Sleepless Growing Pains

So I’m having my usual insomnia and I remembered all of a sudden that I have a blog. Oh yeah.

Not that anyone really read it that much, but that wasn’t really the point. I’m good at very little, but one thing I could always do was words. I can talk, sing or write my way out of anything. But it’s been two years since I talked out of my ass on this blog and while my ass is still as firm and bootylicious as it always was the bull shit that comes out of it is just not the same.

I guess it’s cuz I’m getting grown. I’m not the girl I was when I wrote that last post and that’s probably because I’m not really a girl anymore. Am I a woman? Almost, at least. I have accepted the responsibilities that the circumstances of my life have bestowed upon me and I do what I can about them. I tell myself that I will be strong and I try to follow through. Recently, I was eaten out by a tatted up medium on top of a veterinarian and I am one bender away from having a drinking problem. I suppose that makes me as much of a woman as any woman can be.

My values are basically the same, but I am not, which is why I have to let this blog go. I’m not erasing it-hell no. My years as a blogger helped me figure out who I was, and the women I blogged with gave me an anchor to pivot from when I had none. That’s something I’m indebted to them for. Those screen names believed in me. I wasn’t about to get that where I was standing. When you’re a girl raised by wolves-more specifically, a lunatic holy roller and a washed up cheerleader with fake tits (my mother and step mother) it’s important to have those female roll models in your life even if you never meet them in person. So important.

Will I still blog? Will I still write? You bet your ass I will. I won’t be here, but you’ll find me floating around. On the tumblr, on the twitter, saying things that will undoubtedly come back to bite me in the ass in the future as per us. Maybe I will be your counselor one day if you happen to be sold into human slavery. You might even see my face in your local police blotter without even knowing its me. Just remember I couldn’t have gotten there without you. And just give me a hollah when you come to town.

Americans Elect and other ponderings

Still4hill has a link up where you can go track Hillary on America Elect. A couple of things you should do when you go to track her. One, note that Obama and Ron Paul are in the lead. Deuchbag blogger boyz strike again!

I’m sorry, but I just can’t take Ron Paul seriously. Look at him!

Tee hee! He’s so silly looking.

I’m sure I’m not alone in noticing how boring this election season is so far.

My predictions for 2012:

Winner of the 2012 Presidential Election: Tamerlane

His Running Mate: John Smart

It’s time for new leadership, America. Look through Hillary’s opponents on Americans Elect. Note how many of them, most of whom are elected officials, have dead eyes. It’s time for real Americans like Tamerlane and John to step up.

Biggest Celebrity Death: Lindsay Lohan.

End of the world in 2012? I think not. The whole Mayan calender thing is a crock of shit. The mayan calender restarts when it ends after several mellenia. People in America just launch themselves into self induced crisis after self induced crisis and we wonder why we’re “declining.” *eyeroll* All empires fall. Accept it. How many times have we had to suffer through mass hysteria about the end of the world when nothing happens? Nothing happened during Y2K, nothing happened on May 21st. The world is not ending in 2012, dipshits.

However, some people believe that big things, maybe even good things, will happen that will raise our global collective consciousness. I don’t know if that’s true either and 2012 won’t be a year like any other, but it least it sounds less depressing than the world ending.

Either way, 2012 will be a good year. Ginger Cat for President!

Happy Holidays!!!

I woke up this morning hung over from work and in a sour mood. I was hungry and there was no food in my house, so as I was getting ready to go to the grocery store, I thought to myself, “Where are you Christmas?” An internal rant ensued.

Christmas is bull shit. Jesus wasn’t even born on December 25th. He was born in f*cking March. Just another Holiday the Roman Catholic Church stole from us Pagans and turned into payday… for them. It’s all commercialism and consumerism. All bull shit and bills, bills, bills.

But then I found a santa hat for my kee kee moa moa at the dollar store. I put it on her and suddenly we were dancing around to Christmas music on Pandora radio. She made a byootifewl kitteh santa and suddenly I felt the Christmas spirit again!

And then I realized… Christmas isn’t about giving or taking or Jesus or Santa. I looked into Isis’s furry face and figured it all out.

Christmas is about shopping.

Happy Holidays!

We Are All Americans

A friend of mine told me last night, “Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear.” If you hear someone saying Muslims are prone to violence, don’t believe it. If you see a Muslim who walks and talks and bleeds just like you, believe it. Stop the hate.

Primary His Ass

CAUTION: Angry, explicit Little Isis rant about to ensue.

Prelude: Our Hearts go out to Norway.

Word on the street is that Bernie Sanders thinks someone should primary Obama.

SANDERS: Brian, believe me, I wish I had the answer to your question. Let me just suggest this. I think there are millions of Americans who are deeply disappointed in the president, who believe that with regard to Social Security and other things, he said one thing as a candidate and is doing something very much else as a president. Who cannot believe how weak he has been for whatever reason in negotiating with Republicans, and there’s deep disappointment. So my suggestion is, I think one of the reasons the president has made the move so far to the right is that there is no primary opposition to him and I think it would do this country a good deal of service if people started thinking about candidates out there to begin contrasting a progressive agenda as opposed to what Obama believes he’s doing. […] So I would say to Ryan, discouragement is not an option. I think it would be a good idea if President Obama faced some primary opposition.

No shit, Sherlock. Someone should primary Obama? What a novel idea. Why don’t you do it, Bernie? Why not get some balls?

Bust this shit, readers. I had my first job when I was sixteen. I was a cashier at burger king. I still remember that first paycheck. Oh, the sweet smell of hard earned money. I relished opening that check. And of course when I did, I saw that some of my earnings were deducted for social security and other taxes. Some of my coworkers bitched about it, but I didn’t mind. At sixteen I knew that if I didn’t make bank later in life I was paying into a system that would benefit me for my contribution to society. I was raised on work ethic and honesty, like most Americans. Only unlike most Americans, I took it serioiusly.

I work hard, readers. I bust my ass. I’m a certified hustler, and I have paid for everything I own, from the clothes on my back to the nail polish on my toes to the ghetto ass car I drive. Don’t try to tell me I’m a spoiled millennial, because I’ll kick your ass from here to Canada.

Yeah, Obama should face some primary opposition. In fact, WHY IS HE NOT FACING A PRIMARY CHALLENGE RIGHT NOW? WHAT DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENT CUTS SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICAID AND MEDICARE AND DOES NOT FACE A PRIMARY CHALLENGE?

Jesus Christ. If I were old enough, I would primary him. And don’t give me that shit. Talkin’ bout “B-b-b-but, there’s no way, Little Isis! That can’t happen! It would weaken the party! Bachmann would win! We’ll all DIIIIIIEEEEEE!”

F*ck that noise. If Bachmann runs and wins against Obama, know what imma do? Laugh. I will laugh and laugh. And then I will f*cking point at your stupid asses and laugh some more.

What makes you think I give a shit about how a primary challenge to Obama might affect the Democratic Party and its chances for 2012? What has the Democratic Party done for ME lately, other than take away my benefits, cut my financial aid and do everything humanly possible to not give a shit about the future of my generation and by extension this country?

Oh. Primary Opposition to Obama would weaken him for 2012? Let me just pretend for a second that I care…

wait for it….

waaaaiiiiit….

Nope, still don’t give a shit. I don’t care who replaces him. Me and every other American pays for his food, his house, his jet and his butlers. And his ass is canned.

Wonk’s Saturday Reads: “Hillaryben” and the Sisterhood of the Traveling Saris

Hillary, wheels down in the land of my heritage, surrounded by vibrant power-saris instead of being the only bright corner in a sea of gray suits, as so often is the case, especially here in the US. (July 18, 2011/State Dept/Public Domain) ... CLICK PHOTO TO READ A TRANSCRIPT OF HILLARY'S REMARKS AT THE OPENING SESSION OF THE US-INDIA STRATEGIC DIALOGUE (July 19, 2011)

Morning, news junkies. This Saturday’s roundup is really more like two posts in one. It’s going to be top-heavy with news about Hillary’s current travels, so if you’re interested in other items about women’s issues, in particular news about Hillary protege Kirsten Gillibrand, please be sure to click after the jump for part 2! (There’s a bit more Hillary stuff in Part II, as well, not related to her current traveling per se.)

Alright, I’m going to start off part I with a mini-photo bomb of sorts (you can click on each photo to get more details about Madam Secretary’s travels):

First up, above to the right… Secretary Clinton arrived in New Delhi, India July 18 for the second round of the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue. She was met by Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Menon Rao. (July 18, 2011 STATE DEPT/PUBLIC DOMAIN)

Next, below to the left: BJP Party leader Sushma Swaraj speaks with Secretary Clinton at her residence ini New Delhi. (July 19, 2011 STATE DEPT/PUBLIC DOMAIN)

Second pic below to the left: All India Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi greets Secretary Clinton at her residence in New Delhi. (July 19, 2011/STATE DEPT/PUBLIC DOMAIN)

Third pic below to the left: Secretary Clinton arrives in Bali and Is Greeted By Indonesian Director for Protocol Kandou, Indonesian foreign Ministry Protocol Liaisons Novita and Moniaga, and Ambassador Carden. (July 21, 2011/STATE DEPT/PUBLIC DOMAIN)

Powerful woman pow wow, the Hillary and Sushma edition! (July 19, 2011/State Dept/Public Domain) ... CLICK PHOTO TO VIEW A CANDID SHOT OF HILLARY AND SUSHMA WALKING HAND-IN-HAND.

As epic as it gets...Hillary Clinton and Sonia Gandhi! (July 19, 2011/State Dept./Public Domain)... CLICK PHOTO TO VIEW A NICE SLIDESHOW OF HILLARY MEETING INDIAN LEADERS (including more pictures of Hillary with Sushma and Sonia.)

Hillary, wheels down in Bali! (July 21, 2011/State Dept/Public Domain) ... CLICK PHOTO TO SEE A SLIDESHOW OF MORE AT STILL4HILL'S BLOG.

Here’s a really great read to go along with these pictures, from the Telegraph, Kolkota’s KP Nayar: RARE OPPORTUNITIES – Hillary Clinton’s commitment to India remains undiminished. The “Hillaryben” mention below, in discussing Hillary’s earlier trip to Mumbai, pulls on my heartstrings twice–one time for the Desi factor and another for the sisterhood factor (Hillaryben means “sister Hillary”):

Vegetable vendors and embroidery workers from Gujarat, typically ordinary Indians, made her feel at home in Mumbai, when they unhesitatingly called her “Hillaryben” and reminded her that she was among one of her kind, a woman, wife and working mother, not the most powerful lady in the world, arguably.

I’ve only teased just a tiny portion here. Please click over to the Kolkata Telegraph to read this all in context. It’s the kind of article about Hillary you’d be hard-pressed to find examples of in American media.

PTI has a report of Hillary’s visit with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa… Jaya is a great personality: Hillary. There’s a cute pic of the two women (Jaya and Hillary) together at the link.

Now for a read that is just plain fun. Via the Hindustan Times: Clinton hit the bar, had tandoori murg. On the menu for Hillary and what the article describes as “her 100-strong entourage”:

On her platter were a choice of dishes like seekh kebab, tandoori gobhi, chholey, daal makhni, aloo jeera, rajma masala and fresh mango lassi.

In Indian meats, there was tandoori murg, murg biryani, khushk raan, barra biryani and murg tariwala. Staple consisted of assorted naan, roti and jeera pulao, and for dessert, there were Indian mithais.

Another fun one…it’s a PTI report via IBN (CNN’s sister network in India)… Cultural fare dazzles Hillary:

Chennai, Jul 20 (PTI) It was an enthralled Hillary Clinton this evening as the young faculty and students of a local cultural group brought on some captivating music and dance performance, prompting her to say she “was honoured” to be a part of the moment. […] Clinton said though she had witnessed some of these dances earlier, this was the first time she watched a performance so close that she “could see every muscle (of the dancers) move.”

You can see some fantastic PTI-copyrighted photographs of a bedazzled Hillary enjoying all this “cultural fare” here (via Sify).

And, here’s a very lovely picture of Hillary “sharing a lighter moment” with some women dancers (via the Deccan Herald, which has some interesting reporting about Hillary’s stay in India at the link). In the photo, you can see the tikka/bindi her Indian hosts put on her forehead, along with the garland. You can also see a big warm smile on Hillary’s face. Which reminds me of this great closeup of just Hillary from that night, via Getty Images. (I don’t know how long that link at DayLife will last for, so if you can’t see the photo there, let me know.)

Also, Dipnote has a picture up of Hillary with the dancers on a post about her meeting with the Working Women’s Forum. Oddly enough, they didn’t put a picture of her at the actual forum, but not to worry, sisters of the traveling stateswoman! Still4Hill has got the Hillary goodies on this one, all in one place.

Click to see S4H’s slideshow of Hillary at the Working Women’s Forum, as well as a transcript of Hillary’s remarks–if you love Hillary and her campaign for women, YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THESE PICS!

Toward the end of her remarks to the Working Women’s Forum, Hillary talked about the cookstove initiative (I’m quoting the latter half of what she said):

And so we will work with people around the world to help develop clean cookstoves, help to manufacture them so they are affordable for you to buy them, and we are delighted that we have partners right here with the Working Women’s Forum, with the Confederation of Indian Industries, and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, who have joined the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, to make your lives and the lives of your children better and healthier. (Applause.)

Here’s a small sampling of the news coverage on this:

Clinton takes “clean cookstove” drive to India (nice pic at the link of Hillary looking completely in her element as she addresses the crowd)…

(Reuters) – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pushed one of her simplest but potentially most transformative diplomatic priorities in India on Wednesday: clean cooking stoves.

Huffpo/AP… Clean Cookstoves: Hillary Clinton Fights Cooking Deaths In Developing World. Check out the photo Huffpo ran of Hillary. It’s almost…*gasp*…flattering (for Huffpo anyway). My, my… it seems like just yesterday that Arianna and her editors found the most distorted pictures of Hillary that they could and blasted them on their front page 24/7. What a difference three years makes!

Here’s a silly item about Hillary’s visit to Greece earlier in the week, with some fun photos: Hillary Clinton: What is a Greek “Frappe”? It’s tabloidesque, but not particularly the kind where you regret giving the story a click. The author makes a punchline at the end about Hillary enjoying her non-frappe, American-style warm coffee and “[leaving] for India to reveal the secrets of a good, ice-cold Lashi.” (Hopefully the first secret Hillary revealed is that it’s spelled “lassi.” And, bless the EVOO queen Racheal Ray who has concocted her own lassi recipe for her show before, but it’s not pronounced like the dog “Lassie” either. It’s “lus-see,” i.e. rhymes with hussy.)

But I digress! Back to Hillary in Greece.

I personally love this AFP shot of Hillary walking past the Acropolis (as she leaves a signing ceremony for a Cultural MOU on import restrictions for archaeological finds between the US and Greece.) H/T S4H, who has more pics+video/transcript of Hillary at the Acropolis Museum here.

Also if you missed the CNN-Turkey Coffee Break with Hillary from last Saturday, Stacy at SecyClintonBlog has all your video, transcript, and photo needs covered at the link, so be sure to check it out.

These are just some Hillary highlights I took away from this week–this really isn’t a comprehensive review of Hillary’s world tour in terms of all the important diplomatic and development work she’s doing. (For that, I suggest you keep an eye out for Dipnote‘s Sunday week-in-review tomorrow.) As much as I’d love to keep blogging about Hillary’s travels this week, I’m afraid the post would become way too long, even for me! And, I actually have a laundry list of other items I’d like to link to before I wrap up and get to the women’s history trivia for this Saturday.

So here goes… your Saturday: Part II link dump…. you can go grab another cuppa first or save this for reading later this weekend, but whenever you’re ready… Click to continue…

Wonk’s Saturday Reads: Sleepyhead

CLICK FOR TRANSCRIPT/VIDEO (...at one point Hillary gets asked to comment on the passing of Betty Ford.)

Morning, news junkies… I’m really exhausted, so this is going to be a pretty basic rundown of links and snippets, nothing fancy or earth-shattering in the way of two cents from me.

This week’s Hillary photo:

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and EU High Representative for Foreign Policy Catherine Ashton hold a press conference at bilateral meetings at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on July 11, 2011. [STATE DEPT. PHOTO/PUBLIC DOMAIN.]

The Chicago Sun Times’ Lynn Sweet has got another photo worth catching if you missed it this week:

Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan at Betty Ford funeral.

Also from a Grand Rapids press report: The Westboro creeps “didn’t show as threatened, but members of a group promoting tolerance came just in case with intentions of shielding the funeral from members of the Kansas-based hate group.”

Via the BBC’s Kim Ghattas:

On the road with Hillary Clinton.

(Also give Kim’s interview with Hillary a look. And, here’s an international headline based on one of Hillary’s answers to Ghattas: Clinton Ready to Retire from ‘Merry-Go-Round.’)

In “water is wet” news, John Kerry can’t wait to step in Hillary’s place on that merry-go-round…

NYT Mag profile: The All-American.

Globetrotting with Hillary…

CNN reports: The Energizer Secretary embarks on another world tour. (“Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived Friday in Istanbul, the start of a 12-day journey that, in typical Hillary fashion, will straddle the globe, taking her to Europe, India and East Asia.”) The Guardian’s takeaway: Hillary Clinton circumnavigates a sphere of diminishing US influence. Dipnote Travel Diary: Secretary Clinton Travels to Turkey, Greece, India, Indonesia and Hong Kong.

My Dipnote picks of the week:

Women Leaders as Agents of Change: Caribbean Regional Colloquium. (“In a personal video message, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sent her greetings and congratulations to participants and organizers. Participants received the video enthusiastically, commenting that they felt encouraged and inspired by the Secretary’s interest and support.”)

U.S. Launches “Women in Trade Initiative” in Pakistan.

The Impact of Diplomacy and Development on Economic Prosperity.

Food for thought… Still4Hill’s take on Madame Secretary’s response to the assassination of Hamid Karzai’s brother…

Hillary Clinton: A Giant Shadow.

Good News from GetEqual.org:

After 17,000 petition signatures and a 75-person rally… Immigration Judge Postpones Deportation Proceedings For Two Years, Allowing Married Gay Binational Couple to Remain in U.S.

Via TDP (Texas Democratic Party):

MeetRickPerry.com (TDP is still in the building stages of this site right now, so the homepage is a fundraising push at this point… but I still thought this was amusing and wanted to share.)

Via Jodi Jacobson at RH Reality Check…

NYT: The Courts Stand Up for Access to Reproductive Health Care. (“While these rulings are preliminary,” states the editorial, “each is a determination that enforcing the law would cause irreparable harm and that the plaintiffs are likely to prevail at trial.”)

Bloomberg article on Indian women in finance (h/t Dakinikat):

Top Women at India Banks Prove ICICI CEO Factory Gender Neutral. (“I never thought the banking industry was male dominated because I could see Chanda Kochhar lead such a big bank,” Mistry says in the sunlit classroom. “Chanda is my inspiration because I want to join banking.”)

The loquacious veep’s first tweet:

“Just met w/Cabinet re unacceptable violence against HS+college women; tasked agencies to mobilize all assets to attack this problem – VP”

Dean Baker, from the Bastille Day edition of Counterpunch:

Economic Illiteracy...

In the same vein, when a politician asserts that Social Security is going bankrupt and that there will not be anything left for her children or grandchildren, serious reporters would ridicule her for being ignorant of the Social Security trustees projections. These projections show that even if nothing is ever done to change the program, future beneficiaries will always be able to collect a higher benefit than current retirees. The “nothing there for our children” would be treated as a serious gaffe, sort of like then-Senator Obama’s comment before the Pennsylvania primary about working class people being bitter and clinging to guns and religion. The difference is that the Social Security comment has direct relevance for policies that affect people’s lives. […] If economic and political reporters applied the same sort of investigative zeal to economic and budget reporting as they did to Representative Anthony Weiner tweeting pictures of underwear, we would have a much better informed public. Not only would the news stories that we see and hear be much more informative, but politicians would be less likely to make things up to advance their political agenda.

This Day in Women’s History (July 16)

Emily Stowe... click to read bio.

1880: Emily Stowe becomes the first female physician licensed to practice medicine in Canada. From the link:

Inspired by a woman’s meeting she attended in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1876 Emily Stowe founded the Toronto Women’s Literary Club (in 1883 reorganized as the Canadian Women’s Suffrage Association). Members prepared papers on women’s professional achievements, education, and the vote. The Literary Club campaigned successfully to improve women’s working conditions. Stowe lectured on “Women’s Sphere” and “Women in the Professions.” She said that a woman “ought to understand the laws governing her own being.” Because of pressure by the Literary Club, some higher education in Toronto was made available to women—though Stowe protested that the medical course first planned for women was substandard. Stowe campaigned for better medical education for women and influenced several eminent physicians. In 1883 a public meeting of the Toronto Women’s Suffrage Association led to the creation of the Ontario Medical College for Women.

That’s it for me. What’s on your blogging list?

[originally posted at Let Them Listen; crossposted at Sky Dancing and Taylor Marsh]