The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Everything Changes

2006-12-29T17:02:00.000-06:00

Me at Pebble Beach a few years ago. Nice abs, huh ;)
The few brave, bored souls who bother to regularly venture to this site may have noticed my long silent absence from the blogosphere. For some of you, I'm sure this is a prayer answered! For the few of you who actually find me interesting, I'm sorry for the long leave! My life has turned upside down the past couple of months, so I've had weighty personal matters occupying my mind in place of my usual, trivial concerns.
During the Thanksgiving holidays, after a lot of soul searching, I decided it was best that I leave my boyfriend. Our life together was marred by constant instability. We were always broke, constantly moving as my ex bounced from one job to another, and I was very depressed and unhappy.
I never had a real dad. My own father was severely brain damaged when I was six after a guy attacked his skull with a tire iron. He spent the next 16 years in a nursing home, unable to move or speak or see. He finally died a few years ago from pneumonia. The only time I ever saw him after he was hurt was at his funeral. My mama had already remarried a few years before he was hurt, and she and my stepfather felt it best we not see him. I don't really regret not going to see him, to be honest. He wouldn't have known who we were or understood anything we said, and I preferred not to think about it. It was too fucking sad to think about.
My stepfather was a very unhappy man. I'm not sure why, but life at home was pretty unpleasant for many years. Now, however, my stepdad has really mellowed out. He and I actually are friendly too each other, and he's very kind to me now. As a kid growing up, I never had any kind of fatherly connection or figure in my life. My stepfather worked night shift and my experience of him was one of incredible tension and daytime sleeping.
I bring all this up because I've always been attracted to older guys. Ever since I was a teenager, I had crushes on men a decade or more older than myself. I know I was born gay, but the absence of a father figure affected me in a lot of ways. I know some girls who don't have a dad develop an attraction for older men. I guess it's a similar thing that happened to me.
My ex was significantly older than I. He's a good guy. He has an ex-wife and children, so things were always really complicated. He had many responsibilities and obligations I found difficult to deal with at my age, but I tried really hard to make it work. Some things just aren't meant to be.
So I have had to find a new place to live. I'm looking for a new job. I have an interview on Weds for a part-time job I can work at while I finish college here in Chicago. That's right! I finally gave up on ever going back to Harvard. I'm too old to go back to that cocoon, and it's too expensive for me to finance as an independent adult. I don't like Boston anyways! I had a miserable time there, but some good times too. My favorite memory is of the Miss Harvard pageant. That was a riot! Maybe I'll tell you about it some other time ;)
I don't really have any ambition. I guess that's my biggest obstacle. I have no interest in wealth, power, or success, but I've found it's difficult to find even a decent job without a college degree. It is the only reason I am going back to school.
2007 is coming up. God, I am getting so old! I hope it's a good year. I hope things go well for me at school. And I hope we get the fuck out of Iraq!
Happy New Year, Guys!
xo

Cook County Medical Examiner: "Sad" Police Are Concealing Murders!

2006-11-15T16:50:00.000-06:00

A really odious story broke here in Chicago over the past couple of days. A CBS news investigation claims to have found evidence that police in Cook County are misclassifying murders as suicides and accidental deaths in order to lower the city's murder rate! Police classified one particular case as a suicide, though the medical examiner said his injuries, including a fractured windpipe and hemorrages on both sides of his brain, were too severe to be self-inflicted. A pathologist at the Medical Examiner's office ruled the case a homicide, but police simply didn't believe that to be the case. Now, who would you trust to make that decision? I think a pathologist trained in the forensic science of diagnosing causes of death has far more expertise than the assumptions of a half-brained police force covered in the noxious fumes of one scandal after another. Just this past year, we've had revelations of systematic police torture in the 70's and 80's, racketeering cops robbing and blackmailing suspects, and cases of violent police overreaction. Another particular damning example of the incompetence and public safety failures of the Chicago Police Department is the case of Christina Eilman. Eilman, a 21 yo student from California, was arrested at Midway Airport for acting erractically. Christine's parents telephoned the police many times after she was arrested, informing them her daughter was mentally ill and was probably in a psychotic state. They pleaded with the police not to release her until they could come to Chicago and get her the help she needed or to take her to a psychiatric hospital. Well, the Chicago police were annoyed with the behavior of this woman, so released her later that day in the middle of the night into a neighborhood with a serious crime problem. Christine was later found lying on the sidewalk--unconscious. She had been beaten and raped and thrown out of the window of a public housing building. She suffered severe injuries to her body and brain.
Citizens Alert of Chicago is now asking the FBI to investigate the latest allegations against this broken and corrupt force.

2006-11-11T16:30:00.000-06:00

Police Liberation, The Freedom to Beat and Kill!

The GOP Kisses Donkey Ass!

2006-11-08T18:30:00.000-06:00

Could a headline be any better?

I grew up in Georgia during the slow--sometimes rapid--but, always, inexorable decline of the southern branch of the democratic party. My mother is pragmatic and moderate, but my stepfather is a hardcore conservative, like most of the men I listened to growing up. Being gay and growing up in a super-conservative rural area, I paid more attention to political developments than most kids my age. I guess I always felt they would gauge how I could expect to be treated by America as a gay man. Bill Clinton was a dirty word where I grew up, and Newt Gingrich was the southern man's hero. I will never understand how a largely poor area could turn itself so completely over to a fundamentally anti-working class party. I think the powerful churches back home are to blame. As a child napping in the pews every sunday at our S Baptist church, I was exposed to consistently political sermons attacking liberals, gay civil rights activists, and any democrat or public figure who didn't tow the S Baptist line. I think it's really unethical for a church to engage in such partisan drivel, but eventually the drill bit makes a mark in even the toughest wood, and, so, a lot of parishoners end up becoming a bit radicalized by these listless Bible-thumpers. I think the other issue in the South is how very apolitical a huge part of the citizenry is. Seriously, poor people back home just don't vote that much. It's a middle-class, churchy kinda thing to do to them, and they just don't see the point. They expect the services they have to continue, and no new ones to be created, so I guess they'd rather not miss a few hours of work.
Yet, the area that my folks live in is being represented by a democrat now: Barrow. He's a pretty socially conservative guy but has a bit more of a populist economic view. That's the key in the South for the democrats: candidates have got to at least be social moderates but people back home would really welcome a progressive, populist economic policy, and such a candidate would be able to engage voters beyond the churchy, middle-class types and tap into the much larger pool of working class citizens who continue to be largely apolitical--and they've had good reason to be!

Nevertheless, Progressives and moderates all over the country had great cause to greet this morning with joy and satisfaction. I was ecstatic to see the Repubicans finally get thrown out of Congress! Thank you, Jesus!!!! ;)

Nancy Pelosi will be the first woman speaker of the House! Luckily, our Governor was re-elected. He's promising an increase in the minimum wage and universal health coverage for all! He was pushed a bit left of center by the strong run by the Green party candidate because he didn't bring up the issue of universal health care until a few days before the election. Democrats swept all state-wide offices in Illinois. I was really disappointed Tammy Duckworth didn't win. She made a strong finish though. The fact that she lost reflects poorly on the assholes who constitute her district. They don't deserve to be represented by such a fine woman. They got what they deserved in Peter Roskam, a carbon copy Bush neo-con extremist.

There was a bit of excitement here in Chicago early in the morning, when the Republican candidate for Cook County President claimed voter fraud and ordered his minions to go to the county government building. They marched over and started attacking poll workers and trying to steal ballot cartridges. It was so pathetic. Paraica looks like a real prick after this debacle. His hooligans tried to storm the clerk's office and even vandalized one of the elevators (owned by the taxpayers). It was so funny to watch the little, bigoted, suburban neo-cons pissed they didn't beat the uppity black man they felt they should have.
All in all, I think the Republicans are well on their way to imploding as a national party. They'll stay strong in the South--but even there there are many democratic districts scattered here and there. They've forever discredited themselves in the eyes of moderates all over the country. They're going to have to live down a lot before they will have even a slight chance of taking back Congress.
Last night was a victory for all Americans! My prayers were answered! I hope they get us out of Iraq ASAP!

Murder in Oaxaca, Mexico

2006-10-29T12:07:00.002-06:00

Brad Will, US citizen and journalist, carried after being shot by Mexican police

Oaxaca is a renowned tourist destination, brimming with colonial homes and thoroughfares. Its streets are usually crowded with wealthy visitors from America and Europe. These days, however, the streets are filled with the tired but defiant citizens of the city. These brave men and women are fighting against the corrupt government of Ulises Ruiz, the governor of the state.
Distrust and anger are universal feelings amongst the suffering people in Oaxaca, but those sentiments boiled over into popular action following an attack by the police on a peaceful demonstration of teachers. One can only imagine the vile personality of a regime that would attack teachers with heavy-handed violence in broad daylight for all the world to see.
The striking teachers' demonstration was small, but, after it was attacked, the mobilization in the barrios of Oaxaca began. A mass movement was created that reclaimed the streets from the corrupt mafia ruling Oaxaca, and popular demands were made that the state government--now beyond reform--be dissolved. The response of Gov. Ruiz has been bloody. Many, many demonstrators have been attacked, beated, and killed. Leaders of political groups have been kidnapped and tortured.
What is happening in Oaxaca is a revolt against an illegitimate regime. Mexico's salvation is not in remittances from millions of workers forced to migrate north for work. The people of Mexico have to radically reform their society, and this requires a staunch and considered attack on the power and wealth of the ruling elite of their nation. Citizens concerned about the issue of Mexican immigration into the USA must understand that their support of people's movements in Mexico is pivotal to the future of both nations. We must support the workers in Oaxaca as they fight a system grinding them into poverty and migration.
The brutal repression against the citizens of Oaxaca City has cast a wide net, ensnaring more than activists in its web. On Friday, a journalist for Indymedia-NYC was murdered by Oaxacan police in plainclothes. Brad Will was devoted to his brand of independent and uncompromising journalism. His murder has ignited a very hot glare of attention on the turbulent situation in Oaxaca. He died with his camera in his hands, and his moments, as captured on his camera, are seared into my memory. Al Giordano of Narco News wrote eloquently of the fierce reporter he knew, writing" (Will was) a valiant compañero who, knowing full well that this story could be his last, decided to share the risks with the people whose cause he reported. Will's last report from Oaxaca detailed the death of an activist, Alejandro García Hernández, murdered by the same thugs who would later murder him. Mexico is boiling in the heat of the injustice perpretated against them by their own leaders. We must stand in solidarity with the workers resistance!
Will's words written about Hernandez seem chillingly prescient now that his own life has been snuffed out. Here is an excerpt from his last report:
“…and now alejandro waits in the zocalo—like the others at their plantones—hes waiting for an impasse, a change, an exit, a way forward, a way out, a solution—waiting for the earth to shift and open—waiting for november when he can sit with his loved ones on the day of the dead and share food and drink and a song—waiting for the plaza to turn itself over to him and burst—he will only wait until morning but tonight he is waiting for the governor and his lot to never come back—one more death—one more martyr in a dirty war—one more time to cry and hurt—one more time to know power and its ugly head—one more bullet cracks the night—one more night at the barricades—some keep the fires—others curl up and sleep—but all of them are with him as he rests one last night at his watch…”

Isreal Admits to Using Evil Chemical Weapons on Civilian Areas in Lebanon

2006-10-22T23:44:00.000-05:00

Beirut, following a friendly neighborhood visit by Israel.
I remember when I first read reports Isreal was using phosphorus weapons in Lebanon. I tried to tell people on right-wing sites who were gung-ho for the barbarous attack on Lebanon about the use of these wicked chemical weapons. Doctors were reporting unusual burns and such. I was derided as spreading baseless, anti-semetic propaganda.
Well, now Haaretz, the Isreali newspaper, has published an article with the headline "Israel admits using phosphorus bombs during war in Lebanon". Phosphorus, when it makes contact with human flesh, burns that flesh to the bone. It is a shameful weapons to use. However, Israel has no shame when it comes to using intense, disproportionate, and barbaric forms of violence against its enemies--i.e. phosphorus bombs--i.e. millions of cluster bombs spread all over Lebanon that are still killing little babies, children, women, and men!
Israel was blindsided by the intense fury of world opinion against their operations in Lebanon. The furor and the protests (there was one in Chicago in which I particicpated) triggered an attempt by Isreal and its backers to silence critics and attack information that was truthful but reflected poorly on Israel. Well, they failed! They will continue to fail as long as they are enaged in the kind of despicable activity that destroyed the nation of Lebanon.

Greg Dellinger was my lover and now he's gone.

2006-10-08T17:20:00.000-05:00

Several years ago, I met Greg Dellinger when I was studying at Harvard. When we met, we discovered we had an unusual connection--a connection to a small town near Savannah, Georgia. His mother was from there, and I had graduated from high school from there. We became really good friends and spent a lot of time together. We even hung out when he went to his parents' house. I had some problems at school and went home for a while and we hung out a lot there. We went to clubs in Savannah and gave each other company. I cared very much about him. We were lovers, but I was lost in my own problems. Greg was older than I, and I just couldn't understand why he didn't have his life together. My mother had endured so much but had been so strong and capable, and I just couldn't understand why he couldn't persevere and be like her.
There was a gorgeous European girl at school who everyone loved. We used to work out in the gym together. Marian Hersi Smith was my friend, and none of us could believe it when she took her own life. She was beautiful. She really was. And she was such a lively girl! She bubbled with energy and personality and everybody liked her.
After I had troubles, more of my friends met tragic endings. Anthony Fonseca--Deuce--killed himself. Everybody knew him! He was good-looking and friendly to everybody. Three of my friends died through suicide, one of them was my lover, and I cannot understand it. I just wish I had reached out to Greg. I truly cared about him. I was lost myself. I didn't know how to help him, and so instead of being his friend, I withdrew. I still can't believe he's dead. I still can't believe Marian or Antonio or even a girl acquaintance from high school, Angela, the daughter of our principle, all made the decision to kill themselves. I pray to God to bless them.

2006-10-06T18:05:00.000-05:00

Taking Back Sunday - A Decade Under The Influence

One of my favorite songs

2006-09-23T14:40:00.000-05:00

Police Stupidity/Brutality caught on tape!!!

2006-09-21T01:06:00.001-05:00

sisters of the moon

2006-09-21T01:06:00.000-05:00

Kate Bush - Running up that Hill

Guatemala City: US Legacy to blame for Massive Murders of Women

2006-08-17T13:45:00.000-05:00

Women murdered in Guatemala --AP

The country of Guatemala was first terrorized by the USA in 1954, when the democratic government of Jacobo Arbenz was overthrown by the CIA, after the Guatemalans had the audacity to claim untilled land owned by the United Fruit Company. The decades following were an endless parade of American-government sponsored terrorism and war against the people of this suffering nation. In the later years of the war, which ended in 1996, hundreds of Mayan villages were destroyed in a policy condemned by the world community as genocide and ethnic cleansing.
The civil, political, and economic society of Guatemala was devestated by the interminable, murderous conflict. The vacuum left in the wake of such violence was quickly filled with massive criminal gangs, similar to the notorious ones found in nearby El Salvador, which are also found on the streets of Los Angeles. Thus do the chickens come home to roost!
Today, Guatemala and its capital are suffering a new wave of massive violence--the murders of thousands of women. The victims are often raped, tortured, and mutilated. Some of the bodies discovered are disemblowed and dismembered. The corrupt Guatemalan police does not bother to even pretend to investigate most of the crimes and blames the victims for their death s. Up to 70 percent of the cases of murdered women are never investigated and only two arrests were made last year, said a report released by Amnesty International last month. "The government does absolutely nothing," said Jorge Velasquez, whose 19-year-old daughter, Claudina, was found shot to death last August.
The government of Guatemala must be pressured to stop this terrible violence against its women and held to account for its gross incompetence in investigating the murders. The USA is currently sponsoring Guatemala's quest to be on the Security Council. In the light of tacit approval by the Guatemalan police regarding this wave of violence and the political neglect required to allow it to continue, I do not think such a sponsorship should be supported.

2006-08-16T18:23:00.000-05:00

"They never stop thinking about ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we!"--Pres. Bush

The Specter of Hunger

2006-08-16T16:22:00.000-05:00

I was looking at the Tribune today and came across this picture in an article about the photographer, Kevin Carter. He won a Pulitzer Prize for this picture taken in the Sudan back in the early'90s. He witnessed and photographed the final days of the Apartheid regime in South Africa and was already a renowned photographer when this picture was taken of this little girl in the Sudan.

2006-08-16T14:40:00.000-05:00

Mercenaries Shoot Random Iraqis

2006-08-16T14:37:00.000-05:00

Iraqi Kids Beat Down by UK Soldiers

Chicago Activist--Mother of US Citizen and Illegal Immigrant--Defies Deportation-Seeks Refuge in Church

2006-08-15T12:42:00.001-05:00

Elvira and her son, Chicago Tribune

"If Homeland Security chooses to send agents to a holy place, I would know that God wants me to serve as an example of the hatred and hypocrisy of the current administration," Elvira Arellano said.

So, is it right to split a family apart? To orphan a child here in the States and send the mother back to Mexico? What about the boy's right to be with his mother? Or do you think he should be expelled to Mexico as well?
This was one of my principle concerns when I contacted my representatives in Congress via e-mail and telephone calls. I asked them what would happen to the US born children of illegal aliens. We can see their response illustrated in the unmerciful and inhuman treatment afforded Ms. Arellano. She was actually assisted by Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Luis Guitterez, who intervened on her behalf when she was arrested in a sweep after 9/11. Some terrorist! Now that immigration is such a sensitive topic, the representative won't touchc her with a ten foot pole. Does this cheap and gutless behavior inspire you? Will the specter of US agents invading a church and taking a mother away from her son be repeated across the United States? People on the right were angry when Elian Gonzales was returned to Cuba. Where is their sympathy for this honest woman, this hard worker, this devoted mother, this illegal alien?

A 'Political Earthquake' (in Israel) after the Ceasefire

2006-08-14T19:31:00.000-05:00

Haifa, Israel after Hezbollah rocket attacks on Sunday--AP

Mazal Mualem of Haaretz writes:

Likud Party chairman Benjamin Netanyahu spent hours yesterday working on his speech as leader of the opposition, to be delivered today after PM Ehud Olmert addresses the Knesset. Netanyahu spoke on the telephone with Likud MKs and close advisors, most of whom proposed he reserve his criticism and stick to a statesmanlike line, which he has done since the start of the war and proved to be in his favor.

Netanyahu took pains not to be interviewed at the end of last week so as not to attack the cease-fire agreement or to appear in the eyes of the public as undermining the government once again. The criticism was left to the other MKs.

click here to read the rest of this article

2006-08-14T15:08:00.000-05:00

Watch the Bill of Rights Die in Chicago

2006-08-14T15:05:00.000-05:00

IDF Response to a Peaceful Demonstration

I Visited the Bahai Temple Near Chicago Yesterday

2006-08-14T08:50:00.000-05:00

It is a truly beautiful monument to the Bahai faith. Its architecture features a giant, pearly dome covered in a design akin to fine calligraphy. The dome is surrounded by gardens and a spritual atmosphere of reflective tranquility.
I knew very little of the Bahai faith before yesterday but learned much at the temple. The religion was founded in the mid-19th century in Persia(Iran), by a man named Bahá'u'lláh. He is considered to be the last of God's prophets by followers of Bahai. They believe in the universality of the teachings of Christ and Muhammaud and follow three simple creeds: the oneness of God, the oneness of religion, and the oneness of humanity.
Unfortunately, followers of Bahai have been facing terrible persecution in Iran since the 1979 Revolution. Maybe persecution is too weak a word for what has been happening in Iran, as the government seems bent on wiping out the largest minority religion in the country. Bahai temples, cemeteries, and administrative facilities have been destroyed and Bahai leaders have been murdered. I was very shocked by what I learned at the temple yesterday. The rabidity and viciousness of the oppression seems headed for a genocidal event. The Bahai stress a lot of progressive principles and seek a world united in justice and equality. What is so threatening about this?
There is a lot of anger here in the West and a lot of confusion about current events in the Middle East. Seymour Hersch is reporting the Bush administration helped plan the recent Israeli attack on Lebanon as a necessary precursor for a strike on Iran--an October surprise, no doubt. I do not think an attack on Iran will be in any way defensible. The country is simply no threat to us. I also believe American policies in the region are strengthening the hardliners and making the position of dissenting groups like the reformers and the Bahai ever more precarious. I know not where all this madness may end, but the religious intolerance, bigotry, and violence of the Iranian government's attack on the Bahai is the other side of the Bush/Janus coin. God help us all.

Lebanese Direct Growing Anger at US

2006-08-13T00:55:00.000-05:00

AFP: Israeli tanks wait near the Israel-Lebanon border

While the US worked on a cease-fire agreement, Israeli warships fired on southern Beirut.

By Scott Peterson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

BEIRUT, LEBANON – With his arm raised and fist clenched, Sheikh Hussein furiously expressed a sentiment rapidly taking hold here.

"We know who our first enemy is: America," he shouted before tearful mourners at a funeral Wednesday for 30 civilians killed by an Israeli airstrike on Monday. The white-turbaned sheikh led the crowd in a militant chant: "Death to America! Death to America!"

click here for the rest of this article

Ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon? . . . White Hen gobbled by 7-11 . . .

2006-08-12T16:13:00.000-05:00

The UN Security Council approved a ceasefire resolution yesterday. I, for one, was very excited at the prospect of an end to this bloody conflict and looked forward to its cessation. A day later, however, it is clear Israel is using its remaining days to drop as many body blows on Lebanon's remaining infrastructure as it can. It destroyed two power plants yesterday and attacked a convoy of Red Cross workers, civilians, and Lebanese soldiers. The convoy had been given permission by the Israeli government to evacuate the area. These sinister developments foreshadow the massive invasion Israel is engaged in currently. I fear there may not be much left of Lebanon when the ceasefire finally takes place.

Here in Chicagoland, globalization and corporate merging continue to wreak havoc on local brands. Montgomery Wards is long gone, and Marshall Fields was gobbled up by Macy's. Yesterday, the citizens of Chicago learned another local franchise was going the way of the dustheap. The local convenience chain, White Hen, has been bought by Japanese giant, 7-11. White Hen pays pretty well, but I am not sure if 7-11 has the same level of concern for wage fairness.

The steamroller is chugging on and burying a lot of indepedent retailers along the way.

2006-08-11T15:53:00.000-05:00

Israeli missile attacks nonviolent march in Rafah, Gaza

2006-08-11T15:52:00.000-05:00

George Galloway on Lebanon

2006-08-11T15:51:00.000-05:00

Israeli Soldiers Purify Jerusalem

Chicago Blues

2006-08-11T15:30:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted in a while because I have been ill. I am feeling better now and looking forward to writing my gratuitous thoughts on the state of the planet. I have not written in over a week, but nothing has really changed in that time. The United States is still sponsoring terrorism against the people of I raq, Afghanistan, Palestine, and Lebanon. It was foolish of me to think we would have a ceasefire in Lebanon by now, as the American government's traditional standard of bloodlust has clearly not been reached yet.
The lame brain media was whoring the government's story of killer liquids. It's actually funny to see how stupid reporters really are: they would buy a line that terrorists were going to use lotion and deodorant and an ipod to make a bomb! God Almighty, have you people forgottent the dozens of fake, phony alerts over the past 5 years! Get a life!
I learned some more about Israel's occupation of Palestine this week. It's really despicable what they do. They are colonizing the West Bank with Jewish-only settlements all over which happen to be on top of hills and control good farmland and aquifers. I saw video of irate Zionists attacking Palestinians, burning their fields, and shooting them. I am going to post some of this video on this blog.

Wal-Mart Loses, Chicago Workers Win!

2006-07-31T16:05:00.000-05:00

The heat here in Chicago is boiling my blood and sopping my shirt with sweat. It is intolerable in the subway stations, where the humidity and the heat are combining to turn the concrete tunnels into human-cooking ovens. There has been a real progressive victory here in Chicago--stores over 90,000 feet will be forced to pay a living wage and provide benefits. The new law is aimed at Wal-Mart, which has plans to expand into Chicagoland. I totally support this bill! These big-box stores put decent-paying shops out of business and reduce the wages in the community to the lowest common denominator. Did any of you know Wal-Mart considers full-time employment to be somewhere around 34 hours?

"The sickening slaughter on both sides must end . . . this madness must stop," Sen. Hagel.
The massacre in Qana is dominating the headlines and international politics. I have been opposed to Israel's actions in Lebanon from the beginning, and I think more people around the world are waking up to the wanton bloodshed in Lebanon. I am sorry for what is happening in Israel, but the idea that Israel will live in peace while millions in Gaza live in a giant ghetto-a prison--is preposterous! We must resolve the Palestininan-Israeli conflict with a two-state solution that makes Israel withdraw to its 1967 borders. I think it is the only chance for peace. The conflict is poisoning international relations and dooming the Middle East to eternal war.

In Mexico, Lopez Obrador made it clear he will not yield to a rigged election without a fight. The NY Times is quick to disregard his claim of electoral irregularities, but I think there is sufficient evidence to back up his claim. I hope he is declared the winner. "We're not going to let them impose a president on us,'' said farmer Anacleto Garcia Martinez, 53. "We've got revolutionary blood,'' said fellow farmer Angel Campirano, 49, of the city's rural Milpa Alta district. ''Farmers are being forced to sell off their land, and we are defending the land.''
I hope they continue to fight until they achieve victory, unlike our (s)election here in 2000.

2006-07-29T00:47:00.000-05:00

Colbert Accuses Congresswoman of a "No-Vote Record" TV GUIDE says "Funniest Interview Ever"--claims critic broke rib laughing!

"I saw a line of prisoners, civilians and military, and they opened fire at them all at once."

2006-07-28T23:40:00.000-05:00

So spake Abdel Salam Moussa in TIME magazine in 1995 about a massacre by the IDF of Egyptians during the Six Day War in 1967.
In light of the bombing of the UN post in southern Lebanon, despite its presence being well-known for years and a flurry of communication to the IDF warning of close fire, I thought it would be interesting to dig into documented history and see if there were precedents for such actions. I have read posts on a blog by a former IDFer which speak of the profoundly western, Humanist values of the IDF and their emphasis on protecting life and following the Geneva Conventions and the legal rules of engagement. You can read all about a massacre by the IDF in the Six-Day War in the link I provided. I do not know how to reconcile this event with the claim that the IDF is a humane military force following international law. Another interesting piece to the story are allegations made by many that an attack on the USS Liberty in 1967 by Israel during the war was no accident and was, in fact, premeditated. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Secretary of State, survivors, and the former head of the NSA all believe this.
James Bradford, a former ABC News producer, claims the attack occurred to cover up a massacre of 1,000 Egyptian prisoners of war. This massacre is supported by the claims of Moussa and the evidence discovered in mass graves in the Sinai Peninsula.
Some people are claiming the UN was bombed recently in Lebanon to prevent knowledge of atrocities being committed by IDF forces there. These claims cannot be substantiated, however. The widow of one of the slain UN observers has publicly accused Israel of purposefully killing her husband. Israel denies this, but Kofi Annan himself initally claimed it was deliberate. It is hard to know what the facts are in the fog of war but the IDF has a lot of explaining to do on many subjects.

Is Israel Using Chemical Weapons?

2006-07-27T15:12:00.000-05:00

Lebanese Doctor Says 'Phosphorus Weapons' Cause Suffering

A Melancholy Planet in a Very Violent Time

2006-07-27T03:25:00.000-05:00

Today, I had to go to work. I usually work second shift--I am ambivalent about this because I like the hours but the managers I get along with best usually work the first shift. It is unusually hot and sticky here in Chicago, though it's much worse in many places. The poor people in St. Louis have been suffering for over a week with no electricity in this muggy atmosphere. By the time I get to work, the sweat is already dripping down my back. When I finally get into the air conditioning, I feel relief and cool air wash over my face. Today was pretty laid-back. I mostly worked in the front as a cashier. I had a few difficult customers. One lady wanted to use 30 coupons, many of which were for competitors, even though our rule is 5 per transaction. She was a real pain, but most of our patrons are pretty nice. I am getting into the swing of things at work, and I'm actually enjoying my job now. I am very much looking forward to returning to school in January and am focusing on that.
There is a Palestinian girl at work. She's very bright and attends a prestigious university here in Chicago. We were speaking the other day about the events in Lebanon, and she told me many of her family are in Lebanon. Needless to say, she isn't very sympathetic to Israel. We spoke on the train today about the most recent developments. Our discussion became morbidly apocalyptic, and I think we fell into the kind of biblical thinking many are expressing right now. I am astonished at the explosion of violence in the Middle East, especially what is going on in Iraq. It is so disturbing, but what can one expect to come of an unjust invasion and occupation? You reap what you sow, and the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Those cliches are simple and, oh, so true. I am amazed at the bloodlust I see in the gory rhetoric on blogs all over the internet. I read many posts today celebrating the deaths of the UN observers in the war in Lebanon. My coworker said the Koran speaks of the end of the world, of a time when there is no peace between nations. Peace seems in short supply these days and the sickly, smoky whispers of war seem to surround us all.
God, I hope cooler heads will prevail.

'May you not rest, as long as I am living. You said I killed you--haunt me, then.'

2006-07-25T12:57:00.000-05:00

I stumbled upon a song called Wuthering Heights a month or so ago. It's an eerie, etheral composition speaking through the voice of Cathy to Heathcliff. The first time I listened to the song I thought the singer, Kate Bush, was speaking a bizarre and foreign language. I cannot say I enjoyed the song initially, but I admired how the singer had crafted such a haunting, vivid, and singular melody. You should listen to it--I must warn you that you may dislike it.
I read the novel, Wuthering Heights, years ago in middle school and have forgotten most of the story. The song piqued my interest in the novel, and I began reading it yesterday. It has been described as, perhaps, one of the most original novels in the English language. Its wild and untamed story, written on the windswept canvas of the moors of northern England, is written in an excited and lyrical manner. Heathcliff and Cathy are so vivid in the imagination of the author they they violently spring to life in the conciousness of the reader--at least that has been my experience. I wonder if I will ever experince such overwhelming passion, though I guess it's well that I haven't, as it borders on the psychotic. Even the fundamental boundaries of one's own being are broken down in the cyclonic relationship of Heathcliff and Cathy.
It has been a long while since I read any fiction, and I am truly enjoying this fine example.

I Marched with Thousands in Chicago Against Israeli Aggression and Occupation

2006-07-24T23:59:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, I had the privilege of joining thousands of Americans demonstrating in front of the Chicago Tribune and the Israeli consulate. We were all there to express solidarity for the peoples attacked by Israeli terror and suffering under Israeli occupation. Local Arab activists spoke out against the ongoing atrocities in Lebanon and Palestine and the censoring of information that would expose the truth about who is attacking whom in the American media. The weather was gorgeous, the people were beautiful, and our voices and spirits were united in resisting the racism and violence destroying the Middle East.

Today, Fox News was shilling the pathetic story that the USA is sending humanitarian aid to Lebanon. What about stopping the shipments of arms to Israel? I think it would make all the difference. Our government's hypocrisy knows no limits. We send bombs to one side and food to the other.

Pressure is building on Israel and the USA as the world sees the pattern of aggression in the Middle East unfolding from these imperialist powers. Resistance to global domination is growing and will never yield!

Hezbollah, Hamas and Israel: Everything You Need To Know

2006-07-21T12:53:00.000-05:00

A perilous excursion into the distant past, starting seven whole weeks ago--Alexander Cockburn

As the tv networks give unlimited airtime to Israel’s apologists, the message rolls out that no nation, least of all Israel, can permit bombardment or armed incursion across its borders without retaliation.
The guiding rule in this tsunami of drivel is that the viewers should be denied the slightest access to any historical context, or indeed to anything that happened prior to June 28, which was when the capture of an Israeli soldier and the killing of two others by Hamas hit the headlines, followed soon thereafter by an attack by a unit of Hezbollah’s fighters.
Memory is supposed to stop in its tracks at June 28, 2006.
Let’s go on a brief excursion into pre-history. I’m talking about June 20, 2006, when Israeli aircraft fired at least one missile at a car in an attempted extrajudicial assassination attempt on a road between Jabalya and Gaza City. The missile missed the car. Instead it killed three Palestinian children and wounded 15.
Back we go again to June 13, 2006. Israeli aircraft fired missiles at a van in another attempted extrajudicial assassination. The successive barrages killed nine innocent Palestinians.
Now we’re really in the dark ages, reaching far, far back to June 9, 2006, when Israel shelled a beach in Beit Lahiya killing 8 civilians and injuring 32.
That’s just a brief trip down Memory Lane, and we trip over the bodies of twenty dead and forty-seven wounded, all of them Palestinians, most of them women and children.
Israel regrets… But no! Israel doesn’t regret in the least. Most of the time it doesn’t even bother to pretend to regret. It says, “We reserve the right to slaughter Palestinians whenever we want. We reserve the right to assassinate their leaders, crush their homes, steal their water, tear out their olive groves, and when they try to resist we call them terrorists intent on wrecking the ‘peace process’”.

Lebanon Evacuation--Lithuanian told to board UN boat without baby, German man told American-born sons must stay; UN accuses Israel of war crimes!

2006-07-20T12:26:00.000-05:00

Beirut Airport--Reuters

Civilians boarding a Greek warship--Reuters

On a beach in southern Lebanon, a scene of chaos and despair raged on the white sands of the Mediterranean. Foreigners trapped in Lebanon had gathered in Tyre, chasing a rumor of a possible route to evacuation and safety. All their hopes were dashed when the boat failed to materialize.

"'If they let us leave today, we will be able to see our only son; if we don't, we will just stay here to die,' said Alia Hiballah, 70, who with her husband had been holed up in their home since the air strikes started, spending eight days with little water and food and no electricity. Halfway through the siege, an air strike turned a nearby building to rubble, killing a United Nations official and his family, and also the family who lived below, she said." (Fatah, NY TIMES, 7/20/07)

The civilians waiting earnestly in the boiling sun for some chance of escape had their hopes shredded when the boat failed to appear.
The Prime Minister begged foreign diplomats yesterday to intervene on Lebanon's behalf, stating "The country has been torn to shreds . . . is this the price we pay for aspiring to build our democratic institutions . . . Can the international community stand by while such callous retribution by the state of Israel is inflicted on us?"
What is my answer to the PM of Lebanon? Of course the internationalal community will stand by and watch Lebanon be destroyed because that is what America wants!
The death toll in Lebanon is now well over 300 and Israel has begun a land invasion of the nation. Israel is making an example of Lebanon in a pursuit of deterrence, but deterrence cannot be achieved through such obscenely illegal activity as the massacres and destruction in Lebanon.

The UN's top human rights official has publicly stated Israel's action in Palestine and Lebanon may be war crimes, stating:

"The scale of killings in the region, and their predictability, could engage the personal criminal responsibility of those involved, particularly those in a position of command and control," said Louise Arbour, the high commissioner for human rights.

I wonder how the Israel apologists will respond to this one?

In Chicago today, it is miserable and wet. I must go to work later. There will be a large demonstration here on Saturday in front of the Tribune building to show solidarity with Palestine and Lebanon. You can be sure I will be there.

Report: Chicago Cops Tortured Suspects!

2006-07-19T16:50:00.000-05:00

Commander Jon Burge and several officers who served under him in the CPD tortured over a hundred suspects in the 1970s and 80s. Edward Egan, a former judge, and Robert Boyle, a former prosecutor were appointed to investigate the allegations of torture. Their report was released to the public today. Burge was fired in the early 90's for TORTURE! I guess when a police officer assaults a citizen and abuses his position the most appropriate action is to terminate his employment. Heaven forbid he should be prosecuted for his crimes! The report also states--because so much time has lapsed since the obscene violations--criminal prosecution would be too difficult. Some of the victims were convicted of murder! We will never know how many confessions were wrongfully exacted through the ugliest of physical coercion by the state. This is a real black mark for the CPD. I think Alberto Gonzales would be happy to run this police department. He and his torture sanctioning memos would find a happy home in Burges' legal briefs to the Court.

"We are killing those we need to kill," said Hanna Dehan, 60, Israeli citizen

2006-07-18T14:09:00.000-05:00

A Lebanese girl burned by Israeli attack rests in Tyre, south Lebanon--Reuters
The other picture is of Beirut.

Israel has certainly intended to kill Lebanese civilians, dropping huge bombs in the middle of heavily populated neighborhoods. 230 Lebanese are now dead and every day scores more are killed. The arithmetic works out to 10 Lebanese killed for every Israeli killed. Usually it's even more one-sided when the IDF is involved. If you include the hundreds of Palestinians dead in Gaza, the numbers are more typical of Israel's grotesquely disproportionate response.

"Warplanes bombed a Lebanese army barracks east of Beirut, killing 11 soldiers, including four officers, and wounding 30"--Reuters

Am I watching the same war as the Administration and Israeli PR hacks? Israel isn't at war with Lebanon, right? Only in the USA would an attack on all the major cities in a nation, its ports, airports, gas stations, apartment buildings, and army posts not be considered a war on an entire people We, of course, call ourselves friends of Lebanon and admonish Israel to exercise restraint as it grinds Lebanon into the stone age.
It was chilling to watch all the Establishment political figures from right-wing Dems to right-of-right Republicans fall over themselves in defending Israel's right to annhilate a nation of millions to find two soldiers.
Israel still occupies (and has never withdrawn from) Shebaa Farms and the Golan Heights. Those parcels of land are part of Lebanon and Syria, respectively. The illegal occupation of large portions of Palestinian land is ongoing and expanding in some areas. Israel is the aggressor in this situation. PERIOD

Oh, and to the American refugees trapped in the fighting, I hope you brought your American Express. Uncle Sam is going to be charging you for your evacuation!

Nucho added that all evacuees have signed promissory notes pledging to pay the U.S. back for safe passage to Cyprus, plus interest. Once in Cyprus, she said the government would not pay for hotel fees nor a return flight to the U.S.
State Department infoIn statements e-mailed to Americans in Lebanon and posted on the embassy's Web site, the State Department has stressed "that the U.S. government does not provide no-cost transportation but does have the authority to provide repatriation loans to those in financial need. For the portion of your trip directly handled by the U.S. Government we will ask you to sign a promissory note and we will bill you at a later date."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13903377/

I'm so proud of my country!

Pissed off!

2006-07-17T18:02:00.000-05:00

Today, I nearly decided to stay home from work. I finally pulled myself together and arrived on time. The day sucked, as if it could do anyting else . . .
The air conditioner at our store is broken, so the place is a freaking sauna. I could really have used some of the towels in the linen dept.
I needed a few things for my place and after my shift was over I gathered a few items in my buggy/cart and headed to the cashier to buy them. I was then told I had to go to customer service. No big deal, right? I go to cust service and wait patiently for my turn. While I'm waiting, this bitchy girl asks me "are you on the clock?" I replied acidly, "if I was on the clock, I woudn't be buying anything". So I finally get in front of her, and she tells me I have to wait behind any person who comes up to cust service--like the store is giving me the stuff for free. All I get is a 20 percent discount, which anyone can get with those mountains of coupons we send out every week. So I waited, but every time it was my turn some customer would show up. It was far too degarding to bear any longer, so I left in disgust.
I was so pissed the whole way home. Why do companies treat their employees like they're worthless? I've decided I'm never buying a goddamned thing from any of their stores. That company is never getting a motherfucking dollar of the money it pays me back. All their stuff is overpriced anyways, and people are constantly returning items. You can buy our stuff cheaper at other stores!
The place is a unionbuster!
We never get our fifteen minute breaks and today a guy in the stockroom was told he had to work over six hours to be able to even take a 15 minute break off the clock!

Isreal destroys Lebanon while my job wrecks my life!

2006-07-15T18:03:00.000-05:00

For those of you with your head in the sands, a massive conflict is stirring up in the Arab world. Israel and Lebanon are at war and Gaza is being raided and invaded constantly. I cannot believe the violence of the Israeli response to the raid by Hezbollah. They are destroying the nation of Lebanon because two soldiers were kidnapped. Lebanese blood is very cheap in this conflict. Today there were reports that a minibus full of Lebanese children trying to flee was bombed by Israel. Almost 100 civilians have been killed in Lebanon now. Western Press doen't bother to report how many 'militants' have been killed. Though they do lump Israeli soldiers with Israeli civilians--it's so racist!

Bush has given Israel carte blanche to do whatever they want. Today in St. Petersburg at the G8 Bush told Putin that Russia should aim for the democracy of Iraq, where they have 'freedom'. Putin responded by saying I don't think we want Russia to be anything like Iraq! The audience laughed. I'm sure Bush was chagrined. I am going to include some photos in this post of the devestation in Lebanon as an act of solidarity with its people.

Now for my personal life . . . my job is scamming me out of hours! I only got 23 this week. How the hell is someone supposed to live on 200 dollars a week? They've got some nerve! My employer is so focused on profits they purposefully attack and demoralize their workers to encourage a high turnover rate, which helps keep wages down. I know our managers cannot possibly support this corporate policy because it makes life incredibly stressful for them as well as creating a lot of holes they have to cover. It must be a policy hatched at the corporate HQ. Well, today as a protest of this abuse I called in sick! And I am not sick! I know this doesn't compare to what is going on in Gaza and Lebanon but this service economy is the sewerpit of worker despair!

Train Derailment in Chicago!

2006-07-12T16:11:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, a train on the Blue Line derailed and started an underground fire--about an hour after I had been on the train! There were also bombings on trains in Mumbai that killed 175 so it was an incredibly disturbing day. The people trapped underground thought they were the victims of an attack. If I had been on the train, I would have been freaking out. Imagine seeing fire in a tunnel and being trapped in a crowded, rush hour train!
brrrr
I'm glad I wasn't there!
My job is so lame. They are giving me terrible hours at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and I don't like the chief manager. She gives me the creeps.

I watched the most amazing film called "The Revolution Will not be Televised". It relates the tale of Hugo Chavez's overthrow in a coup d'etah and spectacular return to power within a few days. The film was made by filmmakers from Britain who had come to Venezuela to document the progressive changes Hugo was making in his country. Unexpectedly, something even more dramatic ensued. The film is riveting, and whatever your opinon of Chavez, I'm sure you'll be fascinated by it. Here's the link:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=583239054568980
5144&q=the+revolution+will+not+be+televised

I found this statistic on the web. I don't know how many of you believe the official unemployment rate, but I sure as hell don't! Read this:
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2006/6/15/
8143/68629

7/7 and sundry terrors

2006-07-07T23:30:00.000-05:00

Today was 7/7, the anniversary of the London terror attacks. The media spent the entire day trying to convince everyone the bombers were actually members of Al Qaida, rather than sympathetic, independent actors. The airwaves are so full of propaganda it is becoming impossible to avoid soiling one's mind with all the mental bullshit being drilled into our heads.
A few days ago, a terrible plot hatched by some homeless and hapless guys in FL to bomb the Sears Tower was revealed with gusto by the FBI, which had created the entire plot itself in its entrapment of these rather vulnerable men. They are just trying to remind us of the DANGER we are all facing.
blah blah blah. I'm in way more danger from the teflon chemicals contaminating every source of drinking water in America, not to mention the rocket fuel perchlorate sp? that is its diving partner!

I am going to link to some video of the first amendment being revealed as its hollow self yet again in a protest in Chicago. You tell me how Bush's constant rhetoric about 'freedom' jives with this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwYI0kxGORU

It looks like the right wingers in Mexico are going to successfully steal another election. "sigh"
Nothing is going to change there without a radical change in leadership.

I moved near Greektown recently. The subway is closer and its easier to get to work now. I'm working at a pseudo high end dept store that scams its workers out of fulltime hours and benefits. The service industry! Ain't it great!

Mexican government brutality that cannot be ignored!

2006-05-29T23:57:00.000-05:00

http://www.narconews.com/Issue41/article1802.html

“They Ordered Me to Lay My Head In a Pool of Blood”
A Letter from Valentina Palma, Chilean Anthropology Student and Filmmaker Who Was Beaten, Tortured and Deported After the Violence in Atenco
By Valentina Palma Novoa
May 12, 2006
My name is Valentina Palma Novoa. I am 30 years old, and I have spent the last 11 years of my life in Mexico. I am a student at the National School of Anthropology and History, currently in my fourth year studying Cinematography at the Center for Cinematographic Study. I have an FM 3 student visa.
I would like to share with you the events that I witnessed during the violent incidents that occurred in the town of San Salvador Atenco on Thursday, May 4, 2006, which ended with my unjust and arbitrary expulsion from the country.
1.- On Wednesday, May 3, after seeing the news on television and learning of the death of a 14-year-old boy, I was moved by the death of this small child and, as an anthropologist and documentary filmmaker, decided to go to San Salvador Atenco to assess the situation.
I spent the night in the town, documenting the patrol posts that the people of the town had set up, and interviewing the guards. It was cold. I drew closer to the small fires that the people had built and continued to take pictures. The light of dawn announced a new day: Thursday, May 4.
Valentina Palma NovoaPhoto: Indymedia ChiapasIt must have been about 6am when the church bells of San Salvador Atenco began to ring – bong, bong, bong, over and over again – while a voice shouted over the loudspeaker that the police were surrounding the town. Bicycles hurried past in every direction. The bakery to one side of the church had already opened its doors and the warm smell of recently baked bread filled the street, together with the comings and goings of farmers on bicycles. The man who sold atoles told me to be careful, that the police who were coming were “real bastards.”
I headed towards one of the patrol posts, where the farmers were looking in the direction of the pack of police who could be seen in the distance. I zoomed in with my camera. I saw that there were many of them and that, covered by their shields, they were advancing with small and nearly imperceptible steps. I was afraid. There were many of them, heavily armed, while the farmers were few and unarmed. In the screen of my camera I saw one of the police point and shoot a projectile towards us; when it landed next to me, I could smell and feel that it was tear gas. More and more tear gas quickly began to overpower the warm smell of the recently baked bread and transformed the narrow alley into a battle field.
The air was no longer breathable and I went to the plaza as the church bells began to toll even louder. Down various streets, I could see the police in the distance, coming nearer. The little resistance that there was from the farm workers disappeared in the face of the attack that the police suddenly launched against the people. I turned my camera off and ran as fast as I could alongside everyone else. In front of the church, there was a public building with its doors open and I went inside to wait in vain for the turbulence to pass. There were two young men also hoping in vain to shield themselves from the attack. The three of us all looked each other in the face, anxious and fearful.
Cautiously, I got up to look at the street and I saw five police officers, devoid of any compassion, kicking and using their clubs to beat an old man who lay strewn on the ground. I became more afraid. I went inside and told the two young men that we needed to hide in a better place; where we were was too exposed. Mistakenly, we went up to the roof and laid down on our backs, looking up at helicopters that buzzed like hornets in the sky, while the sound of shots became part of the town’s landscape of sound. A man’s voice yelled violently, “Come down here, you bastards on the roof.”
First, the two young men went down. I watched them being beaten from above. I was panicked and didn’t want to come down from the roof; then a police officer yelled up to me, “Come down here, bitch. Come down here now.”
I came down from the roof slowly, terrorized by the sight of the boys being beaten in the head. Two police officers took hold of me and pulled me forward while others beat me on the chest, back and legs with their clubs. My cries of pain increased when I heard the voice of someone asking my name for the list of arrested. I responded, “Valentina…Valentina Palma Novoa,” while a police officer ordered me to shut my mouth and another hit me in the chest.
A man’s voice ordered the officers to cover me with shields so people could not see how badly they had beaten me. They paused to one side of the church and ordered me to join the rest of the arrested, then forced me to kneel and put my hands behind my head. They continued to beat us. My cell phone rang and a voice ordered me to turn over my bag. In that moment, I was separated from my video camera, my cell phone and my small purse containing my identification and fifty pesos.
Photo: D.R. 2006 Ratón MaiceroThey pulled me up by my hair and said, “Get in the truck, bitch.” I could barely move but they demanded that we move incredibly quickly. They tossed me on top of other wounded and bleeding bodies and ordered me to lay my head in a pool of blood. I didn’t want to put my head in the blood, but the black boot of a police officer forced me to do it. The truck started and began to move. Along the way, I was groped by the hands many police officers. I just closed my eyes and clenched my teeth, hoping that the worst would not happen.
My pants were down when the truck stopped and I was ordered to get off. I got down awkwardly and a female police officer said, “Leave this bitch to me,” then hit my ears with both of her hands. I fell, and two police officers took me through a line of police who kicked us as we moved towards a bus.
Once on the bus, another female police officer asked me my name, while two male officers grabbed my breasts violently and threw me on top of the body of an old man whose face was nothing more than a crust of blood. The old man cried out in pain when he felt the weight of my body on top of him. I tried to move but a kick to the back stopped me. My own shout made the old man scream out again, asking for God’s mercy.
A woman’s voice ordered me to move to the back stairway of the bus. I did as she said and, from there, I could see the bloodied faces of the rest of the prisoners and the blood spreading across the floor. Although I was not bleeding, my hands and clothes were spattered with the blood of other prisoners.
I stayed still, listening to the groans from the bodies by my side, and heard them continue to bring more prisoners onto the bus, asking their names amidst beatings and shouts of pain. I do not know how much time passed before the bus closed its doors and began to move. The trip lasted about two or three hours. The torture began again and whatever small movement we made garnered more blows. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, but the moans of the old man next to me kept me awake. The old man was saying, “My leg, my leg…¡God, have mercy, please have mercy!”
I wept bitterly. I thought the old man next to me would die. I moved my hand and tried to touch him to calm him a little. A club came down towards my hand, but I begged for compassion with a gesture to the police officer, who then backed off from beating me. Wanting to show the old man a little love, I stroked his leg and he was quiet for a few moments.
I asked him his name and he responded. “If I die, do not cry; please have a party instead.” I cried silently, feeling alone in the company of so many other beaten bodies, thinking the worst – that they would take us to who knows what place and kill us; that we would be disappeared.
For a moment, I fell asleep. But the smell of blood and death awoke me. Upon opening my eyes, I saw the wall of a jail. The bus stopped and a voice ordered us to get off through the back door.
They ordered me to stand up and, as the door opened, my uncovered, crying face looked up to find a line of police officers. I felt another surge of fear.
From below, a voice ordered the door of the bus closed and ordered the prisoners to come off with their faces covered. A police officer covered my head with my jacket and the doors reopened. From outside the bus, a police officer grabbed my pants with one hand and kept my head down with the other. The line of police began to kick my body and the bodies of all of the other prisoners who formed a line behind me.
The door of the prison opened and they moved us through narrow hallways while beating and kicking us. Before arriving at the registration desk, I made the mistake of raising my head and looking into the eyes of a police officer, who responded to my gaze with a hard punch to the stomach that knocked the air out of me for a few moments.
At the registration desk, they asked me for my name, age and nationality, after which they put me into a small room where a fat woman ordered me to take off all of my clothes. She asked me to be quick when she saw my awkward, slow movements, which were the result of the beatings I had received. “Ma’am, I am beaten badly, please be patient,” I said. She searched me. I got dressed again and put my jacket back over my head. I left the room and they ordered us to form a line of women, to move single file and with our heads down into the patio of the jail, which I would later find out was the jail called “Almoloyita” in the city of Toluca.
It must have been about 2pm on Thursday, May 4 by the time we were inside the penitentiary. They brought us to a cafeteria and separated the men and women. In a corner, amidst sobs, we women began to tell each other the abuses to which we had been subjected.
One young woman showed me her ripped underwear and the open, bloody wound on her head. Another told of how they had taken her between two trucks, beaten her, abused her, and threatened her by saying, “We’re going to kill you, bitch.”
Another young woman told me that she might be pregnant. All while sobbing and squeezing each others’ hands in solidarity. The state of shock among the women was evident. In front of us, the men spoke amongst themselves while we observed their bloodied and deformed faces, the product of their brutal beatings. As we looked at the men, a woman approached us and began to list a few names, asking those named to separate themselves from the group.
There were four of us: Cristina, María, Samantha, Valentina. A fifth person then joined us: Mario.
We were the five foreigners who had been arrested. At that moment, a man came who I believe was the director of the jail and he told us that we were safe now, that nobody would beat us anymore, that what had happened before entering the jail did not have to do with him, as if we hadn’t also been beaten while inside the jail. We asked him to make a phone call, but our request was denied.
At this time, the most visibly wounded among the prisoners were taken to the jail’s medical center. They were not merely just one or two prisoners; of the hundreds of people detained, there must have been about 40 with very serious injuries.
One of the first to be taken out was the dying old man who had been next to me in the truck. I never saw him again.
Then it was our turn to be examined by the medical staff. I had bruises on my chest, back, shoulders, fingers, thighs and legs. The doctor recommended that my ribs be x-rayed because I was having difficulty breathing, which has never happened to me before.
The nurse who was taking notes and the doctor who examined me did so with total indifference towards both my self and my wounds. I left the medical office to wait for Cristina, María, Samantha and Mario to be examined. The pseudo medical examination ended and they took us to a room to record our statements.
Strangely, a lawyer appeared from who knows where and recommended that we not give statements, advice that contradicted the people sitting behind the typewriter in front of us.
“It’s OK if you do not want to make a statement, you have the right not to. But it would be good for you to document what happened to you,” a woman lawyer said to me. While we were making our declarations, many men in ties arrived and, while making jokes and being friendly, asked us who we were, how and why we had gone to Atenco, and if we knew how dangerous those people were.
It began to rain, and they took us back to the cafeteria with the rest of the prisoners. They made us sit down and forbade us to make any contact with the Mexican prisoners. If we wanted to go to the bathroom, we had to ask permission. Human rights officials came and took declarations and pictures of our injuries. They took our declarations dispassionately, mechanically.
We were fingerprinted. They took pictures of us from the front and both profiles. They told us that this was not to start a file, that these were necessary registration procedures, that it was very likely that we would be able to leave in the early morning and for that reason it was necessary to register us. Dinner was a pot of cold coffee and a box of rolls.
It must have been midnight when I lay down on a hard wooden bench to try to sleep a little. It was impossible…it was cold and I had no blanket. On the men’s side, a man with dreadlocks noticed my frustration with not being able to sleep and we began to talk, from across the room, using gestures and hand signals. We were in the middle of this when a guard arrived and called out the names of the five foreigners. We got up, said brief goodbyes to the other prisoners, and left.
They took us to a registration office. They gave us our few belongings and took us to a pick up truck, telling us they would bring us to an immigration office in Toluca. Outside of the jail, I heard familiar voices shouting my name. I went to the fence and saw many of my friends asking me how I was. I told them I was more or less all right, and that they were taking us to immigration in Toluca.
They told me they would follow, that they would not leave me alone. My aunt Mónica passed me an envelope that contained my immigration papers and María Novaro, my teacher and mother in Mexico, gave me a jacket for the cold. I got on the bus, the doors closed, and we sped off in the dark. We stopped at an office in Toluca to pick up a lawyer and then they took us to the special cases immigration office in Mexico City.
It must have been about 3am when we arrived at the immigration office. There, once again, a disinterested doctor recorded our injuries. We slept a little because we had arrived before the office opened, so there were not many officials around. At 7am, an assistant brought us cereal and milk.
Then they took my declaration, in an interview during which they not only asked my personal information but also asked me questions like, “Are you familiar with the EZLN? Have you been to University City [the National University (UNAM) campus]? Did you participate in the World Water Forum? Did you meet other foreign prisoners?” and so on.
I signed the declaration that they attached to my other immigration papers, which included a letter from the school where I was studying, a letter from my teacher María Novaro, my passport, my Chilean ID card, and my international student ID. As they were doing this, I received a call from the Chilean Consulate in Mexico, asking me for my name, ID number, and if I had any relatives in Mexico. The ambassador informed me that what he could do would be to make sure that the procedures followed all relevant legal guidelines.
I went back to giving my declaration, and the questions about the EZLN, Subcomandante Marcos and Atenco were repeated. At the same time, friends and family had gathered outside of the immigration office, but I was not allowed to communicate with them. I tried to do so by using hand signals and signs, but they would not even let us do that.
They took me to a room with three men who told me they were there to help me. They took photographs of me from the front and both profile views and recorded every moment of our conversation. They asked my name and if I had any aliases, if I was familiar with the EZLN, if I had visited the Lacandon Jungle; they asked for names of people who could testify to my background, and they asked what kind of documentaries I liked to make.
They told me that “my friend América del Valle” was worried about me, because she had lost track of me while we were trying to run away. Only when I arrived in Chile recently did I find out that this woman was one of the leaders who the police were looking for in Atenco.
When the interrogation was over, my fingerprints were taken with a very sophisticated machine that fed them into a computer. They took me out of the room and to another room where three visitors from the Commission on Human Rights were waiting. When the two Spanish women and I told them what we had experienced, they recommended urgently that we request a lawyer to seek protection in the face of possible deportation. The atmosphere had become tense, so I asked one of the human rights lawyers for a pen and paper to write to a note to “the lawyer,” which I showed to my friends through the window. At that moment, a lawyer from the immigration office entered and said, “Do you need a lawyer? I am a lawyer; what is your problem?” I told her that I wanted to file an order of protection and she told me that would be ill-advised because it would mean that I would have to stay in the immigration station for a month and that we would most likely be released soon anyway. The visitors from the Human Rights Commission argued with her and told her to let me speak to one of the people waiting outside.
The lawyer conceded and I was allowed to speak for five minutes with Berenice. I told her that I need to seek an order of protection, and she told me that it was already in place. I said goodbye abruptly as they took me to have my second medical exam since arriving at the immigration office.
When I came out of the medical office, I saw one of the women from Human Rights and I asked her to tell my friends outside that I was about to be taken to another location. I asked a lawyer there to tell me where I was going to be taken and he told me that I was being taken to the main immigration office. They did not let me keep talking to him; I was taken to a private car where Mario, another Chilean, was already waiting.
I got into the car, followed by three police officers. The doors were closed and one of the police officers asked the driver to close all of the windows. We drove down the highway at more than 100km per hour, in the midst of snarled traffic.
I asked myself where we could be going and had no answer. Once on our way, I realized that we were headed to the airport and that there were two cars ahead of us: one with Samantha, from Germany, and another with María and Cristina, from Spain.
Facing an imminent unjust expulsion from the country at any moment, there was nothing I could do but close my eyes, clench my teeth and think: just another violation.
We arrived at the airport around 6pm. They took us out of the cars and put us into custody in a completely white room, where they detained us for an hour or more. Then they took us, under custody, to the waiting rooms inside the airport. The first plane to leave was Samantha’s. We kept waiting and I did nothing but cry. I felt ill. I stood up and tried to walk down the hallway. A guard approached me and told me I should be seated. “I feel ill,” I told her, “I will not escape, please let me walk.”
I kept crying and a police officer approached, saying, “Don’t be that way. That attitude is not helpful. If it consoles you, let me tell you that you are not being deported, that you are just being expelled from the country, but you can come back whenever you like.” Mistakenly, I let her words calm me.
They took us to a bar so that we could smoke a few cigarettes, because we were all very emotional. The Lan Chile flight, leaving at approximately 11pm, was announced. They called for Mario and me to board. We said goodbye to María and Cristina with big hugs. We got in line and boarded the plane.
On the plane, one of the passengers approached me and handed me letters that my friends had sent as they tried to do everything possible to stop this unjust expulsion. Tears fell down my cheeks; I cried because I knew I was not alone. The guard, who was seated next to me, asked me what had happened. I told her that I had been living in Mexico for 11 years, that my life is in this country, that they never told me what was happening, that the entire procedure had been illegal, and that I had been beaten and abused by the police.
She told me that she had only been told 30 minutes before boarding that she was going to be flying to Chile. She said that they had not told her anything, but that she had noticed irregularities in the proceedings, because usually before someone is deported they spend a month at the immigration station, and that it must have been an order that came from above.
Finally coming to terms with my expulsion, I began to chat with her and I told her which places in Santiago to visit during her short stay. The exhaustion and feeling of powerlessness were too much. I slept. When I woke up, the mountains of the Andes had appeared in the plane window. We landed. We were taken to the office of the international police, where they took our declarations as to why we had been deported and/or expelled from the country.
Outside, my family was waiting. Sobs, kisses, hugs. We went to the hospital to document my injuries and, quickly, we put together a press conference for radio and television, during which we denounced the illegality of our expulsion and the police violence to which we were subjected.
2. After everything that I have told you, I would like to make clear my indignation, anger and complete opposition to:
The use of physical, psychological and sexual violence used as a form of torture and coercion against women.
The police brutality to which all prisoners were subjected, regardless of nationality.
My deportation, for two reasons: all of my papers were in order and valid, and the order of protection that was presented for me was rejected with the claim that I was not in the country when, in fact, I was still in Mexico.
3. Given this, we are working with our lawyers to carry out actions aimed at:
Reinstituting our right to continue our studies in Mexico, through measures taken with both the Chilean and Mexican governments.
Taking measures on the diplomatic level against the Mexican Embassy in Chile.
Filing a complaint against the police for the crime of assault.
Filing a case against the government of Mexico for illegal deportation.
No to rape, no to the use of women and men as objects! No to brutality and torture! No to the justification of violence!
Valentina Palma Novoa

Memorial Day in Chicago

2006-05-29T20:41:00.000-05:00

It's been really hot here along Lake Michigan this weekend. Last week, we had a record low and this weekend we had a record high. What the fuck! Today is Memorial Day and there was a deafening drumbeat of awful news from both warfronts. It was really interesting to hear some cuckoo ex-marine disucss how the rioters were all Al-Quaida Islamists--even though they were rioting in response to a deadly accident caused by an American convoy--which then used machine guns against people armed with stones! I can't imagine why they were pissed!
More reporters were killed in Iraq today-this time with CBS.
Almost 2500 US soldiers are now dead and the past week we've been hearing about a massacre in Haditha last November.
It's all very macabre.

I'm having trouble finding a job. A friend who was supposed to help me out has not been able to. It's really tough right now to find work. I'm considering enrolling a community college program that might make it easier to find something.

I can't believe how beautiful Lake Michigan is on sunny spring days. It's gorgeous. It's hard to believe such terrible things are happening around the world when you look at those turquoise waters.

My pic

2006-05-14T03:02:00.000-05:00