Veterans Day, once Armistice Day, on 11-11-11 and I’ve spent the day trying not to think too much about the veterans in my life. My husband is traveling and I miss him. Two of my brothers served in the military. Thinking about their service makes me sad. One, the elder of the two was almost sent to Vietnam in ’63. Thank heavens he ended up spending all his time overseas in Seoul, Korea.
A cousin of mine suffered a head wound in Vietnam and ended up with a plate in his head.
Another brother of mine wasn’t so lucky and was sent to Vietnam in late 1967. He was shot in Hue, which was also where I saw him on the 6 o’clock news walking across the street, without a helmet, a couple days before he was shot, but he wasn’t gone from the fighting all that long. He returned to Vietnam and served a few more months there in some of the worst fighting of the war. On his birthday on August 4th of 1968 he was in Khe Sahn and it was horrific. The battle was a blood bath. A buddy had been hit and he was carrying him to the chopper, a medical evacuation helicopter, and as he was slightly bent over after lifting his fellow Marine into the chopper, which allowed torso exposure under the flak jacket, when something, I’m not sure what the names of the various types of artillery explosives are, exploded behind him and large amounts of shrapnel came up under his flak jacket and cut through his back and abdomen.
The medics on board just grabbed him and pulled him into the chopper as it took off. If he had not essentially been hit in a medical unit transport, he would have died within a minute or two on the battle field. It was six months before I would see him. He was stabilized enough for transport and the majority of his surgeries were then done in Japan. He was then transferred to Great Lakes Naval Base. I was 11 and 12 when all this was going down. It changed my life forever, but not as much as my brother’s. He recovered as much as anyone can. He is lacking in trust and is a bit paranoid. His hips and gut have some problems.
I’m so freaking glad my family survived their military experiences, but like those folks from most military families, the pride we have in our loved ones is tempered by the horrors we know they have faced and the sorrow in our hearts.
16 Days to Learn About and Act Against Gender Violence
16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence is approaching its 21st anniversary with a campaign theme, “From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let’s Challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women!” The Rutgers site explains that, “Participants chose the dates November 25– International Day Against Violence Against Women- and December 10– International Human Rights Day- in order to symbolically link violence against women and human rights and to emphasize that such violence is a violation of human rights.”
I first learned of this focused time of activism and awareness when I was active in Second Life®, a virtual world platform where avatars create and explore a virtual world. I joined a group there that was actively participating the 16 days events that year, so I learned a great deal about it. There continue to be online events this year as well as ones in the physical world and they are listed here on the Center for Women’s Global Leadership directory of events for 16 Days.. So if you cannot find an event near you, there are online events in which you can participate and information which you can access. I highly recommend informing yourself about the state of gender violence in the world as it is not a subject you will find covered in any depth or breadth in the popular media.
I created an exhibit about women and the violence of war a few years ago on my virtual “island”, The Women’s Center, for 16 days, and I will pull it out of digital storage if I can find the time to set it up in a different virtual world in which I have only just starting creating a village to use as an exhibit and meeting place. If I get this exhibit put up up it will be advertised on a main page sidebar of my site: nfhill.com and I will have instructions on how to access the virtual world platform there.
I will be writing more about gender violence in these coming weeks.
Here's Hoping The Lean Toward Political Sanity Lasts
I’m still somewhat awash in happiness over local and far-off year election results of yesterday. While I would have loved to see Mary DeCamp as mayor of Tucson, a Green Party Mayor isn’t in the stars for us just yet. I am very, very happy that the lobbyist for Rosemont Copper, also known as the Republican candidate for Mayor in yesterday’s election, aka Rick Grinnell, was soundly defeated. The airwaves were blanketed with anti-Democratic candidate ads for the days leading up to the election and pro-Rosemont mine ads have been everywhere for the last month. Lots of corporate money went into anti-Rothschild and anti-Democratic, and pro-corporate mining ads before the election.
Arizona knows mines. Abandoned mining towns such as Ruby are evidence of the temporary nature of mines. The toxic warning signs posted around what is left of Ruby are evidence of the long-term impact of the use of toxic substances in the mining process. The Santa Rita Mtns are some of the most beautiful, and avian species rich, land in the U.S.A. Just take a look at Madera Canyon in the Santa Ritas. Birding, nature, hiking, picnicking, vacation cabins and the like are apt to last much longer than a mine while bringing in tourists and providing respite for locals. Of course the owners of Rosemont Copper Company, a subsidiary of Augusta Resource Corporation are sort of like tourists too, just ask the Canadians at its headquarters in Vancouver, BC, but ones with heavy equipment and massive need for limited water supplies.
So I’m still pleased as punch, to the point of being somewhat punchy, over the City of Tucson not being home to a Lobbyist Mayor. I believe small local business will benefit from our more traditional soon to be mayor Jonathan Rothschild even though one large foreign corporation may not want to hear that.
The second happy thought generating event that is still buoying my disposition today is the resounding defeat of Russell Pearce in the recall election in Mesa, AZ.
The fact that the loss of the mayoral race by my friend Mary DeCamp, Green Party Candidate, to a middle of the road Democrat and the election of a moderate Republican, Jerry Lewis, over Pearce, actually makes me happy shows just how extreme the concerns of Progressives like myself have become in the last few years in this state.
The sensible defeat of the attempt to grant personhood status to blastocytes in Mississippi and the reaffirmation by the people of people to be able to gather together and discuss labor issues and act collectively in Ohio are also quite heartening, and overall I am very, very pleased that some sensible movement away from extremist positions seems to have begun across the country including in my own state.
I do dearly hope that the right of individuals to have control over their own lives is being reasserted in opposition to Religious Group and Corporate Group attempts to usurp the sovereignty of the individual over his or her own body and behavior.
When Rainbows Greet You
Man oh man it was difficult to get through this weekend’s posting schedule. Posting every day is no easy task. If I can get through this month of Nablopomo, which is short speak for National Blog Posting Month, then posting 5 days a week which is my ultimate goal and one of the reasons NaBloPoMo is such a good idea for me to do, will be no big deal. It is just getting into the groove of it that is difficult. Writing in and of itself has rarely been difficult for me, and for that I am very, very thankful. But writing on a schedule has been less than easy at times these past 22 years when I have been raising my daughter. When she needs something I really try to drop everything and be there for her. But just as with writing every day, the task has been met with various levels of success through the years.
“Various levels of success,” I like that phrase. Life is always complex and at times goals compete amongst themselves. Who am I kidding? Goals always compete amongst themselves. Five years ago I was in the middle of a year where I was trying to mother turbulent teen without a map, coming to grips with a marriage that could very well have failed, as well as coming to terms with my own childhood traumas and medical abuse and the depression that has traveled with me throughout my life since those experiences while also helping start a house across the country in Washington, D.C. for women peace activists who wanted to have a place to live and from which to jointly plan and execute congressional visits, actions, and demonstrations, and then having to decide to move across the country away from my husband and daughter to take care of my 92 year old mother in her home for the last few months of her life.
Today I woke up at an ungodly hour and went to the gym to work out with a trainer so that I can regain my health and vigor to the greatest extent possible. I had to be back at my house by 7:15 a.m. so my daughter could take my car to the university. Her car just isn’t safe to drive any longer and isn’t worth the repair cost. But because I was at the gym so early, when I walked to my car after the workout, there were only sprinkles of raindrops coming from the overcast sky. I had missed the deluge that was supposed to be coming early this morning. Tucson’s winter rains are starting early this year. I noted the layers upon layers of gray cloud cover obscuring a view of all but the foothills of the various mountain ranges that surround the Tucson Basin. The sun was just a glowing yellow spot just over the Rincons to the east. Then when I looked west there was a magnificent half arc of a rainbow reaching down to the ground in front of the Tucson Mountains. It pierced a beautiful puffy white cloud half way down its arc, then reappeared and expanded into brilliant, distinct streams of color. I had to smile.
This blog entry wrote itself on the 5 minutes drive home. I bemoaned not having a camera with me, and my phone with its camera was in the trunk even but smiles broke the hold of my inner grump because the week was starting out well after a weekend when the words just didn’t want to come until very late in the day, when I struggled to find them so that I could succeed in my NaBloPoMo goal. I would have a post about how wonderful it is when rainbows greet you in the morning as well as the post I had all ready planned to write for the day done before noon, and I would probably have time to work on my book this morning too. I like success, even little bits of it, as it, along with rainbows and the glow of oxygen in my brain after a work out, help me frame everything in a more positive light.
A Brief Post on Images
Finding the right image for your blog post, brochure, or graphic project need not be expensive. Now admittedly, if you have lots of funds to support your graphic design needs then searches on stock photo sites need not be a complicated task. The more restricted your budget is the more challenging it can be to find images to use.
I always start my search for images at sxc.hu, a site called stock.xchng. Until recently it was an independent site, but it has recently become part the vast Getty Image empire. The site is still comprised of user submitted material to which the copyright holder has control over usage rights for each image.
The most important feature of the site, beyond the huge number of images available, is the powerful search function that allows for up to three keyword searches, a subject category, restrictions on use, image size, photographer, and type of image. The search I always start off with is a keyword with no use restrictions. With just a bit of honing of search terms, I can nearly always find an image the will enhance my post or fill my graphic need.
I heartily encourage use of Stock Xchng.
Even though many photographers do not ask for credit, it is always good to give a link back to the photographers work and let them know where you have used their work so that, if desired, they can show that their work is being used. Helping the photographer build a client list, so to speak, is a great way to thank the photographer or graphic artist for providing work that fits your needs.
Some of my favorite images from the site those used in this post.
Recycle and Reuse Options for Tech Junk
I was trying to decide what to write for Day 5 of Nablopomo and was surfing around researching topics I have on my list to blog about when I remembered Gazelle.com was on my list. I like the concept of other people being able to use something that is still perfectly good but for which I no longer have a use. I have a couple Blackberry cell phones that are perfectly good. They are not touch screen models but they connect to data services and are reliable, good phones and are just losing value are in a bag in storage in a drawer. I decided to check out what Gazelle would offer for them. After going through the easy to follow directions on the site I found out I could get $5.00 a piece for them as long as the site finds the condition to be the same as my assessment of them. It is not much money, but it is more than zero, and if I find some more tech items they will take, it might be worth my time to sell several items to them. I can also choose to donate any money they offer for my phones to a charity. Gazelle.com also will recycle items that cannot be sold however they do not knowingly accept items that cannot be resold.
I checked out some other ways I might be able to responsibly get rid of some tech junk so as to make an informed decision about how to get rid of stuff I simply cannot store any longer. I searched for options in my community, Tucson, AZ, but there are similar options in almost every community in the country. You might have to expand your geographic definition of community a bit to find these services in some more sparsely populated parts of the country, but the services exist. Sometimes offered by merchants and sometimes offered as a local or government service.
I found two retailers that offer tech recycling for items such as cell phones, batteries, mp3 players, and other small tech junk that has recyclable metals: Office Depot and Batteries Plus. Another search turned up Arizona and private company collaboration for various cities on different dates throughout the state a as well as state-wide drives on single days. These events and drives are supported by Westech Recyclers and other tech and recycling firms for the collection and disposal of computer, medical, manufacturing, and electronic equipment.
Each of these options for recycling and reuse has advantages and downsides. If your motivation is sustainability then opting for reuse followed by environmentally responsible recycling is the ideal tech recycling scenario, but you may not have control over the whole process.
If your motivation takes the impact on your pocketbook into account, then the fees that Office Depot charges you, according to the size of the box into which your recyclables fit, may help you make up your mind about using this option. Batteries Plus does not charge for the collection of the items they take for recycling and states, “Our recycling goal is to produce a positive impact on our environment by recovering and recycling more than we sell.” Not all tech waste is taken by any single recycler so checking for the particular tech waste restrictions of any collection point is worthwhile. States tend to facilitate the broadest collection but may do so through multiple events.
There are also many options beyond internet sales on sites such as Gazelle.com for tech if you have the motivation and means to place classified ads, check out consignment options, and pawn brokers. Selling your items can allow for the greater use of items before recycling and get you a few dollars in your pocket to boot.
The primary reason for recycling your tech trash is that out of date technology tools contain metals and materials that can be recycled and toxins that should not be burned off or buried to contaminate air, land, or ground water in the recycling process. Recycling that takes place inside the United States is closely regulated, though there are efforts to dismantle these safe guards. The steps to lessen the contamination of the environment or damage the health of the people actually processing the recovery of component parts of tech trash are mandated by federal regulation There are companies here that to export tech trash to other countries with few environmental restrictions on the handling of toxic materials or regulations concerning worker health and safety standards. Improper disposal is less expensive. It is always good to ask about the ultimate disposition of an item at a recycling center as the export of tech trash out of the United States is a common, well established process. Often State organized tech recycling programs will try to find a use for items within a state agency or program but if no use can be found, then bulk buyers that fit state criteria will be found and those may or may not be concerned with environmental impact and may not adhere to the standards the state or federal governments require for their materials.
As always nothing is as simple as it seems on the surface, but it is good to know that there are more and more tech trash recycling options for us to choose for the tech trash we create in our daily lives.