Thinking about migration

All the blather over the past few weeks about illegal immigrants, the news that the National Guard will be joining the effort to guard the border, plans for fences, and the really scary Minutemen people taking the law into their own hands got me thinking. Illegal immigration is, of course, a problem--both in human and economic costs. But a couple of thoughts--
--why aren't major business interests being more vocal about hte problem? Could it be they like cheap labor?

Mexican workers going to the fields

--Could the concerted effort to break unions and reduce wages have some connection with the oft-repeated statement that we need immigrants because they do the jobs Americans don't want to do? Americans were perfectly happy doing many of those same jobs in the past. What's changed?



--why is it that the attention appears to be almost exclusively on Mexican and other Central/South American migrants, and our southern border? The border with Canada appears to be virtually porous--but I don't remember hearing anything about posting national guardsmen on the northern borders of Washington State, Idaho, and Montana.



Photo Copyright © Manuel Echavaria These farm workers are picking chili at Santa Maria in 1971.

--so I just wonder--could the fact that these illegal immigrants have dark skins be part of the concern, even if unstated? Is this another aspect of our basic racism, still prevalent if less publically expressed than in the past? Why isn't there the same public bloviating by politicians and pundits about the waves of illegal Asian immigrants? Oh, of course; they disappear into Chinese restaurants and laundries.

After all, as Ronnie Gilbert sang some twenty years ago, "We all came here in separate ships/But we're in the same boat now!" (on the Lifeline album with Holly Near). Most of us are the children of immigrants from someplace, either welcomed or not, legal or illegal. Don't really know about my own family, although a generally specious family history has us coming from Scotland by way of Ireland in the seventeenth century. Ann's family is from Italy--her mother's parents from Sicily, her father from Naples. Her maternal grandparents arrived in much the same way as the folks in the archival photo below:

Italians en route to America at the turn of the century.

I have no solutions. But it seems to me that addressing the economic engines driving all this should be part of the discussion. Why don't Americans want to do the jobs that illegal immigrants take? What about the pay and working conditions stop poor Americans? Shouldn't that be addressed? Shouldn't the businesses that hire illegal immigrants be involved in the solutions?

On Memorial Day

Memorial Day seems more powerful this year than before. Perhaps because of the continuing, and escalating, violence in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Perhaps due to worries about our daughter in the Navy, and her new husband, just retired. And perhaps because the day caused an outpouring of press coverage of veterans, and particularly those coming home from the Mideast. And also because of the course I'm teaching on censorship, which had me checking out radical websites so as to challenge the students, who tend toward the libertarian view that censorship is bad in general, but that one needs to protect children. That led me the protests from the Westboro Baptist Church, the Phelps family enterprise that's picketing funerals of servicepeople since, the Phelps family believes, the war is God's punishment on the US since it's become so liberal and pro gay rights; this photo, from the AP's Haraz N. Ghanbari, shows a passer-by shouting at the demonstrators as they picketed at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day.

The look on John Keck's face says it all

To get a sense of what these 'Christians' do, here are a couple of photos, from their website--which has to be seen to be believed--www.godhatesfags.com--of their appearances at funerals in Indiana and Illinois earlier this month, and one from Illinois in April. I've seen these folks picketing the Gay Pride Parade in Columbus and, as is clear on the website and their various flyers, they're quite sincere.

They're happy to attract attention

and utterly convinced of their righteousness

This should all be no real surprise--religious intolerance obviously has a long history around the world, and "Christians" have been in the forefront of doing hideous things in the name of a diety for the past two thousand years. Still, it remains disquieting to see these wholesome Kansans smiling happily while spewing hate, and cheerfully documenting the anger their protests cause as further proof of the inevitable decline and decay of the United States. So just as religious extremists in Iraq murder tennis players for wearing shorts in public and slaughter members of other Islamic sects, Taliban followers stab women in Afghanistan, Orthodox Serbs kill Moslem Albanians in the Balkans, and Christian militia kill Moslem tribesmen and women in Darfur, we have our own, homegrown Taliban in the United States. It's hardly shocking that these folks should demonstrate at Arlington on Memorial Day--where better to get national coverage, rather than just the local coverage they gain at real funerals? Except it seems not to have worked; a web search turned up only the photo at top, on AP--none of the Westboro church folks, and only a passing mention in a couple of the press stories about ceremonies at the Cemetery of the small group of protesters. More stories about the new law President Bush signed on Memorial Day that limits demonstrations at military funerals, mentioning why the legislation was necessary.

And, of course, President Bush spoke at the ceremonies at the tomb of the unknown soldier. He predictably used the occasion to promise that our forces will stay in Iraq as long as it takes to defeat 'terrorism'; it was reported that the President teared up while speaking of the sacrifices made; "I'm in awe of the men and women who sacrifice for the freedom of the United States of America," he's quoted as saying. Meanwhile, the count of American military deaths is almost 2500, and yesterday, 96 Iraqis died at the hands of insurgents.

The President at Arlington

I won't belabor the deep irony of such brave words from our Commander-in-Chief who himself avoided active military service; it's particularly easy to be in awe of sacrifice when one took care not to be in a position to be asked to sacrifice. It's also easy to speak firmly and bravely about staying the course and being resolute when one has no personal stake in the matter--none of the President's family or friends or political colleagues have connections with the war or military. And what did the President do on Memorial Day weekend? Gave a speech at West Point, telling newly commissioned second lieutenants that they were about to go out and save the world. A question: how many military funerals has the President attended? How many fallen soldiers, sailors, and marines has he personally honored? The answer, of course, is none. Plenty of photo ops with flags, but funerals? Which might remind folks about the continuing death and destruction in our 'let's bring democracy to the world' wake.

But I digress. Memorial Day marks the sacrifices made over the past two centuries and lets us celebrate those true patriots who served when called, even if the cause was not necessarily the right one or even a just one. The war I fought in was unjust, and should never have happened--but that doesn't lessen the sacrifices members of the armed services made in that war, although it does make the evil of the leaders of the day more manifest, and makes the sacrifices far more poignant.

The Government Protects Us Yet Again!

I was going to talk about immigration, when the story about the personal data of 26.5 million--that's 26.5 MILLION -- veterans being stolen from a Veterans Adminstration employee--who took a laptop home with him. Here are some of our good leaders reassuring us that everything's really ok

AP - Mon May 22, 5:13 PM ET Veterans Affairs Secretary James Nicholson, right, and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, answers reporters questions at the Justice Department in Washington, Monday, May 22, 2006 to discuss stolen personal data of U.S. veterans stolen from a VA employee's home. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)

Stuff happens, right? Just another typical day of our adminstration's carefully chosen, competent, leaders running things with their usual efficiency, careful planning, and foresightedness, heading off potential problems. It's good to know that our affairs and records remain in such good hands. Thank goodness there wasn't a real emergency; although that might have allowed the Bush appointees to really strut their stuff.

On Aging, playreadings, productions, and colds

Updates: busy weeks, slowed down by a knockout cold. Briefly: busy with seminars on Theatre and Aging that a colleague and I will be doing as two-week intensives in July. Webpage now available at www.seniortheatre.com/html/osu_theatre___aging_seminars.html through Art Age Publications, Bonnie Vorenberg's site for all things senior. I'm doing theory and history and literature of the field, while colleage Joy Reilly's doing the handson how-to section. We did the first last summer, and worked pretty well--so we'll be finetuning this summer, plus a massive push to try to get enrollment from people working in the field (retirement communities and the like).

Also continuing plans for the Jewish Theatre Festival, "Beyond the Borscht Belt," that has its first event next November. Just after I should be getting back from Senior Theatre Festival in St. Louis, set for October. Also had a whirlwind trip to Chicago for a reading of Caridad Svich's new piece, The Tropic X, at Teatro Vista. As always, a solid piece--two teenagers in a sordid tourist Caribbean town trying to survive the exploitation that surrounds them, and eventually destroys them. Like all her work, the play is written in intensely lyrical and heightened language, with a savagely clear view of how exploitation works. More about Teatro Vista and their work at www.teatrovista.org/current.html Well worth the drive up and back (roughly 6 1/2 hours each way)--got to see some old students and catch up. Stopped in Lafayette, Indiana, on the way back to sleep in a motel. Getting too old for all that driving!

Back in Columbus, a good production of Tony Kushner's A Bright Room Called Day at the university, directed by colleague Mo Ryan with intensity and passion. And excellent performances from a mixture of graduate and undergraduate actors. Fascinating play, well done. So a good reading and a good production, both in the same week! Also juried work at the Denman undergraduate honors competition--several of our undergraduates did first rate work (I judged architecture projects, not ones in theatre), and two of them placed in the top five. And as the term is drawing to a close, we're all inundated with projects, theses, etc., needing examinations. So that's busy as well. And still have to get to see mother as often as possible--couldn't visit for the past week because of the cold, although was finally able to stop by today. Her laundry is on now. Also managed to test bake another loaf for the whole wheat book--a multigrain that works pretty well. Also baked some regular pumpernickel this morning, as a bit of relief from the whole wheat! Haven't tasted it yet, but it smells terrific.

And, of course, there's also politics: watching the immigration follies progress, plus the Republicans busily trying to make issues out of gay marriage, flag burning, and immigration.

(Flag burning???? This is an issue???? Who's been burning flags lately? Yet apparently the Senate, led by Dr. Frist, plans to devote a full week to flag burning shortly. Pay no attention to massive illegal phone taps and the creation of databases containing millions of American phone lines that are being monitored. Along with some reporters who might publish embarrassing things about the Adminstration. But more on that when I can focus on politics, or when I can stand to focus on politics.

These, by the way, are the images of the flag

that Senator Frist--and the rest of Congress--should be focussing on. God knows the Administration isn't. Nor are these images appearing in the major press.

Post Election--and Post Wedding

The election is over, and our favored candidate, Jan Fleming, came in second to John Patrick Carney--he's a former Ohio State student body president (for two years), who managed to get bus passes on the municipal bus system as a benefit for students, so there's a record there. More about him at www.votecarney.com. We'll be working particularly for Mary Jo Kilroy, who's the candidate for the 15th Congressional District, hoping to unseat Deborah Pryce, who's part of the Republican House leadership.

Mary Jo Kilroy; more at http://kilroyforcongress.com/

Mary Jo's a neighbor on the ravine, and a current Franklin County Commissioner. She'll be a fine representative, as we hope to take the House back from the crew of bribe-taking, cynical cronies now in power there.

The political news, of course, just gets worse and worse--more indictments, more confessions, more proof of the illegality of what the President and adminstration are doing. And as an article in this week's Sunday New York Times, "Contra-Contraception," makes clear, the right wing is trying to return us to the 17th century: wanting to ban all contraception, and maintaining that sexual relations are solely for the purpose of procreation (in marriage, of course); that's a position that hasn't been espoused by governments since the days of the Puritans in England. Contraception, it seems, is responsible for all moral decay of modern life--although that flies in the face of all the studies of the effects of contraception. But, as one Congressman is quoted in the Times article is saying, that's just Science, which is just another opinion. (For the complete Times piece, see http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/07/magazine/07contraception.html )

And in Republican primary in Ohio, as predicted, Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell won handily. Blackwell makes Rick Santorum look like a moderate (asnd on a side note, there's Dan Savage's brilliant use of Santorum's name: www.spreadingsantorum.com/ -- as inspired as his more recent 'impeach the mother fucker already campaign, http://www.itmfma.com ) Blackwell campaigned mightilly on a constitutional amendment he's been pushing for a year that would strictly limit government spending, slash taxes and make it virtually impossible to raise them. But now that almost every major group in Ohio has come out against the amendment, citing the irreparable damage it would do to education, social and government services, state funding for municipalities, and the like, suddenly Blackwell's backpedalling as fast as he can.

But on to more pleasant matters, as promised in the heading: brother Gary's younger daugther, Catherine, got married on Saturday at a resort in the Catskills. All guests were required to come in costume, which made for a really fun event. Here's groom Tim as a spaceman, and bride Cat as a dancing girl.

More photos at http://catandtimgetmarried.blogspot.com. None of me--I was taking the photos, after all. And Ann was in Kentucky for the annual UK College of the Arts Distinguished alumnus award--this year to rising young operatic tenor, Gregory Turay. More about that, and images of the award, later. Touray's career is pretty impressive for someone not yet 35--more about him at www.gregoryturay.com -- and listening to the recording of William Bolcom's A View From the Bridge (Turay sings Rudolfo) --as I have while Ann was designing and producing the certificate -- makes it all pretty understandable.

So: politics, weddings, and nothing yet about the theatre and aging work I'm now embarked on. That'll have to wait for another time also!