Hiatus

Sorry to anyone who actually reads this blog, but I’ve been on a temporary hiatus.

I’ve been quite busy with school, the Civil Rights Heritage Center, work, and homework. I’m enjoying this semester’s classes thus far, though it is a lot of work with a full course load.

I came to write a simple something whilst writing my research analysis for my “International Perspective on Women” class.
As much as technology has changed the way we live – e-mail, blogging, social networking sites, etc. – pen and paper will always be my favorite form of communication.

I enjoy receiving hand-written notes, not only because it adds a personal touch on things, but because it means more. I understand that e-mail is the best form of communication in regards to timeliness and easiness, but there’s just something about taking a pen to paper that proves to me as an individual that you honestly care about what you’re writing, be it a political note, love letter, or doodle.

Okay, off to finish my research analysis. I needed this little break before my head imploded from too much information.

A Costly Science Experiment

I’ve never been much of the scientific person. In fact, I’ve always struggled to get a decent grade in any type of science class. I quit science in the tenth grade – physics had gotten the best of me and I figured I would never need it for the career I would eventually settle into. Heck, even Facebook’s “Are you right brained or left brained” overwhelmingly told me that I was a right brain – someone who does not do well in math and science.
However, as of late, I’ve been thinking a lot about Sir Isaac Newton’s laws of motion, particularly this one:

“Every action has an equal and opposite reaction”

Okay, I admit, I really haven’t been thinking about Newton’s laws in the way that Newton would have wanted. Instead of using Newton in a scientific way, I’ve been thinking about how spot on Newton was with this law in regards to social responsibility. Simply put, every “simple” thing that we do, has a reaction somehow, somewhere. For example, I may be sitting at my desk, typing this blog, enjoying my solitude, and cup of coffee, not having too many worries or cares, but the very keys that I type on – where were they produced and what effect did they have on the people who assembled my MacBook? Unfortunately, as lovely as Apple computers are, I know that they aren’t produced as “user-friendly” as the computer itself. They’re produced in sweatshops that use terrible means to get out the product – ridiculously long days, unfair wages, etc.
What can we do to stop this? I suppose if more people demanded that people be treated fairly instead of profit being the only bottom line, perhaps the demand would increase the supply in the human rights field.

Anyway, just think about it. Everything that you do has costed someone, something. Whether the cost be environmental degradation or a young person working for pennies a day in a factory, everything that we consume and do has an equal and opposite reaction.

Life is not easy

I could take the easy way. I could.
I could not care, just finish school, and start from there.
It’s so easy to say I go to school, yet so hard to keep up with everything going on around me.

I need my space.
I can go back to the start and find a way to blame myself, but I honestly couldn’t keep up with rent and living.

There’s something wrong with me, and everyone around me.
I can’t finish my work.
My passion is lost somewhere inside of me.

The people around me have self-destruct.
Suicides, drugs gone out of control, mismanagement, common errors, joblessness – everyone is sad and everyone is mad.
They’re bringing me down.
I’m bringing me down.

Follow up to ‘Frustrations in War’ – More Schools Not Troops

This is just a follow up to my previous post. It’s actually this totally big coincidence, really. To start, I had requested this book at the library called Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by these two authors I’ve previously never read. I was really excited because this author who I love, Greg Mortenson, who wrote Three Cups of Tea, gave this raving review of this book. I got the book, started reading it, and wrote that blog on how I don’t believe we should send more troops to Afghanistan, rather build schools and create for them an education system for both boys and girls.
Fast forward to me sitting down in my Economic Geography class, pulling out my New York Times, and reading this op-ed titled “More Schools, Not Troops.” It was by far one of the best op-eds I’ve ever read. Here’s let me share with you some of the points and facts the journalist made:

” For the cost of a single additional soldier stationed in Afghanistan for one year, we could build roughly 20 schools there.”

“The hawks respond: It’s naïve to think that you can sprinkle a bit of education on a war-torn society. It’s impossible to build schools now because the Taliban will blow them up…Greg Mortenson, author of “Three Cups of Tea,” has now built 39 schools in Afghanistan and 92 in Pakistan — and not one has been burned down or closed. The aid organization CARE has 295 schools educating 50,000 girls in Afghanistan, and not a single one has been closed or burned by the Taliban. The Afghan Institute of Learning, another aid group, has 32 schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan, with none closed by the Taliban (although local communities have temporarily suspended three for security reasons).”

“Since 9/11, the United States has spent $15 billion in Pakistan, mostly on military support, and today Pakistan is more unstable than ever. In contrast, Bangladesh, which until 1971 was a part of Pakistan, has focused on education in a way that Pakistan never did. Bangladesh now has more girls in high school than boys. (In contrast, only 3 percent of Pakistani women in the tribal areas are literate.)”

“For roughly the same cost as stationing 40,000 troops in Afghanistan for one year, we could educate the great majority of the 75 million children worldwide who, according to Unicef, are not getting even a primary education. We won’t turn them into graduate students, but we can help them achieve literacy. Such a vast global education campaign would reduce poverty, cut birth rates, improve America’s image in the world, promote stability and chip away at extremism.”

This op-ed was written by Nicholas D. Kristof, author of the book Half the Sky, which is what makes it really coincidental. I found it heartbreaking that the United States is not establishing schools in the places they are so readily willing to bomb. How man Iraqi and Afghani civilians do we slaughter because we thought a high Taliban leader was located in the house in the midst of a neighborhood? According to Iraq Body Count (www.iraqbodycount.org), 102, 330 have been documented and identified as victims of catastrophe. This does not include the many many many more who were never identified. On top of that, this doesn’t include casualties in Afghanistan and even neighboring Pakistan.

Let’s tackle the main problem – the uneducated little boys and little girls who are being attracted to the Taliban because it’s a family for them. They are taken better care of by the very people who use religion in the worst way possible – by destroying human lives for the sake of their God.

To follow Nicholas Kristof’s blog, go here:

http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/

Frustrations in War

“War is over if you want it.” At least that’s what John Lennon said int he early 70s. But here we are nearly forty years later and it’s more rampant and prevalent than ever. Well, I want it over so why is it seemingly just beginning?

Yesterday, 16 U.S. troops were killed in two separate helicopter crashes. This is not including NATO troops and the DEA officials who were killed as well. Today, as you can see below, eight U.S. troops were killed. And the day is not over…

I’m so tired of war. From the wars and genocides thousands of miles away that are usually left unknown in Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, China, and Palestine, to the more familiar ones in Iraq and Afghanistan, why are we allowing this to happen? Why are we coming together in this war of choice and calling it a war of necessity? We hang yellow ribbons around our trees, we start “Support our Troops” groups on Facebook, but why don’t we actually end these wars by standing up to our elected officials and telling them, “Enough is enough”?

Here’s an idea: Let’s go over to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan with loads of schoolbooks. With open arms, let’s show them along the path of nonviolence. For an education is the foundation for living a flourishing life. Let’s give the little boys and girls another option – instead of bring recruited by the Taliban because of having a weak education system, let’s establish one, for that would be a much better investment than watching every day hundreds of Iraqi men, women, and children slaughtered because of car bombers.

How would you feel if you knew you weren’t safe? You don’t have the resources available to move away, but you hope every day that you don’t die. You want to keep your family safe, but you can only do so much because of the unstable government and Taliban regime. War will not stave off the Taliban. Fight the Taliban with goodwill and investment through education. Sit down and talk with the government of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. How much longer are we going to exploit them for their resources (oil)?

To conclude my ramblings, a quote from Harry Patch, one of the oldest WW1 veterans who recently passed away:
“It wasn’t worth it. No war is worth it. No war is worth the loss of a couple of lives let alone thousands. T’isn’t worth it…the First World War, if you boil it down, what was it? Nothing but a family row. That’s what caused it. The Second World War…Hitler wanted to govern Europe, nothing to it. I would have taken the Kaiser, his son, Hitler and the people on his side and bloody shot them. Out the way and saved millions of lives. T’isn’t worth it.”

Why Life is Amazing – a Blog Never Written

So life is pretty great. And I’m saying this while knocking on a fake wood pillow desk, but nonetheless, I’m hoping this doesn’t jinx the rare instance of my luck. Why my life is amazing right now (the brief version, as I’ve got a few pages to write for a paper):
1.) I’ve officially been accepted to study abroad in Chengdu, China. I was conditionally accepted awhile back, but here’s looking to great times!

2.) …um, I’m going to Chengdu, China. Seriously!? How did this happen? How are my dreams in life actually amounting to something? Sure, China was not my first pick (it was Ghana, Africa), but while one door closes, another opens, I suppose. If you would have asked me in June if I were going to China like I said I was, I honestly would have doubted it. I had no passions. Even when I talked to Tristan I had no passion. Then I researched and read about all of their human rights violations (which made me sick) and it was then that it clicked — China is the best place to start. Why not learn Chinese? I am the only person holding myself back now, and I’ve had enough of setbacks. No more setbacks on my behalf.
3.) Irene Kahn, Secretary General of Amnesty International (yes, my dream internship/favorite NGO (along with Human Rights Watch)) tweeted me. Yes, me. I tweeted her first just a short blurb on how I appreciate her caring for the oppressed, and she responded. How freaking sweet is that? My month has been made.

I can’t wait for my life to start. I’m so glad I have passion. I know I usually don’t like to talk good about myself (which I found out is a problem and why my self-esteem can teeter the edge of no return), but I’m so happy that I have passion. I thought I had lost it for awhile. I thought it was gone with my journalism major. For so long I was focused on one thing – journalism. I still love journalism, I do, but it’s not for me. I know plenty of journalistas out there and they care so much about it and have such passion driving them, but when I was majoring in journalism at IUSB, I felt stuck between a rock and a hard place. I love “getting the story” out and being the first one to know the information, but I want to help and serve people before I make a living off of their misery. Once again, please don’t get me wrong, my journalist friends have passion and have hearts – it’s why they do what they do – but I feel so much is gained off of someone’s misery even though they ARE the people informing us of the atrocities in the world. Journalism as a whole has crossed the line and for the most part (aside from certain websites and Current TV), mainstream journalism is not what it’s supposed to have been.

Anyway, I’ve got a paper to write. I’ve not even started on it though it’s only like two pages and I know what I’m going to write. Goodnight my loves.

Fix You

As I’m sitting here surrounded by self-help books, I can’t help but ask, “Why are we so addicted to hear others tell us how to fix ourselves?” On account of every week releasing a new best-seller to fix you, I don’t think they’re working. By the way, what ever happened to “The Secret?” Just saying…

my expectations are never set too high…and this is why

I’m always let down.
But quite frankly, I’ve learned not to care anymore.
And it’s not even so much being let down, as is the problem of not being able to trust people or what they say.

This isn’t a pity party. In fact, it’s actually going to be a fun birthday still, as I have my sister, roomies, and a couple good friends who stick to their words.

The Next Culture War

“Over the past few years, however, there clearly has been an erosion in the country’s financial values. This erosion has happened at a time when the country’s cultural monitors were busy with other things. They were off fighting a culture war about prayers in schools, “Piss Christ” and the theory of evolution. They were arguing about sex and the separation of church and state, oblivious to the large erosion of economic values happening under their feet. Evidence of this shift in values is all around. Some of the signs are seemingly innocuous. States around the country began sponsoring lotteries: government approved gambling that extracts its largest toll from the poor. Executives and hedge fund managers began bragging about compensation packages that would have been considered shameful a few decades before. Chain restaurants went into supersize mode, offering gigantic portions that would have been considered socially unacceptable to an earlier generation….Our current cultural politics are organized by the obsolete culture war, which has put secular liberals on one side and religious conservatives on the other. But the slide in economic morality afflicted Red and Blue America equally.”

To read David Brooks full editorial, go here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/opinion/29brooks.html

There’s Something Fishy in the Sea, You See?

As many of you know, I grew up in the Christian faith (Baptist) until I slowly started inching outside of the box to discover what others believed and how others viewed the world. I “dropped out” of private, Christian school (literally, but that’s a different story); I listened to what others had to say about social and political thoughts instead of rushing to judge those who did not agree with me; I changed.

When I was a child, like most, I agreed with my parents. Yes, me. I agreed with my parents. I can remember the 2000 election like it was yesterday. I had stayed up late the previous night to see if George Bush had won. I would do anything to see George Bush win the presidency. Al Gore was a liberal. He would be just like Clinton who I knew was just downright evil…at least that’s what my parent’s said.

In particular, my mom was full of stereotypes that she unfortunately passed down to me as a child. For instance, she would say, “Don’t talk to anyone…especially black men.” So…I wouldn’t. When my sister, Bekah, was in middle school, she was friends with a little black boy. My mother would later see her sitting on the front steps alone with her black friend, and boy did she get it later that evening (beat).

I am bringing this up now, not only because I am in a racial and ethnic politics class this semester, but because I am noticing a trend with conservatives, racism, and people of the Christian faith. I am saying this as an insider, as someone who was brought up this way, who hung out with people of the same mindset, and from still hearing stories and seeing these types of things happen. I’d almost really like to do some research in this area as a thesis project.

I have found several old “friends” using social networking sites, in particular Facebook.

I was very close to a particular family from church. So close to where I’d go over to their house and play with their younger sons after church. While perusing one of the son’s profile, I saw that he was a fan of Glenn Beck. I chuckled a bit, as I’m sure you know why. Conveniently enough, I saw he had his mom and dad listed as his parents on his profile information. I clicked on his mom’s profile and saw she was a fan of Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin. Then came the jaw-dropper. I clicked on her husband’s profile and saw that he had posted a link and forum to a news site that found out Pepsi was sponsoring a gay pride group. Underneath the article he posted, not only did I see his son say, “Pepsi’s gay,” but I also saw FOUR other people from my old church say how they’re going to boycott Pepsi for supporting gay rights and how Obama is going to destroy the United States (what that has to do about Pepsi is beyond me…).

Why are so many “Christians” are not only ridiculously conservative, but also discriminatory towards others who have different viewpoints? Is it simply because of how they’ve grown up and how they’ve not strayed from their family or belief system? I’m just curious. This is just a random array of questions I’ve been struggling with when it comes to human rights for every single person, Christianity and its problems with other cultures, and why people vote the way they do when their very belief system says to give your coat to the poor, yet they vote for the party who refuses to do so.

-M.