Articles by jen

Jammin’ for Hope – benefit concert on Fri. Nov. 21st

“Jammin’ for Hope” on Fri. Nov.21!

“Shaky Ground” will be opening the night with some rock and blues. They are looking forward to performing and raising money for a good cause. Proceeds will go to the Croteau Family of Haverhill. Jim Croteau is 49 yrs old with a wife (Linda) and 2 daughters ages 9 (Jeanine) and 12 (Mariah). He was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer 5 years ago and it went into remission for 3 years. His cancer came back last year and he will now need to stay on chemotherapy for the rest of his life. He works at Malden Mills in Lawrence. He grew up in Methuen , MA and has lived in Haverhill for the last 10 years. He is a friend of Pine Island Music, the organization sponsoring the event.

Dancing, cash bar and great music!

Post-election thought for the day: “We must love them both. Those whose opinions we share and those whose opinions we reject, for both have labored in the search for truth and both have helped us in the finding of it.”

Well, it looks like a draw.  I must say, I’m a bit disappointed.  I was so hoping for a Palin paralysis.  She prepped well.  And so folksy…gosh, she stands on the soccer sidelines just like I do.  Maybe I’ll vote for her.  Wait, she wants to abolish Roe v. Wade.  She wants to drill like there’s no tomorrow.  She really seems to believe we can win a war.  That’s right, I remember.  I have almost nothing in common with this woman…other than reproductive organs.  She is a conservative, evangelical Christian hawk…wearing a snazzy pair of glasses that I like.  I might get me a pair of those.  Joe did well.  I was worried he’d blunder.  He didn’t.  I have to say, his smile is off-putting though. All those white teeth just don’t look natural.  Well, short on substance, but that’s my 2 cents for tonight.  ‘Night all.

Are Republicans stupid? I’m sorry to my Republican friends and family, but the delegates televised at the 2008 convention have embarrassed you.  “Drill, baby, drill?”  Are you kidding me?  Is this their energy policy of the future?  And do they really not understand who they need to vote for them?  Why are they touting traditional conservative talking points?  Was Mitt Romney really evoking an image of the the traditional family as the solution to our social ills?  Does he not understand that a large percentage of the voting public falls into the NON-traditional category?  What’s his solution for a single mother struggling to make ends meet and keep her kids safe…go get married?  And in the same breath, Mike Huckabee claims he became a Republican not because he grew up in privilege, but because he wasn’t sitting around waiting for the government to save him and ridicules the idea of a government that tells us how much air to put in our tires, yet asserts that McCain is a man who recognizes that all life begins at conception.  Essentially, he is granting the government the power to dictate the single most important decision in a woman’s life–whether or not to become a mother.  The outcome of that decision is potetially far more grave that low tire pressure.  Keep your laws out of my body, Republicans.

And here is Sarah Palin.  She’s cute, articulate, disarming.  She has a strong voice and a good sense of humor.  She’s talking about the grit of small-town people.  One of the qualities she admires is that ”they are always proud of America.”  Why is that a good thing?  Aren’t there times when we should feel some shame?  Some humility?

Okay, here’s the reality of the Republican ticket.  The presidential nominee is 72 years old with a history of health problems.   So that gives our young governor from Alaska a LOT of potential power.  Is this the woman I want holding the reigns?  No thanks.  I’m sure she’s part of the “Drill, baby, drill” solution to the energy crisis.  And I’m sure that if she gets to choose a Supreme Court justice, which may very likely happen, she will certainly prioritize an issue near and dear to her heart–abortion.  If she can do it, every woman should be able to do it, right? Yes, she’s likeable and personable.  But that’s not enough in my book.

Here’s my checklist:

*  “War on Terrorism” is not winable.  New dialog, new language, new thinking is needed.

*  Health care is a right, not a privilege.  Make it affordable.  Make it happen.

*  ”Energy independence” will not be found in oil…we need renewable energy technology NOW.

*  Quality education means more than being able to take a multiple choice test.  Public school kids deserve REAL education reform and REAL investment.

*  My government should stay out of my bed, my body, my love life (not to mention my email, my library check-outs, my spending habits).  In short:  KEEP OUT.

That’s it for tonight.  I’ve got school tomorrow.  This should be an interesting race.

Do I really need to say anything else?  Is there any sound argument to disprove this little nugget of truth?  War supporters will point to the necessity of war.  Necessity, huh?  Well, let’s consider the search for Bin Laden.  Isn’t intelligence and infiltration generally more effective at finding people in difficult to find places than bombing the landscape, and it’s people, to smithereens?  As U.S. officer Carl Vinson serving on a US aircraft carrier explains it:  “A 2,000 lb. bomb, no matter where you drop it, is a significant emotional event for anyone within a square mile.”³   He’s describing the use of 2,000 lb cluster bombs dropped by B-52 bombers in Afghanistan.  Has Bin Laden been found?  Haven’t seen any big headlines claiming that victory.  So, why the bombs?  Because Americans were angry and wanted to see blood and retribution.  Who is suffering as a result?

The military reports U.S. casualties of “Operation Enduring Freedom” (don’t even get me started on the Orwellian freakishness of the names of these  military operations) is 426.  The number of soldiers wounded in and around Afghanistan thus far  is 2,204.  This includes 1,380 soldiers who were wounded in action and not returned to action.  This, to me, means serious damage.  I mean, if the military can bandage them up enough to put a gun in their hands and send them crawling through the jungle/desert, it will.  So that’s over 1,000 seriously messed up individuals.  These numbers are coming from U.S. military reports that can be seen at www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf. I wonder how the families of these soldiers are doing?  I wonder if their getting the support they need in the absence of a father or spouse?  Lee Rosen, whose North Carolina law firm handles many military divorces, tells us “The children of these families are suffering damage emotionally and a lot of them aren’t getting any help…We’re going to have fallout from this for a long time.”  http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/07/20/as_wars_lengthen_toll_on_military_families_mounts/?page=5 

That’s just the suffering on the U.S. side of the equation.  Afghani civilians are much more difficult to count.  After all, the U.S. government is not technically responsible for those people.  The American public isn’t generally demanding accurate accountability of civilian deaths.  So, the numbers are more difficult and vary widely depending on the source.  I bet you can guess whose counts tend to be low.  “About 1,980 civilians were killed in 2007 — half by insurgents and the rest almost equally by soldiers or criminal groups.” You can do a lot of searching for numbers, it’s pretty overwhelming, but here’s one I found that seems credible:  http://www.afghanconflictmonitor.org/2008/01/1980-afghan-civ.html  I think hawks and doves alike would agree on one inarguable fact: a lot more of them have died then we have.

So, what have we accomplished in Afghanistan.  We have exacted a lot of pain and suffering on a lot of people, including our own service men and women and their families.  What else?  Well, we temporarily ousted the Taliban from power.  Okay, I like that.  Not a big fan of the sadistic, mysogonistic antics of that band of thugs.   But again, were the 2,000 lb. bombs necessary to accomplish this?  I’m guessing that there were many people in this country unhappy with this ruling party.  Could we not have found means of supporting dissent?  What about enlisting the support of the UN to put political pressure on the Taliban?  Conservatives roll their eyes when they hear such foolishness.  Oh please, diplomacy-schmomancy.  It never works.  It’s easier just to bomb them.  Well, I think the above data indicate that it is NOT in fact easier to just bomb them.  Frankly, it angers me that data is even required to make that point.  There is tremendous fall out that will be felt for decades as a result of this shortsighted policy.  Can conservatives just at least admit the hippocracy of their position on this?  We are outraged by acts of terrorism against our own population, but shrug our shoulders when evidence of our own atrocities against civilian populations is put before us.  If we want the world to care when we suffer, don’t we need to care about the world’s suffering?

I haven’t even commented on the downward economic tailspin the “War on Terror” has thrown our country into.

People, the war needs to end.  Now.  Yes, there will be suffering.  People will be angry at us for coming in, tearing up their country, and leaving.  Yes, it’s true.  Let me tell you something…they’re angry either way.  We screwed up.  They should be angry.  They have that right.  We need to leave.  We can try to help later.  Let’s go home.

December 17, 2007

Dear Dr. Ackerman,

I am writing to question your definition of “Corporate Social Responsibility,” which, according to your website, you oversee on behalf of Deutsch Bank. The Boston Globe reported a story today about a small property owned by your company, inhabited by a small man, not owned by your company. The property in question is a foreclosure property, a rapidly increasing portion of the banking business these days. The property in question is also the place this small man has called home since 1962. While you may not understand the world of the small man, seeing as you are clearly a very big man, running a very big bank, I’d like to enlighten you about this world.

In the world of small people, “home” is everything. It is where we store all of the most precious pieces of our lives—the first letter to Santa written by a child, the collection of love letters shared between spouses in their younger years. Often the walls of these homes have marks on them from picture frames that have not moved in decades—pictures of graduations, weddings, christenings, family vacations—the moments that define a life well-lived. As a home ages, it’s walls breathe the smell of the people who have loved it. These smells comfort and protect us as we grow older and smaller in the world.

James Evans is fighting to stay in his home on Warwick Street in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Tell me, Dr. Ackermann, how does putting a partially blind elderly man out on the street for the sake of a quick, easy sale; for the sake of simplicity; for the sake of policy—demonstrate “corporate social responsibility.” Answer: it doesn’t. Yes, your bank sponsors some wonderful programs, including the DB Africa foundation, Academy Opera Today, and numerous art and community development programs around the world. But you seem to be missing the big picture, which is really just the collection of the pictures of small people, living small lives.

If your policy stands, it will contribute to a devastating housing crisis in Boston, and I’m sure in many other cities across the country. People like James Evans, a good tenant, will lose the place they call home. Mr. Evans will spend his elderly years perhaps moving from shelter to shelter, perhaps in a state-funded housing facility for the elderly, where his memories are irrelevant. No, there is no quick- fix solution to Mr. Evans. Offering to help him transition to a new location, offering to help offset the costs of his move will not suffice. You have a buyer willing to keep this man in his home. The only socially responsible choice in this situation is to do just that.

A rapidly expanding foreclosure market means a rapidly increasing burden on shelters and on communities to protect and care for those made homeless. This is leading to a social crisis and demands forward thinking from institutions such as yours. The community of Boston needs massive global banking institutions like yours to bend and re-shape policy in order to keep as many people in their homes as possible. You have the power to do it. The time to do it is now.

 Sincerely,

J.W. Meagher

I just spent an hour reading the newspaper and I want to scream at the world. WORLD, STOP HATING ALL OVER THE PLACE!  IT SUCKS!  Gun violence is up, kids are in jail, kids are dropping out of school, Duval Patrick keeps making really stupid mistakes.  His latest:  he has a public opinion blog that is apparently collecting names and phone #’s of registrants and occasionally making that information known to other people who register.  Doesn’t sound like such a big deal, but when your state attorney general is telling newspapers that he’s worried about abuse victims and police officers’ personal information being availalbe…well, you look pretty bad.  Is there a smear campaign going on?  Or is this administration just really careless? This is the man who is supposed to be fixing all of the aforementioned problems in this state.  Needless to say, I am worried.

Okay, there was good news in Ireland.  Two of the most stubborn men in the world just compromised and agreed to…hold on to your hats…SHARE POWER!  There is hope.

This morning I am writing.  I have also looked at pictures of a dear friend’s baby who is growing up 3,000 miles away, given complicated driving directions to Mildred’s Corner Cafe (Jan Muirhead’s breakfast and lunch joint in Lynn…best breakfast on the north shore) to some friends looking for a good breakfast, printed out the lyrics of many of my favorite jazz tunes, made and ate pancakes, cleaned out the cat box, even chatted with Mom and Dad for a few minutes about a piece on NPR that played this morning.  Before all of this, Iwent for a 3 mile jog with my good friend.  It is now 11:00 a.m.

Usually at this time on a Sunday I am sitting in an uncomfortable wooden pew in a beautiful, but sometimes chilly, old UU meetinghouse in Newburyport listening to the Rev. Harold Babcock reflect on some important theme about human struggle or compassion or love or fear…I always learn something and I always leave with a mild ache in my buttocks.  After the service, we hang out and drink coffee, watch the kids run around on the playground, eat some lunch, then do our grocery shopping for the week.  It is good.

But so is this.