Business that are Pro-Repeal Ohio Senate Bill 5

Proud Ohio Workers aims to ensure small businesses across Ohio can remain open. They draw connections between small businesses suffering and the attack on public workers rights. Essentially, cutting pay, benefits, etc of public employees will cut the profits of small businesses. They are asking businesses that support Ohio workers to place a sticker in their window.

So they organized, on their site you can look up businesses in your city that support Ohio workers. A few of my favorites: Mac-Back's books and Hot Sauce Williams. Both of these are as awesome as they sound. Mac-Back's on Coventry Road next to Tommy's (who is curiously missing from this list). They're pretty rad. Hot Sauce Williams is a colorful place (seriously blue and hot pink) on Carnegie Road. I went there once, but couldn't eat because I was vegan at the time, and I'm pretty sure everything had an animal product. Also, you needed a police escort to the bathroom, which makes me feel special. Regardless they rock pretty hard there.

A list of partners can be found here. Also below you can see a map of where all these businesses are. All that blue makes me proud.

Health Care as a Human Right at least in Vermont

Those commies. Vermont's health care unions and activists were able to celebrate last week when Vermont governor signed the first bill authorizing health care as a human right for all residents. Vermont is kind of shiney with their universal public education and health care.

The legislation sets up a panel to figure out how to pay for the system. The panel will likely create public funds to pay for all health care bills instead of relying on private insurers. The businesses would pay into a common fund, and health care wouldn't be tied to employment. The idea is to lower health care costs and produce healthier populations.

I read this story over at Labor Notes.

Book Review: An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin

Okay, I had no idea what to expect from this book when I found it except that I love Steve Martin and I thought maybe it would be good. I saw the movie for Shopgirl, which I really liked, so I thought I would give this book a try.

A few things. First, Lacey Yeager is one of the best female characters written by a man in a while. Hm. That may be unfair, but she was definitely a breath of fresh air compared to Franzen's vapid Patty from Freedom. I hated Patty so much that I still can't muster a review for that book. Anyway, Lacey is smart and conniving and witty and I think I've fallen under her spell as well.

Second, any book where I can tell the writer did his/her homework is a good one. This book goes into such incredible detail about the art community in New York that I felt like I was there. I don't know a whole lot about great art, but I did know a lot of the names dropped in this book (Picasso, Warhol, etc.) and was very interested in the ones I was unfamiliar with. I can't even begin to imagine how many years he had to research just to write this book. I am totally blown away by this, and perhaps he is just an art fan and didn't have to do much at all beyond putting artists' names with their famous pieces, but it was incredible either way.

Finally, I love when books are narrated like this one was. The narrator was only kind of a main character and we hear the entire story through his perspective, but with first person information from Lacey. There were some parts where I wondered "How the heck would he know that?" since Lacey is really the main character, but I really enjoyed it nonetheless.

Anyway, I don't want to say much more than this and risk giving anything away. I will say one final thing and that is that the ending of this book was perfect.

5/5

Wisconsin anti-union law is void

For now anyway.

Judge Maryann Sumi, Dane County, voided the law because she claims Republican lawmakers violated the state's open meetings law by rushing through during massive protests at the state Capitol (you remember the one's where citizens occupied the Capitol building). The one Scott Walker was trying to make a name for himself by getting passed. [Aside apparently, Walker is begging Republicans to help him because he is so afraid of the recalls.]

Of course the law eliminates all collective bargaining rights for public sector unions except for pay, which is useless if they can't bargain about anything else. The law has been in limbo while the case was heard. Sumi was appointed by former Republican Governor Tommy Thompson (immature giggles). Sumi ruled against the law and said legislators had the opportunity to correct their violation without admitting error, but they choose not to.

The legislators were understandably frustrated by the stalemate existing on March 9, but that does not justify jettisoning compliance with the open meetings law in an attempt to move the budget repair bill to final action," Sumi wrote.

"Moreover, if there is any doubt as to the committee's awareness of its violation, one need only read the short transcript of the committee's March 9 proceedings.

Finally

Dear Steve Martin,

Thank you for putting a strong female main character who isn't bitchy, whiny, vapid, or unfunny in your book. I applaud your ability to write a female character with some actual depth.

Love,
Cari

P.S. You're the greatest... Just, you know, all the time.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Arab Nations Embraced Revolution, but not their domestic laborers

I came across this article from earlier this year, and thought it was worth a look. Written by Simba Russeau, the article rehashes the many horrors domestic laborers can suffer despite the uprising sweeping the Arab world. The domestic laborers are not benefiting from these uprisings. Like domestic workers stateside many invisible to most people. They suffer abuses like confinement and rape.

The article continues to discuss how many of the workers run away from their employers and head to their embassies, but because of lack of funds the embassies frequently can not send the workers back to their country of origin.

According to an article in the Saudi magazine Sayidaty:

A survey by the Saudi magazine Sayidaty titled ‘Maids Rights’ reveals that more than three million maids in the Arab world are subjected to conditions akin to slavery.

The survey found that across several countries such as Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, an absence of laws regulating the relationship between domestic workers and their employers allows abuse to run rampant.

Many of the stories in the article focused on rape and slavery. Pointing out often the domestic laborers have to pay their employers for room and board, which consumes most if not all of her check. The article points out the domestic laborers are recruited by the same means many women are into the sex trade by a promise of a good job that results in something entirely different once out of their country of origin. They are leaving places of great poverty for work aboard. A number of things influence the increase and demand for domestic laborers in the Arab world. One of which is the increasing number of Arab women entering the workforce.

Another startling figure:

According to a study by the Centre for Women and Gender Studies, nearly 85 percent of the United Arab Emirates population of four million is migrant workers. In Bahrain and Saudi Arabia 65 percent of the workforce are expats. In Kuwait it is 82 percent, and in Qatar almost 90 percent.

None of this information is new to those would are aware of domestic laborer issues. Nor are these issues limited to the Arab world. They can be seen everywhere including the West.

I'm growing more concerned about the rhetoric being employed to frame the narrative of domestic laborer the same way I dislike the rhetoric around sex work. There appears to be infantilization in and the foundations for a rescue industry to grow around it.

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=54665

Beyonce's Bill of Goods.

This rocks my world. I'm not a Beyonce fan. I've never heard this song. But I do like some old school gangster rap. And I know I have 99 problems, and you can finish that.

Yeah, women are equal now Beyonce said so...

Where was the rapture?

Alright, on any given day I'm an atheist, on a particularly optimistic day I'm an agnostic. But even so, I was really excited about the rapture. Two main reasons come to mind immediately.

1. Zombie Jesus, King of the Zombies

2. Fewer believers.

The whole point of the rapture is Jesus takes a whole bunch of people with him leaving the rest of us behind. Sign me up for that; take them. The fewer of these people in my immediate vicinity the better. And as many of you know, I'm well prepared for the zombie apocalypse. So all and all I was pretty sad this didn't go down.

Finally, my brother in law and sister were in this weekend, not for the rapture, but they were interviewed about it by local DC news. Frank was also a little sad this didn't go down. Of course, we didn't really know when this was supposed to go down. I figure these "believers" are so US-centric that rapture ground zero would have had to be in the US. But nothing.

I give this rapture a 0.5 out of 5.

Ohio vs. Women

This is absolutely insane. Ohio representing how awesomely ridiculous we can be. So this video of Rachel Maddow interviewing Connie Schultz, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Senator Sherrod Brown's wife, discussing specifically Ohio's Heartbeat bill. I won't ruin the video for you. Schultz and Maddow kick ass and take names while Ohio Republicans look like fools.

Schultz expresses complete shock that Ohio is leading the nation in anti-women legislation and the dangerous trend that has been ushered in by newly elected officials, specifically officials who campaigned on creating jobs and cutting spending.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Vampire Apocalypse: Averted

As many of you know I'm very afraid of a vampire apocalypse. Not because I fear the undead (who has two thumbs and is totes ready for a zombie apocalypse? This girl), but rather I fear Edward Cullen. I like my monsters ready to kill and feed on me, not creepy stalkers that manipulate you into violent relationships.

Regardless, there has been a discovery of a specific bacteria that prevents the spreading malaria. So this bacteria kills off any mosquitoes infected preventing the mosquito from infecting people. So a break down: the Anopheles Gambiae is the malaria carrying mosquito. This mosquito has been killing people for a very long time (and as John Stewart pointed out mosquito net money probably was used as bail money for former leader of the IMF, Strauss-Kahn). According to io9.com, researchers are operating with two plans to combat malaria:

1. Malaria proof mosquitoes
2. Shooting mosquitoes with lasers (sure its a joke, but what about when the Skrulls descend? I think we should keep working on this)

So a little more about this magical bacteria that kills malaria carrying mosquitoes?

Wolbachia is a bacteria that preys on insects. It is not carried by the type of mosquito that carries the malaria parasite. Scientists guessed that it might be fatal to this type of mosquito, and infected them with two different strains of Wolbachia, hoping for a way to kill off the carriers to stop the spread of the disease. The bacteria spread quickly, and even seemed to manipulate the mosquitos' immune systems to give itself the run of the insect's body. What's more, it inhibited the growth of malaria in the insects. But they didn't seem to die. They sucked down the sugar that the scientists provided them quite happily, and lived quite healthily. Then they were fed blood, and died in a day.

Not only does this bacteria seem like a good way or reducing the amount of mosquitos that feed on blood, it actively prevents a mosquito from dining on infected blood, and then moving on and infecting another person. This could be a good way to keep the spread of malaria under control.

So as far as I'm concerned this is great, and no not because of all the lives it will save, but because now we have a solution against vampires. Now back to looking for a cure for werewolves.

Congress vs. Women: H.R. 3 Passes the House

H.R. 3, No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion, or Super Hyde has passed in the House. So let's break down the how this bill passed and what it would do.

The bill passed at 251 to 175 with 6 representatives not voting. How does that break down by states that I'm affiliated with?

Ohio
Aye	OH-1	Chabot, Steven [R]
Aye	OH-2	Schmidt, Jean [R]
Aye	OH-3	Turner, Michael [R]
Aye	OH-4	Jordan, Jim [R]
Aye	OH-5	Latta, Robert [R]
Aye	OH-6	Johnson, Bill [R]
Aye	OH-7	Austria, Steve [R]
Aye	OH-9	Kaptur, Marcy [D]
No	OH-10	Kucinich, Dennis [D]
No	OH-11	Fudge, Marcia [D]
Aye	OH-12	Tiberi, Patrick [R]
No	OH-13	Sutton, Betty [D]
Aye	OH-14	LaTourette, Steven [R]
Aye	OH-15	Stivers, Steve [R]
Aye	OH-16	Renacci, Jim [R]
No	OH-17	Ryan, Timothy [D]
Aye	OH-18	Gibbs, Bob [R]

Maryland
Aye	MD-1	Harris, Andy [R]
No	MD-2	Ruppersberger, C.A. [D]
No	MD-3	Sarbanes, John [D]
No	MD-4	Edwards, Donna [D]
No	MD-5	Hoyer, Steny [D]
Aye	MD-6	Bartlett, Roscoe [R]
No	MD-7	Cummings, Elijah [D]
No	MD-8	Van Hollen, Christopher [D]

Virginia
Aye	VA-1	Wittman, Rob [R]
Aye	VA-2	Rigell, E. [R]
No	VA-3	Scott, Robert [D]
Aye	VA-4	Forbes, J. [R]
Aye	VA-5	Hurt, Robert [R]
Aye	VA-6	Goodlatte, Robert [R]
Aye	VA-7	Cantor, Eric [R]
No	VA-8	Moran, James [D]
Aye	VA-9	Griffith, H. [R]
Aye	VA-10	Wolf, Frank [R]
No	VA-11	Connolly, Gerald [D]

Anyone in Marcy Kaptur's district? Time for her to lose her seat.

So what does this bill say?

It codifies the Hyde Amendment, which has never been made permanent law. But it is so much worse.

• Codifies the Hyde Amendment concept into federal law;
• Extends the ban to any health care plan that accepts federal funds, regardless of whether those particular funds are being used to provide abortions;
• Includes tax exemptions and other benefits in the definition of “federal funds”. This is a dramatic expansion of scope that will raise costs for customers of the 87% of all private insurance plans that currently do cover abortion.

Private health care plans would more than likely drop abortion coverage because of the denial of tax benefits. And again we're talking about "forcible rape" opposed to rape. I'm really concerned about what the tax aspects of this bill. Additionally, this just demonstrates how much conservatives do not care about women's health and prioritize it so low.

President Obama says he will veto the bill if it passes the Senate, but I don't think it will. However, this is still worth talking about because it is one Boehner can put in his win column and indicative of how women's health is going to be continued to be employed as an easy target.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-3

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/02/22/948252/-S02E04:-HR-3-Compared-to-Hyde

Osama Bin Laden is Dead

The celebratory nature of the media, friends, and family is particularly concerning to me. Bin Laden was a very bad man, but I'm not interested in statements of evil. He had a family, and he was a person. Doesn't that mean anything? Sadly, no.

Perhaps my feelings stem from my stance on the death penalty. I do not feel closure at Bin Laden's death, and I most definitely do not feel safer. Now, a new leader of Al Qaeda will be named, and he'll have to assert his dominance. Nor do I believe his death will lead an end to the many wars we are involved in.

I'm watching Obama's statement on Bin Laden's death. I guess the positive is that US citizens will feel some kind of closure, but that does not mean we should be playing beach ball outside the White House in celebration. I suppose I'll get some negative feedback for this, but I hope Bin Laden finds peace in death. Peace he denied so many when he was alive, and peace I'm sure he's never felt while he was alive.