The windy city; Hi mom and Dad!

I bought a one-way ticket to Chicago, IL. back in early June, arriving here on September first. I’ve been here a full month  now and it’s time to report.

I live in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. Today, the neighborhood is made up of a large Mexican/Mexican-descendant population which eclipsed the previous Czech/Pan-Slavic majority who lived in Pilsen during the 19th century. Before that it was mostly Irish and German.

But today, most businesses in the are bilingual and entire buildings are covered with 30/40 foot murals paying homage to cultura and communidad. One mural in particular, located off 18th is 2 stories high and 30 feet across.  The Art Pilsen blog on blogspot says this:

The mural is a visual dedication to all immigrants and allies who have marched hundreds of thousands of miles to advocate for fair legislation for immigrants and who have stood strong in the face of anti-immigrant rhetoric. Declaration of Immigration looked at some of the historic and current issues affecting immigrant communities and serve as a reminder that the United States of America was founded on emigration and settlement.

I know that sewage drain!

Publishing podcast

Here’s a podcast I did about publishing where I had the pleasure of interviewing two very smart ladies — Mrs. Ethne Clarke — garden writer, novelist, lecturer, woman extraordinaire and Ms. Pam Crumpler — who was the director of consumer marketing at meredith publishing and who has nearly 18 years of marketing experience. These two women indulge me in a conversation about the changes in publishing, the digital divide and why the charm of print will never die.

Here it is!

Sex education receives a failing grade in Texas

A recent study found that Texas public schools were failing kids when it came to educating them about sex education, according to an Austin-American Statesman article that ran in February. Here’s an excerpt from the article written by AAS reporter Laura Heinauer:

“In sex education classes, 94 percent of Texas school districts teach that abstaining from sex is the only healthy option for unmarried couples, and, in many cases, students are given misleading and inaccurate information about the risks associated with sex, according to a 72-page report released Tuesday.

Two percent of districts — in a state that has the third highest teen birth rate in the nation — ignore the subject completely, according to the study.

The two-year study, “Just Say Don’t Know: Sexuality Education in Texas Public Schools,” was conducted by two Texas State University researchers and funded by the Texas Freedom Network Education Fund, the research arm of the Texas Freedom Network, which describes itself as “a mainstream voice to counter the religious right.”

rest of the article can be found here.

Now…. let’s get to the good part. In light of the study, I decided to conduct an interview with San Antonio pediatrician, Dr. Kassia L. Kubena. According to the doctor, who says she has worked with several teen mothers, sex education is lagging in our schools and hurting our children.

Here’s a link to my podcast. I hope you enjoy! Feedback is appreciated!

Robert Mugabe, a trillion dollar ad scheme and some bewildered Zimbabwean residents

Hey there.  So, if you haven’t been devoutly following my blog and weren’t able to catch the momentous post that was my first entry, I suggest you go back and read it now.

Not that I’m being some self-centered writer who thinks she’s like a bright star — rising high above the domain of wretched, boring, normalcy.

Psssht.

It’s not even like that.

But really, the stuff that I’m about to post here right now requires some context and I’d hate for anybody to be lost. You can either eat your Zimbabwean veggies here or you can get them elsewhere. An article like this isn’t a bad place to start.

Shall we?

This image is borrowed from The Zimbabwean newspaper's flickr account and features their trillion dollar ad campaign

Zimbabwe’s President, Robert Mugabe, has likely committed huge human rights atrocities (the ZANU PF, a political party showing broad support and allegiance to him has time and time again come under fire for intimidating, harassing and enacting violence against non-supporters of Mugabe although naturally, our man Robert is smart enough to plead the fifth), continuously under-serves his people and has currently found himself in an economic pickle after he printed hundreds of trillions of Zimbabwe’s dollars in 2001. Today, the country is experiencing such dramatic hyper-inflation that The Zimbabwean newspaper has launched an ad campaign in which they strategically placed posters made of real trillion dollar notes all over the country. In the corner, a headline:

“Thanks to Mugabe this money is wallpaper”

Here is the newspaper’s posted pictures of their campaign on flickr.

Moving forward means addressing (and rectifying) what happened in past

Here we are in the dawn of a new, open-minded Administration that’s ready to spring the American people forward — economically, socially, politically and perhaps most importantly, gracefully. The problem is that in order to do so, Obama and his cabinet members need to begin addressing some of the dark secrets left behind by the Bush era.

The most troubling of those secrets  is whether or not U.S. officials in high-ranking positions signed-off on the torture of prisoners of war — be it within our border and jurisdiction or outside.

I enjoyed this news/op-ed by CNN writer, Jonathan Mann. Here’s a teaser:

“(CNN) — U.S. President Barack Obama met with his NATO allies in Strasbourg, France on Friday to talk about his plans for the war in Afghanistan, his “front line in the war on terror.”

But the U.S. war on terror has some dark secrets and Obama hasn’t really wanted to talk about them.

In Spain, a crusading judge named Baltasar Garzon is reviewing the case of several men who say they were tortured at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In Washington, Senator Patrick Leahy has been asking similar questions that people around the world want answered:

Did the U.S. really torture prisoners, did it secretly transfer some to other countries specifically to be tortured and did senior officials authorize it?

Leahy says: “We can’t turn the page unless we first read the page.”

There are ample grounds to believe crimes were committed.

Individual prisoners have described being tortured in U.S. custody or being dispatched to other nations with the same terrible result.

An investigation by the International Committee of the Red Cross also reported evidence of it.

While he was in office, George W. Bush said flatly “the United States does not torture.”

FULL STORY HERE.

N.Y. shooting rampage kills 14 at immigration center

Senseless violence unfolds at an immigration service center in Binghamton, New York after a man barricaded the back door with his car and opened fire inside — killing 13 and leaving 37 survivors. It looks like the man eventually turned and shot himself but authorities have yet to identify the shooter. They believe he has ties to the civic center, according to statements police made to CNN.

Here’s an excerpt from the CNN story:

“A gunman barricaded the back door of an immigration services center with his car and burst through the front door on a shooting rampage, killing 13 people and then, apparently, himself, police said.

Four more were wounded in the attack at the American Civic Association in Binghamton, New York, and taken to hospitals in critical condition, according to authorities.

Police say they are still verifying the shooter’s identity, but they believe that he was a man carrying a satchel of ammunition who was found dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot to the head, police Chief Joseph Zikuski said.

“It is our understanding he had ties to the civic association,” Zikuski said.

A warrant is being obtained to search the suspected shooter’s home in nearby Johnson City, another law enforcement source said.

In all, law enforcement removed 14 deceased people from the building and 37 survivors, Zikuski said, in what the city’s mayor has called the “most tragic day in Binghamton’s history.”

At 10:31 a.m., authorities received a 911 call from one of two receptionists who were the first victims of the rampage.

She told police that the a man with a handgun shot her and her colleague before proceeding to a nearby classroom and opening fire, Zikuski said.

The other receptionist died, the police chief said.”

The rest of the story can be found here.

Did you know? Exploring the exponential quality of technology growth

Perhaps I’m easily wowed but this video, which speaks of the exponential quality of technology growth, impressed the hell out of me. Please take a few minutes to watch it — I can assure you it will be time well spent.

more about "Did you know? Exploring the exponenti…", posted with vodpod

PETA kills Lassie, Mr. Bigglesworth, Lady and the Tramp, Simba, Garfield, the Aristocats, Dumbo, all family pets ad infinitum

According to a press release from the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF), a non-profit organization devoted to “promoting personal responsibility and protecting consumer choices,” People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (better known as PETA) killed a whopping 95 percent of adoptable pets in their care in 2008.

Here’s an excerpt:

“WASHINGTON DC – Today the nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) published documents online showing that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) killed 95 percent of the adoptable pets in its care during 2008. Despite years of public outrage over its euthanasia program, the animal rights group kills an average of 5.8 pets every day at its Norfolk, VA headquarters.

According to public records from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, PETA killed 2,124 pets last year and placed only seven in adoptive homes. Since 1998, a total of 21,339 dogs and cats have died at the hands of PETA workers.

Despite having a $32 million budget, PETA does not operate an adoption shelter. PETA employees make no discernible effort to find homes for the thousands of pets they kill every year. Last year, the Center for Consumer Freedom petitioned Virginia’s State Veterinarian to reclassify PETA as a slaughterhouse.”

The rest of the story is continued here on their website.

BOSS models get naked to support PETA campaign: "I'd rather go naked than wear fur"

This image is protected by a creative commons license. It belongs to PETA and is reprinted here with proper attribution and without the endorsement of PETA or their affiliates. This image can be found on www.furisdead.com.

Issues? After perusing the web for a bit, I found several feminist/pro-feminist sites that take issues with PETA’s objectification of the female body as a way to sell their point. Many feminists found it to be a cheap shock and awe tactic that lacked the ability to really intellectually rouse the public.  At first glance we can discount the sexist pitch for the ad above because it denudes both men and women — leveling the gender playinbg field for men and women alike. The problem with that analysis is that it fails to take into account a few things. First, the bodies of these men and women are still being objectified — their simultaneous objectification doesn’t lessen the degree to which PETA is culpable of reducing our sum to our parts. Another problem is that both the male and female models, like most mainstream models today, look like proud hosts of an eating disorder. If the message they want to focus on is the equal treatment of animals, I suggest they drop the ’sex sells’ pitch that objectifies the female (and male) body and reaffirms society’s worst suspicions about what PETA is really saying: It’s cool to get naked for animal rights while starving in the face of your own body’s demands.

To be fair, PETA has done some great work in promoting animal cruelty awareness and sparking direct action against inhumane animal treatment like seal slaughter (which takes primarily in Canada), the fur industry and laboratory animal testing. Please take a moment to check out their site and make up your own mind.

PETA

Signing off as your journalist with a conscience,

M.L.C

In Miami, sex offenders trying to abide by strict local ordinances build makeshift communities

In a Tuesday Feb. 5, 2008 photo, an elderly sex offender relaxes outside his tent at the makeshift camp he and other offenders call home under the Julia Tuttle Causeway in Miami. The state of Florida has not been able to dissolve the community of sex offenders living under the bridge. Their numbers have increased as parolees and other sex offenders find it nearly impossible to find an affordable place to live that does not violate ordinance laws. (AP Photo/David Adame)

In Miami, officials are stuck between a rock and a hard spot but so too are the sex offenders graced by the long arm of the law. This is the problem: sex-offender parolees have some of the strictest housing regulations of any criminal. Naturally, they’re not allowed to live within a specific radius of schools, parks and other places where children might congregate. Many find this stipulation necessary, sometimes even sex offenders do as well. The problem in Miami is that sex offender parolees are having a hard time finding a place to live that maintains them clear of children (the parks, schools, etc.) but is still within their budget. The problem, in fact, is so overwhelming that sex offenders have begun to congregate in a makeshift community of their own — located under the busy bridge of Biscayne Bay.

Spray painted on the slope of the pillars supporting the bridge  i: “We R Not Monsters” “They treat animals better” and “why?”

The full story, which can be found here is both well-written and compelling. Kudos to AP writer Matt Sedensky.

AP Photo David Adame

In Spokane, rebels fight the clean way

John, left, and P.J Demakas look at a box of phosphate free dishwasher detergent at the Huckleberries Fresh Market area inside a Rosauers Supermarket in Spokane, Wash. on Tuesday, March 24, 2009. Dishwasher detergents containing phosphates have been banned in Spokane County since July 2008. (AP Photo/Young Kwak)

I found this story on the AP wires which, for those who don’t know what that is, is a great database of news stories/pictures/graphics provided by the dedicated journalists at the Associated Press.

Now, let’s get to the point:

In Spokane, Wash., local officials aiming to decrease water pollution outlawed dishwater detergents made with phosphate — forcing Spokane residents to turn to the more expensive eco-friendly detergents which many claim, aren’t properly cleaning their dishes. The kicker? As a result of the ban, which will be implemented statewide beginning in 2010, many residents have turned toward detergent smuggling — often driving to Idaho to purchase their favorite, phosphate-fueled fix.

Here’s the story