SYSTEM OVERLOAD

This month has been crazy and I apologize for not writing. Every time I want to write about something, something else in the news happens and then my attention wants to focus on that. So yes, I am happy about the election results, and yes I am really upset about California's Prop 8 passing, and yes I am really disturbed to learn about this being the 30th anniversary since the Jonestown Massacre. I promise to write more when I am able to focus more clearly on these particular subjects.
Thank you,
A.J.

Blog Action Day: Poverty

I can't believe it has already been a year since my last post for Blog Action Day! This year's topic I'm supposed to address "poverty." Personally, that's a loaded word because there is so much to say about the subject. Poverty effects everything, or is it everything effects poverty? Hmm... let me backtrack a little to let you know what I mean.

I grew up in a nice suburban town in upstate New York for the first 19 years of my life. I never had to worry about my basic needs - food, shelter, clothing, medical care - you get the idea. I never had to worry about those things until I had to live on my own, but living in poverty was far away from my thoughts. When I went to college, I still wasn't experiencing the "real world." I still had security, I lived in a dorm, I had my sister and her in-laws living nearby and I had a school meal plan. Despite all the obstacles that college brought me, I still never had to worry about how I was going to make it through the day because I didn't eat or I didn't have a place to sleep.

I graduated from college with my degree in art and was ready to accept the challenges ahead of me... or so I thought. After some failed attempts of trying to go after my career, I decided to hang up the paint brush and get a job. Despite the fact that none of the jobs I had really centered around with what I wanted to do with my life, they did train me in areas that I needed work on such as social skills, customer relations, and computer skills to name a few. Above all else, I made my own money and was able to provide for myself. I only had to worry about me.

This has all changed now. I live with my life partner in the Bronx. The Bronx was the cheapest place to live out of the five boroughs of NYC and plus it was close to my partner's grad school. The Bronx has its perks, but never have I been at a place that had so many poverty stricken areas! I was never ignorant to what poverty was, neither was my partner who had a poor upbringing, but I'd be lying to say that I wasn't shocked to see so many homeless people or low income class families. I'd also be lying to say that I wasn't afraid of where I was living because of how my neighbors perceive me to be. My partner and I are white, gay, females moving into an area, a Caribbean community rather, that have strong views, feelings and prejudices of our race and our orientation. My partner and I receive our fair share of harassment, it can be really scary at times, but we still feel comfortable enough to continue living where we are. Honestly though, I don't blame my neighbors for feeling such animosity towards us. Gentrification is huge around here, and when two white girls start moving in, many people get scared. For those who don't know what gentrification means: Gentrify means to renovate or improve (especially houses and districts) so that it conforms to a middle (upper) class taste.

The world is changing and there is much talk about going "green" and eating organic. I want to participate with that lifestyle change, but it can be really expensive. Purchasing food from a fast food restaurant is much cheaper than buying healthier organic foods at a grocery store - which by the way is a big result of nationwide obesity. I left my car upstate and now use public transportation, but unless the economy changes I don't think there will ever be shot of me buying a hybrid car in the future. It's not such a big deal right now, because having a car downstate can just be ridiculous, but who is to say that I will be living here in the next five years. The rent here is sky high, even in the crappiest sections.

How do people improve their way of life when everything costs so much? How do people hold onto their homes when the rent keeps on increasing? How do people afford health-care, if their employer doesn't offer it and you can't afford to be absent from work when you are sick and you don't qualify for medicare/caid? How do school systems afford to pay good teachers to come in and educate students in high crime areas? How do people get a higher education when they don't have enough teachers and school resources? How do people afford to eat healthier when it costs too much? Again I ask, how do people improve their way of life when everything costs so much? How is it possible for any low class and middle income class person/family to afford this? I never had to ask myself these questions until now, because now I'm living it and it seems like a big destructive cycle.

Poverty is everywhere. Changes need to be made because everything we take for granted can effect someone else.




Photo: Co-op City Bronx, NY

Bordertown: The Juarez Murders

A recent trip to a newly opened video outlet yielded an interesting and disturbing find. I have long been a fan of Martin Sheen's work, so my attention was drawn to the hitherto unknown title Bordertown, co-starring Jennifer Lopez. The movie is based on real events in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, located just across the Rio Grande from the west Texas city of El Paso. I had spent several months at nearby Fort Bliss prior to my separation from active duty in the spring of 1969, and had visited Juarez on three different occasions, which further piqued my interest.

My first foray across the border was a daytime visit to an area of shops and stalls selling curios and the types of merchandise that one encounters in tourist traps everywhere. Along with serapes and sombreros, I recall a myriad of paintings on black velvet backgrounds, with Jesus Christ and Elvis Presley as the most common subjects. I remember the aggressive bargaining of several merchants who (possibly) feigned indignation if they were denied a sale. The highlight of the day was a long conversation, mostly conducted in what remained of my high school Spanish, with a vendor who taught English classes in the evening. For well over an hour, I answered his questons on the proper pronunciation and usage of words to the best of my ability. We met as strangers and parted as friends.

Equally memorable was the evening in late December when four members of our squad set out to sample the Juarez nightlife. We were a motley crew: the two squad leaders were a tall, lanky fellow from North Carolina and a Connecticut Yankee of Polish heritage; the third member was a Canadian citizen of native American extraction who had joined the US army to escape the poverty of the reservation, and I was the fourth, an unrepentant liberal with latent musical tendencies. After a few earlier stops, eventually came to a bar with a live band, and there we stayed. I, of course, was interested in the music provided by the house band, a capable mixture of rock and R&B covers. During a break, I became acquainted with the lead singer, and eventually joined the band onstage to sing Revolution by The Beatles. My Connecticut Yankee friend got involved in a long political discussion with a Juarez cop, while our Canadian friend set off in search of a different kind of activity, much to the chagrin of our Southern gent, whose paranoia grew exponentially as the night wore on, culminating with the discovery that our missing member had been relieved of his wallet after being served a loaded drink. Juarez was a rough town, and it was considered unwise for any US serviceman to attract the attention of the local police. As we left, we were being followed by four officers who seemed to have taken an interest in us, but fortunately, we were able to hail a cab for the ride back across the border.

Forty years later, Juarez is home to a large number of assembly plants called maquiladoras, set up in the post-NAFTA era by large U.S. and international corporations to take advantage of cheap Mexican labor and loose environmental regulations. The labor for these plants is predominately provided by young women from the impoverished Mexican interior, earning an estimated $30 to $55 per week under working conditions that were outlawed in this country a century ago. The film deals dramatically with an epidemic of violence that has claimed the lives of hundreds, perhaps thousands of women, while politicians and capitalists seek only to hide the evidence, and the corporate media acquiesces to the dictates of their masters. It is not a pretty picture.

Help Pass the PROTECT Our Children Act 1738

So I just finished watching an episode of Oprah about sexual predators. It was so hard to watch, but I was able to make it through to the end of the program - and I am glad I did. Oprah stated that she was tired of talking about child abuse and wanted to actually do something. Well, it turns out all of us can help, but we just need to act fast. There is a bill that we need to pass in order to help the children who cannot be helped.

Here's what Oprah's website has to say about this bill that's being voted on very shortly:

Hundreds of thousands of children are victims of sexual abuse each year. Due to the sheer lack of resources, law enforcement is unable to follow up on the majority of leads they have.

The PROTECT Our Children Act will:

* Authorize over $320 million over the next five years in desperately needed funding for law enforcement to investigate child exploitation.
* Mandate that child rescue be a top priority for law enforcement receiving federal funding.
* Allocate funds for high-tech computer software that can track down Internet predators.

Okay, so this is the part that we jump in and act. We call, fax, email, or write to our senators, and it can't be any easier, because there's a sample letter you can cut and paste into your email or if you go to Oprah's site (http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20080911_tows_predators) her page has a link to www.senate.gov (or you can just click on the link from this page). From the senate.gov page you pick your state, your senator and then click on the "web form" button if you want to send them an email.

Call Your Senators
If you choose to contact your senators by phone, be sure to tell them, "Vote yes on Senate Bill 1738—The PROTECT Our Children Act."

Write to Your Senators
If you choose to write a letter, fax, telegram or e-mail, you may use the following sample letter—and modify it how you see fit.

Dear Senator:

I know that you believe, like I do, that we must do everything possible to protect children from sexual predators. That is why I am asking for your help.

Last year alone, U.S. law enforcement identified over 300,000 criminals who were trafficking in movies and pictures of young children being raped and tortured. Experts say that one in every three of these criminals has local child victims. Child pornography trafficking over the Internet has given us a trail of evidence that leads straight to their doorsteps, but the vast majority of these children will never be rescued because investigators are overwhelmed, outnumbered and underfunded.

As your constituent, I urge you to do everything in your power to pass the PROTECT Our Children Act (S. 1738, Biden-Hatch). This bipartisan legislation passed the House 415-2, but it is now the victim of petty partisan politics.

Now that we know where these children are and how to protect them, there is no excuse for the Senate to fail to take action this session.

(Your name here)

YES, IT'S THAT SIMPLE! So act now, so that this bill can pass ASAP!