why women should vote
posted 9/16
this came to me via an email from marcia (thank you!)...
i don’t know who the author is, but i have edited the
original and would be delighted to give credit where
credit is due.
Most of us know about Susan B. Anthony, but I did not know about many of the women who suffered under the hands of our government for the sake of the right to vote. Is this the America I love?
It was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to vote. They were innocent and defenseless, but were jailed nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking for the vote.
I was shocked to read that by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and with their warden's blessing, went on a rampage against some 33 women, wrongly convicted, citing 'obstructing sidewalk traffic.'
They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air.
Miss [Lucy] Burns in Occoquan Workhouse, Washington
They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack.
[Mrs.] Lawrence Lewis [Dora Lewis] of Philadelphia on release from jail after five days of hunger striking.
Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.
Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15,1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote.
For weeks, the women’s only water came from an open pail. Their food – all of it colorless slop – was infested with worms. When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.
Miss Alice Paul, New Jersey, National Chairman, Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage; Member, Ex-Officio, National Executive Committee, Woman's Party
HBO's movie 'Iron Jawed Angels' starring Hilary Swank, is a graphic depiction of the battle these women waged. It should be shown in all history, social studies and government classes.
It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was, “strong,” he said, “and brave.” That didn’t make her crazy. The doctor admonished the men: “Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.”
It is reported that women are not voting in the numbers that they must. Please, if you are so inclined, remind all the women you know. We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote democratic, republican or independent party is not important. Just remember to vote. History is in the making.
Photo Source: The Library of Congress at: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/prisoners.pdf
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we remember 9/11
posted 9/11
with all the horrific pictures....
emblazened in our minds...
i wanted to create something...
something more...
that perhaps offers
a little hope and comfort
to those who still mourn...
this day in history leaves us all
with tragic memories
so personal
to each of us...
it now a time
for us
to have faith...
have faith in ourselves
and our creator...
to know
that we can
and really do
have the ability
in the
depths of our souls
to remember
that life
is eternal...
that we are
capable of
healing
in many
different ways...
and we must heal
nonetheless...
perhaps not fully
nor as we would
wish...
yet it is in
the process
that we realize
we must go on
and
that is the goal...
please watch the video...
blind singer/songwriter
ralph buckley's
ease
soothed me
enough
to make this
video possible...
and I hope it does
the same
for you also...
with love and prayers
always...
as we remember...
deirdre
palin for president?
posted 9/14
this is going to receive
some cheers
and some boos...
but whatever it elicits
i don't really care
because although
i hardly ever actively
get involved with
political extremes
and try desperately to
keep a middle road...
something has
incensed me
and i just cannot
go on without
speaking my truth...
so folks...
it's going to be a
long one today
so hold onto
your hats
while
i ask you now....
is palin ready
to be president
if anything happened
to mccain?
i offer this information for your own enlightenment...
you make up your own minds...
is it really a case of whether McCain is voted in as president? or that his vice president has the likelihood of taking over some day?
read on
and then
answer for
yourselves
truthfully....
from Eve Ensler at
"I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last night that she was a member of a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of drowned and starved polar bears around their necks. I have a particular thing for polar bears. Maybe it's their snowy whiteness or their bigness or the fact that they live in the arctic or that I have never seen one in person or touched one. Maybe it is the fact that they live so comfortably on ice. Whatever it is, I need the polar bears.
I don't like raging at women. I am a Feminist and have spent my life trying to build a community, help empower women, and stop violence against them. It is hard to write about Sarah Palin. This is why the Sarah Palin choice was all the more insidious and cynical. The people who made this choice count on the goodness and solidarity of Feminists.
But everything Sarah Palin believes in and practices is antithetical to Feminism which for me is part of one story -- connected to saving the earth, ending racism, empowering women, giving young girls options, opening our minds, deepening tolerance, and ending violence and war.
I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices of my lifetime, and should this country chose those candidates, the fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact that duo would have on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a joke. In my lifetime I have seen the clownish, the inept, the bizarre be elected to the presidency with regularity.
Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor. In her world and the world of Fundamentalists nothing changes or get better or evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The melting of the arctic, the storms that are destroying our cities, the pollution, and rise of cancers, are all part of God's plan. She is fighting to take the polar bears off the endangered species list. The earth, in Palin's view, is here to be taken and plundered. The wolves and the bears are here to be shot and plundered. The oil is here to be taken and plundered. Iraq is here to be taken and plundered. And as she said herself of the Iraqi war, "It was a task from God."
Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion. She does not believe women who are raped and incested and ripped open against their will should have the right to determine whether they have their rapist's baby or not. She obviously does not believe in sex education or birth control. I imagine her daughter was practicing abstinence and we know how many babies that makes.
Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. From what I gather she has tried to ban books from the library, has a tendency to dispense with people who think independently. She cannot tolerate an environment of ambiguity and difference. This is a woman who could and might very well be the next President of the United States. She would govern one of the most diverse populations on the earth.
Sarah believes in guns. She has her own custom Austrian hunting rifle. She has been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip. She has shot hundreds of wolves from the air.
Sarah believes in God. That is of course her right, her private right. But when God and guns come together in the public sector, when war is declared in God's name, when the rights of women are denied in his name, that is the end of separation of church and state, and the undoing of everything America has ever tried to be.
I write to my sisters. I write because I believe we hold this election in our hands. This vote is a vote that will determine the future not just of the U.S, but of the planet. It will determine whether we create policies to save the earth, or make it forever uninhabitable for humans. It will determine whether we move towards dialogue for diplomacy in the world, or whether we escalate violence through invasion, undermining, and attack. It will determine whether we go for oil, strip mining, coal burning, or invest our money in alternatives that will free us from dependency and destruction. It will determine if money gets spent on education and healthcare, or whether we build more and more methods of killing. It will determine whether America is a free open tolerant society, or a closed place of fear, fundamentalism, and aggression.
If the polar bears don't move you to go and do everything in your power to get Obama elected, then consider the chant that filled the hall after Palin spoke at the RNC, "Drill, Drill, Drill!" I think of teeth when I think of drills. I think of rape. I think of destruction. I think of domination. I think of military exercises that force mindless repetition, emptying the brain of analysis, doubt, ambiguity, or dissent. I think of pain.
Do we want a future of drilling? More holes in the ozone, in the floor of the sea, more holes in our thinking, in the trust between nations and peoples, more holes in the fabric of this precious thing we call life?" Eve Ensler, September 5, 2008
my research shows that the following is
what sarah palin believes:
1) She is opposed to abortion even in cases of rape and incest (even if victims are children)
2) She offered a bounty of $150 for each right front leg of freshly killed wolves
3) She is presently under investigation in Alaska for abuse of power
4) She strongly supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
5) She promotes aerial hunting of wolves and bears even though Alaskans voted twice to ban the practice (VIDEO)
6) She supports the Alaskan Independence Party which seeks independence from the United States (VIDEO)
7) She is a champion for big oil and her campaign slogan has become "Drill, baby, drill!"
8) She believes creationism should be taught in public schools
9) She believes man-made global warming is a farce
10) She is opposed to listing the polar bear as an endangered species because it might limit oil exploitation
11) While mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire the city librarian because the librarian refused to censor books
12) She used $400,000 of state money to fund a propaganda campaign in support of aerial hunting
13) As mayor of Wasilla, she made rape victims pay for their own forensic evidence kits
14) She obtained her first passport just last year (2007)
These facts can be found at: http://www.grizzlybay.org/SarahPalinInfoPage.htm
where you can click on each link in each statement
to read about the details of these statements.
NOW...
would YOU want this woman running our country?
personally, i really wanted hillary
to win the nomination...
i "feel" she is a lady with class, courage
and a heart!
so what do i do now?
i'm not sure i'm 100% behind obama
hillary's endorsement aside...
so this is really going to stretch my intuition...
yet i do intend with the deepest sincerity
to make a full and completely informed
decision!
i can only hope it is the right one...
but for now, i say, "Right on Eve Ensler!"
the following movie is a repeat on my blog
but it bears a second showing
under the circumstances
i do believe....
polar whale
posted 9/14
there's much we don't know
posted 9/17
i have a wonderful and
a very dear long time friend....
we are probably polar opposites
but i love her very much...
she provides me with the
opportunity to
question myself...
sometimes daily!
but here on this
issue i stand firm...
i do not think that
some of our politicians
in particular the republicans
have the american people's
nor the world's best
interests at heart...
i do not believe
they are listening to us...
i do not believe
they are responding...
i do believe that
the power they feel
has eroded their
judgment...
this video that marcia sent me
is enlightening to me...
on the fence
about joe biden,
i now believe
he is probably
the only one who
may be capable
of speaking the truth
about a situation...
i am inching foward...
see here for yourselves...
he is the ONLY one who states
that THERE'S MUCH
WE DON'T KNOW...
in regards to the question about
weapons of mass destruction in iraq...
it gives me pause
see for yourselves...
check your facts
posted 9/18
so many times
i receive emails
laden with
so called "facts"
about certain
celebrities...
or stories
that "seem"
true
yet
they almost always
are not...
i have got into
the habit
of checking now
before i forward
anything...
every now and again
i have to admit
though...
one or two get
by me...
the video below
is a shocker...
and just goes
to show
that we can't trust
the media at all...
this video says it all...
i quote a viewer's
comment....
only i didn't find it
as funny as she did....
"Our obvious hunger for morbid curiosity aside, I think her work is brilliant. I don't know if it's meant to be hysterically funny, but I laughed my way thru Jackson's entire talk. I can see why her books sell; she speaks to two truths. First, the fact that we all are guilty of staring too long at a train wreck, and secondly, her work feeds our other morbid curiosity about the private lives of "celebrities." I love it that she hands us the most graphic, least varnished versions of people who are, for whatever reason, "famous." She could use the same techniques making pictures of your next door neighbor and the impact would be zero. How malicious then the human spirit, to eagerly seek out, even CREATE as Jackson does, moments of humiliation and degradation of the very people we put on such high pedestals. If Alison Jackson ever needs a second line of work, I hope she would consider writing for Saturday Night Live. I would watch. By making photographs that seem to show our favorite celebs doing what we really, secretly, want to see them doing, Alison Jackson explores our desire to get personal with celebs. Contains graphic images." Stacy Zimmerman – February 7 2008
shine!
posted 9/19
Shine
by Joni Mitchell
Oh let your little light shine
Let your little light shine
Shine on Vegas and Wall Street
Place your bets
Shine on all the fishermen
With nothing in their nets
Shine on rising oceans and evaporating seas
Shine on our Frankenstein technologies
Shine on science
With its tunnel vision
Tunnel vision
Shine on fertile farmlands
Buried under subdivisions
Oh let your little light shine
Oh let your little light shine
Shine on the dazzling darkness
That restores us in deep sleep
Shine on what we throw away
And what we keep
Shine on Reverend Pearson
Who threw away
The vain old God
And kept Dickens and Rembrandt and Beethoven
And fresh plowed sod
Shine on good earth, good air, good water
And a safe place
For kids to play
Shine on bombs exploding
Half a mile away
Oh let your little light shine
Let your little light shine
Shine Shine
Shine on world-wide traffic jams
Honking day and night
Shine on another asshole
Passing on the right
Shine on all the red light runners
Busy talking on their cell phones
Shine on the Catholic Church
And the prisons that it owns
Shine on all the Churches
They all love less and less
Shine on a hopeful girl
In a dreamy dress
Oh let your little light shine
Shine Shine Shine
Let your little light shine
Shine on good humor
Shine on good will
Shine on lousy leadership
Licensed to kill
Shine on dying soldiers
In patriotic pain
Shine on mass destruction
In some God's name
Shine on the pioneers
Those seekers of mental health
Craving simplicity
They traveled inward
Past themselves
May their little lights shine
May all their little lights shine
Copyright © 2007; Crazy Crow Music
in loving memory
paul newman
posted 9/27
“We are such spendthrifts with our lives,” Mr. Newman once told a reporter. “The trick of living is to slip on and off the planet with the least fuss you can muster. I’m not running for sainthood. I just happen to think that in life we need to be a little like the farmer, who puts back into the soil what he takes out.” NY Times full article
Paul and Joanne as Mr. & Mrs. Bridge
Paul was married 50 years to one of Hollywood's great actresses, Joanne Woodward, and they appeared together in 10 films, the last of which was "Mr. and Mrs. Bridge" in 1990. "Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward give what are possibly the performances of their careers in the title roles," Vincent Canby wrote on Dec. 30, 1990, "two people who might have been born with their clothes on, wearing, of course, the right shoes and socks."
Photo: Miramax
happy 4th birthday victor darling
posted 9/27
ask deirdre
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answers
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NAME: Kenneth Way (Grumpy Old Bastard)
SEX: Not lately, but I am looking for the right woman (or at least one who will cooperate)
DESIRED POSITION: Company President or Vice President. But seriously, whatever's available. If I was in a position to be picky, I wouldn't be applying here in the first place.
DESIRED SALARY: $185,000 a year plus stock options and a Michael Ovitz style severance package. If that's not possible, make an offer and we can haggle.
EDUCATION: Yes
LAST POSITION HELD: Target for middle management hostility
PREVIOUS SALARY: A lot less than I'm worth
MOST NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT: My incredible collection of stolen pens and post-it notes.
REASON FOR LEAVING: It sucked
HOURS AVAILABLE TO WORK: Any
PREFERRED HOURS: 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday
DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL SKILLS? Yes, but they're better suited to a more intimate environment
MAY WE CONTACT YOUR CURRENT EMPLOYER: If I had one, would I be here?
DO YOU HAVE ANY PHYSICAL CONDITIONS THAT WOULD PROHIBIT YOU FROM LIFTING UP TO 50lbs: Of what?
DO YOU HAVE A CAR: I think the more appropriate question here would be Do you have a car that runs?
HAVE YOU RECEIVED ANY SPECIAL AWARDS OR RECOGNITIION: I may already be a winner of the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes, so they tell me.
DO YOU SMOKE: On the job - no! On my breaks - yes!
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE DOING IN FIVE YEARS: Living in the Bahamas with a fabulously wealthy dumb sexy blonde supermodel who thinks I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread. Actually, I'd like to be doing that now.
NEAREST RELATIVE: 7 miles
DO YOU CERTIFY THAT THE ABOVE IS TRUE AND COMPLETE TO THE BEST OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE: Oh yes, absolutely
old people rock!
posted 9/29
WALMART APPLICANT REVEALED...
Greg Bulmash's previous parody of a 17-year old making out a job application to McDonald's has been changed to this 75-year-old senior citizen's application to Walmart. It's not true but it's cute...
