Monica’s Child cont…

If the lack of real life information regarding my post on Monica’s Child led any of you down the proverbial garden path, I do sincerely apologize. That was not my intent. But the issue is not whether Monica lied about having been raped by her 13 year old boyfriend – that is fact. The issue is one of understanding human nature (on my part) and helping a child cope with the knowledge that her own mother had lied to her and put such an unimaginable negative spin around the very circumstances of her birth for much of her life.

At one point the father of Monica’s Child was so traumatised himself he was sent out of the country to live with an aunt. It was the aunt who – after living with this young boy for a few years – called foul and questioned not only the validity of the claim of rape, but the lack of action on the part of his parents to clear their son’s name. It was her persistence and determination that saw Monica’s entire story unravel and – a few years later still – allow her nephew the courage to contact his daughter via the internet.

Monica has since formally disowned her child, along with many of her friends and relatives who also looked at the facts and stopped believing the lie. This includes her parents, her in-laws and a smattering of close friends. At the end of the day, Monica needs to perpetuate the lie because it provides the very foundation for all of her adult relationships. I hope one day she seeks help but I’m certain that day will never come for her.

Monica’s Child, on the other hand, has begun to log her experiences, emotions, feelings, confusion and anxieties in a journal. We are encouraging her to write as we believe it’s great therapy.  She is surrounded by people who care for her and about her and she is slowly coming out of her defensive shell. I hope one day she will publish her journal.

We also hope that she and her father will seek professional help because rape – even one that never happened – can leave permanent, emotional scars..

This is a quote from the boy’s aunt:

The two teens (14 &13) were sexually active for 1 year.  They were a couple, had teenage fights, but spent hours laughing and were outwardly very happy together.  Monica discussed her sex life with a close friend often and never once mentioned being raped.  The multiple rape tag was only placed after I directly questioned Monica about which time (during her relationship with my nephew) was she raped. After fumbling for a few minutes, it was clear to me that no-one had ever asked her that question before.

When Monica’s Child was reunited with her biological father, she went through his photo album and saw her mother at his 14th birthday party, holding his hand and very much happy – this photo was taken two weeks after she was conceived. It painted a very different picture than that of the image Monica’s Child had received from Monica regarding how miserable and fearful she’d been every single day of their young relationship.

My conclusion was a 15 year old got very scared, told a lie and has spent her life covering for that lie to ensure her credibility.  Protecting her image literally became her life’s work.

Personally, I have difficulty assigning adult labels to children or their actions. Childhood perceptions distort truth all the time.  For me, the entire reason thirteen year olds are not encouraged to engage in sexual activities is because they have not yet developed the mental maturity to deal with the plethora of emotions that accompany a sexual relationship.

And while some who do may only suffer the consequences of making a few bad decisions, apparently others paint themselves into a corner from which they can never emerge.

 @>`—>—

My thanks to all who contributed to the comments in the previous post. Your thoughtful and thought-provoking insights were (as always) well-received and appreciated. You’ve given me a lot to digest.

I am a rape victim. It took me many years to be able to say that out loud. It galls me to the bone that anyone could treat this violent act with such callous disregard as to unnecessarily ruin the lives of so many otherwise innocent people.

As for Monica’s Child – I’m betting we haven’t heard the last of her story.

 

Monica’s Child

Monica at age 14 begins an exclusive relationship with a classmate, a boy one year younger than she.  It’s public knowledge among their mates that they are an item. After a year, at age 15 Monica falls pregnant and tells her father and uncle that she was raped – by her boyfriend. Repeatedly.

The case was investigated. Family relatives were divided in their beliefs of the story of rape. Police looked but did not find any evidence to corroborate her story.  She gave birth to a healthy child, finished high school and at 18 meets a young man. They move in together, leaving the toddler behind, with the promise of frequent visitations and someday reuniting as a family.

The child is raised by incredibly caring grandparents with whom she feels wanted, loved and safe. At age 9 she is reunited with her mother, the boyfriend turned step-father, and a  half-sister, four years her junior. She embraces her family but misses her grandparents and never quite feels as though she belongs.

Not long after, and as the feeling of being the outsider in this new family arrangement intensifies,  her mother takes her aside and tells her she was conceived from a boyfriend who’d raped her. Repeatedly. Monica’s child is once again sent to live with her grandparents, who welcome her with open arms and do their best to soften the young girl’s news. She moves back and forth between families for the next few years.

As a teenager she meets another girl with a similar story and the two vow to find their biological fathers. Their search is foiled by a legal system full of sealed records and after a few months they give up.

Then one day while the girlfriend surfs the web, she trips over a website that features a handful of fathers looking for their children. There is a letter with her friend’s name on it. She replies.

The man introduces himself as the father of Monica’s child, explaining that he’d been looking for his daughter for a long time – but that he’d had to move far away because the rumour of his having raped a girl changed his life. He was innocent. But more than he wanted his child to know he wasn’t a rapist – he wanted her to know that she hadn’t been brought into this world from violence or anger – and that had he been given a chance he’d wanted to be her father, regardless of how young he and the mother had been. And they had been young. He was 13 when they began having sexual relations. Monica had been 14.

The young teenager made contact with her newly found parent. When Monica and her husband find out, Monica is so traumatised she’s hospitalised overnight and the her child is once again sent away.

There’s much, much more to this story and I understand how – some 20 years ago now, a young 14 year old girl could have probably feared her father enough to make the claim of rape to excuse her having become pregnant at such a young age. I’m not really faulting her for what happened between two kids and her subsequent prospect of having to face an angry parent.

What I can’t understand and am still trying to wrap my head around, is how the mother could have kept up the lie  all these years – why she even told her daughter she’d been conceived during rape – and why she continues to punish her daughter for an event that never took place. I don’t understand the logic at all and my outrage at what this woman has put this girl through – and continues to put her through – has me teetering on madness.

You have no idea how much self-restrain I’m having to use just to keep from calling this woman out publicly. But my young friend has had enough public humiliation and personal pain and dragging her mother out into the sunlight would only serve to add to her pain.

But if any of you can offer viable explanations, it might serve to help her heal.

 

Stand Up with the President

Waiting for permission to post the next part of my last post on women who cry wolf rape. In the meantime, this was in my morning’s emails:

The link to add your name is here.

I’m in – are you?

 

Do you know anyone who has lied about having been raped? Rephrase: Do you know (of) anyone who was not but claimed to have been raped? I’m looking at motivation.i

I bring this question and subject to you readers because I have exhausted my options on Google to find adequate research on this subject – and it is important to certain people in my world that this phenomenon be explained.

Most of the information that I found on the internet has to do with defending women accused of having lied about being raped – and the overwhelming defense that normally, women don’t. I get that. What I’m trying to understand myself and be able to explain to a teenager, is why there are cases where females have lied about it – the possible motivation behind the lie – and I especially aim this discussion at younger girls say between the ages of 13 and 17, making the false accusation but any insight will be considered helpful.

If you have a personal story you are willing to share or know of research data I may pursue – or have even an old-fashioned opinion I would greatly appreciate the input.

Thanks
Oz

 

Dear Mr. M. Joseph Sheppard

Dear Mr. M. Joseph Sheppard

Thank you for commenting on my blog. I just have a couple of questions…

On July 3, 2009 Sarah Heath Palin, in a dramatic announcement on her back lawn, quit her job as governor of Alaska because, she said, her presence was a distraction to the state and she would be able to do more for Alaskans and the country out of office than stuck in a lame duck term. With the help of a ghost-writer, Sarah Palin finished and subsequently had published her autobiography called Going Rogue and was on a whirlwind book-signing tour by November.

Her PAC continued to rake in the same big bucks as it did while she was the VP candidate on John McCain’s 2008 ticket. She personally rakes in $1mil per year working part-time for Fox News Channel. What I want to know is this:

What is it – specifically – that Sarah Heath Palin has done for Alaska and the country with this new-found wealth of time and money?

Has she founded any groups to help underprivileged children be better fed or educated?

Has she funded any drives to help native Alaskans in rural communities supplement their critically low food and heating supplies, issues they face yearly along with flooding that now comes from eroding coastal shores?

Has she donated her time and made sizable  donations to promote Down Syndrome awareness?

Has her PAC fully financed Republican candidates for the 2010 and 2012 election cycles?

Since walking out on her role as governor of Alaska to purportedly ‘do good’ for state and country, Sarah has had three winters to make her mark as charity leader for multiple causes for her state and six opportunities to enroll in university semesters that would extend her political resume and broaden her education. Has she?

The unfortunate answer to each of these questions is nup, nup and nup. In fact I see nothing that even remotely resembles sacrifice on her part in either time or money to promote any of the issues she told us emphatically were close to her heart. She didn’t personally pay for her scant trips abroad.  Because she refused to come out of her hotel room and mingle with the people, India and Israel media treated her like a rock star rather than a travelling dignitary. And what her PAC didn’t pay for on her overseas junkets, Evangelist groups like Samaritan’s Purse, did.

On behalf of Sarah Palin (the now millionairess) SarahPAC made a one-time contribution of $1,000 to Down Syndrome Assoc.(Sarah Heath Palin charges $100k + for each speech she makes on anyone’s behalf, while enjoying first class accommodations wherever she travels at the expense of the group who hired her to speak. Sarah and Todd could easily have made this donation themselves.)

You can count on less than ten fingers the number of campaign contributions SarahPAC has made to Republican candidates since its founding. (Even though, it’s interesting to note, the entire point of a PAC is for a popular politician to elicit funds and publicity for the lesser known candidates they wish to support, SarahPAC seems always more eager to pay extraordinarily large salaries to a handful of staff, picking up the tab for Sarah’s airfares and hotel accommodations while she travels to make her $100k speeches and – oddly enough – the massive postage needs of three ladies in Wasilla. Oh and let’s not omit the huge monthly retainer fee to her flavour of the month attorney.)

Sarah Heath Palin banked in excess of $7 – 10 million dollars by 2010 and has, by virtue of public records, donated nothing to any of her purported pet causes. Not time, not money, nothing. She’s not formed a single fund-raising drive for native Alaskans in danger of losing their homes and livelihoods to the growing negative effects of global warming on their villages. She’s not run one ad campaign to save Alaskan fishing sites from big oil or mining companies attempting to destroy the Alaskan waterways in the name of profits.

In fact, for someone who grew up in America’s last frontier and helped eke out a living by fishing its shores, Sarah’s not done anything at all to promote environmental preservation. (At least nothing that personally cost her a single penny.)

Show me what Sarah has accomplished for Alaska and her country since the summer of 2009 without citing speeches one must purchase a ticket to attend and don’t use the stale  ‘well she’s busy taking care of Trig’ because (a.) we know that’s not entirely true and (b.) she assured all of us, way back in September of 2008, that raising a child with DS would not come between her and her political duties, that she was a hockey mom with a servant’s heart and could do both with ease.

Since July 2009 Sarah has published 2 lucrative books, built a new home in Alaska, purchased another home in Arizona, made a self-serving television program and flown back and forth between Alaska, Arizona and California to supervise home improvements and appear on DWTS with her daughter, Bristol, (take a breath) but I hardly see these events as being beneficial to state or country. – and no proceeds were ever donated to charities.

She did make a 2011 pre-campaign-campaign tour of a few north-eastern US states (telling Piper they and her accompanying parents were on a family vacation) in a fully outfitted bus-length RV wrapped in $14k worth of PAC donation-paid political propaganda – all the while charging her PAC for hired limos and first-class hotel rooms and meals.

And so, Mr. M. Joseph Sheppard, you see we’re not just ‘catty’ over here on the left. We actually do our homework, get our facts straight and are not opposed to listening to the other guy’s point of view.

Show me how Alaska and the country have benefited from Sarah Heath Palin having quit her governorship. Show me where she’s shared her good fortune with those less fortunate. Show me.

Respectfully yours,
OzMud

P.S. I am a copywriter by trade, fully employed and it’s no secret that as I have the luxury of working from my home, most of my typing is done in bunny slippers and pj’s.

 

 

“Tell me how it ends, Leo!”

There is a quiet moral-of-the-story that threads its way through the seven seasons of the television series West Wing. It can be summed up in one quote: “Tell me how it ends, Leo!”

President Josiah Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen, is a Nobel-prize winning economist and master at the game of chess. Leo McGarry, played by the late John Spencer, is his chief of staff, a recovering alcoholic who is a master at politics. A struggle between the two men’s approaches to solving political problems builds subtly at first, then explodes in a magnificent crescendo in this episode as Leo, guardian of military tradition, bucks heads with Josiah, the chess master who has the fortunate (or unfortunate) ability to see multiple moves ahead in any battle, on or off the chess board.

If Josiah Bartlet were a real person and he was watching the Republican party inundate congress on both state and federal levels with the onslaught of bills aimed at stripping women of their rights, I can imagine him slamming a book down on his desk and demanding “Tell me where this ends Boehner, tell me how it ends!”

Because if you follow chess at all, it doesn’t take a master’s eye to see that the current path down which the Republicans are marching ends at women not being allowed to say no. Not ever.  Not to a father, a husband or a rapist.

First, the ability to choose when to fall pregnant is taken away by employers being given the legal right to withhold birth control from health insurance because contraception goes against the employers personal beliefs. Never mind her beliefs.

Next, funding for single women with children becomes extinct because the men have decided that lowering a national deficit takes priority. The fact that this lack of funding alters a single mother’s ability to independently raise her children is of no consequence. The men have decided what is important and what is not.

Then the few existing equal-pay for equal work laws are repealed, making it difficult for a woman to sup0port herself in a man’s world at all. Well, the women belong at home anyway. So sayeth the men.

Next, the mormon/evangelical/dominionist premise of the man being the one and true head of the family becomes the model – and then a mandate.

Because when you take a chess players  advice and step back to get a look at the board, the whole board you’ll see that anti-abortion laws were never about saving babies. They were aimed at stripping a woman of her rights.

Think I’m overreacting?

Republican groups are waiting in the wings to repeal the Lily Ledbetter fair pay act.

Republican groups are waiting in the wings to repeal the Affordable health
Care Act

Republicans are currently de-funding blocks of Planned Parenthood on state levels across the country.

Pregnant women are currently being imprisoned across America for the crime of having miscarried.

Some states have recently passed laws granting undeveloped embryos ‘personhood’.

Tell me how it ends, Leo. Tell me how it ends.

 

WTH Has Sarah Got on Her Feet? *UPDATE*

I swear these look like ice skates to me…

Not my photo – the original photos are here and the C4P story is here.

In a nutshell, the nutcase from AK got paid big bucks to spout her ‘we are the daughters of God’ dribble to an infatuated crowd of women at a religious convention over the weekend. I could care less. Well, except that every time she gets paid for spewing this crap some poor young, innocent woman gets sucked into the vortex.

There is something interesting going on though I thought in these recent speeches of hers… Sarah is actually instructing women to stand up for themselves. And the hidden problem with this for her is that in teaching women to stand up for themselves – they eventually, actually – will

Oops.

============  UPDATE  ============

FOUND ‘EM!!!
Irishgirl’s comment section piqued my interest even more so I thought what the heck – Google Images! And sure enough… there they were… FOR SALE!

And the BEST part is (drumroll please…) the shoes are called

H O B A K

That’s them, right?

Please make my day and tell me Sarah (you lil’ ho, you) wore shoes named after ‘the world’s oldest profession’  to a religious convention!

Talk about biblical!

BTW – shoes can be found here. This pair are sold out but the other HOBAK shoes seem to all be around $150-$200 each.

 

“Sarah Palin: You Betcha!” Lands in Sydney Australia (and if I read it right, the critics like neither Nick nor Sarah)

This morning, having a cuppa with cousin Margaret, she told me Sarah Palin was going to be on television this evening. She saw the ad on TV and couldn’t wait to give me the news! Margaret loves to tell me things she’s heard about the Palins because she says I’m very entertaining when I get all riled up and animated.

Margaret has recently been moved into a residential care facility where spouse and I now go every Sunday morning to have morning tea, bring her treats and try to make her transition more bearable. And I secretly overdo my reactions to her Palin comments – just to see her laugh.  On top of loving this woman to bits, it’s part of my job as Yank to be a silly one.

**Notice**  I hate hot key shortcuts. Especially when (A) you don’t know what they are and (B) they surprise you by posting your unfinished article in the middle of a sentence… grrr  (if you got here to find only part of this post up – sorry!)

When arriving back home I looked it up and sure enough, Nick Broomfield’s documentary finally hit Australia. I did screenshots of the TV Guide and Sydney Herald write-up in case just giving you this link didn’t work.

[Click each image to enlarge]

If I read this correctly, the Sydney Herald Staff writer wasn’t too keen on the results of Broomfield’s effort to track down the ‘real’  Sarah Palin – but neither was he complimentary about the Grizzled Mama herself. While referring to her in one sentence as one of the greatest political stories of the decade, he appears verbally stressed over the fact that the documentary makes her appear sympathetic.

Or maybe, even after 15 years of living on this island, I still don’t quite speak fluent Australian. (LOL).

Anyway, have a read and you tell me what the writer was thinking…

Here’s the Sydney Herald TV Guide version of the promo:

 

Uh-oh… Ann Romney Trips Over her Own Cake.

This in my morning’s emails:

<OzMud…>

Please send an email to your member of Congress to support the Woman’s Option to Raise Kids (WORK) Act, which gives low-income women with children under age four the choice to stay at home to raise their kids. Click here to send an email.

Now that Republicans have flip-flopped on their decades-long denigration of mothers and decided that staying at home to raise children is work—or at least, it’s work when Ann Romney does it—some House Democrats are telling them to put their money where their mouth is by introducing the Woman’s Option to Raise Kids (WORK) Act.

The WORK Act allows raising children under the age of four to count toward the required “work activity” defined under the 1996 Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Program. If Republicans really valued the work mothers do, they’d support legally defining raising young children as work so that more low-income moms can make the same choice Ann Romney made.

However, with Democrats calling their bluff, many Republicans are folding. When asked about the WORK Act, Rep. Jon Mica (R-FL) said being a mother “isn’t work in the normal sense.” Teabagger Rep. Steve King of Iowa compared the hard work of motherhood to washing his car.

Please, send an email to your member of Congress in support of the WORK Act. It’s either time to give all moms the same choice Ann Romney had, or to put an end to this sham outrage.

Keep fighting,
Kaili Joy Gray, Daily Kos

Excellent update at the Daily Kos on how the Republicans have downgraded their stand on defining stay-at-home moms from real workers to- you know – people who don’t really work at all. Well that didn’t take long, did it…

 

Angus the Fly Slayer

Was headed for bed last night when a fly, landing on a stack of unopened mail to my right, caught my attention. This fly had been hounding me all day and I was pretty done with letting it live. I contemplated getting the swatter (a beyond last resort for me as I really do try to let all things living – be.)

But as I sat there finishing a note to my son an extraordinary thing happened… a baby gecko slithered out from under the pile of mail and began stalking his prey.

My camera sits on a shelf to my left and I tried to get it, turn it on and aim it without disturbing the epic scene building beside my mousepad… but alas the fly was sensitive to my movement and took off. The gecko, however, stayed determinedly still.

The flash didn’t phase him. Perfectly still, like a stone statue the gecko sat, apparently waiting for the fly to return.

“You do realise” I chided the gecko, “this fly is bigger than all of your head and most of your torso.” The gecko cocked his head as if he understood. I continued.

“The thing is, while catching it would be admirable, getting the behemoth into your tiny mouth would be quite another feat altogether. So while I’m on your side in the endeavour, I’m not certain you’ve thought this through to the end.”

The gecko cocked his head once more as if taking hunting advice from a giant was  a daily event in his little life. But then spouse opened my office door and the gecko  scurried down the side of my desk.

Spouse, of course, wanted to know to whom I was speaking as he hadn’t heard the phone ring – and knew we didn’t have company.

“Aww” I muttered, “you scared him off.”

“I scared who off?”

“Angus.”

“Angus who?” he asked confused.

“Angus the fly-slayer. ” I replied with a certain tone I tend to get when spouse doesn’t just ‘know’ what I’m talking about without my having to offer an explanation. A girlfriend would  jump in and catch up without needing a set of directions,  as would a daughter, mother or sister.  But – a man being good at reading a woman’s mind? I’ve never found one.

Needless to say there was a pause. After a while I gave in. “The fly that’s been bugging me all day? There’s a gecko on his tail. He was right on my desk. I’m rooting for him to catch it. He’s just a baby. And his name is Angus.”

Spouse, ignoring the legitimacy of my knowing the gecko’s name (much less that the gecko even had a name) patted me on the head and said “Well I’ll leave you to it then…” and I’m sure he said something more (and more than likely something uncomplimentary), but his voice trailed off as he left the room and I didn’t catch it all. (Which is probably for the best.)

A few minutes later as I clicked my way out of Outlook, the fly flew past my shoulder and as if on cue Angus popped his head out from underneath the pile of white envelopes.

“You are an ambitious sort” I said to the gecko, “but if you can catch that big, nasty fly – tomorrow  I will show you where a horde of tiny, delicious moths are hiding.”

And with that, I left my desk, shut the door behind me and went to bed.

This morning both annoying fly and Angus were nowhere to be seen. I hope he had a good feed and sticks around for moth season. And I hope Angus feels comfortable enough to come back for another chat or two. Would be fun watching him grow up. And if he brings his brothers and sisters around I’ll toss in a few tasty mozzies, too.

 

Unless Mitt Romney Lived in His Son’s Unfinished Basement in 2010, He May Be Facing Charges of Voter Fraud

Mother Jones broke this story in June of last year:

Did Mitt Romney Commit Voter Fraud?

Did Mitt Romney commit voter fraud when he cast a ballot for Scott Brown in last year’s special election in Massachusetts? On Monday, one of his lesser known opponents for the GOP presidential nomination, Fred Karger, filed a complaint with Massachusetts state election officials alleging that he voted for Brown, as well as in other Massachusetts elections, when he was not in fact a resident of the Bay State.

Read the rest of Fred Karger’s account here.

Forbes picked up the story adding their two cents:

Did Mitt Romney Live In His Son’s Unfinished Basement Last Year?

Mitt Romney lived in his son’s unfinished basement in Belmont, Massachusetts in 2010 – or at least that what he claimed to the state to be able to vote last year, says GOP candidate Fred Karger.

If that’s true, Romney showed a true commitment to voting for Republican Senator Scott Brown in last year’s special election, since he owns a $12.5 million home in La Jolla, Calif. and a $10 million home in New Hampshire’s Lake Winnipesaukee – but no home in the state he was once governor.

Rest of Forbes article can be read here.

The Democratic Underground republished the story yesterday but there doesn’t seem to be any new information and considering there’s been almost a full year between discovery and now, it seems unlikely that the Romney’s haven’t somehow already managed to dodge the bullet.

Democratic Underground article is here.

The later articles each have the following quote used as a link:

Mitt Romney’s motto: vote early and vote often!

but in each case the link takes me to a private blog and not the source of the quote. If anyone reading this knows the origin of this quote please drop me a comment. Googling it now only leads me back to the same blog – thanks

H/T to FEDUP!

 

Romney Tells Pres. Obama “Start Packing” Seriously? PLUS: Ted Nugent calls Obama Administration “as Nazi Germany as it gets”

From a Diane Sawyer interview just hours ago…

I am so over all the open disrespect shown our duly-elected, highly successful, currently seated president. Totally over it.

BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!

TED NUGENT recently endorsed Mitt Romney. In fact, Romney actually solicited Nugent’s endorsement. This weekend at an NRA conference (while the media was in a frenzy over Hilary Rosen’s overly-disected statement about Ann Romney not understanding what it’s like to be a middle-class working mother) Ted Nugent took to a microphone and called President Obama everything but a white boy.

He even stated the current Obama administration was “as Nazi Germany as it gets”. Listen for yourself:

If you don’t have the stomach for the 3 minute audio – News Corpse has a transcript here.

Quote: “We need to ride into Washington in November and chop their heads off!”

yeah, that’s who I want leading my country…

But let’s make sure we continue to harp at Ms. Rosen for stating a truth and ignore the treasonous rhetoric spewing hate from the Romney camp.

 

If You give a girl a Paycheck… From Blue Gal

Reprinted in part from Blue Gal’s website… GO HERE to view full post – it’s so brilliant I’m jealous!

 

 

Romney Built RomneyCare as a Platform to Obtain the Presidency. Oops.

It’s not that this is new information. It’s that now that Mitt Romney appears to be the presumptive candidate for the 2012 election, we have to wonder how he’ll back peddle his way out of condemning ObamaCare – because our current president thought RomneyCare was such a great idea (and has always given Romney his due credit) he fashioned his Affordable Health Care Act after the Republican governor’s

RomneyCare is now 6 years old (2/2/06).  Team Obama went on youtube in Februaryto wish RomneyCare a very Happy Birthday, and to thank former Governor Romney for this brilliant health care platform. Today, Team Obama uses the youtube clip to remind Republicans that the medical health care plan they so eagerly oppose and want to repeal… WAS REALLY THEIR IDEA!

It’s going to be interesting to see how agile Mitt is at flip-flopping on his own creation. Methinks he missed his true calling. He should have been a gymnast.

 

Arizona is at it again: New Anti-Abortion Legislation Signed. Sealed and Shoved down Our throats *Update

From the Daily Beast:

…Life starts earliest in Arizona, which now defines gestational age as beginning on the first day of a woman’s last period, rather than at fertilization…

I am without words.

=======
UPDATE
=======

From the comments:

When the medical profession defines gestation as beginning on the first day of the woman’s last period they extend the pregnancy to include an additional two weeks. Pregnancy is then defined as being 42 weeks long. But it was never intended to be used as a legal term.

Using gestational age to interpret feotal development age muddies the waters and sets a precedent for personhood lobbyists to shorten the currently legally accepted timeframes for early abortion. Once that precedent is set, the timing on heretofore legally obtained abortions is reduced by two to four weeks and we will be vulnerable to being charged with accountability of a feotus that hasn’t even been conceived yet.

Gestational age is a medical term which should never be interjected onto actual feotal development. It is complete overkill. If it is allowed to be used as a legal definition for ‘beginning of life’  our rights as women will be in serious jeopardy.

From John Hopkins online:

Nowhere in the language used in the Arizona legislation does the author adjust the additional days added at the begi9nning of a 42 week gestational period. Instead, the 20 week legal precedent used to define legal abortions has been truncated by two full weeks, cutting the time to obtain a legal abortion from 20 down to 18 weeks. And this doesn’t even take into account the timing of late ovulation which could then tack an additional one to two weeks onto the time between ‘the first day of a woman’s last period’ and the time of actual conception.

It should be important to note that no matter how gestational age is defined, the science behind the actual length of a pregnancy is not altered. It still takes 38 to 40 weeks to incubate a healthy feotus, ready to emerge and take it’s first breath no matter where you decide to place the start marker. Legislating this marker is then redundant, and only useful if the intent is to create new precedent by which lobbyists can alter existing laws.

Gestational age is a ‘method of measurement’ not a legal term but we run the risk of it becoming a legal fact and overturning the medical science used to create our abortion laws, and laws making women liable during feotal development.

It’s also one dangerous step towards making personhood effective a full month prior to a child even being conceived. Gestational age and feotal development after conception are not the same. It’s inaccurate to interpose the terms and then create legislation based upon the inaccuracies.

Thank you kitchem for your thoughtful comment.

Ok that’s my two cents folks – your thoughts?

 

SarahP(alin)A(ccess)C(ash) finally getting the exposure it so richly deserves.

Malia Litman posted this story on her blog today – and because it speaks to a sentiment by which so many of us have been so frustrated for so long I thought it should be re-posted – everywhere.

It’s not by accident Alaskan bloggers refer to Sarah Palin as Granny Grifter. Alaska’s taxpayers have been witness to (and victims of) the Palin’s enjoying unearned government perks for a couple of decades now. In fact, the list of the number of incidents that directly or indirectly put government funds and personal donations into Palin pockets since her mayorship back in the nineties is mind-numbing. How she’s been able to get away with the practice of stealing from tax payers for so long could almost cause one to believe in miracles.

But now the publicly-aired quarterly financial reports are shining bright on Sarah’s grifting and a few of her faithful followers and regular PAC contributors are stepping into the light. They are beginning to ask questions like why are their donations to SarahPAC  paying three ladies in Wasilla a total of $35,000 for three months of clerical work? Why did the PAC foot the bill for a $19,000,  2-minute video to rebut the movie Game Change – when neither the HBO movie itself or the rebuttal have anything at all to do with the current election cycle?

And I must admit, for all the time and energy I’ve personally spent on this blog jumping up and down, flailing my arms while trying to help the other bloggers shine that light on the Palin’s unethical fleecing of the public  – it’s now rather satisfying to rest on the sidelines with the others and think … hey Palinbots? Told you so!

[Click Image to enlarge]

The Atlantic article by staff writer Conor Friedersdorf is here.

Nice catch Malia – you may have found a Republican we can actually get behind.

 

Romney: Finicky or Funicky

Evidently, when it comes to food Mitt Romney is one of those finicky eaters who only eats what he likes and hates what he doesn’t like. I’ve had the misfortune of having to cook for people like this – folks who aren’t content to just dislike a food item but feel compelled to let all those around them know they are displeased with what has been put in front of them. It’s a confusing, frustrating time in the kitchen when you are responsible for a finicky eaters’ diet.

According to Mother Jones, Romney’s eating habits caused some hiccoughs on the campaign trail and someone somewhere dug up a restaurant review (well of course he was an actual food critic – finicky eaters who are also eccentric to the bone usually fancy themselves as having impeccable taste ). It is a review  of an Olive Garden in Grand Rapids, North Dakota and Mother Jones has published it in it’s entirety here:

It starts off like this…

Olive Garden is Great
By Mitt Romney

 Let me tell you, this place is great. Is this where you folks normally eat? Only when you’re broke, that’s right. Heh.

I’m not going to critique the critique… you be the judge. I’m just sad for the negative publicity. There’s tongue-in-cheek and then there’s just mean.  Back in the nineties, that was a favourite place of mine to dine and I never had a negative moment in any of the Olive Gardens I ever visited.

For someone touted as a professional, nationally recognised commentator on food and culture I think Mitt Romney is a huge flop.

Lead-in story to this post is here at the Daily meal where his unkind words are boasted as a hilarious review. I evidently have quite a different sense of humour.

 

 

 

Where in the World is George Zimmerman? (Update) Charged and in custody!

… I feel a video game coming on.

Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego screenie

Ok. Moment’s passed.

Last weekend George Zimmerman dropped off the map. His (now former) attorneys of record came out earlier in the week to announce they no longer represented Mr. Zimmerman (albeit they still back his killing of Trayvon Martin as justifiable) as he has not returned phone calls and appears no longer to be at his Florida residence.  They cited the knowledge of Zimmerman having contacted Sean Hannity (Fox News Channel) to arrange an interview against their instruction as the main reason for dumping him as a client.

Well sure. Because chatting up Hannity is way more offensive than having murdered an innocent teenager.

Think Progress has the scoop on Zimmerman and Hannity here.

Think Progress has the announcement of Zimmerman’s attorneys ditching him here.

Laurence O’Donnell has an updated video of the attorneys resignations from the Zimmerman defense here.

Both Think Progress  articles have videos worth watching. There’s also a short about how an unnamed relative has come forward (well, how ‘forward’ can it be if he or she is unnamed) to tell the world not to bother looking for George in Florida because he’s no longer there. (Exit mysterious witness stage right.)

Hey wait – How can this be? I thought all reputable, conservative Republicans like Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly didn’t believe in anonymous sources? Hmmm. Must only be Democratic anonymous sources they berate.

Well here it is Thursday morning and Zimmerman is still AWOL and I want to know… how? why? He has not been formally charged with the killing of Trayvon Martin – but neither has he been cleared. So while he is still under investigation, how can it be legal for him to have left town?

Mr. Zimmerman has launched a website titled therealgeorgezimmerman. Outfitted with a PayPal button the website elicits financial donations to cover George’s living (on the lam) expenses while he’s being investigated.  Makes sense. Free money is free money – Sarah taught her party well.

But with almost a week between George launching a website, donning running shoes and now, my multi-question of the day is this:

Where is George Zimmerman?

Why was he allowed to leave town?

Is he still packing a loaded gun?

And if none of those questions make you just a little uncomfortable ask  this one:

Does this face say Computer Savvy Web Author to you?

Somebody had to create his website and show him how to use PayPal. He didn’t figure it out on his own.

Is the IRS out there?

============ UPDATE ============

New Question: Can his whereabouts not be traced via receipt of funds from the PayPal account?

CHARGED AND IN CUSTODY!

Watching the live-feed video here.

I feel relieved that a person who actively carried a loaded weapon and has killed at least one person under most questionable circumstances is no longer roaming around, free to be provoked into shooting someone else.

 

Wow – Are We Nearing the End of Cancer? (I woke up to this article today…) Update

Vaccine targets 90pc of cancers

From The West Australian April 10, 2012

Scientists have produced a vaccine that can train patients’ bodies to find and destroy tumour cells.

ImMucin has been developed by the drug company Vaxil Biotherapeutics and researchers at Tel Aviv University who have studied a protein called MUC1, the Sunday Telegraph reports.

Scientists have discovered that MUC1, which is found on the surface of cancer cells, can be used to trigger a response in the patient’s immune system to detect and fight tumours.

The therapy could provide a “universal injection” to help people fight common cancers such as breast, prostate, pancreatic, bowel and ovarian cancer.

Preliminary results from clinical trials suggest that the vaccine can trigger an immune response in patients and reduce levels of disease, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

Vaxil Biotherapeutics said: “ImMucin generated a robust and specific immune response in all patients which was observed after only two to four doses of the vaccine out of a maximum of 12 doses. In some of the patients, preliminary signs of clinical efficacy were observed.”

While the scientists hope to continue trials to prove the effectiveness of the vaccine, they believe it could be used to treat small tumours or to prevent the return and spread of the disease.

The Daily Mail reports that participants of a safety trial at the Hadassah Medical Centre in Jerusalem had “greater immunity” to the blood cancer multiple myeloma after receiving the vaccine.

Ten people took part, and three of the seven people who have finished the treatment are now free of “detectable” cancer. The only side-effect they experienced was “minor irritation”.

The scientists behind the vaccine hope to conduct more extensive trials in patients to prove its effectiveness.

The human immune system usually does not recognise cancer cells because tumours are formed of a person’s own cells and not recognised as a threat.

MUC1 is found in normal cells, according to the Telegraph, but levels are too low for the vaccine to trigger the immune system.

The results are still to be published formally, but the Daily Mail reports that if trials continue successfully, the vaccine could be on the market by 2020.

============
UPDATE
============

In case you’d like to know more about the Tel Aviv University their website is here:

From the section About TAU:

Located in Israel’s cultural, financial and industrial heartland, Tel Aviv University is the largest university in Israel and the biggest Jewish university in the world. It is a major center of teaching and research, comprising nine faculties, 106 departments, and 90 research institutes. Its origins go back to 1956, when three small education units – The Tel Aviv School of Law and Economics, an Institute of Natural Sciences, and an Institute of Jewish Studies – joined together to form the University of Tel Aviv.

 At first attached to the Tel Aviv municipality, the University was granted autonomy in 1963, and its campus in the residential section of Ramat Aviv was established the same year.

 Tel Aviv University offers an extensive range of study programs in the arts and sciences, within its Faculties of Engineering, Exact Sciences, Life Sciences, Medicine, Humanities, Law, Social Sciences, Arts and Management. The original 170-acre campus has been expanded to include an additional 50-acre tract, now being developed.

Gorgeous campus. And it serves as a huge reminder to one and all that the entire middle east is not made up of bomb-carrying, America-hating,  uneducated souls whom ‘we’ need to rush in and rescue. And because their citizens do not have to waste precious resources on unending political campaigns, they are free to get things done.

Like finding a cure for cancer that is only eight short years away from being a reality.

 

If Corporations are People – Why aren’t they Paying Taxes like the rest of us?

Courtesy of Think Progress:

Last year, Citizens for Tax Justice found that 30 major corporations had made billions of dollars in profits while paying no federal income tax between 2008 and 2010. Today, CTJ updated that report to reflect the 2011 tax bill of those 30 companies, and 26 of them have still managed to pay absolutely nothing over that four year period:

 – 26 of the 30 companies continued to enjoy negative federal income tax rates. That means they still made more money after tax than before tax over the four years!

 – Of the remaining four companies, three paid four year effective tax rates of less than 4 percent (specifically, 0.2%, 2.0% and 3.8%). One company paid a 2008-11 tax rate of 10.9 percent.

 – In total, 2008-11 federal income taxes for the 30 companies remained negative, despite $205 billion in pretax U.S. profits. Overall, they enjoyed an average effective federal income tax rate of –3.1 percent over the four years.

 Amongst the 30 are corporate titans such as General Electric, Boeing, Verizon, and Mattel. The only four companies that slipped into positive tax territory were DTE Energy, Honeywell, Wells Fargo, and DuPont, with DuPont the only one that paid more than 4 percent over the four years.

And in case you haven’t heard, Walgreens has confirmed pulling all their advertising from any and all Rush Limbaugh shows, includuing any and all shows around his time slots. They are the 67th major company to confirm giving Rush the boot.

 

Google this and have a Hoppy Geek Easter!

Place entire formula into Google search engine:

1.2+(sqrt(1-(sqrt(x^2+y^2))^2) + 1 – x^2-y^2) * (sin (10000 * (x*3+y/5+7))+1/4) from -1.6 to 1.6

(If you don’t get to the animated egg, try copy/pasting the formula into a notepad first – then save the file and copy/paste again into google.)

(May not work with mobile phones or older browsers. )

If the above doesn’t work Google  all of this:

Graph for 1.2+(sqrt(1-sqrt(x^2+y^2)^2)+1-x^2-y^2)*(sin(10000*(x*3+y/5+7))+1/4)

 

hahahahaha! Palin for VP again? hahahahaha!

McCain:
Romney Should Choose Palin As Vice Presidential Candidate

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John McCain says Rick Santorum should recognize “it’s time for a graceful exit” from the Republican presidential campaign in the wake of Mitt Romney’s sweep of primaries in Wisconsin, Maryland and the District of Columbia.

 McCain also tells “CBS This Morning” there’s a strong field of Republicans who could be the vice presidential candidate.

 When asked to suggest some names Wednesday, the Arizona Republican said, “I think it should be Sarah Palin.” But when pressed to elaborate, he said “I think we have some very qualified candidates,” citing Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Govs. Mitch Daniels of Indiana, Chris Christie of New Jersey and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana.

 Palin, the former governor of Alaska, was McCain’s running mate in his unsuccessful bid for the presidency four years ago.

Aww this just made my whole day! I bet she even thinks of herself as being even MORE qualified this time around!

 

Queen Sarah’s Today Show Crown a Little Tarnished (after all)

From the Washington Post:

NEW YORK — ABC’s “Good Morning America” is claiming a one-day victory in viewership over longtime champ “Today” on NBC.

 On Wednesday, “GMA” was watched by 5.236 million viewers, while 5.149 million viewers tuned into “Today,” according to the Nielsen Co.

Wow. Can we let that sink in for a moment?

On the day before, Tuesday, the day Sarah Palin supposedly walloped Katie Couric by attracting 4.5 million viewers to Katie’s .5 million viewers, Palin fans were quick to do the ‘landslide victory lap’ with their queen.  But then on Wednesday, Ryan Seacrest drew one million more viewers (ratings reported viewers at 5.5  million) than had tuned in to see Sarah on Tuesday and as it turns out, The Today Show N O R M A L L Y enjoys an audience of between 4 and 5 million daily.

So in reality, Sarah’s appearance had little effect on the show’s average, daily ratings.

Her actual ratings bump was in the mere thousands, compared to Seacrest who bumped the numbers by exactly one million. Hardly worth the effort of polishing the crown…

 

Barack Obama sings “I’m Sexy & I Know It”

Under the category TOO CUTE 4 WORDS!

 

“Katie” To Premiere Monday 10, September 2012 (That’s got to piss her royalness off so much…)

Executive Producer Jeff Zucker today announced key production updates for Katie Couric’s highly anticipated nationally syndicated talk show, “Katie.” The live, weekday show has already been cleared in 94% of the country, and will premiere on Monday, September 10, 2012. The show is distributed by Disney-ABC Domestic Television.

So this Tuesday, did a few million people tune into the Today Show to see Sarah rather than Katie? You betcha… because we know Katie’s going to be there for us in the long haul – but Sarah’s always a train-wreck waiting to happen and most of us were compelled to watch. (We’re only human.)

But the truth is, once the novelty is over and the Wasilla-Hillbilly voice has scratched through the surface of our tolerance, the millions of rubberneckers will change the channel, Sarah will morph back  into a cliche and Katie will still be there, a well-credentialed, professional journalist.

About the Today show… I am so disappointed in Matt Lauer for not calling Sarah out on her President Obama bashing. He never questioned one of her erroneous statements and she gave him plenty of opportunity. For instance, President Obama does not set the price of gasoline, the world market does. And President Obama didn’t support the banks bail-outs to protect the bankers – he did it to protect the hundreds of millions of Americans who had their life savings IN those banks.

Shame on Matt for not standing up to her. Really, a shameful display of journalism.

 

“Sorry Sarah, Katie’s The Queen” – says The Daily Beast

The video is here and these are my favourite spots:

John Avlon, Rebecca Dana and Louise Roug had just finished discussing bin Laden’s rather luxurious life in hiding. Time to change topics and my first ‘spit coffee all over my desk moment’ comes at the 1:15 mark:

“Well, speaking of taking disasters and putting them on television…” (referring to Sarah’s appearance on the Today Show.)

and again at 2:03:

“If Sarah Palin is your ‘big guns’ isn’t that essentially admitting defeat?” Oh Ouch! That had to hurt!

So whatever the numbers turn out to be, at least we can pretty much tell that the real lamestream media has Sarah’s number and while they’re willing to let her play in their sandbox this week, none of them will be any too happy to have to share their real jobs with her

I actually would love to see Sarah Palin succeed as a talk-show host. Let her compete with actual television personalities where she’s only accountable to her ratings polls and get her the Hell out of politics!

 

Hullo! We Found Elvis! And He’s Only Two!

This is just enchanting and makes me want to believe in reincarnation…

 

What an amazing little guy! He sat through an evening watching his parents and their dance club and showed everyone what he learned. Don’t miss his big finish!

(Ahh if I were only 50+ + years younger and potty trained…)

 

Rally for Equal Rights Amendment has Republican Rep Richard Hanna Telling Women to Support Democrats

From my Email bag:

OzMud, words I never thought I’d say, but this Republican member of Congress speaks for me:

As the only Republican Congressman at a rally for the Equal Rights Amendment on Thursday, Rep. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) gave women an unexpected piece of advice: Give your money to Democrats.

 ”I think these are very precarious times for women, it seems. So many of your rights are under assault,” he told the crowd of mostly women. “I’ll tell you this: Contribute your money to people who speak out on your behalf, because the other side — my side — has a lot of it. And you need to send your own message. You need to remind people that you vote, you matter, and that they can’t succeed without your help.” […]

 ”This is a dogfight, it’s a fistfight, and you have all the cards,” he said. “I can only tell you to get out there and use them. Tell the other women, the other 51 percent of the population, to kick in a few of their bucks. Make it matter, get out there, get on TV, advertise, talk about this. The fact that you want [the ERA] is evidence that you deserve it and you need it.”

That Republican is right: it’s time to make Republicans pay at the ballot box for the war on women they are waging across the country.

 At Daily Kos, we have endorsed three of the strongest Democratic women running for Congress you will find anywhere: Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts, Darcy Burner in Washington, and Ann McLane Kuster in New Hampshire.

 Please, click here to contribute $5 to their campaigns. We really do hold all the cards, and it’s time we started playing them.

 Keep fighting,

Kaili Joy Gray, Daily Kos

Because it’s April 1st I was skeptical – but  Google directed me to Firedog Lake and Huffington Post, both with the same story so *I think* it could be true. How cool is that!

Here’s the face of my new hero:

 

Also, below the article at HuffPo (link above) there is a series of video clips, each part of an interview with Carole Burnett talking about her part in ERAback in the 1070′s when equal pay for equal jobs didn’t exist in any form at all. You have to sit through an abundance of short commercials, but I for one would sit through fire to hear this incredible woman speak… so what’s a few Cadbury Egg promos!

 

Anyone Know What This Is?

 

???

 

Christ Wore a Hoodie…

… as did the apostles and saints.

At least three of the apostles in the Last Supper are wearing hoodies of the day… and Christ is wearing a cape meant to be drawn over the head in the rain or cold… like a hoodie.

…

…

How do you like THEM apples Geraldo?

 

When is a Gaffe Not a Gaffe?

From the UK:

President Barack Obama was caught on microphone telling Dmitry Medvedev that he would have more flexibility after November’s election deal with contentious issues such as missile defence.

(Full article and video in link above.)

I’m not an expert on either protocol or diplomacy but I can guess that when two heads of state are talking privately with their heads together in whispers, things are going to be said which are not intended for public consumption.

I’m also pretty certain that whatever ‘arrangements’ were being transacted between the two presidents that Pres. Obama showing personal confidence in winning the upcoming election was more strategy than gaffe. It’s not like we overheard him promising to deliver weapons-grade uranium to Medvedev’s second cousin in Gramercy Park at midnight. No. He was simply strengthening his position – the U.S. position – with an ally.

I wonder how many times McCain told someone “Do this for me now because after I’m elected president…”

And besides – Pres.  Obama was probably telling the truth – he will be in a better position after the November election to come through on his promises to Russia.  When he is re-elected in November will we look back on this and think  he was simply being clairvoyant?

See? Gaffe? What gaffe?

 

 

 

 

Poignant Comment from Will Smith

This pretty much says it all…

Although I would have been tempted to add “…and still walking around carrying a loaded gun.”

 

Larry Pratt Says Citizens Stalking Other Citizens With a Loaded Gun is OK – Poor Cenk has Aneurysm Trying to Remain Calm.

This is a two-part clip of a video interview between Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks and Larry Pratt, executive director of the Gun Owners of America, who says that George Zimmerman’s claim of self defense in his shooting of Trayvon Martin was fact.

Part One:

Part Two:

 

Santorum Ad ‘Obamaville’ Worst Campaign Ad I’ve Ever Seen – Ever

How is this even allowed on television? There’s not one fact present in the entire ad… not one. Who thought this was a smart thing to do?

This is free speech? Really?

 

More at The Hill.

 

Not the Shooter’s Fault… It Was the Hoodie! (Geraldo Rivera blames Trayvon’s death on his clothing.))

Geraldo Rivera of Fox News Channel is busily defending Trayvon Martin’s shooter by blaming the incident on the kid’s wearing a hoodie. Forget that is was raining and the hoodie was appropriate apparel, it was the hoodie that caused Zimmerman to shoot because you know, hoodies are only worn by bad guys. ( Hey Geraldo -  even your son is ashamed of how you and Fox are spinning this tragedy.)

I’m guessing Rivera is one of these creeps who thinks that if a woman wears a pretty dress it’s her fault for getting raped.

Shame on you.

Full story and update at Think Progress.

 

 

The Rape of Lucretia – 1571

 

Really? This is the story you guys want to stick with?

 

From the WSJ: New Huckabee Radio Show Moves In on Limbaugh’s Turf

A fan of Mike Huckabee I most certainly am not. But if the information in this article from the Wall Street Journal is an accurate prediction of things to come, I might even tune into the man’s radio talk show on occasion to hear what his conservative view has to offer.

It could very well be that Rush Limbaugh is about to take his rightful place among the other dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. That would be great, thanks.

An excerpt:

Starting April 9, Mr. Huckabee, a Fox News Channel commentator, will go head-to-head with Mr. Limbaugh in a syndicated radio program airing in the noon to 3 p.m. Eastern time, weekday slot.

“The Huckabee Show” will initially air on 140 stations, well short of Mr. Limbaugh’s roughly 600. But the recent drama over Mr. Limbaugh calling a Georgetown law student a “slut” for her comments about contraception insurance coverage has given Mr. Huckabee an opening. Numerous advertisers bolted from “The Rush Limbaugh Show,” and at least two stations dropped the program.

With the slogan “more conversation, less confrontation,” the syndicator behind “Huckabee,” Cumulus Media Networks, has been pitching the new show to advertisers as a less combative alternative to Mr. Limbaugh.

 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! [UPDATE +O'Bama Video]

When my hair is all snow white I just might follow this little guy’s style

Perfect parental guidance! Always pick one or the other but never do the same one twice – keep them on their toes and guessing!

(I know just how the poor man feels!)

This belongs on a tee shirt!

Ahh – been there done that rofl!

============ UPDATE ============

With all the clever costumes worn on the day, how can you tell if a real Leprechaun has been to your St. Patty’s Day party?

Ahhh… (damn leprechauns!)

 

AND FINALLY… COURTESY OF THATCROWWOMAN AND IRISHGIRL:

 

Pink: Dear Mr. President – 2006 (video & lyrics)

I am a Pink fan. How I managed to miss this until just today I’ll never know. Maybe the universe knew I wasn’t ready before. But this is a powerful sentiment and speaks volumes to the achievements made by our current president – and the obstacles he’s had to face to get anything done for us at all.

What do I think of the eight year Republican Bush Administration? I think I’m glad it’s over and I hope to God we never go back.

Dear Mr. President,
Come take a walk with me.
Let’s pretend we’re just two people and
You’re not better than me.
I’d like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly.

What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street?
Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep?
What do you feel when you look in the mirror?
Are you proud?

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye
And tell me why?

Dear Mr. President,
Were you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
How can you say
No child is left behind?
We’re not dumb and we’re not blind.
They’re all sitting in your cells
While you pave the road to hell.

What kind of father would take his own daughter’s rights away?
And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay?
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say
You’ve come a long way from whiskey and cocaine.

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye?

Let me tell you ’bout hard work
Minimum wage with a baby on the way
Let me tell you ’bout hard work
Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away
Let me tell you ’bout hard work
Building a bed out of a cardboard box
Let me tell you ’bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
You don’t know nothing ’bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
Oh

How do you sleep at night?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Dear Mr. President,
You’d never take a walk with me.
Would you?

 

This IS our President…

 

PS – Yanno… with my stupid busted arm and all… and taking all these stupid narcotics… you’d thingk SOMEONE would have taken pity on me and said something like (psst – Oz – it’s March and your Christmas banner is still up!)

 

Arizona Strikes Again! New Law will let bosses fire employees for daring to use the pill! [Plus: New vid re GOP war on women]

No really this isn’t a joke. Well of course it’s a joke but not the kind any sane person would laugh at.

This from Jezebel.com:

Law Will Allow Employers to Fire Women for Using Whore Pills

A proposed new law in Arizona would give employers the power to request that women being prescribed birth control pills provide proof that they’re using it for non-sexual reasons. And because Arizona’s an at-will employment state, that means that bosses critical of their female employees’ sex lives could fire them as a result.

<snip>

Yesterday, a Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed Republican Debbie Lesko’s HB2625 by a vote of 6-2, which would allow an employer to request proof that a woman using insurance to buy birth control was being prescribed the birth control for reasons other than not wanting to get pregnant. It’s all about freedom, she said, echoing everyone who thinks there’s nothing ironic about claiming that a country that’s “free” allows people’s bosses to dictate what medical care is available to them through insurance. First amendment. The constitution. Rights of religious people to practice the treasured tenets of their faiths, the tenets that dictate that religious people get to tell everyone who is not of faith how they’re supposed to live, and the freedom to have that faith enforced by law.

<snip>

Click link above for full story. Or for story full of idiotic statements by truly psychotic people who want to take us back to the 1930′s.

Is there something wrong with the water in AZ? Or the air maybe? Is it just too damned hot? To steal a phrase from an anonymous commenter over at The Immoral Minority – are all Republicans these days just a tribe of cave-dwelling cousin-humpers?

My sympathies for the sane Arizonians who haven’t been infected by the loopy bug. Close your windows, have your water shipped in from California and don’t take candy from strangers!

Oh and just to be sure – if you see any big trucks with weird looking plants – don’t fall asleep!

============ UPDATE ============

From MoveOn.Org

MoveOn.org released a new national ad today, calling out Republicans for their recent nosedive into the field of women’s health and reproductive rights.

 

140 Advertisers pull out – Talk Radio Syndicator ‘Premiere Networks’ Suspends National Ads For Two Weeks

From Judd Legum - Think Progress – Mar 12, 2012

 

Radio-Info.com reports that Premiere Networks, which syndicates the Rush Limbaugh show, told its affiliate radio stations that they are suspending national advertising for two weeks. Rush Limbaugh is normally provided to affiliates in exchange for running several minutes of national advertisements provided by Premiere each hour. These ads are called “barter spots.” These spots are how Premiere makes its money off of Rush Limbaugh and other shows it syndicates.

But without explanation, Premiere has supended these national advertisements for two weeks. Radio-Info.com calls the move “unusual.” The development suggests that Rush Limbaugh’s incessant sexist attacks on Sandra Fluke have caused severe damage to the show.

<snip>

Earlier today, ThinkProgress exclusively reported that 140 advertisers, including dozens of major national corporations, had requested their ads no longer air on Rush Limbaugh. Lifelock and Lear Financial are among the only companies standing by Limbaugh.

Full story and copy of Premiere’s official memo here

Last week Mr. Limbaugh likened the effect of losing his advertisers to those few fries that fall out of the packet on the way home from a burger joint. I’m guessing this week it feels more like getting all the way home only to find out the fries he’d already paid for  weren’t included in the order at all.

Bummer.

 

“The Road We’ve Traveled” Teaser – Obama for America 2012

Sign up to see it online here on 15 March 2012 – they ask for an email address and zip code.

 

GOP View of Women’s Rights (made simple)

This is how the GOP wants to deal with female issues – all of them…

Here’s a small flaw in the GOP’s reasoning behind creationism…

When it comes to ‘allowing’ women to make decisions about their own bodies the GOP emphatically says…

And finally, if you’ve ever wondered why the GOP need to tell so many whopping lies – just have a look at their underpants…

 

 

 

Working Link to the movie Game Change (from Sarah Palin has a Serpent’s Heart)

From Sarah Palin has a Serpent’s Heart – a link to the movie Game Change usable in Australia. Enjoy!

Thanks so much!!!

 

Who Are These People – and why are they breathing my air?

Let the president be duly warned.

 Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr., R-N.C., has introduced a resolution declaring that should the president use offensive military force without authorization of an act of Congress, “it is the sense of Congress” that such an act would be “an impeachable high crime and misdemeanor.”

 Specifically, Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution reserves for Congress alone the power to declare war, a restriction that has been sorely tested in recent years, including Obama’s authorization of military force in Libya.

 In an exclusive WND column, former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo claims that Jones introduced his House Concurrent Resolution 107 in response to startling recent comments from Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.

 “This week it was Secretary of Defense Panetta’s declaration before the Senate Armed Services Committee that he and President Obama look not to the Congress for authorization to bomb Syria but to NATO and the United Nations,” Tancredo writes. “This led to Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., introducing an official resolution calling for impeachment should Obama take offensive action based on Panetta’s policy statement, because it would violate the Constitution.”

For those who can stomach it, Full post is here.

WND = World Net Daily.

These are the books they recommend:

The videos they want you to buy:

And finally – their stellar selection of bumper stickers:

I’m all for freedom of expression but this is rather like free speech on steroids. And correct me if I’m wrong – but isn’t the whole point of patriotism to – you know – back the elected administration even if they weren’t the candidates you personally voted for?

Makes you go hmmmm dunnit?

 

98 Talk-Radio Advertisers Want Out!

Click here for full story at The Daily Beast:

Mar 10, 2012

Rush Limbaugh Scandal Proves Contagious for Talk-Radio Advertisers

Ninety-eight major advertisers—including Ford and Geico—will no longer air spots on Premiere Networks’ ‘offensive’ programs. Insiders say the loss will rock right-wing talk radio…

…Premiere Networks, which distributes Limbaugh as well as a host of other right-wing talkers, sent an email out to its affiliates early Friday listing 98 large corporations that have requested their ads appear only on “programs free of content that you know are deemed to be offensive or controversial (for example, Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, Tom Leykis, Michael Savage, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity).”

This is big…

…There are already tangible signs that the three dozen national and local advertisers that have pulled their ads from The Rush Limbaugh Show are having a financial impact…

… For example, the ads that ran on Limbaugh’s WABC show in New York on Thursday consisted primarily of public-service announcements … When PSAs for nonprofit organizations …run in place of actual advertisements on radio, it means the show starts losing money for the local station. And make no mistake, money is the only barometer of success the industry ultimately cares about…

…But this latest controversy comes at a particularly difficult time for right-wing talk radio. They are playing to a (sometimes literally) dying demographic. Rush & Co. rate best among old, white males. They have been steadily losing women and young listeners, who are alienated by the angry, negative, obsessive approach to political conservations. Add to that the fact that women ages 24–55 are the prize advertising demographic, and you have a perfect storm emerging after Limbaugh’s Sandra Fluke comments.

So there you have it. Rush almost exclusively caters to grumpy old men. Good luck with that boy!

From Keith Olbermann’s FB Fan Page:

 

Dead Air Replaces Paid Ad Time Slots on El Rushbo’s Radio Show- Updates x2

From Media Matters:

AS OF TODAY, 50 ADVERTISERS HAVE CANCELED THEIR ADS RUNNING DURING THE RUSH LIMBAUGH SHOW.

• A total of 86 ads aired during WABC’s broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show today.
• 77 of those ads were public service announcements donated free of charge by the Ad Council.
• Of the nine paid spots that ran, seven were from companies that have said they have taken steps to ensure their ads no longer air during the program.
• WABC’s online feed included about 5:33 of dead air when ads would normally have run.

Don’t know about you but this is music to my ears  – Oz

============ UPDATE 1 ============

H/T Cracklin Charlie

============ UPDATE 2 ============

Petition Clear Channel to drop Limbaugh’s radio show. Goal is 500k signatures. Currently sitting at 457k.

H/T Nancy

 

American Heart Association Backs American Women…

…by pulling their ads from Clear Channel’s Rush Limbaugh radio show – proving they really do have a heart The American Heart Association is the 46th sponsor to leave the mis-information king behind.

The daily list of Limbaugh evacuees continues to grow – click here for Media Matters coverage. It’s like watching the birth of a pilgrimage as consumers and businesses alike join hands and walk from the shadows of oppressive bigotry into the bright light of freedom and justice for all.

Corny I know but I’m feeling more optimistic now than I have since Senator Obama won the election in 2008, to lead us out of the 8-year Republican war on decency.

Sometimes nice guys do finish first – and the crooks get what’s coming to them.

 

Caught on Tape: The 70 insults Limbaugh aimed at Sandra Fluke *Update* Clue to why Romney isn’t in any Rush to criticize Limbaugh!

…and the most idiotic part – is that none of his information (upon which he bases his insults) was true.

!. Ms. Fluke never discussed her own sex life nor did she discuss the availability of birth control for anything other than medical reasons such as the prevention of ovarian cysts.

2. Ms Fluke was not asking for taxpayer funds. She was making a case for female contraception to be provided by employee insurance carriers regardless of an employers religious ideology (religious employers are currently seeking exemption to this congressional ruling).

3. Unlike male medications which address erectile dysfunction and only last a few hours at a time, female birth control pills are taken daily, one per day, regardless of how much sexual activity is encountered.

(Please note most insurance carriers cover at least partial cost of Viagra and the religious groups seeking exemption from covering female contraception have no problem covering erectile dysfunction medications for their male employees.)

Knowing this, Mr. Limbaugh launched this three-day assault on Ms. Fluke – (deliberately?) mispronouncing her name at every turn – a huge insult for someone of Mr. Limbaugh’s age and level of social education. Are we to believe that none of his producers bothered to correct him? Is his staff that stupid? Of course not. The personal slight was purposeful and well-aimed.

From think Progress:

 

============ UPDATE ============

Ahhh… insight!

Clear Channel’s Directors Give Big to Romney, Who Won’t Criticize Limbaugh

The directors of Clear Channel, which hosts Rush Limbaugh’s show, have been big donors to Mitt Romney’s campaigns, which might help explain why Romney has been so reluctant to criticize Rush.

Fourteen directors of Clear Channel, the company that hosts the Rush Limbaugh show, have contributed $726,400 to Mitt Romney since 1994, most of it in the current presidential campaign.

[Click headline for full story at the Daily Beast]