A happy, but fairly controversial, post.

Happy Roe v Wade anniversary everyone! One more year of the government not being able to tell us what to do with our bodies! This is all I will say about it: choice is great because you can also choose NOT to have an abortion, and the government can't say anything about it, as they shouldn't. And choice doesn't make you anti-life, it makes you in favor of making informed, healthy, safe decisions, whatever that persuasion may be.

Thanks, all you Planned Parenthooders (and other pro-life organizations), for helping a LOT of women to obtain safe access to affordable healthcare (abortions are a very small percentage of the services they provide).

Today a man decided to crash his truck through the front of a Planned Parenthood in St. Paul. I'm not sure what his point was. Seriously. To kill someone? To ruin the clinic? To stop an abortion? To stop a woman from getting a physical? How would that change anything?

Other good things:
*We are getting a new mattress, free! Covered under our warranty. ROCK ON. This was one of my financial woes, thinking about replacing mattress that was fairly new.

*Obama ordering shutdown of Gitmo, along with investigations of CIA secret prisons. Buddy, two days in office and my heart is bigger already! Human rights are awesome. Let's have some more of those.

*A 30 degree day. It might be cold as crap tomorrow, but today I wore a skirt and tights and didn't lose feeling in my legs.

*The latest issue of Esquire renews my faith in journalists. If you love profiles, or want to read some background information on the latest pols in DC, which are also entertaining and extremely well-written, you'd do well to pick up a copy. It's cheap! It will keep them writing! Do it!

*I'm trying to embrace downsizing of my personal financial situation, as a lot of us are. I saw a great idea on a blog the other day about "What I really, really wanted to buy, but didn't." Sort of a methadone for we "social" shoppers. Look for this to be a semi-regular feature as I work toward paying off my debt and rocking my bank account!

*Woo, the Office back in fine form tonight.

Two Kinds of Blues

It's no secret I've had a touch of the blues lately. For good reasons, but they're also probably mixed with a little seasonal affective disorder. 

Why do I think this? Well, today I watched a brilliant sunset from my office window, and it was...5:25. Yeah! The sun didn't set until after 5 today and the light lingered, in a way that it only does when the days start to get a little longer. On our shortest days, it's like it sinks immediately. I felt better driving home tonight. 

But. 

That could have also been the awesome (blue-state-heavy) events that took place today. Like Wan, I think future generations will ask us where we were on the day we inaugurated the first black president. 

I was at work, but we had canceled our meetings and camped out in our conference room, where we have a projection screen. We ate doughnuts and laughed and cried as we watched the events unfold. I loved in particular the very human moments--the oath getting messed up, the Reverend Lowery, who resembled a Muppet, but moved me to tears nonetheless, the Obama children taking pictures and giving thumbs-up to their dad. The multicultural awareness without being overbearing--come on, Aretha, Yitzhak, Yo-Yo--it was like, hey, we're all here. We all want this. It doesn't matter if we're white, black, Asian, Christian, Jewish, or our middle name is Hussein. Those things have never mattered much to me, but I think it's a great model for people to see, who aren't quite so educated or open-minded. (Rick Warren being the sole bad call, in my mind.)

I was moved by all the people on the Mall, maybe not united in every approach, but united in wanting a better future for this country, agreeing that this man is the best person to lead us out of this quagmire. 

I am proud that I was part of this. I'm proud that if I have children, it will no longer be a strange or exceptionally moving for them to elect someone other than an old white guy into our highest office. I want it to be normal. I hope that the same will be true for a woman, by the time they turn 18. 

I hope, too, that future presidents take a key from Obama. His class, his style, his complete refusal to give in to the shit-talking that happens so often with politics. It's going to pull him through the pressure of being the first black president, the pressure of trying to right what's been so deeply wrong for eight years. It's a big job.

I just saw parts of Beyonce's interview, given after she sang "At Last" for the Obamas. her complete lack of PR touched me. She cried, she rambled, she didn't have a pat answer ready. She said she feels like this was fated to happen. She said, "He makes me want to be smarter. He makes me want to be more involved. And I am here! And I am singing! And I am overwhelmed!" And I cried. 

Because he makes us want to be a better generation. He makes us want to be better people. Not by telling us so, but by leading by example. Today a lot of people felt very invested in wanting to be here. We are all singing. 

Did you hear that, future hypothetical children? Today we are singing, because in this really dark winter, we finally feel like we've elected the people's representative. And for the first time in eight long, awful years, we feel like we have a fighting chance.

Something about Humanity

I was just over at WeeMo's blog, and if you don't already read her, you probably should be. But, in any case, she is very committed to overturning Prop 8.

I believe that all people are equal, and that they should have equal rights. Not separate. Separate is never equal. I believe that everyone should be able to marry who they love.

Anyway, she posted a snippet of an interview with Jon Stewart and Mike Huckabee on her blog, and it really moved me.

The part that moved me most was this, an exchange where Huckabee attempted to talk his way around the issue:
"Semantics are cold comfort when it comes to humanity." –Jon Stewart

Life lesson, totally summarized perfectly.

Gobama

More foto fun, check out this link to see some really amazing photos of Obama. Is it just me, or is he getting hotter??

Celebrating the Blues

I hope I'm celebrating the blues tonight!!!!

Story about voting to come...busy night though, and it might get late, and wanted to make sure I posted for NaBloPoMo.

I just have to say that I'm thrilled to be a part of the process today. There is an energy today that hasn't been there for the last elections (that I was also thrilled to participate in those, too).

It's like Christmas!!!

Doggone Right

I have to go there on the politics.

She winked into the camera.

She called the average guy "Joe Six Pack"

She insulted teachers who are working their asses off to make education decent for kids.

She talked about energy and education when the topics were mortgages and foreign policy.

She used the "I have a [friend], so I'm tolerant and diverse" sentence.

Any time she deviated from her script she had to wink into the camera and use her little colloqualisms--doggone, heckuva, you betcha. when the questions called for an answer she hadn't been provided with, she just ranted on whatever she had information for.

Then there was the defiant "I may not answer your question, but I'm gonna talk straight to the American people." Well excuse me, this is a DEBATE with TOPICS.

Folksy neighbors with their silly talk and run-on sentences are fine at HOME. I don't want one representing the USA. In charge of the country that I love. I don't want to have a beer with my elected officials. I don't want to go to a hockey game with them. I want them to be smarter than me, make better decisions than I can. I want them to be a representative of our ideals and people, yes, but smooth, sophisticated, prepared.

Some pundits are saying she could have won. How is that even possible? Am I living in an alternate universe? Is there something I don't understand here?

I have a stomachache of a different kind tonight. Serious.

PS: How is not going down in flames the new standard for success? And since when is coming prepared with facts and numbers seen as negative? Since when have we wanted vote for the lowest common denominator? OHMYGOD.

PPS: NSFW language, possibly. Found this via Free and Flawed: Hey There Sarah Palin

Seven Years Later

.....

We're still doing the same damn things, and not getting any closer to solving the real problems we have created in the world.

We're all still suffering the effects—albeit some of us more abstractly than the pain of unfairly losing a loved one—of what happened seven years ago today. Life has gotten worse. I don't need to trot out all the reasons why. We have all lost, all of us. In ways that haunt, hurt, and plain make life uncomfortable these days.

And idiot McCain and his crazy cohort are LEADING the polls, although by a slim margin. How is that even possible? How are people even CONSIDERING that possibility?

What the hell is WRONG with this world and WHY THE HELL aren't more people angry, sad, want things to change? This goes beyond apathy into total insanity.

Don't bury your head in the sand. Vote. Properly. You don't even have to march, or preach, or donate to a cause. Just vote against the people who colluded in making this happen. If you don't care, please don't waste your vote. Exercise your right—we've been losing those left and right in the last seven years—and at least vote for the party who is smart enough to at least act like they care about you, your life, your family.

I think it's pretty clear what's gotta happen here. End this war. Develop an independent source of energy. Quit pissing on every other country that's playing in the sandbox. STOP KILLING PEOPLE. Stop funding war. Refuse to line the pockets of ginormous corporations that then donate to the cause. Take care of the problems we've created at home.

Honor the people who died here at home, and on foreign soil. Not just Americans. Don't make their deaths be in vain.

We are repeating mistakes, repeating history, and we are doomed if we don't figure this out soon. Get angry, but don't get even. As Gandhi said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

Believe in peace.

See also: Last year's post.

See also: Kilipino.

I'm Not Gonna Do What You Told Me

This is what my home looks like right now.

This was right outside our windows on Sunday.


Riot police!


Riot police with riot horses! (I'm more scared of the horses).


Anarchy today (well, Saturday). They also smashed in the windows at Macy's.


A woman after my own heart.


When I was driving home tonight, I happened to be listening to the radio (unusual for me). And I caught that Rage Against the Machine was going to make an appearance at a free concert at the Capitol which is just blocks from my house. I anxiously awaited William coming home, since he loves Rage and I knew he'd want to go. He got home, all sweaty from riding his bike, and we quickchanged and ran to the Capitol, Molly in tow.

As it turned out, the police wouldn't let them play although they allowed the other (unknown) bands to play. It sucked. People were chanting for the band by singing the lyrics. If you ask me, they would have had a docile enough crowd, more so than the angry fans who wanted to see Rage (they also play tomorrow night in a more typical venue, but also for $60). We were surrounded by some seriously patchouli smelling hippies that were practicing synchronized meditation, so I figure we would have been pretty safe. :) Anyway, we waited and waited, with an antsy crowd. Eventually a bunch of cheers went up and they asked everyone to be really quiet and sit down. So we did.

And then we saw this:


That's right. De la Rocha and Morello with a megaphone. Despite teh fact that people had even done the soundcheck for them (and I spotted five guitars in the little rack, so I imagine they would have played a few songs), they werent' allowed to take the stage. So so so lame. In any case, they treated us to Bulls on Parade and Killing In The Name. De la Rocha did the raps and Morello sang the beats. The crowd helped with both.


And then:


I feel it necessary to note that I beat Tom Morello in Guitar Hero. Just sayin'. I do a wicked wah-wah-chicka-chicka-wah-wah, what can I say? (Please tell me you know what sound I'm making over the net.)

Molly doing her part as a concerned citidog. (in my excitement I forgot to put on her Dogs for Choice t-shirt).


Then as we were leaving, we inadvertently joined a peace march.


It was just described on the news as a "bunch of anarchists". It was totally peaceful and within its rights.


There were tons of these, and they're quite intimidating in person.


When they came out, the Fox cameraman I was standing next to said, "You might wanna get outta here, honey." Are you kidding? This will never happen again here! I mean, I'm not into getting tear gassed or pepper sprayed or anything.... I kept a safe distance but I wanted to drink it all in.

We rounded out our walk by checking out Chris Matthews, broadcasting from downtown, outside. Pretty fun. I hear that he Daily Show people got locked inside due to the escalating protesting. We missed the fire hoses, firecrackers, and gas.

I have to say that I love protesters. I'm not in favor of destroying property, especially when it has nothing to do with the issue at hand, but I love people who exercise their right to protest and who express their opinion. It brings an energy that I just love. I love seeing the people who care to a point to get out and do something, rather than just complain (which is something I'm guilty of).
I'm torn about the RNC. It's good for the Cities, financially and put us on the map as more than some kind of igloo country, but I'd rather it was the other ticket in town. We're typically a very progressive state and I feel like hosting the RNC doesn't represent the majority opinion here.

But I gotta say. I love the political process, messed up as it may be. And I'm loving this. Even if it means having riot police right outside my door.

Keep Going

I love politics. I love Hillary. I'm a little sad that she's not making the acceptance speech.

But damn, that was a good speech. She knocked it out.

If you hear the dogs, keep going.

september 11

things will never be the same.
it was one of the first thoughts i had when i finally wrapped my head around the events that took place six years ago.
they aren't the same, and yet they are.
i'm still so angry--not even so much at the terrorists, as i am at our inept government. i'm angry that it has been made worse by a power-hungry warmonger. i'm angry that someone who can't even speak a sentence without a script without sounding like a complete moron got elected, then re-elected to take care of this mess. no, bush didn't cause 9/11, a lot of things did, but he was least prepared to take care of us and he certainly hasn't had our best interest in mind. i fear that the next president, despite however good she or he might be, has inherited a mess that will haunt us for generations.
we aren't any safer, but we are looking more and more like the biggest bully on the playground.
i still cry when i think about those poor people who lept from the world trade center windows, as though falling to their death--or in their minds, the chances that they would be caught by firefighters--outweighed staying in those burning, collapsing buildings. if it occurs to you that a doable survival strategy is leaping straight out, fifty stories above new york city.... i cannot even begin to fathom the desperation and fear. i cannot.
i'm angry that people who risked their lives, people who will be forever scarred by what they saw as they ran into a building burning, fighting every survival instinct they had, people who became heroes that day, are sick and hurting and not able to get the medical care they need. it should be considered a crime, how they've been treated.
i'm angry that not one promise has been delivered, that troops are fighting for a "cause" that's been extremely camoflauged, put in harm's way every day, killing people who may be innocent (but the US actions may turn them to a life of extremism), and the healing that should, but may never, come, once they return stateside, if they return. i'm angry that that is soldiers' only choice. i'm angry parents have buried their children.
and i'm sad.
my biggest memories of this day, six years ago: calling my mom, telling her to turn on the tv. wanting to tell my roommates but they had already left for the day. walking to class, wondering if we were safe. classes getting canceled. going home and parking myself in front of the tv. getting gas. crying.
i didn't know anyone directly in the buildings that day. but my first class of the day was political psychology. i thought it a perfect forum to talk about the events, until my professor came into class. she attempted to start class several times, stopping short, until she finally told us: her cousin worked at kantor fitzgerald. there was no hope he was alive. bits of stationery from that floor were found, floating in the air, miles away.