rollercoaster ride
there is never a victory without a backslide into the darkness of yesteryears, and even then-- the victory is just one small part that would be insignificant without further movement. what is that saying? close only counts in horseshoes?
yesterday, the filvets bill has gone the furthest it has ever gone in the senate. it has cleared the va committee with the hard backstage favor-pulling work of e and a handful of others. def. no thanks to the community which remains fragmented about it. embarrassing that legislators have to hold us to task of holding other legislators to task. but amazing that we have gotten this far!
today the supreme court ruled against using race to consider enrollment in american public schools, a clearly remarkably strong pushback against the reality of what it takes to truly diversify our schools. the justices who voted for it reasoned that any consideration of race was discriminatory and that we should be working towards a colorblind society. shyeah. back goes everything that brown v. board stood for and meant for communities of color. another blow against affirmative action.
meanwhile, our veterans can have more hope than they have ever had before. i think of the vets from san francisco who were still full of hope and an unwavering belief that justice would be dealt. and i could see the kinds of smiles they have on their faces. we have more battles to fight in this war. it goes to the floor. the battles in the house need to be fought, much better than it was fought in the senate, where the inside track was doing all the lifting.
on another note, the immigration bill is believed to be dead in the water for this session. the backlog of family visa applications remains. the borders remain porous. the societal tension builds, but in contrast, there is much political relief since i don't believe that anybody on the hill was up to the task of making the tough decisions to be both practical and fair in reforming the system. immigrants remain both illegal and exploited.
here in hawaii, i feel isolated from it all. it is a whole new [old] set of problems. the booming and bustling construction as built condos stand empty waiting for mainlanders to buy them because locals can't afford them. developers are wily as they find ways to circumvent zoning restrictions to build, build, build.
here in hawaii, i feel the tension between local and national, as i see the cultural contrasts between this new local very place and heritage based organization that interweaes culture throughout everything it does, and the world i am so familiar with-- a national organization that has to piece together and unite disjointed communities-- where culture is an entree or starting point to get to political assimilation and momentum.
feel helpless. wish i knew what i could do to help the filvets bill from here.
still not sleeping enough but am rested and settling into a routine.
some fokker has been using my debit card and been charging gas in miami every couple of days. meanwhile, bofa flags my transactions here in honolulu and even back at ucla. what a crappy fraud detection system.
it's a nice windy night... :)
i miss y. :(
yesterday, the filvets bill has gone the furthest it has ever gone in the senate. it has cleared the va committee with the hard backstage favor-pulling work of e and a handful of others. def. no thanks to the community which remains fragmented about it. embarrassing that legislators have to hold us to task of holding other legislators to task. but amazing that we have gotten this far!
today the supreme court ruled against using race to consider enrollment in american public schools, a clearly remarkably strong pushback against the reality of what it takes to truly diversify our schools. the justices who voted for it reasoned that any consideration of race was discriminatory and that we should be working towards a colorblind society. shyeah. back goes everything that brown v. board stood for and meant for communities of color. another blow against affirmative action.
meanwhile, our veterans can have more hope than they have ever had before. i think of the vets from san francisco who were still full of hope and an unwavering belief that justice would be dealt. and i could see the kinds of smiles they have on their faces. we have more battles to fight in this war. it goes to the floor. the battles in the house need to be fought, much better than it was fought in the senate, where the inside track was doing all the lifting.
on another note, the immigration bill is believed to be dead in the water for this session. the backlog of family visa applications remains. the borders remain porous. the societal tension builds, but in contrast, there is much political relief since i don't believe that anybody on the hill was up to the task of making the tough decisions to be both practical and fair in reforming the system. immigrants remain both illegal and exploited.
here in hawaii, i feel isolated from it all. it is a whole new [old] set of problems. the booming and bustling construction as built condos stand empty waiting for mainlanders to buy them because locals can't afford them. developers are wily as they find ways to circumvent zoning restrictions to build, build, build.
here in hawaii, i feel the tension between local and national, as i see the cultural contrasts between this new local very place and heritage based organization that interweaes culture throughout everything it does, and the world i am so familiar with-- a national organization that has to piece together and unite disjointed communities-- where culture is an entree or starting point to get to political assimilation and momentum.
feel helpless. wish i knew what i could do to help the filvets bill from here.
still not sleeping enough but am rested and settling into a routine.
some fokker has been using my debit card and been charging gas in miami every couple of days. meanwhile, bofa flags my transactions here in honolulu and even back at ucla. what a crappy fraud detection system.
it's a nice windy night... :)
i miss y. :(