A letter to my US Congressman about Sudan

Dear Representative Schiff,

I am writing today to encourage you to continue to do all that you can to help end the violence in Sudan and the surrounding region. Your past efforts show that you have taken a leadership role on this issue over the past years, for which I sincerely applaud you. I am proud to have you serve as my representative on this issue.

As you know, strong support is still needed from the US to end the atrocities in Darfur and to prevent further violence from spreading again to the south of Sudan and into Chad. I was reminded of how crucial American leadership will be in tipping this issue toward resolution after talking with a friend of mine who recently visited Sudan. I hope you agree that we have a moral imperative to help the innocent children victims of the conflicts.

There are key actions that you can take to help bring about a peaceful resolution to the violence.

(1) As a member of the Appropriations Committee, you are positioned to support funding for US efforts in Darfur. I know that Congress and the President worked together in late 2007 to provide just over $1 billion for Darfur in the 2008 fiscal year, including $580 million for the UNAMID peacekeeping force. That $1 billion was a good start, but it falls short in several urgent areas of funding, including money for the UNAMID peacekeeping mission, for training and equipping Darfur peacekeepers, for disaster and famine assistance, for support for national elections in Sudan, for sanctions enforcement and for additional diplomatic efforts. I strongly encourage you to support funding in all of these critical Darfur funding needs when the FY08 supplemental funding bill comes up for debate this spring.

(2) On February 28, 2008, your colleague Representative Frank Wolf (R-VA) introduced House Resolution 1011, "calling on the United States Government and the international community to promptly develop, fund, and implement a comprehensive regional strategy to protect civilians, facilitate humanitarian operations, contain and reduce violence, and contribute to conditions for sustainable peace and good governance in Chad, as well as in the wider region that includes the northern region of the Central African Republic and the Darfur region of Sudan". I strongly encourage you to cosponsor this resolution. Ending the catastrophe in Darfur requires a strategy for protection for civilians, a peace agreement and punishment for human rights abuses. While the deployment of the UN-AU peacekeeping force is moving ahead in the face of constant obstruction by the Sudanese government and gross inattention by the international community, it will prove insufficient without a viable peace process. Steps to create a peace include appointment of a single empowered mediator, support to the mediator with coordinated international leverage, and addressing the Darfur conflict in its local and national contexts.

(3) As you know, the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act (SADA) was signed into law on December 31, 2007. Now it is time to implement it. Please do everything that you can to encourage your colleagues, especially those on the US Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council, to amend the regulations governing federal contracts with foreign companies before the April 29 deadline, as SADA mandates. U.S. tax dollars should not reward foreign companies that help fund genocide in Darfur. You took a leadership role in encouraging UC schools to divest from companies that fund the atrocities in Sudan – please continue to support these efforts. I am proud that my employer – USC – and the LA county Board of Supervisors also are divesting from companies, especially PetroChina, that fund the Sudanese government. The Sudan Divestment Task Force has published a list of companies that warrant scrutiny with regard to federal contracts due to their business activities with the Government of Sudan or its subsidiary entities. I encourage you to fully review this list and to take action to ensure that these companies and their affiliates do not receive USG contracts in accordance with the law.

I recognize that the situation on the ground in Sudan and the surrounding region is complex, and that resolution of this crisis will require sincere efforts and compromises to address the underlying reasons that predicated the violence, which in my mind are related to access to resources. While the Sudanese, with the aid of the international community, may not immediately be able to address these issues, the western world is obligated to not sit idly by as innocents die, but rather to take a firm stance. We cannot say “Never Again” and then allow these atrocities to continue. Our actions speak louder than our words, so we must show the instigators of this crisis that we are serious by halting all financial support that funds violence, through sanctions and divestment. We must also continue to provide aid to the displaced to help them develop a better future. Again, I thank you for your leadership on this issue, and I request that you continue to do all you can with your position to end the violence.

Science Debate '08

Seriously, we need an administration that takes a strong stance on supporting science and technology. I'm annoyed that none of the candidates accepted the invitation to Science Debate 2008, but hopeful that they will accept the redoubled efforts for the second invitation. It's not a smart move to reject the AAAS, the National Acadmey of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, 160 leading American universities and institutions and us scientists.

Why? Ever since the huge influx on intellectual capital we enjoyed during WWII, science and engineering have been responsible for half the economic growth of the United States. But if current trends hold, by 2010, in just two short years, 90% of all scientists and engineers will live in Asia. This represents a huge shift in global economics, and is perhaps the single largest challenge to the ongoing strength of the US economy - yet it is being virtually ignored by the candidates. A debate would help focus the candidates and the nation on developing a hopeful plan to tackle this.

www.sciencedebate2008.com

The Collage

In the past two weeks, I've had the pleasure of visiting the Getty Center Museum twice (can I get a "hell yeah!" for free museums?!). One of my favorite paintings there is a Dutch painting from many centuries ago with a title like "the Circumcision of Christ" (sorry, can't remember the artist's name). The detail is exceptional, yet the distorted face of the babe completely distracts my attention away from the surgical procedure.

I also enjoy the Rare Manuscripts collection there, which contains some impressive pieces from the 1200s. The level of detail in the manuscript illuminations defies my conception of that frailty of earlier times.And very uplifting was the new exhibition on video production in California. We started at the end of the exhibit, full of carnival music and visual stimulation. One video I couldn't stop watching was Martin Kersels 'Pink Constellation', made in a rotating pink room - hilarious. There was also a station highlighting the early filming of the California punk music scene - the original 'music videos' - which was largely the work of Joe Rees of Target Video in San Francisco. A nice collage of live shows by the Germs, Flipper, X, a short clip of Jello Biafra (always think of Wesley Willis when I hear that name), and more. A nice touch was the old punk show fliers behind the TV screen, all of which were stapled to the wall. How classy and punk, being a museum and all.