You'd better be rich, or upper middle-class.
Otherwise, birth control may slip out of your reach. Republicans revere the egg.
The developed woman...not so much.
Better hope you don't fall in love.
Love really can't be planned though.
If you do dearly love him, you'd better hope your feelings are mainly platonic.
Planning to be celibate had better work.
If the two of you ever find yourselves alone, you'd better hope nature Doesn't take its course.
Or you could hope he just isn't that into you, and you aren't much bothered by that fact.
Otherwise- you have no idea when you will be pregnant.
You can't know that should the pregnancy or the birth threaten your life you will have the choice to live.
As long as you are of childbearing age, you won't be able to tell an employer when you will be available for work, or when you will be at the end of a last trimester.
Still, you can be someones dependent, however.
You can go see the movie, Nurse Betty to help you decide whether or not you actually want to be
someones dependent.
You don't know if you will have a high risk pregnancy with a right to complete, up to date medical care.
You don't know if the baby will be born healthy enough for you to leave him in six weeks; and you
haven't had sufficient control over the timing of your pregnancy to plan for that eventuality.
There probably isn't any Medicaid, so if he or she is a child with a birth defect, you will have to
hope begging works. With the social safety net in place, you'd have been able to find what help
your baby qualified to have put in place for his care.
You don't know you won't need to help your parents should their Medicare have been entrusted to Republicans.
You don't know whether you will need to help his parents, because we may have trusted their Medicare to Republicans.
You don't know that choosing your legal right to an abortion at some point in your life, will afford you a clean safe place to obtain services.
You don't even know that the voter suppression techniques employed against minorities and students at the hands of Republican politicians will not someday extend to pregnant women, or women who haven't had five years of continuous full time employment outside a home.
Sound extreme?
Yes. Republican politicians sound, and ARE extreme.
You must contribute what they want, when they want it- or possibly be assigned to an unpleasant statistical group!
If you are not wealthy, you may as well tell yourself you are living in the 19th century.
The one thing you will probably be able to do, is go to the library to get some books on women
and suffrage from 150 years ago.
Perhaps the same methods it took a century to develop autonomy for women, can start
to be re-employed now, so your little 21st century baby girls will again be free, in both mind and body...before say, 2099.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Friday, September 28, 2012
Mr. Governor
To seem like a regular guy is something the governor cannot want.
As with many of the nouveau riche, he prefers
to be seen as a rich guy. He does have disdain for anyone satisfied to live without millions in their
personal finances.
He doesn't seem to have a true Harvard education either. He is some sort of savant with a good parroting memory.( He may be good at thinking on his feet when he feels in position to bully someone. However, President Obama is not 'that guy' who caves to a pushy person armed more with quips than facts. Our president has already said he was a big kid other kids knew better than to try.)
The governor believes we should work on being able to open windows in airplanes- not for any old generic reason, but to get oxygen in during a fire.
I suppose Mrs. Romney could be outfitted, along with her plane, to sky dive out and open a parachute
in an emergency. That's a lot of prep time for an emergency.
And what I would suggest, is that someone attempt to put the fire out first.
Typically, educated persons have a bit of high school chemistry and physics in their backgrounds;
and they are able to think critically, their thoughts telescoping out from the most basic of the
principles of the subject about which they are communicating.
So what exactly does Governor Romney know about the relationship between the speed of aircraft and air pressure, and of the relationship between oxygen and fire? I'd like to hear what he thinks right now. But then, he still hasn't answered the question of what is suspect about his tax returns. I've
been wondering about that a lot longer.
As with many of the nouveau riche, he prefers
to be seen as a rich guy. He does have disdain for anyone satisfied to live without millions in their
personal finances.
He doesn't seem to have a true Harvard education either. He is some sort of savant with a good parroting memory.( He may be good at thinking on his feet when he feels in position to bully someone. However, President Obama is not 'that guy' who caves to a pushy person armed more with quips than facts. Our president has already said he was a big kid other kids knew better than to try.)
The governor believes we should work on being able to open windows in airplanes- not for any old generic reason, but to get oxygen in during a fire.
I suppose Mrs. Romney could be outfitted, along with her plane, to sky dive out and open a parachute
in an emergency. That's a lot of prep time for an emergency.
And what I would suggest, is that someone attempt to put the fire out first.
Typically, educated persons have a bit of high school chemistry and physics in their backgrounds;
and they are able to think critically, their thoughts telescoping out from the most basic of the
principles of the subject about which they are communicating.
So what exactly does Governor Romney know about the relationship between the speed of aircraft and air pressure, and of the relationship between oxygen and fire? I'd like to hear what he thinks right now. But then, he still hasn't answered the question of what is suspect about his tax returns. I've
been wondering about that a lot longer.
The American Middle Class
Do we in the American middle class have more money to give American billionaires?
No. No we do not.
We don't have sprinkler systems. We need firemen.
We don't have security personnel, or the Secret Service. We need our police forces.
We don't have millions in quarterly interest and investment incomes. We need jobs.
We don't have drivers, or several Cadillacs. We need affordable cars.
We have to go to ordinary jobs. We need our children in public schools.
We don't have house visits from physicians. We need health care, well-paid nurses, and hospitals.
You know what we mean, because when we all work to fund the government you want money
guaranteed by to invest in Bain Capital-type ventures. You want government
contracts for construction, aircraft, motor vehicle fleets, think tanks, caterings, and any number of
other things.
You therefore have nothing to complain about. You know exactly why we need our money, or more
specifically why we don't have more money to give you. You have enough of our money already.
Whatever else we have, we need it for ourselves. Get it?
No. No we do not.
We don't have sprinkler systems. We need firemen.
We don't have security personnel, or the Secret Service. We need our police forces.
We don't have millions in quarterly interest and investment incomes. We need jobs.
We don't have drivers, or several Cadillacs. We need affordable cars.
We have to go to ordinary jobs. We need our children in public schools.
We don't have house visits from physicians. We need health care, well-paid nurses, and hospitals.
You know what we mean, because when we all work to fund the government you want money
guaranteed by to invest in Bain Capital-type ventures. You want government
contracts for construction, aircraft, motor vehicle fleets, think tanks, caterings, and any number of
other things.
You therefore have nothing to complain about. You know exactly why we need our money, or more
specifically why we don't have more money to give you. You have enough of our money already.
Whatever else we have, we need it for ourselves. Get it?
Republican Billionaires
What do Republican billionaires want form the middle class?
I'll bet you could never guess. Money is what they want from us... more money.
I'll bet you could never guess. Money is what they want from us... more money.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
The MHP Show
Last week Melissa Harris Perry had one of the rudest guests on her cable show I 've ever seen,
or ever recall seeing.
The woman was some sort of conservative who kept interrupting Ms. Perry each time this host opened her mouth. Her points weren't particularly well-taken, either, which was all the more
irritating. Most of them were simple-minded Republican talking points.
Finally, I suppose the woman uttered one too many of these nonsensical points when she trotted out
the " business leaders incur too much risk to hire in a regulatory climate in which they may have to pay more taxes". So dumb. If business is saying that, it is for reasons having nothing to do with
believing what they're asserting. If business cares to meet demand, the demand is there when people have enough well-paying jobs to be big consumers,
able to afford to buy what is being offered for sale. Taxes as always, are somewhat built into prices. So that if workers earn a living wage, they will pay the cost of products unless said products become sizably overpriced.
But the "risky" bit hasn't been adequately debunked by politics or news. So we have to keep hearing it, in case enough of us will believe it. Ms. Perry finally couldn't take this guest any longer, though;
she pounded on her table saying something like- "I am so sick of hearing about this risk! Do you know the risks people take, the risks incurred being poor? Being poor is the riskiest thing in America!"
Ms. Perry takes criticism for not abandoning the poor in her speech and research. However, she does
exactly as she should do, because if the poor are not enfranchised, we in the middle class will soon
be added to their ranks. Besides, we're American. There should be no reason we would tolerate millions of citizens having the living standard of the poor in Saudi Arabia. We don't have princes
in our country.
Then, later, during the Democratic Convention, Ms. Perry was contributing at a table with her cable
network co-workers when the subject of voter suppression came up. As an astute historian, sometimes painfully aware of her own history, Ms. Perry mentioned The Redemption Period in American history, as one reason so many black citizens didn't even try to vote for years. Suddenly, there was a
bit of a hush at the table. Actually, the hush had come right before she gave the period name to the fear she referred to in black people. It seemed everyone at the table looked at her with terror until she
said she meant Redemption. Then people nodded they did know. And so anyone noticing at that moment would be aware Ms. Perry didn't need to go further.
Everyone agreed how hard won the right to vote has been for Black people in America.
Redemption, which Michelle Obama obliquely referred to during the last Democratic Primary after
her husband won Iowa. She was telling black people not to be afraid for them, but to support them.
Actually, when the candidate Obama won Iowa, black people's heads did snap around, and we did begin to support him, nearly at the moment we found out he'd beat even Mrs. Clinton.
What Melissa Harris Perry referred to however, was the period immediately after the Civil War.
People like Thomas Jefferson had everyone believing slaves really were dumb, couldn't read, couldn't
write, were afraid of their own shadows when a time for bravery presented itself, but happy and laughing and dancing and singing when a real danger might be at hand because they were not bright
enough to know the difference.
Not much of his propaganda had any resemblance to truth, and he knew it, even in 1787 during his
address to the Virginia legislature. However, his reputation made people at ease with his nonsense.
Even today, people forgive Jefferson many things, when there is no reason to forgive them, and I feel certain he was proud of all his lying about slaves anyway. By the time he owned slaves, they were
learning the lay of the land, and had accepted they would never get home. He couldn't have liked
the look of that. And see- they did have the good senses to fight in the Union Army less than a century later.
So believing all Jefferson had said and surely his cronies had backed him up, the average American was shocked and enraged when very soon after the Civil War, black citizens sent their own representatives to Congress.
The white elected officials were so incensed, they one day drug every elected black citizen down the
steps of the Capitol, and hung them right in the trees on the Potomac River. Thus the period of
Redemption began.So when the NAACP (National Association For The Advancement of Colored People) and Dr. Martin Luther King of the SCLC the (Southern Christian Leadership Council) and Representative John Lewis of SNCC the (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee) and the students of CORE the (Congress Of Racial Equality) began to speak of voting rights, along with other civil rights, less than one hundred years after Redemption, so very, very, many in black communities thought they must all be mad, for more reasons than one.
Once. Ms. Perry was talking so quickly she had a moment as a guest of her colleague on the Up With
Chris Hayes show. Then, when all at the table realized she had said a harmless thing, she was able to
go on speaking. I was literally giggling, which is not always a thing a grown woman gets to do.
She is so smart, and so funny that she is immensely fun to watch. I really hope she lasts and lasts,
even though American history, at which she is expert, is not always itself so smart or so funny.
At another point during convention coverage, Ms. Perry nearly mentioned the Gov. Dubya time as
Texas governor, during which he decided three white men tying a black man to a truck, and dragging
him until he was beheaded was not a hate crime. James Byrd Jr. became just another martyr to "white-washed" interpretations of the letter of some law allowing black people to be slaughtered without
anyone answering for the racist elements of a crime.
Black people have to be willing to accept insult added to injury in order to be considered "reasonable" in so many cases of their victimizations.
Ms. Perry, when she noticed reluctance in her colleagues to engage the details of one reason she was so delighted to be rid of Dubya, she began to comment on a change in the conversation at the table.
So inflammable, I guess, to put American politics in a framework of American history.
or ever recall seeing.
The woman was some sort of conservative who kept interrupting Ms. Perry each time this host opened her mouth. Her points weren't particularly well-taken, either, which was all the more
irritating. Most of them were simple-minded Republican talking points.
Finally, I suppose the woman uttered one too many of these nonsensical points when she trotted out
the " business leaders incur too much risk to hire in a regulatory climate in which they may have to pay more taxes". So dumb. If business is saying that, it is for reasons having nothing to do with
believing what they're asserting. If business cares to meet demand, the demand is there when people have enough well-paying jobs to be big consumers,
able to afford to buy what is being offered for sale. Taxes as always, are somewhat built into prices. So that if workers earn a living wage, they will pay the cost of products unless said products become sizably overpriced.
But the "risky" bit hasn't been adequately debunked by politics or news. So we have to keep hearing it, in case enough of us will believe it. Ms. Perry finally couldn't take this guest any longer, though;
she pounded on her table saying something like- "I am so sick of hearing about this risk! Do you know the risks people take, the risks incurred being poor? Being poor is the riskiest thing in America!"
Ms. Perry takes criticism for not abandoning the poor in her speech and research. However, she does
exactly as she should do, because if the poor are not enfranchised, we in the middle class will soon
be added to their ranks. Besides, we're American. There should be no reason we would tolerate millions of citizens having the living standard of the poor in Saudi Arabia. We don't have princes
in our country.
Then, later, during the Democratic Convention, Ms. Perry was contributing at a table with her cable
network co-workers when the subject of voter suppression came up. As an astute historian, sometimes painfully aware of her own history, Ms. Perry mentioned The Redemption Period in American history, as one reason so many black citizens didn't even try to vote for years. Suddenly, there was a
bit of a hush at the table. Actually, the hush had come right before she gave the period name to the fear she referred to in black people. It seemed everyone at the table looked at her with terror until she
said she meant Redemption. Then people nodded they did know. And so anyone noticing at that moment would be aware Ms. Perry didn't need to go further.
Everyone agreed how hard won the right to vote has been for Black people in America.
Redemption, which Michelle Obama obliquely referred to during the last Democratic Primary after
her husband won Iowa. She was telling black people not to be afraid for them, but to support them.
Actually, when the candidate Obama won Iowa, black people's heads did snap around, and we did begin to support him, nearly at the moment we found out he'd beat even Mrs. Clinton.
What Melissa Harris Perry referred to however, was the period immediately after the Civil War.
People like Thomas Jefferson had everyone believing slaves really were dumb, couldn't read, couldn't
write, were afraid of their own shadows when a time for bravery presented itself, but happy and laughing and dancing and singing when a real danger might be at hand because they were not bright
enough to know the difference.
Not much of his propaganda had any resemblance to truth, and he knew it, even in 1787 during his
address to the Virginia legislature. However, his reputation made people at ease with his nonsense.
Even today, people forgive Jefferson many things, when there is no reason to forgive them, and I feel certain he was proud of all his lying about slaves anyway. By the time he owned slaves, they were
learning the lay of the land, and had accepted they would never get home. He couldn't have liked
the look of that. And see- they did have the good senses to fight in the Union Army less than a century later.
So believing all Jefferson had said and surely his cronies had backed him up, the average American was shocked and enraged when very soon after the Civil War, black citizens sent their own representatives to Congress.
The white elected officials were so incensed, they one day drug every elected black citizen down the
steps of the Capitol, and hung them right in the trees on the Potomac River. Thus the period of
Redemption began.So when the NAACP (National Association For The Advancement of Colored People) and Dr. Martin Luther King of the SCLC the (Southern Christian Leadership Council) and Representative John Lewis of SNCC the (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee) and the students of CORE the (Congress Of Racial Equality) began to speak of voting rights, along with other civil rights, less than one hundred years after Redemption, so very, very, many in black communities thought they must all be mad, for more reasons than one.
Once. Ms. Perry was talking so quickly she had a moment as a guest of her colleague on the Up With
Chris Hayes show. Then, when all at the table realized she had said a harmless thing, she was able to
go on speaking. I was literally giggling, which is not always a thing a grown woman gets to do.
She is so smart, and so funny that she is immensely fun to watch. I really hope she lasts and lasts,
even though American history, at which she is expert, is not always itself so smart or so funny.
At another point during convention coverage, Ms. Perry nearly mentioned the Gov. Dubya time as
Texas governor, during which he decided three white men tying a black man to a truck, and dragging
him until he was beheaded was not a hate crime. James Byrd Jr. became just another martyr to "white-washed" interpretations of the letter of some law allowing black people to be slaughtered without
anyone answering for the racist elements of a crime.
Black people have to be willing to accept insult added to injury in order to be considered "reasonable" in so many cases of their victimizations.
Ms. Perry, when she noticed reluctance in her colleagues to engage the details of one reason she was so delighted to be rid of Dubya, she began to comment on a change in the conversation at the table.
So inflammable, I guess, to put American politics in a framework of American history.
A New Abfact
There are only two Black Republicans in the House of Representatives in D. C. I hope they know that only by the grace of Black Democratic ancestors are they able to be there.
*Abfact: a fact so ridiculous it should not be a fact at all...
*Abfact: a fact so ridiculous it should not be a fact at all...
The Democratic National Convention
I didn't bother with the Republican convention, but I watched the Dems. They were well worth the
time. I wasted a lot of the time watching cable, so I missed many of the speeches I wanted to see. I should have stayed with C-SPAN.
One of the best speeches was Governor Granholm's. She said later that all the speakers had a job to
do, and hers was to get the base excited. She did exactly that. She remarked on her CURRENT TV
show, Politically Direct, Friday the 7th of September, that she was given her job, and she did it. She surely did do her job.
Of course FLOTUSA and vice President Biden gave the most moving speeches.
Tammy Duckworth and Eva Longoria were also tremendously warm and intelligent. And Cecile Richards actually did seem to channel Ann Richards.
Our President was marvelous. The best part of his speech for me, was when he said he was no longer
just a candidate, "I'm the president", he asserted. I loved it. He isn't supposed to do what surrogates do any longer. He is supposed to run on his record, and to let us know that if we don't know him by
now, we never will.
Movie producers pretend to know him, but naturally, they are suffering from stringing together known facts with a narrative fed by their own furtive imaginations. They do not know President Obama.
People say we should have discussed the poor. However, when politicians bring up the poor, the middle class thinks they are going to come up short. The opposite is true, yet people don't have
their eyes widely opened enough to recognize that.
The thing I did feel disappointed about was that we didn't mention our Native American brothers and
sisters. We never seem to do that, and so many of us have Native American blood, even though it may not be documented, ignoring them seems a national disgrace. At least one of them should always
speak for their nations. By keeping them prominently silent we may be neglecting some of the proudest and wisest Americans in the land. All of North and South America nurtured Native American civilizations before any other groups settled these continents. Studying their history through their ancestors, as a matter of fact, might even help us with climate change.
time. I wasted a lot of the time watching cable, so I missed many of the speeches I wanted to see. I should have stayed with C-SPAN.
One of the best speeches was Governor Granholm's. She said later that all the speakers had a job to
do, and hers was to get the base excited. She did exactly that. She remarked on her CURRENT TV
show, Politically Direct, Friday the 7th of September, that she was given her job, and she did it. She surely did do her job.
Of course FLOTUSA and vice President Biden gave the most moving speeches.
Tammy Duckworth and Eva Longoria were also tremendously warm and intelligent. And Cecile Richards actually did seem to channel Ann Richards.
Our President was marvelous. The best part of his speech for me, was when he said he was no longer
just a candidate, "I'm the president", he asserted. I loved it. He isn't supposed to do what surrogates do any longer. He is supposed to run on his record, and to let us know that if we don't know him by
now, we never will.
Movie producers pretend to know him, but naturally, they are suffering from stringing together known facts with a narrative fed by their own furtive imaginations. They do not know President Obama.
People say we should have discussed the poor. However, when politicians bring up the poor, the middle class thinks they are going to come up short. The opposite is true, yet people don't have
their eyes widely opened enough to recognize that.
The thing I did feel disappointed about was that we didn't mention our Native American brothers and
sisters. We never seem to do that, and so many of us have Native American blood, even though it may not be documented, ignoring them seems a national disgrace. At least one of them should always
speak for their nations. By keeping them prominently silent we may be neglecting some of the proudest and wisest Americans in the land. All of North and South America nurtured Native American civilizations before any other groups settled these continents. Studying their history through their ancestors, as a matter of fact, might even help us with climate change.
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