RIP Tom Lantos

I was suprised and saddened to learn this morning that CA Representative Tom Lantos,the first and only Holocaust survivor to be elected to congress, passed away on Monday. I've watched Mr. Lantos on CSPAN for many hours over the years and I admire his work on behalf of our country, as well as for people suffering around the world.

His memorial service was on TV tonight, and I watched it from start to finish, amazed at the people who spoke on his behalf: congressmen, world leaders, even Bono! But I was most impressed by his wife, children and grandchildren. Their eloquent words were delivered with poise and dignity. His granddaughter, Charity, sang the most incredible song in his honor. It gave me goosebumps. His wife Annette, also a Holocaust survivor, spoke of their 70 year love affair and there wasn't a dry eye in the house--or in mine.

It makes me sad to realize that Tom Lantos no longer walks this earth, but there are a few ways we can pay tribute to him every day. Remember to stand up for people who have no voice. Remember to love your family. Remember to lend a hand to those in need. Remember that sometimes we have to fight, fight, and keep on fighting for what's right and just. Finally, remember to enjoy life to the fullest--Tom sure did.

Rest in Peace Tom Lantos

Super Fat Tuesday

Today is a very important day. Not only is it Marde Gras (AKA Fat Tuesday), but it's election day for 24 states including my own state of California. If It's your pimary day too, don't forget to vote. Remember, your vote is your voice.

My voice is filled with hope this year and that hope rests on Obama, who seems to have picked up the hope message John Edwards began with "hope is on the way" in 2003. May he be successful in his quest for the nomination. Our country and its people sure could use a little hope right now.

Edwards' Thank you Speech

John Edwards came full circle in New Orleans today. As you may recall, he announced his candidacy there. I can't help but feel we are really losing our chance to do something great by losing him as a candidate. It's not that I don't like Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, it's just that John Edwards did everything right, touched on all the issues that are the most important. Losing the hope of him as president, is a far greater loss than I realized this morning.

My heart is incredibly heavy tonight.

Edwards is dropping out

Sad news this morning. John Edwards is dropping out of the presidential race. I'm really upset about this. The USA needed a man who cared so deeply about the poor and the middle class. A man who was willing to do whatever it takes to help them. A man who grew up poor, and hadn't lost track of where he came from. Sigh.

It's a difficult thing, but it's time to back Barack Obama. He's a great man with great plans and I've always said I liked him and would gladly vote for him if he was our party nominee, I just liked Edwards better.

Life goes on, I guess. It has to. The Republicans hate the Clintons too much for me to back Hillary. Sorry. Go Barack Obama! Turning in my absentee ballot today with a big ol' check by Obama's name and a NO on all the propositions.

Blog for Choice Day 2008

Today is the 35th Anniversary of Roe V. Wade and the second annual Blog for Choice day. I feel quite fortunate that I've never had to make that choice, but I am grateful that, unlike my mother's generation, choice has always been an option for me. I'm worried, too, that many young women today have become complacent and don't realize how close we are to having the freedom of Choice taken from us. It only takes one more Supreme Court Justice stepping down while Bush is in office or a Republican winning the 2008 presidential election, to get the conservative majority needed to overturn Roe V. Wade.

I also wish to state that I don't know anyone who's pro-choice who thinks abortion is a wonderful thing. The pro-lifers paint us like people who think everyone should just run out and have an abortion, like we take delight in it. If no one ever had to have an abortion ever again that would suit me just fine. And maybe someday we can get there--or, at least, much closer to there--but for now we have issues to tackle. I was going to write up a more formal essay, but I decided not to. I'm passionate about this issue, and making it more perfect and sterile, takes the heart and soul out of it. So, here are my off the cuff thoughts about Choice tonight.

We need comprehensive sex education for all children and teens--taught in an age appropriate manner, of course. It's all well and good to teach abstinence. I think everyone agrees that abstinence is best, but statistics show that these programs don't work. Teens say one thing and do another. That's what being a teen is all about, right? Testing boundaries? Thinking you know it all? Yeah. And when teens decide to have sex, if they haven't been taught about condoms, birth control, sexually transmitted infections (STI's) and pregnancy, they're left in the dark. Since Bush took office and funding has switched to Abstinence Only Education, teen pregnancies and STI's are on the rise. 'Nuff said. Teach kids what they need to know to be safe.

Adoption is a great option as well. But the thing about adoption is that I don't know anyone who's pro-life whose actually adopted a child. I often ask why people don't consider adoption, and I'm usually told it's because, "I can have my own babies." That's all well and good, but if a pro-lifer won't adopt children, who will? Your average pro-lifer votes Republican and the Republican party regularly cuts funding on all the programs that poor children and single mothers need like WIC, Head Start, foodstamps, welfare, etc. If you won't take in one of these children you are trying to save, and you won't fund the programs to help the children who you are "saving," then are you really saving this child at all?

I used to work with a woman from Romania and she told me why she'd never go back to live there. In Romania, someone from the government came into the office where she worked once a month and gave all the women a pregnancy test. If your test came out positive, they made note of it. Next month they came back and tested everyone again. If you weren't pregnant the next month, you better be able to pass a physical examination by a doctor proving you miscarried or you'd be arrested! Abortion was illegal in Romania when she lived there. (I haven't investigated the legalities today.) I cannot imagine living somewhere like that, somewhere women are forced to give birth to a child against their will. I can't even begin to fathom what that must be like. She said that to be a woman in Romania was like being a second class citizen, with no right to her own body. She, like me, was pro-choice.

If abortion is made illegal in America, would the government resort to something like this? I wouldn't put it past some of the passionate pro-lifers I've met. Most of them care more about the unborn child than the woman whose life is going to be turned upside down. Her own life with her own unique set of circumstances, not theirs. It matters not to most of them if the woman's life is at risk, if she was raped or molested by a family member, or if the child is severely deformed. Well, it matters to me. It matters a great deal to me that a woman not risk her life for a child whose not even here yet when she may have other children depending on her, that someone who was raped not be forced to re-live her experience by being forced to give birth, that a deformed child not live a short, painful, unnecessary life because some people think sparing him the pain is murder.

I also wonder who the pro-lifers think are going to adopt these children they "save" if they overturn Roe, when more and more people are able to "have their own babies" with techniques like in vitro fertilization. I wonder why they don't think the extra embryos that are destroyed after the in vitro process is over (and the couple has produced their desired amount of children) are not human lives too. One would think that if you did consider them to be human lives, you'd want their lives to have meant something by allowing them be used for stem cell research, but that's another topic for another day.

Happy Anniversary Roe V. Wade. Remember, complacency kills. Fight the good fight, every day in every way.

Peace.

Please check out the others who Blogged for Choice today.

I blogged for choice last year as well- HERE.

In honor of Dr. MLK Jr.

Today, John Edwards received a letter from Martin Luther King III, son of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I'm so pleased with the letter, I'm posting it in its entirety. Here's the link as well.

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Dear Senator Edwards:

It was good meeting with you yesterday and discussing my father's legacy. On the day when the nation will honor my father, I wanted to follow up with a personal note.

There has been, and will continue to be, a lot of back and forth in the political arena over my father's legacy. It is a commentary on the breadth and depth of his impact that so many people want to claim his legacy. I am concerned that we do not blur the lines and obscure the truth about what he stood for: speaking up for justice for those who have no voice.

I appreciate that on the major issues of health care, the environment, and the economy, you have framed the issues for what they are - a struggle for justice. And, you have almost single-handedly made poverty an issue in this election.

You know as well as anyone that the 37 million people living in poverty have no voice in our system. They don't have lobbyists in Washington and they don't get to go to lunch with members of Congress. Speaking up for them is not politically convenient. But, it is the right thing to do.

I am disturbed by how little attention the topic of economic justice has received during this campaign. I want to challenge all candidates to follow your lead, and speak up loudly and forcefully on the issue of economic justice in America.

From our conversation yesterday, I know this is personal for you. I know you know what it means to come from nothing. I know you know what it means to get the opportunities you need to build a better life. And, I know you know that injustice is alive and well in America, because millions of people will never get the same opportunities you had.

I believe that now, more than ever, we need a leader who wakes up every morning with the knowledge of that injustice in the forefront of their minds, and who knows that when we commit ourselves to a cause as a nation, we can make major strides in our own lifetimes. My father was not driven by an illusory vision of a perfect society. He was driven by the certain knowledge that when people of good faith and strong principles commit to making things better, we can change hearts, we can change minds, and we can change lives.

So, I urge you: keep going. Ignore the pundits, who think this is a horserace, not a fight for justice. My dad was a fighter. As a friend and a believer in my father's words that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, I say to you: keep going. Keep fighting. My father would be proud.

Sincerely,

Martin L. King, III
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I'm sure John Edwards felt as proud to have received this letter, as I am for him. I'm so glad he's staying in the race. I truly believe he's the right man for the job, even though the media tries to pretend he doesn't exist.

Now It's Time to Choose!

Now that you know you're registered to vote, it's time to choose a candidate. Here's a great little quiz (courtesy of glassbooth.org) to see who you match up with.

Thanks to Michele for the link.

I'm voting for Edwards anyway, but here's what I got:

89- Kucinich
84- Gravel
80- Edwards
80- Richardson*
78- Obama
76- Dodd*
74- Clinton
73- Biden*
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46- Giuliani
43- Paul
41- McCain
36- Thompson
34- Romney
31- Huckabee
29- Tancredo*
26- Hunter

*withdrawn from the election

How about you?

Every vote counts!

Are you registered to vote? Are you sure?

The 2008 presidential primaries are in full swing and time is running out to register in most states. You can check your voter registration instantly here. (via Votepoke)

If you're not registered, Votepoke helps you get registered, regardless of your party affiliation or political leanings. In a viable democracy, every voice matters, every vote counts. Do it now: It's that important.

Next, nudge your friends. Also, please consider adding a similar message to your emails and/or your blog.

Thanks to Melodye for the idea. I took this directly from her fab blog.

Goals for 2008

I've been thinking a lot about goals for 2008, and it's sort of stressing me out. LOL! I think I'll keep it really easy this year. So, here goes...

1) Continue on with the healthy lifestyle I began in July of 2007. This includes a balanced, low fat diet with lots of fruits and veggies and walking every night. This will eventually include getting my butt back in the gym, but I won't stress over it. I renewed our memberships this month, so we'll get there eventually.

2) Write 15 minutes a day during ther month of January, and up it to 30 minutes per day going forward. An hour a day would be ideal. Work up to that most nights if humanly possible.

3) Lose 25 more pounds.

4) Throw a blow-out 40th/60th birthday party for my mother and I this summer. (Pick a date and plan it!)

5) Replace all the interior doors in our house, including the closet doors in the three bedrooms. This also includes new doorframes and doorknobs (levers, actually).

6) Have the contractor come to the house and give us an estimate on the room addition we've been wanting. Discuss all the options and set goals to achieve the one that's the best for our financial situation.

7) Paint the bedroom and replace the window treatments.

8) Spend more time with my family and friends. Take our nephews to the movies, attend our niece's dance ricitals, have a tea party with G and play games with A. Take Mom and the MIL and FIL to lunch, a trip to LA, etc. Just enjoy each other's company.

9) Attend RWA National in San Francisco. (I've already started saving.)

10) Complete a manuscript. Any manuscript, whether it be the Healer story, the Witch story, or Adam & Cricket's story.

11) Volunteer a bit of my time to get the Democratic candidate elected.

A different kind of rally

The family of teenager Nataline Sarkisyan of Southern CA (who died while waiting for a liver transplant) stood beside John Edwards at a campaign rally in Manchester, New Hampshire today urging voters to elect Edwards. Edwards has repeatedly talked about the Sarkisyan family's fight with Cigna Healthcare to get the insurance company to cover the transplant. Cigna initially denied coverage for the procedure, but after protests and pleas from nurses and doctors the company reversed its decision. The 17-year-old Sarkisyan died before she could get the transplant. Here is a short clip.

Join with me and many other average people like me and vote for the person who will stand up for us.

Still Mulling

I've been kinda busy, but I haven't forgotten about my new profile blurb and new year's resolutions. I'm mulling everything over for a bit. (The Iowa caucus is tomorrow, so we'll be glued to the TV tomorrow night.) I'll try to post them over the weekend.

Political tidbits

This made me so angry I wanted to hit something. If you know me, you know this is HUGE.
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Snippets:

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House on Friday appeared resigned to the fact that the Iraqi parliament is going to take August off, even though it has just eight weeks to show progress on military, political and economic benchmarks prescribed by the United States.

And:

``You know, it's 130 degrees in Baghdad in August,'' he said, sympathetically.
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Why do we feel sorry for the Iraqi soldiers but not our American Soldiers? Why are our American soldiers giving the Iraqi soldiers a vacation from the 130 degree weather? Pardon me, the last time I checked, 130 degrees was hot for Americans too! Even hotter for our troops who are not FROM the area and may not be used to 130 degree weather like someone who was born there! Imagine some poor kid from Alaska or Minnesota? Grrrrr!

*************


This made me so upset I cried. (Thanks to Vaishali for sending it to me) I really don't need to comment. It speaks for itself. I watch it and I wonder how much more of this we are going to sit by and watch before people stand up and join us in saying NO MORE!

Your vote is your voice, people. Do not squander it. People died so that we could vote.

**************


This story made me so mad I couldn't see straight. FEMA just doesn't know what to waste our tax dollars on, do they?
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Snippets:

GLOUCESTER, Mass. (AP) — After nearly two years, thousands of truck miles and $12.5 million in storage costs, a cold relic of the flawed Hurricane Katrina relief effort is going down the drain.

And:

The ice, held at AmeriCold Logistics in Gloucester and at 22 similar facilities nationwide, is being melted. The cost of storing the ice at all the facilities since Katrina is $12.5 million.
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I wish someone could tell me why these people who call themselves Christians, are wasting MILLIONS of dollars that could feed poor people!

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What do you think?

In honor of the holiday

Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans. The other day I watched a rerun of a 1999 documentary on PBS called Not for Ourselves Alone. It's the story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony and their lifelong fight for women's suffrage, among other issues.

It was a beautiful documentary. The commentators were historians who specialized in the women, a curator from the Susan B. Anthony House, etc. All women. All thoughtful, intelligent and knowledgeable. The letters to and from Elizabeth and Susan were my favorite part. The beautiful language of their words, the passion they felt toward their cause and advancing the lives of American women. They were true friends, even though they were such different people, and they shared that true passion.

At the end they interviewed women who were around in 1920 when women were given the right to vote. Each recalled how she felt as she stepped into the voting booth, what an important thing she knew she was doing, how she wanted to make sure she voted for the right person. They didn't take it lightly. Neither should we.

I shed many a tear watching this wonderful documentary, but during this part I'm not ashamed to say, I cried very hard. Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton worked their whole lives for the cause, knowing that women's lives would be better if they could vote, and they never lived to see that day.

Whether or not you've ever studied the women's suffrage movement, this is an excellent documentary and I highly recommend it. I dare all women to watch it and not feel proud to be female, grateful to live now, and cherish your right to vote. Please don't take that right lightly. These women (and many others) risked their lives and were shunned by many in "polite" society just so you and your daughters and granddaughters could live in a better world. We all know that it is a better world because women have equal rights.

On this day, our Independence Day, I salute Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony and I thank them for fighting the good fight, for me and for all women in the United States. Women like them make me proud to be female.

"I wonder if when I am under the sod—or cremated and floating in the air—I shall have to stir you and others up. How can you not be all on fire? ...I really believe I shall explode if some of you young women don't wake up."
Susan B. Anthony, 1898

Happy Independence Day everyone!

Dem Debate II

I thoroughly enjoyed the Democratic Debate tonight. The "top tier candidates", as they are calling Clinton, Obama & Edwards, continued to prove themselves worthy of the title. I enjoyed the looser, conversational debate format much better than the first one.

Best moments:
1) Edwards discussing his "bumper sticker" line and not backing down.
2) Edwards admonishing Clinton and Obama for quietly voting the right way.
3) Clinton's comment about Cheney not being diplomatic.
4) Clinton saying they were not going to discuss hypotheticals.
5) Obama's overall unifying theme and tone.

Overall winner? Clinton and Edwards were the best in my opinion. Obama showed much improvement over the first debate.

*Go Edwards!*

Countdown Milestone

Hey! Lookie at my Backwards Bush counter over there at the right! In 22 hours, it will finally drop below 600 days! A cause for celebration!

Debate tonight

The Democrats are having a debate tonight. If you want a chance to hear what all the candidates have to say, check it out. I heard it will be on CSPAN2 and I'm pretty sure it will be on CNN too. I do believe Larry King (or maybe it was Anderson Cooper) both on CNN--may have a panel discussion afterward. Check your local listings!

Why I support John Edwards

From his website:

John Edwards for President: Apr 18, 2007

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Senator John Edwards released the following statement about today's 5-4 Supreme Court ruling upholding the federal abortion ban.

"I could not disagree more strongly with today's Supreme Court decision. The ban upheld by the Court is an ill-considered and sweeping prohibition that does not even take account for serious threats to the health of individual women. This hard right turn is a stark reminder of why Democrats cannot afford to lose the 2008 election. Too much is at stake - starting with, as the Court made all too clear today, a woman's right to choose."
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John Edwards for President: Apr 16, 2007

We are simply heartbroken by the deaths and injuries suffered at Virginia Tech. We know what an unspeakable, life-changing moment this is for these families and how, in this moment, it is hard to feel anything but overwhelming grief, much less the love and support around you. But the love and support is there. We pray that these families, these students, and the entire Virginia Tech community know that they are being embraced by a nation. There is a Methodist hymn that gave us solace in such a moment as this, and we repeat its final verse here, in hopes it will help these families, as it helped us:

"In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;
In our doubt there is believing, in our life, eternity,
In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see."

Our dearest wish is that this day could start again, with the promise of these young people alive. Knowing that cannot be, our prayer is for God’s grace and whatever measure of peace can be reached on this terrible day.

John and Elizabeth Edwards
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John Edwards for President: Apr 16, 2007

"Rural America has been ignored for too long," said Edwards. "Across America, too many small towns have turned into ghost towns. We need to help small towns and rural communities create and keep new businesses and good jobs, and we need a President who will make sure all our communities have good schools, good health care and the support systems they need. As President, I will make sure rural America is never left behind."
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For more details on his campaign, here are some links:
The Issues
His Speeches
Edwards Blog

Thoughts on a tragedy

What a sad week this has been with the goings on at Virginia Tech. I feel so sorry for the families who have lost loved ones and friends and my prayers go out to them. A friend of mine pointed out this beautiful Blog Post from the fabulously talented Barbara Samuel today and it expressed exactly how I feel. Every word. I hope that one day I will be able to write something so perfect and heartfelt as Ms. Samuel.

Quote:
"In the darkness, there comes the challenge--not how do we change this, but what can I do? How do I serve now, and how do I prepare myself to be an elder, a wise one, when the time comes? Each of us has seasons to serve in particular capacities, and if we are willing, we can work toward that better vision. What if each individual human has enough to eat and a clean warm bed, and access to medical care? What if our highest goal was not to die the richest of them all but to serve the highest good, that of realizing the society we have it in us to create?

Because we do have it in us. I have it in me. You have it in you. The world resides within each of us." Barbara Samuel~ April 18, 2007 blog post

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Since everything that I'd like to say in this vein has already been said (and better than I could ever say it) I'll try another angle. I won't bring up gun control laws. I do think that it should be harder for criminals and mentally ill people to get them, natch.

After the shooting at Columbine High School, there were reports that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold (the boys who committed the shooting spree) were bullied throughout their childhood by other kids because they didn't fit in. It bothered me very much at that time and it still bothers me now.

This afternoon I heard the same types of reports. Cho Seung-Hui had experienced an unusual amount of teasing and bigotry when we he was attending High school in Suburban Washington. He was quiet and people made fun of the way he spoke. One time the teacher asked students to read paragraphs and when it was his turn, he hung his head and wouldn't read. The teacher told him if he didn't read, he would get an "F" in class participation. So he read. The class erupted into laughter and all the students started chanting, "Go back to China!"

I don't know why I was so upset by this because I know bigotry exists--no matter who says it's no longer a problem--it's all around us. The thought of this shy and disturbed young man being unmercifully taunted made my heart clench. Does it excuse what he did? ABSOLUTELY NOT! But does is show a pattern in young men in our country? Possibly.

I was teased as a child. A lot. I was chubby, studious and had divorced parents. (No one did at that time.) I hadn't thought to lash out at others, I simply turned the pain inward and learned to hate myself more and more every day. I was lucky enough to have a mother and grandmother who loved me and I knew I was loved and was worthy of it. And I was a girl, raised by women in an all-female household. All my cousins but one were girls, my mom had only sisters and we all lived close to each other. Lashing out in violence would have been a completely foreign thing for someone like me to do--then and now.

But what if I was a boy? A boy who grew up in the last 10 or 20 years, surrounded by video games, violent movies, perhaps a child with a single mom with way too much time on his hands? What then?

I hate it when I bring up the idea that bullying contributes to awful things like the school shootings, people put it off as silly and childish. "All kids tease," said the DJ on the radio this afternoon. "You can't tell me you never teased anyone. Everyone does. You just don't remember doing it."

Well, mister DJ, I can tell you that I never-ever, without a doubt, ever teased anyone when I was a kid. I knew how much it hurt. To this day, I'd rather chop off my arm than hurt someone's feelings. Why? Because I know what it's like. It's terrible and no one should have to go through it day after day, week after week, school year after school year. No one.

And let me tell you something else. If you let your kids tease other children, I think it's one of the worst things you can allow them to do. Maybe you've never been teased and you don't know what it's like. Take it from me, it affects my whole life, colors everything I do and always will. Until we start teaching children to treat everyone--regardless of the way they look, speak, dress, their color, religion or sexual orientation--with respect, this kind of thing will not only keep happening, but it will escalate.

Elizabeth Edwards

In less than two hours, John Edwards is going to make an announcement about his wife Elizabeth's health. I believe in the power of prayer, white light, positive thoughts and karma. I am very sad to think--and I hope I'm wrong--that her cancer may have returned. She is an incredible person and the world needs more people like her. I hope the news is good news, or not-so-bad news. I hope John's announcement is just to keep the media from blowing things out of proportion. Mostly, I hope it's fantabulous news. No sign of cancer. All systems go!

I hope John's not dropping out of the race. I've liked him since he was running for president last time. I know Elizabeth wouldn't ask him to unless the news was very bad. I love that he makes helping the poor his biggest issue and I love his stand on everything else. Like his wife, I think he's a great thing in this world and he gives me hope.

Their family has been through so much. I hope and pray that they are not about to go though some more hard times in the near future.

Ann Coulter = Bigotry, Hatred & Lies

I am completely and thoroughly disgusted by this! I never thought I could have any less respect for Ann Coulter than I already do, but tonight she proved me wrong. She said this at the American Conservative Union's Political Action Conference. Will someone please tell me what is conservative about what she said? She always touts the fact that she's a Christian and that Democrats are "Godless." In what way, shape or form is attacking someone with an awful, bigotted word (that's a lie on top of it all) a way of showing her Christian moral values?

Ann, if I was a Republican, I'd be very angry with you tonight, but I'm a Democrat, so I'm not really all that surprised. After all, you're the same person who attacked the 9/11 widows. Here's a little tip for you Ann, try asking yourself what Jesus would do. He certainly wouldn't have said what you did tonight.

Update: The link didn't work, so I found another one. It should work now. Also, here is a great article courtesy of Melodye.