Are unions obsolete?

This is a topic that I need to dwell on today, because of developments on both my parents' front.

I have just learned that my mother will not be returning from her Far East trip as planned, due to a pilot strike at Asiana Airlines which has cancelled all of the airline's night flights to/from Los Angeles for the month of August. I know that pilot strikes can be very devastating, as I still remember San Francisco being crippled from 2000's United Airlines strike, which also took that airline from profitability into bankruptcy in just two years.

And regarding the schism within AFL-CIO which resulted in some unions leaving the organization, I overheard my father and a guest of his conclude that unions themselves were destined into oblivion. My Republican, capitalist pig father (one of several reasons I cite, alongside former Congressman Jay Kim and Reverend Moon, on why further Korean immigration into the United States must be stopped - this will be a future topic) even added that unions are as obsolete as communism, doing nothing but reinforcing workers' lazy behavior. His guest had a more accurate idea on union obsolescence though, saying that unions have ceased to represent workers, and union bosses are too busy lobbying for political influence. I agreed on this one.

I told both of them that unions are no longer functioning effectively in the United States for that exact reason. Unions in other countries have concentrated on workers' rights and quality of life; this has resulted in the legendary 8-week vacations for European workers, top-notch healthcare, hefty bargaining power, and a lot of other perks that American workers can only dream of. Unions in America have been about pay raises, and little more, and union bosses have been too busy building up political and personal influence to even care for the workers they supposedly represent. I mean, when Ford Motor Company gives the workers a crappy car design to manufacture, and blames the workers for the resulting shoddy quality, I expect the bosses to stand up and point out the engineering deficiencies - not appearing at some political rally. As a result, the average American workers have seen their purchasing power erode, benefits vanish, and working conditions worsen.

As a result, even in a supposedly pro-union state like California, unions have lost popular support and representation because of these factors. Governor Schwarzenegger's other proposed special election propositions are losing, but his anti-union one is actually winning support - because the average Californians don't see unions as being representative of them anymore. And in other states like Arizona and New Mexico, unions have lost so much credibility that politicians easily snuffed them out by passing "Right-to-Work" laws. That's right to work without union representation.

Moreover, when unions made up of rich, spoiled, old conservatives, like airline pilots, go on strike, sympathy level is bound to fall even further. At Asiana, flight attendants and other workers are staging their own protest, not to support the pilots, but to ask them to return to work. It is even more outrageous considering that pilots only fly so many hours per month, and get so many perks already, in the name of safety, and they want even more concessions - but those concessions (like more lenient drug tests) actually threaten safety. In the case of the airline industry, this is old-fashioned patriarchy at work; well-paid pilots are usually men, and overworked, underpaid flight attendants are usually women. In an ideal world, flight attendant pay should be doubled! And those pilots still want more while flight attendants labor on thanklessly... (without even the stock options that everyone else got, in United's case.)

Although Asiana is not a U.S. company, its union is still relevant to my discussion, because its strike is not winning support - nor serving the pilots' best interests. Fortunately, the rest of South Korea, where Asiana is based, fares better, because its unions, though quite militant, do ask that the profits from the country's fast economic growth be shared more equitably, and therefore do represent the workers - at least most of the time. (Your Korean-American neighbor will still dismiss them as communist bastards, but don't listen to him.) They've accomplished a lot since they were legalized in 1987, and that is also the case with many other countries, including Japan, Europe, and Canada. That is not the case with the United States, where workers continue to see their living standards erode while their unions are too hungry for influence for a few bosses. And the Democratic Party, hungry for the union bosses' money as well, is sinking fast as a result as well, unfortunately, instead of providing real solutions that benefit workers and the economy as a whole.

Of course, on the Republican side, the church leaders have gone just as corrupt, and have done the same thing, making them no better. But then I've talked about this a thousand times already - including my departure from the Christian faith - and will talk about it again and again.

One good news...

Defense giant Raytheon is now officially protecting transgender employees from discrimination.

When I lived in Tucson, I knew of a transgender woman who worked for Raytheon - and she was treated very well there, as far as I could tell.

It's nice to know that even defense contractors know how costly discrimination is. Good job, Raytheon!

A cultural wall

As I write my novel and workshop it with a writing class, I am feeling that a cultural wall has impacted my novel negatively, and is blocking my progress.

As you may have expected, I live in a world, populated by Asians and Latinos, where personal freedom is sacrificed in the name of family, group, and morals. Caucasians don't work this way; they value personal freedom as the source of happiness and well-being, and even founded Western democracies - including the USA - on those values.

Now, the problem is, I am writing about Sarah, a young transgender woman who is Caucasian, born in California, and raised in Europe. In writing about Sarah, I need to take the Western personal freedom to heart and be liberal about it as much as possible. But when my own life is so full of family restrictions that are so common among Asian and Latino families, where parents have absolute control over children (even adult children), this doesn't come easily. I just wrote a scene where I portrayed 17-year-old Sarah's parents as having absolute control over Sarah's gender expression, and it is raising question marks all over. I've had more than one suggestion that I change Sarah to an Asian or a Latina. While I do not want to do so, and would rather approach the ethnic conformity and homophobia from a Caucasian viewpoint, I really need to make sure that I am not writing about my own family/surroundings when I am writing about Sarah's.

In fact, parental control in Asian and Latino societies is so strong and absolute that a transgender individual in Korea, for example, will never be allowed to live in his/her preferred gender without parental consent, even if he/she is an adult. This is unthinkable in Western societies. While I am indeed sending Sarah to Korea on a work assignment for a chapter (I've written this chapter already, and it is a cruel, but in the end rewarding trip), that's about it; it doesn't change the fact that Sarah is a white woman, and a product of free-thinking Western culture, and I must keep that in mind.

Please bear in mind that I am working in this particular class under another name, and I will out myself (and my plans for a more free future) toward the end of the class.

Some personal stuff

I've been on a shopping spree lately.

First, my wardrobe needed some serious updating, and now it's getting it. I did not even have a pair of those popular flare pants that look so cute, living off of some outdated narrow-leg and spandex pants instead. Not anymore! And a sexy tunic too, to go along with my new flare khakis. Moreover, as a progressive activist, I couldn't bear wearing Victoria's Secret underwear anymore, after learning of their conservative connections; I started switching to Gap Body instead. (And my body is thanking me for it - it looks much better now.) Combine them with my recent J. Crew suit purchases, and I am practicing what I preach, at last.

The same has happened on the beauty front a few months ago, when I started buying MAC, instead of the brand I used to sell myself - Mary Kay, which is often sold by hardcore Christian conservatives. During my Mary Kay days, some colleagues really hated me for launching a lesbian-targeted marketing campaign.

I also finally placed an order for five Blue Hope Bracelets, which will hopefully go together well with all these other products I've been buying lately, and will definitely make a statement.

Last, but not the least, I went to Simply Pink and ordered a double-female necklace, exactly like the one I had lost several years ago during a forced move back to Los Angeles. Before too long, I will be openly wearing my lesbian pride again.

I look forward to all these fashion statements, and more, in the weeks ahead.

Another perspective on gay marriage

I'm writing off of another blog again!

DiAnne Grieser of Silenced Majority blog, who has a huge interest in gay rights issues, found a very good Democratic Underground article on gay marriage - and why it's such a threat to the right. I find it refreshing because it goes beyond the arguments of the two sides, and boils it down to what it really is - the Christian notion of gender hierarchy, which I discussed in the last post. That is the ONE and ONLY thing that two people of the same gender marrying will surely threaten.

I don't think I need to say anything further, as the article says everything so eloquently. Please follow the link to read the article.

Why I am glad to be neither Muslim nor Christian

Fellow blogger Christy of ReBelle Nation caught an article out of Jacksonville, Florida, where a Baptist church has a sign out saying "Islam is evil."

More specifically, it quotes Surah 9-29 out of the Koran, which tells believers to fight against those who do not believe in Allah. For comparison, the sign quotes the Book of Matthew to claim that Jesus is for peace.

I've said this before, and I will say this again. Anyone who knows the development of these two religions knows that they are really from the same root and beginnings. In fact, Islam takes most of the tenets of Christianity and adds to them.

Not only does Islam tell believers to fight the non-believers, Christianity does the same. I don't have a Bible handy right now, but it does tell believers to either convert or kill non-believers, especially in the Old Testament. Remember the Crusades? (And despite what his spokespeople say otherwise, Bush is carrying out his own crusade in the Middle East right now.) Both religions assert that the ONLY truth is theirs, and try to rub that in at every moment. Honestly, if your truth has to be rubbed in at every possible moment, I am not so sure it's so true anymore; real truth can convince by itself.

The two religions also share their contempt for women, based on the original sins of Eve. Many metaphors used enforce the superiority of men over women. A fallout is that neither religion is tolerant of behavior that threatens the gender hierarchy, such as feminism or homosexual relationships.

The bottom line: Jesus may have been for peace, but it turns out to be a patriarchal peace only acceptable to the so-called "believers." More deaths and sufferings have happened in the name of Christianity and Islam than anything else. I'm so glad that I have taken my view of divinity beyond the confines of these belief systems.

Proposition 22, Part Deux

The divisive right-wing politics has begun again in California. A new proposition has been cleared to circulate among the voters, one which would not only re-pass the gay marriage ban by amending the state constitution, but also repeal all rights and responsibilities of the state's existing domestic partnership program.

I was involved in the fight to oppose the original ban, which was known as Proposition 22 and passed in 2000. I know how ugly the fight was; in addition to all the ugly rhetoric exchanged between the two sides, I also saw clearly that the Latinos and other immigrant groups, that the gays and other progressives counted on for support, backstabbed them and went to bed with their worst enemy, the late State Senator "Pete" Knight, the author of Proposition 22. I never knew California could be such a "red," hateful place, but it turned out to be. Even the normally progressive Los Angeles County voted for this hateful excuse of a measure thanks to its huge immigrant population, who tend to be socially conservative (after all, homosexuality is still a crime in many of their home countries).

The fight starts all over again. The good news is that Californians support the domestic partnership system, at least on paper. (Though I do think it should be expanded to all straights, not just straights over 62.) But that's not enough for me to rest on the laurels while the enemies keep arming and recruiting. I will fight to make sure that this proposition never makes it on the ballot, and if it does make it, make sure that it never passes. I will, in particular, frame this not only as war against gays, but war against singles as well, to make sure that as many sympathetic straights will agree with me as possible.

If I cannot block the passage of this hateful measure, I will declare WAR on the immigrant communities, and will vote for ANY measure hurting them, in return. If they can screw me over, I can screw them over too.

These guys won't be missed at all

I just read this ABC News article which Amy mentioned on the Democracy Cell Project, and thought about it for a minute.

These people are so extreme and nuts that even the conservative Republican dictatorship in today's US federal government is not conservative enough. After all, abortion is still legal, Judge Roy Moore was forced to remove his Ten Commandments from the Alabama courthouse, and gay marriage became legal in Massachusetts, so something is not right for them. Their proposal is to move to South Carolina, turn it into a Christian theocratic state, and if the feds balk, consider seceding.

I won't miss them. I will gladly watch as they turn themselves into a Christian version of Taliban Afghanistan, (or Saudi Arabia without the oil) and become cut off and ridiculed by the civilized world. They think they have enough of an economy, but when foreign investors like BMW close up their South Carolina shops, it won't matter.

So go ahead. Go. Indulge in your death cult orgies. At least everyone in your little jurisdiction will agree with you that your cult is the most "superior" and "true" of all.

And I do commend you for being inclusive of nonwhites, by the way. Why not take some of your friends from Koreatown and Little Havana as well, and do me a favor too?

Why I will keep shopping Costco

I was going through some of my links, and it's time to write off of another blog - again.

I just saw this on buyblue.org showing Costco's approach to labor management, which can be summarized in one word: generosity. Employee pay and benefits are far higher at Costco than at retailers, Wal-Mart, or Sam's Club. In fact, they are so high that Wall Street analysts want Costco to trim back and get stingy. Well, what do analysts know, other than the neocon propaganda that the Wall Street Journal spews out every day?

Costco keeps itself profitable and rolling through discipline on the management's part, the article says. Markups are only about 15% per item, and the CEO pay is only $350,000 or so. And it's the CEO who is enthusiastically pushing this philosophy of sharing the wealth. This is a true example of "trickle-down" economics that Reagan kept championing - but America's CEOs failed to put into action.

All of this translates into low prices, better service, fewer employee discipline problems, and higher customer loyalty. I just became a Costco member myself this year, and while I don't shop enough to recoup the membership fee (I am single, so buying in bulk does not really apply to me), I am still happy with the experience. Even conservatives love Costco, because Costco supplies enough gasoline to fill up their SUVs, and because it also provides conservative books from Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, and other wackos in its book section right alongside liberal books.

I'll keep shopping at Costco for a long time to come.

Innocent man shot dead by London police

This is already an old news, but an innocent Brazilian electrician was shot dead as a suspected terrorist by the London police as he tried to board a subway train. This was a fallout from the July 7th terrorist attacks; the man lived in a Brixton apartment building under surveillance by the police due to suspected terrorist activity. He really was there at the wrong place, at the wrong time.

What's outrageous is that the police shot a fallen man five times in the head and torso, just to be sure he was dead, without even being sure that he was a suspect.

The London police intends to continue its new policy of "shoot and kill" despite condemnations from around the world.

Now I know where I won't be vacationing anymore - at least while Tony Blair remains in power. Combine it with some British companies' bribing of Congressman Tom DeLay, and I can no longer travel to the UK, or buy British products, in good conscience at this time. The Britons must demonstrate their well-known civilness and regard for human dignity, by pressuring Blair to quit.

(Though with a mass murderer like Bush as my "President," I wonder if I have the right to condemn another country like this...)

Downing Street Memo, Los Angeles event

I just came back from the Los Angeles event, which took place in the primarily African-American city of Inglewood, near the airport.

As I arrived, I could see several groups setting up booths outside. There were Democratic clubs from various sections of Los Angeles County, as well as the Code Pink women dressed in pink slips and a few socialist/communist groups too.

The venue was a church, and it was very well air-conditioned; I actually needed my suit jacket until people started packing the place in. The event began with a movie where Bush's rationales for war were debunked, one by one.

The event was hosted by Congresswoman Maxine Waters, who had a very fiery speech highlighting her anti-war record, and praising fellow Congresswoman Barbara Lee of Oakland, who was the only member of Congress to oppose the Afghanistan war resolution, saying that it gave the President too much power. She named many members of Congress who were participating in her Out of Iraq quorum, including Dennis Kucinich, Barney Frank, Mike Honda, Raul Grijalva, and others.

A rapper by the name of Willie B. livened things up between some speakers.

There were many speakers presenting today. Among them were a half-Indian, half-Sri Lankan man who was opposed to the war - and lamented his ancestral countries' heavy participation in corporate sweatshops. There was a Methodist reverend who fired people up by emphasizing that the corporate media should not merely be hated, it should be changed by the people. There were high school students who were conscientious objectors of war, who did a sit-in against the war even despite the school administration's pressures to make them quit. There was a mother of a soldier, who was commemorating the second anniversary of her son's death tomorrow. There were many others but they are all blurring in my memory.

The crowd was very diverse, though I would have preferred to see more of Los Angeles's huge Asian community. (Perhaps they ARE indeed so right-wing.) Very visible were the Code Pink women in pink slips with messages about Bush and Rove, and a large number of veterans of America's foreign wars, from WWII to Kosovo.

I did not get to mingle with the crowd too much - because I wanted to come back to post this for my blog and for the Democracy Cell Project blog.

The participants did an impromptu phonebanking targeting media companies. Each participant was given a list of five media contacts to call using a cell phone. I was able to leave a message with the Washington Times (yes, the Moonie paper) and CBS Morning News.

In the end, this was a huge success, with over 1,000 attendees. Although none of the mainstream media came, C-SPAN and Pacifica Radio (90.7 KPFK FM in Los Angeles) were among the media outlets covering the event. Even though I didn't network much (yes, I am shy in real life), I did have a good time - being away from my Republican suburb is in itself a good thing.

Downing Street Memo - 3rd Anniversary

Today, there will be over 250 events across the United States to commemorate the third anniversary of the Downing Street Memo, which was a confidential British government memo discussing the developments of the US government as it allegedly tried to fix intelligence to justify an invasion of Iraq. Neither the US nor the UK denies the allegations.

I will be attending the Los Angeles event with Congresswoman Maxine Waters at noon today. The excitement is keeping me wide awake right now. This will be a valuable opportunity for me to meet up with like-minded folks, something that doesn't come by easily when I am situated in a hardcore Republican suburb. I hope the heat won't be so intense today. (I'm going to wear a pink miniskirt suit - just like in the picture - to live up to my nickname and reputation. :) )

I'll post again after the event.

Iranian executions

I hate to have to write off of another blog again, but this is such a terrible news that I must.

Rossiann has posted to ReBelle Nation again about the lashings and the execution of two teens in northeastern Iran. One of them was a minor. The crime? Homosexuality. This was posted by an Iranian blogger to the world, along with pictures, as proof that Iran has now turned into a hard-line Islamic state along the lines of Taliban Afghanistan. The Iranian government is enraged - not by the executions, but by the leaking of the ages to the rest of the world, which tarnishes its image.

This looks like an extension of the foreign policy development back here in the US. Iran tried to modernize itself, with President Khatami in the late 1990s. The US did not reward Iran with anything, still treating it as Khatami were a radical cleric, which he wasn't (though clerics did have power over him). Moreover, the Iranians have seen religious fanatics take over the US government through rigged elections, so they decided to do the same. Sure, Iran is Islamic and US is Christian, but these religions are two sides of the same coin. The only good thing seems to be that there is not an Iranian-American special interest lobby, pushing blind policies, that I know of - unlike their Cuban, Korean, and Vietnamese counterparts. And I live in a metropolitan area with a large Iranian population.

These boys were accused of sexually molesting a 13-year-old boy. If true, it is a terrible crime deserving of some jail time and reforming. But it is NOT deserving of 200+ lashings and the snuffing out of the accused's life. Plus, the due process of law must have been followed, to truly determine the guilt of the accused, which never happens under the Iranian Islamic law. The "new" Iran has just proven itself to be one of the most barbaric states in the world. And again, the United States, being a major executioner itself, and the likelihood of execution depending on the incompetence of the lawyers the poor end up hiring, is not far behind, especially since the Christian radicals want to impose the same kind of moral law.

And I must also add that the strict control of sexuality, as seen in the Iranian society, is a hallmark of patriarchal, male-centered religions, and it's doing no good for the society. There is a good chance that these boys were innocent, and happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. (Suspicion is enough to be declared guilty and executed, in places like Iran, Saudi Arabia, and even atheist China.) If that's the case, they paid for the intolerance and the patriarchy of their country's primary religion with their lives. I'm under the belief that religions must serve to improve the quality of believers' lives. Apparently, Islam is not doing it, and Christianity isn't doing much better either.

Tony Blair weakens

I just picked this up courtesy of Rossiann (AKA "Kangaroo Brisbane Australia"), who not only runs her own blog, but also contributes to Christy Cole's ReBelle Nation.

2/3 of Britons are blaming Blair and his policies for the London bombings, Rossiann is quoting The Guardian as saying. Since the British often identify themselves more with the US than with Europe, I was expecting an American-style, "rally around your leader" response. I was very wrong.

It looks like America, with W's leadership, is the only one obsessed about the "attack now, ask questions later" diplomacy that is proving to be so ineffective and fatal. America takes its pride in its great military power, but it must be used as a last resort, using diplomacy first in the Middle East and elsewhere to win as many friends and allies as possible. W has refused, preferring a "crusade" driven by the Religious Right's lust for an Armageddon (and the supposed result of the second coming of Jesus).

I am starting to become ever more convinced that the September 11th attacks were known in advance by a few in the U.S. Government, but was allowed to happen anyway, to create popular support for a W dictatorship. What a culture of death. Unusual trading activities of American and United Airlines stocks the previous day are the most telling proof of this (though I don't think these two airlines were accomplices, unlike Korean Air 007 in 1983, which I will discuss on the anniversary on September 1st).

Back to the topic, I hope the British Labour Party comes up with a leader who can think for himself apart from the destructive policies of the W regime, and even set an example for a future US administration to follow. I do not wish for the current British turmoil to result in a future Tory government though - and most Britons seem to agree.

New Supreme Court Nominee

The First Asshole has done it again.

Instead of being a "uniter" and nominating a moderate who would do a strict interpretation of the law, he chose to become a "divider" again and nominated John Roberts, a "judge" with only two years of experience and a far longer experience as the mouthpiece of the mining industry and abortion clinic bombers, as his choice for replacing Sandra Day O'Connor in the US Supreme Court. A major fight in the Senate is expected, but in the end it will be a win-win situation for the illegitimate White House, who will get Roberts into the Supreme Court anyway, and get people's attention away from the Karl Rove leak scandal.

So much for the liberal judicial activism that Pat Robertson has described as being a worse threat to the American society than Middle Eastern terrorists. I remember seeing a study (I can't recall the source) where conservative judges, such as Thomas, Scalia, and now Roberts, were in a far more activist mode than the liberals like Stevens and Ginsberg ever were.

But then, America was so comatose that it re-installed a Republican regime in both the legislative and the executive branch last year. Now it's regretting thanks to the Rove scandal and the Downing Street Memo, but it's too little, too late. The corporate media, and the Christian death cult churches, had brainwashed America so damn well last year, and I expect them to speak up for Roberts again as well. Ted Turner should have done more to keep control of his beloved CNN.

Perhaps Ralph Nader was right in 2000. He wanted to weaken Al Gore so that W would get elected, so that America would really see the horrors of the right-wing politics and act reflexively against it. The problem is, his plan worked too well. Now the First Asshole gets to leave a destructive legacy for at least half a century as a result.

Welcome back to the 14th century, folks!

California is a blue state? What a joke.

Based on my in-person observation of political trends at various sections of Southern and Northern California, I decided that the idea of California being a "blue state" is yet another media lie, perhaps designed to lull the liberals into complacency as the conservatives eat the state away.

Let's look at Southern California. The freeway and car culture of Southern California (including destroying mass transit, The Red Car, to build freeways) has more in common with such red areas as Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Atlanta than such blue areas as San Francisco, Seattle, and New York. Moreover, looking at the geographical layout, the entire southern third of state, outside Los Angeles County, is solidly red, especially Orange County and the Inland Empire (San Bernardino and Riverside) which the Republicans count on as a solid base for their votes and money. Even Los Angeles County has wide swaths of red areas, ranging from Antelope Valley to the north to the Diamond Bar area to the east to La Mirada to the south. If Los Angeles County is "blue," it's barely there - as evidenced by its voting record in key California issues, where the recall of Governor Gray Davis pretty much deadlocked, and the anti-gay Proposition 22 passed by a significant margin.

Historically, Southern California has been a solid Republican area, being home to the likes of Richard Nixon and that conservative hero, Ronald Reagan, as well as today's Arnold Schwarzenegger. It "turned Democratic" in the 1990s because of Governor Pete Wilson's racial politics which enraged Latino voters. But now, thanks to brilliant Republican tactics which took advantage of the Latino anti-choice and anti-gay sentiment, the Latinos are defecting to the Republican camp. I saw plenty of "VIVA BUSH" bumper stickers last fall - and still see them now. I never saw a single "Unidos Con KERRY-EDWARDS" one.

Southern California, though home to a huge, socially conservative Latino population, does not have significant numbers of the worst scums in American politics, the Cubans. But the also-huge Asian community has huge numbers of the two runner-ups: the Koreans and the Vietnamese. This does not help things at all for the Democratic camp. Los Angeles's Koreatown is the largest of its kind in the Western world, and it is controlled by fundamentalist mega-churches which act from chambers of commerce to dating services to just about anything else a community center may do. Koreans also dominate the aforementioned Republican hotspots in Los Angeles County, such as Diamond Bar and La Mirada. In fact, Diamond Bar was home to the only Korean in history to become a U.S. Congressman - Jay C. Kim, a Republican. The Vietnamese have a strong presence in Orange County, and have several state-level lawmakers, all Republicans. Though religiously split between the Catholics and the Buddhists, and therefore less religion-driven than the Koreans, they are driven by the bitterness over the communist reunification of their country. Never mind it was a Democrat, LBJ, who sent Americans to protect South Vietnam in the first place. (The same holds for the Korean community, forgetting that a Democrat, Harry S Truman, sent Americans to protect South Korea.) It's a shame that these two communities are stuck in an old Cold War mentality keeping them pawns of the right wing extremists, when other similarily situated communities - the Taiwanese and the Iranians - have moved on and become more independent thinkers.

Northern California, now, is of course considered a liberal hotbed, and a solidly blue area. Except that its population is not enough to counter the huge red wave of the south. (Remember that 2/3 of the state population lives in the southern 1/3 of the state.) Even within the Bay Area, portions of Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Mateo counties have enough Republicans to put their areas "in play." And even in the most liberal bastion of all - San Francisco - there are plenty of Republicans in the Financial District. I know them well, having worked there for a while as their administrative assistant. (I then decided that the media companies of Hollywood were better - only to find that they are Republicans too.)

And don't even tell me about the inland and rural areas of California, which are solidly in the red camp, and yield some population strength in case of Bakersfield and Fresno. These inland cities have heavy Latino populations as well, and their anti-abortion and anti-gay positions are exploited to the fullest.

I sincerely hope that the state Democrats are listening. If they don't listen soon, their "advantage" in state politics will evaporate. And once California turns Republican, the Democratic Party nationwide will be history, and someone like me will have a hell of a nightmare ahead. Instead of joking about a move to Canada, I will seriously have to make the move if I want to live in dignity - or live at all. The goal of my Los Angeles based cell in the Democracy Cell Project will be to deal with these issues and block further Republican creep into state politics.

Middlesex

I am not much of a reader (a bad thing, considering that I am writing a novel of my own), but I am trying to change that.

I just finished a book that a former classmate of mine recommended to me, due to its subject matter which is similar to my own story. The book is Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, which deals with intersexuality, Greek-American culture, and 20th Century America in a very brilliant way. Normally writing a novel about just one of these topics is hard enough, yet Eugenides managed to weave all of them into a coherent, intriguing story.

Please read my review of the book, which I posted on Epinions.com.

Disturbing Post

Please see the post on the Democracy Cell Project blog.

The article mentioned here hints that the London bombings were a direct result of intelligence leaks by the US government. Bush and Rove allegedly leaked the identity of another intelligence officer, like they leaked Valerie Plame.

If true, the entire executive branch needs to be impeached immediately. If Bill Clinton trying to deceive the public regarding his affair with Monica Lewinsky was impeachable enough, this is far more serious - and far more impeachable. With Congress in solid Republican hands for now though, I won't hold my breath.

So much for "fighting them over there so we won't have to fight them over here." London, the capital of America's most loyal ally, is "over here" enough, morons.

London bombing updates

Word has it that the London bombings from last week were the work of a band of suicide bombers, most of them Pakistanis who had naturalized as British citizens. This gives me several thoughts.

First, Pakistan, with its primitive and cruel legal system (especially against women and gays), is not a suitable ally for the civilized world. In particular, I have been hearing about a women's rights activist who was gang-raped two years ago for speaking out, and whose attempt to travel to the US to talk about her experience has been thwarted by the Musharraf government. This is unacceptable. Moreover, there even are rumors that Osama bin Laden is hiding somewhere in Pakistan as the US-led coalition concentrates its attacks on Afghanistan; if true, Pakistan is actually an enemy of the civilized world.

Second, we must closely monitor ethnic religious groups for any signs of extremist behavior, instead of wrapping them in a cloak of political correctness. I am seeing extremist behavior right here in Los Angeles, in the churches located in the barrios and other ethnic areas. They are also the reason why Los Angeles does not have the tolerant reputation that San Francisco has. You may tell me that suicide bombings are an Islamic phenomenon; however, I will tell you that killing non-believers is a justifiable action in the Old Testament of the Bible as well, and that the Old Testament is a sacred text shared by Judeo-Christians and Muslims. In extremist Christianity, as practiced by white supremacists in rural America and these ethnic groups in urban America, it is perfectly acceptable to dole out punishments commonly seen in the Muslim world, such as cutting off one's hands or stoning.

In college, I have seen this extremist Christianity in action. The campus Campus Crusade for Christ, or CCC (it used to be KCCC, K standing for Korean, then later dropped the K when non-Koreans started showing in large numbers, but it remained mostly Asian, with a few white supremacist leaders), taught that evolution does not exist, and that women, by virtue of Eve's sin, were to forever submit to men without reason. They were launching guerrila/terrorist warfare against progressive groups on campus, and against me as well - for daring to leave their group and come out of the closet - sabotaging my Internet connection as well. They also urged people not to vote for Bob Dole in the '96 Republican presidential primaries, saying that hard-line conservatives such as Steve Forbes and Pat Buchanan were the only ones fit for the job. Yes, the same Buchanan who denies the existence of Holocaust, and calls AIDS God's retribution for homosexuality. (That comment cost many lives, gay and straight, during the Reagan presidency. So much for the Republican culture of life.)

Religious extremism kills. We've seen it in London. We've seen it in New York in 2001. And America's own religious extremism is killing both within the American borders and outside. We must stop this madness before it becomes a new trend, like communism in the 20th century. That's why I have renounced the Christian view of a mean, judgmental, patriarchal God in favor of a nurturing, loving, matriarchal Goddess.

I'll be more than happy to elaborate more on the CCC/KCCC experience in the future.

Happy Birthday Sarah!

I would like to send my birthday wishes to Sarah Radcliffe, who turns 25 today.

Just who is Sarah, you may ask? She is the protagonist in my novel-in-progress, with a working title of Perfect Girl. I decided on July 13th as her birthday, because exactly a year ago today, I attended a concert by Sarah McLachlan, one of my idols - and Sarah's as well. In fact, Sarah is supposed to have named herself after McLachlan.

My original idea was to write a novel based on my experiences in the Bay Area, featuring another character, named Kirsten (after my middle name - and she really is me with few changes), as the protagonist. Kirsten was a lesbian but not transgender, a difference from me. Sarah was originally developed as one of Kirsten's friends, and I based her on two transgender women I once met in Berkeley, who were United Airlines flight attendants based out of Denver. I wanted Sarah to be the voice in expressing my views on transgender issues.

Somehow Kirsten's story didn't work out at all. As I kept taking writing courses with UCLA Extension, I decided that I would rather write Sarah's life story. So now I have Sarah as my protagonist, and Kirsten as her life partner eventually.

I am still taking my UCLA Extension courses under my former identity, and do not intend to out myself until the very end. (The fellow students and the instructor seem very friendly though, especially in regards to gender issues.)

I will talk more about Sarah and her story bit-by-bit in the coming days and weeks. For now, happy birthday, Sarah!

Some news items

I just read a few news articles, posted on the Democracy Cell Project blog by various contributors.

The first, and a very disturbing news, is the proposal for a permanent Patriot Act. The original act was quickly passed in the post-9/11 hysteria, by lawmakers who were afraid of looking and acting weak. By authorizing surveillance activities of ordinary Americans without court orders, it weakened the civil rights and liberties of ordinary Americans - even as the terrorists keep making off with American greenbacks thanks to Bush's cozy relations with Saudi Arabia. The new Patriot Act will expand surveillance to individuals not affiliated with terrorist groups or nations; in other words, anyone the Bush regime dislikes. Its sponsor is Rep. Sensenbrenner (R-WI), who turned off the microphone when the Patriot Act debates didn't go his way. This suppression of free speech is the hallmark of Republicanism - after all, we are talking about the party that actively supported Third World dictatorships (including notables such as Saddam Hussein and Manuel Noriega) and called it "spreading freedom."

Second, Bush expresses confidence in his advisor Karl Rove. This is a criminal who leaked the name of an undercover CIA agent when her husband made statements contradicting Bush's Iraq war plans. This is punishable by ten years in federal prison. Rove is also responsible for single-handedly helping turn Christianity from a religion of compassion into a mean-spirited, destructive, deadly political movement. In fact, Rove is pretty much responsible for Bush's election, re-election, and the tarnishing of Democratic opponents, using illegal tactics and spreading lies to the public when the truth and legitimacy would not work. Rove must be jailed now. It is also about time that the Democrats started looking for a political operative who can outmatch Rove's wiles.

This is it for now. I have other topics that I wish to discuss - such as Third World immigrants' support for the Republican dictatorship because that's what they are used to from their home countries - but I will do so at a later time.

A dear friend

I spent this evening having a dinner with a friend I've known for 16 years. He knew me before I ever started identifying myself as Rachel - and he has been very supportive of my decision. (He says he knew all along, from my teenage habits and tendencies.) This makes him an even more special friend in an increasingly less trustworthy world.

We talked about a variety of things - including his newlywed life (he is expecting a boy), progression of his pharmaceutical studies, his family issues in Taiwan, and of course some web-based activities. Knowing that his political leanings are similar to mine, I made sure to introduce him to the Democracy Cell Project. I told him that it, along with my novel in progress, helped save my sanity in my arch-conservative surroundings. (His wife is a conservative Republican though, making this couple look like James Carville and Mary Matalin.)

I hope he becomes an active member. Both Southern California and Arizona (he will shuffle between Los Angeles and Yuma) need help.

Of course I also introduced him to blogging - and showed him this blog as an example!

A tribute to London

I decided that it would only be appropriate to pay tribute to one of my favorite cities, that has suffered so much last week, as body recoveries continue on the Piccadilly Line of the Underground system. Also, this would be an opportunity to try out the image upload features of this blog.

These pictures were taken during the first week of November 2003, when my most recent London visit took place.

Hyde Park near Kensington Palace (2 November 2003)

Princess Diana Memorial Walk, Hyde Park (2 November 2003)

Prince Albert Memorial, Hyde Park (2 November 2003)


Oxford Street, West End (6 November 2003)


Piccadilly Circus (6 November 2003)


St. Paul's Cathedral (6 November 2003)
The symbol of Britain's defiance during the WWII German blitz


Kew Gardens, Richmond (7 November 2003)
Yes, London can get sunny.

An article worth reading

DiAnne Grieser of the Silenced Majority blog has emailed me this article, written by Robin Cook for the Guardian UK.

The article's point is this: terrorism cannot be defeated by violent means. In particular, the article points out that focusing on hunger and poverty, as the activists wanted the leaders to do, would go much farther in curbing potential terrorist breeding grounds.

Definitely thought provoking - and thanks for the email, DiAnne!

More thoughts on London bombing

As I follow the London bombings, I am starting to hear all sorts of information. Some say this was a "conveniently timed" operation from within the British government to continue fighting the Iraq war. (I sincerely hope that this was not the case.) Others say it was caused by the strong radical Muslim community within London and other major British and European cities. I won't rule anything out at this time, but I won't lock in on one cause either.

Most of the evidence does point to al-Qaeda, but there are those who claim that even al-Qaeda, and Osama bin Laden, are no more than puppets of the US CIA, with the September 11th attacks and this London attack being no more than excuses to get the US and UK governments into war. I do have to concur that on September 11th, the slowness of the US Air Force response against the hijacked jets was strange; perhaps the US government did not want the unpopular option of safely shooting down the airliners over the Hudson, and in the process, created a bigger catastrophe by letting them destroy the World Trade Center.

Again though, what I would like to see is how this affects the Blair government. The British may act like the Americans, and "rally" around their leader to keep the war going. Or they may act like the Spaniards, blame Blair for creating the cause of this bombing, and cause the government to lose popular support. What is noteworthy is that the Defence Ministry in the UK government was contemplating a troop pullout plan in Iraq right before the bombings.

What I do know for sure is that the timing could not have been more devastating, coming right after the hosting of the '12 Olympics and during the G8 talks. This also deflects attention away from what the activists wanted this year's G8 to be about - ending Third World poverty.

This is a sad week for the British and the world. Last week's idealism and hope of the Live 8 events is now just a distant memory.

A personal milestone

Today marks my five-year anniversary at epinions.com, a website where I can submit product reviews and some personal writings as well. Time flies!

Being in a construction office with almost exclusively men, dressing and talking like them, and pretty much "being one of them," has taken its toll, and the products I have reviewed (electronics, cars, etc.) will show that. I am changing that though, and expect me to start submitting reviews of some cosmetics products in the not-too-distant future. (I am thrilled to have switched from Mary Kay to MAC.)

Please feel free to read my reviews! My username is AllyMcBeal. (Now you know I am obsessed with that show. And yes, I was that skinny when I signed up five years ago!)

Update from London

I have just received an email from my London acquaintance saying that she is alive and well.

Phew!

The London Terrorist Attacks

London is in the news again. The gleeful mood from the Live 8 concert and the '12 Olympic Games has been shattered this morning, when four bombs went off in the public transport system, killing at least 33. One of them went off on the Piccadilly Line of the Underground system between Russell Square and King's Cross stations, killing at least 21; this is especially chilling for me, as I ride the Piccadilly Line - and this particular section - often, whenever I am in London.

First, I have an acquaintance who moved from Los Angeles to London earlier this year; I better check on her safety as soon as I can.

Second, whoever is responsible for these attacks must be brought to justice. Prime Minister Blair has made it perfectly clear. So far, Al-Qaeda seems to be responsible, but we will have to find out for sure.

Third, we must re-assess the War on Terror, making sure that the so-called Coalition of the Willing are making as many friends as possible, and making the fight a shared, global effort. No one nation, even the US or the UK, can fight the war alone. We must also go after the right targets, instead of wasting time and effort on a diversionary war like Iraq - which has only served to create more terror.

Last, I will be interested in seeing the political ramifications. Will this attack strengthen Blair's position, much like in the US, or will it weaken him, much like in Spain?

I extend my condolences to those who have lost their loved ones in this senseless attack. This was indeed a very barbaric way to crash the party in one of the world's most cosmopolitan cities.

Odds and Ends

I want to take a break from Bush-bashing today.

First, I would like to congratulate London on becoming the host of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Having been to London three times myself, I know it as the cosmopolitan, dynamic city that it is, and I feel that there are very few hosts better suited for the Games. It was a very interesting bidding process, to say the least, pitting three of my favorite cities (London, Paris, and New York) against each other. Sure, the British government's actions and policies are less than ideal at this time, but there were far less deserving hosts in the recent past, such as Moscow in 1980, Seoul in 1988, and Beijing in 2008. Although Moscow was marred by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and boycotted by the noncommunist world, Seoul was a success that helped bring about South Korea's democratization, and as for Beijing, let's wait and see.

Second, I have linked up to one more blog, named Silenced Majority, run by DiAnne Grieser whom I "met" at the Democracy Cell Project. It's another political blog, and I don't necessarily endorse all contents, but she does cover many issues dear to my heart.

Third, I need to resume writing my novel, which has been in a rut for the past month or so. I will talk about its contents, and my writing process, over the coming days. For now, I'll only say this much. The protagonist is a transgender woman who grows up as a child overseas, and gets a culture shock as she (then a he) navigates the teenage years in California. As she grows up into an adult woman, her language skills give her an edge in an otherwise discriminatory world.

In fact, much of my novel mirrors my own life. I am working on this in an online writing class, though I am under a different identity at that class, for now.

More on the Kyoto Protocol

Over at the Democracy Cell Project, the cover page is featuring a New York Times article (registration required) by Nicholas Kristof, showing Portland's attempt to decrease its pollution without economic sacrifices. And apparently, it's working well.

"Newly released data show that Portland, America's environmental laboratory, has achieved stunning reductions in carbon emissions. It has reduced emissions below the levels of 1990, the benchmark for the Kyoto accord, while booming economically.

"What's more, officials in Portland insist that the campaign to cut carbon emissions has entailed no significant economic price, and on the contrary has brought the city huge benefits: less tax money spent on energy, more convenient transportation, a greener city, and expertise in energy efficiency that is helping local businesses win contracts worldwide."

Take that, Dubya. Your lame excuses only serve to fatten the likes of Chevron and Ford, as well as the Christian conservatives who think they can hasten the second coming of Jesus through environmental destruction.

Dubya vs. The World, Part II

This is a continuation of discussion from my post earlier today. Even after millions of people came together and made a plea through the Live 8 concerts and related activities, Bush is not moved. In particular, he has absolutely no interest in working with anything resembling the Kyoto Protocol, saying that the American economy would be destroyed in the process. This aspect will be my topic in this post.

Bush says that new technologies, not conservation, would be the solution to decreasing America's contribution to global pollution. Sounds great, except for one thing: instead of focusing on exotic new technologies that would not take effect until a long way into the future, possibly too late, the focus also needs to be on more modest technologies that will, again, decrease consumption of energy - right now. In other words, instead of focusing on exotic, expensive, and difficult hydrogen cars, pay attention to the more immediate gasoline-electric hybrid cars as well.

One reason that he is not interested in immediate conservation - at least during his term - is that he is supported by the energy industry and the automotive industry. All oil companies (including Shell, contrary to some reports), most automotive suppliers including Goodyear and other tire companies, as well as GM and Ford, are major Bush supporters and contributors. The administration's "poorest" member, Secretary of State Condolezza Rice, has a Chevron tanker named after her. And these companies stand to gain the most if America continues to consume petroleum products at the current, unsustainable rate, and if it continues to buy those oversized Hummers and Ford Excursions. Honestly I don't see much point in driving a Hummer, other than intimidating drivers of small imports, and intimidation is not a virtue on civilian highways.

Sure, Ford is making the Escape Hybrid. But it is about as convincing as a greedy pharmaceutical company pretending to give away drug patents to Third World countries for free. In fact, American car companies have stopped innovating; they just want Bush to keep the market favorable for gas-guzzling large SUVs, instead of designing cars people want to buy. No wonder Americans now look overseas for decent cars, and increasingly trucks as well. Just 20 to 30 years ago America was still capable of making good cars, like the Oldsmobile Cutlass and the Ford Taurus. Now the Olds nameplate is history, and Ford is about to retire the Taurus after letting it stagnate for years - and blaming the assembly line workers whenever a design-related defect comes up. What a shame, considering that in those same 20 years, South Korea's Hyundai, for example, went from making crappy cars in miserable sweatshops using leftover Japanese parts, to making good cars Americans actually want to drive. I just test-drove Hyundai's newest Sonata a few days ago, and I thought it was superior to any Ford I have ever driven (and when I say Ford, I mean Lincoln and Mercury as well).

Speaking of the automotive industry, the outsourcing bug has hit them as well. GM and Ford have decided that it would be better to re-design their European products for the American market than to keep American engineers busy. The results are such cars as Saturn L-Series, Ford Contour, and Ford Focus. I've been driving a Contour since 1999, and while its European background makes it a better handler than most American cars, its engineering is no BMW, cutting corners just about everywhere. In fact it's positively the worst car I, or anyone I know, have ever driven. Dealer service is even worse, because those Ford dealers are too busy pandering to the SUV owners.

So this is the point. Bush's refusal to conserve, combined with the oil and auto industries' complicity, are a disaster for the American public. We will breathe ever-dirtier air and drink contaminated water. In addition, our refusal to support such environmental accords as the Kyoto Protocol will leave a permanent black mark on America's image in the minds of people worldwide. And on this Independence Day, the industries and Bush's policies are making Americans ever more dependent on either foreign oil or foreign cars. Even as Bush claims to lead us into fighting the war on terror, the Saudi terror breeding grounds continue to get valuable American dollars as Americans continue to increase their appetite for Saudi oil. The Saudis, with their religious fundamentalism, appalling human rights record, and primitive legal system, do not deserve to be our friends.

Dubya vs. The World

In the wake of the Live 8 concerts, which stressed idealism and action, and left me in a rather good mood, The Guardian today carried an interview with George W. Bush (I refuse to call him the President, as he does not represent me, and his election results were questionable both times).

Bush was quoted as saying that he would put America's interest first, ahead of the developing nations. Sure, it sounds patriotic and good. Except that he has not been putting the interests of the average American first, ever. He is watching silently as American jobs continue to be outsourced to sweatshops in China, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and other places. There is almost nothing left for the average American worker to do. Perhaps his compassion and aid consists of handing these countries American jobs, because a sweatshop job is better than no job, I guess. The only Americans Bush cares for are the ones running the corporations responsible for these outsourcings (and much of Bush's political contributions).

Based on what I've noticed when I lived in Arizona, a state of the working poor, I feel that when the average Americans lose their wealth and spending power, the economy can no longer sustain itself, and neither can the processes of capitalism. The small-scale entrepreneurs who are always credited with driving the American economy (conservatives from Sam Walton to Bush himself have praised them all the time) will no longer have customers with enough of a disposable income to buy their products and services. I know it, having tried to do sales in Tucson, where even experienced engineers barely get paid $30,000 per year thanks to a slew of anti-labor laws. Only the elite few would make any money in this kind of economy, which would have more in common with feudalism than with capitalism.

Moreover, expanding this to the global scale, aid to African countries is only good in the long run, because this creates wealth for the Africans, which they can use to buy products and services from American companies. The goodwill we would have built up in the process helps immensely as well. Bush does not see this. All he sees is an "us against them" mentality, where he feels that if someone else becomes better off, America loses. I think the lost potential goodwill is really hurting America as not only Africans, but Europeans and Asians, like America less and less, and stay away from American products and services as much as possible.

If Bush wants to truly put American interests first, the correct approach would be to offer generous aid and jump-start the failing African economies. After all, it can only generate new markets for American products and services, and that's always a good capitalistic thinking. Fostering international goodwill further by complying with the Kyoto Protocol and other global treaties will serve to establish the US as the global model citizen that other nations will envy and follow. I will discuss the Kyoto Protocol, and Bush's refusal to support it, in a separate post.

As I watched Live 8...

I spent the better part of the day watching the Live 8 concerts' coverage over aolmusic.com and MTV. Being on the West Coast of North America, I missed out much of the early coverage of the European, South African, and Japanese concerts, but made up for it in a happy moment early afternoon, when I had to choose between the London feed - showing my teeny bopper era idol Mariah Carey belting out "Hero" over the darkening evening skies of Hyde Park - and the Philadelphia feed - showing my current idol Sarah McLachlan singing "Angel" in a duet with Josh Groban, both feeds at the same time. (I ended up evenly splitting between the two feeds.) I am so thankful that so many great names in the recording industry, including names I like and names I have seen in person, have decided to come together today to deliver a powerful message - one of life and hope - to the upcoming G-8 summit in Edinburgh next week. Sincerely, I hope that many of these celebrities will follow up on their promises with action, hopefully by doing some volunteer work in the famine-stricken African countries.

I have signed the online petition at the Live 8 website, and will be following the developments at its US activism arm, One.org, run by U2's Bono. One.org asks that one percent of the US budget be allocated to helping out with the difficulties in developing countries. It is a noble goal that must eventually be met, but I do feel that there are other needs to be met as well, right within the US borders - such as getting everyone medically insured, ending poverty in inner city neighborhoods, and so forth. The money that the US government spends currently on pork-barrel projects - in such pet wars as Iraq, for example - and power-hungry religious cults must be redirected so that the average American will live better and become more productive.

And this is what the so-called "culture of life" movement needs to be all about. So far it has been about taking control away from women over their physical well-being, and trying to save a symbolic life (Terri Schiavo, for example) while ignoring the deaths of many others. I know that the current regime, as much as it talks about "culture of life," couldn't care less if someone like me died because I was unable to obtain medical insurance under the current system and suddenly got sick. Or if someone became victim of gang violence because the inner cities were tragically neglected so that the defense contractors could make more money under another fake war. And the real tragedy is that saving these lives is considered socialist! What is this, being truly pro-life is now part of a failed ideology? I find it utterly unacceptable that ideology of ANY kind has to triumph over the true sanctity of life.

No wonder Bush is rejecting calls for debt amnesty and extra aid by Prime Minister Blair. Bush's calls for a "culture of life" is a hollow call - and it is actually a culture of DEATH.

I am happy that the United States and many other countries sent their most talented popular music artists to worldwide locations to perform for a great cause today. Now the US needs to send a leader that actually fits the bill and has real compassion. And sadly, George W. Bush is not that leader.

The same applies to the Vatican, where the new pope, Benedict XVI, is too busy pandering to the US neocon regime and not pushing the traditional compassionate Catholic message hard enough.