Today, Sean Bell, was supposed to have been married. But instead, this happened. Notice the differences in the way the news organizations are reporting the story.
From the BBC: Police in New York City have killed a man on the morning of his wedding and wounded two others. The groom and two friends were leaving a strip club in Queens on Saturday morning after the groom's bachelor party when police opened fire on them.
From the NY Times: Hours before he was to be married, a man leaving his bachelor party at a strip club in Queens that was under police surveillance was shot and killed early yesterday in a hail of police bullets, witnesses and the police said. Two of his friends were wounded, one critically, they said.
Faux News leads with this: The incident began when a car full of three men rammed into an undercover officer as the group left a bachelor party at the Kalua Cabaret at roughly 4:14 a.m.
Isn't it nice the way they try to make it sound like the driver of the car was purposefully trying to run down a police officer? With that kind of malicious disregard for our precious law enforcement, those drunken thugs deserved what they got, right?
Now, there's an investigation into why in God's name the NYPD felt it necessary to fire more than fifty rounds into his car.
For now, we don't know all the facts. But here are some facts that are certain:
- An unarmed man is dead.
- There are two more orphaned children in New York City.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
You Decide
Not A Minute More
Violence against women persists in every country in the world as a pervasive violation of human rights and a major impediment to achieving gender equality. Such violence is unacceptable, whether perpetrated by the State and its agents or by family members or strangers, in the public or private sphere, in peacetime or in times of conflict. ... [A]s long as violence against women continues, we cannot claim to be making real progress towards equality, development and peace. —In-Depth Study on All Forms of Violence against Women: Report of the Secretary-General, 2006
For the most part, the human cost of gender-based violence is invisible. Fear and shame continue to prevent many women from speaking out, and data collected are often insufficient and inconsistent. There has been significant progress in the last two decades, however, to bring the issue into the open and place it firmly on national and international policy agendas.
Women’s organizations have taken the lead in developing innovative efforts to tackle the issue, including providing services, drafting and lobbying for legislation, raising awareness through advocacy, education and training, and building national, regional and international end-violence networks.
Networks that have been created by women’s groups at national, regional and global levels are growing in strength and impact. These networks, such as the Pacific Regional Network against Violence against Women, the Women, Law and Development Network in Africa, the South Asian Forum against Human Trafficking, and numerous others have come to play a leading role in raising awareness and pursuing positive change in community attitudes and practices related to gender-based violence.
These networks have inspired a wide range of campaigns that have brought the issue front and centre. The 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence (25 November – 10 December) is an annual campaign that is symbolic of the global women’s movement and end-violence networks. Its starting day, 25 November, is observed each year to honour the Mirabal sisters, three political activists from the Dominican Republic who were assassinated on the same date in 1961. The end of the 16 Days is marked by 10 December, International Human Rights Day. Coordinated by the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership since 1991, the 16 Days of Activism involve hundreds of organizations around the world in activities ranging from media programmes to demonstrations, conferences, exhibitions and performances. In 1999, the UN joined the campaign by designating 25 November the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
More info here.
For the most part, the human cost of gender-based violence is invisible. Fear and shame continue to prevent many women from speaking out, and data collected are often insufficient and inconsistent. There has been significant progress in the last two decades, however, to bring the issue into the open and place it firmly on national and international policy agendas.
Women’s organizations have taken the lead in developing innovative efforts to tackle the issue, including providing services, drafting and lobbying for legislation, raising awareness through advocacy, education and training, and building national, regional and international end-violence networks.
Networks that have been created by women’s groups at national, regional and global levels are growing in strength and impact. These networks, such as the Pacific Regional Network against Violence against Women, the Women, Law and Development Network in Africa, the South Asian Forum against Human Trafficking, and numerous others have come to play a leading role in raising awareness and pursuing positive change in community attitudes and practices related to gender-based violence.
These networks have inspired a wide range of campaigns that have brought the issue front and centre. The 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence (25 November – 10 December) is an annual campaign that is symbolic of the global women’s movement and end-violence networks. Its starting day, 25 November, is observed each year to honour the Mirabal sisters, three political activists from the Dominican Republic who were assassinated on the same date in 1961. The end of the 16 Days is marked by 10 December, International Human Rights Day. Coordinated by the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership since 1991, the 16 Days of Activism involve hundreds of organizations around the world in activities ranging from media programmes to demonstrations, conferences, exhibitions and performances. In 1999, the UN joined the campaign by designating 25 November the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
More info here.
Friday, November 24, 2006
Thursday, November 23, 2006
A Lie My Teacher Told Me:
Happy Thanksgiving to All
My partner and I spend part of every Thanksgiving and Christmas Day at "Martha's." Martha’s Village and Kitchen is truly a grassroots organization. In 1990, Gloria Gomez and Claudia Castorena, recognizing a need, started assembling cold sandwiches in a local church kitchen. After a few months, they began serving one hot meal a week. Donations and volunteers increased over the years, and by 1998, Martha’s was serving 350 hot meals, five days a week.
Today, Martha’s Village and Kitchen, located in Indio, California, is a comprehensive program for the hungry and homeless in the Coachella Valley. Located on 10 acres, it provides housing for 120 guests, including families with children and single women. As a tertiary prevention program, the Center offers educational programs, job training, children's programs and counseling, as well as assistance with job placement and permanent housing. An on-site medical clinic serves clients’ health care needs. Martha’s Village and Kitchen provides 250,000 meals annually to the poor of the Coachella Valley.
The Village is a non-profit service organization affiliated with Father Joe’s Villages whose mission statement reads: To serve our neighbors by responding to their needs with food, clothing, shelter, and an opportunity to become self sufficient by affirming their dignity with love, compassion, and respect.
Today we served over one thousand meals and packaged several hundred “to-go” plates. No one was turned away, and no one left hungry. A whole group of volunteers worked to assemble table decorations, because Martha’s Village practices the “bread and roses” philosophy, made famous at the Lawrence, Massachusetts, textile workers strike in 1912. The entire operation was very well organized, allowing volunteers to prepare the food, assemble the plates, and then serve those that came to eat after they were seated at the tables.
Today I was reminded that one (in this case two) person really can make a difference. Gloria and Claudia, Martha’s co-founders, still work at Martha’s Village and Kitchen, having watched their vision to feed the hungry grow into the comprehensive organization it is today. Both women were Thanksgiving Day volunteers. If these women can do this, what could I do?
I was also reminded that there is a great deal of compassion in this valley. At some points, there were more volunteers in Martha’s dining room than there were people needing meals. We fed more than one thousand individuals and families. I felt a powerful sense of collective agency as I worked in concert with an 81-year-old first-generation German immigrant, the owner of the local Italian eatery The Red Tomato, and a single Mexican mother and her two teenage sons.
Today, I learned many things from those I served: lessons not easily forgotten.
I learned to always be thankful for what you have and to do what you can for those who have less from the middle-aged woman who asked me if she could take a plate back to where they “stay” for the friend who can’t walk.
I learned that it is terribly impolite to start eating before the rest of the table has been served from a multi-generational family of six who all sat patiently, watching the steam swirl up from their plates, waiting until each one had a meal before anyone lifted a fork.
I learned to always be thankful from a group of single men, who all joined hands and bowed their heads in prayer before they ate.
I learned that sometimes pride can be a bigger motivator than hunger from the two women we served in the parking lot. They also taught me that community activism means filling a need, wherever the need is present, not simply waiting for those in need to come to you.
I learned that not all volunteer work is glorified, but that it is work that needs to be done just the same. My partner and I spent several hours wrapping plastic utensils in paper napkins so that they could be quickly distributed during public lunches.
So this is why I never cook a complete Thanksgiving Dinner. Because by the time we come home, all I want to do is rest, eat apple crisp, and contemplate the blessings I have in my life.
Today, Martha’s Village and Kitchen, located in Indio, California, is a comprehensive program for the hungry and homeless in the Coachella Valley. Located on 10 acres, it provides housing for 120 guests, including families with children and single women. As a tertiary prevention program, the Center offers educational programs, job training, children's programs and counseling, as well as assistance with job placement and permanent housing. An on-site medical clinic serves clients’ health care needs. Martha’s Village and Kitchen provides 250,000 meals annually to the poor of the Coachella Valley.
The Village is a non-profit service organization affiliated with Father Joe’s Villages whose mission statement reads: To serve our neighbors by responding to their needs with food, clothing, shelter, and an opportunity to become self sufficient by affirming their dignity with love, compassion, and respect.
Today we served over one thousand meals and packaged several hundred “to-go” plates. No one was turned away, and no one left hungry. A whole group of volunteers worked to assemble table decorations, because Martha’s Village practices the “bread and roses” philosophy, made famous at the Lawrence, Massachusetts, textile workers strike in 1912. The entire operation was very well organized, allowing volunteers to prepare the food, assemble the plates, and then serve those that came to eat after they were seated at the tables.
Today I was reminded that one (in this case two) person really can make a difference. Gloria and Claudia, Martha’s co-founders, still work at Martha’s Village and Kitchen, having watched their vision to feed the hungry grow into the comprehensive organization it is today. Both women were Thanksgiving Day volunteers. If these women can do this, what could I do?
I was also reminded that there is a great deal of compassion in this valley. At some points, there were more volunteers in Martha’s dining room than there were people needing meals. We fed more than one thousand individuals and families. I felt a powerful sense of collective agency as I worked in concert with an 81-year-old first-generation German immigrant, the owner of the local Italian eatery The Red Tomato, and a single Mexican mother and her two teenage sons.
Today, I learned many things from those I served: lessons not easily forgotten.
I learned to always be thankful for what you have and to do what you can for those who have less from the middle-aged woman who asked me if she could take a plate back to where they “stay” for the friend who can’t walk.
I learned that it is terribly impolite to start eating before the rest of the table has been served from a multi-generational family of six who all sat patiently, watching the steam swirl up from their plates, waiting until each one had a meal before anyone lifted a fork.
I learned to always be thankful from a group of single men, who all joined hands and bowed their heads in prayer before they ate.
I learned that sometimes pride can be a bigger motivator than hunger from the two women we served in the parking lot. They also taught me that community activism means filling a need, wherever the need is present, not simply waiting for those in need to come to you.
I learned that not all volunteer work is glorified, but that it is work that needs to be done just the same. My partner and I spent several hours wrapping plastic utensils in paper napkins so that they could be quickly distributed during public lunches.
So this is why I never cook a complete Thanksgiving Dinner. Because by the time we come home, all I want to do is rest, eat apple crisp, and contemplate the blessings I have in my life.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Why We Are Losing "The Battle For Hearts and Minds"
According to the UN, 1.1 billion people around the world lack access to safe drinking water.
Meanwhile, back in the land of plenty, hunger has been eliminated.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
But Let's Stay The Course
Even Henry Kissinger says that victory in Iraq is "impossible," and "democracy" is "out of reach."
(Special thanks to Quasar9 for the heads up.)
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Another Reason We're in Iraq
Belacqua Jones makes a terrific argument for Operation No Building Left Standing. After all, the more we destroy, the more we can subcontract to reconstruct.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Why I pay $3.79 for a Dozen Eggs
Because the $0.99/dozen are produced by hens who have to live like this:
I didn't grow up on a farm, but I lived on a small ranch in southern Mexico a few years back. I used to feed the dozen or so chickens twice a day, and since there were no traditional coops, I loved to search around the stables for the eggs. I found them in some of the most unusual places...the cow's empty water trough, inside an old tire, on a 25 kilo bag of corn meal.
I know that this battery cage method is cheaper than letting the hens actually stand up and stretch their wings every once and a while, but so are clothes produced by children in sweatshops, and I'm against that too.
Many countries have already banned the use of battery cages, and they are being phased out in the European Union, with a complete ban effective in 2012. In the US, we're not quite that far along, but the egg industry did recently agree to drop the "Animal Care Certified" label under threat of litigation.
Yup. Sounds about right.
(Picture from here.)
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
It's Official...
...Being a full-time graduate student, with an internship, a part-time job, and a household to keep from crumbling down has finally tapped all of my reserves. I know this to be the case because my "Things to Blog About" list, which has never had more than a few items, is now over thirty subjects long, and I have missed my daily devotions: visits to all the blogs on my sidebar and several others that will added as soon as I can get some time to update my template.
My list includes:
- Thoughts and reflections on my recent GOTV activities
- A tribute to the Haymarket martyrs, condemned to death by hanging on November 11, 1887
- The anniversary of the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations which officially occurred TODAY (!) in 1938
- My feelings on voluntary blood donation
- An update on the situation on Oaxaca
- A loving (and now belated) birthday post for my partner
- The comedy and tragedy of driving a car with more than 190,000 miles on the odometer
- My cornbread-stuffed portobello cap recipe and why I haven't cooked a full Thanksgiving Dinner in the last five years
- The REAL Thanksgiving story
- and more
As Dan says, the light at the end of the tunnel isn't a train. Exactly three weeks from today, I will have turned in the projects and papers I have yet to start and taken all of my final exams. Around here, that's "T minus 21."
In the meantime, postings at this site will probably be light. Oh, and if your statcounter records any activity from an ISP address belonging to California State University, San Bernardino, well, that's probably me pretending to be taking notes on Micro Practice. I love you guys, and not even my devotion to my educational experience can keep me away.
Friday, November 10, 2006
My Yellow Ribbon
I've traveled through this country
And I'll tell you what I've seen
A million yellow ribbons
And I wonder what they mean
It's love and hope and sympathy
For those who've gone to fight
But still I know that none of them
Can make the killing right
When we see two children fighting
Don't we try to come between
Get 'em both to talk
Instead of acting rough and mean
We give 'em love and limits
Say now try to get along
Then we tell 'em it's alright to kill
To prove that killing's wrong
Sometimes your yellow ribbon
Tries to make me feel ashamed
Tells me I'm a traitor
That somehow it's me to blame
But I can't hide behind it
Just to prove that I belong
And I won't be an accomplice
To a thing I know is wrong
But I'd wear a yellow ribbon
For the peace that's in my heart
I'd wear it for the loved ones
That should never have to part
I'd wear it for the wasted lives
No matter friend or foe
And I'd wear it for the children
If they never had to go
Yes, I've seen your yellow ribbons
Hanging up all over town
But I don't think they'll ever buy
The peace we've never found
Oh, the guns will all be silent
And the battle flags all furled
When we tie a yellow ribbon
'Round the world
Yes, the guns will all be silent
And the battle flags all furled
When we tie a yellow ribbon
'Round the world
Happy (observed) Veteran's Day...
...to all of America's service men and women, but especially to my baby brother and my soon-to-be sister-in-law, who have both seen the horrors of war.
Today, I am ashamed of my country when I read the headlines:
The numbers of homeless veterans are on the rise.
We are ignoring our veterans' mental health needs.
Veterans across America face stumbling blocks and delays as they seek to access their healthcare, disability, education and job training.
Wounded veterans face new fight to secure government benefits.
A while back, BeltwayBastard had a great post highlighting organizations that provide support to all our men and women in harms way. As he aptly argues, this isn't about politics.
In addition to those sources, if you'd like to do something tangible and important for wounded veterans who have returned from overseas requiring extensive care, get a long-distance phone card or two and mail them to:
Medical Family Assistance Center
Walter Reed Medical Center
6900 Georgia Ave. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20307-0003.
This will enable those under treatment to keep in touch regularly with their families around the country.
Additionally, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, a group dedictated to educating the general public on issues facing our troops, has terrific action links.
On the field of battle, our troops pledge to "leave no one behind.'' The very least we can do is fulfill this vow on the home front -- to each and every one them. More here.
Please pray for peace.
Today, I am ashamed of my country when I read the headlines:
The numbers of homeless veterans are on the rise.
We are ignoring our veterans' mental health needs.
Veterans across America face stumbling blocks and delays as they seek to access their healthcare, disability, education and job training.
Wounded veterans face new fight to secure government benefits.
A while back, BeltwayBastard had a great post highlighting organizations that provide support to all our men and women in harms way. As he aptly argues, this isn't about politics.
In addition to those sources, if you'd like to do something tangible and important for wounded veterans who have returned from overseas requiring extensive care, get a long-distance phone card or two and mail them to:
Medical Family Assistance Center
Walter Reed Medical Center
6900 Georgia Ave. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20307-0003.
This will enable those under treatment to keep in touch regularly with their families around the country.
Additionally, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, a group dedictated to educating the general public on issues facing our troops, has terrific action links.
On the field of battle, our troops pledge to "leave no one behind.'' The very least we can do is fulfill this vow on the home front -- to each and every one them. More here.
Please pray for peace.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
In the Genes?
My very Republican father (with whom I get along very well, and for whom I have an incalculable amount of respect) sent me this link in the body of an email that said:
I know this isn't true. Dad
I wrote back:
Clearly it isn't. Daughter.
(Photo: MSNBC.com)
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Sunday, November 05, 2006
IMHO
(in my humble opinion)
I agree with Aristotle who said that we are political beings. There is a fundamental part of a person's humanity that emerges only to the extent that individuals participate in public life, exercise their sense of what is good and excellent, and institute these values into communities by the decisions and actions of every citizen. The Greeks were on to something when they suggested that politics was a role of "amateurs," ordinary citizens who engaged in deciding and acting precisely because it was part of their way of being rather than an endeavor left in the hands of a few, often wealthy, paid professionals. When we abdicate our politics, we surrender a birthright that calls forth the most necessary dimensions of our humanity - the right to decide what is importnat and the capacity to act on those decisions. This is perilous. To the extent that social policy becomes divorced from us, and politics becomes the purview of mass political processes in control of the influential, we are disallowed from making crucial choices that determine the shape of our social environment. (More here.)
Thus, to be fully human and for our democracy to survive, the populace can no longer afford to leave the machinery of politics to the wealthy, the professionals, the influential, or the government officials. This is why it is imperative that we exercise our right to vote.
But that is not enough.
Ernesto Cortes said, "focusing on the least important elements of political action - voting, elections and turnout - trivializes our citizens by disconnecting them from the real debate and power of public life. We fail to recognize that voter participation is the wrong measure of the health of our politics. Voter turnout was high in Pinocet's Chile nor was it ever a problem in totalitarian countries. Becoming mere voters rather than citizens renders people incompetent" because it renders people who have the capacity of thinking and acting into mere spectators. The pervasive disengagement of Americans in our political process is disheartening at best. We are proud of calling ourselves a government "of the people," but we are rarely, if ever, engaged as direct actors in our political processes.
We need to create a grassroots democracy engaged in community-centered policy analysis. This means that policy issues ought to be resolved by the people who are directly affected by social issues and concerns, not by professional analysts or huge issue-based think tanks. Who knows better what people need than the people themselves?
Some people may dismiss me as young, naive, or idealistic. That's just not the way the world works, some might say. All of these things may be true.
But unless we dream big, and I mean really big, we will never have a chance to find out what could be, and we won't make any gains toward what ought to be.
Tuesday is a step, but it's just one step, toward reclaiming our country.
I agree with Aristotle who said that we are political beings. There is a fundamental part of a person's humanity that emerges only to the extent that individuals participate in public life, exercise their sense of what is good and excellent, and institute these values into communities by the decisions and actions of every citizen. The Greeks were on to something when they suggested that politics was a role of "amateurs," ordinary citizens who engaged in deciding and acting precisely because it was part of their way of being rather than an endeavor left in the hands of a few, often wealthy, paid professionals. When we abdicate our politics, we surrender a birthright that calls forth the most necessary dimensions of our humanity - the right to decide what is importnat and the capacity to act on those decisions. This is perilous. To the extent that social policy becomes divorced from us, and politics becomes the purview of mass political processes in control of the influential, we are disallowed from making crucial choices that determine the shape of our social environment. (More here.)
Thus, to be fully human and for our democracy to survive, the populace can no longer afford to leave the machinery of politics to the wealthy, the professionals, the influential, or the government officials. This is why it is imperative that we exercise our right to vote.
But that is not enough.
Ernesto Cortes said, "focusing on the least important elements of political action - voting, elections and turnout - trivializes our citizens by disconnecting them from the real debate and power of public life. We fail to recognize that voter participation is the wrong measure of the health of our politics. Voter turnout was high in Pinocet's Chile nor was it ever a problem in totalitarian countries. Becoming mere voters rather than citizens renders people incompetent" because it renders people who have the capacity of thinking and acting into mere spectators. The pervasive disengagement of Americans in our political process is disheartening at best. We are proud of calling ourselves a government "of the people," but we are rarely, if ever, engaged as direct actors in our political processes.
We need to create a grassroots democracy engaged in community-centered policy analysis. This means that policy issues ought to be resolved by the people who are directly affected by social issues and concerns, not by professional analysts or huge issue-based think tanks. Who knows better what people need than the people themselves?
Some people may dismiss me as young, naive, or idealistic. That's just not the way the world works, some might say. All of these things may be true.
But unless we dream big, and I mean really big, we will never have a chance to find out what could be, and we won't make any gains toward what ought to be.
Tuesday is a step, but it's just one step, toward reclaiming our country.
Friday, November 03, 2006
Thursday, November 02, 2006
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