It seems quite clear to me.
In an interview on Fox News, General Petraeus stated that we need to "live our values" and that we as a nation have been rightly criticized when we have violated the Geneva Conventions (see video clip on John Amato's blog). He further stated that the techniques in the Army Field Manual work.
I'm not sure what more people (such as a certain former vice-president) need.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
"We are citizens, and Obama is a politician"
Howard Zinn has a thoughtful piece in the Progessive. It begins with the sentence I used as the title of this blog entry. In it he reminds us of the reality that our president is a politician and if we want change, it is our responsibility to show him the way.
If we care about change, President Obama's election was not the end of our work. We must appauld the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, but we also have to be willing to hold him accountable for wrong decisions (the continuing of military commissions and the turnaround on the detainees at Guantanamo, etc.).
If we care about change, President Obama's election was not the end of our work. We must appauld the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, but we also have to be willing to hold him accountable for wrong decisions (the continuing of military commissions and the turnaround on the detainees at Guantanamo, etc.).
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday Farmers Market at WSU!
Next Wednesday (June 3rd) starts the farmers market at Wayne State University. This makes me smile. I work nearby so every Wednesday between 11am and 4pm I'll have the chance to go pick up produce grown in Detroit. The market was piloted last year. Once I bought some acorn squash that had been harvested less than an hour earlier.
Here's a flyer. Seed Wayne hosts the market on Cass Ave, across from the Detroit Main Library (check out this Google map).
Here's a flyer. Seed Wayne hosts the market on Cass Ave, across from the Detroit Main Library (check out this Google map).
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Local Currency
I happened to see a copy of the WSU Southend the other day with a story about Detroit Cheers. These seem to be a gimmick from downtown business owners--something like Monopoly money that can be spent at their shops.
It was interesting to me because it reminded me of a email conversation I had a few years ago. Someone was telling me about Ithaca Hours, a real local currency: people agree to receive a portion of their wages in it and store owners accept it for a portion of sales. I really liked that idea and began thinking about what it could do in Detroit. Our credit rating is in junk bond status, we have more than 20% unemployment, and home values are gone.
So what could a local currency do for us? I started thinking about how it could be used. The city could create a currency that could be used in local exchange. In lieu of massive cuts in city staff, staff could agree to take part of their wages in Detroit Notes. They would then be able to use these to pay a portion of their city taxes with them (both income and property). Business who accept the Notes for a percentage of payment from customers would be allowed to pay the same percentage of tax bill in that currency. A Detroit currency could encourage a strong, self-sustaining local economy.
And for fun...what would Detroit money look like? On the 5-Note will be a skyline (such as it is) with a phoenix superimposed over top. The 10 should be a Model-T in front of, I think, a Diego Rivera factory mural. I'm thinking something about the Ambassador Bridge to Windsor, with some hint of Belle Isle and boating on the 20. I'm partial to a collage of pre-LA Motown on the 50, prominently featuring Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and The Supremes. I'd have to think about what other images are important for other Notes...perhaps some image of the Ossian Sweet trial and maybe something about Joe Louis.
It was interesting to me because it reminded me of a email conversation I had a few years ago. Someone was telling me about Ithaca Hours, a real local currency: people agree to receive a portion of their wages in it and store owners accept it for a portion of sales. I really liked that idea and began thinking about what it could do in Detroit. Our credit rating is in junk bond status, we have more than 20% unemployment, and home values are gone.
So what could a local currency do for us? I started thinking about how it could be used. The city could create a currency that could be used in local exchange. In lieu of massive cuts in city staff, staff could agree to take part of their wages in Detroit Notes. They would then be able to use these to pay a portion of their city taxes with them (both income and property). Business who accept the Notes for a percentage of payment from customers would be allowed to pay the same percentage of tax bill in that currency. A Detroit currency could encourage a strong, self-sustaining local economy.
And for fun...what would Detroit money look like? On the 5-Note will be a skyline (such as it is) with a phoenix superimposed over top. The 10 should be a Model-T in front of, I think, a Diego Rivera factory mural. I'm thinking something about the Ambassador Bridge to Windsor, with some hint of Belle Isle and boating on the 20. I'm partial to a collage of pre-LA Motown on the 50, prominently featuring Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and The Supremes. I'd have to think about what other images are important for other Notes...perhaps some image of the Ossian Sweet trial and maybe something about Joe Louis.
What is wrong with the Senate???
The Senate voted 90-6 to withhold from the Administration the funds necessary to close Guantanamo (see post at Truth Out). What?!? They further specified that no previously allocated money could be used to "to transfer, release or incarcerate any individual who was detained as of May 19, 2009 at Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to or within the United States." Um, Senators, where are these people supposed to go exactly? Guantanamo must close and it will close. Holding them indefinitely, pretending as if they are some sort of superhumans who cannot be held in maximum security (federal or military) prisons is not an option.
One of my senators (Thank you, Senator Levin) was one of the six to vote against this foolishness. I will be calling my other senator's office to find out why she was not vote #7.
One of my senators (Thank you, Senator Levin) was one of the six to vote against this foolishness. I will be calling my other senator's office to find out why she was not vote #7.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Making America Less Safe
The White House has decided to reverse course and attempt to block release of photographs that show U.S. soldiers abusing prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq (see reports from AlterNet, MSNBC, and Huffington Post).
No, President Obama, releasing pictures documenting the torture does not make Americans less safe. Being a nation that tortured and abused human beings is what inflames anti-American sentiment and makes us less safe--in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and here at home.
It appears to me that the real issue is that the president would like to avoid having a truth commission and accountability. With that his domestic agenda would surely be sidetracked. And while I want universal health care, I don't believe that we can afford to ignore the question of what type of nation we seek to be. Hiding the photos will not quell the rage against what we, as a nation, have done. In fact, not releasing them seems to show that we plan to continue to allow the military a cloak of secrecy to conduct these operations. Restarting the military commissions at Guantanamo is not the act of a just nation. Giving individuals a reason to hate us does not make us safe.
If we want to be safe, we must "live our values," as General Petraeus said in an interview on Fox News. He also stated that we as a nation have been rightly criticized when we have violated the Geneva Conventions (see video clip on John Amato's blog). He further stated that the detainee treatment and interrogation techniques in the Army Field Manual work.
No, President Obama, releasing pictures documenting the torture does not make Americans less safe. Being a nation that tortured and abused human beings is what inflames anti-American sentiment and makes us less safe--in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and here at home.
It appears to me that the real issue is that the president would like to avoid having a truth commission and accountability. With that his domestic agenda would surely be sidetracked. And while I want universal health care, I don't believe that we can afford to ignore the question of what type of nation we seek to be. Hiding the photos will not quell the rage against what we, as a nation, have done. In fact, not releasing them seems to show that we plan to continue to allow the military a cloak of secrecy to conduct these operations. Restarting the military commissions at Guantanamo is not the act of a just nation. Giving individuals a reason to hate us does not make us safe.
If we want to be safe, we must "live our values," as General Petraeus said in an interview on Fox News. He also stated that we as a nation have been rightly criticized when we have violated the Geneva Conventions (see video clip on John Amato's blog). He further stated that the detainee treatment and interrogation techniques in the Army Field Manual work.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Kirk's Still a Ho, Spock's Still Hot, and the Movie Rocks
Okay, I admit it. I'm a fangirl. I watched Star Trek when it was in syndication when I was kid. In undergrad I wrote an anthropology paper comparing the original series to The Next Generation. And I liked the movie. I watched it on opening night in IMAX. Woohoo! Here's a secret: I am a geek.
Between Kirk and Spock, it has always been Spock. Between Scully and Mulder: Scully. Give me the brain over the brash hothead any day. Stuff blew up. The warp core was ejected (everyone who's seen more than an episode or two in this franchise knows this rule: when nothing else will work, eject the warp core). Sulu has hand to hand combat experience (fencing? fencing. woohoo!)
And Spock got the girl. This one is weird. I like when the geek gets the girl. Really. But. Just every now and then, I'd like the girl to get the geek. Or whomever. I want it to be her adventure. Just every now and then, can it not be about the boys? While we all recognize the linguistic genius of Nyota Uruhu, is it possible for her to not be in a minidress, not wearing some for-real fake lashes, not continually scurrying into turbolifts and running to the transporter room to comfort poor little distraught Spock? And what was with the completely gratuitous shot in her underwear? I wanted to like the Spock/Uhuru angle of the movie and I did, but I couldn't get comfortable with all the overtones of another Black woman's sexuality being used and put on display.
And six billion people die and somehow we're supposed to only be concerned about Spock's mother? How could everyone on that ship who watched a whole planet disappear not be in mourning? How could the cadets already be that jaded?
I meant to write this deep analysis of the movie, but, well--woohoo!
Between Kirk and Spock, it has always been Spock. Between Scully and Mulder: Scully. Give me the brain over the brash hothead any day. Stuff blew up. The warp core was ejected (everyone who's seen more than an episode or two in this franchise knows this rule: when nothing else will work, eject the warp core). Sulu has hand to hand combat experience (fencing? fencing. woohoo!)
And Spock got the girl. This one is weird. I like when the geek gets the girl. Really. But. Just every now and then, I'd like the girl to get the geek. Or whomever. I want it to be her adventure. Just every now and then, can it not be about the boys? While we all recognize the linguistic genius of Nyota Uruhu, is it possible for her to not be in a minidress, not wearing some for-real fake lashes, not continually scurrying into turbolifts and running to the transporter room to comfort poor little distraught Spock? And what was with the completely gratuitous shot in her underwear? I wanted to like the Spock/Uhuru angle of the movie and I did, but I couldn't get comfortable with all the overtones of another Black woman's sexuality being used and put on display.
And six billion people die and somehow we're supposed to only be concerned about Spock's mother? How could everyone on that ship who watched a whole planet disappear not be in mourning? How could the cadets already be that jaded?
I meant to write this deep analysis of the movie, but, well--woohoo!
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