Passing the Buck

Ok, I know I've been really bad about blogging lately, but there have been a variety of factors including that I've been:
- producing a week of Estro (tomorrow night is your last chance to see Estro Encores!)
- completing the writing of Act One of my first full-length play (wow, is that awkwardly worded. but you get the idea...)
- traveling for work
- facilitating a two-day retreat
- working on the January InGenius festival
etc., etc., etc.

The other factor is that THE MOST IMPORTANT issue right now for everyone to be focusing on is next Tuesday. And, for various job-related reasons, that's not something I can blog about during the day. So, instead, I am passing the buck to Laughing at the Pieces. Rob has done an amazing job of talking about ALL the reasons why Obama is the better choice and it's all compounded by the fact that he is now personally experiencing the effects of the Bush economy (i.e., he just got laid off). So go. Read. Learn. I'll be here when you get back.

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

Awhile back, I wrote about something I'd read that talked about how we can treat people as people or as things, but I couldn't remember who had written the essay.

Now, thanks to Michael Bungay Steiner, I've found out it was Martin Buber.

Whales 1, Palin 0

NOAA Lists Cook Inlet Beluga Whales as Endangered

I particularly love Greenwire's headline, which reads, "Against Palin's Wishes, NOAA Will Protect Alaska's Whales."

Hey, How'd It Go?

"My" week of Estro went great, thanks!

Well-attended, well-received...an all-around positively positive experience!

And the best part, is it's not over yet.

This year, we've added a 5th week to the Festival, which we're calling "Estro Encores," which will be comprised of the producer's selection from each of the previous 4 weeks. So, you can still see one of my shows, Waffles by Martha Garvey, October 28-31 at 8pm.

Tickets will be available soon at: http://www.theatresource.org

In Lieu of All Things Pink...

If you're female, join the Army of Women.

If you're of the male persuasion, just spread the word.

Think Before You Pink

Well, it's here. The "pink season" is upon us. Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The month when you can buy everything from pink "tweezers for life," to pink Kitchen Aid mixers, to pink soup to a pink "foldable rollator."

It makes me a little bit crazy. Partially it's the whole cute-ification of breast cancer, like it's something fun and kitschy.

Partially, it's the fact that some of these companies marketing breast cancer awareness conveniently overlook the fact that their products contain carcinogens. (For the record, these are called "pinkwashers.")

In fact:
"Breast Cancer Awareness Month, for example, is sponsored by AstraZeneca (the manufacturer of tamoxifen), which, until a corporate reorganization in 2000, was a leading producer of pesticides, including acetochlor, classified by the EPA as a "probable human carcinogen." This particularly nasty conjuncture of interests led the environmentally oriented Cancer Prevention Coalition (CPC) to condemn Breast Cancer Awareness Month as "a public relations invention by a major polluter which puts women in the position of being unwitting allies of the very people who make them sick."
(From Barbara Ehrenreich's seminal article "Welcome to Cancerland", which you can read in it's entirety here.)

Partially, it's the fact that others of these companies have incredibly vague claims on their products such as "a portion of the proceeds will go to support breast cancer awareness." What portion? Where will they go? How will they support it?

Which leads me to the Critical Questions to Ask (from ThinkBeforeYouPink.org):
1. How much money from your purchase actually goes toward breast cancer? Is the amount clearly stated on the package?
2. What is the maximum amount that will be donated?
3. How are the funds being raised?
4. To what breast cancer organization does the money go, and what types of programs does it support?
5. What is the company doing to assure that its products are not actually contributing to the breast cancer epidemic?

Partially, it's that I just don't want to be surrounded with cheerful, brightly colored reminders of a disease that has killed alot of people I care about.

Finally, it's because I really don't know what all this "awareness" is getting us. Especially when that awareness is pink-coated and sanitized.

And, just in case you think I'm crazy, I am by far not the only breast cancer "survivor" who feels this way: The Assertive Cancer Patient has collected quite a few anecdotes in her Boycott October thread. But I think the lovely and amazing Janet puts it best, "Fuck Awareness, Find a Cure."

Happy Halloween.

Addendum: I just found this anti-pink, anti-Komen rant from someone who's never even had breast cancer! Very cathartic.