Women

[This is a re-post from 10-26-10]

Raising the retirement age to a whopping 70 is more than a twinkle in the eyes of Obama and his Gucci-loafered-Austerian-Commission-sadists from both sides of the aisle. They are about to stick it once again to all of us, but particularly to struggling low-income older women in physical jobs!

It just keeps on getting uglier and uglier. Sharon Johnson in this article in womensenews spells out how exceptionally cruel it is to the plight of women.

Nice reward working so hard all your life to have these sociopathic millionaire bastards steal your taxpaying money to reward fraudsters and then add insult to injury by moving your retirement goal post to 70 and making your hard-earned benefits (to some the ONLY benefits for a life of struggle) belated and unlivable.

According to Ellen Bruce, past president of OWL (Older Women’s League) 1 in 4 older women depends on Social Security for 90 percent of her income. Women have overwhelmingly far fewer assets than men when they retire.

Sharon Johnson writes:

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today took to the House floor to defend the food program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) in need, citing our history of a compassionate nation.

"When I was hungry, you gave me food. You didn't give me war. You didn't give me a tax break; you didn't give me an oil depletion allowance. When I was hungry, you gave me food."

Delta Agreement to "Protect Listed Species" or another Ploy to Export More Water

by Patrick Porgans, Planetary Solutionaries

March 3, 2011 - Last Thursday a federal judge approved a settlement agreement to protect the tiny Delta smelt, one of a number of species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that dwell in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

The smelt may be on the verge of extinction. Its 15-minute claim to fame was immortalized during a 60 Minute segment that mistakenly credited it for the demise of California's agricultural industry. Incidentally, last year, when CBS aired the program, California's agricultural industry posted record-breaking profits, as it did during the entire four-year of California's so-called "drought". http://www.planetarysolutionaries.org/page9.html

Sacramento, CA – Legislators, safe water advocates, and residents of California communities without access to safe drinking water will gather for a press conference this Monday, February 28, at 2 pm on the North Steps of State Capitol to announce the introduction of the Human Right to Water bill package.

Speakers will include Assembly Member Mike Eng, Assembly Member Paul Fong, Assembly Member V. Manuel Pérez, United Nations Independent Expert on the Human Right to Water, Catarina de Albuquerque, community advocates, and affected community members.

"The six-bill package includes AB 685 (Eng), which would make it a policy of the state that every Californian has a human right to clean, accessible water for basic human needs," said Debbie Davis, policy director of the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water. "The five additional bills make changes in state law to begin implementing the human right to water policy and promote access to safe water for the health and well-being of all Californians."

More than 11.5 million Californians rely on water from suppliers that experienced at least one violation of State Drinking Water Standards as reported to the Department of Public Health in 2004, according to Davis. As many as 8.5 million Californians rely on supplies that experienced more than five instances of unsafe levels in a single year.

The following are excerpts from Every Man in This Village is A Liar ... an education in war by Megan K. Stack (Doubleday). This is a brilliant book -- poetic and profound. I highly recommend it.

I am still mid-book and hungry to write an overall review when I finish it, but I just came upon a chapter, Chapter 10, A Question of Cost (page 124), that cries out to me to quote it on its own ... cries out to me as a woman hearing the truth from a fellow woman reporting about the plight of women in the Middle East and, even more ominously and clearly, the plight of all women from what Stack calls a “dark, ruthless fraternity” (Stack’s coinage) worsened by those global, patriarchal players willing to "pragmatically" minimize and normalize the throwing of any woman’s rights under any bus.

Megan Stack:

“Truth was buried like oil under blank sands.”

Raising the retirement age to a whopping 70 is more than a twinkle in the eyes of Obama and his Gucci-loafered-Austerian-Commission-sadists from both sides of the aisle. They are about to stick it once again to all of us, but particularly to struggling low-income older women in physical jobs!

It just keeps on getting uglier and uglier. Sharon Johnson in this article in womensenews spells out how exceptionally cruel it is to the plight of women.

Nice reward working so hard all your life to have these sociopathic millionaire bastards steal your taxpaying money to reward fraudsters and then add insult to injury by moving your retirement goal post to 70 and making your hard-earned benefits (to some the ONLY benefits for a life of struggle) belated and unlivable.

According to Ellen Bruce, past president of OWL (Older Women’s League) 1 in 4 older women depends on Social Security for 90 percent of her income. Women have overwhelmingly far fewer assets than men when they retire.

Sharon Johnson writes:

by Dan Bacher

The Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force is meeting on Monday, October 25 and Tuesday October 26 in Fortuna, California to approve a network of marine protected areas on the North Coast.

In contrast to the MLPA process elsewhere in California, the stakeholders from fishing groups, Indian Tribes, environmental NGOs, and coastal businesses agreed to one proposal. The proposal is supported by a number of local governments, agencies and community groups.

These include the Counties of Del Norte, Humboldt and Mendocino and the Cities of Fort Bragg, Point Arena, Ukiah, Willits, Arcata, Fortuna, Eureka, Crescent City and Monterey. Organizations supporting the proposal include the Recreational Fishing Alliance, Partnership for Sustainable Oceans (PS), Salmon Trollers Marketing Association and Humboldt Baykeeper.

"Even with this widespread support, we are worried that the BRTF may be interested in coming up with its own alternative," said Jim Martin, West Coast Regional Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance. "So we need lots of bodies in the room when the Task Force meets in Fortuna Oct. 25-26."

Martin said you can also visit CV Starr Center in Fort Bragg or Flynn Center in Crescent City and provide public comment from the remote location. "We need people will to cede their time on their speaker cards so your presence is important even if you do not want to speak," he noted.

Ninety years ago this August, women finally won the right to vote when the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920. But instead of taking that right seriously, Meg Whitman has rarely voted for three decades. She wants to be our next governor -- but shouldn’t she show more respect for the struggles that earned women the right to vote?

Chesbro calls for 6 month delay of North Coast MLPA process

by Dan Bacher

Citing concerns about how the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) is being implemented on the North Coast, Assemblymember Wesley Chesbro (D-Arcata) announced on August 9 that he is calling for a six month delay in the implementation of the MLPA on the North Coast.

Chesbro, the chair of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, has asked California Resources Secretary Lester Snow to delay the controversial process for at least six months to “ensure that environmental protection is balanced with traditional access rights.” Chesbro made the request in a recent meeting with Snow, according to a news release from Chesbro’s office.

Opposition to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s MLPA Initiative by a diverse array of groups has mushroomed into the largest grassroots political movement of any kind on the North Coast since Redwood Summer of 1990.

On July 21, over 300 people, including tribal members from 50 Indian nations, immigrant sea urchin industry workers, recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, seaweed harvesters and grass roots environmentalists, peacefully took control of a meeting of the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force in Fort Bragg in defense of tribal gathering rights and against the MLPA’s domination by oil industry and other corporate interests.

“I have met with Resources Secretary Lester Snow and strongly urged him to slow down the process and that no action be taken by the Blue Ribbon Task Force for at least six months to allow more time to develop a plan that protects marine life and balances the access rights of traditional user groups,” Chesbro said. “I am confident that given enough time we can develop a workable solution between the fishing community, North Coast tribes and environmentalists.”

From NARAL Pro-Choice America...

I’m writing you today to express my immeasurable shock and deep sadness over the murder of Dr. George Tiller in Wichita, Kansas.

On behalf of NARAL Pro-Choice America and our affiliates, our prayers and thoughts are with Dr. Tiller’s family and friends.

If you don’t know very much about his background, for almost two decades Dr. Tiller and those individuals who helped provide care to his patients have lived under intense harassment tinged with persistent threats of violence. Even under these adverse circumstances, Dr. Tiller never wavered in his commitment to providing abortion services and other reproductive health care to women and their families, often in the most difficult and heart-breaking circumstances.