Last week, I posted a video by Rock Cookie Bottom, the moniker of indie rocker Jonathan Mann, about why Paul Krugman ought to be in the Obama administration. Apparently, the video's gone viral, and last Thursday it was even featured on MSNBC.
I'm just happy the guy's getting some attention. His songs are timely and hilarious. Here's Rock Cookie Bottom on the conflicted feelings over President Obama that many of his supporters are having now.
Compare the hardships soldiers must endure after they return from war. In Independent Lens: Recycle follow the ex-Mujahideen soldier as he "scours the streets to earn a meager living collecting cardboard to recycle." The next day, watch Coming Home, during which American families describe how they cope with their father's war injuries. As one could easily predict, the aftermath of war -- whether one is injured or not -- produces immense difficulties.
Watch this episode of Independent Lens on PBS Tuesday, March 31 at 10pm Eastern.
Coming Home: Military Families Cope with Change
This half-hour program, featuring Queen Latifah, John Mayer, and Elmo, airs on PBS Wednesday, April 1, at 8pm Eastern. Get a sneak preview on YouTube.
Last month I wrote about U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's tobacco connection. In a testament to the visibility of the Awearness Blog, the piece quickly drew attention, first prompting coverage in the Village Voice, and then, more recently, in a front-page investigative story in the New York Times.
The Times' exposé immediately generated a flood of reactions. Many expressed outrage that the woman appointed to complete Hillary Clinton's term in the United States Senate spent many years fighting tooth and nail to defend the interests of the world's largest cigarette company. A representative comment: "Her morals suggest that she would ignore human death and suffering for the right price. She should resign immediately."
Some observers focused on the fact that, rather than simply arguing Big Tobacco's side, Ms. Gillibrand played a central role in hiding from prosecutors and injured smokers many internal company documents that showed what Philip Morris knew about the harm caused by their products, and when they knew it.
Other observers reacted skeptically to the Times' coverage. One said simply, "I'm not sure what the point of this article is. A lawyer represented a client." Another argued, "This is a lame attempt at a hit piece. Ms. Gillibrand was an attorney at a New York law firm. One of an attorney's foremost ethical obligations is to zealously represent their clients."
Openly gay Congressman Barney Frank, who has been at the forefront of the financial crisis as chairman of the Financial Services Committee, in an interview with 365Gay, called Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia a "homophobe." The comments followed the conversation turning to the subject of gay marriage. "I wouldn't want it to go to the United States Supreme Court now because that homophobe Antonin Scalia has too many votes on this current court," said the Massachusetts Congressman.
In 2003's Lawrence v Kansas, Scalia, we cannot fail to note, filed a dissenting opinion arguing that states should be able to make and enforce through law moral judgments against homosexual acts. A fair assessment?
Conficker is real. It has spread throughout the world and is lying dormant -- but with one eye open -- like a sleeping giant who's draped himself over the global computer network. Will he rouse himself and strike? No. But he might be roused by those who created him, and word is that he'll be given "further instructions" on April 1st. That's right: Wednesday.
The virus first appeared in October 2008, when it was targeting the Microsoft Windows operating system. Specialists and law enforcement have had trouble countering it, however, because of its combined use of advanced malware techniques. In other words, it's always a step ahead -- even when it's sleeping.
No one knows for sure what the virus may do, but some are anticipating another Y2K -- except this time, with real ramifications. Here Leslie Stahl of 60 Minutes provides a concise account of Conficker and the damage it may cause. Prepare to get freaked out.
My indefatigable colleague David Alm recently wrote about the president's answer to the marijuana question to the internet community. And John Richardson in Esquire late last year reported that "insiders think reform could come in President Obama's second term -- or sooner." Obama, however, doesn't think marijuana legalization would be good for the economy. Unfortunately, the president's answer suggested a more politics-as-usual response than one of genuine reform.
Still, that doesn't necessarily mean that Obama had ruled out marijuana legalization altogether, only the possibility of getting us out of this financial crisis with the aid of pot. And the president did show an unprecedented levity (on the presidential level, to be sure) at the amount of interest the subject gathers online. But I don't think Barack Obama will be the president that will break that final taboo on "the sticky-ickey."
Call it a hunch. It is not inconceivable that politically speaking -- and it is always about politics, no? -- Obama might regard as incommensurable his historic legacy as the first African-American president and that drug legalization milestone. In The Audacity of Hope, Obama wrote candidly of his experimentation with cocaine: "Junkie. Pothead. That's where I'd been headed: the final, fatal role of the young would-be black man. . . . I got high [to] push questions of who I was out of my mind."
Curiously, in the same week that the President weighed in on the sweet leaf, New York Governor David Patterson, another African-American politician who has admitted to cocaine experimentation in his past, reached an agreement to roll back most of the draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws. When -- not if -- marijuana is legalized, it will probably be the next Democrat president. I just don't think, politically, it will be this one. If that is true -- and I could be totally incorrect -- then it suggests that the campaign of "Change" believes, somewhat cynically, that these United States of America can only handle a little bit at a time. Alas.
Imagine Barack Obama as a young boy, walking home from school holding his books in a neat stack against his chest. The class bully sneaks up behind him and pushes the young Obama down in the dirt, his books scattering across the sidewalk. "What's the matter, nerd? Drop your books?" taunts the bully. Obama gets up, brushes himself off, and walks home to begin his homework. The bully goes off and brags about it, telling people how weak and pathetic Obama is.
That's sort of what seems to be happening in the world of media today. We have a smart president, but a lot of the people talking about him and his policies don't seem to share his intelligence. That bully is now a pundit with enormous influence.
When Obama was elected, I felt pride in our nation for electing an intellectual, a man who cut his teeth not in business or law or government, but in academia. A man who embraces the task of disentangling complex issues, and doing so with diligence and a clear mind. Someone who, as he told a reporter when asked why he didn't respond immediately upon learning of the $165 million in bonuses issued to AIG execs, "likes to know what he's talking about before he speaks."
Now, I fear that our first intellectual president will be reduced to oversimplified sound bites and misrepresented policies by pundit journalists who are more interested in shouting their beliefs than engaging in the kind of rational, serious intellectual inquiry that defines our commander-in-chief.
Lee Siegel of the Daily Beast, in a piece titled The Intellectual Crash of 2009, writes of the current dearth of intellectualism in the American media. "We are surrounded by the Limbaughs, and the Coulters, and the Jim Cramers, the buffoon-priests who preside over the ongoing national game of issue ping-pong," he writes.
An Iraqi soldier guards the road to Rota Village in the marshland region of Basrah, as the motorcade of General Muhammad Jawad, the Basrah operational commander, passes by.
The desert landscape the soldier faces out onto used to be fertile marshland.
I went with the General and his entourage to visit Rota, a town where American money will help the Iraqis build a school and community center.
Funds spent like this are to win the hearts and minds of the villagers. Since the marshland boarders the Iranian border, it is in the coalition's best interests to befriend the Marshland Arabs, who have a history of smuggling things, from insurgents to weapons. The plan is to give the people a stake in their community so they will no longer help insurgents.
The Marshland Arabs lifestyle was ruined when Sadam Hussein conducted a campaign of eco-terrorism that he began during the Iran-Iraq war (and stepped up after the Gulf War). He shutt off the waterways, destroying the tribal lifestyle of being subsistence farmers. Most of the population has left for the cities, and the culture and wildlife are both endangered. After the fall of Saddam's regime many of the dams were broken, but the area's ecosystem is not close to fully restored and might never be.
There are a few major events in recent New York history that have truly unified the city's disparate population: the MTA strike of 2005, a few really big snowstorms, 9/11 of course, and the blackout of 2003. While we could have done without one of those, to make the understatement of the century, the others were oddly wonderful experiences. Something special happens in New York when the city is forced to halt its hyperactive momentum: people chill out.
Which is why I'm sad that I didn't participate in Earth Hour, a global initiative to turn off the lights on Saturday from 8:30 to 9:30pm. I hadn't even heard about it until that afternoon, when a journalism student of mine asked me if I would be participating in the event. An activist documentarian, she was also printing up fliers to post in her apartment building.
I didn't participate only because I was out to dinner, but had I been home, I would have relished the excuse to spend part of the evening by candlelight. It would have reminded me of the times when I was a kid and a storm would short our neighborhood's circuit breaker, forcing my family to band together, light some candles and play Monopoly or chess until the problem was resolved.
Earth Hour has a YouTube channel with nearly 500 videos. They aren't as dramatic as video of the events named above often are. But as this one from an amateur videographer from the Upper West Side shows, the effort was at least visible.
Uncle Sam's efforts in Afghanistan were recently stymied by the efforts of "The Russian Bear." Czech prime minister Mirek Topolanek cut a promo on "The Uncler," turning against his former tag team partner. And, brother, this week's G-20 battle royale will also be a white knuckler for The American Dream. Meanwhile: China, "the Rising Power," weighing in at 1.3 billion people, is lurking in the dressing room, waiting for its steel cage match against "The Uncler" for that prestigious Global Heavyweight title. Whoo!
Whatchagunnado? Let's face it -- Uncle Sam has seen better days in the squared circle of the arena. FunnyorDie.com parodies The Wrestler, retelling the story of a scrappy working class hero (and his girlfriend Alyssa Milano) who is just south of his glory days, but still trying to make a comeback. Look familiar?
Marijuana has been used for years as medicine against pain, anxiety, and many other symptoms. In California, the you can grow the stuff and sell it legally if you have a medical grower's license, and you can buy it without fear provided you have a prescription.
I'll never forget the time when I was 15, I attended a legalization rally on the courthouse lawn in my hometown, and a speaker at the rally who was confined to a wheelchair and was suffering from glaucoma opened a tin of government-issued reefer, took out a long J and lit up. He explained that he needed the THC for his glaucoma, that the pain was too much to bear and that smoking pot brought significant relief.
So I read with empathy Jim Gilliam's plea to President Obama to not chuckle at the question "Would legalizing marijuana help grow our economy?" at his precedent-setting online town hall meeting yesterday. (The president held the meeting at the White House, but fielded questions from the Internet community.)
Gilliam is a lifelong non-smoker -- no cigarettes or pot -- but he lost a lot of weight due to cancer some years back, and his doctor prescribed a synthetic form of THC to help him gain some pounds. It has worked.
The piece was originally posted on White House 2, a site dedicated to the issues facing the White House but is not administered by the government. Its tagline is "Where You Set the Nation's Priorities."
Things get hot as a woman joins a guerilla movement in Columbia and as human action -- proved by a team of Scandanavian specialists -- accelerates global warming. A live-long day of heat on the Sundance Channel.
The Planet
The Planet airs Monday, March 30 at 8am and again at 2:50pm.
Guerrilla Girl
Guerrilla Girl airs Monday, March 30 at 9:25am and again at 7:25pm.
I moonlight two nights a week at a restaurant/jazz club in Manhattan that sells so-called "comfort food." It's one of the few restaurants that hasn't been hugely impacted by the financial crisis, which has shuttered one eatery after another throughout the five boroughs (and I'm sure whatever lies west of the Hudson, as well, whatever that might be).
But here's the rub: this restaurant specializes in barbecue and other southern classics like hush puppies, macaroni and cheese, and collard greens with bacon.
Get it? Rub? Like barbecue rub?
Anyway, I'd never deride the restaurant -- after all, it provides stability during shaky times -- but I can say objectively that it's not what anyone would call "healthy." We sell pulled pork by the pound, hundreds of marbled brisket platters a week, and gobs upon gobs of sticky toffee pudding, banana cream pie, and fried bread with a side of butter.
So why is this restaurant still profitable while others are replacing their shingles with "For Rent" signs? Because people feel good when they eat our food. The "comfort" of some good ol' fashioned southern cookin' makes everything seem just dandy for the time bein', and ain't nuthin' wrong with that, right?
Not in small doses, no, but when other "comfort" foods like candy have already added some inches to our nation's collective girth, I have to wonder why, when times are hard, we tend to punish our bodies. Because we're rewarding our taste buds, you say? Very well, but isn't that pleasure far too short lived to justify the sluggishness we'll experience when we've gained 20 pounds of fat? Not only that, but all that salt, MSG and fat can put a strain on your heart, which is already working overtime due to stress.
True, I have abstemious tastes. I genuinely like raw tofu, carrots and salad without any dressing. I haven't had a soda in 14 years. When I drink beer, I usually drink Guinness because it's nice and bitter but very low in calories, allowing me to skip home like a woodsprite after a night out.
So maybe I should put this question to the Awearness community: When you're feeling down, insecure or generally freaked out, what do you eat and why?
[Image: Rick Audet for Wikimedia Commons]
Autism campaigns have really come to the forefront recently. While listening to online radio, a kind celebrity singer urged the listener to make a contribution to a fund which provides for those who have autism. Plus, I've seen more autism magazine ads than usual. As one disease gains prominence, other diseases lose the spotlight and perhaps support. Unfortunately, America and other places have been seized by what appears to be an epidemic of disease fads. Although autism is a serious disease, do onlookers pay attention just because it seems newer and trendier than cancer and AIDS? Or does the nature of the marketing world necessitate the constant change of diseases in the limelight?
Check out the next innovation used to bring needed awareness to autism.
When two surfing legends learned that their friend, famed underwater cinematographer Don King (Riding Giants, Lords of Dogtown), was making a film to heighten awareness of autism, they pledged to help in a manner both memorable and unique. As recounted in this documentary by King, Laird Hamilton raised funds by embarking on a grueling bike and paddleboard journey from London to Paris, and later, joined by Dave Kalama, he undertook a paddle and pedal journey of more than 500 miles across the Hawaiian Island chain.
Find out more here at SurferMag!
The tide rises on the Sundance Channel as A Path of Purpose airs Sunday, March 29 at 10:15am.
Do you know someone who's fought tirelessly for a progressive cause without pay or recognition?
If you do, he or she is in the company of Maria Leavey, a self-made Washington outsider who became an insider through relentless and dedicated efforts to affect change. Out of a small apartment and with almost no money, Leavey worked as a consultant to liberal politicians like Howard Dean, Nancy Polosi and Harry Reid. When she died of an undiagnosed heart condition in 2006, just one day before her 53rd birthday, Leavey left behind a legacy of grassroots political action, and the idea that you don't have to know people in Washington to get to know people in Washington.
An award for unsung heroes is now offered in Leavey's name, in hopes that by recognizing others who fight for social justice won't have to struggle in the ways Leavey did. To nominate a friend or anyone else you consider a contender for this honor, visit the Maria Leavey Tribute Award page at OurFuture.org.
Nominations are due April 7th.
While prices for groceries in recent months had seeded the idea, now that there will be an organic garden on the White House lawn, there's a lot more being said about growing food at home. Here are some things to consider if you haven't grown anything since that sunflower or bean sprout in first grade.
First, where will you grow this food? Most people, especially those in cities, don't have 1,100 square feet of lawn they're not doing anything with. On the flipside, homeowners with yards might not be allowed to grow vegetables because of homeowners' association covenants.
In either case, you can still grow greens, herbs and root vegetables in containers. Gather up or buy small trash bins, buckets, terracotta pots, used milk jugs or a couple of washbins. Start your seeds (the cheaper way to grow compared to transplants) in shallow food containers or egg cartons, then, when they're developed two true leaves, place them into larger containers.
At this time of year in the northern US, most plants need to stay inside near a sunny window or under lights. As temperatures rise and plants mature, place them on a patio, a balcony or a roof (after they've been hardened off). Lettuce, greens and many herbs develop quickly when they're grown in proper conditions, and they can continue to produce for months.
That leads us to question two: what do you want to grow? Corn? Tomatoes? Rutabaga? If you look at a seed catalog, the possibilities seem almost endless. But consider that the needs of one veggie (such as tomatoes) are very different from another (such as spinach). Many plants need to be grown at different times of the year, too.
Raunchy radio star Howard Stern has -- believe it or not -- copped to being a student of Transcendental Meditation for years. That doesn't explain why he feels the need to run a mini-radio empire based on people who make bad decisions in life. Still, every morning -- at 4 am -- and night he clears his head and meditates. Stern credits the practice with helping him quit smoking and achieve his goals in radio. He also announced on his Sirius show last week that he will appear at Hollywood director David Lynch's "Change Begins Within" concert at Radio City Music Hall on Saturday, April 4. Also appearing are Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Eddie Vedder, Donovan, Sheryl Crow, Ben Harper, Moby, Bettye Lavette, Paul Horn and Jim James.
The event's goals are to "raise funds to teach one million at-risk children to meditate -- giving them life-long tools to overcome stress and violence and promote peace and success in their lives." The David Lynch Foundation advocates meditation -- the TM Quiet Time program -- in schools as a means to increase academic performance and attention span. To that end the foundation provides scholarships for students in grades 6-12. From Associated Content:
David Lynch and other proponents of TM suggest that students who spend 15-20 meditating each morning experience better concentration in school, better academic performance and lower incidences of depression and anxiety.
Despite Howard Stern's repeated self-proclamations that he is the "King of All Media," he rarely makes live appearances in public outside of his radio show. Stern stated that he originally considered declining Lynch's offer to appear because of his discomfort about appearing in public, but changed his mind because he believes in the cause so strongly. He also stated that Transcendental Meditation helped to reduce his mother's symptoms of depression.
Learn more about the concert at DLF.tv. Information on transcendental meditation scholarships can be found here.
[Images: NYMag]
So, for the first time in my life I took part in a volunteer event. I've always wanted to do something, but just never made the time. Here at Kenneth Cole, interns, such as myself, are mandated to participate in a day of community service. On this particular outing, about 20 of us went to the Food Bank for New York City.
We arrived at their 90,000 square foot Bronx warehouse on a brisk February morning. Once there, we found out we'd be packing frozen meats for the day. Of all the things to handle on a cold day, right? Despite the obvious chill in the air and having to handle frozen food, everyone chipped in with no complaints.
Before participating in this event, I wasn't totally aware of the situation. Of course I'm not completely ignorant; I knew that the working poor and elderly have been going through the struggle for years. What took me by surprise is the growing number of middle class people who are also affected. A brief introductory speech and video was shown before we began packing food. We were given various examples of who needed assistance, including some in business suits. With the cost of living continuing to spiral up and salaries not keeping pace, there are many people out there, not just the preconceived stereotypes, that have to make tough decisions on a daily basis. Do I pay this bill or do I buy food? For some, food loses out too often. It is utterly ridiculous that one can work a full-time job, be responsible, not spend beyond their means, and still can't afford to eat. That in itself is another entry. This is where your local food back can come in handy.
Mr. Sabourin was an usual seventh grade history teacher. He started class each year with two weeks on study skills. If I had followed his tips, I'm sure I would have gotten a lot more As in school, but I am a studying slacker. His claim to fame for most students was his annual unit on mummies.
A full week on how ancient Egyptians turned a corpse into a mummy. In graphic detail.
So when I saw that Chicago's Oriental Institute has a new exhibit and the University of Chicago's magazine has an online peek, I squealed with glee. You have to check it out.
As topics go, few are more tragic than suicide. The idea of taking your own life because it has become too much for you to bear strikes a collective chord in our culture. The word alone elicits a bowed head, a long face, and an expression that falls somewhere between regretful, resigned and confused. All three emotions accompany news of a suicide.
In some instances, a suicide is not viewed as an isolated tragedy, but one so compelling and high-profile that it reflects the idea of suicide. Such is the case with Nicholas Hughes, the son of Sylvia Plath, the poet and writer who herself committed suicide 47 years ago, when Nicholas was just over a year old.
Mr. Hughes was a professor of biology at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks until his death on March 16th. His father, the English poet Ted Hughes, frequently wrote about nature in his work, and seemed to have passed his reverence for the natural world on to his only son.
But Nicholas's scientific -- i.e. "rational" -- tendencies were apparently no contest for his own lifelong depression. The "noonday demon," as the disease has been aptly called, is a powerful beast, capable of ruining lives and worse, as in cases like Hughes's.
Andrew Solomon's book The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression provides an exhaustive account of this timeless affliction and the ways in which different cultures have understood and treated it throughout history. But Solomon also does a stellar job of providing comfort to his reader, whom he seems to suspect has or is currently suffering from depression. The book might have prolonged Hughes's life, as well as those of others who have succumbed to the temptation of suicide during a dark and lonely stretch.
It's too late now, for Hughes and for three of my friends who are no longer with us, but I can't recommend it highly enough for anyone who still is, but contemplating the alternative.
[Image: "Melancholy" by Edvard Munch, 1891]
Narrated and executive produced by Matt Damon, Running the Sahara is a documentary following Charlie Engle, Ray Zahab and Kevin Lin as they ran the length of the Sahara Desert -- the equivalent of two marathons a day for 111 days -- to tell the stories of the people in the region and create widespread public awareness of the water shortage on the continent. The expedition began on November 2, 2006, in St. Louis, Senegal, the first French colonized city in Africa, and ended, exhaustingly, February 20, 2007, as the three men touched the Red Sea just below the Suez Canal. "We touched the water in Senegal at the beginning, and we touched the water in the Red Sea at the end. They were the bookends of our journey," Engle told CBS News.
Matt Damon was on CNN's "Inside Africa" this weekend talking about the documentary, which just came out on DVD. He is also a spokesperson for The H2O Africa Foundation. From H20Africa.org:
Last Spring, my friends at the ONE Campaign and DATA brought me to Zambia and South Africa, where I witnessed extreme poverty and the role that clean drinking water plays in getting millions out of danger. I learned that a child dies every 15 seconds due to diseases from dirty water.
Upon my return, I wanted to do something.
Through some friends, I learned about three men who would undertake a quest so amazing and symbolic that it could do an immense amount of good for Africans in extreme poverty. They were undertaking a bold expedition that has never been attempted -- running 4,000 miles across The Great Sahara Desert to raise awareness for the 1.2 billion people around the world who don't have access to clean water.
Donations to the H20 Africa Foundation can be made here. And information about upcoming screenings for the documentary -- where you can meet the runners -- can be found here.
There's a Seinfeld episode where George decides to combine his two greatest passions: eating and sex. He keeps a hoagie in the drawer next to his bed, and in the middle of pleasuring his girlfriend, sneaks a big bite whenever he can. Only he's not so sneaky, and she finds out, and oh, the comedy!
But George may have been onto something. When times are tight, we tend to find things to do that won't break the bank. Like playing Scrabble, or making every night a Netflix night. And, of course, there's the preferred pastime among Britons during times of economic woe: sex.
Meanwhile, healthier eating is getting a lot of attention now that Michelle Obama has started a small organic garden on the White House lawn and grocery stores across this country are striving to resemble Whole Foods instead of Costco.
But since healthy eating has long borne the stigma of the yuppie class, i.e. people who can afford those fresh organic vegetables and whole grain cereals, leaving everyday Americans to subsist on frozen dinners and Pop Tarts, Mrs. Obama and many others are working to change that impression.
What do these topics have to do with each other, you ask? The answer isn't one word, but two: better sex.
According to an article published this week on Session Magazine's website, the top 10 aphrodisiac foods would be deemed "healthy" by most standards: asparagus, avocados, bananas, basil, figs, garlic, oysters, honey and even chocolate, which is rich in antioxidants (just stay away from that heavily processed milk chocolate you find in candy bars).
So now we have two pastimes that can help us save money, and together, they can lead to one heck of a Friday night. Grow your own veggies and herbs; make a nice meal with oysters, garlic, and avocado; finish it off with a dessert of chocolate, bananas, and honey; and then, well, just let nature take its course.
[Image: Session Magazine]
A couple weeks ago, I told everyone about the event and exhibit charity:water arranged at Chelsea Market. Here is a piece that ran on CNN's Inside Africa Today with Scott Harrison, founder and president of charity:water, explaining the exhibit and the world water crisis.
During the opening night event, we raised over $30,000! If you haven't gone to check out the exhibit yet, head over to Chelsea Market before the end of March. If you are not in NYC, check out charitywater.org to see photos and background on the exhibit. Come back and share your thoughts on the exhibit with us!
Or so asks Rock Cookie Bottom, a definitive indie rocker who's posting a new, original, current events-inspired song and music video every day on his website. Here's #77, "Hey, Paul Krugman," which makes a pretty strong case for why the op/ed columnist and blogger for the New York Times ought to be in the Obama administration.
For a more in-depth but less funny case, check out Amy Goodman's interview with Mr. Krugman on the so called "zombie ideas" supported by U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
Sure, I write for a blog, and I love it. But you know what? I'm not keen on Twitter. (Full disclosure: this blog also has a Twitter account, so these opinions are mine alone, and should not be construed as those of Awearness, which is much more of the 21st Century than I am...)
I digress -- or maybe that's the point... I mean, what is Twitter but a series of digressions? A stream of mundane updates on everything from what you had for breakfast to how annoyed your are that you just missed the F train?
In my view, there's enough noise as it is -- both aural and psychic. Doesn't Twitter just add to the cacophony?
And lest I fail to persuade you, here's a cartoon that makes my case better than any rational argument can.
What is Ada Lovelace Day?
Ada Lovelace Day is an international day of blogging to draw attention to women excelling in technology.
Women's contributions often go unacknowledged, their innovations seldom mentioned, their faces rarely recognised. We want you to tell the world about these unsung heroines. Entrepreneurs, innovators, sysadmins, programmers, designers, games developers, hardware experts, tech journalists, tech consultants. The list of tech-related careers is endless.
Why did I chose a woman without a technology degree for Ada Lovelace Day? Because Donna Dubinksky was a key team member to my current love affair with my Palm Treo. Named one of the Digital 50 by TIME, Dubinsky fits in as a face unknown... at least to the women technology students I work with.
The Handspring Visor Edge was my first PDA. I actually owned two because the first one slipped out of my purse and the screen cracked. I was heartbroken. I anted up the few hundred dollars it took to replace it as soon as I could.
Now I'm not one to jump on a tech bandwagon. I still don't really own a MP3 player. I have a hand-me-down iPod Mini and a few songs on my Treo. Especially since I use to collect my calendars as a pseudo-journal, I have, somewhere, my student agendas from high school and college. But life got busy and I wanted to carry a smaller purse (current friends, don't laugh!) so I asked for a Handspring one Christmas/Solstice. And I was hooked!
I'm still hooked on my Treo even while others moved to Blackberry or iPhone. Again, I don't need to be at the cutting edge, well, because I had a PDA before most people. I've been there and I found a platform that I like and know, and my life is too busy for me to learn a new gadget.
So today, on Ada Lovelace Day, I say THANK YOU to Donna Dubinsky.
Oh, and that Pre had better be worth the wait.
[Image: Ada Lovelace Facebook page]
Let's face it: people like having babies. If they didn't, we wouldn't have a population problem, people who can't support a child (or 14 of them) wouldn't let themselves get pregnant, and baby dolls wouldn't be so damn popular among little girls. Seriously, at what age do girls start wanting kids? Clearly before they even like boys -- and in some case, before they ever like boys.
To take a sad case in point, a 26-year-old in Pittsfield Massachusetts was arrested last week for trying to forcibly impregnate her wife with a turkey baster filled with her brother's semen.
Stephanie Lighten came home "all liquored up," according to the victim, 33-year old Jennifer Lighten, and "attacked" her wife, who broke free and locked herself in the bathroom. Before long, Stephanie broke the door down and the couple began to brawl. Police arrived shortly thereafter, broke up the couple's fight, and arrested Stephanie.
Sure, it would be easy to laugh at this. But doesn't it reflect something tragic about the obsession with children in our culture when we can turn violent on those we love in the name of having them? And besides, don't we have enough people in the world as it is? Better leave that topic for another post.
Jennifer chose not to press charges for attempted rape, stating she does not believe her wife would have taken it that far. Stephanie has been charged with domestic assault and battery, but she was released on her own recognizance.
According to Lez Get Real, a site dedicated to lesbian news and issues, Stephanie Lighten has re-set her MySpace profile to "private."
[Image: Easy Cookin']
On Feb. 24, the House of Representatives voted 323-95 in support of the Captive Primate Safety Act (H.R. 80), a federal bill that would "prohibit interstate commerce in primates for the pet trade, making it illegal for individuals to buy or transport a pet primate across state lines. It would have no impact on zoos or research." The bill was received in the Senate (S. 462) the following day and has been referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. Why was this bill introduced? And is such a bill really necessary?
A few weeks ago, a woman living in CT was severely injured by her friend's "pet," and now the family of the injured woman is suing the pet's owner for damages. For those of you who have not heard about this incident, you may be wondering what I mean when I say "pet" and "severely injured." Well, the owner's "pet" was not a domesticated dog or cat; he was a 200-pound, 14-year-old male chimpanzee named Travis. And what kind of severe injuries can a 200-pound chimpanzee inflict on a person, considering that a chimpanzee has six times the strength of a human? According to the lawsuit, the woman, Charla Nash, "suffered traumatic facial and brain injury, lost both her hands, has eye injuries that threaten her vision and sustained broken bones." As for Travis, he was shot and killed by police shortly after the attack.
To me, this is an immense tragedy for all involved, and as the renowned primatologist Jane Goodall succinctly stated, "The human brain is more highly developed than that of any other living creature. So why can't we learn that wild animals simply do not make good 'pets'?" Obviously, "highly developed" does not equal more intelligent, as most people are not physically, financially or psychologically prepared to share their lives with these inherently wild animals. Or, as Bill Templeman with the Southern Oregon Humane Society says, "We don't believe we've done a good enough job taking care of the animals we've domesticated already, of dogs and cats." I couldn't agree more.
To learn more about the Captive Primate Safety Act (H.R. 80/S. 462) or to contact your Senators and urge them to support the bill, visit the Humane Society's website.
[Image: snowyowls for Wikimedia Commons]
Despite the fact that her most prominent disciple, Alan Greenspan, has publicly disavowed Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism, her ideas are gaining traction. Why? It would seem that her romantic -- some might say melodramatic -- rendering of laissez faire capitalism was made irrelevant by the realities of the economic collapse. Was it not the application of her philosophy, delivered via Greenspan's Federal Reserve -- that led to the lack of oversight and subsequent recklessness of Wall Street?
Though that may be true, The Economist notes that Atlas Shrugged is selling like hotcakes:
Tellingly, the spikes in the novel's sales coincide with the news ... The first jump, in September 2007, followed dramatic interest-rate cuts by central banks, and the Bank of England's bail-out of Northern Rock, a troubled mortgage lender. The October 2007 rise happened two days after the Bush Administration announced an initiative to coax banks to assist subprime borrowers. A year later, sales of the book rose after America's Treasury said that it would use a big chunk of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Programme to buy stakes in nine large banks. Debate over Mr Obama's stimulus plan in January gave the book another lift. And sales leapt once again when the stimulus plan passed and Mr Obama announced a new mortgage-modification plan.
As if that isn't enough, Angelina Jolie has been confirmed to play Dagny Taggart, the heroine of the novel. Interest in the ideas of Rand, ironically enough, are at their apex. But is she still politically and philosophically relevant? Consider that Rand's economic ideas, when put into practice, haven't worked out ideally.
[Image: The Fascinating Life of Ayn Rand]
So, remember when Bill Clinton was president and he had that little tryst with his intern, Monica Lewinsky, in the Oval Office? Of course you do.
And have you noticed that aside from some embarrassing behavior during his wife's campaign for the Democratic nomination, he's bounced back and become a massively influential public figure? And that the consensus on the whole Lewinsky thing is that it was a non-issue, and that it didn't affect his ability to be president? Of course you have.
So, is it possible that Elliott Spitzer, the former governor of New York who resigned one year ago this month after his secret life as a john was exposed, could also enjoy a renaissance of positive influence?
Long known as the "sheriff of Wall Street" for keeping the financial industry in check, Spitzer is back in the limelight. Only this time, people seem interested in what he has to say, instead of hoping to nail him with a rotten tomato.
He appeared on CNN this weekend to discuss the AIG fiasco with Fareed Zakaria, and his comments are informed, insightful and poignant.
Every third Friday of the month students and peace-lovers alike convene in downtown Milwaukee to show solidarity for all victims of oppression and war in a nationwide efforts known as moratoriums. Personally, I've been attending the demonstrations -- without fail -- for six months. Through wind, rain, snow and cold (December's moratorium boasted temperatures of -10 wind chill) dozens of committed souls stand strong. Even with the occasional heckler or mean-spirited individual, none ever back down. I've made it a personal goal of mine to photograph these moratoriums and the evolution of the issues tackled in the rallies. It is my deep personal belief that no object, ever, has told more truth than the camera lens.
Hey, here's a bad idea: Take some processed chicken, bread it, fry it, freeze it, and package it with the name of the first American black president on the box.
Yet a company in Germany has done just that, rolling out Obama Fingers last week in a country the company says won't find the concept racist. Really?
Many here in the States are nonplussed.
A spokesperson for Sprehe, the company behind Obama Fingers, told Spiegel Online there was no racist intent. "We noticed that American products and the American way of eating are trendy at the moment," she said. "It was supposed to be a homage to the American lifestyle and the new U.S. president."
All well and good, but doesn't Sprehe know that nothing could be further from the president's diet than fried chicken fingers? The First Lady herself has become a public face for healthy eating, championing fresh vegetables and a balanced diet as a fundamental part of life for people of all socio-economic groups.
Curry dip included.
[Image: Der Spiegel]
Japan has a knack for coming up with stuff that seems crazy, only to become standard within a few years -- OK, some inventions haven't quite caught on. Still, the small country has given us some technological gems we could barely live without now.
So maybe the fashion world will scoff at the HRP-4C, a 5'2", 95lb. robot designed by Japan's Advanced Institute of Industrial Science and Technology, but I wouldn't be surprised if by 2012, we'll be seeing more than one she-bot on the catwalk.
Provided, of course, that the robot's inventors can iron out the kinks. The HRP-4C reportedly keeps "looking surprised, opening its mouth and eyes in a stunned expression" when asked to smile or "look angry." Plus, it needs to be re-tooled before it meets the safety standards necessary to share the stage with human models.
What, is it trained to fight, too?
Either way, here's a taste of the HRP-4C in action. I don't know about you, but she really makes me want to go buy some clothes.
[Image: Engadget]
What do you think about when you hear the word "Somalia"? Failed state? Black Hawk Down? Marauding pirates? Mogadishu-born musician and poet K'Naan, who grew up in Somalia in the 1980s, has seen the worst of the Somalian Civil War. His family came to the United States on a visa when he was 13, after the collapse of the government of Mohamed Siad Barre.
K'Naan learned English from hip hop; his subject is often his homeland, which is still struggling to achieve peace. Unlike some in hip hop, K'Naan has seen automatic weapons and knows the damage they do to lives. The political poet stopped by CNN's excellent "Inside Africa" recently to talk about his childhood in that war ravaged African country.
The global economic crisis -- the worst since The Great Depression -- affects everyone from the executive to the little guy to... fictional comic book characters. You heard me right. Lex Luthor, that fake megalomaniacal corporate titan and arch enemy of Superman, is going through a rough patch. The part of Luthor, I cannot fail to note, will be played by Jon Hamm of "Mad Men."
David just reported that the capital of the United States has a HIV infection rate three times higher than the definition of "epidemic."
I marked National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness day last week with a link to a story about the race for a microbicide.
About 22 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are infected with HIV, according to Unaids. In 2007, three-quarters of all AIDS deaths worldwide were there, as were two-thirds of all people living with HIV.
It is really baffling to me that in the year 2009 we are still debating whether or not condoms should be part of reducing HIV infection. It is equally baffling that an institution that can find a way to embrace the theory of evolution can't condone condom use. Not condom use to prevent pregnancy, but condom use to reduce HIV infection.
I'm not unreasonable. If the Church and its spokesman, the Pope, want to maintain a ban on condoms for contraceptive purposes, sure, go ahead. But the idea that the Pope says condoms don't work at all coupled with his global influence on policy is scary. People are dying and condom use is just one part of the solution.
As I said, I'm baffled and at a loss for words. What's your thought on the Pope's stance on condoms as part of HIV prevention?
[Image: AP/Telegraph]
In that strange and distant place known as the 1980s, people didn't worry about things like global warming and "living green." Well, at least most people didn't -- there were always those leftover hippies, eccentric biology teachers, and other crackpot types.
But in everyday society, people just lived their lives, and many of them aspired to join that exclusive group typified by car phones, boat shoes, and bottled water: the yuppie class.
Ordering bottled water in a restaurant meant you were sophisticated. You had money. You appreciated the finer things, that is, French things, like Evian. And if you had an edge, Perrier.
Not anymore. These days, ordering bottled water suggests that you're either a snob or just stuck on the outdated notion that tap water is bad for you. Granted, many people who order bottled water come from countries where tap water really is dangerous, but I'm talking about regular Americans, who grew up on the stuff. Lest you think those chemicals and drugs that can exist in tap water are not in bottled water, think again.
And restaurants are finally joining the cause, with some going so far as to eliminate bottled water from their menus altogether. Ina's in Chicago is one, as Ina Pinkey, the owner of that restaurant, writes in a recent piece for the Huffington Post.
It's a good thing, too, given the outrageous increase in bottled water consumption over the past four decades. These charts show just how obsessed with the stuff we've become in a very short time.
[Image/Animation: Chris 73 for Wikimedia Commons]
A YouTube phenomenon without relying on YouTube, Hometown Baghdad infected millions with its emotional pull. The emotions felt throughout these shorts pull the tears out of eyes and they pull at strands of hair as viewers feel frustration. Pull up to the drive-in theater of war to witness testimonies of the routine goings-off in Baghdad.
Conceived to create a global youth dialogue, Hometown Baghdad began as a series of short -- two- to three-minute -- web documentaries following the lives of three young Iraqis. ... This compilation summarizes the award-winning series and its view of day-to-day reality in Iraq: irregular electricity, mounting garbage and unreliable and dangerous transportation.
Check out isolated clips on chattheplanet.com before you watch Hometown Baghdad on the Sundance Channel Thursday, March 19 at 11:30pm or Monday, March 30 at 5:45pm.
Thousands of people in more than 100 locations are expected to stage protests in front of major banks across the country today in reaction to the announcement this week that many of the AIG executives who caused the insurance giant's collapse received millions in bonuses.
That's thousands of people.
More than 100 locations.
One massive protest against the millions received by a few who caused a financial meltdown.
Sponsored by numerous political advocacy groups like MoveOn.org, ACORN, and Rock the Vote, as well as unions like the Service Employees International Union, the protests will take place in cities, towns, and suburbs from Cali to Maine.
To see if there's one going on near you -- and there probably is -- check out the Take Back the Economy website, and get ready to do just that.
Need some inspiration? Here's a nice little piece of propaganda for the cause.
Eddie Doyle may not be a household name outside of Boston, but "Sam Malone," "Coach," "Woody," and "Diane" certainly are. Those, of course, were the bartenders and service staff on "Cheers," the enormously popular sitcom that ran on NBC from 1982 until 1993.
But without Mr. Doyle, we might not know their names, either. He was the bartender at the pub that inspired the series, the Bull & Finch, and his brand of service -- quick, friendly and unequivocally Boston -- would serve as the model for the characters who would embody him on prime time.
Now 66, Doyle has just been let go from the job he held for 35 years, in which he served up to 3,000 people a day at the height of the show's popularity. And that's not all: Doyle also used his popularity to raise millions for the charity Cheers for Children and that organization's Cheers for Kids Lunch Bunch Club.
He reports no animosity towards his old employer, who cites the recession as the reason of his dismissal. Is no one safe from this damn crisis?
Doyle will be having a farewell dinner on March 24th at the Hampshire House, the restaurant upstairs from the pub. Anyone who watched the show will remember that restaurant, and that it was reserved for special occasions. This surely qualifies.
[Image: MECU from Wikimedia Commons]
PBS will host a month-long installment devoted to environmental awareness in honor of Earth Day Wednesday, April 22. The network will broadcast several shows from this Wednesday, March 18th until Wednesday April 22nd, Earth Day: the progression's climax. Naturally, on Earth Day shows on the environment will overtake what regularly airs. Programming will represent many niches of the environment: sea life, land life, green technology, and environmental awareness. PBS KIDS will screen environment shows on Earth Day too! Paint the gang green to cheer on green activists and documentarians in their pursuits to sustain and share Earth's happiness.
Journey to Planet Earth
On the episode "The State of the Planet's Oceans," Wednesday, March 18 at 8pm, join host Matt Damon on an investigation into the health and sustainability of the world's oceans.
Jean-Michel Cousteau: Ocean Adventures
Travel to the Arctic and Antarctica as Jean-Michel Cousteau and his team document belugas and killer whales on the episodes "Sea Ghosts" April 8 and "Call of the Killer Whale" on April 22. More info here.
Stepping out into the cold, I made sure to bundle up in my calf-length, down-filled, self-termed "sleeping bag" coat. I shivered during my short walk to the subway. Later, I realized that the past two weeks were not just a last roar of winter. They were also rife with landmarks. In February and March of 1917, food riots erupted in NYC's Lower East Side and other neighborhoods. Pushed to the tipping point, immigrant women organized boycotts that lasted three weeks until the prices finally relented. (High prices quickly resumed, however, upon the United States' April 6th entrance into WWI.) These events have provided the inspiration for Give Us Bread, an original play devised by my theatre company, The Anthropologists
I thought of these women in their inadequate winter clothing — wool shawls over dresses — standing for hours on picket lines, marching in the hundreds to City Hall, gathering in the thousands to plead their case to the Governor. Their discomfort in likely freezing temperatures was secondary to their duty to feed their families and, furthermore, to ensure that all families in the community could be fed.
It would be romantic to treat this pocket of history as just that, an isolated incident. For, nearly a hundred years later, New York City is still grappling with hunger.
A friend recently posted a plea on Facebook: his current temp job requires him, Monday to Friday, to throw out the copious leftovers of their company-wide gourmet catered lunches. Charitable organizations cannot accept food that isn't in sealed containers; could anyone meet him at his office to collect and then redistribute the food?
Though his post received many comments, I don't know if anyone has taken any action yet.
Today, many people are compensating for higher food prices by putting grocery bills on credit or skipping meals. An increasing number of people are turning to food stamps and soup kitchens — more than 1.3 million New Yorkers, according to the New York City Coalition Against Hunger.
I wonder: when will we reach our own tipping point? When will we take to the streets as a community, demanding fair prices and equitable access to food? Or will we be too cold (both literally and figuratively) to stand next to one another and choose to just stay inside?
Nearly 100 years after the "cost of living" riots, isn't it time to find a solution to the problem of hunger?
To learn about opportunities to fight hunger in your area, visit the Awearness Volunteer Now page.
[Image: History Matters / the National Archives]
What is a bat mitzvah you ask?
Bat mitzvah literally translates to "daughter of commandment," and implies "responsible female."
According to Jewish Law, every Jewish girl becomes a bat mitzvah at age 12 -- a year earlier than a Jewish boy becomes a bar mitzvah due to the fact that girls mature earlier than boys. As a bat mitzvah, she becomes obligated by God's commandments -- as prescribed in the Torah and as interpreted by Moses, the Prophets, the Sages and the Rabbis.
A Jewish girl becomes a bat mitzvah automatically upon turning 12 years old. No ceremony is needed. The Reconstructionist Movement introduced the idea of celebrating a girl becoming a bat mitzvah in 1922.
And this date in 1922, Judith Kaplan had hers, which was the first American bat mitzvah!
1922 seems like a lifetime ago, but there are women who still haven't had their bat mitzvahs because they just couldn't when they were 12. NPR had an adorable feature about a 91-year-old woman who has finally having her bat mitzvah. I'm not Jewish, but I'm fascinated by this rite of passage and yes, it's all because of Paul on "The Wonder Years." I wonder if I could finally have my Quinceañera? Well without the puffy dress, anyway.
Mazel Tov!
[Image: Frum Satire]
To constitute a "generalized and severe" HIV/AIDS epidemic, 1 percent of a population has to be infected. According to a recent report, at least three times that many people in the Washington, D.C. area have been infected with HIV, and many of them are living with the disease it can lead to, AIDS.
What's worse? This is a conservative estimate, says Shannon L. Hader, the director of the city's HIV/AIDS Administration. It's probably higher.
For anyone who remembers the early 1980s, when AIDS was first detected in large numbers and thought to be some kind of "gay cancer," causing widespread panic in that community, these findings will likely be an unwelcome blast from the past. Over the past 20 years, AIDS awareness efforts have successfully curbed the rate of infection.
The D.C. statistic suggests we need to be vigilant again.
I don't follow them, but I know how popular a pastime they are. People write books, start blogs, make films, and obsess year after year over who shot Kennedy and why.
So perhaps this video is par for the course -- I'm sure it is, in fact. But it's interesting, I think, to see just how thoroughly people can dissect the minutia of an event in the search for truth. Will we ever know what happened that day November, nearly 36 years ago? Doubtful. But it's certainly provided a hobby for a whole lot of people.
Since I was born in 1975, though, I'll never know if there was a time when such conspiracy theorists were taken seriously, like independent private detectives sifting through the evidence of that tragic event. I know that if, god forbid, something comparable happened today, I'd applaud the efforts of anyone who committed the time to learn how and why it happened. Indeed, I'd probably join the effort.
So why are JFK conspiracy theorists so often thought of as crackpots? And when did that start?
This is fantastic. No other comment necessary, other than to give props to Benjamin Rosenbaum for the story, and to Nick Fox-Gieg for the video itself.
Would you try a George Clooney-infused Tofu dish? Doubtful? How about for a good cause, namely People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. PETA, which is rapidly becoming masters in the medium of publicity, have somehow attained a towel used by Clooney at a Washington DC gym, and are considering using it to flavor the tasty bean curd dish. Charmed, I'm sure. According to the PETA Blog [PDF]:
"The technology actually exists to take your perspiration and make it into George Clooney-flavored tofu (CloFu). We could do that and give the tofu away. Of course, your fans would swoon at the idea of eating CloFu, but what interests us most is that we would attract many people who don't try tofu because they worry that it would be bland or that they wouldn't know how to cook it."
Read the full, profoundly disturbing letter, from PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk to the Academy Award winning actor re: his perspiration here [PDF].
[Image: TimeInc]
Ottawa-Gatineau Pride Parade on August 24, 2008. The year 2009 will mark the 20th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in Canada, following then-Justice Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau's introduction of sweeping reforms to the Criminal Code and family laws. When answering media questions about the reforms in 1968, Mr. Trudeau famously quipped: "The State has no place in the bedrooms of the nation."
Same-sex marriage was voted into Canadian law in 2005. The CBC has a detailed timeline of LGBT rights in Canada here.
I've written many times on this blog about running. It's one of my primary passions, and I devote as much time to it as I do my social life, if not more. And I run competitively -- i.e., to win awards in my age group, to finish as high up in the field as I can, and of course, to beat my previous records.
But it wasn't always thus. As a child, I hated competition. The second you put me in a situation where I had to best a foe, I'd lose interest -- whether it was a soccer game or a spelling bee. I just didn't care about beating anyone, and I wound up resenting those for whom it meant something to win. Of course, a lot of them were jerks, but that's beside the point.
Then something happened: I discovered running, and after awhile, that I was good at it. Once I won my first award, I'd tasted victory and I wanted more. Soon, I started training harder, racing harder, and defining myself as, primarily, a runner.
A couple of years ago, I joined an online discussion forum for runners. It attracts a lot of attention, and its users come from around the world. We discuss all things running: gear, pace, specific races, training regimens, goal times -- you name it.
At what point do underground hip hop groups come above ground? In this case, it doesn't matter. The Palestinian Hip Hop movement slingshot itself immediately into the public eye to create upheaval. All the while, artists who are a part of the scene mostly slingshot Israel with words that hurt more than sticks. Those same words work to bolster the Palestinian ego.
Jackie Salloum's revealing documentary charts the origin and growth of the Palestinian hip-hop movement, profiling groups who use music as a catalyst for self-esteem and to oppose Israeli occupation.
Slingshot Hip Hop aims for your eyes on the Sundance Channel Monday, March 16 at 9pm and Tuesday, March 17 at 1pm.
Graduating from college sucks. One day, you're living the dream: tons of free time, a lot of smart people around you, everything you need a short walk from your dorm. Then you graduate, and you suddenly realize that no one cares how well you "got" Nietzche, that you'll have to cut your hair if you want to make it past an interview, and smoking isn't so cool outside the comfy quads.
In about two months, the number of Americans with at least a BA will increase by more than a million people. Could they have found a worse time to join the adult world? I think not. And however much people might compare the current financial crisis to the Great Depression, there are several key differences, one most pressing for new graduates: back in the 1930s, only a fraction of Americans went to college; now a great many do.
So when the current crop of college seniors is uprooted this May, they'll be faced with something no previous generation of college graduates has ever had to deal with. Because if you were lucky enough to attend college in the 30s, chances are you were all right when you donned that mortar board, walked across the stage to receive your diploma, and continued seamlessly on to join the middle class.
I'm a little late posting about this, but I'd prefer to think that I'm extending the conversation a few more days: March 10th was National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. It's a day to focus our efforts on education and awareness on women and girls. Why them? Well, according to the Women's HIV Collaborative of NY AIDS blog:
Here in the United States, women comprise about 27% of HIV infections, up from about 8% in 1984. In many countries around the world, women already represent over 50% of HIV infections.
Naina Khanna of RHReality Check interviewed "HIV-positive women leaders around the U.S. to hear their perspectives on why HIV matters, in their own words."
Vanessa Johnson: It's the one time of year we see a particular focus on women as a whole group -- cutting across race, age, socio-economic status. March 10th is the day all about ALL WOMEN. But March is also Women's History month and we need to understand women's health and HIV in the context of women's history. We need women's organizations that have not traditionally focused on HIV/AIDS to issue statements to their constituencies that this day matters, and HIV/AIDS matters and is a real issue for women, because it is cutting short our productivity and our lives and that's less of a contribution we can make to our community.
Some may question why focus on girls and women when both genders have HIV/AIDS. To that I say, because. Because girls and women have a biology that makes me more susceptible to contracting HIV. Because globally girls and women don't always have the power to demand safe sex. Because even prevention methods are gendered. Tuesday on NPR there was a segment on the debate over HIV prevention that highlighted the gender differences in prevention research. The man in the piece thinks that a gel applicator will deter women as it would provide evidence of her using it and thus not trusting her husband that he is HIV-free. The woman in the piece responds that the women she works with like the gel and just want something that they can control which would keep them safe. Unfortunately the gels aren't showing that they actually do anything at this point, but the debate over gel versus a pill was enlightening.
What do you think?
Us women-folk have that stylish woman to thank for pants. Amelia Bloomer didn't perfect the pant, but she did get the idea of getting women out of dresses to the masses.
Each year in her honor a booklist of the best feminist books for young readers, ages birth through 18 is released. This year the list includes:
- Grace for President: I read this book to my daughter at our bookstore. It was very cute and helped teach a lesson that you can win an election against the popular kid and more importantly, that every vote does count.
- Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the right to vote: My daughter was named after Elizabeth Cady Stanton, so this is in her library already. It's a great book that nicely explains the suffrage movement to kids.
- You're Amazing: A No-Pressure Guide to Being Your Best Self: I reviewed this book last year on my blog and again I can't say enough great things about it. Parents with girls heading into those teen years should get it. If your daughter's already there, grab it anyway! Don't forget to grab a copy for her too.
There are plenty of books for kids young and old. I see many books that will go on my wish list as well as my daughter's birthday list. She's a bookworm too! While many of the books have girl-protagonists, I would hope that boys out there would enjoy the stories as well.
To learn about education and literacy volunteer opportunities in your area, visit the Awearness Volunteer Now page.
[Image: Amelia Blumer Blog]
Ashley Dupre, who brought down New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, is working through her karma utilizing yoga, with, of all people, mogul and music impresario Russell Simmons. Simmons, a vehement vegan who meditates daily and has spoken at yoga health events, has said that yoga is his obsession. From NYPost's Page Six:
"The past year has obviously been very difficult for me," Dupre tells Page Six's Neel Shah. "Yoga has really helped me turn it into a huge learning experience. I'm working hard to take what I went through and turn it into something positive. Yoga helps me focus."
Of Simmons, Dupre says: "He's become a mentor, and has helped me work through my issues. I feel liberated and honored that people like him support me. I'm starting to feel respected for who I am." Would you like to do the "Sun Salute" with the mogul? Simmons is presently offering a yoga lesson with him for the charity organization "Art for Life Miami Beach." The organization is "dedicated to providing disadvantaged urban youth with significant exposure and access to the arts, as well as providing exhibition opportunities to under-represented artists and artists of color." The event takes place on March 14th. Current bidding is at $1,000.
What's worse? A politician who makes a grievous mistake and repents, or one who acknowledges that he's about to do wrong and does it anyway?
Would New Yorkers have felt less angry with Eliot Spitzer if the former governor had told us ahead of time that he planned to use an escort service? Would Bill Clinton have garnered millions of viewers for a nationally televised address to let us know that he found his intern, Monica Lewinsky, pretty darn hot in that black pantsuit?
Of course not. In America, we like to be angry after the fact. We like to feel betrayed and then take out our indignation for the politicians who act like regular human beings in a maelstrom of sanctimonious fist-shaking.
Think about it. What would we say if any of the pols who've cheated on their wives held a press conference like this one:
Did you know that women make up 10-20% of college engineering students? And that engineers make around $50,000 right out of college?
Those two statistics mean that some of the most well-paying jobs are cut off from women due to enrollment -- and it is enrollment, not interest. I also believe it is a lack of education about what engineering really is and the amazing things one can do besides blow things up. Although I know plenty of women engineering students who love to blow things up.
To address this lack of girls and women enrolling in engineering, the National Engineers Week Foundation is holding a 24-hour marathon of programming online about women in engineering. And yours truly is on the opening panel.
The marathon is an outgrowth of an Engineers Week program called Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day which occurs in February. The marathon is being held to coincide with Women's History Month (March) and International Women's Day (March 8, 2009).
Last year's marathon is still online, so I assume that today and tomorrow's programming will be archived. If you know a girl with mad math skills and an interest in science and engineering, give her some computer time.
[Image: Eweek.org]
There was an article in the Times on Saturday about PhDs in the humanities having a tough time getting jobs. Wow -- news flash. I always thought getting a PhD in philosophy or art history was the best way to ensure a lifetime of stable, well-paid employment.
Not.
This is an issue that's close to home for me. When I was in college, I wanted nothing more than to stay in those leafy quadrangles and be like my professors: wizened men with distinguished beards and comfortable sweaters who had their students over for afternoon coffee (or in the case of one, scotch). But even then I was nervous about the realities of academia: would I be so lucky as to land in a college like the one I attended? Would I instead be whisked off to a state school in Nebraska, with no quads, no student-faculty dinners, and god forbid, no ivy on the buildings?
So I went into journalism, deferring my graduate school dreams for a while. Four years later, I decided it was time to go, and I uprooted myself from a well-established life in New York and moved to Chicago for a master's degree in the humanities. I was surrounded by extremely smart people who'd graduated from schools around the world. They could talk effortlessly about sub-altern identities, Lacanian readings of Hitchcock's early work, and all kinds of other things that most people couldn't care less about.
Despite the fact that we were all ambitious, young, and smart enough to have gotten in to such a competitive program, which many saw as a way to improve their odds at getting into a top PhD program, advice from the program's directors was this: If you can think of anything else you might want to do besides academia, do it. This life is too hard.
That was in 2002, and the realities of the job market necessitated such a warning. For every opening in the humanities, there would often be more then 300 applications. And even if you were the lucky son-of-a-gun who got the job, your chances of getting tenure were slim. Some win, right? You spend eight years earning your PhD, are blessed enough to get a job, and slave away for six years -- publishing articles, attending conferences, gaining the admiration of your students -- only to be told, "Sorry, no more job for you."
Then you're on the street, along with all the newly minted PhDs, not to mention all the other people who've been looking for jobs for the past several years. Except you're damaged goods. If Podunk University didn't want you, why should we?
So yeah, PhDs are facing a tough job market. Maybe it is worse now than ever before. The economy is in the pits, and shaky enterprises like the humanities are bound to suffer along with everything else. But this isn't news. We've been moving in this direction for decades.
The real question, I think, is what will happen to society now that serious inquiry into what it means to be human is becoming ever-more rarified?
Thoreau said that an unexamined life is not worth living. So what happens when examining one's life in earnest means you might not be able to make a living? Far more people suffer than the would-be professors. We all do.
[Image: Abrahami from Wikimedia Commons]
When I first read about Jonathan Krohn, a 14-year-old conservative pundit from Atlanta, I had one question: Why are young, "precocious" pundits always for the right?
When I was in high school, I had classes with a staunch conservative who day-dreamed of being president one day. When I was in junior high, I knew a kid who liked to attack the "dems" using rhetoric I can only assume he got from home, or from Mr. Limbaugh himself. And now we have Jonathan Krohn.
I'll admit right up front: I'm cynical about this. I don't believe these kinds of kids are brilliant, or that they have some razor-sharp ability to analyze politics. But I do believe they reflect something meaningful about the conservative movement in America today.
The parenting team of Nancy Gruver and Joe Kelly are at it again! Today they launch a new website for those of us blessed with daughters. They each have a blog where they lend their expert advice on raising girl-children. They should know, they raised twin girls. There is ask the expert (with more experts than just Nancy and Joe!), articles on many different topics including how to help with deal with a hairy body and of course, discussion boards.
Rarely a day passes by when I'm not freaking out about something that relates to my daughter. Whether it is how much homework she brings home or I see something in pop culture that just makes my stomach turn. Thankfully I met Nancy last year at the Women, Action and the Media conference and we've exchanged some friendly emails. I also friended Joe on Facebook. Just knowing that they are on the other end of Facebook makes me feel better. I feel the same way about my other mom friends whose kids are even just a few years older than my daughter. I like back-up. I love spilling my woes (aka whining) to veterans who can pat me on my back and say, "You'll survive."
I think that this site will be one big pat on all of our backs.
This video is disturbing and unpleasant, but it's worth watching, if only for a minute. The Humane Society spent nine months investigating the treatment of 300 chimps and other primates at a research laboratory at the University of Louisiana at New Iberia, discovering that these animals -- whose genetic and psychological make-up is very close to our own -- are not only treated inhumanely, but are subjected to such treatment without any clear scientific purpose.
The Great Ape Protection Act was re-introduced to Congress last Thursday, and you can become involved by writing or calling your Representative and urging him or her to support this bill.
Visit the Awearness Volunteer Now page to learn about opportunities where you can make a difference in animals' lives.
Here's something: Newt Gingrich, the longtime conservative whose outspoken disdain for liberals and Democrats has earned him international fame, has just gone public with a position that would suggest that Rush Limbaugh is anti-American.
Gingrich appeared on Meet the Press this past Sunday, and said in no uncertain terms that he wants Obama to succeed. To wish failure on him, or any other president, is irrational, he says. This is our country, after all, and whomever is running it is, well, running it. Why would anyone want to see that person do anything but succeed?
Rush? Care to comment?
Obama says the war on drugs is failing, and he's right. Trafficking ruins far more lives than those of addicts. One mistake pro-drug war advocates make is thinking that when someone says we need to end the war on drugs, we're saying we love drugs and we want them to be more available so we can all get high more often. Wrong. We need to end the war on drugs because it's misguided and has created a covert industry that exploits children; further impoverishes millions while making a few, very sinister people very rich; and leads to unregulated substances that can kill a person instantly.
But if none of that convinces you, maybe this song will.
And you don't look a day over 25.
Barbie's done a lot in her life. She's held many careers, married Ken, left Ken, got back together and even struggled her way through math class. She even beat a popular rival into oblivion.
To mark her the 20th anniversary of her 30th birthday, she's on Jeopardy! There will be a whole category about Barbie today.
There are also a ton of events marking the occasion, including one last month where an Angela Merkel Barbie was released.
Barbie is beloved, banned and everything in between. She's run for president and had babies. She's everything feminists want for girls and yet rubs them the wrong way. She's even been parodied.
The Washington Post's Sarah Haskins has the best tribute to Barbie that I've seen the last few weeks. How many of us didn't "play doctor" with our Barbies or chop off her silken hair? My young sister and I always got the same Barbie -- so we wouldn't fight over "Summer Barbie" versus "Vet Barbie" -- and we had a ton of them. We had a lot of accessories, but most of them were the generic kind, which was our deal for getting our parents to buy Barbie, not the knock-off doll.
Happy Birthday my old friend. Even if my daughter doesn't have one of you, I still tip my hat at your longevity. I wish you many more years and hopefully another make-over where your feet finally allow you to stand on your own.
[Image: All Doll'd Up]
The global economic crisis is serious business. Unemployment for the month of February is at 8.1%, a 25-year high. Shares of Citigroup fell below a dollar for the first time in its history on Thursday. The IMF is recommending regulation coordination to prevent global chaos.
It is enough to turn a President's hair prematurely gray.
But back before the election, Harvard alums Natalie Portman and Rashida Jones already had a solution to the global economic crisis.
Rising Tide is an activist group that works to confront the causes of climate change. I was asked to take photos in Boston on Valentine's Day, for their annual national call to action ("Break Up with Bank of America"), which encourages people to close their Bank of America accounts.
Part of Rising Tide's campaign is to pressure Bank of America to end its funding of the coal industry with companies that practice the destruction of Appalachian mountains through hazardous mountaintop removal mining. The demonstration which took place outside a Bank of America also included the mention of issues to stop evictions and foreclosures of homes being made by the bank. Evictions have been a prominent crisis within Boston's low-income neighborhoods such as Dorchester and Roxbury.
Sunday, March 8th was International Women's Day. It has been celebrated since 1909 and has been marked each year. Even Yahoo! got into the act this year!
The International Women's Museum mentions that the UN theme for this year is "Women and men united to end violence against women and girls," which is, sadly, always timely:
- In Kansas, Gov. Sebelius designated March 8th as Jana Mackey Day. It was marked with many volunteer events.
- Feminist Peace Network is collecting photos from events around the world.
Many other events happened around the world to mark the day. Did you attend any event?
Recently, Kenneth posted a piece on the importance of looking good in rough times. It's like they say: The clothes make the man. Or: If you take care of your clothes, they'll take care of you. Dress for success, and success will follow.
Still, fashion necessarily reflects the spirit of the times, too. That's why it evolves so much, and things like jeans and tennis shoes become appropriate dress for office environments. OK, not all offices, but enough to make the point valid.
In 1961, when John F. Kennedy became the first president in US history to give an Inaugural speech without a hat, he made more than a fashion statement. He foreshadowed for the world that the 1960s would be a decade of massive change. And it was.
I'm curious how this economic crisis will affect the fashion industry, not as a business but in terms of what we deem "fashionable." Will microfiber go out, and khaki cargo shorts and rugged vests come back in? Doubtful. But surely styles will change. That's what styles do, right?
As I asked Kenneth in a comment on his post, how will our new outlook change how we look when we go out?
If you're anything like me, you love coffee. And you're comfortable drinking it without a shirt. Don't get me wrong -- I'm not an exhibitionist or even a nudist; I just feel OK sitting around in my pajama pants enjoying a morning brew.
But perhaps I'm more of a prude than I ever realized, because I don't think I'd want to serve coffee to a houseguest without first donning a pajama top (or at least a t-shirt). And until this morning, I'd never thought about how I'd feel about being served coffee by a topless barista. I decided it would be a little weird.
No matter -- there are plenty of people who feel differently. Before the Grand View Topless Coffee Shop opened in Vasslaboro, Maine on Monday, more than 150 people applied for a job, 10 of whom were hired. National buzz wasn't far behind, and even David Letterman talked of scheduling a trip to get the skinny on the Grand View. (He didn't make it as planned, but he might still.)
The concept inspires all manner of lewd innuendo. I'd feel strange asking for "extra foam" from a topless barista, and I'm sure the expression "bottoms up" must be used with caution. And I wonder, if you want to tip your server, do they provide a tip jar, or do you just slip it under their apron string?
[Image: CNN]
I often wonder to myself: Would we be in the same economic situation globally if women ran Wall Street? If there were more women in positions of power in the economic centers around the world would the bankers that got us into this mess have engaged in so much mindless risk? In a BBC interview Icelandic financier and executive chairman of Audur Capital Halla Tomosdottir asked as much. Audur Capital, as we wrote for the AWEARNESS Blog earlier this year, is partnering with Icelandic singer Björk to help the recovery of her home country's beleaguered economy.
For quite a while now -- especially after September 11th -- the planet, particularly The West, has been in high testosterone, "Gladiator" mode. It is somewhat understandable: national security is traditionally thought of as a "masculine" issue. And when threatened human beings react on the Ying -- as opposed to Yang -- side. But what's wrong at this point in time with less military -- or, "hard power" -- and a little more "smart power," to use Hillary Rodham Clinton's phrase. Striking out mindlessly with the military is an overmasculine grotesque.
On March 6, 7 and 8 at the Emerging Leaders Forum in Liberia, women leaders from around the world will meet to discuss matters of international peace and security. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and President Tarja Halonen of Finland are co-convening the event. US Secretary of State Clinton, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, First Lady Michelle Obama, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will be among the 400 guests. The discussion should be lively and touch on issues often overlooked by their political counterparts with the Y chromosome.
How can you get involved? Check out The Women's Colloquium website here.
[Image: UWE.AC.UK]
One of the main objectives of charity:water is to educate others on the world water crisis. To help in achieving this goal, charity:water has created an educational photography exhibition on water in the developing world at Chelsea Market. To launch this initiative, there will be an opening night event on Tuesday, March 10 at 9pm. More than 1,000 people will attend the event, featuring fantastic musical acts including The Kin, Rob Murat and Marques Toliver. Tickets are only a $20 donation in advance or $40 at the door (as with all charity:water events, 100% of ticket price goes directly to building wells in developing nations). I am extremely excited about the event and will be volunteering -- so come out and be sure to say hi if we cross each other's paths. We are optimistic about the amount of money this event will raise; during the last program I told everyone about, Twestival, over $250,000 was raised!
If you do not have an opportunity to come to the opening night event, the exhibit will be up for three months, so go by through May. Foot traffic in Chelsea Market is between 10,000 and 15,000 people per day, so we're excited about reaching more than one million people!
In addition to the photography showcased at the exhibit, charity:water is creating a Wishing Well (a little bit about the well is below):
THE WISHING WELL.
Wood sculptor and artist Thomas Beale will transform the market's fountain into a Wishing Well. Visitors will be encouraged to toss in their loose change from purchases made at the market, and 100% of the money collected will directly fund freshwater projects in developing nations. Sponsors will then match change penny for penny to fund even more wells.
If you do not live in NYC, charity:water be placing the exhibition online for you to see shortly after the opening. Visit charitywater.org/chelseamarket to see it after March 13th.
Myths and misunderstandings about HIV/AIDS abound in large parts of the world, particularly where sex education is lacking and populations are left to create their own theories about the virus and disease. One such misunderstanding is that circumcision is 100 percent effective in preventing AIDS, leading many men to stop using condoms.
The notion isn't completely misguided -- in 2006 three African studies showed that circumcision can reduce the risk of contracting AIDS by 60 percent. Shortly thereafter, the World Health Organization recommended circumcision as a way to help stop the spread of AIDS.
Take that information, play a little game of "telephone" with it, and before long, you've got a lot of people with a lot of misinformation about a virus that infects more than 30 million people worldwide. And in some parts of Africa, more than 25 percent of the population is infected.
A new website hopes to correct misunderstandings and educate people about HIV and AIDS. Launched last week and created by the W.H.O., in conjunction with the United Nations AIDS program, the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, Family Health International and several American and British schools of public health Malecircumcision.org offers a wealth of useful information.
Now we just need to provide all the people who need the information most with access to the Internet.
[Image: Malecircumcision.org]
Hey, remember that little war going on in the Middle East? If you love when the line between good and bad becomes nuanced and when uncertainty is the norm, check out the shades of gray presented in this flick. At what point does someone become a terrorist and at what stage should action be taken against those suspected?
Connie Nielsen plays a fearless journalist investigating the death of a young Iraqi at a checkpoint. While trying to make sense of the chaos around her, she finds time for a covert affair with a CIA operative (Damian Lewis). Directed by Philip Haas (ANGELS AND INSECTS) and written by war correspondent Wendell Steavenson. "Powerful... compelling and deeply disturbing" - San Francisco Chronicle
Watch The Situation on the Sundance Channel Thursday, March 5 at 9:05am or 2:30pm; Friday, March 13 at 7am or 2:45pm; Wednesday, March 18 at 6:10pm; Saturday, March 21 at 6:05am or 2:50pm; Tuesday, March 24 at 3:15pm; or Sunday, March 29 at 4:25pm.
Two months after David Foster Wallace committed suicide last September, an excerpt from an unpublished novel was found on the author's desk. The 200-page section was from a work-in-progress titled The Pale King, which Wallace had been working on for years.
The novel, an excerpt of which is published in this week's New Yorker, is about IRS agents in the Midwest who are desperately trying to find ways to escape the apathy and boredom that's come to define their lives. Anyone who's read Wallace's work will recognize this as a common theme, and will doubtless want to see for themselves how the author approached it in the last project of his illustrious life as a literary icon of late 20th Century ennui.
[Image: David Foster Wallace, by Steve Rhodes -- from Wikimedia Commons]
If you think that's an oxymoron, give Hi-Caliber a listen. This former construction worker is the self-described first of his kind, that is, a rapper for the right. The Daily Beast caught up with him at the 2009 Political Conservative Action Conference in Washington, DC last week.
Here, Hi-Caliber breaks it down Jersey style: why we need a border fence ("to save our people"), why religious separation is a problem (because "one in three prison inmates is an illegal"), and why people call him a racist (because he "loves the stars and stripes and the bald eagle").
Um, OK... Whatever.
Few people take an equivocal position on the death penalty. Either you're for it or against it. But it's a complicated issue, one that people can change their minds about as they move through life. Perhaps you know someone who's in prison for murder, and after a lifetime supporting capital punishment, are now less comfortable with the idea.
My parents have a close friend who killed her husband in 1992, and has been in a maximum security prison for women ever since. I won't say he "deserved" it, but I do know that he was cheating on her for years and abusing her emotionally, and when they separated, he moved in with his mistress. She couldn't handle the anger, and drove to his house one day, produced a gun from inside her coat, and shot him dead.
I remember having dinner with her while she was out on bail, awaiting trial. She was a mild-mannered, middle-class woman. You could imagine her teaching high school English. Instead, she was on her way to a place I can only imagine, where she'd be all but forgotten. But she wouldn't be killed, and I found some comfort in that.
But what about others, like Timothy McVeigh or Ted Bundy? I believe they deserved to die, but If I'd known them, would I feel differently?
That's the question a new documentary poses to its audience, focusing on the relationship between a long-time advocate of the death penalty and a death row inmate. Robert Blecker Wants Me Dead shows how Blecker, a lawyer and professor at New York Law School, evolves in how he views Daryl Holton, who was executed by Tennessee in 2007 for murdering his four children 10 years earlier.
Blecker does not change his mind about the death penalty, but he does admit that he grew to like Mr. Holton in the two years he spent getting to know him. By the time Holton was executed, Blecker conceded that it's important for us to know the people we sentence to death. Indeed, we may even owe it to them.
On this day in 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt named the first woman ever to a cabinet position -- Frances Perkins became the Secretary of Labor. She served all 12 years of the Roosevelt administration.
As Secretary of Labor she played a key role writing New Deal legislation, including minimum wage laws. However, her most important contribution came in 1934 as chairwoman of the President's Committee on Economic Security. In this position she was involved in all aspects of the reports and hearings that ultimately resulted in the Social Security Act of 1935.
Considering that women represent 58 percent of all Social Security beneficiaries age 62 and older and approximately 71 percent of all beneficiaries age 85 and older, this is just one more reason to hit our hats to Ms. Perkins today.
Perkins played a crucial role in the history of organized labor too:
She consistently supported the rights of workers to organize unions of their own choosing and to pressure employers through economic action. In one famous incident captured in a widely circulated newspaper photo, an indomitable Perkins strides toward the U.S. post office in Homestead with thousands of steelworkers training behind her. Denied a meeting hall by the mayor and steel executives, Perkins found an alternative site where she could inform the workers directly of their collective bargaining rights. It was also the unflappable Perkins who advised President Roosevelt to ignore the pleadings of state and local officials for federal troops to quell the 1934 San Francisco General Strike. The successful resolution of that strike as well as countless others during her tenure as labor secretary laid the foundation for the rebirth of American labor.
Perkins is a standard that all future Secretaries are compared, including the most recently confirmed Secretary, Hilda Solis. Solis is the first Latina to be named a Secretary. Pro-labor forces are welcoming her heading the Department of Labor, as they hope that the economic crisis reveals why they believe more workers should be unionized. Whether Solis will rise to the status of Perkins, we will have to wait and see.
[Image: Wikimedia Commons]
It is the strangest thing that our bodies require metal in our diets. You need some iron, magnesium, calcium and many other ores regularly. Our bodies, I wish, could probably utilize silver and gold to a certain extent, but once chemicals like ether, arsenic and sulfuric acid take over the sewers, we have a problem.
While usually out of sight and out of mind, the sewer receives timely and just attention in this revealing documentary from Jeff McKay. What was originally a marvel of Roman engineering to flush away our daily wastes is now the conduit for heavy metals, chemicals, solvents and other materials the Romans never imagined. McKay reveals how these potentially toxic wastes can end up above ground, on farms and in the food chain, and how some communities have responded to mounting evidence of the health risks posed by sewer sludge.
Watch Crapshoot: The Gamble with Our Wastes on the Sundance Channel Tuesday, March 3 at 10pm, Wednesday, March 4 and 5am, or Sunday, March 8 at 9am.
If you've asked that question about the economy, I'm sure you're not alone. You could either comb through the last eight months of the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal to start piecing it together, or you could take a shortcut, with this brilliant illustration of the whole fiasco from Mint.com
What happens when you're an average guy who becomes a political mascot overnight because a presidential candidate mentions you numerous times during a debate?
If you're Joe Wurzelbacher, aka "Joe the Plumber," you write a book, go on a book tour, and find that now, in 2009, most of America has better things to do than hear you pontificate about what's wrong with this great country of ours. After all, your team lost the championship.
Wurzelbacher was scheduled for a three-hour book signing at a Borders in Washington DC, but only about 12 people showed up and five books were sold. The event was over after 55 minutes.
As Melissa McEwan of Shakesville writes,
The only heat generated by Joe's appearance last night came when a young man named Jabari Zakiya recounted great moments in American racism (slavery, annihilation of Native Americans, segregation, etc.) and asked Wurzelbacher if the "hegemony" of the white man in America is "doomed" now that five states and the District of Columbia have majority minority populations.
Joe replied that he believes "our American heritage is being torn apart" by flag burners, critics of the military, and those who mock Christian values. He expressed his admiration for patriotic immigrants, and said he dislikes terms like African American and Asian American ("We're all Americans," he said). For some reason, he concluded by saying, "America has always been a kick-butt, take-names kind of country."
Joe's book, Fighting for the American Dream, has a website, on which he greets visitors with a call to "take back our country."
Take it back? I wasn't aware it had been stolen...
[Image: Rona Proudfoot for Wikimedia Commons]
My daughter has been obsessed with Mary Poppins lately, so the fight for women's votes has been on my mind more than often -- amazing, eh?
It was in 1913, the day before President Woodrow Wilson was to be inaugurated, that thousands of marchers took to the street for women's suffrage. While we can look back at this day with awe and admiration, the men watching the parade that day were not as appreciative of the display of democracy:
The procession began late, but all went well for the first few blocks. Soon, however, the crowds -- mostly men in town for the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson the following day -- surged into the street, making it almost impossible for the marchers to pass. Occasionally only a single file could move forward. Women were jeered, tripped, grabbed, shoved, and many heard "indecent epithets" and "barnyard conversation." Instead of protecting the parade, the police "seemed to enjoy all the ribald jokes and laughter, and part participated in them." One policeman remarked that the women should stay at home where they belonged. The men in the procession heard shouts of "Henpecko" and "Where are your skirts?" As one witness explained, "There was a sort of spirit of levity connected with the crowd. They did not regard the affair very seriously."
Of course we've come a long way since that day. Women have the right to vote and mostly do vote. But remembering how far we've come in less than a century is good to do. Change does happen, not over night and not easily. But it can and does happen.
This is something that I try to keep in mind as we are faced with such challenges today.
The comic and performance artist Reverend Billy has been nominated by the Green Party as its candidate for the next mayoral election in New York.
This could be exactly what we need: Someone who understands that spending is out of control, and who can make us laugh at two hallmarks of New York life: materialism and excess.
Reverend Billy, born William C. Talen, will need 7,500 signatures to secure a position on the ballot. The incumbent, Michael Bloomberg, has yet to secure a place himself, though he will doubtless do so: in October, the mayor announced that he would seek a third term, despite a law prohibiting anyone from serving more than two. The law was changed in November.
Here the good reverend shows how he performs "credit card exorcisms."
The idea of "clean coal" is a hard concept to wrap your mind around. The Academy Award-winning Coen brothers directed this Reality Campaign video for a clean coal air freshener. If anyone can find a humorous angle on the issue of coal dependence, it is the Coens.
March is Women's History Month and I'm planning plenty of awesome women-centric posts for you. First up, Women's History Month itself.
Women's History Month is coordinated by the National Women's History Project. They provide a theme each year and the 2009 theme is "Women taking the lead to save our planet." Why do we have Women's History Month?
As recently as the 1970's, women's history was virtually an unknown topic in the K-12 curriculum or in general public consciousness. To address this situation, the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County (California) Commission on the Status of Women initiated a "Women's History Week" celebration for 1978.
In 1987, the National Women's History Project petitioned Congress to expand the national celebration to the entire month of March. Since then, the National Women's History Month Resolution has been approved with bipartisan support in both the House and Senate. Each year, programs and activities in schools, workplaces, and communities have become more extensive as information and program ideas have been developed and shared.
But do we need Women's History Month anymore? We now have Hillary Clinton, Condi Rice, Nancy Pelosi and scores of other women making history every day. According to Ann Stone of the National Women's History Museum, only 10 percent of history textbooks cover women's accomplishments. Considering that women and girls are just over 50 percent of the population, I think that's pretty sad and a great reason for us to celebrate Women's History Month. We need to remind ourselves that women have been making history, crafting our world and making us aware of issues for years.
Who is your favorite unsung woman hero?
Photos are often of at random, fate of the meetings of moments; we often have to walk long hours to find people, place, light...
In Bangkok I often walk along rails, one or several quantities of family life. I crossed the kids who played between the ways of railroads and one pond with stagnant water. The place seemed unreal with this playground. I found it interesting to have the photo of the king behind these kids playing, as if the king stayed with his subjects.
There is in this photo a freedom from care and of naiveté, and indeed this outburst of joy of these kids. This photo is in my opinion very representative of this city Bangkok.
There are two ways to view Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle's enormously popular film about the slums of Mumbai and one boy's unlikely rise to great wealth. The first won the film eight Oscars and box office returns of more than $100 million (as of last Friday). It's the view that has people around the world singing the film's praises, both as a feat of cinematic brilliance and a way to raise awareness of Mumbai's Dharvi slums, where the film takes place.
The other view is more critical, and much more political. Some -- including a large number of Indians -- find the film too simplistic and escapist to affect real change. Some have also argued that the film misleads people who aren't familiar with Dharvi, suggesting that the "slum" is actually a thriving place of entrepreneurship and perseverance, and a testament to the human spirit.
But one thing is certain: A lot more people are talking about India's poor than they were six months ago, and one organization has seized this opportunity to further its cause. OneWorld Health, the first nonprofit pharmaceutical company in the US, is leveraging Slumdog's success to fund its efforts. Last week, the organization launched a sweeping campaign that began with a full-page ad in the New York Times, and will soon include online advertising, social media initiatives and visibility activities in partnership with other global health leaders.
[Image: Still from Slumdog Millionaire]
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