My views on places like sea world, zoos, circuses, and any other business that exploits intelligent life are no secret.  So you can imagine my pure joy in the release of the mainstream documentary, Blackfish.  I urge you to see this film.  I urge you to boycott these businesses.   Let’s be the generation that stops this madness.

Mission:

• To encourage all women, regardless of race, color, sexual identity, or vocal confidence to explore their singing abilities, realizing that many of us were initially afraid that we could not sing.
• To gain through mutual support the skills that are required to perform confidently and successfully.
• To bring the joy and healing that comes with singing.
• To sing songs by, for, or about women and songs that offer a vision of a just and peaceful world.
• To entertain and inspire a larger community by performing our music.

It’s a fun game – find Jenna!

Okay, confession time… I have been a choir singer for over 17 years.  An alto (and in a few instances, a tenor), actually.  I was in the school choirs starting when I was 12, went to choir camp all through middle school and high school, was in an elite choir in college and now I’m a proud member of Tapestry Singers here in Austin, TX.  This choir is the most uplifting, supporting, amazing group of talented women from all walks of life.  The power of music truly improves lives and that can be seen each week at rehearsal as well as at the numerous concerts performed each year.  Not only am I a member of this nonprofit, but I am their newly elected Funds Development Director on the board as well.  The next year will be a learning experience as I have not been on a board in a few years, but I look forward to putting my education and experience to work for Tapestry.  I invite you to learn more about Tapestry Singers and, if you are in the area, come to a concert and say “Hi”!

Website, donation page, and awesome upcoming event here in Austin!

****I work/volunteer for several amazing nonprofit organizations so the next few weeks I will be highlighting them and invite you to visit their websites to learn more!****

Mission:  The overall mission of Blue Hope is to raise funds, resources, social awareness, and provide other support for a variety of self-sustaining social development projects and programs, both domestically and abroad, in order to effectively fight social injustice at a grass-roots level. As of its founding, Blue Hope is primarily focusing on working with education, poverty, and children’s issues in Tanzania, East Africa and has done so by constructing and supporting a residential and educational facility and its outreach program.

House of Blue Hope is a small, but very impactful, nonprofit that is near and dear to my heart.  They currently operate a home in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania where street children can live and support these kids on all levels so they can succeed in school.  I have been a volunteer and then a consultant for them since 2008 and was able to visit the House and meet the kids in 2009.  In a country where less than 15% of the population completes highschool, having an education is a true weapon to fight poverty and bring change not just for individual lives and families, but whole communities.  House of Blue Hope understands this and invests in the street children of Mabibo, a slum in Dar es Salaam, and these boys receive everything they need to be successful in school to have bright futures.  I love these kids and their thirst for knowledge, and am in regular contact with several of them.  One day I will return to visit them again and I look forward to hearing their stories of college and careers. 🙂

Website  (which I designed!) and  Donation Page

This was written by Jason Alexander (actor). Its a sensible and intelligent way to look at the Zimmerman / Martin tragedy. It pretty much expresses exactly how I feel about the horrible situation. It’s kind of a long read, but well written and worth it.

You  know me, you know I have to express some thoughts regarding the outcome of the Martin/Zimmerman case. You are free to read or not.

I do not know exactly what happened out there on that street. Frankly, nobody does. Mr. Zimmerman says he does, and maybe that is correct. Or maybe it is the facts as he recalls them. Or maybe he’s embellishing. Or hoping. Or lying. Doesn’t matter. There were some peripheral witnesses and they can’t quite agree on the facts either. Truthfully, if there were 100 witnesses, we’d have 100 different accounts of what happened. But, in the end, we don’t actually know exactly what happened. We rarely do.

Therefore, I do not take issue with the jury, the verdict or our judicial system as it played out here. With the exception of the prosecution doing a fairly lackluster, if not incompetent job, everybody did exactly what they are supposed to do in this case. The judge was stellar and fair, the jury was responsible and engaged and even the parties on each side have accorded themselves with a fair amount of grace. The verdict is the verdict and it should stand.

However, here’s what we do know for certain. Trayvon Martin went out for some groceries and was on his way back to his father’s home. He was unarmed. That’s all we know about Trayvon on that night. Unarmed, and with no obvious intention to harm anyone.

Here’s what we know about George Zimmerman — he is not a law enforcement officer. But he has the right to carry a deadly weapon. And he took it upon himself to be the official watchdog for a neighborhood. Without training, he profiled a young black man he deemed “suspicious”. He called the authorities and was told emphatically TO STAND DOWN. Do not pursue. DO NOT take any action.

George Zimmerman did not listen to that. He took his weapon and he continued to pursue or observe or whatever you want to call it. At that point, he became the threat to an innocent young man. Suddenly, for no reason, a stranger was pursuing Trayvon Martin. ALL the facts confirm that.

Now, whether he stalked or cornered or provoked or attacked Trayvon… we will never know. Whether Trayvon was frightened and so he attacked what he thought to be a threat first …. we will never know. Whether there was a confrontation that escalated into an assault… we will never know. All those answers died with Trayvon.

But here’s what we do know — if George Zimmerman had done as he was ordered to do, no crime and no tragedy would have occurred that night. Trayvon was not apparently out to harm or rob anyone, he was going home. Zimmerman would have been a vigilant neighborhood watchman and Trayvon would have been with his family – no harm done. But Zimmerman did not do as he was ordered.

Emboldened by the gun in his pocket, he exited his vehicle and pursued Martin in some way. And now we have the end result. Would Zimmerman have pursued if he did not have that gun his pocket? Who knows. I believe he would not. He certainly would not have put himself in a situation where there would be confrontation. The gun in his pocket is what caused this death. Without it, this would not have gone down this way.

Florida’s Stand Your Ground (and yes, I know that was not cited in this case) is a very double-edged sword. I completely agree that a potential victim, fearing for their life and safety or the life and safety of loved ones, MUST TAKE ACTION to defend themselves. And they cannot be thinking about whether or not that action is radical in the moment. I believe the desire of this law to alleviate that burden for a true victim is a decent desire and I support it.

But this law has not been thought through sufficiently.

With SYG, the victim’s actions die with them. So we cannot examine anyones state of mind. In an extreme circumstance, given this current law, I could walk down any Florida street, confront any individual I want, and I could shoot them dead. Without witnesses, I could concoct any story I like as long as the motif is “I was in fear for my life”. And who would be there to deny I wasn’t in fear for my life? No one. No one knows the build up, no one knows what I was thinking or feeling.

Did Zimmerman have injuries of a struggle? Yes. Listen to the recording of the screams. Assume it was him being beaten. Were the injuries commensurate with the severity of the attack he is claiming? I’ve been in martial art matches that end with equal injury. But there was no sign of “deadly force” trauma in those matches – nor in this case. So, was Zimmerman being beaten? Possibly. But if you’re being straddled and someone is smashing your head against pavement, you get more than cuts. You get concussions; lacerations; swelling; fractures; blackouts. The kinds of injuries he sustained – well, if any of you ever wrestled or have kids that wrestle, you’ve probably seen these injuries before.

I’m not saying he wasn’t being beaten. I’m not saying he wasn’t scared to death. But all he had to do was pull out the gun. That usually backs an unarmed man down. Shoot the leg, the arm. There are so many possibilities here that did not have to conclude with deadly force. SYG needs to be revised to share a burden of proof that the aggressor’s life or safety was in “practical danger”. It can’t just be a claim. There must be some evidence, don’t ya think? And defending does not automatically mean killing. Authorities can’t use deadly force unless confronted with deadly force. So why are we any less responsible?

There is no undoing this tragedy. And I do believe that Zimmerman will pay a heavy price, if not exactly a judicial one. But I believe to my soul that this is a glowing example of what a gun in every pocket will lead to. No gun – Zimmerman stays in the car, no one gets hurt, no crime committed. Gun in pocket, Zimmerman thinks he’s a hero.

And to the wonderful people who find it necessary to tell me I live behind gates, walls and security guards – I don’t. I live in a lovely little community where there have been a slew of break-ins lately. And to those who think I am just an anti-gun liberal – I am not that, either. I support responsible gun ownership. But that word “responsible” does not get near enough attention and therein lies our crisis. It’s the important word. But the people who just vilify me won’t have read this far anyway and won’t believe or care if they have. They already think they are “responsible”. But spewing vitriol and obscenity and hate, whilst having deadly weapons? I’m not sure Webster’s would label that “responsible”. And having “military”, “God-fearing”, “conservative” or “patriot” in your profile doesn’t alter that one bit.

Again, a young man died and he didn’t have to. He was not a predator, he should not have been a victim. To his family and friends – my sympathies. I hope he’s in a better place.
JA

It has been an emotional and draining few weeks while the Texas House and Senate have been debating over HB2, which would greatly restrict access to abortions for all women and restrict access to women’s health services for women in rural areas.  There were many amazing speeches, photos, memes, rallies, protests, and heroes that came from those pushing for women to maintain access to health care, safe abortions, and rights to their own bodies.  The moment that sticks out the most for me is the speech by Kirk Watson at the last reading of the bill before it passed (along party lines, of course).  I encourage you to read it as he touches on everything I want to say on this issue.

I truly feel this law will not hold up in courts as it goes against the rights granted by Roe v Wade… I also strongly believe the tides are turning here in Texas and soon this state will become a swing state.  It will be very interesting to see how many people remember what happened this summer when elections roll around in 2014.  I know I will.

****************

Members,

This has been an extraordinary, tough few weeks. Nerves are frayed.  Tempers are short. People want to get out of here.  But, we’re here and we should do all we can to get this right.

So let me start with some good news.

We still have time.

We still have time to stop and think about what we’re doing.

We can still talk about what this is really about, and what we’re trying to achieve.

Yes, this is a hard issue. But we debate hard issues on this floor all the time – schools, taxes, paying for water and roads.

Our rules and traditions allow us to have those debates. They keep any group of us from getting everything we might want. They force us to come together, to look at things in new ways, and to be creative in figuring out solutions. They help create progress for everyone, not just wins or losses for a few.

But the debate over House Bill 2 and its predecessors has been different.

And, I think, there are two things that set it apart.

One is the emotion that’s been laid bare over the past few weeks. That’s been painful to be a part of, honestly. I like you folks.  And the emotion of this issue – the anger and resentment that it’s generated … it’s been hard. It’s been hard on a lot of us.

Those feelings are as strong as feelings about any other policy issue we may face.

And they’re even more personal, even more immediate.

They are, in short, a major – if not the major – reason we have traditions and rules. Our traditions and rules ensure that emotion doesn’t carry the day. Our practices – formal and informal – help make sure that our constituents stay ahead of our politics.

Unfortunately, a lot of those traditions and practices have been discarded over the past few weeks.

That unruly process, I think, is the second thing that’s set this issue apart and put us in this position.

The majority in this chamber, and the president, couldn’t get everything it or he wanted in the regular session. You couldn’t endanger the existence of 88 percent of the clinics that regularly perform safe and legal abortion procedures. You couldn’t pass an unconstitutional 20-week ban. You couldn’t pass this poster child for heavy-handed, big-government regulation.

In short, under our regular rules, traditions and practices, the majority couldn’t pass a bill that would ban safe and legal abortion procedures in much of Texas, and that would make them much more difficult to obtain everywhere else.

And let’s be honest: that’s what this bill is about. The indignant claims and the consistent spin that this bill is about women’s health and safety are bogus and, I’m sorry to say, sometimes a little bit hypocritical.

The true agenda of HB 2’s authors and sponsors, to reduce access to safe and legal abortion procedures, is spelled out everywhere: from the speeches on the South Steps; to the speakers who are invited from outside Texas to press conferences; to petition drives and social media posts that declare the purpose and then go viral before they can be clarified and qualified; to the little symbols that are worn on lapels and placed on committee room daises.

Be honest, members. Be transparent. This is about implementing government regulations that are as extreme as anywhere in this nation. It’s a power grab – the exact sort of power grab that our rules and traditions are meant to prevent.

We’ve lost so much common sense, so much thought, so much decorum, and so much of what makes the Texas Senate special. And what did we get in return? This bill – and its supporters’ ability to declare victory without compromise, no matter the impact on Texas and Texas women.

Let’s pretend, for a moment, that the traditions and precedent were being followed. Let’s imagine there was a blocker bill in this non-redistricting special session, as in previous ones, and that House Bill 2 was dead because of it.

What then?

Well, at that point, those of you who wanted to end safe and legal abortion would have had to come to those of us who want to protect women’s constitutional rights.

You would have had to work with us. You would have had to be creative about solutions that achieve our goals as well as yours. And you would, I believe, have endorsed legislation like what we’ve proposed today.

You would have joined us to ensure parents know what their children are being taught about sex so they can be part of that critical process. You would have helped us ensure that sex education is based on science and evidence. You would have passed an utterly common-sense bill that would give teen moms 15-years-old and over – again, these are teenagers who’ve already given birth at least once – the ability to get contraception.

This bitter fight has focused only on the supply of safe and legal abortion procedures. There’s a better, more effective solution in reducing the demand for them. And I assure you, there’s a lot more common ground.

Because not one of us on this floor likes abortion. All of us want to prevent it.

Would our proposals ban safe and legal abortion? No. Would they make it harder for women to access safe and legal abortion? They would not.

What they would do, though, is exactly what so many on this floor claim to want: they’d prevent abortions. But they’d do it by empowering women and educating Texans, not by punishing women or making it harder for them to seek out services they have every right to receive.

All these years, and all these needs. And now, we get an interim charge.

More than one of you has asked in the last few weeks, earnestly and in good-faith, why people believe you’re waging a war on women.

It’s because the only solutions you’ll consider are the ones that limit women’s options.

It’s because women see you driving them back into a dark, painful, terrifying time of unsafe procedures and quiet, shameful, months-long exiles – a time when abortion was neither safe nor legal.

It’s because women are connecting the dots between this decision and others that left them with less health care, fewer health providers, and inadequate remedies under state law if their bosses were discriminating against them. Women’s healthcare still hasn’t recovered from the decisions of the last legislature.

And women don’t understand why you keep coming after them. It’s not just politics to them, members. It’s their lives.

As I’ve said before, there’s no justifying all of this by saying that you care about women, you’re married to a woman, you love a woman, or you are a woman – so your intentions are pure even if your vote will harm countless women in this state.

All of us on this floor – like all of us in this state and this country – have been talking about this issue for a long time. Please know that I’ve listened to you and I’ve heard you. I’ve tried hard to put myself in your place and to understand your position. I see how you focus on the event – the stand-alone event – of a pregnancy. I sincerely understand that you see it as a live-giving event that deserves protection from the state.

What I don’t understand is why you would build these regulations and laws around this event, but you won’t acknowledge the continuum of the life of the woman who’s experiencing it. How can you impose these laws on individuals’ bodies and choices – all in the name of life – with scarcely a thought to the life of the woman who’s choices and options are being taken away?

After all this debate, I still don’t think that’s fair. And I know it isn’t constitutional.

The things that happened before the pregnancy matter. So do the things that will happen after.  And the woman who’s experiencing those things should, within reasonable and constitutional bounds, have the self-determination to decide what to do about them.

That self-determination – those basic human rights and the access to the care that insures those rights – deserve protection from the state.

So take this chance to do that, members. Take this chance to stop. Take this chance to think. Take this chance to listen not just to the voices of partisans and failed presidential candidates, but also to the people in your districts and across Texas.

You don’t have to pass this bill. There’s still room, and there’s still time, for all of us to come together.

Thank you, Mr. President.

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute”

I know I mostly focus on animal rights and animal welfare on here and my twitter feed.  Animals have always been my passion and I will continue to work hard to ensure we have a future where no animal is tortured, exploited, or killed.  But this passion I have for these creatures who cannot speak for themselves also extends to repressed groups of people as well.  Children, women, religious and racial “minorities”…  honestly, I will fight for any group of living beings that are not properly respected or represented.  So sometimes I will post information and opinions on non-animal related issues since I strongly believe we are all one species:  humans and we all share one home:  earth.  I will be doing two blog posts this week – one about the Texas abortion bill and the other about the Martin case.  One issue obviously affects me much more directly as I am a woman in Texas, but both are upsetting to me and truly show how far we still have to go as a people, as a nation, and as a species.

Meet my newest foster cat, Lucy!  She is a gorgeous red point siamese and is about 12 years old.  I took her in as a potential hospice situation (like Amelia), but we don’t have a full picture of her health situation yet… so she may be just fine and up for adoption soon or she may be in her final home with me.  More to come on this beautiful, brave, and sassy cat as the vet team gets her blood test results back.

Just a friendly reminder (while we all drink, over eat, and blow things up) of what this day is actually about:

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

Big welcome to the world little niece, Sommer Riedi.  I am honored to pass the baton as youngest Riedi to this little Badger. 😀  Congrats to my brother and his beautiful wife!

This young girl is a true inspiration and gives me hope for the future. I so love her bravery and talent.