Friday, August 29, 2008
Glass Ceiling v. Concrete Ceiling
While I believe that women do indeed live under a "glass ceiling", which implies that discrimination is "invisible", African-Americans have lived beneath a CONCRETE CEILING for hundreds of years with discrimination that has been clear, visible, and in many cases, legislated. As much as I want to see a woman as president of the United States, I'm happy to see a man of color there as well. Inequity abounds; each instance must be addressed.
Palin and the Glass Ceiling
Note to Sarah Palin: shattering the glass ceiling is NOT about electing a woman as second fiddle in the Gas & Oil Party (GOP), where she will find out what a good ol' boy network is really about. Shattering the glass ceiling is about ELECTING A WOMAN TO THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENCY. We've been administrative assistants LONG ENOUGH.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
In Memoriam
My beloved flame-point Himalayan, Bebe: August 2, 1990 - August 20, 2008
Bebe, aka The Beast, was born into a show-cat home where the owner decided he wasn't worth showing and sold him as "unwanted". He was purchased by a woman who said, and I quote, "I didn't know he'd shed this much!" He came to me, again "unwanted", in November of 1991.
Bebe was a gentle, loving, accepting soul who always provided comfort first and entertainment when the mood came over him. He and I moused together, played fetch together, and he was particularly absorbent whenever I needed to cry into his fur. When my first son was born, Bebe lay beneath his crib and marched over to me every time the baby stirred, as if to say, "He needs you; get up!" I knew he was responding to the movements in the crib because he was perfectly timed with what I heard over the baby monitor ;) He did the same thing when my second son was born a year later and got a real work out - baby #2 slept a LOT less than baby #1!
Over the years, Bebe used each of his nine lives judiciously. He shed enough to make a dozen cats twice his size, hated to be combed, and secretly loved his bath. In the last few months, he began having seizures and together with his vet, we made a plan to watch him carefully so that he experienced the best life had to offer while keeping him free from unnecessary stress. He had a blast this summer: he went outside and basked in the sun with us, laid (and shed) in my bed, and cuddled up with his "brothers" as much as he desired (which was a lot). Clearly, he would have voted for Obama had he been given the chance.
When the vet and I made Bebe's plan, I made him a "no pain" promise. I was able to keep that promise, and he deserved it, no matter how hard it was for me. The Beast may have come into this world "unwanted" but he certainly did not leave it that way. I will miss my loyal friend and faithful companion more than I can ever say.
Bebe, aka The Beast, was born into a show-cat home where the owner decided he wasn't worth showing and sold him as "unwanted". He was purchased by a woman who said, and I quote, "I didn't know he'd shed this much!" He came to me, again "unwanted", in November of 1991.
Bebe was a gentle, loving, accepting soul who always provided comfort first and entertainment when the mood came over him. He and I moused together, played fetch together, and he was particularly absorbent whenever I needed to cry into his fur. When my first son was born, Bebe lay beneath his crib and marched over to me every time the baby stirred, as if to say, "He needs you; get up!" I knew he was responding to the movements in the crib because he was perfectly timed with what I heard over the baby monitor ;) He did the same thing when my second son was born a year later and got a real work out - baby #2 slept a LOT less than baby #1!
Over the years, Bebe used each of his nine lives judiciously. He shed enough to make a dozen cats twice his size, hated to be combed, and secretly loved his bath. In the last few months, he began having seizures and together with his vet, we made a plan to watch him carefully so that he experienced the best life had to offer while keeping him free from unnecessary stress. He had a blast this summer: he went outside and basked in the sun with us, laid (and shed) in my bed, and cuddled up with his "brothers" as much as he desired (which was a lot). Clearly, he would have voted for Obama had he been given the chance.
When the vet and I made Bebe's plan, I made him a "no pain" promise. I was able to keep that promise, and he deserved it, no matter how hard it was for me. The Beast may have come into this world "unwanted" but he certainly did not leave it that way. I will miss my loyal friend and faithful companion more than I can ever say.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
The Insult of "Credit Ratings"
I just realized what I loathe about "credit ratings": this is commercial America's way to say that you're only worth what you can borrow! Your worth, your value, is based on how much debt you can acquire! The more debt you can accumulate, the more substantial you are. Wow. Isn't this an exact parallel of the status of our national debt? Now that America owes more than ever before, have we finally "arrived"?
Credit ratings are just another tool of commercial enslavement - making sure that you live beyond your means so that you can be controlled FOREVER.
Credit ratings are just another tool of commercial enslavement - making sure that you live beyond your means so that you can be controlled FOREVER.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Haze Over Beijing
Interesting that there is a haze of pollution-inspired smog hanging over Beijing..."going green" in America is meaningless when you ask some other country to make all the cheap, dangerous, plastic crap that we find so indispensable on Wal-Mart's shelves. It's going to be so nice to watch the athletes running and jumping with their protective face masks in place. A friend of mine just came back from a visit to China. He said not to worry about them becoming the next super-power; in ten years, the Chinese will kill themselves on the factory fumes. Yay for plastic crap!!!
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