"Daughters of Afghanistan"

Since getting her new library card, my wife looks to be on track to devour a library book or three a week. She's also been working her way through the library's DVD collection.

The other day she brought home, "Daughters of Afghanistan", a documentary about the state of women's rights in post-Taliban Afghanistan.

I'd like to be able to say that "Daughters of Afghanistan" gives an upbeat account of great progress being made for women's rights in Afghanistan. Sadly, the picture the documentary paints is grim. In Kabul, a few schools struggle to teach women to read in the face of official and unofficial harassment. And the rest of the world is letting it happen without objection.

A few impressions:

* The documentary tells the stories of five Afghani women from different walks of life. The journalist behind the film, Sally Armstrong, is dogged in her investigation, going to great lengths to track down a few of the women who were thought to have disappeared. When she ventures outside the relatively safe Kabul area, we get a chance to see what life is like in the rest of the country.

* Two of the women she profiles are Sima Simar, the most recognized advocate for women's rights in Afghanistan, and Hamida, the principal of a school for women. The courage and tenacity of these two women is unbelievable.

* The film shows several Afghani men who spend their time harassing women and publishing anti-women's rights publications. In a way, I felt sorry for these men. Wasting so much time and energy oppressing women because they fear change, when Afghanistan has so many real needs with which they could be helping.

If they only knew that there is nothing to fear, nothing important for them to lose, by treating women as equals. Makes me happy to live in a society where my wife is my partner, not my chattel. Where she was allowed to learn to read and gets to visit the library any time she wants to. Before watching "Daughters of Afghanistan" I took such simple rights for granted.

African Poor Organizing Mutual Aid Societies

A few weeks ago, I posted about the vanished (for now) age of mutual aid societies in America. In Africa, the idea of mutual aid health care is being reinvented by people too poor to participate in conventional heatlh insurance:

Marc Lacey, New York Times, "Neglected Poor in Africa Make Their Own Safety Nets"
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"Some of these mutual health organizations, as they are known, include fewer than 100 beneficiaries. The tiny group negotiates with a local clinic and forges a better price for care. Others have linked dozens of community groups to produce sophisticated plans that cover 10,000 or more people and offer an array of services."

These dirt-poor folks are using what they have to take charge of their own fates. Good for them.

Stephanie and the Democratic Identity Crisis

My friend Stephanie, a long-time loyal Democrat, is so frustrated she's taking a break from it all.

For a long time now, her prolific and passionate blog has been my source for learning about feminist issues and keeping in touch with the liberal perspective. And host to a lot of fun conversations. But, lately, she's feeling that the Democratic Party, falling all over itself to move to a pretty conservative-looking "center", has abandoned women's issues.

Stephanie posted a comment here, linking to this essay that sums up how she feels:

Mother Jones Mojo Blog: "The truth about the yellow dog"

"I left the Democratic Party for a long list of reasons, but the main one was the fact that I felt dismissed as a woman. And nothing has changed."

I'm not convinced yet that all this is more than a passing identity crisis for the Democrats, but they should think twice before alienating women like Stephanie.

(Hmm, Stephanie, did I just help you do some backdoor blogging by posting something you would have posted on your blog? :-) That's OK, you're going through blogging withdrawal. Take care of yourself.)

My Dream Democratic Party, Too

In this Washington Times editorial, Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute suggests that the Democratic Party, instead of trying to position itself as more socially conservative, continue to fight for civil rights and social liberalism while returning to a tradition of championing financial responsibility:

"Where's the opposition?"

Another reform-minded Democrat was Paul Douglas, a senator from Illinois between 1949 and 1967. He was a self-proclaimed liberal and champion of civil rights but also a critic of government waste who often said: "A liberal need not be a wastrel." His 1952 book on cutting the budget argued "waste in the government benefits no one. It is a frittering-away of resources which could be used to improve the lives of people."

I believe the Democratic Party would be wildly popular among the American people if it would move in this direction. Hell, I'd vote Democrat if the Democrats came to the realization that shrinking government is right in line with other liberal values. The Libertarian Party could appeal to the same constituency if we can turn our leadership in the direction of doing realistic politics.

IMF Accused Of Triggering Niger Famine

A while back, in my review of the San Francisco Mime Troupe's "Doing Good", I confessed I could stand to learn a lot more about the World Bank and IMF. I haven't had much free time lately to follow up, but I did catch an article in TIME Magazine repeating an accusation that misguided IMF policies triggered the current famine in Niger.

It looks like the accusation was first published in an August 1st article in The Independent. The online version of The Independent requires a subscription, but the article has been repeated on several websites:

"IMF and EU are blamed for starvation in Niger"

"Ms. Sekkenes [the head of a medical aid group] said the International Monetary Fund and the European Union had pressed Niger too hard to implement a structural adjustment programme. "'No sooner had the government been re-elected [this year] than it was obliged to introduce 19 per cent VAT on basic foodstuffs. At the same time, as part of the policy, emergency grain reserves were abolished.'"

A spokesman defended the IMF in a letter to The Independent:

"The IMF has never supported or encouraged the abolition of government grain reserves."

Niger’s government and IMF staff did consider “steps to expand agricultural production” and expand the VAT to include milk, sugar, and flour, he acknowledged. “IMF staff specifically recommended that a poverty-impact assessment of the proposed measures be carried out. At any rate, the VAT extension was soon rescinded because of public protests and could have had little effect on the crisis,” he said.

I skimmed through some of the IMF documents on Niger (there's a lot there) and couldn't find any smoking gun where the IMF explicitly demanded a tax on food or a reduction of grain reserves. The documents do show the IMF requested that the Niger government modernize its tax collection system and get tougher on collecting taxes.

The Niger government may have gone beyond the IMF's recommendations, coming up with the 19-percent tax on food on its own. Still it is reprehensible that the IMF staff would even consider taxing staple foods. Taxing basic groceries is just plain wrong in my book. I'm sure most people would agree.

If anybody out there can point me to more information on this topic, I'd appreciate it.

And more on White House cuisine

On a (barely) related note to my hard-hitting Très Imperial post, it seems there has been a major shakeup in the White House kitchen. After 11 years of service to our nation, head chef, Walter Scheib, is out and Cristeta Comerford is in. Although Scheib refuses to bad mouth the Bushes, he may have resented being asked to make Krispy Kremes a feature of the White House cuisine.

And More on Pot Prohibition

Imagine if alcohol were prohibited the way marijuana is. Would the Coors crime family be gunning down Federal agents? Would it lead to outrageous growth in organized crime? Oh, yeah ... alcohol used to be prohibited and that's exactly the type of thing that happened.

This week's Libertarian Perspective op-ed on the Libertarian Party of California website is a scathing statement on the futility of the Federal anti-pot war that recently led to a death and the wounding of a game warden right here in Santa Clara County:

Anthony Gregory, "The War on Pot Endangers Us All"

The only question is, What type of marijuana market do we want: an open, legal one, regulated by the forces of reputation, competition, and peaceful conflict resolution, or a violent black market right out of the history book chapters on Al Capone? It's no mystery that liquor distilleries don't get into turf wars anymore. Legalize marijuana, and we can expect similar peace to follow.

More on Kelo Call To Action Forum

The Coalition for Redevelopment Reform is now expecting 300-400 attendees for this weekend. Here's a Mercury News story on tomorrow's event:

John Woolfolk, San Jose Mercury News: Property rights leaders to meet
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Though the Kelo decision was led by the court's more liberal justices, outcry has hardly been limited to generally conservative and libertarian property-rights advocates.

Liberals including Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, self-described Socialist Rep. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and consumer advocate and former Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader have joined the likes of conservative radio icon Rush Limbaugh in protest.

You know eminent domain powers really need to be reined in when conservatives, liberals, libertarians, greens, and socialists all find themselves agreeing. And thank you, Mercury News, for distinguishing between conservatives and libertarians.

Your Chance To Prevent Eminent Domain Abuse

The Coalition for Redevelopment Reform is hosting a "Kelo Call for Action Forum" this Saturday. I regret I won't be able to attend this kick-off meeting, although I do plan to help circulate their petition:

CRR Presents A KELO CALL FOR ACTION FORUM
Saturday, August 13th, 2005, 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Le Petit Trianon, 72 North Fifth Street, San Jose, California

Join in this educational and action event to support a Constitutional Amendment to protect California homes and property from eminent domain abuse.

RSVP to 408-817-5678 or in order to reserve your resource packet and refreshments

Event flyer (PDF 77 KB) (requires Adobe Reader)

As I posted a few days ago, the United States Supreme Court recently ruled that it is OK for government officials to take your home to give it to a private developer. If you prefer, here's a cartoon version of the story:

Mark Fiore, Village Voice, "Your Property Given To Deserving Corporations!"
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The good news is that the Supreme Court left the door open for each state to pass its own laws limiting the use of eminent domain. And that's exactly what the proposed California Constitutional amendment will do. It should be a popular and widely supported proposition. I can't imagine how the TV commercials in defense of fat-cat mall developers can positively spin the issue: "Save Backroom Dealing: Vote No On Proposition X!"

Très Imperial

Just ran across a curious claim about President Bush in the cover article of the May 2005 issue of National Geographic, which is all about poisons and poisoning. In the very last paragraph of the article it says:

The Japanese emperor hasn't used a food taster in years, though George W. Bush has used Navy mess specialists to handle the job.

Could it really be true that Bush is using a food taster?! If so, he truly is taking on all the trappings of an emperor! And it wouldn't be the first time a soldier has had to put his life on the line to cover George Bush's ass.

I haven't been able to find any corroboration of the food taster. Anybody know of any?

People Dying Over Marijuana: Is This What We Want?

Is this what the American public wants? People being killed and seriously injured ... over marijuana? Should the government be wasting lives and millions of dollars just to keep up the appearance that pot prohibition is working?

Ken McLaughlin, Brandon Bailey, San Jose Mercury News: Game warden shot near Mount Umunhum: Suspect Dies During Raid On Pot Farm
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The unidentified dead man, who had been guarding the pot farm, was hit in an exchange of gunfire during the raid, which was carried out by Santa Clara County sheriff's deputies. A second suspect being sought was considered armed and dangerous.

The public is ready to accept the end of the Federal war on marijuana. Californians have said so at the voting booth. Why are politicians so afraid to speak out against this disastrous and hypocritical war on our own friends, family, and neighbors?

Merc: Minority business booming

I haven't had time to post much lately, for a very positive reason: I got married a few days ago!

I have a whole mess of topics coming up, but to tide you over, my teaming masses of loyal readers, here's an upbeat news item:

San Jose Mercury News: "Minority business booming, study says"
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Minorities and women are starting their own businesses at higher rates than the national average, and Californians are leading the trend, according to a new study by the Census Bureau.