Category Archives: mothers

More on Saucedo background

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Here’s the background on the rally today at Saucedo Elementary in Chicago.

It’s pretty serious when a teacher is threatened with termination if she/he refuses to subject the kids to this form of bullying.

It’s snowing again….what to do…

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…when the kids are driving you crazy:

1. Throw a blanket over a card table for a “house” or a “fort”. Or, if you don’t have a card table, put sturdy string between two points and throw a blanket over that for a tent.

2.  Play hide and seek (this works better if your house is big).

3.  Have a scavenger hunt by hiding items around the house and giving each kid a list of things to find.

4.  Back in the days of hardwood floors, my brothers and sisters and I would sit on pillows and fly down our stairs.  We had a blast and it would occupy us for hours.

5.  Play charades.

6.  When my kids were really little, I used to put them in our empty laundry baskets and push them around the house as fast as I could go, making car noises as I went. They loved it and ole’ Mom got some exercise.

7.  Encourage them to put on a talent show.

8.  A deck of cards or box of crayons and blank paper are always welcome.

Okay…that’s all I can remember right now…if I think of any more, I’ll be back.

A letter from a mother

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Anne Clair, an Elsipogtog mother, wrote this about her son being jailed while protesting SWN trespassing on the native owned land.

Again, I ask–  If most of the taxpayers are against fracking and tar sands, then why are the oil companies allowed on that land?  Why were the police there and who are they working for if the taxpayers do not want this?

 

 

Honoring dead and missing women

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Idle No More has this up on a day to honor dead and missing Indigenous women.  I would like to expand that to all women—missing, dead, beaten, and raped.

Unfortunately, it’s in Canada…but yeah, if you’re not there, perhaps you could just take that time from 10:00 to 12:00 p.m. to meditate on that.  Not only on that, but how we can heal our society so that women are not seen as second class or “less than” for being….women.

Some suggestions:

–Say a prayer.

–Make a list of what you can do personally to stop the rape/violence against women culture.

–Change your thinking of hierarchy–that one must be “above” or “below” another.  And that one’s material wealth is equal to their spiritual worth.

–Examine the media.  Truly examine how the media sends messages of women’s worth.

–Listen to women.  Listen to what they tell you they want–don’t try to put your own ideas on to women.  And don’t, for pete’s sake, make us all one homogenous group….we are all individuals with different ideas, needs, wants, and goals.

Woody Allen speaks

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The NY Times has a rebuttal  by Woody Allen on the child molestation allegations.  Since I posted Dylan Farrow’s letter, I feel it only fair to give the same to Allen.

The piece not only doesn’t change my mind, but reaffirms my belief that he most likely did molest Dylan Farrow.  Allen attacks Mia with the tired “scorned woman” defense with “evidence” that is questionable.  Mia acted as any mother would act if she found the father in a sexual relationship with the daughter (Soon-Yi) .  What kind of deviant takes nude pictures of his girlfriend’s daughter? 

He stated that he “passed” the lie detector test, but fails to state that his own lawyer had a friend do the test–it was not administered by police. And they are notorious for giving false results. 

A commenter provided a link to the court documents of their custody battle.  It’s pretty damning.  Woody Allen had been giving sole attention to Dylan, while ignoring the other children.  Others noted inappropriate actions towards Dylan BEFORE the affair with Soon-Yi, Mia’s adopted daughter, most notably the event in the TV room. 

Even before the Soon-Yi affair, Allen was not giving Dylan appropriate physical space–he was not honoring boundaries–a red flag.  The judge stated that Allen’s behavior with Dylan was inappropriate.

The conclusion stated that Allen had not demonstrated any parenting skills that would allow him to have custody of any of the children.  He did not consider the consequences of his actions with Soon-Yi.  He was oblivious to it.

Additionally, Allen had an affair with a girl of 17 years of age while he was 42—a twenty-five year difference….so there is history there of him with much, much younger women who are more vulnerable to manipulation and/or abuse.  I’m not saying that age difference is a sole factor–if a 40 year old woman is seeing a 65 year old man, that is hugely different than a young woman of 17.  Choosing vulnerable women of that age speaks volumes.

 

When ridiculous turns to cruelty

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Indignant Teacher has a story up on the ridiculous test, test, test, mentality of the Department of Education…which turns to cruelty when a child who is dying and a child with only a brain stem must.be.tested.  Good God.

Apparently, my communication through her that he was in hospice wasn’t enough: they required a letter from the hospice company to say that he was dying. Every day that she comes to visit, she is required to do paperwork to document his “progress.” Seriously? Why is Ethan Rediske not meeting his 6th-grade hospital homebound curriculum requirements? BECAUSE HE IS IN A MORPHINE COMA. We expect him to go any day. He is tenaciously clinging to life.

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This just makes me angry.  How utterly insane and cold and unfeeling to put this additional burden upon this mother whom is going through the most horrible thing a mother should ever have to endure–the death of her child.

 

Putting an “X” on XL and Enbridge Pipelines

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Idle No More has put up  links to several folks speaking out against XL and Enbridge Pipelines:

Honor the Earth:

Rise Up Mother Earth:

Note how they characterize Mother Earth as crying–Earth isn’t a big ball of dirt, but a living, breathing organism.

Here’s a list of nationwide vigils.

The Black Snake will face mounting opposition.

What did Big Oil know and when did they know it.  Jack Gerard, head of the American Petroleum Institute, thought the pipeline was dangerous to the environment…bwahahahahaha *snort*   /just a little joke there, folks

Finally, Democracy Now! featured the XL in a debate with an industry insider and Friends of the Earth:

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/3/debate_state_dept_moves_keystone_xl

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/3/environmental_groups_shocked_by_reports_of

And this on Enbridge’s infamous 2010 Kalamazoo spill, with cleanup still not done.

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/3/michigan_activists_face_up_to_2

Dylan Farrow shares her story on abuse

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This is difficult to read….her pain is evident.  I am glad she had good support from those around her–many times victims of abuse are accused of “leading on” their abuser–so they suffer twice…

Good on Mia for finding the strength to hold the family together.  Some may find fault with her for not pressing criminal charges, but given Allen’s celebrity and the culture of rape/violence against women that almost guarantees she won’t be believed, I think it was wise of Mia not to press charges and put her daughter through yet more abuse.  As Dylan states, she was repeatedly questioned about the abuse, having to tell the story over and over and over again…trying to find some way to get her to flub up.

And for those who don’t know what “gaslight” means…it’s a term used to describe the most despicable psychological games to throw someone off and make them think they are crazy.  An example:  a woman places her keys on the table next to the door when she comes home.  The keys are not there when she goes to leave.  She looks all over and finds them in the refrigerator.   The next time, they’re in the bathroom cabinet.  This goes on until she thinks she is truly “losing it”….when all the time it’s been her psycho husband playing mind games with her.  If you need more of an example, see the film Gaslight. 

The hardest part to read is her account of cutting herself…sadly, this seems to be standard for those abused who don’t have any other outlet to express their pain.

Here’s to you, Dylan, for the courage to come forward because you already know the flaming will come next from those defending Allen. And here’s to your mama….God Bless the mothers of the world.

 

West Virginia toxin spill: it ain’t over…

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Dispatches from the underclass has a post up with an interview of a West  Virginia mom concerned about the water and the effects on her children.

As she brings up, they are already dealing with toxins from the coal industry (mercury, lead, arsenic), and now this….their water is brown.

The scene from JAWS comes to mind where they tell everyone that it’s safe to go back into the water…um-hmmm….

And the sad thing, besides endangering these folks’ health and not knowing what this chemical does to people…is that West Virginia is one of the most beautiful states I’ve ever been in.  The mountains are sooo gorgeous.

123 years after Wounded Knee massacre

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Warrior Publications has a blog up on the massacre at Wounded Knee.

As I look at the photo of the mass grave, it is a shocking picture too similar to the Jews in Nazi Germany camps.

Something that is really important to know—these Native Americans had laid down their guns.  They had given all their weaponry to the calvary in what they thought was a truce…

…and then they were fired upon…

Unarmed men, women, and children gunned down…

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Warrior Publications also has this up on Carter Camp, of the 1973 Wounded Knee siege.   Treaty after treaty had been broken, and the Native Americans were asserting their right to exist, their right to practice their spirituality–which had been outlawed–and their right to their land.  They were protesting the war-like atmosphere created by Dick Wilson, whom thought of the traditional American Indians as “communists” .  He terrorized the traditionals.

The movie Thunderheart is loosely based on the events at Wounded Knee.  (Pay close attention to the bartender in one of the scenes–Crosby, Stills, and Nash fans will see a familiar face. 🙂

On the message board under portrayal of elders, a commenter talks about Grandpa Reaches being their favorite character in the movie–he was a medicine man, but not full of himself, not holier-than-thou.  He was the genuine deal.

Another commenter was commenting on the scene where Grandpa’s TV and ancient sacred turtle rattle are destroyed–they were trying to explain to someone why Grandpa would be upset about them breaking his TV, but not the sacred rattle.

It struck me odd, too, but trying to think as the Native Americans do about possessions, perhaps it was supposed to be a “letting go” of possessions such as the rattle, because it, too, could be replaced?  Or perhaps Grandpa Reaches thought that the rattle represented connection with the Creator, but he didn’t need an object because he was always connected?  I don’t know the answer, but it’s a good question.

They also talked about what Grandpa Reaches gave Ray Levoi for his sunglasses.  I thought it was probably a stone that Grandpa had blessed?

Anyway, I hope I haven’t given too much away to anyone who hasn’t seen it but wishes to–a really good movie full of twists and historical value.