resonance

Home, home, home... meandering discussions about the strengths and weaknesses of the progressive movement in America, Spring roll parties at Jesse's apartment, riding bikes in the rain, listening to monologues about the history of stencil art, climbing trees, basking in the glow of the collective sense of righteous indignation that takes root in college towns, $1 margaritas, still, silent moments of intimacy, radio reports about the Nephilim actually coming from outer space and providing humans with the keys to genetic engineering, food inside of tortilla tubes, awkward disjointed attempts at consolidating wide swathes of experience just for the sake of seeing what patterns might emerge, spiritual fellowship and a growing sense of possibility. Yes, I'm a member of a tribe and yes, it's my intention to transcend that understanding, but like the saying goes, "you gotta have an ego, to transcend it..."

You can't go home again...

Disjointed

You can't go home again...

Rum Tum Tum

it's been a while... I suppose that has had partly to do with the fact that I returned to the US one week ago, managed to synch up my biological clock with Central standard time and then threw the whole established order quite willingly back to the four winds as I came to Austin and was welcomed back to my tribe by the open arms of AIESEC Austin and other associated institutions.
What can I say? It's home, as odd of a notion as that might be, it is home... I ate a pizza on Wednesday whilst being serenaded by the musical stylings of Sergey Vashchenko who is reportedly the Jimi Hendrix of the Balalaika and the following evening proceeded to take in a show by Aesop Rock and Mr. Lif.
The shift this time has been a bit more fluid than in the past. I suppose one of the most fundamentally important elements I took away from Beijing was the understanding of how fleeting and deceptive novelty is as a conditioning quality of perception. The overwhelming oohhh ahhh-ness of approaching a new culture can quickly degenerate into routine and pattern, which is what I suppose what it means to be fluent in a culture.
I was talking with Surya Thursday night about my time abroad and I realized how much I had been affected by the notion of tribal identity patterns and how much influence they continue to contribute to my perception. For instance, the basic example would be meeting someone from your alma mater in a different state: Boom! instant rapport, even though you attended the same institution and possibly even took the same classes, but at the time had no interest in connecting with each other... indeed, it's as though the closer your respective paths were in another environment, the more rapport you have in a foreign environment. I suppose this can be expanded to larger levels at the national, racial, or socio-sexual. Regardless, the influence of tribal identity is much stronger on my psychology than I originally bargained on. This, despite all the critical conversations I've engaged in, the personal attempts at deconstruction, the mountains of micrograms consumed in the continual pursuit of decontextualization, still this fundamental pattern persists.
I'm off to make a sandwich. That sounds like a much easier task to tackle.

Cuidado con los "polleros"

Apparently the Mexican government is publishing a pamphlet that advises Mexican citizens on the intricacies of illegally crossing into the United States. Seems like an odd policy that a country would encourage its citizens to go elsewhere rather than try to improve the lot of folks at home.
Perhaps Fox has been emboldened by Bush's Temporary Worker Program, which grants all illegal immigrants a 3-year amnesty which can be extended for 3 more years. Now, I'm all for multi-culturalism and I'm enamored with Mexican culture, but it seems like there's gotta be a better way of providing opportunities for Mexican folks who are seeking a better life
One problem that seems inherent to this policy of inviting illegal immigrants into the United States to work at the jobs that Americans don't want to work at is that the incentive for employers to provide better working conditions and higher wages disappears. Employers are provided with an unlimited stream of cheap labor, the middle class disappears, the framework for organized labor is dismantled and some sort of apocalyptic Neo-liberal wet-dream dawns on the United States... peahaps I'm being a bit dramatic, but this seems like a setup for a rather unpleasant future outcome. I dunno, there's a lot about the world that I don't understand. Anybody out there have any ideas about alternatives to the present scheme of things?

Chipping away

great collection of audio and video streams at rinf.com I recommend the Infinity Factory shows in particular

202-224-2934

HEY Texans!!!!!
muy importante business happening on the hill, Jan. 6th. A nomination hearing will be taking place concerning the appointment of Alberto Gonzales for the post of Attorney General. And since you wonderful people no doubt vote, you might want to contact one of your senators, John Cornyn, who is a member of the Judiciary Committe, which will be reviewing Gonzales. Now, Cornyn has made no secret of his support for Gonzales and will actually be serving as a witness during the hearing. In a recent CNN report he was quoted as saying:

"'I think the hearing will be contentious, but in the end Judge Gonzales will be confirmed because he deserves to be confirmed,' said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who will introduce Gonzales at the confirmation hearing."

Despite Cornyn's support for Gonzales, I would still encourage you folks to give his office a call starting at 8am Eastern Time at 202-224-2934 if you feel at all concerned about having an Attorney General who in a 1/25/02 memo stated that "the war against terrorism is a new kind of war" and "this new paradigm renders obsolete Geneva's strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its provisions." And in clearer terms stated that laws prohibiting torture do "not apply to the President's detention and interrogation of enemy combatants."　

Below are some talking points for when you call Cornyn's office and Background info about Gonzalez from Amnesty International:

Mr. Gonzales is responsible for White House memos that
undermine the rule of law by interpreting U.S. code to allow agents of
the U.S. Government to engage in practices that constitute torture or
cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. As nominee for Attorney
General, the nation's top law enforcement officer, it is urgent that Mr.
Gonzales retracts statements that he made which advocate bypassing U.S.
treaty obligations and immunizing agents of the U.S. government from
prosecution.

I urge you to press Mr. Gonzales to fully disclose any unpublished
measures, directives or memoranda authored by him or his staff that discuss
the legality of "disappearances," torture or cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment, or extra judicial executions.

I also urge that you ask Mr. Gonzales the following questions:

- Do you unequivocally oppose torture and ill treatment under any
circumstances, including war and any other public emergency?

- Will you publicly support the establishment of an independent
commission of inquiry, wholly separate from the Department of Justice, to
investigate all aspects of U.S. detention and interrogation policies and
practices?

- Do you support an end to the use of secret and incommunicado
detention?

- Will you prosecute any U.S. agent implicated in war crimes,
"disappearances", secret detentions, torture or other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment?

Background
While Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) takes no position on the
appointment of individual nominees, the organization believes that during the
nominations process for the office of Attorney General, the opinions
expressed by Mr. Alberto Gonzales during his tenure as White House
Counsel, and the Administration's resulting policy decisions, deserve close
and careful scrutiny.

In particular, AIUSA urges that the confirmation process include a
detailed examination of the nominee's views on human rights and
humanitarian law, with particular attention to how the U.S. government has failed
to respect the rule of law in the course of its declared "war on
terror." AIUSA believes that any future Attorney General should be committed
to upholding domestic and international law, which includes abiding by
the treaties to which the United States is party.

Certain statements made by Mr. Gonzales during his tenure as White
House counsel are of particular concern. In a memorandum dated January 25,
2002, Mr. Gonzales states that the United States is in a new kind of
war against international terrorism that "renders obsolete Geneva's
strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some
of its provisions..." Mr. Gonzales goes on to suggest that denying
prisoners captured in Afghanistan the protections afforded by the Geneva
Conventions would reduce the likelihood of U.S. soldiers being prosecuted
for war crimes.

The approach Mr. Gonzales recommended as a response to the so-called
"new paradigm" is in reality one long favored by abusive regimes
throughout the world who cite "security concerns" to justify deviating from the
rule of law and established human rights standards. Yet countless
military and legal advisors have countered that respect for the Geneva
Conventions will in no way hinder the U.S. government's efforts to make the
United States safe from terrorists. Furthermore, the U.S. government
cannot expect its own troops or personnel to be treated in accordance
with the laws of war if it is itself unwilling to abide by those same
laws.

At a press conference in June 2004, Mr. Gonzales asserted that some
prisoners are "not legally entitled" to humane treatment. Such positions,
particularly when issued from the highest levels of government, set the
stage for torture. Interrogators at Abu Ghraib for example, reportedly
believed that a memorandum from Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez's
headquarters, which was reportedly based on the reasoning in a presidential
memorandum authored by Mr. Gonzales, authorized them to abuse detainees.

As part of the confirmation process, Amnesty International calls for
the full disclosure of any unpublished measures, directives or memorandum
authored by Mr. Gonzales or his staff that discuss the legality of
"disappearances," torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, or
extra judicial executions. The organization would also welcome an absolute
and unequivocal statement by Mr. Gonzales, that in accordance with
domestic and international law, he opposes torture and ill treatment under
any circumstances, including war and any other public emergency.

Additionally, Mr. Gonzales should publicly support the establishment of
an independent commission of inquiry, wholly separate from the
Department of Justice, which would investigate all aspects of the United
States' detention and interrogation policies and practices. Such a commission
should consist of credible independent experts, have international
expert input, and have subpoena powers and access to all levels of
government, all agencies, and all documents whether classified or unclassified.

Concerned folks outside of Texas should take a gander at this list:

Senate Judiciary Committee members include:

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) (202) 224-5972
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) (202) 224-4254
Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH) (202) 224-2315
Sen. John Cornyn (R- TX) (202) 224-2934
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) (202) 224-5251
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) (202) 224-4521
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) (202) 224-4124
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) (202) 224-3744
Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) (202) 224-2752
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) (202) 224-3521
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) (202) 224-6542
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) (202) 224-2152
Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) (202) 224-5042
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) (202) 224-4543
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) (202) 224-5323
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) (202) 224-4242
Sen. Herbert Kohl (D-WI) (202) 224-5653
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) (202) 224-3841

The delicious egocentrism of the blogsphere

A girl from one of the other departments just came around with a box full of a ridiculous collection of food: corn nuts, rice wrapped in bamboo leaves, Thai style "milk candy," a clear gelatinous substance that she couldn't name nor could she expound on what it was composed of, and dried squid... She stood at the side of my cubicle for about 5 minutes while we had a rather confusing exchange, myself respectfully declining her offer of food and herself responding rather nervously, as though someone were watching her, that I should REALLY try some. Begrudgingly I accepted.
This seems to be a carry over from relatively more Communist period of 15 years ago when your salary was the least important part of your job in China. In the past your company would provide you with a house, staple food, gifts, cleaning products, toilet paper, cooking oil, cutlery and any other windfalls they might encounter. An interesting corollary to this policy is that the time of salary payment is really not all that important in Chinese companies, allowing for an acceptable week long margin of error in which non-payment is seen as a non-issue. Just as a point of advice to those of you coming to work in Chinese companies: Get the specific date of payment in writing!
Now everything in my cubicle smells of squid...damnit...