What I Will Miss About Boston

1) my beloved Citgo sign, seen here by day



and pre-renovation by night



2) walking - not really acceptable or practical in LA

3) Jamaica Plain - the place I've lived longest in my life, where you'll always run into someone you know on Centre Street, home of Jamaica Pond, the Arboretum, Forest Hills Cemetery, and Franklin Park

4) JP Licks - at the rare hour when there were no screaming children; my favorite cake ever: oreo ice cream cake

5) Fat Ram's Pumpkin Tattoo Source of all my tattoos (though some are from before tattooing was legalized); you can see a picture of my waves on his color page

6) Central Square - even though it was completely gentrified in the 90s, Central Square is still a great place, and my home away from home: Green Street Studios, the Dance Complex, Harvest Co-Op, The Middle East, TTs, many great restaurants, I could go on and on...

7) the White Mountains - ok, this is New England, not Boston... we were unable to hike there this summer due to my foot surgery... looking forward to hiking it again in the future

There's so much more, but I need to finish packing as we hit the road at 6 am.

Who the Fuck is Charlie?

Well I was planning a rant about the new "Charlie Card" system in Boston, and while looking for an image of dear ol' Charlie, I happened upon this post from a fellow Boston blogger. Makes the whole thing even weirder that they would name the new card system (which replaces tokens, much like New York's Metrocard) after a character in a song that criticized fare hikes!

Anyway, my rant is more along these lines:
1) Why a white man? Doesn't Boston have enough problems with racism (ahem, Silverline)?
2) Why a human name at all? "T" has worked just fine as a name for years!
3) Doesn't Charlie look like the old Joe Camel, just with the penis nose chopped off?
4) Once you've bought a Charlie Card and you happen to want to get on the T at a stop that hasn't converted yet, you're shit outta luck. You may have money left on that card, but you're unable to use it. So you have to pay again. Typical.

Who Backs Immediate Ceasefire?

Making People Afraid of Toothpaste

I had the dubious pleasure of flying to LA the day after the new “terror” plot was revealed in the UK and new travel restrictions were announced.  No lotion!  No toothpaste!  No contact solution!  Taste your baby’s formula!  No drinks!  A friend who had the misfortune to travel the day the arrests were announced even saw expensive lipsticks confiscated.

With a 6:45 am flight to LA last Friday, we dutifully got a cab at 3:30 am in order to reach the airport the requisite 3 hours in advance.  When we arrived, there was already a line snaking around terminal C.  Airline and security staff weren’t even at their posts as we queued up and waited.  Around 4:15am, the airline staff arrived, and began encouraging us to “surrender” our liquids and gels, or else pack them in checked luggage.  Security moved slowly, but surely.  The graveyard of water bottles made me thirsty.  Before we boarded the plane, they hand searched all of our carry-ons, a practice I didn’t even experience in the weeks immediately following 9-11, when I flew around the country quite a bit.  (At least we were able to take carry-ons – flights originating from and connecting in Europe were denied even a book to read.  Books = danger!)  

Overall, the personal inconvenience was minimal, other than having to check the bag we’d normally carry on.  Now I’m sitting in LAX, waiting to return to Boston, and the security was no big deal.  

So, what was this episode all about?  In the midst of plummeting numbers of people who approve of the war in Iraq (and a steady march of 2 US troop deaths a day), Israel’s attack on Lebanon (during which they are merely told to “be careful” and “try not to kill too many civilians”), and the warm up to the mid-term elections, it’s clear that the Bush regime needed a little boost for their “war on terror”.  

Bingo!  Terrorists in the UK want to blow up planes traveling to the US!  Red alert on the Homeland Security (sic) color wheel for flights from the UK!  Orange alert for everyone else!  Danger Will Robinson!

The best part is that what airlines are controlling for is a long list of common liquids and gels.  I’m reminded of that SNL skit with Jerry Seinfeld as the newscaster who reported “a common household cleaner could be killing you right now! More at 10:37.”

Gone are the days of worrying about your nail clippers.  Who cares about sharp objects when your lotion could explode!

In Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore concluded that the issue in America is not higher crime rates than other countries, nor is it more guns.  The issue is FEAR.  I think our government understands this better than the average citizen, and they are depending on it working now.  The more scared people are, the more likely they are to buy into the Bush agenda of endless war “over there, so we don’t have to fight them here.”  Especially convenient at election time!  

We may never know if the people arrested in England last week were actually plotting to explode planes over the Atlantic or not.  Ultimately, that’s not even the point.  The point is that the Bush regime is continuing to boldly push their international agenda, which goes hand in hand with “the new normalcy” at home of increasing fear which makes it easier for the government to decrease civil rights.

I don’t believe that banning people from carrying liquids or nail clippers on planes makes us any safer, nor does having to stay seated for the last half hour of a flight into Washington DC.  If it’s “safety” we’re after (and that’s a whole debate in itself), two things that would go a long way are changing US policy on Israel and getting rid of the Bush regime.  I’d give up my toothpaste for that any day.

Jewish Youth Denounce Israel's Actions

I received this email from my friend and co-worker, Nikki. Her words and actions, and those of her friend Felicia, are very important, and I wanted to share them here.


Hello friends and family,

On Tuesday morning I participated in a "die in" with a group of young Jews at South Station. All of us were silent, dressed in black, and lying "dead" on the floor in front of the banners which read "Not all Jews support Israel's actions" and "Jews for human righs in Gaza and Lebanon".

The action was covered by the Boston Globe, the Herald, the Metro, Siglo21 and the CS Monitor. You can also see the photos of our action at this website.

We believe that the horrific massacres of women, children, and all civilians is contrary to the Jewish tradition. It was painful to stand and lie on the ground while people shouted their opposition to us - but it felt so important to publicly break the consensus of unequivocal support for Israel's actions. At one point a woman who looked like my ma caught my eye, and with tears in her eyes said "Thank you. I'm so proud of you."

I am including the peice that my dear friend Felicia wrote after the action. I hope you don't mind my sharing this with you, and I welcome dialogue. Please pass it on to anyone you feel may be interested.

In solidarity,

Nikki

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L'chaim: Thoughts on Coming Back From the Dead
by Felicia Kazer



For me, celebrating life is at the core of all the teachings, traditions and rituals that I love about being Jewish. Sharing delicious meals with friends on Shabbat, lighting the menorah for 8 days in a row, dancing at my cousin Sam's bar mitzvah, studying text late into the night on Shavuot…these are the Jewish practices I treasure most and I know I'm not alone. Celebrating life is what Jews do best: apples and honey, costume parties at Purim time, heated discussions around the seder table. Judaism not only teaches us to celebrate life, it reminds us to do this every time we clink our glasses. Instead of "cheers" or "salud", we say "l'chaim" or "to life."

Why then are there Jews today who are deeply engaged in acts of murder? For a people who believe that life is a blessing, how is it possible that we are simultaneously sentencing innocent people to death? I see the pictures of the victims in Lebanon and my heart breaks. How can this be? I imagine the desperation of thousands of people trapped in Gaza without food, water or electricity. I can practically hear the cries from mothers and fathers as they pull their dead children from the debris left by the bombs that fell in Qana and Beirut. Did Jews really order those bombs to be dropped? Please tell me it's not true. I want no link to whomever is responsible for this madness. I want nothing in common with anyone capable of such atrocities. Tell me they're alien monsters from another planet or robots without hearts or brains. Perhaps Ehud Olmert is a monster, but he's also a Jew and this thought is what made me cry yesterday in my kitchen while listening to the news.

Today was the first day I have felt proud to be a Jew in a couple of weeks. Today I went to South Station in downtown Boston and participated in a "die in" with about 20 comrades. Dressed in all black we wore signs on our bodies that said, "Not all US Jews support Israel's Actions." We entered the station during one of the busiest times of the weekday, we unrolled our banners and died right there on the floor. Our message demanded, "Jews for Human Rights in Gaza and Lebanon". Once we were kicked out of South Station, we sang a nigun as we slowly moved outside. We repeated our action twice at two different busy locations outside the station. Throughout all three, we were silent and we were seen. Twenty dead bodies on the sidewalk silently screaming for attention.

Is this really what it takes for me to feel proud to be a Jew right now? Do I have to pretend to be dead in the middle of a crowd in order to distinguish myself from what is being presented in the press as a unified and unwavering Jewish support for Israel's actions? Sadly, it seems that this is exactly what's needed right now. Lying in the same position on a dirty concrete floor with thousands of commuters rushing by was uncomfortable and scary. However if this is what it takes to strike a cord because death, and not life, is what Jews in power are practicing, then I would pretend to be dead again tomorrow.

There are many complexities when it comes to Israel's security in the Middle East, but there are also many things that are very simple. There exists a human rights crisis right now. Israel is the second largest military power in the world and it is killing hundreds of innocent civilians in the name of defense. Yes, Israelis are dieing as well and I mourned these senseless deaths today with just as much grief. There is nothing forgivable about kidnapping soldiers and sending katyusha rockets to Northern Israel that kill civilians. However, there is no solution found in targeting Lebanon's civilian infrastructure and "turning back the clock in Lebanon by 20 years." This is what Israel's army chief of staff threatened and in the last 3 weeks this is exactly what has happened. Lebanon's major airport, highways, and ports have suffered billions of dollars worth of damage. Over 750 people, mostly women and children, have been killed and Lebanon will be grieving and rebuilding for years to come. I see pictures of Lebanese civilians bombarding the UN building with protests and it breaks my heart to see another generation of Muslims filled with hate and anger. Is this really the path to peace and security?

In accepting these horrific acts, it seems many of us Jews have forgotten our own tradition. I don't know how this happened. Our rituals are punctuated by a reminder to celebrate life and our greeting has the word "peace" embedded within it. What other reinforcements do we need? I was always taught that in Judaism, it's not enough to say it, it's the doing it that really counts. L'chaim and shalom.