Before You Vote

America is supposed to be a free country.  Freedom is what our country was founded upon.  I am very troubled by people, especially politicians, whose agenda is to take away the freedoms many have worked so hard to attain.  I also have a big issue with the so-called "moral" people, specifically religious zealots who claim to be good and pure and who claim to do "god's work," while denying others' freedoms.

As we all know, there is an election coming up in a few months, and we have a very big decision to make about who we choose to run our country.  I am not especially pleased at what Obama has done in his three-and-a-half years as President.  I think he might have done more to get us out of the gigantic hole that George W. got us into.  But I am truly fearful of what will happen if Romney is elected.

Romney has stated he will repeal Roe v. Wade, which means abortion will be illegal in this country.  ALL ABORTION.  While many people, especially Catholics, might think this is a good thing, it isn't.  Making abortion illegal does not change the nature of humans.  People still have sex, and sometimes unplanned pregnancy will occur.  It's always been this way.  Throughout history, women have gotten pregnant out of wedlock, or in a marriage but unable to care for a child.  Whether it be through marriage, promiscuity, rape or incest, unplanned pregnancy happens.  It is a fact of human nature.  How many of us alive today are a product of unplanned pregnancy?  Or an older sibling is?  I was certainly unplanned.  How many of us do not know someone who was the result of an unplanned pregnancy?  And for you religious people, Jesus was unplanned. 

The thing is, abortions will happen.  If abortion is proclaimed illegal, women will die in an attempt to obtain one.  In the past, desperate women would go to so-called back room "doctors" to get illegal abortions.  I remember seeing a documentary where a woman was heartbroken over the death of her sister, because the sister had died during an illegal abortion.  I can still see the photograph in my mind, as clear as if it were yesterday, of a woman, nude, in an unnatural position, on her face and knees, where she had been in position for the abortion, something went wrong, and she died and was later discovered in that position.  I just looked it up.  The woman's name was Gerri Santoro, and I'll include a link to the page with her photograph.  I won't post the photo itself, because it is quite disturbing.  If abortion becomes illegal, deaths like Ms. Santoro's will happen again.  But next time, it might not be a stranger in a motel room.  It might be your sister or your daughter.  Before taking the drastic step to end legal abortions, you absolutely MUST consider what will happen to desperate women all across America.


Page with iconic photo of Gerri Santoro:

http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/gerri-santoros-abortion/


Taking away the right of a woman to choose what happens to her own body is ludicrous.  If men carried pregnancies, there would never be a question of abortion, because men write most of the laws in this country.  As a woman, it angers me to think some small-minded people wish to take away my right to do anything!  Of course we need laws in this country, but laws should move a society forward, toward understanding and tolerance, rather than moving people apart for their differences. 

Romney also states he will repeal the law that forces insurance companies to pay for birth control.  So he wants to take away a woman's right to birth control, then if she gets pregnant, she'll be forced to give birth to a child she didn't want in the first place?  What's next?  Take away women's right to vote?  We've just lost 92 years of progress in one fell swoop!  Women already make eighty cents to the one dollar that a man makes, for the same job.  And we have to fight harder to achieve it (no matter how smart we are), and we often have to put up with men who belittle us, slap us on the fanny, make us get the coffee, etc. 

Did you know that most insurance companies will pay for Viagra for a man  (or my favorite, the Pos-T-Vac:  See previous post about that one), so that he can get an erection, but they fight not to provide birth control for women?  How absurd is that?  Make sure you get your woman knocked up, y'all!

Repeal Roe v. Wade and take away the birth control requirement:  Create illegal abortions, maimed or murdered women, unwanted children, abused children, in a world that is already so overpopulated, it's about to burst at the seams!

If you are Catholic or otherwise religious, and are opposed to abortion or birth control, don't have an abortion or use birth control, but please don't try to force your personal views on every other woman in America.  Please don't try to force us to follow your religious teachings.  We have our own minds and morals and we must be allowed to choose our own correct paths.  Think how you would feel to be forced to do something against your will.  It's akin to the rape of our freedoms.  Please don't take away the freedoms we've worked so hard to achieve.  Please.

I realize, in all likelihood, I will not have changed many minds, but I hope, above all else, that I've given you something to seriously think about before you mark your ballot. 

Please be good to each other and please embrace our differences.  What a boring world it would be without all the colors in the box of Crayolas!

Dating Ads

As a single adult, I occasionally read or even post dating ads on Craigslist.  I have met only a handful of men this way, and nothing much to speak about:  It's seldom gone past a first meeting, but you never know if you'll meet someone who could become a good friend, so I'm open to the idea.  Not long ago, I wrote an ad to all men, essentially begging them to write better ads and letters:

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"To: ALL MEN - 45 (Sparks)

To all the men who post: Only about 10% of the readers of the Craigslist personals are women. If you want a woman to respond to your ad, you have to write something that grabs her attention.

Don't say general things such as:
"I want someone cute." "I want someone attractive"... Those terms are meaningless, as beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And since many women don't believe they are beautiful, they won't answer your ad.
"I want someone hwp". Do you realize that 60% of women aren't? And the ones who are, probably aren't looking on Craigslist.

If you ask for perfection... hwp, thin, attractive, smart, funny, has a job, a house and a car... then you'd better be perfect too.
If you are a serious guy, say so. If you're funny, say so.

Saying "I like to have fun" means nothing. Different people have different ideas of fun.
Saying a woman must send a picture first is a bad thing. We can be frightened or hurt by men, and we would like to see what you look like first, so we can feel assured that you don't look like a serial killer (trust me, I've seen plenty of those here.)

List some of your favorite activities that you might like to share with a woman.

Don't gripe about all the women who have done you wrong, don't call your ex a bitch, and don't ask that the woman has no baggage. Everyone has baggage, including you. Women are more accepting of your baggage than you are of ours.

DO:
Write at least one full paragraph, preferably two or three. A large number of men here post one or two sentences and expect someone to answer the ad. We won't. We will answer the ad of the man who tells us about himself, whose ad makes us laugh or smile.

If you post a picture, make sure you are smiling, that the picture is right side up, and that you don't look crazy in it. Best not to post the pic of you at your buddy's bachelor party. If you want love, don't post a pic of you naked or even half naked. Make sure we can see your face clearly. This also goes for pics emailed to responders of the ad.

But whatever you do:
SAY SOMETHING that makes you different from all the rest of the men here.

PROOFREAD AND SPELL CHECK. I personally won't answer an ad if most of the words are misspelled or if the ad doesn't make sense. Have someone proof it for you, or at least run spell check. And there is a difference between women and woman. They are not interchangeable.

And my best advice is, ask a female friend to read it before you post it, and even ask her to write it for you.

GOOD LUCK TO YOU!"

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Funny, I mistyped my own age.  Oops.  But not that it matters in this instance really, since I wasn't trying to find a date.  :D

Anyhow, you wouldn't believe how many men wrote to me, telling me how women are worse than men, although in research for writing, I have viewed other women's ads and we are much more likely to write a better ad than men (statistically speaking).  Today I got a letter responding to this ALL MEN post.  Please try to refrain from laughing.  I dare you!

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"You are completely right on everything you posted! But that goes both ways! The very things you are talking about men doing or not doing are the same things I see women doing on here. Do you think men can't be hurt by what a woman says or does? If you do your wrong! Real men do have feelings to! I don't like ads with miss spelled words or abbreviated words! I personally think it shows a lack of carrying! As not everyone knows what your saying when you abbreviate several words together with a few letters! In my opinion that's the same as miss spelling words!
So basically what I'm saying to you and all women is practice what you preach!"

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I decided to color the misspelled or misused words and the odd statement that I'm not quite sure what he means, just for fun.  Yes, because I'm just that mean.  I am always amused when people misspell the word "misspell."  Yep, practice what you preach.  :D

Anyhow, enjoy the fodder and be thankful if you are in a relationship and don't have to deal with this crazy dating pool.

Sigh.