Societial Issues

Good Friends, Good Times, Good People

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / Leave a comment

It has been crazy here at Chez Finley.  Two kids–both with colds, a husband–also with a cold, school–with homework, etc., and the list goes on and on. 

I am starting to stress a little as my wonderful hubby is leaving on Sunday for a week long business trip and sadly, he isn’t taking any of the children, leaving me at home with two small terrors to fend for myself for a whole 6 days.  I am not looking forward to it.  I am forever in awe of all of those single-parents out there.  Hubby is presenting at a big IT conference in Vegas and I am so proud of him but so sad to be without him fo a week. 

Because of the impending business trip, I was able to sneak in a Mom’s Night Out last night with some awesome women in my mom’s group.  We were treated to a coffee tasting at Starbucks–one of the mom’s won a coffee tasting for six and it was so nice.  It was very much like a wine tasting…we sniffed, slurped, held it on our tongues (for weight–similar to the legs on a glass of wine).  We paired with sweet treats and nuts from Starbucks’ offerings and went home with a 1/2lb of our choice of coffee.  It was so nice and I was amazed at the significant differences in coffees and with the coffee after eating a particular product.  Amazing.  If you have a chance to do a coffee tasting somewhere, I say DO IT. 

Now on a slightly more serious note.  How many of you know what it is like to be an outcast in society?  To be real but not seen and certainly not valued? To be an unimportant, invisible and completely devalued?  Unless you have been homeless, you can’t really know.  I certainly don’t know what it’s like to feel these things on a societal level.  I think that is what is awesome about the Homless World Cup.  It is a soccer world cup for the homeless.  Many cities have their own homeless street soccer team.  I know my city does–I only found this out yesterday.  They compete against each other in a national tournament and players are then selected from those teams to represent the US in the World Cup.  This year it is in Melbourne, Australia.  The teams fundraise to pay for the trips and there is even a governing body of the Homeless Soccer Leagues/Team.  They are sponsored by NIKE and UEFA (the governing body of Europe’s Football).  It’s pretty awesome.

For any of you who have ever been part of a team, you know how amazing it is and how it makes you feel like part of something.  There success stories and failures that happen, but this gives them something to belong to.  A way to feel valued and a way to slowly become part of society again.  Check it out in your town and see if you can’t help out–or at least catch a game.  I know that our Homeless team her was started by a man who was a child solider in Liberia and spent a lot of time being homeless after that.  Soccer saved his life and he is looking to do the same for others.  Amazing.

It’s Okay To Say That My Son Is Black

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 10 Comments

Well, because he is and so is my daughter.  I haven’t really thought about how his blackness might make others uncomfortable especially when it comes to describing him.  I know this is something that I am going to deal with forever–people describing him as black in a negative way and in a positive way and having to determine the tone, etc.  But, he is black (really brown, but…).  

We were at a coffee house/cafe today that is totally kid friendly–they have a playroom with tables for eating lunch while the moms and some dads can eat and socialize while their children play.  This place gets very crazy–upwards of 30 kids under age 4 playing and running around with lots of mom’s and it’s kind of crazy. 

I am sitting with my mom friends talking and one of the employees comes over to see if anyone is missing a child.

We all look around–but it is utter chaos and so we stare blindly waiting for a description…

“curly hair.” 

we all still stare at her blankly

“blue jeans.”

we all still stare

“navy shirt.”

“Sounds like mine.” I say but still not sure.

Sure enough it is Minnow and he is playing up front with another little boy in the window.  I question why she didn’t use the obvious descriptor.  My two children are the only brown children in the entire place.  It just amazes me how hypersensitive people are about offending others. 

It wouldn’t have bothered me if she has asked if someone was missing a little black boy–it wouldn’t have taken so long to figure out whose child was missing…I guess it bother me because we cannot ignore color.  Ignoring color makes it the 800lb gorilla in the room.  Minnow and Peepers will know that they are black and I will never ignore their color and don’t want other to ignore it either.  I don’t want it to be more important than it is, but I also don’t want it to be ignored.  It just makes everyone involved uncomfortable. 

So, those of you of color or with kiddos of color–what’s your take?

Who Deserves The Help–Corporate America or American People?

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / Leave a comment

And the two are very very different.  In the NY Times this morning there is an article about the loss of 80,000 jobs in March.  With a recession so obviously hanging out at the end of the bar, just finishing his drink waiting to let everyone see that he certainly is indeed in our midst, everyone is trying to create more consumer confidence.  Maybe if things we bought were made in America without lead paint or magnets that are so small they fall off and our kids can die from swallowing them, we might have more consumer confidence–but this certainly isn’t what this post is about. 

It is in these situations of crisis that are polar differences are never more clearly seen.  At times like this, I am often reminded why I am a Democrat.  With more jobs being lost and the cost of goods skyrocketing–because the cost of gas is so high–and just so you know the execs at the big 5 oil companies aren’t to blame for the high prices–its the high price of crude that is to blame.  They’d like us to ignore the 100+ billion dollars in profits they made last year.  Really, I am pretty sure they don’t know how that happened.  As they try to preserve the 10 million dollars in tax breaks that they still need to ensure the stability of the industry.  Are you fucking kidding me?  I know where that 10 million could be spent to actually benefit the American people, because right now the only one benefiting is an industry that certainly isn’t passing along any of it profits to those who struggle to keep their gas stations open (the average gas station only profits one penny per gallon of gas) while lining the pockets of those who sit at the top trying to figure out how they are making so much money.  Maybe their making all that money–selling it at really high prices?  Just a guess. 

Back to what originally got me going on this topic.  There was a call from Pelosi to act immediately with an additional stimulus package to help Americans.  The Dems (Clinton and Obama) want to increase the length of time someone can collect unemployment–seems fair in this type of job market.  The GOP (McCain) will support tax breaks and less regulation for companies (i.e. oil companies and others that are lots of money already)–he believes (as does the GOP on the whole) that if companies have more money they will create more jobs.  Really?  I pretty sure they only care about profit margin and if creating more jobs weakens that margin?  They aren’t creating more jobs.  I am certainly not an economist, but I don’t understand the idea of giving tax breaks to companies and hoping they will employ more people–while at the same time Congress won’t increase minimum wages because that would hurt the same companies. It just doesn’t make sense that we can trust companies in our frenzy of Capitalistic greed to be fair.  How could we reallly expect fairness when the average CEO makes in one day what an average employee makes in one year?  But let’s give them tax breaks and less regulation. 

So, who deserves the help of the government?  The people who they swear to represent (that is us those who elect or don’t elect (in some cases) them) or the companies (read as lobbyists) who line their pockets?  I have learned a long time ago that money buys access and as we Americans have less money and companies have more and more money–the companies have the access and those with the access determine what happens.  Just think back to Cheney’s response to the idea that 2/3 of the American people thought we should pull out of Iraq “SO WHAT.”  It angers me and saddens me and scares me that as days and years pass–the American people seem to be less and less important to the government we are suppose to trust to take care of us. 

Is a revolution coming????

Is It Really A Woman’s Right…

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 1 Comment

to be on the LA SWAT team?  Okay feminist readers, hold on.  I know that is a loaded question.  Let me explain before you rip my bra off and burn it (I am smiling while typing that..).  The LA SWAT team has never had a woman officer.  The elite 43 man force has always been just that men.  Not because they don’t let women apply, but because no women who have applied have been able to pass the physical requirement.  What trips them up?  The Marine obstacle course. 

Because of this–the new director of LA SWAT is trying to get the physical requirement waived for women.  Yes just for women.  The wives of the SWAT officers are up in arms–as are probably the officers and all men who fail the course as well.  The wives say it is a risk that should not be taken with anyone’s life.  The media of course pitched this story to make it sound like the wives didn’t want there to be any women SWAT officers.  That, surprisingly, isn’t so. The wives don’t want the requirements to be changed.  I happen to agree with them.  There are certain jobs that require a certain amount of physical strength and ability.  This is one of them. 

I take issue with the media for skewing the real issues of this story.  It is about something beyond adding a woman to the SWAT team.  I was thinking about this issue.  The Marine obstacle course is what the women can’t seem to conquer.  Is it really unfair?  Biased towards men?  Maybe–but last time I checked there were female Marines.  So, it must not be impossible.  FBI officers have to pass the course too (at least they use to but I am pretty sure they have to now as well)–and there are female FBI agents.  The problem is that women who are physically capable–aren’t applying.  Eventually one will, but don’t compromise the lives of others because you want a woman to be on SWAT. 

I am sure women police officers who want to be SWAT are the ones calling for change–the news didn’t cover that part of the story–just the part about the wives not wanting women on SWAT.  I don’t see any media bias there, do you?  Is it really our right to have any job we want?  If so, I want to be a taste tester for Ben & Jerry.  We think and are constantly told we can do anything we want.  We can’t be discriminated against, etc.  But you can only do anything you want if you can actually do it.  I can only be a fire fighter if I can do the actual job.  Not just because I want to be one. 

I can only be a doctor if I can do the job, not just because I want to.  I get really frustrated by folks screaming foul–not because they have really been mistreated, but because they cannot do what they want–not because someone won’t let them, but because they really can’t do it.  I wanted to be a veterinarian but suck at math and chemistry.  I had to accept that I didn’t have the ability.  I could have probably worked really hard and made it through, but I didn’t want it bad enough.  I am sad that we somehow as a people feel entitled to anything we want.  We think we deserve to have a job–that it is our right to have the job we want.  It is our right to be able to apply for any job we want that we are qualified for.  If we aren’t qualified–we have to accept that.  So, SWAT wannabes–become qualified. 

I’m Just Going To Say It

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 6 Comments

I am not proud to be an American.  There the cat is out of the bag.  I am quite sickened as of late for what our country seems to stand for.  I know there are those of you who are preparing right now to stop. reading. my. words.  But before you stop reading let me just say that I am also not very proud to be a human being at this time either. 

We live in a time of great excess…for those who have and a time of great pain and sadness for those who do not have.  I have felt this sadness at what has become America’s values–greed and violence (military) in the name of our nation’s security.  I am tired of our double-speak in terms of our foreign policy and our turning of a blind eye to those who we bear responsibility for taking care of.  I watched HDNet’s World New last night and was really shocked, angered, and saddened by the state of things in New Orleans.  The number of homeless has increased by 100% since Katrina–you know that hurricane the decimated New Orleans and where we waited and waited and waited to help those POOR PEOPLE.  Those poor people are still waiting for our help.  There are now over 12,000 homeless (up from 6,000) and there is basically no affordable housing–we rebuilt the rich areas first and somehow have forgotten about the poor/affordable parts of town.  Rents that use to cost 3-4 hundred a month are not up to 9-15 hundred a month.  People who work jobs cannot even afford to have a place to live.  Really America?  This disgusts me.  Especially as I watch a 10 minute interview with Carnie Wilson about her weight issues.  Really America?  This is what matters to us?  Why don’t we interview some of the homeless who can’t get a place to live and without a place to live its hard to get a job–if you don’t already have one.  You can’t get a job without a phone.  How are they going to call you?  You can’t get a job if you can’t get a shower and some clean clothes.  Why do we look at the homeless as though they are somehow less human?  It is sad and it scares me that this is what our country is.  For what we spend in one month in Iraq we could rebuild the entire 9th ward and give affordable housing to our citizens.  Oh wait.  I forgot.  They don’t really have anything our government wants for needs.  Iraq has oil.

I know I sound bitter.  And I am.  We were so quick to step into Iraq and get rid of Sadaam.  Was he a horrible leader?  Yes.  He killed innocent people, etc.  But what about the atrocities in Darfur?  The Congo?  Oh wait.  They don’t have anything we want and we certainly cannot benefit from helping them.  It sickens me.  We don’t like Castro and we despise North Korea–but Saudi Arabia we like them.  Oh yeah…They have oil.  

I am tired of the party line.  We are free…etc.  Really?  Tell that to those in New Orleans who can’t get a place to live or a job or any help.  We are free to make money off of others.  We are free to make and hoard as many resources as we can.  We are free to marginalize those who don’t matter and free to turn a blind eye when we see gross injustice.  We are free to play on our own field and keep out the riff raff.  We only take care of those who can take care of themselves.  We only take into account those who have something to offer.  We are a nation of hypocrites. 

I want to live in a world where others matter.  Where others are respected and accounted for.  I want my son to see all people as people and realize that all people deserve respect.  We are one of the richest countries in the world and we can’t even feed and house all of our people.  No.  Why you ask?  Altruism isn’t profitable.