Friday, October 12, 2007
We won the Nobel peace prize!
I am taking a break to write this, joy joy, after having taken a break yesterday to go listen to our 2000 President, Mr. Al Gore, speak at a rally for Barbara Boxer's reelection to the Senate. I have too many deadlines today to go into great length and so will return to edit, but what jubilation! He was wonderful yesterday, taking the time out of a very busy schedule to come speak to us about his passion, the state of our imperiled planet and its environment. Al, the seals, polar bears, people in the rest of the world, and this one canosa grandmother who loves to raise hell, honor you!
Monday, October 8, 2007
Brown Bay/ la bahía de color
I was traveling on the Bart and I noticed, with great joy, that I was surrounded by people of color. In the station, on the seats all around me, walking up the stairs, enjoying their lattés amd their phos, and all the other good stuff that is so much a part of daily life, we were all united in not being any of the washed white waves of this continent. Indigenous, Asian, Latino, African-American, so much variety, so welcome to my eyes. Here no one has told me not to speak Spanish, no one has berated me because my hips are too large or my hair is not fashionably whatever. Here my differences are welcomed, my diversity is a matter of joy. When a local African-American representative from the utilities company visited to ask about things that I could put in my apartment for energy savings, when he asked what languages I spoke and I mentioned French among them, he immediately responded in French~ we became buddies, amies, a twinkle and a sourire...
Ah, my lovely Bay of the infinite spice of life...
Ah, my lovely Bay of the infinite spice of life...
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Polvo/face powder
En el metro BART camino a la corte había una hermosa joven asiática con un compacto, poniéndose polvo en sus facciones perfectas. Excepto una vez que me maquillaron para una presentación en público, nunca he usado polvo... No sé por qué... era algo que todas las mujeres de la época de mi madre y mi abuela usaban, y de hechos los compactos eran hermosos...
Fue algo raro ver esta jovencita con aquello que me recuerda mi niñez. En cierto sentido, hemos logrado grandes cosas, y en otros, estamos en las mismas de siempre. Todavía se nos discrimina, se nos deja para plato de segunda mesa, se nos niegan los beneficios de nuestros compañeros que poseen penes en vez de vaginas. Pero todavía se usa el polvo en la cara... Y en una cara sin manchas, perfecta, por lo que pude ver...
=========================
In the BART on my way to court there was beautiful young Asian woman with a compact, patting face power on her perfect features. Except for one time when I was made up for a public appearance, I never used powder... I don't really know why... it was something all the women in my mother's and grandmother's generation used, and the compacts were beautiful...
It was strange to see this young girl with something that so reminds me of my childhood. In some sense, we have come a long way, and in another, it's the same as always. We are still subject to discrimination, still left as second-rate fare, still denied the benefits afforded to those of our mates with penises instead of vaginas. But the face powder is still being used... and on a face without blemish, perfect, as far as I could see.
Fue algo raro ver esta jovencita con aquello que me recuerda mi niñez. En cierto sentido, hemos logrado grandes cosas, y en otros, estamos en las mismas de siempre. Todavía se nos discrimina, se nos deja para plato de segunda mesa, se nos niegan los beneficios de nuestros compañeros que poseen penes en vez de vaginas. Pero todavía se usa el polvo en la cara... Y en una cara sin manchas, perfecta, por lo que pude ver...
=========================
In the BART on my way to court there was beautiful young Asian woman with a compact, patting face power on her perfect features. Except for one time when I was made up for a public appearance, I never used powder... I don't really know why... it was something all the women in my mother's and grandmother's generation used, and the compacts were beautiful...
It was strange to see this young girl with something that so reminds me of my childhood. In some sense, we have come a long way, and in another, it's the same as always. We are still subject to discrimination, still left as second-rate fare, still denied the benefits afforded to those of our mates with penises instead of vaginas. But the face powder is still being used... and on a face without blemish, perfect, as far as I could see.
No adults allowed unless accompanied by children/No se permiten adultos sin no vienen acompañados de niños
As I crossed the park to reach the Court in San Francisco, there was one of those small urban parks, no greenery but some strange items which I suppose are swings, which reminded of the latest veto, done, he says, for the poor children, and because we should not be in the hands of socialized medicine but with private insurers. After all, it was going to add a 67 cent tax to each box of cigarettes... and the tobacco industry, long may they wave, immediately said no siree, so the children are proverbially fucked, but whoever cared about the poor anyway?
And I just finished reading The Mission Song, which has taken me very long; Sue gave it to me in April, and I had expected the knife in the bowels that LeCarré always delivers so well... the bad guys always win, and they get to keep their positions and their Mercedes, or whatever the luxury vehicle of choice. So depressing and so true... All of it business as usual, indeed.
I remember my now deceased cousin Ernesto, who was one of the little boys that became a terrorist during the last years of Batista's regime, when people disappeared to his torturers, and Ernesto, all of maybe 11 or 12, was one of the little boys learning to make Molotov cocktails for the 'revolution,' as did Armando, my lover, but there is a price to be paid for early involvement; you have a botched childhood and part of you never grows up...
Cidade de Deus, indeed...
I had fallen asleep during the Daily Show tonight, but LeCarré woke me up... and I am thinking of the man who set himself on fire for peace. And all the monks during the Vietnam war... part of it is that after so much hopelessness, you hope to go out in a flame of recrimination, hoping someone out there will finally wake up...
My Cuba, who was never allowed to be free, with the US dollars...
----------------------------------------------
Cruzando el parque para ir a la corte en San Francisco, había uno de esos parques urbanos pequeños, sin cosas verdes pero con esos aparatos extraños que me imagino que son columpios, y me acordé del último veto, que dice haber hecho 'por los niños pobres' y porque no deberíamos estar en las manos de la medicina socializada sino con los seguros privados. Después de todo, esto le añadiría un impuesto de 67 centavos a cada cajetilla de cigarrillos... y la industria tabacalera, en su inmensa gloria, inmediatamente le dio el no al proceso, de modo que se jodan los niños, pero ¿desde cuándo nos hemos preocupado de los pobres infelices?
Y acabo de terminar de leer la Canción de las Misiones, que me ha tomado muchísimo tiempo; Sue me la regaló en abril, y yo ya estaba esperando el cuchillo en las vísceras que LeCarré siempre logra tan bien... los malos siempre ganan, y se quedan con sus puestos y sus Mercedes, o el carro de luxo que sea. Tan deprimente y tan verdadero... Todo siempre lo mismo de siempre, de hecho.
Me acuerdo de mi difunto primo Ernesto, uno de los niñitos que se volvió terrorista durante los últimos años de la dictadura batistiana, cuando la gente desaparecía con tanta frecuencia a sus torturadores, y Ernesto, que tal vez tenía 11 o 12 años, era uno de los chiquilines que aprendió a hacer cocteles Molotov para la 'revolución,' como lo hizo Armando, mi amante, pero se paga un precio cuando se empieza tan temprano; se destruye la niñez, y hay una parte del ser humano que nunca crece...
Cidade de Deus, de hecho...
Esta noche me quedé dormida mirando el Daily Show, pero LeCarré me despertó... y estoy pensando en el hombre que se quemó vivo por la paz. Y todos los monjes que hicieron lo mismo durante la guerra en Vietnam... en parte es tanta desesperación... uno quisiera un acto final de recriminación, con la esperanza de que las llamas despierten a alguien..
Mi Cuba, que nunca pudo ser libre, con los dólares norteamericanos...
And I just finished reading The Mission Song, which has taken me very long; Sue gave it to me in April, and I had expected the knife in the bowels that LeCarré always delivers so well... the bad guys always win, and they get to keep their positions and their Mercedes, or whatever the luxury vehicle of choice. So depressing and so true... All of it business as usual, indeed.
I remember my now deceased cousin Ernesto, who was one of the little boys that became a terrorist during the last years of Batista's regime, when people disappeared to his torturers, and Ernesto, all of maybe 11 or 12, was one of the little boys learning to make Molotov cocktails for the 'revolution,' as did Armando, my lover, but there is a price to be paid for early involvement; you have a botched childhood and part of you never grows up...
Cidade de Deus, indeed...
I had fallen asleep during the Daily Show tonight, but LeCarré woke me up... and I am thinking of the man who set himself on fire for peace. And all the monks during the Vietnam war... part of it is that after so much hopelessness, you hope to go out in a flame of recrimination, hoping someone out there will finally wake up...
My Cuba, who was never allowed to be free, with the US dollars...
----------------------------------------------
Cruzando el parque para ir a la corte en San Francisco, había uno de esos parques urbanos pequeños, sin cosas verdes pero con esos aparatos extraños que me imagino que son columpios, y me acordé del último veto, que dice haber hecho 'por los niños pobres' y porque no deberíamos estar en las manos de la medicina socializada sino con los seguros privados. Después de todo, esto le añadiría un impuesto de 67 centavos a cada cajetilla de cigarrillos... y la industria tabacalera, en su inmensa gloria, inmediatamente le dio el no al proceso, de modo que se jodan los niños, pero ¿desde cuándo nos hemos preocupado de los pobres infelices?
Y acabo de terminar de leer la Canción de las Misiones, que me ha tomado muchísimo tiempo; Sue me la regaló en abril, y yo ya estaba esperando el cuchillo en las vísceras que LeCarré siempre logra tan bien... los malos siempre ganan, y se quedan con sus puestos y sus Mercedes, o el carro de luxo que sea. Tan deprimente y tan verdadero... Todo siempre lo mismo de siempre, de hecho.
Me acuerdo de mi difunto primo Ernesto, uno de los niñitos que se volvió terrorista durante los últimos años de la dictadura batistiana, cuando la gente desaparecía con tanta frecuencia a sus torturadores, y Ernesto, que tal vez tenía 11 o 12 años, era uno de los chiquilines que aprendió a hacer cocteles Molotov para la 'revolución,' como lo hizo Armando, mi amante, pero se paga un precio cuando se empieza tan temprano; se destruye la niñez, y hay una parte del ser humano que nunca crece...
Cidade de Deus, de hecho...
Esta noche me quedé dormida mirando el Daily Show, pero LeCarré me despertó... y estoy pensando en el hombre que se quemó vivo por la paz. Y todos los monjes que hicieron lo mismo durante la guerra en Vietnam... en parte es tanta desesperación... uno quisiera un acto final de recriminación, con la esperanza de que las llamas despierten a alguien..
Mi Cuba, que nunca pudo ser libre, con los dólares norteamericanos...
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Brakes and activism/ frenos y el activismo
Daniel Alejandro, mi mecánico, jura que alguien deliberadamente sacó la llanta y desprendió una parte esencial de mi freno delantero, del lado del conductor... no tengo pruebas, pero no sería la primera vez que alguien se molesta por lo que dicen mis letreros, en contra del dictador de Norte América y su camorra... En Masachusets me quitaron todas las luces en una parada de descanso, y cuando regresé del baño me encontré las luces y sus cables afuera, y el carro arañado donde trataron de quitar el letrero que decía, en las próximas elecciones elijan a alguien que le haga un proceso de acusación y procesamiento al esbirro del norte...
Lo de los frenos fue de miedo... a una cuadra de mi casa cuando frené ante un Pare, el carro siguió, y casi le doy a otro auto y casi arrollo a una señora que cruzaba la calle...
Ayer hablando con una ayudante en la oficina de una congresista decía yo lo triste y harta que me siento con lo que veo como traición en masa, salvo algunas excepciones como Barbara Lee, Maxine Waters, Dennis Kucinich, entre otros, de estos dizque demócratas sin agallas...
Y sobre los frenos, simplemente tendré que revisar el auto antes de salir. Los letreros se quedan... tengo pulgas antiguas, y no me las voy a sacar porque algún tal por cual tiene problemas con ellas...
===================================================================
My mechanic Daniel Alejandro swears that someone deliberately tampered with my brakes, that they took off the front left tire and removed an essential part that would not come off on its own... I have no proof, but it would not be the first time that someone is upset by my bumper stickers and signs, against the North American dictator and his camorra... In Massachusetts someone took off all my rear lights at a rest stop and I came back from the bathroom to find all the light and their cables hanging from the back of the car... and the car scratched where someone tried to remove my 'in the next elections, elect someone that will impeach' the ruffian from the North ...
The brake thing was frightening... a block away from my house when I braked in front of a stop sign the car kept going... I almost hit another car and a woman who was crossing the street...
Yesterday while speaking to an aide in the office of a congress person I was talking about how disappointed and fed up I am watching the mass betrayal, save for a few exceptions such as Barbara Lee, Maxine Waters, Dennis Kucinich, among others, of these so-called Democrats with no guts...
And about the brakes, I will just have to go more carefully and inspect my car before I take off from places. The stickers are staying... ain't no one messing with my old fleas, they have been with me for too many years, and if someone has an issue, it's their issue, not mine...
Lo de los frenos fue de miedo... a una cuadra de mi casa cuando frené ante un Pare, el carro siguió, y casi le doy a otro auto y casi arrollo a una señora que cruzaba la calle...
Ayer hablando con una ayudante en la oficina de una congresista decía yo lo triste y harta que me siento con lo que veo como traición en masa, salvo algunas excepciones como Barbara Lee, Maxine Waters, Dennis Kucinich, entre otros, de estos dizque demócratas sin agallas...
Y sobre los frenos, simplemente tendré que revisar el auto antes de salir. Los letreros se quedan... tengo pulgas antiguas, y no me las voy a sacar porque algún tal por cual tiene problemas con ellas...
===================================================================
My mechanic Daniel Alejandro swears that someone deliberately tampered with my brakes, that they took off the front left tire and removed an essential part that would not come off on its own... I have no proof, but it would not be the first time that someone is upset by my bumper stickers and signs, against the North American dictator and his camorra... In Massachusetts someone took off all my rear lights at a rest stop and I came back from the bathroom to find all the light and their cables hanging from the back of the car... and the car scratched where someone tried to remove my 'in the next elections, elect someone that will impeach' the ruffian from the North ...
The brake thing was frightening... a block away from my house when I braked in front of a stop sign the car kept going... I almost hit another car and a woman who was crossing the street...
Yesterday while speaking to an aide in the office of a congress person I was talking about how disappointed and fed up I am watching the mass betrayal, save for a few exceptions such as Barbara Lee, Maxine Waters, Dennis Kucinich, among others, of these so-called Democrats with no guts...
And about the brakes, I will just have to go more carefully and inspect my car before I take off from places. The stickers are staying... ain't no one messing with my old fleas, they have been with me for too many years, and if someone has an issue, it's their issue, not mine...
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Veterans for Peace/los veteranos por la paz
En la misma forma en que William Rodríguez (ver comentarios de ayer al respecto) tiene EL DERECHO de hablar sobre los acontecimientos del 11 de septiembre porque estuvo presente, porque es un sobreviviente, porque fue uno de los que participó en el rescate, arriesgando su propia vida (no como Adolfito Giulani, cuasi-nazi que lo que hizo fue presentarse en la televisión para que lo admiraran mientras la ciudad sangraba), todos los veteranos por la paz que he conocido son hombres y mujeres que, por haber estado presentes en alguno de los tantos conflictos fabricados y genuinos en los que los EEUU se han visto envueltos, tienen EL DERECHO a hablar al respecto.
Cuando estuve en Crawford con Cindy Sheehan y el movimiento anti-bélico hace dos años, mis mejores héroes fueron los veteranos por la paz. Todos los días teníamos actividades en contra de la guerra... algunos de ellos han regresado a los países donde una vez pelearon, y ayudan en orfelinatos y escuelas. El mismo día que llegué fuimos a una protesta porque estaban tratando de cerrar un enorme hospital de veteranos en Waco... Un gobierno que usa de esa forma a sus hombres y mujeres, y luego los 'bota' a la basura, olvidando sus necesidades de tratamiento médico, es un gobierno desleal. Qué se puede esperar, después de que engatusan a los jovencitos con anuncios multicolores, y luego regresan tullidos, o no regresan...
=============================================
In the same way William Rodríguez (see yesterday's comments) has THE RIGHT to speak about the events of September 11th, because he was there, because he is a survivor, because he was one of the ones that participated in the rescue efforts, risking his own life (not like Adolf Giuliani, the quasi-Nazi who used the opportunity to appear on TV so he might be admired while the city bled), all the veterans for peace I have met are men and women who have been present in one of the many conflicts, both manufactured and genuine that the US has been involved with, and who thus have THE RIGHT to speak about them.
When I was in Crawford with Cindy Sheehan and the peace movement two years ago, my best heroes were the veterans for peace. Everyday we had activities against the war... some of the them have returned to the countries where they fought, and help out in orphan homes and schools. The day I arrived we went to a protest against the closing of a huge veteran's hospital in Waco... A government that uses its men and women this way then "discards" them, forgetting their medical needs, is a disloyal government. What can you expect, after they lure young people with multimedia advertisements, and later they return maimed, or do not return...
Saturday, September 8, 2007
My new hero/mi nuevo héroe
Acabo de ver hablar a William Rodríguez, el último sobreviviente de la torre norte el 11 de septiembre, un verdadero héroe, que me ha hecho llenar los ojos de lágrimas, y me ha inspirado con su valentía y su don de gentes. Un "simple" conserje por 19 años antes del ataque a las torres gemelas, y un hombre que ha tenido la osadía de enfrentarse a las mentiras de la administración de los Guiulanis y los Bush que rigen este país; su sitio en red está en el http://william911.com/. A pesar de su rol como último sobreviviente, y a pesar de que estuvo presente y participó personalmente del rescate de cientos de personas, como su testimonio habla de explosiones dentro de la torre, la comisión para el estudio de lo que pasó el 11 de septiembre dejó fuera su testimonio...
William habló incluso de que se ha estado usando el 11 de septiembre como excusa para la guerra, para la eliminación de nuestras libertades civiles, no solamente en los EEUU sino en el mundo entero... habló de las nuevas leyes o código bajos las cuales nosotros los activistas podemos ser declarados 'combatientes enemigos' y arrestados sin orden judicial, sin derecho a abogado, y podemos quedar presos indefinidamente... En mi caso, el "Military Commissions Act of 2006," o Ley de Comisiones Militares del 2006, me da el derecho especial a ser transportada fuera del país a alguno de esos lugares donde se practican formas de interrogación más 'severas,' porque al no haber nacido en los EEUU, mi ciudadanía norteamericana vale menos... Esta fue la ley infame que eliminó el derecho a habeas corpus y que se usaría para evadir el Convenio de Ginebra...
Tendré que escribir más al respecto en otro momento... realmente me he pasado el tiempo libre ayer y hoy viendo programas sobre las incursiones de la derecha y del imperio sobre la ley, sobre los derechos humanos, y el testimonio de William ha sido lo que me terminó de colmar la copa...
Son los William Rodríguez, y hay muchos, aunque no tantos como necesita nuestro triste planeta, los que nos dan el aliento para seguir luchando contra este monstruo de cabezas múltiples...
===============================================================
I have just heard a presentation by William Rodríguez, the last survivor of the North Tower on September 11th, and a true hero, whose words have filled me with unshed tears and have inspired me with his bravery and his people skills. A "simple" janitor for 19 years before the attack upon the Twin Towers, and a man who had the guts to confront the lies of the administrations of the likes of the Guiulanis and Bushes ruling this nation; his website is at http://william911.com/. Despite his role as the last survivor, and despite having been present and having participated personally in the rescue of hundreds of people, because his testimony about the events of that day also spoke about internal explosions, the 9/11 Commission left his testimony out of their report...
William even spoke about September 11th being used to excuse the war, to eliminate our civil rights, not only in the US but throughout the world... he spoke about the new laws or regulations under which activists such as ourselves may be arrested at any time and declared 'enemy combatants,' with no right to counsel, and held indefinitely... In my own case, the "Military Commissions Act of 2006" gives me the special privilege of being transported outside the continental US to one of those places that practice "stricter interrogation methods," because not having been born in the US means that my US citizenship is worth less... This was the infamous law that eliminated habeas corpus and that would be used to circumvent the Geneva Convention...
I will have to write more about this later... I have spent my free time yesterday and today watching programs about the further incursions of the right and of empire upon the rule of law, upon human rights, and William's testimony has been the straw that broke the camel's back...
It is the William Rodríguez', and there are many, but not as many as our sad planet requires, that give us the will to continue fighting this multiple-headed monster...
William habló incluso de que se ha estado usando el 11 de septiembre como excusa para la guerra, para la eliminación de nuestras libertades civiles, no solamente en los EEUU sino en el mundo entero... habló de las nuevas leyes o código bajos las cuales nosotros los activistas podemos ser declarados 'combatientes enemigos' y arrestados sin orden judicial, sin derecho a abogado, y podemos quedar presos indefinidamente... En mi caso, el "Military Commissions Act of 2006," o Ley de Comisiones Militares del 2006, me da el derecho especial a ser transportada fuera del país a alguno de esos lugares donde se practican formas de interrogación más 'severas,' porque al no haber nacido en los EEUU, mi ciudadanía norteamericana vale menos... Esta fue la ley infame que eliminó el derecho a habeas corpus y que se usaría para evadir el Convenio de Ginebra...
Tendré que escribir más al respecto en otro momento... realmente me he pasado el tiempo libre ayer y hoy viendo programas sobre las incursiones de la derecha y del imperio sobre la ley, sobre los derechos humanos, y el testimonio de William ha sido lo que me terminó de colmar la copa...
Son los William Rodríguez, y hay muchos, aunque no tantos como necesita nuestro triste planeta, los que nos dan el aliento para seguir luchando contra este monstruo de cabezas múltiples...
===============================================================
I have just heard a presentation by William Rodríguez, the last survivor of the North Tower on September 11th, and a true hero, whose words have filled me with unshed tears and have inspired me with his bravery and his people skills. A "simple" janitor for 19 years before the attack upon the Twin Towers, and a man who had the guts to confront the lies of the administrations of the likes of the Guiulanis and Bushes ruling this nation; his website is at http://william911.com/. Despite his role as the last survivor, and despite having been present and having participated personally in the rescue of hundreds of people, because his testimony about the events of that day also spoke about internal explosions, the 9/11 Commission left his testimony out of their report...
William even spoke about September 11th being used to excuse the war, to eliminate our civil rights, not only in the US but throughout the world... he spoke about the new laws or regulations under which activists such as ourselves may be arrested at any time and declared 'enemy combatants,' with no right to counsel, and held indefinitely... In my own case, the "Military Commissions Act of 2006" gives me the special privilege of being transported outside the continental US to one of those places that practice "stricter interrogation methods," because not having been born in the US means that my US citizenship is worth less... This was the infamous law that eliminated habeas corpus and that would be used to circumvent the Geneva Convention...
I will have to write more about this later... I have spent my free time yesterday and today watching programs about the further incursions of the right and of empire upon the rule of law, upon human rights, and William's testimony has been the straw that broke the camel's back...
It is the William Rodríguez', and there are many, but not as many as our sad planet requires, that give us the will to continue fighting this multiple-headed monster...
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