Condi and Oprah on Forbes Most Powerful Women List
07.31.05 (2:04 pm) posted by Genia
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Condi Rice sits at the #1 spot on Forbes' 100 Most Powerful Women list. I suppose, as a Black female, I should be really excited about that news. Umm . . . yeah.
Anyway, Meg Whitman eBay's CEO, is #5 and Oprah Winfrey is #9. Now that would excite me if she would stop bringing on people like Tom Cruise.
"[The list] illustrates how fleeting power is. Megawati Sukarnoputri, the former president of Indonesia who lost her reelection bid, dropped off the rankings. Gone, too, is Carleton (Carly) Fiorina, booted from Hewlett-Packard. The scandal-plagued president of the Philippines, Gloria Arroyo (No. 4), could soon be off as well," [source: 100 Most Powerful Women].
According to a poll on Forbes' website, politics and business (my two personal favorites) are the two fields that hold women back because of their gender.
07.31.05 (12:35 pm) posted by Genia
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The blog scandal about "Zach," the teen homosexual sent to an ex-gay camp for teenagers, has prompted a CNN show on Refuge and the ex-gay movement in general.
While watching CNN news (a rarity for me), I saw a brief preview of an interview with Rev. John Smid, Refuge's Executive Director. The show is scheduled to air tonight at 10pm eastern time. If you watch the show, please stop by and let us know.
07.30.05 (11:18 am) posted by Genia
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I don't know why this is news to me, but recent reports state Jimi Hendrix used the military's homophobic gay ban to avoid military service. Personally, I don't have a problem with that. I do think it was a bit pansy-like of him to then publicly state he was discharged because he "[broke] his ankle on a parachute jump."
I've always told straight friends who are against the Iraq war to fake-gay if there's ever a draft. If the military insists on discriminating against homosexuals, I think every person who can avoid service by claiming to be gay should take full advantage of the military's ignorance and homophobia.
07.29.05 (2:02 pm) posted by Genia
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I received the following email this afternoon:
Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD) has joined with Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Senator Mary L. Landrieu (D-LA), Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Senator Hillary R. Clinton (D-NY) to launch a new interactive website to engage Americans in the Supreme Court confirmation process of Judge John G. Roberts, Jr.
The joint creation of this website is designed to let the American people have a voice and to find out what they care about most. I have attached web banners which can be linked from your blog to: democrats.senate.gov/AskRoberts if you are interested in helping us get the word out!
Thanks,
Melissa Schwartz Press Secretary Office of Senator Barbara Mikulski phone 202-228-1122 fax 202-224-3892 mikulski.senate.gov
07.28.05 (2:34 pm) posted by Genia
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What the fuck? What a waste of taxpayer funds. This is a case that never should have gone before a judge.
Elizabeth Solomon, a taxpaying American citizen in Utah, sued the state for the right to place the pro-gay license plate "GAYSROK" on her car. The state refused to issue the pro-gay vanity plate telling Solomon that license plates are not a public forum. Judge Jane Phan disagrees and said there's no reason to refuse to issue the "GAYSROK" plate or any other pro-gay plates.
I get the feeling Judge Jane Phan has just landed herself on the activist judges list -- also known as the "religious right shit list."
Dani Eyer, Solomon's attorney, says, "[t]he government can't pick and choose what subjects it likes and does not like." I agree with that, but we all know the government does that all the time.
Solomon's children are gay and she applied for the plates to show support for her children.
Now, if Solomon can't have pro-gay plates, I want to start a petition to ban all Green Bay Packers vanity plates. I see so many of those plates in WI and it really gets on my nerves. I'm not a football fan and I don't think I should have to see that crap all the time when I'm out driving around minding my own business.
07.26.05 (7:14 pm) posted by Genia
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Ya know, I've grown rather bored of the full hour stories on CNN and Fox News about that blonde white girl missing in Aruba. Yeah, she's pretty and all. And yeah, I feel for her family. But geezus fuckin' sakes, the media really ought to be ashamed here. It couldn't be more obvious that if Natalee Holloway were a Black American woman who went off to Aruba and partied -- then disappeared -- she would've been written off ages ago. They certainly wouldn't spend hour after hour -- day after day -- talking about her.
Audrey Seiler, another "missing" white woman, received an enormous amount of media attention. She wasn't really missing. She lied. And then, let's not forget the white runaway bride who also received an enormous amount of media attention. She lied, too.
But, there's Latoyia Figueroa, a missing non-white pregnant woman, has received very little media attention. Now why is that? Laci Peterson was pregnant when she disappeared and she received lots of media attention. Oh wait. She was white.
I received an email from Richard at All Spin Zone that we want to ask everyone to email to Nancy Grace at CNN. The text reads:
Latoyia Figueroa is still missing after 8 days. And as tragic as the Natalee Holloway case might be, Natalee doesn't have a seven year old child wondering where she is, nor was Natalee (to the best of our knowledge) 5 months pregnant.
Here's an overview of the important details in this “missing woman” case:
1) Latoyia is not white. 2) She does not have blonde hair. 3) She was not scheduled to get married last weekend. 4) She's from West Philadelphia. 5) There may actually be a lead or two in her case. 6) HER UNBORN BABY, HER UNBORN BABY, HER UNBORN BABY. 7) To the best of our knowledge, no one from Texas has yet offered to bring in cadaver dogs to search for Latoyia, nor have forensic dive teams volunteered to scour the Schuylkill or Delaware rivers. 8 ) Also to the best of our knowledge, the FBI hasn't been requested to participate in the investigation, nor have any DNA samples been rushed to Washington, DC. 9) HER UNBORN BABY, HER UNBORN BABY, HER UNBORN BABY.
I hope this enough for you to run with - certainly, the crackerjack CNN research team available to you can fill in any speculative details or obscure leads of prurient interest. While it's doubtful that Latoyia's family can offer $100 reward, much less $1 million (as did Natalee's), I'm sure they'd still have an undying gratitude for any of your viewers who could turn up a lead on Latoyia.
Oh, and here's a picture of Latoyia, in case you need one when you run your full hour show devoted to Latoyia. I'm sure her family can provide more.
Lastly, I note that “Natalee Holloway” rates “about 5600” Google News hits, while “Latoyia Figueroa” rates two. Here's hoping your show and CNN's website can contribute another hit for Latoyia.
Domestic Violence in Gay Relationships Mobilizes Christians
07.25.05 (11:25 pm) posted by Genia
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I receive The World Congress of Families' newsletter so I can keep an eye on the rat-bastards-on-the-right . Usually, I just read the subject line and hit the delete button. Tonight's subject line caught my eye: Gay "Marriage it read. The Righties always put the word marriage in parenthesis when they place the word gay in front of it. Makes ya wanna put the word religious in parenthesis when you talk about the "religious" right. Anyway. . .
It seems The Howard Center -- located about 20 minutes from me in Rockford, IL, how lovely -- is suddenly concerned about domestic abuse:
Published in Psychological Reports by researchers at Radford University, the new study analyzes data from a pilot survey designed to measure levels of domestic violence among same-sex couples. Among the same-sex couples surveyed, a remarkable 56% reported that "they had experienced one or more ... forms of domestic violence."
Further parsing of the data established that for homosexual men "intimate physical violence is a greater problem ... than [for] heterosexual men" (p < 0.001). The researchers further determined that intimate physical violence is at least as great a problem for homosexual women as it is for heterosexual women. (Homosexual women reported a prevalence of intimate physical violence slightly above that reported by heterosexual women, but the difference was not statistically significant.)>
How convenient that the good "christians" are showing concern about domestic violence only to make gay relationships look dysfunctional and inheritantly violent. "Domestic violence occurs within same-sex relationships with the same statistical frequency as in heterosexual relationships." Source: Domestic Violence: American Bar Association
Additional statistics:
The precise incidence of domestic violence in America is difficult to determine for several reasons: it often goes unreported, even on surveys; there is no nationwide organization that gathers information from local police departments about the number of substantiated reports and calls; and there is disagreement about what should be included in the definition of domestic violence. "One study estimated that more than 3% (approximately 1.8 million) of women were severely assaulted by male partners or cohabitants over the course of a year, while other studies indicate the percentage of women experiencing dating violence, including sexual assault, physical violence, or verbal and emotional abuse, ranges as high as 65%." 14 [Source: Domestic Violence Statistics: Prevalence and Trends]
Maybe it's a good thing the good christians are addressing domestic violence, even if they're doing it with malicious intent. I was wondering when they would get around to it! If it takes domestic violence in gay relationships to get help for all the battered women in the world, so be it. There might be hope for that child molestation issue in the church after all.
07.24.05 (9:12 am) posted by Genia
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Conservative groupies in the US really enjoy spoonfeeding bullshit to the less-informed dumbasses in America, stating we bombed the hell out of Iraq because Saddam was executing his own people. That's the last-ditch-effort lie when they run out of other excuses.. So, I think I'll give those GOP groupies the benefit of the doubt, grab a beer, sit back, and wait for the bombs to start dropping in Iran.
A recent story in Outrage tells us Iran hangs homosexuals. Now, GOP groupies tend to stick their noses in everybody's business, crying "democracy now!" when it serves as a convenient excuse to do whatever the fuck we want in someone else's country. I think most people can agree that hanging someone because he/she has engaged in consensual sexual activity with another adult is a horrendous crime against humanity --- certainly not something Americans would do! And since we tend to label all-things-Americans-won' t-do as bad, does this mean we have an obligation to head on over to Iran and bomb those bastards? Well, that's certainly what we did in Iraq.
Contemplating the counter-argument from the rabid homophobics:
Who cares if sinful gays are executed? Comparing that to Saddam assasinating thousands of innocent people is disgusting.
My reply: I thought the good Christian folks didn't believe in killing people -- unless it's a war, you're a Black man on death row, or you're a white woman who kills her kids and screams "I was crazy when I did it." So, since gay teenagers don't fit in any of those categories, I'm thinking it's time to head on over to Iran and start another light show.
What? Don't wanna spend US tax dollars to save the gays? I almost said "save the whales." Ha! But why not? These are people, right? And we want an excuse to fuck with Iran anyway, right? You can always pretend the gay men are women. They won't mind, it's for a good cause. Afraid you'll never get US support to save gays in Iran? Just tell Americans you plan to make them all ex-gays when you're done. Americans will believe anything. Don't believe me? Then how did this happen? Maybe Condi can do something other than smile pretty, wear nice clothes, and pass notes in class for Dubya.
I need my morning coffee. Ranting before my first cup of caffeine just takes so much out of me. Hat tip to Tari for the link.
07.24.05 (12:30 am) posted by Genia
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I had a lot of catching up to do on the Supreme Court issue, so I cruised the liberal lanes in the blogosphere.
Blanton's and Ashton's G. D. Frogsdong, who didn't agree with ThatColoredFellasWeblog's take on Bush's nominee, but offered his opinion on what he thinks Roberts will do to the freedoms we take for granted:
I think he'll be a disaster for freedoms that we now take for granted. I think there will be renewed attacks on abortion and some of them will win, although I think a basic right to privacy, emanating from the Fourth Amendment, will survive. I think there will be massive attacks launched on environmental law and Roberts will be ruling against the environment without hesitation. I think freedom of speech is going to take some serious hits, with big implications for the Internet But I think Roberts will be confirmed.
I agree with G.D. that Roberts is a much better choice than Clarence Thomas; however, after reading over G.D.'s predictions, THAT thought is really fuckin' scarey.
Left in the West has a list of civil liberties Roberts threatened as a partisan lawyer for the Bush Sr. and Reagan administrations. It's a must-read.
I didn't bother to post the email from the HRC about Robert's nomination, but The Pryhills did. Honestly, I deleted mine when I received it -- didn't even read it. For some reason, the HRC's word means very little to me lately.
While reading The All Spin Zone and checking for Richard's opinion on Roberts, I was distracted by this. Loved it!
Comments from Left Field has an extensive piece on Roberts, noting most of the groups that have opposed Roberts throughout his career.
07.24.05 (12:04 am) posted by Genia
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I'm almost completely settled in my new home, so I thought I'd get back to blogging. While dining with my new boss and his family this evening, I caught a glimpse of Feministing on Fox News several times this evening. You go girl! It made me really miss blogging.
Anyway, why the picture of Ann Coulter, ya ask? Tari, one of several SistersTalk readers who keeps me highly informed while I'm away, sent me Coulter's Townhall piece Souter in Roberts' clothing in which she wrote:
The only way a Supreme Court nominee could win the approval of NARAL and Planned Parenthood would be to actually perform an abortion during his confirmation hearing, live, on camera, and preferably a partial birth one.
Is that girl smokin' crack? I say it again: Ann Coulter, La Shawn Barber, and Michelle Malkin do nothing more than say shit (literally) because it irritates people enough to add dollars to their bank account. They all remind me Rush Limbaugh University flunkies. They could at least get their own material.
07.15.05 (12:04 am) posted by Genia
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I've gone and done it again -- disappeared for weeks, posting not a single rant for my regulars. Please accept my apologies.
I've been job hunting and apartment/house hunting all at the same time. Job hunting is horrid enough, but apartment hunting is a nightmare in itself. No one likes to move, right? With it being just me and the boys, moving all our things will be a challenge. That's one of the challenges of living in a state so far away from family -- no free labor to help you pack up! Not one of my "friends" has offered to help me move. I'll see how much work I can get out of my 12 year-old and 10-year old.
Let me back up on the friends issue.
I started distancing myself from these "friends" about a month or so ago after some serious reflection. One friend, A, is available only when she's single and wants someone to hang out with, or when she's fighting with a girlfriend. I've grown very tired of that bullshit. Stop wasting space in my life, ya know?
Another "friend" G said she couldn't make it to graduation about 8 weeks ago because she was working that Sunday. It's typically a 16 hour day for her. To take the day off meant she would miss 2 days of work. I understood that. I wasn't hurt until she took Chicago Pride Sunday off about 5 weeks later. She even had the nerve to invite ME to join her. So, I started to reflect on my relationship with her and realized it's been a pretty superficial relationship for some time.
That's enough about my friendship drama. Who wants to read about that anyway?
I'll be back to my usual rants as soon as I can. I promise. I've found a new place. It has a beautiful deck that's great for barbecues. It even has 1 and a half baths. Gotta love it -- no more standing in line to pee. I just have to get all my shit moved in. If you want to donate a few bucks to help hire some movers, please feel free! We would appreciate it very much.
Sandra Day O'Connor Resigns, Can't Say I'll Miss Her
07.01.05 (9:59 am) posted by Genia
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Sandra Day O'Connor, a Reagan appointee and the first female Supreme Court Justice, has announced her resignation. Personally, it's really nice to see her go. Take Thomas with ya, please. But, now we're stuck with Dubya appointing the next cowhand to put on a robe and make decisions that will affect our lives.
CNN has a list of potential nominees to replace O'Connor. Janice Brown and Alberto Gonzales are both on that list. Since Dubya is still pretending to be a compassionate conservative, I'm thinking the Black woman stands a better chance of seeing that robe before the Hispanic male does -- especially since Dubya has renewed his push to pass the Federal Marriage Amendment. He'll need something to make him look good -- kinda like the way he used Condi to make him look good while appealing to Black Americans for their help to pass FMA. And they fell for it too -- dumb asses -- helping send Dubya right back to the White House.
In October 2004, Chief Justice Rehnquist announced he had thyroid cancer, sending bloggers into a blogheaven frenzy speculating about Dubya's chances of appointing at least 2 -- maybe even 3 -- new justices if he won a second term. So far though, according to a recent article at the Christian Science Monitor, the nation's top court appears to look like a liberal court, even with conservative Rehnquist at the helm. I suppose just having the ability to effectively shift a conservative court in a liberal direction is an impeachable offense (but lying in order to start a war is not). Conservatives are such poor losers.
[b]Update: 4:35 pm[/b]
Blanton's and Ashton's has commented on O'Connor's resignation by being pretty reserved in his comments. That says a lot, if you know the blogger.
Personally, I find a few of O'Connor's opinions a bit contradictory. For example: In 1989, O'Connor wrote an opinion for the court that said setting aside a fixed percentage of contracts for minority businesses was unconstitutional. This is the same justice who defends Affirmative Action. Let me let ya in on a little secret though. Women are not automatically classified as minorities. Ever heard people say women and minorities and wondered why? Affirmative Action plans include all women, regardless of race. It seems quite fitting that O'Connor wouldn't support an initiative that didn't include her own people but would vehemently defend any initiative that gives all women a headstart -- especially considering she graduated from the top of her law school class and could only find a job as a legal secretary because she was a woman.
liberal bloggers
I don't know why this is news to me, but recent reports state 
I'm almost completely settled in my new home, so I thought I'd get back to blogging. While dining with my new boss and his family this evening, I caught a glimpse of 
Sandra Day O'Connor, a Reagan appointee and the