Poor Darwin

Last week I read a short article detailing the trouble the American Museum of Natural History recently encountered when trying to raise funds for the new Darwin exhibit. Private individuals, who apparently aren't completely fucking nuts, raised the $3 million necessary to get the show up and running. You know this country is going to hell when you can't get a corporation to hawk an art exhibit for fear of getting involved in the absolutely ridiculous creationism/intelligent design/evolution debates! In a not-so-scientific (dare i even mention science?) CBS-poll, over 50 percent of Americans don't believe in evolution! Really, I couldn't believe this number. CBS or not . . . it just shows that more and more Americans are getting dumber by the minute. For further proof of the country's rapid descent into fundamentalism, this same article stated that the Creationist Museum (I didn't even know such a place existed) in Cincinnatti, OH was able to raise $7 million for its operations. If you want to read the article, go to:

Mass. gets heating relief from Chavez

We just received our monthly heating bill which covered Oct. 12-Nov. 9 and got an early taste of what this year's heating costs are going to be. Keeping our heat at 60 degrees and walking around in sweatshirts, did not prevent our bill from being $265. Ouch. And, it's not even that cold yet. As J and others have been predicting, US energy companies recently posted record profits. Of course, the profits are not going to help any poor folks in this country heat their homes, much less keep the heat on/running in what could be a devastating season for many.

Just when it was beginning to look super bleak, I just discovered that US representative William Delahunt has recently brokered a deal with Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez to have 12 million gallons of gas shipped to Massachusetts for low-income families and charities/institutions that deal with the poor! According to the agreement, which should be signed today, Delahunt worked with Citizens Energy Corp (non-profit energy group), and CITGO a Houston subsidiary of the Venezuelan national oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA. 9 million gallons will go to low-income families and 3 million gallons to homeless shelters and other like-minded institutions.

I know many critics of Chavez, particularly in our media, will view this as a publicity stunt to further shame Bush and US energy companies. I don't care--I think Chavez along with Lula and other leaders in Latin American countries are paving the way for a renewed socialist revolution that begins to put people at the center of analyses instead of profit. I believe the failed trip by Bush to push the FTAA is but one small sign that people are no longer willing or able to abide by the "Washington Consensus."

Score one for Mass.

ok computer

this weekend i have spent the better part of my time performing some computer/technological upgrades for our house. on saturday, i bit the bullet, pulled out our old router, and figured out how to install a wireless network so we can run the laptop at home. although it wasn't too difficult, i did have to tinker a bit to ensure security, etc. i think i'll have to get a better router, though, because our connection downstairs leaves a lot to be desired. i'm not sure if this is due to the wireless connection or not, but i think it's odd that certain pages either: won't load, or take an incredible amount of time to load (in excess of a minute, which is an eternity these days online). any thoughts or suggestions on this matter would be more than welcome from my tech savvy friends.

tonight i decided to switch my web browser from IE to the latest version of Firefox. So far, so good. There are some minor differences I've noticed, but I think I'll adjust and feel better knowing that there are fewer problems with spyware, freezing, and security vulnerabilities. I'm also enjoying the numerous extensions available from Firefox to make your surfing more pleasurable. so far, I'm finding: http://www.stumbleupon.com quite fun to search. I just used this tool to search alternative websites and discovered a 2004 news story about 2 people who actually passed out $200 bills with Bush's face on it at a fast-food restaurant and a retail store--without being caught by store clerks!! hahaha

i've also fallen prey to the A&E documentary series: Intervention. J got sucked into this a few weeks ago, and now I'm totally hooked. Most of the shows I've watched have centered around meth addicts, but J saw one with a beer drunk. that one would have been interesting . . . I think.

oh my god. in other bad tv watching news, we saw some program about anorexic twins living in australia. seriously, they are 32 years old, and weigh around 50lbs, take 100 laxatives a day, and somehow still manage to get up at 6am to exercise. for more information, go to:
http://www.insider.tv.yahoo.com/celeb/3284/

i'm out.

another casualty of the US-led war on terror

The US-led war on terror is a total and complete failure. While most of the attention has been focused on the daily bombings and mounting death toll in Iraq, let's not forget that other countries are having to play "host" to the US military for "counter-terrorism" exercises. For example, in 1999 the United States entered an agreement with the Philippine government (certainly NOT the Philippine people) that would provide the US military with over 22 ports of access to conduct "training" exercises with the Philippine military . . . this deal, signed into law against massive public protest, came to be known as the Visiting Forces Agreement or VFA. One of the provisions of the VFA, and one that has alarmed many activists in the country, states that any crimes committed against the Philippine people by members of the US military, will be dealt with by the United States. Once again, the soveriegnty of a country is completely trampled by the United States. Let's not forget that a massive anti-bases campaign was waged in the Philippines during the 1990s to close the two US military installations in the country (Clark Air Force Base and Subic Bay) which was successful and represented a major victory for the Philippines. Just a few years later the introduction and ratification of the VFA effectively negated this short termed "victory".

Fast forward to Oct. 31/Nov. 1 2005: A 22-year old Filipina woman was gang-raped by 6 US marines in Subic. After hanging out with the men at a karaoke bar, she was invited to join them in their rented van. When she did this, witnesses (including the van driver--who has allegedly gone into hiding to avoid being implicated in the case) claim she was raped by the 6 marines and then tossed out of the van unconscious on the side of the road. WHERE WAS THE MEDIA COVERAGE? To be expected, the Marines are being held in the US embassy in Manila, but have requested they be moved (under the terms of the VFA) to Okinawa for the remainder of the investigation. I'll keep you posted, should this happen.

Now the Philippines is not the only country that has lost their sovereignty to US interests, or had their people terrorized by US military exercises under the guise of "Visiting Forces Agremeents". But, as a neo-colony of the United States, the Philippines is a perfect example of how this "war on terror" impacts other countries not being directly bombed . . . and, we need to demand justice and accountability from our military when this kind of atrocious shit happens--and it happens ALL THE TIME.

To think, after all this country had to endure with the images of prisoners being tortured in Abu-Ghraib, Cheney and his minions would be pressing for the US to be allowed to torture to get information from "combatants." And, now, the US military will probably do all it can to protect these 6 marines from facing prosecution for the crimes they have committed. Who are the real terrorists?

things i learned on my trip to dc

1. Don't try and photograph the IMF or World Bank! A major goal of mine on this trip was to enter the sacred confines of the IMF and World Bank to see the kind of information they offered on development, lending strategies, and 3rd World debt. Of course, since the major policy makers worship at the alter of the "free"-market, I wasn't surprised to see that most of the history/timeline offered at the IMF remained in line with the current neo-liberal economic order. Anyway, once outside the IMF, I asked J to take a picture of me, only to be yelled at by a security guard, rent-a-cop type. He said only staff member can photograph the building. Fearing for our beloved disposable camera, we slipped across the street and photographed from a nearby park. We managed to enter the World Bank, but once security discovered we didn't have an appointment with anyone, they escorted us outside. Sigh. I feel like creating one of those awful touristy t-shirts that reads: I went to the IMF/WB and all I got was this lousy photograph.

2. According to the Smithsonian exhibit on America's military "adventures," the Iraq war appears to be over. J pulled me aside to read their description of our current war, and it was all written in the past tense, described as a brief "entanglement" that was now completed. Hmmm . . . I guess the daily bombings and deaths of Iraqi civilians and US military personnel are all simulacra, media inventions, hallucinations? Perhaps more absurd was the manner in which the museum described the onset of the war in 2003 . . .it stated the US had to respond because Iraq was testing the America's power in the world. Really? I thought the US government went ahead and voted for a preemptive strike of a sovereign country,based on (as we all know or should have known when this was being "debated") lies, lies, lies, and more lies put forth by the corrupt, incompetent, despicable Bush administration.

3. School children don't like going to the Capitol. Despite the overwhelming presence of the good ol yellow school buses positioned everywhere around the mall, museums, etc. school kids seemed positively BORED with learning about US history. Most were tuned in to their IPODS and tuned out of the Smithsonian. Other young children had the unfortunate experience of being dressed head to toe (in their strollers) in camoflauge, while older folks were standing in line to buy "authentic" dog tags.

4. The Metro is much easier to navigate than the NYC subway system. Thank god for public transportation!!

That's all I can think of at the moment, but overall, I did enjoy this trip. Leaving the village life for some urban action was a must, and we thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to hook up with some old friends from grad school. Our conference panel went very well, and it looks like J and our friend John, are going to have plenty of material to draw from for their upcoming edited collection on the corporatization of academy and its impact on contingent and part-time junior faculty.

Ah, here's an update from the money pit: we sprung another leak. But, it's probably our fault, because the house inspector said we should have the roof checked out . . .last night we experienced 55 mph winds for about 30 minutes and the drops started coming in the family room. Blah. We should just move to the backyard and set up a tent.