Surviving the Circus of Life

If you're a Democrat living in the south, your are most likely living Blue in a Red state. If you speak out about issues, values, and equality, you are quite often met with scowls, slurs, and vile insults - even from your family and friends. I salute all of you who join me in this struggle to keep equal rights, justice, and acceptable moral values alive in this country. Today, I especially want to thank the majority of voters in Alabama for voting their conscience and not their party. Values matter.   Integrity matters. Honesty matters. Equality matters. Thank you Alabama!

When I was young, I was warned to be particular about what I wore, because how I looked might trigger bad behavior from men. When I was young, I was warned about whom I should trust, because boys and men were never to be trusted alone with members of the opposite sex. When rape, sexual assault, or even harassment happened, it was mostly blamed on the female, because males apparently were not considered intelligent or mature enough to take responsibility for their own actions, regardless of their religion, level of education, or their age. Enough of this nonsense. I am now 63 years old and it's time for this to change.  Men need to grow up, and women need to hold them accountable.    #MeToo There is a huge difference between flirting and sexual harassment, and anyone who tells you it's similar is simply trying to excuse their own bad behavior, or the bad behavior of someone they care about. Hand them a dictionary marked at #flirting and #harassment .  Pe

Beware of any political party who seeks to limit access to higher education... Here's the headline and story, and actions that I am referring to: "The GOP bill to reauthorize the Higher Education Act, introduced by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) on Friday, would eliminate the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which erases student debt for those who work for qualifying employers after making payments for 10 years."  ( see link at end of article ) When I was living in Phoenix, I remember having a conversation with a young man, a young Christian man who was studying to be a church youth director. His opinion was one that shocked me to the core and provided further proof that our "religious" have been indoctrinated into a system that has little, if anything, to do with the teachings of their Jesus. This young man said that it wasn't fair for people to get student loans and student grants, because it made his degree less relevant. Yes. He said that,