Being free is my birthright Free will is our true might, I am not about to surrender it I will never give it up and submit, To do that would be an absurdity There’s nothing you can offer to buy from me, It’s the final bastion of my authenticity It defines my individuality, And shines […]
My birthright — fauxcroft
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All posts by Nan Mykel
I Couldn’t Say It Better, so…
Published July 1, 2022 by Nan MykelThe court’s most immediately lethal decisionremains Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade. But do not let Dobbs distract from the onslaught that followed it. If anyone still doubted that the Supreme Court served as the nation’s chief policymaking institution after Dobbs, Thursday should put that to rest. The court is ruthlessly efficient, putting our gridlocked Congress to shame with its speedy and definitive resolution of the most pressing issues facing the country today. It does not require hourslong hearings or endless negotiations to operate. The six-justice conservative majority chooses which conflicts to prioritize, takes up cases that present them, then picks a winner, nearly always for the benefit of the conservative movement and the Republican Party.
Consider the issues that SCOTUS has resolved this term—the first full term with a 6–3 conservative supermajority. The constitutional right to abortion: gone. States’ ability to limit guns in public: gone. Tribal sovereignty against state intrusion: gone. Effective constraints around separation of church and state: gone. The bar on prayer in public schools: gone. Effective enforcement of Miranda warnings: gone. The ability to sue violent border agents: gone. The Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases at power plants: gone. Vast areas of the law, established over the course of decades, washed away by a court over a few months.
From Nan: Sorry I’m not good at reblogging. Visit dianeravitch posted on Diane Ravitch’s blog: Mark Joseph Stern: The Most Hopeless Day of SCOTUS Term?
San Francisco Pride Message and Video
Published July 1, 2022 by Nan Mykel
Melanie Nathan, Executive Director of African Human Rights Coalition
I’d like to refer you to Melanie Nathan’s San Francisco PRIDE posting of a rousing introduction by Melanie to a video greeting from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Dr. Filippo Grandi. Melanie wrote:
“No one should be attacked by their government, their neighbor, church, doctor, teacher, parent, sibling, friend, for being LGBTQI+. Yet this happens all over the world – even in America and worse yet – in the over 70 countries that call ALL LGBTQI+ people, criminals.”
Check it out.
WAITING FOR THE OTHER SHOE TO DROP
Published June 30, 2022 by Nan Mykel
WAITING FOR THE OTHER SHOE TO DROP….
What could be worse than reversing the ROE v WADE DECISION or limiting the power of the ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY to manage carbon emissions in the face of increasing worldwide climate change; regulating the runaway internet; and worker safety?
You got it: dismantling SOCIAL SECURITY and MEDICARE…..
More than ever we need to make sure we’re aware of any new voting regulations in our state and prepare for them.
The Smell of the Dragon
Published June 29, 2022 by Nan Mykel
Freeimages.com
During a long interchange of thoughtful comments and replies on a recent blog, the author says, “To be frank, my former party has one primary mission that they try to mask – give more money to rich people and help them keep it. This is the key reason for conservative judges to side with companies in liability lawsuits. Everything else is ancillary to that purpose. A key ruling by SCOTUS last week made it easier for companies to escape liability.”
Nan says, “My brain can no longer embrace the many-faceted fascade of the political dragon, but can recognize and smell it.”
Walking. Bring out your Dead!
Published June 28, 2022 by Nan MykelOMG yes!
It all started with an article Susan sent me. This one or something like it: 10-second balance test could predict longevity. “The inability to stand on one leg for 10 seconds in mid to later life is linked to a near doubling in the risk of death from any cause within the next 10 years, according to research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.”
I try to ignore it. Put it out of mind. Impossible.
So, it’s 4 am, yesterday morning, and I’m standing in the bathroom, trying to balance on my left foot. Counting down 10-9-8-7-6… I reach for the counter. You have got to be kidding.
I go at it again. Whispering the count down, 10-9-8-7… I reach for the counter again. OMG. I can’t do it.
I pause, inhale, and while balancing on my right foot, I reach down for my sock and put…
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Is This a Joke? If So, Not A Very Funny One!!!
Published June 27, 2022 by Nan MykelHave you contacted the right authorities?
I received this email today. If meant as a joke, not the least bit funny. If not a joke, scary as Hell: 
I received this in an email. How can it even be legal to put such a threatening message on the Internet? SICK SICK SICK!!!!!
THE HUMAN SIDE
Published June 27, 2022 by Nan MykelIt’s easy to distance oneself from our elected officials, even those who share our interests. There’s such a great distance between us, and at least I am usually in my cold political brain when I think about them. In fact, I’ve become so used to being lied to that I have become somewhat jaundiced about everyone and everything.
So an article in the Morning New York Times on Sunday belatedly touched an empathic part of me when I read Ian Prasad Philbrick’s story “In the Room.” He interviewed Times colleague and reporter Emily Cochrane who was trapped in the upper gallery of the House chamber during the January 6 attack. She recalled the period when “all of a sudden the people in front of me started moving again, climbing over chairs and bannisters so I did the same.”
The article describes those who sit in the back of the chamber during testimony and how many who experienced the Januay 6 attack have a mutual support network. For more insight, see the article:
The New York Times nytdirect@nytimes.com |
New Poem
Published June 26, 2022 by Nan Mykel
UPON REFLECTION
What color is your ball of yarn
Or have you more than one
How strong is its warp?
How warm its woof?
You may think I’m spoofing
But never so serious as when
Searching inside the heart.
GUEST POEM By Ruth H. Reilly
Published June 25, 2022 by Nan Mykel
Springtime
Russia invaded Ukraine February 24, 2022 in the early morning just as the early star magnolias began to bloom, their scent wafting.
Cities were bombed, homes destroyed and people fled
While the cherry blossom trees by the river opened up in the cold and wet.
A naked woman was raped over and over, then shot in the head in a fur coat
In this bumper crop year for the fragrant lilacs.
Any citizen with tattoos from the military was tortured and killed
While the tulips, jonquils and graceful bleeding hearts appeared.
Zelensky stayed and the Ukrainians fought back, killing 12 Russian generals
Even as the azaleas gloried in their most cheerful regalia.
The Russian offensive got pushed east, after reducing towns to cinder,
Ukrainian soldiers left in Mariupol forced to surrender ,
As the peonies opened, their petals lovely and tender.
Then we found out the Supreme Court intends to reverse Roe versus Wade
But in Ohio, it’s time to plant tomato plants, basil and parsley in the ground.
Then the discovery that any rapist can contest custody of the baby
That traumatized survivor, that unfortunate handmaid, no matter a child, is forced to bear,
All while the lily of the valley bloom with beauty and fragrance.
There are suspicions this is just the start, that those who only began to know relief
Will get sent back to some old twisted beliefs
Even as the roses bloom, the thorns slice and the blood flows.
But like Ukraine, these wars are not over, and we too fight to determine our own role
As the iris, those elegant flags, outdo themselves this year with all their soul.
Thanks, Ruth…
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