Video The Vote - Calling All Citizens

Yea, now is the time to come to the aid of your country. When you go to the polls on November 7th take your camera or camcorder to the polls.

If you don't have a camera, take a pencil and paper. I don't care how you record but keep the peepers open. Damn skippy something is going to happen. Maybe not in your neighborhood but then again maybe it will. If it happened in 2000 in Florida and 2004 in Ohio I'd say there is a good chance it will happen again.

The only words I'll ever quote from Regan is "trust but verify." In this case we need to trust by documenting potential mischief at the polls. This is especially true for people of color, class, no class, money, broke and if you draw breath more than once an hour on your own.

Democrat, Republican or some space in between let's document for the sake of the democracy or what is left of it. For more information and to watch a video on why this is so important please visit: http://www.videothevote.org/home.htm

Daliah Setareh Talks About Domestic Violence

Daliah Setareh is from the Los Angeles Legal Aid Foundation and she gives her prospective on the assistance that can be obtained through her organization. She tells a riveting story of a woman brought into the United States by her husband and lived as a battered undocumented person.

This is the 19.5MB Windows Media Video

This is the 10.4MB QuickTime Video

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. For more information about immigrant and undocumented domestic violence issues please visit http://www.dvalianza.org or download an Adobe.pdf file that has more information at http://www.dvalianza.org/pdfs/b_immigration.pdf

Got more stuff for you. Deaf and hearing impaired victims has additional communication challenges when it comes to reporting domestic violence. The Abused Deaf Women's Advocacy Services Community page has a listing of locations that have assistance for this specific population. http://www.adwas.org/resources/community_links.html

Det. Mike Stilton Talks About Domestic Violence

"Violence in battering relationships often follows a fairly predictable cycle consisting of the tension building phase, the battering incident itself and the calm respite, or "honeymoon" phase."*

Detective Mike Stilton from the Glendale Police Department talks about some of the misconceptions that immigrant and undocumented women face when the police arrive on a domestic violence call.

This is the 13MB Windows Media Video

This is the 7.2MB QuickTime Video

Immigrant and undocumented women will not be asked about immigration status and you will not be reported to the INS. You might be refered to a local organization for help and assistance. If there is signs of abuse the agressor will placed under arrest.

The World Health Organization has substantial information about the global impact of domestic violence; you cannot have a healthy society if the female population is consistently abused - http://www.who.int/gender/violence/en/

*Information from the Family Violence Project - Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles

Eliza - Part 2 Talks About Domestic Violence

"Domestic violence occurs among all races and socioeconomic groups. It is not alway physically violent, but it is always psychologically abusive." *

This is the second part of Eliza Karagezian talking about issues that affect not just Armenian women but all women who are experiencing some form of Domestic Violence. In this segment, she is talking about participating in a call-in show and one of the callers accused her of trying to distroy the Arminian family.

This is the 4.6MB Windows Movie Video

This is the 2.58MB QuickTime Version

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and in that spirit, I recommend that you take a visit to http://www.vday.org a site created by Eve Ensler to bring awareness of the local and global scope of battered women.

Healthy Roads Media actually has a few movies in multiple languages that explain whathttp://www.healthyroadsmedia.org/topics/abuse.htm
http://www.healthyroadsmedia.org/topics/abuse.htm

*Information from the Family Violence Project - Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles.

Awareness - Yorkie Is Not for Girls Photo

I was at the 99 Cents Only Store in Pasadena. I'm next in line for checkout, feeling good that I'm only spending $5 or so when I look over and see this candy bar.

I flip it over and there is a sticker on it saying it is a product of England. I take it home and make my way to the UK version of Nestle's web site.

I read about Yorkie. The original concept was to market this as a man's chocolate bar, due to its size and volume. The tag line in the ad was "men don't have much to claim for themselves anymore" and the candy is "too big for a woman to handle."

Puleeze - I ate the original Chunky as a kid. That, my friend, was a hunk of chocolate. I can't speak for the modern version but back in the day there were actual raisins and peanuts surrounded by chocolate worthy of clamping down on full force. With real sugar too! I take off the U.S. nutrition label.

Oh my. Now I'm a bird. I hear the murmurs drifting in from talk radio; something like “Damn it is just a joke, can't you women lighten up?”

To be fair, the company has altered the advertising - or that what is implied on the web page. It is now being marketed as a way to satisfy hunger. Man size hunger, I'm figuring. A hunger that does not involve women. Not that is different from the usual marketing towards men folk.

What I want to know is what don't men have left to claim for themselves any more? The remote? I got my own, I don't need yours. Sports? Have at it fellas, I'm truly not interested unless there is a good story. I don't have cable and even if I did I will not be watching ESPN and dang sure not Fox Sports Network.

Hummers? either the automobile or the other kind? Which last I heard (unless you are in the 10% club) you still need a woman. Or some kind of suction device.

I put this out to the group mind because surely Nestle UK is not implying that equal access to employment, education, recreation and participation in society is something that was taken away from men. I could be wrong but let's keep an open mind.

Market Research.com - If you are interested in male specific branding (ouch!) for $295 you can buy a 14 page report on how the brand was revamped, tongue in check advertising (probably how far can you go without ticking the birds off) and gender branding in food and drinks.

Yorkie's Nestle's Web page:
http://www.nestle.co.uk/OurBrands/AboutOurBrands/ConfectioneryAndCakes/Yorkie.htm

What They Don't Tell You But You Need to Know

I got my neighbors junk mail by mistake. It is election time come November and I see this young girl, pure as the driven snow and the seedy looking candidate. I intentionally removed most of the faces cuz I don't think she wants to be remembered as the poster child for underage abortion when she is 24.

This refers to Proposition 85 - the flyer was paid for by the Californian Republican Party:

• Require 48 hours notice to parent before an abortion can be performed on a minor.
• Give parent the information they need to report rape or sexual abuse of their children
• Enable parent to ensure their children receive proper medical care.
• The minor would be able to seek help if anyone forces her to have an abortion. (not in the flyer but in the actual wording of the Proposition, page 56 of the California General Election Handbook)
  

They are implying that the big bad liberals want to put a stop to that. Here is what they did not tell you in the flyer:

• Mandates reporting requirements including reports from physicians regarding abortions performed on minors. Excuse me, isn't there something about Doctor-Patient confidentiality? Isn't this an example of the over-reaching of government into personal lives that Republicans use to get so upset about?
• Teens are not allowed to purchase the Emergency Pill. You must be an adult.
• Teens would have to go into court to petition for the right to an uninformed parental abortion. They would have to convince the judge of their maturity or it is clearly in the best interest of the minor.
• Aren't we forgetting that there is a tremendous backlog in the court system?
• If a physician performs an abortion that becomes contested he or she is subject to monetary damages.
• A parent can provide a written wavier to permit the abortion. However there is a section in the bill about minor consent. If the judge finds that the minor was coerced into agreeing the judge can override the parent. The parent can be liable to legal charges if found guilty of forcing their child to have an abortion.

So their you have it.

If you like Proposition 85 and want to know more visit www.yes0n85.net
If you don't like the proposition and want to know more visit www.noon85.com

For the record, I think Prop 85 stinks but that is just my opinion. The only thing I care to convince you about is that you go vote in November.

In The Spirit of Sun Ra on Grand Avenue

It has been a dreary couple of days. It is Fall heading into Winter and let's just say it isn't my favorite time of year. It is the change marking the transition from the beginning to the last lap of the year and the question begs “Did I do everything I set out to do this year?”

Yeah, I'm a summer person. I need the light in the sky.

This the 5.9MB Windows Media Video

This is the 4.65MB Small QuickTime version

A few days back, Grand Avenue in Los Angeles had a festival. Heck all over downtown Los Angeles there was music bubbling up from every which way. But this one was free. There was much good stuff to see, do and eat but I wasn't paying $4 for a single Godiva dipped strawberry

Anyway, I stepped into REDCAT and the cats and kittens were wailing at a so-called children music event. I say so-called cuz everybody was tapping their feet, flipping the fanny and bouncing internally and externally. It was cosmically funky in a spacial kind of way with the essence of Sun Ra weaving in and out of the room.

Groove to a inspired tribute to the Arkestra and inoculate yourself against the dull days. Charge your spirit with a taste of astral vibe. For more information on the transcendent energy of Sun Ra visit:

• Sun Ra's official site http://www.elrarecords.com
  
• Roy and Edna Disney Cal Arts Theater http://redcat.org
• Village Voice Guide to Sun Ra http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0623,szwed,73461,22.html
• One Final Note http://www.onefinalnote.com/reviews/s/sun-ra-arkestra/music-for-the-21st.asp
  

Eliza Karagezian Talks About Domestic Violence

In this video, Eliza Kargezian talks about the problems of gettng women to report domestic violence and how the problems double with immigrant and undocumented women.

This is the 9.0MB Windowm Media Video version

This is the 7.0MB QuickTime version.

She talks about how the conversation on stopping domestic violence needs to be shared between women and men and gives an insight as to some of the cultural reasons Armenian women are most reluctant to report abuse.

To get you up to speed on some of the issues immigrant and undocumented women face check out the following:

Assista http://www.asistaonline.org

Non-Citizen Survivors of Domestic Violence

http://www.nationalimmigrationproject.org/DVPage/DomesticViolencePage.html

Thinking Loud About Domestic Violence

If each one of us is connected then what do we do about a women who is being beaten and battered? Should it matter if that woman is an undocumented person? Should it matter that the abuser is a husband or a wife?

Would Nicole Brown Simpson be alive today if the police had arrested her husband for an domestic violence?

This is the 5.63MB Windows Media Version

Here is another question for you. What would you tell a sixteen year old girl about an abusive boyfriend? These are not easy questions but since October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month you might want to take some time to think about your answers.

One in six women will be a victim of domestic violence.

For more information: National Domestic Violence Hotline http://www.ndvh.org
1-800-799-SAFE (7233) and TDD number for the hearing impaired is 1-800-787-3224

My thanks to the Glendale Commission on the Status of Women for allowing me to record the presentation. I will post excerpts from the discussion during the month of October.