OLD IS NOT THE PROBLEM?

Published March 11, 2024 by Nan Mykel

What’s wrong with women that we’re so easily abused and misused? It may be because we’re physically weaker than men, pushovers, literally. Is our empathy so easy to use against us? I hear “lady like” more often than “gentleman like.” Does the role of nurturer/caretaker overshadow other areas of life? What was behind the difficulty in letting us vote? Why were white women allowed to vote before women of color? What is the source of prejudice? Surely not fear. Allah (swt) says in the Quran, “O believers treat women with kindness even if you dislike them.”!! [That doesn’t exactly put women on a par with men!] In addition/as a result, many women have bought into seeing themselves as less.

According to Wikipedia, Males on average are more assertive and have higher self-esteem. Females were on average higher than males in extroversion, anxiety, trust, and, especially, tender-mindedness (e.g., nurturance).

After reflecting for most of today and reading on this topic (suffrage, Islam’s treatment of women, abortions outlawed in much of U.S., and FGM–female genital mutilation–in other countries–I was interested to see on a post from O.U. what appeared to be a woman’s view of her Muslim life: “Thus, in the Islamic tradition, a woman has an independent identity. She is a responsible being in her own right and carries the burden of her moral and spiritual obligations. Women have as much right to education as men do.” Why do I feel like a well-behaved Muslim woman wrote that, defensively?

I sought an additional version from the International Islamic University Malaysia https://www.iium.edu.my› articles: “What is a woman’s role in Islam? Men are providers for women and in exchange for support, women should be obedient and serve their husbands. They should keep their virginity and after marriage, loyalty, chastity and complete dedication to their husbands are prerequisite for securing maintenance. Women are seen as weak and as easily overpowered by men. (“Women in the Quran and the Sunnah – IIUM”)

During this long afternoon it occurs to me that the unspoken sentiment behind the complaints that “Biden’s too old” really is that no one’s willing to say it out loud without seeming prejudiced: Being too old means that he might die in office, leaving a female of color in his place. Biden can’t say it, nor can Democrats, without being seen as racist and/or misogynist. So everyone is quiet about it–at least in the print I saw (or didn’t see), and the [imagined?] concern is not being addressed. Republicans are also avoiding the “prejudiced” label, at least in their public proclamations. It almost makes me wish she’d bow out, but don’t tell her I said that! [“Any vote not cast for Biden is a vote for Trump.”]

Google describes Kamala Harris, the current U.S. Vice President under Joe Biden, as the first woman, second bi-racial, (Charles Curtis, a member of the Caw Nation served under Hoover), and the first South Asian American vice president. (She was born in the United States!} Her mother was a Tamil Brahmin, part of a “privileged elite” in Hinduism’s ancient caste hierarchy, but moved from India to the United States and received her PhD. at Berkeley in 1964. Now deceased, her mother became a biomedical scientist. Her father is Donald Jasper Harris (born August 23, 1938), a Jamaican-American economist and professor emeritus at Stanford University. Her parents divorced in 1971, after eight years.

How to deal with this problem? P.S. I’m 88+, so Biden’s just a kid to me.

OH, So That’s What It’s All About!

Published February 8, 2023 by Nan Mykel

I kid you not–it’s in Time magazine this week, by Isabel Wilkerson, author of “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.”

In 2021 for the first time, the USA’s white population showed a decline–the only racial or ethnic group to do so, by 8.6%.

This had an effect on the caste system, defined as “an artificial, arbitrary graded ranking of human value, the underlying infrastructure of a society’s divisions.” What has the drift resulted in?…The groundswell to outlaw abortions; increased killings and harassment of non-whites, the contrived accusation of “replacement theory,” the forced abortions in refugee quarters, the stranglehold in the public schools on children’s minds about reality, the attack on adult pairings of couples unlikely to produce offspring (LGBT), taking with it the U.S. Supreme Court.

To insure white births–and to maintain the caste system–Texas will fine doctors $100,000 per abortion procedure and up to 20 years in prison. In Georgia, after a woman’s embryo has reached six weeks of gestation, people are allowed to claim them on their tax returns by allowing the state to include fetuses in the state’s population counts. There is a suspicion that red states are trying to swell their numbers so as to have a greater impact in Congress. And we are reminded that mass incarceration for nonviolent crimes by non whites keeps a disproportionate number of men from the reproductive pool for a long time.

Is it just a black-white conflict, or something darker inside us? Wilkerson remind us that Tyre Nichols was fatally beaten by five black men who were black, like him. Perhaps it’s enforcing the hierarchy in order to uphold the caste system, and to maintain one’s own place within it.

I’m reminded of reading Lyndon Johnson’s fact-checked words on Google: President Lyndon B. Johnson once said, “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”

Bombers, Tree Cutters and Biden

Published October 3, 2022 by Nan Mykel

The education center after the attack.

Credit…Ebrahim Noroozi/Associated Press

Kabul, Afghanistan — Murder to punish school girls for getting an education? I can’t imagine it. Whatever is in the heart of a suicide bomber? Will his god actually reward him for killing school girls?

A suicide attack on Friday at an educational center in Kabul killed at least 19 people, mostly young female students, and wounded at least 27 people. At least one attacker shot his way into the center and detonated explosives in the latest string of attacks on schools. For some girls, the move to close schools and the recent string of attacks on education centers have emboldened them to continue their studies however they can — whether applying for visas to study abroad, forming informal study groups among their peers, or taking courses at education centers like Kaaj. Arezu Hassani, 14, was about to begin ninth grade when the Taliban took over last year and girls’ schools were closed indefinitely. Desperate for any way to continue learning, she began taking mathematics and physics courses at a branch of the Kaaj education center. She was not at the center on Friday morning, but the attack rattled her parents, who told her that they would no longer allow her to go to classes, fearing for her safety. “I am so sad,” she said. “I cannot even explain my feelings.”

Many are determined to study no matter what. “They want to prevent us from getting education, but they cannot,” said Ms. Haidari, a student who witnessed the blast. “No one can stop us. We are not going to give up.” {Updated casualties are 33 killed, 80 wounded.)

the main story

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I love my county! The worst thing about it is that it’s in Ohio:

Earthlings (that’s us) have removed 33% of our forests. It has been estimated that if everyone on earth planted one acorn, nut, seed or seedling once a year for the rest of their lives it would take 2,341 years to restore Earth’s forests–if no more trees were destroyed. Those who care suggest direct seeding, the collecting of acorns and nuts, sorting, then placing them directly in the ground, where they become less accessible to wildlife, improving their odds of survival. For inquiries regarding the seeding and preparation contact athenscountydirectseed@gmail.com and a hotlink can be provided for more specifics. Thanks to Todd Swearingen for the info on direct seeding provided in his letter to the Athens Messenger September 21.

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VICTORY , difficult to come by these days, has been won by the Biden administration over the racial inequality of covid19 distribution and effects. I was going to print the entire N.Y. Times article, but see I paid one dollar a week to access its news and columns, and you didn’t. Pooh, I hate it and you may also.The meat and bones of it appear to be free to share, so I’ll just tell you that the disparity between availability and use of the vaccine between racial minorities versus whites appears to have shrunk down (or up?) to EQUALITY. Republicans’ utilization of the vaccine remains in the end zone (my metaphor).

This and That, Not These and Those

Published September 27, 2022 by Nan Mykel

Just had to fool around a little…Had to mention this and that:

A group of top state judges has made a rare plea to the Supreme Court, urging it to reject a legal theory pressed by Republicans that would give state legislatures extraordinary power, Adam Liptak writes in nytimes.

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I find myself eagerly awaiting the unauthorized biography of Anthony Bourdain, although I usually hate books with sad endings. (I usually read the last page first in order to avoid sad endings, but I liked what I knew of him and was already saddened by his demise.)

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I hope none of DeSantis’ spending of $1.3 billion towards vouchers diverted from Public Schools taps into the money already spent on the forced immigrant plane trips north!

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The library poetry writing group I have been in since its inception much more than ten years ago has resumed going out to lunch together. We happen to be liberals (I still don’t think MAGA folks can hear their muse), and after sharing some experiences in life earlier, our black waitress who had overheard our conversation joined us in the conversation. (I still don’t know the proper way to say that. Black individual? Woman? Person of color?) Anyway, it was a great experience. I won’t say what restaurant so she won’t get in trouble for taking the time “away from her duties”). We’re all non-racists, of course, and all of us lunching together are over seventy.

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A reminder: It’s my opinion that the main problem America is facing is a direct result of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission (FEC) decision in 2010 that political spending is a form of free speech that’s protected under the First Amendment. The controversial 5-4 decision effectively opened the door for corporations and unions to spend unlimited amounts of money to support their chosen political candidates, provided they were technically independent of the campaigns themselves. The corporations, being more monetarily influential than unions, of course, had the advantage over unions and the majority of our population. Thus, corporations gained the rights of individual citizens, but with more power to influence elections A poem at that time by fellow writing member Patricia Black is re-printed courtesy of Patricia L.H. Black, plhb222@hotmail.com :

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WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE

I met some corporations and

because I had a hunch they had

all been adjudged “persons,”

I invited one to lunch.

Oh, that naughty corporation!

As far as I could see,

it had not been taught its manners—

I got no R, S, V nor P.

But since I was the hostess

I had duties to perform,

though this corporation person

was so outside the norm

that making up the place cards

put my thinking to the test—

could I just write General

and forget about the rest?

And since Incorporated is so very long,

tell me what you think—

would it be uncouth of me

if all I wrote was Inc.?

Then, again, there’s gender

to complicate my tale.

Is corporation female

or is corporation male?

Somehow it seems that neither

is appropriate or will fit.

But it goes against my training

to call a person “It.”

Well, I had invited it

so I assigned it to a seat.

Now I had a problem—

What do corporations eat?

Was it carnivorous or vegan?

Lactose intolerant?

Some persons can eat seafood

while other persons can’t.

There were peanuts to consider

and corn syrup issues, too.

If I fed this so-called person eggs

would it suddenly turn blue?

What a jolt at lunch time

when the corporation knocked!

When the door was opened

I was shocked, I tell you, shocked!

I’m used to thinking “person”

as my neighbor or my dad

but I was sorely disabused

of all such thoughts I might have had.

There were janitors, clerks and typists,

lawyers up to you know where,

receptionists and file clerks

and scientists to spare;

there were bricks-and-mortar buildings

from here to Timbuktu;

fleets of trucks and warehouses,

the list just grew and grew!

Shareholders by the gazillions,

ships, public and private planes,

mortgage-holding entities

and miles and miles of trains.

There were CEO’s and CFO’s

and all sorts of other O’s.

How this “person” would fit

my dining room

the Supreme Court only knows.

Although jolly, the impetous behind the poem is a tragic matter, in my opinion.

Barry Today, a Partial Reblog

Published September 22, 2022 by Nan Mykel

Bringing a little focus on racial issues: shmoover, madnessatthegates

Today:

Of 245 million adults, 220 million are eligible to vote. Over twenty million – at least half of them people of color – cannot vote. This includes most prisoners, ex-felons, territorial residents and college students on campuses not in their home districts. The more African Americans a state contains, the more likely it is to ban felons from voting. The average state disenfranchises 2.4% of its voting-age population but 8.4% of blacks. In fourteen states, the share of blacks stripped of the vote exceeds 10%, and in five states it exceeds 20%. Over 60% of Republicans want the U.S. declared a Christian nation.

Police kill over a thousand people per year. Blacks are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police than whites. Every 28 hours, a person of color is shot dead by a policeman, a security guard or a self-appointed vigilante. 43% of the shootings occur after incidents of racial profiling, and 80% of the victims are unarmed. One in six L.A. deputies is in a gang. Litigation related to their excesses has cost the county over $50 million.

One in every thirty adults is in the corrections system. With five percent of the world’s population, the U.S. has a quarter of its prisoners. Blacks are incarcerated in state prisons at over five times the rate of whites. 80,000 prisoners dwell in solitary confinement, one third of whom, because of this treatment, are or will become psychotic. One in seven incarcerated people are serving life sentences, and 2/3rds are people of color. Three hundred veterans are on death row. Louisiana imprisons a higher percentage of its people than any democracy on earth. Five thousand persons there, 2/3rds of them Black, are serving life without parole, and 344 have served over two decades. The U.S. is the only nation that sentences people to life without parole for crimes committed as minors (currently, nearly 1,500), and ignores any international laws restricting the juvenile death penalty. Over 500,000 Americans work in corrections. Around 63,000 inmates work for over 4,000 companies that have benefited from cheap prison labor.

The U.S. has spent $100 billion on border and immigration control since 9/11. Legal immigrants are at their highest level ever, at 37,000,000. 50,000 Irish reside in the country illegally. Indigenous, Latino, Pacific Islander and Blacks all have significantly higher COVID-19 mortality rates than either White or Asian Americans.

After decades of white flight and neglect by state officials, predominantly Black Jackson, Mississippi lacks drinking water. Three plaques above the entrance to a science hall at West Point Military Academy honor the KKK and Confederate generals Lee and Stuart. The Catholic Church has still not rescinded the Doctrine of Discovery. Nine states have banned race-based affirmative action. Seven still ban atheists from holding office. Chapter 7 of Title 8 of the United States Code is still headed, “Exclusion of Chinese.”

Some insurance companies are refusing to provide coverage for police departments unless they change their policies on matters such as body cameras and chokeholds. A majority of citizens in Florida, New Mexico, Hawaii, Maryland, Nevada, Texas, California and the District of Columbia are no longer Caucasian. For the first time in its history, the United States has a Native American, Native Alaskan, and Native Hawaiian serving in the House of Representatives.

To be continued.

IF YOU BELIEVE THIS, GO…..

Published August 11, 2022 by Nan Mykel

STAND IN THE CORNER…

Republicans in Congress argued that none of these bills are necessary because the right to birth control and the right to same-sex marriage are safe. “In no way, shape or form is access to contraception limited or at risk of being limited,” Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) said during Thursday’s debate on the birth control bill. “The liberal majority is clearly trying to stoke fears and mislead the American people once again because in their minds stoking fear clearly is the only way that they can win.” (Yahoo News)

“The FBI has gone rogue and is doing the dirty work of a communist regime,” tweeted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).

Boebert “In Venezuela, they eat the dogs, and it started because they do not have firearms to protect themselves, to defend themselves against a tyrannical government.”

“We save the babies, we’ll save America,” Mike Pence told conservative youth.

At least Bostelman apologized: So easy to repeat motivated misunderstandings: A Nebraska state lawmaker apologized on Monday after he publicly cited a persistent but debunked rumor alleging that schools are placing litter boxes in school bathrooms to accommodate children who self-identify as cats. State senator Bruce Bostelman, a conservative Republican, repeated the false claim during a public, televised debate on a bill intended to help school children who have behavioral problems. His comments quickly went viral, with one Twitter video garnering more than 300,000 views as of Monday afternoon, and drew an onslaught of online criticism and ridicule. Bostelman initially said he was “shocked” when he heard stories that children were dressing as cats and dogs while at school, with claims that schools were accommodating them with litter boxes.

Sorry, I can’t handle any more at present…..

RACISM part three – polygamy, anyone?

Published March 21, 2021 by Nan Mykel

I don’t know what to make of this, so I’d like to hear from you. I know the topic is not literally about racism, but it could be about prejudice. How do prejudice and discrimination interface? I’m referring to the topic introduced in the newyorker.com, “How polyamorous and polygamists Are Challenging Family Norms.”

Whew! If it’s not one thing it’s another. I know I have a teeny bit of prejudice against exclusive hedonists and criminals and prejudiced people,, but the idea of welcoming multi-wife enclaves into our neighborhoods makes me almost blow my cool. Why? And would that make my feelings into prejudice, if it isn’t already? Is my tensed stomach at the idea a sign of prejudice?

True I can support gays and transgenders and almost drag queens and maybe careful and strong self-disciplined drug users, and am not too judgmental about the polyamorous, but something about polygamy feels like it’s stirring my prejudice. —I guess that means I…what? I don’t know what. There is a difference between what could be changed and what cannot. I understand that sexual gender and orientation cannot basically be changed (after the change). Race cannot normally be changed (although I want to read that novel where two twins of color decide differently–one to pass, the other not.)

Although they (we) would protest, political partisans could theoretically change, as possibly misogynists could. Is it still prejudice even if one can choose the category?. If I turned away a neighbor polygamous wife who asks for a cup of flour at my door, I guess that would be prejudice. But if I turned away a similar request from a wife and child beater, then what? And does it make any difference what I call my attitude and behavior towards different groups of different folks?

Fear’s ghost wanders through some of these topics. I know my deeply held longing for one on one bonding with another is threatened by the idea of polygamy, as unconscious fear underlies my feelings toward black men. But I don’t encounter many if any situations where prejudice is elicited. I vote right and act right, even if my fears are not completely eradicated.