UltraViolet February/March
2006
Badlands No Longer Bad?
Native Activists Walk For Justice
Dangerous Democracy: Hamas Goes Government
The MOCHA Column
With Pavulon, No One Can Hear You Scream
Medical Center in Critical Condition
Stupid Stupid Stupid: Study Makes No Scents
Ten Against Torture Wants You!
San Francisco Grand Jury Update
Peace Activists Waking
Up!!!
Bush Defrosts COINTELPRO Agents!!!
SAN FRANCISCO--Peace Activists around the world
are protesting the uses of Vietnam War era spies recently awakened from cryogenic
suspended animation—code name: Rule of Thaw. This follows the news that the
National Security Agency (NSA) is electronically spying on left wing political
groups leaving left activists shaken not stirred.
President Bush initially denied the program saying,
“when people think of intelligence, they don’t think of me.” Later he acknowledged
“the best way to protect our freedom is to give up our civil liberties--and
turn the Social Security Trust over to the Department of Defense.“ He then reminded
the public that “THEY hate us for our freedom.”
The left has put out a call for diverse coalition
to fight counter intelligence Free Our Rights In Cyberspace ASAP (FORMICA).
Madera Bizzimin, Code Name Pink, claimed to be
“appalled that a long term member of our sorority was an agent for the FBI.
We had no idea that the 6 foot 4 inch tall man in the pink three-piece suit
was a fed, but it explains why he was always talking into his bunny ears.”
A splinter group calling itself MARBLE (Males Advancing
Really Bossy Leadership Everyday) has retaliated against the government by melting
its own men from the past. They are now popping up as ubiquitous spokesmen for
almost every antiwar and left organization.
The Department of “Justice” claims that modern
technologies such as cell phones, email and suspended animation are not covered
by a 1978 law that requires government lawyers to go to a secret court for warrants
to conduct domestic surveillance.
From the Panthers to the Zapatistas...
LIGHT THAT BORDER-CROSSED FROM THE SOUTH: The Resurgence of Funky Liberation
within the Babylonian Imperial Brain.
ASHANTI ALLSTON
hablando en / speaking in Oakland
*Thurs*, 9 Feb AK Press 7pm 674-A 23rd. St Oakland, CA. b/t MLK and San Pablo
- near 19th St. BART and West Grand Exit of 80/980
For more info contact: AK Press at 510.208.1700, akpress@akpress.org or visit
www.akpress.org $5-10 Sliding Scale donation
*Fri*, 10 Feb: Eastside Cultural Center 7:30pm 2587 International Blvd. Bus
82 http://www.eastsideartsalliance.com/ $5-10 Sliding Scale donation
This talk will focus on the impact of the Zapatista movement in Mexico on
People of color self-determination movements above the so-called southern US
border. Why does their small "r" indigenous revolution challenge us
so deeply and give us reason to believe that our freedom dreams and sense of
dignity are the guides to changing the world?
Check out Ashanti's website at http://anarchistpanther.net
sponsored by Chiapas Support Committee, http://www.chiapas-support.org/
Badlands No Longer Bad?
A few weeks before UV went to press, negotiators for the complainants
against Badlands bar owner les natali announced that they had reached a settlement
with natali. natali did not want the terms of the settlement to be publicized,
and the complainants agreed to keep them secret, so no one outside the inner
circle of the complainants, their lawyers and a few organizers gets to know
what the campaign against natali’s racist and sexist practices accomplished.
Although unacknowledged by AC4A, LAGAI was one of the queer
organizations that gave up many Saturday nights to walk a picket line. We’re
glad that some resolution has been achieved. Despite the perception that queer
community activists ended up as a bargaining chip, anti-racism as part of queer
liberation continues to be fundamental to our work. It is heartening to know
that queers are active in the struggle against racism, despite carrying around
the baggage of straight people and organizations who glom onto our work, refusing
to let queer people organize our own struggle.
The problem with winning
Activist and performer Tommi Avicolli-Mecca, one of the organizers of the
weekly picket lines at Badlands, wrote the following editorial which was published
in the Bay Guardian.
Sometimes winning is not all it's cracked up to be. Such is the case with the
recent settlement in the almost two-year battle against alleged racial discrimination
at the popular Castro nightspot Badlands.
For those who came in late: A year and a half ago, the San Francisco Human
Rights Commission concluded that the bar discriminated against African Americans
and others in carding policies and hiring practices. Pickets became regular
occurrences outside the establishment last summer, as the queer antiracist group
And Castro 4 All (AC4A), which I was part of, called for a boycott. Mayor Gavin
Newsom eventually jumped into the fray, urging both sides to come to the table.
He asked former mayor Willie Brown to act as mediator. That mediation eventually
produced a settlement, the terms of which are confidential. AC4A attorney Julius
Turman told the San Francisco Chronicle the agreement will produce "a campaign
that expresses openness and awareness about different folks who live in and
frequent the Castro."
As vocalist Peggy Lee used to sing, "Is that all there is?" Five
months of weekly Saturday night picketing and all we got is a lousy PR campaign.
Of course, we achieved much more. The organizing that happened after complainants
came forward drew worldwide attention to a problem that has existed in the queer
community since long before I came out.
The Badlands protests drew 75 to 100 demonstrators week after week. Those folks
included civil rights leaders, local politicians, union members, tenants' rights
advocates, and others. Nearly 30 of us testified before the Entertainment Commission
in favor of a suspension of Les Natali's entertainment license. The commission
ultimately took no action. It didn't matter. Nothing deterred our incredible
energy and movement until Natali agreed to mediate and a decision was made to
end the pickets. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time.
It was the same mistake queer-youth shelter advocates made a few years ago.
In the dot-com boom of the late '90s, more and more queer youth were ending
up on the streets because of soaring rents. A group of activists, myself included,
fought for a homeless youth shelter in the Castro. A site was eventually secured.
We knew it was merely a Band-Aid on the real problem, which was the lack of
affordable housing, but we rejoiced at the fact that we had built a safety net
for those among us who most desperately need it. When the shelter doors opened,
all of us packed up and went away. The problem of homelessness and lack of affordable
housing didn't.
Similarly, racism will not go away because Natali and complainants have signed
a settlement. The fight must go on. But how? It seems to be a perennial problem
with the left: We mobilize, score a victory of some sort, then go home, only
to reinvent the wheel the next time around. Racism is too important an issue
to drop the ball until the next Badlands. We need to reignite the struggle.
The big question is, how do we do that now? The tone of the media coverage of
the settlement is that everything is hunky-dory; the problem has been solved.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Dangerous Democracy: Hamas Goes Government
by Kate (who by the way knows nothing)
"I am so proud of my people," said my Arabic teacher, Adwan, on
Thursday. "We really showed how democratic we are."
There's consensus on that. Regardless of how one feels about Hamas and its victory,
observers agree that the January 25 election represented true democracy in action.
"[N]obody who visited
the West Bank in recent weeks could doubt for a moment that here a real democracy
is growing - the first homegrown Arab democracy.... The competition was real,
the parties were real, politicians competed for power and influence. Every flat
surface in towns and villages was plastered with colorful posters. And, most
importantly, the voters were faced with a real choice between alternative and
clear agendas - something that is not at all certain in the Israeli elections.
It must be said clearly: These elections are a huge achievement for the Palestinian
society, a badge of honor for a people suffering under occupation, whose independent
state is still a dream." said Israeli activist and politician Uri Avneri.
"You couldn't be in Palestine and not be doing some sort of "election
observing" during these past couple weeks, when all anyone has been talking
about has been politics. I realize that I come from an American context where
civic engagement is among the lowest in the world, so it excites me to be somewhere
where even with such difficulty living under occupation, at least 75% of eligible
voters voted," wrote my friend Hannah, who observed the elections in Gaza.
Though the media focused only on the rivalry between Fatah and Hamas, and indeed,
that has become a huge story, 414 candidates competed for the 16 electoral districts
and there were 11 electoral lists with 314 candidates competing nationwide.
(66 representatives are elected as representatives of their districts, and another
66 are elected from the national list.) In the competition between national
lists, Hamas candidates, running as the Change and Reform Party, won 30 seats,
Fatah 27, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) 3, and three
smaller left lists, including Mustafa Barghouti's al Mubadara (Independent Palestine)
and Hanan Ashrawi's Third Way won 2 seats each (the official Elections Commission
release listed "Mustafa Barghouti and the Independents," making it
sound like a rock band). In the district elections, Change and Reform swept
Hebron and North Gaza, and won 4 of 5 seats in Jerusalem and Ramallah and 5
of 6 in Nablus. Ramallah and Jenin were split evenly. Somewhat surprisingly
to me, Rafah, in southern Gaza, was one of only two areas where Fatah won (Qalqilya,
in the northwest West Bank, was the other).
Ultimately, Change and Reform won 74 seats and Fatah 45. The left won 13 seats
giving them 10%, which, as Deeg points out, is about 9.8% more than the left
has here. There were a number of left-wing lists that ran candidates but did
not win any seats. Women were guaranteed 12 of the 66 national seats, or 20%.
According to what I read, it does not sound like there was a quota governing
the district seats.
The Elections Commission accredited over 1500 international observers, and 800
local observers.
The result did not come as a huge surprise to people who had been watching the
situation, though as usual, people who made the mistake of believing opinion
polls were stunned. The Boston Globe reported that "The Bir Zeit pollster,
Nader Said, said Friday he was still 'in shock' over having missed by such a
wide margin [having predicted Fatah pulling out a narrow victory], even though
he polled 8,000 voters, an unusually large sample. The pollster said the new
electoral system -- half the candidates were chosen in districts, the other
half from party slates -- contributed to the confusion. 'We don't have enough
experience (in democracy) to capture such a thing. It was the first real election
of this kind,' he said."
Students at Bir Zeit and An Najah Universities could have predicted the outcome.
A December 22, 2005 article reported, "Fatah, the backbone of the Palestinian
Authority (PA), suffered a significant setback in recent student elections in
universities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in what some observers say reflects
plummeting support among ordinary Palestinians for the policies of the PA led
by President Yasser Arafat. In Bir Zeit University, the most secular-oriented
Palestinian school of higher education in the occupied territories and a traditional
stronghold of Palestinian nationalism, Hamas supporters won 23 of the 51 contested
seats making up the students' general assembly."
In the four phases of local elections held between December 2004 and December
2005, Hamas increased its influence each time. In the most recent election,
Hamas won the elections in Tulkarem, a traditional People's Party (the former
Communist Party) stronghold, and Qalqilya, historically the wealthiest and most
conservative area. Adwan, who comes from Jayyous, Qalqilya, says that people
were not voting for Hamas candidates because they support the party necessarily,
but because Hamas chose candidates "who were good, honest and independent
people."
Though even Hamas itself was surprised by its landslide victory, everyone knew
that there was a strong feeling in the "Palestinian street" for change.
"When people supported Abu Mazen in the presidential elections we hoped
for improvements in our lives - reducing the checkpoints, improving the economic
situation, or fighting corruption. We got none of what we hoped for," wrote
Noah Salameh, directer of the Palestinian Center for Conflict Resolution and
Reconciliation in Bethlehem.
Meddling: How to get what you say you don't want
The last-minute carrot-and-stick
interference of the US, composed of threats to cut off aid if Hamas were included
in the government, along with a $2 million pork barrel stunt worthy of Tammany
Hall, probably put Hamas over the top. "The Palestinian vote for Hamas
is a message to Israel and the international community. It is a vote against
external efforts to set the rules for Palestinian democracy, a signal of protest
against the massive interference in the election process by western governments
and the European Union, who repeatedly threatened to withhold economic aid and
political support should Hamas join the Palestinian Authority," says a
report by the left-wing coalition BADIL (the Alternative) in Electronic Intifada.
On January 13, wire services reported that, "aid to the Palestinian Authority
would be reviewed and possibly reduced if it gave Hamas a role in government
after this month’s Palestinian election, u.s. diplomatic sources said on Friday.”
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060113/wl_nm/mideast_hamas_dc).
Wait a minute, I said at that point. Who's talking about "giving"
them a role in government? The P.A. was doing everything it could to try to
prevent Hamas from gaining power. Friends who were there even speculated that
the Authority was behind the rash of armed attacks and kidnappings in Gaza,
hoping that things would get so bad it would give them an excuse to cancel the
elections. "The United States wants the January 25 parliamentary election
to take place as scheduled to strengthen Palestinian democracy and has reluctantly
accepted Hamas's participation in the poll," the article continued. "But
Washington is wary that Hamas, making its first bid for parliamentary seats,
could make a strong enough showing against Abbas's dominant Fatah movement to
win cabinet seats. u.s. diplomatic sources warned that such an outcome would
prompt a review of u.s. financial aid to the Palestinians because of existing
u.s. prohibitions on providing any "material support" to groups on
Washington's terrorism list.”
In its other very late bid to ward off the Hamas challenge, the u.s. consulate
hired two firms to orchestrate $1.9 million worth of social spending, including
tree planting ceremonies, a youth soccer tournament, food giveaways and computers
for youth centers. Left-wing candidates accused Fatah of violating Palestinian
elections law, which prohibits any party from taking campaign funding from foreign
governments. The consulate spokeswoman denied that the money was to benefit
Fatah, insisting it was "to help the democratic parties." But some
of the money, which came from USAID, was spent on full-page ads in Palestinian
newspapers, giving the PA credit for the programs.
Of course, if the u.s. really wanted to help the P.A. hold onto power, they
might have given the $2 million a bit earlier, and used it for things that could
make an actual difference, like job creation or infrastructure. They might have
pressured Israel to lighten up on its restriction on Palestinian freedom of
movement, as they did before the first phase of local elections a year ago (where
Hamas also did better than expected).
Instead, in the last year the u.s., its European allies, and its number-one
client state, Israel, have done everything in their power to undermine the ability
of the Palestinian Authority to accomplish anything that might make Palestinians
slightly less miserable.
Recently the World Bank, backed by the European Commission, withheld $60 million
in promised “aid” (the “” are because all World Bank aid is really debt, which
ends up enriching the rich countries and destroying the poor ones) – half the
allocation for the year – because the PA failed to institute structural adjustment
programs that would increase unemployment and poverty. Specifically, the West
is upset that the PA is spending too much on salaries – “almost its entire yearly
revenue of some $1 billion.” “They have to cut salaries or cut staff,” said
Nigel Roberts, the World Bank honcho in the OPT, in a January 8, 2006 interview
with the New York Times. (http://www.jfjfp.org/123nyt.htm)
Yet Roberts admits that the fiscal crisis is not of the Palestinians’ making.
“The checkpoints and the barrier cost the Palestinian economy about 5 percent
real growth every year, Mr. Roberts said. That is a major toll, given that 10
percent real growth would be needed to solve the unemployment problem. In 1999,
before this intifada and the Israeli response, the Palestinian Authority had
a balanced budget and needed no outside support. Now, even though revenues have
recovered to where they were in 1999, the deficit has ballooned.” The article
cites a further Catch-22: The severe unemployment among youth, especially in
Gaza, is causing more of them to be recruited into the militant groups, Hamas
and Islamic Jihad, but the strength of the militant groups is deterring the
foreign investment which is cited as the only thing “that can offer enough jobs
for the growing population of young men.”
In another shocking development, in August a Rhode Island judge ordered all
the PA’s “U.S.-based assets” frozen because of its failure to pay a $116 million
judgment won by the family of Yaron and Efrat Ungar in a lawsuit against the
PA and PLO. The Ungars, dual US-Israeli citizens, were killed in a Hamas bombing
in 1996. Originally there was a $116 million judgment issued against Hamas (good
luck collecting that one), but then the Ungar heirs sued the PLO and PA, arguing
that they “provided a safe haven” for the bombers, and won. (Interestingly,
the Ungar case is one of the precedents which is being used by Palestinian survivors
of Israeli terror attacks to sue two former heads of Israeli military intelligence,
Avi Dichter and Moshe Yaalon. (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3185131,00.html))
I wondered how many u.s.-based assets the PA and/or the PLO actually have. Quite
a lot, it turns out. According to the Boston Globe, “The frozen assets include
US holdings in a $1.3 billion Palestinian investment fund meant to finance economic
development as well as bank accounts used to pay Palestinian representatives
in Washington, according to lawyers and court documents filed in Rhode Island,
Washington, D.C., and New York. Also frozen are about $30 million in assets
from the Palestinian Monetary Authority, the Palestinian equivalent of the US
Federal Reserve.”
Either the people crafting the u.s. strategy vis-a-vis the Palestinians are
the stupidest people on earth, or they wanted Hamas to win, so that Israel would
have an excuse to withdraw from the so-called peace process, and proceed with
its unilateral plan to crush the Palestinians once and for all.
"If Ariel Sharon had not been in a deep coma, he would have jumped out
of his bed for joy. The Hamas victory fulfils his most ardent hopes," writes
Avnery. "For a whole year now, he did everything possible to undermine
Mahmoud Abbas. His logic was quite obvious: The Americans wanted him to negotiate
with Abbas. Such negotiations would inevitably have lead to a situation that
would have compelled him to give up almost all of the West Bank. Sharon had
no intention of doing so. He wanted to annex about half of the territory. So
he had to get rid of Abbas and his moderate image."
So what now?
Hamas may quickly come to regret its entry into the political process. "Palestinians
say now that the vote is over, they expect Hamas to perform as promised and
warn that they are anxious to see quick results," writes Leila Haddad of
Aljazeera. "'There must be real changes, even if they are only economic
and social changes and not political,' said storekeeper Usama Nabulsi."
"Hamas cannot conduct itself any longer as an opposition party, governing
an entire people will involve running everyday matters that are crucial to Palestinians,
such electricity; transportation, healthcare, finance, security and development,"
says an article on the Palestinian information website, MIFTAH.
The Sandinistas learned how difficult it is to go from being a resistance movement
to a government, especially when the United States government is bent on destroying
you. And the Sandinistas were not a government under occupation.
It is going to be as difficult for the new government to meet the economic demands
as it was for the old one, because Israel and the West still hold most of its
purse strings. Israel has threatened to withhold the monthly tax assessment
that it holds for the P.A., which represents a huge part of the revenue that
the government is supposed to be able to use to provide services.
The u.s. is threatening to withhold all money pledged to the P.A., and the World
Bank, as mentioned, has already frozen its promised aid and is unlikely to release
it now.
Israel also has the ability to prevent legislators from physically being able
to do their jobs. "Israel will prevent Hamas lawmakers, elected in this
week's Palestinian election, from travelling freely between the Gaza Strip and
West Bank, a senior defence official has said. Since the Legislative Council
meets in Ramallah, Gaza representatives may never make it. The top vote-getter
in Nablus, Ahmad Al Haj Ali, is currently imprisoned in the Negev. He was scheduled
to be released soon, but Israel just renewed the administrative detention order
against him, meaning he will be held at least another six months.
For its part, Hamas is trying to be serious, diplomatic and responsible. Khaled
Meshal, the political leader in exile in Damascus has called for a unity government
and asked the armed factions to join to form a Palestinian army. This could
be a great move. As a pacifist, I don't accept the chairman mao quote, "Without
a people's army, the people have nothing," but the existence of a Palestinian
army puts the demand that Hamas and the other armed factions lay down their
weapons, while israel continues to buy and manufacture and use tanks, helicopter
gunships, nukes and and and, on a different footing. In this unfortunately real
world, if you are a government, you get to be armed. The fact that the Palestinian
Authority has, for 12 years, been expected to take the responsibilities of a
government for feeding and housing people, for building the economy, and for
negotiating peace, without being allowed to defend itself, is an affront.
If israel and the west follow through on their threats to isolate the new government,
it will be more or less forced look for support from Iran, which has oil resources
to share and has welcomed the Hamas victory as a turn toward political Islam.
This will not be good for those who want to see a democratic secular Palestine.
It won't be good for queers (who haven't exactly been embraced by the old leadership)
or for women.
"The most common joke I've heard made in the past couple days, if it can
be called a joke, is that I'll have to start covering myself fully," Hannah
writes. "I was in Dheisheh refugee camp [in Bethlehem] yesterday where
the kids were discussing the election, and the teenage girls unanimously decided
they would never wear hijab, even if Hamas legislated it."
The good news is that on Thursday I heard a Hamas spokesman pledge to create
"a society with equality between men and women." The bad news is that
Khomeini said that at first too.
On the other hand, Hamas has suggested that in order to allay international
fears, they may form a "government of technocrats" with no connection
to the radical Islamic movement. "We want a government that is for the
Palestinian people, and if we can't do that then there are many options, one
of which is a government of technocrats." spokesman Ghazi Hamad was quoted
as saying. But that, of course, is not what the people who voted for them were
looking for. They were looking for a party to lead them into liberation.
Lessons From the University of Wisconsin Israeli Bonds Divestment
Campaign Video and Forum
February 11, 2006
7:30 PM New College Theater
777 Valencia St/19th St. San Francisco
$5.00 Donation Requested
Public Workers Breakfast With Nasser Abufarha
February 11, 2006 , 10:00 AM
Blue Muse Restaurant 409 Gough St./Hayes
The breakfast cost is $13.00. This includes coffee and one entree.
Please make reservations by calling Labor Video Project (415)282-1908
sponsored by Labor For Palestine, Labor Committee For Peace and Justice, UC
Berkeley Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Labor Action Coalition (LAC)
and other organizations
For more information call (415)867-0628 or email laboractionnow@yahoo.com
THE MOCHA COLUMN
by Chaya and Deni
MOCHA COLUMN QUIZ
What company’s representative said, “Now we’re a travel company, but what I
really think we are is a lifestyle company. We see ourselves becoming the gay
AARP.” Was it: (a) American Express, (b) Orbitz.com/gaytravel, or (c) Olivia
Companies? See answer at end of column.
MOVIE REVIEWS
Rent (reviewed by Deni)
I liked the movie when I saw it (with Jesse L. Martin from the 16,000 Law and
Order reruns I’ve seen – am I the last to know he sings too?) - it was entertaining
and even had lesbians. But now, after reading a million reviews to remember
what I saw, I have to agree that it was Hollywood slick, dated and jarring in
presentation. Spike Lee had been trying to do this film – he might’ve even filmed
it on real NY streets. One of those movies that wasn’t really that good but
I liked it anyway.
Paradise Now (reviewed by Deni)
An excellent movie that (shockingly) has been nominated for an Academy Award
for Best Foreign Film. Shot in Nablus by filmmaker and co-writer Hany Abu-Assad,
this film is taut, compelling, and politically astute. It portrays the political,
personal and spiritual/religious forces affecting choices, hopes and fears in
Palestine and particularly in the lives of two young men, good friends preparing
for a suicide bombing. Well-acted with excellent pacing throughout, the story
involves you in these characters’ lives under occupation. Somehow it manages
to deftly communicate the grizzly reality with little graphic violence. An important
movie. See it.
Pride and Prejudice (reviewed by Chaya and Deni)
Why remake a movie that already has many good versions? It was pleasant, the
acting was good and the scenery lovely, but it was a grand waste of money to
make this film, yet another Jane Austen story of a middle-class family trying
to marry off their daughters to suitors with more money. Not to mention the
portrayal of girls as mostly giggling shriekers and the misogynist presentation
of the mother. It’s always good to see class issues in a movie and Austen is
known for her social satire, but there are dozens of stories more deserving
to be made into movies. Bah humbug.
Syriana (reviewed by Chaya and Deni)
A suspenseful drama written and directed by Stephen Gaghan about the political
power brokers of middle-east oil, starring George Clooney and Matt Damon. Good
acting including a stellar supporting cast (Chris Cooper, Christopher Plummer,
William Hurt and Jeffrey Wright). The scenes of oil facilities at a big Mediterranean
port were an eye-opener. It’s challenging for a movie to be this confusingly
detailed, yet shallow. Just about all the players were “evil” -- the CIA, the
oil company, its lawyers, and the Arab princes. George (the “good” CIA agent)
and Matt (an oil analyst) were supposed to be a notch above. There was the bad
Arab prince, the good Arab prince with good American values (well, except for
who he wanted to sell his oil to…) and Matt Damon’s arrogant character who harshly
gives the Persian Gulf princes a piece of his mind, telling them how rotten
they are. Here’s an American lecturing others about greed and injustice (!!)
and giving American audiences (mostly non-Middle-Easterners) a chance to vicariously
stick it to those “bad Arabs.” Then representing the masses of Arab people:
the terrorist. His life was difficult on his path to terrorism so why show any
more complexity than that? Or show any other non-elite Arab people, for that
matter. In the end, the message is “it’s all preordained” and there’s nothing
you can do about it. Boo.
The Gay Cowboy Movie (reviewed by Chaya and Deni)
The studio, the mainstream LGBT community and straight liberals hype it as a
“universal love story” and a symbol of gay acceptance. This view is fueled by
the outrage of the Christian right. But how progressive is the move’s theme
and phenomenon? Is the movie worth the hype? The theme of gay angst is getting
a lot of support -- “Oh yes, we loved that movie about those poor gay married
men who could never be really happy because one of them just couldn’t be strong
enough to break free.” A Hollywood happy ending might not have made this movie
better, but there are too many straight people heaving sighs of relief that
they could like this movie and not have to revel in requited, joyous queer love
and passion. The tv commercials show Ennis and Jack with their wives and there’s
no intimation of (eeek) sex between them. So the movie studio gets to cash in
on the “big gay film” without having to show national tv audiences anything
gay. Big Hollywood stories are only available to white characters. Some gay
African American men have noted if the main characters had been black they would
have been pathologized more as being on the down low instead of being so heartbreaking.
As for the film’s production values, we may be the only ones to find fault with
Ang Lee’s direction, but the cinematography was too often studied and occasionally
trite (the full moon across the sky after their first sexual encounter – oh,
hope we didn’t reveal any plot surprises…) In spite of the great scenery, acting
and soundtrack, we’re annoyed (and we didn’t cry at the end). What do you think?
Email your comments to themochacolumn@yahoo.com. The first queer person to email
us gets their 2cents in the next Mocha Column. Or a Jaguar. We haven’t decided
yet.
Transamerica
Road trip movies are usually fun, and this interesting trans-themed one is,
with shades of Thelma & Louise and Priscilla Queen of the Desert. It has
great acting with the justifiably-lauded performance of Felicity Huffman and
a fabulous supporting cast including Graham Greene, Elizabeth Pena, Fionnula
Flanagan and Amanda Addams. Excellent writing and direction by Duncan Tucker
-- it’s very funny with many good lines (“I’m a level 4 vegan and I don’t eat
anything that casts a shadow”) and the drama isn’t too heavy-handed. See it.
History of Violence (reviewed by Deni)
This was a disturbing movie and one I came to like less and less. The acting
was mediocre except for son Ashton Holmes, who was quite good. The daughter
had the affect of a Bad Seed clone. Viggo Mortensen (whom I hold a personal
grudge against for his Lord of the Rings involvement) plays a nice guy who’s
secretly got a mean and rotten past. Imagine. The message of this movie seemed
to be that there is much violence lurking beneath almost everyone’s surface.
But there needed to be a far more compelling and original reason than that to
make a film this gory and violent. The film almost seemed to revel in the violence
it purportedly deplored, and the “passion on the stairs” scene felt uncomfortably
like rape morphed into good sex (you know the women really like it rough…) Skip
it.
Breakfast on Pluto (reviewed by Chaya and Deni)
Chaya: This second trans-themed movie (!) with direction and screenplay
by Neil Jordan (The Crying Game) is a coming-of-age story set in Ireland and
London in the 1960s. It too has excellent acting including Cillian Murphy as
Kitten/Patrick, Liam Neeson as a priest, and Stephen Rea as a sleazy magician;
and elements of both comedy and drama. “The Troubles” weave in and out of the
story as do many characters and situations. Through it all, the adventures of
Kitten/Patrick are always interesting, although at times the character’s lack
of identity got too annoying. Great use of a pop song soundtrack.
Deni: This character was so quirky and chirpy and quippy, with so
little believability that in the end (actually, in the first 3rd) I didn’t care
much about her and just wanted the film to end. Which it did most melodramatically.
I am also particularly angered by movies in which a woman who’s going to have
an abortion changes her mind at the last minute (oh those flighty women). Curiosity
about those cutesy robins featured at the beginning and the end led me to “badboybirding.com,”
and how could that not be a queer website!
Munich (reviewed by Deeg)
I have been off work for several weeks because of carpal tunnel surgery, and
I’ve seen a lot of movies. Which is my excuse for going to see Munich with my
neighbor Yip. The zionists have condemned producer Steven Spielberg as an anti-semite
for doing this film, a fall from his Schindler’s List state of grace. In the
movie, Mossad agent Avner, played by Eric Bana, is recruited by Golda Meir to
assassinate 11 Palestinian leaders in revenge for the murder of 11 Israeli athletes
who were participating in the Munich Olympics in 1972. Avner is a sympathetic
character, and a gourmet cook, who eventually becomes suspicious that the Palestinians
he is killing may not have had any direct involvement with Munich. His handlers
dismiss his concerns with the comment that without these leaders, Munich couldn’t
have happened. The film is bloody and violent, and told from an Israeli viewpoint,
yet the zionists feel betrayed because the film acknowledges the existence of
Palestinians and of Israeli terrorist violence. In case you were wondering,
Yip was disappointed because it didn’t have a unique Spielberg feel. To him,
it seemed like a thriller movie that could have been made by anyone. See Breakfast
On Pluto instead.
BITS AND PIECES
Back to DEFCON 1, It Was Just A Rusty Old Flashlight: We can’t
say it any better than the SF Chronicle: “San Francisco authorities struggled
to explain Thursday how they concluded that an object left in a Starbucks bathroom
was a bomb, when tests revealed it was nothing more than a flashlight with corroded
batteries.” This is the same SFPD that blew up a backpack found in a newspaper
box on Market Street last summer. Hey, in a post-9/11 world you can’t be too
careful. Especially when it comes to Starbucks - could’ve been a queer takeover
again… (See www.quitpalestine.org and go
to “actions.”)
Members of Sleeper Terrorist Cells Need Not Apply: You read
it here last issue--register now with Homeland Security to get in the Trusted
Traveler program. Now in full swing, the U.S. government is looking for private
companies to run these airport programs. Just turn over a tiny little bit of
highly personal/biometric data and you may never have to remove your shoes again
in an airport. For a slight fee, of course.
Wake Up and Smell the Coffee But Don’t Drink Any: Due to
its close scrutiny of the November ‘05 Mocha column, the Transportation Security
Administration has taken ice picks back OFF the list of items you can take with
you on an airplane. (The Trotsky connection frightened them, we guess…) You
can, however, bring several other tools now, even a small screwdriver that could
help you pry open the bathroom door. But only three days after giving us this
joyful news, it was announced that “there is no law requiring U.S. airlines
to provide functioning restrooms.” Okay then.
Philanthropic Crusaders of Justice Department, or “this is
what passes for victory these days” (thanks, Vern): Ford Motor Company reaffirmed
its commitment to its “progressive workplace policies” (sic) when it said it
would once again place corporate advertising in LGBT publications on behalf
of all its brands, including Jaguar and Land Rover (it had previously pulled
them due to pressure of an anti-gay boycott of Ford.) Damn, that was close.
How can we buy that Jaguar if we don’t see it in our local gay rag? The ink
was barely dry on this stunning victory for Queer Liberation when Ford announced
a large “restructuring” that will involve cutting 35,000 jobs. Now that’s a
progressive workplace policy!
Answer to Mocha Column Quiz: If you said (c) Olivia Companies,
you’re right! Who is Olivia in bed with these days? Recently known for its charter
cruises and resort vacations for lesbians, Olivia is planning a lesbian and
gay resort-retirement community in Palm Springs with 350 townhouses and timeshares.
We know this because Olivia CEO Amy Errett told a gathering of the Association
for Corporate Growth (that’s so reflective of Olivia’s lesbian-feminist roots)
of Olivia’s plans. Our spies are everywhere – watch your back! Or get on it!
WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF
With Pavulon, no one can see you scream.
by Deeg
The u.s. supreme kourt issued a stay of execution for Clarence Hill in florida,
just minutes before a lethal injection was scheduled to be administered. The
kourt is considering whether condemned prisoners in florida can raise appeals
based on civil rights issues involved in lethal injections. Hill is challenging
this method of execution based on the 8th amendment prohibition of cruel and
unusual punishment.
Caryl Chessman was executed in california’s gas chamber in 1960. He told people
he would nod his head if it was painful. It is said that he nodded his head
as vigorously as he could, given the restraints, several times. After the supreme
kourt permitted the resumption of executions in 1977, eleven people were executed
by cyanide gas, including two in california – Robert Alton Harris and David
Mason. Witnesses described evidence of horror, pain, strangling, spasms, seizures
and eyes popping. In 1994, federal district judge Marilyn Hall Patel ruled that
the gas chamber violates the 8th amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual
punishment, and outlawed it in california. In 1996, the 9th u.s. circuit court
of appeals upheld that ruling, and now all executions in california are carried
out by lethal injection.
Lethal injection, which beloved dead ex-president and ex-governor ronald reagan
likened to “putting animals to sleep” involves three drugs – sodium thiopental
(an anesthetic), pavulon (pancuronium bromide, which paralyzes the muscle system
and stops breathing), and potassium chloride (which stops the heart). Pavulon
prevents the person from communicating whether they are feeling pain as they
are first asphyxiated, and then given a massive heart attack. In the April 2005
issue of the Lancet (a British medical journal), Leonidas Koniaris (University
of Miami) and other researchers reported on their analysis of 49 executions
carried out in Texas and Virginia. The autopsy record showed that 43 of 49 people
executed had anesthetic levels lower than that required for surgery. Twenty-one
had concentrations of anesthetic consistent with awareness. With Pavulon, you
can’t scream at all.
The execution method of lethal injection was developed in oklahoma in 1977,
and has been adopted by most of the 38 states that have the death penalty. Prior
to Koniaris’ study, it had never been scientifically evaluated. It is a little
ironic that the kourts are willing to consider whether a method of execution
is inhumane, but are unwilling to consider that killing someone is the most
inhumane act of all.
Michael Morales, a 46 year old Latino man, is scheduled to be killed by lethal
injection at san quentin at 12:01 a.m. on February 21. Morales was convicted
for the 1981 murder of 17-year-old Terri Winchell in Lodi. According to the
court record, Morales’ cousin, Ricky Ortega, was involved with a high school
football player who was also involved with Terri Winchell. Ortega allegedly
decided to murder Winchell out of jealousy, and recruited Morales, who was drunk
and high at the time, to help. Ortega, whose defense lawyer spent $80,000 during
the penalty phase, was sentenced to life without parole. Morales’ lawyer spent
about $3,000, and Morales was sentenced to death. Morales was tried in Ventura
county where there is evidence that Latinos were systematically excluded from
jury service.
The “special circumstance,” which “qualified” him for the death sentence, rests
totally on the testimony of a jailhouse informant, Bruce Samuelson, about boasts
he claimed Morales made while in jail awaiting trial. Samuelson was proven to
have lied at the trial, including denying that the district attorney had offered
to drop four out of six felony counts he was facing in exchange for information
to convict Morales. These incentives were offered prior to the alleged date
of Morales’ statements to Samuelson. The denial of the incentives was made at
trial, and the district attorney said nothing about this perjury. It also turned
out that Morales was never housed in the same cell as Samuelson, and no one
else on the cell block heard this “confession.” When challenged about it after
the trial, Samuelson said that Morales had confessed in Spanish. However, Morales
does not speak Spanish.
The misconduct of the district attorney’s office in relying on this false testimony,
has led clinton- prosecutor kenneth starr to request that governor schwarzenegger
grant clemency. The trial judge in the case, Charles R. McGrath, a reagan appointee,
has also asked for clemency, stating that the informant’s false testimony had
convinced both himself and the jury of the egregiousness of the murder, and
undermined Morales’ statements of remorse. McGrath said that to carry out the
death sentence would be “a grievous and freakish injustice.” It is the first
time since the resumption of the death penalty in the u.s. in 1977 that a judge
has asked for clemency in a case in which he imposed the sentence.
Morales’ lawyers currently have appeals filed both on the prosecutorial misconduct
issues, and on the 8th amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
Legal experts think it is unlikely that the current supreme kourt stay affecting
florida will apply to his case, since the 9th circuit kourt of appeals already
allows death penalty appeals on civil rights issues. The supreme kourt is not
considering the constitutionality of lethal injection in the Hill case. To date,
no judge has ruled that the lethal injection protocol is unconstitutional.
Morales is the third person, and the third person of color, to face execution
in california in the past three months. If executed, he will be the 14th person,
and the first Latino, killed by california, since the resumption of the death
penalty. Morales’ lawyers cited six other egregious murders committed in the
same time period in San Joaquin county, including the beating death of a Black
teenager by a white man, in which the district attorney did not seek the death
penalty.
In the meantime, AB 1121 which would have established a state moratorium on
executions was approved by the assembly’s public safety committee in early January,
but then died in the appropriations committee. It will not come to the floor
this year. A senate version of the bill may be introduced, but cynical people
think that the heroic demokratic party doesn’t want to risk the moratorium becoming
an issue in the upcoming gubernatorial election.
A press conference, rally and die-in is being organized during the week of
February 13 at the San Francisco state building at Van Ness and McAllister.
For details, call LAGAI at (510)434-1304 after February 1. If Morales’ execution
is not stopped, there will be, as usual, a rally/vigil at the gates of San Quentin,
starting at 8:00 p.m. on February 20.
Native People Walk for Justice
by Amanda
European settlers murdered millions of indigenous people, expropriated their
land, and attempted to destroy their languages and traditions. For many Indian
activists today, the preservation of sacred sites, which are being destroyed
all over the country, is essential to sovereignty and cultural survival. The
federal and state governments and the courts support economic interests as more
of a priority than the religious freedom, beliefs, and sovereignty of Native
peoples. Increasingly, tribal governments (who have historically failed to protest)
are joining the traditional Indians to oppose this desecration. (eg see www.savethepeaks.org)
NonIndians have a hard time understanding how prayer, traditional beliefs, and
sacred sites are so involved with sovereignty and culture/survival; I am also
trying to understand and learn.
In November 2005 local Indian activists Johnella Sanchez and Corrina Gould
of Indian People Organizing for Change (IPOC) organized the first annual Sacred
Site/Shellmound walk. The goals of the walk were to educate people about local
sacred sites, to let people know that Indian people still exist and live here
in the Bay Area, and to build community and organize Indian people while encouraging
support from other people. Walkers came from all over including Indian country
and other parts of the US, Japan, Australia, and Sweden. I was asked to participate
months in advance; my fears about making the 16-19 daily miles were ignored,
“there will be a vehicle to pick you up when you get tired.” I could only join
about one third of the 270 miles around the San Francisco Bay. We visited important
sites to Indian people as well as being hosted by other communities and learning
of their struggles.
We visited many shellmound sites. Shellmounds are gravesites with mounds of
shells heaped on top. They were often huge, 100’s of feet long and 60 or more
feet high. Hundreds of shellmounds exist around the Bay Area although only a
few sites are still visible; most have been bulldozed and paved over. The walk
started in Vallejo where there is a fight to preserve a shellmound; we went
to Mt. San Bruno where activists won a battle to preserve the shellmound and
visited shellmounds buried under skyscrapers in downtown San Francisco, at Candlestick
Park, Crissy Field, and in Berkeley under Spanger’s parking lot to mention a
few. At each site prayers were offered to the ancestors. The Huchuin shellmound
in Emeryville had been so large that the shells could be seen shining all over
the Bay Area. The mound was visible rising above the surrounding buildings in
photos from the late 1800’s. Now there is the Emery Bay Mall built on top of
the site. Indian activists have called for a boycott of the mall and organize
a demonstration the Friday after Thanksgiving every year. Soon there will be
a monthly demonstration. (Contact IPOC for details.)
The walk next year plans a larger education piece coordinated with local schools.
The goal is to create a mandatory curriculum to substitute for the California
4th grade curriculum, which focuses on the mission system and fails to discuss
the genocide of the original inhabitants. Another goal is to create laws that
give Indian people the right to say what happens to their ancestor’s remains
and to block development of sacred sites. The third goal is to develop a national
network of people trying to protect sacred sites and gravesites. Consider joining
the next walk for an hour or a day: good people, good food, very educational.
Today, January 27 is a day of protest to save Medicine Lake in northern California.
Medicine Lake is sacred to the Pit River, Klamath, Wintu, Karuk, Modoc, and
many other people as the origin of creation and possesses many healing properties.
Indian people continue to go there to pray and have ceremonies as they have
for 1000s of years. The Medicine Lake Highlands comprises the largest shield
volcano on this continent and is home to many rare birds and animals that live
in the old-growth forests. The spring waters in this area are some of the cleanest
in the country. Calpine has federal energy development leases that cover eight
square miles and wants to drill 9,000 feet to tap the geothermal reserves and
clear-cut the area to build a nine-story high power plant complex that would
be always lit up. It would produce toxic ponds, tons of toxic hydrogen sulfide
gas and other heavy metals such as arsenic and mercury threatening the underlying
aquifer, which is California’s largest spring system. Ironically, the geothermal
energy extracted from the area would be bought and sold as “green energy!” Native
peoples, homeowners, environmentalists and others have been opposing this project
since it was first proposed.
We are so narrow-sighted here in the US. We believe killing is normal with
so many murders in our own streets, state murders on death rows across the country,
and state killings in Iraq, Afganistan, and all over the world. We forget how
abnormal this is. Shellmounds and sacred sites exist around the world. In many
places they are left intact and respected; they are not paved over, skied over,
or built on. I pray some day we will develop a reverence for peace and justice,
for all our relations, the earth, sacred sites, and our ancestors. Until then,
let’s fight like hell for a better world
For more information contact IPOC at shellmoundwalk@yahoo.com
or www.vallejo-intertribalcouncil.org
NativeOUT (www.NativeOut.com)
is a Native American Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) organization
currently working to incorporate as a nonprofit 501(c)3. Our organization was
founded, in the summer of 2004, to help connect the Phoenix area Native American
and GLBT communities. We proudly identify as Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender,
or Two-Spirit. We strive for acceptance and affirmation in our communities.
To achieve this, we have united to educate society about Native American GLBT
traditions, advocate for relevant issues, and promote visibility within our
communities. Two Spirit is a modern English-language term used by many GLBT
Native Americans to depict the dynamic balance of masculine and feminine energies
within.
Medical Center In Critical Condition
by Tory (as if you didn't know)
Our much maligned, overwhelmed and underfunded county hospital, Alameda County
Medical Center (ACMC) is in the news again. On December 29 John George psychiatric
pavilion was cited by the state Department of Health Services for deficiencies
in patients’ rights and nursing services. These violations, the second set in
less than two years, are so severe that they are prompting the federal Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to stop it’s contract funding of the
medical center. If this happens, it will force the closure of the entire public
hospital, the health care of last resort for uninsured county residents.
This citation is the result of a recent patient suicide at John George. Two
years ago a doctor was killed at John George while doing a history and physical
on a patient. The doctor was alone in an exam room with the patient, unaccompanied
by another staff person. CalOSHA had cited the hospital for this very inadequate
safety practice just months before the doctor’s death At least over the last
10 years, staff have argued cajoled, been to CalOSHA, fought with management
to improve staffing and safety at the locked facility. In spite of countless
inspections, patient and staff injuries and deaths supporting these demands,
nothing ever changed. Now once again, someone has died because of bad management,
inadequate staffing levels, and too many inexperienced registry nurses (travelers)
Having enough staffing would go a long way to increasing safety for both patients
and staff. This most recent inspection found that the psychiatric hospital was
not in compliance with the new state-mandated staffing ratios for RNs to patients.
As a result of these newest citations, now the entire medical center, encompassing
Highland Hospital, the out patient clinics, Fairmont Hospital and John George,
has been given 90 days to correct the problems. Then the complete medical center
will be reinspected and must pass to keep its CMS funding and stay open. Workers
at the hospital report that, while management is minimally working on a correction
plan at John George, nothing is being done about readying the rest of the medical
center for an in-depth inspection.
What a mess!!!!! While county officials keep shaking their collective heads
over the odious burden of the public hospital, the reasons for this disaster
are really quite clear and could be corrected. For years the board of supervisors
(b.o.s.) has underfunded the hospital in favor of padding the sheriff’s department
budget. Charlie Plummer, the sheriff, makes a big media fuss, complete with
carrying around a chain saw, every year at county budget time and the b.o.s.
start cringing and talking law and order . About six years ago b.o.s. separated
the medical center from the county bureaucracy, setting up a hospital authority
governance structure. The fantasy was that the medical center would be a distinct
financial entity and somehow break even. As the number of very sick people without
medical insurance grew and the amount of state and federal reimbursement fell,
the medical center became more and more financially strung out. The evil dave
kears, ceo of the alameda health care agency, pushed his schemes for privatizing
and downsizing the medical center.
Over a year ago the voters of Alameda county mandated a full service functioning
county hospital by approving Measure A, a ½ cent sales tax which would
go directly to funding the county hospital. The county betrayed this trust by
immediately wasting millions on a bunch of corporate consultants dressed in
pumps and suits and flying in from states with T names like Tennessee and Texas
on Tuesdays and leaving again on Thursdays. Their big plan to save the medical
center was to lay-off workers and to cut services. Cambio (the consultant group)
recommended downsizing HIV, substance abuse, sexual assault, breast cancer screening
and dental clinics The union managed to successfully oppose the lay-offs of
over three hundred employees. Cambio couldn’t even accomplish their own recommendations.
The use of registry and traveler nurses doubled during their tenure. They were
unable to correct the longstanding problems with billing, which would bring
more revenue into the medical center. About all they did was to institute a
time clock to annoy employees by making them punch in and out. It is the increase
in registry staff and travelers and the lack of emphasis on keeping and rewarding
full-time employees that has contributed to such unsafe conditions for patients
and staff at John George.
The board of stupervisors need to make a real commitment to the county hospital
and health care for uninsured county residents. They are demanding payment by
the medical center of a so-called loan, actually money used to keep the medical
center going before Measure A money was approved. ACMC is the county hospital
regardless of its separate governance structure. It should not be forced to
pay Alameda County money used to provide the legally mandated county health
care. This is just a sneaky back door way for dave kears and the county stupes
to get their hands on the Measure A money earmarked specifically for the medical
center.
The board of stupes must do the following things;
1. Change their attitude to the medical center from considering it a burden
to prioritizing health care in this county
2. Immediately stop calling in the so-called loan. The medical center does
not owe anybody money!!!
3. Set up long term strategic planning committees with union, line worker and
community participation to make a functioning hospital
4. End the absurd separate hospital authority form of governance. Make a health
commission as they have in San Francisco county which would hold the board of
stupes accountable and bring the medical center back into the county.
5. The board of stupervisors should work actively to pass Sheila Kuehl’s single
payer bill, SB840. It is the only long term solution to the problems at the
medical center
Single payer universal Health care is the only answer to the myriad health
care problems facing Alameda county and California. The decision has been made
to introduce a finance bill in February which would describe the financial structure
for the bill without the actual numbers. If money is involved the finance bill
would have to be passed by two thirds. There is some hope that the policy part
of the bill is going to start moving again after the resounding defeat of arnold
in the special election. Also the California Nurses Association, after a year
of dragging its feet on supporting the bill, has decided to take it on and is
now the main sponsor of the bill. Meanwhile Health Care for All - California
is rising above this slight (having been the sponsor for years) and is working
hard to raise money for a statewide grassroots campaign about single payer universal
health care and to get this specific bill passed. While working on legislative
bills seem futile and long winded, it is hopeful that people are considering
a big grassroots campaign.
The only way we are going to win this is by a huge outpouring of people into
the streets demanding true single payer universal health care and an end to
HMOs, insurance companies and profit driven health care.
HEALTH CARE IS A HUMAN RIGHT!
Thursday, February 9th
Shout Out to Center For Medicare Services
TELL THEM TO HAVE A HEART!
12:30pm Buses leave from St. Mary s Cathedral 1111 Gough for CMS
1:00pm Arrive at CMS - 75 Hawthorne St, SF
Monday, February 13
Organizing Meeting, 10:00 a.m.
S. Berkeley Senior Center, Ellis and Ashby, Berkeley
Call Jim Forsyth @ 510-581-5169.
Tuesday, February 14
Valentine's Day Action with Congressman Richard Pombo in Stockton
Vans leaving from Alameda County and other locations.
For further information or to sign up to be a part of any or all of these
Medicare Part D Defense activities or in general to help fight for a real prescription
drug benefit, contact the California Alliance of Retired Americans (CARA) at
415-550-0828.
Stupid, stupid, stupid: Study Makes No Scents
"In many mammals, pheromones modulate, and sometimes determine,
reproductive behaviors. For example, odors of the opposite sex are highly attractive,
especially for males when females are in heat." So begins a study by the
Monell Chemical Senses Center, published in the journal of the American Psychological
Society, which concludes that "differences in body odor are detected and
responded to on the basis of, in part, an individual's gender and sexual orientation."
To arrive at these findings, 24 "odor donors" "underwent a 9-day
wash-out, during which they used odorless soaps and shampoo, did not shave their
armpits, and eliminated items such as garlic, cumin, and curry from their diets.
After this phase, donors wore cleaned, cotton gause pads in the armpits throughout
the day for 3 days, changing to a new pad each day." They put the pads
in their freezers until they returned them to the lab, where they were cut into
six pieces and put into test bottles containing two pieces from each of three
donors within a group -- gay men, straight men, straight women, and lesbians,
who were further divided into lesbians over 25, and lesbians 18-25.
Each donor got $75, which doesn't necessarily seem like a lot for such a weird
process, not to mention having to replace all the ancient frozen food you may
no longer feel like eating.
82 donor evaluators were then paid $15 an hour to make "forced-choice
preference judgments for odors from each of the following pairings: (a) heterosexual
male versus gay male, (b) heterosexual male versus heterosexual female, (c)
heterosexual female versus lesbiand, and (d) gay male versus lesbian."
They then rated the "intensity" and the "pleasantness" of
each odor.
Not surprisingly, none of the evaluators found any of the body odors very pleasant.
On a scale of +2 to -6, only heterosexual females cracked the 0 mark in responses
from two groups: gay men and lesbians, but the gay men found it more pleasant
than the lesbians did. All the others were in negative numbers, with gay men
the least preferred by every group except - duh duh duh duh - gay men! "Gay
males preferred the odors of gay males and heterosexual females in each of the
forced-choice preference tests in which these odors were present. In contrast,
for heterosexual males, heterosexual females, and lesbians, odors from gay males
were the most nonpreferred odor presented. Of further interest is the equivalence
in the pattern of responses for heterosexual females and lesbians. Both groups
preferred odors from heterosexuals of either gender over odors from gay males
and lesbians, but when forced to choose between the latter, they preferred odors
from lesbians over those of gay males."
So the moral of this study, which was supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Council of Canada Fellowship, is that gyms catering to gay men will
continue to be a good investment, and we know why lesbians love to take showers
together.
Ten Against Torture Wants You!
It's not enough to be against torture --
Not if you're congress and not if you're a regular person trying to get through
your life
Our government holds 17,000 prisoners in Iraq, 500 in Guantanamo, hundreds
of immigrants in this country, and countless more in secret prisons in Afghanistan
and Eastern Europe. They are held indefinitely, without trial, many without
lawyers, without basic rights or decent conditions, far from family, unable
to be visited by anyone.
"Extraordinary rendition", otherwise known as kidnapping and torture,
is still an allowed practice by the so-called security agencies
It's Up to Us To Stop It
Ten Against Torture
is a grassroots movement of Bay Area activists. If everyone in the Bay Area
who's against the incredible abuse of human rights that our government is committing
every day, gets ten of their friends to do something, we can make a difference.
And even if we don't stop it, we will make our voices heard and let the world
know that we don't accept this.
We have done a variety of propaganda actions, including postering, stickering
and clandestine distribution of "torture cards" (pictured below).
Our first public action was at the Bay Area appearance of would-be-presidential-candidate
hillary clinton, where the splash we made with our shrouds, chains and orange
jumpsuits was not outdone by Code Pink's giant mouse ears. Read
about it.
We're planning a mass street theater on President's Day shopping weekend. Join
us!
www.tenagainsttorture.org; email tenagainsttorture@bigfoot.com
San Francisco Grand Jury Update 1/29/06
In the latest chapter of the government’s attempts to silence dissent, four
people appeared before a federal grand jury in San Francisco on Wednesday, January
25. The grand jury, which is apparently investigating animal rights and environmental
activists, began its work in the late spring, 2005.
Two of the subpoenaed activists, Nadia Winstead and Ariana Huemer, asserted
their Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. Federal prosecutors quickly stripped
them of this right by forcing immunity upon them—thereby compelling them to
testify or face contempt charges. Each responded by choosing to “respectfully
decline” to answer further questions.
Nonetheless, the U.S. attorney continued to fire a barrage of questions at
them. Throughout, Nadia and Ariana remained strong and refused to answer any
questions, until they were eventually excused for the day.
Two others subpoenaed for that day, Rick Bogle and Stacie Nievaard, entered
the Grand Jury room and answered most of the questions posed by the U.S. Attorney.
Although to our knowledge they did not directly implicate anyone in criminal
activity, we can only hope their answers will not result in more subpoenas and
further government harassment of activists.
All four of the activists are done for now, but they may be called before the
grand jury again or face further charges, including contempt of court, at any
time.
Three remaining activists subpoenaed last June-- Joshua Trenter, Andrea Lindsay
and David Hayden-- are still awaiting their appearance dates. Outside of the
Federal Building, about 50 activists and local media attended a demonstration
in support of those resisting the grand jury. Of some note was the brief appearance
of FBI agent “Jenny,” who attempted to hand out “Wanted” posters in front of
the Federal Building before being booed away by activists.
Stay tuned to FBIwichHunt.com for updates and announcements about future appearance
dates and protests.