SCOTUS..I have some questions..

Today, SCOTUS decided in favor of free speech over the safety of women walking into abortion clinics in Massachusetts. Wow..the highest court in the land has sent the message that it's okay if women are bullied and harassed. So I guess I have some questions:

When the verbal turns physical, am I protected then? Or will I need to stand there and take the physical punishment? Because I don't know the answer to that now. If someone puts his/her hands on me, can I defend myself? I'm a martial artist, after all. Yes, my illness prevented me from working out for a long time, but I'm better now. I'm sure I could effectively stop someone from preventing me from entering an abortion clinic. Will I be arrested though? Because I figure, if someone touches me, how do I know it will stop with a simple touch? Is grabbing me allowed? Or is that too far? What if they just surround me and prevent me from moving forward? Am I safe then? Should I trust them to do nothing else? How far will they go to prevent me from seeking medical care? Regardless of their opinions, that's why women go to these places. To seek care. Not to seek bullying, harassment or physical assault. 

When they take my license plate number down and then find out where I live, do I have any rights then? What if they come to my home? What if they also express their 2nd amendment rights and bring a weapon? If I call the police, will they even bother to come? Or will they cite freedom of speech?

When they obtain my phone number and call me to say whatever disgusting thing they want to say, can I change my phone number? Or do I have to live without a phone? Or am I required to have one so that their right to free speech is preserved?

35 feet. That's all the buffer zone was. SCOTUS has their own buffer zone, I've read. Is that constitutional? What about the protest zones created when Bush was in office? Were they constitutional? He came to the Redmond Fairgrounds to discuss his Healthy Forest Initiative after we had a major fire in the area. A small group of protesters was there ranging from 5 years old to a woman in her 80's. They never even got close to the President. They stood there quietly with their signs, while expensive, out of state vehicles sped by them, middle fingers raised, yelling all kinds of curse words while the children stood there, bewildered. Bush supporters.

Years ago, I worked at a charter school which was housed in the same building as Planned Parenthood. Parents dropping their children off for school were prevented from entering the parking lot by anti-abortion protesters blocking the driveway. There was only one way in. The kids were subjected to all the disgusting signs that these people held up. Finally, we were able to make them move down the street a bit. That city had an ordinance that prevented anyone or anything impeding sight. Parents complained that they couldn't see to drive out of the parking lot, assuming they made it in to begin with. So we won that day. The protesters continued to protest 20 feet further down the street, and the kids could begin their day without drama. Eventually, the protesters went home.

If anti-abortion folks have a right to their free speech as a constitutionally protected right, then so do women entering an abortion clinic. We shouldn't fear abusive comments and physical violence, but evidently our illustrious Supreme Court doesn't care about us. It's sad we need boundaries from each other. It's sad SCOTUS doesn't get that, but then they think corporations are people and have the same rights as individuals. The problem with that is, few of us have the money these corporations have to buy influence. Because that's what they do. It's not about living by a set of principles or values, it's about what the almighty dollar can buy. They also seem to side with the voter-suppression crowd. Somehow they think that racism is in the past. Right.

We need a new court. This one is broken. It doesn't serve the American people anymore. Some day, we'll find out just who it is they do serve. But clearly, it's not us. Just as anti-abortion protesters have the right to protest abortion, women have the right to safely pursue one. Protest on public sidewalks, then it is what it is. I actually support your right to do that. But come within my personal space, now we have a new problem. Apparently, SCOTUS decided a 35 foot buffer zone for our safety is too much to ask. Today, instead of clarifying the issue, in my opinion SCOTUS has created a whole host of new ones.

Thanks so much..like we don't have enough to deal with.

Women as human shields??

So a cattle rancher named Bundy in Nevada decided in 1993 to stop paying the federal government for the privilege of grazing his cattle on BLM land. Listening to him on TV, it sure sounds like he doesn't believe in the federal government or any laws associated with it. The feds decided after all this time (not to mention the million dollar grazing bill) to round up the cattle (they rounded up 400 of the poor animals). Now we hear that during the stand-off, so-called allies of this rancher thought that using women as human shields seemed like a good idea. Really?

Were the women on board with this? Would the rancher's allies have resorted to using children and pets if the women were taken out by those pesky Feds? Were their parents next? Grandparents? Shoppers at the local Walmart? What price does everyone pay so that the rancher doesn't?

No one likes to pay the government for anything. We don't like taxes, but we like roads without potholes. If you use the federal government's land to graze your cattle, horses, sheep, or whatever critters you have, you pay for the privilege of doing so. It cost far less than owning your own property and theoretically is a win/win for ranchers and the Bureau of Land Management. The agency exists to, you know, "manage the land". Guys like Bundy have decided that they can call the shots and do as they please in the name of freedom. But this isn't freedom..it's anarchy. We may not always like what our federal or state governments do in our name or otherwise, but we can't simply devolve into this sort of nonsense.

Men who use women as shields are cowards. Nothing more, nothing less. This is the kind of crap that jihadists do. Isn't it interesting that these "allies" went there. And now this Bundy character is asking county sheriffs to "disarm the federal bureaucrats". It's become the wild west once again out here.

Harry Reid says this isn't over, and that we can't simply let this guy graze his cattle on land for free. That's not fair to all the other ranchers who pay what they owe. This man may view it as civil disobedience, but it's doubtful a judge will. He'd be wise to get on a payment plan to pay off the 1.1 million he owes. And in my humble opinion, he'd better cross his fingers that he's not prosecuted for this debacle.

And to the women..please don't let these idiots put you in harm's way in furtherance of their arrogance. You're all worth so much more than this. They're throwing you under the bus and risking your lives to behave like entitled babies. They've gotten off course. Their egos have run amok. Don't follow them off the proverbial cliff. You matter..to everyone, even if not to your men. They want to go to war with the Feds, then they can go to war with the Feds. But evidently standing up for what you believe in is easier when your wife stands in front of you. Because having a gun just isn't enough.

Cowardice. That's what it is. And it's alive and well in the wild wild west.

Maiden, Mother, Crone..Embracing the Goddess Within

I love it when women are defined in ways that limit us. It gives us such an opportunity to thumb our collective nose at all those people who think they know us. The worst is when it's a woman doing the defining. She has obviously accepted a more patriarchal view of herself and bought into it hook, line and sinker.

I read an article that discussed the changes women go through and how that impacts the family structure. It ended with a comment from a woman who thought that maybe she might still have some value in the family and society even though she was now in menopause. As if you're only valuable if you can bear children? 

What on earth has happened to us? Hobby Lobby (a place I will never go into) has decided that they don't, as a company, want to provide birth control as part of their insurance policies for their employees. Are they also going to restrict Viagra? Or are men exempt from this type of personal control? All of this is under the guise of religious freedom. But which religion? Because as far as I can tell, it seems to center around whatever understanding of Christianity you're told to have.

Well, I for one, am done listening to everyone else's view of me. If that means negotiating outside the margins then that's just fine. It's easy to become caught up in the drama of others and to seek a level, if you will. Vibrationally, we try to match the levels of others so that conflict and drama subside. Unfortunately, that means for some of us, lowering our vibrational levels, resulting in distress and sometimes illness. We've convinced ourselves that we have to go along to get along. The problem is, we limit ourselves when we do that, instead of setting the example and living the life we want to live.

We live our best life when we live authentically. We cannot do that when we listen to oppressive judgment. Our inner voice tells us the truth. We need to listen to it and reject placement by others. We can be anything we want to be and we need to convey that to our children, be they sons or daughters. In our Maiden years, we have a right as young women to live in such a way that maximizes our potential, instead of settling for something that stifles it. If marriage and/or motherhood isn't what you either want or are ready for, you should be able to choose that for yourself without hearing the likes of Rush Limbaugh tell your parents on his radio show that you're a slut for wanting birth control. Not all women use birth control for birth control. But even if they do, it's their private decision, not one the company they work for should be involved with. Of course the simplest thing to do there is to create a single-payer system and take the employer out of it completely. But that's not happening yet.

If you do choose motherhood, then you should be able to do so and not worry about the implications of that. Communities should be geared around preservation of the family. But then that would involve ideas like equality and respect, and that's a bridge too far for some people these days. What's missing is the understanding that we are all one - physically, spiritually, all of it. If we all embraced this fact, then it would be anathema to even consider oppressing anyone. Instead, we would be looking for ways to elevate us all.

Now, back to menopause and value. I read a piece a few years ago by an author whose name I cannot remember in Huffington Post which suggested that instead of looking at menopause as a bad thing, to look at it as a time when the fugue state we're in during our Mother years (whether we have children or not) vanishes, leaving only clarity and wisdom. Wow..how brilliant! That's exactly what it is! Your Crone years are the years where you become the Wise Woman. You've lived through the drama and the wisdom gained is endless. You have the benefit of hindsight that only comes with age. I embrace my Crone transition because I embrace the Goddess within. I don't need plastic surgery, or hair dye for that matter..I'm happy with my silver hair. I developed a Witch's streak in college, and after that, my brown hair gave way to silver everywhere. I don't discourage women from making themselves look younger if that's what they want to do. Just make sure it's for you..and not for someone else.

It's easy to give yourself away to keep the peace. Unfortunately, no one learns the lessons they need to learn, including yourself. We're far more important than they give us credit for. We don't need to explain ourselves to anyone. We are loving beings and we need only to live our lives in such a way that honors our connection to Source. 

We are Maidens. We are Mothers. We are Crones. 

We are Goddesses. It's time we embraced that and give the the world the balance it so desperately needs.

~Blessed Be!

Underestimate Women at your Peril

SCOTUS has decided to weigh in on the employer/birth control part of the Affordable Care Act. That's all women need. Although the court ruled the ACA constitutional, this part is troubling. 

When did an employer have the right to decide what medicine I can have? In all the years I worked for other people, and was lucky enough to have health insurance there, the only issue I faced was, did I have chiropractic, dental and vision. Sometimes I had to get pre-approval for procedures, but never did the subject of birth control come up. So either this was done behind the scenes, or it didn't happen. So why now?

I can only surmise that this has to do with the Tea Partyesque attitudes that seem to have brought our government to a virtual standstill. This need to control women is both diabolical and pathetic. 

Men have no right to control anything about women. At some point, this will be made clear to everyone, because we're not taking it anymore. The battle lines have been drawn. And we're more effective than you can imagine. So step back or prepare for battle, because here's some things we're tired of:

• our children dying at the hands of nut jobs with guns. 
• our state and federal governments oppressing our vote, our income levels, and our constitutional rights. 
• going to prison for defending ourselves from crimes committed against us. 
• our children going hungry because 3/4 of us work at minimum wage jobs and the Tea Party wants to take food stamps away from the most vulnerable among us.
• making less than our male counterparts doing the same job. 
• the government viewing poor people as drains on our society, while politicians lay prostrate at the feet of the rich who fill their election coffers.
• undocumented families living in the shadows, willing to incur employer abuse so that they can live here. It's slavery and it's illegal.
• our veterans not mattering..oh they matter when you need them to protect us, but then you leave them, and their families, by the wayside when they come back home.

I could go on, but you get the point. Here's the thing. Time is running out for misogynists. Women are stronger than you. Together, we can do anything, including putting you where you belong. 

Underestimate us at your peril.

But Now is the Time We Need a Mom-in-Chief the Most..

Michelle Cottle wrote an article in Politico in which she said that Michelle Obama is a feminist's nightmare or something to that effect. Apparently, she expects more of our First Lady than being Mom-in-Chief. As if that's not enough. After all, she's Harvard-educated. She should be championing feminist issues.

She is.

Feminism is one of the most over-defined words that only puts pressure on women to be "something else". Who they are doesn't matter as long as they live up to some bizarre expectation or standard. And how is that different from living in a patriarchal society, where men decide everything for us? Why would we put that same pressure on other women? 

We need a Mom-in-Chief. We need a First Lady who showers everyone with hugs and positive energy. Our children are being murdered at schools, malls, neighborhoods, and homes. We need a Mom-in-Chief to hold us and cry with us. We know she understands our sorrow and grief. We feel her love and devotion as we stand here, in shock over the vitriolic discussion about gun control. How could this even be an issue? Of course we need gun control. But mostly, we just need to remember our purpose here. Because you see, it really is about the children. We give birth to them and then create a life that sustains them. But as we all see, that doesn't always happen. 

Dreamers need a Mom-in-Chief. She knows that family is everything and its preservation key to our survival. She understands the value of education and that it elevates our society. She, along with our Second Lady, supports veterans and their families, speaking out on the issues they face on a daily basis. She and students planted a garden at the White House, using it as a teachable moment. Can you imagine if everyone had even a small garden? What a wonderful skill to teach your children. But instead of everyone seeing value in the garden, the more small-minded of us saw this as a means of socialist control of people. Yes, they went there. And oh my goodness, the uproar over her focus on exercise was deafening. And yet, I walk eight miles a day. 

Michelle Obama understands that family is a microcosm of the rest of society. Elevate the family with such things as education, equal pay, marriage equality and we elevate society as a whole. This isn't a socialist concept. This the human condition. It's not an attack on our freedom. It's a suggestion for another, more healthy way to live. It's about balance...something that's lacking in this country.

I really take issue with women who try to define feminism for other women. Women make choices and should be supported, not derided, for those choices. I am a college graduate, but I chose to stay home with my boys for the first seven years. After that, I had various jobs, but none in my field. For that, I would have had to attend graduate school and that wasn't an option then. Instead, I focused on raising my children. Does that make me less of a feminist than someone who has a high-powered job somewhere? I don't think so. I made my choices. Isn't that partly what feminism is about? Not letting others define those choices for us? Why then would other women judge us so harshly for those choices? I'll leave that to Ms. Cottle to figure that one out.

I've owned two businesses, one a martial arts studio and the other an independent motorcycle shop. I faced misogyny in both. As a black belt, I was far more skilled than my students, but oftentimes it seemed as if my male students only respected me when they couldn't remember something. Then, I was important. Otherwise, not so much. They couldn't understand that their behavior affected their advancement and I had a vote in that. 

In the motorcycle shop, it was just us. No employees. So I had to learn all about Harleys in an instant. I became well-versed in how they worked, and what parts went on them. I estimated accident jobs, and put together bids for engine and performance work. Much to the chagrin of many of my male customers, I also did their fuel injection tuning. Yes, I made their bikes haul ass. Their conflict over it was hilarious. So I understand the whole guy thing. I owned two businesses that catered to the male ego..well the dojo was there to combat it, but still, that's what I dealt with.

The point of this is that it's not easy to be a woman in today's world. We make up the majority of the minimum wage workers in this country. And now we have to revisit reproductive rights issues that should have been put to rest long ago. The war on women is bad enough with women piling on as well.

So thank you to our wonderful First Lady for being there for us..setting that standard..showing everyone compassion and love. Ms. Cottle would do well to observe and then emulate.