Last night Honey and I watched a very touching documentary called Paper Clips. A pair of middle school teachers and the principal in Whitwell, Tennessee, searching for a project for the eigth graders, settled upon studying the Holocaust. What stemmed from this project was a huge undertaking in which people from all over the country and the world sent paperclips to them to represent the 11 million people killed. One of the most moving portions of the film was watching the white, Christian and sheltered students listen to the survivors stories and try to wrap their minds around the experiences the survivors were sharing. Both Honey and I cried at many points during the movie. Both of us had our admitted Southerner-as-cross-burning-Klansman prejudices blown right out of the water.
The following morning driving to work I heard on the news that despite agreeing to let up on their air strikes in the immediate aftermath of 60 civilian casualties from a destroyed apartment building, Israel would be moving forward with their campaign against Hezbollah. The idea of a cease-fire, bandied about by other world leaders, seems quite far from their minds. Like many others, I 'm wondering just how it is that a country founded in such self-determination and refusal to be oppressed, could end up doling out such a bitter dose. Not an unusual path to beat--the US did it, too, but somehow I find it more disturbing. Perhaps it's some weird victim stereotype--I don't want Israel to be the brutalizer but remain the innocent victim.
In completely unrelated news about my cat, I have started giving her Flexicose. This is liquid glucosamine with a bunch of other stuff that is supposed to relieve arthritis by lubricating the cartilage, or whatever the hell it is, that wears away and makes MK walk all stiffly. It's supposed to be wonder tonic. I'll report back on her progress.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
An Important Distinction
Maybe it's because I've just returned from a lovely beach vacation, my brain addled by large quantities of fried seafood and black raspberry ice cream, but listening to report after report about Israel and Lebanon, all I can think about is: is it Hez-bo-LAH or Hez-BOWL-ah?
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Professional Critic, at a Loss for Words
As if that would ever happen!
But I do need to convey my complete and utter shock over two news items. First, the Bush administration has done a complete 180 and decided they probably should abide by the Geneva Convention's basic guidelines regarding human rights for prisoners of war.
In 2002, the early days of the "war on terror," President Bush decided unilaterally that terrorists were a different sort of prisoner than regular old prisoners of war and as such, were not covered by the Geneva Convention. I believe the distinction was made between prisoners taken by intelligence agencies such as the CIA versus prisoners taken by the armed forces. A meaningful difference? I would have to say no--we're talking basic, basic rights here. For example, the right to have your whereabouts known. According to a news report on NPR today, the adminstration has refused to acknowlege who they are holding at Guantanamo, or "Gitmo" a cheesy nickname I will now ignore. The full text of Article 3, which outlines the rights in question, is below.
That's all she wrote. Seemingly simple but the US has violated this left and right, for example at Abu Ghraib. I suppose the Administration would not see this as a violation since supposedly Article 3 never even applied. But it does, so it is. So this reversal is a good thing, but why now? There was no serious public uproar over this, just the usual suspects like us. You know, the same people that think that our President is really Al Gore.
But wait--it gets weirder!
Today, the Administration also announced that from this point forward, the lucrative (hi, 15 BILLION DOLLARS) service contracts that had been no-bid awarded to KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton, would now start a competitive bid process. Halliburton of course being the company Dick Cheney led before he became evil puppet master of the US. The contract to provide "logistics" in Iraq such as food and housing, could have lasted for ten years, but has come to an end.
Huh? Sure, there was criticism of the cronyism and corruption in this sweetest of sweetheart deals, but since when did that stop this Administration? Is it because elections are coming up? Bush's approval rating has been in the toilet for so long, why change now? It must be because the City of Berkeley has put a measure on the November ballot to impeach the President. And this is why I love the Bay Area.
Hey, if you really want to boil your blood, check out the Halliburton Watch website, which reminded me that Hallibuton was also handed all the Katrina rebuilding contracts. If you have high blood pressure, you may to read this in small doses with a cool towel on your forehead.
Anyway, I am somewhat suspicious of the motivation behind these changes. I believe we have some conspiracy theorists among us, please do chime in.
But I do need to convey my complete and utter shock over two news items. First, the Bush administration has done a complete 180 and decided they probably should abide by the Geneva Convention's basic guidelines regarding human rights for prisoners of war.
In 2002, the early days of the "war on terror," President Bush decided unilaterally that terrorists were a different sort of prisoner than regular old prisoners of war and as such, were not covered by the Geneva Convention. I believe the distinction was made between prisoners taken by intelligence agencies such as the CIA versus prisoners taken by the armed forces. A meaningful difference? I would have to say no--we're talking basic, basic rights here. For example, the right to have your whereabouts known. According to a news report on NPR today, the adminstration has refused to acknowlege who they are holding at Guantanamo, or "Gitmo" a cheesy nickname I will now ignore. The full text of Article 3, which outlines the rights in question, is below.
ARTICLE 3
In the case of armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each Party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the following provisions:
(1) Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria. To this end the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons:
(a) violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; (b) taking of hostages; (c) outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment; (d) the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.
(2) The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for.
An impartial humanitarian body, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, may offer its services to the Parties to the conflict.
The Parties to the conflict should further endeavour to bring into force, by means of special agreements, all or part of the other provisions of the present Convention.
The application of the preceding provisions shall not affect the legal status of the Parties to the conflict.
That's all she wrote. Seemingly simple but the US has violated this left and right, for example at Abu Ghraib. I suppose the Administration would not see this as a violation since supposedly Article 3 never even applied. But it does, so it is. So this reversal is a good thing, but why now? There was no serious public uproar over this, just the usual suspects like us. You know, the same people that think that our President is really Al Gore.
But wait--it gets weirder!
Today, the Administration also announced that from this point forward, the lucrative (hi, 15 BILLION DOLLARS) service contracts that had been no-bid awarded to KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton, would now start a competitive bid process. Halliburton of course being the company Dick Cheney led before he became evil puppet master of the US. The contract to provide "logistics" in Iraq such as food and housing, could have lasted for ten years, but has come to an end.
Huh? Sure, there was criticism of the cronyism and corruption in this sweetest of sweetheart deals, but since when did that stop this Administration? Is it because elections are coming up? Bush's approval rating has been in the toilet for so long, why change now? It must be because the City of Berkeley has put a measure on the November ballot to impeach the President. And this is why I love the Bay Area.
Hey, if you really want to boil your blood, check out the Halliburton Watch website, which reminded me that Hallibuton was also handed all the Katrina rebuilding contracts. If you have high blood pressure, you may to read this in small doses with a cool towel on your forehead.
Anyway, I am somewhat suspicious of the motivation behind these changes. I believe we have some conspiracy theorists among us, please do chime in.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
A Short Reprieve to Celebrate
You can't complain all the time, can you? I probably could, but today I don't need to because there are two good things to report.
One, is that a federal vaccine advisory panel unanimously recommended the Gardasil vaccine for the HPV virus. What a pleasant surprise. I guess once in a while facts do have some sway. Even better, the panel added this vaccine to Vaccines for Children, which provides free vaccinations to the poor. Yes, it is cheaper to prevent illness than to treat it. Next question is whether this vaccine will be included with vaccines required for school attendance. Apparently this process takes about a year after a vaccine is introduced. If there are any parents out there with girls in this age range, let us know if your doctor is talking to you about this.
And this super interesting news item, sure to cause a stir concerns a housing project in Seattle specifically built for chronic alcoholics. The city idenfitied 200 people who were costing so much in ER visits, incarcerations and detox programs that they intervened with a more cost-effective solution: offering them permanent subsidized housing with no treatment strings attached. So simple yet breathtakingly revolutionary. I almost fell off my chair when I saw that the Bush administration was backing this project. It actually makes no sense at all, but okay, great!
I will complain about one thing today. Because Ken Lay "died" before he was convicted/exhausted his appeals process, apparently his conviction will likely be vacated. And if that happens, the government's attempt to seize his assets for Enron shareholder lawsuits would also be moot. Grrrrr.
One, is that a federal vaccine advisory panel unanimously recommended the Gardasil vaccine for the HPV virus. What a pleasant surprise. I guess once in a while facts do have some sway. Even better, the panel added this vaccine to Vaccines for Children, which provides free vaccinations to the poor. Yes, it is cheaper to prevent illness than to treat it. Next question is whether this vaccine will be included with vaccines required for school attendance. Apparently this process takes about a year after a vaccine is introduced. If there are any parents out there with girls in this age range, let us know if your doctor is talking to you about this.
And this super interesting news item, sure to cause a stir concerns a housing project in Seattle specifically built for chronic alcoholics. The city idenfitied 200 people who were costing so much in ER visits, incarcerations and detox programs that they intervened with a more cost-effective solution: offering them permanent subsidized housing with no treatment strings attached. So simple yet breathtakingly revolutionary. I almost fell off my chair when I saw that the Bush administration was backing this project. It actually makes no sense at all, but okay, great!
I will complain about one thing today. Because Ken Lay "died" before he was convicted/exhausted his appeals process, apparently his conviction will likely be vacated. And if that happens, the government's attempt to seize his assets for Enron shareholder lawsuits would also be moot. Grrrrr.
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