A Cry in the Forest

I'm Back

2009-09-03T18:19:00.000-07:00

And mad. Yes in a dramatic return to my blog (it has been awhile. Sorry people I was trying to enjoy my summer vacation of working everyday) I will be posting an article on health care reform, or lack there of so far.

For now, since I just got done with homework, I will stick with a general rant. I have an issue with conservatives calling the the administration "communist" and "socialist." A lot of this rhetoric has to do with health care reform. All I want to say about that is "have you read the Patriot Act lately." The Patriot Act stripped Americans of basic civil rights and liberties. I personally cannot recall any amendment to the Constitution that states that congress shall not give the people health care! Furthermore, parts that were not in the original Patriot Act were added at late hours leading up to a hasty vote. President Obama, whether it was a good idea or not, opened up health care to bi-partisanship while the Patriot Act was almost purely a republican endeavor.

I agree that a public health care option is a socialist initiative, but so is social security, medicare, and public schools. But, it is a responsible and necessary socialist initiative. The public option in the health care reform bill does not violate our rights, indeed it grants the right to quality health care to 45 million Americans currently living without it.

SwedenIn

2009-04-24T11:27:00.000-07:00

I don't know about anyone else out there but I am a little bit worried. Scandanavia is cheating, in particular, Sweden is cheating. Now, I am sure that everyone has heard that Sweden is a socialist country, something that we Americans know is bad and evil and Satanic and all that. Would you be shocked if I told you that Sweden is not actually a socialist nation? In fact, it is a capitalist, free market system. Aparently they are following a different model of capitalism. Allow me to explain.

In Europe a different way of practicing capitalism in one's economy has permiated. In the United States we are more accustom to adversarial trade policy, individualist political culture, and the magic of the "invisible hand" policy. Europe practices something very similar. However, in addition to adversarial trade policy, there is something called social marketing political culture. This means that there is a high level of freedom for individuals in combination with a commitment to social conscience. Meaning that you have freedom do what you want but there is a level of concern for people who need help, in other words, it may not be their fault that they are homeless or poor. Also, there is government intervention in the market in order to provide for planning and a social safety net.

This type of capitalism has brought success to the European continent. European nationalism in individual nations resulted in two world wars and an economy in shambles, thus leading the way for the United States to take its place as the top superpower. However, because of Europe uniting it has created an economy that can not only compete with the United States, may in the coming years surpass the economy of the U.S. Asia too practices a type of capitalism that focuses more on the social good rather than the individual good which has also resulting in a booming economy.

During the 1992 presidential election, incumbant Georgre Herbert Walker Bush, batted away the ideas of the Governor of Arkansas' ideas about taking a lesson from the markets of Europe and Asia to solve the financial downturn of the early 1990's. From this arrose the idea that Asia and Europe were cheating the idea of capitalism.But if their systems weren't working and ours was, then no one would say that they were cheating.

The American people automatically have a bad taste in their mouth when they hear the word "socialism." However, you can have some social aspects while maintaining a free market society. In the future I predict that the United States will have to practice a more European or Asian market type of system. I know that many Americans will not be willing to do this, if we are not willing, then we will have to relinquish our position as the global superpower. In order to compete with the markets of Europe and Asian means becoming more like the markets of Europe and Asia. I know it is scary.

Tea?

2009-04-15T19:40:00.000-07:00

In light of the recent "grass roots" uprising of the Teabaggers (please go www.urbandictionary.com) I felt compelled to comment. I had the unique pleasure of listening to Fox News reporter, Glenn Beck, explain the purpose of the protest. He said something about standing up for a cause, the Alamo, and keeping your gun.

The people in the Alamo stood for something. Give me a break. Here is a little bit of Texas history for anyone who is unclear. When Texas was still Mexico it was vastly unsettled and experrienced many attacks from Native American tribes in the area. To curb this problem, the Mexican government decided to open up the area to white settlement. The government offered white American settlers land in Texas as long as they converted to Catholism and sworn and oath of alligance to Mexico. When white settlers took the land but refused to live up to the conditions on which they recieved it and turned to lawless rebellion. The Mexican army came to Texas to restore order, and hence, you get the Alamo, at which, the General Santa Ana offered the people in the Alamo a chance to surrender, instead, they basically committed suicide.

Now that we are clear on that, I can get back to my origional question: what the heck are the teabaggers protesting? Barack Obama has not made any changes to the tax code yet. His intention is to simplify it and cut taxes for 95% of Americans. Where were these "protesters" when the Bush administration was taxing the working class to death and allowing huge corporations to use off-shore tax shelters. Californians alone have had to pick $11,000,000,000 in tax dollors instead of corporations. Where was your damned tea party then? If there was a protest against this type of theft on the part of the corporations then I would march with you.

Victory in Iowa

2009-04-03T21:20:00.000-07:00

Iowa's Supreme Court struck down a state law outlawing gay marriage. A unanimous court announced that the law violated equal protection and due process, upholding the lower court's holding.

“The Iowa statute limiting civil marriage to a union between a man and a woman violates the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution,” the justices said in the 69-page ruling.

Opponents and supportors of gay rights gathered outside of the courthouse to await the ruling. This ruling is a major victory for gay rights, especially in the midwest, far from the scary liberal coasts.

Of course, there are still people out there pretending that gay marriage has something to with them and their lives. Assistant Polk County Attorney Roger Kuhle said that the lower court judge, Robert Hanson, overstepped his power when he first declared the law unconstitutional. Kuhle also said that if the states support gay marriage it will promote the idea that marriage is no longer about procreation. Ok, stop laughing. We all know that marriage is not about procreation. I don't know if anyone has noticed that more Unmarried people seem to be procreating than married ones, or that the old notion of the family is dissapearing.

Here is a history lesson. The reason that states in the past have fostered anti-sodomy, adultry, and fornication laws is because the "family" used to be an agent of economics. Before the modern conviences and industrialized society that we know today, the family had to work together in order to survive, and children were crucial to this system. Thus, it was in the states interest to have laws that protected the family. Basically, without the family there would be no money. It was all about the money. Today, and in the last 40 or so years since the Stonewall Riots(go to wikipedia if you don't know what those are)many people have used these old laws as a way of pointing that the Judeo-Christian morality that is present in our society and always has been there and should remain, when in actuality these laws are out of date and out of touch, and fourtunatly, many of them have been struck down. Of course it is unconstitutional for a state to try and ban these practices today.

Furthermore, on the point of marriage being for procreation. That is just stupid. I would like to get married, someday. That sure as hell doesn't mean I am having kids. Husbands understand that I have a career, babies don't.

Anyways, good for the Iowa Supreme Court. Now this begs the question, if Iowa can accept gay marriage. . .What the heck is the matter with California?

Kerry asks for Asylum

2009-03-25T14:36:00.001-07:00

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), whom we all remember from the last presidential race, has asked the Obama administration to grant a gay Brazilian man asylum in the United States. Gay marriage is recognized in the state of Massachusetts, and the Brazilian man, Genesio Oliviera, is married to another man, Tim Coco. Typically, if a non-citizen marries a citizen of the United States they are able to stay in the country. However, because of DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) gay marriage is not federally recognized.

One very important point. Asylum is not the same as being able to remain in the United States because you are married to a citizen. When one petitions for asylum one must prove that returning to their home country they are in grave danger of being harmed. Oliviera was raped by a doctor as a teenager and fears retaliation because of his sexuality. When petitioning for asylum Judge Francis Cramer, recognized that Oliviera was genuinly worried for his safty, however, ruled that his rape did not physically harm him.

Oliviera was given sixty days to leave the country. Meanwhile, Tim Coco contacted his senator in hopes of getting some help. Kerry approached the Obama administration using the human rights angle.

"Nobody's asking to overturn or change the federal law. This is really a humanitarian situation that deserves an appropriate focus," he said.

I am happy to see John Kerry petitioning the administration for this purpose. I would have voted for him if I wasn't 16 at the time. However, I would like to see this shine more light on DOMA, which basically makes it so that states don't have to recognize marriages entered into in other states. Sounds a little bit un-Constitutional to me... Maybe this will go futher. Like the Supreme Court maybe.

CNBC's Jim Cramer on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

2009-03-13T12:42:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many in blogosphere watch The Daily Show. It comes on late, so sometimes I miss it on school nights. However, last night Jon Stewart's guest was Jim Cramer from CNBC's Mad Money. No words of mine can adequetly discribe the punishment that Jone Stewart delievers to Cramer for his comentary, or lack thereof, on the recent crash in the finacial market.

Luckily, I do not have to string together such words.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/index.jhtml

Please, I encourage anyone who believes in justice for the people who are unemployed and losing their homes while CEO made billions of dollars to watch this. All of the episodes are posted on this website. It is where I go when I fall asleep before 11 o' clock.

Obama Creates White House Women's Panel

2009-03-11T18:48:00.000-07:00

Today I heard about the President's new panel that will work across all of the cabinets and focus on issues pertaining to women and girls. As a woman/girl I welcomed this news. My increasing knowledge of women's issue, both at home and abroad, have greatly broadened my awareness and I feel that there is a very real need for this type of panel.

Too often in this generation, many women, those who are my age of 21 or near, do not consider themselves feminists and do not seem to be concerned with women's issues. First off, anyone who believes that women should be able to seek opportunity the same way men do, are feminists. That being said, women's issues are still very important and also very ignored. I think that women in my age group are used to being encouraged to go to college, to follow their dreams, do what they want to do, etc. This type of encourage is positive and all young people deserve this during their upbringing, however, I think it has caused many young girls to forget the fight of the bra burners who made this type of encouragement possible decades ago.

Patriarchal Mentality. Simply put, this is what made me automatically do my boyfriends laundry without asking him if he wanted me to do so, nor did he ask me to do it. It is the idea, or the mindset, of gender roles. The reason that women automatically take their husband's name and then give it to their children as well. Even in our society where this type of mentality is under challenge, most women do not even think or consider keeping their maiden names. The main function of being female, childbirth, is itself inherently unfair to a woman. Don't get me wrong, I love children and I will have children some day, but as a future mother, I will always sacrifice more in my personal life and work life then my children's father. With the type of sacrifices made on the part of a mother, it is interesting that the mother is not the one honored by being able to give her child her name.

Whoa, slight tangent there, but anyways. I am happy that our new President has recognized that women's issues are still relevant even in a time when the Speaker of the House and the Secretary of State are both female. As long as patriarchal mentality exisists, women's issues will remain issues.

What a Day...

2009-03-04T14:06:00.000-08:00

Or night as the case may be...I watch the Daily Show with Jon Stewart as much as I can, it is one of my favorite shows. Last night former Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O' Connor was Jon Stewart's guest. She is promoting a new website that expresses the need to futher the education of primary and secondary education in the areas of government and civics. O' Connor told Jon Stewart that according to polls taken by the Annenberg Foundation, that only 1/3 of Americans knew what the three branches of government were, compared to 75% of Americans being able to name at least one American Idol judge. (The entire episode can viewed at: http://www.thedailyshow.com)

What has happened to this nation? This takes me to a idea of Republican Motherhood. No, it doesn't refer to bible belt soccer moms in SUV's, but rather the idea that came into popularity during the birth of this nation. That mothers, as the main care givers of children, have a responsibility to educate their children and instill in them the values of democracy, not only that, but also to encourage them to seek office and be activly be engaged in politics. Obviously we are no longer in the 18th century so instead of mothers we have day care and public schools. Why are the youth of America not being taught the fundamentals of government? George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind provided federal money for schools with high test scores in math, science, and English but nothing for Government or History. In my own education, high school excluded, history and government were mere footnotes on the record in comparison to pre-algebra and reading. And, the only reason history and government were focused on in high school was because I chose to take advanced placement courses in those subjects. Honestly, looking at the general history and government curriculum, is seemed rather simplictic in my memory.

This is something within the educational system that needs to be fixed. I can no longer be surprized when I hear some hick saying "well taking Jesus out of the schools in un-American," when in fact, having him in the schools is unconstitutional, and knowing anything about the Bill of Rights would tell you that. Obviously if 1/3 of Americans can't even say Executive, Legislative, and Judicial, you cannot really expect them to know anything about the Constitution, let alone the Bill or Rights.

The purpose of O'Connors visit to the Daily Show, along with a visit to Good Morning America (which I didn't watch because I had school)as I said before, is to talk about a new website she is promoting. www.ourcourts.org is an attempt to amp up the feble curriculum for government and civics. Hopefully this helps. How can we expect democracy when our population is so unversed in the way the government works? You tell me.

Right Wing Gas Bags

2009-02-26T20:33:00.001-08:00

I felt the need to comment on the many, often false and misleading, words of several republicans. The first of the worst is Bobby Jindal. He is the governor of Louisiana and the man who delivered the "republican response" to President Obama's recovery plan speech to congress a few nights ago.

Did you know that 8 billion dollars of the stimulous are going to a "sin train" that goes from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. Me either. Oh, wait, that is because it is not true. Here's to you Bobby Jindal. You may have a fabulous tan and alluring smile but that story just isn't going to fly...or roll as the case may be.

The second republican that I need to bring up is Senator Richard Sheldby of Alabama, but first a small divergance. I am employed as an infant care provider for children aged 6 weeks to 2 years old. One of the things I learned about infants (in college) is that if they can't see you, to them, it means that you are not there. Well, apparently Sen. Shelby is under one year old. He recently said he personally had never seen Pesident Obama's birth certificate which led him to believe that it basically didn't exsist. Sen. Shelby:"Well his father was Kenyan and they said he was born in Hawaii, but I haven't seen any birth certificate. You have to be born in America to be president." Thanks for the civics lesson Sen. Shelby, but I already took and passed Advanced Placement Government and Politics at Paradise High School in 2006. Oh and by the way,Sen. Shelby, it is called google you should try it some times. Works for me.

And last but certainly not least: the republican governors who won't take the stimulus package money. Don't worry about the people in your state who are losing their homes and unemployment benefits. I am sure that they can come to California and pick fruit for the farmers who will stay in business because my republican governor is smart enough to know that our state is broke! The only people who suffer from this kind of stupidity are the people of that state, I am sure Sarah Palin will not be losing her home any time soon.

A Night to Remember

2009-02-23T23:05:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I have been able to update my blog. I had computer issues that occured right during Christmas making it vitually impossible for me to deal with them along with dealing with the consumer hub-bub that was consuming me in late December. Finally, by the time all computer issues were resolved I had a birthday, a twenty first birthday to be exact, and I started the second half of my junior year at California State University, Chico. Basically, all these events made it difficult for me to find time to worry about my blog. So, here is the first of many soon to come posts from the forest.

Last night I watched the Oscars for the first time, in well, ever. I tend to find that all movies involved in Oscar nomination are long, boring, and rather uninteresting. Last night though, I watched with a new found enthusiasm. The movie "Milk" starring Sean Penn (who I still remember as Jeff Spicolli, a surfer/stoner from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High")won an Oscar for best origional screen play and Penn took home an Oscar for best actor. The acceptance speeches of Penn and Dustin Lance Black were both extremely moving. Penn's speech touches on a subject that I am very passionate about:

It brings me joy to know that free speech has again returned to this nation without fear of the Bush administration and its right-wing cronies.

Another pleasant surprize at the Oscars was the presentation of the best documentary (a category he should have been nominated in) by Bill Maher. I typically didn't associate the average Oscar viewer with the average "Real Time with Bill Maher" viewer but true to character Maher delivered a zinger to religion. I was unable to find the clip on youtube.com but I am glad that an idea I agree with was represented at such a mainstream event.

Presidential Reverence

2008-11-17T11:16:00.000-08:00

President Elect Obama will be using the YouTube.com as well as his own website, change.gov in order to address the nation weekly. This sounds great. The thought of having a president that isn't sneaky or deceptive is almost unreal to me, I came of age during the Bush Administration. I am a history buff and I have learned about and studied presidents that are considered great, and this new policy by the President Elect reminds me of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Last March I had the opportunity to travel to Europe where I stayed in Paris, France for eight days. One of the things that I found incredibly unique about the city was their love for Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. On one of the streets directly in front of the Eiffel Tour there was actually a statue of FDR. There was also a main road named after him.This was a road near the Arc de Triomphe named after Woodrow Wilson. Both roads met at the Arc in a circle, which is the largest round-about in the world.

Of course this is no surprize. Wilson and Roosevelt were considered great presidents, and of course the were the leader during WWI and WWII, both wars were France and the United States fought on the same side. The symbolizm behind all of this is what is important. To have an American President that can garner that type of respect and reverence in a forign nation is practically unknown to my generation, especially as far as the French go.

I hope that someday President Elect Obama's name will grace a foreign nation in a way that lasts forever. But in the meantime, I have decided to post his weekly notices on my blog so that all of my readers are sure to view them.

So, watch the video. Visit www.change.gov and lets make this administration something that is worth admiration.

The Economy

2008-11-12T11:17:00.000-08:00

Pretty broad topic. I know, but indeed noteworthy in these trying times. However, since the bailout more and more of the slimy details of what got us into this mess in the first place are coming out. Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve for 18 years, said in the New York Times that deregulation of the housing loan industry could have caused the problem and that his own idea of free market capitolism has been shaken.

Duh! You mean that if the government doesn't regulate industry then they will do whatever they can to maximize their own profit?

Obviously the "the invisibile hand" theory has failed. Supply and demand were not enough to keep us from an economic crisis. Yet, I still hear people talking about the importance of deregulation and of a supply side tax policy, which benefits the rich.

People say, "Joan, who stimulates the economy? Rich people. They start businesses, hire people, and they invest. That is what the country needs to jumpstart the economy."

To this I would argue that, isn't that what we have been doing for the last eight years? It seems to have failed. Not only that, when taxes are cut for the rich it doesn't always benefit everyone. The money recieved via tax cuts is private currancy. No one has any say in how it is used. So, who is to say that the dollars from this "upper class tax cut" will go to hiring more workers or investment in public goods?

As a product of the middle class I can personally atest to the failure of the tax policy that was put forth by George W. Bush and the Republican Congress. I have personally witnessed the struggle to make ends meat as well trying to provide the lifestyle that my family was used to during the 1990's. Of course the lifestyle was the first thing to go in place of groceries and the mortgage.

To this day my parents work extremely hard so that I can get a college education and eventually go to law school. It is not easy, on them or on me. I have to work part-time to support myself on a paycheck to paycheck basis. They cannot afford all of my expenses (rent, gas, groceries, utilities), plus tuition and books. Financial aid does nothing, apparently my parents are too rich for that.

I didn't want to turn my blog on the economy as a personal rant about the financial aid system or the cost of living, I simply want to point out the differences that one family experienced over the course of the Bush Administration and their sheep-like adherence to supply side economics.

In all, this type of policy has been pretty bad for the United States as a whole. Still people are reluctant to accept a new tax policy. Many people in this nation continue to vote against their own self interest on the basis of religion or political socialization. It is a disturbing trend. However, I feel that change is in the air.

Proposition 8

2008-11-10T11:37:00.000-08:00

The passage of proposition 8, which will add an amendment to the California Constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman, surprized many in California on Tuesday. I was one of them. Despite many people, whom I deem smarter than myself in this particular area, who said that they thought it would pass, I remained hopeful. To my dismay, Californians decided to deny fundamental rights to an entire group of people. I have decided to refer to this injustice as "California's Jim Crowe Laws," since basically, this new amendment is very similar to the laws which discriminated against blacks in the south for one- hundred years after slavery was abolished. The margine in which prop 8 passed was very small, but still a majority. According to several different newscasts the "Yes on 8" campaign was heavily funded by the Morman Church, mostly coming out of Utah. Also, a large number of African Americans voted yes on prop 8, as well as, (you will never guess) church goin' folk.

I was promted into a debate over the legality of prop 8. However, when this person only had "Biblical Facts" I had to gracefully bow out. I only argue based on United States Statues, the Constitution, and case law. Apparently, I am a minority.

I hope that the protest and lawsuits continue against the passage of prop 8. Prior to the election, I engaged in a political gathering, encouraging voters to vote "No" on prop 8. Sadly, our efforts failed and we now have the California Jim Crowe laws, denying fundamental rights. : (

My First Blog

2008-11-10T09:10:00.000-08:00

I finally decided to do this because my friends and family are sick of hearing me rant and rave over "constitutionality" and "the civil rights issue of our time." So, I have decided to test my wit against other people, perhaps some who don't love me unconditionally. I hope to spread some of my ideas, and maybe, pick up some from others along the way.