Sweet Dreams

The Saudi King is giving women the right to vote in 2015. Well fuck you very much Mr. King. May I be so bold as to offer an alternate proposal? How about this: You get in your bed every night and hug your George W. Bush pillow while wondering if this is going to be the night that a bunch of Saudi women break into your room and dismember you. These women will then put your benevolent body parts on display throughout your palace and invite all your friends over for a tour. At which time, several cans of Saudi King brand gasoline and a match will be judiciously employed. And then women will decide how they want to live their lives and when they choose to participate in a political process of their own design which is unlikely to include any Mr. Kings.

Stop the Honor Killings by US Insurers

The health insurance companies have a stranglehold on the insured and women in particular have been garroted just for being female. (For women who are uninsured, fuggedaboutit.) Whether women are being told to get sterilized in order to obtain health insurance, or having their policies canceled after they get breast cancer, or denied insurance altogether due to a "pre-existing condition" of having been beaten by their husbands, it feels like insurance companies are misogynistic fat cats from Hell. Meanwhile our elected officials laugh at us while pocketing big bucks from the insurance industry and voting to maintain the status quo.

But enough about those of us lucky enough to still be alive despite what feels like a war on women by the insurance companies and their Congressional BFFs. Let's remember Crystal Lee Sutton who was forced to go without treatment for her brain cancer for months while she fought with her insurance company. She died in September 2009. 17 year old Nataline Sarkisyan's Mother fought with her insurance company over their denial of a recommended liver transplant which the insurer finally approved the day she died in 2007.

How are these different from so-called honor killings? A woman becomes a victim by virtue of her gender and "dishonors" the reputation (profit margin) of her family (insurance company). Therefore, she must die to restore honor (profit). This is tradition. This is the system men have designed for us and we must live by. Unless...

Take Action - Call your Representative and both your Senators and tell them you support President Obama's plan for health care reform. And get your sound minded husbands, partners and male friends to call too. We want an end to discriminatory practices against women by the insurance industry. Equal rights to health care for an equal chance to live!

Action Alert: SC Senators Vote Against Constitutional Rights of Rape Victims

Both of South Carolina's Senators voted against the Franken amendment to allow rape victims to have their day in court, even if they work for a government contractor. It passed anyway.

Tell the Senators what you think of their votes:

• Sen. Lindsey Graham on Twitter
• Sen. Graham's contact info for snail mail, e-mail and phone
• Sen. Graham will host a Town Hall Meeting on October 12 at 6:15 pm in Greenville, SC.

• Sen. Jim DeMint on Twitter
• Sen. Jim DeMint's contact info for snail mail and phone (online form for e-mail here)

Breast Health

It's National Breast Cancer Awareness Month which means:

Women are reminded to perform monthly self-exams

If you have health insurance, your plan probably covers mammograms. Get one.

If you don't have insurance and can't afford to pay out of pocket for a mammogram, find a program that offers low or no cost screening in your state.

Palin: Respect My Family's Privacy and I Won't Respect Yours

I know I'm not supposed to talk about it, because it's a "private family matter", but I'm just going to say this: Bristol Palin got to choose. Sarah Palin wants us to elect her and John McCain so they can take away every other woman's right to choose. Apparently they didn't get their own memo that pregnancy is a private family matter and has nothing to do with politics. Sarah Palin wants us to respect her family's privacy. She also wants our vote so she and McCain can show our families no respect by shoehorning their government into our own private family decisions regarding pregnancy.

Check out:

Gloria Steinem on Palin in the L.A. Times

Palin: Women's Rights and Woman Wrong

Republicans like all the attention Sarah Palin is receiving as their party's first woman on the Presidential ticket. They also seem fond of failing to mention that McCain/Palin would be a disaster for women's rights in this country. They would work to overturn Roe v. Wade and eliminate a woman's right to choose. They say they want less government - ha! - keep your government out of my reproductive organs, thank you very much.

McCain/Palin does not support equal pay for equal work for women, except as a sound bite. Hullo! It's 2008: Do you know what century you grounded your gender bias in?

McCain/Palin does not support education in schools (except abstinence) to prevent unplanned teen pregnancies. Abstinence-only "education" results in pregnant teenage girls.

The National Organization for Women stands up to the Palin hype:

What McCain does not understand is that women supported Hillary Clinton not
just because she was a woman, but because she was a champion on their
issues. They will surely not find Sarah Palin to be an advocate for
women.

Look, I don't care if Palin hunts or is a hockey Mom or if her teenage daughter is pregnant. Really I don't. I do care that she works against things I believe in and want from our government. Important things - to me as a woman, as a human, and an American voter.