We Ride Bikes

The Secret Service

For the record, I dislike President Bush as a politician. I dislike his administration, and the policies that they pursue. Now, I also enjoy Air America Radio. I listened to the Rhandi Rhodes show last night. And I believe it is our duty as citizens to second-guess and question our leaders. This includes parody, ridicule and humor. We do it, its funny, and no harm no foul. I could go on and on here, but I won't because I say that only to also say that in spite of all of that, this is out of control.

Report: Air America Under Investigation By Secret Service
April 27, 2005
By  Ken Tucker

Air America Radio is being investigated by the Secret Service over a skit that aired during Randi Rhodes show on April 25, according to the Drudge Report.

In the skit, which focused on the ongoing debate over Social Security, an announcer said , "A spoiled child is telling us our Social Security isn't safe anymore, so he is going to fix it for us.” While not named, it's obvious the “spoiled child” is President Bush.

“Well, here's your answer,” the skit continues, “you ungrateful whelp.” At this point there is audio of four gunshots.

“Just try it, you little bastard,” the announcer continues, followed by the sound of a gun being cocked.

"What is with all the killing?" Rhodes reportedly said, laughing, after the clip aired.

"Even joking about shooting the president is a crime, let alone doing it on national radio . . . we are taking this very seriously," a government source told Drudge.

An Air America official tells Billboard Radio Monitor that they have no comment and are conducting their own internal investigation. (Quoted from  Billboard Radio Monitor 4/27/2005)

I mean isn't there  any other way to show our dislike for this president without mock execution. I mean we are liberals/progressives/Democrats. Aren't we for gun control anyway?

It's things like this that make the everyday swing voter not swing our way.

Still a Deaniac

 Found this on the internet today...

Yep, Howard Dean Takes the Subway

Let's just state the obvious: New Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is no Terry McAuliffe . Where the flashy former Clinton fundraiser was a gregarious ringmaster accustomed to the bling-bling of the highest non-publicly elected Democratic job around, Dean is almost a seminarian in his approach to the post. And, oddly, his style seems to fit with the party's bid to build its blue-collar base--just as McAuliffe's meshed with the DNC's need to raise gobs of money and go high tech.

What's so different? McAuliffe would limo around town, dropping in at the Palm to huddle with Washington big shots. The 2004 presidential hopeful, by contrast, takes the bus or subway, buying his own $1.35 ticket. Sometimes he bums rides from staffers or walks the four blocks to the Capitol for meetings. "Please Call Me Howard" never flies first class and always carries his own bags.

Other signs of the ex-guv's modest style: He eats at his desk, stays in a cheap D.C. hotel, and likes oxford shirts and penny loafers. Affectionately dubbed a "geek" by pals, he's often glued to his cellphone and loves E-mail. "His expertise is grass roots and his lifestyle is no different," says an associate. So far, Washington likes what it sees, surprised he's not the oddball that newsies pegged him as last year. Says an aide, smiling: "They're giving him a shot." Quoted from U.S. News and World Reports (2/5/05)

Now, I realize I am biased, but this sounds like a guy I could get along with.

"You know, the biggest lie people like me, tell people like you at election time, is that if you vote for me, I'll solve all your problems. The truth is, the power to change this country is in YOUR hands...you have the power. You have the power to take back your country." -Former Governor of Vermont Howard Dean, M.D.

"We need a Democratic party that in the face of the rising gap beween the wealthy and the ordinary, working people will stand up for a livable wage, for a trade policy which saves American jobs, and for a society in which people who work hard and play by the rules are able to live a lifestyle where their children have hope of advancement...So that we, as a nation, can say once again, that no American shall be left behind." -Former Governor of Vermont Howard Dean, M.D.

My response to Judith re: Higher Education

How do you manage to do that? How do you manage to inspire thought and cultivate the desire to write? You have an amazing ability to make me want to write, and make it seem possible rather than plausible.

I did drop out of college for five years with the vague idea to finish, someday. When I was in high school, college was simply what you did, not necessarily what you wanted to do. I was lucky, in that I came from a low-income, minority household where an education was valued to some degree. Granted, my parents were not forcing us to excel or on our backs about filling out college applications and the like, but they did make it clear that college was where we were supposed to go. In high school and college I was not ambitious and had no idea of where I wanted to be nor did I have any tangible plan of where I wanted to go.

The five years out of school taught me so much. And while I value that time, and would recommend that everyone take some amount of time to re-evaluate, rather than stick blindly to one path, I do sometimes wish that I could make my 17 year old self understand that there are things that we want to do, and if we just try a little harder we can do them. I coasted through high school, never did homework, never studied, and managed to just get by. So it was not until I returned to school with renewed zeal, that I had to learn how to study, and be able to simply play by the rules.

This idea of playing by the rules is one of the major things that I think college teaches us. You need x amount of credits and are empowered, within reason, to acquire those credits as you see fit. You have y amount of time and z amount of work to get done, how do you go about accomplishing those tasks? A college education is important for so many reasons with regards to socialization, and time management and all of that, and I truly believe that there are things that I learned in college, and I enjoyed (am enjoying?) it. I do believe that college, like so many other things, is age appropriate. You must be ready for it; otherwise the freedom and the flexibility will be too great to overcome. I do not want to say that college is not for everyone; that sounds elitist. I believe that college should be available to anyone that wants to attend.

I also think you touched on something very important, that incidentally would be very difficult to convey to any audience, especially the one that you are addressing. Not necessarily education per se, but reaching one’s full potential is critical to nurturing self-esteem and self-confidence. Not only the knowledge, and hopefully some amount of wisdom, gained in a college environment, but also the confidence of something accomplished. It comes in bits and pieces, but it comes. For me, every exam and every paper became a little victory. Then each semester became a greater accomplishment. (I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: there is no better feeling in the world than having absolutely no understanding of the material a day or two before a test, then cramming and walking out of that test KNOWING that you did well. I love that.)  Even now, as I sit here on the verge of graduating, still barely able to completely fathom that everything I have worked for is almost over, I recognize that it is not one single achievement but a series of smaller achievements. And they help give me confidence to do more. (I mean, I am going to law school! That's still almost too much to swallow.)

So I don’t think that much of this is new to you, you’ve read over and over about my college and non-college experiences. And I am realizing now that I got a little wordy and may have gone overboard…

At any rate, I think the problem is that college places such a burden on the individual to want to be there that someone in your position must inspire that desire to be there. I can’t imagine that this will be a problem for you. You have a magnetic personality and a passion for education that is contagious. A while back you were so frustrated with Richland, putting together a powerpoint project, and I remember talking to you and in spite of being exhausted and drained from all of the bullshit associated with the bureaucracy, you still had this glimmer of excitement about what you were trying to say and do. That is passion, and that is inspiring.

To me, I would’ve maybe wanted to hear that college provides common people with the tools to accomplish uncommon acts, that, as cheesy as it sounds, knowledge is power. An education is the key to altering our situation. If we look around and don’t like what we see we owe it to ourselves to try to change it. The deck is already stacked against them, help them understand that in this day and age, only an education will provide them with the means to overcome that disadvantage. (This may have gone too far too... I am not trying to get you to start my revolution, yet.)

Good Luck, and let me know if there is anything I can do.

Jake

_________________________________________________________________________
Note: Next week, Judith will be addressing 300 high school juniors and seniors that are deemed to be "at-risk"  to not finish high school or otherwise not pursue higher education. She is developing a program at a local community college to encourage and foster student retention, specifically with these "at-risk" students. It is an ambitious project that makes me wonder what I've been doing with my time. Her request was for her circle of friends, family and co-workers to pitch in and help her gain a broader spectrum of understanding for the pros and cons of college, and what people can gain from it, if at all.

A soapbox

Oh yeah, so I got into Northern Illinois University College of Law. Which is very exciting. I now have to decide whether to go to school at Michigan State in East Lansing, MI or NIU in DeKalb, IL. At this point, the schools are irrelevant, as neither of them has the exact program that I was hoping for and they are similarly situated otherwise. What this question will come down to is, where do I want to spend the rest of my life working, Illinois or Michigan? From what I understand with this type of law school you are often limited to working in the state if not the region of the law school itself. Having said that, I believe that I will, with any luck, attend Northern Illinois come fall...When I started this, my plan was to attend a law school and focus my studies on labor law. Once I discovered the program that I wanted was at University of Illinois I set my sights on getting there. Now, I didn't quite get there, I haven't heard from them directly, but the writing is on the proverbial wall. So Northern Illinois is probably the closest I am going to get, unless I do really, really well and can transfer to UofI. Which is still a possibility, but I am not going to plan on doing so...

In other news:

Last year the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) determined that graduate students at private universities are students and not employees of the university and as such, cannot form unions. However, my dad always told me that a work stoppage is one of the most fundamental ways that workers can exert their power over management. It is in that spirit that yesterday the graduate students at Yale and Columbia began a week long strike to gain union recognition. More than 1,500 pro-union graduate students at both universities are refusing to teach classes, host review sessions, or participate in research for one week.

The graduate students hope to achieve union recognition in order to bargain collectively for things such as health care for family members and a grievance process that would enable teaching assistants to raise concerns with the respective university.

The labor movement is alive. And this is why we will begin to see fewer unions utilizing institutional methods of recognition, like NLRB elections, as they have in the past.

Since the Wagner Act of 1935, the traditional path for union recognition has been through election certification by the NLRB. Organizers get signatures of support by workers, and apply for an election. That election is held, and if more than 50% of the workers elect to have united representation, then management must recognize the union as their bargaining entity. However, as this administration has become more and more hostile to organized labor, workers have found it more difficult to have those elections certified. Decision after decision the Republican controlled board has continued to deny the workers their right to organize, as is illustrated by the decision that student-workers are not workers, but students.

Given the institutional hostility that workers face, the new tactic will be to organize unions without the luxury of elections. Organizers will gain support of the union by workers, and strike in order to gain recognition. Business cannot afford to lose the time, and the NLRB is not even brought in to the equation. This is organized labor at its best. When workers learn that there is nothing to fear, that they are not powerless, that with solidarity they can achieve so much...

And that knowledge translates to power, that is then exerted against the boss to gain recognition of THEIR union...

Cesar Chavez once said, that "we should inspire common people to do uncommon things." That, my friends is why I want to be a labor attorney. Because the labor movement is alive, and further, it is relevant.

Things I believe:

I believe…

that a woman has a fundamental right to  choose an abortion.

there was a conspiracy to kill President Kennedy.

that I can do anything, if I believe in myself.

that we have a responsibility to make the  world a better place.

that people are inherently good.

the Constitution provided rights that had never been written.

in the freedom of the will.

in the power of the workers.

in social justice.

that we can do it.

we have a responsibility to insure the rights of the accused.

in protecting, and preserving the  environment.

that capital punishment is cruel and unusual.

that we can change the world.

that hate is learned.

that nonviolence is our strength.

in democracy.

in equality.

that patriotic dissent is our duty.

the designated hitter should be outlawed.

that we are surrounded by overlooked  beauty.

the ERA should have been ratified.

everyone has a right to an education.

no one should be denied the right to marry  whomever they choose.

nothing is achieved without passion.

that we should become the change that we  wish to see in the world.

that it takes a village.

that the rights of the individual are tantamount to national security.

that an education is more than reading, writing, and arithmetic.

the government is hiding something about 9/11.

that I can learn something from everyone I  meet.

that the universe is expanding.

that powers of war lie with Congress.

that one person can make a difference.

in love.

iSi, se puede!

March 1968:  Presidential Candidate, Sen. Robert Kennedy joins Cesar Chavez as he breaks his 25 day hunger strike in support of the United Farm Workers' union. It is this dedication to non-violence that is Mr. Chavez's legacy.

Today is Mr. Chavez's 78th birthday and I ask that you please remember those who dedicated their lives to helping others improve their own.

In his own words:

• We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community…Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.

• There's no turning back. We will win. We are winning because ours is a revolution of mind and heart.

• It's ironic that those who till the soil, cultivate and harvest the fruits, vegetables, and other foods that fill your tables with abundance have nothing left for themselves.

• Because we have suffered, and we are not afraid to suffer in order to survive, we are ready to give up everything--even our lives--in the struggle for justice.

• Somewhere and somehow these people are never going to be the same. It's very important to us that people question; that they participate and that they are never afraid to have some principle and stand by that principle.

Never before had a farm workers' union been recognized (they are specifically excluded from the labor laws that regulate union recognition). Through the hard work of Cesar Chavez, Delores Huerta, and the rest of the United Farm Workers' union, they were able to gain recognition and negotiate contracts with management.

In his book Sal Si Puedes (Escape if you can), Peter Mathiessen writes that the true revolutionary is not the idealistic college student in the Che Geuvara t-shirt, but the person that brings about real change. That was Cesar Chavez.

iViva la Causa!
iViva la Huelga!

(Long live the Cause!)
(Long live the Strike!)

Trying to get some word out

74% of all Texans indicate that they, a family member and/or a friend or coworker have experienced some form of domestic violence (physical, sexual or verbal) in their lifetime.

Break the Silence. Make the Call.
National Domestic Violence Hotline
1.800.799.7233
TTY 1.800.787.3224

Is there a bonus question?

Last night someone asked me when I became a feminist? (I am paraphrasing, I hope you don't mind.)

Interesting question, and I think that my answer may have been lacking...So I am going to try and answer in a way that makes more sense and is closer to complete. When I look at the course of my life, I am fascinated by the things that I feel to be true that were not directly taught to me. The closest analogy I could use, and I have used this before, and I did again last night, is that there are things that I feel that I know, like I know my own name. Some things so inherently right, and true that I cannot imagine things being any other way. I wish that I could say that I always knew that there were imbalances of power in our society, but that just isn't true.

I remember that I was very young because it was one summer that I was in elementary school. My parents had sent me to church camp for a week with the First Baptist Church youth/children's group. It was probably one of my first experiences being away from my parents for any extended period of time and was pretty unsettling. I did not normally attend First Baptist Church and therefore, did not know anyone. Everyone did a very good job at making me feel welcome and trying to include me in activities and conversations. It was only a week, and each cabin was supposed perform some sort of skit each night. Anyway in preparation for our skit one of the other guys from our cabin came into our room. The room was lined on either side with bunk beds and I was looking under the bed for something so I guess (hope?) he didn't see me as he entered and said, "Hey where's that Mexican kid?"

It took me a second to realize that he was talking about me and I sheepishly answered, "uh, I'm right here."

And that was it. That was the moment that I realized that I was different, and that difference was going to be what people used to define me. Regardless of anything I could achieve, it ultimately would be modified by my ethnicity. I would have to be twice as good just to be considered on par. I would have to dress twice as nice to not be thought of as sloppy. Don't believe me?  In 1989, Doug Williams led the Washington Redskins to a Super Bowl Championship over the Denver Broncos . He completed 18 of 29 passes for a total of 340 yards and four touchdowns. What's the one thing people remember about Doug Williams? The fact that he was the first Black quarterback to play in a Super Bowl. He was not defined as a quarterback, but a Black quarterback. That modifier does not need to be there. It does not in any way, help someone gain a better understanding of Doug Williams, it simply is our way of qualifying Doug Williams' status as a quarterback.  When Doug Williams is a Black quarterback, instead of a quarterback, we say, "He's not a real quarterback, he is a Black quarterback."

When I am just some "Mexican" kid, it erases my humanity, and replaces it with some stereotypical idea of who and where I am supposed to be. I wasn't a kid. I was a Mexican kid. Don't get me wrong, I am proud of my heritage, and my family, but I have a problem with someone else defining who I am, and it somehow qualifying or erasing  my humanity.

All of that said, that moment became my root. Essentially I used that moment to alter my perception of the world. I believe that I may have known that there were things in this world that were not quite right. But I could never place them or address them, these inequalities as I later knew them to be called, were my "problem that had no name."  I noticed that there were differences between how I was treated in the world and how my (white) friends were treated. These were also differences in how my mom and my dad were treated, based solely on their gender. (My mom would never recognize her oppression, and that saddens me to no end.)

I don't remember the moment that I realized that women do not have the same access to the world that men do. I don't remember the first time that I heard someone say women shouldn't do this or don't need to be doing that....But I knew that that exclusion was wrong. I remember in November of 1984, when Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro were defeated in the campaign for president, that I was watching history in the making. I was 7 years old and I remember being so disappointed, maybe my mom's disappointment fueled mine, because there is on way that I could have known the implications of it all, but I knew that it was important, and it was monumental. (I don't remember a lot about those years, but I remember watching the Democratic National Convention and the election returns that year.)

I don't remember ever thinking that there was something I could do, that a woman couldn't or shouldn't do. I may not have always known, but I know now, I know like I know my name, that ending gender based discrimination is right. To me feminism, which I define as merely the belief in social, political and economic equality of all people (regardless of gender) is simply "the way".

(Which, if there is a problem with feminism, it is its perception. I believe that if you asked a lot of people if they were feminists, they would say no. But if you asked them if they were in favor of the social, political and economic equality of all people, they would say yes. Conservatives, the media, and society as a whole have done such an impressive job of marring feminism that it has seeped into popular culture to such a degree that feminists, themselves have little to no credibility. They, sadly, have become a punchline, and are reduced to one degrading and all-encompassing term: Femi-nazis. )

Okay, well Katie, I realize that that's probably not what you were expecting, but if you read it, that's when, why and how I guess...

One more reason to hate Wal-mart

They drive out (locally-owned) small businesses...

They disproportionately do not promote women. More on this...

They deny adequate benefits to employees thereby sending them to public health assistance services costing taxpayers in the surrounding city almost $420,000 a year. Find out more...

They provide cheap goods at cheap prices, which ultimately leads to lost jobs, lower wages and unsupportable U.S. trade defecits, affecting things like inflation. Learn more...

And now, the news, Wal-Mart would rather put people out of work, than negotiate in good faith with organized labor...One more reason to hate Wal-mart.

There is lots more, and remember, "Vote with your dollar."

The Wal-Mart you may know...

The Sierra Club

Unions, the people that brought you weekends.

It's Wednesday, and we missed West Wing

Okay I remebered a few more books to add to my Top 10 books of 2004...

My Life by Bill Clinton: I know some people didn't like it...I enjoyed it and appreciated it. He gave me enough numbers and politics to satisfy the policy wonk in me, and did not give me the salacious details that I never wanted to know in the first place as quite frankly they are none of my business. It was a long but good read.

The Natural: The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton by Joe Klein: what can I say I went through a whole Clinton thing, this one was good, but not as good as My Life. He explains without apologizing or excusing him. Both of them together helped me have a greater understanding of his presidency and understanding the New Democrats, granted the Clintonian Democrats are still a little too conservative for my tastes (free trade, pro-capital punishment et al.) these books cleared up a lot for me.

Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenriech: I wanted to read this for a long time and finally read it this year. It was not quite as good as I had hoped it would be, but she brings to light a lot of things that should be talked about more often and with more passion.

Again, I will update more as I remember them.

Today Girlfriend (Meredith) was offered a position as the Volunteer Coordinator with the Rape Crisis Center of Collin County. We are very proud of and excited for her. It is a great job for her. I am happy to see her doing what she wants to be doing, advocating for those who cannot necessarily do it for themselves. As a volunteer coordinator she will train and schedule the volunteers that work for the center helping survivors in the short and/or long term aftermath of a sexual assault. My dad always told me "if you arent part of the solution, then you are part of the problem", though sometimes it was "if you're not angry, then you arent paying attention." The moral of the story is, as much as she has been doing for the movement she will now be doing more. I'm so proud of her.

When I see other people doing so well it makes me wonder where I am supposed to be going.

(Quick sidebar: I don't believe in destiny/fate because I believe that it removes free will from the equation. But when I think about the idea of knowing something, and knowing something so deeply like you know your own name it is the overwhelming feeling that the way things are, have some sort of...I don't want to say plan....and I have never FELT the presence of a higher being, but I FEEL, like I HEAR my name, even when someone isn't talking TO me, I FEEL that there is some THING that I am SUPPOSED to be doing, like I have a destiny....don't get me wrong, I don't have delusions of grandeur, I don't expect that I am destined for greatness. In fact, I barely have delusions of adequacy, I have simply always felt that there is something, some job, some task that I am destined to accomplish....maybe I'm wrong, maybe I've already done it, maybe it's not even out there....but how do you explain feelings that you feel when you feel them....)

So when I see Meredith getting the job she wants so badly that she can taste it and she uses sheer will power to get, like Aaron can draw the card he needs at the right time...and I see Kenneth deciding what he wants to study and knowing at the end of the line he will be doing what he wants to be doing, and Emilie defending her masters thesis and saying I've decided to go to school to do this....I think....I have never had a single goal that I sought to achieve. Even now 10 credit hours from graduating college...when i started school, the second time, the graduation seemed so remote a possibility that I never thought about how it would end, I just...started. I had every intention of going to law school with no real idea of what it would take or how i to go about getting in or anything....granted that changed several times and now, of course, I am planning on going to law school.

But to do what? to go where?

These of course are not questions that MUST be answered, but are simply out there.

Oh and a quick shout out to my main man Kenneth who is taking the GRE tomorrow...If you believe in a god or a goddess or God, or Allah or Yahweh or your elders, or those that have come before us, or as he likes to say your uncle in the sky, please put in a good word for him, or otherwise think good thoughts for him.