The Divine Miss M

When I saw this headline I thought it'd be great for Bette. Unfortunately it wasn't about Ms. Midler, rather Michele Bachmann. My favorite quote from the piece is something I've been asking for a long time..... "Bachmann’s concept of Christian love brims with hate, and she has a deep satchel of stones to throw. From what kind of messiah did she learn that?"


Take a look at Mr. Frank Bruni's editorial here.


Enjoy and keep in touch. Let me know if you have any responses to this piece.

Catching Up

It's not a normal day in the United States today. It's election day. We aren't voting here in Minnesota, however our esteemed neighbor, Wisconsin is in a fight for their life. Governor Walker is an odd man from all accounts I have read. He seems to be a litmus test for the TPer's message with an enormous amount of cash being sent in from around the country from a few people. Quite frankly, with his chance of criminal indictment after being reaffirmed as governor if he's successful, I don't understand that motivation, either. He is the only governor in the U.S. at the moment to be amassing a criminal defense fund. This is information that stumps me.

David Schuster, one of my favorite reporters, broke the information here.

On to happier subjects with the celebration of the Diamond Jubilee for HM Queen Elizabeth II. The President made a great show of support from The United States of America at www.WhiteHouse.gov. In the little I watched of the celebration online the one thing that stood out was the dynamic of the family has changed greatly in the years since the divorces. They actually looked like a happy family yet I did see concern on Her Majesty's face because her life partner, HRH Prince Philip The Duke of Edinburgh was not at her side. Word is he's doing well in hospital.

Here at LIYC there will be a celebration of her service to her people (my dad is 1/2 Welsh) the weekend of 14 July. Invitations are being sent shortly.

Planned Parenthood Deserves Your Money

This isn't going to be a link to another article this is purely my opinion. I've seen opposition of Planned Parenthood in San Francisco by odd people praying on their knees on the curb in front of the office. (We lived a block away.) I've also seen people picketing the Planned Parenthood office in our new location in West Central Minnesota. There are three points I want to make. Planned Parenthood assists women and men in the choice of familial expansion, helping to prevent pregnancy, they assist women in healthcare issues and they do provide abortion services.

This week we've found the Komen people don't really care about women. They care about politics. They haven't said they'd continue to support the non-abortion portion of Planned Parenthood, they've only said they'd be eligible for applying for more grants. Komen is political. It's embarrassing for the country. It's embarrassing for republicans. It's embarrassing for humanity.

Nancy Brinker was an ambassador for the United States. She was Chief of Protocol for a presidential administration. She now earns more than $450,000 a year as the CEO of a foundation she founded after her sister, Susan, died of breast cancer. In terms of career progression, it's odd. If her passion was for her sister, wasn't she the person to run the foundation she founded from the beginning? When one looks further, there are close ties to the republican party. (Take a look at the latest hire for SVP for communications.)

Baseline for this rant. I'm offended that an organization that I've supported monetarily is so blatantly transparent in their partisan politics (disclaimer I'm very partisan but try to be fair) that I will not support their effort in any way that I can control. I urge you to do the same. I've determined that I will deliver checks personally to organizations I support. I want to know where my money is going and I really want to support the organizations locally.

Please refocus your money into the organizations that need your support locally. Do not support national organizations only. Ensure your money is being used the way you want.

I believe Planned Parenthood doubled their money in the past week that they would have received from Komen. If Komen keeps supporting Planned Parenthood, that's great, but there's no assurance they will do so. They will 'review every application as received.' They NEVER promised to continue their support. They only changed the rhetoric.

Since I hit one, I'll have to hit the other....

Catholic Charities has done great work. They've supported the poor, they've helped the homeless, they've placed foster children and adoptions. That is no small feat in my mind, especially because I am adopted. (Full disclosure should point out that I was adopted through Lutheran Social Services and have not explored their thoughts on progressive issues, although I lived through the spewing of hatred when the ELCA chose to end discrimination against gay clergy.)

The point I would like to make is the thought that came to mind reading this paragraph: Catholic Charities affiliates received a total of nearly $2.9 billion a year from the government in 2010, about 62 percent of its annual revenue of $4.67 billion. Only 3 percent came from churches in the diocese (the rest came from in-kind contributions, investments, program fees and community donations). That means that half of their money comes from us, the taxpayer. Don't you believe your money should be funneled in a non-discriminatory fashion? I do.


Here's the complete article: Catholic Charities

Setting the standard of where I will send my money.

They're ubiquitous every holiday season. Old, young, male or female ringing bells soliciting your change being dropped in a can for the Salvation Army. I've cut the cord. I no longer provide any funds to these people because they discriminate against me. Fortunately, our family is not in any current danger of needing their help so I'm able to say that fairly willy-nilly. (They won't pay for an MRI for our canine beast...)

I've also begun sharing my thoughts on this opposition with polite letters to store owners and managers. Letting them know that they are promoting discrimination when they allow the bell ringers to solicit customers. I've let them know that when an organization sends 25% of the money solicited in front of their store is used to urge legislation against me, I take great offense.

This is a great article about one man's ten year boycott of the Salvation Army.

Minnesota Move Eminent

While much news of this past week has Rodney and me elated, I'm crushed to see the sort of wasteful spending and hurtful governing that is going on in Minnesota.  There is no reason to oppose gay marriage.  Frankly, everyone may find this hard to believe, but I'm indifferent on the subject of gay marriage.  Although I don't believe the state should be passing judgement based on religious ideology, whether gay marriage is legal or not really has no bearing on me.  My feelings toward a partner are mine and no matter what the Minnesota legislature or some religious dogma states about them, mean nothing.  They're wasting our money.  Call you legislators and tell them to get to work on things that count! Minnesota State Legislature wasting time.

Am I seriously becoming a Minnesota resident?

It's not amazing to me that the U.S. has become more and more polarized. I will take some of that blame. I am a screaming liberal. Now that I'm seriously considering a move to Minnesota as a full time resident I read articles like this I'm reconsidering my move. (Not really: Mom and Dad!) My favorite bit of this article is a paragraph quoting former Governor Arne Carlson:

Among the excommunicated is the former two-term Republican Governor Arne Carlson. “The Republican Party—both nationally and in Minnesota—has drifted away from balancing the budget to enlarge the role of social issues,” Carlson said in a phone call, pointing out that Pawlenty left his successor a $6 billion deficit. “The last Republican president to balance the budget was Dwight Eisenhower—that’s a pretty long dry spell.”

With former Governor Pawlenty and Representative Bachmann sowing their oats in the Presidential field, which is in itself quite amusing, it's even more important to showcase their absolute lunacy. Pawlenty doesn't believe he's the wing nut that she is but he's wrong. He just has a smaller (sizewise not soundwise) mouth.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-03-26/minnesota-michele-bachmanns-loony-state/?om_rid=Nsfdwj&om_mid=_BNje0TB8Z3$qLN#

Sorry for the actual link, just learning everything about my new iPad2 and I haven't gotten that far, yet!