MY BOGGY BLOG: find your way through the murk
Notes from the Homefront -- Theresa Jarosz Alberti, writer and mother... http://sapphire.albatross.org
I thought this was a very interesting article, especially in light of some of the Catholics I know for whom abortion is one of the main political issues. Remember how John Kerry promises that all children will be covered for health insurance? This alone could have a dramatic impact to reduce the number of abortions, which have gone way up since Bush took office. Please read:
Why abortion rate is up in Bush years
By GLEN HAROLD STASSEN and GARY KRANE
(published in The Houson Chronicle)
I, Glen, am a Christian ethicist, and trained in statistical analysis. I am consistently pro-life. My son David is one witness. For my family, "pro-life" is personal. My wife caught rubella in the eighth week of her pregnancy. We decided not to terminate, to love and raise our baby. David is legally blind and severely handicapped; he also is a blessing to us and to the world. Gary Krane is an investigative journalist.
We look at the fruits of political policies more than words. We analyzed the data on abortion during the Bush presidency. There is no single source for this information -- federal reports go only to the year 2000, and many states do not report -- but we found enough data to identify trends. Our findings are disturbing.
Abortion was decreasing. When President Bush took office, the nation's abortion rates were at a 24-year low, after a 17.4 percent decline during the 1990s. This was a steady decrease averaging 1.7 percent per year. (The data come from Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life using the Guttmacher Institute's studies.)
Enter George W. Bush in 2001. One would expect the abortion rate to continue its consistent course downward, if not plunge. Instead, the opposite happened.
We found four states that have posted three-year statistics: Kentucky's increased by 3.2 percent from 2000 to 2003. Michigan's increased by 11.3 percent from 2000 to 2003. Pennsylvania's increased by 1.9 percent from 1999 to 2002. Colorado's rates skyrocketed 111 percent. We found 12 additional states that reported statistics for 2001 and 2002. Eight states saw an increase in abortion rates (14.6 percent average increase), and four saw a decrease (4.3 percent average).
Under Bush, the decade-long trend of declining abortion rates appears to have reversed. Given the trends of the 1990s, 52,000 more abortions occurred in the United States in 2002 than would have been expected before this change of direction.
For anyone familiar with why most women have abortions, this is no surprise:
Two-thirds of women who have abortions cite "inability to afford a child" as their primary reason (Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life). In the Bush presidency, unemployment rates increased half again. Not since Herbert Hoover had there been a net loss of jobs during a presidency until the current administration. Average real incomes decreased, and for seven years the minimum wage has not been raised to match inflation. With less income, many prospective mothers fear another mouth to feed.
Half of all women who abort say they do not have a reliable mate. And men who are jobless usually do not marry. In the 16 states, there were 16,392 fewer marriages than the year before, and 7,869 more abortions. As male unemployment increases, marriages fall and abortion rises.
Women worry about health care for themselves and their children. Since 5.2 million more people have no health insurance now than before this presidency -- with women of childbearing age overrepresented in those 5.2 million -- abortion increases.
My wife and I know -- as does my son David -- that doctors, nurses, hospitals, medical insurance, special schooling and parental employment are crucial for a special child. David attended the Kentucky School for the Blind, as well as schools for children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities. He was mainstreamed in public schools as well. We have two other sons and five grandchildren, and we know that every mother, every father and every child needs public and family support.
What does this tell us? Economic policy and abortion are not separate issues; they form one moral imperative. Rhetoric is hollow, mere tinkling brass, without health care, insurance, jobs, child care and a living wage. Pro-life in deed, not merely in word, means we need a president who will do something about jobs, health insurance and support for mothers.
Glen Stassen is the Lewis B. Smedes Professor of Christian Ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary, in Pasadena, Calif. He can be e-mailed at gstassen@fuller.edu.
Krane is an independent investigative journalist in Philadelphia.Readers can write to him at 151 Tulpehocken, Philadelphia, PA 19144 or Coordinator@FairElections.us.
My twins, 13, are unable to stop talking to each other tonight. It is 11:30 pm, and older DS and DD keep wandering over to each other's rooms to continue their in-depth, heart-to-heart conversation after I get them separated and tell them to go to sleep. I'm not too annoyed because it seems so sweet that they are having this good moment of sharing interests and being able to talk about school. They are on the same level, and I know there are some annoying parts about that, but also some really good ones. So I'll let them have this slumber party moment, and hope they will stay connected and close as we muddle through the teen years. If you're going to be a twin, you might as well get the good stuff from it!
I think they're quieting down now... sshhh...
I just had one of those moments, one of those great moments! I was paging through one of the multitudinous toy and gift catalogs we start getting at this time of year. Even though I know the chances of me buying something from one of these catalogs is slim, I still like to just "look and see." This one was called "Museum Tour," and I'd never seen it before. As I'm paging through the middle of the catalog, a children's book stands out off the page to me. My first thought was "that looks interesting." Then I realized it was my book, "Out and About at the Planetarium!" I shrieked when I figured that out-- I was seeing my very own book in a catalog!
Fun fun fun! I shall have to write more books so I can have this happen again! :-)
Taking a break from politics today...
We are all big tea drinkers around here. DH and I also adore coffee, but there are so many delightful varieties of tea to try, especially when you're looking for something not caffeinated. I think we have a good 20 varieties in our kitchen now, if not more. It's one of those affordable luxuries!
But my children have all gotten addicted to peppermint tea. Older DS used to only do raspberry tea, younger DS was hooked on chai, but now they all three are consistent with the peppermint, with ahem, a lot of sugar added. (I avert my eyes when they're fixing their fix.)
I'm glad my kids like tea... it's a cozy habit and gives them a break from their marshmallow-laden hot cocoa!
Here is something I cannot understand-- why are people who I consider to be relatively intelligent Americans, why are they willing to vote for a president who has a proven bad record? I mean, this is stuff he has managed to accomplish in only 4 years. Off the top of my head, I can come up with these:
--taken us from a billion dollar government surplus to a billion dollar deficit.
--created a net worth of ZERO new jobs during his tenure, and unemployment is at an all time high.
--Despite his anti-abortion stance, under Bush, abortion rates have increased, with over 50,000 more abortions performed than were the case under Clinton's last four years.
--with Bill Clinton, the poverty level went down, while under Bush, the poverty level has increased substansially.
--our schools are suffering, even here in Minnesota where we have always prided ourselves on having a good education system. Our schools have received year after year of debilitating budget cuts. We can't afford paper for worksheets or communications! What we have is a promise of No Child Left Behind, which Bush has pushed but never funded.
--the economy sucks, and Bush keeps saying we're turning the corner. And where are the facts to back that up?
--millions and millions of Americans have no health care, and many more millions of us who have managed to patch together some health care for ourselves are just getting by with high deductibles and a hope that we really don't get sick. How can our country let millions of our children have no healthcare? And how will a medical savings plan help the poor if they have no money to put into a medical savings plan?
--What about Halliburton? Does no one care how slimy it is that our vice president profits off the very war he led us into? Nothing we've all heard about Haliburton is good.
--What about the findings of the 9/11 commission, that there were indeed memos and warnings about the possibility of such an attack in the months before it happened, but Bush and his administration did nothing about those warnings? And somehow folks feel safer with this kind of a president, one who had a month-long vacation right before 9/11, after only 8 months in office?
--And need I mention the lies Bush told to us, the American people, to rush us into war with Iraq? He didn't trust us enough to be totally honest with us about his intentions and reasons, and yet we are supposed to trust him with the safety of our country?
--Okay, how many American soldiers have died in Iraq now? And tell me, is there really any end in sight? What about the numbers on how many soldiers have been injured, or the statistics we never hear on how many Iraqi citizens have been killed in this war?
--What about Bush's record in the international community? He said in the debates that sometimes you just have to do the "right thing" and not listen to what other people say about you. But how good of a thing is it that we are living in a world with so much anti-American sentiment for what Bush has done in the last 4 years?
Gee, I could go on and on with this.
So, Bush-supporters, what about this record makes you feel safe? What makes you feel like we will be better off in 4 years? He has taken our country in a downward spiral, and yet I hear the people on the radio talking about Bush's values and his vision and plan for the future. What??? What were his values in lying to his country about weapons of mass destruction? What vision has he to undo the harm he has already done to schools and the economy and citizens in need of jobs and healthcare? Who has he shown his real allegiance to-- the wealthy upper class? Big business?
Doesn't his record speak for itself? I have to wonder if anybody out there is really listening...
Imagine Charlie Brown's Snoopy dancing with joy as he does with his head back and a sublime grin on his face.
For many years now, aided by the onslaught of depression, laundry has been a tough nut in our home. The laundry pile always looked like a mountain and I would procrastinate and just plain forget about doing it until the desperation point (i.e., I have no underwear left). The laundry room always stunk of damp dingy clothing. I tried to get the kids to help, and that was just as much work. DH helped a lot, but basically resorted to doing his own laundry seperately because of the tensions our laundry situation was causing. Basically, if you threw down a favorite shirt, you might not see it again for, ahem, a few months.
Need I mention that the laundry pile was a source of shame and anxiety for me?
It is only in the last few weeks that I have come up with what I think is a great solution for my family. I looked at our old laundry ritual-- basically, it was everyone throws down their clothes to the laundry room, where it was to be sorted into whites, light colors, dark colors, etc. Then it was washed, dried, and brought up to the living room to be sorted into piles for each person. By the time we got to this phase, there were usually 7 baskets of clean laundry that needed to be sorted, another huge job. And then getting everyone to put away their clean clothes was another problem.
Our new system is much simpler. Everyone has a hamper to put their dirty laundry in. When it is full, it is to be brought downstairs to be washed-- if there is enough clothing, it can be divided into lights and darks. If not, just dump it all in (this is obviously not a perfectionistic way to do laundry!). When washed and dried, then that person can take all their clean clothes and put them away. Note how the need to sort the laundry at all is eliminated. :-)
Eventually, I hope the kids will be responsible for their own laundry. Older DS and DD can probably manage that now, but younger DS is not anywhere near there yet. I am just happy because my laundry room floor is free of a mountain and the smell is gone! And best of all, this is a laundry system I can live with. It takes the big chore of laundry for me and reduces it down to a simple chore.
You can hum along the "Linus and Lucy" tune while I dance!
1. Younger DS, almost 10, is very excited to go to a Halloween sleepover party that his gymnastics program is sponsoring tomorrow night. He wants to go, and he wants to sleep over, even though he really doesn't know any of the other kids hardly at all. He is just looking forward to it with anticipation, no fear or worry about being there overnight and not knowing anyone. Better than I would do!
2. Older DS, 13, came up to me at Savers thrift store today and told me he saw a book he thinks I would like. I told him to bring it over, and it was "Sea Biscuit." I was thrilled-- I have wanted to read the book ever since I heard the author speak, a woman who won awards for this book and wrote it while she was very ill with chronic fatigue syndrome. She could barely get out of bed. I told DS how happy I was that he'd found it for me, and he humbly said he knew I liked the movie. It was so nice to know he understands a bit of me!
3. In an effort to get the living room clean and try something new, since it usually is very tedious to try and get the kids to clean, I told younger DS that he was the "project leader" for getting the LR clean (a la The Apprentice). He was in charge of telling the older kids what to do, and making sure it got all done (with his help, of course). I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but I know usually younger DS has a hard time focusing on tasks. He thought of doing Survivor Immunity Challenges to get them all to clean fast (oh yes, our reality TV watching is showing!), and before I knew it they were all running around fast and cleaning to complete challenges. It worked!
3. While younger DS is still the annoying little brother to her a lot, DD has been having her extended moments with him a lot lately, where she and he will have heart to hearts and cuddle times... it really is so sweet. Especially when I remember her as a littel girl of 3 when her new baby brother came along, and she wanted nothing to do with him. She didn't want to hold him or acknowledge him! And now look at 'em!
As we near the election, I've decided to wear my Kerry-Edwards button everywhere, just to put it out there as my statement to the world. It would be nice if this influenced someone to vote for K/E, but even in it doesn't, my preferences are out there, my wish spoken.
Mostly I forget I'm wearing it, and then I'm a little surprised when someone starts talking to me about the election. Luckily, I've had only positive experiences with this-- not people ranting their opposite views at me, but folks just telling me something election-related, like a store clerk who had Kerry's campaign manager come through the line, or someone else telling me a comment they heard. I guess my button puts it out there that I am a political being and open to political talk. I am curious what I'll hear in the next few weeks!
We've never had a neighborhood cat like Bella before. Our next-door neighbors own two cats, and one of them is a black long-haired, green-eyed beauty named Bella. She used to be a stray, so she has a lot of interesting ways of charming herself into your life.
First of all, she's very friendly, coming over to say hi and beg for a petting whenever we come out of the house. She tries to milk the pettings for all she can, content to have you sit on your steps and pet her for a l-o-n-g time.
Bella has devoloped quite a reputation around the neighborhood for inviting herself into any home she can get into. She has sneaked into our house many times, waiting by the door and making a dash for it when I'm getting the mail. Or when I'm trying to get into the house and need to unlock the door. Once inside, she finds great hiding places like the kids' messy rooms, or upstairs where we have unfinished spaces. Once she was upstairs in a crawl space and we couldn't get her out. So I left the door to the upstairs open, and 45 minutes later she come downstairs. Other neighbors have told us of Bella's visits to their homes. I heard she even spent an afternoon napping with one neighbor!
The worst was when she sneaked into our van when I was unpacking groceries. I didn't know she was in there until I opened the car 5 hours later and she jumped out. Thank goodness it wasn't a hot day or we would have had a cooked cat in the car, instead of the little "present" she left instead.
She likes to hang out in our backyard, too. I didn't realize we had any mice back there until I'd seen Bella skulking around my weedy garden. She'd pounce and come up with a mouse in her mouth, which she went onto play with.
I would like to get a cat someday, but right now we really can't. So until then, it seems like we have a cat anyway, since Bella has adopted us. Thank you Ms. Bella!
If you haven't heard of it before, it sounds like a foreign language phrase. Nanowrimo stands for National Novel Writing Month, and it is an event in which folks sign up online and pledge to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, during the month of November. The point of it all is just to get yourself writing, to push yourself to write fast and furious and not worry about quality. The theory behind Nanowrimo is that many people will say "one day I'd like to write a novel." One day never comes, though. But if you specifically say, "I'm going to write a novel in a month," you have narrowed it down, given yourself a goal. And when you join the online and local communities of people who are also doing Nanowrimo, you find a great support system that helps you to make your goal and makes it fun, too.
On Saturday, I went to a bookfest downtown and Chris Baty, the creator of Nanowrimo 6 years ago, was speaking there and signing his new book about doing a Nanowrimo ("No Plot, No Problem," very funny and practical). He is a tall, bald-in-a-cool-way guy from California (but he grew up in the Midwest so he's a bit more grounded). He's very witty with a great sense of humor, and was truly delighted to meet all of us local Wrimos who came out to see him. He even stuck around an extra day to go to a Nanowrimo party at Z's place on Sunday (I couldn't go).
I did Nanowrimo for the first time last year, and I am signed up again this year. I finished last year on the last day of November, and it was such a high. I danced around the house, and my family all cheered for me. I still have the novel in revision stage and plan to finish it, but now I've got a new one to write in November. Should be fun! Scary, but fun!
We've been having this wonderful autumn this year. Gorgeous warm days in the 70s, lots of sunsine, and now the leaves are turning, all those reds and golds and browns and pale greens. I love autumn-- the colors the smells, the crackly leaves on the ground, the invitation to coziness at night. Now the weatherfolks are telling us that a cold spell is a comin', and we'll have temps no higher than the 40s by next weekend. It's hard to believe in sudden changes sometimes. I am wearing my sandals today, another day, and probably not tomorrow.
Of course, for a mom, the change of seasons brings a change of wardrobes, too, and that's not one of my favorite tasks. I'm never very organized and so we are at the last minute trying to find the warm jackets and sweaters and do they even fit these fast-growing kids? Older DS grew noticeably in August alone and now some hulking guy. I'd better firgure out if anything at all fits!
I've had two ladybugs or their Asian counterparts hanging around my writing nook for the last few days. I just let them out the window, telling them to enjoy one more warm day. So will I.
Yesterday, a few neighborhood kids and parents came together to raise funds to save the Brackett Park rocket. The rocket is a wonderful old piece of playground equipment that kids have climbed on for 40 years. It was the centerpiece of our park, and it was recently taken down because we are getting a new playground. While the park board has insisted we can never have the rocket as a play toy again, they have allowed that we can raise money to have it restored and brought back as a memento and a thing of art. None of us in the neighborhood are quite satisfied with that, but we are taking what we can get at this point. Right now the rocket is in storage, awaiting next spring and the funds to proceed.
The car was went from 9 am to 2 pm and raised $250, which is about 50 cars at $5 a piece. We did have different kids and adults coming and going, but it was a lot like a party. DH and DD held signs and bantered with passing cars to come in and get a wash. We had buckets and rags and soap and it was sunny and warm, so we didn't mind getting wet. It was in the DQ parking lot (DQ, thanks for the space and the water) so we got to have treats afterward, too. I was so exhausted when we were done I took a nap, but it was a great way to spend a wonderfully warm October day. And the kids learned a lot, too. About how you can raise some substansial funds, about working to save something, and about joining together with others to get the job done.
I happened to catch famous writer E.L. Doctorow reading his editorial about the president on the radio the other day. I was so impressed that I hunted it down on the Internet when I got home. It's political, of course, and very well written. I encourage everyone to read it. Here's the link:
http://www.easthamptonstar.com/20040909/col5.htm
My twin 13 year olds are pretty lucky in the job category. About a year ago, they stumbled on a great opportunity, to read manuscripts for a local publisher and get paid to give their comments about it. We heard about this opportunity from someone at church. They will get a manuscript every few months, have a month to read it (usually fiction) and send in their review. They get $80 for each review. "Do you know how many hours I had to babysit when I was your age to make that kind of money?" I said to my daughter.
She argued back that $80 today wasn't like $80 back then, so even if it was the same as, let's say, $50 when I was a kid, I would have had to babysit about 40-50 hours to make $50!
This is pretty good money for a 13 year old. And wouldn't be bad for a 40 year old, either! I'm jealous!
And then there's the decision of how much they should save and how much they can spend. I'll save that topic for another day...
Today the Al Franken Show of Air America Radio came to Minneapolis for a live radio show at the Pantages Theatre. DH and I eagerly attended, with DH even getting there 3 hours early to wait in line. The show was free, but there was a $100 reception before the show where you could meet Al and have some treats. Before I got there, DH was waiting at the beginning of the line and some fellow came out of the reception and asked DH if he wanted a ticket to the reception. So DH was in the meet-and-greet, and got to shake Al's hand.
When I arrived, I was surprised to see my brother outside the doors-- he'd come to see the show, too (it's nice that someone in my extended family shares my political views!), and told me that DHwas inside already. I thought this meant that DHwas at the front of the line and was waiting inside, but he was actually at the reception. Unknowingly, I barged my way into he reception, telling those at the door that someone was waiting for me in there. I had no ticket... and didn't realize I needed one. DH was surprised that I managed it... I guess ignorance is bliss!
The show was a real hoot. Al Franken is so witty and wacky. I watched him on Saturday Night Live when it first started, back when I was about 14 and the show was considered somewhat scandalous. Of course I wanted to watch it and my parents didn't want me to, but back then I was out babysitting most Saturday nights so I watched it and loved it. Talking about SNL with friends was one of our favorite activities.
Anyway, Al was a lot of fun, and his co-host is Katherine Lanpher, who I listened to on the Mid-morning MPR show for many years. She is a great match for Al's zanyness. Guests on the show today were: Tom Davis (Al's old comedy partner), Leo Kottke (my favorite guitar player), Mpls Mayor RT Ryback, Walter Mondale, and Michael Stipe from REM. It was fun to see how they put this radio show on, and the whole audience spent a lot of time laughing and clapping and hooting and hollering.
Sigh. It was great. You had to be there...
Even though it is not as much work to have a party for the 13 year old age group, I was absolutely exhausted last night. I think all their boisterous (and girlsterous) energy wore me out.
A good time was had by all, and my daughter was on Cloud 999 afterwards. One guest said he would go home and brush his teeth for a half hour straight, after all the cake and ice cream and pop consumed, not to mention the marshmallows they toasted at our campfire. The kitchen floor has a fine coating of all sorts of crumbs this morning!
Now it's off to a day of helping out at the school book fair, dropping DD off at her class, helping the DSs to motivate on their homework, attend a school meeting, then attend a church council meeting in the evening, where I get to be secretary. What's for dinner? And who is making it? I hope someone has these answers, because right now I don't!
"Take ten or so new teens, add bowls of chips and popcorn, some pop and licorice, mix in a pile of games and videos, be prepared for lots of running around and doors slamming and squealing. Later add plenty of pizza and cake and ice cream. Your party should be done in about 6 hours. Enjoy!"
So today we are having DD's 13th birthday party, exactly 2 months late. She's been a good sport about waiting because with a summer birthday, it is hard to find a day when all your friends can come, and September ended up being so busy on the weekends (on of the reasons being we were throwing MY big b-day bash). This is the first year in about 6 years that she hasn't wanted a sleepover. She has 2 friends who are boys and she hasn't been able to invite them to her sleepover parties, so this year she wanted an all-day party. That is fine with me-- less work and hassle, and I get to sleep at night!
She has had her friends over for a party before, and they are a good group of kids. They are still goofy kids who just like to tease and play and joke around. They don't need a lot of supervision, so I've set out the snacks and have crept up to my writing nook. Later I go back down for the pizza dinner.
We're into the teens now, with a group of kids hanging out in my house. It is going to be so interesting to see how things change over the next few years. I hope the kids will keep feeling comfortable about hanging out here. I like knowing that they can have fun and just be together here... all the while I get to see what's happening.