VAWA passes!

Well, VAWA is headed to the President's desk for signing.  286 Yes and 138 No.  You can guess who the no votes were from.  But 59 Republicans voted Yes.  That's really encouraging.  We thank you for voting to protect us..all of us.  The rest of the GOP needs to find their hearts.  Stop obstructing. Stop oppressing. Come back to humanity.  We need you.

UPDATE: Read that more than 59 GOP voted yes, but I haven't been able to verify that. Here are the nine women who voted against:

1. Michele Bachman
2. Diane Black
3. Marsha Blackburn
4. Renee Ellmers
5. Virginia Foxx
6. Vicky Hartlzer
7. Cythia Lummis
8. Martha Roby
9. Ann Wagner

All GOP members who couldn't be bothered to protect women.

Medical Cannabis Laws are a Blessing...not a Given

I just read an article about a couple in Arizona who have medical cannabis cards and then flagrantly violated state law to open a "bakery" in their home, complete with customer counter and hours of business sign. Great.

I know our economy isn't great. Cannabis is prevalent and it's tempting to make money with it. Growers, in my opinion, violate the OMMP in Oregon all the time when they charge their patients x amount for an ounce of cannabis that belongs to the patient in the first place. To get reimbursement, growers are SUPPOSED to present the patient with grow store receipts as well as the patient's portion of the grower's electric bill.  But they get creative and decide that those fees result in an ounce costing the patient anywhere from $100/ounce to $300/ounce. Far as I'm concerned, this is illegal.  There's no way they can justify this cost. We can say the growers are confused, but it's opportunism at it's most egregious. They take advantage of sick people who can't grow for themselves and are afraid to say anything for fear they'll lose access to their medicine. If voters in Oregon had approved dispensaries during the last election, some of this would have gone away. But we didn't do that.

Thank goodness for the actions of diligent activists who have worked tirelessly to tell the truth about this plant. They are the unsung heroes of our movement. Medical cannabis laws are a blessing. They're not a given. If patients continually violate them, they'll be repealed. Stop it.

Oh Mike Pence...

There's something wrong with these governors who want to put probes in my vagina.  And now, Mike Pence, the new governor of Indiana wants to put not one, but two of the damn things in there. His idea is that any woman who takes the abortion pill should be forced to get the ultrasound before she takes the pill, and then two weeks after to verify the termination of the pregnancy. Who do these people think they are???

Lord, where do I even begin?  We're nearing critical mass here, folks.  Women are sick and tired of idiot men, as well as their idiot women counterparts who have no idea what loyalty is all about, thinking they can require ANYTHING of us.  It was a little unbelievable really when all this nonsense started.  It's not news that Republicans will do whatever they can to circumvent anything they have to advance their agenda.  And reproductive rights are at the forefront of said agenda.  That, and doing everything in their power to make sure that their rich overlords are taken care of, but I digress.

If you don't want an abortion, then don't have one.  See how easy that is?  It's about a personal medical choice that our constitution protects on our behalf.  For all the worry you seem to have that our second amendment right to possess weapons that would be better reserved for our military will be infringed upon, you'd think that you would be advocates for all things constitutional.  Unless it's more about your pathological need to control women...

I may be biased but I'm voting for the pathological need to control women.  Or it's cheap thrills.

So I'm Going to Stupidly Weigh in on this...

I guess Melissa Harris-Perry stepped in it when she took issue with President Obama's seemingly connecting single moms and, in turn, the lack of dads, as one reason for gun violence. I caught that "slip of the tongue" as well and thought at the time, well this won't be good. The Twitterverse went nuts.

Now it's time for everyone to take a breath and calm down.  And I know how condescending that sounds.

Do it anyway, and please don't yell at me for saying so.

The RWNJs of the world immediately went to their favorite targets when Sandy Hook happened and blamed, say it with me now, single moms.  Now I've never been a single mom, but for a short time, I was raised by one.  My parents divorced after I graduated from high school, but my brother was 7 years younger than me so it still counts.  I witnessed how difficult it was and how she had to be so careful with everything.  She lived in fear that my father would take my brother away from her...not that he would have because he couldn't be bothered with a deaf child anyway.

It's hard to listen to views that are negative about a President whom I dearly love.  It's hard when I disagree with him.  I've had to remind myself that I can adore this man without liking everything he does, particularly when I see cannabis patients affected by his strange policies of, oh we don't have the time or the resources to go after people following their state laws, except that we actually do and we will.  You get the idea.

The outrage is getting tiresome.  All Melissa did was talk about how the President's comments felt to her.  Her experiences are as valid as anyone else's.  If you don't want to hear her, then don't watch her show.  I have a tendency to evaluate an argument by trying to understand it.  Sometimes that involves taking an opposing view and restating it in my own terms.  Confuses the crap out of people who think they know me.  Examining opposing views requires that we are able to suspend judgement for a minute and look objectively at an idea.  The funny thing is, you don't have to adopt an idea to fully understand or even defend it.  Trust me, if you like messing with people..this'll do it!

So remember to approach the world with love and respect.  It's easier to get through the day if you do. Take a breath, and if you hold it long enough, you just might lose consciousness long enough so that when you come to, it'll all be over and you'll have saved yourself the embarrassment of going ape-shit on someone for simply expressing a viewpoint that you either disagree with or just don't understand.

I AM RISING!

I recently joined Unite Blue and OneBillionRising, two organizations which are both concerned with progressing forward in our society and around the world.  And you can get the cool Twibbons on your avatar if you're on Twitter or Facebook.  Check out www.uniteblue.com www.onebillionrising.org  At some point, our social welfare must be more important than any political ideology or misogynistic attitude.

I'm rising because I will no longer stand for being abused in ANY way.  

I'm rising because I will no longer stand for injustice anywhere.

I'm rising because I will no longer allow my own self esteem to be influenced by the negative comments of others.

I'm rising for women everywhere who are abused, demeaned, cast aside, and thrown away like garbage.

I'm rising because I will no longer allow others to intrude upon my privacy.

I'm rising because I will no longer accept others defining my place in life.

I'm rising because I will no longer allow others to disrespect me.

I am rising for women everywhere because 1 in 3 are raped around the world.

I am rising for all survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

I am rising for all women everywhere who are paid less than they're worth for doing the same jobs as men.

And I'm rising for women in this country who have had their constitutional rights either taken away or jeopardized by the RWNJs in our government.

Please join us in rising against oppression everywhere!

Here's a list of the misogynistic assholes who voted against the VAWA

Of course they're all Republicans:

• Pat Roberts (KS)
• Marco Rubio (FL)
• Jeff Sessions (AL)
• Mike Johanns (NE)
• Ron Johnson (WI)
• Mike Lee (UT)
• Mitch McConnell (KY)
• Rand Paul (KY)
• Jim Risch (ID)
• Ted Cruz (TX)
• Mike Enzi (SC)
• Lindsay Graham (SC)
• Chuck Grassley (IA)
• Orrin Hatch (UT)
• James Inhofe (OK)
• John Barrasso (WY)
• Roy Blunt (MO)
• John Boozman (ARK)
• Tom Coburn (OK)
• John Cornyn (TX)
• John Thune (SD)
• Tim Scott (SC)

These names could have appeared on this list without any vote taking place.  Shame on these men for not protecting us.  Shame on them.  And thank you to all those senators who voted yes.

Own Your Health

I've been thinking about how prescription drugs cause more problems than they seem to treat or cure. It seems odd that I have to take other drugs to counteract the side effects of the primary drugs I have to take. The alternative is to either stop the drugs I need, or to suffer with their side effects. 

I used to take methotrexate for my RA.  After five years, it began damaging my liver, so it was discontinued.  Since my rheumy didn't replace it with anything, my health deteriorated substantially (even though it was in already in the crapper prior to this) until I decided to become a cannabis patient. Cannabis did what the other drugs couldn't do.  It normalized my immune system enough so that I no longer have severe RA.  I still have RA, but it's manageable now.  Of course the federal government views me as a criminal and a drug addict, but I digress...

We all know that we take too many prescription drugs.  But how many of us try to figure out how we got to the point of needing them in the first place?  We're really on our own for the most part if we do because most doctors don't address this issue.  They treat "problems" and not the source of those problems.  A newer branch of medicine exists now called functional medicine that does focus on causation.  Dr. Mark Hyman is one such doctor.  Go to his website www.drhyman.com and get his take on the source of many of our medical problems.  It's revealing.  If we don't understand how we got unhealthy in the first place, we'll never make the changes in our lives that we need to make.  Doctors get rich and Big Pharma gets even richer and we all suffer in the long run.

It's the clinical version of the self-fulfilling prophecy.  

The goal of our health care system should be, you know, health.  The goal should be to never go into your doctor's office...for anything.  It should be a last resort.  Instead, we create huge imbalances in our bodies by the foods we eat and the environment we live in, and the result is disease.  Doctors should be investigating how we live and how that might be contributing to the problems that we have.  But no one wants to because it's too hard now.  It's too messy.  And that "socialism" word gets thrown into the mix and nothing happens.

For the record, these things are not socialism:

• vegetarianism/veganism
• requiring labeling for GMO foods
• banning GMO foods
• inspections - of farms, processing facilities, etc.
• the Clean Air Act
• the EPA
• ooh, universal health care, ooh
• banning radiated food
• growing industrial hemp (calm down, it doesn't get anyone high)

That's not a complete list, but you get the idea.  Somehow, the pressure is on from the naysayers to disregard anything that protects us and gives us the information we need to make the best decisions possible as an unconstitutional assault on our freedom.  You know, socialism.  President Obama says we can't let the perfect become the enemy of the good to illustrate that we can't keep doing nothing. We can't continually make excuses that solutions are too difficult or they cost too much.  And while we're at it, let's forget about the blame game as well.  It's not as if any of us intended to become ill.  But we have to allow for the possibility that some of the choices (conscious or not) we've made, or that have been made for us, have led us to the unhealthy state in which many of us now exist.  Forget the blame, and focus on the solution.  If your doctor stands in the way, then get another doctor.  If your politicians stand in the way, vote them out.  Redefine the notion of authority figure to include yourself. Trust me on this.  We know more than they do.  We live it.  They only observe and then complicate everything.

Look, it's not like I believe my doctors are worthless.  They aren't.  Everyone I see is compassionate and they really do want to help their patients.  But I don't believe that they received the training that they should have.  That needs to change.  When doctors prescribe medication, they need to fully understand the side effects and if there are supplements that can help offset them, then prescribe those as well.  This is particularly necessary if the patient needs to be on the meds for a long time. And for heavens sake, if someone is on a drug long-term, monitor the side effects.  Don't wait until they surface.  Patients don't remember to do that and to rely on them for that information is foolish.

Complacency doesn't serve anyone well.  Being proactive is the better choice.  It's okay to say no to your doctor.  It's okay to make them defend what they're asking you to do.  Take back the authority over your body and your health.  It's your right, not to mention your responsibility.

Hearing in Salem re: adding PTSD to the OMMP

Please attend the hearing to add PTSD to the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program's list of qualifying conditions.  It will be held on Thursday, February 7th at 3:00pm at 900 Court Street NE in Salem, Oregon in Hearing Room A.

Adding PTSD to the program will help thousands of Oregonians who deal with post-traumatic stress for whatever reason.  Veterans and abuse survivors struggle with PTSD on a daily basis.  We need to support those Oregonians who have no where else to turn.

Confused again..

This is one of those moments when I look around and I really don't understand what's happening.  I've been dealing with some really dishonest people lately.  I'm not sure what to do about them either because I can't get a read on why it's happening.  I'm torn because sometimes people lie out of fear.  It's not always deliberately nefarious.  It's a human thing versus a bad guy thing.  (Okay, bad guys are human.)

Even so, lying really bothers me.  It typically happens only once. Do it again, and you can kiss my trust goodbye.  Pretty much forever.  I do understand when there are extenuating circumstances, as with the fear issue.  You'll probably get more than one chance if that's the case.  But it's not an endless thing.  Trust matters.  If you lie, then you're not being trustworthy.  Since change is always possible (I know, no one believes me about that) you can get up the next day and choose to do better.  The problem is, sometimes when people lie, it's self-reinforcing - particularly when their goal is to get away with and/or get something.   

Lying and usury certainly go hand in hand.  Apparently it's okay to hate someone and say terrible things about him, and then pretend you're his friend so that you can use something he has.  I don't understand that.  Because it's not as if anyone changed their minds.  Someone I know is planning a trip with another person solely because he has a vehicle that would make the trip easier.  I think taking a 3,000 mile round trip with someone you don't like is insane.  My goodness, I couldn't possibly travel with someone I didn't like.  How do you keep the ruse going?  The stress from that alone would be unbearable.  There's no way I could keep my mouth shut.  The hypocrisy would be too much.  Suffice it to say that my trip would end soon after it had begun and I'd be lucky if I was let out of the car somewhere other than in the middle of nowhere.  

Sometimes parents teach their children to be dishonest.  I know a guy who taught his son to lie, cheat and of course, steal.  Seriously.  The guy was shocked when his son did time in prison for theft, which he in turn blamed on the negative influence of our local high school.  He just didn't connect with the fact that he taught his son to steal.  I don't know...pot meet kettle?

Look, no one's perfect.  We all have our issues to work on.  If we can do that and be honest at the same time, then great!  The world just works better when we all know what's going on.  Subterfuge is destructive and adversarial.  It creates doubt that is difficult to move past.  It's not a contest with one-upmanship as the goal.  It's not about getting over or having the last word.  

It's about meeting the day and everyone we encounter with honesty and integrity, irrespective of how others behave.  It's about remaining centered and focused on all things positive, and extending those feelings to others.  Because when we present ourselves honestly in the world, that comes back to us.  I believe that it speaks to the idea that we're all connected at some basic level.  If the human body needs to be in harmony with itself for health to exist, then so, collectively, do human beings.  Moving proactively in a positive direction is essential to rejecting dishonesty and the hypocrisy which results.  Extending love and respect to others without judgement should be effortless.

I read something that said we should forgive others and then forgive ourselves for allowing said others to upset us in the first place. So there you go.  Confusion's gone.  Uh huh.  Still a work in progress...