Tuesday, February 7, 2006, 01:33 PM - Politics
So today they're voting in Haiti, where Aristede (democractially elected) was softly ousted 2 years ago. Preval (frontrunner who will likely need a runoff to win) is seen as allied with Aristede, and perhaps will bring him back from exile in S. Africa. Hamas overwhelmed Fatah in Palestinian elections. There are new women presidents in Chile and Liberia. I struggle to understand our administration's rhetoric around the promotion of democracy in the context of pragmatism- I am a pure enough idealist to believe that self-determination is a fundamental right, but can this administration handle all the results of fair elections? I've gleefully celebrated the elections of Lula and Zapatero and others that offer alternative models of social and economic policy (even if Lula in particular has been a disappointment). Is our majoritarian system the best export product? What does it mean in the context of our Iraq rhetoric for us to be allied with countries like Saudi Arabia who are taking only the tiniest steps towards representative government - or supporting the current regime in Egypt that would likely lose to Islamists in a free election? Hamas has shown itself capable of running social/governmental institutions in the West Bank and Gaza - I hope we're prepared to deal with them as a legitimate governmental entity, because I imagine they will become one. Thankfully the middle east is too messy for Palestine to be Nicaragua all over again. But what about Iran? Candidate disqualification was of course an issue there, but Ahmadinejad is at least as democratically elected as Mubarak. Is the U.S. ready for the real impact of democratic elections on a global scale? Democracy means that sometimes you get Evo Morales or Hugo Chavez. It makes me understand why our historic level of support for the democratic process has been inconsistent at best and hostile at worst. Saturday, February 4, 2006, 05:06 PM - Politics
So yesterday Angela and I were waxing nostalgic about the days when we thought the Super Bowl was just another good reason to have a feminist protest (still believe that domestic violence is worse on Super Bowl Sunday? Well that's why we have Snopes. Not that we shouldn't be raising awareness about domestic violence every damn day.) This year the strangest protest idea I found was a group of street preachers going to Detroit to condemn Super Bowl idolatry. I have to admit to being morbidly fascinated by these guys - they're this freaky blend of populist economic analysis (it's obscene to have the Super Bowl in steadily declining Detroit, the homeless have been swept behind the Potemkin village, etc.) and religious insanity - God will not forgive porn star parties and abortions. Why can't we get some decent religious people to raise hard economic questions, without going off the deep end into hellfire? It does seem like our national amnesia has kicked in full bore...I mean, what would it be like to watch the game if you had been one of the people trapped in the Superdome in New Orleans? Should we really be able to have an uncomplicated relationship with a football stadium so soon?Friday, January 27, 2006, 03:28 PM - Politics, Technology
I am tossing around in my head the different methods and technologies we can use to support nontraditional collaboration for social change. Much of my recent extracurricular interest has been in how to make new technology work for this process (dotOrganize and its goal of threading together the best of the new technologies in an accessible package for social change organizations, Net Squared, etc.). Today I was on a conference call with some powerful women, participating in the formation of a new collaborative. I enjoyed the atmosphere of openness to new ideas, although some people were holding firm to their usual strategies. I think the project may be an opportunity to build a technological framework (or at least an opening)(damn, now I'm getting all feminist/essentialist) within which to encourage new kinds of collaboration - sharing resources without diminishing individual agendas. That has to be some of the benefit of working on women's issues, right? I'm certainly ready to abandon the territoriality and turf wars that come with old school organizing. And I think that the ever-burgeoning number of women online allows us to operate outside of the limited-resource, constituent-hoarding model that's developed already in the online org world. I'd definitely like to use my list development expertise to start a chain of engaged women, participating in whatever way they find most appealing. The process of the call was relatively unstructured, but we emerged with some ideas for how outcomes could drive the next steps of determining how to work together.... exciting and I hope fruitful work. Like looking over a hill and seeing a (limitless?) ocean of possibilities.Monday, January 23, 2006, 06:13 PM - Politics, Friends
If you can stand it, take a look at the MSF list of some of the horrendous things going on in the world that are being ignored:list of the 10 most underreported humanitarian crises.. My friend Jane Coyne has been working with MSF for the last year or so, doing post-tsunami relief in Sri Lanka and working with malnourished children in a couple of places in Africa. I have huge respect for her work, and for this organization - they seem a little less strangled by bureaucracy than many aid groups, and their quick response to crises like the Pakistan/ Kashmir earthquake is impressive. Tuesday, January 17, 2006, 03:20 PM - Politics, Books
Larry Bogad (friend of Andrew Boyd's who I met last summer) wants to tell you why 38,000 fed-up Amsterdammers did, when given the option in 1970. He's reading from his new book Electoral Guerilla Theatre: Radical Ridicule and Social Movements on Wednesday evening at Modern Times (1/18) and Monday 1/30 at Black Oak in Berkeley, both at 7:30 PM. I'm going to go on Wednesday, but I'll probably be late. More on the book:
Across the globe, in liberal democracies where the right to vote is framed as both civil right and civic duty, disillusioned creative activists run for public office on sarcastic, ironic and outrageous platforms. With little intention of winning in the usual sense, they use drag, camp, and stand-up comedy to undermine the legitimacy of their opponents, and call into question the fairness of the electoral system itself. Bogad looks at satirical campaigns around the world, including the GNOMES, who won 5 seats on the Amsterdam City Council, much to their own surprise. then the real pranks began...
Buy the book here. And in case you were thinking that I'm an out-of-touch idealist, Thursday night it looks like I'm going to a book party for this: Making Meaning: How Successful Businesses Deliver Meaningful Customer Experiences. Don't ever try and tell me I'm not multifaceted. Good thing one of my academic friends recently sent me a hypergeek journal article on the futility of the search for individual fulfillment through consumption, so I'll be ready.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006, 02:17 PM - Politics, Friends
My friend Josh -with whom I worked with last summer on Leave My Child Alone- just got featured in a NYT story on Pentagon monitoring of campus anti-war activism.. Nice to know I'm helping shape the next generation of activists... also Jen Low from Code Pink is part of the fun - aren't they cute?
Tuesday, January 17, 2006, 12:30 PM - Politics
So please explain to me how the hyper-right faction of the Supreme Court (soon sadly to grow by one) sleeps at night when they ignore the central tenets of conservatism? Isn't the whole point of their legal theory to LIMIT the role of the feds in state affairs, regulation, etc. and to interpret legislation narrowly? Although I don't agree with that philosophy, I can understand it (I'm not completely immune to the charms of some libertarianist ideas). Thomas, Scalia, and Roberts dissented in the Oregon case, arguing that federal controlled substance law would allow for prosecution of MDs prescribing meds for assisted suicide. Apparently federal power is acceptable to regulate things that serve their agenda, but not things that don't? I guess after the 2004 election expecting methodological consistency from them is silly - but their determination to advance the conservative agenda certainly is stable. Thomas is the one I really don't get, since he dissented in the medical marijuana case, arguing (correctly, I think) that the interstate commerce clause didn't apply, and the feds had no standing - while the majority argued that the feds could prosecute medicinal pot users because of the commercial implications. Then again, I'm not perfectly consistent in my judicial philosphy, either- but I'm a shameless pragmatist in most things. Monday, January 16, 2006, 08:32 PM - Politics
I drove back from Tahoe this morning and was crying my eyes out listening to King speeches on part of the drive. (Who knew I was so emotional?) There was some horribly depressing stat on NPR about how most white people do nothing to acknowledge MLK day, but one hopeful note was the effort to have people think of the holiday as a day of service. Although millions of Americans volunteer on a regular basis, one more opportunity surely can't hurt. And it does seem like the best way to honor a Capricorn is to get some work done, after all. Of course, one could choose to see the coopting of the impressive King legacy of social transformation into insipid school-painting projects, but I think it's a better option than having people think of the 'holiday' as an excuse to go shopping. It was nice to have the drive to think about the huge changes he helped bring about in our society (which I far too often take for granted), and also to consider how a lack of focus on economic issues limited the reach of the major social movements of the second half of the 20th century. Saturday, January 14, 2006, 07:54 PM - Sex, Politics
It drives me batty that the most important image of women from either the Roberts or Alito hearings is Alito's wife crying. Is welling up the best way for me to influence the future of the Supreme Court?? When he's confirmed, and if he does help overturn Roe, I will certainly be crying my eyes out, given that I'd have to spend a huge chunk of my life dealing with state-level battles over the legality of abortion. If only my tears were so sympathy-provoking, and I could get them such good coverage. Just imagine what would have happened to his chances for confirmation had HE been the one crying. And maddeningly there's at least a chance that if I were being cross-examined in front of the world, I WOULD cry. Yet I think mine (and many women's) capacity to mix emotional and intellectual intensity is one of our strengths. I'm so curious as to whether her emotional display was deliberate - really a master stroke if it was. In personal relationships I can never quite be sure of how much my manifestation of gender is authentic and how much is strategic or performative in response to social norms (or for that matter how much I should enjoy and accept my undeniable response to the masculine- or be suspicious of it). Yesterday I went with the enjoyment option, and I can't say that I'm sad about it. I'll let you know when I quit my job to drive my daughter to swim practice, but don't hold your breath just yet.Saturday, January 7, 2006, 03:30 AM - Politics, Food
So today I had a lunch meeting with Megan (the brain behind The MMOB and my favorite co-conspirator on Leave My Child Alone), and she brought along Joan Blades! It was great to meet her- she's just the combination of grounded strategist and slightly ethereal presence you'd expect from someone who's changed organizing forever- through technology. She's starting a new, very large-scale project centered on women's issues...I hope I'll have the opportunity to contribute to it. (And in addition, I got to snack on those onigiri from the Japanese deli that take me right back to department store basement food heaven in Tokyo). Really an unexpectedly superlative lunchtime, all things considered.Back Next
