What a novel approach. And of course, there are the haters in the commenters who can’t seem to find any good intentions in white folks…imagine, thinking that someone trying to reach out in this way is somehow trying to act superior…? Seriously??
Edited to add: Yes, I do totally get not forcing Western beliefs onto others…I’m with that. But if there is some way to bridge cultures, then shouldn’t that be tried, to?
The dear lady that passed on in our building left behind some wonderful gifts–we were apparently like-minded, but she had barriers up and wouldn’t let people in. I knew that she had been hurt to put up those boundaries, so I gave her that space to feel protected. It’s a loss, however, as I have learned she had a B.S. degree and loved to read the same kinds of books I love to read.
One of those books, The Birth House by Ami McKay, had me reading it all weekend. It’s rare that I read a book through, but since I have an interest in midwifery, I had to find out “what happened next” in the book. As one of the commenters on the Powell’s website said, I would have liked a little more complexity to the main characters. There’s something that’s nagging at me but I can’t bring it up to the front of my brain right now–
In the book, the main character, Dora Rare, eventually marries a man who is a conscientious objector. Archer is the son of a wealthy widow and his objecting to the war brings scorn from a group of the women, who give him a white feather to show the world he’s a *coward*. (the book goes on to portray him as a drunk who forces himself upon Dora–another issue with the book is that there are no men who are main characters who are good guys–this bothers me greatly.)
I had forgotten about the custom of pinning white feathers on men during the wars…
…and then I thought of how the white feather was used. I think that would be a powerful statement–putting a white feather on one’s clothing to show the world that you were objecting to war. More powerful, perhaps, than the peace sign?
And as is stated in the book, the wearing of the feather brings about such controversy. Why?
Why is it so difficult to live in peace? From my parents’ generation (WWII) to my generation (Vietnam) to my children’s generation (Iraq, Afghanistan)…none of us have known a time without war. Living in such times makes it so much harder to even grasp what a world would be without war…to actually know peace…
Why should one feel guilty or a coward for wanting peace?
I used to think that way before my own metamorphosis, but came to see how badly the conscientious objectors were treated–how the youth of the Vietnam era went to Canada and were told by their parents that they would turn them over to authorities if they tried to come back home. It took courage to leave anyway. Or how they were beaten, hosed down with water, arrested, etc. I now see standing up against war as an act of courage.
Even now, it takes courage to speak out against war. You’re viewed as unpatriotic.
And with every holiday being tied to the military, it gets harder and harder for those advocating peace to speak out.
And one never hears about the Quakers, the Church of the Brethren, or the Amish–the religions who do not believe in war….it’s only the religions who somehow have managed to link Good Christians with the military that are promoted.
And the question that they cannot answer is: Who would Jesus bomb?
From crooksandliars.com
Yep. I do wish they’d stop characterizing it as solely racism…I think we need to come up with another term: like poorism or something that focuses on that prejudice. Unless you’ve lived it, you don’t quite understand how folks treat the poor…lots of prejudice.
…apparently, the honeymoon is over–just a week after being elected….
…stand by while the 1% still pay nothing in taxes while the working poor continue to pay more than their fair share. If someone makes $15,000, they are at the 10% tax rate. Now, according to the tax table, they’re being taxed after the standard deduction of 7,000–so they’re rate is $803. Now, those that can afford that money think nothing of it–but $15,000 is not enough to house and feed one person, so $800 is a big chunk out of what little they have left. That’s the ability to keep heat on in the winter. It’s food on the table. It’s fixing the stupid car that keeps breaking down…and on.
…but apparently that doesn’ t matter even though if ever there were a strong support for President Obama, it was with this election–clearly voters are sick of the privileged ones like Mitt Romney who despise the poor. And the republicans who despise women.
I just wish President Obama really heard what the voters were trying to say.
Holy crap, I may be onto something with Pitocin and seizures–
I looked up Pitocin and was shocked to find out that seizures are one of the known side effects.
I found this blog.
And this from the epilepsy foundation community group. This is absolutely criminal. Absolutely. There are sooo many serious side effects with this drug that it should either be banned or treated like they do controlled substances–you need to prove that there is a serious threat to the mother/child before allowed to put her and her baby through this hell. Where is the accountability??
For my own birth(s), there was no reason for the doctor to have induced my labor(s)–it was around the holidays and he just wanted to get to his parties, it seems. Bastard.
Here’s a site on epidurals. I probably escaped more injury by not having that.
I helped one of the newer residents with groceries up to their rooms, as one of them is disabled and needs grocery carts to get the heavy bags up to her apt. Someone has taken the five carts we had for resident use (three were ours, that former management had allowed us, and two were ones that somehow escaped the nazi-ish electronic monitors that the grocery had put on them to stop the carts from leaving the lot.) Somehow, they’ve all come up missing. We figure residents are keeping them in their apartments, disregarding that others may need them. I got chastised this morning for making an announcement over the intercom for people to bring the carts back down. They emphasized that I’m only allowed to use the intercom for emergencies. <sigh>
Apparently, the ogre of a manager at the grocery store has still been complaining about us using the carts! Unfreakingbuhlievable! The folks that are disabled cannot lift those heavy bags for the trips to their apartments. They can barely get them across the street. Same with the elderly who can easily drop their groceries while trying to get them home. It’s freaking ridiculous. Like I said before, I wonder how much this grocery store (a national chain) paid to have this stupid electronic system put in? And for what?? Five stinking carts?!
Anyway, while I was helping the residents take the groceries up, one, a nursing student, mentioned that she had spoken to a woman who went into labor and was put on Pitocin. She had screamed from the pain for hours…
…again, memories come flooding back, as I remembered my own screaming from Pitocin. I was shocked to find out that I wasn’t the only one. I thought that I was, well, just a wimp…apparently not.
Here’s a story on possible brain damage caused by it. If you look at the comments, there is one by a clever midwife who suggested the laboring mother get on all fours to aid contractions..
…a lightbulb went on…I was told many years ago that I had a tipped uterus (backwards). Now I wonder if I had been on all fours, this would have allowed my uterus to progress normally through labor? The thing that gets me is that doctors know that a woman lying on her back during labor is not beneficial for contractions and can be dangerous as it depresses the major vein. I was on my back during all three labors.
…and I can echo the horrible pain associated with Pitocin. And no anesthetic. I was so out of my mind with pain that I kept saying “push, push, push” while the nurse tried in vain to get right up to my ear and said to stop pushing. I couldn’t even respond to her or anything–a somewhat catatonic state. And I’ll always wonder what that did to my daughter–whether it’s played a role in her epilepsy.
Congratulations, President Obama. Big Bird lives on…:)
I know better, but I was listening to the rightwing radio last night and they were painting a dim picture of Obama’s win. I turned it off and went to bed to read…thinking we were going to get Bush III…
Indiana voted in Mike do-nothing Pence for Governor, and now has a super majority in the legislature…<sigh>
…well, at least I am spared Richard my-sperm-is-a-gift-from-God Mourdock…
The news on the reaction in the Middle East. I hope this means a peaceful movement in Israel is underway….
DN! has this up on the elections. Elizabeth Warren is animated after her win. Thank God.
Unfortunately, the GMO lobby won and Californians defeated the measure requiring GMO labeling. Shit.
O”Reilly had a nice take on why Obama won–because people want “stuff” and Obama was going to give it to them…
Well, now…Romney has the gov’t pay $77,000 for the care and housing of his horse…has money in offshore accounts and John McCain has so many houses he can’t even remember how many he has…all because they don’t pay their fair share of taxes…now who feels entitled?
Is it entitlement when one wants to eat? Have a roof over their head? Get medical care? I’m confused.
They went on to talk about the shift away from the standard–now women and minorities are getting their voices heard. The boys of the old school are threatened…and it will probably get uglier before it’s all done.
To my sisters who were the power behind getting President Obama re-elected: Thank you. We can move mountains when we focus on what’s important to us and fight for it.
I want to say, though, that women have been characterized as of “one mind”–that any woman who manages to get before a microphone speaks for all women. They don’t.
This is one of the reasons that the middle-of-the-road women backed away from the Feminist Movement–they were treated as if they spoke for all women. Women who wanted to stay home with their children were characterized as dull twits who lacked ambition. Women who didn’t believe in abortion but believed in equality were marginalized, also.
And the 70s Feminists who fought against alimony because it…well, I’m not really sure why they were fighting against alimony…but as this quote by Barbara Seaman, amongst others, puts it quite well–this is something that I lost out on when I divorced. I also got less than half of the assets (with a mortgage to pay off) and my ex got away with only paying one-fifth ($20,000) of his income to support his three children. Although I had stayed home for eleven years, the judge did not allow for that, and had instead computed the amount of support as if I had a job!! Yes, I had a lousy lawyer–whose partner still smirks at me to this day whenever I have to trudge back to the place I grew up in…I’ve always wondered what that smirk means….
Anyway, I hope that with the election that women and minorities will do their homework, and support thoughtful politicians who approach the legislative process with the “Do unto others…” mindset…it would make life so much easier and just might bring about Peace…
commondreams has this link up of the increasingly stooopid marketing crap of pink, pink, pink crap for women. (Abby Zimet notes that it’s bad enough that we have to deal with Mourdock…um, no, unless you live here in Indiana, you only have to suffer listening to it–you don’t have to fear that he is probably going to get elected…
…and his comment that a pregnancy after rape was a gift from God kind of gives new meaning of men who think of themselves as a gift from God, doesn’t it?? I suppose his sperm should be considered a gift from God, too??)
The comments of customer feedback are too, too delicious. I was going to suggest a pen in the shape of a vagina, but somebody beat me to it.
…or perhaps we could have one in the shape of a boob.
Some of the best ones:
I allowed my wife to write the grocery list with one of my pens. Shortly thereafter she went out and bought a bunch of flannel shirts, cut the sleeves off and grew a mullet. While she was writing her feminist manifesto, I secretly switched out the man pen with a BiC For Her. She’s now back to baking apple pies, vacuuming in heels, and popping bennies in order to keep her girlish figure… like a proper American gal.
Thank you BiC!
~~~~~~
I tried these on a whim, and I have to say I wasn’t very impressed. The applicator mechanism is far too fiddly, and the plastic tampon inside far too thin (not to mention uncomfortable and non-absorbant) – I’m sure there must be a knack to using them, but I couldn’t find it. They also stained my knickers blue for some reason. I really wanted to like these, but it’s back to pads for me.
bwahahahahahaha
~~~~~~~~~~
DN! has again allowed ALL presidential candidates a forum to express their reasons for wanting to be president. I couldn’t listen to the entire debate, as I’m out of time, but this is what I’ve listened to:
Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein’s arrest should send chills down one’s spine. It is absolutely stunning that a person with a legitimate claim as a candidate for political office is arrested for trying to assert the right to debate. And being handcuffed to a chair for eight hours??
As she said, this would not have happened if the League of Women Voters were still running the debates.
To shut them out is weak, in my opinion. If you’re a strong candidate, allowing others in is not going to phase you. What are they afraid of? Legitimizing the Green Party? or Justice Party?
Having to actually answer questions that many Americans want answered?
I would say all of the above. A robust debate helps the marketplace of ideas, but informed voters tend to start asking questions that most politicians would rather not answer.
On to the debate–
Dr. Stein and President Obama touch on keeping jobs here, giving tax breaks to those companies that keep or create jobs here. In the place I grew up in, they were giving tax breaks out the wazoo to companies, at the peril of schools, which suddenly lost the tax base to keep schools running with adequate teaching staff, supplies, etc. And what did these companies do when the mood struck? Left for Mexico, China, etc. Personally, I think when a company gets tax breaks like this, and then packs up and leaves, they should be made to pay back every last cent they took away in tax relief… plus interest.
…your grocery bill, gas bill, etc. will go up by 25 percent…/snark
See, this is what I don’t get–they were just saying not two months ago that this was one of the worst droughts on record and our grocery bills were going to be severely affected–but this article states that food prices have pretty much stayed the same.
Ahem.
Like I’ve noted in my personal grocery bills, I’ve seen several items jump $1 or $2 per item in a month’s time, which really adds up if you’re on a restricted budget, as folks on S.S. are. They know that every time there’s a S.S. increase, it isn’t enough, and the prices will go up accordingly. (No, I’m not on S.S. or disability.)
I’ve done a quick search of several articles, and they all insist, via the Consumer Price Index that grocery prices have remained the same.
I looked up the table they publish: http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpid11av.pdf for the 2010-2011 price list…and somebody ain’t telling the truth, here…
You have to scroll down to get specifics, and looking at something that most poor folks purchase: ground beef went up 11%. Eleven freaking percent in one year! White bread 5%; Cereal 3%; Bacon 13%; Fresh Fish and Seafood 8%; Eggs 9% Milk 9%; Potatoes 12%; Coffee 14%; Butter 14%; Peanut Butter 6%….and non-food: fuel oil 30%; water and sewage 5%; motor fuel 26% and on…
(note that medical care only went up 3%…well, now, the oil companies aren’t getting nearly as much attention from the politicos as the medical community’s medical costs increases…hmmm…twenty-six percent should garner a little more attention, dontcha think?)
But they’ll give you a 1% increase…
…so you can try to make that can of dog food go a little further…after all, the top 1% need those tax breaks so they can…feed and house their horses…and John McCain needs another house…
Eagle 
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