Cesar Estrada Chavez was born March 31, 1927 near Yuma, Arizona. Chavez was named after his grandfather, who escaped from slavery on a Mexican ranch and arrived in Arizona during the 1880s. Chavez' grandparents homesteaded more than one hundred acres in the Gila Valley and raised 14 children. Chavez' father, Librado, started his family in 1924 when he married Juana Estrada. Cesar was the second of their six children. Librado worked on the family ranch and owned a store in the Gila Valley. The family lived in an apartment above the store.

Chavez began school at age 7, but he found it difficult because his family spoke only Spanish. Chavez preferred to learn from his uncles and grandparents, who would read to him in Spanish. In addition, Chavez learned many things from his mother. She believed violence and selfishness were wrong, and she taught these lessons to her children.

In the 1930s, Chavez' father lost his business because of the Great Depression, and the family moved back to the ranch. However in 1937, a severe drought forced the family to give up the ranch. The next year, Chavez and his family packed their belongings and headed to California in search of work. In California, the Chavez family became part of the migrant community, traveling from farm to farm to pick fruits and vegetables during the harvest. They lived in numerous migrant camps and often were forced to sleep in their car. Chavez sporadically attended more than 30 elementary schools, often encountering cruel discrimination.

Once Chavez completed the eighth grade, he quit school and worked full-time in the vineyards. His family was able to rent a small cottage in San Jose and make it their home. Then in 1944, Chavez joined the navy and served in World War II. After completing his duty two years later, Chavez returned to California. He married Helen Fabela in 1948, and they moved into a one-room shack in Delano. Chavez again worked in the fields, but he began to fight for change. That same year, Chavez took part in his first strike in protest of low wages and poor working conditions. However, within several days the workers were forced back to the fields.

In 1952, Chavez met Fred Ross, who was part of a group called the Community Service Organization (CSO) formed by Saul Alinsky. Chavez became part of the organization and began urging Mexican-Americans to register and vote. Chavez traveled throughout California and made speeches in support of workers' rights. He became general director of CSO in 1958.

Four years later, however, Chavez left CSO to form his own organization, which he called the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA). The name was later changed to the United Farm Workers (UFW). In 1965, Chavez and the NFWA led a strike of California grape-pickers to demand higher wages. In addition to the strike, they encouraged all Americans to boycott table grapes as a show of support. The strike lasted five years and attracted national attention. When the U.S. Senate Subcommittee looked into the situation, Robert Kennedy gave Chavez his total support.

In 1968, Chavez began a fast to call attention to the migrant workers' cause. Although his dramatic act did little to solve the immediate problems, it increased public awareness of the problem. In the late 1960s, the Teamsters attempted to take power from the UFW. After many battles, an agreement was finally reached in 1977. It gave the UFW sole right to organize field workers.

In the early 1970s, the UFW organized strikes and boycotts to get higher wages from grape and lettuce growers. During the 1980s, Chavez led a boycott to protest the use of toxic pesticides on grapes. He again fasted to draw public attention. These strikes and boycotts generally ended with the signing of bargaining agreements.

Cesar Chavez died on April 23, 1993.

Researcher: Rachel Sahlman

Chavez's hard-fought gains are eroding Commentary by Raul Reyes

---

From Brazil to Mongolia


Solar Eclipse Greeted With Cheers Across Southern Mediterranean

March 29 (Bloomberg) -- People cheered across the small Greek island of Kastellorizo and Egyptians danced in the Sahara desert as skies across the southern Mediterranean darkened for a few minutes with the first solar eclipse of the year.

Europe's best view of the eclipse was from Kastellorizo, 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) off Turkey's southern coast. Hellas Sat, Greece's sole satellite operator, broadcast live from Kastellorizo to video screens in Athens's main Syntagma Square.

Street lamps were turned on across the island when the sun was totally eclipsed, and cheers and applause were heard when the sunlight returned. In Athens, the capital, locals and tourists gathered around the giant screens and donned special dark glasses to view the event. The next total eclipse visible from Greece will take place in 2088.
Egyptians, whose ancestors worshipped the sun for thousands of years, danced when the eclipse ended and the star's full glow returned. Tourists who gathered to watch the event joined the dancing in the desert location, at a camp outside the border post of Salloum, near Libya.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak donned the special glasses along with hundreds of other people near Salloum. State television aired pictures from the area, where the eclipse was total. The sun was partially eclipsed in Cairo.
In the Turkish resort of Antalya, thousands of Turks and tourists waited along the Mediterranean coast to view the full eclipse at 1:56 p.m. local time, according to pictures from NTV television. Hundreds of people in the northern town of Tokat camped outside over fears the eclipse would be followed by an earthquake, as was the case in 1999, Agence France-Presse said.

The eclipse was visible along a narrow corridor that spanned half the Earth's surface, beginning in Brazil and then crossing the Atlantic Ocean, North Africa, Russia and Central Asia, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration said on its Web site. The last of the eclipse would be seen in Mongolia.
Solar eclipses occur at the new moon, when that body passes between the Earth and the sun. The moon can eclipse the sun in three ways: a partial eclipse, when part of the Earth's satellite passes in front of the sun; an annular eclipse, when the moon is centered across the sun and leaves only a bright ring; and a total eclipse, in which the sun is blacked out by the moon.

The next such event will be an annular eclipse on Sept. 22, and will be best viewed from Guyana and the South Atlantic Ocean, Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation said on its Web site.
Hotel rooms on Kastellorizo were full and authorities increased the number of flights and ferries connecting the island with neighboring Rhodes, the Kathimerini newspaper said today.

Five of Greece's leading research institutions conducted an experiment to monitor the changes in the atmosphere in Athens, where the sun was 87 percent eclipsed at 1:48 p.m. local time.
The total eclipse occurred over Kastellorizo at 1:53:27 p.m. and lasted for 2.5 minutes.
The earliest record of a solar eclipse was in 2134 BC in China, with Greeks first recording such an event in 762 BC. The ancient Greek writer Herodotus wrote that a war between the Medeans and Lydians in 585 BC was ended when the armies were terrified by an eclipse.

Greece's state-run NET television, which broadcast the event live from early in the day, invited viewers back in 82 years to see the region's next total eclipse.

To contact the reporters on this story:
George Hatzidakis in Athens at ghatzidakis@bloomberg.net;
Maher Chmaytelli in Cairo at mchmaytelli@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: March 29, 2006 07:23 EST














Until 2017

"Riverbend", the 26-year-old author of Baghdad Burning, a first person account of life in occupied Iraq, has been shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson prize.

Baghdad Burning is the first blog ever to be in the running for a major literary book award. (The small literary publisher Marion Boyars published Baghdad Burning in book form.) Riverbend has already been honored as a journalist. Her blog writing took third place in the Lettre Ulysses prize for Reportage.

Baghdad Burning (Feminist Press)
Baghdad Burning (Marion Boyers)

Tumble weed's seat

Helen Thomas' Podcast

Bush has no answers for Iraq, but Democrats are chicken and press corps caved

President Bush called on Hearst Newspapers columnist Helen Thomas during a White House press conference this week. But in her weekly podcast, she says the president failed to answer her question: "Why are we in Iraq when Iraq did nothing to us?''

And the dean of the White House press corps doesn't stop there. Helen also slams Democrats for being too "chicken'' to stand up to the president on issues like domestic spying. And Helen even chides the White House press corps, saying they have "caved'' in to Bush.

Thomas has covered the White House for United Press International since the Kennedy administration and has been a reporter for more than 50 years. Her front row seat in the White House briefing room has made her the president's chief interrogator through nine administrations. She was the only print journalist to accompany Richard Nixon when he made his historic trip to China in 1972, and she battled for equal treatment for women in the Washington press corps.

Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006
Helen Thomas Asks President Bush Why He Went to War

AMY GOODMAN: We return to President Bush's news conference. Veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas asked President Bush what some analysts called the most direct questioning he’s ever received on his reasons for invading Iraq.

HELEN THOMAS: I'd like to ask you, Mr. President, your decision to invade Iraq has caused the deaths of thousands of Americans and Iraqis, wounds of Americans and Iraqis for a lifetime. Every reason given, publicly at least, has turned out not to be true. My question is, why did you really want to go to war? From the moment you stepped into the White House, from your Cabinet -- your Cabinet officers, intelligence people, and so forth -- what was your real reason? You have said it wasn't oil -- quest for oil, it hasn't been Israel, or anything else. What was it?

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: I think your premise, in all due respect to your question and to you as a lifelong journalist, is that, you know, I didn't want war. To assume I wanted war is just flat wrong, Helen, in all due respect --

HELEN THOMAS: Everything --

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Hold on for a second, please.

HELEN THOMAS: -- everything I've heard --

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Excuse me, excuse me. No president wants war. Everything you may have heard is that, but it's just simply not true. My attitude about the defense of this country changed on September the 11th. We -- when we got attacked, I vowed then and there to use every asset at my disposal to protect the American people. Our foreign policy changed on that day, Helen. You know, we used to think we were secure because of oceans and previous diplomacy, but we realized on September the 11th, 2001, that killers could destroy innocent life. And I'm never going to forget it. And I'm never going to forget the vow I made to the American people that we will do everything in our power to protect our people.

Part of that meant to make sure that we didn't allow people to provide safe haven to an enemy. And that's why I went into Iraq -- hold on for a second --

HELEN THOMAS: They didn't do anything to you or to our country.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Look -- excuse me for a second, please. Excuse me for a second. They did. The Taliban provided safe haven for al-Qaeda. That's where al-Qaeda trained --

HELEN THOMAS: I'm talking about Iraq --

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Helen, excuse me. That's where -- Afghanistan provided safe haven for al-Qaeda. That's where they trained. That's where they plotted. That's where they planned the attacks that killed thousands of innocent Americans.

I also saw a threat in Iraq. I was hoping to solve this problem diplomatically. That's why I went to the Security Council; that's why it was important to pass 1441, which was unanimously passed. And the world said, ‘Disarm, disclose, or face serious consequences’ --

HELEN THOMAS: -- go to war --

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: -- and therefore, we worked with the world, we worked to make sure that Saddam Hussein heard the message of the world. And when he chose to deny inspectors, when he chose not to disclose, then I had the difficult decision to make to remove him. And we did, and the world is safer for it.

AMY GOODMAN: That was President Bush answering Helen Thomas at the White House on Tuesday. Commonly referred to as the "First Lady of the Press, Helen Thomas is the most senior member of the White House Press Corps. She has served as a White House correspondent for some 57 years and has covered every president since John F. Kennedy. It was the first time President Bush has called on Helen Thomas in three years.

Storker

Tonight I reached my 1,000th song played on last.fm.
These are my top 10 bands listened to.

Last night I saw V for Vendetta. I highly recommend it.
I particularly liked two quotes:













"Artists use lies to tell the greater truth . . .Politicians use lies to cover it up."














"People should not be afraid of their government.
Government should be afraid of their people."

The line about artists reminded me of an interview from The Chomsky Reader

James Peck
You once said, "It is not unlikely that literature will forever give far deeper insight into what is sometimes called 'the full human person' than any modes of scientific inquiry may hope to do."

Chomsky
That's perfectly true and I believe that. I would go on to say it's not only unlikely, but it's almost certain. But still, if I want to understand, let's say, the nature of China and its revolution, I ought to be cautious about literary renditions. Look, there's no question that as a child, when I read about China, this influenced my attitudes -- Rickshaw Boy, for example. That had a powerful effect when I read it. It was so long ago I don't remember a thing about it except the impact. And I don't doubt that, for me, personally, like anybody, lots of my perceptions were heightened and attitudes changed by literature over a broad range -- Hebrew literature, Russian literature, and so on. But ultimately, you have to face the world as it is on the basis of other sources of evidence that you can evaluate. Literature can heighten your imagination and insight and understanding, but it surely doesn't provide the evidence that you need to draw conclusions and substantiate conclusions.

This past weekend we rented two classics
that are still pertinent today.

Network and Inherit the Wind.

What would Marvin think?

Peace March

Indian Eggplant

Indian Eggplant Sandwich

"Crown Of Love" Arcade Fire

They say it fades if you let it,
love was made to forget it.
i carved your name
across my eyelids,
you pray for rain
i pray for blindness.
if you still want me,
please forgive me,
the crown of love
has fallen from me.
if you still want me,
please forgive me,
because the spark
is not within me.
i snuffed it out
before my mom walked
in my bedroom.
the only thing
that you keep changin'
is your name.
my love keeps growin'
still the same,
just like a cancer,
and you won't give
me a straight answer!
if you still want me,
please forgive me,
the crown of love
has fallen from me.
if you still want me,
please forgive me,
because your hands
are not upon me.
i shrugged them off
before my mom walked
in my bedroom.
the pains of love,
and they keep growin',
in my heart
there's flowers growin'
on the grave
of our old love,
since you gave
me a straight answer.
if you still want me,
please forgive me,
the crown of love
is not upon me.
if you still want me,
please forgive me,
cause the spark
is not within me.
it's not within me.
it's not within me.
you gotta be the one.
you gotta be the way.
your name is the only word , that i can say!
you gotta be the one. you gotta be the way.
your name is the only word, the only word
the only word that i can say!
the only word that i can say!

Divers Discover Furry Blond Crustacean
PARIS (March 8) - A team of American-led divers has discovered a new crustacean in the South Pacific that resembles a lobster and is covered with what looks like silky, blond fur, French researchers said Tuesday.
Scientists said the animal, which they named Kiwa hirsuta, was so distinct from other species that they created a new family and genus for it.
The divers found the animal in waters 7,540 feet deep at a site 900 miles south of Easter Island last year, according to Michel Segonzac of the French Institute for Sea Exploration.
The new crustacean is described in the journal of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris.
The animal is white and just shy of 6 inches long - about the size of a salad plate.
In what Segonzac described as a "surprising characteristic," the animal's pincers are covered with sinuous, hair-like strands.
It is also blind. The researchers found it had only "the vestige of a membrane" in place of eyes, Segonzac said.

Catch of the Day is Blind and Blonde
DIVERS have discovered a new crustacean in the South Pacific that resembles a lobster and is covered with what looks like silky blonde fur.

Scientists said the animal, which they named Kiwa hirsuta, was so distinct from other species that they created a new family and genus for it.

A team of US-led divers found the crustacean in waters 2300 metres deep at a site 1500 kilometres south of Easter Island last year, according to Michel Segonzac of the French Institute for Sea Exploration. It is described in the journal of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris.

It is white and 15 centimetres long, about the size of a salad plate. In what Dr Segonzac described as a "surprising characteristic", the animal's pincers are covered with sinuous, hair-like strands. It is also blind. The researchers found it had only "the vestige of a membrane" in the place of eyes, he said.

The researchers said that while legions of new ocean species are discovered each year, it was rare to find one that merited a new family. The family was named Kiwaida, from Kiwa, goddess of crustaceans in Polynesian mythology.
AP

Soon the dragon was ready.