Eric's Poetic Probing

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[Written May 29th]
Today began inbrilliant color as David, Dennis, and I woke up early to watch the sunriseagainst the background of Buvumu Islands. The three of us made the 25-minutehike along the shore of Lake Victoria, through the village of Katonga, and upthe rocky incline to the center of Lingira Island, this time unaccompanied byJack and Simba, our canine companions who almost always follow at our feet andstubbornly refuse to ever waiver their protection. The narrow alleyways betweenthe mud huts of Katonga were already bustling with people when we passedthrough.  Both mothers and childrenpaused their chores and watched curiously as we walked, but replied and smiledwarmly when we greeted them in Luganda. Following a few young boys herdinggoats along the path outside of the village, the three of us diverted and cutthrough the thick brush that halos the island’s raised center. Contrary to ourinitial thoughts, we made it to the top of the hill with time to spare. Davidand Dennis found comfortable seats on large rocks protruding from the ocean ofoluwanyi, the tall grass that covers the top of the island. I, on the otherhand, found a seat less comfortable on a forgiving termite mound, but luckilythe termites must not have minded. Soon the painted sky gave way to amagnificent Ugandan sun, which immediately saturated the landscape around us inlight. I have never seen clouds quite like these. We sat there in a silenceaccompanied only by the hum of a lake fly cloud some ten million strong, and feltthe waves of heat begin to bake the ground.
Today alsomarks the first of our work with the Water Kegs. The first couple kegs will beless assembly and more experiment as we work together to tweak and perfect thedesign to best fit the needs of the people. We plan to build 100 filters, buthave enough that we can experiment with different local materials andtechniques. In addition to the actual filter assembly, we are preparing to goout into the camps to survey the people’s habits and understanding of humanrights and water sanitation. The results will hopefully help to illuminate thespecific needs of the community in regards to our goals for the water filters.Titus, the chairman of Lingira Village, is very excited about the project—hisopinion is crucial for its success.
Everyonesends their hellos and well wishes. Jeebale.
Eric

Eric's Poetic Probing #2

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Precedingthe numerous stories and perspectives we each intend to post in the comingweeks, I’ve taken the liberty to post one of the many poems I wrote while inUganda. Enjoy.
Eric

Untitled #1
Wood boats long line
the muddy shore,Each bow pointing regally
towards horizonless Lake Victoria.
Men called kinyamas for their strength,
in uniform blue,
carrying women and children
to and from each boat.
Even a suited businessman,
riding a kinyama’s shoulders, avoids walkingthrough the mud.But for a traveler like me,
who wouldn’t want a piece of Victoria
fastened to their feet?

Rashida Manjoo women's rights lecture

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"After the Violence: The Dream ofAnother Reality"Thursday, September 20, 6:30 pmVandeBerg Auditorium, Pyle Center, 702Langdon St.Free and open to the public
"A native of South Africa, Manjoo is an internationallyrecognized lawyer, teacher, and advocate who has worked to advance women’srights and human rights around the world. She serves as an Advocate of the HighCourt of South Africa and associate professor in the University of Cape Town’sDepartment of Public Law."
More info here:http://international.wisc.edu/blog/index.php/2012/08/24/mildred-fish-harnack-lecture-to-feature-womens-advocate-rashida-manjoo/

WEAC and DPI = Sexualization of Wisconsin's Schoolchildren

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Time for concern.


If you are not aware of the campaign to sexualize minor children in some of Wisconsin's public schools, you might want to scroll through the items posted below such as:
1)  WEAC's $325,000 donation to Defeat the One Man-One Woman Traditional Marriage Amendment in 20062)  WEAC's support for Planned Parenthood's Sex Ed Mandate last Session3)  WEAC's opposition to the Pro-Family/Parents' Rights bill this Session to repeal Planned Parenthood's Mandate4)  Internal memos sent through the Capitol about what is happening at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction which is headed by Tony Evers.5)  An email that was forwarded to us from a member of the American Family Association about an incident that took place in the Shawano School DistrictTaxpaying parents, are these the values you want taught to underage children with your tax dollars?

Transparency in Wisconsin's School Districts. What's YOUR District's Rating?

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Our West Bend School District received a "D" for lack of transparency with information concerning:

• TAXES
• MEETINGS
• CONTRACT
• AUDITS
• PUBLIC RECORDS (ouch!)
• BACKGROUND CHECKS (double ouch!)

Unfortunately, this is the norm across the board. (Only four districts receiving anything higher than a D.) If our kid came home with a report card that had D's in every subject, justified it by saying it's what everyone else got, that wouldn't sit well, would it?  Same goes for this report card. We can do better.  We should do better.
What did YOUR school district get?  Click HERE to find out!

Video: Joe Biden Gropes Women At Swearing In Ceremony

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Jan. 3, 2013 - In a stunning abuse of power and alcohol, Joe Biden put his mitts on women of all ages just before the U.S. Senate swearing-in ceremonies today.

Biden was laying hands on women as they posed for photos in the Senate chambers in the U.S. Capitol Building. Biden made off-color jokes and remarks that might get anybody else fired if they were overheard saying them at a company function. The phrase "hostile work environment" comes to mind when watching these videos.

In the first video, a woman in a blue dress politely hugs Biden and then tries to pull away. Nope. At 10 seconds into the video, Biden has a lock grip on the lady's rib cage. He pulls her back against himself with some force, then almost cops a feel with his left hand. While Biden's behavior was weird, I cannot honestly say that he was trying to feel up anybody. But it sure looks bad.

In the second video here, Biden made a weird joke about frisking. "Spread your legs," he said at 0:06 in this video, "you're going to be frisked."

To be fair, Biden was looking straight at the photographer when he said that. The official photographer told the group to "drop your hands" to their sides, and Biden made a bad attempt to turn that into a joke about being frisked.

"Spread your legs your gonna be frisked," said Biden. "Drop your hands," he said, mocking the photographer. Then "You say that to somebody in North Dakota and they think it's a frisk. 'Drop your hands to the side,' and you think you're in trouble, right? They tell you to drop your hands to the side."

Sure, the joke was stupid and made no sense. Biden is apparently so dumb that he doesn't know that cops never tell people to drop their hands to their side, but tell them to raise their hands over their heads. However, it was obvious that he was not making a sexual remark, as some of my less intelligent, tinfoil hat-wearing blogger colleagues are wrongly suggesting.

Do you like gladiator movies, officer?

"These are the types of casualties that are the result of the Joe Biden Experience," wrote Jordan Sargent at Gawker. "Imagine working with this guy every single day. Would you love it or want to jump off of a building? Are those mutually exclusive?"

Imagine Joe Biden as an employee at your company. How long would it be before you were put out business by women - and even a few men - who sued because he made them feel threatened and sexually abused?

Biden, as Jordan Sargent might say, was just being Biden. He's crude, unsophisticated dork.  Was he trying to cop a feel in the Senate chambers? Nah. Did tell a woman to spread her legs? Nah, he was making a bad joke about being detained by peace officers. Is this typical Joe Biden behavior unbecoming of a Vice President of the United States, and is it embarrassing to the nation? Yah, it really is.

Was Biden just trying to be Mister Fun with some harmlessly exaggerated friendliness? Probably. But what makes Biden so damned creepy is that he's non-stop, like the class clown that doesn't know how or when to shut up.

Remember his supremely creepy smiling and laughing during his debate with Paul Ryan? Yah, same thing going on there. Biden just can't dial it down when he should, and once he dials it up the knob seems to  get stuck on stupid.

Related:

• Watch Joe Biden's Afternoon Swearing in (and Frisking) the New Senate Atlantic Wire
• Joe Biden Was Being Verrrrrrrrrry Joe Biden Today Gawker

Democrat NH Legislator Wants to Make State "So Unwelcoming That Some Will Choose Not to Come"

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Jan. 4, 2013 - A state legislator in New Hampshire thinks that restricting people's freedoms is a good idea. Really. Cynthia Chase, 69, Democrat and fan of Saul Alinsky, is worried about a movement called the "Free Staters," who are Libertarians determined to "free" New Hamphire. Chase is a member of New Hampshire's House of Representatives. She represented the Cheshire 3 district from 2010 to 2012, and has represented the Cheshire 8 district since December 5, 2012.

"Thanks to the Free State Project," says their Facebook page, "thousands of liberty-minded people are moving to New Hampshire, working within and without its political system to reduce the size and scope of government. The plan is to inspire 20,000 or more pro-liberty activists to join our efforts to reduce burdensome taxation and regulation, reform state and local law, opt out of federal mandates, protect individual rights, expand free markets, restore constitutional federalism, and much more."

In the video above, Tom Woods of Liberty Classroom discusses Chase's disturbing comments. "I reported on this story in the most recent issue of my e-letter," wrote Woods on Dec. 28. "New Hampshire State Representative Cynthia Chase is appalled that people who believe in nonviolence (i.e., people who belong to the Free State Project) are moving to her state. She suggests that the way to keep freedom-seeking people out of the state is to take away some of New Hampshire’s freedom."

Freedom hater: Cynthia L. Chase

"In the opinion of this Democrat, Free Staters are the single biggest threat the state is facing today," wrote Chase in a comment at BlueHampshire.com on Dec. 21.  "There is, legally, nothing we can do to prevent them from moving here to take over the state, which is their openly stated goal.  In this country you can move anywhere you choose and they have that same right.  What we can do is to make the environment here so unwelcoming that some will choose not to come, and some may actually leave. One way is to pass measures that will restrict the 'freedoms' that they think they will find here."

Would Cynthia Chase pass laws that apply only to "Free Staters?" That would be a violation of the U.S. Constitution, and probably of the NH constitution as well.

Here's an irony: No doubt Chase has no problem with illegal immigrants moving into her state and demanding all kinds of exemptions and freebies. She no doubt has worked to make "the environment" in NH as welcoming as possible for them, but she would like to work against the free movement of fellow American citizens. Chase is, apparently, very selective in her xenophobic paranoia.  Another irony: Cynthia Chase is herself an outsider. She's not even a native of New Hampshire. She is from Rhode Island and admitted to the Sentinel Souce that she has lived in the Granite State only since January 2006.

BlueHampshire is a "progressive" website, where "progressives" can express their "progressive" anti-liberty sentiments. Cynthia Chase comments there as "cyndychase." Her profile reveals that she considers Saul Alinsky a hero. Her bio says that she is a "Retired kindergarten teacher, former naval officer, adjunct prof. at KSC, married, mother of 2 and grandmother of 2 1/2. In my first term proudly representing Cheshire 3 (Keene)." 

To freedom haters like Cynthia Chase, those goals sound good. To rational Americans, they are frightening. Chase is so freaked out about the Free Staters that she's publicly calling for measures that would make New Hampshire inhospitable to them. Apparently, Chase and her like-minded Democrats have not considered that this will also make New Hampshire a less desirable place in which to live for many other people as well, including her own constituency.

Related:

• NH Democrat: 'Free Staters are the single biggest threat the state is facing today' Reason
• Free State movement not embraced by all Granite Staters Union Leader
• NH ‘Progressives’ Brag About Xenophobia and Bigotry FreeKeene.com
• “You’re not welcome here!” Says the NH State Rep. From Rhode Island FreeKeene.com
• John Stossel interviews Free State Project Prez & Founder YouTube
• Free State Project website