Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting

Well, hi there. I really can't remember if this has been on here before, but oh well:


Sly and the Family Stone - If You Want Me To Stay

So a lot is new, huh? You've probably heard about the soldier that killed 13 and wounded 30 in Fort Hood, Texas by now. Interestingly, he was shot four times by a police officer, taken into custody, and was reported to be in stable condition that night. Why is that interesting? I don't know; I guess it just occurred to me that for all of the shootings we hear about (I could go somewhere with that, but it's another post) pretty much all of them end with the death of the shooter, and this one didn't.

Oh yeah, the guy is also a Muslim, so of course the media are having fun with that; the Washington Post makes sure to include in their headline that he is a "devout Muslim." The BBC at least waits until the second or third paragraph to mention it along with his full name, and...well, I didn't even check FOX news, but you can imagine.

Fortunately, I've seen a great deal of good writing on the topic. Columnists are attempting to make people aware of the potential problems for the Muslim-American community as a result of the coverage this story is going to be getting for awhile, as well as pointing out the unfair nature of some of the coverage. It's interesting too that Muslim groups in America have come forward to condemn the soldier's actions, even though it's a little sad that they feel like they have to do that at all. When Christian fundamentalists firebomb abortion clinics, I don't have to step out and say, "That's not my religion," for fear of some kind of major backlash against Christianity. But you know this already, and how much coverage the condemnation will get is another issue altogether, I suppose.

Another big piece of news that you've probably seen involves health care reform. A major health care bill passed by the House had a restriction on abortion coverage attached to it, meaning anyone who uses the government-run health care program will have no abortion coverage. Of course abortion will still be legal, and we're all cool with that, but its status as something for rich people or people lucky enough to have employers who provide abortion coverage will be essentially cemented. Yeah, that sounds like the natural progression of things. Oh wait, a lot of people are really pissed:

Taylor Marsh at the Huffington Post:

The first female Speaker of the House makes history by passing a health care bill that not only doesn't have a robust public option, but also sells out women's civil rights.

Rachel Maddow calls it "the biggest restriction on abortion access in this country in a generation."

I could go on, but you get the idea. For some reason, I'm annoyed with the rhetoric of a lot of politicians; I feel like they treat the whole issue like it's some kind of game. I'm talking about all of the "bring down Obamacare" and "battle it out to the end" stuff. This isn't an Arnold Schwarzenegger film; civil rights are at stake here. Maybe Republicans wanting to "slay the evil Obamazilla from hell" (okay, I may have made that one up) decided that if they do whatever they can to make the lives of American women as miserable as possible, they'll eventually lose faith in Obama and the Democrats. Then when everyone hates the Republicans and everyone hates the Democrats, maybe we can have a no-party system and cast no votes for nobody. That would be so punk rock.

Before I stray off too much into the ridiculous, I also found this amusing: Congressman Pete Sessions of good ol' Texas (hey, I can make fun of it, I was born here) suggested in a Rules Committee meeting a few nights ago that treating female-related health conditions is comparable to insurance companies imposing restrictions on smokers. When someone asked him why women should pay more, he said, "Well, we're all different. Why should a smoker pay more?" Yep.

So ladies, maybe next time you'll think twice when choosing what reproductive organs you're born with. I mean really, it's not like it was multiple choice or something.

The shadiness doesn't end there, the bishops also got involved at the highest level. Check it:

At the funeral of Senator Edward M. Kennedy in August, Cardinal Seán O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston, stole a private moment with Mr. Obama to deliver the same warning: The bishops very much wanted to support his health care overhaul but not if it provided for abortions. The president “listened intently,” the cardinal reported on his blog.

Sigh.

Cutting up Afghanistan and Too Much TV

I haven't forgotten this thing altogether. It sucks though, because a lot of interesting stuff has been happening that I should be writing about, if only for my own benefit (let's be frank, it is pretty much only for my own benefit). But first, an appropriate song:



The Beatles - Long Long Long

I've always, always loved this song. Anyway, what's been going on? A whole lot. The air is turning colder (if only to tease us for one or two days at a time before bringing back the heat for several more weeks), my apartment is beginning to smell cinnamon-y, my job search is getting slightly more desperate, and I'm fighting the urge to put up all my Christmas lights ludicrously early.

One of the things I've found interesting recently is this article on BBC News, more specifically the map at the bottom of it. In fact, even if you don't feel like reading the whole article, I recommend you scroll to the bottom and take a look at that map. It's really very interesting; we know there are combat units from many different nations (more than 40, actually) hanging out in Afghanistan, but it's sort of surreal to see all of their flags spread out across a map of Afghanistan like that. Nothing says "quagmire" like this map.

I pointed this out to some people last week - Shirin Ebadi (oh snap, I met her) wrote a piece for the Guardian in which she very clearly spells out the basic ways in which women have de jure status as second-class citizens. If anyone was at all interested in where the women's rights movement in Iran is coming from, or where it's at currently, this is a really good, concise piece to start with.

Indexed (a blog that posts simple, funny, and often insightful illustrations on post cards) had a good one today; it hit home with me because even when I was in 3rd and 4th grade watching my evening TV lineup (Fresh Prince - Home Improvement - Simpsons - Home Improvement - Simpsons...wow, I can't believe I got away with watching that much TV every night), it used to piss me off how Tim Allen's character on Home Improvement was such an idiot and consistently screwed up in the same stupid ways every episode, and Jill had to pick up the pieces because she was the only capable one. You know it was bad when even my 3rd grade self picked up on it. My dad was nothing like that, so why did this negative stereotype have to be played out every weeknight on my TV?

Alright, that's all for now. I feel like there was something else I wanted to post, but it's slipped my mind. See you soon!

Al-Quds Day and Breaking Obama

So I'm not proving that I can continue to keep this thing up daily, but hey, I'm doing better than I was a month or so ago. You look like you need a good lo-fi jam:



Guided by Voices - My Kind of Soldier

So two main things are on my mind today, one being the Al-Quds Day events in Iran, and the other being health care (wow, I've hardly ever mentioned domestic policy here).

First, a quick bit on Al-Quds Day: After the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini urged all Muslims around the world to unite together in solidarity for the Palestinians on the last Friday of Ramadan (Al-Quds is the Arabic name for Jerusalem and translates to "the holy"). So every last Friday of every Ramadan since the founding of the Islamic Republic, there have been parades/rallies/etc. opposing Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories (as well as all of what most Israelis refer to as "Israel," I expect) and the continued occupation, oppression, and social and political marginalization of the Palestinians by Israel.

In a sort of funny and ironic (but not altogether unexpected) twist, thousands of people took to the streets of Tehran, not in protest of Israeli oppression, but the Iranian government's oppression, censorship, and inhumane treatment of prisoners following the June elections. Check it:



The BBC has a good article with a nifty little time line near the bottom-right. I like the BBC because they always deliver with the context and the details.

Okay, next thing. I'll be honest, I haven't gone really in-depth with my study of the current health care debate, mainly because I don't really understand the finer financial and far-reaching points of public vs. private health care, insurance rates, and stuff like that, but this clip from Rachel Maddow's show the other night spoke pretty loudly to me:



As Maddow points out, it does seem strange that the most vocal opposition to universal health care is coming from the states with the highest rates of teen pregnancy, premature births, and infant mortality, as well as the lowest birth weights and lowest rates of HPV vaccination.

I particularly love that quote by Jim DeMint:

"If we're able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him."

I'm not quite sure what he means by "break him," but this is the kind of stuff I used to say in the midst of an all-night Super Smash Bros. battle in 7th grade. I was just playing a game then; there weren't any consequences and the lives of women and newborn babies weren't at stake like they are here. It's too bad Senator Jim DeMint and others like him are choosing partisan hackery over making real strides in our nation's health care system.

So, if some politicians are more interested in stubbornly pandering to a rapidly-dwindling power base than in women's reproductive health and health care in general, I guess people here will continue to suffer needlessly. Sure, women are dying of a preventable cancer and one out of every five people will go on without health insurance, but we need to "break" Obama, to prove something. What, we're not sure yet, but something.

Finally, finally back

Goodness, I'm sorry for you loyal readers out there; even if I can count you on one hand, you are as important as you would be were you just a handful in a sea of millions. Hm, that was oddly and unintentionally poetic. Anyone else need a song?



The Supremes - Mother Dear

It's been a long time, yes, and I've been consumed by school, apartment stuff, psycho landladies, deadbeat ex-roommates, and fruit flies. It's true, I'm even starting to feel bad as I realize I've murdered a fruit fly on every flat surface in my apartment.

Something big has happened though, at least as far as the subjects I normally discuss go. I've been reading the appropriate blogs and it seems as though the Iranian authorities have more or less clamped down (I feel like "clamped down" is the only way to describe it at this point) on the major unrest, and now the opposition will have to conduct itself in a more low-key manner. Unfortunately, low-key is not usually a defining characteristic of social and political upheaval and revolution, but hey, anything can happen.

But wait, something MIGHT happen, not necessarily related to the post-election unrest, but related to US-Iranian relations. Or maybe Everybody-Iranian relations. This has been a big week. On Wednesday, Iran submitted a package of proposals for talks with Western nations, which the US scoffed at because they didn't even mention the nuclear issue. Ahmadinejad was reported to have said, "We were kind of hoping they'd forget about it, what with all that healthcare hoopla going on." Well, there is a lot of hoopla around healthcare at the moment, but unfortunately, it hasn't distracted US leaders from the nuclear issue.

What's weirder is that only days before submitting this package, Iran vowed that there would be no further discussion on the nuclear issue, but now that the US has apparently accepted Iran's offer to begin direct talks, Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki has said that there is a possibility of talks about the nuclear issue. Come on people, let's be adults and make some real decisions here and stop teasing and messing with each other. Oh, what I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall at that first meeting, though. How awkward.

In other people-acting-stupidly news, two rockets were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel. Invoking the age-old "eye-for-an-eye" principle, but forgetting their basic arithmetic, Israel responded by firing eight rockets into a fruit plantation near the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon. Why anyone would still fire a rocket into Israel at this point is seriously beyond me. I really don't even have anything else to say about it; I'm just that confounded.

I want to write more, but since I have to go start my homework (assassinate me), I want to leave you with this interesting post from one of my favorite blogs discussing the history of the "Don't Mess With Texas" campaign. It's about tailoring messages for specific audiences and it's especially interesting if you live in Texas.

Alright, I promise to write more often. Really.

George Washington's Love Letter

Oh my, it's been awhile. I've been moving around Texas quite a bit, but I'm finally back in Austin for what I expect will be a good, long while, so here's an appropriately Austin song:



Explosions in the Sky - First Breath After Coma

They're from Austin, if you were wondering. Anyway, it kind of sucks when I don't do this for awhile, because this is partly what keeps me in touch with some of the big things that are going on, and if I'm not writing about them a little, I sort of fall out of the loop.

But oh snap, those Afghan elections are happening tomorrow. The Taliban have vowed to crash the party and are telling people not to vote, because the results have apparently already been decided by Obama and co. That may be true (not to be like, cynical or anything), but come on, guys. Just come on.

Wow, the British film heads have actually denied a rating for a Japanese film because of how grotesque it is. Oh, wait, the film is actually called Grotesque. Well, that explains a bit; when you're just so obviously trying to push everyone's buttons, I guess I can see how that might rub a few people the wrong way. But considering some of the other stuff that's been let through, I'm almost curious to see how bad it is. Not that I would be able to sit through even 5 frames of it, I'm sure.

The BBC had an interesting bit today on the last two women to serve as ministers in the Iranian cabinet (since there are apparently two women candidates for Ahmadinejad's cabinet, I believe). One was executed back in the day and the other lives in the US, and the article says a little about the turn women's rights in Iran took following the Islamic Revolution.

Alright, y'all are going to think this is like, really strange, but I saw it today and it really touched me for some reason. I was looking around Wikipedia (as I sometimes do when I should be doing other things), and I eventually stumbled across this letter George Washington wrote to Martha after he was elected by Congress to head the army that would fight the British. Here's some from the first bit:

My Dearest,

I am now set down to write to you on a subject which fills me with inexpressable concern--and this concern is greatly aggravated and Increased when I reflect on the uneasiness I know it will give you--It has been determined in Congress, that the whole Army raised for the defence of the American Cause shall be put under my care, and that it is necessary for me to proceed immediately to Boston to take upon me the Command of it. You may believe me my dear Patcy, when I assure you, in the most solemn manner, that, so far from seeking this appointment I have used every endeavour in my power to avoid it, not only from my unwillingness to part with you and the Family, but from a consciousness of its being a trust too great for my Capacity and that I should enjoy more real happiness and felicity in one month with you, at home, than I have the most distant prospect of reaping abroad, if my stay was to be Seven times Seven years.

Pretty cool, I thought. You wouldn't look at that old picture of George Washington and imagine him saying that. The last line is the best. And don't complain, I don't make any promises about what gets written on here! Alright, I'm spent. I'm gonna go watch the Simpsons.

Sanctions are Here to Stay, part II

Today, your song actually comes from Afghanistan (I think), and there's kind of a funny story behind it; the newscaster at the beginning of the clip will tell you more. Watch the video too, it's way interesting. Oh, if you don't speak German, you won't understand what the newscaster is saying (haha, eat it):



Burka Band - Burka Blue

Now that you're sufficiently weirded out, let's start by covering that beloved topic of this blog, Iran. The fresh push for sanctions by Congress (and people who probably shouldn't have any say in what Congress does in regards to Iran - I'm looking at you, AIPAC) is only going to get worse next month, apparently. According to this brilliant post on the NIAC blog, Congress hopes to blockade Iran's foreign oil supplies. Why would this be bad, you ask? Doesn't Iran already have tons of oil? Yes, but Iran has been in the unfortunate position of not necessarily having the refining capacity to deal with all of their own oil, so they've historically had to actually ship oil out to be refined, and then buy it back. Iran imports 40% of its refined petroleum, so it really would hurt them a lot.

Anyway, Congress hopes that this will cause a rise in gas prices, which in turn will cause the Iranian people to revolt. Wait, this is one of those ironic, funny plans, right? So we've been watching Iranians die in the streets in the name of freedom and democracy, and now we're hoping they'll go out and kill themselves over rising gas prices? This is pretty damn cynical, even for me.

Probably the most important point the post makes can be found here:

Next, even if the sanctions were effective in harming the Iranian economy, there isn’t a single historical example of economic sanctions translating into a desirable change in the Iranian government’s behavior.

Thank you! It's true; there is no proof that these sanctions have ever worked and there is no reason to believe they will this time. I will apologize to everyone if they do, but that's just how sure I am that they won't.

And as the post points out (like so many others have before), the sanctions wouldn't hurt the Supreme Leader, Ahmadinejad, or the mullahs (lots of them have turned on the Supreme Leader anyway, at this point), it would hurt the common people...the ones we were so vigorously supporting a few weeks ago.

So it's people like Senator McCain, who has recently said this...

"The United States of America must, and this body must, affirm our support for fundamental human rights of the Iranian people who are being beaten and killed in the streets of Tehran and other cities around Iran. We are with them."

...who are now pushing for "crippling sanctions" that will "bring the Iranian economy to its knees." When asked whether or not he realized that the "Iranian people" he was referring to actually lived in Iran, Senator McCain fell asleep. Bad form, Senator McCain. Okay, I haven't got the patience for this right now.

Sanctions are Here to Stay

I realize these are getting more and more infrequent, but as soon as I get back to Austin, the apathy will slowly slink away and I'll return to doing this pretty much every day. A 12-hour semester should allow that, hopefully.



Frank Sinatra - Love is Here to Stay

I honestly can't remember if I already posted that one. I'm pretty sure Sinatra's already been on here, but if I actually did this one song before...well, I'm not sorry; it's a really good song, maybe it wouldn't hurt you to hear it more than once.

Anyway, I found a few interesting things in my perusing over the past few days. First of all, I discovered what I think is a feminist blog (there's really no statement of any kind; the author just covers many feminist issues and links to a lot of other feminist reading, and I happen to like the presentation - very bare bones) a few months ago called Tiger Beatdown. I know this isn't a new thing and I think it gets actually a ton of readers, since I found it from a much bigger site. I don't know why any of what I just said is important at all, but what is important is the article posted today. It talks about the "ironic" racism and sexism and how it's - what a shock - still racism and sexism. She singles out "hipster racism" too, which was a learning for me since I've spent the last several years trying to know as little about hipster-ism as possible. Anyway, I appreciate the author's writing style because it's pretty funny and what I imagine they sound like in person.

This is really old, but I found it interesting: Paul Eedle wrote a piece for the Guardian predicting the future of the Middle East - all the way down to the death of Osama bin Laden in North Korea! It's so specific, I almost want to see if he's a time traveler. Obviously, everyone is likely to find something to disagree with, but I think it's an interesting read nonetheless.

Wow, Bill Clinton randomly showed up in North Korea and they released the two US reporters on the same day!? I don't even know what to say about that. You really never know what to expect from those guys. Maybe Clinton got Kim Jong-Il out of some massive jam years ago and he was calling in the favor? Obama, if you're reading this, I'd like to volunteer to go get those hikers out of Iran. Just give me a bouquet of flowers and some sweets, I know what those Iranians like.

Bad form, America: Apparently we're leading the charge for fresh sanctions against Iran. Since the last sanctions worked so well, it actually makes a ton of sense to pile on new ones, right? They're not in any particular need for airplane parts or anything so it should all be good. I know they're being a little stubborn on the whole nuclear negotiation thing, but let's not give them more reasons to retreat into their shell, at the same time giving Israel more justification for striking their nuclear facilities, which in turn will make the Iranians rush to build a nuclear weapon, if that is in fact what they're doing. Ah, and to think things were looking up for a brief moment or tow.