“We make no pretense of where we are…The real question is ‘Where is Haiti?’ — and ‘What is Haiti?’ If you are honest, even if you tell them, most passengers don’t know where they are, usually.”

Royal Caribbean International promises Caribbean cruises filled with blue skies, palm trees, and…abject poverty? As Danna Harman reports for the Christian Science Monitor, Royal Caribbean cruise ships dock at the Labadee beach in Haiti to disgorge passengers eager for jet skiing and sunbathing, not unlike Royal Caribbean’s stops in the Bahamas or Bermuda. But somehow Haiti doesn’t have quite the same ring as some of the Caribbean’s more prosperous islands. The cruise line identifies the location as “Labadee, Hispaniola” on its website and describes it as a private, secret destination.

The only real secret about Labadee is the poverty surrounding it. The real Haiti looks like this and like this — a country with the highest HIV seroprevalence rate in the Western hemisphere and a history of United States involvement and homegrown despotism. After driving to Labadee through the hilly countryside of Haiti’s northern coast, I found that the most striking thing about the beach was not its pristine vistas or palm trees, but the cement laid down under the sand to mask the land erosion resulting from overfarming. And while I found it easy to scorn the cruise boat tourists who disembarked, believing they were in Hispaniola, the missionaries quoted in the Christian Science Monitor article are correct. It’s only through tourism and marketing that Haiti will ever recover from its deep economic depression. In a way, the country must hide its true identity in order to sell itself to the clueless consumers who can save it.

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“When you look at the way the House of Representatives has been run, it has been run like a plantation, and you know what I’m talking about…. It has been run in a way so that nobody with a contrary view has had a chance to present legislation, to make an argument, to be heard.”

The Senator’s remarks (made at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration in Harlem) have been blasted by the Bush administration, including Laura Bush, for comparing the current House of Representatives to a Southern plantation. Senator Clinton claims that we “know what [she’s] talking about” — but do we? In Clinton’s parlance, plantations are synonymous with slavery and racism, and perhaps that’s the way it should be given the historical realities of Southern culture prior to the Civil War. But in the South, retirement communities in the Outer Banks are named “Green Plantation,” and the homes of former slave owners are tourist attractions on the historical registrar.

Plantations symbolize different things to different races, political parties, and regions in our nation. I’m no proponent of  the South’s romantic recasting of its past, but Clinton’s use of the plantation as a metaphor obfuscates her point and can only serve to further alienate a region the Democrats must retake. The Democrats don’t need to use contentious symbols in unrelated political dialogue when it’s the homogenous, conservative men and women of the House of Representatives that truly need the nation’s attention.

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If you’ve been looking for a good reason to get hot and bothered about the state of America’s healthcare system, look no further. While The New York Times’ current series on diabetes is occasionally redundant, today’s article illuminates the stark realities of insurance coverage for diabetics.  As insurers refuse to pay the costs of preventative care, such as nutritional counseling or podiatry appointments, diabetics — predominantly poor populations and /or racial and ethnic minorities — are left to flounder until the gravity of their disease requires amputations or other drastic surgeries. As Dr. Bernstein of Beth Israel Hospital stated, “Until we address the financing and the reimbursement structure, this disease is going to rage out of control.”

As the Times reports, diabetes is already out of control. Without preventative care, the epidemic crippling America’s poor will become a plague.

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“On a deeper level Barbie has become inanimate. She has lost any individual warmth that she might have possessed if she were perceived as a singular person. This may go some way towards explaining the violence and torture.”

University of Bath academics conducting research on the roles of brands among children ages 7 to 11 found that Barbie dolls are frequently singled out for decapitation, scalping, burning, and microwaving. Instead of cultivating maternal instincts or inspiration among its consumers, Mattel’s Barbie dolls seem to bring out “violence and hatred” — possibly because they are too old for the dolls but possibly also because Barbies represent some form of cultural excess. Dr. Nain stated, “The girls almost always talked about having a box full of Barbies. So to them Barbie has come to symbolise excess. Barbies are not special; they are disposable, and are thrown away and rejected…”

While Barbie dolls have long been the target of feminism and gender equity advocates (and even, on some occasions, of vigilantes and mad scientists), Barbie hatred has always previously been seen as an adult phenomenon. Dr.Nairn’s research suggests that Barbie’s pert plastic breasts may also represent more than merely a doll to the children who covet her.

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“If you want our money, you have to let our recruiters on campus”

The Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday from law schools who wish to bar — or at least limit — recruiting by employers who discriminate against gays and lesbians. This means the military, one of the last bastions of open discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The Solomon Amendment, which ties federal funds for education  to military recruiting access, has thus far curtailed the extent to which schools of any nature may obstruct military access. It seems unlikely, given the tenor of the justices’ responses, that the court will act to overturn the amendment, or previous court decisions regarding the military in schools.

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Deborah Davis was riding the bus to work in Denver, Colorado, this past September, when security guards boarded the bus and requested identification from the passengers. When Ms. Davis refused, she was arrested by federal police, charged with federal criminal misdemeanors, and told that she had to show identification to the police whenever it was requested, “even if it was in a Wal-mart.”

What’s the catch? The bus Ms. Davis rode to work daily crossed through the Denver Federal Center, where a collection of low-security government administration buildings (such as the Veteran’s Administration) is located. The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado has taken her case and will represent her, along with a private firm, at her arraignment on December 9th; her supporters have created a website championing her cause as an example of the federal government’s infringement of civil rights following 9/11.

Ms. Davis no longer commutes to work via the bus she was arrested on, but her case is eerily reminiscent of bus searches and privileged seating in our nation’s not-so-distant past. December 9th is merely the arraignment in what will no doubt be a long and drawn-out judicial process, but the eventual outcome of Ms. Davis’ case will reflect the extent to which the judiciary will check the federal government’s power.

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“…this was a politically motivated decision that came down from the highest levels at the FDA.”

The Government Accountability Office released a report yesterday revealing that the FDA’s decision to reject sale of emergency contraception over the counter was “highly unusual.” The decision involved top agency officials in addition to ignoring the recommendations of an independent scientific panel and agency staff.

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November 15 marks the opening date for seniors to register for “Part D” of Medicare, the prescription drug plan. People over 65 who receive Medicare will have the choice to register for one of many prescription drug plans, all of which will offer some discounts on their medicine. Sounds great, right? America’s elderly population will no longer have to board buses en masse and travel to Canada to get their prescriptions filled or cut their heart medication in half to make their prescriptions last. Medicare represents a step towards federal responsibility for the huge disparity in health care among America’s citizens — not so fast.

As enrollment begins next Tuesday, prescription drug companies will begin slashing their charitable drug programs. Seniors who once qualified for free medications from pharmaceutical companies will now find that they have to pay for their prescriptions. This wouldn’t seem like such a negative event if Medicare would assume the medication cost. But Medicare’s prescription drug plans will not assist seniors whose prescription drugs cost between $2,251 and $5,100 annually; instead, it will offer them discounts on the money they spend in a lower price bracket and leave them responsible to shoulder co-pays that could approach $3,600.

While Medicare may offer savings to some seniors, enrolling in a prescription drug program remains a bureaucratic nightmare. Insurance companies, eager to cash in on a new market, have flooded seniors’ mailboxes with promotional materials. Not all medications are covered by all insurance plans, so seniors will have to pick and choose plans based on the medications they are currently prescribed — and they’ll have to use the Internet to do it.  As of today, the government has not made any provisions for helping seniors without Internet access or skills access the complex formularies that can identify the best plan for their needs.

This leaves the responsibility to non-profits and individuals, just as the Bush administration would like it. If you know a senior, please help him or her access the site and make some sense of this nonsensical program. And while you’re at it, write your senator a letter. Programs designed to address health equity shouldn’t depend on technology access or equality.

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“It’s not as obvious as it was that day in Montgomery, but we’re segregated in this city now in many ways…In restaurants you see it. At work you see it. Honestly, I think Rosa Parks would be disappointed. I want to believe that one person can change the world like she did, but I don’t know if I believe one person can solve things here.”

Ms. Thompson spoke as politicians gathered in Detroit to honor Rosa Parks’ life work this afternoon.

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Since March of 2003, over 2,000 American troops have been killed in Iraq.

By all accounts, this death toll — the highest for Americans since the Vietnam war — is accelerating, not slowing. The same is true for Iraqi citizens. Iraq Body Count estimates that minimally 26,732 Iraqi citizens have died in the conflict.

As troops continue to return to Iraq for multiple tours of duty, and military recruiters continue to struggle — particularly among African Americans, who overwhelmingly oppose the war — President Bush states that “the best way to honor the sacrifice of our fallen troops is to complete the mission.”  As we honor the dead of our country, many of whom are heart wrenchingly young, we must support our communities as they grieve and continue to seek ways to bridge the political divides that persist among us.

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“It’s not something bad to have increased shopping in Ramadan. The more people buy, the more they share.”

—Mohammed Mahgoub, Advertising Committee Member

Giving new meaning to “ramadan kareem” (the traditional Ramadan greeting, meaning, “a generous Ramadan,” The New York Times reports today that the holy month of Ramadan is becoming increasingly commercialized in the Arab world.

—Laura Louison

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A national study of high school English teachers conducted by Concordia College found that, overwhelmingly, English teachers believe that Biblical literacy is an advantage for students tackling advanced reading materials. Now, there’s a textbook to help them do it. The Bible Literacy Project, a non-partisan organization based out of Virginia, has developed a textbook to teach the Bible as literature in high schools.  Their tagline is “An educated person is familiar with the Bible,” and that’s hard to argue with given how frequently the Bible is referenced in Shakespeare, Hawthorne, or Faulkner — all canonized authors we expect well-educated men and women to be knowledgeable of.

In an age when the theories of intelligent design are encroaching upon classrooms, one would expect this new textbook to be attacked by liberals on the grounds that its inclusion in the curriculum violates separation of church and state.  And that’s where they’d be wrong. The Bible is already in English classrooms, and to cloak that in ambiguity only further positions the evangelical right in the position of wronged martyrdom they so adore. By shedding light on the Bible’s influence on literature, teachers can acknowledge the complex intersection of religion and history and arm their students with knowledge — far more powerful than censoring their reading materials.

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