#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.

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...

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.

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 ;-)

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?

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.

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:

Tomatoes, peppers

Green beans, lettuce, kale, petunias

Zucchini, parsley, basil, cukes, strawberries,
lettuce, blueberries

From the front door