S:Is for standstill

There is a tragedy happening in New York either the transportation system is breaking down or the sky opened up and spit people. Maybe it is the combination of both. I submit for your understanding four episodes that happened to me in the past 48 hours.

I was going to appear on the "Today" show and so I had to show up at 4:30. I live on the Upper West Side and found out nothing was running from 3-6 so I boarded a bus across town as I was told buses and subways run there. I waited on 5th Ave for over an hour to find out nope, same deal. Thank-you Moon, for getting me to my destination on time. For as I started to walk this amazing Pakistani man gave me a ride. Yes there is hope in NY.

Later that day I was caught in the subway brown out. Can someone Please tell me how lights, speakers and air condition can work and yet a subway can't? It's kinda of an oximoron, but was grateful that at least I was cool.

This morning I needed to go downtown and went to the bus stop only to have three busses pass me. I walked to another stop that was a major crosstreet where an MTA officer was standing and he told me they were all limited. The irony was that none were marked. When I finally got on the bus it charged me twice and though there was a MTA official present nothing could be done.

The last thing that happened was again going across town a car hit the bus and it took me 2 1/2 hours to even get across town. Now granted I made the most of the situation and made a lot of friends but my time is precious. Why couldn't they just send a rescue bus and let those who wanted to go on with their day do so.

We live in a city where public transportation is a must. There is no where to park a car unless you can afford to rent it an apartment. Have you ever tried to buy gas in New York? Very over priced compared to the rest of the world. Bikes are great but you take your life in your hands as soon as you board one as there is no specific lane.I just heard the price of subway and buses starting next January is going to $4.00. Considering that we were lied to last time the amount was raised, the service is deplorable and they can strike when they feel like it how can they justified a drastic raise in fare. Here is another reason to have a voice and that is a F.A.C.T.

T: is for tired and guest reporters

I received about two hours of sleep between last night and today so I am brain dead. Thank-God my friend Nao has volunteered to write a guest column. Enjoy I'll have thoughts tomorrow.



...Hello, all. My name is Nao. Suzanna is here but she's knocked out. She said I can write whatever I want the world to hear... Hmm...

Ok, I have an idea. I have pulled my journal from my college project. I was writing poems in college and this journal is the introduction of the collection of my poems. After the journal, I put one poem from the collection. Hope you enjoy it!



Introduction- Fall 06

I remember the night I started writing poems. I was a confused teenager and had just felt like a complete idiot. Until that night, I had been with a group of people who called themselves intelligent and dating a guy a lot of girls in school wanted to sleep with. Being with these people was not what I really wanted, neither these "intellectuals" nor my "boyfriend." I tried to behave the other people considered cool.

This “mask” couldn’t bring me peace of mind anymore; they absorbed smiles and tears hiding behind it and just left me empty. I decided to give up this bizarre life, just like throwing hundreds of pages of fiction I wrote into a garbage can. Then, the first question on my mind was: What is left inside myself? My brand new notebook began to be filled with the answers to this question since that night.

People wear masks to make them look more attractive and more powerful; they need something to rely on outside themselves. What I’m doing through poetry is try to take the mask off. The real feelings of human beings are under these masks. I always want to be honest with what I feel and need, and communicate with the readers of my poems based upon this naked emotion. This is how human relationships should be.

In some of the poems from this collection, however, I still obscure my real feelings or display my fear of being honest; I’m still afraid of taking off the mask. Since I started to write poems, I have found myself wearing another new mask many times; I’m still fighting through it.

This collection is a personal record of one immature poet. These rough poems are not neat, smart, pretty or confident, but that is exactly the way I am at each moment in each poem.



Withering Poet Blues

I can’t write no poem
And I don’t have no pill
I can’t write no song
And I don’t have no pill
My head is foggy like a dust storm
It’s endless like a wheel

I’m empty for some reason
Not ready to know why
I’m empty for some reason
And scared to know why
So I fill myself with dry gin
And pretend I can write

Floating on a blanket
I scribble on a buoy
Floating on a carpet
I scribble on a buoy
These words don’t make no sense
So I sink into moody

Ain’t got no life in my hand
It flew away like a fly
Ain’t got no love in my lips
It flew away like a kite
If they don’t come back to me
I will wither up and die

C: Is for Bogus Contracts!

When I started writing this column I thought it would be mostly about the things I knew: Food, Fashion, Theater, Music and Art. The only reason I added social consciousness was F.A.C.T. was taken and it seemed logical. We live in a day and age where we can either bury our head in the sand or speak up. I have never been one to be silent when it comes to injustice. Sadly it is all around. I wish I could say there is hope but as I see movies like "A Mighty Heart", Inconvenient Truth", "Enron the Smartest Guys in the Room" and last nights entertainment "Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers" I begin to wonder what has happened to humanity and why is nobody speaking up? Thank-God for the courageous Michael Moore: director, producer, author and political activist known for his outspoken, critical views on globalization, large corporations, gun violence, the Iraq War, The Bush Administration, and various other domestic and international policies of the United States and its allies. His newest film correlates with what I wrote about health care. "Sicko" has already been the subject of controversy when it became known that Moore went to Cuba with chronically ill September 11th rescue workers. The United States is looking into whether this violates the trade embargo. Anything to silence a voice that cries to be heard! It's ok to have the best health care go to foreign criminals, but not to those who tried to save lives. That is considered a crime. Is there something wrong with this picture?

"Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers" is a 2006 documentary about the war in Iraq and the companies with no-bid contracts. Acclaimed director Robert Greenwald (Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, Outfoxed, and Uncovered) takes you inside the lives of people who didn't sign up to fight for the USA and were condemned to die. Some of these people went to help only to discover the horrific saga of what was really going down. "Iraq for Sale" uncovers the connections between private corporations making a killing in Iraq and the decision makers who allow them to do so. Given carte-blanche are Blackwater Security Consulting, Halliburton subsidiary, KBR, and CACI International. We wonder why Americans are hated, when you see the accounts of abuse, rape, and torture of prisoners held in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq by CACI employees you begin to understand the why. Is it necessary to allow a military police guard to stitch the wound of a detainee who was injured after being slammed against the wall in his cell; sodomizing a detainee with a chemical light and a broom stick? Most held in Abu Ghraib were civilians, women and children. Few were war criminals. If you donate to the right lobbyist (Halliburton, KBR) you ended up with a Multi-Billion dollar contract to supply water in Iraq. The best part, nobody actually checks to see if its clean. If any service people are reading this I strongly encourage you to watch this documentary. One of the people responsible for testing the water supply in Iraq broke down in tears over the fact that nobody would listen to him. Not his company nor the government when he came forward. A lot of service men and women are going to be VERY sick as a result. How do you live with yourself when you recklessly supplied the soldiers fighting for your morals with these acts of betrayal?

We live in a world where it is time to take a stand. Become knowledgeable for it is power. Research and don't believe me find the F.A.C.T.S for yourself. The time is NOW!

A: is for supporting the Arts

On Saturday night I attended the benefit for Naked City Arts. Formed in May of this year, this new group knows how to do things right and threw a great promotional event. From their choice of location, a penthouse rooftop over looking downtown Manhattan to their choice of wines, everything showed class, creativity and style. For a 1st event they raised $12,000, which is not a bad start! Only three artists did not sell their work. However Sean Slemon, Roger Carmona, Kay Kyungeun Cho, Greg lindquist, Harry Hancock, Jon Coffelt, Michael Ricardo Andreev, Miru Kim and Jason Losko whose glass piece was the best buy of the night all sold. Naked Arts is the brain child of Miru Kim whose photography is raw and potent, but it is Miru's dedication to bringing promising young artists to the attention of lower Manhattan and it's patron's, that sets her above the rest and gives her heart. I have been to countless art openings and events and this was the 1st event where I truly liked the art and had a wonderful night out. I submit for your eyes Miru Kim, Harry Hancock and Michael Ricardo Andreev. All a part of Naked Arts. I would have also introduced you to Jason Lesko but his art is not JPEG'd. This is an organization we should support and that's a F.A.C.T.

F: Is for Hollywoods depiction of F.A.C.T.

This weekend I saw the opening of "A Mighty Heart", the film based on the life of Daniel Pearl. This movie which was high on my list of to see,“cut” Daniel Pearl “from his own story”. Pearl is depicted as being warned by not one but three people, not to meet Gilani alone and yet he goes. It's like a bad horror plot. I find this ironic because Daniel Pearl's writing, Mariane's book nor any research I've done portrays him as a “reckless journalist.” What this movie tries and unsuccessfully accomplishes is creating a vehicle for Angelina Jolie, who plays Mariane. The performance is so heartless you end up not caring about anybody. It is natural to search for a compelling structure to make sense of tragedy. We tell ourselves that what happened wasn’t such a bad thing, that it has a redeeming value, that we can close our eyes to the horror and move on. How cheap and manufactured our quest for hero's has become. Lost in the PR machine is Daniel's death. What never gets answered is the WHY! Next year “the Pearl Project" at Georgetown University, will investigate to find some answers, because the F.A.C.T. is nobody knows. The movie refuses to make a statement. One thing that was found out in March of this year is that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed stated: "I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew, Daniel Pearl, in the city of Karachi, Pakistan." Then he added, "for those who would like to confirm, there are pictures of me on the Internet holding his head. For those of you who do not know Daniel's fate, the hatred was so instilled that nine days after he was abducted Pearl was decapitated. His body was found cut into ten pieces and buried in a shallow grave in the outskirts of Karachi. On February 21, 2002, a videotape titled "The Slaughter of the Spy-Journalist, the Jew Daniel Pearl" was released. The video showed Pearl's mutilated body and lasts three minutes and thirty-six seconds. The first part of the video shows Pearl stating his captors' demands. A caption in Arabic is shown along the way. Pictures of dead Muslims and similar scenes are superimposed around the image of Pearl. Other images shown are those of President Bush shaking hands with Israeli Prime Minister Sharon. On the image to the right, the text in Arabic reads: My name is (Daniel Pearl), I am a Jewish-American. A man then cuts his head off. A few more images, such as captives held at Guantanamo Bay detention camp, are shown near the image of Pearl's head. The last 90 seconds show a list of demands superimposed on Pearl's severed head being held by his hair. One of the last lines states: We assure Americans that they shall never be safe on the Muslim Land of Pakistan. Why has our government never stated this?

The worst part of this movie is I walked out thinking Mariane Pearl was the coldest, most unfeeling human on the face of the earth. They show an interview where she is asked how she feels about her husband being murdered and they have her stating 10 Pakistanis also died. The movie lost me right there. I was wrong. That was Hollywood's depiction of her. Log onto www.theforgivenessproject.com/stories/mariane-pearl. She feels the same way all of us would if we lost somebody we loved. Angry! and that is a F.A.C.T.