Monday, October 10, 2005
Violence EruptsThe earth opened up in Pakistan and 20,000 or more are dead. First we offered $100,000 in aid, then we were shamed into giving $50 million, a substantial sum though only one-third of the $148 million
we gave in military aid this year. (There is always money for guns and
bullets, only less for bottled water and medical supplies). Right now
hundreds of thousands of people are sleeping without shelter in a
mountainous place that nurtures chilly winds this time of year. Doctors Without Borders has sent teams and supplies and they need our help. 9:44:43 PM | Across the border in Afghanistan, five suicide bombers have blown themselves up in two weeks, a chinook has crashed, and another US soldier has been killed along the eastern border. Iraq is, perennially, Iraq, where every day brings more despair, more tragedy. Most Americans are against that war, but does it matter? The violence continues, more and more people die, more families are torn apart by the deaths of those they love and our president continues to offer empty platitudes, desperate calls for patriotism. He is trying to convince himself, no doubt, just as he is trying to convince us. Doesn't he know we already know the truth? In Guatemala, the clouds erupted in a flood of tears, leaving hundreds buried in rivers of mud. This time last year the story was drought, showing that April does not own the market on cruelty. Many of our water-soaked neighbors in Louisiana and Mississippi are still suffering on this Columbus Day, or Indigenous Peoples Day, including the United Houma Nation. Katrina and Rita left nearly 5,000 of their tribal members homeless and many others unable to inhabit their homes. Organizations like Veterans for Peace have been helping them, but not the Red Cross or FEMA, who has only worked with a handful of families so far. You can help them directly here. On Democracy Now today, the United Houma Nation's Principal Chief, Brenda Dardar-Robichaux, talked about the troubles her tribe has faced these past five weeks and why Christopher Columbus, the Italian adventurer working for the Spanish crown who never set foot on the land that would become the US, should not be honored with a national holiday. "Let's face it," she said, "Columbus was a slave trader and an Indian killer...This shouldn't be a day of celebration, this should be a day of mourning." And so it is. 
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Temper That Heart (the links are fixed!)I've realized that I'm becoming angry again. I'm not surprised; I'm
missing S badly and it seems when I do I lash out at those around me,
even those I don't actually know. I've gotten snippy in comments on
other blogs (not here, because my snippy comment to one wingnut was
appropriate, thank you very much!), and that's not good. I need to find
myself again. This afternoon I'm meeting with my former co-workers at
the Neighborhood Writing Alliance. We're hoping to find a new location
for a workshop that I'll facilitate. Their workshops are brilliant,
really. They are free and open to all adults in the city. They're held
in neighborhood locations that don't require much travel for the
writers. They're based on the idea that "every person is a philosopher"
and all work is valid. As a facilitator, I won't "teach" but rather
make a safe place for everyone to share their poetry, prose, rants,
snippets without fear of ridicule. Later, work by every writer who
participates will be published in NWA's quarterly magazine, the Journal of Ordinary Thought,
should they want to be published. This little magazine has won two
Illinois Arts Council Literary Awards (one when I was ED), going
against well-known journals like Another Chicago Magazine and Rhino.
And in support of this magazine and the workshop, our group will host
readings that are free and open to the public, where writers can meet
one another, exchange ideas, and share their work with family, friends,
and strangers. Cool, huh? 11:55:41 AM | As usual, there's some fine writing floating through cyberspace: Sam at Feral on loss and laundry (beautiful); Clayton at Operation Eden on Charity Hospital, New Orleans, and the "Third World version" of America; Rob at Realtique on cleaning house, rescuing pets, and being harassed by NOPD; Harry Connick, Jr. at Habitat for Humanity on humanely rebuilding New Orleans; Yan at Glutter on dissent and censorship, American-style; Joe the Heretik on the "Tragedy of the Real" in Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan; and a shout-out to Daniel at All the Kings Horses, whose name and writing I came across at n+1. Last night I saw Bill Maher's Real Time and Salman Rushdie asked what the difference was between yellow and orange fear, the daily alerts put out by what Rushdie calls Bush's "Ministry of False Alarms." I was shocked to find myself agreeing with nearly everything Andrew "Sully" Sullivan said. Ann Coulter was on too, but really, is there anything to say about her that hasn't already been said? The fact that she's still invited to be on television shows all that's wrong with our country. I need to erase her face from my memory if I'm ever to get past this angry phase. Temper that heart, girl!
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Last update: 11/1/05; 5:31:04 PM .
