fuck

this is hard. much harder than i thought it would be.

random acts of kindness

the other day at work there was a woman in line talking to her husband. she said she really wanted the last chocolate pastry and she hoped that nobody would buy it befor she got up there. the guy in front of her bought the chocolate pastry. and gave it to her. he had never met her before, it was truly just a random act of kindness. and she was so happy.



it inspired me. this morning i went to trader joes to buy some snacks. i also bought a gift card with $5 on it. i asked the cashier to put it towwards the next person's order. i had never seen these people before. it wasn't much, but i can only hope i inspired those people to do something nice for someone else. and maybe the cashier, who seemed confused as to why i would do that.



it made me feel good. it'll make you feel good too, try it sometime

my happiness list

thanks for the inspiration chelsea :)

-thunderstorms

-the sound that my flip flops make when i walk really fast

-being cold when i sleep

-people watching. i like to make up stories about the lives of complete strangers

-coloring

-that 'coexist' bumper sticker that everyone in the greater ypsi/ann arbor area seems to have

-wine

-remembering how it used to be

-hugs

-hippies

-giving people 41 cents change. it's one of each coin, very egalitarian

-taking myself out on dates. it's a lot less pressure and i'm very good company

-writing. even if nobody ever sees it (which is the case most of the time)

-random acts of kindness. today at work this guy paid for the order of the couple behind him. he had never met them before

-sunflowers

-mini boxes of chocolate soy milk

-walks in the park

-listening to oldies in the car. windows must be down

-my tattoo

-sipping coffee (or tea, depending on my mood) out of those large round mugs

-fireflies

-laying in the grass on a warm summer day

-knowing that im making the right decision

-you

-him

-ME

vanilla soy millk and faking it

"think you can make it for a 2nd movie?"

"yeah"

we both knew i wouldn't.

the smell of the dinner we cooked together still filled the air.

remember the time we made mac and cheese with vanilla soy milk cuz that's all you had?i
t was good cuz we made it.

the movie palyed on and my body began giving in to sleep.
the documentary became background noise as the sound of your heartbeat coaxed me to sleep.

remember our scrabble game earlier?
love was a 34 point word.

your arms wrapped around me and i was filled with the type of warmth only a person in love can begin to understand.

it's okay that there was a piece of cork in my wine, you poured it for me.

and as i drifted off to sleep i knew i was safe.because you were there.

and did i ever tell you that sometimes i faked sleep just to feel that?

is it time for the second movie yet?

immigration

cartoon text:

"it's time to reclaim america from illegal immigrants"

"i'll help you pack"

tonight i went to a meeting of the washtenaw interfaith council for immigration rights. it was to be a forum with a question and answer portion with agents from ICE. ICE is the immigration and customs enforcement branch of homeland security. last night, they called to cancel and would not set a new date.

the meeting went on anyways though. i learned some interesting facts from the meeting, here's just a few:

-undocumented immigrants gave actually generated more jobs in the U.S.

-undocumented immigrants are prevented from receiving the majority of social services offered by the federal government, even though they pay sales tax, property taxes, and payroll taxes

-the IRS issues id numbers to enable undocumented workers who don't have social security numbers to file and pay taxes. 8 million workers file these forms. revenues generated from this fund amounted to 10% of the ss surplus in 2005

-BEING ILLEGALLY PRESENT IN THE U.S. IS A CIVIL, NOT A CRIMINAL VIOLATION

immigrants, as a group are unfairly targeted by both the federal government and local law enforcement. this is done through a variety of methods like home invasions and racial profiling.

local law officials work with ICE in many of these actions. for example, several cases involve the pulling over of a latino driver for things as minuscule as a crooked license plate. in some cases, there is absolutely no reason. local law officials hold these people until ICE arrives and they are then detained. many times police officers ask drivers if they have a green card. this question should not be asked and the driver has a right not to answer. many immigrants are not aware of their rights and will tell the officer that they do not have a green card. it is then that ICE is called and the immigrants are detained.

in the case of home invasions ICE officials have been known to be very aggressive and even violent. they enter homes often without warrants or with incorrect warrants.

once immigrants are detained the problems grow. their human rights are violated repeatedly. because IMMIGRANTS ARE NOT CRIMINALS they are denied the right to a public defender. they are often relocated to prisons far way without notifying their family of the new location. in a recent case, an immigrant from ypsi ended up in texas. these people are denied basic things while in prison like health care and a change of clothes. one immigrant was detained for a month and was never offered a change of clothes.

the scapegoating of immigrants in this country is yet another example of how the government tries to place the blame for our nation's problems on anyone but themselves. immigration is no doubt going to be coming up more and more as we move closer to november 2nd. these are some important things to consider not only as a political issue, but more importantly, a human rights issue.

democracy?

"Theocracy is a form of government in which a 'god' or 'deity' is recognized as the supreme civil ruler. For believers, theocracy is a form of government in which divine power governs an earthly human state, either in a personal incarnation or, more often, via religious institutional representatives (i.e., a church), replacing or dominating civil government." -wiki

i am, in general, a fan of barack obama. however, his recent efforts to prove to the world that he is not muslim or in any way associated with islam have pissed me off. he has an entire web page dedicated to proving that he is christian, including photos of him with the family bible. as if your choice of holy books might render you incapable of governing.

in addition, i recently found out about something that happened at obama's rally in detroit monday night. there were two muslim women sitting in the crowd behind him and his people kindly 'asked' them to relocate.

also, this morning michelle obama was on the view. while on the show they were talking about breakfast foods and she made the statement twice that they eat bacon for breakfast in the morning. coincidence or another effort to deislamisize the obama family?

it seems that the government always has to create an enemy for us to focus on so that we might forget about the rest of the bullshit that's going on. as if making an enemy out of muslims will make us forget that millions of americans remain unemployed and uninsured.

this is not to attack obama. as stated above, i like him. one of the reasons i like him is because he is extremely intelligent. as a result, he has recognized that winning this election will be impossible if he is in any way associated with islam. this is not to criticize obama, rather it should make us think about the status of our so-called democracy. in a land where christians rule and all others can kindly be seated elsewhere, perhaps theocracy would be a more appropriate description.

i'm going to see obama tonight at jla!