Supporting the Separation of Church and State
Archive for the ‘Activism’ Category
Prop 8 Struck Down as Unconstitutional
Categorized: Activism
Tagged: LGBTQ Rights, Religious Freedom
If you haven’t noticed, this blog is basically dead. Mostly this has been due to a lack of time and a lack of content. Sure there are always teabaggers to make fun of, and the religious fundamentalists are always going to be forcing their beliefs on us, but in comparison to the Bush era things are good.
Today though I wanted to come out and express my overwhelming surprise and joy that Prop 8 has been struck down. Read more about it over at the Bilerico Project. I also wanted to point out that while I am very happy about this development it still pisses me off that in 2010 we have to hope for court rulings to ensure American citizens get equal rights. What the fuck. Anyhow, great news and I highly recommend reading Judge Walker’s Opinion.
New “Clean Coal” Ad
Categorized: Activism
Tagged: Clean Coal, Global Warming
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NuiqZq_kCY[/youtube]
I think whoever put this ad together did an excellent job. Subtle, effective, and well thought out. While I am personally not super anti-coal like some of my friends I do feel that the clean coal myth needs to be addressed. My sincere hope is that as alternative ways to produce energy are perfected and implemented we will see less and less coal used. Actually thats almost a near certanty as alternative energy is both cleaner and cheaper over the long run.
Anyhow, here is another video by the Reality Campaign.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdHuB7Ovl2o[/youtube]
Have a great Christmas everyone, I’ll see you again next week.
Action Item: Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
I’m passing on to you all the contents of an action email I received from National Women’s Law Center. Women in America are still paid dramatically less than their male counterparts earning a mere 77 cents on the dollar. For minorities that difference is much greater. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act will go a long way to addressing this problem.
We’ve made it past the first vote — and we’re gearing up for round two in the Senate on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which would have a major impact on the lives of women who’ve been subject to pay discrimination.
With 57 Senators voting in our favor, we are now just 3 votes away from moving the bill forward. And we need your help to make fair pay a reality for women.
Here at the National Women’s Law Center, we’re reaching out to Senators in key states who voted the wrong way the first time around. If you live in one of the following states, at least one of your Senators voted against the bill: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Indiana, Iowa, Florida, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia. Please e-mail that Senator now.
If you don’t live in one of those states, please forward this eCard to your friends, family, and contacts who do.
Thank you again for your support on this key bill. We couldn’t have made it this far without you.
Please, if you live in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Indiana, Iowa, Florida, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, or Virginia please email your senator and try to get them to support fair pay for women. This is one of those issues where our congress has the opportunity to address a serious injustice, we just need to help them along.
I know people who know people in Nebraska and my wife has family in Texas so we will be sending a few of these cards out. I wish there was more to be done but maybe this little bit will make the difference. They are only needing 3 more votes. You never know your call or email may be the one that makes it happen. Isn’t this what makes our Nation great?
Thanks once again
William ~ WWJV4.com
Pantysniffer Kline Looses Subpoepna
Categorized: Activism
Tagged: Phill Kline, Reproductive Rights
A judge has Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline’s request for the private medical records from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Phill Kline has been on a religious crusade against Planned Parenthood in Kansas in an effort to prevent abortion access. In his crusade Phill Kline has trampled over the privacy rights of countless women in a fruitless chase for any evidence of wrongdoing.
This was a good ruling that reinforces women’s right to privacy. I wish it was going to be enough to remind Phill Kline that he has an actual job to do other than pursuing his personal vendetta against abortion providers. I would think that after failing to indict Planned Parenthood the taxpayers of Johnson County would have reminded him of that. Guess not.
William ~ WWJV4.com
Update on Abortion Art
Categorized: Activism
Tagged: Aliza Schvartz, Feminism, Reproductive Rights
I wanted to post a quick update on the story of Aliza Schvarts’ Abortion Art Project I wrote about yesterday just to let you all know how the story is playing out. In such a short time there has been a lot going on and a lot of blogs that I really admire have posted about this.
As predicted the story has spread quickly on both sides of the pro-choice debate. The response from the anti-choicers has been as predictable as always, but not so on the pro-choice side. Thats to be expected though from a group that sees the world in many shades of grey and not in absolutes. One advantage of this approach is you don’t look so foolish when things aren’t as they first appear. That seems to be the case here.
First the school came out with a statement saying that the art piece was performance art and wasn’t real.
Ms. Shvarts is engaged in performance art. Her art project includes visual representations, a press release and other narrative materials. She stated to three senior Yale University officials today, including two deans, that she did not impregnate herself and that she did not induce any miscarriages. The entire project is an art piece, a creative fiction designed to draw attention to the ambiguity surrounding form and function of a woman’s body.
She is an artist and has the right to express herself through performance art.
Had these acts been real, they would have violated basic ethical standards and raised serious mental and physical health concerns.
Helaine S. Klasky — Yale University, Spokesperson
Aliza Schvarts is standing by her original claim that she did in fact artificially inseminate herself while taking herbs to induce miscarriage. Personally I would say that the most likely scenareo at this point is that it is in fact a performance art piece. As such the contradictions and vague message makes perfect sense.
The debate and response to the performance is part of the art and while some may disagree I think it has great value. As I clarified in a comment to my earlier post there is value in forcing people to ponder whether their support of womens rights and reproductive freedom is absolute or if its just theoretical. Real or not her art project has accomplished that.
As we seldom get many comments (though the quality has recently improved greatly) I suggest heading over to Feministing as the discussion there is very good. Of course I love hearing your thoughts too so please dont hesitate to post a comment.
William ~ WWJV4.com
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