Finding my voice/yay Bernard/horrible events in Mexico
Luke has been writing a blog for--I dunno--fifteen million years, which I suppose makes him a bit of an expert on the whole medium. He has fans, and groupies that come up to him at bike races wanting to meet him: "Are you Luke?" Blog-expert Luke was saying something this morning about people taking time to "find their voice" in their blog. I asked what that was supposed to mean, and he said, "Well, you for instance will write one silly post about cycling, and the next will be about Chicago politics, and the next will be about how cute your niece is..." The expert blogger seems to find consistency, which I lack completely, a good thing.
Anyway, today I have two completely unrelated things about which I'd like to write. One is serious. One is not serious. One voice will not do. So I dunno, pbbbt...things will just have to continue being a little schizophrenic around here.
First I wanted to give a little shout-out to my former UCLA teammate and current second-year pro with the Navigators cycling team, Bernard Van Ulden, who took second (to 7-time Australian national time trial champion Nathan O'Neill) in the opening time trial of the Nature Valley Grand Prix yesterday. He got some nice coverage on cyclingnews.com. Bernard is super fast, and I have been a big fan of his ever since he paid me back that 85 bucks he owed me from 2004 collegiate nationals. It'll be fun to see what he can do the rest of the week. Allez Bernard!
That was the not serious item. Serious for Bernard, but not in the grander scheme of things.
The other news I got today was a lot more disturbing. Yesterday in Oaxaca, a large protest by the teacher's union in the zocalao (central square) of the capital was forcibly expelled by the Mexican military. Five people died, and the equipment used by the union to broadcast their message from a community-based radio staion was destroyed. The protest in the zocalao for better wages for teachers and more funding for education in Mexico's second-poorest state has been an annual event, but things had been becoming more and more tense recently as relations with Oaxaca's governor became worse, in part because of suspicions that state funds were being siphoned off for his (PRI) party's political campaigns, in part because the focus of government expenditures has been developing roads and airport runways when schools are in desparate need. Tens of thousands of teachers and their supporters, including children, had participated in marches and were camped out in the zocalao when the riot squad entered. I think two children were among the dead, but details are still coming out.
There will be a protest at noon tomorrow (Friday) at the Mexican consulate at Ashland and Adams. My roommate and I are also talking about planning a fundraiser to possibly purchase new equipment for the radio station which we might be able to take down to Oaxaca later this summer.
Anyway, today I have two completely unrelated things about which I'd like to write. One is serious. One is not serious. One voice will not do. So I dunno, pbbbt...things will just have to continue being a little schizophrenic around here.
First I wanted to give a little shout-out to my former UCLA teammate and current second-year pro with the Navigators cycling team, Bernard Van Ulden, who took second (to 7-time Australian national time trial champion Nathan O'Neill) in the opening time trial of the Nature Valley Grand Prix yesterday. He got some nice coverage on cyclingnews.com. Bernard is super fast, and I have been a big fan of his ever since he paid me back that 85 bucks he owed me from 2004 collegiate nationals. It'll be fun to see what he can do the rest of the week. Allez Bernard!
That was the not serious item. Serious for Bernard, but not in the grander scheme of things.
The other news I got today was a lot more disturbing. Yesterday in Oaxaca, a large protest by the teacher's union in the zocalao (central square) of the capital was forcibly expelled by the Mexican military. Five people died, and the equipment used by the union to broadcast their message from a community-based radio staion was destroyed. The protest in the zocalao for better wages for teachers and more funding for education in Mexico's second-poorest state has been an annual event, but things had been becoming more and more tense recently as relations with Oaxaca's governor became worse, in part because of suspicions that state funds were being siphoned off for his (PRI) party's political campaigns, in part because the focus of government expenditures has been developing roads and airport runways when schools are in desparate need. Tens of thousands of teachers and their supporters, including children, had participated in marches and were camped out in the zocalao when the riot squad entered. I think two children were among the dead, but details are still coming out.
There will be a protest at noon tomorrow (Friday) at the Mexican consulate at Ashland and Adams. My roommate and I are also talking about planning a fundraiser to possibly purchase new equipment for the radio station which we might be able to take down to Oaxaca later this summer.
posted by ellen at 9:39 AM
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