Esha Momeni, the California State University Northridge journalism graduate student, who was arrested and jailed in Iran’s Evin prison while in the country to work on her thesis, has been finally released. The release comes 25 days after Momeni’s initial capture, which I wrote about here.

Below is the message released on the official Facebook group, “Free Esha.”

Hello Everyone!!

ESHA HAS BEEN RELEASED!!!

We got the news this morning. We have no other details but are happy that she’s safe and back home with her parents.

We would like to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for all the support, work and prayers. Every bit of your efforts made this happen.

The official blog for Momeni includes a list of 90 professors, educators and chairs of departments who have signed to expedite her release.

I will follow with more details once they come in…

If you’ve switched on your television in the last couple of weeks, chances are you’ve seen the VW commercials for their newest model, the Routan, starring none other than actress Brooke Shields. In them, Shields is meant to tell a sarcastic, yet riveting and monumental story about how there is an incredible baby boom taking place all over the country, because people are looking for an excuse to buy the Routan, which is being billed more or less as a family vehicle

In the commercial, Shields says things like “women everywhere are having babies just to get the new VW Routan and “Remember, have a baby for love, not for German engineering,” while she confronts pregnant couples and asks the public for help to conduct this “growing epidemic.”

I get it. It’s meant to be funny and satirical, and forgive me if I’m taking this too seriously, but it seems a bit distasteful to me. The main reason being that this is a woman who suffered from postpartum depression and wrote a book called “Down Came the Rain” that detailed her experiences with the illness.

So to hear her try to give the subject of having babies for “German engineering” a funny spin, is perhaps the unfunniest thing of all.

Maybe I’m being too harsh. Maybe it’s because I hate car commercials in general, that I can’t stand a celebrity-endorsed one even more. I’m not sure. This isn’t even against VWs, as I drive one and have ever since I got my license. I just know I feel really uneasy hearing her talk about babies when I know what she went through in her personal life.

Either way, I hate gimmicks like this to sell cars. Instead of using Brooke Shields, why doesn’t VW choose to talk about how they’re trying to combat global warming by developing alternative energy vehicles? Surely, the era of celebrity endorsements is on the decline. I hope.

He couldn’t get up as the early as rest of us, so he snuck out to his local polling center at PetSmart down the street and cast his vote. I tried to get him to tell me who he voted for, but he wasn’t having it. However, I think it’s safe to saw he went for Baruff Obama and not John McClaw.

Me: When do you think we can have a house of our own?

Him: I’ve never bought one before. What do you do?

Me: I have no idea.

Him: How much are they?

Me: a lot I guess. Many hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Him: oh well, I guess we can’t get one then. We don’t have many hundreds of thousands.

Me: How can we get some?

Him: Our parents?

Me: I don’t think so.

Him: Lottery?

Me: We could, but the probability is not in our favor. What else?

Him: Working?

Me: That could work!

Him: Why are you scaring me?

Me: Don’t get scared. I’d just like to own a house with you.

Him: I know you would. Because you like me a lot, and you know that any house I live in, would be the best. You know that I know how to not only decorate a house, but also to KEEP IT CLEAN.

me (in my mind): I’ve finally come to the following conclusion: I don’t like to clean and I’m not ashamed to admit it, so there.

I have much to say, but I’m waiting. Waiting and hoping. Tomorrow, things are going to change. I can feel it. And it’s going to be wonderful.

On a Saturday night I was meant to do some organizing, some cleaning, some writing and some reading. I was also looking forward to watching SNL, as I knew that Ben Affleck was hosting and he’s usually pretty great and that John McCain himself was going to make an appearance. As a side note to John: Do you really think it’s appropriate to be appearing on a comedy sketch show when you should be addressing the people of this country? I mean first Sarah Palin and now you? Cut the gimmicks. If this didn’t make it clear that the McCain-Palin ticket is literally on a bridge to nowhere, I don’t know what will.

Anyway, now that I’ve gotten that obligatory message out of the way, let me tell you what happened to hinder my plans. I was almost finished watching my newest favorite show, “Stylista,” and drinking tea when the unthinkable happened. The electricity went out. I panicked. Jason, one of the wannabe junior fashion editors had just has a nervous breakdown coupled with a panic attack that led to an ambulance hauling him away from the Elle headquarters. I was waiting to see what Anne Slowey, Elle’s fashion news director and Anna Wintour wannabe (noticed the to n’s in both their names, ha!) had to say about all this hulabaloo, but the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power had other plans for me.

It seems like this city cannot handle weather below 75 degrees. Can. not. compute. The rain that came down yesterday (and trust me, it was just a smidgen, coupled with some thunder) apparently wreaked enough havoc on L.A that power lines were down and for five hours, I sat in the dark, bored to death.

After half an hour of waiting, I called DWP to report the outage and was connected with a operator who told me they knew of the problem and that crews were on their way to repair it, whatever it was, she didn’t know, but she estimated that the time of restoration would be 7:30 a.m. the next day. Oh dear God.

At first, I thought, this is going to be so fun! I can light candles! Then, when we ran out of candles to light, boredom began to set in. There was absolutely nothing to do. I began to wonder how people lived centuries ago. I am telling you right now, I am all for going back to a simpler way of life, just as long as I can take my laptop along. I really can’t survive without it. This is not a joke. My world would crumble if I didn’t have it around. Stress would set in, I’d have anxiety attacks and then I’d eventually fall over and die.

At one point I got so bored that I started to play with wax and made a mess of the glass table. Oh well. Then, we decided to do a couple crosswords using a flashlight, and that only lasted about 45 minutes, because under the stress of having no electricity and trying to figure out the mysterious clues that are ever present in a New York magazine puzzle, I succumbed to a deep slumber on the couch, which led me to giving up hope that the lights would ever come back on and stumbling to bed.

Then, the minute I had fallen asleep, they decided to miraculously appear again! How convenient. By that time, I couldn’t function, so I went to sleep anyway. There goes another wasted Saturday night.

Proposition 6: Police and Law Enforcement Funding

• What it means: Proposition 6 is basically requesting that almost $1 million be used to fund police and local law enforcement.
• Pros and cons: This proposition argues that it is a measure that will bring about crime and anti-gang reduction and will increase efficiency and accountability for public safety programs. Proponents against the measure argue that it will take away money from schools, health care and proven public safety programs.
• How I will vote: I’m a big fan of public safety, however I don’t think more money for funding law enforcement is the way to solve crime and reduce gang behavior. I know it takes a lot of money, however I think the fundamental problem lies in the structure of the programs and how officers are trained.

Proposition 7: Renewable Energy Generation

• What it means: This would require government-owned utilities to generate 20 percent of their electricity from renewable energy by 2010. This would cost up to $3.4 million annually and the impact on state and local government costs is unknown.
• Pros and cons: This proposition extends beyond the year 2010. A yes vote would require all utilities to increase their proportion of electricity from renewable sources to 40 percent by 2020 and 50 percent by 2025. However, opponents of the measure say that it’s poorly drafted, results in less renewable power, higher electric rates and a potential energy crisis. It also forces small renewable companies out of California’s market.
• How I will vote: The wording of this entire proposition is really confusing and I’m not really clear on it by any means, however leading environmental groups including the California Solar Energy Industries Association, the Union of Concerned Scientists, the California Green Party and BOTH the California Democratic and Republican Party. They argue that it is so poorly written that it would hurt the cause of renewable energy, and I couldn’t agree more, seeing as to how I couldn’t fully understand it just by reading a few paragraphs.

Proposition 8: Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry

• What it means: Proposition 8 would change the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry. It would also mean that only a marriage between a man and a woman would be valid in the state. The fiscal impact includes potential revenue loss.
• Pros and cons: Supporters argue that this proposition fixes the mistake committed by four judges in San Francisco who overturned “the people’s vote” to ban gay marriage. They argue that “it doesn’t take away any rights or benefits from gay domestic partners” but that it reaffirms traditional marriage. Those against the measure argue that “equality under the law is a fundamental freedom” and that singling people out to be treated differently is wrong.
• How I will vote: There is perhaps no other proposition on this ballot that I feel as strongly about as this one. The people who support yes on proposition 8 are in my opinion homophobic, bigoted and hateful scums of the Earth. How dare anyone tell another person who they have the right to marry and who they do not? How dare you take a fundamental right away from other human beings, who have just as much right to love anyone they want and get married to anyone they want as you? I will be whole-heartedly voting NO on proposition 8 and I encourage anyone who is reading this to vote no on it with me.

Proposition 9: Criminal Justice System: Victim’s Rights and Parole

• What it means: This proposition requires notification to the victim and opportunity for input during phases of the criminal justice process, including bail, please, sentencing and parole. It would also mean that payments of restitution without be required to crime victims without exception and that early release of inmates to reduce prison or jail overcrowding would be restricted in certain circumstances.
• Pros and cons: People in favor of this proposition argue that California’s constitution gives convicted criminals generous rights, and that crime victims don’t have similar protections which they are entitled to. They also say it will improve public safety and justice, giving victims enforceable constitutional rights. Those against the measure say that it asks voters to support victims’ rights already protected under state law and that the millions of dollars it requires will not go to crime victims, however it will go to building more prisons.
• How I will vote: As a whole, I think this sounds good in theory, but this proposition is a bit useless, considering the fact that voters have already approved many components of it when they passed California Proposition 8 in 1982. Notable organizations that are against Prop. 9 include the California Democratic Party, the California Teachers Association and the Los Angeles Times. I will be voting no.

Proposition 10: Alternative Fuel Vehicles and Renewable Energy.

• What it means: This proposition will authorize $5 billion in bonds paid from the state’s General Fund to help consumers purchase alternative certain vehicles and fund research in renewable energy. It would cost the state $10 billion every 30 years to repay bonds.
• Pros and cons: The argument goes that a yes vote will produce more electricity from solar and wind power as well as give Californians rebates to purchase clean alternative fuel vehicles, while getting polluting diesels off the roads. On the other hand, those against it say that it gives away billions in taxpayer dollars to benefit one company with little accountability and actually does not guarantee the environmental benefit.
• How I will vote: The Clean Energy Fuels Corp. which is owned by Boone Pickens (the 117th richest person in the world, according to Forbes magazine) has donated over $17 million to this proposition. Interestingly, the company is the largest provider of vehicular natural gas for fleets of vehicles in North America. It’s obvious that this proposition is entirely self-serving for the Clean Energy Fuels Crop. I’m going to stick it to the man and vote no.

Proposition 11: Redistricting

• What it means: Proposition 11 changes authority for establishing state office boundaries from elected representatives to commission. Como what? Basically, Prop. 11 would, according to the Los Angeles Times, “change the process that is undertaken once every ten years of setting (which sometimes means re-drawing) the geographic boundaries of the state’s 120 legislative districts and four Board of Equalization districts. At present, the task of setting these boundaries falls to the state legislature itself. If Proposition 11 passes, that task would instead be given to a new, 14-member commission.”
• Pros and cons: Supporters of this proposition say that this would end the conflict of interest of politicians that draw their own election districts. This would mean that politicians would be held accountable for solving problems like gas prices, health care and education. Those who do not support it argue that the power of the vote is being undermined by this proposition, stating that the power to drawing districts are going to be given to people who are never elected and never accountable to voters.
• How I will vote: If politicians are being forced to be held accountable for things they should have been accountable for in the first place, then my vote is yes

Last Friday, on Oct. 24, while I was stuck in four hours of test hell, my beloved New York Times finally picked a candidate to endorse. Can you guess who?

Oh yes. The New York Times is baracking the vote. Look at this lovely man. This symbol of change, the voice for a generation, the icon of hope. Look at him, standing in the rain, at a rally in Fredericksburg, Virginia on Sept. 27. Do you want to know how many people showed up to this rally? 26,000. 26,000 “my friends,” as John McCain irritatingly says.

The entire endorsement is three pages long, so I will only post a snippet here:

As tough as the times are, the selection of a new president is easy. After nearly two years of a grueling and ugly campaign, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois has proved that he is the right choice to be the 44th president of the United States.

Mr. Obama has met challenge after challenge, growing as a leader and putting real flesh on his early promises of hope and change. He has shown a cool head and sound judgment. We believe he has the will and the ability to forge the broad political consensus that is essential to finding solutions to this nation’s problems.

The NY Times has a really interesting multimedia feature that outlines their endorsements dating back to 1860 with the endorsement of Abraham Lincoln. Can you imagine this paper has been around for that long? It’s incredible.

In the time I spent today on the freeway, trying to escape the Halloween rush, I listened to Kevin Roderick on his show “LA Observed” on KCRW. The topic of discussion was presidential endorsements or lack thereof. While I highlighted above who the third most circulated publication in the country is betting on, there are a number of publications who choose not to go either way.

Roderick spoke of the Los Angeles Times, who I also posted about here. However, interestingly enough, he mentioned that LA Weekly, whom I love and hope to one day write for, gave up it’s tradition of making endorsements, because it’s Arizona-based ownership, Village Voice Media, has a policy against publications under its belt endorsing.

On a whole, like I’ve said before, I don’t know how I feel about publications endorsing candidates. I don’t feel like they shouldn’t, but I don’t know if endorsing has an effect on the public. People form opinions from information and facts, not necessarily from how the editorial board of a publication feels about certain issues. However, an endorsement from the Times is a big deal. Quite a big deal. There are two days left to decide who is going to be the next president of this country. I hope everyone takes note of this endorsement if they’re undecided.

Photo by oporder

If you’ve noticed the banner on the right side of this website, you can see that I have committed to writing 30 posts in 30 days for the month of November. It’s just a fun activity, sponsored by NaBloPoMo, otherwise known was National Blog Posting Month to get people in the habit of posting. While I would love to post every day for eternity, lack of energy and time prevent me from doing so regularly, and that’s really upsetting. So in honor of NaBloPoMo, here is one of 30 posts you will see from me in the month of November.

Let’s start with Halloween.

Hello from 1963! I went as Jacqueline Kennedy, complete with a “Rock the Vote” pin, gloves which my mother wore on her wedding day, an Ann Taylor suit, a Chanel bag and pearls. I was only a handful of people dressed up at the office, and was rather disappointed at the lack of enthusiasm. I picked Jackie O because not only have I admired her for a long time, but since it was a political year, I thought I would make a statement. A couple people mentioned to me that I should have come with blood splattered on my suite, mimicking the day that JFK was shot, but I am not suited for such attempts at trying to be gory or funny. I’m way too sensitive for it. Too much maybe. Henry was meant to be George Washington this year. I even bought felt and a curly white wig to fashion him in to America’s first president, but unfortunately, because I had been concentrating on grad school, work and writing, I didn’t get a chance to sew it. So I went and bought him a last minute costume of a ghost, which didn’t really work because he’s already white, with black beady eyes and nose.

When kids starting showing up at the door, he barked furiously, as if to say “hey, why are you on my property,” and then he got excited at the thought of people coming over, but when he realized that they were just showing up for candy and then going away, he began to cry after them. Every time a troop of snow whites, goblins and pumpkin-ofied babies would approach, he would frantically try to smell them. When they left, he was whimpering after them. He then spent the rest of the night waiting by the door for more kids. He did this long after everyone had come by. My heart melted.

When I came home after 2 hours in traffic, I found out that I had received a notice about a traffic violation. I was slightly confused, as I know that I haven’t been stopped by police for any type of violation for years. Lo and behold, it wasn’t a cop who had stopped me, but one of those pesky video cameras, that had taken photos of my car, supposedly passing a red light. In all honesty, I can’t recall if I had actually done this or not, but at that point it didn’t matter. I am now stuck with a huge and hefty fine and traffic school. I really hate my life. My plans of getting a new camera have now been delayed, thanks to Big Brother. George Orwell would not have been happy.