tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53863619763569833772024-02-18T21:00:37.516-05:00inkbacklinks of interest, thoughts and rants, gonzo reports, yada yadaIlyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.comBlogger247125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386361976356983377.post-8178630232619295022013-03-18T04:48:00.003-04:002013-03-18T05:39:10.971-04:00Guns Don't Kill People, Ex-Husbands Who Threaten to Put a Cap in Ex-Wives Do<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlQ2GEn9cznudlaJjXHR1AcjWL_v81yZD7CbGrj-ZDfy1hr03q6DIX_C6dmA332tMIoxNS5lBV_QNIxLCopvxr_Zh7t-mu4j_cwRL4cIM9U_G0iZimlZJS1LZvnCDpeczfEbXikWql4t4/s1600/husband_wife_gun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlQ2GEn9cznudlaJjXHR1AcjWL_v81yZD7CbGrj-ZDfy1hr03q6DIX_C6dmA332tMIoxNS5lBV_QNIxLCopvxr_Zh7t-mu4j_cwRL4cIM9U_G0iZimlZJS1LZvnCDpeczfEbXikWql4t4/s1600/husband_wife_gun.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(source unknown)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Michael Luo <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/18/us/facing-protective-orders-and-allowed-to-keep-guns.html" target="_blank">recounts</a> a chilling episode experienced by a woman who obtained an order of protection from her former husband in a state that does not require him to relinquish his firearms. In all but a few states there is no law allowing a judge to force a threatening individual to do so. Why?<br />
<br />
The National Rifle Association and other gun-rights groups "argue that gun ownership, as a fundamental constitutional right,
should not be stripped away for anything less serious than a felony
conviction — and certainly not, as an N.R.A. lobbyist in Washington
State put it to legislators, for the 'mere issuance of court orders.'"<br />
<br />
<br />Ilyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386361976356983377.post-68673889360317816662013-03-17T19:58:00.000-04:002013-03-17T19:58:05.631-04:00Ban poverty, not soda<span class="userContent">If you don't know what a quarter water is and
you've never resorted to drinking one when in need of liquid & carbs
because 25¢ is all you've got, or because in the environment you were
brought up in quarter water (or, on rich days, Tropical<span class="text_exposed_show">
Fantasy) is what you know ... please don't pontificate on the subject
of inner-city dietary choices. </span></span><br />
<span class="userContent"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span></span>
<span class="userContent"><span class="text_exposed_show">Ginia Bellafante <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/nyregion/in-obesity-fight-poverty-is-patient-zero.html" target="_blank">knocks it outta the park</a> in the New York Times today: "The articulated goal should not simply
be to create a population of poor people who are thin, but to create a
population of poor people who are less poor. In 2010, the poverty rate
in the city remained what it was 10 years earlier, 21 percent. " AMEN.
(Not to mention the poverty rate in NYC of children is 30 percent. Yes.
In the 2nd richest city in the world.)</span></span>Ilyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386361976356983377.post-82062573991785515592013-03-16T21:40:00.001-04:002013-03-16T21:47:27.859-04:00They died but, hey, we gained a strategic relationshipFrom <a href="http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/03/15/study-iraq-war-cost-190k-lives-22-trillion.html?ESRC=dod.nl" target="_blank">military dot com</a>, a piece about an Iraq War study done at Brown University:<br />
<br /><b>Study: Iraq War Cost 190K Lives, $2.2 Trillion</b><br />
<br /> Remember the Team Bush estimate of war costs was $50-60 billion?<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="UIShareStage_Image">
<div class="UIShareStage_ThumbPager UIThumbPager" id="c51451d65a18344b75539575">
<div class="UIThumbPager_Thumbs" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img alt="" class="img" src="https://fbexternal-a.akamaihd.net/safe_image.php?d=AQDHLqHphQ9Lf3ji&url=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.military.com%2Fmedia%2Fnews%2Fequipment%2F102211-412x274-ts300.jpg" style="width: 100px;" /></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="UIShareStage_ShareContent">
<div class="UIShareStage_Title">
<a class="UIShareStage_InlineEdit inline_edit" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5386361976356983377"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The
Costs of War report, </span></a></div>
<div class="UIShareStage_Summary">
<div class="UIShareStage_BottomMargin">
<a class="UIShareStage_InlineEdit inline_edit" href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5386361976356983377"><span style="font-size: x-small;">released ahead of the 10th anniversary <br />of the war,
included "substantial" costs <br />to care for wounded veterans.</span></a></div>
</div>
</div>
<br />
<br />
This piece quotes State Dept response to this report: "both countries made enormous sacrifices"... when 70% of the casualties were Iraqi civilians! (This is !!not!! to dismiss the sacrifice made by US troops sent over there, and their families ... who had no choice but to follow orders.) State Dept also points out that we have forged a "strategically important" relationship with Iraq ... I wonder what the legions of dead folks and their famlies might say about the importance of a US/Iraq strategic relationship when weighed against the cost of so many lives and so much destruction.Ilyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386361976356983377.post-85122496880197944072012-08-27T07:21:00.000-04:002012-08-27T07:21:10.606-04:00Bring back the concept of ZPGIn today's <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/aug/26/food-shortages-world-vegetarianism" target="_blank">Guardian</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Leading water scientists have issued one of the sternest warnings yet
about global food supplies, saying that the world's population may have
to switch almost completely to a vegetarian diet over the next 40 years
to avoid catastrophic shortages.</blockquote>
Agreed, but WHY AREN'T WE TALKING
ABOUT POPULATION CONTROL, SCIENTISTS??? When I was a kid in the 60s a
very important discussion began about a concept dubbed Zero Population
Growth. It was a point of discussion even in my conformist baby-boom
grade school classrooms. We don't talk about it anymore.<br />
<br />
Just
more evidence of how scientists have grown scared of going up against
religious forces that are opposed to reproductive freedom including
birth control.<br />
<span class="commentBody" data-jsid="text"></span><br />
<div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed" id="id_503b56ccdcf9c0646845570">
I might add that when I was in that baby-boom-era grade school classroom
and we were required to learn various dry facts about geography and
demographics, one fact was this: "There are 3 billion people in the
world." I am 55. To some people reading this that might be "old," but think of it as "less than one expected life span." The 3 billion has already turned into over 7 billion <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population" target="_blank">as of March 12</a>, 2012.<br />
<div class="text_exposed_show">
<br />
The exponential breeding of humans is one of the most frightening factoids. Check this chart.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/World-Population-1800-2100.svg/587px-World-Population-1800-2100.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/World-Population-1800-2100.svg/587px-World-Population-1800-2100.svg.png" width="391" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="commentBody" data-jsid="text">And since the vocal anti-science forces are
breeding faster and indoctrinating their offspring ... if The Awake Ones
are not outnumbered yet we will soon be, by far. What does that mean in
this democracy? That our progeny will have to experience a horrible
toxic world complete with massive disease and die-offs? </span>And will it by then be too late to "learn our lesson" and rectify the situation?</div>
<br />
<span class="commentBody" data-jsid="text">I personally stave off the
depression from peering into this particular abyss by engaging in
teaching the children. Teach the children (all children! this has
nothing to do with "parenthood") and, more importantly, teach them to
teach others.</span></div>
</div>
Ilyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386361976356983377.post-50386853143146014042012-07-07T04:14:00.000-04:002012-10-15T06:47:34.487-04:00Women's "natural right" to be society's slave<br />
Law professor Shari Motro <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/07/opinion/time-for-pregnancy-support-alimony.html" target="_blank">proposes</a> "Preglimony" -- the codified responsibility of a male involved in the conception of a fetus to contribute financially to the mother's well-being while she is pregnant.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The problem is that under current law, most states frame men’s pregnancy-related obligations as an element of child support or as part of a parentage order, which generally kicks in only after the birth of a child and is limited to medical expenses. Until and unless the pregnancy produces a child, any costs associated with it are regarded as the woman’s responsibility.</blockquote>
<br />
YUP.<br />
<br />
<table align="right" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNPwqBJmkswIABFdsWqk0MmODDaChoBDr3umkeJzpjp3Xu686H8AF5D_PboRDlbMCai6UxHOguue8uJSim-Opdq2v12xcxSm_awhgUdv7f6po8s0mkaDd7dqwOce-riZWCFgncZ_Bwojo/s1600/461px-Lange-MigrantMother02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNPwqBJmkswIABFdsWqk0MmODDaChoBDr3umkeJzpjp3Xu686H8AF5D_PboRDlbMCai6UxHOguue8uJSim-Opdq2v12xcxSm_awhgUdv7f6po8s0mkaDd7dqwOce-riZWCFgncZ_Bwojo/s320/461px-Lange-MigrantMother02.jpg" width="246" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Migrant Mother</i>, Dorothea Lange, 1936</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
But we need more than to institute such societal expectation as a matter of law with regard to pregnancy. And we need to look much deeper than fiscal support when we consider the responsibilities of procreating men.<br />
<br />
We need to rewrite the laws that stipulate that default custody of offspring born "out of wedlock" (isn't wedlock such a strange word?!), goes to the woman. WHY? When a single mother is unable to care for her children with some level of stability they are taken from her; when she goes completely off the deep end and throws her baby in the dumpster, she is arrested. Does all this happen in one day? No, the problem perhaps started before the child was born, and the safety and well-being of the child is at risk prior to the day that he or she is abandoned or abused.<br />
<br />
So where was the child's father during this period of escalating disorder in the child's life? Even if he pays his child support (which so many get away with not paying), <i>why does the father have no custodial responsibility</i> to help raise the child, to check in on the child, to offer the mother some relief in the duties of child-rearing, to intervene before tragedy happens? Why is the father not also arrested when a child is abused, after he completely ignored his child's welfare during a developing situation?<br />
<br />
The answer to "why" is codified in our laws. It is beyond reason that, for the simple fact of the absence of a marriage certificate, 100% of the responsibility for rearing a child lands on the female and 0% lands on the male apart from "child support" ... unless he proactively seeks some level of custody. Unless he decides that he would like to share the responsibilities that go so much farther than economic burden, he is free to walk away.<br />
<br />
A quick web search on "child custody laws unmarried" turns up a <a href="http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/child-custody-between-unmarried-parents.html" target="_blank">page</a> on LegalMatch that summarizes the way our laws stick it to women with regard to the duties of child rearing, while disguising that solo burden as a "right" (emphasis added here):<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The unmarried mother is presumed to have the primary or <b>natural right to
custody</b> of children born when she is not married. Therefore, she has
the legal right to custody, care, and control over the child and her
rights are superior to those of the father or any other person.</blockquote>
"Her rights are superior" my ass! Where is <i>her</i> right to take a break, to have the father rear the child so she can go to college or take a job on the other coast or just have a frickin' week off? "Rights" are something we may or may not choose to exercise. Yes, in some cases, a child might be better off with limited or no contact with their father, and in such a case the mother ought by default to enjoy full control over the child's welfare. But where does the law speak to an unmarried mother who perhaps is not interested in rearing the child, or simply needs the father to share in everything from taking time off from work when a child is sick or to taking kids to the dentist, to teaching the kid how to ride a bike, or running all the errands involved in ensuring a child is fed, clothed and equipped with necessities?<br />
<br />
The next sentence on that page proves my point that the law looks at this question in a very strange way:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
These rights can be defeated if it can be shown that the mother is unfit or has abandoned the child.</blockquote>
Okay, then, so <i>we wait until the mother is acting "unfit" or has abandoned her child, </i>before we contemplate looking at whether the father ought to be pitching in with some relief from the daily grind, for the children's sake at least?<br />
<br />
This perspective also shines a light on fathers' rights. I personally have known men who wanted equal access to their own children, or full custody when they truly were the more "suitable" primary caretaker, yet had to do battle with judges and social workers while working at a handicap under law and social policy. The results of their fight to partner in, or take over, raising their children were mixed and any successes were very hard-won. My brand of feminism looks for <i>equal rights for all.</i> Including men.<br />
<br />
Until we revamp laws that actually codify that a woman's biology is her destiny, women will remain second-class citizens in this country, will continue to contribute billions of dollars' worth of services to the GDP without any consideration or compensation, will continue to bear the stress of putting in exhaustingly long days, day after day, for decades, shouldering alone the work that by all reason ought to be shared by two people. And fathers who want to be equitably involved with raising their children – and also men who have gained custody and then need the same social support services (subsidized daycare, etc.) that a woman would need in the same situation – will continue to find themselves at a handicap in the courts and social services systems.<br />
<br />Ilyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386361976356983377.post-62182863109004440352012-05-13T04:57:00.001-04:002013-01-15T16:41:15.094-05:00Awesome Woman: Ursula SladekThe incredible Awesome Woman of the Day is Ursula Sladek, who started a successful cooperatively-owned green energy company.<br />
<br />
After the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear plant it was revealed that radioactive isotopes had landed in the Black Forest region in western Germany where she lives. Children could not play outside for two weeks (and even 25 years later mushrooms from the forest are not considered safe to eat). Sladek and her husband Michael formed "Parents for a Nuclear Free Future"and began researching alternative forms of energy. When the local power company's lease was coming up for renewal Sladek launched a nationwide campaign and raised 6 million DM (about 3 million Euros) and <i>bought the power grid </i>so that she could break the monopoly of the energy companies.<br />
<br />
Her company, Schönau Power Supply, uses decentralized power that is produced by local people's wind turbines, streams, solar panels, and other sources that feed the grid. Sladek pioneered a
pattern of green, decentralized energy production. She enables citizens
to become private green energy producers and to sell their electricity
surplus back into the grid, and to share in the profits. Most of the revenues, which reached 67 million Euros in 2009, are reinvested in renewable energy sources. Sladek also has become a speaker and educator, and has a share-alike ethic when it comes to spreading information about how others can embark on the same type of initiative in their locale.<br />
<span class="details" style="display: inline;"><br /></span>
In 2011, Sladek <a href="http://www.goldmanprize.org/slideshow/user/321/1387" target="_blank">won</a> the notable Goldman Environmental Prize (the world's largest prize for honoring grassroots environmentalists) for Sustainable Energy in Europe, and is a <a href="http://www.ashoka.org/fellow/ursula-sladek" target="_blank">fellow</a> of the Ashoka "Innovators for the Public" institute that brings together social entrepreneurs, experts, and policy makers to inspire and support a new generation of local changemakers.<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/oz4XpBkR7tM" width="560"></iframe>Ilyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386361976356983377.post-7662735026979440872012-04-08T22:43:00.002-04:002012-04-09T08:23:02.318-04:00Awesome Woman: Elizabeth Cochran, a.k.a. Nellie Bly<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/Nellie_Bly_2.jpg/220px-Nellie_Bly_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/Nellie_Bly_2.jpg/220px-Nellie_Bly_2.jpg" width="195" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nellie Bly c. 1890</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Nellie Bly (1864 - 1922) was the pen name of pioneer female journalist Elizabeth Jane Cochran, who was first noticed and hired by a newspaper editor after she wrote a strong letter to the editor in response to a sexist article. According to Wikipedia, "The editor was so impressed with Cochran's earnestness and spirit that
he asked the man who wrote the letter to join the paper. When he learned
the man was Cochran he refused to give her the job, but she was a good
talker and persuaded him. Female newspaper writers at that time
customarily used pen names, and for Cochran the editor chose 'Nellie
Bly', adopted from the title character in the popular song 'Nelly Bly' by Stephen Foster."<br />
<br />
Bly, who lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the time, was naturally inclined to cover stories of working women and the labor conditions of female factory workers. In rebellion against the pressure from her employer to cover home-and-garden sort of topics, she quit her job and moved to Mexico to serve as a foreign correspondent to the newspaper. Never one to hold back, she wrote critically of the dictator Porfirio Díaz, and then had to move back to the U.S. after being threatened with arrest. She was once again assigned typical women's stories and in frustration left the newspaper and moved to New York City.<br />
<br />
After a few months barely scraping by in New York, Bly found work doing an undercover investigative assignment for the <i>New York World</i>. As a groundbreaker in the field of investigative reporting, she was to feign insanity in order to be committed to the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island (now Roosevelt Island). The asylum had a reputation on the street for brutality and neglect, and Bly was to observe conditions first hand in the role of an inmate, and then write an exposé. The year was 1884, and she was now a mere 20 years old. Her work was first published in the <i>World,</i> and then she republished it as a book to satisfy the demand of a public who were asking for copies.<br />
<br />
In order to ensure that she would gain entrance to the asylum, Bly practiced the behavior and mannerisms of insane persons. She then, continuing her strategy, checked into a working-class women's boarding house on lower Second Avenue (see footnote). There she conducted herself in such a way that the home's matron called the police, and Bly appeared before a judge and convinced him she was insane. <br />
<br />
In her own words:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I took upon myself to enact the part of a poor, unfortunate crazy girl, and felt it my duty not to shirk any of the disagreeable results that should follow. I became one of the city's insane wards for that length of time, experienced much, and saw and heard more of the treatment accorded to this helpless class of our population, and when I had seen and heard enough, my release was promptly secured. I left the insane ward with pleasure and regret–pleasure that I was once more able to enjoy the free breath of heaven; regret that I could not have brought with me some of the unfortunate women who lived and suffered with me, and who, I am convinced, are just as sane as I was and am now myself. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
But here let me say one thing: From the moment I entered the insane ward on the Island, I made no attempt to keep up the assumed role of insanity. I talked and acted just as I do in ordinary life. Yet strange to say, the more sanely I talked and acted the crazier I was thought to be by all except one physician, whose kindness and gentle ways I shall not soon forget.</blockquote>
Her first stop was Bellevue Hospital where she was to be evaluated, and then was transported on a boat -- under awful conditions -- to the asylum on Blackwell's Island. Both hospital and asylum were freezing cold, food for the patients was scant and atrocious, and nurses kept inmates awake all night by talking and clomping around in loud shoes. But most egregious of all was what seemed to be a common practice by doctors of declaring women insane who likely were only down on their luck, based upon only the most cursory verbal examinations. Bly was deemed "hopelessly insane," a diagnosis arrived at after a simple conversation a doctor held with her during which she did nothing in particular to "act insane." She reported that she overheard other patients being asked similar questions, answering as any normal person would, and also being deemed insane. Bly wrote, "After this, I began to have a smaller regard for the ability of doctors than I ever had before, and a greater one for myself."<br />
<br />
<br />
Bly wrote up many details of the treatment and incidents she witnessed at the asylum, and her work "Ten Days in a Mad-House" can be read at <a href="http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/bly/madhouse/madhouse.html">http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/bly/madhouse/madhouse.html</a>. With no special journalistic training, she had taken on a distasteful and even dangerous assignment and aced the tricky job of simultaneously pretending to be a real inmate while also staying aware and observant of others at all times. Her write-up makes an engrossing read and gives us tremendous insight to the status of women, particularly those in the working class, in the latter part of the 19th century.<br />
<br />
And her work had tremendous impact. The public soaked it up and politicians were put in the hot seat. When she republished her work in book format she noted in an introduction:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
SINCE my experiences in Blackwell's Island Insane Asylum were published in the World I have received hundreds of letters in regard to it. The edition containing my story long since ran out, and I have been prevailed upon to allow it to be published in book form, to satisfy the hundreds who are yet asking for copies.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I am happy to be able to state as a result of my visit to the asylum and the exposures consequent thereon, that the City of New York has appropriated $1,000,000 more per annum than ever before for the care of the insane. So I have at least the satisfaction of knowing that the poor unfortunates will be the better cared for because of my work.</blockquote>
...<br />
<br />
In another major adventure, in 1890, Nellie Bly took on a challenge to compete against another female author to beat, for real, the fictional record set by Phileas Fogg in Jules Verne's <i>Around the World in Eighty Days</i> -- and on the 73rd day after her departure she won the challenge by arriving back at her Hoboken, New Jersey starting-point after making her way around the planet almost completely unchaperoned.<br />
<br />
In 1895 she married a man 40 years her senior, a wealthy industrialist, and after his death she became an industrialist and inventor (of the 55-gallon oil drum still in use) in her own right. But after being bankrupted by employee embezzlement, she returned to reporting, covering the women's suffrage movement, and the action on the Eastern front in World War I. She also had a continuing interest in the plight of the downtrodden in society, and adopted or looked after a number of orphaned children.<br />
<br />
In 1922, at the age of 57, Nellie Bly died of pneumonia, but her spirit lives on and she set in motion a huge legacy of exposing greed and incompetence in order to better the circumstances of those "at the bottom" of society. In 1998 she was inducted into the Women's Hall of Fame, and in 2002 she was one of four female journalists honored with a U.S. postage stamp. A New York Press Club award bears her name, an amusement park is named after her, and a "4-D" film has been shown in the Annenberg Theater in Washington, D.C. dramatizing her experience in the asylum.<br />
<br />
FOOTNOTE: The Temporary Home for Females was located at 84 Second Avenue. It was actually a web search for "84 Second Avenue" out of my interest in that building itself that led me to the story of Nellie Bly. The building at that address is only a few doors away from where I live and has been an object of my interest since I moved to my current location in 1977. Several people have written articles or blog posts about the place, and I do have more to add to what folks have thus far recorded, being one of very few people who have actually been inside the building and talked to its present-day occupant. Another day I will take up that topic (and will try to remember to come back and add a link here).Ilyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386361976356983377.post-77234516912239878372012-03-04T21:09:00.000-05:002012-04-21T22:52:16.085-04:00Awesome Woman: Edra Mbatha<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_rKNzTgT8fl3G8KTm7jyd3qr3QQbpilebfQQJc7Hhj5Tb8GAmhzGoGgD5HfkAfPCYIQwkQYUUSpH7Rk7fA05HSB1zaix1LN275Y7Cikns1f4v71NQpUZfHXxp34g5z2Rl34HWyJJ0lvk/s1600/edra_mbatha.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_rKNzTgT8fl3G8KTm7jyd3qr3QQbpilebfQQJc7Hhj5Tb8GAmhzGoGgD5HfkAfPCYIQwkQYUUSpH7Rk7fA05HSB1zaix1LN275Y7Cikns1f4v71NQpUZfHXxp34g5z2Rl34HWyJJ0lvk/s1600/edra_mbatha.jpg" /></a></div>
<span class="hasCaption">The AWOD for this Sunday March 4 is EDRA MBATHA
of Nairobi, Kenya, who has dreamed up an innovative way to protect
children from widespread sexual abuse and neglect. After she completed
her O levels, Mbatha moved from her rural hometown -- as do so many young
adults with no resources in Kenya -- to a slum in Nairobi in hopes
of finding employment and making a life for herself. <br /> <br /> But soon
after arriving and seeing the terrible conditions in which people were
living, and noticing how so many women had "given up" and just stood
around all day gossiping, Mbathe began working as a volunteer with a
grassroots women's group. Close to two decades later, Mbatha is still
working within the Mathare community. <br /> <br /> In 2008 during
preelection violence she noticed that children were at high risk. "It
was a chaotic time for children," she remembers. "In the slums, the myth
that having sex with minors could cure people living with HIV was rife
and children were defiled in large numbers." While the women's
organization was providing some services to the children, Mbatha saw the
clear need for early intervention to prevent victimization from
happening at all. <br /> <br /> She realized that sexual predators would
strike during those hours when working parents left their children
alone. So she started Mathare Early Childhood Development Centre, which
began as a daytime "safe house" collectively funded by parents of the
children, and has become a school that also provides nutrition and
counseling for 30 children.<br /> <br /> Beyond the powerful support and
direct aid being provided to the students and their parents, Mbatha has a
broad vision in which the Centre will produce politically aware adults
and long-term changes in Kenyan society. "It’s lack of education that
sees Kenyans manipulated by politicians to take arms against their
neighbours."</span><br />
<span class="hasCaption"><br /></span><br />
<span class="hasCaption">(source: <a href="http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/sports/InsidePage.php?id=2000048503&cid=620">http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/sports/InsidePage.php?id=2000048503&cid=620</a>)</span>Ilyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386361976356983377.post-40154001742669073172012-02-05T09:22:00.000-05:002012-04-21T22:52:42.689-04:00Awesome Woman: Linda in Las VegasThe Awesome Woman of the Day is "Linda in Las Vegas" who, in response to the Susan G. Komen Foundation's now-reversed decision to cut funding to cancer screenings provided by Planned Parenthood, made this video and posted it to YouTube. I can't even imagine how pissed off she must have been, to have done this. Power to you, Linda. All good things and many more years of life to you. Thank you for your courage.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(Contains visually graphic content.)</span></i></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2ZwpSwm_4as" width="420"></iframe>Ilyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386361976356983377.post-77377611724870000002012-01-22T08:56:00.000-05:002012-01-22T09:03:37.784-05:00Awesome Woman: Christine Jorgensen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiSurKWnSFEyuE7dlrl3c3dUFYik2GubAkrFEhAeN5CsP5K3x4OhdMOda1AxWmz7LCBpiBlcu9pf5qrwaLb-g9pFpzURDgJW-6Vw6B69ZWzuTdyIbk-VLr7n4GjoNBts1FubU6_CYPd-g/s1600/Christine-Jorgensen-262758-2-402.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiSurKWnSFEyuE7dlrl3c3dUFYik2GubAkrFEhAeN5CsP5K3x4OhdMOda1AxWmz7LCBpiBlcu9pf5qrwaLb-g9pFpzURDgJW-6Vw6B69ZWzuTdyIbk-VLr7n4GjoNBts1FubU6_CYPd-g/s1600/Christine-Jorgensen-262758-2-402.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
The Awesome Woman of the Day is Christine Jorgensen (1926 - 1989), the first person whose male-to-female sex reassignment surgery became, in 1952, a mainstream news item. She grew up as George William Jorgensen, Jr., in a blue-collar family in Bronx, New York, living as an uncomfortable child inside a boy's body that, according to some sources, never fully developed into male adulthood. <br />
<br />
After Jorgensen did a tour of duty in the Army, she studied and worked in the fields of photography and dentistry. With access to doctors and information when working as a dental assistant, she began taking a form of estrogen. She then made her surgery arrangements through her medical connections and traveled to Denmark where, under the direction of Dr. Christian Hamburger, the removal of her male genitals was done. (Several years later she had a vaginoplasty when the procedure became available in the U.S.) She chose the name Christine in honor of Dr. Hamburger.<br />
<br />
Jorgensen's return the the United States after her first surgery was a major media event in 1953. She stepped off the airplane into an excited sea of cameras and news reporters. Given the tightly defined gender roles of that time, and the prevalence of violent homophobia in our culture, her decision to "go public" -- very public -- was immensely courageous. A common joke going around was that, "She went abroad, and came back a broad." She conducted herself in that press event with incredible grace:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8FYZ6m06bDU" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
Apparently, Jorgensen's carpenter-contractor father from the Bronx
was quite supportive of her and did not withdraw his paternal love --
after her surgery he built a house for her in Long Island. There she met
Howard T. Knox, a typist, and in 1959 the two announced their
engagement to be married. Sadly, because Jorgensen's birth certificate
still said she was male the marriage license was not granted.<br />
<br />
Jorgensen used her publicity for more than personal fame, making appearances on talk shows and speaking on college campuses throughout the 1970s and 80s about her experience. In 1970, she sent a telegram to Spiro T. Agnew asking him to apologize for calling one of his adversaries "the Christine Jorgensen of the Republican party." (No apology was forthcoming.) In addition to assuming the role of a public figure on the speaking
circuit, Jorgensen worked for years as a stage actress and nightclub
entertainer. (A recording of her performance at The Frog Pond restaurant in Hollywood is available in the iTunes Music Store.) <br />
<br />
Christine Jorgensen embraced a course of action that was so radical for her time, and by thrusting her story into the public arena
she opened a pathway for other queer and gender-queer individuals, and for
straight women whose societal role in the 1950s had been reverted from
Rosie the Riveter to the demurring housewife and whose place in the scheme
of things was as much a prison for many women as sexual mis-assignment
was for Jorgensen (and countless others). And perhaps even straight men
saw their gender role become more malleable from that point forward --
with the realm of acceptable possibilities for a man's character
broadening from the iconic square-jawed image of a dominance and controlled emotions in 1950
into today's stay-at-home dads and Burning Men.<br />
<br />
Of course gender and gender roles have never been set in concrete, but it was Christine Jorgensen who had the courage to help us reexamine our belief that they are, and to step out into new territory that allows us to become who we are rather than force ourselves miserably into a mold.<br />
<br />
<b></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCMqfzadLZwu8IMbSFPTpG1qEhq-3f7Aihdf_5d2W7qjDIh2CGR6JISXnoIceqjQrq3xDd-TiaQEWfhYxvzkKG5Fjizp7DAw6O2IHSLWIGy_2x_W18lALFSjwcLepoiz49dl1KR5dMfug/s1600/Christine+Jorgensen+Daily+Newx.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCMqfzadLZwu8IMbSFPTpG1qEhq-3f7Aihdf_5d2W7qjDIh2CGR6JISXnoIceqjQrq3xDd-TiaQEWfhYxvzkKG5Fjizp7DAw6O2IHSLWIGy_2x_W18lALFSjwcLepoiz49dl1KR5dMfug/s1600/Christine+Jorgensen+Daily+Newx.JPG" /></a></div>
<br />Ilyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386361976356983377.post-9063021697923963662012-01-21T15:04:00.002-05:002012-01-21T15:17:51.804-05:00Rehabilitation runs into brick walls, a sad storySome of the writing in AlterNet is worth reading but whoever writes the stupid sensationalist headlines should be fired. This is not really about "Is AA Too White". This is worth reading. <br />
<br />
This about what happens when an individual in recovery, specifically a single mother, gets out of jail and makes a strong effort to pull her life together and wants to get her kids back. This is about a system that is designed to send you right back to jail (that would be the <i>privatized</i> penal system that makes a profit off of your return and not off of your rehabilitation), as a result of problems getting employment and housing. Add to that the ridiculous requirement that you pay back to the state a huge bill that was racked up for "child support" while you were inside.<br />
<br />
This is worth reading. This is about a white judge with self-righteous hemorrhoids.<br />
<br />
This is worth reading. I hope anyone with influence in hiring at their business or job makes a special effort to seek out ex-cons, especially parents trying to get their kids back, and give them a chance.<br />
<br />
This is worth reading. I don't agree with the author's implied premise that 12-step programs are the answer for everyone, IMO from what I've seen every recovery is a different story (and, yes, AA *is* too: White. Middle-Class. Middle-American. Christian. Higher-Power-oriented for it to work for everyone). But, still, <a href="http://www.alternet.org/story/153830/_is_alcoholics_anonymous_too_white?page=entire" target="_blank">this is worth reading</a>. <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<img alt="" class="img" src="http://external.ak.fbcdn.net/safe_image.php?d=AQDdRxExkNgFhvSQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.alternet.org%2Fimages%2Fsite%2Flogo_2.jpg" style="width: 100px;" /><br />
<div class="UIShareStage_Title">
<a class="UIShareStage_InlineEdit inline_edit" href="http://www.alternet.org/story/153830/_is_alcoholics_anonymous_too_white?page=entire" target="_blank">Is Alcoholics Anonymous Too White? </a></div>
Dismissing AA as a white-person's movement, many black addicts take a pass on the 12-steps and seek salvation from their church.</blockquote>Ilyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386361976356983377.post-23333134442363414522011-12-18T02:59:00.000-05:002011-12-18T03:15:25.487-05:00Awesome Women: Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6bOVQ80wfMwc87k8Nj7V6FeePruuWISGJrVAD_Wj9MeKRUB6dXA3V9lGV6cZ3Uzl9kiKz97N1ajIVTUNz8ueE3LLqsU0zfu3HKnPN92GKyU4vcNp2HBDIXnLU5-yp1hsy0Ggz0CiI2Pg/s1600/Representatives_2009_WEB.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6bOVQ80wfMwc87k8Nj7V6FeePruuWISGJrVAD_Wj9MeKRUB6dXA3V9lGV6cZ3Uzl9kiKz97N1ajIVTUNz8ueE3LLqsU0zfu3HKnPN92GKyU4vcNp2HBDIXnLU5-yp1hsy0Ggz0CiI2Pg/s400/Representatives_2009_WEB.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The Awesome Women of the Day are the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, a shareholder-activist order of Catholic nuns that deliberately invests its pension funds in corporations that need a good talking to. Thus entrance is gained for team members of the order's Corporate Responsibility committee to shareholder meetings and executive offices to protest unfair and greedy practices.<br />
<br />
<i>The New York Times</i> recently <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/business/sisters-of-st-francis-the-quiet-shareholder-activists.html">featured</a> the sisters in a Business section article:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Long before Occupy Wall Street, the Sisters of St. Francis were quietly
staging an occupation of their own. In recent years, this Roman Catholic
order of 540 or so nuns has become one of the most surprising groups of
corporate activists around. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The nuns have gone toe-to-toe with Kroger, the grocery store chain, over
farm worker rights; with McDonald’s, over childhood obesity; and with
Wells Fargo, over lending practices. They have tried, with mixed
success, to exert some moral suasion over Fortune 500 executives, a
group not always known for its piety. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
... The Sisters of St. Francis are an unusual example of the shareholder
activism that has ripped through corporate America since the 1980s.
Public pension funds led the way, flexing their financial muscles on
issues from investment returns to workplace violence. Then, mutual fund
managers charged in, followed by rabble-rousing hedge fund managers who
tried to shame companies into replacing their C.E.O.’s, shaking up
their boards — anything to bolster the value of their investments. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The nuns have something else in mind: using the investments in their
retirement fund to become Wall Street’s moral minority. </blockquote>
The order is comprised of about 540 women who engage in a variety of ministries -- including education, health care, shelter and foreign aid in Africa and Haiti. They own a community farm on one of the last undeveloped tracts of land in Delaware County, PA, on which they grow food for 130 CSA members and the sisters themselves, in keeping with their dedication to sustainability. They have published reports on the SEC's recently issued requirements that energy companies seeking investment for fracking operations disclose all the risks involved, and another two reports on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and the need for BP to be held responsible.<br />
<br />
A page on the order's <a href="http://www.osfphila.org/home">website</a> answers, for those who might be contemplating joining the order, "Who Will I Be?"<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
As a Sister of St. Francis of Philadelphia, you possess a heartfelt
determination to make a difference in the world. You are prepared to
live as Jesus did, with a clear vision of God’s care for all creation,
loving every man, woman, child, and creature as brother, sister, mother,
father, and friend.</blockquote>
To paraphrase my friend <a href="http://bettyfokker.wordpress.com/">Betty Fokker</a> -- Mammon wept. Jesus smiled.Ilyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386361976356983377.post-43314666808578528442011-12-08T11:08:00.001-05:002011-12-08T11:08:51.814-05:00Awesome Woman: Nina Smith<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEbsdegdJtTcqWPQHsSlBlBfnya9zKgs_yUjGOFsZPBpNgzfGcL5BhoWu_9QscIe4s2Xb0qf7W5bTDrkaDpHajnaEw3c7vgP6LRh_rVywBJ3v5b9eIPkgXK98_O1zxEo4dcKYT5Rp5HZ0/s1600/376316_2725030085203_1240674552_3180643_677373048_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEbsdegdJtTcqWPQHsSlBlBfnya9zKgs_yUjGOFsZPBpNgzfGcL5BhoWu_9QscIe4s2Xb0qf7W5bTDrkaDpHajnaEw3c7vgP6LRh_rVywBJ3v5b9eIPkgXK98_O1zxEo4dcKYT5Rp5HZ0/s320/376316_2725030085203_1240674552_3180643_677373048_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /><br />The Awesome Woman for Today is Nina Smith, founder and executive director of Goodweave (<a href="http://goodweave.org/">http://goodweave.org/</a>). Goodweave encourages handmade rug-weaving shops in South Asia to refrain from using child labor. Goodweave obtains a contractual agreement from shop owners to:<br />- Adhere to the no-child-labor standard and not employ any person under age 14<br />- Allow unannounced random inspections by local inspectors<br />- Endeavor to pay fair wages to adult workers, and<br />- Pay a licensing fee that helps support GoodWeave’s monitoring, inspections and education programs.<br /><br />Exported Goodweave-certified rugs then carry the Goodweave label so that you know your rug purchase does not support exploitation of children. Non-Goodweave certified rugs might be made by children who kept locked inside dark shops, are not educated nor fed well, and some of whom are slaves who are not even paid. x<br /><br />Goodweave also rescues children who have been sold into rug-making slavery, out of desperation, by their parents for amounts as small as $2.50. The rescued children are given refuge in a rehabilitation center where they also receive education, training and love. <br /><br />A fair trade advocate and marketing professional for over 15 years, Nina won the 2005 Skoll award for Social Entrepreneurship, acknowledging her work to employ market strategies for social change. Nina was formerly the executive director of The Crafts Center (1995–1999), a nonprofit organization providing marketing and technical assistance to indigenous artisans around the world and publisher of Crafts News. As president of the Fair Trade Federation (FTF) from 1996 to 1998, Nina raised funds for and launched FTF’s first consumer education campaign. Nina’s overseas experience includes a crafts export consultancy to the Tibetan Government-in-Exile in Dharamsala, India from 1994 to 1996, where she oversaw the development of new market-driven product lines, quality control mechanisms, and artisan training programs. Nina’s broad expertise includes nonprofit management, writing and publishing, marketing, public relations and small business development.<br /><br />The Goodweave program has won The Best in America Seal, that is awarded to less than 1 percent of U.S. charities, and only after rigorous independent review has determined that the highest standards of public accountability, program effectiveness and cost effectiveness are met.<br /><br />Full disclosure: Nina Smith also happens to be my super awesome first cousin.Ilyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386361976356983377.post-28877535671698458302011-11-13T15:54:00.001-05:002011-11-13T15:55:34.637-05:00Awesome Women: Queen Soraya Tarzi<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCzsf29Ty-No3FWmCPwIalzZAd0oWA3YUfKkE153bwC-pbeqTsaUiCgEun9FTciFhImpeDKNig3jbLm3UlP67YkkkbyfYEF0O45eC3LA1ygK8DxJZJUWVJCurEbC887E1eA0L2RyxWHhv6/s1600/Soraya6.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCzsf29Ty-No3FWmCPwIalzZAd0oWA3YUfKkE153bwC-pbeqTsaUiCgEun9FTciFhImpeDKNig3jbLm3UlP67YkkkbyfYEF0O45eC3LA1ygK8DxJZJUWVJCurEbC887E1eA0L2RyxWHhv6/s400/Soraya6.jpg" width="308" /></a></div>
Today's
Awesome Woman is Soraya Tarzi (1899-1968), who after being born in
exile and returning with her family to Afghanistan in the early 20th
century, married Prince Amanullah. She became Queen when her husband
gained his ascendancy in 1926, but their reign lasted only three years
before she found herself living out the rest of her life the way she
began, as a woman without a country. But she made a mark during those
three short years as the first Afghan queen to promote women's rightful
place in public life, and she took significant personal risk in acting
as the first public role model of a modern Muslim woman.<br />
<br />
During
the three years that Soraya was Queen of Afghanistan, she took bold
steps to modernize the position of Mulsim women in general, and Afghan
women in particular. Her husband was receptive to the egalitarian
philosophy Soraya had received from her liberal, intellectual family
(the reason they had been exiled to begin with). Soraya set many
"firsts" -- the first woman to be the <i>only</i> wife of an Afghan
King, the first Afghan Queen to accompany her husband as an equal at
public events, the first queen to wear Western style clothing, and the
first to openly champion the right of women to education and employment.
She was present at Military Parades with the king. During the war of
Independence, she visited the tents of wounded soldiers, talked to them,
offered them presents and comfort. She accompanied the king even in
some rebellious provinces of the country, which was a very dangerous
thing to do at that time.<br />
<br />
Influenced by Soraya and her
father, King Amanullah campaigned against the veil, against polygamy,
and for the education of girls. At a public function, after her husband
said that Islam did not require women to hide behind veils, she tore
hers off right at the table. Other women at the event followed suit.
While her husband was in the process of having the nation's first
Constitution drafted and passed, Soraya publicly exhorted women to take
their part in the nation's political life and future.<br />
<br />
In 1926, Soraya delivered the following message in a speech commemorating the seventh anniversary of independence from England:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It (Independence) belongs to all of us and
that is why we celebrate it. Do you think, however, that our nation from
the outset needs only men to serve it? Women should also take their
part as women did in the early years of our nation and Islam. From their
examples we must learn that we must all contribute toward the
development of our nation and that this cannot be done without being
equipped with knowledge. So we should all attempt to acquire as much
knowledge as possible, in order that we may render our services to
society in the manner of the women of early Islam.</blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYJFG4thbBZ6uJiwGAIsIE16r9Tgqp9icHdlLN1VUnTI4OgWndWWN1nP_vfl7hPHo2yef7l7WB_Bfe5kK-wRre5P2qT4zWnpsi-iPjuHIORaLIIi5Ev2uVjPiRM1S92VyZ6ukaiNHrCK6D/s1600/Soraya3.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYJFG4thbBZ6uJiwGAIsIE16r9Tgqp9icHdlLN1VUnTI4OgWndWWN1nP_vfl7hPHo2yef7l7WB_Bfe5kK-wRre5P2qT4zWnpsi-iPjuHIORaLIIi5Ev2uVjPiRM1S92VyZ6ukaiNHrCK6D/s1600/Soraya3.jpg" /></a></div>
In
1928 honorary degrees were conferred upon both Amanullah and Soraya by
Oxford University, and Soraya spoke to a large audience of students and
leaders. However, the British government had an interest in
destabilizing Afghanistan, and distributed in the Afghan countryside
photos of Soraya having dinner with men other than her husband, having
her hand kissed by a Frenchman, and the like.<br />
<br />
The British
goal of destabilizing the Afghan monarchy was achieved. When the royal
family returned from their trip to Oxford, a violent uprising broke out
among religious sects and Amanullah was compelled to abdicate to avoid a
civil war. After three short years on the throne, he and Soraya left
their country for good. Their first stop was India, where they were
applauded by thousands. Indians were still under the colonial thumb of
Great Britain, and they gained and lost hope for their own cause as the
watched Amanullah gain and then lose power to truly make changes happen
in Afghanistan. It is said that Indian women gave Soraya a special
ovation, calling out "Soraya! Soraya!" without mentioning "Queen."<br />
<br />
Soraya
Tarzi lived out the last 40 years of her life in Italy, with her family
who were living there in exile once again. She only returned to
Afghanistan in a coffin in 1968, where she was given a state funeral and
buried next to Amanullah. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Ilyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386361976356983377.post-75802573014832872682011-10-30T10:09:00.001-04:002011-10-30T10:50:49.943-04:00Awesome Woman: Marlene DietrichToday's Awesome Woman is <b>Marlene Dietrich</b> (1901-1992) a German-born actress and singer who defied social mores, and who succeeded in reinventing her public self several times over during the course of her long career. She defied the conventional image of how a woman is supposed to dress, becoming one of the talkies' first femme fatales and was a fashion icon. She defied how a woman is supposed to act both in her movie roles and in her personal life (which she managed to keep relatively private). She defied the label "box office poison" after a flop and went on to star in several more successful movies. She defied the public's conception of her as a haughty movie star and rolled up her sleeves to do heavy wartime work during World War II. Then she stepped into a new era of being mostly a highly paid cabaret star from the 1950s through the end of her active career in the 1970s. And after retiring from the public view, Dietrich remained politically active. Marlene Dietrich defied everything except being herself.<br />
<br />
Dietrich's first stage appearances were as a chorus girl in vaudeville-style revues in the 1920s. She was bisexual, and enjoyed the thriving gay scene of the time and drag balls of 1920s Berlin. She married her only husband, Rudolf Sieber, in 1923 and gave birth to her only child, Maria Elisabeth Sieber, in 1924. After some smaller parts on stage musicals and in silent films, her breakout as a star came when she was cast as Lola Lola, a magnetic cabaret singer who brought down a respectable professor, in Josef von Sternberg's <i>The Blue Angel</i> (1930).<br />
<br />
The film saw international success and Dietrich moved to Hollywood under a 6-contract deal with Paramount. Her first American film was <i>Morocco.</i> She knew very little English and learned her lines phonetically, but earned the only Oscar nomination of her career. In <i>Morocco</i> she wore a tuxedo and white tie, and kissed a woman. Dietrich was known for cross-dressing and her image had (oddly, considering the times) unquestioned appeal to men and women alike. She once said, "I dress for myself. Not for the image, not for the public, not for the fashion, not for men."<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3F5f4UxDVNXctG6x4_B2CqTGEsgdtrfatUeQXJKm3MlQY-BCxJYEtblVTuWCok-CU2qqHtL_2dJ-joTXzsM4Y6jUqT3uPysgMXX9VYAvLdCzd3B3DYqP4yff1lW27x7wnICQKWQQLUD8/s1600/757px-Marlene_Dietrich_ww2_47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy87kctkmhPeBknlz9ffyXjXX5SeFhZdl-S5KwRDiYGoFm2rX5QAd9pzJGbOa0MtaHVGCwCUATamgSv-QykJa4MyZ8bVTz7nMW14KH0PY_vUUGqYTzaXnDN7MriuRybn4ZA_83GL7T99o/s1600/Dietrich_tuxedo_eugene_robert_richee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy87kctkmhPeBknlz9ffyXjXX5SeFhZdl-S5KwRDiYGoFm2rX5QAd9pzJGbOa0MtaHVGCwCUATamgSv-QykJa4MyZ8bVTz7nMW14KH0PY_vUUGqYTzaXnDN7MriuRybn4ZA_83GL7T99o/s320/Dietrich_tuxedo_eugene_robert_richee.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Five more highly successful films were made with Paramount (also under von Sternberg's direction): <i>Dishonored</i>, <i>Shanghai Express</i>, <i>Blonde Venus</i>, <i>The Scarlet Empress</i>, and <i>The Devil is a Woman</i>. After the contract was up, under a different director Dietrich starred in a 1937 film that bombed, resulting in her and many other major stars being labeled as "box office poison." But she revived her stardom and went on to make many more films.<br />
<br />
With the ascendancy of the Nazi part in Germany, which Dietrich vehemently opposed, she became an American citizen in 1939. When the United States entered World War II she became the first celebrity to raise war bonds. She toured the U.S. for a year and a half, and it is said she sold more war bonds than any other star. During 1944 and 1945 she made USO tours of Europe, even performing for troops on the front lines, even inside Germany. She sang songs, performed on her musical saw (a skill picked up during her early cabaret years), and entertained the troops with a "mind reading act" that was rife with sexual innuendo and had church groups complaining. She recorded songs for OSS use, recording at least one in German, and actually became a favorite of soldiers on both sides of the war. She also toured the military hospitals to pay personal visits to bring cheer to wounded soldiers.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3F5f4UxDVNXctG6x4_B2CqTGEsgdtrfatUeQXJKm3MlQY-BCxJYEtblVTuWCok-CU2qqHtL_2dJ-joTXzsM4Y6jUqT3uPysgMXX9VYAvLdCzd3B3DYqP4yff1lW27x7wnICQKWQQLUD8/s1600/757px-Marlene_Dietrich_ww2_47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3F5f4UxDVNXctG6x4_B2CqTGEsgdtrfatUeQXJKm3MlQY-BCxJYEtblVTuWCok-CU2qqHtL_2dJ-joTXzsM4Y6jUqT3uPysgMXX9VYAvLdCzd3B3DYqP4yff1lW27x7wnICQKWQQLUD8/s320/757px-Marlene_Dietrich_ww2_47.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Dietrich was awarded the Medal of Freedom by the United States in 1947, which she said was her proudest achievement, and the<i> Légion d'honneur</i> by France as well. She had been raised as a Protestant but lost her faith during her wartime experiences, once saying, "If God exists, he needs to review his plan."<br />
<br />
From the early 1950s until the mid-1970s, Dietrich worked almost
exclusively as a highly-paid cabaret artist, performing live in large
theaters in major cities worldwide, working with Burt Bacharach as her arranger and recording albums with him as well.<br />
<br />
As for her rich private life through all these decades, as summarized in Wikipedia (be careful, this may make you dizzy): <br />
<blockquote>
Throughout her career Dietrich had an unending string of affairs, some short-lived, some lasting decades; they often overlapped and were almost all known to her husband, to whom she was in the habit of passing the love letters of her men, sometimes with biting comments. During the filming of Destry Rides Again, Dietrich started a love affair with co-star Jimmy Stewart, which ended after filming. In 1938, Dietrich met and began a relationship with the writer Erich Maria Remarque, and in 1941, the French actor and military hero Jean Gabin. Their relationship ended in the mid-1940s. She also had an affair with the Cuban-American writer Mercedes de Acosta, who was Greta Garbo's lover. Her last great passion, when she was in her 50s, appears to have been for the actor Yul Brynner, but her love life continued well into her 70s. She counted John Wayne, George Bernard Shaw and John F. Kennedy among her conquests. Dietrich maintained her husband and his mistress first in Europe and later on a ranch in the San Fernando Valley, California.</blockquote>
In her 60s and 70s, Dietrich's health declined, after a bout with cervical cancer and several stage accidents. She was known to be an alcoholic and became dependent on painkillers. But even after retreating to the privacy of her Paris apartment for the final, mostly bedridden, 11 years of her life, she stayed active politically via telephone, including having had conversations with Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. She also stayed in constant contact with her daughter (her husband had died in the 70s), and with biographer David Bret, with whom she had developed a close relationship and who was one of the only people allowed into her apartment. It is believed that Bret was the last person that Dietrich spoke to, two days prior to her death: "I have called to say that I love you, and now I may die."Ilyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386361976356983377.post-38363606367764748102011-10-23T12:00:00.000-04:002011-10-23T12:00:11.755-04:00Awesome Woman: Mahsatī<br />
<div class="post-header">
</div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-382150730149456395">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkjL0EZuQ9t7P_BHJth3WPBXYYZOjtbmJkLDXOVJp7o9hfL3163EBKygSBYddlOaALwE0Ff-j3LlihD4vjRn5uQu88JFGSkr67xGrH5ubc0U2R-EXtN67U3V4frVU7MUvVYiBkIp_aS1IN/s1600/mahsati.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkjL0EZuQ9t7P_BHJth3WPBXYYZOjtbmJkLDXOVJp7o9hfL3163EBKygSBYddlOaALwE0Ff-j3LlihD4vjRn5uQu88JFGSkr67xGrH5ubc0U2R-EXtN67U3V4frVU7MUvVYiBkIp_aS1IN/s200/mahsati.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
The awesome woman of the day is Mahsatī Ganjavi (b. circa 1086), a poet
philosopher who lived in 12th century Ganja, a city in modern-day
Azerbaijan. She was an eminent Persian poet, said to have associated
with famous contemporaneous poets Omar Khayyam and Nizami Ganjavi. She
was also, it is believed, a consort of Sultan Sanjar, and lived a free
lifestyle that included many love affairs.<br />
<br />
She is often described as writing poems about love, sexuality and
freedom. English translations of her poetry seem to be locked inside the
copyrighted, for-sale domain of academia and I was able to find only
two examples (translated by Edward G. Brown) on the Web that go beyond
the genre of love poems; they are transcendent and highly evolved
philosophy:<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<b>The Pathway Finally Opened</b> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
When my heart came to rule<br />
in the world of love,<br />
it was freed<br />
from both belief<br />
and from disbelief.<br />
<br />
On this journey,<br />
I found the problem<br />
to be myself.<br />
<br />
When I went beyond myself,<br />
the pathway finally opened.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div class="" style="font-family: Verdana;">
<small><small><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="color: #003333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">English version by</span></b><br /> </span><span style="color: black;"><i>David and Sabrineh Fideler</i></span></small></small></div>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote>
<b>A world there is for those in love with mines of precious stones</b><br />
<br />
<b> </b>A world there is for those in love with mines of precious stones,<br />
But bards select a different world as setting for their thrones.<br />
The bird who eats love's magic grain lives on another plane -<br />
His nest beyond both worlds, ignoring riches, scorning fame.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div class="" style="font-family: Verdana;">
<small><small><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="color: #003333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">English version by</span></b><br /> </span><span style="color: black;"><i>Edward G. Brown</i></span></small></small></div>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br />
According to <a href="http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/G/GanjaviMahsa/index.htm">the site</a>
where these poems were found and echoed on other sites on the Web, "Her
poetry was a strong voice against prejudice and hypocrisy and
patriarchy, while upholding love -- both human and divine. She was
celebrated at the court of Sultan Sanjar for her rubaiyat (quatrains),
but later persecuted for her courageous stand against overly dogmatic
religion and arbitrary male dominance."</div>Ilyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386361976356983377.post-23673432435749809502011-10-22T13:53:00.002-04:002011-10-22T13:56:08.524-04:00Awesome Women: Janet Siddall<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikhEyF9gUUKtQCXITFmzut4Ov8l363LbCmafhyphenhyphen0wf9c9gDwFY64Y0g5SFIANQuyuLu-ozLtbgx9yPz3VZBMEAhWFDHSTKXG9DFvPvNssxWZ9Hx39w2EUlWnpLZWwYZTh-ZPt6wXpOLI5z2/s1600/Janet+Siddall.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikhEyF9gUUKtQCXITFmzut4Ov8l363LbCmafhyphenhyphen0wf9c9gDwFY64Y0g5SFIANQuyuLu-ozLtbgx9yPz3VZBMEAhWFDHSTKXG9DFvPvNssxWZ9Hx39w2EUlWnpLZWwYZTh-ZPt6wXpOLI5z2/s320/Janet+Siddall.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
The
awesome woman for today is Janet Siddall. After a long career in
various diplomatic positions in the Canadian foreign service, including a
final stint as High Commissioner (ambassador) to Tanzania, Siddall
retired from her career but not from life, nor from her love for service
and her connection to Africa. She now serves as an organizer for a
branch of the <a href="http://grandmotherscampaign.org/">Grandmothers to Grandmothers</a> ("G2G") campaign, in which grandmothers from the West help grandmothers in Africa.<br />
<br />
Due
to the ravages of AIDS and other diseases, older women across Africa,
after having already worked so hard to raise and support their families
for decades, find themselves in the position of raising their children's
orphans. About 15 million orphans now live in sub-Saharan Africa. Not
only do the African grandmothers face caring for themselves in old age,
after a lifetime of hardship and poverty and without a national
retirement pension of any kind, but now they also must provide the love,
nurturing, schooling and material support for their grandchildren.<br />
<br />
Siddall's
knowledge of Africa, gained during her days as a diplomat, helps
inform her local branch of G2G. But in spite of her elite career she
sounds like just a down-home grandma engaging in grassroots actions to
raise money for the cause. She organized a potluck dinner that raised
$2,500 Canadian, and a "Stride to Turn the Tide" walk that raised
$6,000.<br />
<br />
Source: <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/2011/0808/Janet-Siddall-helps-African-families-through-Grandmothers-to-Grandmothers.">http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/2011/0808/Janet-Siddall-helps-African-families-through-Grandmothers-to-Grandmothers.</a>Ilyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386361976356983377.post-74971531279953782082011-10-15T12:17:00.002-04:002011-10-15T12:17:48.855-04:00A ClusterFuk(ushima) of ContaminationRemember the radiation? Oh yeah, that. Remember how so many folks thought Dr. Helen Caldicott was sounding hollow alarms about Fukushima potentially being 30 times worse than Chernobyl?<br /> <br /> Citizens of Tokyo have <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/15/world/asia/radioactive-hot-spots-in-tokyo-point-to-wider-problems.html?_r=2&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha22&pagewanted=all">joined forces to test radiation</a> on the ground, because their gov't had dismissively waved its hand, told everyone not to worry, and stopped testing shortly after the Fukushima disaster. Turns out that radiation on the ground in Tokyo exceeds the "safe" limits established after the Chernobyl meltdown. And Tokyo is 160 miles from Fukushima. <br /> <br /> And that's just what's on the ground -- and the ground of course includes playgrounds, ball fields, and, oh yes, farms. Now what about the air? What is still circulating? Where is it falling? And what about the plume that must have washed out into the sea? Does anyone care?<br /> <br /> Now let's revisit Dr. Caldicott's post-earthquake analysis of the potentially unimaginably huge impact of the damage to Japan's nuclear plants. And if you were one of those who waved <i>your</i> hand and dismissed what she was saying, maybe it's time to come out of denial.<br />
<br />
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rX16bSoOqhE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Ilyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386361976356983377.post-44343072456244147182011-10-12T11:18:00.002-04:002011-10-12T11:20:55.128-04:00Bottom-Up Change: Apple Eco-Friendly Cleaning CooperativeMexican women who used to stand on the street hoping to be picked up for a day of underpaid day-labor cleaning homes and offices using deleterious chemicals, have organized an LLC, "cook up" their own nontoxic cleaning products, and are looking for more clients for steadier employment.
<iframe width="480" height="373" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" id="nyt_video_player" title="New York Times Video - Embed Player" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/bcvideo/1.0/iframe/embed.html?videoId=100000001105957&playerType=embed"></iframe>Ilyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386361976356983377.post-27877851501723454322011-10-11T21:45:00.000-04:002011-10-11T21:49:31.827-04:00GA may use prisoners to bust unions<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikvq7_MGdzCrF4ElYc4cKH3SFsNYkS5AsldV-ATDeLime7YWVapEYSty9TkVPRNfoOe414Oq3-6-Q9AGU6CxxXr-Jhgn_yHwu-0no8vhFpUBew5UX80oW9OVyqqHyvtZ_uKEyi_Agiv4Q/s1600/firefighter_afl-cio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikvq7_MGdzCrF4ElYc4cKH3SFsNYkS5AsldV-ATDeLime7YWVapEYSty9TkVPRNfoOe414Oq3-6-Q9AGU6CxxXr-Jhgn_yHwu-0no8vhFpUBew5UX80oW9OVyqqHyvtZ_uKEyi_Agiv4Q/s1600/firefighter_afl-cio.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(image by ilyse kazar, CC NonCommercial)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Camden County, Georgia is <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/10/11/340328/georgia-considers-replacing-firefighters-with-free-prison-laborers/">considering</a> replacing union firefighters with unpaid convicts. That's right, this brilliant plan contemplates placing two loosely monitored prisoners in each firehouse, who will respond to all emergencies including residential fires. And it seems that this would be forced, not optional, labor.<br />
<br />
Let's say that nonviolent, nonlarcenous prisoners are selected. Let's say that even though the prisoners did not _choose_ to fight fires, they nonetheless put their all into protecting life and property, rather than doing the bare minimum. What do they get in exchange for running into burning buildings? _Maybe_ some time off. And the right to work as a firefighter 5 years after release, instead of the usual 10. <br />
<br />
Oh, yes, and let's say the unionized firefighters are down with this. AS IF. <br />
<br />
This is the worst. Cost-saving idea. Ever.Ilyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386361976356983377.post-56910261374199658072011-10-09T11:36:00.001-04:002011-10-09T11:49:26.479-04:00Awesome Woman: Roz Savage<h3 class="post-title entry-title">
</h3>
<div class="post-header">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghxBEW3UTPKaHXAoiRrWec1Uels408KZur-oYrIV6rXg7r5WmJge9jU7bvlgKmC4grMPjpQUeg0gkE6c6pXolsOQ8CD3ae7D-6z1rAmL8GXAjqK3ukGQqCfv-gAoNsuRWJvr8muTatnHRZ/s1600/rozSavage.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghxBEW3UTPKaHXAoiRrWec1Uels408KZur-oYrIV6rXg7r5WmJge9jU7bvlgKmC4grMPjpQUeg0gkE6c6pXolsOQ8CD3ae7D-6z1rAmL8GXAjqK3ukGQqCfv-gAoNsuRWJvr8muTatnHRZ/s400/rozSavage.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
The Awesome Woman of the Day is Roz Savage (b. 1967), a British woman
who at age 34 left behind everything familiar to her and set out to
cross the Atlantic Ocean in a row boat. This was followed by an
8,000-mile row across the Pacific that took two years, and last week she
completed her row across the Indian Ocean, thus completing a trip that
has nearly circled the globe. Along the way, Savage has spread awareness
of the perilous condition the ocean, the mother
of all life on Earth, is suffering because of the actions and
inaction
of the human race. She now says she is retiring from rowing across the
oceans in order to campaign full-time on behalf of them. She has blogged her journeys at <a href="http://rozsavage.com/">http://rozsavage.com</a>.<br />
<br />
A few years back, after 11 years as a London management consultant,
Savage sat down and wrote two versions of her own obituary -- one that
she was headed for in the life she was leading as a married employed
woman living in a big suburban house, and the other for the life of
adventure she had always wanted. When she looked at the two hypothetical
versions of her life, she quit her job, soon was divorced, and set out
on her rowing odyssey.<br />
<br />
Savage's first ocean crossing was as a contestant in a 3,000-mile race, a
103-day journey from the Canary Islands across the Atlantic Ocean to
Antigua, completely solo. (She rows truly solo, without a chase boat.)
This was in 2005, the year of Katrina and a record number of other
tropical storms that were generated in the Atlantic. Savage describes
the nearly 2,500 hours crossing the Atlantic -- without a roof over her
head, working only with the natural forces of weather and sea current,
able to rely only on her own muscle power as propulsion, drinking the
sea water that had been pumped through a desalinizer, and nobody to talk
with but the wind -- as an inward journey, a psychological odyssey. In
the process she also had formed a connection with the ocean that was
not over yet.<br />
<br />
When Savage decided to row across the Pacific, she leveraged the
notoriety she had gained to advocate for protection of our oceans that
are under assault, a situation that gets much less media exposure than
global warming and other environmental crises, perhaps because so many
humans do not live near the ocean and are out of touch with the critical
role it plays in the health of our whole planet. From 2008 to 2010,
Savage became the first woman to row solo across the Pacific, in three
legs, after an abortive troubled start that ended in Coast Guard
rescuing her against her will. She was a designated <a href="http://www.350.org/en/about/blogs/roz-savage-350-athlete-breaks-world-record-350-t-shirt">350.org Athlete</a> and wore their t-shirt. Mid-ocean she encountered the crew of the "<a href="http://junkraft.com/">Junk Raft</a>," a boat made mostly of plastic
water bottles that Savage said was built to call attention to "the
North Pacific garbage patch, that area in the North Pacific about twice
the size of Texas, with an estimated 3.5 million tons of trash in it,
circulating at the center of that North Pacific Gyre."<br />
<br />
Before the final leg of her Pacific journey, Savage gave a TEDtalk, "<a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/roz_savage_why_i_m_rowing_across_the_pacific.html">Why I'm rowing across the Pacific</a>,"
to bring awareness to her voyage and to report first-hand on the
evidence of plastic poisoning she had encountered in the ocean. Just
afterward, on April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig
exploded, causing the biggest oil spill in history and at least
temporarily calling sharp public awareness to the state of affairs with
our pollution of the oceans. <br />
<br />
When she completed her Pacific journey, Savage wrote this piece for <a href="http://cnn.com/">cnn.com</a>:<br />
<blockquote>
In the couple of months since this TEDTalk was recorded, I have rowed
2,000 miles from Kiribati to Papua New Guinea in the third and final
stage of my Pacific crossing, becoming the first woman to row solo all
the way across the Pacific. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
During those two months the ocean has
suffered new assaults -- notably the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico,
but also smaller insults, as I have witnessed with my own eyes. On a
beautiful calm day, with sunlight glinting off the waves, it is
heartbreaking to see a plastic bottle floating on the water. Even
thousands of miles from land, the ocean wilderness is no longer
pristine. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Mankind's impact is felt everywhere. When I have been
alone for a long time at sea -- sometimes over a hundred days without
seeing another human -- this evidence of our carelessness is especially
jarring. There are times when I feel ashamed to be a human being, and
feel obliged to apologize to the small community of fish that congregate
beneath my boat for the mess we have made of their home. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
And it
doesn't impact just the fish. Oceans cover 71 percent of the Earth, and
are an integral part of our weather systems, climate control, and food
supply. How can we have a healthy planet -- or healthy bodies -- if we
don't have healthy oceans? </blockquote>
<blockquote>
I row across oceans to inspire people
to take action on environmental issues. Something the ocean has taught
me is that any challenge, no matter how huge, can be tackled if you
break it down into little steps. Crossing the Pacific has taken me about
2.5 million oar strokes. One stroke doesn't get me very far, but you
take all those tiny actions and you string them all together and you get
across 8,000 miles of ocean. You can achieve almost anything, if you
just take it one stroke at a time. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
And it's the same with saving
the oceans. On a day like Oceans Day, when we feel part of a huge global
community, it's easy to believe we can change the world. But there will
be other days when maybe we feel alone, and that anything we do as
individuals won't really make a difference -- that it's just a drop in
the ocean. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
But every action counts. We all have it in our power
to make a difference. In fact, we're already making a difference -- it's
just up to us to decide if it's a good one or a bad one. Every time we
say no to a plastic bag or refuse to drink bottled water, it matters. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div class="cnnInline">
If I can row 8,000 miles to make a point about the state of our oceans, then you can do your part too. Start by going to <a href="http://ecoheroes.me/" target="new">http://ecoheroes.me/</a>
and log a single green deed that you are going to do today, Oceans Day,
to help save our seas. We have a lot of work to do, but the longest
journey starts with a single step -- or oarstroke.</div>
</blockquote>
Ilyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386361976356983377.post-25226210073258439672011-10-02T12:21:00.003-04:002011-10-02T12:24:30.730-04:00NYPD = Judas GoatsThere ought be no mention made of the arrests yesterday when Occupy Wall Street marched onto the Brooklyn bridge, without making it clear in the same piece that <i>it was the NYPD who deliberately led the marchers onto the motor-vehicle roadway</i>, in order to trap them part-way across the bridge and arrest hundreds.<br />
<br />
Are the strategists within the Department actually so clueless as to think this would not be obvious when the world sees it on video? (Note around 6:15 that one officer has clearly been tasked to video-tape the marchers, including those who were legally filming from and shouting their support from the pedestrian walk above.)<br />
<br />
Regardless of where anyone stands on the American political divide, I think we all should agree that this sort of police tactic is, well, it is un-American!<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fockzr7rXys" width="560"></iframe>Ilyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386361976356983377.post-6255680426819556232011-10-02T06:57:00.000-04:002011-10-02T07:12:04.023-04:00Awesome Women: Alixa and Naima - Climbing PoeTreeThe Awesome Women of the Day are Alixa and Naima, a performance duo
called Climbing PoeTree. Poets, performers, print-makers, dancers,
muralists, and designers, the Colombia- and Massachusetts-born,
Brooklyn-based team has toured the world, working the intersections of
so many artistic disciplines and presentation modalities that they defy
categorization. They describe themselves on the Climbing PoeTree <a href="http://climbingpoetree.com/">website</a>
as "the Heart Beat Soul Sister Artist Warrior duo." Their work
confronts difficult issues of social and environmental justice and
offers a perspective shift, an incensed yet loving realignment to
everything about today's world that could get you down, a
thinking/feeling view that will infiltrate the heart and mind of anyone
who has even a small chink left open in their emotionally protective
armor.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc-mEOINm57i633xn6bsgdE57RDuMg1s0XHFDYUSjSPRhAHOfR49Txo79Hcd5kkZIPxjMyv_09j9ICFDq1LzoKcsmYrrDQuwVST43I-qi-GNUYGFEYr5yvG6Ig3QNkevcQzyg4ZnNKU7_3/s1600/ClimbingPoetree.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc-mEOINm57i633xn6bsgdE57RDuMg1s0XHFDYUSjSPRhAHOfR49Txo79Hcd5kkZIPxjMyv_09j9ICFDq1LzoKcsmYrrDQuwVST43I-qi-GNUYGFEYr5yvG6Ig3QNkevcQzyg4ZnNKU7_3/s400/ClimbingPoetree.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
In a review of their 2009 show <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW6Qke3uXaY&feature=player_embedded"><i>Hurricane Season</i></a>, Onome Djere <a href="http://www.examiner.com/conscious-living-in-new-york/hurricane-season-a-theatrical-whirlwind-from-climbing-poetree">writes</a>:<br />
<blockquote>
Climbing Poetree were already touring as a spoken word group, waxing
eloquent about the economic greed and racism that fuels the prison
industry. Using dance, poetry, tapestry, and storytelling, Alixa and
Naima started giving birth to Hurricane Season by connecting the
numerous dots of environmental and socio-economic oppression they had
observed. One example was the news of mercenaries who were contracted to
help patrol New Orleans in the Katrina aftermath - in effect,
criminalizing its predominantly black and low-income population. Though
Climbing Poetree covered everything from the hurricane to the
displacement of Palestinians to the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/the-worlds-rubbish-dump-a-garbage-tip-that-stretches-from-hawaii-to-japan-778016.html">plastic island</a>
floating in the Pacific, they managed to avoid information overload and
maximize emotional impact with graceful transitions and seamless
multimedia layering. <br />
<br />
The entire theatrical experience embodied the sacred and tempestuous
nature of water: the dimly lit underwater cave-like performance space,
the fluid dance movements of the performers, the tidal waves of images,
metaphors, poignant quotes and audio collages of survivor stories,
ebbing and flowing across a huge screen.</blockquote>
<br />
I have only begun to get familiar with their work and am utterly
captivated by everything I've seen and heard. Among my favorites so far
is this existentialist piece that ponders whether the other elements of
nature perhaps experience the same sort of silly angst that we, the
human element, put ourselves through over issues of appearance, social
role, parenting, mortality. For me, the final line of the poem has
already become a touchstone I come back to throughout the day, to regain
my center when my mind is spinning out on a trip fueled by worries and
fears:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_Z6lYyP2vOk" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
In a historical context, we could call Climbing PoeTree "the wandering
minstrels of today," or, "itinerant philosopher shamans." For me
personally, though, I see them as brave, shimmering living goddesses of
Heart and Truth. Even in a small box of video on my screen, they take
me, wake me, and remake me. Ilyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386361976356983377.post-77604335580171771412011-09-30T07:46:00.000-04:002011-09-30T07:47:11.949-04:00Partial change of mind (yup) re OWSLast week I <a href="http://inkback.blogspot.com/2011/09/takewallstreet-is-self-contained.html">reacted</a> with strong criticism of the very white makeup of the crowd that occupied Wall Street. I am not satisfied yet that those assembled there generally understand how many oppressed Americans are left out of the equation and have no voice in a protest when outreach is done almost exclusively on the Internet. I do wish to express, however, my admiration for anyone who makes personal sacrifice and takes personal risk to put their body in the streets in protest. And I'm seeing developments that lend more credence to, and give me more faith in the potential efficacy of, the Occupy Wall Street movement.<br />
<br />
I continue to watch for specific proposals and ideas coming from this group. Sally Kohn expressed the reasons I feel skeptical better than I ever could in her Tuesday article in the American Prospect, "<a href="http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=follow_no_leader">Follow No Leader</a>":<br />
<blockquote>
One of the downsides of anarchists is they tend to oppose most forms
of organization—including their own. Rather than the usual “we’re all
in this together” sense of purposeful community that propels meaningful
protests, Occupy Wall Street felt like the political equivalent of a
rave; it made recent uprisings across the globe seem like a trivial fad.
Standing in its midst, I was reminded of the uppity kids from my
college days who dressed up like punks and protested because it seemed
cool. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
If you want to see the difference between effective organizing and
pantomime, compare Occupy Wall Street with the New Bottom Line
coalition, a group of community organizations that have put together
protests across the country to demand that big banks put back into our
economy what they drained from communities. In San Francisco yesterday,
groups of homeowners, community members, students, and clergy went to
the offices of Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase to <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5386361976356983377">demand</a>
that their congregations’ money be withdrawn from these financial
institutions. It is part of a series of coordinated actions over the
next several weeks that not only has a clear message and concrete
demands but is organized by accountable community groups that represent
millions of Americans—not some well-meaning but isolated and angry kids
who met on the Internet. </blockquote>
But now we may be seeing an incipient coalescing between specific groups with specific goals and the OccupyWallStreet movement. Maybe it all did need to start with some form of pure idealism, a seemingly silly gathering of the lesser-oppressed with no plan of action, and then gradually boil down to concrete actions and demands.<br />
<br />
In the past week or so there have been instances of groups heading out to protest on behalf of unionized labor. The one that caught my attention this week and had me cheering the effort was the disruption by a crew from OWS of a Sotheby's auction to point out the auction house's disregard for striking art handlers:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NwjcR_UrzWw" width="420">&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;ssd&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;</iframe><br />
<br />
Now this is a meaningful action with a specific target and a clear point being made. Items sold at Sotheby's auction are high-ticket items sometimes running into the millions of dollars. Sotheby's turns a very healthy profit, even in these times. It seems that the rich have lost faith in their own banks and are now investing heavily in <i>objets d'art</i> -- according to L Magazine <a href="http://www.thelmagazine.com/TheMeasure/archives/2011/08/02/sothebys-art-handlers-are-on-strike">profits are up 74 percent</a> to $4.8 billion in 2010. Yet, rather than negotiate with their striking workers, they locked them out.<br />
<br />
Another development is that the unions are beginning to see Occupy Wall Street as a movement on which they can piggy-back, as a camera-rich location where labor can stage marches and protests. It was great to see the pilots of the merged United Continental Airlines marching by the hundreds downtown (:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zokuga/6189778309/" title="Airline pilots protest United/Continental merger on Wall Street by Dan Nguyen @ New York City, on Flickr"><img alt="Airline pilots protest United/Continental merger on Wall Street" height="333" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6158/6189778309_00ec4d3c8d.jpg" width="500" /></a>
When I see OWS find the way to organize and attract into the fold the homeless, and jobless from the outer boroughs, and generally speaking a much more representative cross-section of the ethnicities and classes of people suffering in all kinds of ways under the current cutbacks and austerity measures and mega-topheavy distribution of wealth, I'll eat my last blog post.Ilyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5386361976356983377.post-15306494006740633002011-09-18T07:18:00.000-04:002011-09-30T07:47:20.329-04:00#TakeWallStreet is a self-contained belljar of fake populismLet's be honest with ourselves. The crowd in this <a class="tag" href="https://joindiaspora.com/tags/TakeWallStreet">#TakeWallStreet</a>
vid from yesterday's launch of the occupation appears to be 99.9% white
folks of middle-class backgrounds who never got off their laptops and
phones to get serious about organizing the folks who are suffering most
under corporate dominance. 99% white event in NYC where whites are the
minority?? (numerically speaking, anyhow)<br />
<br />
I admire the moxy of the concept for this movement. But something is <em>clearly</em>
wrong. There has obviously been a complete failure to join forces with
the grassroots of NYC. This looks like a bunch of out of towners who
rode in on MetroNorth. Sorry folks, you do NOT represent "the 99%". If
my post puts your nose out of joint, why don't you look in the mirror
and check what color it is.<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe class="twitvid-player" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.twitvid.com/embed.php?guid=NKXQA&autoplay=0" title="Twitvid video player" type="text/html" width="480"></iframe>Ilyse Kazarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10475964477205964706noreply@blogger.com0