Something to consider as we close out Women’s History Month, 2012.
I’m every woman, it’s all in me (Strength, courage, ambition)
Anything you want done baby, I’ll do it naturally (From creating life to creating empires)
I’m every woman, it’s ALL in me (The fight to be respected and accepted as an equal)
I can read your thoughts right now, Every one — from A to Z (It doesn’t take much to read the minds of those who are trying to keep us in ‘our place’.… [Read more]
Only those who have been there understand. The agonies of adolescent obesity. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury? Look at this tangle of thorns.
I feel like this must be prefaced with the following disclaimer: so deeply rooted is the hurt, so deeply buried is the truth. The path to normalcy begins with a blind acceptance and a willingness to do whatever makes “normal” possible.… [Read more]
There is a battle raging on the internet.
It’s not about birth control or abortion or health care.
It’s not about the economy or oil prices.
Nope. This war is about working. But it’s not about the unemployment rate.
It’s about whether or not moms should be working.
And unlike the birth control debate, this isn’t a topic that old white dudes are discussing.… [Read more]
I was told at a very young age that I had to learn to keep my mouth shut. It is “more safe and less troublesome” when you learn to do so. This advice surely never stuck, so I live in New York and struggle to get in front of people in order to rant and rave about social constructs. … [Read more]
On Wednesday, March 28, Rep. Bobby Rush (D) of Illinois was escorted off the floor of the House of Representatives for a breach of the congressional dress code which is far more nuanced and gets far more attention than anyone could imagine. While making a speech about the murder of Trayvon Martin and subsequent controversy, Rep.… [Read more]
I have never driven a car. I have never had even the slightest urge to learn to drive a car. How truly un-American of me. Un-American and extremely considerate; I would be the worst driver ever to grace the front of a steering wheel. I think I would have three panic attacks trying to buckle the seat belt.… [Read more]
An interesting thing happened in Utah over the last few weeks. The general populace overcame their religious stranglehold, engaged in productive political activism and forced a rational and logical outcome. It was truly a sight to behold.
80% of the Utah’s state legislators are Mormon, and as a result wear the self-appointed titles of “Purveyors of All Things Moral.” They mostly run uncontested in their districts (meaning they don’t often have to fight off challengers in their own party; running as a Republican in Utah against a Democrat basically means “uncontested”).… [Read more]
“You see, the world’s falling apart at the rifts, And surprisingly, the leaders can’t make any sense of it We mean nothing to the world, we’re all someone else’s fool, But oh, what can you do?”
-Bad Religion, “What Can You Do?”
Last Saturday, I stopped by the National Mall to attend the Reason Rally.… [Read more]
On vacation with my family, I decided to also take a vacation from news for a few days. When I stumbled back into the cycle, the Trayvon Martin story was everywhere. The more I read, the more baffled I became. No one knows, of course, exactly what happened in the moments before the gun went off, but we do know a kid with Skittles and Ice Tea in his hands is dead and the shooter has not been arrested.… [Read more]
I don’t remember when I saw this particular episode of “The Odd Couple.” I must have been in elementary school, watching reruns on a low-power station. Felix Unger addressed a courtroom, chalkboard before him, when he declared, “Ah, you assumed. My dear, you should never assume. You see, when you assume (wrote the word on the board) you make an ass out of you and me!”
I can see in my mind the flourishes Felix used whilst brandishing that piece of chalk, circling the parts of “assume.” Oh, how loaded that word is!… [Read more]
I can’t help being fascinated by the Trayvon Martin case – by the way the events are unfolding and the ways in which narratives are being constructed and white supremacy is being exposed. It’s interesting to hear the many “takes” on the situation, including the following gems of cognition:
I was having a conversation with a friend of mine regarding the recent assassination of Palestinian Popular Resistance Committee leader Zuhir al-Qaisi by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) which led to a week long exchange of attacks. The “preemptive” strike by the IDF fueled an unprecedented number of rockets fired into Israel from Gaza forcing schools throughout Israel’s southern region to close.… [Read more]
With gas prices approaching (or already at) four dollars a gallon in the United States, it looks like I’m not the only one who is finding out that car free is the way to be. Especially when prices are only expected to increase as we approach the summer travel months. Turns out that the youth are moving towards solutions rather than just complaining about gas prices.… [Read more]
I found the following poll this morning:
“I am going to read you a list of institutions in American society. Please tell me how much confidence you, yourself, have in each one: a great deal, quite a lot, some, or very little? What about the U.S. Supreme Court?”… [Read more]
Despite being born in 1994, I genuinely feel I am a ’90s child — meaning I grew up with Pokemon, decent cartoons on Nickelodeon, keeping my door unlocked at night, and the freedom to express myself through Myspace, regardless of my adolescent worries of why the hell my breasts were growing so rapidly. I grew up with an eager need to learn, no matter where my material came from.… [Read more]
This is the last installment in what has turned out to be a series of articles detailing my experiences as an employee in a right-to-work state. I didn’t write these stories to complain or to get sympathy – although at this point, I wouldn’t turn down any kind of sympathy. This has been a tough time in my life, and I hope that my story will serve as an illustration of the extreme imbalance in employer-employee relationships.… [Read more]
Modern day technology in this 21st century has opened borders to areas once thought to be unattainable by people living in Third World countries. However it is becoming apparent that technology is helping places around the globe to stabilize their economic situation in a very positive direction. An example of one such country is Kenya, whose people are not only grasping technology, but are adapting it to areas that were thought to be one of the last places in need of digital devices.… [Read more]
A gay rights protest in Moldova, in response to the United Nations removing gays from the protected minority list.… [Read more]
Former Vice President Dick Cheney received a new heart this past weekend. After several heart attacks — the first of which occurred in his 30s — it appears that the underused? overstressed heart he had was in need of a replacement. I wish him well; failing health is no joke.
Being ever hopeful I’m wondering if, with this change of heart, perhaps he will have a change of heart in various other matters?… [Read more]
The Trayvon Martin killing has sparked conversations all across the country and one conversation I have had with myself is the question “What kind of America do I want to live in?” Do I want to live in a country where a 28-year-old, 250 lb man, armed with a semi-automatic hand gun, can track down and murder a 140 lb seventeen year old, armed with a bag of Skittles and an Arizona Iced Tea, and whose only crime was “Walking While Black”?… [Read more]
