SteamPunk

I must have ESP. As you may remember, I claimed Steampunk as the theme for my goth-night birthday party on Dec. 13th. Today as I was reading through my Time Magazines there was a story about Steampunk from the day after my birthday. For real, this was creepy.

Here is my favorite quote from this article.
"You can read the steampunk movement as a response to the realities of modern consumer technology. Take the iPhone: its form gives no clue to its function or who made it or where it came from. There are no screws. You can't hack. It's perfect, but it might have well been made by aliens and fallen to Earth in an asteroid. [I am not immune, I am typing this on a smartphone.] The sameway punk took back music, steampunk reclaims technology for the masses. [...]Steampunk is like a snapshot from the last moment in history when technology was intelligible to the layman. [It] is a nostalgia for when technology had some relationship to the human scale... Plus, those Victorians dressed a whole lot better than we do."- Scott Westerfeld

I am just going to make a prediction now using my ESP. While there has always been a rebellion to technology, and a romanticsizing of the past, this genre of music, fashion, and art will grow in the next 5 years. Wal-mart will be selling it in 7-10 years. I am now taking bets.

Tuition Cap Removed=Student Protection Denied

Tuition Cap Removed= Loss of Student Protection

What is a basic protection? It is a minimum standard of treatment. We have the minimum wage, which may not be adequate, but we can rely on it. Governments have a constitution as outline of behavior. We even have a bill of rights, a promise of protection on certain issues.

And we HAD a tuition cap in Idaho. A minimum promise that the State Board of Education gave us about *even the possibility* of tuition increases remaining below 10% in one year. They have revoked their promise.

Asking to remove the 10% tuition cap, even if it is just for 1 year, is asking us to give up our right of basic protection from excessive budget increases. Just like the patriot act, we are asked to give up some of our liberty (in this case the protection of excessive tuition increases) for the safety of the university. The Universities are afraid they won't have enough money to function. Which is fair, but it is not fair to put on the backs of us who make the university exist. Without students, the university wouldn't exist.

It all reminds me of the Benjamin Franklin quote about liberty.
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty or safety".

Quoting James Fletcher, the university’s vice president of finance and administration, From the Journal today, he said "the State Board’s decision has mistakenly been interpreted as a green light for universities to impose severe tuition hikes."

He is right. Nobody is currently actively campaigning to raise tuition by more than 10%. And he further says "we would never make that decision until we’ve gone through a period of (seeing) what our options are.” He's right, they wouldn't, but they could wait for that period to be, oh how about, the summer when there are far fewer students around keeping up with the topic. It isn't uncommon for the U, or the Student Union to make the changes when no one is around to comment. But most likely, they will expect the student apathy to inform the "option".

To wait until there is an emergency is the worst way to live a life. This constant fighting of fires, rather than solving the problem, is time consuming and energy inefficient. The administrations of Idaho universities know this. This is why they didn't oppose the cap removal. They are thinking about their own sustainability, even at the expense of those they serve-the tuition and fee paying students. They don't want to have to fight that fire before it happens. And they expect us to let it burn.

Fletcher calls it "premature" to worry about tuition increases. Is it really premature for students to say, "Hey, I think 10% is a lot. It is the maximum, I as an Idahoan, believe would be fair for students to have to deal with in the middle of their education. Let us work together to guarantee a MINIMUM protection of 10%." Now the State Board comes out with this 5-1 vote that says higher education students don't need any minimum protection. No safety net, no guarantees. "Premature" means "planning ahead" here in student reality. As my favorite pink shirt says "End the next war NOW". Boy Scouts work to "be prepared” and you may know that "a stitch in time saves 9".

I find this absolutely unacceptable! But so what. I'm just one student. I'm going to grad school next fall, and I will not be spending any more of my money on higher education in Idaho. I hate Idaho, but I hate Idaho like I hate my siblings. You can never really hate your family. You may dislike them, but your commitment and care for them transcends any one particular action. I may never forgive Idaho for their ignorance, or the students at ISU who don't bother to do anything about this. But let me explain what we can do to show our love even when we are angry.

If you and I and others who read this get together, we could plan something. Anyone who finds this removal of student's rights in the State of Idaho offensive should contact me at 208-232-5942. My e-mail is paindian@isu.edu, and you can Facebook message me.

And just one more thing about how this happened.

The State Board of Education made this decision. The Administration of the other universities in Idaho was complicit at worst, and complacent at best, with their suggestion and decision.

The State Board is appointed by the Governor of Idaho. The Administrations of the University are also appointed by the State Board of Education in Idaho.

The Governor is elected. If the State Board does not respect students' basic rights, then we need to take this to their boss, Gov. Butch Otter. Luckily 2010 is an election year and we have the chance to get those running for governor to promise in the future to only appoint board members who promise us our basic rights. Now is the time to act. The affordability of Academic Fall 2010 could be at stake.

For real?

This has to be the funniest (true) holiday story of the year. Seriously, I'm glad to know that Jews, Mormons, AND the NYTimes has a sense of humor.

clipped from www.nytimes.com Senator Orrin G. Hatch, a solemn-faced Republican with a soft spot for Jews and a love of Barbra Streisand, has penned a catchy holiday tune, “Eight Days of Hanukkah.” In short, he loves the Jews. And based on an early sampling of listeners, the feeling could be mutual. “Watching Orrin Hatch in the studio, I said to myself that nothing this great will ever happen to me again,” said Alana Newhouse, the editor-in-chief of Tablet. At one point, Mr. Hatch unbuttons his white dress shirt to expose the golden mezuzah necklace he wears every day. Mezuzahs also adorn the doorways of his homes in Washington and Utah. Mr. Hatch keeps a Torah in his Senate office. “Not a real Torah, but sort of a mock Torah,” he said. “I feel sorry I’m not Jewish sometimes.”

William's Doll

When my friend William was five years old
He wanted a doll, to hug and hold
"A doll," said William, "is what I need
To wash and clean, and dress and feed

"A Doll to give a bottle to
And put to bed when day is through
And any time my doll gets ill
I'll take good care of it," said my friend Bill

A doll, a doll, William wants a doll
Don't be a sissy said his best friend Ed
Why should a boy want to play with a doll
Dolls are for girls said his cousin Fred
Don't be a jerk, said his older brother
"I know what to do," said his father to his mother

So his father bought him a basketball
A badminton set, and that's not all
A bag of marbles, a baseball glove
And all the things a boy would love

And Bill was good at every game
Enjoyed them all, but all the same
When Billy's father praised his skill
"Can I please have a doll now," said my friend Bill

A doll, a doll, William wants a doll
A doll, a doll, William wants a doll
[ Marlo Thomas Lyrics are found on www.songlyrics.com ]

Then William's grandma arrived one day
And wanted to know what he liked to play
And Bill said, "Baseball's my favorite game
I like to play, but all the same

"I'd give my bat and ball and glove
To have a doll that I could love"
"How very wise," his grandma said
Said Bill, "but everyone says this instead"

A doll, a doll, William wants a doll
A doll, a doll, William wants a doll

So William's grandma, as I've been told
Bought William a doll, to hug and hold
And William's father began to frown
But grandma smiled, and calmed him down

Explaining, William wants a doll
So when he has a baby someday
He'll know how to dress it, put diapers on double
And gently caress it to bring up a bubble
And care for his baby as every good father
Should learn to do

William has a doll, William has a doll
'Cause someday he is gonna be a father, too

Humans May Be Born To Help

Now if we can just foster the good and do less of the bad.

clipped from www.nytimes.com But biologists are beginning to form a generally sunnier view of humankind. Their conclusions are derived in part from testing very young children, and partly from comparing human children with those of chimpanzees, hoping that the differences will point to what is distinctively human. The somewhat surprising answer at which some biologists have arrived is that babies are innately sociable and helpful to others. Of course every animal must to some extent be selfish to survive. But the biologists also see in humans a natural willingness to help. Dr. Tomasello finds the helping is not enhanced by rewards, suggesting that it is not influenced by training. It seems to occur across cultures that have different timetables for teaching social rules. Dr. Tomasello concludes that helping is a natural inclination, not something imposed by parents or culture.

Thank You for Being Angry

This is an excerpt from "White Privilege: Unpacking the invisible Knapsack" by Peggy McIntosh...Did you the the author was male? I did until I read the name of the author. Oops, I have a lot to learn still.
"
1. I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
2. If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I want to live.
3.I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me.
4. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I won’t be followed or harassed.
5. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.
6. When I am told about our national heritage or about "civilizations" I am snow that people of my color made it what it is.
7.I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.
8. If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this piece on white privilege.
9. I can go into a music shop and and count on finding music of my race represented, into a supermarket and find the staple foods which fit into my cultural traditions, into a hairdressers’ shop and find someone who can cut my hair.
10. Whether I use checks, credit cards, or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of my financial reliability.
11. I can arrange to protect my children most the time from people who might not like them.
12. I can swear, or dress in second hand clothes, not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty, or the illiteracy of my race.
13. I can speak in public to a powerful male group without putting my race on trial.
14. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.
15. I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.
16. I can remain oblivious of the language and customs of persons of color who constitute the world’s majority without feeling in my culture any penalty for such oblivion.
17. I can criticize our government and talk about how I fear its policies and behavior without being seen as a cultural outsider.
18. I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to the "person in charge" that I will be facing someone of my own race.
19. If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I wasn’t singled out because of race.
20. I can easily buy posters, postcards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys, and children’s magazines featuring people of my race.
21. I can go home for most meetings of organizations I belong to feeling somewhat tied in, rather than isolated, out-of-place, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance, or feared.
22. I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having coworkers on the job suspect I got the job because of race.
23. I can choose public accommodation without fearing that people of my race cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen.
24. I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help, my race will not work against me.
25. If my day, week, or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation if it has racial overtones.
26. I can choose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color and have them more or less match my skin."

Other passages of this that I relate too are
"The word ’privilege’ now seems to me misleading. We usually think of privilege as being a favored state, whether earned or conferred by birth of luck. yet some of the conditions I have described here work to systematically overempower certain groups. Such privilege simply confers dominance because of ones race or sex."

"My schooling gave me no training in seeing myself as an oppressor, as an unfairly advantaged person, or as a participant in a damaged culture. I was taught to see myself as an individual whose moral state depended on her individual moral will. My schooling followed the pattern my colleague Elizabeth Minnich has pointed out: whites are taught to think of their lives as morally neutral, nomative, and average, and also ideal, so that when we work to benefit others, this is seen as work which will allow "them" to be more like "us"."

I don’t always recognize it, but it is the history of discrimination in America has benefited my family. Not because my Irish ancestors weren’t discriminated against, lynched, or not allowed to vote, but because when the discrimination moved onto another group, the group that was no longer being held back by it. Not allowing Hispanics, Chinese, and people who didn’t speak English have much pie left more pie for my ancestors, and they took it. My ancestors worked hard too. They were loggers in Michigan, Farmers in Kentucky and Utah, and before that had to escape from a starvation in Denmark, Ireland, and Germany. They did earn their living in rural areas. But if Hispanics, Chinese, and Native Americans, and African Americans were given the same preference by 1800s immigration laws, and 1950s housing laws, my family history could look and be very different. I like to read through my class notes from "Race, Class, and Gender", and "Social Diversity" once in awhile to remember that I too have a history, especially when it is easy for a white female, like myself, to be invisible. It also reminds me to listen to others and respect who people are because of their unique histories.

Paul Kivel said, and I’m going to repeat it, "Thank you for being angry".
This is an excerpt from "Uprooting Racism"
"A person of color who is angry about discrimination or harassment is doing us a service. That person is pointing out something wrong, something that contraditct the ideals of equality set forth in our Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights. That person is bringing our attention to a problem that needs solving, a wroing that needs righting. We could convey our appreciation by saing "thank you, your anger has helped me see what’s not right here". What keeps us from responding this way?
Anger is a scary emotion. In mainstream white culture, we are taught to be polite, never raise our voices, to be reasonable and to keep calm. People who are demonstrative of their feelings are discounted and ridiculed. We are told by parents just to obey "because I said so." We are told by bosses, religious leaders, and professional authorities not to challenge what they say, "or else" (or else you’ll be fired, go to hell, be treated as "crazy"). When we do get angry we learn to stuff it, mutter under our breath and go away. We are taught to turn our anger inward in self-destructive behaviors. If we are men, we are taught to take out our frustration on someone weaker and smaller then we are.
When we see someone expressing anger, it has oven been a person with power who was abusing us or someone else physically, verbally, or emotionally. We were hurt, scared or possibly confused. Most of us can remember a time from our youth when a [person we respected was angry and unhealthy about it.]It made us afraid of our own anger.
A similar response is triggered when a person of color gets angry about racism. We become scared, guilty, embarrassed, confused and we fear everything is falling apart and we might get hurt. if the angry person would just calm down, or go away, we could get back to the big happy family feeling.
[...]
But then a person of color gets angry. We may back off in fear that the relationship is falling apart. We may be found out to be racist. For a person of color this may be a time of hope that the relationship can become more intimate and honest. The anger may attempt to test the depths and possibilities of the friendship. They may be open about their feelings, to see how save we are, hopping that we will not desert them. Or the anger may be more assertive attempt to break through the complacently to address some core assumptions, beliefs or actions.
We could say, "thank you for pointing out the racism because I want to know whenever it is occurring." Or, "I appreciate your honesty. Let’s see what we can do about this situation." More likely we get scared and disappear, or become defensive and counterattack. In any case, we don’t focus on the root of the problem, and the racism goes unattended.
When people of color are angry about racism it is legitimate anger. it is not their oversensitivity, but our lack of sensitivity, that causes this communication gap. They are vulnerable to the abuse of racism everyday. They are experts on it. White society, and most of us individually, rarely notice racism.
[...].
Such anger and action is almost always a last resort, a desperate attempt to get attention when all else fails."

Pocatello Racism

So, a friend brought this to my attention and I'm quite disturbed.There has been a rise of White Power groups in Pocatello. I've been riding over a chalked website on the ISU campus everyday this week, but didn't think about it. It says Amren.com. It is a disgusting white power group believes "Race is an important aspect of individual and group identity. Of all the fault lines that divide society — language, religion, class, ideology — it is the most prominent and divisive. Race and racial conflict are at the heart of the most serious challenges the Western World faces in the 21st century. The problems of race cannot be solved without adequate understanding. Attempts to gloss over the significance of race or even to deny its reality only make problems worse. Progress requires the study of all aspects of race, whether historical, cultural, or biological. This approach is known as race realism."

On their page they have links to things like "The Unknown MLK" and "The Transition to Black Rule". Scary stuff. This is not the only example or the rise of these imitation academic websites. Two or three years ago we had the Intercollegiate Studies Institute came to ISU to try and recruit students. It was part of the "conservative revolution" they were touting at the time. For more information go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercollegiate_Studies_Institute. Even Right Wing Watch has been keeping an eye on the ISI. See http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/intercollegiate-studies.

Luckily ISU's apathy worked to its advantage and there was not enough interest in the group to maintain it at ISU. Of the several proposed groups for the "conservative revolution" only the ISU College Republicans is currently in existence (barely) and I'm surprised they haven't distanced themselves from the ISI more. Most the College Republicans I have met and know are fair minded people who just believe what their parents believe without question. On the ISU campus last week there have also been these "White Slut Training Academy" fliers being put up. It suggests going to ISU, you can graduate with this knowledge. I know three people who have, when they see them, just taken them down. I had an example, but I left it in my office to use in this story as documentation, and someone threw it away too. It is a picture of a white girl (skinny, blond, straight hair), holding a black baby somewhat uncaring and certainly not in a nurturing way, and it says, HIV positive on it. It is supposed to illustrate how the African students are coming to America and impregnating white women and giving them AIDS.

It also appeals to the outdated idea of masculinity and chivalry. Chivalry is a nice thing, but to the extreme that women become the helpless and only men can "save" them is part of the White Power model. Sexual reproduction is really the thing that White Power has to fear the most. Sure, immigration is changing the "look" of power in America, but really, physical reproduction of minorities is what will change this country the most. People from other countries (non-European mostly) have big families as part of their values. This picture is an example of catering to that fear. Luckily it is also extreme enough to turn most people off. I'm more interested who these confused and local people are.

In Pocatello recently there has been the showing up of these stickers around town that have an eagle on them and send people to a website where you can get free music from and this turns out to be White power music. Free CDs have also shown up at local business that cater to kids like at Main Street Coffee two blocks from Pocatello High School. These rise of this expression may be the individual actions of some disturbed individuals, but the rise of it is an expression of fear. Pocatello has generally been a positive example of diversity, especially Pocatello proper (the in-town, downtown). Part of this has happened because of the gentrification of Chubbuck, and indicative of the nation as a whole.

Also, it has found a new idea of freedom due to the "Tea party" movement (AKA "tea-baggers"). Their organizing/protesting has made a, while not truly united group, but their mass numbers allows for people to feel supported and anonymous. I'm glad they feel they can speak their minds, but they do it in subverted ways because to say outright that they don't like "diversity" is seen as hostile. It is not-mainstream and they lose credibility when they say it outright. It is also likely that this mistrust of changing demographics from the traditional power structures (European, male, Christian, corporate style management) is unsettling and scary.

I need to close this now, but I ask these questions and hope for some discussion (if not on my personal blog, on 43sb.com), what can we do to find these people and help them accept the change in a more positive way? I wasn't around in the past to see changes (like desegregation and Regan's revolution) to gauge these outbursts as important or not; are they something to worry about? Is there a way to make change without causing fear? How do you overcome fear? How have people reading this overcome fear with their children? This is just something to chew on.

Women (re)defined by Navy As Males

I saw on a friend's facebook she was a fan of "women (re)defined", it wouldn't let me comment on it's page without becoming a fan which I am not. It is just a silly pro-war misgynomist "re-definition" of women to be like men. Why must women be like men to be powerful? The Military is the perfect example. They see themselves as a non-gendered entity, but really they are the epitome of "male". They are homophobic, violent, and use size to intimidate others and prove their dominance. It isn't a new type of femininity, it is the masculinity of femininity. Or the more extreme reading of it is about how the Military, now which is mostly non-combative positions, finally see that women fit in.

A great website that goes more over it is http://contexts.org/socimages/2009/09/18/navy-women-redefined/

Another arm of this propaganda is targeting Navy Mothers, but not moms who are in the Navy, but rather the mother of soldiers. While it is neat that there would be a support system for mothers going through the pain of having children in combat, from reading through it, it isn't for people with pain, it is simple propaganda used to make parents more pliable to the idea of sending their precious family into war. Mothers against war are a very active group. They make a good argument too. Most people do consult their families before making decisions about joining the Military. To get to the kids, you have to go through the gatekeepers. Those are the schools (mostly public ones that have already attracted minorities and the poor), and parents. Parents would be the best target for propaganda. It seems benign, but it is propaganda.

Most people think of "propaganda" as a bad thing. Defined it means any pursuation that is used to gain power. It has a goal, that may not be in it's immediate intent. It influences behavior or thought. But to think that it is always bad is a fair reading of "propaganda". I have to go to class, but I'll try and write more later.

Hmmm.

Read this later

clipped from milwaukee.bizjournals.com Poll: Wal-Mart symbolizes America best A new poll conducted by 60 Minutes and Vanity Fair found that 48 percent of Americans do. Fifteen percent said it was Google, followed by Microsoft Corp. (13 percent), the NFL (6 percent) and Goldman Sachs (3 percent). Americans also said they favor a ban on the use of food stamps to buy high-fat foods (30 percent), while 21 percent favored a fast-food tax. Five percent would like to see scales put in restaurants and 4 percent said there should be a tax credit for liposuction. Speaking of tax credits, 51 percent of Americans said they would support a tax of 50 percent or higher on the incomes of the wealthiest millionaires, but 45 percent said they would not.

Post-Feminism is Girls killing Girls and Boys?

Admittedly three things. 1. I should be doing my Math Homework not writing this. 2. I have not seen "Jennifer's Body", or listened to the radioshow this was on. But I will. I just want to leave some comments about this article that was tweeted my way by PRI (Public Radio International).

My first thought is, Of Course it is post-feminism. Defined, post-feminism is a critique of feminism while really agreeing with it. That is just a quick description. When I heard about "Jennifer's Body" the first thing I thought was, "Peter Podgursky made this movie, I saw chunks of the dialogue in a movie he made for grad school in the previews." But I also was seriously interested because when I hear "Jennifer's Body", I think of the Aerosmith song "Jenny's got a gun" which is also a song I relate to post-feminism. Is revenge justice? Some people think it is, and women getting revenge would be a type of feminism.

I also thought about the song "Jennifer's Body" by Hole. I love the song and it is certainly a feminist song. I think this may be the song that inspired the movie title. Girls are taught (especially with beauty) to think of their body as an object. They are taught not to "give it away". In the video, we see a We also have to deal with the functions if it in objective ways. Girls are expected to show up to school even on days their body is bleeding. They are not supposed to talk about it, and not supposed to let it stop them from being successful. "Found Pieces of Jennifer's body" are the inside things that have fallen out. We are asked to leave the variety of human experiences behind us as we become adults and human experience is defined for us. It is the nature of culture, and necessary for humans to co-exist. But with feminism we take intentional direction to what will and won't be defined for us.

I can see where the writer of this movie was inspired by Heathers, the penultimate angsty girl movie. It was shocking because it was kids killing kids, but girls did it in a much more subversive way. Emasculating the men after they were killed, and reconstructing a social order of feminine power with Veronica's outreach at the end of the movie. Heathers really is my favorite movie of all time.

So for Jennifer's Body to give women the power to kill in an especially brutal way, it is something I relate to. Not the killing, but what kind of power is in our body. Do we use it to kill, or overpower men, overtly leading them to danger, or do we keep to the expected inborn nature of kindness and nurturing women have? Becoming a reproductive woman would be the opposite of the female killing other kids.

I could keep thinking about this all day, but I really have to get back to math homework. Thoughts? Comments?

clipped from www.pri.org Diablo Cody on horror movies and post-feminism Diablo Cody's new movie, "Jennifer's Body," is about a demonic high school cheerleader who devours her male classmates. It's a horror movie with a comedic post-feminist twist. The dynamics of friendship between teenage girls, which was explored in the humorously dark 1980s movie "Heathers," is at the core of "Jennifer's Body." The theme of 'Jennifer's Body,' said Cody, is about the horror of being a teenager, "A person who is under the influence of hormones, and jealousy and society, is by nature combustible and scary and unpredictable, and I think anybody who's ever lived with a teenager knows this to be true. "And Jennifer herself is in a special kind of hell where her self-worth completely revolves around her sexuality and who she is as a body, or a package, so that's how we began the movie."

The Nobodies

Fleas dream of buying themselves a dog, and nobodies dream of escaping poverty: that one magical day good luck will suddenly rain down on them-will rain down in buckets. But good luck doesn't rain down yesterday, today, tomorrow, or ever. Good luck doesn't even fall in a fine drizzle, no matter how hard nobodies summon it, even if their left hand is tickling, or if they begin a new day with their right foot, or start the new year with a change of brooms.
The nobodies:nobody's children, owners of nothing. The nobodies: the no ones, the nobodied, running like rabbits, dying through life, screwed every which way.
Who are not, but could be.
Who don't speak languages, but dialects.
Who don't have religion, but superstitions.
Who don't create art, but handicrafts.
Who don't have culture, but folklore.
Who are not human beings, but human resources.
Who do not have faces, but arms.
Who do not have names, but numbers.
Who do not appear in the histories of the world, but in the police blotter of the local papers.
The nobodies, who are not worth the bullet that kills them.

Eduardo Galeano, "The Nobodies"

What Good is a Right if You Can't Enforce it?

I learned some very cool stuff about "What good is a right if you can't enforce it". on the Sunday class I took through CSTI. CSTI is the Community Strategies Training Initiative, an annual training and leadership conference for non-profits in the West. It is put on by the Western States Center .

In the workshop we began by trying to define a right. We each wrote down about what we thought was a right we had. We came to the conclusion that there are two kinds of rights, inherent-the kind we are born with, and those ways of treating people we have made social contracts with-legal rights. We focus mostly on legal rights that we have agreed upon and are written into the U.S. Constitution, especially the bill of rights.

Rights can be framed as actions that compel the government to act, but also may protect us from the government. For example, the idea of equal marriage. LGBT equality is both working to protect people from the government from being intrusive into who they love, but also wants the government to in action allow personal civil contracts with the people of our choosing. With that contract other privileges will be granted, hence making LGBTQI people more equal with their peers.

We used immigration as the model, but many of the things could also apply to other rights and times when we are unfairly treated by law. Immigrants are a specially vulnerable population because they are not granted the same rights as citizens, but they do have some rights under federal law just for being humans who deserve dignity.

First we have to recognize that immigration law's history was in state law. for the 1st 100 years of this country, states decided upon immigration and had to enforce immigration. Once it was decided that it was a matter of international treaty and covenants that made immigration legal, the federal government began enforcing the policies that congress decided. It is not written into the constitution that the federal government and it's agencies is responsible for immigration law enforcement, but it is defacto the way it is.

There is this wall that is a violation. Before the violation we have our rights intact, after the violation the rights have been tattered, and recourse is necessary for the scale of justice. Even when a reparation has been made, still there is no way to ever go back to before a violation. Community organizers and community education is necessary before and after a violation to prevent more violations, but also as part of repatriations.

For example, before a violation occurs, there is a necessary action of education about what to do if your rights are violated, and even what those constitutional rights are. There is also a need for people to have resources, safety plans, and prepare in case a violation is possible and they are at high risk. Risks can be minimized without compromising life, but there should be a plan. In the case of undocumented immigrants, they should know that they are much more likely to be picked up and disappear (detained) if they ride in a car or drive. For some people this may mean it is a good idea to ride the bus more than have their own car. They should also know that other risks of their rights being violated rise if they live or associate with other undocumented workers. If they engage in illegal activities they are also at higher risk.


it is possible they will for some reason become a target of ICE. If they do know their rights they may not be able to stop what happen, however the important thing is they can prepare.
But even if they minimize their risk, they should prepare with other actions like having a plan. For example, it may be a good idea to save money for a bond if detained. They should also make arrangements for their children and families with a place to go in an emergency. The immigration lawyers suggested that they have set up a power of attorney for someone to care for their family in the case they disappear. They should talk to a couple of lawyers about their situation prior so that they have someone who is their representation which becomes very important if they are detained. And if they are partnered or live with another undocumented person, they should have a safe place to go to if their partner is detained so that their family isn't further dismantled by and ICE arrest or raid.

This lead to the rise of the Immigration Code Enforcement (ICE). All immigration laws are civil laws, not criminal law. Immigrants, although not granted the rights of citizens, are protected under the constitution as being "people", yay for that. And since ICE is a federal agency, it must obey the constitution in it's actions. Under the 4th amendment we have the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The search is of especial important in the way that ICE has gone to arresting people in their homes. Right now, ICE agents will bang on the door and ask if they can "come in". If the person at the door is an adult, and there is reason to believe they live in the home being visited, then they can grant a search of the premises. If the person knows their right, really, there must be a search warrant issued by a judge. It must be a judge because a judge is a third party. They are not law enforcement or a citizen in this case. Education is of special importance here because if the person's whose home is being invaded knows their rights, they would know to ask for a warrent. Even if they know this much about the 4th amendment, then there is the barrier of knowing that ICE warrants are issued by administrative order NOT from a judge. This means a person may give consent under incorrect circumstances. Also it is documented that innocent people who happen to be at home during an ICE home invasion will be physically detained and treated as a criminal threat. children may watch their mothers and fathers treated like violent offenders, and even pregnant women will be handcuffed to chairs as ICE asserts its authority. This invitation into the home to arrest a person, or to rifle through their drawers looking for their documents, or even into closets and around the home, is an unlawful search. The handcuffing of others in the home may be unreasonable seizure, but if a person gives consent they have less legal recourse.

I think a little more of the description of how the ICE program works would be useful here. ICE will decide to do a raid in various ways. Right now, this group of immigrant lawyers in Portland are trying to understand it better. Their are using tools like the Freedom of Information Act, & state laws that give access to better find patterns of what is going on. If you visit the CSTI website, there should be a link to some google docs that people are asked to fill out about where raids are happening. The hope to google map in time and space where raids and arrests are happening so they can better predict them or better protect rights by knowing who is being targeted. People can currently request from the states and IcE past arrest information for people. Check the website examples of the information they are interested in.

ICE is detaining people through raids at workplaces. When a person gets taken by ICE for being undocumented there are different barriers to them getting justices, in this case the 5Th am=amendment, due process. ICE in some ways is very efficient. usually 24-48 hours after an arrest they begin moving the arrested folks to several nation-wide detention centers. For most people in the west, when this happens, the family is sent into crisis, there is no plan, and suddenly the family member is being sent hundreds, or thousands of miles away from where they were taken. This only further traumatizes them and the fear hurts them and keeps them silent and in inaction to regain their rights or assert their rights. Because of the number of people who are taken by ICE recently, sometimes detained people will also be moved into a different legal district then they were detained in. This becomes a special problem with legal representation. Because of the quick move, they may their legal council is out of touch with them, and legal council where they are moved to may not be as available or responsive to their needs in the immediate. This disrupts their right of due process. Also, language barriers plus the pressure by ICE agents, and the lack of council combined create a place where ICE detainees will have their right to due process infringed upon and can end up harming themselves.

This is in the case of an ICE raid. There is also the case of when an individual is detained after a civil infraction. The way that the program works now is that in some places, ICE will deputize some sheriffs and some city police officers. This means they can arrest people for not being documented. In Idaho, this is not the case. In Idaho, what happens is that an officer of the law, no matter a sheriff, State police, or city officer, may pull someone over for an traffic infraction. Because the person can not show documents to who they are, they will be cited for the infraction and the officer has the authority to release them (which normally happens to documented people) or detain them. If the officer decides to detain them, they are transported to a local prison, usually a county prison since few cities have their own jails. At this time, they contact ICE and tell them to "come and get'em". The individual can be held for how ever long the infraction allows, legally. The problem is this thing called an ICE hold. An ICE hold is 48 hours that law enforcement is allowed to hold a person before ICE is required to come and get them. How it works is that people are taken into custody, and in the process of booking for the infraction is when the documentation problem is solidified and ICE is contacted. The other issue with this is that many people are detained on a Thursday or Friday. The 48 hour hold doesn't count weekends, therefore if a person is taken on Thursday, held for the traffic violation, then add 48 hours, this means they may have disappeared from their family for 4 days before even being taken by ICE. During this 48 hour hold, they are being held without charge, also a violation of the 5th amendment rights.

So, what can people do? Well, the Portland group has created a task force that is working on helping. The group does many things. There are 3 barriers to having more legal power to help these people. 1 is the lack of evidence. In cases where Ice shows up and they get into a house and detain innocent people, it becomes a person v. person argument about consent. By people being aware that they do not have to open the door to ICE, they can help by keeping the door shut and ICE will be made to force the door, causing damage, and becoming evidence that a right to search has been violated. The second barrier is that there is no one to complain. Because people are moved so quickly, or because of fear, people are afraid to speak about the experience. A person who is detained and held can help by remembering details about their experience. They will be conscious of the time of their detention by police or ICE, the way they were treated and even the size of the room. and how many people were there. This experience can help better the evidence and help lawyers and families understand what is happening to their family members. With letting people know their rights, and gathering evidence, and with a little legal help to be allowed contact with detainees, we can protect the rights of others, and set standards of treatment of people. Another barrier is the "spin defenses". When we have a group of people whose rights are being infringed upon regularly, there is an enforce by ICE and the proponents of the actions to defend them. One way this has been done is by defining immigrants in the categories of criminals and terrorists. This is an unfair classification. Most immigrants are workers who are in no way terrorists. They may be undocumented, but they are not violent people out to harm other human beings. By explaining to others, and rejecting the language that associates immigrants with criminals and terrorists, immigrants can re-gain their dignity.

There are also other ways to help for citizens like us. The first thing they recommend is teaching immigrant communities what their rights are. Then add the addition of a safety plan, and risk reduction. They have been working with people in the faith community who work with immigrant families to offer some knowledge. This is called self-enforced protection.

The second action the Portland group is working on is a triage for people who are taken. This means that after a raid they try to find out who was taken and make sure the people have some representation. Because of the movement of prisoners, they try and work very fast. They try to file any sort of legal thing they can so that the process can start and they have to file something so that they are recognized as the legal council of a person and have access to help gather the evidence the person has collected. The Portland group, after a raid of a Del Monte fruit canning plant in 2007 put together a coalition. They have watch dogs who keep an eye and ear on ICE to see when they are ramping up for a raid. This group also will document raids when they happen with cameras so that later there is evidence of what happened. They also have a media team who, when a raid happens, can let the television and other news people know that something is happening and people's rights are likely being violated. There is also a legal team files those actions to protect due process. The political action team helps by contacting other allies. They have worked to have help from the consulates of other countries so they can get a list of people who were taken in a raid so that families can be contacted by the direct service team. The direct service team has set up in various churches for family member to get help. They may need food, a safe place to stay, or some money to help with a bond or and emergency. This group is a coalition of the Oregon food bank, emergency housing services of the state, and other charities and members of faith groups. The trauma of a person being detained can be lowered with their support.

New legal defenses will also become stronger as evidence is gathered and there is more information about how things are happening now. Like right now the immigrant defenders are curious what financial incentives are driving the local police working with ICE. What is driving law enforcement to do this. Is it a personal decision, or policy that is driving the actions. They also want to know what the cost is of all these detentions to counties. Some of the ICE time is being reimbursed by counties, but how much? And isn't all of that money a huge waste when it just destroys families and violates the constitutional rights of individuals? They are also working with police to do trainings and having cities pass bills that they will not let their local police detain people for ICE. By partnering with law enforcement, they can teach officers how some of ICE's detention is a constitutional violation, therefore opening up the county or city for legal actions, and most agencies try to minimize the risk of an expensive legal battle if they can help it.

It will take major U.S. immigration policy change to really protect people's rights. Luckily the new immigrant Services person has said they are not likely going to be using raids. But there is still work to be done let undocumented people know their rights and give them the personal security that treats with respect and dignity. All people should be treated with respect and dignity. Theodor Roosevelt said you can judge a society by how it treats it's most vulnerable people.

More Robot Worries

Hmmm, this may be marking of the "Singularity". Beware, they are coming, and now they do all the hard work of being human.

clipped from www.nytimes.com Impressed and alarmed by advances in artificial intelligence, a group of computer scientists is debating whether there should be limits on research that might lead to loss of human control over computer-based systems that carry a growing share of society’s workload, from waging war to chatting with customers on the phone. Their concern is that further advances could create profound social disruptions and even have dangerous consequences. “Something new has taken place in the past five to eight years,” Dr. Horvitz said. “Technologists are replacing religion, and their ideas are resonating in some ways with the same idea of the Rapture.” A physician told him afterward that it was wonderful that the system responded to human emotion. “That’s a great idea,” Dr. Horvitz said he was told. “I have no time for that.”

Bacon is a Wepon of Mass Destruction

I LOVE the anthropology of food. Food is something all people have in common and while being far from a foodie, I like to look at people and their interaction with food. Recently on NPR, I head about the psychology and biology of eating a snicker's bar. You must check it out.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106470909

It is called, "How Tasty Foods Change the Brain". This story talk about the snicker's bar as the perfect food because it mixes protein, sugar, caffeen, and salt. All delicoius things. I think that the example from the "Bacon as a Weapon of Mass Destruction". The McGriddle really is an equally alluring and addictive food. I've never eaten one, myself, but I know others who are highly addicted.

clipped from www.alternet.org The confluence of factory farming, the boom in fast food and manipulation of consumer taste created processed foods that can hook us like drugs. Among my fondest childhood memories is savoring a strip of perfectly cooked bacon that had just been dragged through a puddle of maple syrup. It was an illicit pleasure; varnishing the fatty, salty, smoky bacon with sweet arboreal sap felt taboo. How could such simple ingredients produce such riotous flavors? That was then. Today, you don't need to tax yourself applying syrup to bacon -- McDonald's does it for you with the McGriddle. It conveniently takes an egg, American cheese and pork and nestles it between pancakelike biscuits suffused with genuine fake-maple-syrup flavor.

This Ain't Your Old Man's Weed

This article had some very very interesting points. I guess until it said it, I had not thought much about the difference between decriminalization and legalization issues. I'm in favor of first decriminalization so we can keep people out of prisons and save some money. I strongly support the law enforcement officers' comment about how if a huge number of people are disobeying the law, and yet aren't killing others or destroying property, then maybe we should re-look at this law. It won't happen very soon, but maybe the libertarians in Idaho will look at it.

I guess I've not really thought much about this issue because it doesn't really affect me. Even if it were decriminalized, or legalized, I would still choose not to do it.

Article is worth the read.

clipped from roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com A New York Times article on Sunday discussed the debate over whether more and more potent types of cannabis affect the levels of addiction to the drug. This particular issue has become part of the larger debate over whether marijuana should be legalized or decriminalized. Surveys indicate increasingly positive attitudes in the U.S. for liberalizing marijuana policies. Two ways of doing this are: (1) legalization, which would involve lawful cultivation and sale of marijuana, and (2) decriminalization, which would retain criminal penalties for cultivation and sale while removing them for possession of small amounts. Any law disobeyed by more than 100 million Americans, the number who’ve tried marijuana at least once, is bad public policy. As a 34-year police veteran, I’ve seen how marijuana prohibition breeds disrespect for the law, and contempt for those who enforce it. we’ve halved tobacco consumption through public education — without a single arrest.

White Male History

Note:"White" in this blog is referencing to people with northern European ancestry, and weighted heavily toward Christians. I also wasn't sure about capitalization of "white" so I vary it up a bit.

First I read, then come questions. What is the male equivalent of this "Off the Path" game? Why does a white-male game that teaches a similar moral not get the same attention? Or if it does, why it is often framed as "Christian". These questions come on the back of another racial discussion currently in the news.

Looking at the Sotomayor hearings, I have heard her questioned on her comments framed as "wise Latina" v. "white male". I thought nothing of this as a comparison comment; I was struck that she would dare to comment that white males have an unexamined history. No one likes to be told they live an unconscious life. History has over represented European contributions and at the same time has not really been kind to white males.

White culture has dominated history by claiming to be universal. This is changing with the expansion and appreciation of minority history. I must note that this appreciation is not at competition with the antiquated version of history most of my generation and others was taught. It is complementarity. Again, some people think that pointing out how something is unexamined means it is competition. Not the case.

This still begs the question of why is there not more attention to white male history. This attention would not be a glossing of others' history in an effort to be universal. I would like to see a critical look at white male history intended as white male history. It should also be taught from the perspective that it is not competing with other history, and should be oppressive to others.

I really had this idea click when an archeology professor talked about taking students from Pocatello to Europe to dig up Vikings. In America there is a hostility towards White anthropologists digging up the ancestors of the first Americans. It comes from the destructive habits of the past. Today anthropologists are more conscious in doing no harm to other groups, but still curious about where we are today. For those of us with a northern European history we are away from our biological relatives and so we want to see what is where we are. My professor wanted to take white kids and have them dig up white kids, or even more balanced is first American kids digging up northern Europeans. Scientifically, bringing the diversity of backgrounds is most likely to generate the most innovation.

But I wonder, where is white history. Is it really so much the trees that I cannot see it? I can just imagine the conversation with my 76-year-old dad when we sit down and I ask him to explain what it is to be "White" with me. Geeze, I'd settle if he could explain what it is to be Irish-German-Dutch with a family history of both Mormon and whatever those religions his mom and him tried. As a white male, if he can't explain white male history to me, then I only more understand and appreciate Sotomayor's comments. I can explain my female, lesbian history experience to him so I hope I could make a wiser conscious decision.

clipped from www.npr.org All Things Considered, July 15, 2009 · The classic story of Little Red Riding Hood is a warning to girls about the dangers of strangers — particularly male strangers. The video game The Path begins with a warning, too: When you're going to grandmother's house, it says, best stay on the path. But that warning's a ruse. "In some ways, the girls are all one girl," observes Auriea Harvey, The Path's other co-designer. "Or one girl at different stages of her life. In some ways, this [game] is about the various stages of life a girl has to go through in order to become a woman."

Money and Justice

Yet another Grapes of Wrath Reference...

When I read this, the first thing I thought was..., well, I thought about the NPR story I had just heard on the news. The story was about undocumented workers and their cost to the California budget. The story says "Legislative Analyst Dan Carson says California now spends about $4.6 billion yearly to provide services for — or to incarcerate — illegal immigrants."

Also, there was a story from yesterday that says about California's budget problems that "The prison population has grown from 25,000 to 175,000 since the early 1990s, not because of an increase in crime, Sullivan says, but because of the "tough-on-crime, three-strikes-and-you're-out" laws. But the growing population isn't the only prison-related challenge facing the state."

But then I asked other questions...How did we deal with homelessness in the past? Those Hoovervilles of the past are now not in the country, they are in the city. Has there ever been a solution? Hoovervilles ended when people found jobs in munitions plants. But today, our Hoovervilles are not just filled with unemployed, but the unemployable. In the past families could take more care of the mentally ill. Population growth, and the new industrialization has misplaced so many of our fellow citizens. Housing seems to be the least we could offer, and save money in the process.

On the topic of criminalizing homelessness, there are already problems and pressures in the justice system. Do we really need to argue this is an economic issue? What value is there to framing the justice system issues, like the problems now that put innocent people in jail, into an economic framework? I think justice really is outside of an economic framework, but it is harder to argue with people how human beings should be valued than the economics of the situation. Well, not harder, but they are less likely to listen to the emotional argument. I wonder in the advocacy work being done for those in the system, what styles of talking about justice there are. And are the framings of the issues leading towards change?. I'm not familiar with a lot of it. I took "race, class, and gender' in college so I have some sociology of crime and punishment knowledge. What should I know if I am going to have a conversation with someone who supports 'tough on crime" or, I would say, who is afraid of being victimized...

And what role does the fear of victimization play in the attitude of people when they would oppose changes to the justice system?

I'm very curious and interested in what changes are being suggested and more of the details from law enforcement about how we got to where we are.

I'm familiar with Foucault's Birth of the Modern Prision on the history of how we culturally got to the modern system, but what were the small pieces of evidence (popular fokelore) that are pushing things as they are?

I also have friends who are very good about posting stories need to be told, but I've never found one that is compelling for me to repost...what is it about this in my own attitude/experience that has me not pushing toward a new culture more consciously.

My Blog, My rules, My questions. Something for me to chew on.

clipped from www.npr.org Urban Panning: The 10 Meanest Cities In America? Without further ado, the groups' Top 10 Meanest U.S. Cities are: 1. Los Angeles 2. St. Petersburg, Fla. 3. Orlando, Fla. 4. Atlanta 5. Gainesville, Fla. 6. Kalamazoo, Mich. 7. San Francisco 8. Honolulu 9. Bradenton, Fla. 10. Berkeley, Calif. It's tempting to look at other, less serious ways cities might be ranked among the most mean. Largest number of quick-changing yellow traffic lights, for instance. Or least garbage pickups per month. A great city, Aristotle said a while back, is not to be confused with a populous one. In other words: Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses. Just make sure they don't huddle and mass in public places.