P i n k • F e m i n i s t

Bush League

2007-02-20T03:50:00.000-07:00

Obama is the bomb.

2007-02-19T15:16:00.000-07:00

IMPEACH!

2007-01-30T22:20:00.000-07:00

2007-01-24T16:53:00.000-07:00

Because some days I am just too lazy or too busy to write.

Think about the stars and how they came to be and drench yourself in wonder.

All we have is NOW.

Myth of the Virgin Birth Under Attack

2007-01-18T17:34:00.000-07:00

Welcome to RELIGIOUS CONVERSION week!

Well, the myth of the Virgin Birth is under attack...again.

(I guess it's time for me to step up to the plate and explain that it is just a matter of time until they discover that I knew Raoul before I met Joseph back in the day.)

Every so often, someone claims to see Jesus or the Virgin Mary on a wall, in a window, or in the lumps of their mashed potatoes. Who knew there was actually a name for this: pareidolia, which refers to seeing any human-like patterns in the random noise and shapes around us.

Actually, I encourage this harmless trait since I'm not usually above selling my own likeness on Ebay from time to time....just a pretty painting, right??

RIGHT!

Ice in Central Texas photos

2007-01-17T10:19:00.000-07:00

ICE IN TEXAS!! Yikes!! but at least there are some good photo opps.

God Snows on Perry's Parade

2007-01-15T14:32:00.000-07:00

An article mentioned that Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry's Tuesday inauguration parade has been canceled because of a winter storm dragging freezing temperatures and ice through the capital city.

There was something else Jesus mentioned to me: That he'll give him a sunny day when hell freezes over, but I didn't really catch it the whole explosive sentiment.

Rick Perry was Bush's former Lt. Gov. when he was the ruler of Texas.

KOANs to Ponder Series

2007-01-12T17:43:00.001-07:00

And now, in the spirit of religious diversity, a koan...how about it, Israel, give an inch to the Palestinians???

Mountain ranges
one over
another--
Talk out
the mountain-cloud,

sea-moon feelings.

(47)

One mind
lost in the plum;
The body, chanting,
now utterly frozen

--unaware.

(48)

A west wind passes
over the rain;
Evening sun
focuses

on the begonia.

(49)

A speck of dust flies up and hides the heavens;
A piece of trash falls down

and covers the earth.

(50)

An inch of tortoise hair weighs

seven pounds.

(51)

Cry after cry
after cry of joy--
Not minding
the hair

turning white.

(52)

The sound of a flute
from the high pavilion
Scatters the full-blooming
plum blossoms

all over the ground.

(33)

One rooster's cry preaches

the heaven-and-earth dawn.

(54)

Shouldering the plank

--till death.

(55)

A crash of thunder opens
the crown of the head,
Revealing
Original

Man.

(56)

All your life draw nails,
Pull out stakes

for others.

(57)

Thunder rolls once:

a clear wind rises.

(58)

One roar of thunder--
Burrowing worms all at once

open their doors.

From:
ZenForests: Sayings of the Masters
Book by Sōiku Shigematsu, Sōiku Shigematsu; Weatherhill, 1981

BUSH Limbo- How low can he go?

2007-01-10T10:04:00.000-07:00

This photo was taken in 2004, back when Bush still had most of his hair and a higher popularity rating among Americans. He's grayer now, lost a lot of popular support.

In fact, a poll in USA Today showed that approval for Mr Bush's handling of the war has dropped to 26%, a record low. About 61% opposed Mr Bush's proposed 20,000 increase in the number of troops.

Mission accomplished??

A Day on the Pedernales River

2007-01-07T18:13:00.000-07:00

Yucca in the stone

Stand of yucca

Pedernales River, Pedernales State Park

A river runs through it.

Bubble bath, anyone?

The forest above the bluffs

Highway 29, Burnet Texas

2007-01-06T15:33:00.000-07:00

There are now somewhere between 125 and 150 bald eagle nests in Texas and they are thought to be increasing at about 15% per year. I drove up to Burnet Texas yesterday to look at a nest that some eagles have built right off the highway on ranch land over the Llano river.

I did not get any pictures of the eagles, but here is a shot of the nest.

I went to the park yesterday

2007-01-05T11:25:00.000-07:00

The cliffs above the river

The trail to the rose garden

Walking through the woods

As seen through my technicolor lenses

Fish pond in the Zen garden

See the sky in the water?

It's a New Year

2007-01-03T07:36:00.000-07:00

It's a new Year, same as the old Year, except we have a new Congress getting ready to smoke out the neocons. Or Do we???

Hmmm. Lots of hope riding on these newbies. Hope they are up to it and hope they remember why they were elected in the first place. This country wants change!!!

Change, when do we want it? NOW!!!

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

2006-12-05T09:45:00.000-07:00

The Virgin Mary and her extrapolation to Freedom

As some of you may not know, Friday is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, and there will be Masses similar to a Sunday.

I am getting ready to be worshipped with an appalling sense of vanity!! (Remind me to flagellate myself for that sinful thought.)

Bur, it's true, how I love feast days to myself!! The schoolchildren trailing in flowers to my image.....even the priests prostrating for a change...it's the grace, everyone wants a hit of my grace!

Here is a picture of me in St. Petersburg Cathedral, Russia! Check out the lapis lazuli and malachite columns..I'm gonna sell those on Ebay soon to raise money for the poor!

Here is a worshipper who has even tattooed my image on his chest. Ay, that hurt. Next time the Border Patrol comes along, guess who is getting a helping hand?? Good guess.

Here is my favorite...it's a popup Mary!! Inside I hold all the weight of the world, (*sigh) just a woman's duty, right? At least that's what they would have us women believe....suffer for penance, suffer for your gender! Suffer for your mother and your bastard abusive father! Seriously, who made up this crap?? Any of you women still buying into this Patriarchy??

Get a grip.

A honeybee in the garden

2006-12-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

Elvira and Dead Elvis

2006-12-03T11:14:00.000-07:00

I was thinking of getting my Elvira Costume out of mothballs,and hosting an Elvira and dead Elvis party...HMMM.

What, Bush Worry?

2006-11-18T10:54:00.000-07:00

Why End This War??

2006-11-16T10:36:00.000-07:00

Here's Why!!!!

No a La Guerra

2006-11-12T14:56:00.000-07:00

It means NO TO WAR!!

Blair and Bush Play Hangman

2006-11-07T16:26:00.000-07:00

Neocons busted

2006-11-05T13:15:00.000-07:00

Message to bush, Cheney, Condi, Rove, Rummy, and friends

2006-11-01T04:55:00.000-07:00

Message to bush, Cheney, Condi, Rove, Rummy, and friends from Pinkfem!

Buddha is getting upset with them too.

By the way, have you voted? I did.

Bush Bites Dog

2006-10-26T18:05:00.000-06:00

I call this animal abuse.

This dog just read about the latest casualties in Iraq.

It is understandably upset and angry.

Dog on Halloween

2006-10-26T12:38:00.000-06:00

For some reason, I think this is a riot.

bush RUINED this country!

2006-10-23T11:04:00.000-06:00

Portrayal of Native American Women

2006-10-20T19:06:00.000-06:00

I recently saw some old sepia pictures of Native American women. These were beautifully rendered, but often historical and contemporary stereotypes of Native American Indian women have resulted in inaccurate and/or insensitive images.

There seems to be a divide, a schism in their portrayal. Mass media, movies, and printed materials frequently continue to portray Native American Indian women as either princesses or savages.

There is often little middle ground.

Native American Indian women are often affected by myths and stereotypes that are spread by the media, popular literature, and movies.

The "Pocahontas paradox" represents a dilemma for Native American Indian women. This historical movement has persisted in both the romanticization and vilification of Native American Indian women.

In this movement from political symbolism (where the Indian women defended America in the early 1600s), to psychosexual symbolism (where she defends or dies for White lovers), we can see part of the Indian woman's dilemma.

To be "good," she must defy her own people, exile herself, become White, and perhaps suffer death. This sets up an understandable cultural dilemma.

Although there are tremendous variations in Native American Indian tribes and nations, the traditional perspectives of Native American Indian women can be generalized. Generally, Native American Indian women value being mothers and rearing healthy families; spiritually, they are considered to be extensions of the Spirit Mother and continuators of their people; socially, they serve as transmitters of cultural knowledge and caretakers of children and relatives.

A woman's identity in traditional Native American Indian life is ultimately rooted in her spirituality, extended family, and tribe.

They see themselves in harmony
with the biological, spiritual, and social worlds.

A traditional Cheyenne saying is that a nation is not conquered until the hearts of its women are on the ground. Native American Indian women have struggled to keep their hearts off the ground by being strong.

Whoo-hoo! I'm a Neopagan

2006-10-19T05:06:00.000-06:00

TEST: What kind of hippie are you?

Neopagan
You are 50% experimental, 54% feral, 59% spiritual, and 0% square!

Congratulations! You're a Neopagan. Well, maybe you're not precisely a pagan, but you have a deep love for primitive nature, and a strong sense of the spiritual. You feel the beauty of the wild around you and feel choked in the city.

The hippie world needs you, because you bring together the beauty of the wild and the magic of the heart.

If you believe that opposites attract, you probably find yourself around Ravers. If you are more inclined to enjoy the company of those with similar attitudes, then other Neopagans, as well as the Faerie-child, Treehugger, and Full-blown Hippie are for you.

The other categories are Alternate/a>, Mystic, Feral and of course, the Non-hippie

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 40% on experimental
You scored higher than 40% on feral
You scored higher than 20% on spiritual
You scored higher than 0% on non-hippie

My Garden

2006-10-17T09:47:00.000-06:00

Very old in the Native American world is the conviction that the earth is vital, that there is a spiritual dimension to it . . . in which we rightly exist. . . .

I think: Inasmuch as I am in the land, it is appropriate that I should affirm myself in the spirit of the land. . . . In the natural order an individual invests him/herself in the landscape and at the same time incorporates the landscape into his own most fundamental experience. This trust is sacred. Hence, my garden.

This process of investment and appropriation is, I believe, preeminently a function of the imagination. It is accomplished by means of an act of the imagination that is especially ethical in kind. We are what we imagine ourselves to be.

Bush Ranting Day- World Criminal

2006-10-17T09:21:00.000-06:00

Bush Ranting Day

Bush, these deaths I lay at your feet. You and cRummy and Condi and Cheney. And all the others who have plotted with you to weaken this country and place all our children in danger.
You are the one, the cowboy, the villain, no, villain is too weak a word for what you have done. Let me call you what you are, monster.

Thousands of Americans, soldiers from a handful of other countries, nearly 600,000 Iraqis, all dead. Because you have a large flaw where your heart should be.

The Cross

2006-10-14T17:20:00.000-06:00

THE CROSS

To the Mothers of the Martyred Dead upon the Field of Battle

JOSEPHINE TURCK BAKER

My flesh cries out for its own flesh!
My blood demands its own heart's blood!
The thundrous roar of cannon is the answer to my call.
Give me back my flesh and blood!
To bring forth I did pass through dark Gethsemane,
And bear with Him the tortures of the Cross;
And to what end? to add one more unto
The martyred dead upon the field of battle.
His dear face, covered with my kisses,
Upturned in marble coldness, blood-stained,
The death-dew gathering on his brow.
His sweet voice, lingering fondly "Farewell, Mother!" forever
stilled.
poem from the Book by Vincent Godfrey Burns; Macmillan, 1930

Rumi Quote

2006-10-13T19:43:00.000-06:00

When seeds are buried in the dark earth, their inward secrets become the flourishing garden.

- Rumi

The Qur'an is aimed for redirecting human beings toward Allah. It calls itself "guidance for humankind" (hudan li'l nas) in sura 2:185. This often repeated reference to humankind and not to Muslims, Arabs, Chinese, or the Quraishi tribe is to underscore the Qur'an's eternal and universal message. It is not directed to any one specific ethnic, religious, tribal, or racial group. Rather, God is speaking to the entire humankind. The Qur'an is not a treatise about God and his nature, instead it is a reminder for humankind of God's infinite mercy, God is Creator, sustainer of the universe and of human beings, and in particular the giver of guidance to his creation.

Creslaw Milosz

2006-10-12T19:26:00.000-06:00

Child of Europe

As befits human beings, we explored good and evil

Our malignant wisdom has no like on this planet.

There can be no question of force triumphant.
We live in the age of victorious justice.
Do not mention force, or you will be accused
Of upholding fallen doctrines in secret.
He who has power, has it by historical logic.
Respectfully bow to that logic.
. . . . . . . . .
Let your lie be even more logical than the truth itself,
So the weary travelers may find repose in the lie.
After the Day of the Lie gather in select circles,
Shaking with laughter when our real deeds are mentioned.
( "Child of Europe," SP, 59-62.)

Thanks, Lily!

2006-10-10T15:51:00.000-06:00

A big thanks to Lily, AKA Elizabeth Branford, for giving this Chuch Lady the facelift she has been pining for! Look at all the bells, links and whistles!! I feel like I have a new toy!!

You have a god (sic) heart, Liliana!!! Thanks.

Well, it's a coping mechanism, not a good one

2006-10-01T11:20:00.000-06:00

After hearing about the Florida Foley scandal, I just felt like this lady in the picture looks.

2006-10-01T11:13:00.000-06:00

Dog That Looks Like a Panda

2006-08-24T17:47:00.000-06:00

The Roadballs

2006-08-22T12:20:00.000-06:00

The State of the nation...watch out ahead..the road is gonna be full of obstacles.

Tragedy, No Comedy

2006-08-16T05:15:00.000-06:00

Soldiers and civilians lie like broken dolls in the path of destruction plotted by the old men who fashion wars.

Your Voice Is Important

2006-08-09T09:09:00.000-06:00

Catemplation

2006-08-08T20:16:00.000-06:00

This is catemplation.

My birthday. What's yours?

2006-08-05T18:16:00.000-06:00

Your Birthdate: September 9

You are a born idealist, with more pet causes than you can count.
You prefer be around others, both when working and while relaxing.
Generous and giving, you believe you can change the world one person at a time.
You're open minded and tolerant. People feel like they can tell you anything and often do.

Your strength: Your go-with-the-flow flexibility

Your weakness: Your flair for the over dramatic in the confessional

Your power color: Pink and feminist

Your power shoes: ass-kicking boots

Your power symbol: Circle, peace symbol

Your power month: September

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

My Peace Garden!

2006-08-02T05:03:00.000-06:00

Oh, The Coudy Texas Sky!!

2006-07-30T08:35:00.000-06:00

I cannot get enough of the beautiful summer sky that has been evident lately.
I drink it in, absorb it, pull it inthrough my pores, internalize the colors, oh riotous sky!

Violence is not strength

2006-07-29T08:04:00.000-06:00

Our Own Words Come Back to Haunt us!

2006-07-27T08:52:00.000-06:00

Sheryl Crow???

2006-07-23T13:23:00.000-06:00

Well, I was expecting a subdued Requiem, or something more appropriate to the Mother of God thing! Even a Hallelujah Chorus or two!

Your Theme Song is Soak Up The Sun by Sheryl Crow

"I've got no one to blame
For every time I feel lame
I'm looking up"

You're laid back, optimistic, and very together
Like the sun, people feel warm and comfortable around you

What's Your Theme Song?

Yeah, kid, you and everyone else!

2006-07-15T09:46:00.000-06:00

"Yeah, you kid and everyone else!"

With a tip of the hat to the Poor Man Institute!

Actions Speak Louder Than Words-Peace!

2006-07-06T07:35:00.000-06:00

Action indeed is the sole medium of expression for ethics.

-Jane Addams

Post For Peace!!

2006-07-03T20:54:00.000-06:00

On this 4th of July, a growing number of bloggers are joining in the Post For Peace Project. Here is Pinkfem's small contribution!

Let's bring our troops home now!

I am More and More Convinced...

2006-06-27T08:16:00.000-06:00

"I am more and more convinced that Man is a dangerous creature, and that power whether vested in many or a few is ever grasping, and like the grave cries give, give. The great fish swallow up the small, and he who is most strenuous for the Rights of the people, when vested with power, is as eager after the prerogatives of Government. You tell me of degrees of perfection to which Humane Nature is capable of arriving, and I believe it, but at the same time lament that our admiration should arise from the scarcity of the instances."

-Abigail Adams

The Bush Comparison

2006-06-23T08:23:00.000-06:00

Until lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunters.
-African Proverb

Peace Thought

2006-06-22T09:57:00.000-06:00

"Peace comes from being able to contribute the best that we have, and all that we are, toward creating a world that supports everyone. But it is also securing the space for others to contibute the best that they have and all that they are." -Hafsat Abiola

Another Image For Peace

2006-06-21T14:25:00.000-06:00

"The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life."
-Jane Addams

to Email Bush and tell him you oppose the war: president@whitehouse.gov

What if......

2006-06-19T13:57:00.000-06:00

What if we put our resources into ALL our children instead of waging war?

Words Are Power

2006-06-15T20:19:00.000-06:00

Peoples from all over this country and all over the world have called on Bush to end this war in Iraq. We share this sentiment and stand in solidarity with antiwar activists in this and other countries. We believe that the war in Iraq is wrong and immoral. We believe that the war in Irag weakens this country. We cry out against the innocents who have been slaughtered and the soldiers dead and wounded.

Please visit the other sites below to see a tour of antiwar photos. This is the voice and the cry of those who oppose this war, those who stand against oppression and stand for justice. Please stand with us and call for an end NOW!

Read their words at:
http://considertheboot.blogspot.com/
http://radio.weblogs.com/0107064/
http://glenda0909.blogspot.com/
http://losenoose.blogspot.com/
http://swiftspeech.blogspot.com/

Los Angeles

Florida

New York City

London

Welcome, Isabel Catherine!!

2006-06-10T12:40:00.000-06:00

I want to welcome my newest great-niece, Isabel Catherine, born two days ago, shown her with her dad, my nephew. This is the third beautiful child of my nephew and his wife.

Congratulations!

Let's see, we are now up to 13 nieces and nephews and 9 great nieces and great-nephews.

Friday Cat Blogging

2006-06-02T05:54:00.000-06:00

This is for Earl, who has shown me the true meaning and blissful groove of Friday Cat Blogging!

NOT my cats, BTW. My dogs will get equal time next week!

Look What Bloomed for me today in my garden!

2006-05-31T14:51:00.000-06:00

I like it!

Memorial DAY Dance

2006-05-29T20:49:00.000-06:00

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States honored its military dead Monday with speeches from its politicians, parades led by its heroes and outdoor celebrations featuring family and food.

President Bush made the trip across the Potomac River to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, where he placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns and said "the best way to pay respect is to value why a sacrifice was made."

He then looked Vice-president Cheney square in the eye and asked him to make the ultimate sacrifice, to dance.

Dick Cheney then jumped up from the podium in a dazzling white ballet dress, and danced "L'air du temps" as the military band played.

"It's just my way of honoring the troops because life is a dance," he quipped.

General Hayden Not Looking Too Well

2006-05-21T10:36:00.000-06:00

With a tip of the hat to SUMO for inadvertently giving me this idea..!

A close friend and confidante reported that she spotted an albino monk emerging from the White House yesterday morning.

She was sitting on a bench, looking at a book with paintings by Da Vinci, in fact there was a gorgeous one of the Last Supper, when she saw this curious fellow hurrying from the White House.

He dropped a piece of paper as he hurried by, his self-flagellation tool hanging from his pocket. She picked up the piece of paper. It looked like some kind of code.

Upon hearing this, I felt like i was in some kind of movie with, say, Tom Hanks, way too much dialogue and the plot outlined within the first 30 minutes of the movie.

Still what was going on at the Bush House? Was the JudasBush somehow involved in another plot to conceal something. Is he mining catacombs this time? Is General Hayden and the CIA involved? Stay posted.

The Pinkfem Confessional is Open. Bring Me Your Cares. Freedom is just a confession away.

2006-04-27T16:21:00.000-06:00

Don't tell me you don't want absolution, cuz I know that you do.

Feeling Droopy? Sad? Did something to hurt your best friend? Kick the poor dog?

Throw a full beer bottle at the Republican headquarters parking lot which smashed all over someone's Beamer?

I've seen it all and heard it all. Unburden your soul.........just like Karl Rove needs to.

Speak up!!!

2006-04-27T12:16:00.000-06:00

Whatever you are doing today, speak up! Speak out!

Does Condi Have a Bad Habit?

2006-04-23T21:38:00.000-06:00

What is Condi doing? Is this just another bad habit?

Is that a burkha or a ninja costume?

Is she getting ready to assassinate someone?

Is she pushing Cheney out the door to further her bid for the Presidency in 2008?

That little vampire!

The Devil Made Me Do It

2006-04-20T08:31:00.000-06:00

Mexican priest 'chopped up lover

This kind of crap really chaps my rosary beads.

As the Mother of God, this is BAD, very bad for the future of the Catholic Church. I will seee this bastard in Hell. He is banned from the Confessional and I'm now proclaiming him in a no-redemption zone. Look out, you fucktard priests who mess with my flock. He met her at 13, when did he start "doing her?" On top of being a murderer and piece of crap priest, he is a freaking pedophile.

Here's the stoy:

Torres first met his lover when she was 13

A Mexican priest has confessed to strangling a woman with whom he had an 18-month-old child, before chopping up and dumping her body, authorities say.

Cesar Torres, 42, admitted killing his lover, 22-year-old Veronica Andrade Salinas, on Easter Sunday, a state attorney general said.
A row between the two erupted shortly after Torres had said Mass.
Police arrested Torres after being tipped off by the victim's mother, and finding him covered in bruises.
The mother said the pair had been in a relationship for years, since they first met when Ms Salinas was 13. They had a daughter 18 months ago.
Ms Salinas apparently called on Torres after Mass at the Sacred Heart of Jesus church in Nezahualcoyotl, on the eastern outskirts of Mexico City, said the attorney general of Mexico state, Abel Villicana.
Kitchen knife
According to one unconfirmed account, Ms Salinas had told Torres she was pregnant and had demanded money.
During the fight Torres strangled and killed the woman, then dragged her body to a bathroom where he used a kitchen knife to cut off her head and cut her body to pieces, according to his confession.
He put the pieces in plastic bags and drove them to a municipal cemetery in Chimalhuacan, where he dumped them.
Police had already been investigating the deaths of five other women who had been slain and dumped in Chimalhuacan - some of them mutilated - suggesting the work of a serial killer.
There is no suggestion Torres is linked to the other murders.
Torres was arrested on Wednesday morning. He did not resist and willingly confessed to killing his lover, Mr Villicana said.
He was due to appear before a judge to be charged with murder.

2006-04-15T20:14:00.000-06:00

Happy Easter!

John McCain is a Flip Flopper

2006-04-09T07:55:00.000-06:00

It’s been obvious for some time that the Christian conservative wing steers the Republican Party, with moderates and liberals riding shotgun or delegated to sitting in the back of the bus(h).

So it’s no surprise that Republican Senator John McCain has been cozying up to Mullah Jerry Falwell. McCain (AZ) has been criticized recently for endorsing radical, anti-gay activist Jerry Falwell and for agreeing to keynote the graduation of Liberty University on May 13, a college controlled by Chancellor Falwell, which routinely expels gay students. In doing so, McCain is sending a clear message to the voting Charismacrats that he is willing to work to defeat gay marriage. His action additionally implies solidarity with the Christian political platform against sin, as defined by Falwell and Robertson.

The two recently smoothed over policy differences during a private meeting in McCain's Senate office. "I was in Washington with him about three months ago," Falwell said. "We dealt with every difference we have. There are no deal breakers now. But I told him, 'You have a lot of fence mending to do.'"

While not offering an endorsement, Falwell said that Republican Senator John McCain was a candidate that he could support for president in 2008.

Here are some differences in the once moderately conservative McCain that are noteworthy:

2000- As he sought the Republican nomination that eventually went to George W. Bush, McCain said: "Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right."

When McCain was asked in 2000 whether he stood by his description of Falwell, he said, “I must not and will not retract anything that I said in that speech at Virginia Beach. It was carefully crafted, it was carefully thought out.” (Hardball, 3/1/00)

April 2006- On Meet the Press Potential presidential candidate John McCain says he longer considers evangelist Jerry Falwell to be one of the "agents of intolerance" that he criticized during a previous White House run.

In past years, many moderates admired McCain’s outspokenness, his independence and his ethics. Now, moderate Republicans are beginning to see him as just another tired old political hack. McCain’s big mistake is in aligning himself with the Rove/Cheney wing of the Right who have been wrong on every domestic and foreign affairs issue. McCain’s appearance at Liberty U. marks his willingness to define that 100-foot swan dive into the murky, neocon cesspool. Will that dive be McCain’s swan song?

Full Steam Ahead

2006-04-08T11:50:00.000-06:00

Homeland Security Official Resigns Amid Scandal

2006-04-07T17:07:00.000-06:00

Notice how Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff downplays the behavior of this pedophile:

(CBS) WASHINGTON Deputy Homeland Security Press Secretary Brian Doyle has resigned, according to DHS officials, CBS News Correspondent Bob Orr reports.

Doyle was arrested Tuesday in Florida on charges of sexually preying on a detective posing as a 14-year-old girl. He is charged with more than two dozen counts relating to Internet child pornography.

Doyle's resignation was tendered through his attorney this afternoon. He is awaiting extradition to Florida.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Thursday he did not believe a department official's alleged sexual misconduct resulted in a breach of national security, calling the case an individual's "misstep."

No, Mr. Chertoff, a misstep is when you make a mistake on the dance floor. This guys is a pedophile who likes to rape kids. Don't softpedal it to cover your ass because we see right through it.

What Will Tom Delay Do in His Next Job?

2006-04-05T16:34:00.000-06:00

I've been meaning to write about this sinner Tom DeLay, but my Mother of God duties have been keeping me pretty busy, what with all the folks needing me to do intercessions and make appearances and miracles such as getting my face in this table on Ebay, which is selling for a very reasonable $3,000.

Listen to this poor man's story. How could I resist his plea?

Handmade table of Mahogany and Pine wood. Virgin Mary appears on top of table... Must see to appreciate her holiness.

I have had many family problems go wrong lately and have been praying for God to help me deal with them. I had started building my table to get my mind focused and as I began the sanding process, the Virgin Mary appeared on my table. I take this as a sign that things will get better for my fathers illness and my daughters. I believe in God and pray every night for everyone and I know now more than ever he can hear me!

And then there was the peanut man, who swears I and the Baby Jesus are on a peanut. This is not true. Do not buy this peanut for $12,000. It is a rip off and looks nothing like me. Here is their lying write-up on this peanut:

The peanut was found inside of a shell. It is described as the Virgin Mary holding Baby Jesus. It is in very good condition and was discovered December 25, 2005. It has brought great happiness to us and we are reluctant to sell however It may help someone else?

Just let me ask you, how can a fake peanut bring anyone happiness? These Ebayers can be tricky and delusional. How does one discern between a true miracle of God and a hoax? Between a seller of religious truth and a snake oil salesman?

Which is the perfect segue into talking about Tom DeLay.

What will he do next?

My vote is that he will further tarnish my good name by appearing as a televangelist. Others think he will take up killing cockroaches for a living again. Others know for sure that he will be a steroid-toting wrestler known as the Cockroach, or La Cucaracha, as all the Spanish-speaking immigrants now call him.

What do you think he will do?

Do You Need Forgiveness and Absolution, My Child?

2006-04-02T16:18:00.000-06:00

Pink Feminista Confessional

After all, Tony Rudy is pleading guilty.

and Tom Delay is throwing in the towel in his bid for re-election. Juanita down at Juanita's World's Most Dangerous Hair Salon, broke the news on Tom Delay and his petition to get his conceled handgun permit re-instated.

Surely there are some things from your past, things you'd care to share. Here is the place for forgiveness and catharsis. It can be anything, recent or long ago. It can be something you said or did or thought about.

It can be something you enjoyed or something you regret. Getting rid of the old baggage can be such a relief. Why pay upwards of $150 an hour for professional counseling when you can visit the Confessional for free.

(Warning: No licensed counselor person on board and no emotional healing guaranteed but I was ordained as a Sufi minister once a long time ago.)

Feminist Fashion Commentary

2006-04-01T11:13:00.000-07:00

Here is an ad from today's Dallas Morning News: Notice the admonishment that "nice" rebel girls do not get too gothic! Quick, call the deprogrammers on this one! Also, this is their idea of rebellious dress? Oh, slam, you could wear this rag to a SMU sorority dance and not stand out except for the fact that the girl has no head.
Play up your own style for prom

Whether you're traditional or a risk-taker, getting ready for prom is about finding the look to fit your personality

09:21 PM CST on Friday, March 31, 2006

By DAVID NINH / The Dallas Morning News

From sassy to earthy, there's a prom look for you.

REBEL GIRL

The only thing she's willing to conform to? Trends that fit her punky taste. She keeps her classmates guessing on what her next act of fashion rebellion will be. She may love black, but her style choices have a vintage feel that doesn't get too gothic.

Pussilient Porkers

2006-04-01T08:22:00.000-07:00

How about a term for those Tom Delays of the world who think they are above the law? The Carl Roves, the Condis and Rummies and Cheneys who operate for their own greed and self-interest?

How about the dittohead mentality which is a scary standalone culture of brain-washed bobbleheads.

How about a term for the guys who have been part of the sacking of the Temple for decades with no accountability?

How about the pork-rind politicians who waste millions on feel-good projects that benefit very few, usually paid lobbyists, corporations and business constituents?

Pink Feminist gives you Pussiliant Porkers, with acknowledgement to Consider The Boot™, coiner of original term.

Hear Hear for Kinky Friedman

2006-03-31T18:26:00.000-07:00

“There’s money changers

in the temple

and I aims to throw ’em out.”

-Kinky Friedman

On Behalf Of the National Immigration Project

2006-03-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

March 29, 2006
Senate to take action on immigration

National Immigration Project Action Alert: Senate to Vote on
Immigration Bills

STATUS: The Senate Judiciary Committee, under Chairman Specter, has
pushed out an immigration bill. Senate Majority Leader Frist is set
to introduce his own bill. Now, both the Frist and the Committee bill
will go to the floor for consideration by the entire Senate. Please
urge your own senators to support the Committee bill as the starting
point for debate.

(1) CALL SENATE MEMBERS. We need to thank the committee members who
voted to include or eliminate key provisions (e.g. elimination of
Title VII, limited removal of retroactivity) two days ago and Chairman
Specter for pushing the Committee to complete a bill. Several members
of the Committee are getting blasted by restrictionists right now. We
need to show them how much we appreciate their courageous votes. So
even if you are NOT a constituent, please be sure to contact the
senators' offices highlighted in bold (Feinstein, DeWine, Graham,
Brownback, and Specter) and offer your thanks!

**Feinstein: 202-224-3841
**DeWine: 202-224-2315
**Graham: 202-224-5972
**Brownback: 202-224-6521
**Specter: 202-224-4254

(2) CALL KENNEDY. Please call his office and thank him for his
wonderful work on the Senate Judiciary Committee and his tireless
courage on behalf of immigrants. His Boston office number is
617-565-3170.

Just Another Day in the White House with Bush

2006-03-28T09:49:00.000-07:00

Laura Bush Gives an Etiquette Lesson

2006-03-26T14:42:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Bush: Well, good morning! Today I am answering some of your letters and questions. I have advice on how to get ahead in the world of men for you darling young ladies and stay at home moms. Gloves on? Smile in place? Let's go!

First Question: What should I do, Miss Laura? My husband has a problem with drinking too much and shooting up the house with his Smith and Wesson. Signed, Mrs. Cheney

Mrs. Bush: Well, dear, you must show loyalty and discretion. If anyone in your family should happen to have a substance abuse problem, well, do you air your dirty laundry in public? No! Just love them and help them to read more books and they will get over their cocaine habit. Oh, and do like Mrs. Reagan suggested. Tell them to just say no to drugs and alcohol. You might also keep him away from lawyers for a spell until he dries out.

Well, that's all we have time for today. See you again soon, and remember, read, read, read!!

Beauty as a Burden

2006-03-25T08:31:00.000-07:00

I saw this recent article:

Object Lessons: A Theoretical and Empirical Study of Objectified Body Consciousness in Women
Journal article by Stacey L. Sinclair; Journal of Mental Health Counseling, Vol. 28, 2006

Part of the experience of being a woman, particularly in Western cultures, is being looked at and evaluated by others. Research findings indicate that women are gazed at more than men and that women are more likely to feel "looked at" in interpersonal gatherings (McKinley & Hyde, 1996; Nigro, Hill, Gelbein, & Clark, 1988). In addition, men direct more nonreciprocated gaze toward women than vice versa (Bente, Donaghy, & Suwelack, 1998; Mulac, Studley, Wiemann, & Bradac, 1987), and men's gazing is frequently accompanied by sexually evaluative remarks (Beam, 1974; Gardner, 1980; Henley, 1977). Increasingly, women's experiences of such scrutiny and sexualized appraisal are being explored as an important area of study. In particular, scholars from various disciplines have begun to examine Western culture's widespread practice of sexually objectifying women's bodies and have begun to explore the physical and psychological consequences associated with such objectification (Bordo, 1993; Calogero, 2004; Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997; Kaschak, 1992; McKinley & Hyde; Roberts & Gettman, 2004). What has emerged is a critique of U.S. culture's fixation on the female body and a recognition that women's bodies are inscribed with complex social, economic, and political meanings. Specifically, researchers and mental health professionals have located the female body as the site wherein judgment regarding body weight, shape, and attractiveness is waged (Fredrickson & Roberts; McKinley & Hyde).

She remembered through the filmy distance of time that everyone always commented to her mother that she was a beautiful child, her fair skin clear and even, her body slim and her waist small. She had the kind of dark eyes that were old beyond her years, eyes that probed, not just skimming the surface as most other children's eyes did. For all their ordinary brownness, her eyes held one's attention. Her grandmother always spoke up when people praised her for her appearance. Her grandmother told her that beauty was only skin deep, and not to let it turn her head.

As she got older, she began to grow even prettier. In high school, she dated, but never dated athletes. In fact, she secretly looked down on them, thought they had a enlarged sense of entitlement. She found many of them to be aggressive and grabby. She preferred boys who could think and reciprocate, who could see into her soul as her girlfriends could. Those other boys always saw her long blonde hair, but never saw her, and when she quoted Plato or discussed world events, they look startled. Sometimes she did that just for the effect of seeing their eyes glaze over.

When she was 17, she was nominated for Homecoming Queen by one of the Basketball Captains who possibly had a crush on her. He never told her so, but the way he looked at her spoke volumes. When it was time to show up for assembly to announce the Homecoming nominees, all the other girls were dressed in their high school best, with matching shoes, their beautiful hair brushed and sprayed, their carefully placed purses.

She came to the Beauty Queen assembly dressed in blue denim overalls and a red flannel shirt.

There was a collective gasp when she stood up in the darkened assembly room, when the spotlight found her. The other students thought it was an insult to their tradition that she did not make herself look the part. What was she thinking, they asked, as she turned and slowly smiled at them, looking frozen and distant. She didn't know it, but she made enemies that day particularly among the girls who wanted what she rejected.

She hated having the spotlight shine on her, picking her out from the crowd, feeling others look at her. They always looked, sizing up her body, her face, her worth. They insinuated themselves into her private space with their eyes. She forced herself to look back into that sea of faces. She felt frozen in time, felt time stop, felt nothing. “They do not see ME,” she thought, in her blank panic.

Others girls would have been happy with her looks, more than happy. Other pretty girls used their looks as cash to get what they wanted. She hated that too, the implied selling of oneself, the implication that she was of ornamental value.

But she also felt conflicted. She was aware that her looks made her life easier in some ways, gave her entry to places where other, plainer girls weren’t invited, but she failed to summon up gratitude for what many considered a gift. Standing out made her feel vulnerable, and sometimes, more than once it made her feel that she was in danger. Sometimes men secretly tried to touch her, or own her, and she retreated, feeling pursued and harried, like a hunted bird.

Once, when she was 16, on vacation in Mexico City with her parents, she walked into a café to meet her parents for lunch. She was shopping in the city with her cousins and the four of them entered the restaurant together, laughing and chatting.

She instantly felt a shock run through her. She became aware of the room and how it shimmered and went into slow motion, felt the precise second when the humming conversation was suspended, and every man in the café turned around to stare at her. She felt her face burn, she felt her father’s pride that he had produced such a striking child. She saw her mother, too, and the sudden assessment in her eyes that her daughter was a child no longer. She wanted to bolt, but couldn't. That was the day she created the habit of getting smaller and smaller until she almost, but not quite disappeared.

And preoccupied as she was with her own fear, she never even noticed until later that the 3 girl cousins who were invisible in the brightness of her own light faded as quickly as she did into their own self-constructed silent background.

Weekly Feminist News Update

2006-03-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

Mar 24 2006
Unsafe Abortions Kill 90 African Women Per Day
Experts at the Regional Consultation on Unsafe Abortion in Africa, which ended yesterday, discussed the prevalence of unsafe abortions and how policy changes can change these statistics...
http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=9582

Mar 23 2006
Women's Groups Speak Up at World Water Forum
At the Fourth Annual World Water Forum, held this past week in Mexico City, the Women's Caucus called on the conference attendees to uphold women's human right to water by including women in decisions related to water usage and sanitation and by taking gender issues into consideration when making policy...
http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=9580

Passing this along from the Feminist Majority Foundation.

Mar 22 2006
Supreme Court Considers Requiring Abuse Victims to Appear in Court
In a decision that could have severe ramifications for victims of domestic violence, the Supreme Court is considering whether plaintiffs in abuse cases are required by the Constitution to appear in court ˆ something that many are afraid to do...
http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=9578

Mar 20 2006
Utah Passes Parental Consent Abortion Law
Young women under the age of 18 in Utah will now have to get permission from a parent before obtaining an abortion, and although the consent requirement can be waived in some circumstances, parental notification cannot be...
http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=9572

Pink Feminist Looks Back With Rose-Tinted Glasses

2006-03-20T11:56:00.000-07:00

I vaguely remember visiting my grandparents' ranch in Granbury, Texas. This early memory is mixed in with another one of watching a tornado slither across the horizon on a stormy black-as-night afternoon sky in the Panhandle of Texas. I stood in the orange dirt yard, only 2 years old while my mother hurriedly pulled flapping wet laundry off the clothesline and threw it into a woven plastic hamper. That was what she did. When big things were happening, she usually worried about the small details, like laundry, meals and germs. It is my first and only memory of living in Lubbock a a child.

My grandparents lived just west and slightly south of Fort Worth off the big highway that runs from Fort Worth to Amarillo. May-Ma and Papa raised cattle and goats and chickens; it wasn't a large spread, but the land was pretty, rolling and green. He also had a cotton gin at one time that he repaired and got running, but that may have been earlier in his life, when he lived in Oklahoma.

About ten years after Papa sold the ranch, drillers found natural gas on the property. Since he was conservative and frugal by nature, at least as far as his own needs were concerned, he had kept the mineral rights. So he got a little extra income from the natural gas company. I think perhaps some of that was used as seed money which was invested by my father to put all nine of his grandchildren, including me, through college.

When my dad returned from WWII, he married my mom and finished school at Texas A&M. They moved to Houston and then again to Lubbock where he and his only brother Gene opened a lumber yard together. That lasted about two years, at which point my dad dissolved the partnership. My dad, a practical engineer, was not happy when he discovered that my uncle had taken their meager profits and invested in a racehorse without consulting him.

So we all moved to Dallas, where my mom had her fourth child in 6 years. My dad got a job working as an engineer at a company that built large skyscrapers and office complexes and we lived in a small house in a new air-conditioned subdivision that butted up to dairy farm.

We drove to Granbury for holidays until my grandparents sold the ranch and moved to Dallas. My grandfather was one of the founders of the Cotton Exchange and opened an office in the Exchange where he ginned a little coton. He didn't drink or play cards and he was known as a strict Baptist, and an honest businessman.

But this is a sory about my brother, who was a year and a half older than I was. I guess all families have their traits that range from pathology to quirkiness; my big family seemed to have an abundance.

My parents used to take us out to the ranch and let us play with the baby goats. Now baby goats like to play by butting heads to determine dominance and they were also nibblers who tried to eat your clothes. So my brother was put in the pen with the goats and pretty soon they were butting heads while the adults sat back and laughed. This was in the very early days of television, and I have since wondered if there as not much enertainment in thier lives, because I could not imagine doing this to my children. Maybe this was a rite of passage for my brother, a young boy's introduction into the world of men, where he learned that it was not going to be an easy world for the meek.

I remember my mother laughing lightly as she recalled the sight of him in his tiny corduroy overalls, making fingerstick horns on his head like a baby goat. Butting heads with baby goats seemed normal to me until I became old enough to realize that it was just weird.