US Guantanamo Guard Converts To Islam

I saw this today and was touched.

US Guantanamo guard converts to Islam


As the US government moves to shutdown its detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, stories are emerging of the way it affected those inside.

Former inmates have talked about the deprivation and pressures they faced.

But Terry Holdbrooks was on the other side. He was a US soldier and he says he saw something in the behaviour of the inmates that changed him. He tells his story to Al Jazeera in his own words.

I am amazed at the stories like this I hear from soldiers. Though I am not surprised that the heart can love and learn so much. This video give me hope in humanity. I hope every man there receives a just trial.

Protect, Sister, Brother.

Kung-Fu Jesus likes condoms, so should you!
Protect.

A Good Day For Civil Rights!

Hi Ya'll!

I sit at the urban in Grand Forks ecstatic due to some new developments!

Today the HB 1572, the Personhood bill was turned down by the ND Senate. According the the Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund website:

If passed, HB 1572 could have outlawed contraception as well as medical procedures used to treat tubal pregnancies and infertility, impacting thousands of laws in the North Dakota Century Code.

Through much effort and encouragement, many of us urged our leaders to turn down the bill. I was also pleased to learn that Bishop Aquila of Fargo and Bishop Zipfel of Bismark, the two Catholic bishops in North Dakota, opposed the bill. According to a March 30th article on Fitzgerald Griffin Foundation's website (from all appearances a strict Catholic website), Bishop Zipfel:

believes that women should never be held legally liable for procuring abortions and that the repeal of Roe would do just that in North Dakota.

A priest after my own heart! It bring me great joy to read this as I grew up a devout Catholic girl, unaware of issues women must fact everyday, like that of abortion. Today I realize these are personal issues which must be protected, regardless of others opinions.


Another break through today, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld a Polk County 2007's ruling in stating that marriage should not be limited to a man and a women. In more plain terms, if your GLBT, you can marry in Iowa! Joy Joy!

This goes without mentioning the defeat of SB 2278 in the ND in the senate by a margin of 54-34, a bill that would have prohibited the discrimination of GLBT individuals. Apparently opponents have stated that SB 2278 would protect a behaviour, not a characteristic. Sick.

All and today's a good day!

Dave saying: I don't like patriarchy, frown town.

Train Ride Thoughts

Its odd how much I miss having long hair, as if it was the one thing that guaranteed my place in femininity. A few months ago I cut my hair extremely short, donating it to locks of love. I was incredibly annoyed of the work it took to brush out the endless tangles everyday and was itching for a radical change in my appearance. Little did I know the end product would bother me this much leaving me missing my long locks. A friend told me that hair can carry unexpected worth to women who are don't prescribe to the common notion of femininity. (You know what I mean, caked on make-up, blow dried hair, fashionholics wearing the newest and latest trends.) I definitely don't fit into the said category, in fact I work to create my own gratifying definition of femininity. It includes but is not limited to: not shaving anywhere, not wearing make-up, creating my own fashion (which may or may not be flattering), being true to myself, etc... Today, I completely agree with Mollie and her experience in the matter, my experimentation in short hair is over - but I just gotta wait till my hair length catches up with my attitude.

I just finished reading "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd today on the train ride from Portland OR to Minot ND. It was amazing, really great. I read Sue Monk Kidd's book a dissonant daughter and was knocked on my feet, Secret Life assuredly did something similar. I know I'm going to be taking insights and rituals from the pages like the "wailing wall". In the book, sister May takes all the pain of the world and embodies them in bouts of depression - this happens daily involuntarily. Sue didn't create this character she personified the feelings of many people, those who feel the pain of the world weighing them down almost constantly. To medicate this aliment, May creates a "wailing wall" of stacked rocks where she writes down what's paining her, meditates on it, and leaves it to the earth to absorb. I'm going to begin my own wailing wall of sorts - create my own shrine to pain, give it a place to fester other than in my scull.

Arriving In Portland/Wrestling With Nightmares

Well, Dave and I arrived in Portland Oregon yesterday morning (3/14/09). It had been a really long train ride (31 hours!) and we were ready to get off. We got our luggage and built our bicycles outside of the depot and made our way to the hostel.


We're staying at the Northwest Portland International Hostel & Guesthouse just outside of downtown Portland (and when I say just outside of I mean two or three blocks away). Two large houses make up the hostel and each hostel has its own kitchen area so you can make food and visit. Dave and I were lucky and got the super secret room - a private room with a double bed and a bathroom suite. Apparently they don't tell people about this room since they can't guarantee it will be available.

Dave was feeling sick after we arrived at the hostel, so we napped for a couple hours. (This morning he's still sick and is slumbering beside me. I hope he doesn't feel this crummy for five days.)

After the nap (and some advil for Dave) we set out for food and ate at Escape From New York Pizza a few blocks away. I was baffled, it was really great pizza! The proportions were just right! Dave - well he thought I was being a little over the top, but really, it was great! The place was dolled-up with pictures, anti-bush art (*swoon*), and the pizza guys were friendly. Slices were cheap too. Afterwards,we made our way to the Saturday market downtown. We couldn't figure out the bus system despite the helpful advice we received at the front desk, so we just walked. It was really rainy and cold out, but we had umbrellas and made the best of it. I bought a couple things at the market and we made our way back to the hostel. It ended up being quite the trek, we stopped briefly at Powell's book store and a record store to warm up, and we bought soup at a grocery, but we finally made it to the hostel around 7. We made soup and took it easy the rest of the night.

Today, I'm not quite sure whats planned. Dave's still sick and as much as I wana wake him, it would probably be best to let him rest. I suppose I'd like to explore the northeast part of the city today. There a shop I must go to as well, but I can't quite tell you what it is.... ha! Oh, I think we're planning on going to Powell's again - it was so busy in there my head was spinning. Hopefully it wouldn't be so busy on a monday, but I'm not crossin' my fingers. Oh, and Dave wanted to go to a museum. Me Too, I can't wait!

------------
I'm still struggling through a identity/spirituality crisis. The past two nights, I've had three nightmares which rouse me in a fright. In the first nightmare, I was being screamed at by my former roommates and pushed out of the house, I was balling and balling and when I screamed back they were gone. In my second dream, I was being given advice by a hostel staffer about Portland she afterwards she said 'That will be $50's'. I protest but she said it would be added to my tab where I liked it or not. In the third dream last night, I was in a gang being used as a sex slave (which many women are forced into - that is gangs, and sex slavery). The man who had ownership over me shot dead my girlfriend and then came after me. He shot me in the stomach and fell over me since he was so drunk. I tried fighting back, and I was able to get his gun from his inebriated figures, but he had used his last bullet on me,... so I just died, right there, with his drunk self hanging over me.

I used to believed dreams meant something. I had a dream dictionary and a dream journal where I would try to figure out the meanings. When I became engrossed by christianity I stopped listening to the voices within me. Now, I'm trying to backtrack, I'm listening again to myself. In my women and religions class we're learning about indigenous faiths. There are women who have listened quietly and found within themselves and in all things a guiding voice. I cannot deny their words, their experiences - and no longer and I going to deny my experiences - those guiding voices. I prayed to creator yesterday. Today I may pray to Goddess. Tomorrow I may pray to Mother Earth. Our spirituality.

New Steps In Life. Pt. 1

Life has changed fairly quickly this past month. I no longer live in the commune seen above, I moved in with my parents, Dave and I are transitioning to a new (and improved) stage in our relationship, midterms are leaving me busy and stressed, and I'm trying to learn how to make good, loving friends again and Dave and I are planning for a Portland spring break trip.

A month or so ago I talked to a few people in the house and found out there was contention against my relationship with Dave and my decision to dissociate with the modern day christian church (for obvious reasons really, this being one). I was told Dave and I were committing adultery, really - adultery! I was shocked seeing how we were planning to get a bigger place so Dave and my brother Reilly could move in. It really came out of nowhere, I never had any indication from anyone in the commune that they considered Dave and I adulterers. To call the love Dave and I share adultery can be likened to calling a fatherless child a bastard to her/his face. But still if you must condemn us at least get it right and call us fornicators, or more appropriately, lovers.


To top it all off, I was told that the commune was meant to be a christian commune. The assumption being that since I am not christian "enough", I obviously cannot be part of it. I was assured that I was not being targeted, but had I been a "good" christian by their christian ideals this never would have been brought up. Labels as it seems are more important than the people themselves.

Obviously I am still flustered by all this. I am left with a mouth twisted with distaste for anything christian. More and more I view the christian religion as exclusive, one I don't even want to associate with anymore. I am left dispirited, but I know that I must still celebrate my spirituality, no matter who should oppose me.

I'm also left with a feeling of loneliness - despair. I realize that many of my friends of the past were christians first, than friends. Unintentionally I had surrounded myself with friends in Grand Forks who were christians and did little outside such groups. I found myself missing many of my friends in Fargo, who were true friends, friends who shared in my life experiences, leaving judgment out. I'm trying to reconnect with those in Fargo, but its difficult, everyone is so busy. But, I will continue to make more friends here, there are many who would be great friends, if I just had the courage to seek them out.

I will continue later, but I'm hungry and plan to sleep in the next few mins. Good night.

Adventure Day!

I have an adventure to report today!

Okay, its wasn't an adventure by any stretch of the imagination, it was more like a calamity.

So, I ride bike to UND everyday in just about any condition, even when its a horrible -27˚F below zero (see previous post). This morning I did what I do everyday and headed to class on my bicycle via Standford road. It was 10˚F and the roads were a bit icy, but it was a beautiful February morning. When I was nearing the 6th Ave./Standford intersection a car started to pass me. I motioned to the driver not to pass me, but she ignored my warning and passed me anyway. She had to abruptly stopped in front of me, since she passed me only yards before the stop sign, giving me no time to stop safely on the icy road. When I hit the car my back tire came with sending me into a 180 after which I hit the ground. I got up and yelled at the driver, telling her I signaled her to not pass me, that she gave me no time to stop on the ice, and that bikes have the same rights on the road as cars. She said sorry along with I know to each complaint.
When I went to get back on my bike a I driver behind me yelled out "Get Going"! Right after I had gotten in a accident!

I can't stress how frustrated I get at drivers these days! ARG!! I want to ride bike in town and be safe while doing it! I'm going to write an editorial to the Grand Forks Herald about bikes and cars sharing the road, I've had about enough!

A Dreamer Asleep

I am a dreamer, a dreamer asleep.

(from swissmiss, from fubiz)

Making Streets Beautiful

When officials in Toronto backed out of a plan to expand the city’s bike lanes, a group of anonymous cyclists decided to do what the city would not. Armed with stencils and paint, and sporting disguises and alibis, they descended upon the notoriously dangerous Bloor Street, a major city thoroughfare, and carved out a bike lane all on their own. “The city had been insisting for years that it was impossible to install a bike lane on Bloor,” says “Alvin,” one of the clandestine painters. “We dared to differ.”

The group, which calls itself the Other/Official Urban Repair Squad and now claims 20 members, has gone on to perform similar feats, carving rush-hour bike lanes and “sharrows”—shared lanes for cars and bikes—into streets throughout Toronto. The police have turned a blind eye to their efforts, or have been too confused to interfere. The Mayor’s office, however, takes a less friendly view: The unauthorized bike lanes are usually painted over within a couple of weeks. As for any problems caused by the new lanes, Alvin says, “No accidents, no complaints, but many smiles.”

How splendid, I love it when I hear people take matters into their own hands and make city streets beautiful! What streets should I make beautiful in Grand Forks?

{thanks GOOD}

I In Two Places At Once!

I thought I should let you all know that I live two places at once! Here in Grand Forks and in Fargo.

See!







According to this picture my car is in Fargo ND -- right now (and its apparently fall there too...)! But as far as I know, my roommate Linnea drove my caviler to Crookston MN to go to work... Either Linnea decided to go to my old apartment in Fargo to day instead of going to work, or I'm in two places at once.

Okay... I lied, I don't live in two places at once, I just live in Grand Forks, but I looked up my old apartment on google maps and looked at the street view and saw these pictures! The google street view pictures for Fargo must have been taken last year while I still lived there. Notice how my car is the only car in its parking spot while all the other cars are gone. I was riding my bike! Yippy! Anywho, I just thought this was nifty and who knows how long these pictures will be up.

Spring Semester Begins!

Well today was the official beginning of classes here at UND. I decided to ride bike to class despite the -26˚ F weather today. I've learned that biking in this weather requires special care in choosing clothing which is lightweight, warm, and breathable. A few days earlier I bought a Patagonia Capilene 3 baselayer to help keep me warmer on my rides to school. I must say it was the best decision I've made on biking attire.

Now with my Velocity pullover and two other layers I'm ready for the coldest weather.


On a day like today where weather is incredibly cold (-26˚F) I wear two pairs of socks, one wool, one cotton, jeans with two pairs of long johns, cap 3 baselayer, one long john top, regular cotton long sleeve, my velocity pullover, fleece face mask, wool half balaclava, a knitted all in one hat/scarf, and snowmobile gloves w/ another pair of crappy gloves for added protection. I have a long ways to go till I have adequate winter attire, but I'm slowly acquiring winter cycling gear. Next on my list is studded tires, warmer mittens, more wool socks, wool baselayer, and a wool balaclava.

Aside from my bicycle endeavors, I'm taking 5 classes that I couldn't be more excited about!

Women & Religion
Feminine Theory
Social Change
Social Problems
Environmental Sociology

I think this will be the first semester in 4 years where I'll enjoy each and every class.

Hooray!

All wars are boyish and are fought by boys!

I must post this video, there are too many people dying at the hands of Israel.




Thanks Aljazeera,

Over 350 dead.. 1,500 injured... and it's only rising...
How horrible war is. Fucking end the killing of these people. Keeping mum will not rid your hands of blood Obama.