Good morning!

Carilla: You are right, and right on with the timing. :)

This is the anniversary of 4 years of me writing my blog. Although I started this blog, I like to think of it as “our” blog…you know a community blog. And by community I mean, the “world” community. It belongs to all of us…all of you who have made it what it is.

So…What is it?

Well…it’s at least something that I am very proud of. And that is the fact that for 4 years I have been talking and writing about Darfur…and what we can do to stop the genocide and mass atrocities that were happening on a daily basis, especially to the women and children. 

The Sudanese government began forcing out the non-arab Sudanese that resided in Southern Sudan. They began a Genocide campaign of burning, murdering, and terrorizing the non-arab sudanese to drive them from their lands. As always it was about money. The money from the oil and minerals under their land. And as always, the women and children suffered the most.

At the time when I first heard about all that was going on in Darfur, the stories and the people touched my heart. I wanted to be sure that their plight would be in the public light all of the time, so I made a point to not only blog about it, but to create a safe place for the people of Darfur to be heard. My blog provided a platform 24/7, as long as I wrote. And of course as long as you, my readers, were here with me too…they felt heard.

And as a result, 4 years later, so close to the anniversary of my blog, I’d like to make their Independence part of the celebration of my 4 years here.

There’s still a long way to go with Darfur, and I’d like to think I have a long way to go with my blog. (Ugh..did I actually say that?) I did, and I do mean it.

And no doubt there will be other challenges. There always are. I’d like to see Obama get re-elected amongst other things that I am passionate about. So…what are my passions? Keep reading, because if you don’t know what drives me…what pulls at my heart, stick around, you soon will.

Anyway, I just want to thank everyone who has been here with me…the regulars who chime in almost daily, and of course the newbies who write in with fiery passion and enthusiasm, and instantly become a part of the family – love having new blood on my blog. So…keep telling your friends. Change can and does happen here.

I’ll finish with saying…just as long as we always remember, we can say anything we want ’cause it’s only words. You know…”sticks and stones…” We’re still a family, so let’s remember that, and “no threats”, Okay? Enjoy!

Oh..before I sign off, while I am mentioning the successes of “our” blog, I don’t want to forget to congratulate one of our long time regulars, “Anonz” for doing his part to prevent the ‘Fony Fox News owner Rubert Murdoch from acquiring ownership of BSkyB.  You old timers are used to getting scoops like the one Anonymous #9 posted July 11, 2011 saying that Anonz was going to nix the acquisition.

Today’s news is…and I am quoting  from a HuffPost article -  Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. has withdrawn its $12 billion bid for BSkyB. The withdrawal represents a devastating blow to Murdoch, who had desperately sought to take full control of the satellite broadcaster. It comes after the British government, which had previously given every indication that it wanted the deal to progress, dramatically withdrew its support for the bid on Tuesday in the wake of the ever-deepening scandal surrounding News Corp and its UK subsidiary, News International.

According to Anonymous #9 that may not be the end of Anonz’s revenge. It seems he is intent on seeing that Murdoch loses money in a few civil suits and that some of his employees go to jail.  Stay tuned.

“Peace & Love”…You know what to do.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2011

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

It’s time for us to demand it.

Good morning!

Readers: My suggestion before you read on, is to click over first to read an article that this author wrote last week.

Will America Kill the Equal Rights Amendment?

I wrote an article last week — “From Hope to History: It’s Time to Pass the Equal Rights Amendment” — that generated hundreds of comments and thousands of shares. Why? Many readers were dismayed and confused to learn that this simply worded sentence is still not in the U.S. Constitution, even after 88 years:

Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.

Readers who believed the Equal Rights Amendment had already passed through Congress to become the 28th Amendment to the Constitution years ago were shocked. The amendment, first written in 1923 by Alice Paul, was, in fact, approved by Congress and sent to the states in 1972 with a ten-year deadline for ratification, but by 1982, supporters had managed to sign on only 35 of the 38 states needed to add the amendment to the Constitution.

Some who are not in favor of the Equal Rights Amendment claim it is redundant and unnecessary, often citing the 14th Amendment, which they say already protects the rights of women. It does not. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia publicly stated that the 14th Amendment was never intended to protect women. It was only intended to protect race. Federal and state law cannot protect citizens who are not protected under the Constitution. He made this remark in January 2011:

Certainly the Constitution does not require discrimination on the basis of sex. The only issue is whether it prohibits it. It doesn’t.

Sensing that people are as confused about the issue as I am, but just as eager to turn the promise of the Equal Rights Amendment into a reality, I interviewed key thought leaders who are directly involved in efforts to get the Equal Rights Amendment passed.

Why do we need the Equal Rights Amendment?

Laws can be repealed. Judicial attitudes can shift. We continue to see demonstrable cases of systemic gender discrimination — even in this day and age when women have come so far. Establishing the clear unambiguous language of the Equal Rights Amendment into the U.S. Constitution would have a real impact on our national consciousness. Our democracy rests on the principle of ‘liberty and justice for all.’ We need the ERA to ensure that this concept applies equal to women.

– Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), who reintroduced the Equal Rights Amendment on June 22nd, 2011.

Women in the armed services are fighting on the front lines in two wars to protect and defend a constitution that does not protect and defend them. The U.S. strongly urged Iraq and Afghanistan to include women in their new constitutions as they rebuild their societies; yet we have not led by example.

– Carolyn A. Cook, founder and CEO of United 4 Equality, and author of the HJ Res. 47 resolution, which calls for Congress to officially remove the time limit for ratification of the ERA.

First, a movement has to move and the women’s movement will only grow and thrive if it keeps on pushing for policies such as the ERA — which is nothing more than the American value of fairness and equality under the law. Second, because even though it hasn’t passed yet, every time we have made it an issue, women have advanced in myriad ways. And third, we must pass it because it is the right thing to do. No cause is lost when it is the right thing to do.

– Gloria Feldt, activist, and author of No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power.

What are the options for getting the Equal Rights Amendment passed once and for all?

There are two strategies that are currently being pursued by those who support the Equal Rights Amendment:

Rep. Carolyn Maloney explained it this way:

I have introduced the full ‘start-over’ ERA in each Congress since I arrived because the rights of women deserve to be constitutional. This Congress, I introduced H.J.RES 69 with over 155 original cosponsors. This would re-set the ratification count at zero and start the ratification process over again. In addition to the ‘start-over’ strategy, there is the ‘three-state’ strategy, which would put the ERA in our Constitution when an additional three states ratify, which, when added to the original 35 states, add up to the necessary 38 ratifications. However, some Constitutional scholars believe that this approach would violate the Constitution and would likely be subject to a challenge which would likely win in court and invalidate the entire ratification. Nevertheless, I support both strategies and believe in doing anything that will increase the chances that the ERA will be included in the Constitution.

To address the issues inherent in the “three state strategy,” Carolyn A. Cook spearheaded a resolution which she authored (HJ Res. 47) urging Congress to remove the time limit for ratification in the final three states needed. According to Carolyn,

It is a far more efficient, fair and likely-to-succeed approach than hitting the reset button on ERA. I drafted the proposal, recruited some passionate ERA advocates from unratified states to help, and together we introduced this bill on March 8th to mark the 100th anniversary of Women’s Equality Day. This day serves as a reminder that the U.S. cannot curb the human rights abuses of women and girls worldwide while denying them constitutional equality at home.

Mike Hersh, on staff at the Progressive Democrats of America, succinctly summed up why we need to pursue the “three state strategy” instead of starting over:

Starting over requires a 2/3 vote in favor from both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, which we can’t expect until 2013 at the earliest. For reference, this has been tried in every Congress for many years, and has never passed, even when Nancy Pelosi was the Speaker and Democrats had huge majorities in both the House and Senate. Once we get the ERA out of Congress again, we’d have to start over from zeo and get 38 states to ratify the amendment. Fewer than half that many are likely to do so in the foreseeable future. So starting over would almost definitely take several decades.
What can we do to ensure that America does not kill the Equal Rights Amendment?

Complacency will kill the Equal Rights Amendment, and we need to change the tone of the discourse. Let’s stop thinking about it in terms of us against them, left vs. right, conservative vs. liberal, men vs. women. Reframe the issue of the Equal Rights Amendment and ask yourself this question:

Is it the right thing to do?

Can a country that prides itself as the leader and protector of democracy in the world, and one which implores other countries to include the word “women” in their constitutions (Afghanistan and Iraq), still not protect the rights of women in its own?

If you believe the Equal Rights Amendment should be in our U.S. Constitution, here’s what you can do:

If you believe the Equal Rights Amendment should be in our U.S. Constitution, here’s what you can do:

• Share this article.

• Read up on both strategies (starting over and the three-state solution) to better understand why the three-state solution is probably the stronger option, and get behind it.
• Contact your local government representative and urge them to co-sponsor “HJ Res 47: Removing the Deadline for Ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.”
• Visit United4Equality.com and “friend” them on Facebook to get more information on how you can help push through the HJ Res. 47.
• Contact your local NOW office, and start volunteering.
• Go to Facebook pages such as ERA Now, ERA Once and For All, and Equal Rights Amendment to get up-to-date information.

If you believe in the Equal Rights Amendment, then get behind it, and get it done.

Personal message to Lady GaGa, if you’re reading: My teenaged daughters, who are aghast that we have not yet been able to figure out how to pass the Equal Rights Amendment in this country, are huge fans of yours, and your message about “baby, you were born this way.” Think about this, Lady GaGa: your fans were “born this way” without the protection of the Constitution. You can help. Support this. It’s the right thing to do.

***********

Thoughts? Opinions? Ideas? What’s your view? Blog me.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2011

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Good morning!

So today, the 4th of July, is a day in celebration of our independence. And, in light of what I am about to post,  I am not saying that you should not celebrate with family and friends. I’m just saying to think about this day in a different light than you usually do.

Like always…just keeping it real.

The Damaging Three Words of the Declaration of Independence

When I moved to San Francisco decades ago, I was invited to any number of July 4th gatherings. They all had two things in common.

First, they were freezing. What was with this fog?

Second, at someone’s suggestion – I think mine, but cannot claim authorship for sure – we started reading the Declaration of Independence out loud. I had a World Almanac that contained a copy. Yes, the New York Times prints a full page version of the original, but those old f’s for s’s, among other stumbles, made us choose more modern type.

Our tradition was to set out the picnic stuff, run back to the car for another jacket or sweater, maybe a hat or gloves, then, once the shivering merriment was underway, pull out the Almanac, and open it to the Declaration.

We took turns, each person reading a paragraph or two, or part of one, depending on such factors as the reader’s dramatic interpretation inclination, or shyness. Then the reader would pass the book to the next person.

I really liked doing this – if not then, when? – but the tradition took place years before I started working on my book, Indian Voices: Listening to Native Americans and, well, I was not paying a lot of attention to certain phrases. My Euro-centric background was just fine with Th. Jefferson’s prose. So much of it was thrilling. “He has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts …” Whew! “… circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy” what rhythm, what cadence, I thought.

Eventually, however, we get to “domestic Insurrections amongst us,” and here it comes, the phrase that distresses me so much after spending close to a decade meeting, and listening to, Native Americans, that I can barely stand to read it, nor type it.

“… the merciless Indian Savages.”

Say what? From the elegantly-quotable Jefferson? Yes. “… the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes and Conditions.”

While Native Americans celebrate this 4th of July weekend, probably with hotdogs and fireworks, and possibly a powwow (as far as I know, the day has not attained the level of dislike or dismissal in Indian country that there is towards Columbus Day), I wonder whether we might all read the Declaration of Independence out loud, consider what that three word phrase wrought, not to mention the words about “undistinguished Destruction.” Destruction of who by whom? Native people, among others, may ask.

The words themselves are so savage, it is a wonder to me that there had already been a celebrating of Thanksgiving.

***********

Comments? Blog me.

Daniel: Thanks for the advice. I haven’t done any upgrades to my blog for awhile and was just talking to someone who is going to help me with the upgrade. But it sounds like that may not be the answer. If I change to another service, do you have any suggestions of where I should go? Thanks.

Lucy, Stepfan, anonymous, and any one else who is frustrated posting: I know it sucks. It just isn’t my service though. There are other things that come into play. Sorry for the hassle. I am working on it.

Have a Happy 4th of July everyone! Have fun – Be safe. And if you’re biking, don’t be stupid – wear a helmet. :)

Peace out.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2011

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

This story just makes me so sad, and angry too. This is a case of the police and the community being willing to sentence a 21 year old man with no criminal record to death, for killing a police officer who was part of a raid on the wrong house and who was shot as he and others broke into the man’s home without warning.

Cory Maye To Be Released From Prison

MONTICELLO, Miss. — After 10 years of incarceration, and seven years after a jury sentenced him to die, 30-year-old Cory Maye will soon be going home. Mississippi Circuit Court Judge Prentiss Harrell signed a plea agreement Friday morning in which Maye pled guilty to manslaughter for the 2001 death of Prentiss, Mississippi, police officer Ron Jones, Jr.

Per the agreement, Harrell then sentenced Maye to 10 years in prison, time he has now already served. Maye will be taken to Rankin County, Mississippi, for processing and some procedural work. He is expected to be released within days.

Maye’s story, a haunting tale about race, the rural south, the excesses of the drug war, the inequities of the criminal justice system and a father’s instincts to protect his daughter, caught fire across the Internet and the then-emerging blogging world when I first posted the details on my own blog in late 2006.

Shortly after midnight on December 26, 2001, Maye, then 21, was drifting off to sleep in his Prentiss duplex as the television blared in the background. Hours earlier, he had put his 18-month-old-daughter to sleep. He was soon awoken by the sounds of armed men attempting to break into his home. In the confusion, he fired three bullets from the handgun he kept in his nightstand.

As he’d later testify in court, Maye realized within seconds that he’d just shot a cop. A team of police officers from the area had received a tip from an informant — later revealed to be a racist drug addict — that there was a drug dealer living in the small yellow duplex on Mary Street. It now seems clear that the police were after Jamie Smith, who lived on the other side of the duplex, not Maye or his live-in girlfriend Chenteal Longino. Neither Maye nor Longino had a criminal record. Their names weren’t on the search warrants.

Maye would later testify that as soon as he realized the armed men in his home were police, he surrendered and put up his hands. There were three bullets still left in his gun. But Maye had just shot a cop. And not just any cop. He shot Officer Ron Jones, Jr., the son of Prentiss Police Chief Ron Jones, Sr. Maye is black; Jones was white. And this was Jefferson Davis County, a part of Mississippi still divided by tense relations between races. Maye was arrested and charged with capital murder, the intentional killing of a police officer.

After a long series of delays, Maye was finally tried in 2004 in Marion County, Mississippi. Maye’s family shied away from retaining Bob Evans, the Prentiss public defender, a decision they’d later come to regret. Instead, they pooled their money and hired Ronda Cooper, an attorney in Jackson who made a number of critical mistakes during Maye’s trial. There were other problems with Maye’s trial as well, including testimony from Mississippi medical examiner Steven Hayne, who performed the autopsy on Jones. I’d later report on a number of questions about Hayne’s workload and credibility as an expert witness. He eventually resigned from the National Association of Medical Examiners and was barred from doing any more autopsies for Mississippi prosecutors.

In early 2007, after reading about Hayne’s case on a number of blogs, attorneys from the D.C. law firm Covington & Burling agreed to represent Maye pro bono. Maye’s family also went back to public defender and defense attorney Bob Evans. (Evans would later be fired as Prentiss public defender for his decision to represent Maye.) In the fall of 2007, at a hearing in Poplarville, Mississippi, Judge Michael Eubanks threw out Maye’s death sentence, finding that he had received inadequate defense counsel during the sentencing portion of his trial. Maye was to be taken off Parchman Penitentiary’s Death Row. Eubanks resentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In November 2009, the Mississippi State Court of Appeals granted Maye a new trial, finding that he should have been permitted to move his trial back to Jefferson Davis County after his attorney mistakenly asked for a change of venue. In 2010, the Mississippi State Supreme Court upheld the order for the new trial, but on the grounds that Maye should have been permitted to offer the defense that he was defending his daughter on the night of the raid.

(To watch the video, click here.)

Readers: How can you get first degree murder when there is no way he could’ve premeditated this? He didn’t know the cop. He didn’t mean to shoot anybody deliberately. This is just so wrong. Then they force him to confess to manslaughter. This man didn’t do anything except try and protect his family from someone breaking into his home. And they give him the death penalty. Another example of  ”Justice”…

I know there are many of you who have a lot more to add to my statements. Blog me.

Alycedale: I have to add too that I like your addition of handing out condoms along with the speech. Then all bases are covered. The woman has done all she can – Now it’s up to the man. Let’s HOPE he does the right thing.

Howie: Loved the title of your write. Thanks for enlightening us with the truth. I find it humorous and unfortunate. A missed opportunity. Although, if they did have an encounter of the third kind, would we even be privy to it – would it have been kept from the general public? Or shared? I guess we’ll have to HOPE that another chance presents itself, and we don’t head for the hills again.

Sharon: No need to apologize. Men are deceiving, and it is painful when you learn the truth. And the truth that you just revealed was more than I had imagined. Although, now that you know, please get yourself checked out because your man not only has a problem keeping his pants on outside of your home, but he’s obviously not having protected sex. I HOPE that you have not gotten anything from his uncovered pleasures.  What a cad. I’m sorry you had to discover this but I wish you the best in your divorce.

Nora: Thanks for posting. Let’s HOPE we don’t have a country that’s so dumb to put a woman such as Bachmann in the white house. I for one will do my best to make sure it doesn’t happen.

Ellie: Thank you. And thanks for the update. I HOPE you don’t discover what Sharon did. But if you do, it’s better to know isn’t it.

Peace out

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2011

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Good morning.

Well…I can see the Chlamydia conversation was one worth writing and having with your significant other. I can also see that it was a pretty sensitive topic and rightly so – why wouldn’t it be when it is concerns our life? You now know my thoughts on the matter, and now I know yours. I HOPE that my broaching the topic and you all discussing it will matter in someone’s life, if not many. Thanks for digging in deep and releasing your thoughts.

So…onto today’s topic. This story was brought to my attention from Doug.  A local story that includes a local girl Alicia Walters, with Trust Black Women California. An associate of Doug; I have not had the pleasure of meeting Alicia myself yet, but I look forward to it!

Groups Say ‘Black & Beautiful’ Pro-life Ads Racist

A new pro-life campaign in California seeking to combat abortion in the black community is drawing charges of racism from Planned Parenthood and pro-choice advocates.

The state currently leads the nation in abortions, with more than 214,000 performed in 2008. And national statistics suggest pregnant black women are three times as likely to have the procedure.

In response, The Issues4Life Foundation and The Radiance Foundation have launched a pro-life billboard campaign with the goal of saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of black babies aborted in America each year.

“The impact of abortion in the black community is the Darfur of America,” Walter B. Hoye II, president of the Issues4Life Foundation, told Life Site News.

CBN News spoke with Concernced Women for America CEO Penny Nance about the billboard campaign and criticism surrounding its message.  Click play for her comments following Efrem Graham’s report.

The signs in question contain the message “Black & Beautiful” and are going up in largely black communities in Oakland, Calif.

“I had an appointment with death. My mother’s name was in a book,” one pro-life advocate said at a news conference Saturday. “There was an appointed time for me to die, and if God hadn’t broken that appointment, I wouldn’t be here today.”

But Planned Parenthood and California pro-choice groups are calling the ads racist. They say the “black & beautiful” slogan is too close to the “black is beautiful” cultural-pride campaign made popular in the 1960s.

“The fact that this has been co-opted is something that is obviously only meant to divide us. I think our community can see right through it,” said Alicia Walters, with Trust Black Women California.

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., has also spoken out against the billboards.

“I am deeply offended by the race-based billboards that are being displayed in my congressional district by the Radiance Foundation and Issues4life,” she said in a statement.

“These billboards stigmatize women of color and perpetuate myths about parenting skills and the types of women who seek and use abortion services,” Lee added.

But the organizations behind the billboard say it is Planned Parenthood that targets poor black women and deny black children the right to live.

Planned Parenthood dismissed the charge.

“The reason why there is a different rate of abortion is because those communities lack access to preventive health care services,” Lupe Rodriguez, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood, said.

*********

Readers: A little side note about the term/word “pro” when used in front of words such as “life” or “active”. It’s a bunch of BS. Since when is anyone against “Life” or being “Active”. You can say I am “pro abortion” because there are people who are against abortion. You can say you are ” pro choice” because there are people who are against you having a “choice”. But you can’t say that you are “pro Life”, because that means that there are people who are “against life” – and just who is “against life”?

A little off subject but in the same vein….as far as the word “proactive”- “Let’s be “proactive.” Huh? You can’t be “proactive”. That word should be thrown out of the dictionary. You are being “reactive” to a situation. You can’t be “proactive” to a situation before it happens, because any action that you take is in “reaction”, therefore you being “reactive”. The only way you can be proactive is if you are God and you are starting something. Unless you’re God, you are “reactive”.

People who use these kind of terms are just trying to sell you something. “Proactive” is an advertising word. It makes you  feel like you need something that you need. It is a BS word that makes you feel good. Makes you feel you’re doing something that you aren’t doing. It works for the stupid and for the people talking to the stupid. If you give someone that word and they run with it they are just reacting to what the person just told them to do.

Thoughts? Ideas? Rants? Revelations?  Blog me.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

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