Gobble gobble

I will be out for the Thanksgiving holiday...best wished to all...back by end of week!

Here's an old riddle...why did the turkey join the band?

Of course, I'm talking about Perry.....

Palin vs. Cheney or Perry vs. Kay Bailey?

Hat tip to Susan at Kiss My Big Blue Butt for this story.

Looks like "Darth Cheney and Sarah Palin are fighting out over who is going to be Governor of Texas. "
Darth is backing Kay Bailey, Palin is in Perry's corner.
It's a heap-o-fun moment.

And in keeping thematically with the conservative aversion to being pro-choice, once again, there is no true choice in this kitchen, as both vegetables are pretty much of the squash variety.

Only in Austin

Man Accused of selling pot door to door.
Only in Austin.

Reebok shoes don't shine

Hey, women: is your goal in life to make men stare at you body and gain the resentment of other women in the process? Oh, and do you like the color pink? Good, Reebok has a shoe for you.

This is an ad that is not selling self-esteem to women. Why go here? I mean, it's not like this ad is targeted to teenage boys. It's targeting women! Women whose goal in life is to make other women jealous, women whose goal in life is to make men stare at their bodies.

Utter stupidity aside, why on earth would any woman in her right mind want to buy a pair of shoes that makes her feet and legs work harder?

Texas Drought History

This is kind of a cool animated drought indicator for Texas.

Women Have Been Asked to Give Away Too Much in the Name of Party Unity

This week I have been pondering the implications of the Stupak-Pitts amendment, which bans abortion coverage from federally subsidized health insurance policies.

And I am appalled.

Basically, women have been thrown under the bus for the sake of this compromise and the need for a Democratic win. It's bad enough that it was a group of maverick Democrats who demanded this compromise. For some reason it seems almost worse that other Dems accepted it without any sincere, deep protest. This amendment could be the slippery slope many of us have seen coming and have dreaded, a landslide back into space and time. I just never thought it would come when the Democrats were at the helm.

So, why should this type of compromise disturb even the most centrist Democrat?

First, it brings home how well the right has scored points on creating a mindset where abortion is seen as the lazy woman's method of birth control. This is not true, but it is also no longer debated as rightwing mythology.

Secondly, it shows all the hallmarks of complaceny (and a serious lack of funding) for Pro-Choice agencies when Pro-Choice advocates are constantly being placed on the defensive and caught by surprise (or are we just assuming it was a surprise, how much do we really know about back room deals)?

Also, this is disturbing because here's what I have not seen in the media, no real deep discussion. I have heard no mention of why abortion might need to be funded if it is an intervention to save the life of the mother. No discussion of abortion for rape or incest. I cannot help but remember the 13 year-old client I counseled at the local rape crisis center, who had become impregnated twice by her own father. Should this child have been forced to carry to term her father's baby?


And sometimes a women or teen dies if she does not receive a medical intervention to terminate her pregnancy. Where is the humanity, the pro-life caring when it comes to saving her life? If she is poor, where will she be able to go? When all healthcare is regulated by laws such as this proposal, what doctors or clinic will even continue to perform abortions for those who need them for whatever reason?

When has the Democratic Party ever recently, so artlessly turned its back on women and what will the repercussions be in the next election. Will many pro-choice women just sit the next one out, and to hell with the party that once supported them?

This slippery slope has other slippery slopes on the horizon. Whom will the Democratic Party betray next to achieve their goals, so that Obama can declare he accomplished his promised reform? Most likely it will be illegal immigrants and gay rights advocates. Many in these groups might reply that they have not felt a lot of the love recently, but just remember, it can get worse.

And this brings to mind the old nugget:
First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Speak up now for women's rights to choose.

Update
Some interesting news. Apparently Truthout reports this:

The Stupak-Pitts Amendment, barring private and public health insurance plans from offering abortions as part of basic coverage if they accept government subsidies, risks sinking the fragile health bill passed Saturday. President Obama and numerous Democrats say they will not support its passage with the amendment included.

Liberal House Democrats, led by Reps. Diana DeGette (D-Colorado) and Louise Slaughter (D-New York), are leading a group of more than 40 Democrats, enough to block the passage of a final bill, in writing a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) threatening to withhold their support if federal funding for abortion services is strictly prohibited in the final legislative bill.

Damn.

Remembering Veterans' Day

My dad and uncle went to Texas A&M back at the beginning of WW II. My uncle graduated and went into the Navy. My dad, along with the entire junior and senior class at A&M, resigned to sign up for duty. Strange to think that during 1943-44, Texas A&M had no football team because half the school had gone off to war. My dad was in college ROTC and had only 2 years of officer training.

At that time, my dad was only 18 years old, as he started college at 17. It seems a bit strange to think that he was placed as an officer over an entire regiment of all Black soldiers in the Philippines, as the military (and society) was then still segregated.

Regardless, the fact that so many young men were willing to forgo their final two years of college to go and fight should be commended. They could have stayed in school and used their deferment, but chose to do what they thought was the hard but right thing.

My dad later went back and graduated from A&M after the war was over. He and his brother were the only 2 children my grandparents had and both were off fighting in the south Pacific. I can only imagine how worrisome that must have been for my grandparents. Later, my dad was sent to Tokyo for the Japanese surrender, where he was given the rifle, bayonet and sword of a Japanese officer during the surrender ceremony. Here are some photos I found. In the first picture, he is front, far right.

Thanks, dad, for all you did.