I had to send this e-mail to one of my relatives today. He and few others of this clan are flag waving pro-military people who insist on sending me e-mails to try to "wake me up"! Well, instead of just deleting them all the time, I decided to answer one today:
Dear XXXXX,
I respect your right to have your opinion, but I am afraid I have to disagree.
I refuse to keep living in fear. Creating fear is a tactic used by many powerful nations to keep
their people concentrated on that, and not on the injustices that are happening every day.
The way I see it, wars have been happening since time began, and they have never really solved anything, and they are still happening today. The middle east has been at war since forever, and what have they really gained? And plenty of other countries don't like countries whose foreign policies favor the rich, but ignore and exploit the many poor and suffering people all over this planet.
After I travelled to a few countries, usually as a volunteer, helping with literacy and other teaching projects, I came back with a whole new perspective. I learned things from teachers and in books and on the news that nobody ever taught me in school or college over here in my own country. Do you know about all the military actions that were taken in Central America? Many innocent people were slaughtered. Labeling people "evil" is a very dangerous thing.
First the communists were all "evil", now it seems we are told to think of middle easterners as evil. I wish I could count how many times the word "evil" has been used in certain politician's speeches. If you say it enough times, people start to believe it is true. That is rule number one of advertising! I'm not talking rocket science here. (Lucky for some politicians who can barely speak their own native language properly).
I refuse to label everyone that way, and I don't think in terms of black and white. Most of life is gray. I know very good and kind hearted people from middle eastern countries. I worked with them for six years, because I was an interpreter in an office with people of many different nationalities. I also know a few interpreters from communist countries. They are intelligent and kind and good hearted, also.
I know some really great people in this country, and some really awful ones, too. Timothy McVeigh was a white terrorist, and there are lots more like him right on "our" own soil (which we took from the natives). All poor, white men are not terrorists, though. Labelling, generalizing and stereotyping any group of people is unfair and dangerous.
I am not saying the USA is not a good place to live. I am very fortunate to have been born here and to have the freedom and opportunities I have had. I am saying, however, that most wars are more about greed and money than anyone really wants to believe. And my heart aches for the poor mothers in other countries who have lost their innocent children, just as it aches for the young American soldiers who have gone over there to serve their country, and come back in wooden boxes that we were not allowed to see on TV. I cry for their mothers and loved ones over here just as much as the ones over there. All humans feel the same anger, grief and loss.
I guess I may be the only member of my extended family who feels this way. I am just being honest. I think my immediate family feels much the same as I do.
I am asking that you just take a moment to pray on this (yes, I am deeply spiritual, and I pray a lot). Why do all those people in other countries really hate us? They don't hate you and me because "we are free". They hate the idealogies of our leaders. They hate the greed we have and what our leaders are willing to do to others to keep amassing more wealth and power.
I also respectfully ask that you don't send me more e-mails about fear and war. They make me sad. I see and hear that every day in the corporate owned media, and even on the independent stations i listen to. I am trying to concentrate on the good. I want to hear more about programs and policies that promote justice and peace.
Thanks, and take care,
your crazy relative
Monday, June 28, 2004
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
brazilian travels - minas gerais, são paulo
some notes from a travelogue i wrote while teaching english
in brazil in 2000 - 2001:
i was able to travel during easter weekend because we had saturday and monday off. (i normally work monday-friday and 6 hours on sat. so extensive travel is impossible). i was invited by a family to join them in a trip to the vast state of minas gerais. the name means general mines and indeed there are silver, gold and other metals there, plus precious and semi-precious stones such as emerald and amethyst. this was the main area that the portuguese explored and exploited during their conquest of brazil.
the scenery in minas gerais is fantastic. miles and miles of green hills and mountains, like pictures i have seen of ireland. raising cows is the main economic activity, and the region is well known for its cheeses. we stayed on a farm that is 250 years old. our rooms were rustic but decent. the main house was beautiful, with all kinds of antiques and oddities collected over the years. 90% of all the food served to the hotel guests is produced on the farm. we ate 3 delicious meals a day in their dining room. we got to talk with other families that were staing there also. one little boy "Caio" (pronounced kigh-oh) was talking to us so much that i thought he was a relative of one of the people in our group! he wasn't. this family i went with is quite large, and aunts, uncles, brothers, cousins, grandmas all came, in about 5 separate cars. i wonder if people from different parties all hang out together and talk after dinner in bed and breakfast inns in the USA? anyway, this was really a nice atmosphere. like having a huge family gathering - which i have never had, since my family is rather small.
at this hotel/farm, there were horses, but we did not have time to ride them. we drove 1.5 hours to são paulo, then 7 more hours to this farm in minas gerais. on the way home, there was so much traffic going back into são paulo that we spent an extra 2 hours just driving the last 100 km into the city. ugh. i tried to keep us entertained with songs and stories and jokes. we were literally sitting still without moving an inch for 15-30 minutes at a time. then we would advance a bit, and then sit still some more. people were selling water and soft drinks and popcorn, etc, on the highway! very enterprising individuals.
but i digress - back to the hotel in minas gerais - there were about 6 different waterfalls near the farm. we would drive on dirt and rock roads, very bumpy with some big holes/gouges in the road, then we would park the truck and hike to a waterfall. the great thing was that the hikes were fairly short, and you could walk right into the waterfalls! people swam in the pools at the bottom of the falls, although the water was very cold. i even went down a natural waterslide made of smooth rock! i slid down a waterfall! when the group told me we were going to do this, i said "no way". i had visions of my shorts and legs getting ripped apart by sharp rocks... but it turned out to be incredibly smooth rock because of years water flowing over it. i had a great time. i took lots of pictures, but they never seem to do justice to the incredible beauty of nature.
the town near the farm is called carrancas; the name means "ugly faces" which is because there was a rock formation that looked like 2 people making scary faces at each other. the northerners carve statues of these ugly-faced people and put them on the sterns of their boats to scare away evil spirits.
after leaving carrancas, we decided to stop in são thomé das letras, which is known to be a mystical town where spiritual people from all over go to bask in the energy. they have seen ufo's there, and the whole town seems to be made of stone.
unfortunately, i did not even get to take any pictures because the elderly man who was driving our car was sick and tired of dirt roads and the rocks damaging the underside of his new car (a VW Golf, which is not made for dirt road driving). we had spent about 6 hours on paved and dirt roads to get to this town, then we just got a coke and some bread and he insisited we leave right away. there WERE a ton of people in the streets. it looked like woodstock all over again. tie dyes and birkenstocks. people had tents up everywhere. i would have liked to have stayed long enough to take some pictures of the stone church and the pyramid, and to talk to some of these characters, but we had to rush off. why? for another 9 hours of driving to get back to são paulo, of course!! i did talk briefly to one shop owner and bought a few postcards and tiny stone houses. he was argentinian, and had come there for a visit, and never left. he has lived there for 4 years, and says he is enchanted by the place. sadly, i don't think i will ever get to go back there, 'cause most people don't like to drive on those dirt roads.
in brazil in 2000 - 2001:
i was able to travel during easter weekend because we had saturday and monday off. (i normally work monday-friday and 6 hours on sat. so extensive travel is impossible). i was invited by a family to join them in a trip to the vast state of minas gerais. the name means general mines and indeed there are silver, gold and other metals there, plus precious and semi-precious stones such as emerald and amethyst. this was the main area that the portuguese explored and exploited during their conquest of brazil.
the scenery in minas gerais is fantastic. miles and miles of green hills and mountains, like pictures i have seen of ireland. raising cows is the main economic activity, and the region is well known for its cheeses. we stayed on a farm that is 250 years old. our rooms were rustic but decent. the main house was beautiful, with all kinds of antiques and oddities collected over the years. 90% of all the food served to the hotel guests is produced on the farm. we ate 3 delicious meals a day in their dining room. we got to talk with other families that were staing there also. one little boy "Caio" (pronounced kigh-oh) was talking to us so much that i thought he was a relative of one of the people in our group! he wasn't. this family i went with is quite large, and aunts, uncles, brothers, cousins, grandmas all came, in about 5 separate cars. i wonder if people from different parties all hang out together and talk after dinner in bed and breakfast inns in the USA? anyway, this was really a nice atmosphere. like having a huge family gathering - which i have never had, since my family is rather small.
at this hotel/farm, there were horses, but we did not have time to ride them. we drove 1.5 hours to são paulo, then 7 more hours to this farm in minas gerais. on the way home, there was so much traffic going back into são paulo that we spent an extra 2 hours just driving the last 100 km into the city. ugh. i tried to keep us entertained with songs and stories and jokes. we were literally sitting still without moving an inch for 15-30 minutes at a time. then we would advance a bit, and then sit still some more. people were selling water and soft drinks and popcorn, etc, on the highway! very enterprising individuals.
but i digress - back to the hotel in minas gerais - there were about 6 different waterfalls near the farm. we would drive on dirt and rock roads, very bumpy with some big holes/gouges in the road, then we would park the truck and hike to a waterfall. the great thing was that the hikes were fairly short, and you could walk right into the waterfalls! people swam in the pools at the bottom of the falls, although the water was very cold. i even went down a natural waterslide made of smooth rock! i slid down a waterfall! when the group told me we were going to do this, i said "no way". i had visions of my shorts and legs getting ripped apart by sharp rocks... but it turned out to be incredibly smooth rock because of years water flowing over it. i had a great time. i took lots of pictures, but they never seem to do justice to the incredible beauty of nature.
the town near the farm is called carrancas; the name means "ugly faces" which is because there was a rock formation that looked like 2 people making scary faces at each other. the northerners carve statues of these ugly-faced people and put them on the sterns of their boats to scare away evil spirits.
after leaving carrancas, we decided to stop in são thomé das letras, which is known to be a mystical town where spiritual people from all over go to bask in the energy. they have seen ufo's there, and the whole town seems to be made of stone.
unfortunately, i did not even get to take any pictures because the elderly man who was driving our car was sick and tired of dirt roads and the rocks damaging the underside of his new car (a VW Golf, which is not made for dirt road driving). we had spent about 6 hours on paved and dirt roads to get to this town, then we just got a coke and some bread and he insisited we leave right away. there WERE a ton of people in the streets. it looked like woodstock all over again. tie dyes and birkenstocks. people had tents up everywhere. i would have liked to have stayed long enough to take some pictures of the stone church and the pyramid, and to talk to some of these characters, but we had to rush off. why? for another 9 hours of driving to get back to são paulo, of course!! i did talk briefly to one shop owner and bought a few postcards and tiny stone houses. he was argentinian, and had come there for a visit, and never left. he has lived there for 4 years, and says he is enchanted by the place. sadly, i don't think i will ever get to go back there, 'cause most people don't like to drive on those dirt roads.
Monday, June 21, 2004
swimming in peace
went for a swim tonight to cool off and get a bit of exercise. it was peaceful out in the ccol water, with nobody else around. gave kitty a little bath when i got back into the sauna-like apartment. kitty ended up giving me a bath. he "hugged" me like fuzz on velcro after he got sopping wet. he was not really in a bath sort of mood. but i bet he is cool and refreshed now. kitty just bit my foot in appreciation. ah, the joy of pets. he's busy re-bathing himself to show he can do it better than any human ever could.
i have been doing lots of research about kitties. i tried the raw meat diet for him this morning. he looked at me like i was crazy and walked away from the ground turkey. i guess i will have to cook it for him and see if he will eat it. the thing is, most cat foods are full of stuff they don't really need. what cats in the wild would eat corn meal or ash? grains are generally the main ingredient in commercial foods. and i read that they can even be moldy or otherwise unfit for human consumption,
but it is still legal to put them in pet foods.
i did teach kitty to use the toilet. there is no more litter box in my home. he goes
in a mixing bowl that sits in the toilet bowl. i just dump it out and flush. sounds icky but less so than cleaning a litter box all the time. the next step is when i take out the mixing bowl and hope he keeps using the toidy. not sure how that will go over, though.
sounds fun, writing about your kitty at 10 pm, eh? i really need some hobbies. i am taking a portuguese class tomorrow. the teacher is brazilian and she is very intelligent and well read, and we talk about interesting subjects.
well, i should be off to bed so i can get up and serve "the man" again tomorrow. did i tell you my head boss is dubya? well, i am not that proud of it, so i usually don't mention it. i am hoping to just serve the man part time and do other things to occupy my mind and pad my checking account - i will be talking to my supervisor about this soon. wish me luck...
i have been doing lots of research about kitties. i tried the raw meat diet for him this morning. he looked at me like i was crazy and walked away from the ground turkey. i guess i will have to cook it for him and see if he will eat it. the thing is, most cat foods are full of stuff they don't really need. what cats in the wild would eat corn meal or ash? grains are generally the main ingredient in commercial foods. and i read that they can even be moldy or otherwise unfit for human consumption,
but it is still legal to put them in pet foods.
i did teach kitty to use the toilet. there is no more litter box in my home. he goes
in a mixing bowl that sits in the toilet bowl. i just dump it out and flush. sounds icky but less so than cleaning a litter box all the time. the next step is when i take out the mixing bowl and hope he keeps using the toidy. not sure how that will go over, though.
sounds fun, writing about your kitty at 10 pm, eh? i really need some hobbies. i am taking a portuguese class tomorrow. the teacher is brazilian and she is very intelligent and well read, and we talk about interesting subjects.
well, i should be off to bed so i can get up and serve "the man" again tomorrow. did i tell you my head boss is dubya? well, i am not that proud of it, so i usually don't mention it. i am hoping to just serve the man part time and do other things to occupy my mind and pad my checking account - i will be talking to my supervisor about this soon. wish me luck...
monday monday
so, the weekend was dreadfully hot, and i love sunshine, but i have no air conditioner in my car or home, so i melted and had migraines all weekend. i still managed to go and see some old friends from a previous job on friday night, though. also saw my dear sister and her lovely kids saturday and sunday at dad's little father's day celebration. on saturday i sat for 3 hours through a brain hurting session about buying timeshare vacations. i got the free trip to las vegas, though. i have never been there as an adult, and want to see those incredible hotels and eat at the supposedly great buffets. i don't gamble, but i would enjoy a trip lack that to get me away from the winter doldrums in october or so.
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
emotional days
yesterday i was exhausted. not physically, but emotionally. first, a colleague of mine lost his 23 year old son in iraq. the memorial service was partially televised, and it was so strange to see my coworker and his wife sitting there dressed in black, with a folded flag on their laps, looking stunned and pained at the same time. the war has always angered me, but it has hit even closer to home now.
then i got news that my partner's newborn neice is in the emergency room for seizures. she is only 6 months old. i used to work at a university hospital, so i know the terrifying procedures that can be done to a patient when docs are trying to rule out different illnesses. i was calling on my cell phone throughout the day to receive reports of how things were going.
the latest news is that she's feeling better, but undergoing another 24 hours of brain wave testing today. they have ruled out meningitis and epilepsy, she has no fevers, so they are really stumped. today she had a whole bunch of short seizures, which they captured on tape and with electrical measurements. i only hope she will grow out of this as children with seizures sometimes do. her mom and dad were frantic, now they are just plain worried and weary.
i got so upset when my new indoor kitten (tiger) jumped off my 2nd story deck and disappeared outside for half an hour - it really makes me think... it is so much more intense when it is your human baby suffering or lost or sick. i am not sure i could bear it.
then i got news that my partner's newborn neice is in the emergency room for seizures. she is only 6 months old. i used to work at a university hospital, so i know the terrifying procedures that can be done to a patient when docs are trying to rule out different illnesses. i was calling on my cell phone throughout the day to receive reports of how things were going.
the latest news is that she's feeling better, but undergoing another 24 hours of brain wave testing today. they have ruled out meningitis and epilepsy, she has no fevers, so they are really stumped. today she had a whole bunch of short seizures, which they captured on tape and with electrical measurements. i only hope she will grow out of this as children with seizures sometimes do. her mom and dad were frantic, now they are just plain worried and weary.
i got so upset when my new indoor kitten (tiger) jumped off my 2nd story deck and disappeared outside for half an hour - it really makes me think... it is so much more intense when it is your human baby suffering or lost or sick. i am not sure i could bear it.
Monday, June 07, 2004
honoring the departed president
i guess it is time for me to finally make the leap onto the blog scene, and what a handy time to do so. now, i don't speak ill of the dead, and hopefully not of the living, but all this beatification of mr. reagan on every t.v. channel, numerous websites, and even e-mails they spoon-feed me at work...well it has just gotten me thinking i must live in an alternate universe inside my own head. because, i have nothing against the man, as a person, but his deeds speak volumes! and most americans either can't or won't remember -or never even knew about the atrocities he committed in central america, not to mention on our own soil.
does iran/contra trading arms for weapons ring any bells? or nicaraguans being killed by US trained and funded death squads? how about ollie north and mr. president's famous defense of "i don't recall"? i wish i could not recall all the dumb and hurtful things i have done. yet i have the warped capability of not being able to remember a movie i watched a few months ago, yet having sharp and clear images and soundbites playing over and over in my mind about every mistake i have ever made in the past.
selective memory, like selective hearing - presents an unbalanced view of the actual events. and americans today have a mindset of see no evil, hear no evil, don't want to know, don't burst my bubble containing the "we are the heroes" banner. if they were ever informed of the school budget cuts, tax cuts for the rich, social program cuts for the poor, NON trickle down economic policies, apartheid supporting, war supporting, cocaine importing ways of mr. reagan in the first place, then they have conveniently set those memories aside and replaced them with happy images of romance and the sprawling california ranch and a good old happy smiling cowboy. just a simple actor turned politico who stood for all things good and godly. right. well, america, you are scaring me. please wake up before november, because i really cannot survive four more years with a good ol' boy who can't pronounce "nuclear" but still attends meetings where he defends the use of smaller "nuke u lar" weapons. they are just little tiny instruments of mass destruction - no harm there, right?
our young men and innocent civilians over there are suffering and dying for oil and greed and politics, and a grudge against the "evildoers" who tried to kill his pa. but that is just too harsh a reality to bear for most of us. the sugar coating is so much prettier and more palatable.
ok, so now that you think i am a raving, right winged, tree huggin' revolutionary who would like to truly see "no child left behind" and the kids in appalachia or right here in portland not going hungry, and our natural environment preserved, and a real democracy where a majority of people actually would vote, and women and children and minorities and homeless people and all of us being valued equally...
i wonder if you'll dare to read on about my travels around the world, including this country we call "our own" (since we took it from the natives fair and square), and what i have learned from all of these experiences... judge me not, lest you wanna be judged, too. why can't we all just get along?
does iran/contra trading arms for weapons ring any bells? or nicaraguans being killed by US trained and funded death squads? how about ollie north and mr. president's famous defense of "i don't recall"? i wish i could not recall all the dumb and hurtful things i have done. yet i have the warped capability of not being able to remember a movie i watched a few months ago, yet having sharp and clear images and soundbites playing over and over in my mind about every mistake i have ever made in the past.
selective memory, like selective hearing - presents an unbalanced view of the actual events. and americans today have a mindset of see no evil, hear no evil, don't want to know, don't burst my bubble containing the "we are the heroes" banner. if they were ever informed of the school budget cuts, tax cuts for the rich, social program cuts for the poor, NON trickle down economic policies, apartheid supporting, war supporting, cocaine importing ways of mr. reagan in the first place, then they have conveniently set those memories aside and replaced them with happy images of romance and the sprawling california ranch and a good old happy smiling cowboy. just a simple actor turned politico who stood for all things good and godly. right. well, america, you are scaring me. please wake up before november, because i really cannot survive four more years with a good ol' boy who can't pronounce "nuclear" but still attends meetings where he defends the use of smaller "nuke u lar" weapons. they are just little tiny instruments of mass destruction - no harm there, right?
our young men and innocent civilians over there are suffering and dying for oil and greed and politics, and a grudge against the "evildoers" who tried to kill his pa. but that is just too harsh a reality to bear for most of us. the sugar coating is so much prettier and more palatable.
ok, so now that you think i am a raving, right winged, tree huggin' revolutionary who would like to truly see "no child left behind" and the kids in appalachia or right here in portland not going hungry, and our natural environment preserved, and a real democracy where a majority of people actually would vote, and women and children and minorities and homeless people and all of us being valued equally...
i wonder if you'll dare to read on about my travels around the world, including this country we call "our own" (since we took it from the natives fair and square), and what i have learned from all of these experiences... judge me not, lest you wanna be judged, too. why can't we all just get along?
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