Marian's Blog

The Hummer: Militarized American family car

I vividly remember. It was summer 2003. I was in the US, with family, and traveling a highway through Virginia. At first maybe I thought I was having a 'flashback' of a visit at Camp Dobol in eastern Bosnia, or remembering what it was like driving an OSCE armored vehicle on the road between Fushe Kosov/Kosovo Polje and Pristina. But no. There before me coming down a civilian highway in northern Virginia, USA was the military vehicle we call a "Humvee". That was the first time I laid eyes on its commercial equivalent - a freak of marketing - known as a "Hummer." Being rather militarized itself, northern Virginia seems a likely locale for observing the unprecedented blurring of military transport with the need to pick up dish liquid and a newspaper. What is the Hummer owner's demographic profile? Is this ostensibly the next evolutionary step up from the SUV? I've seen one Hummer ad on US TV. It depicted a kid being dropped at school, and by mom no less, as he cheerfully exits the vehicle's passenger side. All this seems highly unlikely. In my book, anyway.

New Orleans: "Out of Country voting" for others but no vote for displaced Americans

I'm re-ordering and slightly re-wording my previous post with emphasis here on New Orleans' 2006 mayoral election which has made no provision for the tens of thousands of displaced New Orleans voters who do not physically travel back to New Orleans to vote. It would be an understatement to say that expectation is not realistic. It's also pretty inhumane not to mention anti-democratic. Yet in spite of the human rights implications (international, not Baton Rouge's or Washington's) they've actually gone ahead today with an election for mayor of New Orleans, La. Tens of thousands of New Orleans voters remain displaced, even homeless, yet in the eight months since Katrina first hit neither the US nor Louisiana government saw fit to arrange "out-of-state polling" in the communities across the United States of America where Louisiana's citizens remain scattered. Ironically financial grants from the US made possible by Americans including New Orleans' displaced citizen-exiles have made it possible for displaced persons and communities in other countries - and those receiving refuge in the USA - to be able to vote in their own countries' elections. Some of those people have voted "out of country" inside the US where they've received refuge, living barely a stone's throw from displaced New Orleanians who have been given no place to vote. In international election missions we work hard to provide "out-of-country voting", absentee voting, and so on. So what's going on here? (continued)

How I walked MORE Women's half-marathon in 4:24

Here’s my saga of MORE mag’s third annual marathon & half-mara for women over 40. It was also an official race co-sponsored by New York Road Runners and a qualifier for the NY Marathon. In 2003 I ran Nairobi’s first women’s 10K in 1hr 40min. Compared to Kenya, nearly 4-thousand women registered for the MORE race while 10 to 11-thousand women ran Nairobi's women's 10K against HIV/AIDS. MORE was my very first half-marathon, even if I did walk. I registered early but two days before the race my participation was touch and go due to schedule conflicts. (Thanks Pam!) Finally I made it to NYC on Amtrak where I stepped off and discovered I’d returned to winter. Burrrr! Bummer. No hat; no scarf. Thank goodness I'd brought layers. Checked into hotel then made my way to MORE’s spaghetti dinner at Tavern on the Green where I met a nice group of women who traveled all the way from Lansing in Michigan to run. Post pasta and salad I popped into a pharmacy & bought an extra pair of tights. Lifesaver! At my hotel I hung out with an old friend and a new friend and had a ball catching up. Did I maybe stay up a bit late?! Early race morning I woke to drizzly weather & a craving for tylenol - effects of our bar-side chat. The first hour of the day was agonizing and not only because of my head. At 6AM the sky was ominous. Out the window I could see people with umbrellas raised. Despite my toughness I knew I was not mentally up for running in the rain with no headgear. Should I stay? Should I go? But we forged ahead. Washed, dressed, a little breakfast with fluids. Taxi’ed to Central Park where zillions of women were arriving to race. I was in the right place! The half mara started at 8:00. I started out jogging then switched to a walk. Weather was a bit chilly but thank God didn’t pour. The cool temp actually made near-perfect race weather. The half mara was twice around the park. Despite two restroom breaks (guess what: a women's race that needed more stalls - duh!) my official time was 4:24. I’d never even been in CP before. This was great fun and worthwhile so now I’m looking for more races and working to do even better next year!

Think DARFUR-Divest SUDAN*- Pension funds remove their cash

THINK DARFUR. Do you know of a pension or other public fund that invests in companies sending income to Sudan's government & military? Sudan Divestment Campaign's site features a state-by-state list of US public pensions with holdings in companies investing in Sudan. Alaska's state pension investment board has more than USD$545 million invested in 25 companies doing business with Sudan. These and other companies are based outside the US since in 1997 the Clinton administration embargoed US companies from doing business in Sudan. Click below to see the whole list.

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Retirement System (selected)	Amount invested in companies that do business with Sudan	No. of companies invested in that do business with Sudan
Alaska State Pension Investment Board (ASPIB)	$545,421,969.90	25
Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (APSPRS	$164,904,304.80	4
Arkansas State Teachers Retirement System (ASTRS)	$495,826,407.85	38
California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS)	$7,528,282,236.59	44

Hi tech?! Enough already

Cheese and crackers! Between one thing and another we've been offline... how long? Bummer. Darn cookies and computers... Anyway, we're back. It's Easter weekend already. Good Friday. Passover began yesterday and continues till Thurs the 20th. Rummie is still US defense secretary (for the moment); Euro Social Forum kicks off in Athens in May - including Women's Assembly. Sudan's DC embassy proclaims its displeasure over an annoying (to them) yet growing snowball of divestment. Chad just cut dip. relations with Khartoum while CNN's US domestic service says nothing about most of this instead reporting the disturbing news of a New York shopkeeper whose cat may be trapped forever inside a wall. I kid you not. Plus ca change plus c'est toujours news American style. The more things change the more it's still news American style! Peace.

Why Can't We Post?

Just an effort to get something back onto this blog again. It's been a trying few weeks!