To begin: I know how much I will be making and what the benefits are (a month later after being offered the job) and so I officially have a start date for Jubilee Jobs: September 2, 2008. Woo! This will enable me to go to Nicaragua for a week with my family, then have 2 weeks to decompress, play, roadtrip?, move, etc. after my DY commitment is over. I’m excited.
Last evening 7 of us met to talk about potentially forming a community to live in next year. 4 of us were current DYers, and 3 others we’ve gotten to know in various circles this year. I was very energized by the conversation, and hopeful for what all will shake down as the weeks unfold.
This last weekend my housemates and I went to the Chesapeake Bay to get away from the city and be together. It was stinking hot, but we were 4 steps from the water, so it worked out. Saturday was a particularly good day: from sleeping in to journaling on the deck; a good breakfast to a good run; a much needed dip in the bay (and an UNneeded fishing hook in my foot!); some laying around; some reading; some walk-taking; some sunset watching and lightning ooOOOoing; a humbling Monopoly game and a spectacular smore-singalong…it was refreshing and lovely.
Can I just say..I’ve NEVER played a game of Monopoly like that one. We set a time limit on it so we could accommodate the excited capitalists in our group (j/k) and the reticent game-players. In the ENTIRE 90 minutes, I procured ZERO properties; went to jail TWICE; landed on Chance and had to pay $50 to EACH housemate; and generally fell to the ill-will of capitalism. OH MY WORD. Anyway, I’m not bitter though.
Some things I’ve been thinking about at work: Democracy Now! is an excellent resource. (www.democracynow.org). I’ve truly appreciated their perspectives, and it’s largely because they’re not corporate-media-owned, so they’re able to move more freely in pursuing stories that may not benefit the elite conglomerate owners (of all the major networks/cable stations).
Also, Bill Moyers is the man! His reporting and his thoughts on Big Media and its role in harming democracy are compelling and provocative. That, and I’ve been reading more about the propaganda that led to the initiation of our current mess in Iraq. Really interesting to think about what was being sold as truth then, and what has come out as truth now. Also intriguing to hear how authorities have either taken responsibility for what they said then and now (rare) or how they’ve dodged blame and doggedly stood by their positions despite mounting evidence to cause many to question.
I’m in the middle of research for an upcoming article on the role of Blackwater USA in the security detail of US Government officials in Iraq. There are now more contractors paid to stay in Iraq than troops…not all of them are armed (some do tasks like laundry and cooking), but others ARE armed, and earning far more than the military personnel who are working (ideally) under the military codes of conduct that answer to the Constitution. Ah the marriage of money and power…absolute power corrupts absolutely.
