Learning tolerance from Terry Jones

Today, "Rev." Terry Jones may or may not burn a copy of Islam's holy book, the Koran.  Yes, I find his actions and attitudes appalling; yes, book burning reminds me of the worst totalitarian regimes; yes, I know his actions may put U.S. soldiers at risk from the most extremist and ignorant Muslim elements.  But this is America, right?  If burning American flags and draft cards is constitutionally protected, so is burning a book.

I've been following some of the coverage and comments about Jones' media extravaganza.  One comment caught my eye, and I'll have to paraphrase: We have to accept that some extremists like Jones will use their constitutional freedom to insult religion, and Muslims will have to accept that some people will act on their extremism without responding in kind.

99.99% of Muslims understand this very well.  The ones that don't are the ones who bomb buildings, shoot filmmakers and throw acid in the faces of unveiled women-- in the name of Islam.  But, as my friend Owen Broadhurt posted on Facebook today, "Islam did not attack us on 9/11. Islam, along with all of us, was attacked on 9/11."

Most of the major assaults on the people of the world are no longer done in the name of religion but are crimes committed by one state against another.   90% of the world's population now live in secular states.  A few states still recognize some form of Christianity as their state religion-- Finland, Costa Rica and Cyprus, to name a few-- but the majority of countries with state religions are Islamic.

This should not be surprising.  Islam is the youngest of the world's major religions, only about 1,400 years old.

So where was Christianity when it was about 1,400 years old, at the time when some version of Christianity was the state religion in every organized European state and when it was poised to expand to North and South America?

A few moments in time:

In 1389, the entire Jewish population of Prague -- some 3,000 -- is killed by Christians.
Joan of Arc is burned at the stake as a heretic in 1431.
Witch burnings begin in 1480; 100,000 women and men lose their lives.
The Spanish Inquisition begins in 1482 and ultimately claims about 2,000 lives.
"In the name of the Holy Trinity," in 1492 Christopher Columbus ships 500 Taino indians to Spain as slaves.

I don't make these points to condemn Christianity.  Even in the Dark and Middle Ages, surely most Christians would never lift a hand against another human being because of that person's religious beliefs.  But I do think that Islam as a state religion stacks up pretty well against Christianity at the same age.

Part of me is grateful to Terry Jones. On the ninth anniversary of 9/11, as the nation stops to remember and mourn 3,000 deaths, Terry Jones shows us the darkest side of prejudice and fear.  The level of thoughtful discussion about Islam has never been higher.  Let's not stop here.

Storms of the century

Ware, Massachusetts in 1936

Ah, the mixed feeling of those of us who love Cape Cod and also love a great storm!  Not much of a beach left on Marconi this year; Wellfleet is only two miles wide and while I don't think it's been subject to the washovers of Hatteras Island in North Carolina, it's certainly at risk of becoming the uppermost part of a new island.

While we're waiting for damage reports, check our the fantastic photos at the Boston Globe of the New England storms of the century.

Guatemala: send an email, help save lives

Yesterday, I received an email from my friend, Palmer Legare.  Please take action and send an email to help protect lives.

Friends and comrades,

   Please excuse the rush that I have in writing this.  Please take immediate action as my life and the lives of hundreds of unarmed peasants in the community Saquimo Setana are in danger.  Briefly:

*On August 31, 2010, at approximately 11:00 am, armed members of the wealthy family of Maria Elena Garcia Ical began burning houses of the Q’eqchi Maya peasant community of Saquimo Setana.

*Palmer Legare began recording a video of the arson.  He was then attacked and briefly detained by the family, beaten with a pistol and his life was threatened.  The camera was stolen and he was barely able to escape.

*Approximately 7 hours later, Guatemalan police and army arrived in the community.  They stayed until 2:00 am, but refused to disarm the wealthy family.

*On September 1, five members of the community and Legare traveled one hour by foot and three hours by truck to the city of Coban to file a complaint.  They asked to speak with public prosecutor Sebastian Cucul, and were told to wait in the lobby.  While they were waiting, the leader of the attack, Maria Elena Garcia Ical, entered the building and went to the second floor.  Shortly after Legare and another community leader went up to the second floor and waited outside the attorney’s closed office until a custodian opened the door to take out the trash.  At this time Legare saw that the wealthy attacker was meeting with the public prosecutor.  Shortly after, public prosecutor Cucul sent a message that he would not meet with community members or with Legare.

*The group then went to the police to file the complaint.  Shortly after they entered, a police officer said that the police would arrest the husbands of two of the women who were there if they saw them.  They also said that they are waiting for the weather to improve and then they will go to the community to destroy the houses and kick out the residents.  This despite a recent judge’s order that the police are not to execute such an eviction.

*At approximately 6:30 in the morning today, September 2, we were called by members of the community saying they had been walking towards their cornfield to harvest corn needed to sustain their families.  They were met by armed members of the wealthy family, who refused to allow them to go to their fields.  They threatened that if they informed anyone of this, they would be killed and their bodies would be thrown in the river.

*Shortly after this, family members and/or supporters of the community used horses and pistols to attack community members.  Children, women and men in the community huddled together in an attempt to defend themselves.

*Shortly after this, communication with the community was lost and there has been no communication for nearly two hours.  A commission lead by leaders of the Committee of Peasant Unity and accompanied by Palmer Legare of the Guatemala Solidarity Project will travel to the community immediately after sending this and other alerts.

*Older information and videos about political prisoners from the community is available at http://guatemalasolidarityproject.org/actions.htm

ACTION NEEDED URGENTLY

*Please immediately email the governor of the department of Altaverapaz,  gobernadoraltaverapaz@gmail.org and it is important to cc: esay@oj.gob.gt,solidaridadguatemala@yahoo.com,stuand_wckr@yahoo.com,gobernadoraltaverapaz@gmail.org,fdaltaverapaz@mp.gob.gt,mpcoban@hotmail.com

Please write in English or Spanish your concern about the situation.  Your email can be very brief or long but it is important they know they are being watched and preferred that the email be in your own words.  Please include your location in the email.

 

*Please make financial contributions of any size.  $5 donations are extremely helpful.  $5,000 donations are extremely helpful.  Checks should be made out to “UPAVIM Community Development Foundation” and mailed to UPAVIM, c/o Laurie Levinger, 28 McKenna Rd, Norwich, VT 05055.  If you want your funds to be used as emergency relief and support in case of an eviction, write the word “eviction” in the memo/note section of the check.  If you wish the donation to be used for any purpose determined by the community Saquimo Setana, write “Saquimo Setana” in the notes/memo section.  Or leave the notes/memo section and with leaders from various communities we will determine the most urgent need for the funds.  The GSP is completely volunteer driven, and all funds received will go directly to support the communities.

Poster Guatemala Information Center 1989, design Mark Vallen

I'd buy THAT for a dollar!

Or would I?

Whenever I absolutely have to go shopping for household items, I start at the Dollar Tree, work my way up to Ocean State Job Lot, then finish at K-Mart if I have to.  (Couldn't find clothespins at any of the three, however!)

As I was waiting in the checkout line at the Dollar Tree, I saw a shelf of New Choice Pregnancy Kits-- for a dollar!  Golly, if finding out if you're pregnant is really important, don't you think a little more upscale kit might be appropriate?

Or maybe I'm just out of touch, having not been pregnant for thirty-two years, and I know the price of some technology does go down.  But I can't quite picture telling my kid, "Then I used the pregnancy kit  I bought at the Dollar Tree, and it said I was going to have a baby, and the baby turned out to be you!"

Photo from Frank De Kleine's photostream at Flickr.

1,000 postcards delivered - will city councilors get the message?

Megan Jenny from Toxics Action Center, me from Arise, Ward 3 City Councilor Melvin Edwards, STIS member Jesse Lederman from the McKnight Neighborhood Youth Council, Betty Agin and her grandson from the Springfield Health Disparities Project.

Springfield resident and STIS member John Miller

Today Stop Toxic Incineration in Springfield (STIS) held a rally and press conference on the steps of City Hall and then delivered more than a thousand postcards to Springfield, MA city councilors.  The message?  Hold a public hearing to consider grounds for REVOKING Palmer Penewable Energy's permit for an incinerator in Springfield.

Three days of intensive flyering brought Ward 4 Councilor E. Henry Twiggs and Ward 1 Councilor Zaida Luna firmly into the "opposed" category-- that is, if Palmer's permit was before the council today, they'd vote against it.  We never got a definitive answer from Michael Fenton, James Ferrera, Jose Tosado and Tom Ashe, and, in spite of calls, emails and a special mailing, we never heard back at all from Kateri Walsh and Clodo Concepcion.  Tim Rooke requested that I convey my information to City Council Aide Bob Arieti, and that Bob would convey it to him.  Still, we're inching toward a majority.  I hope Springfield voters remember who is responsive to his/her constituents and who isn't.

Great photos of the event, thanks to Megan Jenny and her crew from the Toxics Action Center.

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Theft of local power forces new anti-incinerator strategy

Last week, with little fanfare, Gov. Patrick signed into law the Permit Extension Act, which gives an automatic two-year extension to virtually every municipal and state permit filed for the last two years.

The rationale for this law is that given the economic downturn, new enterprises which are struggling to find start-up funds should not have to redo the permit process while they put their financing together.  A worthy goal, yes?  But what does this loss of local power mean in practical terms?

In Springfield MA, those of us who've been fighting Palmer Renewable Energy's proposal for an energy and toxic air-producing incinerator have been looking forward to the expiration of its land use permit.  PRE would have had to go back before City Council to seek a good faith extension before October 15, 2010, and we've been telling City Council not to renew their permit.  Now councilors don't have to make that tough decision, because the state has made it for them.

So what's next?  We are now asking City Council to REVOKE PRE's permit for good cause.  We want City Council to hold a public hearing to explore grounds for revocation.

I've already heard from a few city councilors who seem nervous about this idea.  Is it because we're asking them to do something they actually have the power to do?  And just what constitutes "good cause?"

Well, let's have the hearing and find out!  As far as I'm concerned, any proposal that plans to add a ton of lead to the city's air should never have been granted a permit in the first place.

Stop Toxic Incineration in Springfield has already collected more than 1,000 postcards to our city councilors demanding a public hearing to consider revocation.  Tomorrow at 11 a.m., we'll be on the steps of City Hall for  press conference-- and then we'll deliver our postcards to the City Council office. Come on down and join us.  Want some postcards for your neighborhood or civic organization?  all 413 734-4948 and we'll be happy to get them to you.

How to tell people they sound racist.

65 years ago today

At 8:13 a.m., the first of two atomic bombs fell on Japan.  A quarter of a million people died within four months, half on the first days of the bombing.

65 years later, 26,000 nuclear warheads stand ready to annihilate the world.

Today, monks and nuns from the Leverett Peace Pagoda and other fellow human beings will arrive in Springfield, MA to promote peace.  In particular, they have hoped that Springfield's Mayor Sarno would join Mayors for Peace, an international association of more than 4,069 cities calling for an end to nuclear weapons by 2020.  For the second year in a row, calls to the mayor's office for a meeting have gone unreturned.  Nineteen Massachusetts cities and towns have already signed on, including West Springfield and Chicopee.  Not Springfield, not yet.  But at around 3:30 today, they will gather on the steps of City Hall to pray for peace, and at 5:30, they will join other community members at Arise for Social Justice, 467 State St. for a short program and a potluck supper.

You are welcome to join us.

Photo of a lotus from the Peace Pagoda from NeilinBoston's photostream at Flickr.
 

My granddaughter's poem

It's so incredibly satisfying to me to have another poet in the family....my granddaughter is getting married at the end of the month and here's one snapshot of her thinking...

No, but really, I'm sorry if this insults you.

I'm sorry to insult you,

But I will not be a Mrs. Anything, but Chapin.

And we will not be Mr. and Mrs. Man and Wife You May Now Kiss The Bride 'Till Death Do You Part, Under God.

Missus Belongs-To-Owner, what was your maiden name?

I'm sorry to insult you,

But I have a legacy myself.

I'm not an adopted dog, name changed by new master.

I've got my story, not history.

I'd like to live and be remembered, not by my husband's given name

But mine, the one my mama gave me.

See, I grew to love myself first

And I learned myself by calling myself Chapin,

Melody Chapin.

So, sorry to insult you, but I can't let a man replace what I love about me

With what I love about him.

Northern Lights: a chance for tonight

Plasma is headed our way!  The Boston Globe is reporting this morning that the sun seems to have ended its quiet period (yeah, like the sun really doesn't do much) and, after a Sunday eruption,  a billion tons of plasma is headed our way at a million miles an hour.  Result?  Northern lights may be visible in New England tonight and tomorrow night.

I've only seen the northern nights once in my life, in Maine, when it seemed that a beautiful city drenched in green and yellow lay just behind the mountain.  Maybe tonight will be the second time?

Photo from Studiolit's photostream at Flickr.

Two from Found

FOUND by Freddie in Portland, Oregon

I found this on a line #75 bus seat on the TriMet Bus. Made me chuckle.

 

FOUND by Mary Hoover in Rochester, New York

Found the Death Guest Check at a local Lilac Festival swirlling in the puddles from the rain. Found the details of a funeral on the USO paper a short time later after a parade.

  

From Found.com, an endlessly fascinating look at found objects.

 

Gov. Patrick, shame on you! Clothe our children!

When I was on welfare, I remember how much I looked forward to September.  That was the month that Massachusetts issued a $150 per child clothing allowance to help parents get kids ready for the school year.  No matter the bills still unpaid, I'd take that $150, pull out all my shopping skills, and dress my daughter as best I could.

That $150 allowance hasn't gone up in twenty-plus years, and of course it doesn't go as far as it once did-- even a secondhand pair of pants costs over five bucks at Goodwill-- but for families on public assistance, it lightens the load.

Last night I heard that Massachusetts' Governor Patrick plans to not pay the clothing allowance this year.

Yeah, I know, times are tight, just about everything (except health care) is being cut, but cutting from the bottom brings the whole weight of this economic disaster down on the poorest people's heads.  Local merchants should be unhappy about this, too.

The way I figure it, an additional 66,000 children in Massachusetts will be wearing last year's, now ill-fitting winter jacket, or shoes too small, or unmatched gloves.  I say additional because sixteen years of welfare reform has reduced the welfare caseload but not the number of kids living in poverty whose families don't receive TAFDC benefits..

I'm hoping that maybe, just maybe, if we flood the Governor's office with phone calls, we can get him to reverse his decision. 

Starting Monday, start calling!
Governor Patrick's office:
Phone: 617.725.4005 or  888.870.7770 (in state)

Tell him NOT to make life any harder for Massachusetts' poorest kids.

Seed paper tutorial

OK, this is really lovely-- simple instructions on how to make your own paper embedded with seeds.  Plant the paper, and a garden will grow!  From Gracious Rain.

I do not cry in front of this family

I do not cry in front of this family
homeless with a baby
sitting in my office
waiting for a phone call which may never come
to save them

Instead when I step out back
for the brief sanity of trees and traffic
I see the pigeon that I've seen all day
and realize it has a broken wing.
I'm sorry for your injury,
I say to the pigeon,
I'll get you some water,
You are dead but you don't know it,
won't make it till winter
but today I can offer you
crumbs.

Leonard Nimoy captures Martin Espada

I don't usually get to the Arts section of the New York Times in the morning, but today a photo exhibit by Leonard Nimoy caught my eye: he has an exhibit at Mass MoCA in North Adams titles "Secret Selves," and as I scrolled through the photos, there was my favorite living poet, Martin Espada, and his son Clemente!

Martin says that when he was a kid, he wanted to be a gangster when he grew up.  I can't say that was an ambition of mine, but I and my cousins certainly played "Gangsters" a lot as a kid, and my gangster name was Sadie.

Check out the exhibit and also check out Katherine Gilbert-Espada's art page.  What a household!

Photo from Dreamsjung's photostream at Flickr.

CORI reform: is this the year?

Can't even tell you how often people stop into Arise trying to figure out how to get a job and housing when they have a  past criminal record. 

And CORI's don't just cover convictions.  Ever been arrested and then had the charges dropped, or gone to court and been found not guilty?  It'll be on your record for future employers to see.  (Actually, that part-- removing arrests that don't lead to convictions-- isn't even part of the reform effort.)

Associated Industries of Massachusetts, which represents employers, objects to the part of the proposed changes which would prohibit  a check-off boxes about CORIs on a job application.  But what's the big deal?  Nothing prevents the employer from asking about a past criminal record during an interview.  Under the current system, many applicants don't even get that far.

Time for change!