Can You Hear Me Now?

Can You Hear Me Now?

29 Comments
Last week Cassandra put up a post entitled #YesAllWomen and things got interesting.  The entire thread (and its evolution or... reduction?) is worth your time to read, but, for this post, I'm going to deal with my interactions with individual commenters - which means I'll be taking the comments out of order to highlight the individual conversations. I've debated on how to do this and decided to post comments in their entirety - which means this post will be ridiculously long, but quotes will not be taken out of context.  (FYI: I've placed the comments in blockquotes, so they can be easily identified.  Anything in blockquotes is a direct comment from the #YesAllWomen thread.  Everyone with me?)  Hey, look at this as your weekend reading! Basically, I'm going to dissect these conversations.  I am also writing this post from my point of view (and only my point of view) - how I interpreted these responses as a women. I was actually surprised by how frustrated I became writing this post, and I shudder when I think of the forthcoming comments.  Mainly because I'm not sure if we can have this discussion without getting defensive.  I'll also point out that while I am calling out certain people's comments I am doing so in a attempt to see if people can relate to my reactions to certain words, phrases, tone, etc.  Again, this post is about how I interpreted comments... and I didn't always interpret them nicely, so feel free to call me out.  But once you do that... do you think you could comment on my point; do you think there's a conversation to be had?  If you do, then after you call me out, could you address that?
Friday Open Thread [6.6.14]

Friday Open Thread [6.6.14]

9 Comments
On this 70th anniversary of D-Day, I am posting something my brother wrote about this day:
70 years ago today the largest amphibious invasion ever and the most important battle in human history took place on the beaches of Normandy. Our country was never, before or since, as united in one common purpose as we were on that day and during that war. Can you even imagine today? Every single American united in one cause. Together. Elvis Pressley fought. Jimmy Stewart. They cancelled baseball for jimmy crickets sake because so many professional athletes went overseas to fight and die. Can you imagine Kayne West and Lil Wayne lacing up their boots? Tom Brady and Desean Jackson in army green? Jared Leto or Johnny Depp signing up to fight? It was a different time, a great generation and a shared purpose that no one could doubt. That everyone could believe in. Remember them today. They were better than we are today. They are what we are capable of being.
Obama Praises Moms, America and Apple Pie; Republicans Furious – “Moms are actually huge c*nts” Counters McCain

Obama Praises Moms, America and Apple Pie; Republicans Furious – “Moms are actually huge c*nts” Counters McCain

77 Comments
This Bowe Bergdahl story is actually the tipping point right? We have finally reached "peak wingnut." The ludicrousness of the Republican talking points on this issue reveal the game once and for all. To be a Republican now means that you believe...
- President Obama secretly and treacherously invented the idea of prisoner exchange, - the Taliban prisoners being exchanged personally blew up the twin towers on 9-11, - Bergdahl's Mother and Father are enemies of democracy, and - (insert crackpot conspiracy theory of the day here).
It is all such transparent nonsense that the American family can finally consign our wingnut uncle to an institution. You will like it in the country Uncle. The good people will take care of you. You need a long rest. It will be good for you.

Thursday Open Thread [6.5.14]

11 Comments
All I have to say on the whole Bergdahl matter is you get your brother home. No matter what. You don't leave a brother in enemy hands. Period. If Bergdahl needs to be court martial-ed once he is back here, then so be it. But you get him home. If you in any way disagree, then you do not support the troops. You only support the troops you like, and are willing to abandon those you don't whenever the mood strikes you. That is unAmerican. Unpatriotic. Unhuman.
DL Exclusive: Brenda Mayrack Receives Major Endorsement from Emily’s List

DL Exclusive: Brenda Mayrack Receives Major Endorsement from Emily’s List

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Delaware State Auditor candidate Brenda Mayrack has officially been endorsed by Emily's List. Come inside for the full release.... "I am both inspired and gratified by this endorsement," Mayrack told Delaware Liberal. "I am running for Auditor because I intend to work to ensure that each one of our hard-earned tax dollars is used well and not wasted. All Delawareans, along with those who have placed their trust in me, deserve that, and that's the mission I will bring to the office." This is a big deal for Delaware. Brenda Mayrack offers the real promise of progressive leadership for Delaware. She will be a great auditor, bringing both an incisive mind and, here's a word you don't ever hear associated with current Auditor Tom Wagner, competence, to effectively do the job.
America’s Psych/Neuro Crisis: Silence From The Medics

America’s Psych/Neuro Crisis: Silence From The Medics

8 Comments
You might have noticed, if you're paying attention, that the U.S. has a major set of medical crises. An epidemic of mass killings from clearly deranged perpetrators who've slipped through the net of the psych/neuro professionals unnoticed. And an epidemic of broken vets returning home from the killing fields with PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). . The response from the medical profession (using this term advisedly)? Silence.
How to Transform the War on Drugs into Providing Drug Treatment and Compassion

How to Transform the War on Drugs into Providing Drug Treatment and Compassion

14 Comments
Make the faces of drug use and abuse white ones. Interesting, yes? Most black and brown people have known this since forever. Last week, the WaPo published two authors who note that with the reports of the explosion of heroin use and abuse in the suburbs, that the news reporting as well as law enforcement sound much more compassionate, but that seems to be because they are now talking about white people:
Last month, NBC News ran a series of stories about the United States’ “growing heroin epidemic.” Two things stand out in the reports: One is their sympathetic tone; the other is that almost everyone depicted is white. Drug users and their families aren’t vilified; there is no panicked call for police enforcement. Instead, and appropriately, there is a call for treatment and rehabilitation. Parents of drug addicts express love for their children, and everyone agrees they need support to get clean.