Nature

In English class today we were talking about God and how God is a human creation. I mentioned though how my God is nature. This kid behind me said no, that's bullshit because we are nature too and we are equal etc. I agree, I think that we are God too, but we are not equal to everything else. Then the student got up and threw some plastic bags in the garbage. This imbalance and disrespect for nature is what I am talking about! Humans believe that they are far more superior to all other living creatures on earth and that earth is working in our favor. This belief that there is a God up there in some cloud looking after us, is part of this egocentricity of humans to think that we are the center of everything, and we are the only species that matters, everything else is less and unimportant.

I think that this song represents human destruction:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAi3VTSdTxU

Haymarket Riot

An editorial I had to write for history class


Seven VS. 50

There is misconception with the word Anarchy. This misconception has been derived from bureaucrats who are afraid of people that want to dismantle the corrupt system. Anarchy is not the definition of chaos and destruction; it is the fight for equality and freedom.

On Tuesday May 4, 1886 there was a massacre where seven policemen died and 50 civilians or more were wounded and killed. The Haymarket rally was a meeting to speak about the low wages and long hours that the workers were receiving and their mistreatment in general. This was meant to be a peaceful riot, but once the policemen arrived with the intention of stopping the rally, a protestor threw a pipe bomb killing one policeman. Once this occurred the police reacted irrationally and began shooting at the public, killing women and men.

Most of the newspapers have distorted this story by saying that all who attend the rally were murderers and they were responsible for the deaths. Eight men were taken from the crowd and charged with the death of the policemen. The eight men are August Spies, Albert Parsons, Adolf Fischer, George Engel, Louis Lingg, Michael Schwab, Samuel Filden, and Oscar Neebe. Three of these men were hung, one escaped and Louis Lingg committed suicide. On June 26, 1893 Michael Schwab, Oscar Neebe and Samuel Filden were pardoned by the Chicago governor, because he believed that they were innocent. We are all very happy that these three men were pardoned, but to the rest of the convicted we send our greatest respect and solidarity to their families. We must not forget this day; let it be known that the men who were convicted were innocent and that the system is responsible for their death. Down with the system!

Chile

Para todos en chile les he prendido una vela, pensando en ustedes.

On February 27, 2010 a 8.8 earthquake hit Chile. More than 800 are dead and millions have no home.

I woke up that Saturday to the phone ringing and my parents talking frantically, something about an earthquake, I was still half asleep. I woke up and got ready to go to Medgar Evers. I was on a public education and inequity panel at Medgar Evers College. I barely got to speak to my parents about what had happened since I had to leave in a hurry.

The forum went really well, but on my way home the thought of Chile came to my thoughts. Is everyone okay and so on? As I walked up the steps to my home, every possible thought came to my mind. I was hoping that everything and everyone would be okay. I saw that my cousin’s shoes were still outside the door who I figured had already gone home, I thought why would he still be here, unless something has happened? I thought that maybe when I opened the door everyone would be crying. I opened the door and went to see if everything was okay, which it was, but I had a weird feeling in my stomach either way.

When a catastrophe like this occurs it is so hard for me to understand, because I have never lived through something like that. I am thankful that all my family and friends are safe. But I can't be conformed with just that, because there are millions who have not been so lucky. So I send my solidarity to them. Although I do not have family in Haiti I can sympathize and feel something.
When these natural disasters occur I think people wake up to a reality, that there is a greater power and energy stronger than any human or invention. It may be nature’s way of reminding people that it is still in control. But the people who are most affected are those who least deserve it (I think). I do not wish for anyone to suffer, but I do not understand why some do and some don't in these instances.

My cousin told me that all of his friends are helping out with anything they can and he wishes he could be there with them doing the same, as do I. At times like these we only have each other. We stop thinking in only ourselves and realize that people have it worse and need others support. Need a hand, a smile, food, a friend.

What can I do from so far away? I know that many people argue that we should be focused on the problems that our own city faces, but if you have $10 which many people do, but decided to spend it on clothing, they could send it to Haiti or Chile (to a reliable organization), where the $10 will go to food, water and other necessities.

Caring and helping one another brings us all closer as a species. Let us not forget that we are all brothers and sisters and only we can bring peace and equality. We can overcome oppression and hate.
Just thinking about others in the world for a moment during the day, acknowledging their existence and that there are other ways of life, I think brings us closer as well.

Back to Chile and what I can do for a place that I care for, because of the beautiful people and landscape that occupies it.
I think that once the government or people start to rebuild their homes it is a great opportunity to build these homes with an environmental consciousness. Constructing homes that are made of recycled materials and are energy efficient will be beneficial to the country as whole and the environment as well. I would really love to get this project going. If only I had the knowledge of an architect. But I do have an idea so now my task is to find an environmental institution in Chile that can make this idea into reality. Hopefully then I can go and help out for some months before college or maybe even this summer.

Plants and Capitalism

First post in a long time.

So about two months ago I decided to start growing basic herbs at home and stop buying them from the supermarket.. silly idea. I opened the refrigerator a couple of months ago to find tarragon, sage, and rosemary in plastic containers labeled "FRESH." It’s a silly idea to think that we have everything packaged, we don’t know where it comes from, (many foods for the most part) and we don’t realize that it is something we can grow ourselves so easily! But no, we have lost such idea! I just want to have everything growing at home.

I took the sage that was in the plastic container and started a little hydroponics experiment and it has worked! The sage has really long roots, it’s beautiful. My basil has grown like mad and I’ve transferred the plants to 4 other containers to share with my brother, neighbors and so on. My thyme is slacking a little and the rosemary is on its way. They sit by my window happy to receive so much sun every day.

The story of how I got my rosemary, thyme and basil is pretty funny. I was in Walmart of all places and I went to the garden section, where there were just Christmas toys. I asked the people if they had seeds and they said no they don’t during this season. But I found a closed box that said grow your own herbs kit, I opened the kit and took the seeds. When we got to the cash register, because my dad insisted on paying, they weren’t in the system. I thought I was going to get busted, but we just got them for really cheap.

One may think that there is no way during this time and age to be sustainable, but there are ways to start. One starts by changing the smallest thing, it might be, not using plastic bags anymore. I really do believe every little thing one does makes a difference, but it is also important to think big. Get the little things down and organized and then start organizing larger projects that can bring change to a community or one person.

My parents, when they go to the supermarket bring their reusable bags and reuse the same plastic bags to put the loose mushrooms and lettuce so they don't have to take a new plastic bag from the dispenser each time.

I HATE FAIRWAY and every store for that matter. I know the answer to this, but why not have everything organic and natural in the store? It’s so counterproductive. Really, a plastic wrapped cucumber????!!! I thought who would buy that and sadly I saw a middle aged woman look at it say hmm and put it in her basket. Why? What went through her head? I don't know. Maybe, oh it must be cleaner, because it’s packaged in plastic, must be clean!! What has happened to people? Today I stumbled upon Infoshop news and it says "Kill Capitalism before it Kills you." Right on! But sadly capitalism has already brainwashed so many people and killed them. But we can't give up!

Relating back to plants and being sustainable, it’s important that we realize that at the moment in NYC and in many parts of the world we are unsustainable in what we have to be most worried about for our survival which is, food. Every community should have a community garden. Surprisingly, the English regents had a passage about this!! That’s what schools should be focusing on, how we help our community and actually do something productive during that time and not just train us like machines in a reality that isn't REAL!!!!

Let’s reduce our footprint as much as possible, stop consuming! We really don't need much! Just food!! Let’s start gardening. Expand our indoor gardens to the streets of NYC

Bolivia

Title: In Bolivia, Water and Ice Tell of Climate Change
Author: Elisabeth Rosenthal
Date: December 13, 2009
Source: NYT

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/12/14/science/earth/14bolivia_ss.html


Small cities in Bolivia like El Alto are experiencing the affects of global warming in a drastic way. The glaciers are melting and it is becoming more and more difficult for the people to obtain water and have to travel to other towns to get water. The glaciers of Bolivia have been providing water and electricity to these towns and cities for years and now that they are melting away it is “threatening the existence of nearly 100 million people.” A World Bank report said that the glaciers in the Andes will be melted within 20 years. Poor countries that are being affected by climate change are asking in Copenhagen for rich countries around the world to “provide money and technology to help developing nations adapt to problems that to a large extent, have been created by smokestack and tailpipes far away.” Many of the countries who are experiencing global warming on a large scale have not been the ones responsible for it and they do not have the money to deal with these problems. The European Union made a pledge saying that they would pay “$3.5 billion annually for three years to help poor countries cope.” Where will all this money be going to though? They do not explain in detail where this money is going to when it is such an important problem to be focusing on. Global warming should be the main topic of conversation all over the world, because sooner or later everyone will be seeing the detrimental impacts and it will be too late to do anything about it. If there is no water people will not be able to survive and it will lead to many other problems and violence most likely, because everyone will be trying to survive somehow. Many families are saying they are thinking of not having kids anymore, because there is no point to bring them into a world where they will have to suffer. The Bolivian government does not have much of a plan on what to do about the water crisis. Having access to clean water is part of providing for the general welfare and the Bolivian government cannot do this, because they do not have the resources. I think that developed countries have the obligation to provide for the general welfare of these people, because they have been the main contributors to global warming. This issue needs to keep on being addressed and sustainable and effective projects need to be planned out carefully.

November 28

Yesterday the power went out and my toes were cold. I woke up to my parents laughing in the bedroom next door. My brother and I were going to wake up at 8 and then go for a run, but that didn't happen. I got up and went to my parents room where I jumped in between them and pulled the covers over me. We laughed and talked, those bonding moments are really great. It was 9:30 and we were all still in bed, which is surprising, because my parents are always out of bed at 8 and making breakfast or doing something. My parents are thinking of buying this house in town to then renovate it and sell it, if they don't buy it some other guy is thinking of demolishing it and putting some trailer. We got out of bed and ate breakfast quickly, because we had an appointment at 10:30 to see the house and a guy was going to inspect it for termites. This house looks like it came right out of some scary movie, it's falling apart and there is garbage everywhere. We went inside and the smell was so disgusting, there is mold everywhere, crackers, dirty dishes, old cameras, clothes, books laying around, etc. There are no termites in the house, but there is so much work to be done. After we looked at the house we went home and the twins came over. The twins are like my little sisters who I have known for nine years or so, how we met is another story. So they came over and played chinese checkers while watching Gataca. I won! After we watched the movie we ate Thanksgiving left overs and then played some frisbee outside. While we were all outside we somehow started to invent our own sign language. Toes are cold. Nice. and sunrise, and sunset is as far as we got. It was really funny. We went inside and made some tea and tried to read our future. The tea leaves at the bottom of the cup could mean anything. Soon after they left, my brother and I started playing the piano. It was exhilarating! We went crazy, really feeling the music, being the music. It was beautiful. I had been feeling pretty sad these past few days and I wasn't sure why. I guess just analyzing myself too much and over thinking things. But then my brother and I talked about it, cried together, and then laughed. We drew afterwards and reminisced on childhood memories. Well After that I just felt so happy! And i feel great now. I'm not so angry anymore, I'm relaxed and going with the flow with a positive attitude. I guess at times when you feel that nothing is good you have to wait a bit and see that things really are beautiful.

There you go suzie! love you

Saturday

On saturday I baked scones, meditated, drank tea, and listened to music. Helped out a friend, attempted to go to an art show, made dinner with two great women and watched fight club. Awesome!