[next week I am] Cairo-Bound
I’ve been lazy about posting lately. Studying for finals has infringed on my time spent on being outraged at injustices, so I have been able to resist the urge to blog. But as I only have one test left, I thought I’d start dipping my toe in the waters again. After all, I’ll be blogging a lot once I’m abroad!
The weeks before I go are looking very busy. One story that did catch my eye this week though, was the steel security wall that Egypt is building along the Gaza border. It will extend approximately 20 meters underground.
I think this is terrible. The people of Gaza are denied basic goods. As I understand it, much of what we will be consuming during our stay in Gaza will be smuggled through the underground tunnels. Yes, food is limited. I’ve even heard that sanitary napkins and school supplies are among the things that are banned from entering legally at the borders. And if there is a will for women to retain dignity during their time of the month, or for children to be fed and educated, there will be a way [now with an even higher mortality rate] of getting the things they need.
I hope that on the Gaza Freedom March, the participants, and especially the leaders, hold Israel and Egypt’s leaders EQUALLY responsible for their shared effort to take the political easy road and build walls. And American army engineers designed the wall. Just wonderful.
Asian and Pacific Islanders make Palin uncomfortable
Palin says Hawaii, where she quit college after one semester, was a little too perfect to get any studying done. But her father said differently. “According to him, the presence of so many Asians and Pacific Islanders made [Sarah Palin] uncomfortable: “They were a minority type thing and it wasn’t glamorous, so she came home.””
Read it in context here: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2009/12/07/091207crbo_books_tanenhaus?printable=true
Become a Countertop Composter
Below is a very short [3 minute] but very informative video on how to be an urban composter. Learn more at grist.org.
Educate to Innovate | The White House
Below, a wonderful speech by President Obama on the importance of education. His goal is to take us back to #1 in math & science. And also “to keep an eye on those robots, in case they try anything.”
In the 2006 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) comparison, American students ranked 21st out of 30 in science literacy among students from developed countries, and 25th out of 30 in math literacy.
On the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) math tests, 4th graders showed no signs of progress for the first time in many years, and 8th graders tallied only modest evidence of progress. We are not advancing as we must.
Watch the video to see the solutions proposed, and those already in place, to improve the pitiful statistics that we face right now. In the second video, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Dr. John P. Holdren answer questions about the “Educate to Innovate” initiative.
Spider Drawing & Pie Charts
I saw this post on Geekologie several months back. Hit the link to see what happens to David Thorne.
And below is a newer email exchange that may be even more hilarious than the spider saga.
Keepin’ Promises
Just read this on the Huffington Post. Back in September it turns out that President Obama removed federally-registered lobbyists who were on government agency advisory boards and commissions. This is huge! The fewer corporate funded interests there are on advisory boards, the more likely some of those board members will be representing the interests of the people.
“As has been reported, the President has made a commitment to close the revolving door that has in the past allowed lobbyists and others to move to and from full-time federal government service. In furtherance of this commitment, the President issued Executive Order 13490, which bars anyone appointed by the President who has been a federally-registered lobbyist within the past two years from working on particular matters or in the specific areas in which they lobbied or from serving in agencies they had lobbied.” Read more at whitehouse.gov.
This is a step in the right direction. I wish “the media” would occasionally focus on the boring yet effective changes that are being made. But it’s all about the ratings. Not really about educating the public. Such a shame.
Reading up before the Gaza Freedom March
Today was the second conference call for US participants of the Gaza Freedom March coming up this New Year. We talked about reaching out to local media.
One paper I was browsing was the Daily Cardinal, one of two UW dailies, and saw this quote in an op-ed:
” “It is not self-defense when you are killing defenseless people.” …. Here, you find the crux of the Gazan plight: They are not supported, not by Hamas, whom [Amira Hanania, a independent Palestinian journalist from Ma'an News Agency] claimed took political power by force; not by Israel, who has occupied, humiliated and corrupted daily life to an almost incomprehensible extent; not by the international community, which has refused to take a global stance on the ongoing humanitarian condition; and not the the United States, which has continued to support and supply, via billions of U.S. dollars, the Israeli military. They have no defenders, no representatives, no voice and no humanity….With this recent offensive, Israel seemed to invite, almost force the world to take sides.”
In going to Gaza, I am not supporting Hamas or any other violent organization. Nor am I opposing Israel’s right to exist or defend itself. I simply cannot reconcile how 14 dead in Israel meant 1400 lives needed to be taken on the other side of the border. How did the “most ethical” army in the world kill so many woman, children & civilians?
This discrepancy has been investigated and again, I denounce my representative, Congresswoman Schakowsky’s decision to co-sponsor and support HR 867. I do believe that there is an anti-Israel bias at the United Nations, but the Goldstone report “correctly acknowledges that the Commission’s original mandate was adjusted by Judge Goldstone himself and accepted by the Human Rights Council to include a focus on the conduct of both sides, and that the report included the first-ever exposure by a UN body of war crimes and human rights violations by Hamas.” Read J-Street’s entire statement here.
I am merely going to do what I can to amplify the plight the residents of Gaza find themselves in daily, made worse since the war and continued blockade. We cannot bring back the dead. And while the leaders on both sides sit on their hands and wait for the other side to throw the first stone, the residents, orphans & widows of Gaza silently suffer. So what else can I do but go and stand in solidarity with people that have gone voiceless and without justice for too long?
Understanding China & US Hegemony
I just read this article in the LA Times. It talks about how Americans don’t understand much about the economic powerhouse that is China.
Shining Path in Peru
I’ve long known that the reason I do not identify with my Chinese side as much as my Polish side is because I’ve learned so much more about European history than any other place outside of the US. China has millennia of achievement behind it. But unfortunately, very little of my life has been spent learning about it.
Anyone who has traveled outside of North America quickly learns that we Americans are quite unique in our educational isolationism. Children lucky enough to be served by more progressive educational systems are learning not only their own history but the history of their fellow human beings around the world. But we, educated in the US, whether we grew up in red or blue congressional districts, were probably all subject to the same “Social Studies” topics. USA #1 because of our universal fight for freedom. Europe – WWII. Kids today might have a few chapters on 9/11.
In high school, a good friend of mine wrote a paper that remains very relevant today. She argued that in order to graduate, high school students should be required to take at least one year of history on a continent which is normally underrepresented in mainstream history books. Africa 101. Asia 101. South America 101. Take a moment to ask yourself, can the average American can name even one significant event that occurred in Africa, Asia, or South America in the last 100 years?
the Rape of Nanking
Now take a moment to ask yourself where the hypothetical WWIII is predicted to break out. Take a moment to ask yourself where genocide is happening right now. Political upheaval. Water wars. None of these epic problems are anticipated to happen in the US or western Europe. In order for the US to remain a hegemonic power on the world stage, its leaders, backed by its citizens, will have to remain capable of offering successful solutions to emerging problems. If our ability to address these problems falls by the wayside, so will our ability to remain relevant in world affairs, to remain relevant in the world.
Bring that up at your next school board meeting.
ClustrMaps
