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I am Elaine.

This is my diary, an ever-changing auto-biography, a blog.

I write about changing the world, changing the web, and changing myself:
feminism, veganism, atheism, egoism.

On Community Organizing

September 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment

I don’t want to appropriate the concept of community organizing, but I will step up today and say loudly and proudly that community organizing is a very, very good thing. But community organizing is NOT what either of the major political parties do. How dare the Republicans use this dog whistle to encourage racists to vote for them! And how dare the Democrats act as though their well-funded, well-oiled machine is grassroots community organizing.

(I will vote and I will probably vote for Obama, but that’s much more a vote against McCain than for Obama. Just saying.)

Debt, Guns, and Suicide

September 7, 2008 | 2 Comments

“Suicide is becoming an increasingly popular response to debt. [...]

“Dry your eyes, already: death is an effective remedy for debt, along with anything else that may be bothering you too. And try to think of it too from a lofty, corner-office, perspective: if you can’t pay your debts or afford to play your role as a consumer, and if, in addition– like an ever-rising number of Americans–you’re no longer needed at the workplace, then there’s no further point to your existence. I’m not saying that the creditors, the bankers and the mortgage companies actually want you dead, but in a culture where one’s credit rating is routinely held up as a three-digit measure of personal self-worth, the correct response to insoluble debt is, in fact, “Just shoot me!”

“The alternative is to value yourself more than any amount of money and turn the guns, metaphorically speaking, in the other direction. It wasn’t God, or some abstract economic climate change, that caused the credit crisis. Actual humans–often masked as financial institutions– did that, (and you can find a convenient list of names in Nomi Prins’s article in the current issue of Mother Jones.) Most of them, except for a tiny few facing trials, are still high rollers, fattening themselves on the blood and tears of ordinary debtors. I know it’s so 1930s, but may I suggest a march on Wall Street?”

from: The Suicide Solution >>

And a bruised collar bone

September 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment

FYI, there’s been a recall on dog leashes:

Worldwise Inc. Recalls Retractable Dog Leashes; Metal Clasp Can Break and Cause Facial and Body Injuries to Dog Owners

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced voluntary recalls of the following consumer products. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Products: SlyDog™ Retractable Dog Leashes

Hazard: The metal clasp connecting the leash to a dog’s collar can bend or break while in use, causing the leash to recoil back unexpectedly. This poses a serious risk of injury to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: Worldwise has received five reports of injuries, including facial cuts, a broken tooth, displaced eye lens, and a bruised collar bone.

I guess they come loose off the dog and fly back at the person holding the leash. I knew there was a reason I hated retractable leashes.

Read the whole thing here >>

Palin’s Speech & Matthew Scully

September 6, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Steven Best has something to say:

“Thanks to Scully’s adroit words and Palin’s androgynous mix of feminine soft talk and macho militarism, the chronically anxious Right erupted into a roar of elation as they felt they had, with the addition of Palin, finally find the ticket they wanted — one entirely devoted to militarism, privatization, increasing their already obscene levels of wealth, and waging a full-blown culture war against abortion, sex education in the schools, the ban on prayers in pubic places, and so on.” [...]

“Congratulations, Scully, you did it! You galvanized and unified the most reactionary forces of the country that want to finish the job — on the Constitution, liberties, privacy, human rights at home and abroad, the United Nations, international justice, restrictions on trade, unions, animal protections and the environment — that Bush brought to such a high level in eight years. There is nothing innocent about what Scully does: he is a hack, a propagandist, a demagogue, a mouthpiece for nihilistic ideologies that are anything but ‘pro-life.’”

Read the rest here >>

The Clark County School District: Money, Ethnicity, & Food

September 5, 2008 | 5 Comments

The other day I went with my sister to her son’s school to pick up the list of items each parent must* purchase. Mind you, this is a public elementary school. The list is things like toilet paper, erasers, etc. The schools can’t afford to buy their own toilet paper. So the parents have to buy it.

Anyway, while we were there we grabbed two things: a fact sheet about Vegas schools and the school lunch menu. The fact sheet was interesting. For example:

The Clark County School District is the fifth largest school district in the United States:
• 2007-08 enrollment – 308,783 students
• 2006-07 enrollment – 302,763 students
• 2005-06 enrollment – 291,510 students
• 2004-05 enrollment – 280,834 students
• 2003-04 enrollment – 268,357 students

The rapid population growth partially explains the lack of resources such as toilet paper. But another piece of the puzzle is the fact that the school district is majority funded by sales tax:

The preliminary general operating fund budget for the 2007-08 school year is $2,146 billion and the per pupil expenditure is $6,827. The budget is funded as follows:
• 39.3% - Local sales tax
• 27.7% - Property tax
• 28.5% - State support
• 4.5% - Government Services Tax / federal support / other

Just guessing, but I think that since people are spending less on non-essentials that they’re sales taxes are contributing less to the schools and thus, the schools can’t afford toilet paper.

Also interesting:

Student Ethnic Distribution:
• Hispanic . . . . . . . . . . . . 123,236 . . . . . . . . 39.9%
• White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,484 . . . . . . . . 36.1%
• African American . . . . . . 43,047 . . . . . . . . 13.9%
• Asian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,595 . . . . . . . . . 9.3%
• Native American . . . . . . . . 2,421 . . . . . . . . . 0.8%

Categorizing and counting people by race or ethnicity is troubling because many people are multiple races, many don’t want to identify with any particular group, and the choices are limited or categories are too broad. However, I still think this distribution is interesting.

And it makes me excited about Vegas. I want to raise my kids, when I have them, in a diverse, urban setting. I think kids who grow up in diverse, urban environments like San Francisco, LA, New York, Chicago, etc. tend to have a better appreciation and acceptance of cultural difference. They get exposed to more of a variety and they get to think further ‘outside the box.’ It’s just my opinion, but I’d rather raise kids where their minds get stimulated than raise kids isolated in a rural area.

My mom thought differently and moved out of LA to a small town up the coast when she had kids. She said she did it because she wanted us to be exposed to more natural beauty, and indeed, I have a much better appreciation for nature than many of my urban cousins. But it also meant that most of the people I saw were the same color as me, we all dressed the same, and we shared many of the same values. In some ways, it made me feel less acceptable in the few ways that I was different. Like I’ve said before, I was the only vegetarian child I knew (other than my sister). I don’t want my kids to feel isolated like that.

Also of note: The lunch menu was pathetic. For example:

Monday - pizza
Tuesday - cheeseburger
Wednesday - chicken patty sandwich
Thursday - chili cheese dog
Friday - pizza

FYI, the Cheeseburger has 552 calories, 1037 milligrams of sodium and 21 grams of fat. The Chili Cheese Dog has 1029 mg of sodium and 13 grams of fat.

The vegetarian/vegan option was peanut butter and jelly sandwich… every single day.

So, the meat-eating kids get fatty, salty, unhealthy foods. (If you’re going to eat meat, at least don’t combine it with tons of cheese, oil, and salt. And DON’T eat it every single day for every single meal.) At least the veggie kids had an option. There was no option when I was a kid. But the vegetarian kids get a relatively healthy meal of PB&J without variety at all. (Some schools don’t have a vegan option, only a vegetarian option of grilled cheese.)

OK, sure. That’s nutritious. No wonder my sister packs my nephew’s lunches everyday.

—

*strongly encouraged, but not legally mandated