On the way home last night I caught a bit of a piece on NPR with Abigail Thernstrom concerning her new book No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning. While the things she says often made sense and the few things I've read make sense, she said one thing that doesn't hold much water in my opinion.

When asked if paying teachers more would help the situation in our public schools, she balked. She didn't want to say no, instead she said things like "People don't teach for the money." Well, yeah...when I thought of going into teaching I didn't dream of the big paycheck. But is it too much to ask to pay teachers more for educating the masses? To help retain better teachers instead of letting them drift off into corporate America? I don't think that a teacher will ever end up making as much as a lawyer - we're not that smart of a society, but there are many ways to make teaching more enticing to those of us who HAVE to care about how much money we bring home.

- Why not forgive all student loans for teachers who teach more than 5 years?
- Why not make college tuition ZERO for those enrolled and making progress in their teacher education? (anyone below a C+ average has to pay tuition - but can get it back after teaching a certain number of years.)
- Just up their fucking pay!

We've had about 2 teachers strikes in the Chicagoland area this year and nearly had one in Chicago. These people are teaching our children, our future doctors, our future teachers, our future cab drivers, our future voters for geezus sake. The day that this country values our children the way we say we do, I just might fall down and die.

This Roni-rant (tm) was brought to you by Andrew.

I think Robert Swenson is a god.

*giggle* I know, it's an old joke. But it made me smile today!

DykeWrite has a new spiffy look. Come on over and see what's shakin' and cookin'. I'll be returning with my political column on a monthly basis. Right now there are columns by dkitty on domestic arts, Jenna's Geekly Reader, and Gianna with more domestic arts. Sexy Caitlin has the main page for now. Check out the authors page and not just for a peek at my sexy hairdo pic.

I really hate ticket brokers. Yesterday the Cubs won a lawsuit that alleged that they violated state law by creating a ticker broker. For the non-CHicagoans, it's this simple and complex:

The Cubs are owned by the Chicago Tribune
The ticket broker is owned by the Chicago Tribune
Despite the same parent company, it is not illegal

I was hoping that it would be. But then again, if you read the article and from I heard it is true, the tickets you can get at the Tribune-owned broker are tickets you normally can't get your hands on. So...there's the Catch-22. As I said, I generally hate brokers. I hate the logic that if an idiot will pay $75 for a $5 ticket, then it should be sold for $5. Too many idiots with too much money..grumble...

That said, I admit that I have taken advantage of the broker game a few times. I won't say when, but let's just say that I sold to a broker when I really, really needed the money. It's like a drug I tell ya!

Labels: sports

So I leave this for your viewing (un)pleasure. Not sure why Ramadan had to be mentioned, but otherwise a very moving animation.

So the AARP has endorsed the new Medicare drug bill? I've already seen their snazzy new TV ad touting that "it's not perfect, but we'll keep working on it." As a Cubs fan, I say - HAHAHAHA!! We're been working on the fucking World Series for 95 years. Let's not go down the same road folks. But seriously...the GOP is all "hey, we're caring, really! Look, we're doing what the Dems usually do." Um, no.

If you look at the groups that are endorsing the new Medicare bill, you can see mostly gender-nuetral or male organizations. The AARP is currently being run by a former GOP'er. Yet, the a lot of the organizations that are against the Medicare bill are women's organizations like OWL and NCWO.

Why is that significant? Are women just more greedy? Do we want more from the government? The fact is that women make up more of the senior population. Women are more affected by Medicare decisions. Women are less likely to be able to buy into a more expensive health care plan, thus more reliant on Medicare and other government programs.

The women who are drawing from Social Security and Medicare right now are let's say 70 years old. That means that when they were having kids - 45 years ago in 1958 - most of them weren't working outside the home. If they were, they were in crappy jobs that paid crap or paid them less because they were a woman. This serverely affects how much money they draw in their Social Security checks and let's not even assume they worked for a company that gave them a retirement fund.

The women who are most in need of government help today raised the men who are running the world, the companies, our government. And this is how they are being repaid? SHAME!

Someone should find the mothers, aunts, older cousins of every person who votes for this crappy bill and ask them how they feel about it. Maybe even the girl who babysat this greedy fucks while mom was still at the factory or even the teacher who taught the scumbags to read. How's that for being ungrateful?

A lot of people are doing it, so I thought, why not? Well according to the Gender Genie I write like a man. Hmmm...

I put in the first few paragraphs of my Bitch piece on Gapers Block. Maybe it was because I really worked hard to make that piece work. Maybe it was Andrew's editing that seeped testosterone into my writing. So I put in my pissy blog entry from yesterday that was pure emotion and lo-and-behold...I'm still a boy.

I've always thought of myself as more butch than femme, but lately more people have made me think of myself as a femme with butch smatterings. Hmmm...interesting....

I'm in a pissy mood today and it's a dangerous thing. This pissy mood is brought on by a person that I need to work with on various volunteer items. Without details, this person basically told me that what I need is better time management so I can fulfill my duties better since becoming a mother and that they are tired of the baby trump card. &^$%&#*$!!

I say dangerous because I've been waiting for years to be brought into the battle between the childless and parents. I'm not a parent who thinks I should be let off scot-free from any duties, paid or unpaid, but I do think that certain allowances need to be made. Flextime with duties so to speak. If I can't make an event, let me work harder to publicize. If I can't make a meeting, let me send in my ideas beforehand.

I know that working with a parent can often change the scope of duties for a partner. My work partner seems to be handling it well. But she also gets to reap the benefits of flex-time. When she was moving to a new home, she took off early or came in late without repercussions. She merely made up the time later.

I've been prepping for this war for years. I'm ready and armed. No one calls my daughter a trump card. I have a life, a family, and responsiblities. I balance all the best I can. Being a mother shouldn't make me any less commited than the childless person next to me. Also making every single event doesn't prove that you're more commited than someone else. Just that you're ignoring other things in life better. If X is going to be your whole life, that's fine. Just don't make me feel like it has to be mine.

I love Christmas Carols. In fact, despite my standing as a recovering Catholic, my fave carol is "Silent Night." I love it when it starts to snow in December cause I get to sing "Let it Snow!" at the top of my lungs. Despite my fatal case of cheesiness I cannot believe that we, the good people of Chicago, have currently two radio stations with nothing but Christmas carols playing! If that isn't insane enough for ya, after Thanksgiving, our country station will join them in playing nothing but Christmas music. Does one city really need that much Christmas music?

As I said, I love Christmas carols. I loved that on Christmas we'd wake up and put on the country station and listen to just that all day. But come on...where's a grrl to go now for her Celine Dion fix? (I'm kidding!)

I read this article about fairy tales this week. I've heard the stereotypical banter about how unfeminist most fairy tales are before, but I'd like to know what you think. Are Disney movies harmful? Is giving a lil girl a copy of Grimm Fairy Tales going to plunge her into a self-doubting abyss? Is Shrek really the feminist tale we'd like it to be? Also, fess up, what's your favorite fairy tale?

Not only is this my return to responding to a whb collab topic, but it's also my return at writing the collab topic. woot!

So, fairy tales...while I don't think that fairy tales are the anti-feminist devil some might like to think they are, they also aren't the most healthy piece of literature to put in front of a young girl. I like the suggestion of parents reading the fairy tales with their young children and ask them to comment about them. I also read anther good suggestion somewhere - switch genders! The mommy read the prince part, the lil boy read the princess part. Get them use to the idea that it's just a story, make-believe, fiction. Why not do a MST-3000 with the tales too?

"The princess waited for the prince to return..."

[son] "So she didn't have a phone to call him with?" [mother] "Hello, prince, I'm in mortal danger! Help!" [laughter]

As for Shrek...Cinnamon pointed out when the original movie came out that the Princess toy was in human form and not ogre form. Perhaps they did that so not to ruin the ending...I'll give them that benefit of the doubt. Even thou Fiona waited for Shrek to save her in the castle and at her wedding, she still had a sense of strength to her. Not as much as I'd like to see, but it was only 3 days. I'm holding out my verdict until we see how Fiona handles her family's displeasure for her love.

My favorite fairy tale? The Little Mermaid - hands down. I rewatched it a few weeks ago (Disney version) with Ella. She's not the poster-girl for feminism, but she knew what she wanted and she went after it. Even some of us ardent feminists will throw our logic aside for our men. *evilgrin*

Well it appears that BlogRolling wasn't hacked. And Laura had nothing to do with it. But dang did she get some good PR, eh? I'm just glad that the blogrolls are back online.

What the fuck is going on?

No one click on fucking Laura's blog...I'm betting she spammed blogrolling. Fuck!

Jason is a god. He's already restored our blogrolls. Yeah! Maybe it's time for me to send him some cash.

and totally organized!

Cinnamon & Amy's Trunk Show was awesome folks. For those of you in Chicago who didn't attend, phooey on you! You missed out a lot of great items. I walked away with some soaps, fudge, and a fab new cup for work.

I hope at what I would deem a success leads to another trunk show next year.

My Friday rant is over on Bloggers For Choice.

I also have a feature on Gapers Block this week about Bitch Magazine.

It's weird cause I wasn't looking to write it and had a hard time writing it. I use such a flippant tone in my writing that I'm always hesitant to write for a new venue. I just like to write the way I talk to people which is very casual and flippant. Some of it was having Andrew edit it too. I just have this utter fear that one day someone will unmask how stupid I really am and well, Andrew's one of the people who could totally do it. But thankfully he keeps the truth under wraps.

Labels: magazines

Mom Finds Out About Blog

Insert "husband" into that title and that was totally me a few years ago. Of course my tales of casual sex & all-night raving are in another blog.

The story of Jessica Lynch tells us a lot about us as a society. First off as with any war that's fought, we need heroes. We need people to be heroes for the sake of rallying the troops and calming fears & dissent at home. I can't imagine what it would be like to come home and find such blatant lies about what I did or did not do & such media fanfare.

Rape & war. Time honored tradition of war, eh? Yet if you read the transcript from today's interview you'll see Lynch apologize for being raped.

"You know, just — you know, it happened. It wasn’t my fault."

I know it's unverving to be interviewed on national TV, but she still apologized. What kind of world do we live in that a soldier who was raped (let's assume yes) feels the need to apolgize. I'm not slamming her at all, I'm slamming us. Women who are raped are not weak. Female soldiers who are raped are not weak and it's not a good excuse to get women out of the military.

Lastly, Lynch describes the people in the hospital as caring. Why should we be so damn surprised? Most doctors and nurses do their job cause they want to help people. Why do we assume that a foreign hospital wouldn't treat us with the same dignity as they would someone who looked more like them? Do we really expect an American doctor to let an Iraqi soldier suffer?

The sad answer is most likely, yes.

But doesn't this prove that most wars are begun by idiot leaders, but fought by the average citizen? Muhammad Ali, while refusing to serve in the Vietnam war, said "No Viet Kong ever called me nigger." I've always taken that as they didn't do anything to me, so why should I go and kill them? What did the Iraqi people do to us? What did the Afghani people do to us? The same can be said in terms of medical treatment. If I saw an Iraqi dying, I'd help them be comfortable. Why? Cause I'd expect nothing less from them.

Thanks to Ms. musings for alerting me to the fact that Margaret Cho has a blog! I didn't run in the hip crowd in high school and I'm still not in the know in blogland. *sigh* I'm such a loser. I often feel like Kyle in ChinPoko Mon. Oh, well...Off to worship at the feet of Margaret Cho!

I think I mentioned it before in passing, but this morning I finally did it. You can now let the Blogging world know if you plan on attending the March for Choice at Bloggers For Choice.

I don't plan to put all my choice rantings over there. It's [for now] strictly for listing all the kickass bloggers who plan on attending the march.

My dad's asking for my wish list and I've noticed some of you have added things to your Amazon lists in anticipation of our fave jolly breaking & entering man visiting. So I'm reading a piece on MSN and OMFG...look at these shoes. I am a shoe whore. But I also don't wear leather (if I can - have you tried to find a nonleather belt for work?) so this specific pair is out, but damn it I hope Payless has a pair like that.

I've said before that I've lost a lot of weight and need new clothes. So that's my wish list - clothes. It'll be interesting to see if my dad can shop for me. He hasn't physically bought me clothes since I was probably six. When I was a teen he would just hand me his credit card and I'd sign his name. Ah, the days of lax credit security!

I'm actually fearing Christmas. Everyone's coming over to our place because of Ella. Yikes! We're a big "wake-up and open presents" family, so I'm sure my sisters & dad will sleep over. Then the in-laws will come over. Yikes! Then there's the big spread that my sisters & I will make. Yikes! Only 42 baking days left! I wonder what those shoes will look like with an apron?

I'm guessing that there isn't one funeral scheduled for today at Arlington. I totally understand how Bush says that him going to one funeral and not another will signal him honoring one soldier over another. It's not like he has time in between fundraising gigs to get to almost 400 funerals in the past six months. He needs all the money to fight off his competition in the primaries, right?

Veterans for Peace
Chickenhawk Database
Veterans Against the Iraq War

To everyone out there with loved ones in harms way in the name of this war, I hope that you can hold them in your arms soon. To everyone out there that has served in wartime and peacetime, thank you.

Gawd I love this woman! Grrrraawwwrrr!!!!

And yes, there's no name to the editorial, but it just oozes woman.

Last night was the much talked about night of dueling pretty blonde woe-is-me made-for-tv-movies. On CBS we had the Elizabeth Smart story. To prepare for the movie her parents worked the talk show circuit like a child works her neighborhood on Halloween. Our daughter was kidnapped and raped, please watch her touching story. *puke*

On NBC was the story of teacher-wannabe Jessica Lynch. While she didn't work the talk show circuit like the Smarts, she has given quite an interview pretty much blasting the Bushies/military for using her. Now that grrl is smart. She waited until she was discharged with 80% benefits, movie made, & book finished before denouncing her filmed rescue.

The much better story is the race story that is simmering in the media. First off there's Shoshana Johnson who has been ignored by big media. Then there is Erica Pratt, the then 7-year-old girl who escaped her kidnappers. While the story of a pretty girl kidnapped and raped makes for a great movie, I really want to know the story of Erica. What kind of girl takes things into her own hands like that? Who keeps their head that clear?

And Erica & Shoshana weren't hit with the ugly stick either. Their smiles can light up a room.

I sent the following email in response to this post. Thanks Leigh for making me realize I wasn't being insane. I'll let you all know if I get a reply.

...
Dear Mother Jones,

I meant to send this letter months ago, perhaps in June when I got a direct mailing from you asking me to renew (I assume, I never opened the envelope). Why would I write? Because the envelope asked me when the last time I wrote Mother. This was in my mailbox (that once housed your publication) just weeks after I lost my own mother. Today I ran across a friend of a friend's website and he was equally stung by your direct mailing. He lost his mom in the last few years.

I am asking you to please stop sending out your mailing in this fashion. Ask us when the last time we wrote MJ, something besides Mother. At first I thought I was only too raw from the pain and being silly, but I realize that I wasn't being silly.

Thank you for your time and I await your response.

Veronica

Finally a man [in the mainstream media] who gets it. Thank you, Steve Neal!

What the story doesn't mention is that the public opinion in Turkey against sending troops was coming from the women of Turkey.

A lot of people question the idea of situating the anti-war movement as a woman's movement or a mother's movement. Yet, when the chips are down, isn't it the mothers, sisters, aunts, girlfriends of the world who speak up? It might be due to our 'natural' instincts, but it might also be because we're the only ones left. In the 1980s in South America a lot of men were disappearing and the only ones left were the women.

Say what you will for or against a feminine anti-war movement, but you gotta hand it to the women of Turkey, they got the job done.

While the world and VH1 are totally 80s obsessed, I prefer to obsess about the recently departed 90s. To prove my lameness in my love of the 90s, here's a quiz:

You're so totally 90s, like me! You lived for early
90s sitcoms, and TGIF was just good TV. You
survived the age of the Boy Band...with a few
CDs now proudly displayed in your CD tower. You
know who Cory and Shawn and Topanga are. Way to
go, you 90s person.


How lame-ass 90s are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

If you need more proof, I freely admit to listening to this CD. But I have to admit that the hubby bought it. *giggle* Ah...for the days of flannel and bad boy band choreography.

Yesterday I ranted about the abortion ban and it seems that a lot of you have a fire lit under your asses now. Good...means that my ass isn't the only one of fire. woo!

So what's the world like now? Well the ban doesn't apply to four specific doctors and a NY judge halted enforcement.

That leads me to point out one aspect of the abortion debate that isn't talked about a lot. Most of the providers out there are old men. Old men who are ready to retire. Us women are relying on old men to provide a much needed service. I'm not bashing the guys...thank you for your service! But the number of abortion providers under 50 is small. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, 87% of US counties lack an abortion provider. EIGHTY-SEVEN PERCENT. Some would like to attribute this decline to more doctors not wanting to perform the procedure...I only wish. Then it would be more easy to understand.

I attribute the lack of providers to:

1) the number of medical schools not teaching the procedure at all. If you don't want to know, then step out of the class. But providing an abortion is an important medical procedure to know. How many women need to have a miscarriage completed by a doctor? That's an abortion, folks. The gods induced it and sometimes a doctor has to clean it up.

2) the violence. If you knew you had a higher risk of being shot, fire-bombed, having acid thrown on your face, or just called a baby killer every day, would you want to work there?

I pray that this is what will wake-up the pro-choice majority in America. If not, don't be surprised if we have to resort to performing our own abortions on each other.

Labels: abortion

The first law to specifically deny a woman an abortion has been signed into law. It is a blow to women's rights in general, reproductive rights specifically. Why should you care? Because the law is bogus. I'm sure you've read all the rhetoric so let me make it simple:

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION

There are late-term abortions, abortions late in pregnancy, and abortions in general.

WOMEN DO NOT HAVE ABORTIONS BECAUSE WE ARE BORED

Abortions are not routine, they are not done without thought. To say so is a slap in the face of every woman who has had an abortion. Sure...we all hear horror stories of women who have had multiple abortions...using abortion as a form of birth control. Do you ever stop and ask why? What in that woman's life is making her use abortion as birth control? Maybe she's just one of a a very few women who are just like that. I'd venture to say that 99% of women who have abortions do it after MUCH thought. Most of those 99% are most likely relieved after the procedure is done.

Want to know the immediate impact of this stupid law?

"Here at the Abortion Access Project, we have already gotten two calls about clinics that have stopped doing any abortions over 14 weeks. Women are being sent away and/or referred out, sometimes quite a distance away. This is one time when our movement did not "cry wolf" - many providers, recognizing that 80-90% of the abortions they do are in the first trimester, want to protect that service at all costs, and will not subject themselves to the legal risk of doing a procedure that could...be viewed as illegal under the vaguely worded "partial-birth" ban. [I] Wish the judges ruling on the injunctions filed by prochoice groups could hear the voices of the women who are being refused abortion services today."

Don't just sit there, do something. A valid form of medical care has just been denied to me, to you (female-readers), and to women across the country because of the rabid anti-choice, anti-women movement.

* JOIN National Organization for Women, Planned Parenthood, NARAL, Feminist Majority at the March for Choicein Washington DC on April 25, 2004.

* SEND money to them to fight, to send a student to the march, to your local women's health clinic.

* REGISTER to vote and VOTE! Bring friends, family, neighbors to the polls.

* SPEAK out against this war on women.

Yes, my dear readers, I consider us in a war. Our rights are under attack. The shots were fired many years ago, but it still rages on. Reproductive rights are not the only targets. Welfare, Title IX, overtime pay, Medicare, Social Security, unions, environmental laws - all of these affect women.

Labels: abortion

Check her out!

Are you reading anyone's NaNo novel? If not, you gotta check out these three novels:

* Muffy's The Blood of Cha'Vlad

* Ren's Hijinx

* Tracy's Novel

I pointed you to the beginning of each novel. Go now and get yourself a cup of coffee or tea, sit back with lunch, and read yourself something delish. Cha'Vlad is more sci-fi, Hijinx is a mystery (to me at least!), and the novel is a tear-jerker. Really, pass the tissue. And yes, an observant reader will notice that these three grrls are a part of my posse. They're my bitches and I am theirs. Love you grrls!!

I still think it's funny that people think that Global Warming only means that the world is getting hot. Then again, the way the media covers it, I shouldn't be surprised. Apparently, us Great Lakers are in for more snow due to global warming.

While snow is messy, especially in the city where it takes all of two seconds for it to get dirty & gross, I prefer snow to the frigid cold. I hate winter days when it's too cold to snow. So let it snow! Just not until December, okay?

So what do you prefer? The cold? The snow? Living in Arizona?

Fifteen American soldiers were killed on their way back to the States for some R&R. But did you know that the reason we don't see any body bags in this war is because the government bans it? Even thou I wasn't alive, I have memories of coffins coming home from the Vietnam War.

The article states that we can see the injured, so I have to ask why aren't we seeing them? Why haven't we seen the Prez, VP, and others hugging injured soldiers in hospitals? The only injured parties I can recall seeing during this war are the POWs.

Yesterday on the news, they did show a clip from a hospital in Iraq. One doctor (a very handsome one at that) was shown saying "All major combat operations are over" then laughing. Chances are that he's military and I wonder what's going to happen to him. But I think that action speaks volumes of what's really happening over there.

I'm not one of many who are calling for us to pull all our troops right now. We broke Iraq, we need to fix it. I do think we need to hand over the reigns of power to the UN. That won't stop all the terrorist attacks, but it might help speed the healing along. This is one fucked up situation...and damn it, the anti-war movement told the Prez so.

Musings About Paris has been renamed and relaunched. A special surprise to those who check it out.

Congressman Dingell of Michigan joins in the chorus of people bashing the upcoming CBS mini-series on Ronald Reagan. Read the
press release.

Did you know there's a book called Our Monica, Ourselves? I dunno if it's any good or not, but it was referenced at a talk I attended last week on gay rights.