Author: jpm

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Welcome to your grim meathook future, abortion edition

At least he waited a few hours to call a new Special Session to annex women’s special parts for the good of the Republic.

Make no mistake: Rick Perry is a tool. A giant, megalomaniacal tool. But he is a democratically elected tool, and right now he’s calling the shots in (the Former Republic of) Texas. For the time being, anyway. Fortunately, you cannot gerrymander a statewide office. Nonetheless, when he says “dance,” the Republican legislators line up to fill their cards at the Special Session ball.

It is without a hint of irony that Texas Governor Rick Perry announced a second Special Session of the Texas Legislature to pass the failed abortion restriction legislation on the same day Texas murdered their 500th person since 1976. His comment at the time: “In Texas, we value all life.”

So Wendy Davis’s filibuster had no practical effect. We knew that anyway. She knew that going into it. But sometimes you have to fight the good fight, choose your hill, and die trying. Her heroism is not diminished in the slightest by her stand for women’s rights.

The other night someone suggested that things getting so spectacularly craptastic might be what is needed to finally get enough people to turn against these supposed public servants. I don’t particularly want to welcome a grim meathook future with open arms, but if it is going to happen anyway, why not capitalize on it?

I think we saw some of that the other night, but that was the choir. If you want to see real change, you need, to extend the metaphor, to energize the Easter and Christmas crowd. Nearly every social movement is the same. African-Americans didn’t win recognition of their civil rights because they marched, rode buses, sat at lunch counters, and were arrested, beaten, and sometimes killed. They won because the majority recognized a wrong and determined to right it. Thus was it then, thus must it be now.

That’s all I have for now. This week has been a roller-coaster of emotion and historic change. Tom is right: someday, someone will write the definitive narrative of the last week of June, 2013.

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The Real Threat to National Security

The real threat to US National Security isn’t some disaffected contractor who let his ideals get the best of him. No, the real threat is global warming – or the more politically palatable label “climate change” – and everything else is just window dressing for the apocalypse.

The World Bank says we’re pretty much doomed: in the future, flood and famine are the order of the day. Read the full report here: Turn Down the Heat (pdf).

But we’re more worried about our phone calls and emails.

And our government is worried about them, too.

We might just end up being the safest dead people ever.

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Race For Change!

race for change logoMy friend Carrie is about to head off on an adventure. She and her friend Lindsay have formed an organization they are calling “Race for Change.” I’ll let Carrie and Lindsay explain in their own words:

The journey of two small-town girls as they use their passion for running to create some positive change for women struggling to rebuild their families and communities after the devastation of war.

Beginning in July, 2013, Lindsay King and Carrie Saylor will take their love of (obsession with?) running to a whole new level. Living on a shoestring budget, they will travel to six different continents in six months, running a marathon in each before moving on. They look forward to the challenges of culture shock, volunteering with local charities in each country, and training for grueling marathons in unfamiliar territory.

Right now they are working to raise the $5,000 they need to support themselves in their travels. If you’ve ever travelled, you know this isn’t much and they’ll be living simply. They are accepting donations here.

They only have until the end of the month to raise what money they can to support themselves. In July, they switch over to raising money for Women for Women International, a Washington, D.C.-based charity focused on helping women survivors of war, civil strife and other conflicts by providing them with the tools and resources they need to move from crisis and poverty to stability and self-sufficiency.

Personally, I’m thoroughly impressed by what Carrie and Lindsay are setting out to do. I know I couldn’t do it, and I admire them for their dedication and commitment to living their ideals. The sheer commitment they’ve made to getting ready for this marathon of marathons – running in a race nearly every weekend for the better part of a year – alone is impressive. If I remember correctly, the races themselves are in Switzerland, South Africa, Nepal, Australia, California, and somewhere in South America.

Because we can’t go along, we’ll be cheering the ladies on from here at home! As I mentioned, once they begin the trip they’ll be fundraising for Women for Women International. And yes, I will be bugging you about this throughout the year.