What if we decided to let undocumented immigrants just stay here? Sign them up. Document them. I know folks get all excited at the thought of amnesty, but why not? It would certainly be the compassionate decision. It would be easier than sending everyone home. I have a feeling that it would be far easier to establish a procedure and then begin processing people. It would certainly address the Dreamer issue. The kids would no longer fear deportation, because although not here legally, they are just as American as those of us who were born here. Fun fact from crazy town: Rep. Steve King asserts that immigrants from Mexico all weigh 130 lbs and have calves the size of cantaloupes. That's right. Cantaloupes. He knows because he's evidently picked up some of these guys and evidently had a measuring tape. I have one too. I had no idea of its versatility. Apparently their freakish calf size is due to the 75 pound bales of cannabis they lug over the border. Did he have a scale too? Did he weigh each bale? How does he know they were 75 pounds? If the bales were say, 60 pounds, would their calf size be that of a grapefruit? How big would the bales have to be to create calves the size of watermelons? I guess we don't need immigration reform after all. So glad Mr. King clarified this for everyone.
By refusing to reform our immigration laws, our government reinforces the very existence of undocumented immigrants as well as their abuse. It's not like we just noticed these folks are here. They've been here forever. Instead of looking at why they come here and then creating a reasonable procedure to help them relocate to this country legally, they delay, dismiss and ultimately do nothing. Well, there is that border fence.. but seriously, do background checks, send the criminals home, and let's keep the rest who want to stay here. You know, nation of immigrants and all. The Steve Kings of the world are just going to have to calm down.
The inmates have run the asylum for too long. How about we send the crazy people home next time? We started that process in 2012. Let's finish it and maybe we'll start moving forward again.
And hurry up with my daughter-in-law's paperwork.. She's from New Zealand and married my youngest son last December. She has a Master's Degree in Behavioral Analysis and works with autistic children. She's amazing and the children she works with need her. It doesn't have to be so complicated.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Putting Our Collective Foot Down..
When I attended a lecture by His Holiness The Dalai Lama in May, he emphasized the role of mothers in creating a better world. He said that mothers had a special responsibility to make their children feel loved. Boys, in particular, need this. As a mother of two boys, now men, I've thought about that counsel almost daily since then. Both of my guys turned out to be intelligent, responsible men. So I think I did an okay job. I respected and welcomed their opinions. I let them know their feelings mattered...that they mattered. Kids need to be treated with dignity and respect so that they in turn do that for others. They were my focus and it was my responsibility to make sure they understood how to navigate through life in a respectful and honest manner. This isn't to say that I was one of those mothers who related to my kids as a friend. I saw that happen in some families and it was a recipe for disaster. How do children learn to respect authority if their parents won't assume that role?
But none of this matters if some crazy person with a gun can come out and kill my boys whenever he feels like they're up to no good. Apparently our kids aren't safe anywhere - not in school, not at the mall, not walking home from the store. And yet, some of us go insane at the notion of not having access to military style assault weapons and extended clips. Why on earth would we set ourselves up for such disaster? Why on earth would we create laws that seem to go a little too far into personal choice when defining our right to defend ourselves from harm? Using a weapon to stop an attack is acceptable. Chasing someone down who did nothing to you and using the weapon when the person decides to defend himself against your actions defies all sensibility in the first place. To think a guy like that was found not guilty of such an act should scare the hell out of all of us.
There's a meanness out there now. Everything seems like an assault on one group or another. SCOTUS gave personhood to corporations, so the rest of us are inconsequential. They gutted the Voting Rights Act, just in case we didn't understand what they did to all of us with Citizen's United. How many ways can the highest court in the land tell the citizens of this country that they don't matter? Texas just made it more difficult for women to seek health care, particularly in the case of abortion, with another new bill introduced which prevents abortion after 6 weeks. For the love of God, we don't always know we're pregnant at 6 weeks. Why come after women this way? When we respond, and we will, you won't like it. I promise.
Women want peace. We want calm. We want to go about our lives feeling safe and want everyone we love to feel the same way. We don't want to be disrespected - not by our partners, children, employers, friends, communities, governors, Congress.. We're tired of seeing news reports of our children being riddled with bullets at school. We're tired of our hearts breaking and knowing that doesn't matter so much anymore.
Sybrina Fulton didn't want to be a role model for every mother out there who has lost a child to violence. She's far more noble than I would have been if one of my sons had been murdered. Particularly if the murderer got away with it as in the case of her son, Trayvon.
My mother used to "put her foot down" about one thing or another, and I knew at that point that whatever I wanted was about to fly right out the window. That woman was so effective that although I entered college at 16, I continued to ask permission to do things until long after I moved out at 18. Maybe that's what all of us need to do. Maybe we need to put our "collective foot" down and say we've had enough. We've had enough of laws that protect the bad guys. Doesn't matter if it's a gangster or a bankster, we've had enough of other people destroying lives with impunity.
Who doesn't agree with that? Because the outrage is growing.
But none of this matters if some crazy person with a gun can come out and kill my boys whenever he feels like they're up to no good. Apparently our kids aren't safe anywhere - not in school, not at the mall, not walking home from the store. And yet, some of us go insane at the notion of not having access to military style assault weapons and extended clips. Why on earth would we set ourselves up for such disaster? Why on earth would we create laws that seem to go a little too far into personal choice when defining our right to defend ourselves from harm? Using a weapon to stop an attack is acceptable. Chasing someone down who did nothing to you and using the weapon when the person decides to defend himself against your actions defies all sensibility in the first place. To think a guy like that was found not guilty of such an act should scare the hell out of all of us.
There's a meanness out there now. Everything seems like an assault on one group or another. SCOTUS gave personhood to corporations, so the rest of us are inconsequential. They gutted the Voting Rights Act, just in case we didn't understand what they did to all of us with Citizen's United. How many ways can the highest court in the land tell the citizens of this country that they don't matter? Texas just made it more difficult for women to seek health care, particularly in the case of abortion, with another new bill introduced which prevents abortion after 6 weeks. For the love of God, we don't always know we're pregnant at 6 weeks. Why come after women this way? When we respond, and we will, you won't like it. I promise.
Women want peace. We want calm. We want to go about our lives feeling safe and want everyone we love to feel the same way. We don't want to be disrespected - not by our partners, children, employers, friends, communities, governors, Congress.. We're tired of seeing news reports of our children being riddled with bullets at school. We're tired of our hearts breaking and knowing that doesn't matter so much anymore.
Sybrina Fulton didn't want to be a role model for every mother out there who has lost a child to violence. She's far more noble than I would have been if one of my sons had been murdered. Particularly if the murderer got away with it as in the case of her son, Trayvon.
My mother used to "put her foot down" about one thing or another, and I knew at that point that whatever I wanted was about to fly right out the window. That woman was so effective that although I entered college at 16, I continued to ask permission to do things until long after I moved out at 18. Maybe that's what all of us need to do. Maybe we need to put our "collective foot" down and say we've had enough. We've had enough of laws that protect the bad guys. Doesn't matter if it's a gangster or a bankster, we've had enough of other people destroying lives with impunity.
Who doesn't agree with that? Because the outrage is growing.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Thoughts on the President's remarks today..
I love it when President Obama has an unexpected conversation with the nation. Even the White House Press Corp. had no idea he would pay them and us a visit today, and his remarks continued for seventeen minutes. It felt unscripted. It was clear that he wanted to offer a perspective on the murder of Trayvon Martin in the broader context of how African American males still experience profiling in this country on a daily basis.
He shared with all of us what it's still like to be a young black man in this country. He talked about being watched in stores, hearing locks activated in cars as he walked down the street, and how entering an elevator could cause worry if a white woman was already in there, alone. Guilt is assumed..never the other way around.
Toward the end of his comments, President Obama asked if Trayvon had been of age and had a weapon, could he have used the stand your ground law to defend himself from someone who had been following him? Because that's what this really comes down to. Would he have been allowed to go home that night had the situation been reversed? Or would he have been arrested immediately? Does stand your ground only apply to white people? Or does it only apply to white men? It certainly didn't apply in the case of a black woman, Marissa Alexander, who fired shots into the air to stop her husband from abusing her. She was convicted and will serve twenty years unless the appeal is successful or someone intervenes and commutes her sentence. How did the law not apply to her? Why was she punished for defending herself?
The President suggested that stand your ground laws may be too ambiguous and may need review. I agree. I realize that technically, stand your ground was not part of the Zimmerman trial. Still, it is at the heart of this issue. It feels like the law applies only to certain people. If the woman who received twenty years had been white, would she be in prison now?
The American experiment is an interesting one. We're supposed to be united, but instead of a reality, it's more of a goal. At least it is for some of us. Too much nonsense keeps getting in the way. Sooner or later though, we have to figure out how to live together. Racism is still alive and well in this country. It's far too easy to be suspicious of others. Zimmerman decided all kinds of things about Trayvon and then got out of his car, instigated the altercation, and killed that precious boy. And he got away with it. He didn't care that Trayvon was someone's child. Zimmerman was so full of himself that he saw danger where there was none. A child is dead and his parents are heartbroken.
It feels different in this country now. Dealing with what happened on 9/11 was bad enough. The Bush administration used fear to take away our civil liberties. No one could speak out against Bush's response to the attack without being branded as unpatriotic or worse, a traitor. We finally elect an African American as President, and somehow conservatives think he needs their permission to actually do that job. So it should come as no surprise that conservative men also seem hell bent on living solitary lives because eventually even their women will leave them. Hint: women don't like being controlled and we actually think they're pretty stupid for trying and it's going to get really messy if they keep crap this up. And I guess, even though we have the Voting Rights Act, SCOTUS threw out Section 4, so our oh so popular and responsible Congress will have to fix that before 2014. Otherwise, I fear that voter suppression will win the day and ruin our lives all over again. And I'm not so sure that we can take anymore. And as far as Texas goes, Google Lewis Black's rant. He says it better than anyone else.
President Obama spoke about listening to his daughters interact with their friends. He made the observation that with each new generation of children, things seemed to get better. That with them, we have a chance for positive change. He's right. And I love that we have a President who gets that.
Can't we all agree that we've come too far to lose our way like this? It'd be nice if we could just care about each other. It'd be nice if kids could walk home from the store and not die along the way. It'd be nice if they could go to school and come home alive and well. And it'd be nice if women didn't feel that we need to fight battles that should have never been fought in the first place.
Misunderstanding results in fear. The world is a scary place, so it makes sense that we react this way. But at some point, we have to stop trying to control everything and everyone around us. We have to stop viewing others as the enemy and then use that belief to justify our behavior. Nothing good comes of it. Nothing.
Just ask Trayvon's parents..
UPDATE: While watching Melissa Harris-Perry's show, I learned that Marissa Alexander was given a choice between 20 years and 3. But if she had chosen three years, she would have lost her child. Her husband admitted he abused her. There was a restraining order mentioned by Melissa's guest. Marissa Alexander has a master's degree. What has the state of Florida done to this woman? And Angela Corey was involved. She was too gleeful at the verdict in the Zimmerman case. In her case, Madeleine Albright's words apply..you know, that special place in hell for women who don't help other women.
He shared with all of us what it's still like to be a young black man in this country. He talked about being watched in stores, hearing locks activated in cars as he walked down the street, and how entering an elevator could cause worry if a white woman was already in there, alone. Guilt is assumed..never the other way around.
Toward the end of his comments, President Obama asked if Trayvon had been of age and had a weapon, could he have used the stand your ground law to defend himself from someone who had been following him? Because that's what this really comes down to. Would he have been allowed to go home that night had the situation been reversed? Or would he have been arrested immediately? Does stand your ground only apply to white people? Or does it only apply to white men? It certainly didn't apply in the case of a black woman, Marissa Alexander, who fired shots into the air to stop her husband from abusing her. She was convicted and will serve twenty years unless the appeal is successful or someone intervenes and commutes her sentence. How did the law not apply to her? Why was she punished for defending herself?
The President suggested that stand your ground laws may be too ambiguous and may need review. I agree. I realize that technically, stand your ground was not part of the Zimmerman trial. Still, it is at the heart of this issue. It feels like the law applies only to certain people. If the woman who received twenty years had been white, would she be in prison now?
The American experiment is an interesting one. We're supposed to be united, but instead of a reality, it's more of a goal. At least it is for some of us. Too much nonsense keeps getting in the way. Sooner or later though, we have to figure out how to live together. Racism is still alive and well in this country. It's far too easy to be suspicious of others. Zimmerman decided all kinds of things about Trayvon and then got out of his car, instigated the altercation, and killed that precious boy. And he got away with it. He didn't care that Trayvon was someone's child. Zimmerman was so full of himself that he saw danger where there was none. A child is dead and his parents are heartbroken.
It feels different in this country now. Dealing with what happened on 9/11 was bad enough. The Bush administration used fear to take away our civil liberties. No one could speak out against Bush's response to the attack without being branded as unpatriotic or worse, a traitor. We finally elect an African American as President, and somehow conservatives think he needs their permission to actually do that job. So it should come as no surprise that conservative men also seem hell bent on living solitary lives because eventually even their women will leave them. Hint: women don't like being controlled and we actually think they're pretty stupid for trying and it's going to get really messy if they keep crap this up. And I guess, even though we have the Voting Rights Act, SCOTUS threw out Section 4, so our oh so popular and responsible Congress will have to fix that before 2014. Otherwise, I fear that voter suppression will win the day and ruin our lives all over again. And I'm not so sure that we can take anymore. And as far as Texas goes, Google Lewis Black's rant. He says it better than anyone else.
President Obama spoke about listening to his daughters interact with their friends. He made the observation that with each new generation of children, things seemed to get better. That with them, we have a chance for positive change. He's right. And I love that we have a President who gets that.
Can't we all agree that we've come too far to lose our way like this? It'd be nice if we could just care about each other. It'd be nice if kids could walk home from the store and not die along the way. It'd be nice if they could go to school and come home alive and well. And it'd be nice if women didn't feel that we need to fight battles that should have never been fought in the first place.
Misunderstanding results in fear. The world is a scary place, so it makes sense that we react this way. But at some point, we have to stop trying to control everything and everyone around us. We have to stop viewing others as the enemy and then use that belief to justify our behavior. Nothing good comes of it. Nothing.
Just ask Trayvon's parents..
UPDATE: While watching Melissa Harris-Perry's show, I learned that Marissa Alexander was given a choice between 20 years and 3. But if she had chosen three years, she would have lost her child. Her husband admitted he abused her. There was a restraining order mentioned by Melissa's guest. Marissa Alexander has a master's degree. What has the state of Florida done to this woman? And Angela Corey was involved. She was too gleeful at the verdict in the Zimmerman case. In her case, Madeleine Albright's words apply..you know, that special place in hell for women who don't help other women.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
There are no words adequate...
Oh my God. Where do I even start? First of all, I didn't watch this trial. Instead I read accounts. I couldn't watch because I had a bad feeling from the start about it. When I heard the judge had included manslaughter in the jury instructions, I knew then that this might not go well.
George Zimmerman got away with murdering Trayvon Martin. The jurors were women. Were they mothers? This baby boy could have been anything he wanted to be. The defense attorneys made Trayvon appear as if he was the murderer. That somehow, he tried to kill Zimmerman with the sidewalk. The sidewalk was his weapon. How could they say this in front of Trayvon's parents? Did they really need to make that boy into a criminal when he wasn't?
I read that a woman got twenty years for shooting a gun into the air to keep her abusive husband from attacking her. Same judge in both cases apparently. When a woman who is a victim of domestic violence can shoot a gun in the air - not even at her stupid husband - and then get twenty years for only trying to save her own life, and George Zimmerman can go free, who are we?
Florida's stand your ground law is disgusting. This idiot stalked this child. He was told to stay in his vehicle. He ignored that because he was arrogant. He got out and killed Trayvon. He ended a life that had so much promise. He destroyed two parents who loved their boy more than life itself. Trayvon did nothing wrong. He was only walking home. He is not the guilty one here. Zimmerman is. Except that he's not. The jury has spoken. They returned a verdict of not guilty. So I guess it's still open season on our children, particularly if they have brown skin.
I read that the NRA is involved in the enactment of these stand your ground laws. Doesn't surprise me. Listening to Joy Reid on MSNBC, it appears that Florida may not repeal this law because everyone seems to like it. I hope she's wrong about that. I would hope that Floridians would reconsider and repeal it, because obviously, it's not so clear cut. Except the jurors evidently thought that it was. Some pundits are saying the the prosecution didn't prove their case. Maybe that's true. If so, shame on them. Did they even try? Sure seems like the consensus of opinion is that the prosecution didn't explain what happened well and really didn't rise to the occasion until their final summation. They failed Trayvon, his family, and the rest of us. Simple as that.
Why are we so afraid of enacting gun control laws? Doing so doesn't violate the 2nd amendment. Too many children have died in the last year alone. How can we continue to allow laws to exist that result in the murder of our children? Does only a guy with a gun have rights? Because that's what it looks like to me. And now Zimmerman can carry that gun around any time he wants.
Stand your ground laws are too much of a free-for-all and are too subjective to exist. Zimmerman gets to go home tonight. Trayvon is dead. I don't know how anyone can feel good about this one. The system is broken. For Trayvon's parents, the pain will be never ending because this did NOT need to happen.
George Zimmerman got away with murdering Trayvon Martin. The jurors were women. Were they mothers? This baby boy could have been anything he wanted to be. The defense attorneys made Trayvon appear as if he was the murderer. That somehow, he tried to kill Zimmerman with the sidewalk. The sidewalk was his weapon. How could they say this in front of Trayvon's parents? Did they really need to make that boy into a criminal when he wasn't?
I read that a woman got twenty years for shooting a gun into the air to keep her abusive husband from attacking her. Same judge in both cases apparently. When a woman who is a victim of domestic violence can shoot a gun in the air - not even at her stupid husband - and then get twenty years for only trying to save her own life, and George Zimmerman can go free, who are we?
Florida's stand your ground law is disgusting. This idiot stalked this child. He was told to stay in his vehicle. He ignored that because he was arrogant. He got out and killed Trayvon. He ended a life that had so much promise. He destroyed two parents who loved their boy more than life itself. Trayvon did nothing wrong. He was only walking home. He is not the guilty one here. Zimmerman is. Except that he's not. The jury has spoken. They returned a verdict of not guilty. So I guess it's still open season on our children, particularly if they have brown skin.
I read that the NRA is involved in the enactment of these stand your ground laws. Doesn't surprise me. Listening to Joy Reid on MSNBC, it appears that Florida may not repeal this law because everyone seems to like it. I hope she's wrong about that. I would hope that Floridians would reconsider and repeal it, because obviously, it's not so clear cut. Except the jurors evidently thought that it was. Some pundits are saying the the prosecution didn't prove their case. Maybe that's true. If so, shame on them. Did they even try? Sure seems like the consensus of opinion is that the prosecution didn't explain what happened well and really didn't rise to the occasion until their final summation. They failed Trayvon, his family, and the rest of us. Simple as that.
Why are we so afraid of enacting gun control laws? Doing so doesn't violate the 2nd amendment. Too many children have died in the last year alone. How can we continue to allow laws to exist that result in the murder of our children? Does only a guy with a gun have rights? Because that's what it looks like to me. And now Zimmerman can carry that gun around any time he wants.
Stand your ground laws are too much of a free-for-all and are too subjective to exist. Zimmerman gets to go home tonight. Trayvon is dead. I don't know how anyone can feel good about this one. The system is broken. For Trayvon's parents, the pain will be never ending because this did NOT need to happen.
Friday, July 12, 2013
#Tampongate????
You know the GOP in Texas has completely gone "off the rails" as they say when they instruct the police to confiscate all the tampons women in the gallery have with them. I guess they finally stopped, but good night nurse. I read they were worried about how unruly the women would get when the Texas legislature voted to screw them over. Yeah, I'd be worried too. But to be worried about tampons being lobbed like projectiles over the balcony is just stupid.
Trust me. Anything that gets thrown at the legislators will likely be far heavier than a tampon would ever be. Unless they threw cases of tampons. That might do it.
2014 is coming. And #WomenNeverForget.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
How about a little Compassion?
Does the GOP care about anyone else besides those people who fill their election coffers? I really have to wonder. The GOP controlled House just passed the Farm Bill without extending food stamps. The Senate had passed their own bill 66-27 which apparently included extending food stamps. Now the House passed its own 216-208, throwing poor people under the proverbial bus, promising to get back to it some other time.
Yeah, like any of us believe that...
Then I read that the legislature in North Carolina attached an anti-abortion amendment to a motorcycle safety bill. Cue the hilarity on Twitter. We need a rule that prohibits amendments unless they actually have something to do with the existing bill. Women had fun with this one. Except it's no laughing matter. Abortion is a constitutionally protected procedure in this country and the GOP needs to stop trying to circumvent that. It's only going to get thrown out in court anyway. The only positive side is women see these people for who they are. Except we already do know and need no further reminder of how little we mean to them.
The GOP used to like the idea of immigration reform. But now that it seems it won't increase their voter rolls, they aren't interested anymore. I guess they only like reform when it serves them. Otherwise...not interested. Until you mention the border fence and a certain Arizona Senator gets the vapors.
It's not about fences. It's about relationships and elevating people out of poverty and the choice to live wherever you want. Immigrants just want a better life. To fail, year after year, to figure out a way to make that happen that isn't burdensome is just shameful. We have a tendency to create us versus them scenarios which only prevents any real solutions from being found. It feels like the GOP is more focused on exclusion rather than on inclusion.
Compassion is what's missing. Apparently they can't see past their own beliefs and consider another view. Just because abortion is law, a woman doesn't have to choose to have one. It's about choice and understanding that it's a private matter that the government needs to stay out of. It's ridiculous that it ever needed codifying anyway.
Caring that your neighbor has enough to eat should be a given, but evidently the GOP disagrees with that as well. Some lawmakers have taken the food stamp challenge and discovered what it's like to live that way. It's not fun. One went out of his way to say it was easy peasy. What a liar. And then there was the comment that food stamp recipients buy crab legs with their cards. To that I say, so? Maybe they were on sale. Trust me, grocery store checkers are vigilant about what can be paid for with food stamps and what can't. I stood in line so long one day that I had to put back the frozen food I was buying because it was melting.
Millions of undocumented immigrants live and work in our country. They raise families and live in fear that they'll be found out. Shady employers take advantage and pay them next to nothing. This is an outrage that, by refusing to get serious about immigration reform, the GOP preserves instead of fixes. Not to mention, it's illegal.
The President had to do his own version of the DREAM Act because again, Congress can't do its job. But it's not enough. Kids here because of their parents' choices should be given a path to citizenship if they want one. Their future shouldn't hinge on lawmakers who have too much vested interest in the outcome.
How cold it must be in their world, caring only about the next election. How about caring about us? Does it always have to be about the 1% getting richer and your re-election? How about that old Love Thy Neighbor idea? It does work, you know...
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Has the Circle of Life become the Circle of Death?
So I'm reading the news and I see an article about Oregon temporarily banning pesticides that kill bees. We had a huge amount die in a Wilsonville parking lot a short time ago. Today I read something that seems to tie the bee homicides to pesticides..both by spraying as well as pesticide infused seeds. The so-called circle of life has now become the circle of death. Once the bees go, so does the planet. You know. Pollination. We sorta need it.
We do some cool stuff in Oregon. We recycle. We use alternative forms of transportation. We like organic stuff. Evidently we're a beer and wine mecca as well. We're a model for the country with our health insurance exchange. The legislature had a good session where they improved our cannabis laws and told SCOTUS what they could do with their Citizen's United decision. We have vote by mail (and we love it). We do things to protect our environment. The pesticide decision is not surprising.
But I wonder, when did scholarship and research become elitist and uncool? I thought we were supposed to aspire to achieve excellence. We have to stop turning a blind eye to what's clearly going on. The research is there. We know that genetically modifying our food supply isn't working out so well. Whoever thought that infusing seeds with chemicals for any purpose was a good idea was insane. A recent news report talked about pig stomachs having serious issues after being fed GMO feed..corn, I believe. And then we consume the pork and whatever else that's there.
We need another approach to feeding the planet. We cannot genetically manipulate our way to that end. At least not the way we're currently doing that. Science isn't supposed to kill us. It's supposed to elevate us. If Oregon can come up with some positive things, surely the other states can do the same. Ooh, and then maybe the states can, you know, share ideas..
We'd all be the better for it.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Really, Senator McCain?
So I just read an article from Think Progress (link to great article about an idiot) about a letter John McCain wrote in response to a situation involving sexual harassment and rape at a college in Montana. He is apparently siding with an organization called The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education that apparently believes that DOJ overstepped and may be in violation of the First Amendment when they along with the university came up with some guidelines to help with the problem. Oh good Lord. So they get to harass and assault us in an effort to preserve their First Amendment rights? And a long-serving Senator is on board with this?
Since when does someone's right to free speech come before my right to be safe and respected? All the agreement that was made between the university and DOJ did was try to make sure that anyone who felt harassed was given an opportunity to say so. It doesn't mean that they're right in their complaint. It just means that there is a means by which students can report situations that they're uncomfortable with. It doesn't mean that anyone is going to jail, or getting expelled from college.
The need to report, speak up, or confront, and then be taken seriously, is so essential for anyone who has experienced these things. I know, because I have experienced all of these things. It's awful. I just love it when I speak up, and the guy gets even more intense and disgusting. They never seem to understand that they're in the wrong, and that they've overstepped into sexual harassment. And it always seems to be the guys who you'd never expect it from. So anything to help students who experience harassment or worse is worth it.
You know, I'm so sorry that men out there cannot seem to understand that this crap is rampant and women are so tired of it. We just want to go about our lives feeling that we can do that without being bothered by men who apparently believe they're God's gift or something. Because guess what..you're not.
There's a link in the article to the questionable Senator's letter. I have this thing where I hear the voice of the writer or of a character in a novel (like Morgan Freeman will ALWAYS be Alex Cross - I'm so sorry Tyler Perry) and I can't stand the Senator's voice, so I'm not going to go through it line by line. Besides, I'm sure by then my head will have exploded and I still have yard work to do ;-)
Since when does someone's right to free speech come before my right to be safe and respected? All the agreement that was made between the university and DOJ did was try to make sure that anyone who felt harassed was given an opportunity to say so. It doesn't mean that they're right in their complaint. It just means that there is a means by which students can report situations that they're uncomfortable with. It doesn't mean that anyone is going to jail, or getting expelled from college.
The need to report, speak up, or confront, and then be taken seriously, is so essential for anyone who has experienced these things. I know, because I have experienced all of these things. It's awful. I just love it when I speak up, and the guy gets even more intense and disgusting. They never seem to understand that they're in the wrong, and that they've overstepped into sexual harassment. And it always seems to be the guys who you'd never expect it from. So anything to help students who experience harassment or worse is worth it.
You know, I'm so sorry that men out there cannot seem to understand that this crap is rampant and women are so tired of it. We just want to go about our lives feeling that we can do that without being bothered by men who apparently believe they're God's gift or something. Because guess what..you're not.
There's a link in the article to the questionable Senator's letter. I have this thing where I hear the voice of the writer or of a character in a novel (like Morgan Freeman will ALWAYS be Alex Cross - I'm so sorry Tyler Perry) and I can't stand the Senator's voice, so I'm not going to go through it line by line. Besides, I'm sure by then my head will have exploded and I still have yard work to do ;-)
A Hemp Flag A-Flyin'
A hemp flag will be raised above the Capitol on Thursday, July 4th. How ironic. Do we dare hope that this could mean the government has finally calmed down about hemp, and that legalization is in our future? It's ridiculous that we don't have that now. Farmers could be growing hemp..something that can sustain the world in so many ways. We can make ethanol, clothing, paper, plastics, cars, homes, food, medicine, jewelry (my personal favorite)...it's endless. Everyone should be including hemp in their diet, by either using hemp oil, hemp hearts, hemp protein powder..it's all available. It's just not grown here in this country. Well, it's starting to be grown here again. Classifying industrial hemp as a Schedule 1 drug is just nuts. It's not psychoactive. Why would they do that?
Look, this is why the world looks upon us with such disbelief. They think we're all insane. We let our lawmakers screw us over on a daily basis, enacting laws that serve only their election coffers in the long run. The ridiculous attitude about hemp is just one example of how science and reason don't seem to influence decisions on the Hill. Research continues to show that cannabis, industrial hemp's psychoactive cousin, cures cancer, but do you think lawmakers will listen? No. They prefer instead to be stupid.
Wonderful things are happening in Texas. Oh those stupid men will probably pass the anti-abortion bill into law, but women and men are standing up. And we'll continue to stand up. Just as we will stand up to misogynistic laws, we will stand up for common sense. Continuing the federal ban on industrial hemp is not common sense. Cannabis legalization is inevitable. So is industrial hemp. Why don't we surprise the world and do something intelligent for a change?
Look, this is why the world looks upon us with such disbelief. They think we're all insane. We let our lawmakers screw us over on a daily basis, enacting laws that serve only their election coffers in the long run. The ridiculous attitude about hemp is just one example of how science and reason don't seem to influence decisions on the Hill. Research continues to show that cannabis, industrial hemp's psychoactive cousin, cures cancer, but do you think lawmakers will listen? No. They prefer instead to be stupid.
Wonderful things are happening in Texas. Oh those stupid men will probably pass the anti-abortion bill into law, but women and men are standing up. And we'll continue to stand up. Just as we will stand up to misogynistic laws, we will stand up for common sense. Continuing the federal ban on industrial hemp is not common sense. Cannabis legalization is inevitable. So is industrial hemp. Why don't we surprise the world and do something intelligent for a change?
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
I'm safe now...
My father died today. I had no relationship with him because of how he treated me growing up. He was a condescending, creepy guy. My friends were creeped out by him. My husband and kids were creeped out by him. Everyone I knew was. He was a schoolteacher and they didn't like him either.
I guess they knew without knowing. Or maybe they did. He molested me. He was inappropriate to my friends and apparently his students. He was married so many times that I lost count. My mother was possibly his third wife. He's been married more than ten times I believe. One woman's daughter was so distraught over their marriage that she insisted that I be his executor and she be her mother's. She wanted everything kept separate. I never met those people. I only know two of my step mothers. Never met anyone else. Never wanted to. And I don't know the current one. I do feel bad for her though. I'm sure she's upset and traumatized.
I hope he didn't cause too much trouble in the lives of all his women. He caused enough in our family to last a lifetime. I remember he was so drunk from the night out before one afternoon, that he was still drunk after being at school all day. We were having dinner in the kitchen and milk was running down his chin. I guess I must have looked at him funny - after all, he looked ridiculous - because I thought he was going to come over the table at me. I was either 15 or 16 then. 16 I think. So it would have been my junior/senior year in high school. Overachiever that I am, I did high school in three years and then graduated from college at 20. That happens to people like me. We kill ourselves so that maybe we'll be acceptable somehow. Anyway, it was a really awful moment. When I graduated from high school, I went looking for an apartment for my mother, brother and myself. I found two, took my mother to see them both and told her that we either moved out, or I was going to. So we moved. Just like that. And my asshole of a father followed her home from work one day to see where we were living. I remember that day vividly. I hated him. Their divorce was final 6 months later and she only asked for $200 per month child support. She had a daughter starting college, and a son who was profoundly deaf. Right. He threatened her. He said, I will pay you more if you let me live. The judge was astonished, and asked her, are you sure? My mother said, yes, she was sure.
I guess my brother worked things out with him before he died, but it was awful knowing that he was embarrassed to have a deaf son. And he stupidly conveyed that to my brother at one point. It was shameful. And my brother didn't deserve that from his own father.
But that's all done. He can't ever hurt anyone ever again.
I'm safe now.
I guess they knew without knowing. Or maybe they did. He molested me. He was inappropriate to my friends and apparently his students. He was married so many times that I lost count. My mother was possibly his third wife. He's been married more than ten times I believe. One woman's daughter was so distraught over their marriage that she insisted that I be his executor and she be her mother's. She wanted everything kept separate. I never met those people. I only know two of my step mothers. Never met anyone else. Never wanted to. And I don't know the current one. I do feel bad for her though. I'm sure she's upset and traumatized.
I hope he didn't cause too much trouble in the lives of all his women. He caused enough in our family to last a lifetime. I remember he was so drunk from the night out before one afternoon, that he was still drunk after being at school all day. We were having dinner in the kitchen and milk was running down his chin. I guess I must have looked at him funny - after all, he looked ridiculous - because I thought he was going to come over the table at me. I was either 15 or 16 then. 16 I think. So it would have been my junior/senior year in high school. Overachiever that I am, I did high school in three years and then graduated from college at 20. That happens to people like me. We kill ourselves so that maybe we'll be acceptable somehow. Anyway, it was a really awful moment. When I graduated from high school, I went looking for an apartment for my mother, brother and myself. I found two, took my mother to see them both and told her that we either moved out, or I was going to. So we moved. Just like that. And my asshole of a father followed her home from work one day to see where we were living. I remember that day vividly. I hated him. Their divorce was final 6 months later and she only asked for $200 per month child support. She had a daughter starting college, and a son who was profoundly deaf. Right. He threatened her. He said, I will pay you more if you let me live. The judge was astonished, and asked her, are you sure? My mother said, yes, she was sure.
I guess my brother worked things out with him before he died, but it was awful knowing that he was embarrassed to have a deaf son. And he stupidly conveyed that to my brother at one point. It was shameful. And my brother didn't deserve that from his own father.
But that's all done. He can't ever hurt anyone ever again.
I'm safe now.
Monday, July 1, 2013
The Greenhouse.
I've had a greenhouse for a long time. I thought I'd use it, but I never have. My husband grew plants in containers in there, but I guess I never got enthused about it and when the RA got worse, I abandoned all hope of using it. This summer, I decided to change that.
I'm growing tomatoes (2 Big Boy and 1 cherry), peppers, bush beans (although some are coming up weird), two types of lettuce, two types of kale, zucchini, cucumbers, basil, parsley, strawberries, and blueberries. Some stuff I'm growing from seed, some were starts.
I have to say, I'm enjoying myself. I used to love gardening. However, I stopped when the deer and the rock chucks moved in. They destroyed everything. The greenhouse was supposed to be the alternative. Problem is, if it all turns out well, I know I'm going to want a bigger one.
I'm using a really cool fertilizer called Tomato's Alive. It's from the Garden's Alive folks at www.gardensalive.com. They have all kinds of other fertilizers as well and I just ordered some of their Vegetables Alive and Herbs Alive for my other plants. Tomato's Alive is the best tomato fertilizer I have ever used. They have organic pest control products that work great and are safe to use as well. And they have my favorite baby Bok Choy seeds. I grow bok choy in a hydroponic set up that works great. It's awesome.
And now for the pictures:
I'm growing tomatoes (2 Big Boy and 1 cherry), peppers, bush beans (although some are coming up weird), two types of lettuce, two types of kale, zucchini, cucumbers, basil, parsley, strawberries, and blueberries. Some stuff I'm growing from seed, some were starts.
I have to say, I'm enjoying myself. I used to love gardening. However, I stopped when the deer and the rock chucks moved in. They destroyed everything. The greenhouse was supposed to be the alternative. Problem is, if it all turns out well, I know I'm going to want a bigger one.
I'm using a really cool fertilizer called Tomato's Alive. It's from the Garden's Alive folks at www.gardensalive.com. They have all kinds of other fertilizers as well and I just ordered some of their Vegetables Alive and Herbs Alive for my other plants. Tomato's Alive is the best tomato fertilizer I have ever used. They have organic pest control products that work great and are safe to use as well. And they have my favorite baby Bok Choy seeds. I grow bok choy in a hydroponic set up that works great. It's awesome.
And now for the pictures:
 |
| Tomatoes, peppers |
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| Green beans, lettuce, kale, petunias |
 |
| Zucchini, parsley, basil, cukes, strawberries, lettuce, blueberries |
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| From the front door |
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