November 27, 2009
November 26, 2009
November 25, 2009
November 24, 2009
A Break
Just taking a quick break from the activism and seriousness of life to do a little shameless promoting. This is for Facebook users
Please if you could vote for Cornell University. The contest runs until November 30th and Cornell is currently ranked 29th...NOT GOOD!!!! Cornell has already had Maroon 5 this year (just a few weeks ago and it was awesome!) let's keep the trend of awesome bands going with Weezer.
November 23, 2009
Bhopal Photos
I found a wonderful photoblog dedicated to the current victims of Bhopal
Please view it here
Please be warned there are photos of people with deformities. If you find such things too graphic then please refrain from viewing this site.
I am trying to work on creating a group on campus dedicated to Bhopal. I would like to encourage any readers to do the same.
Please view it here
Please be warned there are photos of people with deformities. If you find such things too graphic then please refrain from viewing this site.
I am trying to work on creating a group on campus dedicated to Bhopal. I would like to encourage any readers to do the same.
Confessional
Reflecting upon my recent decision to become an activist I find myself on the edge of being a hypocrite.
Yes 'tis true. I the hypocrite slayer have come dangerously close to becoming one myself as well. How has this happened? Quite simply I have become, or at least I am attempting to become someone or something I would have castigated a while back. I have often said to family or friends that I always thought activists sometimes used unnecessary methods tto achieve their goals.
While this may be true for some I have come to the realization that I was being far too general in addition to not being able to perceive some of the challenges activists may face.
My recent conversion was in response to discovering the heartbreaking truth of Bhopal, India. I discovered that the citizens of this city as well as the activists who support them have tried other means to get what they need. They tried talking directly to the Union Carbide company and later to Dow Chemicals who took over Union Carbide in the early part of this decade. They were unseuccessful so they turned to the legal system. Warrants were issued for arrest but Warren Anderson, the CEO of Union Carbide at the time of the non-accident, refused to submit to the Indian legal system. Now retired in the Hamptons Anderson refuses to accept any responsibility for what he and his company did to the people of Bhopal.
In cases such as this one, the only other steps that can be taken are drastic ones. Other activists in support of the people of Bhopal have organized die-ins, Dow chemical boycotts and protests in front of Indian embassies and Dow headquarters. Now I know that for most activists they would rather take a more conventional approach before resorting to hard-core tactics.
I wish everyone good luck with this cause and I will do what I can to spread awareness of these horrible atrocities committed against the Bhopalis. Does anyone care to help me?
Yes 'tis true. I the hypocrite slayer have come dangerously close to becoming one myself as well. How has this happened? Quite simply I have become, or at least I am attempting to become someone or something I would have castigated a while back. I have often said to family or friends that I always thought activists sometimes used unnecessary methods tto achieve their goals.
While this may be true for some I have come to the realization that I was being far too general in addition to not being able to perceive some of the challenges activists may face.
My recent conversion was in response to discovering the heartbreaking truth of Bhopal, India. I discovered that the citizens of this city as well as the activists who support them have tried other means to get what they need. They tried talking directly to the Union Carbide company and later to Dow Chemicals who took over Union Carbide in the early part of this decade. They were unseuccessful so they turned to the legal system. Warrants were issued for arrest but Warren Anderson, the CEO of Union Carbide at the time of the non-accident, refused to submit to the Indian legal system. Now retired in the Hamptons Anderson refuses to accept any responsibility for what he and his company did to the people of Bhopal.
In cases such as this one, the only other steps that can be taken are drastic ones. Other activists in support of the people of Bhopal have organized die-ins, Dow chemical boycotts and protests in front of Indian embassies and Dow headquarters. Now I know that for most activists they would rather take a more conventional approach before resorting to hard-core tactics.
I wish everyone good luck with this cause and I will do what I can to spread awareness of these horrible atrocities committed against the Bhopalis. Does anyone care to help me?
Health Care Bill Crisis?
Dear Democrats,
I wish you would get yourselves together and get lovely Sen. Joe Lieberman in line (though he is supposedly Independent) and pass a comprehensive and productive health care bill. Your inability to get things done is astonishing and quite frankly worrying. It saddens me to say that the Republicans have more gusto than you. When they are in power they get their agenda pushed through quickly and without so much debate. Even when they aren't in power, such as now, they still command a lot of force. Where have you been Democrats? Pull your boots on and let's get cracking 'cause there's still a whole lot to do.
Love,
A Concerned American.
I wish you would get yourselves together and get lovely Sen. Joe Lieberman in line (though he is supposedly Independent) and pass a comprehensive and productive health care bill. Your inability to get things done is astonishing and quite frankly worrying. It saddens me to say that the Republicans have more gusto than you. When they are in power they get their agenda pushed through quickly and without so much debate. Even when they aren't in power, such as now, they still command a lot of force. Where have you been Democrats? Pull your boots on and let's get cracking 'cause there's still a whole lot to do.
Love,
A Concerned American.
November 22, 2009
Re: Remembering Bhopal
It is sad that it takes great tragedies for the world to realize short comings in certain industries. It takes a plane crash with a high death toll for safety regulations that would normally be seen as no brainers to be put into place. It takes accidents like Bhopal for the world to truly comprehen the dangers of living near a chemical plant.
It is even worse when such great tragedies are forgotten and justice is not served in accordance with what humanity feels as the right thing to do. For almost twenty-five years the people of Bhopal India have had to face the daily effects of that one day December 3, 1984 without the satisfaction of knowing that justice has been served in their honor.
It is truly a horrific truth of modern day life that profit often comes before the safety of the population and in the case of these people this thought trend led to the horrific deaths of tens of thousands and the suffering of hundreds of thousands more. Can we as human beings really continue with our lives knowing that such tragedies continue? Can we truly leave such horrors in the darkness?
I had previously heard of the Bhopal tragedy but I had not truly comprehended the vast complexities of the case until today when I came across a documentary on the disaster on YouTube. Now I feel that it is my duty to make as many people as possible aware of the horrors of that day and the horrors that still continue. December 3, 2009 will mark 25 years since the accident at the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, the accident which wasn't really an accident. It was in fact an occurrance of human greed and negligence, an example of justice denied, an instance of human rights ignored. How much longer can we allow this to go unheeded? Not too much longer I hope, for the sake of the people of Bhopal.
http://www.bhopal.net/
It is even worse when such great tragedies are forgotten and justice is not served in accordance with what humanity feels as the right thing to do. For almost twenty-five years the people of Bhopal India have had to face the daily effects of that one day December 3, 1984 without the satisfaction of knowing that justice has been served in their honor.
It is truly a horrific truth of modern day life that profit often comes before the safety of the population and in the case of these people this thought trend led to the horrific deaths of tens of thousands and the suffering of hundreds of thousands more. Can we as human beings really continue with our lives knowing that such tragedies continue? Can we truly leave such horrors in the darkness?
I had previously heard of the Bhopal tragedy but I had not truly comprehended the vast complexities of the case until today when I came across a documentary on the disaster on YouTube. Now I feel that it is my duty to make as many people as possible aware of the horrors of that day and the horrors that still continue. December 3, 2009 will mark 25 years since the accident at the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, the accident which wasn't really an accident. It was in fact an occurrance of human greed and negligence, an example of justice denied, an instance of human rights ignored. How much longer can we allow this to go unheeded? Not too much longer I hope, for the sake of the people of Bhopal.
http://www.bhopal.net/
Remembering Bhopal
I have decided to become an activist.
I am sick of watching the news and feeling sorry for people in need. I have decided that I am going to try to do something about it. Today I was YouTube surfing (as usual) and came across a documentary concerning the Bhopal gas disaster that occurred on December 3, 1984 in the city of Bhopal, India. Up to 20,000 people were killed as a result of corporate negligence and greed. Hundreds of thousands still suffer to this day because of the events of that day.
I was outraged to discover that no one, in particular the then-CEO of Union Carbide which caused this disaster, was ever held accountable. As I write this I find myself shaking with anger at the suffering the people of Bhopal have had to contend with due to the gross negligence of a corporation looking to make an easy profit.
I ask of anyone who reads this to help me try to get some justice for the people of Bhopal.
this is the link to the site for International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal
http://bhopal.net/
Next month will mark the 25th anniversary of the tragedy...25 years is too long a time to wait for justice.
I am sick of watching the news and feeling sorry for people in need. I have decided that I am going to try to do something about it. Today I was YouTube surfing (as usual) and came across a documentary concerning the Bhopal gas disaster that occurred on December 3, 1984 in the city of Bhopal, India. Up to 20,000 people were killed as a result of corporate negligence and greed. Hundreds of thousands still suffer to this day because of the events of that day.
I was outraged to discover that no one, in particular the then-CEO of Union Carbide which caused this disaster, was ever held accountable. As I write this I find myself shaking with anger at the suffering the people of Bhopal have had to contend with due to the gross negligence of a corporation looking to make an easy profit.
I ask of anyone who reads this to help me try to get some justice for the people of Bhopal.
this is the link to the site for International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal
http://bhopal.net/
Next month will mark the 25th anniversary of the tragedy...25 years is too long a time to wait for justice.
November 6, 2009
Quote of the Day
For every action there is and equal and opposite government program
---Adlai Stevenson
---Adlai Stevenson
Questions I would like to ask Congressman Barney Frank
1) Why do you think it has taken so long for health reform to become an issue that requires the attention of the American people?
2) What future do you see for the Democratic Party?
3) What do the recent gubernatorial losses for the Democrats mean?
4) Why wasn't the left wing prepared for the tactics of the right in response to the attempt for health care reform?
and a very important question
5) Why the hell can't the Democratic Party get its shit together?!
do I need to add anymore?
As Congressman Frank will be here on campus Sunday afternoon, I think I may ask him a few if not all of these questions.
2) What future do you see for the Democratic Party?
3) What do the recent gubernatorial losses for the Democrats mean?
4) Why wasn't the left wing prepared for the tactics of the right in response to the attempt for health care reform?
and a very important question
5) Why the hell can't the Democratic Party get its shit together?!
do I need to add anymore?
As Congressman Frank will be here on campus Sunday afternoon, I think I may ask him a few if not all of these questions.
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