officially begin work for the organization in May, by going here. And please visit this website, run by our new Vice President of Membership!

And then, please read this post. Robin Tyler, founder of The Equality Campaign, made some very good points at this weekend's workshop on marriage equality. She said, "There is no such thing as just kidding. Humor is the razor sharp edge of the truth... You have to believe it in order to make it funny." McCain's "joke" should cost him his party's nomination and scare the rest of us peace-lovers into action to do more to stop this madness.

Some of What's Wrong With America

2007-04-20T11:23:00.000-07:00

So, I was checking out some of my little sister's MySpace friends and found a young Marine (24) who is stationed in Cuba. He has a blog entry that states, in part,

"I have already started saying "mon" after everything. Where I work is
very good. Good people all around. It is nice being back in a radio
station so I can listen to all the new music. I missed that a lot while in
Illinois. I am getting myself all trained up on the shit down here and I
am sort of my own boss so I don't have to worry too much on that. But if
something goes bad it's on my ass to make sure I can fix. Sort of
fun. Well that's my update of love from Gitmo. If you'd like to send
me stuff (a letter would rock) just hit me up with an email and I'll give you my
addy. I do hope everyone is doing just grand and I hope to hear from some
of you guys. Warmest wishes from my tropical paradise in a communist
country..."

to which one of his friends replied:

Hey Toney do you get to beat up prisoners in your spare time? That would
be awsome! Hope all is well. If you ever get close to Castro ask him
what the secret to a long life is. He has been around forever! Take
it easy, Kyle (emphasis mine)

"I don't recall"

2007-04-20T10:13:00.001-07:00

From Think Progress:

What emerged from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday was a picture of an inept manager who was, at best, unaware of major personnel decisions being made within his department, and at worst, complicit in the Bush administration's plan to politicize the ranks of the U.S. attorneys. He uttered the phrase "'I don't recall' and its variants ('I have no recollection,' 'I have no memory') 64 times," claiming, "I don't have anything to hide." Yet at the same time, Gonzales asked the Senate to trust him: "I believe I can continue to be effective as the attorney general of the United States." Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) wondered, "Since you apparently knew very little about the performance about the replaced United States attorneys, how can you testify that the judgment ought to stand?" After a full day of testimony, what is clear is that the Attorney General has repeatedly lied to the American public. Gonzales yesterday promised, "The moment I believe I can no longer be effective I will resign as attorney general." President Bill Clinton told Larry King last night on CNN, "The best thing he could do for this president that he served so loyally is to step aside."

LIES AND INCONSISTENCIES: Throughout this scandal, Gonzales has simultaneously said that he is "ultimately accountable and responsible for what happens within the department," while at the same time shirking responsibility: "I was not involved in seeing any memos, was not involved in any discussions about what was going on." Yet documents show that Gonzales was involved and approved plans to fire several of the prosecutors in an hour-long meeting on Nov. 27. Earlier in the month, Gonzales former chief of staff Kyle Sampson told congressional investigators that the Attorney General was "inaccurate," or "at least not complete" in asserting that he had no role in the prosecutor purge deliberations. Yesterday, Gonzales finally conceded the obvious -- that he was involved -- but still failed to fully explain why at least eight highly-respected U.S. attorneys were fired. Under questioning from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), he also admitted that he "made these decisions without ever looking at the performance reports" of the U.S. attorneys. He said that at the time he approved the firings, he didn't even know why two of the prosecutors -- Daniel Bogden of Nevada and Margaret Chiara of Michigan -- were on the list. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called Gonzales's explanations "a stretch," adding that he thought the prosecutors were fired because of personality conflicts and "made up reasons."

RUNNING OUT THE CLOCK: Much of this controversy centers around whether the Bush administration intended to install conservative loyalists as U.S. attorneys, taking advantage of a little-noticed provision slipped into the Patriot Act in 2005, which allows the Attorney General to name "interim" prosecutors who can serve indefinitely without Senate approval. On Jan. 18, Gonzales assured the Senate Judiciary Committee, "I am fully committed...to ensure that, with respect to every United States attorney position in this country, we will have a presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed United States attorney." This statement has turned out to be untrue. In early December, Gonzales allowed Sampson to go forward with a plan to avoid Senate input on the nomination of Karl Rove-protege Tim Griffin as U.S. attorney in Arkansas. But then in a meeting on Dec. 15, Gonzales promised Sen. Mark Pryor (R-AR) that he would "look for someone else" instead of Griffin, in response to Pryor's objections. Despite this promise, Sampson then sent out an e-mail four days later to carry out the Griffin plan" "We should gum this to death. [A]sk the senators to give Tim a chance...then we can tell them we'll look for other candidates, ask them for recommendations, evaluate the recommendations, interview their candidates, and otherwise run out the clock." Pryor said "he still believes the attorney general lied to him by stating that he intended to seek Senate confirmation for Griffin." BLAMING CAREER PROFESSIONALS: "The Department of Justice should never be reduced to another political arm of the White House -- this White House or any White House," Leahy said yesterday. Yet under Gonzales, this characterization is exactly what the Justice Department has become. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) yesterday noted that during the Clinton administration, there were just four people -- the president, the vice president, the deputy White House counsel and the White House counsel -- who could participate in these kind of discussions with the Justice Department "regarding pending criminal investigations and criminal cases." But under the Bush administration, there are 417 White House officials eligible to have such discussions, blurring the line between justice and politics. Gonzales tried to push some of the blame on to the career professionals in the Justice Department, stating, "And all the credit, everything that we do, the credit goes to them. And so, when there are attacks against the department, you're attacking the career professionals." The career professionals have nothing to do with the scandals Gonzales and the political appointees at the Justice Department have created. In 2005, Bush's political appointees reversed the career staff's recommendations to challenge a Georgia photo-ID law that a federal judge later likened to a "modern-day poll tax." More recently, a "Group of Concerned Justice Department Employees" wrote an anonymous letter revealing that "the non-political ranks of Justice employees...are consistently and methodically being eroded by partisan politics."

VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE: After the hearing yesterday, the White House issued a statement saying that the President was "pleased with the Attorney General's testimony." He was the only one who came away pleased though. "[S]everal very loyal Republicans made it clear to CNN that they were really dripping with disappointment." Two senior White House aides also characterized Gonzales's testimony to CNN as "going down in flames. ... One prominent Republican describing watching his testimony as 'clubbing a baby seal.'" Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) called on Gonzales to resign: "I believe you ought to suffer the consequences that these others have suffered, and I believe the best way to put this behind us is your resignation." Sixty-three percent of the American public believes Gonzales is lying about his role in the prosecutor purge and 52 percent believe he needs to step down.

To read the very best blog post I've read on this issue so far, go HERE.

As Promised

2007-04-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

Here's a little background:

I'm a member of the National Organization for Women, which is divided up into lots of smaller chapters around the country. California is the only state that has a state-level organization, California NOW. Our state organization serves as a way to unify the state's more than 100,000 NOW members.

California NOW has an annual conference, and at this year's meetings we will be holding elections for our executive leadership. There are many positions up for grabs, but there are only two slates, the incumbants and the challengers.

Both slates have their own campaigns and their own websites. This year's campaign has become heated, as all campaigns do, because those who currently hold executive positions have a vested interest in retaining their titles.

This morning I received this email:

SUBJECT: Urgent Action Requested -- CANOW members
please distribute widely and PLEASE take the time to vote this Saturday.

READ MORE: www.CaliforniaNOW.org

Dear
Fellow CANOW Member:
Do you want CANOW to remain grassroots? If so, it is
time to protect the grassroots of California NOW. Your attendance, before 4:30
this Saturday in San Diego is urgently requested. Your vote is critically
important at this pivotal stage in NOW history. In our forty years, NOW chapters
have always operated with elected, not permanent leadership. With the potential
exception of our very own chapter, no NOW chapter allows unelected permanent
leaders. CANOW is in the process of changing into a conventional nonprofit
(where one person as executive director or president stays on permanently
without term limits). There was a lawsuit 30 years ago at the national level to
prevent converting NOW this way from its grassroots organizational structure and
several California chapters have assembled to do the same for our chapter.

After one term in office and witnessing the CANOW administration from
the inside our elected president, Kim Salter, has determined that a decade long
downturn in membership, over 7 years without a financial audit, board
stalemates, almost 50 cents of every dollar donated going to pay telemarketers,
and organizational transition from grassroots to centrally operated is ready for
substantive change. The need for change and authoritative leadership is great.
We have let a few leaders invert the NOW grassroots model and operate under
highly discretionary permanent leadership and in violation of our organization's
charter.

The Kim Salter slate is committed to correcting this divergence
and re-establishing the grassroots of CANOW. We are a group of qualified
candidates who want to turn NOW back around in a positive direction and preserve
the GRASSROOTS. Please vote to save CANOW by supporting the Kim Salter slate.

In Sisterhood,
The Kim Salter Slate
President, Kimberly Salter,
current CA NOW President
VP Action, Gloria Johnson, San Diego County NOW
Board Delegate
VP Membership, Nan Leuschel, San Francisco NOW Board Member
VP Diversity, Mona Lisa Wallace, recent San Francisco NOW President
Treasurer, Heather Karberg, Orange County NOW Board member
Secretary,
Nadia Islam, VP Racial and Ethnic Diversity

The Election
4:30
p.m. Saturday, April 21
Holiday Inn Bayside
4875 North Harbor Drive
San Diego, CA
619-224-3621

You must already be a member of NOW
to vote, and you must receive credentials on Saturday, April 21, prior to 5:00
pm. Be sure to arrive before 4:30 pm on Saturday and get in the credential line
early to be ready to vote.

Chapters Endorsing the Salter Slate (Partial
list)
LA Now
Oakland/East Bay
Orange County
San Diego County
San Francisco
San Gabriel Valley/Whittier

"It is against
National NOW policy to have permanent leadership -- members vote on and elect
our leaders because NOW is a small "d" democratic organization. Picture us as an
upside pyramid – members at the top, then chapters, then states." Kim Gandy,
president of NOW

"I also believe very strongly in wide latitude for
chapters - within the broad Statement of Purpose of NOW - and minimum 'control'
by state or national full-time, or 'permanent' leaders. A movement can survive
and thrive only when it makes room for new voices and new leadership."
Aileen Hernandez, founding NOW member and 2nd NOW President

READ MORE: www.CaliforniaNOW.org

To which I replied:

Dear Ms. Salter,

This brief message is in response to your passionate call for my support of your candidacy for president on CANOW. I'd like to share some of my reactions to your message.

First, the subject line and the header of your correspondence is deceptive. You write as if your message is coming from the organization when it is really a cleverly disguised campaign plea. Your campaign's attempt to use the legitimacy of CANOW to garner votes is dishonest and unethical.

Your message is written to appeal to fear, fear that my feminist organization is going to be ruined unless I vote for you. This is an elementary strategy. Your message tells me nothing of what you have done in your current position or anything about your unique vision for the future of my organization.

You say that the need for change is great, and yet you encourage me to support you and maintain the status quo by reelecting you.

Perhaps most egregious, you have used your personal access to the public contact information of our member organization to your unfair and perhaps illegal advantage. In fact, CANOW's privacy statement, taken from the official website reads: "We respect your privacy! Any and all the information collected on this site will be kept strictly confidential and will not be sold, reused, rented, disclosed, or loaned! Any information you give us will be held with the utmost care and will not be used in ways that you have not consented to..." I certainly did not consent for you to use my membership contact information for your campaign purposes.

There are some portions of your message that I do agree with. We do need grassroots participation in CANOW. We do need to encourage our membership to vote. These two ideals should be distributed widely. Thus, I am posting both your message to me, and my response, in my public forum: http://melissamsw.blogspot.com.

Please remove me from your personal email distribution list.

Sincerely,

Melissa

UPDATE: The election results are in! Congratulations to the NewNOW slate for their victory! We look forward to many exciting, progressive changes as we work together to promote feminist ideals in California.

In Solidarity

2007-04-18T19:15:00.000-07:00

As many of my regular readers are aware, I am a graduate student. The increasing demands of my program, in fact, keep me from spending more time in bloggerland, either writing my own thoughts, or reading and commenting on all of yours. When I returned to school, after a seven year absence, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. And now, three weeks into my third quarter, with midterms just around the corner, the daily three-hour commute which last August I was sure would be "no big deal," has become just the opposite.

To inspire myself, I have taken to sticking inspirational quotations or positive aspirations in the cover of my school binder. So, on a day when I'll have to get up and give a presentation, I'll print out a beautiful rendition of Maggie Kuhn's "Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes." And I will read it over and over again, and I think of her, organizing the Gray Panthers, and what an amazing woman she must have been.

Sometimes my binder cover displays song lyrics. Pink's "Dear Mr. President" was in my binder for several weeks, actually, until I finally had to remove it. This occurred when I became so disgusted with Bu$h that I could no longer feign the respect the title "Mr. President" implies.

Today my binder cover housed a simple yellow piece of paper.

It said

Day of Silence:

Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence, a national youth movement protesting the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies. My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by harassment, prejudice, and discrimination. I believe that ending the silence is the first step toward fighting these injustices.

Think about the voices you are not hearing today.

That's a good message, to think about what we DO NOT hear, either because we do not allow the voices to exist, or because we simply choose not to listen to them. This is the definition of heterosexual privilege. The beneficiaries of oppression are not obliged to acknowledge the oppressed.

It saddens me deeply to have found these headlines this evening:

Vandalized school hews to Day of Silence

SSF High School Blanketed With Graffiti

Indiana school goes on lockdown on Day of Silence

Rio Linda High students suspended over Day of Silence protest

However, I am heartened to read the positive accounts, the stories of hundreds of thousands of young men and women, students much younger than myself, participating on this eleventh annual youth-led protest. These are our future leaders and collectively represent some of the best things about America. They are our promise.

I stand in solidarity with them.

Happy Activist Birthday...

2007-04-10T10:17:00.000-07:00

...To my hero, Dolores Huerta. She is a living example of the kind of woman I aspire to be.

War, An Update

2007-04-09T19:45:00.000-07:00

From Center For American Progress Action Fund:

Four years ago today, U.S.-led coalition forces marched into Baghdad and toppled the statue of Saddam Hussein, marking the "liberation" of Iraq. "Gone are the euphoric April 9 cheers of 'Good, Good, Bush' praising U.S. President George W. Bush for ousting the regime. Angry chants of 'Down with Bush' are a frequent background to brutal Shiite and Sunni sectarian strife." "The Americans call the 9th of April the liberation of Baghdad," said one man who identified himself as Alaa, "but it was just an invasion, and liberated the city from Saddam for them, not for us." "I really regret bringing down the statue," said Kadhim al-Jubouri, an Iraqi weightlifter who was enlisted to help symbolically bring down the statute in 2003. "The Americans are worse than the dictatorship. Every day is worse than the previous day." In a harsh condemnation of the U.S. mismanagement of Iraq, former Iraqi government minister Ali Allawi writes, "The corroded and corrupt state of Saddam was replaced by the corroded, inefficient, incompetent and corrupt state of the new order." Symbolic of the nation's current lack of security, the cities of Baghdad and Najaf have declared bans on vehicle traffic today, in an attempt to stave off any attacks on the anniversary. Tens of thousands of Iraqis draped themselves in Iraqi flags and marched through the streets of two Shiite holy cities Monday in a demonstration against the U.S. presence in Iraq. Salah al-Obaydi, an organizer of the protest, said, "We're hoping that by next year's anniversary, we will be an independent and liberated Iraq with full sovereignty." The Center for American Progress has a plan to accomplish that, and do so in a responsible way that serves the security interests of both the United States and the Iraqis.

SURGE SPREADS VIOLENCE: In the early stages of Bush's escalation strategy, "the daily bloodshed shows no let-up." Ten U.S. soldiers were killed this past weekend, along with at least 69 Iraqis. The escalation strategy, which officially began on Feb. 14 and sent 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq, has shown "little sign" of "accomplishing its main purpose: to create an island of stability in which Sunni Arabs, Shiite Arabs and Kurds can try to figure out how to run the country together. ... The rate of American deaths in [Baghdad] over the first seven weeks of the security plan has nearly doubled from the previous period, though it has stayed roughly the same over all, decreasing in other parts of the country as troops have focused on the capital." Because of the escalation, "death squad killings have been reduced in Baghdad, but car bombings in the city have continued and violence has surged in the regions just outside the capital." The American military acknowledges that much of the drop in the sectarian executions "has come because of decreased activity by Shiite militias and death squads, especially the powerful Mahdi Army militia that claims allegiance to the cleric Muqtada al-Sadr." Some of the Shiite militias appear to have "decided to refrain from carrying out revenge killings," allowing the U.S.-led coalition to carry out the fight against Sunni militants. "You have the enemy trying to show it is still strong and able to move and stir fear in the population," U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said Sunday. "We anticipated a movement of enemy forces and violence to the north, south, east and west of Baghdad."

TERRORISTS ADOPT NEW TACTICS: In his Easter Sunday message, Pope Benedict XVI said, "Nothing positive comes from Iraq, torn apart by continual slaughter as the civil population flees." Terrorists in Iraq have adopted new tactics in response to the Bush administration's escalation. Last week, the U.S. military confirmed that an Army helicopter went down south of Baghdad, marking at least nine U.S. helicopters that have crashed or been brought down by hostile fire this year in Iraq. Also this weekend, "a suspected al-Qaida in Iraq suicide bomber smashed a truck loaded with TNT and toxic chlorine gas into a police checkpoint in Ramadi on Friday, killing at least 27 people -- the ninth such attack since the group's first known use of a chemical weapon in January." "January and February were particularly bad months for car bombing deaths; nearly 1,100 were killed in February alone. That number dropped to 783 in March, still high compared with months earlier in the war, according to an American military official. But the overall number of bombings actually increased: there were 108 car bombs that either detonated or were disarmed in March, a record for the war." "And in a new tactic, both Shiite and Sunni militants have been burning down homes and shops in the provinces in recent months." One American private described the fight this way: "The insurgents, they see what we're doing and we see what they're doing. Then we get ahead, then they figure out what we've done and they get ahead. It's like a game of cat and mouse. It's just a really, really smart mouse."

SADR'S RESISTANCE: Prominent Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr exhorted Iraqi security forces on Sunday to unite with his militiamen against the American military. Sadr, who has laid low during the troop surge, urged his militia members to "stop fighting and killing because that is what our enemy and your enemy and even God's enemy hope for." The head of his bloc in the Iraqi parliament, Nassar Rubaie, insisted that the movement was committed to nonviolent resistance. "We are now at the stage of political action," Rubaie said. "Peaceful means is the right way and has proved to be correct." Iraq war proponent Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) claimed that Sadr's statement proves the escalation is working. "He is not calling for a resurgence of sectarian conflict. He's striking a nationalist chord," Lieberman said. "He's acknowledging that the surge is working." Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) wrote this weekend, "Extremist Shiite militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr is in hiding, his followers are not contesting American forces." Sadr's own words belie such a reading of his motivations. Describing the U.S. as the "archenemy," Sadr urged Iraq's army and police to remain independent of U.S. forces and to avoid being "drawn after the occupier, because he is your stark enemy." "Sadr's statement did not explicitly call for armed struggle against the Americans, but it still represented his most forceful condemnation of the American-led occupation since he went underground after the start of an intensified Baghdad security crackdown nearly two months ago."

In other news, NPR is reporting that in order to maintain troop levels, 12,000 National Guard troops are going to be redeployed to combat zones.

To all this, I say:

Click the box to find out how to participate.

Hip Hip Hurray!

2007-03-29T19:10:00.000-07:00

Keroack is out.

I just did my feminist happy dance.

Truth

2007-03-27T23:13:00.000-07:00

It is the working people
of this country
who pay
the price
of foreign wars -
in blood and in taxes.

An Economic Primer

2007-03-23T21:37:00.000-07:00

Myth # 1 (of 4)

It's election season, and immigration "reform" and raising the minimum wage are two topics that continue to grace the headlines. Likewise, the same, tired arguments are also circulating. Welfare, poverty, and the foreign-born all get rolled-up into some sort of Republican talking-point orgy. In fact, I have recently heard a great deal of discussion regarding the economic drain the undocumented immigrant population is to the US economy: those vile, dirty, law breakers who come to this country and apply for all sorts of government handouts they don't deserve. Why, the masses question, should our hard-earned tax dollars go to support those people? Welfare entitlements are, after all, perverse incentives to have more babies, leave stable unemployment, and remain single. While the most recent rhetoric implicates undocumented immigrants as those responsible for the growing welfare rolls, the larger questions surrounding government means-tested programs have been around since the the inception of said programs.
The attitudes that fuel public opinion about welfare are well-grounded in statistical information and amplified by personal observations and experiences. How many, for example, have stood behind a woman in a grocery store who purchases her necessities (potato chips, root beer, cheese) with food stamps? How many welfare moms appear to have never gone hungry? Isn't it that most of them are really lazy, and in the process of successfully bestowing their many children with this and other less-desirable character flaws? Those who seek to disband welfare programs believe not only that welfare is wasteful, but that it has unsuccessfully addressed poverty in the United States. It has become, they would argue, too large, too lavish, and too attractive.

Frankly, I am tired of this recurrent theme. To that end, I present:

The Myth of the Out of Control Welfare State

The picture of an overgrown welfare state is usually based on statistical information highlighting the amount of money the government spends annually on social welfare programs. What the government calls social welfare expenditures grew from $24 billion in 1950 to nearly $1 trillion in the beginning of the 1990's (US Census Bureau). This amount of money is considered by most to be an accurate measure of the numbers of people who "live off the system." The more the government spends on social welfare programs, the more people are being dragged into the welfare safety net, or so some reason. These numbers are also considered to be indicative of the failure of America's self-proclaimed "war on poverty." After all, if we are spending so much money on the poor, why has poverty remained such a persistent problem in this country?

The answer to this question lies, in part, in what is meant by social welfare expenditures. The term social welfare expenditures is a huge, encompassing umbrella under which exist several levels. One of these, called social insurance programs, includes such things as Social Security, unemployment insurance, retirement systems for public employees and railroad workers, and workers' compensation for people injured on the job. Government spending for schools also falls into the social welfare expenditures category. Combined with the social insurance programs, these two categories alone accounted for nearly 75 percent of all "welfare" spending in 1992.

How much of the $1 trillion is left for the poor then? According to the 1990 Congressional Budget Office's Special Analysis of the Budget, less than 10 percent of the annual welfare budget is earmarked for low-income persons. This is what the government calls "public aid" and includes, among others, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, the food stamp and Medicaid programs, and the Supplemental Social Security Income (SSI) program for low-income people who are aged, disabled, or blind.

The question of why poverty persists despite apparently enormous welfare expenditures can be answered not only by understanding more clearly how much (or little) of welfare actually goes to the poor, but also by examining how poverty is defined. The government decides who is poor and who isn't based upon a 1950s US Department of Agriculture estimate of the costs of a minimally adequate food budget. The cost of this basic subsistence diet, a so-called thrifty food plan, was then multiplied by three, because surveys at the time indicated that the poor spent approximately one-third of their income on food. Later, the USDA "stressed that the cost of this plan is not a reasonable measure of basic money needs for a good diet." The plan also assumes that "families will bake bread daily and cook all their food from scratch, never buy fast food or eat out, use dried beans and no canned food, be experts in nutrition and have a working refrigerator, freezer, and stove, among other things." The poverty line was $3000 for a family of four in 1964. In 2005, a family of four is considered officially poor if their annual income is $19,874 or less. Anyone reading this knows that you can't raise a family on a gross income of $1650/month.

Since its establishment, the government has not adjusted the poverty level to reflect the changing dynamics of spending patterns. It simply takes the previous year's figure and adjusts for inflation. However, because of the rising costs of other necessities such as child care, transportation, and health care, it is unrealistic to assume that poor families still spend one-third of their budget on food. Several studies have shown that the official poverty level is less than two-thirds of what is necessary to buy those goods and services which the federal government defines as essential to the maintenance of adequate nutrition, housing, safety and health. The official poverty rate in 2004 was one in seven.

In essence, then, the amount of money that the United States government spends on entitlement programs is grossly over-estimated. In 1993, for example, AFDC spending consumed only 0.35 percent of the gross domestic product (Twentieth Century Fund, 1996). At the same time, the numbers of poor people in America are grossly under-estimated by the official standard. This said, it should be recognized that most poor people do not receive welfare. Only one-third of poor families receive public assistance payments and only about 40 percent receive any non -cash benefits such as food stamps, free or reduced school lunches, public housing or Medicaid. One-fourth of families that are poor by the official standard do not receive any public assistance of any kind, cash or non-cash.

To be continued.

It is Sunday, After All

2007-03-04T15:00:00.000-08:00

When The President Talks To God by Bright Eyes

When the president talks to God
Are the conversations brief or long
Does he ask to rape our women’s' rights
And send poor farm kids off to die?
Does God suggest an oil hike
When the president talks to God?

When the president talks to God
Are the consonants all hard or soft?
Is he resolute all down the line?
Is every issue black or white?
Does what God say ever change his mind
When the president talks to God?

When the president talks to God
Does he fake that drawl or merely nod?
Agree which convicts should be killed?
Where prisons should be built and filled?
Which voter fraud must be concealed
When the president talks to God?

When the president talks to God
I wonder which one plays the better cop
We should find some jobs. the ghetto's broke
No, they're lazy, George, I say we don't
Just give 'em more liquor stores and dirty coke
That's what God recommends

When the president talks to God
Do they drink near beer and go play golf
While they pick which countries to invade
Which Muslim souls still can be saved?
I guess god just calls a spade a spade
When the president talks to God

When the president talks to God
Does he ever think that maybe he's not?
That that voice is just inside his head
When he kneels next to the presidential bed
Does he ever smell his own bullshit
When the president talks to God?

I doubt it

I doubt it

We've Failed Them

2007-02-28T19:48:00.001-08:00

"An overwhelming majority of 72% of American troops serving in Iraq think the U.S. should exit the country within the next year, and more than one in four say the troops should leave immediately." ~ Zogby, February 28, 2006

We can not spread the democracy that we do not have.

Action Required

2007-02-26T18:14:00.000-08:00

This is Andrew Anthos, described by his local newspaper as "a private, gentle man whose twin passions to support military veterans and public transportation earned him a reputation for community service." Here is a beautiful newspaper article, from 2002, that describes his community activism. Here is an archived NPR piece where you can hear him talk about his passion.

He is dead.

He died Friday from a beating, inflicted upon him with a metal pipe, because he was gay.

The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force has put out a press release:

WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/

A 72-year-old Detroit man who was attacked Feb. 13 and left paralyzed from
the neck down died today in what his family is calling a hate crime.

Andrew Anthos, who was known in Michigan for his long time campaign to
illuminate the dome of the state capitol for one night each year in red, white
and blue lights, was on a city bus when a man reportedly approached him and
asked him if he was gay. The man continued to harass Anthos, followed him off
the bus at the stop in front of his building and then viciously beat Anthos with
a metal pipe, striking him from behind. Anthos, who family members said was gay,
was in a coma in the days immediately preceding his death.

Statement by Matt Foreman,
Executive Director, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

"The hatred and loathing that led to the vicious murder of Andrew Anthos
only because he was gay is not innate. Instead it is being taught every day by
leaders of the so-called Christian right and their political allies who use
their vast resources, media networks and affiliated pulpits to blame lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender people for all the ills of society. They disguise
their bigotry as 'deeply-held religious beliefs. 'They cloak themselves in 'family values.'

"For years, Michigan has been subjected to the homophobic rants of Gary Glenn of the American Family Association of Michigan, while so many otherwise good and decent people have been silent. Just two years ago, the state endured an ugly campaign, led by Cardinal Adam Maida, to 'protect marriage' by writing anti-gay discrimination into its constitution. Based on that amendment, a three-judge panel of Michigan's court of appeals voted last month to terminate medical insurance coverage for families of LGBT government workers throughout the state.

"It is appalling hypocrisy for these forces to pretend that their venomous words and organizing have no connection to the plague of hate violence against gay people, including the murder of Mr. Anthos.

"Our hearts and sympathies go out to the members of Mr. Anthos' family and to our colleagues at the Triangle Foundation who have been at his bedside and with his family for the last two weeks. As a small token of the condolences of our national community feels, we will be covering funeral costs."

Please go HERE to sign a petition, sponsored by Human Rights Campaign, in support of federal hate crimes legislation. Under the current federal hate crimes statute, federal authorities have no jurisdiction to assist in this investigation, even if local authorities were to request that assistance. It’s past time for a comprehensive federal hate crimes bill and we cannot stand by and let one more person go unprotected.

And if you live in Michigan, PLEASE contact your legislators and express your outrage that Michigan, unlike 20 other U.S. States, does not consider attacking people for being gay to be worthy of inclusion in its hate crimes statute.

We MUST do more to stop this senseless violence.

Read Blue's post here.

(Thanks to NG Blog for the press release.)

If I were a math major...

2007-02-23T19:05:00.000-08:00

It's that time in the quarter again.

Postings here may be lighter than usual as I frantically try to finish up all the papers and projects that are coming due.

I'll post and visit as I'm able.

xoxoxo

For Friday: A Song

2007-02-23T12:35:00.000-08:00

Jaime Green is one of my new favorites.

These are the lyrics to "What's Happening Here?"

Teacher Teacher
did you not behave
Did you teach the children war is not ok?
Why you packing up your stuff?
Did they ship you out to shut you up?
Whats Happening Here?

Soldier, Soldier did you lose a limb?
To fight a war based on a rich man's whim?
Where are all your benefits?
Did they fund the tax cuts for the rich?
Whats happening here?

Chorus

Dont you know you gotta
Rise Up
Seek the truth
Shout out loud
Whats happenin here?

Whats happening here

Dont you know you gotta
Shine a light on what you know is right
Right here
Right now
And say it clear
Whats happening here?
Whats happening here?

Halliburton why you always there?
Reaping profits where there's nothing but despair
From the Middle East to New Orleans
Tell me, is there no end to your greed?
Whats happing here?

So tell me why aren't we out in the streets?
Demanding our commander be impeached?
For the sinisternes in his plans
The blood of thousands on his hands
Whats happening here?

Devastation
Desperation
Allegations
DIS-information
Manipulation
Intimidation
Interegations
Incarcerations

Indignation will be our saving grace...

You can hear Jaime's music here.

We will be greeted as...

2007-02-21T18:06:00.000-08:00

...the arrogant, imperialist, creators of terrorists that we are.

A few days ago, Hill had an absolutely amazing post about journalists.

She asked, "Where have the reporters gone?"

I found some. They're right here.

Bang

2007-02-20T17:38:00.000-08:00

That's the sound of the doors of justice slamming shut.

On Valentine's Day...

2007-02-14T20:31:00.000-08:00

Click this link to see HRC's slide show.

Books are Good for You!

2007-02-13T08:53:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of my all-time favorite bookstore, taken by me this past December, when I spent four, yes four, whole hours, browsing through the aisles.

I felt rushed.

Apparently everyone is raving about this place, but it's been my favorite spot to spend a Portland afternoon since I was in grade school. And I'm not that old, but we're talking at least a couple of decades. I first started picking musty tomes of classic literature off the shelves long before puberty, before I knew how to drive, before I had money to buy my own books.

And this was way before internet sales launched Powells.com into worldwide acclaim.

My dad used to take my brother and me there, and give strict instructions that I was not to leave the "room" I'd chosen, because, unlike corporate warehouse booksellers, Powell's has actual rooms for you to visit. It's very much like having one large bookstore divided into several smaller ones.

At the bookstore, you can thumb through new and used books sitting side by side on the shelves. On my last trip, I picked up a previously loved copy of John Dicker's The United States of Wal*Mart for $4.98.

I didn't think that anything could have made me love this independent bookstore anymore.

And then its workers started to organize a union. That was in 1998.

Things got messy during the campaign, and the workers fought for months to be recognized as a collective bargaining unit. They fought for even longer to negotiate a contract.

During those months, I boycotted my beloved bookstore and encouraged everyone I knew to do the same. I wrote letters, signed petitions, and made fliers. I even led picketing workers in solidarity chants, encouraging them not to give up.

The campaign slogan became:

"No decision about us without us," Which I consider a rallying cry applicable to lots of other situations, including the crisis in our country.

The Powell's workers won their contract and are now represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 5.

Now, this is the best part:

If you buy through this link, 10% of your purchase goes right to the workers .

Independent bookstore? Union shop? Kickback to the workers?

Sounds like the perfect opportunity to update your "favorites" link list.

Marriage = Love

2007-02-12T11:25:00.000-08:00

Today is National Freedom To Marry Day, set aside in 1999 as a day of advocacy in support of the right of same-sex couples to be legally wed. This blog strongly supports the expansion of ALL civil rights to America's citizens, regardless of sexual identity or orientation.

Without the legal sanction of marriage, same sex couples:

lose any potential income tax benefits that apply to married partners.
experience increased difficulty adopting children. In fact, some states still forbid the practice.
are frequently denied employment benefits such as heath or life insurance for their partners.
do not receive Social Security benefits upon the death of the partner, benefits to which the surviving partner in a heterosexual couple is eligible.
do not enjoy the legal right of survivorship. For people without wills, state law provides that property moves directly to the spouse. In same-sex partnerships, when one person dies, his or her relatives can demand all of the deceased partner's assets. Even wills can be challenged under a legal loophole called "undue influence."
do not automatically have decision-making rights when partners are seriously ill and unable to make decisions for themselves.

Granting the legal right to marry, and thus affording specific privileges so some groups and not others has been used as a form of social control in this country for long enough.

Want to do something? Sign the petition here.

Happy Birthday, Baby!

2007-02-05T19:00:00.000-08:00

My baby sister turned 22 today.

She may be married and all grown up,

but there's a part of her that will

always be this age in my heart.

Shrub to America: "F You."

2007-02-02T09:16:00.000-08:00

What a way to start the morning:

"A report released yesterday by the nonpartisan
Congressional Budget Office (CB) shows that the real troop increase associated
with President Bush’s escalation policy could be as high as 48,000, more than double the 21,500 soldiers that Bush has claimed. Moreover, despite administration assertions that the escalation would cost $5.6 billion, the CBO report estimates that "costs would range from $9 billion to $13 billion for a four-month deployment and from $20 billion to $27 billion for a 12-month deployment." The new facts about escalation come just as Congress is set to receive a long-delayed National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iraq, the first such document from the U.S. intelligence community since 2002. According to the Washington Post, the NIE "outlines an increasingly perilous situation in which the United States has little control and there
is a strong possibility of further deterioration."

Combat units being sent to Iraq need to be backed up by "substantial support forces, including personnel to staff headquarters, serve as military police, and provide communications, contracting, engineering, intelligence, medical, and other services.” According to the CBO, while the Pentagon has specified the number of combat troops being deployed as part of the escalation, it has "not yet indicated which support units will be deployed along with the added combat forces, or how many additional troops will be involved." The CBO’s low estimate envisions at least 15,000 additionalsupport personnel. The alternative scenario “would require about 28,000 support troops in addition to the 20,000 combat troops.”

New estimates of the cost of escalation come on top of the $379 billion that Congress has already appropriated for the Iraq war. Yesterday, the Bush administration announced it will request an additional $100 billion "to cover war operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for the rest of this year," about $80 billion of which will be spent on Iraq. "That would come on top of $70 billion Congress already approved for the wars this year." For 2008, the administration will ask for an amount "larger than the $100 billion in the fiscal 2007 request," Reuters reports."

Read the rest at ThinkProgress.

48,000 more of our young people who could very well survive the horrors of war, return home, and end up like this.

Remembering Molly

2007-01-31T19:37:00.000-08:00

1944 - 2007

"The United States of America is still run by its citizens.

The government works for us.

Rank imperialism and warmongering are not American traditions or values.

We do not need to dominate the world.

We want and need to work with other nations.

We want to find solutions other than killing people.

Not in our name, not with our money, not with our children's blood."

Words of hope from one hell of an American.

Join the Virtual March

2007-01-31T17:52:00.000-08:00

Couldn't make it to DC last Saturday? As the fine folks over at MyDD say, "There is more than one way to march on Washington. MoveOn.org is sponsoring a virtual march on Washington on February 1st...This march will be made in the form of phone calls, emails and faxes, to send one million direct contacts to member of Congress to stop the escalation...everyone can take part in this march. If, for one day, no one in Congress received any other messages from constituents except a call to stop Bush's escalation in Iraq, we can be louder and clearer than any mass rally."

There is absolutely no reason not to call. Click the picture. Sign up. Make your voice heard.

Dear Congress,

2007-01-30T21:28:00.000-08:00

Stop playing politics with working families. A two dollar raise might not mean anything to you, but since poor people spend every last penny of their paychecks on survival, that extra $16/day is a big deal. Don't believe me? I dare you to live on $206/week. For one week. Just one. And that's not a salary wage. So if you decide to call in sick, or late, or busy, or bored, you only get credit for the time that you're actually working. Which means that many of you are stuck with $123.60. Before deductions. Enjoy.

Guest Blogging Alert: On Symantics

2007-01-29T22:27:00.000-08:00

I just had to swipe this off my honey's myspace page!

"What Webster says:

Insurgent: a person who rises in forcible opposition to authority.

Terrorist: a person who tries to frighten people or governments into doing what he/she wants by using or threatening violence.

Rebel: a person who refuses allegiance to, resists, or rises in arms against the government or ruler of his or her country.

All three look pretty similar, almost interchangeable. So why are the Iraqis who are "resisting" the American occupation of their country called insurgents or terrorists and not rebels? Has anybody heard anything about the Iraqi Rebellion?

Now let's go one step further:

Webster says:

Revolutionist: a radical supporter of political or social change.

Sounds like a dead-on description of an Islamic Terrorist/Insurgent, but why are they not referred to as Revolutionist? Why is this not the Iraqi Revolution?"

Urgent: Hugs Needed

2007-01-29T16:10:00.000-08:00

My dear friend, Kara, author of the brilliant,

honest blog My Thinking Spot,

is going though a very difficult time right now.

Please, go over to her place immediately

and wish her, Will, and Bebe well.

Let's show her all the love and support

our electronic community can muster.

A Sunday Morning Cartoon

2007-01-28T10:49:00.000-08:00

For your viewing pleasure:

(click on image to play)

Give Peace A Chance

2007-01-27T15:28:00.000-08:00

DC is a long way from Palm Springs, California, but...

My NOW sisters,

The Stonewall Democrats,

and dozens

of our friends

and neighbors

came together today to send a message to Congress.

This is me.

UPDATE: My dear friend Dusty, from It's My Right to be Left of The Center,

made a wonderful video compilation of these and other photos from today's event.

See the video here, and then visit her site for more!

Pitiful coverage by my local newspaper here.

Scapegoats and Other Ramblings

2007-01-25T19:10:00.000-08:00

According to Florida Republican John Mica, if TSA workers had the legal right to bargain collectively, our country would be at "increased risk" for another terrorist attack. But border control agents are protected by union contracts, you say? Yes, I know. I'm sure he's against that too. Giving workers a voice in such things as working conditions weakens our national security.

Jim DeMint, another Republican genius, argued against raising the federal minimum wage because, get this, the legislation would have no effect on eight states that have already given the working poor the raise they deserve. Not too surprising from the Senator from South Carolina, a state, by the way, with no minimum wage law and one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.

This week's edition of my school newspaper had a pitiful article on the California Faculty Association's position in an ongoing labor dispute. The article cited "failed contract negotiations" as the reason that CSU faculty are considering a strike vote but did not mention any of the issues that have led to the state of impasse or other problems that are facing the University. The article did not mention that we are LOSING experienced, tenured faculty because of salary caps that stagnate compensation for our BEST educators. The article also forgot to mention that our professors are negotiating for smaller class sizes and an increase in tenure-track hiring, both of which translate into a BETTER education for students. It did not discuss the implications for students or the direct relationship between faculty working conditions and student learning conditions. However, in the "Campus News" section, 1/4 of the entire page was devoted to an article advertising student movie night. This month's feature? Hitched.

Oh, and also in California, the war on the poor marches forward.

Why am I Pro-Choice?

2007-01-22T21:37:00.000-08:00

Because this is not a medical instrument.

A Common Struggle

2007-01-19T19:58:00.000-08:00

In January and February 1920, Japanese and Filipino sugar plantation workers implemented a major strike on the island of Oahu. Approximately 8,000 workers, over three quarters of the labor force, walked off the job.

Sugar cane harvest has always been back-breaking work. Imported immigrant workers served in indentured servitude, planting, hoeing and carrying the cane during waking hours, without breaks and for inadequate wages. At that time, most workers lived on the plantations where they worked, which meant that their employers were also their landlords. "Living expenses" were siphoned off the top of earnings, and it was not uncommon for workers to be charged more for "room and board" than they were paid for their labor.

To control the workforce, "the Hawaiian Sugar Plantation Association adopted a "divide-and -rule" policy whereby workers of different ethnicity were pitted against each other for the purpose of keeping wages down. In cases of strikes, one ethnic group would be used as scab labor to break the strike of another ethnic group. Living arrangements, job assignments, and wages were also based on ethnicity. Caucasians were higher paid, considered skilled workers, and assigned supervisory positions. The lowest paid white worker was the plantation police who earned $140 a month. In contrast, the Japanese and the Filipinos were assigned the backbreaking work in the fields. They worked at least 10 hours a day, six days a week, 27 days a month for 90 cents a day or $20/month." (Source.)

Sugar cane production was not just segregated by race. "In 1910, one-third of all employed Japanese women worked in the sugar fields. Assignment to a "women's field gang" immediately upon arrival was typical. Women on the sugar plantations earned 50¢ for a 10-hour work day and were expected to work six days a week. A full month's pay of $13 was based on 26 days of work and equalled 66% of Japanese men's wages. Women typically weeded the fields, irrigated, stripped the cane of dry leaves or cut seed cane." (Source.) Women were also used as scabs during labor disputes.

But in 1920 something amazing happened.

Japanese and Filipino workers walked off the job together. Men and women. Young and old. Many having to use translators to communicate with one another.

They struck for the most amazing and wonderful things: equal wages, improved working conditions, and paid maternity leave. In 1920. The same year that women on the mainland were granted the constitutional right to vote.

1920.

This was happening on the island of Oahu, where workers did not have any protections afforded them by the US government, because Hawaii was still a territory.

The strike lasted for six months, with the workers winning most of their demands, including an end to the tiered-wage system.

I don't know about the rest of you, but it is very easy for me to become discouraged over the current conditions of our government. So. much. is. wrong.

However...

Hope.
Dies.
Last.

And for me, at least, I find tremendous strength in stories like this one. Stories in which people with everything to lose risked everything they had to demand change for themselves and their families. We who have never had to go to bed with empty stomachs, who live our wasteful lives in soundbites, have much to learn. There is a reason why labor history is not taught in schools anymore. It is because that history is replete with examples of situations in which packs of people came together to redress their grievances.

We have to find a way to remember where we've come from so that we can use what we already know about solidarity to take back our nation.

Blog For Choice

2007-01-19T06:29:00.000-08:00

Since I was born in 1976, women have had the legal protection to make choices over their reproductive lives for my entire lifetime. This wasn't always the case.

Help celebrate the 34th anniversary of Roe v. Wade by participating with me in Blogging For Choice on Monday, January 22. Click the link to sign up.

Thanks, Dave.

Thank You, Ralph Chaplin

2007-01-17T23:04:00.000-08:00

When Lucy Parsons led a hunger march in Chicago in 1915, they needed an anthem.

Ralph Chaplin wrote this one:

When the union's inspiration through the workers' blood shall run,
There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun;
Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one,
But the union makes us strong.

CHORUS:

Solidarity forever,
Solidarity forever,
Solidarity forever,
For the union makes us strong.
Is there aught we hold in common with the greedy parasite,
Who would lash us into serfdom and would crush us with his might?
Is there anything left to us but to organize and fight?
For the union makes us strong.

It is we who plowed the praries; built the cities where they trade;
Dug the mines and built the workshops, endless miles of railroad laid;
Now we stand outcast and starving midst the wonders we have made;
But the union makes us strong.

All the world that's owned by idle drones is ours and ours alone.
We have laid the wide foundations; built it skyward stone by stone.
It is ours, not to slave in, but to master and to own.
While the union makes us strong.

They have taken untold millions that they never toiled to earn,
But without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can turn.
We can break their haughty power, gain our freedom when we learn
That the union makes us strong.

In our hands is placed a power greater than their hoarded gold,
Greater than the might of armies, magnified a thousand-fold.
We can bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old
For the union makes us strong.

His Royal Oppositness...

2007-01-17T21:38:00.000-08:00

...what?

Oh, just click here.

Dr. King: On War

2007-01-15T08:40:00.000-08:00

True then. True today.

Professor Zero has the transcript.

Artsy Fartsy Meme

2007-01-14T15:56:00.001-08:00

I just finished up a powerpoint for a class presentation that's due on Tuesday, so I'm taking a break to respond to this tag by Quaker Dave.

Name a book that you want to share so much that you keep giving away copies:
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran and The History of Colors/La Historia de los Colores by Subcomandante Marcos. The first is my standard graduation present. The second is my standard baby shower gift. Forget diaper pins and cute bibs. It's never too early to start learning about the EZLN.

Name a piece of music that changed the way you listen to music: Bread and Roses by Utah Phillips. I wasn't raised listening to protest music, but now I am an avid collector.

Name a film you can watch again and again without fatigue: I'm a graduate student! Who has time to watch movies?? When I can, these are good ones, in no particular order: Frida, A Christmas Story, If These Walls Could Talk, The Princess Bride.

Name a performer for whom you suspend all disbelief: Jim Croce.

Name a work of art you'd like to live with: I'm not picky. I'll take any of Diego Rivera's murals.

Name a work of fiction which has penetrated your real life: Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. It was shortly after reading this book that I went to intern with PCUN, Oregon's farmworker union.

Name a punch line that always makes you laugh: "Let's go to the mattresses."

Okay...Kara, Fernando, Blue, and Dan...you're "it."

We Can Do It!

2007-01-14T12:00:00.000-08:00

IF...letter-writing campaigns targeting Kohl's and Target have successfully stopped the sale of "drinking games," and Macy's pulled Sean Jean jackets that contained dog fur after public outcry, then SURELY we can act together to send a clear message to the world:

Feet To The Fire

2007-01-13T11:33:00.000-08:00

I recently came across this free service and want to pass it along. It's sponsored by ACORN.

The site allows you to track your Senators' and Representative's votes by e-mail. All you have to do is sign up by entering your zip code and email address. Then, each week that Congress is in session, you'll get an email that contains:

Key votes by your two Senators and U.S. Representative.
Links to send e-mail to your members of Congress using pre-addressed forms.
Upcoming votes for your review and a chance to offer e-mail input before they vote.

The last one is my favorite. Bu$hco isn't the only one that can stike preemptively.

Bad Taste In Your Mouth?

2007-01-12T11:51:00.000-08:00

THANK GOD.

2007-01-10T22:57:00.000-08:00

Hill. is. back.

There's a welcoming party over at her new place.

You're not too late to join in the fun.

From My Inbox

2007-01-10T21:14:00.000-08:00

1/10/07

Dear Mr. President,

Thanks for your address to the nation. It's good to know you still want to talk to us after how we behaved in November.

Listen, can I be frank? Sending in 20,000 more troops just ain't gonna do the job. That will only bring the troop level back up to what it was last year. And we were losing the war last year! We've already had over a million troops serve some time in Iraq since 2003. Another few thousand is simply not enough to find those weapons of mass destruction! Er, I mean... bringing those responsible for 9/11 to justice! Um, scratch that. Try this -- BRING DEMOCRACY TO THE MIDDLE EAST! YES!!!

You've got to show some courage, dude! You've got to win this one! C'mon, you got Saddam! You hung 'im high! I loved watching the video of that -- just like the old wild west! The bad guy wore black! The hangmen were as crazy as the hangee! Lynch mobs rule!!!

Look, I have to admit I feel very sorry for the predicament you're in. As Ricky Bobby said, "If you're not first, you're last." And you being humiliated in front of the whole world does NONE of us Americans any good.

Sir, listen to me. You have to send in MILLIONS of troops to Iraq, not thousands! The only way to lick this thing now is to flood Iraq with millions of us! I know that you're out of combat-ready soldiers -- so you have to look elsewhere! The only way you are going to beat a nation of 27 million -- Iraq -- is to send in at least 28 million! Here's how it would work:

The first 27 million Americans go in and kill one Iraqi each. That will quickly take care of any insurgency. The other one million of us will stay and rebuild the country. Simple.

Now, I know you're saying, where will I find 28 million Americans to go to Iraq? Here are some suggestions:

1. More than 62,000,000 Americans voted for you in the last election (the one that took place a year and half into a war we already knew we were losing). I am confident that at least a third of them would want to put their body where there vote was and sign up to volunteer. I know many of these people and, while we may disagree politically, I know that they don't believe someone else should have to go and fight their fight for them -- while they hide here in America.

2. Start a "Kill an Iraqi" Meet-Up group in cities across the country. I know this idea is so early-21st century, but I once went to a Lou Dobbs Meet-Up and, I swear, some of the best ideas happen after the third mojito. I'm sure you'll get another five million or so enlistees from this effort.

3. Send over all members of the mainstream media. After all, they were your collaborators in bringing us this war -- and many of them are already trained from having been "embedded!" If that doesn't bring the total to 28 million, then draft all viewers of the FOX News channel.
Mr. Bush, do not give up! Now is not the time to pull your punch! Don't be a weenie by sending in a few over-tired troops. Get your people behind you and YOU lead them in like a true commander in chief! Leave no conservative behind! Full speed ahead!

We promise to write. Go get 'em W!

Yours,

Michael Moore
mmflint@aol.com
www.michaelmoore.com