Blaglash.com

Lately I’ve been thinking that getting an invoice back after you pay your taxes would be awesome- like what you have bought/funded with your money.  I know this would be difficult and take time but I would LOVE to see; this would be the ultimate in accountability.  I am a big believer in higher taxes for better services; like I don’t mind paying a little more if I get something out of it.  Maybe other people would feel that way if they saw where their money is going?  Most people buy stuff all the time, or spend money because they get something out of it.  This might show them that tax money gets them something.  Thoughts?

With yet another murder committed in the name of jesus, god, saving babies and being”pro-life,” we as Americans need to rethink our way of dealing with terrorism- which exactly what the fundamentalist right wingers are engaging in.  While condemning the actions of Islamic terrorists, they are committing violent acts to convey a political opinion, and to influence policy changes.  Have you ever been to a Planned Parenthood?  There are guards, separate doorways, and intricate waiting rooms.  This is because going to Planned Parenthood is dangerous, and not because abortions can be harmful.  Because people have been killed working and waiting in abortion clinics.I’m glad Rachel Maddow has called these people terrorists- but I feel like terming them terrorists isn’t enough to motivate people against them.  These domestic terrorists are enjoying the same civil liberties all Americans enjoy- and they honor anyone who kills an OBGYN doctor.  Openly, proudly and enthusiastically, and this is wrong.  Not only are they denying people the right to practice medicine, they are killing innocent victims in waiting rooms- they are killing people to stop people from killing people.  So how can you call yourself pro life when you advocate murdering people?  This whole roundabout double standardized and hypocritical mess needs to be dealt with- but how?I have no idea.  Would calling them terrorists make them realize what they’re doing?  I doubt it.  Somehow people like this always manage to avoid reality.  Prosecuting violent speech is difficult.  Meanwhile these terrorists are getting what they want- it is hard and scary to get an abortion- and they are not being punished (besides the actual murderer who is being applauded by groups with militant and pseudo-religious names and purposes) and even public figures like Bill O’Reilly can appropriate the struggles of these doctors and call for more violence!  It is sad and awful and the worst. 

 

The Bravo Network has brought me many joys- no kidding.  Project Runway, Top Chef and Law and Order marathons could make up for many grievances, but even I am offended by the Real Housewives of franchise.   [Read more →]

 

I live in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and I love it.  It is home to me.  The people who live here really care about their neighborhood, which is true about most NYC neighborhoods.  If Brooklynites seem like they don’t care about the way their neighborhood looks, they still care about their neighbors.  

I moved here about two years ago and was immediately at home.  I am Polish, and it was amazing to me to live in a place where I could speak Polish to strangers, order my dinner in Polish, go to a Polish grocery store and buy my favorite Polish foods.  I’ve also introduced my boyfriend to a lot of things, like kabanos, a long dried Polish sausage, which he loves.  We’re getting to know our neighbors, the deli guy always talks to us for like 5 minutes when we buy our soda, and a lot of our friends have moved here. [Read more →]

I think this idea is really interesting.  I have often thought less mature and planned out versions of this when I lived in Buffalo, NY.  The idea of taking urban decay into your own hands fascinates me.  Watching a city die out can be really sad, especially if it’s a city you love and are invested in.  Cities like Flint, Michigan and Buffalo, New York are slowly shrinking for a lot of reasons- suburban sprawl, bad economies, etc.  But this is an interesting and proactive way to fight the slow death of cities whose populations are dwindling, leaving new and modern ruins in place of inhabited space.  The for sale signs alone can be depressing and discouraging for new businesses.  When people are spread out all over a city it is difficult to open businesses- the law of social inertia means that people don’t go far to do or buy things if they can help it.  Condensing a population into well planned and vital areas gives businesses a chance to thrive, while turning the rest of the unused space into parks.  This is a good idea. 

Please imagine your parents’ outrage when you broke curfew, or got caught having sex, or they found pot in your drawers, or you failed a semester of college.  Now please multiply it by a country, and make the source of the anger hanging out at a coffee shop.  After school and with other women.  This a sentiment that exists- both in magnitude and in Saudi Arabia. 

This article (read this article- it is long but illuminating.) has really illuminated the issues facing women in other countries for me and shown me the freedom I enjoy and take for granted that doesn’t exist in other places.  The immorality attached to female independence in this article is clear and the message seems to be that women, especially young women, are not allowed to think for themselves or even spend time alone.  The implications of this resound within Saudi youth culture- as an inundated youth grows up to follow the mainstream culture.  

In Persepolis, the main character experiences a plethora of emotions surrounding her nationalism and her independence living in Iran.  The repression that women experience in countries ruled by fundamentalist religious schools of thought is incomparable to the sexism we as American women face.  I’m sad thinking about a 15 year old Saudi girl wanting to go read in a coffee shop and being demonized nation-wide for simply sitting in an ALL GIRL coffee shop. 

 

Have I joined twitter?  Of course!  Did I pay my taxes yet?  Just today!  I talked about paying my taxes on twitter, which might officially be the most boring thing to update about.  But I felt like I had to say something about it!  Twitter was open in another tab, and turbo tax was eliciting growls and screams from me as I watched my federal and state rebate counters decrease steadily.  And someone did respond to my cries of tax and city woe, pretty much reminding me that I should keep my complaints to myself.  [Read more →]

Sylvia Plath was a good writer.  She worked very hard and was successful at a very young age, but a lot of people only remember because she was depressed and committed suicide.  Some people have become downright contemptuous towards her, and ascribed her to a school of thought that I’m not sure she belongs in.

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If you go to for the birds you will see a project I’ve been working heart and soul on.

The political process is this venerated, admired and even envied here in the US.  The democratic bragging rights are always ours somehow, and we’ve used them to start wars, rebuild nations, get what we want, and intimidate.

But I thought about it, and I feel like George Bush Jr has been president my whole life.  Not only that, but where’s my demographic?  Where were the dierct pleas for my vote throughout the election season?  Sure, Mccain picked Palin, and Obama claimed the youth, but I still did not feel… PANDERED to. [Read more →]