Question Utopia!!

Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons

2005-08-04T11:37:00.000-07:00

For you are chewy and taste good dipped in chocolate.

So I went twice to the rennaisance festival this year with my child. And despite the wonder and awe that crossed her face upon occassion I was struck by the rampant materialism that had replaced the wonder and awe that I used to enjoy there. What happened to the summer days spent innocently (or not so innocently) flirting with cute men covered in dust? Where went the handing of a favor to the knight at the joust or the joy of being thrown a rose by a man on horseback? Where were the fairies running to and fro and peeking out at you from the shadows? Gone were these moments of fantasy.

My daughter's experience was a petting zoo, a butterfly ride, a short peek at a pretend knight on horseback, and a ride on the largest rocking horse ever. She was thrilled to see a climbing wall and a carosel, but did not see a fairy queen or a dragon. She was entranced by the Jacob's Ladder, offering to seperate her from 5 dollars on the off chance she could successfully climb and win twenty, but there was no garden of copper roses or groups of rennies wandering around with a lyric or lymrick. The worst moment for me was when she stopped to hear the bells from the joust arena toll the TransSiberian Orchestra's Christmas medley.

The days of yore are fading from the place that purports to keep them alive. Of course, to be fair to that fair kingdom, it could be that the magic had faded with my youth. As the parent of the small creature asking for money for drinks and snacks and rides and wooden swords, I could easily have transformed the magic of days gone by into rampant materialism on my own. Without any external changes having actually occured.
Either way, I miss the dragons.

Ecofeminism-- What the fuck is that?

2005-06-26T19:56:00.000-07:00

Hey all! There is a growing beleif that many of the environmental issues we face could be changed for the better if we approached them in a similar way we approach the problems faced by women in our society. This is not one of those ethics of care ideologies that ask us to quit being adversarial or such, though I know those have some merit as well. Eve Online is a good place to start for info on Ecofeminism.

http://eve.enviroweb.org/what_is/

Have fun checking it out!!
M

Funny yet Sad, as most of it is true.

2005-06-21T13:25:00.000-07:00

Some Advice From Your Public Defender

Reply to: anon-70300494@craigslist.org
Date: Tue Apr 26 10:49:28 2005

First, let me say I love my job and it is a privilege to work for my clients. I wish I could do more for them. That being said, there are a few things that need to be discussed.

You have the right to remain silent. So SHUT THE FUCK UP. Those cops are completely serious when they say your statements can and will be used against you. There’s just no need to babble on like it’s a drink and dial session. They are just pretending to like you and be interested in you.

When you come to court, consider your dress. If you’re charged with a DUI, don’t wear a Budweiser shirt. If you have some miscellaneous drug charge, think twice about clothing with a marijuana leaf on it or a t-shirt with the “UniBonger” on it. Long sleeves are very nice for covering tattoos and track marks. Try not to be visibly drunk when you show up.

Consider bathing and brushing your teeth. This is just as a courtesy to me who has to stand by you in court. Smoking 5 generic cigarettes to cover up your bad breath is not the same as brushing. Try not to cough and spit on my while you speak and further transmit your strep, flu, and hepatitis A through Z.

I’m a lawyer, not your fairy godmother. I probably won’t find a loophole or technicality for you, so don’t be pissed off. I didn’t beat up your girlfriend, steal that car, rob that liquor store, sell that crystal meth, or rape that 13 year old. By the time we meet, much of your fate has been sealed, so don’t be too surprised by your limited options and that I’m the one telling you about them.

Don’t think you’ll improve my interest in your case by yelling at me, telling me I’m not doing anything for you, calling me a public pretender or complaining to my supervisor. This does not inspire me, it makes me hate you and want to work with you even less.

It does not help if you leave me nine messages in 17 minutes. Especially if you leave them all on Saturday night and early Sunday morning. This just makes me want to stab you in the eye when we finally meet.

For the guys: Don’t think I’m amused when you flirt or offer to “do me.” You can’t successfully rob a convenience store, forge a signature, pawn stolen merchandise, get through a day without drinking, control your temper, or talk your way out of a routine traffic stop. I figure your performance in other areas is just as spectacular, and the thought of your shriveled unwashed body near me makes me want to kill you and then myself.

For the girls: I know your life is rougher than mine and you have no resources. I’m not going to insult you by suggesting you leave your abusive pimp/boyfriend, that you stop taking meth, or that your stop stealing shit. I do wish you’d stop beating the crap out of your kids and leaving your needles out for them to play with because you aren’t allowing them to have a life that is any better than yours.

For the morons: Your second grade teacher was right – neatness counts. Just clean up! When you rob the store, don’t leave your wallet. When you drive into the front of the bank, don’t leave the front license plate. When you rape/assault/rob a woman on the street, don’t leave behind your cell phone. After you abuse your girlfriend, don’t leave a note saying that you’re sorry.

If you are being chased by the cops and you have dope in your pocket – dump it. These cops are not geniuses. They are out of shape and want to go to Krispy Kreme and most of all go home. They will not scour the woods or the streets for your 2 grams of meth. But they will check your pockets, idiot. 2 grams is not worth six months of jail.

Don’t be offended and say you were harassed because the security was following you all over the store. Girl, you were wearing an electronic ankle bracelet with your mini skirt. And you were stealing. That’s not harassment, that’s good store security.

And those kids you churn out: how is it possible? You’re out there breeding like feral cats. What exactly is the attraction of having sex with other meth addicts? You are lacking in the most basic aspects of hygiene, deathly pale, greasy, grey-toothed, twitchy and covered with open sores. How can you be having sex? You make my baby-whoring crack head clients look positively radiant by comparison.

"I didn't put it all the way in." Not a defense.

"All the money is gone now." Not a defense

"The bitch deserved it." Not a defense.

"But that dope was so stepped on, I barely got high." Not a defense.

"She didn't look thirteen." Possibly a defense; it depends.

"She didn't look six." Never a defense, you just need to die.

For those rare clients that say thank-you, leave a voice mail, send a card or flowers, you are very welcome. I keep them all, and they keep me going more than my pitiful COLA increase.

For the idiots who ask me how I sleep at night: I sleep just fine, thank you. There's nothing wrong with any of my clients that could not have been fixed with money or the presence of at least one caring adult in their lives. But that window has closed, and that loss diminishes us all.

Free Speech and Content Discrimination

2005-06-02T12:09:00.000-07:00

Content Discrimination is the restriction on speech based on viewpoint or ideas expressed, as opposed to regulating the time, place, and manner of speech. In order for the government to win a legal challenge in a case of content discrimination, they must prove that the restriction serves a compelling government interest. Ensuring that their President is not met with questions he is unprepared or unwilling to answer is not compelling in the eyes of the law.
Due to the growing pattern of removal of indiviudals with opposing viewpoints from publicly funded events the "Denver Three" and other victims of this discrimination have started the "Don't Privatize My Freedoms" campaign. This campaign is intended to expose the White House pattern of removing citizens from publicly funded events if there are indications they may hold opposing voewpoints. An examination of this pattern shows this issue does not solely effect young people wearing t-shirts that are intended to broadcast anti-agenda messages but also applies to teachers wearing "protect my civil liberties" shirts and college students wearing Young Democrat shirts.
This administration is engaging in content discrimination in violation of the 1st amendment, to join in support of the fight, visit www.denverthree.org and read more about the issue.

White privilege ... a bit from my latest paper take two.

2005-05-25T19:56:00.000-07:00

The issue of white privilege examines the things whites in our society take as a given, that minority members do not have. Many members of white society, while willing to agree that the placement of hazardous treatment facilities in communities of color is wrong, are unwilling to admit that they themselves are over-privileged just as minority members are underprivileged. By turning a blind eye to the issue of white privilege white society perpetuates the behaviors and beliefs that allow them to obtain that privilege to begin with. Peggy McIntosh identified approximately 50 privileges held by whites in our society that are not held by most minorities in her essay, “White Privilege: Unpacking the invisible Knapsack.” Some of them are directly applicable to the issues faced by communities victimized by environmental racism.

Ø If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would want to live.

Ø I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me.

Ø I can be pretty sure of having my voice heard in a group in which I am the only member of my race

Ø I can be casual about whether or not to listen to another person's voice in a group in which s/he is the only member of his/her race.

Ø I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.

Ø I can go home from most meetings of organizations I belong to feeling somewhat tied in, rather than isolated, out-of-place, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance or feared.

These privileges are a given for most members of white society. They are the every day interactions we take for granted, and as a result, we do not understand the complaints members of minority groups’ voice with regards to these interactions. There is one additional privilege missing from Ms. McIntosh’s list:

Ø I fell reasonably certain I can purchase a home in a neighborhood where there are no hazardous waste cites and feel secure the neighborhood will remain that way.

The issue of whiteness as property is another uncomfortable area to examine.

Historically, in our society, members of white society have held the majority of the political power, the land, and the military power. With that historical racial success comes an inheritance of privilege. Whiteness as property is not an examination of white society today choosing to disenfranchise minority groups but rather compares the rights and advantages members of white society have inherited from their predecessors with those inherited by minority groups. A NCES study indicates that children of parents who did not attend college are less likely to succeed in college than children whose parents did attend college. This is true even in cases where the first generation college student is given family support and encouragement. “Whether high school graduates enroll in postsecondary education and whether postsecondary students reach their degree goals depend on many factors, but those whose parents have no education beyond high school are considerably less likely to succeed than those whose parents have completed a bachelor's degree. Students who are nonwhite or from low-income families tend to be disproportionately represented among those whose parents have low education. Multivariate analysis confirms that parents' education remains significant for gaining access to postsecondary education and for persistence and bachelor's degree attainment at 4-year institutions even after controlling for other factors such as income, educational expectations, academic preparation, parental involvement, and peer influence." National Center for Education.

Members of white society are more likely to have parents who completed college than minority members. Therefore they themselves are more likely to finish college, as are their children, and their grandchildren, and so on. There are inherent benefits that come from being white and they are the privilege of belonging to a class who has historically held the power.

Few of these issues are considered socially comfortable and frank examination of the majority of them usually angers non-minority society. But despite the fact that many if not most individual whites are not racist and not actively choosing to disadvantage minority classes, our society as a whole chooses to make this small percentage of our members bear the majority of our environmental burdens. As a result, we as a society, and as individuals, have an ethical duty to examine the current system, and effect positive change to better spread the cost of our environmental excesses more evenly across all of our society members.

24 signs you have grown up

2005-05-23T09:02:00.000-07:00

Normally I do not go in for these "10 signs your from the 80"s" types of emails but this one was so tragically true to life, I felt it needed posting. Enjoy!

24 SIGNS YOU HAVE GROWN UP

1. Your houseplants are alive, and you can't smoke
any of them.
2. Having sex in a twin bed is out of the question.
3. You keep more food than beer in the fridge.
4. 6:00 AM is when you get up, not when you go to
bed.
5. You hear your favorite song on an elevator.
6. You watch the Weather Channel.
7. Your friends marry and divorce instead of hook up
and break up.
8. You go from 130 days of vacation time to 14.
9. Jeans and a sweater no longer qualify as "dressed
up."
10. You're the one calling the police because those
%&@# kids next door won't turn down the stereo.
11. Older relatives feel comfortable telling sex
jokes around you.
12. You don't know what time Taco Bell closes
anymore.
13. Your car insurance goes down and your car
payments go up.
14. You feed your dog Science Diet instead of
McDonald's leftovers.
15. Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.
16. You no longer take naps from noon to 6 P.M.
17. Dinner and a movie is the whole date instead of
the beginning of one.
18. Eating fast food at 3 A.M. would severely upset,
rather than settle, your stomach.
19. You go to the drug store for ibuprofen and
antacid, not condoms and pregnancy tests.
20. A $4.00 bottle of wine is no longer "pretty good
stuff".
21. You actually eat breakfast food at breakfast
time.
22. "I just can't drink the way I used to,"
replaces, "I'm never going
to drink that much again."
23. 90% of the time you spend in front of a computer
is for real work.
24. You drink at home to save money before going to
a bar.

The gift that never needs dusting...

2005-05-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

It all began one year when my parents decided they did not want to give the usual christmas detritus to our family. They wanted to give gifts that meant something but would actually be more meaningful than a "deluxe car jack and emergency travel kit" or a god awful sweater that is never to be worn. They went to World Vision online and bought each of my family members a goat for christmas. We made tree ornaments to go with the gift cards and gave our family gifts that went to really needy families in underdeveloped countries. Most of our family was as excited and happy about these presents as we were, and we have been giving them to each other ever since.

I began looking at heifer international when I realized that World Vision had a less secular purpose. While I have never questioned god, I question what man teaches in her name, and had no desire to spend my money furthering those teachings. I went looking for an organization that would allow me to assist needy families in learning to better their lives without religous overtones. I found Heifer International.

Heifer International promotes an end to world hunger through a sustainable development ideology. Not only does your donation of a bee-hive go to a needy family but with it training on how to use and care for the hive. Additionally each recipient of a Heifer gift must pass another gift on to another needy family in the future. So a recipient of Rabbits must pass on two female and one male rabbit to another family.

Their program promotes a sense of community and turns recipients of charity into those able to pass along charity, a healthy and amazing transistion for these families. So for the upcoming holidays or birthdays, or for fun, buy a gift that will not sit on a high shelf in the guest bathroom or stay buried deeply within a drawer, instead, buy something from the Heifer International gift catalouge.

new allies in a pleasantly unexpected source...

2005-05-13T08:50:00.000-07:00

Wacthing the current adminstration's treatment of environmental issues it is eay to believe that christianity is falling back on it's "God put it here for man so we should consume it" mantra. There are absolutely members of that religion that are, but I am conforted by the numbers of evangelical christians involved in the Creation Care movement, a rather logical, in my opinion, system of belief that argues Man is the Steward of what God has created and therefore we should care for it. Their Evangelical declaration on the care of creation reassures me greatly, for while it is filled with evangelicalism, it is also filled with environmentalism, and the movement can use as many allies as it can get.

A wee bit of my latest paper.

2005-05-09T14:55:00.000-07:00

The Simpsons television show has been touted as having covered every important topic encountered by people. Environmental Racism and the location of Locally Undesirable Land Uses is a topic addressed in “Two Cars In Every Garage And Three Eyes On Every Fish”.

In this episode, Bart and Lisa catch the now infamous three eyed fish, Blinky, in a polluted stream near the nuclear power plant. In response to the negative publicity, the nefarious Nuclear Power Plant owner, Mr. Burns, decides to run for governor and improve his image by having dinner with a “common family”. The family he chooses is the Simpsons. Lisa and Marge Simpson, outraged at the environmental atrocities committed by the power plant, object to this dinner, but are told by Homer Simpson that he needs to agree in order to keep his job. They are even told by the public relations people that they will be given questions to ask rather than being allowed to ask their own. During the dinner, which is being broadcast on live TV, Marge responds to this gag order by serving to Mr. Burns the three eyed fish his power plant’s dumping has created. Mr. Burn’s spits the first bite of fish across the dinner table, resulting in sensationally negative headlines the next morning.

This episode is a perfect example of the alternative methods of advocacy found most effective when representing victims of environmental injustice. The problems faced by minorities in our culture are incredibly difficult to separate and conquer. Does addressing the placement of hazardous waste facilities solve the disparity in criminal charges between whites and minorities? Does a focus on limiting government ability to intentionally place these unattractive land uses in minority communities help increase the effectiveness of their political voice? Do settlements for past tort wrongs keep these community members from facing housing discrimination preventing them from leaving these afflicted neighborhoods?

In reality the reason environmental racism is such a problem is that it stems from a history of discrimination and disparate treatment and curing one symptom will not eradicate the disease. For this reason traditional advocacy methods are ineffective in effectuating change in these cases. The successful litigation of a constructive eviction claim, while providing damages for the victim, does little to increase public awareness of environmental racism or educate community members on how to demand livable conditions from the next slum lord to come along. The goal of an environmental justice advocate is to educate community members and the public, increase the power of the movement, and address the root of the problem, and not the symptoms.

The Simpson’s episode referenced above exhibits the type of non-traditional, awareness building activity that environmental justice advocacy should embrace. How does one advocate address the root of a systemic world-wide epidemic of race-based decision making? Here are some of my ideas -- First, look to the characteristics shared by these communities and determine how to employ non-traditional and traditional advocacy methods to eradicate or ameliorate these issues.

1. Availability of cheap land. What types of advocacy can address this particular piece of the problem? Perhaps an examination of the threatened community for equally threatened animals or land protected by environmental laws. If the community can put an end to a proposed development by declaring their neighborhood the “habitat” of an endangered species under the ESA then the root of the problem, available cheap land, is no longer there.

2. Lack of opposition. Oppose the proposed site. Encourage the community to contact civil rights organizations and environmental groups to write letters and campaign against the placement of the LULU. Urge communities to band together and find other groups or organizations that will assist in advocating against this project. Contact the media, spread the word of the proposed project to other communities and the world at large. Sponsor races as fundraisers, be vocal.

3. Inability to walk with their feet. Educate the members of the community in their rights against discrimination, help them develop their own strategies for dealing with housing discrimination. Urge them to fight these battles and provide support for them when they do.

4. Poverty. Education and empowerment is the limit to the advocates ability to cure poverty.

And now for something completely different ...

2005-05-05T10:31:00.000-07:00

So finals have begun and I will lack the time to post much requiring thought or creativity for the next 2 and 1/2 weeks. Today's post is to a clever little link sent to me by a friend. Enjoy.

LOTR Slightly condensed

Continuity and the more things remain the same

2005-05-02T16:30:00.000-07:00

The Empire Strikes Back is one of my earliest memories. My parents took me to see it when I was five years old and I have been a fan ever since. When I was a little older my father built me a free standing "tree house" shaped like an ATAT walker. It had a little bridge on the side very similar to a walkway in the Ewok city on Endor. I spent my childhood terrorizing friends and sibling by requiring them to play Star Wars at all times. I was always Princess Leia.

Time progressed as time does and the films were re-released in 1997. I went to the opening night showing of each re-release. I cemented my name in the geek hall of fame when I was interviewed by the Rocky Mountain news for the re-release of Star Wars and quoted for answering the question Why did I wait in line so long? with "It's Star Wars, I have been waiting for this my whole life." Of course all the colorful discussion of the pervasiveness of Star Wars quotes, the years my family had spent making Star Wars jokes, and anything else I said that made me sound less crazy was left out of the article.

And now my daughter Marlena is almost four years old and as in love with the idea of Star Wars as I ever was. Princess Leia is her favorite role to play and she always makes her friend Simon play Han Solo. They use paper towel tubes for light sabers and today she informed me she wants a Revenge of the Sith themed birthday party this July.

Do I continue the tradition started so many years ago and bring her to see Revenge of the Sith? Is it time to share the magic chills caused by the opening music that can only be experienced fully in surround sound? Is this Star Wars movie going to live up to the legacy left by the first three films?

This October I turn 30 years old, and this summer I will be able to share with my daughter a film in a series that started when I was two. That this is a tradition that now spans generations is something to consider.

A thanks to the Denver Three

2005-04-30T07:54:00.000-07:00

Many different complaints have been bandied about for the three young democrats who were physically removed from the Bush "town hall meeting" on Social Security. Some have called them whiny jerks, others have likened their arguments to caterwauling. I would like to thank them.

It is true that the issues their case present are not going to cure cancer or end the war in Iraq. They are not trying to overthrow an opressive government or put an end to world hunger. However, while the rest of the world is fighting against all these huge and visable issues, Leslie, Karen, and Alex are keeping an eye on something important, but largely ignored. Small restrictions and infringements on one of our most important rights, freedom of speech.

Why do all the big horrors and battles make it okay for the Republican party to violate the rights of those who have opposing viewpoints? Does the fight to allow stem cell research make our right to free exercise of religion less important? Do we agree to discard our right to a fair trial so we can focus on "more important" things such as drilling in Alaska?

The "Denver Three", as they are being called by the media, are drawing attention to small and subversive violations of the rights that allow us to fight these big battles to begin with. They are asking those in charge to remember that this system of government is supposed to allow conflicting viewpoints, whether they be t-shirts that say "no more blood for oil" or a jacket stating "Fuck the Draft" (Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15). If the republican party wants to avoid situations where President Bush may have to answer awkward questions or the television cameras pick up images of constituents who are not happy with his leadership, than they should pay for these photo ops out of their own pockets. As a taxpaying democrat, I don't want my money spent on supposedly "open town hall meetings" only to see those who would voice my concerns forcibly ejected.

An argument on the side of the seals...

2005-04-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

Each year the Canadian Government sanctions a commercial seal hunt resulting in the death of approximately 300,000 seals. Many of these animals are less than 2 months old. This year the kill quota is 319,500 seals. The kill quota is set as part of a plan created by the Canadian government to kill 1 million seals in three years. The seals are killed and skinned for their pelts, which are then sold for fur and exotic leather.

This year the hunt began off the Gulf of St. Lawerence and ran from March 29 through April 2, 2005. During these few days over 100,000 seal pups were killed. On April 15th the hunt moved off the coast of Newfoundland and approximately another 150,000 harp seals have already been killed there. The hunt continues.

The Animal Alliance of Canada is leading a boycott of Canadian seafood in an attempt to urge the Canadian Government to end their support of this commercial hunt. The AAC has a list of suggested ways in which people can help, here is a link to the ways individuals can aid the boycott: http://www.sealhunt.ca/WhatYouCanDo.html#Individuals

Get an Environmental Justice Assessment for your area!

2005-04-27T17:59:00.000-07:00

Are you interested in learning what environmental nasties lie just outside your door? Would you like to learn what your cultural demographics are and compare them to the placement of Locally Undesireable Land Uses (L.U.L.U.'s)? The EPA has provided a very cool tool with which to do exactly that. Pull up your minority demographics, or your superfund sites, and more by zip code, city, state, etc.

http://www.epa.gov/enviro/ej/index.html

For more about "where you live"

http://www.epa.gov/epahome/whereyoulive.htm

It's not just the size of your footprint, it's the damage you cause around it.

2005-04-25T10:07:00.000-07:00

Advocating a “find more rather than a use less” approach to oil consumption, President Bush has advocated tapping the oil supply at the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Northeast Alaska.

Supporters for the debate argue that the total ecological footprint of the oil drilling operation would be 2000 acres of the 1.5 millions acres that would be opened for development, out of the 19 million acres within ANWR. They argue less than .5% of ANWR would be affected by oil production.

The problem with this argument is that the 2000 acre figure only includes the parts of the project permanently touching the ground in ANWR. Not actually the size of what will change the visual or ecological landscape. For example, an above ground oil pipe rests on support stilts of sorts, and those stilts touch the ground permanently, while above them rests a huge concrete oil pipe snaking through the heretofore pristine wilderness, none of which is computed in the 2000 acre figure.

As for the other aspects of the footprint. Here is some information about the current Alaskan oil drilling operation.

The Prudhoe Bay Alaska oil fields are the largest in North America.
Over 12.8 billion barrels of oil have been pumped since 1977.
Gravel mines have extracted four times more gravel, five times more wells have been drilled and twice the road mileage has been constructed than was predicted in the project's Envrionmental Impact Statement.

Since 1995 Prudhoe Bay has seen an average of 400 spills annually, a total of 1.5 million gallons. Studies show that 28 years after a spill Alaska's soil still contains substantial hydrocarbons and little vegetation has recovered. 56,247 tons of ozone depleting and acid rain causing oxides and nitrogen are emitted annually.

This considerable amount of ecological damage leaves a widespread, long lasting footprint that stretches far beyond the parts of the Prudhoe Bay oil fields that permanently touch the land. It is safe to propose that ANWR would cause similar damage and leave a similarly sized footprint.

In our own Backyard

2005-04-25T09:21:00.000-07:00

The following is an article I came across while researching my paper, it is easy to forget that these issues literally neighbor us, and they are not a distant, remote concern. Enjoy.

Environmental Justice: Fighting Environmental Justice

Lorraine Granado walked into the offices of the Cross Community Coalition recently to discuss the environmental hazards surrounding communities in northeast Denver. Suddenly an odor permeated the room.

"What's that?" Granado asked Michael Maes, director of the coalition's youth training program.

A visitor questioned whether the stench might be from the factories and plants surrounding the Globeville, Elyria, Swansea and Curtis Park neighborhoods, or motorists on Interstate 70.

Depending on the wind currents, Granado says, the smell could be from the Ralston Purina Consumer Products factory, a sewage treatment plant, a lamb rendering plant, nearby refineries or all four.

This time the stench wasn't from the industrial sector. Granado concluded it was probably mildew inside the offices.

"I've learned to distinguish, believe me. We're completely surrounded," said Granado, chairwoman of the coalition's Neighbors for a Toxic-Free Community. The coalition's offices are at East 46th Avenue and Josephine Street.

Minority activists say too many companies have set up shop in the communities of color, disregarding the air and ground pollution they cause.

For some time industry and the four northeast Denver neighborhoods have mixed, much to the dismay of the area's 17,000 residents. Local governments and health departments have been slow to put a clamp on the high-polluting corporations, environmental activists.

Neighbors for a Toxic-Free Community started Colorado People's Environmental and Economic Network, a statewide organization that deals with environmental hotspots affecting minority and low-income communities.

Granado, 46, said the group's goal is to support grassroots groups when they feel they're being infringed on by corporations planning to set up dump sites and incinerators near homes.

Patrick D. Bustos, public affairs specialist for the federal Environmental Protection Agency, said that in Colorado, the areas most saturated with Superfund cleanups are north and northeast Denver and southern Adams County. Superfund sites are targeted by the EPA for corporations that leave abandoned hazardous waste.

"There are a lot of refineries and warehouses up there," Bustos said. "The area could be designated an environmental injustice zone."

Bustos said questions have been raised about the speed in which local and state health departments and the EPA respond to authorized cleanup sites in and around minority communities.

The charge of environmental racism has been criticized by some who feel that non-minority communities also have pollution and hazardous waste. Bustos said the criticism is unwarranted even if industries were operating before families moved in to work.

"Those are lose-lose arguments," Bustos said. "That doesn't give them the right to do what they historically have done. It doesn't mean you provide less protection for these people. It doesn't mean you're less stringent with penalties or that the cleanup process is slower. Those people are still taxpayers and citizens whose health is at risk."

Activists against environmental injustice point to reports which have documented that industries target minority and low-income neighborhoods to build factories because they are considered less resistant and have less political prowess to challenge wealthy companies.

The National Law Journal released a series in 1992 documenting the racial divisions on how the U.S. government cleans up hazardous wastes and penalizes violators.

"White communities see faster action, better results and stiffer penalties than communities where blacks, Hispanics and other minorities live," The National Law Journal concluded.

Seventy-two percent of the neighborhoods around I-70 and east of I-25 are Latino and 42% are Spanish-speaking. Nineteen percent are white.

In 1991, Neighbors for a Toxic-Free Community blocked a move by Bio-Waste Inc. to place a medical waste incinerator at East 51st Avenue and York Street. It would have been built over a landfill that emits methane, residents charged.

John Smith, president of the Far Northeast Neighbors, Inc., which represents the racially-mixed community of Montbello and Green Valley Ranch, had been working with Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Shell Oil Co. and the EPA to clean up the arsenal.

Smith said communities simply aren't experienced to deal with large businesses.

"What's out there is not good for us health-wise," Smith said. "But in the last three years (businesses) have kept us appraised of what's going on. They have held meetings in our neighborhood. Prior, to that we had been ignored when they were talking to community organizations like those in Commerce City.”

The Superfund sites that straddle north Denver and south Adams County include:

· Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Adams County, cited for discharging pesticides, nerve gas products and other toxins into the ground water and soil at about 100 areas.

· Broderick Wood Products in Adams County, cited for releasing creosote in the soil.

· Woodbury Chemical Co. in Adams County, sited for discharging pesticides and solvents in the soil and drainage ditch.

· Sand Creek Industrial in Adams County, cited for releasing pesticides, solvents and heavy metals in the soils and groundwater.

· ASARCO Inc. in Denver's Globeville community, cited and sued by the state health department and residents. After a long legal battle ASARCO was found guilty of knowingly contaminating surrounding land with cadmium, arsenic and other heavy metals.

Neighbors for a Toxic-Free Community rallied Globeville residents to legally fight ASARCO, the metals processing factory. The residents won a $24 million settlement from ASARCO. The company is also spending $38 million to clean up the neighborhood.

Since the settlement ASARCO has cooperated with citizens to inform them of the status of the environmental cleanup.

The company also created the Globeville Information Center for residents. Granado said that before the settlement ASARCO did everything but cooperate.

"ASARCO kicked, screamed and fought all the way," Granado recalled.

In some cases, the blame for noise and air pollution falls on the government. Residents haven't forgotten that the Department of Transportation built I-70 through residential sections of northeast Denver, dividing neighborhoods.

Plans to expand east and westbound I-70 to four lanes are in the works, which would lead to the loss of more houses. The National Western Stock Show also is expanding.

"The majority of the residents who live here work," Granado said. "We're talking about people who work every day. Yet we are the expendable people."

The Borgen Project

2005-04-22T14:37:00.000-07:00

Purporting to bring global issues to the masses, The Borgen Project is a highly valuable resource. Especially to those who are interested in changing society's current priorities. Here are some of those priorities now:

Political Priorities by the Dollar
$66 average per citizen expenditures of
industrial nations on international aid.

$33 U.S. per citizen expenditures on
international aid.

$1,400 U.S. per citizen expenditure on the
Military Department.

Let's compare some of the numbers needed to end, or seriously reduce, world poverty, and our military spending:

World Game Institute's Annual estimates.

• Eliminate Starvation and Malnutrition ($19 billion)
• Provide Shelter ($21 billion)
• Remove Landmines ($4 billion)
• Eliminate Nuclear Weapons ($7 billion)
• Refugee Relief ($5 billion)
• Eliminate Illiteracy ($5 billion)
• Provide Clean, Safe Water ($10 billion)
• Stabilize Population ($10.5 billion)
• Prevent Soil Erosion ($24 billion)

Food and Agricultural
Organization estimates:
$40-$60 billion a year to cut poverty
in half before 2015.

World Food Summit Figures
Incremental annual public investment needed to meet the World Food Summit
goal of halving world hunger before 2015.
• $5.2 billion: Ensure access to food for the most needy.
• $2.3 billion: Improve agricultural productivity in poor rural communities.
• $7.4 billion: Develop and conserve natural resources.
• $7.8 billion: Expand rural infrastructure and market access.
• $1.1billion: Strengthen capacity for knowledge generation and dissemination.
Total investment costs: $23 billion.
Estimated annual benefits of meeting WFS goal: $120 billion

And now for the Military Spending ...

The U.S. accounts for more than half of the military spending of the world, the entire world, not just the top 3 nations. The U.S. Military budget is more than 37 times the size of the combined spending of the 7 Rogue states.

The envelope please... Our current Military Budget is $419 Billion dollars.

"If the political attention and funding that went into Iraq had gone
toward poverty-reduction; hunger could have been eliminated
globally. Few fully realize the enormous financial burden of war.
There is nothing financially comparable."

The Borgen Project is an important one, please support it.

http://borgenproject.org

Criminal justice and the Hip Hop Nation

2005-04-20T10:52:00.000-07:00

If I ruled the world, imagine that ...

I'd open every cell in Attica, send "em to Africa... .

If I ruled the world, imagine that

I'd free all my sons, I'd love "em love "em baby

- Nas

During my visit to Yale University I was suprised to be introduced to the Hip Hop nation in a political context. As a member of socitey who enjoys the benefits of my race, otherwise known as White Privelage, I knew the criminal justice system was unfair, but I still believed the unfairness was in the way our society treats African American criminals, rather than the way it treat African Americans period.
Paul Butler of GW Law presented an amazing exploration of not only the disparity between treatment of african americans in the criminal justice system, but their response to it through the study of Hip Hop. Hip Hop, the music I hear blaring from car stereos and assoicate with Bling Bling and low baggy pants, is for the most part, a poetic and poignant expression of one culture's fury and rage at the disparate treatment it has been subjected to.

Below are some excerpts from the article. It was published in the 2004 Stanford Law Rewiew and is entitled: PUNISHMENT AND ITS PURPOSES: SYMPOSIUM ARTICLE: Much Respect: Toward a Hip-Hop Theory of Punishment by Paul Butler. I urge everyone to read it.

Shout to my niggaz that's locked in jail

P.O.W.'s thats still in the war for real ...

But if he's locked in the penitentiary, send him some energy

They all winners to me

- Jay-Z

"Some scholars and activists have suggested that the effect of the cultural depiction of crime is that many Americans have exaggerated concerns about being victimized by black and Latino men. ¹⁸ Some lawmakers seem to exploit these concerns for political reasons. ¹⁹ One result is that some punishment seems driven by racial stereotypes. ²⁰

The most frequently cited contemporary example is harsher federal penalties for crack cocaine than powder cocaine. ²¹ Crack cocaine is powder cocaine that is cooked with baking soda until it forms small solid pieces. Crack is smoked rather than inhaled. It is less expensive than powder cocaine and has a briefer intoxicating effect.

A star basketball player, Len Bias, died as a result of a cocaine overdose in 1986. ²² He was presumed to have ingested crack, although there was actually no evidence as to what form of cocaine he had consumed. Bias was African American, and crack cocaine was thought to be the preferred form in the black community. ²³ Bias' death focused the media's attention on crack cocaine. Congress responded with one of the most severe punishment schemes for a drug in American history. ²⁴ It instituted a mandatory sentence for possession of crack cocaine, but not powder cocaine. The punishment for sellers was especially harsh. To receive the same sentence as a crack distributor, a powder distributor must possess one hundred times the quantity of cocaine. ²⁵ For example, the distributor of five grams of crack, which is enough for 25 doses and has a street value of approximately $ 500, receives the same sentence as the distributor of 500 grams of powder, which is enough for 3000 doses and is worth $ 40,000.

There is little scientific support for the proposition that crack cocaine [*989] merits more punishment than powder on a harm principle, and virtually no support for the hundred-to-one federal differential. The U.S. Sentencing Commission has proposed that the distinction be reduced. Likewise, President Clinton's drug czar recommended no disparity in punishment ²⁶, and, during the presidential campaign of 2000, George W. Bush also rejected a distinction. ²⁷ Thus far, however, Congress has refused to budge, in part because of the strong cultural bias against crack cocaine. Whether warranted or not, crack has a poorer reputation than powder. Culture, not logic or science, is the best explanation for why and how crack users are punished."

56 Stan. L. Rev. 983, 989

[A] nigga wit' nothin' to lose

One of the few who's been accused and abused

Of the crime of poisonin' young minds

But you don't know shit "til you've been in my shoes

-- NWA

"What happens when many of the leaders of popular culture are arrested and incarcerated? For the hip-hop nation, this is not a theoretical question. Many of its most prominent artists have been involved in the criminal justice system. ⁷⁸ So many have been arrested that the Village Voice recently questioned whether the New York Police Department has a secret unit dedicated to hip-hop artists. ⁷⁹ Police in Miami admitted that they secretly watched and kept dossiers on hip-hop stars who visited South Florida. ⁸⁰

A telling example of the role of punishment in the hip-hop nation can be seen in a recent issue of Source magazine, which bills itself as the "bible" of hip-hop. The March 2004 cover featured the tag-line: "Hip-Hop Behind Bars: Are Rappers the New Target of America's Criminal Justice System?" ⁸¹ The magazine's cover featured mug shots of ten hip-hop artists who are incarcerated or awaiting trial. ⁸²

The statistics about rap artists reflect the statistics about young African American and Latino men. In the mid-1990s, one study found that one in three young black men were under criminal justice supervision. ⁸³ An African [*997] American man born in 1991 has a 29% chance of being imprisoned, compared with a 16% chance for a Latino man, and a 4% chance for a white man. ⁸⁴ There are more young black men in prison than in college. ⁸⁵

The reaction of artists in the hip-hop community to the mass incarceration of African Americans has been to interrogate the social meaning of punishment. Prison, as depicted in rap music, is a placement center for the undereducated, the unemployed, and, especially, aspiring capitalists who, if not locked up, would successfully challenge white elites. Big L, for example, complains that the police "wanna lock me up even though I'm legit/ they can't stand to see a young brother pockets get thick." ⁸⁶

Criminologists and legal scholars recently have emphasized the role of social norms in preventing crime. In the strongest form, the idea is that cultural (or subcultural) forces are more important than criminal law in determining conduct. We care more about how people in our communities label us than how the law does. The appropriate role of criminal law, then, is to support social mores that contribute to public safety. Criminal law fails when it subverts those norms. ⁸⁷ When, for example, incarceration is not sufficiently stigmatized, it loses its value as deterrence.

To say that hip-hop destigmatizes incarceration understates the point: Prison, according to the artists, actually stigmatizes the government. In a culture that celebrates rebelliousness, prison is the place for unruly "niggas" who otherwise would upset the political or economic status quo. In this sense, inmates are heroic figures. ⁸⁸ In "A Ballad for the Fallen Soldier," Jay-Z sends a "shout out to my niggaz that's locked in jail/ P.O.W.'s that's still in the war for real ... But if he's locked in the penitentiary, send him some energy/ They all winners to me." ⁸⁹

While glorification of outlaws is certainly not limited to hip-hop, ⁹⁰ the culture's depiction of the criminal as a socially useful actor is different. Hip- [*998] hop justifies rather than excuses some criminal conduct. Breaking the law is seen as a form of rebelling against the oppressive status quo. Rappers who brag about doing time are like old soldiers who boast of war wounds."

56 Stan. L. Rev. 983, 996

Freedom and power to determine our destiny...

Black juries when our brothers are tried in court

- Paris

"Hip-hop lyrics exhibit a strong conviction that wrongdoers should suffer consequences for their acts. In the words of Jay-Z: "Now if you shoot my dog, I'ma kill yo' cat/ Just the unwritten laws in rap - know dat/ For every action there's a reaction." ¹⁰⁶ The culture abounds with narratives about revenge, retaliation, and avenging wrongs. The narrator in Eve's "Love is Blind" kills the man who abuses her close friend. ¹⁰⁷ Likewise, Nelly warns "if you take a life, you gon' lose yours too." ¹⁰⁸

At the same time, hip-hop culture seems to embrace criminals. In Angie Stone's "Brotha," for example, she sings, "To everyone of y'all behind bars/ You know that Angie loves ya." ¹⁰⁹ To an incarcerated person Jay-Z seeks to "send ... some energy" because "if he's locked in the penitentiary ... . They all winners to me." ¹¹⁰ This kind of warm acknowledgement of the incarcerated is commonplace in hip-hop, and virtually unheard of in other popular culture, which largely ignores the two million Americans in prison."

56 Stan. L. Rev. 983, 1002