I is for Inequality

From a piece in the NYTimes today about Obama's proposed budget agenda:
Summer's little hypothetical grabbed me.
"As a result [of rising pretax incomes and reductions in tax rates for the wealthiest households over previous three decades], the average post-tax income of the top 1 percent of households has jumped by roughly $1 million since 1979, adjusted for inflation, to $1.4 million. Pay for most families has risen only slightly faster than inflation.

Before becoming Mr. Obama’s top economic adviser, Lawrence H. Summers liked to tell a hypothetical story to distill the trend. The increase in inequality, Mr. Summers would say, meant that each family in the bottom 80 percent of the income distribution was effectively sending a $10,000 check, every year, to the top 1 percent of earners."

Salaam.

Phrase of the Day

SWAG: Scientific Wild-Ass Guess
"I wasn't sure, so I SWAGed it."
"Give me your best SWAG."

Salaam.

The Joys of Public Transit

I do not own a car. I am hoping I will not have to own one for awhile. I live close enough to walk to my department and the rest of campus and I take the bus everywhere else. People with cars generally don't grasp riding the bus; they believe it must be wildly burdensome, uncomfortable, etc. It's generally none of those things. Most people are totally oblivious to the entertainment value.

This morning I finally got around to making a grocery run after my stocks had dwindled to tea and tortillas. I sat my pack down at the bus stop to wait for the 10 just as a wiry man sporting a thick Nordic sweater and even thicker Manson-esque head of hair and beard. His nails were a few inches long, but neat, and he balanced his cigarillo delicately between two fingers. He kindly informed me that the grocery store had just wrapped up its weekly free doughnuts and coffee and then casually asked if I knew I could be arrested just for sitting at a bus stop. He told me he had been arrested for criminal trespassing for sitting at a bus stop and this led to a discussion of rights and organizing the people. As somebody who will talk to anyone we kept the conversation going for several minutes. Then he told me something new.

"Did you know that Oprah ran for President recently? I'm sure glad she didn't get it because can you really imagine Oprah as Commander in Chief? She'd nuke everybody!"

He laughed as I pondered the idea of Oprah as a Strangelovean leader of the free world.

"I'm glad we have a black president, though. All the wars this country's ever fought were started by white men."

His bus pulled up, headed north, and we parted.
Salaam.

Love

Walking home from school last night I passed a small homeless man with a squat face dragging his belongings heaped in a shopping cart. It was a bit windy and I wasn't prepared. I guess I looked chilled because he waved as he approached and I took out my ear buds.
"I just left a scarf on a pole down the street there and you go on and take it and wrap yourself up," he said with a toothless smile.
I thanked him profusely and told him that since I was only about a block from home I'd leave it for someone who needed it more.
We wished each other goodnight and carried on in our own ways.

Salaam

St. Jerome Ventures From Cave

Lest you think I am all work and no play... I went downtown with friends to enjoy an all-you-can-eat sugared cereal fueled cartoon fest this morning at our local indie cinema. I pretty much ate my own body weight in Froot Loops, Honeycombs, Lucky Charms and the like, though I did eat a bowl of Alphabits for the educational value. Most of the cartoons were from the later years of my childhood, so I hope in the future they'll plumb the depths of television history. I was denied a chance to see Thundar the Barbarian and that show's apocalyptic opening sequence that I loved freaking out to every week as a kid (the moon cracks in HALF people!). And, who knew how much sexual subtext is in those shows, or at least how much could be pulled out by a theater full of sugar-addled adults.

Best of all, they let you carry off the leftover boxes, so our house is now three boxes richer. And mine came with a toy! A little regression can be a good thing. Now if I could just find some protein to counteract the eventual blood sugar crash....

Salaam.

Post-Racial?

For anyone naive enough to believe Pres. Obama has magically destroyed racism in this country and that we can all sit around the fire together now, roast marshmallows and sing "Kumbayah", I offer these comments heard by relative in a recent adult Sunday School class:

"Looks like I'll have to take my gun up to Washington because there's a coon in the White House."
(sick excuse for a joke met with much laughter)

(in response to believing an older male student believed Mrs. Obama to be "attractive", when in fact he was talking about the late Mrs. Kennedy)
"Oh, I thought you were talking about that thing living there now!"
(again, met with laughter)

My relative may have been disgusted by what she heard, but she also remained silent, not that speaking out against those around you is easy. Keep that in mind next time someone tells you how nice it is that we've "gotten over" race in this country or, I suspect, anywhere else.

Salaam.

St. Jerome Has Nothing on Me

Listening to: Sufi songs and zikr from Kurdistan and Jonatha Brooke, The Works

I've always loved representations of St. Jerome in art. There he is in all his withered glory, far from the distractions of society, living in a cave or spartan cell.

That's sort of me these days. I am either on campus or working in my cell - er - room. I am subsisting primarily on harira, which I cook up weekly in large batches, am fueled by copious amounts of tea and Turkish coffee. I have been known to forget to eat, but so far, I am more focused than I've ever been. I just don't really go out and do anything other than school work.

And the thing is, I am fine with it. I may be a nerdy hermit, but I like it. Tonight, I am pulling sources for a literature review on Islam and Social Work. I still have readings on human development theories and the juvenile justice system. And then there's the research on the MENA region for a project in my International Social Work course, my one elective this semester.

Our theory course is giving me fits, mostly because the sheer amount of information and the fact that I am having trouble processing it all because I have yet to grasp how it will fit into my future work. It's a course that leans more towards clinical practitioners, not macro focused folks like me. The other two - Social Policy and International Social Work - are more my thing, but we all have to have these foundational courses, so there's no sense complaining. Meanwhile, I am meeting with folks in the Middle East Studies department, trying to craft one or two independent studies to fit into my program on Islam and social development and trying to figure out how to squeeze Arabic courses into my life. I aspire to someday, someday, swim laps again.

So, if my posts are few and far between, that's why. But, I am happy.

Salaam.

The Future of Guantanamo?

Attributed reports in Reuters and AP are saying the Guantanamo are being suspended pending directive from the new Obama administration. We'll see what tomorrow brings. Resolving this shame is something I will hold our new president to, but if true it's a good note to start on.

Salaam.

Observations on a day...

Making my way across campus towards the School of Social Work as fast as I could, just in time to see Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduce Aretha Franklin, who still has it...in spades.

As Sen. Feinstein introduced Chief Justice John Roberts, who administered the oath of office, and asked that everyone stand, all of us in the darkened auditorium stood, one by one, and silently watched Barack Hussein Obama be sworn in. I am not too proud to say I cried.

The remarkable, Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, truly a living-legend, making us all smile:
"Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around ... when yellow will be mellow ... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen."

All of us applauding wildly as the wheels of former-President Bush's helicopter left the ground. Of course, he flew off to the state I currently reside in, so I'm STILL not rid of him! Gah!

Cameras panning over the crowd in front of the Capitol pausing above two people with huge signs with the now-famous O logo that read, "Obama to speak in Morocco". I have no idea what they referred to, but as a gal who once lived there, I sure hope he'll go.

Reading an email from a friend whose mother was deeply involved in the civil rights movement in this country: "Mom pretty has pretty much cried at the drop of a hat all day, but it's fun because it's a happy thing."

A house built by slaves now houses the first African-American president.

Sitting back from the table in the campus cafe and realizing a weight had been lifted - from me, from all of us - and that I could literally feel it lifted. And then getting back to my Arabic.

Missing Istanbul! I saw a photo of what looked to be a raucous inauguration viewing at a club off Istiklal Caddesi.

Realizing I am going to be very, very busy from here on out, but very, very happy about what I'm doing.

Salaam.

A New Day

I begin graduate school today - I have Arabic in an hour and my social policy class later - and have a wee case of the jitters after being out of school for 11 years. I woke up several times last night, paranoid my alarm wouldn't go off. And, of course, Barack Hussein Obama is being sworn in this afternoon as our new president. Those of us in the School of Social Work are gathering together in our building's little auditorium to watch the inauguration together and I can't think of a better group to be with.

Will Obama have all the answers? Doubt it. Will there be times he and his administration make me want to scream and pound my head against the wall? I suspect so. However, at this moment, the last hours of the some of the worst eight years in this country's history, I can only sigh with relief and hope the next administration will immediately get to work cleaning up the global mess left by the previous administration. I wish him well...and will be paying close attention.

Salaam.

A Breakdown of the Breakdown of Gaza and One Family's Losses

An excellent piece by Sara Roy from the London Review of Books on the realities life in Gaza. You really must read this if you do not have an idea of how desperate life already was there before the Israeli invasion.

Please, please, please read the story of the Samouni family of Gaza.


Salaam.

Aid to Victims Blocked and More Ripples

Reading: Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieria de Mello and the Fight to Save the World by Power & Islam and Social Work by Crabtree, Husain & Spalek
Recently Watched: Starting Out in the Evening and Sacco & Vanzetti (both excellent)
Thankful for: the great libraries here, that make my book habit non-life-threatening
Working on: Making a big pot of harira

From the Jan. 8th edition of The Washington Post, not exactly the bastion of liberalism and Palestinian solidarity:
"The International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday that it had found at least 15 bodies and several children -- emaciated but alive -- in a row of shattered houses in the Gaza Strip and accused the Israeli military of preventing ambulances from reaching the site for four days."

The news that rockets were fired from Lebanon is troubling, but not totally unexpected. Let's hope this isn't the stirrings of a broader regional conflict. Juan Cole, always a good read for grasping the wider ramifications, reports al-Sadr calling for Iraqis to kill U.S. troops in retaliation for the Gaza assault.

707 dead and more than 3,000 wounded since Dec. 27 in Gaza. 11 Israelis killed, eight of them soldiers, four of them killed in friendly fire incidents. Enough?

Academically, I understand P.E. Obama's insistence that there is not much he or his administration can do until he takes over on Jan. 20. Emotionally, I don't know what or who will be left to negotiate over by then, nor am I sure if the rest of the world will see this as simply another Bush failure. Will Gaza haunt the new administration?

Again, those of you in the U.S. must understand how different a view, how neutered a view we get of this and other conflicts, to say nothing of the rest of the world on a good day. In a country where even the respectful photograph of flag-draped coffins of our own dead soldiers cannot be published, how can we ever expect to get a realistic view of the world and of war? Most of us in this society are so insulated from the notion of death, both in relation to war and in a broader sense, and I believe that is so dangerous because it takes the concept of consequences out of the equation. "War" is that cockpit image of a smart bomb hitting it's target on the nightly news or that first-person shooter game your kid plays all day long. It's all happening over there to somebody else. However, the world doesn't work that way anymore; it's smaller and more mobile. When other people around the world see things like this (disturbing) or the images we don't see of our own war dead (and, yes, they are out there), we need to see it and understand that all actions have consequences. Call it what you like, but understand that this is what the rest of the world sees. Most in this country would do well just to go back and look at the photographs of corpses on battlefields of the Civil War made by Mathew Brady or Thomas O'Sullivan. War is hell.

Salaam.

PS: One spot of good news out there. Add that to the apology Air Tran finally gave a Muslim-American family it kicked off a recent flight. I guess I can wear my اين الحب؟ tshirt next time I fly.

The Ripple Effect

An excellent, must-read post from Juan Cole on the potential implications of yesterday's shelling by Israel of a U.N. school in Gaza that resulted in the deaths of 42 people, nearly all civilians and reportedly many of them children, who had sought shelter there. Israeli forces are dropping leaflets telling Gazans to flee, but where are they supposed to go if you're targeting the U.N. shelters? The fact that this is still only registering as a blip on the news - of course so are the two wars we are personally fighting at the moment - is sinful. Your tax dollars paid for all this - the bullets, the tanks and the shells. Remember that, please. Why do people hate us? First of all, it's not us, but our government they despise. As I've said many times, in every country I've been in I've found that people are very good at distinguishing Americans from their government. Not everybody, but the vast majority. And, it's not our freedoms they hate! To hear Bush & Co. drill that one into people's brains year after year sickens me. It's for our policies and the people (the same people who deny them all those freedoms they supposedly hate) we have the sickening, unending habit of crawling into bed with and then later turning out violently when they no longer please us.

Gaza is about 25 miles long and about 7 miles wide. Roughly 1.5 million people live there. 1.5 million on 146 miles of land. The vast majority, about 80 %, live below the poverty line. Since Hamas took power, international sanctions and the closure of the borders by the Israelis and Egyptians have reduced supplies and quality of life. Shortages of everything - gas, electricity, water, food, medicines - have become routine. Hospitals were already overwhelmed. Sewage and sanitation has been an sometimes fatal issue. Now add to that an invasion and constant bombardment. And, people here don't realize it does get cold in that part of the world. Madam Foreign Minister, how dare you claim there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza?

And Israel is STILL barring foreign journalists from the battle zone. And, as usual, ambulance crews are being refused safe passage to do their job and are being killed.

660 dead. Lesson learned yet? Enough?
Salaam.

Wah!

You have to love politicians. O.K. admittedly a lot of the time you don't, but they are the ultimate do as I say, not as I do folks. Neither party gets off the hook on this one, but this week it's the Republicans looking like jerks, something they seem to have honed to a high art.

It looks like the Minnesota Senate Race is finally - FINALLY - over and that Republican incumbent Norm Coleman has lost by a whisper-thin margin - 225 votes from almost 3 million cast overall - to Democratic candidate Al Franken. Now, way back on election day, when it looked like Coleman might win by a nearly as thin margin and Franken was saying he would look at all his options - translation: recount and/or lawsuit - Coleman was saying Franken should accept the will of the people, shut up, give up and go home. Now that the state has certified the results -but (sigh) not declared a winner - Coleman and his party are pulling out whatever stops may be left: a lawsuit and Senate rules and maneuvering. Texas Sen. John Cornyn (R), head of his party in the Senate, says he won't allow Franken to be seated until everything is cleared up, which might be next January at the rate things are going.

Now, leaving the nasty winter landscape of Minnesota, I ask that you follow me back to balmy Florida, circa 2000, when the Republicans claimed Al Gore and Democrats were all sore losers for have election results from a far more bizarre election (I should know, being from Palm Beach County). They ranted and railed; democracy was at stake. And we all know how things turned out: I went to bed with Gore and woke up with Bush!

There's no lesson here, just an observation that when you're winning, you're opponent is an enemy of the Republic for questioning election results/filing a lawsuit/etc. and when you're losing your opponent is an enemy of the Republic for...well, for not supporting your lawsuit. The real questions are when will we get candidates strong enough and different enough to, one would guess, prevent teeny-tiny margins and when will more Americans get out and vote?

In the meantime, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R) from Kentucky just said on NPR that the Minnesota election will not be over until the people of Minnesota say so. Alright, Minnesota, please step up to the mike and make yourself heard. Please!

Salaam.

Essential Reading

In the midst of tracking news from across the world, I don't want to forget about struggles of a different sort ongoing in this country. I just finished reading a very, very good book about poverty and welfare in the U.S. that was given to me by one of my new professors. I know, I know, you're thinking, "Welfare?!" Don't tune me out!

The book, American Dream: Three Women, Ten Kids, and A Nation's Drive to End Welfare, was written by Jason DeParle, a reporter with the New York Times, and is so well written it is an honest-to-God page-turner. DeParle does such a good job weaving the macro with the micro. His chapters alternate between a journalistic dissection of the political forces and decisions that led to then-Pres. Clinton signing a bill that shunted 9 million women and children from this nation's welfare rolls and a vivid, painfully honest examination of the lives of three women in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Jewel, Angie and Opal - who let DeParle deep into their lives and families, which he traced back six generations into the Mississippi Delta.

It's maddening, heartbreaking, and something I think everybody should read.
Salaam.