Spain Legalizes Same-Sex Marriages - New York Times

Spain Legalizes Same-Sex Marriages - New York Times: "The measure passed the 350-seat Congress of Deputies by a vote of 187 to 147. The bill, part of the ruling Socialists' aggressive agenda for social reform, also lets gay couples adopt children and inherit each others' property"

more progress...

postsecret

If you've never checked out postsecret you should. It's a fascinating group art project of people creatively confessing their innermost secrets. That description sounds cheezy, but it's really well done and quite interesting. The NYT did a good review of the site with some commentary.

It's sort of depressing, yet oddly cathartic. There's a bunch of responses at the bottom of the site from people out there who have found it supportive in various different ways. Indeed there's something about it that makes one feel a little less isolated.

As a random aside, I'm impressed by the number of people with collage skills that I'm sure are being underutilized. Aside from the Foucaultian need to confess, there is also some deeper desire for artistic expression I think. But maybe I'm just projecting.

Salon.com Arts & Entertainment | Meet the smoothies!

Salon.com Arts & Entertainment | Meet the smoothies!: "Metrosexuals, move over. The small towns of America are churning out macho, high-maintenance pretty men who love women and Budweiser -- and have perfectly waxed privates."

Good lord. As straight American men start manifesting their anxieties about masculinity in the demonstrative methods espoused by reality television, we apparently have some interesting cultural collisions along the way. It will be interesting to see if this phenomenon is a trend going somewhere or if it will fade out and die as people stop being able to be bothered.

There's also the question of whether men are doing it for themselves (which I would tend to think seems to be what's hinted at here largely) for the fame or for some sort of narcissistic enjoyment, or if it's about getting laid. If it's the latter, then it seems that straight women have a role in determining what they want. Market forces, right? So it will be interesting to see if women agree with Heather Havrilesky that "it's more than a little unnerving to feel disheveled and style-less and hairy in comparison to a man."

All in all, though, regardless of how Havrilesky defines smoothies in opposition to metrosexuals, both seem like extremely consumerist phenomena. It would be interesting to note how much of this comes down to class differentiation in the end. Can you be a smoothie on the cheap? Possibly, but it seems like it would take all of your time and resources...

Gay Marriage Is Extended Nationwide in Canada - New York Times

Gay Marriage Is Extended Nationwide in Canada - New York Times: "When the Senate approves the measure, considered a formality, Canada will become the third national government, after the Netherlands and Belgium, to enact such rights."

progress... yet another reason to move to Canada...

University to divest from four companies connected to Sudan

University to divest from four companies connected to Sudan: "'Divestment is an act that should be made rarely and carefully,' said Stanford President John Hennessy. 'In this case, it was clear that the genocide occurring in Darfur, which appears to be at least partly enabled by these four companies, is in direct opposition to Stanford University's principles.'"

I'm impressed. It takes an incredible amount of work to get Stanford to actually go through the full process of divestment. As committed as Stanford may or may not be to various social issues, the bottom line was always first when I was there. I worked on investment responsibility with other students regarding Burma issues, where companies in which the university invested were directly supporting the military junta. We couldn't move divestment and were basically told to back off. I don't even think we could get the university to vote its proxy votes.

People regularly ridicule student activists for being uninformed and extremist, but I have found many incredibly intelligent individuals out there doing good work. Here is the website for Students Taking Action Now: Darfur, the group working on the divestment campaign at Stanford. Kudos to them! I guess a 49 page detailed report helps to move things along.

spoon

Salon.com Arts & Entertainment | Audiofile: "Spoon's studio perfectionism makes them the kind of band you might expect to fall flat in live performance, but their shows are excellent, largely because of frontman Britt Daniel's charisma: He has a classic rock voice, confident and raucous and unashamed, and a swaggering, cocksure presence to match."

This is the best song I've heard in months. It's the song that I wait for when running with my iPod shuffle. It comes after Postal Service when out of shuffle mode at this moment. It's what's making me think about the record store and how they close every day before I leave work. Despite the fact that the new Royksopp is out in Europe TODAY after I don't know how much wait, it's still the Spoon album that I'm coveting.

You should download it if you have a few minutes. If you can't access Salon premium, get it from the Matador Records site directly. Free. I want to be able to describe music, but I'm just not there yet and don't want to expend the time. I'm heading to lunch. You- please listen.

Lausanne on Saturday

Jonathan and Tanya (both from the Syracuse program) making their way up a steep cobblestone street.

me with Cathedrale Notre-Dame in background

incredible organ inside

Montfalcon portal of Notre-Dame

BFF!

Exterior of Eglise St-Francois

Interior of Eglise St-Francois

In Ouchy!

CELEBRATING Christina's "Mother's Labor Day"

I'm happy because we managed to get all 5 Woos in Geneva together to celebrate Christina's Birthday this past Friday! We started off with dinner and drinks at the Bains de Paquis. The rain held off more or less, we made ourselves over to a fun bar where I drank lots of Boddington's, then onward to l'Usine where we danced the night away.

Walking home at 4:30, completely inebriated, I managed to have the most successful conversation in French with anyone on this trip so far. The random stranger was from Nice, into soccer, was heading across the bridge, etc. Possible language partner? Too bad he was trying to steal my wallet.

Criminality in Switzerland? Where it's illegal to own your own washing machine if you live in an apartment? Where it's forbidden to flush the toilet after 10pm? Say it ain't so.

Scott managed to locate us after a minor mix-up.

Cat popping open the champagne in celebration.

Chris blowing a kiss.

Christina: Now Age 24!

For more photos: http://photos.yahoo.com/counterhegemonic

yahoo penguins yahoo penguins

I seem to have guaranteed myself a stream of people engaged in penguin-related searches.

If you're looking for penguin stuff, welcome! Read the reviews -- they're good.

Best-
Leo

March of the Penguins

March of the Penguins: "The ads for Luc Jacquet's justly acclaimed new documentary, March of the Penguins, claim it's 'one of the most beautiful love stories on Earth.' In fact, however, this stunning film only shows how inefficient and downright stupid Mother Nature can be."

Ouch. This film is a penguin tragedy apparently. Rachel, don't follow the link. But I'm still dying to see it.

I hope it comes out in Geneva. Most films here are not dubbed thankfully, unlike in France I'm told.

Salon.com Arts & Entertainment | "March of the Penguins"

Salon.com Arts & Entertainment | "March of the Penguins": "Think you've got it bad? This emotionally wrenching documentary about the difficult life of the emperor penguin will put things in perspective. It may even renew your faith in love."

Oh my god I've been waiting for this film forever. (See my February 17, 2005 entry.) Reviewed in Salon, it must have found a distributor in the states. I love penguins...

Poll Shows Modest Changes in Levels of Anti-U.S. Mood - New York Times

Poll Shows Modest Changes in Levels of Anti-U.S. Mood - New York Times: "Although the United States is traditionally viewed as a land of opportunity, people in most countries, when asked where they would advise a young person to move to be able to lead a good life, chose other destinations. Australia, Britain, Canada and Germany were cited more often than the United States."

This quote completely is in line with Richard Florida's primary thesis in his relatively new book (the only book I've completed in the past month actually), The Flight of the Creative Class. I expect the article to pop up on his site sometime soon. His book discusses how the U.S. with its harsh immigration procedures and attitude of intolerance is blocking much-needed immigrants who drive the "creative economy" in the U.S. He talks about major urban centers in the countries listed as locations that are all managing to draw small parts of the flows of population that would in the past have come to the U.S. It's interesting to see this popping up in the opinion poll.

I don't have time to write much more, but it's also interesting to note that viewpoints of the U.S. in Indonesia improved after there was support forthcoming after the Tsunami.

Justices, 5-4, Back Seizure of Property for Development - New York Times

Justices, 5-4, Back Seizure of Property for Development - New York Times: "The 5-4 ruling represented a defeat for some Connecticut residents whose homes are slated for destruction to make room for an office complex. They argued that cities have no right to take their land except for projects with a clear public use, such as roads or schools, or to revitalize blighted areas."

The power of eminent domain is fascinating and continually controversial. I actually considered briefly looking at it for my final paper for my metropolitics class, focusing on the fact that the location where the Princeton Public Library now stands (on Witherspoon in a fairly central spot of the commercial center) was classified as a redevelopment zone. It's a big issue also with environmental restrictions on property. There is a fair amount of controversy about whether people should receive just compensation if their land is not "taken" but rendered unavailable for development because of environmental protections.

The FindLaw link on the New York Times site is pretty interesting as well, offering the Supreme Court decisions as well as pdfs of supporting amicus briefs. I notice that the American Planning Association is pretty active on this issue, logical considering the need to access properties to actualize comprehensive plans in many instances.

I do remember something in my Planning Theory class that Professor Angel mentioned that there has also been controversy about the City of New York using eminent domain to capture property in order to retain the New York Times within the city. Here's a discussion by CBS News on this. I notice that the Times didn't feel compelled to disclose that they've benefited from eminent domain in this way in the article...

Let's call it a day. Take care... And do leave comments! I welcome them. If this article is too boring, comment on salon or poplicks or something.

Asian American Studies Commencement Speech

zentronix: dubwise & hiphopcentric: Asian American Studies Commencement Speech: "Building community goes beyond centering the self. It is about imagining what it takes to revere justice, to respect difference, to reduce hurt, to correct wrong, to nurture growth, and to discover joy. It is about activating and propagating these values within a conception of 'we' that continually expands, and is always concerned with caring for the least of us first."

Poplicks.com: GLORY HOLE STOPS SERVING BEAR MEAT

Poplicks.com: GLORY HOLE STOPS SERVING BEAR MEAT

This is like the funniest thing I've read like ever. You must click through to the actual AP article. I cannot believe that this is not satire.

in the land of time theft...

You Are Absinthe!

You have a unique personality. Although most like you, sometimes you take some getting used to. You can be a bit strong. You are full of energy and sometimes flamboyant. You are the life of the party but if people are not careful you can knock them on their ass.

What Naughty My Little Pony Are You?

For those interested in something more substantive, here is Barbara Ehrenreich who explains time theft.

now playing...

...in my head:

Range Life.
Watch the Pavement video:

Now imagine over and over in my head:
I want a range life
if I could settle down
if I could settle down
then I would settle down
I want a range life
if I could settle down
if I could settle down
then I would settle down

At least it's an excellent song.

o computer - give me joy

I was out late at Terrace last night with good friends, drinking beer and wine and chilling out in the very comfortable night air. The fiberglass cows are out and about in public now - useful identifiers for offering points of reference in public spaces.

The synapses in my brain have been reorganizing themselves in odd ways. I've been periodically breaking into song at least in my head. I try to keep it to myself but since you're reading and not subjected to my actual voice, I'm singing in my head:

"Meet me by the bron-ze cow, the bron-ze cow"

to the tune of Emmylou Harris singing Wrecking Ball, a stellar tune by the way.

Anyhow, it's back to more excel at work, as I try to extract some more information for our tsunami evaluation project. I've been more productive at work lately, so I'd like to keep that up. On the other hand, I missed staff meeting because I didn't make it in by 9, so instead of learning about what the department is doing, I was snickering to myself reading Jonathan's version of events from the weekend. I'll make it to the meeting next week -- the boss is doing a presentation. I've put it into my palm as a repeating meeting.

Finally, I am still thinking a lot about Hotel Rwanda and just about the painfulness (and beauty, but mostly the painfulness) of the world around us. I went for a run on Monday evening after seeing the movie, actually going for a full hour and 45 minutes. This is an immense amount of exercise for me, but it seems to be the way that I can rid myself of some of the lurking subconscious angst that I know resides in the back of my head. It was a perfect run (almost made it into France!), full moon up for the last hour or so, smells of meadow blended with forest fire and exhaust, and I just felt like I had boundless energy. Also, this was in my new Nikes (brand that I usually despise for ethical and comfort reasons both) that I had bought 2 weeks ago in a desperate search for shoes that fit my size 12 feet (which apparently nobody in Switzerland has).

But anyway, my body has the odd trait of feeling the painful effects of exercise 2 days after it takes place, so I'm feeling a little creaky today.

Have a good day you all.

This is unrelated to anything chronological here - from my trip to the modern art museum a few weeks ago, but it's my attempt to make a picture pop up in the blogger profile.

photos

I'm still trying to figure out what photo software is best for all my purposes. I am currently using a staggering mess of options.

For now, if you want to see more photos of Luzern, you can access them from http://photos.yahoo.com/counterhegemonic.

Along the banks of the lake in Luzern.

This tower is part of a series that are along the old wall protecting the town.

This is Jonathan consuming some tasty gazpacho.

This is a collage of my trip to Luzern!

UNHCR - Special Events

UNHCR: "Courage in the face of flight and exile is the theme of World Refugee Day 2005"

Today is World Refugee Day, and UNHCR has been involved with lots of public education efforts. Their poster campaign is pretty intense.

They've also brought in music to the office and showed Hotel Rwanda at lunchtime. I actually hadn't seen it yet, and it's incredibly intense and powerful. I recommend that you check it out if you've not done so already.

Gay or Straight? Hard to Tell - New York Times

Gay or Straight? Hard to Tell - New York Times: "Gay vagueness affects both straight and gay men. It involves more than grooming and clothes. It notably includes an attitude of indifference to having one's sexual orientation misread; hence the breakdown of many people's formerly reliable gaydar."

This is the most-emailed article today at NYT.com which is entertaining. I had just been commenting that in Switzerland, there is less of a visual line delineating who is gay and who is not. Many straight men here would mistakenly register off the charts on gaydar in the U.S., yet the community of gays here seem to look relatively more nondescript compared to the U.S. with its various scenes and subcultures with their very marked looks.

I visited Luzern (Lucerne) this weekend for Switzerland's Gay Pride festivities. It was a great weekend. The parade was low-key and felt much more like how I imagine such events are when they're more locally produced without the huge corporate sponsors that pay for ginormous floats with Smirnoff dancers. Not that I am one of the people that's totally appalled by such grand productions, but there is something distinctively nice about the community feel to it. Lots of information booths handing out materials and such, with great dance parties in the evening. I was out past 4am which is very late for an old man like me. Yvonne Moore began the evening by performing a concert, a Swiss singer whom I enjoyed greatly. She was great live.

Poplicks.com

Poplicks.com: "The Penatgon confirmed that Mohammed al-Qahtani, the alleged 20th hijacker, was interrogated for 20 hours a day and kept awake by Aguilera's music."

So incredibly not funny, but I can't help myself.

This site is an incredible find. Must credit Salon for the link...

Salon.com Arts & Entertainment | Great bad ideas

Salon.com Arts & Entertainment | Great bad ideas

It's stuff like this that makes me desperately crave when I had time for tv. Now it's must more logistically difficult (don't think I have fx in Geneva in the basement tv room), and I won't have time in the fall when I'm again fighting deadlines at the Woo, but this sounds like such fun programming.

By the way, I love Heather Havrilesky's writing and would love her job. Watching tv and then writing about it. Maybe not the most socially productive activity but still...

WWS - Cover Story

WWS - Cover Story

Todorov: Candidates' 'face value' could influence voter behavior

Taking politicians purely at "face value" can frequently predict their success in elections, according to a study by the Woodrow Wilson School's Alexander Todorov and other Princeton researchers, published in the June 10 issue of Science.
--

If anyone has a subscription to Science or can access the article (possibly someone on campus at Princeton or who has configured their computer to have library access properly?), please send it to me.

Thanks,
Leo

Rusty Railroad Advances on Road to Pristine Park - New York Times

Rusty Railroad Advances on Road to Pristine Park - New York Times

This is an interesting article about use of urban space.

If you want more, here is a fairly in-depth article from The Next American City. They're quite good about catching these sort of items which then later appear in the mainstream press.

This time, it's for real: Save NPR and PBS

Subject: This time, it's for real: Save NPR and PBS

Hi,

You know that email petition that keeps circulating about how Congress is slashing funding for NPR and PBS? Well, now it's actually true. (Really. Check the footnotes if you don't believe me.)

Sign the petition telling Congress to save NPR and PBS:

http://www.moveon.org/publicbroadcasting/

A House panel has voted to eliminate all funding for NPR and PBS, starting with "Sesame Street," "Reading Rainbow," and other commercial-free children's shows. If approved, this would be the most severe cut in the history of public broadcasting, threatening to pull the plug on Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and Oscar the Grouch.

The cuts would slash 25% of the federal funding this year—$100 million—and end funding altogether within two years. The loss could kill beloved children's shows like "Clifford the Big Red Dog," "Arthur," and "Postcards from Buster." Rural stations and those serving low-income communities might not survive. Other stations would have to increase corporate sponsorships.

If we can reach 250,000 signatures by the end of the week, we'll put Congress on notice.

http://www.moveon.org/publicbroadcasting/

Thanks!

P.S. Read the Washington Post report on the threat to NPR and PBS at:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=745

The cow parade thing that every city seems to be doing, where artists decorate a fiberglass animal, is now in Geneva as well. But I thought that here it has been done extremely well, with the art quite appealing and varied. They did a fun free opening which I stumbed upon last week on the way to interdiscount to buy my prepaid cell phone. I'm addicted to texting now...

mona lisas...

the base of this cow permits it to be a good bench

the space with bar down lower - not unusual for Geneva, wine was free, water was 3 francs

cow was porous

There is good music everywhere. Aside from the actual real free concerts (saw Habib Koite at an outdoor sustainable development concert on Sunday), music is at random events. There was someone djing at the cow thing, but I even stumbed across a fun dj at Manor (department store) when sneaker shopping on Saturday. He had some remix of Pink going while I was wandering through -- so I guess "fun" is in the definition of the beholder. Supposedly the Fete de la Musique this weekend is great.

this and that

The Next American City

Completely unrelated to Geneva, those of you interested in planning should check out TNAC if you haven't before. It's a great publication.
---

I had the privilege of spending the day at a meeting of governments, NGOs and UNHCR, all groups concerned about resettlement of refugees. It was really interesting to learn about the ways that it is used as a durable solution to refugee crises (the other far-more-utilized strategies being voluntary repatriation and local integration). Did you know that over 12,000 Somali Bantus have been resettled in the U.S.?

Though it was the end of the day, and we were all pretty tired of sitting by that point, it was interesting to hear various presentations about resettlement of groups of refugees from one location at once. We heard about Ethiopians resettled in Australia, Liberians in Norway, Sudanese in Canada and Bantus in the U.S. It's interesting to hear about different methods that each country uses to process the refugees that enter and provide services to the populations. The challenges ranging from language to housing to job seeking definitely reminded me of my program coordination work at CAA.

I think one of the most compelling parts of the day was when a researcher from New South Wales discussed research about the terrible sexual and gender-based violence that some women in refugee camps face. She offered up a devastating case study of a woman who had repeated terrible experiences as an example of the incredible need for resettlement as an option for certain cases of the must vulnerable populations in refugee camps.

I will attend the meeting again for part of tomorrow before getting back to work looking at UNHCR's response to the tsunami disaster in Aceh province in Indonesia. It's interesting work to see what went well and where we can make recommendations to improve, so I've been quite busy with that (lots of time in front of a computer monitor though...)
---

I'm able to access the keywords people use that end up on my blog. It's pretty funny what Yahoo! searches send people over here. Apparently only Yahoo! has indexed me...

The data for my recent searches (thanks to statcounter):

Num - % - Search Term
4 17.39% buy a pet penguin
4 17.39% penguin warehouse
3 13.04% linguistic movies
2 8.70% .penguin warehouse inc
2 8.70% shengen, switzerland
2 8.70% buy a penguin for a pet
1 4.35% penguin as a pet
1 4.35% photos of asian drag queens
1 4.35% conversational reading
1 4.35% opinion buy blue
1 4.35% gay zoo
1 4.35% penguin warehouse, inc.
23 100.00%
---

Good night. I want to get a bit of work done here, then I'm braving the rain in Geneva. I'll throw together some dinner in my kitchenette (sad to only have 1 fully functioning burner and 1 that goes up to medium or so), then hopefully an early night.

I have been stumbling across free art everywhere in Geneva. This is a collage I made last night (effort-free thanks to Picasa) that captures a great exhibit on Sunday at a contemporary art museum next door to MAMCO (Mus�e d�art moderne et contemporain). Art museums are free the first Sunday of the month apparently. The space is amazing, with very high ceilings allowing for the tall sculptural pieces. The background is the light from the elevator shaft which was pretty cool in and of itself. I picked up like 100 flyers there on more upcoming events in the city.

Switzerland holds their elections on Sundays apparently and just had a key one the day before yesterday. Their precinct signs go up days in advance, with a large visible flag (not pictured). This location is on my way home if I walk the busy route.

Domestic Partnerships passed in Switzerland, as did Shengen-Dublin. Shengen allows for easier migration within Europe, but labor issues are still clearly extremely contentious.

As a random side note, I noticed that the domestic partnership article in the above link has 2 women, but initially, this was the link with 2 men.

It's difficult to read, but the grafitti reads something along the lines of "and there's nothing deviant about grown men in robes..." Sorry, my palm pilot has limited power.

an additional view of the inner "banana" from the side

Here's a photo from when the new High Commissioner spoke last week. It was a good event, and I think people here at work are cautiously optimistic and ready for the fresh start.

I love our building. Apparently the designer is a prison architect. It does mean lots of open space, and you can kind of surveil a full 2/3 of the building from the water cooler. It is genuinely nice. You can see everyone out on their levels, listening to the speech. The ground floor was totally full, but speakers had been installed on several levels so that everyone could hear what was taking place. The speech emphasized open communication and an appreciation for the staff that's been keeping UNHCR going. Seems like a reasonable message to start with.

Giancarlo dropped in a week and a half ago for a visit. Cat and I had a great time wandering around the city with him. This is brunch at Les 5 Portes, fairly near my home.

Can you imagine receiving this portion size in New Jersey?

One nice thing about Geneva is that on the week-end and evenings when there's decent weather, people just leisurely picnic in various public parks around town. There's an outdoor bar called Terrace where I spend a great deal of time, but it's certainly fine to bring your own beverages. No open container issues here...

This is in the English Garden. There's a giant clock made of flowers somewhere in the park, but I never seem to notice it.

Kebabs are the cheapest dinner around. I've yet to call in for a delivery, as there are quite a few places in my neighborhood well within reach.

This is the President Wilson hotel a block from my residence. I have been joking that I wished that the Wilson school owned this place instead of Starwood.

I have an infatuation with all the birds here. The swans I can watch for hours. They are not afraid of people, and they just have a lot of personality. Geneva is proud of the fact that they're a key location for bird migration, and they have a variety of species around.

Here's a picture of the Jet d'Eau, one of the most prominent symbols of Geneva. It's this massive fountain of water that according to the guide book originally had the utilitarian purpose of letting off extra water pressure but has become more of a showy fountain over time as stronger and stronger pumps have been installed.

This view of the Jet d'Eau is from the park near where I live. When conditions include just the right combination of sunlight and wind, you can see a rainbow stream through the fountain.

the top half...

up close...

New Head of U.N. Refugee Agency Chosen

VOA News - New Head of U.N. Refugee Agency Chosen

Guterres is coming by the office today at noon, and the building is set up with loudspeakers so that we can all hear the program welcoming him. It should be interesting to be here observing during the transition. He "officially takes up his functions" on the 15th of June.