What if it were us

in New Orleans when Katrina come and grazed across our dikes? What would we do? A lot of folks left and found themselves maxing out credit cards just at the time when the "new reformed" version of bankrupcy is about to be ushered in with 30% interest rates if a payment is missed! (Have you paid off all your debts as yet? I think a mass scissoring or putting the plastic in the freezer is called for.) They have no jobs, no homes to go back to. Their bank records may be sketchy when they try to recover savings. A lot of folks were "just getting by" and had no resources for evacuation. One large family actually had a car but it wasn't big enough for the whole family and rather than leave some behind they all stayed.
The ones just getting by 1) went to the superdome as advised by the local folks or 2) to the convention center (again as advised by the local folks) Both places became hell holes after days without water, sanitation, electricity, communications, police services, food. You name it, they didn't have it. But they had corpses. They had an anger about being left behind built in their hearts and minds. And they had gangs, druggies and people at the low end of the evolutionary scale of humanity. Stealing did occur, although I have to tell you that I am not sure that any appliance would be worth anything after 9 feet of water soaked it thoroughly so those that got incensed at looters, chill out. What would you do if all you watched on tv were commercials about products you would never own legitimately and now you could access them through a plate glass window? I suspect most looting was about food and water though. And there was talk about shooting even those types of looters.
There is no doubt more hurricanes will be stirred up this hurricane season and despite suits insisting there is no global warming the warm gulf and atlantic waters will build some supersized 'canes like Katrina.
I ran across this site Village Blue Emergency/disaster Preparedness kit
We've been told often enough to talk with our families about where to go to meet up if separated. I have a daughter half the continent away so I haven't been eager for that conversation, but it is past time.

Single Moms and Children

The Washington Post has an article about the correlation between unwed moms and collecting child support. The study shows that in states where inforcement of child support collections occur there are less unwed moms. Keep in mind this is a correlation and not a cause and effect. There is never 100% collection rate in any state. The toughest state only collects 80 % (New Jersey) and the most lenient collects only 20% (Washington DC). Telling isn't it, that the latter is run by the Federal Congress. There is no national enforcement although there are some agreements between states.
Laws May Reduce Unwed Fathers

The percentage of unmarried births in the United States has increased from 10 percent in the 1960s to about a third of all births today. Because children of single parents run a higher risk of poverty, academic failure and other problems, lawmakers seek policies that will discourage unwed births -- usually focusing on the mothers.

Researchers said their study recognizes the father's responsibility.

"Decisions about sexual intercourse and marriage involve two people," said study co-author Irwin Garfinkel, a Columbia University professor and one of the nation's top experts on child support.

This is a battleground area in politics. The "family values" crowd put the onus on the woman and want to interpose barriers for divorce, contraception, and abortion, which in my opinion puts women back in the position of being barefoot and pregnant again.

Speaking of that FV crowd, it appears that part of their drive towards abstinence is the belief that innocence is held by mystifying sex and the body. This is the same crowd remember that wants to derail evolution and talk about intelligent design. Although their very arguments tend to make one doubt both evolution and intelligence in creating humans. This whole thing must be a giant joke for any Creator.

When can dads breastfeed

This is a funny diary about whether males can talk themselves into lactating.
Dads can't babysit... but they can breastfeed!

enjoy

Chance to donate

to a new alternative news network that is NOT corporate run.
Independent World Television will go public on June 15. The goal, as bold as it is big, is to create an alternative news and current affairs network that is, as its name implies, global in reach and free from corporate or government pressures. The network’s success depends on changing the economics of media, with an audacious plan to raise $25 million a year made up of $50 donations from half a million people around the world. Money from business, advertisers and government will be prohibited.

.....Sample programming consists of six hours of programs five days a week. These include one hour of citizen journalism from around the world, the evening news, an issue-focused debate show, a show in which journalists and experts analyze the day’s major stories, an investigative program, feature-length documentaries, a show on the global political economy, political satire, issues from the south, environmental issues and a show profiling how people have organized their campaigns.

Designer Vaginas

Need a Vagina lift? Need a lift for your sex life? Check this out:
>Meet the Genitailor

This from the Canadians. I guess they have to do something up there to keep warm.

The true new stepford wives

It has amazed and alarmed me that the repubs have gone in lockstep with their leader over some really hairy territory - like trampling our bill of rights - like tampering with the safety nets - and never questioning his or their own sanity in doing so. But lately some glimmers of reality must be getting through. The repubs are looking at a president with sinking approval numbers and Frist, the repub Senate leader watched his approval ratings drop 7 points in the last month. Of course the fact that he gave his own video diagnoses of Schiavo saying she responded to visual clues while the autopsy revealed that she was blind doesn't auger well for either profession of his.

>Bush's Problems has GOP Worried

And based on a USA Poll of Governors Approval and Disapproval ratings it looks like Missourians are suffering from buyer's remorse. His approval ratine is 33% and his disapproval rating is 57%. This is just about opposite from Katherine Sebellius's ratings across the state line in Kansas. She has 54% and 34% approval/disapproval ratings.

A great quote from Ike

Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are...a few...Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is neglible and they are stupid.

-- Dwight D. Eisenhower, November 8, 1954

But Bush is seemingly getting away with doing just that. What are we doing on the sidelines just watching our country turn into a robber baron's paradise?

Check out what some people are doing:
PennState protests Bush

We know about abortion from a woman's angle all too painfully. Here a man talks openly about his
experience with abortion:
One man's perspective on abortion

A path to war

How did the Iraq war come to pass? Why were the Bush administration officials so eager to embrace the Iraqi invasion? Raw Story has the timeline that lead up to the war with some interesting sidelights:
Path to War
They liked the idea of invading a small country:

"Bush’s circle of pre-election advisers had a fixation on the political capital that British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher collected from the Falklands War. Said Herskowitz: “They were just absolutely blown away, just enthralled by the scenes of the troops coming back, of the boats, people throwing flowers at [Thatcher] and her getting these standing ovations in Parliament and making these magnificent speeches.” (Guerrilla News Network)

And there was the oil factor:

Cheney's energy task force takes interest in Iraq's oil. Strategic Energy Policy Challenges For The 21st Century describes America's "biggest energy crisis in its history." It targets Saddam as a threat to American interests because of his control of Iraqi oilfields and recommends the use of 'military intervention.'

The report is linked to a veritable who's who of US hawks, oilmen and corporate bigwigs. Commissioned by James Baker, the former US Secretary of State under Bush Sr., it was submitted to Vice-President Dick Cheney in April 2001 -- a full five months before September 11. It advocated a policy of using military force against an enemy such as Iraq to secure US access and control of Middle Eastern oil fields. (Sunday Herald)

The war on terror was used as a means to promote the eventual invasion of Iraq:

According to Richard A. Clarke: "I expected to go back to a round of meetings [after September 11] examining what the next attacks could be, what our vulnerabilities were, what we could do about them in the short term. Instead, I walked into a series of discussions about Iraq... I realized with almost a sharp physical pain that Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz were going to try to take advantage of this national tragedy to promote their agenda about Iraq...By the afternoon on Wednesday [after Sept. 11], Secretary Rumsfeld was talking about broadening the objectives of our response and "getting Iraq."

"On September 12th, I left the video conferencing center and there, wandering alone around the situation room, was the president. He looked like he wanted something to do. He grabbed a few of us and closed the door to the conference room. "Look," he told us, "I know you have a lot to do and all, but I want you, as soon as you can, to go back over everything, everything. See if Saddam did this. See if he's linked in any way."

"I was once again taken aback, incredulous, and it showed. "But, Mr. President, Al Qaeda did this."

"I know, I know, but - see if Saddam was involved. Just look. I want to know any shred--" On the Issues ("Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror," by Richard A. Clarke)

So now we have a miserable war going on. Our guys are getting killed and maimed and the Iraqis are suffering hellacious attacks on their infrastructure. There is a new breeding ground for terrorists that we have created.

With the mix of detached republicans

comes a new wave of antifeminism. These folks are not happy with the repubs and are now flocking to dem sights but they are putting their conservative mark on those sights as users. Very frustrating as blogs are not really policed so tightly that when one meets another member of a site who is ready to blast at any infraction of what they see as politically correct (either way) it makes it difficult for connections and rapport. So a lot of folks flee a sight looking for a friendlier outpost. I hope that eventually this will be a safe haven outpost for folks of any stripe. But fair warning - this blog is a feminist blog and will remain so. If you wish to change that, do your own blog.

And speaking of flocking, there was an interesting post on
Booman's Tribune Article on Leaderless Systems

This piece has some juicy bits in it so enjoy.

Just for the mind's entertainment take a look at a diary from another political blog. Only this dairy is all about the evolution of cats:

Friday Cat Blogging: Science Nerd Style

Journey to Goddess

There is a discussion about The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness by Karen Armstrong on another blog: Daily Kos :: A remarkable book I recommend. What were you doing when you last felt whole? When have you felt connected and a true part of this world we find ourselves in? In a quote from that book Karen Armstrong says:
In the course of my studies, I have discovered that the religious quest is not about discovering"the truth" or "the meaning of life" but about living as intensely as possible here and now. The idea is not to latch on to some superhuman personality or to "get to heaven" but to discover how to be fully human -- hence the images of the perfect or enlightened man, or deified human being. Archetypal figures such as Muhammed, the Buddha, and Jesus become icons of fulfilled humanity. God or Nirvana is not an optional extra, tacked on to our human nature. Men and women have a potential for the divine, and are not complete unless they realize it within themselves. A passing Brahman priest once asked the Buddha whether he was a god, a spirit, or an angel. None of these, the Buddha replied; "I am awake!" By activating a capacity that lay dormant in undeveloped men and women, he seemed to belong to a new species. In the past, my own practice of religion had diminished me, whereas true faith, I now believe, should make you more human than before."

We've talked a great deal about this

But haven't really done it. Yet now we have. What are your views about the Great Spirit Mother that breathes life within us? That divine feminine that creates us all? The Kali that wields great distruction only to rebuild, recreate anew. Take a Goddess, any Goddess. What do you want of her attributes? What do you fear about her? If we slip into another Dark Age what do we want to take with us for light?