Voting

I am watching people speaking on the 50 year anniversary of the March on Washington. It was a great moment in our history as Americans. Now we have ultra-conservative people fighting that progress. It is as if some members of the GOP know the only way they will win elections is to keep people out of the voting booths.

Bite me you anti-Americans!

Voting, jobs, livable wages, and safe neighborhoods: What is wrong with that? Nothing. It looks like life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to me.

So I call on all of you to make sure that you GET TO THE POLLS!!! And don't just take yourself. Go the neighborhoods that may have lost their voting booths and drive your brother and sister Americans to their new voting location. I am saying to you, walk, bike, chaperone, do what you have to do to make sure that your brother and sister Americans, no matter the color of their skin, no matter where they live, GET TO THE POLLS AND EXERCISE THEIR AMERICAN RIGHT TO VOTE! Whatever it is you have to do - do it! Get yourself, your neighbors, your family, your friends, your in spirit brothers and sisters to the polls - and VOTE! As Whoopi Goldberg once said "The country you save may be your own."

In loving memory, I present to you, "I have a dream" by Martin Luther King.

Now get to the polls.

Disney Broundbreaking?

Yes, there have been a few times when a Disney heroine has said something I have wanted a woman to say in a movie for years. Yes I did want to bow down and scream "YES! Thank you!" in the movie theater. I didn't. I waited until I watched it at home. Below are listed some of my "The Big YES!" moments in Disney movies.

1. "I am not a prize to be won." Oh Princess Jasmine of "Aladdin" fame. I love you. You stopped all of those men in their tracks as they argued your future and told them point blank you were a person. I couldn't believe it when you said it. I didn't think such an amazing and truthful statement could come from a Disney heroine. I am so glad I was wrong.
2. "I'm a damsel. I'm in distress. I can handle it." Meg. Short for Megara. Short for "Hallelujah!" It was nice to see a "damsel in distress" note that she could take care of herself. And I do believe that she could. I also liked that this "femme fatale" character didn't have just one note - femme fatale. She got to have several motivations and actions and I just liked her. Plus it was so good to have a Disney heroine with a deep voice. 
3. "And for once it might be grand / to have someone understand / I want so much more then they've got planned." Belle from "Beauty and the Beast" you were the first Disney heroine I LOVED!! I still love you. You were a book reading, dreamy young woman, who had your own life plans. You didn't want a man to tell you what your dream should be. In fact, you wanted a man who knew you had more in mind than just them. :) Plus really liking someone 'cause they gave you a library? Oh you delightful Geek you!

Now Disney didn't make this video, but Disney music and characters are very enjoyable in it. :)

Sing it sisters.

Granted Disney princesses may not be perfect and the whole societal princess craze would drive anyone mad. But let us point ourselves towards the good parts about these princesses. Celebrate their character and not just their status or looks. Might be good. I know I am smiling.

Plus I knew a little girl who when playing with her Barbies had them drive to the corporations they owned and take power lunches. They might have been married.

:)

Disgusted

I have just read "Don't Travel During Ramadan." It was written by Aditya Mukerjee. (Twitter: @chimeracoder) I found it first reposted on Wil Wheaton's tumblr page. After reading it, I have this to say:

I am disgusted.

I am utterly, thorough, infuriatingly, disgusted.

Let me tell you why:

1. No one should be detained without food and water, especially if they have not been charged.
2. Proper treatment of a human being does not go out the door because they do not look like a WASP. 
3. Chemical testing seems to need improvement.
4. No one should be detained for that long. 
5. TSA agents need better education in spotting "terrorists." 
6. Apparently so do the NYPD.
7. And the FBI. 
8. Our post 9/11 security measures are a disgrace. 
9. The idiotic terror we American allow ourselves to feel and be threatened with ever since 9/11.

Yes 9/11 was terrible. Yes it was horrible. And guess what? The world did not end. However us behaving like freedom lovers was reduced. 


And finally, this story made me think: There but for the grace of God go I.

See many years ago, I went to pick up a friend at the airport. I don't remember why but as I got out of the car, I stuck my hand in my pocket. Whoa! I had a .357 slug in there. See it was hunting season and I had worn that coat when I went hunting the weekend before. I immediately counted my lucky stars and put my round in my car. I mean, if I had tried to go through security I would have been pulled aside. Though my guess is the security people, who also lived in a hunting area, would probably have understood it still would not have been a happy moment for any of us.

Now let's jet over to today, post 9/11. Had I tried to walk through any kind of security with my hunting and target practicing jacket, there would have been gun shot residue (GSR). And then there would be terror and weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth and HYSTERIA and nasty behavior on the part of the security team. Or so I am guessing. And I am pissed because lots of us will have GSR on our coats or clothes because we like shooting tin cans in safe firing ranges and why the heck is everyone just so damn hysterical and NASTY about this anyway? I don't like it. It smacks of bigotry, fear, and ignorance and I'm not a fan of any of those.

So yes, I am disgusted. And after my ranting I know why: No one should have so much power over another that they can detain them, deny them food and water, not press charges, and treat them so obnoxiously. If you don't think that could happen to you, think again.

Now to go write a few letters to some elected officials.