Friday Round Up: Know Your History & You Can Create the Future of Your Choice

July 19th was the 163rd anniversary of the Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention that is generally regarded as the start of the women’s movement in the U. S. So this week’s roundup has to be about power tool #1: Know your history and you can create the future of your choice.

Astronaut Sandy Magnus

Sandy Magnus and three other (male) NASA astronauts returned to earth early Thursday morning aboard the final flight of Atlantis. Magnus, 46, is an engineer and a veteran in space exploration since joining NASA in 1996. She now has the distinction of being the last woman ever to fly on a NASA space shuttle which is being retired after three decades of service. And she has a sense of history, and the historic nature of her own work.

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Has Allen West gone too far?

No introductory remarks needed here. This guy busted himself. Your thoughts?

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Arena Asks: Amid the House budget debate Wednesday freshman Republican Rep. Allen West dispatched a scathing personal email to Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, calling her “vile, unprofessional ,and despicable,” “a coward,” “characterless,” and “not a Lady,” and demanding that she “shut the heck up.”

Does West owe an apology to Wasserman Schultz? Or were his remarks in line with reasonable political discourse?

My Answer:
Wasserman Schultz spoke about substance, whether one agrees with her or not…

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IN WOMEN’S EQUALITY DAY SPEECH, HILLARY WILL LOOK WITH LONG EYES

All eyes will be on Hillary Clinton when she speaks tonight at the Democratic National Convention.

Media pundits and McCain loyalists will be parsing her every word, scrutinizing her every nuance, analyzing every element of her body language for quite a different reason. They love a political food fight. They’ll pounce on any whiff of tepidness, real or imagined, in her support for Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy. The Republicans have even set up a “Happy Hour for Hillary”, lying in wait to whip up animosity toward Obama, whether their spin is real, or if all else fails, conjured up by their Rovian attack dogs.

But while talking heads will strain to see any shred of conflict between the Democratic nominee-to-be and the second-runner, some of us will be looking at the occasion with what the Tohono O’Odham people call “long eyes”.

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Walk a Mile in My Shoes

[caption id="attachment_3820" align="alignright" width="250" caption="My red shoes"][/caption]

What kind of shoes represent you? Or, maybe the better question is: if you were a pair of shoes, what would you be? Cowboy boots? Sneakers? Bare feet? My red shoes, as pictured below express my agreement that all the votes should be counted so that all the people will feel their voices have been heard. Democracy takes patience and participation. (No Dorothy allusions, please–her shoes were actually silver.) Check out the Walk a Mile in My Shoes Website and let the Democratic National Committee know what you think. Be sure to post your comment here too!

Here’s what Ginny said:

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