Aaaaaaaall over the map today

[stoney321]

First, I need to lay off the coffee today. *jitters out of my chair*

Two mini-rants that are going under the cut...

Letter to the editor this morning read the following (edited for length here):

I am not a religious person, but I do think abortion is muder. Since women want the right to choose whether to terminate a pregnancy, why not avoid pregnancy?

It is so easy to not get pregnant with all the contraception available today - and much of it is cheap or free. Self-esteem and a sense of responsibility are two other less-mentioned, much over looked forms of birth control.

No one has any business having children if she is not emotionally or financially stable. Just look at the crime rate.

It would be nice if daddy was involved, but so many guys just don't care, girls.

OKAY TO START WITH. *unclenches fists* I like how everything is directed to SHE. I immediately fired off this rebuttal, I doubt they'll use it, but it makes me feel better:

[Resident Dumbass] wrote in that "it is so easy to not get pregnant with all the contraception available today" and goes on to address all the"she's" that need to pull their heads out of the sand.

And she's right! Let's face it: rapists and molesters will gladly stop their assault to get a condom at the lady's request. And girls, don't put all the responsibility on your attacker's shoulders. You should take the time to get contraceptive pills a month prior to being attacked so you don't end up with unwanted pregnancies. (It may take some time to find a pharmacist that will fill your prescription, so plan ahead!)

Let's hope the young ladies of today get some self-esteem and sense of responsibility so they can be proactive in not having unwanted babies in all situations.

Sarcastically yours, [Stoney]

Oooh, I should have put in there to "dress for success:" high-necked shirts and prairie skirts can help attackers identify who deserves to be raped, or not. And let your parents be involved! Have your dad/uncle/cousin/male relative take you to get "fem-condoms" or birth control pills before they continue molesting you. Girls: take some responsibility.

WHAT ON EARTH. *stabs random horrible people* I mean, I GET what she was TRYING to say, but WOW. Way to miss the mark. Words are your friends, people. Use them to full effect, not 1/8 effect.

Note: there have been incidences locally where pharmacists refused to fill contraceptive presecriptions due to their "moral and religious" beliefs. Um... So much wrong with that. And how they should maybe not have the job they have.

Which leads me to my second rant, and this is shortened because I'm writing up a massive post with links/references.

So liz_marcs sent me an email this weekend with some interesting facts I didn't know about Mitt Romney from his term as a bishop in the LDS church. One link led to another, to another, to another... And since the Mormon church still thinks of me as a member *stabs* I can look up membership information on their website (I'm taking screen shots for my bigger post.) So... Mitt Romney's dad, George W. Romney was born in Colonia Juarez/Dublan (they're essentially the same place, just different compounds), Chihuahua. What's that, you ask?

*cracks knuckles*

That, my friends, is where the Mormon church secretly (not really) sent members to continue practicing POLYGAMY after it was outlawed in the U.S. Mitt's dad was born of polygamists. Who cares, you may ask. Well, I DO. And so should you. Mitt's family is STILL THERE. And let me be clear: you do NOT live there unless you are polygamist. End of story. That is where Warren Jeffs traffics under-aged brides, for one. That is also near the LeBaron compound where they CHAINED THEIR WOMEN to goat pens because they had the "evils" in them. This. This is who is running for president of our COUNTRY. Oh, and SOMEHOW George (his dad) ran for President in the 1960s - AND HE WAS BORN OUTSIDE OF THE U.S. Someone with a Constitutional Law background please fill me in on how that can be, please. (And if your parents are in violation of federal laws and have escaped the country to avoid prosecution, why are you considered an American citizen? Especially when born out of the U.S.?)

Also, Mitt's great-great-grandpa was Parley P. Pratt, who was Joseph Smith's right-hand man. And a polygamist. In other words, Mitt is an LDS super-star, even has the buildings at BYU his family bought to prove it. He has the full backing of the LDS church, and even said in an interview that the church told him to SAY that he was pro-choice when he ran for governor of Massachusetts, because how else would he "get" that liberal state? ARE YOU SEEING WHAT I AM SEEING HERE? He is doing what the church wants, because the church wants to be in politics. (And is. Mike Leavitt is in Bush's cabinet. Orrin Hatch routinely meets with polygamists in Warren Jeffs' stronghold. Bob Bennet does, too. The plygs have given LOADS of cash to their campaigns. GAAAAAH.) There's an obscure bit of doctrine (not if you're Mormon) that says that the Church will one day rule the U.S. and THEN polygamy can be legally practiced. THE MODERN MORMON CHURCH BELIEVES THIS, REGARDLESS OF WHAT THEY SAY.

Can you imagine if this lying sack of crap gets elected?? PLEASE TELL PEOPLE ABOUT THIS. No one knows this stuff! No one is reporting this outside of the local papers, and they're being subpoenaed in this Jeffs case for the FBI. (And Mormons run the CIA and FBI, ahem. Did you know that?!) Okay. There's enough to chew on. I have about 5000 more words on this topic with links, references, screen shots... This is what I did last night instead of sleeping. ACK.

And now, to have breakfast...

Comments

[a2zmom.livejournal.com]

I've known about pharmicists deciding what prescriptions they'll fill for a while. NJ (and 2 other states) just passed a law basically outlawing this. Of course, I can't imagine that ever being an issue up here. Meanwhile, in places where it is an issue, states are passing laws that encourage druggists not to give out prescibed medicines if it offends their sensibilities. Don't get me started on this crap, I'll have a stroke.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Down in the south where religion still dictates when people can drink on Sundays (because you're not supposed to, you're supposed to be IN CHURCH, ahem) it's very much an issue, which sucks. I like how contraceptives are playing god, yet curing polio (which evidently god created) isn't. o_0

I'll give you some digitalis to stave off the stroke if you'll come drink margaritas and crack jokes with me to keep me from raging out. :D

[a2zmom.livejournal.com]

I'm there, sugah.

It's 83 degrees at the moment. I might as well head to Texas, how much hotter could it be?

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

*HOWLS WITH LAUGHTER!!*

Oh, Robin. Did you just say that 83 is hot? That may be the most precious thing I've ever heard. Heeeee! We've got a cold front moving through right now and it's 87. ...cold front. :D

(Wait, why do I live here? *g*)

[a2zmom.livejournal.com]

OK, I am not coming to Texas, Laura. You people are fucking nuts. (Plus I don't know how to shoot a gun. I do like good Mexican food and am always up for BBQ though.)

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

But we have A/C everywhere we go (and it's central air, too) plus swimming pools.

...you come see me when I have a cold pool to dip in and a BBQ under a roof so you don't have the sun glaring on you. :D

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Ahahahahahaha! The FLDS church has a MAJOR problem with extra digits. (And mental retardation, and other genetic disorders)

I'm trying to restrain myself but there is SO MUCH CRAZY MY HED ASPLODE!!

[tabaqui]

*flails around, too horrified to speak*

Mitt is a fucking idiot and i just...cannot... The freaking *MOrmons* creep me out big time. Jayzus gods.

And the pharmacist thing? *gag gag gag*.

Helloooo, blood pressure!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I. KNOW!! *stomps and rips phone books in half*

What's REALLY upsetting to me about the Mitt thing is how NO ONE SEEMS TO BE REPORTING ON THIS.

This is MAJOR NEWS, in my opinion.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

(And by reporting on this, I mean major news outlets. The local Utah/Arizona papers discuss this information, but only in a half-assed way.)

[tabaqui]

Jayzus, no kidding. *Big time* major news. I wonder if letters to someone like...I dunno, Jon Stewart or something would make him do a report that would filter to the 'real' news...

Gah. Organized religion *sucks*. I don't want *any* of those bastards in charge of my fucking country.

[anelith.livejournal.com]

I don't know why this information about Mitt Romney is not being spread all over the news! I am extremely chagrined to see him so high in the polls. I remember telling you that he'd never get very far... I don't suppose you could email your forthcoming expose to Keith Olbermann? He's the only TV news reporter that seems to have much guts anymore.

As for your other rant, I just want to add that the bit from Resident Dumbass's letter about "contraception being cheap or free" -- that only applies if the woman in question can access a clinic such as Planned Parenthood, or has good insurance. Even condoms aren't all that cheap over time, and they aren't very reliable when used alone so... it adds up. Living in the suburbs as I do I can tell you (and I know that YOU know) a clinic is not readily available to many, many women. Most women in fact.

I bet Mr. S didn't gloat too much. He's far too nice.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I REALLY don't understand how the media isn't jumping on this information about Mitt. I love that HIS dad was an immigrant (illegal? Maybe, maybe not) and he's all over reforming our current immigration laws. O_O And you know, I just might get all my ducks in a row and send this to Keith. THat's a great idea!

And yeah - pills aren't cheap or free if you make just enough to not be completely welfare-supported, and if there's no Planned Parenthood, you're screwed. (And a lot of people in the religious south have NO access to anything remotely like PP.)

(He gloated a little, then smiled a lot. Heeee!)

[altyronsmaker.livejournal.com]

I have no idea who Mitt Romney is! *is horribly embarrassed at not following the campaign!* I used to be so much more aware of what was goin on in my country. Now, it just depresses me.

I can so believe that there are pharmacists that refuse to fill prescriptions on the basis of moral grounds. In Tampa, I believe, a nurse who worked for the city jail refused to give a woman the 'morning after pill' on the basis that it went against her religion. Yes. Public facilities nurse, catering to her own religious edicts on the job. Yeah. She was fired. Immediately. Bitch. My mom's a nurse, and you should have seen her when we were watching that report on the news. *boggles*

I'm pro-choice. Not because I think women should go around 'murdering' unwanted babies. But because the government has no business telling what I can and cannot do with my body. At all. I believe abstinence is the best policy, but it can't be legislated. It's a choice that women - and men, though how often will they defy their 'biological imperative'? *scoffs* - have to make for themselves. Barring that, contraceptives, contraceptives, contraceptives!

PEOPLE who have sex willy nilly then bitch and moan when they get pregnant or get someone pregnant PISS ME OFF. Keep your dick in your pants, or keep your legs closed. Don't fuck around then wonder how the hell a baby was made. Gah! Idiot. /rant

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Mitt Romney was the gov. of Massachusetts and is now running for the GOP ticket for the presidency.

I'm not for abstinence policies/programs because they've been shown time and again to not be effective. Biology wants what it wants. (Granted, teaching children it's an option is fine. But... teach them about condoms/the pill, too.)

[darlas-mom.livejournal.com]

Head. Asploding.

If Mitt actually makes it past the primaries, I kinda want to print up all of your Romney rants and mail them to each and every one of his opponents. Sure, I hate it as much as everyone else when the entire campaign is about slamming the other person six ways from Sunday, but if ANYONE would get this kind of info out fast, it'll be the people trying to beat him.

Also, Resident Dumbass doesn't seem to take into consideration that most forms of birth control, when used alone, are only 97% effective. Are you just supposed to suck it up and have a kid you may not be ready for or may not be able to afford or possibly just plain don't want if you fall into one of the 3%? (You already covered victims of rape and incest fairly well in your rant) And not everyone who has an abortion has one just because, for whatever reason, they don't want/can't have a kid.

What about abortion done for the health or life of the mother? A friend of mine has a heart condition where a second pregnancy could've killed her. Does Resident Dumbass think she should've risked it? That she should've died and left two children motherless? Or should she have taken care of the child she had and let go of the child she couldn't have?

What about abortion where the child is horribly unhealthy? My ex-boyfriend had a friend whose son was born blind, deaf, mute, quadriplegic and with literally no feeling at all in over 75% of his body. And they knew he'd be born that way. What kind of life is that for a child? That poor little boy lived to be six years old, and spent that entire time lying in a bed, essentially alone in the dark. He never saw his parents' faces, never heard their voices, never felt his mother's touch. When he died, it was his five-year-old sister who found out first. It was their choice to do that, but should other families have to suffer that? Abortion in cases like that is a mercy.

I've never had an abortion myself, but I've known too many women who needed one. I despise it when people say a woman "wants" an abortion. Nobody wants an abortion. If there's anything they want, it's that they weren't pregnant in the first place. No woman plans on having an abortion someday as a lifelong aspiration. An abortion is something they end up needing when things go wrong.

...sorry. I didn't mean to rant all over your LJ.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Rant away! I agree with all of these points raised.

[fishsanwitt]

I have to thank you for posting about the Mormon religion. I went out and read 'Under the Banner of Heaven' - which in itself was an eye-opener.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Was that not an eye opener?! And it also has the distinction of being one of the only books about Mormonism that won't put you to sleep. (In fact, that book might keep you up a few nights in fear, huh?)

[fishsanwitt]

Well, it certainly made me think :)

I Googled quite a bit after reading it.

It amazes me - does *time* make a religion?

2,000 years for Christianity, 5,000+ for the Jewish religion, 200+ for the Mormons, almost 80 for Scientology - and these are just the ones off the top of my head. And I haven't even delved into the Muslim religion. Or Buddhism.

After reading up on both Scientology and Mormon - in a few thousand years, will aliens from space and golden tablets have as much gravitas as the 'major' religions have right now? I honestly don't know. But it's fascinating to contemplate what makes a religion.

[julia-here.livejournal.com]

I did tell you, I think, about the miserable time I had on my last office job, where my office mate was pregnant and having spectacular morning sickness, and still coming to work and puking in the wastepaper basket? And that she, at barely thirty, had had more than ten abortions, all of them while using contraception, and that the pregnancy she'd aborted before the one she was carrying to term and then getting a hysterectomy had started when she had a Cu-7 and was on high-dose birth control pills?

People who think that all it takes is using BC properly and consistently need a few days going through the "Yes, but," stories I've run across.

Also, about Romney, senior: if memory serves,being born abroad of American citizen parents is not a bar to the Presidency. And no matter his origins, I'll always have a soft spot for George, because he was the first strong Republican voice against the Viet Nam war. And compared to that weasel Mitt, he was pretty straight shooting in his political views. I suspect that in 1968 Mormons were so relatively rare, nation wide, and religion sp very much smaller a part of the national political scene that he didn't have to talk about his religion in public.

Julia, my feelings about Mitt's ability to shape shift his political history are...less than positive

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I... no. No you did not tell me about that previous co-worker and ACK. Holy smokes, Julia!

Well, McCain was born in Arizona while it was still a territory, and it's not an issue for him, but Romney's parents were skirting prosecution. That's why they crossed the border to live in Chihuahua. So... breaking federal laws. That doesn't affect your citizenship? Because I kinda think it SHOULD, if it doesn't. Just me?

(And Mitt's a scumbag, no question.)

[julia-here.livejournal.com]

The "yes, but..." list also includes a substantial number of women of my acquaintance who've conceived aftet tubal ligations. Then there's the sealed files of "yes, but..." which consist of happily married women who were trying to conceive but had late-term abortions due to "conditions not compatible with live birth" and who don't talk about the experience because people are such asshats about it.

There was discussion of the "born abroad" question when George Romney was running for the republican nomination, but they never included the reason his parents were abroad, beyond "religious missionaries." It's really hard to have ones US citizenship removed; I think you have to swear allegiance to another country, at very least.

And Mittt, religion aside, is intolerable, although for reasons which may not be religion aside, now that I think of it: isn't there a generally held understanding among LDS that lying to gentiles doesn't count as bearing false witness? Or is that just the impression those of us who grew up LDS adjacent have gotten doing business with some of them.

Julia, forebearing from telling a long rambling story about a cattle deal gone very wrong.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

As to the LDS "it's okay to lie to gentiles" it's a yes and no answer. (Not surprisingly.) Among the fundies, it's absolutely the truth, and in fact, has been given a name, "bleeding the beast" and includes unethically acquired gov't funds.

With straight-line Mormons, they'll always be truthful (ahem, cough, hack, gag) with each other, as that's who their allegiance lies. They're very good at twisting words and using lies by omission to stay "pure" before the lord.

...I'll let you head desk over the multiplicities of infallacies up there at your own convenience.

[gillo]

It's not my country and thus not my election, though if it were I would so warm to your rant about this Mitt guy.

The other issue is just plain revolting. If you don't want to dispense legally precribed medications, don't become a bleeding pharmacist. It's not their job to play god with a woman's reproductive rights. Ick. Ugh. And gah.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

SUCH A WEASEL, Mitt Romney.

And really! How can you pick and choose what medications you'll give a person as a pharmacist??? Shocking, it is.

[cityphonelines.livejournal.com]

What we should do is start our girl children on birth control pills as soon as they get their first period. That'll solve it all. Of course I was conceived while my mom was on the pill, but I guess that still must be all her fault right? Ugh. Just... ugh.

*buys you calendar with all important dates pre-marked*

No one gloats at my Stoney twice. ;)

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

*cuddles my Vinnie calendar*

And really, what we SHOULD be doing is locking up our girls, have their clitorises removed and filling their vaginas with "unmarried" cement. You know, so the cement plug could be removed once they were legally married before god? Because their vaginas belong to him. And his men.

GAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

[brutti-ma-buoni.livejournal.com]

Oh sometimes you make me so proud to be British. I'd never thought of free contraception being a rare privilege, let alone free access to prescribed medication, but good grief am I spoilt by my nation's health service. *is amazed and grateful*

Also, when our politicians talk about God, everyone looks at their feet and shuffles embarrassedly. We don't disapprove of religious people, ok, just...feel uneasy about electing politicians who let others make their moral choices.

So, not perfect. But we have our good points, and it is nice to be made aware of them. (But if Mormon Mitt gets in, we all suffer, so please do your best with the posting).

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Yeah - in the US, if you have good insurance, prescriptions are a snap. But getting good insurance is anything BUT a snap. I'm a huge fan of Britons' healthcare plans.

And no one in the U.S. is TALKING about Mitt's religion, which is mind boggling to me. Where's our old sense of journalism? Of questioning things? *blogs like mad*

[pernickety.livejournal.com]

Mormons officially knocked the clowns off the top position in my list of things I find too creepy for words.

I've had actual real life contact with Mormons two weeks ago! That's a first for me (far as I'm aware of, obviously.)
They were a group with all matching t-shirts flying down to Uruguay to do mission work. The entire flight two fourteen-year-olds kept yapping on about how excited they were about the important work they'll be doing for the unwashed masses of Latin America.
The funniest bit was the look on the face of the Uruguayan businessman across the isle. That was the best real life rendition of the "Are you for real?" look I've seen in my life.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

On one hand, the charity work they do is unparalleled, truly. HOWEVER. It's the condescension that comes with it I find incredibly intolerable. Yes, yes, we all know y'all think so highly of yourselves. Now shut up and dig ditches for the orphans. :D

(I love the presumption that there are... what, natives with bamboo pierced lips? all over South America. As if there weren't major cities in first world countries on the entire continent!)

[pernickety.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. Wanting to help other people is an admirable trait, no question about it.
But if they had taken the money for ten plane tickets half way around the world, plus the money for lodging, food etc and give it to a local organization who speak Spanish and, well, know what the hell is going on in the country, it'd have done a whole lot more good.

I just had a quick google and they have missions everywhere! Up to now I thought of Mormons as more or less confined to the US. I had no idea.

Also, I just wanted to say that that businessman wasn't across the isle, he sat across the aisle. D'oh.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah! Mormons are EVERYWHERE. In fact, there are now more Mormons OUTSIDE the U.S. than their are inside! SCARY, right?

[sweetumms33.livejournal.com]

Why don't pharmacists have the same sort of laws as doctors, doing whats best for the patient not for themselves? I want to be a doctor, and everyone that I have asked about abortion, especially in situations where the baby will be born with severe defects or the mother could die, says the same thing. It's about the patient, and the rest doesn't matter. ARGH. I also love that if you do go to Planned Parenthood, or somewhere else, to get contraceptives, there's some nut-job outside screaming "WHORE" at you. Yeah right, so easy to go get these things, especially for a younger person.

I go to school in Mass, so I've heard Romney grumblings for years. But what you are telling me is INSANE. That man cannot be president, he's a whack-job. And he did nothing for Mass. Just look at the Big Dig which fell on some poor woman...people want to vote this idiot into office? Seriously if he makes it past the primaries, I'm referencing you everywhere, I live in a swing state and that man will not be my president.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Completely agree. Unfortunately, it seems that not all pharmacies agree with us, which is INSANE. (Oh, and there was an abortion clinic down the street from my folks years ago next door to a DAY CARE. Ouch.)

Mitt Romney is a lying sack of crap, wishy washy, and willing to do WHATEVER IT TAKES (read: lie, backstab, flip-flop) to get the job the Church wants him to have. NO LIE. Craziness. IT'S CRAZINESS!!!

[floweringjudas.livejournal.com]

I, uh.

Okay. My aunt currently lives in Colonia Juarez (her husband is Mitt Romney's...second cousin, I want to say? Same surname, anyway) and she isn't a sister-wife. So...taking issue with the statement And let me be clear: you do NOT live there unless you are polygamist. End of story because Stoney, it ain't true. HOWEVER. They're FREAKING CRAZY there and totally socially backwards (they have one of only two church-run high schools down there; my cousins went/are going there) and my uncle's said his granddad told him stories about how he remembered going to all the different wives' houses when he was a little boy, but CJ (not sure about Dublan) isn't a plyg compound. At least, not anymore.

Though you are dead on with everything else, of course. *FLEEING the COUNTRY, what*

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Okay, I remember us talking about this when you came to visit, and I'm still skeptical. Laura, I've been following these people for years, and the people I've met (in St. George and Cedar City) from there have said that pretty much everyone there is polygamist, or polygamist adjacent. (Supportive.)

About George, Mitt's, father though, there's no question it was in a polygamist house he was born. Mitt was born in '48, before polygamy was stamped actively "stamped out" and George W. was born at the turn of the century. The leaders of the church in the early 1920s admitted that there were still marriages being sealed by them during that period. So in relation to Mitt, his ancestry is clearly polygamist. What may or may not be happening today is still in question in my book. Have your folks gone to visit? I'd be interested in hearing about it, to be sure!

(And you know I'm not trying to offend you, right? This ismy background as well? *squish*)

[floweringjudas.livejournal.com]

Yeah, my parents have been there to visit (I went, but I was 2, so I don't really remember), and my brother went down for a week when he was 15. And, like...okay, as much as my family's entrenched in mainstream Mormonism and the various weirdnesses inherent, my mom would FLIP HER SHIT if she thought my aunt was involved in any plyg stuff. Like, she can't deal with that part of Mormon History and says she thinks it was brought in because Joseph Smith was a horndog. And she ree-hee-HEALLY wouldn't have sent my brother there on his own if she'd had any reservations, is the thing.

Oh, and my dad's brother and his wife went down a couple of years ago and visited my aunt there and - okay, he's married to a formerly Catholic convert from Mexico. She definitely wears the pants in the family. If there'd been any HINT of polygamy, MAN SHE WOULD'VE LET US KNOW. (I really like her.)

So, like, that's what I'm basing this on. As much as my family's Mormon, they're still wary of strains of Mormonism. And all the women in my family (esp my aunt who lives down there; the idea of her putting up with sharing her husband with other wives is kind of hilarious) were raised to stand up for themselves and, uh, basically run roughshod over their husbands if they need to.

(Yeah, I know you're not trying to offend me! *squishes BACK* And I'm not offended, I'm just offering my indirect experience w/this. As far as CJ people being supportive of polygamy, I dunno. But I know my aunt wouldn't be.)