Not my best blog entry...
By now you may have noticed that I am typically behind in doing these entries. There's 'mucho' going on, a lack of sufficient sleep, too much coffee (but good coffee), etc. You get the idea. So my writing to me is disjointed...Joycian... I would say Stream of Conscious...
There have been raids going on here in the Twin Cities. Watch or listen to Democracy Now (democracynow.org) for actual footage and report on Monday. Amy is here reporting it all. It may also get on Free Speech TV. I hope for a wider broadcasting. However, as you know, that might not occur. We hope NOT to go to jail (realy, that could make me miss my flight and due date back to work). However, it's gotten hairy already.
Last night, Carlos and my work was acknowledged by Jeremy Scahill in his speech (i.e. Author of Blackwater expose on mercenary forces). People gave us a standing ovation. Um, I didn't feel good about that and sort of shrank into my seat. That was humbling. I felt like shouting "Please people. We are just 'normal' people doing what we have to do to get through abnormal times." This is all about Alex and not losing our minds from all the stress, grief, anguish. Truly, I was and continue to be conflicted.
I have been thinking and praying over Brian. He is my stepson and my sun! However, he's been so out of it. I worry. Brian was the first one to love me unreservedly when he was six. I pray for him and his present and future....
Today we stay with elder Minnesotans Patrick and Jenny - Both are cute as buttons! Juan Torres is staying with them as well. However, first we do a memorial march to the RNC site. Of course, isn't that you typically do on your sunny Sunday in MN?
Carlos goes to Chicago after DNC to see Tomas Young. Then onto Cleveland...Then home by next weekend.....Miss my dogs....There were two puppies here last night that gave me love....
8.31.2008
Iraq Veterans Against the War Lead
August 28, 2008
Iraq Veterans Against the War Lead Thousands in Protest March to Democratic Convention
Protests against the Democratic National Convention continued Wednesday as members of Iraq Veterans Against the War led an unpermitted march to the Pepsi Center to call on Barack Obama to back an immediate US withdrawal from Iraq. The march began at a concert by the rock band Rage Against the Machine sponsored by IVAW and the Alliance for Real Democracy. Rick Rowley of Big Noise Films files a report from the streets. [includes rush transcript]
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Rush TranscriptThis transcript is available free of charge. However, donations help us provide closed captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing on our TV broadcast. Thank you for your generous contribution. Donate - $25, $50, $100, More...
AMY GOODMAN: Well, protests against the Democratic National Convention continued Wednesday, as members of Iraq Vets Against the War led an unpermitted march to the Pepsi Center to call on Barack Obama to back an immediate US withdrawal from Iraq. The march began at a concert by the rock band Rage Against the Machine, sponsored by Iraq Veterans Against the War and the Alliance for Real Democracy.
Rick Rowley of Big Noise Films filed this report.
IVAW PROTESTERS: Mission top secret, destination unknown, don’t even know if we’re ever coming home.
RICK ROWLEY: As a free concert by Rage Against the Machine came to an end Wednesday afternoon, thousands of antiwar protesters poured into the streets outside of the Denver Coliseum. The march, organized by Iraq Vets Against the War, was the largest demonstration of the convention.
MAGGIE MARTIN: My name’s Maggie Martin. I am the chapter president of the new Savannah, Georgia chapter of IVAW. We’re marching to show the Democrats and to show America the veterans who are over there who served are against the war and that we’re not going to—we’re not going to let the Democrats get off scot-free on running on an antiwar platform and getting elected and not following through. So we’re here to hold them accountable.
GARRETT REPPENHAGEN: You know, we voted them in in 2006 on the idea that they’d give us these false promises, these hopes that they were going to bring us out of Iraq, and they’ve only funded it time and time again, and they’ve only stalled veteran legislation that would help us get healthcare.
So, you know, I’m not—I’m not going to—I’m not going to vote on hope. You know, I’m going to vote on solutions. And, you know, both parties –--it’s both parties’ fault we got into this war. It’s both parties’ fault that we’re still there. So we need to hold them both accountable. And we’re going to march there, and we’re going to demand they hear what we have to say. And if they’re really the antiwar party, as some might think, then they should have no problem endorsing what we have to say.
We’ve been to Iraq. We’ve seen the brutality and the oppression that we’ve put upon the Iraqi people. We know that they see us as occupiers and invaders and not as peacekeepers. And we need to bring the troops home now, and that’s the only way to find a peaceful solution to this entire conflict.
IVAW PROTESTERS: It’s all right. It’s all right.
It’s all right. It’s all right.
It’s all right. It’s OK.
UNIDENTIFIED: In front of me is about sixty Iraq Veterans Against the War from different branches of military, in Dress A uniforms and combat camo uniforms, marching in tight formation.
Behind me is the entire Rage Against the Machine show that just took place for free in Denver. And they’re marching behind us. We’re going to go as far as we can to the convention center. The vets are willing to go to jail, and a lot of the crowd is, too, so we’re going to fill the jails, fill the streets and get our message across.
IVAW PROTESTERS: It’s all right. It’s OK.
It’s all right. It’s OK.
RICK ROWLEY: Protesters marched over four miles in the hot afternoon sun, past the hotels where delegates are staying and up to the gates of the Pepsi Center, where the convention is being held. The veterans carried a letter with them they planned to read to the convention.
IVAW MEMBER: Senator Obama, in your campaign for the presidency of the United States of America, you have clearly presented yourself as the antiwar candidate, dedicated to change in trying times.
Senator Obama, millions of Americans are looking to you to restore our country’s good name and reputation around the world, beginning with righting the wrongs of the war-driven Bush administration.
Iraq Veterans Against the War is the only organization consisting of active-duty service members and veterans of the global war on terror committed to ending the occupation of Iraq. We believe that a responsible withdrawal of US forces from Iraq should include, number one, the immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces from Iraq; two, full and adequate healthcare and benefits to all returning service members and veterans; and three, reparations made to the Iraqi people for the destruction caused by the US war and occupation.
REPORTER: If you don’t get in, and this all ends peacefully, will you have at least achieved part of your goal?
IVAW MEMBER: Well, I mean, my goal right now is—I mean, I’m a Marine. I don’t—I get—you know, my mission is to stand there and tell those people that, because, yeah, you can put—you know, you can put one of us in a closet somewhere and, you know, say—whisper it in his ear. We want people to know that there are people who have served in the global war on terror who are deeply offended by what’s being done in our name.
REPORTER: Why do you think they won’t talk to you?
IVAW MEMBER: Well, I just—actually, I think it’s a communication thing. If we could get them to come out here, I believe they would be fine with having us read that letter. You know? They’d be just fine. If somebody can get the word in there, I’m sure there are a lot of good Americans in there that would be not OK with the idea that they’re about to arrest a bunch of Iraq vets if we don’t go home. This is my home. This is my home.
RICK ROWLEY: Hundreds of heavily armed police officers in body armor are amassed at the gates to stop the march.
IVAW MEMBER: The police of the City of Denver have given the dispersal order to the protesters in the rear of the formation. We’re told that if that order is given three times, they have authorization to shoot teargas into the crowd. And Iraq Veterans Against the War will be standing here in formation awaiting further response from the campaign of Senator Barack Obama.
Shooting teargas, or a threat of it, or threatening to disperse while we exercise our First Amendment rights to peacefully gather—and I emphasize peacefully—is a disgrace.
These veterans fought too hard to come back here and be ignored, as we have been for the last seven years by this same administration. To be ignored again by the would-be savior of America, his antiwar rhetoric—to be ignored again is a disgrace.
RICK ROWLEY: The police brought in reinforcements, and the veterans braced themselves for an attack.
RON KOVIC: Ron Kovic. I’m a Vietnam veteran. I was wounded in Vietnam on January 20th, 1968, with the United States Marine Corps. I was shot and paralyzed. I’ve been in a wheelchair for the last forty years this year, and I have been arrested for protesting the war twelve times. I’m not afraid to get arrested tonight.
I support our—I support our young men and women who have served and sacrificed for their country. I support their right tonight to be heard.
We’ve marched a long ways. They’ve been marching ever since they came home from the war. All they want to do is be listened to. That’s all they’re asking for. Have they not sacrificed enough in order to be listened to? How much more do these young men and women have to sacrifice before this country begins to listen to them? Why are they abandoning these young men and women? They have every right to be heard.
And I don’t know—I don’t understand why the Democratic Party is turning their back on their own veterans, their own soldiers. Why is the Democratic Party not listening to these young men and women? Why? They served their country. They served their country honorably. They are peaceful. They are nonviolent. Why is the Democratic Party not listening? Where are the representatives of this party? Where are the representatives? Where are the delegates? That’s what we’re asking tonight. That’s what we’re asking tonight.
We want an end to this war. We want to be heard. We want to be listened to. We’re tired of being told to shut up. We’re tired of being told that we’ve got to go inside of a cage. Do you know how insulting, how humiliating that is, that we have to go inside of a cage? Can you imagine? Think about this. Wake up for a second. Think about these young men and women.
These young men and women, they are the very best. They are the finest. They’re not going to go inside of a cage. You’re not going to cage democracy. You’re not going to cage freedom of speech. You’re not going to invade our privacy. You’re not going to wiretap us. We’re getting sick and tired. We’re getting sick and tired of people telling us that we’ve got to remain silent. We’re not going to be silent anymore. We’re not going to be silent. We’re going to speak our minds and we’re going to be heard.
RICK ROWLEY: But as the tension rose, a surprise message arrived from the Obama campaign.
IVAW MEMBER: We got through to the campaign staff, and they’ve agreed. Their veterans’ liaison is coming out to set up a meeting to talk about when we can read our letter to the delegates. So we’ve succeeded.
GEOFF MILLARD: As a veteran, you’re used to kind of being pushed off to the side. When you come home, most people don’t want to listen. And now that we have the ear of a presidential candidate, as Iraq veterans, I can’t tell you how good that feels. Most of the time, they want us to come home and be war heroes and take our medals and forget about the war. Well, we can’t forget about the war. We won’t forget about the war. And we certainly won’t forget about our brothers and sisters still fighting it and the Iraqi people who are stuck there.
I would say that this is a victory. When you work in the antiwar movement, you take victories when they come to you. This is a victory. We at least have the ear of a presidential candidate. That’s, I think, the first for the antiwar movement for the Iraq war, to actually have the full ear of one of the presidential candidates.
And we will continue to keep the pressure up. This isn’t the end for us. Until there is immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces, all veterans are taken care of, and reparations are paid to the Iraqi people, Iraq Veterans Against the War isn’t going to rest. We’re packing up in a matter of hours, and we’re headed to the Republican National Convention, and we’re going to pressure them the same way that we pressured here, especially highlighting McCain’s atrocious record on veterans’ issues. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America recently rated McCain as a D-minus, voting on veterans’ issues.
RICK ROWLEY: Protesters were elated by the victory, but after meeting with Obama’s veterans’ liaison, Philip Carter, the initial promise of a time to address the convention was changed.
AMY GOODMAN: Did they say they were going to present this letter to the senator, to Barack Obama?
IVAW MEMBER: You know what? They said they’ve received it, and if the campaign staff doesn’t have enough common sense to let the senator make a decision about this, then I hope they don’t win the presidency.
AMY GOODMAN: What did they say would be the next step?
IVAW MEMBER: We were pushing for them to get back to us, in a deadline, and they were not—you know, they said, “Well, all I can say is that we will get back to you,” and not in a certain time frame.
And just once again, we reiterated, you know, we have three things to tell people: that you said no, that you didn’t get back to us, or we’re reading it tomorrow in front of the delegates at the Democratic National Convention.
AMY GOODMAN: Do you think you might possibly be doing that?
IVAW MEMBER: Well, I never imagined to be behind that police line, so I’m not going to limit my imagination, no.
RICK ROWLEY: The veterans remain hopeful that the Obama campaign will give them a place and a voice inside of the convention, but they are determined to keep up the pressure for an immediate withdrawal, full benefits for all veterans, and reparations for the Iraqi people, regardless of who wins in November.
For Democracy Now!, this is Rick Rowley, with Hany Massoud and Nicole Salazar.
AMY GOODMAN: Special thanks to Jordan Hill for his assistance with Rick Rowley on this piece.
Iraq Veterans Against the War Lead Thousands in Protest March to Democratic Convention
Protests against the Democratic National Convention continued Wednesday as members of Iraq Veterans Against the War led an unpermitted march to the Pepsi Center to call on Barack Obama to back an immediate US withdrawal from Iraq. The march began at a concert by the rock band Rage Against the Machine sponsored by IVAW and the Alliance for Real Democracy. Rick Rowley of Big Noise Films files a report from the streets. [includes rush transcript]
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Rush TranscriptThis transcript is available free of charge. However, donations help us provide closed captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing on our TV broadcast. Thank you for your generous contribution. Donate - $25, $50, $100, More...
AMY GOODMAN: Well, protests against the Democratic National Convention continued Wednesday, as members of Iraq Vets Against the War led an unpermitted march to the Pepsi Center to call on Barack Obama to back an immediate US withdrawal from Iraq. The march began at a concert by the rock band Rage Against the Machine, sponsored by Iraq Veterans Against the War and the Alliance for Real Democracy.
Rick Rowley of Big Noise Films filed this report.
IVAW PROTESTERS: Mission top secret, destination unknown, don’t even know if we’re ever coming home.
RICK ROWLEY: As a free concert by Rage Against the Machine came to an end Wednesday afternoon, thousands of antiwar protesters poured into the streets outside of the Denver Coliseum. The march, organized by Iraq Vets Against the War, was the largest demonstration of the convention.
MAGGIE MARTIN: My name’s Maggie Martin. I am the chapter president of the new Savannah, Georgia chapter of IVAW. We’re marching to show the Democrats and to show America the veterans who are over there who served are against the war and that we’re not going to—we’re not going to let the Democrats get off scot-free on running on an antiwar platform and getting elected and not following through. So we’re here to hold them accountable.
GARRETT REPPENHAGEN: You know, we voted them in in 2006 on the idea that they’d give us these false promises, these hopes that they were going to bring us out of Iraq, and they’ve only funded it time and time again, and they’ve only stalled veteran legislation that would help us get healthcare.
So, you know, I’m not—I’m not going to—I’m not going to vote on hope. You know, I’m going to vote on solutions. And, you know, both parties –--it’s both parties’ fault we got into this war. It’s both parties’ fault that we’re still there. So we need to hold them both accountable. And we’re going to march there, and we’re going to demand they hear what we have to say. And if they’re really the antiwar party, as some might think, then they should have no problem endorsing what we have to say.
We’ve been to Iraq. We’ve seen the brutality and the oppression that we’ve put upon the Iraqi people. We know that they see us as occupiers and invaders and not as peacekeepers. And we need to bring the troops home now, and that’s the only way to find a peaceful solution to this entire conflict.
IVAW PROTESTERS: It’s all right. It’s all right.
It’s all right. It’s all right.
It’s all right. It’s OK.
UNIDENTIFIED: In front of me is about sixty Iraq Veterans Against the War from different branches of military, in Dress A uniforms and combat camo uniforms, marching in tight formation.
Behind me is the entire Rage Against the Machine show that just took place for free in Denver. And they’re marching behind us. We’re going to go as far as we can to the convention center. The vets are willing to go to jail, and a lot of the crowd is, too, so we’re going to fill the jails, fill the streets and get our message across.
IVAW PROTESTERS: It’s all right. It’s OK.
It’s all right. It’s OK.
RICK ROWLEY: Protesters marched over four miles in the hot afternoon sun, past the hotels where delegates are staying and up to the gates of the Pepsi Center, where the convention is being held. The veterans carried a letter with them they planned to read to the convention.
IVAW MEMBER: Senator Obama, in your campaign for the presidency of the United States of America, you have clearly presented yourself as the antiwar candidate, dedicated to change in trying times.
Senator Obama, millions of Americans are looking to you to restore our country’s good name and reputation around the world, beginning with righting the wrongs of the war-driven Bush administration.
Iraq Veterans Against the War is the only organization consisting of active-duty service members and veterans of the global war on terror committed to ending the occupation of Iraq. We believe that a responsible withdrawal of US forces from Iraq should include, number one, the immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces from Iraq; two, full and adequate healthcare and benefits to all returning service members and veterans; and three, reparations made to the Iraqi people for the destruction caused by the US war and occupation.
REPORTER: If you don’t get in, and this all ends peacefully, will you have at least achieved part of your goal?
IVAW MEMBER: Well, I mean, my goal right now is—I mean, I’m a Marine. I don’t—I get—you know, my mission is to stand there and tell those people that, because, yeah, you can put—you know, you can put one of us in a closet somewhere and, you know, say—whisper it in his ear. We want people to know that there are people who have served in the global war on terror who are deeply offended by what’s being done in our name.
REPORTER: Why do you think they won’t talk to you?
IVAW MEMBER: Well, I just—actually, I think it’s a communication thing. If we could get them to come out here, I believe they would be fine with having us read that letter. You know? They’d be just fine. If somebody can get the word in there, I’m sure there are a lot of good Americans in there that would be not OK with the idea that they’re about to arrest a bunch of Iraq vets if we don’t go home. This is my home. This is my home.
RICK ROWLEY: Hundreds of heavily armed police officers in body armor are amassed at the gates to stop the march.
IVAW MEMBER: The police of the City of Denver have given the dispersal order to the protesters in the rear of the formation. We’re told that if that order is given three times, they have authorization to shoot teargas into the crowd. And Iraq Veterans Against the War will be standing here in formation awaiting further response from the campaign of Senator Barack Obama.
Shooting teargas, or a threat of it, or threatening to disperse while we exercise our First Amendment rights to peacefully gather—and I emphasize peacefully—is a disgrace.
These veterans fought too hard to come back here and be ignored, as we have been for the last seven years by this same administration. To be ignored again by the would-be savior of America, his antiwar rhetoric—to be ignored again is a disgrace.
RICK ROWLEY: The police brought in reinforcements, and the veterans braced themselves for an attack.
RON KOVIC: Ron Kovic. I’m a Vietnam veteran. I was wounded in Vietnam on January 20th, 1968, with the United States Marine Corps. I was shot and paralyzed. I’ve been in a wheelchair for the last forty years this year, and I have been arrested for protesting the war twelve times. I’m not afraid to get arrested tonight.
I support our—I support our young men and women who have served and sacrificed for their country. I support their right tonight to be heard.
We’ve marched a long ways. They’ve been marching ever since they came home from the war. All they want to do is be listened to. That’s all they’re asking for. Have they not sacrificed enough in order to be listened to? How much more do these young men and women have to sacrifice before this country begins to listen to them? Why are they abandoning these young men and women? They have every right to be heard.
And I don’t know—I don’t understand why the Democratic Party is turning their back on their own veterans, their own soldiers. Why is the Democratic Party not listening to these young men and women? Why? They served their country. They served their country honorably. They are peaceful. They are nonviolent. Why is the Democratic Party not listening? Where are the representatives of this party? Where are the representatives? Where are the delegates? That’s what we’re asking tonight. That’s what we’re asking tonight.
We want an end to this war. We want to be heard. We want to be listened to. We’re tired of being told to shut up. We’re tired of being told that we’ve got to go inside of a cage. Do you know how insulting, how humiliating that is, that we have to go inside of a cage? Can you imagine? Think about this. Wake up for a second. Think about these young men and women.
These young men and women, they are the very best. They are the finest. They’re not going to go inside of a cage. You’re not going to cage democracy. You’re not going to cage freedom of speech. You’re not going to invade our privacy. You’re not going to wiretap us. We’re getting sick and tired. We’re getting sick and tired of people telling us that we’ve got to remain silent. We’re not going to be silent anymore. We’re not going to be silent. We’re going to speak our minds and we’re going to be heard.
RICK ROWLEY: But as the tension rose, a surprise message arrived from the Obama campaign.
IVAW MEMBER: We got through to the campaign staff, and they’ve agreed. Their veterans’ liaison is coming out to set up a meeting to talk about when we can read our letter to the delegates. So we’ve succeeded.
GEOFF MILLARD: As a veteran, you’re used to kind of being pushed off to the side. When you come home, most people don’t want to listen. And now that we have the ear of a presidential candidate, as Iraq veterans, I can’t tell you how good that feels. Most of the time, they want us to come home and be war heroes and take our medals and forget about the war. Well, we can’t forget about the war. We won’t forget about the war. And we certainly won’t forget about our brothers and sisters still fighting it and the Iraqi people who are stuck there.
I would say that this is a victory. When you work in the antiwar movement, you take victories when they come to you. This is a victory. We at least have the ear of a presidential candidate. That’s, I think, the first for the antiwar movement for the Iraq war, to actually have the full ear of one of the presidential candidates.
And we will continue to keep the pressure up. This isn’t the end for us. Until there is immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces, all veterans are taken care of, and reparations are paid to the Iraqi people, Iraq Veterans Against the War isn’t going to rest. We’re packing up in a matter of hours, and we’re headed to the Republican National Convention, and we’re going to pressure them the same way that we pressured here, especially highlighting McCain’s atrocious record on veterans’ issues. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America recently rated McCain as a D-minus, voting on veterans’ issues.
RICK ROWLEY: Protesters were elated by the victory, but after meeting with Obama’s veterans’ liaison, Philip Carter, the initial promise of a time to address the convention was changed.
AMY GOODMAN: Did they say they were going to present this letter to the senator, to Barack Obama?
IVAW MEMBER: You know what? They said they’ve received it, and if the campaign staff doesn’t have enough common sense to let the senator make a decision about this, then I hope they don’t win the presidency.
AMY GOODMAN: What did they say would be the next step?
IVAW MEMBER: We were pushing for them to get back to us, in a deadline, and they were not—you know, they said, “Well, all I can say is that we will get back to you,” and not in a certain time frame.
And just once again, we reiterated, you know, we have three things to tell people: that you said no, that you didn’t get back to us, or we’re reading it tomorrow in front of the delegates at the Democratic National Convention.
AMY GOODMAN: Do you think you might possibly be doing that?
IVAW MEMBER: Well, I never imagined to be behind that police line, so I’m not going to limit my imagination, no.
RICK ROWLEY: The veterans remain hopeful that the Obama campaign will give them a place and a voice inside of the convention, but they are determined to keep up the pressure for an immediate withdrawal, full benefits for all veterans, and reparations for the Iraqi people, regardless of who wins in November.
For Democracy Now!, this is Rick Rowley, with Hany Massoud and Nicole Salazar.
AMY GOODMAN: Special thanks to Jordan Hill for his assistance with Rick Rowley on this piece.
8.30.2008
08.29.2008...
Peace is hard work...
08.29.08
We are now here in Minneapolis-St.Paul, at the VFP convention at the Ramada Inn, where we're staying. Uniformed police have been outside and were inside, walking around in the halls. The RNC have set up a hospitality table in the lobby of this hotel. Michael McPherson (ED for VFP) explained that we were peaceful/nonviolent.
The police raided the convergence center in St Paul (where activists gather to organize actions, have lunch, etc.) and kicked everyone out & seized their equipment, computers, etc. They had a search warrant, and have also searched activist's homes. Out of town activists with bumper stickers on their cars have been stopped repeatedly.
Carlos and I set up memorials outside of the hotel where we are staying and in the convention site. We held a workshop on "Lessons on organizing by a Gold Star Family". About a dozen people attended. I attended workshop on Just War that was awesome.
Camp Casey crew from Crawford include Ann Wright, Leslie Harris, Tammara Rosenfeld, Erik Lobo and us.
Saw Camilo briefly. He's busy with his IVAW work. Saw Adam, Liam, Carlos Harris, and met a few more IVAW who served with Alex in Iraq. In total, we now know six young men who served with Alex who are IVAW members. There are rumors of a seventh young man who resides in NH. Everytime I see or meet another young man, I know it's Alex endorsing this work.
Kathy Smith is IN DA HOUZ! She is Tomas Young's Mommy. I've been having a great time getting to know her better in real life. We've been primarily virtual friends via email. Saw 'Body of War' last night and it was more fun being able to ask Kathy questions about this and that. Also, when we saw evil people on the screen anyone would yell out profanities. Sort of like Rocky Horror a la the wounds of war.
VFP and IVAW took up a collection for me to fly back to Boston. That way we can be involved in RNC activities. We have a homestay with a lovely Minnesotan family. I was reluctant because I want to see my friends Joyce and Chris on the way back and visit with Tomas in Chicago. However, I met a lady from Cincinatti VFP while I was waiting for lunch. (There are those coincidences again.) She and I going to arrange to have Carlos and me come back to the area to do some presentations. I am sure I will be visiting Joyce again in the near future...and her lovely familia...
08.29.08
We are now here in Minneapolis-St.Paul, at the VFP convention at the Ramada Inn, where we're staying. Uniformed police have been outside and were inside, walking around in the halls. The RNC have set up a hospitality table in the lobby of this hotel. Michael McPherson (ED for VFP) explained that we were peaceful/nonviolent.
The police raided the convergence center in St Paul (where activists gather to organize actions, have lunch, etc.) and kicked everyone out & seized their equipment, computers, etc. They had a search warrant, and have also searched activist's homes. Out of town activists with bumper stickers on their cars have been stopped repeatedly.
Carlos and I set up memorials outside of the hotel where we are staying and in the convention site. We held a workshop on "Lessons on organizing by a Gold Star Family". About a dozen people attended. I attended workshop on Just War that was awesome.
Camp Casey crew from Crawford include Ann Wright, Leslie Harris, Tammara Rosenfeld, Erik Lobo and us.
Saw Camilo briefly. He's busy with his IVAW work. Saw Adam, Liam, Carlos Harris, and met a few more IVAW who served with Alex in Iraq. In total, we now know six young men who served with Alex who are IVAW members. There are rumors of a seventh young man who resides in NH. Everytime I see or meet another young man, I know it's Alex endorsing this work.
Kathy Smith is IN DA HOUZ! She is Tomas Young's Mommy. I've been having a great time getting to know her better in real life. We've been primarily virtual friends via email. Saw 'Body of War' last night and it was more fun being able to ask Kathy questions about this and that. Also, when we saw evil people on the screen anyone would yell out profanities. Sort of like Rocky Horror a la the wounds of war.
VFP and IVAW took up a collection for me to fly back to Boston. That way we can be involved in RNC activities. We have a homestay with a lovely Minnesotan family. I was reluctant because I want to see my friends Joyce and Chris on the way back and visit with Tomas in Chicago. However, I met a lady from Cincinatti VFP while I was waiting for lunch. (There are those coincidences again.) She and I going to arrange to have Carlos and me come back to the area to do some presentations. I am sure I will be visiting Joyce again in the near future...and her lovely familia...
08.28.2008
13 News PhotosPlay 1 News Videos
1.
Protests will be peaceful, said former chairman of Iraq Vets Against the War Rocky Mountain News via Yahoo! News - Aug 27 10:12 AM
DENVER COLISEUM - Garett Reppenhagen, the former chairman of the Iraq Veterans Against the War, said he does not believe the protesters will incite any violence today.
2.
Dozens of Iraq war veterans lead protest to seek withdrawal of troops Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune - Aug 27 6:32 PM
DENVER - A column of people three blocks long, led by members of the Iraq Veterans Against the War, streamed from the Denver Coliseum on Wednesday in an antiwar demonstration march to the Pepsi Center, where the Democratic National Convention is being staged.
3.
US election: Anti-war veterans begin protest in Denver Guardian Unlimited - Aug 27 4:47 PM
The protest, organised by Iraq Veterans Against the War, was not approved by the city of Denver
4.
ANTI-WAR CONCERT Rage Against Machine draws 9,000 in Denver The Santa Rosa Press Democrat - Aug 28 4:39 AM
An anti-war concert headlined by the reunited Rage Against the Machine drew thousands of fans to the Denver Coliseum, many with tattoos, body piercings or Iraq Veterans Against the War T-shirts.
5.
PARADE OF 4,000 Iraq war veterans protest at convention The Santa Rosa Press Democrat - Aug 28 4:39 AM
About 50 Iraq war veterans led a parade of thousands of demonstrators Wednesday afternoon in a boisterous march that was Denver's largest protest so far this week.
6.
Josh Silver: Denver: Iraq Veterans Against the War Deliver Emotional Letter to Senator Obama HuffingtonPost - Aug 28 4:14 PM
On Wednesday evening, some 100 US veterans gathered outside the Democratic convention to read a letter demanding "three points of unity".
7.
War veterans protest Greeley Tribune - Aug 28 10:03 AM
When Joshua Earl, Jared Hood and other members of the Denver Chapter of the Iraq Veterans Against the war first learned the Democratic National Convention was coming to Denver, they knew it would be an opportunity they couldn't pass up.
8.
Rage Against the Machine draws hundreds in Denver AP via Yahoo! News - Aug 27 1:58 PM
An anti-war concert headlined by the reunited Rage Against the Machine drew hundreds of fans to the Denver Coliseum, many with tattoos, body piercings or "Iraq Veterans Against the War" T-shirts.
9.
Anti-war protesters march in Denver The Aspen Times - Aug 28 12:13 AM
DENVER - A column of people three blocks long, led by members of the Iraq Veterans Against the War, streamed from the Denver Coliseum on Wednesday in an anti-war protest march to the Pepsi Center, where the Democratic National Convention is being...
10.
Rage Against the Machine draws 9,000 to anti-war concert at convention Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune - Aug 27 5:02 PM
DENVER - A column of people three blocks long, led by members of the Iraq Veterans Against the War, streamed from the Denver Coliseum on Wednesday in an anti-war protest march to the Pepsi Center, where the Democratic National Convention is being staged.
1.
Protests will be peaceful, said former chairman of Iraq Vets Against the War Rocky Mountain News via Yahoo! News - Aug 27 10:12 AM
DENVER COLISEUM - Garett Reppenhagen, the former chairman of the Iraq Veterans Against the War, said he does not believe the protesters will incite any violence today.
2.
Dozens of Iraq war veterans lead protest to seek withdrawal of troops Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune - Aug 27 6:32 PM
DENVER - A column of people three blocks long, led by members of the Iraq Veterans Against the War, streamed from the Denver Coliseum on Wednesday in an antiwar demonstration march to the Pepsi Center, where the Democratic National Convention is being staged.
3.
US election: Anti-war veterans begin protest in Denver Guardian Unlimited - Aug 27 4:47 PM
The protest, organised by Iraq Veterans Against the War, was not approved by the city of Denver
4.
ANTI-WAR CONCERT Rage Against Machine draws 9,000 in Denver The Santa Rosa Press Democrat - Aug 28 4:39 AM
An anti-war concert headlined by the reunited Rage Against the Machine drew thousands of fans to the Denver Coliseum, many with tattoos, body piercings or Iraq Veterans Against the War T-shirts.
5.
PARADE OF 4,000 Iraq war veterans protest at convention The Santa Rosa Press Democrat - Aug 28 4:39 AM
About 50 Iraq war veterans led a parade of thousands of demonstrators Wednesday afternoon in a boisterous march that was Denver's largest protest so far this week.
6.
Josh Silver: Denver: Iraq Veterans Against the War Deliver Emotional Letter to Senator Obama HuffingtonPost - Aug 28 4:14 PM
On Wednesday evening, some 100 US veterans gathered outside the Democratic convention to read a letter demanding "three points of unity".
7.
War veterans protest Greeley Tribune - Aug 28 10:03 AM
When Joshua Earl, Jared Hood and other members of the Denver Chapter of the Iraq Veterans Against the war first learned the Democratic National Convention was coming to Denver, they knew it would be an opportunity they couldn't pass up.
8.
Rage Against the Machine draws hundreds in Denver AP via Yahoo! News - Aug 27 1:58 PM
An anti-war concert headlined by the reunited Rage Against the Machine drew hundreds of fans to the Denver Coliseum, many with tattoos, body piercings or "Iraq Veterans Against the War" T-shirts.
9.
Anti-war protesters march in Denver The Aspen Times - Aug 28 12:13 AM
DENVER - A column of people three blocks long, led by members of the Iraq Veterans Against the War, streamed from the Denver Coliseum on Wednesday in an anti-war protest march to the Pepsi Center, where the Democratic National Convention is being...
10.
Rage Against the Machine draws 9,000 to anti-war concert at convention Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune - Aug 27 5:02 PM
DENVER - A column of people three blocks long, led by members of the Iraq Veterans Against the War, streamed from the Denver Coliseum on Wednesday in an anti-war protest march to the Pepsi Center, where the Democratic National Convention is being staged.
8.28.2008
8.27.08
Drive Day 2 - Cleveland to Minneapolis
I've always been convinced that Carlos is made of different material than I am. This long trip driving from MA to MN confirms that. He has driven the whole trip (let's not include the 90 minutes I drove which is insignificant). Even more astounding is that he is in good spirit, has a bit of lower back pain and in better shape than I am. I've taken three naps today and am pooped. Geez, what a light weight. We only hit one 
traffic jam in Chicago. That made Carlos happy. Why? More people see the display, of course. The cost of gas has made this a $250 trip one way (for us both). It's an investment to have this display showing the cost of war - one that is worth it.
traffic jam in Chicago. That made Carlos happy. Why? More people see the display, of course. The cost of gas has made this a $250 trip one way (for us both). It's an investment to have this display showing the cost of war - one that is worth it.9 p.m. - We made it. Carlos is cranky so that means he's getting tired. Do you blame him?
Now we are both watching DNC. We are listening to Biden. It's actually a good speech. I missed Hillary. That's 'ok'. More writing manana...
8.26.2008
From past to present t0 future ...
6:45 a.m. - We are on the road. OK, it's not 4 a.m., but we are on the road...Primarily, we will follow I-90 west to Minneapolis. MA, NY, PA, OH, IL, IN, WI, MN. Yep, lotz of red states. Carlos has spent three weeks changing thr clutch, suspension, working on electrical, and cleaning the truck.
A shout out must go to Sarah Fuhro who single-womanly collected donations to get theze repairs done and make this trip happen. She grabbed my email list and added it to her own list to ask people to help us out with a $25 donations. More than 100 people internationally sent assistance. Some donations were small (it's not the quantity but the donators quality and integrity) and others were larger. This exercise in faith for Carlos and me in having Sarah send out emails on our behalf has been humbling. She is a remarkable spirit. Her son Joe is currently serving in Afghanistan. We met through 'MFSO' and together we formed the Massachusetts chapter. Sarah and her husbans Bob are our puppies' 'dog-parents'. Her families' support prior to this fundraising has been to watch Buddy and Chica when we travel for peace. The dogs love them. Recently, their own doggie MacDuff went to doggie heaven. I pray that during this time that they and their daughter-in-law Kathleen watch our pups that Buddy and Chica aid in their grief over losing their canine family member.
5 p.m. - Cleveland, Ohio
Wow! We flew over the highways. I drove 90 minutes. Carlos with his fortitude and sheer will drove this trip like a duck with water running off his back. I admire and love this green eyed broken hearted Dad.
5:30 p.m. - The Roper/Ball residence, Cleveland Heights
I have not seen Joyce since 1993. Two children later and this woman is younger than I remember. Her kidz, Sydney is 6 and Graham is 10, are beautiful. This home is lovely...
8 p.m. - We have met Chris Ball, Joyce's husband and Dad to these children. A peacemaker since the 80s. He and Joyce met at the Great American Peace March in 1986. They met at a ten year reunion again in 1996. The rest is his and her story. The proof is in their pride and joy of children. They are intelligent, spirited, peaceful joys. I see Alex's spirit living and alive in these young people. Alexander lives on this voyage...
So, these two peace activists (Carlos and moi) have been passed the torch to us. As they parent in peace we protest peacefully in their stead.
The torch has been passed.
6:45 a.m. - We are on the road. OK, it's not 4 a.m., but we are on the road...Primarily, we will follow I-90 west to Minneapolis. MA, NY, PA, OH, IL, IN, WI, MN. Yep, lotz of red states. Carlos has spent three weeks changing thr clutch, suspension, working on electrical, and cleaning the truck.
A shout out must go to Sarah Fuhro who single-womanly collected donations to get theze repairs done and make this trip happen. She grabbed my email list and added it to her own list to ask people to help us out with a $25 donations. More than 100 people internationally sent assistance. Some donations were small (it's not the quantity but the donators quality and integrity) and others were larger. This exercise in faith for Carlos and me in having Sarah send out emails on our behalf has been humbling. She is a remarkable spirit. Her son Joe is currently serving in Afghanistan. We met through 'MFSO' and together we formed the Massachusetts chapter. Sarah and her husbans Bob are our puppies' 'dog-parents'. Her families' support prior to this fundraising has been to watch Buddy and Chica when we travel for peace. The dogs love them. Recently, their own doggie MacDuff went to doggie heaven. I pray that during this time that they and their daughter-in-law Kathleen watch our pups that Buddy and Chica aid in their grief over losing their canine family member.
5 p.m. - Cleveland, Ohio
Wow! We flew over the highways. I drove 90 minutes. Carlos with his fortitude and sheer will drove this trip like a duck with water running off his back. I admire and love this green eyed broken hearted Dad.
5:30 p.m. - The Roper/Ball residence, Cleveland Heights
I have not seen Joyce since 1993. Two children later and this woman is younger than I remember. Her kidz, Sydney is 6 and Graham is 10, are beautiful. This home is lovely...
8 p.m. - We have met Chris Ball, Joyce's husband and Dad to these children. A peacemaker since the 80s. He and Joyce met at the Great American Peace March in 1986. They met at a ten year reunion again in 1996. The rest is his and her story. The proof is in their pride and joy of children. They are intelligent, spirited, peaceful joys. I see Alex's spirit living and alive in these young people. Alexander lives on this voyage...
So, these two peace activists (Carlos and moi) have been passed the torch to us. As they parent in peace we protest peacefully in their stead.
The torch has been passed.
8.25.2008
Minneapolis or Bust - T minus 1
Today is August 25, 2008. Four years ago Alex was killed in Najaf, Iraq at approximately 10:35 a.m. e.s.t. We learned of his death about four hours later.
Today is also Carlos' 48th birthday. He was born in 1960 in San Jose, Costa Rica in the kitchen of his home. I'm not surprised his Mom couldn't get to the hospital on time. Carlos is always in a rush to this day. It's who he is.
Carlos has been trying to call his Mom all day. Actually, he tried calling her yesterday but the phone has been busy. It's almost 9 p.m. now and the phonecall still doesn't go through.
Brian called today. He's upset. Today is a hard day. I love that kid so much and don't know what to do either does Carlos. We both know that Brian is now an adult at 21 and that he is the only one who can take charge of his life. There's no owner's manual on being parent to a young adult with complicated issues. It's not an easy spectator sport.
There were many people today who called to remember either Carlos' birthday or Alex's death day. Our friend Cindy in Florida put together a blog entry and posted it to daily Kos. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/24/11743/4558/591/574032 A lot of people have responded to it. God bless Cindy...
I've called Sarah twice today to ask about the dogs. I walk around the house and there's no doggie who gets between my legs and follows me around the house. Those pups fill a void in me. My two step sons came into my life at eight (almost nine) and six. Alex was laid back. Brian was devious and always running around. I didn't have baby years with them. I love to see their baby pictures and hear stories about their antics.
My Chica I've had since she was a puppy. She is the one I've raised since her birth. I feel that connection and so does she. Buddy was adopted when he was two. He is my boy.
I wish that I had a magic wand to make my Alex and Brian little kids again so I could share those years with them. That's not how it works though. I mourn Alex's death and remember his life. His spirit and legacy creates new memories for both his dad and me. Brian's angst and young adult hood also brings new challenges to us both as people who love him. I pray for Brian a lot. Please Lord, keep my Brian well, healthy and safe.
Today, Carlos ran around like a chicken with his head cut off preparing the memorial for the long ride to Minneapolis. We leave early tomorrow morning.
It's now 9:04 p.m. Soon we go to sleep. We want to watch Kennedy at the DNC but fatigue may get the better of us.
Tomorrow, we drive to Cleveland, Ohio. We get to see my friend Joyce who we haven't seen for over eleven years. Cleveland is the half way mark to Minneapolis.
The truck is ready and waiting for our a.m. departure....I hope that we will be too....
Today is also Carlos' 48th birthday. He was born in 1960 in San Jose, Costa Rica in the kitchen of his home. I'm not surprised his Mom couldn't get to the hospital on time. Carlos is always in a rush to this day. It's who he is.
Carlos has been trying to call his Mom all day. Actually, he tried calling her yesterday but the phone has been busy. It's almost 9 p.m. now and the phonecall still doesn't go through.
Brian called today. He's upset. Today is a hard day. I love that kid so much and don't know what to do either does Carlos. We both know that Brian is now an adult at 21 and that he is the only one who can take charge of his life. There's no owner's manual on being parent to a young adult with complicated issues. It's not an easy spectator sport.
There were many people today who called to remember either Carlos' birthday or Alex's death day. Our friend Cindy in Florida put together a blog entry and posted it to daily Kos. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/24/11743/4558/591/574032 A lot of people have responded to it. God bless Cindy...
I've called Sarah twice today to ask about the dogs. I walk around the house and there's no doggie who gets between my legs and follows me around the house. Those pups fill a void in me. My two step sons came into my life at eight (almost nine) and six. Alex was laid back. Brian was devious and always running around. I didn't have baby years with them. I love to see their baby pictures and hear stories about their antics.
My Chica I've had since she was a puppy. She is the one I've raised since her birth. I feel that connection and so does she. Buddy was adopted when he was two. He is my boy.
I wish that I had a magic wand to make my Alex and Brian little kids again so I could share those years with them. That's not how it works though. I mourn Alex's death and remember his life. His spirit and legacy creates new memories for both his dad and me. Brian's angst and young adult hood also brings new challenges to us both as people who love him. I pray for Brian a lot. Please Lord, keep my Brian well, healthy and safe.
Today, Carlos ran around like a chicken with his head cut off preparing the memorial for the long ride to Minneapolis. We leave early tomorrow morning.
It's now 9:04 p.m. Soon we go to sleep. We want to watch Kennedy at the DNC but fatigue may get the better of us.
Tomorrow, we drive to Cleveland, Ohio. We get to see my friend Joyce who we haven't seen for over eleven years. Cleveland is the half way mark to Minneapolis.
The truck is ready and waiting for our a.m. departure....I hope that we will be too....
Minneapolis or Bust - T minus 2
August 24, 2008 -
9:15 a.m. - Sara, Bonnie, Jessica, Arthur, Becky, Sammy and a whole parish of worshipers listened to to Carlos as humbly thanked God for having Alex in his life, for recuperating from the fire that almost killed him close to four years ago and for daily blessings.
I requested that the mass be dedicated to Alex to remember the four year anniversary of his death. Four years? It was yesterday, wasn't it? The mind jumps back and forth in time so frequently. Grief does this. I read Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five where the main character would travel back and forth in time from World War II to the future and back again. For the reader, it gets confusing. That's what I feel over Alex's death. One second, I feel his warmth and hear his voice. The next second I recall that it's a memory and truly can't believe it.
1 p.m. - Carlos and I head out to Wendell, Massachusetts to a poultry farm owned by the Diemond family. Annie Diemond owns the farm with her siblings. Other gold star and military families will be there. My dogs are in my arms. Actually, Chica is lying around my neck. This relaxes me. Buddy is on my lap, then on the floor, then back again. Truly, my buddy is a Jack Russell - hyperactive personality.
3:15 p.m. - We have found a piece of paradise located in Western Massachusetts. Carlos yells out to Michael and Maureen Hearn who he spots first as we drive up to the Diemond farm. What eyes! I see people but can't make them out. The dogs are so happy to be in the country. Yep, despite barking, they are yearning to be off leash. It's ok with Annie. We try it. Oops a sheep! A chicken! Chica and Buddy go crazy and chase the animals! These dogs love to bark.
We meet other families. Carlos and I met a Mom who had her son die just this past March. She's in tears. That first year after the loss of a loved one is hell. Carlos and I lost a lot of weight and didn't sleep very much. The Mom and her husband brought pictures of her son a slide show. We share our pictures of Alex too. Soon another family shows up who has two family members currently in Iraq. We let them know that our nephew Randel is currently in Afghanistan as well.
Soon I find the kitchen. Boy, am I hungry! My mouth waters at all of the food. The roasted chicken (grown on the farm) is the best I've tasted ever!
After that Annie gives us a tour of the farm. What a place! Amazing. I could live out here for sure. I miss the earth in the city and my husband at heart is a country boy. The dogs would love to have so much land to roam.
Carlos tricks me and puts Chica and Buddy in the Fuhro's car. They are pulling away when I notice. Sarah, Bob and Kathleen will watch our dogs while we venture and roam throw the midwest on the way to the Veterans for Peace and Republican National Convention. I feel lost without my puppies all of a sudden. I watch Chica sitting in the back window as they drive away. Buddy could care less. He loves car rides.
7 p.m. - It's time to head back to Boston to start getting ready for our trip to Minneapolis. The drive is not long, but I sure miss my puppies.
9:15 a.m. - Sara, Bonnie, Jessica, Arthur, Becky, Sammy and a whole parish of worshipers listened to to Carlos as humbly thanked God for having Alex in his life, for recuperating from the fire that almost killed him close to four years ago and for daily blessings.
I requested that the mass be dedicated to Alex to remember the four year anniversary of his death. Four years? It was yesterday, wasn't it? The mind jumps back and forth in time so frequently. Grief does this. I read Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five where the main character would travel back and forth in time from World War II to the future and back again. For the reader, it gets confusing. That's what I feel over Alex's death. One second, I feel his warmth and hear his voice. The next second I recall that it's a memory and truly can't believe it.
1 p.m. - Carlos and I head out to Wendell, Massachusetts to a poultry farm owned by the Diemond family. Annie Diemond owns the farm with her siblings. Other gold star and military families will be there. My dogs are in my arms. Actually, Chica is lying around my neck. This relaxes me. Buddy is on my lap, then on the floor, then back again. Truly, my buddy is a Jack Russell - hyperactive personality.
3:15 p.m. - We have found a piece of paradise located in Western Massachusetts. Carlos yells out to Michael and Maureen Hearn who he spots first as we drive up to the Diemond farm. What eyes! I see people but can't make them out. The dogs are so happy to be in the country. Yep, despite barking, they are yearning to be off leash. It's ok with Annie. We try it. Oops a sheep! A chicken! Chica and Buddy go crazy and chase the animals! These dogs love to bark.
We meet other families. Carlos and I met a Mom who had her son die just this past March. She's in tears. That first year after the loss of a loved one is hell. Carlos and I lost a lot of weight and didn't sleep very much. The Mom and her husband brought pictures of her son a slide show. We share our pictures of Alex too. Soon another family shows up who has two family members currently in Iraq. We let them know that our nephew Randel is currently in Afghanistan as well.
Soon I find the kitchen. Boy, am I hungry! My mouth waters at all of the food. The roasted chicken (grown on the farm) is the best I've tasted ever!
After that Annie gives us a tour of the farm. What a place! Amazing. I could live out here for sure. I miss the earth in the city and my husband at heart is a country boy. The dogs would love to have so much land to roam.
Carlos tricks me and puts Chica and Buddy in the Fuhro's car. They are pulling away when I notice. Sarah, Bob and Kathleen will watch our dogs while we venture and roam throw the midwest on the way to the Veterans for Peace and Republican National Convention. I feel lost without my puppies all of a sudden. I watch Chica sitting in the back window as they drive away. Buddy could care less. He loves car rides.
7 p.m. - It's time to head back to Boston to start getting ready for our trip to Minneapolis. The drive is not long, but I sure miss my puppies.
8.08.2008
My comments on Compassion Deficit Disorder article
I have to agree with Judith Warner that there is a malady impacting the peoples of our nation. Defining it as compassion deficit disorder may be a good way of handling this insidious malaise.
However, as a member of a military family, I see the impacts of CDD differently. Can you believe that there are peoples of this nation that believe the war in Iraq is over? Denial can lead to self-deception.
The majority of the nation does not understand what a military family has to endure when their loved one is desployed. I don't mean loneliness. I mean the economic impacts, parental responsibilities of a single-headed household, the anxiety involved with knowing your spouse is in a warzone and so on and so on.
There might be family members in the next room yet a military wife feels isolation that only the return of her husband can cure. The hope is that he returns complete of his faculties and abilities to help with the two children both under 14 months.
These military family members go to church, go shopping, live among us. Their children are cute and healthy. We don't know their stories. What's worse is that as a nation we don't want to know.
In my family, the race card is constantly "played" but not to get anything. My family has a deck that has one card with brown colored skin, another card with not-perfect English, another card with immigration issues pending and one last card with brown skinned babies. Try getting the best quality of care for your premature born kids when you can't best communicate. Try having to automatically prove yourself as a documented resident for every single thing just because you are brown and have an accent.
Compassion deficit disorder lives not just among those born with best skin shade. It exists among the non-Anglo peoples as well. Those born in the US accuse those born outside of the US taking their jobs, benefits, opportunities. Those born in the US have no compassion for peoples who literally crossed a river or border or ocean to leave behind war, poverty and malnutrition to come to the US.
As my nephew cooks (that's his M.O.S) and fights his way at the Afghanistan / Pakistan border, he serves a nation who peoples ignore the existance and many of the needs of his wife and children that he's left behind.
However, as a member of a military family, I see the impacts of CDD differently. Can you believe that there are peoples of this nation that believe the war in Iraq is over? Denial can lead to self-deception.
The majority of the nation does not understand what a military family has to endure when their loved one is desployed. I don't mean loneliness. I mean the economic impacts, parental responsibilities of a single-headed household, the anxiety involved with knowing your spouse is in a warzone and so on and so on.
There might be family members in the next room yet a military wife feels isolation that only the return of her husband can cure. The hope is that he returns complete of his faculties and abilities to help with the two children both under 14 months.
These military family members go to church, go shopping, live among us. Their children are cute and healthy. We don't know their stories. What's worse is that as a nation we don't want to know.
In my family, the race card is constantly "played" but not to get anything. My family has a deck that has one card with brown colored skin, another card with not-perfect English, another card with immigration issues pending and one last card with brown skinned babies. Try getting the best quality of care for your premature born kids when you can't best communicate. Try having to automatically prove yourself as a documented resident for every single thing just because you are brown and have an accent.
Compassion deficit disorder lives not just among those born with best skin shade. It exists among the non-Anglo peoples as well. Those born in the US accuse those born outside of the US taking their jobs, benefits, opportunities. Those born in the US have no compassion for peoples who literally crossed a river or border or ocean to leave behind war, poverty and malnutrition to come to the US.
As my nephew cooks (that's his M.O.S) and fights his way at the Afghanistan / Pakistan border, he serves a nation who peoples ignore the existance and many of the needs of his wife and children that he's left behind.
Compassion Deficit Disorder by Judith Warner
http://warner.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/07/compassion-deficit-disorder/index.html
August 7, 2008, 9:52 pm
Compassion Deficit Disorder by Judith Warner
I spent a good deal of my just-completed two-week working vacation on Cape Cod thinking about playing cards.
Not actually playing them, unfortunately — I have somehow failed to transmit my own childhood love of Spit and Gin Rummy to my daughters — but mulling over the degree to which accusing others of card-playing has become a very sorry national pastime.
I spent the first week thinking of Michael Savage, the hugely popular, widely syndicated host of the radio show, ”The Savage Nation,” who last month went on a tear, essentially accusing autistic kids (and their doctors and parents) of seeking undue sympathy, victim status, and services for a malady that is in most cases nothing less than a “fraud” and a “racket.” (If you’re feeling strong today, take a listen here.)
Then came the comments by Rick Davis, Senator John McCain’s campaign manager, that Barack Obama had “played the race card” by noting that Republicans appeared to be trying to suggest to voters that the Democratic candidate “doesn’t look like all those other presidents on those dollar bills.”
And finally, there was coffee with my niece, Margaret.
Margaret is an incoming senior at a large, suburban high school in the Midwest, who told me, one day, over a cranberry muffin, what it’s like to be applying to college in this particularly anxious admissions season.
She painted a bleak picture. Her classmates, she said disgustedly, seem to view the college admissions trials as an all out game of war, waged by combatants who are perennially flipping cards of gender, race, class, status and ethnicity, ready to cheat if they don’t like the luck of the draw. Some students, she noted, managed miraculously to discover their non-white ancestry just days before they had to check off their race on admissions forms. These same students had spent their junior years bashing Hillary Clinton for “playing the gender card” (the oft-repeated phrase.) They bewailed the terrible unfairness of a college application system that, they believed, gave unfair advantage to racial minorities and students from economically disadvantaged homes. Now they were racing to use any card they might have in their own decks — be it legacy status, or sports prowess, or family money enough to pay for the most edifying-sounding summer activities — to advance their own cause.
These were kids — mostly white, mostly comfortably middle- or upper-middle-class — who had grown up believing that they lived in a post-feminist, post-racial society. Who’d absorbed the ambient belief that measures like affirmative action, once put into place to address long histories of discrimination, were now little more than corrupt systems to be gamed.
They were truly their parents’ children, this much remarked-upon generation of non-rebels, kids who had internalized all their parents’ fears about their futures, and voiced those fears in the most unquestioning, un-self-aware ways. They were convinced of their own incipient victimhood: Because they were girls and everyone knew that college admissions were now weighted toward boys. Because they were boys and everyone knew that the whole system was biased toward girls. Because they were white and everyone knew that you can’t get in anywhere if you’re white. Or upper-middle-class.
To accuse someone of playing some sort of card — race, gender, or whatever — is to assume they’re trying to take unfair advantage and to assert that they have no genuine right to express a grievance or even to mere self-assertion. That such accusations have flowed so thick and rich in the past year of presidential campaigning and now circulate unquestioned among our next generation of college students, reflects two realities: one is the degree to which the meaning of the historical battle of America’s long-discriminated-against populations has been corrupted, and the other is the degree to which everyone seems to feel that the deck is stacked against them.
There’s a meanness that flows from this, and that airs itself most openly on the Internet and on our shock radio airwaves, whether in the rants of Rush Limbaugh or the sadistic sniping of Dr. Laura, or in the weird pride with which Savage has stuck to his guns on autism. And before you start equivocating, hemming and hawing that while autism is undoubtedly real, Savage may have a point about A.D.H.D. and the “cartel of doctors and drug companies” that he says push the diagnosis, tune in to how, one breath after bashing autism as a “fraud,” Savage took on the asthma card: ““For a long while we were hearing that every minority child had asthma,” he said. “Why was there an asthma epidemic among minority children? Because I’ll tell you why. The children got extra welfare if they were disabled and they got extra help in school. It was a money racket.”
I won’t dwell too long on this. I’ll just say that Savage is hardly alone in his views.
From where — other than ignorance — does all this ugliness spring? From a cultural moment when people feel locked in hand-to-hand combat, competing for an ever-shrinking stock of resources. The kids applying to college — in what promises to be, demographically, one of the toughest years ever — are feeling this whittling-away of the cultural pie most acutely. As a result, they’re particularly susceptible to the awful miserliness of spirit that accompanies periods of shortage.
Perhaps we shouldn’t judge them too harshly. Their mindset may be adaptive. When these kids graduate college, the economy may be even worse than it is today. If that happens, knowing how to play your cards right will be an even more valuable skill.
August 7, 2008, 9:52 pm
Compassion Deficit Disorder by Judith Warner
I spent a good deal of my just-completed two-week working vacation on Cape Cod thinking about playing cards.
Not actually playing them, unfortunately — I have somehow failed to transmit my own childhood love of Spit and Gin Rummy to my daughters — but mulling over the degree to which accusing others of card-playing has become a very sorry national pastime.
I spent the first week thinking of Michael Savage, the hugely popular, widely syndicated host of the radio show, ”The Savage Nation,” who last month went on a tear, essentially accusing autistic kids (and their doctors and parents) of seeking undue sympathy, victim status, and services for a malady that is in most cases nothing less than a “fraud” and a “racket.” (If you’re feeling strong today, take a listen here.)
Then came the comments by Rick Davis, Senator John McCain’s campaign manager, that Barack Obama had “played the race card” by noting that Republicans appeared to be trying to suggest to voters that the Democratic candidate “doesn’t look like all those other presidents on those dollar bills.”
And finally, there was coffee with my niece, Margaret.
Margaret is an incoming senior at a large, suburban high school in the Midwest, who told me, one day, over a cranberry muffin, what it’s like to be applying to college in this particularly anxious admissions season.
She painted a bleak picture. Her classmates, she said disgustedly, seem to view the college admissions trials as an all out game of war, waged by combatants who are perennially flipping cards of gender, race, class, status and ethnicity, ready to cheat if they don’t like the luck of the draw. Some students, she noted, managed miraculously to discover their non-white ancestry just days before they had to check off their race on admissions forms. These same students had spent their junior years bashing Hillary Clinton for “playing the gender card” (the oft-repeated phrase.) They bewailed the terrible unfairness of a college application system that, they believed, gave unfair advantage to racial minorities and students from economically disadvantaged homes. Now they were racing to use any card they might have in their own decks — be it legacy status, or sports prowess, or family money enough to pay for the most edifying-sounding summer activities — to advance their own cause.
These were kids — mostly white, mostly comfortably middle- or upper-middle-class — who had grown up believing that they lived in a post-feminist, post-racial society. Who’d absorbed the ambient belief that measures like affirmative action, once put into place to address long histories of discrimination, were now little more than corrupt systems to be gamed.
They were truly their parents’ children, this much remarked-upon generation of non-rebels, kids who had internalized all their parents’ fears about their futures, and voiced those fears in the most unquestioning, un-self-aware ways. They were convinced of their own incipient victimhood: Because they were girls and everyone knew that college admissions were now weighted toward boys. Because they were boys and everyone knew that the whole system was biased toward girls. Because they were white and everyone knew that you can’t get in anywhere if you’re white. Or upper-middle-class.
To accuse someone of playing some sort of card — race, gender, or whatever — is to assume they’re trying to take unfair advantage and to assert that they have no genuine right to express a grievance or even to mere self-assertion. That such accusations have flowed so thick and rich in the past year of presidential campaigning and now circulate unquestioned among our next generation of college students, reflects two realities: one is the degree to which the meaning of the historical battle of America’s long-discriminated-against populations has been corrupted, and the other is the degree to which everyone seems to feel that the deck is stacked against them.
There’s a meanness that flows from this, and that airs itself most openly on the Internet and on our shock radio airwaves, whether in the rants of Rush Limbaugh or the sadistic sniping of Dr. Laura, or in the weird pride with which Savage has stuck to his guns on autism. And before you start equivocating, hemming and hawing that while autism is undoubtedly real, Savage may have a point about A.D.H.D. and the “cartel of doctors and drug companies” that he says push the diagnosis, tune in to how, one breath after bashing autism as a “fraud,” Savage took on the asthma card: ““For a long while we were hearing that every minority child had asthma,” he said. “Why was there an asthma epidemic among minority children? Because I’ll tell you why. The children got extra welfare if they were disabled and they got extra help in school. It was a money racket.”
I won’t dwell too long on this. I’ll just say that Savage is hardly alone in his views.
From where — other than ignorance — does all this ugliness spring? From a cultural moment when people feel locked in hand-to-hand combat, competing for an ever-shrinking stock of resources. The kids applying to college — in what promises to be, demographically, one of the toughest years ever — are feeling this whittling-away of the cultural pie most acutely. As a result, they’re particularly susceptible to the awful miserliness of spirit that accompanies periods of shortage.
Perhaps we shouldn’t judge them too harshly. Their mindset may be adaptive. When these kids graduate college, the economy may be even worse than it is today. If that happens, knowing how to play your cards right will be an even more valuable skill.
8.07.2008
Introduction to my family - Part 2
We are all born to a family. Then as we grow and the years pass, we develop a new one. I'm old-fashioned. My husband and I married in 1997. We had met and created the foundation of our family in 1993. Carlos had two younger sons. Alex who was 8 and Brian who was 6 at the time I met them.
My husband is a good looking man. When I first met him, I thought Carlos was too handsome and that he knew it. Then I found out that we were both of Costa Rican ancestry. Carlos was born and raised in CR while both my parents are Costa Rican. (My Dad originally was born in Nicaragua.)
However, in the beginning despite falling in love with all three Arredondos, I didn't think our relationship would go anywhere. I opted to move to Florida to live near my Mom in 1994. Carlos decided drove me to Florida. and I had bought him a ticket to return to Boston. Carlos decided to remain with me in Florida. This was a difficult decision for him to make. He and his former wife had been going through custody matters for years. He knew it was damaging his sons. Both he and I would visit Boston at least once per year to maintain communication with his kids. My husband suffered greatly over this distance. He greatly missed them.
Finally in 2000, we moved back to Boston. The custody issues were straightened out. We became a family. Brian was now 13, and Alex was 15.
I'm so lucky that these young men have always been my friends. They have been kind and respectful to me even after we've had our differences. There has always been love shared by us all.
For four years, we lived as a family. The boys resided with their Mother in a nearby town. We kept in touch with calls and saw eachother frequently for visits. At the time, I truly wished for more not realizing how much we had.
When Alex decided to join the delayed entry program to become a US Marine, the drumbeats of war touched both my husband and my heartbeats. That is when our lives changed. That is the beginning of when we lost Alex.
Brian was greatly impacted as well when his big brother went off to war. He lost his way. School skipping became secondary nature despite our calls every a.m. to wake him up for the bus. He was hanging out with the wrong crowd. He stopped hanging out with his father and myself as much.
Brian will tell you that he did what he wanted to do. However, I wonder how the lack of communication among three adults in his life (Mother, Father and myself) and constantly having to choose sides over the dumbest things impacted him and continues to impact him.
My husband is a good looking man. When I first met him, I thought Carlos was too handsome and that he knew it. Then I found out that we were both of Costa Rican ancestry. Carlos was born and raised in CR while both my parents are Costa Rican. (My Dad originally was born in Nicaragua.)
However, in the beginning despite falling in love with all three Arredondos, I didn't think our relationship would go anywhere. I opted to move to Florida to live near my Mom in 1994. Carlos decided drove me to Florida. and I had bought him a ticket to return to Boston. Carlos decided to remain with me in Florida. This was a difficult decision for him to make. He and his former wife had been going through custody matters for years. He knew it was damaging his sons. Both he and I would visit Boston at least once per year to maintain communication with his kids. My husband suffered greatly over this distance. He greatly missed them.
Finally in 2000, we moved back to Boston. The custody issues were straightened out. We became a family. Brian was now 13, and Alex was 15.
I'm so lucky that these young men have always been my friends. They have been kind and respectful to me even after we've had our differences. There has always been love shared by us all.
For four years, we lived as a family. The boys resided with their Mother in a nearby town. We kept in touch with calls and saw eachother frequently for visits. At the time, I truly wished for more not realizing how much we had.
When Alex decided to join the delayed entry program to become a US Marine, the drumbeats of war touched both my husband and my heartbeats. That is when our lives changed. That is the beginning of when we lost Alex.
Brian was greatly impacted as well when his big brother went off to war. He lost his way. School skipping became secondary nature despite our calls every a.m. to wake him up for the bus. He was hanging out with the wrong crowd. He stopped hanging out with his father and myself as much.
Brian will tell you that he did what he wanted to do. However, I wonder how the lack of communication among three adults in his life (Mother, Father and myself) and constantly having to choose sides over the dumbest things impacted him and continues to impact him.
8.05.2008
Morning - 08/25/2004
I woke up on August 25, 2004 remembering that it was my husband's 44th birthday. I took the card I had bought him and left it on his pillow. I also remembered that it was Wednesday and that I had to get to work early due to a new patient arriving at my job. I went into the bathroom and turned on NPR. The first thing I heard was that two Marines had been killed in Najaf, Iraq. I then turned off the radio, looked at myself in the mirror, and said, "No, I won't tell Carlos this news today." Alex was in Iraq and probably was in this area. I would wait to give Carlos the update, a morbid habit we both had announcing casualties one to the other. I showered and dresed.
My Mother in law had coffee and breakfast ready. The dogs had been walked. It was time to get going to the assisted living facility where I worked.
That morning I went to see one of my favorite patients in his room. His girlfriend was with him, a lady who was maybe twenty years his junior. He had the news on, not unusual for him. They spoke of the Iraq war. I was not facing them when they asked me my opinion. I stopped breathing at that moment. I told them I couldn't really answer the question since my stepson was over there and I simply was very afraid after hearing of the two casualties this morning.
I had to buy supplies that a.m. for the job; my husband and his Mom came by to take an old piece of equipment the owner wanted dumped; a clown was coming; my Mom came to see the clown; lunch was being served.
I decided to eat in my office that day when my cell phone rang. I thought that was odd. Only my family called me on that phone, and I had just seen them not even a couple of hours earlier. I didn't recognize the voice due to the person straining: "Me mataron a Chi-chi" the voice said twice. It was my husband telling me that "they had killed Alex." In a dreamlike state, I fell to the floor, dropped the phone and began to wail! I had never made a sound like that ever in my life. I repeated over and over in Spanish, "Me mataron mi bebe" or "they killed my baby."
My Mother in law had coffee and breakfast ready. The dogs had been walked. It was time to get going to the assisted living facility where I worked.
That morning I went to see one of my favorite patients in his room. His girlfriend was with him, a lady who was maybe twenty years his junior. He had the news on, not unusual for him. They spoke of the Iraq war. I was not facing them when they asked me my opinion. I stopped breathing at that moment. I told them I couldn't really answer the question since my stepson was over there and I simply was very afraid after hearing of the two casualties this morning.
I had to buy supplies that a.m. for the job; my husband and his Mom came by to take an old piece of equipment the owner wanted dumped; a clown was coming; my Mom came to see the clown; lunch was being served.
I decided to eat in my office that day when my cell phone rang. I thought that was odd. Only my family called me on that phone, and I had just seen them not even a couple of hours earlier. I didn't recognize the voice due to the person straining: "Me mataron a Chi-chi" the voice said twice. It was my husband telling me that "they had killed Alex." In a dreamlike state, I fell to the floor, dropped the phone and began to wail! I had never made a sound like that ever in my life. I repeated over and over in Spanish, "Me mataron mi bebe" or "they killed my baby."
8.04.2008
Introduction to my family - part 1
First of all, I’m tired of labels, labels, labels: Gold star, blue star, military family. We’re a Hispanic, Latino, white, immigrant family who had one child killed in Iraq, have another son considering the military and a nephew currently fighting in Afghanistan. Who cares what the terms or definitions are? Any way a person looks at it, the military will forever be a part of my life. Life will never been the same. Peace is not just a quiet moment to me. Peace has so much meaning and has become so elusive. War and deployments are something that I hate. Those words mean less sleep to me, a deep hole in my heart caused by losing Alex and the reality that others in my family now share the same fears I’ve experienced.
My nephew Randel is 23 years old and will be 24 in September. He’s a month younger than Alex who was killed in 2004. He never met his cousin but still knows all about him. He had just entered the service around the same time that his cousin was killed. He would tell me that he would be ok. Alex had said the same thing: “don’t worry, nothing will happen.”
Randel was first deployed to Korea in 2005. This is where he met his beautiful wife Mae. They married in Korea and soon after had a son born premature at five months and less than two pounds. He’s a beautiful boy named Robert.
I had the opportunity to visit South Florida this past weekend where my family resides. I spent lots of quality time with Robert and his baby sister Katia. She was born ten days after her daddy was deployed to Afghanistan and was two months premature. However, she weighed in at over five pounds. Katia is nine days old in this picture.
Dad has only seen pictures and a web broadcast of his baby girl. Mae told me she had to stop watching her husband because he was crying and that made her very sad. Mae knows about how my husband Carlos and I have grieved greatly since Alex was killed in 2004. She worries that something should happen to Randel. Mae is just recuperating from childbirth so I encourage her to relax and remember all the blessings she has. She is still bleeding despite giving birth almost two weeks ago and visiting the doctor regularly. She’s now on iron pills (that are the hugest I’ve ever seen) due to the blood loss.
Now while Randel is deployed in Afghanistan, Mae and her two children have moved in with my brother, his wife and my nephew. They live in a small three bedroom with two baths. There are dishes in the sink, laundry in the hamper and baby stuff everywhere (i.e. cribs, high chairs, formula bottles, breast pads).
My brother is considered disabled due to Parkinson’s disease. His wife works full time and very long hours at a pre-school. She’s tired and wishes she could be home to help Mae out during these early days after Katia’s birth. My nephew is in the police academy and is gone pretty much Monday – Friday. On weekends and during off time, he is working out or asleep. He loves to play with the babies and is a great uncle but doesn’t have much time to help with baby-duty.
So many changes have happened to this small part of my family in the past month. I ask Mae about the medical insurance for the baby. The baby is not on military tri-care yet. She has to figure out how to get little Katia on the plan as a dependent. This is a challenge for Mae whose first language is not English due to being born in the Philippines. She’s learning Spanish, which my family speaks, and English simultaneously. She’s doing a great job. However, she still has many challenges to face while her US-born husband is away on deployment in Afghanistan. It was somewhat easier for her to learn at Fort Hood, Texas where Robert, Randel and she lived until recently. Also, there was a support group for military wives and lots of places close by to ask questions. She stays in touch with the support group via email and calls Fort Hood regularly with questions.
There are two cars to share among the four adults. My nephew takes his car to get to and from the police academy. The other three adults depend on each other to share cars and get chauffeured back and forth to work, doctor’s appointments or the market for groceries. Florida these days are in the 90s and humid. The central air conditioning has already broken down once this summer. There’s a lot of dependence on the ceiling fans. Mae walks the babies on occasion in the double stroller around the neighborhood. The summer heat and sun require for her to be cautious that she and the kids don’t overdo it.
I feel so much over having experienced this time with my niece, grand niece and grand nephew this weekend. I feel apprehensive at all they are facing. I worry over Randel in a war zone where four of his company were killed a few days past. I feel concern over his beautiful family and all they are surviving. I pray and pray for God to take care of them all.
My nephew Randel is 23 years old and will be 24 in September. He’s a month younger than Alex who was killed in 2004. He never met his cousin but still knows all about him. He had just entered the service around the same time that his cousin was killed. He would tell me that he would be ok. Alex had said the same thing: “don’t worry, nothing will happen.”
Randel was first deployed to Korea in 2005. This is where he met his beautiful wife Mae. They married in Korea and soon after had a son born premature at five months and less than two pounds. He’s a beautiful boy named Robert.
I had the opportunity to visit South Florida this past weekend where my family resides. I spent lots of quality time with Robert and his baby sister Katia. She was born ten days after her daddy was deployed to Afghanistan and was two months premature. However, she weighed in at over five pounds. Katia is nine days old in this picture.
Dad has only seen pictures and a web broadcast of his baby girl. Mae told me she had to stop watching her husband because he was crying and that made her very sad. Mae knows about how my husband Carlos and I have grieved greatly since Alex was killed in 2004. She worries that something should happen to Randel. Mae is just recuperating from childbirth so I encourage her to relax and remember all the blessings she has. She is still bleeding despite giving birth almost two weeks ago and visiting the doctor regularly. She’s now on iron pills (that are the hugest I’ve ever seen) due to the blood loss.
Now while Randel is deployed in Afghanistan, Mae and her two children have moved in with my brother, his wife and my nephew. They live in a small three bedroom with two baths. There are dishes in the sink, laundry in the hamper and baby stuff everywhere (i.e. cribs, high chairs, formula bottles, breast pads).
My brother is considered disabled due to Parkinson’s disease. His wife works full time and very long hours at a pre-school. She’s tired and wishes she could be home to help Mae out during these early days after Katia’s birth. My nephew is in the police academy and is gone pretty much Monday – Friday. On weekends and during off time, he is working out or asleep. He loves to play with the babies and is a great uncle but doesn’t have much time to help with baby-duty.
So many changes have happened to this small part of my family in the past month. I ask Mae about the medical insurance for the baby. The baby is not on military tri-care yet. She has to figure out how to get little Katia on the plan as a dependent. This is a challenge for Mae whose first language is not English due to being born in the Philippines. She’s learning Spanish, which my family speaks, and English simultaneously. She’s doing a great job. However, she still has many challenges to face while her US-born husband is away on deployment in Afghanistan. It was somewhat easier for her to learn at Fort Hood, Texas where Robert, Randel and she lived until recently. Also, there was a support group for military wives and lots of places close by to ask questions. She stays in touch with the support group via email and calls Fort Hood regularly with questions.
There are two cars to share among the four adults. My nephew takes his car to get to and from the police academy. The other three adults depend on each other to share cars and get chauffeured back and forth to work, doctor’s appointments or the market for groceries. Florida these days are in the 90s and humid. The central air conditioning has already broken down once this summer. There’s a lot of dependence on the ceiling fans. Mae walks the babies on occasion in the double stroller around the neighborhood. The summer heat and sun require for her to be cautious that she and the kids don’t overdo it.
I feel so much over having experienced this time with my niece, grand niece and grand nephew this weekend. I feel apprehensive at all they are facing. I worry over Randel in a war zone where four of his company were killed a few days past. I feel concern over his beautiful family and all they are surviving. I pray and pray for God to take care of them all.
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