Just received a note from a friend which said "Next time the National anthem is played every woman and girl should take a knee!" I LOVE IT! I'm going to do it. Let's all of us - all genders! -- do it. Spread the word! We, the People, all of us, women and all genders this time.
While I understand the intent & support the idea, let’s come up with our own symbolic gesture. We must be careful not to step upon, steal, or cloud the original purpose of taking a knee. It was about police brutality against people of color. The Women’s movement had its own symbols we can borrow from. Waving a flag of purple, white & gold, or waving a sunflower or yellow rose at events we know will begin with the star spangled banner while people of color take a knee will illustrate the numbers of people who have felt disenfranchised and their exact struggle.
Inequality is the struggle. It exists across genders & races. My first black history class in UF began with our black professor asking us to name the people who were historically the most disenfranchised globally. His answer was women. We are in this together and we must fight for justice together.
Hey, Diane, and all of us: Yesterday (Monday) CBS highlighted this young lady from Virginia who has pushed to highlight women in history to be among the notable figures to learn about in school. So cool!
Please credit LFAAer Jeff Carpenter for being the first to coin the phrase "We, the People, All of Us..." and yours truly for the "...this Time" addition. Thank you!
Agree. All that stuff is 'too in your face' any more. Yes, it did serve a purpose. Of course "Black Lives" matter.. unless you're an imbecile/jerk. Can it! While I'm at it, there's no doubt in my military-mind, that ALL slaves were not "blacks from Africa... but, they were darn sure of color, and, 'human'. Well, having thrown that wrench into the corn-cob stripper.(crrunch.Bang!), what about being advised (1954) that we are a nation "Under God" ? All these catagorizations and labelling is a bit childish. No? Time to change it up! Women can be the force we so need.
Yup.. that's why I liked "the Pledge" when it was simply "one Nation INDIVISIBLE". A rock hard statement. What the heck can be a stronger statement that we are a nation of Americans who will NOT be divided. A Nation where we can be so many things. A nation where we can jump on a plane or boat and travel without being under the watchful eye of some 'minder' or KGB implant. A nation we had better not screw up.
Why, 'us to speak for them'? Why not 'us' speaking together? Is there ownership of the knee? We learn together - walk together - sing together -protest together - play together and knee together.
Yes, we are "all humankind" here. Take those Job Applications. Do not allow gender a place. Get rid of 'gender' and 'race'. Here's my idea of simplicity: (1) Put an X by your 'choice'..Thank You. Question One: What is your Race: a. Human __. b. BOT __. c. Other __. (2) Do you run on: a. Solar b. 110volt outlet c. Dunkin. d. explain__? There! That ought to level the field.
Thank you for posting this article. I love it. I think we should all buy pins of jail-cell doors to wear. Women have had to fight for their rights forever. Always controlled by powerful men (Read the book The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear by Kate Moore. Husbands could claim their wife was insane for any reason. Hospitals across the country were filled with them. Horrifying and important read.
I really like this idea. Horan. MUCH better than taking a knee. Please, folks, respect that symbol and honor it. Then add your own, showing the range of oppressions that we experience in our variety, and how they fit together. There would be both beauty and power in such a variagated display. In support of the Ukrainians, their flag or other national symbol. I often wear wide brim hats (to protect my eyes) and I might honor the women I am descended from who agitated for the vote and worked behind the scenes by decorating my hats with flowers (with my hair up in a traditional Navajo bun like my grandmother used to wear). This would be so much stronger, and I think effective. Let's respect each other and not give in to the tendency so many have to "do good" without giving thought to how our actions might be perceived. There is enough tension in this world. We don't need to thoughtlessly, if unintentionally, add to it.
Horan has a very good point. At the very least we should confer with people of color before co-opting their symbol. Wouldn't it be wonderful to see POC kneel while white women stood behind them holding, for example, pink roses as a gesture of the combined losses of Black lives and all women.
How do you attach a photo? I would like to show my face instead of an orange blob! It is nice to be able to see the person with whom you are communicating. LOL
I am including this here in the hope others will see it and use it as a resource.
I have posted previously about the News Literacy Project (https://newslit.org/) and their program Checkology to deliver programs and resources for educators and the public to teach, learn and share the abilities needed to be smart, active consumers of news and information and equal and engaged participants in a democracy.
This is their latest Checkology initiative - their Newsroom to Classroom Program. This is their latest free program for teachers to setup a Classroom Connection — either virtually or in-person — between journalists and students. They have a wonderful directory and will help facilitate those connections. You can learn more about it here:
Thank you for making sure that we knew not only of Jill Biden’s courageous visit to Ukraine, but also of the strong statement by the G7 calling out Putin’s war against Ukraine.
Looking forward to see what historical context you can highlight in view of Justice Alito’s seeming admiration for Sir Matthew Hale and his extortions that abortion was unlawful and that there was no such thing as matrimonial rape because, by marrying, a woman gave her consent for all time.
'Abortion in Saudi Arabia is legal only in cases of risk to a woman’s life, fetal impairment, or to protect her physical and mental health.[1] Pregnancy arising from incest or rape also qualify for a legal abortion under the mental health exemption [1][2] The fetus must be less than four months old, and if longer, requires a panel of approved specialists to declare that the pregnancy will result in the death of the woman or serious damage to her health.[3] Any approved abortion requires consent from three physicians as well as the patient and her partner.[4] If an abortion is performed on a woman for any other reason, the violator may be required to pay blood money to the unborn child's family.[4] Laws explicitly deny abortion to families who fear financial instability or an inability to provide the child with education.[4] The selling of pills which are used for the process of abortion is illegal and has resulted in arrest.[5]'
It is bad, but, perhaps, a tad better than the anti-abortion movement here and where SCOTUS appears to be heading.
As Julia Ward Howe noticed, women can’t always rely on men for protection. They may be abuse you instead, or they may just not be around to protect you, having died or otherwise abandoned you. It will be on your shoulders if they have been maimed in war or workplace accidents.
Property is not a matter of belief. It is a matter of law. Through much of the world men have property rights over women which they gain by marriage. Parents also have property rights over children, often with the same terrible effects.
I most certainly do realize that and how horrific it is to have anyone what tod with her body. My comment was intended to say how the killing of Roe v Wade would affect women.
Just don’t use your phone to make the appointment or travel through a barbaric state (or drive someone else/lend them bus fare) so you don’t get slapped with a felony or three and become disenfranchised for life, sailor.
“… no such thing as matrimonial rape because, by marrying, a woman gave her consent for all time.“
Apparently, Sir Hale considered wives to be the property of their husbands. And to think I’d come to believe we’d evolved from attitudes like that. :’-(
😢😢😢 We are living the aberration, the exception. A great, great portion of humanity still has males with complete subjugation of women, with impunity for any misconduct, like so-called “honor” killings which are actually repressive, hideous murders of girls and women who “step out of place.” The Taliban are more representative of the world’s cultures than we are, imo. We are the slim majority in America, perhaps, but most of the world is still Putin, Alito, Japan, machismo culture, religious and secular female subjugation and violent repression.
Sir Matthew Hale. Really Alito? So it’s back to witch hunts. That 18th century creature was a perverted, mean closet gay. Nowhere to direct his rage except at women.
Alito obv found a judiciary hero. How are we here? Rather, there again.
Abigail Adams: letter to her husband John. March 31st 1776.
Remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.
Pat, Thank you for bringing Abigail Adams, the country's 2nd First Lady to the forum today. I like imagining how she would deal with not only 'Justice' Alito, but the other perpetrators of injustice and self-interest throughout the 'home of the free, land of the brave. Link to the song is below
'Hailed for her now-famous admonition that the Founding Fathers “remember the ladies” in their new laws, Abigail Adams was not only an early advocate for women's rights, she was a vital confidant and advisor to her husband John Adams, the nation's second president. She opposed slavery and supported women's education.' Below is the link to Abigail Smith Adams | National Women's History Museum
Jeez, Fern, I had no idea. She gave me the impression that you, her, and Christine were college roommates. Such thoroughly modern and powerfully imbued women.
Many of our souls have communed with each other in Baby Heaven. A warrioress is strategic.
This is again a crisis in our country which crosses any barrier that separates. Any that believe women are powerful in their own right will fight with us for CHOICE. Which is the one inalienable right of all humans. The Creator always reminds us of its responsibilities.
The music you put forth was inspirational. Everyone should hear that! It brought to light that our great experimental government is a powerful movement sweeping and discordant encompassing a sweep of humanity.
Jill Biden, one terrific and admirable president’s wife. Tomorrow which is already today in Russia, the so-called Victory Day will be held. Lies will be told there. But we in America, in the EU, and the nations of NATO, know the truth. Perhaps Ukraine will claim victory instead. Good night and sweet dreams.
‘First lady Jill Biden crossed the border into Ukraine on Sunday, traveling to an active war zone in a rare move for the spouse of a sitting president.’
‘Biden entered the country from Slovakia on Mother’s Day and met Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, who had not appeared in public since the Russian invasion began Feb. 24.’
“I wanted to come on Mother’s Day,” Biden said before the start of a closed-door meeting between the two first ladies. “I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop, and this war has been brutal, and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine.”
'Zelenska praised Biden “for a very courageous act” in coming to Ukraine.’
“We understand what it takes for the U.S. first lady to come here during a war when the military actions are taking place every day, where the air sirens are happening every day, even today,” she said in Ukrainian through an interpreter.'
‘For Jill Biden, a trip into Ukraine — stopping in a country that neither President Biden nor Vice President Harris visited during their recent trips to the region — enhanced the role she has carved out on the issue that has dominated and reshaped American foreign policy over the past three months.’
‘And she did it while focusing on her priorities: education, military families and mental health. A longtime educator, she visited schools in each of the three countries she traveled to, met with troops at a military base and emphasized the need for mental health services for refugees during her humanitarian visits and briefings.’
‘Her visit to Ukraine came the day before Russia’s Victory Day, which some U.S. officials worry will bring a new, even more violent phase of the war. It also followed fresh attacks in eastern Ukraine, where an official said Russian forces bombed a school that was serving as a shelter, leaving as many as 60 people buried under the rubble and feared dead.’
“There is no one specific right role,” she said. “But there is one objective: And that is to make Americans feel proud of their first lady and to feel that in some way she is a reflection of their lives and their values.”
‘Each morning, she recounted during an earlier fundraiser, she turns on the television, praying that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is still alive. Each night, the sleeping is not always easy.’
'Her visit Sunday with Zelenska follows correspondence between the two first ladies over the last few weeks,…’
'Zelenska sent another letter to Biden in April expressing concern about the long-term effects that the war will have on Ukrainian children, soldiers, and families, …’
'Here in Uzhhorod at a school now being used as temporary housing for displaced
Ukrainians, the first ladies held a roughly 30-minute private meeting, during which Zelenska said the mental health of Ukrainians was her biggest worry, …’
'‘The two women then visited a classroom and sat down at a table with children working on art projects for their mothers. The children were crafting cardboard and tissue paper bears, representing the symbol of the Zakarpattia oblast (region), where the school is located.’ (WAPO) The link of this article at the end of this comment has been gifted.
“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” – Desmond Tutu
Karen, I have written a response to you, but it wouldn't send. I have been able to save it. I used the address that you used to email me. Don't know why there is a problem. I will now re copy and paste to see if I can get my response to you. Thank you for contacting me.
Hello Fern, I am confused. I didn’t email anything to you. I have only commented on this forum. Could it have been another Karen? I don’t even have an email address for you. Seems like a mystery. I would be happy to give you my email address as long as it’s ok to do on this forum.
Thanks Nancy for this info. I think it was just a snafu. Your comment when down the wrong drain when it came to me. I'm going move to delete now. Thanks again, Nancy.
Jill Biden today earned my deep respect by expressing in person her support for mothers in Ukraine. And here we wait for big news about Putin’s next move to deliver more death and destruction upon those mothers and their families.
In so many ways, the conditions of the world appear uncertain, at least to people whose privilege provided some degree of certainty. To this, I mean my privilege as an American of some means and security.
I say this because I am reminded of so many overwhelming conditions that have persisted for generations on other continents, such as Africa and Asia. Despite the apparently distant nature of these troubling conditions in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and many other places, the influence and involvement of America has always been troubling to me. Now, the troubles seem much more personal to me, though the bombs are from another caucasian society upon a related caucasian society. But the bombing is the bombing, only the names are different. And as we know, the war efforts can be equally atrocious disregarding race ...
Elsewhere in our lives, the triple digits of heat are soon upon Arizona, where my step-daughter and family have lived for years; only to leave for North Carolina where their at-home employment allows their move to a more "climate friendly" location. But my winter here has provided me with NO sense of optimism that this population of millions of people in Maricopa County have ANY clue as to the nature of the impending crisis, coming soon to the region. Despite reports of fires in Northern Arizona, the diminishing level of water in significant areas, the cost of petrol. I have seen months of COMPLETE unfamiliarity of responsible disposal of ... waste. Like, something a little more complex than appropriate toilet training; such as disposal of household waste. Which can be recycled VERY easily. "Put your damn waste in THIS bin, please?"
But I must share very positive news from a personal and collective experience which has lent a deeply healing balm to much of the world's confusion.
Fifty years ago today, in 1972, and after many years of due diligence, a magnificent property of 116 acres was announced to be sold to the San Francisco Zen Center two days hence, on May 10, 1972. For these past five decades, tens of thousands of people have taken a more serene approach to their personal response to causes and conditions, because of time spent on this farm at the ocean's edge in the shadows of the great, hundreds year old Redwood trees, which oversea the commotions of the two legged inhabitants. At the edge of Muir Beach, in Marin County, CA.
It is because of so many people's attention and dedication to this some 800 year old Japanese Zen tradition which has reached to my marrow, that I may sleep a bit more peacefully and hopefully awake a bit more compassionately.
Wonderful. I had a cousin (he sadly passed away last December) who was an ordained Zen Buddhist priest. After a fascinating life as a professional concert pianist, he went into nursing care and in 1990 went to Japan and entered a Zen monastery, outside of Sendai, where he trained for 7 years. He was ordained as Seiun Tozan at the Daimanji Temple in Sendai. He lived in a small bamboo house in the forest outside of Sendai, complete with grand piano (he kept playing around Japan) and was "licensed" (whatever the apt word) to perform and teach the tea ceremony. After leaving Japan he settled in the mountains of his native NC and founded a Zen Temple, "Seidoan", and taught Zen Buddhism and the tea ceremony. I know he also spent some time at the San Francisco Temple and used to love going out there. NHK of Japan even went to NC and filmed a documentary on him, and he even taught meditation to prisoners in a local correctional facility, being officially recognised by the NC Governor for his services. He retired to Durham, NC where he continued to play piano and teach Buddhism, and also spread Japanese culture. He passed away last December at the age of 85. BTW, his late sister was a nun, one of the Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary...a decidedly spiritual side of the family. Tom (Tozan) was someone else deeply touched by the Zen way of life and it defined his life. I only wish I could have spent more time around him.
Thanks, Frederick, for your thoughtful comments. Congratulations and Three Cheers for the SF Zen Center and their Green Gulch Farm and the Zennies who continue to honor the land with their Organic farming practices and the meditation center! This memorable place (including Muir Beach) defines "northern California" for me. In October of 2019, my sister's in-laws and I distributed her and her husband's (their uncle's) ashes just off Muir Beach, and renamed (for us) the huge rock off the end of the beach to be 'Elliott Rock'. Sending waves of big hearts to all from Nova Scotia. Happy Anniversary. And may the terrifying fires and heat be soothed from this day forward.
I JUST "read the thread" after my stream of thought, and so appreciate your comment. I simply don't read HCR anymore, simply due to my limiting so called news. But to your wonderful note ....
You and I share the treasured, soul connection of that fertile soil and ocean presence. Oh, in 1991, when i first rounded the bend on Calif Rte 1, in Marin County, and looked through Green Gulch to Muir Beach and the Pacific horizon, I KNEW I had come home to my spirit. For more than thirty years, I have faced the wall, walked the mountains and still know I have no separate self.
I wonder if you have come across the divine Pema Chodron, who lives at her abbey in Nova Scotia?
And as you know as the saying goes in Maine, about Nova Scotia,
"You can't, yup ahh-haaa, ge tharrr from, yuh-hhaa, from heaaaah"
Reading your words first thing this morning was a lovely balm for my mind heart! The auspicious coincidence you experienced finding 'home' is a familiar one to me so I recognize it well. Ineffable.
Yes, I've known Pema Chödrön since 1975 in Boulder, Colorado, where we both lived for many years. We shared (still share in the deepest sense) the same remarkable Tibetan Buddhist teacher about whom many false and destructive rumors (lies) have been perpetuated, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Pema is obviously a magnificent teacher in her own right, and I terribly miss seeing her. She does not live at Gampo Abbey any more, but has spent 'Yarne' there for a couple of months every winter. The shut downs by Covid-19 marooned Pema at the Abbey for a long time, but she is back in the mountains (not Boulder) of Colorado (at least I think she is) in retreat much of the time.
As an aside: Trungpa Rinpoche and Suzuki Roshi met and instantly recognized each other forming a deep bond -- David Chadwick powerfully writes about this in his book, Crooked Cucumber, and Rinpoche references this in a number of his books. Roshi's death devastated Rinpoche.
Your last two lines, recalling my favorite Maine joke, definitely suits Nova Scotia! I've only heard it using Millinocket, Maine, as the brunt. (I started hearing it when I was a child, 100 years ago!) But you've given it the best meaning! I've driven from Vermont and Maine back to NS many times, and each time it feels like an endless journey: "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" But the end result is worth it!
Dearest Judith ~ I'm deeply moved by ANYONE acquainted with Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, beyond the hallowed sanctuary of our weekend, zoom, dharma talks. Pema has a special place in my heart, as the foremost female embodiment of Buddha Nature in North America and you embody unique karma in American lore, with your friendship w/Pema. My wife is a Jungian counselor and a conspirator with me in our previous lives - as winter residents of the Bay Area, for appx. 20 years - until the Tubbs Lane fire three years ago. Then, we left the left coast, and I deeply miss our Sundays at Green Dragon Temple ...
I would like to communicate with you, from my home on the mid-coast of Maine. Do you know how to send a private message through this thread, or have another way to relay your email, if you so choose.
I too live in AZ (from Northern CA) and have always been appalled at the lack of water conservation and the constant building of water hungry projects. The political climate is equally appalling but that is a subject for another day.
Isn't it wonderful to have such a fabualous First Lady! President Biden might be like President Kennedy when he took a trip to France and introduced himself as guy who accompanied Jackie to Paris. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaNom2tLR8I
Dr. Jill Biden is a wonderful First Lady! And in May 1961, Jaqueline Kennedy was not quite yet 32 years old! Over the years I have looked back to how young she was and marvel at how she guided this country with her intelligence, poise, and dignity.
When I read of Jill Biden’s visit with Olena Zelenska in Ukraine I was struck by the absolute courage of both First Ladies. I cannot image the previous First Lady doing anything like Dr. Biden did. But then such a visit would not have been necessary because had he remained in office the previous President would have sold out Ukraine in exchange for the promise of a Trump Plaza Moscow by now.
Indeed he would have, and may still…. and Dr Biden didn’t even wear a jacket with “I Don’t Care” for all to see. The Chump crowd flabbered my gast, every minute of every day. And they still hang over us like the sword of Damocles. She impressed everyone except Rupert Murdoch and his ilk…
What makes you so sure that the current Ukranian President has not "sold" out Ukraine? It seems to me that there will be no sovereign Ukraine left but that it will be carved up among a few countries. It would have fared better to remain neutral and not to seek membership of NATO or nuclear weapons. Such a miscalculated gambit.
I'm not certain where you're coming from. I've reread my comment several times. Nowhere does it mention President Zelenskyy. It does specifically refer to his wife, though. What makes you so sure of my opinion of President Zelenskyy one way or another?
It appeared to me that your post suggested that Trump, "the previous president" might have sold out Ukraine for his own economic benefit if he had remained in office. I understand where you are coming from with that comment. There are many examples the world over where leaders of countries sell out the interests of their people. I was simply suggesting that the same might be true of Zelensky, despite the great PR he is generating. He could have implemented the Minsk Accords, remained neutral and kept his country intact instead of picking a fight with a nuclear power. Just saying that his actions do not seem rational to me if I look at it in terms of risk/reward. Perhaps I did not word my reply very well. I was not suggesting that you had any opinion of Zelensky at all. I was raising the possibility that he, too, might be human and subject to the same pressures and temptations as many other politicians.
In my ongoing efforts to purge myself of my toxic masculinity and narcissism, your letters, plus the writings of Isabelle Wilkerson (“Caste”) have helped me tremendously, to see, not only how we all got here, but also how this history affects us each. Happy Mothers’ Day, indeed.
Thanks! (Margaret Atwood is also solidifying for me the horrors in the progression of paternalistic societies - though fiction, her words are becoming frighteningly prescient.)
A small, but dispiriting point: one of The New York Times’ online headlines about Dr. Jill Biden’s trip to Ukraine noted that she had visited “Zelensky’s Wife” - not bothering to accord Olena Zelenska a name or an independent identity. The Alito Award of the Day goes to that headline writer!
The Guardian’s online newsletter did better this morning, referring to her as “Olena Zelenskiy.” However, this ignores the common naming practice for women in many Eastern European countries, by which her correct surname is “Zelenska.” I’ve just written to them asking for that to be corrected. Honestly - a woman’s work is never done.
Growing up in a predominantly Polish-American neighborhood I am well aware of the use of ‘ski’ by men and ‘ska’ by women. It warmed my heart to see Dr. Richardson use the appropriate suffix.
Yes - as it also did the heart of this Irish-American who had Polish-American classmates, Fran. But even without that knowledge, you'd think that it might occur to somebody in a news organization to check on the surname that the person herself uses before publication (sigh ... )
Thank you Heather and thank you First Lady Jill Biden for lovingly representing US 🇺🇸 to Ukraine. 🇺🇦
“May 9 is a national holiday in Russia, marked with parades and honoring of relatives who fought in the war. There have been hints that Putin intends to use that symbolic day to shift in some fashion his war in Ukraine.”
It unnerves me that many of US, including some family and friends, have been misled to believe that Putin’s aggression is righteous. If he succeeds, his appetite and ambitions won’t be satisfied. He must be hobbled and humbled.
Hi, Dawna. I hate to stop to respond here since my reply isn't about your comment in particular but I've been reading comments about Melania Trump for a while now and I feel compelled to say something. Certainly not in praise of her. Both in her fashion choices and more importantly in her co-operation with the most hideous policies of her husband, she gave up any right to praise. During the first campaign I learned an expression I'd never heard before and it opened a new way of thinking for me. The expression is "slut-shaming." Here's what I need to say about my reactions to Melania Trump. She is a woman, like me. She has more than once done shameful things and used her looks to buy what she thought she needed, as I have. She exists in a world where women are wise to be afraid, and Melania Trump strikes me as a woman who is very afraid and has made the worst possible choices out of a fear of losing the awful thing she bought out of the fear of not surviving. I have bought so very many awful men because the world told me, and made it true, that I could not survive without them. One moment in time, a few hundred miles in any direction, I could have been Melania Trump. I can't say one word to support anything she is or has done. But I can leave her alone with the terrible fruits of her bargain. And I really don't mean to preach. Sorry about it.
Hi Dean, I feel that Melania knew exactly what she was getting into and was primed for her position. I keep thinking we will find that her involvement and ability to speak Russian placed her in a prime position for anything Russian. She looks more like a"Natasha" to me. I do not feel sorry for her at all, I feel she was in alignment with all the the trumps to become the first dictator royale family of America. Her roots are dubious and she has constantly reminded me of the beautiful "sparrows" in Russia that were trained as spies. Putin, being a KGB man, would know all about placing these women who are trained in the "Honeypot" school. A real part of Soviet intelligence training. They taught young Russian women the art of entrapment, seduction, and blackmailing intelligence targets. I would hope I am wrong, but my intuition tells me that she is quiet but very complicated. Still, as a female, she was used. Her penance is having to deal with Ivanka who delightfully was caught on camera spinning in Putin's office chair. I totally agree with the terrible fruits of her bargain. But she may have been groomed at a young age by men who do nothing but use women for their advantage. She and her husband are both failures. Her blood-red Christmas trees reminded more of the Red Sparrow program...even if it was also Magat colors.
Pensa, this is fascinating and I don't disagree at all. I think this entire scenario is a more complex way of looking at the same phenomenon to which I respond--a beautiful woman taught well that she must trade that beauty for freedom (from whatever she is trying to escape). I agree with you that she knew what bargain she was making and she made it anyway. It isn't that I feel sorry for her; it's that I know I could be her. My own history includes situations that I would have done anything to escape. So my gut reaction to her is a visual image--I want to put a rough blanket around her, look her in the face, and say, "Stop. Go back. You don't have to do this." And I realize that is not a rational or thinking reaction at all. Because the framework you lay out for Melania Trump's particular pact with the Devil makes perfect sense to me. And it perhaps adds a layer of richness and substance to my very personal reaction. I hope this isn't too disjointed. The Summary is, "Thank you. You make me think!!"
Dean, it is certainly all very complex and I think both fit the picture and are ultimately the same side of the misogynist coin. I just have not been able to shake what I hope will be revealed one day regarding Melania. Thanks for your response, I am so glad you were not offended!!
Jean-Pierre, I don't know that it's something to consider, maybe too entirely personal. It seems to be a response I can't get rid of. I wrote a piece for a blog several years ago called, simply, "Sluts." It included Melania Trump, Zelda Fitzgerald, Marilyn Monroe, I can't recall who else. They had in common only my reaction. Thank you for your reply
Just received a note from a friend which said "Next time the National anthem is played every woman and girl should take a knee!" I LOVE IT! I'm going to do it. Let's all of us - all genders! -- do it. Spread the word! We, the People, all of us, women and all genders this time.
Senior olympics coming up this month in Floriduhhhhh, I will definitely take a knee at the national anthem, every day. Good idea!
While I understand the intent & support the idea, let’s come up with our own symbolic gesture. We must be careful not to step upon, steal, or cloud the original purpose of taking a knee. It was about police brutality against people of color. The Women’s movement had its own symbols we can borrow from. Waving a flag of purple, white & gold, or waving a sunflower or yellow rose at events we know will begin with the star spangled banner while people of color take a knee will illustrate the numbers of people who have felt disenfranchised and their exact struggle.
https://www.nps.gov/articles/symbols-of-the-women-s-suffrage-movement.htm
Inequality is the struggle. It exists across genders & races. My first black history class in UF began with our black professor asking us to name the people who were historically the most disenfranchised globally. His answer was women. We are in this together and we must fight for justice together.
Hey, Diane, and all of us: Yesterday (Monday) CBS highlighted this young lady from Virginia who has pushed to highlight women in history to be among the notable figures to learn about in school. So cool!
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/high-school-student-successfully-leads-push-to-get-more-female-figures-in-history-curriculums/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab4f&eid=0883f646f6a26e54156a44178b8edd7e02ad8e2b
Yes, we do. While remembering to respect and honor that which rightfully represents others.
Here we go, women feel disenfranchised, we can't join the black disenfranchised? The lgbtq disenfranchised? The Asian disenfranchised?
Like Cathy says, how about, we the people, all of us this time?
Please credit LFAAer Jeff Carpenter for being the first to coin the phrase "We, the People, All of Us..." and yours truly for the "...this Time" addition. Thank you!
Agree Lynn duffy. A lot of good ropers share the same horse!
Funny thing about that horse. Gets better and better and better. The owner gets the win.
No, we cannot and should not take their symbols. (Your argument sounds like "All Lives Matter")
Lol, don't they?
Agree. All that stuff is 'too in your face' any more. Yes, it did serve a purpose. Of course "Black Lives" matter.. unless you're an imbecile/jerk. Can it! While I'm at it, there's no doubt in my military-mind, that ALL slaves were not "blacks from Africa... but, they were darn sure of color, and, 'human'. Well, having thrown that wrench into the corn-cob stripper.(crrunch.Bang!), what about being advised (1954) that we are a nation "Under God" ? All these catagorizations and labelling is a bit childish. No? Time to change it up! Women can be the force we so need.
We are stronger together.
Yup.. that's why I liked "the Pledge" when it was simply "one Nation INDIVISIBLE". A rock hard statement. What the heck can be a stronger statement that we are a nation of Americans who will NOT be divided. A Nation where we can be so many things. A nation where we can jump on a plane or boat and travel without being under the watchful eye of some 'minder' or KGB implant. A nation we had better not screw up.
It would really be a good idea to ask all those other people how they want to be represented, and if they are willing for us to speak for them.
Why, 'us to speak for them'? Why not 'us' speaking together? Is there ownership of the knee? We learn together - walk together - sing together -protest together - play together and knee together.
Yes, we are "all humankind" here. Take those Job Applications. Do not allow gender a place. Get rid of 'gender' and 'race'. Here's my idea of simplicity: (1) Put an X by your 'choice'..Thank You. Question One: What is your Race: a. Human __. b. BOT __. c. Other __. (2) Do you run on: a. Solar b. 110volt outlet c. Dunkin. d. explain__? There! That ought to level the field.
Thank you for posting this article. I love it. I think we should all buy pins of jail-cell doors to wear. Women have had to fight for their rights forever. Always controlled by powerful men (Read the book The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear by Kate Moore. Husbands could claim their wife was insane for any reason. Hospitals across the country were filled with them. Horrifying and important read.
I really like this idea. Horan. MUCH better than taking a knee. Please, folks, respect that symbol and honor it. Then add your own, showing the range of oppressions that we experience in our variety, and how they fit together. There would be both beauty and power in such a variagated display. In support of the Ukrainians, their flag or other national symbol. I often wear wide brim hats (to protect my eyes) and I might honor the women I am descended from who agitated for the vote and worked behind the scenes by decorating my hats with flowers (with my hair up in a traditional Navajo bun like my grandmother used to wear). This would be so much stronger, and I think effective. Let's respect each other and not give in to the tendency so many have to "do good" without giving thought to how our actions might be perceived. There is enough tension in this world. We don't need to thoughtlessly, if unintentionally, add to it.
Horan has a very good point. At the very least we should confer with people of color before co-opting their symbol. Wouldn't it be wonderful to see POC kneel while white women stood behind them holding, for example, pink roses as a gesture of the combined losses of Black lives and all women.
Beautiful image, Hope! That's the way to do it!
Ok. Nevermind
I love this!!!
Done!
I now have a photo to use when sharing. If anyone wants to use the photo, email me gaileegailee@gmailcom
Please check your spam folder in case my email request went there. Thank you so much!! ❤️
Hi RUF. It didn't go through. This isn't an email address.
How do you attach a photo? I would like to show my face instead of an orange blob! It is nice to be able to see the person with whom you are communicating. LOL
Do you mean how can you add a photo to your LFAA account?
Yes, instead of this orange blob over what could be my face!
Done! Thank you!
Go to your account then to your profile then to edit. There will be a place to change the photo.
Excellent‼️🎉🎉
Cathy, I love this!
This is a wonderful idea Cathy. I’m in.
I am including this here in the hope others will see it and use it as a resource.
I have posted previously about the News Literacy Project (https://newslit.org/) and their program Checkology to deliver programs and resources for educators and the public to teach, learn and share the abilities needed to be smart, active consumers of news and information and equal and engaged participants in a democracy.
This is their latest Checkology initiative - their Newsroom to Classroom Program. This is their latest free program for teachers to setup a Classroom Connection — either virtually or in-person — between journalists and students. They have a wonderful directory and will help facilitate those connections. You can learn more about it here:
https://checkology.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360046761891-The-Journalists-tab-the-Newsroom-to-Classroom-program-?utm_medium=email&utm_source=the-sift&utm_campaign=the-sift-may9-2022&emci=28bdddad-b0cf-ec11-997e-281878b83d8a&emdi=6ca502da-c7cf-ec11-997e-281878b83d8a&ceid=8886455
If you are or know an educator who along with their students could benefit from this great program, please take advantage of it.
Thank you
Just floated the idea on Twitter. I think it is absolutely perfect, thanks for passing this on.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10222452019996455&id=1447833839
"Contact Not Found," MaryPat! I bet it was a good 'un.
Cathy that is an incredible idea! Good on you!
Great idea!!
Thank you for making sure that we knew not only of Jill Biden’s courageous visit to Ukraine, but also of the strong statement by the G7 calling out Putin’s war against Ukraine.
Looking forward to see what historical context you can highlight in view of Justice Alito’s seeming admiration for Sir Matthew Hale and his extortions that abortion was unlawful and that there was no such thing as matrimonial rape because, by marrying, a woman gave her consent for all time.
Because he believed women were a man’s property. Sadly, many men still believe that today.
They believe it without even thinking about it. Deeply ingrained by millennia of patriarchalism.
Think Saudi Arabia. Many cultures in the world are still living this barbaric tradition, all the way into the 21st Century. 🤮
No need to look so far afield.
Even Saudi Arabia allows abortion to preserve the life or health of a woman
I read Roland's comment as referring to the divine right of the male.
Abortion in Saudi Arabia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
'Abortion in Saudi Arabia is legal only in cases of risk to a woman’s life, fetal impairment, or to protect her physical and mental health.[1] Pregnancy arising from incest or rape also qualify for a legal abortion under the mental health exemption [1][2] The fetus must be less than four months old, and if longer, requires a panel of approved specialists to declare that the pregnancy will result in the death of the woman or serious damage to her health.[3] Any approved abortion requires consent from three physicians as well as the patient and her partner.[4] If an abortion is performed on a woman for any other reason, the violator may be required to pay blood money to the unborn child's family.[4] Laws explicitly deny abortion to families who fear financial instability or an inability to provide the child with education.[4] The selling of pills which are used for the process of abortion is illegal and has resulted in arrest.[5]'
It is bad, but, perhaps, a tad better than the anti-abortion movement here and where SCOTUS appears to be heading.
I believe they think about it incessantly as programmed to do. Governs a majority of their actions unless they willingly resist.
Ah... some women want exactly that. Check out SNL on Justice Barrett. Truth in SNL humor. Hysterical.
https://youtu.be/mLMp-1NdzR8
😂😂😂
Thanks for the link. So good!
https://youtu.be/D3pF5FhOmKU 😂
Yes, " do your nine" ......
As Julia Ward Howe noticed, women can’t always rely on men for protection. They may be abuse you instead, or they may just not be around to protect you, having died or otherwise abandoned you. It will be on your shoulders if they have been maimed in war or workplace accidents.
Indeed.
And why do they continue to believe that over centuries, Evelyn? This is a link to an esssy by Eve Ensler that a reader, Joan, makes reference to.
It’s very, very powerful. My desire is that every woman can feel the message and know the now and how of our destiny. And that men may feel the meaning of real power and let go of maniacal and incessant greed. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/06/women-freedom-fight-supreme-court-ruling-abortion
My phone isn’t letting me ❤️ your reply. 🤷🏻♀️ Excellent article!
Property is not a matter of belief. It is a matter of law. Through much of the world men have property rights over women which they gain by marriage. Parents also have property rights over children, often with the same terrible effects.
When I wanted a divorce in 1989, my lawyer told me that the divorce laws of NY were based on when women were chattel. Astonishing!
Reno, Nevada worked like a charm. Divorce mill. Cowboys were all too willing.
Just like abortion will be. Travel to a willing State🙄
Travel to a willing state? You DO realize - far too many women who want or need abortions are NOT financially able to do so? What of them?
I most certainly do realize that and how horrific it is to have anyone what tod with her body. My comment was intended to say how the killing of Roe v Wade would affect women.
Maggie, we can help (fund efforts to) get them to safe, legal options. 💙
Just don’t use your phone to make the appointment or travel through a barbaric state (or drive someone else/lend them bus fare) so you don’t get slapped with a felony or three and become disenfranchised for life, sailor.
?????
“… no such thing as matrimonial rape because, by marrying, a woman gave her consent for all time.“
Apparently, Sir Hale considered wives to be the property of their husbands. And to think I’d come to believe we’d evolved from attitudes like that. :’-(
😢😢😢 We are living the aberration, the exception. A great, great portion of humanity still has males with complete subjugation of women, with impunity for any misconduct, like so-called “honor” killings which are actually repressive, hideous murders of girls and women who “step out of place.” The Taliban are more representative of the world’s cultures than we are, imo. We are the slim majority in America, perhaps, but most of the world is still Putin, Alito, Japan, machismo culture, religious and secular female subjugation and violent repression.
We are the exception because we strive to separate church from state. The eternal struggle?
That’s why we will win. Man’s inhumanity.
:’-(
Sir Matthew Hale. Really Alito? So it’s back to witch hunts. That 18th century creature was a perverted, mean closet gay. Nowhere to direct his rage except at women.
Alito obv found a judiciary hero. How are we here? Rather, there again.
https://www.propublica.org/article/abortion-roe-wade-alito-scotus-hale
Papp sells.
Just a note on civil disobedience.
Abigail Adams: letter to her husband John. March 31st 1776.
Remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.
Pat, Thank you for bringing Abigail Adams, the country's 2nd First Lady to the forum today. I like imagining how she would deal with not only 'Justice' Alito, but the other perpetrators of injustice and self-interest throughout the 'home of the free, land of the brave. Link to the song is below
'Hailed for her now-famous admonition that the Founding Fathers “remember the ladies” in their new laws, Abigail Adams was not only an early advocate for women's rights, she was a vital confidant and advisor to her husband John Adams, the nation's second president. She opposed slavery and supported women's education.' Below is the link to Abigail Smith Adams | National Women's History Museum
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/abigail-adams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ph2wuYA3EVw
Jeez, Fern, I had no idea. She gave me the impression that you, her, and Christine were college roommates. Such thoroughly modern and powerfully imbued women.
…and you, dear Pat, a gentleman, scholar and humorist, so glad that you are with us.
I second!
Many of our souls have communed with each other in Baby Heaven. A warrioress is strategic.
This is again a crisis in our country which crosses any barrier that separates. Any that believe women are powerful in their own right will fight with us for CHOICE. Which is the one inalienable right of all humans. The Creator always reminds us of its responsibilities.
Salud, Pat.
The music you put forth was inspirational. Everyone should hear that! It brought to light that our great experimental government is a powerful movement sweeping and discordant encompassing a sweep of humanity.
Go Abby, ye hear that SC, Amy B does not speak for me…
Thank you so much for sharing this. It’s important to know there were pockets of rebellion even in Abigail Adams’ time
I think of myself as old fashioned and yet am astounded at how incredibly forward thinking this woman was 246 years ago.
Jill Biden, one terrific and admirable president’s wife. Tomorrow which is already today in Russia, the so-called Victory Day will be held. Lies will be told there. But we in America, in the EU, and the nations of NATO, know the truth. Perhaps Ukraine will claim victory instead. Good night and sweet dreams.
Happy Mother’s Day to you, beloved Professor. You are an amazing Lady.
Thank you for a beautiful Letter.
🙏
Two First Ladies in wartime.
‘First lady Jill Biden crossed the border into Ukraine on Sunday, traveling to an active war zone in a rare move for the spouse of a sitting president.’
‘Biden entered the country from Slovakia on Mother’s Day and met Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, who had not appeared in public since the Russian invasion began Feb. 24.’
“I wanted to come on Mother’s Day,” Biden said before the start of a closed-door meeting between the two first ladies. “I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop, and this war has been brutal, and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine.”
'Zelenska praised Biden “for a very courageous act” in coming to Ukraine.’
“We understand what it takes for the U.S. first lady to come here during a war when the military actions are taking place every day, where the air sirens are happening every day, even today,” she said in Ukrainian through an interpreter.'
‘For Jill Biden, a trip into Ukraine — stopping in a country that neither President Biden nor Vice President Harris visited during their recent trips to the region — enhanced the role she has carved out on the issue that has dominated and reshaped American foreign policy over the past three months.’
‘And she did it while focusing on her priorities: education, military families and mental health. A longtime educator, she visited schools in each of the three countries she traveled to, met with troops at a military base and emphasized the need for mental health services for refugees during her humanitarian visits and briefings.’
‘Her visit to Ukraine came the day before Russia’s Victory Day, which some U.S. officials worry will bring a new, even more violent phase of the war. It also followed fresh attacks in eastern Ukraine, where an official said Russian forces bombed a school that was serving as a shelter, leaving as many as 60 people buried under the rubble and feared dead.’
“There is no one specific right role,” she said. “But there is one objective: And that is to make Americans feel proud of their first lady and to feel that in some way she is a reflection of their lives and their values.”
‘Each morning, she recounted during an earlier fundraiser, she turns on the television, praying that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is still alive. Each night, the sleeping is not always easy.’
'Her visit Sunday with Zelenska follows correspondence between the two first ladies over the last few weeks,…’
'Zelenska sent another letter to Biden in April expressing concern about the long-term effects that the war will have on Ukrainian children, soldiers, and families, …’
'Here in Uzhhorod at a school now being used as temporary housing for displaced
Ukrainians, the first ladies held a roughly 30-minute private meeting, during which Zelenska said the mental health of Ukrainians was her biggest worry, …’
'‘The two women then visited a classroom and sat down at a table with children working on art projects for their mothers. The children were crafting cardboard and tissue paper bears, representing the symbol of the Zakarpattia oblast (region), where the school is located.’ (WAPO) The link of this article at the end of this comment has been gifted.
“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” – Desmond Tutu
https://wapo.st/3vUx96k
Thank you for this, Fern!
Judith, thank you for reading it. These two First Ladies, at this time, stir my respect and admiration.
For me, they are a personal touchstone and symbol.
To Ketanji Brown Jackson, our hope on a Court now disgraced.
Thank you Heather. Jill Biden is an inspiration to us all, just as you are. Rest well
Karen, My response cannot be sent. Can you suggest another address. My response includes the name of another, so privacy is appropriate.
Karen, I have written a response to you, but it wouldn't send. I have been able to save it. I used the address that you used to email me. Don't know why there is a problem. I will now re copy and paste to see if I can get my response to you. Thank you for contacting me.
Hello Fern, I am confused. I didn’t email anything to you. I have only commented on this forum. Could it have been another Karen? I don’t even have an email address for you. Seems like a mystery. I would be happy to give you my email address as long as it’s ok to do on this forum.
Thanks Nancy for this info. I think it was just a snafu. Your comment when down the wrong drain when it came to me. I'm going move to delete now. Thanks again, Nancy.
Jill Biden today earned my deep respect by expressing in person her support for mothers in Ukraine. And here we wait for big news about Putin’s next move to deliver more death and destruction upon those mothers and their families.
In so many ways, the conditions of the world appear uncertain, at least to people whose privilege provided some degree of certainty. To this, I mean my privilege as an American of some means and security.
I say this because I am reminded of so many overwhelming conditions that have persisted for generations on other continents, such as Africa and Asia. Despite the apparently distant nature of these troubling conditions in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and many other places, the influence and involvement of America has always been troubling to me. Now, the troubles seem much more personal to me, though the bombs are from another caucasian society upon a related caucasian society. But the bombing is the bombing, only the names are different. And as we know, the war efforts can be equally atrocious disregarding race ...
Elsewhere in our lives, the triple digits of heat are soon upon Arizona, where my step-daughter and family have lived for years; only to leave for North Carolina where their at-home employment allows their move to a more "climate friendly" location. But my winter here has provided me with NO sense of optimism that this population of millions of people in Maricopa County have ANY clue as to the nature of the impending crisis, coming soon to the region. Despite reports of fires in Northern Arizona, the diminishing level of water in significant areas, the cost of petrol. I have seen months of COMPLETE unfamiliarity of responsible disposal of ... waste. Like, something a little more complex than appropriate toilet training; such as disposal of household waste. Which can be recycled VERY easily. "Put your damn waste in THIS bin, please?"
But I must share very positive news from a personal and collective experience which has lent a deeply healing balm to much of the world's confusion.
Fifty years ago today, in 1972, and after many years of due diligence, a magnificent property of 116 acres was announced to be sold to the San Francisco Zen Center two days hence, on May 10, 1972. For these past five decades, tens of thousands of people have taken a more serene approach to their personal response to causes and conditions, because of time spent on this farm at the ocean's edge in the shadows of the great, hundreds year old Redwood trees, which oversea the commotions of the two legged inhabitants. At the edge of Muir Beach, in Marin County, CA.
It is because of so many people's attention and dedication to this some 800 year old Japanese Zen tradition which has reached to my marrow, that I may sleep a bit more peacefully and hopefully awake a bit more compassionately.
Wonderful. I had a cousin (he sadly passed away last December) who was an ordained Zen Buddhist priest. After a fascinating life as a professional concert pianist, he went into nursing care and in 1990 went to Japan and entered a Zen monastery, outside of Sendai, where he trained for 7 years. He was ordained as Seiun Tozan at the Daimanji Temple in Sendai. He lived in a small bamboo house in the forest outside of Sendai, complete with grand piano (he kept playing around Japan) and was "licensed" (whatever the apt word) to perform and teach the tea ceremony. After leaving Japan he settled in the mountains of his native NC and founded a Zen Temple, "Seidoan", and taught Zen Buddhism and the tea ceremony. I know he also spent some time at the San Francisco Temple and used to love going out there. NHK of Japan even went to NC and filmed a documentary on him, and he even taught meditation to prisoners in a local correctional facility, being officially recognised by the NC Governor for his services. He retired to Durham, NC where he continued to play piano and teach Buddhism, and also spread Japanese culture. He passed away last December at the age of 85. BTW, his late sister was a nun, one of the Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary...a decidedly spiritual side of the family. Tom (Tozan) was someone else deeply touched by the Zen way of life and it defined his life. I only wish I could have spent more time around him.
Thanks, Frederick, for your thoughtful comments. Congratulations and Three Cheers for the SF Zen Center and their Green Gulch Farm and the Zennies who continue to honor the land with their Organic farming practices and the meditation center! This memorable place (including Muir Beach) defines "northern California" for me. In October of 2019, my sister's in-laws and I distributed her and her husband's (their uncle's) ashes just off Muir Beach, and renamed (for us) the huge rock off the end of the beach to be 'Elliott Rock'. Sending waves of big hearts to all from Nova Scotia. Happy Anniversary. And may the terrifying fires and heat be soothed from this day forward.
I JUST "read the thread" after my stream of thought, and so appreciate your comment. I simply don't read HCR anymore, simply due to my limiting so called news. But to your wonderful note ....
You and I share the treasured, soul connection of that fertile soil and ocean presence. Oh, in 1991, when i first rounded the bend on Calif Rte 1, in Marin County, and looked through Green Gulch to Muir Beach and the Pacific horizon, I KNEW I had come home to my spirit. For more than thirty years, I have faced the wall, walked the mountains and still know I have no separate self.
I wonder if you have come across the divine Pema Chodron, who lives at her abbey in Nova Scotia?
And as you know as the saying goes in Maine, about Nova Scotia,
"You can't, yup ahh-haaa, ge tharrr from, yuh-hhaa, from heaaaah"
Reading your words first thing this morning was a lovely balm for my mind heart! The auspicious coincidence you experienced finding 'home' is a familiar one to me so I recognize it well. Ineffable.
Yes, I've known Pema Chödrön since 1975 in Boulder, Colorado, where we both lived for many years. We shared (still share in the deepest sense) the same remarkable Tibetan Buddhist teacher about whom many false and destructive rumors (lies) have been perpetuated, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Pema is obviously a magnificent teacher in her own right, and I terribly miss seeing her. She does not live at Gampo Abbey any more, but has spent 'Yarne' there for a couple of months every winter. The shut downs by Covid-19 marooned Pema at the Abbey for a long time, but she is back in the mountains (not Boulder) of Colorado (at least I think she is) in retreat much of the time.
As an aside: Trungpa Rinpoche and Suzuki Roshi met and instantly recognized each other forming a deep bond -- David Chadwick powerfully writes about this in his book, Crooked Cucumber, and Rinpoche references this in a number of his books. Roshi's death devastated Rinpoche.
Your last two lines, recalling my favorite Maine joke, definitely suits Nova Scotia! I've only heard it using Millinocket, Maine, as the brunt. (I started hearing it when I was a child, 100 years ago!) But you've given it the best meaning! I've driven from Vermont and Maine back to NS many times, and each time it feels like an endless journey: "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" But the end result is worth it!
Dearest Judith ~ I'm deeply moved by ANYONE acquainted with Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, beyond the hallowed sanctuary of our weekend, zoom, dharma talks. Pema has a special place in my heart, as the foremost female embodiment of Buddha Nature in North America and you embody unique karma in American lore, with your friendship w/Pema. My wife is a Jungian counselor and a conspirator with me in our previous lives - as winter residents of the Bay Area, for appx. 20 years - until the Tubbs Lane fire three years ago. Then, we left the left coast, and I deeply miss our Sundays at Green Dragon Temple ...
I would like to communicate with you, from my home on the mid-coast of Maine. Do you know how to send a private message through this thread, or have another way to relay your email, if you so choose.
Gasho 🙏
I too live in AZ (from Northern CA) and have always been appalled at the lack of water conservation and the constant building of water hungry projects. The political climate is equally appalling but that is a subject for another day.
Isn't it wonderful to have such a fabualous First Lady! President Biden might be like President Kennedy when he took a trip to France and introduced himself as guy who accompanied Jackie to Paris. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaNom2tLR8I
Dr. Jill Biden is a wonderful First Lady! And in May 1961, Jaqueline Kennedy was not quite yet 32 years old! Over the years I have looked back to how young she was and marvel at how she guided this country with her intelligence, poise, and dignity.
When I read of Jill Biden’s visit with Olena Zelenska in Ukraine I was struck by the absolute courage of both First Ladies. I cannot image the previous First Lady doing anything like Dr. Biden did. But then such a visit would not have been necessary because had he remained in office the previous President would have sold out Ukraine in exchange for the promise of a Trump Plaza Moscow by now.
Indeed he would have, and may still…. and Dr Biden didn’t even wear a jacket with “I Don’t Care” for all to see. The Chump crowd flabbered my gast, every minute of every day. And they still hang over us like the sword of Damocles. She impressed everyone except Rupert Murdoch and his ilk…
Can you imagine Melania- wearing her infamous jacket, ‘I really don’t care, do you?’
What makes you so sure that the current Ukranian President has not "sold" out Ukraine? It seems to me that there will be no sovereign Ukraine left but that it will be carved up among a few countries. It would have fared better to remain neutral and not to seek membership of NATO or nuclear weapons. Such a miscalculated gambit.
I'm not certain where you're coming from. I've reread my comment several times. Nowhere does it mention President Zelenskyy. It does specifically refer to his wife, though. What makes you so sure of my opinion of President Zelenskyy one way or another?
It appeared to me that your post suggested that Trump, "the previous president" might have sold out Ukraine for his own economic benefit if he had remained in office. I understand where you are coming from with that comment. There are many examples the world over where leaders of countries sell out the interests of their people. I was simply suggesting that the same might be true of Zelensky, despite the great PR he is generating. He could have implemented the Minsk Accords, remained neutral and kept his country intact instead of picking a fight with a nuclear power. Just saying that his actions do not seem rational to me if I look at it in terms of risk/reward. Perhaps I did not word my reply very well. I was not suggesting that you had any opinion of Zelensky at all. I was raising the possibility that he, too, might be human and subject to the same pressures and temptations as many other politicians.
In my ongoing efforts to purge myself of my toxic masculinity and narcissism, your letters, plus the writings of Isabelle Wilkerson (“Caste”) have helped me tremendously, to see, not only how we all got here, but also how this history affects us each. Happy Mothers’ Day, indeed.
Wilkerson’s earlier book, The Warmth of Other Suns, is also powerful.
Thanks! (Margaret Atwood is also solidifying for me the horrors in the progression of paternalistic societies - though fiction, her words are becoming frighteningly prescient.)
A small, but dispiriting point: one of The New York Times’ online headlines about Dr. Jill Biden’s trip to Ukraine noted that she had visited “Zelensky’s Wife” - not bothering to accord Olena Zelenska a name or an independent identity. The Alito Award of the Day goes to that headline writer!
The Guardian’s online newsletter did better this morning, referring to her as “Olena Zelenskiy.” However, this ignores the common naming practice for women in many Eastern European countries, by which her correct surname is “Zelenska.” I’ve just written to them asking for that to be corrected. Honestly - a woman’s work is never done.
Growing up in a predominantly Polish-American neighborhood I am well aware of the use of ‘ski’ by men and ‘ska’ by women. It warmed my heart to see Dr. Richardson use the appropriate suffix.
Takes an historían to recognize such a little, big thing.
Salud, Fran. (By the way, I keep Isabel Wilkerson’s books close, well read, and prominent in my library.)
Yes - as it also did the heart of this Irish-American who had Polish-American classmates, Fran. But even without that knowledge, you'd think that it might occur to somebody in a news organization to check on the surname that the person herself uses before publication (sigh ... )
“Alito Award.” Perfect. Let’s continue to use that phrase.
Thank you Heather and thank you First Lady Jill Biden for lovingly representing US 🇺🇸 to Ukraine. 🇺🇦
“May 9 is a national holiday in Russia, marked with parades and honoring of relatives who fought in the war. There have been hints that Putin intends to use that symbolic day to shift in some fashion his war in Ukraine.”
It unnerves me that many of US, including some family and friends, have been misled to believe that Putin’s aggression is righteous. If he succeeds, his appetite and ambitions won’t be satisfied. He must be hobbled and humbled.
Tucker is Rupert’s propaganda master on this, watch for the pendulum to swing…
I think of Melania Trump in her ‘Who Cares” raincoat—what a contrast to Dr. Jill Biden in a war zone . . .
Hi, Dawna. I hate to stop to respond here since my reply isn't about your comment in particular but I've been reading comments about Melania Trump for a while now and I feel compelled to say something. Certainly not in praise of her. Both in her fashion choices and more importantly in her co-operation with the most hideous policies of her husband, she gave up any right to praise. During the first campaign I learned an expression I'd never heard before and it opened a new way of thinking for me. The expression is "slut-shaming." Here's what I need to say about my reactions to Melania Trump. She is a woman, like me. She has more than once done shameful things and used her looks to buy what she thought she needed, as I have. She exists in a world where women are wise to be afraid, and Melania Trump strikes me as a woman who is very afraid and has made the worst possible choices out of a fear of losing the awful thing she bought out of the fear of not surviving. I have bought so very many awful men because the world told me, and made it true, that I could not survive without them. One moment in time, a few hundred miles in any direction, I could have been Melania Trump. I can't say one word to support anything she is or has done. But I can leave her alone with the terrible fruits of her bargain. And I really don't mean to preach. Sorry about it.
Hi Dean, I feel that Melania knew exactly what she was getting into and was primed for her position. I keep thinking we will find that her involvement and ability to speak Russian placed her in a prime position for anything Russian. She looks more like a"Natasha" to me. I do not feel sorry for her at all, I feel she was in alignment with all the the trumps to become the first dictator royale family of America. Her roots are dubious and she has constantly reminded me of the beautiful "sparrows" in Russia that were trained as spies. Putin, being a KGB man, would know all about placing these women who are trained in the "Honeypot" school. A real part of Soviet intelligence training. They taught young Russian women the art of entrapment, seduction, and blackmailing intelligence targets. I would hope I am wrong, but my intuition tells me that she is quiet but very complicated. Still, as a female, she was used. Her penance is having to deal with Ivanka who delightfully was caught on camera spinning in Putin's office chair. I totally agree with the terrible fruits of her bargain. But she may have been groomed at a young age by men who do nothing but use women for their advantage. She and her husband are both failures. Her blood-red Christmas trees reminded more of the Red Sparrow program...even if it was also Magat colors.
Pensa, this is fascinating and I don't disagree at all. I think this entire scenario is a more complex way of looking at the same phenomenon to which I respond--a beautiful woman taught well that she must trade that beauty for freedom (from whatever she is trying to escape). I agree with you that she knew what bargain she was making and she made it anyway. It isn't that I feel sorry for her; it's that I know I could be her. My own history includes situations that I would have done anything to escape. So my gut reaction to her is a visual image--I want to put a rough blanket around her, look her in the face, and say, "Stop. Go back. You don't have to do this." And I realize that is not a rational or thinking reaction at all. Because the framework you lay out for Melania Trump's particular pact with the Devil makes perfect sense to me. And it perhaps adds a layer of richness and substance to my very personal reaction. I hope this isn't too disjointed. The Summary is, "Thank you. You make me think!!"
Dean, it is certainly all very complex and I think both fit the picture and are ultimately the same side of the misogynist coin. I just have not been able to shake what I hope will be revealed one day regarding Melania. Thanks for your response, I am so glad you were not offended!!
Don't worry about that. I'm never offended by good thinking and honesty.
Thanks Dean. I needed to read and consider what you wrote.
Jean-Pierre, I don't know that it's something to consider, maybe too entirely personal. It seems to be a response I can't get rid of. I wrote a piece for a blog several years ago called, simply, "Sluts." It included Melania Trump, Zelda Fitzgerald, Marilyn Monroe, I can't recall who else. They had in common only my reaction. Thank you for your reply