Alison’s Cycle
I received an email from filmmaker Dany Nieves this morning telling me about a new, (nearly) five minute short film called Alison’s Cycle. Alison’s Cycle is a series of five poems that tell a story of heartbreak, past abuse and overcoming tribulations in order to become a woman that she loves being and in the process, urging others to embrace themselves as they are and nothing less.
“Alison’s Cycle” is a reading of poetry from inside of the soul that reflects 5 days in a woman’s cycle. Emotional outpouring from past memories and childish doubts. Expressions of emotions bottled inside released in an artistic film. Alison Floersch opens her thoughts of past hates and coping with tormenting memories [and] child abuse issues.”
Check it out!
But I Never Raped Anyone…
Dedicated to every man who believes that because he never sexually assaulted a woman he shouldn’t be educated or care about violence against women.
McCain Doesn’t Know if He Supports Contraception
I bring up John McCain on here quite a bit; the reason for that is because the more I read about him, the more I’m convinced that he just cannot be the Republican candidate for president. The more this man speaks, the more he makes even extreme right wingers look like peace-loving hippies. He makes Ann Coulter look liberal!
I am convinced that John McCain has absolutely no thoughts of his own and is simply taking the ideals of other people and of the current president and thinks to himself “Well it worked for them and so I think I feel that way, too!” His thought process depicts more of how a 13 year old teenage girl thinks and acts when trying to fit in with the cool crowd at school. Example A: McCain isn’t sure if he supports condoms.
We know that McCain supports abstinence-only sex education, as does the current president although it has been statistically proven to be ineffective. However, his case gets even worse when he was recently asked if he believes that US taxpayer’s money should go to fund contraception to prevent AIDS in Africa. This was his response:
“Well I think it’s a combination. The guy I really respect on this is Dr. Coburn. He believes — and I was just reading the thing he wrote — that you should do what you can to encourage abstinence where there is going to be sexual activity. Where that doesn’t succeed, then he thinks that we should employ contraceptives as well. But I agree with him that the first priority is on abstinence. I look to people like Dr. Coburn. I’m not very wise on it.”
Coburn, whom John McCain speaks of is the Republican Senator of Oklahoma; he has also been said to support death sentences for abortion providers so it is no surprise that McCain would be such a fan of his.
In the first part of McCain’s response he says that we need to encourage abstinence where there is going to be sexual activity. This is an insanely broad statement because it brings up the question of consenting adults. If two, consenting adults were to engage in sexual activity, does he believe they shouldn’t and that they should abstain? In all cases of sexual activity whatsoever, McCain believes that we must not give into temptation!
The last section of his response is a bit odd…How can you not be educated when it comes to contraception? While he may be cleverly trying to back up his broad abstinence remark and make us believe that he waited until marriage until engaging in sexual activity, which I believe to be highly unlikely; or that he is still a virgin, which again, is even more unlikely, how can you sincerely not have an opinion on funding contraception in Africa?
When asked about grants for sex education in the US and if they should include information on contraceptives, or if it should strictly be Bush’s policy, which is abstinence education and nothing more, McCain answered that “he thinks he supports the president’s policy.”
He thinks he supports the president’s policy. How can a grown, 71 year old man not know if he supports contraception? In the first question, he stated that when abstinence is not possible, we should then employ contraceptives. In this response, he takes that statement back by saying that we shouldn’t even educate people about contraception. Does he know what contraception is? Is he aware of what condoms are? If we took him to a store and asked him to point out a box of condoms, would he know where to go or what they look like?
When asked if he would agree that condoms stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, McCain refuses to answer, yet asks for Coburn’s paper regarding the subject so he knows what stance he has on it:
(Twelve-second pause) “Get me Coburn’s thing, ask Weaver to get me Coburn’s paper that he just gave me in the last couple of days. I’ve never gotten into these issues before.”
I still cannot wrap my mind around the fact that he claims that he has never gotten into issues of contraception and sex education before and in the process, admits that he has no real opinion on it and relies on the thoughts of other extreme Republicans for his thoughts on issues. I guess when it comes to these issues he was betting on just being able to say “pro-life” about a thousand times and he would be in the clear. Is he aware that abortion has to do with sex, which then has to do with the option of contraception? I can see him counseling women out of abortion now–”Well you should have just abstained from having sex in the first place. What do you mean ‘the condom broke,’ they can do that?”
Sorry John, we want answers this time and how about a presidential candidate with their own damn thoughts, would that be too hard?
Debunking the Feminist Myth
When people hear the word feminist, most identify with the word on a level of pure extremism. Some can’t help but contort their faces into a horrified, “hide the children” expression. My personal favorite, however, are the questions–Do you burn bras? So you hate men, right? Are you a lesbian? How many abortions have you had? The list can literally go on for hours. But I have a secret for those out there who think feminists are all man-hating, bra-burning, soulless creatures of evil–You’re wrong.
The myths that revolve around feminism captivate me. They often make me burst into high-pitched giggling fits. At times, they even make me angry because of the sheer ignorance that people hold so close to them and the close-mindedness that they refuse to rid themselves of. I can already sense that this may be just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this topic and I may be writing more in the future on feminist myths.
Feminists come in all different shapes, sizes, colors, backgrounds and lifestyles; as does any “group” of people. Those who call themselves feminists or those who identify with feminists are simply the people who care about women and the equality of both sexes alike. They are those who care about the rights we, as people of both sexes, currently have and utilize and about the rights we want. It is a lifestyle–A lifestyle of caring, of standing up for what you believe is right and understanding the full humanity of equality.
For the record, feminists cliches are not always correct. The biggest cliche revolving around this movement is the one I am going to disprove right off the bat–Not all feminists are female! Not all feminists burn bras; although some do (and take beautiful pictures in the process.) Not all feminists are man-haters; in fact, many feminists are in long-term relationships and marriages and have families. It is pure discrimination to believe that feminism and homosexuality go hand in hand. Feminists can enjoy cooking and “being in the kitchen.” Feminists are housewives who do not work outside the house yet may have husbands who do. We enjoy sex–even with men! We are not on a rampage to destroy children, we don’t all hate children and we are not out aborting fetuses every chance we get. We are in the workplace and most of us are also in the home.
By the above examples alone, women have not abandoned their “past identities” such as cooking, cleaning and providing for her family. Women have simply grown stronger and have grown upwards in society and have fought for the right to be active and contributing members of society and to their families; that is something to applaud and to be proud of, not something to hold against women or blame unrelated issues on.
Stop Protecting Pedophiles
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again–The Roman Catholic church is absolutely fucked. But wait! Before you go sharpening your crucifixes and sending the “You’re going to hell!” emails, I have very valid points to back that statement up!
There have been so many cases of sexual assault crimes committed by priests that have come up in just the last few years that the Fort Worth, Texas Roman Catholic Diocese, as only of a million examples, has 700 pages of “secret files” that were part of a sexual abuse lawsuit settled in 2005. One lawsuit, 700 pages and six priests of the Fort Worth Diocese that had been brought to court on sexual abuse charges–One of which being Rev. Philip A. Magaldi.
Magaldi has made quite a record for himself through the years, serving in parishes for nearly four decades in two states–Providence, Rhode Island during the years 1960-1990 and in the Fort Worth area in Texas from 1990-1992 and 1993-1999.
If you’re like me, you immediately noticed the “hiatus” period in 1992-1993. Well, that is due to Magaldi serving time in prison after embezzling about $200,000 from his Rhode Island parish. Nice, huh? You would think that this would be their first clue that Magaldi probably isn’t the best person to have around. However, the church never does take to clues and hints kindly, as there had also been three separate allegations reported against Magaldi in 1998, 2002 and 2007 for sexual abuse of minors. So, as the church does with any priest caught lying, cheating, embezzling, molesting, raping and the list goes on, they relocated him to another church in another state to be their problem, instead.
While in the Fort Worth parish, another pastor at the church later apologized for not speaking up about Magaldi and the obscene nature of files on his computer involving minors. As of now, Magaldi is 71 years old and living in a retirement center in which the diocese refused to give the name of…of course; and while obviously in the late years of his life, he is probably kicking back, relaxing, thinking that all of this trouble is behind him when suddenly word gets out that this man has not only been sexually abusing minors, but has been HIV positive since at least 2003.
The first thing that went through my head was “Good for him!” since I don’t believe that anyone who is accused of sexual abuse goes the rest of their lives without karma getting to them–and karma is a bitch. However, this man had sexually abused at least five different minors during his four decades serving as a priest and not only do those children have to live with being sexually abused, but they may have also contracted a terminal illness, since HIV causes AIDS.
The church needs to stop protecting, condoning and relocating pedophiles. There are hundreds of these cases that have come to light and many others that have not, since not all people who have been sexually abused ever come forward with their experiences and in those cases, this cannot be the first one in which the scumbag priest has HIV; this is just the one that made the news.
McCain on Choice: Title X and Counseling on Abortion
After a little break, we’re back to John McCain’s anti-choice record.
John McCain, an uber-conservative (for those who still think he’s in any way pro-choice) voted to permit federally funded Title X family planning clinics to decline to counsel women on abortion services.
Title X family planning clinics have served as health care facilities for typically young and low-income women for 30 years; one of the most-recognizable Title X clinics is Planned Parenthood, which makes up 14 percent of Title X projects. Their goal, as health care providers, is to educate women in this country on how to be safe when it comes to sex, avoid unintended pregnancies, and make education and services readily available to the women who need them.
These clinics offer a wide range of information and health care to women who need their services. They offer birth control, emergency contraception, literature and testing for sexually transmitted infections and diseases, education on how to prevent unintended pregnancies, pregnancy tests and screenings for breast and cervical cancer. The best thing about these clinics, in my opinion, is that absolutely no one is turned away from receiving the health care and/or education they need because of inability to pay.
Since Title X is federally funded, a law has been placed in Section 1008 of the law saying that Title X funds cannot be used “in programs where abortion is a method of family planning.” In other words, Title X funds cannot be used to provide abortions. However, Title X projects must offer women neutral and factual information, non-directive counseling and referrals upon request for all of their pregnancy options, including prenatal care and delivery, infant care, foster care or adoption and abortion.
Senator John McCain voted in favor of Title X projects not even counseling women on abortion, as if the option didn’t even exist anymore. If you are pregnant and go into Planned Parenthood, a reproductive health care facility located in a hospital, which make up six percent of Title X projects or health department, 57 percent, and are seeking information about your options as far as pregnancy or not going through with your pregnancy, John McCain voted to make Title X projects refuse to even bring up the option of abortion. In his eyes you have two choices–you are either delivering and raising the child or delivering and giving the child up for adoption.
It’s no secret that McCain wants to abolish reproductive freedom for women, but to insist of closing the door on even the thought of terminating pregnancy is ridiculous. It is saying that McCain, along with the rest of the anti-choice brigade do not believe in women. They do not support or even like women unless they are in their place and doing what the conservative agenda believes is right. They do not trust women to make informed decisions about their own bodies but would love to force them into delivering and raising a child that they are either not ready for, in a matter of financial stability or mentality, or simply do not want. But we went over the reasons for this in the last McCain on Choice post. The more low-income children born to low-income mothers or families, the more future troops we have to carry out our world domination agenda.
Report IT Rally for Victim’s Rights
I’m a little late in posting this, which I apologize for. I’ve known about this for a little while now and until I received an email from Angela Shelton, I remembered that I needed to write about this.
1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime.
Angela Shelton, Wendy Murphy, Angela Rose and PAVE have teamed up and created the Report IT campaign.
Sex crimes are the most under-reported crime in the US.
It is widely known that more than 80% of sex crimes go unreported and when they are reported, the victim is re-victimized by the police department as well as the juror or jury if their case makes it to court. In effort to shatter the silence that revolves around sexual assault and raise awareness about the amount of sex crime cases that go unreported, the Rally for Victim’s Rights will give survivors the voice and unity in their neighborhoods to demand justice for survivors of sex crimes.
Gather at your local court house with other survivors, friends of survivors and anyone else you can get to get themselves to their local court houses to say that survivors of sexual assault deserve a voice and justice! Report IT’s Rally for Victim’s Rights will take place in dozens of city court houses across the country on February 19 at noon.
For a list of cities already participating in the rally check after the jump. For a toolkit to hold a rally in your community, email info@pavingtheway.net and they will send you all the tools needed!
Everyone knows someone who has been sexually assaulted.
But February 19 is only the beginning!
While the Rally for Victim’s Rights starts on February 19, this campaign will turn into a nationwide state-to-state protest on April 29, which is Angela Shelton Day!
McCain on Choice: Low-Income Women
The Republican agenda, as we have seen during Bush’s eight years in office, is to benefit the wealthy and screw the low and middle classes. McCain, who is even more strict right than Bush is no exception.
McCain has repeatedly voted to deny low income women access to abortion care except in cases of rape, incest or life endangerment.
You may be thinking to yourself–”Well, that doesn’t make any sense. If the right purely cares about the wealthy, then why would they care what even happened to low income people?” Well, the answer really is quite simple. All parents obviously want the best for their children, that’s a given. In most cases, parents want their children to live a better and even more fulfilling life, which in almost all cases, means a college education and a good job. The difference between the classes means that while one class can afford to send their children to the best schools for the best education in hopes of getting the best jobs, the other class simply lacks the funds. So what are those teenagers who dream of college and the best jobs they can get going to do?
That’s right–Join the military! If we do not give low-income women access to abortion, they will then have the child, raise the child, and once that child turns 18, they turn into property of the US government.
No abortion, more troops for future wars.
McCain on Choice: Anti-Choice US Supreme Court Nominees
The Supreme Court, the highest judicial body in the United States is the highest form of office in the United States (besides the president) when it comes to putting legislatures into effect that the US people must live their lives by. When nominating people into the US Supreme Court, it is crucial to put people in office who are going to treat their jobs with respect and on a basis of what is good for the people.
Senator John McCain voted in favor of four anti-choice US Supreme Court nominees. Women’s right to choose is under attack. In 2007, Roe experienced a very hard year with 11 different bans on abortion being introduced to states legislatures and anti-choice initiatives being fought to appear on state ballots. With anti-choice people in the Supreme Court, we are only looking at harder times for Roe. We are looking at the agenda of anti-choice as a whole and the looming threat of women’s rights as we know them.
The people sworn into the US Supreme Court hold their position for life, so what we are looking at is swearing pro-life people into our Supreme Court who will base their control over our laws on personal opinions, religious beliefs and their anti-choice agenda before all else.
On May 3, 2007 during the Republican debate, John McCain said:
“I’m proud that we have Justice Alito and Roberts on the United States Supreme Court. I’m very proud to have played a very small role in making that happen.”
We must stand up for our rights as humans, the right that women were given to choose and have control over their own bodies and reproductive systems and tell John McCain that while his strict anti-choice agenda is apparent, we will not go back to the time before 1973. We will not go back to unsafe, back alley abortions and clothes hangers. We will not go back to the time when women had no rights over their own bodies and we refuse to let him, a man who is considered a senior citizen at his 71 years of age and has and will never be pregnant or have to make the personal and very difficult decision of whether to have an abortion, push his anti-choice agenda on the people of the United States.
McCain on Choice: Unborn Victims of Violence Act
The Unborn Victims of Violence Act was signed by President Bush on April 1, 2004. The Unborn Victims of Violence Act is a law that grants separate legal status to unborn fetuses and embryos and defines them as being a legal victim if injured or killed “at any stage of development in the womb.”
Anti-choice leader, Samuel Casey had this to say about the law:
“In as many areas as we can, we want to put on the books that the embryo is a person…That sets the stage for a jurist to acknowledge that human beings at any stage of development deserve protection – even protection that would trump a woman’s interest in terminating a pregnancy.”
What the Unborn Victims of Violence Act does is protects a fetus under any circumstances whatsoever and places that fetus’ rights above the pregnant woman’s rights. According to the Bush administration as well as anti-choice groups, a woman has no rights if she is pregnant, she is then regarded as an incubator and baby machine, reverting back to the years before women had the right to choose, which is unacceptable in a society where we are still under the impression that we have a come a long way. The rights that she had now support her unborn baby over her and the law sadly recognizes an embryo as a person rather than the actual person. (For state laws on this act, click here.)
NARAL Pro-Choice America President Kate Michelman in response to the Unborn Victims of Violence Act ruling said:
“The anti-choice movement, from President Bush on down, has insisted on using the issue of punishing violence that harms or ends a pregnancy as cover for its campaign to undermine a woman’s right to choose.
There’s no disagreement on the horrific nature of violent crimes against a pregnant woman that harm or end her pregnancy, and the need for harsh penalties against those who commit such terrible acts. The pro-choice movement is committed to the fundamental right of every woman to act on her choice to have a child and bring new life into this world when she chooses to – and we oppose any attempt to deny them of that right, whether by anti-choice judges or violent criminals.
In other words, anti-choice leaders have turned consensus into contention because of a provision that does nothing to punish any criminal or protect any pregnant woman, but is part of a long-term effort to erode Roe v. Wade.“
Senator John McCain supports and voted in favor of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act and has also voted in support of “almost every important pro-life law proposed in the last decade.”
Get Social
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Out Campaign
The OUT Campaign allows individuals to let others know they are not alone. It can also be a nice way of opening a conversation and help to demolish the negative stereotypes of atheists. Let the world know that we are not about to go away and that we are not going to allow those that would condemn us to push us into the shadows.
