Bill Penzey's spicy bully pulpit

Just received the most recent Penzey's Spices catalogue.  Since we're blessed to have a Penzey's brick & mortar store within easy ramble distance - in uber charming Chestnut Hill! - there's no need to order from the catalogue or online, but I always hunker down with each new catalogue to check out the articles it features & the recipes they always include.

Last night, when I received the newest, my face was challenged by my jaw dropping & my mouth breaking into a HUGE grin.  That Bill Penzey, he is bold!

Bill Penzey is the sort of fellow that epitomizes what we USED to expect from folks in Wisconsin - socially active,  proudly progressive,  unabashedly LIBERAL.  This past spring, he clearly raised a lot of hackles with his views, especially his proclivity to flogging some Wisconsites & Cheesehead institutions over issues dear to his heart.  Instead of tamping down his passionate pronouncements, he amped it up - A LOT.

The current Penzey's catalogue CELEBRATES the 50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act (VRA).  Bill models for all of us qualities that made the VRA a reality in the first place - a deep passion for social justice, a lot of guts & a willingness to put fighting for basic rights denied others, not him, over profits.  

Whether it riles folks or sets them rejoicing, from the first story to the last, one thing is clear - it will educate anyone who bothers to read it.  And if they don't...  well, that says something about them.

We've lived under the protections of the Voting Rights Act, we've forgotten that they shielded people from folks who wanted to cherry pick the votes to exclude as many African-Americans as they could.  Today's onslaught against the vote casts a far broader net, including students, the poor, the elderly of any race. 

Honey Badger might think of Bill Penzey as "Wisconsin's crazy uncle" - the state is darn lucky to have him.  Long may he rave!



Bill can take me to court, but I'm sharing these stories of real people with stories to tell that we all need to learn or - in my case - remember.  

 

 Gail Bliss and the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin

Ernestine Williams Krehbiel

 

 

Penny Wells

  

 

John Stewart

 

  

 

Jade Rogers

 

 

 Wendy Jones

 

 

Bib & Tucker Sew-Op

 

 

 

Worth the read - 9 basic concepts...

...Americans fail to grasp.  Alas, a "so true"article from Salon.com.  


Drum roll, please.  And the 9 basic concepts are...

1. Universal Healthcare Is Great for Free Enterprise and Great for Small Businesses

2. Comprehensive Sex Education Decreases Sexual Problems

3. American Exceptionalism Is Absolute Nonsense in 2015

4. Adequate Mass Transit Is a Huge Convenience

5. The Bible Was Not Written by Billionaire Hedge Fund Managers

6. Learning a Second or Third Language Is a Plus, Not a Character Flaw

   
7. Union Membership Benefits the Economy

8. Paid Maternity Leave Is the Norm in Most Developed Countries

9. Distrust of Oligarchy Is a Positive    

Marco Rubio's dilemma

Marco Rubio has an intriguing challenge - portraying himself as the young, of-the-age choice for president while supporting (or hedging) positions most young, of-the-moment others find out-dated to the point of weird.  

 

 

Brotherly love - time willl tell

One of the most challenging lessons I've learned in this life is to NOT make an issue of something when it's no longer active (to whit - don't bring it up the next day or the next week or the next month).  Instead of thinking "Oh, I should have said this or that & saying it afterward, wait.  If it's really an issue, it will rear its head again.  If it doesn't, then it wasn't an issue.

I've been back in contact with my oldest brother - after years of no communication on either side - since December 2014.  On his mid-December birthday, John & I dropped off Peter's beloved Chicken Schezuan (sp?) to the health & rehab center where he lives, about a 45-minute drive from Squirrel Haven.  We got a fancy birthday bag & balloon to really spiff it up.  The kindly woman at the front desk was surprised we were skeedaddling right away, rather than handing it to Peter ourselves.  I explained, "There's no telling how my big bro feels about me now, but for YEARS he seemed to experience me like fingernails on a chalkboard."  She gave an understanding smile John & I headed out.

That was the start of a gradual reconnection.  Peter asked us if we'd bring over more take-out (his treat) & share it with him.  As we were about to head out for Norristown, a call came from PRL  - would we be willing to take him out for a spot of shopping before we sat down to dinner?  

Having a heads up (rather than being asked on arrival) worked out perfectly - John & I discussed it on the way over & agreed it would be a no-go if I drove (too much like an old, unhealthy dynamic),  but there was no problem with my hubmeister driving his b-i-l while I waited, reading, in the foyer of Peter's residence.  

The second time we were invited for Chinese take-out (again, on Peter), I called ahead of time to see if he wanted to go on a drive or had any errands he'd like to run.  Peter was delighted & off we went - all three of us - back to Walmart.

About two weeks ago, he called to say he wanted to take us to a terrific Chinese restaurant in his neighborhood.  He was sure we'd LOVE it.  Oh, and by the way, maybe we could run a few errands with him before sitting down with our chopsticks.  I checked with John & he was fine taking Peter wherever he needed to go, then they'd swing by to pick me up (reading, in the foyer of PRL's residence) to go out to supper. We were free Saturday afternoons - or - all day Sunday, after church.

A few days later, we got a phone call from Peter.  Her realized that he had to go to the bank, so he had to go on a WEEK day.  Which day would suit me best?

We could have fit it in if Peter lived in Huntingdon Valley or even Jenkintown or Glenside, but Norristown is not only about 45 minutes from here, it can be a clogged drive on a work day.  Our schedules are just too busy, with not enough gaps of time between events, to get over.  

Oh, by the way - the promise of the Chinese food never came up.  The focus was all on the errands to be run.

Just talked to my oldest bro.  Called him with a Happy Birthday, Campbell! call (his oldest granddaughter, currently residing all the way in Melbourne, AU, turned 13 today).  After correcting me - pointing out that it was no longer her birthday, because she celebrated in Australia where it is now 08/08/15 - and my correcting him right back - yes, but she was BORN in the USA, so it is still the right day - we got down to the question of available wheels.  I explained about our schedules, reminded him about the distance factor, and regretted that we'd happily come out on a Saturday afternoon or Sundays, after church, but weekdays are just a no-go.  I did not mention the original reason for him inviting us over - the dangled Chinese food - or the errands, just gave our availability.

Peter's response was to the point - "Well, then I guess I have to cross you off my transportation list."  End of conversation.  Click.

Hanging up, I offered thanks to the long long years that have taught me well!  The first time he invited us over, then called just before we headed out with his, "Could you...?",  I felt almost nauseous with a rush of old, sad memories - but I didn't make an issue out of it, simply made it work in a way where the errand was run & I didn't feel... less.  The second time, I asked him if he had errands to run & was fine with doing it.  This third time, I didn't have the opportunity to ask - Peter paused for the barest moment before tagging must-do errands with the dinner invitation.  

If we could have made it out on a week day, we would have.  We just can't.  So, John & I & Gibbs (our stout-hearted & true Concorde) are struck from a transportation list we never volunteered for in the first place.

Will we get another invitation out for the highly tauted Chinese dinner, sans any errand runs?  Time will tell.  

Johnny, I hardly know ye...

 

Sen. John McCain 2015, explaining his support of shutting down the government over Planned Parenthood's harvesting fetal tissue for scientific research  -   "I don't think it's about a government shutdown.  It's about doing what's necessary to stop a dubious use of American taxpayers' dollars."


Sen. John McCain 1992, explaining his support of a bill approving fetal tissue harvesting for scientific research - "My abhorrence for the practice of abortion is unquestionable. Yet my abhorrence for these diseases (Parkinson’s and juvenile diabetes) and the suffering they cause is just as strong.”

This started out to be just the subject line & the two quotes, illustrating how radically Sen. McCain has flipped from his early 1990s support of fetal tissue research to his present call to shutdown the government over Planned Parenthood's fetal tissue harvesting.  Then, I came across this tweet (presumably written by a conservative staffer) & my heart stopped, my stomach lurched.

A caution to John McCain's staff, particularly his newer, more far right staffers - if you are citing a source of information that your boss is using to justify a rather radical decision (like shutting down the government), use one that is considered a "source of record."  Something like the Washington Post or (in spite of its recent Hillary reporting debacle) the New York Times.  Even the Philadelphia Inquirer or the Sacramento Bee.  But the DAILY CALLER?  You can't use a headline from an openly avowed staunch conservative website as  reason for the senator's opposition.  OF COURSE IT'S GOING TO SAY THAT - it's editor & founder is Tucker Carlson!


If the Senator John McCain I knew throughout most of his career had run for president in 2008, I would have voted for him.  If he had run, he'd be winding down his 2nd term as POTUS.  But he didn't.  

This is what I would have voted for in 2008:

This is what I resolutely voted AGAINST:

 

  

Johnny, I hardly know ye.  The true maverick seemed to disappear with the old millenium.  And we are all the poorer for it. 

Bill C. sums it up

This in from Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) -   "In a representative democracy, a lot is going to figure on how the American people weigh in.  Every video has been worse than the previous, and I think some minds can be changed. At some point a moral conscience can be pricked, and even issues thought to be settled can be revisited." 

My thanks to the freshman senator for underscoring that video has been worse than the previous - worse, not damning.  Sen. Cassidy doesn't talk about minds changing to newly revealed facts.  He expects them to change due to what the videos show, which is absolutely heart-breaking & upsetting beyond imagination.  He expects the moral conscience of the nation will be pricked & multitudes will rise up to demand Congress defund Planned Parenthood.  

While Sen. Cassidy neatly sums up the GOP proclivity for connecting how they feel about something with actual facts, he forgets that a) to date, none of the videos show anyone doing anything illegal, b) unlike ACORN - the first take-down that the far right maneuvered through deceptively edited videos - Planned Parenthood can survive without federal/state funding, and c) not an anti-abortion foe in any corner of these United States ever considered the issue of legalized abortion to be a settled issue.

William Morgan Cassidy, M.D. would be my first choice for co-chairing a discussion on women's health & reproductive issues, including the ethics & morality of abortion & fetal tissue donation.  He helped found the Greater Baton Rouge Community Clinic, providing free health care to uninsured residents. Helped set up the nonprofit Health Centers in Schools, which vaccinates children in the East Baton Rouge Parish School System against Hepatitis B and flu.  After Katrina, he helped convert an abandoned K-Mart into an emergency health care facility.  

But Sen. Cassidy has been serving in the Senate for eight months. He apparently has a lot to learn about Washington's wiley ways.  I recommend he do an online search pairing "videos" with ACORN & Shirley Sherrod.  After that, learn this Tennessee - maybe Texas? - saying that President George W. Bush so famously mangled — "Fool me once - shame on you.  Fool me twice - shame on me."   

 

We were fooled once, we were fooled again (ouch) - this is the 3rd time & we've learned.  

(And a tip that will help out in your future as an effective servant of the people - when you see a video or read a quote, always always always consider the source!)