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Support the troops: listen to them
I’ve never liked or bought the rhetoric of “supporting the troops.” I support people in the military insofar as I support the well-being of all people as a general rule. I also acknowledge that many of the troops are only in the military because it was one of the few feasible career choices that they…
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My astute and articulate commentary on Alito’s confirmation
FUCK. Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.
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2005 as summed up in 10 dictionary definitions
Today, when I went to m-w.com to verify that I was using a word correctly (it was “regale,” and I was), I noticed a link to the top 10 words looked up in the online dictionary in 2005. They provide an interesting summation of what 2005 was all about. The list, with some commentary added…
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2005: a very bad year for human rights…
And not surprisingly, we have the United States and the War on brown people, I mean Muslims, I mean Terror, to thank for it. As described in this press release, the Human Rights Watch has released its World Report 2006. It’s rather grim. New evidence demonstrated in 2005 that torture and mistreatment have been a…
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Pot, kettle, anyone? (the US government on Venezuela)
From the New York Times: the US government has barred Spain from selling military planes built with American technology to Venezuela, citing the “antidemocratic” nature of President Hugo Chávez’s goverment and saying that the sale would “destabilize the region.” What utter bullshit. Apparently, Spain’s government disagrees with the US and regrets their decision, but will…
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Puerto Rico’s fate, decided by Puerto Ricans?
The above flags fly from El Morro, one of the oldest Spanish forts in San Juan, Puerto Rico. I see them as a visual representation of Puerto Rico’s long history of colonization: the white flag with the red cross is an old Spanish military flag, the US flag represents the current colonization of PR, and…
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Leaving on a jet plane
Well, my girlfriend and I are about to escape NYC for sunny Florida, to spend Christmas and the first couple days of Chanukah with my family. While I am in complete and utter support of the strike and the TWU, I’m also relieved to leave the madness for a little while. I hadn’t heard until…
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Uh, we win?
(Oops! I just realized that I’d forgotten to actually post this after saving it as a draft for two days.) Hey all, I’m Dexter, and I’m an angry, if somewhat tired, brown queer living in Vancouver, BC, fresh from 5 years in New York City and Washington, DC. I am honoured to rant alongside Jack.…
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The downward spiral of the Civil Rights Division
Seems that the recent behavior of the Justice Department is part of a greater trend towards conservatism and a not-so-gradual rollback of what little progress has been made towards true equality and civil rights. From Prometheus 6: Civil Rights Focus Shift Roils Staff At Justice: The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, which has enforced the…
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The bastardization of civil rights
Few organizations make me as angry and disgusted as the Center for “Equal Opportunity”. Their website claims that their mission is to “to the promotion of colorblind equal opportunity and racial harmony.” How do they work towards this mission? Primarily, by promoting a twisted bastardization of civil rights thinking and legislation through lawsuits against colleges…