los anjalis

Cross-posted at CureThis:

“This law will make me feel like a Nazi out there.  I have a great deal of contempt for it; I’m very emotional about it… This law is – pure and simple – a racist law.”

In the lead-up to the implementation of SB1070, the Arizona law known commonly as “papers please”, it is heartening to see a police officer in AZ speak up against it:

He very clearly states why this law is a huge health/human rights violation:

“So under SB1070 I know that people will not call officers in the case of a real emergency. I could see this type of scenario: a woman is being beaten by her husband or her significant other.  And, if I show up, and I develop reasonable suspicion, or LESS, even, that the person that is a perpetrator in this case, is in this country extralegally, i’m going to start heading in the direction of asking the victim of the case, are you here illegally?  I will have to arrest both of them — I’ll be required to — and both will be deported.  It violates our calling to serve and protect. It violates, under our Constitution, the requirement to serve and protect.”

Thanks to the savvy folks at Cuentame for collecting video testimonials. And check out Alto Arizona for actions in Arizona this week, and solidarity actions you can join in your own towns and states.

John Hodgman followed President Obama’s speech to the Radio and Television Correspondents Association Dinner with a speech about nerds vs jocks. Cracked me UP. He appropriately refers to Obama as “the first nerd president of the modern era”. Truly an exceptionally funny speech (tho i’m not a fan of nerd = needing asthma inhaler).

(cross-posted at CureThis)

Last night, CNBC featured a segment on “Is Health care a right or a privilege?” and invited two speakers to debate the question.

One of the speakers was Dr Mai Pham, senior policy advisor at the National Physicians Alliance (NPA). The NPA fimly believes that health care is a human right and its campaigns and mission speak directly to that. The other speaker was Michael Cannon, director of health policy at the CATO Institute, a free-market, libertarian organization.

Make your own conclusions about some incendiary statements made in this debate, but I must highlight one here.

“Saying health care is a fundamental human right is one of those simplistic nonsense slogans” — Michael Cannon, CATO.

Unbelievable. No it’s not. Saying health care is a fundamental human right is an important statement that we must embrace fully as a society (and to an extent have already embraced).

As guerillamamamedicine recently blogged:

i do not deserve a good job, or a beautiful home, or health care because i went to school and got my degree. i deserve them because i am a human being. if i were to say that i deserve them because of how many years i spent in school, or how much money i paid to go to school, or the number of letters behind my name, then i am saying that i deserve basic human dignity because of my educational privilege.

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I applaud Dr. Pham’s calm and composure in the debate. There is much to loearn from her regarding how to stay on point and how to debate an issue articulately.

In any case, it was a pleasant surprise to see this issue covered by CNBC; perhaps the station will cover such issues in the future.

I penned a piece for LAist.com on last week’s White House Regional Health Forum – held at the California Endowment in downtown Los Angeles, and the well-populated single-payer rally outside the event. Thanks to Dr Susan Partovi for the photos.

Check it out! If you’re a registered user at LAist, you can comment or recommend the post.

Musician K’naan (born in Somalia, grew up during the civil war, proponent of human rights) recently penned a piece on why the pirate situation in Somalia is at best quite complicated. His piece is extremely well-written and shares a perspective we don’t hear from the mainstream media’s reporting on the situation. Check out his piece, published at the Huffington Post. It deals with environmental injustices, the attitude of the west towards lives in post-colonial countries (worthless), and peoples’ self determination. I share it because this is a viewpoint that is completely missing from the general discussion in the West. (Side note: no pirate’s captives have been harmed as of yet).

Great thanks to K’naan, (check out his music website).

Here’s an excerpt from the article, check out the whole piece:

Already by this time, local fishermen in the coastline of Somalia have been complaining of illegal vessels coming to Somali waters and stealing all the fish. And since there was no government to report it to, and since the severity of the violence clumsily overshadowed every other problem, the fishermen went completely unheard.

But it was around this same time that a more sinister, a more patronizing practice was being put in motion. A Swiss firm called Achair Parterns, and an Italian waste company called Achair Parterns, made a deal with Ali Mahdi, that they were to dump containers of waste material in Somali waters. These European companies were said to be paying Warlords about $3 a ton, whereas to properly dispose of waste in Europe costs about $1000 a ton.

In 2004, after a tsunami washed ashore several leaking containers, thousand of locals in the Puntland region of Somalia started to complain of severe and previously unreported ailments, such as abdominal bleeding, skin melting off and a lot of immediate cancer-like symptoms. Nick Nuttall, a spokesman for the United Nations Environmental Program, says that the containers had many different kinds of waste, including “Uranium, radioactive waste, lead, Cadmium, Mercury and chemical waste.” But this wasn’t just a passing evil from one or two groups taking advantage of our unprotected waters. The UN envoy for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, says that the practice still continues to this day.

UPDATE (4/13): Johann Hari has a piece in Alternet today that shares a similar perspective: “We’re Being Lied to About Pirates.”

And this is why:

The sheer number of articles in mainstream press about the social networking platform “Twitter” are cause for nausea. (Twitter is a platform by which one can send out 140-character messages, known as tweets, to however many other people are following their page. Some call it “microblogging”).

I dig Twitter and I use it to share articles with friends, reflect on medicine and public health, and share thoughts / events / passions about Los Angeles and the world around me. I’ve learned a wealth of information and have been led to innovative web-based technologies regarding health, based on short communications on twitter. I follow folks on Twitter whose opinions and article-sharing I like, I receive feedback on questions I pose, and I have a healthy relationship with this kind of experimentation of newer models of information sharing and reflecting.

So back to these articles. Seriously? Aren’t there more important issues to cover in the world? Most pieces I’ve seen about Twitter proclaim it to be the Next Best Thing. It’s been placed on some grotesque pedestal, but then again, much of media is in the business of sensationalizing. But most recently the alt press site Alternet.org, a website I have much respect for and read regularly, featured a commentary on Twitter entitled, “Twitter Nation Has Arrived: How Scared Should we Be?” by Alexander Zaitchik. I didn’t expect Alternet to post a commentary like this. Not because it’s disapproving of twitter and attempts to make larger philosophical points. But because it’s so poorly written, not well fact-checked, and is FULL of spite. The seething hate emanates from the article in very non-subtle ways. And the assumptions are far-reaching and presumptuous.

In addition, his facts are not researched. For example, the author states that Twitter was based on Facebook’s status update model. Nope. Twitter was around for almost a year before Facebook started incorporating status updates into its model. One of several simple facts that the author had completely wrong.

The article makes some interesting anthropological points that I agree with (and I’m always interested in discussions about how we’re becoming post-human). He also reveals some of the silliness of Twitter (honestly I don’t always get why people share what they do, and oftentimes the TMI syndrome comes into play — Too Much Information about your personal life, I don’t care — but that’s easily remedied by not following that individual’s stream). But interspersed his otherwise interesting points are volcanoes of rage (ha! did I just say volcanoes of rage? awesome!) which dilute any point he’s trying to make. Anyway, here are some of the author’s rants that I thought i’d share: (more…)

(Below is cross-posted a post I wrote over at LAist.com)

Photo by tao_zhyn on Flickr

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UHDR), adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations. The 30 articles of this declaration were written after the Second World War and represent the first global expression of human rights worldwide. The UHDR is the most translated document in the world and has inspired many international treaties and laws.

Now is as good a time as ever to remind ourselves of the human rights issues prevailing abroad, in the US, and here in Los Angeles. Violence and human rights abuses exist around the world, currently in Zimbabwe, Mumbai, Gaza, Iraq and Afghanistan, among other regions. Millions go without clean water or enough food. And a global financial crisis is ever present.

It is easy to focus on human rights abroad, but here in Los Angeles we have our own slew of human rights violations, including a housing crisis, homelessness, ICE raids, police brutality, displacement of communities in the name of development, health care access problems, unprocessed rape kits, and an increasing disparity between the wealthy and the poor. At the same time, there is much reason for hope.

One shining local example of this is in South Los Angeles, the area formerly known as South Central LA, where a unique coalition of health care providers, promotoras, and dedicated community organizations recently teamed up to address “The Perfect Storm” – the combination of homelessness, the housing/credit crisis, public health, and law enforcement issues. The coalition, known as the Homelessness Prevention and Intervention Collaborative, conducted an exhaustive survey of homelessness in South Los Angeles. And in October, they announced the findings of a report — Taming the Perfect Storm — written by Dr Rishi Manchanda, Director of Social Medicine at St. Johns Well Child and Family Center and the coordinator of the collective. In addition to describing the problem, the report presents recommendations for human-rights based solutions to the crisis in South LA. The report is well worth reading and concludes with:

In the nation as a whole, persistent widespread homelessness and the health care crisis offer compelling evidence of a collective disregard for human rights. Few places exhibit the ill effects of this disregard like South Los Angeles. Conversely, no other community stands to benefit as much from a community-based human rights approach to health. With a firm understanding of the links between critical determinants of health like housing, public and community health resources, and law enforcement policy, we commit to build the political will and skills needed to tame this perfect storm of homelessness and poor health. In short, we commit to reclaim and redefine our community guided by the practical application of fundamental human rights principles. As an important stage of community dialogue on the right to health, housing, and security begins, we welcome all constructive comments and critiques of this report.

On a national level, our President-Elect Barack Obama has stated a commitment to shutting down Guantanamo, ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, strengthening the United Nations, improving diplomatic relations with other countries, and paying attention to the global crises of poverty and HIV/AIDS worldwide. And on this 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human rights, the official website of the United Nations notes:

“Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and ‘to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories.’”

On that note, I encourage you to read the 30 articles of the declaration. Aloud. To friends, family, anybody who will listen. In declaratory fashion. Try it. It’s quite compelling and a quick read. (idea inspired by my friend Linda who suggested this to me and 4 other friends as we were building and dreaming, during a break at a conference in El Salvador last year).

(cross-posted at LAist and Cure This)

Photos by jbhangoo via flickr; graphic and videos from Students for Bhopal

Today marks the 24th anniversary of the world’s worst industrial disaster — one that has been called the “Hiroshima of the chemical industry” and that took place in Bhopal, India. Around midnight on December 3rd, 1984, a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal leaked 27 tons of the deadly gas methyl isocyanate. Safety systems were not operational and the gas spread through the city. Thousands died that night, more than 20,000 have died to date as a result of the effects of the exposure, and over 100,000 people still suffer from ailments caused by the exposure. From Bhopal.org, a harrowing account of the fateful night 24 years ago:

Shortly after midnight poison gas leaked from a factory in Bhopal, India, owned by the Union Carbide Corporation. There was no warning, none of the plant’s safety systems were working. In the city people were sleeping. They woke in darkness to the sound of screams with the gases burning their eyes, noses and mouths. They began retching and coughing up froth streaked with blood. Whole neighborhoods fled in panic, some were trampled, others convulsed and fell dead. People lost control of their bowels and bladders as they ran. Within hours thousands of dead bodies lay in the streets.

“We all live in Bhopal” is a common saying among the environmental justice movement, and it is relevant to LA residents too. We have no lack of potential and real environmental injustices, and no paucity of corporate crimes. Also of interest, the first ever nuclear accident actually occurred in Simi Valley in 1959, as noted in LAist previously:

We had no idea that Simi Valley was the site of America’s first nuclear accident (obviously we should watch more History Channel). At the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, a liquid sodium reactor had a partial meltdown in 1959; the facts weren’t made public until UCLA investigated 20 years later. Researchers speculate that the radiation released was as much as 240 times that of the Three Mile Island accident. Exactly what was contaminated in the area, and by how much, was never accurately measured. Yikes, just 30 miles from downtown LA.

More on the Bhopal tragedy:

“The site has never been properly cleaned up and it continues to poison the residents of Bhopal. In 1999, local groundwater and wellwater testing near the site of the accident revealed mercury at levels between 20,000 and 6 million times those expected. Cancer and brain-damage- and birth-defect-causing chemicals were found in the water; trichloroethene, a chemical that has been shown to impair fetal development, was found at levels 50 times higher than EPA safety limits. Testing published in a 2002 report revealed poisons such as 1,3,5 trichlorobenzene, dichloromethane, chloroform, lead and mercury in the breast milk of nursing women. In 2001, Michigan-based chemical corporation Dow Chemical purchased Union Carbide, thereby acquiring its assets and liabilities. However Dow Chemical has steadfastly refused to clean up the site, provide safe drinking water, compensate the victims, or disclose the composition of the gas leak, information that doctors could use to properly treat the victims.”

And if you have the stomach for this personal story, Aziza Sultan, a community health worker at the Sambhavna Clinic shares her personal account of that horrific night.

The pursuit of justice around the Bhopal tragedy is also a study in effective strategizing for positive change. The courageous residents of Bhopal, also known as Bhopalis, have captured the energies of social justice activists and students around the world. Bhopali women and children have performed numerous direct actions aimed at the most powerful leaders in India and America. The Bhopal Medical Appeal and the Sambhavna Trust Clinic were created to provide treatment and rehabilitation for victims and their families. And the activists’ relentlessness has finally paid off, and last month the government of India promised to create an Empowered Commission on Bhopal and take legal action on the criminal and civil liabilities of Union Carbide and Dow Chemical.

In a movement of solidarity, students at colleges and universities around the world have for years engaged in online actions, sent letters and faxes to the Indian government, and hosted thousands of events at their own campuses around the issues of the Bhopal tragedy.

Awareness about this disaster in Bhopal is important not only for its historical and present significance, but also because the battle to clean up the site of the power plant, compensate victims appropriately, and to stop completely preventable disasters like this around the world continues. December 3rd is noted as the Global Day of Action for Corporate Accountability, in memory of the Bhopal tragedy. From Bhopal.net:

Dow, the creator of Napalm, Agent Orange and responsible for Dioxin related deaths and diseases worldwide is not the only corporation that kills and maims people and causes irreparable damage to the planet. Wherever we may live, corporate greed and industrial poisons affect our lives and health through slow and silent Bhopals. Justice in Bhopal means justice for the poisoned everywhere.

Below is a poster that was distributed worldwide during the 20th anniversary of the Bhopal disaster:

Links of interest:
International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal — Bhopal.net
The Bhopal Medical Appeal and Sambhavna Clinic — Bhopal.org
The worldwide student movement — Students for Bhopal

One of the most respected military figures of the Republican Party endorsed Obama yesterday. He spoke eloquently, and he systematically broke down every argument and tactic that the McCain campaign has used. Full transcript here. He talked about the politics of unity versus division, spoke about domestic policy issues and supreme court judges even though he’s a foreign policy person, and called out the anti-American smears for what they were. He also essentially said that McCain put campaign first, not country first, in choosing a completely unqualified vice presidential candidate.

Here’s an excerpt that I was especially thankful to hear:

Now, I understand what politics is all about. I know how you can go after one another, and that’s good. But I think this goes too far. And I think it has made the McCain campaign look a little narrow. It’s not what the American people are looking for. And I look at these kinds of approaches to the campaign and they trouble me. And the party has moved even further to the right, and Governor Palin has indicated a further rightward shift. I would have difficulty with two more conservative appointments to the Supreme Court, but that’s what we’d be looking at in a McCain administration. I’m also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, “Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.” Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he isàIs there something wrong with being a Muslim in this countryàThe answer’s no, that’s not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be presidentàYet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, “He’s a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists.” This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery, and she had her head on the headstone of her son’s grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards—Purple Heart, Bronze Star—showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death. He was 20 years old. And then, at the very top of the headstone, it didn’t have a Christian cross, it didn’t have the Star of David, it had crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, and he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he can go serve his country, and he gave his life.

Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourself in this way. And John McCain is as nondiscriminatory as anyone I know. But I’m troubled about the fact that, within the party, we have these kinds of expressions.

Thank you Colin Powell, for your judgment, your timeliness, your thoughtfulness.

OK, a correspondent directs me to John McCain’s article, Better Health Care at Lower Cost for Every American, in the Sept./Oct. issue of Contingencies, the magazine of the American Academy of Actuaries. You might want to be seated before reading this.

Here’s what McCain has to say about the wonders of market-based health reform:

Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation.

From economist Paul Krugman’s blog.

How telling.

I’m not sure who pushed forward the GOP strategy to ridicule community organizers, but Giuliani and Palin offended Americans to the core yesterday, during their speeches for the Republican National Convention.

Giuliani on Obama:

“On the other hand, you have a resume from a gifted man with an Ivy League education. He worked as a community organizer… [intended pause]… “what?”…

…with a quizzical look and a smirk (only the kind of smirk Giuliani can wear), gaining quite a laugh from the Republican delegates on the floor. And Palin, in her speech:

I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a “community organizer,” except that you have actual responsibilities.

Again, loud laughter from the Republican delegates in the audience. (more…)

Some photos from a talented photographer who was arrested today at the peaceful protest outside the Republican National Convention. Apparently 43 others were arrested together, paraded to the press (as Webster states) and then cited for presence without a permit and then released. This was Day 2 of the RNC. On Day 1, the riot police arrested 300 people, 250 charged with CONSPIRACY to RIOT (including a few journalists). The second photo above is of a mass detention of 300 people on day 1 of the RNC protests. On both days — pepper spray and tear gas used indiscriminately, as per passers-by and protesters.

Also of note — LB on the Poor Peoples March (check out the photo):

Do these people look like a ravening mob to you? A few minutes later, the police tear gassed the whole block after pushed the crowd back about a block or two.

What you can’t see in the picture is that bicycle and riot cops were surrounding groups of people on the sidewalk and blocking the intersections at both ends of the block.

And LB on infiltrators:

When the anarchist checked the photographs she recognized the familiar-looking guy as one of the officers who had raided the Convergence Space on Smith Ave. the previous week.

The Pioneer Press traced the license plate of the unmarked sedan to the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office.

Court documents also show that the police relied heavily, in some cases exclusively on the testimony of paid informants to lay conspiracy charges against certain defendants.

Keep these facts in mind when assessing claims that anarchists are responsible for various misdeeds at protests. If the authorities can infiltrate, they can also instigate.

This morning on my drive to work, I tuned into Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman (who was arrested for asking the police why her colleagues had been arrested). Among the insightful reporting on the constitutional violations that the riot police committed, she shared an audio clip of her producer Nicole Salazar essentially filming her own arrest. The audio was almost unbearable. And then this evening I saw the actual video:

Absolutely unbearable and horrifying.

What’s happening in the video: Salazar is filming (she’s a producer for a well-respected tv and video show, and she has full official press pass information around her neck). Riot police come swarming in from 3 sides. You can hear her saying Where do you want me to go? as they’re rushing the crowd. She screams “I’m Press! I’m Press!” as she’s being pushed by them. They take her down to the ground, stomp her face in the asphalt, one officer puts his elbow in her back, the other picks her up by her leg, she tries to keep her face up off the ground so it doesn’t get macerated from being dragged while elbow is in back and other is holding her leg. She ends up with a bloody nose and a scratched up face. And she’s still detained. (info from witnesses)

Her charge?

CONSPIRACY TO RIOT. What was she doing? Videotaping the protests and interviewing people. She’s still being detained. The Department of Pre-Crime (Minority Report reference) is in FULL EFFECT.

Salazar is just one of the 250 people who were detained or arrested for conspiracy to riot. And she’s a journalist — so not only are the riot police attacking her, they’re attacking the right of the free press to report. As a follow-up to yesterday’s post, here’s a video of Amy Goodman on the situation a short while after her arrest:

Amy Goodman, world-reknown and widely respected journalist broadcaster of the show Democracy Now!, being arrested for ASKING the police why they were doing what they were doing.

Yes, a woman peacefully holding a flower, getting pepper sprayed. (thanks to BFP for the video)

Just two examples of the violent protesters being nicely moved away by our police state. If this doesn’t infuriate you then I don’t know how you can believe in a free America.

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As the DNC and RNC created “Free Speech Zones” far from the actual conventions, and as police are now pulling out tasers, concussion grenades, and tear gas at peaceful protesters at the RNC in Twin Cities Minnesota, and as police horses are stampeding protesters, and as cameras and cellphones are being seized without reason, and as police in the twin cities in Minnesota are jailing some without reason and threatening others, and as a friend of mine is involved in the Northstar Collective (a group of medics and others who have been preparing for months to provide medical and psychological support for victims of the police during the RNC), and as I’m hearing about victims of tear gas streaming into the Northstar makeshift clinics, I don’t know what to think.

Protests SHOULD matter, but increasingly they don’t, and people are criminalized and made out to be america-hating anarchists for it. Folks around America should be enraged, but it’s a bit hard to when the media isn’t covering it (and the media who IS is being arrested for it) and when the convergence of Palin/McCain and RNC media and Hurricane Gustav are all occurring at the same time.

In any case, I’m really proud of the folks who are tirelessly covering it.

The ColdSnapLegal collective is live-twittering (short live-blog posts) about up to date arrests and civil rights violations occurring at the RNC protests. Check out their messages here. And check out their website here. Thank you so much ColdSnapLegal.

Here are some of their latest twitter posts:

Cops threatening to arrest everybody @ river walk – 300+ ppl inc. medics, legal observers, journalists, concertgoers, kids. Tear gas used.

Mass arrests on Jackson & 9th, including Democracy Now! journalists Amy Goodman, Sharif Abdel Kouddou, Nicole Salazar.

Ramsey Cty jail on lockdown – no lawyers allowed inside. St. Joseph hospital also on lockdown, denying people water.

Steady stream of folks with pepper spray injuries at the Northstar clinic; medic headed to jail with supplies soon.

2 medics arrested at 6th & Wall

7th & Jackson arrests at 30-40. Democracy Now! journalists among those arrested at Temperance. Lots of police brutality among these arrests.

Anti-capitalist bloc being tear gassed on Jackson by river.

Pepper spray, tear gas, rubber bullets, concussion grenades being used in more locations than we can write in one tweet right now.

Person tackled by 5 SPPD in riot gear for refusing a search. Media was present for this.

~300 people being stampeded by police horses on 2nd & Kellogg

Cops are getting ready to gas funk the war blockade at kellogg and wabasha. Legal observers needed there now.

Others reporting on this (because the mainstream media is late to it):

Firedoglake (with videos and up to date reports)

The Uptake

Amazing to see so many folks using YouTube, Qik video (upload from phone), Twitter, and other social networking means for the dissemination of this much-needed information.

Last I checked, I thought we were living in the free world, not Beijing…

I watched Sarah Palin’s VP acceptance speech, where McCain stood a foot or two behind her. I wondered how he could stare at her ass repeatedly while the camera was on him. WHILE SHE WAS TALKING ABOUT WOMEN GAINING THE RIGHT TO VOTE. It made me want to vomit. Good to know others saw that too — check out the video put together by Jed Report:

You can “Digg” the post here. And if you’re not convinced by the mockery video, check out some of the original un-cut footage, and just take a look at how many times he stares at her ass:

Obama’s totally playin’ the media into thinking his VP pick is going to be Evan Bayh. I don’t think that’s going to be the case. Other names that have been thrown around from insiders and speculators include Kaine and Biden. Yeah, I too was like “who’s Kaine?” And Biden’s great on foreign policy and a number of other issues, but I just don’t think he’s going to be the one. However, all this back and forth thinking is just the game Obama’s playing, which i think is very smart. He controls the media in a much more positive way that Bush/Cheney/Rove do (where they feed the media B.S. that the media spews, causing us to go to war and kill hundreds of thousands and displace millions). But it’s getting a little tiring (I’d like the media to focus on bigger issues and just wait on the VP pick). Jay Rosen, a professor of journalism and media reformer expresses this exhaustion in two 140 character messages (the size of a message on the popular service Twitter):

Press: “We can find out who your VP is going to be before you announce it.” Obama: No you can’t. Can too! Cannot! On yeah? Yeah! Riveting.

Obama: “I can get the word out to and through my supporters.” Press: “Not if we find out first and tell them, you can’t! Dun-dun-dun!!

And today I received an email from Michael Moore’s mailing list — an open letter to Caroline Kennedy calling for her to be VP (she’s the chair of the obama VP search committee). Obama-Kennedy!

But now on dailykos, folks are joking around about what the TEXT message that Obama’s campaign sends out will be. (Obama sent out emails to his supporters offering to text message the name of his VP pick as soon as he announces his pick).

Some of the funny ones:

“Obama chooses Maddow, D-Reality, as his vice presidential running mate. To make a donation to the campaign, visit my.barackobama.com.”

Oh and Yay Rachel Maddow will now have her OWN SHOW on MSNBC! Woohoo! So absolutely excited, that woman is intelligent, witty, analytical, humble, and queer, yay for queer women in media! Ok back to the texts…

Love this one (lolcats style)!:

“OMG LOL CLARK BITCHEZ!!!1111!”

Many think Wesley Clark would be one of the strongest picks for VP.

On fundraising and suspense:

“I have chosen…. 2 C rst of msg, snd $40 2 mybarackobama.com. Thx!”

On more of obama:

“Obama/Obama ’08! I haz cloned self. Ur welcom!”

On ambiguity:

“”It’s Bayhden”

On twitter:

“hmm why doesn’t he just post it to twitter?”

My brother’s addition to the discussion:

“Barack Obama picks Wes Clark as his VP. McCain, you’ve been PWNED!”

American idol style (hilarious!):

“text to 688888

your choice

1 for Biden
2 for Feingold
3 for Kaine
4 for Gore”

Whatever the text message will be, I’m sure we’ll all be surprised (hopefully pleasantly). But honestly I do wish the media would cover a broader range of issues, you know like THE NEWS. Let we the people gossip about VP choices or what the contents of the most anticipated text message in history will contain.

Lastly — thousands (or more?) have signed up for this service, and when the announcement is made, the texts will stream in around the same time (off by seconds, perhaps by minutes depending on the load to the mobile services distributing the texts). I’m imagining a birds eye view of the scene at the moment people find out… more from a cultural/anthropological perspective than a gossip-spewing celebrity-adoring perspective. Wonder what that will look like…

Back when the two major Democratic candidates were vying for the place of THE presumptive democratic presidential nominee of the United States of America (TM), there was much discussion in the mainstream media about the so-called “Oppression Olympics” — the idea that we were too busy fighting over who was more oppressed. This was all a bunch of B.S. but the mainstream media was all over it (and i think clinton’s campaign and some supporters really played into it too, unfortunately). And of course, the Daily Show was all over the media’s being all over it, and produced a segment on this topic in quite fanciful style:

(thanks Susie for the link!)

But I digress a bit. An oppression olympics of a much more frightening kind (and one that the mainstream media isn’t all over) is the Summer Olympics in Beijing. Let’s just put it bluntly — shit is going down, but what we’re seeing is just the QUITE FANCIFUL show they’re putting on.

Don’t get me wrong, I do not dislike the idea of the olympics, I am not the grinch (well, sometimes i’m pretty close). But there’s so much to the story here that isn’t covered, and so many human rights and privacy violations wrapped up in this story that it’s alarming beyond belief (and i wont even go into the issue of tibet). This news – from before the olympics began:

Hua Huiqing – an underground Christian – told me that police bashed down his front door, dragged his family from their apartment, and instructed him to leave Beijing for the duration of the Olympics.

Gao Hongming, recently released after an eight year prison sentence for ‘incitement to subvert state power’ is being followed by a team of plain clothes policemen on a 24 hour shift pattern. Several others reported similar intimidation – all beginning at 8am on 28 July.

Wang Zhixin, a thirty-year veteran of China’s democracy movement, was given a contract by government officials. He and his wife were ordered to sign it. The consequences? If he speaks out during the games, she will be punished.

He told me: “To the outside world, the government says ‘don’t politicize the Olympics’. But they’re the ones who are politicizing the games.”

Much of what went on in preparation for the Olympics in Beijing is not unique to Beijing:

…a clean-up of the city which has involved laying out 40 million flower pots, festooning building sites with billboards painted with scenes of what the developments will eventually look like, and removing beggars, dissidents, the mentally ill, and hundreds of thousands of poor migrant workers from the streets of the city.

Oh yeah, and 2 million Beijing residents — TWO MILLION — have been displaced by the government’s efforts to clean up the city and create the right environment for the olympics.

The Olympics has an uncanny history of clean-up operations by host cities, whether in other countries or in the United States of America. But the new unique twists abound and they’re quite disturbing, including the above information about people being threatened or disappearing entirely; aggressive threats to journalism; and the threats to China’s own people going about their business:

Wardens yesterday were patrolling the park demanding that passing journalists not conduct interview with local people.

Among the stranger banners exhibited elsewhere is one that reads: “Go outside less – give our foreign friends some space.”

Yikes. Embarrassed by your own countrymen and women much? Or just trying REALLY hard to continue the balancing act of globalization and a militarily repressive type of communism? And… meeting success with that strategy.

Stephen Colbert and Nas bring it.

Lyrics to “Sly Fox” by Nas below…
(more…)

Dick Price and Sharon Kyle of the Northeast (Los Angeles) Democratic Club, sent out an informal survey to a few hundred Los Angeles progressives recently, and almost 500 folks returned it, showing Edwards in the lead (at a time when an LA Times/CNN/Politico poll showed Clinton leading among California Dems). Dick and Sharon aren’t pollsters, and they admit that openly, but still, the results are interesting:

Senators John Edwards and Barack Obama lead the field among those taking the survey, with Edwards capturing 32% of respondents to Obama’s 26%. Senator Hilary Clinton trails with 15%, just ahead of Representative Dennis Kucinich at 12% and the undecided vote at 11%.

LA Progressive readers were invited to complete this eight-question survey asking their preference for the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, which candidates they would not support in the general election, the most important issues helping them make that determination, and the likelihood they will volunteer for a presidential campaign. Results showed that at least 1,272 opened the email invitation, 574 opened the survey, and 498 people completed it.

The results are even more interesting when a subgroup analysis is performed, by race and gender — check out the full piece here. I’ll still maintain that Edwards has by far the most progressive agenda of the three leading Dem candidates. And in related news, although he was never considered a top candidate, sad that Kucinich has dropped out of the race. He is and will always be THE rockstar of all the Dem candidates.

“If Gaza is the world’s biggest prison, this is the world’s biggest prison break.”
- a reporter

I heard about the massive break through the GazaStrip/Egypt border wall by Palestinians earlier today and couldn’t believe the radio. I knew that Israel had placed tighter restrictions on movement of food, fuel, and necessary medical supplies to Palestinians in the Gaza strip for a long while, and that for the last few days had completely cut off ALL supplies to Gaza (hence the prison reference) but I had to see it for myself. So now I share with you some video of the great 21st century prison break (juuuuust in case the mainstream media is focusing on clinton/obama or on the israeli government’s point of view).

Wow.

Some background from a physician in Gaza, blogging a few days ago at From Gaza, With Love:

In 2 hours all of the Gaza Strip will sink into darkness completely

Sunday 20 January 2008
I am writing to let you know that in less than 2 hours the last turbine of the Gaza Strip’s only power plant will stop working. The fuel for the power plant fuel will run out in 2 hours.

I hurried to recharge my laptop and my mobile and to wash the clothes. I checked my candles and rechargeable lights !!!!!! I telephoned Al-Awda hospital and was really panicked to learn that we have only have enough fuel for 4 days for the electrical generator!!!!! What more details shall I give?

No electricity leads to no pumped fresh water and no proper sewage system which in turn leads to more diseases and more needs for different surgical operations. But after 4 days no emergency operations can be conducted in our hospitals.

Israel sealed the Gaza Strip completely and strictly on Friday. Even the UN food supplies are not allowed to enter Gaza. 80% of the population at the moment depends on the UN aid and different international aid agencies. The UN staff are also not allowed to leave or enter Gaza. And while Israel is sealing the Gaza Strip it is at the same time intensifying air raids and military ground operations against Gaza. In the last few days 37 people were killed and 120 were injured. Most of them are civilians. It is a desperate attempt to stop the rockets from Gaza against the Israeli villages where the Israeli citizens are complaining of panic attacks. This response with such overreacted operations against Gaza is unjustified. The cutting off of power and fuel is frank collective punishment.

I AM WRITING TO TELL YOU PLEASE DO SOMETHING FOR US IN GAZA
1.5 million of Gaza are dying slowly. They need your help and support. Tell the world that Israel’s search for peace and security will not be achieved by this collective punishment against us.

and 1 month ago she wrote this:

The siege against Gaza has completed its six months 1.5 million of population are not allowed to travel outside Gaza ,many essential medications are not on the local pharmacies shelves as well as the hospital drug stores , tens of necessary goods are lacking only 15 kinds of goods are allowed to enter Gaza regularly , severe shortage of detergents, no cars spare parts , irregular electrical power ,most of local small industries has closed down due to lack of raw materials hundreds of local employees were made redundant , 39 patients have died before getting permit to leave Gaza for treatment in Israel , at least 2000 patients with different urgent health needs, including children with heart diseases and cancer patients , are waiting to be referred for further treatment outside the Gaza strip.

In related news, a member of the former israeli government was on the radio, on NPR’s show Which Way LA, and he commented that Palestinians were given the potential to transform their land’s worth/economy into a Singapore, but had decided to ruin it all, and therefore could not be trusted to govern their own land. He forgot to mention the noose tied just tight enough around palestinian land and the walls built left and right and the limitations of everyday necessary goods into Palestine. Minor details, eh?

This year, the final stops will be pulled, and NAFTA will be the great train derailing everything in sight. On 90.7FM (KPFK) in Los Angeles, I heard a wonderful interview (can’t remember who it was with) but essentially, this is what’s happening — we’re pulling the final stops on any restrictions (tarriffs, etc) on our huge corporate agribusiness companies’ exports of corn and beans to Mexico, this year.

What does this mean?

In simple terms, we’re putting the rural campesino, the rural farmer who grows and sustains his family on corn or beans, two of Mexico’s staple crops since Aztec and mayan times, IN DIRECT COMPETITION with ConAgra and other huuuuuuuge multimillion dollar multimillion acre American companies.

Mexican rural farmers will be buying our corn and beans from the United States. And they won’t be able to compete because we’re bigger, badder, and yes, our government subsidizes these goods. So not only is the rural campesino pitted against big American corporate business, we’re given the unfair advantage of heavily subsidized (therefore cheaper to the mexican govt than their own farmers’ goods) goods. Yes, yes. And 80% of “illegal immigrants” (for those in america who have the gall to call ANYONE illegal) come from rural parts of Mexico. It’s not so hard to connect the dots.

Oh yes! The show was Connect the Dots — where I heard this interview. NOW it’s all making sense.

I’ve not gone into how NAFTA hurts American farmers, that will be saved for another post. other than the quick mention that more than 1 million US jobs have been lost as a result of NAFTA, wages have stagnated, and outsourcing became the norm because of NAFTA.

But this brings me to this point — who of the leading democratic candidates is passionate about repealing NAFTA’s unfair “free trade” that benefits NEITHER mexicans NOR working Americans (only benefits the corporate elites on either side). Who? ONLY John Edwards. Because he cares about the workers, the middle class.

I’m feeling Obama’s talk and his visions of hope, and yes they’re very moving, but underneath that talk I’m not feeling any commitment to the middle class on issues of “free trade”. Very recently he supported a unilateral USA-Peru Free Trade Agreement. When the US cannot con a whole region into believing the virtues of its free trade, it attempts to create unilateral free trade agreements where other countries can be manipulated a bit more. And this is what happened with Peru. If you look at the details of the US/Peru free trade agreement, it helps NEITHER the middle class in Peru, NOR the middle class in the United States. [of note, and of IMPORTANT note -- Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton didn't even show up for the vote on the US-Peru free trade issue, but they both noted their support for it previous to the vote].

It’s all pretty infuriating. There’s not much making me feel like a vote for Obama or a vote for Clinton would be a vote for the status quo of the democratic party (the party that pushed through NAFTA). Not to say they couldn’t be nudged to the left if one of them wins the dem nomination. But come on, people want change. And change shouldn’t have to be nudged right now.

Yano?

Is it too much to ask to not HAVE to nudge? To not beg and plead?

Some Edwards love, as I’ve been doing, and will continue to do, as long as he’s in the fight:

Jed has a great analysis of the systemic exclusion of discussion of John Edwards by the mainstream media — both before the Iowa Caucuses and even AFTER the caucuses, when Edwards came in 2nd place! It’s a great piece and is quite convincing, whether or not you are an Edwards supporter.  Thoughts?

Here’s to a beautiful 2008! Happy new years folks. More on my thoughts on the turning of the year in an upcoming post, but first, here are some quick thoughts on the Iowa Caucuses (on the Dems side, Barack Obama won 38%, John Edwards 30% and Hillary Clinton 29%):

Something really phenomenal happened here, and I’m talking bout Edwards. Recall from the news, EVERYWHERE in the media (news, television, print media, etc) that the press has ALWAYS been focused on Obama and Clinton, the black man and the white woman, the smooth talkin’ speaker and the former first lady. They are nothing less than CELEBRITIES. As a point of contrast, John Edwards has received proportionally significantly less press coverage. He never reached the front page of the New York Times; his health care plan was the first one on the table (other than Kucinich) before Obama or Clinton and he received hardly any press around it; even though he did well in the polls he was so often left out of the discussion of viable Dem presidential candidates. And his $400 haircut and other things were focused on by the media while Obama and Clinton often went unscathed. Also recall that Edwards’ campaign by choice was financed by public financing, small donors, no corporate donors and no industry donors (I wrote previously about Clinton receiving $250,000 and Obama receiving $175,000 in funds from the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries). So we’re talking about a candidate whose campaign has put one-fifth the dollars into the Iowa caucuses that the Obama and Clinton campaigns have put in, and whose campaign has been shafted in terms of press coverage, who STILL won second place among the caucus-goers in the state of Iowa. This is BIG.

Here’s an exciting statistic — over 57% of Obama’s support at the caucuses was from the 17-29 year age group. Crapola! That’s BIG for dems in general and is REALLY going to hurt the republicans in the general election. What a sweet statistic.

Hillary “i’m inevitable” came in 3rd. Yay! (As I think i’ve mentioned before, I strongly dislike her warmonger and doublespeakin’ ways). Edwards is my man, but i’d get behind Obama if he becomes the Dem nominee. I just can’t get behind Clinton.

The “women” vote went overwhelmingly for not-Clinton. Many pundits like to stereotypically assume that since Hillary Clinton is a woman, women will rush to her support.  Insulting.  Just like the assumption that the black vote would automatically go for Obama.

Oooh mapping technology! GoogleMaps has the breakdown of delegates’ votes by county in Iowa.

I just saw Obama’s victory speech — it was almost 15 minutes long and had hardly any substance in it. He has a knack for speaking as if he’s the underdog, though the money pumped into his campaign is free-flowing, his policies are NOT nearly as progressive as other candidates’, and he’s become a huge celebrity in the press. Hardly an underdog, eh? He’s lost a lot of authenticity in my opinion in the past year, a little disappointing. But I’m curious to see where he goes, and I could put my weight behind him in the future if he wins the primary (again, can’t do the same for Hillary right now).

Huckabee was the sleeper on the Republican side. Guess I’ll have to read about him now. Fred Thompson is in 3rd place for the Republicans. This guy hardly campaigned in the past week, hardly campaigns at all, and is quite soporific when he DOES campaign. Huh. And Giuiliani, the great anti-terrorist loser whose every other word is terrorism or 9/11, only received 4% on the Republican side! Damn. Maybe this racist fearmongering worthless piece of ad did him in. He damn-right scared everyone away.

I’ll end with beautiful final words on Edwards’ populist spirit, so articulately worded by Ezra Klein:

The talking heads on MSNBC just spent a few minutes puzzling over John Edwards’ concession speech. “It had no concession,” they fretted. It didn’t talk at all about the horserace, or the vote totals. Instead, Edwards spoke of the downtrodden, the uninsured, the insecure, the exploited, the oppressed, the wronged, the scared, the hungry, the homeless, and the poor. It was a fitting speech. It was not about the candidate or the race, but about the ideas, and the individuals they are supposed to help. In that way, it was Edwards’ candidacy distilled to its core: A search for justice, a cry for equality, a demand for empowerment.

Barack Obama won tonight, but, in a sense, John Edwards’ campaign also triumphed. The progressivism of the race, the focus on ideas, the courage of the Democrats — all were products of his early example. He began the campaign by talking about poverty, announced his candidacy in the mud of New Orleans, set the agenda with the first universal health care bill, and closed Iowa speaking of the uninsured. This is Barack Obama’s victory, and it’s richly deserved. But Edwards, running as a full-throated populist, set the agenda and finished second, ahead of the Clinton juggernaut. He said his role was to speak for the voiceless. He now barrels towards New Hampshire with ever more volume. And while his shot at the nomination is long at best, his candidacy, even if it fails, will have been far more successful than most.

The above is a small celebration of Women-of-Color feminism and bloggers. I’m blessed to be included in the prelim video that Sudy put together and know that there are many others more deserving of a place in this montage.

Sudy ends the video with this quote:

“Power is never given back. When it’s stolen, if you want it back, you have to take it.” – M. Caballero

The Republican Presidential CNN/YouTube debate is just around the corner (November 28th).  As with the Democratic Presidential debate hosted by CNN/YouTube, Americans are submitting videos of questions they have for the candidates. 

Above, the national leaders of the American Medical Student Association framed the healthcare debate with a well-crafted question for the candidates.  Friends, these are the future leaders of American organized medicine, and there are thousands of them, and thankfully, they’re progressive, patient-centered, and dedicated to the public health of America.

Hope comes in many forms, and this is just one of them…

(cross-posted at Cure This).

Cross-posted from Cure This:

Over at LAist, Andy Sternberg holds the media accountable:

Our fires were on front pages around the world. So how come when Mexico experiences “one of the worst [catastrophes] in the country’s recent history” it barely garners mention in the states? The Tabasco flood has been the BBC’s top story for 48 hours and not only is the Beeb on the story — bbcnews.com is seeking “your pictures” and publishing “your stories” in addition to video.

The LA Times / America doesn’t care about Mexicans, as Kanye might say.

UPDATE: The Saturday LAT relates a dire situation in Tabasco:

“The scene here is terrible, it’s biblical,” said Javier Velazco, assistant director of the Red Cross in Tabasco. “We’re attending to thousands of people. We’re delivering food, rope and water, but it’s not enough. We need everybody’s help.”

The Red Cross is accepting donations here.

And some preliminary information on the health consequences of the flooding (Al Jazeera news):

The flooding has raised fears of possible outbreaks of cholera and other waterborne diseases.

Mauricio Hernandez, a federal health official, said: “With so many people packed together there is a chance that infectious diseases could spread.”

Officials tested for 600 suspected cases of cholera, a waterborne sickness which is often fatal but has not been reported in Mexico for at least six years, but none was positive, according to Hernandez.

The government has also sent 20,000 Hepatitis A vaccinations and was giving booster shots to children to prevent outbreaks, Hernandez said.

But medical care was difficult because at least 50 of the state’s hospitals and medical centres had flooded.

In September, I worked in a hospital in Chiapas, a bordering state and the southern most state of Mexico.  It would rain for 2 days straight, a downpour (which was even louder at night in our sleeping quarters which had corrugated iron roofs), and somedays we’d walk through a few inches of rain.  It looks like a significant amount of Chiapas is now also being flooded by a few feet.

If you’ve got more information or other ways that help can be provided, please share in the comments below or write a post on Cure This.

A few days ago, on the eve of the 1 year anniversary of the Olympics (that China’s hosting), a group of activists performed a HUGE banner drop of a Free Tibet banner ON the Great wall of China! My friend Nupur Modi participated in it, and there are videos and other links on the Students for a Free Tibet website. Lhadon Tethong, the executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet was also in China blogging about her experiences there (which I hear is illegal to do in China) during and after the event. She runs a text and video blog at Beijing Wide Open, it’s phenomenal (and she’s hot too). :>

They were all detained after the event, by Chinese authorities, but now are safe and home in the US and Canada. Lhadon writes:

I know we did this and got off pretty easy. And while I appreciate that some people think I did something brave, I’m not sure I did. Bravery is standing in front of a tank in Tiananmen Square. Bravery is getting on a stage in Tibet and calling for the return of the Dalai Lama. Bravery is going to Beijing to petition to get compensation for your confiscated farmland to the very same government that probably took it in the first place. All this, with no protection. No foreign passport, government, or official body that will defend you.

What I did, what we did, it was nothing in comparison. But I hope and I pray that somehow we have made a difference in the battle for human rights and freedom in Tibet and in China. The Olympics spotlight is on the Chinese leadership now and they want the world to believe they are open and free. But they are not. They demonstrated this by deporting me at the very moment that the one-year countdown to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games was taking place in Tiananmen square. Paul and I just wanted to attend. To see it for ourselves and to blog about it like one should be able to in any place that truly enjoys freedom.

Some people have said we got what we deserved. Others have suggested we got off to lightly and should act more responsibly next time. I think it is the regime in Beijing – unelected, unaccountable and tyrannical – that should act more responsibly. I think our government, governments around the world, corporations doing business in China and the IOC itself, should act more responsibly. They are the ones who have clear and direct influence over Beijing. They are the ones who could make a huge impact by doing just a little in the way of speaking up for and promoting human rights and democracy.

Until this happens, we will keep doing what we have to do – challenging China’s control over Tibet and working to make the occupation too costly to maintain. One thing is clear in all this Olympics mess, the Chinese government cares what the world thinks. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t spend so much time trying to get us all to like them with slogans like “One World One Dream.” Knowing this, we must push them to change. And if our direct actions are seen as stunts by a few, I trust the vast majority will see them for what they really are, nonviolent expressions of dissent and protest to bring positive social and political change to people living under brutal oppression.

For Tibetans, Uighurs, Southern Mongolians, Taiwanese, Falun Gong, Christians, Catholics, farmers, factory workers, lawyers, doctors, journalists and every other person who lives under fear of persecution by the Chinese Communist Party and their goons, I say, we will never give up.

We stand with you.

Definitely check out her blog Beijing Wide Open. She’s inspired a little part of me to start videoblogging. But not yet, i’ve gotta marinate on it a bit.

My friend Nupur Modi, who was one of 6 who actually performed the banner drop, writes this:

We had the glamorous jobs. We were the ones to hang a banner on the Great Wall and make sure the footage got out to the world. I’m not saying that doing the action, and then being detained in China, being interrogated, and facing extreme consequences wasn’t hard and challenging.

But the hardest part is the unknown. And you all had to face the most of that. We were dealing with the situation minute-by-minute in bite-sized pieces. But not knowing what was happening to people you care about and not hearing from them for days, that can be distressing.

I truly appreciate all of your amazing strength, support, thoughts, and prayers through the process.

While we were in police custody trying to find the most comfortable position to sleep and pass the time in old Chinese police station chairs (answer: there is none), we found comfort and strength knowing that folks on the outside were working nonstop: getting media and the word out, pulling strings via diplomatic channels, calling and pressuring the embassies, providing emotional support to friends and family, etc., etc., etc. The six of us weren’t the only ones in that action, it was a whole community effort. I probably will never know about all the people who were involved and all the crucial roles they played, but I owe you all a sincere THANK YOU.

I truly appreciate all of emails and phone calls of commendation for my courage and “bad-ass-ness”. But let us please not forget the issue at hand. I am a US citizen, and with it comes innumerable benefits, resources, and privileges. I had it easy. Tibetans are struggling and taking action every single day, facing constant repression and violent rule. They don’t have freedom of speech or religion, and they are trying to preserve their culture. They are the true heroes.

Thank you, thank you, Nupur and the rest who participated in this action.

Oh I also wanted to add this — check out an interview on Canadian TV with Lhadon — what’s the most phenomenal, i think, is the amount of airtime they devote to this human rights issue. Would you EVER see this much time devoted to Tibet in the US? We’ve gotta break down the mainstream media, it’s brainwashing us all.

Think about supporting Students for a Free Tibet in whatever way you can. Whether that’s being the media (spread the word) or otherwise…

You’re going to be moved by this one.

At the AFL-CIO democratic presidential candidate debate this past week, retired union member Steve Skvara asked a simple health care question of the candidates.  In response, he received a STANDING OVATION from thousands of audience members in the stadium.  This is phenomenal, it is amazing how front-and-center health care is in the peoples’ minds, during this election.  Check out the video:

And Mitt Romney was challeneged on health care while giving a stump speech in a restaurant, where he mentioned his desire to export “healthcare diplomacy” to other nations, and a waitress really prodded him on the american health care system.  Video below:

Exciting.  Also related, not to health care but to the use of these technologies — the CNN/YouTube republican presidential candidate debate is coming up (september 17th).  Thanks to Pop and Politics for sharing sharing two YouTube videos that americans have submittedthese two videos submitted by viewers — good, solid, hard-hitting questions:

I’m so absolutely fascinated by videoblogging, YouTube, and other video/audio technologies, and especially with their use in politics and health.

In the meantime, I’ll be participating in tomorrow’s Great LA Health Care Rally sponsored by OneCareNow and other organizations, in support of universal health care in California, and hope to post some video footage from that event!

[cross-posted at Cure This]

Carnivals are cruise ships.  Carnivals are also blog roundups on a variety of issues.  I’m a big fan of the recently created “Carnival of Radical Action”.  Other than just sounding kickass, it’s a powerful blog roundup of posts that speak to effective actions, education, and radical thought.  Here’s the latest carnival (number 3), which is, even more excitedly focused around the Allied Media Conference from last month, in Detroit.  I was slated to go, speak, but was most excited to meet some of these people i hope to always surround myself with — energetic media makers, radical thought-sayers and beautiful booty shakers. Alas, I wasn’t able to make it, but thanks to the carnival that Nadia put together this month, I (and you too) can get a taste of the delicious deliveries of the conference. It’s posted at No Snow Here, so check it out.

Welcome to the third edition of the Carnival of Radical Action! This installment is inspired by the recent Allied Media Conference, and themed on media as a tool for organizing, education and social change…

In putting together this collection of blog posts, articles, poems, photos, videos and zines, I am even more convinced that we are populating the world with our messages by all means available to us. We aren’t just using media, but redefining media, to communicate with each other, speaking our truths, documenting our experiences, and recording our movements.

I realize that I mentioned Cure This on this site recently but made no mention of what it was and why. Here’s a quick description:

For two and a half years, “Cure This” was a pipe dream shared by just a handful of us. We envisioned a grand goal: to create an online space to discuss health in its broadest sense, share personal stories, creatively make positive change, and build an online community along the way — connecting us locally, nationally, and perhaps internationally. We envisioned a humble beginning: here and now.

Cure This has now transformed into a reality, and we’re excited beyond words. We welcome it into this world with a loving, gentle nudge and an encouraging whisper in its ear. Let the beautiful journey begin.

Yes! We have 25 users so far and quite a few posts. Lively discussion has begun on the site. We hope it may be a “home” of sorts for important discussion of broad health issues, and a place where stories can be shared and strategy discussed. We hope to feed people to organizations that are doing amazing work, and possibly connect smaller groups who thought that nobody else in the world was doing similar work :>

New features are being implemented daily, thanks to my wonderful, wonderful brother Nalin, who’s doing all the programming and creative design for the site. We’re rolling out a “recommended diaries” section where the most highly voted posts will hang out. We’re rolling out profiles for users (so others can understand some of the context of where they’re coming from, and which will serve as a mechanism for folks to network with each other). A few “how-to’s” will also be posted, for those wondering how to write posts, how to navigate around the site, etc. We’re also down with any suggestions you may have.

I shared the website and the idea with quite a few people at the United States Social Forum last weekend, and the response was total excitement. sweet…

Please check out Cure This and feel free to create a free user account and comment or post as you’d like, on issues of health, activism, SICKO, well-being, neighborhoods, etc. it’s free reign for now! Organic evolution!

Why so beautiful? Students and faculty protesting TOGETHER. Most everyone protesting. Silent processional protest with folks wearing No Card stickers. Loud booing from the whole hall of folks when Andrew Card gets his “doctorate in public service”. Signs pulled out of peoples’ gowns everywhere. Press coverage is inevitable for such an event. Completely nonviolent. Everything went off without a hitch.

Beautiful.

Now let’s look at the press coverage.

Interestingly, the Associated Press inaccurately portrayed the protest (check out the video then take a look at this piece of the article):

The protests were mainly contained to an area in the back of the campus arena. Many faculty on stage joined the three- to four-minute outburst.

Wow. Didn’t it look like the majority of the graduating class was holding up signs? Many of the students in the Orchestra Pit area right in front of the stage were holding signs, clearly demonstrated by the video. And students in various other places of the hall were holding up signs. What’s freaky is that the Associated Press, or the AP, reports on an event and then sends it out over the newswire to be syndicated in regional and local outlets all over the country (hundreds of newspapers reprinted this specific article).

The About section of the Associated Press’ website describes that hundreds of radio, tv, and news outlets use their pieces. So, a little misrepresentation, exponentially distributed? How do we hold the media accountable when they can blatantly lie like this?

Anyone who reads this site regularly knows i’m a stickler for wording / connotation / framing. The way the AP framed these two lines is stunning — the protests were “contained” to an area… 3 to 4 minute “outburst”. What would you picture from the AP article, if you hadn’t had access to an individual’s home video footage of the graduation ceremony? Some crazies in the back of the hall shouting nonsensically, and not supported in their protest by the other members of the graduating class.

If it weren’t for the internet and the ability of sites like YouTube to broadcast the peoples’ videos, we wouldn’t have any checks and balances on the media’s ability to repeatedly misrepresent anything they want to.

[Andrew Card was Bush's chief of staff from 2000-2006, lied to the american public about the Iraq war, and in the last month it was revealed that he and Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez went to the bedside of John Ashcroft (while he was zonked out in the intensive care unit after an operation, and who had previously appointed another man to his position in the interim) to try to get his signature for reauthorization of a huge public citizen surveillance program (more at this slate.com article)].

From “McCain Stumbles on H.I.V. Prevention” in the NYTimes ‘The Caucus’ blog:

Reporter: “Should U.S. taxpayer money go to places like Africa to fund contraception to prevent AIDS?”

Mr. McCain: “Well I think it’s a combination. The guy I really respect on this is Dr. Coburn. He believes – and I was just reading the thing he wrote– that you should do what you can to encourage abstinence where there is going to be sexual activity. Where that doesn’t succeed, than he thinks that we should employ contraceptives as well. But I agree with him that the first priority is on abstinence. I look to people like Dr. Coburn. I’m not very wise on it.”

(Mr. McCain turns to take a question on Iraq, but a moment later looks back to the reporter who asked him about AIDS.)

Mr. McCain: “I haven’t thought about it. Before I give you an answer, let me think about. Let me think about it a little bit because I never got a question about it before. I don’t know if I would use taxpayers’ money for it.”

Q: “What about grants for sex education in the United States? Should they include instructions about using contraceptives? Or should it be Bush’s policy, which is just abstinence?”

Mr. McCain: (Long pause) “Ahhh. I think I support the president’s policy.”

Q: “So no contraception, no counseling on contraception. Just abstinence. Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?”

Mr. McCain: (Long pause) “You’ve stumped me.”

Q: “I mean, I think you’d probably agree it probably does help stop it?”

Mr. McCain: (Laughs) “Are we on the Straight Talk express? I’m not informed enough on it. Let me find out. You know, I’m sure I’ve taken a position on it on the past. I have to find out what my position was. Brian, would you find out what my position is on contraception – I’m sure I’m opposed to government spending on it, I’m sure I support the president’s policies on it.”

Q: “But you would agree that condoms do stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Would you say: ‘No, we’re not going to distribute them,’ knowing that?”

Mr. McCain: (Twelve-second pause) “Get me Coburn’s thing, ask Weaver to get me Coburn’s paper that he just gave me in the last couple of days. I’ve never gotten into these issues before.”

This went on for a few more moments until a reporter from the Chicago Tribune broke in and asked Mr. McCain about the weight of a pig that he saw at the Iowa State Fair last year.

Holy fat pig. How does this happen in this day and age? How can McCain say this with any self-respect? How come he’s not called a flip-flopper? He’s got NO cajones, none at all. I’m so amazed that a reporter actually asked him this question and pressed on with it. This conversation should be reported in every major news outlet, and used to google-bomb McCain (so that this is the first thing that shows up when one searches for McCain on Google). Health care providers and patients should rally together against this idiot. Anyone who has been in politics as long as he has and can get away with not having thought enough on this issue or not having formulated a position yet should be forced out of the presidential race.  And is it not a stab in the heart to know that the conversation was cut off by a question about the weight of a pig?

R.I.P. Molly Ivins…

In 1976, her writing, which she said was often fueled by “truly impressive amounts of beer,” landed her a job at The New York Times. She cut an unusual figure in The Times newsroom, wearing blue jeans, going barefoot and bringing in her dog, whose name was an expletive.

- Katharine Q. Seelye, “Molly Ivins, Columnist, Dies at 62″, New York Times, 2/1/07

Ha! And another tribute…

Molly had the most amazing sense of humor. Let’s face, the girl was laugh out loud funny. But funny with a purpose. She really understood how to use satire as a political weapon in the tradition of Mark Twain and Jonathan Swift.

And on top of that, unlike so many of the smart-assed satirists of our day, she was a woman. A classy lady with a pair of brass cojones. For any fan of nerve, humor, and spunk, it was impossible not to adore her.

– Arianna Huffington, “Good Golly, how we’ll miss Molly”, Alternet, 2/1/07