Oct. 11, 2011, Santiago, Chile — Twenty-three year old student leader Camila Vallejo responded to Chilean government threats that student protesters should be prosecuted as looters at a press conference today saying, “The big looters are already ruling this country; they are the wealthiest people. We need the true looters to pay for the education of the poor.” Vallejo plans to lead a massive demonstration here Tuesday and Wednesday. (Photo by Josh Rushing)
The Value of Unpaid Internships: A Debate :: Oxford American - The Southern Magazine of Good Writing
Liberia’s president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has been named the winner of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in the Norwegian capital Oslo where two other winners named.
‘Connected’ Sheds Light on Our Addiction to Social Technology
Tiffany Shlain’s feature-length documentary Connected is an intensely personal exploration of what human connection means in our modern, technology-obsessed world. In anticipation of the film’s release in New York next week, she shares an excerpt that looks at how our brain chemistry compels us to reach for our gadgets 24-7.
(via theatlantic)
After Ruling, Hispanics Flee an Alabama Town [NY Times link]
They left behind mobile homes, sold fully furnished for a thousand dollars or even less. Or they just closed up and, in a gesture of optimism, left the keys with a neighbor. Dogs were fed one last time; if no home could be found, they were simply unleashed.
Two, 5, 10 years of living here, and then gone in a matter of days, to Tennessee, Illinois, Oregon, Florida, Arkansas, Mexico — who knows? Anywhere but Alabama.
The exodus of Hispanic immigrants began just hours after a federal judge in Birmingham upheld most provisions of the state’s far-reaching immigration enforcement law.
The judge, Sharon Lovelace Blackburn, upheld the parts of the law allowing state and local police to ask for immigration papers during routine traffic stops, rendering most contracts with illegal immigrants unenforceable and requiring schools to ascertain the immigration status of children at registration time.
When Judge Blackburn was finished, Alabama was left with what the governor called “the strongest immigration law in this country.” It went into effect immediately, though her ruling is being appealed by the Justice Department and a coalition of civil rights groups.
I think there’s an argument to be made in favor of completely open borders — it’s possible that one day people will look back on the idea that the right to earn a decent living was once assigned based on something as arbitrary as which side of cartographic line you were born on with the same incomprehension we experience when thinking about prior centuries’ aristocratic privileges or the divine right of kings. And there’s an argument to be made in favor of controlled borders, but greatly expanded legal immigration. But there’s nothing defensible to be said about deputizing state troopers and asking them to approach Hispanic-looking Alabamans with the words, “your papers, please.”
Take a Stroll… With Rob Delaney
I grew up in Marblehead, Massachusetts. It’s about 40 minutes outside of Boston, on the ocean, and there are a lot of Jewish people doing all kinds of Jewish things all over the place. I’m Catholic, but I went to the Jewish community center for nursery school, so I witnessed much Jewish activity from an early age. I blew the shofar, ate challah regularly, spun dreidels, and even had my penis customized in keeping with Abraham’s covenant with G-d. (I omitted the “o” in that last word out of respect for my Jewish readers, even though, as a Catholic, I can write that word all day long if I want. But I don’t, because I’m not a serial killer. Plus I have a family and a job.)
On my first day of nursery school at the JCC, my dad (who grew up in Catholic orphanages and foster homes in Boston (i.e. not a Jew)) accompanied me for the first hour or so. Other parents were with their kids too, to ease the transition from hiding behind mommy’s skirt to socializing with other dirty human children. The first activity our teacher, Ms. Shelly, led us in was a song to learn each other’s names.
The class would sing (to the tune of “Frere Jacques”),“Where is Robby? Where is Robby?” It was then my duty to stand and sing, “Here I am! Here I am!” Which I did, beautifully I’m sure.
The class then replied with, “Very nice to meet you. Very nice to meet you. Please sit down.”
After my angelic solo, they moved to a boy named Andrew.
“Where is Andrew? Where is Andrew?”
I stood up and announced to the class, “ANDREW’S DEAD.” A not-dead little boy named Andrew immediately began crying and his father ran and scooped him up to protect him from any further terrifying bombshells the scary gentile interloper might decide to drop.
The reason I announced Andrew’s passing was because my grandparents’ dog had moved on to that big kennel in the sky a few days prior. His name was Andrew. I’d assumed Ms. Shelly was singing about him.
Today I live in Los Angeles, California, which has even more Jewish people than Marblehead. In fact, I wouldn’t even think of living somewhere that wasn’t swarming with Jews.
Not long ago I leapt out of bed at about 6:30 AM and went for a run in a residential part of Hollywood. Around this time I was in the habit of running regularly to get ready for a half-marathon. When I was a few miles from my home my bowels sent an urgent cable to my brain, apologizing for the short notice and saying that they’d be emptying themselves in one minute or less; the location was up to me. I frantically searched for an alley or a dumpster I could hide behind. Nothing. Two parked cars I could crouch between? No. It would be a terrible neighborhood to play hide and seek or smoke pot surreptitiously in as a teenager—no little nooks for sneaky behavior anywhere. It was particularly ill-suited for public adult shitting. The one plus—and it was a big one—was that it was so early in the morning. No one was around, in any direction. I knew that whatever horror was about to ensue, it would be over quickly. I crouched in the gutter at the end of a driveway, which led to the garage of a home that human people lived in, and shit furiously and hatefully into the street. I began to know relief.
My relief was short lived, however, because when I looked up from my pathetic al fresco bio-vandal squat I locked eyes with a Hasidic woman who had materialized across the street. She was paralyzed by what she saw. We gazed into each other’s souls and silently agreed that I was the worst person in the history of humanity and that my name belonged nowhere near the Book of Life.
Happy Rosh Hashana.
http://twitter.com/#!/robdelaney
Previously - St. Mark’s Magic Bookshop
Bahrain medical staff sentenced over protests|
Thirteen doctors and nurses who treated anti-government protesters given 15-year jail terms for crimes against state.
"The locked doors of a public library in West Norwood, a drab part of south London, are an unlikely economic indicator. But a plaintive note explaining the closure—thieves have stripped the roof of its copper cladding, letting in rain on the books below—hints at profound changes to the global economy."
Around the world, copper crimes have soared along with its price. Filched cables have reportedly caused train delays and stalled repairs to telecoms networks. Heating boilers, pipes and air-conditioners have been ransacked. And global demand for the metal is expected to rise by more than 40% by 2020. (via theeconomist)
