Teddy, the talking porcupine, wishes you a Merry Christmas!

"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Thank you, Lord Acton--your words are as true today as they were when they originally written, in 1887.  These words have been  in my thoughts the past couple of days, ever since I heard about the horrific events that took place at Penn State University, in the football program (the photo at the left is of an artist, removing the perpetrator's image from a mural at the university).
Every time something like this happens, we are again shocked and horrified. I'm just grateful it doesn't happen more often; I keep hoping we are more evolved as humans, but each time it happens, I am disappointed.  We do NOT evolve, and Lord Acton's words:  "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."  come back as a reminder Every.  Single.  Time.
In any other situation where a child was being hurt, I have to believe the graduate assistant would have acted differently.  But in this instance, when a child was being raped in a shower in the athletic facility, the aura of the power of Joe Paterno and his football program clouded this assistant's judgement--clouded it so much that he actually went HOME and called his dad to ask what he should do.  He did not call 911, he did not pick up the nearest hard object and beat the shit out of the perpetrator, and for goodness sakes he did not even yell, "Stop!"  No, he turned away, left the building, and  went home.  Dumbly.  My guess is even now he will not be able to explain his thoughts that night.  For the Absolute Power of Joe Paterno and Penn State Football casts a powerful spell.  
But remember, it's not the first time Joe Paterno has failed a victim. Paterno hired Rene Portland as women's basketball coach in 1980; they were close friends, and under the Absolute Power of Joe Paterno, Portland was allowed, time after time, to bully her players and ruin their careers.  No, she did not lay a hand on them, but the damage was brutal and life-altering (I recommend the documentary "Training Rules" for enlightenment).  Portland was openly homophobic, but was allowed to stay, year after year, because of her close relationship with Paterno.  Even when she was sued by Jen Harris, a former player, for discrimination based on sexual orientation and race (as a side note, Harris is not gay, but Portland thought she was), Portland was allowed to stay at Penn State--until 2007. 
But it's not just Joe Paterno.  It happens in many universities, in many athletic programs, all over the world.  As a student at Iowa State in the late 1970's, I heard numerous rumors about the abuse of women at the hands of football players and wrestlers.  NOTHING was done to aid the victims.  No investigation, no charges.  Those with the power acted with impunity.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.  Throughout history, it's happened over and over and over again.  From dictators down to those who are allowed to have just a little too much power...that power corrupts.  Absolutely.  Sexual harassment,  bullying, wars, famine, super rich vs everyone else; I could go on and on with a depressing list.
Take Bill Clinton; charismatic leader.  He did some great things for this country; he continues to do good things--using his power for the good of humanity.  But he allowed power to ensnare him, and it ended up corrupting him.  We saw the powerfully good man, but we also saw the warning signs--women coming forward to tell their stories of encounters with Bill Clinton.  We were warned, and because he could use his power for good, we allowed ourselves to be captivated by the man.  Is it any wonder two of the Clinton legacies were "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and the Defense of Marriage Act?  We were warned, and we should have seen them coming a mile away; "Don't ask, don't tell" could have been his motto.
Clarence Thomas should not be a Supreme Court Justice.  We heard the warnings from Anita Hill (and others), and yet we allowed this man to shame us ("high tech lynching") into allowing him on to the highest court in our nation.  It's deja vu all over again with Herman Cain, and if we're not careful, we will be seduced into allowing him to be the Republican candidate for president.
Take the leadership in the Catholic Church...please.  There it seems to have become a near ritual.  Now, please know I am not criticizing the religion--I am just asking you to look at the leadership, what they allow to happen when they rule with absolute, corrupted power--women priests are evil?!!
It happens over and over and over again to us.  The victims are not just children (although that's the saddest thing of all), but many groups of us.  It's another long, depressing list.
We forget all the time how important ACTIONS are--if you want a good leader of any thing, look at the way they ACT, not what they say.  Remember what your mom told you?  "If you want to know the quality of a person, watch how they treat the wait staff."  [Hold on, that was my mom--isn't she brilliant?]  Look behind the facade of a person--pay attention to the person behind the words.
For power does corrupt, and we need leaders at all levels who will not be seduced, then corrupted by power.  We need leaders, including football coaches and presidents, who will not cast a "numbing spell" on the rest of us.  We need to be ever vigilant, ever suspicious.  We need to be courageous, not numb.  Every day, every time.  THAT'S power.  OUR power.  

Thinking About the 1%

I have been thinking about the 1% (as opposed to the 99%) lately, wondering how the 1% is defined, and why there is such push-back against the 99%.
I am highly suspicious of on-line blogs and websites; I find that a lot of them have one slant or another, and the facts to back up their opinions just aren't there.  I wanted to really know how the 1% was defined, and I wanted up-to-date information, so I needed to trek out unto cyberspace.  I found a website that seems to be official--if there are any of you who know this to be a bogus site, please let me know!  This article is rich in information, and I intend to return to it again.  The 1% is defined as  those who earn over $250,000 per year. Maybe one or two of my friends fall into this category--I have no idea.  The "super-rich" are defined as those worth over $1 million.  Maybe some of you fall into that category?  I really have no idea.  My guess is that none of my acquaintances are millionaires.  So why are some of you so squirmy about the Occupy Wall Street movement?  They aren't talking about you.  You are NOT the 1%.   YOU will NEVER be the 1%, unless you inherit it.  Really, you won't.
Why are you so protective of the 1%?  Why do we allow Republican members of the House of Representatives to vote down every single attempt to increase taxes on the super-rich?  The latest "no" vote really got to me.  In order to pay for improvements to our infrastructure (you know, roads bridges, etc.), the Democrats proposed an increase of 7/10ths of 1% on the wealthiest Americans--that small amount would really help.  The Republicans voted it down--after all, it was a tax increase on those poor, super-rich people.  Hells bells, why aren't we all in Washington, DC, with torches and pitchforks?!!!!   Why do you and I allow this to go on?  WE, our 99%, are hurting.  There are cities in America who have decided to stop providing transportation for their kids--that's right, no more school buses.  I don't think it's an exaggeration to say we are rapidly sliding down to the 1930's in this country.  You know, the good old days, when kids worked in factories, their parents worked 6-7 days a week, and education was a luxury.  When the wealthy played games with money; it was all about seeing how far they could go.    We are forced to gamble, and the 1% seems to win every time.
Don't believe me?  I was struck by this passage:

"These factors, however, can explain only part of the increase in inequality. One other factor that explains the particularly high incomes of the highest-paid people is that between 1982 and 2004, the ratio of pay of chief executive officers to pay of the average worker rose from 42:1 to 301:1, and pay of other high-level managers, lawyers, and people in other fields rose substantially also."  


WE ARE THE 99%.  WE need to demand some help.  Believe me, the 1% can afford it.

Solution for Mississippi Women

Perhaps you haven't heard what's going on in Mississippi.  If not, I highly recommend this clip from Rachel Maddow's show--she explains it perfectly.  If you need a shorter version, it's this:  on November 8th, the VOTERS of Mississippi are being asked to decide if  a person is legally a person at the moment of fertilization. I'm going to wait for that to sink in for you.  

If just one more voter votes "Yes" than votes "No" on Initiative 26 then this will happen in Mississippi:

1. Birth control will be outlawed.  No more Pill, no more IUD.  
2. No more in-vitro fertilization--you have trouble getting pregnant?  Sorry.  
3. NO abortions, NO exceptions.  If you are 12, and raped by someone, sorry.  If you have a life-threatening condition, sorry.  You.  Will.  Die.  Raped by a male relative?  Sorry.  
4. You are a woman?  Growing up to be a woman?  You are no longer in control of your body.  Your body is now in the hands of the government.  Don't believe me?  See #s 1, 2, and 3.  You are just seen as a "sacred vessel" for the precious sperm.  
5. You don't agree with these religious beliefs, sorry (and make no mistake, these are religious beliefs, not scientific, not common sense, not humanitarian--pure and simple extreme religious beliefs.  Sort of like Sharia Law.).  If you live in Mississippi, and this passes, you will live in a theocracy.
6. If you live in Mississippi, you will already live in a theocracy, because BOTH candidates for governor support this.  
7. Life in Mississippi will suck for all.  

But never fear!  I have a solution.  With thanks to author Sheri Tepper, who created the book, The Gate to Women's Country .  
If you are a woman or will be a woman, and you live in Mississippi, and Initiative 26 passes, you must immediately do this:

• Band together and move into every city in the state.
• Throw the men out of the cities.  Banish them to the country.  Trust me, they will be fine. 
• Build a big wall around each city.  This will protect you and your infrastructure.  
• Arrange with other women to provide protection of the walls (shoot to kill for sure), and food delivery by air.  For now.  Soon you will able to grow your own food.  
• If any man questions the above actions, remind them that you are sacred vessels, and you must therefore protect yourselves at all cost. 
• Tell the men they will be allowed in twice a year.  If you want them to come in, that is.  You will have sex with them, and they will leave.  No arguments about this one, for you are sacred vessels and need to be treated as such.  Male children will leave at puberty, unless they ask to stay and can prove they fully understand women are human beings with complete control over their bodies.  
• This will be effective.  Trust me.

If this is too radical, the quick and probably easy solution for the women of Mississippi (especially those married to the male politicians who thought up this heinous Initiative) is to close their legs until men come to their senses.  It's been done before, after all.

But really, this is no laughing matter.  The government of Mississippi has bowed to the wishes of an extreme, dangerous religious faction.  I cannot believe this is happening in the United States of America.
Ask yourselves, how quickly will this mind-set spread, if it succeeds in Mississippi? If you're not frightened, then you're not thinking about this.
If you are frightened, join me in supporting the group fighting Initiative 26.  Please.  

I Am Tired

I am.
I am tired.
So tired of certain men who think they can rule over me.
I am tired of certain men who think they can rule over my daughter, sisters, nieces, mother, friends.
I am tired of certain men who think it is their "God"-given right to have absolute power over every woman.
I am tired of the Republican Party in this country, who decided years ago that it was more important to create barriers to women's health than anything else.  More important than anything else.
I am tired of people who claim they are "pro-life", forgetting that women are living, breathing human beings.
I am tired of the hypocrisy.  The hypocrisy of being "pro-life" until the child is born.  Then it's the WOMAN's responsibility.
I am tired of being told I, and every other female living in this country, cannot be trusted to make their own moral decisions.
I am tired of being told no woman can be responsible for her own body.
I am of living in a world where females are raped, mutilated, scarred, beaten--just because they are female.
I am tired, but I will continue to fight.
Will you?

I believe Anita Hill

It's hard to believe, looking at the woman in this photo, that she could be anyone but a mild-mannered professor.  In this photo, taken in October, 1991, Anita Hill was being sworn in at the start of her appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee.  She was there to testify about her former boss, Clarence Thomas.  You might recognize his name--he's now a Justice on the United States Supreme Court.
Anita Hill had worked for Clarence Thomas in 1981, when he was head of the Office of Civil Rights at the Education Department in Washington, DC.  She also worked for him at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1983.
Ms. Hill found out Mr. Thomas was being considered for an appointment to the Court when she was approached and asked about her time working for Thomas.  The questions were appropriately vague--looking for verification of facts and dates.  For how on earth could the interviewers know, or even understand what had happened in 1981 and again in 1983?  How could they know to ask Ms. Hill specifically about the work environment as it pertained to sexual harassment?
In the interests of disclosure--from now on, most of the rest of this blog is my recollections and my opinion.  NOBODY but Ms. Hill and Mr. Thomas know what truly happened.   But I believe Anita Hill.  I have for 20 years, and I firmly believe there is a man on the Supreme Court of the United States that does not deserve to be there.
By all accounts, Anita Hill was, and is, a quiet and private person.  I don't think she wanted to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee--what woman in her right mind would willingly open herself up to the questions that were asked of her, the jokes that were made?  What woman would willingly re-live painful instances of sexual harassment; not only re-live them, but tell an enormous television audience EXACTLY what had happened?  What kind of woman would open herself up like that?  A brave one--Anita Hill.  She knew what Clarence Thomas had done to her in not just one position of power, but two.  Why two jobs?  Why did she follow him to another agency?  Well, he had stopped harassing her, so she thought she could safely assume Thomas had become a professional.  Unfortunately, she was wrong.  She had to leave the job in 1983 because the stress had begun to have an effect on her health.
When Anita Hill heard Clarence Thomas was being considered for the Court, she must have had a very difficult choice to make--keep quiet and allow him to sail through the nomination process, or expose him, and in the process, herself?  Thank you Anita Hill, for doing the right thing.
You see, back in 1991, not many women were willing to talk about sexual harassment in the work environment.  That doesn't mean it didn't happen--it happened more than people thought it did, because it was the dirty little secret that nobody talked about.  Because women were embarrassed, men could safely get away with it.  Men like Clarence Thomas--he got away with it with Anita Hill and at least 2 other women--2 other women that were also willing to testify but who were not allowed.  It's hard to believe, looking back, that Clarence Thomas could not only sexually harass one woman, but who could keep on doing it--because nobody was willing to talk about it.
Sexual harassment in the workplace happened--I know it did, because it happened to my mother, and to other women who couldn't afford to report it--literally couldn't afford it in most cases.
Anita Hill was grilled by the Senate Judiciary Committee.  It was a low moment in this country, and yet it was a turning point too.  Many, many, many women were inspired to step forward with their own stories.  But mostly women were angered--angered at the treatment of a woman who dared to tell the truth.  After watching those hearings, women turned their anger into action--they decided to work for getting laws on the books that would allow women to take action against sexual harassment, they wrote letters, they decided to make their voices heard.
But most of all, women decided to run.  To run for office--in record numbers they ran, for every office at every level of government.  When asked why they were running, they would cite Anita Hill and her treatment as a catalyst.
Sadly, Anita Hill's testimony had no impact on the decision to appoint Clarence Thomas to the highest, most prestigious Court in America.  He's there.  He's there, and he's still angry.  He's angry and sullen and does not participate at all when the Court is hearing cases.  I've seen him first-hand, and he's a disgrace to his office.  When I was there, I watched him lean back in his chair, sigh, roll his eyes when one of the female justices asked a question, and generally look annoyed at being there.  I just wanted to go up and use my "mom voice" to ask him, "Are we keeping you from something, Clarence?"
Sadly, he's there, and even worse for our country, he's being heavily influenced by the extreme right--for goodness sake, his WIFE works for the largest Tea Party group in America (the conflict of interest is extraordinary).
And sadly, his anger will motive him to stay.  Why's Clarence Thomas so angry?  Because Anita Hill was telling the truth about his disgusting perversion of power.  I believe Anita Hill.  And I thank her.  

What I Haven't Heard....

So the Republican "presidential candidates", pretending they care, have been arguing about whether 6th grade girls should be forced to be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV).  Yes, HPV is a real threat, as exposure to it can lead to cervical cancer (and a host of other health issues); keep in mind HPV is spread through sexual contact.   I do not dispute this. 

I've read about the political debate; read the asinine rhetoric of Michele Bachmann and the real (and suspect) reasons that Rick Perry gives for supposedly caring about 6th grade girls.  I've wondered how this is flying with Tea Party folks and Libertarians--how they feel about government intrusion of this nature, and then I remember that the Tea Party and nationally known Libertarians don't give a shit about government intrusion in the lives of anyone who is female.  Or gay.  Or an immigrant.

But I would like to share some thoughts on the subject--thoughts I've had that I haven't seen anywhere else.  [Maybe there's a reason for that.]

First of all, I'm sad that young girls have to be vaccinated.  At a time when their bodies are changing so quickly, when their emotions are all over the place, and when they are having sexual feelings that can be overwhelming, they are being told they have to go to the doctor to get a shot.  Do you remember getting shots as a kid?  They hurt, and they were no fun at all.  Sometimes, it was scary to see that needle.  So imagine how you would have felt, as a girl-on-the-verge-of-womanhood, being told it was time to go to the doctor for another shot involving a big needle?  You probably would, logically, ask what the stupid shot was for.  So, you're a parent, being asked this question by said girl--how do you explain HPV???  You probably stammer, stutter, and say something intelligent like, "It's for your own good.  Because....er.....you're becoming a woman!"

Think about that statement.  Really think about what you've said to this young girl. 

You've just told her that she's being hurt for her own good.  Because of sex. 

Damn, that's a really great thing for a soon-to-be-woman to hear.  Because if I were her, I'd be hearing that I had to get a shot because of sex.  And from now on, I'd experience sex with a mixture of pleasure and a wee bit of fear, because I had to get a shot for it all those years ago. 

Which all brings me to one last question:  if HPV is spread by sexual contact, and can cause health problems for all humans, why aren't 6th grade BOYS getting the vaccine too?

I Pledge Allegiance

A friend got me thinking about the "Pledge of Allegiance"--you know, the one we used to recite as kids.  The original Pledge was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, and recited by schoolchildren that year on Columbus Day.  In those days, it was much shorter, and kids probably didn't mis-hear it and subsequently mangle it as much as kids did in my school in the 1960's.
Something important that people have forgotten, or perhaps never knew--the Pledge did not include the words, "Under God", until 1954.  Remember, these were the days of Senator Joseph McCarthy, when people were afraid that God-hating Communists were hiding under their beds.  Thus, if you could get everyone to pledge allegiance to "one nation, under God", you could easily root out those scary Communists--they would be the ones who refused to say that line!  [As a side note, it makes me wonder what we will have to pledge allegiance to if some of those Republicans are elected.]
Yes indeed friends--you could easily make the case that ADDING the words, "Under God" led to the demise of our public schools.  But I digress.

Schoolchildren in the early-to-mid 20th century got used to standing up every morning, saluting the flag, and reciting the Pledge.  I don't know about you, but I thought as much about the words I was saying every morning as I did about the small print on the box of Corn Flakes--that is, not at all.  In the 1970's, reciting the Pledge fell by the wayside in my school district, and I can assume that the ritual was done less and less in the 1980's and 1990's.
Then the events of September 11, 2001 happened, and American patriotism was revived.  Suddenly, people began discussing the lack of Pledge-saying in our schools.  For suddenly, we were all red-blooded patriots, and therefore, our kids needed to be saying that Pledge, EVERY MORNING, dammit!  That was the first thing that astounded me--adults weren't declaring that every American needed to be starting their day with show of patriotic fervor--oh no!  Just the kids--you know, the humans we can still control--you know, the ones we are are stronger than--the ones we can safely order around.  The ones who have no voice in the matter.  Oh no, we adults weren't going to set an example by standing up and facing a flag every morning--no, we were going to force our kids to say something every morning--something they didn't really understand--just to make us feel more like.....well, more like "real" Americans!  There, don't you feel better now?  Our kids are saying the Pledge of Allegiance every day, and all's right with greatest country in the world.  I was on the local School Board just after 9/11, and I gave this issue a lot of thought back then, because we were being approached by parents who wanted us to mandate Pledge-saying every morning in our local schools.   I did ask a couple of them if they would be doing the same thing in their workplace, and they looked at me as if I was crazy.
There was another thing that was bothering me about this Pledge-saying frenzy.  Times have changed; we are not the same country that we were in 1940, 1950, 1960, or 1970.  For good or for bad, we are different.  We humans travel more--in just a matter of hours, we can be halfway across the planet.  We communicate, via telephones and computers, with people all over the world--sometimes as quickly as the blink of a cursor.  We do not live within 10 miles of our entire extended family, and think nothing of moving to another country for education or job opportunities.  Like it or not, we are a global society.  Yes, we can be proud to be Americans, we can raise our children to be proud of their country, we can support our troops, we can put a flag on a pole every day of the year.  But we live in a free country--this means each of us is free to define patriotism for ourselves.  What we do not have the right to do, in the United States of America, is to define patriotism for another person.  Especially not a child who isn't your child.
Let me describe it for you a different way:  Imagine you have moved to a new country--South Blahblahistan.  You have a great new job, and are able to have your family with you.  However, you cannot afford a private tutor, AND you want your kids to make friends with other children, so you send them to the very fine local schools.  These local schools are wonderful, and your kids are thriving.  However, one day, your 7-year-old comes home and says you need to help them learn the words they will be reciting every morning from now on.  As you question your kid, you find out that the whole class stands up, faces the flag of South Blahblahistan, and pledges ALLEGIANCE to said flag and country.  How can this be?  Your little American, standing up and doing this?!  Why, you're going to go to that school right now and demand that your kid be allowed to sit during this exercise every morning!  As you fume and stomp around, you look down and see your 7-year-old.  Their face is red, and they are crying.  "You can't do that!  Those are my friends!  They will hate me!  I HAVE to say those words!"
And that, my fellow Americans, are what we are demanding our schoolchildren do in this country, every day. We are demanding that EVERY kid get up and recite those words, no matter what.  Land of the free?  Not in American schools. Are we raising "true" Americans by forcing them to do this?  No, we're raising sheep (no offense to sheep).
Years ago, I read this version of a pledge.  I wonder what our world would look like in generations to come if  every family read this to each other once in a while, and all political and religious leaders talked about its' meaning once a year?
"I pledge allegiance to the Earth and all the life which it supports.  One planet, in our care, irreplaceable, with sustenance and respect for all." 

  

Present Meets Past

 So I have this key.  It doesn't look like much, but it's probably my most favorite key--that is, if a person is allowed to have a favorite.  It opens my grandmother's desk, which is my oldest possession, age-wise, and the possession I have had the longest (aside from my baby book and my Floppy Dog).  I know my dad had the desk, and gave it to me when I was in 3rd or 4th grade (I'm a little fuzzy on the details, but I think it was "given in lieu of child support"--why else would a little kid be allowed to have it?).  I loved it immediately--it has these pigeon holes for important stuff, and a door on hinges that opens up to form the desk top.  It's not a large desk, so it's been easy to move from place to place (Des Moines to Boston to California to Indiana), and from room to room--Erika "possessed" it for a while, but now it's mine again.  Sadly, I don't use it--there's no room for a monitor or a printer or a keyboard, and although I think it's tough enough to handle a little weight, I don't want to chance it.

For my birthday, Karen gave me a key cover that looks like a gnome head--it's awesome.  I decided to "class up" my desk key, and you can see the results
<----over there.  Perfection.
As I threaded the newly-coiffed key back on to the keychain, thought of the old meeting the new, I wondered what my grandmother would think of Karen.  To be sure, there were women who loved women back in my grandmother's time, and she might have known one or two.  I admit I didn't know my grandmother very well, but I do know that she was daring--she cut her hair in the 1920's, causing quite a scandal as she was a MOTHER!  She raised my liberal father and his Union-leader brother to be accepting of others, so with that in mind, I've decided that Grandma Kate would have liked Karen.
Thus endeth my musings on this Friday night...... 

Charlie Helps Make the Bed

So a Gun Walks Into a Bar....

I know I'm opening a can of worms, but hey, it's a long weekend and nothing gets it off to a great start like controversy.  Everyone has an opinion about gun control, and it's like abortion--you can argue all you want, but you rarely change someones' mind.
All that being said, I want to express my opinion on this subject--it's my blog and I can do what I want to.
I've been mulling this over in my head ever since a co-worker said, in a staff meeting, that "Guns don't kill people, people kill people."  To be fair, the staff was discussing the nuances of a new Indiana law, but to express such a "loaded" opinion was unprofessional and added nothing to the discussion--that was clear by the absolute silence that followed.  It took all my self-control to bite my tongue, lest the discussion go off on an unwelcome tangent.
But now, in the privacy of my very own blog, I can say, "What the hell?  That's the stupidest argument I've heard-- repeated over and over and over again by people who should be smarter than that--regarding why they should be allowed to own a gun."  Because here's the thing--LOADED guns DO kill people.  And animals.  And road signs.  That's why guns and bullets were invented.  To kill.  Efficiently.  If a person does not have a gun, it's a much messier, more time-consuming and energy-expending process to kill something.  Granted, a gun does not walk into a bar and open fire all on its own--I will give you that.  But put a gun and some bullets into anyone's hand, and there is a great probability of destruction--accidental or otherwise.
You have every right to own a gun.  I respect that.  [As a side note, I wish all those NRA members and 2nd Amendment fanatics would also agree that women have the complete right to control over their own body.  Most of them don't agree, and some have used their guns to "argue" this at Women's Clinics.  But I digress.]  But please be aware that your gun can be stolen, used to kill bandits, used to kill that cute little kid when it's supposed to be locked away, or used to kill yourself when you're depressed.  Just so's you know what you're keeping in your house for "protection".  With great firepower comes great responsibility.
While we're on the topic, what the hell is wrong with the GOP in Arizona?  Have they really lost their minds?  Could they not come up with a better fundraiser than auctioning off a Glock?  In the same congressional district as Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was nearly fatally wounded by the same type of weapon last January?    Really?  Yup, you guessed it--the GOP are using the same "Guns don't kill people..." line to justify the auction.  I'm pretty sure Jared Loughner would have done far less damage had he only had access to his words that day instead of a loaded gun.  But he did have a gun and innocent people died.
So, the debate is now open.  As for me, I completely agree with Chris Rock--we need bullet control.  They should cost $5,000 each.

Are They Of This Earth?

And I'm not speaking of "them" in the biblical or alien species sense.  I mean, do they have any idea how most Americans live?
Clearly, the answer is "NO!"
In Des Moines, Iowa this week, GOP Presidential candidate Rick Santorum said this: 
"I had a woman the other day who came up and complained to me that she has to pay $200 a month for her prescriptions…I said, in other words, this $200 a month keeps you alive, she goes yes. I said, and you’re complaining that you’re paying $200 a month and it keeps you alive? What’s your cable bill? I mean, what’s your cell phone bill? Because she had a cell phone. And how can you say that you complain that you have $200 to keep you alive and that’s a problem? No, that’s a blessing!"

All  I could think, while shaking my head in disbelief, was:  "Does this man live in my world?"  He really doesn't understand.  He never will.  Unless he loses all his money, is forced work to earn an average wage job and, if lucky, has a health care plan like most of us do.  Then maybe he'll understand how offensive his reply was--how $400 a month for prescriptions is an awful lot to pay when you have other ESSENTIAL things to pay for too (I daresay cable is essential to people like him who are running television ads they want others to see.  Besides, who gets television reception these days without a cable?  Cell phone?  Maybe if you need to call 911 or make a doctor's appointment or...you know what I'm saying even if he doesn't).  Maybe then he will understand what it's like to wonder what bills get paid this month, if there will be enough at the end of the month for food.  He will understand why his stomach clenches at the thought of his car breaking down this month.  He will understand what it's like to wake up in a cold sweat at the thought of having to declare bankruptcy and lose his house because of medical bills from one single catastrophic illness.  In other words, he will understand what it's like to live as an average American in 2011.  This scenario does not happen in other countries, countries that take care of all their citizens by providing health care.  Only in the "good ol' US of A".  
The woman was right to tell him about her world, the world in which she pays $400 a month for prescription drugs.  She was right, and she had an obligation to tell this man who wants to be her president what it's like to live in her world.  Because Mr. Santorum, if he's elected president, will be obliged to represent her, and millions of others like her.  He will be obligated to be president to women, men, every color of person under the sun, gays, straights, transgenders, pagans, Christians, Muslims, Atheists...you get my point.  AND, he will be obligated to deal with OUR problems.  I mean, that's why he wants to be president, right?  To better the lives of ALL his fellow Americans?  Right?  
President Obama gets this.  He really does; an example from just this week--the White House issued this statement, which says in part:  "While women are more likely to need preventive health care services, they often have less ability to pay. Too often, the combination of women’s lower incomes and out-of-pocket health costs mean that women forgo necessary preventive services. But removing cost sharing requirements improves women’s access to important preventive services....Women will also have access to all Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures, and patient education and counseling. Though most workers in employer-sponsored plans are currently covered for contraceptives, these new guidelines offer more women the opportunity to access these important services. When half of pregnancies in the U.S. are unplanned, we know family planning services are an essential preventive service for women. These services are critical to appropriately spacing and ensuring intended pregnancies which results in improved maternal health and better birth outcomes."
He gets it.  While removing contraception from co-pays will probably never, ever impact him or his family, it's going to make a HUGE difference in the lives of women in this country.  Thank you, Mr. President.  We should be having a parade in your honor in every town in this nation.  We women are happy, estatic.....or are we?
Fox "News" commentator Dana Perino isn't happy, but then she's not thinking about every woman when she says this:
"Now, I might be for [free birth control], if I didn't see a lot of people out there able to buy a new pair of shoes. I mean, we have to be able to make some choices here … How are we going to define poor? Because who is not in that category now who can’t get free birth control anyway? … If you can afford a $5 Frappuccino at Starbucks, look, you can pay your $5 co-pay."
Maybe you and your friends, Dana, but the rest of us live in the America that President Obama represents.


All this made me think of that quote, attributed to Marie Antoinette: "Qu'ils mangent de la Brioche"..."Let them eat cake."  
I looked it up, and it turns out, she probably didn't ever say that.  And certainly not in the flippant, aristocratic way that we've been lead to believe.  Unfortunately, because there was no 24/7 news cycle, no television cameras or even camera phones recording her every word, Marie Antoinette will be vilified for something she didn't even say.
Too bad Mr. Santorum and Ms. Perino don't live in the 18th century.  Aside from the fact that they would probably be more comfortable because they would be separated from the "commoners", they could claim they never said what they did say.
Fortunately for us, we've seen it, and maybe even heard it, just exactly as they said it.  And they can be held accountable.  Or, even better, dismissed by us as not worthy of our attention.  We have better things to do than listen to the likes of them.  

Evolution of a Letter to the Editor

On July 8th, I picked up the local newspaper and read a Letter to the Editor, written by a local woman--she was upset that her son was losing his job with NASA, and quoted Fox "News" (quotations mine) as saying  President Barack Obama, in July 2010, had charged NASA's administrator with the top priority to "reach out to the Muslim world."  
"Hmmm....," I thought, "it's reckless for the local newspaper to print something like this--the information is over a year old, and sounds suspiciously like another "Obama/Muslim" connection that Fox is so happy to report on."  I did a little research, and after slogging through 3 Google pages (that's a lot of pages of misinformation to go through) of re-reports of the Fox story, I finally got to the truth, directly from the White House.  To quote the Press Secretary:  "MR. GIBBS:  That's an excellent question, and I don't think -- that was not his task, and that's not the task of NASA."


This lack of fact-checking on the part of the Opnions staff made me angry--I know of people who have been asked to re-write letters or provide documentation when submitting letters with "facts" in them.  Clearly this letter was let by.  I sat down and wrote my own letter:

"Shame on the Journal and Courier for printing a letter (July 8^th) with a quote from a newspaper that was not only over a year old, but was patently false—the White House refuted it  at the daily briefing on July 12, 2010.  To be fair, I don’t think the author of the letter was consciously spreading lies; she was just repeating what she heard on Fox.

I would like to help the staff of the newspaper as they peruse letters in the future; I’ve done my homework, and here’s my helpful guide:

“Obama was not born in this country.”  False.  Proven many times.

“Obama is a Christian.”  True.  But what does it matter?

“Republicans would rather stick it to the middle class than ask their billionaire friends to pay their fair share.”  Opinion.  Mine.  But probably true.  Again, opinion.

“The real power in this country lies in with those who have the money.  The rest of us are at their mercy, and until we wake up, things will get worse.”  Again, opinion.  But probably will be proven correct in the future.

“The sun will rise tomorrow.”  Trust, but verify."

I was pleased with what I wrote; I thought it was fair, and then humorous, but got my point across.  Imagine  my surprise when I got a note back from the Opinions Editor.  In part, he said, "If the White House refuted it, it certainly must have been after their initial defense of the statement.  The letter writer was accurate, based on this as well as other published accounts over this issue."  He provided the link, which pre-dated the White House briefing I had found.  

So, I fired an e-mail back:  "The letter was inaccurate, and not necessarily timely, since the incident occurred over a year ago.  The White House refuted it, and that was my point--shouldn't the primary source have the last word?!  I think my letter was fair...We all should be careful in the age of the internet, to go to primary sources as much as possible, and the letter writer did not."

The Opinions Editor wrote back:  "But the first paragraph is not fair to the [newspaper] or the letter writer since the White House defended its NASA director and his accounts of the president's directives for at least a week before the daily briefing you reference in your letter. Hence, the letter writer was not inaccurate, and the [newspaper] was not loose with fact-checking the writer's assertions. The [newspaper] is fair game for public criticism, but your letter takes us and the letter writer to task for something that was accurate. You may disagree with the writer's points and the [newspaper]. We encourage these discussions. But the letter writer's claim was not "patently false."

I considered this, and as I did not want to call into question the motives of a mother, I re-wrote the letter, and sent it in:

"I would like to question the wisdom of printing a letter (July 8^th) with a quote from a newspaper article that was not only over a year old, but was later denied—the White House refuted it  at the daily briefing on July 12, 2010.  I don’t think the author of the letter was consciously spreading misinformation; she was just repeating what she heard on Fox.  I also understand she’s concerned because her son might lose his job at NASA, but to tie it to a false connection between Muslims and President Obama is unfair.

I would like to help everyone as they sit down to read or write a Letter to the Editor; I’ve done my homework, and here is a helpful “Fact” and “Opinion” guide:

“Obama was not born in this country.”  False.  Proven many times.

“Obama is a Christian.”  True.  But what does it matter?

“Republicans would rather stick it to the middle class than ask their billionaire friends to pay their fair share.”  Opinion.  Mine.  But probably true.  Again, opinion.

“The real power in this country lies in with those who have the money.  The rest of us are at their mercy, and until we wake up, things will get worse.”  Again, opinion.  But probably will be proven correct in the future.

“The sun will rise tomorrow.”  Trust, but verify."

And I waited.  Nearly 2 weeks later, my letter appeared in the paper, as follows:


"I question the wisdom of printing a letter (July 8) with a quote from a newspaper article that was not only over a year old, but was later denied -- the White House refuted it at the daily briefing on July 12, 2010. I don't think the author of the letter was consciously spreading misinformation; she was just repeating what she heard on Fox News. I also understand she's concerned because her son might lose his job at NASA, but to tie it to a false connection between Muslims and President Barack Obama is unfair.
I would like to help everyone as they sit down to read or write a letter to the editor. I've done my homework, and here is a helpful "fact" and "opinion" guide:
"Obama was not born in this country." False. Proven many times.
"Obama is a Christian." True. But what does it matter?
"Republicans would rather stick it to the middle class than ask their billionaire friends to pay their fair share." Opinion. Mine. But probably true. Again, opinion.
"The real power in this country lies in with those who have the money. The rest of us are at their mercy, and until we wake up, things will get worse." Again, opinion. But probably will be proven correct in the future.
"The sun will rise tomorrow." Trust, but verify."


If you don't immediately see the edited portion of my letter, I've underlined it and made it bold.  I was livid--I would never, ever, ever put the word "News" after "Fox".  Ever.  Sigh........

Rant from the Library

Actually, I am not a librarian.  I work in a library, but have not put in the hours of training and/or class time to become one.  I know some parts of the Dewey Decimal System, but doesn't everyone?
I do work at the Circulation Desk, checking things in and out for patrons.  It feels a lot like doing laundry; you check something in, and within a day, it seems like it's going out again.  But that's job security too.  For the most part, I like the job--I get to scrutinize a lot of great books, CDs, and DVDs, and I meet some interesting people from all over the world (thanks to thriving International Student community of the local university).
However, a select group of patrons can really ruin the day, very quickly.  These are the patrons who SWEAR to you that they REALLY DID return that book, DVD, whatever ON TIME.  They will point in the direction of the nearest drop box, as if that gesture will allow me to personally experience the moment when they dropped the item into the drop box.  Then they look accusingly at me, as if I keep a box of items back in some secret place, just to personally screw with their account--like there's some library "stash" of items we will never, ever check in--not today, not ever.  BECAUSE IT COULD NOT BE THEIR FAULT!!!
Oh sure, we make mistakes--more than a few, I'm sorry to admit.  We allow items to get back on the shelves without being checked in.  We willingly look for items, if you contact us, and will apologize and adjust your account if we've made a mistake.  Yes, we will apologize.
That rarely happens if it's the other way around.
Case in point:  Mr. Professor (I do know his profession) came up to the counter, 5 minutes before closing, on a recent day.  He wanted to check out a number (20) of items for his beloved granddaughter, who was in tow.  I looked at his account, and saw that he owed us over.. let's say $20, because of an item he had not returned for over 3 months.  He proceeded to tell me that he had indeed returned the item ON TIME in that dropbox outside, and we must have lost it in the 5 feet from dropbox to check-in station.  Yes indeed, it must be our fault, even though (as I looked at the notes on his record) three staff members had, on separate occasions, looked for the book, and it was nowhere to be found.  I offered (it's now 3 minutes to closing and a line is forming) to go and look again, and he assured me he had just looked, and the book was not on the shelf.  Yet it remained our fault because he had returned that book in that dropbox ON TIME.  And no, he was not going to pay for the book because, of course, this was all our fault.  Now I'm feeling guilty because:  1) He's got to be right and we must have screwed up, even though I trust that my 3 co-workers know how to look for a book in the library, and 2) I am going to have to refuse to check out anything for him and his very cute granddaughter.  Yes, I suck.  And everyone behind him, who had to wait, thinks I suck too, because they had to wait, and are convinced that of course he is right.
Now here's the kicker--the VERY NEXT DAY, the book is returned to the library by Mr. Professor.  I'm sure he dropped it into his beloved dropbox, because if he returned it inside, he might actually encounter one of the four staff members whose qualifications he's called into question for the past 3 months.  Without saying anything, he will have to admit it was his fault.  But he will never apologize.  They never do.
I'm just glad the damn book is back, so other patrons can enjoy it.
Here's a reminder to those of us of the human race:  "Be kind to one another."  Especially to those in the service industry.  Most of the time, they are only doing what their boss has told them to do.
And, on behalf of those who work in a public library, a couple of reminders:
1)  We loan things for free.  Lots of cool things you do not have to pay for, but are free to possess for a logical period of time.
2)  If you return things late, we may have to penalize you.  Because someone else may be waiting for that item; may need it for a class, a project, or just to enjoy in their own home.
3)  We also assess these penalties because we get no federal funding, no state funding, and because locally, people complain their taxes are too high.  These penalties add approximately $25,000 to our budget every year--money we use to buy more books, CDs, and DVDs.  More stuff for you to enjoy.
4) We, the people who work at the Circulation Desk, do not make the rules.  Our Board sets the fine policy (and that's not an easy decision for them to make, as they are patrons too). Please do not yell at us.  It's not our fault that you returned something late, and not up to us how much to charge you.
5)  Likewise, please do not yell at us because an item is not in the library.  We have no control over when it will be returned.  We also have no extra money in our budget to buy another copy.

If you are one of the vast majority of really pleasant people I deal with every day, I thank you.  Thank you for treating other humans with kindness.  I really do appreciate it.
And remember, your local library would appreciate donations of books, CDs, and DVDs that you're no longer using.  It's recycling perfected.

Carry On

I gave the following sermon this morning at my church.  I got many, many compliments--the most touching coming from an older woman I did not know.  She walked up to me and asked, "Can I hug you?"  We talked a minute or two, and she said she wished she had heard my sermon when she lost her husband.  I'm glad I could help her a little.
The best moment of the service came when we sang our final hymn--"Let It Be a Dance" (in this clip, performed at another UU Church).  I've heard it performed at memorial services, and I hope everyone sings it at mine.  Today, I thought it would be a nice end to a service--to celebrate life.  I encouraged everyone to sway, and to dance if they wanted, and two of my friends did dance in the aisle.  It was perfect.

              *****************************************************************

Carry On

First, a review of my credentials:  I don’t have any.  I have no professional background and no theological degree.  But  I have lost people—maybe not as many as some of you, maybe more.  The people I’ve lost have moved away, or have been left by me when I moved, have been lost in anger or in love, or, most cruelly of all, have died.  Our church community has suffered all of these types of losses too, and often we, as a community, find ourselves missing and mourning some one or some family.

What I offer today are mostly my original thoughts on the subject; my hope is that they will provide food for thought for you.  If not, I will have failed to uphold parts of the covenant of this church, and you have every right to show-me-the-door-don’t –let-it-hit-my-butt-on-the-way-out. 

This is a hard topic to talk about, and yet loss, and the resulting emotions, including grief, is universal.  Every one of us has felt loss—every single one of us, right down to the youngest in this congregation.

 The simple act of living guarantees constant change.  Our flowers grow, bloom, and die.  We lose pets; some die, some run away.  We move from grade to grade, school to school.  We move from one home to another.  We might not even think of this as loss, or don’t even realize our children may be experiencing loss at the same time. 

And here’s a cautionary tale:  I will never forget our move from El Cerrito, CA to West Lafayette.  We had only lived there a year, and had moved with our daughter 4 times already in her short life.  This was just one more move to me, and I thought, to Erika.  And yet, as we were pulling away from our rental house that last time, I heard a little 4 year-old voice in the backseat say, very poignantly, “Good-bye House!”  It really made me stop and think—we talked about moving, we packed her toys, and yet I did not help her say a proper good-bye to all those familiar places.  As a result of my long-standing guilt over this incident, I wrote the story of Joey, which I read earlier, to help my great-niece cope as she moved from IA to WI.  I don’t know if it helped her, but it helped me—I feel a little less guilty about being so clueless with Erika so many years ago. 

Yes, there is loss of a temporary nature (for instance, you move from one job to another), and there is loss that is permanent—you lose a hard-fought political campaign, a physical piece of yourself, or the saddest, most tragic loss of all—someone you love dies.

But no matter what your loss, I believe you have 2 choices:

·         You can MOVE on,  or

·         You can CARRY on.

Sometimes the healthy choice is to MOVE on—you know, move past the loss, leave it behind.  You lost your job?  Time to MOVE on—hopefully to something better.  Lose a battle or hard-fought argument?  Perhaps it’s time to leave all those thoughts and feelings behind, especially the anger or whatever destructive emotion was involved.  Drop it, leave it, never mention it again. MOVE ON! Or, more extreme:  you lose some body part in an accident (my dad lost some fingers in an accident in junior high)?  You have no choice but to leave those parts behind. 

By all means, with any situation, if you feel it’s best for YOU, then MOVE ON.  Leave it—whatever it is—completely and without regret. 

But I think it’s far more likely that each and every one of us CARRIES ON.  Carrying on is just that—we carry something or some one with us as we go on in life.  Just as Joey did in the kids’ story, we CARRY a part of a place, a person, with us.   I guarantee we do—it may be as visible as a film of dirt, or as invisible as a faint memory.  Why do we have a Mingling of the Waters ceremony here in the church in the autumn?  To honor the process of carrying on—in a very visible way—from the things we have experienced in the summer.  Mingling the waters is a symbolic way of connecting our present to our past, by sharing the essence of places we’ve been, with others.

Everything we CARRY with us impacts the way we deal with our future.  Have you ever walked into a place, and had a certain aroma take you right back to your grandmothers’ kitchen?  Or have you been in a flea market and seen a toy you had as a child—you may have completely forgotten about it, but when you see that toy on the 15 cent table, you are transported back in time—you remember playing with it, who you were playing with, and where you were when you were playing.  Unconsciously, you have CARRIED those things with you. 

It was not lost, it was just waiting.

And so it is when we lose a person from our lives. 

If I have caused you to remember someone from your past, and you’re wishing you could reconnect, I encourage you to do it—take the downtime of summer to actually write a letter, draw a picture, send off postcard, whatever, but reconnect. 

I’m sure a lot of us have stories of reconnections—some successful, some less so.  This spring, I was able to reconnect with my cousins—I had not seen them in 30 years, had not met spouses or children.  We had only a few collective memories, but over the course of 3 days were able to share memories of the people in our family; prompted by photos, we learned so much about each others’ lives, and the grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, and cousins we have in common.  And now, each of us is carrying more stories and memories than we had before.  Needless to say, my reconnection with my cousins is priceless to me.

Yes, I do urge you to reconnect while you can.  Heck, you can even reconnect using the magic of the internet!  Through Google Earth, did you know it’s possible, in many cases, to revisit childhood homes or favorite hangouts?  Type in an address and the magical internet will take you there—you might even have the ability to explore every part of the property, 360 from where you’re “standing”!

Reconnect while you can.

Because we all know we’re going to die.

Death—you cannot MOVE ON from the death of a loved one; this is a common, human mistake.  People do try to put a limit on the mourning and grieving processes; how many times have you heard, “It’s been X days, weeks, months since her death—I think it’s time for you to move on.”?  If someone ever says that to YOU, you have my permission to immediately turn and walk away. 
              What an insult.

For we never truly MOVE on from the death of a loved one—we CARRY on, the best we know how—and a piece of them is with us always, whether we know it or not. 

There can be no time limit placed on the grieving process.

There can be no time limit placed on the grieving process.

NO ONE, NO ONE has the right to tell you when it’s time to stop the grieving process.  You can grieve for one minute (think of how you feel when a beloved film star dies), or you can mourn for one minute every hour of every day.  If it gives you comfort, you can take a “memory vacation” with that person one day every week for a year—do whatever it takes to help YOU heal, to help YOU carry on.  You know you will not MOVE on, but every day that passes will help you CARRY on. 

But as you grieve, I encourage you to be open to the help of others, to allow them to comfort you.  I also encourage you to be active—it’s OK to carry that person with you outside, into nature—the natural world can be surprisingly healing.  And, do NOT feel guilty—remember, you are not MOVING on, you are CARRYING on, the best you know how. 

This spring, I lost a dear friend—many of you knew her.  A couple of months after her death, I was admitted to the emergency room of the very same hospital where she died.  Memories of her, her death, were still so new, and being there made me so frightened, and so very, very sad.  I cried from a pain that was not purely physical, and I realized I should explain my emotions to the nurse who was examining me.  One little gesture—she handed me a tissue box—comforted and calmed me more than words could.  In handing me that box, she acknowledged my feelings without diminishing them.  It was an amazing gift from one human to another.  And, it allowed me to MOVE past my feelings about the actual building while still CARRYING my thoughts of my friend with me—a little healing, not just physical, occurred that day.

Just as we grieve, others grieve—in their own time, in their own way.  If we care about each other, and I think we do, we should acknowledge the process of healing and support each other as much as we can.  Remember:  we each have our own way of moving on, and of carrying on.  What enables us to do it in a healthy way is the support and love we get from others.  We might not understand why another is grieving in the way they do, but we can still offer love and support.  To be sure, if other persons grief is taking them down a destructive path—alcohol, drugs, depression—we may need to act differently, but that’s a topic for another sermon.

I want to talk for a moment about the spiritual component of the grief process.  If you’ve ever been to a funeral in a church, and left the service feeling either uplifted or cold as ice, you have probably been impacted by the spirituality behind the message.  As we grieve for another, our thoughts logically move to the question of what happens after death—it’s part of the “anticipatory grief” process Dianna read about earlier.  Many of us take comfort in the thought of heaven, of hell, of reincarnation; we look forward to meeting our loved one again.  Please remember that the spiritual beliefs of others bring them just as much comfort as yours do.  Furthermore, each and every persons’ vision of the hereafter is different.  Even though NO human knows what happens after death, every spiritual leader of every faith in the world will willingly design an afterlife for you.  You are then left to define it.  The comfort you take in from defining your vision of an afterlife is another way to allow you to carry on.  Likewise, we should take care to allow our loved ones the afterlife they’ve defined.  After all, it doesn’t touch your defined afterlife, does it?  And, remember?  Every Sunday you’ve agreed:  “to seek the truth in love”.

Finally, have no regrets.  As the authors note in On Grief and Grieving, “When a loved one dies, we are often left with many regrets about all those things we wish we had done…

We all know intellectually that we don’t have forever.  We also know we can’t do it all.  But intellect does not inform matters of the heart.  Regrets are of the heart, the yearning for more and the chance to always do it better.

Regrets will always belong to the past.

Let me repeat that:  Regrets will always belong to the past.

And death has a cruel way of giving regrets more attention than they deserve…

No matter which choice you made, since the outcome now has been loss, you may regret not choosing whatever the other option was…

Do your best to make peace with as many regrets as possible.  It would be unrealistic to have done everything in life.  It would also be just as unrealistic to have been perfect and have no regrets.  Forgive yourself.”

My closing words to you?  Live, love, find and give each other peace and joy, and dance.  No regrets.   

Never, Ever Give Up

Women, we are being pushed into action once again.  State legislatures are filled with Republican men who have an agenda--it's not even a secret agenda--to deprive women of power.  By any means necessary.
We've seen it all before.  We've fought it all before.  We are tired of fighting it over and over and over again.  But fight we must.  Do I need to remind you that Susan B Anthony got up every single day, year after year, knowing she would never live to see the day when she could VOTE, but knew she had to do it for US--we, the next generations.
Now it's time for us to do it again.  For us, and for the future.  We can.  Yes, we can.

Stonewall Proclamation

Stonewall Declaration

On the occasion of the third anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion in 1969, this declaration went forth (adapted):

For as many years as gay and lesbian people in this country or any part of the world

Remain the captives and victims of hate-filled societies 
Let a day of each year hold an hour or a day of commemoration for the thousands who, in the missing pages of our history, 
Died alone in fire, 
Lived alone in terror, 
Wept alone in horror, 
Waited alone for each other, 
Cried alone for validation:

Whether gay men and lesbians died in the inquisition, in Nazi concentration camps, in prisons and mental hospitals across this country, in a fire-swept gay bar, tortured and abandoned, or as victims of our own isolation,

No one of us alone or together has enough tears to bring back to life the thousands of our sisters and brothers whose deaths have been denied by history and even by their own families.

All of our lives have already been numbered or distorted by a society that is too narrow for our love.

We must widen this world, by whatever means we know,

In the name of those dead, and for the sake of those living. 
Let this day and one day each year 
Remind us in anger  
Remind us in love 
That we have years to go 
Before we sleep ... In freedom.

Will We Speak Out?

Perhaps you remember this quote, attributed to Pastor Martin Niemoller.  He was speaking about the lack of response to actions by Hitler in Germany, prior to World War II.  He reportedly said:

"First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me."


I fear the powers in this country have taken a page out of Hitler's playbook.  Now, before you get all riled, hear me out--you are just as at risk as I am (it just might take them longer).  
I am condensing a lot of history here, but remember the time before unions came into existence?  There was basically a feudal system--men, women, and yes, children, worked for whoever had the power, wealth, and resources.  People worked 6 or 7 days a week in this 2-class system of  the wealthy and the not-wealthy. Working class people had very little reason to believe they could rise above their "station" in life.  They watched their children grow up to do exactly as they had done--if the children lived to adulthood, that is.  City life was just as bleak as rural life, and women had as many children as they were physically able to have--the rich needed all the workers they could possibly get, and there was just so much work to be done.  When one woman died giving birth, there were many others that could take her place.    
Fast forward now, past the rise of the labor union movement, the Great Depression, two World Wars--as you breeze past, you will see the rise of a middle class, increased literacy, a growing life expectancy, and a rise in the standard of living for most people.  Today, it is unheard of not to have indoor plumbing, electricity, and a weekend (of sorts).  Workers are allowed to take vacation, have holidays, and to see their children do better than they have (until recent history, but that's another story).  Together, the people were able to accomplish so much!  And, as an added bonus, corporations have access to a healthy, well-educated workforce.  However, those in power feel they don't have the control over "the masses" that they once did.  You feed them, educate them, and then they start getting all these ideas.  Women have joined the workforce in record numbers; it's no longer the "old boys network" that it once was, which makes some people in power very nervous.  No matter how much money they amass, it's still not enough--they need to have the power in this country; they keep looking over their shoulders, paranoid that "one of them" will come and take some of their precious power away.  And, in our crazy system, where money = power, those who have the power today worry that whatever money they have is not enough.  This is why people like the Koch Brothers, who are worth $20 BILLION, use a part of that wealth to stir up "the natives" about Health Care Reform--it's better to keep the "natives" broke and dependent on a system that puts more and more money in the coffers of the insurance industry and causes more and more bankruptcies among the unfortunate.  
The "divide and conquer" mentality is just as alive and well today as it's always been; Hitler was a genius in his application of it.  In recent history (since the 1950's) in this country, those in power have been honing their divisive skills, to the point that most people don't even realize they're doing it.  In the period just before the Civil Rights Movement, it was the African American who was evil, "stealing" all those jobs.  In the mid-1970's, we began to hear about those who were "born again".  Seizing a great opportunity for exploitation, the powers that be, via the Republican party, began pandering to the "Religious Right".  They found that by embracing the radical social agenda of the Right, they could create wedge issue after wedge issue--keep those people riled enough that they didn't notice deregulation of business, lowering of the corporate tax rate, and the rich getting phenomenally richer.  
Pushing the religion card, they convinced voters that the gays were bad, "liberals" were bad, public schools were evil, and taking care of the poor, the sick, and the needy was the responsibility of the poor, the sick, and the needy (let me just say I'm getting really sick of the term "personal responsibility" when it's applied, over and over, to the poor, but not to those in the banking industry).
But it's still not enough.  So here we are today--gays are still evil, women need to have babies--lots of them--accomplished by defunding reproductive health care.  
Ask yourselves:
When they came for the Muslims, did I speak up?
When they came for the labor unionists, did I speak up?
When they come for the gays, will I speak up?
When they come for the "illegal" immigrants, AND their US-born children, will I speak up?
When they come for women's reproductive health, especially for the poor, will I speak up?
When they come for my child's education, will I speak up?
When they come for my core beliefs, will I speak up?
WHEN will I speak up?