Tag Archives: Prostitution

The sheriff ain’t gonna like this, Billy-Bob….

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Ffolkes,

“He who has the courage to laugh is almost as much a master of the world as he who is ready to die.” — Giacomo Leopardi

I would add to this idea, “It should be noted, Reality often requires these qualities to be present in the same person….” Not that I’m a cynic, or anything like that…. I consider myself a realist, as anyone who deals with the slippery slope of Reality on a daily basis MUST be, in order to survive longer than a day or two… We, who dare the universe to defy our scrutiny at every turn of the planet, can testify to the veracity of this notion, as we deal with both laughter and death regularly in the course of our duties…. Of course, that is true ONLY of those of us who are clumsy about it, but, then, who is there, in this day and age, who can wrestle with Reality with grace, or any significant degree of aplomb?

Now that the proper tone of nonsense and nearly-coherent whimsy has been firmly established, I think it would be acceptable to turn away from the fantasy portion of this morning’s intro, and return to the more amenable, less controversial pathways that wind their way toward section one. As you are, by now, well aware of my propensity for pomposity (hmm, “propensity for pomposity”…. not bad at all…. almost cute….), I don’t think it will be necessary for me to set out the emergency flares to show the way to the escape hatch…. I’m actually pretty sure we won’t even need to issue the usual flak jackets that go with this portion of the trip…. Our new route seems to be working out well, in terms of not drawing any hostile fire….

Of course, that may be due to flying over the native villages late at night, so late, they’ve already put the ack-acks, the antiaircraft guns, to bed. It’s a bit harder to take pictures of the scenery, since there isn’t any, (well, there is, but, hey, it’s DARK out there….), but, it saves wear and tear on the plane, and we haven’t lost a passenger for weeks…. which, of course, makes the insurance folks VERY happy!…. Bloody bean counters…. charge me up the butt already, for what? Insurance? What a scam THAT whole thing is…. don’t get me started on that…. I’ve hated the whole idea of insurance since I was young, and figured out what a rip-off it is… Legalized gambling, and the only way to win, is to lose…. Boy, if THAT isn’t a euphemism for modern society, I don’t know what is!…..

But, I refuse to rant here in the intro again…. It puts my whole sense of rhythm off, making it hard to find a good, solid syncopated riff, or even a good line, afterwards…. Of course, I may not feel like ranting later, either, but, hey, at least I didn’t burden y’all with it right out of the gate….. Credit me with a little tact, if you please…. In fact, I am not only tactful today, I’m efficient…. Watch this….

Shall we Pearl?….

“First I must sprinkle you with fairy dust…”

“I leapt headlong into the sea, and thereby have become better acquainted with the soundings, the quicksands, and the rocks, than if I had stayed upon the green shore, and piped a silly song, and took tea and comfortable advice.” — John Keats
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http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/carroll/article/The-long-war-for-gender-equality-5242861.php

At last! At last, a mainstream columnist approaches a subject of import with unflinching honesty, with no equivocation, and no excuses made to justify the behavior he is discussing, to wit: the ongoing abuse of women all over the world by cowardly men, afraid of their own sexuality, and thus,  displaying angry misogyny toward the other sex, whom he fears because he does not understand…. To my knowledge, this is one of the first times I’ve seen one of the mainstream’s most popular columnists address this issue, one that has bothered me for many years, due to my own inability to make any progress in changing it, even in those men whom I know and love….

Men in our culture, and in every culture since we lived in caves, are taught to mistrust women, and to assume their own superiority, without having any reason, or confirmed evidence, that would support either attitude…. It’s just the way it is, to them, with almost all of society blindly supporting the fallacies of attitude that keep women in a position of subjugation. It isn’t a pretty picture, and never has been; it is also one society has refused to address, at the insistence of its misogynistic masters, who are so afraid of women, they keep them subjugated so they can control their own fears….

This pearl is one I have been saving, but, there isn’t any good reason to NOT bring it out…. only my own male reluctance to pick up the ball, and run with it, when it goes against everything that I was raised to believe…. Our culture brainwashes all young men and women to play their roles in society; it has taken me most of my life to rid myself of many of the prejudicial attitudes I carried around with me for most of it…. and I still find myself falling into the same old mental traps, and thinking of women as lesser, somehow, even though it is patently a false notion, one the has no real basis in Reality, only in men’s minds….
jimmy sez    When I resort to Art to express myself, you know I’m too angry to write…. This subject is one I have a hard time with, as I tend to become so angry, at those men who exploit and abuse women and children, (it’s the same sickness… abusing those who are weaker is the mark of the true coward….), I lose my ability to speak…. I want to go out, into the world, and find me some pimps, to use for my sport, by hunting them down, and making them feel small and afraid, just like they do when they beat one of their slaves…. It makes me want to buy a gun, to go walking around the mean streets, picking off the predators that hang there, freeing their slaves, if they are able to free themselves when released from their slavery….

I’m so upset now, I’ve lost all ability to think clearly, or to present my arguments in an organized fashion…. So, here is a link, to a blog written by a most powerful woman, who has shown the incredible strength of mind and will to pull herself out of the sex trade, into which she was kidnapped, and forced into prostitution, at a young age…. She is a very powerful writer, with a lot of pain to express…. If you are at all squeamish, then you MUST read this…. It will make you cry (as I did….), it will make you ashamed, and it will make you angry, for her, as well as AT all of the insane men around the world who engage in this plague of evil…. The latest entry, posted yesterday, on the site of which I speak, can be found here:   http://rmott62.wordpress.com/2014/02/19/climbing-back-on-my-horse/

Please stop by her site, and read what she has written; it will shame you, it will anger you, and it will leave you with the feeling there is yet a long road to any real progress, and that it is high time we ALL joined in to fight this battle….

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” — Edmund Burke, Irish orator, philosopher, & politician (1729 – 1797)
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There are times when nothing but a classic will do…. this is one of them….

 

When I Have Fears

 

 

When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has glean’d my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripen’d grain;
When I behold, upon the night’s starr’d face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love;–then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.

~~ John Keats ~~

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The above material, in section one, is important, to me, so I’m a bit disappointed in myself for NOT having the proper rant inside me today to address the issue at hand, one about which I feel very strongly…. I’ll have to be content with knowing that no matter how powerful, or convincing my own words may be, the words the Gentle Reader will find on Ms. Mott’s web site are MUCH more so, and will do a better job at explaining the issue so that people can understand it…. because she is writing from INSIDE the issue, not from the viewpoint of one standing aside, viewing it with objectivity, a position which, in this case, is completely useless for the purposes it needs to address…..

That being said, I’m going to create an old-school pearl for this last section, one without any particular parameters I can put to voice, but, rather, some vague, amorphous feelings, that I’ll use to influence whatever choices Smart Bee gives me in the way of aphorisms, quotes, and/or bits of virtual wisdom…. Shall we dive in?…. It’s probably for the best if we do…. Mind the steps, now…. Got your mask and flippers? Let’s go!….

“If people were required to know the law rather than to obey it, the government would be overthrown the next day.” — Smart Bee

“You cannot put the same shoe on every foot.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 596

“Under every stone lurks a politician.” — Aristophanes

“The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.” — Aristotle

“One of the great meaningless phrases of our times is: “I take full responsibility.” This does not mean that you are prepared to pay the consequences for what you have done. On the contrary, this statement is usually offered instead of taking the consequences.” — Thomas Sowell

”        …’fire’ does not matter, ‘earth’ and ‘air’ and ‘water’ do not matter.  ‘I’ do not matter.  No word matters.  But man forgets reality and remembers words.  The more words he remembers, the cleverer do his fellows esteem him.  He looks upon the great transformations of the world, but he does not see them as they were seen when man looked upon reality for the first time.  Their names come to his lips and he smiles as he tastes them, thinking he knows them in the naming.” — Siddartha, _Lord_of_Light_ by Roger Zelazny

“Virtue is but heroic bravery, to do the thing thought to be true, in spite of all enemies of flesh or spirit, in despite of all temptations or menaces.” — Albert Pike (1809-1891)

A bit esoteric, but, it works….. Can I go back to bed now?
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In truth, going back to bed might just be the best thing for me today, all around…. It is now 0532 in the morning, and this Pearl is 99.9% complete…. The cat, bless her little black heart, decided, at 0330 today, it was time for us to be up and doing, expressing this opinion by attacking the underside of the bed with her claws, to wake me up, and get me going…. She does this regularly, much as she KNOWS I HATE to be gotten up that way, as evidenced by the obligatory 5 minute chase around the house trying to squirt her with the water bottle for waking me…. SIGH…. They just don’t give a shit, you know?…. Maybe I’ll drug her cat food this morning, and get some actual uninterrupted sleep for a few hours….

Nah, I’ll let her be, and just shut her out of the bedroom for a while…. Of course, then I’ll have to spend an hour or so putting the living room back to order, after she tears it up in her frustration at not being able to get the door open…. Maybe, a few years from now, after she has aged and mellowed a bit, she won’t be such a psycho kitty, but, I’m not holding my breath…. she’s pretty crazy, even for a black cat…. At least she gives us something to contend with each day, although I’m not sure that “constantly challenging” is the most attractive description of a pet one can come up with, but, it fits…. Ah well, I’ve always preferred biological alarm clocks to any of the numerous technological varieties, anyway…. They don’t break when thrown at the wall….  I’ll see y’all tomorrow; at what hour that may turn out to be will be up to the cat….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest  Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes,
I just sits.

 

 

gigoid the dubious

dozer3

Under no obligation of law…..

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Ffolkes,
One never feels cheerful when walking on Meriton Way; all of the buildings seem to loom over one like brooding giants, and the facades of each are stained and dark. At night, one is fortunate if one lamp in three burns at all, and those that do throw more shadow than light. The air seems close, even out of doors, and a river fog turns the atmosphere sinister indeed.  T’is no wonder at all to find the street empty of life; indeed, one wonders how anyone can come there at all….

Hmm….. doesn’t sound like my kind of place…. so, we’ll leave that particular vision right where it is, and go on to other, more pleasant tasks…. I say pleasant, even though the process of making Pearls has grown to be somewhat of a chore of late. I’m not certain why that is, but t’is true nonetheless. I suppose it isn’t so much the Pearls I’m having trouble with; it’s Life, of course….

One can usually pinpoint the base cause of dissatisfaction fairly easily, as long as a campaign of self-delusion isn’t being waged, and that certainly isn’t the case here. No, I’m just frustrated at having to be patient. It is a skill one must learn in this world, but I don’t think that anyone particularly LIKES to be patient; it’s just something that is more profitable to hold close than to give up, in almost every case imaginable.

Sure, there are times when patience is inappropriate (being punched in the face comes to mind….not a good idea to put up with that for long….), but in most instances in Life, it is more valuable than not….. It becomes difficult when the reason for its necessity is unnecessary, so to speak…. such as when one is waiting for something that should have arrived long before. I would be more disturbed than I am, if I thought that it was personal; but the federal bureaucracy moves slowly in all its forms, and does not discriminate in that sense. Everyone’s business gets slowed down when it strikes the federal facade…..

Well, ranting in the intro section is probably not the best way to start off, so we’ll move along to the regular business of the morning, and just hope for the best…. Who knows? Maybe the frustration I’m experiencing will have some kind of salutary effect on what I write…. It’s a pretty long shot, but what the hell else do I have to do? Shall we Pearl?……
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First I must sprinkle you with fairy dust…– Smart Bee

…. or your imagination won’t be able to fly! Ah, if only t’were so….

I find myself in a quandary this morning. It seems that my sensitivity to the world’s darker side is on full alert. I’ve been up less than an hour, and have already run across three things that made my tears flow. One was a passage in the book I started, describing the panic, terror, and heroics that people experienced as victims of the sinking of the Lusitania at the start of WWII. When I read how a man, a common thief, gave up his life jacket to a young mother with a child, I couldn’t keep them from flowing….

Second, I read a blog by a sister in pain…. a former sex trade worker, who has been strong enough to find her way out of the terror of her former years, into a place where she is able to write about it, hoping to bring her own experiences to light in order to enlighten the general public about the plight of all the women and girls trapped in that life by the vicious misogynists who perpetrate the atrocity.

Every time I read one of her posts, I cry without shame, for her and for all those still being victimized (and they are ALL victims; even those who say they agree with prostitution are deluded in their beliefs, having been indoctrinated before they were capable of making up their own minds….) I’ve reblogged that posting to help spread the message, but the pain and sorrow her work generates in me is not so easily sublimated….

Third, I read once again the Last Will and Testament of Noah, (my dog, who passed away last November) and almost drowned in my tears, as it brought back all the love of him, and the pain of his passing….. It’s been almost eight months now, and the pain is as fresh as if it were yesterday. I suppose this pain will always be there, waiting to be felt, at least until I find another dog to take as my companion…..

The upshot of all this morning’s tears is exhaustion, at least emotionally. Not even 7:30 AM, and my foremost thought is to go back to bed, thereby wasting the entire morning. I wouldn’t wish to do that, so I suppose I’ll keep pushing onward…. I’m not sure why….

But, then, I also don’t know why this whole emotional storm is raging, and that, I think, is more upsetting than the actual storm itself. It would be nice to be able to see how to counteract this when it happens, but I suppose it is inherent in the issue. If I could see why it happened, I could do something to prevent it, or at least regulate it to some degree. Instead, I find myself played out, frustrated, and once again, ranting over something I cannot change….

Since I have no idea where this is leading, or, for that matter, where it came from, I will of necessity surrender all control, sprinkle myself with some fairy dust, and hope for the best…..

“And I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep.” — Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
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I see the lights of the village
gleam through the rain and the mist.
And a feeling of sadness comes o’er me,
that my soul cannot resist.
A feeling of sadness and longing
that is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only
as the mist resembles rain.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), The Day is done

I’m going on instinct here…. this is included only because it resonated with how I’m feeling today…. sad, and clinging to whatever beauty I can find, to keep my head above water….

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.
— William Butler Yeats, “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”

Well, that’s better…. found this, and it produces a much more amenable state of mind…. thanks, Bill….
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“There is no absurdity so palpable but that it may be firmly planted in the human head if only you begin to inoculate it before the age of five, by constantly repeating it with an air of great solemnity.” — Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

Here you see the secret of the Catholic Church’s success throughout the ages since Peter had the light bulb go off over his head. For centuries, the church (and not only Catholics… they’re all guilty of this….)  has concentrated its efforts on indoctrinating people in the restrictive concepts that make up their dogma from a very early age.

Church members are required (not asked, but required….) to bring their children in within days of their birth, to receive the blessing of the priest, who gleefully splashes water and chants incantations in celebration of another soul to be enslaved. Sure, they tell the parents that their own hope of getting to Heaven depends on their compliance, but what they’re really doing is perpetrating the same crime that they carried out on the parents at the same age….

The educators in the church are fully aware of the truth of Mr. Schopenhauer’s statement, and have exploited that weakness for over 2000 years, refining and perfecting the technique until it is almost infallible. If they can convince their constituents of the truth of what they say before they reach the age of reason, they know there will be less chance of them questioning any of it, and can count on more recruits for their particular brand of ignorance for another generation.

It’s too bad ignorance isn’t painful. — Smart Bee

Perhaps if it was painful, there would be more hope for the world. But, alas, society has arranged matters so that the display of ignorance is not detrimental; in fact, in many cases, society rewards such ignorance. Natural selection has been disrupted in our species, and the penalty that used to be in place for those who refused to learn was eliminated, for the most part. As a result, more and more people are born who have no clue, and moreover, will never be allowed to get a clue.

The Catholic Church is not the only entity who knows the above, and their techniques are copied or adapted for use in almost all religions. It’s almost enough to make a man want to become a hermit, since there doesn’t seem to be much hope for mankind, as long as we continue to refuse to use the one advantage we have….

Be a hero! Teach your children to think for THEMSELVES! — Smart Bee
___________________________________    No reason… it just made me smile…. found on Facebook….
___________________________________    Since I don’t have any such words just now…. I’m cheating a bit, and using the picture, to save myself a thousand words…… also found on Facebook….
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Sometimes, one must go with the flow…. this Pearl was doomed from the beginning, what with the way my day started. I’m not going to apologize, as this one has everything in it that I have the wherewithal to create. All you can do is all you can do…. So, y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

Kowabunga!

Transformers in a creamy sauce….

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Ffolkes,
I think everyone out there has experienced being left on hold by some large corporation with whom you have tried to conduct business over the phone. Once, while speaking with my internet service provider, I got left on hold, and forgotten, three times, over the course of a 45 minute call, that dealt with an issue that took 20 seconds to correct. I’m sure you all have a horror story or two to add to this; it’s a common practice these days, for companies to increase their profit margins by reducing services, such as phone operators. It is also a big pain in our collective ass….

My whole life is currently on hold, by the Federal government, bless their pointy little heads. The Social Security Department, having decided in their wisdom that I am not yet worthy, have denied my disability application, so I am compelled to go through the appeal process, adding perhaps another 6 months to the time I will have to survive without the additional funds that SS will provide from the money I have put into the system over the last 45-50 years.

Six months more of this…. This includes never being able to go anywhere, as I cannot afford a car, and riding buses, though efficient financially, is very slow and laborious, not to mention hard on my back. Riding across town to buy my bread at the discount store is a four hour bus trip, to cover a distance I could drive in 8-10 minutes each way. Also, the buses don’t run before 8 AM or after 9 PM, so no staying out late or starting early.

No going out to dinner, and no going out for a cocktail; those events are not even close to being included in the monthly budget. Hell, if I buy more than a hundred dollars or so of food, it puts a strain on things. I don’t starve, by any means; I do have more than many families with kids have to get by, and for that I am grateful to my 29 years of state retirement contributions.

But, there are no extras included in there…. no laundry, no clothing, no shoes can be purchased, without first doing without something else that may be critical. I am impressed more and more all the time with the creativity shown by the families who are getting by on less than my retirement; this isn’t easy, at all.

Living this way has given me two things… One, as stated, a feeling of intense admiration for the folks in society who get by on the pittance that they can earn, given the lack of jobs and the determination of the 1% to keep things this way. Two, a burning, intense hatred (a word I don’t much use, as I consider it unhealthy in general…) for that same 1%, in which I include all politicians, priests, preachers, rabbis, imams, bankers, industrialists, and specifically Mitt Romney’s asshole of a wife. (Well, him, too, but she is particularly noisome…. “average housewife” my dying ass…..) It is clear by the daily nonsense I see in the news just how little they care, or even comprehend, about the situation in today’s culture of disparity. And, as far as I can tell, by all available evidence, it is deliberate on their part; they just don’t care about anyone else….

Ah me…. I had not intended to rant first thing this morning. But, having awakened once again in pain, followed by a bout with my PTSD’s lovely gift of depression and tears this morning, it just sort of flowed out of my head and onto the screen. I don’t wish to make this sound like a litany of whiny complaints. I know I have it better than a lot of folks.

But, damn it, it doesn’t have to be this way, and if there was even one person in government that I could point to and say, “Look, there is an honest man, trying to make things better for those who elected him,” then I would feel at least a little bit encouraged. As it is, I can only look forward to more of the same, for at least six more months…. and I defy anyone out there to tell me I’m wrong here. It should be easy, one would think…. all you have to do is find ONE person in office you can show me who is trying to do right. One, that’s all…. go ahead, I dare you…..

That will take you a good, long while, so in the meantime, I’m going pearling…. y’all can come along, or not, as you wish…. I’m too much in the depths of depression to care….. but, you are welcome, if you so desire…. let’s go…..
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O men with sisters dear,
O men with mothers and wives,
It is not linen you ‘re wearing out,
But human creatures’ lives!
— Thomas Hood (1798-1845) — The Song of the Shirt

Yesterday, I reblogged an article posted by rmott62, a very strong, inspiring young woman who writes about her experiences as a sex trade slave. I use the word “slave” deliberately, for no other word describes the women, and children who are trapped, abducted, or even tricked into becoming prostitutes. I have reblogged her work, and the work of a couple others who have been fortunate enough to have exited the system in which they were entrapped, several times, and I will continue to do so as long as she, and I, still are publishing. I do this because I am ashamed….

Yes, ashamed…. I am ashamed at myself, and of all the other men in the world who turn their faces away from this issue, and pretend that there is nothing they can do about it. I am ashamed that this practice, of raping and abusing women and girls, just for their own pleasure (though I fail to see how it can be pleasurable to rape or abuse…), just because they can, not only has been present for thousands of years, but continues unabated in today’s supposedly enlightened culture. To my way of thinking, all of us men are responsible for this, and it is our DUTY to do whatever we can to put a stop to it.

Back in the days when mankind lived in caves, when a man in the tribe became dangerous to others in the tribe, for stealing, for abusing others, for whatever reason they had that went against what was good for the tribe, the other men in the tribe made it a point to discipline that man. It may have been merely a physical beating, or banishment from the tribe, or even death, but the other men took it upon themselves to see that the will of the tribe was upheld. Somehow, when culture grew, and started inhabiting cities, and there was more interchange between various tribes, the system broke down. The people of the society were now supposed to be protected from such depredations by law….

But, at about this time, the unscrupulous among us started to solidify their power over society; the richest among the tribes were those who made the laws; they were also the same ones who saw nothing wrong with raping and abusing women, assuming that was their privilege as one of the beloved ruling class. And so the laws were made to reflect that attitude, and the die was cast.

This system has survived the centuries, and now the attitude that prostitution is an integral part of society is so ingrained that even those without any other kind of power over others can go to a brothel and act out their sick fantasies, at the expense of a woman or child who has no defense against the violence that occurs if they should object…. and if there is a discussion it is always about a “victimless crime”….

It disgusts me, right down to my core. It is perhaps the sickest part of our society, and very few people are even aware of it. There is certainly no discussion in the public at large of the issue; it is far too volatile for any politician to ever take the chance of siding with the women who are being abused. Hell, a good half of those assholes in office are trying to take away the few rights women have managed to get into law over the last 40 years; Roe vs. Wade has already been set aside, and the asshole men who can’t stand the thought of a woman having the right to choose anything, much less their own sexual nature, are trying to make sure it never gets revived.

I’m not sure what can be done, at least not on a society-wide scale. The attitudes, and laws, have been so set in stone for so many years that it may require surgical removal to make any progress. But, on a smaller scale, I can make noise about it, and try to shame any man who believes otherwise that he is not only a fool, but an asshole fool, and doesn’t deserve to call himself a man.

When I was in college, the women’s rights movement was in its beginnings, and there was a phrase coined that says it all, to me…. Free our sisters, free ourselves…. None of us men will ever be truly and completely free until we have freed our sisters from such servitude.

That is a fact. It is not just my opinion, it is a fact, and we would do well to pay heed…. and those who engage in this industry had best watch out, for if no one else does, I will be looking for them, and when I find them, I will do all I can to end them. And you can interpret that however you wish; I have no doubt in my mind as to what I mean, and I mean “end them”…..
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“It is ridiculous to suppose that the great head of things, whatever it be, pays any regard to human affairs.” — Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) — Natural History, Book ii, Sect. 20

This has always been an issue in my mind, from the very earliest times I was exposed to religious instruction, in some Presbyterian Sunday School when I was a young lad. Even at the age of five or six, I had a hard time understanding two things about God, if what they were telling me about Him was true. First, I couldn’t believe that a God, supposedly able to create an entire universe, would take the time and/or energy to care whether or not I was paying attention to His rules. (I also questioned why He would make rules in the first place….)

Secondly, the whole idea of worship made me uneasy…. it seemed a bit, hmm, needy, or vulnerable, to me. I knew that the admiration of others made me feel weird; uneasy and uncomfortable with their fawning (baby sisters & brothers, little kids, and others who show such feelings for their older, more accomplished siblings….). Even the admiration I held for my older siblings, and my heroes, made me a bit uncomfortable. So, I could never understand why an all-powerful being would want any part of such a thing.

So, even then, before I had any real defenses, I suppose my ability to reason made it hard for me to accept a lot of what I was told. It never made sense to me that the pictures I saw of God made him look just like some human patriarch (hmm… no Freudian comments?); I mean, if he was so far above us, how did we know what He looked like? I didn’t remember seeing any photos of Him, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, (another questionable entity to the mind of a five-year old….) playing in the Dead Sea surf, nor did I recall any such word from God Himself. There were a lot of folks saying that the Bible is the Word of God, but the only ones saying so were people, not Gods.

So, maybe I’m a bit different than the average young bear cub, but much of what they tried to foist upon my unsuspecting mind never took hold, as I found it completely unbelievable. It just didn’t make any sense, even by the rules they were setting up for it.  If I, a little kid, didn’t like to be worshiped, why would an omnipotent being have anything to do with it?  Give me a reasonable, rational answer, and I will consider the concept. But, I think you’d best bring a new and different set of arguments, because the ones that have been in play for several thousand years just don’t cut it in my book….

“Everybody has the right to be stupid, but they’re abusing the privilege.” — Smart Bee
___________________________________    Today’s material has been a bit heavy, to match my mood, so this is here merely to provide a bit of comedic relief before we go on…. silly looking, isn’t he?…. But happy, too…. The picture was found on No Ruff Days, a WordPress blog site that has wonderful pictures paired with quotes, all about dogs and their relationship with mankind…. the address is:  http://www.noruffdays.com
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“You can have a winner [in a nuclear war].” — George Bush, 1980.
In 1984, he said, “I never said that.” — The original interview had been taped…

The funniest part of this is that he continued to deny it after hearing the tape…. There isn’t really much more about this I can add; it’s pretty clear as it is. I’ll just say this: It’s not his fault…. Yep, I said that. It’s our fault. We, the voting public, are the ones who not only overlook this sort of asininity, but show our approval by electing these same liars time and time again. As long as this habit continues, then we will continue to see nothing but liars in office, and our journey toward a rational society will be put off that much longer….

Just desserts, I’d say…. If you need an example from current times, just go to any of the several sites that have been set up with the expressed purpose of showing the lies that just ONE candidate has been spewing all over the airwaves, to wit: Willard Mitt Romney. This man is possibly the most clueless candidate to come down the pike in many a year, and he still has millions of people willing to ignore his lack of ability to speak the truth….    Pretty sickening, to my way of thinking…. but, deserved, nonetheless….
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“All riches come from iniquity, and unless one has lost, another cannot gain.  Hence that common opinion seems to be very true, “the rich man is unjust, or the heir to an unjust one.” Opulence is always the result of theft, if not committed by the actual possessor, than by his predecessor.” — St. Jerome (340?-420)

Funny, isn’t it, how certain religious figures from the ancient past seemed to have an entirely different view of reality than did the prelates of the churches of which they were a part? I suppose it is just another example of how those in power are corrupted by their position, and become the very thing against which they preach. I would imagine that today’s modern church has de-canonized St. Jerome, as his philosophy seems to have diverged from what is common practice in the church; they are far too deeply involved with stealing from the people, and supporting those politicians that support them in that practice. Beware the man who says he is doing something “for your own good” for he is reaching into your pocket as he speaks…..
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Well, that was certainly a journey of some distance; I wasn’t sure if it would ever get to a point of closure. But, as always, I fooled myself long enough, and everything came out alright. It’s done, anyway, and that is all I care about at this point. It’s been a struggle, pain-wise, but with a lot of breaks, not too bad; I’m no worse than when I got up, and that is a decent starting point. I’ll just take an extra pill, and see how it goes. Most importantly, it is going…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you….

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

Kowabunga!

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More powerful writing from a strong, brave woman…. please read and share….

rmott62's avatarRebecca Mott

After my post, I was asked for advice about how to be with exited women, and what more can done to forward the movement to full abolition.

I do not have easy answers, in many ways the answers are already inside you – it just means reaching into your heart and knowing with every cell of your body that the prostituted class, whether in the sex trade or exited, are fully human.

But for many that is the hardest step of all not othering the prostituted, not in the back of your subconscious thinking that the prostituted are goods, are sub-human – and cannot or do not have normal human reactions and emotions.

I know you may think or want to believe I am being harsh in writing that – but in this post I say the constant betrayals and the constant reminders of being sub-human, that those who should be…

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This is another powerful post from a woman who is one of the strongest I have ever seen… please read, share, and adjust your reality accordingly…

rmott62's avatarRebecca Mott

This post is written through trauma, from the place of deep grief, from the place of extreme body memories.

This post is written as a plea, as a scream of the exited woman who is sick of being strong, sick of always being nice and reasonable, sick of acting tough.

This post is a scream – a scream from the soul of my teenage/young adulthood – a scream to say I refuse to be brave, to be calm, to be afraid to express my utter despair.

I write this post for I know the vast majority of those who read this blog have a good heart – a heart that would reach out to exited women when they hit the blank wall of despair.

But I want to write to my anger, write to my pain, write to my deep despair.

I want to those who read my words – but…

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This post is another of great power and hope, from another survivor of the sex-trade; her voice is also one that needs to be heard everywhere…. until it all stops… perhaps a dream, but one worth working for…. Free our sisters, free ourselves….

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This post is important… the author needs and deserves all the support we can give her in her quest to regain her life, and some sort of healing…. Free our sisters, free ourselves….

rmott62's avatarRebecca Mott

I am finding that writing this blog is scaring me.

I am finding that writing this blog is making my body remember all the torture that punters put into me.

I am finding I am ill, when nothing is physically wrong with me.

I read that Andrea Dworkin knew that writing to the truth is the most painful thing a woman can do to herself.

I also know from every cell in my body to not write would send me back into the deadness of being prostituted.

Writing to the truth is not just my work – it is my mission.

I turn on Spotify and find Hits of Dusty Springfield – music I know by heart – and then maybe I will write to the blocking of my truths.

I will say with gratitude and amazement at the loyalty and kindness of so many who read this blog –…

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