Empowering Women.

Recently, experts on the role of women in society met at a United Nations sponsored forum. Interviews with several of these women have been aired and published in print, and there is a common thread in all of them. It is simply this:
"The ability of women to control their own fertility is absolutely fundamental to women’s empowerment and equality. When a woman can plan her family, she can plan the rest of her life. When she is healthy, she can be more productive. And when her reproductive rights—including the right to decide the number, timing and spacing of her children, and to make decisions regarding reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence—are promoted and protected, she has freedom to participate more fully and equally in society." (1)
The lack of these rights leads to early death of women from health issues related to childbirth, large and poor families, a disregard for girl children and a growing number of young men with no chance for education or success.
You think this is a 3rd world problem, don’t you? Well it is, and, it is also a problem here in the good old US of A. Any culture that denies a woman the right to control her reproductive decisions fosters the same problems as seen in the 3rd world. And worse, in a free society where anyone is (within limits) free to express their opinion, groups that oppose the freedom of women attempt to make EVERYBODY in the society subject to their limited view of women.
The history of reproductive freedom is filled with examples of legislative attempts to limit access to birth control, sex education, reproductive services, pro-birth control counseling and other issues. So far they have all failed in favor of individual rights. The push for “Abstinence Only” sex education attempts to limit the rights of woman to control their fertility in a way THEY choose. Abstinence is a very good way to limit live births, but it is not the only oneby a long shot.
The last time I looked, this wasn’t Russia or Iran or China. This was America. I really hope the “was” in the last sentence doesn’t mean that this isn’t America any longer. Where freedom of choice is limited, the America I know and love is diminished. Remember the bumper sticker “America - Love it or Leave it”. Many folks claim to love it but want to change it to their restricted idea of what it should be. Maybe THEY should leave it, and try to get their ideas implemented in, say, Saudi Arabia. And, they could get cheap gas.

Bye Bye.

1. http://www.unfpa.org/gender/empowerment.htm
Image: http://www.cherieblair.org/women/I%20am%20powerful.jpg

People of Good Will

The nice thing about this country is that people of good will can view the exact same issue through different lenses and come to totally different conclusions. I guess that happens everywhere, but the good thing about THIS country is that we can agree to disagree with out becoming disagreeable (: . Take my postings on various issues of current politics,religion or ecology. My views are drawn from my own experiences and by weighing and considering the facts as I find them. My conclusions are thus (as far as I can tell) supported by some factual base of information. Readers that have opposing views believe that their positions are equally supported by facts. We disagree on the facts.
Take climate issues for example. I support the view that man is the major contributor to the global climate changes now underway. My views are drawn from years of experience observing the earth as a single ecosystem, and by reviewing much of the science associated with it. My view is supported by the international scientific community and most of the governments of the world. The opposing view posits that man is not the prime cause of the observed changes and that these are merely natural cycles. That view is supported by a tiny minority of scientists with alternate schemes, the energy industries of the world, the manufacturing giants of the world, North Korea and Rush Limbaugh. See anything amiss here?
No one disagrees that there are changes afoot. Only what is causing them and what can reduce them. Naturally I think I am correct, and the others think they are correct. They are not. They say I am not. That is the essence of disagreement.
I believe that the changes underway have moved past a tipping point and will go to some end point in the future with disastrous consequences. The other side of this issue says not. They are wrong.
But as has been said before by someone “Time will Tell”. The pity is that I probably won’t be around to say “I Told You So”.
Image: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/mechanics/imgmech/topp.gif

I Like Health Reform.

A call went out a few days ago, again, to repeal the misnamed “Obamacare” health reform legislation. Here is what is already in place:

No cap on lifetime expenses
No cancellation for using the policy
No “rescinding” coverage for accidental omission of medical history (only for fraudulent statements on applications”.
Keeping children on parents policies until they are 26
Coverage cannot be refused for pre-existing conditions in adults or children.

More benefits will phase in over the next 5 years, and the congressional budget office, a non-partisan analysis group, concludes that the savings in health care costs will pay for the increased benefits. So in the long run the plan will not break the bank.
Now I don’t know about you, but I am happy with the above new protections. Why in the world would I want them cancelled? Why would anyone want them cancelled?
Oh yeah, I get it. The Health Industry wants them cancelled. The same people that screwed you every day until yesterday. Right. Good. Glad I understand.
(For my conservative readers, please note that I specifically did not say who is pushing for this repeal. I know you are sensitive about identifying the source of this nonsense)
Source of some of this: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1914020220100319
Image: http://www.cafepress.com/cp/moredetails.aspx?showBleed=false&ProductNo=407760155&colorNo=0&pr=F

Don't Blame the Solution, Blame the Problem

Scenario: A huge back hoe digs a hole and piles the dirt on a road, making the road impassable. A man is hired to fill in the hole, and given a shovel to do the job. After working steadily for a week, the hole is partially filled, and people are getting angry with the man for not getting the job done. After 2 weeks anger boils over, the man is blamed for the continuing traffic problems and fired. . The question is this: Who is to blame for the mess on the road? Is it fair to blame the solution to the problem, even if it takes a while to work? Should the agent that dug the hole in the first place be forgotten? Or should the blame be put where it belongs?
It’s obvious, isn’t it? The guy with the shovel was the good guy, and the hole digger was the culprit. Give a little more time the hole would be filled and traffic would resume.
Now think the economy. It took 8 years to dig the hole, and the guys that are filling the hole are working as hard as they can to fill it. No rational mind would blame the filler for the hole. In fact, only a liar would claim that the hole wasn’t there until the filler was hired to fill it.
Ahhh. Now I see the problem. I said “rational mind”. Of course. We must forget how we got the hole and focus on the failure to quickly fill it. We must not see the progress made in 2 years in filling the hole. We must not be rational. Now I get it. Sorry.
A corollary to this is the growing number of possible voters that blame the current administration for the bank bailout and the auto industry bailout. These bailouts are correctly called the TARP program, conceived and implemented by the previous administration. Seven hundred fifty billion dollars authorized by the previous administration (the Bush II administration). These voters are being lied to about the TARP money, and they are too stupid to realize it. I wonder who is telling these lies? Ever hear of “Death Panels”? Truth or lie? Connection? Hmmmmm. I know thinking about this will enrage my conservative friends, but get real folks. A lie is a lie.
Imagehttp://thebsreport.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/celebrity-pictures-joker-bailout.jpg?w=500&h=317

Tea Party: The Only Patriots?

I guess I shouldn’t be so sensitive to insults, but I am. So when I was passed recently by a “red neck” truck (you know: 4W drive, big tires, mud everywhere, gun rack, bumper sticker for “W 04”, cigarette dangling from lips of driver.) with a bumper sticker on the rear window: “Tea Party Patriot: Don’t Tread on Me” I got a little uppity. The clear implication to me says that unless I am a TPP stooge I am not a patriot. What crap is that? And the “grass roots movement” claim?
Ever wonder when some news report says “Tea Party candidate X received financial support from Tea Party supporters” who they are? Wealthy American right wing supporters like the Koch brothers (1). Influential political think tanks and individuals all bent on whipping up the masses to further their agenda. Which is? Take over the House and Senate, then the Executive Branch and install a right facing government that would be a disaster for us all. (Even the RNC is worried that the Tea Party is too extreme.) Like any extreme philosophy, there are elements in the Tea Party (TP) credo that are reasonable and even attractive, like getting back to a balanced budget (Where have you gone Bill Clinton?). But taken together, the package would drive a stake in the heart of our democracy. Compare the movement to historical mass takeovers of governments and you see the point. Hitler appealed to the masses with solutions and blames. What resulted was horrible.
Under the “grass roots” of the TP is a well organized plan by wealthy right wing people to get THEIR way as THE way. Use your brain for one second, huh? How do you think all the “spontaneous” things the TP claims and all the money the TP spends can be without leadership? They may have more than one head, but so did the Medusa.
I am not a Tea Partyer or anything vaguely like them, but still a Patriot. So here is a warning to the Tea Partyers from the majority of American Patriots: Don’t Tread On Us!!!

Image: http://www.teapartymovie.com/images/TPP-BUMPER-STICKER.jpg
Image: http://images.sodahead.com/polls/000661637/polls_medusa_4631_429276_poll_xlarge.jpeg
1.http://www.alternet.org/economy/146504/the_roots_of_stalin_in_the_tea_party_movement
Background information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_Party_movement

The Great Pig Hunt

In the old days in Gainesville, Bob, Fred and I spent quite a bit of time hunting. We all needed the food, and we liked to hunt. We often went out to the forest near Newberry to try our luck, but the live oak and palmetto forest of the west coast near Steinhatchee was the gold standard. For starters, the locals didn't hunt pig there because the pigs fed in the tidal flats at low tide. Locals claimed they tasted fishy. They didn't. There were lots of them around so we though it would be an easy kill. It wasn't. We went well armed. I had a 9mm pistol and a 30 cal m-1 carbine, Bob had, I think, a 410 with slugs and buckshot, and Fred had a lever action 25-20.
We got into the forest at dawn and moved slowly to the interior. Very noisy place to sneak. The floor littered with dry palm fronds and oak leaves. We were about 40 or 50 feet apart, moving in a line, and entered a thicket typical of the area. Very dense vegetation from the waist up and clear below, probably reflecting the periodic flooding. We were well inside the thicket when pigs erupted around us and scattered in all directions. They were literally running around past our legs. We all started shooting at once. Sounded like a war zone. I emptied the m-1, put the gun down, drew the 9mm (hollow points) and emptied that mag. Suddenly it got quiet. Somebody called out and we all answered in turn. No pigs got killed in the process. No blood, no squeals, no nothing.
The miracle was that none of us got shot either. I fired 13 or 14 rounds, the others probably at least that many. Very bad hunting technique, and we discussed this gambit over beer many times. Later that day we tried our luck with squirrels. I missed a few with the m-1 (probably just as well, they were hollow points too) and I don't remember what the other guys got. My dinner that night probably was something frozen.

We were successful on other occasions, including the time I shot two shrinking pigs at the same time. Another tale for another time.

Image: http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tKssLCDecgQ/0.jpg

Storm Clouds on the Right

The winds of change are blowing. Political winds are blowing hard from the right. With phrases like “Take back the country” a surge of voters are falling for the ultra right premise that the Bush years were the good old days and somehow the last two have been a disaster. Back to abortion bans, back to wars we shouldn’t be in, back to tax cuts that bankrupt the nation, back to failed energy policy, back to skyrocketing health costs, back to government intrusion into private lives (illegal phone taping for example), back to suspended Habeas Corpus, back to bank failures, back to the housing bubble bursting. The list goes on and on. And still the call for “Roll back the wave of liberalism and restore sanity” goes on.
I fear there is no hope for the country when truth and logic are trumped by lies, half truths and fear mongering. The road ahead is a rough one, but we are on the right road. Going back is never the right answer. Unless, that is, you want to go back to the Clinton days. Now there was prosperity! What happened to it? It got Bush-wacked.
Image: http://www.ontheissues.org/My_Life.jpg

My Game, My Rules

This Blog is a place where my opinion trumps yours. My opinion is this: Libraries are places where reading materials of all stripes should be available to everyone. The community should not direct the content of libraries. The majority should not have the right to dictate to the minority what they can and should read. Libraries should be places where the freedom to seek and find material with different points of view is guaranteed. No vocal group, majority or minority should have the final say in content of libraries. Libraries that have a point of view should be identified as such: Library of Flat Earth; Library of Religious Intolerance; Library of Dangerous Ideas.
Anyone that wants libraries to be crafted to support certain points of view can try check out books on Democracy or Women’s Rights at the State Library of Iran. Or try to hold a protest march against the Communist Manifesto in Beijing. Get real folks. Freedom comes with some level of discomfort because it means that the opinions of others must be tolerated.
Image: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CENSORED.JPG

SeekFind, Jewogle I'mHalal (1)

These are the names of search engines for the pure of heart. In other words, these engines are specifically designed to filter out any information or point of view that conflicts with the beliefs of the searcher, and delivers only material that agrees with their point of view. This is a way of protecting young people from dangerous content like, oh I don’t know, maybe the Earth is round, or Evolution is a real factor in the development of life, or women have value outside of the bed or home. Or that there is more than one religion in the world that might, just might, have some core values that are correct.
Christians will get only arguments against gay marriage if they search for “gay marriage”, and a search for the “Democratic Party” yields first a site on Marxism. A quick look at I’mHalal on gay marriage got articles about the blasphemous nature of these marriages and statements that no Muslim could be involved in a gay marriage. Not surprisingly, Jewogle had the most liberal returns with some articles seemingly on both sides of the issue. Google returned lots of varying perspectives depending on what was entered.
So my point is this: Anyone that is afraid of new ideas that might contradict or even contravene their own ideas is moving in the direction of a dangerous Ideologue (Synonyms include crusader, fanatic, zealot and others) (2). This kind of thinking has led in the past and can lead in the future to unthinking racism that results in multiethnic clashes (recently remember the genocide in Rwanda, the ethnic cleansing in the Balkans and the genocide currently happening in the Sudan.) Could it happen here? Damn right it could. It already is. Evidence: Qur’an burning threat in Gainesville; Mosque building in NYC; periodic burning of “black” churches; desecration Jewish graves in cemeteries. Oh yes, it can happen here. You better be careful what you wish for. You might just get it.
(Source material for this warning started with NPR and concluded with Google.)
1. http://www.seekfind.org/; http://www.jewogle.com/; www.imhalal.com/beta/
2. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ideologue
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129709336

Image: http://www.liberalities.com/pics/Intolerance.PNG

Dying To Kill Ducks

I got our very early that morning, going to the “Deer Pen Chain” of ponds to shoot ring neck ducks. I only hunted with a Fox side-by-side 12 gauge, so I loaded up with 2 boxes of high brass #6 for ducks and headed out. I also always carried a few 00 buck magnums in case a pig or deer decided to commit suicide.
These ponds were wadable with chest waders, so I donned them, filled the shell pocket with a bunch of shells including the buckshot and waded. Dawn. The ring necks always flew in just before sunrise so I had to get there early and get in place. The water was a little over belly button deep, so no trouble moving slowly. Gun overhead and making progress. In place and the faint whistle of wings and BLAM somebody shoots. BLAM BLAMBLAM. Now I am shooting. One falls then another. They sink never to be seen again. Quiet. I had reloaded right after firing the last two shots and was ready. Whistle - shoot - whistle - shoot until I am out of # 6. No ducks in the bag.But, I still have the 2 buckshot shells.and the ducks still come in. Why not? There, a little to the right. Swing and FIRE. KABOOM!!! The duck explodes and I almost go over backwards. Crap. Slippery bottom (not mine, the pond you pervert). Now it’s really light and the morning fly is over so I head back, thinking later maybe I will jump a few woodies or if lucky a pig. On the way out I step in a hole and go straight down, holding the old Fox overhead. Fortunately the hole was only chin deep. Any deeper and I wouldn’t be writing this, but some old Duck somewhere would be telling about the jerk that drowned trying to kill him. But now the next problem. Waders are made to keep you dry by keeping water out. When they fill up with water they weigh a ton and don’t have a drain plug. So the only way to get out of the damn pond (with no ducks) is to drop the waders to my waste, hold them up with one hand and hold the Fox with the other and walk like a 2 year old with a pants full. The shallower the water got the lower I have to drop the waders. I finally climb out of the waders and drag the bastard feet first to shore.
That was it for me that day. Could have had a sixpak and a steak for the price of the shells, but then where would the story have been?
http://www.bigcamo.com/media/stearnsstockingfootlarge.jpg