Whew! Do I feel better!

Ok, I feel better now.  I have been calmed down by some new articles and conversations with friends.  The Christian Left posted this article: http://gocl.me/rrfYmo to shine some light on the Naomi Wolf article I panicked about in my last post.  While we will probably never know the absolute facts around this, I see that Naomi is someone you have to take with a grain of salt.  I haven't seen much of her before this so I admit, I jumped on that band wagon for a minute. 
I was also calmed down about the whole vote in the Senate thing by a friend.  I admit I was a bit leary of the original because it was coming from the ACLU and after all, there are protections against this sort of stuff (Americans being arrested & detained without charges indefinitely) in the Constitution. 
I should've known better than to get all worked up about these things.  You just never know anymore with the way Congress is behaving.  I also shouldn't write in my blog when I've had a Vicodin and 3 ibuprofin for my aching back.  Oh well, it was entertaining. I'm going to have to do a little more research and trust my instincts better before I go spouting off things on here.

The Occupy Movement.

I have had several conversations and debates about #OWS the past few weeks and I figured I should get some of it on my blog.  I'm not sure where to start now, however, after reading a couple articles tonight.  The first one was about the coordinated attacks by the police to shut down several of the movements in many of the big cities. http://gu.com/p/33thv 
Then I read another very disturbing article about a Senate vote this Monday or Tuesday for the
National Defense Authorization Act bill. http://t.co/iskWIrzO
This is insane!  What is happening to this country??  This is like some bad nightmare coming true, or oh, look, 2012 is on my TV.  That will be next. 
Do ya think maybe the OWS people have hit the nail on the head?  I think the .01% is starting to panic a little and are finding out the sheep aren't going to be such followers after all.  Wow, I sound like some wacko conspiracy theorist.  But you really have to wonder why all these peaceful protests are being met with violence from the police, when the Tea Baggers were bringing guns to their rallies. 
Maybe some of my more conservative friends will start to see the point for OWS now.  This is about all of us.  Our basic American rights are being taken away.  They are messing with voting districts and regulations and flaunting it in our faces. http://gu.com/p/33h8q 
Yes, money is the root of all evil and it has a firm grip on our US government.  We are so screwed.

Slightly Switching Gears

So, I've been thinking for about the last week, I know, I smell smoke too, and I have come to a decision about my activism and posting on Facebook, and here for that matter. 
Last week I copied a post from a friend:

Don't like gay marriages? Don't get one.. Don't like cigarettes? Don't smoke them.. Don't like abortions? Don't get one.. Don't like sex? Don't have it.. Don't like drugs? Don't do them.. Don't like porn? Don't watch it.. Don't like alcohol? Don't drink it.. Don't like guns? Don't buy one.. Don't like your rights taken away??? Don't take away someone else's. (re-post if you agree)


Anyway, some 47 comments and 10 hours later, I was exhausted.  Then I posted something about not spreading the fear and my friend that started the debate last week started in on me again.  Not that I minded, I was just still wiped from the last debate & actually pretty cranky about all things Congressional that day.  Well, that solidified the decision I had already made last Friday.
 
I have around 300 friends & family on my list on Facebook.  I love each one of them dearly.  Even the ones I barely know or haven't seen in forever.  We all have very different opinions about things.  I have no problem with this.  I love a good debate.  However, some of the issues we debate can make us very angry at each other for a time.  We are all entitled to have our own beliefs and opinions and I'm not out to change any one's.
 
So, TA, DA, DA!  I have decided that in the future, I will keep my activism to things factual.  Things that have documented proof that they are true and/or better for the country.  I will not be posting things about Same-sex Marriage, Abortion or Religion.  I have too many people in my life that vehemently disagree with me on some of these social issues.  I don't want to debate those things anymore.  While they are very important, I feel that at this time they are also a distraction from what is really going on in this country.  I am going to focus on the Corporate take over of this country and help to restore the middle class to where we should be.
Thank you for your time. :-)

Happy Fourth of July!

I just finished watching "1776" on TCM.  I haven't watched that movie fully through since it first came out in 1972.  It's kind of corn ball given it's a musical about the birth of our Nation, but I actually found myself crying at the end when the Congress voted for and signed the Declaration Of Independence. 
I also found myself, throughout the movie comparing the original congress members to current ones.  It was kind of funny in a way to see that things haven't changed in 235 years. 
I love this country desperately.  I pray that we will get this current crisis right as they did in 1776 when John Adams and the others fought so hard for our independence.  I would really hate to see that fight go to waste after all these years...

This Marriage Thing

So, now New York is allowing same sex marriage. There are people who, yes believe it or not, have a problem with this.  What is so hard about this?  This is not a "Gay" thing. It's a human rights thing.  Homosexuality is not a choice.  Allowing this community to get married is not a gateway to man on animal or some other perverted thing.  Calling it marriage is not going to ruin the state of marriage as we know it.  I'm in my second marriage with a man.  It's also about to become my second divorce.  I have a gay cousin whom recently married.  I'll be willing to bet that their marriage lasts longer than my 2 put together.  Her brother was married to a woman and that marriage is dissolved also. 
 What is so wrong with two people who love each other having a commitment to each other and having all the rights that go with it?  Including raising children adopted or otherwise.  They will not be "raising more Gays".  As far as I know most homosexuals come from heterosexual parents.  I really don't think it's something that can be taught.  This is the exact same thing as Women's Rights and rights for minorities.  This is a human thing.  We should all have the right to love whom we love and have all the benefits that go with that. 
  This isn't even a religious thing.  I believe that churches should still have the right to refuse to marry anyone they want.  There is that separation of church & state.  That is between them and God.  My cousin found a church where she was accepted and allowed to marry.  They are out there.  But, no, that is one thing that can't be forced upon them by the State. 
  Why is it that the people who holler the loudest about government staying out of their lives are the ones trying to impose their beliefs on the laws and make government oversee our bedrooms and Dr. appointments?

 

Congressional Republicans ~ The New Two Year Olds

Wow!  When I heard tonight that Eric Cantor refused to continue the budget talks, I thought I was going to throw up!  Like a spoiled little kid doesn't want to play unless he gets it all his way. Normally I try to stay very civil here, but I am really having a hard time with this.  Then I saw a clip of Boehner saying we just can't have tax increases at this time.  Sure, let's just cut all this spending and don't bother to increase revenue. Yeah, that'll work.  You want to cut spending?? Start in the defense department.  Start with Congressional pensions and benefits.  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/43519193#43519193

"Government is bad and we should not have regulations."  Except of course when we are regulating women's reproductive choices and workers the right to collective bargaining.
  I just really really hope people wake up before it's too late.  The middle class is about to disappear.  We are losing everything.  The Republicans (Tea Partiers) are taking over and screw everyone else.  Look at what is happening in Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida, and now New Jersey.  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/43519193#43519040.  These Republican governors are running over the middle class.  If they can't get the anti union bills passed, they are coming up with voter registration laws. 
AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!  I am so angry about this I can't even write any more.  I've got to figure out a way to do something about this.

Not the end of the world, now what?

Ok, I have to admit just a little teeny tiny part of me was sort of hoping Saturday was going to be the end of the world as we know it.  My personal life isn't exactly going the way I would like and the stuff going on in Congress and some individual states is scaring the crap out of me. 
I haven't ever read 1984, but I have read some other futuristic novels and have seen some movies that these times are bringing back to my memory. 
I especially started thinking about this today as I listened to The Rachel Maddow show from Friday night. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/43117316#43117316  This clip shows what Wisconsin is up to now, and then there is a clip about #Ohio, and tonight there was a story about #Minnesota.  And, oh yeah, what they are doing to #Benton Harbor, Michigan. http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/04/29/6555892-michigan-go-ask-your-father.

The Tea Party has gotten a foothold on our democracy and if we aren't careful they will destroy it.  They do this in the name of patriotism and saving the constitution when, I'm guessing most of them wouldn't know the Constitution if you hit them over the head with it.  Coming up with impossible voter registration requirements, that some how leave out the people that tend to vote Democratic.  Cutting out workers rights, cutting back on education, to dumb us down.  And in the case of Benton Harbor, completely neutering the elected city government by appointing a city manager to unilaterally make any decisions.  I won't go into it here, but you really need to look at that.

Listening to some of these stories and seeing the clips of what is going on in these legislative sessions is making me feel like we are drowning and the people on the shore (#Koch Brothers, Republicans, Wall Street) are standing there holding the life preservers behind their backs telling us we don't need them, we should be able to do help ourselves get out of the deep end. One consolation I have is that the recalls in Wisconsin look like they will be successfull.  I can't wait to see what happens when Governer Walker can be recalled.
I really hope we wake up this next voting season and get back to the America we are supposed to be. 

The War on Women

What the heck does abortion have to do with creating jobs??  And what the heck does the Republican party have against women?  Speaker Boehner is supposed to be working on creating jobs for all those Americans that supposedly voted for him to do so.  Instead he is taking us back to the '70's to try to outlaw abortion?  And why are we letting all these old men tell us what we can & can't do with our bodies? 
Do these people (I know it's not all old men, it's some very uninformed women too) realize what this country would be like without Planned Parenthood and WIC??  I was watching The View just now, yes I watch it every day despite Elizabeth's ignorant rants, and Rep. Gwen Moore made a very good comment about how Planned Parenthood has actually prevented more abortions than they have performed.  That is so true.  They provide many more health care services for a lot of women who wouldn't otherwise be able to receive that care.  They provide cancer screenings, birth control and in a lot of cases they are a woman's primary health care provider.  They provide safe low cost or maybe even free health care for low income women.  And these people who complain they don't want there tax money going to fund abortions.  Well, there is a law that prevents federal funding of abortions.  OK, I don't want my tax dollars funding stupid wasteful military actions in the Middle East.  Why can't we have a law about that?
And what about WIC?  How can you defund that?  WIC is sometimes all there is between having healthy food to eat and dying of starvation. 
I am sick to death of these so called Christian right wingers calling themselves Christian and then turning around and kicking the less fortunate.  So, you prevent some abortions.  What are you going to do to help those mothers and children once they are born?  How can you say you are Pro Life when you kill Dr's and believe in the death penalty and war? 
What would Jesus do?  He would turn over all your tables in the market place and yell at you and tell you you have no idea what His Father is about or how to love your fellow human beings.
I have to stop now before I forget I am supposed to love my fellow human beings.

The Arizona Tragedy

Well, I've been thinking about this all week.  What a sad, sad, day for our country on Saturday.  Of course I was conflicted all day because I was also watching the Seattle Seahawks beat the New Orleans Saints.  I was having a hard time getting excited about the great game because I was also watching my laptop for updates on the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords. 
I will admit that the first thing I thought when I heard the news was, Well it's started now.  All that violent rhetoric had gotten to some crazy wacko and the killings have begun.  But then of course, as I said, I followed the story the rest of the day and the days that followed.  There is no proof that this wacko acted on anything but his own crazy ideas.  But of course there is endless commentary on both sides about this.  It makes me crazy that we all become like little kids when something like this happens.  Everyone is pointing fingers at everyone else and very few are taking responsibility for the inflammatory discourse that has been going on the last couple years. 
You know, we are all human.  We are all different and have different opinions about pretty much everything.  Can't we have a debate without the violent rhetoric?  Do we have to use hunting or war metaphors?  Can't we get "fired up" without "reloading"?
Maybe now after that wonderful speech of President Obama's last night people might begin to see how civil we can be to each other.  I'm hearing that many on the right actually liked his speech.  I gotta say I'm pretty surprised.  Usually they manage to find something to pick at.  Of course the usual right wing clowns had their criticisms, but that's what they get paid for.
I really think we need to stop and think about that little nine year old girl who was born on another day of national tragedy and was killed on a day she was pursuing a dream of doing something for her country.  Only God knows what we lost with her.  Hopefully, God has opened a window here for someone else to take her place and do something really great with their life.  Maybe we should all think about what we can do to improve the world from our little spot in it.  Something good has to come from this.