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Below are the 13 most recent journal entries recorded in
ciardhapagan's InsaneJournal:
| Friday, July 4th, 2008 | |
| 8:25 pm | Declaration of Objections by annabellep- to be posted and shared everywhere Declaration of Objections July 4, 2008 by annabellep When, in the course of U. S. Presidential Elections, it becomes necessary for one portion of a political party to assume among the people of the nation a position different from that which they have previously occupied, but one to which the laws of nature and of their Constitution entitle them, a decent respect for the opinions of fellow citizens requires that they should declare the causes that impel them to such a course. In agreement with generations who have gone before us, we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed at birth with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it, and to insist upon the institution of a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form as to seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness. Prudence will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for transient causes; and accordingly experience has shown that citizens are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the political structures to which they are accustomed. But political parties are not governments, and when a long train of abuses and usurpations evinces a design to reduce them under authoritarianism, it is their duty to throw off such a political party, and to provide different representation for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of many in the Democratic Party, and it is this suffering which compels them to now demand the representation to which they are entitled. The recent history of both parties is a history of repeated injuries on the part of elected officials against the electors, having in direct object the establishment of authoritarian power over them, for the purpose of profit. This has rendered the Democratic Party unrecognizable to ordinary citizens. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. Objections The members of the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and By-Laws Committee violated The DNC charter on May 31, 2008 by meeting in private, in direct violation of the Sunshine Rules Provision of said Charter. On that same day, the Democratic Party grossly violated ethical standards when it awarded four delegates to candidate Barack Obama based on actual votes for candidate Hillary Clinton, and in addition, awarded him delegates based on votes for “Uncommitted.” Earlier in the campaign season, the Democratic Party violated its own Delegate Selection Rules by applying penalties to only two states who broke Section 11 calendar rules, even though five states broke those rules. In addition, Florida and Michigan were originally stripped of 100% of their delegates, even though the rules stipulated a 50% penalty. The decisions of the RBC meeting mentioned above are evidence of sexism and authoritarianism within the ranks of the Democratic Party. Caucuses are a violation of the one-person, one-vote and secret ballot principles that have been cornerstone Democratic values for more than a century. They produced a skewed and unfair result this primary season. Caucus states are also over-represented in the pledged delegate count, in violation of the one-person, one-vote principle. Sexism was allowed to flourish as never before not only because of the behavior of the mainstream media, but also by the actions of many in the progressive online community, the stark silence of the Democratic Leadership and because ordinary Americans, male and female, engaged in it as long as it advanced their favored candidate. Barack Obama and his campaign exploited racial issues in the primary campaign, which risks setting back the Civil Rights movement, and cynical Democratic leaders, as well as some ordinary Democrats, approved of this campaign tactic. The voices of 18 million voters who supported Hillary Clinton have been illegitimately silenced, ridiculed, and subjected to outright fabrications on the part of the mainstream press and the Internet press. The evidence is present, for anyone who wants to see it, that authoritarian tendencies fueled by greed are on the rise in the Democratic Party. Now, in view of the dismissal of one-half the Democratic voters of this primary season, their social degradation, in view of the unjust actions above mentioned, and in view of the disenfranchisement of the voters in two states, and because we do feel ourselves aggrieved, oppressed, and fraudulently deprived of a free and fair primary election, we insist that the Democratic Party address our objections, or risk the loss of our votes come November. In entering upon the work before us, we anticipate no small amount of misconception, misrepresentation, and ridicule; but we will use every instrument within our power to affect our objectives. We will employ agents, circulate tracts and flyers, blog, advertise in all media, petition state and national Democratic leadership, and endeavor to enlist the press in our behalf. Resolutions Resolved, that the Democratic Party must seat the full Michigan and Florida delegation in adherence to the thoroughly Democratic principle of one-person, one-vote. Resolved, that Michigan delegates must be awarded according to the actual votes cast, specifically that Hillary Clinton must be given 73 delegates and Barack Obama must be given 0 (zero). Resolved, that Hillary Clinton’s name must be offered on the first roll call at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August of 2008, in accordance with tradition for 16 of the last 18 Democratic National Conventions. Resolved, that caucuses should be abolished, and the Democratic Primary system in its entirety must be reformed to better reflect the one-person, one-vote principle, as well as the equal representation principle enshrined in the Constitution. Resolved, that millions of women and men alike no longer think of the Democratic Party as the party for women’s issues, or for equality and fairness, or for the protection of abortion rights, and will no longer vote for them based on such criteria. Resolved, that the cynical exploitation of cultural issues will not be rewarded with votes, and that it is part of the PUMA mission to educate the electorate about such abuses. Resolved, that the PUMA movement is comprised of traditional and loyal Democrats who have carefully watched and recorded the events of the 2008 Primary campaign season. Resolved, that 18 million Americans voted for Hillary Clinton, more than any other presidential primary candidate in history, and they have a right to help shape the agenda and processes of the Democratic Party. |
| Wednesday, January 9th, 2008 | |
| 6:34 pm | Hillary Clinton Wins New Hampshire Primary! :) The clueless pundits had me between laughing and yelling- for why Clinton won. They got the numbers and who- women voted for her overwhelming, especially women 40 and over (both single and married from all socioeconomic levels. They kept talking about how the 40 and over women had voted for Hillary and that's why she won, but then proceeded to be totally clueless on why. I was yelling "Duh! Morons, ever heard of feminism?" Democratic women 40 and over (like myself- 41 years old) tend to be supportive of feminism, and Hillary has a good record on women's issues, and is a smart and capable politician who got smeared by the press and a few drive bys from Obama and Edwards too. The women of this party are sick and tired of being patronized and ignored (By both the party and by all the media, including so called progressive media like Air America and blogs like Daily Kos) and made their feelings quite well known in New Hampshire. Oh and they wondered why in Iowa it was "just" the women 60 and older who chose Hillary. Easy- in a caucus, just like in most political public conversations women get shut down and pressured by men. The women 60 and over tend to more likely to be single women- widowed, and more years older than most the men as to not be intimidated by some arrogant "boy" trying to shut them down. In NH it was a primary, thus private vote, alone in the booth forty something women didn't have to deal with any males pressuring her to vote something other than her concious. Another blogger speaking on this, and she isn't as much a liberal feminist as I am, but I think if you in any way truly supportive of feminism you would have seen it and reacted. http://firedoglake.com/2008/01/09/m I'd just like to see other progressives besides my "sister" fourty-something liberal feminist blogger friends on live journal call the sexist "progressive" media- Daily Kos, most Air America hosts, a fair number of Huffington Post bloggers, Ampersand, etc... on their sexism. We are progressives that means treating women of all colors, socioeconomic class, sexual orientations with the same respect you do of men of the same. That respect isn't there. Women's issues are belittled and ignored the same as in the mainstream media. Democratic women, especially those of us 40 and older, are pissed off and sick of this. We'll support the candidate who has the best record and is most supportive on women's issues, and that's Hillary Clinton. Gloria Steinem's commentary, very good points from a second waver feminist veteran: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/opini And read Ginmar's entry for links to even more vile sexist responses in the media. Prepare to be shocked at just how ugly it can get, if you are 40 and over you've experienced this level of misogyny in some fashion so be prepared for the level of outrage it will bring back from your own experiences, for the teens and twenty-somethings- yes this level of sexism isn't a thing of the past in the books you've read, it's been there hidden from you under the veneer. For the thirty-somethings, if you in your mid-late 30's you likely saw some of this too, although probably not at this level directly in your face. This is what women face when they "dare" to be strong and take on leadership positions: http://ginmar.livejournal.com/1297508.h |
| Thursday, December 27th, 2007 | |
| 10:14 am | Benazir Bhutto has been assassinated That was the shocking and terrible news I heard when my radio popped on to wake me up. She was leaving a political rally on her way to her car when gunfire and bomb blast went off. A reporter on the BBC asked "Why did she return? She was living comfortably and had plenty of money. She knew the dangers, yet continued?" The answer is easy, Pakistan was her home, she wanted to change the situation to the better for the people of her country. http://www.benazirbhutto.org/ Current Mood:  crushed |
| Thursday, November 1st, 2007 | |
| 2:52 am | Fate vs Hope Got into a discussion with a person in a narusaku (Naruto and Sakura shipper) fanclub about fate vs hope. The other person is a fatalist who thinks there is nothing but fate, that the Naruto series is "too idealistic" in things that happen. I enjoyed the discussion and want to put it into a sort of essay form here: Idealistic? Let's see- Shodaime Hokage fights and believes he kills Madara Uchiha because he becomes the most evil force in the manga series, yet at one time they had been friends. (A theme Kishimoto returns to several times...) The 5 Ninja countries are in continual war, each country discovers how to shove a bijuu into an infant in order to make that child a weapon Tsunade's brother and fiance were brutally killed, sending Tsunade into a 20+ year PTSD spiral of blood phobia and trying to literally run away from her pain by gambling and drinking and shutting down her caring for others (other than Shizune and to some degree Jiraiya) Hatake Sakumo kills himself in shame over failing on a mission, emotionally devestating his son Kakashi. A few years later Kakashi is hit by grief and guilt for his own failure in a mission that lead to the death of his team mate Obito. About a year later he loses his sensei to the battle with the Kyuubi. Gaara's father cruely shoves the bijuu into him, while he's still in his mother's womb, and makes his wife the sacrifice. Gaara lives with hate of all those around him and his father attempting to kill him because he was a "failed experiment. The person who tries to kill him is his maternal uncle, the one person he thought loved him. Gaara goes insane, and lives in a state of constant sleep deprevation, because should he sleep too long the bijuu will eat away at his soul. Orochimaru conducts horrific human experiments and kills who knows how many Konoha citizens over the years before he's discovered by his former sensei, eventually kills his sensei and threatens to "crush" Konoha Naruto, although luckier than Gaara (no one tries to kill him or physically harm him, and he's shielded from what he is until he's 12) is shunned and despised by the adults of Konoha. He finds out what he is from a ninja who hates him with every fiber of his being. His life is in danger both from the demon locked inside him and by a whole group of people who want to kill him for the demon inside him. Itachi Uchiha goes mad and slaughters his whole clan, except for his brother, Sasuke, who he taunts as too weak to kill, then a few years later beats to unconciousness and taunts as still too weak. Sasuke is driven into blind hatred that is still his only reason for living, that causes him to attempt murder of his team mates Naruto and Sakura more than once. That's just a small sample. Naruto's hardly idealistic. If it was idealistic all these incredibly dark things wouldn't have happened. If it was any more dark it would be just a bloodbath like Ninja Scroll. What Naruto has is hope. Hope in the face of darkness, hope that doesn't always come true (Nawaki, Dan, etc... deaths) and if won, is usually very hard won. That's not idealistic but realistic. Person's response: "The fact that the characters retain hope regardless of their situation is nice, but probably would not happen in RL. Of course, you are free to hold your own opinion." Mine: Hope that is the most realistic element of the series. Remember, Kishimoto is from Japan. WWII was incredibly devestating to them, but they lived on hope of a better future, and that hope made them strive for it and gave them that better future. It's that hope that made the survivors of the Nazi death camps start the nation of Israel. It's that hope that made the abolitionists strive to end slavery. It's that hope that made the 19th century women's movement strive to not just win the vote but to get women to be seen and treated as equal human beings to men, something the 21st century feminists like myself still strive for daily and their hope gives us hope and makes us strive all the harder, every hard earned victory a joy. (And believe me those victories have been hard won with many, many years of struggling for those rights we have, and fighting against them being taken away by hostile backlashes. Yet I still have hope and still strive.) It's the hope that fired the hearts of the Civil Rights movement- so well captured by Maya Angelou's poem "And Still I Rise". It's that hope that still beats in Yoko Ono's heart as after 40 years she still tirelessly works in the hope of world peace: http://www.imaginepeace.com/news.ht As John Lennon said- "Where there's life, there's hope" Even the ancient Greeks spoke of this in the story of Pandora's box. It's hope that leads to dreams and the striving to attain them. Hope sustains us in our darkest hours and nutures us. Person's response: You believe it's hope, I believe it's fate. That's how we differ. I believe that hope in all of the above situations helped people mentally, but overall did little to change things. Mine: Fate is external forces, hope is what is within- the belief you can change fate, and history proves you can. If fate was all there was then no one who ever was sent to the Nazi death camps would have hoped and strived for better future, no slave would have hoped and strived for freedom, no woman would have hoped and strived for equality, etc... And as in real life, not every hope comes true in Naruto- Dan and Nawaki, die and quite brutally. But their hope is carried on by others in that world, most notably in Naruto, and eventually that hope will come true for Naruto and his achievement won't be just his but also anyone else who ever hope to make a better world by becoming Hokage but didn't make it- like Nawaki and Dan. It's like in real life where I hope and strive for women's true equality, I think of that same hope that sustained Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Soujourner Truth, Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony, Eleanor Roosevelt (yes she was a feminist , Betty Friedan, Bella Abzug, Andrea Dworkin, my own mother, etc... I'm an "inheritor of hope" they hoped and strived for it and didn't live to achieve it but that doesn't make their hope "worthless", but worth even more to me, their hope fires mine, they didn't give up and nor will I. Equality may not even happen in my lifetime but that won't make me give up because it's not something I'm just doing for me, but for all future generations, I have the hope that I can help make a better world. If it was merely fate then there would be no hope- if fate is all that exists, why bother to hope? That's what Naruto's words to Neiji in their battle was all about. Neiji believed in fate and Naruto believed in hope. It was after the battle when he read his father's words and considered Naruto's that Neiji realized that maybe there was some hope his life wouldn't merely follow a fated path. Fate cannot be proven, but hope definitely exists. |
| Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 | |
| 2:38 pm | Fanfic: All Roads Lead to You This is a side story to "Rain or Shine". It takes place the day after Naruto and Sakura's wedding. Five couples all on journeys both physical and emotional: JiraiyaxTsunade, NeijixTenten, ShikamaruxTemari, GaaraxMatsuri, NarutoxSakura. The title comes from a line in a Loreena McKennitt song that inspired this side story. This story is separate from the rest of "Rain or Shine" because of the M rating for mild but overt sexual content and that the main focus is on some of the other couples. (Unbetaed draft) ( Read more... ) |
| 2:33 pm | Rain or Shine chapter 7 Long chapter, but I wanted to finish up the arc in this chapter. (Well, except for a side chapter involving some of the other characters- on the days following this evening. :) This is the unbetaed version. Wedding Reception, part 2. (This chapter is the formal reception for family and friends) ( Read more... ) |
| 2:30 pm | |
| 2:29 pm | |
| 2:27 pm | |
| 2:21 pm | Rain or Shine chapter 3 Another flashback chapter, this one is Sakura and Naruto's wedding day, inspired by Kishimoto's picture of Team 7 as adults. It's the picture in the post icon but you can see it full sized here: http://www.naruto-world.com/animebook/n It looked like it could be a picture of Naruto and Sakura on their wedding day to me. ;) They look like they might be slightly older than they do in the current manga stories- perhaps 18. It's most noticeable with Sakura. Note both Naruto and Sakura have sakura blossoms designs on their outfits, Naruto's giant pipe also has sakura blossoms and is perhaps symbolic of him being Hokage? His brown jacket closely resembles the old Shogun Jinbaori, which might be another "teaser" hinting at him becoming Hokage as an adult. Sasuke's outfit has his old colors but strongly hints of his time jump experiences and costume (and interesting doesn't have his family crest. Nor does Sakura's but with the repeat of the design on Naruto's outfit, and done in what looks like mon- family crest- style on his, I'd call that a crest on both of theirs) Sakura is clearly connected with Naruto in the picture. Sasuke's back is turned but his old arrogant/superior expression is absent. He looks sort of penitent (with even a symbolic tear on his cheek) yet watchful. It was actually this drawing of Kishimoto's that inspired this fanfic. This chapter is set about two and half years after the successful rescue of Sasuke. Sakura is just a couple of weeks away from her 19th birthday (it's mid March) ( Read more... ) |
| 2:17 pm | |
| 1:45 pm | Fanfic posts Just in case LJ gets weird I'm posting my fanfics here too. Starting with my most recent series "Rain or Shine". It's a Naruto and Sakura story (characters from the Naruto manga by Kishimoto.) In the first chapter Naruto and Sakura are 25. I'm having fun with this series by not making the chapters chrological. The time frame will go from around the time of the current manga (slightly off canon from the way events look to be panning out, but not as far off at all as characters' feelings are playing out) ( Read more... ) |
| Tuesday, July 24th, 2007 | |
| 8:46 pm | Hi :) Heh, since I paid for a permanent account I should post occassionally ;) Live Journal going down- yet again :P is a great excuse to post here. Sure glad I didn't waste my money with their overpriced "sale" on a permanent account there. |
