Category Archives: Rwanda

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New Year’s Resolutions?

Resolutions to read

Anyone have resolutions for 2022?

As usual, I have some. As usual, the first two are to get more exercise and to eat healthier. In 2021, I changed my diet to a mostly plant-based diet and bought a bike. For a while, I was walking every day (usually down to Stony Brook Village) but that tapered off. To keep me more accountable with my resolutions I am posting some here:

  • Eat better
  • Get more exercise
  • Start a podcast (by the end of February)
  • Put up a TikTok video every day
  • Put together a packet for the late night shows
  • Write every day
  • Perform every day

Looking for something to read? How about this awesome book?

My friend, Nicole Willson published a novel in 2021. I bought it to support her but I cannot stress enough how much I enjoyed it. (The cat enjoyed chewing on the cover) Tidepool renewed my interest in horror fiction. I used to love reading horror but moved away from the genre as my life calmed down. Nicole is a great writer. One of my favorite pieces by her is The World Spinner. If you have “read more” on your list of resolutions for 2022, I cannot recommend this writer enough. Once I started Tidepool, I could not put it down. That is a the telltale sign of a good story and good writing. Check. It. Out. You’ll thank me later.

I am still working to end #genocide, will you help?

We made real progress in 2021. Here are a few things we accomplished:

  • Progress for Myanmar: Kirin Beer and Harry Winston stopped helping the Burmese military. Facebook shut down some of their accounts and Chevron cut some of their payments (more needs to be done on both fronts). The Burma Act of 2021 was introduced (it still needs to pass and be signed into law).
  • The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act became law.
  • Several cities passed anti-genocide resolutions. Educating people about #genocide and other mass atrocities is crucial in this fight. No Business with Genocide is working with other localities on passage of more of the same.

You can read more about my work in this area and how you can help here.

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A look back at the year that was 2021

2021 sucked as much as 2020

Before we all leave 2021 behind, it is good to reflect on everything that happened

For a lot of reasons, the last few years have sucked. In February 2020, I did a great show in Greenwich Village (at the Greenwich Village Comedy Club) and thought This is going to be my year! Three weeks later, everything in New York shut down and 2020 was no one’s year. Unless you count Covid 19, it was its year.

Things seemed to be looking up at the start of 2021. Joe Biden would be coming into the White House and Donald Trump would be leaving. There were a number of covid vaccines about to be approved. Sanity had prevailed and maybe the pandemic would end.

On January 6, pro-Trumpers rioted on the mall and stormed the capitol building. No one could have known at the time that the year was going to be decided that day. Chuck Todd once called the era we are living in the “post facts” era. He was right. Trump supporters believe that he won the election. One told me Trump received 81 million votes (that was Biden’s number). I have no idea what right-wing site he was reading but when I pointed him to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), he told me that the FEC is a leftie organization and couldn’t be trusted.

Justice made a comeback this year

There were some really good things that happened. Police officers Derek Chauvin and Kim Potter were convicted. I was surprised in both instances as cops in the past have gotten off when they kill people. The men who stalked Ahmaud Arbery and killed him were convicted. Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s second in command, was convicted. R. Kelly was convicted.

These convictions don’t undo the wrongs committed. George Floyd and Arbery are still dead. The women and girls tormented by Maxwell and Kelly still have to live with what happened but it is a start.

George W. Bush was right about pandemics

How often do I tout things Dubya said? Rarely.

If we wait for a pandemic to appear, it will be too late to prepare.

George W. Bush in 2005

In 2005, Dubywa went on vacation and read John M. Barry’s The Great Influenza. He was so taken by the book and its message that he set up the office of pandemic preparedness in the White House (Trump effectively closed it down when he moved in). Bush saw the message of the book wasn’t “the 1918 flu was really bad” but that pandemics can happen anytime. I know people who blame the Chinese government for the current pandemic. While they are not blameless, this was a long time coming.

Back in 2006, I started worrying about bird flu. It wasn’t until 2013 that I blogged about it. I have read The Great Influenza and other books about deadly flu outbreaks. Most start in Asia. A pig can harbor a bird and a human virus at the same time. Viruses in pigs can mutate and now you have a deadly flu that can infect people. This is what scientists think happened in 1918 flu (if you are wondering why it was called the “Spanish Flu,” that is because this was during WWI and media outlets were banned from reporting on the disease everywhere but in Spain).

So things started opening up in the spring and then the Delta variant hit. I was vaccinated in April/May. By the fall, I thought things for vaccinated people were looking up. Then Omicron hit and the world started shrinking again. Now I had to cancel an event I was planning for Paul Rusesabagina. I am very sad about that.

We made progress against genocide in 2021

It is easy to only see the bad things that happen. In December, I delivered some petitions to Harry Winston asking the jeweler to stop sourcing #GenocideGems from Myanmar. Ten minutes after we left, they announced they would do just that. In February, Kirin Beer ended its relationship with the Myanmar military.

A few weeks ago, President Biden signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act into law. There are good reasons to think Secretary Blinken will declare what has happened to the Rohingya is a genocide. Gainesville, Florida passed an anti-genocide resolution. We are working with other localities and cities to get more of these passed. No government should profit from or fund genocide.

So, by 2021. I really hope 2022 is better.

PS. You can still lower your tax bill for 2021 AND help me fight genocide by donating to this.

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How will you celebrate National Bacon Day?

people love bacon

Bacon; it’s not just for breakfast

Do you love bacon? If you do, you are not alone. I went through a period of time when I thought I wanted to convert to Judaism but it is hard (and I am lazy) but a friend I had gone through the process and said they are harder on converts so bacon would be out of the question if I went that way. So that idea was a nonstarter. The fact that I was pretty much an atheist also didn’t bode well for a conversion to any religion.

I often question why people follow one religion or another but I most often question Christians. It seems the people who identify the most as followers of Christ are also the ones most likely to condemn other religions. I self-identify as Buddhist but that is more of a philosophy than a religion and is not without its own crazies and zealots. I mean, look at how the Rohingya have been treated by the Buddhist majority in Burma. Not well.

But back to bacon. I used to love it but it is so messy. And I feel bad for the pigs so I eat Morningstar Farms vegetarian bacon. Tastes good to me.

Will you help me fight #Genocide in 2022?

We made a lot of progress in 2021. The Burma Act was introduced. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act became law. Harry Winston stopped sourcing #GenocideGems from Myanmar and Kirin Beer stopped working with the Burmese military. Gainesville, Florida passed an anti-genocide resolution. We were also able to empower Burmese people all over the United States and train them how to lobby Congress. We worked hard for Paul Rusesabagina and will continue to do so until he comes home.

Donations from great people like you make all that possible. If you can, please donate. If you do it today or tomorrow, you can take your donation off your taxes for 2021. We can end genocide if we work together.

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Omicron comes to town

omicron

The other day was National Crossword puzzle day!

Omicron is on everyone’s mind but I am starting with something light. I was so excited to blog about this important holiday and you may not think I am serious but I am all too serious. Don’t believe me? If you were around me on any day that the NY Times has a rebus puzzle, you would not think I am not serious.

“What is a rebus puzzle?” Good question! That’s where they put MORE THAN ONE LETTER OR A DIGIT in a square and it MAKES ME CRAZY! Well, crazier than I normally am. The first time I saw one of these, I thought my head was going to explode. Seriously. And you don’t want to be around me when they get their facts wrong!

The first thing I do every day is the Times’ crossword. I LOVE IT! There is even a movie, Wordplay, about people who do and love crossword puzzles. If you are like me and love them, check it out!

Omicron is not a transformer, though it is transforming life

This week, New York City is once again the epicenter of covid activity thanks to the omicron variety. Not only that but the part of town where I hang out the most is the epicenter of the epicenter. That’s right! Greenwich Village is one of the hottest spots (for omicron) in the city.

Over the last seven days, for every 100,000 Manhattan residents, about 1,672 have been infected, the city said in a transmission chart on its COVID data site.

Source: NYC Health

And that’s just an average – in some Manhattan neighborhoods, the numbers are astronomically higher. In Greenwich Village and SoHo, it’s 2,927 cases per 100,000; in Chelsea, 2,513 per 100,000.

Source: NBC4 NY

This matters to me because when I go into the city, my number one destination is MacDougal Street, which is in the heart of the Village. Great. I thought I was getting my booster shot yesterday but had the date wrong. D’Oh!

Why I am still working to end genocide

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. This will mark Paul Rusesabagin’s second Christmas behind bars. Please check out the piece I wrote for Medium.

And yes, I am still angry about Annie.

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Can you imagine if a Congressperson said these things about Christians?

Don't make fun of Christians!

Lauren Boebert called Ilhan Omar a terrorist because she is a Muslim, can you imagine if someone made that statement about Christians?

Bear in mind, these are the people who have a hissy fit when someone says, “Happy Holidays” rather than “Merry Christmas.” As soon as some people on the right hear that, they are all “It’s a war on Christians! It’s a war on Christmas!” So while people like Boebert are totally cool making jokes about Muslims being terrorists, they would go absolutely crazy if anyone made the same joke about Christians.

And all of this shows what a pussy Kevin McCarthy is. If Ilhan Omar — or anyone else — made a comment about seeing Boebert in the elevator and worrying Boebert was about to start an insurrection, he would be on the House flood demanding Nancy Pelosi strike Omar of her committee assignments. Never mind that Boebert has bragged about carrying a gun to the House floor. If anyone is scary to meet in an elevator, it’s Boebert.

Of course, it is also important to remember how people like Boebert and her blond twin, Marjorie Taylor Greene have also supported Qanon and that craziness. Does anyone not think Qanon people are terrifying? Before I moved back to New York, I had someone take care of my house who was a HUGE Qanon supporter. He believes that Hollywood, industry, and the government are controlled by shape-shifting lizard creatures from outer space who worship Satan and both eat children for their adrenochrome and have sex with them. Now he was on the extreme end of Qanon but he is also an Oath Keeper and has guns. When I left Florida, I knew people who were big into the Proud Boys. If you aren’t scared of these people, you aren’t paying attention.

But back to the hypocrisy. I don’t consider myself to be a Christian. I celebrate Christmas only because I like the secular parts of the holiday. Jesus was most likely born in April so I see this holiday through seriously secular eyes. Some of the worst terrorism on American soil has been perpetrated by Christians. The Klan was/is a Protestant group. People have killed abortion providers in the name of Christ. No religion is free of extremists. Buddhists in Burma have been guilty of persecuting the Muslim Rohingya. In fact, Muslims are more likely to be victims of terrorism and genocide than perpetrators.

Can you come to either of these events?

I am a little nervous about two events I have been planning for weeks.

World Genocide Day protest: We are going to meet up at the US Mission to the UN and walk over to Harry Winston’s headquarters. We will deliver a list of the people who signed our petition to Harry Winston/Swatch to get them to stop selling #GenocideGems. You can learn more here.

Comedy to Free Paul Rusesabagina: On January 11, 2022, at 7:00 pm, No Business with Genocide has teamed up with Two Joke Minimum and the New York Comedy Club to bring together some of the area’s best comedians to raise money for Paul’s legal defense fund. Get your tickets here.

And because we can all use some cat cuteness…