117 ALEC Members Voted Out in 2012

In primary and general elections in 2012 and recall elections in 2011 and 2012, a total of 117 members and alumni of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) were voted out of office, according to research and analysis by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), ColorOfChange, and others.

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This is hard!

To GOP critics of her husband Mitt and his campaign, Ann Romney said, “stop it.  This is hard!”

Besides perhaps having unrealistic expectations about what can happen during a presidential campaign, do you think it’s possible that Ann has a different concept of what is “hard” in life? Driving down the highway this morning, I heard a woman caller on a radio show say, “looking through pockets for change in order to buy milk for your son is hard.”

What’s been hard in your life? What life experiences as a rural woman have been difficult? And how did you handle it? Join us on Facebook to make a list to send to Ann.

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Question for my good Republican friends . . .

By Vivian Gorham

It is important to remember – during this latest Romney uproar – he isn’t the Party’s scapegoat; he is their standard-bearer. He is simply stating the beliefs of the Party as currently constituted. Don’t tax, don’t regulate and for God’s sake don’t help anybody is what the Party stands for and has stood for since Reagan.

The re-distribution of wealth has been negatively impacting the middle class for the past 30 years – and ultimately, these policies ruined the economy. Yet, greed – combined with apparent utter disregard for humanity – means they aren’t even attempting to examine their positions and create new policies! Instead, they are suppressing the vote. I am insulted to the point of tears that my hard-working, responsible, tax-paying children have been characterized as free-loaders by Mitt Romney and the Republican Party. And I ask again – all my sane and good Republican friends – now where do you stand? Can you honestly look yourselves in the mirror and support this type of racism, classism, and sexism; this type of America? Why? How?

Related Article from Huffington Post: A Clear Choice 

During my years as a freeloader. . . .

By Vivian Gorham

During my years as a freeloader – I raised four children, got a college education, started a non-profit organization from which I never took a salary, volunteered at church and city government, and contributed non-compensated hours as co-owner of a small business and then a farm. Once I became a paid freeloader, I worked as a community organizer and raised over $5 million for schools, non-profits and governmental organizations – after which I earned another college degree and then freeloaded as a low-wage earner in prisons and hospitals – working with addicts, mentally ill, and terminal folks. For the past two-years, I have been freeloading as a counselor on military bases – working with soldiers and airmen and their families, who are going to and from war. Yup, they are all freeloaders, too. Guess I better stop screwing around and make some money – so I can go from worthless to worthy, eh?

Online Shopping? Beware of Kohl’s return shipping policies

BEWARE KOHL’S ONLINE ORDERING – ALERT.

For women living in rural areas who do a lot of online shopping, beware of Kohl’s. Their policy is to not send return shipping labels for orders, so if there is any reason you do not want the merchandise you have to return it by paying 100% of full cost of shipping by UPS.

Most online retailers that we use send a pre-paid return shipping label for customer convenience. A small standard shipping fee – normally less than $10, usually around $6 or $7, depending on the size of merchandise – is deducted from your credit when issued. Some merchants advertise free shipping both ways.

Not so with Kohl’s. If Kohl’s sent you what you ordered, correct size, etc. and the product was not damaged in shipment, they are unconcerned about why you need to return an order or how much it costs for you to return it. They advise you to return it to the nearest store, which is not feasible if it’s 150 miles away.

We were also told that if you claim your order was damaged, Kohl’s will want an inspection to determine whether it was damaged in shipment or after before they will decide whether to pay for return shipping.

Ceremonial Time: Fifteen Thousand Years on One Square Mile: About the book before I read it

by Jane Lane

After ordering several of my last books on Kindle, I received in the mail today a lovely little used book that I purchased for a few dollars and as soon as I brought it out of the envelope, I loved the look and the feel of it.  My “new” copy of Ceremonial Time: Fifteen Thousand Years on One Square Mile by John Hanson Mitchell reminded me of how much I love books – not just the words in them, but books as an entity, a species, a treasure, a warehouse of black print and white spaces on leaves of paper, which, in the case of this book, are soft and comforting to the touch, like a favorite flannel sheet with worn edges.

The cover is painted in earthy faded sepia, yellows, browns and pale greens and is a sketch of a single wooden chair sitting in the grass beneath the trees of an orchard.  On the inside cover is a sepia sketch of Scratch Flat which the notes tell me is “neither to scale nor complete” and includes the Hazard House torn down c. 1914, the Lignos Barn, torn down in 1980, the point of land where Tonupasqua danced, the Larch Swamp, Beaver Book Marshes, an Indian burial ground, the poor farm (1825), Tom Dublet’s Fish Weir (1670s), the plum grove behind the Barnes/Mitchell house,  another Barnes house which burned down at Halloween in 1979, and other similar attractions scattered among the trees within an area bounded by Beaver Brook, Forge Pond and The Great Road.

The book is a deep map of just one square mile in Massachusetts. William Least Heat Moon’s book PrairyErth was a 600-page long historical and short nose to the ground analysis of a county in Kansas. Centennail Time covers fifteen thousand years in 222 pages.

Mitchell describes the location of Scratch Flats as anywhere and nowhere, with a population of 150 people and two hundred cows, fourteen pigs, five horses, fifty-six chickens, eight turkeys, four Guinea fowl, three ducks, one donkey, seventy dogs and forty cats. He listed chief crops as dairy products, green beans, strawberries, beets, asparagus, and apples, which were cultivated among a long list of native plants, grasses and a wide variety of trees that surprised me, as I live on a square mile with three inhabitants and in what is practically a mono-culture with four irrigated circles of corn, winter wheat planted in the corners around the circles, and non-native trees planted around the three houses for shade or windbreak.

Before I began to read the book, I flipped through the pages and this sentence caught my eye:

“The understanding that less is in fact more would be of paramount importance, he said, and the people would have to understand at a deep level that the essence of civilization is not the multiplication of wants, but the elimination of needs.”

I’m intrigued and looking forward to holding this comfortable little book in my hands.

The Big Feed and The Art of the Rural

I’m a big fan of The Art of the Rural, so it’s fun to find out that someone from there will be at The Big Feed in Yuma, Colorado, Sat., Oct. 15. Here’s more about The Feed:

SOURCE
THE BIG FEED — 2011
Saturday, Oct. 15-16 at the Yuma County Fairgrounds, Yuma, Colo.
The entry to this event is FREE with a $5 donation and one food item to share!

The BIG FEED is an annual event and action held by M12. It is a celebration of the regional landscape, experimental art and architecture, food, music, culture and community. It is a forum to connect community members and artists in a casual atmosphere, as well as an opportunity for the larger public to learn more about the groundbreaking work presented by the attending community members, artists, musicians, critics, and curators. Landing somewhere between a family reunion, potluck dinner, symposium, and festival, The BIG FEED is held every second weekend in October. The event is open to the public and free with a $5 donation and one food item to share. For more information on the event and the organization please visit the M12 website.

Art of the Rural is also on Facebook.

Topeka City Council Considering Decriminalizing Domestic Violence; DA Stops Prosecuting Misdemeanor DV Cases in Topeka Due to Budget Cuts

During Domestic Violence Awareness Month, when programs helping victims are calling on their communities to send the message that domestic violence will not be tolerated, Topeka, Kansas City Council is considering decriminalizing domestic battery in order to save money.

The Topeka City Council is butting heads with Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor, who announced Sept. 8 that due to budget cuts, his office would no longer prosecute misdemeanor cases, including domestic violence cases, in Topeka. This change left it to the City of Topeka to enforce its ordinance against domestic battery.

If the City Council repeals the ordinance, battering cases will no longer be prosecuted in Topeka unless the district attorney reconsiders.

In the meantime, victims of violence are in grave danger. Already, since Sept. 8, the district attorney has rejected at least 30 domestic violence cases. Eighteen people arrested in Topeka for domestic battery have all been released from county jail when no charges were filed.

Closing rural maternity wards: costly and risky

Closing Maternity Wards: Costly and Risky
Article in Daily Yonder – Keeping it Rural

04/27/2011
Maternity wards are closing in rural areas already underserved by physicians. Rural women need a new model for prenatal care and more options for birthing.

Jeffs moved to jail closer to the YFZ ranch in Texas

Source: Salt Lake Tribune

Apr 29, 2011 12:09AM

Polygamous sect leader Warren S. Jeffs has been moved to a West Texas jail that is closer to his group’s Yearning for Zion Ranch in Eldorado but allows somewhat fewer opportunities to communicate with the outside world.

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints leader was taken from the Reagan County Jail in Big Lake, Texas, to the Schleicher County Jail in Eldorado on April 20, said Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran.

Though he declined to specify why Jeffs was transferred, Doran said the move makes it easier for authorities to bring Jeffs to San Angelo, Texas, for court appearances. Eldorado is about 25 miles closer to San Angelo, and even when Jeffs was housed in Reagan County, he was still transported by Schleicher County sheriff’s deputies, Doran said.

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