Category Archives: equality

Speaking of Scam Artists

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PR Watch.org has this up on the gerrymandering in Wisconsin.

From the article:

In early February of 2012, GOP legislators released multiple documents, but continued to keep around 84 emails confidential. The three judges — two of them appointed by Republican presidents — again criticized the Republican legislators for “an all but shameful attempt” to keep documents secret, writing:  “Without a doubt, the Legislature made a conscious choice to involve private lawyers in what gives every appearance of an attempt — albeit poorly disguised — to cloak the private machinations of Wisconsin’s Republican legislators in the shroud of attorney-client privilege.”

And…incredibly:

According to the documents that were released, Republican legislators signed a pledge of secrecy during the redistricting process and were told to ignore what GOP leaders said publicly about the new election maps.

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What is this, high school or college where you make secret pledges?  Seriously?? Does this mean they get double secret probation?

Note that some emails obtained by Center for Media and Democracy  were not released to the lawyers challenging the maps.  Just incredible!

I think this is why Rush Limbaugh and the rest of the tea partiers are so baffled that they lost the election….how could they lose when they’ve worked so hard against the democratic process??

 

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More on ALEC sponsors here.

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And, lastly, ALEC and the electoral college here.  They just can’t figure out enough ways to demolish the democratic process….

 

 

Acts of Kindness

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You know, going through my metamorphosis, one of the hardest things for me to reconcile was that just because someone is believed to be a progressive doesn’t necessarily mean that they follow through with that ideal.

I had a boss that “did all the right things” (attending a peace vigil against the Iraq War as an example), but when it came to acting in a progressive manner, he was the opposite on many accounts.  One of which was that he would hire someone at minimum wage, keep them for six months or so, and when it came time to start giving raises or including them on the healthcare plan, they were suddenly terminated.  And with at least one employee, he was more generous with the wage….but he expected something in return, if you get my drift.  Not a good character.

I repeatedly found this and it really messed with my mind.  I couldn’t *get* that disconnect between spouting off progressive ideals and then behaving in the opposite way.  And one could be conservative and be more apt to follow the progressive ideal.

Chief Wilma Pearl Mankiller mentions this in her autobiography, Mankiller.  She stated that there were “rednecks” who helped the Native Americans out—perhaps just as much or more so than those that claimed to be progressive.

So I am always skeptical (in a healthy way) of those who put it out there that they’re progressive…I’m cautious to take it at face value because I’ve been disappointed so many times.

I was glad to read of this.   Being considerate of others is somewhat of a lost art.

Thanks for keeping the faith, George.  Little acts of kindness are truly acts of Peace.

More on Education

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…wow, there’s something going on when there are so many education posts in 24 hours.

Link here and here .

I should mention the connection between the Bushes and the McGraw-Hill publishing house that publishes education texts and materials.

I picked up my college history book to look at the reference to Ronald Reagan again.  It was a glowing report on him without much critical analysis of his actions nor was it all inclusive of his destruction of the Fairness Doctrine, unions, consolidation of the media markets, etc. I looked at the publisher: McGraw-Hill .

More on the profiteering by the Bushes here.

Yep, where there’s money to be made and destruction of society…you’ll find the Bushes and Cheneys….

Freedom town

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Jon Stewart takes a look at the Freedom Towns being promoted by the fundamentalist/conservatives.  Wow.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-january-29-2013/america-2–now-with-more-freedom—a-glenn-beck-holiday

In the beginning of this segment, when they are just outlining what it is about, I’m thinking….they’re talking Communes?

Well, okay, not exactly communes, where everybody is supposed to share food and chores and stuff, but yeah, this comes pretty close to it, by demanding residents adopt the same narrow view.

The thing is…it’s not that far from Communism, which requires everyone be the same—by discouraging independent thought and creativity and action.  (And I wonder what they do with someone who loses their job and becomes homeless in this Utopia? Or *gasp* someone who develops an independent thought and starts expressing liberal ideals…?)

And to link into the previous post on the Fourth Amendment–it along with the First Amendment are parts of the Constitution that kept us from becoming Communist China, Communist Russia, and Nazi Germany.  Without them, we’re toast.

So…..you would think that the conservatives would be fighting like the despised liberals to preserve them.

Why aren’t they??

The right to privacy

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…is slowly being eroded, we know, but then there are among us the rebels who won’t go quietly.

Oh, the imagination is running into overdrive with all the fun I could have of this…but I want to keep this blog, um, family friendly. haha.

From Cornell Law:

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

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I have a Paralegal Certificate and my professor told me that this means that if a police officer pulls you over, you have the right to refuse to give your name or any information unless you are put under arrest.  And with my experience with this, you don’t even have to be in suspicion of a crime–you just have to be in the area–doing your job–to be treated like you were a criminal.

Cornel West

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(Oh, how I miss CSPAN…even though it is slowly becoming mostly conservative views.)

Speaks his mind on President Obama using MLK’s bible to be sworn in.  He has strong words about “using King’s fire”  and not following up with actions, such as putting Wall St bankers in jail, putting Bush torturers in jail, getting rid of the drones, doing something about poverty...etc.

 

Martin Luther King, Jr. and Beyond Vietnam

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Susie Madrak has a post up on MLK’s birthday celebration.  This is my view, too, on how everybody brings up “I Have a Dream” speech, and then fail to acknowledge his “Beyond Vietnam” speech (which he gave a year to the day before his murder).

He was expanding from the Civil Rights protests towards protesting the condition of the poor and of the terrible consequences of war.  This was more of a threat to the status quo than anything he had done prior.  Indeed, even his friends that had supported him during the Civil Rights era were abandoning him when he started advocating for the poor and protesting against war.  According to those that knew him, he never felt so alone.

He knew that advocating those positions was dangerous.

And he did it anyway….

 

And my new favorite Twain quote is…

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“If Christ were here,  there is one thing he would not be…A Christian.”  Brilliantly said.  Trying to act like Christ is a little too much work…as it requires following “Do Unto Others…”

Diane Sweet has a post up on the fundamentalist Pat Robertson, doing what fundamentalists do:  putting women beneath them…

I disagree with one of the commenters who said that this kind of thinking was dying out.  It’s a dangerous assumption, and from what I’m seeing, far from being a thing of the past.  This crap has been going on for thousands of years, in different forms and won’t “die out” until women are seen and treated as equals. Women are a still not thought of as having equal value in whatever they do–if they stay home to raise the children and care for the house, or if they work outside the home.

The issues with rape and the degradation of the young woman in Steubenville are classic examples of treating women as “less than” and making moral judgments against her that are not made against the men.  She’s a slut to be peed on.  He’s just having a good time.