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
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.-Houston Press blogs: Hair Balls
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.
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.
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.
:-)
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
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?)
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,Contact President-Elect Obama early and often: http://change.gov/page/s/ofthepeople
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:
...
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.
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.
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
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:
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.
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...
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!
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 want to either help organize, or partipate in organization:
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
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
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
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
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