Speak Up. Speak Out. Speak LOUDLY.

If it wasn’t so serious, it’d almost be comical.  Mitt Romney, “An independent inspector general looked at this investment and CONCLUDED that the administration had steered money to friends and family, to campaign contributors.”  LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR LIAR.  That is not true.  No inspector general concluded this.  Why isn’t this a bigger story?  If this was true, Republicans in Congress would have jumped all over this, but even the Republican attack dog Darrell Issa concluded there seemed to be no political or criminal wrongdoing.  

When was the last time you had a civil discussion with someone who disagrees with you?  Most of us, myself included, are isolated in our own little lifestyle enclaves where everyone looks and behaves just like us.  But even surrounded by similar people, we rarely spend much time engaged with others - maybe a barbecue every once in a while, but rarely any deep meaningful discussions.  Often the result is mud-slinging by everyone (which is promoted by our corporate media). Robert Reich (see link below) has it right and so did Robert Putnam (in his book Bowling Alone).  Our broken bonds continue to wreak havoc on our physical, mental and civic health until we make a change.  Get involved!

http://robertreich.org/post/21670907549

Thank you bell hooks for that expression because that is what I am feeling right now thanks to Arizona’s new abortion restrictions (and the latest state to throw women under the bus).  A newly passed law would allow doctors to PURPOSEFULLY withhold information from women about their pregnancy. SERIOUSLY?  It also redefines when a pregnancy begins.  Why are Republicans waging a war on women’s health?  Am I in America any longer or did we get taken over by tyrants while I was sleeping? 

If we want to end abortions we MUST provide comprehensive age-appropriate sex education.  We must provide quality pre-and post-natal care for women who WANT to carry their pregnancy to term, and we MUST fight poverty.  Every child born should be wanted, loved and cared for.  Absolutely no one hopes to get an abortion someday or goes through the process with glee, but restricting them is not the answer.

Women are not imbeciles. 

Women are not children.  They don’t need lawmakers to take care of them. Please take your paternalistic bullshit and shove it where the sun don’t shine.

Women are responsible, caring, thoughtful individuals who can make decisions about their own lives!

STOP trying to tell women what they can and can’t do with their own bodies!!  

TRUST WOMEN!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/10/az-abortion-bills-arizona-gestational-age_n_1415715.html

Ever heard of Single Payer Universal Health Care?  Yeah.  We need it.  Think of it as Medicare Part E - E for everyone.  Demand it.  Health care costs are spiraling out of control and absolutely everyone deserves to have health care.  It is a right, not an option.  Help save small businesses - demand that healthcare NOT be tied to employment.

http://truth-out.org/news/item/8407-the-real-health-care-debate

Healthcare is a right. We need to focus on keeping people healthy and lowering our healthcare costs by demanding Single-Payer Universal Healthcare

Healthcare should NOT be tied to a place of employment. This is a burden to business (particularly small business), and a person should not have to stay at a horrible job (damaging their mental health) just because they need healthcare.

Catastrophe care is NOT healthcare. Some people currently have plans with a $10,000 deductible. I mean, seriously, who is going to go to the doctor with that kind of deductible?

People who are injured should not have to wait -sometimes weeks- for charity care just because they don’t have money to go to the emergency room. This costs us all money in the form of higher insurance premiums.

Doctor’s should be paid to keep their patients healthy, not the opposite. If their patients get healthier, they get more money.

Keeping people healthy will lower the cost for everyone! If our taxes pay for healthcare (cheaper than paying out of pocket after taxes!!) Tax credits could be given to help people trying to lose weight or get fit. If you lose 50lbs - tax credit! If you get a physical - tax credit. If you’re already healthy and you exercise regularly - tax credit.

http://truth-out.org/news/item/8407-the-real-health-care-debate

“Just because you cannot get pregnant does not mean I cannot think clearly, ethically, morally, rationally about my body, human life or the consequences of my actions. Just because you cannot get pregnant does not mean that I do not have rights when I am pregnant. I have responsibility but am powerless. You have power but are irresponsible with my rights.”

—Soraya Chemaly in 10 Reasons the Rest of the World Thinks the U.S. is Nuts

Read more here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/soraya-chemaly/womens-reproductive-rights_b_1345214.html

You’re too simple-minded and stupid to be able to make decisions about your own body or for anything concerning your reproductive health.  Thank goodness you have old white Republicans and the state governments to do it for you!  So don’t worry your pretty little heads and just close your eyes while the state rapes you (oh, and you probably will have to pay for it).

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/03/15/444999/pennsylvania-governor-supports-ultrasound-bill/

My favorite journalist, Glen Greenwald, wrote a fabulous piece that everyone should read about my favorite Congressman, Dennis Kucinich!  LOVE IT!

…In sum, Kucinich was one of the those rare people in Washington whose commitment to his beliefs outweighed both his loyalty to his Party and his desperation to cling to political office. He thus often highlighted the severe flaws, deceit and cowardice of his fellow Democrats and their Party as well as the broader political class. That’s why he has to be vilified as crazy and wacky. He’s long been delivering an unpleasant message about the Democratic Party and Washington generally, and like all unwanted messengers, has to be dismissed and marginalized so that this criticism disappears. Thus, those who brought us the Iraq War, Endless War in general, citizen assassinations, the systematic incineration of the Constitution known as the War on Terror, the financial collapse, the destruction of the middle class, and the financial and political supremacy of banker-criminals are sane and respectable. Those who most vehemently opposed those assaults, like Dennis Kucinich, are the “wackiest.”

http://www.salon.com/2012/03/10/dennis_kucinich_and_wackiness/