Adán's blog

Read today in the Houston Chronicle that the man in Brazil who is accused of ordering the assassination of Sister Dorothy Stang surrendered and is under arrest. Sister Stang sacrificed her life for us, for Faith – into God. I have to say that we live surrounded by the greatness of women who see God among us. How can we ever fully comprehend the mysterious and powerful grace of Catholic religious sisters who take steps, passing through terrifying decisions that ground them more deeply in God. Sister Dorothy Stang, who are in heaven, pray for us.
Adán

Posted by at 7:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Houston's financially poor neighborhood, Pecan Park, has free wireless Internet access right now. Hurrah! And it is driving "respect for the free market" ignoramuses into convulsions.....as though for-profit companies have made any effort at all to serve poor households.

Will Reed runs the not-for-profit "Technology For All" group here in Houston and, with enthusiastic support of our Mayor, Bill White, has installed a large antenna in the organiation's offices. It beams the singal directly to the Melcher Branch of the Public Library, about two-thirds of a mile way. Residents within a few hundered yards of either spot can pick up signals now. Within a monthn or two, Reed says, several residents, as well as a YMCA and other organizations, have agreed to install antennas to spread access across the entire neighborhood.

This project has the support also of Rice University, whose engineering students are involved in placement of antennas and testing new and powerful low-cost technologies. They are also documenting how much bandwidth they can push into the network. From Ed Knightly, the Rice Engineer who is leading his students in the installation: "It's inspiring to see our research get directly into the community."

Yes, Rep. Phil King, a Republican, has filed a massive telecommunications bill in austin this session that, in part, bans Texas cities from participating in wireless information networks. "In a free-market system, it's not acceptable to let public government compete with private businesses."

Further, Bill Gurley, a Silcon Valley-based venture capitalist with Benchmark Capital says of the technologies that "Technology for All" is intalling with the help of Rice University engineering students: "These are very disruptive low-cost technolgies, and its not in the incumbent telecommunication comapnies'best interest to embrace them. " He continues: "But they can be very beneficial to communities."

Seems like we have to choose: telecommunications companies or communities. In the best of all possible worlds, these two would be one and the same.

Adán

Posted by at 8:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A victory for the community and free speech this past Thursday. Students who sued Diebold Election Systems won their case against the voting machine maker after a judge ruled that the company had misused the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and ordered the company to pay damages and fees. Lawyers for the students call the move a victory for free speech.

Last October, students at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania posted copies and links to some 13,000 internal Diebold company memos that an anonymous source had leaked to Wired News. The memos suggested that the company was aware of security flaws in its voting system when it sold the system to states. The company sent them threatening letters aserting copyright infringement.

The ruling makes Diebold the first company to be held liable for violating section 512(f) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which makes it unlawful to use the DMCA takedown threats when the copyright holder knows that infringement hasn't occurred.

Adán

Posted by at 4:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The USA page of the CRIS Campaign has clear bullets that concisely list the main issues of communications rights in the information society.
It is a Wiki site.

Thanks, Mary, for the link to this thought-provoking flash animation: Osama Lotto.

Adán

Posted by at 8:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Spent a glorious weekend in New York, enjoying off-off Broadway plays and one Broadway play, "I Am My Own Wife." The Sunday afternoon matinee was one of the most enjoyable and enriching experiences I have had in a long, long time. Charlotte V. Mahlsdorf survived a cruel, violent father, the Nazis and the Communists as a gay......in heels! For me the sobering line in this true story was when a pack of neo-Nazís in contemporary Berlin attacks her home. She cries out defiantly: "I know you. I met you when I was 16."

Later that Sunday, evening, this play won best play at the Tony Awards, and best actor.

Adán

Posted by at 9:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's just one pdf sample of on-line materials that can be used in classroom activities about gender and media can be downloaded from the site of the Gender Links. The description of the manual is not to my liking, being overly instrumental, but the chapters themselves seem very insightful and helpful.
Adán

Posted by at 7:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The way that Mary is expressing her joining in on the grace that is being lived by the lesbian/gay community in Boston, Mass and beyond, is wonderful and inspiring. I'm in Europe and all the papers are running the pictures of married couples showing love and commitment. The pictures are large and many on the front pages.

Go to the HRC site and sign the million for marriage petition.
Hallelujah!

Am on my way to catch my flight.
Adan

Posted by at 4:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mary points to the petition of moveon.org to push for a full, open investigation of the US tortures in Iraq. Do it now.

Zero in Dublin expresses what so many are feeling. He points to the Washington Post article today by Philip Kennicott.

I do agree that to we, USA, are responsible. In part the article says "these photos are us. Yes, they are the acts of individuals (though the scandal widens, as scandals almost inevitably do, and the military's own internal report calls the abuse "systemic"). But armies are made of individuals. Nations are made up of individuals. Great national crimes begin with the acts of misguided individuals; and no matter how many people are held directly accountable for these crimes, we are, collectively, responsible for what these individuals have done. We live in a democracy. Every errant smart bomb, every dead civilian, every sodomized prisoner, is ours."

Adán

Posted by at 5:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saturday I went to a photo exhibit here in Houston. If you get a chance to see the touring photography exhibit, "Ricas y Famosas," (Rich and Famous) I think you will flip out. By Daniela Rossell, the pictures are an ethnographic review of the Mexico's super rich women. It does include one man, the son of former Pres. Salinas. See the pathetic disfigurement of human beings by consumption/wealth/material excess. The subjects of the pictures were asked to choose the location for their portrait (they chose their homes), the clothes they would like to wear, and their pose. I was angered, disgusted, felt sorrow and pity.

The book description says:
"Rather than documenting the lifestyles of indigenous peoples, the urban poor, or exotic village scenes--as so many of her colleagues have done and continue to do--she has chosen to explore the habitat, customs, and traditions of the tiniest minority in Mexico: the ultra-rich."

Adán

Posted by at 9:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last night the PBS NewsHour explored the growing use of civilian contract employees for combat in Iraq. Privatization of military forces is a growing profit industry that currently "operates in about 50 different conflict zones," according to Peter Singer of the Brookings Institution.

The report is a motivation to work for peace because it reveals how clouded our world vision can be when it comes to peace. One of the guests, Doug Brooks, is from the International Peace Operations Association, IPOA. Noone on the program apparently sees the inherent contradiction in the name of his organization. IPOA does not promote peace, it is involved in violence-making as a means to peace.

Peace is not the goal, it is the way.

Adán

Posted by at 4:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As I prepare my durnincometax return, it stresses me that I am helping to finance the war that Bush started based on lies and filthy expansionism. The durnincometax portion that goes to war is 49%, according to the War Resisters League.

Depressing, although I do have some options, depending on my choice to go to jail or not. Short of going to jail, lobbying for a strong Peace Tax is a good thing to do.

Peace.
AM

Posted by at 7:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Am in Porto Alegre, 6 am, waiting for a flight to Paraguay. The federal security workers and immigration officers are on strike, so all flights are delayed for hours. Few people to check bags, to check passports, .....lines, lines, lines. I'm reading "Breathing Space" by Heidi Neumark, [http://www.beacon.org/catalogs/f03/neumark.html] so these delays are a blessing, giving me the opportunity to enjoy and be inspired by this wonderful soul chronicle of destitution and transfiguration in the south bronx, ny.

adan

Posted by at 4:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dee Dee Halleck has written an excellent and remarkably brief description and analysis of the origins and evolution of indymedia in article that appears in the current issue of Media Development. The essay is "Indymedia: Building an international activist internet network."

I am convinced that, although largely unrecognized, WACC is prophetic in seeing and promoting the connections between independent media activism and Christian faith communities.

Mary points to a punchy animation about the "Terrifying Gay Agenda." Very nice.

Adán

Posted by at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last night during the Lehrer News Hour, Lutheran Pastor Heidi Neumark talked about her book, "Breathing Space: A Spiritual Journey in the South Bronx." Neumark is the pastor of the Transfiguration Lutheran Church in the South Bronx, where the congregation is a mixture of Hispanics and African Americans in one of the poorest communities in the city. In that neighborhood, the state-of-the-art, expensive jail for young boys towers over the crumbling, dilapidated school across the street.
She writes, “I have learned that grace cleaves to the depths, attends the losses and there slowly works her defiant transfiguration.”

I must read this book.

Adán

Posted by at 6:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Fair keeps an up-to-date watch on media coverage practices and features helpful commentaries. This commentary by Norman Solomon humorously compares the ten commandments to media practices. It has been reprinted in the WACC newsletter, "Action." WACC helped to organize grassroots voices during the recent Geneva Summit. This brief article about community radio during the summit is insightful for naming its strengths.

Adelante,
Adán

Posted by at 8:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It is 15 minutes past midnight. I'm deeply troubled by a documentary I saw last night on HBO2, "Child Soldiers." Terrible images and interviews with children who have been through the hell of soldiering in Uganda, Sudan, Burma, Colombia and Sierra Leone. This documentary, produced by Electric Pictures, examines the complex issue of recruitment, kidnapping of children to become brutal child soldiers. For those who escape or who survive the fighting – there are daunting post-conflict challenges that lay before them.

The documentary premiered in October and is being re-run. One way we can help is to make links to the website of the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers.

Adán

Posted by at 1:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Healing one another, accompanying each other, trusting. These are evocative words from the video production I have just completed. They are also the words of true leaders in this debate about Bishop Robinson in the Anglican Church. Note this dated but relevant letter from Bishop Cristopher Senyonjo, former Chairman of Integrity-Uganda.

An updated account of him is here.

Adán

Posted by at 4:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This visual explanation of the size of 87 billion is yet another wake up call. Got the link from Mary's blog.

Adán

Posted by at 9:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While attending the "Creadores de Imágenes Cristianas" seminar in Chile last month, I heard about this business deal that licensed The Virgin of Guadalupe Image to a US company, Viotran, that handles wire transfers immigrants use to send money home. I wonder if it is true.
It was a discussion of intellectual property rights and patents. This is an area where the World Trade Organization, Institutional Church and indigenous spirituality meet. It is my continued hope that the narrow-minded philosophy of the WTO will soon cease to be the only framework for these strange and sinister maneuverings over who owns what images.

Adán

Posted by at 5:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been away from blogging because my meetings in Rome were all day and all night. Was on an educational tour to learn about the services that various Catholic institutions provide worldwide. I came away inspired.
Jesuit Refugee Services braves many political obstacles to help refugees in abominable situations. Accompany, Serve, Defend is their motto.
You can get a copy of their new book, "War Has Changed our Life, Not Our Spirit" about experiences of forcibly displaced women.
Adan

Posted by at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Brandon sent me this link, "The Gospel of Supply Side Jesus."
Interpretation is everything. This poem by Alberto Ríos, "Day of the Refugios" reveals how deeply and importantly we carry interpretation.

And finally, the UN General Assembly is calling on all religions and peoples to keep a peace vigil on 9/21.

Adán

Posted by at 8:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last night on Larry King Live Walter Cronkite explained clearly and equanimously why he did not support the US invasion of Iraq and why today we are in such a quagmire. His remarks about the so-called patriot act went something like this: "If we destroy our own freedoms in order to protect ourselves from the terrorists, what is the value of protecting ourselves from the terrorists in the first place if what we think of as America is gone?"
I hope that his words will help give impetus to the increasing voice to end Bush's war. Here are a few practical things we can do.
Adán

Posted by at 3:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After Bishop Gene Robinson was accepted as the first openly gay bishop by the general convention of the Episcopal Church, meeting in Minneapolis Minnesota last week, he was interviewed by "All Things Considered" on NPR. He said that throughout the ordeal of the debate in Minneapolis he prayed Psalm 27. He quoted some of the passages on the air with ringing sincerity "men advance against me to devour my flesh."

"Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then will I be confident. ."

Upon hearing his words my faith was deeply touched and vitalized. Gracias a Dios.

Adán

Posted by at 8:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Communications Rights in the Information Society (CRIS) is a campaign to ensure that communication rights are central to the information society and to the upcoming World Summit to the Information Society (WSIS). The campaign is sponsored and supported by the Platform for Communication Rights, a group of NGOs involved in media and communication projects around the word.

Pradip Thomas from WACC gave a personalized explanation in Vancouver last week.

You can get involved by forming discussion groups for your organization. Take the first step and write to the campaign organizers.

Adán

Posted by at 8:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My friend in Santiago, Chile, Rodrigo Garcia says that "Can Linux be an opportunity to develop solutions in communites with limited resources, as in Latin America?" He mentions BioLinux, an Argentinian project that develops a sofware solution for Argentinean hospitals using the Linux platform and adds, will Linux survive the giant Microsoft?

Alberto Pigola, Uruguay, reminds me that even for Linux there are "talons of greed" biting on its heels, citing this article about SCO.

Any coments or links, I will really appreciate.
Adan

Posted by at 8:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This manifesto, from 1999, provides an interesting step into exploring the free market and copyright issues. Titled cluetrain manifesto, it is referred to by Mary Hess in a wonderful address she made to the Association of Theological Librarians.

There is a market all over Latin America for religious resources. The team of Roberto Viola, Eloisa Chouy and five other creative catechists in Montevideo, Uruguay have long been saying, "Our videos are all over Latin America. We get e-mails from people saying that they saw our videos even in Cuba." Eloisa and team have not seen a penny because the copies are all pirated. Noone in latin America has yet figured out a way to distribute religious resources, yet people who need them have from time to time found a way to get them. The Uruguayan team think piracy has been great because their work is being done.
Now on their website they've made their resources also available. Even their on-line course on Christology is free -- but requires a commitment. They work day jobs and do this in the evenings and on weekends and have been doing so for years. Refreshing.

Now let's give some more thought to making these materials more accessible to schools, community groups and churches.

Posted by at 3:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at the Pacific School of Religion makes note of the film, "In The Name of Allah," described as "the world's first documentary to explore the complex intersections of Islam with Gender and Sexuality. It is by Parvez SharmaThe film which is currently a work in progress "takes a close, involved and personal look at the mostly invisible lives of a strong but seldom heard minority: lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender Muslims and their allies. In the recent past there have been some glimpses of these lives, seen through camera's eagerness to capture the silence that surrounds them. This film will go further in detailing the richness and persecution, intense pain and joyous celebration that come with being LGBTQ and Muslim."

Peace,
Adán

Posted by at 7:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Catholics are commenting about The US Supreme Court ruling of last Thursday that struck down Texas's "Homosexual Conduct” law, which criminalized oral and anal sex by consenting gay couples and was used widely to justify discrimination against lesbians and gay men. Bishop Gregory of the US Catholic Bishops finds this ruling by the Supreme Courth threatening. Go figure. Same old.

How different in tone, with more insightful reasoning and pastoral care, is the story from the Catholic Brazilian news agency, ADITAL that reports Lutheran Pastor Roberto Piñeda's words to a gay gathering today in El Salvador, Brazil: "entiendo que mi responsabilidad como pastor es acompañar a los que sufren y a los que luchan. Y ustedes como Comunidad Gay sufren discriminación de esta sociedad homofóbica y se encuentran luchando y eso lo respeto mucho."

It is on the margins, among the powerless who are despised, it is there that hope lives and joy bursts forth. Caiphas is alive and well, but so is the spirit of God.

Peace,
Adán

Posted by at 6:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)