http://stopbush.crimsonblog.com
Btw, for any blogger blogskin users, they are struggling for $. I just found out and decided to put my money where my mouth is. I purchased an ad .20 per tenthousand impressions(=2.00 buck). I bought a text ad for my blog page. Still its a great resource for free blog template options. just an fyi!!!
Saturday, February 22, 2003
Wednesday, February 19, 2003
Oppose Bush's War on American Women
This has definitely been lost in the war news and I thought it worth knowing.
Whether you're Right or Left on the issue of women's reproductive rights, please consider the following...
President Bush has announced his plan to appoint Dr. W. David Hager to head up the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee. This position does not require Congressional approval. The FDA's Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee makes crucial decisions on matters relating to drugs used in the practice of obstetrics, gynecology and related specialties, including hormone therapy, contraception, treatment for infertility, and medical alternatives to surgical procedures for sterilization and pregnancy termination.
The committee has not met for more than two years, during which time its charter has lapsed. As a result, the Bush Administration is tasked with filling all eleven positions with new members.
Dr. Hager's views of reproductive health care are far outside the mainstream of setback for reproductive technology. Dr. Hager is a practicing OB/GYN who describes himself as "pro-life" and refuses to prescribe contraceptives to unmarried women.
Hager is the author of "As Jesus Cared for Women: Restoring Women Then and Now." The book blends biblical accounts of Christ healing women with case studies from Hager's practice. In the book Dr. Hager wrote with his wife, entitled "Stress and the Woman's Body," he suggests that women who suffer from premenstrual syndrome should seek help from reading the bible and praying. As an editor and contributing author of "The Reproduction Revolution: A Christian Appraisal of Sexuality, Reproductive Technologies and the Family," Dr. Hager appears to have endorsed the medically inaccurate assertion that the common birth control pill is an abortifacient.
Hagar's mission is religiously motivated. He has an ardent interest in revoking approval for mifepristone (formerly known as RU-486) as a safe and early form of medical abortion.
Hagar recently assisted the Christian Medical Association in a "citizen's petition" which calls upon the FDA to revoke its approval of mifepristone in the name of women's health. Hager's desire to overturn mifepristone's approval on religious grounds rather than scientific merit would halt the development of mifepristone as a treatment for numerous medical conditions disproportionately affecting women, including breast cancer, uterine cancer, uterine fibroid tumors, psychotic depression, bipolar depression and Cushing's syndrome. Women rely on the FDA to ensure their access to safe and effective drugs for reproductive health care including products that prevent pregnancy. For some women, such as those with certain types of diabetes and those undergoing treatment for cancer pregnancy can be a life-threatening condition.
There is widespread concern that Dr. Hager's strong religious beliefs may color his assessment of technologies that are necessary to protect women's lives or to preserve and promote women's health. Hager's track record of using religious beliefs to guide his medical decision-making makes him a dangerous and inappropriate candidate to serve as chair of this committee.
Critical drug public policy and research must not be held hostage by antiabortion politics. Members of this important panel should be appointed on the basis of science and medicine, rather than politics and religion.
American women deserve no less.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
1. SHARE THIS INFORMATION WITH EVERY PERSON WHO IS CONCERNED ABOUT WOMEN'S RIGHTS.
2. OPPOSE THE PLACEMENT OF THIS MAN BY CONTACTING THE WHITE HOUSE AND TELL THEM HE IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE ON ANY LEVEL.
Please email President Bush at president@Whitehouse.gov or call the White House at (202) 456-1111 or (202) 456-1414 and say:
"I oppose the appointment of Dr. Hager to the FDA Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee. Mixing religion and medicine is unacceptable. Using the FDA to promote a political agenda is inappropriate and seriously threatens women's health."
While all of our attention is riveted on Bush's global warmongering, we in the homeland are in danger of being defeated by this subversive effort.. TAKE ACTION AGAINST BUSH'S WAR ON AMERICAN WOMEN.
(double posted at kalilily.net)
Whether you're Right or Left on the issue of women's reproductive rights, please consider the following...
President Bush has announced his plan to appoint Dr. W. David Hager to head up the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee. This position does not require Congressional approval. The FDA's Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee makes crucial decisions on matters relating to drugs used in the practice of obstetrics, gynecology and related specialties, including hormone therapy, contraception, treatment for infertility, and medical alternatives to surgical procedures for sterilization and pregnancy termination.
The committee has not met for more than two years, during which time its charter has lapsed. As a result, the Bush Administration is tasked with filling all eleven positions with new members.
Dr. Hager's views of reproductive health care are far outside the mainstream of setback for reproductive technology. Dr. Hager is a practicing OB/GYN who describes himself as "pro-life" and refuses to prescribe contraceptives to unmarried women.
Hager is the author of "As Jesus Cared for Women: Restoring Women Then and Now." The book blends biblical accounts of Christ healing women with case studies from Hager's practice. In the book Dr. Hager wrote with his wife, entitled "Stress and the Woman's Body," he suggests that women who suffer from premenstrual syndrome should seek help from reading the bible and praying. As an editor and contributing author of "The Reproduction Revolution: A Christian Appraisal of Sexuality, Reproductive Technologies and the Family," Dr. Hager appears to have endorsed the medically inaccurate assertion that the common birth control pill is an abortifacient.
Hagar's mission is religiously motivated. He has an ardent interest in revoking approval for mifepristone (formerly known as RU-486) as a safe and early form of medical abortion.
Hagar recently assisted the Christian Medical Association in a "citizen's petition" which calls upon the FDA to revoke its approval of mifepristone in the name of women's health. Hager's desire to overturn mifepristone's approval on religious grounds rather than scientific merit would halt the development of mifepristone as a treatment for numerous medical conditions disproportionately affecting women, including breast cancer, uterine cancer, uterine fibroid tumors, psychotic depression, bipolar depression and Cushing's syndrome. Women rely on the FDA to ensure their access to safe and effective drugs for reproductive health care including products that prevent pregnancy. For some women, such as those with certain types of diabetes and those undergoing treatment for cancer pregnancy can be a life-threatening condition.
There is widespread concern that Dr. Hager's strong religious beliefs may color his assessment of technologies that are necessary to protect women's lives or to preserve and promote women's health. Hager's track record of using religious beliefs to guide his medical decision-making makes him a dangerous and inappropriate candidate to serve as chair of this committee.
Critical drug public policy and research must not be held hostage by antiabortion politics. Members of this important panel should be appointed on the basis of science and medicine, rather than politics and religion.
American women deserve no less.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
1. SHARE THIS INFORMATION WITH EVERY PERSON WHO IS CONCERNED ABOUT WOMEN'S RIGHTS.
2. OPPOSE THE PLACEMENT OF THIS MAN BY CONTACTING THE WHITE HOUSE AND TELL THEM HE IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE ON ANY LEVEL.
Please email President Bush at president@Whitehouse.gov or call the White House at (202) 456-1111 or (202) 456-1414 and say:
"I oppose the appointment of Dr. Hager to the FDA Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee. Mixing religion and medicine is unacceptable. Using the FDA to promote a political agenda is inappropriate and seriously threatens women's health."
While all of our attention is riveted on Bush's global warmongering, we in the homeland are in danger of being defeated by this subversive effort.. TAKE ACTION AGAINST BUSH'S WAR ON AMERICAN WOMEN.
(double posted at kalilily.net)
Monday, February 17, 2003
The Wage Gap
I just posted this on my site and then realized it was better for here:
The wage gap between women and men is the lowest on record! (warning: NYT link) Yeehaw! Oh, yeah,except that its only because wages in general (read: predominently men's) are not keeping up with inflation. So girls, your wage gain doesn't mean you can live on what you make or that you make as much as the guy in the cube next to you, but be happy anyway!
This, for the record, is the fourth f***ing paragraph of the story:
Women's pay still lags men's in virtually every sector of the economy. Full-time female workers made 77.5 percent of what their male counterparts did last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the previous eight years, the inequality worsened slightly, to 76 percent in 2001 from 77.1 percent in 1993.
Gee, let's throw a party!
The wage gap between women and men is the lowest on record! (warning: NYT link) Yeehaw! Oh, yeah,except that its only because wages in general (read: predominently men's) are not keeping up with inflation. So girls, your wage gain doesn't mean you can live on what you make or that you make as much as the guy in the cube next to you, but be happy anyway!
This, for the record, is the fourth f***ing paragraph of the story:
Women's pay still lags men's in virtually every sector of the economy. Full-time female workers made 77.5 percent of what their male counterparts did last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the previous eight years, the inequality worsened slightly, to 76 percent in 2001 from 77.1 percent in 1993.
Gee, let's throw a party!
Sunday, February 16, 2003
No War
At the peace march held in Sydney yesterday (Sunday), a heavily pregnant woman wore a short shirt, baring her belly, which had the words "No War" painted on it. I wish I had caught a picture of it, but she walked by too quickly. It was a great image.
For those who dont know, the Vagina Monologues are touring the UK. I havent seen them yet, but theyre meant to be fantastic.
for tour dates and more info go to The Official UK Site or The Official USA site
for tour dates and more info go to The Official UK Site or The Official USA site
Friday, February 14, 2003
Answering a Child's Questions About War & Peace
If you're taking a child to any of the antiwar protests this weekend, you may well be the object of some seemingly unanswerable questions. "Mama, look! That sign says "No War". What does 'war' mean?" The fine folks at TechnoDyke.com sympathize, and offer some advice.
Thursday, February 13, 2003
What Can I Do To Stop This Virus-Spreader?
beyerp@sunysuffolk.edu
Someone with this address keeps emailing me all kinds of viruses, which my virus-protection software catches and quarantines. Every time the email comes, it arrives from a different email address and with a different subject line. (I got the real address by going into "Properties/Details".) Is there somewhere to report this idiot?
Addendum: Heh. I figured out that the email address is at Suffolk Community College in NY, so I emailed them and reported the virus spammer. Meanwhile, does anyone know if there's some general site where one can report such stuff and get virus-spreaders in trouble?
Someone with this address keeps emailing me all kinds of viruses, which my virus-protection software catches and quarantines. Every time the email comes, it arrives from a different email address and with a different subject line. (I got the real address by going into "Properties/Details".) Is there somewhere to report this idiot?
Addendum: Heh. I figured out that the email address is at Suffolk Community College in NY, so I emailed them and reported the virus spammer. Meanwhile, does anyone know if there's some general site where one can report such stuff and get virus-spreaders in trouble?
Annika Sorenstam: Golf's Billy Jean King
So Sorenstam, the winningest female golfer of all time, and arguably the best ever, has accepted an invitation to play the world's best male golfers in a PGA tournament. She's only the second woman ever to do this.
Most of ther men have been gracious and enthusiastic, but of all people, Tiger Woods disappoints. He said he was happy to play against Sorenstam, but said he was worried that it would be bad for women's golf if Sorenstam played poorly.
Note to Tiger: I hope she kicks your sorry ass.
Al the talk is about how women have a physical disadvantage because they don't have the power off the tee. This tourney should level the playing field with its short fairways. Besides, if the important thing about golf were physical power, these guys would be weightlifters, not riding around in stupid little golf carts and wearing chinos.
Most of ther men have been gracious and enthusiastic, but of all people, Tiger Woods disappoints. He said he was happy to play against Sorenstam, but said he was worried that it would be bad for women's golf if Sorenstam played poorly.
Note to Tiger: I hope she kicks your sorry ass.
Al the talk is about how women have a physical disadvantage because they don't have the power off the tee. This tourney should level the playing field with its short fairways. Besides, if the important thing about golf were physical power, these guys would be weightlifters, not riding around in stupid little golf carts and wearing chinos.
Wednesday, February 12, 2003
Dowload Free Posters for Peace
Go here and here to www.truemajority.com to download posters that you can print out and display, share, etc. Do it!
Tuesday, February 11, 2003
courtney unplugged, undressed
On Ms Love's recent Magazine Naughtiness comes;Commentary by Miss Feva I'm no prude, yet I felt embarrassed for Love while viewing these photos …
View more not-so-salacious pix of Courtney replete with circa '95 post-ironic porn stylist aesthetic here.
I can but concur with the nonr-too-proper Mademoiselle Feva. It is not blank morality that impels one's gaze away from a nudie Courtney. Nor is it the dimensions of her dinnerplate nipples. (Oooh. Ping.) Rather, the shame of this shoot, which features muff-waxing, inheres in its lack of hip. A decade ago, such pictures might have emerged remarkable for their riot grrl sass, nu-lib grunt, subverted porn etc. Sadly, the session's value as a cultural artefact does not exceed - well, just what it is, really: an expensively nipped, tucked chick in good shape and pushing forty and desperate, despite vaunted 'feminist' leanings, to show us all exactly how spongy-fresh and non-menopausal her female parts remain.
Personally, I'm hungry for 'statements', if they need to be made, of wild, unkempt amd assured femininity that do not involve nakedness.
View more not-so-salacious pix of Courtney replete with circa '95 post-ironic porn stylist aesthetic here.
I can but concur with the nonr-too-proper Mademoiselle Feva. It is not blank morality that impels one's gaze away from a nudie Courtney. Nor is it the dimensions of her dinnerplate nipples. (Oooh. Ping.) Rather, the shame of this shoot, which features muff-waxing, inheres in its lack of hip. A decade ago, such pictures might have emerged remarkable for their riot grrl sass, nu-lib grunt, subverted porn etc. Sadly, the session's value as a cultural artefact does not exceed - well, just what it is, really: an expensively nipped, tucked chick in good shape and pushing forty and desperate, despite vaunted 'feminist' leanings, to show us all exactly how spongy-fresh and non-menopausal her female parts remain.
Personally, I'm hungry for 'statements', if they need to be made, of wild, unkempt amd assured femininity that do not involve nakedness.
Saturday, February 08, 2003
RIP Washing Machine
I think the washing machine died. I suspected it was on its way out for a while. But then it has been living on borrowed time for eight years. That's the last time it broke, when my husband Bob was in graduate school (do I always have to measure things in student intervals? Another option for marking time is by death date. I'll think, "Howie [my pre-Rudy dog, a precious, grumpy, super-smart beagle/schnauzer] was alive. So it must have been eight years ago").
My father came up and fixed it then. I'm not sure if it is really broken this time, or if it is a belt or something minor like that. The problem is the same as in 1995, it won't spin. That time, though, it shut off after it tried to switch to spin. This time it runs for the entire cycle, it just isn't spinning. We probably will have to get a new one, since it is 16 years old and what, today, lasts even that long? I am wondering how we, or rather the delivery people, will get a new machine into the house. There are high snowbanks, a thick snow and ice blanket covering steps and the yard, and a gate to the fence that is probably frozen shut.
I wrung out the wet clothes by hand. Not a pleasant or easy task, and my hands got very cold. That was yesterday. Today, I ran another load through, a light one, just so I could watch and see exactly what happens. Sounds OK, water fills and drains, but it doesn't spin. Wrung out yet another washer full. Thought of Cherry Hill, where we had a special exhibit a couple of years ago on laundry that fascinated me and the visitors. Doing laundry was a big drudgery for women in the past. (Despite the technological improvements, and men who lend a hand, sometimes I think it still is.) Even families who weren't wealthy often had help with laundry because it was such a chore. This provided a much-needed and legitimate job for many poor and/or immigrant women. And it was something of a social time, everyone did their washing and ironing on the same two days every week - and visited outside as they dumped water and completed the back-breaking task. The invention of the washing machine was certainly labor saving - but it also meant laundry remained in the home, rather than being a service performed by a business.
I thought of Mimmie, my grandmother, who at times took in laundry, and years later, still had a wringer washer at the old house. It was a big round white tub, with legs on casters. She dragged it across the room to hook it up to the faucet of her kitchen sink. In my mind's eye I see her, feeding one piece of clothing at at time through the wringer. It generally took several passes before it was good enough to be hung on the line. Each piece came out flat as a pancake.
I sure wished I had that wringer today.
(Excerpted from Gully Brook Press)
My father came up and fixed it then. I'm not sure if it is really broken this time, or if it is a belt or something minor like that. The problem is the same as in 1995, it won't spin. That time, though, it shut off after it tried to switch to spin. This time it runs for the entire cycle, it just isn't spinning. We probably will have to get a new one, since it is 16 years old and what, today, lasts even that long? I am wondering how we, or rather the delivery people, will get a new machine into the house. There are high snowbanks, a thick snow and ice blanket covering steps and the yard, and a gate to the fence that is probably frozen shut.
I wrung out the wet clothes by hand. Not a pleasant or easy task, and my hands got very cold. That was yesterday. Today, I ran another load through, a light one, just so I could watch and see exactly what happens. Sounds OK, water fills and drains, but it doesn't spin. Wrung out yet another washer full. Thought of Cherry Hill, where we had a special exhibit a couple of years ago on laundry that fascinated me and the visitors. Doing laundry was a big drudgery for women in the past. (Despite the technological improvements, and men who lend a hand, sometimes I think it still is.) Even families who weren't wealthy often had help with laundry because it was such a chore. This provided a much-needed and legitimate job for many poor and/or immigrant women. And it was something of a social time, everyone did their washing and ironing on the same two days every week - and visited outside as they dumped water and completed the back-breaking task. The invention of the washing machine was certainly labor saving - but it also meant laundry remained in the home, rather than being a service performed by a business.
I thought of Mimmie, my grandmother, who at times took in laundry, and years later, still had a wringer washer at the old house. It was a big round white tub, with legs on casters. She dragged it across the room to hook it up to the faucet of her kitchen sink. In my mind's eye I see her, feeding one piece of clothing at at time through the wringer. It generally took several passes before it was good enough to be hung on the line. Each piece came out flat as a pancake.
I sure wished I had that wringer today.
(Excerpted from Gully Brook Press)
One More Fashion Hazard
This article cautions that wearing hip-huggers may cause women and girls to get pinched nerves. Although it is probably not very common, and I tend to prefer loose clothing anyway, I have had footware-related nerve problems and can testify that it isn't fun!
Friday, February 07, 2003
Take on State of the Union
i was listening to an interview on npr today and I thought Jeff Birnbaum made a good point. He said all bush has to do is suggest policy; almost none of it, including his economic plan, will be adopted by congress, but voters will refer to it during the 2004 election. Basically the state of the union is the biggest bandstand for campaigning ever, and bush will get credit for "trying" to enact such brave plans as a hydrogen-powered car and the biggest funding initiative for AIDS relief in US history. This makes sense to me, Bush being the most political president in our history. I know that politicians have to be political, but presidents are supposed to be leaders, not manipulative power whores.
Wednesday, February 05, 2003
February 15 anti-war info
Since the comment feature seems to not be working at the moment, if you want to follow up on Jocelyn's suggestion, go to www.unitedforpeace.org, a site that shares info about where protests and marches are being held.
cyberfeministart
My thanks to my non-blogger artist friend Linda K, who pointed me to a cyberfeminism gallery that is one of the current features on www.artwomen.org.
ArtWomen.org began with two friends talking via e-mail, a feminist curator in Texas and a feminist art historian in Washington, D.C. We decided to use the Internet to bring artwomen together on line to talk about issues of current interest.
Featured now is an online gallery of cyberfeminist art. I won’t even try to describe the experience. At least check out the pieces linked from this page. Amazing, outstanding, cutting edge, creative womanstuff. (also posted on kalilily.net)
ArtWomen.org began with two friends talking via e-mail, a feminist curator in Texas and a feminist art historian in Washington, D.C. We decided to use the Internet to bring artwomen together on line to talk about issues of current interest.
Featured now is an online gallery of cyberfeminist art. I won’t even try to describe the experience. At least check out the pieces linked from this page. Amazing, outstanding, cutting edge, creative womanstuff. (also posted on kalilily.net)
Tuesday, February 04, 2003
Programmers?
Hi,
Sorry I don't mean to double post with two completely different ideas in the same week. However, If anyone from blogs sisters programs or knows programmers in the Los Angeles Area. We are looking for someone. These requirements are listed in the order of importance. For more information please visit our link at http://www.amuletc.com/Employment.asp.
Thanks!
Sorry I don't mean to double post with two completely different ideas in the same week. However, If anyone from blogs sisters programs or knows programmers in the Los Angeles Area. We are looking for someone. These requirements are listed in the order of importance. For more information please visit our link at http://www.amuletc.com/Employment.asp.
Thanks!
Memorial
At the risk of appearing to promote the newly-constructed blog of a relative, I thought it significant to post here about a pseudo-relative of mine, "Aunt Ted." She was the ex-wife of my great uncle, a lady who I never managed to meet in person, but I heard a lot about her and often got Christmas cards, etc. from her. In her late 80's, she was driving from her small town in southern California to LA (not only a long drive, but pretty scary when you consider the quality of drivers in that area) to help out at a shelter and do volunteer work. She was a neat person and a sister worthy of remembering, and my dad's tribute to her is worth passing around (and heck yeah! I'm biased).
Finally!
I have finally set myself up with a computer at home, and now I can post as well as comment, since my work computer couldn't handle BloggerPro.
Hello fellow Blogsisters, I hope February is treating you all well so far. I'm afraid I have nothing more poignant to say at this point, but I thought I'd say hello properly.
Hello fellow Blogsisters, I hope February is treating you all well so far. I'm afraid I have nothing more poignant to say at this point, but I thought I'd say hello properly.
Weather Update
Warning: please do not believe the little weather gismo on my site, no, not for a second. It states it's cloudy and only -5 this morning... wtf? Really? I'm sat here looking out the window at a raging storm, the snow is coming down so thick I can't see the tree ten feet away. And the wind? The wind is howling ferociously blowing said snow all over the place. Visibility is the nose in front of you face and the temp, I'm reliably informed by the thermometer on the outside window, is hovering around -3.
What's worse, we're expecting anywhere between 25-30 cm by the day's end. Though, of course, we've nothing to complain about here in QC, others to the east are experiencing a mini ice-storm and, are due to get another whopping snowfall of 30-40 cm.
What was that about Groundhog Day and Winter finishing early? Crap! I think She's just getting started.
Warning: please do not believe the little weather gismo on my site, no, not for a second. It states it's cloudy and only -5 this morning... wtf? Really? I'm sat here looking out the window at a raging storm, the snow is coming down so thick I can't see the tree ten feet away. And the wind? The wind is howling ferociously blowing said snow all over the place. Visibility is the nose in front of you face and the temp, I'm reliably informed by the thermometer on the outside window, is hovering around -3.
What's worse, we're expecting anywhere between 25-30 cm by the day's end. Though, of course, we've nothing to complain about here in QC, others to the east are experiencing a mini ice-storm and, are due to get another whopping snowfall of 30-40 cm.
What was that about Groundhog Day and Winter finishing early? Crap! I think She's just getting started.
Monday, February 03, 2003
My thoughts on technology enabling the business of music...
An open ended question Camille raises. this post of mine from a few days ago lays out the vision I had during 99-00 when I was involved in writing about b2b marketplaces--I saw no reason why technology couldn't assist the business of music in some sort of real-time (or near real-time) online exchange. This particular area is a passion for me because of my husband's many decades in the music business, and by virtue of that, or somehow vice versa, mine. Thus my rather primitive architecture, at least by today's standards. But still, it's a dream I have.
Riddle
I have been researching the resiliant but constantly distressed peer 2 peer services. Most of which have some connection with music downloading.
Q:What does IT and Music have in common really?
A: Both are industries sorely in need of a union.
Any thoughts on this one?
Q:What does IT and Music have in common really?
A: Both are industries sorely in need of a union.
Any thoughts on this one?
Sunday, February 02, 2003
Blog Sisters Alert!
We have given permission for Blog Sister Clancy Ratliff, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Rhetoric at the University of Minnesota, to email the Blog Sisters and ask them to participate in a pilot study that she is doing on women and blogging (including the issue of gender in the blogging community). She is doing this study because she believe blogging is an important new rhetorical practice, and, as a feminist minoring in Women's Studies, she is interested in studying blogging with respect to women. You are not obligated to participate in her study, but we hope that you will. She will share with us the results of her investigations. Watch for her email.
Saturday, February 01, 2003
John Gillespie Magee
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds,
- and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless falls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, nor even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high, untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.
What an awful loss.
Friday, January 31, 2003
Anti-war Poetry Power
(Read the entire post on my blog here.)
Earlier this week, I got an email forwarded to me by a friend of mine who is a member of the National Association for Poetry Therapy.
The original email sent by Sam Hamill, a poet and editor of the highly regarded Copper Canyon Press, asked that every poet speak up for the conscience of our country and lend his or her name to our petition against this war, and to make February 12 a day of Poetry Against the War. We will compile an anthology of protest to be presented to the White House on that afternoon. Read about the history of the effort here. And if you want to submit a poem or statement of conscience, email it to kokua@olympus.net. I already did.
Earlier this week, I got an email forwarded to me by a friend of mine who is a member of the National Association for Poetry Therapy.
The original email sent by Sam Hamill, a poet and editor of the highly regarded Copper Canyon Press, asked that every poet speak up for the conscience of our country and lend his or her name to our petition against this war, and to make February 12 a day of Poetry Against the War. We will compile an anthology of protest to be presented to the White House on that afternoon. Read about the history of the effort here. And if you want to submit a poem or statement of conscience, email it to kokua@olympus.net. I already did.
Look-a-like-Competition
Okay, so this is old new by now, but, none the less, very funny. The UK-based newspaper, The Evening Standard, states that a Russian law firm is reportedly taking legal action against the special effects people who dreamt up Dobby (fromHarry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets) , arguing that the animated elf has been modelled on Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
Dobby = Putin
Really? Do you see a resemblance? Naw, nor did I!
Okay, so this is old new by now, but, none the less, very funny. The UK-based newspaper, The Evening Standard, states that a Russian law firm is reportedly taking legal action against the special effects people who dreamt up Dobby (from
Dobby = Putin
Really? Do you see a resemblance? Naw, nor did I!
Thursday, January 30, 2003
Today's Puzzle
I've scanned in two quarters from my purse (by the way-I find purses very annoying, but I don't like fanny packs either, and my jean pockets aren't always big enough). Found some strange things about one, but why would anyone copy a quarter? The engraving looks great. I posted the pics at my blog. Can you see what I see? -Jennifer
Wednesday, January 29, 2003
calling doctor blogger?
Any medical bloggers out there want to tell me if this kind of thing is common?. With three abdominal surgeries under my belt--or should I say uterus--I am feeling quite faint at the prospect of a Texas A&M logo branded on my most private of privates.
g--a--g.
Thanks (I think) dearest for the link.
g--a--g.
Thanks (I think) dearest for the link.
OH NO he DIDN'T!
Oh yes he did.
This popular OB branded a patient's uterus with his alma mater insignia before removing it during a hysterectomy. The patient, who later saw the good doctor carving his UK Medical School john hancock into her womb while reviewing a video tape of the operation, says this:
"It was a mockery to my body," Means said. "This was an organ that created my two beautiful children, and I wanted it discarded with respect. And it wasn't. It was used as a toy in the operating room without my consent.... So I felt as though I was an insignificant person. I question, would he have done this to the governor's wife or someone of great importance?"
I completely agree with her.
Means goes on to say that the event has affected her marriage and children... that her children "are offended by just looking at a UK sign."
I don't know that I would have involved my children in my hysteria, but hey, I sure would have been FIT TO BE TIED, no pun intended. And I'm not sure what kind of husband she has if he's so concerned about "claiming loss of companionship because of the strain the incident has put on their relationship" rather than visiting Dr. Guiler and doing a little branding of his own.
But if they can make a buck off of this while putting Dr. Guiler out of business, all the better for everyone. The woman, at least, deserves it.
And thanks to George for the link.
This popular OB branded a patient's uterus with his alma mater insignia before removing it during a hysterectomy. The patient, who later saw the good doctor carving his UK Medical School john hancock into her womb while reviewing a video tape of the operation, says this:
"It was a mockery to my body," Means said. "This was an organ that created my two beautiful children, and I wanted it discarded with respect. And it wasn't. It was used as a toy in the operating room without my consent.... So I felt as though I was an insignificant person. I question, would he have done this to the governor's wife or someone of great importance?"
I completely agree with her.
Means goes on to say that the event has affected her marriage and children... that her children "are offended by just looking at a UK sign."
I don't know that I would have involved my children in my hysteria, but hey, I sure would have been FIT TO BE TIED, no pun intended. And I'm not sure what kind of husband she has if he's so concerned about "claiming loss of companionship because of the strain the incident has put on their relationship" rather than visiting Dr. Guiler and doing a little branding of his own.
But if they can make a buck off of this while putting Dr. Guiler out of business, all the better for everyone. The woman, at least, deserves it.
And thanks to George for the link.
Tuesday, January 28, 2003
(cross-posted at my blog)
Dammit, I'm proud to be an American.
But why do I feel somewhat guilty in writing that phrase?
Tonight I watched my first State of the Union address, while living in a foreign country. It was a bit weird. For one, none of the 3 channels in the apartment carried it, so I had to scamper online to find a live feed. While watching the tiny screen on my laptop, I felt all sorts of things. I felt a bit disconnected -- I think that is largely due to the fact I'm so far away from home (not necessarily US, but a long ways from GA!). Up here there's been more protesting about the upcoming military action, so I haven't been as swamped with newscasts about it like I would be back home. Then again, if I was back home I think I would be feeling the pressure in a different sense -- mainly due to the fact Savannah is within an hour's distance of 2 large Army bases (whose troops have already been deployed).
I think that I'm definitely more sensitive to the language Bush used in his speech. Being away from the American media, plus back in a rhetorical frame of mind, helps with that I'm sure. It was interesting to note the different times he used the ploy "We're Americans and can do whatever we feel right" along with appeals to the international community and cooperation. I think the former largely outweighed the latter.
That's where I feel so torn. I mean, America is my home. I love the fact that I can call myself an American -- despite the popular notion it is to bash it and condemn its policies. And by bashing it I don't just mean here in Canada -- even back home its sometimes viewed as "academic" to be critical of many elements of "American-ness" (yes, I just made up a word, thank-you-very-much!).
So while I'm proud of my identity in some ways, I'm also very troubled by certain aspects of it.
It bothers me that so much of our nation's intentions are prefaced by the fact we're doing this "because we're America." Hearing statements like these bothered me:
In all of these efforts, however, America’s purpose is more than to follow a process - it is to achieve a result: the end of terrible threats to the civilized world. All free nations have a stake in preventing sudden and catastrophic attack. And we are asking them to join us, and many are doing so. Yet the course of this Nation does not depend on the decisions of others. Whatever action is required, whenever action is necessary, I will defend the freedom and security of the American people.
[...]
The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. America will not accept a serious and mounting threat to our country, and our friends, and our allies. The United States will ask the UN Security Council to convene on February 5th to consider the facts of Iraq’s ongoing defiance of the world. Secretary of State Powell will present information and intelligence about Iraq’s illegal weapons programs; its attempts to hide those weapons from inspectors; and its links to terrorist groups. We will consult, but let there be no misunderstanding: If Saddam Hussein does not fully disarm, for the safety of our people, and for the peace of the world, we will lead a coalition to disarm him.
But he did raise some vaild points, regarding Saddam -- in addition to the facts he laid out about disregarding UN regulations:
Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike? If this threat is permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all words, and all recriminations would come too late. Trusting in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein is not a strategy, and it is not an option.
While that's a tad bit overstated, I do think there's some merit in what's behind it.
The highlight of the speech, for me:
Ladies and gentlemen, seldom has history offered a greater opportunity to do so much for so many. We have confronted, and will continue to confront, HIV/AIDS in our own country. And to meet a severe and urgent crisis abroad, tonight I propose the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief - a work of mercy beyond all current international efforts to help the people of Africa. This comprehensive plan will prevent seven million new AIDS infections … treat at least two million people with life-extending drugs … and provide humane care for millions of people suffering from AIDS, and for children orphaned by AIDS. I ask the Congress to commit 15 billion dollars over the next five years, including nearly ten billion dollars in new money, to turn the tide against AIDS in the most afflicted nations of Africa and the Caribbean.
This Nation can lead the world in sparing innocent people from a plague of nature. And this Nation is leading the world in confronting and defeating the man-made evil of international terrorism.
Interesting transition -- from peaceful relief efforts, right into the bit on terrorism. I really hope he means to follow through on this promise of AIDS relief, and isn't just using it as speech fodder to lesson the "big-bully" worldview of the US. It's something we should have been doing *years* ago, in my opinion.
And finally, the big closer:
Americans are a resolute people, who have risen to every test of our time. Adversity has revealed the character of our country, to the world, and to ourselves.
America is a strong Nation, and honorable in the use of our strength. We exercise power without conquest, and we sacrifice for the liberty of strangers.
Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation. The liberty we prize is not America’s gift to the world, it is God’s gift to humanity.
We Americans have faith in ourselves - but not in ourselves alone. We do not claim to know all the ways of Providence, yet we can trust in them, placing our confidence in the loving God behind all of life, and all of history.
May He guide us now, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.
Again with the mixing of God and politics. I'm finding that this is a trait that is very-American. You don't ever hear any Canadian officials ranting, "God Bless Canada!" It's definitely a loaded statement. While I hope that God does continue to bless my country, I don't want that blessing at the expense of other countries. "God Bless America" is an interesting type of enthymeme. In other words, there's a whole lot of assumptions left out of that conclusion. If "God Blesses America", does that mean he then punishes its enemies (or at least gives them a disadvantage to the US)? Does that statement mean that God should only bless America? All of a sudden, I'm not so comfortable with that statement's hidden meanings.
That said, I am appreciative of the fact that I can question my government and country without fear of reprisal. And its late now so I should get some sleep.
Dammit, I'm proud to be an American.
But why do I feel somewhat guilty in writing that phrase?
Tonight I watched my first State of the Union address, while living in a foreign country. It was a bit weird. For one, none of the 3 channels in the apartment carried it, so I had to scamper online to find a live feed. While watching the tiny screen on my laptop, I felt all sorts of things. I felt a bit disconnected -- I think that is largely due to the fact I'm so far away from home (not necessarily US, but a long ways from GA!). Up here there's been more protesting about the upcoming military action, so I haven't been as swamped with newscasts about it like I would be back home. Then again, if I was back home I think I would be feeling the pressure in a different sense -- mainly due to the fact Savannah is within an hour's distance of 2 large Army bases (whose troops have already been deployed).
I think that I'm definitely more sensitive to the language Bush used in his speech. Being away from the American media, plus back in a rhetorical frame of mind, helps with that I'm sure. It was interesting to note the different times he used the ploy "We're Americans and can do whatever we feel right" along with appeals to the international community and cooperation. I think the former largely outweighed the latter.
That's where I feel so torn. I mean, America is my home. I love the fact that I can call myself an American -- despite the popular notion it is to bash it and condemn its policies. And by bashing it I don't just mean here in Canada -- even back home its sometimes viewed as "academic" to be critical of many elements of "American-ness" (yes, I just made up a word, thank-you-very-much!).
So while I'm proud of my identity in some ways, I'm also very troubled by certain aspects of it.
It bothers me that so much of our nation's intentions are prefaced by the fact we're doing this "because we're America." Hearing statements like these bothered me:
In all of these efforts, however, America’s purpose is more than to follow a process - it is to achieve a result: the end of terrible threats to the civilized world. All free nations have a stake in preventing sudden and catastrophic attack. And we are asking them to join us, and many are doing so. Yet the course of this Nation does not depend on the decisions of others. Whatever action is required, whenever action is necessary, I will defend the freedom and security of the American people.
[...]
The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. America will not accept a serious and mounting threat to our country, and our friends, and our allies. The United States will ask the UN Security Council to convene on February 5th to consider the facts of Iraq’s ongoing defiance of the world. Secretary of State Powell will present information and intelligence about Iraq’s illegal weapons programs; its attempts to hide those weapons from inspectors; and its links to terrorist groups. We will consult, but let there be no misunderstanding: If Saddam Hussein does not fully disarm, for the safety of our people, and for the peace of the world, we will lead a coalition to disarm him.
But he did raise some vaild points, regarding Saddam -- in addition to the facts he laid out about disregarding UN regulations:
Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike? If this threat is permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all words, and all recriminations would come too late. Trusting in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein is not a strategy, and it is not an option.
While that's a tad bit overstated, I do think there's some merit in what's behind it.
The highlight of the speech, for me:
Ladies and gentlemen, seldom has history offered a greater opportunity to do so much for so many. We have confronted, and will continue to confront, HIV/AIDS in our own country. And to meet a severe and urgent crisis abroad, tonight I propose the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief - a work of mercy beyond all current international efforts to help the people of Africa. This comprehensive plan will prevent seven million new AIDS infections … treat at least two million people with life-extending drugs … and provide humane care for millions of people suffering from AIDS, and for children orphaned by AIDS. I ask the Congress to commit 15 billion dollars over the next five years, including nearly ten billion dollars in new money, to turn the tide against AIDS in the most afflicted nations of Africa and the Caribbean.
This Nation can lead the world in sparing innocent people from a plague of nature. And this Nation is leading the world in confronting and defeating the man-made evil of international terrorism.
Interesting transition -- from peaceful relief efforts, right into the bit on terrorism. I really hope he means to follow through on this promise of AIDS relief, and isn't just using it as speech fodder to lesson the "big-bully" worldview of the US. It's something we should have been doing *years* ago, in my opinion.
And finally, the big closer:
Americans are a resolute people, who have risen to every test of our time. Adversity has revealed the character of our country, to the world, and to ourselves.
America is a strong Nation, and honorable in the use of our strength. We exercise power without conquest, and we sacrifice for the liberty of strangers.
Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation. The liberty we prize is not America’s gift to the world, it is God’s gift to humanity.
We Americans have faith in ourselves - but not in ourselves alone. We do not claim to know all the ways of Providence, yet we can trust in them, placing our confidence in the loving God behind all of life, and all of history.
May He guide us now, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.
Again with the mixing of God and politics. I'm finding that this is a trait that is very-American. You don't ever hear any Canadian officials ranting, "God Bless Canada!" It's definitely a loaded statement. While I hope that God does continue to bless my country, I don't want that blessing at the expense of other countries. "God Bless America" is an interesting type of enthymeme. In other words, there's a whole lot of assumptions left out of that conclusion. If "God Blesses America", does that mean he then punishes its enemies (or at least gives them a disadvantage to the US)? Does that statement mean that God should only bless America? All of a sudden, I'm not so comfortable with that statement's hidden meanings.
That said, I am appreciative of the fact that I can question my government and country without fear of reprisal. And its late now so I should get some sleep.
When in Rome, do as the Romans Do?
Today in Sociology we discussed many things, one being cultural differences and laws in different countries.
For example: Two brothers from the Middle East, ages 34 and 28 came to live in Nevada. They were charged with first degree statutory rape because their wives are 13 and 14 years old.
Is this fair? More questions raised at my blog>>
For example: Two brothers from the Middle East, ages 34 and 28 came to live in Nevada. They were charged with first degree statutory rape because their wives are 13 and 14 years old.
Is this fair? More questions raised at my blog>>
Monday, January 27, 2003
BlogSister Housekeeping Requests
I've been registering new sistahs like crazy over the past month, and I know that I haven't gotten all of them on the blogroll. So, please, if you don't see your name and link over there on the left, email me with your url and the name by which you want to be listed. And, while you're at it (and that goes for everyone!) the next time you log on, click on "Team" up there in the tool bar, then click on your name, then cliick on the "Edit My Profile" up there in the upper right corner, and at least let us know where you are living on this planet.
Finally, send your bio to Andrea (see here). I now return you to your regualr programming.
Finally, send your bio to Andrea (see here). I now return you to your regualr programming.
Sunday, January 26, 2003
Typing Upside-Down
You know those Looney Toon cartoons where Bugs Bunny gets lost while he's burrowing around in the ground and suddenly pops up in China, but the camera is upside-down? Well, that's how I'd be if I was a cartoon.
Just in case you haven't been checking in on my personal blog, this Sister has completed the easy part of her journey from small-town western Washington to the grand city of Sydney, Australia-- the easy part being the plane ride. Now I've got culture shock, digestive problems, getting a working visa and getting a life to deal with. Ah well, at least the weather's hot and beautiful for the most part. Maybe I'll just go to the beach some more.
As technical officer of this blog, please feel free to continue to email me if you have questions or need help of a technical nature. Just keep in mind that at the moment my 'net access is limited, so be patient with me. Also keep in mind that, depending on where you are in the world, I may be keeping very different hours now!
Signing off from the other side of the world...
Just in case you haven't been checking in on my personal blog, this Sister has completed the easy part of her journey from small-town western Washington to the grand city of Sydney, Australia-- the easy part being the plane ride. Now I've got culture shock, digestive problems, getting a working visa and getting a life to deal with. Ah well, at least the weather's hot and beautiful for the most part. Maybe I'll just go to the beach some more.
As technical officer of this blog, please feel free to continue to email me if you have questions or need help of a technical nature. Just keep in mind that at the moment my 'net access is limited, so be patient with me. Also keep in mind that, depending on where you are in the world, I may be keeping very different hours now!
Signing off from the other side of the world...
Saturday, January 25, 2003
Today (1-25-03); courtesy of avant.com for Salon.com news channel. Book Recommendation: "Global Woman" by Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Russell Hochschild.
Technology News: "Subcontracting the Kids" by A.R.H (global woman co author). Very timely and enlightening esp. after la times article about a family that auctioned themselves on eBay just to stay afloat in these trying economic times.
Technology News: "Subcontracting the Kids" by A.R.H (global woman co author). Very timely and enlightening esp. after la times article about a family that auctioned themselves on eBay just to stay afloat in these trying economic times.
Hours, Days, Years
Jennifer Balderama posts this ee cummings quote:
Stolen wisdom: to be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.
I saw the movie “The Hours” tonight. It’s a movie about that battle.
As Blog Sisters registrar, I’ve been registering new sistahs almost every day, many of them young enough to be my granddaughters. Their blogs tend to be about that battle.
The Blog Sisters who’ve been there from the beginning – Jeneane, Shelley, Halley – never stop fighting to be nobody but themselves. They blog their struggles, their questions, their answers – refusing to become everybody else. Their posts are about that battle.
(Read the whole and rest of the rant here.)
Stolen wisdom: to be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.
I saw the movie “The Hours” tonight. It’s a movie about that battle.
As Blog Sisters registrar, I’ve been registering new sistahs almost every day, many of them young enough to be my granddaughters. Their blogs tend to be about that battle.
The Blog Sisters who’ve been there from the beginning – Jeneane, Shelley, Halley – never stop fighting to be nobody but themselves. They blog their struggles, their questions, their answers – refusing to become everybody else. Their posts are about that battle.
(Read the whole and rest of the rant here.)
George Bush--urban cowboy?!!
Watching a news conference with George Bush makes me want to gag--why must he wear the cowboy hat? Isn't his outlaw/old west/manifest destiny attitude bad enough? must he reveal himself via clothing choices to be the stick up the butt/devalue the choices of American people/moral policeman politician that he is? Don't try to be cool George. Your heavy handed policy choices are not cool.
Also, just to comment on Glovefox's blog that the Chinese have long memories (i know, the post was about bullying, this is just an aside), I'm reading Amy Tan's The Bonesetter's Daughter, which is all about the Chinese having long memories, among other things. I really enjoy her writing, but many individuals whom I admire, including my World Lit by Women prof, degraded her writing, saying that she's a fluff author, a John Grisham or Mary Higgins Clark for the ethnic set. I've read all of Tan's books, and have enjoyed them all, and while I am not above literary snobbery, I just don't agree with that mindset. Just wondering how any who have read/critiqued Tan's work may feel about this. I do admit that her whole "rock band" with Stephen King seemed like really self-serving preening, I can not defend that, but her writing on the whole is really representative of the Asian/American, Chinese/American experience. If you're interested in East-Asian American women writers you should also check out Gish Jen.
Also, just to comment on Glovefox's blog that the Chinese have long memories (i know, the post was about bullying, this is just an aside), I'm reading Amy Tan's The Bonesetter's Daughter, which is all about the Chinese having long memories, among other things. I really enjoy her writing, but many individuals whom I admire, including my World Lit by Women prof, degraded her writing, saying that she's a fluff author, a John Grisham or Mary Higgins Clark for the ethnic set. I've read all of Tan's books, and have enjoyed them all, and while I am not above literary snobbery, I just don't agree with that mindset. Just wondering how any who have read/critiqued Tan's work may feel about this. I do admit that her whole "rock band" with Stephen King seemed like really self-serving preening, I can not defend that, but her writing on the whole is really representative of the Asian/American, Chinese/American experience. If you're interested in East-Asian American women writers you should also check out Gish Jen.
Friday, January 24, 2003
Blogging=too much time on the computer!
I came across an interesting story titled, "Aesthetic Impacts of Population Dynamics" Which explains the changes in population and beauty ideals. Also came across notes from the NARAL Roe VS Wade dinner. It's late, I need to go to bed so sorry if I don't post more. You can read more stuff in my blog if you like. Blogging is way too addictive!!! I'm not getting anything else done. -Jennifer Medlock
Thursday, January 23, 2003
Greetings!
Greetings, All. I'm new here. I'm blogging from High Point, North Carolina. Guilford County is the Political Candidate blogging capitol of the world. I'm a 28 year old acrylic artist and a college student, as well as a wife, and a mother of a darling seven year old girl. Oh, yeah-there's the pug, too. I actually met my husband online through hotmail personals if you can believe that! I was just looking for more e-mail to fill my in-box at the time. :-) I only met two local men, after many months of e-mailing. Not a really safe thing, but neither is showing yourself in public (I'm kind of joking). That reminds me-I really hate men who make a scene while they are staring at you. Creepy. Anyway, here is an article about another peace activist woman (not me-but I'm with you there). That link goes to PressAction.com, which is how I found Blog Sisters. They have a bit about women bloggers today, which another blogger had pointed to as well. -Jennifer Medlock
Wednesday, January 22, 2003
"The Cruelty of Men and Americans"
Check out the essay about our cultural violence by U of Texas professor Robert Jensen in the online journal Feminista.
One of his points: “Pornography and the wars of the U.S. empire both depend for their success on the process of rendering human beings less-than-fully-human so they can be hurt -- in the case of pornography to provide pleasure for men, and in war to protect the comfort of Americans.”
One of his points: “Pornography and the wars of the U.S. empire both depend for their success on the process of rendering human beings less-than-fully-human so they can be hurt -- in the case of pornography to provide pleasure for men, and in war to protect the comfort of Americans.”
my story about off label use of ru-486
i posted this in my blog too:
okay, here's the story. the drug mifepristone, more commonly known as ru-486,, even more commonly known as the abortion drug, is now being shown to work in treating a variety of diseases, two of which are severe and psychotic depression. i suffer from severe depression.
last week i went in to my doctor. the bad news she gave me was that there wasn't much else she could do for me. i had recently read in ms. that there was a study being done at standford, but also that doctors might be able to get a hold of the drug through the feminist majority foundation. i mentioned this to my doctor and brought in a copy of the article, hoping that we could get a hold of the drug for me.
a week later. she tells me we can't get a hold of the drug. she didn't call the fmf but she talked to some of her friends-- my doctor is a pro-choice activist-- and they told her that the drug was so highly regulated that you had to call the company to get a hold of it for any off label use, and with a study going on for depression there was no way she was going to be able to get it for me. (can't do a study, to high a risk of me getting a placebo and that is way bad news.)
see, with any other fda approved drug and off label use there's no problem. doctors do it all the time. in fact i'm sure the vast majority of you have gotten a drug from your doctor and used it for a reason not under the original reason approved by the fda. but because this drug was approved as the abortion drug all the right wingers have decided to fuck with it and not let free use of it. so those people like me who could benefit from it have to suffer because of morality not chosen by us.
i've written a note to my doctor telling her that if the group she works with in her activism wants to use me as a face and a name in their materials to help get the government to lay off ru-486 they'd be more than welcome. and i'll be calling my senators, that pissant gordon smith, and ron wyden, and my house dude- peter defazio, and maybe even trying to speak with them personally. i want all of them to put a name to what this government has done. and luckily i'm a person that they like. white, middle class, and educated (i'll leave out the lesbian part). i'm even gonna find out the name of the manufacturer of ru-486 and call the president.
okay, here's the story. the drug mifepristone, more commonly known as ru-486,, even more commonly known as the abortion drug, is now being shown to work in treating a variety of diseases, two of which are severe and psychotic depression. i suffer from severe depression.
last week i went in to my doctor. the bad news she gave me was that there wasn't much else she could do for me. i had recently read in ms. that there was a study being done at standford, but also that doctors might be able to get a hold of the drug through the feminist majority foundation. i mentioned this to my doctor and brought in a copy of the article, hoping that we could get a hold of the drug for me.
a week later. she tells me we can't get a hold of the drug. she didn't call the fmf but she talked to some of her friends-- my doctor is a pro-choice activist-- and they told her that the drug was so highly regulated that you had to call the company to get a hold of it for any off label use, and with a study going on for depression there was no way she was going to be able to get it for me. (can't do a study, to high a risk of me getting a placebo and that is way bad news.)
see, with any other fda approved drug and off label use there's no problem. doctors do it all the time. in fact i'm sure the vast majority of you have gotten a drug from your doctor and used it for a reason not under the original reason approved by the fda. but because this drug was approved as the abortion drug all the right wingers have decided to fuck with it and not let free use of it. so those people like me who could benefit from it have to suffer because of morality not chosen by us.
i've written a note to my doctor telling her that if the group she works with in her activism wants to use me as a face and a name in their materials to help get the government to lay off ru-486 they'd be more than welcome. and i'll be calling my senators, that pissant gordon smith, and ron wyden, and my house dude- peter defazio, and maybe even trying to speak with them personally. i want all of them to put a name to what this government has done. and luckily i'm a person that they like. white, middle class, and educated (i'll leave out the lesbian part). i'm even gonna find out the name of the manufacturer of ru-486 and call the president.
Now Here's a Question for You..
Does anyone know if there's a site to help women who have been scammed by an internet "date?" A woman I know who knows that I blog here, asked me to try to find out. If not, she was wondering what her liability would be if she started one. Maybe a blog where women could post the names of the men who are lying about their married states etc.? I know that, a while ago, some Blog Sister posted here about a guy who was was a real scumbag and warned other women using internet dating about him. Anyone have any info? Ideas? Suggestions? Links? Thanks.
Tuesday, January 21, 2003
Body Positive
This week is Healthy Weight Week. If you do a Google search you will find a bunch of sites, some of which are about weight loss. Others are promoting the paradigm of Health at Any Size.
I’m writing something every day about my own experience of, and thoughts about being fat and body positive ideas. I thought I’d ask Blogsisters to make a body positive post this week.
I’m writing something every day about my own experience of, and thoughts about being fat and body positive ideas. I thought I’d ask Blogsisters to make a body positive post this week.
Monday, January 20, 2003
The abortion debate may be the most cliche thing to post about on BlogSisters, but so it goes.
Today in The New York Times, there was a front page article on the state of abortion rights in the United States. It was a slightly faulty (but more thorough than most) assessment of the history of abortion in America, just in time for the thirtieth anniversary of Roe v. Wade. It is so vital, now more than ever, that we acquaint ourselves with history so that we can appreciate and understand how we came to where we are now. It was very distressing to read in this article than in one poll conducted in Washington state, the majority of participants had no idea that abortion was ever illegal. But many things were hopeful. It seems that 80% of the population supports abortion rights (some with stricter restrictions, some without), and, at the same time, the rate of abortion is currently at its lowest since 1974.
Also: I would like to assert that I make no false claims of non-bias. I am clearly pro-choice, and I am not pretending that anything I've written here or linked to is anything resembling objective.
Also: I would like to assert that I make no false claims of non-bias. I am clearly pro-choice, and I am not pretending that anything I've written here or linked to is anything resembling objective.
Saturday, January 18, 2003
Why I think women are way ahead of men.
Brain research is making it more and more evident that, while our environment and nurturing can make a crucial difference in what kinds of adults we mature into, nature deals us each a very definitive hand, and much of it is in the form of chemicals that our brains produce. If we don’t have enough seratonin, we feel depressed. If we are females and our estrogen and progesterone are out of whack, we get major PMS. (These are just two of hundreds of examples.)
Many of us women have come to recognize that we can control PMS – with everything from herbal supplements to wild yam cream, from progesterone suppositories to Prozac capsules. Because humans have evolved the way we have, it might be “natural” to be at the mercy of our erratic human brain and glandular chemistries, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take our fate into our own hands and alter those defective ebbs and flows. Doing so doesn’t make us less ourselves; indeed, it often frees us from the tyranny of our chemistries and allows us to be so much more our loving, caring, creative, and nurturing selves – in other words, better human beings.
Research has also made the connection between high levels of testosterone and violence/aggression/competitiveness. It has also made the connection between high levels of testosterone and sex drive.
Read the rest of my rant on my weblog here.
Many of us women have come to recognize that we can control PMS – with everything from herbal supplements to wild yam cream, from progesterone suppositories to Prozac capsules. Because humans have evolved the way we have, it might be “natural” to be at the mercy of our erratic human brain and glandular chemistries, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take our fate into our own hands and alter those defective ebbs and flows. Doing so doesn’t make us less ourselves; indeed, it often frees us from the tyranny of our chemistries and allows us to be so much more our loving, caring, creative, and nurturing selves – in other words, better human beings.
Research has also made the connection between high levels of testosterone and violence/aggression/competitiveness. It has also made the connection between high levels of testosterone and sex drive.
Read the rest of my rant on my weblog here.
Behind the Music
Music, sexism and war. When I was younger and more of a television watcher, I loved to tune in to PBS in the beginning of the year to watch the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year Celebration. Actually, I listened more than watched because as a musician myself, music was first. Then my father pointed out, "There aren't any women in the orchestra." That's when I started paying attention to the screen. Indeed, there weren't any women in the orchestra, except maybe the harpist, but I wasn't sure because I only saw the harp itself and not the musician behind it.
I suppose I've been spoiled into thinking that musicians were only judged by their ability and not something superficial like the color of your hair*. Maybe I'm too idealistic in thinking that music should come first because I start noticing certain things. Why were most of my music teachers female but all of the conductors of the orchestras I was a member of male? Why are certain instruments considered "girly" when kids are given an opportunity to learn music? Why are so many composers hired for movie scores male?
This chauvinism obviously isn't just confined to the Vienna Philharmonic, but I'm not sure if a protest aimed singly at this organization is going to help much.
*Except for popular idols where their only marketable attribute is sex appeal and not the validity of their music.
Also posted on syaffolee.
I suppose I've been spoiled into thinking that musicians were only judged by their ability and not something superficial like the color of your hair*. Maybe I'm too idealistic in thinking that music should come first because I start noticing certain things. Why were most of my music teachers female but all of the conductors of the orchestras I was a member of male? Why are certain instruments considered "girly" when kids are given an opportunity to learn music? Why are so many composers hired for movie scores male?
This chauvinism obviously isn't just confined to the Vienna Philharmonic, but I'm not sure if a protest aimed singly at this organization is going to help much.
*Except for popular idols where their only marketable attribute is sex appeal and not the validity of their music.
Also posted on syaffolee.
Thursday, January 16, 2003
What is the world doing to us?
Jennifer Balderama wonders what she’s doing with her life. It seems to me that, like the rest of us, she’s living it – as best she can under the circumstances.
Unemployment is rampant. Gambling is out of control for too many people. We are very close to a global war. Violence against women and children is as widespread as ever. Global warming is affecting where certain crops and plants are able to grow. Education budgets are being decimated. “Sophisticated computers, robotics, telecommunications, and other cutting-edge technologies are fast replacing human beings in virtually every sector and industry - from manufacturing, retail, and financial services, to transportation, agriculture, and government.” (quoted from here)
I have a lot more to say here.
Unemployment is rampant. Gambling is out of control for too many people. We are very close to a global war. Violence against women and children is as widespread as ever. Global warming is affecting where certain crops and plants are able to grow. Education budgets are being decimated. “Sophisticated computers, robotics, telecommunications, and other cutting-edge technologies are fast replacing human beings in virtually every sector and industry - from manufacturing, retail, and financial services, to transportation, agriculture, and government.” (quoted from here)
I have a lot more to say here.
Has the US has gone Mad?
The Times Online Opinion section ran an interesting (if not possibly inflamatory article) written by the famed thriller writer, John Le Carre, yesterday which I'm sure, will run with a life of its own.
To quote the venerable author: "...The imminent war was planned years before bin Laden struck, but it was he who made it possible. Without bin Laden, the Bush junta would still be trying to explain such tricky matters as how it came to be elected in the first place..."
I was, however, more interested in what he had to say about Blair, and his part in all this, being a Brit. I also have to say that Le Carre's opinion is echoed by many of my friends and colleagues living back in the UK.
What are your thoughts?
The Times Online Opinion section ran an interesting (if not possibly inflamatory article) written by the famed thriller writer, John Le Carre, yesterday which I'm sure, will run with a life of its own.
To quote the venerable author: "...The imminent war was planned years before bin Laden struck, but it was he who made it possible. Without bin Laden, the Bush junta would still be trying to explain such tricky matters as how it came to be elected in the first place..."
I was, however, more interested in what he had to say about Blair, and his part in all this, being a Brit. I also have to say that Le Carre's opinion is echoed by many of my friends and colleagues living back in the UK.
What are your thoughts?
Wednesday, January 15, 2003
Monday, January 13, 2003
What happens when an online friend dies or disappears
This post was triggered off by this blog - User Not Found set up to discuss how people deal with the death or disappearance of online friends. Many relationships formed online do develop into significant ones. In some cases, the two people have never met but cultivate a deeper friendship. This could be either through blogs, email or instant messengers and is particularly true for women who tend to share and bond much more easily. But what happens when the ‘real scenario’ catched up and one of the two either die or disappear?
A while ago, I read in a particular web log (I forget it’s name right now) about how the author was trying to track one of her favourite bloggers who had completely disappeared off the scene. This blogger had pulled down her blog and she no longer replied to her email. Her friend was naturally very worried and even posted a public appeal on her blog asking for help to trace her blog friend.
Has this ever happened with you? And how did you deal with it? Do you have a personal experience to share? I am researching the topic for an article and would love to hear from you. Please email me here or leave a comment in this space with your details and I’ll contact you.
A while ago, I read in a particular web log (I forget it’s name right now) about how the author was trying to track one of her favourite bloggers who had completely disappeared off the scene. This blogger had pulled down her blog and she no longer replied to her email. Her friend was naturally very worried and even posted a public appeal on her blog asking for help to trace her blog friend.
Has this ever happened with you? And how did you deal with it? Do you have a personal experience to share? I am researching the topic for an article and would love to hear from you. Please email me here or leave a comment in this space with your details and I’ll contact you.
Happy New Year!
I haven't posted in a while, but I hope everyone enjoys the new year all the way through. I found a good link on women journalists/weblogging sorta twist and thought to pass it on here. http://journalism.fas.nyu.edu/pubzone/ReadMe/ranieri.html
let me know what you think or find. This weblog is a wealth of content. Cheers!
let me know what you think or find. This weblog is a wealth of content. Cheers!
Wednesday, January 08, 2003
Get Real
Sparked by a recent New York Times article, jf asked about reality television yesterday. I'll lay my cards on the table. I find these shows offensive, disgusting, irritating, silly and exploitative. Plus, I consider the matchmaking version (The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Joe Millionaire, Greedy Losers Connecting) to be sexist. (OK, I made that last title up.)
I don't watch them, have no respect for the "creators" of such "reality" programming, believe them to be more contrived than real (yeah sure, "true" reality takes place in front of a camera), have zero sympathy (or empathy) for the participants, and no patience for the fans of these programs. However, I have been amazed (as I commented to Elaine on her Phyllis Schafly post) to learn that people I know and respect are among the viewers.
I'm curious what the BlogSisters think...
I don't watch them, have no respect for the "creators" of such "reality" programming, believe them to be more contrived than real (yeah sure, "true" reality takes place in front of a camera), have zero sympathy (or empathy) for the participants, and no patience for the fans of these programs. However, I have been amazed (as I commented to Elaine on her Phyllis Schafly post) to learn that people I know and respect are among the viewers.
I'm curious what the BlogSisters think...
Sunday, January 05, 2003
And then there's Phyllis Schlafly
Phyllis Schlafly has written a another anti-feminist book. I can't believe that she's still at it.
I posted about it -- sort of -- here.
I posted about it -- sort of -- here.
Saturday, January 04, 2003
Better late than never (maybe)
As I've been cleaning out my family archives, I came upon a opinion column I had published in the local Hearst newspaper back in the early 70s. I wish I had found it earlier, when we were posting about feminism, because it shows that some of us have been saying the same thing for the past 30 years. I would have shared the text with Jeneane as she tried to start her (now defunct) "humans first" weblog. I would have posted it on my site in support of my argument with RageBoy. It's too late for all of that, but maybe not too late for the younger Blog Sisters to read as they try to understand why some of us are so discouraged by the rampant sexism in our society that's only gotten worse in some ways over the past 30 years.
Self-described in the newspaper as a "human being, a writer of poetry, a woman, a wife, a mother of two children, and a feminist, in varying order of importance," I wrote the following:
Contemporary women’s conversations and writings seem almost exclusively centered around the concerns of the feminist movement. As a contemporary woman, I share in these concerns and support the feminist goals of equality – including, however, the assumption that we must be equal and complementary rather than equal and the same.
Too many feminists have taken as their goal the replacement of what they view as a corrupt “male” power structure with a female power structure (which by its very nature cannot help but become equally corrupt). They seem to be encouraging us to prove that, as women, we can be as “rotten as any man.”
I am still hoping, however, that Women’s Liberation will return to its more positive goal of being Human Liberation. We must not forget that those traits – desire for power, insensitivity, hostility, destructiveness – are more accurately characteristics that cross sex lines. They are characteristics that are inhuman rather than human, tendencies that are undesirable and should be considered the enemy of all liberation-seeking people.
Phyllis Chesler in Women and Madness urges women to “seek power,” to do “whatever is necessary in order to survive.” Such rhetoric disturbs me because it advocates that women adopt the oppressive power tactics that we have been accusing men of using against us in order to gain for ourselves the power that (we believe) men have.
Obviously, the issue of our movement should not be the attainment of power, but rather the freeing of all people from the oppression of concentrated power.
I view our Women’s Movement as a force working to replace the historical power concepts of destruction, intimidation, and condescension with the more positive and humane concepts of compassion, sensitivity, the desire to nurture rather than own, to be straightforward instead of devious.
Instead of viewing our movement as a struggle between the sexes, I feel it is more constructive to accept it as a struggle between the humane beings and the inhumane beings.
Granted, some men have “Archie Bunker” views of women and will never change. But I believe that there are as many men who empathize with our frustrations, who perhaps also feel that they have not been allowed free choice in determining the course of their own lives.
Most men, I think, do not feel strongly either way about women fulfilling their needs and establishing their identities, even though they have been culturally conditioned to have attitudes toward us that we have grown to feel are demeaning. These attitudes can be changed, but we will not foster and encourage this change by using the old “power” tactics.
While sexism in the business world can and should be legislated against, you can’t beat prejudice out of a bigot, and you can’t intimidate away bad habits. Every good teacher knows that important lessons, especially “moral” ones are learned slowly and must be taught with patience and example. You teach “humaneness” by being humane; you teach “fairness” and “respect” by demonstrating these qualities.
But we must remember that attitudes change slowly and that if we are hostile toward men, they will return our hostility; that if we use power tactics against them, we are only proving (falsely) that these tactics are acceptable.
It is time not only for new structure, but for new methods as well.
Phyllis Chesler's new book, Woman's Inhumanity To Woman makes me confront how unsuccessful we have seem to have been in attaining a more humane society.
Self-described in the newspaper as a "human being, a writer of poetry, a woman, a wife, a mother of two children, and a feminist, in varying order of importance," I wrote the following:
Contemporary women’s conversations and writings seem almost exclusively centered around the concerns of the feminist movement. As a contemporary woman, I share in these concerns and support the feminist goals of equality – including, however, the assumption that we must be equal and complementary rather than equal and the same.
Too many feminists have taken as their goal the replacement of what they view as a corrupt “male” power structure with a female power structure (which by its very nature cannot help but become equally corrupt). They seem to be encouraging us to prove that, as women, we can be as “rotten as any man.”
I am still hoping, however, that Women’s Liberation will return to its more positive goal of being Human Liberation. We must not forget that those traits – desire for power, insensitivity, hostility, destructiveness – are more accurately characteristics that cross sex lines. They are characteristics that are inhuman rather than human, tendencies that are undesirable and should be considered the enemy of all liberation-seeking people.
Phyllis Chesler in Women and Madness urges women to “seek power,” to do “whatever is necessary in order to survive.” Such rhetoric disturbs me because it advocates that women adopt the oppressive power tactics that we have been accusing men of using against us in order to gain for ourselves the power that (we believe) men have.
Obviously, the issue of our movement should not be the attainment of power, but rather the freeing of all people from the oppression of concentrated power.
I view our Women’s Movement as a force working to replace the historical power concepts of destruction, intimidation, and condescension with the more positive and humane concepts of compassion, sensitivity, the desire to nurture rather than own, to be straightforward instead of devious.
Instead of viewing our movement as a struggle between the sexes, I feel it is more constructive to accept it as a struggle between the humane beings and the inhumane beings.
Granted, some men have “Archie Bunker” views of women and will never change. But I believe that there are as many men who empathize with our frustrations, who perhaps also feel that they have not been allowed free choice in determining the course of their own lives.
Most men, I think, do not feel strongly either way about women fulfilling their needs and establishing their identities, even though they have been culturally conditioned to have attitudes toward us that we have grown to feel are demeaning. These attitudes can be changed, but we will not foster and encourage this change by using the old “power” tactics.
While sexism in the business world can and should be legislated against, you can’t beat prejudice out of a bigot, and you can’t intimidate away bad habits. Every good teacher knows that important lessons, especially “moral” ones are learned slowly and must be taught with patience and example. You teach “humaneness” by being humane; you teach “fairness” and “respect” by demonstrating these qualities.
But we must remember that attitudes change slowly and that if we are hostile toward men, they will return our hostility; that if we use power tactics against them, we are only proving (falsely) that these tactics are acceptable.
It is time not only for new structure, but for new methods as well.
Phyllis Chesler's new book, Woman's Inhumanity To Woman makes me confront how unsuccessful we have seem to have been in attaining a more humane society.
Thursday, January 02, 2003
Happy New Year!!!
happy new year to all blogsisters, their friends and families!!
i hope this year brings you everything you dream of and more!!!
i hope this year brings you everything you dream of and more!!!
Monday, December 30, 2002
What is it about some men?
Last night I had a complex, cinematographic, technicolor dream that climaxed (heh) with an encounter between me and the man who had been the lust of my life. Since moving past menopause, I haven’t had much of a libido, even in my dreams – which is fine with me, since just about all of my past relationships with men have been driven by that fearsome fire. My absent libido has freed me from the need to pursue seductive satisfaction at the expense of deeper and more meaningful human activities.
But there he was in my dreams, as magnetically attractive as ever. Of course, I wasn’t the only woman who felt that way about him, and neither was I the only woman to whom he responded with such enthusiastic sensuality. Our relationship (such that it was) lasted almost three years. Having been married and divorced twice, he wasn’t about to enter into any contract. And I’m not really the long-term-commitment type either, so we were able to enjoy our adventures together, including a trip to London and Paris in April.
It’s been almost a decade since our amorous adventures, and I’m wondering why I dreamed of him now, in such tactile detail. I even felt the bed move as he got up to leave in the dream. Something must have triggered the connection – a certain sound or smell seeping into my sleeping brain. I remember the end of a poem I wrote near the end of our relationship. The poem ended with
But even in the darkest of corners
some things refuse to die –
some small husk still
riddled with seeds,
some insistent root
defying the dust,
some dormant dream
of a riotous clash of hearts,
curious clutch of minds,
a dance of hands that
hope and hold and, too soon,
let go.
She thought she was done with him,
except his voice
still pulls at her belly
like the insistent tides of the moon.
So when he calls
from places lush
with a thousand thriving things,
she sends him dewy lavender
wrapped in familiar black lace,
because, they say,
the sense of smell
is the most visceral,
holding even the darkening
memory of the dying.
It makes me wonder what it is with some men that, even when they’re long gone, there is something they leave behind to make you remember. Maybe some microscopic bit of pheromone that keeps washing around in those streams of our brain chemistries. Whatever it is, he’s one of those men. I wonder what (or who) he’s up to these days.
But there he was in my dreams, as magnetically attractive as ever. Of course, I wasn’t the only woman who felt that way about him, and neither was I the only woman to whom he responded with such enthusiastic sensuality. Our relationship (such that it was) lasted almost three years. Having been married and divorced twice, he wasn’t about to enter into any contract. And I’m not really the long-term-commitment type either, so we were able to enjoy our adventures together, including a trip to London and Paris in April.
It’s been almost a decade since our amorous adventures, and I’m wondering why I dreamed of him now, in such tactile detail. I even felt the bed move as he got up to leave in the dream. Something must have triggered the connection – a certain sound or smell seeping into my sleeping brain. I remember the end of a poem I wrote near the end of our relationship. The poem ended with
But even in the darkest of corners
some things refuse to die –
some small husk still
riddled with seeds,
some insistent root
defying the dust,
some dormant dream
of a riotous clash of hearts,
curious clutch of minds,
a dance of hands that
hope and hold and, too soon,
let go.
She thought she was done with him,
except his voice
still pulls at her belly
like the insistent tides of the moon.
So when he calls
from places lush
with a thousand thriving things,
she sends him dewy lavender
wrapped in familiar black lace,
because, they say,
the sense of smell
is the most visceral,
holding even the darkening
memory of the dying.
It makes me wonder what it is with some men that, even when they’re long gone, there is something they leave behind to make you remember. Maybe some microscopic bit of pheromone that keeps washing around in those streams of our brain chemistries. Whatever it is, he’s one of those men. I wonder what (or who) he’s up to these days.
Sunday, December 29, 2002
The Voice of Eva Cassidy
My 5-month old grandson is teething. The one thing that seems to take his little mind off his big problem is the voice of Eva Cassidy, and so that's how I just discovered her. I've posted a little about her here, and you can listen to some of her songs here. She's worth taking the time to check out. (It's possible that I'm just one of the very few people who hadn't discovered her until now; but I'm so awfully glad I did!)
Friday, December 27, 2002
The separation of art and state, courtesy of poet Adrienne Rich
I was surfing up poetry tonight, remembering old friends--not friends whom I knew, but friends whose poetry wrapped around me as a teenager, helped me stand on weak legs, helped me feel my feelings without declaring myself completely insane. One of those was Adrienne Rich. I came upon this site, and noted the following letter, written by Ms. Rich to President Clinton's White House at her refusal to accept the National Medal for the Arts in 1997:
---------------------------------------
July 3, 1997
Jane Alexander
The National Endowment for the Arts, 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington 20506
Dear Jane Alexander,
I just spoke with a young man from your office, who informed me that I had been chosen to be one of twelve recipients of the National Medal for the Arts at a ceremony at the White House in the fall. I told him at once that I could not accept such an award from President Clinton or this White House because the very meaning of art, as I understand it, is incompatible with the cynical politics of this administration. I want to clarify to you what I meant by my refusal.
Anyone familiar with my work from the early Sixties on knows that I believe in art's social presence--as breaker of official silences, as voice for those whose voices are disregarded, and as a human birthright. In my lifetime I have seen the space for the arts opened by movements for social justice, the power of art to break despair. Over the past two decades I have witnessed the increasingly brutal impact of racial and economic injustice in our country.
There is no simple formula for the relationship of art to justice. But I do know that art--in my own case the art of poetry--means nothing if it simply decorates the dinner table of power which holds it hostage. The radical disparities of wealth and power in America are widening at a devastating rate. A President cannot meaningfully honor certain token artists while the people at large are so dishonored. I know you have been engaged in a serious and disheartening struggle to save government funding for the arts, against those whose fear and suspicion of art is nakedly repressive. In the end, I don't think we can separate art from overall human dignity and hope. My concern for my country is inextricable from my concerns as an artist. I could not participate in a ritual which would feel so hypocritical to me.
Sincerely,
Adrienne Rich
cc: President Clinton
-------------------
I admire her decision and her reasoning as much as I have always admired her poetry. I didn't hear about this at the time, probably because I was finishing up a complicated pregnancy, but I'm glad I found it tonight. Thought it might be of interest.
---------------------------------------
July 3, 1997
Jane Alexander
The National Endowment for the Arts, 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington 20506
Dear Jane Alexander,
I just spoke with a young man from your office, who informed me that I had been chosen to be one of twelve recipients of the National Medal for the Arts at a ceremony at the White House in the fall. I told him at once that I could not accept such an award from President Clinton or this White House because the very meaning of art, as I understand it, is incompatible with the cynical politics of this administration. I want to clarify to you what I meant by my refusal.
Anyone familiar with my work from the early Sixties on knows that I believe in art's social presence--as breaker of official silences, as voice for those whose voices are disregarded, and as a human birthright. In my lifetime I have seen the space for the arts opened by movements for social justice, the power of art to break despair. Over the past two decades I have witnessed the increasingly brutal impact of racial and economic injustice in our country.
There is no simple formula for the relationship of art to justice. But I do know that art--in my own case the art of poetry--means nothing if it simply decorates the dinner table of power which holds it hostage. The radical disparities of wealth and power in America are widening at a devastating rate. A President cannot meaningfully honor certain token artists while the people at large are so dishonored. I know you have been engaged in a serious and disheartening struggle to save government funding for the arts, against those whose fear and suspicion of art is nakedly repressive. In the end, I don't think we can separate art from overall human dignity and hope. My concern for my country is inextricable from my concerns as an artist. I could not participate in a ritual which would feel so hypocritical to me.
Sincerely,
Adrienne Rich
cc: President Clinton
-------------------
I admire her decision and her reasoning as much as I have always admired her poetry. I didn't hear about this at the time, probably because I was finishing up a complicated pregnancy, but I'm glad I found it tonight. Thought it might be of interest.
Thursday, December 26, 2002
Words of Peace
A collective goal. It's time for a different set of solutions. this is an excellent article in the eugene (ore.) weekly, our free progressive newspaper, by ryan admunson. his brother was lost in the attack on the pentagon on september 11th. he is a member of peaceful tomorrows, a group of family members of september 11th victims who oppose war, he participated in the march from d.c. to ny with other family members of victims under the banner "our grief is not a cry for war," and has participated in peace protests and peace conferences across the country.
some quotes from the article:
some quotes from the article:
"A Catholic priest in Pakistan said that using the military to catch terrorists is like swatting flies with a sledge hammer: You create a lot of destruction, but the flies are still around."
.
"We can catch, we can kill terrorists all day, but it is not going to prevent more terrorists from being created, and actually it has created more terrorists."
"...I feel I have to speak out is because our grief has been used by our political leaders and others who only believe in the route of violence and war. They have used our grief to promote their cause."
"At the one-month memorial ceremony, there was no focus on the victims. Instead, Bush and Rumsfeld and others talked about extending accountability to others, and I am thinking that they are talking about killing people just like my brother. They are talking about extending it to other innocent people, to nations and the people who live in those nations. "
"So we are not united in war. We are united in memory, in our grief, and in a commitment to end terrorism."
"I knew that the people who killed my brother believed what they were doing was justified. But we know they were wrong, and I realized that we can make the same mistake too. So when my government starts discussing killing other people, I take that very, very seriously."
Monday, December 23, 2002
Three Cool Chicks
Time Magazine has named its Persons of the Year. They are Cynthia Cooper of Worldcom (who still works there), Coleen Rowley from the FBI (I think she still works for them too) and Sherron Watkins of Enron (who's currently writing a book). In what I thought was an "about time" twist, they're not referred to as women at all on Time's cover ('cause you know, that's obvious), but as whistleblowers: "They took huge professional and personal risks to blow the whistle on what went wrong at WorldCom, Enron and the FBI—and in so doing helped remind us what American courage and American values are all about." Of course, their courage hasn't really changed anything, it's not like we have sweeping reforms going on to prevent further corporate misdeeds or consolidate information among federal agencies. (In fact, the new Department of Homeland Security pretty much does the opposite.) But one can't expect these things to occur overnight, and I think it's encouraging that these women are being recognized (rather than vilified) for doing what they could.
Saturday, December 21, 2002
The new holiday family
I know that there are many other divorced parents who are juggling the holidays so that both sides of the family get to see the kids. It's been like that every Christmas for me since the mid-seventies. Over the past few years, I've invited my kids' father to join us for Christmas Eve, but he's always refused. He refused this year, too, but now there's a grandchild involved, and I guess everyone's feeling another tie that binds. So, on the day after Christmas, we're going to gather in my mother's very large apartment. In addition to my daughter, son--in-law, and grandchild -- and me and my mother -- there will be my ex-husband, his female cousin (who is like a sister to him and with whom I've always gotten along), his former girl-friend-who-is-now-just-his-friend (after more years than he and I were married), and her mother (who's my mother's age). Aside from my mom, me, and his grandfather, no one has met little Alexander yet.
Actually, my ex's former girl friend is a very nice person. She's younger than I, slimmer, and wears Laura Ashley clothes. But she's always been good to my kids, and I have nothing against her. I'm actually looking forward to the gathering, as we all oohh and ahh over the new addition. Such is the new holiday family.
Actually, my ex's former girl friend is a very nice person. She's younger than I, slimmer, and wears Laura Ashley clothes. But she's always been good to my kids, and I have nothing against her. I'm actually looking forward to the gathering, as we all oohh and ahh over the new addition. Such is the new holiday family.
Thursday, December 19, 2002
Dervala in Phnom Penh
If you're not reading Dervala's blogging of her trip to Asia, you should. It is wonderful for so many reasons. She writes recently of an experience walking down the street in Phnom Penh and having her breast grabbed.
"I've dealt with these kinds of minor assaults many times," she writes. "So have most women I know. I've been groped on the New York subway and on an Aer Lingus flight. I've been flashed at, heard lewd insults, endured unwelcome, lingering hugs. But despite all this experience, I can never get it together to shout, kick, slap, or ridicule. My first reaction is still always disbelief, followed by disabling politeness. By then it's usually (and thankfully) too late."
Dorothea wrote about verbal badgering in her Grunchy Stuff posts a while back.
Dervala's experience involved someone actually grabbing her--a physical violation rather than words and whistles. Still, Dervala's initial reaction is similar to many who have written on this--deciding to hurry along on our way, make it to the next place that's "away" from scene of the crime, a reaction of fear, disbelief, and/or embarassment.
What casts us into this role of runner/avoider in the ultra-second of an event like this? Certainly Dervala was no match for two locals. So high-tailing it away in case they decided to return was a smart move.
I like Dervala's vow to do things differently next time, though. To use her new-found arm cast from her broken wrist to knock the next guy who tries it in the teeth. I just hope she's a good aim and a quick runner the first time she gives it a try. You go, girl.
"I've dealt with these kinds of minor assaults many times," she writes. "So have most women I know. I've been groped on the New York subway and on an Aer Lingus flight. I've been flashed at, heard lewd insults, endured unwelcome, lingering hugs. But despite all this experience, I can never get it together to shout, kick, slap, or ridicule. My first reaction is still always disbelief, followed by disabling politeness. By then it's usually (and thankfully) too late."
Dorothea wrote about verbal badgering in her Grunchy Stuff posts a while back.
Dervala's experience involved someone actually grabbing her--a physical violation rather than words and whistles. Still, Dervala's initial reaction is similar to many who have written on this--deciding to hurry along on our way, make it to the next place that's "away" from scene of the crime, a reaction of fear, disbelief, and/or embarassment.
What casts us into this role of runner/avoider in the ultra-second of an event like this? Certainly Dervala was no match for two locals. So high-tailing it away in case they decided to return was a smart move.
I like Dervala's vow to do things differently next time, though. To use her new-found arm cast from her broken wrist to knock the next guy who tries it in the teeth. I just hope she's a good aim and a quick runner the first time she gives it a try. You go, girl.
Since we're on the topic
I've always admired families that adopt children. Giving a home to a child who doesn't have one seems to me one of the noblest and selfless things anyone could do. I looked into adoption briefly (mostly over the net) after Jenna was born--my harrowing near-death experience made me pretty sure I didn't want to risk having another baby. The more I looked the more I found one thing--It's expensive. Does anyone know any good adoption resources? Any adoption sources where the process doesn't cost $20K? It seems like many couples lean toward international adotpions. I'm not sure as to the whys and wherefores of this. Whether it's more expensive or less, more complicated or less. In our case, obviously, race isn't an issue, background isn't an issue.
Can't believe I'm writing this outloud: I think I want a baby.
Can't believe I'm writing this outloud: I think I want a baby.
Jennifer Balderama Digs into the Legal Ramifications of Blogging
In a new article for the Washington Post, blog sister and weblogger extraordinaire Jennifer Balderama reports on the legal whatnots of blogging--an important article especially if you work for a company that might get queasy about what's written on your blog. What are the rules? Are we writing them as we go? Do we need disclaimers on our blogs? Something tells me a great number of pages could be covered discussing this topic. An interesting link off the article is Groove Networks weblog policy.
Good food for thought in a well-written article. Way to go Jennifer!
Good food for thought in a well-written article. Way to go Jennifer!
Sunday, December 15, 2002
The Neckar
This is the ship that my grandmother came to America in. The ship left from Naples in 1907, with my great grandmother Vincenza, 39, my grandmother (just a year old) Carmella, and a son Francesco (5 years old) on board. Now for the rest of the story: My great grandmother had been in America, living in Pennsylvania, when her homesickness got so bad--she missed her own mother back in Sicily so terribly--that her husband said, go then. Go visit your mother in Sicily. Did I mention she was pregnant for that journey back to Sicily? Yep. And do you think she had to take the kids with her? Of course.
So Vincenza took her two sons, then 2 and 5 years old, pregnant, by herself, and made the journey back to Sicily to see her mother. While Vincenza was there, the older boy became gravely ill and died. Two weeks after his death, my grandmother Carmella was born.
When my grandmother was a year old, Vincenza took her now-five-year-old son and her one-year-old daughter, boarded The Neckar, and journeyed back to America.
Just to recap, this woman--my great grandmother--had taken the arduous journey from Sicily to America to make a new life, had two children, travelled back to Sicily to see her mother, lost a son, given birth to a daughter, and journeyed back from Italy to America again with two children, in just a matter of years.
So what I'm trying to say is, no *wonder* I've had terrible cases of homesickness my whole life. I think it's in my genes! No, I'm kidding. What I'm really saying is how brave those early immigrants were. Especially the women.
Friday, December 13, 2002
lotts true colors
well, we've been watching it all week...
the washingnton post reported on it first, and common dreams got it over the weekend, where i got it from.. but as jill matrix reported, we queers already knew this guy was hateful...
now everyone knows it it. even the bbc is reporting it,time reports on lott's racist college days, cnn reports that in 81 lott supported tax breaks for a racist school, salon reports on lott's 4th apology (and if you have premium you can also read 'the real trent lott' and 'the ugly truth about republican racial politics'), found through the village voice: jesse helms defens lott (not surprised at that one), and finally, even after w. bush calls lott's remarks offensive, he refuses to resign!
the washingnton post reported on it first, and common dreams got it over the weekend, where i got it from.. but as jill matrix reported, we queers already knew this guy was hateful...
now everyone knows it it. even the bbc is reporting it,time reports on lott's racist college days, cnn reports that in 81 lott supported tax breaks for a racist school, salon reports on lott's 4th apology (and if you have premium you can also read 'the real trent lott' and 'the ugly truth about republican racial politics'), found through the village voice: jesse helms defens lott (not surprised at that one), and finally, even after w. bush calls lott's remarks offensive, he refuses to resign!
Thursday, December 12, 2002
money could be spent better...
cnn reported about 'cyberbegging' today. i became aware of this a few weeks ago when i read on someone's blog about savekaryn.com, a woman who asked for help paying off her credit card debt.
the other day i read an article reporting on famine in ethiopia. i can't find the article now, but i did find this, from a month ago: ethiopia: the warning signs of famine. this article and the article i read a few days ago both say that the famine facing ethiopia is potentially worse than the one back in the 80's. millions of people will die.
the tie in between the two subjects. i find it terribly selfish of people like karyn to ask for money to pay off credit card bills when the money that people donated to her could have been donated to charities that would help out ethiopia, or another charity. if people like karyn have the money to have a computer and own a domain name then they obviously don't need the help of strangers. karyn could have sold her computer if she were so worried about being in debt, she could have taken on another job, she could have done a lot of things besides beg for money, money that could be used for causes like the starving people of eithopia. the $13,000 that she raised could have done a lot to help out some people in eithopia.
it just leaves me frustrated. we are so blessed here in the west to have all that we have. i get quite humbled when i read stories like i read about ethiopia. i get quite humbled when my mother and stepfather send me their journals from what life is like living there (my stepfather is working with the government to help revamp their accounting system). sometimes i get embarrased at how much i have. actually, more than sometimes. stories like ethiopia, stories like the mother living on welfare in my building, stories like the families that i work with at our local relief nursery they all make me incredibly aware that i'm lucky to have a middle class family to fall back on if i need too. i won't ever starve, or be homeless.
cyberbegging. it just seems to me that people don't see what they have, they just see what they want.. and i know that not all 'cyberbegging' is like that of savekaryn.. but so many.. well.. i just see it as being selfish.. i see no awarness of what life could be like if they lived like the vast majority of the world population. and maybe i'm just a big ol' idealist, but i think its wrong to be that self involved.
the other day i read an article reporting on famine in ethiopia. i can't find the article now, but i did find this, from a month ago: ethiopia: the warning signs of famine. this article and the article i read a few days ago both say that the famine facing ethiopia is potentially worse than the one back in the 80's. millions of people will die.
the tie in between the two subjects. i find it terribly selfish of people like karyn to ask for money to pay off credit card bills when the money that people donated to her could have been donated to charities that would help out ethiopia, or another charity. if people like karyn have the money to have a computer and own a domain name then they obviously don't need the help of strangers. karyn could have sold her computer if she were so worried about being in debt, she could have taken on another job, she could have done a lot of things besides beg for money, money that could be used for causes like the starving people of eithopia. the $13,000 that she raised could have done a lot to help out some people in eithopia.
it just leaves me frustrated. we are so blessed here in the west to have all that we have. i get quite humbled when i read stories like i read about ethiopia. i get quite humbled when my mother and stepfather send me their journals from what life is like living there (my stepfather is working with the government to help revamp their accounting system). sometimes i get embarrased at how much i have. actually, more than sometimes. stories like ethiopia, stories like the mother living on welfare in my building, stories like the families that i work with at our local relief nursery they all make me incredibly aware that i'm lucky to have a middle class family to fall back on if i need too. i won't ever starve, or be homeless.
cyberbegging. it just seems to me that people don't see what they have, they just see what they want.. and i know that not all 'cyberbegging' is like that of savekaryn.. but so many.. well.. i just see it as being selfish.. i see no awarness of what life could be like if they lived like the vast majority of the world population. and maybe i'm just a big ol' idealist, but i think its wrong to be that self involved.
Sunday, December 08, 2002
The Problem with Girlism
I'm still playing catch-up on all the various femblogs (in the sense of both "blogs by women" and "blogs by feminists") coming on the heels of Halley Suitt's comments about "girlism" reproed earlier here on Blogsisters. So maybe it's too early for me to jump into the deep end of this, but I'll skim my rock across the surface anyway. Please bear in mind, none of this is designed to constitute any attack on anyone's opinions, particularly Halley's. Just because we disagree doesn't make one of us good and the other evil, it just means we, you know, disagree.
I think my particular warning bells came at reading Halley's opinion that, in order to achieve power in the workplace "...women want to be sexy girls and use all the tricks girls use..." First off, of course, there's always a danger in making broad generalizations, particularly generalizations of broads. Even by broads. Just because we share a double-x chromosome doesn't make our desires monolithic, even as it doesn't make our interests monolithic. (I've had to deal with this a lot in Friends of Lulu, explaining to folks that the goal of targeting comic books to women is tricky because women are no more a monolithic reading group than men are. So one can get oneself in a good deal of hot water by starting from a view of "women want..." (as we all remember from when that wacky Siggy Freud did it).
So following up on that, I confess I don't "want to be [a] sexy girl..." in large measure because I cannot be. I've never had that choice. I don't know what Halley looks like, but I imagine from her "it's just so easy if we do it this way" attitude she's probably young and vivacious and thin. She probably falls into the mold of what's acceptable in the default (i.e., male-opinion-dominated) society as "sexy." I don't, I never have, and I never will. I'm fat, I have thinning hair, I wear glasses, I'm loud-mouthed, I've got this Jewish honker... none of these things are ugly to me, but they don't scream "sexy" to most men in our society. Besides, the entire rule of judging a woman's worth primarily by her outward appearance seems to me a male thing - and when guys set the rules, they're in charge of the game, and there's no way a woman can "win" by playing a game she doesn't control.
I understand the concept of sex as power - at least I'm trying to. As I say, it's a game that Mom Nature never qualified me to play. But if sexual power is only identified with and discussed in terms of one gender, to my mind it isn't really power at all. It's pretend, it's dress-up, it's playing into the whole battle-of-the-sexes crap that perpetuates and traps people in gender stereotypes to begin with. It's like looking at a badgirl comic - "hey, guys, she may be 'powerful' wink wink but she prances about practically naked, that means she's really only kicking butt to give you a show and turn you on... hey look, a boob-and-crotch shot!" Oh, and you women who don't have the physical assets to allow yourself to be identified primarily through sex? Sorry, since nobody but obviously abnormal people wants to ogle you like an object (and therefore somehow bestow power on you through their benificent male gaze), you don't get to have power. But hey, you get to be angry about that and perpetuate the stereotype of ugly man-hating feminists and that'll do just fine because it helps marginalize feminism into irrelevancy and we still win!
I'm not good at games, whether they're power games or sexual games or whatever. I never dated normally, singles bars and personal ads and the like; both my ex (with whom I'm still friendly) and my current husband are guys I came to know through long-distance courting before I ever met either of them, and those courtships came about on mutual terms (the first through a zine I was self-publishing, and my current husband through Usenet). Even online, even in chatrooms, I've never done personas or fake handles. I'm capable of it, I used to write wacky articles and fictional bits in my zine under pen names, but I never saw the point of subterfuge when dealing with other people. This sort of stubborn honesty means I'll never get ahead in any realm which requires a particular talent for playing social games, but again, I knew that years ago and made my choice in favor of being a real person, with all the complexities that entails. And anyway, I prefer to believe that saying things like "my sexuality doesn't define me and is, by the way, none of your business" is far more subversive than trying to redefine feminism or girlism in the same sort of terms once used by the civil rights leader who opined that "the best position for women in the movement was prone."
I think my particular warning bells came at reading Halley's opinion that, in order to achieve power in the workplace "...women want to be sexy girls and use all the tricks girls use..." First off, of course, there's always a danger in making broad generalizations, particularly generalizations of broads. Even by broads. Just because we share a double-x chromosome doesn't make our desires monolithic, even as it doesn't make our interests monolithic. (I've had to deal with this a lot in Friends of Lulu, explaining to folks that the goal of targeting comic books to women is tricky because women are no more a monolithic reading group than men are. So one can get oneself in a good deal of hot water by starting from a view of "women want..." (as we all remember from when that wacky Siggy Freud did it).
So following up on that, I confess I don't "want to be [a] sexy girl..." in large measure because I cannot be. I've never had that choice. I don't know what Halley looks like, but I imagine from her "it's just so easy if we do it this way" attitude she's probably young and vivacious and thin. She probably falls into the mold of what's acceptable in the default (i.e., male-opinion-dominated) society as "sexy." I don't, I never have, and I never will. I'm fat, I have thinning hair, I wear glasses, I'm loud-mouthed, I've got this Jewish honker... none of these things are ugly to me, but they don't scream "sexy" to most men in our society. Besides, the entire rule of judging a woman's worth primarily by her outward appearance seems to me a male thing - and when guys set the rules, they're in charge of the game, and there's no way a woman can "win" by playing a game she doesn't control.
I understand the concept of sex as power - at least I'm trying to. As I say, it's a game that Mom Nature never qualified me to play. But if sexual power is only identified with and discussed in terms of one gender, to my mind it isn't really power at all. It's pretend, it's dress-up, it's playing into the whole battle-of-the-sexes crap that perpetuates and traps people in gender stereotypes to begin with. It's like looking at a badgirl comic - "hey, guys, she may be 'powerful' wink wink but she prances about practically naked, that means she's really only kicking butt to give you a show and turn you on... hey look, a boob-and-crotch shot!" Oh, and you women who don't have the physical assets to allow yourself to be identified primarily through sex? Sorry, since nobody but obviously abnormal people wants to ogle you like an object (and therefore somehow bestow power on you through their benificent male gaze), you don't get to have power. But hey, you get to be angry about that and perpetuate the stereotype of ugly man-hating feminists and that'll do just fine because it helps marginalize feminism into irrelevancy and we still win!
I'm not good at games, whether they're power games or sexual games or whatever. I never dated normally, singles bars and personal ads and the like; both my ex (with whom I'm still friendly) and my current husband are guys I came to know through long-distance courting before I ever met either of them, and those courtships came about on mutual terms (the first through a zine I was self-publishing, and my current husband through Usenet). Even online, even in chatrooms, I've never done personas or fake handles. I'm capable of it, I used to write wacky articles and fictional bits in my zine under pen names, but I never saw the point of subterfuge when dealing with other people. This sort of stubborn honesty means I'll never get ahead in any realm which requires a particular talent for playing social games, but again, I knew that years ago and made my choice in favor of being a real person, with all the complexities that entails. And anyway, I prefer to believe that saying things like "my sexuality doesn't define me and is, by the way, none of your business" is far more subversive than trying to redefine feminism or girlism in the same sort of terms once used by the civil rights leader who opined that "the best position for women in the movement was prone."
Saturday, December 07, 2002
Seems like a good time
We've had quite a few number of new Blog Sisters join us here over the last couple of weeks, and the discussions that have sparked lately have been fantastic. The velocity and quality of conversation has been downright exciting. To me at least.
It seems like a good time for me to mention, since there are many new faces here, that I'm working on a book about our experiences here. If you haven't participated and you'd like to, use the survey form to spark some ideas about your thoughts on women and weblogging and you and weblogging and you and your offline life and you and blog sisters and whatever else you feel is important resulting from your experiences writing online. Look forward to hearing from you!
It seems like a good time for me to mention, since there are many new faces here, that I'm working on a book about our experiences here. If you haven't participated and you'd like to, use the survey form to spark some ideas about your thoughts on women and weblogging and you and weblogging and you and your offline life and you and blog sisters and whatever else you feel is important resulting from your experiences writing online. Look forward to hearing from you!
Friday, December 06, 2002
Proposed Department of Peace
Have you heard about the Congressional legislation to establish a U.S. Department of Peace? According to its sponsor, Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich,
Domestically, the Department of Peace would address violence in the home, spousal abuse, child abuse, gangs, police-community relations conflicts and work with individuals and groups to achieve changes in attitudes that examine the mythologies of cherished world views, such as 'violence is inevitable' or 'war is inevitable'. Thus it will help with the discovery of new selves and new paths toward peaceful consensus.
Find out more here.
Domestically, the Department of Peace would address violence in the home, spousal abuse, child abuse, gangs, police-community relations conflicts and work with individuals and groups to achieve changes in attitudes that examine the mythologies of cherished world views, such as 'violence is inevitable' or 'war is inevitable'. Thus it will help with the discovery of new selves and new paths toward peaceful consensus.
Find out more here.
An Embarrassment of Riches
First entry here; howdy all! Wanted to give a short plug to my blog, particularly entries here, here and today, where I talk about fellow female (can one be called a "fellow female?") bloggers, finding Ms. Musings and Blogsisters, etc. Also a short plug for all you folks who read (and create!) comic books, for Friends of Lulu and Sequential Tart. Been involved in FoL for about a half dozen years now, and currently maintain their Women Doing Comics listing, among other resource pages. (So if you're a woman doing comics and you're not on the list, please e-mail me and I'll remedy that forthwith! Dang, I love words like "forthwith.") And the Tarts have a wonderful monthly e-magazine about comics, as well as a kicking message board! Looking forward to participating more as I catch up and read some past entries; as I said in my latest blog entry, I have a lot of catching up to do!
Wednesday, December 04, 2002
Are Fat Suits the New Blackface?
Weight is not strictly a feminist issue, but it seems to resonate especially with women, who perhaps are held to a more unrealistic standard than are men. Gwyneth Paltrow caught heat for wearing a fat-suit in "Shallow Hal" for various reasons, among them -- as explained in Bitch Magazine -- that fat suits are the modern equivalent of blackface. But Anita Roddick (full disclosure -- she's my boss and a fellow Blog Sister), went undercover in remarkably convincing facial makeup and a fat suit last week in Discovery TV UK's documentary "Skin Deep" in order to see what it is like to be fat in London in 2002 . She was stared at, couldn't find clothes, all predictable troubles. But she got in some trouble for what she wrote about the experience. The readers of BigFatBlog aired their beefs with her, and she responded. I'm curious where the Sisters fall on this one.
Here's a Good one.
I found another girl power story that, deals with the back lash of eservice growth. Just to be supportive of not only women in technology but women with talent!! Anyway I thought I would post this to keep the pot spicy.Success story
Dream Interpretation?
ARRRGH! It seems like the blog world is full of discord. I don't have the time or energy to deal with it and read all these hypersensitive posts and comments, even though they are important and worthy of discussion. I like that blogs attack the big social and political issues, but sometimes I just need to get off all the soapboxes.
Instead I am thinking about my dreams. On Sunday night, I came down with a virus. It hit me while I was sleeping and did strange things to my dreams. Whenever I'm sick I always have particularly vivid, compelling dreams. This one I call "Priestess of the Orphaned Dead."
I kept finding corpses. Abandoned ones with no friends or family to give them a proper burial. At first I was repulsed, but found myself taking them in, washing them and preserving them, wrapping them up in ragged yellow shrouds and sewing them inside. I placed a pinhole in their eyes through their eyelids so they could see. Then I suspended them all in a hole in the ground, coming back to check on them and care for them occasionally. In the waking world, it was a gruesome dream, but inside my dream I started to genuinely care for my job. It wasn't so bad after the first few times, and I realized that these dead people were grateful to me for the sensitivity I showed in caring for their bodies; they wanted to be acknowledged and remembered, and I was the only one who could do this for them. The dream felt ritualistic-- dark, and perhaps grim, but not taboo or evil. I've been thinking about it all week.
Instead I am thinking about my dreams. On Sunday night, I came down with a virus. It hit me while I was sleeping and did strange things to my dreams. Whenever I'm sick I always have particularly vivid, compelling dreams. This one I call "Priestess of the Orphaned Dead."
I kept finding corpses. Abandoned ones with no friends or family to give them a proper burial. At first I was repulsed, but found myself taking them in, washing them and preserving them, wrapping them up in ragged yellow shrouds and sewing them inside. I placed a pinhole in their eyes through their eyelids so they could see. Then I suspended them all in a hole in the ground, coming back to check on them and care for them occasionally. In the waking world, it was a gruesome dream, but inside my dream I started to genuinely care for my job. It wasn't so bad after the first few times, and I realized that these dead people were grateful to me for the sensitivity I showed in caring for their bodies; they wanted to be acknowledged and remembered, and I was the only one who could do this for them. The dream felt ritualistic-- dark, and perhaps grim, but not taboo or evil. I've been thinking about it all week.
Tuesday, December 03, 2002
So, just wait until your kids grow up
When your kids are little, you worry about them falling, running into the street, getting kidnapped. Then you worry when they don't come home on time from school or a date. Then you worry when they go to college and forget to check in with you. And, you figure when they grow up and move away, you don't have to worry about them so much, right? Heh.
I have a liberal/activist articulate blogger son who is now getting threatening phone calls because of something he wrote on his weblog. I posted about it all here. What a world!
I have a liberal/activist articulate blogger son who is now getting threatening phone calls because of something he wrote on his weblog. I posted about it all here. What a world!
Monday, December 02, 2002
Living Erotically
I like this Audre Lorde quote from Deborah Gussman's post: "For once we begin to feel deeply all the aspects of our lives, we begin to demand from ourselves and our life-pursuits that they feel in accordance with that joy which we know ourselves to be capable of. " I think the forces that converged to catalyze my recent reading of The Ethical Slut and adherence to The Artist's Way have spawned a burning desire for authenticity like Lorde describes above. I find my highly-stressful, well-paying day job increasingly numbing and unfulfilling, and I'm actually feeling like I'm actually going to do something about it. I'm actually feeling are the operative words there...
I haven't read Halley's thoughts, though I've gathered the concept. I don't like the term, girlism; the connotation is...well, you know, GIRLS are not liberated, they are children under the authority of an other and isn't that the precise notion being confronted?
I haven't read Halley's thoughts, though I've gathered the concept. I don't like the term, girlism; the connotation is...well, you know, GIRLS are not liberated, they are children under the authority of an other and isn't that the precise notion being confronted?
Good advice if you haven't seen it yet.
I got this in an email from a relative, and I hadn't seen the information before. Forgive me if you have; it's worth repeating for those who haven't. It's advice from a lawyer.
The next time you order checks, have only your initials (instead of first name) and last name put on them. If someone takes your checkbook, he will not know if you sign your checks with just your initials or your first name, but your bank will know how you sign your checks. Put your work phone number on your checks instead of your home phone.
If you have a PO Box, use that instead of your home address; if you do not have a PO Box, use your work address. Never have your SS number printed on your checks. You can add it if it is necessary, but if you have it printed, anyone can get it.
Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine, do both sides of each license, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel. Keep the photocopy in a safe place.
A corporate attorney sent the following out to the employees in his company. I pass it along for your information:
We've all heard horror stories about fraud that's committed on us in stealing a name, address, Social Security number, credit cards, etc. Unfortunately, I, an attorney, have firsthand knowledge because my wallet was stolen last month. Within a week, the thieves ordered an expensive monthly cell phone package, applied for a VISA credit card, had a credit line approved to buy a Gateway computer, received a PIN number from DMV to change my driving record information online, and more.
But here's some critical information to limit the damage in case this happens to you or someone you know: We have been told you should cancel your credit cards immediately. But the key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep those where you can find them easily. File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where it was stolen; this proves to credit providers you were diligent, and is a first step toward an investigation (if there ever is one).
But here's what is perhaps most important (I never even thought to do this): Call the three national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and Social Security number. I had never heard of doing that until advised by a bank that called to tell me an application for credit was made over the Internet in my name. The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit. By the time I was advised to do this, almost two weeks after the theft, all the damage had been done. There are records of all the credit checks initiated by the thieves' purchases, none of which I knew about before placing the alert.
Since then, no additional damage has been done, and the thieves threw my wallet away this weekend (someone turned it in). It seems to have stopped them in their tracks. The numbers are:
Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742
Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289
Social Security Administration (fraud line): 1-800-269-0271
We pass along jokes; we pass along just about everything. Do think about passing this information along. It could really help someone you care about.
The next time you order checks, have only your initials (instead of first name) and last name put on them. If someone takes your checkbook, he will not know if you sign your checks with just your initials or your first name, but your bank will know how you sign your checks. Put your work phone number on your checks instead of your home phone.
If you have a PO Box, use that instead of your home address; if you do not have a PO Box, use your work address. Never have your SS number printed on your checks. You can add it if it is necessary, but if you have it printed, anyone can get it.
Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine, do both sides of each license, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel. Keep the photocopy in a safe place.
A corporate attorney sent the following out to the employees in his company. I pass it along for your information:
We've all heard horror stories about fraud that's committed on us in stealing a name, address, Social Security number, credit cards, etc. Unfortunately, I, an attorney, have firsthand knowledge because my wallet was stolen last month. Within a week, the thieves ordered an expensive monthly cell phone package, applied for a VISA credit card, had a credit line approved to buy a Gateway computer, received a PIN number from DMV to change my driving record information online, and more.
But here's some critical information to limit the damage in case this happens to you or someone you know: We have been told you should cancel your credit cards immediately. But the key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep those where you can find them easily. File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where it was stolen; this proves to credit providers you were diligent, and is a first step toward an investigation (if there ever is one).
But here's what is perhaps most important (I never even thought to do this): Call the three national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and Social Security number. I had never heard of doing that until advised by a bank that called to tell me an application for credit was made over the Internet in my name. The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit. By the time I was advised to do this, almost two weeks after the theft, all the damage had been done. There are records of all the credit checks initiated by the thieves' purchases, none of which I knew about before placing the alert.
Since then, no additional damage has been done, and the thieves threw my wallet away this weekend (someone turned it in). It seems to have stopped them in their tracks. The numbers are:
Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742
Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289
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SUVs and Political Unrest!
I am certain that Equality For Women seemed like a good idea at the time. As with other elegant theories fashioned by noble minds, of course, years of wear by actual humans has now made it appear both dowdy and impractical. Whenever shall we acquire the skill of not ruining a half-decent concept?! Just as Socialism morphed into meat-queues, atrocious poetry and genocide, Feminism begat padded shoulders, Spice Girls and mandatory whining. As a species, it must be said, we are adept at making fabulous To Do lists and then misplacing them somewhere in the clutter-drawer of history.
Yes, the Holy Heifer of Women’s Liberation deserves a savage prod. Or, at the very least, a good lie down. Something went terribly awry and a gracious ideal transformed, quite frankly, into a calamitous Tupperware party managed by an ungrateful hostess. What is wrong with feminism? Minds more agile than that which writes this text have addressed that question rigorously.
And even though there are those nodes of feminism’s failure that require a further and urgent attention, I here choose to fixate my attention on one tiny topic: The Right of The Childless Woman To Comfortably Park Her Vehicle.
I ought to explain. Please bear with my automotive conundrum. It requires some clarification.
For those of you who have been intimate, as I have, with The Sisters’ Army, I need hardly give details on how sensitivity to child-rearing issues is key. Heavens, if a girl is not attuned to the Great Needs of Suffering Mothers, she might be stripped of her feminist credentials in a manner that makes even the Brownie Guild look kind. Since the seventies, a crucial goal of feminism has been to acknowledge, mitigate and even seek PAY for the burden that is motherhood. Childcare should be subsidised, maternity leave should be extensive and congratulations on your decision to reproduce should be deafening.
I ought to impart, I suppose, that I once was an ardent supporter of such views. My zeal for the recognition of parenting as a profession was, I guess, informed by the suspicion that I too, one day, would bear children. Now, at 34 and without the funds or indeed apparatus to do so, my opinion has changed. Being a parent is not a duty nor a right, it is an enormous privilege. Being a parent is not a burden, it is, for the most part, a profound joy. Being a parent is NOT something that requires remuneration, sympathy or pity. Yes, I observe in the faces of my female intimates that parenting can be a circuitous journey with its own frustration and paranoias. But come on, ladies, admit it: Having a little one is an absolute hoot!
And so, it is with envy and incredulity that I note a new rash of convenient car spaces in shopping malls nationwide that are reserved for ‘Parents with Prams’. Excuse me?! It’s not enough that you get preferential treatment from Gran, extended leave AND the virtual guarantee of company in your incontinent twilight years, but you must have special parking AS WELL. Well excuse me if I petition for a Resolutely Barren and Proud space this instant.
Yes, the Holy Heifer of Women’s Liberation deserves a savage prod. Or, at the very least, a good lie down. Something went terribly awry and a gracious ideal transformed, quite frankly, into a calamitous Tupperware party managed by an ungrateful hostess. What is wrong with feminism? Minds more agile than that which writes this text have addressed that question rigorously.
And even though there are those nodes of feminism’s failure that require a further and urgent attention, I here choose to fixate my attention on one tiny topic: The Right of The Childless Woman To Comfortably Park Her Vehicle.
I ought to explain. Please bear with my automotive conundrum. It requires some clarification.
For those of you who have been intimate, as I have, with The Sisters’ Army, I need hardly give details on how sensitivity to child-rearing issues is key. Heavens, if a girl is not attuned to the Great Needs of Suffering Mothers, she might be stripped of her feminist credentials in a manner that makes even the Brownie Guild look kind. Since the seventies, a crucial goal of feminism has been to acknowledge, mitigate and even seek PAY for the burden that is motherhood. Childcare should be subsidised, maternity leave should be extensive and congratulations on your decision to reproduce should be deafening.
I ought to impart, I suppose, that I once was an ardent supporter of such views. My zeal for the recognition of parenting as a profession was, I guess, informed by the suspicion that I too, one day, would bear children. Now, at 34 and without the funds or indeed apparatus to do so, my opinion has changed. Being a parent is not a duty nor a right, it is an enormous privilege. Being a parent is not a burden, it is, for the most part, a profound joy. Being a parent is NOT something that requires remuneration, sympathy or pity. Yes, I observe in the faces of my female intimates that parenting can be a circuitous journey with its own frustration and paranoias. But come on, ladies, admit it: Having a little one is an absolute hoot!
And so, it is with envy and incredulity that I note a new rash of convenient car spaces in shopping malls nationwide that are reserved for ‘Parents with Prams’. Excuse me?! It’s not enough that you get preferential treatment from Gran, extended leave AND the virtual guarantee of company in your incontinent twilight years, but you must have special parking AS WELL. Well excuse me if I petition for a Resolutely Barren and Proud space this instant.
Halley's back with more about Girlism
And it's bound to cause a stir 'round these parts. I have to finish my work-work before I can blog on it, so have at it.
Sunday, December 01, 2002
This is a test
No one's posted here for a couple of days, and I got an email from Pascale saying that she gets a javascript error message when she tries. So, here's my try. If it works, then it's not the site, right?
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