chibimonnie

Old anxieties are bubbling up, along with pain, humiliation, anger, and bewilderment. This time seven years ago I was raped by a friend. This year, though, I refuse to let that attack break me again. This year I'm taking all of that pain and turning it into something useful. This year I'm speaking out for my rights and the rights of every woman in this country. It's only March and we've already seen so many attacks on women's health and reproductive rights. Republican lawmakers want to force us to live with the consequences of that attack. They want to take away our choices. They want to turn doctors into rapists. These men who are taking away our choices are oblivious to the prevalence of rape. I wonder if they're even acquainted with the statistics? But, then again, how powerful are statistics really? They're just numbers. What these lawmakers need to see are faces. They need to hear our stories. They need to see that the numbers are true stories. Here's my story. What's yours?

Like an Ice-slick Canadian Road

( 1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape. )

The PA General Assembly voted unanimously to declare 2012 the "Year of the Bible". Freedom of religion also means freedom FROM religion. No state has the right to promote one religion over another. I don't begrudge anyone their beliefs or their religious texts, so please don't begrudge me my right not to believe as you do. Please sign the petition and repost if you, too, find this a violation of your rights.

Repeal PA state-sponsored "Year of the Bible" http://t.co/HefWyOSs

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA HOUSE RESOLUTION No. 535

Session of 2012

INTRODUCED BY SACCONE, DENLINGER, STERN, AUMENT, BAKER, BLOOM, BROOKS, ELLIS, EMRICK, FLECK, GILLEN, GROVE, HAHN, HENNESSEY, HESS, KAUFFMAN, F. KELLER, KILLION, KRIEGER, MAHONEY, MAJOR, MALONEY, MARSHALL, MILLARD, MUSTIO, OBERLANDER, PAYNE, PAYTON, RAPP, READSHAW, REESE, ROCK, SIMMONS, SONNEY, STEVENSON, SWANGER AND TALLMAN, JANUARY 23, 2012

INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35, JANUARY 23, 2012

A RESOLUTION

1 Declaring 2012 as the "Year of the Bible" in Pennsylvania.

2 WHEREAS, The Bible, the word of God, has made a unique

3 contribution in shaping the United States as a distinctive and

4 blessed nation and people; and

5 WHEREAS, Deeply held religious convictions springing from the

6 holy scriptures led to the early settlement of our country; and

7 WHEREAS, Biblical teachings inspired concepts of civil

8 government that are contained in our Declaration of Independence

9 and the Constitution of the United States; and

10 WHEREAS, Many of our great national leaders, among them

11 President Washington, President Jackson, President Lincoln,

12 President Wilson and President Reagan, paid tribute to the

13 influence of the Bible in our country's development, as

14 exemplified by the words of President Jackson that the Bible is

15 "the rock on which our Republic rests"; and

- 1 -

1 WHEREAS, The history of our country clearly illustrates the

2 value of voluntarily applying the teachings of the scriptures in

3 the lives of individuals, families and societies; and

4 WHEREAS, This nation now faces great challenges that will

5 test it as it has never been tested before; and

6 WHEREAS, Renewing our knowledge of and faith in God through

7 holy scripture can strengthen us as a nation and a people;

8 therefore be it

9 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives declare 2012 as

10 the "Year of the Bible" in Pennsylvania in recognition of both

11 the formative influence of the Bible on our Commonwealth and

12 nation and our national need to study and apply the teachings of

13 the holy scriptures.

- 2 -

John and I got back together about a week after the break up. I laid down some conditions this time, though. He has been making an effort to be more communicative and is seeing a therapist. We had a lovely weekends together over Christmas and New Year's. Last weekend we went hiking at Pennypack Ecological Trust.



I think that's the last of the mild weather we're going to see for awhile. :( I think I'm going to retire somewhere warm. This cold weather is getting more difficult to deal with every year. I find I'm becoming less and less social the colder is gets. I want to hibernate until March!

All this unsocial time has left me with more free time. I'm putting it to good use by picking up my Buddhist studies again. I recently picked up The Lotus Sutra translated by Gene Reeves. I must admit to a fair amount of trepidation. The Introduction alone is pretty dense. I've also begun reading How to See Yourself As You Really Are by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, a far more approachable book!

I'm single again. Things were going along swimmingly and he suddenly "realized that we're too damn different." He said that I "deserve someone better." Well, then, I guess I do. I deserve someone who isn't going to obsess about our differences. He broke up with me over text because he "didn't want to hear me cry." Coward.

I've had some requests for my recipes so here are the highlights from the last week or so.

( Vegetarian Chili (to which the omnivorous can add meat) )

( Roasted Red Potatoes )

( Spinach Casserole )

My great-uncle Tony is a really cool man (we're certainly closer on the political spectrum than my grandfather and I are!). He sent me the e-mail below:

Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers one of the best quotes about the debt ceiling:

"I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he told CNBC. "You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election."

The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only
3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971...before computers, e-mail, cell phones, etc.

Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the land...all because of public pressure.

Warren Buffet is asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise.

In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message. This is one idea that really should be passed around.

Congressional Reform Act of 2011

1. No Tenure / No Pension.
A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.
All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen.
Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S.) to receive the message. Maybe it is time.

THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!!!!!

If you agree with the above, pass it on. If not, just delete. You are one of my 20+.. Please keep it going.

This week sucked. I got reamed out by agents several times, was handling all of my work plus my colleague's who was out. Also, I found out that my cousin, Christiana Fesmire was murdered. She went missing over the summer. Her killer has been arrested, but her body still hasn't been found. It's a pretty messed up story. Apparently she had been working as an escort and when her parents found out they disowned her. She was killed that very same night. I just can't wrap my head around this. And in other family news my deceased uncle's ex-wife had some sort of mental breakdown. Their sons are now staying with other relatives. It's been one hell of a week.

It hasn't been all crap, though. Last night was date #2 with John. We went to New Hope and had dinner at Fran's Pub. We spent the next several hours wandering around the town, looking out at the river, talking, and kissing. The last two nights have been magical. I keep pinching myself to be sure that I'm not dreaming. I mentioned something along those lines to John and he said, "Maybe it's just our time." I'm looking forward to seeing what grows between us and where this goes.

Went on a first date tonight. It was awesome! Had dinner at Bonefish Grill and split a yummy dessert. We talked about so much. Even had a few long moments of silence and none of them were awkward. He's not my usual type- not a geek or an academic. He's in construction, a bricklayer. Very outdoorsy. Also a total gentleman and very sweet. Looking forward to our next date!

Last night I spent some time with my parents. I mentioned that I might go down to Philly to join OccupyPhilly. Mom then warned me about "allying [my]self with those weirdos." Ironic considering the generation she came from. I imagine her parents said much the same thing about the sit-ins and protests of the 60s.

While my parents are not exactly in the top 1%; they're certainly in one of the higher grossing percentages than most people. But Dad is a small business owner and he's getting the shaft. Gov't is so busy looking out for Big Business interests that small business owners like my dad have no one looking out for them. Which is unfortunate. I would love to work for someone like my dad. His employees are family and their families are his family. He, of course, has to keep profitability a priority (business would sink without that) but it's not his only priority. People are people, not ID numbers in a database. He knows each and every one of his sales people, their spouses, and their dependents. He knows that there are a lot of people depending on him keeping the boat afloat. With each business decision he makes he keeps those people in mind. I've never once heard Dad utter the phrase, "It's business, nothing personal." Because unlike massive corporations, small business owners like my dad recognize that it's impossible to truly separate the business from the personal. All business decisions have an impact on personal lives- from livelihood to work/life balance. Too bad Big Business can't remember that, too.

Dear Fandom,

I've seen a lot of ranting and raving in the wake of Friday's episode. Ladies, what's the #1 thing we've learned about this show? Things are rarely what they appear to be, especially if a character is possessed by a powerful being.

( Spoilers )

In summary, take a deep breath and give the story a chance to unfold before going ape-shit about what might or might not have actually happened.