Woo. Another Pope. *cough*

Well gee, color me unsurprised. The new pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio - now Pope Francis, thinks that gay people still shouldn't be allowed to marry: that it "is an attempt to destroy god's plan". That gay people adopting children is a "form of discrimination against children". And of course: abortion and contraception are on the no-no list.


So much for progression and the ability to help a growing, changing world. It's just baffling! Look! You have this amazing influence and opportunity to CURE and help the growth of compassion and acceptance WORLDWIDE and yet you chose to use it to keep people fighting, separated and lost. Instead of empowering those who don't think it gets better, keep them down, out and persecuted.

When I think of the people in my life, straight, bi, gay, trans and everything in between, I can't help but think how blessed I am to know these folks that care for others, want to make the world a better place, want to care for their families and help others in need. Some gay and unwed parents I know are some of the BEST parents I know. GOOD PEOPLE make good parents. Why would you deny a child the opportunity of a good life, no matter their parents leaning? THAT is cruel and discriminatory, Pope Francis.

I won't even go into the abortion and contraception part of this... I'll just get angry. Women can take the birth control pill, or not. Women can have abortions, or not. Women and men can utilize condoms and other contractive means, or not. There are choices out there - SAFE CHOICES, and no ONE MAN or ONE WOMAN should tell anyone otherwise.

I was really trying not to follow any of this, but it's hard not to with facebook, twitter and news sites. I guess I'm just disappointed that we can't progress as a society. I'm not religious, but I understand the power of religion and it's influence on the world.

I just wish that mouthpieces, like the pope, were used to bring us together instead of alienate us.

/rant

~Loud-Mouthed Gal

(cat meme sources 1, 2, 3)

Unemployment Blues

I've been feeling rather disconnected from society lately, which is why I think I've been watching so many documentaries. I'm trying to get a human connection while I sit at home alone during the day. 

When I first became unemployed and had my severance package, I went shopping - a lot. Not necessarily to buy things, but just to be out and away so I didn't sit home crying. I was careless and spent a lot of evenings out with friends in Los Angeles, living it up and trying to think that nothing was wrong and that things would work themselves out. Gas and drinks adds up over time.

That was a year ago. I started to become more and more shut in as the months went by. I tried exercising at home, you know, because there was TIME now... I found that I hate working out. A lot. Especially alone. I longed for a dance class, but didn't want to spend the money, nor want to have to tell unemployment that I was taking community college courses for modern dance or jazz... pretty sure that wouldn't fly.  Come to think of it... their education continuation specifications are kinda hard to understand. I should look into that again.

Anyway, I don't see my close friends as much (they are in LA or farther away, some as far as Canada). I don't go shopping except for groceries for my boyfriend and me, and those are modest at best. I stopped buying things on the internet - that's dangerous. I put on weight, even though I don't eat too much... pretty sure it's the sitting on my ass everyday. I became a vegetarian (too many food documentaries). I don't read as much as I used to or want to and I think it has a lot to do with the silence that comes with it. I don't like listening to music when I read, and in a home alone, silence can get to be a bit much. 

I used to go to Starbucks once a week to do my job search to keep myself focused and have a fancy coffee... but that would become 2 coffees and maybe a rice crispy treat... it had to stop.

When I was a teenager, when I put my mind to something, I did it. And was successful. Now when I put my mind to something, all I see is imminent failure - and that is a behavioral matter that I know I need to work on. We are capable of what we allow ourselves, and when we close our own doors and windows, failure is stuck in the room with us. Air it out.

There have been little things that have helped me along and bring me out of the darkness once in a while. Friends that visit; being invited out for coffee; maybe the boyfriend takes me out to a nice dinner once in a while. He and I joined a co-ed community soccer league, which has been good at getting us outside during the day, but thats once a week and I really should be out walking everyday at least. It might be time to bust out my bike again.

Anyway, I don't know where I was going with all this... OH YES. Education. I got a call last week from a friend in San Fran and she was excited to tell me about these online college courses that she was doing. My first reaction was, I can't enroll in anything that isn't a certificate based program for job betterment (to my understanding). But this - this was Coursera.org .  It's an online learning tool that utilizes professors from all over the world for online college level courses on more subjects than I expected. Anyway, I can't recommend it enough. I'm still in my first class, and even though I started a week late, I was able to catch up and only missed one quiz. 

It was good to get my mind going again, to problem solve. I'm getting towards the end of my unemployment benefits and know that if I don't find something in my chosen field here soon, I'm going to be applying at Costco or something and that makes my head spin. But, maybe it's supposed to be this long. Maybe I'm supposed to persevere. I know I haven't been unemployed as long as others. I keep reading that the unemployment rate in California is going down, but all I read are more companies doing lay offs. Just 5 days ago, Google's Motorola program just let go 10% of their staff or 1,200 jobs, which was originally 20,000 employees when they acquired Motorola (though that was in Illinois).

Sometimes it all looks like hopeless darkness. We'll see. I keep pluggin' away, sending out resumes and cover letters. Something has to give, right? 

Right?


~Loud-Mouthed Gal

What is International Women's Day?

I feel like I am late to the game here on feminism, since I had no idea of the origins of International Women's Day. A lovely friend of mine that studied out in Italy sent me a little note telling me to read into it in regards to Italy.

This celebration comes from the suffrage movement of the Union of Italian Women during WWII who had obtained the right to vote but could not exercise it. This also co-insided with the recognition of women abroad, who were struggling, like the women's garment workers union in NewYork City (which is the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union) and the Russian women's movement "bread and peace" which all roughly land around March 8, 1946.

In Italy, Yellow Mimosa flowers were given to other women as they were abundant and bloomed early, towards the end of January usually.  So here it mine to you <3

Also, it is with this kind of feminine huzzah, that it be only right to tip your hat to Rosie the Riveter. Like most women, (though not all), the iconic image by J. Howard Miller, is ingrained into our subconscious as the strong, go-getter, independent woman of the WWII era that we strive to be today. I personally favor the Norman Rockwell print of Rosie, seen below (source).

Ladies, we might be at the top of our game when it comes to centuries of being property (though not everywhere) and the damsel in distress (in all mediums, not just life), the struggle continues for women's rights today, even just basic human rights.

Happy International Women's Day, everyone.

Never Stop Fighting for Equality for All People.
http://now.org/
http://www.amnesty.org/en/womens-rights
http://www.equalitynow.org/protocol
http://womensrightsworldwide.org/organizations.html

~Loud-Mouthed Gal

Anarchists, Socialists and Anonymous... OH MY!

Misinformation and trigger words at their best.

OCCUPY UNMASKED, a "documentary" (and I put it in quotations because usually documentaries I feel like I should be exposed to a open forum of information that explores the spectrum of knowledge, and the people being interviewed should know what the hell they are talking about) is a right-wingy, tin-foil hat wearing, I'm going to use "scary" words to terrify the uninformed American populace, instigator, conspiracy theorists dream come true.

Seriously.

This "documentary" starts off with barrage of news clips in an MTV-like, novice music video editing style - it's about the "debt-ceiling" and takes every jab at President Obama that it can but in a rather disorganized and bouncy, flip-floppy way, but only to end with a quote:

"An organizer must stir up dissatisfaction and discontent" -Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals.

So at first impression, just a barrage of images and loud sound clips. This is the first 5 minutes of the film, and I was ready to give up after that, but I trudged through. Mostly because I wanted to know why, out of all the documentaries listed on Netflix in the categories it has given me of late (Critically-acclaimed Political Documentaries, Cerebral Business & Cultural Documentaries, Provocative Fight-the-System Documentaries and Controversial Movies) this one was the lowest rated ones with just 2 stars... and I wondered what the extreme right thought about all this hullabaloo.

I DO know, though, that this "documentary" was reaching. Let's begin with the Narrator, the big-name they dug up to lead us through this Unmasking of the Occupy movement: Andrew Breitbart. As a vocal piece of the Tea-Party, it seems like the match made in heaven for this leaping-to-extremes film (I have to start using the term Film instead of "documentary" because I think it gives documentaries a bad rap.) Breitbart is obnoxious, loud (which definitely means he's right, duh), an instigator, and uses all the tricks in the book. He also does a poor job of trying not to look flattered when people recognize him at the protests he attends to get the inside scoop.

Our next montage during the opening credits is Zuccotti Park (or Liberty Plaza) in New York City where the Occupy Movement is born on September 17, 2011. Then we get into their first conspiracy-ness calling the start of the Occupy Movement a hoax started by Malcolm Harris (which they make sure to say, "He's a commie") because of the Radiohead appearance rumor that came about early on in the occupation. (They later blame other people for the start of Occupy... but who's counting?)

They try to make the protesters look ridiculous because they have "Catered food" and "Macbooks"... most of the items that they had at Liberty Park were donation oriented. The food, the electronics, or their personal items that they brought from home FOR the movement. I was watching online when people were live streaming and chatting and donating money and sending catered food/pizza to the protesters. It was heartwarming and amazing. It's overwhelmingly fulfilling to try for this idealism that the millennial generation is working towards. But it was also heart-crushing when the eviction of Zuccotti Park happened in November 2011 and all these materials were destroyed and tossed into dumpsters, regardless of it being personal property.

Next, showing the liberal media and liberal celebrity idealizations of the protest and "applauding" the protesters, all the while showing some weird clips of snake-charmers playing emphatically for cobras. Is this supposed to symbolize the hypnotism of the liberal public by the liberal media to convince them that this is an amazing thing? I guess... but really, I was just glad to see the Occupy movement on tv, regardless. It meant that it MEANS something, despite what way you spin it.

It goes into some weird email thread from media correspondents that is supposedly the initial orchestration of the movement and it's "nonexistent" reason for existence (yeah I don't get that either. *Pulls tin-foil hat on tighter*) Then they show some poor soul of a protester who has no idea what he's talking about and make him look like an idiot. Not everyone there is going to be an Einstein. Breitbart makes some fantastical leaps and exaggerates on some commentaries that they ninja-record to a comical level. The whole, you are yelling at me through the television so you must be right approach is mostly annoying, Breitbart.

At Zuccotti Park, there are some incidents of rape, drug use... as if that is unexpected. There are always going to be people who aren't good people, no matter what side of the political spectrum you're on and there is going to be drug use - ANYWHERE YOU GO. They act like this is a shock. They cut and frame these clips to feel very ominous and terrifying and even fabricated. Here is the complete video that also goes into how they are setting up the security council that patrols and watches over the community of the park. Not everything is as it seems at first glance. This isn't Disneyland, it's the real world, and people have to know that they have to take care of themselves just as they would anywhere else.

The film starts into its segment on violence and making sure to use the trigger words, rapists, anarchists, socialists, communists, drug-users... and claims that "the left" wants revolutions and that they are haters of the United States, freedom, liberty, the constitution and are "hell-bent on Nihilistic destruction of the United States of America as we know it."

Last time I checked, as an American that learns and pulls a little from everything, being a democratic socialist with conservative values and some libertarianism thrown in there, I don't think I have ever hated liberty, freedom, the constitution or the good ol' U.S. of A. In fact, I love all those things. And because I am blessed with this freedom, no one can tell me that I can't be all these things rolled into one.

And of course, Anonymous. Are they good, are they bad, do they know those masks are made in China or Mexico...? Unless you're awesome ;) But the film makes them look scary and violent... they refer to Anonymous as the muscle to the Occupy movement, though not directly affiliated. Because of their anonymity they are painted as cowards.

Unions. A lot of unions backed, joined, and supported the Occupy movement. They talk about the SEIU setting up the bank sit-ins as constructs of the Unions for the purpose of using the protesters for their own means. I guess that could be right, but there isn't much evidence. I can't help but have my OWN tin-foil hat when they show footage of people saying they were paid to be there and have no clue whats going on (I think they were paid by the cameraman to say it, but whatever.)

They go into class warfare arguments which just boils my blood because they talk like we have no right to be upset with the 1%, like we have no right to ask that the richest people in the country be taxed fairly with the rest of us... watch this video. Seriously. All the rich people I know (which isn't many) also believe that they should be taxed accordingly. The film chides the rich people that showed up for protests, those with trust funds like they shouldn't be there... and they have EVERY right to be there... is it their choice that their parents gave them trust funds? Is it a crime for them to stand with the poorer people of this country and want to help them stand strong? Gah!

They start showing corporate properties that are being destroyed by "anarchists" and using the trigger words, Molotov Cocktails, and mocking their Non-Violence. If no people are hurt, that IS Non-Violence. Violence against a corporate establishment/property that DOES NO HARM TO AN INDIVIDUAL is Non-Violence. Corporations ARE NOT people! The attacks that happened in Oakland were condemned and poo-poo'd by all Occupy posts because there were run ins with police officers who used unreasonable force (imho).

Pam Key, one of the speakers in their film tries to come off as the "cool, hip" commentator who is an activist... but the conclusions she comes to aren't much better than Breitbart's rants... so I read up on her and she is a writer for Breitbart's website, and prior to that, Glenn Beck's TheBlaze.com.

The final thing that gave me a moment, was the amazingly creative connections they start to draw from various communist and socialist societies of the past, and the 60s protests and how we don't seem to care about the rest of the world but only ourselves. About how the 99% hate America. Well, if we can't solve the problems at home, how the hell we gonna help anyone else??

They start painting the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society), Black Panthers, and socialists as the roots and secret behind the scenes instigators of the Occupy Movement. They go: SDS used Saul Alinsky tactics; Saul Alinsky's mentor was Frank Nitti of the Capone gang in the 1930s; after prohibition, the Capone gang went into Unions, which eventually became the SEIU, which backed President Obama in his first term, and backs the Occupy Movement. "It's the 1930s and the 1960s colliding."

There is an audio recording of Stephen Lerner, the Architect of the Justice for Janitors for SEIU, from March 2011 that the right-wing sites say is eco-terrorism. (The title of that last link sounds awesome! Tax the wealthy! I hope to be wealthy, and by-golly, I want to pay my fair share of taxes, give to charities and do my share to help this country be prosperous... because we deserve it.) This wiki article about Occupy traces roots of it's beginnings back to 2008 with momentum gaining in July 2011 when a domain name was purchased. Perhaps it was Lerners words that were the straw that broke the camels back...? Who knows. What I want to know is, how can anything not be drawn from something? We're always going to look into our past to see what was done wrong and right and try to use them as examples. If the Occupy movement looks at what the SDS and Black Panthers did in the 60s and learns from their mistakes and successes, well, I think thats just plain smart. While they are thankful for the support from Unions, they are NOT unions - they are Occupy.

The clip transitions showing violence from the 60s and the murders of The Black Panther Party leaders is shown. Breitbart tries to look empathetic and strong: "That's exactly what the anti-war movement became. It has nothing to do with stopping the war. And Occupy has nothing to do with banks. It has everything to do with using Saul Alinsky leftist tactics to put their enemies on the defensive." Seriously... this stuff is gold.

They claim the Occupy movement didn't/doesn't know what they were fighting for... I disagree, but then, I'm an idealist. Here is their reddit from September 2011, and their "working" list of demands.

The end of this film felt like a lot of name-calling: They call Lisa Fithian a "professional anarchist" to which I almost spit out my water laughing. I have never heard of a professional anarchist... didn't know that was an option! (Dang!) Medea Benjamin is a socialist! Rudy Giuliani has a clip stating: "Barak Obama owns the Occupy Movement, it would not have happened, but for his class warfare." They're all commies! Where is McCarthy! Sigh...

Breitbart looks right into the camera: "That's what they got out of all the blood, sweat, tears, and rapes." WHAT? I don't even... what???? Ugh....

I may not know everything about the Occupy movement, but I watched and read about it everyday for 3 or so months religiously when things got rolling in September 2011. Now, I tend to check in and read the webpage or facebooks on a semi-regular basis.

I won't deny that there were/are issues with Occupy... there is in every movement. There are always going to be extremists on both sides that ruin it for the folks that give a shit and follow the guidelines of the initial idea. (Ideas and Ideals are also a very interesting concept, especially when looking at the generations, but thats another blog all together.)

We close out the film with a violent montage of protests getting heated (from the civil rights protests to Battle in Seattle to the present), leftist speakers saying things like "We're all anarchists",  and a really embarrassing clips of Breitbart yelling at Occupy protesters as he's being dragged away "Behaaaave yourself! Behaaaaave yourself! Stop raping people! Stop raping people! Stop! Raping! The People!!" over and over and over... I rolled my eyes at this in true Loud-Mouthed Gal fashion and desperately wanted to turn it off... but I waited through the credits, like I always do. My goodness that was painful.

I know I probably sound like an extreme leftist writing this kind of thing, but I feel like words have power... and when you use them incorrectly, you do yourself and others a disservice. Oddly enough, after I finished writing this review, I did a search to see who else reviewed it, and a left website, TheNation.com did... and they were eerily close to how I phrased things! Haha I swear I didn't read it before hand! Here it is, if you're interested. (I was far kinder, don't you agree? Ha!)

I felt like this film tried to keep me dumb and from asking questions, from wanting to seek out more answers... they make all their statements so absolute and agressive that you cower... But I couldn't. I knew that so much of what they were showing was one-sided, skewed and blown out of proportion. I'm glad I watched this film, it forced me to seek out the other side and find that there might be some discrepancies, but not to the extent they want you to believe. They want you to be afraid so you don't question them and accept what they tell you as the absolute truth. Nothing is absolute.

Also, sadly, Andrew Breitbard passed away after the conclusion of this film in 2012, as it is the first credit to roll. I don't agree with the man in any respect, but rest in peace, dude.

I could write more, but I fear it will lose momentum or meaning at some point.

Tin-foil hat, off.

Thanks for sitting through that, everyone.

Documentary watched on Netflix March 3, 2013
Occupy Unmasked - If you're still into it after reading this, watch it.

~Loud-Mouthed Gal