Veteran's Day and Other Mumblings

I'd like to wish a belated Happy Veteran's Day to all my 'fellow' vets. Once again, I will say that I am proud to have served my country and I wholeheartedly support our troops as they risk their lives to fight two wars, regardless of how unnecessary one of them may have been. I still say the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld Asses of Evil should be tried for war crimes for sending our soldiers to needless death and harm. Their punishment? Send them to the front lines of Afghanistan and give them the same inadequate equipment they doomed our GIs with in Iraq. I may love my country but as far as the last administration's "leadership"? Not so much.

***

Speaking of the military, why are they still kicking out honored, medaled, exemplary soldiers, most of who have never even had so much as a write-up, just because of who they love yet looking the other way for extremist religious fanatics who have been reported and under investigation regarding their negativity to the mission and their detriment to morale?

***

The Stupak-Pitts Amendment. Sigh. Why are we allowing well-off white men, who never have to be confronted with the decision on whether to terminate a pregnancy or not, to make law for ALL American women's reproductive rights? Again, read my last post. They demand rights for the fetus but not for the child after it is born. Do you think that either of these men would waste a second hesitating if their daughters were consensually impregnated by a poor, drug-addicted, abusive, non-white male? Their little girls would be flown to another country for a safe abortion before the world was any wiser and don't think they wouldn't. I don't even know if they have daughters but if they do and their daughters were in the above mentioned circumstances, you don't think those babies would be allowed past the fetus stage, do you?

I think if the Stupak-Pitts Amendment is allowed to go through, then I think every woman who, because of this insertion, is no longer able to terminate her pregnancy, should be legally allowed to sue Misters Stupak and Pitts for child support until the child turns 18.

***

I think if the Pro-life people think it's God's will for all pregnant women to have to carry their children to term, regardless of their circumstances, then shouldn't they be protesting all of the 'male sexual performance' drugs out there? After all, isn't it God's will that a penis can't function anymore other than to void?

There are pharmacists who won't sell birth control or morning after pills because of their 'religious beliefs' but that doesn't stop them from selling male enhancement or sexual performance drugs to men.

Don't let them fool you about the 'religious beliefs' excuse, it's more about exercising control over women than it is anything else. These 'religious men' want to be able to tell women what they can and can't do with their bodies but don't want to stick around and be responsible for the consequences. Yeah...that's very Christ-like.

They love their neighbors as they love themselves but only if their neighbors look and act just like them.

***

Once again, the Mormon Church and the Catholic Church waged their campaign in Maine and funded the war against gay marriage. Because, you know, the Mormon Church and the Catholic Church are who we all should be listening to when it comes to morals.

So because straight marriages are pristine and should be the guideline to 'normal,' I agree with a national moratorium on any and all divorces. The Bible says 'Til Death Do Us Part' (and not in the OJ Simpson/Robert Blake way) so because the Bible is always used in the fight against gay marriage, then the bible should be honored in straight marriages. Until gay marriage is legalized in every state, I think no married couples should be allowed to get divorced and no divorcees (male or female) should be allowed to remarry. I mean...it's in the Bible and if the Bible is the catalyst in the debate over gay marriage, the people screaming the loudest shouldn't be allowed to pick and chose which verses to follow and which to ignore.

***

Why is the media extending Carrie Prejean's 15 minutes of fame? The last straw of her hypocrisy should have been the sex tape. Please. I am so sick of these people who propel their own downward spiral yet it's always everyone else's fault but their own. And why would Larry King book a guest that didn't want to talk about any of the controversy (unless it was just her side of things) and wouldn't take any phone calls? Would somebody just call her a WAHmbulance?

***

That's all for now.

:-)

Oklahoma's Unequality: Wake Up And Smell The Misogyny

A new law has been passed in Oklahoma that will legally force women who have had an abortion to reveal the following:

1) Date of abortion

2) County in which the abortion is performed

3) Age of mother

4) Marital status of mother

5) Race of mother

6) Years of education of mother

7) State or foreign country of residence of mother

8) Total number of previous pregnancies of the mother

Anybody notice anything missing in these eight required statements? That's right; the male factor.

Their argument is that they don't use names or personal information so the women's privacy won't be invaded. Huh???

Not only are they treating women as though they don't have a brain in their heads, they are also throwing equality back into the stone ages.

Let's be fair. A woman cannot get pregnant without sperm. And if a woman has decided to abort the fetus, chances are she did not choose to impregnate herself through expensive medical procedures or a turkey baster.

So maybe the law needs to include a few more "facts." How about #9) Reason for abortion.

1) Pregnancy unplanned - mother's health is in danger

2) Fetus will be born without brainstem (or some other issue that will not allow the child to sustain life once outside the mother's womb)

3) Mother was raped by stranger

4) Mother was raped by distant family member

5) Mother was raped by immediate family member

6) Mother just reached puberty.

7) Mother just realized fetus father is pedophile.

8) Mother's baby daddy is physically abusive to children, does not want to bring one more into the fold

9) Mother will produce drug-addicted baby/baby with fetal alcohol syndrome

10) Mother's baby daddy has refused to take any responsibility and mother cannot afford to raise child on own or even pre-natal medical care to insure having a healthy baby for someone to adopt.

11) Baby daddy is a prominent, married, 'upstanding' member of the community (who probably fights against abortion rights) and can't have a "dirty little secret" growing up to expose him.

12) Too many mouths to feed already and no money to feed them.

I don't think I need to go on in this category. We can all come up with reasons why a woman should not have to provide to anyone why she does or doesn't want to follow through with a pregnancy.

But this law focuses on the mother and, as usual, leaves the father off the hook. If the statistics have to be on record about the mother, I say they should be on record about the father, too, such as:

1) Age of father

2) Marital status of father

3) Father's marital/partner status as it relates to mother

4) Race of father

5) Education level of father

6) Where father took off to after finding out mother was pregnant

7) Total children father has and by how many mothers

8) Father's previous criminal record and for what offenses

It's only fair, right? If the mother is going to be stigmatized, what about the father? It's my guess that at least 50% of the time the mother makes the decision to abort based on the father.

Women should have the right to decide what to do with their own reproductive systems. Do you think for one second the men in this country would stand for laws that forced them get vasectomies so that there would be fewer unwanted pregnancies? Do you think they would stand for laws that put ANY restrictions on the sacred, almighty penis? Of course not!

Why are we women standing for this?

Look...the anti-abortion associations and same-minded politicians are out of control. They call themselves "family" oriented and pro-life but they are the furthest thing from it. They worship the fetus but not ONE of them gives a hang about what happens to that fetus or mother once they've done their job of stopping the abortion.

They don't care if the mother has proper pre-natal care to birth a child healthy enough to be adopted if the mother doesn't want/cannot afford the baby. They don't care.

They don't care if the mother is drug or alcohol addicted or if the baby is born damaged because of it. Because these mostly white bread, holier than thou, hypocrites who scream about the rights of the unborn would never adopt a non-white newborn that was crack-addicted or had FAS. They don't care.

They don't care if the mother/parents find out the child will have multiple health issues that will keep the mother/parents in medical debt for the rest of their lives. It isn't their problem because they don't care.

They don't care what happens to that baby or mother after they've stopped the abortion because their job is done.

Why can't these organizations (mostly male-dominated), these politicians, these judges and the like be held RESPONSIBLE all the way? If they are going to prevent or make it illegal for a woman to have an abortion, then they should have to be financially responsible for that child until it turns 18. It is only fair. Do you think they'll care then?

I say again, a child cannot be made without sperm and it is the penises that rule the world. If they want the power they should also have the responsibility that goes with it. They should not be allowed to have it both ways, they've been getting away with that for too long as it is.

They scream they don't want a government health bill to pay for abortions. Do they think they aren't paying ten times more by paying for welfare and jail terms (where a good portion of kids who should have been aborted end up. I know that sounds harsh but think about it; how many kids neglected by (single) parents who didn't want them in the first place, turn to crime to get their attention and way of life)? Oh, that's right...they don't care.

They don't care because saving the fetus didn't cost them anything. I say, start hitting these misogynist, sanctimonious frauds in the wallet and make them responsible for "their women," the way they feel it should be and we'll all get wind burns from how fast they'll turn around and change their tune.

If the women have to pay with their privacy and dignity, then the men should be made to pay in ways that will hit them where it hurts, too.

Just my two cents.

BTW, I know it sounds like I hate men, I don't. I hate misogynists, whom of whom can be women.

This N' That

This is our old girl, Nikki. She is the sweetest dog on the planet (I know, everyone says that about their Labs). But she's getting on in years (and her white face shows it) and the time is closing in to start thinking about the inevitable. She has bad hips and she has become very lumpy with tumors. The vet says the tumors aren't serious but, still, they can't be comfortable. She also has cataracts that have almost completely covered both eyes. On the other hand, she still has a healthy appetite, she still loves to play, she still gets around well (although she rarely runs anymore) and she has a tremendous amount of spunk. We try not to let her declining health put a damper on the joy she brings us daily but when we get to a point where we watch to make sure she's still breathing when she's lying down, asleep, we know we'll be facing the loss sooner than later. We still hope it's later. Much later.

*******

My faithful little Sunfire, Suzy, is also in decline. Suzy is nearly 15 years-old with 180k miles on her. On my drive back from Florida in the beginning of August, she started to sound like a muscle car. I figured that meant a hole in the muffler. That's distressing in any case but I got a new muffler and dual pipes (which the model requires) in 2007 before I embarked on my cross-country trip. Then about three weeks ago, the windshield wipers worked but they got stuck in a vertical position when they stopped. Yesterday, I took Suzy to Firestone, where she has had a lot of work done over the past year, and left her there to be assessed. They changed the oil, fluids and rotated the tires and then did an electrical diagnosis (as I see my meager bank account draining...). So they advised that Suzy needed a new wiper motor and motherboard (?) to the tune of nearly $300. I agreed to that (today, I'm not so sure and think I need to research the motherboard thing) and then they told me she had a hole in her muffler and one of the dual pipes was almost completely rusted. To have that work done, I'm looking at nearly $600. That I didn't agree to. The muffler and pipes had a lifetime warranty. Unfortunately, it was from a solo shop in Vermont which very well may be out of business now so there's no way Firestone can honor it. So...it looks like Suzy is quickly approaching the need to be put out to pasture. Problem is I can't afford a different car right now but I also can't afford to keep putting money I don't have into Suzy.

Maybe I should just install pedals and turn Suzy into a Flintstone car. ;-D

*******

My uncle who used to live upstairs from my mother back in Vermont had a throat cancer diagnosis a little over two years ago. An operation and many rounds of chemotherapy appeared to have rid him of the cancer and for a year, he was "totally cancer free," according to his docs.

My dad called me yesterday (which is always a surprise) and told me that not only is my uncle's cancer back but that the Rutland docs are sending him to Dartmouth-Hitchcock (in NH) on October 1st to have his voice box and surrounding lymph nodes removed. :-( My dad said my uncle is still in good spirits and that he'll accept losing his voice over the alternative. I hope his positive attitude carries him through as successfully as it seemed to the first time.

*****

The 8th anniversary of September 11th came and went. My opinion of what happened that day still has not changed. I know I am in a minority but that's okay; I'm in a minority most of the time anyway. I believe that if our own government wasn't behind 9/11, then they were at the very least complicit. Can anybody honestly look at and listen to the stuff that is coming out into the open now regarding Bush and members of his administration lying to the public and manipulating government reports and not think it was even a possibility? Below are links to sites that might change your mind about the questions that need to be asked and answered by the Bush Administration.

http://www.wanttoknow.info/9-11cover-up10pg

http://911proof.com/1.html

*******

That's all...for now.

Forty Years ago in L.A.

Forty years ago, Los Angeles was in a panic. Gruesome and what appeared to be random murders had taken place in Benedict Canyon and Los Feliz and no one knew when the next one would be or who would be next.

Everybody seemed to have a reason to fear the possibility of being next because - as robbery did not seem to be the motive and the thrill of the kill did - the victims could be anybody.

I lived in L.A. at the time of the Tate-LaBianca murders. Well, Bixby Knolls, actually. I was 13. My brother and I were staying with my aunt while my parents had gone back to NY to move our furniture out.

I remember the panic. I remember the unnerving atmosphere. One of the main reasons it is still so clear in my head was that my aunt's first husband, a hair stylist, was Jay Sebring's (who had been murdered with Sharon Tate) best friend. So the murders hit a little closer to home than they did with a lot of other area residents because we had a connection.

Now we know that Jay Sebring and the rest were not specifically targeted by the Manson family, that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Back then, until Charles Manson and his followers were caught, no one knew the rationale behind such a grisly act.

Last night, I watched the History Channel and Linda Kasabian's account of what happened that night on Cielo Drive (and the next night in Los Feliz). It changed very little for me as far as my memory or opinion of what happened. Ms. Kasabian made herself sound like a victim and I guess, in a way, she was. If what she said was true, she did not physically participate in the murders but she did nothing to rectify her involvement. She stated that if she ran to the "house with lights" in the distance on Cielo Drive, she was afraid that the group she was with would find her and then kill the people she would take refuge with. Not if you immediately called the police. Then everybody might have been caught before they murdered the LaBiancas.

Of course, I equate Kasabian's situation with being in an abusive relationship and those are hard to get out of if you are in that brainwashed state of mind. But she did end up leaving (and not taking her daughter) and instead of (again) going to the police, she went into hiding.

I do believe she is still extremely haunted by the murders. Maybe that's her penance for her silence. I'm sure the loved ones of the victims are not appeased by that. Especially relatives of the LaBiancas.

I also bet Candice Bergen thanks her lucky stars every day she is alive that she and Terry Melcher (Manson's intended target) moved out of that house on Cielo Drive before that fateful night in August, 1969.

Twenty years later, I was a sergeant and a central station supervisor with Bel Air Patrol. The Cielo Drive house where the murders had taken place was one of the areas we patrolled. I usually stayed at the central station to manage all the goings-on there but occasionally, I would ride along with the Watch Commander/Patrol Supervisor just to get out and about. We went to the house and twenty years later, the atmosphere was still eerie and somewhat sinister. I applaud the homeowners for being able to ignore it. I know I couldn't live there.

Four Years Later

It was four years ago today at approximately 8 AM that Hurricane Katrina, a Category 5 (then 3) storm, hit the Gulf Coast. Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana were affected (as were Kentucky and Ohio because of flooding on the Mississippi River) but Alabama, Mississipi and Louisiana were the most damaged. Louisiana, more specifically New Orleans, was devastated.

Winds registered at 175 mph, sea levels reached up to 27 feet in surges and traveled inland up to 12 miles. It became the third deadliest hurricane in US history behind the Great Galveston Hurricane in 1900 and the Lake Okeechobee Hurricane in 1928. When Katrina's aftermath was assessed in New Orleans, 145 square miles of land was covered in water, a little under 2,000 people lost their lives, a little over 700 are still missing, over 600,000 animals died, approximately 275,000 homes were destroyed/damaged, over 400,000 jobs were lost and nearly $90 billion dollars in damage was done.

And who's to blame? Mother Nature? Well, she would have been if the loss had not been rooted in human error and neglect. The hurricane was the symptom. The government was the cause. Katrina was not the reason for the damage. The water did not top the levees off Lake Pontchartrain and cause the flooding. The wind, although brutally strong did not cause the destruction of St. Bernard Parish and Lakeview and the northeastern shore from Sildell to Mandeville (although, agreed, it did major damage to downtown high-rises and the roof of the Superdome.

No, the flooding was caused by at least 53 breaches in federally-built levee system which resulted in flooding 80% of the city and the statistics mentioned above were consequences of that and inadequate planning and response from a city/county/state and government level. Canal locks failed or had not yet been repaired from being inoperable. Natural levees (berms) held but the man-made levees ruptured in 53 different locations, mostly sections that the US Army Corps of Engineers had "repaired" by putting a band-aid on where major surgery was needed. These were levees that several different investigations revealed were inferior and had design flaws. The gov't wants to blame the subcontractors but when you hire someone to do the work for you and your name is going to be on it, who is ultimately responsible to oversee the completion and the quality?

Why didn't people evacuate? Because up until 19 hours before Katrina made landfall, the mayor of New Orleans was advising people not to evacuate because the storm was "turning." Suddenly on August 28, the order was given to evacuate New Orleans and the evacuation plan was implemented by the mayor and the governor and the routes were open. There were over a million people in metro New Orleans...it was a wonder anyone got out with the congestion and frenzy. A lot of people couldn't leave because they could not find a way out of the city, even though there were school yards filled with empty school buses that could have been used to get people out. And there was nothing set up to evacuate the infirmed, the elderly, the carless, the lower income or homeless people. But when the waters started to rise and the people who could get to higher ground were ordered to shelters, they found that no food, water, security or sanitary conditions had been provided. The Superdome was designed to handle about 800; 30,000 showed up. The New Orleans Civic Center was not set up as an evacuation center; 25,000 showed up. Whatever resources New Orleans had left at that point had been overwhelmed.

Conditions became deplorable and instead of doing anything about it, the mayor blamed the governor, the governor blamed the mayor and instead of working together, the right hand didn't know what the left hand was doing. To make it worse, federal response took days to arrive; the first responders were inundated with too much responsibility and help that was too little too, late. Our president wouldn't even cut his vacation short to make executive decisions about the worst natural disaster in the USA in our lifetime. International aid was delayed and, in some cases, denied. Our politicians became complicit in the deaths of many, deaths that could have been prevented by better planning, better communication and much better leadership.

But it didn't stop there. Even after help came, there was little organization and hardly any accountability. Donations poured in and were distributed pretty much everywhere but to the needy. The abuse of federal funds was widely reported. Promised monies were tied up in red tape and insurances were slow to be paid (some homeowners are still waiting).

I hear people say such idiotic things like, "Well, gee, we've had flooding (or blizzards or tornadoes, etc.,) in our neighborhoods and the community and local businesses get together and help do the clean up and rebuilding (with gov't disaster relief funds, of course)." Okay...to the people who think that and that the people who live in NOLA are just a bunch of lazy whiners? You obviously have not visited the lower ninth ward and other areas, like Lakeview because then you would see that it wasn't just a "neighborhood" that was destroyed, it was a FREAKIN' 145 SQUARE MILES!

Four years later, New Orleans doesn't look much different. Two years ago, I toured the affected areas. There are no words to describe what I saw. People still couldn't rebuild because there was still too much clean-up to be done. The situation after Katrina should have never happened. There is fault at every level of government from the lowest office to the highest. It never should have happened in the United States that because so much money was spent on funding a war that should never have existed in the first place, our own citizens died or lost their homes or lost their jobs because the money ran out to adequately fund appropriate search, rescue, response and rebuild efforts. Yes, the government should be responsible for rebuilding what was washed away because if they had paid better attention to the strength and endurance of their man-made structures, 80% of what happened, wouldn't have.

Four years later, a majority of the northeastern shore still looks like a war zone. Hospitals, Schools, Police and Fire Stations and churches, among other pertinent businesses have not been rebuilt. This heavily impacts the few that are left and, obviously, the powers that be think that's OK.

It ain't right.

Below are some videos to check out. Please...invest the time to watch them.

It's still hard to believe that this Kind of neglect and inaction happened in America.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubbjgLDKGyk&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubbjgLDKGyk&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRjEjkCKASg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XCt43GIeEc

A New Fic!

I just posted a new fic on my website. If you go to http://cheynecurry.com and click on "Hot Off The Computer," it will take you to my new story: Aces and Eights: Little Jack's Story.

Here is the info:

Title: Aces and Eights: Little Jack’s Story.

Disclaimer: Little Jack is a character from the movie “Dean Teaster’s Ghost Town.” All

characters belong Dean Teaster and DJ Perry (except for Dusty Rose (an UberX),

Liberty, Beatrice & Merry who belongs to me) and to Kennedy/Teaster Pictures /A CDI

and Perry/Hornus Production. No money is being made off this story and no infringement

is intended. Illustrations by me; most illustrations taken from ‘DTGT’ movie stills, others

are from various sources.

Rating: R

Violence & Other Warnings: YES, VIOLENCE. It takes place in the Old West with gun,

physical and sexual violence accordingly. Also, there is sex between men &women and

women & women. If that ain’t yer cuppa tea, Starbucks is down the road.

Summary: The story of Little Jack as seen through the crystal blue eyes of Madame

Birdie’s prettiest prostitute.

Spoiler or Other Information: This story includes the end of the movie. Read at your own

risk if you haven’t seen Dean Teaster’s Ghost Town and want to.

I'm very serious about the violence warning.

It should be posted soon on the usual sites.

Let me know what you all think. :-D

Royal Academy of Bards Annex

The website, Royal Academy of Bards, has just added an Annex. This Annex archives stories other than XWP and Xena Uber; fandoms such as Babylon 5, Birds of Prey, Charlie's Angels, China Beach, Cold Case, CSI, Facts of Life, Guiding Light, Law and Order SVU, Stargate SG1, The Devil Wears Prada and Wonder Woman. I am sure they will add more as the submissions start pouring in.

Currently, I have 15 fics housed there. :-D

If you click on the title, it should take you directly to the Annex.

What are you waiting for? Shoo! Go read!