Friday, December 31, 2004
goodbye to the old and hello to the new...
happy new year!
(well, for the new calendar as opposed to the lunar since i'm asian.)
| lily* || 3 || 2:10 p.m. |
Monday, December 27, 2004
END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN JUAREZ AND CHIHUAHUA
To: US Congress and the Government of Mexico
Below please find a list of resolutions regarding the ongoing violence against women in Juarez and Chihuahua City in Mexico. These resolutions were drawn up by a group of family members of the victims, artists and activists working in solidarity with them, and scholars whose research is contributing to bringing an end to this terrible wave of violence. If you support these resolutions, please sign below and PLEASE give your full name and email address. Signatures will be delivered to pertinent authorities in the US and Mexico.
Resolutions of the International Conference
“The Maquiladora Murders, Or, Who Is Killing the Women of Juárez?”
Hosted by the Chicano Studies Research Center at UCLA*
Recorded in Los Angeles, California, November 1st, 2003.
1. We declare that the kidnappings, tortures, and murders of girls and women in Ciudad Juárez and in the state of Chihuahua, committed since 1993 to the present, are crimes against humanity and we demand that their solution become a high priority in the binational and international agendas for the defense of human rights.
2. We demand that the governments of Mexico and the United States intervene in the investigation and solution of these murders, as part of their binational obligations to protect and defend the human rights of all inhabitants of the border area.
3. We demand that Mexico and the United States establish effective technical-legal cooperation and leads in order to investigate the linkages between transnational organized crime and the murders in Ciudad Juárez.
4. We demand that Hilda Solís, Democratic Congresswoman for the 32nd District of California, and Guadalupe Morfín Otero, Mexican Sub-Commissioner for the Prevention and Eradication of Violence Against Women in Ciudad Juárez, organize a binational alliance to intervene in clearing up the murders of girls and women in the region.
5. We demand an in-depth binational and international investigation into the identities of those individuals who might have information about the facts surrounding the murders of women of Ciudad Juárez, or who could be involved in them, and whose names have been denounced by the newspapers La Jornada and Reforma of October17 and 31, respectively.
6. We demand the formation of a binational and international human rights commission that:
a. investigates each and all of the cases of the murdered women;
b. has the authority to protect the life and safety of mothers, families, and friends of the victims, as well as that of the informants and defenders of human rights working on the cases;
c. has binational jurisdiction and capacity to impose sanctions; and
d. establishes a Mexico-United States human rights binational agreement to prevent future murders.
7. We demand that any commission formed by the governments of Mexico and the United States to investigate these crimes be designed in accordance with the human rights criteria established by the United Nations (Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention to Prevent, Sanction, and Eradicate Violence Against Women by Belem do Pará), so that it effectively addresses the murders of the girls and women of Ciudad Juárez and the state of Chihuahua.
8. We demand that the commission be granted the necessary functions and authority to discover the truth about the crimes, to carry out justice, and to permanently halt the murders and any kind of violence against the girls and women of Ciudad Juárez and the state of Chihuahua.
9. We demand that the human rights commissions and the international and Inter-American Courts of Justice acknowledge our demands and make the pertinent recommendations to our governments, exposing them before the international community in case they do not meet those recommendations.
10. We demand that the report written by the mission of experts from the United Nations who visited Ciudad Juárez in October 2003, directly examined some of the files of the cases of murdered and disappeared girls and women, and provided their technical-legal expertise to Mexican authorities, be made public and be widely distributed.
11. We demand economic reparation for the families of the murdered, disappeared, tortured, and raped girls and women of Ciudad Juárez and Chihuahua for the moral injury inflicted and the emotional pain and distress caused by the failure of the government to investigate properly the commission of these crimes.
12. We demand that the government of Ciudad Juárez, its planning entities, and major employers in the region work jointly to provide the necessary infrastructure that will make Ciudad Juárez a safer place for everybody, in which women can have the freedom of movement, as any other human being, without fearing for their lives and their safety.
¡NI UNA MÁS¡
All of them are our daughters.
All of them are our loss.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
| lily* || 0 || 1:32 p.m. |
Sunday, December 26, 2004
bush or chimp?
you
decide!
(this is in light of
this. and yes, perhaps it is delayed.)
| lily* || 1 || 12:37 p.m. |
Saturday, December 25, 2004
merry christmas
to those that celebrate and to those that do not, happy holidays and (fill in blank)!
| lily* || 2 || 1:19 a.m. |
Thursday, December 23, 2004
the usefulness of blogs
groggy right now. headache. not sure where i found this, but blogs are
useful.
| lily* || 3 || 5:32 p.m. |
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
veggie viagra
watch
here.
| lily* || 1 || 10:36 p.m. |
Monday, December 13, 2004
International Support for the Workers of Zanon
please sign this petition at: http://www.petitiononline.com/zanon/petition.html
To: the President of Argentina, Néstor Kirchner, the Governor of the province of Neuquén, Jorge Sobisch, Federal Judge Rafael Barreiro, and other members of the government and nation of Argentina
Around the world, Argentina's movement of recovered companies and factories is seen as an inspiration in the fight against neoliberalism, and an important symbol of another world that is possible, necessary, and emerging.
One of the jewels of this movement is the worker-controlled ceramic tile factory of Zanon in Neuquen: a concrete and successful local alternative to the global economic model. Under worker control, the factory has increased employment 50% in one year from 300 to 450 workers: what multinational corporation can boast that kind of record? The Zanon workers have managed this democratically, with decisions made in open assemblies, and every worker having equal power. How many of us have ever experienced true democracy in our workplaces?
The Zanon workers have also built deep popular support in the province of Neuquen, and have shown their commitment to their community in many ways, most recently by building a community health centre in the impoverished community next to the factory.
And yet the reward for the extraordinary successes of the last three years seems to be the constant threat of eviction, and a state of precariousness that could be easily removed by simple legal and legislative measures.
We the undersigned therefore call upon the governments of Argentina and Neuquen, and the courts dealing with various aspects of the bankruptcy case to enact the following immediately:
1. Remove any threat of eviction from the factory, both now and in the future.
2. Grant legal recognition to the Zanon workers’ co-operative, FaSinPat, and acknowledge the important social and economic contribution they have made to their community over the past three years. Without the court’s recognition of their co-operative, the Zanon workers cannot carry out their plan for the exportation of their tiles: we are eager to buy their products in the rest of the world!
3. Pass a permanent and definitive law of expropriation on behalf of the workers of Zanon, so they can stop wasting energy in political and legal battles, and devote all their efforts to creating many more jobs, helping to build hospitals, schools, and housing in the public interest, and spreading the model of economic democracy, so desperately needed in Neuquen and around the world.
Social movements around the world are watching the struggle of the Zanon workers with great interest and passionate support. This highly successful alternative to the neoliberal status quo should not be repressed or threatened: it should be celebrated, supported, and exported!
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
---------
http://www.petitiononline.com/zanon/petition.html
| lily* || 4 || 11:06 p.m. |
look after yourself, look after one another--right to play
one of the few highlights in the
Right to Play's December 2004 Red Ball Report:
Sport Offers New Hope in the Middle East
Across Israel and the Palestinian Territories, innovative "Twinning Programs" are using the universal love of sport to bring Israeli and Palestinian youths together as never before.
Israeli and Palestinian youth share a passion for soccer. Recognizing this common bond, the Peres Centre for Peace and Right To Play have designed a program of activities that use soccer to promote cultural integration between these two populations, and act as an avenue by which social change can be encouraged. Youth from both backgrounds play together on the same team, learning how to communicate and work together, while having fun. In addition to the sport program, the children also receive Peace Education training.
The first set of Twinned Soccer Schools, involving over seventy children, was established by the Peres Center for Peace in 2002. Israeli and Palestinian children came together on a regular basis to participate in joint sporting and social activities. The immediate success of the project sparked plans for a large-scale, long-term program of Twinned Peace Sport Schools.
Today, six communities participate in Right To Play funded projects: the Israeli communities of Sderot, Bnei Aish, and Kiriyat Ekron; and the Palestinian communities of Issawiya, the Muslim Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem, and Tzur Baher. Expansion of the project is planned for a number of additional communities.
"The direct and positive impacts of the Project can be clearly seen. The children show improvements in their sporting skills and attitudes towards each other," said Right To Play's Middle East Regional Office Delegate Erika Bockstael. "Many of the children participating had never interacted with children from the 'other side' before joining this project. Today they call each other friends and meet regularly, despite the ongoing and escalating conflict. Beyond the children, the Project also reaches their families and communities, and the Palestinian and Israeli Coaches who now meet regularly and are working together to achieve the same goals, again a first for many of them. Some of the Coaches and families have been actively engaged in the conflict and participating in this project has truly been a life changing experience."
| In the current climate, characterized by very few positive encounters between Israeli and Palestinians, the Twinning projects are a powerful, non-political way to bring Israeli and Palestinian children together. |
| Alon Beer, Sport Projects Director at the Peres Center for Peace |
Following the success of the Twinned Soccer Schools project, the Peres Centre for Peace and Right To Play, together with the Israel Tennis Center, are cooperating to implement a Twinned Kindergartens program. The objective of the program is to bring together Israeli and Palestinian children aged four to six years. The children participate in activities focusing on motor skills development, learn about the values of peace and tolerance, and are encouraged to accept cultural differences.
Currently, a pilot program is underway, which includes one Israeli and one Palestinian kindergarten. The feedback received has been very positive, prompting plans to expand the program to include ten Israeli and ten Palestinian kindergartens from Jerusalem and its surrounding areas.
| lily* || 2 || 9:36 p.m. |
in defense of my refusal to sleep (most of the time)
As taken from the May-June 2004 edition of
Utne:
Sleep Is Death Lite
Fear and trembling atop the raised platform
By Jeff Kay, from Crimewave
There's no way to get around it: sleep is crepy. It's not something I talk about in mixed company (because I'm seemingly along in my belief), but I've always felt this way. I remember being a kid and becoming unslightly uncomfotable whenever they showed people in bed on Little House on the Prairie, prerparing to turn themselves over to an eight-hour minicoma. I'm sorry, but the widely accepted riual of climbing atop an elevated platform and assuming a state of insectlike domracy is disturbing to me.
The fact is that otherwise bright and energetic people willingly allow themselves to become drooling vegatables at the end of each day feels like a failure. We, as superior animals, should be above such base requirements by now. Every night I climb abroad my raised coma platform, I sigh with resignation, feeling like a monkey in pants.
Have you ever seen a person sleeping? We look like idiots. As I put a fresh pillowcase on my pillow, I see the stains tehre, created by excess saliva that rolled out of my mouth during my nightly transformation into a lobotomized fool, and I feel shame. This is no way to live, people.
In addition to all the time wasted to voluntary loss of consciousness, I worry that one of these days I'll get in too deep and won't be able to pull out the other side. Sleep is Death Lite, and playing chicken with the grim reaper is, I think, ill-advised. Yet we do it every day. So far I've won every contest, but the odds keep getting longer and longer. It's Russian roulette beneath a fluffy comforter. Tonight could very well be the night that I'm drawn to the light.
And the fact that sleep is not only accepted by society, but celebrated too--well, that concerns me. We should be working at correcting this abnormality. Instead, we build homes equipped with special rooms (chambers) in which to assume our freakish science fiction states of suspended animation, complete with fancy handcarved hibernation stands. We also frequent places of business, like Bed, Bath, and Beyond, where one can purchase myraid frilly, scented dromancy supplies. If we had a grotesque dangling mole on our faces, we'd have it removed, not drive across town to purcahse an imported cozy.
Don't even get me started on dreams. When somebody starts a sentence with, "Oh man, I had the weirdest dream last night," I head for the exit. Thank you for your desire to share, but the bizarre misfirings of your noctural brain waves frighten me. You say you were playing darts in a jockstrap with Willie Mays and Thomas Jefferson? Well, that's just excellent.
My wife loves to sleep; she views it as a refuge. (She actually looks forward to it, which I find slightly insulting.) I'm just the opposite, of course. I put it off as long as possible, and curse its talent for robbing me of one-third of my precious life. When I finally give in to sleep's evil come-ons, it feels like defeat. Why, if I had had an extra seven or eight hours per day, I could rule the world. Or at least watch a shitload of television.
Throughout history, many visionaries have attempted to circumvent sleep, including Thomas Edison and Seinfeld Kramer, but, in general, we just accept it as a fact of life. What we need is something that will allow us to stay awake all the time. I seem to remember reading a piece on the Internet a while ago about a half-assed military experiment along those lines. I'd be interested in getting in on this deal--far away from the battlefield, of course. It would be like having your weeks Super-Sized.
In the meantime, though, I guess I have no choice but to play along and do my time atop the platform. I do so under protest, however; I want that to be noted.
| lily* || 2 || 9:24 p.m. |
Sunday, December 12, 2004
the christmas special.
The 10 Least Successful Holiday Specials of All Time.
(credits: Inspector Lohmann)
| lily* || 0 || 3:04 p.m. |
list of to dos
i have been both busy and lazy lately, but i find
this to be particularly amusing at the moment.
(credits: Berri Berriak/Bitxikeriak)
| lily* || 0 || 3:03 p.m. |
Thursday, December 09, 2004
'youngest galaxy'
doesn't this
fascinate you as much as it does me?
(credits: BBC News and NASA)
| lily* || 4 || 11:22 p.m. |
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
this x-mas, buy local
actually, every x-mas buy local if you haven't started.
check this out for some starters:
would you buy from a store where everything was locally made?
| lily* || 3 || 8:34 p.m. |
enemy of the state
spreading the
word.
| lily* || 0 || 8:20 p.m. |
why die when you could live?
please look at:
BBC News: Japan's internet 'suicide clubs'
admittedly, death can be fascinating--but to the point of forming a suicide club? but there is still so much to live for!
however, i must admit i have not reached a point or situation where i feel all is at the end. so i suppose, in reality, i have no say in this matter.
why reach towards the light, when you could create a light of your own and share it with others? (sounds corny, but i think i picked it up somewhere.)
| lily* || 2 || 8:03 p.m. |
Sunday, December 05, 2004
firefox, my love
| lily* || 3 || 11:11 p.m. |
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
Tomorrow, December 2, is the United Nations Day for Abolition of Slavery
the following is taken from a forward:
Over One Hundred Children Freed from Slavery
Dear Friend,
Recently 129 more children were rescued from slavery. Free the Slaves played a pivotal role.
Last month FTS met with staff of the U.S. State Department to urge them to do something about the plight of boys kidnapped and subsequently enslaved in fishing camps in Bangladesh.
Gangs abduct boys or lure them by false employment promises, and then they bring the boys to Dublar Island and sell them to the mafia for US $15 each. The boys, as young as 8 years old, are forced to work up to 18 hours per day, seven days a week. They have no means of escape. They are fed poorly, receive no medical care and sleep on dirt floors. The guards sexually abuse many of the children, and if the children do not work fast enough or refuse to sleep with the guards, they are beaten. If they die they are just thrown in the sea. Powerful people in Bangladesh know that this is happening, but their relationship with organized crime outweighs the rights of child slaves. Law enforcement people look the other way. But we don't.
Today many of the boys are back with their families and are being helped to recover. The US State Department used the information Free the Slaves provided to pressure Bangladeshi authorities to finally take action.
By supporting FTS, you contribute to the eradication of slavery. Tomorrow, December 2, is the United Nations Day for Abolition of Slavery. As a supporter of Free the Slaves, you know that slavery still exists. Please continue to
support us so that together we can help more children to freedom.
Sincerely,
Jolene Smith
Executive Director
Take action by signing our
Anti-Slavery Petition. You can also help by
forwarding this message to ten of your friends.
Free the Slaves is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
Free the Slaves
1326 14th St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20005
Phone: 1.866.324.FREE or 202.588.1865
Fax: 202.588.1514
| lily* || 2 || 9:59 p.m. |
