Rejecting "Traditional" Marriage...

So I read this article on same sex marriage threatening "traditional" marriage, and I agree completely!

I've done the "traditional" marriage thing.  I've had the husband who expected me to clean, cook, do 100% of the household work, raise the children, and all of this was regardless of my employment status (so even when I had a full-time job, I was expected to maintain the home and work, while he was only expected to work).

Never. Again.

I will never again enter into a cohabitation situation with a partner where we are not equals, in every way, shape, and form.  I don't mind working; in fact, I like supporting myself, I enjoy having my own career, and I find it fulfilling.  Therefore, if we are both gone during the day, don't expect me to come home, make a full dinner, clean up from said dinner, clean the home, wash the laundry, and tend to the kids while you watch TV with your feet up.

Can't stress enough....Never. Again.

Men now should be more evolved than that. It's only common sense, really, to recognize that if both parties are working, both parties should share the home work load equally.  That's one of the responsibilities of being in a relationship as well, and if you don't want that responsibility, stay a bachelor and live in your own filth (because it only logically follows that if you don't want to clean when in a relationship, you didn't clean before one, therefore your home must be pretty filthy). Women aren't there to provide cleaning services when in a relationship.

So, no, "traditional" marriage values don't really work for me, either.  I'm not submitting to any man, for any reason, period, and I'm pretty appalled that the words "submit" and "authority" are even still used in reference to the man/wife relationship (this just opens the doorway for abusive situations- obviously there are men who will abuse such authority and inflict mental, emotional, and physical pain upon their wives simply because she was taught to "submit").  So call me a radical feminist...I don't care.

All women should expect equal treatment at this point in our societal evolution.  We pay the same for our education, we should demand equal pay, equal respect, and equal opportunities in the workplace, and equality in personal relationships and in the home should be a given.  I refuse to even date any man who is not at least this evolved- I've wasted enough time of my life fighting patriarchal men.  People should be partners in a relationship- encouraging one another's success, sharing the familial responsibilities equally (bills, cleaning, maintenance, etc), and then sharing the joys of life equally (not one party going to play golf while the other is doing laundry and cleaning the house), as well as challenging one another, realistically keeping one another in check, and supporting and facilitating one another's goals and dreams.
                                                 
With all that being said, yes, I can totally see how "traditionalists" can't wrap their heads around two women (being so frail and incapable of caring for themselves, ya know) or two men (both being strong, independent providers) can happily live together.  That does threaten traditional values, but then again, I guess so would my strong, independent relationship with my chosen partner... you know, the one who encourages my career, encourages my independence, does his own damn laundry, has his own successful career, and is capable of dating an independent woman without it threatening his manhood (in fact, I think he really digs it).


The use of the word "traditional" carries with it a comfortable, homey connotation, when in reality, these are ties keeping us bound to a by-gone era, one many women (and men) have fought tirelessly to eradicate.  For many, "traditional values" hurt: they cause people to abuse one another in a frustrating attempt to control another human being...men controlling their wives, parents controlling their gay children, ministers controlling their congregations, politicians controlling constituents [in policies some,and maybe most, of those constituents would never agree to], and they cause rifts, deep rifts, in our society.  Families torn apart, divorce, children disowned by their parents, parishioners leaving churches and wandering without spiritual leaders, angry and rebellious constituents who feel betrayed by their government.....all because of these so-called "traditional" values.  Time to move on, people.  Evolve.  It's high time for a new age of post-traditional values that actually work for our time.

US Food Aid...Too Little, Too Late?

So I saw this article, and it brought up some good points and reminded me of others...

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/04/04/176154775/a-political-war-brews-over-food-for-peace-aid-program 

So, the US is spending lots of valuable time and resources gathering food here, packaging, and shipping it out. This raises some problems...
Time. Sometimes it's getting there after people are dead.  Too late. You lose.
Resources. It's a safe and reasonable bet that fewer resources could be used by sending groups to harvest local food sources, or at least closer to the situation, and send food from nearby.
The actual food.  We're sending food that's indigenous to our nation, food that we are familiar with.  I had no idea this was a problem until I met a young man from Africa while an undergrad at ODU.  His family lived in Africa in a refugee came for years.  They got big bags of grain....which they had no way to cook.  Very few families had pots, regular access to fire, water, etc.  So pretty much....they were eating raw grain, and fighting for it.  There was never enough.  He said they quite frequently shredded the canvas bags in came in, as well as cardboard boxes some of the supplies came in, mixed it with the grain, and ate it all.  No shit.

So there's that....read the article, think, contemplate. Any solutions come to mind?  Post em in the comments! Start a discussion...share, link, etc.

                                  

The $700B Bailout...

I'm watching John McCain right now. This whole bailout plan is scaring me. I'm no market expert, nor am I an expert in political science. But what it sounds like on the surface is we're handing the US Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, $700 billion dollars of our money, and he has said that he cannot be regulated nor investigated by any agency, including government agencies. That seems incredibly fishy to me.

I don't know what they're going to do, but I just don't see how our market is going to pull out of this without us going into a drastic recession before it all starts moving back upwards. Thank goodness Logan and I didn't sink too much of our money into stocks; right now we've got savings bonds and savings. But the bad part is that all the American people are calling their senators and representatives voicing a LOUD protest against this bailout, but it appears that it may still pass! I think the days of of America being a true democracy centered around the voice of the people are long gone. If the people were the deciding factor here, the bailout would have already been flat out denied or restructured drastically.

I'm looking for Barack Obama... I want to support him, but when he's mysteriously missing on this particular day when the news channels are filled with John McCain and his speeches, it's difficult to blindly side with a man who doesn't have a voice during a crisis. I'm hoping to hear something from him soon. And I'm hoping his words will voice my opinion: that the government has no place meddling in financial affairs. We are "free market", in good times and in bad. Should the government get entangled with mortgage companies and other businesses, would that not inherently corrupt the government? What is the root of all evil? All together now....money. It's scary to think about the government taking $700 BILLION and doing with it as they wish, unchecked.

Until the past couple of weeks, this presidential debate was undoubtedly important because of the war in Iraq and the weak economy. Now, we see the urgency in the next couple of months as we observe the actions of these two candidates and wait for the outcome of this situation. Like I said, I've been leaning towards Obama, but now I'm wavering. This morning, John McCain looked fresh, well-rested, and calm. Obama looked like he slept in his suit, appeared perhaps unshaven, and looked exhausted. But then again, that could be McCain's lengthy political grooming and training in public speaking. It's so hard to watch them on TV and try to deduct from a prepared speech what their character is, what their intentions are, and how much you can trust them.

There is also a mild fuel shortage, caused by the pipelines being shut off in Texas during Hurricane Ike. Now that they're just beginning to rehab the area, the pipelines are still shut off and will be restored soon, but until then, there isn't enough fuel. I saw two gas stations yesterday on my way to pick up Austin that had bags over the pumps. I think I'll fill up today, just in case.

This is an unprecedented time. We have men and women fighting and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan as we speak, yet our elected officials are busy trying to save our financial butts. I'm worried about what this will do to our already financially-strained troops on the grounds. I pray that they're safe and remain that way. I'm thankful that Logan is only on a work-up and will be home soon. I still miss him, but I know he's safe. I feel secure in our financial standing, also, as we are almost out from under our credit card debts and are paying in down in large amounts and will soon be free from large debt (other than our mortgage, of course). Thank goodness we aren't one of those families that got a mortgage they could not afford. We can comfortably afford our home, and though it's small and modest, it's clean and cozy and most importantly, we aren't defaulting on our loan...we can easily afford the payment so we can also feed our family healthy, fresh foods and dress them warmly. I feel sorry for friends of ours who wanted a huge home and got it, and are now struggling very much to make ends meet.

I hope everyone in this nation makes it through this time without poverty, without children going hungry or cold, and that our next President can make the changes needed to turn this nation back into the prosperous great nation we should be!