http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6284806.stm
this annoys me in general because for so many of us its pretty obvious that you cant tell a person's genetic make up just by looking at them, which is why the concept of "race" is so useless if you try to understand it as genetic rather than as the social construct that it is.
i guess eventually they'll do this in the states and then everyone will realize that most, if not all, african-americans are mixed.
not that this even changes anything, because people are dumb and it'll take ages before average people are able to see through racist constructs. but i guess its a start.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Thursday, July 5, 2007
4th of July...
It's my first 4th of July that I'll be in this country in about 10 years, so I feel like that's kind of a big deal. But I'd like to share two stories I've heard today that illustrate how this country treats its veterans, and it makes me sick because you'd think a country as patriotic as we are would treat our vets really well right?
Ok, so first of all it's bad enough that we've been in war for years for no good reason, and don't even get me started on how the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi people, including lots of children, somehow don't matter as much as the 2000 people killed on 9/11.
But so ok, I don't think it's my place to completely divulge who these people are online, so if you want details I'll tell you, but basically both of these vets served in the military for many years. And one is currently in one of the VA hospitals that was left open after Bush closed a bunch, and he's being treated for post traumatic stress disorder over 20 years after he finished his service. The other person is currently in jail (even tho technically she should have been released one month and 2 days ago, but the papers just haven't been processed yet WTF) for an incident related to psychiatric problems for which she has not gotten (and probably won't get once she's released) adequate treatment.
And both of them happen to be black, which is significant because the proportion of black and latino people enlisting in the military has been much higher than that of white citizens (which is another issue in and of itself). And I don't want to argue that they're not getting proper care because they're black, but rather that the lack of treatment and proper care only compounds the social disadvantages of being a person of color in this country.
Recently I've realized that thinking about things in terms of family can be quite useful. For example, that when you raid communities and deport undocumented workers they often are seperated from their children who are American citizens. Thinking about it like that makes it more accessible because we can all imagine how horrible it would be to be forcefully seperated from our parents or children or family. And in this case, when you have a relative or friend in jail, you experience the extra burden of stress in your life, and then this stress disporportionately affects people of color. Like just think about how you'd feel if your relative was mentally unwell, in jail even though they should have been released, and not getting proper medical/psychiatric help, and then of course that's all in addition to handling your everday life stuff like going to school or work or whatever.
Anyway, it just seem ironic that I hear about these two stories on the same day and it happens to be a national holiday. For me these examples show how interconnected all of the injustice in this country is, and how the prison industrial complex, and military recruitment, and anti-immigration policies are not only inhumane, and not only are they damaging for individual people, but that they have terrible consequences for families and children, especially those from communities that are already most vulnerable.
So in conclusion, until this country makes it a priority to take care of its most vulnerable children and families I can't be proud to be American.
kind of related:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/05/us/05contractors.html?hp
http://www.latimes.com/business/local/la-na-private4jul04,1,7340256.story
the first one is about contractors suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and not getting proper medical attention cuz the companies they work for dont do follow up psychological tests or whatever, and the second is about how now there are more private contractors than military personel in iraq, which is creepy cuz we're moving from a military occupation to an economic one.
Ok, so first of all it's bad enough that we've been in war for years for no good reason, and don't even get me started on how the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi people, including lots of children, somehow don't matter as much as the 2000 people killed on 9/11.
But so ok, I don't think it's my place to completely divulge who these people are online, so if you want details I'll tell you, but basically both of these vets served in the military for many years. And one is currently in one of the VA hospitals that was left open after Bush closed a bunch, and he's being treated for post traumatic stress disorder over 20 years after he finished his service. The other person is currently in jail (even tho technically she should have been released one month and 2 days ago, but the papers just haven't been processed yet WTF) for an incident related to psychiatric problems for which she has not gotten (and probably won't get once she's released) adequate treatment.
And both of them happen to be black, which is significant because the proportion of black and latino people enlisting in the military has been much higher than that of white citizens (which is another issue in and of itself). And I don't want to argue that they're not getting proper care because they're black, but rather that the lack of treatment and proper care only compounds the social disadvantages of being a person of color in this country.
Recently I've realized that thinking about things in terms of family can be quite useful. For example, that when you raid communities and deport undocumented workers they often are seperated from their children who are American citizens. Thinking about it like that makes it more accessible because we can all imagine how horrible it would be to be forcefully seperated from our parents or children or family. And in this case, when you have a relative or friend in jail, you experience the extra burden of stress in your life, and then this stress disporportionately affects people of color. Like just think about how you'd feel if your relative was mentally unwell, in jail even though they should have been released, and not getting proper medical/psychiatric help, and then of course that's all in addition to handling your everday life stuff like going to school or work or whatever.
Anyway, it just seem ironic that I hear about these two stories on the same day and it happens to be a national holiday. For me these examples show how interconnected all of the injustice in this country is, and how the prison industrial complex, and military recruitment, and anti-immigration policies are not only inhumane, and not only are they damaging for individual people, but that they have terrible consequences for families and children, especially those from communities that are already most vulnerable.
So in conclusion, until this country makes it a priority to take care of its most vulnerable children and families I can't be proud to be American.
kind of related:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07
http://www.latimes.com/business
the first one is about contractors suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and not getting proper medical attention cuz the companies they work for dont do follow up psychological tests or whatever, and the second is about how now there are more private contractors than military personel in iraq, which is creepy cuz we're moving from a military occupation to an economic one.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
She's baaaaaack
YES! Cindy Sheehan is drawn back out into the public eye as she expresses outrage over the Bush's quasi-pardon for Scooter Libby, described in another source as follows" "Fines and probation and ruined careers affect ordinary people. Scooter Libby is no ordinary man. He is a Bush Administration Untouchable".
So I just love the way Sheehan writes and the way she's not afraid to voice the righteous anger that anyone who witnesses the grossness of the bush regime is familiar with. Plus the terms she uses are humorous and 100% at the same time, showing everyone that its about time to expose the U.S. Government as a mockery in this day and time. Here's her "comeback" article:
(p.s. Obama (on impeachment), what the hell? tsk tsk....read below)
So I just love the way Sheehan writes and the way she's not afraid to voice the righteous anger that anyone who witnesses the grossness of the bush regime is familiar with. Plus the terms she uses are humorous and 100% at the same time, showing everyone that its about time to expose the U.S. Government as a mockery in this day and time. Here's her "comeback" article:
(p.s. Obama (on impeachment), what the hell? tsk tsk....read below)
Call out the Instigator
Because there’s something in the air
We got to get together sooner or later
Because the revolution’s here
You know it’s right!
-Thunderclap Newman
I’m not backing off. I tried to remove myself from the political realm of the US, what BushCo is turning into an Evil Empire, but the blatant audacity of George commuting Scooter’s sentence (he’s not ruling out a full pardon —and you know he will) has dragged me kicking and screaming back in. I can’t sit back and let this BushCo drag our country further down into the murky quagmire of Fascism and violence, taking the rest of the world with them!
I have sat quietly back these past five weeks as the slaughter in Iraq sorrowfully surges along with George’s bloody escalation—and as the philosophical opposition to the war has soared to almost four out of every five Americans. I have remained silent when Senator Barack Obama said that impeachment is only reserved for “grave, grave” breeches! Well, BushCo has created hundreds of thousands of graves dug by their lies and greed. For cripes’ sake, George admitted to breaking the FISA Act (which is a felony) that also breeched the 4th Amendment to our Constitution that already prohibited illegal search and seizure. How was Bill Clinton’s offense graver than George’s, Dick’s, or Scooter’s? Did we ever think that the criminality and arrogance of the Nixon White House would be eclipsed in our time with nary a “baaaah” from the Sheeple in Congress?
George has said that America doesn’t “do torture” when we have all seen the images of torture from Abu Ghraib (don’t believe your lyin’ eyes) and know that hundreds of people sold to the US Army for an immoral bounty are incarcerated within the inhumane confines of Guantanamo Prison which is right in our own back yard.
I have had to bite my tongue – HARD — as the George and Dick crime cabal, (formerly known has the executive branch) have claimed that their offices are not to be held up to the same standards of accountability and control as any other entity in the human race, governmental or private.
It has been recently reported that Nancy Pelosi said that impeachment is not “worth it.” Her faulty reasoning is that impeachment would take too much time because they don’t have the votes. If they could “whip” their own Democratic caucus into shape to defend and protect our Constitution and the people of Iraq and our soldiers as they whupped, cajoled, threatened and browbeat the caucus into attaching “non-binding” time lines onto the last war funding bill, then impeachment would not only be possible, but likely.
The recent commutation of I. Scooter Libby’s sentence, however, was the straw that broke my camel’s back of exhausted ennui. Patrick Fitzgerald is a thoughtful and thorough prosecutor who did a heroic job of bringing at least one of the Bush Crime Mob to justice. Even though we were all very pleased, we knew that it was not enough and that Mr. Fitzgerald would delve deeper into the feces infested executive branch. The lawlessness of the Bush Administration has reached wild west proportions and the inmates definitely have control of the US(A)sylum.
.....(edited)....
It is about time us “peasants” (in the eyes of the Fascist Ruling Elite) march on DC with our “pitchforks” of righteous anger and our “torches” of truth to demand the ouster of BushCo. I have a dream of the detention centers that George has built and filled being instead filled with Orange Clad neo-cons and neo-connettes.
If Congress won’t dig BushCo’s political grave, it is the People’s job to do so. Thomas Jefferson said that we need a Revolution every 20 years, or so, to keep our Republic honest. Over 225 years have passed since our last Revolution (if you don’t count the War Between the States) and we are long overdue for one. Turn off your TVs, kiss your pets goodbye, bring the kids and flock to the federal seat of corruption, or join us on our walk there, for a People’s Accountability Movement to be in the face of the Criminal BushCo and the Complicit Congress for the last week of session before they go on their undeserved vacations (why do they get vacations when the Iraqi parliamentarians don’t?)
On the eve of our first revolution: You know it’s right!
I can't say I have the same faith in revolution in this country (the last major one was...hmm..1776?), but it's heartening to hear the words of those who refuse to give up.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
China's beating us.
China has just passed a legislative law that provides improved protections for workers including collective bargaining rights for migrant workers and measures for better job security. There will probably still be problems with enforcement, but I think this is pretty amazing. China has been regarded as the site for super cheap labor for a while now, and it's significant that they're working towards protecting workers despite pleas from lobbyists for multinational corporations who want cheap labor and "flexible" labor conditions. It's really gross how rights for vulnerable people are seen as a barrier to economic success and development. So here's the NYT article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/30/world/asia/30china.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
For some reason this makes me think of Nancy Pelosi's address at the Campus Progress conference last week, when she kept saying that America being "number one" is a priority, and that whatever social changes that are made can't be at the expense of out status as the best in the world. So I guess she must mean number one in purely economic GDP kind of terms, which is silly because we're definitely not number one in health or healthcare or infant mortality or eradicating poverty, and we're especially not number one in ensuring rights for working people. Workers who aren't (or can't be) unionized all over the world and in this country are made increasingly vulnerable as practically every company sees its workers as the most expendable resource. There's been a trend in lowering job security, like with the workers in Princeton dining halls where permanent/year-long employees are being phased out and replaced with expendable workers with fewer benefits and much greater job insecurity.
Anyway, so my point is that its stupid to look only at how much money the country has without paying attention to who has it and at what expense, and it's kind of shameful that China clearly cares more about its people than our government and businesses care about ours. Why isn't being number one in this respect important?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/30/world/asia/30china.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
For some reason this makes me think of Nancy Pelosi's address at the Campus Progress conference last week, when she kept saying that America being "number one" is a priority, and that whatever social changes that are made can't be at the expense of out status as the best in the world. So I guess she must mean number one in purely economic GDP kind of terms, which is silly because we're definitely not number one in health or healthcare or infant mortality or eradicating poverty, and we're especially not number one in ensuring rights for working people. Workers who aren't (or can't be) unionized all over the world and in this country are made increasingly vulnerable as practically every company sees its workers as the most expendable resource. There's been a trend in lowering job security, like with the workers in Princeton dining halls where permanent/year-long employees are being phased out and replaced with expendable workers with fewer benefits and much greater job insecurity.
Anyway, so my point is that its stupid to look only at how much money the country has without paying attention to who has it and at what expense, and it's kind of shameful that China clearly cares more about its people than our government and businesses care about ours. Why isn't being number one in this respect important?
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