Once again, Conservatives Show Their Priorities

From This is Not Over:

From reader Andrea:

An outrageous bill has been introduced in the Ohio State House of Representatives. If passed, House Bill 515, also known as the "The Adoptive and Foster Children's Protection Act," will prevent homosexual, bisexual and transgendered individuals from becoming adoptive or foster parents. But wait! There's more! The law reads such that anyone residing with a homosexual, bisexual or transgendered person also faces the same ban.
This act is not only out-and-out prejudice, but will reduce the pool of potential foster and adoptive parents. And this is supposed to "protect" children?
Much worse, the timing of this bill is quite suspect. A divisive bill like this introduced so close to mid-term elections seems like a play to mobilize the conservative voting base.
Shrinking the pool of prospective foster/adoptive parents and slashing family rights all for the sake of mainpulating voters? Congratulations, Ohio Republicans, you've sunk to a new low.
You can read the actual bill here, and Ohioans can contact their reps to complain here.

They really don't care about children. They care about hate. They hate gays, and they want them back in the closet, on the fringes.

I'm not familiar with Ohio's foster care system. I can't find a statewide site, but here are two county sites: Green County and A Child's Waiting.

Look at those faces. How dare they deny these kids a loving home?

I guess it's more important to do bad things to gay people than to help children.

OK, who am I?

As Dumbledore, you are talented, intelligent and powerful! You may prefer to be in a leadership position, and always uphold what is right. You set trends with your crazy beard.




discover what candy you are @ quiz me

Take the 100 Acre Personality Quiz!

Ok, it's really boring at work today.

This does not surprise me

Your IQ Is 130

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius Your Mathematical Intelligence is Genius Your General Knowledge is Exceptional

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

Logic was never my strong suit.

But test taking was. While some people suffer from test anxiety, I perform better on tests than I should (based on the amount of studying and what I knew going into the test).

So I don't trust tests, except when I score really well. Then the test MUST be correct.

Writing Update

I haven't blogged about writing lately. I guess it's because I haven't received any rejections lately.

Which is odd, because I have 11 items on the street. Maybe that's a good sign, but I know that isn't necessarily true. I had one book take 10 months to get rejected. 10 months! It is a picture book, the manuscript is 3 pages. Now how long does it take to look at 3 pages and decide if you like it or not? On good days, I like to believe it was considered and reconsidered. On bad days, I'm sure it fell behind someone's desk, and when it finally found, it was promptly rejected.

I'm following my plan. I'm concentrating on my short stories for magazine publication. My reasons are as follows, I haven't been published yet, because:

• My writing sucks
• I don't have enough exposure (read: publishing credits) to attract anyone's attention.
• A combination of the two

But that doesn't matter. Because if my writing sucks, then I need to write more and improve my craft. The best way for me is through short work. And if I need credits to get attention, magazine publication is probably the easiest way to go.

So the solution seems to be the same for both. I have to accept that some of what I'm writing is probably crap. It's easier for me to accept this of my short pieces, than a larger piece (not really sure why...Just seems easier). So that's my plan.

Also, I'd like to put a plug in for my writers group, Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group. They run monthly programs and get togethers. It's great to network with other writers. If you live anywhere in this area, you should try it out.

A Woman who truly Lives up to her Name

Cecilia Fire Thunder.

She is the President of the Oglala Sioux in South Dakota. And she knows how to speak fire and thunder. Undaunted by the new law to ban abortion in South Dakota, Ms. Fire Thunder has decided to take things into her own hands.

I love this woman!

The President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Cecilia Fire Thunder, was incensed. A former nurse and healthcare giver she was very angry that a state body made up mostly of white males, would make such a stupid law against women.

"To me, it is now a question of sovereignty," she said to me last week. "I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction."

You can show your supportfor Ms. Fire Thunder :
You know she is going to get threats after this, some support letters of support would certainly help. But I wouldn't send money, like some people have suggested on their blogs. At least not until this is more than an idea.

Oglala Sioux Tribe
ATTN: President Fire Thunder
P. O. 2070
Pine Ridge, SD 57770

OR: and this may be preferred, due to mail volume:
ATTN: PRESIDENT FIRE THUNDER
PO BOX 990
Martin, SD 57751

And please blog about this courageous woman who is taking on her state government.

Or just blog about it because you KNOW it pisses off the Right.

Thanks to Biting Beaver for this.

Cinderella

I had an interesting conversation with Darling Daughter the other day. We are reading the book, Just Ella, by Margaret Peterson Haddix. This is a great young adult book (ages 12 and up). It is a variation on the Cinderella tale, starting where the original story left off. The author has removed the magic elements (they are rumors and gossip) and given Ella a feminist viewpoint.

My daughter and I read together almost every day. She has a learning disability that manifests itself in her reading. She IS intelligent, and that isn't just Mom talking. She faked her way through 6 years of school, using memory and deduction rather than reading and studying. It wasn't until 7th grade that I realized that she had a problem reading.

So we read together.

Now Just Ella is a clever book. When I first read it, I was critical of the language and attitudes of the main character, Ella. She seemed too modern for the story, not authentic. Of course I realized this was based on a story with a fairy godmother, mice who turn into horses, and love at first sight.

We were discussing the story, and my daughter surprised me by defending the original Cinderella. She was upset that the book portrayed Prince Charming as a dullard, and he and Cinderella weren't really in love. When I pointed out that the Prince only choose Cinderella because of her beauty, my daughter became defensive. She insisted they were truly in love, even though she admitted that the Prince didn't even bother to ask Cinderella her name. (Of course, I'm referring to the fairy tale/Disney versions not the multi-cultural/politically correct revision of the Rodgers and Hammerstein version). While she agreed with me, she still insisted they were in love.

This amazed me. The kid obviously saw the faults with Cinderella, but instead of accepting them, she decided to claim they didn't exist.

Finally, she relented with the statement: "But I LIKED Cinderella when I was little." That was the telling statement. She wanted Cinderella to be a "good" story because she liked it. I don't even remember her liking that story so much, so it could be a nostalgia thing.

I explained that it was just a story, and that if we didn't believe that pumpkins could turn into coaches, why would we believe the falling in love with beauty myth? There was nothing wrong with enjoying a silly story, as long as you realized it was just a story. That no fairy godmother was going to save you and that a woman is more than just her looks.

Is this when people first learn to blindly believe?

Is this when people start ignoring the facts that contradict what they want to be the truth?

Is this when it starts? When their childhood treasures are challenged?

This is definitely something that requires my attention.

Places I've Been

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

I was quite surprised at how many states I have visited. I got this from Oral Report.

Sopranos

The Sopranos are back. I really missed them, but I was nervous about the new season. Too many times, when television shows are continued after they should have shut down production. Sometimes for years after the show stopped being interesting. But they continue to produce episodes and people continue to watch. I think it's because the show becomes like an old friend and is comfortable. Viewers are no longer critical, just happy to see their friends.

I hate that. It is an insult to what the show once was.

Fortunately, the Sopranos did not disapoint. Below are spoilers, so if anyone TiVo'd it and did not watch it yet, don't read the rest of my comments.


I was surprised. The show started out slowly, doing the "catch-up" thing. I hate that. Doesn't everyone have HBO on demand? I guess not. But I was able to watch the entire last season the week before the new season started, so I'd remember everything. It started out slowly, and I know some people have complained, but it was just a set up, to lull you before the big finish.

I never expected for Junior to shoot Tony. I should have been expected, because senile dementia (which is most likely what Junior has at his age, not Alzheimers) patients revert to their youth. Obviously, Junior was reliving his past.

Some of my more imaginative friends have suggested that Tony will be dead or in a coma and the rest of the show will be his visions or dreams. I don't know about that, afterall, they were the same folks who insisted that Adreana could still be alive after last season because we didn't see a body. Yeah, like Silvio would disobey orders.

I loved the scene with Carmela and Big Pussy's widow (I can't remember her name, and I'm too lazy to look it up). I always saw Carmela as a tragically sympathetic character. However, her greed has just become too much. Yeah, she was sympathetic while attached to the Mafia teat. Last season we saw her cut off, and damn, did she lose points with me! Of course, that answered the question, "Why did she put up with Tony for so long?" Obviously, it was the money. I think I like her better as a money hungry whore than the long suffering martyr.

The look on her face when she saw the Vett that other woman was driving. Carmela must have realized that being a mob whore was not the only way to have material goods. Just loved that! I guess I never liked Carmela that much.

I wish they had gone into the gay Vito thing. Or what the hell happened to AJ's hair. But maybe next time!

I have more comments, but no more time.

Every Sperm is Sacred

I found this at Feministing.

Every sperm is sacred!

What a Week!

Once again, I've been a lazy blogger.

Like I said, I do most of my blogging at work. I have 4 network drops at my desk, but I've had to use all 4 for work related activities. I have been so bored! Watching 4 laptops load software for 8 hours is pretty much a definition of hell.

But I've had some good news, too. Last week, I attended a local writers group. I was happy that it is a large group (about 30 people there) and it was run in a professional manner (I have a thing for Roberts Rules). The members seem to be an eclectic mix of writers. Fiction, non fiction, poetry, journalism, professional newsletters and travel guides were just some of the areas these people were writing. A woman read from her recently published chick lit book, and there was a speaker, whose topic was point of view.

It was good and interesting, but there was something else. A vibe. I left there so jazzed up, I completed and submitted 3 short pieces I'd been playing with and not finishing for about 4 months.

The other interesting thing was a writers workshop that was at Barnes and Nobel. Once again, it was good, but nothing spectacular. However, the woman running the workshop was a published author promoting her book on writing. While I was talking to her, she asked if I had any paper with me. I gave her my notebook and she wrote the name of her agent, and suggested that I contact the agent. Now I just have to write a killer introductory/query letter.

All in all, it's been a good week for me, even if I haven't had time to blog.