Social construct with power

So, there is this huge firestorm since Morgan Freeman said that the first black president of America has not arisen yet.  He said that President Obama is not that, that he is the first mixed president instead.

I understand why some are disturbed by this.

I understand that the history of the country has stood by the idea of the one-drop rule, by the thought that if you have some black in your ancestry, you are black by default.

I also know that many people do not consider Africans to be black - that they are a separate category.  Others put them all into the black category.

Race is a social construct, and yet it still has so much power in our society - even in 2012.

Check out this PBS site for more on Race - The Power of an Illusion.

June third photos

Here is week three of my June Photo-A-Day Challenge hosted by Fat Mum Slim.  Each day I took a photo related to the key word for the day.

14. Time - There was a time when I watched movies so much that I was sending them back to Netflix one or two days after getting them in the mail.  I was streaming them regularly, too.  Times have changed.  These two movies have been collecting dust behind the gaming system and Time Machine.  I actually moved them forward just for this picture.  I have had these two movies since September.  Time has flown by and I have still not watched the films.  I couldn't even remember what they were until today when I read the information about them.  They do sound interesting, but I still don't know that I will watch them anytime soon.

Top picture I took, bottom picture is the way the
StL Woolworth's looked back in its heyday.

15. Yellow - When I learned about the Civil Rights Movement of the US that happened in the 1950s and 60s I always was disturbed and intrigued by the sit-ins of Greensboro, NC that led to the desegregation of Woolworth's eating counter, as well as other institutions in the US.  I knew that the building on Grand in St. Louis used to be a segregated Woolworth's.  Still has the same look on the outside.  The other day, I decided to jog/walk past the building and saw that this yellow and red engraving is still on the ground outside of each of the entrance doors - I had to take a picture.  I love that the city has kept this on the ground.  And I'm glad that, although there is still not full equality for everyone, there is no more segregation in public buildings.

16. Out and about - I hate being behind cars that are driving slow and now knowing the reason for the traffic.  On this day, I was driving behind slow cars and realized that a burning car was the reason for the hold up.  Of course, the first thing I thought was, "I need to take a picture of this!"  I wasn't alone.  After I took my picture, I looked around to see if people were staring at me and realized that there were 20+ people on the sidewalks and in the street and in their cars taking photos and making videos.  I turned off of the street at the light after seeing the fire trucks and police cars arrive to help the vehicle (which had no driver in it).  I guess it all worked out because on the way back a few hours later, there was no sign of the car, and no evidence that this event had occurred.

17. In your bag - I don't regularly use a purse.  I prefer small metal wallets, or my newer leather case-thing that can fit my cards, my money, and my slim cell phone all while fitting in the back pocket of my jeans.  I am going to give you a look inside my school/work bag.  It has all the basics.  I love my bag.  I love the design and that I have not seen anyone with the same style.  Items from left to right:

• check book that I barely even use anymore
• post-it notes
• leopard-print screen cleaning cloth for cell phone or for laptop that I don't like to touch, but for some reason my students love to touch and point to things when I call them up to look at something on the screen.
• oil absorbing sheets because my face gets super oily and I have to regularly wipe it dry
• portable manicure set since I have learned to keep my nails smooth (I once stabbed myself in the eye while I was waking up.  It was so bad that I had to call in to work and go to the hospital and then had use steroid drops and wear a pirate eye patch for a day)
• lip balm (My sisters and I all have several of these in various places because you cannot have too many - unless you want to look like Dave Chapell's crack head character.)
• larger post it notes (I am not completely addicted to technology and enjoy writing little notes by hand during the day.)
• lotion (Like lip balm, I have these all over the place because I don't like to look like I have been punching flour.)
• hand sanitizer (I prefer soap and water, but like this especially during times at school when kids seem to want to be around me more despite the fact that they are clearly sick.  Also used after walking around and touching things in the school... I heard once that railings are one of the germiest items in a building and have not wanted to purposely touch one since.)
• various colored pens (I don't like to grade in red, but also don't like to grade assignments in a color that is similar to any color the students are using.  I guess because I can tell that it was me that put the markings on their paper.  Plus it adds variety to my sometimes tedious work.)

18. Something we don't know about you - I don't like older model American cars.  (Or the newer ones made to look like the old hoopties.)  I think they were way too long and I still don't understand how people drive them and turn without making super-wide truck-like turns.  I much prefer smaller cars that can easily fit in parking spaces and that you can reach the items in the backseat easily if necessary.  It tickles me each time I drive past this old car on a body shop lot.  I thought it was being fixed, but it is actually a show piece for some reason.  It was once huge, but is now been cut in half to make it the perfect size for a car... if only they could put a steering wheel and an engine into it somehow without making it longer.

19. Imperfect - The siblings and I have always joked about our inability to tan our feet.  It is really quite an annoyance.  There was literally a time when I was standing behind a screen and all that could be seen were my feet in sandals.  When I came out, a person told me that they thought I was white based on my feet.  I have tried everything, including a spray tan.  Nothing has worked.  I guess I will just be left with imperfectly pale feet and a pale torso.  Fortunately for all of you who don't look at computer screens with sunglasses, the contrast of my feet didn't come out as much as they do in reality.  If you look closely at the top of my left foot, you can see the makings of a slight sandal tan line. This is likely as dark as my feet will get this summer.  At least they don't blend in with the carpet.

20. Fave photo you've ever taken - I don't really have a favorite photo that I have taken, but there is a picture on some sort of shiny stone that I have kept wherever I live for some time.  It is fabulous and represents how I feel about many of my close friends that I don't talk to nearly as much as I should.  But, I do still cherish the friendships.

More photos to come next week...

You can see the first week and second week photos, too.

Today, I look back

Today, I'm thinking of elections.  There is a recall election in Wisconsin happening today.  There is a presidential election that will take place this year in November.

As I think of this election, I am also thinking back to things I wrote during the last election cycle.

Today, I am really grateful for all of my followers, for all of my commenters.  I love seeing that people actually read what I write.

Most of my posts, lately, are pretty light-hearted.  It wasn't always so.

Today, I remember a post that received some serious negative feedback from commenters.  I am remembering all of the research I put into some of my posts.

I would like to take a trip down memory lane with you today.  I know some people don't like clicking links or reading old posts, but I promise, these are some good ones from my old, more serious, often political days of blogging.

First up, Response To Some Readers.  This post was a response to some negative feedback I got after I wrote about how lack of insurance and lack of adequate healthcare could have led to an event my friend and I encountered.  Even after this response, I still got some negative comments from readers.  It got to the point where I couldn't even respond, but fortunately, KBO responded well for me. (In this post, I was still using the moniker, Stuck In My Head).  WARNING: It is very liberal in my thoughts, don't hate me if we don't share the same ideas about government... we can still get along and hopefully, you will still read my posts in the future that are not political!

I also have posts that I just enjoyed doing research for.  Perhaps my future could include some "serious" journalism.

In Considering Politics & Religion I wrote about different people's desire to make race an issue in the election of 2008.

After the current administration came into office, I still wrote about politics as it ties to education.  Obama - We Need More Than Education To Help Minorities was a post where I addressed the discrepancies in punishments and treatment of students in schools.  I talked about the need for better classroom management and for more organizations like College Summit to get involved in schools.

Not all the posts I reflect on today were tied to politics... well not really.

I did a lot of research for a post on Haiti after the earthquake of 2010 that led to some questionable donating organizations (Haiti Needs Help - Be Careful How You Give It).  I wrote about about the history of the nation and its long-standing debt and the fact that many donor organizations don't actually give money to places they say they give to.  (Seriously!! Look into the organizations you donate to!!)  If there are so many NGOs and groups giving money to Haiti, why does it still look almost the same as the day the quake happened?  Why are there still SO MANY people living in tents to this day?!?!

I've connected with other bloggers doing Bloggers Unite.  For World AIDS Day in 2008 where I supplied a lot of information about the disease and those it impacts.  For Refugees in 2008 since there was a serious discrepancy in the number of refugees allowed into certain nations.

And, finally, there is the post This Always Tickles Me.  Because Vitas Bumac always does just that!!  I love him and the way he sounds.  And I can't help but smile at the way he can hit his notes.

U is for Unbelievably Cool Movie

One Day On Earth is a film that documents stories from people from all the countries in the world (not sure which numbers they are using since some countries nationhood is internationally questioned - I believe the movie shows 190 countries).

But how unbelievably cool is it that the movie shows a portion of life from EVERY COUNTRY on the SAME DAY?!?!

It took them over a year to edit and translate the film, but it finally debuted on Earth Day 2012 (April 22).

Here is a trailer for the film:

One Day on Earth - Global Screening Trailer from One Day on Earth on Vimeo.

Remembering to write

I just passed the 400th post mark for this blog last week.  It happened with no fanfare.  I didn't even realize it until today.

In honor of my writing and because I have posted for over 50 days in a row, I am going to put a spot light on some of my past posts that stand out to me (page views, comments, content, title, whatever).

Possibly the worst invention ever - Seriously!?! Who's idea was this and why do they still exist?

All-star game and meth issues - Because I don't love baseball like everyone else does.  Read what I would rather do than even think of going to a game.

Six Items or Less - No undies don't count:  I took part in the experiment of wearing only six items of clothing for an entire month.  It was truly great - liberating.  I wear more than six items now, but still find that they all basically look the same.

Basically effective - In part because of the 6IOL, I began getting rid of a lot of clothing.  That led to me simplifying my life in other ways.  Again, liberating.

Even Niecy has never seen such foolishness - If you have seen Messiest Home in America with Niecy Nash (I think Vanessa from the Cosby Show took over) you know that these people have a hard time getting rid of items.  The images of their homes are shocking.

Used sanitary napkins - come on! - Just disgusting.  Another messy home.

Wordless Wednesday: Beautiful images of women/girls - After all that nastiness it is great to look at awesome art.

Wordless Wednesday: Bras - Just because the pictures are funny.

Human Rights Art - Not all art is just to be viewed.  Some of it has messages.

After all my logic and my theory I add a... - There is no way this city should be in this top 10 list.  Even have a shout out to Lauryn Hill at the end and in the title of the post.

More than a pain in the neck - This surgery was just another ailment that I have had to deal with of late.  Fortunately it worked out and is healing well.

Courting, colours, cafeterias, and cotton - Looking at different issues of race and my past with such topics.

Worry less and feel good anyway - This is my goal for this year.

I've written a lot and hope that I am getting better as I focus on writing more often.  Congrats to me for 400+ posts.  Here's to continued writing and more consistency even after this NaBloPoMo is finished.

Short list of things that make me happy

Today's assignment for the 31 Day Reset was to make a list of 100 things that make me happy.  What a great assignment.

Some of my list:

• My boyfriend
• Laughing at memories with loved ones
• Great love songs
• Getting enough sleep
• Twist out hair styles
• Pants that fit
• Compliments (giving and getting sincere ones)
• Water pressure in a shower
• My sisters' cheesecakes
• My nephews
• Growing bank accounts
• Sharing knowledge
• Comfortable shoes
• Music, not talk on the radio in the morning
• Blogging
• Friends
• Relatives
• Good hugs
• Seeing loved ones happy
• Ticking off items on my to-do lists
• Social justice in action
• DVRing shows
• Seeing my hair grow back
• When my body is hydrated

Worldless Wednesday: Opposing SOPA

SOPA: See more information from techdirt.com here, too.

Click to Contact Congress

Click to sign Google Petition

Thanks to Four Hens and a Rooster for this Wordless Wednesday idea to join in the protests.

Let us be dissatisfied

I know that the man had several issues that made him not perfect, and really, who doesn't?

Here is a segment from MLK, Jr's "Where Do We Go From Here?" speech at the SCLC conference in August 1967.

I have emphasized segments that stand out to me STILL in 2012.

What I’m saying today is that we must go from this convention and say, “America, you must be born again!” 

And so, I conclude by saying today that we have a task, and let us go out with a divine dissatisfaction. 

Let us be dissatisfied until America will no longer have a high blood pressure of creeds and an anemia of deeds. 

Let us be dissatisfied until the tragic walls that separate the outer city of wealth and comfort from the inner city of poverty and despair shall be crushed by the battering rams of the forces of justice. 

Let us be dissatisfied until those who live on the outskirts of hope are brought into the metropolis of daily security. 

Let us be dissatisfied until slums are cast into the junk heaps of history, and every family will live in a decent, sanitary home. 

Let us be dissatisfied until the dark yesterdays of segregated schools will be transformed into bright tomorrows of quality integrated education. 

Let us be dissatisfied until integration is not seen as a problem but as an opportunity to participate in the beauty of diversity. 

Let us be dissatisfied until men and women, however black they may be, will be judged on the basis of the content of their character, not on the basis of the color of their skin.  Let us be dissatisfied. 

Let us be dissatisfied until every state capitol will be housed by a governor who will do justly, who will love mercy, and who will walk humbly with his God. 

Let us be dissatisfied until from every city hall, justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream. 

Let us be dissatisfied until that day when the lion and the lamb shall lie down together, and every man will sit under his own vine and fig tree, and none shall be afraid. 

Let us be dissatisfied, and men will recognize that out of one blood God made all men to dwell upon the face of the earth. 

Let us be dissatisfied until that day when nobody will shout, “White Power!” when nobody will shout, “Black Power!” but everybody will talk about God’s power and human power.

We still have work to do.  I'm not a proponent of some of the Civil Rights ideology, but I do believe that people should be treated well, that people should have the opportunity to be better in all aspects of their lives.

Unfortunately, this is still not so.

Haiti needs help - be careful how you give it

My thoughts keep getting back to the people in Haiti for many reasons.  One is the damage that has occurred due to the earthquake this week.  Another reason is because I have long been questioning what has been going on with regard to aid in that nation.  As the news keeps announcing, they are the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. 

They are also a large recipient of aid from various nations and organizations throughout the world.  From 1990-2003 they received over $4 billion in aid.

I am by no means saying that they don't need help, but I am saying we really need to be thinking about and addressing what is going on in that nation and with the people trying to help them.

If you want to give them aid at this time, please read on and really look into what you are doing and who you are doing it through.  You can use charitynavigator.org and guidestar to check on the status and spending of organizations you wish to donate to or that you wish to know more about.

A lot of the aid they receive comes from Non-governmental organizations (NGOs).  These sort of organizations have a history of aid, but also are so large that at times they are not really giving as much money as people think to the "charities" they are supposed to be supporting. 

They are organizations who use their money to basically promote their liberal ideology.

They help those who they feel are less off than themselves.  It is the same as people in this nation who basically give money to charities.  They give money, they give water, they give food, they give used or new clothes -- all helping them to feel better about themselves.  If they give a little to help the lesser of those, then it does not really hurt for them to live in their fancy homes.  It is ok for them to eat at fancy places.  It is acceptable for them to by clothes, cars, and other items in excess.  

They provide aid, but are not really addressing the problem.  Most of these organizations are not doing anything to really solve the problems.  They are not helping the people to gain jobs.  They may help some one learn to farm (which is great), but they are not helping them to be able to transport their food to various parts of their nation so that they can help sustain more people.  

The typical solutions are not sustainable. 

Aid agencies and foreign governments often do not fully involve the local leaders in making decisions about what will truly help the nation succeed.

And with Haiti, although there were 28 countries gathered together spring 2009 for the International Donor's Conference who agreed to provide the island nation with $353 million to help reduce poverty, there is really not much to show for all the aid that has been given to them over all these years.

I believe it ties back to the start of the nation.  It is a proud history for them as the enslaved people of Haiti were able to overthrow their oppressors back in 1791.  They were named a republic officially in 1804.  They had been ruled by the French and the French were not easily going to give up a colony of theirs full of people they could force to work and build the imperial status of France.  They demanded for Haiti to pay the French government 150 million gold francs (which in today's dollars would be about $20 billion).  The Haitians spent over 100 years trying to pay this off since they felt it would help them become stable since they would gain acknowledgment and acceptance from the major powers if they completed paying the money out.

That is a lot of debt.  They still have a lot of debt to this day. The debt was at around $1.4 billion in the early part of 2009.  Last year, the US canceled $1.2 billion of the debt.  But that is after they have been working to repay that debt for so long. 

Think of what they could have been doing with the money they have had to be paying back to various nations.  Think of what they could have done to help their nation if they were not busy using (probably aid money) funds to repay nations.

Some nations, including Haiti have a history of some corruption.  

That is not an excuse for them, and it is not a reason to stop trying to help them out of their situation.  

It is a reason to have donors hold the government accountable to the money that is given to them.  

How do you keep giving nations money and the people see nothing from it.  

Like I said earlier, in just a 13 year period, the island of Haiti received over $4 billion.  Think how the people's lives could have been improved if that money had just been distributed to the people.  The nation is one that has not enough food produced on their land to sustain the people.  According to USAID 54% of Haitians live on just over 50 cents a day, unemployment is between 70-80% and over 40% of the people there do not have access to drinkable water.

Providing the people with health services is great, but we need to help them so that they can help themselves.  They need to be taught skills that will help them in the future to be able to build their infrastructure and develop jobs and have an education.  Most of the people there do not have higher than a primary education and only about 52% of the adults over 15 are fully literate.  According to the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, about 30% of Haiti's GDP comes from Haitians living and working abroad sending money back home to their relations.

They need more than just food and water and vaccines.

And they need it from more than the numerous nations that are supposedly helping Haiti.  Seriously.  Look at this massive list of NGOs that are said to be aiding Haiti in some way.  Look how many organizations there are, but what do they have to show for their "aid".

The Council on Hemispheric Affairs says that "[P]art of the problem begins with the widespread notion that over half of international aid goes toward NGO 'overhead' costs."

So be careful when you donate to some of these organizations.  They are basically taking your money and paying themselves with most of it rather than distributing it to the people they are saying they are helping. 

Makes sense with regard to Haiti's situation.  Look at that NGO list again.  If all of them are supposed to be giving money or some other sort of aid to Haiti, how is Haiti broke and still in dire conditions?

Also from the Council on Hemispheric Affairs site:

Roger Annis, of the Toronto Haiti Action Committee (THAC) professed that during a 2007 visit to the island, his entourage was repeatedly appealed to by locals to publically disseminate news of the failure of aid programs in order to bring about significant solutions to development issues. “I saw no evidence of Canadian aid programs reaching that desperately poor population,” alleged Annis. The underlying reason that aid is often ineffective is that it is simply not reaching the people on the ground. In addition to holding aid agencies accountable for their commitments, incorporating local communities into the decision of how best to use aid is an approach that could readily improve the effectiveness of the distributed funds.

The work being done is not really getting to the people.  The aid agencies are somehow getting donations, saying they are going to help, but really not doing much.

Top that with the different leaders of Haiti that have dug into the coffers and helped themselves to various funds leaving most of their people suffering.

Peter Mott of Interconnect Newsletter said of some of the aid missions that

With 9,000 soldiers from 42 countries, led by Brazil, the UN Mission to Stabilize Haiti (MINUSTAH) has spent $2 billion fielding armed patrols throughout Haitian poor neighborhoods to repress and intimidate the people, arbitrarily killing civilians, and sometimes sexually assaulting young girls and women.  In the meantime, the economic conditions worsen and the basic needs of the population remain unmet.

 There has to be a better way.

I hope that as you reach out to help the Haitians in their time of need, that you really think about who you are giving money to -- research the organization to find out what they actually do with their money.

Check out the video on Guernicamag.com about aid giving and its impact.

Here is some Haitian history from the Haitian Blogger and you can see recent updates on from the Haitian Blogger.

Another great link with information on the US involvement in Haiti is the Haitisolidarity.net - including information on Aristide.

And please don't see the situation as Pat Robertson does -- what a prick.

Thanks for reading my rant.

Addendum:

Here is a link to some information on what Wyclef Jean has done with his donations in the past.  Just what I talked about here. Not sure if this is some sort of action to attack him and get people to not give to his organization or what.  I just hope that money gets to the people and the people that can help the people.

Getting rid of words

I really can't stand when people use the N-word do describe brown people.

Check out this young mind, Jonathan McCoy sharing reasons why it should not be used.

Obama - we need more than education to help minorities

The President spoke at the NAACP and again harped on the need to push for education to help African Americans advance and strive. He actually said a lot of areas that are needing improvement to help minorities survive and do well, but as a teacher, I tend to think about education.

Education is a big part of the "race" problem, but there is more.

When kids can't focus in school because they have to worry about what is going on at home,or are up late due to a second or third job they have to work to raise money for the family, or they are taking care of small siblings instead of doing their homework, there is no way for them to succeed in school. The system is not designed to help these people. There are some areas that have assistance for students like these, but in my state (MO) the governor has said that he will not fund education in areas that did not vote for him (St.L and KC to be specific). These are the areas with large black populations. These are areas where parents need more than just to try on their own to help their children.

These are the areas where there are less wealthy kids who have nothing to worry about but what new items they will buy and what new drugs they will try as they sit at home and do their homework while watching "The Hills" and "NYC Prep".

Even the educators cause problems. Many of them are not really looking out for the minority students. Many of them punish unnecessarily the brown kids. (You should look at the disproportionate number of referals for brown kids -- and many of the write ups are for little issues that a good teacher should be able to address in the class.) If you go into any in-school-suspension room in this area, no matter what the racial distribution is of the school (it could be 95% white) there are more brown faces sitting in there. These kids are the ones who miss class, who miss assignments because the teachers are tired of sending work to ISS to help these kids succeed while they are out of the classroom.

So then you have to wonder about some of the administrators. Why are they allowing this type of discrepancy in suspensions (in and out of school) to occur? Why are they not teaching teachers how to deal with classroom management? Why are they not making sure that teachers send work to the kids who are in ISS? And when some do send work, why are they not making sure that the work is meaningful and relevant to what the students in the class are working on so that the student is not falling behind the material?

There are a few more liberal teachers in the profession who care about kids and push them to do better. But I am starting to wonder, for what?

These teachers want the students to go through a system in a way that they themselves did not, and in a way that they themselves would never want their children to go through. These kids often have so many struggles out side of school that the teachers cannot help with.

We need to get the community, and the government, and the people who create minimum wage laws, and the landlords who charge way more in rent than is necessary in the area, and landlords who kick people out of their homes in order to build fancier, more expensive condos, and the repo people involved in caring about these people's lives. We need to get police officers who are not going to harass and arrest young people hanging out in the Loop having a good time just because their are more than 5 brown young men together. We need more organizations like College Summit (which my brother works for) who will help young people get into college. We need to get people who will help these students once they get into college, who will hire brown people once they finish college. (Why do I know so many brown lawyers, and other professions who have the highest degrees possible, but cannot get hired full time in their field? Brown people who have given up on trying to "get a job" and instead are trying to start businesses with little start up money since they do not fit the diversity model of the companies they are "overqualified" to work for?) We need to create a community of brown people who are willing to work together to help each other in their times of need. People who will share their resources (not just money, here) to help others.

Until all of these (and more) people work together, there is really not that much more that I, and my fellow good educators, can do to ensure these students better lives in school, or success out of school.

Imagine if we, too, were America

In the summer time, I get to really see more of what is going on in society. I get to see the numerous men who cannot find work, the people who struggle to find food, the kids who cannot afford to be sent away to expensive summer camps or even local sports camps. I get to listen to the hardships.

I get to see America and what it has or has not done for some of its people.

Imagine if it wasn't like this. Imagine if people on this side of the world used Twitter to let other people know the injustices going on in their daily lives just as the people in Iran are now. Imagine if people across this nation would shout out for justice to be served and equal chances to be given for its own people.

Imagine if we, too, were America.

Imagine.

This is Black Ice from Def Poetry.

Where rape is ok

In South Africa people rape gay women to get them to end their homosexual ways.

Because "no lesbian is natural" and forcing a man on them will make them want to be with more men. Right? Because humiliation always works to get people to do what you want them to do, right? Because homosexuality is a choice and these women were just waiting to feel the right person inside of them to make them want to be with men all the time, right?

Be sure to watch the short video linked above. Thanks to a friend on Facebook for the link.

You can also check out the video "A Jihad for Love", a documentary about Islam and homosexuality. In many nations with a Muslim majority, there are laws based on interpretations of the Quran that are used to monitor, entrap, imprison, torture and even execute homosexuals. The film is pretty well done and does not try and separate from Islam, but rather get members of the faith to rethink their views of homosexuality.

Scream bloody murder

If you didn't watch Christiane Amanpour's CNN special "Scream Bloody Murder" yesterday, you have another chance tonight.

This excellent journalist goes in-depth as she covers the genocides that occurred in Cambodia, Iraq, Darfur, and Bosnia. She finds that "instead of using a U.N. treaty outlawing genocide as a springboard to action, political leaders have invoked reason after reason to make intervention seem unnecessary, pointless and even counter-productive." She interviews individuals who tried to get the various U.S. and international government leaders to act to stop the genocide in each nation even before the last straw that grabbed international attention in each case, to no avail.

Click these two links to see CNN's information on the show and a little bit more in-depth information on the events that occurred in each of the nations covered by Amanpour.

Watch the two-hour documentary tonight at 7 pm Central time 8 pm Eastern time.

Protect marriage, protect children, prohibit divorce

Kind of humorous response to Prop 8 in Cali... but not really. It is true what the people in this video are saying. (Thanks Michelle for the link.)

If marriage is so sacred, why are people still allowed to get divorces?

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Prop H8 protest - a brief reflection

The rally today was really inspiring. It was great to see so many people willing to stand out for two hours in 30-degree weather to show their disdain for newly passed laws and their support for rights for all humans. Locally we had over 1400 people in attendance, according to the po-pos. (black, white, Latino, Asian, gay, bi-sexual, straight, young, old, pets) Nationwide they said that there were over 1 million people in over 300 cities. All trying to show protests for the legislation and to try to make sure that people don't give up the fight. Locally, they are also trying to put legislation up (again) to make it illegal to discriminate against people in the workplace based on their sexual orientation. Right now in Missouri it is legal to do just that in every area except St. Louis City, Columbia, Kansas City, and University City.

(sorry some of these pictures are kind of crappy - they are from my cellular phone since I forgot to bring the real camera) The mayor of the city spoke, along with some alder-people, several religious figures, some community activists, a bank CEO, some students, and Chad Allen -- the introduction of him by the MC brought me some serious giggles. He is from "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman". And the MC seemed to realize that not too many people watched that show, but said after Chad spoke that he would go off and buy all the back ordered issues of the old DVDs for the show.

It was great seeing a lot of young people out there. There were college-aged students, and even some high school students and younger there. Some students from my school's GSA and my old school's GSA were there - which was really great to see. Hearing the different comments, seeing people able to be free and in love with their partners in public in front of the courthouse, seeing people's documents from when they had gotten married in California (pre-ban), hearing the hope -- it was all heartwarming. I actually, a few times, forgot how cold it was out there when rushes of warmth would go through my body.

What was really awesome was seeing a good number of straight people there. (Thanks Dando for going with me.) This is what will really make the difference. When all of us straight people who support rights for all can get other straight people to understand that giving rights to others is not going to change a straight person's relationship, is not going to lessen the number of kids born (in fact it might help those that are born become adopted or fostered by gay couples -- listen up Arkansas), is not going to lessen the concept of marriage (Why is it a big deal to do that anyway with so many married straight people getting divorced? And why is it right to vote on marriage rights for one group when others have not voted for you to have the right to marry? (unless you are black or married interracially)).The majority needs to change its views in order for laws to change.

Links with information and pictures:

• Flicker images of protests across the nation
• Human Rights Campaign (HRC)
• Show Me No Hate (Join the Impact; Saint Louis)
• The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
• The Lesbian Gay Bi Transgender Community Center of Metropolitan St. Louis
• Lambda Legal

Human rights are just that -- for all humans.

"With liberty and justice for all." -- Pledge of Allegiance to America

Protest Proph8

I got better just in time for this massive protest on Prop 8 that passed in California.
I will layer. I will support that community. I will support rights for all people regardless of race, color, religion, and sexual orientation. Here's the blog for the Saint Louis area -- Show Me No Hate.

Olbermann, rights for all, keeping it trill

Over on MSNBC Keith Olbermann gave a poignant speech on Proposition 8 which passed last week in California. The fact that people are so interested in legislating what goes on with other people that have nothing to do with them is really astounding to me.

Here is an excerpt, but you should really read the whole thing:

And yet to me this vote is horrible. Horrible. Because this isn't about yelling, and this isn't about politics. This is about the human heart, and if that sounds corny, so be it.

If you voted for this Proposition or support those who did or the sentiment they expressed, I have some questions, because, truly, I do not understand. Why does this matter to you? What is it to you? In a time of impermanence and fly-by-night relationships, these people over here want the same chance at permanence and happiness that is your option. They don't want to deny you yours. They don't want to take anything away from you. They want what you want—a chance to be a little less alone in the world.

Also KIT wrote a great blog post about this on recently as well. Read the post here.

Human Rights Art

Some things leave you speechless. The crazy human rights violations throughout the world (a lot of which are performed by the United States) are among those things that leave you questioning a lot of things.

Here are some of the Co-winners in the Human Rights Violations Brief :

Saeed Behdad, Iran - Human RightsJing Zhou, USA - We cannot fight terrorism using state terrorAngela Morelli, Italy - War will never be the seed of peaceMilan Kopasz, Hungary - I am not a terrorist
Cinzia Ferrara & Alexandra Dossi, Italy - Never ReadThomas Di Paolo, Germany - Victims of TerrorismMarlena Buczek-Smith, USA - Abolish TortureSongwei Chen, USA - Is this what we need?Alice Beniero, Italy - Dirty marksMarcin Dubiniec & Maksym Matuszewski, Poland - GunVesa Kuula, Finland - Gavel of terrorHeidi Gabrielsson, Finland - More (D)angerAlexandra Vydmanova, Russia - Stop

Section 60 and some unanswerable questions

Right now the body count of US service men and women from the war in Iraq is 4,180+; in Afghanistan it is 610+. There have been 32,000+ wounded in the two regions.

A new documentary will show on HBO called Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery. That is the section of the military cemetery set aside for military deaths of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. The directors were on Democracy Now Friday.

It is really ridiculous that we are still fighting over there.

Big questions that I have, and some of which a student of mine asked the other day are: How does it end? How do we know when a war like this is over? How can there be an end to a war that is being fought over an idea? And how can we win wars over people who are not going to stop what they are doing (Taliban)? How can we say that it is getting better when so many of the local population (and our men women) are being wounded, killed, or displaced?

Check this song