| |
|
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Subject: And They're Off
Time: 11:56:18 AM EST
Author: libgal81
As remote as it may seem to most Americans at this point, the 2008 Presidential horserace has already begun.
Now, I am still working out my feelings on Senator Hillary Clinton, but I must say one thing in reference to what I put forward in my article "The Gender Gap." In a recent New York Times article, Senator Clinton was referred to 11 times as "Mrs. Clinton" rather than Senator Clinton, just Clinton, or even the junior Senator from New York, Hillary Clinton.
Regardless of her fitness for the Presidency, or whether she is a desirable candidate for the progressive left, she is still a United States Senator, NOT just the wife of a former President.
Maybe this doesn't seem important, but it hilights a dangerous mindset.
Written by libgal81
Permalink
| Blog about this entry
|  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this
This entry has comments: Add your own
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Subject: She's Baaack...
Time: 4:17:55 PM EST
Author: libgal81
Well, after a long hiatus, I am back and ready to go. Here are links to my three most recent articles on OpEd News:
No Abu Ghraib Scandal for these Victims
Townhall.com Sinks to New Low
The Gender Gap
Quite a bit has gone on in my absence, but rest assured there is more to come. Hope someone out there is still checking in.
Peace,
Katherine
Written by libgal81
Permalink
| Blog about this entry
| Add to del.icio.us | digg this
This entry has comments: Add your own
Monday, September 19, 2005
Subject: Big Brother
Time: 11:38:03 PM EDT
Author: libgal81
In case no one reads old entries, I'd like to share a story with you all that could be amusing if it wasn't so fucked up...
This morning, I received a phone call from __ _______ informing me that someone in the military just "happened to come across my journal entry" entitled "Fuck You!" and apparently they were very angry and wanted it removed.
I double checked the entry to make sure I hadn't given out any sensitive security-related information in the heat of the moment, and once I was sure I hadn't, I began to fume.
So this is what I have to say to that, "HOW DARE YOU?"
Leave aside the fact that my stupid journal is not exactly the New York Times, and probably gets fewer reads than the actual articles in the TV Guide, and there is a clear cut First Amendment issue here. Unless I were to release sensitive information (and the fact that __ _______ is a deployed service member is not a secret), the US government, and any branch therein, is not entitled to make any attempt to silence me, whatever I may want to say.
(You may view the censored version of the original entry by scrolling down the page a bit. All words conveying anything about the nature of the person who is deployed and any others have been slashed out.)
Written by libgal81
Permalink
| Blog about this entry
| Add to del.icio.us | digg this
This entry has comments: Add your own
Monday, May 23, 2005
Subject: Poster-boy for the New American Patriotism Dishonored
Time: 3:47:09 PM EDT
Author: libgal81
How shocking--the government lied about Pat Tillman's death to make it more appealing to the public.
May he rest in peace.
Written by libgal81
Permalink
| Blog about this entry
| Add to del.icio.us | digg this
This entry has comments: Add your own
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Subject: This is absolutely ridiculous
Time: 3:24:16 PM EDT
Author: libgal81
Pregnant senior barred from graduation, walks anyway
The craziest thing about this story is the fact that the father of the baby, also a senior at the same school, was not barred from participating in the graduation ceremony.
I say kudos to this brave girl--she stood up for herself, when most of us wouldn't have.
Written by libgal81
Permalink
| Blog about this entry
| Add to del.icio.us | digg this
This entry has comments: Add your own
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Subject: Fuck You!
Time: 6:30:36 PM EDT
Author: libgal81
I just wanted to send a big "Fuck You" out to all of you who support George W. Bush and the war in Iraq.
Once again, "Fuck You!"
Thanks to people like you, the __________ is being sent away from __ and ______________________ for an entire year (trusting that __ comes home in _________).
My life is being torn apart, and I have all of you to thank. You should be so proud.
*THIS JOURNAL ENTRY HAS BEEN CENSORED FOR YOU BY THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT. GOD BLESS THE FIRST AMENDMENT.
Written by libgal81
Permalink
| Blog about this entry
| Add to del.icio.us | digg this
This entry has comments: Add your own
Friday, April 29, 2005
Subject: AOL Poll on Dubya's Press Conference Last Night
Time: 11:13:49 AM EDT
Author: libgal81
Mood: Chillin'
How satisfied are you with what Bush said during his press conference?
Not at all 68%
Very 28%
Somewhat 8%
How would you rate Bush's overall job performance?
Poor 58%
Excellent 21%
Good 11%
Fair 9%
Total votes: 242,904
Written by libgal81
Permalink
| Blog about this entry
| Add to del.icio.us | digg this
This entry has comments: Add your own
Friday, April 22, 2005
Subject: What's the Matter With Liberals?
Time: 9:41:37 AM EDT
Author: libgal81
Mood: Chillin'
Everyone should definitely take a few minutes to read this--it's long, but worth it.
Here is an excerpt:
What's the Matter With Liberals?
by Thomas Frank
For more than thirty-five years, American politics has followed a populist pattern as predictable as a Punch and Judy show and as conducive to enlightened statesmanship as the cycles of a noisy washing machine. The antagonists of this familiar melodrama are instantly recognizable: the average American, humble, long-suffering, working hard, and paying his taxes; and the liberal elite, the know-it-alls of Manhattan and Malibu, sipping their lattes as they lord it over the peasantry with their fancy college degrees and their friends in the judiciary…
The 2004 presidential campaign provides a near-perfect demonstration of the persistent power of backlash—as well as another disheartening example of liberalism's continuing inability to confront it in an effective manner. So perfect, in fact, that it deserves to be studied by political enthusiasts for decades to come, in the manner that West Point cadets study remarkable infantry exploits and MBAs study branding campaigns that conjured up billions out of nothing but a catchy jingle… read the rest
***************************************************************************
If you enjoy a bit of class consciousness with your morning coffee, the genuine type, I imagine you'll find the piece quite meaningful.
I'll tell ya, I drink my coffee black, keep my computer desk in a corner in my bedroom, and manage somehow to make it paycheck to paycheck in this crazy world--sometimes being painted as some sort of priveleged elitist is amusing, but mostly it's just dumb.
Enjoy the article, and tell me your thoughts!
***************************************************************************
By the way, here is a link to my latest--I've been swamped with personal stuff lately (moving next week, trying to clean and pack and blah blah blah) so it's all I have for now. KB's latest article.
***************************************************************************
Also, a new Pope has been elected, as we all know, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has been chosen as the new head of the Catholic Church. Too bad he's a Nazi... Read Bill Berkowitz's article on the new pontiff.
Written by libgal81
Permalink
| Blog about this entry
| Add to del.icio.us | digg this
This entry has comments: Add your own
Saturday, April 9, 2005
Subject: God Bless Hippies
Time: 5:23:22 PM EDT
Author: libgal81
Mood: Happy
Music: Peace Train: Cat Stevens
I've been thinking about something.
When I was in high school (not so long ago, really) we use to make fun of hippie types because they never seemed to shower... or at least not as frequently as some of us (especially me, with my oddly immaculate hygenic routines) might have liked...
Years later, I can't help but sit back and contemplate what "hippie" really means...
I'm thinking of the antiwar protesters of the 1960s and 70s, what they stood for, and what they accomplished. Young people who threw themselves into a massive movement for peace--abroad and at home.
They won. The war in Vietnam finally came to a close after years of pressure. It could have gone on much, much longer, but the people of this great country made it stop.
Then what happened? It seems as if they enjoyed a brief period of self-congratulation and then realized the world had slipped away from them. They worked so hard, and really made things happen, and once they reached that comfort zone, the world went back to Hell.
Well, now those hippies are older and disillusioned, and their children are apathetic, seeing how their parents became disiillusioned...
There is no reason we can't all be happy, taking only what we need from the world, and no more.
Make love, not war--well, why the heck not? I'd rather have a little afternoon delight than blow up some people I've never met in a country I've never been to and probably will never see any day.
I'll leave you with this for today:
Now I've been happy lately, thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be, something good has begun
Oh I've been smiling lately, dreaming about the world as one
And I believe it could be, some day it's going to come
Cause out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country, come take me home again
Now I've been smiling lately, thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be, something good has begun
Oh peace train sounding louder
Glide on the peace train
Come on now peace train
Yes, peace train holy roller
Everyone jump upon the peace train
Come on now peace train
Get your bags together, go bring your good friends too
Cause it's getting nearer, it soon will be with you
Now come and join the living, it's not so far from you
And it's getting nearer, soon it will all be true
Now I've been crying lately, thinking about the world as it is
Why must we go on hating, why can't we live in bliss
Cause out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country, come take me home again
(Peace Train, Cat Stevens)
Written by libgal81
Permalink
| Blog about this entry
| Add to del.icio.us | digg this
This entry has comments: Add your own
Monday, April 4, 2005
Subject: Pope John Paul II: The Full Legacy
Time: 3:46:38 PM EDT
Author: libgal81
Pope John Paul II: The Full Legacy
Let us not ignore the facts in our efforts to be "politically correct"
On Saturday, Pope John Paul II finally succumbed to death, which had been courting him for many years. Millions all over the world are in mourning for the man who brought Catholicism to many parts of the world that had previously been ignored.
In the media, Pope John Paul II's legacy has been touted as one of progressive politics. He has been cheered as one of the key voices in the war against Communism and celebrated for his instrumental role in the ending of the Cold War. His opposition to the death penalty and efforts to reconcile Catholic-Jewish relations qualify him for kudos from the left. John Paul believed strongly that third world debt should be forgiven and that great measures should be taken to eradicate world poverty. To the chagrin of the religious right in the United States, the Pope was a vocal opponent to the US invasion of Iraq, calling it a crime against peace and a violation of international law.
Although the Pope's dedication to truly walking in the footsteps of Christ is one of his legacies, there were many things the Pope believed and many actions he took that do not jive with progressive politics. While many on the left are celebrating his life and claiming progressive ideas as his overwhelming legacy, there are quite a few facts that seem to be slipping into the cracks.
Pope John Paul II was strongly opposed to all forms of contraception, all abortion, and homosexuality. In keeping with traditional Catholic values, this Pope was so firmly against contraception that he helped to stop education about condom use in Africa, thus proliferating the spread of AIDS and other preventable sexually transmitted diseases. He believed that all abortion was murder, even in cases when the life of the mother was in grave danger. He described homosexuality as a "tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil" and "an objective disorder" in his October 1, 1986 letter to all bishops.
In his book Memory and Identity, the pontiff claimed that the movement for same-sex marriage was "perhaps part of a new ideology of evil...which attempts to pit human rights against the family and against man." He criticized transsexual and transgender people and banned them from serving in church positions. Even though he was so opposed to what he deemed sexual "disorders" he was slow to address the growing sex-abuse scandal in the Catholic Church.
John Paul believed strongly in the subjugation of women to men. He supervised the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, which declared in August of 2004 that women who resist their subordination to men too strongly are "giving rise to harmful confusion" and distorting their "natural characteristics" which apparently include "listening, welcoming, humility, faithfulness, praise, and waiting." Further, they claimed that the fight for gender equality makes men feel "antagonistic" and is having "lethal effects on the structure of the family." The late Pope was also vocal in his opposition to opening the priesthood to women and allowing priests to marry, something many believe would make strides toward eliminating clergy sexual abuse. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, priests have the choice of marriage or celibacy, which seems to have immunized them from these kinds of scandals.
Beside many of Pope John Paul II's good deeds were some less savory actions. He endorsed Chilean dictator Augustus Pinochet, knowing that he systematically oppressed his political opposition. He endorsed the Croatian forces in the breakup of Yugoslavia and several priests under his responsibility blessed weapons. He protected and endorsed Cardinal Pija Lagija in Argentina during the military dictatorship. Lagija blessed and protected torturers and murderers. The pontiff canonized Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei (a controversial Catholic organization that is best known for its support of corporal mortification), though he was a known fascist and friend of Franco. He also protected and endorsed other Spanish priests who stood by Franco.
It is politically correct to say only nice things about a person when they leave this world, but it is also a disservice to humanity. While the late Pope stood for many things that progressives believe in, he also stood for many things we find abhorrent and unnatural.
It is only fair to include those things we disagree with in the discourse over this beloved man. He stood for peace, forgiveness of third world debt, and the eradication of poverty. He helped to end the Cold War. He was the first Pope to visit Auschwitz, and made apologies to the Jewish people for the persecution they have experienced throughout the course of history. He opposed the death penalty, and he opposed the invasion of Iraq. He saw the evils of extreme capitalism, as well as communism. For those things, we can certainly praise him.
But to advocate for the subordination of half the world's population, to claim that homosexuals are evil, to bar transsexual and transgender people from serving God, to oppose lifesaving stem-cell research, to support dictators and ignore sexual abuse, to canonize a fascist--these are not admirable thoughts and deeds.
A legacy should not ignore those facts that do not support it. Ignorance opens the door to unimaginable evil.
Written by libgal81
Permalink
| Blog about this entry
| Add to del.icio.us | digg this
This entry has comments: Add your own
|
|
