Daily Reminder # 280

I've spent the evening listening to the 25th anniversary concert of Le Mis, a musical which is profoundly beautiful musically and has a message in tune with the events of the day.  I love it when things converge. 

I couldn't find a good picture to post with this, but I can't see this poster
without seeing my niece Diana's face. She could have been the model for it.

We seem to be in a time of profound convergences here in the US and around the world. There is (hopefully) a grand shift in the status quo from a world that has been leaning in the direction of even democracy being taken over by a small faction of greedy men (and women, I guess) to a time when the rest of us are waking up from our slumbers. Whatever comes of them, I think the revolutions in Tunesia, Egypt, Lybia are wonderful. Oddly, I suspect - for all that the fear mongers out there trying to frighten us with the old boogie men - they are pretty much these revolutions are the last thing Al Quaeda wants. Their recruiting pool will not be filled by those who know they can stand as one against tyrany without blowing themselves up, who know that they are NOT, in fact, helpless.  


I think something of that sense of solidarity, of realizing that we are not powerless has been awakened in Wisconsin. I'm going to post the video of the speech Michael Moore's gave there today. It's a rabble rouser... but it carries truth.





This is a little off topic, but another thing which has been troubling me greatly is the GOP's war on Planned Parenthood. This is supposedly a war on abortion, but it's really a war on the poor, as most of what the GOP does is a war on the poor. The irony about what they are doing with Planned Parenthood - Scott Brown has particularly rather gleefully pointed out that he is making sure there is no money for any Planned Parenthood programs, including making contraceptives and Prenatal Care. And of course the GOP in Congress has also defunded Planned Parenthood. It's interesting that they consider this a pro-life stance since the lack of prenatal care increases the risk of still births 5x and low birth-weight babies 3x.  I couldn't find statistics on miscarriages before 20 weeks (it becomes a still birth after 20 weeks).  These are wanted babies whose lives they are - in effect - helping to terminate. And that's what it comes to. Depriving poor women of prenatal care directly leads to the deaths of infants. Older, more developed, wanted fetuses. Or unborn, if  you want to use the Republican's own language. So their war on the poor is also a war on the unborn. And I repeat these are unborn whose parents want them. I wish I knew a way to pour this truth into the ears of the people who swallow every nonsensical word spewed by Fox News, who will picket to save unwanted fetuses but cheer at the news that Planned Parenthood is under fire, because I think if they actually understood the ramifications of that action (abortion is the least part of what Planned Parenthood does), they might not be so comfortable or so pleased. Surely, how can you champion undeveloped, unwanted unborn - while you participate in endangering the lives of those whose parents are eagerly anticipating their birth, or even those whose parents have chosen not to have an abortion.


There is something truly wicked and/or insane about some of the things that are coming out of the GOP. From redefining rape to classifying miscarriages as "homicides." This last has been proposed by a Republican lawmaker in Georgia  If that law passes (and I have no idea if it has any chance of doing so), then those who defund prenatal care would seem to me to be liable for prosecution. But I digress. Somehow, there must be a way to get people to connect to the reality that the lack of medical care for mothers is as lethal to fetuses as an abortion - and more cruel.


I'll finish with two more videos.  First a Martin Luther King Speech and then Pete Seeger singing that awesome song. 





and sung by Pete Seeger



Some things I'm grateful for today:  (items in red are pre-gratitude - an effort to charm the Universe into granting my wishes.)

• Angel and Tara Grace
• Protests
• Michael Moore
• Le Mis
• Music
• singing
• passion
• hope
• my TV
• Public Television (PBS)
• Planned Parenthood
• Unions
• revolutions
• freedom
• democracy
• my country
• Netflix
• a clothes dryer
• a Bose sound system
• Nintendo
• winning lottery tickets
• paid off mortgage
• winning the HGTV Vermont Dream Houes
• a sun room on the back of my house
• freshly painted living and bedroom walls
• $5,000 a week for life from PCH
• $25,000 - from somewhere
• zero balance on my credit cards
• Strawberry/banana yogurt smoothies
• coffee and International delight
• peanut butter
• gogi berry juice
• coconut oil
• water
• Ibuprofen
• Sam-e
• Viralys (med for Tara Grace)
• electricity
• my computer
• melting snow
• indoor plumbing
• my kitchen
• my microwave
• things I learned from the energy auditor
• cave kitty hugs
• reiki
• angels
• my red chair
• my cane
• that my legs still get me from room to room
• possibilities
• eye sight
• the ability to read and write
• my brain
• hearing
• taste
• touch
• smell
• the aroma of white sage
• imagination
• inspiration
• laughter
• hope
• life

And I wanted to repost this song from Les Mis, because I think it fits, because I really like it, and because I have just heard it sung several times and it's in my head.

HAVE A GREAT DAY

STAND UP AND SING