Urania

Feminism; Religion

2007-10-17T08:07:00.000-07:00

An article on LiveScience posits that Feminists Have More Fund. The author of the piece seems somewhat surprised by this--because not all feminists are ugly! *gasp*--which I find kind of ironic.

Yes, feminists look just like you! We're not some kind of exotic species. ~_~ And yes, when two people in a relationship are both feminists, happiness and harmony follow. Why? We share things equally; neither of us looks down on the other or feels looked down upon; we can be more comfortable because we don't necessarily adhere to traditional gender roles for things like breadwinning; we aren't as likely to be bent out of shape about how other people are living their lives; etc. It makes perfect sense--when all parties see both sexes as equal, then equal treatment follows from that, and happiness on all parts follows from that.

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Are we a Christian nation?

Perhaps we are, but as the author of this piece states, that's not necessarily a good thing. When such complicated things as "religion" and "nation" get mixed up, we get Jesus crucified by the Romans; we get unparalleled religious persecution okayed by the state; we get a breakdown of a large part of what makes this nation great.

We need to tread carefully and make wise decisions in order to avoid the mistakes of our predecessor countries and in order to preserve important parts of our culture, our Constitution, and our various religions.

Peace.

Er...about that posting...

2007-10-02T19:50:00.000-07:00

I started a diet a week and two days ago, and since then I've been spending a lot of time at SparkPeople.com. ~_~ Sorry about that.

Part of the problem is that I care about so much of the news--not the fluffy stuff like whatever Paris Hilton's or Brittany Spears's latest stuff is (unless I'm talking about how it relates to feminism/the world's view of women)--that it's hard for me to focus on a single topic and post about it. Therefore, I start to feel bogged down.

So I think I'm going to try to figure out what topic I want to cover, and then go from there. I will probably go with a religious/political angle, since theology is my main specialty.

And I might have to make this a weekly posting for a while, until I can get the rest of my routine going. ~_~

Peace.

Color of Change

2007-09-21T08:35:00.001-07:00

Okay, now that my life has slowed down again, I have more time to put into this blog.

And the first thing I want to bring up is the case concerning the Jena 6 in Louisiana. For those who don't know:

In Jena, Louisiana, the local high school had one shade tree. At the explicit exclusion of black students, white students stood under that tree daily. As a means of peaceful protest, a black student received permission to sit under that tree. The next day, three nooses hung from the tree. The principal discovered that some white students were responsible for the nooses and moved to expel them. The superintendent found out about the principal's intentions and stepped in to say that expulsion wasn't necessary for the "silly prank"--instead, the students should only have 3-day suspensions.

After that, a series of events happened: several black kids protested the light-weight suspensions by sitting under the tree; the DA visited the school and told the protesting kids that he could "take away your life with a stroke of the pen;" part of the Jena school building was burnt; a black kid visited a white kids' party and was beaten--the white kids were charged with assault; a white guy tried to rob a store at gunpoint and several black guys tackled him down and wrested the gun from his control--the white guy got off scot-free, but the black guys were arrested; a white student who supported the noose-hangers taunted black students with racial slurs and was beaten by six black students, who were then charged with attempted second degree murder and aggravated assault (a charge which requires a weapon; the weapon was deemed to be one of the black students' shoes)--the white student went to the hospital, was released and attended a school event that very evening. (For more on these charges, including the bail prices and amount of time the black students spent in jail, please visit Truthout.org.)

Obviously, justice is not truly being served in Jena. The oldest black student, Mychal Bell, was initially sent before an all-white jury--how is that a jury of his peers? His original sentence has since been overturned, because the court said that his case should've been held in juvenile court. So, he will now be tried there, although the DA involved says that he is appealing the court's decision.

What makes me angriest about all of this (aside from the racial injustice) is the mainstream media's coverage. Only yesterday morning did I hear Good Morning America discuss the Jena 6--and their 'headline' speech said that the case was one of people thinking that six black students who beat a white student were sentenced unfairly. !! Well, yes, it is about that, but it's about so much more than that, too. And yet that's what I hear from most of the main news networks. What is with this sloppy reporting?

On the other hand, this has been a rallying cry for people to support real civil rights reform and legislation. We are in the midst of great turmoil and great change, and ColorOfChange.org has taken up the banner for this fight. Please visit their site to sign their petition and learn how you can take action to help.

And for more good coverage on the Jena 6, please visit AlterNet.org and search for "Jena 6" (without the quotes) on their search engine. There, you'll find stories such as this one by Melissa McEwan about John Conyers calling for hearings on the Jena 6 case.

Peace.

Easter Weekend Post

2007-04-09T09:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I was supposed to post this yesterday, but life intervened. So, I'm posting it today.

I want to take a look at theocracy, in connection with the Blog Against Theocracy" movement.

Initially, I wanted to cover art and theocracy, taking specific looks at the chocolate Jesus statue and the Obama as Jesus sculpture. However, that was before my letters to the editor of my local newspaper received another reply.

You can read my original letter and the first reply at the links provided in that post. My next letter was published on March 16, 2007. I answered Mr. Absher and his claims about James Madison not wanting a Bill of Rights. Mr. Absher proceeded to attack me more and to show his ignorance of history even more.

This has started me thinking more about the Religious Right's wish to revise history. There are other gems like Mr. Absher's on my local newspaper's site. So many people are so ignorant--willfully or purposefully--about religious history, government history, and national history that it is becoming easier and easier for the leaders of the far-right to revise history however they see fit.

For example, Texas is currently considering a bill that would require schools to teach Biblical literature. That, in itself, I do not have a problem with. However, this particular Bible-lit course has some big issues. First of all, it is created by the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools. If you just glance at their site, you might be fooled into thinking that it is a mainstream, freedom-loving council harmlessly trying to educate our youth. However, this Talk To Action piece will soon disabuse you of that notion.

The NCBCPS uses a lot of historical revisionism in its "curriculum." This comes in the form of misquotes and misattribution of quotes. Harmless mistakes? I doubt it. If any teacher taught about evolution without carefully checking his/her facts, or if any council put out "educational" material on evolution that wasn't thoroughly cross-referenced and safe from misquotes and misattribution of quotes, there would be quite a hue and cry from the public. So why would a group trying to put biblical literature into the curriculum of our public schools not thoroughly check its own work? Historical revisionism. (Follow the links on the Talk To Action site to read more about specific revisings found in the NCBCPS curriculum.)

Why is this dangerous? First, it isn't just a "Texas issue." TIME Magazine's April 2 issue featured a cover article on "Why We Should Teach the Bible in Public School." We all need to be aware of this movement, especially if sources such as TIME are picking it up.

Second, as you can see from the Letters to the Editor of my local newspaper, above, if we don't educate people on real American history and real religious history, they will spread the lies themselves. We've all seen people forwarding stupid chain e-mails even with the ease of use and availability of sites such as Snopes.com. People do the same thing with any kind of inaccurate information.

Third, we already have an administration in place that wants to use an erroneous theological platform to take away our freedoms. At what other point in our history have we considered writing discrimination *into* the Constitution? Now we have people pushing bills to restrict marriage to a church-recognized union between one man and one woman; to raise "Covenant Marriage" (which makes it all but impossible for couples to divorce) above other forms of marriage; to bring about the Rapture/Apocalypse.

Of course, none of these things are biblical concepts, but the far-Right wants their form of "Christianity" to hold sway in their vision of a theocratic society, and their form of Christianity includes these concepts.

Isn't it scary that there are people out there who *want* to bring about the destruction of the world via their vision of a bloody Apocalypse? Isn't it scary that there are people out there who believe in the "Rapture"--used here to refer to a theology that did not arise until 1840--and want to push that view down everyone else's throats? And isn't it scary that there are people who actually want to see other people go to hell and be punished for eternity?

Of course, not all Christians feel this way; I myself am one who is disgusted by historical revisionism and by Dominionist tactics. Historical revisionism, though, threatens to wipe out all the hard, honest and integrity-driven work of our forebears in the name of pushing specific, narrow, intolerant religious beliefs on a nation of people of many different religions. And its success so far can be measured by the number of people who swallow the lies laid forth in such "education"--the Letters to the Editor are just a representative example.

One way we can fight such revisionism is to broaden our reading scope. Instead of taking in just one or two media outlets, we can engage with many different outlets. Such is the wonder of the internet. :) I myself subscribe to Alternet and to The Christian Worldview Network. One gives me a mostly-liberal perspective, the other gives me a very conservative perspective. I also try to stay abreast of the mainstream news via outlets such as my local news stations in the morning, AOL news, and MSN news. We can--and should--educate ourselves on any perspective offered on things like teaching biblical literature in schools and historical revisionism.

Another way we can fight revisionism is by joining with organizations like Americans United for Separation of Church and State and First Freedom First and DefConAmerica. These organizations are dedicated to protecting our great nation from becoming a theocracy.

Third, we can educate one another. I'm attempting to do so with my Letters to the Editor; this is an activity most of us can participate in with our own local newspapers. We can learn what our Constitution actually says and pass that knowledge on to others.

And now I'm going to go do my duty to educate other people against erroneous knowledge by writing another Letter to the Editor.

Peace.

Blood Breakthrough

2007-04-03T21:03:00.000-07:00

So it's been a while since I posted. Like, a couple of months...my how the time flies when I'm playing Guild Wars! lol

Anyhow, scientists have made a blood'>http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/world/scientists-make-blood-breakthrough/2007/04/02/1175366109912.html">blood breakthrough--they have turned A, B, and AB blood into O negative blood. This is the universal donor! They haven't been able to make it successfully RPH negative, but this is the best discovery in blood donation/blood work in a while! I'm really excited by this--if we could have O neg on hand all the time, then there wouldn't be such a "blood crunch" every time a crisis occurs.

Peace.

Sex

2006-12-21T11:59:00.000-08:00

So, I think we've all heard about the study that says 95% of all adults have/had premarital sex, and that that includes our grandparents and great-grandparents. I find it funny that so many people have focused on the "older women" aspect of the angle--I've heard several news anchors say, "My grandmother had sex before marriage!" Most people seem to think that's normal for men, but not so normal for women. Well, I ask you, if it's normal for men to have sex before marriage but not for women to do so, then are the men having sex with each other?? Some of them, yes, I'll grant that, but not all of them. And that means they have to be having sex with women (assuming all partners are human, of course). So...why is it so weird to think of women having sex before marriage? *shakes head*

Anyhow, on top of that, this piece proves the need for safe abortion, contraceptives, and real sex ed:

"Not surprisingly, researchers in the '50s found that less than one in three married couples reported being happy or very happy with their relationship. Compare that to today, when 61 percent of married Americans report themselves to be "very happy" in their marriage. Part of the sour spouse problem of the '50s was that many couples didn't really want to be married to each other. Often, they were trapped into marriage by unintended pregnancy. With no sex-ed, no birth control, no legal abortion -- the exact legislative agenda of today's pro-life movement! -- teen birth rates soared, reaching highs that have not been equaled since: there were twice as many teen mothers in the '50s than today."

And, of course, there are the 'feminist' arguments that being able to plan/postpone families helps women have a foothold in the workforce. But I think that paragraph above does more to show the twistedness of the pro-life-as-law movement than anything else. It's an very well-written article, and I highly encourage you to read it all. And when you're done, read up on Plan B availability and on a British finding that abstinence is a myth.

And, on that note, is it possible to find middle ground on the abortion debate? This columnist thinks not, and thinks it's a mistake to try to do so.

"The only reason for regarding an abortion as more regrettable than a root canal, then, is the belief that moral personhood is not fundamentally about having a certain kind of mind. This is a strange view, when you think about it: If we are ever visited by some alien species, we will decide what kind of treatment we owe them by reflecting on the sorts of minds they have, not by poking at their genetic structure. If the most popular basis for considering fetuses persons is some sort of theory about souls, giving credence to this view tacitly endorses the notion that public policy ought to be tailored to accommodate moral premises whose sole basis is theological."

Unfortunately for the columnist, there are those who really do want a theocracy in control, rather than the republic we have now. I personally find the idea of a theocracy horrifying, but that would be one of the big reasons I'm not a member of the Religious Right.

I agree, though; I don't think there can be a real middle ground. It would be nice if there were fewer abortions--but that means we have to keep abortion safe and clean by keeping it legal. We can't pick and choose the circumstances in which someone can have an abortion, because we may never know all of the reasons behind a woman's choice to abort. People are funny like that--they may say part of the reason, or something else entirely, and not bring up the whole reason for things they do.

These dolls, meanwhile, are one of the healthiest things I have seen in a while. The dolls have real anatomy and provide for realistic looks at family life.

"Each 16-inch cloth adult Amamanta doll has genitals and pubic hair, and the mother doll features breasts that can be snapped onto the baby doll's mouth to help reinforce the importance of breastfeeding."

The dolls come in a few different nationalities currently, and they aren't harmful to body image the way something like Bratz or Barbies are. They're more expensive, of course, but that's because their creator pays her workers a living wage and because the company is a small start-up. All around, these are wonderful creations. If I had a kid, I'd want my kid to have a set.

Peace.

Catching up

2006-12-21T08:43:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a while since I did daily posting--but I want to try to get back into that habit, because we finally got a computer at home and might be getting broadband access soon. Woot. :)

I have a bunch of links saved up, which I'm wading through at the moment. I think I'll kick this off with the ones relating to sex/gender.

First, we definitely need to eliminate the wage gap between women and men. I don't care who didn't ask for what or who worked for what before. Men and women should be getting equal pay for equal/equivalent work.

"But aren't women at fault for not negotiating? Babcock concluded that women are essentially trained not to and penalized by employers when they do. Rigid gender-based stereotypes and behavioral norms urge women to behave modestly and wait to be given what they deserve rather than negotiate for it. The economist also has shown that negotiating can sometimes hurt a female job candidate. In research she co-published last year, she found that female candidates who ask for higher salaries before receiving a formal job offer are often not hired at all. Not surprisingly, males who negotiate do not face similar negative consequences. This empirical evidence supports what many women already know from experience: When they ask for what they deserve, employers often view them as overly aggressive, pushy or too "difficult" to hire.

Given the tremendous ramifications of this pervasive discrimination, it's high time for courts to stop accepting excuses based on women's failure to negotiate, and instead put the burden of pay discrimination where it belongs: on employers. It's the employers who should be obligated to carefully evaluate their pay structures to ensure that female ap-plicants [sic] are paid what the position is worth -- and what similarly situated male applicants would be paid."

Also, the media needs to stop telling us about the outfits of women they profile. Quick, what's one of the first things you think of in relation to Jackie O.? Most women will say, "Her fashion." Or any President's wife, really. It's ridiculous and needs to be stopped. As the author of this piece says, what a woman wears does not relate to her capabilities.

And, while I don't usually say we need to go back to the old way of doing things, in this case, I think we do. Single moms on welfare have it really hard, and the newest regulations--such as not allowing necessary things to be counted as work-related activities--make receiving TANF for single moms unnecessarily difficult.

"Under the new Department of Health and Human Services regulations postsecondary education leading to a bachelor's degree and English as a Second Language programs may no longer qualify as core work activities under the new regulations.

That means any welfare participant wanting to gain a university degree will need to do so on top of the 20 or so hours of core work activities that meet the narrower federal definition. Advocates say this will add additional transportation and child care expenses and pinch off time to spend with their families.

Some states counted job searches, readiness programs and vocational education as work experience to get around a six-week limit on job searches. Doctor-mandated, third-trimester pregnancy bed rest, domestic violence counseling, caring for ill or disabled relatives, and study time were among the activities states had leeway to include as work-related activities.

Now none of those activities can meet the weekly work-hour requirement, and states can no longer tailor work activities to meet the needs of individual families." Contrary to popular opinion, welfare recipients are not, for the most part, mooching off the state and the taxpayers. Some do, yes, but most do not and most want out of that kind of lifestyle. Giving them more restrictions makes their efforts that much closer to being futile.

And, on that note, we need to make things easier for *all* working moms.

"Heather Boushey, an economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. found that the drop in women's work participation rates between 2001 and 2005 was largely due to a weak labor market, and further, men's labor rates also dropped at this time. Joan Williams, the director of the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California, Hastings, recently reported that 86 percent of those women who did leave their jobs did so because of inflexible office policy, not Martha Stewart fantasies."

Why does this matter? It's not just an issue of "those silly feminists" as some people think:

"For example, only 1 in 7 American workers get paid childcare leave -- a policy that has proven to reduce infant mortality, improve children's learning and reduce juvenile delinquency. That is to say, it has real consequences on more than 'only' the women involved.

So, what's at stake right now? Well, it looks like some of our more prominent Democratic leaders have a few things to do, which I think fit nicely with Nancy Pelosi's 100-hours commitment: to have fair wages, good childcare, etc. And if you need more evidence for fair wages, check this out.

And, if you have questions or think that women in power goes against nature, please read this. It makes sense that women and men would work together to procure things like food and shelter, no matter the time period. And, as this article points out, early humans and early Neanderthals wouldn't have spent a lot of time in one place--animals migrate, and so anything hunting those animals would have migrated, too. It just makes good sense, even moreso when one realizes that Neanderthals and homo sapiens would have had to have moved for gathering purposes, too.

And then, of course, we have the creation of WikiChix, in response to perceived sexism in the Wikipedia world. I have to say that I agree with the statement given by the WikiChix site in this article--that it is nice to not have to defend one's self and one's ideas just because one is a woman, but rather to get to the crux of whatever matter is at hand without those delays.

Peace.

Woot

2006-12-20T12:30:00.000-08:00

Would that more countries would do this. I found it on my friend Julie's page.

Seriously--the uber-thin female stereotype NEEDS TO GO. I realize that things like anorexia stem more from a need for control than from images in the outside world, but these images don't help. And, they do lead to a lot of horrible and very disordered eating habits for many women.

So, go Italy!

Woot.

Peace.

GLBT & Religion

2006-11-21T14:03:00.000-08:00

A Baptist minister speaks out

He says--what if we recognize what science has been saying, that being homosexual *isn't* a choice? Then we have to drop the rhetoric about homosexuality and morals, because being homosexual can't be a sin if it isn't a choice.

Amazing. :)

Peace.

Separation of Church and What?

2006-11-21T14:02:00.000-08:00

Six Imams Kicked Off Plane for Praying

I kid you not. It's bad enough when the Christian right tries to push religious morals into politics. It's worse when things like this happen.

C'mon, people, these guys--all scholars--were merely praying. Praying. There is nothing threatening about that. They broke no laws.

They are not terrorists just because they are Muslim.

Visit Americans United while you're worked up about this.

Peace.

War--current and near

2006-11-21T13:29:00.000-08:00

Sorry this is mostly a list of links, but I don't have much time, and today is a good day for war-related linkage.

The link between Iran and Israel

The link between Iran and Iraq (Don't miss the "Why it would be stupid" section!)

Iraq, Torture, and Profiteers

Senator Russ Feingold, on getting out of Iraq--a must-read.

On that note: Go, Senator Dodd!

*grin* Right.

72% of our troops wanted out by Feb. 2007. I don't think that's going to happen, but doesn't it say something about our war if the people who signed up to go to war want out?

Something to do to help get us the hell out of Iraq and keep us from going into Iran.

Peace.

GLBT

2006-11-10T14:10:00.000-08:00

Well, it seems like people are beginning to come around.

For one thing, Mexico legalized gay unions, effective in 2007. Given how incredibly Roman Catholic Mexico is, this is somewhat surprising.

On the other hand, Massachusetts legislators decided not to vote on GLBT marriage. This means it most likely *won't* be voted on.

While I'm pro-GLBT marriage, this isn't necessarily a good thing. Why? Well, it seems like the Mass. legislature is ignoring 170,000 petitioners, who signed to get the vote to happen:

"Opponents of gay marriage gathered 170,000 signatures to put a proposed ban before the current Legislature. Their initiative effectively died with the lawmakers' 109-87 vote to recess unless opponents find a way to force a vote before the next Legislature takes office in January.

Under Massachusetts law, the proposal needs the approval of a quarter of the Legislature or 50 lawmakers.

The legislators' inaction irked Kris Mineau of the Massachusetts Family Institute, who complained that the Legislature was "thumbing its nose" at the Constitution.

"We might be able to take it into a federal court, who knows? Certainly this denies due process of the people," Mineau said. "The people's right to free speech is being throttled. The people's right to vote is being throttled.""

So...what does this mean for the long run? I'm not entirely sure. I mean, on the one hand, we all want the Constitution to work and be followed. On the other hand, some people want to try to write discrimination into the Constitution.

So...we'll see what happens.

Peace.

Things to sign up for

2006-11-09T13:32:00.000-08:00

I highly recommend the following (and have added them to my sidebar):

PR Watch, run by the Center for Media and Democracy. They send out a weekly e-mail with the "Weekly Spin," which is non-partisan watchdog-type stuff. It's very good for getting quick news fixes.

AlterNet They have a couple of different e-mail options--the Peek, which is an overview of what bloggers are saying, and the daily news headlines e-mail. They take their news from various sources.

And, RH Reality Check, which is a group of bloggers covering issues relating to reproductive health. They, too, offer weekly e-mails covering their bloggers' headlines.

Just a few ways to stay happily--or sometimes not-so-happily--informed. :)

Peace.

Robert Gates

2006-11-09T13:11:00.000-08:00

Just who is Robert Gates, anyway?

It's looking like he's another Rummy. That's not *too* surprising, since he's a Bush-pick. Would his confirmation mean we'd keep on keeping on in Iraq? It's possible. Maybe he's *not* such a good choice.

Peace.

Woohoo!

2006-11-09T12:43:00.000-08:00

The Democrats have the Senate majority because Allen backed down from a recount. How exciting is that?? :)

And to go along with that, here's an article on how the rest of the world views our elections.

I particularly like this quote: "Regardless of the effect on world events, global giddiness that Bush was finally handed a political black-eye was almost palpable.

In an extraordinary joint statement, more than 200 Socialist members of the European Parliament hailed the American election results as “the beginning of the end of a six-year nightmare for the world” and gloated that they left the Bush administration “seriously weakened.”

In London's Guardian newspaper, commentator Martin Kettle wrote: "The cheering can be heard not just in America itself but around the planet."

In Paris, expatriates and French citizens alike packed the city’s main American haunts to watch results, with some standing to cheer or boo as vote tabulations came in."

I know my husband and I were fairly dancing in our seats as we passed the 15-member mark needed in the House. Even he stayed up until midnight watching election results with me--and he's a notorious early-to-bed kinda guy.

So, good stuff. :) We hope, anyway. :)

Peace.

Woot!

2006-11-08T11:15:00.000-08:00

So, the elections last night were wonderful. The Dems have a very decided majority in the House, and might have a small majority in the Senate.

Nancy Pelosi is about to become the first female House leader. That in itself is great. She's already said she won't seek to impeach Bush, but that's okay--we can do that ourselves. :)

We have 20 new pro-choice people in the House, which is wonderful. South Dakotans rejected that horrid abortion ban. Woot. Arizona voters refused an amendment defining marriage as only between a man and a woman and outlawing domestic partnerships and civil unions. Of course, 7 other states voted in their anti-gay-marriage bans, but it's a start. Those votes were won by much smaller margins than before, so we'll see what happens next.

And now to some of the greatest news: Rumsfeld is GONE!!!!!!!!!!!! Woot!!! :)

This has been one of the greatest mid-term elections ever. :) It's about time we got some real oversight back into Congress. Watch out, Bush: your job could be next!

Peace.

Hey, whaddya know, I'm posting!

2006-11-02T11:14:00.000-08:00

lol So, it's only been about 2 months since I last posted. Sorry about that. Sometimes, life just gets in the way. Or that pesky little thing called "work"... ~_-

I find this to be humorous. But, if it's true, then I'm all for it--we have so much other crap on cable TV, why not throw some al-Jazeera into the mix? Who knows? Maybe having an anti-American stuff on our airwaves would cause enough of a stir to get something done...or maybe not. *shrug*

On to other things:

The US is planning on creating a national cord blood bank. Frankly, I'm surprised we don't have one already going. Cord blood is amazing and wonderful, because no match is required between donor and recipient. Woot. :)

And, lastly (for now), please sign this Amnesty International pledge to inform people of the act the Bushies pushed through Congress that basically gives the President the power to imprison anyone at any time without reason and without council indefinitely. Good-bye, habeus corpus, hello scariness. Yes, this means the President can also imprison American citizens whenever for whatever, etc.

Peace.

Impeach Bush.

Action Alerts

2006-09-08T12:31:00.000-07:00

Learn about FGM and CARE's approach to FGM. Then sign the petition to help stop FGM.

Help save Alaska's Teshekpuk Lake region from oil leasing.

Get your free Coming Out Day kit from HRC. Hurry--COD is October 11th. :)

Sign the DefCon petition to help defend our Constitution from the far-right wingers who want to write in all kind of discrimination and anti-freedoms.

First, read about Darfur; then, take action to urge the UN to send Peacekeepers there now.

Sign the Declaration of Peace and/or register to attend the Nonviolent Civil Disobedience rally in D.C. from September 21-28 to protest the war in Iraq.

Sign the petition to demand a vote of "no confidence" on Rumsfeld.

Peace.

GLBT

2006-09-08T12:26:00.000-07:00

Woot for more equality for GLBT persons! The HRC helped get more equal pension coverage for GLBT spouses signed into law. Yay!

Also, workplaces are becoming more GLBT-equal, with many more companies offering domestic partner benefits. Actually, that would have even helped me and my now husband when weren't married yet. Yay for better coverage for all!

Cool-- the HRC has an Out In Scripture service to help spiritually-minded GLBT persons recognize God in them and them in God. This is a very good, positive thing, I think. :)

So, much goodness. :)

Peace.

Iraq

2006-08-11T13:27:00.000-07:00

The US will send 5,000 more troops to Iraq. We're not through yet, folks! :( Of course, we can't leave, because we're nowhere near finished re-building what we broke.

The probe into the Haditha incident concludes that our Army people did purposefully shoot unarmed civilians. This isn't good--it's as bad as, if not worse than, Abu Ghraib.

This soldier was threatened by his peers over Iraqi deaths. ~_- What didn't they want known? "A U.S. soldier testified Wednesday that four of his colleagues accused of murdering three Iraqis during a raid threatened to kill him if he told anyone about the shooting deaths.

Pfc. Bradley Mason, speaking at a hearing to determine whether the four must stand trial, also said that their brigade commander, a veteran of the 1993 “Black Hawk Down” battle in Somalia, told troops hunting insurgents to “kill all of them.” Mason is not one of the accused." Basically...they wanted to get away with murder. Literally. And, you know, if I were him, I'd believe them--they're already in the red for the murders of Iraqi persons. (Note: I am not in any way against our armed forces--most of the men and women who serve in them are good, upstanding people doing their jobs. But the few bad apples need to be exposed to ensure as much ethical treatment as possible.)

A Marine sergeant is suing Murtha over remarks he made regarding the Haditha incident. "Lawyers for Frank D. Wuterich, 26, argue in a suit filed Wednesday in federal court that Murtha falsely accused Wuterich "of cold-blooded murder and war crimes" — although they acknowledged during a news conference that Murtha did not publicly name Wuterich to reporters, just the name of his squad.

Murtha, D-Pa., issued a statement Wednesday saying he doesn't blame Wuterich for "lashing out."

"When I spoke up about Haditha, my intention was to draw attention to the horrendous pressure put on our troops in Iraq and to the cover-up of the incident," said Murtha, a 16-term congressman who was campaigning for re-election Wednesday in his hometown of Johnstown, Pa."

The outgoing British ambassador warns that Iraq is slipping into civil war mode, divided along ethnic lines. Wasn't that one of the things Bush promised we'd avoid??

Rumsfeld testified before the Senate to try to convince them that the war is not a bad thing..... I don't think it was as successful as he'd hoped.

Iraqi town wants Americans out--I do, too! Can you blame them?? Life is, in many many ways, worse now than it was under Saddam, what with the power outages, the fear of stray--or intended--bullets and bombs, the fear of raids, the uprising sex trade....

The violence is nowhere near over--a blast near a Shiite shrine in Iraq kills 30 people. What's really sad: that number of dead civilians is becoming the norm. We need to stop this madness!

Peace.

GLBT

2006-08-11T13:23:00.000-07:00

Sadly, Washington state has upheld its GLBT-marriage ban. :(

Our Army tossed out an Arabic linguist just because he's gay--even though we *need* Arabic linguists very badly. This is stupid. His sex life and orientation had nothing to do with how he did his job. We need to get rid of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and just say, Don't Worry About It.

Santorum signs, then unsigns, a pro-GLBT document saying he won't discriminate against people he's hiring based upon sexual orientation. Found here, at Dark_Christian on LiveJournal. (FYI, this is an very good discussion site about Dominionist Christendom.)

Peace.

Randomness

2006-08-11T13:21:00.000-07:00

Wand to eat "smart" at fast food places? Here's your guide!

Can you turn your e-spam into art?

San Francisco experienced a small quake, but no one was hurt.

"Bumping" could become a bigger problem soon.

Obese people are at more risk during heat wave, due to their extra "insulation."

Woot for Nintendo!! :)

A web geek found a military secret in China via GoogleEarth.

London woman gets $1.5 million in bullying case from her workplace. Woot! Bullying is never cool, no matter how old or young those involved may be.

Preventable diseases are returning to the US, because we're not being serious enough about vaccinations.

Colleges warn students about things they put on networking sites like MySpace and FaceBook.

The 2006 storm forecast has been revised--we're not going to get as many hurricanes, and those we do get probably won't reach the magnitude of Rita or Katrina (thank God!).

Cooler weather has moved in! Still, 27 people died due to heat. :(

A professor in China won his suit against a blog site, showing that personal dignity is worth more than free speech in China.

Want to get a real fresh-baked cookie smell in your car? Read on. :)

American Idol will add a songwriting contest to their show. Woot for more talent!

Reality TV in Iraq? It's true. The male and female contestants go home on one show to avoid conservative claims of impropriety.

Morgellons: new disease? Or craziness?

It's a Renaissance Faires news blog! Woot!

Stupid reasons to call 911 Wow--I can't imagine calling for any of these reasons!! How weird are people, anyway?

Repetitive stress injuries...from gaming too much! Watch out, thumbs!

Airlines will now have "No Mobile" signs instead of "No Smoking" signs, since no one can smoke on planes anymore, anyway. I think this is a good change.

Single-sex classrooms the thing of the future? I worry about "separate but equal" here--how are students supposed to learn to socialize with one another if not in a controlled environment? And what will this lead to in the future? "Separate but equal" didn't work with racial classrooms. This is kinda scary....

I saw the video footage of this on the news the other night--it didn't look like the kids were "misbehaving"--it looked like they were being very methodical about what they took, rather than running and screaming like normal kids would.

The head of BP knew of oil corrosion in Alaskan pipelines in 2004, but he did nothing until now, when it's just about too late. This is not good. We don't need to hurt our environment anymore!!!!!
Be wary of no-limit cards--they could hurt your credit rating.

10,000 homeless, 300 missing, 250 dead in Ethiopia floods--please pray/meditate/etc for these people, their families, the relief workers, and their families.

A man opened fire on people working in a Jewish charity because of his anger over the war in Iraq and US support of Israel. Not good....

6 of 11 missing Egyptian students have been found, and they are not related to the recently-foiled terror attacks.

600 died in Bilis in China; another 111 are dead in China's worst typhoon in 50 years. :(

Surprise! Tortoises--just read it. :)

The Perseid Meteor shower has returned--the peak is August 10-15. :) The weather should be good for watching here tonight. Woot.

Don't believe everything you read in your e-mail. Mars already made that close-to-Earth pass in 2003; please use snopes.com to check out other possibly-errant e-mails before passing them along!

Peace.

Miscellanery

2006-08-02T13:08:00.000-07:00

Heat/Weather
California's heat wave has killed up to 90 people, not to mention all the cattle and other livestock.

How is it that most of Florida is cooler than here? You'd think a place surrouned on three sides by water would be more humid than Indiana, but I guess not. *sigh* I'm keeping lights off to conserve electricity--I'd hate for our grid to go down like it has elsewhere. Those poor people!!!!

Chris could be the first hurricane of the season.

Japan is planning 30-year forecasts to predict severe weather. "Japan is planning ultra long-range 30-year weather forecasts that will predict typhoons, storms, blizzards, droughts and other inclement weather, an official said Tuesday.

The project, to start next year, will harness the powers of one of the world's fastest supercomputers and is an offshoot of ongoing research by the country's science ministry to map global warming trends for the next 300 years."

Using multiple Doppler systems might help us better predict severe weather right before it happens.

Southern China is facing the threat of a typhoon. What is up with the weather lately??

Extreme weather conditions have caused mother-of-pearl clouds over Antarctica. They're pretty, but they're also another indicator of global warming. :(

Science
Humans and sharks share "arm" genes--ours produce arms, theirs produce fins. Is this another one for the came-from-the-water theory? Could be. *shrug* Still, it's interesting.

The WHO has put out the first global survey of how the sun affects people--it kills 60,000/year.

Need to be reminded to get out of the sun? This bikini will remind you! "Canadian company Solestrom has come up with a new bikini that goes on sale next month with a UV meter built into its belt and an alarm that beeps to tell wearers when to head to the shade."

L'Oreal has a 'new' sunscreen that blocks cancer-causing rays.

Read up on new space vs. old space--it's kinda like new money vs. old money, but with space. :)

Evolution gets a boost in Kansas as Creationism-supporters are voted off the school board.

True Randomness
Find out all the hoops you'll have to jump through to become a UN Peacekeeper. :)

On a month-to-month basis, being married hits the wallet hard. Want to save? Don't get married. :-P

We're only the 23rd happiest country in the world. Number one? Denmark. Seriously.

Umm...How bad of a sweet tooth do you have if you are a cop and you steal from your own sweet shop????

Chinese officials in one county have massacred 50,000 dogs, many of them right in front of their owners on the street. Why? Three people died of rabies. I'll grant that rabies is probably very horrible to die from, but shouldn't they have just provided better care in the first place???

This mom got blasted for telling the truth. But, you know, I agree with her; the child-centered moms I know are ridiculously boring, and part of my resistance to bearing children of my own is that I just wouldn't "get" them. I can't imagine being child-centered, because there are other important things in the world, like wars and famine and diseases and genocides. (Note: not all mothers are boring--case in point, my mom!)

How do you scare away a monkey? You hire a scarier monkey to do the job. I kid you not, India is using this method on its train system.

Did anybody every seriously call them "freedom" fries??

How sad: baseball cards have lost their luster. I have a sizeable collection, thanks to my grandparents, somewhere.

Money
Make money from your credit card. We should all be doing this!!

Discoveries
An ancient village has been found in Mississippi--how cool! :)

Medieval News (these are all things I found via my MedievalTrivia listserv)
Need a sword with "bling"? Try this one!

Woot for female leaders! :)

Aren't you glad your doctors don't poison you?

Peace.

Misc Politics

2006-08-02T12:44:00.000-07:00

Really Random
How likely is it that the Dalai Lama has links to the CIA? While it's not totally out of the realm of possibility, China thinks it's a certainty.

Voting
Democrats are worried about getting out the vote. Well they should be--the Republicans started setting up their locks on voter registration a while ago, what with the Voter ID. There's even on politician in Ohio who rejected voter registration if it wasn't on .08"-thick paper, no joke.

Abortion
The Senate passed an abortion bill that won't even let a girl with abusive parents turn to someone else when she's pregnant: "Bowing to public support for parental notification and the GOP's 55-44-1 majority, Democrats spent the day trying to carve out an exemption for confidants to whom a girl with abusive parents might turn for help. It was rejected in floor negotiations." That's ridiculous. This is just going to wide up getting more boys and girls abused when they turn to their last option--their parents (not all parents are abusive, but a significant number are)--or when they try to hitchhike across state lines and get kidnapped or raped or at the least get a "runaway" tag on themselves from their local police department. And it's not going to reduce the number of abortions or pregnancies in young girls. It's just not. This is sick.

Military-related
Our military is no longer maintaining NORAD 24/7.

Bush-stuff
This is a really good look at the reality of the Bush-situation. ~_- It's all about how the most recent Middle East crisis doesn't actually help Bush at all, regardless of how much his pundits might try to back him up.

Peace.

Miscellanery

2006-07-27T13:53:00.000-07:00

Woot for randomness.

:)

Go here to play Ye Gods!, an online game. Woot. :)

RPG fans like me might find this site interesting. :)

Test your science & space smarts; I got 60% right, which only 33% of other takers had done when I took the test. :)

Healthy chocolate, anyone?? "Mars Inc., maker of Milky Way, Snickers and M&M’s candies, next month plans to launch nationwide a new line of products made with a dark chocolate the company claims has health benefits.

Called CocoaVia, the products are made with a kind of dark chocolate high in flavanols, an antioxidant found in cocoa beans that is thought to have a blood-thinning effect similar to aspirin and may even lower blood pressure. The snacks also are enriched with vitamins and injected with cholesterol-lowering plant sterols from soy." Yum! I want some!! And on that note, this hybrid chocolate won't melt in the heat--which means the people who produce most of our cocoa beans can eat the stuff, too! Now, we have to end cocoa slavery.

Why aren't our degrees worth as much as we'd hoped? Well, degree mills could be one reason.

The second Indonesian tsunami's death toll is at 531. To make matters worse, an earthquake hit Jakarta just days later. :(

Europe is sweltering, and officials are planning to avoid a repeat of the 2003 disaster.

Speaking of heat, the Northeast got a small break, but the Midwest is still frying. We did have a small break this past weekend, but temps were still in the 80's then. Of course, the farmers are being hit hard by the heat, too. And California is being smothered--I think 83 people have died there so far. Sixteen people in Oklahoma died, and St. Louis was evacuated due to the heat! Meanwhile, NYC residents have power again, although some may still be having small blackouts. I hope our power doesn't go out--we couldn't survive in our 3rd-floor apartment without electricity for fans at least!!

Marriott Hotels in the US and Canada are going smoke-free. Woot!

Are our kids getting "thinspiration" from stars? Probably so, considering the size of many female celebrities has shrunk considerably recently. It's kind of scary to look at some of these stars--if you can count your ribs, you're too skinny!!

Woot! A private spacecraft sent pictures from orbit, making this a first-time thing. WIll this be happening more in the future? It's possible. :)

The first half of 2006 was the warmest on record. We're warming up, folks!

Just what *can* we learn from a comet, anyway?? Read on to find out. :)

Wow. I wish I'd had one of these for my Ren wedding. I mean, wow. I wonder if I can get one for my second anniversary?

Cool--learn Latin online. How great is that??

The NAACP has honored activists who were ignored in the '50s for their sit-ins and other work, which led to the more well-known civil rights movement in the '60s.

Yay! The 100-mpg car is coming! It's electric. Some cars can be converted now--most notably the Toyota Prius--but most of us will have to wait until the cars actually come out. This is the best alternative, given that the amount of ethanol needed to fuel an SUV could feed one family for a year. *sigh*

This 12-foot snake swallowed an entire queen-sized electrical blanket--he had to have surgery to get it out. He's fine now, though! And, on snakes: A man from Michigan is being charged because he played a "practical joke" on his mailperson by putting a boa constrictor in the mailbox. ~_- And this lady found more than 20 snakes in her car--and she still keeps finding them there! What the hell? Is it a practical joke, or are these snakes spontaneously appearing??? Yeah. And when a bird dropped a snake in New Mexico, power was cut off to 2000 people. Yeah, these are snaky times.

A stone found in 1872 still puzzles researchers and scholars today. What does it mean? Who made it? Why? We may never know.

Scary: Drug mistakes injure 1.5 million people every year. People! Always ask your doctor(s) questions! And have your prescription list with you--it saves *so* much time and trouble if you have to go to the hospital. Not all doctors talk to each other (they're way too busy), and computers can malfunction--and sometimes something is entered incorrectly or not at all due to human error.

What do you do in an alcoholic black-out? Apparently, you murder your deployed neighbor's family. Well, that's what one guy reportedly did in Seattle. Wow. Please pray for this man, and the friends of the family and for the extended family.

Scientists are exploring Neanderthals' DNA to understand how our brains developed. Coolness! :)

From my friend Julie's page Working parents spend about 19 minutes/day with their children on average. I'm a little offended that it purports to talk about "parents" but instead focuses only on women, as if it only matters if women spend time with their kids.

Also from Julie's page Definitely read all the comments; more things than just The Pill can release estrogen into our water supplies. Somehow, I doubt that it's only the Pill contributing to this, and I doubt this will make anyone *not* take the Pill if they want to.

Nifty! A 1,500-year-old Byzantine port has been found! :)

lol This is a great reward! How do you win the right to be "drunk and disorderly in public" without fear of arrest?? lol

Wow some more--a worker in Ireland found an ancient book of psalms. What a time for discoveries! :)

Well, I guess I'm glad I'm female, because it's more dangerous to be male in this world. Of course, that's mostly because of male's lifestyle choices, but there you go.

So, what *is* the truth on milk and health? Generally, it's healthy for you. Woot, because I love milk. :)

I am sure you've all seen the HeadOn ad like I have, which is what entertained me so much about this column. :)

GlaxoKlineSmith may have found a way to mass-produce an avian flue vaccine by 2007.

What is beauty? Could it be saving water by having fruit- and vegetable-gardens instead of grass lawns that soak up so much water? I think so, and I'm all for that. My family has a small garden in their backyard as it is. Well, for their yard size, it's actually kind of big, but yeah.

A homeless man has reaped the rewards of honesty. He found $21,000 in savings bonds and returned them to their owner--only be given only $100. Several people have chipped in to give him help, and now he's $4,000 richer. $4,000 can do a lot for a guy in the Midwest. I'm glad people helped him out, and I wish we could do more for our homeless population.

Indiana had its own sniper shootings on Sunday. The teen involved is pleading not guilty of the murder and attempted murder charges, saying he was only "relieving pressure" when he fired shots off an overpass. You know, I could see that defense if he were in the woods and truly thought no one else was around, but I really can't see that working since he was on an interstate overpass with cars and trucks whizzing around and under him.

Peace.