Category Archives: community

Women’s game face – the NFL

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Classic.

I don’t wear makeup anymore, so the ad campaigns for makeup go past me.  Makeup itself is a subject of debate–does it enhance or takeaway from women?

When I wore makeup, I did it daily, even if I wasn’t planning on going out for the day.  I would have been mortified to leave the house without makeup….it was so ingrained in me that I felt naked without it–that I was unacceptable without makeup.

When I began going through this transformation, I got to a point where I said “screw it”, I don’t care what people think anymore.

Walking outside without makeup was a freeing experience.  I no longer felt the chains of someone else’s idea of beauty and that expectation of always being pretty so someone else could feel comfortable.  Craziness, for sure.

And the expense!  Good grief, I looked at prices of cosmetics a while back, and could not believe how freaking expensive they had become.  Take out a second mortgage to pay for them.

Now I am happy that I didn’t expose myself to even more harmful chemicals, via nail polish…not to mention the harmful chemicals associated with makeup. 

It’s too bad that the commondreams report didn’t include the chemical toxicity aspect of the makeup.  There are ways to hurt women without lifting a fist….

 

He sent me flowers today…

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A poem, author unknown:

“I got flowers today. It wasn’t my birthday or any other special day.

We had our first argument last night, and he said a lot of cruel things that really hurt me.

I know he is sorry and didn’t mean the things he said because he sent me flowers today.

I got flowers today. It wasn’t our anniversary or any special day.

Last night he threw me into a wall and started to choke me. It seemed like a nightmare. I couldn’t believe it was real. I woke up this morning sore and bruised all over.

I know he must be sorry because he sent me flowers today, and it wasn’t Mother’s Day or any other special day.

Last night he beat me up again, and it was much worse than all the other times. If I leave him, what will I do? How will I take care of my kids? What about money? I’m afraid of him and scared to leave.

But I know he must be sorry. Because he sent me flowers today.

I got flowers today. Today was a very special day.

It was the day of my funeral.

Last night he finally killed me. He beat me to death.

If only I had gathered the courage and strength to leave him.

I would not have gotten flowers today”.
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Janay Rice

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By now, you all have heard of Ray Rice knocking his then fiancee unconscious in an elevator…and the slap on the wrist by the NFL.  We’ll get to the NFL later… (meanwhile, Mike Ditka is worried about Ray Rice’s income….seriously.  Not concerned about Rice’s violence…just his paycheck.)

But for now, there are plenty of opinions out there–men who come to his defense and women whom have never been in an abusive relationship that don’t understand why Janay stayed.

And the Guardian’s Hannah Giorgis asks us not to feed an appetite for other people’s lurid trauma by watching the video of Ray assaulting Janay Rice, but to focus on her humanity and the humanity of other survivors of partner violence, to defend them from further victimization both from their abuser and from victim-blamers and tragedy spectators.

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Yep.  There was a woman in Indiana whom was kidnapped and the Associated Press ran a story with all the lurid details of the method of bondage, etc.  I got that “ick” feeling of them wanting to titillate the readers who get off on that sort of thing.

And as far as the black thing–I think about what happened in Fort Wayne with the black man making comments about my body parts and my voice being sexy…and blocking my way into the building…he got the message somewhere that it was okay to do those things.  The other black men thought it was okay.  The black women that he had also intimidated and harassed just wanted to keep things quiet–don’t make any waves.  They, too, have gotten the message that they are less valuable and subject to whomever’s sexual advances or intimidation.  They most likely blame themselves for “asking for it”.

And just recently, a judge in Fort Wayne was called on his behavior when he suggested that a woman could be a great “phone sex operator”.   Why did they think this was acceptable?  Because our culture says it’s okay to describe women in sexual terms and see them only as sexual objects.

In this culture of violence and rape, women are still seen as possessions.  Women are still seen as second class–less than.  If she does assert herself, there are ten others trying to quiet her or take her down.  Uppity women are still seen as bitches who need to get laid.  You might recall the posts on Steubenville and others of women who tried to assert themselves or were assaulted while unable to give consent.

So it’s no surprise to me that Janay stayed and even married her abuser.

We have a culture that men feel they have a right to do as they please–whether it be to smack around their partner…or even kill her if she doesn’t do what he wants.  Eliot Rodger’s misogyny is the best example of that sense of entitlement.

And then we have the bullying culture that actually bullies those who stand up for women whom have been raped.

Don’t make any waves.

Don’t upset the status quo.

Don’t question why.

Don’t assert your right to be recognized as a human being.

Don’t ask to be respected when you have boobs and hips and vagina…

 

 

The face of minimum wage

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Maria Fernandes died while sleeping in her car between work shifts.  She is the face of the minimum wage worker trying to make ends meet and have a little extra afterward.

 

 

(I’ve had a stupid migraine the past few days.  I thought I was going to go migraine-free this month. I started to get one last week, my usual time, but I stopped it with ibuprofen.  I was hoping that I had healed to the point that I could stop them with ibuprofen, which used to work for me.  But, alas…)

Happy Labor Day, Mom

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Wow. what a great piece.

When I first saw the title, I thought it was going to be a piece on the unsung workforce of women who take care of the home and children…with nary an acknowledgement by law or wages…but I was pleasantly surprised that even though it was about a mother who works outside the home, it held such a great depth and context.

I disagree with the author’s assertion, however, that the education “reformers” don’t seem to grasp the hard-won battles women have had to fight for the same rights that men enjoyed without resistance….

…the “reformers” know EXACTLY what they are doing.  They know that the teacher’s unions have protected working women with equal pay for the same work performed as men teachers, with protection of being dismissed for asserting the same equal rights enjoyed by men such as being able to be married, have children, have reasonable work hours and good pay.  You have to remember who the “reformers” are and their indifference towards women, or worse, loathing of women.

(By a weird circumstance, I belonged briefly to the American Federation of Teachers and was amazed at their strength, unity, and benefits.    It was like nothing I had seen before. )

 

 

 

Condemning mothers

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What are your first thoughts after reading this?  “What a terrible mother” “She should lose those kids”

Clearly, they can’t continue living in those conditions….but instead of taking her kids away, how about helping her clean out the place and getting her some help?  Clearly she is overwhelmed with five kids and too many dogs—

…and as usual, the story fails to ask….”where is the father?”  Why is he not helping out–financially, physically, emotionally?  Where were her family members before it got to this point? Is she making a living wage to be able to support herself and her family?

I’m not saying she doesn’t bear responsibility for what happened…but where is the support system?

 

 

A discussion on population…

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Gene Logsdon has put up a post on his thoughts on population growth and food availability.

It’s a touchy and uncomfortable subject….to say the least.

It brings up eugenics–there are stories out there of people like Bill Gates and the Rockefellers advocating for population control via eugenics and even through genetically modified food.  There is a video out there of Bill Gates advocating vaccines for this purpose.  I don’t know what to make of the video, so I’m not posting it– you’ll have to go find it yourself.

I think advocating de-population is morally and ethically wrong.  We get into the self-righteous, superiority of those who think they are *more special* than the rest, therefore, they should live while others die.

The comments are as interesting as the blog–with one suggesting that the population growth perhaps was a spiritual one of bringing more light into the world….

…with that, I would disagree.  There is so much negative energy on Earth that I would happily volunteer to go right now if God would take me.   Just give me enough morphine to stop my heart, and I’m good to go…

Speaking of negative energy, I was just thinking last night how much I missed teaching.  I enjoyed it and the kids’ earnest quest for knowledge.  I also liked that I didn’t have to put up with office politics nor office gossip.  When I was teaching, I would stay in the room and eat my lunch so I didn’t have to hear the teachers gossip (yes, they gossiped…mostly about stupid substitutes…).  I went in, did my job, and went home while avoiding all of that negative energy.  I didn’t have to put up with the tired questioning of my single status–there is definitely a prejudice against single people in this country.  The downside, of course, is the pay and the work-on-demand instead of a steady schedule.

And if you try to avoid the gossip and cut people off…as some suggest you do…you’re still screwed because the gossips then turn on you as a target.  I’ve actually had that happen to me.  I ended up leaving a good job because of it.

I suppose the questioning of population growth is related to our bad economy…not enough jobs that pay living wages….while jobs are shipped to other countries for even lower wages…and Burger King and their ilk go to other countries so they don’t have to pay their fair share of taxes….while war hawks push us towards another war again…while not taxing the rich….

Yeah, I’m in a negative mood…how could you tell?  😦

 

Psuedo Cisterns

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Gene Logsdon has an interesting post up on pseudo cisterns.  For those folks who cannot dig wells, it’s a good alternative to having water without electricity nor the bills that go with that…

Note in the comments that someone states it is illegal for someone to store rainwater…are you kidding me??  Looks like the utility companies are trying to interfere with one’s freedom of their own homes. 

And someone else stated that the rainwater wasn’t safe to drink…and I had to think of all the chemicals, prescription drugs, untreated fecal matter, and probably heavy metals, too,  in city water that is supposedly better for you?  bwahahaha….

Sea World stock tumbles

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Well, now.  Voting with the pocketbook.  Go us!!

Of course, there are those who see only $$$, and exclaim that “something needs to be done”.  Um, yeah, the public has expressed their wishes through not buying tickets to see caged whales and dolphins entertain them…that “something that needs to be done” is taking Tillikum back to the waters he was stolen from and return him.  Even if he only lasts a day, he will have died a free being…and I’m sure that would be priceless to him after being held in cages most of the day–only being allowed out to perform.

You would think Sea World would take heed and set them free.  Nope. 

 

 

 

ALEC and Fossil Fuels

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PRWatch has this up on ALEC continuing its dirty campaigns against everything that is logical.

From the piece:

ALEC is even going after people who want to generate solar power for their homes. The boom in home solar energy generation—there has been a 60 percent increase in domestic solar installations in the past year—is a threat to ALEC’s dirty energy producing members, so they have a bill to amend so-called net metering laws that allow homeowners to sell excess electricity back to the grid. It is the ability to do this that makes solar an increasingly affordable possibility for homeowners. ALEC’s bill would charge homeowners additional fees, with ALEC environment task force director John Eick telling The Guardian that these users are “free riders on the system.”

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You know, it’s one thing to try to promote your heavy-metal containing pollution, but it’s a whole ‘nother thing to try to prevent people from taking a proactive stance against your dirty fuel.  Unreal.

Solar energy has sooo many benefits–one of which is independence from the greedy energy producers whom have stripped our lands of trees, poisoned our water and soil, and then not paid for the land use nor taxes on top of that.

Sixty percent increase in solar energy use…just in the last year…this is a *huge* threat to them.

Mike Pence, doing ALEC’s bidding, along with the coal industry.

Not long ago, Indiana ranked in the top five for low cost of electricity. Now, thanks to an onslaught of regulations from Washington, Indiana ranks somewhere firmly in the middle of the pack.

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Reading between the lines, this is as much an admission of guilt for polluting our air, water, and soil with heavy metals (lead, mercury, arsenic) from coal. They were getting away with it until regulations prevented the free-for-all.

I keep thinking about that 17 million pounds of toxins put into our waterways every single year…and BP dumping mercury into Lake Michigan every single year, courtesy of Indiana Dept. of Environmental Mis-Management….and the lack of action when the toxic spill floated down the Ohio…