FreedomWorks

Cats vs. Dogs

To view this entire image, click on it. [I can't seem to figure out how it keeps getting cut off.]

[Source: Online Schools for Neatorama.com]

Oil Spill

For as concerned, frustrated and distraught as I am over the massive BP oil spill and it's far-reaching environmental consequences, I understand the irony behind the whole situation. Yes, offshore drilling is inherently risky. Yes, the current oil spill is unprecedented and a clear indication that "fail safe" is not reliable. But we cannot air our frustrations at the same time that we are complaining about the cost of gas for our automobiles. To ensure this tragedy doesn't happen again, we need to leave behind a society highly dependent on gasoline.

Wishes

I wish that you needed to talk to me everyday -- that returning my phone calls was essential to getting a good night's sleep. I wish that you told me how you feel -- how you still go back and forth on your decision, how you want so badly to be with me but are afraid of hurting me again. I wish that you sought me out during the day -- that spending some time one-on-one made an ok day better. I wish that you included me in your life more -- invitations to attend family functions and do mundane tasks together. I wish that you looked at me with as much yearning and love as you used to -- a drug-induced euphoria, in a way. I wish so many things that will not ... cannot ... come true.

Gender Disparity

It is sad that despite the progress women have made in gaining equality and control of their own bodies, gender disparity continues to be an issue. Women are still paid less than men for the same job -- 75 cents to every dollar. Women are still harassed and have lower expectations forced on them in male-dominated fields. Women are still being denied complete ownership of their bodies -- forced to see an ultrasound of the fetus they want to abort, mutilated to "preserve" their chastity, or publicly executed because they were raped. It is estimated that the number of female infants killed purposefully each year (infanticide) is greater than those killed in all the wars of the twentieth century. Knowing all this, it breaks my heart that the hatred and fear of women remains instilled in many men.

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25 best paying jobs for women http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/worklife/05/10/cb.25best.paying.jobs.4women/index.html?hpt=T3

Fulfilling the potential of women in academic science and engineering act

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/05/12/issa-women-science/

What's new

Sorry it has been awhile since I posted. I'd like to say that I've spent the time running around like a chicken with my head cut off -- barely able to keep up with all the craziness -- but that's not true. There have been busy times, sure, but not continuously. I guess I just haven't known what to write.

My relationship with my ex is interesting, to say the least. We're friends but at the same time, we're not friends and we're more than friends. It's so messed up. I can't seem to find a logical middle ground. I have the same feelings for him that I did when we were dating, and yet the love is diminished because I know he's capable of deeply hurting me. I'm still attracted to him and want to be near him, but know there isn't a future there. It is difficult for me to separate my past from my present.

A co-worker passed away recently. I realized that without religion, I'm at a loss of what to say to the survivors. Religion offers solace and comfort to those left behind. Religion helps people understand death by either reducing its finality -- death is simply a stepping stone on the path to heaven -- or its pain -- the person is with God now so rejoice in their reunion. Without religion, there isn't much one can say that doesn't come across as insensitive or trite. Afterall, no one wants to internalize the whole "death is a part of life" when the person lost is their own.