Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Outrageous Acts of Hate
I saw this clip on CNN yesterday morning and found these people to be completely despicable.
Yet another video featuring the ignorant masses.
... I'm honestly at a loss for words.
Yet another video featuring the ignorant masses.
... I'm honestly at a loss for words.
HRC visits Wasilla
You're gay. Ok. Now let's fix you and make you straight. *eye roll*
This video is great! Virtual high-five to all participants.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Genocide in the Americas
On Monday, our nation will commemorate Christopher Columbus for his discovery of the “new world” in 1492.
How disgusting is it that a majority of American people still believe that Columbus was a man to be honored, a hero to be glorified for “unearthing” a world that was already populated by an estimated 57.3 MILLION indigenous peoples? Keep in mind this number is not exact; it is impossible to ever know how many natives inhabited the Americas and the Caribbean. This number is put forth by William M. Denevan in The Native Population of the Americas in 1492.
After 1492, it has been argued there was a population decline on the order of about 95% before the trend was reversed and the population began to recover. The true history of Columbus is not being taught in our nation’s schools, where there is no mention of the explorer’s inhumane treatment of the Indian people or his business of slave trade.
In essence, this holiday does no more than admire a man who opened the door to European colonization, the exploitation of native peoples and the slave trade.
As some of us know: the Spanish monarch invested in his excursion but, on the condition that Columbus would repay this investment with profits by bringing back gold, spices, and other items from Asia. The stress to repay this debt back led Columbus to bounce back and forth between Caribbean islands stealing anything of value… as is documented in his diaries. Unable to contact the necessary figures in China and India, he decided to pay back his debt with human lives. This wasn’t a new avenue to him as he had previously transported slaves to Portugal. 1,200 Taino Indians were torn from their homes in Hispaniola and crammed into ships which were destined for Spain. Upon their arrival they were treated as mere animals and sold into slavery. Hundreds died while making the ocean voyage and their bodies were tossed into the Atlantic as if they were nothing but rubbish.
Those Indians that were not sent to Spain were forced to work on plantations and in dangerous mines. Columbus and his “cronies” often hunted Indians for sport; they beat, raped, tortured, killed and often fed the Indian bodies to their hunting dogs. Four years after the arrival of Columbus to Hispaniola, one-third of the population had either been enslaved or murdered. Many researchers believe that within 50 years the entire Taino population had been wiped out. The plantation owners then turned their sites on the American mainland and to African slaves.
Spain and Portugal began their colonization efforts in 1492 as well.
The Spanish conquistadors established two new systems of rule over the indigenous population of the Americas known as the repartimiento and encomienda systems. The encomiendo system entrusted large tracts of land to certain Spaniards, they could demand tribute and services from the resident natives, using military force if necessary. Eventually the Spanish themselves realized that the encomienda system, a form of slavery, gave too much power to too few, so it was replaced with the repartimiento system, which divided the land into smaller plots known as haciendas. These haciendas now owned by the elite, required the resident natives to work for the land owners.
The English approached the New World very differently. They wanted the land for themselves, rather than to exploit Indian labor and native resources. As the colonies grew, they considered the Indians to be an obstacle, to be pushed out or killed to make way for more colonists. This pattern of genocide continued after the American Revolution.
I urge you to join the growing alliance of people that feel Columbus Day celebrates colonialism, oppression and genocide and unite to transform it. Re-examine the past and rectify the historical records.
For more information visit: http://www.transformcolumbusday.org/
How disgusting is it that a majority of American people still believe that Columbus was a man to be honored, a hero to be glorified for “unearthing” a world that was already populated by an estimated 57.3 MILLION indigenous peoples? Keep in mind this number is not exact; it is impossible to ever know how many natives inhabited the Americas and the Caribbean. This number is put forth by William M. Denevan in The Native Population of the Americas in 1492.
After 1492, it has been argued there was a population decline on the order of about 95% before the trend was reversed and the population began to recover. The true history of Columbus is not being taught in our nation’s schools, where there is no mention of the explorer’s inhumane treatment of the Indian people or his business of slave trade.
In essence, this holiday does no more than admire a man who opened the door to European colonization, the exploitation of native peoples and the slave trade.
As some of us know: the Spanish monarch invested in his excursion but, on the condition that Columbus would repay this investment with profits by bringing back gold, spices, and other items from Asia. The stress to repay this debt back led Columbus to bounce back and forth between Caribbean islands stealing anything of value… as is documented in his diaries. Unable to contact the necessary figures in China and India, he decided to pay back his debt with human lives. This wasn’t a new avenue to him as he had previously transported slaves to Portugal. 1,200 Taino Indians were torn from their homes in Hispaniola and crammed into ships which were destined for Spain. Upon their arrival they were treated as mere animals and sold into slavery. Hundreds died while making the ocean voyage and their bodies were tossed into the Atlantic as if they were nothing but rubbish.
Those Indians that were not sent to Spain were forced to work on plantations and in dangerous mines. Columbus and his “cronies” often hunted Indians for sport; they beat, raped, tortured, killed and often fed the Indian bodies to their hunting dogs. Four years after the arrival of Columbus to Hispaniola, one-third of the population had either been enslaved or murdered. Many researchers believe that within 50 years the entire Taino population had been wiped out. The plantation owners then turned their sites on the American mainland and to African slaves.
Spain and Portugal began their colonization efforts in 1492 as well.
The Spanish conquistadors established two new systems of rule over the indigenous population of the Americas known as the repartimiento and encomienda systems. The encomiendo system entrusted large tracts of land to certain Spaniards, they could demand tribute and services from the resident natives, using military force if necessary. Eventually the Spanish themselves realized that the encomienda system, a form of slavery, gave too much power to too few, so it was replaced with the repartimiento system, which divided the land into smaller plots known as haciendas. These haciendas now owned by the elite, required the resident natives to work for the land owners.
The English approached the New World very differently. They wanted the land for themselves, rather than to exploit Indian labor and native resources. As the colonies grew, they considered the Indians to be an obstacle, to be pushed out or killed to make way for more colonists. This pattern of genocide continued after the American Revolution.
I urge you to join the growing alliance of people that feel Columbus Day celebrates colonialism, oppression and genocide and unite to transform it. Re-examine the past and rectify the historical records.
For more information visit: http://www.transformcolumbusday.org/
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Let ME decide for you!
Feminism: the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the all people.
I’m highly aggravated with the right-wing media touting Palin as a feminist; simply having a vagina does not automatically make one a feminist. To call one a feminist is implying that one is an advocate of ending oppression and supporting people’s rights to make choices that govern their lives. This is an ideology that Palin does not support. She doesn’t support women to make decisions concerning their body. No, she wants to make that decision for us. She wants to overturn Roe v Wade and make it illegal for a pregnant woman to have an abortion, even in the case of rape. First of all, not every woman wants to be a mother; just because we are the “givers of life” does not mean that our bodies should be treated as mere incubators. Second, a woman goes through the emotional and physical trauma of being raped and happens to get pregnant. Is it really logical, let a lone ethical, to force that women to postpone her healing process for nine months due to the “sanctity of life?” Maybe a better way to reduce the amounts of abortions would be to provide better health care to more people…hmmm… now that’s a hell of an idea! Instead of abstinence-only health education, why not provide our children with a proper sex education. Teach them the risks and how they can be better prepared. Kids these days are having sex younger than ever and a lot of them having babies and acquiring STD’s because no one is educating them. Providing kids with condoms doesn’t give them a golden ticket to get laid, it’s a tool to keep them safe.
Choice…back to choice.
Palin doesn’t support gay and lesbian folks in their decision to get married, because apparently marriage is only between a man and a woman. Those gays and lesbians are second-class citizens, let’s deny them rights! She’s ok with denying benefits for same-sex couples further claiming, “I believe that honoring the family structure is that important.” So families can only exist if everyone is straight?
There are a multitude of reasons why I can’t stand Sarah Palin, but I wanted to stress the reasons that I believe she is NOT a feminist, despite the garbage she has been spewing throughout her campaign. Another issues that been a bur in my side is the fact that the right wing has persistently attacked the media as being sexist for their aggressive questioning of her record and readiness to be in a position of power; these same people previously ignored the claims of sexism from the Clinton campaign. That tells me that the conservatives believe that it’s ok to be sexist to a woman… as long as that woman is a liberal. Besides, just because Palin is a woman doesn’t mean that she should have sanctuary from the media. There is a reason the media has been quizzical about her record, because Americans deserve a VP that will be ready to lead if the situation arises.
Finally, we have a woman in the race for the White House and its Sarah Palin. What a complete and utter disappointment. Palin has proved through her interview with Couric and her debate against Biden that she possesses very little knowledge of what’s going on in the real world. Winking repeatedly and constantly using the word “maverick” isn’t going to fool voters that actually have functioning brains in their skulls. Palin likes to plug that’s she’s that everyday middle-class American--a Joe Six-Pack--and that’s what the people need. There is no way in hell that I would go two houses down to my average American neighbor and ask them to run my country, that reasoning is completely asinine. The Pew Research Center surveyed a representative national sample of 1,502 adults in February of 2007 to get a feel for the American public’s news habits; this survey found that only 69% of the respondents could name the current vice president, 66% knew their state’s governor, and a mere 37% knew that the Chief Justice is conservative. Sounds to me like quite a few Joe Six-Packs could use some good ol’ news in their lives.
I’d like to end my rant with something I found deliciously ironic… especially considering I’m a fan of that terrible 80’s movie Top Gun. If McCain is Maverick then that must make Sarah Palin….you guessed it! Goose! We all know what happened to the poor and unfortunate Goose; he crashed and burned (well actually he ejects into the cockpit canopy and is killed on impact, but you get the point). Looks like Palin is keepin’ to the script.
For the record: Goose was my favorite.
I’m highly aggravated with the right-wing media touting Palin as a feminist; simply having a vagina does not automatically make one a feminist. To call one a feminist is implying that one is an advocate of ending oppression and supporting people’s rights to make choices that govern their lives. This is an ideology that Palin does not support. She doesn’t support women to make decisions concerning their body. No, she wants to make that decision for us. She wants to overturn Roe v Wade and make it illegal for a pregnant woman to have an abortion, even in the case of rape. First of all, not every woman wants to be a mother; just because we are the “givers of life” does not mean that our bodies should be treated as mere incubators. Second, a woman goes through the emotional and physical trauma of being raped and happens to get pregnant. Is it really logical, let a lone ethical, to force that women to postpone her healing process for nine months due to the “sanctity of life?” Maybe a better way to reduce the amounts of abortions would be to provide better health care to more people…hmmm… now that’s a hell of an idea! Instead of abstinence-only health education, why not provide our children with a proper sex education. Teach them the risks and how they can be better prepared. Kids these days are having sex younger than ever and a lot of them having babies and acquiring STD’s because no one is educating them. Providing kids with condoms doesn’t give them a golden ticket to get laid, it’s a tool to keep them safe.
Choice…back to choice.
Palin doesn’t support gay and lesbian folks in their decision to get married, because apparently marriage is only between a man and a woman. Those gays and lesbians are second-class citizens, let’s deny them rights! She’s ok with denying benefits for same-sex couples further claiming, “I believe that honoring the family structure is that important.” So families can only exist if everyone is straight?
There are a multitude of reasons why I can’t stand Sarah Palin, but I wanted to stress the reasons that I believe she is NOT a feminist, despite the garbage she has been spewing throughout her campaign. Another issues that been a bur in my side is the fact that the right wing has persistently attacked the media as being sexist for their aggressive questioning of her record and readiness to be in a position of power; these same people previously ignored the claims of sexism from the Clinton campaign. That tells me that the conservatives believe that it’s ok to be sexist to a woman… as long as that woman is a liberal. Besides, just because Palin is a woman doesn’t mean that she should have sanctuary from the media. There is a reason the media has been quizzical about her record, because Americans deserve a VP that will be ready to lead if the situation arises.
Finally, we have a woman in the race for the White House and its Sarah Palin. What a complete and utter disappointment. Palin has proved through her interview with Couric and her debate against Biden that she possesses very little knowledge of what’s going on in the real world. Winking repeatedly and constantly using the word “maverick” isn’t going to fool voters that actually have functioning brains in their skulls. Palin likes to plug that’s she’s that everyday middle-class American--a Joe Six-Pack--and that’s what the people need. There is no way in hell that I would go two houses down to my average American neighbor and ask them to run my country, that reasoning is completely asinine. The Pew Research Center surveyed a representative national sample of 1,502 adults in February of 2007 to get a feel for the American public’s news habits; this survey found that only 69% of the respondents could name the current vice president, 66% knew their state’s governor, and a mere 37% knew that the Chief Justice is conservative. Sounds to me like quite a few Joe Six-Packs could use some good ol’ news in their lives.
I’d like to end my rant with something I found deliciously ironic… especially considering I’m a fan of that terrible 80’s movie Top Gun. If McCain is Maverick then that must make Sarah Palin….you guessed it! Goose! We all know what happened to the poor and unfortunate Goose; he crashed and burned (well actually he ejects into the cockpit canopy and is killed on impact, but you get the point). Looks like Palin is keepin’ to the script.
For the record: Goose was my favorite.
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