Black Gold and Arkansas - UPDATE Aerial View

Renewed Keystone XL legislation made me want to revisit this event. I wrote this April 1 2013. A lot has happened since then.

A woman named Jane Cleeb and a lot of Nebraska farmers have been kicking ass and taking names. I hope the recent approval of the pipeline by the House of Representatives and the Nebraska Supreme Court do not discourage them.

A ruptured oil pipeline destroys a very nice neighborhood. This tar sands stuff does not dissolve and it stinks bad. The oil is corrosive and full of chemicals so it dissolves the pipes. These folks did not know about the pipeline when they bought their houses.

Imagine this crap in the waterways and the Ogallala Aquifer. There is still a coating of oil and chemicals on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico from the BP spill.

You are looking at your future if they build this pipeline. At the time of this writing, Exxon submitted a Bill to the AK legislature that says Exxon does not have to pay you if they destroy your home and neighborhood by spill. How long are we going to allow Corporations to privatize all the profits and socialize the pollution and mistakes?

http://epaosc.org/site/image_list.aspx?site_id=8502

http://m.arkansasonline.com/galleries/16941/album/

The links above will take you to slide shows of the Mayflower Spill. As I looked at all the photographs of the cleanup, the still small voice asked me "Where are they putting the cleanup trash?" I did not like what I heard my self answer "Remember Love Canal?"

This guy has it right.

Cabu was assassinated at Charlie Hebdo - Sign of the Month - January 2015

Cabu was born in 1938 and had been doing political cartooning for more than 40 years. Some of his work is below. The cartoons do not require translation. We can see his lifelong dedication to peace on Earth and his hatred of violence. Rest in peace and honor. 

True. This! —
Beneath the rule of men entirely great
The pen is mightier than the sword.
Behold
The arch-enchanters wand! — itself is nothing! —
But taking sorcery from the master-hand
To paralyse the Cæsars, and to strike
The loud earth breathless! —
Take away the sword —
States can be saved without it!
- Edward Bulwer Lytton

SUCK-A-BEE! He is running for President. Lucky us.

Okay. I am awake. I have my coffee and some doggerel in progress. Anybody who wants to help with my song, just chime in and write a verse.

Or fix a line in my lyrics. This poem writing shit is not easy even if it is only doggerel.

Suckabee!
He's oozing all over me.
Fat right winger on a spree,
Peddling God for the GOP.

Suckabee!
Calling me 'slut' for a fee,
To takeThe Pill from me,
Peddling shame and eternity.

Suckabee!
Left FUX Snooze TV,
To run for the Presidency
An act of cupidity.

Refrain:
Just ignore the crucifix in the parlor.
Suckabuck sells Jesus for the dollar. 

I am not taken in by Mike Huckabee's good ole country boy persona. Why do I despise him you may well ask. Barry Goldwater says it best:

On religious issues there can be little or no compromise. There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf should be used sparingly.

The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both.

I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in "A," "B," "C" and "D." Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me?

And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of "conservatism."
Speech in the US Senate (16 September 1981)

This poster came from BartCop. You want to go there if you enjoy first rate political barbecue.

Je suis Charlie

“The moment you say that any idea system is sacred, whether it’s a religious belief system or a secular ideology, the moment you declare a set of ideas to be immune from criticism, satire, derision, or contempt, freedom of thought becomes impossible."
― Salman Rushdie

[Defend the right to be offended (open Democracy, 7 February 2005)]” 

Texas Toast at Nick's Place

There once was a man named Perry
Of whom we better be wary.
What he did to our rights
Sure heightened our frights.
A presidency sure would be scary.

- Nick Vanocur

Legal Scholar Wants to 'Rescue' your Fetus.

Stay far away from people who claim they want to do things for you. Like this guy. Download a copy of his entire paper at the link.

Poster by Favianna Rodriguez.:

Does the Right to Elective Abortion Include the Right to Ensure the Death of the Fetus? - Stephen G. Gilles Quinnipiac University School of Law January 2, 2015

Abstract:

Is the right to an elective abortion limited to terminating the woman’s pregnancy, or does it also include the right to ensure the death of the fetus? Important as this question is in principle, in today’s world the conduct that would squarely raise it cannot occur in practice. The right to elective abortion applies only to fetuses that are not viable, which by definition means that they have been determined to have no realistic chance of surviving outside the uterus. Even if abortion providers used fetus-sparing methods rather than the fetus-killing methods they currently prefer, pre-viable fetuses would die within minutes. In the not-so-distant future, however, new artificial-womb technologies may make this question an urgent one by enabling pre-viable aborted fetuses to survive to full term if a fetus-sparing abortion method is used. Moreover, whether a woman has the right to ensure the death of her fetus may already have important implications for state laws that regulate the destruction or indefinite non-gestation of cryopreserved embryos.

The subject, therefore, is well worth exploring, both as a matter of constitutional principle and for its present and possible future legal ramifications. To do so, this Article analyzes hypothetical state legislation enacted in the wake of two technological breakthroughs that may occur in the coming decades: (1) improved surgical techniques that enable fetuses to be removed alive from their mothers’ wombs at any stage of gestation; and (2) artificial wombs in which these fetuses can be gestated to term. The Article assumes that these dual technologies (which I refer to as “AW”) will be safe for women, not prohibitively expensive, and reasonably effective: many pre-viable fetuses would survive fetus-sparing abortions and successfully be gestated to full term in an artificial womb. The Article then supposes that a state enacts legislation prohibiting fetus-killing abortion methods and providing AW at state expense to any woman who chooses to terminate her pregnancy. 

We do not know how gestation of a fetus outside a human being's body will effect the mental health and emotions of said fetus. The effects could be profound on both Woman and Fetus/Child. Only a psychopath thinks human emotion is a thing to be ignored.

All of this 'prolife' theory is designed to take women's power and potency from them and to put women back into the box we were in before suffrage in 1920. Women have had human rights in the US for 100 years - the lifetime of one woman.

My ova, my fetuses, my womb and my body and its contents belong to/with me and my family. I am not owned by the State or other people. This is Nazi stuff. The quote below from Ernst Rudin known as one of the founders of 'racial hygiene.'

Whoever is not physically or mentally fit must not pass on his defects to his children. The state must take care that only the fit produce children. Conversely, it must be regarded as reprehensible to withhold healthy children from the State.

My question is: what is the State going to do with these 'rescued' children? What are they going to do with the 'unhealthy' children? Never forget Tuam. It was Catholics and the State that did Tuam. Maybe death is superior than sale or donation to the State.

Children at Auschwitz

Happy New Year ! 2015

 

No Dancing in the Street

Banksy tells it like it is. --------------------------->

In 1964, it was safe to dance in the street. And Martha and the Vandellas were leading the dance in Detroit with their signature single.

In 2014, the cops knock you down for dancing in New York City. You dancing? What the fuck is the matter with you?

I call Philly the Land of a Thousand Dances. I wonder if it is still safe to dance in the street in my city.

Planning a trip the the Big Apple to celebrate Christmas anytime soon? Do not bring your dancing shoes or your sense of humor. Laughing and dancing get you beat up in New York City.

Where are you, Sgt. Shamar Thomas? We need you.

The Dancing Man is the name given to the man who was filmed dancing on the street in Sydney, Australia, after the end of World War II. On 15 August 1945, a reporter took note of a man's joyful expression and dance and asked him to do it again. The man consented and was caught on motion picture film in an Australian edition of the newsreel Movietone News. The film and stills from it have taken on iconic status in Australian history and culture, and symbolise victory in the war.

ZOMG. I am turning into a Stalker Troll.

National Review Online published an article about the retirement of Tom Coburn. I am glad he is going. NRO quietly removed my comments. 

I am an abuse survivor. I tend to become enmeshed with folks who reject me. What happened NRO? No more @troll game and piling on like beserkers? Just simple deletion?

I liked it when you all ran around like your hair is on fire, hurling @troll, answering comments you have removed and clogging disqus with impotent rage. I feel so let down.

This whine has no redeeming social value. It is just me obsessing on having my comments removed. This is what I am not allowed to say at National Review Online. Now I admit my initial remark was provocative.

The problem with Tom Coburn is that he is crazier than an outhouse rat.

Mind you, normally I would have typed shithouse rat. I try to be good around authoritarian rightwingers. Really, I do. I commented again.

I will try being more polite. The problem with Tom Coburn is that he is not sane. 

"It's just a good thing I can't pack a gun on the Senate floor." —Coburn, two weeks after the near-fatal shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) 

"The gay community has infiltrated the very centers of power in every area across this country, and they wield extreme power… That agenda is the greatest threat to our freedom that we face today. Why do you think we see the rationalization for abortion and multiple sexual partners? That's a gay agenda." - Tom Coburn

They removed my comment. I tried once more. I hollered "The Emperor has no clothes!" I even gave them a link to the source of my quotes:

Tom Coburn is so crazy that it interferes with his reputation. Cognitive dissonance raised to high art.

"Tom Coburn explains how senior citizens prospered in the pre-Medicare days of widespread old age poverty and constant death:

"You can't tell me the system is better now than it was before Medicare," he said.

Coburn agreed that some people received poor care - or no care - before Medicare was enacted in the 1960s, but said communities worked together to make sure most people received needed medical attention.

He also conceded that doctors and hospitals often went unpaid for their efforts, or accepted baked goods or chickens in partial payment."

Internet Civility folks are such Nazis. I hate the Tone Patrol and the Language Police. Now that I have whined a bit and cried on your shoulder, Cher Reader, I can start the New Year at peace.

In conclusion, I quote the Illustrious and Reknowned Bammac who truly deserves the last word.:

With a scrabbling of tiny claws and a waft of foul, a shithouse rat appears at the edge of the old single holer, spits, and says "there are crazy Dems, too!"

"Are they living in an outhouse, like you"? I ask...

"Walp.....no....." He wheezes...

"Crazy is relative" I tell him, as I swing the shovel down...

 http://crooksandliars.com/2014/12/conservatives-simply-cannot-accept-their

Yo, Pope Frankie, Happy Birthday!

Pope Francis was leaving the Vatican in the dead of night to "administer anonymously to the homeless of Rome." He got caught.

This Christmas he purchased sleeping bags and gave them to the homeless of Rome on his 78th birthday - upfront.

Good move, Frankie. Now they will not suspect you and you can boogie out the back door when the Spirit moves you.  

Frankie, you seem like a good guy. So I hope you will take my remarks in the Spirit they are offered. 

You are doing good. You make me want to come back to church. I look forward to seeing you in Philly next year.  

Philly used to be a city of neighborhood churches and bars. One of each, church and bar, on every fourth corner. Nine of the Catholic Churches in my neighborhood have closed their doors. The bars are still open and turned into Delis with beer cases. Not a bar stool or a pew in sight. So sad. Where are the places for fellowship? But I digress

First thing, and this is important, nothing is anonymous if you get caught. So stop that. Not the going out, the getting caught hanging with bums. Pray to St. Nicholas, patron saint of runaways, thieves and children for assistance. I must say, you are right on time in the Myth and Public Relations departments.

Second, maybe you can fool others, PaPa, but you cannot fool me. You are not ministering to the wretched of Rome. They, each and every one, are ministering to you.

It is a hard job being a Pope. You often have to deal with an anus like Cardinal Dolan. You got to have some fun. For sure you need a real good hug or two. Ten good hugs a day will keep you sane. Dio ti benedica, caro Papà. I know S/He does. Feliz cumpleaños! Feliz Navidad!

OMG GOP WTF? - Open the Old Cigar Box

Tom Delay hates the new Cuba policy.

“This is surrender,” DeLay said. “This is a president who is a socialist to begin with reaching out to his socialist friends and opening up relationships with one of the most oppressive regimes in the world. The only worse one I can think of right now is North Korea.”

China and Saudi Arabia are repressive regimes. We have relationships with them. North Korea? Tom is nothing if he is not fashion conscious. And just a chickenshit scared as SONY evidently. 

Tom Delay is not integrity challenged. Hell no! As Kinky Friedman once said "I'm not supporting their economy, I'm burning their crops."

Do not like it? Do not look. Boycott.

“I felt like crying but nothing came out. It was just a sort of sad sickness, sick sad, when you can't feel any worse. I think you know it.” ― Charles Bukowski, Tales of Ordinary Madness

I am not watching TV because of the torture 'debate' the networks are sponsoring now. Torture is not debateable.

I feel sick thinking that my government has made me a torturer.

The networks think I am going to pay for this torture debate shyte and Little Luke Russert too? Out of their fooking minds. Not even to keep Lawrence and Joy and Rachel.

There is nothing to debate. Cable TV is a vast wasteland. And I am paying big bucks for it.

I can stop doing that. I have done it before. I can get Netflix on my laptop. There is life after cable TV.

Click for more of Meathead  Portraits !

There is nothing to debate. Torturers are the scum of the earth. 

"So grotesque and preposterous are the principle characters in this galaxy of clowns and crooks that none but a thrice double ass could have taken them for rulers." Officer in the Allied Control Commission describing the architects of the Shoah during Nuremberg Trials for War Crimes. 

We are paying big bucks to insure our Clown Rulers and their toadys have their legal expenses paid if they are sued or prosecuted for doing the torture. Seems I cannot stop paying for torture, one way or another. They keep putting Cheyney on TV. 

Unless, of course, I do what the Founding Fathers did. Revolution is traditionally American. Just like watching TV. Just like boycott. By the way, you can get this or any other Meathead Portrait on a Tshirt.

Dear Santa...one of those...and one of those... - Attitude Adjustment

This video makes me want to go out and howl at the moon.

 I want three of these for Christmas. Chocolate, vanilla and ginger.

Desire never dies. 

I think I will give Cheesecake equal time: Vintage PinUp Girls:

Please sign the Petition to prosecute Bush and Cheny et al.

WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:

Prosecute, to the full extent of the law, all of the parties responsible for the use of torture outlined in CIA report

Torture is a war crime. There is no statute of limitations on war crimes. Those that have committed this crime should be tried and punished to set us right with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. We need justice before there can be redemption. The time is now to set our moral compass in the proper direction by holding those responsible for the horrific acts done in our countries name. There needs to be accountability - there needs to be justice - there needs to be a trial for war crimes now that we know just what was done in our name.

Published Date: Dec 09, 2014 

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/prosecute-full-extent-law-all-parties-responsible-use-torture-outlined-cia-report/17ZgKTtB

Apache Land Grab - Sign the Petition

House Approves Bill to Give Apache Lands to Foreign Corporation

On December 4th, the House passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which included a provision to transfer 2,400 acres of Apache ancestral and ceremonial lands to a foreign mining company.

“Since time immemorial people have gone there. That’s part of our ancestral homeland. We’ve had dancers in that area forever – sunrise dancers – and coming-of-age ceremonies for our young girls that become women. They’ll seal that off. They’ll seal us off from the acorn grounds, and the medicinal plants in the area, and our prayer areas.”~ Terry Rambler, chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe

Prior to the House vote, the House and Senate Armed Services Committee attached a provision to the NDAA that would transfer Apache ancestral lands located in the Tonto National Forest to Resolution Copper, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto an Australian-English mining company. Sen. John McCain (R- AZ) was instrumental in pushing to get the provision language included.

Apache leaders learned of the inclusion of the provision to the NDAA while attending, ironically, the White House Tribal Nations conference. Republican lawmakers have tried for years to secure the transfer of these lands, but have always run into strong opposition from the San Carlos Apache Tribe and Democratic lawmakers.

The NDAA now goes to the Senate for vote.

Sign the White House petition to stop the Apache land grab:

https://petitions.whitehouse.g...

Protesters rally against the proposed Kinder Morgan oil pipeline on Burnaby Mountain in British Columbia on November 17. (Photo from Flickr / Mark Klotz) 

We can fight nonviolently and win. Click the picture to find out more. 

Thug is the New @#$%^&

No indictment in NYPD in-custody death (police1.com)

You find that new usage by perusing the contents of this comment thread on PoliceOne.com. Cops are getting fired for using the "N word"on social media. So they have substituted "thug."

It is true I hate the police. You can tell by the street art I chose. Evidently I am not alone in my hatred and distrust. I have never been arrested or charged with any crime. Maybe I am biased nevertheless. You read the comments and tell me what you think.

"PoliceOne.com is a discussion forum for law enforcement officers, and while anyone can access some of the site content, commenting privileges are available exclusively to verified police. The PoliceOne.com staff "confirm[s] the status of all officers registering for PoliceOne by calling that officer's department directly."

Posted by SAPDMAS on Wednesday, December 03, 2014 08:27 PM Pacific  Report Abuse

People are sick and tired of thugs. Certain people better wake the hell up and stop supporting the thugs. 2 years 1 month before the head thug gets thrown out and hopefully a real POTUS gets elected.

This is the post that disturbed me the most below. Do you want to be policed this way and with this attitude. In Great Britain the police do not have guns and very few police shootings. In Japan the police help Seniors get their groceries home. American cops are the thugs. And it is not just poor Black folks who are being murdered by the Police anymore. It is the mentally ill. It is upper middle class business owners. It is old women. It is children.

Posted by haziz on Thursday, December 04, 2014 01:01 AM Pacific  Report Abuse

President just does NOT understand - it is NOT police who need modify or change their approach to public encounters with blacks, BUT blacks who must not turn almost every encounter with police into a racial incident. My 5 tips on how black and others can survive a police encounter with police are very simple and if you stop and think about it make a lot of sense: 1.Do NOT under any circumstance ARGUE with police out in the street. You cannot win an argument with police out in the field. 2.2. Do NOt raise your voice, but stay cool and calm. Do NOT make any quick or aggressive movements. Remember the police officer does NOT know you and will react to protect himself or those around him. 3.Police know that hands kill, so always keep your hands in plain sight. Before you move your hands ask permission, officer I need to go into my back pocket to get my ID, is that OK with you? 4.NEVER run from police even if you are innocent. When you run you create a heightened sense that something must be wrong here. 5.DO NOT resist arrest – if you do one of three things is going to happen: a.You are going to get beat down till you stop resisting b.You are going to get injured or accidentally killed c.And you are going to have charges taken out against you

Nick's Place - Poetry by Nick Vanocur

#1
With the GOP turning to mush
There arose the candidate Bush.
With the white folks in dread
They said "You're our boy, Jeb
And we'll give you millions in slush."

Sign of the Month - December 2014 - Brotherhood of Man

“I wish I could say that racism and prejudice were only distant memories. We must dissent from the indifference. We must dissent from the apathy. We must dissent from the fear, the hatred and the mistrust…We must dissent because America can do better, because America has no choice but to do better.” - Thurgood Marshall 

JONIK - Artists Give Me Such a Woody

I found another great political cartoonist. See more of the Artist's work HERE and HERE:

JONIK EDITORIAL CARTOONS

THIS IS A COLLECTION OF MOST OF MY EDITORIAL CARTOONS MANY OF WHICH REMAIN TOPICAL OR OTHERWISE USABLE. IT WILL BE UPDATED AS NEW CARTOONS ARE MADE. IT IS INTENDED TO BE A RESOURCE FOR PUBLISHERS OF PERIODICALS, GENERAL BOOKS AND TEXTBOOKS, LEAFLETEERS, POSTER MAKERS, WEB-SITE MANAGERS, AND EVEN T-SHIRT DECORATORS. WHATEVER. CARTOONS ARE FREE TO USE---EXCEPT FOR COMMERCIAL ENTITIES OR THOSE WHO HAVE EXISTING PAYMENT POLICIES FOR GRAPHICS

TALK BACK by VOTE! - November 2014 Sign of the Month

I learned how to do a write-in vote this morning. It was easy. The election judge never did a write-in vote before. So we both did something new.

And now I am teaching my kids all about the write-in vote. I do not have to settle for a substandard candidate. Democracy - it is a wonderful thing. Writing in the guy you really want is the way to go. I voted for myself. Nobody better.

I voted YES! for Tom Wolfe and Jason Dawkins. 

NO on Brendan Boyle. I will not vote for an anti choice Democrat. And time for a change from the Tartagliones. Past time. 

That said, the little sign is the party machine sign.  

The big sign is the TALK BACK SIGN. Hat tip to scribeboy. 

Send Money and Lawyers because the Personhood Shit Keeps Hitting the Fan. No Guns. Hat Tip to Warren Zevon.

The United States legalized abortion nationwide in 1973, in part because of the clear evidence that restrictive laws were not ending abortion but were exacting a significant public health toll, notably on lower-income women who could not travel or pay for safe services. Almost immediately afterward, pregnancy-related deaths and hospitalizations due to complications of unsafe abortion effectively ended." - From Facts and Consequences: Legality, Incidence and Safety of Abortion Worldwide, Guttmacher

You can make a difference and beat back personhood laws. If you go HERE, you can find out some ways to do that. Even if you have not got an extra cent, you can paste this news to your facebook page.

There is no issue more important than bodily integrity for women and men. No one is permitted by general agreement to seize someone's body for treasure or to benefit any 'person.'

BuckeyeB's TEX-MEX Munch Mix

I am not interested in football. I am surrounded by those who do like football. They need football snacks, so I make them snacks. 

BuckeyeB has been kind enough to give me (us) her famous snack mix. You will not believe how good this is until you make it. I give it to you as she gave it to me. 

TEX-MEX MUNCH MIX

1 box (12 oz) Cheese-It type crackers

1 stick butter (butter)

1 package Taco Seasoning Mix (I use Ortega Hot & Spicy)

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire

½ teasp. Seasoned salt

Pre-heat oven to 250. Spread crackers on a large foil/parchment lined cookie sheet in a single layer. I always eat a handful at this point, ‘cause the box sizes were different when I first put this recipe together, & there’re too many crackers in a 12 oz. box for my cookie sheet…& ‘cause I’m the cook & I can!

Melt butter in a small saucepan & add the rest, mixing well. Pour over crackers & mix well again. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

When the 1st batch goes in the oven, mix up another batch of the butter mix & do the same with a roaster pan full of whatever you like/have on hand, things like…

1 large can French’s Onions (no generics)

1 can salted peanuts

1 can potato sticks

Corn chips, pretzels, bagel chips, crackers…whatever. Put this pan in the oven when you stir the first batch the first time, & bake it for the remaining 45 minutes, stirring every 15, too…otherwise the onions burn.

Turn both batches out to cool...I use the top of a copy paper box...& sprinkle with a little salt of your choice. I use plain ole kosher! 

If you make a bunch of batches…like at Xmas…write down the
time you put the crackers in the oven, or you start losing track. Trust me!

ENJOY!

St. Louis Blues - Sign of the Month - October 2014

Another young black man in St. Louis shot by an off duty white police officer because he was "running like he had a gun." Say what? His name is Vonderrit Myers Jr. 

Seems like a 'pedestrian check' is the St. Louis version of "Papers please." I would run from the cops in St. Louis and I am pink. 

This is the statement from St. Louis PD sent to Buzzfeed reporter Jim Dalrymple:

An officer working department-approved secondary for a security company, wearing a St. Louis Police Officer's uniform was in the 4100 block of Shaw when he attempted a pedestrian check. The male suspect fled on foot. The officer pursued the suspect. The suspect turned and fired a gun at the officer. Fearing for his safety, the officer returned fire striking the suspect, fatally wounding him. The officer was not injured. A gun was recovered from the scene. The officer is a 32-year old white male. He has been on the force for 6 years. The suspect is a black male believed to be 18-20 years old. As is department policy, the officer has been placed on administrative leave. The investigation is ongoing.

This post has musical accompaniment - St. Louis in better days - and we have to go back to 1929 to find those 'better days.' Now that is sad. It is more than sad. It is intolerable. This video is beautiful.

Illegal Abortion in America

In 2014, four decades after the Supreme Court upheld a woman's right to choose, pregnant women once again find themselves crossing the border to Mexico and haunting back-alleys in search of medical care. - Laura Bassett

I had an epiphany the other day. Roe v. Wade was an attempt to regulate abortion because the abortion situation was entirely out of control in 1970.

Women were dying in ugly and public ways from illegal abortion. Lots of women die of illegal abortion now at home and worldwide. 

Clergy were directing women to safe though still illegal abortion and advertising the abortion referral service in the New York Times. Rest in peace, Reverend Moody.

NOW was giving parlor teach-ins conducted by nurses to instruct women in the art of 'menstrual extraction' and how to make the device to extract with.

The JANE women's collective was doing safe cheap abortions by the thousands.

A wealthy well known woman with a thalidomide-deformed fetus inside her defied the law and had an abortion abroad. The Media made the rebel abortioneer even more well known and thereby made the plight of poor women who could not travel abroad and needed an abortion more poignant.

Nobody was waiting for the government to approve abortion. And there was absolutely no control at all. Everybody was doing illegal abortions - the Mafia, your local Nurse moonlighting, Doctors with a conscience, etc. It was a Vonnegut style circus.

All by themselves, screaming they are moral, the forced birth cultists have deregulated abortion in America. The back alley abortion is back. There will be no regulations for safety or time limits on when a woman can abort. Gosnell City is here. And the 'pro lifers' built it.

I would be laughing my ass off except I remember what it was like the last time abortion was illegal. My teen Sister self aborted with quinine. Even my Catholic Mother got an illegal abortion. We could have lost her. I know someone who lost her Mother at age 9 to unregulated illegal abortion.

How many women will get maimed or die this time around the block? How many women will go to jail and leave their children to foster care? How many peaches will you get if you harm the tree? If you think I exaggerate, familiarize yourself with recent events in my backward state of Pennsylvania:

http://all-len-all.com/pa-mom-sentenced-to-prison-for-obtaining-abortion-pill-for-daughter-who-lacked-insurance/

http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2010/06/08/roundup-yearolds-abortion-need-abortion-access/

NOTE: I find it gratifying that the Guttmacher Institute agrees with me. Who knew?

The United States legalized abortion nationwide in 1973, in part because of the clear evidence that restrictive laws were not ending abortion but were exacting a significant public health toll, notably on lower-income women who could not travel or pay for safe services. Almost immediately afterward, pregnancy-related deaths and hospitalizations due to complications of unsafe abortion effectively ended." - From Facts and Consequences: Legality, Incidence and Safety of Abortion Worldwide, Guttmacher

Ms. Mary Walker's Green Tomato Chutney

I know that I am not the only gardener in Pennsylvania gazing at a bumper crop of tomatoes. Ms. Walker has been kind enough to share her recipe for Green Tomato Chutney with me.

You can learn more about Ms. Walker, British expatriate HERE. 

Unconditional surrender of Europe occurred on my 11^th birthday and, in the evening my dad suggested that we ‘go for a walk’. My sister warned that we would be late for the curfew. My Dad simply answered – “It’s such a nice evening, I don’t think we’re going to worry about that tonight”. Cat’s Whisker receivers WORKED! 

Mi casa es su casa. So I am sharing with you, Cher Reader. I give it to you as she gave it to me. Stay tuned for her recipe for Garlic Jam. When Ms. Mary said Garlic Jam, I began to salivate immediately.

GREEN TOMATO CHUTNEY

5 lbs chopped green tomatoes
1 lb chopped onions
1 tsp whole peppercorns
1 tsp salt
1 lb sugar
1-1/2 cups vinegar (I use either white wine vinegar or cider vinegar)
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup sultanas

Mix tomatoes, onions and peppercorns in a large bowl and let sit overnight (covered)
Bring vinegar and sugar to a boil (until sugar is melted) 
Add sultanas and raisins and simmer for 5 minutes
Add tomatoes and onion mixture and simmer till thick (about 40 to 45 minutes).
Put into 8 oz jars - leaving about 1/4inch head-space - and can for 15 minutes.

Uppity Texans Unite. Go Texas!

Below you can read a long and earnest Manifesto from stoppatriarchy.org. 

They are ambitiious. They are raising Hell in Texas as I type. I thought Texas was Hell. I think somebody famous said that. 

I support the abortion platform. I stop at the 'ending pornography' part. That is a little too bluestocking for trashmouth old Me. I like to look at dirty pictures. So sue me. 

If nothing changes, on September 1st all but six abortion clinics in Texas will be closed (there were 46 in 2011).

Women will begin dying from dangerous illegal abortions. Others will be imprisoned for self-inducing abortions. Thousands more will have their lives foreclosed by being forced to bear children they do not want – shattering their dreams, trapping them in abusive relationships, and/or driving them into humiliating and dangerous poverty. Rural, poor, immigrant, and women of color will be hardest hit.

Worse, this emergency in Texas is not an isolated problem.

Hundreds of abortion restrictions have been enacted in recent years. Six states have only one abortion clinic left. Eight abortion doctors and staff have been murdered. Countless women have been shamed and humiliated.

Those driving this attack on women's most fundamental rights are deadly serious. They will not stop until all abortions have been criminalized forall women in all circumstances.
THIS MUST NOT BE ALLOWED! Forcing women to have children against their will is a form of enslavement.

Courageous people are doing important work to keep abortion available. At the same time, it must be confronted soberly: much more is needed.

What happens this summer in Texas will affect women everywhere. It is the responsibility of everyone who does not want to see women forced to have children against their will to stand up and fight. Not some time in the future, but now.

This is a time for courage. For people to defy fear, to shatter silence, and to break their isolation. To refuse to wait for politicians or courts to make our will known. To raise our voices and fill the streets, to make art and wage protest, to defend doctors and assist women, to change hearts and enlighten minds. To engage in acts of militant non-violent direct action. To call forth thousands and soon millions until we have STOPPED these attacks and DEFEATED this war on women.

We reject the view that a woman's highest purpose is to bear children. Women are full human beings with the moral, ethical and legal right to decide when and whether to be mothers.

NO MORE women denied the right to dream, the right to live full lives, the right to love, the right to decide for themselves. WE WILL RESIST!