state mandated rape

Women in Virginia are suddenly aware that women's rights might go the way of the dinosaur if they fail to speak up...

Thankfully, the soft sound of silence is golden as the governor begins to confront the realities of his intractable position.

To all who support the women in this ongoing fight, you challenge those who would push women back into the kitchen, and back to when women had no voice when it came to control of their bodies.

(...and while McDonnell may have been a rising star in the political arena, this one issue may be his political demise.)

the swift decline of women's rights

Two centuries ago, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton advocated for women's suffrage, including women's right to control their lives, finances, health, the right of women to organize and finally, an end to slavery. These two women believed ultimately they would win the right to vote for women when the 13th Amendment was passed, but the final legislation excluded any language concerning women.

Did you know that an anti-abortion, anti-women's rights group has absconded with Anthony's good name (www.sba-list.org). Frankly, I had no idea this group existed, but their positions clearly run counter to those espoused by Susan B. Anthony when she was alive. During the twenty years SBAList has existed, this group has fought to abolish women's control over their bodies by insuring that potential legislators with like-minded values are elected to state and federal legislative bodies.

Perhaps you've also noticed... many of the decisions that would affect women's rights to control their bodies are being imposed by MEN, beginning with the U.S. Supreme Court.

The recent congressional panel chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa, supposedly enjoined to debate women's contraceptives in the health care bill began with an obvious omission...

Where were the women?

After all, wasn't this conversation about access to contraceptives... and just who normally uses contraceptives? Certainly not the men on the panel...

In reality, this panel wasn't about women's health care, but rather, as Issa remarked, "about religious freedom" (although I didn't quite get the connection... I thought there was church/state separation in this country).

There was a time when women were treated as the property of their husband, father or brother. During the era of the Salem witch trials, anyone who stepped out of line (as in the case of Bridget Bishop1, the first woman hanged for the crime of witchcraft) could find her/him-self accused of cavorting with the devil if she/he refused to remain subservient. At the end of these trials, nineteen individuals were hanged, and hundreds imprisoned. Ironically, it was two young women who began the process, accusing individuals who had somehow "dissed" them.

Recently, it was announced that Susan G. Komen for the Cure had severed ties with Planned Parenthood because Planned Parenthood provided abortion services to women facing unwanted pregnancies. It was only after the Komen offices were inundated with phone calls from irate women, that they backed off their position, yet they've not completely rescinded the idea of severing ties with Planned Parenthood.

Achieving equality has been a long hard struggle.

One step forward... two steps back...

Here's the bottom line (at least for me)... I  don't want anyone telling me what I can, or can't do with my body. I don't want congress butting in, and I certainly don't want some busy-body from an anti-female group forcing me to adopt their backward views when it comes to control of my body.

And, that's all...


1 June 10th -- 1692
According to the Within Written precept I have taken the body of the within named Brigett Bishop of their Majes'ts Goale in Salem and Safely Conveighd her to the place provided for her Execution and Caused the s'd Brigett to be hanged by the neck untill Shee was dead # [an d b uried in the pla] all which was according to the time within Required and So I make Returne by me
George Corwin Sheriff 

fukushima followup

Earlier this month, it was announced that TEPCO (the nuclear plant operator at Fukushima) had failed to winterize the cooling system, leading to more radioactive leaks.

Perhaps you noticed this information did not get broad media exposure.

No surprise here.

John Ritch, Director General of the World Nuclear Association, a nuclear energy "expert" decreed nuclear power to be historically safe... at the same time referencing minor blips at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and now Fukushima as anomalies to a "stellar safe record" that began in the 1950s. According to Ritch, enormous changes have taken place during the fifty-some-odd years that nuclear plants have been operating, making this the safest form of energy creation. He then went on to suggest there were no atmospheric emissions from the latest problem at Fukushima, but failed to note those atmospheric "radioactive emissions" circling the globe. Nor did he include the waste products from spent fuel rods that currently, cannot be safely stored.

Now I don't want to alarm anyone, but in early February, there was another "small" leak at the nuclear plant in San Onofre (north of San Diego county in California). While authorities suggested the amount was "barely measurable," the facts remain... this is cause for alarm for anyone concerned with safety in the nuclear industry because we are not being given all the facts.

(For those who might be interested, I've commented on the industry and lack of information in earlier blogs... japan hit by 8.9 earthquake and tsunami, a followup to the earthquake and later blogs include, let's all go boom! and mining for uranium).

I know, this may be somewhat depressing. but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

When we begin to  think outside the box, we discover there are reasonable alternatives to those touted by the oil and nuclear industries... like wind, solar and water-generated power.

But, these potential industries need financing in order to move forward and between the oil, and nuclear industries, that financing is currently in short supply.

is this the end of the era?

Personally, I hope it's the beginning of a resurgence toward equality of rights under the law.

When rights in the new country were being formulated and debated, Abigail Adams admonished her husband to "remember the ladies" and not place unlimited power into the hands of their spouses, to which John Adams replied "...we know better than to repeal our masculine systems." (from Alice S. Rossi's The Feminist Papers: From Adams to de Beauvoir, New York: Columbia University Press, 1973. Abigail Adam's Letter, dated March 31, 1776) 

For far too long, women have been given short shrift in the social arena... lower wages, higher insurance rates, fewer rights, despite gaining the right to vote in the early 20th century. The march for the right to vote was long, and ratification of the 19th Amendment came only after a prolonged fight to deny women this semblance of equality.

Fast forward to 2012 as we see the rights of women to control their lives and their bodies debated in a number of state legislatures, and in some cases, rolled back to times when men controlled all aspects of women's lives. In Virginia, (I'm constantly embarrassed to admit this is my home state) we've seen debate on what constitutes "personhood" in the case of an unborn child and what "rights" should be conferred on "unborn children" and whether they should enjoy all the rights and privileges as those "living" persons/residents/citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia. If left to the legislative body, the answer is yes, these unborn children will have all the rights as those fully-formed human beings currently walking the face of earth.

We've seen candidates for the highest office in this country question whether women are even capable of making decisions that will affect their health and well-being (please note some of the comments by  arch conservative catholic, Rick Santorum).

The real tragedy is, there are women who support these Neanderthal ideas... without fully contemplating what this will mean for women coming behind them. They have only a vague idea what torture transpired during the era leading up to suffrage and buy into the idea that women are already equal in this country.

if not now... when?

judicial followup...

I was asked to finish my "judicial...inaction" blog entry... and so, I am.

I did finally extricate myself from the jury pool, but only after much frustration and time... All in all I spent three days waiting for those in power positions to draw the same conclusion I had already come to... I would simply not make a good juror in this case. There was no way I could remain impartial... nor would I want to be.

The case revolved around an individual charged with driving in such a manner that raised questions about his ability to safely navigate the streets. When was asked to present his license, registration and proof of insurance (a standard request these days), he could not or would not.

Further, he was asked if he had been drinking.

He was eventually arrested for driving without a license and yes, he had been drinking. The question was... was he above, or below the legal limit.

For me, there was another problem. He was driving without a license. This simple fact was glossed over by his defense attorney during the seating of the jury... probably because he deemed it a minor infraction.

Personally for me, it pointed out a glaring issue in this community. There are those driving our streets who believe rules do not apply to them and feel they are above the law.

Granted... in the scheme of life, it's probably not as big a sin as... say cold-blooded murder, but we're all required to go down to the DMV and renew our licenses for good reason.

It's a way of insuring everyone on the roadways is responsible because if you've ever been involved in an accident with someone uninsured, or, in the case of this individual, driving without a license... all bets are off.

to dear friends near and far

Cupid's Greek name was?

EROS