What Kind of Crap is This???

So you know the Supreme Court rather gutted the Voting Rights Act. Just so you can get an idea, here's a link to the test Louisiana gave to voters (actually, BLACK voters) in the 1960s. 

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2013/06/28/voting_rights_and_the_supreme_court_the_impossible_literacy_test_louisiana.html

See if you can pass it. See if you can figure it out on the FIRST READ. I have to tell you: I took the GMAT - the test they give you before you're accepted into a graduate program. And I have 2 Master's degrees. 

It took me several reads of some of these questions. And I wasn't in a stressed situation where someone was likely timing me. But this was considered "fair." 

I ask you: Want to know how many WHITE Louisiana voters had to take this test? I can bet that the answer is "not many, if any." 

The swiftness with which so many jurisdictions (Texas, I'm talking' to you!) subsequently passed voter restrictions after this verdict was stunning. Scary. Amazing, since 90+ percent of those states have so many more problems: gun violence, poverty, lack of jobs...and on and on. 

The speed of this kind of legislation is only followed by the legislation against the collective US population of uterus-owning individuals. That's us, ladies. Texas (again) is calling yet another "special session." Thirty days in which the Texas Republican party insists it's going to pass legislation virtually eliminating access to abortions by women, setting an arbitrary "20-week" limit. And by golly, they ain't takin' any guff from the wimmenfolk. That danged "democratic" socialist crap had better NOT be evident. Because that's not "decorum." 

God knows, we have to have decorum. Instead of common sense legislators, the majority of whom have external plumbing, working on legislation involving jobs, schools, infrastructure or the like, they're passing laws - and demanding that we all act like meek little sheep while they do it -- all relating to vaginas and "lady bits." 

And it also is obviously of no interest at all to Texas that this special session is going to cost millions. Millions that could, perhaps, be better spent on the people of Texas in oh, I don't know - maybe job training programs? Maybe funding some local infrastructure projects? Maybe literacy programs?

Back to the basic lack of logic in this legislation. It's like the basic woman's uterus gets pregnant by itself. What? You didn't know we could do that? According to Texas and Ohio (I'm looking at YOU, Kasich - sneaking the Ohio law in, buried in other legislation because you're too chicken to see if it'll stand the scrutiny of daylight!) - well, according to Texas and Ohio, we women are just too dumb. Not only that, apparently, every time I'm upright and have my eyes open, I'm "asking for it." 

God forbid I'm just minding my own business. Because apparently, men just trip over their zippers. Men obviously want a woman. Any woman. No matter her age, background or wherever she happens to be at any time of day or night. Because men are always tempted by women. 

Now, if I were male, I'd be offended at this legislation. Notwithstanding the fact that the legislation has been passed by mostly white, older males, notwithstanding the fact that the legislation is demeaning to women.

I mean, think about it. It's telling us that "men can't control themselves." Ok, yeah, they aren't going to be slut-shamed. But they just "can't control themselves" when a woman walks by. No matter what the woman is wearing. No matter what time of day or night. No matter whether you're a 55-year-old slightly overweight woman or a 20-something walking across a college campus. The woman always, always, ALWAYS is "asking for it." And men can't control their ability to control themselves...

It all makes my guts roil. Are you angry? If you have a uterus, you should be. And if you're a white voter, you should be. Jim Crow is aimed at the minorities, but don't think that it couldn't happen to the rest of us. Baby steps. That's all it takes till those in power want more. 

Catching Up...

So it's been a few weeks. Let's catch up here.

1.  The Bolero: Finished, not in time for Convocation, but all I have to do is sew up the seams. It's at home waiting for me after work this morning.

2.  Kid #2's hat: Just putting the edging on it now. I was going to do a whack of I-cord and then sew it on, but I thought that I might want to do what the pattern says (boring?) just to see how it turns out - and I wasn't sure how the I-cord would work.

3.  Is it bad when you're looking at the yarn that's left and thinking, "Wow, a really simple rolled brim hat!"??

4.  Cardiac stuff: The guy at Northwestern said to hang tight with the meds for now. He said I'd have to come back twice with EITHER procedure, because "we don't want to nick your esophagus or the top of your lung." I don't want you to do that either! Those parts work, and I'd like to keep it that way.

5. My Website: For the editing stuff and the voice-over work - we just have to decide on which provider we want to use. Hubby did a FANTASTIC job on it, and when it's live, I'll post the link.

6.  Weight-loss: Well, the "Metabolism Miracle" is helping. I'm about 20 lbs. down, and I really feel good. I told my yoga teacher that I almost "whooped" in class. We were doing child's pose and it was the first time in YEARS that when I was in the pose, my CHEST was on my thighs instead of my belly. She's happy with this program because she said it looks like I'm "glowing" and not drawn or saggy-looking (as if I was on a crash diet or eating the wrong things).

7.  New Chiropractor: So, my plantar fasciitis never really healed up after the Avon Walk, and it's gotten to the point where my friend Lori the Podiatrist said she really couldn't do anything more from her end. So I sought acupuncture to at least relieve some of the pain, but the doc (also a chiropractor and medical massage therapist) says that he'd rather work on getting my foot "right" and then use acupuncture if necessary. I have never had a "medical massage" but I have been adjusted. He pointed out that now, even though I can touch my toes, I'm bending funny and my hips are out of line (which I could feel). After he got done working over both calves, I felt like cooked linguine, but oh my.... I have noticed a difference. I'm excited to get this all fixed, and equally excited that he's in my insurance plan!

8.  Upcoming Election: PLEASE REGISTER TO VOTE!! Go to the Google. Type in "register to vote" plus your state. Find out the deadlines, do your homework, and GET READY TO VOTE. I'm patently and obviously a liberal-progressive-tree-hugging-Democrat. And I really do want "our side" to win. But aside from that, it really irks me that people in some districts (You know who you are, Ohio) are screwing with everyone's right to vote. EVERYONE who is eligible should be able to vote easily and I can't believe we're going back to the Jim Crow era. Please make sure your registration is in order; help someone who's not sure of the process; offer to drive to the polls. Get involved. We have the right and we need to exercise it, regardless of HOW you vote. It's important that you DO vote.

9.  Abortion Rights: Really? Hang on...let me check. Yep, it's 2012. Women have been part and parcel of society since Eve ate the apple. We have the right to vote. We work. We raise families. But a group of uber-religious men want to tell us that we don't have the right to make the choice. I'm also blatantly pro-choice - which does not mean I'm pro-abortion. It means that I am in favor of our God-given right to make up our own minds. What does the Bible say? (I figure since we're being thumped over the head with it, we may as well use it...) God gave us free will. It's not my job to be God. It's my job to be there for you, to ask questions, to help you make sure that your decision is right for YOU. Not right for ME or right for some Republican conservative who won't ever know the impact the decision will have on you, because he's not living your life.  Abortion rights are needed. What's not needed is men shoving women backward. As women, we need to shove back. If you weren't born with a vagina, you really don't have a stake in this fight.

10.  The Garden: Well, I'm not sure we'll be overrun with tomatoes; they're coming steadily but not in great numbers or great size. Carrots? Well, yeah, THOSE are coming along like crazy. And my friend Shaun brought me a bag of backyard peaches. We're making peach preserves today. I hate peach preserves, but I know people who love them, so what the heck, right? I'd rather use them than toss them. If I can find the fruit without having a heart attack, we may also do strawberry jam. And I think we still have sour cherries - that would make a lovely sauce over ice cream, don't you think?

You DIDN'T Vote? Well...

...then don't gag over your morning coffee to see that our city's tax referendum (increasing sales tax by 1%) passed.

Because YOU didn't vote.

...then don't sigh over your morning newspaper when you read that some politician with ethics charges pending against her actually won in her district.

Because YOU didn't vote.

...then don't scream at your TV at another round of endless presidential candidate bloviation via commercial since there's still no nominee for the opposing party.

Because YOU didn't vote.

...then don't complain to me about the local Park Board (and by the way: REALLY? Are those LIFE appointments???) because "your guy" didn't get in.

Because YOU didn't vote.

We had a primary day yesterday. I was up before the chickens because I chose to be an Election Judge; a job I take very seriously. It's exhausting work because you are stuck at the polling place from 5 a.m. till 7:30 p.m. (polls close at 7 p.m., but it takes about 1/2 hour for you to tear down and properly shut down the voting machines) and then I got to drive the supplies and the voter box back to the Clerk's Office. I got home about 8:30 p.m.

For this, in a few months, I'll get about $100. That's about $6.25 per hour. I certainly don't do this for the money, since I do have a full-time job. I do it because that's my way of getting involved.

And I can tell you, on a local level, involvement means getting in the voting booth.

Involvement STARTS well before that, however. Involvement means educating yourself about the issues. I can't number the people (mostly women - YIKES!) who glanced over at their husband's ballot application form to see what HE was doing before SHE checked off the box.

Let me explain that, lest you think they were voting in the same booth. In my county, you have a pre-signed "ballot application form" that we have at the polling place. That's that little alphabetical book we pull your "ticket" from. You filled out an application to get your voter's card.

In a primary in my state, you have 3 options: You can declare a party (Dem/Repub) or you can declare "non-partisan" but ONLY if there is a referendum issue on the ballot. So there are 3 check boxes: Democratic, Republican, Nonpartisan. If there is no referendum, you MUST declare a party, since Illinois doesn't have (nor will it likely have) an open primary.

So. If there is a referendum issue, educate yourself. Get to know the issue. Think about what you want to have happen. Then go vote.

Women, please use your own brain. If your husband wants to pick one type of ballot, you really do not need to go along with him. So if your vote cancels his out? Well, that's sometimes the way it works. That's the greatness of the process. Sometimes we run neck-and-neck because people are passionate about issues, and will vote on them. And there are winners and losers. So if you want to just vote for the referendum and Hubby wants to vote for political candidates, that's perfectly ok. If he wants to be a Republican this time, you can be a Democrat. The skies won't rain down frogs and locusts upon either of you.

The turnout in Illinois was abysmal. In the toilet. The lowest in years. People, there are other countries in which the population votes, but they are "told" how to vote. Oh, sure, Chavez gets a mandate...at the point of threats! WE get to vote for who and what we want. We get to determine, to a certain extent, what gets on the ballot by participating in your town's council or the like. At my polling place, we had 19% turnout. Sad. But if you don't vote, you don't get to complain about the outcome. It's your own darned fault. You have the right to vote; it's up to you to exercise it.

At any rate, involvement starts by educating yourself. Then it continues when you get your butt to the polls and cast your vote. If you want to get more involved, there are a number of local politicians and issues that would welcome your help. Find an issue about which you are passionate, and get involved.

And go vote.