Occupy Oakland, No Matter What

At a pre-dawn raid this morning protesters were met with tear gas and flash grenades. How could this be necessary? What kind of country are we becoming?

When I think of tear gas, police batons, and rubber bullets I think of Selma, Mississippi, Kent State University, and the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Some things never change. What is changing is that for the first time it has become so apparent that the 1% are willing to subject us to violence if we don't tow their line. It is happening more and more that protesters are getting arrested, beaten, etc in the past couple weeks. What length will the 1% go to to squash its opposition? Will we have another Tienanmen Square on our hands?

This class war that the conservatives so vehemently deny exists, its here. It is on our doorstep and it is time for this country to define itself as we truly are and not by the 1%'s  propaganda. I want to live in an America that exists for all people, not just for the privileged. I've had enough of them telling me what to think on TV, and who to vote for. I will not accept under-funding public education or their lies about the tax code. The people determine the direction of this country. It's time we all remembered that.

Why I'm Not Voting For Ron Paul

Let's just go down his issues one by one:

1. Pro-life: So the guy's a baby doctor, I can see why he might choose this. However, he is not a woman. It's a woman's choice. There so many reasons a woman would choose to end a pregnancy. Here are a few: conception as a result of rape, living in an abusive environment that the baby would be brought into, teenage pregnancy. These are just my opinions here. The second part of this argument is that SCOTUS will never overturn Roe v. Wade no matter how many people dislike it. They just don't do that sort of thing. So the whole pro-life debate is bunk. It merely exists to polarize the populace. A President cannot force the Supreme Court to do anything.

2. Healthcare: Well there's a few things I like here: provide tax credits and deductions for all medical expenses and guarantee that the tax dollars allotted to Medicare and Medicaid is not raided for other purposes. Other than that, he doesn't supply a remedy to getting every American insured. I'm uninsured. I'm lucky if I have the money to see a doctor.

3. Economy: Well he wants to end the death tax. The tax that only effects 10% of the population. That would be the super-rich. This tax will never effect me and I will never have to pay it as things are now. Does he propose any real solutions to the economy here? No.

4. National Defense: Here I almost agree with this guy 100%. He wants to avoid long and expensive land wars, he's against the Patriot Act, and he wants to follow the Constitution by asking Congress to declare war before one is waged. But he wants to get rid of the TSA. I feel safer with the TSA at airports. I think it's an important part of our security

5. Ending The Federal Reserve: That's just crazy. An overhaul would do.

6. Taxes: I can't argue with a flat tax

7. Homeschooling: Is that the alternative to fixing our nation's public school problems? How many families can afford to do that? That means one parent goes to work and the other becomes an in home teacher - an unqualified one at that. Bad idea.

8. Immigration: He wants no amnesty for the people already here illegally. How much will it cost to deport all of them?

10. Gun Rights: He wants to appeal the ban on assault weapons. Seriously?

11. Worker's Rights: According to Paul, they won't have any. He supports a right to work state, and wants a right to work nation. The term right to work is misleading - it really means you can fire someone for no reason. It protects employers, not workers. He's also VERY anti-labor union. Don't call your self a believer in workers rights when you just want to protect the businesses.

12. Energy: He want to allow drilling offshore. That's already being done. My dad is working offshore in Louisiana at this very moment. He also wants to lift government road blocks to coal and nuclear energy. I guess he doesn't care if the energy is clean or not. And he wants to eliminate the EPA. So the corporations can ruin our country's landscape without any repercussions. Great.


All in all, this sounds like a recipe for disaster. But please feel free to comment! This is the United States and everyone is entitled to their opinion. I would like to hear others feelings about this candidate as well.

Kids These Days

I am hanging out in San Diego this week while my boyfriend is attending a conference here. That's right: I'm unemployed AND on vacation. As if sitting at home for four weeks hasn't been vacation enough. Actually, it's been painfully boring. I'm a recovering workaholic.

San Diego is beautiful, although California is a strange place. It's sunny all the time but never hot. Being a Texan, I consider 68 degrees chilly. Today I went to the San Diego Museum of Art and saw their Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit, along with some Fragonard, Tintoretto, Modigliani, and El Greco. I'm sorry, but I still think that Georgia O'Keefe is boring. I know that must be anti-feminist or anti-American or something. Art is in the eye of the beholder anyhow.

We ended the day relaxing in the hotel hot tub. Almost everyone at the hotel is apart of this conference the boyfriend is at. So it wasn't surprising that the other hotel guest was in on it too. Actually, his Dad was. He was an 18 year old with some sort of tribal something or other that covered his shoulder down to his elbow. Not quite original. He told us he'd been coming to the conference with his father for the past ten years, loved San Diego, asked what my boyfriend did for a living, etc.

Somehow we got on the subject of Iraq. I honestly did not bring it up. In fact, I refrained from commenting. Not a new subject by any means, but the boy's perspective was a bit of a surprise to me. He said we wouldn't even have had to go to Iraq if they hadn't blown up our beloved buildings. Usually, I am very vocal about such a subject but this left me speechless. I had nothing to say. State of total shock. Sure, he's 18 and probably doesn't listen to NPR but seriously? I mean there's a lot of speculation (CIA planned it, neo-conservative agenda, etc.) but that is all conspiracy theory. Not one of the hijackers was from Iraq and Fox News can't even refute that.

As we got up to leave (because of the deafening silence that had blanketed the conversation) he asked me what I did for a living. I told him I was a student finishing my degree in Political Science with plans for a Masters in Social Work. He replied "How boring". Ignorance is bliss honey, ignorance is bliss.

Ode to Superwoman

Recently, I went to my first comic convention with my friend Jen and was dismayed, I warn you I know nothing about comics, that Superwoman (or maybe Super-girl) was blond. I actually found one action-figure that had black hair but it was pixie short. I was very disappointed. Every time something in my life goes wrong I ask "Why can't I be Superwoman?"

In my mind, Superwoman can do it all: have the career, the relationship, the family and somehow makes it all work. I guess she's my symbol of feminism, and a little sexier than Rosie the Riveter (admit it, Rosie's a little butch). She's fearless, she doesn't worry about how it's all going to work, she has a plan and a backup plan for everything and if it all falls to pieces she's creative enough to think of a new direction. This is the woman that I want to be.

There's a catch though. I have many women in my life that I look up to because they are brilliant and have had very successful careers. However, these women either lack a significant other or children or both. Therein lies my biggest fear: you can have one or the other but you cannot have both. The defiant bitch in me says "I can do anything I damn well want" and the skeptic agnostic in me says "give me proof". I have no proof, I only see one or the other.

On another note, I have decided to quit banging my head against a brick wall and go back to school, finish my undergrad and get a Masters in Social Work so I can actually land my dream job. This will take 2 1/2 years, which puts my Superwoman plans on hold yet again. And on the other front, let's just say it's been just me and the dog lately.

I should know better. Life never goes according to plan and I have had many examples of that in my life but I can't help but feel disappointed. I don't see any reason why I can't have it all - I just can't figure out how to get it. I know going back to school is a step in the right direction, but it also feels like three steps back. I was annoyed when I was 25 sitting in a class with eighteen and twenty year-olds, now I'm almost thirty.

So I guess I'm one of the faithless waiting for proof that it's is in fact possible to be Superwoman - with long black hair. I don't want to say that's it's easy for men, but it sure seems that the career thing is easier for them. Then again, they don't get maternity leave.

Someday I will have accomplished all of this, and when I do, I am going to go find a Superwoman action-figure with long black hair and put her in my big corner office.

Out of Balance

In case anyone was wondering, first day on the job was great. Waiting tables has not changed much since 2005. Short walk from my loft. Everyone was really friendly. Pretty laid back owner. I received the honor of being the oldest server at 28 years old. That would have really annoyed the old Grace. Now, older = smarter so they better watch out as I fly right past them.

I keep on thinking about my descent that has lead me to wait tables. Sure, I should have finished my degree already. Just two classes to go. But even if I had done that, my job prospects wouldn't be that much different. What does this mean when college educated people can't get jobs? I would conjecture that it is because this recession has greatly weakened the middle class. I'm not middle class anymore. I am a college educated waitress.

I don't think people are giving this recession enough thought. This economic state that we are in is going to affect is greatly in the long run. This morning in Paul Krugman's NYT column he said we'd lost 8 million jobs since the recession began and at the rate we are adding new jobs it would take us 5 years for employment to get back to pre-recession rates. Wow. I really hope that doesn't mean I'll be waiting tables for five years.

It just seems like the world has turned on it's head. Having an education was supposed to mean you could get a good job. I can't. I've been trying since last February. I can't make more than $12 an hour. It's really frustrating! If it really takes the job market five years to get back in order, will there be any middle class left?