Latin American & Carribbean Orphans, Part 2

I just wrote that I had thoughts, but no real ideas about interacting in a way that might do good w/ an agency that does some good work, but that I think might stop short. After all, I'm not a participant, and they don't make me want to be.

But I should ask them if they do in-family sponsorships. They have something kind of like that (they run a school & bathhouse & cafeteria for kids living with their families but in a garbage dump near one of their homes for orphans). But I wonder if the--or any other agencies--outside of "oh my gosh, they live in a GARBAGE DUMP" just put something like $30 a month towards all the same services that would be provided to orphans, but living w/ their families. The kinds of things the government here should be doing more of w/ our tax dollars. So maybe there, too. I don't know exactly what.

But it's a germ of a thought.

Latin American & Carribbean Orphans

At lunch I walked to buy some sticky rice to accompany the stir fry I brought to work.

I passed by a nonprofit that sets orphans in Latin American / Carribbean orphanages up with sponsors ($30/month). Not the worst idea in the world, but I was really put off by the parent-badmouthing they did on their posters. "Abandon," "abandon," "abandon." "Julia's mother fled a violent relationship with her and her two brothers. She abandoned them with their grandmother, but when their grandmother passed away, they became homeless. No trace of the mother or her whereabouts can be found."

And that's the one that at least told enough of the parent's justification for moving away without his/her child to make the parent sound reasonable. Most didn't!



I also wondered if their staff ever write "expert witness" (I know, crazy term...) letters or lobby against things like Plan Mexico, NAFTA, a lack of lifesaving trade preferences for countries they operate in, etc.

But I feel like I can't ask. I mean, I'm not going to sponsor one of those kids. Not with that organization's attitude coming through in their posters. (A hunch after reading Outsiders Within. I could be wrong.)

So if I'm not going to participate, well, it doesn't really feel right to come in as an outsider and say, "This would be really helpful to the world for you guys, with the position you have, to do!"

Conservative Clothing on Women

Sarkozy's mean comments I read here reminded me an analogy that suddenly occurred to me as I passed two women yesterday, one of whom was wearing an outfit that completely covered her face and the shape of her body.

Touch.

I feel private about most people in the world knowing, from experience, just exactly what it's like to feel me. And I think many people in my social circle have met people who don't even like a brief hug. Who feel like they want most people to have even less directly experienced idea of what they feel like.

But neither I nor those people want to be anonymous human beings in the world at large. We want people to know who we are! We do want people to know what we sound like! The more opinion-sharing of us want people to know what we think! When people's senses detect us, we want people to recognize who we are and what we sound like and all those things we've shared about ourselves (like what we think). It's just to certain ways of sensing us that we want to be unknown to most people.

And why? I can't speak for everybody, but for me, it's because I associate a certain amount of potential for inappropriate sexual vibe with people knowing what I feel like to the touch.

Maybe I can somehow make people like my mother (who's made mean comments to me about some women's conservative clothing) and Sarkozy get that just because someone also associates a certain amount of potential for innappropriate sexual vibe with people knowing what they look like to the eye doesn't mean that they're trying to be unknown and unrecognizeable/unrecognized to people's other senses.

(And with respect explaining to the gender division of people's clothing choices:
I think there's a sexual behavior double-standard in my culture that is wrong, and that men should be expected to be more sexually conservative than they are. But holding that belief myself doesn't mean I'm going to go out and act the way I see men expected to act. I'm still going to act as I think is best for all (men and women). So Mom, Sarkozy, etc: never assume presume to know a woman's ideas about the appropriateness of her culture's gendered clothing assignments just because she happens to wear more conservative clothing than men in her culture are expected to wear. Not unless you'd like to see me start sleeping around just to prove a philosophical point.)

Speak! CD Arrived Today

My Speak! CD arrived today.

Thank you, Speak! collective.

Honduran Congress Declared Major Parts Of Constution Null & Void

Holy ****, the Honduran Congress just declared the parts of Honduras's constitution that provide the following 5 rights null & void for the duration of an "emergency."

1. The right to protest.
2. Freedom in one's home from unwarranted search, seizure and arrest.
3. Freedom of association.
4. Guarantees of rights of due process while under arrest.
5. Freedom of transit in the country.

This is an emergency to Honduran people. (Except maybe the soldiers who do rulers' bidding and the favored rulers.)

Crap crap crap crap crap.

h/t nezua

Don't Let Cirila Baltazar Cruz Drop Off The Radar

Cirila Baltazar Cruz has dropped off the news and blog radar.

If you don't keep blogging, at least keep writing/calling!

Request for Action from the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance (MIRA):

Cirila Baltazar Cruz gave birth to her baby girl in November of 2008 at Singing River Hospital in Pascagoula, MS. She speaks very little Spanish and no English, as her native language is Chatino, an Indigenous language from Oaxaca, Mexico that is spoken by some 50,000 people.

The hospital provided her with an “interpreter” who is from Puerto Rico and does not speak Chatino, the language of the mother. Because of the language barrier and the misunderstanding by the hospital’s interpreter who only spoke Spanish and English, a social worker was called in.

The hospital’s social worker reported “evidence” of abuse and neglect based on the following:

* The “baby was born to an illegal [sic] immigrant;”
* The “mother had not purchased a crib, clothes, food or formula.” (Most Latina mothers breast feed their babies).
* “She does not speak English which puts baby in danger.”

Ms. Baltazar Cruz’s baby was snatched from her after birth at the hospital and given to an affluent attorney couple from the posh Ocean Springs who cannot have children.

The authorities made no effort to locate an interpreter in her native tongue. MIRA located an interpreter who is fluent in Chatino in Los Angeles CA and has interviewed the mother extensively with the interpreters help. The mother has been accused of being poor and not being able to provide for this child. No one has asked the mother to provide evidence of support. She owns a home in Mexico and a store which provides both secure shelter and financial support, not counting the nurturing of a loving family of two other siblings, a grandmother, aunts, uncles and other extended family.

Meanwhile, there is word in the Gulf Coast community that the “parents to be,” have already had a baby shower celebrating the “blessed arrival” of this STOLEN child!

PLEASE MAKE CALLS & WRITE LETTERS DEMANDING THE SAFE RETURN OF BABY & REUNITE WITH HER MOTHER

If you believe this is unjust and outrageous and goes against all moral and religious beliefs and values, please call or write to the presiding Judge and the MS Department of Human Services to STOP this ILLEGAL ADOPTION! Stealing US born babies from immigrant parents is a growing epidemic in the United States. Many Latino parents have lost their children this way!

Honorable Judge Sharon Sigalas
Youth Justice Court of Jackson County
4903 Telephone Rd.
Pascagoula, MS 39567
(228)762-7370

Children’s Justice Act Program
MS Dept. of Human Services
750 North State Street
Jackson, MS 39202
Call (601)359-4499 and ask for Barbara Proctor

For more information please call MIRA at: (601) 968-5182

MIRA Organizing Coordinator
Victoria Cintra at (228) 234-1697 or Organizer Socorro Leos at(228) 731-0831

http://www.nnirr.org/action/index.php?op=read&id=229&type=0

Disparate Impact At Work And On The Highways

What a lousy day for hoping to reduce disparate negative impact on not-privileged communities of people.

1. First we've got the Supreme Court saying that you can only magically predict, by squinting your eyes really hard and concentrating, during the "test design" phase of employee promotion test design whether or not that test will have disparate impact. If the results of actually trying it out on your employees show that you designed it wrong, no starting over! You have to keep using it!



2. Then there's bad news I got on getting disparate impact considered in transportation offices around here.
   
   
   • It's easy to figure out the racial & income composition of houses & businesses that're sitting on the ground, standing still in a neighborhood. And it's precedented, when thinking about building a brand new highway through a previously unbroken neighborhood, to presume that people moving on that highway's general occupancy lanes will have roughly average racial & income composition.
     
     It's both easy and precedented to calculate what income & racial composition a highway (presumed average-composition) would take quality of life away from in this situation.
   
   
   
   
   • But it's harder to get the racial & income composition of people moving on an existing highway's bus-only lane. And it sounds like you'd have to convince a lot of engineers and geographers and managers and other functionaries that it could be good enough math (good enough to at least run the calculations once and see what you get, anyway) to make the presumption of "roughly average" racial & income composition in an existing highway's general occupancy lanes. For some reason, for this comparison, you might have to talk them out of the idea that they'd have to first measure such things to see if it actually works out to "roughly average."
     
     Which means that it's neither easy nor precedented to calculate what income & racial composition it would take quality of life away from to convert bus-only lanes to general occupancy lanes.
   
   *sigh*
   
   Not to mention, as I've heard is usual, people considered about disparate negative impact (in this case, me) are waaaaaaaaaaaay behind the bureaucratic process.
   
   I finally got a phone number and had this conversation today--about a year after I heard that the process might be influenceable. And now it's not really. The only factors they're considering (TOTAL number of bodies getting down the highway, safety in number of crashes vs. where to go when you crash, etc.) are so far "considered" that they're in final report stage.
   
   Crap.

I'm not sure whether to push to get what I consider important considered by the departments in charge of this highway segment.

And what I REALLY am at a loss for, not having much activist experience, is who to reach out to for advice. Super-experienced transportation justice advocates from all over the country? Local bus riders who don't have any more lick of experience than me, one at a time, on my bus?

(Would love advice if you have any. Thank you!)

Good Strawberries

If I die a slow, miserable death of cancer because I gorged myself on pesticide-covered, most-strawberry-flavored-that-a-strawberry-can-get strawberries each June, I might just have to call it a wash. Or even a win.

Because damn, do these strawberries taste good. I thought they might when I saw them at the market. I suspect they might've even been picked at the crack of dawn this morning. Maybe that's why they taste so good.

I go HUNTING each June for a vendor selling strawberries this good. I hit it today.

I don't think strawberries taste as good once they're covered in water...and I didn't have the heart to ask the farmer if her strawberries had been sprayed at any point. We didn't have much to share, so I wanted to share my joy about buying strawberries, not my worrying questions.

So here I go, eating a quart and a half of unwashed strawberries in an hour. (All right, I might puke for non-pesticide-related reasons.)

But they're the best flavor strawberries can ever have.

So I'll just love life right this moment and have someone dig up this journal and remind me of every June's strawberry season in my life if bad times come later.

I love everything.

Call To Action: Demand Mississippi Reunite Mother & Baby Daughter!

BFP broke the story into my sphere.
BA sliced my heart, which helped me act:

Poor women shouldn't have anything rich people want.

including children.

PLEASE DO THIS:

Request for Action from the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance (MIRA):

Cirila Baltazar Cruz gave birth to her baby girl in November of 2008 at Singing River Hospital in Pascagoula, MS. She speaks very little Spanish and no English, as her native language is Chatino, an Indigenous language from Oaxaca, Mexico that is spoken by some 50,000 people.

The hospital provided her with an “interpreter” who is from Puerto Rico and does not speak Chatino, the language of the mother. Because of the language barrier and the misunderstanding by the hospital’s interpreter who only spoke Spanish and English, a social worker was called in.

The hospital’s social worker reported “evidence” of abuse and neglect based on the following:

* The “baby was born to an illegal [sic] immigrant;”
* The “mother had not purchased a crib, clothes, food or formula.” (Most Latina mothers breast feed their babies).
* “She does not speak English which puts baby in danger.”

Ms. Baltazar Cruz’s baby was snatched from her after birth at the hospital and given to an affluent attorney couple from the posh Ocean Springs who cannot have children.

The authorities made no effort to locate an interpreter in her native tongue. MIRA located an interpreter who is fluent in Chatino in Los Angeles CA and has interviewed the mother extensively with the interpreters help. The mother has been accused of being poor and not being able to provide for this child. No one has asked the mother to provide evidence of support. She owns a home in Mexico and a store which provides both secure shelter and financial support, not counting the nurturing of a loving family of two other siblings, a grandmother, aunts, uncles and other extended family.

Meanwhile, there is word in the Gulf Coast community that the “parents to be,” have already had a baby shower celebrating the “blessed arrival” of this STOLEN child!

PLEASE MAKE CALLS & WRITE LETTERS DEMANDING THE SAFE RETURN OF BABY & REUNITE WITH HER MOTHER

If you believe this is unjust and outrageous and goes against all moral and religious beliefs and values, please call or write to the presiding Judge and the MS Department of Human Services to STOP this ILLEGAL ADOPTION! Stealing US born babies from immigrant parents is a growing epidemic in the United States. Many Latino parents have lost their children this way!

Honorable Judge Sharon Sigalas
Youth Justice Court of Jackson County
4903 Telephone Rd.
Pascagoula, MS 39567
(228)762-7370

Children’s Justice Act Program
MS Dept. of Human Services
750 North State Street
Jackson, MS 39202
Call (601)359-4499 and ask for Barbara Proctor

For more information please call MIRA at: (601) 968-5182

MIRA Organizing Coordinator
Victoria Cintra at (228) 234-1697 or Organizer Socorro Leos at(228) 731-0831

What I ran into and what I was able to do:

I got forwarded to a voicemail (note--the names on that machine aren't Honorable Judge Sigalas's name--but I was told it's the correct machine) at 228-762-7370 and left a message, rambling as it was, stating reasons I didn't think Ms. Baltazar Cruz's case was abuse or neglect and thought she must be allowed to raise her baby.

Someone asked who was calling for Ms. Proctor at 601-359-4499, and I gave my name but said she wasn't expecting a call. Then I was asked what I was calling about, and I said I wanted to weigh in on the issue of Ms. Baltazar Cruz's baby. She said they'd "already received calls" on that and were "working on" it. At that I asked if I could simply leave a message--that I thought Ms. Baltazar Cruz's baby should be returned to her--and asked if I could have that message taken down. She said okay to that.

Laundry Will Be Done!

The good news is, I wrote this post 30 minutes ago, so w/ the energy I now have from being back up, I'm going to get off the computer & go put away at least some of the laundry. I hope I'll do all of it. Go!

Journal On A Warm Night

It's hot. Dusk. Body says sleep--sun says not quite yet. Plus it's hot. I haven't turned on the fan--though I have gotten my clothes off.

It's not that hot. It'd be easy to sleep outside, and I'll probably fall asleep once I get the fan on.

I had a thought about my pale, squishy flesh and lifestyle and "adapted to" vs. "perfectly capable of" vs. "a result of." And, like, close-to-nudity outside, daytime vs. nighttime, or something. It's why I grabbed paper & pencil to start writing thoughts. But I forgot it.

Now I've gotten up to get a scrunchie for bed & turn on the fan & lie back down, even though I really should've put away laundry while I was up. I'm on an overworked person's side of the bed. I should be clearing off mine.

Punch Him

I was trying to sleep, but now I'm awake, so I'll type some blog stuff up.

I got really angry at the man who raped my friend and is now showing up again in our social circle and want to punch him REALLY HARD next time I see him. (Even though I can't punch hard. I just want to throw the punch and for it to happen.)

I got up off the bed and punched it.

I didn't punch it very hard--what'd I say?

But I decided to punch until my arms felt as if I'd punched something hard just once.

And that worked. I felt a lot less stressed in my chest.

I don't know why he's been eating away at me lately. I guess it's mostly that he's been showing up. But geez, I've known him for years, and known what he did for years now...why am I getting so obsessed?

I hope it's the increased exposure to him, not some unhealthy going-into-my-head-about-stuff-I-can't-do-anything-about-at-the-moment.

What To Do With Surplus Money/Object Accumulation

I'm torn about what to do w/ money and valuable objects that I don't need, but can get my hands on w/o being labeled by mainstream culture as a criminal.

Take them and hoard them away for kids I might have one day? I always thought I'd do that. It's what my family does. As a teenager, I was already proudly telling my parents I was going to start setting away money for my kids, in addition to (hopefully) earlier expenses like housing & such, the moment I started making it.

And recently, one of my friends just told me that this probably isn't just my family--it probably has a lot to do w/ half my family being Jewish. She said it's pretty common for one generation to pay for 100% of the next generation's expenses, and for that younger generation to save the extra income they don't have to spend on themselves for their dependents.

That makes doing it feel kind of special. It gives hoarding surplus away a positive emotional meaning, knowing that there's a whole world of people doing that, too.



But kids cost a lot, so to really give future kids the childhood I was given by my predecessors would mean accumulating a lot of money & valuable stuff beyond what I need to accumulate to live the adulthood I crave.



That's a lot of money I could be either:
A) choosing not to get my hands on ("earn") in the first place
B) choosing to get my hands on, but then redistributing.


I realized yesterday that I'm "behind" on my "saving for my kids" plan, and that I need to kick my saving into high gear to achieve that goal. But am I going to do it?



If I do have kids, they can live a childhood less economically privileged than the one I lived. And I don't really plan to have them, anyway. So why get my hands on, and then hoard, as much money as I've always presumed I would?

Other than the fact that I've always presumed I would--and that that's upsetting to think about changing?


It's probably obvious from my blog that I didn't grow up poor, and that I'm not currently struggling mentally or physically due to a lack of money.

The privileged concerns I've written about in this post are on my mind, so I'm spewing them out, but I understand if no one I try to network with in the blogosphere really has any responses.

Getting Up & At 'Em

Okay, I think I'm a little depressed & lonely tonight. Making the last post's "I should do this!" reeeally halting.

But maybe some dinner I don't think I want the flavor of...yet can't stop thinking about...will help. :-P

Housework

I have lots of justice-related thoughts overwhelming my brain.

I need to get away from the computer/bed, though, and do the housework on my to-do list.

I have to start by acting out justice.
And it's always at the smallest scale that you have to act your principles to avoid being a hypocrite.
So off. Off this computer. Off that bed.

Swine Flu Among First Nations Populations North Of Me

:-(
http://twitter.com/WabKinew/status/2117975231 &
http://twitter.com/WabKinew/status/2117985670 &
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/breakingnews/Flu-overshadows-apology-anniversary-47820352.html &

the disease seems to be spreading more rapidly and with more severe consequences for First Nation people. The health care providers believe that this is happening because of the dire third world conditions of many First Nations

:-(

Price of Pad Thai

I made 4-5 large / 6 moderate servings of "pad thai" at home last night.

I think it cost $13.45, or $2.24 per moderate / $3 per large serving.

So it's not "shoestring," but I think I can do it cheaper in the future. I got a tiny (7 oz.), expensive ($3.50) bottle of "Thai Kitchen" fish sauce because my huge "Viet Huang Three Crabs" had gone bad. But then my recipe turned out to need 3 oz of fish sauce, and I doubled it, so I could've maybe bought the smallest a cheaper brand comes in, instead, and just promised myself I'd make food w/ fish sauce one more time within the year. (Save maybe $1-$1.50/recipe this size?)

Here's the breakdown:

• A pound of noodles, $2
• 4 eggs, $1
• About half a pack of dried mushrooms, $1
• 2 largeish onions, $1
• 7 green onions*, $1.70
• 2 cloves garlic, 10¢
• 1 finger of ginger, <40¢
• 1 jalapeno pepper, 10¢
• 3 limes, 50¢
• cilantro, $1
• a few peanuts, 50¢
• 6 oz. fish/soy sauce, $3
• 12 oz. tofu, $1
• 1/4 c. sugar, 15¢

Tonight: lasagna! (Note: the cheese is pricey.)

And as always, thank you to the amazing BFP for the idea to share stories of attempting to eat cheaply.

Pakistan's Population

I didn't understand how there could be 3 million displaced people from one little area (Swat, Pakistan), yet see reports that the actions of the people who displaced them (the military offensive against armed Taliban-aligned people in the area) were "widely popular."

So I looked up the population of Pakistan.

There are 189 million people.

I guess I can see how those numbers work out now.

Healthcare Costs - Lucky Me

Lucky me! A healthcare provider I went to for a while isn't going to charge me anything to send all the info they have on me to my new general practitioner. Coulda cost me almost $1 per page.

I Get To See All My Relatives - I Want Her To Be Able To, Too

I found out a few minutes ago that I might have to help pass bad news onto a young (probably undocumented) immigrant.

Maybe she loves lots of members of her family, too.

I hope she gets to see them all.

I won't ask this question to Grandpa because he might be in his last days and I love him a lot and just want to spend happy time with him. The law, however, lets me see him (and would let me see his mother if she were still alive) all I can afford.

I want this young woman to be able to travel and roam and see and hug and come back and go again and hug again and cherish moments again and come back again all she wants.

My Great-Grandmother Could Have Been An Undocumented Immigrant

My grandpa and his nuclear family fled Europe during the Holocaust.

Everyone but his mother got immigrant visas--the consulate claimed to be out of them by the time she was ready.

His mother sweet-talking her way past an administrative assistant to see the consul in person and ask him for a different type of visa, and walking out w/ an immigrant visa, is a family legend.



My grandpa condemns immigration "the wrong way." But I'll bet he's never really asked himself if his mother would've seriously left her family and gone back to Europe upon the expiration of her visa had the consul given her the non-immigrant visa she claimed to seek rather than an immigrant visa.

My bet is that she wouldn't have shared his strong condemnation of immigration "the wrong way" if she'd had to decide whether or not to do it herself. And that he might not feel that way today, either.



Grandpa's too old to pick that fight with, and I love him a lot, so it's nice to get it off my chest here.

Detainee Rape Photos

I got caught up in my anger about the kind of country I live in when I posted this and forgot to mention that although I don't want any "Detainee Photos Protection Act of 2009" passed, I also don't want the photos themselves released w/o consulting the victims...and...I'm willing to have them not released if the victims can't be found.

I know that enables the government to lie about why they're not releasing them...

...but if they lie on a premise of what I truly consider decent (protecting victims) rather than lying on a premise of what I don't consider a good enough reason to withhold the photos (protecting perpetrators and those who've been put in a position by the government to continue to perpetrate if they so choose)...I'd settle for that world.

Thanks for reminding me, BA, Joan, & Cara.

Flowers For BA

These flowers are for BA!
(Important post here.)

Detainee Photographic Records Protection Act of 2009

By Chris Floyd today, from "Death of the Republic, Part CLXVIII," Empire Burlesque:

Glenn Greenwald, among others, is enraged at Barack Obama's eager embrace of the latest disgorgement of third-rate juntaism to belch forth from the hallowed halls of the U.S. Congress: the "Detainee Photographic Records Protection Act of 2009," sponsored by those ever-stalwart champions of liberty, Senators Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman. As Greenwald describes it:

[The bill] literally has no purpose other than to allow the government to suppress any "photograph taken between September 11, 2001 and January 22, 2009 relating to the treatment of individuals engaged, captured, or detained after September 11, 2001, by the Armed Forces of the United States in operations outside of the United States." As long as the Defense Secretary certifies -- with no review possible -- that disclosure would "endanger" American citizens or our troops, then the photographs can be suppressed even if [the Freedom of Information Act] requires disclosure...What kind of a country passes a law that has no purpose other than to empower its leader to suppress evidence of the torture it inflicted on people? Read the language of the bill; it doesn't even hide the fact that its only objective is to empower the President to conceal evidence of war crimes.

What kind of country passes such a law? Why, a cheap, corrupt, third-rate junta state, which has elevated war and militarism into its supreme value, its "ultimate concern," its divinity -- that's what kind of country. What other kind of country did you think was skulking there between Mexico and Canada these days?

(Pssst. Call/write/e-mail everyone--your policymakers and your public arenas--to stop this. Maybe it can be done.)

Wedding Ring Alternatives

Can anyone think of alternatives to a wedding ring that make sense for a white American woman?

If I commit for life to someone, I do want to have it visible, but I don't like rings (wearing them AND what goes into getting the materials to us).

I could do ring on a chain, but eh. It still means dealing w/ jewelry and consuming ring materials.

I'm a little afraid of getting a tattoo around my ring finger, even though it seems to be the most logical option.

I can't imagine a hennaed ring would last more than 4 days at a time on something I work with and scrub regularly.

A dot on the forehead doesn't seem right, since they're just...something from someone else's culture, laden w/ meaning I don't even understand.

Ideas?

Ukranians, Americans

Wow.
Ukranians look so much like so many white Americans.
I've felt that way about other "other" parts of Europe, too.

How many of us white Americans are mostly Southern/Eastern European, genetically, but don't come from families that acknowledged it?

(Okay, back to trying to find healthy, vitamin-filled Ukranian foods that I can actually make. No way am I gonna try my hand at borscht for the first time on a quick cooking night, and I'm not sure a woman in the hospital is really going to feel like chewing meat-and-rice-filled cabbages. Any other ideas? What else do Ukranians do w/ all their produce? To give nutrition to the sick? (Okay, okay, duh...the Ukranians can make borscht on a moment's notice because they've practiced. Dammit.) Hmmm. I think my neighbor's gonna get ordinary Midwest-cookbook chicken noodle soup.)

I Didn't Do An Organize For Health Care Meeting

I did not do an 'organize for health care' meeting. Just spent my Saturday like a Saturday. (Well, one w/ a sore throat.) Oh well.

I do, however, plan to kick myself in the butt to organize a block party for National Night Out. Seriously. Any day now. Really.

Healthy meals yesterday

Healthy meals yesterday. Biked to the nearest farmer's market, and man, I don't know what I was doing in past years, trekking to local-only farmer's markets. I guess I figured they'd be cheaper, what w/ all the competition for the same veggies, but the price savings are less than $1-$2 per trip, and being able to get that piece of ginger and a lime to finish off a recipe in the same trip is SO worth whatever extra cost there might be.

There's way too much produce in the house now, so we've got to eat it fast.

For lunch, I quick-boiled up some jasmine rice, set some dried mushrooms to soak (how water), picked through my mustard greens, then got out my new wok (exciting!) and "stir-fried" sauce while parboiling the mustard greens and drained the greens and threw them in.

Boring flavors, but healthy.

For dinner, my boyfriend had me pick through a different kind of mustard green (the kind you think of as going w/ southern U.S. cooking) and tear it up; he chopped tomatoes & cucumbers and threw on salad dressing. Then he seasoned ground turkey, chopped & fried sweet onions, and mixed salsa+avocado and foreman-grilled the burgers. He saved a few slices from the cucumber & put them in our drinking water. The meal was strong flavorful!

Today I think I'm going to set some jasmine rice to soak ahead of time and cook it like I would basmati for pilaf and see what kind of texture it comes out w/.

Healthcare Organizing Meeting

I'm thinking about hosting one of those "organize for health care" meetings that Barackobama.com keeps sending me e-mail about.

I dunno--it's probably watered-down crap that won't do anything that their packet materials will be about...

...but maybe I could do something w/ it for a Medicare-like public option or single-payer?

I'm reading a book about European female immigrants to the United States.

So far it's really good.

Sly Civilian once wrote:

Where do we recognize our own Whitenesses...as a source of idenity?

I hope to find some ways to tie my own childhood experiences and the people in my childhood to my current beliefs. Since my childhood was happy, ideally, I should be able to be the best person I can be in this world if I do that, right?

I guess I'm hoping that if I read about all the same things I see on promigrant.org and vivirlatino.com and such, only lived by people who looked like me (and bore at least some of my family), I'll somehow be able to be a better person than if I just read about immigrant experiences with little cultural connection to the people who were around me in my childhood.

ADD

My poor relative.

I've had strong ADD symptoms all my life; she got them after scalpels poked around her brain.

She finally tried ADD medications, and *bam*--she was acing tests and classes again.

But *bam*--she had anxiety symptoms so bad she had to go into a clinic to see why she was having trouble breathing all the time.

Although I wouldn't wish upon her all the extra ADD symptoms I have, in one way, I sure do wish my relative were a "classic" case like me who responded to the first medicine she tried w/o negative side effects.

But since that isn't the case for her...I sit here and wonder what I can do for her.

Against Escalation of Military Action in Pakistan

I just can't get that conversation (and what I wish I'd said) off my brain.

Is it class that makes people think they'd be safe from nationally sponsored armed forces?

I know that works in some situations, but geez. If people are on a mission to "eliminate" / "kill all" of a sub-population of a region...it just seems to me that the violence is going to be so extremely high that not only are some civilians going to get unnecessarily killed right off the bat because of the armed forces' cowardice about getting close to those they're "supposed" to be shooting...

...but it seems to me that the natural response of fleeing the hell out of there is going to turn even the upper-class and upper-middle-class into looking poor. Which will take away their #1 class-based protection: the armed forces being "able to" tell them apart, on sight, from those they're "supposed" to kill.



Is my college acquaintance's family going to have quite an about-face in their opinion about whether the Pakistani government should militarily "eliminate" all the Taliban members in Swat once they're on the run and look the exact same and are getting shot at all the time?

Is it going to be too late for their opinions to matter to the Pakistani government once this happens?

:-(

I don't want them to die.

Against Escalation of Military Action in Pakistan

I talked with an old college acquaintance from Pakistan via chat yesterday.
He's all, "Kill ALL Taliban!"
I was all, "Ummmmmmm...how about not?"
He was all, "They're all terrorists who understand nothing but violence--they should all be eliminated!"
I brought up that nationally sanctioned armies often kill more civilians than those they're allegedly fighting against and asked if any of his relatives in Swat had been shot at by nationally sanctioned armies.
He said no, so I said I understood and respected how his relatives & he could come to feel the way he felt.

But later that morning, when I was gardening, I thought of something I wish I'd thought of while in conversation.

I wish I'd thought to say:

Be careful what you wish for.

If the Pakistani government listens to your wishes, and sanctions all people who associate themselves w/ the Taliban being killed, who is going to do the shooting? Whoever does that shooting--my friend--why do you believe that they would not kill all of your relatives who live in the same area because they're too cowardly to get close to armed Taliban members and choose to kill everyone within 10 kilometers of a cluster of armed Taliban members instead?

Do you believe very strongly that if your government listened to you and decided to go "kill all the Taliban," they would refrain from killing almost every young adult male in Swat--including your relatives--as the easiest way to do it?

Why do you believe they would be so careful, when recent history of "anti-terrorist" military action has pretty much always gone the way I've just described?

Oh well.

Class & race privilege

Yesterday, in addition to gardening in my "comfy clothes," I threw on my boyfriend's paint-stained jacket because it was comfortable and a ridiculous hat my boyfriend ordered off a cereal box to keep myself from sunburning.

Then, we ran errands and I wore these clothes out w/o brushing my bedhead.

I looked ready to WORK, and there was no part of my class showing through my clothes or grooming.



And people treated me like they had done in the suburbs when I was growing up.

People did the dance of, "Who was first?" when a cashier asked us who was first in line rather than nodding a, "Go ahead," to me.



I'd thought maybe it was local culture of my new state's city versus my childhood state's suburbs, all this deference.

But maybe it's been race+class all along.

Maybe it's been me, raised upper-middle-class in the suburbs, looking like it, while shopping in working-class parts of the city instead.



(Also, I have a bad tendency to sort of kind of stare when I am around other people, but it didn't throw people's body language off this time. Now I kind of want to dress like I'm ready to tear up a garden all the time to compensate for my bad habits, rather than fix my bad habits!)

Letters To Policymakers About Afghanistan & Pakistan

You should write, too!

Here are mine:

Dear President Obama:

Please order an end to air strikes (piloted and drone) in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The whole countryside population is not out to get you and me. The number of civilians that shooting "Talibanis" from the air kills is unacceptable.

Actually, the number of "Talibanis" that we (and the armies we fund) shoot at in Afghanistan and Pakistan is unacceptable, too. (And, to put it in your words, Mr. President, "dumb war." They aren't out to get you and me, either. They're no less likely to work with us in the event that they find themselves in charge of nukes than new leaders in the former U.S.S.R. were. They're human and know that nukes need to be kept under control, too.)

So please order an end to air strikes (piloted and drone) and please order U.S. forces to influence Afghanistan's and Pakistan's forces to respect peace deals (both signed and still under negotiation), rather than scuttling them with attacks. (Like the Pakistani forces just did in Swat.) Peace deals save lives. Important lives. Blessed lives. Lives of people who flat-out shouldn't die.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Sincerely...

Dear Vice President Biden:

Please work with President Obama to end air strikes (piloted and drone) in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The whole countryside population is not out to get you and me. The number of civilians that shooting "Talibanis" from the air kills is unacceptable.

Actually, the number of "Talibanis" that we (and the armies we fund) shoot at in Afghanistan and Pakistan is unacceptable, too. (And, to put it in the words of the President, Mr. Vice President, "dumb war." They aren't out to get you and me, either. They're no less likely to work with us in the event that they find themselves in charge of nukes than new leaders in the former U.S.S.R. were. They're human and know that nukes need to be kept under control, too.)

So please work with the President to end air strikes (piloted and drone) and to order U.S. forces to influence Afghanistan's and Pakistan's forces to respect peace deals (both signed and still under negotiation), rather than scuttling them with attacks. (Like the Pakistani forces just did in Swat.) Peace deals save lives. Important lives. Blessed lives. Lives of people who flat-out shouldn't die.

Thank you, Mr. Vice President.

Sincerely...

Dear Secretary Gates:

Please order an end to air strikes (piloted and drone) in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The whole countryside population is not out to get you and me. The number of civilians that shooting "Talibanis" from the air kills is unacceptable.

Actually, the number of "Talibanis" that we (and the armies we fund) shoot at in Afghanistan and Pakistan is unacceptable, too. (They aren't out to get you and me, either. They're no less likely to work with us in the event that they find themselves in charge of nukes than new leaders in the former U.S.S.R. were. They're human and know that nukes need to be kept under control, too.)

So please order an end to air strikes (piloted and drone), Mr. Secretary, and please order U.S. forces to influence Afghanistan's and Pakistan's forces to respect peace deals (both signed and still under negotiation), rather than scuttling them with attacks. (Like the Pakistani forces just did in Swat.) Peace deals save lives. Important lives. Blessed lives. Lives of people who flat-out shouldn't die.

Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

Sincerely...

Dear Secretary Clinton:

Please work with President Obama to end air strikes (piloted and drone) in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The whole countryside population is not out to get you and me. The number of civilians that shooting "Talibanis" from the air kills is unacceptable.

Actually, the number of "Talibanis" that we (and the armies we fund) shoot at in Afghanistan and Pakistan is unacceptable, too. (And, to put it in the words of the President, Madam Secretary, "dumb war." They aren't out to get you and me, either. They're no less likely to work with us in the event that they find themselves in charge of nukes than new leaders in the former U.S.S.R. were. They're human and know that nukes need to be kept under control, too.)

So please work with the President to end air strikes (piloted and drone) and to order U.S. forces to influence Afghanistan's and Pakistan's forces to respect peace deals (both signed and still under negotiation), rather than scuttling them with attacks. (Like the Pakistani forces just did in Swat.) Peace deals save lives. Important lives. Blessed lives. Lives of people who flat-out shouldn't die.

Thank you, Madam Secretary.

Sincerely...

Dear Senator ...:

Please do not support any supplemental funding for military action in Afghanistan or Pakistan.

The whole countryside population is not out to get you and me. The number of civilians that shooting "Talibanis" the way we're going after them is unacceptable.

Actually, the number of "Talibanis" that we (and the armies we fund) shoot at in Afghanistan and Pakistan is unacceptable, too. (And, to put it in the words of the President, Senator ..., "dumb war." They aren't out to get you and me, either. They're no less likely to work with us in the event that they find themselves in charge of nukes than new leaders in the former U.S.S.R. were. They're human and know that nukes need to be kept under control, too. Please feel free to crib this argument for the Senate floor or a meeting.)

We need to halt all this military action against the "Taliban" and only fund things that make all the branches of the U.S. government influence Afghanistan's and Pakistan's forces to respect peace deals (both signed and still under negotiation), rather than scuttling them with attacks. (Like the Pakistani forces just did in Swat.) Peace deals save lives. Important lives. Blessed lives. Lives of people who flat-out shouldn't die.

Thank you, Senator ... .

Sincerely...

Dear Representative...:

Please do not support any supplemental funding for military action in Afghanistan or Pakistan.

The whole countryside population is not out to get you and me. The number of civilians that shooting "Talibanis" the way we're going after them is unacceptable.

Actually, the number of "Talibanis" that we (and the armies we fund) shoot at in Afghanistan and Pakistan is unacceptable, too. (And, to put it in the words of the President, Representative ..., "dumb war." They aren't out to get you and me, either. They're no less likely to work with us in the event that they find themselves in charge of nukes than new leaders in the former U.S.S.R. were. They're human and know that nukes need to be kept under control, too.)

We need to halt all this military action against the "Taliban" and only fund things that make all the branches of the U.S. government influence Afghanistan's and Pakistan's forces to respect peace deals (both signed and still under negotiation), rather than scuttling them with attacks. (Like the Pakistani forces just did in Swat.) Peace deals save lives. Important lives. Blessed lives. Lives of people who flat-out shouldn't die.

Thank you, Representative ... .

Sincerely...

Thanks to Chris Floyd at Empire Burlesque and to other bloggers for giving me the ideas I needed to put together a letter.

U.S. Senate Trying To Dump Big Agribusiness Products On Cuba

News tip--things look bad for Cuba. The US Senate is trying to dump agribusiness produce on them, I believe, looking at this article. (And of course, the article chooses the word "farmers" to describe those who spend their time thinking about how Cuba's "market" is "lucrative." Yeah right.)

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/05/04/Cuba-farm-export-bill-being-readied/UPI-10321241453909/

To see an example of how bad this could be for Cuba, read what has happened to tortilla flour in Mexico here. Note the part towards the end of the article where they talk about trade "agreements" making things worse.

I know this is a senate action, not a trade agreement, but it's still a horrible action either way, and it should be stopped.

The Soil And Health And Racism / Ethnocentrism

I got to thinking about The Soil and Health today, when I considered hyperlinking it in another journal.

It's frustrating, because that book does a great job telling fascinating anecdote after fascinating anecdote about studies of soil flourishing--full of rot bugs and microorganisms, and producing incredibly healthy plants and herbivores--but it does a horrible job crediting the toiling labor of thousands of brown people making the farming behind those anecdotes happen!

I got SO sick of hearing, "I did this, and it produced this result," and "Lady Winchesterly did that, and she reported that result." He did not. And she did not. Their hired hands did it. And I can tell, from the few sentences he writes where he does mention his hired hands, that it's just got to be too darned coincidental that all the author's friends who "are doing" such-and-such farming idea have wild successes mostly in places that have only had serious exposure to the powers that be in the West for a short amount of time. That is--that the hired hands of the West itself don't seem to produce the same results as the hired hands of the colonized world.

You know what I think? I think those brown hired hands had a lot of knowledge about how to farm with compost and/or other sustainable methods--despite some of the brown people in their country claiming to marvel at what Albert Howard was having done on his farms.

But the hired hands are rendered so damned insignificant to the successes of Howard and his friends when Howard writes about those stories.

I wish I could find a book with as thoroughly full of compost-heavy farming anecdotes as The Soil and Health but with full credit given to everybody who contributed knowledge (whether it was conscious or unconscious knowledge).

Memorable Quote About Violence Against Women

One of the best phrasings I have ever read:

Gender constructions apparently mean so much to so many that literally millions of people (including millions of women) are willing to see physical and sexual violence toward women as being some sort of punishment.
-Lenin's Tomb

I am devastated by this article

It was a little before 8 at night when the breaker went out at Emily Milburn's home in Galveston. She was busy preparing her children for school the next day, so she asked her 12-year-old daughter, Dymond, to pop outside and turn the switch back on.

As Dymond headed toward the breaker, a blue van drove up and three men jumped out rushing toward her. One of them grabbed her saying, "You're a prostitute. You're coming with me."

Dymond grabbed onto a tree and started screaming, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy." One of the men covered her mouth. Two of the men beat her about the face and throat.

As it turned out, the three men were plain-clothed Galveston police officers
...
Since the incident more than two years ago, Dymond regularly suffers nightmares in which police officers are raping and beating her and cutting off her fingers, according to the lawsuit.

-Houston Press blogs: Hair Balls

Has anyone heard of anything the family needs right now?

Teach Your Kids About ALL The Reasons They Get To Say 'No'

From Elle, via What About Our Daughters:

That girl, 18 and pregnant, believed that because she had “been touched,” she no longer had the autonomy, the right to say no. Her “value” was significantly lessened because she was not "innocent."
...they are left with no reason to abstain—because no one’s ever given them any reason other than fiercely guarding their virginity.

Teach

Transit Comment Forms => Letters To Politicians

I'm getting a lot better about writing letters and making phone calls to politicians.

I think it helps that my bus company put out free-postage comment cards that I've made a habit of writing on every single time they overcrowd the bus (by putting one of their smaller buses on a high-volume route) or undercrowd the bus (by putting one of their larger buses on a low-volume route), as well as when they do a good job by matching the bus design to the route volume.

That's a lot of writing.

But the problem pisses me off enough to do it.

Space is limited on those comment forms, so it's gotten me used to writing short blips and being okay with a short blip instead of a well-researched thesis (because I know I'll be writing again).

Which has helped me a lot to write things like this appeal to President Obama on Pakistan.

:-)

Write President Obama About Pakistan

Here's my text on stopping US-military-caused civilian death in Pakistan. Writing him is easy--just click here!

Dear President and Commander In Chief Obama:
Please halt the firing of missles into Pakistan (whether by soldiers or by drones). I read at http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hkiMxbHNH0BqgpWA2ZG6VD6wVTmAD95TKGK81 today that civilians were killed in Pakistan. Please order all firing of missles into Pakistan to stop. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Katie

Will We Get There? Will We? Even If After I Die?

I have to hope, because only hope leads to action out of love, but sometimes it's hard.

At the inauguration-watching gathering I attended, I heard 2x as much applause after the Star-Spangled Banner than after Rev. Joseph Lowery’s benediction.

That's the kind of thing that made me cry while listening to Rev. Lowery’s benediction and makes me start to cry each time I write this.

I can easily start crying when I wonder if we ever will manage to achieve the things Rev. Lowery talked about in his benediction.

How can this country turn into a country of people who, as a majority, turn tanks into tractors, and act out of love instead of hate for "different" people, when, in a small sample in an average room, the majority claps more after hearing about nationalism during bombs bursting in air than they do after hearing about the idea of turning tanks into tractors, about a good life for people who, by policy, have had it unfairly tough, and about guiding our actions as a nation (that is, "policy") out of love instead of fear/hate?


(How can I learn to write without a run-on sentence?)

How To Forward Abu Aardvark's Suggestions To The President Obama Team

A few minutes ago, I asked those who agree w/ Marc Lynch's "4 suggestions" to write the Obama team.
I just wanted to show you how easy it is! My letter (typed into "Your Ideas" on his contact form):

Dear President Obama,
PLEASE enact Dr. Marc Lynch's "Four Suggestions" with respect to Middle East policy. You can find them on his blog (formerly known as "Abu Aardvark," but now hosted by Foreign Policy magazine) at http://lynch.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/01/19/what_now.

However, I've reprinted them here (however, his links and typeface emphases won't show up in this copy, so please still see his blog. Thanks.)

-Katie

Dr. Marc Lynch says:
...

Contact President-Elect Obama early and often: http://change.gov/page/s/ofthepeople

Abu Aardvark - What To Do NOW wrt The Middle East

It's been a while since I've linked to Marc Lynch! (a.k.a. "Abu Aardvark") But he's just as brilliant as ever.

I like his "four suggestions for the new administration" post from yesterday. He's been saying this kind of stuff for a long time, but it's nice of him to put it in a concise form.

Me--I'll be forwarding this excerpt / this post of his to the Obama White House.

I encourage you to do the same if you agree with his ideas. They claim to be listening to us. Well, if "us" agrees w/ other writers' good ideas, then "us" should forward them en masse.

Now, without further ado, from Marc Lynch:

• Give the order to begin drawing down forces in Iraq.  The importance of an immediate, public and dramatic removal of sizable number of U.S. troops from Iraq can not be overstated -- for establishing the credibility of Obama's commitments, for helping ensure the passage of the SOFA in July's referendum, and for pushing forward Iraqi reforms and political accommodation. I explain why here.



• Talk to the Muslim world...and listen.  The idea of a speech in a Muslim capital in the first 100 days is a good one. But don't wait. The enormous excitement about Obama's election throughout the Muslim world has been palpably eroded by Gaza. He should try to recapture that sense of hope and possibility by engaging from the outset with a world desperate for a change from the Bush administration. He should lay out a vision of America's relations with the Islamic world, as he is so uniquely qualified to do.  But engagement doesn't just mean talking -- it means listening,  learning, and treating others with respect rather than simply as objects to be manipulated. That should include a forceful defense of liberal freedoms in Arab countries, including our allies. Obama's administration should seek out ways to reach out, early and often, to a wider range of Arabs and Muslims than usually get heard...and to take them seriously. 



• Engage on Gaza right away. One of the most glaring aspects of the Gaza crisis was the near-invisibility of the United States. Many people in the region saw this as the logical conclusion of eight years of disastrous American disengagement.  It isn't going to be easy for Obama to pick up the pieces. In the short term he should make clear that he expects the cease-fire to stick, and take the lead in offering significant reconstruction aid to the people of Gaza.  More broadly, he needs to demonstrate that the U.S. is re-engaging with the Arab-Israeli conflict on new terms.  Not grand but empty promises -- Bush promised the Palestinians a state by now, remember.  And not Clinton-era peace processing --  it's hard to imagine a situation less "ripe" for resolution, the current Palestinian leadership is in no position to deliver anything, and the Gaza war will leave deep scars. Instead, focus on the realities on the ground as they are, not as we would like them to be, and put U.S. diplomatic and material support into building more solid foundations for a renewed peace engagement.   



• See the whole, not the parts. Reports suggest that Obama and Clinton will appoint a collection of special envoys to deal with Iran, Arab-Israeli affairs, and other issues. But that model runs a real risk of losing a sense of the inter-connectedness of the issues.  For example, dealing with Iraq in its regional context requires serious engagement with Iran, Syria, Jordan, Turkey and the Gulf. But if the special envoy on Iran isn't talking to the special envoy on Arab-Israeli relations (with the Syria file), and neither is talking to the Iraq team, then important opportunities will be missed and policy could end up working at cross-purposes.  Obama should sit down with all the special envoys and make clear their role in his overarching regional vision.  And then the National Security Adviser and the Secretary of State should work closely together to makes sure that the envoys are working off the same playbook with regular, close communication and coordination.

Politicians, Ambassadors, And Administrators - Contact Information

U.S. Government

President: George W. Bush

Phone (comments): 202-456-1111
Fax (comments): 202-456-2461
TTY/TTD (comments): 202-456-6213
E-mail: comments@whitehouse.gov

Congress/Senate: [Yours]

Phone (switchboard): 202-224-3121

Secretary of State: Condoleeza Rice

Phone (general): 202-647-4000
Phone (comment): 202-647-6575
Phone (Sec. Rice’s assistant): 202-647-7098
Phone (Sec. Rice): 202-647-5291(/-5292?)
Phone (Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs): 202-647-7215
Phone (Israeli & Palestinian Affairs): 202-647-3672
Fax (Sec. Rice): 202-647-2283
E-mail: secretary@state.gov
Web: http://contact-us.state.gov/cgi-bin/state.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php

President-Elect: Barack Obama

Phone: 202-540-3000, ext. 2
Web 1: http://www.change.gov/page/s/ofthepeople
Web 2: http://www.change.gov/page/content/contact

Future Secretary of State: (Sen.) Hillary Clinton

Phone ("friends of" org.): 202-595-2620
Web ("friends of" org.): http://www.hillaryclinton.com/feature/state/?sc=2545
Phone (senate, D.C.): 202-224-4451
Phone (senate, New York City): 212-688-6262
Phone (senate, Albany): 518-431-0120
Web (senate): http://clinton.senate.gov/contact/webform.cfm?subj=issue

Former President: Jimmy Carter

Phone (Carter Library general): 404-8654-7100
Phone (Carter Library?): 404-331-3942
E-mail (Carter Library general): carter.library@nara.gov
Phone (Carter Center general): 404-420-5100
E-mail (Carter Center general): centerweb@emory.edu

U.S. Permanent Mission to the U.N. Ambassador: Zalmay Khalilzad

Phone (general): 212-415-4000
Phone (Khalilzad?): 212-415-4050
Fax (general): 212-415-4050
E-mail 1: usa@un.int
E-mail 2: usunpublicaffairs@state.gov

The U.N. in General

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Phone (general): 212-963-1234
Phone (Ki-moon?): 212-963-5012
Phone? (Ki-moon?) Fax?: 212-963-4879
Fax?: 212-963-7055
E-mail (general): inquiries@un.org

Contact information for various members of the Security Council:

see http://www.unscburma.org/UNSCContactList.htm

Stopping The U.S. Shipment Of 3,000 Tons Of Extra Ammunition To Ashdod, Israel

Ship name: Wehr Elbe (owned by a German company) - See http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/arms-embargo-vital-gaza-civilian-toll-mounts-20090115 for details.

German Ambassador to the U.S.: Klaus Scharioth

Phone (general): 202-298-4000
Phone ("administration"): 202-298-4278
Phone (Scharioth?): 202-298-4201
Fax (general 1?): 202-298-4249
Fax (general 2?): 202-333-2653
Fax (Scharioth?): 202-298-4270
E-mail: Klaus.Scharioth@diplo.de
Web: http://www.germany.info/Vertretung/usa/en/Kontakt.html

German Permanent Mission to the U.N. Ambassador: (name unknown)

Phone (general): 212-940-0400
Fax (general): 212-940-0402
Fax ("political"): 212-940-0403
E-mail 1: germany@un.int
E-mail 2: contact@germany-un.org

Opening The Rafah Border Crossing Between Gaza And Egypt

Egyptian Ambassador to the U.S.: Sameh Shoukry

Phone (general) 202-895-5400
Phone (Chicago): 312-828-9162
E-mail (general): embassy@egyptembassy.net

Egyptian Permanent Mission to the U.N. Ambassador: Maged (f) Abdel Fattah (m) Abdel Aziz (l)

Phone (general): 212-503-0300
Phone (Abdel Aziz) 212-503-0335
E-mail: egypt@un.int

Masa!

No scanned contact list yet...I have to get to that...
...but blogging on a different topic...antojitos.

I think I made some type of antojito tonight.

I now have some sort of thick tortilla with refried beans in the middle, and we'll be adding tomatoes, cheese, salsa, shredded pork, and other stuff to it as soon as my baby's done with work.

I'm very happy to be learning to put together meals quickly out of whatever I have around the house.

Thank you, wonderful tortilleria that made my dough. Thank you, Seeds of Change online diaries, for telling me how to make masa dough less sticky. Thank you, butcher, for telling me how to cook and shred pork.

Bon appetit!

(P.S. I wish I could find the post/comment by BFP about the transformation of corn from something so life-giving into something central to a "bad for you" diet. It was a powerful essay, and I would like people who enjoy this food and read this post to see it.)

Ashdod-Bound Ammunition Still En Route - on the Wehr Elbe

Thank you, everyone, who stopped more munitions from going from Astakos, Greece, to Ashdod, Israel (the closest port Israel has to Gaza).

However, the ship is still en route--it's just under better secrecy now.

Let's get it stopped anyway!

I've found the name of the ship--it's the "Wehr Elbe."

Please call your representatives, members of national governments and embassies, etc. Click here for contact information if you are based out of the U.S. Please feel free to copy/paste, print, etc.

-Katie

How Can I Contact The OMYLE / ΟΜΥΛΕ ?

Someone on The Daily Kos had a great idea.

The Greek port workers could do to this shipment what the South African port workers did to a shipment of additional arms to Zimbabwe last year.

The only question is--how on earth does one get ahold of "the Greek port workers" to ask them to help us U.S.-based activists have more time to get this shipment of gasoline to be poured on a flame stopped?

Apparently, in Greek, their union is called the OMYLE (the L's a delta in Greek), but I can't find a web site.

Callout through Google search terms: Αστακός Γάζα Ισραήλ Άσντοντ Ομοσπονδία Υπαλλήλων Λιμένων Ελλάδος ΟΜΥΛΕ Βοηθήστε
Παρακαλούμε να σταματήσετε την παράδοση.

Edited, in case any Greek readers stop by, to add:

(Not quite sure what it says, but it looks like a basic breakdown of the Reuters news article, in map form.)

U.S. seeks ship to move MANY arms to Israel

The current U.S. administration is seeking a shipment that would make the bombs and shells fired at people in Gaza much more numerous.

U.S. Seeks Ship To Move Arms to Israel (Reuters)

If this doesn't bother you, okay.

If it does, call/write Congresspeople, call/write the State Department, call/write the Department of Defense, call/write the UN, etc.

Callout through Google search terms: Αστακός Γάζα Ισραήλ Άσντοντ Ομοσπονδία Υπαλλήλων Λιμένων Ελλάδος ΟΜΥΛΕ Βοηθήστε
Παρακαλούμε να σταματήσετε την παράδοση.

"Hiding Among" Civilians

Chris Floyd can really apply the English language well to explanations of logic.

"Taking cover among civilians." This is a curious locution. When you launch missiles to kill the democratically elected officials of a government -- especially when you target their private homes -- where else do you expect to find them?
...
Naturally, it would be far more convenient if every member of Hamas -- including, again, the democratically elected officials of the government -- painted themselves bright red and gathered in, say, a soccer stadium, where Israel could then drop bombs on them with no muss, no fuss. But we are dealing with the real world, where human beings of every description, profession, ideology and belief must of necessity live and work in close proximity to one another...

Support Republic Windows And Doors' Former Workers! + Interesting Tidbit

Bank of America claimed to the press that "Neither Bank of America nor any other third-party lender to the company has the right to control" whether or not Republic Windows and Doors pays its former employees severance pay and vacation pay.

Republic Windows and Doors, however, seems to have told the former employees' union, or them--not sure which--that it was largely Bank of America which, in practice, even if they didn't have the "right," told them to pony up to Bank of America and cheat their workers out of their funds.

Not that that makes Republic Windows and Doors owners & managers morally better people for doing it.

But it is interesting.

Source. Seen on p. 3 of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Either way, SUPPORT THE FORMER WORKERS OF REPUBLIC WINDOWS AND DOORS!!! Write more press. Write and call more politicians. Send your friends in Chicago food/gas/El oney if they're wiling to cook and take food to the factory!

"People of Color Don’t Go Outside"

On the lack of portrayal of people of color doing outdoor recreational activity in American imagery, BFP said:

erasure or denial of people of color using public outdoor land has many effects–first, and most importantly, it criminalizes our presence on these lands. It criminalizes people of color for being outside.

I need more explanations of the connection between denial of phenomena existing and what activists mean by the word "criminalization," I think.

On my "things to find literature about" list now.

Organizing agenda

I want to either help organize, or partipate in organization:

• Against the rise in hate crimes that's been going on lately



• Against inhumane border & immigration policies



• Against the Central Corridor light rail train's placement on University Avenue



• For grassroots labor organization rights and mobilization actions (not to mention mobilization rights...freaking Taft-Hartley)



• Against overthrow, or assistance of overthrow, of other countries' governments for the reason that our government/populace disagrees with the politics of those countries' governments



• Against policies that make it hard for poor women to raise their kids to their full God-given abilities



• For policies that help poor women raise their kids to their full God-given abilities, despite being poor

I'll add to this list later, and it will become a place I return whenever I need to remind myself what my 2009 priorities are.

It's Time To Start Community Organizing

The outpouring of open, virulent racism that many feared would arise during the campaign -- and in the secrecy of the voting booth -- never really manifested itself. But I think that it will emerge much more strongly now, in the aftermath, as part of a carefully cultivated dolchstosslegende even now being perpetrated by the rightwing media machine. Fox News and Karl Rove are already pushing stories about "Black Panthers" intimidating voters and widespread vote fraud among the worthless darkies whose votes have propelled Obama to victory. (These would be the same worthless darkies whom the rightwingers also blame for the global economic catastrophe.) There will be much, much more of this in the days and weeks to come.

It will not hurt Obama, of course; he will have the power he has sought, and the upsurge of ugly, unrepentant racism on the Right will only make his "progressive" allies far less willing to criticize his actions -- especially those mysterious "highly unpopular policies" that Joe Biden has promised Obama will adopt in the face of a guaranteed foreign policy crisis sometime next year. (Not to mention the promised escalation of the quagmire in Afghanistan.) But ordinary African-Americans will bear the painful brunt of this pouring of old hatreds into new wineskins. As always, black people will be blamed for all the nation's ills by the overclass that actually controls the machinery of power, and has been grinding its bootheel on the neck of black Americans for centuries.
-Chris Floyd, Empire Burlesque

Beware that Obama, even if he had any liberal inclinations, is going to be under strict surveillance and pressure to 'govern from the centre', because practically every commentator on the box as well as the Democratic Leadership Council is demanding that Obama do just that and resist pressure from his constituents.
...
the Democrats control all three branches of government, with expanded majorities in the Congress and Senate. They have moved deep into Republican territory...When Obama 'reaches out' to Republicans and starts blustering about bipartisanship, and when he appoints someone like Robert Gates as his secretary of defense, there will be no excuse. If he fails to carry out even his most limited reforms, he has no scope for blaming the Right. If he doesn't close Guantanamo and restore habeus corpus, he has no one else to blame.

All I'm saying is, to those hundreds of thousands of people marching and dancing in the streets, be prepared to be back on the streets soon. The system is designed to lock you out as quickly and quietly as possible.
-Richard Seymour, Lenin's Tomb

Maybe this is why it's okay that I took such a severe break from political and policy organizing since May.

It's just about time to begin.
For fantastic persuasive writing about the importance of community organizing and about good examples of community organizing done well, please see posts written throughout the years at Brownfemipower's blog.

(I don't know where to start. I don't have friends in terribly lousy economic situations in real life, and I don't have leftist friends in real life. I can't really figure out how to get them excited about hustling to dismantle the prison-industrial complex.)
(For online life, I did, by the way, just purchase a good domain name that I'd love to give to the cause of influencing the new White House's policy stances. Contact influenceobama -at- gmail -dot- com if you think it sounds like a good idea. Honestly, I have no idea how to get a comunity web site going. I just bought the domain name to hold onto!)

"A Woman...Should...Because Your Relationship Is Going To Be..."

Ultimately when a woman meets a man for the first time the first thing that she should make sure of is that he is aware of her physicality, because your relationship is going to be dependent on his sexual desire for you, and not on any kind of common interests or kinship. Whether or not he is attractive is certainly not important, a heartbeat and a functioning dick will do.
-Renee at Womanist Musings, mocking the message behind an advertisement

You know, when I was a teenager, I never wanted a revealing swimsuit. I did end up explaining that to some friends, family, babysitters, etc. My words at the time were, "I want a guy to be attracted to my face, not my body."

At the time, I knew that I wasn't interested in physical intimacy beyond kissing for years to come (perhaps not even until marriage). I knew that big breasts were associated with desireability for physical intimacy beyond kissing. I knew that I had big breasts.

I thought the most efficient path to weeding out people whose desires in a relationship would be incompatible with mine (see first sentence, above paragraph) would be to make sure that my breasts' visibility was always secondary to the visibility of parts of my body that, in my culture, don't scream out "desireable for physical intimacy beyond kissing."



That got me through my teen years pretty well.
(Pretty happily, that is. There were really sad times that more friendships would've staved off, but there's no way more courtship would've done that.)

I'm grown up now and know more deeply that attracting no guys but ones who find your face highly attractive can also lead to a lot of courtship from guys you're incompatible with.

So now I like Renee's comment a bit better.

I'll post it again, because it's just such a great piece of sardonic wit to remember and to share.

Ultimately when a woman meets a man for the first time the first thing that she should make sure of is that he is aware of her physicality, because your relationship is going to be dependent on his sexual desire for you, and not on any kind of common interests or kinship. Whether or not he is attractive is certainly not important, a heartbeat and a functioning dick will do.
-Renee at Womanist Musings, mocking the message behind an advertisement

Next Passports Issue: Denying People in the South The Right To Vote?

Maybe "it's just wrong" or "I'm a feminist" doesn't move you.

But perhaps disenfranchisement of people who, on the whole, tend to vote similarly, does.

In that case, here's another point I had not thought of:

"Denying the validity of midwife-signed birth certificates could be used to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of Black people in the South if voter ID laws are enacted."
-Workers World

They've got a point.




(In fact, I'd say it's a much more likely "next up" guess than AngryWhiteFemale's prediction. Not that her guess couldn't happen. But I wager the disenfranchisement of large swaths of people whose parents couldn't get hospital births would come first.)

Why Passports are a Feminist Issue

I knew the State Department's actions over passports were wrong, but I'm aware that not all people consider that type of "wrong" something they want to devote their energy to combating.

I didn't know what to say to encourage them to fight the State Department's actions.

I had not thought of this:

"The decision of the State Department to further devalue midwives credentials - ie their ability to certify births - on the basis of a few individual misdeeds, puts this female dominated profession at risk once again."

-Professor Black Woman

Feminists of the blogosphere, PLEASE!

Take action!


Also, pertaining to taking action:
The name of the lawsuit I linked to in "Passports" is "Castelano, et al. v. Rice, et al."

In "Passports," I asked everyone to "support the issue behind this lawsuit."

Now, if you're interested, you can name the lawsuit itself while writing supporting letters and taking other actions.

Help Requested: McKinney Issue Statements Needed 4 T-Shirt

Geez Louise, it's hard to find publications in an "Issues" format from the McKinney campaign.

I pored over "Barack Obama's stances on _____________" documents I got (mostly off the internet) to make this t-shirt that says, "Barack Obama for President - Turn Me Around For Policies and lists policy statements I thought would be persuasive to the public on the back.

But now that the primaries are way over and I want to start pushing McKinney hard to my hobby communities, rather than just voting for her, I can't find her policy statements!

Just platform drafts.

Which aren't really stated the same way.

Dangit.

Any other McKinney fans able to help me look?

Thanks.



P.S. Help a sister out and get the t-shirt sooner if you're thinking about buying one! I always get compliments on my Obama t-shirt, and that's before people even see the back.

I'll sell the t-shirt at cost...but first it has to get made.

Passports

Did you know that the State Department is currently getting away with requesting a neverending stream of documents from some people requesting U.S. passports?

They are withholding passports from people (don't forget--you can't safely leave the U.S. w/o a passport) by being allowed to say, "Y'know, that document doesn't look verifiable enough. We need more evidence that you were born in the U.S." over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over without stop.

Please act to support the issue behind this lawsuit and encourage others, especially who live in D.C. or the areas in question and can write local letters to the editor or organize marches or have who have ins w/ congresspeople or something, to act, too.

After all, if the State Department continues to get away w/ requesting a neverending stream of documents as a way of denying a passport, the next pool of people at risk could be all of those people who should've taken action while it's "just happening to Hispanics" in the first place.

Not Eating and Not Going to School

We are going to be paying for this for generations, y’all, and some of your children and grandchildren will pay by not eating and not going to school.

-Professor Zero


What a huge thing to try to wrap my mind around.

Thank you for writing those words the way you did, Profacero.

But...
Wow.

Cheap late September healthy food prices

Today, I asked farmers to sell me fractions of produce portions for fractions of the price they'd set and did well getting healthy food cheaply.

I bought:
1 small bunch of parsley, $0.25
1 small bunch of cilantro, $0.25
2 green onions, $0.25
2 carrots, $0.25
1 bell pepper, $0.50
a pint? of fancy potatoes, $1.00
Plus a bitter ball and Thai eggplant for free from the same person

$2.50 for just the right amounts of 6 (+2) kinds of vegetable/herb.

Here's to crossing my fingers I can cook them all.

Tonight is mustard greens & cabbage ($1.50 together) I bought earlier this week, chopped, boiled a bit, & thrown into lentils, w/ chopped green onion & cilantro mixed in.



I don't think I'm going to get around to much spreading healthy cheap eating tips around town to those who could use it this year, but I'm thinking about illustrating packets for some of my extra heirloom tomato seeds and giving them to all the farmers who've given me healthy, affordable bargains. Especially the ones growing only conventional tomatoes. I hope that's worth something.

(Non-Statist-Communism) Alternatives and Capitalism

I had my first conversation with a vocal pro-capitalist in a social setting last night. I don't think I was terribly eloquent or knowledgeable or necessarily even persuasive, but I'm proud of myself because I think I managed to do it w/o doing any damage--and might have gotten a single seed of something that will later persuade her in there. If not, well, again, at least I did it, and did it w/o doing any damage.

I have Brownfemipower to thank.

Credit also goes to Benjamin Dangl's The Price of Fire, though I only ended up reading that because bloggers kept recommending a book that, in the hunt for more, led me to that one.

Nevertheless, without Djangl's description of how things work in many different countries, and his chapter on the city of El Alto, I could not have furnished the kinds of descriptions of non-free-market and yet non-command-and-control methods of conducting economic activity that I was able to (however poorly) last night.

She simply didn't know that there were third, fourth, heck, twentieth, ways of conducting economic activity in the world at a scale larger than a small tribe.

I'm proud of myself for listening--I haven't been very good at that much of my life. Otherwise, I wouldn't have found out that she didn't know that anything had ever existed on significant scales besides "our way" and "the Soviet Union's way."

I'm proud of myself for making myself listen to everything she had to say. She said that she wasn't going to judge what people did elsewhere, as long as they didn't mess with our ways of conducting economic activity. Because I listened, I had my fair chance to clarify that actually, I wanted to know if she thought what I'd described could work well for parts of the United States. And I didn't get a kneejerk response to that question. So I'm glad I wasn't kneejerk or interruptive to her, as I can sometimes be.



Last but not least, she gave me a huge shove towards doing more to find a candidate with my set of dream policies and vote for that candidate.

She believed that our political system currently gives people all the power they need to change our way of conducting economic affairs if they don't like it.

I said, "Then how come the few politicians in Roosevelt's presidential era--if I'm correct that that's whom the author was talking about--were able to override the will of the many poor people and farmers who supported alternative forms of economic activity?

She retorted, "They kept voting for him, didn't they?"

She's probably right. They probably did vote for someone who implemented some economic policies that helped them but also implemented a lot of economic policies that hurt them. (Or, more specifically, vote without flooding the streets, creating roadblocks, and giving that politician all sorts of hell over his harmful policies.)

I nodded and said she had a really interesting point. And that she'd probably just convinced me to vote my favorite candidate, no matter what party, this November, so I wouldn't be "a 30's co-op organizer voting for Roosevelt."
*Maybe she'll do the same. Right now she's voting for McCain. She believes government expenditures will be lower under him than they will under Obama (I don't, by the way), but she isn't happy with how high they'd be under him, either. Maybe, if America is lucky, both of us will end up voting and working hard for our true beliefs by November.)

Obama/Biden vs. McKinney/Clemente

Well, well, well.

I thought I was pretty much out of the Obama efforts.

But:

the majority of white people regularly vote against their own best economic interests

My vote's definitely going to McKinney, and eventually, once I have some, some money & time. (Heh--I update so often, you can tell I've got oodles of time, right?)

But maybe I need to use my identity to "relate" to voters and swing them leftwards from the middle-right towards Obama again, just like I tried to from the middle-left during the primaries. Maybe I need to phone bank for both candidates.

It does sound like there are a lot of people like the ones I grew up with who probably need prodding from someone "like them" to vote for Obama.

And I do like a lot of Obama's policies, even if I dislike a lot of the ones he's adopted over the last year or so.

Hmmmm.

RNC Sexual Assault Hotline

Sorry I didn't get on the ball and get this earlier. *sigh*

The Republican National Convention-specific sexual assault peer advocate line, set up through Arise Bookstore, is 651-434-2265. It is open 24 hours a day, but it is only open through Sept. 5 (tomorrow).

Ugh.

So, ummm, if anyone's waiting in frustration because they haven't heard the # yet...there it is...good for another 24 hours or so.

Sorry!

(This line is available and intends to be truly helpful no matter who assaulted you or someone you know. They are very aware that the assaulter could be a liberal protestor and are not afraid to confront that. They want to provide support, healing, and accountability no matter what.)

Way cool anti-sexual-assault activism

I just found out that anti-sexual-assault activists had the foresight to think, "Hey--there are thousands of protesters coming to St. Paul who probably aren't too keen on talking to police departments. If any of them get sexually assaulted while they're in the Twin Cities, they could feel really, really stuck!"

So they've organized a Republican National Convention -specific sexual assault peer advocate phone line and wellness center in case anyone wants to seek support, healing, and accountability in an alternative way.

Go liberals-who-had-truly-wise-foresight! (Whoever you are.) :-D You make me proud.

T. Boone Pickens, Water, & Wind

Eeeeek! Will SOMEBODY with a bigger audience than me PLEASE shout from the mountaintops how badly we need to mobilize against T. Boone Pickens getting anything he wants passed in Congress?"

Water thief! Water thief! Water thief! Water thief!

"Pickens Plan" as a good idea, my ass.

Help for Italy's Roma / Stinti / Zigane

I know a lot of people who like to go out dancing to "gypsy jazz."

I think I'm going to solicit some of their favorite area musicians to donate time and see if I can put on some sort of "all gypsy jazz music" dance for them--that is, if they pay up. Want another song? Pay up!

I'm not quite sure if Opera Nomadi is the right organization to send the money to.

But with Italian gypsies having to get fingerprinted, citizen or not, when other Italian citizens and non-citizens don't, and with non-citizen Italian gypsies having to face 133% the sentence length an Italian citizen would, and with all the violence being committed by non-gypsies against gypsies (again, citizen or not) in Italy...I want to send a big chunk of change to help Italian gypsies fight for due process and a decent life where they live.

It takes money to buy printer ink, A4 paper, envelopes, stamps, and motorcycle gas (I imagine many gypsies don't have mailing addresses, and that lots of organization for direct action would happen by going to camps and telling people). (See the paragraph w/ the text, "the uninspiring, boring, tedious, and nerve wracking work of building a community" in it here.)

The fundraiser might be crazy and might not work. But what if it does? I'll bet I could convince dozens of gypsy jazz bands to do the same thing all around the continent.

That'd be so cool.

I just hope I can find an organization that's into the stamps-and-letters-and-motorcycle-visits type of organizing.

Opera Nomadi is the biggest in Italy, but I don't know if it's the best.

Recognition of violence

P.S. I'm so sorry for everyone hurt by all the hate crimes and hate-rooted activism going on lately.

My writing about the various incidents has mostly been going on in comments and in my life. Need to get making some of the phone calls, still, but, yeah...

Amazing people, some alive still needing to be supported, some dead now, but amazing people I would've liked to have known.

The Soil and Health: Mid-Reading Review

I'm having a hard time reading The Soil and Health. The other library book I got is amazing, and I don't know where to begin when it comes to describing it.

But The Soil and Health is so sick in the way it describes other parts of the world, I'm having trouble continuing to read the words to try to get the organic soil science information out of it.