poppies are out

"what problem is the government trying to solve?"

Guess what happens if your American spouse dies before the residency you have earned through the marriage has been approved?

wowsie

Barbara Ehrenreich writes about Hillary Clinton's religious connections, and isn't that an interesting and slightly scary read.

happy cesar chavez day

Cesar Chavez was a co-founder of the United Farm Workers Union. Today, March 31, was his birthday. It's a state holiday in California.

Union organizing may not be on the forefront of everybody's mind these days, but farm workers still pick berries and vegetables by hand, stooped over in the fields. And, today's mess with undocumented workers and the heated debate over immigration is closely related to the cheap strawberries we enjoy.

By the way, the United Farm Workers coined the slogan Sí Se Puede (Yes We Can), that's been picked up by Barack Obama.

just pointing it out. don't expect me to solve it.

It seems to me Hillary Clinton's supporters look at Barack Obama and say, "It's easier for him. He may be black, but he is still a man." While Barack Obama's supporters look at Hillary Clinton and say, "It's easier for her. She may be a woman, but she is still white."

oh cnn what would we do without you

Snippet of knowledge: All inclusive cost of raising a child from 0 to 18 years: $270 000. College is extra.

someone agrees on the lovefest

This is pretty funny. I missed the Joy Behar eye roll.

lovefest of the lovefests

Barack Obama on The View. Lots of fawning and everybody falling over each other, but I couldn't help thinking (again) that something is happening in American politics. Maybe I am fawning too but the truth is that the guy sounds like a real person.

trends. aren't they boring. aren't we dumb to care.

Taffel.se, an excellent online Swedish food newsletter, mentions edamame this week. I just got the email this morning. As a matter of fact, I got the email as I was watching The Today Show. And, guess what? Right as I was reading that newsletter, I heard that according to the Today Show edemame is out. Not trendy anymore. We're on to something else.

I switched channels to MSNBC where they had a commercial for a skin treatment with shiitake mushroom in it.

You wonder what's in now when edamame is out? Fresh garbanzos. Raw chick peas. I am sure they taste pretty much the same but they will make you oh so hip. You can watch the video clip on the Today Show website.

from the streets of san jose

My local paper takes on the issue of race. It's an interesting piece because it has a simple and true tone to it, but at the same time it's depressing to see how much work there is still to be done.

my favorite author's favorite joke

A lady found a penguin, and a police officer advised her to take it to the zoo. A while later the police officer runs into the lady again. She still has the penguin with her.

"I thought you were taking it to the zoo?", he says.

"I did", the lady said. "And now we are going to the movies."

Interview with Bodil Malmsten, in Swedish, here.

promise

I bought a point and shoot camera. Whenever I am done with this grading I will venture out of the backyard.

maybe this is hillary bashing, but, if so, consider yourself warned

As part of her foreign policy experience, Hillary Clinton claims running for cover in danger of sniper fire at Tuzla airport, Bosnia in 1996. Later, when reports came out it never happened, she admitted to having misspoken and mis-remembered the events.

Last week she also made jokes about how they would send the First Lady abroad whenever it was too dangerous for president Clinton to go.

So, besides, there being no fire and no running for cover in the photo above, what else is wrong with it?

Too dangerous for the president to go? What is the first daughter, Chelsea Clinton, doing there? Safe to send Chelsea, but not Bill? What kind of mom is that?

nicole my favorite hawaiian reminded me

I was kidding about the favorite part. One of many favorites, of course. But she is cool. None the less, I think it's time for a little Obamamania again.

this I can happily report

I got faint whiffs of rotting meat in the house yesterday, and I cursed and imagined dead animals in the walls until I found a stray chunk of uncooked bacon under the fridge.

I like chris matthews, don't get me wrong

I just heard Chris Matthews say that the reason working class whites get so angry with people like Barack Obama's pastor Wright, who made anti-American comments in those widely debated sermons, is that "all they have is their country". Matthews explained that working class whites don't have fancy cars or fancy houses or beautiful wives, or kids going off to college. All they have to be proud of is their country, so when someone criticizes it, they get testy.

Maybe he is right. But it's also true that Americans have learned to be proud of their country to an extent that Swedes, for instance, are not. Someone told me once that it has to do with the idea of the new kid (America) coming back to beat the older kids (Europe).

The anger with America that some blacks feel, and that pastor Wright expressed, stems from the fact that they have even less. Poor blacks don't have the fancy cars or fancy houses either. But in their case those absences can't be balanced by a pride in their country. Because for the most part their country has treated them badly. And they are angry because they didn't deserve that.

you can't move on if you don't understand where you are coming from

So the speech Barack Obama made earlier this week where he spoke candidly about race in America has gotten a lot of attention. On Wednesday night Jon Stewart showed a series of clips from cable talk shows where a seemingly endless stream of white pundits asked the same question: Did white people get their feelings hurt?

This is what it looks like to me: There are white people in America who are happy only when black people, like Barack Obama, act as if they have no color. They are unhappy when it's pointed out to them that whites and blacks in the US come out of two distinctly different experiences. Black (and brown) people are supposed to act as if they have no color, and those white people are content when they themselves can continue to act as if they have no color. 'Color' here refers to social position, as it is handed down from history. That's what status quo looks like: a total disconnect from history.

So to cater to white peoples' feelings, people of color should avoid talking about race or racial tension. If they do, the most important question for some will be whether white people got their feelings hurt.

We live in the shadow of slavery and colonialism. Whose feelings should we be protecting again? And why?

strong stuff

If you cut up two serrano peppers at 3PM your fingers still hurt at 10PM even if you've washed your hands a million times and done the dishes too.

And I probably should have left my contacts in.

look, there is tim

dear daughters of barbara

This is to make it official:

Your mom is right.

(Yep, it's hard to admit.)