Surely not, but…

“It’s unlikely that the birth control pill will ever legally be considered “murder,” but anti-choice activists are using the claim that it kills fertilized eggs as a pretext for cutting off government and insurance funding for contraception. The appointment of Scott Lloyd, a lawyer who has worked to allow pharmacists to deny contraception prescriptions to women, to work at the Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives in the Department of Health and Human Services suggests that this new office, created in May, department, exists mostly to create bureaucratic obstacles for women seeking contraception.”

AMANDA MARCOTTE on Salon.com
She’s on Twitter @AmandaMarcotte

It seems whenever I read of a country’s people attempting to rise up against their dictator,  his military supports the ruler against the people.  I read now that Critics have raised questions about the need to use active-duty troops for a mission already involving Border Patrol agents and National Guard personnel, citing concerns the deployment could violate the Posse Comitatus Act, a law limiting military activities within the United States.

Trump has already corrupted good republicans, waged war on our checks and balances including the judiciary,  trashed our reputation and influence among our allies,  kept the most armed better armed, raised the possibility of a nuclear war, insulted our CIA, and now he’s getting the military to do his political bidding.  Dictators also imprison their opponents.

Trump  wants to jail Hillary.  Haven’t heard a word about his daughter’s similar behavior.

Rural folks seem to want to believe Trump is just a good ole bumbling dyslexic boy who made good, as they’d like to do.  I fear au contraire he is craftily orchestrating the   castration and subsequent annihilation of the American Dream for his very personal gains.  He knows what he’s doing to America.

      “thank you to Saudi Arabia”

From the president of the United States…..

WELL, IT’S NOT AS EASY AS I THOUGHT…

I couldn’t connect my scratch to this pad.  More next week, I hope.  In the meantime, I’ve got a new daily blog, I hope–see future blog, as in a few.

My local library has a “free” section, fed by discarded library books and donations. Sometimes the books appear to come from the estates of learned people.  When I see a gem I grab it and someone I know gets a marvelous (tho used) Christmas present.  I recently came across two such volumes,  Animal Behavior, edited by Thomas Eisner and Edward O. Wilson, containing readings from Scientific America,  and–oh drat, I’ve already wrapped it for Christmas–a book of the complete campaigns of World War II, a reference book extraordinaire.

Then I realize that some of the best gems that stand out in my mind were those I ran into during graduate school, and I’ve never seen them surpassed. Why do we discount writings because of  an earlier copyright date?  I haven’t heard the insightful material discussed as well as in Your Perfect Right  by   Robert Alberti and Michael C. Emmons  c. 1970 and When Anger Hurts; Quieting the Storm Within by Matthew McKay.

In looking up the above sources I discovered that it’s more productive to Google by just the name of the book instead of Amazon. In my explorations I saw one used copy for $1 plus $5 shipping, and I was reminded to ponder over the practice of occasionally offering a $1 paperback for $101.37.  What shenanigans are folks up to?

[Sorry for the partial repeat of this–I earlier posted it halfway through, then forgot to save].

with so much on my mind that it would be too long a blog for any but the hardiest to wade through. Those who “visit” a piece with over 2,000 words have to have a special calling.  So, I’ll chunk them up and you can read or not, short little gems.

From Melanie Nathan’s blog*:

A wave of arrests of gays in Tanzania is feared after a senior official urged the public to report suspected gays to authorities. Homosexual acts are illegal in Tanzania and can bring a sentence of up 30 years. The examinations are taking place on Friday to see if there are any signs of same-sex relations among the men, who were arrested last week on suspicion of celebrating a gay marriage at a resort hotel, police chief of the south region of Zanzibar, Suleiman Hassan, told The Associated Press.

“We acted on a tip-off from a good citizen leading them to abort their party during the weekend and then police made a quick arrest,” said Hassan. After being held for several days, the men have been released pending the investigations, he said.

Last week Paul Makonda, the administrative chief of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s largest city, urged citizens to report any suspected homosexuals. He said a task force would be established to seek out and punish homosexuals and prostitutes.   READ MORE at VOX

*P.S. “This blog, O-Blog-Dee-O-Blog-Da, started out as a platform to showcase the equality and human rights advocacy work of Melanie. In addition to reporting related news and stories, O-Blog-Dee-O-Blog-Da serves as a platform for Nathan and her guests to highlight their work in a world where gay, lesbian, transgender, queer, intersex, and gender-free people are the subjects of persecution and discrimination.

“Over time it has developed into a renowned blog, on subjects including U.S. politics, equality related issues, the impact of homophobia and transphobia – especially state sanctioned homophobia, the decriminalization of homosexuality, LGBTQI asylum, sexuality violence and all human rights issues, around the globe, with a special focus on Africa.”