Visual Artist Guilder Ann Lau writes in about crashing Steve Haderlein's district meeting-raffle last week and asks what happened to plans for a Dec. 10 human-rights celebration as discussed Oct. 29:

We were distributing a brochure about our call to "Turn Your Back to the Rose Parade's Beijing Olympic Float".

It was rather dark outside and we had people from the Burmese, Chinese pro-democracy, human rights group and other supporters (about a dozen people all spread around inside and outside). Jim Morris
and other people were outside too. Some people were being interviewed by Radio Free Asia.

Later we went inside and Channel 4 called some of us outside for interviews. We were outside for awhile.
When I went back inside, Steve Haderlein was answering some questions regarding the freeway. After those questions were answered, he asked if there were any other questions. I raised my hand and other people raised their hands also. Steve took a look at my side (his right hand side), turned to the middle and then turned back to look at me and then turned to the middle again.

Then he told the audience that he would have the raffles and would answer more questions later. After the
raffles, people began drifting out and the formal meeting more or less ended. Some people went to talk to Steve.

I also went to talk to Steve and said to him, "I hope I did not cause you to stop the meeting." He said, "Oh, no, no ....." and started giving some excuses or other. Now, if he really didn't stop the
meeting becaus e he saw me, he would have said, "What do you mean?" Won't he?

I asked him what the Council has done regarding the letters to the Sisters Cities, he said nothing yet.

I gave him our brochure and pointed to the photo of Bishop Jia and I also mentioned Father Wen as being still in jail. I said that since he went to Marymount; (he corrected me and said Loyola), and since he teaches at a Catholic school, I would assume that he is Catholic and would be interested in the Catholic clergies who have been sent to jail because they refused to renounce their allegiance to the Pope. Some woman next to me said that I am putting him on the spot.

I then mentioned the Council talking about celebrating the anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. I said that since December 10 is the anniversary, we are planning a Human Rights Exhibition on December 8 at the Jackie Robinson Center and I invited him to come.

He later said that since December 10 is the anniversary, the Council may discuss the letter then. I asked if there isn't a meeting this coming Monday, he said there is a meeting and I can raise the issue at that meeting.

That was what happened. I wished Steve Haderlein had called on me to ask him questions publicly.
Ann Lau

Posted by Todd at 2:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

For years I've saved some of the best and brightest of e-mails sent by readers. I was thinking they'd make for a nice coffee table book. Some of the ones I received while working at the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin in Ontario -- wow.

Instead of hording them for another project I'll never be serious about, I'm posting the first in an occasional series. This one from Joshua Jengel, who's "just curious" after reading today's story re: The Bill-board:

I'm just curious, isn't China her own country? We make not like how their government runs, but who are we to tell them how to behave? How would the countries involved in the war with Iraq feel if China excluded them from the Olympics? Not too happy I imagine. How these reporters are behaving is childish and I am appalled that the city allowed the billboard to go up. That is a direct insult to China and it makes me ashamed to be an American. It is not up to us to tell the rest of the world how to live. We barely can keep our own country from falling apart. It's high time that we start paying attention to what is happening between these borders and spending a little less time policing parts of the world that we don't agree with. Especially since the UNiCEF report in February ranks the U.S. at twentieth out of twenty-one countries when it comes to the welfare and education of its' children.

Actually Joshua, I'm just curious if you wouldn't be happier in China? Or perhaps in Vladimir Putin's New Russian Republic of Vladimir Putin presented by Vladimir Putin? Not that you're the only one here "ashamed" and "appalled" by the Constitution and its various amendments.

Posted by Todd at 2:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)