Saturday, June 14, 2008

Friday, June 13, 2008

I have been lucky.

For as tough as my own history of abortion is, I am incredibly lucky that it has always been legal for me. I have never had to risk myself with a scary back alley moment or had to try to get rid of it myself with poison or punctures.


A WORLD WITHOUT ABORTION

H/t Feministing I think.

Another Winner By GeekLove



Also go check out GeekLove's blog. It's chock full of win.

Technical Bitching

Why can't haloscan work like gmail?

Emails from nutbags and trolls get automatically marked with the crazy label and filtered in gmail so I never have to look at them, but they are saved for posterity should law enforcement ever need them.

Why can't haloscan do the same thing?

Thursday, June 12, 2008

SYTYCD Open Thread

Three Awesome Dances From Last Night (I tell you I win more converts to the show with youtube videos)

First- Katie and Joshua. I was all prepared not to like Katie for her bout of whininess last week, but this dance got me all teary eyed.



Kherington and Twitch (who is the hottest thing on legs when he puts n his glasses)




Comfort and Chris- he still is a tree, but she is just sooooo awesome

Why Parental Notification Laws Are a Stupid thing

Via Jezebel comes the story of pregnant 16 year old girl. She tells her boyfriend. Boyfriend tell his mother. Mother tells girl not to tell her parents, forges parental notification form, pushes girl into getting an abortion, and pays for abortion.

Afterwards girl tells her parents and they, being obviously pissed, press charges. The woman gets a year in jail.

Perhaps the girl would have chosen abortion on her own. Perhaps if she had told her parents they would have supported her in that choice. Or perhaps she would have decided to keep the baby. But she would have gotten to choose.

Parental notification laws do not make more pregnant girls talk to their parents. Most pregnant teenagers DO tell their parents. But parental notification laws make it so that the girl has less say in what happens to her own body. If she wants an abortion and her parents do not, that's it. No help for her. Hello motherhood! It also makes her vulnerable to people like the mother in this story. I don't have to imagine how scared the girl was. I know it.

I've talked a little about my own experience. I'll do it again here.

When i was 16, my mother was in a mental hospital and I lived with foster parents. They were people who had become foster parents only because it made them better candidates for adoption. (They told me that on almost my first night there). I had been with them for about 2 months when I found out I was pregnant. I knew before I even had the test that I wasn't having a baby.

I arranged the money, the transportation, the time off school so that I wouldn't be marked for ditching. I told my own mother and talked to my wonderful school counselor who was prohibited by law from telling me about abortion options, so she slyly slid a piece of paper with a phone number on it to me and told me not tell anyone where it came from. She didn't do that until after I told her there was no way in hell I was having a baby.

The day before the abortion, my foster mother (who I am pretty sure is the poster example of an emotionally abused woman, but that is another story) pulled me into my room and asked if I was pregnant.

She didn't ask with concern. She didn't ask with worry. She didn't ask with anger. Any of those I would have understood. When she asked me her eyes were lit up with potential happiness. She was almost fevered in her looks. Like a junkie asking if I had a spare rock.

I didn't have a problem telling people who would be helpful and supportive to me. But in about half a second I decided that telling her the truth would be bad news for me. I could see the hopeful desperation in her eyes. I knew that if I said "Yes, I am pregnant. Tomorrow I am having an abortion and everything has been worked out" that at the very least I would spend the entire night up with her and her husband while they tried to talk me out of it. I knew that it was far more likely that they would prevent me from having the abortion in any way they could. And Foster Pop was a cop. He had numerous ways of preventing me from doing things.

So I lied. I went the next day and had the abortion. I figured out that my state medicaid for foster kids wouldn't pay for an abortion, but it covered the cost of the anti-biotics and other prescriptions I needed afterwards. My boyfriend went with me and took excellent care of me before, during and especially afterwards.

I told my foster parents several days later. I was homeless less than a week after that. My stuff was all bagged up in big black plastic garbage bags and left in the driveway while they went on vacation to Disneyland.

Had parental notification laws been in place at the time, I would have been forced, at 16, to have a baby I didn't want. My only other option would have been adoption, which is exactly what my foster parents wanted, but not something I have ever considered. Ever.

I was responsible. I talked to adults who I knew were supportive and wouldn't pressure me. I think the girl in the Jezebel story would have too, but instead she got stuck talking to someone who did not have her best interests at heart. And that is what parental notification laws do. They remove from the girl the ability to find the kind of support she needs. Sometimes that is parents, usually that is parents. But sometimes it is not. Those are the worst situations. How can we ever know what the girl might have wanted for herself, when so many people with conflicting opinions get to control her.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

No, Actually MY Other Boyfriend Covered This...


She wants us to have sex with BUGS!

And women are a threat to SPORTS!

Best. Thing. Evah!


Via That One Albino Chick (Toac) comes my new favorite thing.

Green Porno.

It's got Isabella Rosselini dressed up as various different insects like bees and fireflies and snails having sex.

And She is wickedly delightful when playing the male insect roles.

Awesome. the best way you could possibly waste time on the internet.

Did ya think

When you opened up the can of misogyny worms and forced them down Hillary's throat, that no one would do the same to you and your candidate?

Did you have the false sense of security that your flavor of misogyny was special and good and right when hurled at Hillary and her supporters? Are you feeling peeved now that the misogyny is being hurled at Michelle Obama instead?

Perhaps you were uncomfortable with the misogyny directed at us. But you support Obama. You certainly weren't going to say anything against your own candidate. On that justification, should we be helping you out now?

Did you think that by using race baiting against Clinton, you weren't going to open up all sorts of justification for throwing real racism at your candidate. Make believe threats of assassination pale in comparison to the real ones. We know about real threats. We watched countless heroes of the left threaten to take the bitch in a room and not let her come out again. No one screamed about assassination threats when that happened over and over and over again.

But we are better than you. We always have been. We don't have a problem calling out real racism when it shows it's ugly face in the form of a monkey sock puppet. We may not like the sexism that comes out of Michelle Obama's own mouth, but we will certainly call out people for throwing all that leftover misogyny at her now that the favorite punching bag has suspended her campaign.

We will even call you out when you post ugly pictures of Michelle and a noose.

But we are better than you. We always have been.

Dear Taylor Marsh

Just fucking stop.

I know that you are eager to write Clinton off completely so your conscience can feel better about supporting Obama. I can understand that. It is natural, and if nothing else it shows that there is still some integrity left to you.

But making stuff up is not cool, and you should seriously consider not doing it.

Hillary did not concede. There is no part in her speech that says so, and there is more tahn enough evidence that she is keeping her delegates. Thus, your hurry to write her off is not only a blatant lie, it is also very intellectually dishonest, and the smell of wishful thinking can be felt from my side of the pond.

You can choose to believe that Hillary is happy about the turn of events, and that she wil wholeheartedly support Obama from now on. Unfortunately, those of us with, you know, brains and an allergy to koolaid, might choose to think otherwise.

I am sure that Hillary would have done that, should Obama have won the primaries fair and square. He didn't. Votes who were not cast for him were given to him, the DNC broke its own rules to broker this shit in a closed door meeting, and delegates he hadn't earned were also given to him.

Since that didn't happen, I seriously have issues believing that she would bow gracefully to those who not only stole HER nomination, but compromised the party, shit all over democracy and are heading towards a catastrophic failure in the fall.

This is a truce and nothing more. Obama does not have the pledged delegates to win the nomination as of now, and the Sds are worth nothing until Denver.

Yes, it does make sense that Hillary would suspend her campaign, because she did go into a serious amount of debt while keeping on. YOU were one of the people who encouraged her to keep going at all costs, remember?

But a truce is not the end of a war, and this is a war. Obama is having problems against MCCain now, and one can only imagine what the situation will be in August. The Republican attack machine is good, and this time they won't even have to lie about him, the truth is damning enough.

Until Denver, the Democrats do not have a legal nominee. It's that simple. Much as you would like to remove that bit of truth, it is still there.

Mind you, I can understand why you are acting as such. Few people like to be seen on the loser side. It is probably even harder for you, since you have a career to think of. I can understand that. Most collaborationists have that sort of a reason.

I refuse to believe that senator Clinton would put the party above the interests of the people she defended all her life. If she did, that would make me lose all respect for her. It doesn't work that way.

So, seriously, shut the fuck up.

Pocochina Made Me Do It

The crazy- it burns.

I have to post this troll comment cause it is just too fucking funny to ignore.

From Lance (I'm not a misogynist despite my porntastic name) Thruster comes this gem:

You sound like a serial killer who preys on women because ONE dumped him. Your bigotry knows no bounds. Nothing like damning everyone for the sins of a few. ~


I don't know what that means exactly. But I am rarely mistaken for a dude, and this is the first time I have ever been called a serial killer. Cereal killer I might understand, I can certainly throw down with the frosted flakes.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Ear Worming

This one is for Her Royal Majesty:

First:



Second.


You're Welcome, RQ!

No wonder they think they can write off the working class and Latin@s

The Precious, showing that I've been right all along in saying "Dudes- He's a Republican!" is recruiting young evangelicals.

Let's see, what might that show to us feminists who've been treated like whores and harlots by Evangelicals for not knowing our barefoot, pregnant place in the kitchen.

Oh yeah- Obama hates you and you and you, wait, you've got a penis so you're okay, you're properly subjugated so you're okay, but he hates you and you and me too.

ETA: OMG OMG OMG! I just figured it out. Obama isn't running a campaign based on Rethiglikan method. He's running a campaign using megachurch recruiting methods. OMG OMG OMG. The Obots are the Mormons on bicycles or the Witnesses with Watchtowers, but with less manners than either set.

Free Trade Requires Free Movement Of People

I'm reading Elizabeth Gaskell's Mary Barton. I am a sucker for this genre of English lit, the social conscious raising of the Industrial age that includes Dickens and Wilkie Collins.

It used to be in England that charity only came from the parish you were born in. If you were born in Buckinghamshire and moved to Surrey, it didn't matter if you had spent your entire life working and paying taxes in Surrey, you would have to go back to where you were born if you needed assistance, like if you became terribly ill and needed medical care and couldn't pay for it. In the book, a poor man with typhoid fever faces that problem. The trip home would kill him, and his wife and all of his children were born in the town that won't help him.

Reading a story like that in Mary Barton reminded me of this story. A legal US resident from Honduras goes into labor prematurely, and then into a coma. She has health insurance, but it doesn't cover long term care. The hospital, rather than do what it is legally required to do and care for her anyway, tries to have her deported back to Honduras so they don't have to foot the cost of care.

Same story, 200 years apart. I swear we never fucking learn anything.

With the industrial revolution, not only did goods go farther and faster than they had before, but people had to follow the jobs that produce those goods. We know that within a country. That is why we don't have restrictions on where we can live within the US and we don't have import taxes from state to state. And we don't allow states to shuck responsibility because people aren't from that state. Welfare benefit amounts may differ from state to state, but they cannot use residency requirements to issue them. You just need to prove that you live in a state now, not that you have been there for six months or six years pr your entire life.

People need to be free to move where there is work that will support their families. And the communities that those people come to are responsible for them because they are benefiting from their labor and their taxes. Even the poorest of us pay taxes, and the taxes we pay generally go straight to state and local budgets in the form of state income taxes and sales taxes. Even illegal undocumented immigrants (and I really hate that term- people are not illegal. Someone give me a new term) pay sales taxes in a community.

By disallowing the free movement of people while allowing the free movement of goods, you force a system of illegality into place. And the only people that serves are the unscrupulous employers who no longer have to follow labor laws. There is no minimum wage for illegals undocumented immigrants. There is no OSHA regulation for illegals undocumented immigrants. There are, however, rampant abuses including rape, inflicted on people who are just trying to feed their families and who are contributing to the community.

If the real problem with immigrants is that they are taking jobs away from Americans, there is one easy fix to that. Make the jobs pay better and follow the rules that other employers have to. Don't arrest the employees, arrest the employers. If the problem is that we are shipping jobs overseas, then stop providing tax breaks to American companies that do that. But exploiting cheap labor and then refusing to bear the cost of the exploitation pisses off the people that lose jobs to immigrants and hurts the people who end up doing the jobs. While there may be short term profits to be made, there is long term damage done to society with greater wealth disparity and less social mobility. That is the role of government to fix.

ETA- TOAC in comments gave me a link to terms that better reflect undocumented immigrants. I changed the post to reflect that but kept the original in with strike throughs.

My own 50 state strategy

After all the fun I had with Ms. Brazile yesterday, I've decided to keep the hits coming.

So I got an email from the Obama campaign this morning (how the fuckity fuck did they get my email?) telling me to join the campaign, sign up to volunteer, yaddayaddayadda.

This is my reply:

Dear Sir:

I have been a Democrat since birth. My family have been yellow dog Democrats since forever. But none of us will vote against our own self interests.

We are poor, working class people. Many of us a are women. Many of us are from Appalachia. Many of us live in Florida.

Your candidate has done his best to alienate us on all of the above, over and over and over.

And now I am being literally stalked, harassed and threatened by one of your supporters because I won't drink the koolaid. My blog and other blogs have been attacked by Obama campaign spammers and trolls. I have been called a slut, a bitch, and whore because I want to know what exactly Obama has to offer me, and I am not content with the answers I have gotten so far.

The behavior and actions of Senator Obama and his supporters are pushing me and my family into doing something we never thought we do- vote for someone other than the Democratic nominee. We cannot vote for a sexist. We cannot vote for a classist. We cannot vote for bullies and thugs. We cannot be part of a party that is no longer the Big tent Party and the champion of working class people. We cannot vote for a party that would disenfranchise it's own voters over things they had no control over.

Sincerely,
RQ

Oh yeah- I think I am going to like letter writing.

Monday, June 09, 2008

Holy Shit- She Really Does Answer Emails!

Just a little while ago I sent this to Danna Brazile's email addy (donna@brazileassociates.com if anyone would like it)

Is Donna Brazile quitting the Democratic party because the Super delegates decided the election?

Just curious. Cause if she really is quitting the party I just might have a reason to stay in it. See I am one of those working class people she thinks the party doesn't need.

Lemme know so I know who to vote for in November.

Thanks!

And just a minute ago I got this back

Stop the hate!!!!! Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Stop spreading hate!!!!
Sent wirelessly via BlackBerry from T-Mobile. Please excuse any typos or grammatical errors.


Bwahahahahahahahahahahahaahahah. Wait, no lemme breathe. Bwahahahahahahahahahaha

Things That Make You Go Huhmmmm.......

Boys keep throwing the same "insult" at me. As if it is an actual insult.

They like to try to snark because I've had many boyfriends.

True. I date a lot. A lot. A fuck of a lot. I also fuck a lot.

I don't hide it. I'm not ashamed of it. I don't actually see how this is an insult.

Unless they are trying to shame me and my slutty ways.

Yeah, that's working real well.

I know a few things for certain, people who have a problem with someone else's sex life usually aren't getting any. And they definitely can't be the progressives they claim to be if slut shaming is part of their repertoire.

Very Poor - Failure

-8

As a 1930s wife, I am
Very Poor (Failure)

Take the test!



Via BitchPHD

Reading Room

Over at Reclusive Leftist, the fabulous Donna Darko has reminded me of a book that needs to be read now more than ever.

Hothead Paisan, Homicidal Lesbian Terrorist.

About two years ago, I let the Kid read it. I think that is why he proudly claims feminism at the ripe age of 13 and is much better at observing and calling out the horrors of the patriarchy than most fauxgressive blogger boyz are.

So if you're pissed, angry, can't think of anything nice to say- read this book and feel better. Or feel more homicidal. Either way, you'll get the endorphins back into your brain to clear out the despair.

Sunday, June 08, 2008

If they really are the victors....................

then why are they trolling like jilted, psychotic ex boyfriends?

It's not just my blog that has had to turn the comments mod on because of trolls and stalkers. Uppity had to turn off her chat function because the TrollBots decided it was a good place to drop perverted and gross comments. MyDD has been invaded. Anglachel had to turn on comment mods. So did BlueLyon- though that's because of my resident TrollBot stalker. The only reason they haven't actually taken over at Shakes is cause Liss and the genuine non-trolly Obama supporters over there won't tolerate it.

This is not the behavior of people who have won, is it? I have seen this kinda of thing before though, from exes who were very unhappy about being exes. Actually, I've seen this kind of thing from a vary particular ex who required both a restraining order (from a civil court) and a no contact order (from a criminal court) and actual jail time to stop fucking with me. This is the behavior of disappointed psychos. And I'm not sure what they are disappointed about but I think Anglachel nails it.


The fact that you continue to squall and fuss about Teh Rulz indicates that you know very well that the circumstances of his nomination are artificial. You need to accept that there is a big, fat asterisk next to Obama's name in the history books


Ah hah. Legitimacy. Obama doesn't really have it, what with losing the popular vote and finagling the delegate votes for Florida and Michigan. It's as important in politics as masculine honor is to stalker ex boyfriends.

Both legitimacy and masculine honor are matters of external perception, or how other people see you instead of how you see yourself.

Legitimacy is vital to politics. Being viewed as illegitimate will at best make you ineffectual (Bush) and at worst inspire revolution. With all the legitimacy problems in Florida the last 8 years, I am surprised the entire state hasn't started it's own irredentism movement yet.

Masculine honor is the thing that drives those creepy ex boyfriends. While the girl is under their control, their honor is intact. But once she leaves, he needs to find a way to retrieve it, and unlike dignity, honor doesn't come from inside. If the girl came crawling back to him, begging for forgiveness for not seeing how wrong she was for leaving him, then his honor is returned. You may have noticed this same kind of behavior from the Trollbots, with their "Hillary supporters better beg forgiveness and prove they are real Dems" comments. Rather than act like rational human beings with dignity and walk away, they have to keep pushing and pushing trying to get their honor back. But the more they push the less honorable they are. Horrible catch 22 for them really. Eventually they will either realize the futility (right, cause crazy ex boyfriends do that alllllllllll the time)or they will explode with obsessive violence, or they will find a new victim.

But this all hinges on the original legitimacy problem. For stalker boyfriends, lack of self esteem makes them control freaks. Since they don't believe they are really worthy of the girl they will eventually stalk, they try all measures of ways to keep her from leaving. Again with the catch 22 stuff, any healthy girl will buck under a control freak and leave.

So back to politics. The Obama camp, knowing that it can't win in a fair election, sets up measures to control the outcome. Voters in FL and MI along with 18 million Hillary supporters buck at the control measures. Obama gets the nomination but loses the girl (or in this case, MI, FL, and 18 million Hillary voters).

So now that legitimacy and the girl are gone, the TrollBots are doing everything they can to get back their honor. Threats, harassment, obsessive trolling, occasional moments of clarity where they try to act nice only to blow up the second a problem with the legitimacy of the campaign is mentioned. Mostly they act like assholes in the hope that eventually they will wear us down so we will give them what they want. Legitimacy and their manhood back.

And the more they use these measures, the more entrenched we girls become in our decision to leave. And so they push harder, troll more, threaten more. And we become more entrenched.

And lemme tell you- I lived through YEARS of being stalked and harassed and threatened already. I know I can tough it out and last longer than these yahoos. Do I like it, no. Is it an ideal way to live, no. Can I handle it- OH HELL YES. And I suspect there are a large number of Hillary voters who feel the same way.