A Bit on Autism

One summer some years ago, I had the privilege of being a companion to an autistic kid; and also of helping him in his morning summer school sessions.  We had much fun and I often think about him even now.

I dedicate this video to Brett.  Wherever you are Brett, I hope that you are not thinking of yourself as some fractured kind of puzzle piece.

We are who we are and being who we are is both freeing and terrifying.  Yet, I would have it no other way.





I found the video on you tube.  I thought that it gives a radical hopeful expression of things that helping professionals in their ignorance want to change and should not.

Let us celebrate our differences, embrace them.  By doing so, we can lead the way to a better tomorrow.

radical sapphoq

Now that the 2012 Presidential Election is Over

I have a few things to say:

1).  I'm glad that Richard Mourdock of Indiana-- God intended pregnancy that results from rape-- lost his race to maintain his
seat in the Senate.  And I'm glad that Todd Akin of Missouri-- there is legitimate rape, and womens' vaginas naturally prevent pregnancy in that situation-- lost his race to grab a  seat in the Senate.  Making a reference to an opposing candidate as being similar to a dog didn't
do much to endear him to the voters either.
     Sorry folks, I want the Republican Party to get out of my 
vagina.

[Go here for a nifty little rape chart created by Bruce Wilson:
http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/republican-rape-advisory-chart ].



2).  According to the Election Results over at Huffington Post,
Obama won the the popular vote by less than 3000.
[ http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/2012/results ]  That's not
a whole lot of margin considering that more than 115,000,000 people voted.  The numbers say a bit less than "Good job, now keep going."




3).  Romney's idea that illegal immigrants should self-deport is
actually not new as of this past Monday night.  He and Newt
have been having disagreements about it since before January 26, 2012.  
[ http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/self-deportation-fantasy-or-reality/ ]

As I read bits and pieces more about self-deportation, I learned what the intended meaning of the phrase is.  Self-deportation is not the idea that an illegal immigrant will just up and decide to volunteer to go back to Mexico or other country of origin just because Romney thinks they should.  Actually, some people have been "self-deporting" because they are unable to find work.
[ https://www.numbersusa.com/content/news/july-13-2009/illegal-aliens-find-little-resistance-when-self-deporting.html 
The link seemed to be to be a bit dodgy and I actually had to go back to my search engine, type in "self deportation" and click the numbersusa site to get back to the article.  You may have to do the same].

Romney's idea includes a required e-card in order for an immigrant to work here.  Folks without the proper verification will then stream out of the country, paying their own way home because they won't
be able to find anyone to hire them.
[ http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57364444-503544/romney-on-immigration-im-for-self-deportation/ ]

Quite frankly, now that I understand what self-deportation is, I think it is a better idea-- but more than that needs doing-- than Obama's idea about dropping the cases of those illegal immigrants who are not criminals-- other than the criminal act involved in sneaking across our borders.
[ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/20/more-than-1600-deportatio_n_1218906.html ]

There is an e-mail going around the net claiming that Obama did sign the DREAM act-- hasn't happened (yet?)-- and it only lists some of the requirements that an illegal immigrant would have to meet.
[ http://factcheck.org/2011/07/did-obama-enact-dream-act/ ]



Newt is right about this one folks.  
[ http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-self-deportation-fantasy/2012/01/25/gIQAmDbWYQ_story.html ]
Self deportation is not enough.
We clearly need more stringent enforcement of the laws that we already have on the books.  Any e-card would have to be difficult and expensive for a forger to reproduce.  [All kinds of fake i.d. can be bought on street corners and on the Internet.  Knockoffs of the e-card would be just one more item for the black market].
We already have laws on the books concerning hiring illegal immigrants.  Those laws would need to be enforced on a more regular basis.  And  Rick Perry's opposition to fencing off all of the border between Texas and Mexico
[ http://www.theblaze.com/stories/perry-repeats-opposition-to-us-mexico-border-fence/# ]

has some basis in the reality of the difficulties in constructing a very long fence.  So while I am not sure if totally fencing off Texas-- and I will add Arizona and a bit of California here-- is feasible, I continue to think that something more must be done about the folks slipping into the United States illegally through Mexico and anywheres else.

I know that some folks are accusing me of being a big meanie over my stance on this one.  Too bad.  I don't much care. 
I also have a pretty good idea of why the United States government is not all that interested in seriously cracking down on the illegal immigrants flowing across our borders.  Part of it is that folks running for public office don't want to be accused by Latino voters of being big meanies.  And I suspect some of the rest of it is that the Mexican government would be more than a little bit pissed off if we were to seriously crack down on the illegal immigration issue.
Most folks think that the Mexican economy is based heavily on tourism.  I think the Mexican economy is based heavily on the money that the illegal immigrants here in the United States send home and on profits made by the drug trade.

[ http://www.theblaze.com/stories/perry-repeats-opposition-to-us-mexico-border-fence/#
and
 http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/30/why-is-mexico-drug-war-being-ignored/

and

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/07/06/world/americas/immigration.html
and
 http://journalism.berkeley.edu/ngno/reports/newworld/remittances.html

and
 http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Give-and-take-across-the-border-1-in-7-Mexican-2496634.php ]

4).  I never really understood the need for this whole electoral college thing and I still don't.  I think we should dump it and let the President be elected on the basis of the popular vote only.  

4).  In my opinion, the Republican Party needs to come up with stronger candidates for the presidency in 2016.  Someone with the leadership ability of a John McCain.  New Jersey's current governor Chris Christie would make a great Vice Presidential candidate.

     I am an atheist and a bisexual woman who favors abortion in all cases of incest and rape.  I am against pharmacists being able to refuse to distribute the morning after pill on the basis of their religious beliefs.  I am not keen on the idea that institutions should be able to dictate whether or not women employees can receive birth control pills through standard means via their medical insurance.  I am not interested in how a candidate practices his or her religion or what religion it is.  I am interested in whether a candidate can run the country.  I can't be a Republican, in spite of the fact that I believe in small government and I am somewhat of a hawk when it comes to wars.  The Republican Party needs another Ronald Reagan.


     Oh I am not going to leave the Democratic Party out of this one.  I sincerely hope that neither Hillary Clinton nor Andrew Cuomo are on the Presidential ticket for 2016.  I've never cared for Hillary. I didn't like her when she was the First Lady.  I liked her much less when she moved to one of my stomping grounds.  I think she is doing well enough in her current position as Secretary of State.  I hope she stays there or does something else.  I didn't like Mario-- some radical friends from Queer Nation and I used to call him Cuomo the homo-- and I haven't seen Andrew as having much leadership.  Obama didn't win this time because of his popularity. The numbers illustrate that.  The Dems need to come up with a more viable ticket for 2016 also.


     To me, this election felt like some percentage of folks didn't care for either party's presidential ticket.  This led to voting for the ticket that we hated least.  Or for write-ins.  Stuff has to change.

    What happened to our leaders?


radical sapphoq