Elise’s Online Thoughts

For months, I worked with the Progressive Democrats of America on planning a counter-convention called Progressive Central. We rented the Central Presbyterian Church downtown and had an incredible program of the most progressive elected officials, filmmakers, authors, and activists in the country. See the PDA Progressive Central Schedule of Events for the list of our speakers and panelists.

I got to meet the U.S. House Majority Leader  Steny Hoyer, Kim Gandy from the National Organization of Women (NOW), Rep. John Conyers, Jr., and so many other incredible people. I worked my butt off running around three levels of this 1870’s era church. It was like being on a stairmaster for 4 days straight (Sun-Wed). Our event was so successful that by Thursday, our last day, political icons such as Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rep. Dennis Kucinich were asking us if they could stop by.

I missed the excitement at Progressive Central on Thursday because George and I got community credentials to see Barack Obama’s nomination speech at Invesco Field. We were definitely in the nosebleed section, but being able to see so many of our country’s Democratic Leaders was quite an experience. We saw Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Gov. Bill Richardson, Sen. Joe Biden, and our favorite non-Barack speaker was Al Gore. Since it was the 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech, two of Dr. King’s children were there to mark the occasion. The energy in the stadium full of 85,000 people was amazing.

Then Obama took the stage. It was about time to hear someone say out loud that patriotism has nothing to do with whether or not someone supports the war in Iraq. It was wonderful to hear him pledge to make equal work have equal pay (referring to women’s pay inequities that are rampant in our country). The hope conveyed and shared by everyone there brought us to tears. It was a part of history I will never forget.

On August 16, we finally had our colony of bees removed. Two beekeepers from Schultz Honey and Wax arrived at the house, removed part of the garage roof, and promptly vacuumed as many bees as they could into bee cages. They said we had an area 7 feet long by 51 inches wide that had been colonized. That’s about 30,000 bees in our backyard. Despite the numbers, they said our bees were phenomenally docile. Only one of the guys got stung once through the whole process. And that was initially without gloves on.
So once they removed the hive and sucked up the bees, they gave us some of the honeycomb. The rest was sent back with the hive to feed the bees until they could get a new hive built. They didn’t actually see the queen bee, but said they usually get her in the vacuuming process.

So we were left with several pounds of honeycomb. The key to extracting the honey was to put some gloves on and crush the honeycomb, then it would drain through a colander into a bowl below. We filtered the honey a second time with a fine screen drainer.
All in all, I had almost 30-8oz. jars of the most floral and delicious honey we’d ever tasted. If you’re interested in some honey, let me know. There’s plenty left. *grin*

Okay, so now I feel like we live in the middle of a jungle. It all started while I was watching a documentary on the garden in the middle of Times Square (literally in the median) - coincidental, eh? The smell of skunk is all through the house. I get up to check it out and there’s a dead looking skunk on the sidewalk right outside the dining table window with a large, but scrawny fox picking at it.

So I call the non-emergency numbers and of course, animal control only deals with live animals, and the dead animal clean up crew doesn’t come back until Monday. So I called Edwin, who graciously gave me moral support at 1AM. I finally braved the skunk adventure, took the snow shovel and scooted it out to the side of 17th.

Then, coming back through the garage, I see the massive swarm of bees outside their hive on the garage. The swarm outside has doubled since last week.

So I leave my shoes outside, go to the front porch hoping to get a snapshot of the fox. The front porch mat is all blown up against the stair as usual, so I straighten it out barefoot to discover there’s a black widow crawling on it. Nice! So I run inside, and now the cat has a gnat that she’s excitedly playing with on the wood floor. This is almost as bizarre as Tonga. I just need some geckos to serenade me to sleep.

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Okay, this is weird. In the time it took for me to upload the photos and post the blog, the skunk has disappeared. I don’t know if the city came after all or the fox is eating a stinky meal.

George and I just got back from the National Conference on Media Reform in Minneapolis this past weekend. I knew when Bill O’Reilly referred to us as lunatic fascists, that I was part of a movement towards a true democracy that was making a difference. Few people understand the media reform movement even though I believe it to be one of the most important and salient issues we face. The fact that a handful of major companies own the majority of every major city’s television, radio, and newspapers is appalling. The fact that less and less local news gets coverage and that emergency systems in rural areas are neglected because of automated television and radio being pumped in from corporate headquarters is disgraceful. We, the American people, own those television and radio airwaves. Just like we own national park lands. And corporations make billions and billions of dollars off of them with NOTHING in return to the people. It used to be that television stations had to meet certain public education and programming criteria or face losing their licenses. We need the FCC to reinstate those rules, not expand handouts to big media.

Don’t watch TV or listen to the radio? Neither do we. But internet neutrality is a huge issue for those of us who don’t. By now, most of you realize that all our media sources will be delivered by broadband in the next few years. Do you realize that the companies who provide you with that broadband do so at speeds less than almost any other industrialized nation in the world? And that they want to charge you to have faster access? Did you know that they want to have pay-per-view websites, toll roads to the internet, and censorship of content you can access? This all happened with radio and television back in the day. The people with the money want you to be a slave to consumption. I don’t want to be a slave to anything.

I want a media that represents my life. I want to know about social issues in the news and what I can do about it. I don’t just want to know about who was raped and killed. That’s another thing - the recklessness with which news programs cover stories on violence against women is atrocious. If they cover those stories at all. There is so much victim blaming that I want to throw up. No one can do any action that deserves rape as a reaction. I don’t care how short her skirt was or where she was in the middle of the night or if she invited him over in the first place. Over 85% of sexual assaults are perpetrated by someone the victim knows and trusts. It doesn’t make it any less real. (Can you tell this is something I am passionate about?)

Every panel or plenary at the NCMR conference taught me something. Most of the plenaries moved me to the point of tears. A free and open media is crucial to the success of democracy. The founding fathers made sure that we acknowledged the purpose of a free press in the First Amendment of the Constitution. You know, that document that provides the foundation for the country we live in? I just bought a copy of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. It has been far too long since I have read it. Did you know that impeachment is mentioned 3 times in the body of the Constitution? That’s before free speech, the right to vote, and all other things listed in the Bill of Rights. Dan Rather

So please, investigate on your own about media reform at www.freepress.net and www. savetheinternet.org. If you have any questions, ask me! Write your editors, call your elected officials, and don’t hesitate to say something to someone when you see crap on tv.

Here are some important names to know: Bob McChesney, Amy Goodman, Bill Moyers, John Nichols, Van Jones, Arriana Huffington, Naomi Klein, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstien, Rep. Keith Ellison, Laura Flanders, and the late Sen. Paul Wellstone.

P.S. If you have never called your elected representatives about an issue, you’re failing at your job as a citizen. They can only act the way you want them to if you let them know what you want. (I’ve called mine over a dozen times in the last month.)

So I found out this week that I got a cool scholarship for next year. Well, technically, I got two scholarships which each spread out over the next two semesters. One is a general scholarship from the School of Public Affairs. The other is the John Buechner Scholarship. It all totals to less than two classes each semester when I usually take 3. In the state that’s 49th in the country for higher education funding, I’m doing great! At the very least, it means I can take out less loans and/or get a new computer next semester. That’s awesome! Thanks UCD!

The semester is in full swing. I actually dropped a class because so much was going on. Everyone always wants to know what keeps me so busy, so here’s a list of projects/groups I’ve been working on/with so far this year:

• CU Denver Center on Domestic Violence relationship survey project

• CU Denver Center on Domestic Violence website

• CU Denver Center on Domestic Violence health services certificate

• Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence Legislative Committee

• Running a peer support group for violence survivors in Denver on meetup.com

• Volunteer Training for Family Tree’s Women In Crisis DV Shelter

• Progressive Democrats of Colorado (an initiative in the Colorado Democratic party)

• Progressive Democrats of America

• Democratic Party Precinct Committee Member (aka Precinct Captain)

• Graduate Classes (2) – Psychology of Domestic Violence and Leadership & Ethics

• Preparing for my thesis and internships

• Playing Tomb Raider Anniversary, Dance Dance Revolution, and Puzzle Quest on the Wii

• Rebuilding this website

So this is my new blog. I’ve been inspired by the other strong and beautiful women around me to share more thoughts and feelings about my healing process than I have ever dared share online before. So many people I know and love are across the world these days, so this can help keep everyone up to date with me. It’s also an experiment in having a voice somewhere. I’m learning how important and empowering having that voice can (and should) be. So check back here periodically for my musings, rants, and brain dumps. Please feel free to comment, disagree, suggest, and otherwise voice yourself back to the posts.

Love, Elise