why do I shave my legs...hmmmm

I like soft hair. And humans have a lot of it. But the other night I was wondering why I do all the work to shave my legs, and then wear pants all winter. Humanbeings are so strange, always always altering their bodies. The next question to ask is why men are starting to shave their chests.

clipped from www.straightdope.com from the Journal of American Culture by Christine Hope bearing the grand title "Caucasian Female Body Hair and American Culture." The gist of the article is that U.S. women were browbeaten into shaving underarm hair by a sustained marketing assault that began in 1915. (Leg hair came later.) The aim of what Hope calls the Great Underarm Campaign was to inform American womanhood of a problem that till then it didn't know it had, namely unsightly underarm hair. Some argue that there's more to this than short skirts and sleeveless dresses. Cecil's colleague Marg Meikle (Dear Answer Lady, 1992) notes that Greek statues of women in antiquity had no pubic hair, suggesting that hairlessness was some sort of ideal of feminine beauty embedded in Western culture.

ISU Library Newsletter Contest

I submitted "Oobler Oogler", but it didn't win. But this is pretty cute anyway.

clipped from libpublic2.eol.isu.edu The Oboler Library recently held a contest to name their new in-house newsletter, which is posted on the doors of the library’s restrooms. Competition was fierce, with over 75 entries! Many of them were definitely worthy to be the bulletin’s new title. Library Reference staff donated funds to purchase the award, a $25 gift certificate for University Bookstore. Oboler Library’s Reference staff had a great time selecting the winner, though choosing just one was difficult. There was surprisingly little duplication, which shows just how clever and creative our library patrons are! Here are some of the runners-up, or “dishonorable mentions,” as one staff member quipped: · The Straight Flush · Bengal News Flush · Flushing Times · The Flush Factor · Library Leak · News from the Throne · Morning Constitution · LavaStories · Tissue Issues · The Toilet Paper · View from the Loo

AP Insanity

I can't believe this is what goes as news. Is the AP really out there to start wars, pit two groups against one another, American vs. American? Well according to this AP wire story, KPVI in Pocatello picked up, there is evidence to show they are.

http://www.kpvi.com/Global/story.asp?S=9356535

This article is especially offensive to me in 2 ways.

A. By reporting on "not publicly cited" evidence, it is just conjecture. This may be seen in two ways. One way is that it points out that Mormon's will believe something, even when there isn't evidence to support it. That's not a way to make the LDS church more popular in America.

B. It is pitting Mormons against gays, in some sort of false dichotomy. The people involved on both sides of the Prop 8 issue are Americans. The LDS Church's playing of the blame game only works to bias people against the Church. Whenever a church calls other American's terrorists, right after opposing them rights, it makes the church look only MORE bigoted. You oppose their rights and then call them terrorists.

In this story, of course it must be the gays...it couldn't possibly be the fact that there were FLDS have been in the news for the last few months and people may have a problem with the FLDS and not know the difference; nor could it be some angry church member about any of the other issue that the church has going on. It couldn't be that the church has a history of racism, or that there are lots of angry Republicans in Utah, over an election and church-targeted threats make news.

Anther thing the article, and framing of the Mormon's as the victims in this, is minimizing their role in Prop 8. I'm not sure that some church member make the claim to the AP to help cast them as the vicitm. I don't think this is something a church would come out and say when there is no evidence.

How about professional journalists report when there is new, instead of when there are just blame games and divisiveness to report.

presidential debate schedule

September 26, 2008: Presidential debate with domestic policy focus, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS
October 2, 2008: Vice Presidential debate, Washington University, St. Louis, MO
October 7, 2008: Presidential debate in a town hall format, Belmont University, Nashville, TN
October 15, 2008:Presidential debate with foreign policy focus, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY

Look Twice

Sweet...I love science

clipped from greatergood.berkeley.edu America that is moving past traditional racial divisions and prejudices, it's probably safe to assume that all of us harbor more biases than we think. More recent research shows that our prejudices are not inevitable; they are actually quite malleable, shaped by an ever-changing mix of cultural beliefs and social circumstances. Old-fashioned racism and sexism were known quantities because people would mostly say what they thought. Blacks were lazy; Jews were sly; women were either dumb or bitchy. Modern equivalents continue, of course—look at current portrayals of Mexican immigrants as criminals (when, in fact, crime rates in Latino neighborhoods are lower than those of other ethnic groups at comparable socioeconomic levels).

To be a feminist again.
Going to the book store tonight was refreshing. Reading through the essays and looking at the books on topics I love was great. For one, it reminded me of why I identify as a feminist.

Ahhhhh, to be a feminst.
So to understand reproductive justice must come first the understanding of injustice. For women injustice when government and societal structures impede on the thing closest to you, your body.

People agree that rape is an injustice. Rape is the most intrusive bodily violence. Not only is it an assault on your body, but it is an assault framed on sexuality because of the nature of the organs that are involved.

A survivor of sexual violence come to recognize they are a sexual physical being.

Rape is also an exprience of your body being controlled by another person. This loss of control is unplesant and society and laws are sympathetic to this. But there are laws and a history that also intrude upon women's bodies, like rape.

The lack of reproductive health care and especially the lack of comprehensive sex/sexuality education and family planning supplies like birth control, and safe abortions, are things that women must fight for. They must fight for it in a system that has only included women in positions of legislative power since August 18, 1920. Only 24% of Congress is female and have female bodies they must care for.

Women are considered an oppressed group because they are not given the power to (equal power as men) to control their own lives. Women have more opportunities then they did in the past, even what I have the opportunities to do is far greater then my mother. But today, even with the opportunities that are increasing there is not equality. Even when a woman does get a traditionally male position (like in the sciences) we are still making only 77% of what a man with the same experience and qualifications does. The reasons for this are not blatently misigomist, but there are social pressures for behavior that impede women. Most of these pressures are throwbacks to the history of women's position, not about individuals' lackings.

Even in the historical female responsiblity for family planning has become politicized by men and sciences through laws. What was a taken-for-granted as logical choices for women, decisions about their own bodies, is still being fought for.

This is why I am a feminst.

Time for some campaigning

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Netroots Nation Day 1

Okay, here is post 1 about my trip to NN08!
I got to SLC about midnight and met my friend Chris's mom, Lordes. She is very interesting, her house is filled with stuff, all kinds of stuff. Ranging from cheap crap to very expensive foreign dolls, this place is packed. I slept with, gah! of all things, a bed full of elephants.

You know what they say..."if you lie with the dogs, you will get flees". I don't know just what I'll get from sleeping with elephants.



So I got to Phoenix about 6:40 am. I had breakfast with my friend Ellen.

I had very nice conversations on the flights with lovely people. One is Affton a BYU student, and another was Linda, a woman from California.

We talked the whole time on the planes and really didn't get bored for a moment. it is nice to meet new people, and it was a treat that I sat next to them.




I got to Austin about 1:40 pm and got my suitcase and then met up with Dorothy from Hawaii. We took a taxi ride to the hotel. I checked in, took a shower and then had a minor emergency!
The cord to charge my computer was dead and I couldn't charge my computer! So I took at $12 cab ride to the place where I could get one, and $45 later, I had a new charger. The guy at the hotel said it would cost just $.050 to ride the #3 bus back to the hotel, but I couldn't find the bus stop, so I decided to walk. I was on 26th st, and the hotel is on 3rd and over about 6 blocks. I wasn't thinking right when I realized that this is about 3 miles! It was humid and about 95 degrees outside, but I walked back to the hotel. Here were some of the sites I saw walking back to my hotel.

I was carrying my purse and my computer, and I was sweating like a pig...just look at my shirt when I got back.

Then I went back to the hotel. changed my shirt and blogged a bit.







Then I went to the BurntOrange party. It hadn't started yet, so I got a fat tire beer and talked to a local regular about the soccor game on TV.

I went outside where I met some wonderful people. I met Greg from MT and a local Austinite who has some great ideas about precinct grassroots organizing. Greg from MT and I talked a bit about rural politics, and MT. There was another guy there who was cool who was wearing a gree O*bama shirt and responsible for a cool flier I want to post on my door in the hotel. It says "Democracy begins at Home" and has suggestions on organizing neighborhoods.

During the BurntOrange party I met the founders of Drinking Liberally! Here they are. Greg is in the middle, and I forget the guy on the left's name, but you can look it up by going to drinkingliberally.org.
I got swag bag and was so starving, I ate the fortune cookie right away. Check out this fortune..."For some sad reason, you still have high hopes for Ron Paul". So I taped it to a postcard I'm sending to a friend.

Well, I'm off again. I'll post more later.
Peace!

More on racism and wealth

clipped from www1.umn.edu Rich with exhaustive research and statistics, this book is also a compelling history of the United States. The Color of Wealth makes the case that since the founding of the colonies, the U.S. government has systematically enacted policies that favored white wealth acquisition--like Jim Crow laws, the denial of citizenship (and thus property rights) to Chinese immigrants and land theft from Mexican-Americans and Native Americans throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Even the venerated G.I. Bill, which is credited with creating the middle class after World War II, did little to help African-American veterans who were denied admission to predominantly white colleges and redlined out of many neighborhoods. The result today is that white families are more likely to acquire wealth through inheritance, own stocks and other investments and possess homes with a higher average value than families of color.

Yes, the rich are getting richer

While this evidence maybe good for seeing improvement it is still the richest 20% of people making most the money. In 2006, the median annual household income was $48,201.00 according to the Census Bureau. Census data also shows that 19.26% of all households had annual incomes exceeding $100,000. They are making twice as much as the middle class. The top 20% of Americans are making 5 times more then the lower class. Another sad point is that 12.3% of middle-class people's income declined in 2006 and they are living in poverty and the bottom.
And also, the top 6.37% of Americans are making one third of all the income in America.

So these facts, however positive they may seem to African Americans' economic improvement, they are masking that African Americans are still making just 60% of White Americans, and the continued economic inequality in America.

clipped from findarticles.com For African Americans in households earning $100,000 or more annually, that rate increased to 7.4%, up from 6.5% of those polled, or 1.275 million, up from 1.089 million. The number of households earning more than $100,000 annually increased to 12.7% or 16.31 million in 2001, up from 11.9% or 14.89 million people in 2000. 2000 2001 Overall Adults with Household Incomes of $75,000 22.6% 24.3% African American Adults with Household Incomes of $75,000 14.9% 16.5% African American Adults with Household Incomes of $100,000 6.5% 7.4% Overall Adults with Household Incomes of $100,000 11.9% 12.7%

Racism's complexities

clipped from www.gossamer-wings.com African American salaries are 60% of white American salaries. Bill Gates has more wealth in securities than all black American households combined. 10,000 blacks have graduated from America’s top 25 business colleges in the last 25 years. But almost no blacks have ownership or stock options or are CEOs of top corporations especially the new high tech companies. Nor do blacks serve on the boards for Internet companies. In fact, a recent book, Black Wealth/White Wealth, authors Melvin Oliver and Thomas Shapiro say that systemic barriers to upward mobility have seriously impaired the ability of many black Americans to accumulate wealth and a better life. For example, the average white blue collar worker has been able to accumulate more wealth than the average black professional, at least in part due to the country’s history of racial oppression.

part two of Woot

clipped from www.youtube.com

My favorite video, of late

clipped from www.youtube.com Neighborhood Leaders - Part 1 Democrats in 50 states are taking to the street...

My Online Schedule

Wow, seems like I'm online all the time lately. so just where does my time go?

wake up-drink water
check e-mail(s)...reply to e-mails
Check Daily Kos
Check other blogs/news
Check E-mail
Eat breakfast
Shower-dress
Check e-mail/Daily Kos
Make daily plans
Smoke
check e-mails and Daily Kos, and democrats.org
Write, or start to write something
Look through books on activism
think about sewing
mess with computer set up
Smoke
make ipod playlist
clean
Water Garden/weed garden
Smoke
Check email/Daily Kos
Surf around, read pollster.com, polling report, fivethirtyeight.com, democrats.org.

Yes sometimes I go to work, and make a lot of phone calls.

I believe this is too true.

clipped from www.dailykos.com You Americans Aren't Selfish Enough You pay all these taxes but you don't want anything in return for it.  You don't want free health care.  You don't want time off of work.  You don't want anything.  You're not selfish enough. You get mad when someone is taking welfare and sitting on their ass.  What have you got against sitting on your ass?  The whole point behind having a government and paying taxes is to have more time to sit on your ass.  That's what technology is for.  You Americans work longer than anyone, pay all these taxes, make all these robots, and then you not only don't you sit on your ass, but you get mad when anyone else does.  You're fucking crazy.

It Sounds Like A War Outside

I'm not a big fan of fireworks. They are costly, and don't do much for me.

But since yesterday was Independence Day I thought back about how I have spent my past Fourth of Julys.

For the last 2 years I went to my local bar's party and hung out with new people. But before that, I spent time with some veterans to see just how these super patriotic families celebrate.

I spent the 4th with Anita, Sonia, and Tom. Tom and Anita are Veterans. I would also add that both his son and daughter joined the military and have been sent to war, just like both Anita and Tom. I dated his daughter for awhile right before she was sent to Afganistan. His son, Mike, also joined the military and was sent to Iraq. When he was sent, he had two sons, a 2-yr-old and a 4-yr-old. In Iraq he had 3 of his fingers blown off, and part of his head. while the Army surgeons did a great job, everytime I think of Iraq, or Mike, I think of what this man gave up and the reasons he did.

We BBQed, and jumped on the trampoline. But about dark, I learned more about what it means to be a veteran. In Vietnam, Tom helped spray agent orange, and got sprayed himself. Because of his time in Vietnam, he has PTSD, and while we loved watching the Army Marching Band, and the fireworks on TV, at dusk I saw something different happen.

While his wife, Anita, and the 5 puppies went outside to sit and listen to the fireworks. But before we went outside I helped in the 4th of July ritual. We had to close all the windows and drapes, and make sure he was situated with plenty of pillows and blankets. Then he locked himself in the room with some headphones and an Ipod.

As we were sitting out on the porch alone, I learned that because of his PTSD, the 4th of July is a bad time for him. Fireworks sound like bombs and give him flashbacks to being in war. He has to listen to music and put the pillows over his head. Even the flashing lights can give him flashbacks, and when they come he can be disfunctional for a week.

It is strange to me that Americans would celebrate our Indepencence by reenacting war. We could be doing more like NPR, reading the Delcaration of Independence and Constitutuion, leanring more about our own form of government and the founders, but instead we put on a theatric imitation of war. We didn't become who we are because of war, be became America because of the ideas and committment of our founders. It wasn't death that made this country, it was life.

I think fireworks can be cool sometimes, like for new years eve, or other special occasions, but it seems counter-intuitive to celebrate the 4th how we do.

Words and Lyrics of Inspiration

Here are a few of my favorite lyrics from songs that motivate me to stay involved.
From Sophia by the Cruxshadows

"So you must carry this light into the darkness
You shall be a star unto the night
You will find hope alive among the hopeless
That is your purpose to this life

The lips draw words and hands find actions
Still there is more within one heart
Into the silence will you answer
Before the chaos will you come

Do not injustice to another
Defend the weak and innocent
Let truth and honor always guide you
Let courage find the light within

Stand up when no one else is willing
Act not in hatred or in spite
Be to this world as a perfect knight
Even if it means your life "

From Activism by Ryan Harvey

"slept through my classes and I stayed up late
Writing leaflets, painting signs to demonstrate
I wrote a message on my shirt and I wore it everyday
I'm letting everyone know what I have to say

There's a new world in my heart that I can feel
And I'm gonna work to make it real

I pasted a bunch of posters on the wall
I wrote a little message in the bathroom stall
I started up a conversation on the train
I convinced my friend's brother not to join the Marines

I wrote a song and sang it at the top of my lungs
I held a banner up til my hands went numb
I pushed my way through the barricades
Went down the sides streets and had my own parade

I saw a bunch of people looking hungry on the street
So I got a bunch of food and gave it all away for free
I stole from rich corporations and I gave to the poor
One day I won't have to do that anymore

Now there's hundreds of thousands dead in Iraq
I won't turn my head away while they're under attack
I'm a force for change, I'm an activist
I will organize and struggle for a peace that sticks

Everybody's waiting for a miracle cure
Asking everybody else when no one's sure
The answer's in your hands, that's what you gotta know
You gotta shape it, if you wanna see it grow"

From Desert Rat we have
“the extent to which a nation can democratically decide what goods and services they are going to produce and consume, under what conditions these goods and services are going to be produced and consumed, with what entities they will engage in trade, and under what conditions this trade will take place, how the resulting wealth will distributed, and what result these activities will have on the natural environment, is the extent it is a nation.”

First post, what I'm thinking.

I’m thinking of a lot of things right now. I’ve been going through my notes on my first introduction to power and how it works against people.
She is thinking about war, what it is, how it works, the people and industries involved and why it is hard to end it.
She is thinking about gender, how it is constructed, and the systems that keep it working mostly to the disadvantage of women and children.
She is looking at the soul of veterans, not just the ones in war, but the ones of the social change movements.
She is wondering how IPSA can re-imagion itself and bring back to a core of understanding we are fighting power. We use service as a reactionary instant relief, but if we only treat symptoms then we aren’t fixing things. We need to remember it goes further. It is only one strategy, and is nesseccary, but not the end of our work.
She is thinking that time is what she needs. Time with others.
She needs to talk right now, but she has other pressing engagements as part of her work that it won’t happen yet. Yet.

Plan:
IPSA/progressive organization alliance of Pocatello.
Film Group
Groups to invite
IEA
LVW
ICAN
Open Spaces Committee
Co-Op
Poky Free Bikes
HALO
Human Rights Committee
City Environmental Advisory Board
UU/UCC
Concerned Citizens
Church Women
Anderson Center
FSA
Aid for Friends
SCSC/ISU
SAB-ISU
Community Garden group
City Recyling Group
Belmont
League of Conservative Voters-Conservation League
Public Library
City Services/environmental fair group
Idaho Rivers United
District 6 health department
Food Bank
SEICCA
ICAN in poky
PFLAG
Idaho Equality Committee
PNHS
NAU/Tribal Government
NAACP
Genesis Project
Rural Health