Here is what I think

Ok. lets get down to business. Watching the news is always an excellent conversation starter. Especially among people with different political views. Lets talk Palestinian territories and Israel. As much as this conflict is rooted in history this is 2008/9. We live in a modern world and the current situation is bad news bears.
I just deleted previous section due to unpredented new knowledge. books are amazing. the book is on israel's occupation and details methods of control from 1967 through today. The striking thing i find in the news today is 1. disproportionate violence. as if proportionate violence of israeli's would make this all okay. 2. that hamas is the aggressor and israeli military is on the defense. as has been pointed out, an occupying force can never truly be on the 'defense' to protect itself. could france claim self defense in Algeria? Japan in China? no. What stikes me as so insane in all of this is that the US has voted down every UN peace settlement that is unfavorable to israel. While I do believe that the holocaust warrants protection of jewish people and awareness of their history of oppression, i do not believe that behaving in kind can be justified. The US media is so starchly uncritical of israel because it is like looking into a mirror. Attacking Hamas is essentially attacking all males over the age of 14 (or even younger) and rendering any kind of civil dissent as terrorist. Sound familiar? It goes to the very heart of what we consider 'terrorism', what creates violence, and how to combat it.
The book goes into detail about how the hospitals, schools, communication, borders, what you can/ cannot sell, electricity... everything imaginable was controlled and regulated by Israel. The creation of the internal spy system reminds me a lot of colombia. How much fear it brings to daily life and effective it is to styfle organizing and relationships because you are afraid of your neighbors. Promotions, lives, reduced sentences etc. were ways to get people to comply. The appartus really is quite immpressive. the palestininan authority was only created by the US and Israel as a proxy government because public opinion was against israel to openly occupy west bank and gaza. But with out a viable economy, no resources to build it with, civilian leadership infrastructure virtually destroyed by the occupation, half the population under 15, massive unemployement, a majority of people living off only through ngo welfare, israel still controls the borders, the country is level in shambles and essentially still 'occupied'. why does a radical group like hamas get elected? doesn't take a genious. why are people unrelated to hamas resisting but being called terrorists? it is impossible not to resist the occupation, essentially every civilian is a terrorist, every terrorist is a civilian.

My new book is awesome: "The revolution will not be funded" only two essays in and it has a lot to think about. #1 human rights career is an oxymoron. (is that spelled right? moron.. haha) An NGO's primary focus should be enabling the movement, not the face of it. People who are trying to create a career for themselves must get paid. Career = paid. This not only moderates you, but also contributes to the idea that working for social justice is a profession rather than a way of life. That 'experts' better understand the world and only a certain few have the obligation and knowledge to act on our behalf. in the remembered word of the book: as if a few should or could do the work of many.
And.. interesting paragraph - why are poor people studied so intensely to understand their ' condition'. Why not study the rich and actually risk yourself. I find it an interesting topic. How many rich people are sellouts. And more specific - to boil down the ways that money is maintained. Using three case studies - ultra rich: possibly even a do gooder like Bill gates. Then a semi rich Josephine, then Joe the plumber type. And compare the ways in which their income/ spending etc. mushrooms out to exacerbate (spelling...) and perpetuate or what not oppression. Oppression easily defined but yet narrowed when only studying sweat shop labor, businesses without unions etc. This shall be my project.
Now off to read my fabulous book and figure out in what other ways I am a sellout. Although some comforting part of me recognizes that even though I want to have a human rights career, I do so because i want to further specific movements, and I would give my life for what I believe in. (not god) I am not a sellout intentionally, and life is a learning process. Understanding all ways that we contribute to "the system"
- On a closing note, snowboarding is awesome

Jericho movement!

I went to a really awesome discussion + documentary last night which spurred me on to a study day today and i have been listening to audio broadcasts on blackwater and speeches from death row inmates. I feel very inspired at the moment, so here is some cool stuff I have been learning!

The jericho movement is a movement to free the 100 + political prisoners in the U.S. www.thejerichomovement.com (it tells it way better than me) The discussion was about 8 of them. Formerly part of the black panther movement of the 60's they were framed in the killing of a policeman in San Fransisco. referred to now as the SF8. With out evidence, witnesses, or a murder weapon they were charged with murder. 3 of them were tortured which produced confessions. the case was later thrown out due to the fact that it is against U.S law to use evidence from coerced testimony. Sooo, fast forward 30 years: in 2003 the same men (6 of them) were tracked down and the trial is again being pursued. The murder of the police officer. they were only recently let out on bail after spending a year+ in prison. (these are senior citizens) The prosecution has yet to introduce any new evidence and a grand jury has thrown out the case 4 (5?) times and they have yet to receive an indictment. The two other "SF8" framed for the san fransisco cop murder did end up in prison after being set up a second time in New York. They have been in jail for 35 years. The main witness who testified against them recanted on public television saying he had been tortured by the police.

The attorney for the SF8 was at the discussion and she brought up how Barack Obama said he might negotiate with Cuba if Raul Castro freed the political prisoners. But what Castro should respond with is he will only deal with America if we free the more than 100 political prisoners that we are holding. The documentary that goes with the 'Free the SF8 movement' links the repression of social justice movements and torture (then) to the war on terror - now to show that this is not a new phenomena, and the tactics are alamingly similar. They talked about how the FBI tried to get them to testify against eachother, but instead it has built the movement to go around the country and talk about how the government is trying to discredit them with evidence that wasn't admissable 30 years ago but might now be because of the war on terror.

other tidbits from my audio lectures of today...

Colombia: about 50% of the military aid is spent on contracts for DynCorp - private defense contractors. - Part of the current negotiations with Bolivia for its Counternarcotics aid proram was that they have to hire out DynCorp for a percentage of its military operations. (although now on hold because bolivia expelled US ambassador) excellent... - Blackwater and Dyncorp and an Israeli defense contract firm were sent to New Orleans in the wake of Hurrican Katrina because Bush had deployed the National Guard to Iraq. This is illegal on so many levels. (military not allowed to patrol u.S cities much less private defense corporations) - there are more than 300 private defense contract firms operating in Iraq. - at the time of research, the average Blackwater employee made more than Gen. Petraeus

audio lectures are awesome!! - also watched the documentary "paying the price" on UN sanctions on Iraq under Clinton and how devestating that was. 500,000 children under the age of 5 died. (by film maker John Pilger)

SOA, Colombia, + ranting... = my sunday afternoon

My letter to the editor of the NYT. watch for it....

To the Editor:

The Nov. 14 article, "Jesuit Killings In El Salvador Could Reach Trial in Spain," reminded us of the horrors that took place in Central America in the 80’s, including the massacre of six Jesuit priests. What the article failed to acknowledge was the United States' hand in these brutal murders.

The notorious School of the Americas (SOA), renamed WHINSEC, has trained some of the worst human rights violators in Latin America, including those who killed the Jesuit priests. Yet the school still operates in Fort Benning, Georgia, and is funded with taxpayer dollars. Of the 26 army personnel responsible for killing the priests, 19 were SOA graduates. The SOA also trained those who assassinated Archbishop Oscar Romero, and four U.S nuns.

As the anniversary of the Jesuit massacre approaches, and 15,000 take to the streets to call for the SOA’s closure, it is shameful to leave the U.S.'s role out of the story. With the SOA's long history of condoning torture and abuse, it is appalling that the Jesuit murders and other atrocities are not denounced and the institution shut down.



.....................
Now for a new and exciting topic that I have never written about: Colombia! excuse me while I grab another beer. Or should i say glass of water. By accident I bought Corona light. I fail to see the point. Alcohol by its very nature has calories. It tastes like faucet water.


I have been monitoring trends in the major papers on what they write about Colombia. The logic is ridiculous at best at any attempt to justify Uribe, or our involvement there.

A statistic I have seen pop up at least twice, in both the Washinton Times and the Post (the latter by the editorial board) is that it is safer to be a union member in Colombia than a member of the general population. Considering Colombia is the most dangerous place for a union member in the entire world, this is a bit misleading. The math of this stat is as follows. lets say 70 union members are killed each year. and 8,000 civilians are killed. more civilians are killed than union members. Basic statistics lesson. To compare the two, you must use 70 divided by the total number of union members, not the whole population, dumbass.


Recently there has been a lot in the paper about Colombia concerning 'false positives' (killing civilians and pretending they are guerrilas), firing of military personnel, the free trade agreement, etc. Why congress should cut off the aid to Colombia in simple terms: as summarized from my current fantastic book "America's other War" by doug stokes.

The logic of Plan Colombia has failed miserably. In the war on drugs, 80% of the money was used in military spending due to the idea that to stop the drug flow was to defeat the guerrilla insurgency. This assumes: the guerrilas are the primary transporters of cocaine, and that the method of defeating them is by killing their support base.

Problem 1: FARC never has been a major narcotics trafficker. They historically used a 'taxation system" on the growers, but the major drug routes in the north and the major infrastructure is controlled by paramilitaries (a fact which has been well documented U.S officials since pre- Plan Colombia)

Problem 2: The coca growers are almost exclusively poor farmers with no other means of substinence. Measures were taken to give them compensation to not grow coca which might have been successful if followed through. it wasn't, and farmers are continuously displaced as a result of fumigation which effectively ruined the real crops, poisoned the water, poisoned people, and created a stronger need to grow coca because the other crops were ruined. result: support base strengthened.

Problem 3: The aid to Colombia is hinged on three basic criteria due to human rights concerns. 1 -suspension of military personnel who commite HR violations 2- prosecution of those suspended, and 2 -prosecute those who have committed, 3 - effective measure to severe links with paramilitary units.
The state department certified the aid despite the fact that Colombia failed to meet any of the above requirements. Supposedly no aid will be given to units that have evidence of serious human rights violations. Yet as Amnesty reported in its Oct. 28th report, half of the units that received U.S aid has records of serious HR violations. (as has been reported before numerous times, notably right after the conditions were certified)

So why was most of the money to Colombia (1.3 billion) given to combat the minor players in a drug war, to an army notorious for human rights violations, and strong ties to the major players in drug trafficking and terrorism? You do the math.

I have written on my thoughts on that before and will continue to be outraged everyday that another story on Colombia is printed: claiming that Uribe is doing fabulous, HR violations are under control, everything will be okay once FARC is eliminated, etc etc...

colombia

Amnesty International recently came out with a report on Colombia which I am reading right now. It has received decent press coverage and the trend is changing of how Colombia is viewed, although as noted in the report human rights groups have been saying the same things for decades. Some parts seem conflicting, and many of the recomendations are based on international law rather than a community centered solution. The report did actually say that the conflict is based on land, and that reparations must include the right to return to the land.
Summary:
massive transfer of wealth from small farmars, and collectively owned land frm afro-colombian and indigenous land owners through violence and paramilitary takeovers. This was done in collusion with the justice system that did not rule this illegal or turned a blind eye; politicians were elected with the help of paramilitaries through election fraud and intimidation and thus were bought off from interfering with the violence. Paramilitaries also worked with the security forces and had access to intelligence, the wealth of the state, and impunity. The security forces were often inseperable from the paramilitaries. Businesses and corportations hired them to break up unions, as well as to clear off land for fertile ground. Amnesty cites 4-6 million hectares of land was transfered. ( 1 hectare is equal to ~ 2.5 acres)
There is also evidence of FARC and paramilitary groups acting together to protect drug routes previously fought over.
thoughts on how to fix this: 1. Uribe still doesn't acknowledge that a civil war exists, continues to call the guerrilas terrorists, impunity reigns for demobilized paramilitaries (which most haven't actually demobilized) - the justice system should move forward, because of momentum with over 60 government workers charged or in prison, judges that were previously silenced can take on more cases. (although 15 people havebeen killed that have been associated with the 'justice and peace process in the last five years)
2. the government MUST have a real interest in peace, or else small victories will continue to be an uphill battle and what is needed is large victories, massive reparations and land distribution to its proper owners, inclusion of guerrilas into politics, cleansing of the security forces and trials for those who orchestrated the massive human rights violations. Investment in education, health, and sectors of the economy that benefit rural farmers. Colombia needs a new president that will say no to massive US aid that seeks to increase the military and continue a US presence in the area. most importantly though, the next president should return the stolen land to its rightful owners.
Of more importance,
GO OBAMA! Si se puede! Si se pudo...

mc rove

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYZre8kEsuw
karl rove rapping. how did i miss this shit? better than crack

political

Attempting to finally write political... There is so much to write that I have put it off for so long for lack of anywhere to begin. But i have finally found my starting point.
Working for the DNC i go out a few times a week to canvass - part of the 'grassroots' wing. It can be somewhat exhausting to defend my beliefs not only from a human rights standpoint, but on another level that I am not completely comfortable with: why am I campaigning for Obama? While I do believe that democrats have a better record on human rights than Republicans, I am also very critical of them. I also believe that Obama is more progressive and understanding of oppression eg. classim/racism/sexism rather than pretending it doesn't exist. I agree with democrats in the principle, i don't think they have followed through with their plans. Even more so, smaller goverment as in what conservatives supposedly go for will never apply to the military and foreign military aid which seems to indirectly perpetuate human right violations through out the world. my arguement was - if there ever was a republican to drastically reduce the military i would cast my ballot in an attempt at voice through voting.
So the tangent i went on last night was with a democrat turned republican. Needing to waste some time i spent about half an hour with her. The statement that bothers me the most is that people in poverty are lazy. This was in response to my theory that the most wealthy nation in the world should not have such a high level of poverty in its own country (not to mention promoting it abroad). I attempt to offer my rebutal to this, which i did not do well last night because i was so frustrated with the idea.
Without re-looking up the statistics, i am going to recall from memory.
1. the vast majorty of people in poverty are people who have jobs. period. Not people who prefer to beg on the streets because working in low wage jobs is that much more demeaning. People beggin in streets compromises a small portion of people who are actually in poverty. This includes families, people working two jobs on minimum wage, single mothers,
- homelessness: this also includes familes and disproportionately affects women, women with children, and those fleeing from violent home situations.
- Drugs are a vicious cycle in which people are caught up in the system of no education, no job skills, medicate with drugs, lose money. Violence, sexual abuse, and other 'life circumstances' are a major part of drug addition. I believe drug abuse is misunderstood in that people would like to think the drug addiction comes first, which makes the person homeless, or leads to prostitution rather than the other way around. Same goes for psychological disorders. Overwheleming numbers of women who are experience domestic violence develop a psychological disoder in able to cope.
- causes: major causes are lack of education (almost 50% of young people do not graduate highschool, much less with real job skills), affordable housing, capital flight out of inner city neighborhoods, lack of jobs on that middle level: many jobs are needed to keep this society going at a very low education and skill level which is where immigrants are employed and needed. But the next level of widely needed jobs skips almost a 4 year degree. possibly even a masters to ensure a good job. Poverty is a very complex issue. children raised in a community with a very high rate of poverty lack a culture of achievement, postive role models, lack of support from say churches, schools, and other networks that can help out. money thrown at schools with out strenghtening these other institutions will ulitimately fail. dc is an excellent example. sending a kid to a goo school who doesn't have a stable home life or proper diet cannot learn as well.
- now lets talk about oppression. This could obviously go on for many book lengths.. but lets take a stab. Anyone who says poverty is laziness is igoring the fact of widepread 'isms' and of how they have affected history, and continue to inform policy and life within America. Congress recently voted down a bill for equal pay for women in the workplace. republican cited that the age of sexism had ended. Many of the historical protections have been eroded, and rather than employers showing that they are fair, the employee must prove that they have been discriminated against. This comes during a time when women make about 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. This figure places women in the context of a capitalist culture and obsession of how much you make. Yet socially an accepted and traditional role for women is not in leadership positions. This system does not acknowledge women roles within the family - even if they are not bringing in an income. The U.S also has a very high rate of domestic violence and sexual violence. The one factor that all of these attacks have in common is gender. Until this threat is removed from society equality is bullshit.
- role of police: if you are locked up, this makes it much more difficult to survive financially. yet the U.S has a higher percentage of people incarcerated than any country in the world. around 1% is behind bars. Unproportionally by far African Americans are incarcerated at a higher rate than other 'races' (as defined by US). Whites compromise a majority of tax evasion and and 'white collar crimes' even though the dollar amount is more than most theft cases which don't acrue very much jail time. Drug charges however can land you life in prison or a felony charge. especially non violent drug charges. Women with felony charges - which are mostly black are not elligible for scholarship funding, low income housing benifits or food stamps. (the latter part enacted by Clinton in 1996 to cut 'welfare spending'.

this part goes with the above part on poverty. school vouchers = bad. So... poor communities can't afford to send their kids to better schools. And why would you want to send your kid to an all white school if you are attend a majority black low performing black school? why not have that school do better so that children in the same neighborhood can go to school as a community for support, not be among a racial minority, and a long commute - which usually entails no afterschool extracurricular activities. using the school system to perpetuate a culture of obedience and intolerance... to be continued.

International Day of Peace!!

I am mutely excited that my soul selling is almost complete. Mutely, in the sense that how can one actually conjure up true emotion when soul selling is essentially the absence of emotion.

drunky blog deleted... to be re-written at a future date

really too much to think about though. and not neccesarily in the following order
1. graduate school for conflict resolution
2. establishing residency
3. sign contract for Teach for America 2 years
4. other job in media relations
5. tickets to india?
6. analyze myself
7. why am i so embittered by the u.s. government?
8. am I naturally messy, or is this a learned behavior
9. the magic of coffee
and oh so much more
politics? i have been hit on the back of my head with a bat of information. still processing the process.

the ratings

It must be said... Cloverfield is one of the worst movies ever made. The end.

Books on tape! thumbs up. bedtime has never been more pleasant. Fountainhead rocks this time around. if only the soothing sound of Roark wouldn't put me to sleep so fast.

Pushing rocks of cliff. Fun. Not knowing how to turn video right side up on computer? priceless...

Mission mountains - greywolf peak

Mitzi's first backpack trip. She's scared of bears, darkness, thoughts of bears, my cat, and small dogs

INTERNSHIP!!!!

I will be unleashed into the DC area come september. muawhawhaw! Promoting human rights propaganda.

took an internship position with Amnesty International - media relations. It sounds pretty sweet and needless to say i am hella excited. slave labor notwithstanding

DC! bring it

books

or my 'booklings' as I like to affectionately call them. I can't keep my focus and interest on just one book. and so i need to have about five different ones to keep me occupied for different moods. flavors of the week: I have gone on a gender issue streak lately.

Incite! The color of violence: fabulous book! a bunch of different essays with different authors about issues of violence concerning women of color. border patrol, palestine/isreal conflict, prision industrial complex etc. very excellent eye opening book.

Profit over People (Noam Chomsky): essays/talks about free trade, neo-liberal bullshit, corporatization etc. not very in-depth but makes you want to learn more about topics and can tear down other people's arguements so well!

Civil War, Insecurity, and Invervention: I really like this one. very informative, analyzes the civil wars of Rwanda, Somalia, Yugoslavia and Cambodia. With a little mix of India, Palestine, and Pakistan thrown in at the end.

Lucky (alice sebold): i don't know why i can't get through this one. perhaps the other books are just too interesting for me to sit down and read an easy one. autobiography of her rape and subsequent slide into drug use.

My bondage and my freedom (Frederick Douglass): my newest present to myself. can't wait to read more, but the first chapter seems promising. autobiography of the second half of his life.

rereading sporadically parts of the Fountain Head to see if I will like it more than the first time i read it.

The family: (did i finally manage to put pics up? yes!)

General, the new horse
The dwelling
Toby: my first and only true love
Toby and Mitzy

baby rabbit - (R.I.P...)
baby lowline - check out my first website creation! (a work in progress) montanalowline.com any suggestions welcome

humanities

I think i would like to attend the lectures of Sir Justman even after i finish school. If there was a person that could be bald, awkward, proud, boring, and dramatic all at the same time... I think that person has the potential to become the twin of Stewart Justman. a snippet from todays lecture: "Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky were like two bears in one den - the den of literature!"
the metaphorical genius lives to see another day

DPS

How exciting. A student sit-in that resulted in arrests on my very own home campus for the fist time since the Vietnam war. One of three around the country. I wrote a simple letter from a simple girl to the editor that most likely will not be printed since they tend not to like me very much. Although this one is not near as mean as the previous one listing all the countries the U.S had invaded in the past 100 yrs.... quite extensive.

"President George Dennison should sign the letter of intent for DPS, and the charges against the students should be dropped. DPS ensures that workers making university apparel have a livable wage, and are able to form legitimate unions. University officials site ‘legal ramifications’ for their unwavering support of sweatshop labor.

Former Assistant Attorney General, Donald Baker, gave legal advice to ‘Workers Rights Consortium’ stating, “if the Program were carried out as recommended by us, the Program would not be likely to conflict with U.S. anti-trust laws; and hence the University Licensors do not face a significant risk of anti-trust exposure for proceeding with the program” (Baker and Miller PLLC). However, UM students are not even asking that Dennison sign on –but rather he sign a letter of intent. The letter says that if DPS were to be approved by the department of Justice that the University will then comply with it. Yet Dennison and Foley have refused to do this. Provost Royce Engstrom says that he “hoped they [students] would pursue their interests without undertaking illegal activity” (missioulian 4/20). My hope is that the university would pursue its interests in accordance with the wishes of its students, that it would support workers rights, and that Dennison would sign the letter of intent for DPS."

new favorite quote ever! "Considering the state of the world I came to the conclusion that either there is no god, or else god is my all powerful enemy"

favorite musician ever! Immortal technique

favorite story from this morning! as i entered campus and on up to my classroom... typical montana style there is a random stuffed deer hanging out in the hallway - with a remote control to be used while hiding behind the corner to scare people. Why? I don't know.

torture?

perhaps i torture others because i write about nothing else.... but self control has never been one of my strong points. Lets set the stage. The book for the week was confessions of state violence. My research project is on the School of americas and how america teaches torture. So i consider myself somewhat 'tortured out' at the moment. after reading so many testimonies the constant theme that keeps coming up is the 'ticking time bomb' theory. it is the rationale of every nation that uses torture, every human that inflicts it (or half beast). But yet the ticking time bomb of saving a million lives and you MUST torture because you will get reliable information - and not only reliable but the information that you actually are seeking... and be able to distinguish it from all the other bullshit that was yelled out during the torture session because apparently you know what information you are looking for - because they know where the bomb is in the first place... well. it just doesn't happen. but it is used in every single case. it is ironic (or not) how similar argentina, chile, brazil, and south africa and now the United States all compare with eachother. ticking time bomb! patriotism! denial untill evidence proves otherwise. a few bad apples. and more importantly, humans in secret torture facilities. or not so secret. Guantanamo lives!
An amnesty international report on the U.S is quite extensive. Not only outside the United States, but within as well "More than 70 people died after being shocked with tasers (dart-firing electroshock weapons), bringing to more than 230 the number
of such deaths since 2001."
on a new and exciting sidenote - anyone interested in creating a digital identity and living it out in a digitalized world? then you can forego reality, cease to exist and waste your money all at the same time! (sim world does actually exist)
Another sidenote because i thought i was up to date on my conspiracy theories. But apparently this one has been around for sometime. a journalist came and presented her documentary in Missoula with overwheleming evidence that Pres. Reagan bargained with Iran before he was elected to not release the hostages. This would create such bad press for Jimmy Carter that people would be sick of him and vote Reagan in. In exchange he agreed to sell them weapons. So, weapons for hostages... not so much. And even worse is that apparently Oliver North is now a special correspondent for FOX. And it is not mentioned that he was convicted for lying to Congress about selling illegal weapons from Iran to fund the contras in Nicaragua. but he ended up six months in jail but was pardoned before he served. and This bastard is a special correspondent? how depressing. torturous... if you will...
and another sidenote... (how many do i get?) Q: what is the biggest taboo of the weightroom? A: dropping the bar on yourself while bench pressing! superwoman lifting powers not available for rent on the odd days of the month...

giddy up!

OBAMA IS COMING TO MISSOULA!!!!! and i'll be in line for tickets bright and early tomorrow... its free! i'm so excited! they better not trick me and then cancel it. i would be so disappointed.

old times

As i started up my car, - same one since highschool, a song on the radio came on that i used to love - from highschool. and i had on my same puffy jacket i got for my birthday - in highschool. i had a weird thought... what if i was back in highschool! how have I changed? considering i have come full circle to end up not really going anywhere at all to be literally in the same shoes as i was five years ago. It was kinda of creepy.
Perhaps the only difference is that I can get away with ranting more than i used to. now that i am one of the educated/beautiful people getting ready to graduate. i fooled them all! There is a certain amount of cockiness that being 23 affords you. i just hope i don't morph from being cocky to cock-like. The ultimate punishment of old age.

back to the saga of nothingness. i am perfectly content to curl up with my book and my kitty (that i tamed).
more nothingness. i had a weird and very vivid daydream of vampires. So watch out for the blond chick with the knife.. she's sportin some badass fangs! and why would a vampire need a knife? much less three of them. The vampie was also lost and confused. not very intimidating

more torture...

waging fear
to cure the consciousness
of objections to violence.
Legitimized only by the notion
that the fear holds truth, that
Fear of my death justifies another's
or fear for my house
my car, my money, my...
way of life.
And so I feel fear
reached by a manipulated consensus
of conclusions by propoganda
to create a feeling I didn't know i had
we had, they had.
We've Been had.
Fear permeates society
its the, CIA see?
the KGB, Nazi, paramilitaries
waging fear
on truth.
Secret detention camps
soccer stadiums, electric shocks
blindfolds, basements, blood
spilled
another killed
another filled - with hate, too late
to save a life - but not a truth
Let it speak!
Manipulation is not the ugly side of peace.
Torture can never be justified.
Waging peace does not mean a war of violence,
Let it speak!

torture

is anyone else completely outraged by Bush's veto of the bill banning water boarding and other 'harsh interrogation' techniques condemned by international law and already previously outlawed by our very own military? A nation that sanctions torture is not worth protecting. Not only is there huuuuge moral issues, but what about the precedent that it sets? that any nation can defy international human rights laws in the name of national security? One nation's terrorist is another's freedom fighter. Or oops, perhaps we just got the wrong guy. Since they are not given a trial, and we use secret detention camps.... how much do you trust the CIA? The arguement has been proposed to me - that torture perhaps can be justified in certain circumstances if it were the last resort and if it were the only way to yield credible information preventing an attack. There is many-a-problem with this. First, there is no way of ever actually measuring this. Is it even possible to put someone in a detention camp and imprisoned while posing the idea that they are being held by a just and moral nation that will not harm or torture them? The U.S has too much bad history behind it. Second, most studies indicate that other interrogation techniques are much more successful, and moreover, testimony under torture is infactual and unreliable. (why were the tapes destroyed of the torture sessions of moussai- the name i can't spell?) Also there is so much information out there - 911 as the classic example - the problem is not that there is a lack of it. Rather there is too much. interpreting it is the hard part. The thousands of phone conversations, millions of documents, tranlations, etc. To claim that one testimony of a tortured individual is somehow more unique and valuable than the insane amount of information out there is ridiculous. Third. even if we could get info, - and only through torture, the bottom line is torture is immoral and wrong. It dehumanizes the people who do it and who they do it to. It is a crime against humanity. So Bush - Fuck you!
p.s. i put the 'adult content' thing on because it humored me. i also finally figured out how to put links up. yay for me.

ramblin away cause i'm too busy to work

that plane blog was not nearly as spooky and prophetic as i would have liked it to be. use your imagination.... or how about even more creepy is that now the head guy of Farc has been murdered by the colombian military in Ecuador and venezuela is now putting troops on the border as has ecaudor and increasing military tension have backlogged the unprecedented progress of releasing hostages and farc(ian) political prisoners. Way to go Uribe. fucked it up again. there is a march on march 6th against miltary and state violence. needless to say it is receiving quite a bit of repression and backlash. unlike the march against guerrila violence a month ago. Not that i support FARC. But their leader should not have been killed. Many other countries acknowledge tham as a political group and have a political solution. I don't really see this as possible unless there is a fundamental restructuring of the colombian government. but even that's possible. join bolivia, venezuela, argentina, chile, ecuador, nicaragua, (brazil 1/2). And all of these countries aren't even that radical. in fact nicaragua has completely outlawed abortion. yet not even a slightly progressive President has held power in Colombian... ever? its time. Perhaps then Farc's time will be up. But not now, and not even a de-escalation in violence is possible now. and Venezuela's counteraction of militarizing the border is not a solution for peace.
It would really by nice to rant all night long. I have fun with it. But what really needs to happen right now is paper writing! Too much time at the gym, too much previous studying and being a sickly child does not make for productive homework time. (brittany spears did NOT just start playing.... yes, she did)
there is a world of difference between hard lifting and just.. lifting. where's my back massage boy when i need him... I want to do a whole new blog on just working out because i have so much fun with it and my family doesn't want to hear about it. and its quite boring to anybody but me.

airplanes

So in another fucked up twist of fate another plane has crashed - this time in venezuela. The first time was kind of a random coincidence, but now it is becoming increasingly creepy that flights that i was especially nervous on have begun crashing. albiet a year later.... its still weird though. The one in brazil crashed a week later. That was one of the worst flights for me as far as being scared. The merida connection from caracas i was also pretty scared because it was descending into a valley from the andes. Turns out those mountains are what got the plane. crashed right into the mountain side. (what is that mountain goat doing way up here in the clouds?) I remember specifically writing that line during our descent. The other flight that has been particularily awfull for me was cuzco to colombia. So we'll see when that flight crashes. planes suck ass. and pretty soon my luck is going to run out and one that i predict is going to kill me actually will.

Just coming from the gym i realized i misplaced my sports bra with a pair of underwear. Well, that ain't gonna work, so i stumbled home now dreading to go back. It is the 'hook up hours' at the moment and i feel a little unsure whether i should be scoring a date or lifting Gym update: i am stronger on almost every machine now which is quite exciting. AND.. i can almost go from a bridge into a backflip. they almost caught me practicing which was kind of an awkward moment. i was crumpled up on the floor after not making it all the way over and tried to pretend i was stretching my back.
Now to the gym. I wonder how all these white girls get so tan? I find myself contemplating whether its spray on, or from a booth. Or maybe my albino little self is just jealous.

I had my first night of 'boxing club' at the university. It was pretty cool, and exactly what i was looking for - its free! I probably won't stick to boxing as my 'sport of passion' but its cool to have something to improve and, and a situation where i get my ass handed to me from lack of skill and being in shape. Another happy note, i started a critical thinking group with one of my friends and we had the first meeting last night. I'm really excited about it. It introduces me to good people, and gives me time to discuss real issues with people. Next week I am giving a presentation on Colombia.

university career

i sit here listening to abba - dancing queen pondering my classes and why i would love to drop out of college again and pursing higher education on my own. To their credit some of my classes are cool. Interest groups is a small class with six of us which allows for my witty jokes and my attention needy questions. Also upcoming is a 20 page paper on a lobbying group of my choice. I am leaning towards the School of Americas aka WHINSEC aka foriegn policy death squads. (three minutes have passed and i am now listening to daft punk, 'around the world'. also great music for bench pressing. on a similar unrelated topic i have come to enjoy doing my workout to classical music. there's something to be said for frenzied violin playing) moving on.
But of more importance are my three other classes. Especially the one i have just come from. The lecture from literary works. To put it simply i would have walked out after ten minutes, but familiar with tricks from irrelevant proffessors they usually intice students to stay by giving an assignment or extra credit in the last five minutes of class. so instead i amused myself with world class poetry in order to contain myself. (Madonna - material girl will background the poem writing

he stands there, shiny head and little hair
reading, feeding
pre-written biases and lies
he need not look up, for we are too ugly to even cook up
with head down, he wishes he could cry

then he raises his voice and is gesturing
the manequin broken neck is lecturing!

Like Hamlet i am sentenced
with dagger in the heart, my brain has become smart,
i stagger home for repentance

abortion law, anti choice

Now that i am no longer in colombia, i feel that i can't really call this blog ' Cassie Colombia' perhaps cassie after colombia. Or Cassie's views who was at one time in Colombia....

We come to different conclusions relating to the morality of abortion, ideas of conception, etc. This is an issue with so great a diversity of perspecitives I argue not to convince you about my values over abortion but rather that no other group or human or government should have the power to regulate the choice to have an abortion.
The idea that a government or a group's morality is greater and more important than that of a single individual is a dangerous road to take. That decisions based on the concensus of 1000 people is more rational than that of one. Not only are laws not made by concensus but rather traditionally from upperclass males. Those in power are not of the same proportion as the people they have power over.
Opression is opression is opression. I may not be muslim, black, Colombian, male, homosexual, disabled, etc. But opression is not one sided and the fight for autonomy and respect for one group cannot occur with out a fight for all. The right to privacy, the right to protest, the right to health care, education, to equality under the law, the right to live in peace, are all rights that clash with a government that begins intruding into the personal space and lives of its citizens. The right to an abortion is not a moral sanction for it, but simply a recognition that an institution is not designed to impose values. 'governments are the biggest violators of human rights'
Values are a complex and intricate system that when imposed on a large population create conflict. one may not agree with abortion, but what about female genital mutilation? How about the idea that adultery is punishable by death? Execution for using drugs? the neccesity to torture people for the security of a nation? To start a preemptive war? To not have the right to protest in the streets? To not to be allowed to worship a different God? These are all values that different men who are 'leaders' in their countries have used as tools for opression. And all of them are for patriotic reasons. Even if one believes that abortion is murder and murder should never be allowed, they must also recognize that there are those that believe that a mother's rights supercede that of her fetus. That the living are more important than the unborn. That a miscarriage is not second degree murder. That thousands of women and girls die every year in the name of 'pro life' agendas. That abortion is a personal, but difficult choice to be decided by a woman. And only one woman.

che and ayn rand

The utopia of Che Guevara and Ayn Rand i guess technically in weirdo Russian, its pronounced 'Ain' Rand. But fuck that. in my heart she'll always be Ann.
Che Guevara was not a true communist. (he had a break with Russian Communism because he disagreed with the Stalin method of mass extermination) And Ayn Rand would not say that any capitalist system that exists in the world today is true capitalism. Perhaps i am putting words in their mouth and making my own interpretation. But thats what happens when you die. And there's not a damn thing they can do about it.
Capitalism is based on the idea of productivity and exchange. Money is simply a material form to facilitate that exchange. In Atlas Shrugged she creates a utopia that is made up of only people who excel in their creative ability, and therefore all live in harmony. There are no looters. nobody who lives for free. Gold is the standard of exchange, thus the product being sold is creativity, and expertise. What a perfect little world.
Che also imagined such a world as did many 'communists' aka community living. The making of the "new man" that in order to achieve this magical new community, the consciousness for it must be created first. A revolution of ideas must occur first before the community can be enabled. and then in this communist community people would choose their work, and that work would help sustain the community. Not because they had to, but out of love. ability is being exchanged for the ability of others. Nobody is living for free, but elderly, and sick people are allowed to live. People who cannot care for themselves, but can offer non productive things to the community, such as conversation, wisdom, advice, family honor, etc..
essentially they are the same. The flaw i see with Ayn Rand is that not all ability is productive work. what about a monk? or what if the musician Dagny loved to listen to only played for his own enjoyment? Perhaps the satisfaction many people gain from their own accomplishments are personal and do not need any recognition regardless of the type of person who could recognize it. all of the people in the Utopia withdrew their genius from society because ordinary people could not acknowledge it. But they all still wanted it to be acknowledged by someone. someone of equal caliber. For some form of exchange. is personal satisfaction a form of exchange? how do you put a price on pleasure? This is why money is only an idea. and why it is not important that in communism there is no material medium of exchange. The exchange is actions. And everybody acts. This is the making of the new man. To become self actualized. Che called for education among all the guerrillas, to read, to learn new languages, to practice the morals that you preach. To be the best person you can be. The Utopia is only as good as the people in it. And this is the fundamental difference. We exist in a world of people. And we certainly don't live in a utopia. ( i do, but only occaisonlly in my head)

Thoughts on the looney toon spectacle of Presidential debates: first off. Hugo Chavez is not Chave`z. its Cha`vez. Get it straight.
Missed half the of Republican debate, but of course illegal immigration comes up again. if it hadn't already at least five times already. The evils of illegal immigration: Huckabee says that illegals should leave, and come back legally that way they can live with their head held high. why do people come to America. overwhelming economic reasons, as well as safety and security as undeclared refugees. Build the fence! increase border patrol! deny amnesty! What are the bigger issues here? how about how other countries are dealing with immigration? Ecuador, Syria, Chad, Canada.... How did immigrants become the source of attack (again). Its called the old fear and distract tactic. Make Americans scared of an issue of little relevance using an appropriate scape goat. currently its Latin American immigrants. before it was Irish, the Itaialian, the Chinese (especially during the gold rush). which immigrants shall we fear in ten years. Canadians? other scapegoat possiblilities: Muslims, Communists, anti americans, terrorists (this one is a perfect one. just change the definition!) So now we can blame someone for the problems of the economy, and not look at the real reasons why people want to attack us. Bring on the fence.
Democrats: nuclear proliferation: Obama, i am increasingly disappointed in you. first question asked was about invading Pakistan if their was credible intelligence of al qaeda's whereabouts. after much chatter of diplomacy his and comment was, yes. he would attack pakistan if pakistan would not cooperate in the elimination of terrorists groups. because this would make america safe from the threat of pakistan's nuclear arsenal (i suppose). NO! there is never any excuse to wage war on any country. even if the 'terrorists' were residing there. Economic sanctions! Today's world is a global economy. Economic sanctions would be more effective than war. Some of the biggest reasons why international interventions (in the real name of peace - not just pretend) were because some powerfull country was supplying a group with money and weapons. For real solutions, and real peace the countries must work together to stop the flow of money and weapons to a country and... za zing! And of course not examined to any extent was the military package the u.s gave Pakistan. One of the largest arms deals in the history of America. And we wonder why pakistan is unstable and full of weapons? little trinket toys are made in china. Weapons are made in the u.s. Also of concern. Nonproliferation. I was impressed by John Edwards tonight. i have usually discarded him. Bringing up the fact that we would be safer as a disarmed world. Go John. The idea that we fear being destroyed so we create more and more weapons in order to prevent our destruction? i like this quote.... " In a perfected nuclear deterrence, the knowledge in a disarmed world that rearmament potentially means extinction would become the deterrent" There is no need for nuclear weapons.
Obama and Edwards, you constantly claim ' i am the candidate of change!' but i got distracted how many times the word ' change' was said and possibly simply didn't hear anything of substance that was said during my counting. or possibly its because nothing was said. But what are President debates really for anyways. building up those catchy one liners. And John Edwards sumed America up nicely. This Presidential race is a fight for the middle class. of course it is. Because the buffer class is most important towards keeping the war machine up and running. If nobody fights for the middle class, there will be no buffer class. They will have joined the poor classes and others around the world and have started a revolution!