Dear David,

I have written an article for the Huffington Post about how to prevent this disastrous oil spill from happening again.

The best way to punish an oil company for its misdeeds is not to buy their product. Since you cannot tell for sure at which gas station BP oil ends up, that means not buying gasoline from any gas station. This means taking a hard look at how we live our lives. Lifestyle changes like this are a lot harder than participating in a protest, but a lot more effective in the long run at stopping oil spills once and for all.

Thank you for exploring my site. I am always indebted to my webmaster, Vietly, who created it more than a dozen years ago and continues to update it for me.

Please let me know your thoughts about the Huffington Post article.

Best,

Alexandra

Hi Aurelian,

The yellow watch I wore on Baywatch was one of the only things I kept from the show. I just took it out of the plastic bag in which I keep it: It is by Casio, and it is called Sensor. It also says “depthmeter” on the watchband. I loved that watch! They offered me others to wear as the seasons wore on, but I liked the yellow and the sturdiness of this one. I wore it at least 3 seasons. I think I wore the same jean shorts for 3 seasons too… when I like something I stick with it.

They dont seem to make the Sensor Depthmeter anymore, but they make something like it – the Casio Twin Sensor Pathfinder looks the most similar, although I couldnt find it in yellow!

Thank you for writing,

Alexandra

Dear Ginger,

I have never been nervous about my mugshot being on the internet, because I always got arrested for what I believe, through civil disobedience. I have actually been in jail several times: After protesting nuclear weapons testing at the Nevada Test Site in 1989 and because I couldnt in good conscience pay the $50 fine (since the government would get the money and then use it for more bombs), I spent 3 1/2 days in the Beatty and Tonopah jails. Soon after that, due to the expenses of incarceration, protesters were just cited and released, so henceforth I was arrested about a dozen more times there, but released within a couple hours from a holding pen right there in the desert.

In 1990, I was in jail for a few hours with activists in the gay community asking the FDA to fast track the drug Compound Q to AIDS patients. There is a photo on my site from this arrest taken by an LA Times journalist. Notice how the police officers are wearing rubber gloves- that was how scared people were then of getting infected by anyone gay. That might have been the only time I was afraid during an arrest. It had been a quiet leafletting vigil with about a dozen activists, until the cops came and ordered us to leave. Since we were there legally, we sat down on the sidewalk and refused to move. They brought more cops in, with batons and some on horses, and because they were scared of these activists whom they assumed had AIDS, the police were very much on the defensive. The arrests werent planned, and I was in a holding cell for only a short while, but it sure wasnt what I expected when I agreed to vigil that day!

I dont recall whether I have had metal cuffs on – the plastic ones are cheaper,so at protests the cops use those. They hurt if they are pulled too tight, and with the plastic ones you can tighten but not loosen them, so you have to be careful not to make them tighter yourself!

Click here to read a detailed account of that whole experience, but to answer your particular questions:

I spent 5 1/2 days in jail in 2003, after peacefully protesting the Iraq War. After each arrest, I was booked, then released. I went before a judge several months later for those 2 arrests, with a lawyer whom I had hired. After I was sentenced to 6 days in jail, I had a couple days to go home and then I showed up on my own recognizance at the LA Detention Center. It was a federal crime (the building at which I was protesting was federal property), but I didnt know where I would be sent – it depends where there is a free bed. I was lucky not to end up in a county jail – those are much worse than the federal detention center they kept me. I was strip searched and they let me take my contact lenses and solution with me. The guard let me take a copy of Martin Luther King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail. It was pretty much like tv otherwise.

Civil disobedience might not be for you. That is OK – there are many ways to be an activist and make a difference. The most important thing is that you maintain your integrity and that you contribute to making this world a better place.

Best,

Alexandra