I have no idea why people don't like the cervical cancer vaccine. They say some stuff about abstinence, but well..it's not 100%. Like what if a girl keeps herself pure for marriage, yet her husband experimented with sex once, although he was celibate after that? Or what if a religious woman ends up with a man who betrays her with a woman who has HPV? Or what if a rapist who carries the HPV virus breaks into her house or date rapes her? Man, it's as crazy as putting home fries on salad.

I'm continuing to complain. I feel really pissed off still, because my partner is trying to act like I shouldn't take disrespect of my work personally. I personally did not like the survey he selected, and thought some of his sampling techniques were suspect. However, I didn't throw out his survey, and I went along with the sampling, because it's a group project. Yes, doing the work alone is more efficient, but if we were supposed to do that, we'd be doing that. Also, I hate how he tried to intellectualize it to avoid the blame for his actions. If he doesn't like something I do, he needs to take it up with me, instead of trying to act like magic pixies did his actions not him. If he wanted more help on the survey, he should have said so. The message you all should take away from this is that A) group work is based on relationships. Don't disrespect the work of other people, because otherwise they'll be mad. B)If you got beef, say it out loud.

A great response to the great amount of Rosa Parks corpse rape that will be going on soon(the cartoon talked about on black folks is just one of the manifestations) I like how the 'some lady sat on a bus' actually seems to echo the well...white washing of Rosa Parks' role in history. The great leaders of the civil rights era did not have magical powers to wipe out racism- they just gave others the courage to speak up against it and gave lawmakers the courage to outlaw some of the worst practices. Now that we realize that they have fought and died for all of us, we should have the courage ourselves to stand up, because that is their legacy to us. They gave others courage and hope, and so we don't have to wait for a leader to give us that, we can see their actions, and have courage in ourselves, and have hope for the future.

I hate everybody and wish they were all dead. Why am I in a bad mood? Because my lab partner is being a prat. Our TA said that we could have pre task questionnaires that supplemented for the various problems in our surveys. The survey we have doesn't have enough data points on extracurricular activities that a large portion of the student population can do or leadership at all. It asks questions like "did you try out for an athletic team". That's well and good, but what if athletic people have some other confounding factor? Most people aren't on sports teams or the school newspaper. There are so many other clubs! Also, I'd like to be able to have proxies for class and leadership, and won't be able to because my partner decided to not use my pre task questionaire because he doesn't know that subject variables and independent variables can overlap. And the kicker is that he actually spent time fucking me over just to be a jerk.

I also forgot what time the networking dinner is, and have lost the phone number. I trapped my hand in a door. Yesterday I kicked over a table at some lady's house, with my clumsy drunken self. Basically, it's been the worst day ever, except for the day before yesterday in which I think I had the worst day that a person in a western civilization can have without starving to death or being raped or mugged. Yes, I admit that it might not be as bad as the time that some asshole sprayed my grandma's neighborhood with bullets and killed a young pregnant mom and injured my mom's tenant,but I sure feel like shit.

In blackfolks some ask why blacks have to live up to a higher standard to get rights than whites.

Congress has cut food stamps for many people. I'm a middle class person, but my food stamp experience is a bit different from the typical "I saw a person buy [some food people think they don't 'deserve' because they are poor]" experience. When I was a child, my aunt was very ill and was unable to work. She has recovered now, but at the time, she had 7 kids living at home. Her husband worked, but they still received some assistance. My experience is basically standing in the food stamp line with her, and her kids. That might not make me a good compassionate person, but I really urge people to donate to food banks all the year round to help reduce food insecurity. Lack of nutritious food can cause people to be susceptible to illness, and to be unable to learn properly in school. My favorite food bank in Atlanta is the Atlanta Community Food Bank, because they were really nice, and helped us with supplies and advice for the community garden. We donate the produce grown to the food bank.

Man, that's just plain fucked up.

I got a Chipolte gift certificate in the DDR competition. Prize: for last place in beginner division. I think I passed a song. once. I'll try to sell it. Go me!

Steve Gillard talks about how black conservatives don't represent the majority of black people. The thing is that black conservatives need to speak to the issues that black people care about, as explained by Thindwa here. I wish blacks would be more accepting of gays,yes, but that's not what they vote based on. It seems that they want politicians that may be able to make positive changes in their lives, and the thing is that being a republican is a handicap there, because many Republicans think government is bad, except for when it's being used to harass women for having sex, of course. So while black people might want better schools that they can afford to go to, Republicans are a bit tied there, because having good public schools would be the easiest way to do this, but they can't go for that, because that's 'big government'.

Also, Republicans think that they can get blacks the same way they get poor whites, but that doesn't work. I think it's because poor whites see rich whites as their proxies- that they can become rich whites someday. But black people see a rich white guy, and say, he's doing good, but I want to be doing good too. So policies that help the rich may not be liked as much. Another problem is that Republicans say stuff like "get off the plantation! Don't vote Dem"

Most blacks vote for their own reasons, not because they think they owe anything to the Dems or the Repubs. Take me for example. I favor women's reproductive rights, real racial equality, and rights for gays. I vote for the Dems, because they seem closer to what I want. I propose a new way for Republicans to get votes from blacks- why don't they try to see what blacks want, and try to be closer to that? Maybe they'd actually improve their profile,eh? Like I think many blacks would like an increase in minimum wage. Don't vote it down, ok?

Click above to check out my auctions! I have a lot of great stuff on my website too. There will be deep discounts come November, so bookmark, and come back for those.

The previous ad was just a test. My blog works once more. A big whew, I say.

From the Black History Livejournal, here's the Libraries of Timbuktu website.

The former guy in charge of forming our education policy talks about how killing all the black babies would reduce crime(but TSK!!!! PERISH THE THOUGHT!!!! We'll just have to suffer with all those black babies, committing all that crime ). He gets tons of defenders to say well, he didn't really mean it, oh, well, etc,etc. Some random dude busts out with some mess about whites, and well, it's OMG!!!! THE HORROR!!!! So, who has probably caused more suffering to their targeted group- the person in charge of policy who thinks that being black makes you more likely to be a criminal just out of the womb, or some random guy I've never heard of saying kill whitey?

Since I blew my schedule today, here's a gallery of sculptures from Zimbabwe.

Go poor black folks- fight that oppression! In the same post that I found the above in, P6 talks about white irresponsibility. In the Hidden Cost of Being African American, the author also talks about white irresponsibility. I will be reviewing that book on this blog soon.

There's already a rap song about the Toledo Riots. Very old school sounding production, although my definition may be different because I wasn't aware for the invention of rap.

"In both Bakke and Robinson[a case about whether racial minorities should be allowed the same public accommodations i.e. train cars, hotels,etc as whites] the persons who benefited from federal protection were upwardly mobile racial minorities who were accused of benefiting from reverse discrimination policies. [Robinson case: a black woman and her white husband sit in the railway's 1st class whites only section] White passengers reacted by charging that these people were polluting their social space. In Bakke, the question of space once again surfaced: the case dealt with the allegedly unconstitutional nature of reserving space for racial minorities aspiring to become medical doctors. Interestingly, both cases dealt with White reactions against minorities who trespassed racially defined boundaries when they proactively attempted to enjoy the social priviledges reserved for upwardly mobile[i.e. not poor whites, so it makes no sense for them to complain about black folk] Whites."
- Recovering History, Constructing Race. p 294-295.

This book in this chapter also has great points on how Mexicans were segregrated based on language, and the gains of women, but I probably should actually return this book to the library. Oh, yea, I forgot about how they wouldn't naturalize Mexicians- the US's immigration policies sure were fucked up.

I might go to an Iraq vigil tomorrow.

What not to do while running a barber shop. Cutting black men's hair is not that hard. All you need is this. What does he do when a white man wants a shaved head? Also, what does he do when an Asian or a Hispanic dude needs a hair cut?

Neiwart has a good post on the Toledo riots, with pictures. Warning: some offensive content. There are pictures of Nazis waving offensive flags. One thing I've always wondered is why they couldn't just make the Nazis march someplace else. Angry White Kid posted two times on this topic, so look at his view. I'm a bit torn there. On one hand, rioting is bad, on the other, it's not like they couldn't have predicted that people would riot, so can we really be like OMG, RIOTING?! I don't know how to feel. I want to say well, rioting will give blacks a bad image, but is that really fair? In Europe sometimes there are riots over soccer games, but I don't run around thinking "Man, those Europeans are so violent! Rioting in the streets! *clutches pearls*" If we have to say that, why don't we ask why Nazis don't give whites a bad image? I mean, it's probably the same percentage that riot in the street and that go to Nazi marches.

It's good to see that PBS had a motown special. I'm trying to sew a nurse costume from this pattern. If this doesn't work, I'll just go as a sexy cat. I wish I could cut straight, but then again, I have never in my life been able to. When I was a kid, I failed cutting paper on the pre kindergarten test. At least I could read, though.

Geh, I missed the walk for education.

From Angry Asian Man- don't discriminate against the Chinese! Especially the ones that are good at math. We don't need to run off people who create technology. Also, save a tree, carry your own chopsticks.

I've been too tired to go to the garden lately, but I heard the broccoli and peas that I planted had sprouted. I'm so happy.

Where the white women at?

Clue dropping comes fast and furious. Also, hell yea.

Don't do this or this or you'll make everyone think this.

Wargles, I got 82 ghetto points(57 before my nemesis math tripped me up) I said yes for 3(ok, not in my neighborhood, but I spent so much time going to the candy lady in my youth while visiting relatives..), 4, 8, I didn't say yes to 9, but not that I think about it, that's 4 more points there, 10, 12(and still do it), 13, 17, I didn't say yes to 19, but my brother's g/f, who actually is a middle class white person, I thought she was ghetto because of the house shoes, should say yes to this, 20, 21, 25, and 31 ;_;. Most of the language things are only on occasion, but I find myself saying naw a lot lately.

Memo to white people: If you don't care about black people, don't pretend to. Your half hearted protestations that you'll do something to help or improve your behavior once every knee has bowed and every tongue has confessed give you away. Yea, people might think you're a racist. Man up. Life's hard- get a helmet.

Boycott Common Ground and anything from the Tweleve Tribes, as it is linked to a white supremacist group that abuses kids, and uses child labor.

Liberal letters to the editor. I will write my own(I disagree with using pre written letters) about how student loans help poor black people like my family members get an education.

I have decided to take inspiration from this campaign and a take a one hour window of renewing goof off time for every 8 work units- 1 work unit- go to class. Another might be putting cart buttons on all my website items or writing a page of my methods paper. Some will be worth two, such as reading 50 pages of my religion text book certainly should be worth two. Hopefully I can slay the demon of procrastination this way.

"One tragic day, on 15 May 1856, the good fortune of the Ashworth family[a family of afrometizos who owned a lot of cattle, and were not enslaved or deported by Texas as was the law] was cruelly reversed[Block, 1979:11]. Samuel Ashworth, a nephew of Aaron[the wealthiest person in Jefferson County], became embroiled in a fist fight, with William Blake, a White man. Witnesses accused Samuel of using abusive language against Blake, which was against the law. In those days, Blacks in Texas were not allowed to insult White folks. Samuel was immediately arrested, taken to ail, fined and given thirty lashes.[Block, 1979]. News of the event spread and agitated many White people. Samuel's neighbor began talking and concurred that the Ashworth clan were an arrogant bunch of trouble makers. A mob of White folks decided to take action. ...[Samuel escapes from jail. White folks get mad] Frustrated at the perceived social injustice, they decided to seek revenge by forcing all Black people from Orange and Jefferson counties to leave. That night White men went into the homes of Black people and ordered them to leave within 24 hours or suffer repercussions[Block, 1979]"- From p. 232 of Recovering History, Constructing Race.

Reading that, and the earlier parts of this chapter about the new racial laws that took citizenship away from Blacks and Indians and forced many of the Indians onto reservations in the aftermath of the Mexican American war, all I have to say about that is that's fucked up.

Look! A douchebag tries to make money off people unable to get a college degree!

When I heard about those new video ipods, I knew there would be porn on them soon. Well, the future is now. (NSFW, to me seems kinda pathetic)

What not to do at a party.

I have to read the rest of my white history, and write a paper or something so I will post search terms:

culture of the hmongs
macavelian, definition
utena symbology
whining males
download princess tutu
thyriod problems
real women have curves white privilege
i know what's right for you belief
utena spoilers akio anthy
fnorgby
old men fucking young teens
the death of the white male savage
egotistical
famous african americans recontruction
katherine hall martinez
why chicken offends blacks
we're sorry your princess is in another castle

I just think this is cool. Wow! Old news is so exciting!

This is like we are studying in art history. Well except the paintings.

I want it.

Emory Libraries and Katrina.
Library fines collected 9/1-10/15 have been directed to the American Red Cross for hurricane relief and to the United Negro College Fund for assistance to affected historically black colleges and universities. Thanks for your support! <--YAY!

Hey, this website has sales in your local area. That's a great way to save money.

"Ironically, to the distress of the immigrants[Anglo Americans who had moved to Texas], the general's report[That most Anglo Americans didn't want to be naturalized as Mexican citizens and isolated themselves from Mexicans] was published in the same year[1829] that Mexico's first afromestizo[African ancestory, with other ancestory thrown in- usually Spanish or Indian] president, Vicente Guerrero, issued the nation's emancipation proclamation and abolished slavery"
-Recovering History, Constructing Race p. 199-200.


Other countries are always ahead of us. Mexico had a black president in 1829 for fuck's sake, and we haven't had one ever. Also, I heard that the Philippines and Indonesia have had female presidents- what's keeping us?

Damn you intellectual property laws, I want to live!

In the spirit of procrastination, I posted a want it now on eBay. A warning to people who want to have poor skills: don't wrap one of those caramel apple wraps around popcorn and try to pop it in a paper bag. I swear, I am still in tears from the acrid smoke, and I decided to order out instead of snacking in. A problem with budgeting for me is that I assume I only need the normal amount of meals, only smaller. The thing is that I need many small meals or I'll get dizzy and procrastinate. Of course, after I eat I'll get sleepy and sleep. Of course, everything makes me get sleepy and sleep, I'm averaging like 9 hours a sleep a day because I get so sleepy. I need to be sleeping 6 hours a day like every one else. It's a big problem for me. I can't have caffeine because it's bad for my nerves. Heh, I found that my horoscope for this week is about time. Awesome.

Is being an unemployed loser who begs for money on the internet a bad idea? Maybe, but I can't complain too much. I mean, I bitch because it costs 9.40 to buy 2 pounds of potatoes(Yukon Gold), a squash, two tomatoes(one red, one green), a pound of apple sauce, split pea soup mix, and gum. If begging on the internet could give me $10 to pay for that, I'd go for it. I also have a website solely devoted in getting people to give money to me. I say in my defense that the buttons are really quirky, and the jewelry is fun to wear. This guy seems to be at least providing a service for his loserdom, and providing services, no matter how silly, for money is one of the backbones of capitalism. Even if he wasn't, no one makes people give money to those sorts of sites. Yes, I think it'd be better to give money to charity, but who am I fooling? I just spent $34 on jewelry supplies. Do I think that's helping anyone but me(and maybe some large corporations and of course, the people I bring sunshine and love to through my creative, unique jewelry)? No. We all spend money on stupid stuff, and so I can't really complain if someone else gives money to strangers on the internet.

It's time for Fruits scans! I wish there was an American Fruits. The best we have is the Fruits community, but they often have a lot of posed photos, not what people are really wearing in the streets. I saw a lot of good black American street fashion at the Taste of Africa thing I went to yesterday. It was great. The spoken word performed by Atlanta University Consortium(schools like Spelman, Morehouse, and Clarke Atlanta) students was a little raunchy(there were kids there! One of the kids, a 7 year old, played the piano during the intermission. He was actually pretty good) Lots of applause for a poem advocating abstinence, a poem against the down low, and my favorite, an updated version of the revolution will not be televised, which was a big performance involving 5 poets, who each had solos, and also, a hurricane Katrina poem talking about how blacks were left to die. The dancing was great- we had a solo dance which was wild and funky, and an all too short performance by Emory's African dance troupe. The drumming was fantastic, although one of the guys fell down in the middle. The food was amazing, with meat pies, sausage gumbo(a lot spicy), and a zillion different types of rice. There was also that spongy brownish Ethiopian bread, that I forget what it is called. It was all good though.

There was also a hilarious play by Georgia Tech students in which some elders try to be corrupt, but are stopped by a clever elder woman, and the chief. It was great when the guard chased the corrupt elders out with a knife. One of the elders was played by an Indian, which I thought was a bit unusual, as the play was probably set in Africa. I saw a lot of big chunky jewelry being worn, and I might try to branch out from my usual small style jewelry, especially in earrings. However, I'd need some tutorials to learn how. Hmm...

Hey, it's like netflix for anime. Also, a Haibane Renmei box set(the real kind with the whole series). If I didn't already have it all, I'd buy this.

We need this fix this with the quickness. This cooking the books by pushing kids out has got to stop.

A great This Modern World

Ow. NSFW. Indicative of true courage, though.


In other news, here's a web site with early Christian texts on it. I'd love to understand how modern Christianity has come to be. The religion is ever evolving. One example is the homegoing celebration. Instead of having a funeral and wearing dark clothes, a 'celebration' is held celebrating the loved one's life. You're supposed to wear more cheerful clothing. This summer, I went to a homegoing celebration for the son of my mother's half sister. The sermon was on why Jesus loved the baby so much that he plucked him like a flower to rest in his bosom. The way I explained it makes little sense, but I think I might need to study for religion class.

I was amused that Apple has an unsolicited ideas policy. Since my idea was "You should have the Freaks and Geeks soundtrack in the iTunes music store" I'm sure I'm safe.


In other news, I wonder if it's stupid to be proud that I was able to construct a level 5 response to the Heinz dilemma in class? The funny thing is that I hadn't seen this page before, but my answer did have to do with how life was more important than property. I had been presented with this famous dilemma before, however.

This is one of the cool things I got at the graduate and professional schools day that was yesterday.

There are calls from some groups to replace White House Staff
From Moveon:




The Bush administration point man for a flu pandemic, Stewart Simonson, has no public health management experience yet the lives of millions of people are counting on him. Will you ask Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt to replace Simonson with a more qualified person?



Sign the Petition
Dear MoveOn member,

We've all heard the terrible warnings about the risk of an influenza pandemic from an avian flu virus. But the Bush administration official in charge of making sure America is ready has no experience related to his job—he's a political appointee. And, a botched response could affect millions of Americans.

Stewart Simonson is the Bush administration's point man for a flu pandemic but he has no public health management experience. He got his job because he is a close associate of former Health & Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson.1 Will you urge that Simonson be replaced with a more qualified person by signing our petition to Simonson's boss, HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt? Click below to sign.

http://political.moveon.org/flupandemic/?id=6115-3524279-Hsj9tNStBG5LAQY1ehwACw&t=2

Your action today will draw attention to Simonson when we deliver the petitions, and will pressure Leavitt into acting. After you sign please forward this e-mail to your friends, family and colleagues.

Simonson is Assistant Secretary for Public Health Emergency Preparedness at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). His job before joining HHS was as corporate secretary and counsel for Amtrak when Thompson was chief of the rail service. Prior to Amtrak, Simonson was staff lawyer for Thompson when he was governor of Wisconsin.2 In short, he is not qualified for a public health job that hundreds of millions of people are counting on.

This isn't just a case of resume inflation. Simonson doesn't seem to have a grasp on the very important work he is supposed to be doing right now. At a hearing in the House of Representatives in July, Simonson claimed he had the money he needed to purchase influenza vaccine and antiviral medication.3 The very next day, his office submitted a funding request to Congress seeking an additional $150 million for flu vaccine and antiviral medication.4 Last month the Congress gave another $4 billion for the effort.5

The Department of Health and Human Services is about to announce a new influenza plan. They need a highly qualified and respected professional at the helm when implementation of the plan begins. That is why it is urgent that Leavitt replace Simonson immediately. Why petition Leavitt? It is likely Leavitt will be more responsive than President Bush or even Congress. He wants a scandal-free campaign to prepare for a flu pandemic. Will you sign our petition to replace Simonson with somebody with expert credentials?

http://political.moveon.org/flupandemic/?id=6115-3524279-Hsj9tNStBG5LAQY1ehwACw&t=3

The revelations about Simonson's lack of experience couldn't come at a more challenging time. On Saturday The New York Times reported that the nation is gravely unprepared for a flu pandemic after obtaining a draft of the HHS influenza plan. We have only 2 percent of the courses of antiviral treatments we'll need. The plan predicts a worst-case scenario in which nearly 2 million Americans would die and 8.5 million would be hospitalized. Costs would exceed $450 billion. Finally, the report says we need to expand vaccine manufacturing capacity by more than ten fold.6

There are qualified people who could do this important job. Simonson replaced a genuine expert, Jerome Hauer, who had served as Director of Emergency Management for New York City and led the George Washington University Response to Emergencies and Disasters Institute.7

Many people are calling Simonson the "next Michael Brown" in reference to the lack of experience of the former FEMA director who botched the federal response to Hurricane Katrina. Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) released a fact sheet about cronyism in the Bush administration that blew the whistle on Simonson.8

The threat of an influenza pandemic is very serious. The 1918 flu pandemic is estimated to have killed 50 million people—the largest numbers dying in just weeks. In the 1950s and 1960s smaller flu pandemics in the United States killed tens of thousands.9 Our government needs a serious response to this serious threat. Please act today.

Thanks for all you do.

–Tom, Matt, Adam, Carrie and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Wednesday, October 12, 2005

P.S. Simonson's post as head of the Office of Public Health and Emergency Preparedness includes some very serious responsibilities. Here is the list right off of the Health and Human Services Department website.10 In fairness a lot of this work is being done by long-time experts or career government employees who report to Simonson, but he's bottom-line responsible. Here are some things Simonson's office is supposed to do:

Execute Project BioShield—to accelerate the process of research, development, purchase, and availability of effective countermeasures against agents of bioterror.
Coordinate HHS-wide research and development program efforts that are focused on medical countermeasures to combat Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Provide coordination with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department Of Defense (DOD) and other agencies on issues relating to Research & Development and acquisition of medical countermeasures.
Lead the U.S. Government efforts to identify requirements for medical countermeasures for defense against Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Provide risk management of medical countermeasures acquisition programs.
Leads the planning activities required to fulfill HHS responsibilities under National Response Plan.
Acquire medical equipment and supplies for use in the federal response to catastrophic public health and medical emergency preparedness.
Integrates mass casualty preparedness activities, through its surge capacity planning efforts, across all levels of government.
Works closely with the Health Resources and Services Administration on its programs for hospital bioterrorism preparedness, volunteer health professionals, and terrorism-related education and training for health care professionals.
Leads HHS response activities under the National Response Plan.
Manages the Secretary's Operations Center.
Trains and directs the Secretary's Emergency Response Teams.
Coordinates and executes the HHS Continuity of Operations (COOP) and Continuity of Government (COG) programs.
Plans, implements and evaluates Departmental and interagency response exercises.
Develops security related policies establishing procedures to manage the Department's risks, threats and vulnerabilities.
Serves as the focal point for all international activities related to public health emergency preparedness.
Coordinates overall influenza pandemic effort and with HHS components (e.g., CDC, NIH, FDA), the Department of State, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to ensure that programs for dealing with avian influenza and plans for dealing with pandemic influenza are as effective as possible.
Oversee development of medical policies related to providing access to medical products that have not been approved for marketing in the U.S. but must be made available on an emergency basis as medical countermeasures to counteract terrorism or naturally occurring biological, chemical or radiological/nuclear threats.
Carry out special scientific and public health oriented projects to establish activities, programs, and standards to protect the public from bioterrorism and naturally occurring infectious disease threats.
Work with other nations and multilateral organizations in combating public health threats, emergencies, and bioterrorism by establishing bilateral and multi-national international partnerships to develop early warning surveillance capability for infectious disease outbreaks, including those involving potential bioterrorism agents.
Provides HHS leadership in the activities of the Biological Weapon Convention and the Global Health Security Action Group.
Sources:

"Is this 'disaster leader' another Michael Brown?" Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal, October 8, 2005.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=973

"Can flu guru do the job? Critics question his credentials." Boston Herald, October 7, 2005.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=974

Stewart Simonson Testimony Before the Committee on Government Reform, July 14, 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=975

Office of Management and Budget, Fiscal 2006 Budget Amendments, July 15, 2005.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=976

"Senate approves $4 bln to fight bird flu" Reuters, September 29, 2005.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=977

"Bush Plan Shows U.S. Is Not Ready for Deadly Flu." The New York Times, October 8, 2005.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=978

Bio of Jerome Hauer. Fleishman-Hillard Government Relations. October 12, 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=979

"Fact Sheet: Cronyism in the Bush administration." Rep. Henry Waxman, Ranking Minority Member. Committee on Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=980

Wikipedia entry on Influenza. October 12, 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=981

Website of Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=982
Support our member-driven organization: MoveOn.org Political Action is entirely funded by our 3.3 million members. We have no corporate contributors, no foundation grants, no money from unions, no major donors program. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. If you'd like to support our work, you can give now at:

http://www.moveonpac.org/donate/email.html?id=6115-3524279-Hsj9tNStBG5LAQY1ehwACw&t=4

PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Who is your neighbor? Everyone is your neighbor, as this post from Blondesense reminds us. Your neighbor is not just your neighbor when it is easy for you, or when they are the right color, or when you're getting a pat on the back for being neighborly. We are all neighbors, always, and forever.

Today I went to this ridicilous resturant the Oceanaire with my dad, my brother, his g/f, his g/f's mom, and a random co worker of dad's from Peru. The waiters all wore short white clothes and aprons. They also carried little scrapy things to clean off the table cloth. It was very odd. They even had valet parking. All the food was good, but the portions were the size of your head. I took mine home(they gave me a little shopping bag to take it home in) and will get two more meals out of my salmon with wild mushroom crepes. It was a good meal, although the coworker from Peru was shocked that parents pay for people's college. I understand she's an engineer, so of course you can get a good job doing that, but there's the vast rest of us who do not have the abilty. In the real world we are limited by our ability, our health, and our energy.

That's why we should have a safety net for all people, I think. Just because I am not a math whiz does not mean I need to be starving on the street. Just because Susie has depression doesn't mean she needs to be dying of a lack of medical care. We need to make provisions, because even though you may be really smart, there are only a certain number of good positions in the world. In the US now, you need a college degree to be pretty much anything. Not to mention, what's with our drop out rates? Man, we're really screwed in the future.

I have no classes today, so I'll post on the internet flash animations about how abortion is murder. I think it's really fucking creepy. It's kill the natives day so the post office is closed which sucks because my printer finally works and I can finally ship my button orders. I also have to ship a pair of earrings. Oh yea, and write a critque, study for two midterms, and do like half my survey project. Oh and wash my clothes, and clean my filthy filthy room.

We're all going to die from the bird flu. But in good news, Europe is banning a lot of bird imports from places where bird flu has been seen. However, a US expert notes that we don't have enough vaccine for the population of the US. Poverty is fanning the problem in Asia, also, but at least most of the countries have some sort of plan in place, mostly involving slaughtering birds and stocking up on Tamiflu. Some drugs that could help were not developed far enough to see if they would be really effective because flu drugs were not very profitable. I think we should invest more in public medical research. According the article linked above, the US government plans to have enough Tamiflu to treat about 4 million people. The price of chicken in the UK seems to have risen. Chicken to me seems to be the cheapest meat. Will the poor in the US need to rely on rice and beans for protein? I have no idea. Apparently our current vaccine is not expected to be effective against the bird flu, and apparently the military will enforce mass quarantines if it has to. I am not sure if that is a very good idea, and here is an opinion article about it. I'm also curious about Bush's plan to get care for the flu to the poor. So that's all I have learned about the bird flu by searching on google news. But remember to explore the CDC's avian flu site for more information on how we are all going to die.

What a sad story.

It's time for more blogging about Jill from feministe. It is probably annoying to keep talking about her, but she listed one of my favorite charities Doctors Without Borders in a post about the earthquake in Pakistan. I love Doctors without Borders because medical care is so important for people around the world. People are dying for the lack of vaccines, mosquito nets, and basic nutrition that costs less than a dollar to get. So if they are able to get this care, it'd be wonderful. Also, I wonder if there's some way to have a medical care training corps in these developing nations. A low cost way to get basic medical ideas into the mainstream and also to train some of the residents to be doctors or midwives that know ways to help women. I'm an ignorant 1st worlder, so you shouldn't take my word on this, but I think it'd be more cost effective in the long run.

At feministe, Jill writes a post about a brave Saudi Arabian woman whose fight against domestic violence and patriarchy should give us all the courage to fight.

The charity Save the Children is looking for donations to help with the recent earthquake in Asia.

Are you a health professional, especially a mental health professional? I am pretty ignorant, but I think that starting/participating in public health awareness fairs can be a good idea. It's good to get health care out in the community. If the people mentioned in the LJ entry above had had skin cancer or diabetes(yes, the entry was about hypoglycemia, but diabetes is more prevalent), they would have been able to change their lifestyles or seek treatment before they became life threatening.

I'm still desperately trying to fix my printer. I managed to actually study some European history today, and read a bit of Recovering History, Constructing Race, a book in which the author traces the settling of the Southwest US, and Northern Mexico, and with it, the beginnings of the Hispanic race in the various fighting, having sex with, and trading ideas and cultures that Spainards, various types of Indian, and Africans engaged in with each other.

Full Metal Alchemist Lolita. Also, women in Canadian style swimwear.

I slept 12 hours last night. However, I've been exhausted all day. I feel like I want to go to bed again. But I found a cute picture on the internet. Maybe I can study tommorow. Hey, poetry! and WTF?

So cute!

Here's an awesome fucking rage. I,too, am sick and tired of having people's health endangered because some idiot doesn't understand personal choice. I'm not having irregular periods and a hairy chest just because some person who follows a religion I don't even believe in thinks this makes me go to hell. I'm sure pork makes you go to hell in some religions, but are ribs outlawed? No. We recognize that if you think ribs are a ticket to burning flames, you can just not eat it. Same with reproductive technology. No one is making people take the pill or take the morning after pill or get an abortion. It's nice to have a religion, but we don't all have to follow its rules. If you don't think so, it's the dunk tank for you. Not to mention, we have tons of holy oil to anoint you with.

It's time for creepy Caucasian comedy. Also stop pissing all over the god damn toilet seat.

You know, I think I'll try to dedicate this blog more to reeducating the mainstream as P6 calls it. Because I have unprecidented access to books and educational materials, I will blog a lot on those. I'm looking forward to it! Especially talking about the book Recovering History, Reconstructing Race. It's really good!

Me and this guy have had an argument running five days. Basically, it's over whether criticizing whites is as bad as saying that black people steal or calling them the n word. I think that telling whites not to think they are better than others or that their interpretation of the world is not the only one isn't as bad. I mean, basically this ideology makes them look like annoying assholes. Annoying RACIST assholes. And blacks for the most part don't steal(of course, I count stealing Grandma's 401k fund or defrauding poor people as being as bad as stealing)

But opinion polls and election numbers show that whites for the most part hold to this ideology of ignorance, which causes them to seem like assholes. When polled, white Americans show a blistering ignorance of the basic realities of American society. When polled on Katrina, whites decided to show their racial stereotyping by saying that most of the looter were criminals (don't worry, it was only 50%, but still a scarily large percentage), while seventy-seven percent of blacks were able to understand that the looters were 'desperate people who needed to survive'. A sad 27% of whites blamed the residents for the disaster. (Note: helicopters weren't shot at.) 87.5% of whites actually believed that blackness didn't have much to do with why people were left to die, and 79% didn't think that poverty was a cause of their being left to die. Being unaware of the reality of society is a very grave problem.

Being able to take on our perspective will be essential to fixing racial problems, because it's not about whether whites are satisfied. I'm sure many whites were satisfied with racial relations during slavery and Jim Crow(although if a white today would be satisfied with those conditions, tell him or her that he or she is an asshole), but they weren't actually really good for blacks. To improve our racial conditions, we should do it on black terms because they are the ones most affected by racial discrimination. Yes, it is sad that some whites are distanced from their black neighbors and family because of racial attitudes, or feel a loss of compassion towards people of other races, but blacks and other people of color are most hurt by it.

In a 2004 poll, 49% of blacks of blacks had experienced discrimination in the past month and 62% said they were treated unfairly. Yet, I often hear the claim that racism somehow magically disappeared in 1965(which is impossible if you think for ten seconds) Going back to the poll, a majority(56 percent) of whites somehow believed that all or nearly all of the civil rights goals had been achieved, and 21% were liars and believed they had been victims of 'reverse discrimination'- the majority of you should point out they are full of shit.

From another survey, 90% say they have heard racist jokes or comments. Tell the people saying those to shut the fuck up. In a 2001 survey, many whites were shown to have incorrect views of blacks. They showed that the majority of whites believed that blacks had equal healthcare, education and jobs. I recommend that whites learn about their black neighbors, and study the newspaper and read books about it. Learn about the base reality of our society, take it from those who are affected by it. Being white is all well and good, but you must strive to educate yourself to be a worthy member of this society. Don't assume you know everything. Instead try to understand others on their terms. I don't criticize whites who get things incorrect but are not arrogant about it or make an effort to learn about things before talking about them. But if you do not, I will say bad things about you and your ideology.

I would like to include a special appeal. The people of New Orleans will of course need library services. Donate to the New Orleans Public Library today.

I've hit the wall. Oddly enough, only 4 or 5 hours straight of studying or working on projects a day can cause me to hit the wall and be unable to force myself to do anything more than a bit of fiddling. This is a bad problem and the reason my GPA is a suckirific 3.2.

I have to edit my methods paper, but the rest of you can brainstorm on how to win the war on poverty.

Bush=/caring about blacks.

(from P6) Blacks get together to help fix the hurt of the hurricane. Let's not be divided by our class, or what country we came from. Let us all be heroes in our own way. If you have petty cash, give. If you have time, volunteer. If you have the ability, give blood. If you can teach, teach. If you can preach, preach. If you have mental health or medical training, give that too. We all can help, even if it's just a simple hug or to carry water. A good way to help is to donate to HBCUs hit by the hurricane.

Also, this comment helps us all get a clue. Not to mention *hero tag*

In this clip, a bunch of white people mostly miss the point. Juan Williams works hard to talk about how saying offensive things is actually, you know, offensive and disrespectful, but they don't get it. I feel worried about this because if someone can't even respect your take on being offended, how much do they value you?

Also, people discuss stupid people saying stupid stuff. Just say no to being stupid.

Idiots go around harassing Hispanic hurricane refugees. Yea, because worrying about your immigration status is so much more important than helping people. One thing you should know to understand my mindset is the idea 'what you do is who you are'. I can't trust what people say, but I can see what they do. What your priorities are are shown by what you do. It seems to those people hassling people over legalities is more important than their own fellow human beings. And that's why to me, they are viewed as bad people. What do you put over your own fellow human beings? A false sense of racial superiority? Video games? Think about it.

Bill Bennett can go fuck himself. Why can't this asshole be intellectually honest for ten fucking seconds?

Now in other news: "These men[the Turkana and Pokot of Kenya] also wear finger and/or wrist knives that have countless practical uses"- Vital Arts in Northern Kenya by Herbert M. Cole.

Things That Whites Do That Annoy Me
1) That thing where they seem like they are lying. Like they say I'm not a racist but, and then say something racist, or like, they say something racist, and then say they aren't racists. This seems oddly dishonest to me, but I can't tell whether the dishonesty is intentional or not. They could think they were being honest, but then said something stupid, or they could be lying on purpose.

2)That thing they do where they look like they are disregarding reality. Our government seems filled with incompetent criminals. CEOs of major corporations keep declaring their companies bankrupt. The people on the top are mostly white males, but somehow I'm supposed to assume these fuckups are all better for the job than any person of any other race or gender? This seems to me unrealistic.

3)That thing where they deny my reality. Like I say "man, most whites are racist" and they say "But only A FEW are racist" Uh...cites there? I have personal experience of whites saying racist shit in my face. On the TV and radio lately, white people have gotten diarrhea of the mouth and are embarrassing the whole country. (everyone should tell them to shut up). If they are saying stuff like that in front of our faces, what are they doing behind our backs? I don't think the racism fairy causes racism, so when whites act racist, I start thinking they are racist. It's like how if you fuck one chicken....

4)I hate it when people have no idea what something is, but want to talk about it anyway. You don't understand the difference between my grandma being like "Man, I hope those crackers don't harm Jason"(context: my brother had gone down to rural Alabama to spend Thanksgiving with his white girlfriend and her grandparents. Don't worry- as I assured her no harm occurred) and 400 years of slavery, Jim Crow, and this color blind racism shit we have now. AND you think my grandma is worse than all that other stuff. But you want to talk to me about racism. Yea. That'll work.

5)I hate it when they assume something is true just because they say it is. They act like saying there isn't racism is the same as there not being racism. WTF?

6)I also hate it when they act like their terms are more important than ours. If blacks define racism a certain way, and whites define it another way, I think it's more important to satisfy the terms of the black people, because we are trying to fix the racist stuff that carried over from the past that was directed at blacks, not make whites feel good about themselves. I mean, I'm just assuming, but if whites volunteered at a senior citizen home, I think they could feel good about themselves without ruining the racial progress people have died for.

7)I wish hard work was more appreciated. I hate it when blacks don't appreciate hard work, but whites combine it with this annoying "you blacks don't succeed just because you're lazy" stuff, which makes it even worse. I'm busting my ass making a business and some asshat complains because he doesn't think my buttons are perfect enough to be sold. Black people are busting their ass in school and when we get into college, it's all woe is the white man, how come he can't do this or that? Black people are busting their ass with organizations to help their community, but we get called lazy anyway. It's just like you'll never be right no matter what.

8)I hate when they complain about really minor stuff. Yea, they teach books by non whites, and put a bit of non white history in the schools. Our educational system doesn't suck because of that. Yes, if you say really offensive shit, people will get offended- suck it the fuck up. Yea, there might be consequences for your actions. I could go out and say that whites carry deadly lice on the radio. But maybe they would cancel my radio show because that's not true.

You may say, I'm white and I don't do this stuff. Great! This is just a list of stuff I notice that whites do that I don't like. If you don't do this stuff, you can avoid my ire. See how that works? What you do is important. It's a different set of values. Why don't I bitch out other races? Basically, blacks get enough shit already. They don't need me calling them out- there are even plenty of black bloggers who call out blacks who do stupid shit. Steve Gillard loves it. He called out tons of dumb asses today. Hispanics are the same. Asians get some shit, and plus, they don't do anything annoying to me. Native Americans? Already get enough shit. But whites? They barely get any shit. When that Glass fellow made stuff up, his race wasn't an issue, but Jayson Blair was an indictment of all blacks. WTF? Also they annoy me by doing racist stuff. Thus they get the guff. Also, they get to be President, and stuff like that, giving them to power to fuck up my life. Because of millions of stupid white people, I might not have access to birth control or abortion. Damn you! Turn into smart whites so I won't have to worry.

Woohoo! I successfully fried a green tomato! It didn't even taste that weird. (All I have is whole wheat flour, and sometimes that alters the taste) A bit burnt in some parts though.

In fund raising news, a worthy blogger tries to raise money for journalism. I am not as worthy a cause as other bloggers, but I have auctions up.

A black man with a hilarious website has to deal with the stupidity of people who simply can't tell the difference between MTV and reality. What's wrong with these dumbfucks?

Steve Gillard is fund raising for his blog. I encourage you to give. I also want to fund raise for my blog. However, I can't promise you much. My posts are unedited for the most part. My writing skills are very basic. I have no charisma. This blog will not achieve much. People will not read my blog posts and run out in the street, marching in a large band of all colors, black, white, hispanic, asian, arab, everyone, holding hands singing the song of a new day. People will not suddenly wake up with a start seeing that any call for personal responsibilty must begin with the self. They will not start recycling their trash and riding the bus. Even if you buy stuff from my ebay auctions, my website or click on my google ads, there is no guarentee that I won't blow all your money on buying Princess Tutu DVDs. But hey, whatever.

I should save up and buy a bike.

*Sqeeee* There will be a Paradise Kiss anime! and in other geek news, Serenity was a good movie. I plan to look up Firefly now. A question to random internet people: what's a good way to be able to stay up that doesn't involve caffeine and won't get you thrown in jail and addicted to some horrid horrid substance? Right now I'm about to fall asleep at the keyboard. (It's 11:17 here)

Today I went to a cider press party. They had two presses- one using bike power that was made of wood, and one press that was over a hundred years old, and was a lot better and faster than the former. The fresh cider itself was great, although it had a few gnats in it. I had mostly apple cider, which was made from apples that people had collected from trees or from college cafeterias. There was also another fruit used. We think it is very likely that those were crab apples(a girl from Korea noted that they call crab apples flower apples in Korea) , but some people think they might have been muscadine grapes. Because of the red color of the fruit, I am going with the crab apples hypothesis.

Kos Diary on blacks, whites, crime, etc.

R&B artist Fantasia talks about her struggle with adult functional illiteracy. You too can help people like her, by volunteering as a literacy tutor. It is very rewarding. I volunteered to help people learn English last semester, and it was really fun. The learners were really nice, and adults are much easier to teach than kids.

You too can read this perceptive post on anti Asian racism.

I have to admit I don't understand the difference between mama, daddy and kids living together and mama and daddy being married, and living together with their kids. Why is the latter better than the former?

More information on electronic recylcing for people in Dekalb County. If you know a poor family living in Dekalb that needs a computer, please pass along the infomation on the $200 computers being offered as well:

DEKALB COUNTY AND 5R PROCESSORS LTD FREE ELECTRONIC DROP OFF DAY Keep DeKalb Beautiful partners with 5R Processors Ltd. for a FREE Electronic Recycling Drop-Off Event scheduled for October 15, 2005 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. We have made two sites accessible for the citizens of DeKalb to drop off their items. The sites are DeKalb County Government Office Park, 4380 Memorial Drive, Decatur, GA 30032 and Brook Run Park, 4770 North Peachtree Road, Dunwoody, GA 30338.

This is a great opportunity for the citizens of DeKalb County and business community to discard of their old electronic items properly and reduce the environmental liability for all hazardous materials contained in electronic equipment. Also in an effort to “ Bridge The Digital Divide” and to ensure that every child in DeKalb has the access to a computer in their home, 5R Ltd. has made available to DeKalb County Citizens, refurbished computers which include (Specs Pentium III, 128 Megs Ram, 6 Gig HD, CD-Rom 56K Modem, WIN 98 SE (DEMO) Internet Ready, Sound Card, Keyboard, Mouse, 2 Speakers and 17” Monitor) priced at only $199.00. For more information, please visit www.co.dekalb.ga.us/beautiful or call Josilyn Drake at 404-[XXX-XXXX] Andrew Sullivan at 404-[XXX-XXXX] or Debra Clark at 770-[XXX-XXXX] or visit www.5rprocessors.com. ACCEPTABLE ITEMS BUSINESSES WITH LARGE DROP-OFFS PLEASE CALL 5R OFFICE 770-482-1770 TO SCHEDULE A DROP-OFF TIME

[Acceptiable Items]
Systems Monitors Calculators Scanners Manuals Laptops Networking Equipment Circuit Boards Video Board Wire/Cabling Fax Machines Aluminum Printers Cash Registers Keyboards Speakers Video Board Computer Mouse Phones/Cell Phones Terminals Copy/Machines Typewriters Boards Toner & Printer Cartridges Shredders Ink Cartridges Bulbs/Batteries Stereo Equipment VCR’s CD’s & Player Cables/Modems Overhead Projectors Microwaves Medical Equipment Telecommunication Equipment Power Strips/Cords Uninterrupted Power Supplies Mainframe Equipment Audio Visual Equipment, Desktop Copiers TV’s up to 19” (No Consoles Please!)