Why I'm An Angry Bird (Military Ladies edition)

While I'm still plenty angry about the whole Scott Walker fiasco, I am ALSO angry at the fact that because I'm a woman, my fundamental right to choose what to do with my body are being infringed upon.
Again.

So we're on the way back from picking up our new foster dog and like the super classy liberals that we are we have NPR on. And apparently a couple days ago they did a story on women fighting in the front lines. I immediately quipped "Well considering they don't trust women to make any type of decision regarding their reproductive health, I can't imagine this is going to bode well."

And.
Surprise, surprise:
I was right.
As I was doing a lot talking OVER the radio (yes I realize interruption is a horrible habit and one that I don't see myself giving up any time soon so apologies to all of my friends when I interrupt with a movie/song quote or some other type of amusing anecdote/anecdon't), I didn't hear one comment that was read in support of women engaging in ground combat. You can read/listen to the original article here.

The article discusses the possible overturning of the barring of women engaging in direct ground combat. While I have many issues with the military, the issues it brought up for upholding the ban harken back to the 1800s. When women were considered genteel and delicate:

Late last year, a panel of active-duty women and veterans testified before the commission. During that exchange, retired Marine Lt. Gen. Frank Petersen expressed his concerns about getting rid of the ban.

"Here is my problem," Peterson said. "We're talking about ground combat, nose-to-nose with the bad guys, living in the mud, eating what's on your back, no hygiene and no TV. How many of you have seen how infantrymen, the ground troopers, live, and how many of you would volunteer to live like that?" (taken directly from the NPR article linked to above).

Minus the ground combat and nose-to-nose with bad guys, this kind of sounds like camping. Clearly that is huge jump and I'm not trying to indicate that being in a combative unit of the army is like camping, but the fact that hygiene and tv come into play?! Does anyone join the military thinking they're going to stay caught up on their favorite shows and get to shower whenever they want? To me this is assuming that women only care about how they look and following their stories. 

Fortunately, "Tammy Duckworth was an Apache helicopter pilot in Iraq and lost both of her legs in combat. Now she's the No. 2 at the Department of Veterans Affairs. She replied immediately: 'I've lived like that. I've lived out there with the guys, and I would do it. It's about the job.'" (taken directly from the article).

I'm sure there are plenty of people (men AND women) out there who couldn't live in a combat zone, myself included. Which is why I didn't sign up for military (okay and a slew of other reasons). I like my bed, I like my dog, I like pizza and booze. But to make this specifically about women, who are often put in this position anyway (why they're revisiting the issue), when there are just as many lazy men wouldn't thrive in this position.

According to the article, the question isn't whether or not they CAN do this work, it's whether they SHOULD be doing this work. So because someone has a vaj and tits that means they SHOULDN'T be allowed to fight in ground combat, even if they WANT to.

Pregnancy was brought up in this article and in the follow-up heard today whilst driving. What if the woman get pregnant and can't be deployed? Can't this be treated like any other job? You get maternity leave, you report when your maternity is up? Right? Millions of non-military women do this everyday. I didn't say it would be easy or fun, but it's an option.

During the follow-up, some people predicted women would intentionally get pregnant to avoid deployment. Thanks. It's good to know that you distrust the women in our military as much as you distrust just plain ol' everyday janes. And again, this could happen. But couldn't a man also do something to keep from getting deployed? This street goes both ways, but clearly only women are super untrustworthy. Even though they are willing to die. For your country.

And then there's privacy.

How can we trust grown adults to undress in front of each other? How can we trust them to carry out bodily functions in front of one another? Does the military realize that there are co-ed bathrooms and showers at various colleges throughout the country? So we can trust military personnel to carry guns and maneuver tanks but we can't entrust them to catch a glimpse of nip or peen without being thrown into a tizzy. Of course. THAT makes perfect sense.

And the last one that is brought up is my favorite:

Unit Cohesion: Does having a woman around create distractions? (taken directly from original article).  Does the military have that little faith/trust in their male personnel that they expect them to turn into every man depicted in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" when seeing Jessica Rabbit? Slobbering, wimpering messes with hearts in their eyes? Or is this insinuating that women are constantly using their feminine wiles to woo men and distract them from their jobs. Ladies are just too slutty in their fatigues.

And yeah, there is a huge issue of sexual assault/harrasment in the military. According to the ACLU Blog of Rights, One in three women are victims of sexual assault while in the service. The VA finds the condition so prevalent that it has it's own name MST or Military Sexual Trauma. I don't think this is going to get better while we continue to demean able-bodied and willing women who want to serve in all aspects of the military.

If this segregation continues then women will continue to be looked at as second class citizens. Because if the US Military Complex thinks that women can't do all the things men can, then why shouldn't the men within that complex feel the same way? Or the US population in general?

Why I'm An Angry Bird (Scott Walker edition)

I begin with a quote from Tavis Smiley, as stated on "Real Time with Bill Maher on 2.18.11:
"These budgets are moral documents. And when we see what you put on the table, we know then what you really believe."

It turns out, that while I don't think of myself as political at all, my friends have told me that, yes I am a political person. And this blog is gonna get all political up in your shit. True!

And Governor Walker has been upsetting me (and tens of thousands of other individuals across the state AND the nation). And I've been wanting to blog about it for awhile, but was out of town, getting cold sores from the stress of it all, and I was generally getting my agitation out by just discussing with my friends.

But it doesn't seem to be letting up. Paul Krugman keeps writing about Wisconsin, We're figuring heavily into "Real Time" with Bill Maher. We're regular fixtures on the Daily Show and The Colbert Report.

And since I'm a bit of an attention whore, I like it.
But then I remember WHY we're getting the attention.
Because our governor is bat-shit crazy. Yes. I realize he's an elected official. And that 53% of Wisconsin voted for him. BUT. I have a slight feeling that if he would've been TRULY honest (not "honest" as he states he was) in his campaign, if he would have come right out and said:
"The only TRUE way to fix the budget crisis here is to bust all the unions," my guess is that maybe not so many people would have voted for him. Just a guess here, I'm no political theorist. I'm just a person who was laid-off once and decided to start a blog about my adventures in the poor-house, which due to me being born in the wrong social class, are most likely to continue on for the rest of my days.

And I'm not gonna lie. I'm a total liberal.
I have no bones about labeling myself that.
I'm not one of those who says "I'm X-leaning" or "I don't vote for the party, I vote for the person," although my paternal grandma always said that one. Even though I think she voted republican 99% of the time, but she's adorable and could do whatever she wanted. Personally I think it's because her dad was a union president and probably PROBABLY (I have no basis for this fact, this is pure conjecture) voted democrat her entire life. But like I said, I never asked her about it, so that is a pure guess.

But as her father (my great-grandfather that I never met) WAS a union president, I feel it would be remiss to NOT talk about what's happening in my state. That I love.

Supposedly, Scott Walker ran on a platform of fiscal responsibility. He demanded that the public sector unions pay into their pensions at a rate of about 5.8% (compared to their previous 1%) and pay more for their healthcare, I believe at a rate of 12.6% (compared to their previous 6%).

Honestly, I think there are better ways for the state to get out of it's deficit (raise the sales tax) or here is a fun visual a friend of a friend posted on facebook:

My Wisconsin teachers taught me to show my work:            |

|                                                                                     |

| Deficit = $137 million                                                       |

| WI Adult Population (2009) = 4,342,866                           |

| (5,654,774 total population times 76.8% adults)                 |

|                                                                                     |

| $137,000,000 divided by 4,342,866 = $32                  |

|                                                                                     |

| Source: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/55000.html

While I'm sure there are some people/adults who couldn't afford to pay this I know there are people (like myself, my friends, those who commented on this statistic via facebook) who would be willing to pay a double or triple share. And let's be real. I'm not flush with cash. I live paycheck to paycheck and receive no support from my parents. But I would gladly do this to enable the teachers  (THE TEACHERS--THOSE WHO TEACH YOUR KIDS [yep your kids, cos I don't have any]!!!) to keep their "great" benefits and measly pay. Not to mention their collective bargaining rights.

Here is a fun twist:
While Fox News originally reported that 61% of those polled were FOR ending collective bargaining, it quickly corrected itself by saying that it actually had the figures flip-flopped (are you freaking kidding me?!?!) and that 61% actually OPPOSED ending collective bargaining rights. This can be seen here in the always funny Colbert Report. While I realize people make mistakes, this seems a little too ridick, even for my tastes.

So.
I'm just a little mad over this.
Mad that my brother, my cousins, my old teachers might get paid even shittier than they would have if this bill passes. I've heard their (and other state workers, like prison guards) will received a $200-$600 cut PER MONTH. That is a mortgage payment for some.

Mad that this bill would make cuts to a $1 billion cut to health care programs that serve the disabled, elderly, and low-income residents currently served through Badger Care, the state’s Medicaid program.
Mad that this bill would undermine all that the unions have done. I like the fact that I get days off, get benefits, and get to work in proper working conditions. This didn't happen because bosses thought the workers deserved more or better. It happened because the workers organized, formed unions and demanded it.


Mad that the unions have AGREED to increase their contributions to their pensions and benefits (the part that is actually about the budget) and STILL Governor Walker won't take out the collective bargaining language that's in the bill.


Mad that I feel this bill is going to pass, barring some Christmas Day miracle that gives three republican senators hearts.


Mad that the president has said very little about this situation as this is CLEARLY a political issue rather than a fiscal one.


But I hate to end this on such a downer (because I don't see these blogs getting any more cheery), I have to say that I'm so very proud of Wisconsin coming together, protesting peacefully, getting us much needed national attention, getting the message out that this ISN'T about just the budget, this is political high-jinks, in full force. 


So thanks to all my awesome friends who keep posting great links and articles, thanks to the public service workers who are protesting non-stop, thanks to all of the supporters who aren't public workers (Ian's Pizza in Madison has received donations from all over the country and other countries, including Egypt!), thanks to Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Rachel Maddow (and all of their writers!) for bringing and keeping this issue in the spotlight of American politics, thanks to Paul Krugman for bringing his always super-smart analysis to this issue. 


Mad love to all of you.

Keeping it Weird in Austin (but not really)

First of all, I would like to welcome myself to the 21st century as this is my VERY FIRST blog post written from an airport. THIS IS LIVE PEOPLE.

My journey to Austin barely happened. As Milwaukee received the Storm of the Century/Snowpocalypse/Snowmageddon, all sorts of flights were moved and bumped. And seeing as I have to fly standby, my chances for getting on weren't looking good as the plane was full of pilots and other (read: paying) standby people.

But HARK! One seat left and it was all mine! ALL MINE!
Of course, I had to sit in the middle and that wasn't the most fun as I had a ginger who kept adjusting his junk next to me (seriously? that is SICK! to quote Angus Anderson) and on my right was an olds who was playing ridick games on his super-fancy ipad. I was slightly enthused to see this guy playing games as I fully expected him to be checking his stock portfolio. But alas, weird sports games and weird music coming from that thing.

On my flight to Denver I took in the fifth installment of Harry Potter and tried not to think about the ginger constantly adjusting his junk. So SICK!

Whilst at the Denver airport I caught up on some emails, drank a couple cocktails and met (and talked with!) a Christian Steelers fan who alerted me that the terrible towel proceeds to the the Pittsburgh Children's hospital. He also told me that his favorite player (whose name escapes me, because seriously? I don't know anyone on the Steelers aside from the accused rapist.) But this guy always liked Player X because he did the sign of the cross when something good happened, then as it turned out, on one of the team flights, while all the players were playing poker or sexually assaulting flight attendants (okay I totally make that part up) Player X was just sitting there reading his Bible. After my Steelers buddy left it turns out I was sitting next to a gay.
A SOUTHERN gay English professor. This is my life. I actually had a hard time understanding him (and various other people on my journey) as his accent was quite thick.
Texas=Taxes in my head.
But he was supes nice, let me use his lighter and referred to his interior designer husband as such, which I love.
He, too, assured me that I would get into grad school, which I found oddly reassuring even though I could have been a coke-head making up stories.

My flight from Denver to Austin was amazing. I got to sit in the emergency area which means lots of leg room AND the flight was fairly empty which mean no one was next to me!
Knitting abounded.
Then.
THEN!
Much to my dismay, I had realized I bought the wrong size yarn, and was/am unable to keep knitting until I remedy this issue.

As a side note three birds just swooped by me.
Inside the airport.
And then some stickies chased it off.
Because that is appropriate behavior for a child & animal interaction.

Austin was cold, dark and damp upon my arrival.
The next day was declared a snow day.
I'm not lying.
There was a dusting of snow on areas that didn't get sunlight.
I couldn't stop giggling at all the reference to the "cold" and the "snow day"
DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT SNOW IS!?!?!?!?
DO YOU!?!?!
See above for storm of the century/snowpocalypse/snowmageddon

My time in Austin was spent hanging at local eateries/pubs which were quite similar to the caliber in Milwaukee, but more expensive, and not as friendly. But I went to see EGL for his b-day and his party was a good time indeed: a private karaoke room was rented where I, once again, halted the good times by singing "Thunder Road."
I like being a crazy person.

And their new roomate had a dog! So I was very happy about that, as you know how much I love dogs.

On Saturday, after working out my impending travel plans, we played Trivial Pursuit on the capital lawn which was lovely as it was warm out (!!! do you even know how long it's been since I've seen sun?!? I didn't even have to have a coat on!!!) We then patronized a pizzeria where consumed cocktails, sat under the heat lamps and had many arguments/discussions over fun rape/forcible rape, David Letterman/Joaquin Phoenix/Crispin Glover, abortions, Brokeback Mountain and Dennis Quaid. Good times.

The evening was cut short by the fact that we had to wake up dreadfully early (330!) as my flight out of San Antonio left at 625. And San Antonio was about 1.5 hours away from Austin.

Kelly's and Katies and Lee's, Oh My

We knew this weekend was going to be awkward.
And in prototypical fashion, it didn't disappoint.

Let's start at the very beginning.
A very good place to start.

Packers.
In the playoffs.
Night game.
Looking back the game foreshadowed our evening quite nicely.

PO,  via fb had sprung Kelly's Bleachers on me.
I didn't know if that was a reality, or one of our gold bikini with snakes type of comments.
It turned out PO's sister, KM had a wee birthday celebration and really, really wanted PO to stop by.
As it's fairly close to where I live. I obliged.
It'd be good to have a drink with a bunch of Packer fans and see KM, whom I haven't seen probably since last year this time.

And it's insane. I have never been to Kelly's Bleachers, but it was a little bit out of control. TV cameras were there recording the insanity that is a Packers playoff game in Wisconsin.

We finally find them after wading thru a sea of out dated Packer jerseys and turtlenecks, long hair on dudes and PO's born-again, yet trashed manager.

KM is happy to see us and we see one of our St. Patty's Day's besties and we reminisce about texting to land lines. It's fun time. You should try it.

We stay for a drink or two and then head to the house party that we/I had committed to.

The house party had a Robert Goulet theme and was at an old friend's house whom I hadn't seen in years. We knew no one else there besides the host and had decided early on that we would only stay for a drink or two. It's slightly awkward as we're literally standing in the living room drinking and talking about people that no one knows.

Fortunately the house party was close to everyone's favorite lounge (and by everyone I mean PO's and mine), Lee's.

Lee's is refreshingly empty and we get our fave seats at the bar.
The yuge.
And then a group of olds comes in.
And inevitably settles next to me.
As I've had about 3-4 drinks I'm in the talkative state.
So I'm not feeling SUPER judgmental.
And the guy seems nice enough. He's happy about the Packer win.
We start talking sports and he tells me that I'm pretty, but "not in a line kind of way. Just in a conversational way" (is there even a difference?)
He tell me I have big cheekbones, which I'm assuming is a back-handed compliment as PO agrees with him.
I then make a comment about people who watch Fox News.
Because I'm that way.
And of course he tells me he watches Fox News and that he's a republican.
I politely tell him we should probably stop talking is no good can come of this.
And of course, OF COURSE, he refuses to let it go.
He tells me how when we FIRST started talking I was kind of snarky and snippy, which I found to be hysterical, because I so WASN'T being snarky and snotty. I thought I was being nice.
But now he thinks I'm so "intelligent and pretty" and how he really thinks we can talk about politics without getting nasty.
Guess how this ended.
It wasn't bad enough that we were basically on opposite political spectrums, but that all throughout our conversation he kept just telling me how nice and pretty I was as if that were enough to change to my mind about politics. Because if there is one thing I love, it's being infantalized during an adult conversations.
And yes. I realize that having a political discussion in a bar is a bad idea.
I tried to stop it. I tried to put an end to it.
But.
I love to argue.
I do. ESPECIALLY when I know I can win. And I knew that I could win.
And while I didn't change anyone's mind, I made the superior points.

PO, bored out of her mind, had gone outside to have a smoke.
Upon coming back in the conversation had turned to the deficit.
And olds was asking me what I thought we should do about the debt that we're facing.
And before I could say anything, PO asks him about the two wars that caused all of this deficit.
And olds didn't like that.
At all.
He called PO "vile and stupid" which was completely out of line.
I should clarify that this guy knew (not like it matters, apparently) that I had a partner, that I owned a house with said partner.
Not to mention he was old.
Well.
Older.
He backed off and his friends, for the rest of the night, apologized profusely for his behavior.
Which got kind of annoying. Because it was over.
The guy was a jack-ass, and for the most part knew he was to leave me alone for the rest of the night.

And in all honesty, if I would have known that it was going to last as long as it did, I wouldn't have even started talking to him/being my unusually nice self.
I will stick to sarcastic Jj from now on.
Consider this a lesson learned.

The rest of the night was actually quite lovely.
Minus apologies and brain talk.
The barkeeps got pleasantly tipsy and giggly and chest-bangy.
Our music played on the juke box, we sang loudly and proudly.
My "Thunder Road" brought down the house.
Well at least the air piano.
Maybe.
Kind of.
Meh?

My WhizBang Start to 2011

Nightmares!
Cold sores!
Flu!
Homeless Hipsters!

All super awesome things that have happened in 2011,

Nightmares: Have been plaguing me lately, and I'm not one of those nightmare kind of people. (What are "nightmare kind of people" you ask? not me.)I can't remember having them as a child, but now as an adult and in 2011 I've awoken screaming. It seems to have subsided for now and I'm back to dreaming about alive and dead friends alike. I will take ghostly dead friends versus dementors and killer-fathers any day.

Cold Sores: You know what is awesome? When your nightmares stress you out to the point where you get three cold sores on your lower lip. Then, when those go away another one pops up on your upper lip. DO YOU LOVE IT?!?!? I love it. Thanks to my gayest of cousins, JT, a huge dose of lysine supplements seemed to do the trick.

Flu: Sober puking < drunk puking. I haven't had a stomach flu in about five years. But this one put the kaibash on a night out at LLL, made me only half-heartedly enjoy the Packer game (Football Stuff!). The plus side? Thank god for DVR. Jon Stewart + Paul Rudd = flu boners.
Feel free to spread flu boners around. You know you want to.

Homeless Hipsters: To be a young, foolish child again. Except I was. On New Years Day. After an amazing party at J&E's, the next morning brought a coffee klatsch in the kitchen complete with pizza for breakfast, the Rose Bowl Parade on the telly and then some MeTV videos. It was about the time when the MeTV videos started that PO and I realized we may not have thought our getting-home all the way through. Like a grown-up (or like a boss?) I thought it was Friday. In actuality it was Saturday. Which means EC was not available to pick us up. Various thoughts were submitted for review; all of these thoughts required cash which we would have to procure from a tyme machine which would require us walking around the east side in our jammies/slippers/no jacket/boston store bag of wine, blanket, fancy clothes, David Bowie picture) and PO in her fancy clothes carrying a comforter and pillow. And it was cold. Like what's-cooler-than-being-cool-ice-cold, cold. After an especially cold cigarette PO made the wisest decision of the year (literally) and called our barely legal friend JG to see if she could get us.
And. She could. Cue shameful hallelujah chorus by 28 & 30-year-old.

The good news?
I know how to knit!
I have a laptop!
I have travel plans in my future!
I get weekends off!

Black Swan!!!!!!!!!

Okay.
So those exclamation points are meant to be sarcastic.

I recently saw the film Black Swan. From all of the hype and the articles I've read, I (albeit mistakenly) was expecting an Oscar-worthy film.

And.
I kind of got one. But I don't think that is saying that much, considering the current state of Oscars.
I realize that for EVERYTHING to be awesome in a movie, it's a tall order. One that rarely happens.
But when I shell out almost $10 for a movie, it's kind of what I expect.
And for an Oscar film, it's definitely what I expect.
So while the acting was superb, music was superb, costuming superb, set design superb, the characters and story could use a little work.

The characters were a little lacking:
I wanted more Barbara Hershey and more Winona Ryder, specifically. Their characters were important but weren't necessarily treated as such. The film wasn't very long and I think this could have easily been a two and a half hour film, and it would have commanded the audience's attention for that long. I would have liked a more flushed out Mila Kunis as well.

The story was a lot lacking:
I thought the film was completely predictable. Was it fun to watch? I guess, but I was secretly hoping that my thoughts were wrong and I would have liked more dancing.

So yes, it was a good movie. But only when compared to the crap they're releasing these days. We're so used to utter drivel that when something decent comes out we're quick to herald it as amazing and astonishing, when in fact, it's what a movie is supposed to be.

The good news is Sofia Coppola has a new film coming out that looks good (with music by Phoenix, I know, shocker) and there is a film called "Tree of Life" that I have no idea about, but Sean Penn is in it so it can't be that bad can it? I'll have to do some research on it, E thinks it might be an end-of-days film, which I'm a little wary about.

Restoring my Faith in Humanity, One Bus Ride At A Time

Let's just get it out there.
It's been a while.
A long, long while.
And I have stuff to write about.
Stuff.
"Shtuff"
Scheise, for you proud Germans out there.
You know what I mean.

But instead of discussing what it means to blog, or what has been going on with me.
I've decided to keep it light.
To keep it cool, calm and collected.
To keep it real.

But let's get you caught up, right quick:
1. Remember when I started this blog? It was because I got laid off by the BT Supercenter? Well guess who's working for the BT Supercenter again. That's right. This one.
2. Remember when we elected a democratic house, senate and president? That was awesome, and terribly short-lived.
3. Remember when my grandma died? That blog caused some major drama from some of my cousins' mommas. We'll blog about that at a different time (insert evil laughter here).
4. Remember all my talk of higher learnin' and grad school? Well guess who's actually taking the plunge and applying. That's right. This one.

And that's pretty much it.
For now.
I mean, sure lots of other things revealed themselves to be true during the months that have passed, but I'm trying to restore your faith in humanity. Not bore you to death.

So I'm on the bus this morning. And it's not my usual bus.
I could not, for the life of me, figure out what to where this morning and thus, my comfortable and familiar 31 Bus was missed.

The 31 is a short, yet comfortable ride. I always get a seat. It's not too full, but it isn't a ghost bus, there are other corporate zombies on it. I feel kind of at home.

But alas, this morning I hopped on the 30 as it was the bus that came first and baby, it's cold outside.

And I'm reading.
And I have my ipod in.
And I'm not paying too much attention until 27th street.
Where a conversation starts to take place.
A conversation amongst the senior citizens occupying the seats specifically for them.
Two women, one's clearly a professional of some sort; carrying multiple bags and looking somewhat put together.
The other woman is possibly homeless, but oh man, is she as sharp as a whip.
The two men are African-American with pretty thick southern accents. If I were to judge their social class by the way they dressed, I would say working class, maybe one of the met teetering on lower-than-working class.

And these olds are just having the grandest of time. Talking about everything from exercise to politics to bike trails. All of them were democrats (YES!) and the possibly-homeless-lady was all anti-Scott Walker and how all the ladies voted for him cos he's good looking, to which the classy olds pipes up and says, "I didn't!"
It made me giggle.
Working class guy #1 says how he thought for sure Tom Barrett would win.

I don't know.
It made me feel good to know that across class and race, these folks could have a decent conversation.
And on public transportation in the "most racist city in the USA."

Possible-homeless lady got off at St. James and Working-class guy got off at the Dunkin' Donuts where he received a butterscotch candy from a passer-by.

Seriously, you can't make this up.