Eve Ensler: ONE BILLION RISING, 2/14/13 V-Day’s most ambitious campaign yet
Eve,
I absolutely spread the word far and wide and made sure all my contacts did the same. I am writing to share how shocked I was that in all my years advocating for women and working in the filed fighting violence against women – that this is the first time I have heard about ONE BILLION RISING! What a fantastic idea- thank you and please help me and other groups understand how to help make sure every woman and girl is aware of it in time to participate in ONE BILLION RISING 2014.
I am concerned that all women’s groups are not united and therefore our rally cries are not loud enough and powerful enough to shake the foundations of power against us. What can we do to enlist other women’s groups to engage in each other’s causes, to encourage all women to participate in every movement out there that empowers women? What can we do together to show the powers that be we really are a power to be reckoned with? As a whole, women do not present a united front; instead we are the women against violence, mothers against drunks, LGBT, Pro Life, Pro Choice, Anti War etc. etc. When will we just be the majority that we are? When will we again present ourselves as the WOMEN of America
You are absolutely right 33% of us will be beaten or raped, 4 a day in this country are murdered at the hands of a loved one who had beaten them before and was released to kill. About 50 % of us are adamantly against the other 50% politically, which mockingly keeps us politically weakened and unable to hold positions of power at home, on the job or in politics. An even larger percent ( I estimate upwards of 85%) of us is powerless financially because we are not united enough to grab and hold the power to self govern.
We stand at the point of sink or swim, we rally for particular issues and it’s like missing the forest for the trees. We are woman- we are the majority. The violence stops when we have our rights and full power. We won’t have that till we stop fighting amongst ourselves over the issues that were manufactured to keep us divided and fighting amongst ourselves. That old “a house divided against itself cannot stand” is true. Let history teach us and others that united we can overcome. We women are equal and can stand ready to lead and rule our own lives. Let’s demand respect, full equality, an end to violence can only come when we are united as the majority, powerful and voting as one block demanding full rights to self govern. Let the issues remain issues to be dealt with when we are in the position to govern but lets first get in the position to self govern.
Women’s History Month begins on Friday, March 1, 2013 (in 8 days) and ends on Sunday, March 31, 2013.
Let’s demand a slot every day in honor of women’s history!
BettyJean
Thank you for joining ONE BILLION RISING, V-Day’s most ambitious campaign yet. When we started V-Day 14 years ago, we had the outrageous idea that we could end violence against women. Since then, hundreds of thousands of V-Day activists in audiences and on stages in over 140 countries have come together to demand an end to violence against women and girls. The funds we’ve raised together have kept organizations’ doors open, and the issue front and center in local media. But still today, the United Nations states that 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime that’s more than one billion women and girls alive today. V-Day wants the world to see our collective strength, showing them exactly what one billion looks like. ONE BILLION RISING is a promise that on February 14th, 2013, we will ensure that millions of women and men rise up around the world to say, “ENOUGH. The violence ends NOW.” BettyJean, there is so much more to come. But for right now, you can help us launch ONE BILLION RISING with a few simple actions:
Share ONE BILLION RISING with your networks
Sign up for our text message updates in the US by texting BILLION to 50555
Follow V-Day on Facebook and Twitter
ONE BILLION RISING will make the earth move by uniting us through dance across every country.
BettyJean, I look forward to dancing, striking and rising to end violence against women and girls together with you.
I get weary trying to figure out a new and different way to say – “It’s about EQUALITY”, How many different ways can one present such a simple concept? If you are a liberal you claim to understand this principle, yet you are intolerant of a multitude of persons and ideals of half of your countrypersons. If you are a conservative, likewise you claim to know God and follow his precept that All Men (and women) are created equal, yet you treat the majority of our citizens as beneath you at best.
What a conundrum the two party system has inflicted upon our nation, successfully offering a supposedly free nation two options and only two, which are diametrically opposed yet the same in terms of standing as an antithesis to the precepts the Constitution was written to promote. Such is the frailty of mankind. Womankind, on the other hand, seems helpless to grab the brass ring.
I must admit, when I witness the vote results, I often ponder why we allow everyone to vote, and I can easily understand why the founders elected to restrict the vote to those with enough sense to understand what they were actually voting for. Initially, the founders were interested in creating a country greater than the sum of its parts, a country free from oppression, freedom to worship so that no one would be burdened by the religious dogma of another. And yet here we are with part of the country hopelessly liberal and another part that tries to bully everyone into practicing their religious, personal, and moral beliefs. Our Constitution states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion—that means either for or against. Congress and the legal process is to be silent regarding religion! Only then are we guaranteed freedom from government sanctioned religious or anti-religious oppression.
Neither side will change the other so why are we fighting losing battles? We do it for the sport of the political parties and for no other reason. In these battles only the politicians get fat! In terms of good for the country, we need to go back to the basics. The founders understood that mankind, if left to their own devices, is selfish and would vote for themselves rather than the good of the country. I will not bore you with a lengthy list of quotes to that effect nor will I remind you of the promises politicians make just to win elections.
Let’s consider for a moment America, the land of the free, two hundred years ago verses 2013. Briefly, the freedom desired was from the oppressive reign of a King, freedom of religion, and freedom from the oppression of an almost caste system that prevented upward societal mobility. Learned men fought and died to form a more perfect union offering opportunity to all. But where blacks, women, and Indians etc., were concerned, the Constitution did not apply at that time. But, the American Constitution, presented by brilliant men, formed a Republic that gave citizens an opportunity to evolve and perfect over time. The framers of our Constitution warned of greed and included checks and balances to protect American rights and freedoms. They warned that freedom would be hard to keep because mankind is (in my words) selfish!
America was the first successful Revolution to remain free to date, and just as freedom was difficult to gain and keep, many Americans have continued to fight for equality, and we are making slow gains. What part of equality do we still not understand that we understood when we passed the 13th amendment?
To say that black men were entitled to the same status as white men but to totally ignore all women—the majority of the population—was ludicrous at best. Then to wait 50 more years to give women the vote and still not spell out they are citizens in that Constitution is criminal, and to deny women equality under that Constitution, even as it has been amended to include all others besides the majority, is unfathomable.
Our discrimination laws do not include sex! In other words, there are serious legal consequences for discriminating against anyone, unless she is a white woman. Fortunately, if she is black, gay, Latino, Islamic, or some minority she may—and I say MAY have some recourse, if she is lucky enough to catch the eye of the ACLU—If not, she, like the rest of the majority of our nation, is out of luck. Why? We women—52% of the population—have no Constitutional rights! Our government forced Iraq to set up equal rights for women in the Constitution but does not grant its own women the same. Our government forced Japan to do the same, in 1945, but has refused American women since we asked for ERA in the 1970’s.
If you think the ACLU is on your side—think again! If you think either political party is on your side, think again. If you think a woman’s group from either side is on your side, think again! Where are they when women need them to save lives? Where is either side when women need them? Who is standing up against violence against women in a meaningful way? Is that the banner they carry? Was it front and center on anyone’s platform lately? Which party is promoting ERA on their platform? Which party is promoting stronger laws to protect all women or educate them about all of their rights in matters of life and death? Who is educating mothers on our rights to our children in our courts? Who is helping us when we are destitute and facing divorce against a powerful abuser who wants to take our children and a corrupt court system that turns a blind eye? I say we need more than birth control pills and abortions—we need equality. We need for abusers to know they will be prosecuted. We need stronger laws and fair pay, not just the right to sue if we find out we were not paid fairly. Power still lies in the hands of some male lobbies in our family courts. Our women and children are still the most vulnerable and the least protected in this the 21st Century.
The ones who stand up and fight for rights are the ones who are heard:
An example of what is in Congress right now:
– Gang of Eight Framework for ImmigrationReform
“The framework is designed to satisfy the demands of illegal aliens and their advocates, and business interests that want more cheap labor. It includes nothing that would benefit law-abiding American workers and taxpayers. American taxpayers will be saddled with staggering costs in the future as millions of poorly skilled illegal aliens become eligible for government services and programs. PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1z3ym)
In the news right now:
“The pulse of equality is strong in America, and today it beats a bit faster with news that the Boy Scouts may finally put an end to its long history of discrimination,” said Chad Griffin of the Human Rights Campaign, a major gay-rights group.
While there is still a long way to go for many others, we women have stepped up over the centuries to work toward equality and civil rights for others. Isn’t it time that we step up and ask that we as a group be counted, and ask that others support us?
We are the majority, and yet we as “women” we are the only group that is not covered under the Constitution nor protected from hate crimes, or protected from discriminatory language. That means we just don’t count in America! Whose fault is that? It is our own fault. As the majority we have successfully fought for, and won, many battles for minority groups—now it is our turn to stand up and ask for our equal rights too! Women, we must stand up and demand that we will no longer tolerate inequality on any level.
We need 3 more states to ratify the ERA—get involved. It is about EQUALITY! We have been complacent long enough. ERA now!
The shake-out from Tuesday’s debate has this tin-sounding rattle banging off the rafters around the word, BINDERS. I’ve read – all over FaceBook from my women friends who are Obama Supporters – that the use of the word “Binders” has proven to be the dog whistle only “bitches” can hear. Forgive what seems to be a kennel reference; but I’m wishing I could be in New York this weekend for the Dog part of the Dog & Pony Show Tour.
AKC Meet the Breeds, hosted by the American Kennel Club (AKC) and The International Cat Association (TICA) will return to the Jacob Javits Center in New York City on October 20th and 21st, 2012.
And here I find the ONLY refuge to address what I’m seeing, reading and learning about Political Discourse regarding their reaction to Mitt Romney’s use of the word. Romney stated that he was handed “binders of Women” in response to his proactive soliciting of resumes and recommendations, from Women’s Groups, for qualified Women he could include in his Cabinet. In recounting the anecdote as an example of his record on gender fairness in employment, Romney gave Women who actually WORK the inkling that under his Administration, the view of strengths Women bring to the Workforce, fully half of our Economic Potential, will be an upgrade.
I consider Obama to be on a too-wide learning curve when it came to statesmanship. But my sisters have demonstrated an appalling stupidity that proves to me that they, like their “Eye Candy,” have absolutely NO BUSINESS engaging in political discussion. Mitt’s description of the office product in which those resumes were presented was a great deal more business-oriented than were those women who made such a bizarre case out of it. In my thirty years working as a Temp or Temp-to-Hired-then-restored-to-Temp career, I’ve been tasked with ordering, labeling and filling BINDERS with papers organized according to a sort for ready reference. I’ve created BINDERS for Employee Handbooks, for Manuals, for Purchase Order hard copies, for Presentation Persuaders and for Programming Documentation. Anyone operating a switchboard, relies on the ubiquitous BINDER with ALL THE PERTINENT INFORMATION to which I would need to refer. Sheet-protected rosters, addresses, extensions, franchisees, directions to the location … trust me: Binders are still stocked by businesses who earn real money for their stock-holders and employees. In the day of the iPhone, anything so cumbersome as hard copy bound in a stiff, 3-Ringer most certainly holds little interest for the text-ers and the tweeters and the #Hashtaggers.
So, as breeds go, I’m an Ol’ Dawg. I try to behave myself like a good doggie. I keep the barking to a minimum. But I’m getting antsy listening to the indicators around me that I am – indeed – a member of a Sisterhood that encompasses some serious lines identified by specific traits bred into them for a purpose.
I’m a working dog, not a show dog. I read the comments of other feminists who don’t appear to fully grasp that the only thing keeping Women from being taken seriously is behavior that is not to be taken seriously. At the Jacob Javitz Center this weekend, attendees will learn from traditionalists who seek specific traits in the dogs they choose for a specific purpose. A dog with a temperament that is suitable for households with children might not be the preference of a duck hunter in the market for a companion/retriever. A Long-Haired Cat with a playful disposition might be more than an elderly person would be able to care for, but would be just the perfect addition to a single professional’s household.
That being said, I reject being lumped in with any woman, no matter how representative her opinion or reaction is supposed to be, who would not extend courteous consideration to a candidate for President whose track record is proactive with respect to seeking out female candidates for high appointed office. As Governor of Massachusetts, he treated Women with respect, solicited their input, found and employed them in nearly half the positions available in his Administration.
Here’s a recommendation to the women who made such a Bogard of his delivery. Treat powerful men WHO CAN HELP YOU REACH YOUR GOALS with courtesy and you will be treated with a reciprocal courtesy. His ACTIONS communicate a willingness to appeal to 52% of the population and possibly 60% of super voters. Straighten up and comprehend the communication going on here. A potential for a mutually-beneficial deal is on the table. The Candidate is conveying, in the eye to eye diplomacy of business, that he is receptive to your input. Don’t extend the basic courtesy of consideration, and it is highly unlikely that he’ll consider appeals for further consideration of your own agenda. Behavior that demonstrates such partisan contempt is conclusive admission of unsuitability for exercising power of any sort.
Really, I. Struggle. To. Choose. A. Word. To. Describe. You.
If I call you “Ladies” will you go into a Tasmanian rant? If I say, “My Sisters,” do I need to cover my head with a BINDER and duck? If I call you Girls, will a Tourettes-like eruption greet me in violent rejection? Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
The reaction of SOME feminists to the Challenger’s use of the word, BINDERS concisely illustrated what men deal with when they’re just trying to be guys getting things done. I cringe. Electing a President is very serious business. No one who comes off with such pettiness and foolishness in a business situation can then expect to be taken seriously as an Office Mate, Supervisor, Partner or Manager.
Feminists: Recognize and respect your status as spokespersons for Women. A carefully thought out and delivered response conveys both intelligence and integrity. Women are relying on you to represent them respectably. I recall how so many Obama supporters ignored the overwhelming evidence of Sarah Palin’s competence and reacted with grossly personal-based rejection. They supported the very bias on which insufficient men rely to cheat women every day. Crass, personal rejection is a major league dis-qualifier for business. Whether one AGREES with a “gate-keeper” is not the point. The entity represents your enclave into the realization of your dreams. A good business person doesn’t want your friendship for social purposes. He seeks your friendship in the business of recovering the Economy, Stupid! Whether or not one agreed with Hillary had nothing to do with her qualifications to serve; she was exposed to sufficient experience to prepare her to respond to the input from those who Consent to be Governed. By her nature, she was a generous, responsible, hard-working professional. But too often, the Women who supported her campaign degenerated into reactionary conduct that showed their ignorance and inability process power. As Spokeswomen, our Feminist Leaders must demurer from rising to every bell, from jumping into the fray, and certainly from engaging in silliness unworthy of a National Presidential Debate. Perhaps we’re treated like “Second Class Citizens” because our Leadership’s behavior is anything but First Class.
I’m bent, stapled and mutilated here. I want to think that the manners of a professional have been bred into me by the mentors and business owners who have employed me and political colleagues with whom I have served. But I flat-out cannot STAND IT that these females have leveled themselves with such a discouragingly cranky image of working women.
Race 2012 Project: Black Republican is it an Oxymoron and when did Black Mean Democrat?
Pic from aroundharlem.com
Some would say the Black Republican individual is incomprehensible, beyond moral belief. Why would African Americans support a party that appear to work against black mobilization? The Republican Party itself has been dominated by “the Good Ole Boys Network”, an unofficial fraternity of powerful white men that appears to be resistant to change and ideas that would diversify the political spectrum, and financial progress for minorities and women. A Black Republican could be one of the greatest American oxymoron. The Republican Party itself refutes change, especially in what it appears to be one of the most controversial presidential elections, in American history, as an African American occupies the White House. Yet, Democrats are without perfection. Blacks have supported the party for decades, yet a portion of black America have been subjected to an economic wasteland, without the proper resources and the political backing to revive the community. The Republican and Democratic Party stand side by side making up a powerful two-party system in America. Yet there is reason to believe that both parties have turned their backs on the harsh realities within Black America.
The Republican Party have boldly iterated ideas that will revert America back to a time before the 20th century. There were no labor unions, then; companies paid their workers well below living wages and labor conditions were hazardous, to say the least. Voting laws marginalized those with little influence and power. Women were unable to make decisions for their reproductive health, as poor women died from backroom and back alley abortions, while wealthy white women had the financial resources, to do what they wanted. Policies were simply unfair, subjecting Black America to the worst kind of poverty. This could be the American reality as Republicans work towards disbanding unions, restricting voting rights, and amending the constitution, so that women would no longer have the right to make choices for their reproductive health. The party appears to promote policies that will benefit the rich, at the expense of everyone else; They hope to privatize Medicare, Social Security and disarm entitlement programs. These programs benefit the poor and most working class Americans, especially throughout a recession. Yet they plan to cut taxes on wealthy Americans, and do away with some regulations on Big Business. It is an American reality that could be catastrophic to the progress of the 20th century.
Yet Black Republicans would argue that Democrats are the “Do Nothing Party”, leaving millions of minorities unemployed. Blacks have the highest unemployment rate in America. In September, 13.4 percent of black workers, or 2.44 million people, remained out of work.(1) In addition, inner city children, which makes up predominantly minorities and blacks, are subjected to less than mediocre education. Republicans could attribute this to the unresponsiveness of the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party does not need to woo the African American community, nor do they need to work towards any sort of repair throughout the community; they already have the black vote. Democrats have become a party that appear to push policies that are trending amongst contemporary America. This is justifiable because the party needs to sustain its voting influence, while doing away with measures that may diminish the party’s resources, especially on what may be perceived as irreparable systematic issues .
The Democratic Party did not always have the black vote. In fact, Southern Democrats worked to disenfranchise blacks, while denying their civil liberties. They pushed segregation laws, denied former slaves voting rights and wages for labor. They were also resistant to the Abolitionist Movement. Abolishing slavery threatened the South’s livelihood and the magnitude of their financial resources. Yet, a Democratic president spurred a pivotal change; President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal created opportunity and employment for blacks, who were prevented from working at the time. Blacks started supporting Democratic candidates thereon, especially those that pushed policies that were beneficial to them. The Democratic Party started to move leftward in ideas as they diversified and pushed policies that would benefit minorities, as Republicans moved rightward, resisting a change to policies. Eventually, these Southern Democrats shifted to the Republican Party, to further their segregationist agenda. In 1948, Democratic President Harry Truman got 77% of the black vote, as he worked towards desegregating the army. But Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson received 94% of the black vote, for pushing the Civil Right Act of 1964. (2) Blacks adhered themselves to the Democratic movement. After all, black politicians were warranted by the Democratic Party. It was simple mathematics; Southern whites and Social Conservatives that dominated the Republican party retained remnants of the old ways.
Moving forward, some Black Republicans would say that African Americans are naive for voting for an African American president due to the high crime rate amongst low-income communities, the single mother syndrome, children being born out of wedlock, and alarming poverty levels. Yet their opposition may argue that voting for a black president changes the face of leadership and success, in America, which in turn, defaces black disablement. This is a group of American people that have lacked cohesion throughout the years. Its ability to come together and set forth an agenda to exercise their voting rights in order to change the face of leadership, is tremendous progress. According to Pew Research, Nearly all (95%) black voters cast their ballot for Democrat Barack Obama while white voters supported McCain (55%) over Obama (43%). (3) Republicans have probably have inherited a sense of hopelessness, in any attempt at soliciting African Americans. If they can gain African American support, then great, but their time and energy has appeared to have been well spent criticizing groups unlike them, as they promote rigid policies. Post President Obama’s inauguration, Former Republican Leader Michael Steele stated that the party’s plan was to incorporate hip hop in the Republican movement; the measure was a bit desperate and offensive to Black America. The party’s rhetoric often appear discriminatory and disdainful towards minority groups. Former House Speaker, Newt Gingrich called Obama the “Food stamp President”. Former Presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Rick Santorum stated that “I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money. I want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn money.” (4) Most recently, Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney explains that 47% of American are dependent on government and claimed that these Americans will vote for Obama. These comments are a small segment of what’s been spewed by the party. They don’t seem to care who they offend. You can say it’s the “Black President Dynamic”, making those who feel they are superior succumb to their true thoughts and ideas, as they attempt to resist what they believe as an inferior individual in power. It’s a theory. It may shed some light on why many Republican leaders, even Black Republicans, appear to be smug and condescending in their tone and behavior, especially when attempting to discredit and discard the sitting president.
As we extract some unappealing characteristics of the two-party system here in America, we have to wonder why no other political party has gained as much political significance. Surely minorities have the numbers to reflect change, as we have witnessed throughout the 2008 election. Maybe it’s fair to say that the “Good Ole Boys” reflect both parties, a society exclusive to a few. Their financial resources reflect the resistance towards a new reality. This may be why Americans are starting to feel that nothing truly gets done in government. This should be an incentive for all Americans to want to pull away from the crippling nature of a two-party system, as it leaves the power in the hands of simply a few. Americans should embark on independence and freedom of individual ideas. This is what makes this country so great. Americans have the freedom to make their own political choices. Supporting policies that are conducive to all groups is a progressive measure, while doing away with these cookie-cut approaches to legislation. It has stifled the American Dream, restricted individuals from freely choosing what’s best for the future of the country.
This is a conversation prevalent for Americans as we work together and examine the topic of race. Fore more, follow my Race 2012 posts at womenforaction.org. Follow the conversation at the Race 2012 site. Be sure you check your local listing and tune in to watch The Race 2012 documentary on October 16th at 8pm on PBS! Oh and like the project on Facebook and Twitter.
Toblerone chocolates were used by the Germans to gain favor with some French women during World War II. Nylons persuaded others to cohabitate with a ruthless enemy that had invaded their cities. During treacherous times some went into survival mode at the expense of their neighbors and their country. Others acquiesced to chocolates and nylons, patriotism be hanged. Many, as a result, were left haunted during their lifetimes by the betrayal of their country.
Today, in America, uninformed women are willing to make an irrational and dangerous trade-off of the rights and freedoms of all Americans. In exchange for their vote, the President of the United States and Liberal Democrats entice women to trade-in their God-given freedom and Constitutionally guaranteed rights for “free contraceptives” Never mind that contraceptives are plentiful in varying forms. Or, that $9.95 birth control pills are available at pharmacies, and that contraceptives are not outlawed, prohibited or endangered. Otherwise, contraceptives would be a major black market item like crack cocaine. Never mind that the cost of pills divvied-up between the two-who-would-tango approximates $5.00 per person per month. The offer of free contraceptives incites a simple-minded priority with some women of getting something for free.
Barack Obama’s free contraceptives for your vote is a hot mess strategy that insults women on many levels. Slang definitions of hot mess are a mess to the extreme and/or a person or thought in disarray but still holding some appeal. Democrats are revealing that Liberals view women not as thinking, innovative and entrepreneurial members of American society but as walking reproductive systems. Democrats cannot ask women to vote based on a sound economy, more jobs, and less government spending because Obama has failed to deliver even one of the three. A sound economy would allow women to prosper and choose their own forms of birth control instead of free contraceptives of the government’s choosing. After four years, Obama’s track record is a $16 trillion debt, 8.3% unemployment and no national budget to curb his reckless spending. Revealing his appalling narrow-mindedness and abnormal fixation, Obama’s definitive goals for American women consist of abortions, sterilizations and birth control.
Prime example of Obama’s hot mess strategy is one presented to Congress by Obama supporter and Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke. Fluke’s argument implies that American taxpayers should pay even if a woman uses sex as a party favor on date night: Without insurance coverage, contraception can cost a woman over $3,000 during law school, Fluke laments. For a lot of students who, like me, are on public interest scholarships, that’s practically an entire summer’s salary. Fluke already has taxpayers paying for her education and now she wants her sexual activities covered as well. It is difficult to take such a woman seriously since Fluke admitted during testimony before Congress that the university already provides insurance covering the pill for women who have a variety of medical conditions — such as a friend with polycystic ovarian syndrome. At her age of 30-ish, Fluke appears to want taxpayers to pay up, no matter that her sex life is her responsibility and no one else’s.
Founder of The Majority United, BettyJean Kling, has long been a strong advocate for women’s rights and a tireless protector of abused and neglected women of all ages. Kling takes offense at the archaic views that Liberals have of women: What women are to their party is a vote and little else. Dumb as dirt, the very vocal Liberal women have been willing to settle for sexual function issue promises [for free contraceptives] rather than insist that every issue is a woman’s issue. Real women care about more than birth control and abortions. Most women’s priorities include the cost of food-gas-heat-oil, education, jobs, clean air, and war. We are not about to settle for a single issue, nor should we be pigeon-holed into believing that there are “women only” issues. There is no issue that we are unconcerned about, we work we pay taxes, we are consumers, we are the majority and we hold the majority vote– we should be taken seriously and not judged by the minority radicals that claim to speak for all women — clearly they do not!
Obama’s rallying cry to women is, Get your abortions, your sterilizations and your free contraceptives here. It is a calculated distraction by Obama from serious issues and an insult to women. Obama’s women are willing to forego privacy and allow government to peer under the covers. The greater concern should be what is behind the curtain as Obama orchestrates an unprecedented power grab one of the most audacious in U.S. history. Duping American women is part of that process.
Obama sells snake oil about looking out for the middle class and women. Thanks to Obama and Democrat policies, based on percentages, more women have lost jobs than men since Obama took office. The latest Pew Research Center report reveals that middle class incomes under Obama are lower than they have been in decades. Women, along with men, can expect continued job losses if Obama is reelected. But, you will have your free contraceptives.
More women and children are in poverty. More people are on food stamps as government dependence balloons with millions of Americans out of work. But, rest assured, Obama will make sure you have your free contraceptives.
Obama pays men more than women. The Weekly Standard reports that Obam’s war on women hits them directly in their take home pay: Colorado-Republican State Senator Greg Brophy offered an amendment that noted female staffers in the Obama White House earn an average of 18% less than male staffers.” But, you will have your free contraceptives.
Under Obamacare, expect long waits while decisions for medical treatment for yourself, your family and your parents are made by a board of unelected Obama political ideologues. If you disagree with treatment or prescribed medicines, you will have no one and nowhere to appeal if treatment goes wrong. But, you will have your free contraceptives.
Under Obamacare, the government is granted full access to your medical and financial records and can seize funds from your bank account. But, you will have free contraceptives.
Home ownership is at its lowest since 1965 with a reported 1 in 4 family homes underwater and selling at a loss. The housing collapse is a direct result of a scheme whereby Democrats coerced mortgage lenders and banks to hand over loans to unqualified buyers who could not make payments. Democrats are reportedly poised to do a repeat, plunging the nation into a deep recession. But, you will have free contraceptives.
Massive budget cuts loom over American troops fighting to preserve America’s rights and freedoms. Meanwhile, back home, Obama sabotages Constitutional authority, undermines Congress, asked Americans to spy on their neighbors and report any anti-Obama sentiments to a special White House snitch website, unleashes unrest in the Middle East, buoys Russia and China’s disrespect for America, and undermines America’s security by releasing classified information that puts American intelligence and military agents in harm’s way in an effort to glorify his role as Commander-in-Chief. But, you will have free contraceptives.
Free Enterprise, energy independence, freedom of speech, religion and gun ownership are under assault by Obama’s liberal administration and its shadow government of 40+ unelected czars. But, you will have free contraceptives.
Americans of faith will be forced to pay, via taxes, for contraceptives and abortion-inducing pills for strangers, both married and unmarried. Taxpayers’ dollars will pay for partial birth abortions, long advocated by one-time Senator and now President Obama that include the legal crushing of babies’ heads to insure the death of living infants. Obama’s policies openly devalue life, disregard Biblical principles and proliferate declining cultural values. But, rest assured that Obama will see to it that you will have your free contraceptives.
Obama has robbed Medicare of over $716 billion already resulting in diminished senior care along with fewer doctors who will accept seniors. Obamacare pushes millions of Americans onto the Medicaid roles. Funding and staff that once went to our nation’s most vulnerable, our mentally and physically disabled, face severe cut-backs, closed facilities and over-crowding of those that remain open. Case workers expect warehousing of patients. But, you will have free contraceptives.
Obama and Liberal Democrats have set the “women’s movement” back decades. The leaders of the women’s movement touted as its goal, strong, independent, self-supporting working women who could lead America into the 21st century. Empowered by self-determination and attaining equal opportunity (undeniable rights for all women), feminists declared women would not have to rely on anyone, including Big-Daddy-Government. What hopeful feminist leaders could not foresee was a future President who would crash the economy, promote welfare and food stamp dependence, cost women their jobs, pay women on his staff less than male counterparts, define women by reproductive functions by designating abortions and sterilizations as top priorities in a woman’s life, force record numbers of women and children onto the poverty roles, mock their faith, make jest of our mentally disabled, decrease income levels for the working class, increase the numbers of the elderly poor, strip Medicare of billions of dollars to dump into a socialized medicine scam, denounce hard-won advances by women by declaring that they did not build their own businesses and successes in the work place, and then act like he is doing women a favor by giving them free contraceptives. The war on women is well underway and it was begun by Barack Obama. But, he promises, you will have free contraceptives.
Barack Obama expects women to be easily distracted by his current day version of nylons and chocolates free contraceptives. It is a divisive tactic typical of Obama’s endless attempts to section off segments of society as “victims” whether based on income, class, age or gender. America’s issues are women’s issues. Despite Barack Obama’s efforts to divide and conquer, men and women from shore to shore stand united as Americans under God to defend this nation.
Sharon Sebastian (www.DarwinsRacists.com) is an author, writer, and contributor to various forms of media including cultural and political broadcasts, print, and online websites. In addition to the heated global debate on creation vs. evolution, her second book, Darwin’s Racists – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, highlights the impact of Social Darwinism’s Marxist/Socialist underpinnings on the culture, the faith and current policy out of Washington. Critics are calling Darwin’s Racists – “Incredibly Timely” and “A Book for our Times.” Sebastian’s political and cultural analyses are published nationally and internationally. Website:www.DarwinsRacists.com. “Darwin’s Racists” Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow may be ordered at: www.DarwinsRacists.com, www.Amazon.com,www.BarnesandNoble.comand at bookstores online and worldwide.
It’s a new era when the topic of the Presidents face book page is his wanting to secure women’s health care rights to abortion after rape.
“I want women to control their health care choices just like I want my daughters to have the same opportunities as your sons”
How very odd to profess you’re securing your daughters Health Care future with “her right to an abortion after rape” while ignoring the fact that her future will never be secure because of rape. The solution to violence against women is not “protecting her right to an abortion after rape” its protecting her and “giving her the same opportunities. This is not about rape this is about winning an election. This is not about violence against women this is about winning an election. This is not even about women’s health care issues; this is about winning an election. It’s all about WINNING an election, it has always been and as long as women repeat the mantra of political campaigns rhetoric it will always be about reproductive rights and not about what does matter to women.
Ninety-two percent of women surveyed listed reducing domestic violence and sexual assault as their top concern.
Why don’t we force candidates to make it about women’s rights that include strict laws and enforcement for violence against women? Until we do we will hear the winning campaign slogan that needs women voters to believe the rhetoric that the “war on women is about reproductive rights” and no other war matters to women. Until we say I am more than a Uterus, I am a whole body and a being that is stalked, and beaten and starved and taunted and belittled and degraded and humiliated and scared, we will live with the shocking reality of violence against women. The odds are 1 in 5 your daughter will be abused in her own home, by her own partner. If you truly want to give your daughters the “same opportunities as your sons” than begin with giving her the opportunity to live life without fear of violence.
Domestic Violence Statistics
Every 9 seconds in the US a woman is assaulted or beaten.
Around the world, at least one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime. Most often, the abuser is a member of her own family.
Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women, more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined.
Studies suggest that up to 10 million children witness some form of domestic violence annually.
Nearly 1 in 5 teenage girls who have been in a relationship said a boyfriend threatened violence or self-harm if presented with a breakup.
Every day in the US, more than three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends.
Ninety-two percent of women surveyed listed reducing domestic violence and sexual assault as their top concern.
Domestic violence victims lose nearly 8 million days of paid work per year in the US alone the equivalent of 32,000 full-time jobs.
Based on reports from 10 countries, between 55 percent and 95 percent of women who had been physically abused by their partners had never contacted non-governmental organizations, shelters, or the police for help.
The costs of intimate partner violence in the US alone exceed $5.8 billion per year: $4.1 billion are for direct medical and health care services, while productivity losses account for nearly $1.8 billion.
Men who as children witnessed their parents¹ domestic violence were twice as likely to abuse their own wives than sons of nonviolent parents
Pres. Obama made 508 campaign promises, astonishingly he only made 8 for women, the 8 didn’t include extending the deadline to ratify the ERA. That is 1.6% of the promises for 52% of the population and not all were kept. American women and Democratic women who support him and swear he what a feminist looks like should be not only disappointed – they should be furious. In his first two years – he had free rein yet talk of an equal rights amendment was never even put on the table. The ladies deserve better and deserve equality. Democrats need all the women’s votes they can get and they better do something more to EARN them! How dare they talk about a war on women in light of that record and the one below pointed out by the RNC.
“The Legions Of Unmarried Women Who Helped Lift Mr. Obama To Victory In 2008″ Are Up For Grabs In 2012. “As much as Ms. Sheradin is up for grabs in this election, so too are the legions of unmarried women who helped lift Mr. Obama to victory in 2008. Single women are one of the country’s fastest-growing demographic groups – there are 1.8 million more now than just two years ago. They make up a quarter of the voting-age population nationally, and even more in several swing states, including Nevada.” (Shaila Dewan, “In Weak Economy, An Opening To Court Votes Of Single Women,” The New York Times , 8/7/12)
“In Several Interviews, Women Of Various Political Stripes Said They Believed That The President Could Do Little To Help Them Personally, Or Bolster Prosperity In General.” (Shaila Dewan, “In Weak Economy, An Opening To Court Votes Of Single Women,” The New York Times , 8/7/12)
WOMEN HAVE NOT FARED WELL IN OBAMA’S ECONOMY
Since President Obama Took Office, The Unemployment Rate For Women Has Increased From 7.0 Percent To 8.1 Percent. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 8/3/12)
Since Obama Took Office, The Number Of Unemployed Women Has Increased By 860,000 To 5.9 Million (5,865,000). (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 8/3/12)
Since Obama Took Office, The Unemployment Rate For Women Between 20 And 24 Years Old Has Increased From 10.3 Percent To 11.7 Percent. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 8/3/12)
Since Obama Took Office, The Number Of Unemployed Women Between 20 And 24 Years Old Has Increased By 121,000 To 851,000. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 8/3/12)
Single Women “Have Not Fared Well During The Obama Administration.” “In an election focused on the economy, single women present a complicated case. They already earn less than married people and single men, and they have not fared well during the Obama administration. They have had a harder time than married women paying rent, getting medical care and finding jobs. While the jobless rate for married women has stayed relatively low, at 5.6 percent compared with 2.6 percent before the recession, the rate for unmarried women has risen to 11 percent, from a prerecession level of 6 percent.” (Shaila Dewan, “In Weak Economy, An Opening To Court Votes Of Single Women,” The New York Times , 8/7/12)
Los Angeles Times Headline: “Newly Created Jobs Go Mostly To Men.” (Don Lee, “Newly Created Jobs Go Mostly To Men,” Los Angeles Times, 7/15/12)
THE WHITE HOUSE IS A HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT FOR WOMEN
An Unnamed High-Ranking Female Official: Obama “Has A Real Woman Problem.” “‘The president has a real woman problem,’ an unnamed high-ranking female official told Suskind. ‘The idea of the boys’ club being just Larry and Rahm isn’t really fair. He [Obama] was just as responsible himself.‘” (Nia-Malika Henderson and Peter Wallsten, “Book: Women In Obama White House Felt Excluded And Ignored,” The Washington Post , 9/16/11)
In Obama White House’s “Rough-And-Tumble Environment … Female Staff Members Often Felt Bruised.” “In this rough-and-tumble environment, the book reports, female staff members often felt bruised. At a dinner with Mr. Obama in November 2009, several top female aides – including Anita Dunn, who was the communications director, and Christina Romer, the chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisers – told the president about being talked over in meetings by male colleagues or cut out altogether.” (Mark Landler, “Book Details Dissension In Obama Economic Team,” The New York Times, 9/15/11)
Dee Dee Myers, Former Clinton Press Secretary: “Women Are Obama’s Base, And They Don’t Seem To Have Enough People Who Look Like The Base Inside Of Their Own Inner Circle.” “‘Women are Obama’s base, and they don’t seem to have enough people who look like the base inside of their own inner circle,’ said Dee Dee Myers, a former press secretary in the Clinton administration whose sister, Betsy, served as the Obama campaign’s chief operating officer.” (Mark Leibovich, “Man’s World At The White House? No Harm, No Foul, Aides Say,” The New York Times, 10/24/09)
According To Valerie Jarrett, “Early On, Some Women Did Not Have A Direct Relationship With The President.” “‘Early on, some women did not have a direct relationship with the president,’ she [Valerie Jarrett] said later. ‘I felt direct interaction, where they could speak freely, would help.’ The first lady did not attend, but she was an invisible presence: for years, she had urged her husband to open himself up to a more diverse array of advisers, including by gender, and she quietly let it be known that she thought the story raised important questions.” (Jodi Kantor, The Obamas, 2012, p. 147)
Some Women, “Like Romer, Felt Strongly That They Were Excluded From An Internal Boys’ Club.” “The attendees couldn’t quite tell if Obama really wanted to be there. He began by glancing at his watch and effectively said, okay, we have this much time, according to one attendee. That’s how he was, always on schedule, always crossing an item off his to-do list, rarely falling into open-ended conversations. ‘Are there genuine concerns that I need to know about?’ the president asked, looking around the table. There were, although not exactly the ones he may have expected. The women were divided on how necessary the gathering was from a pure gender point of view. A few, like Romer, felt strongly that they were excluded from an internal boys’ club, but others were indifferent: they had been around Washington a long time, risen to powerful positions, and did not care who the president invited to play golf. As the women went around the table, taking turns speaking, they did not exactly cut loose. ‘It was an awkward, silent dinner where we were given one glass of wine and a piece of fish,’ one participant said. But many of them agreed on a more central concern.” (Jodi Kantor, The Obamas, 2012, p. 147)
Former Economic Advisor Christina Romer: “I Felt Like A Piece Of Meat.” “‘I felt like a piece of meat,’ Christina Romer, former head of the Council of Economic Advisers, said of one meeting in which Suskind writes she was ‘boxed out’ by Summers.” (Nia-Malika Henderson, “Book: Women In Obama White House Felt Excluded And Ignored,” The Washington Post , 9/16/11)
“The Notion That Women Have Long Been ‘The Heart Of The Obama Organization’ Doesn’t Necessarily Line Up With The President’s Largely Male List Of Political Advisers And Senior Staff.” (Alexander Burns, “Women For Obama,” Politico, 11/15/11)
Anita Dunn: Obama’s Problems With Women Began During His 2008 Campaign. ” Dunn told Suskind that the problems began during the 2008 campaign. At one point she was viewing a television ad with other campaign officials and was shocked to see no women in the spot. ‘There isn’t a single woman in this ad,’ Dunn said. ‘I was dumbfounded. It wasn’t like they were being deliberately sexist. It’s just there was no one offering a female perspective.’” (Nia-Malika Henderson and Peter Wallsten, “Book: Women In Obama White House Felt Excluded And Ignored,” The Washington Post , 9/16/11)
Obama Is “Responsible For A Work Atmosphere That Marginalizes And Ignores Women.” “Coverage in the Washington Post and a new book by Ron Suskind has focused attention on the frustration of Obama’s female advisers. But the problem has been obvious almost since Obama took office. And while the explanations so far have blamed members of the mostly-departed boys club-Robert Gibbs, Rahm Emanuel-Obama himself is responsible for a work atmosphere that marginalizes and ignores women.” (Amy Sullivan, “The White House Boys’ Club: President Obama Has A Woman Problem,” Time’s “Swampland,” 9/21/11)
Former Communications Director Anita Dunn: “This Place Would Be In Court For A Hostile Workplace.” (Nia-Malika Henderson, “Book: Women In Obama White House Felt Excluded And Ignored,” The Washington Post , 9/16/11)
Dunn: “It Actually Fit All Of The Classic Legal Requirements For A Genuinely Hostile Workplace To Women.” (Nia-Malika Henderson, “Book: Women In Obama White House Felt Excluded And Ignored,” The Washington Post , 9/16/11)
White House Female Employees Earn 18 Percent Less Than Their Male Colleagues. ” Amid the Republicans’ alleged ‘war on women,’ female employees in the Obama White House earn considerably less than their male colleagues, records show. According to the 2011 report compiled by the White House, female employees earned a median annual salary of $60,000, which was about 18 percent less than the median salary for male employees ($71,000).” (Kenric Ward, “Barack Obama’s White House Pays Women 18 Percent Less Than Men,” Sunshine State News, 4/12/12)
Apparently the DNC prefers to stir the abortion and Birth Control pill pot that keeps women fighting among themselves for the sake of party votes rather than offer Equality for all women which could unify women.
Every woman should be writing to their representatives right now and telling them if their House or Senate member wants her vote this November – she expects to see the representative name immediately placed on a bill supporting either HJRes 47 or SJRes 39. She should be insisting her vote will never go to anyone who does not support her inclusion into the US Constitution. Once their office is flooded by every female constituent in their district- I think they will get the message loud and clear and sign on regardless of party affiliation!
Plan B: Follow up Action- US Capitol lawn on Aug 18 , 10-6pm.
The Majority United is urging all women to come to Washington DC on August 18 for this women’s rally. Let’s take this opportunity to have all our voices heard. Let’s all show up and bring to the fore what the majority really has to say about what we want. Don’t let half of us speak for all of us and let’s all speak in one voice- women are more than just reproductive organs and birth control pills – we are first class citizens who deserve equal justice – equal rights- fair wages, and are every bit as concerned about jobs, energy, the cost of gas, transportation and every other issue that exists as any man in the country. All issues are women’s issues. Indeed women are the majority and the backbone of America but we only count when we are heard – so let’s rally and make our voices heard in August. Speak up loud and clear. Our first priority is to pass ERA then remind men from both parties that every issue is a women’s issue!
I am are told the rally is drawing people from all genders, races, backgrounds, and political ideologies to the cause:
“For those of you who think this rally is just about women’s issues, you’re wrong. Understand that we, women, are at the forefront of this movement, but we are not alone. Anyone, everyone, who does not fit the new congress’ narrow view of what America should be is in danger.”
Tammy Simkins of U4E of Ohio has contacted the Democratic Platform Committee urging HJRes 47 and SJRes 39 to be added to the Dem Platform. You TOO can sign on THROUGH JULY 25 at www.democrats.org/platform, fill out form using title as Endorse Joint Resolutions (INSERT BILL #S HJRes 47 and SJRes 39)…, Removing the Deadline for Ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment.
TMU urges you to also contact your Republican Platform Committee and ask them to add it to their platform- call you House and Senate leaders running for office and tell them you expect them to sign on. If they expect any support this November! Use your majority vote as leverage for a change! All women from either side or center should be using their votes for all womankind and for equality for all our sisters and all our causes for all our daughters and all our futures for all of us and all who follow. We ALL count or none of us do!
We of National ERA Alliance sent in our paperwork to the Platform Ctte yesterday urging that ERA be on the Platform again, as in 2008 after J. Kerry took it off in 2004 after 40 years in place. For more info contact sandyo@PassERA
No matter what your political ideology is – our number one priority is passing the ERA and we need to urge both parties to sign on to getting it back on the political platforms. The Democrats are working on that – and we need to Republicans to move on it too. Don’t let this be a Democrat rally or a republican war on women rally – Let’s tell it like it is- get up and be counted as an AMERICAN women who will not be silenced!
Thousands of us are planning to be on the US Capitol lawn on Aug 18 , 10-6pm. Go to WeAreWoman.us to get In The Loop; no cost, just sign in via the Raffle at bottom– The Revolution has Begun.
OR make your own plans with your own groups-OR contact me- we can form a new group if you are more comfortable! The Revolution will only have begun if all women agree on the end result –if we remain divided – only another civil war has begun~ BettyJean Downing
Press/Media Release follows–circulate and post far and wide
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jessica DelBalzo, Media Coordinator
Phone: (908) 655-5546
Email: jdelbalzo13@gmail.comRE: We Are Woman Receives Major Endorsements, Plans DC Rally
The co-founders of the event say that they are looking forward to, “Joining with others all over the country to stand shoulder to shoulder and shout ‘No more!’”
For more information, to volunteer or donate, and to connect with others who will be attending the rally, please visit:
The so-called “War on Women” is raging, and billions of your tax dollars are being misused to fuel it via the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The solution is to remove the middle class from the welfare roles and do away with gender-based funding incentives.
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 and the Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) program it created transformed welfare policy by drastically reducing and shifting federal assistance away from the homes of mothers and children and into the homes of violent offenders. In an article entitled “How Federal Welfare Funding Drives Judicial Discretion in Child-Custody Determinations and Domestic Relations Matters” fathers and rights activists Lary Holland and Jason Bottomsly explain that this policy has backfired because the incentives are structured so that the state will only benefit if children are removed from loving homes:
“In essence, the federal guidelines wanted the states to function as collection agencies, recovering financial support from parents who had willfully abandoned their parental responsibilities to their children. The result, however, was different from the intent and has caused the state welfare programs to adjust their environment to have a greater need, which has caused the program to collect from willing parents that would ordinarily provide a loving environment for their children absent a court order limiting a parent’s involvement. Despite the original intent of the IV-D welfare program, it now provides an incentive for the states to use their family courts to produce forcibly absent parents in order to increase the states’ IV-D welfare caseload.”
These HHS policies created a new breed of dangerous Welfare Kings through HHS Office of Child Support Enforcement when it began subsidizing the homes and legal battles of the unfit, unwilling, and violent fathers. At the beginning of a custody case, only the offender is sick, but if one violent offender gets custody, the whole family needs treatment. Consequently, it is also not uncommon for dozens of family court mental health and legal professionals onto the case to sustain his deadly custody rights through HHS programs.
The top 5 HHS programs endangering women and children are:
1. Child Support Enforcement (Access and Visitation Programs and Responsible Fatherhood Initiative) A 2011 report from the Office of the Inspector General demonstrates that the States are collecting child support, but not disbursing it to the children it is intended to benefit. So where is the money going? Although previous graduates include mass murderer D.C. Sniper John Muhammad, the 2012 HHS budget reflects President Obama’s $1 billion endorsement of the fraud-riddled fatherhood industry.
Using the virtually unregulated child support system as a vehicle and the father’s will to evade prison time as collateral, the fathers are told they can risk their liberty and property attempting to pay down arrears, or alternatively, sue the mother for custody using a variety of federally funded “supports.” Unlike the welfare programs for women and children which had restrictive income eligibility requirements, HHS Responsible Fatherhood program benefits are not needs based and are available to all fathers-even billionaires. Benefits from Responsible Fatherhood programs to abusers include:
Child support obligations are suspended
Free attorney representation in the family courts to fight for custody
Free housing
Direct cash incentives
Free groceries
Free car maintenance, gas, and other transportation costs
Clearly, judges understand the danger abusers pose, which is why their courts are guarded with armed deputies and not unarmed social workers. HHS programs are actually a deadly investment given that (a) abusive men win custody of their victims 70% of the time when they ask for it, and (b) regardless of the gender of the victim, it is a public safety issue when DOJ studies show men perpetrate more than 95% of violent assaults against women. A 2011 CDC study also shows that men are raped by other men more than 93% of the time, and women are raped by men more than 98% of the time.
2. Incarceration/Reentry Programs. The purpose of these programs is to recruit violent offenders who are still incarcerated directly from prison, then help them gain custody of victims. It is unclear to me how a child benefits from the dangerous influence of a violent offender insofar as it reduces support to the home they are recovering in. The program paints the offender as the victim and domestic violence as a disease they are afflicted with, curable by the removal of witnesses to their crimes.
Although violence is a voluntary act, HHS now invested our tax dollars into rehabilitating the incurable who choose to assault the most vulnerable members of society. Studies of male DV perpetrators show that 50% of them are sociopaths and another 25% have sociopathic tendancies. Psychopaths are people who feel no emotional connections to others and have zero regard for the rules and regulations of society, they do not respond to therapy, and cannot be rehabilitated. Dr. Robert Hare reports that psychopaths make up 1% of the general population, but 25% of the prison population:
“Violence is not uncommon among offender populations, but psychopaths still manage to stand out,” he says. “They commit more than twice as many violent and aggressive acts, both in and out of prison, as do other criminals … The recidivism rate of psychopaths is about double that of other offenders … The violent recidivism rate of psychopaths is about triple that of other offenders.”
Recipients include:
Massachusetts Probation Department: The Probation Department conducts all pre-trial mediations in the MA family courts. As of 2007, the department claims to have helped 1,600 male offenders with their custody cases, including Springfield inmate Shawn Suarez who was recruited into the custody switching program from jail, was released, won custody, then was sent back to prison on another violation. In 2011 and 2012, several high ranking administrators in the Probation Department were indicted by the DOJ and charged with conspiracy and fraud under the Racketeer, Influence, and Corrupt Organizations Act.
Colorado’s “Parenting From Prison” received grants to implement programs which recruit violent offenders who are still incarcerated directly from prison, then help them gain custody of children.
CT Child Rapist and mass murderer Joshua Komisarjevsky‘s nine-year old daughter was brought to visit him 55 times while in prison awaiting trial for murdering and raping 11-year old Michaela Petit, and also killing her sister Haley (age 17,) and their mom. Prior to murdering and raping the Petit family, Komisarjevsky gained sole custody of his daughter, who he promptly handed over to his parents to raise. The same parents who he blamed for his crimes after being found guilty of 17 counts, including the three homicides, and sentenced to death.
3. Foster care. Despite the fact that the National Center for Child Abuse and Neglect found that children are six times more likely to die in the State’s care than those with their parents, it is assumed by some politicians that if you are poor, then you must need the US Department of Health and Human Services programs to tell you what’s best for your own family.
In 2012, Colorado Governor John Hicklenhooper ordered an overhaul of the State’s child welfare system after the Denver Post reported 43 children were murdered as a consequence of social workers who dropped the ball.
In 2011, San Francisco Department of Child Protective Services paid out4 million to a former foster child who suffered years of abuse after his sister was beaten and starved to death by the foster parent. Another report showed that more than 1,000 CA foster homes matched the addresses of registered sex offenders, 600 of whom were high risk.
This report talks about the 1.5 million mothers who say they were “coerced,” “manipulated,” and “duped” into handing over their babies for adoption. These women say sometimes their parents forged consent documents, but more often they say these forced adoptions were coordinated by the people their families trusted most… priests, nuns, social workers, nurses or doctors.”
This report by ABC News reporter Diane Sawyer showed that 25% of all foster kids were on psychotropic drugs, and the States did not do enough to oversee them.
4. Center for Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. With an annual budget of more than $20 million, the Center gives grants directly to religious groups exempt from anti discrimination laws, such as churches and mosques, as well as nonprofits affliated with them. Often partnered with the above-referenced Fatherhood industry programs, the Partnership’s purpose is to “build and support partnerships with faith-based and community organizations in order to better serve individuals, families and communities in need.” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius explains that:
“Faith leaders are trusted partners in local communities. You have a unique ability to reach people, especially the most vulnerable, with the tools and information they need to get healthy, stay well, and thrive.”
The consequence of this policy is that unsubsidized secular nonprofits that provide community services such as childcare, education, and healthcare cannot compete with the radical anti-woman nonprofits the Obama administration gives preference to. Examples include:
Catholic Charities received $650 million from HHS between 2008-2011, despite the fact that they have lobbied to uphold their discrimination based policies that deny adequate healthcare to women, children, and the LGBT community. This includes policies which refuse women birth control, abortion, and rape counseling to the more than 10,600 children allegedly raped by some 4,392 preists as of 2002.
Atlanta based New Birth Missionary Baptist Church received $1 million from HHS to support accused pedophile Bishop Eddie Long‘s $3 million salary and benefits package, as well as anti-gay marriage lobbying efforts. In 2012, the SEC announced charges against his successor, Fatherhood promotor Ephran Taylor who “was actually peddling was a giant Ponzi scheme, one aimed to “swindle over $11 million, primarily from African-American churchgoers,” that reached into churches nationwide, from Long’s megachurch in Atlanta to Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church congregation in Houston.”
“Final Defendant Pleads Guilty to Medicaid Fraud in Scheme Involving Homeless and Pregnant Teenagers “ (3/22/2012). This press release from the GA Office of the Attorney General regarding God’s Promise Center, a business located in Henry County which purported to be a residential treatment program for homeless teenage girls.
Domestic violence is a multibillion dollar industry complete with its own ambiguous gender neutral lingo often causes victims in profitably dangerous homes. The CDC estimated that in 2003 Americans spent $8.3 billion on the domestic violence industry, which does not take into consideration the nearly 8 million work days per year that victims miss as a direct consequence of being assaulted, nor the costs associated with the children they care for who might also be abused. With as much as $585 billion also spent subsidizing the child abuse industry, so it’s no wonder some unethical abuse industry professionals cash in by keeping the public in danger and placing children in dangerous homes.
May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Began as a focal week in 1977, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month became a month-long celebration in 1980. May was chosen as the focal month because it commemorates the immigration of the first Japanese immigrants to the United States in 1843. This focal celebration provides an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the contributions of Asian and Pacific Islander American women in schools, communities, and workplaces throughout the country.
Mother’s Day is May 13, 2012 Still time… Honor a Special Woman in Your Life, visit our Mother’s Day 2012 today. Mother’s Day 2012 section of our WebStore, which is accessible from our homepage www.nwhp.org
May Highlights in US Women’s History • May 1, 1950 – Gwendolyn Brooks becomes the first African-American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; named Library of Congress’s Consultant in Poetry (later called Poet Laureate) in 1985 • May 5, 1938 - Dr. Dorothy H. Andersen presents results of her medical research identifying the disease cystic fibrosis at a meeting of the American Pediatric Assn. • May 8, 1914 - President Woodrow Wilson signs a Proclamation designating the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day • May 10, 1872 – Victoria Woodhull is nominated as the first woman candidate for U.S. president for the Equal Rights Party • May 12, 1968 – A 12-block Mother’s Day march of “welfare mothers” is held in Washington, D.C., led by Coretta Scott King accompanied by Ethel Kennedy • May 21, 1932 – Amelia Earhart Putnam is the first woman to complete a solo transatlantic flight. She flew from Newfoundland to Ireland, a 2,026-mile trip, in just under 15 hours • May 21, 1973 – Lynn Genesko, a swimmer, receives the first athletic scholarship awarded to a woman (University of Miami) • May 29, 1977 – Janet Guthrie becomes the first woman to qualify for and complete the Indy 500
May Birthdays • May 1, 1830 (1930) – Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, labor leader and organizer • May 1, 1907 – (1986) Kate Smith – Contralto vocalist; vaudeville, radio, stage and TV shows from 1931 to 1960s• • May 3, 1898 (1987) - Septima Clark, Educator, Civil Rights activist; called “Grandmother of Civil Rights Movement” • May 3, 1901 –(1981) Estelle Massey Osborne –First African-American student to win a master’s degree in nursing education (1931) board of directors of American Nurses Association (1948 – 1952) • May 3, 1912 (1995) – May Sarton, prolific writer and poet, professor • May 4, 1898 (1986) Joy Hancock – Head of WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) 1942. Led passage of Women’s Armed Services Integration Act (1948) • May 5, 1864 (1922) – Elizabeth Seaman, pen name “Nelly Bly”, journalist; wrote expose of mental asylum (1887); set a record for circling the world in 72 days (1890) • May 10, 1900-(1979) Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin- Brilliant astronomer, discovered that stars are primarily made up of hydrogen and helium, but could only be appointed as lecturer since Harvard barred female faculty appointments. . • May 10. 1909 -(1978) Maybelle Carter – Pioneer country music guitarist, one of the original Carter Family. • May 10, 1919 – (1981) Ella Grasso –First woman elected as governor in her own right (Connecticut 1974- 1981)• • May 11, 1875 (1912) – Harriet Quimby, first American woman licensed air pilot (1911), first woman to fly across the English Channel (1912) • May 11, 1894 (1991) – Martha Graham, modern dance innovator and choreographer • May 11, 1906 (1975) – Lt. Ethel Weed, military officer in the Women’s Army Corp.; promoted women’s rights and suffrage in Japan • May 11, 1906 (1980) Jacqueline Cochran – Founded the WASPs 1943 to 1994. President of Ninety-Nines, 1941 to 1942. Honor on an international airmail stamp (1996) • May 12, 1900 – (1994) Mildred McAfee Horton –President of Wellesley College (1936) Directed the U.S. Navy’s WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services) (1943). • May 14, 1904-(1976) Katharine McBride –President of Bryn Mawr, defied the McCarthy witch hunts of the 1950s. • May 15, 1890-(1980) Katherine Porter – Short story writer and novelist • May 15, 1916-(1996) Catherine East – Political activists and founding member of the Women’s Equity Action League and the National Organization for Women • May 15, 1937 – Madeline Albright, first woman to be U.S. Secretary of State (1997-2001) • May 17, 1915 –(1996) Olga Madar – Steller athlete, champion of women’s rights including the ERA and president of Coalition of Labor Union Women from (1974-1976). • May 18, 1910- (1978) Sister Annette Walters – Nun, Psychologist, Cofounded St. John’s Mental Health Institute for Clergy (1954) • May 19, 1901-(1997) Dorothy Chandler – Newspaper executive; philanthropist, Hollywood Bowl and the Southern California Symphonic Association benefactor • May 19, 1888-(1981) Emma Bugbee –Ground-breaking journalist at the NY Tribune (1934-1964) • May 19, 1930 (1965) – Lorraine Hansberry, first African-American woman to produce a play on Broadway, “A Raisin in the Sun” (1959) • May 23, 1892 – (1979) Lavinia Engle –Field organizer for the National American Woman Suffrage Association, and led battle to pass the first compulsory unemployment insurance legislation. • May 23, 1947-(1995) June Kenyon –Poet Laureate of New Hampshire. • May 25, 1913-(1992) Brownie Wise – Successfully developed home parties for Tupperware products providing employment opportunities for millions of women • May 25, 1928– Mary Wells –First woman CEO of a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange • May 26, 1951 – Sally Ride, astrophysicist, first American woman astronaut • May 27, 1907 (1964) - Rachel Carson, scientist and environmentalist; wrote “Silent Spring” which became cornerstone of modern environmental protection movement • May 31, 1912 (1997) – Chien-Shiung Wu, renowned physicist; first woman elected President of American Physical Society in 1975, elected to National Academy of Science (1958), received National Medal of Science (1975) • May 21, 1911-(1988) Virginia Haviland – Children’s international Fairy Tale author. • May 31, 1893 – (1966) Elizabeth Coatsworth – Children’s poet and award-winning author. • May 31, 1895 – (1980) Edith Stern – Active in civic reform , the League of Women Voters, Voter’s Education Fund, the Red Cross and the New Orleans Symphony
Please feel free to use this information in any of your newsletters or forward it to colleagues or other interested parties. A year-round women’s history calendar is available on our website http://www.nwhp.org in the News and Events category.
Watch people crowd around to see whose birthday they share. 750 women from U.S. history are named on this oversized poster with day by day listings and a colorful border with images representing their many activities. Alphabetical index included for cross reference. 24″ x 37″ Celebrate Women Poster +Index of Names created by Margaret Zierdt.
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