Category Archives: women

Elizabeth Warren

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Her speech last night, seen here, is what truth looks like… (hat tip to crooksandliars.com)

…only when a corporation can walk into a voting booth will it be a *person*, in my view.

And as that refrigerator magnet said “I’ll believe corporations are people when they execute one in Texas.”

I don’t know why she didn’t name names when talking about a credit card company that cheated cardholders…why not publicly state it?

For me, she should have been the one running for president.  I would have no problem with going to the voting booth to cast a ballot for her.

Being Peace

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Rev. John Dear has this up on Sister Anne Montgomery, and her work for peace.

I was raised to believe that peace would only be attained if we were all Christians.  After studying Buddhism, Hinduism, Tao and Confucious in college, I discovered that all religions said the same thing–they all say, in so many words, “Do unto others as you would have done unto you.”  All of them say it…so in my view, it isn’t that we should all have the same way that we worship, but that we actually follow that simple sentence.

I think peace will only be attained when we put it into action…not as easy as it seems…it takes actively thinking about it with every action/every decision we make–and not believing that we all have to have the same religion.  I truly believe that we are individuals led along a certain path and those experiences along that path lead us to our spirituality–and no one has a right to interfere with that or impose their own beliefs upon another.  That’s just wrong to me.

“Baffling new disease…”

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AP has this up on a yet another disease that implicates a destroyed immune system.

Let’s break this down, shall we?

She was from Vietnam, and came here after the war, in 1975.  Although the article doesn’t state that, she most likely was exposed to Agent Orange–exposure to Agent Orange can cause immune system deficiency.

I also wonder about Celiac.  When doing my research on it, I had read that Asians don’t get it–it’s just unheard of in that population…but knowing how the medical profession likes to make pronouncements of entire classes of people with a small sampling, I’m suspicious that she might have it and not be diagnosed nor tested.  I didn’t have any overt symptoms–it was only because of my Irish-German heritage that I put the puzzle together.  And it’s interesting that I have become more sensitive as I have adopted the GAPS diet–allowing my gut to heal.

There isn’t any mention of her diet, nor of the doctor asking her about diet….so one is left to wonder if she’s adopted the Western diet and is suffering because of it.  I think the age thing is a big clue–our bodies are miracles that can take a lot of abuse before the cells break down and start to wreak havoc.  This is something I’ve noticed on the mercury poisoning support group–some folks will have good health up ’til the time they reach 40, and then things start happening.

There’s also no discussion on toxin exposure.  She lives in Tennessee, ranked 11th in toxic exposure.  (What? Indiana is *only* ranked 4th? …we must be slipping in polluting our environment./snark)   Note the assertion of the article that the EPA is right on top of things… the reporter apparently didn’t get the memo of the corporate polluters who worked to get those regulations repealed.

From the article:

The NRDC also framed its report in a political context, indicating that Sen. Lamar Alexander voted against an attempt by Sen. James Inhofe, R.-Okla., to repeal the Mercury and Air Toxics standard. Sen. Bob Corker supported it.“For too long, Americans have had no choice but to breathe toxic air pollution. Thanks to the EPA, the air is getting cleaner,” said Franz Matzner, NRDC associate director of Government Affairs. “But we need lawmakers who will help clean up the air we all breathe — not lawmakers who do the bidding of big polluters trying to repeal safeguards that protect children’s health. This and future Congresses should let the EPA do its job so all Americans can breathe easier.”

Here’s another article on the toxic junk in Tennessee by Kelly Hearn ( The Nation).  Pay attention to the date–I think it could be significant to this woman because she began getting ill in 2009.  Holy Crap.  Mysterious disease…my arse.

Here’s another discussion on it (same blog).  A good discussion on Celiac reaching across several populations that the medical profession has refused to acknowledge. Good Grief.  The misery and diseases they have caused by their ignorance.

 

 

Definition of rape

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Well, I’m glad Senate hopeful Todd Akin has cleared up the definition of rape. /snark

See, it’s not *really* rape if she gets pregnant…

Sadly, there are too many of the R’s that believe this garbage.  Truly appalling that they don’t see women as human beings.  I’m left to wonder what category they place us in?  As a wise woman once said, rape is the only crime where the victim has to prove they didn’t want the crime to happen.

 

Following the trail…

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I picked up an old copy of The Nation over the weekend, the date:  10-1-2001.  It was the first issue after 9/11, and prominently featured the twin towers on the cover.  In it was a story that I don’t recall reading, and given the upheaval of that moment in time, I probably didn’t read it.

However, the story was worthy of the cover had it not been for the tragedy of the weeks before–

The report by Amy Bach, an attorney, was on the Federalist Society and its infiltration into law schools all over the country.

In it, she showed the web of connections that this “society” was constructing–conservative law students (Antonin Scalia was one) who didn’t like their liberal law professors’ point of view, and wanted to do something about it.  That something was the Federalist Society to encourage conservative students to organize, and then make connections to the power players in the White House and the Supreme Court.

Bach names names and one of them is Jeff Sutton.  He argued the cases Alexander v. Sandoval and University of Alabama et al v. Garrett. (link here: http://www.civilrights.org/monitor/vol11_no4/art1p1.html)

I did a search to see where Sutton was now–here:  http://www.onu.edu/node/34771

and here:  http://abovethelaw.com/tag/jeffrey-sutton/

Well, of course he was nominated to a judge position by Bush.

From the article:

“…it [Federalist policy] benefits big business, it’s anti-egalitarian, it shuts plaintiffs like the poor and disabled out of courts, and it rolls back the New Deal notion that the courts have a role to play in helping the downtrodden.”

However, Bach noted organizations of progressive and centrists, one of which is the American Constitution Society.  The problem with getting organized is that progressives are not as narrow-minded, but independent in thought.  It’s soooo much easier to organize when your targets are the poor, disabled, women, minorities, etc.–you know, people who have less power to fight back.

From the dark side…

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…I try not to give Limbaugh more attention, as they say whatever you give attention to gives it power…but today, as I moved the dial past Limbaugh’s show, I couldn’t help myself…

He is heavily trying to divert attention from the Bain/Romney deal by arguing that corporations are not people…so, therefore, there is no way that Romney could have had anything to do with Bain sending jobs overseas.  Romney makes patronizing speeches about bringing jobs back to the U.S.–saying he “knows what it takes” to bring jobs back–yeah, it takes workers willing to work for $3.00 an hour…(While Limbaugh continues the slams on those on welfare–you lazy good-for-nothings, getting off your ass and get a freaking job….)

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Next we have a racist and sexist statement all rolled into one:  “Elizabeth Warren, Indian squaw…”

First, he and his ilk were all over her for claiming to be a Native American…even after it had been in the news that she was, in fact, Native American.  Now he degrades her and her heritage by that racist statement.  Squaw is a derogatory term the French gave the women–it means vagina. I believe they also named the Grand Tetons…I’ll leave your imaginations to what female body parts that name refers to…

 

DN, III

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Okay, the last story on DN, Gov. Rick Perry said he was going to refuse the Obama Healthcare, which would mean he would refuse all money for medicaid.

So…I’d like to see Gov. Perry look a young pregnant and poor woman in the eyes and tell her that she can’t go for prenatal checkups.  Is this what they mean by compassionate conservatives?  Why is it that when a woman wants to end the pregnancy with abortion that they say that she can’t do that because life is precious, but then deny her healthcare in order to have a healthy child?

On the flip side, she should be allowed to choose her provider— i.e., a midwife with a home birth is what she prefers, then that should be covered, as well.  I have to laugh when I hear stories of how shocked people are when women who birth on their own “before the medical profession can intervene”…as if women have only given birth in hospitals since time began…

Newsflash:  obstetricians, who make their $$ off of hospital births, are claiming that home births are much more dangerous than hospital births…

…meanwhile, bankers say that people who finance their homes through private lenders at lower interest rates are in danger of…of…of….well, they don’t know, but terrible, terrible things happen when people start making independent decisions…/snark

Back to the article–the shocking rate of 32% of births being made through Caesarean is outrageous.  Interference with the natural birth process so you won’t get sued means you’re in the wrong profession (if you’re that inept).  And you might note the reference that C-sections cost more $$…jaysus h, if they’re using it for making a profit, that is unconscionable!

The UK has this website up–gives women more information so they can make a decision.  Good God, what will they think of next? Allowing women to wear pants? /snark

I know that if I were better informed, I would have had my kids at home.  The hospital births were  a nightmare and the interference by the doctors and staff made it miserable instead of a joyous occasion.  And I’ve read that the position of the woman being on her back (which I was) is the most dangerous position for her to labor in…but it’s more convenient for doctors…perhaps someone should bring that up when they claim to be worried about the safety of home births.

Newborns in Need

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I was re-reading some of my old “Sew News” magazines from back in the day…

In one was an article on a super group of sewing enthusiasts who made quilts for needy babies.  The group’s name is Newborns in Need, started by a lady by the name of Green (sorry, forgot to bring the mag with me to the library and can’t remember her first name) whom had read of stillborns who were being buried in paper bags.  The group of ladies she was with thought it was some spoof or sensational story like those found in the tabloids.  Green pursued the story, however, and tracked down the reporter.  Indeed, the story was true.

She decided she would sew burial outfits for these babies, for which the mothers were grateful.

Somewhere along the line, however, she decided she’d rather sew quilts for the live babies….the “Newborns in Need” was created.  She said that she didn’t know exactly how many quilts she and her circle of sewers made, but it was around 150 quilts per month.  Her children also helped when they were pressed to get quilts to the babies.  The article said her teenage sons would sew through the night trying to meet the need.

This article, like the magazine, was old–1997, so I wondered if the work was continuing.  Green said that she had made a nonprofit corporation when she started it, but soon it became about power and money and the focus of the organization was being lost.  She dissolved the corporation.  So…I was wondering if it was still going…

It is. And I found that a hospital here in Fort Wayne is part of the network.

When I was really ill from the mercury, I lost the ability to sew.  I used to sew my kids’ clothes and wanted to try quilting.  I had seen these beautiful watercolor quilts in sewing books and wanted to try it.  However, it coincided with the increase in mercury and my brain just could not wrap itself around the complexities of shades of color, patterns, and coordinating all of it.    Heck, I couldn’t even sew a straight line.  Seriously.  My eyes were dimmed and I couldn’t focus on the line on the sewing machine to keep the material straight.  Frustrating as hell, especially when I had previously sewn so many outfits.  I didn’t understand or know about the mercury at the time.

As I have gotten better, the skill is coming back, but it is like re-learning it all over again.  I don’t think non-sewers know or appreciate how difficult sewing is…you have to be able to cut straight (couldn’t do  that when I was sick–eye/hand coordination wasn’t there), sew straight, and be able to envision what the directions are telling you and what the garment is supposed to look like when you’re done.  Otherwise, it’s endless frustration with messing up over and over again.

So…I have a lot of fabric.  The old joke is “she who dies with the most fabric wins”.  Only a sewer in love with fabric and creativity would get that joke…:)

I think I’m going to try the quilting thing again…but I’m going to have to pace myself.  I was detoxing yesterday (I’m doing epsom salt baths every other day as recommended by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, to detox, and boy is it working.)–and this seems to affect my eye-hand coordination because I was once again messing up pretty badly.  I finally gave up after so many mistakes.  I tried again this morning, and viola!

But, along with the music ability, it comes in spurts and long periods of no progress…I’m nervously trying to push myself a little to go out on a limb to make this quilt.  I’m afraid if I get started, and then for whatever reason don’t feel up to it, that I’ll let people down. But I would like to sew these quilts for the babies in need.  Sounds like a neat group.

We shall see…