February 4, 2014 by IdealisticRebel

Stand-your-ground law

About 80% of my blogger family, and I do consider you all my little chicks, have written something about this Stand your ground since George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin, most of the time it is a photo and saying do away with the law?

I have never clicked on one so, I guess that it is about time to explain my reasoning?

First, and to my defense, as a teacher of our Spirituality,

Kiehtan (our name for your name GOD) will not allow me to be a judge, Kiehtan is the only judge that matters!

Second, and again to my defense, neither Zimmerman or his attorney used this Stand your ground law?

Third, I am also a human and as such believe that George was wrong!

Problem, young men being young men I believe that Trayvon was also wrong!

Should he have died, in this case, because he was also wrong, of…

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February 4, 2014 by IdealisticRebel

Paul Krugman: GOP’s Obamacare lies hurt American families

A sane view of healthcare and the GOP

The Fifth Column

As comprehensive and satisfying a take-down of the modern GOP as you will read…(Salon)

Salon

Award-winning economist and best-selling author Paul Krugman’s latest column for the New York Times is an unapologetic attack on the Republican Party for, in Krugman’s words, “trying to deceive voters” and, in the process, “deceiving themselves.”

What’s got Krugman riled up this time is the GOP’s official response to President Obama’s 2014 State of the Union address, in which Washington congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers argued Obamacare “is not working” and, as proof, cited the experience of one of her constituents, Bette Grenier, who claimed to have seen her monthly premiums increase by a whopping $700.

Before explaining the problems with Grenier’s story, Krugman makes quick work of McMorris Rodgers’ assertion that Obamacare is not working. He notes that sign-ups, while slightly behind projections due to the disastrous rollout of Healthcare.gov, are nevertheless happening at a rapid speed…

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February 3, 2014 by IdealisticRebel

California Prisoner Alleges Abuse of Gay and Transgender Inmates at Pleasant Valley State Prison

Prison Reform Movement's Weblog- America: Land of the Free, Home of the Incarcerated

In August, The Rage Monthly received a letter from a gay prisoner at Pleasant Valley State Prison in California. The letter can be described best as a plea for help following alleged inhumane treatment by corrections officers. The prisoner claimed that corrections officers were using the public address system and bullhorns to encourage inmates to beat and brutalize gay and transgender prisoners in Building 1 of D Yard. He named a particular senior corrections officer as the main instigator of the alleged assaults. The prisoner also charged that gay and transgender prisoners were being denied food and basic hygiene, including access to showers, and he further claimed that corrections officers had destroyed the mail of gay and transgender prisoners. Even more disturbingly, the letter went on to allege that gay and transgender inmates were assigned more work details and were being thrown in the Security Housing Unit (SHU)…

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February 3, 2014 by IdealisticRebel

Alabama Prison Was House of Horrors for Female Inmates, Feds Say

Sad, but good story

Prison Reform Movement's Weblog- America: Land of the Free, Home of the Incarcerated

The entrance to Tutwiler Prison for Women in Wetumpka, Ala., is pictured, Sept. 23, 2013.

AP Photo/Dave Martin

A Justice Department investigation accuses Alabama officials of violating women’s rights by fostering an environment of rampant sexual abuse at the state’s Tutwiler Prison, where inmates “universally fear for their safety” and officers allegedly forced women to engage in sex acts just to obtain basic sanitary supplies.

The nearly 900 women incarcerated at the maximum-security prison live “in a toxic environment with repeated and open sexual behavior,” the Justice Department said in announcing its findings today into the Wetumpka, Ala., facility.

As part of the alleged abuses, male officers openly watched women shower or use the toilet, staff helped organize a “strip show,” prisoners received a constant barrage of sexually offensive language, and prisoners who reported improper conduct were punished, according to the department.

What’s more, at least a third of the…

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February 3, 2014 by IdealisticRebel

One Word Filled with One People

reblogged from 2/27/2013

I am thinking today about the women who have been my friends and support in life. I am grateful for all that they have added to my life. As I think back it was they that helped me accomplish all that I have done. There is an connection between women forged by survived violence against women, injustice, oppression and we are an important part of American Life. We have stood up to discrimination and put-downs and we have gotten back up each time we were knocked down. In truth, we started a revolution that affects men and women everywhere.

I loved this video because as we move around the world living our lives, we meet so many men and women from other cultures and religions. We all live here on this one planet. We don’t look alike, we don’t all think alike or love alike, but we are all children of the Universe. Love for the One and each other is what binds us together. Caring about all the women and men in the world who are suffering under oppression, who have not medicine for something as simple as TB or Malaria, who have to watch their children starve to death.

The language of the people of this planet is love, music, dance and creativity. This language is what gives us the courage to fight for the best in ourselves and each other.

February 2, 2014 by IdealisticRebel

Awesome Blossom & Lighthouse Awards

Thank you to seaangel4444 for nominating me for these two awards. I so appreciate her kindness and the inspiration she provides everyday.

The rules for the Lighthouse Award are:

1. Display the Award certificate on your blog.

2. Inform your nominees of their award nominations.

3. Share three ways that you like to help other people.

4. There is no limit to the number of people that you can nominate.

5. Don’t forget to have fun!!

I’ve spent my life working to help people, trying to bring change to the world by picketing, by speaking out against injustice and for equality and the rights of women and children. As I’ve gotten older, the picketing has become an impossibility, so I blog and write Congress and the President now, instead. Picketing with a keyboard, if you will. I also like to promote art and the beauty of the world, because I feel that the world is helped by every piece of art and every beautiful vista, and by positive thoughts and energy. Finally, I work for Peace, because I truly believe that Peace is the best way to help the entire World and all those on her.

The rules for the Awesome Blossom Award are:

1. Thank the person who nominated you and link back to them.

2. Put the award’s logo on your blog.

3. Nominate 15 Bloggers and tell them by leaving a comment on their blog.

My nominations for both awards:

February 2, 2014 by IdealisticRebel

Beatlemania

Paul McCartney and George Harrison at Ed Sullivan

Paul McCartney and George Harrison on the Ed Sullivan

Fifty years ago, Rock and Roll was adding spark to family dinner tables. And there were four young musicians from England who landed on American soil. Nothing was the same again. The Beatles arrived and did the Ed Sullivan show. The television was fairly new and it was in black and white. Most of the teenagers in America were in front of the family tv. Parents were pretty freaked. Ed Sullivan announced “The Beatles” and they began to sing. It was wild. I was in love. My first celebrity crush. All of them were my fantasy. I have always loved them and have followed and enjoyed all the transitions in their lives.

At the Grammy Awards last Sunday, I watched Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr singing together again and my mind went back to the first time I saw them sing. It is strange to have followed them and loved their music for most of my life. It is also for us old hippies, a strange experience to have our rock idols look our age. Today, rock stars die of natural causes, though we remember the ones who died before their time. For me and many of my friends, many of whom are musicians, it feels strange to see them growing old like we are. Rock Stars were supposed to always be young. Of course, most of us have never completely grown up. It is truly a special thing to know that you have worked hard, loved hard, embraced life completely and yet we are still very young at heart. I have promised my grandchildren that I would not completely grow up. They like that because I play with them as often as possible. I teach them to be responsible and to study hard, but I also teach them to love life and all people. That we are all the same in our hearts and souls, lessons that the Beatles tried to teach us.