Elenamary

Yesterday, was Blog Action Day. Each year bloggers are given a theme and encouraged to blog about it. Last year the theme was the Environment. This year the theme was Poverty. Last year I participated, this year I had intended to participate and did not.



Which is not to say I haven’t been thinking about poverty. I have been, just everything I have thought about writing has seemed so out of touch.



I work at the welfare office every Friday. A friend of mine whom I work with at the welfare office, who likes to think of himself as a rough and hard man had tried to find an elderly woman a homeless shelter for the night and every agency he called was filled to capacity. He told the eighty-two year old women that he couldn’t help her and then he left the front desk so that no one would see him cry. I lost it too. He was my support system, the one that helped me be strong when stories were too emotional. He no longer works at the front desk.



I don’t feel comfortable blogging about poverty. Even that sentence irks me “blogging about poverty”. What do I know about poverty? I don’t even recognize my own privilege in this country.



Yesterday, I was at a donut shop in a low-income neighborhood trying to get some studying in before I was to go work for a social service agency next door. An elderly couple, he 64, she 65 (they told me) asked me what I was studying. When I told them Chemistry they asked me if I wanted to be a pharmacist. They were very nice people, and impressed that I was going to college. I didn’t feel comfortable telling them my true aspirations because I felt it would be arrogant and so I said “Yes, it would be very nice to be a pharmacist”. Then they asked me, and why they asked me I don’t know, what my chemistry instructor’s name was. I answered “Dr. Smith”. The women responded “You have a doctor as a teacher? That is really great! Doctors know more than teachers.” The couple then began to discuss between themselves how much more doctors know than professors.



We hold medical doctors in too high regard in this country. We hold what they do as much more sophisticated than it really is.
It is not black magic…okay maybe anesthesia is black magic but the rest isn’t. Who was I to discuss this with them? I am the elitist, with my education who knows the difference between a PhD and an MD. Who am I to blog about poverty, on my laptop with my wireless connection?

Día de la Resistencia Indígena  o también Día de la Raza, fue celebrado ayer el doce de Octubre.  Pero hoy en Ohio es día de festivo en mi universidad y en las oficinas del Gobierno, el dia que ellos celebran el Cristóbal Colon.  Mientras los jueces y legisladores descansan y piensan en Cristóbal Colon, ni siquiera tomaran en cuento mi raza.  Quienes por ejemplo todavía no tienen el derecho de votar pero afuerzas están gobernados por los leyes hecha por la misma gente que ni siquiera han escuchado del Día de la Resistencia Indígena.

Yesterday, October 12th was the Day of Indigenous Resistance or also known as the Day olf the United People.  But today is celebrated as Christopher Columbus day at my university and government offices.  And while Judges and legislatures rest and think about Christopher Columbus, they won’t be taking a moment to think about my united people.  Who for example still do not have the right to vote even though they are forced to be governed by the laws created by the same people who have never heard of the Day of Indigenous Resistance.
I have a very close friend who is an American Citizen, governed by American Laws, who is prohibited, disenfranchised by “his government” from participating in the federal election.  He wrote about it here.

It may seem unAmerikan but I like doing research on the candidates and issues before I vote.  I usually google all candidates, issues, and read the arguments of both sides, and review newspaper editorials.  Two of my big resources have have also been The League of Pissed off Voters and Progress Ohio.

After I do my research, I write up my how to vote list and then email it to my  friends and family.  I like to think I get more than one vote because I have both people I persuade and people who blindly follow me.

If you would like to look at sample ballots in Franklin county you can do so here and in the left column selecting sample ballot.

Here is how I am encouraging people registered in my state and district to vote this year:

President & Vice President  (Federal)
Barack Obama  President
Joe Biden  Vice President

For Attorney General (State of Ohio)
Richard Cordray

I am a big fan of Richard Cordray.  I have seen him work hard as current Ohio  State Treasurer.  I’ve seen him reach out to Latinos and to volunteer and be a  liaison with Latino leaders.  What few times I’ve spoken to him, I’ve found him  to be genuinely interested in leaving this world better than he found it.

For Representative to Congress (15th District)
Mary Jo Kilroy

I first meet Mary Jo Kilroy in 1997 when she hosted organizational meetings for the Farm Labor Organizing Committee.  She has for decades been a big supporter of labor rights.  She has fought in the trenches and is one of the strongest people I’ve meet in my life.  She has dedicated her life to representing the disenfranchised.

For State Senator (16th District)
Danielle R. Blue

Sadly with both candidates running for State Senator, I seem to be able to find little substance in terms of where they stand on issues.  However, in terms of endorsements by candidates I am much more likely to vote for Danielle R. Blue the Democratic candidate.

For State Representative (24th District)
Ted Celeste



For County Commissioner (there are two seats in the running)

Paula Brooks
AND
John O’Grady



For Clerk of Court of Common Pleas
Maryellen O’Shaughnessy



For Franklin County Treasurer
Edward Leonard



For Franklin County Coroner
Jan M. Gorniak (check out the link as it compares both candidates, then you’ll really want Dr. Gorniak to be the coroner).



For Member of the State Board of Education (6th District)
Kristen McKinley



Justice of the Supreme Court
Joseph Russo (His site always freezes up my computer which is why I am not providing the link)



Justice of the Supreme Court
Peter Sikora



Judge of the Court of Appeals 10th District
John A Connor



Judge of the Court of Appeals 10th District
Richard D. Brown



Judge of the Court of Common Pleas
Shawn Dingus



Judge of the Court of Common Pleas Probate Division
Eric Brown

State Issue 1

Proposed Constitutional Amendment To Provide for Earlier Filing Deadlines for Statewide Ballot Issues
(Issue 1 at the League of Women Voters)
I am reluctantly voting YES on issue 1.  Neither side has done any work on persuading voters one way or another.  In the end I based my decision on two things; first it is being brought forth by Dan Stewart.  Secondly I discussed it with one of my favorite lawyers, defenders of the constitution and the masses, El Pocho Abogado, upon looking over the amendment, he didn’t “see anything wrong with it”.  As such I am hesitantly voting YES on issue 1.

State Issue 2

  Proposed Constitutional Amendment to Authorize the State to Issue Bonds to Continue The Clean Ohio Program for Environmental Conservation and Revitalization
YES                   Clean Ohio in support of issue 2

State Issue 3

Proposed Constitutional Amendment to Authorize the State to Issue Bonds to protect private property rights in ground water, lakes, and other watercourses.
YES
(although I can’t find any information for or against this issue…geez people).

State Issue 5

  Referendum on legislation making changes to check cashing lending, sometimes known as “Payday Lending,”fees, interest rates and practices.

I am more firm in my yes on this issue then my stance on all the other issues combined.  Payday lending is predatory and needs to be regulated.
YES YES YES YES YES YES YES

State Issue 6

Proposed Constitutional Amendment to amend the constitution by initiative petion for a casino near Wilmington in southwest Ohio and distribute to all Ohio Counties a Tax on the Casino.

This is an issue where you feel like no matter how you vote the bad guys are going to win.
I am encouraging  a NO vote on issue 6 …based a huge deal on the arguements listed here

Issue #14-19

Are Proposed Bond Issues for the City of Columbus
YES on Bond Issues 14-19 I actually agree with the Columbus Dispatch on this one (shocking I know) and they do a good job of summing up why we should vote YES.

Issue #75

Proposed Bond Issue and Tax Levy Columbus City School District.
YES…I always encourage YES when it comes to more money for our city schools.  My only problem with this, is that I think how we fund schools in this state is unjust.  Children in Upper Arlington public Schools do not receive the same education as children in Columbus Public Schools, and this has more to do with how we fund education in our state and our country.

During the debates I got angrier and angrier about Sarah Palin. When she was first announced as the VP Candidate I was annoyed but not surprised that a group of old white man thought this was their best plan. But as time has gone on, I am more and more insulted as an American, as a woman, as a Latina, as an independent voter, that Sarah Palin is representing anyone.

As such we formed an independent group of Latina Feministas Contra La Pendeja Palintonta (Latina Feminists united against Dumbass Palin). Blog entries will be written about Latinas who don’t want a candidate becuase she is a woman, but want the best candidate for our country.

If you are interested in contributing to the blog, please either leave me a comment here or one on Latina Feministas Contra La Pendeja Palintonta.

I was working at a women’s health clinic doing medical interpretation.  The doctor and I had just seen a patient, a young woman from Oaxaca, Mexico whose Spanish had an indigenous language accent, I would guess Zapoteco but I have had Mixteco speaking patients as well. When we left the room, the Anglo doctor who had lived in the Dominican Republic and spoke Spanish fluently (I would assume as a Mormon missionary) said, “When she gets referred to an ObGyn we need to make sure they test her for Turner Syndrome”.

I hadn’t ever heard of Turner Syndrome and so I asked the doctor what it was.  He explained it as a chromosomal disorder in females.  Inquisitively I asked how he could tell she had a chromosomal disorder as he’d only been in the room a few minutes.  He described Turner Syndrome as characterized by short, stocky women, with thick necks and a non-proportionate torso to body.  To which I replied “I don’t think it is Turner Syndrome.  I think we call that Mexican, particularly those of Oaxaca, where she is from.”

Cultural difference?

Part of the reason I feel a need to be a doctor is because my community needs people of their own practicing medicine. And this leads to Miles Curtiss and I doing a podcast on a pressure to excel as POC because we have had privilege and opportunity and if we don’t give to our own communities then who? Podcast should be posted on Monday.