Feelings...good, bad, indifferent

It’s hard to know what to focus on when my mind seems so scattered...

All my training, all my study of the disciplines that should help me (yoga, meditation, deep relaxation, visualization) seem to fail when I need them the most.

I can help students, most of them are perfect strangers to me, but I can’t seem to help myself and the more I try to *relax* the further out of reach the ‘peace of mind’ seems – there’s a detour on the path of my own tranquility.

My seated practice has suffered mainly because I’ve been in so much pain I can not sit – my neck, my shoulders, my knees, my hips – I feel like I’ve become an old woman before my time...I creak, I crack, I pop and at once I am frustrated as well as sympathetic to some of my students with similar physical ailments

I just feel like the days blur, I am going through the motions and I don’t even have a clue – numbness just takes over...

Last night I was at dinner with my friend, Mr. C and I got to talk to him about how I feel - like I have always had to be strong and I am tired of being expected to be that way ALL THE TIME – even most of the time...why isn’t it OK to stop, to not fight? Who is this fight for, me? Who is it ever for? Is it selfish of me to want to just stop?

Once, when one of my dearest friends was faced with a serious illness (she had colon cancer and they missed some of it when they removed it and they did no radiation so it spread to her bones – awful just awful) – she was being treated with chemo, well chemo is toxic, very toxic and most of us are affected by that but it was nearly fatal for her – she was being poisoned and she had to be hospitalized and the things she was going through at the time were just horrendous and I remember one phone call early on where she called me crying and began talking about how she wanted to die – really wanted to – she needed to talk about THAT feeling with someone because her kids just would not listen to her – she wanted to talk about her own funeral. It was (and still is) one of the hardest conversations I have ever had to have with a friend, but I listened, why? Because I OWED her that much – she was my friend – she was my sister at heart and with that conversation it dawned on me and I’ve never forgotten that we have to remember it’s OK to live with those feelings too – it’s OK to ALLOW your loved ones let go – the ONLY reason we don’t want them to ‘give up the ghost’ as it were is purely selfish on our part – we will miss them – we don’t want them to leave our universe…not realizing that they will always be with us, in our hearts, in our minds, in our intertwining of spirits that makes us all a part of something bigger...something sacred and joyful...something that can never be taken away.

Bye-Bye Balls -- Dubai Port Limerick

I just can't stop writing humorous verse about the Dubai seaport deal. My latest is Bye-Bye Balls.

A True PA Progressive: Chuck Pennacchio for US Senate

Of late, I have been increasingly disconsolate over the state of a political party to which I cannot, in principle, belong: the Democratic Party. Years of watching the supposed people's party field candidates who spout ideas worthy of the most arch-conservative Republican has been akin to receiving root canal sans anesthetic. Now, however, I am feeling hopeful.

My newfound positivity is because of Dr. Chuck Pennacchio, a progressive Democrat hoping to unseat Pennsylvania's notoriously ultra-right-wing Republican Sen. Rick Santorum. Naturally, the Democratic powers-that-be (along with, sadly, many so-called progressive blogs) are throwing their support to Pennsylvania state treasurer Bob Casey Jr., an anti-choice, anti-marriage equality candidate who comes off as a Santorum-lite. But Pennacchio, a straight-shooting history professor and highly successful campaign organizer, seems ready for the challenge and ready to take the Democratic Party back to its roots. He's pro-choice and pro-equality - and has the guts to say so. He calls Bush's Iraq "war" what it is - illegal. And he is determined to work for a living wage for all Americans and to ensure that No Child Left Behind becomes a fact for the nation's schools and not just some "compassionate" conservative slogan.

Pennacchio is a candidate who bears watching and supporting. I was privileged enough to interview him this past weekend: Please read what he had to say at All Facts and Opinions and, if you agree with me that he is what the party needs to reclaim its integrity and purpose, please spread the word far and wide. Trust me, this guy is, as the kids and Randy Jackson say, the bomb.

It's time to stand up to the go-along-to-get-along Democratic leadership. It's time to work for a candidate who actually stands up for people and for true American values of justice and equality under law for all - and has the courage to speak plainly.

posting what the mainstream won't publish

One of the great things about the net is that, if you can't get a mainstream medium to publish something, you can always post it.

A college chum of mine, a former CIA polygraph specialist who served in Vietnam, has tried to get the following Op-Ed piece accepted by several newspapers. They wouldn't even accept it as a "letter to the editor." I had intended to post it on my weblog, but the server's been down for several days. Besides, it occurred to me that posting it here might help to get it circulated. Please feel free to use it in your own blogs.

FYI, this former CIA lie detector, John F. Sullivan, is the author of Of Spies and Lies: A CIA Lie Detector Remembers Vietnam. He has another book ready for publishing that was held up by CIA censors. Here's his thus-far unpublished Op-Ed essay:


Bush and Torture
by John F. Sullivan, former CIA polygraphy interrogator in Vietnam.

During Mr. Bush’s press conference on January 19, one of the correspondents asked the president to clarify his position on torture. “Americans don’t torture,” summed up his response. I don’t know if Mr. Bush was suggesting that Americans didn’t torture in the past, weren’t currently engaging in acts of torture, or wouldn’t engage in such acts in the future, but I do know that during my five years in the U.S. Army and 31 years as a polygraph examiner/interrogator with the CIA, I became aware that Americans did torture

Torture and prisoner abuse have been a part of every war in which America has engaged, at least in my lifetime, but was never a sanctioned policy. Torture has been to the U.S. Government, and police agencies which use it, analogous to what sexual misconduct on the part of Catholic priests has been to the Catholic Church: publicly denied, privately acknowledged, and occasionally tacitly approved. That changed with 9/11.

Vice President Cheney’s suggestion that in response to 9/11 we may have to go to the “dark side” of intelligence in our fight against terrorism, the administration’s declaring al Qaeda and other terrorists as enemy combatants, not POWs, in order to deny them protection under the Geneva Convention, and the Department of Justice’s memorandum of August 2002, which redefined torture, made it clear that “the gloves were off” and that in the pursuit of terrorists, “anything goes.” Torture went from being a “dirty little secret” to a condoned policy.

Of the aforementioned, the most insidious was the Department of Justice’s August 2002 memorandum which defined a coercive technique as torture, “…only when it induced pain equivalent to what a person experiencing death or organ failure might suffer.” This is an obscenity.

How does one determine when an individual being “coerced” has reached the point of being tortured – by the decibel level of the victim’s screams? I assume the person making that decision is the interrogator. If so, what training has he or she had in making such assessments? I would hope that no doctor would ever participate in such an exercise and contend that any doctor, who would, not only violates his Hippocratic Oath but is also right down there with the infamous Dr. Mengele.

In analyzing Mr. Bush’s “Americans don’t torture,” statement, I conclude that he based his statement on the DOJ’s definition of torture and that those pictured in the Abu Ghraib photos didn’t meet his criteria for torture. I would like to think that Mr. Bush does not share Rush Limbaugh’s view that what happened at Abu Ghraib was nothing more than a fraternity prank, but am concerned that many Americans might agree with Limbaugh.

My first reaction to those pictures was rage – rage at the sheer sadism depicted; rage at the stupidity of those who allowed the torture, rage at the lack of cultural awareness, and lastly, rage over the fact that those pictures were going to cost American GIs their lives.

The Abu Ghraib pictures make a great recruiting poster for al Qaeda, and I posit that more Muslims were recruited for the Jihad as a result of those pictures than GIs were saved as a result of information coming from torture victims.

It seems logical to me that an al Qaeda/terrorist fighting in Iraq, who saw those pictures, might be more motivated as well as more inclined to fight harder so as not to get captured. Do the battle cries “Remember the Alamo,” “Remember the Maine,” or “Remember 9/11” ring any bells? How about “Remember Abu Ghraib?”

What are the implications of those pictures for any American GIs who might get captured? Can anyone imagine the reaction in America if similar pictures of American GIs were coming out of Iraq? Were that the case, I don’t think our military would have to worry about recruitment shortfalls for as long as the war on terror is waged.

Senator McCain, in commenting on his ordeal in North Vietnam and in referring to his torturers, noted that one of the things that sustained him and his fellow POWs was their belief that, “We are better than this.” The Abu Ghraib photos seem to indicate that we are not better than we were back then.
_______________

It would be great if you could mention -- or even reprint -- this essay in your own blogs.

It's Surely Snowing In Hell - Dubai Port Deal Humor

The Dubai port brouhaha inspired me to write a poem and a limerick. It's Surely Snowing In Hell begins:

It's Surely Snowing In Hell
By Madeleine Begun Kane

"I never thought I'd see the day
That I'd agree with Tom DeLay..."

My poem continues here.

And my limerick begins:

A State-Run Firm Based In Dubai
By Madeleine Begun Kane

"A state-run firm based in Dubai,
Is well known for its terrorist tie..."

My limerick continues here.

Song in the key of church and state

So we're all annoyed at the current situation, here at Blogsisters we write about it, find articles and share with each other.

My fiancé however, decided to express himself differently, and I thought you would really enjoy it!!
Check out his latest single which is coming out February 28th on the Itunes music store.
He made a video for it and put it up on his web site so I could brag about it with you guys before it comes out:

Mike Jerugim's single

kinda cross posted with my blog

Just a thank you

To all the sisters out there - thanks so much for including me - thanks for everything all of you do everyday to keep the dream alive...thanks for passing the torch on to others...thanks for just being yourselves

Two Dick Cheney Song Parodies

I've written two song parodies about Dick Cheney's shooting a fellow hunter: "Don't Hunt With Dick Cheney" and "Faking Contrition." "Don't Hunt With Dick Cheney" begins:

Don't Hunt With Dick Cheney Song Parody (Sing to "On Top Of Old Smokey")
By Madeleine Begun Kane

"Don't hunt with Dick Cheney.
You might end up dead.
He'll aim for your torso,
Or even your head.

He'll claim it's a quail shoot,
But that's just a front..."

The rest of my Don't Hunt With Dick Cheney is here, and you can hear me sing it here.

My "Faking Contrition" song parody begins:
Faking Contrition Song Parody (Sing to "Waltzing Matilda")
By Madeleine Begun Kane

"Faking contrition.
Faking contrition.
Cheney feels bad that he shot his good friend.
If you don't buy his story, you're a lib'ral Democrat.
Leave him alone. This harassment must end.

Watch those right-wing pundits shouting on the TV tube,
Claiming that Cheney didn't do nothing wrong..."

The rest of my Faking Contrition song parody is here, and you can hear me sing Faking Contrition here.

remembering love+loss

posted this over at mommybloggers for a neat valentine's roundup with a bunch of cool and witty posts by women.

mine wasn't exactly sugary sweet,
more like organ meat.

;-)

you know i love all of web 2.0...

but i can totally not get into CoComment. I don't want another aggregation site. I don't even want to remember what I say half the time. I like having said it.

I want to make my rounds to my special places, the blogs i love. I want to forget where I commented and then remember in a flash when I hit the page, or run into myself again by surprise and go: "oooogoodie--I remember commenting on this--let's see what's up." I want to be suprised to see three people said after me. I want to find it when I find it.

I want the web to remain mostly accidental.






Technorati Tags: CoComment, web2.0

Films By, For, And About Women--LUNAFEST

I got a call from Janet Bridgers today who asked me to spread the word about LUNAFEST. She was brave enough to call me out of nowhere, so I told her I'd let folks now about the event.

In addition to being a film fest, LUNAFEST is a charitable event that funds the Breast Cancer Fund, one of the major groups working to prevent breast cancer by educating the public on reducing exposure to cancer-causing chemicals. As a showcase for the work of emerging women filmmakers, LUNAFEST is heading into its sixth year.

Last fall, L.A. Shorts, San Francisco and Washington DC Film Festivals featured the LUNAFEST as part of their programs. The FEST anticipates screenings in more than 100 cities around the country this year, hosted locally by nonprofit organizations that raise money by presenting the event.

LUNAFEST is sponsored by LUNA, a leading maker of energy and nutrition foods for women. You can get more information on LUNAFEST at www.lunabar.com/community/lunafest, or contact Janet Bridgers at janetmbridgers@yahoo.com.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Technorati Tags: LUNA, LUNAFEST, breast cancer fund

Cheney Misfires Big Time! & Other Political Verse

I've posted some new limericks and other political verse here, including Cheney Misfires Big Time.

Cheney Misfires -- Big Time!
By Madeleine Begun Kane

A fellow named Whittington, Harry,
In the future will likely be wary
Of hunting with Dick who
Mistook him for quail stew.
The VEEP with a shotgun's quite scary.

That limerick and some other new poems are here. And my Dick Cheney humor is collected here.

My Client and the Woman Connection--Vetting My Thoughts

As many of you know, one of my clients is BubbleShare -- a simple, effective way to share photos with voice captions. When I first used BubbleShare -- before I actually said, "Okay, cool--I'd love to help with your blogging efforts!" -- I immediately thought, what a great app for women.

Now, usually I don't think this way. I don't divide tools into 'man tools' and 'women tools' -- that would be, well, goofy. A tool is used to complete a job of some kind. Whoever is doing the job needs the tool, right?

So I did a sort of mental push-back with myself, asking why I immediately thought, "women bloggers will love this thing." I came to the conclusion that it's because the roles women fill are vast and mostly parallel, meaning time is at a premium. So, we need the FASTEST way to do anything and everything, including sharing photos. The gadgets and tools we touch every day have to match our speed and need for flexibility. With BubbleShare, you upload photos into an album and email them. It's that fast and uncomplicated.

Next synapse fired: Why would I think of women when I think of how FAST a tool lets me do something. Simply put, women today are busier than ever. Whether it's providing caregiving for an elderly parent, a baby or child, whether it's writing blogs or novels, working outside the home, whatever. Somedays just opening the mail is a major effort because it cuts into critical time. Do men do these same things? Sure they do. But I would wager that a lot more women have a lot less time because of the multi-functioning roles we've had to assume.

The other reason I thought of women is PRIVACY. You can keep your albums private if you wish, AND there is NO registration required to use the service. You just put in your email address so that you receive a link where you can manage your photos (and another email with a link to send to friends and family), and that's it. NO address or demographic or business information. NO how old are your kids. NO where do you live or what's your zip code. I love having the option of not needing to provide a bunch of information when using any online application or service. So far, you don't need to register to use the service.

Now the easy emailing is also cool (just send your friends and family the link provided). The the folks you send your story albums to won't need to register to view your photos either. Again, I started thinking, "this is great for women," and then re-questioned myself--why women specifically? I answered back that women are usually responsible for the household communication to family members far away, and what a great way to update those people you don't get to see that often.

You can not only put photos in your albums, but you can create sound captions. My first thought was of sending an album to my favorite aunt--the pictures of my daughter with her talking to her great aunt through the voice captions. Lets put it this way: I have four very smart, strong aunts. They all use email. And that's about all they want to use. That's why BubbleShare struck me as THE answer for sharing photos with my aunts.

All of this is to say, I'm not trying to push you into trying BubbleShare, although I do think the service has a lot to offer the women of blogdom--it even has an 'add album to blog' button that lets you click and copy a simple bit of code into a post--and voila, your album is posted to your blog. way cool.

What I'm really doing is vetting my assumptions about women enjoying the service not MORE than men, but enjoyng it enough to use it and enjoy using it.

As a bonus link for your patient reading through my stream-of-consciousness meanderings, I also wanted to tell you that we're having a contest with GREAT prizes for anyone who wants to participate between now and February 20th. We started the contest on Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, and ask that participatnes take 10 photos or less on any theme that celebrates BUBBLES or bubble wrap. Add audio captions and email it to contest@bubbleshare.com.

Here's just some of what the winners receive:

• An iPod Nano
• A Blogrolling GOLD account
• Startup.com DVDs
• Hot-off-the-Presses Naked Conversation Books
• BubbleShare and Tucows wear and gear
• ElimiTaste chewing gum
• A BubbleShare VIP Account
• and more...
  

So, get your digital cameras and microphones out and bubble out for links and loot!!!!

In the mean time, thanks for listening. If you do use BubbleShare, please let me know what you think. I always pass specific feedback on to the company president and developers.

Look forward to receiving your contest entry!



Technorati Tags: women, photo sharing, bubbleshare, blogging

Diversity or Diversion?

Originally posted on allied...
------------------------------

Obviously i'm coming at this topic from a perspective that isn't all that common--mom of woman-to-be of color, white (not including the Sicilian ;-) ) wife of a black man living in America, the south even, south east to be precise--not too extraordinary; not your every day thing either.

you can say that's a disclaimer; you can say them's the facts, jack. either way. all I'm really trying to figure out is why black history month bothers me--and why it bothers me that it bothers me.

First, let's talk about what's good about Black History Month. Obviously, the incorporation into a sorely lacking public school curriculum when it comes to the accomplishments of an entire group of Americans whose contributions have been largely overlooked in favor of a distorted image of homogeny. Really Important Contributions, one might say, by people who were once Not Free (AKA enslaved) in the aforementioned country, and in the not-so-distant past--making these contributions all the more meaningful.

So, good goal: Teach the little children that black americans (contrary to what Broadcast Mainstream Media & Advertising have done their best to infuse into our children's growing brains) have done more than play sports and music, light fires, and loot. Who knew?

Inventors, physicians, astronauts, executives, artists--lots of Smart Successful People who these same little children never saw in mainstream curriculum, on their local news channels, in the newspapers, or on the bookshelves at the library.

Given that reality, I see lots of good reasons for schools to "celebrate" Black History Month.

As a mom, I don't.

My experience is that Black History Month has become a 30-day paranoia immersion period for the white children rather than a learning experience about our culture and shared history.

Let's look at it another way.

Jenna has white friends--and I mean Nordic white. Jenna has friends of color (all different shades and ethnicities). But the poor white kids don't quite know what to do when black history month comes around.

And i don't blame them. Here they've been, playing along for years without distinction, except for the occasional summer tan contest, in which "peach" and "brown" have always been the closest crayola colors to the real deal, so that's what the children have naturally labeled each other's skin hues.

Along comes a school "celebration" that alerts our children to their differences and explains that sometimes children of different backgrounds (EMPHASIS on the Black and White during this special in-class intervention) have a hard time playing together, but that the color of our skin shouldn't make a difference. AND NOW: Let us All Focus On the Color Of Our Skins for the Next 30 Days.

Thank you for making an issue out of what we as parents (our friends and us) believe is a non-issue.

Put into practical purposes, here's a story from 2 hours ago. We're at a friend's house tonight, we moms are hanging out while Jenna plays with her friends of four years. The kids get into a conflict over some x-random thing. And out of the friend's mouth:

"I think maybe we're having trouble playing together because I'm white and she's black."

We look at each other with a sly smile, yah--that isn't even her own sentence structure, let alone the way the kids have ever described one another. Any correlation between the book report due next week on a Role Model of choice for Black History Month?

A similar uncharacteristic exchange happened with another of Jenna's friends of many years last week. Again, the homework topic: African American Heroes.

The peach kids don't know if they're supposed to say Black as in "Black History Month" or "African American" as in "Your Favorite African American Heroes."

And so, forced symantics enter their world of "peach" and "brown" -- shades of the same family, more similar than different. Our childrens' variations on a theme are replaced with learned symantic segregation.

Like any good idea, Black History Month needs to evolve in order to remain relevant and positive-purposed. How about taking the combined knowledge base of the many resources around Black History Month and incorporate it into various curriculum approaches -- resulting in an HONEST, overall look at American history, one that does not exclude, but includes.

How about we drop the 30-day rehab sensitivity training intensive for elementary school kids and replace it with real WORK on the part of the adults shaping public education and classroom curriculum into the future.

How about peach and brown?


Technorati Tags : black+history+month, race, ethnicity

not pretty; just true

Of course, I'm not talking about Blogsisters, whose birthday is coming up -- as CEO Jeneane notes in the previous post. BS has been her personal labor of love from the getgo, when she brought me in to help get it all rolling. I'm not around here much these days (life as a caregiver doesn't leave much time for fun), but I'm glad I popped over today to tell Jeneane "you're still doin' good, girl."

Meanwhile (and the rest of the following is over here):

They weren't pretty -- not by the standards of our American culture today. And what they held up for us to see in the mirror of truth wasn't pretty either.

Betty Friedan, the feminist icon of my times, died yesterday at the age of 85. This is my favorite Friedan quote, given in an interview with LIfe magazine in 1963:

Some people think I'm saying, 'Women of the world unite -- you have nothing to lose but your men." It's not true. You have nothing to lose but your vacuum cleaners.

Sojourner Truth, much of whose life was lived not too far from where I am now, is featured in my local newspaper today. The piece ends with the following:

'Ain't I A Woman?'

Sojourner Truth gave this speech in 1851 at a women's convention in Akron, Ohio.

"That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman?

"Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman?

"I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman?

"I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?

I look around me for the Betty Friedans and Sojourner Truths of this generation, yet all I see are Hillary Clintons.

(continued at kalilily.net)

someone has a birthday coming up

blog sisters turns 4 at the end of the month, February 27, and anyone who has posted here over the last four years should give yourself a pat on the back or take yourself to lunch -- have a pasta dish and review the sauce for me please because OH do i love pasta and OH do i love sauce--depending on my mood sometimes I favor marinara, other times a thick meat sauce, which reminds me of my grandmother's house and walking in for Sunday super (which was earlier than the usual 'dinner' hour, because it was Sunday), and the smell of sauce and meatballs, and the smack of grated peccorino romano cheese on top, with Orange Crush to drink. Mmmmm.

How'd I get here?

Right: comfort foods and celebrations. makes sense.

What amazes me about this site is how it continues to live and evolve. It goes through dry periods where a few women post, and then in a rush I'm moved by posts from women I've never read before. Every single post on this site carves meaning into the net.

What we do here matters.

I remember the night in the early days of blogging where I was almost asleep and in that place of high creativity, where the body is paralyzed and the mind races, and in that hyper-juxtaposition my best ideas come, like blog sisters: where men can link but they can't touch.

It was a good idea and it still is. As I try my hand at contributing editor over at BlogHer, I encourage all of you to keep posting here AND to explore as much of the blogworld as you can.

As we enter another year together, I'm aiming to pick up my intensity of posting on Blog Sisters (kick my ass if I slow down, will you? Email works for that). I also want to explore BlogHer as well, and I highly recommend you read up on the topics that interest you over at BlogHer. You can also suggest women bloggers for the blogroll--there's a link specifically for that. If you're not there, go suggest yourself.

In other words, it's like this. When we started this grand idea, there were no other team blogs where women were writing together. Now there are. YES!!! More space for us to write. Write. Write here, write on your blog, write wherever you can. Write in chalk on your driveway. Write on the blackboards in your child's school. Write on the whiteboards at work, write on wikis, write on kiwis, write in books and on paper.

Just Write it write it write it. Am I telling you or me? That question needs no answer.

It's my voice--there is no reason to be quiet anymore.

Personal Poems For Some Sam Alito Filibuster Holdouts

I've written some personal poems for 4 Alito filibuster holdouts: Byrd, Akaka, Landrieu, Nelson. Here's one of them:

An Open Limerick To Senator Byrd
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Sen. Byrd you're at times quite inspired,
Speaking words that I've often admired.
Now it's time to help muster
A Sam filibuster.
If you don't, all our rights shall expire.

You can find all four of my personal Alito filibuster poems here and the audio podcast version is here.

Ode To Takeout: Song Parody Cooked Up By A Non-Cook

In a brief departure from political humor, I've written an Ode To Takeout:

Ode To Takeout (Sing To My Favorite Things)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

"Baked meat lasagna and Indian curry.
Sesame noodles. I'm famished! Please hurry!
Buddha's Delight that is fit for a king.
Takeout is one of my favorite things.

Greek beef moussaka and cheese ravioli.
Brocc'li and eggplant, stir fried with aioli..."

This rest of my Ode To Takeout song parody is here.

ScienceBlogs

ScienceBlogs are soooo cool!
Thank you Boing Boing for poiting me there!!!

If Not Now, Then When? -- Sam Alito In Verse

My latest post comments on Judge Sam Alito's Supreme Court nomination, his integrity or lack thereof, his wife's just pretend tears, and likelihood of a filibuster. It includes five Sam Alito poems in different formats, starting with this one:

If Not Now, Then When?
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Will Senate Dems preserve our rights
And filibuster Sam?
How 'bout it Dems? Let's see you fight
And prove you give a damn.

Cause Democrats must do much more
Than talk and primp and bluster.
It's time for Dems to show some guts
And Sammy filibuster.

The post with all five of my latest Sam Alito poems is here and my podcast version is here.

1000tags?

I'm going to grab "Women" for blogsisters...

Here's what I posted on allied. I don't have any idea who's involved with the 1000tags thing, so I can't endorse it, but it looks like a fun thing to experiment with and right now they're giving out a free tag if you have a blog and post about it. For the BlogSisters tag, I'll choose "women" and we'll see if this blog shows up in any tag cloud, folksonomy, or taxidermy.... ;-)

----------

I love a secretive wierd thing that comes out of nowhere. Sometimes these side-street jaunts I take full of passion and enthusiasm come back and bite me: you goober, that was dumb to associate yourself with.

Mostly, though, I'm glad I checked out the 'newest odd idea'. So it is with mixed pleasure and puzzlement I introduce 1000tags. And a mighty WTF shout out to whoever-whatever thought this up. It's a new revenue model -- new to me anyway, with dollars paid for tag (or tag cloud) association. Which makes too much sense to not be scary.

1000tags.com is - that we know - the very first project that offers booking and buying tags from a "tag cloud". Or in other words, it is the first commercial tag cloud. That means that it could be the proof of concept demonstrating that folksonomies can be an effective way to advertise.

Whenever I experience one of those, uh, rare "I didn't think of that" moments, I give fair pounds of respect to the idea originator.

Don't get me wrong, I have had ideas since jumping into this whole tagging thing a several days ago, which is 67 years in Web 2.0 time. That's when I found myself wondering why more people (read businesses) aren't tagging based on who they want to position against. So, if I'm, say, the corporate version of Adam Curry, I'm tagging ALL my shit Dave Winer, right? That way, when someone's grandma searches Technorati tags on Dave Winer, she's bombarded with Adam, is wooed by his blond doo, and jets off to the Netherlands to be the family's nanny.

Thing is, that sort of corrupts the folksonomy thing, except that, well, inherently, folks can be assholes too.

-----------------

what do you think?

Farflung Correspondent Seeks Your Help

Yesterday's email included the contract for my volunteer position as Euro-editor for this year's BlogHer. I have a few questions on the details, but esentially, I'll be trying to publish the best blogging from and about Europe to the BlogHer site during the lead up to the conference in San Jose, California, in June. BlogHer focuses on women, of course, but hello, guys, I did ask about what the editorial policy is around including Y chromosomes in my selections. Stand by on that.

In exchange for my hard work (like I couldn't use some of my squandered web hours contributing?) I'll get the mighty muscle of BlogHer promoting my own site, Nerd's Eye View. I've been having something of an identity crisis around the site. Note the remodel! Note the advertising! Note the participation in Performancing discussions on how to monitize your blog. (Bleh. There's that word again. Monitize. Bleh.) I'm not going to sell a billion copies of my book, Baked Insanity, without some marketing, right? If I want to write less "To BLAH, click the BLAH and then, click BLAH" and more stories about noisy elk, I'm gonna have to get my writing in front of more eyeballs. Welcome to the era of shameless self-promotion.

But wait there's more. It's not just about I Me Me My. There's some pretty fine writing out there about European issues that warrants sharing. You may be shocked to learn that I am anti-Americentric thinking. It's true! I engage in my share of Eurobashing, but not more than I engage in my share of Ameribashing. Indulge me while I get up on a soapbox for just a minute and rattle on about how exposure and understanding of other cultures and ideas makes us not just better neighbors, but better people. Eh, you don't need to hear this. You know. I'll step down now.

Anyhow, I could use your help. I'm looking for first rate Euro-bloggers. I have plenty of good ex-pat sites bookmarked. There's no shortage of stories about language lessons or the crazy local phone company or the significance of pork. You get the picture. There's also plenty of primo travel stuff out there, plus, that's a whole 'nother category for BlogHer. That's what I'm NOT looking for.

I'm looking for sites about European issues. I want the Ameriblog and The Daily Kos of Europe. I've got some feeds already, but I'd rather get dupes than miss something, so I'm not going to list them. I'm way a lefty but know thy enemy, yes? I'm also looking for photostreams, podcasts, and any other bloggy stuff that offers quality insight on European issues. I'm primarily looking for work by women - hey, it's BlogHER, not BlogHIM - but I'll certainly look at other stuff. English language only. Of course there's great stuff in all European languages, but I lack the skill to evaluate it. Unless it's visual, then, okay, bring it.

That's more than enough about me and my needs. You and your recommnedations, here, please, in the comments on Nerd's Eye View. Thanks loads for helping me out in this upcoming bloggy adventure.

Note: Cross posted a few places. Sorry for dupes in your RSS readers.

Spying and Lying

I've posted five new limericks today. Here's the one about Bush and Abramoff:

A Bush Pioneer Who's Named Jack
By Madeleine Begun Kane

A Bush pioneer who's named Jack
Raised for Dubya a huge money stack.
Bush now queries, Jack who?
Though he won't bid adieu
To the dough from that scurrilous hack.

All five of my new limericks are here.
And the audio / podcast version is here.

Say Goodbye to Tom DeLay -- Song Parody

My latest song parody celebrates Jack Abramoff's plea bargain. Here's how it starts:

Say Goodbye To Tom DeLay -- Song Parody (Sing to "Yesterday")
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Tom DeLay,
He's got troubles. They won't go away.
Jack's pled guilty and he'll have his say.
So say goodbye to Tom DeLay.

Abramoff,
He's pled guilty. Now Tom won't get off.
Yes, they've got him cold, though wingnuts scoff.
Can't wait to hear from Abramoff.

The rest of my Say Goodbye To Tom DeLay song parody is here.

Each Moment's Resolution

The new year has come in and with it will come many new resolutions for the year. People will promise themselves to lose weight, watch less TV, talk to their kids more, spend more time out in nature, and a host of other good intentions. By May many will already be giving up on their vows and looking towards 2007 for another shot at it.

Why not make every moment an opportunity to renew your commitment to doing what you think is in your best interest? Resolve in each moment to express your love for yourself through behaviors that increase your longterm happiness, health, wealth and peace of mind.

If you are watching something on television and you notice that you aren't feeling good, turn it off. Why do you need to see how it ends? You know the bottom line to the story; the bottom line is, it's a story that doesn't make you feel good. What else do you need to know if you are someone who believes she deserves to feel good all the time?

And you do. Please make this resolve right now. Vow that you will do what it takes so that you feel good in your life. I don't mean pleasure. I mean wellness and satisfaction. Often short-term pleasures, like the excitement and rush of frightening or violent entertainment, actually undermine overall happiness. They upset your nervous system and train your mind to expect negative experiences, among other drawbacks.

I hope this year truly does bring you increased health, wealth, and happiness, but only you can resolve that it will and stick to that resolve, moment by moment.

-- Reposted from The Goodness Blog

Auld Lang Impeachment

I thought I'd help everyone celebrate New Year's Eve with my Auld Lang Impeachment. Here's how it begins:

Auld Lang Impeachment -- Song Parody (Sing to Auld Lang Syne)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

"Bush/Cheney's wrongs won't be forgot.
Each one we'll keep in mind.
These evil men must be locked up
For all their many crimes.

They spied on U.S. citizens.
They lied us into war..."

You can read the rest of Auld Lang Impeachment here, and you can hear me sing it here.

Happy new year!

Beautiful women are in the streets not in magazines!

Link to an interactive movie about the amount of retouching on a photo.

Way to make women who read it feel good about themselves!
Nothing new, we all know that all pictures are retouched, but I thought it was only about reducing celullite and natural skin folds (which is already too much since all of these are natural and need to be accepted!), but now, it goes beyond that, to the point where the perfectly lovely girl in the picture in this example becomes a sad B porno star...

Sometimes I feel like this society not only tries to make its people dumb so we don't ask questions, but even more so women!

Bill O'Reilly's Faux War On Christmas -- Song Parody

My latest song parody "celebrates" Bill O'Reilly's faux war on Christmas. Here's how it starts:

Bill O'Reilly's Faux War On Christmas -- Song Parody (Sing to "Get Me To The Church On Time" from "My Fair Lady")

"Bill says we're waging war on Christmas,
Spouting another Fox News lie.
Bill's rarely proper.
Loves telling whoppers.
Ain't nothing that his fans won't buy.

Bill claims we're screwing blessed Christmas.
We're greeting people wrong, he cries.
Not saying merry,
Christmas is very,
Belligerent and most unwise..."

The rest of my Bill O'Reilly's Faux War On Christmas is here and my audio / podcast version is here.

"Jewcy"

Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?

Greetings, Blog Sisters, from the Nerd's Eye View foreign office in the middle of the snowy Austrian Alps. Somehow I got picked up in the great TypePad outage of 2005. Though I'm a recent migrant to self hosting on WordPress myself, I must not walk away from the opportunity to post to a whole bunch of strangers. And to express my gratitude for inclusion!

In thanks I give you this frivolous little post:

---

"In an age when Madonna demands to be called 'Esther,' Jon Stewart is a sex symbol and seemingly everyone speaks a little Yiddish, it's never been hipper to be a Jew." - NYT

This is all fine and well and actually, a little funny, but unlikely to have even the slightest impact on my own "surviving Christmas" strategies. Adam Sandler might have written the Channukah Song from a home like the set of that movie, what the hell was it called, the one with the hot maid, but you've got NO idea what it's like to be "the only kid on the block without a Christmas tree" until you've spent your Channukah in a small town in Austria.

Don't mistake this for complaining. I'm not, really. Spending Christmas in a small town in Austria means you're fairly sheltered from the economic frenzy of the holiday. It's mildly ironic to find that you'd rather spend your Christmas season in a predominantly Catholic nation than in the American melting pot. Why? Because here you get your Christmas with a mighty big helping of Jesus and not so big a side order of rampant commercialism. You don't feel like your insignificant little Channukah has to compete with the sparkle and acquisition of Yankee Christmas. I'm for that.

Back in Manhattan and LA, the tribe might be camping it up, big time, with a fancy menorah hat, but here in the snowglobe, I'll just be fielding well meant inquiries about the holiday at hand. That and swanning about the kitchen in the dreidl apron that a kind Jewish friend pressed upon me shortly before I hopped a plane to the continent.

"If you live in Wichita, the new hip Jewish movement will never reach you."

For example. And no kidding.

Typepad's Loss is OUR GAIN!

Typepad nomads, WELCOME!!! I can't tell you how sorry I am to hear about your recent blogging frustrations, and being a long-time Blogger/blogspot user, I can relate to frustration over downs-and-outages, HOWEVER, on the bright side, I'm sure everything will be okay eventually.

Now in the mean time, please please please get yourself a mug, pour some coffee, kick your shoes off, and make yourselves at home over here. In fact, even once your own homes are back in shape, don't be a stranger--come on over and post with us on the oldest women's team blog on the net. ;-)

It's great to have you.

Sisters let's make the Typepaders feel at home!

...

With a tip of the cowgirl hat and a grim jaw

Howdy! Badgerbag here. Darn you to heck, Typepad!

Last night I went down to the party at the Center for Sex and Culture. It's a very cozy place, and I thought it woud be a nice way to connect with people before the Good Vibrations holiday party across the street.

The short version: their art exhibit was by a photographer who, many years ago, took photos of me and during the shoot, started jacking off. I told him to quit it... he stopped... I explained why it wasn't okay... but then he freaked out and started begging me never to tell anyone. Stuff like "I feel so bad... I just couldn't help myself... Please don't tell or my whole standing in the community will be ruined... My wife is upstairs and she would kill me..." Needless to say - I did not "never tell" and in fact told lots of people in the queer sex-positive community. Response was muted. The idea seemed to be that I should not make a fuss.

So anyway I went up to the dude, Michael Rosen, at his own art show and explained to him in public what he did and why it was wrong! And told him not to lie - and not to involve other people in his lies. If you want the long version, it's here. I told the wanking photographer what I wanted to talk about and said this was his opportunity to have a conversation about that incident. He acted like he didn't have a clue what I was talking about, and I yelled at him a bit and walked away. I was very angry.

I made an ass of myself, but at the same time I was glad to stand up for a minute and deny this jerk the ability to get away with his secret jerking. I heard that he was still doing it in his photo shoots - always with women alone and never with the famous ones. You'd think it would be easy to simply walk up to a guy, tell him to go to hell, and walk away. But it was way more difficult and scary than I thought it would be. I wanted not just to yell at him, but to give him the opportunity to respond, explain, and apologize. Writing about it in this public way will likely call down a world of hell on his ass -- also possibly on mine -- and yet it also is an opportunity for him to learn something. You don't get to respond to gossip and rumors directly. But he can respond to this all he wants. I am open to having a conversation about it. Whatever conversation happens, I want it in public.

Today I realized the humor in the situation. At the party. I was wearing leather pants, a fishnet shirt, and an insane purple cowgirl hat. In fact I think as I was walking away, I put on my hat and jammed it down low over my eyes while I was grinding my teeth with my chin in the air. I might as well have puffed the smoke and powder off the barrel of my pistol and leaped out of the window onto my waiting horse! Too bad I wasn't in chaps! Stomping, with my spurs a-jingle! Anyway, it was peculiarly empowering to call this perp on his bullshit while my boobs were hanging out and I was wearing a silly hat. I recommend it to you all. Don't just send a letter to that old date-rapist from college! Go up to him at his workplace and don't forget to wear the most ridiculous hat you can find. Pompoms... cowgirl... maybe a chef hat? The silliness will give you courage!

And afterwards I went dancing with my girlfriend at the Good Vibes party, which started out slow but turned out to be super fun. The go-go dancers were just great. (I love Calvin, the cheerful, muscley wrestler! And the naughty schoolgirls!) The dance routine to "Bad Boys" was worth the entire admission price - as hot james-dean style butches flounced around combing back their hair & smoking while their Leave it to Beaver-style parents protested... It was brilliant! We bounced around for a while. On the way out, I got a goody bag with ... get this... "Exploding Vagina Golf Balls". Technically it should be Exploding Vulva Golf Balls. The packaging and the idea really cross the line of dumbness and foray very far into "incredibly odd" territory. I'm fascinated. Who would think of this? What genius was sitting around in the factory and thought, "I know! Exploding Vulva Golf Balls! The world needs them!"

Rox, Capture those moments of your life!

As noted below, Roxanne is close to making good on her new year's resolution, which makes her my favorite ambitious (read: crazy) bookworm. Rox, why not take pix of the book covers, or your exhausted carcas, and do a 30 second audio for each one in your own BubbleShare (yes my client) album (see the Add This Album to My Blog button) to shorten your review process?

OR with the RSS feed, we can easily subscribe to you "Rox Reads" album for NEXT YEAR'S READATHON!!?

GET IT? NEXT YEAR'S READATHON?

Of course, you could just post, but I'm biased. ;-)

My new year's resolution is for Rox to read 25 books aloud to me in 2006.

For a quick sample of a BubbleShare album, get the commentary and pix (AKA: FOOD) from a charity event George and I went to last weekend. Remember to scare yourself by clicking the audio button and hearing my voice. ;-)



To see KC & The Sunshine Band (YES HE IS STILL ALIVE!) visit my blog. ;-)

Learning to See Goodness

Certain people are rather challenging to my ability to see their true selves under all the !%$@& they've developed on top. I know there is a basic goodness within all of us, how could it not be, but being able to see and relate to it within someone who doesn't see it within themselves, well now that's the test of our spiritual accomplishment.

I also think that being a Buddha isn't about how we relate to people who are being easily lovable. The Buddha is a Buddha because she actually sees everyone as lovable, even those the rest of us would call "hard to love." We don't have to agree with the decisions others make in order to love them. That is the idea I have to keep reminding myself of.

I am learning to separate discrimination from judgment. Discrimination about what we will or will not do, believe, or contribute to, is a responsibility. But judgment is a part of building up our ego identity as "the virtuous one" or "the smart one" or "the martyr" or whatever defines us as "better." For us to be better, someone else has to be worse. We are then defining ourselves by what we are not, and using others towards that end.

So my path of awakening is a path of learning how to see without the confines of all my identities that require me to relate to others by their personality traits in order to define myself as whoever I'm supposed to be. Looking for the "soft spot" Pema Chodron speaks of is something useful to remember in trying to do that. I would phrase it, "look beyond the false; do not be deceived. You will find the truth."

-- from the comments thread at The Goodness Blog

When Everything We Do (including blogging) Is An Addiction

After perusing today's New York Times, I have determined that we live in a time where every breath, tick, or activity we engage in that is not directly related to work or family is considerd an addiction. Hooked on the Web: Help is on the Way (in the Style section, no less) details the problem that so many of us seem to be developing with our excessive/obsessive Internet use.

Here's the skinny on onlineaholics

These specialists estimate that 6 percent to 10 percent of the approximately 189 million Internet users in this country have a dependency that can be as destructive as alcoholism and drug addiction, and they are rushing to treat it. Yet some in the field remain skeptical that heavy use of the Internet qualifies as a legitimate addiction, and one academic expert called it a fad illness.

Skeptics argue that even obsessive Internet use does not exact the same toll on health or family life as conventionally recognized addictions. But, mental health professionals who support the diagnosis of Internet addiction say, a majority of obsessive users are online to further addictions to gambling or pornography or have become much more dependent on those vices because of their prevalence on the Internet.

But other users have a broader dependency and spend hours online each day, surfing the Web, trading stocks, instant messaging or blogging, and a fast-rising number are becoming addicted to Internet video games.

I don't know...sounds more like it's just easier in many ways to do stuff on the 'net than it is to go out and do it. When there's no longer a town square to venture out to, when one has to drive from here to there, and never meets a friendly soul, one might just as soon spend more quality time online than in the physical world.

Sometimes the better community is online rather than in one's own backyard.

Perhaps, though, this is just the disease-du-jour. In an article titled "Our National Eating Disorder" (NYT 10/17/04), our problem then was carbophobia We'd developed such a reverence for Atkins-style diet programs that many of us here and across the Pond in the U.K. were developing an unhealthy aversion to breads, pastas and potatoes. We were neglecting the need for healthy carbs, and were getting hysterical over Panina Bread places moving into our neighborhoods.

Personally, I think our latest "addiction" is just another buzzword for some enterprising shrinks to solemly banter around, then sell it to some poor souls who have a general existentialist angst about life and feel a pathological need to patholigize themselves.

The problem isn't with unhealthy internet use, or an unhealthy aversion to carbos, but an unhealthy and bovine-like acceptance of psychobabble.

Makes me long for the days of simple patholigies like "sex addiction"...and Bill Clinton.

Now, where'd I put that bag of potato chips?? I'm gonna be here for awhile....

crossposted on Snarkhaholic

Wacky-Off: Jean Schmidt vs. Pat Robertson

I can't decide who's wackier, Ohio's Jean Schmidt or Pat Robertson. Here's the first of my pair of limericks about Jean Schmidt's outrageous House floor speech, in which she called John Murtha a coward because of his Iraq withdrawal plan:

A Rep From Ohio Named Jean
By Madeleine Begun Kane

A Rep from Ohio named Jean
Called John Murtha a coward. How mean!
The Dems were quite riled
At her unprovoked bile.
She beat Hackett? How sad and obscene!

You can find both Schmidt limericks plus a Pat Robertson limerick here.

And here's my audio / podcast version.

because We need our own place!

I have started a Webring of sorts for all single moms. Its a way for us together and support one another. If you are a single mom please join my webring and lets make it Our webring....
Single Mommies Ring homepage
Or Just Join by:
Clicking here!

Bob Dylan and Juan Cole... Brilliant!

First time I post here, thanks for inviting me to be part of this!!!

I have to start with a post I already put on my blog but it's just simply such a good article/post, I think you'll all appreciate it!

Click here for the latest Juan Cole article

It's quite the blow on our "dear" low percentage approval rating government!

Yet Another White House Leak

Now that Harriet Miers' office has announced mandatory ethics classes for all White House EOP staffers, I guess we're supposed to forget about Libby's indictment and Karl Rove's ethical transgressions. Of course, these classes are nothing more than window dressing designed to dupe us into thinking Bush gives a damn about ethics.

How do I know this? A top secret White House source leaked this Harriet Miers memo to me, in a MadKane.com exclusive.

And on another topic, I'm newly in love with Senator Harry Reid and Rule 21. Senator Frist, however, doesn't share my feelings. And that brings me to my latest limerick.

Finally, my latest podcast is here.

4 Judge Sam Alito Limericks

Now that Harriet Miers is back doing whatever it is she does best (writing Bush mash notes and covering his tracks?) Bush has a new nominee to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. And I'm afraid he's just the sort of extremist judge we feared a weakened Bush would come up with - 3rd Circuit Judge Samuel Alito. And that means it's time for some limericks. Here's one of four:

There Once Was A Judge Named Alito
By Madeleine Begun Kane

There once was a judge named Alito,
Who's often called Judge Sam Scalito.
He's fond of state powers.
At labor he glowers.
The Dems must Alito's name veto.

All four of the limericks are here.

And my audio / podcast version is here.

That Pressing Engagement? Just Do It

You may remember my post about mammograms last month. Now a report has been released which shows a consensus of opinion from seven different studies about the effectiveness of mammography in detecting breast cancer in its early stages.

HOUSTON - An unprecedented statistical assault indicates that mammography
screening has made a significant contribution to the decline in breast cancer
mortality in recent years -- an issue of contentious running debate.
Seven
teams of statisticians -- using the same data sets but different statistical
models -- reached substantial agreement that mammography screening has played a
role in the 24% decline in the death rate between 1990 and 2000.

So, long story short: Just do the thing. Make the appointment and get the mammogram. It's not a traumatic event, despite all the jokes and limericks and "humorous" crap you'll find online. It's a little bit of brief discomfort; not even enough to be categorized as "pain".

If you need a jolt of inspiration, pick one of these aphorisms and be jolted:

Forewarned is forearmed.

Knowledge is power.

And the truth shall set you free.

Heck, pick all three aphorisms. Write them on your forearm with a black finepoint Sharpie. Have them tattooed on your forehead. Whatever it takes to help you move off the dime and get the thing done. It's your life.



This post also appears here.

Fitzmas Madness

Like so many of you, I'm anxiously awaiting indictments from Patrick Fitzgerald's grand jury and hoping for a very merry Fitzmas. So naturally, I've written a poem, which begins:

Fitzmas Madness
By Madeleine Begun Kane

I keep scanning the Net
For some news from Pat Fitz.
If he don't indict soon,
I may go on the fritz.

I can't bear the suspense.
I can't stand the delay...

You can find the entire Fitzmas Madness poem here. And you can find my audio / podcast version here.

A-Changin' Times

A recent USA Today article on teens and sex no doubt has parents all a-titter. And for good reason: "Teens define sex in new ways" cites a number of recent studies that say many American kids consider oral sex to be no big deal. In fact, some teenagers who have experienced oral sex still consider themselves virgins. (Thanks loads, Bill and Monica.)

An excerpt:

A study published in the journal Pediatrics in April supports the view that adolescents believe oral sex is safer than intercourse, with less risk to their physical and emotional health.

The study of ethnically diverse high school freshmen from California found that almost 20 percent had tried oral sex, compared with 13.5 percent who said they had intercourse.

More of these teens believed oral sex was more acceptable for their age group than intercourse, even if the partners are not dating. ...

The federal study [by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], based on data collected in 2002 and released last month, found that 55 percent of 15- to 19-year-old boys and 54 percent of girls reported getting or giving oral sex, compared with 49 percent of boys and 53 percent of girls the same ages who reported having had intercourse. ...

The $16 million study, which took six years to develop, complete and analyze, surveyed almost 13,000 teens, men and women ages 15-44 on a variety of sexual behaviors.

As experts interviewed by USA Today note, becoming sexually active at too early an age is potentially dangerous. "When teenagers fool around before they're ready or have a very casual attitude toward sex, they proceed toward adulthood with a lack of understanding about intimacy," warned Sabrina Weill, author of The Real Truth About Teens & Sex. "What it means to be intimate is not clearly spelled out for young people by their parents and people they trust."

Though I find this news deeply troubling, it does not surprise me. When my daughter, now 17, was in middle school, she told me about her classmates' experimentations with oral sex. Yes, in middle school. And the kids were engaging in the behavior just for kicks -- love and caring and commitment had nothing to do with it. I was horrified and surprised then, but now, when many teens relish getting "benefits" from friends as a matter of course, I find the news not shocking, but depressing.

There was something in the USA Today piece, however, that floored me. Peruse these stats from a 2002 CDCP survey:

percentage of teens who have had intercourse and their ages:

Boys
15 - 25.1%
16 - 37.5%
17 - 46.9%
18 - 62.4%
19 - 68.9%


Girls
15 - 26.0%
16 - 39.6%
17 - 49.0%
18 - 70.3%
19 - 77.4%

percentage of teens who have had oral sex and their ages:

Boys
15 - 35.1%
16 - 42.0%
17 - 55.7%
18 - 65.4%
19 - 74.2%

Girls
15 - 26.0%
16 - 42.4%
17 - 55.5%
18 - 70.2%
19 - 74.4%

Do you see what I see? If these findings are to be believed, more girls than boys are having sexual intercourse -- and at ages 16, 18, and 19, more girls than boys are participating in oral sex. Compare these results to those of two 1995 federal studies that tracked the percentages of teens having intercourse:



Sources: 1995 National Survey of Family Growth and 1995 National Survey of Adolescent Males

How times have changed.

Is this sexual equality? Is the traditional double standard -- sexually active guys are studs; girls who "do it" are sluts -- a thing of the past? Somehow, I doubt it.

This much I believe: Whether male or female, it is healthier and more intelligent for teens to wait until they are truly ready to handle relationships and responsibility before having sex, oral or otherwise. And it's time to put my 9-year-old son under lock and key.

from all facts and opinions

The Judy Miller Quartet (of Limericks)

I've finished reading the two Judy Miller epics: Miller's incomplete and implausible My Four Hours Testifying in the Federal Grand Jury Room and the New York Times' only slightly more satisfying The Miller Case: A Notebook, a Cause, a Jail Cell and a Deal. And after wading through both, my opinion of Judy Miller and the New York Times has sunk even lower. So naturally, I've written Miller some limericks. Here's one of them:

Ms. Miller Has Written Her Tale
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Ms. Miller has written her tale,
And as tales go, it's rather a whale.
Her memory's convenient,
On Libby she's lenient.
What a shame that she got out of jail!

You'll find all four of my Judy Miller limericks here.
And the audio version is here.

Mired In Harriet Miers & Harriet's Song

The odd relationship between George Bush and Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, specifically the schoolgirlish notes she's sent to Bush over the years, inspired me to write a new song parody:
Harriet's Song: Bush Is the Sunshine Of Her Life.
And my podcast version of Harriet's Song is here.

Also, Harriet Miers has inspired/provoked me to write three poems in honor of her nomination. Here's one of them:

Bush Named The Unqualified Miers
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Bush named the unqualified Miers
To the Court when O'Connor retires.
Her only credential?
She's Dub reverential.
And that should raise Democrats' ires.

All three of my Harriet Miers poems are here.
And my audio / podcast version is here.

We Media: "Talk Amongst Yourselves..."

Wednesday. Around 6:15 a.m.--after a troublesome train ride, a massive case of the fidgets, and four hours' sleep--I found myself standing outside the Associated Press building at 450 W. 33rd Street, with a cup of catering wagon coffee and a very fresh donut. I was there as a volunteer for the We Media Conference put together by the Media Center at the American Press Institute. I couldn't really afford to go otherwise...and I really, *really* wanted to be there. (must thank Gloria Pan for passing my name along to Beth Laing so I could get this great op.)

For the most part, thru my eyes, We Media was a bit of a surreal experience. As I re-arranged attendee nametags, I recognized some of the names, but not others. I did, though, make note that most of the people attending were pretty high up on the Media Food Chain, even if some don't like to admit it. I greeted them with a nice smile and a "Good Morning" and gave them their tags. Some even called me by my name.

It was, though, rather obvious that these were The Media. And I'm just a Citizen. My challenge, then, was to find points of equilibrium between Myself and This Media. (Another mission was to chat with Jay Rosen, who got me a bit peeved after his BlogHer comments...)

Another clue that this was going to be a case of the little orange in a group of shiny apples was when Dale Peskin, Co-Director of the Media Center, commented in his opening remarks that it was surprising how many people blogged.

Surprising? Did Dale's Father ever yell at Walter Kronkite like lots of our Dads did?? Did Dale ever spend an hour on the telephone recounting a life-changing event to a friend--like a lot of us do daily? Blogging, and other forms of collaborative/social media have become the ways in which We the People are attempting to get into the conversation all the Media Folks keep having every day. We don't think the pundits are any better than us and think our voices are valid. We relieve our existentialist angst, that sense of being buried alive under Information, thru blogging, wikis, messageboards, email and all sorts of media--as
Chris Willis succinctly pointed out when he mentioned "collaborative media"(perhaps Dale was just setting up Chris to comment--you never know.)

The first panel was We The News--News moguls, from NPR, BBC, CBS and AP--discussing what "the people" are doing with news. Lots of talk how "the people" are shaping things, how "the people" (considered to be the 18-34 age cohort) are changing the way Big Media writes and disseminates news...yadda, yadda, yadda. The only one on the panel who has a clue was Farai Chideya, who mentioned how "the people in the caboose" of media culture need to be brought to the fore. But, even Chideya missed a key point--to get from the caboose one has to go thru the Club Car. And there are loads of us--average middle-class, bach degree'd, working-stiff non-tech, non-journalism citizens in the 35-59 age cohort who are sitting in that Club Car.

We blog. Often. Just check my personal blog to see some of us. Don't count us out before you've even looked at us.

There was lots and lots of talk about "citizens" but there weren't any citizens in the room! So that was the BIG PROBLEM. (I cannot fault the conference organizers on this...most blogging conferences are akin to "closed shops" or Churches of True Believers--some moreso, like the Blog Business Summit, than others.)

So, when the Speed Dating break between the We The News session and Al Gore's keynote address came along, I stood there, wondering who the heck in this room of august media types I could talk with. And then Jay Rosen came by. What an op! So I said "Jay! Hi! I'm Tish G." He laughed and warmly shook my hand...

Jay and I got to talking about what was going on, and I told him how I was shaking my head at most of it, how people like Larry Kramer just weren't getting it, that the answer to Watts Wacker's question of "Is this the right audience?" was an absolute "NO!" and that the group on the stage was preaching to the converted, Jay said something to the effect of "Well, they're vertical communicators trying to understand those on the horizontal..."

completely right. Jay Rosen and I, apparently, see eye to eye on this matter. Folks like Larry Kramer, Farai Chideya, Tom Curley, and Richard Sambrook--a bunch of vertical, top-down communicators, however well-intentioned--were trying to get a grip on what the Folks, the peer-to-peer, or horizontal communicators do with blogs. Jay and I agreed that they really weren't getting it at all, that there was too much emphasis on this or that particular group at the expense of the whole; that there was far too much emphasis on monetizing and business models; and that this sort of thinking just does not apply to what goes on in peer-to-peer communications.

Sure, lots of us would love to make money off our blog-hobby, but the only ones who stand to make large money off our blog hobby seem to be Big Media. I'm kind of offended by the idea of Big Media making money off something they don't understand.

Al Gore took the podium, and I was struck by the timbre of his voice--smooth, mellow and southern. I could listen to Al recite the phone book. He had, though,great things to say. This, particularly, got me thinking:

Radio, the internet, movies, telephones, and other media all now vie for our attention - but it is television that still completely dominates the flow of information in modern America. In fact, according to an authoritative global study, Americans now watch television an average of four hours and 28 minutes every day -- 90 minutes more than the world average.

When you assume eight hours of work a day, six to eight hours of sleep and a couple of hours to bathe, dress, eat and commute, that is almost three-quarters of all the discretionary time that the average American has. And for younger Americans, the average is even higher.

The internet is a formidable new medium of communication, but it is important to note that it still doesn't hold a candle to television. Indeed, studies show that the majority of Internet users are actually simultaneously watching television while they are online. There is an important reason why television maintains such a hold on its viewers in a way that the internet does not, but I'll get to that in a few minutes.

All I could think about was how we have all this media of all kinds blabbering around us all the time, and we have absolutely no time for our own thoughts.

Al continued:

But some extremely important elements of American Democracy have been pushed to the sidelines . And the most prominent casualty has been the "marketplace of ideas" that was so beloved and so carefully protected by our Founders. It effectively no longer exists.

It is not that we no longer share ideas with one another about public matters; of course we do. But the "Public Forum" in which our Founders searched for general agreement and applied the Rule of Reason has been grossly distorted and "restructured" beyond all recognition.

And here is my point: it is the destruction of that marketplace of ideas that accounts for the "strangeness" that now continually haunts our efforts to reason together about the choices we must make as a nation.

And I got to thinking: There is no "marketplace of ideas" because we are constantly fed the ideas of others. We are constantly acquiring information and knowledge, but we do not process it. We have 24 hour media--if we are not seeking entertainment we are seeking information. We do not stop for fear we will be uncool or left out of the loop. We can't think on our own. We can't apply the Rule of Reason because we have no time for Contemplation.

But that's just me. What do I know?

I skipped the We Inc. panel. It was extremely hot and I was feeling a bit lightheadded. Jason Calacanis chaired that panel and I found out later (courtesy of Ron Mwangaguhunga
) that Jason sold Weblogs, Inc. to AOL for $25 mil.

Had I known that tid bit, I would have introduced myself when we smiled at each other sometime during lunch. ;-)

Had a great little chat with Susan Mernit, about blogging (she mentioned Tristan Louis, that he is a very good writer/blogger) and how I link this blog with my personal blog...how it is bold of me. I'd never thought that much about it. Looking around at all the Media Types, I thought that maybe it's about time for me to give it a bit of consideration...

At lunchtime, I was a bit too fried to do any socializing...just bided my time watching the suits and Those Better at Networking do what they do.

After lunch, I chose to assign myself to the
Media Gawking and Citizen Journalism discussions. Glad I did.

Media Gawking consisted of Jay Rosen, Jessica Cohen and Patrick Phillips. I didn't expect much from Jessica, but got more from Jay. Jessica did voice an opinion that many of "the people" have about Public Eye (CBS's blogging venture): that it's a "sad, sad little website." Nobody faults Vaughn Ververs though. I think a lot of us feel sorry for Ververs--and know that Larry Kramer's inability to understand the blogosphere is part of what censors Ververs (but we figured that out on Buzzmachine some time ago.)

What struck me most in the Citizen Journalism discussion was something Lex Alexander said about the necessity of mentoring of "citizen journalists." Lex gets that it's not about changing citizens into journalists (unless they actually want to be real journalists--then they can go to journalism school), but mentoring them certain principles of journalism, helping with the writing, etc...but not censoring nor changing anything. (I'd talk to Lex about this later. He's a fun guy!) Although here again, in this session, somebody didn't get a very subtle point about their subject: Susan Defife of Backfence.com argued that citizen journalists should write about anything they want. I understand Susan's POV--when you're in a big market area, where the papers never report on the local high school soccer game, it's important for blogs to do so. But if one lives in a middle market, like Springfield, Mass, is it necessary to have blogs to discuss high school soccer when we can watch high school soccer on the 11 o'clock news? Perhpas there's a point where there's media saturation even with blogs--possibly to the detriment of real journalism on harder subjects like government corruption.

By the time we got to the whole In Us We Trust discussion (highly philosophical) I was very, very fried and half paying attention. For the most part, I got that this was a lot of academic philosophizing, that it was intentionally meant to be over the heads of everybody, but I had a bit of trouble with what seemed to be a celebration of cultural relativism and the corporation. I'd have to read the transcripts again to see if I'm right on that one...but,personally, I'm not a big fan of cultural relativism nor of corporations. I don't like the idea that corporations might manipulate blogs and bloggers so that we trust them more. Why should we trust corporations any more than we trust the government? All I could think of was Rollerball (the James Cann/Norman Jewison version).

It is very strange to be sitting in a roomful of people who could easily be deciding the fate of the media you and millions of others use daily for personal expression, yet how many of them have what Jay Rosen calls "peer-to-peer" communication? How much do they understand of this thing that they see as a tool for corporations? How well do they understand our existentialist angst if they do not experience it for themselves? I'm not sure Karen Stephenson, Watts Wacker, Craig Newmark, nor Richard Edelman fully nor totally comprehend any of it.

Then again, there are few of us in the trenches who understand them either. Maybe that's the way the world works.

When we broke for cocktail hour, I got to talk a bit with Watts Wacker (read about it in this entry)...Lex Alexander and Jenny D (who was there blogging for the Media Center--she couldn't afford to go either) about citizen journalism....Introduced myself to Rebecca MacKinnon who I might run into one of these days at the Berkman Center...and caught the train on time.

I was exhausted and my sprained ankle was swollen to elephantine proportions. Had a 20-something kid flirt with me on the train. Got home to Mass sometime close to midnight. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat.

(oh, if you want to find good articles on We Media, do a search on IceRocket.com...you'll get the best results.)

(originally posted on Snarkaholic 10/7/05)

tags:we media,We Media05,Blogging, Blog, Blogs,Journalism, Media

D4D Ts!

Got an email from Brooke announcing the availability of new T's from Downtown for Democracy. My personal favorite - Mad Cowboy Disease -- is a sure hit at your next conservative family get together! Here's Brooke's email:

Downtown for Democracy just launched our new T-Shirt Line. For details see downtownfordemocracy.org -- ….. with sizes 2T and onesies! (it’s never too early to raise them progressive)

This year’s designers include United Bamboo, Zaldy, Nanette Lepore, Project Alabama, Peter Som, Habitual, Rogues Gallery, Band of Outsiders, Thakoon, Richard Kidd, Patricia Field, Andrew Harmon, Donald Hearn (WLVZ), Paul Kopkau, Francisco Costa (Calvin Klein), Seize sur Vingt, JK5 and Daryl K.

Also, we'd like to invite you to the Downtown for Democracy T-shirt Launch party on Monday October 17th at Groupe, 267 Elizabeth St., NYC. Jessica Craig Martin will be photographing the event.

Samples, line sheets and an animation that we will project with all the designs will be completed for that date.

http://www.downtownfordemocracy.org/store/index.php?cPath=21

Downtown For Democracy (D4D) proudly presents a selection of designer D4D T-shirts, limited edition posters and many other items.

It's Another Bush Crisis

During the last week, I've read a slew of posts and columns about our newly "de-swaggerfied" (shouldn't that be a word?) President. My latest blog post includes a poem which, I think, sums up Bush (and Rove's) post-Katrina angst:

Here's how it starts:

It's Another Bush Crisis
By Madeleine Begun Kane

"It's another Bush crisis,
And day after day,
Dub's stooges are spinning,
While Bush says, "let's pray."

He is not on vacation.
He's handling affairs.
We know that from photos
That show Dubya cares..."

The entire poem is here. And my podcast audio version is here.

Free Pass From Daily Kos

Sinister*

Breast Cancer Risk Higher for Left-handed Women

Researchers at the University Medical Center in Utrecht in the Netherlands speculate that there is a shared origin early in life for both left handedness and developing breast cancer, possibly exposure to hormones in the womb.

"Left handedness is associated with breast cancer, most specifically pre-menopausal breast cancer," said Cuno Uiterwaal, an assistant professor of clinical epidemiology at the university, in an interview.

WTF? Maybe I'm just a left-handed woman whistling past the graveyard, but I need to see a lot more evidence that there's a real correlation here before I buy it. Right now I put these findings roughly on the same level with the Less Pirates = More Global Warming theory [may the FSM forgive my heresy].

Okay, but say that this all turns out to be true. Most likely it won't affect me; I'm already postmenopausal, so I dodged that bullet. Why does that thought give me little comfort?

Whatever. It probably means I won't be able to give up my semi-annual, delightful pressing engagement with the friendly neighborhood mammographer anytime soon.
["Pressing engagement"! Ha ha! Mammogram humor! Whoo, that's a good one!]

And now, the obligatory recitation of the greatest poem ever written about mammograms. Come on, you know what comes next: It's also the only poem ever written about mammograms! Hooray!

The Boob Poem

aka "Ode To a Mammogram"


For years and years they told me,
Be careful of your breasts.
Don't ever squeeze or bruise them.
And give them monthly tests.

So I heeded all their warnings,
And protected them by law.
Guarded them very carefully,
And I always wore my bra.

After 30 years of astute care,
My gyno, Dr. Pruitt,
Said I should get a Mammogram.
"O.K." I said, 'let's do it."

"Stand up here real close" she said,
(She got my boob in line),
"And tell me when it hurts," she said,
"Ah yes! Right there, that's fine."

She stepped upon a pedal,
I could not believe my eyes!
A plastic plate came slamming down,
My hooter's in a vise!

My skin was stretched and mangled,
From underneath my chin.
My poor boob was being squashed,
To Swedish Pancake thin.

Excruciating pain I felt,
Within it's vise-like grip.
A prisoner in this vicious thing,
My poor defenseless tit!

"Take a deep breath" she said to me,
Who does she think she's kidding?!?
My chest is mashed in her machine,
And woozy I am getting.

"There, that's good," I heard her say,
(The room was slowly swaying.)
"Now, let's have a go at the other one."
Have mercy, I was praying.

It squeezed me from both up and down,
It squeezed me from both sides.
I'll bet SHE'S never had this done,
To HER tender little hide.

Next time that they make me do this,
I will request a blindfold.
I have no wish to see again,
My knockers getting steam rolled.

If I had no problem when I came in,
I surely have one now.
If there had been a cyst in there,
It would have gone "ker-pow!"

This machine was created by a man,
Of this, I have no doubt.
I'd like to stick his balls in there,
And see how THEY come out!

Author Unknown

At the end of this classic it invariably will say "Author Unknown". Chah, right -- and you can be sure the woman who wrote it wants it to stay that way, too.

* sinister = [Middle English sinistre, unfavorable, from Old French, from Latin sinister, on the left, unlucky.]




This post also appears here.

Live Broadcast: Second World Congress on Matriarchal Studies

Some Blog Sisters may be interested to know that there's an alternative to traveling to Texas next week to attend the (free) Second World Congress on Matriarchal Studies: a real time web broadcast (webcast) of the conference provided by FIRE www.fire.or.cr.

FIRE, the Feminist International Radio Endeavour, will present a daily live streaming event of the Conference following the scheduled presentations.

And no, Matriarchy isn't just patriarchy in skirts!

Even today there are enclaves of societies with matriarchal patterns in Asia, Africa, America and Oceania. None of these is a mere reversal of patriarchy where women rule -as it is often commonly believed -instead, they are all egalitarian societies, without exception. This means they do not know hierarchies, classes and the domination of one gender by the other. They are societies free of domination, but they still have their regulations. And this is the fact that makes them so attractive in any search for a new philosophy, to create a just society. ( Matriarchal Society: Definition and Theory by Heide Goettner-Abendroth)

Be well!

Two John Roberts Limericks

I've written two limericks about John Roberts' nomination to be Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Here's one of them:

Though Judge Roberts Is Getting A Hearing
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Though Judge Roberts is getting a hearing,
To measure his outlook and bearing,
He's determined to hide
Views that Dems can't abide.
His convictions he simply ain't sharing.

You can find both of my Roberts limericks here and you can hear my audio version of my Judge Roberts limericks here.

Bloggers Speak, Part 1 of 2 -- Audio Mini-Interviews With Lefty Bloggers

On Saturday, Julia of Sisyphus Shrugged held another of her delightful lefty blogger gatherings in Queens, New York. And I'm pleased to report that this time, not only did I bring my digital audio recorder, but I actually remembered to use it. Okay, I did get some prodding and nudging from
Elayne of Pen-Elayne who, by the way, took pictures.

Throughout the evening. I dragged sundry bloggers (and the occasional blogger spouse) to the back of Julia's yard for -- hey, get your mind out of the gutter -- mini-interviews with them. This Mad Kane Notables
post includes 6 MP3 links to my chats with Elayne, Julia, Michael Berube, Barbara of the Mahablog, Jen of The News Blog, and Scott of Lawyers, Guns and Money. (Another batch of mp3 interviews will be posted in the next day or so.)

FEMA's Brown sent back to WA

Despite the fact that Washington continues to defend their decision to hire him in the first place, and to defend his performance in the wake of Katrina's devastation of New Orleans:

"Michael D. Brown, the embattled head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, today was relieved of his duties overseeing recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast region." Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen will now be heading up the recovery effort in New Orleans.

Also from the NY Times: "Allen, the Coast Guard's chief of staff since 2002, has spent his entire career in the Coast Guard since graduating from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1971. He was director of resources under Adm. James Loy, who later became Homeland Security's deputy secretary.... He has been in charge of Coast Guard operations in South Carolina, Georgia, most of Florida, and throughout the Caribbean."

So now the disaster recovery will be headed by someone apparently competent to do so. What is interesting is that Brown is still the head of FEMA, he has just been relieved of his disaster duties. But what does one do to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency without disaster duties? Isn't disaster all they do?

In any case, let all our prayers be behind Allen's success - and Brown's complete ouster!

For a more personal reflection on the New Orleans disaster and how it is highlighting the importance of community connection and inner refuges in our lives, see this post at the Indigo Ocean weblog: What Holds Us Together.

On a sadly humorous closing note (if that is possible) Here is what the former first lady had to say about the evacuees: "so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway,' she said, 'so this is working very well for them." - Source NY Times: Barbara Bush

3 FEMA Limericks

I've written 3 FEMA limericks. Here's the first one:

The FEMA head Michael D. Brown
Helped cause thousands to suffer and drown.
Now he's dodging the blame.
Who's at fault? Val'rie Plame?
Let's throw Dubya and Brown out of town.

All three of my FEMA limericks are here.

And my podcast version is here.