Last Week It Was Racism, This Week It's Sexism- I Look Forward To A Better World, Without Any -Isms

Gender selection

Reshma Bano wails as she holds the body of her 3-month-old daughter Neha Afreen outside a hospital morgue in Bangalore, India, April 11. Afreen was admitted to the hospital on April 8 after allegedly being battered by her father for being born a girl. Police said the father confessed to the crime and was in custody, according to media reports.



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47019898

Racism

I was all prepared today with another edition of "Things that made me laugh". I've been saving them on my phone, in a notebook in my purse, and on my laptop. But instead, I'm going to share a news article that hit my homepage this evening. Before I share the article, you need to know the person whom it is about. The beautiful young lady pictured here is Amandla Stenberg. She play Rue in the new Hunger Games movie (the one I wrote enthusiastically about just yesterday). Honestly, she is almost exactly as I pictured Rue from the book.


And here is the news article I promised-
Actors Amandla Stenberg and Dayo Okeniyi definitely hit it big when they landed the roles of Rue and Thresh, respectively, in "The Hunger Games."

But the relative unknowns playing tributes from District 11 in the dystopian saga (which scored a historic $155 million its opening weekend and rave reviews) are the subject of an offensive debate among a few, totally clueless fans of Suzanne Collins' blockbuster young adult novel, as pointed out at Jezebel.

Why? Although both Rue and Thresh are described as having "dark brown skin" in the book, some bigoted fans, oddly enough, object that both Stenberg and Okeniyi are black.

Complained one fan on Twitter: "Why does rue have to be black not gonna lie kinda ruined the movie."

Added another ignorant fan: "Why did the producer make all the good characters black?"

"Why is Rue a little black girl? Stick to the book, dude," said another.

In something of a spoiler tweet, another fan admitted he was "racist" when he learned of tragic Rue's racial identity.

Another tweeter even uttered the "N" word in decrying adorable African-American actress Amandla Stenberg's race.

"I'm still pissed that Rue is black," wrote another.

"Ewwww rue is black?? I'm not watching," another person wrote.

The Tumblr blog "Hunger Games" Tweets was first to decry the shocking, offensive trend. "The reactions are all based on feelings of disgust," the blogger wrote. "These people are MAD that the girl that they cried over while reading the book was 'some black girl' all along. So now they're angry. Wasted tears, wasted emotions. ... This is a BIG problem."


I would also like to add a few things from the "Hunger Games Tweets" Tumblr mentioned above (because of course I went there to catch up on what was going on before I blogged myself!). Here are a few more quotes-

" [quoted from someone else]-The best way to keep racism alive is to talk about racism.

Nice!! So what you’re saying is that when we see racism running rampant over something as trivial as movie casting, we should all just sweep it under the rug and look in the other direction because there’s nothing to see here and everything is peachy-keen!!

Right, but… no. I’m going to address it and do what I can to combat it. And yes, that involves collecting these tweets and leaving the big ugly mess right here for everyone to see so that we all know there’s a big problem out there and it’s not to be ignored."

Here's the complete quote from the news article, which is actually what I went looking for-
"These people are MAD that the girl that they cried over while reading the book was “some black girl” all along. So now they’re angry. Wasted tears, wasted emotions. It’s sad to think that had they known that she was black all along, there would have been so sorrow or sadness over her death.

There are MAJOR TIE-INS to these reactions and the injustices that we see around the world today. I don’t even need to spell it out because I know that you’re all a smart bunch.

This is a BIG problem. Think of all the murdered children. Think of all the missing children that get NO SCREEN TIME on the news.

It is NOT a coincidence."

The above quotes are from Hunger Games Tweets and the article can be found by clicking here.

I don't have much more to say beyond what the author of Hunger Games Tweets has said. I honestly am struggling with the fact that there are so many people STILL who feel that the color of someone's skin makes them less of a person, or less sympathetic. The idea that someone would not care about the death of a little twelve year old (fictional) girl because she's black literally blew my mind. I'm going to end this post with a few screen captures from Hunger Games Tweets (follow the link above to see the context). It's ridiculous and sad and it's kind of breaking my heart that people can still think like this. (Also, for clarification in case you haven't read the books, while I would be upset that people can think like that no matter what, the character of Rue is CLEARLY described as having "dark brown skin" more than once in The Hunger Games).

Ripped from the headlines!

Okay, maybe not the big headlines you've read, but something that popped up in my news surfing today.
The headline is: http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Cheerleading coach removed after calling team ‘highfalutin heifers’
The general idea of the story is that a cheer-leading coach was screaming at her team and said (in part) "Who do you think you all are?...Highfalutin heifers. You can just come and go as you please. Fire me!" It was not the first time she screamed at her team. One of the team members pulled out her cell phone and recorded the rant, which led to the coach being fired.
"Excellent!" We all say in unison. "Finally, an abusive coach who didn't win in the end." And then we all went about our days and completely forgot we ever read the story.
Except... "Meanwhile, the cheerleader who provided the recording -- who is identified only as the 11th-grade daughter of a man named Abel Olivares -- has been handed two days of detention for recording the coach's rant on school property and sharing the recording with friends."
And that is wrong.
It reminds me of an incident that happened when I was in middle school. This was...before anti-bullying initiatives were a thing. I was sitting in class, and there was a boy sitting behind me. He poked me with his pen in the back over and over and whispered to me when the teacher couldn't hear "I can't see around you, move fatty." This happened for weeks. Finally the teacher asked me about the pen marks on my shirt and I told her about the poking. We both wound up in the vice-principal's office and the boy was suspended for a few days. About a week later I was back in the v-p's office for something similar (although those exact circumstances escape me). Again, I told my side of the story and the person at fault was suspended. Finally, two weeks later a tough girl came up to me and told me she was going to "kick my a**" (for flirting with her boyfriend I think) and I should meet her right there at three so she could beat me up. I did not meet her. I had choir. And a brain. But she did come looking for me. And she did hit me. And I did not hit her back (although I sorely wanted to) because I did not want to be suspended (alright, I was a geek. Shut up.) Once more I wound up the v-p's office. And this time I was suspended. Not because I had done anything tangibly wrong, but because it was my third time there in a month. My mom argued with him, but in the end the suspension stood. My mom (having to work) dropped me off at the mall with $50 on my day off.
I hope that cheer-leader's parents are as accommodating as my mom was.

Um No!

I planned on finishing my 30 Days of Song challenge today. Instead I'm sharing excerpts from a news article I read...

"Kerry, who asked that her family's last name not be used, told "Good Morning America's" Lara Spencer that it was actually her daughter, Britney, who wanted to try Botox, a beauty treatment more normally requested by aging women than growing girls.
"We were getting into the pageants," Kerry recalled. "I knew she was complaining about her face, having wrinkles, and things like that. When I brought it up to Britney she was all for it."
So Kerry, a San Francisco, Calif.-based, part-time aesthetician and no stranger to Botox herself, having done the treatment on her own face, began injecting her daughter with the anti-wrinkle solution.
...
Kerry typically administers the Botox to Britney through a total of five shots, in three different locations on her face.
But can Botox really make a difference on a young girl who has not even had time in her life to develop the "worry" lines or age creases Botox is typically sought out to erase?
"The few times that we did it, it would lessen the lines," said Kerry. "They wouldn't completely disappear, she's a kid. And we don't do so much to where it's going to make a big difference."
But it's enough of a difference for Kerry and Britney to continue on with the treatments, despite the pain.
"It hurts sometimes," said Britney. "It makes me nervous. But I get used to it."
...
Kerry also takes point with critics in that same medical community who say the Botox could cause adverse reactions in her young daughter.
"I don't do enough on her to make a big difference," she said. "Just on the lines."
The potential for both emotional and physical damage makes critics like Dr. Sophy hesitant to prescribe or administer Botox to children, so Kerry must rely on her own methods to gain access to Botox for Britney.
"I do have a trusted source where I get it. He is a behind-the-scene doctor," she said.
...
The tough competition of the pageant world also prompted Kerry to try another type of cosmetic treatment on Britney, one that even middle-aged women find painful: waxing.
"I just don't think it's ladylike to have hair on your legs," explained Britney. "I did that one time. It was super, super hard. It hurts.""
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/mom-year-daughter-botox-young-young/story?id=13580804

Okay- first of all- No. Just no.
Second of all- mom don't try to pawn this off as the daughter wanted to try it. She flat out admits to suggesting it. Also- lady, you're the mother. If your kid wants to do something crazy/dangerous/stupid, you get to say no. That's why kids are raised by adults, not by other kids.
Third- seriously lady? The effects aren't that noticable because your eight year old daughter doesn't have wrinkles yet. You are poisoning her for nothing!!
Fourth- please note that REAL doctors won't even give her the botox. She's using a "behind the scenes" doctor. To me, that sounds like some guy who lost his license years ago for doing something incredibly dangerous/illegal, who continues to do dangerous medical stuff. If doctors generally won't do something- it's probably not a good idea!!
Fifth- does this eight year old kid even have hair to wax off? I'm betting not. Also- it hurt so bad the kid refuses to do it again. But she'll get botox. Stop. Just stop.

Bin Laden

I already wrote about this late last night, as I watched it unfold. I shared with you someof my initial thoughts. Perhaps you were able to read between the lines of exhausted scribblings and see my relief, my worry, and frankly my guilt. My initial thought was that we had just murdered a man. To be sure, he was an evil man, and man that committed terrible acts, and inspired evil and hatred in others. Yet even as the news showed pictures of hundreds of people (maybe even thousands) celebrating his death, I wanted us to pause, just for one second, and really think about this. Our government ordered the murder of a man, and that to me is a sobering thought. I don't say that it was wrong, just that perhaps, must maybe, we don't need to jump right to celebrating it.
However, as I have had time to think, to reflect, and to better understand what happened, I recognized that based on the description of what happened, Bin Laden COULD have choosen to surrender. President Obama didn't send in drones, or attack from the sky killing everyone in the compound. He ordered in people who were able to take "care to avoid civilian casualties" and had Bin Laden decided not to fight, I have to assume that those soldiers had at least been told to accept his surrender. This wasn't "murder" this was one more act of war, in a war we didn't start. That said, I still can't rejoice over the death of a man. Because before all the other words that describe him, the most basic word is "human".

You Guys, We Just Murdered A Guy

Sorry if I don't make a lot of sense tonight. I'm writing this as it unfolds on MSNBC, and perhaps I'll feel differently in the morning.
On September 11, 2001 we went to war against terrorists. They declared war first. But we’ve had a terrible, decade long war. A war that should never have been against any one country, or even a group of countries. Osama Bin Laden is not the leader of a country. On September 11, 2001 no country declared war against us. But we did. We declared war on a government that rightly swore they had nothing to do with September 11. I am glad he clarified that we’re not at war against Islam, and that Bin Laden wasn’t an Islam leader.
As I waited for the president to speak tonight, I was AIMing a friend. Here’s some of what we had to say (I edited out some generic comments)-

Christina Zastrow 9:48 pm
...so did we kill him? or did he just die?
Chris 9:48 pm
havent said yet
Christina Zastrow 9:48 pm
because we aren't really supposed to assassinate people
Chris 9:49 pm
oh well
Christina Zastrow 9:49 pm
you don't care as long as he's dead?
Chris 9:49 pm
I don't know. Im going to wait for Obama to explain
Chris 10:14 pm
I also wonder if we really just made a martyr.
Christina Zastrow 10:14 pm
yeah, i'm pretty sure we did...the more i hear (especially the way they are talking about it) the more mixed my feelings become
Christina Zastrow 10:21 pm
i want to hear how it happened, so that i can figure out how i feel about it
Chris 10:29 pm
hm shot and killed
Christina Zastrow 10:29 pm
did he just say that we feared he might die of natural causes before we could get to him?
Chris 10:29 pm
yep
Christina Zastrow 10:30 pm
oh good lord
"Violence, or the threat of violence, has no place in our Democracy" Keith Olbermann
Chris 10:46 pm
well, I like the fact that it was in a firefight rather than a drone attack....as in he couldve been captured if he had allowed himself to
Christina Zastrow 10:48 pm
yeah, it makes it seem less like murder/assination to me- not that i don't know that it's what we needed to do, but after the whole torture thing, i think we need to stand even taller to earn back the reputation i want us to have
Chris 10:48 pm
but I am worried about retalliation
Christina Zastrow 10:49 pm
yeah
Christina Zastrow 10:50 pm
i'm not sure that the news people have thought this through- they were talking before about people uniting (as in various groups in the area uniting WITH us), but i would be more worried about some groups uniting AGAINST us
the way many people would unite against someone who killed Oprah
Christina Zastrow 10:51 pm
well, he's not exactly a political leader like Obama- he's more of a lifestyle leader, so...

Doctors Lie

So, I know I've been on a kick lately where I tell you about the news instead of whatever you normally get here. And I do promise to get back to that other stuff real soon, but first I have to share one more news item with you...
Dr. Burke reports, "No evidence exists that feeding children a high-sugar diet will induce hyperactivity, despite the common belief that it does."
Uh, really? Because I work with kids on a daily basis, and let me tell you- sugar snack day is always crazy day. Not that we give them pure sugar or anything, but if we have cookies at 3:00 for snack, I promise you by 3:30 when we're getting ready to go into our classes, the kids are hyperactive and insane.
Don't believe a real doctor said it? Click here for the full article.

REALLY?!?!

Yesterday I was in the newspaper. It was just a picture of me and a few of the kids in my class on our daily walk. The local papers love to go to the park across the street from my work for human interest stories, and so my school ends up in the paper fairly frequently. Anyway, since I was in the paper of course I had to buy the paper. And since I had to buy the paper, I was darn well going to read the whole thing. That’s where I got the article that I quoted yesterday when I talked about political climate again. I found something else I wanted to talk about.
There’s this little section in the Daily Herald called “World & nation in 60 seconds”. Under The nation part of that section there is a little paragraph that reads as follows:
“An Ohio science teacher accused of burning the image of a cross on student’s arms said Tuesday he’s disappointed school officials voted to fire him. John Freshwater was accused of preaching Christian beliefs in class when discussing topics such as evolution and homosexuality.”
Before I jumped to conclusions I did go looking for more information. I assumed I must have read the first part wrong, or misunderstood it. Since it’s an AP item, all I could find was the exact same article over and over until eventually, I found this:
“An outside investigation has found that an Ohio public school teacher taught creationism in his science class and used a device to burn the image of a cross on students' arms.
One family filed a federal lawsuit against Mount Vernon Middle School teacher John Freshwater and the school district last week, saying their child was left with a burn mark for three or four weeks.”
Also, this:
“… He also was accused of using a scientific device to mark several students' arms with a cross and keeping a Bible on his desk.”
Now I have no problem with teachers, even in public schools, sharing their religious believes with students, provided it’s done in certain ways.
See, this is a good bit of my problem with religion. It’s not that I have a problem with God, it’s that I have a problem with his people. Some of them are caring and kind, I have a few friends that fit in this category. Unfortunately, the majority of Christians I know or have heard of don’t fit in that category, they fit in the second category of CRAZY PEOPLE.
It was a small article I originally read about this. But it was an article that really made me think about how I feel about religion.
Also there’s this- How did that guy get a job teaching at a high school, and then a nice unassuming well qualified young woman like myself can’t get a teaching job? I promise not to burn crosses (or anything else) into my potential student’s arms!

Political Climate Pt. Five

I don’t care what your politics are – Democrat or Republican, Communist or Theocrat. You don’t have to agree with me for me to respect you, or for me to expect you to respect me. However, we all need to band together and agree this is not okay. (Seriously, click that link).
“The Westboro Baptist Church said Monday it plans to picket Thursday’s funeral for Christina Taylor Greene because ‘God sent the shooter to deal with idolatrous America.’ The fundamentalist church has picketed many military funerals to draw attention to it’s view that the deaths are God’s punishment for the nation’s tolerance of homosexuality.” (Daily Herald, 1/12/11, page 2)
Christina Taylor Greene was nine years old when she was shot and killed Saturday.
I had heard of the church’s activities before. I even know of a group that defends military funerals from the picketers. Enough is enough! Christina was nine. God did not kill her to make a political point! Out rhetoric has gone too far. It is time to agree, as a country, we respect people and we don’t threaten death to make a point. I, for one, will be keeping a close eye on my politicians and I will draw attention to them if they threaten violence to anyone. More to the point, I will not be voting for those who do so.

Political Climate Pt 4

Last night I watched the Daily Show expecting a refuge from thinking about the weekend's shooting. Since I had taken a short sabatical from the news, I didn't really know what else might have happened in the 24 hours BEFORE the shooting and I figured Jon Stewart would have to cover something other than the shooting (making light of tragedy isn't really his thing, but making light of everything else is). Instead he talked a bit about the shooting, not to make fun of it, but in a very intelligent way. I wanted to share that with you (in case you don't watch the show). Therefore, enjoy this clip...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Arizona Shootings Reaction
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook

Political Climate Pt. Three

In 1170 King Henry said something along the lines of "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?" or "What miserable drones and traitors have I nourished and brought up in my household, who let their lord be treated with such shameful contempt by a low-born cleric?" Six months later Thomas a Beckett was murdered by men believing that they had done what their king wanted. Thomas was canonized by the church, King Henry was punished and the English crown was weakened for some time as a result of Henry’s thoughtless words. We as a country need to learn this lesson- words are powerful, especially when they come from powerful figures.
In case you don’t know exactly where this post is going, I’ll fill in a little background info. Yesterday at a political rally in Arizona, a man opened fire and killed six people (twelve are injured including Rep. Giffords the politician involved). One of those killed was a little girl who begged her parents to take her to the rally because she wanted to learn more about politics because she wanted to be a politician. She had become interested in politics as she got old enough to understand the significance of her birthday – September 11, 2001.
You may recall that I wrote a few posts on this subject prior to the last election, but I never posted the final two entries I had written on the topic. One of the posts I never posted was about exactly this. When we are so divided and no one listens to anyone else and people in position of respect and power (like our newscasters) are saying things like “Don’t retreat, reload” (Palin) or drawing crosshairs over the faces of politicians they don’t agree with (Palin again) or “We will use bullets if ballots don’t work” (Schultz on Meet the Press) or saying someone can’t go home or “he’s a dead man” (Boehner), it’s time to double check our priorities. On the MSNBC website I found this quote “intemperate rhetoric from politicians and from news media personalities might encourage some individuals to act violently”. I don’t think that goes far enough, because I don’t think there’s any “might” about it. When you threaten violence, even if it’s just a rhetorical device, you have still threatened violence.
I think Kristin put my thoughts into words best as we AIMed about this tonight. “There should be some sort of legal ramifactions for public figures who announce others should be "taken out." They might mean it metaphorically, but wackadoodles have taken them literally far too many times for it to be excused.” If I told you on this blog that I intended on killing someone, and then that person wound up dead through suspicious means, I guarantee that the police are going to come question me. But apparently if you say that you think someone should be hurt or killed and someone ELSE does what you said, you aren’t responsible for that and I don’t think that’s right. I think we all need to make responsible choices, and threatening public figures is not a responsible choice.

Political Climate Pt. 2

Last time I talked politics, I began talking about the divisive political climate in our country. What I think few Americans realize is that this is not the only time in history that we’ve disagreed about serious issues. This time it is getting out of the recession and health care reform causing most of the broo-ha-ha. From the beginning, our country was made up of people who disagreed. At first, we disagreed about whether we should even form our own country, there were people who stood behind King George and Parliament long before the first shots of the revolution were fired, even after the last shots died away. But let’s skip forward a few decades…
The year is 1856. The place? Washington D.C., Senate Floor. In mid-May Sen. Sumner gave an anti-slavery speech in which he singled out two other senators (including Andrew Butler) as committing crimes against Kansas in the Bleeding Kansas incident. Three days later Sen. Preston Brooks, a relative of Butler’s waits until evening in the capitol building. He waits until all the ladies (secretaries and such) have left the building, and then…Brooks confronts Sumner at Sumner’s desk (which is bolted to the floor of the Senate). "Mr. Sumner,” Sen. Brooks began, “ I have read your speech twice over carefully. It is a libel on South Carolina, and Mr. Butler, who is a relative of mine." As Sumner began to rise, Brooks proceeded to beat him with the cane Brooks carried. Eventually, Brooks literally ripped Sumner’s desk off the floor and continued beating him until his cane broke. He then proceeded to casually walk out of the room. Sumner required three years to recover. Brooks received dozens of new canes from his constituents and remained in office until he died in 1857 (he was even relected!). This is of course just one incident, but all over the country people were shouting each other down, and generally acting like hooligans. Of course we all know that just a few years later in 1861 the country was at war.
One would hope that we could mature as a country. If the kids in my class acted the way people on the news have been, let me tell you there would be some serious time outs in order. Even my two year olds are required to let each other talk, but for some reason we don’t have the same requirements of our adults. One more comment from the news article I talked about last time…
Obama does not legislate, Congress does. Democrats have controlled Congress for 4 years, and have obviously have failed. Liberals will go in November... BUT... thank you very much for your waste-of-time novel. –Comment by Bandonite
Did the end of that comment need to be added? I think Bandonite could have more effectively made his point, and contributed to a more respectful political climate, had he ended his comment after the word November.
Election day is coming! Be prepared.

Political Climate Pt. 1

As you probably noticed, I love politics. I love feeling like I’ve done something to influence the way my country is run, even when I’m only one voice in millions I do have a voice. But I have to be very precise about what I love. I love the process of learning about my politicians, and picking the person I think will do the best job. I love discussing politics with a certain kind of person-the kind of person who can be respectful of a point of view they don’t agree with. I love signing petitions, going to the polls, emailing my representatives. I love being a part of the process. What I don’t love is the political climate among that portion of the population that cannot respect any opinion but their own.
At the end of a CNN article I read the other day, I skimmed the comments, and this is what I found.
Bush's mess did not go away when he got on that helicopter for the last time. His problems remain, until action corrects them. And Republicans have done absolutely nothing to fix the mess they helped create!! People that don't work should get fired. –Comment by TheVeteran
To me this seems like a reasonable comment. There had been some previous comments about how President Obama has had almost two years, and we’re still in a recession therefore he’s failed. TheVeteran is fairly politely pointing out what has been said before, that it took eight years to get us here, it might take time to get us out of it. The response he got was…
Obama, and all other Dems will never accept responsibility for their own failures. All he is trying to do is turn attention away from his failed policies. –Comment by Republam
This kind of bothers me, because during the Bush presidency I felt like anytime something went wrong it was Clinton’s fault, but when Obama truly has to deal with stuff leftover from Bush, he’s not accepting responsibility. It feels like a double standard to me, but it’s not what makes me so angry. Later this comment was made…
I just would like to say that I feel as if the people who are commenting on this page are way to harsh on Obama! You have to understand that we would not be in this predicament if Bush was not in office for the past eight long years. It took eight years for this country to fall apart, Obama is doing his best and what he feels is necessary to get this country back on is its feet. He can not correct all the issues over night or by himself; this is going to take time and more support from people in order to move forward effectively. And plus if you have time to write rude comments about him on this site why not use that energy else where such as helping people find jobs, and research other means of health care. Or better yet, U try being president for a day! –Comment by Ice Cold
The responses immediately below it were…
RE: Stop whining. –Comment by Dolleybird
Estimates are there is $1 trillion, to a high of $4 trillion, of investor money sitting on the sidelines waiting until the spend-and-tax Democrats are out of office. That's what will happen in November. You will know some of these things if you read the front page instead of the comics. –Comment by Bandonite
These two replies are fairly representative of the political climate. In this case it’s conservatives making me angry, but liberals do it too. Instead of just arguing the facts, people have to take it one step farther and insult each other if they disagree. In some cases, they don’t use facts at all, just “Stop whining.” I don’t think anyone is whining, I think that these are overall people who are concerned about politics in this country, stating their opinion and being shut down. I think this is what created the situation we saw this summer where townhall meetings were overtaken by people who didn’t want information out there at all. If you don’t remember, this summer when politicians held townhall meetings about the health care bill, many of them were shouted down and people asking legitimate questions were chanted over, or were not even able to get into the meetings because there were so many people there to protest. I’m not saying we all have to agree with each other, but I am saying that we have to be respectful of each other. This post is getting long, so I’ll finish with a quote from John Stewart. Later I’ll be following up on this with a few historical stories about the last time our political climate got this divisive.
"We live in troubled times with real people facing very real problems; problems that have real if imperfect solutions that I believe 70 to 80 percent of our population could agree to try and could ultimately live with. Unfortunately the conversation and process is controlled by the other 15 to 20 percent." –Jon Stewart

The Pledge To America

The GOP (republicans) just released their “Pledge to America” revealing what they want to do if they gain seats in November. Below I have quoted it quite frequently, but I have also quoted other sources that either explain what those who don’t support the Pledge believe it means, or evidence that shows how the Pledge may be misleading. If I haven’t included any citation other than a page number, it is direct from the Pledge which you may read here. Also, I have bolded the selections from the Pledge.
“We pledge to advance policies that promote greater liberty, wider opportunity, a robust defense, and national economic prosperity.
We pledge to honor families, traditional marriage, life and the private and faith-based organizations that form the core of or American values.” (p 3)
I will choose here to simply ask a question rather than cite evidence. Can we “promote greater liberty” by refusing liberty to some? “Traditional marriage” is conservative speak for items like the Defense of Marriage Act that defines marriage and all it’s benefits as belonging to one man and one woman. I believe that in the space of three lines, the Pledge has contradicted itself. It should instead read, “promote greater liberty to those we agree with”.
“We will roll back government spending to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels…” (p 6 and repeated on p 21)
I believe the wording here is misleading. It refers to “pre-stimulus, pre-bailout” in that order for a reason. It seeks to convince people that the stimulus, clearly related to Pres. Obama was passed BEFORE the bailout, thus laying the burden of the bailout on Pres. Obama as well. However, as astute readers will recall, the bailout (which I believe more people oppose than the stimulus as it sought to provide relieve for companies, not people) passed in October 2008- before the election of Pres. Obama. Therefore, it passed a Democrat Congress, but was signed by a Republican president.
“The trillion-dollar ‘stimulus’ spending bill has made ‘Where are the jobs?’ a national rallying cry after failing to live up to the specific promises made by it’s architects.” (p14)
The stimulus was passed in February of 2009 (President Obama had only been president for about a month) and by November was seen by a variety of analysts “across a wide range of views” as working. Indeed, Republicans blocked proposed tax breaks later that same year. (New York Times)
“We will help the economy by permanently stopping all tax increases, currently scheduled to take effect January 1, 2011.” (p 16)
First and foremost, these are not actually tax increases. What is actually set to happen is the expiration of Bush tax cuts. Obama wants to renew these cuts. For taxpayers earning less than $250,000 a year. One analyst states “raising taxes only on the wealthy is probably the safest bet”. In a few days, I will probably write about why trickledown economics has been widely discredited, and explain why the wealthiest Americans need to pay taxes like the rest of us.
“For the first time in modern history, the House failed to pass or even debate a budget…” (p 32)
Again, this is somewhat misleading. The House did not debate a budget, but it wasn’t the first time in modern history that the House did not pass one. In fact, no final resolution budget was passed in 1998, 2004, and 2006 (all Republican led Houses). The “modern history” part refers to the time since 1974 when the current rules were put in place. According to The Hill “For weeks, Democratic leaders have tried to strike a deal on the budget, which is a non-binding resolution, but to no avail.” Also, Majority Leader Hoyer has stated “It isn’t possible to debate and pass a realistic, long-term budget until we’ve considered the bipartisan commission’s deficit-reduction plan, which is expected in December.” In other words, they wanted to wait to pass a budget until they heard from the experts.
“We will require each bill moving through Congress to include a clause citing the specific constitutional authority on which the bill is justified.” (p 33)
However, the Pledge vows to keep individuals suspected of committing terrorist acts off American soil even refusing Miranda Rights and fair trials. In part it states, “We will keep terrorist combatants in Guantanamo Bay not in our local jails and courtrooms.” (p 7) “We will prevent the government from importing terrorists onto American soil….Foreign terrorists do not have the same rights as American citizens.” (p 38)The Constitution reads “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed…” (US Constitution, Amendment VI emphasis mine). However, there are some who would argue that the Constitution was never meant to apply to non-citizens. Therefore, let us turn to Georgetown University’s Law Department’s opinion on the matter. “creating different rules for suspected terrorists would amount to ‘new rules for sets of people, not sets of crimes.’” As one political economist stated it “The Constitution does not apply only to citizens of the United States. It seems that [some] treat this document [the Constitution] like a two-year-old treats his favorite toy—unwilling to share, and incorrectly believing that it is his and his alone.” (read his opinion here)
Finally I will quote Nadeam Elshami (spokesman for Speaker Nancy Pelosi) “Congressional Republicans are pledging to ship jobs overseas, blow a $700 billion hole in the deficit to give tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires, turn Social Security from a guaranteed benefit into a guaranteed gamble and, once again, subject American families to the recklessness of Wall Street and take away patients’ rights…”
Election Day is coming. Be Prepared!

And I Thought I Was Just Seeking Intellectual Stimulation!

Booking time in IRL (In Real Life)
By Katie Anderson Kanderson@stmedianetwork.com Sep 22, 2010 09:36PM

Taking a cue from the popularity of websites such as Facebook, several area libraries have started their own social networking groups targeted at 20- and 30-somethings.

Like online social networking, these groups offer a third-party venue where youngish-adult patrons can meet for information sharing, socializing, community building, career networking and just plain old fun.

The groups are casual, do not require a regular commitment or joining fees, and don’t involve some of the dating-related expectations associated with going out to a bar. Organizers say despite a propensity for online communication, 20- and 30-somethings still crave face-to-face interaction — the kind with no user name or password required.

“I know at least some of our regular attendees use online social networking, but when I’ve suggested we offer more through a Facebook page, they’re like ‘Nah,’ ” said Marlise Schiltz, librarian and leader of St. Charles Public Library’s 20s and 30s group called TnT (Twenties and Thirties).

While providing IRL interaction (“In Real Life,” for those not up on Internet slang), these groups also help libraries reach what many consider an underserved demographic.

“I guess just in general it’s a hard demographic to serve,” said Rachel Bloomberg, co-leader the 20s and 30s Book Club sponsored by Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin. “We’re not children, and many are not parents with children.”

Bloomberg’s club has been meeting monthly since 2007 and discusses a new book each month. Its members live in Elgin, Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, Pingree Grove and as far away as Carol Stream.

With 20-somethings especially, Bloomberg and Schiltz say, their most recent memory of a library is connected to a horrible college assignment.

TnT launched in 2005 and has inspired several other libraries to start similar groups. It draws members from St. Charles and South Elgin, and unlike the Elgin group, its focus is not on books but rather social and educational outings.

The Dundee Township Public Library started its own group last week, finding that despite a love of Facebook and Twitter, many of its young professional patrons also would rather meet up than “tweet up.”

The Dundee library’s group is called the Young and Restless. At its first meeting Sept. 14, members watched the movie “The Big Lebowski” and chowed down on pizza.

“Our motivation for starting the group was to involve as many people as possibly within our demographic,” said Jason Katsion, an information services specialist at the library. Katsion, 32, is one of three 20- and 30-somethings who founded the group.

“We felt that group (20- and 30-year-olds) was maybe being underserved,” he said. “The library offers considerable programming for pretty much everyone in the community, but a lot is geared to early readers and older adults.”

Katsion said Young and Restless will feature workshops and gatherings relevant to “our demographic” and that meetings will be held either at the library or locations such as coffeehouses, restaurants and pubs.

Although not present yet, a 20s and 30s group may start soon at the Algonquin Area Public Library, too.

“We’ve talked about looking to perhaps start something up, but nothing is in place right now,” said Vicky Tobias, head of Adult Services at the library. Several staff members have brought it up recently, she said, and the library is more than willing to talk about it.

Although not a library-based group, the Young Professionals of Sycamore also has latched on to the idea that 20- and 30-somethings still like to meet IRL. The group meets monthly and has more than 40 members from Sycamore, DeKalb, Genoa and the surrounding communities.

(From today's Courier News)

It's My Blog and I'll Politic If I Want To

Last month, a federal court in Alaska found that the Bush administration violated the law when it approved oil and gas leasing in Alaska's Chukchi sea without sufficient information and analysis about risks to the Arctic environment.

Yet, President Obama's administration has so far failed to revisit protections for the Chukchi - arctic waters off Alaska's coast and has asked the court in Alaska to allow activities that would pave the way for drilling to proceed, potentially jeopardizing an area key to the survival of not only polar bears, but also bowhead whales, Pacific walrus and other wildlife.

The courts and scientists have all said that more information is needed about the Arctic environment before we even consider drilling in its ice covered seas that are cloaked in darkness most of the year.

I just signed a petition telling President Obama to pull the illegal leases sold in the Chukchi Sea and halt seismic testing in the Arctic this summer.

Have a look and take action here. it's not hard, just a few basic questions (name, etc) and you too can sign the petition! (Note: both those links are to the same place, I just wanted to give you an extra chance to click.)

Also- credit where credit is due, I didn't write this post, I copied it from an email from CREDO.