I usually like to write about the Chilean September 11, but I came across this amazing poem on Tumblr and thought it was important to share it with you. It's long, but I'm not cutting it.
Emmanuel Ortiz (born 1974)'s poem, Moment of Silence:
http://www.kersplebedeb.com/mystuff/music/Moment-of-Silence.mp3
Before I start this poem, I’d like to ask you to join me
In a moment of silence
In honor of those who died in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon last September 11th.
I would also like to ask you
To offer up a moment of silence
For all of those who have been harassed, imprisoned, disappeared, tortured, raped, or killed in retaliation for those strikes,
For the victims in both Afghanistan and the U.S.
And if I could just add one more thing…
A full day of silence
For the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have died at the hands of U.S.-backed Israeli forces over decades of occupation.
Six months of silence for the million and-a-half Iraqi people, mostly children, who have died of malnourishment or starvation as a result of an 11-year U.S. embargo against the country.
Before I begin this poem,
Two months of silence for the Blacks under Apartheid in South Africa,
Where homeland security made them aliens in their own country.
Nine months of silence for the dead in Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
Where death rained down and peeled back every layer of concrete, steel, earth and skin
And the survivors went on as if alive.
A year of silence for the millions of dead in Vietnam - a people, not a war - for those who know a thing or two about the scent of burning fuel, their relatives’ bones buried in it, their babies born of it.
A year of silence for the dead in Cambodia and Laos, victims of a secret war … ssssshhhhh…. Say nothing … we don’t want them to learn that they are dead.
Two months of silence for the decades of dead in Colombia,
Whose names, like the corpses they once represented, have piled up and slipped off our tongues.
Before I begin this poem.
An hour of silence for El Salvador …
An afternoon of silence for Nicaragua …
Two days of silence for the Guatemaltecos …
None of whom ever knew a moment of peace in their living years.
45 seconds of silence for the 45 dead at Acteal, Chiapas
25 years of silence for the hundred million Africans who found their graves far deeper in the ocean than any building could poke into the sky.
There will be no DNA testing or dental records to identify their remains.
And for those who were strung and swung from the heights of sycamore trees in the south, the north, the east, and the west…
100 years of silence…
For the hundreds of millions of indigenous peoples from this half of right here,
Whose land and lives were stolen,
In postcard-perfect plots like Pine Ridge, Wounded Knee, Sand Creek, Fallen Timbers, or the Trail of Tears.
Names now reduced to innocuous magnetic poetry on the refrigerator of our consciousness …
So you want a moment of silence?
And we are all left speechless
Our tongues snatched from our mouths
Our eyes stapled shut
A moment of silence
And the poets have all been laid to rest
The drums disintegrating into dust.
Before I begin this poem,
You want a moment of silence
You mourn now as if the world will never be the same
And the rest of us hope to hell it won’t be.
Not like it always has been.
Because this is not a 9/11 poem.
This is a 9/10 poem,
It is a 9/9 poem,
9/8 poem,
A 9/7 poem
This is a 1492 poem.
This is a poem about what causes poems like this to be written.
And if this is a 9/11 poem, then:
This is a September 11th poem for Chile, 1971.
This is a September 12th poem for Steven Biko in South Africa, 1977.
This is a September 13th poem for the brothers at Attica Prison, New York, 1971.
This is a September 14th poem for Somalia, 1992.
This is a poem for every date that falls to the ground in ashes
This is a poem for the 110 stories that were never told
The 110 stories that history chose not to write in textbooks
The 110 stories that CNN, BBC, The New York Times, and Newsweek ignored.
This is a poem for interrupting this program.
And still you want a moment of silence for your dead?
We could give you lifetimes of empty:
The unmarked graves
The lost languages
The uprooted trees and histories
The dead stares on the faces of nameless children
Before I start this poem we could be silent forever
Or just long enough to hunger,
For the dust to bury us
And you would still ask us
For more of our silence.
If you want a moment of silence
Then stop the oil pumps
Turn off the engines and the televisions
Sink the cruise ships
Crash the stock markets
Unplug the marquee lights,
Delete the instant messages,
Derail the trains, the light rail transit.
If you want a moment of silence, put a brick through the window of Taco Bell,
And pay the workers for wages lost.
Tear down the liquor stores,
The townhouses, the White Houses, the jailhouses, the Penthouses and the Playboys.
If you want a moment of silence,
Then take it
On Super Bowl Sunday,
The Fourth of July
During Dayton’s 13 hour sale
Or the next time your white guilt fills the room where my beautiful people have gathered.
You want a moment of silence
Then take it NOW,
Before this poem begins.
Here, in the echo of my voice,
In the pause between goosesteps of the second hand,
In the space between bodies in embrace,
Here is your silence.
Take it.
But take it all…Don’t cut in line.
Let your silence begin at the beginning of crime. But we,
Tonight we will keep right on singing…For our dead.
EMMANUEL ORTIZ, 11 Sep 2002.
(Link to the tumblr post I found it in.)
Showing posts with label things i deem very important. Show all posts
Showing posts with label things i deem very important. Show all posts
Monday, September 12, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Exhuming the 1970s American Foreign Policy
I've spent many a September 11 reminiscing about the heavy handed US policies of the 1970s. When I was in university, I worked on researching the coup d'etat in Chile which happened to take place on 11 September 1973. I find the parallels and the meaning behind both days to be something worth examining.
It is telling though, how little American media and Americans nowadays at a whole know or care about Latin American affairs if they don't directly affect our supply of oil or kill our kids, or emigrate illegally (see Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico). This wasn't always so. See in the 1970s, the idea of having a dictatorship that was BFFs with our goverment was far more palatable than a legally elected socialist regime. So the US got into helping fund coups and pretty much endorsing crimes against humanity in parts of Latin America.
Salvador Allende was a physician who championed socialist ethos. His election was fraught with controversy but was won fair and square. The US tried to intervene secretly even before he was inaugurated, and his three years in the office were completely undermined by boycotts and other nasty tricks the CIA used to try to force his hand.
Allende didnt' back down, and on 11 September 1973, the military revolted. Led by Agustin Pinochet (for whom there is, presumably, a nice spot in hell somewhere), they stormed the Presidential Palace (La Moneda) and in the ensuing firefight, Allende was killed. The official story was that he committed suicide, but many who knew him doubted he would have done so.
In January, the Chilean government announced that it had exhumed Allende's body to put to rest whether he killed himself or he was assassinated. (Even if he killed himself, he was still assassinated, clearly.)
I found this article earlier today only in Spanish, and it's telling that the first English link Google came up with for me was from a non-American source. (And the only reason I have the Spanish-language articles is because I added a section on Google News for Chilean news services.)
As I went looking for an article in English for this post, I found also that Nathaniel Davis, the ambassador to Chile in the 1970s, recently died. He was famous for saying that the US wasn't really involved in the coup and the machinations to bring down Allende, but de-classified documents released by the CIA at the beginning of the decade showed otherwise. As the ambassador, Davis may not have known what they were up to, but he was responsible for the safety of Charles Horman, the journalist who went missing in Chile and was one of the desaparacidos - thousands of disappeared people who were ultimately murdered by Pinochet and his regime.
I am curious to see what the results are of this autopsy. If it was a murder, instead of a suicide, does it make that much difference to the people of Chile who were murdered by the thousands after his death? I'd like to think it would bring renewed war criminal charges against people like Henry Kissenger, but I won't hold my breath.
It is telling though, how little American media and Americans nowadays at a whole know or care about Latin American affairs if they don't directly affect our supply of oil or kill our kids, or emigrate illegally (see Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico). This wasn't always so. See in the 1970s, the idea of having a dictatorship that was BFFs with our goverment was far more palatable than a legally elected socialist regime. So the US got into helping fund coups and pretty much endorsing crimes against humanity in parts of Latin America.
Salvador Allende was a physician who championed socialist ethos. His election was fraught with controversy but was won fair and square. The US tried to intervene secretly even before he was inaugurated, and his three years in the office were completely undermined by boycotts and other nasty tricks the CIA used to try to force his hand.
Allende didnt' back down, and on 11 September 1973, the military revolted. Led by Agustin Pinochet (for whom there is, presumably, a nice spot in hell somewhere), they stormed the Presidential Palace (La Moneda) and in the ensuing firefight, Allende was killed. The official story was that he committed suicide, but many who knew him doubted he would have done so.
In January, the Chilean government announced that it had exhumed Allende's body to put to rest whether he killed himself or he was assassinated. (Even if he killed himself, he was still assassinated, clearly.)
I found this article earlier today only in Spanish, and it's telling that the first English link Google came up with for me was from a non-American source. (And the only reason I have the Spanish-language articles is because I added a section on Google News for Chilean news services.)
As I went looking for an article in English for this post, I found also that Nathaniel Davis, the ambassador to Chile in the 1970s, recently died. He was famous for saying that the US wasn't really involved in the coup and the machinations to bring down Allende, but de-classified documents released by the CIA at the beginning of the decade showed otherwise. As the ambassador, Davis may not have known what they were up to, but he was responsible for the safety of Charles Horman, the journalist who went missing in Chile and was one of the desaparacidos - thousands of disappeared people who were ultimately murdered by Pinochet and his regime.
I am curious to see what the results are of this autopsy. If it was a murder, instead of a suicide, does it make that much difference to the people of Chile who were murdered by the thousands after his death? I'd like to think it would bring renewed war criminal charges against people like Henry Kissenger, but I won't hold my breath.
Friday, May 14, 2010
I just don't get folks sometimes.
You know, one of my friends on FB joined one of those groups on FB. And while ostensibly I should know how horrific the commentary on that page is, it just horrifies me that people feel this way about other living, breathing people.
It makes me sick, and the fact that they are doing it in the name of the flag of our country, one that embraced immigrants from every walk of life and every nationality, just makes me want to throw things. I often wonder how many of these people actually have seen the "welfare abusing Mexicans" that they claim to be defending their flag and country from. (It doesn't hurt that most of these posts are written in increasingly illiterate forms of English). I don't know how to reach out to people with this viewpoint and try to help reach a compromise. It really bothers me to see such a divisive split in schools of thought, where any little bit of dissent is a bad thing.
Maybe I'm an over-educated college graduate liberal, but all I can think of is this wonderful speech from The American President, which is one of my top ten movies of all time. It says exactly what I want to, but far more eloquently. Thank you, Mr. Sorkin, for writing such an amazing speech.
America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can't just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the "land of the free". --Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas), The American President
It makes me sick, and the fact that they are doing it in the name of the flag of our country, one that embraced immigrants from every walk of life and every nationality, just makes me want to throw things. I often wonder how many of these people actually have seen the "welfare abusing Mexicans" that they claim to be defending their flag and country from. (It doesn't hurt that most of these posts are written in increasingly illiterate forms of English). I don't know how to reach out to people with this viewpoint and try to help reach a compromise. It really bothers me to see such a divisive split in schools of thought, where any little bit of dissent is a bad thing.
Maybe I'm an over-educated college graduate liberal, but all I can think of is this wonderful speech from The American President, which is one of my top ten movies of all time. It says exactly what I want to, but far more eloquently. Thank you, Mr. Sorkin, for writing such an amazing speech.
America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can't just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the "land of the free". --Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas), The American President
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Why I love this show. (SHUT UP)
This is the video making the rounds of the internet tonight. And ys, I'm not gonna lie I loved it.
I love it even more now after reading this article that I stole from OhNoTheyDidn't.
A genuine American hero, who truly deserves the attention he garnered tonight. I don't have more to say than that; how can you turn this guy down? If I'm the AI producer I don't either.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Things I just do
I was wandering through Barnes & Noble, while waiting for my friend Amanda to meet me at the mall when I spotted an endcap of books about writing. I've been thinking about getting one, because I'm so paranoid that I'm not as good a writer as I think I am, and I'd like some reinforcement in one direction or the other. (Ash, I did promise to upload my novel for you to read and I will tonight.) I want to publish it but I'm worried that no one will take me or my little story seriously.
I'm not banking my whole life on getting published, nor will I stop writing (you'd have to chop off both my hands and possibly my feet to make me do that and even then I might just learn how to hold a pen in my teeth). But I would like my stories to be read by someone who isn't me.
I've been seeing a lot of resolution talk going around the internet, and I just want to say I've made my own set of resolutions. I do it every year, but I actually intend to go through with them and make it so, as Sir Patrick Stewart used to say. SO here's my small list:
-Get a place to volunteer in Albany a few days a week. Ideally I'd like to tutor children, but I don't have any certifications or anything like that. I also wouldn't mind working in a setting helping people who are underpriveleged; someplace like the Social Justice Center on Central Ave. I dunno. This I want done by the end of the month, so I need to get a move-on on it. Anyone in Albany got any ideas on how to find a place to volunteer at?
-Get my student loans in order. This is going to be pretty tough, since I have them from three different schools and probably they are all over the place. I want to at least know and speak to all of them by April 1, so I can try to pull them out of default, and maybe get them into some sort of deferment.
-Get a doctor and a health checkup. Lately I've been feeling under the weather and with my newly earned health insurance I should be taking advantage of its opportunities. This means I have to go and call the stupid health insurance company because its website locked me out, not recognizing that I actually do know the answer to my security question, which is the city where I was born. I'm pretty sure I know that, and if I didn't I have my birth certificate. Assholes. This is going to be done by the end of the month. Tomorrow I'm calling to get the lock picked.
-Get my Peace Corps application done. This will be done slowly because there are a lot of parts to it. ANd I believe that someone on my flist found out that you need at least six months of volunteering time in before they'd look at your application. So if we do the math, this needs to be done at the earliest in July or August.
-Grow a spine. Sometimes I'm too flexible and let people walk over me. I just need to say what I'm feeling and damn the consequences.
-Incorporate other exercises along with my walks. I'm going to learn how to do sit-ups and push-ups. My endurance is severely curtailed by my asthma and this current respiratory illness. When I was home at Thanksgiving, my dad had me try breathing on one of those machines that tests your lung capacity. Mine is severely diminished. If I don't get it up to par, I am fairly certain the Peace Corps won't want me in some remote village in the tropics with an impaired lung system.
-Put all but the most essential of money into my savings account after paying off my sister and my credit card. Yes, I need money for food and essentials.
-Eat as few things with High Fructose Corn Syrup as possible. Coke and Dr Pepper are exempted from this list, because they are the nectars of life. Right, Candice? ;)
I wish you all the best of luck with your new year's resolutions if you made them, and I hope for nothing but good tidings for all of you.
I'm not banking my whole life on getting published, nor will I stop writing (you'd have to chop off both my hands and possibly my feet to make me do that and even then I might just learn how to hold a pen in my teeth). But I would like my stories to be read by someone who isn't me.
I've been seeing a lot of resolution talk going around the internet, and I just want to say I've made my own set of resolutions. I do it every year, but I actually intend to go through with them and make it so, as Sir Patrick Stewart used to say. SO here's my small list:
-Get a place to volunteer in Albany a few days a week. Ideally I'd like to tutor children, but I don't have any certifications or anything like that. I also wouldn't mind working in a setting helping people who are underpriveleged; someplace like the Social Justice Center on Central Ave. I dunno. This I want done by the end of the month, so I need to get a move-on on it. Anyone in Albany got any ideas on how to find a place to volunteer at?
-Get my student loans in order. This is going to be pretty tough, since I have them from three different schools and probably they are all over the place. I want to at least know and speak to all of them by April 1, so I can try to pull them out of default, and maybe get them into some sort of deferment.
-Get a doctor and a health checkup. Lately I've been feeling under the weather and with my newly earned health insurance I should be taking advantage of its opportunities. This means I have to go and call the stupid health insurance company because its website locked me out, not recognizing that I actually do know the answer to my security question, which is the city where I was born. I'm pretty sure I know that, and if I didn't I have my birth certificate. Assholes. This is going to be done by the end of the month. Tomorrow I'm calling to get the lock picked.
-Get my Peace Corps application done. This will be done slowly because there are a lot of parts to it. ANd I believe that someone on my flist found out that you need at least six months of volunteering time in before they'd look at your application. So if we do the math, this needs to be done at the earliest in July or August.
-Grow a spine. Sometimes I'm too flexible and let people walk over me. I just need to say what I'm feeling and damn the consequences.
-Incorporate other exercises along with my walks. I'm going to learn how to do sit-ups and push-ups. My endurance is severely curtailed by my asthma and this current respiratory illness. When I was home at Thanksgiving, my dad had me try breathing on one of those machines that tests your lung capacity. Mine is severely diminished. If I don't get it up to par, I am fairly certain the Peace Corps won't want me in some remote village in the tropics with an impaired lung system.
-Put all but the most essential of money into my savings account after paying off my sister and my credit card. Yes, I need money for food and essentials.
-Eat as few things with High Fructose Corn Syrup as possible. Coke and Dr Pepper are exempted from this list, because they are the nectars of life. Right, Candice? ;)
I wish you all the best of luck with your new year's resolutions if you made them, and I hope for nothing but good tidings for all of you.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
The Holocaust and a Soapbox
My cousin Kate posted this article on her twitter: Man snuck into Auschwitz during WWII. This guy kept sneaking in and getting the real scoop of what was going on inside the infamous concentration camp. He managed to save the life of one of the prisoners directly and probably helped boos the spirits of many more. What an amazing story.
Also, I would just like this opportunity to say: Holocaust deniers, you can suck it. There's gotta be a special level of hell for people like you. When I took a course on the Holocaust I was disgusted by how much denial propaganda was out there. There's obtuse and then there's being deliberately obtuse.
It bothers me both on a historian basis and more importantly on a personal basis that people would choose to blatantly ignore evidence of over six million people being murdered. It just undermines the sacrifices made by the dead and the survivors of those concentration camps. Even if it wasn't your own ethnicity forced into the camps, how can you not have compassion for those that were? I hope I never understand how someone can think like that.
Also, I would just like this opportunity to say: Holocaust deniers, you can suck it. There's gotta be a special level of hell for people like you. When I took a course on the Holocaust I was disgusted by how much denial propaganda was out there. There's obtuse and then there's being deliberately obtuse.
It bothers me both on a historian basis and more importantly on a personal basis that people would choose to blatantly ignore evidence of over six million people being murdered. It just undermines the sacrifices made by the dead and the survivors of those concentration camps. Even if it wasn't your own ethnicity forced into the camps, how can you not have compassion for those that were? I hope I never understand how someone can think like that.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
cheating is for losers
I find it kind of interesting this confluence of articles I came across yesterday. I was gonna post them then, but the 100k thing happened and I went with that instead.
I am certain that none of you live under a rock and know at least somewhat the situation with Tiger Woods lately. It's been pretty much everywhere lately, and it's an incredibly sad story.
I want to point out that everyone has been screaming for Elin Nordegren to divorce Tiger Woods over these allegations. Understandable, but it is her decision. If they work it out, the more power to them, but if not I don't blame her in the least for dumping him and taking his kids and money.
This leads to two other articles I read yesterday. I don't know if any of you remember the story of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford. Sanford was the asshole who went missing for a few days "camping" in the Appalachians. Except by camping he meant flying. And instead of Appalachians, he meant Argentina. I can see how he got them confused. Except for the part where, once in Argentina he met up with his "soul mate" who he cheated on his wife with for several years.
Well, Mrs Sanford wasn't going to take this shit lying down. (Good on her!) She took their kids and moved out, and told her husband it was up to him to make the effort to rebuild their family. While he hemmed and hawed and told the media he was going to "try to fall back in love" with his wife, she kept on being a HBIC. And when she gave up on him, she dumped him and moved her things out of the Governor's Mansion. None of this stand by her man stuff. Love this woman.
So i switched from annoyed to happy and then to a complete WTF? when I read this article. The TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) rejected a huge advertising spread from Ashley Madison. Well, you say, why would they do that? 250k is a lot of money that could go to upgrades and maintenance! Well, when you realize that Ashley Madison is in fact a dating site that markets to people wanting to cheat on their significant others, you can see why they chose to reject that particular bid.
I adamantly refuse to link to Ashley Madison, so if you want to check them out, go ahead. But click the unfriend button first, thank you.
The CEO of the company then had the gall to say, "Nobody out there at the TTC should be creating morality judgments," he said. "They should be in the business of trying to operate transit lines." Sure, they're in the business of operating subways and stuff, but you're breaking up families.
I am certain that none of you live under a rock and know at least somewhat the situation with Tiger Woods lately. It's been pretty much everywhere lately, and it's an incredibly sad story.
I want to point out that everyone has been screaming for Elin Nordegren to divorce Tiger Woods over these allegations. Understandable, but it is her decision. If they work it out, the more power to them, but if not I don't blame her in the least for dumping him and taking his kids and money.
This leads to two other articles I read yesterday. I don't know if any of you remember the story of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford. Sanford was the asshole who went missing for a few days "camping" in the Appalachians. Except by camping he meant flying. And instead of Appalachians, he meant Argentina. I can see how he got them confused. Except for the part where, once in Argentina he met up with his "soul mate" who he cheated on his wife with for several years.
Well, Mrs Sanford wasn't going to take this shit lying down. (Good on her!) She took their kids and moved out, and told her husband it was up to him to make the effort to rebuild their family. While he hemmed and hawed and told the media he was going to "try to fall back in love" with his wife, she kept on being a HBIC. And when she gave up on him, she dumped him and moved her things out of the Governor's Mansion. None of this stand by her man stuff. Love this woman.
So i switched from annoyed to happy and then to a complete WTF? when I read this article. The TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) rejected a huge advertising spread from Ashley Madison. Well, you say, why would they do that? 250k is a lot of money that could go to upgrades and maintenance! Well, when you realize that Ashley Madison is in fact a dating site that markets to people wanting to cheat on their significant others, you can see why they chose to reject that particular bid.
I adamantly refuse to link to Ashley Madison, so if you want to check them out, go ahead. But click the unfriend button first, thank you.
The CEO of the company then had the gall to say, "Nobody out there at the TTC should be creating morality judgments," he said. "They should be in the business of trying to operate transit lines." Sure, they're in the business of operating subways and stuff, but you're breaking up families.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
One for the readers/writers in the hizzouse
Ok, so I finished a book earlier this summer, and I started on a prequel of sorts for it. What happened was I had this weird dream that consisted of an alien planet that, when encountered by humans for the first time, was a devoutly Catholic planet. So I started with that basis and created a first encounter novel of poison, revenge, and a multi-planet alliance. That was the first book. While I ended up giving hints that the Mirellans (as I called them) were Catholic, I did not explicitly come out and say it.
So the second book I started is an explanation of how that occured. But what I'm trying to decide (and it's nothing that needs deciding right this second, as I still have a ton more writing to do before I get there) is whether or not I should bridge it to the first by having characters from the first book in the second one. The thing of it is that the 'prequel' is set three hundred years earlier than the first book, so the characters wouldn't overlap. I did however, end the first book with the main character telling someone the story that I am telling in the second.
The idea for the return of those characters is threefold: 1) because Leah, the main character from the first book is researching the events of the second book to learn what Earth had said about the encounter; 2) because Leah's adventures are going to continue in the third book, and I think that something should link the three besides being set in the same universe; 3) because what happens in the second half of the 'prequel' sets up the events in the first book a bit more.
(Does this make sense without me telling what the story is?)
So the questions I have are : can I insert these characters without making it too obvious? Is there any easy way to transition to them? Should I keep this "prequel" the second book, or make it the first one? And if I do switch the order, do I really want to add in the future cast?
Any advice would be helpful!
So the second book I started is an explanation of how that occured. But what I'm trying to decide (and it's nothing that needs deciding right this second, as I still have a ton more writing to do before I get there) is whether or not I should bridge it to the first by having characters from the first book in the second one. The thing of it is that the 'prequel' is set three hundred years earlier than the first book, so the characters wouldn't overlap. I did however, end the first book with the main character telling someone the story that I am telling in the second.
The idea for the return of those characters is threefold: 1) because Leah, the main character from the first book is researching the events of the second book to learn what Earth had said about the encounter; 2) because Leah's adventures are going to continue in the third book, and I think that something should link the three besides being set in the same universe; 3) because what happens in the second half of the 'prequel' sets up the events in the first book a bit more.
(Does this make sense without me telling what the story is?)
So the questions I have are : can I insert these characters without making it too obvious? Is there any easy way to transition to them? Should I keep this "prequel" the second book, or make it the first one? And if I do switch the order, do I really want to add in the future cast?
Any advice would be helpful!
Sunday, November 01, 2009
My take on NY-23.
So some of you might know that Representative John McHugh (R-Pierrepont Manor) is now the Secretary of the Army, after chairing the Armed Forces committee for years. This appointment led to the vacancy in New York's 23rd district, which just happens to be the same one I am from. This always-ignored corner of New York, right on the Canadian border and NO, not anywhere near Buffalo thank you very much, suddenly found itself in the national spotlight. The district found itself suddenly in a three way race, as the GOP endorsed State Assemblywoman Dierdre Scozzafava, and Democrat Bill Owens ran the race, with Conservative Candidate Doug Hoffman also in the mix.
As it got closer to the election, Hoffman and Owens cut into Scozzafava's lead, and NY-23, aka Northern New York finally made national spotlight for something other than gang rape or a famous football player. (Don't ask about the former.) Newt Gingrich endorsed Scozzafava, and Sarah Palin came out for Hoffman. This article from the New York Times sums up pretty well what happened next.
Basically, Hoffman cut into Scozzafava's lead enough, spending more money than she had from Palin's BFFs across the country. She withdrew from the race Saturday morning. Today, Ms. Scozzafava endorsed Bill Owens for the district win.
None of this really bothers me, except the fact that Hoffman doesn't even LIVE in NY-23. That is correct, sir. While Scozzafava and Owens have lived in the district (and full disclosure: she used to live right behind our house when I was a kid), and Hoffman does not. That is a problem to me. While I don't live in that district anymore, I always have a difficult time accepting politicians from other locales running the government where I live. I'm looking at you, Secretary Clinton. I was excited for Kirsten Gillibrand's appointment as a senator because for once we got an upstate senator, even if she was from Albany. It's closer. Not like Arkansas.
Now to be fair, Hoffman is from Lake Placid, which is south of the district but still in the Adirondacks. You might know it as the place where the Miracle on Ice happened. It's very far north, but it's not in NY-23, and Hoffman shouldn't be elected as its Representative.
Course, I shot myself in the foot by failing to mail my application for an absentee ballot last week. Whoops. I hope Owens doesn't lose by one vote.
As it got closer to the election, Hoffman and Owens cut into Scozzafava's lead, and NY-23, aka Northern New York finally made national spotlight for something other than gang rape or a famous football player. (Don't ask about the former.) Newt Gingrich endorsed Scozzafava, and Sarah Palin came out for Hoffman. This article from the New York Times sums up pretty well what happened next.
Basically, Hoffman cut into Scozzafava's lead enough, spending more money than she had from Palin's BFFs across the country. She withdrew from the race Saturday morning. Today, Ms. Scozzafava endorsed Bill Owens for the district win.
None of this really bothers me, except the fact that Hoffman doesn't even LIVE in NY-23. That is correct, sir. While Scozzafava and Owens have lived in the district (and full disclosure: she used to live right behind our house when I was a kid), and Hoffman does not. That is a problem to me. While I don't live in that district anymore, I always have a difficult time accepting politicians from other locales running the government where I live. I'm looking at you, Secretary Clinton. I was excited for Kirsten Gillibrand's appointment as a senator because for once we got an upstate senator, even if she was from Albany. It's closer. Not like Arkansas.
Now to be fair, Hoffman is from Lake Placid, which is south of the district but still in the Adirondacks. You might know it as the place where the Miracle on Ice happened. It's very far north, but it's not in NY-23, and Hoffman shouldn't be elected as its Representative.
Course, I shot myself in the foot by failing to mail my application for an absentee ballot last week. Whoops. I hope Owens doesn't lose by one vote.
Monday, July 13, 2009
YOU CAN'T RUSH FASHION
Last night I worked from 6pm to 3am doing the new floorset. Well, really I processed freight and everyone else set up the store. When I emerged from the back room, there was a wall for LEGGINGS. Entirely devoted to leggings. AND GUESS, oh GUESS, dear readers what one type of leggings were labelled along the wall. Go on, guess.
I'll wait.
Yeah. Luckily they haven't come in yet. Otherwise I might have to light them on fire. Unlike my home store, which nearly caught on fire. My roommates both worked tonight and told me how they had to evacuate the mall after a power outage to their side of the mall.
So! Latest on Honduras. (Yes, I'm still posting about that. You all can play tl;dr).
Because Chávez and Zelaya are BFF, Chávez cut off oil supplies from Venezuela to Honduras in a classic move.
Zelaya, in turn decided his move would be to give an ultimatum. A vague ultimatum.
And finally, teachers returned to work after ending their strike. Teachers struck originally to support Zelaya.
Apparently Zelaya has a fetish for these hats:
I'll wait.
Yeah. Luckily they haven't come in yet. Otherwise I might have to light them on fire. Unlike my home store, which nearly caught on fire. My roommates both worked tonight and told me how they had to evacuate the mall after a power outage to their side of the mall.
So! Latest on Honduras. (Yes, I'm still posting about that. You all can play tl;dr).
Because Chávez and Zelaya are BFF, Chávez cut off oil supplies from Venezuela to Honduras in a classic move.
Zelaya, in turn decided his move would be to give an ultimatum. A vague ultimatum.
And finally, teachers returned to work after ending their strike. Teachers struck originally to support Zelaya.
Apparently Zelaya has a fetish for these hats:
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Honduras update!
This time with more satire!
Top Ten Reasons the US Isn't Getting Its Panties in a Twist Over Honduras
4,6,7, and 8 are the best.
Basically, this story has dropped off radar, so I'm doing my best to keep everyone updated.
The General who arrested Zelaya said that he had a hard time doing it, but it was necessary to save democracy.
Like Maricela and I said at the beginning, it seems like this whole thing needed to be done but it would have been so much easier if they hadn't shipped Zelaya off to Costa Rica.
Zelaya's supporters are going on strike. He seems to have union support, especially with educators. Now I love me some unions (as does the Pope) [really, I just wanted an excuse to post the Pope link])
Ok, come on Zelaya, could you look any more like a villain if you tried?
(thanks to Laura for the papal link!)
Top Ten Reasons the US Isn't Getting Its Panties in a Twist Over Honduras
4,6,7, and 8 are the best.
Basically, this story has dropped off radar, so I'm doing my best to keep everyone updated.
The General who arrested Zelaya said that he had a hard time doing it, but it was necessary to save democracy.
Like Maricela and I said at the beginning, it seems like this whole thing needed to be done but it would have been so much easier if they hadn't shipped Zelaya off to Costa Rica.
Zelaya's supporters are going on strike. He seems to have union support, especially with educators. Now I love me some unions (as does the Pope) [really, I just wanted an excuse to post the Pope link])
Ok, come on Zelaya, could you look any more like a villain if you tried?
(thanks to Laura for the papal link!)
Thursday, July 02, 2009
I haven't forgotten about Honduras
RL got in the way of my Honduras updates -- yesterday I had to work and then I kinda just mindlessly surfed the internet to get over how sad I am bout leaving that store. Today was in town, and it's the last time I will see her for a while since she's moving to Japan later this month.
My money sitch is gonna run me tight. Love it.
Maricela wrote this on Facebook a couple of days ago:
La verdad de Honduras
Share
Tues at 11:45
Es una pena que los gobiernos y las organizaciones internacionales traten a este evento como una barbarie y una acto troglodita. Mas del 90% de la población se opone a la restitución del Sr. Zelaya quien ha pretendido en múltiples ocasiones pasar por encima de la ley y se ha mostrado incapaz de gobernar este país con justicia. Este Sr. ha ofendido los valores y derechos del pueblo Hondureño y la democracia, al haber llegado al poder por medio de mentiras y promesas falsas, y luego introducir ideas izquierdistas a semejanza de Hugo Chávez, quien es un gorila necio que pretende llevar a América Latina por el mismo camino de la antigua Europa socialista. Los militares arrestaron a Manuel Zelaya siguiendo las órdenes de la Corte Suprema de Justicia debido a sus actos criminales, y el mismo dia el poder fué devuelto a los civiles. Esto no ha sido un golpe de estado ni un regreso a los años oscuros como ha sido clasificado por el resto del mundo, sino un acto de valor, por el cual el pueblo Hondureño ha optado por despedir a un empleado incompetente y ponerle fin al circo del Sr. Zelaya. Los noticieros internacionales han tergiversado la información convirtiendo a este señor en una victima. Por esto, yo y todos aquellos que queremos la paz y la democracia en nuestro país queremos que nuestra voz sea escuchada y pido que nos ayuden a transmitir nuestro mensaje.
El mundo solamente ha podido ver un lado de la moneda en el que el Sr. Zelaya ha quedado como la víctima. Hoy dia se le brindo la oportunidad a este señor de hablar frente a Asamblea General de la ONU donde proporcionó un discurso lleno de mentiras. Por dar algunos ejemplos, dijo que la fuerzas militares han mantenido a Honduras en un estado de parálisis por 3 dias, disparando a la gente y lastimando a unas 160 personas, cuando esto es mentira. En el país hay calma, unidad, y fe en el nuevo gobierno. Entre otras mentiras dijo que él vive en una casa de clase media, que está en contra de las dictaduras, y que ha reducido la pobreza en 2 años. Todas estas son mentiras. Me parece que lo justo y correcto en esta situación es que el pueblo de Honduras también tenga la oportunidad de expresarse ante la comunidad internacional y explicar porque apoyamos la destitución de esta persona. No es posible que la ONU y la OEA evalúe la situación sin mandar delegados al país y analizar la situación desde adentro, examinando todas las acusaciones que se han hecho en contra del Sr. Zelaya. La Fiscalia ya ha emitido una orden de arresto a través de la interpol en cuenta de 18 delitos incluyendo narcotráfico, traición a la patria, desvío de recursos y crimen organizado.
New developments include: attempts to bring Zelaya back to the country, pressure from the OAS on Honduras to restore Zelaya, threatening expulsion. The new President, Micheletti, is willing to negotiate on this, but Zeleya is going to face impeachment proceedings should he return.
It seems like Micheletti is holding out an olive branch to Zeleya. If Zeleya returns, don't expect to see him be President much longer.
My money sitch is gonna run me tight. Love it.
Maricela wrote this on Facebook a couple of days ago:
La verdad de Honduras
Share
Tues at 11:45
Es una pena que los gobiernos y las organizaciones internacionales traten a este evento como una barbarie y una acto troglodita. Mas del 90% de la población se opone a la restitución del Sr. Zelaya quien ha pretendido en múltiples ocasiones pasar por encima de la ley y se ha mostrado incapaz de gobernar este país con justicia. Este Sr. ha ofendido los valores y derechos del pueblo Hondureño y la democracia, al haber llegado al poder por medio de mentiras y promesas falsas, y luego introducir ideas izquierdistas a semejanza de Hugo Chávez, quien es un gorila necio que pretende llevar a América Latina por el mismo camino de la antigua Europa socialista. Los militares arrestaron a Manuel Zelaya siguiendo las órdenes de la Corte Suprema de Justicia debido a sus actos criminales, y el mismo dia el poder fué devuelto a los civiles. Esto no ha sido un golpe de estado ni un regreso a los años oscuros como ha sido clasificado por el resto del mundo, sino un acto de valor, por el cual el pueblo Hondureño ha optado por despedir a un empleado incompetente y ponerle fin al circo del Sr. Zelaya. Los noticieros internacionales han tergiversado la información convirtiendo a este señor en una victima. Por esto, yo y todos aquellos que queremos la paz y la democracia en nuestro país queremos que nuestra voz sea escuchada y pido que nos ayuden a transmitir nuestro mensaje.
El mundo solamente ha podido ver un lado de la moneda en el que el Sr. Zelaya ha quedado como la víctima. Hoy dia se le brindo la oportunidad a este señor de hablar frente a Asamblea General de la ONU donde proporcionó un discurso lleno de mentiras. Por dar algunos ejemplos, dijo que la fuerzas militares han mantenido a Honduras en un estado de parálisis por 3 dias, disparando a la gente y lastimando a unas 160 personas, cuando esto es mentira. En el país hay calma, unidad, y fe en el nuevo gobierno. Entre otras mentiras dijo que él vive en una casa de clase media, que está en contra de las dictaduras, y que ha reducido la pobreza en 2 años. Todas estas son mentiras. Me parece que lo justo y correcto en esta situación es que el pueblo de Honduras también tenga la oportunidad de expresarse ante la comunidad internacional y explicar porque apoyamos la destitución de esta persona. No es posible que la ONU y la OEA evalúe la situación sin mandar delegados al país y analizar la situación desde adentro, examinando todas las acusaciones que se han hecho en contra del Sr. Zelaya. La Fiscalia ya ha emitido una orden de arresto a través de la interpol en cuenta de 18 delitos incluyendo narcotráfico, traición a la patria, desvío de recursos y crimen organizado.
New developments include: attempts to bring Zelaya back to the country, pressure from the OAS on Honduras to restore Zelaya, threatening expulsion. The new President, Micheletti, is willing to negotiate on this, but Zeleya is going to face impeachment proceedings should he return.
It seems like Micheletti is holding out an olive branch to Zeleya. If Zeleya returns, don't expect to see him be President much longer.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Maricela gave me little bit more today.
First off, while she is fully in support of Zeleya's removal, she feels that moving him to Costa Rica was not the right call. After reading a bit more, I agree as well. Calling it a coup is more plausible if you remove the leader from the country. Arresting him and calling for impeachment hearings would have led to less condemnation and possibly fewer protestors.
Here's a good article discussing the US take on it. To sum up, basically the US is treading lightly. While they condemn the tactics of taking down Zeleya, they're not insisting upon his reinstatement. Which is in line with policies of previous administrations.
Maricela also wanted me to post this video:
I don't agree with what Krauthammer is saying here, mainly because he uses a Hitler comparison, and I feel that it is a little overblown in this situation. He kind of throws out all the "scary" left wing names -- Chavez, Ortega. It's like a who's who of Latin American leftists.
Zeleya is asking the UN for help in getting himself reinstated.
It seems apparent that no one likes how this was done, like Maricela said, but no one has a problem with the reasoning behind it. The American government, the OAS (Organization of American States), and leaders worldwide seem to be avoiding talking about the reasons behind the arrest.
I will probably keep posting about this every day except when I go to Canada this weekend, because I think it's an important news story that I don't want to see get lost.
------------------------
In non-Honduras news, I finish my last day at my store tomorrow. After I come back from Canada, I'll be in Colonie Center for the summer and most of the fall. It'll be a+++ good times. I'm gonna miss the hell out of my girls though
Theresa will be here tomorrow and Wednesday. She leaves me for Japan on July 25 -- she's going to be a JET!
I know there was something else I wanted to talk about, but I can't remember it now. Oh well!
First off, while she is fully in support of Zeleya's removal, she feels that moving him to Costa Rica was not the right call. After reading a bit more, I agree as well. Calling it a coup is more plausible if you remove the leader from the country. Arresting him and calling for impeachment hearings would have led to less condemnation and possibly fewer protestors.
Here's a good article discussing the US take on it. To sum up, basically the US is treading lightly. While they condemn the tactics of taking down Zeleya, they're not insisting upon his reinstatement. Which is in line with policies of previous administrations.
Maricela also wanted me to post this video:
I don't agree with what Krauthammer is saying here, mainly because he uses a Hitler comparison, and I feel that it is a little overblown in this situation. He kind of throws out all the "scary" left wing names -- Chavez, Ortega. It's like a who's who of Latin American leftists.
Zeleya is asking the UN for help in getting himself reinstated.
It seems apparent that no one likes how this was done, like Maricela said, but no one has a problem with the reasoning behind it. The American government, the OAS (Organization of American States), and leaders worldwide seem to be avoiding talking about the reasons behind the arrest.
I will probably keep posting about this every day except when I go to Canada this weekend, because I think it's an important news story that I don't want to see get lost.
------------------------
In non-Honduras news, I finish my last day at my store tomorrow. After I come back from Canada, I'll be in Colonie Center for the summer and most of the fall. It'll be a+++ good times. I'm gonna miss the hell out of my girls though
Theresa will be here tomorrow and Wednesday. She leaves me for Japan on July 25 -- she's going to be a JET!
I know there was something else I wanted to talk about, but I can't remember it now. Oh well!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Honduras "Coup"
As a Latin American historian, I kinda find this Honduras coup fascinating. One of my friends on Facebook, born and raised in Honduras, wrote as her status about 20 minutes ago:
Para todos aquellos que condenaron el golpe de estado en Honduras: INFORMENSE señores, solo los que estamos aqui adentro sabemos lo que de verdad sucede...si prefieren, veanlo asi...NO fue golpe de estado...simplemente se despidió a un empleado incompetente!!!!...lo unico ilegal aqui es lo que queria hacer Mel por medio de una farsa populachera para perpetuarse en el poder.
Basically, she says (if I'm translating this correctly -- feel free to correct me!) basically, thi wasn't really a bad thing to get rid of this guy. In her current status update, she says to google La Masacre en los Horcones. (this is the only English source that was easily readable I could find, which should tell you something about how much Americans care or know about Honduras). What's interesting about this, for the tl;dr crowd is that this massacre took place on the land owned by Mel Zelaya, who is the father of today's deposed president -- Manuel Zelaya.
As befitting a friend of Chávez, Zelaya is of course claiming the US is involved in this coup. Were this a year ago, I'd probably agree. If this was the 1980s, you betcha. But thankfully Henry Kissenger is nowhere near this White House.
For now, Roberto Micheletti is the interim president of Honduras. Micheletti was the leader of Congress.
To sum up: Honduras underwent a coup d'état because Zeleya, the President wanted to overturn the law that bars him from running for President again. The same thing happened in Venezuela a couple of years ago but Hugo Chávez overcame it. Zeleya is currently in Costa Rica, since the military arrested him at his house and threw him on a plane to get him out of the country.
Maricela, my friend whose status messages are quoted above, posted the following in English:
To all my friends in the international community, I ASK FOR YOUR SUPPORT...We, the people of Honduras are voicing our opinions so that the world can understand that we are standing up for our democracy through the destitution of a person who has abused our nation's constitutions in many different ways, we oppose Zelaya's restitution and ask that you also help us voice our opinions and send positive thoughts our way
This link also explains in a bit more detail just what Zeleya has done in Honduras, which makes it less of a coup and more of an impeachment.
Basically, she says (if I'm translating this correctly -- feel free to correct me!) basically, thi wasn't really a bad thing to get rid of this guy. In her current status update, she says to google La Masacre en los Horcones. (this is the only English source that was easily readable I could find, which should tell you something about how much Americans care or know about Honduras). What's interesting about this, for the tl;dr crowd is that this massacre took place on the land owned by Mel Zelaya, who is the father of today's deposed president -- Manuel Zelaya.
As befitting a friend of Chávez, Zelaya is of course claiming the US is involved in this coup. Were this a year ago, I'd probably agree. If this was the 1980s, you betcha. But thankfully Henry Kissenger is nowhere near this White House.
For now, Roberto Micheletti is the interim president of Honduras. Micheletti was the leader of Congress.
To sum up: Honduras underwent a coup d'état because Zeleya, the President wanted to overturn the law that bars him from running for President again. The same thing happened in Venezuela a couple of years ago but Hugo Chávez overcame it. Zeleya is currently in Costa Rica, since the military arrested him at his house and threw him on a plane to get him out of the country.
Maricela, my friend whose status messages are quoted above, posted the following in English:
To all my friends in the international community, I ASK FOR YOUR SUPPORT...We, the people of Honduras are voicing our opinions so that the world can understand that we are standing up for our democracy through the destitution of a person who has abused our nation's constitutions in many different ways, we oppose Zelaya's restitution and ask that you also help us voice our opinions and send positive thoughts our way
This link also explains in a bit more detail just what Zeleya has done in Honduras, which makes it less of a coup and more of an impeachment.
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