GoSH it's LONELY out herE!

Hey!
Yeah you, furtively reading my blog, on your way to bigger, funner blogs... post something... ANYTHING... so I don't feel like I'm talking to myself... (hmmm...actually, I guess it's biz as usual...)

euphoria

Why YOU Must VOTE for ME

As the hours race toward their date with destiny on November 2nd, I wanted to register my own appeal to the shout that has been rising from all quarters, the one urging all who are of age to REGISTER!! and VOTE!!. It's doubly important that I lobby as many as I can to exercise this civic duty- I am a legal United States resident, but until I become a citizen I cannot vote. And I won't be eligible to even apply for citizenship for at least another two years. Consequently, I see and take in all that is happening around me with an ever-rising sense of anxiety, but am unable to do anything about it. However, like the New York Times this Sunday, I must throw my hat (useless through it may be) into the ring for John Kerry (The New York Times endorsed Kerry in an editorial in the "Week in Review" section). George Bush may be a fun guy, a lively addition to parties and such, but he is in no way equipped for the role that the Fates have handed him. I have been injesting a steady diet of words from all sources, learning of the millions that he has spent on abstinence training as a superior alternative to birth control. I have read of his efforts to try to reinstate the ban on abortion. I have read of his installation of rabidly fundamentalist individuals to important government posts, and the resulting effect that these appointments have had on the freedoms women and minorities have taken for granted.
But nowhere, at no time, have I been more shocked, dismayed and downright frightened, as I was last night, as I read Ron Suskind's supremely illuminatory piece in the Sunday New York Times Magazine, "Faith, Certainty and the Presidency of George Bush". Mr. Suskind appears to have rendered a portrait of a man who, entirely unsuited to the rigors and analytic exercise required by a post as huge as the Presidency of the United States, resorts to a kind of obstinate sense of rightness, in self-defense. In that rightness, he has found his center, and the confidence that should have come with greater experience in managing large organizations, or more familiarity with the mechanics of the American political system. George Bush's confidence now comes, it seems, from the rightness of his cause- a "crusade", as he has often termed it, that is just and divinely ordained.
In this article, I felt I finally understood why this past year, these past years under Bush, felt so wrong. The separation of Church and State was created for a reason. They can coexist but not live under the same roof, for they are founded on principles that are worlds apart. To break it down, the State caters to the head, the Church, to the heart. How many times have you acted impulsively, gone with your heart, despite the desperate urgings of your head? How dearly did you pay to recover? A Republican and former Bush advisor, Bruce Bartlett, explains the phenomenon: "This is why he dispenses with people who confront him with facts. He truly believes he's on a mission from God."
I am a child of the Third World who has survived an army mutiny and an attempted coup by Islamic fundmentalists. The rhetoric is beginning to sound disturbingly familiar. But I am helpless to do a damn thing.
You must therefore vote. Make sure that you are registered. Seek out the truth with a singleminded fervor. Don't let a jaunty manner or slick speech fool you. Measure what these men are about.
For myself, I watched the debates. I have read and read. And I will be pulling that psychic lever for John Kerry come that early November Day. I am relying on you, gentle reader, to actually carry the work out on my behalf.

euphoria

JUST RECEIVED this...

A Personal Message from George Soros
Why We Must Not Re-elect President Bush
Prepared text of speech delivered at the National Press Club, Washington,
DC, September 28, 2004

This is the most important election of my lifetime. I have never been
heavily involved in partisan politics but these are not normal times.
President Bush is endangering our safety, hurting our vital interests and
undermining American values. That is why I am sending you this message. I
have been demonized by the Bush campaign but I hope you will give me a
hearing.
President Bush ran on the platform of a "humble" foreign policy in 2000. If
we re-elect him now, we endorse the Bush doctrine of preemptive action and
the invasion of Iraq, and we will have to live with the consequences. As I
shall try to show, we are facing a vicious circle of escalating violence
with no end in sight. But if we repudiate the Bush policies at the polls, we
shall have a better chance to regain the respect and support of the world
and to break the vicious circle.

When George W. Bush was elected president, and particularly after September
11, I saw that the values and principles of open society needed to be
defended at home. September 11 led to a suspension of the critical process
so essential to a democracy - a full and fair discussion of the issues.
President Bush silenced all criticism by calling it unpatriotic. When he
said that "either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists," I heard
alarm bells ringing. I am afraid that he is leading us in a very dangerous
direction. We are losing the values that have made America great.
The destruction of the twin towers of the World Trade Center was such a
horrendous event that it required a strong response. But the President
committed a fundamental error in thinking: the fact that the terrorists are
manifestly evil does not make whatever counter-actions we take automatically
good. What we do to combat terrorism may also be wrong. Recognizing that we
may be wrong is the foundation of an open society. President Bush admits no
doubt and does not base his decisions on a careful weighing of reality. For
18 months after 9/11 he managed to suppress all dissent. That is how he
could lead the nation so far in the wrong direction.
President Bush inadvertently played right into the hands of bin Laden. The
invasion of Afghanistan was justified: that was where bin Laden lived and al
Qaeda had its training camps. The invasion of Iraq was not similarly
justified. It was President Bush's unintended gift to bin Laden.
War and occupation create innocent victims. We count the body bags of
American soldiers; there have been more than 1000 in Iraq. The rest of the
world also looks at the Iraqis who get killed daily. There have been 20
times more.
I realize that what I am saying is bound to be unpopular. We are in the grip
of a collective misconception induced by the trauma of 9/11, and fostered by
the Bush administration. No politician could say it and hope to get elected.

How could President Bush convince people that he is good for our security,
better than John Kerry? By building on the fears generated by the collapse
of the twin towers and fostering a sense of danger. At a time of peril,
people rally around the flag and President Bush has exploited this. His
campaign is based on the assumption that people do not really care about the
truth and they will believe practically anything if it is repeated often
enough, particularly by a President at a time of war. There must be
something wrong with us if we fall for it. For instance, some 40% of the
people still believe that Saddam Hussein was connected with 9/11 - although
it is now definitely established by the 9/11 Commission, set up by the
President and chaired by a Republican, that there was no connection. I want
to shout from the roof tops: "Wake up America. Don't you realize that we are
being misled?"

NOTE: I edited this for brevity but invite you to read the speech in its entirety at www.georgesoros.com. It's an entirely good use of your time and one that will open your eyes.

Why OPRAH will be God in 20 Years

On the occasion of Oprah's recent gift of a car EACH to members of her studio audience, I have to voice what I've been saying ad-nauseum to friends... Oprah is developing god-like qualities that will come to fruition in about 20 years, max. And to the sound of all you nay-sayers throwing up your hands and shouting "No Way!!" in unison, I SAY:

Think about it: Oprah enriches, educates, instructs. She dishes out both praise and anger with equal doses of intelligence and reason. She cries over man's inhumanity to man and applauds every evidence of our sibling largesse. Wouldn't you call that godly? On the real tip, I get the sense of this flawed human who's trying to deal with life in the noblest of ways, to reach within and be the best she can possibly be, in homage to her great good fortune. This is certainly what I aspire to, and I always think that the minute I start rollin' in it, then I'ma be benevolentgirl. Should I not start now, though? And honor everything I take for granted: health, home, means? But that's too haaaard, when you're struggling to make ends meet, right? Or is it? I'm just asking a few questions, like Jadakiss...

But when all is said, I'd rather follow Oprah's example than, say, curious George in the big White House, who's just dying for deification. But will NEVER get there.

On the SHORT short

ME time: My apartment is somehow trapping cold air...it's always 10 degrees colder in here than in the outside world, so I tend to look like a bag lady when I venture outside. The look today is black halter tee (c'mon, gotta keep it sexy!!!) black hoodie, black jersey wrap skirt, grey athletic pants with a white stripe, black socks, toasty tiger print bedroom slippers and o'er all, a HUGE grey shawl. Hey... not bad by half!

1. I'd like to BIG UP my loyal readers (all three of them!) especially Commanderson and Melissa, who took the time to post some really nice comments... thanks, guys. Melissa pointed out that there's now a fierce new mag out for the sistahs, Suede (on newstands now with La Keys on the cover). It's definitely a fantastic mag, one where we black girls totally represent, but I still think that it would be nice for Granma I mean Grande Dame Wintour to show us some love.

2. Geoffrey Beene and Richard Avedon are dead. As a kid in the Caribbean in the '70s/'80s, I would obsessively note their credits on each fashion spread. When your icons begin dying, you really have to step up and acknowledge the passage of time. These were true giants in their fields- there's even a writer, Amy Fine Collins, who has only worn Beene, in tribute to GB's genius. And to keep it real, that ka ching you hear is the sound of her collection increasing in value.
Bon Voyage, Gentle Men.

3. Yo, weren't you like WAITING for something like the whole Vioxx mess to happen? I mean, take a serious listen to any pharmaceutical ad- the side effects they list are ridiculous- blood clots, stroke, diarrhea, etcetera. Maybe it's time we all acknowledged that homeopathic medicine is a more viable option in a bunch of cases. Where I come from, foul-tasting but effective herbal remedies are a given. I have fond nostalgia for my grandmother chasing me around the garden with a cup of shining bush tea....

SUDAN in Spotlight at The NEW School

On Sep 30, I attended a debate on the crisis in Sudan at the New School here in New York, which coincided with the first prez/prez wannabe debate. The evening's host was Ann Curry, of NBC's Today show. If you attended, you'd have seen a startlingly novel side to the incredibly beauteous Ann (yes, I'm crushing) than she generally shows on the Today Show. On the podium that Thursday night she was sharp, sarcastic ("I'm sure we all want to hurry home and watch two similarly-dressed men say nasty things to each other...") and incredibly knowledgeable and/or feisty. I think it would be great if she found a forum that really gives her the opportunity to let loose: Sunday morning political show, perhaps?
Anyway- I want to let you all in to a few of the conclusions that were drawn. A New York Times writer on the panel intimated that one of the reasons for the lack of response from the international community was due to international disfavor of the Bush regime, and its actions with regard to Iraq. The statement that got the applause was "Darfur is a victim of Iraq". That was a sorta mind-blower...imagine people hating us and our prez so much they won't do anything that resembles working with us. A guy who said he worked as a prosecutor trying war crimes in the Hague stepped up to the mic and said that given his experience and intimacy with the relevant laws, the situation can most ably be classified as genocide. This same gentleman had also been to the Sudan and had interviewed 50 people, who confirmed that slaughter was often preceeded or followed by air strikes by the Sudanese air force, thereby proving the collusion of the Sudanese government. Another reason for inaction may reside in the fact that China, a member of the UN Security Council, is the largest single investor in Sudanese oil. The implication is that they wouldn't vote for any sanctions because they would not want to offend the Sudanese government and jeopardize all that cheddar.

Then a young, white woman raised the issue of race. It seemed to her that there was a much faster universal response to the genocide in Bosnia than to Rwanda and now Sudan. She wanted to know if race played a part. And here, in a theatrical aside, I have to say that I looked at this 'lil chick and thought to myself, "this is the generation", this is the generation that isn't looking at race, but is thinking deeply about humanity.
We continue: The NY Times writer at that point interjected that one editor at a leading news magazine confided to him that sales went down across the board when a black face appeared on the cover.

Here I stopped myself and I looked around at the crowd. Where are the black celebrities, the Puffies, the Simmonses, the rappers, the ballers, the actors, all so rapidly to the scene when something hollow is underway? The BET Comedy Awards, surely the awards show for the crack-addicted and the silliest presentation I have ever witnessed, was crammed to the gills with the black- blinged masses, slavering and crying croco tears for another meaningless statue.They should have been there, that Thursday night, supporting.
Listen, we are to blame if we don't take responsibility for our own, when it's a proven fact (see above) that middle America doesn't even want to see us in print.

I went away thinking that I HAVE to do something, even if it's just to post this and hope someone reads it and cries or is moved to call their congressman or calls a radio station to rant. Hope is all any of us has, given the trials of this often cruel world. And living in the absence of hope, as my brethren in Darfur, is insupportable and must not continue.

Please visit www.doctorswithoutborders.org.

Editor's RANT- DEMISE of Fashion ICONS etCETERA

So this is 'gon be mad quick because I'm self-employed and I definitely need to invest the hours getting that cheddar. I had an incredible weekend tasting the joys of living in New York City- access to great speakers, musicians, writers, thinkers... I want to tell you about each experience in depth, but here's the lowdown: a panel discussion Thursday on the Sudanese situation, a mini-Joss Stone concert Friday and an experience on Saturday that showed me things from my mum's point of view. AND, of course, the deaths of Avedon and Beene.

I'll be posting late night tonight or tomorrow latest.

I hope you'll stay tuned....

euphoria