War, An Update

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!

Keroack is out.

I just did my feminist happy dance.

Truth

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

An Economic Primer

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

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

"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

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...

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

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...

...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

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

On Valentine's Day...

Click this link to see HRC's slide show.

Books are Good for You!

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

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!

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."

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

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

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,

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

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

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

For your viewing pleasure:

(click on image to play)

Give Peace A Chance

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

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?

Because this is not a medical instrument.

A Common Struggle

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

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

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...

...what?

Oh, just click here.

Dr. King: On War

True then. True today.

Professor Zero has the transcript.

Artsy Fartsy Meme

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!

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

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?

THANK GOD.

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

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

I haven't even heard the speech yet.

Read what Chuck says about it here.

What Are You Doing To End The War?

it will be a great day when our schools get all the money they need

and the air force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber

From UnitedForPeace.org:

Please forward widely!

Nationwide Protests This Thursday

TIME FOR A SURGE OF OPPOSITION TO BUSH'S WAR ESCALATION

Hard to believe, but in a primetime televised speech on Wednesday evening, President Bush will announce his plans to send more troops into Iraq. We don't know for sure, but he could be planning to send at least 20,000 more troops, and the numbers could be even higher.

Whatever the numbers are, the Bush administration is once again moving in the wrong direction. In November the voters elected a new Congress with a clear mandate: End this war! The people of this country want the war to end and we do NOT want more troops sent to Iraq.
We need to act quickly and in large numbers to oppose this escalation.

United for Peace and Justice has joined an effort initiated by Win Without War and True Majority to encourage as many local actions in communities all around the country this Thursday, the day after Bush announces his plans. We need to be visible and vocal. Our message must be heard by the White House and by the Congress. NO more troops, end this war now!

Take a moment right now to find out what's already planned in your area. And if you don't see anything listed yet, then plan your own activity and be sure to list it. It's very easy to host something and a lot of the legwork has already been done, including compiling an event organizing kit with resources and tips for making your activity a success.

This wave of activity all around the nation on Thursday can be a critically important opportunity for helping to get the word out about the Jan. 27-29 mobilization in Washington, DC. Momentum is building for what promises to be a politically crucial demonstration. People from all around the nation will be gathering in Washington to send the strongest message possible: It is time to bring the troops home; it is time to end the war in Iraq!

There is still much work to do in these last few weeks. Most importantly, we need to make sure everyone knows this demonstration is taking place. Imagine how you'll feel in the days following the mobilization when people tell you they would have also been in Washington if only they had known about the mobilization! Let's now use every opportunity, every opening we have to spread the word.

At your SAY NO activities on Thursday, be sure to have leaflets about the January 27-29 mobilization.

In any press work you do on Thursday, be sure to mention that the march on Washington on January 27th is the next major action of the antiwar movement.

Organize a phone bank, a day of leafletting, call-ins to radio talk shows and anything else you can think of to get the word out.

It's also important that we organize as many people as possible to stay in Washington, DC, for the national Congressional Lobby Day on Monday, Jan., 29th. You can find out more about this timely effort and how you can get involved by clicking here.

Happy Activist Birthday

...to A. J. Muste (1885 - 1967).

A.J. Muste (pronounced MUS-tee) was one of the leading nonviolent social activists of his time. Starting as a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church, he became a socialist and labor union activist, and was one of the founders and the first director of Brookwood Labor College. In 1936, he recommitted himself to pacifism and focused his energy on war resistance, civil rights, civil liberties and disarmament. Over his life he worked with a wide array of organizations, including the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and War Resisters League, and served as editor of Liberation magazine. He continued his work for peace during the U.S. war in Vietnam; shortly before his death, he traveled to North Vietnam with a delegation of clergy and met with Communist leader Ho Chi Minh. A.J. Muste was widely respected and admired in the movement for social justice for his ability to relate to people of all ages and backgrounds, to listen to and reflect on all points of view, and to bridge distances among divergent political sectors. His life continues to be an inspiration to many. (Source).

For more information about A.J. Muste, see www.ajmuste.org/ajmbio.htm .

“There is no way to peace — peace is the way.”

Remembering Ramona

"The world has lost an exemplary woman. Mexico, has lost one of those fighters that it needs, and a piece of our heart has been ripped out."

Today marks the one year anniversary of the untimely death of Subcomandante Ramona, feminist, activist, sister, teacher, and fighter of the Zapatistas in southern Mexico. She died of a curable kidney condition while en route to a health clinic from an isolated mountain community. Her untimely departure from this world is mourned by me today. She died as a result of the circumstances that she spent her life fighting to change.

She was responsible for writing the Revolutionary Laws of Women and promoting the Indigenous Women’s Petition, which demanded that the needs of women be immediately addressed:

We the indigenous campesina women ask for the immediate solution to our urgent needs, which the government has never met:

1) Child-birth clinics with gynecologists so that campesina women can receive necessary medical attention.

2) Day-care centers must be built in the communities.

3) We ask the government to send enough food for the children in all the communities such as: milk, corn starch, rice, corn, soy, oil, beans, cheese, eggs, sugar, soup, oatmeal, etc.

4) Kitchens and dining halls, with all the necessary equipment, must be built for the children in the communities.

5) Corn mills and tortilla-makers must be placed in the communities according to the number of families in each area.

6) We should be given the materials necessary to raise chickens, rabbits, sheep, pigs, etc., including technical advice and veterinary services.

7) We ask for the ovens and materials necessary to build bakeries.

8) We want craft workshops to be built, including machinery and materials.

9) There must be a market where crafts can be sold at a fair price.

10) Schools must be built where women can receive technical training.

11) There must be preschools and day-care centers in the rural communities where the children can have fun and grow up strong, morally and physically.

12) As women we must have sufficient transportation to move from one place to another and to transport the products of the various projects we will have.

To learn more about Ramona, go here. You can read her obituary here.

Rest in Peace, hermana.

I'm Old.

The store doesn't open until 10am, but there we were, the little retail soldiers, all still half-asleep as, before sunrise, we rearranged every display in the place. This bimonthly ritual is also known as "floor set." The "visuals" are sent to each store from corporate headquarters and then, on the same day, the same event occurs in every store across America. The pictures of how the store is supposed to look are distributed to the workers and we are given exactly 3.75 hrs. to completely reconfigure every sellable item in tabletop, home furnishings, accessories, and bed and bath. This means taking all the dishes off the glass shelves, taking them to the stockroom, and replacing them with new dishes, etc.

If this sounds like a boring and tedious task, it is. At 6am, it is worse.

So, in order to add some energy to the atmosphere, the management staff puts on a mix disc. Always wanting to make the most of any bad situation, I sometimes sing along, especially if I know all the lyrics.

Today, as I was singing (and dancing) to the following song, a younger coworker of mine began complaining about the music selection. He wanted to know why there weren't any "popular" songs on the mix.

And then, there uttered from my lips, a phrase that makes me officially old. I said, "You mean you don't know this song?"




Are you old? When did you first realize it?

Why?

Because it's been too long: The federal minimum wage has now remained unchanged for almost 10 years, the longest stretch in its history. Since Congress last voted to increase the minimum wage, the cost of living has gone up by 25% and Congress has increased their annual salary by $31,600 dollars.

Because it's too low: A full-time minimum wage worker brings in just $10,712 a year, less than half of the poverty level for a family of four. The proposed increase to $7.25 an hour would help approximately 13 million low-income people, most of whom are women. The $4,400 annual raise is equal to about 15 months worth of groceries.

Because it doesn't cost jobs: Real world studies have consistently found that cities and states with higher minimum wages often retain or even increase job levels. And 86% of small business owners report raising the minimum wage would have no effect on them.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other corporate interests are mounting a vigorous lobbying effort to squash the minimum wage raise—despite the fact that the average CEO these groups represent earns more than 821 times the average minimum wage worker.

Have you signed the petition yet?

H/T MoveOn.org

Quote

Peace

also takes courage.