Abortion and Privacy

Decisions around an unplanned pregnancy are incredibly personal.  They should be left to the woman, her doctor, her minister, other interested parties in her church, her employer, state, local, and national politicians, and other interested parties - including scout troops, altar societies, or others who might benefit from a legal bounty paid by some states for turning her and her healthcare provider in - if they make the 'wrong' decision.  

Unfortunately, if Democrats solidify their control of government, many of these people will be left out of these key decisions, leaving the poor, fallen woman to make this decision all on her own.  

Please, for her sake, vote Republican!  Because an unplanned pregnancy is everybody's business!

Freedom Isn't Free

With Labor Day Weekend drawing to a close, and a presidential election underway, it’s a good time to consider the dynamics of our society.  No gains are permanently locked in – not in the dignity of labor; equal rights—even voting rights—for racial, ethnic, or religious minorities; or a woman’s control over her own body.  Gains are always ephemeral; we relax and enjoy them at the risk of losing them.  Every gain in dignity formerly denied to some, is seen as a loss of prerogative to those who formerly held the reins – a loss they will immediately work to regain.  

So I hope you enjoyed your Labor Day weekend, and took a few moments to remember those who struggled, sometimes died, and continue to struggle, to win you a three-day weekend, and eight-hour workday, a decent minimum wage, and the right to vote for leaders who will protect those rights.  

Freedom isn’t free, and it is never secure to the complacent.

Abortion Access by Class

The recent Supreme Court ruling enshrines into law what has already been the reality in many states, which have used restrictive laws to restrict access to women's reproductive services.  

Women with the time and the resources will continue to be able to simply decamp to a state which more fully respects women's privacy and autonomy, receive an abortion, then return home.  

Women who don't enjoy the time and monetary resources to either go elsewhere, or to endure the intentionally difficult obstacles set up in her home state, were forced to bring their unplanned pregnancies to term.  

It's not a party-line issue, but in effect it is a socio-economic class issue.  We need lawmakers who will level the playing field for American women, regardless of state of residence.  

Cult Response to Threats

When a scandal comes to light that implicates somebody we admire, there is a tendency to resist believing it at first.  But as the evidence accumulates, and the window of plausible deniability closes, we cease that resistance, and our esteem for the one we admire is diminished.  

Within a cult, it's different.  The attachment to the leader is not mere admiration so much as it is adoration, or even identification.  Any implication of wrongdoing by the cult leader is perceived as a direct personal attack against us.  As more evidence accumulates—rather than causing followers to separate themselves from the leader—the cult tends to cleave more closely; the more credible, and the greater the accumulation of evidence, the more tightly the followers cling to the leader, and lash out at the accusers.  The siege mentality they share can result in unpredictable, desperate behaviors.  

This identification with the leader makes deprogramming difficult under the best of circumstances - much more so if the member can't be isolated from the influence of the cult.  This is made even more difficult when the cult controls a vast communication infrastructure.  In some nations, (e.g. China, Putin's Russia, Victor Orban's Hungary), the ruling party simply doesn't allow contradictory information to be broadcast.  In other cases, the cult is simply trained to pay attention only to approved communication, by portraying all outside sources as 'fake news', or otherwise not credible.  Unless this obstacle is overcome, there is little hope of breaking the hold of the cult on its members.  

Underground Railroad - Oregon Cove

As with other times in our history, when calamities have arisen, kind people all over our country are offering to provide shelter to women seeking abortions, but who cannot obtain them, safely and legally, in their own state.  

One thing that is desperately needed to make this mission of mercy work are organizations to connect women needing to find lodging in a state that allows this vital service, with those who will open their homes during her visit.    

Oregon Cove was founded just last Friday, in Portland, Oregon.  If you, or somebody you know is from elsewhere, and have come to Oregon seeking abortion services, please contact them.  If you have an extra room in your home, and in your heart to host a traveler in need, please contact them.  oregoncove@gmail.com 

This is just one piece of the puzzle … a very short, early length of the Underground Railroad that must be built.  It is one of the first steps that begins the journey of a thousand miles. 

https://oregoncove.org/

Kids and Guns

At times like this, it is natural to want to hug our children, with a mixture of pure love, and apprehension that they might be taken from us.  

But for some, there is an unnatural desire to hug their guns, and hold them close, with the same mixture of love, and paranoia that they will be taken from them.

Children and an Adult on County Council

I attended my first Clark County Council meeting Wednesday – and came away with admiration for Councilor Temple Lenz, as well as new-found scorn for Medvigy.  

Medvigy used his time to scold Councilor Lenz for 'giggling like a schoolgirl'.  His comments directed toward Councilor Lenz were an unacceptable breach of protocol in any governing body. Worse - he used demeaning sexist language, in an attempt to diminish her status - but only succeeded in diminishing himself.  This kind of scolding, sexist language is not only inappropriate for a public governing body, it is unbecoming an adult male—or even a well-behaved teenage boy—in the Twenty-First Century.  

Worse still was the chair’s behavior.  Rather than admonishing Medvigy for his attack, to regain some measure of decorum in the meeting, she remained silent until Councilor Lenz objected, then responded as an enabler of Medvigy’s bullying, by suggesting that Councilor Lenz had provoked him with her facial expression.    

Councilor Lenz did the adult thing, apologizing for a facial expression that may have set off Medvigy.  But Medvigy, whose transgression was much worse, said nothing.  

There was only one adult in that three-way interaction.  Councilor Lenz’s composure and dignity will be sorely missed when she leaves at the end of her term.