Are there any *volunteers* out there who would help proofread Catt's Claws? Turn-around must be within 24 hours. Also to proofread old CC's before they are archived? <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> ........Catt's Claws # 111 ... June 26, 1996......... ........ A Feminist Newsletter by Irene Stuber......... <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> My, my ... I guess Catt's Claws has come of age ... I received a letter dated June 21, 1996 from someone saying he was Richard J. Gelles, PhD - no letterhead ... just a plain piece of paper. I'm going to go on the assumption that it was actually from him since it was signed with a professional-looking scrawl. His return address on the envelope was from the right state although with his address being typed and my address being a label makes me wonder ... IF it is not from Dr. Gelles, my apologies. It reads: "Dear Ms. Stuber, "I have received a number of forwarded messages posted by you on a list titled "Cats Claws." (See Irene Stuber's comment on this line below.) "The messages make a number of inaccurate and possibly slanderous and libelous claims about me. So that there is no misunderstanding, let me repeat messages that were periodically posted on INTVIO-L: "INTVIO-L was an unmoderated list. That meant that we did not control who subscribed or what was posted. The only exceptions were if someone posted a message longer than 80 lines, we reminded that person that the limit was 80 lines. If future postings were longer than 80 lines, the individual was deleted. In February, we asked list members to limit postings to no more than 3 per day. Again, if that rule was violated, we removed the person from the list. "INTVIO-L was supported by my personal resources. There were no university, state, Federal, or other grant funds that supported this list. The university computer center provided the listserv only. "I have turned this matter over to my attorney. You may hear directly from *her* in the near future. (emphasis Stuber's) "Sincerely, "Richard J. Gelles, PhD" ============== The name of this column is Catt's Claws (not Cats). Dr. Gelles, it pains me that you, a public figure and considered an authority on abuse between the genders which includes verbal intimidation, would immediately turn to threats rather than explaining your position. Couldn't you have pointed out where I might have gone wrong by quoting people who were on the list instead of immediately threatening a lawsuit? I have shown many times that I correct incorrect information. I'm disappointed. My understanding is that when you left the country, you left the list in charge of a student and that's when the real abuse started. I so stated that in Catt's Claws. Women readers of the list who wrote me said that the list was supposed to be moderated. Was it moderated at ANY time? I was told that you received compensation for conducting the listserv. You state you did not. I certainly abide by your statement that it was not supported by grant money and so am printing your letter in its entirety. We regret the misstatement. For those who came in late, Dr. Gelles ran an email list on the study of domestic abuse called INTVIO-L. Several from the list wrote me to complain about the harassment and just plain filth that was being posted. Some private email filth through a variety of false ids was also directed at women who posted on the list. We quote from our May 20, 1996 Catt's Claws: "On March 17, HN wrote: `...the concept of marital rape is ludicrous; that the marriage sacrament is condonation of sex between the parties as long as they cohabit...' "But CC thinks the most repulsive post (snipped) is... "`...My unit, which is decidedly non-dinky and is probably bigger than your brain, is certainly not as big as your mouth...though we will never be able to try that out...I don't do hostile feminist man-hating lobbyists. But here's a mantra for you...use it to try to get [in] the mood: "` "` "` "`Practice that several times every day, wilya?'" "If the readers of CC think this sort of misbehavior on the part of a list for "Intimate Violence Research and Practice Issues List" was most inappropriate and needs to be addressed ...." Dr. Gelles, if I have offended you personally, my apologies. What was posted on the "Intimate Violence Research and Practice Issues" email list offended a LOT of women on a very personal and intimate level. The list has been shut down and Dr. Gelles is no longer at the University of Rhode Island. We know no details but MUST assume Dr. Gelles had HIS good reasons for leaving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oh, Mz. Molly. In her latest column she writes about enterprising Alaskans who are selling wolf pee to spray around a garden to keep out moose. Moose, as everyone knows, do just about what they want to do. They are so big and powerful. There is an analogy here. Molly says she would call her "free-range wolf pee, milked from wolves in the wild, so superior to mere domestic wolf pee. We're think of calling our free-range pee Moose-Away or perhaps Vamoose." Never one to miss borrowing an analogy, let Catt's Claws suggest using bitch wolf pee ... sprayon pemacho. (Molly, you were on vacation too long; we sorely missed you.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Almost four years ago we saw a strong woman go in as almost an equal partner with her president husband. Hallelujah! But did we support her? Did you or I send her *enough* mail to indicate our respect for her? Or to her husband when it got rough out there? Did our "leading" feminist organization rally round a presidency that supported that supported women? No, they constantly harped on errors and have never written their activists to support two fairly young and painfully idealistic people who had pressures on them that none of us can even imagine. Rodham Clinton tried to get us universal health care - it is women who suffer most from our present over-priced medical system. She was a working mother who showed us that it could be done. Have we done what our foremothers should have taught us: to say thank you? So she and her battered and bruised husband did a most intelligent thing - turned to people who were experienced in self-motivation and depression. They used their subconciouses to work their way through their problems. Listen up. The Clintons aren't perfect, GAWD knows, but they GENUINELY care. They GENUINELY want a better America. They GENUINELY believe in women's rights - all human rights. How about writing snail mail letters to Rodham Clinton to tell her how proud you are of her? (And Bill, too.) The two women in the history of the United States who have been vilified the most are Eleanor Roosevelt and Hillary Rodham Clinton. That they could have had even an imaginary conversation is driving the Republicans and the Men's Firsts/militia/religious fanatics absolutely bonkers. That these two women could get together ... even in one's imagination defies all the rules of the patriarchy. (Well pemacho to you!) The only true role model that Hillary Rodham Clinton could have - considering her strength and her activism - is ER. I guess it wouldn't have bothered the Men FIRST guyz if she had had imaginary conversations with Washington, or Lincoln, or FDR - imaginary conversations that EVERY president has PROUDLY said he has had with previous presidents, including their beloved druggie president, Ronald Reagan. Also send letters to your local newspaper supporting Rodham Clinton. They wouldn't be doing this to her unless she was a woman depending on the wisdom of another woman. There is a Hillary Rodham Clinton fan club. You may join through most Democratic Women's Club. If you want to joing through my local demo women's club (I have NOTHING to do with it) send a $5 check made out to the Hillary Rodham Fan Club and mail to PO Box 2575, Hot Springs, AR 71914. You get a pin and Hillary gets another official supporter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . In 1994, Mary Lu Redmond, a former police officer in a suburb of Chicago shot and killed Ricky Allen when he refused to put down a butcher knife with which he was going to stab another man. The incident occurred in a housing project environment and there was all sorts of witnesses who claimed Allen, black, was unarmed, that Redmond, white, shot without cause. Redmond went through more than 50 hours of psychotherapy with a WOMAN psychotherapist. The Allen family sued and the judge in the case said the therapy sessions between the patient and her therapist had to be revealed. They were not privileged. The Allens were awarded $500,000. The therapist REFUSED to divulge the content of the sessions. Appeals from the judge's decision went up the ladder and it finally got to the U.S. Supreme Court which has UPHELD the patient- therapist confidentiality. Anton Scalia and the other right-wing thug on the high court, of course disagreed. Sieg Heil ! We wonder why the first case of therapist-patient confidentiality to reach the high court involved two women ... Sure, we wonder. Guess REAL men don't go to therapists after killing while on duty. They don't cry or have feelings. They are not filled with societal doubts. Incidentally, Anton Scalia wrote the dissenting opinion in the 7-2 ruling and pointed out that throughout history men have been able to turn to their families and friends for help. Psychiatry isn't necessary, according to Scalia and his toadie Clarence Thomas. A Milwaukee newspaper commented: "... suffice it to say Justice Scalia is indeed fortunate if, in his circle of acquaintance, most people are untroubled by problems that mom can't fix." That editorial illuminates the heart of the ultra-right thinking which is modeled after the simplistic TV family shows of the 1950s. Scalia and Thomas appear never to have recovered from the TV fairy tales that pictured the perfectly coifed mother worrying about a run in her stockings while she cleaned their husband's dribbles from toilet bowls. Well, Justices Scalia and Thomas, the truth is that women and children are hiding behind *the toilets* to protect themselves from bullet sprays from drive-by shootings. Real life is different than reruns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Asian women who have the world's lowest incidence of breast cancer give up that immunity within ten years of living in the U.S. and eating our processed "healthy food." BTW, are you aware that millions of dollars are being spent to try to talk you into accepting irradiated foods that won't spoil? Of course the big advantage to putting such food in store shelves is that the stores won't need all that expensive overhead lighting. The food will glow on its own. (BTW, if you are wearing blue topaz, are you aware that they are irradiated stones (naturally white) and *MAY* be radio active?) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cynthia G. Bowman with the Annette Appell Children & Family Justice Center at Northwestern University Legal Clinic is seeking the transcripts of closing arguments in cases where battered women have killed their abusers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . We happily print the following announcement: "EMILY's List is pleased to announce the launch of its web site at http://www.emilyslist.org The site serves as an interactive guide to Democratic pro-choice women running for office. Please visit us at http://www.emilyslist.org and help us elect more pro-choice Democratic women to office by linking to our site. "EMILY's List, an acronym which stands for "Early Money is Like Yeast," because it makes the dough rise, is now the nation's biggest resource for federal candidates. Since 1985, EMILY's List has helped elect 34 Democratic women to the U.S. House of Representatives, five to the U.S. Senate and two governors. "The members of EMILY's List receive carefully researched profiles of viable pro-choice Democratic women candidates. They then write their checks directly to the candidates they choose. Over the course of the 1993-1994 election cycle, EMILY's List raised over $8.2 million in member contributions to candidates, with an average contribution of less than $100." Catt's Claws comments: Emily's List is without a doubt the most important feminist organization extant in the U.S. today. It accomplishes things that other organizations just talk about. Emily's takes aim at putting women in the government where things are REALLY done. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oh, come on now, stop picking on poor ole OJ for his hosting of a fund-raiser for the Stop the Violence-Increase the Peace Foundation at his plush, multi-million dollar Brentwood estate. Read what the Foundation President Khalid Shah said in a news release: "We have dealt with ex-gang members who have murdered three and four people in their lives. We have to understand them. And we all deserve a chance for healing," Shah said. "I don't think there is anyone who is beyond reproach, who doesn't have any skeletons in their closet." Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, who sits on the Stop the Violence group's advisory board, said she did not know about the fund-raiser until she was told by a reporter. But she had no objection to it being held at Simpson's home. She said she won't attend, however. Tammy Bruce of the Women's Progress Alliance For Women's Lives said, "We all know that the epidemic of domestic violence is colorblind. This plan to party with Simpson simply to raise money by hosting a freak show is an abandonment by Stop the Violence of the women in the community they serve who face the horrors of domestic violence everyday. It is also unfortunate and yet not surprising that Simpson would feel free to damage an organization that could do so much good in his cynical attempt at image-building." Hundreds will respond to the insulting event at the Simpson estate Thursday, June 27th, 6:30pm-9:00pm at the National Council of Jewish Women 543 N Fairfax, Los Angeles. The Women's Progress Alliance announced the rally "to channel an enormous amount of anger at the insult of this charade into positive progressive action on the issue of domestic violence, as well as to assure victims of domestic violence that they have not been abandoned by organizations that truly represent them and to make sure that the true activists and anonymous heroes that work to save lives every day are recognized." BTW, L.A. NOW is participating which kinda quells rumors that Tammy B. has been repudiated by her old chapter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CC thanks KP for sending us this CDC information on abortions; In 1992 (the latest figures the CDC has JUST released), a total of 1,359,145 legal abortions were reported to CDC, a decrease of 2.1% from the number reported for 1991, and the number of live births decreased by 1.1% . As a result, the national abortion ratio (number of legal abortions per 1000 live births) decreased from 339 in 1991 to 335 in 1992. Women who obtained legal abortions in 1992 were predominately aged 25 years, white, and unmarried. However, the abortion rate for black women is approximately three times that for white women according to the CDC, which agrees with our personal observations in our various stints defending women's health clinics against the crazies. Curettage (suction and sharp) remained the primary abortion procedure (approximately 99% of all such procedures). As in previous years, approximately half of legal abortions were performed during the first 8 weeks of gestation: 14% of abortions were performed at 6 weeks, 15% at 7 weeks, and 21% at 8 weeks' gestation. As in previous years, approximately 89% of abortions were performed during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy (39% in 9-12 weeks which is less than 3 months). ===== Remember there is a two-drug method of abortion that has been legal in the U.S. for several years and the CDC figures in the future will probably NOT reflect the true abortion rate. Many women will opt for the drug abortion at from their personal physician. Look for the CDC which is infamously anti-choice and anti-woman to scream out that the abortion rate is DROPPING dramatically while what is happening is that women are getting early abortions from their family doctors ... something that was VERY common for the RICH in the days before legal abortion - and probably still is because I can't see those Republican women crossing their own people's picket lines with the ordinary folk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Japan's Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto recently made an apology of sorts to South Korean President Kim Young Sam in an obvious attempt to quell the raging controversy regarding the official Japanese Army kindapping of upwards of 100,000 South Korean women before and during World War II to be used as "comfort women" for their soldiers ... 100,000 women constantly being raped. So sorry? Yeah, sure. Men apologizing to men. That really does it. On your knees with your head to the floor and apologize to the women ... Pimps apologizing to pimps don't cut it. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . As a human being who was a teenager when the horrors of the German concentration camps were unveiled, I am still terminally angry that the slaughter of 9 million Jews and dissidents - including Gypsies, gay men and lesbians - occurred and civilized people ignored it because of politics. More women than men died in the camps as proved by the tons more of women's clothing than men's that was revealed following the opening of the camps. Clothes stripped from the victims of the gas chambers as they were marched in. And obviously, I'm not the only one who still harbors deep feelings. During a visit to Germany, Pope John Paul II while lauding four German Catholics who resisted Nazism, departed from his prepared remarks that lay claim to a broad Roman Catholic stand against the German Holocaust. Many demonstrators protested his appearance. Many pointed out the that the Roman Catholic Church did almost NOTHING to defend the Jews from the holocaust. In fact, it never ex-communicated Adolph Hitler. But fasten your seat belts for a lesson in revisionist HIStory ... while the pope didn't say what was obviously an untruth, that ain't the way HIStory will record it. The Vatican announced that the prepared text of the pope's speeches is "the official record of what he said, whether or not he utters the whole speech." A newspaper columnist commented: "Thus, the pope will be on record as claiming a far more assertive church role against the Nazis than historians do." As an ex-Catholic, I surely hope the Pope goes to confession. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . If you aren't subscribed to Abigail's Rebels which I co-moderate with Jennifer Gagliardi (who does all the work) you aren't in on half the fun of Internet. We set it up to be the vox populous to Catt's Claws outspoken comments as well as an activists' list. It is fully moderated so that the REAL crazies don't get through. THE FIRST TIME IN HERSTORY - been discussing NOW and its new direction as MOM for all the boyz and girls of the world. No more is it and organization FOR WOMEN. The list's motto and the inspiration for its name: "We are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation." -- From Abigail Adams to John Adams, 31 March, 1776. To subscribe to ABIGAILS-L send an email msg: To: listserv@netcom.com Subject: (leave blank) Text: subscribe abigails-l ....................... * ........................ Women's rights are young and tender and we must protect them from the plagues of holy hypocrisy and newts. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- >>> Send your ideas, comments, and news to istuber@cswnet.com for inclusion in the Catt's Claws feminist newsletter which will be emailed up to three times a week. This is NOT an interactive discussion net but an exchange of information. Catt's Claws is NOT sponsored by any organization. We are accepting *limited* donations (only what can be spared) to help offset the online costs of posting Catt's Claws. Copyright 1996, Irene Stuber. PO Box 6185, Hot Springs, AR 71902.<<<< <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> Why does it take 1 million sperm to fertilize one egg? Have you ever heard of a man who stopped to ask directions? - 30 -