Well it's been several weeks since my last post but not because I didn't want to post. I suffered 2 intercostal muscle sprains, the first of which was extremely painful. On top of the cold/sinus infection, it took 3 weeks to heal. Fortunately, everything is almost back to normal. I started teaching again after being off for the summer. In addition to my volunteer work with the Family Council (no it is not a Republican entity!) at the care centre where my mother lives, I am now an ex officio board committee member for the care centre, an extension of my Family Council work. So along with my physio, I am almost as busy as TC, heavy on the 'almost'. OMG, there are only 8 days left until the US election! There will be the birth of a new administration and then the country gets to deal with the afterbirth, however ugly it gets. Remember,
DON'T BE COMPLACENT!
GET OUT THE VOTE!!
VOTE BLUE ALL DOWN THE LINE!!!
Short Takes
Think Progress — Today, our baby is the size of a pea.
Today, she’s the size of a grape.
We, like every excited soon-to-be parent, followed our baby’s growth each week with joy and pride. As a mother of advanced maternal age (I was 36 at the time), we chose to have a Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS) to test for any abnormalities or genetic issues and were thrilled to learn that we were expecting a baby girl and everything seemed normal. With five nieces at the time, I knew the drill with baby girls and couldn’t wait to dress our little girl in their hand-me-downs. I dreamed of a gaggle of little girls running around my childhood home in Idaho jumping on the trampoline, digging potatoes out of the dirt with Grandpa, and baking in the kitchen with Grandma. …
I am writing my story in solidarity with others who have suffered unspeakable, heart-wrenching loss. I am writing this because I am a woman with a voice, and a vote. I will not be silenced.
I am writing this because I am tired of the narrative of politicians who speak without informing themselves and who legislate based on gross untruths.
I will not be shamed by those who believe they have the moral authority to come between a woman, her body, her choice, and her family.
With all the Republican and pseudo Christian animosity towards women and their reproductive rights, this heart felt experience of one woman and abortion demonstrates just how far off Republicans are with their reproductive laws. Click through for the rest of the article.
Alternet — With 11 days to go before Election Day, the FBI's announcement Friday that the bureau is reopening its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while Secretary of State may be 2016’s October surprise, inflaming an already scorched race.
But nobody should confuse Clinton’s unfortunate use of a private email system in which a handful of classified messages seeped into the tens of thousands sent and received with Donald Trump’s lifetime of borderline criminality, as evidenced by being sued more than 4,500 times for his business practices, his extensive bilking of small businesses, his deliberate tax evasions, and his on-camera boasts of sexual assaults. …
1. Boasts of sexually assaulting women. As almost everyone in America knows, Trump was caught boasting on videotape about imposing himself sexually on women, including the felony of grabbing their genitals. While he tried to dismiss his remarks as mere locker room bragging, a dozen women came forward to accuse him of improper behavior or sexual assault. Trump predictably accused all of them of lying and working for Clinton, and threatened to sue them all after the election. However, what Trump bragged about, and what the women said he did, is against the law.
Click through for the remaining 9 instances of Trump's illegal, at best, deceptive practices. Trump does not consider his practices criminal, while he would lock up Clinton for less.
Think Progress — FBI Director James Comey alerted Republican members of Congress on Friday that bureau investigators would review some additional emails that might relate to Hillary Clinton’s email server. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), the chairman of the House Oversight Committee who has already vowed to spend the next several years investigating Clinton should she be elected president, quickly rushed to announce the news, falsely claiming that the case had been “reopened.”
Interference with an election coming not only from FBI Director James Comey, but also from Rep Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) who misread Comey's letter and passed on the mistake to others and the media. Chaffetz has been after Clinton for some time and is committed to making her life a 'living hell' if she is elected POTUS.
The Atlantic — It would be unfair to call Donald Trump’s interaction with black voters a love-hate relationship, since there’s little evidence of African American enthusiasm for Trump. But the Republican campaign has pursued a Janus-like strategy on black voters—ostensibly courting them in public while privately seeking to depress turnout. …
… even if Trump doesn’t think he needs black voters, future Republican candidates will. Trump has made clear that he owes no particular allegiance to the Republican Party and has little interest in its fortunes without him, which allows him to be blithe about writing off the demographic. Other analysts, including Republicans, have been warning for years that the GOP cannot survive as a rump party of whites (and, increasingly, white men). But voter relationships have to be built over time; a bloc written off or alienated can take a generation or more to win back.
I remember listening to Trump at one of his rallies when he looked out at the crowd and said "Where's my African American? There he is!" as he pointed to somewhere in the crowd. I was offended by his comments but they are indicative of his personality and his attitude towards African Americans. In the long terrm, Republicans need the African American vote, but in the present, they are doing everything they can to suppress the vote. At the rallies, they woo the African American vote, but behind the scenes it is a different story.
My Universe —
