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People here in Istanbul like to ask me how their city compares to New York City, and in some ways they’re very similar: both the primary cultural center of their country, where the intellectuals, artists, and people with alternative lifestyles choose to live, both the most politically liberal and ethnographically diverse city in their country. In terms of geography, Istanbul is a huge sprawling city, which people might say is also true for NYC if you include the outer boroughs and the bedroom communities, but is definitely not true for the island-bound, vertically-growing borough of Manhattan. But the primary geographical feature of Istanbul is the Bosphorus, the strait that delineates the border between Europe and Asia, and splits the city in two. The Bosphorus is the reason for Istanbul’s existence, is a huge part of the beauty of this city, and is, transportationally speaking, a permanent challenge for Istanbullus needing to traverse from one side to the other. I personally choose to ride a ferry instead of a bus whenever possible. Here’s some pictures I took yesterday when Emrah and I went to Eminönü to buy an aquarium!

This pic is taken from a ferry that looks very much like the one in the picture. Seagulls follow the boats and passengers will throw scraps of bread in the air to them, watching the birds dive and swoop to catch the pieces. Yesterday was a windy day so there were some noticeable waves and I got a little damp sitting outside, but what’s the fun in sitting inside on a ferry?

Another pic from the ferry, showing the Asian side of the Bosphorus bridge in the distance with one of the typical ocean-transport ships that follow the Black Sea to Mediterranean route through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles.

This picture shows part of the European side of Istanbul in the background and in the foreground is some massive equipment that is currently digging a tunnel across the Bosphorus. One year ago it was a lot closer to Europe, now it’s well on its way to Asia. I like this picture because it shows Istanbul as the industrious city that it truly is. Many photos of Istanbul show just the historical parts (which are of course magnificent and definitely deserving of photos) and the business/industrial side gets overlooked. This is the real Istanbul.

Before we got on the ferry, we had to cross through Kadıköy where many of the ferries to Europe leave from (they also go from Bostancı, which is closer to my house, but the Sunday schedule from there is much more limited). Yesterday, the traffic was horrible (on Sunday!) so we got off the minibus and walked. After a little distance, we realized why the traffic was so bad: a major street had been blocked off for a demonstration. There were police everywhere and people were taking advantage of the opportunity to walk in the streets rather than on the narrow sidewalks. Down by the flag you can see the rally was put on by the TKP (Türkiye Komünist Partisi) but the main theme was people protesting against the current ruling party (AKP) and their pro-Islamic leanings. According to this news article, the slogan of the gathering was “No to headscarves, no to the AKP!”

Before we went aquarium shopping, we paused for a typical outdoor snack: I’m having cheese toast and fresh-squeezed OJ (kaşarlı tost ve sıkma portakal suyu), Emrah is having cheese and spicy meat toast with tea (karaşık sucuklu tost ve çay), and, unfortunately, his ubiquitous cigarette. Emrah told me yesterday that he wanted his own web site, so I made him one. I have no idea why he wants it, but he seemed happy with the result. Go visit!

Finally, the newest residents of my apartment:

March 27, 2008 update: All the fish have died. I’m really sad about this and the living room feels empty when I walk in, but I don’t think I’ll get any more fish, I can’t figure out what killed them all (one by one) and it’s too hard to try to communicate about it with fish sellers.

This morning during my first email check of the day, I found a news alert from the NYTimes with a headline that read “Clinton wins Nevada”. On closer (internet-based) inspection, I see that Clinton got 51% of the vote, Obama got 45% of the vote and Edwards got 4%. So what exactly does this “win” mean for Clinton? In actuality it means a lot less than it might appear if you are just following the headlines.

The issue is all about delegates. There is a lot of info about delegates out on the internet so I won’t mire you down with the historical and picayune details, but here are two key points to remember:

1) States have delegates based on their population. So delegates from Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, even though they come early in the process, are just a drop in the bucket compared to the more populous states. Don’t get caught in the mindset that just because someone has “won” a few early states, that means they will win the nomination. There’s a relative deluge still to come.

2) State delegates are divided up based on the same percentages as the voting. It’s not like the electoral college “winner take all” system.  Even though Clinton “won” Nevada, she will only get 51% of the delegates from that state, not all. Obama will get 45% and Edwards will get 4%. In a runaway primary process, where one candidate is the clear favorite above others, this would not be so important. But in a close primary process, where more than one candidate has strong showings in each primary or caucus, the percentages will be important.

For more details, take a look at this NYTimes site showing all the delegate numbers. As of today, only the New Hampshire delegates are certain, because in some cases delegates postpone their final decisions for a short time after the initial caucus/primary (each state makes its own rules). There are a couple different types of events that could cause the numbers to change:

1) A delegate has a change of heart and votes for a different candidate. The delegates have the power to “vote their conscience” even after the general primary voting has taken place. This is a pretty rare event, but in a  close race even a few might make a difference.   Also, if something dramatic happened (campaign fraud is uncovered, a candidate becomes seriously ill) it could be a factor.  Which leads to…

2) Delegates for a candidate who later drops out can choose to vote for another candidate. So for example if John Edwards drops out of the race, his 4 delegates from New Hampshire could switch to any of the other democratic candidates. In some cases, agreements between the candidates are worked out (“if I can have your delegates, I’ll give you a cooshy job in the Executive Branch”).

The bottom line is this:  Despite the media frenzy, not much has been decided yet, and there’s a long way to go.  Don’t get caught in the hype, vote your conscience!  Listen to this link (Leonard Lopate show on WNYC) for an interesting explanation about delegates.

Boycott is an HBO movie about the 1955-56 Montgomery bus boycott and the start of the US civil rights movement. There is a memorable scene where a young Martin Luther King is home alone preparing a cup of coffee. He’s interrupted by repeated telephone calls, and although viewers do not get to hear the caller’s words, we know they are threatening. At the first call, King silently and gently hangs up the phone. At the second (though it’s surely more like the hundredth), his hangup is a crash and he rips the phone from the wall. He returns to his coffee, and pours milk from the glass milk bottle into his coffee. But shaken and distracted, he sets the milk bottle down on the edge of the table and it crashes to the floor.

The bus boycott has just begun. Blacks are walking and taking taxis to work, until a new “minimum fare ordinance” forces taxi drivers to charge exorbitant rates and eliminates that option for the boycotters. They keep walking, and start car pooling. Next, car owners are badgered by police officers writing a deluge of traffic tickets for trumped-up infractions. They incur fines and the threat of losing their licenses. Vandals slash their tires with impunity. A law is passed that makes it illegal for black people to “loiter in groups” while waiting for their carpools. The mayor’s office uses its influence to get untruthful stories published in the newspaper about the boycott leaders. Vigilantes set fire to black homes and the city firemen watch them burn. Many boycotters are railing against King’s nonviolent ideology and want to retaliate.

It is in this moment, when every act of courage and creativity is met with a downward shove from the powers-that-be, that King distractedly breaks the bottle of milk. It is at this moment that I, as complete outsider to the dilemma of American black people in the 1950′s, can fully understand the frustration, anger, and despondency of seeking to right a wrong in the face of relentless oppression.

Every privileged person should, at least once in his life, experience what it feels like to be powerless, struggling against an unprincipled force that has no mercy, no compassion, and leaves no voice for complaints. I felt this, in a much smaller way than the civil rights activists, in my struggles with an insurance company after the theft of my car and their mishandling of the ensuing events. At the point where my only options were to personally sue a multi-billion-dollar company or let go of the struggle, I admit to letting go. But I was fortunate to have this option; all I had to do was acquiesce to the monetary loss. The bigger picture of the power of insurance companies was left for someone else to deal with in the future. For many others, the struggle is for something so personal and so important (civil rights, religious freedom) that there is no choice but to continue fighting.

This is definitely not just a historical issue, it is alive and important today, all over the world and in many forms. I watched the riots of the oppressed Muslim immigrants in France, hoping that their rioting could be a successful start to change without becoming too violent. I also see fairness and freedom eroding in my own country, from the oppression created by corporate greed to government abuses of human and first amendment rights during this time of our so-called “war on terror”. So I am thankful to Dr. King and the people who successfully staged that bus boycott. It took them over a year, it took suffering hardships, but they did ultimately bring about significant change that continued to ripple out long after the busses were running again. Understanding this historical example of nonviolent resistance, and being able to recognize and accept the frustration and despair that is inherent in such struggle, can be useful for solace and strength in the continued fights for civil and human rights that happen everywhere.

The segregated blacks in Montgomery had a tipping point. Rosa Parks’ defiance helped push them past it into action and King’s inspired leadership helped make desegregation a reality. Right now it’s still unclear to me where the tipping point is for US citizens relating to our current issues of civil and human rights. Will it be the government snooping in email or phone conversations? Will it be the illegal federal detainment and torture of suspected terrorists? Will it be the whittling away of healthcare and retirement benefits for workers? Will it be the creation of a have/have-not society supported by the degradation of our public education system? There are many possible fronts for this fight, and I can feel the tension building. I’m waiting with both anticipation and trepidation to see how and where it finally breaks. Anticipation because the way things are now is unsustainable and unhealthy for our society, trepidation because the process of change will be difficult and could well coincide with widespread economic collapse and hardship. But my biggest concern is that it won’t happen at all: that the American people will continue to let their civil rights, human rights, and worker’s rights be eroded to nothing while they focus on just trying to make a living in an increasingly harsher environment created by the economic and power greed of the country’s established “nobility”. But then I think of how bad it could get, and I have faith that somewhere down the line that tipping point will be reached for someone, and a leader will emerge to help us in the long struggle back to true democracy.

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Recommended Inspirational Listening: A Call to Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr magic roundabout the download . Individual speech downloads also available at Alternative Radio: Audio Energy for Democracy mean creek divx online

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Women in at least 12 states, including Wisconsin, Texas, North Carolina and California, have reported encountering pharmacists unwilling to fill their [birth control] prescriptions. “We’ve heard stories about them being turned away or referred to other pharmacies,” said Karen Pearl, national president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “And even more alarmingly, some women are being denied birth control and the pharmacist keeps their prescription. They are also being given moral lectures, religious lectures. Women are being told contraception is abortion, which it is not.” — Pharmacies Required to Fill Prescriptions for Birth Control

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, Washington Post, April 1st 2005.

My panic continues, turned red hot with fury. I forgot to mention in my last panic post about another insidious angle of the world closing in: the fact that the ultra-conservative Christian right is clearly becoming more powerful and starting to share their “message” through lobbying, legislation, and biased media tools.

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on NPR’s All Things Considered this evening. True to form, they included interview segments with people on both sides of the issue. On the conservative side was the representative of an organization (I can’t remember which one, check the audio) that said they have been openly lobbying for legislation that permits pharmacists to not fill prescriptions based on the pharmacist’s own beliefs. On the other side, the interviewee (again check the audio for the name) said that not only have pharmacists refused to give birth control to unmarried women because they believe pre-marital sex is a sin, but that they also have refused to give birth control to married women, for some insane reason I can’t remember now. So pharmacists can now put a total kibosh on any sort of thoughtful family planning if they choose to, and there are people out there supporting their right to do this. INSANITY. Insidious insanity. Insidious scary red insanity.

I’m glad to see that the Governor of Illinois realizes how ludicrous this all is. He has issued an emergency ruling requiring that pharmacists fill all birth control prescriptions without delay

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, in his state. But I’m really concerned about those lobbyists and the continued shift of this country’s values to the ultra-conservative Fundamentalist Christian, to the degree that the rest of us will be forced to live by their moral code whether we agree with it or not. The First Amendment right to freedom of religion will just be a sham. Or freedom of anything for that matter. How different will it be from living in a Fundamentalist Islamic state? Like those ones that Bush wants to turn into democracies. Help! When can we have our overthowing invasion???

In related news, it’s heartening to see that former Republican Sen. John Danforth says the Republican Party has become the political arm of Christian Conservatives.

I used to feel it just now and then. And then a little more often. And now pretty much every single day. Is it a feedback loop — my increasing sensitivity is causing me to become ever more sensitive — or is it truly happening every single day? I believe the latter. The world is just different than it used to be.

In the beginning my reactions were sweeping action and large ideas. Later I became more practical. Thinking locally, not globally. And now, the feelings are panic and futility and worry that I won’t be able to escape when it gets to be too much to bear.

I’m not talking about personal you’re-standing-too-close claustrophobia (though please don’t peer over my shoulder while I’m typing). I’m talking about the distinct and real feeling that the world is collapsing bit by bit around me. Every day the people who have always been just getting by are finding it harder to continue just getting by. Every day something appears in my consciousness — in the news, personal experience, or stories from friends — that causes the panic to well up. I don’t have any cold hard facts to regale you with, but I have always been an absorbent sponge for my community’s mood and sensibility, and I am seeing and feeling it all around me. People are hoarding like squirrels in November. People are worried about the future. People are feeling helpless; incredulous at the state of things but too busy getting by or too weary from the mostly-futile effort of attempting change. And so am I.

It’s Average Joe and Typical Mary against the banks, the insurance companies, the healthcare system, big business, and the government. None of these institutions, which were (correct me if I am naively wrong here) originally developed with the idea of helping Joe and Mary live better lives, are actually serving their purposes any longer. They have fused together into this gargantuan sticky web of greed and power. Like Doc Ock but with more and meaner mechanical tentacles. Yes, it feels very mechanical, driven by rules and money, not people. Humans work in these institutions, but must of them are just Joes and Marys too, equally trapped but maybe understanding their trap a little better than the rest of us.

Today’s panic came from a conversation I had with an insurance adjuster about the claim I made for the items that were stolen from my car when my car was taken. The claim had to be filed under my renter’s policy, not my auto policy. Today I learned that with a standard renter’s policy, the insurance company will not cover the loss of CDs, cassettes, or cell phones when they are stolen from cars. Why? The answer is simple, and came straight from the adjuster’s mouth: these are the things that are most often stolen from cars and so they have simply decided not to cover them. This is ludicrous and maddening. But it also elicited in me that too-familiar claustrophobic tightness because it’s a perfect example of how the insurance industry has ceased to exist as a resource for Joe and Mary and now exists for itself alone.

And I wonder: if I just accept that my CDs won’t be reimbursed (just sigh and say “fine” as I did this afternoon on the phone because I was too weary to argue and what good would it have done anyway?), what will they take away next? Will we continue to pay more and more money for less and less service, just because the insurance companies decide to stop covering things that end up costing them money? How will it end? Granted, I could have not had a renter’s policy at all, and just dealt with the theft of my belongings on my own. But I am required to have auto insurance. I’ve paid thousands of dollars over the years for it and if I get in an accident my rates will go up. But they will never go down even if I drive safely. (And now newer cars are made with little black-box devices that will show how fast you were going at the time of an accident, information the insurance companies are guaranteed to use against you whenever possible. Is anyone else thinking of George Orwell besides me?)

And it’s scariest when you are dealing with healthcare. Losing a couple hundred bucks on CDs is easily forgotten when considering what one trip to the ER could cost if you haven’t asked permission from your insurance company first. Plus so many Joes and Marys don’t even have healthcare coverage because it’s just too expensive (mine is minimal and hardly useful but at least it’s something). So Joe and Mary just pray that Billy doesn’t break an arm.

It’s getting harder and harder for Joe and Mary to feed their families healthy food, find good education for their children, have dependable healthcare, be paid a decent wage, save a little money, and feel secure about their old age. They are having to fight and scrimp for these things at every step and every turn, and it gets really hard, really tiresome, and sometimes feels really hopeless. At the same time they’re worried about losing their civil liberties in this age of fear-mongering, fundamentalism, and blatant government propaganda. Will they be putting Prozac in the drinking water next?

I know there are a lot of people out there who have more energy to fight all this than I do, and I hugely appreciate their efforts, but I worry that it isn’t enough. The money and power on the other side (the “other side” which insidiously pretends to be on “our side”, at least until we do something they don’t like) seems way too hard to overcome. Sometimes I wish the economy would just collapse already and that there would be some huge egregious affront to our civil liberties that would make everyone in their right minds feel compelled to fight it. I find myself dreaming of the ultimate lawsuit: The American People vs. GovernBankCorp, tried in The Hague. Or a worldwide effort to invade the US: the rest of the world deciding that this government has become too powerhungry, is not properly representing the people, and is a danger to the rest of the world. (Kinda like what George W. did with Saddam in Iraq, no?)

All I know is my lot is cast with all the other Joes. I’m working hard to get by, trying to live honestly and thoughtfully in a world that just seems to thwart that at every turn. And every day something new happens to give me that feeling of claustrophobic panic.