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Saturday, July 31, 2004
gay simpson
my vote is for one of marge's sisters or moe

speaking of which, Andrew Clouse, if you read the blog, David from Arizona and his sister and some friends came into Chez Antoine last night while Julia and I were working!

Thursday, July 29, 2004
I can post again!
Wow! Ever since the Blogger changed (for most of a month) I couldn't post. For some reason, I could not figure out how to post in Mozilla. I'm using Microsoft Internet Explorer now, so I'm back! :)

Some random stuff:

Line from the 1950 movie Born Yesterday: "Looks like you two have really pulled a boner." (?)

And I read online that one of the characters on "The Simpsons" is going to come out of the closet. Will it be the obvious (Smithers) or somebody else (Bart?)? Hmm....



um duh,
if your bored in Goshen, take a trip east!

BEADAZZLED!

p.s. if anyone in or around h'burg has a truck or knows someone with a truck: E-MAIL ME, or CALL!!! thanks!


In other news, we have a new apartment, it's in SE, near 16th and C. Also, if two busses are stoppred next to each other in Dupont Circle, do not try and squeeze in between them, because if the light turns green halfway through the buses you will be a squished little bug. Additionally, it become very apparent the number of hours you've spent on a bike and the days you've gone with out a shower when you're riding in an elevator... things are worse when you're not wearing underwear or a bra and your tank top is quite see through.

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

This isn't, of course, the rabbit that my father killed. But it could be.

My father and I were rolling along 322 late Monday afternoon, heading up to a cabin in the mountains west of Port Royal. A rabbit was in the middle of the highway, hopping nervously like rabbits do. It hopped under my father's motorcycle and the next instant was tumbling down the highway. A head twisted in grotesque inversion of its proper orientation. A flash of red and fur. A second went by and then I passed it on the right.

It was only a rabbit, and my father didn't even mention it when we stopped late to call and say that we were almost there. When I mentioned it he noted that the rabbit had been flipped into the air by the tire and had bounced off of his shoe. I'd often worried about hitting animals while riding, and this did alievate my fears that I would get hurt from the encounter.

At the cabin my cousin has memorized parts of Search for the Holy Grail, my aunt and uncle are involved in the Cambodian chapter of NION, my other uncle is planning on making all of his kids take Spanish in high school even if they don't want to, and my other cousin split his finger open while playing with explosions in a parking lot. He's being a real trooper about it, actually. He's doesn't whine, just asks occasionally if it's time for more codiene. The aunt, uncle, and two cousins will soon be returning to Cambodia to complete their MCC terms there. When we see each other next I'll have a J.D.


home soon..
and I can't wait.

Cedar Point is eating my soul....

Tuesday, July 27, 2004







ok, you'ins, i need your help, for real now, to test this LinPHA system. I have posted some photos in the galleries for ya'll to review. drop me a line via the comments box or electronic mail regarding the download time and image review time.


Monday, July 26, 2004
back in the goodle days...
Goshen College


but what is worse is losing your wallet, biking ten miles to scary suburban metropolis Silver Spring because you don't have enought cash/patience for the metro ride there, so you get there, then and you can't find the damn building and when you do find the right building (which isn't even on the right street) you can't find the elevator, and when you do finally find the right building and the elevator you go up to the 5th floor and get lost in a maze of offfices trying to find the lost & find to see if the found your wallet, so you wait in line and they tell you you don't have your wallet, but you can fill out this form, so you fill out the form, and as a parting gift for the lost & found you leave your remaining bike key at the lost & found. lost in the maze of offices you follow exit signs and before you know it you're in a stair-well, so you go back down to the first floor to take the elevator back up, but on the second floor there is a giant gate and if you open it the fire alarm sounds so you go back up to the 5th floor and pound on the locked door for a while and then the 4th and then ther fifth again, and finally someone hears you on the 4th floor so you run up to the lost and found and retrieve you key, then you geet out of the building and hop on you bike and unknowingly pedal away from DC, did i mention you are late for work? yeah, so your lost in owhere maryland, and then you're not and then you're at work. yay.

Friday, July 23, 2004
another online gem...
gem

"old school, new england blogger"
foas, check out this article: note the ending. Toledo Blade

dude, NYC is totally kicking my ass
MOVIE SET - GOSHEN, IN, EXT, DAY

JENNE

Dude, I got a job in New York

MEG

Really? Can I have then number?

doot doot doot doot>

BETSY

hello?

MEG

Hey dude, can I come play on your movie set

BETSY

Totally

MEG

Sweeeet! I'll see you in a few days

MONTAGE: Meg runs back to her house, sees gigantic party, packs up stuff, says goodbye to VAL, drives to NYC, unloads car in dad's kitchen, drives to Long Island, wanders through subway, finds movie set.

MICHEAL KEETON

sup?

MEG

sup?

MICHEAL HOFFMAN

soccer?

MEG

totally.

DAVID DUNLAP

I've been the DP for a lot of
famous movies

MEG

Knarley!

GUY WHO PLAYS BLACK BUSH ON THE CHAPELLE SHOW

Holla Holla Holla

MEG

Heh heh heh heh

LOC: EAST HARLEM - DAY EXT

Gun shots heard

MEG

Wow, look at all those police cars

(THE NEXT DAY)

Meg meets up with two girls Isreal through mom's cousin who is their temp prof, they're 21 and 22 and have both been in the Isreali army

MEG

So how 'bout the middle east

ISREALI KIDS

Dude, it's swingin'. Let's go to chinatown

MEG

Iced capaccino?

ISREALI KIDS

Shakespeare in the Park

MEG

Dude! it's that lady from 3rd rock romn the sun, kristen someone

ISREALI KIDS

Dude! It's those guys from law and order and NYPD blue

MEG

Dude, NYC is totally rockin'

Thursday, July 22, 2004

New York
L.A.
San Francisco
Seattle
Miami

Denver
Portland
D.C.
Chicago
Boston
Atlanta
Minneapolis
Austin
Philadelphia

Pittsburgh
New Orleans
Baltimore
Cincinnati
Dallas
Houston
Detroit
Indianapolis
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
Cleveland

Okay, so here is a list of cities grouped into three categories. Cities listed in red are cities which think they are so cool that they become annoying and aren't cool anymore. Cities listed in yellow aren't "too cool for school," but present some risk. However, it's still okay to live there. Cities listed in green present no risk of being pretentious at all.

Please help add to the list! Rules:

  1. Only cities with a population of over 100,000 can play. We have to keep some length restrictions on the list, and about 40 sounds good. So Goshen is disqualified, but Nashville is in.
  2. We don't count cities that are part of the same urban area as another city. So Oakland is out, but Nashville again would be in.

Please disagree with my rankings, too, if you feel they're wrong. Some rankings are admittedly really close, such as Atlanta being over Minneapolis. However, if you think that Philly is at a greater risk of attracting a dangerous level of Von Dutch apparel than, say, Boston, please let me know.

(Oh, and for chrissake, this is all just a joke.)


This is from Toronto, but very much resembles our meters.Funny day for parking and seeing people. I was buzzing around downtown, running errands. First I parked over at Judiciary Square in a spot that had a broken meter. I was worried about it, but there was no ticket when I got back. Then I parked in the motorcycle parking across from the World Bank. While sitting in a meeting I realized that I had forgotten to plug the meter. So rarely do I park in metered spots, the thought just never occurs to me. But amazingly I managed to go two hours and not get a ticket, though I suppose it's possible that it blew off...

Following that I parked in motorcycle parking over by the EEOC office. I crossed the street, and realized I hadn't plugged the meter. I hurried back and who should I find there but a city employee lazily writing out a ticket. But it wasn't for me! It was for the person next to me. Amazingly, she hadn't gotten to my bike yet. I asked her if I'd really beaten her. She laughed. She hadn't even noticed my meter yet. I slammed in a quarter and headed off to the EEOC. I suppose I could have gotten away with less than a quarter, that giving me a whole hour, but I was too happy to care.

I also saw three people I know today: (1) Dan Smith from the National Lawyers Guild; (2) Ian from school; and (3) Joel Kravetz from the Employment Justice Center. Dan and Ian I saw while I was on my bike, so I didn't say anything. Joel I met in the lobby of the EEOC office building. We shook hands briefly. He's an administrative law judge there and kind of an intimidating guy.

calling all tofu recipes...\o/


Simply in Season --SiS-- is the next generation of quality Mennonite cookbooks. Already well into the recipe collection stage, the following message appeared on the discussion board:
To date we have gotten few (or no) recipes featuring these foods: favas or lima beans, soybeans, leeks, kohlrabi, corn, Jerusalem artichokes/sunchokes, fennel, okra, broccoli, cauliflower, figs, melons, nectarines, peaches, plums, and apricots. We were pleased to receive a few tofu and seitan recipes but are still seeking favorite recipes for tempeh.

At the moment we also would particularly like to receive recipes for stirfry sauces and breads (yeast or quick) that use at least some whole wheat (or other whole grain) flour. Anyone have a scone recipe you particularly love? How about focaccia?
so, sign up as a contributor or a recipe tester and get cooking, eating--respectively.

Wednesday, July 21, 2004
How to make sure your life is full of stress and crisis
Go work for a small ngo, or better yet, work just one day a week for a activist network without a proper IT guy or gal. Then, offer them some nice open source technology solutions (preferably a pre-1.0 release) that will make their life so much easier. Install it for them and train them well enough so they come to depend on it as a vital part of their documentation and policy writing process.

Now, sit back and relax, because there's no chance at all that something will go wrong with the piece of open source software (which of course comes with no official tech support or guarantee). Especially not at a time when they really need access to the hundreds of documents they've stored on the system. And to make it even better, backup only irregularly and in a way that creates huge files that are very difficult to restore from.

Yeah, that's a good idea...

on the bright side of things
* i don't have to worry about getting mugged for a while
* i got to hang-out with meg and my brother for a while
* Val is here!
* Julia is coming back in 19 hours
* Meg might come home in a couple of days?!?!

Tuesday, July 20, 2004

Oh Kate, don't you see? Leaving your wallet on the metro is a sign, a sign that you're supposed to stay here. It's so clear, it could scarcely be clearer if it were written in the heavens.

Monday, July 19, 2004
i left my wallet on the metro tonight
$200, 2 credit cards, 4 bike keys, 3 different car keys, my drivers license, and keys to my mom's apt.

:(

while i was waiting to hear if anyone had turned it in yet, the station manager asked me if i "smoke reefer?"

:D

(i was going to make a reference about like me being a drug dealer and then selling some to the dude and then smoking or something... but i wasn't really sure if my wording was correct, so just pretend like i made a humorous innuendo and chuckle silently to your self)


erm
I'm in NYC (long island actually) and I don't really know what the hell I'm doing. hopefuilly I'll figure that out tomorrow


So I was on my way home from church yesterday evening (we have church in the evenings in July and since everyone else seems to already know why this is so it never gets explained and I never find out) I decided I needed some Chardonnay. So I was looking around at the Super Save and was trying to decide between the 750 of Yellowtail and the 1.5L of Concha y Toro. I went with the Concha y Toro because it was only a dollar more. Hey, it felt like old times. But then I got home and realized that we have two bottles of wine already opened, and how the hell am I going to drink a liter and a half before it gets vinegary? And it takes up so much space in the fridge because now that it's opened the cork leaks. So, invite yourselves over. I need you.






Sunday, July 18, 2004

This kind of stuff is so annoying. Asking people to pay over a dollar for one ginger root when you can get loads of it for change you could probably find in your couch at any decent neighborhood grocery. I guess it's organic, but really. Also, careful about clicking on this link.
  1. Get lemons, ginger root, water, strainer, and a big pot.
  2. Put a lot of water in the pot and boil it.
  3. Peel the ginger, chop it, mash it. Put it in the pot.
  4. Juice the lemons, reserve the juice, put the rinds in the pot.
  5. Put the lid on the pot and wait for a while.
  6. Turn off the heat and wait for it to cool.
  7. Strain the tea into a container. Stir in the lemon juice.
  8. Drink it.

That's what I did today. Also I fixed up my writing sample, references, resume, and transcript and applied for a job for summer of 2005. Yes, I have to apply for some jobs already. Applications need to be upload by this Wednesday and if I get an interview it'll be on August 12.

Friday, July 16, 2004
on a whim
i rode my bike down to E street theater for the 11 am showing of corporation. anyway, all i can say is, you need to go see this film. honestly the creepiest/spookiest thing i've ever seen. it was like a michael moore film with integrity, smooshed with NCOR and an eco-pax film festival, only with out the helpful discussions afterwards.

speaking of helpful discussions, Tasara and went to a Hip-hop theater festival show about Gentrification, re-location, and other issues in Columbia Heights/Mt. Pleasant and SE at the Folger's theater last night.

anyway...

Thursday, July 15, 2004

This is the picture of the man whose life was documented. He has AIDS.Went to Emily's happy hour tonight at Lucky Bar. It was okay. I talked to Emily a lot. I told her about Josh, another PLRC summer clerk and how he is very cute. Emily wants me to set her up. I also talked to the girl whose name is really Becca but who I think of as Kristin Buller because of a limited resemblance.

On the way home I stopped in at Kate's and Jules's workplace but they weren't there, at least according to a woman who looked like an even shorter version of Emily Holman. Too bad. I was going to invite them to the movie tomorrow, but they're probably working anyway.

But what was most interesting was what I found on TV. They were showing a documentary about Angola and AIDS. They followed this one man who had been in the Angolan army and had contracted AIDS, possibly from sharing razors in the jungle. They showed actors doing short plays about AIDS for sex workers and soldiers. I kept wishing that they wouldn't translate. I swear some of the people were speaking French, though the official language is Portuguese. (Other people were definitely speaking Portuguese, though.) The French was spoken with a slow, flat accent, sort as though it was being spoken by Nebraskans.

The documentary appealed to me immediately, though it took me a while to catch on why. I think it's because it wasn't racist. I won't congratulate it for this; that's an obligation on all of us. But it was a relief.

After the documentary portion ended Mishal Hussein interviewed Stephen Lewis. At first I was skeptical: what is a white man doing with this position? But when Mishal asked him about the AIDS sufferers he'd met tears came to his eyes as he talked about meeting people in June who were under the ground when he returned in December. Mishal asked about him why we see western leaders travel to Africa, promise relief for AIDS, but then nothing appears. Stephen suggested that these leadesr must be made from a different molecular structure to have such lack of compassion. How else could we explain a projected expenditure of $200 billion on war in Iraq and Afghanistan by 2005 when $10 billion a year would save three million African lives?

He's right of course, though I'll be harsher. Those people are not human beings. They are monsters wearing human skins. There is no other explanation.

long time no post (for me)
it's so nice to be home. The point's been pretty busy. Nevertheless, I've had good tip days and ones I want to forget. I've had about 6 people know where Goshen is and could pronouse it correctly.
anyway, life at the point is this: work, sleep, drink.
I'm one of the few people on my crew that only drinks once a week and not every night. I'm also in the small group that doesn't get drunk either--which has only happened once for me... Anyway, my crew has a "manditory meeting" at Club X, a gay bar in town, every monday night. It's a lot of fun, but I try to avoid the plastic lawn chairs they have inside... we broke at least 4 last week.. one of them ended with my roommate getting a concussion from the fall (she hit a table on the way down). She's okay though.
Well, I'll be heading back to Sandusky tomorrow night or early Saturday morning. Hopefully this break will do me good, and I can head back to work without the desire to smack half of my customers.

Tweaking the byline
I made a few changes to the byline, as you can see below. First, your name now links to you chosen "home page." See your profile (kate's for example) and fill in a home page if you want someone to do more than reload the page when they click on this. I really wanted this to point directly to folk's profile, but couldn't figure out how to do this. So if any of you blogwizzes out there no how, feel free to change it.

I also made the permalink more explicit by creating a new link called "see it alone" which allows you to see the respective post all by itself. So now if you want someone to see your blog post without reading through all the others, you can just give them that link.

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Someday, my name could be on one of these things...Went to the EJC clinic tonight. Second case wasn't very much fun (we can't help you with the lawsuit because we only do employment law, even if you are a self-employed cabbie and they're saying that the accident happened while you were driving), but the first was great. Well, great fun for me, not such a nice situation for the person involved. She works in retail and her coworker was at first very nice but then started to call her all the time and ask her out on dates. She stopped talking to him, so he started kicking her as she walked by and leaving trash at her register. Then he actually attacked her, leaving bruises. She called the cops and they took pictures. Now she wants to sue.

And by gum we can help her! We'll find her a lawyer who will take her on contingency and off she goes.

Actually, it was kind of inspiring. Maybe I'd like to do that some day. Just hang out the shingle and take little employment cases like that. Employers do so much bad stuff, I should be able to find enough plaintiffs to put bread on the table. Work for the government or a small employment firm for a while, then go on my own. Hey, if Zak did it, why can't I?

Good news in difficult times
I got this e-mail the other day, but I haven't heard anything more...
"U.S. House Rejects Plea For New Nuclear Arms"
Defense News - July 12, 2004 - By William Matthews

Support for building a nuclear “bunker buster” and other new nuclear weapons appears to be waning in the U.S. Congress, even among Republican lawmakers who have a record of supporting President George W. Bush on most issues.

By a 370-16 vote on June 25, the House of Representatives approved an Energy Department spending bill that pointedly omits funding for new nuclear weapons the Bush administration has been touting. The House vote cut:

** $27.5 million the administration wanted for a nuclear bunker buster.
** $9 million sought for work on a new generation of low-yield weapons, or “mini nukes.”
** $30 million to begin building a new factory to make the “pits” that are the heart of nuclear weapons.

Rep. David Hobson, R-Ohio, led the opposition to the nuclear initiatives. A conservative who votes with Bush more often than not, Hobson said the National Nuclear Security Administration that manages U.S. nuclear weapons “needs to take a time-out” on new weapons until it reviews U.S. security needs, budget constraints and a nuclear stockpile plan just completed by the Bush administration.
Why isn't anyone celebrating? Isn't this really good news?

In other good news...

Farenheit 9/11 passes 100 million in box office reciepts. Of course Disney gets 60%.

Tuesday, July 13, 2004
i rode up Conneticut ave. to Bethesda in only my underware!
okay, i was wearing a t-shirt and a bra too, and it wasn't so much my underwear as boxer shorts, but i wasn't wearing anything underneath, so it sure felt like i was only wearing underwear.


Spam gets bit --> 419

Saturday, July 10, 2004
In other happy news...
Guess who just bought a turntable and two perfect-condition Bob Marley records? Well, Sue Schrock, technically, since she gave us some "fun" money for watching this dog Nelly while she's in NY. But we get to keep them at our house and play them a lot when Val and Meg move out here! yay!

SWEEEEEEET!!!!!!
Guess who just got the credit as the assistant UPM on a 35mm anamorphic kick-ass feature!!!!!

Friday, July 09, 2004

So today is my 21st birthday. I don't feel much like celebrating, though.

While my great aunt Ruth weakens in nursing care, dying of gangrene of all things, my Dad's cousin Phil had a massive heart attack. It looks like he might not recover, despite the fact that he actually had the heart attack in the hospital, having gone as soon as he felt chest pain.

Phil grew up in Tanganyika as a missionary kid. I loved seeing his trunk full of skins, flyswatters, and other treasures when I was a kid. One time when we were at this house, he cooked whole fish, and told me that the in the culture where he grew up, honored guests ate the eyes. When my parents balked, I ate the eyes.

I'm spending my day thinking about Phil, in cardiac care at Columbia, his kids (ages 22 and 17), and his wife (who is a twin like my mom, and used to do twin shows with my mom and her twin, where they had to dress alike and sing songs), and his elderly mother.

On top of all the mess with my family, I don't feel very close to cancelling the debts of the Global South.

So it's my 21s birthday, but I don't feel much like celebrating. Luckily, I do feel like drinking.

Thursday, July 08, 2004

I picked this because the empty dress on a contrasting background looks menacing, somehow.I'm off to my cousin's wedding in Ohio. Happily the cold front pushed through my route of travel and I should have clear weather up to Lancaster. I should pack soon to get off on time.

I'm half-dreading this weekend. I mostly hate weddings. The ceremonies can be okay, even cute in some cases. The receptions at least involve eating. But there's something strange and disconcerting about them.

I bought my cousin a wrench. Goodness knows why she put it on the gift registry, but it's her own fault for doing so. She's getting a wrench for her wedding gift. That's my small vengeance.

Wednesday, July 07, 2004
Get Farenheit 9/11 at Linway Cinema!
I Got the following e-mail today on maplepeace from Daniel Grimes:

I stopped by Linway Cinema over lunch today, and spoke with the manager
about showing Fahrenheit 911. He indicated that I was only the fifth person
to contact him about this film...

I went in expecting it to be a quick conversation, but he wanted to engage
me in conversation. He honestly seemed surprised that so few people have
contacted him. He's received one e-mail, three phone calls, and my visit. He
indicated that he's not certain he could make a profit or even break-even
showing Fahrenheit 911 since virtually no one is asking him to show it. He
had someone offer to help subsidize the film, but they weren't willing to
offer enough cash up-front.

If you want the citizens of Goshen and Elkhart County to be able to view
Fahrenheit 911 in our community, please call Linway Cinema at 534-6132 and

ask them to run this movie. Thanks!

Is there no one left in Goshen with the energy to pick up the phone? What's wrong with everyone? This is to good an opportunity to miss! Even if you don't have the time to call, you can e-mail Linway at flicks@linwaycinema.com

Tuesday, July 06, 2004

Mine was gray and had the Zipcar logo on the side.I got to drive a truck today!

I had to go down to the Camp Springs District Office to pick up some papers for our client, so I had to use the company Zipcar. Since all the vehicles in my area were the same price per hour($8) I thought, hey, let's get the pickup. So I cruised down the Suitland Parkway sitting pretty. Oh yeah.

And I got to get to know our client a little better, too. He's had a really rough time. He told me that he has custody of his nephew because the boy's parents are in no shape to take care of him. The kid has a heart problem. He can't get a transplant because his body rejects it too strongly. He's had six valve replacements so far in his life. He's seven.

The other, brighter news is that I realized that there is a third week in August. I'd totally forgotten about it. The first week I work. The second week I finish up work and catch some awesome concerts. Fourth week I ride to Goshen and back. But I'd forgotten that I have a third week! How cool is that? I'll have to come up with something to do.

Saturday, July 03, 2004
Tunnels and Oil Barons
So last evening a friend invited me down to Edgware Road to have a meal with two women who had just returned from Iraq and Palestine. The southern half of the road is a regular Little Lebanon (or Arabic town) with thre or four Falafel and Kebab houses on every block.

We got down there and settled into the corner of a nice little Kebab. It turns out one of the women was also a long time environmentalist and tunneler. She told us all about having spent a record-breaking 40 days underground trying to prevent the construction of a by-pass road in Essex.

After we'd worked our through hummus, yoghurt, pita, falafels and tea, more friends started showing up. Every time a few more people walked in the door there were hugs all around. There were lots of ISM folks and even more Palestinians. We ended up in the basement of a kebab shop with around 15 people from almost as many countries, a couple of apple hookas and even more food.

I ended up talking with the guy Red Pepper magazine calls the oil baron of Zaytoun. He and a couple friends have set up a fair trade olive oil project that is poised to ship 10,000 500ml bottles of oil from Palestine to the UK. He was inpired to organize the the project because he'd gotten tired of always reacting to bad things and always being anti this and anti that. So now he has a positive vision to offer people: be pro-olive!

In other news...

You can see a bunch of photos I took in the Lake District last Thursday.

Friday, July 02, 2004
i'm so excited
i'm hanging the shit from my senior art show on the walls of a restaurant in like an hour.
ha ha, suckers!


July 1 and Hong Kong: Beginnings of a Call for True Democracy

On July 1, 2003--(note year)--500,000 Hong Kong (pop. 7 million) residents and citizens marched to voice their opposition to the introduction of a new security bill (article) to the constitution of the basic law, or the rules set up to govern HK after the handover from UK to Beijing. Article 23 called for increased security measures, similar to those in the Patriot Act. Many people, especially in the NGO community, felt that Article 23 was an attempt by Beijing to start limiting the freedoms and rights of Hong Kong citizens and residents. Hong Kong is home to hundreds, if not a thousand of small and large NGOs working in all areas of social, gender, human, and economic justice issues. Here is an excerpt from a statement by Rose Wu, a prominent feminist theologian, activist and close phriend, regarding Article 23.
However, the Hong Kong government is currently rushing to legislate by July this year national security laws on treason, subversion, secession, sedition and the theft of state secrets under Article 23 of the Basic Law. A group of academics criticised the government for not doing justice to public opinion in the three-month consultation on the Article 23 legislation that ended in December 2002 in order to present an impression of positive public support to the government's proposals. With all these questions, we worry that the law will then become a means to deny, rather than to protect, the rights of Hong Kong's people.

One major threat is that the Article 23 legislation will criminalise free speech, especially the proposals regarding sedition and the theft of state secrets. For example, in the bill, the government has not provided a rationale for protecting information relating to Hong Kong's affairs which are within the purview of the central authorities. From the manner in which government officials in China initially handled the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) crisis, it is very clear that their lack of transparency and accountability has seriously harmed people's health on the mainland as well as that of the global community. This should be an important lesson for the Hong Kong government as well.
Due to the protests in July 2003, the Hong Kong government retracted the bill, delaying it's introduction to the Basic Law for a later date.

Now jump to 2004. Beijing's recent denial of political autonomy to the Hong Kong people, enfuriated the population. On this July 1, once again hundreds of thousands of people marched in the street calling for universal suffrage. The cry of "Give Power to the People" was the most controversial, pitting in conflict pro-Beijing and pro-Democracy residents, lawmakers and government officials. Debate has arose over why the protests were so large this year. Some commentators blamed the poor economy (post-SARS) and low unemployment as a major contributing factor to the number of protestors in 2003. Mr. Lau, as quoted on the BBC News feels other wise. I participated in both demonstrations last year and this year.
I don't think the heat has been taken out of the debate by the improved economy and lower unemployment rate as people in Hong Kong are fighting for more autonomy and democracy. They are fighting for their in-born right. In both demonstrations, if you listen to what the demonstrators shouted most loudly, it's "Mr Tung - resign!"
YS Lau, Hong Kong


It appears that July 1 is now an official day for democracy, like June 4 is for Tianammen Square. For people living in Taiwan, Hong Kong is that piece, depending on how this democracy bid resolves, that could ignite a push for independence. China maintains an army of 1 million soldiers across the bay from Taiwan, so any move by the Taiwanese government takes into consideration pending military interaction. In the coming months, and years, as Hong Kong residents fight to directly elect their representatives, their success or defeat will likely affect decisions in Taiwan, and hence, challenge Beijing's claim of "one country, two policies" ruling practice.

The BBC compiled an informative gathering of the major news voices in Hong Kong regarding the most recent marches. Both sides of the debate are represented and each is noted as to what side of the HK/Beijing line they reside on. Read Split Media Voices

From my short experience, the future of Hong Kong WILL be defined by it's people, persons whom for the sake of freedom originally fled China prior to and during the Communist take over. I see a few similarities between the struggle of Hong Kong for it's democracy and the struggle occuring in the United States as to our lack of democracy. I find hope in the struggle of HK residents as they HAVE forced their government to listen to the people. According to Gene Stoltzfus, it takes only 2 percent of a population to enact system wide change. Hong Kong claims at least 7 percent involvement and change is occuring. I wonder what our government would do if 21 million people came to Washington to voice their opposition and new priorities and goals for this country?

U.S. coddles one oil tyrant while trying another
It turns out that even while the U.S. is trying [[Saddam Hussein]], they are increasing the military advisors in Azerbaijan, where Ilham Aliyev has dealth with ruthlessly with the opposition movement. Amnesty International reports that the regime has been responsible for torture, violent repression of peaceful protests and beating journalists. Surprisingly, that's no hurdle for the Bush administration.

The military advisers are not shy about being seen. On June 10, Navy Seals were racing high power speedboats around the Caspian with their Azerbaijani counterparts. Bushwatch reports that the administration is eyeing Central Asia as the next big oil colony.

An excerpt from the Guardian article:
US officials cite the important strategic and logistical role that the key state in the Caucasus, on the border with Iran, can play in the "war on terror". They are also open about the need to protect the £2bn oil pipeline set to carry a million barrels of Caspian oil daily to Turkey and the American market by late next year.
How many times have we heard this before? How long before we are invading Azerbaijan or some other Central Asian republican? How long before we are seeing Mr. Aliyev on television ranting in dramatic televised court appearances? How long before we stop supporting brutal dictators as pawns in our single minded drive for oil, power, and wealth?

In other news...

Yesterday I spent the day hanging out with a really cool Anabaptist psychiatrist in York. He showed me the Lake district and we discussed how corporations are basically immortal, greedy psychopaths. We're putting together an article on how its about time Anabaptists started thinking about how to relate to corporations, not just governments.

Thursday, July 01, 2004

Dead Mouse

A dead mouse. Except the one that I found was on concrete, not on carpet. But it looked a lot like this one. Except not chewed, really. And, as it turned out, not really dead.Today I was running in my new shoes I saw a mouse. It looked dead. It was on the path, which is frequently traveled by bicyclists so to spare it a rather undignified squishing I tried to push it into the grass with a bike tire lever thingie that happened to be there on the ground.

But then the mouse moved a little. It wasn't dead! This was very troubling. It was obviously very badly injured and near death, but not dead. I felt like I should kill it and put it out of its rodent misery, but I couldn't really bring myself to do this. I think I could have stomached stepping on it, but I was wearing new shoes. "I wish Celeste or Tim Godshall was here," I thought. "They are the kind of people who know how to deal with difficult moral questions like this. Difficult moral questions that involve small dying animals." But they weren't. A bicyclists whizzed by, barely having time to catch a glimpse of my confused, torn expression. "I wish he would have stopped and given me advice," I thought.

I wimped out. I pushed the mouse into the grass with a stick. It squirmed a little. Maybe its spine was broken.

In 419 news: When I insisted that they send me money, they threatened to cut me off. So I begged them to let me back in on the deal. I wrote them today to let them know that I've sent the US$12,500. When they tell me that they haven't gotten it, I'm going to accuse them of lying to me and taking my money.

Juicy
Bryn has totally been showing christine a good time here on set. So far, they've gone shopping together, slept together, and boiled eggs together. I smell a little somthin somthing brewing on the back-burner.

I'm totally kidding about the hook-up. Kids in Goshen can't wait to see you!! Come out soon!!!

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