Wow, what a week! Que dura fue esa semana pasada. Im a bit fucking pissed about somethings. The US attorney general firings are one thing. The continued war in Iraq is another and how my relationship with Kate is sitting like this big ugly zit on the face of my life in New Jersey is the ultimate and I can't figure how to pop it.

I saw her getting on a train in Allendale the other day, getting on the same train I was, as I headed to Philly to see some friends. I pulled my hoodie high up over my head and sunk down into my chair, shaking, cause I didn't want to see her and because she has made it clear that doesn't want to see me and made it clear that seeing me disrupts her days. Fine, understandable. So, I tried not to disrupt her day as she went merrily about destroying mine. Whatever, Philly was great and I had an awesome time with my friends.

Then, I read her blog and I see these veiled comments against my lifestyle, which Im sure I am creating or reading into more than anything else. I saw her the other day at Ramapo as well, walking with Will and a prof I think. I just put that out of my mind. I don't know what to do about it because now I want some type of resolution and discussion and I don't if reaching out to her would be good. But Im going to do it right now cause I don't like letting pimples lie untouched.

POP!

Ok, so some folk are on their way over to have a few drinks and relax: Mike, Zoe, and Emily. Should be good times. I need to drink and let it all hang out a little bit.

Tomorrow is a bike day!

Para Espanol vea abajo

It is nice and late but I wanted to put a few things up here before I hit the sack and drift off to wonderland.

So, Starbucks spends between 15k and 30k on health projects in East Timor. Then they spend 45k to cut a deal with United Airways to promote a video that cost them 100k to make. A video which promotes these recent social investments in East Timor. During this process a young Starbucks employee discloses to the owner of an independent coffee company that they, Starbucks, were overcharged by the production company that made the video. Topping it off the Starbucks representative that attended the United Students for Fair Trade annual convergence was heard saying that, "Starbucks doesn't really like to brag about what it does."

Please, fucking shoot me you greedy corporate bastards. You spend 5 times as much on the promotion (145k) of, than you spend on the project (15k to 30k), to improve the lives of coffee farmers. Then, you complain about being overcharged by a production company and proceed to state, "That you, as a corporate entity, don't like to brag?" Are you insane? This example of a company spending so much time promoting themselves and their greatness that the actions that make them great, such as bettering the lives of coffee producers, have become secondary to the promoting of an image that, in retrospect, is a well crafted lie.

Got some travel coming up in my life. DC this weekend for NCOR with S. Though the possibility of hanging out with C again before she darts off to Prague dances around the peripheral of my brain, clouding my vision and making me think of only one thing. Wonderfully enough, before the 18th I'm pretty excited that P is coming to visit. Then off to Philly sometime after the 18th and before the 23rd to see D and J and then up to Boston to see A. Quite the adventure filled month, no?

Para Espanol vea abajo

Some great things today:

A photo petition targeting Starbucks to ensure that they commit to their newly announced deal with Ethiopia. Get on the boat and submit a photo!

Scooter Libby gets nailed! Lets see who's next. Rove? Cheney? Bush?

The 4th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, the Shock and Awe campaign, and the Teaneck 5 action is coming up. Check out these great North Jersey, New York City, and Washington DC events and make your voice heard.

Today is the 50th anniversary of Ghana declaring its independence from Britain! Woooo!

And, on a personal note drinking some fresh brewed organic fair trade coffee bought from a great local cafe only 20 minutes away from my house. Sigh. Waiting for the oilman to arrive at my house with some heating fuel, wearing the blue USFT hoodie and doing some translation work, writing a letter to the editor about young workers in Bergen County and contemplating what to do for the next few months. Yay! Freedom!

Unas buenas cositas de hoy:

Hay una peticion de fotos contra Starbucks para que ellos queden comprometidos a su nuevo trato con Ethiopia y los pequenos productores de cafe que viven alli. Someta una foto ya!

Scooter Libby fue condenado hoy por quatro de cinco delitos. Quien sigue? Rove? Cheney? Bush?

El quarto aniversario de la invasion del Irak, la campana de choque y temor, y el grupo que se llamaba Los Cinco del Teaneck se esta acercando. Vayanse a unos de estos eventos contra la guerra: Nueva Jersey, Nueva York, y Washington DC. Seran buenos.

Tambien hoy es el quincuagesimo aniversario del dia en lo que Ghana consigio su independencia del Inglaterra. Que bueno!

Y personalmente estoy tomando un cafecito organico certificado comercio justo y lo cual fue comprado de un cafe local solamente que se queda 20 miles de mi casa. Mierda. Me gustaria estar en Nicaragua. No es decir que no me guste estar aqui. Me encanta estar aca con la gente que adoro cerca a mi familia la que extranaba muchisisisisimo. Tengo un email a traducir para mi amigo Chris y estoy contemplando mis proximos planes y que me gustaria hacer, donde me gustaria vivir y por cuanto tiempo. Quien sabe? Tienes ideas?

Re-initiated in the IWW today. Felt great. Attended the meeting.

Seeing everyone's faces again and sensing the buzz of organizing around me I knew that this is a me, a persona, that I know well and that I like to be. More like a me that I have been for a long time in the past and sometimes it seems as if I had never left and just woke up one day being able to speak Spanish and talk about Latino/Nicaraguan culture with confidence.

But, tu sabes, that its so much more than that. The exit, the adventure, the return. Thats six words. Thats a lifetime I'll write more about soon.

"Questions of morality are questions about happiness and suffering. This is why you and I do not have moral obligations towards rocks."

Thank you Sam Harris. Author of The End of Faith and Letters to a Christian Nation. As I read the latter and see that it is a lucid, well reasoned and powerful argument against the right wing Christian fervor that has the national political debate in a headlock. I fucking love it. There are more great quotes that I will put up from Letters over the next few days as I read. It is especially great when he takes Mother Teresa to task about her commitment to abortion. Sweet!