Supreme Court Rejects Appeal Over Obama’s Citizenship

Supreme Court Rejects Appeal Over Obama’s Citizenship – The Caucus Blog – NYTimes.com.

I’m really upset over this.  Not that they rejected the appeal, I’m ecstatic about that, but the fact that some guy from New Jersey has the audacity to bring a lawsuit against Obama claiming that he is ineligible for the presidency because only his mother is a US citizen at the time of his birth and is completely negating the fact that Obama himself was born on US soil.  What this man is saying by making this claim is that the mother’s citizenship does not count, and why is that?  Is it because she’s a woman?  Is it because his father is from Kenya and practiced the Muslim faith?  Are we back to “otherizing” people who are not like us, because I feel this is exactly what this lawsuit was trying to do.  I may be completely off in my thinking, but what this article implies is that the woman’s citizenship doesn’t matter, and since the father is not a citizen, and is (OH NO!) Muslim, then it shouldn’t count.

From what I remember from my elementary school civics class is that so long as you are born on US soil, you are a citizen and are eligible for the presidency, so long as you meet all other requirements as well, including age.  So to make this claim is absurd and insulting to women, to people of different faiths, and different ethnicities.

Legalized Prostitution

Amsterdam To Close Many Of Its Brothels, Marijuana Cafes, Sex Shops.

I’m so torn about this because prostitution is a good way for a woman with no skill to earn a living, but the problem that I see that is most prevalent is that prostitution equates women to objects that can be bought and this mindset can trickle over to women who are not prostitutes. It’s a way of perpetuating patriarchy and I really don’t find it in the least empowering. Most importantly, it also causes problems like enslavement and trafficking of women and children.

It’s great that they’re giving women a legal, semi-protected way of practicing their trade, but how protected is it really? In countries as rich as, say, the United States, women and children are being enslaved for the purposes of sexual services, and yet here’s Amsterdam trying to promote prostitution in a safe, legal environment. How many of those women in the red light district are there because they’re forced? I think that if they were to implement other social programs that would help them out of their situation and get them into a job where they don’t have to sell themselves, that this would be money better spent.

The city is targeting businesses that “generate criminality,” including gambling parlors, and the so-called “coffee shops” where marijuana is sold openly. Also targeted are peep shows, massage parlors and souvenir shops used by drug dealers for money-laundering.

…

“It’ll be a place with 200 windows (for prostitutes) and 30 coffee shops, which you can’t find anywhere else in the world _ very exciting, but also with cultural attractions,” he said. “And you won’t have to be embarrassed to say you came.”

So basically, they’re going to target businesses that “generate criminality” and will define where you can sell yourself and your body in a way that won’t embarass the “Johns”, continuing to perpetuate crime because of the demand that is then created, whether it is on their land or someone else’s.

I could be totally off here, but sex tourism is a big problem in a lot of countries, and in many of those countries, those who are in the business of sex are enslaved, they’re children who don’t have any other choice or don’t have a say in the matter.  There’s a lot of problems with this, and simply because it works in one country, as far as keeping a close eye on crime, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it works in other countries, and by legalizing prostitution you are creating the demand for sex that trickles over to other countries where it’s not legalized and becomes a big problem.

These are just my random thoughts on the situation, and I’m sorry if they’re a bit scattered, but I would love to hear input from others or be given points of view that I may not have considered.

Strong Women Strong Girls!

I’m super excited because there is so much going on! The semester is over for me Wednesday. After Wednesday any studying I do is studying I want to do not have to do, like the research I would like to continue performing on sexual exploitation (more on that at a later date). But, most importantly, with the spring semester coming, I will be a part of a fabulous mentoring program called Strong Women Strong Girls. This program was started by a Miami native. She went to high school here, was accepted to Harvard and really made an impact with this program in the Boston area and is now looking to bring it to Miami. This is a mentoring program for at-risk girls in grades 3-5 where college women go to their schools and teach them various things to empower them for the future. Me and 14 other fabulous women will be the first mentors for the Florida chapter of Strong Women Strong Girls at Florida International University.

This program means a lot to me because I didn’t really have a mentor growing up and had to learn my lessons the hard way. If I could impact the life of one girl in a way that she is led down the right path and learns her self-worth, then it’ll most definitely be worth it. I wish I had someone as a kid to teach me that I was worth more than I thought I was. I wish there was someone (other than my mom of course, because who truly listens to their mom’s to begin with?!)  that would have taught me that there was more to life than finding my prince charming and living happily ever after and to be able to teach me what is wrong with this way of thinking. As a kid, I was planning my future around the mystery man I would marry and I learned the hard way after a divorce at 28, that this was the wrong way to look at my future. I also learned what this way of thinking does to a woman’s self-esteem when things don’t go as planned.  I have to give my mom credit though, she did teach me independence, although according to her I was always a pretty independent child and she also taught me that I would be the only one who I could truly depend on.  I’m teaching this to my stepson now, and will teach it to my daughter if I ever have one, because it truly is invaluable advice.

I want girls to know that they can be whatever they want, and they can do whatever they want. If they want to grow up and be President of the United States, that’s possible. Whatever it is that they want to achieve, they can, and I would to inspire the next batch of women leaders.

Keith Olbermann on Gay Marriage

I have come to love Keith Olbermann. I love his ideologies, his bluntness, and just how he tells us what’s going on. He amazes me, and he amazed me even more recently. I found this little video over at Oh, You’re a FEMINIST?! and I thought how freaking awesome it is that he could so perfectly relate my sentiments on the issue of gay marriage. Although, I did have someone very close to me who was gay. I saw “was” only because he is no longer with is, and I miss him terribly, and I feel very strongly that it was the issue of his sexuality and what he’d suffered because of whom he loved that he is no longer with us. If there’s one thing you do today, make sure it’s watching this video. Also, before you go watch the video, make sure you head on over to Join the Impact and see about the protests that will be going on all over the nation this Saturday regarding Proposition 8 in California and 2 in Florida.

President-Elect OBAMA!

I was hopeful, but there was doubt.  I had lost my faith in my fellow citizens to see what the right thing for this country was, and my faith has been restored tonight.  Not only for my fellow citizens, but that all things in this country are possible.  Tonight, we have written history.  Tonight, we have elected our first African American President.  Tonight, our President-Elect is no longer an older white man, or even a youngish white man, today, he is a black man with a true vision for our country.  Someone who comes from a background much like mine and who has had to struggle and work hard to be where he is now.  Tonight, we have someone who will fight for equality and the rights of all people in this nation on our side, in a position to institute true change in our society.

I have had my hope restored that if I work hard, I can achieve my dreams and I can become the person I want to be, and society has shown me that this is possible.  Our society has spoken out and creamed that it is more tolerent to different people.  Change has come.  Change is here.  Change is evident.  I congratulate Barack Obama, Joe Biden and their families on this monumental night.

GO VOTE!

To all those who haven’t already…

Women, especially need to get out, need to make their voices heard, and you all need to go vote.  in 2004 22 million women did not vote nationwide in the presidential elections.  That is an astounding number.  22 million! All those votes could have changed the outcome of the election, they could have changed the outcome of the last four years, and we could have been in a much better place right now if those 22 million women had just gone out to vote.  It’s not much of a popular vote, if the full population does not vote.  Most importantly, like the commercial says, your life, your health, and your future does depend on it, so just do it.  Yes, the lines are long, the weather may be bad, the kids may be annoying you, whatever the case may be, imagine what you will have to suffer through for the next 4 years if you don’t speak your mind, if you don’t vote, the minute annoyances you will suffer through a couple of hours waiting in line is nothing in comparison to the 4 years of really bad policy decisions we may have to suffer through if another bad presidential choice is made.

I hate to hound people, really I do, but this is such and important thing that I just can’t let it slide.  I can’t not hound, because like women’s rights, and everything that falls under that title (including racial and sexual liberties), women fought long and hard and suffered unimaginable things in order so that YOU could have the right to vote just like white and black men.  Not voting is like disgracing all their hard work, and the blood, sweat, and tears that went into YOU having your right to vote, so just do it.  Honor your ancestors, honor yourself, honor your future and make sure your voice is heard.

Genocide Awareness Project on our campus

I am so incredibly tired today, emotionally, physically, and in every which way I could possibly tell you.  On our campus for the past two days we have had people from the [WARNING POSSIBLE TRIGGER!!!] Center for Bio-Ethical Reform on our campus as part of their Genocide Awareness Project.  These people are so completely ignorant and so extreme in their beliefs, it was mentally draining that they would even attempt to engage me.  As secretary for our NOW campus chapter, I was there all day today and for an hour yesterday protesting them being there with a lot of other people.  Let me give you the bulk of extremely ignorant things that were said to me.

Firstly, I had a woman actually say to me, “You know, because some women provoke rape, and then get an abortion.”  Great.  Here’s an older woman actually using the age old tactic of punish/blame the victim for something that was done to her.  I immediately told her I could no longer speak with her if she was actually going to propose that women ask to be raped.  I couldn’t engage this.  Afterwards, one of “those people” actually engaged me in a battle of the mind on how life begins at conception, to which I told him that was not my belief, but then asked him what was his position on birth control.  The answer I received was “birth control is against my moral beliefs.”  Ok Mr. Intelligent pro-lifer, then how do you propose we stop abortions?  His answer: “don’t have sex.  Sex education is like a green light for kids to have sex.”  So, abortion is bad, birth control bad, and we need to go against human nature so that we don’t offend your morals???!!

Nice.

I’m drained.  I was part of a panel afterwards with the director of the Women’s Studies department on campus where we wanted to discuss what these people were saying, the lies they were spreading, the warped theologies, and the fact that they were in a high traffic area in our school when this was extremely offensive to several students and faculty as well.  Not to mention where they were on campus was right near the children’s learning center where children younger than 4 (I think) are.  So not only are these people imposing their views on the student body, faculty, staff, and administrators, but they are also sucking children into it and saying things like, “Well maybe they shouldn’t walk by here then.”  THIS IS OUR CAMPUS!!  It’s that child’s right to be able to walk around the campus with their parent or teacher and not have to ask questions about all the dead bodies on GIANT billboards!

Below I’ve placed some pictures of their so called “exhibition”.  Also notice the one with the supposed “Free Speech Board” that was not about free speech because one of the College Republicans (who invited these people on our campus by the way) was going around and crossing out pro-choice messages and adding things like “MURDERER!” next to or over it, so how is that free speech?

The thing that pissed me off even more is that they asked my very wonderful and intelligent black friend how she would feel about being lynched, because lynching and abortion are the same thing.  After she told me this I wanted to deck these people because that was over the line.  That was spreading hate speech in order to get their point across and that was unnecessary.  That was there to instill fear in her and that pisses me off?  They forget that women are not property.  Women can not be told what to do with their bodies.  Womens’ bodies are their own, not their fathers, husbands, or male relatives.  It’s theirs and theirs alone and their entire concept is that the fetus’ life is more important than the womans.

What gets me is the fact that they were on our campus 4 days before election day, in a traditionally red state, and on a college campus when it’s a big given that the young vote will be the deciding factor in this election, so please someone talk me down and tell me it wasn’t politically politically motivated.

I Voted Today!

I went ahead and voted early today, and boy let me tell you, it took forever.  The polling place opened at 1pm today, and we got in line at about 12:30, and the picture to the left is what the line looked like.  We went to the Kendall Branch Library polling place, and if you know how this branch works, the front doors are on 96th Avenue, and the line wrapped around the block to 97th Ave.  It took us (because I brought my boyfriend with me) 2 and a half hours to get in and vote, and it was well worth it.  I shouldn’t have to tell you which way my vote went, but I can tell you I’m glad I did it now and not later.  I am glad I voted early, I’m glad I voted the way I did, and I’m glad I have the right to do so under Amendment 19

You know what makes me incredibly proud?  The man to the left.  It was his first time voting, and he did so because he feels that this election is important enough, and I talked him into it.  It seems that there are several other people who feel the same as David.  Why?  Because the world is a scary place right now.

So I’m proud of him.  I’m proud of me, and I’m proud of the example we’ve set for the little one as well who doesn’t quite understand why he can’t vote, but I’m sure we’ll be talking about that more with the days to come.

Don’t be discouraged by the long lines guys, this is an incredibly important election and if you don’t vote, I don’t want to here shit about what McCain is doing to ruin our nation.  IT’S YOUR FAULT!  YOU SHOULD HAVE VOTED!

Here’s some quick stats:  in 2004 22 million women nation wide did not vote.  That’s 22 million women who did not voice their opinions.  If you want to see why it’s so important for women to vote, watch Iron Jawed Angels on HBO.  It’s on the women suffragists and everything they went through under Woodrow Wilson’s United States in order to get Amendment 19 passed so that we could all have the same privileges as men.  So go watch this movie, get inspired, and GO VOTE.

A couple snippets

Here’s a couple quick videos from the rally here in Miami.  Please excuse the quality of the videos.  They were taken on an itty bitty digital camera, so it may be a bit shaky.  Listen to the words more then trying to look at the video.

Obama Rally

Let me tell you about the amazing day I had yesterday.  I went to the Obama rally held here in Miami at Bicentennial Park.  Firstly, to get there I decided to take the Metrorail.  Holy Cow were there people at the people mover to get from the train to the park!  It was so bad security was only allowing a certain amount of people on the platform at a time, so I walked the 1.2 miles it takes to get there from the train.  I get there and there’s a two hour wait just to get past the security checkpoints.  The crowd was the best though.  Everyone was so loving, so accepting, and there was such a postive vibe amongst everyone that it felt great (unlike what you see on the news at the McCain/Palin rally’s).  I get past security just in time to hear Bob Graham introducing Michelle.  She got up and introduced Barrack and was so eloquent and so wonderful (crappy little video from my little camera to come, as soon as I get it uploaded onto YouTube).  Then Obama…

This rally and this awesome man has restored my faith in humanity just a little more, which is something I lost a long time ago (just drive through Miami and you’ll see what I mean).  What a wonderful experience it was, and one that I hope everyone has the chance to experience at least once in their life.  To be able to hear the man or woman with whom inspires you the way Obama inspires me was such a rewarding experience.  I have faith that he will earn the office, not win it, because it’s not about winning.  He truly deserves it and he’s worked hard enough, has shown an incredible amount of dedication and intelligence to deserve it.  I can’t wait for Novemeber 4th.