Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" reached its 60th Anniversary this week! This is a powerful, challenging and inspiring document. There is probably not one nation on earth currently honoring it - certainly not my own nation - and yet we hold it as an attainable goal. May it be so.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Preamble

Adopted by the United Nations, December 10, 1948

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in cooperation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Whereas common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realisation of this pledge,

Now, therefore,

The General Assembly

Proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

Articles of the UDHR.

In Thanks-giving

by Rev. Max Coots

Let us give thanks for a bounty of people.

For children who are our second planting, and though they
grow like weeds and the wind too soon blows them away, may
they forgive us our cultivation and fondly remember where
their roots are.

Let us give thanks;

For generous friends…with hearts…and smiles as bright
as their blossoms;

For feisty friends, as tart as apples;

For continuous friends, who, like scallions and cucumbers,
keep reminding us that we’ve had them;

For crotchety friends, sour as rhubarb and as indestructible;

For handsome friends, who are as gorgeous as eggplants and
as elegant as a row of corn, and the others, as plain as
potatoes and so good for you;

For funny friends, who are as silly as Brussels sprouts and
as amusing as Jerusalem artichokes;

And serious friends as unpretentious as cabbages, as subtle
as summer squash, as persistent as parsley, as delightful as
dill, as endless as zucchini and who, like parsnips, can be
counted on to see you through the winter;

For old friends, nodding like sunflowers in the evening-time,
and young friends coming on as fast as radishes;

For loving friends, who wind around us like tendrils and hold
us, despite our blights, wilts and witherings;

And finally, for those friends now gone, like gardens past
that have been harvested, but who fed us in their times that
we might have life thereafter.

For all these we give thanks.

Source: “Garden Meditations” by Rev. Max Coots, minister emeritus of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Canton, New York.

Please VOTE.

“Obama/Biden are running on the strongest platform for women’s rights of any major party in U.S. history”

Eleanor Smeal, President of Feminist Majority


Check out the powerful video, addressing the prevelance of violence against women, at the above link. One in six American women will be victims of sexual assault in their lifetime.

Photos by SATOU-san.

The Big News

Nick and I are engaged! It became "official" Tuesday, May 6 at the Goto Sumio Museum near Furano. http://www.gotosumiomuseum.com
He asked me in front of the painting of the "Golden Pavilion", a famous temple in Kyoto which we visited this past week. This photo was taken outside of the museum, with the Tokachidake mountains in the background.

We hope to throw a homecoming/birthday/engagement party in August!

A Kissiversary in Gratitude

It's our "Kissiversary" or "Annikissary"! Eight years ago TODAY was when Nick and I first kissed. Before we even met, I used to listen to his violin in the classroom next to my theology class, "Reality of God". We met at a LGBT pride event off-campus, where I was pleasantly surprised to learn that he played for my team. Nick charmed me with poetry written on scraps of paper. We had a sweet and brief romance in my last semester of college, before I moved across the continent. I am so glad we maintained a friendship. . . and reconnected in such a way! He is an incredible partner and I am so grateful.

I've been intending to share this with you all. Especially in these trying months since our accident(s), he has demonstrated remarkable patience. . . and domestic skills! I learned that being less-able really limited so many of the things I could do, and Nick was a hero as he stepped in to help. He packed my lunches and made my breakfast nearly every day, with lovenotes:



And on the mornings he left earlier for work than I, Nick carried my backpack to the entryway. He set out my coat, hat, gloves, lunch, and schoolbag so that I didn't need to carry anything. Amazing!



Living abroad has certainly been a challenging and unifying experience for us as a couple. This past weekend we experienced something rather comical. It was an enjoyable evening of karaoke with my fellow musicians from the G8 music project. As a night closer, it so happened that our last song was "Creep" by Radiohead. He sang it well. The lyrics are rather bitter, and perhaps this is a good theme song for January-February. We're feeling better now, but the irony was laughable:

"But I'm a creep,
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doin' here?
I don't belong here"


Three cheers for my hero! Buy that man a beer, next time you see him!

You Should Know About: Chaos in Congo

The following article excerpts are from the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/world/africa/07congo.html?th&emc=th


Eastern Congo is going through another one of its convulsions of violence, and this time it seems that women are being systematically attacked on a scale never before seen here. According to the United Nations, 27,000 sexual assaults were reported in 2006 in South Kivu Province alone, and that may be just a fraction of the total number across the country.

“The sexual violence in Congo is the worst in the world,” said John Holmes, the United Nations under secretary general for humanitarian affairs. “The sheer numbers, the wholesale brutality, the culture of impunity — it’s appalling.”

While rape has always been a weapon of war, researchers say they fear that Congo’s problem has metastasized into a wider social phenomenon.

“It’s gone beyond the conflict,” said Alexandra Bilak, who has studied various armed groups around Bukavu, on the shores of Lake Kivu. She said that the number of women abused and even killed by their husbands seemed to be going up and that brutality toward women had become “almost normal.”

Mistranslations

Warning: the following post may contain offensive words.

Apparently it is cool, in Japan, to wear clothing with English words on it. Or American icons. Doesn`t matter what is says, or even if you understand it. If you google other blogs of gaijins living in Japan, you can find many humorous examples. http://www.engrish.com/category_index.php?category=Clothing Lots of awkward Engrish with cutesy words like `smile love is happiness`. But we`ve also seen some horrifying/shocking/embarrassing examples of this:

• All junior and senior high students wear uniforms. The girls` uniform sweaters have small embroidered emblems on the chest. Many choose a dolphin, or the Statue of Liberty, or the Playboy Bunny. Huh!?! Apparently the bunny does not have the same cultural connotations here?
• One American told me he saw a toddler girl dressed in a t-shirt that read "F#$& This" with an arrow pointing down. . . He of course pulled the parents aside and told them what the shirt read. The were shocked and very grateful to know, and covered up the child immediately.
• You know that icon often found on the mudflaps of Confederate trucks? The one of two curvy naked ladies sitting back-to-back? Well, you can buy tracksuits with that icon all over it. One of my teachers wore that to work yesterday, much to my amazement. I indicated my surprise to my English teacher/friend, explaining that that emblem is considered both sexual and sexist in America, and certainly inappropriate for school. Things are different here. . .
• A student wore a t-shirt for a band, or maybe a fake band in the style of concert tees. The band was called "The Mothaf#$%&ing Group" with a list of songs such as `I Will Drill Your Heifer` and worse.
• Perhaps worst of all, there are t-shirts that mix languages and colloquialisms so that even fluent speakers of English might be tricked. We saw a high school girl wearing a shirt that said "Esta puta will give you the shirt off her back for $19.95"

It seems that some t-shirts are designed by well-meaning Japanese designers with limited Engrish skills. And surely, some foreigners are designing shirts to fool and insult. Ouch.

Two Dudes: Astonishing Sexism in Nebraska

The setting: Poolside, on a hot summer day. A maintenance crew takes a smoke break nearby. The crew consists of four men and one woman.

The action: A young mother struggles with her toddler, who does not want to leave the pool. She quickly looses patience and yells, yanking her child by the arm. Toddler yelps in pain and talks back to mother.

The conversation, after the crew goes inside:
Female maintenance worker: "If a mother is so quickly gonna get in an argument with her two-year-old, she is probably not mature enough to be a mother."
Male coworker #1, 19 years old: "That's why I'm glad my baby-momma is good. If she ever treated my kid like that, I would knock her out."
Male coworker #2, 18 years old, shadow/sidekick to #1: "That's damn right". (punching fist into opposite hand)
Female worker, shocked: "I was talking about maturity, not violence."

What female worker COULD have replied: "Is that demonstrating mature conflict-resolution skills, to beat your child's mother?", or "You'd previously demonstrated your sexism, but we didn't know until now that you also commit domestic violence.", or "You are a sexist idiot and will be a terrible father if that's how you treat your child's mother."

SO, TELL ME, DEAR READERS? WHAT ELSE SHOULD HAVE BEEN SAID? WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IF YOU WERE THERE?



Note about the title of this post: I shouldn't necessarily blame Nebraska for these two dudes, as these sorts of comments probably come out of the mouths of many undereducated, macho, insensitive blue-collar workers, regardless of their state of origin.