Dog Sees Mom, Just Home From Afghanistan

I have been staying home because of the red splotches on my face. (caused by the ointment I am putting on it to treat the condition.) I don't know if you can see them or not but they are there and they look awful.  Click to embiggen the pictures if you are interested. I don't really want to be around people with this because it looks like something we used to call the Creeping Crud. 

So with all the car problems and everything else I am scarce.  I am fasting tonight because i have to go in for Labs tomorrow.  Such fun - NOT!   I will be glad when it is healed and I feel like being around people again.  I have to go to a couple of meetings this next week but perhaps people will be kind and not look at me like I was contagious.

Eagle Watch

They say the babies should hatch April 1.

Video clips at Ustream

INTERESTING OBSERVATION

Never thought of the measurement of success this 1. The sport of choice for the urban poor is BASKETBALL.  2 The sport of choice for maintenance level employees is BOWLING. 3 The sport of choice for front-line workers is FOOTBALL.  4 The sport of choice for supervisors is BASEBALL.  5 The sport of choice for middle management is TENNIS.  And.....  6 The sport of choice for corporate executives and officers is GOLF.  THE AMAZING CONCLUSION:  The higher you go in the corporate  structure, the smaller your balls become.

Found on Facebook

My friend and brother James posted this article on Facebook. You should read it.  Click below

American workers got what they deserved

It's Wednesday, I Got Nuttin

Tuesday was a boring day.

The car went in to get something fixed again

Today I am going to Des Moines in the afternoon

I have picked out my tombstone,

Have a great day.

Making the rounds

Recall Momentum! (Green Bay)

This is too good not to post right away. If you want to help the Progressive Campaign Committee keep it on the air, donate here.

As a friend remarked the other day, progressives are taking back the streets from the Teabaggers. This is our natural terrain.

h/t Can it Happen Here?

Requested Reading. The Things Republicans say about Job Creation That are not true.

Catching up

Well, it is Tuesday. (Actually it is Monday night when I am writing this but I won't publish until Tuesday.)  It has not been a great week-end.  Thursday after the University of Freemasonry Shane and I went out to eat at Centro.  We had a nice meal and good conversation.  The waiter left something to be desired but he got his tips anyway. My new transmission worked but there was a new noise so I decided to lay low for the week-end. 


Friday afternoon I went to see The Lincoln Lawyer and enjoyed it.  Saturday I had Eastern Star School and then Sunday I was going to go to another movie but didn't feel good so I stayed home.  I did go to the grocery store as I was completely out of everything.  Then on Monday the car went in to see what was wrong with it and they kept it all day. They aren't sure what it is but they found something else that needed fixing and put  some fluid in the other part (Can you tell I do not know much about cars except how to drive them.) Otherwise it would have been another $1300 dollar bill and I just spent that on the transmission,


I found out today that I have to pay $1500 in taxes and will again have to make quarterly payments of $700 to the IRS for next year.  I have decided that with gas prices what they are and my car not being reliable I had best confine my travels to Iowa and am not able to go to Boise this summer. It was sure nice that the Corporations and the Billionaires got such nice tax breaks...G E didn't even have to pay taxes. 

Other than those things I feel pretty good today. I hope that things are going well with you and that someone gives you a hug.. We all need them.  Thanks for stopping by.

Women's History Month - A Ramble

When I started working on women's history about thirty years ago, the field did not exist. People didn't think that women had a history worth knowing.

—Gerda Lerner, Women and History (1986; 1993)

Read more: History of Women's History Month http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womensintro1.html#ixzz1HqPmouV1


This is Women's History Month


The other day I got to thinking about the Equal Rights Amendment.  I did not know that it was originally written by Alice Paul in 1923 and that it is still waiting for three states to ratify it to make it a part of the Constitution. The 15 states that have not ratified the Amendment are:  Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, and Virginia.  


I suppose I got to thinking about it because I watched a movie in which a woman was thrown in jail for not reveling her source for a news article and they tossed her in jail for contempt of court.  I watched the way she was treated.  I was also reminded of a movie I watched about the struggle that women had in order to get the vote.  (They didn't get it until 1920) They had rocks thrown at them and were spat upon and had to hide their involvement with the movement from husbands who could take their parental rights away from them.  The struggle continues.

"Issues commonly associated with notions of women's rights include, though are not limited to, the right: to bodily integrity and autonomy; to vote (suffrage); to hold public office; to work; to fair wages or equal pay; to own property; to education; to serve in the military or be conscripted; to enter into legal contracts; and to have marital, parental and religious rights".

Many of these "rights" are just basic to what should be.  There should be no question and probably would not be if the ERA had been passed.  Women today can vote and hold public office.  They can work but not always to fair wages of equal pay.  They can own property and many are well educated.  They serve in the military and enter into legal contracts. 


Men still sometimes think of women as their property and right now we are seeing a spate of laws which show that they do not have the right to bodily integrity with anti abortion laws springing up hither and yon as part of the Tea Party Tsunami which is sweeping the nation.  I am not saying whether or not I am in favor of abortion but I am saying that as a male it is none of my business.


And things are worse elsewhere in the world.  In some country baby girls are not wanted and female infanticide  is practiced. As is female circumcision, a practice which has no health value and is condemned by the World Health Organization.

It seems to me that women are still second class citizens and until things change we need to keep speaking out about the wrongness of these practices. 


The treatment of women as chattel is so strongly enrolled in our cultures that it will be difficult to change things.  We must recognize the root causes and strip away the hypocrisy of the male. Men could not be sure that a child was theirs without strictly controlling the women. Total control and that meant women became property.


In some countries women are forced to wear clothing which will hide their bodies.  The burqa which the woman on the right is wearing is declining in use but it is still required in some places (particularly in Afghanistan) - 


When I was in Egypt I was invited to a wedding party.  We were told that the husband and father entered into a contract and the woman was transferred from the father to the husband.. sometimes she had never even met the man her parents had chosen for her to marry. She was invited to the party afterward.  (If you Google Muslim Marriage it will not tell you this.)  


Elizabeth Kaeton had this to say about marriage on her Blog, Telling Secrets:
(used with permission)

Let's face it, "traditional marriage" is a legal contract between two men wherein the woman is the subject of the legal agreement. That's why the father of the bride walks the bride down the aisle and "gives her hand inmarriage" to the groom.

She's property, is all. The church has been complicit in this legal transaction since the fourth century.

I once went to a wedding in a fundamentalist Christian Church for one of my former students.  I was appalled to hear that the wedding was going to be a success because _____________was such a servant.  A servant? Is that what a wife is supposed to be?  Not in my book, but then I have never been married and I am not used to being waited on.


I guess the point of all this is that I really don't like the way women are treated in much of our world.  I remember in the 80's when I read in our Social Studies book that there were "even 5 women in the House of Representatives"  I used that as a math lesson and asked the kids how many women should be in the House if the structure of the House of Representatives was really representative?  I asked them what was the percentage of women in our world.  They figured about half.  I let them know that it was about 52% and we figured out there should probably be a couple of hundred or more women in the House if we were truly representative.  I am still waiting for one of my kids to run for office.


Men (not all but many) treat women with disrespect. I have known women who were not allowed to write checks or have any part of the business of the family. To be fair I also know some women who have the entire running of the household and the husband turns over all responsibility for paying bills, etc to her. But I knew some women who when suddenly widowed had to take a crash course in money management.


I have a great respect for women.  I have seen them in charge of business, my representative in the Iowa House is a woman and she is one of the best I have ever seen.  Hard working, intelligent and very capable. (And she doesn't seem to have the same problem with power that men have.  She is a great representative.) I have had women principals and administrators (some good one bad) in my career. Things are changing but sometimes too slowly and it needs to be fair all the way around.


  I was very proud of this Pakistani woman who spoke up for herself and her rights and the dual treatment she was receiving from this Mullah.  I think she came out on top.  More women need to take a stand for their rights and not to let men steamroll them.

I am in favor of the Equal Rights Amendment which simply states:

THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT

Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

If and when it is ratified it will help all people men and women by placing in the law of the land the fairness which Abigale Adams requested when she wrote to John:

"In the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would Remember the Ladies," she wrote, "and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors."

The article that I got that quote from was from the government site.  It was followed by this:


Her plea was the first call for the equality that American women would gradually achieve.


To which I would say - Not yet, Not yet,  we are still working for it.


{Note - You may wonder why I am so much in favor of Equal Rights.  Well you see my mother and father were divorced when I was 4 years old and my mother had to raise me without his help.  She did have help from her parents but without that it would have been pretty tight.  


I can still remember seeing a little girl in the optometrist's being told by her mother that they would have to wait until they could check with her father before she could get the glasses she needed.  I remembered back to when I got my first set of glasses and I went from having to squint to see the chalkboard to seeing individual leaves on a tree across the street. - 


My mother was smarter than many she worked with and yet she received less money.  She was treated with disrespect by some of her bosses who had an ego problem.  


The unequal treatment of any part of our society isn't fair and until we have this law it is 
going to stay that way.)


ADDENDUM:


I just read that the Supreme Court is going to hear a case relating to whether or not women can sue Wal-mart over discriminatory wages.  Should be interesting.

Miles (Family) on Monday

Miles Breeder writes about Miles new half brothers.

Hi,

      Early Saturday morning Elle had 4 huge boys.   We have one in every color.  They are georgous...  Elle ended up having a C section this time because the boys were so big.  Elle and the boys are doing just fine.  They are getting fat and chunky.      Have a good week.     Peg

UPDATE FROM PEG:

The boys had their dew claws removed today.  I weighed them today  Each one is a little over a pound.   They are chunky... lol..  Doing really good.  Cute as can be.   Have a good week.. Peg

Reposted from The Democratic Underground

If you had told me ten years ago that… the U.S. would be accused of torture, that there would be photographic proof of such torture, and that a former U.S. president would flat out admit in writing that he had sanctioned such torture… a Democratic president would insist upon massive tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, but not on extended unemployment benefits for people who had been out of work for more than 99 weeks… twenty-two states would be considering measures that would intentionally substantially DECREASE the number of eligible voters… public education funding would be eviscerated in virtually every U.S. state with still no mention of a possible tax increase for the wealthy or for corporations… a sitting state governor would get caught on tape admitting that he had "thought about" planting troublemakers into a peaceful rally in order to sway public sentiment against the protesters, and he would be DEFENDED by his party… blatant, provable, and egregious voting "anomalies" would be found, proven, and acknowledged, but the results of that election(s) would be allowed to stand… a Democratic president and congress would usher through a massive giveaway to health insurance companies without so much as an OPTION for people to use a publicly funded program, and call it "REFORM"… a U.S. citizen would be incarcerated without charge, would be tortured during that incarceration, and would be demonized by a Democratic administration for many months, for the "crime" of making the public aware of, at the very least, a massive mistake by the U.S. military… our teachers, cops, firefighters and nurses would be villanized during a state "budget battle", and those doing the villanizing would WIN… I would not have believed you. The new "normal" sucks. This was powerful enough that I reposted the entire thing from here.  Think about it and then think about how we got here, who is responsible and how we can wade out of this mess.  Please

A Favorite Poem

I am the place 

where God shines through,

For He and I are one, 

not two;

I need not fear 

nor fret nor plan,

He wants me where 

and as I am.

If I'll just be relaxed 

and free

He'll manifest Himself

through me.

EDWIN MARKHAM
(adapted)

Great Article - How The Boston Rock Scene Grew up, Got Real Jobs and became - Freemasons?

"The idea that you're doing something that other people have done in the past [allows] you to step out of time," he explains. "We're born, get old, and die, but the rituals remain the same. It's a time machine. It's a connection to eternity."


Read
How the Boston rock scene grew up, got real jobs, and became — Freemasons?

Amicable Lodge, Cambridge, MA

Hard to find Humor

I find that things look so bleak these days that I find it hard to see how Stewart and Colbert are able to make light of what is going on.  None the less they do shine some light on the hypocrisy of the Republithugs.

The Daily Show - Gov Hurts
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Good Things

Starting something new.  The really nice things I find as I travel around the internets and that I want to share:


An absolutely wonderful post over at The Burrow on being alive. It is well worth your time to go and watch the video and then read the post.  This is the blog of the lady from Tuscon who was injured in the terrible shooting there.


I found a new (to me) blog Telling Secrets.  Go read the first two posts at least.  One in which she welcomes her new dog and the other in which she makes very insightful comments about marriage. I have added her to my bloglist.  Thanks to Madpriest for showing me the way.


The poem Eurydice by Sue Hubbard, which was painted over by Network Rail contractors, being replaced after Facebook campaign.

Found For Friday

A male chauvinist tells his buddy over drinks, "I called the local insane asylum yesterday to check on who has escaped from there recently."

His buddy asks, "Oh? Why do you wonder about that?"
To which he replies, "Well, somebody ran off with my wife this week!" 

 A priest was walking down the street when he came upon a group of about a dozen boys, all of them between 10 and 12 years of age. The group surrounded a dog. Concerned lest the boys were hurting the dog, he went over and asked, "What are you doing with that dog?"

One of the boys replied, "This dog is just an old neighborhood stray. We all want him, but only one of us can take him home. So we've decided that whichever one of us can tell the biggest lie will get to keep the dog."

Of course, the priest was taken aback. "You boys shouldn't be having a contest telling lies!" he exclaimed. He then launched into a ten minute sermon against lying, beginning, "Don't you boys know it's a sin to lie," and ending with, "Why when I was your age, I never told a lie."

There was dead silence for about a minute. Just as the priest was beginning to think he'd gotten through to them, the smallest boy gave a deep sigh and said,

"All right, give him the dog."

 A Catholic priest and a Rabbi are talking about job prospects.

"Well," says the priest, "there's a good chance that I'll be the next bishop, maybe within the next couple of years."

"Bishop!" marvels the Rabbi, "very nice. And after that?"

"Oh, I don't know, I suppose it's possible I could become Archbishop, given luck and God's blessing."

"Very nice, very nice; and after Archbishop?"

"Ha! Well, you know, it's Cardinal after that, but it's really very unlikely. But in theory, I could become a Cardinal."

"Lovely!" enthuses the Rabbi, "the scarlet would suit your complexion. So what's after Cardinal?"

The priest smiles. "After Cardinal? Well, it's Pope. But I'm hardly likely to become . . . hmmm, oh I suppose it's just possible. If a Pole can, why not an Englishman again? Yes, I could just become Pope."

"Splendid! I would take personal pride in your becoming the Pope. And after Pope what?"

The priest looks at him in surprise, "After Pope? There's nothing after Pope! I mean, there's just God above the Pope. I can't become God."

"So why not?" the Rabbi said, "one of our boys made it."

 The local news station was interviewing an 85-year-old lady because she had just married for the fourth time. The interviewer asked her questions about her life, about what it felt like to be marrying again at 85, and then about her new husband's occupation.

"He's a funeral director," she answered.

"Interesting," the newsman thought. He then asked her if she wouldn't mind telling him a little about her first three husbands and what they did for a living.

She paused for a few moments, needing time to reflect on all those years. After a short time, a smile came to her face and she answered proudly, explaining that she had first married a banker when she was in her early 20's, then a circus ringmaster when in her 40's, then a preacher when in her 60's, and now in her 80's, the funeral director. The interviewer looked at her, quite astonished, and asked why she had married four men with such diverse careers.

She smiled and patiently explained, " I married one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, and four to go."

 It's a slow night at a local pub in Ireland, and the owner is polishing some glasses and thinking of closing up early, when he hears a knock at the back door.

He opens it, and there in the alley are two nuns, Sister Mary and Sister Kate, both are looking up and down the alley, as if they don't want to be seen. They ask to be invited in, and the owner brings them into the kitchen.

"We've a favor to ask," explains Sister Kate. "It's not for us, you understand, but for poor Father Tim."

"He's been struck with an awful case of constipation," continues Sister Mary. "And they only thing that seems to help is a bit of whisky. Now we'd buy it ourselves, but this town being as full of gossips as it is, we don't want to start tongues to wagging."

"Now as a good, church-going man, we've come to ask if you might spare a little something for poor Father Tim, and to use your discretion in the doing of it," finishes Sister Kate.

"Of course, Sisters," replies the barman, and he returns with a full bottle of the best whisky. "Give this to Father Tim with my compliments, and my best wishes for a speedy recovery."

An hour or two passes, and the barman closes shop and drives home. As he's driving, he sees Sister Mary and Sister Kate arm-in-arm, walking down the road, and singing at the top of their lungs. Sister Mary is carrying the bottle, which has perhaps an inch left in it. He slows and rolls down the window as he brakes to a stop.

"Sisters," he says' "I'm ashamed of you. You told me the whisky was for Father Tim's constipation."

"Ah, but it is," replies Sister Mary. "We're headed that way now, and when Father Tim sees us in this condition, the man is likely to shit himself."

 An elderly woman was telling her daughter about a date with a 90-year-old man. "Believe it or not, I had to slap his face three times!" said the woman. 

"Do you mean that old man got fresh with you?" the daughter asked in disgust.

"Oh, no!" her mother explained, "I had to keep slapping his face to keep him awake!"

 A group of managers are given an assignment to measure the height of a flagpole. So they go out to the flagpole with ladders and tape measures, and they're falling off the ladders and dropping the tape measures. The whole thing is just a mess.

An engineer comes along and sees what they're trying to do, walks over, pulls the flagpole out of the ground, lays it flat, measures it from end to end, gives the measurement to one of the managers and walks away.

After the engineer has gone, one manager turns to another and laughs: "Isn't that just like an engineer? We're looking forthe height and he gives us the length!"

 A guy stood over his tee shot for what seemed an eternity, looking up, looking down, m ea suring the distance, figuring the wind direction and speed. Generally, he was driving his partner nuts. 

Finally his exasperated partner says, "What the heck is taking so long? Hit the ball!" 

The guy answers, "My wife is up there watching me from the clubhouse. I want to make this a perfect shot." 

His partner ponders this for a moment, and then replies: "Forget it man, you don`t stand a snowball`s chance in hell of hitting her from here!"

 I was testing children in my Dublin  Sunday school class to see if they understood the concept of getting to heaven. I asked them,  'If I sold my house and my car, had a big jumble sale and gave all my money to the church, would that get me into heaven? ''NO!' the children answered..

'If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the garden, and kept everything tidy, would that get me into heaven?' Again, the answer was 'No!'

By now I was starting to smile. 'Well, then, if I was kind to animals and gave sweeties to all the children, and loved my husband, would that get me into heaven? 'Again, they all answered 'No!'. I was just bursting with pride for them.

I continued, 'Then how can I get into heaven?' A six year-old boy shouted out 

"YUV GOTTA BE FOOKN' DEAD.........." 

 THE YELLOW LIGHT 

The light turned yellow, just in front of him.  He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.

The tailgating woman was furious and honked her horn, screaming in frustration, as she missed her chance to get through the intersection, dropping her cell phone and makeup.

As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer.  The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up.

He took her to the police station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in a holding cell.

After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door.  She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

He said, ''I'm very sorry for this mistake.  You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you and cussing a blue streak at him.  I noticed the 'What Would Jesus Do' bumper sticker, the 'Choose Life' license plate holder, the 'Follow Me to Sunday-School' bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk, so naturally....I assumed you had stolen the car.''

POLITICAL CORRECTNESS

A doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority.
 

RAISIN
Grape with a sunburn. 

Thanks for stopping by,  Have a great week-end.