Anti-Roma Violence and Hostility in the European News

So if I keep my eye off the international news for even a few minutes, I always regret it. The news from Europe for Roma is . . . not good.

First off, there's the situation in Italy. We'll be talking about that in a panel at U of M on December 10 at noon. I haven't seen information go out about the event yet, but if you're interested, let me know and I'll keep you in the loop.

Then, in early November there was a killing of Roma in northern Hungary, probably ethnically motivated. It got a brief mention in the BBC News and the International Herald Tribune.

Meanwhile, in the Czech Republic, according to the European Network against Racism, "At a march organised in the town of Litvinov in the Czech Republic on 17 November, about 500 demonstrators linked to the far-right Czech Workers’ Party chanted anti-Roma slogans and threw stones, firecrackers and petrol bombs with the intention of attacking the Roma community." From all accounts and images, including CzechNews, and the BBC News video footage, the incident looks terrifying.

And the nastiness spills over into the virtual world, too, with racist facebook groups organizing ethnic violence on the popular networking site.

It's never seen the sun, it only comes up when the moon is on the run

I was just reading in Martha Stewart's delicious holiday issue all about amaryllis flowers, and now Park Seed has more than a dozen different varieties on their site . . . I think I've fallen in love with their Cherry Nymph.

LIFE magazine's historical photograph collection

Wow, this is great. Life Magazine has just made its collection of historical photos available online in an archive hosted by Google. Only about 20 percent of the LIFE collection is currently online. The entire archive, comprising about 10 million photos, will be added over the next few months. Above, an image from 1938 of a family living in a rural shack in Poland. Below, a family in a British industrial area. For those of us interested in poverty and its photographic depiction, this is a goldmine.

Oh, the joys of being a graduate student instructor

You know, I find that being in grad school this many years has really changed my approach to dress when I get up in the morning. Instead of, "Do I look cute?" the questions become:

"Is my body covered adequately?"
"Will I be unbearably hot/cold?"
"Have I avoided looking like an ENORMOUS freak?"
"Is the odor of the clothes I have taken off my bedroom floor minimal enough not to cause offense?"
"Can I be REASONABLY confident that I've done everything to avoid that when my undergraduate students run into each other in the bar, at a frat party, or in the ladies room, they won't be conversing about my body and clothes?" (I know some of them will, no matter what I do.)

sigh. I wish I had the time and money to buy a new wardrobe, lose 30 pounds, reliably use my anti-acne, anti-psoriasis, and anti-aging skin treatments and go to the gym.

But today, at least I am showered and no one can see my ass crack.

That's something, at least.

Guns, burning crosses, angry white men, and other stupid shit.

Along with all the people who are celebrating a new era in American history, are those who are terrified that their grasp on power is loosening, and are pulling all kinds of stupid shit in response to the election. 

Like, for example, the people who thought it was a good idea to burn a cross on an Indian-American guy's lawn in New Jersey because his wife had created a banner congratulating President elect Barack Obama on his victory.

And, for instance, the angry, violent gang of white men who, encountering a high-school-aged Liberian-American Muslim on Staten Island on election night, shouted "Obama!" and proceeded to beat him with a baseball bat.

And then there are those who are just threatened by the possibility of change they embodied in President-elect Obama, even though some of them nominally support change. There's something a little terrifying to me about the fact that America is arming itself with record speed even though Obama confirms our right to bear arms. Glenn Parshal, a gun retailer in Las Vegas says, "One of the strangest things that I've had happen the past few weeks, is I've had a lot of people come in here wearing Obama buttons and Obama t-shirts, in here to buy guns, they tell me they're in here to buy 'em before he bans 'em." 

I need to follow this up with a photograph from the country road I take home from Ann Arbor. The local resident there initially set up a wooden, spray-painted sign informing passing motorists that "SOCIALISTS ARE THIEVES." Now, he's added two more, including one warning us to "LOAD UP ON AMMO."

My horoscope today tells me: "Be smart by rejecting anyone who has a negative and self sabotaging attitude. These people will only pull you down to their sad and lonely victimized level." This is funny to me, in light of the past week.

vlad and friend boris presents 'Song for Sarah' for mrs. Palin

corruption within

main hall, originally uploaded by vivid tangerine.

an image i've always wondered about, and never seen . . . my friend writes about it beautifully here.

Preparing to make history

I just got all fixed up for voting tomorrow, identifying the candidates who will be on my ballot in my wee little town. I had thought I'd probably get more information in the mail, like I did in the past in California, but all I got was from the GEO at University of Michigan.

It took a while to figure out who was running for congress and for the house in my town. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that there is just a Republican on the ballot for state representative here.

Anyway, I'm ready. Now just nine more hours to wait. Hopefully the lines won't be too crazy first thing in the morning here. I'm inclined to agree with folks who are arguing that states that don't allow for early voting are effectively doing the same as charging a poll tax for people who want to vote in person, if you have to stand and wait for several hours to cast your vote.

Ah, a friend just sent helpful information -- there's a website that will show you your ballot ahead of time if you're a Michigan voter, and links to lots of information. It's PUBLIUS. I'll never get over the whole romanticization of ancient Graeco-Roman civilization as the original seat of democracy in light of its profound inequalities, but never mind the name. It's super useful.

I just love killing those animals.

"Yes, yes, I understand, we have the equivalent of Joe the Plumber in France, it's called, 'Marcel, the guy with bread under his armpit,' oui," says the Quebecois comedian Sarah Palin believes to be Nicholas Sarkozy.

Bubb Rubb and Lil Sis

You s'posed to be up cooking breakfast or something, by then, so that's like an alarm clock: woo WOO!

And the REMIX VERSION, hilarious but with some nudity involved, just as a warning.

It's coming . . .

So soon, so soon. Are you as nervous and excited and hopeful and distracted as I am?