!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.! ! ! ! Catt's Claws ... A Feminist Newsletter #71 ... October 01, 1995 ! ! ! !.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.! "Sexism pervades the atmosphere at the FBI," says the attorney for women agents at the FBI who may soon file a class action suit for continued and constant discrimination. Approximately 1,250 female agents out of a total 10,500 are involved. FBI Director Louis J. Freeh promoted the first female assistant director and she will be in charge of finance. More than 80% of the agents are white men and only three of the FBI's top 150 Senior Executives are women. The Republican money-conscious boyz could save a bundle by insisting on the elimination of discrimination at the FBI which has quietly paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars in a few sex harassment claims by female agents with more on the way. Joanne E. Misko, the first woman agent hired by the FBI in 1972 retired last year because of career frustration. Women agents are usually given desk jobs and not assigned to the criminal cases that lead to promotions. ....................... * ........................ I'm sorry if this offends some Roman Catholics, but the deaths and lives of misery of millions of women and children offend me more. Isn't it strange that Pope John Paul II uses an armored vehicle (known as the Popemobile) to protect himself when he's out and about, not trusting in God as he demands of women and children when it comes to uncontrolled births. The Pope's armored vehicle is in the U.S. of A. to protect him during his trip Oct. 4-8. Yet, "good" Catholic women who have been warned that another pregnancy will kill them, or are facing another pregnancy that will take scarce food from the mouths of her other little children will have no Popemobile in the form of birth control to save them from death and starvation. Again, my apologies to those who sincerely believe and adhere to the enlightened Roman Catholic faith (such as my older daughter and oldest granddaughter), but seeing the Pope keeping himself nice and safe behind armoured glass while claiming it is god's will that children be born into a life of hunger and misery and women suffering early death and broken health when it could be prevented with a condom or the pill is .... unspeakably vile. ....................... * ........................ President Bill Clinton is supporting the Federal Communications Commission chair's proposal that TV broadcaster must air at least three hours of educational television a week for children. His position is, of course, opposed by the TV stations which want to continue using such great educational shows as the reruns of the _Flintstones_ or _Gilligan's Island_ and claim they are educational. (Let's count it up now: Clinton has taken a stand against the high rollers in the medical field and their insurance companies, against the power- packed tobacco industry, against the NRA, against Calvin Klein and kiddie soft-porn, against TV stations doing wrong by our kids ... and he's still called a wimp?) ....................... * ........................ "Let's fight 'em" says television actress Rue McClanahan of _The Golden Girls_, appearing on a videotape that Democrats hope will spark a senior citizen rebellion against the GOP proposals that would take $270 billion from Medicare. "The new majority in Congress wants to cut Medicare, increase co- payments and deductibles, take away our ability to choose our own doctors and force us into managed-care programs, just so they can give $245 billion in tax breaks to a special few," says Estelle Getty, a co-star of McClanahan on the popular television program. ....................... * ........................ The men of the small town of Xeatzan Bajo, Guatemala are working hard to install a pump that will provide the 245 families there with clean running water. The pump was financed by the United States and will be among the last installed in the area debvasted by years of civil war (Thanks Ollie North) since the Republicans want to slash everything in sight except taxes for the rich. Beside the sanitary and health effects, there was a particular telling remark in the AP story (inadvertent we're sure since AP has become vehemently anti-woman): "Tzay Aju, head of the village's development committee said: `We are poor and do not have the means to pay for running water. Our government doesn't have the money either, so we had to ask foreigners for help.' "Now, with the new pump, `Maybe the girls will even be able to go to school, because they won't have to spend their time carrying water,' Tzay Aju said. " Typical. The boys go to school while the girls stay home and do the grunt and heavy work ... ....................... * ........................ The United States government may be forced to shut down at any moment because spoiled brat Newt Gingrich and company haven't gotten their way. In ABSOLUTE contradiction to the American tradition of democracy and compromise, in a disgusting disregard of the U.S. Constitution separation of powers, Gingrich is attempting to BLACKMAIL the President of the United States into approving the Reps proposed budget cutting that EVEN THOUGH THE REPS HAVE NOT AGREED ON WHAT GETS CUT AND BY HOW MUCH ! "I'm not going to sign a budget that I know will put people out of nursing homes or deprive people of the chance to go to college or children the chance to be in Head Start or compromise the environment," President Bill Clinton said. "I'm not going to do that." Gingrich said he would cripple the government's ability to function unless Clinton caved in. Gingrich who's been spending most of his time lately on book signing trips said on a TV interview that he would not scheduling a vote on raising the government debt ceiling, a ploy necessary because there is no budget in place. Even with a vote-carrying majority, the Reps haven't been able to agree and put out a budget. Clinton advocates a budget reform plan that would balance the budget in ten years without the anti-compassion cuts in health, education, and environmental programs the Republican are advocating. "We can get a balanced budget that the entire financial world thinks is a great thing. But it has to be done in an honorable way and defaulting on our debts is not an honorable thing to do," President Clinton said. -- May I please quote my very favorite columnist again? Molly Ivins wrote in her column early this week wrote: "In one of those breathtaking moments in the history of punditry, all the regulars on David Brinkley's program on Sunday agreed: "Claiming that the $270 billion Medicare cut is paying for $245 billion in tax cuts for the rich just won't fly. "I always enjoy seeing millionaires in agreement on points like this." Yes, those news people, including Brinkley, are millionaires and Cokie Roberts was raised rich and will inherit millions. ....................... * ........................ Common Cause, a congressional watchdog group, has asked the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Standards of Official Conduct -- the ethics committee's formal name -- to hire an outside counsel with the broadest possible authority. CC wants the counsel to be able to investigate ALL of the speaker's activities. The request is EXACTLY the same as CC put forward in 1988 when Newt Gingrich filed formal complaints against then-Democratic Speaker Jim Wright. Gingrich is fighting CC's latest request. Chickens coming home to roost for the Republican Speaker, Mr. Deadbeat Daddy, adulterer Family Values man? ....................... * ........................ Seems like the blacks in South Africa have not been cooperating with police in a hunt for a serial killer and President Nelson Mandela had to issue a statement saying "these are no longer the enemy police. They are our police." The bodies of nine women have been recovered from an open field in Boksburg, South Africa. ....................... * ........................ A National Young Women's Day of Action is being called for October 26, 1995, to give pro-choicers a chance to stand up and be counted in a grassroots campaign organized by and for young women. The news release said the "purpose of the campaign is to empower ourselves, make our voices heard, and build an ongoing network of support." The campaign is sponsored by the Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program at Hampshire College and a coalition of pro-choice and student organizations including the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, NARAL, the ProChoice Resource Center, and Students Organizing Students. For information email your address to Majesstica@AOL.com, subject NYWDA INFO. ....................... * ........................ Oh my. For FIVE HUNDRED YEARS Chaucer's Canterbury Tales has been read, studied, and translated. Now the Eureka, Illinois, school board has decided parts of it are too raunchy for the delicate eyes and ears of its high school seniors - most of whom have regular sex, do drugs, and in general snicker at the old folks naivete. Some parents are objecting to the adultery and other issues that are portrayed in Chaucer's classic. They claim that such things don't meet the community standards of this upscale bedroom community of Chicago where spouse swapping is so common no one even mentions it. (Just how many Republicans in the national spotlight didn't dump their first wives to get trophy seconds?) Eureka is where Ronald Reagan went to college. ....................... * ........................ From a member of a profeminist men's group named Real Men: "We do actions and educational programs to raise men's awareness of and encourage them to work against sexism and all forms of violence against women. In our last newsletter, we had a list of several other such groups around the country. "Most of these groups are very small (unfortunately). I encourage anyone who doesn't have a profeminist men's group in their area to just go out and start one. Don't wait for one to start itself. "There are several good books directly addressing what men can do to fight sexism. Just a few are: _Stopping Rape: A challenge for Men_, by Rus Funk (New Society Publishers), and two of John Stoltenberg's books, _Refusing to be a Man_ and the _End of Manhood_." Real Men may be reached at PO Box 1769, Brookline MA, 02146. ....................... * ........................ How many know that the "three strikes" requirement in locking up criminals for life was started by Ida Ballasiotes of Seattle after her 29-year- old daughter was murdered by a convicted sex offender who was free to do what he wanted from a halfway house. Ms. Ballasiotes is now a Washington State Representative and favors excluding some minor crimes from the three-strikes" categories. ....................... * ........................ A cartoon by Pulitzer Prize winner Mike Luckovich which depicts a white man holding a black baby by his shirt collar and saying, "Either your unskilled, uneducated mother gets a job, or you're dead meat!" In his other hand, the man holds a slip of paper labeled "welfare reform." It has drawn heavy criticism mostly on the race issue and not because it was against poor women. Honestly, how many editorial page cartoons have you seen in your local paper that disparages women, abortion, etc., and how many times have you written the editor of the paper to complain? It won't stop until we make it stop. ..................... * ........................ One of the projects that the Republican Congress is opposing is foreign aid that supports the following: In an ITN news report, Shenaz Parveen is conspiring with 14 women in the Uttar Pradesh state in India. She tells them that by taking birth control pills "they can begin to control their lives -- a seditious idea in male- dominated India." Because of U.S. funds, there are thousands of women like Parveen who are going to Indian villages, handing out birth-control pills, condoms, and telling women how they can avoid pregnancies that kill them in their prime of life. A child is born every 6.5 seconds in India's Uttar Pradesh state which, if it were a country, would have the world's seventh largest population that is growing by 3.3 million a year. Seven out of 10 women are illiterate. Most are married by 16 and have three children by the time they are 20. Early death by infections, and malnutrition caused by too many children follow. ....................... * ........................ Medical authorities are saying that the use of two already approved drugs that induce abortions has produced a surge in abortions but no one will realize it for several years because they are being prescribed quietly and in private in doctor's offices. Dr. Richard U. Hausknecht of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York published a study of the use of the combination of methotrexate and misoprostol to induce abortion in the Aug. 31 in the New England Journal of Medicine that has gained worldwide attention. Catt's Claws recalls that a West Coast WOMAN DOCTOR release the same information several years back, and another midwest doctor also spoke out about it but the issue was ignored. Methotrexate is approved for use against cancer and some other illnesses. Misoprostol is used to treat ulcers. Because both are approved, they can be prescribed by physicians. Use of the RU-486 French abortion pill in use in most of the world for a decade may be submitted to the FDA by the end of the year according to Dr. Beverly Winikoff, director of reproductive health at The Population Council in New York which was given the rights to produce the drug in the U.S. when the French government and Rossel chickened out in face of the U.S. anti- freedom-for women campaign. RU-486 has been undergoing redundant test after test after test in the U.S. for several years. It could be approved by the fall of 1996 but that is unlikely because the FDA takes YEARS to approve anything having to do with women's health. Remember how long it took to approve the woman's condom and that didn't even do anything ... except give some control to a woman. ....................... * ........................ Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann returned the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres she was awarded nearly a decade ago in protest against French atomic testing in the South Pacific. ....................... * ........................ This is a news item that some of the boyz who write filth on the Usenet might be interested in - especially when one realizes that DELETE does not mean delete in actuality. According to the Chicago Tribune (Catt's Claws' author used to work for their chain as a staff and investigative reporter), in a story by Jan Crawford Greenburg, a local company fired a middle-management woman employee claiming they were downsizing. However as a victim of constant harassment she knew better and hired a computer sleuth. He uncovered an email message on the company's hard drive: "Get that b---- out of here as fast as you can," said the message, from the woman's supervisor to another. "I don't care what it takes. Just do it." Greenburg wrote, "Hours after computer sleuth John Jessen unearthed it, the company wrote the woman a $250,000 check to settle her lawsuit." Even more serious, lawyers pointed out to Greenburg, "are offensive jokes or stories posted on computer bulletin boards or widely distributed on e-mail. In that situation, lawyers could argue that the company allowed the information to flow through its system." It is known that anti-freedom for women religious supremacists groups monitor certain usenet boards and it has been rumored that the FBI and credit companies have made use of online service email records ... yes, especially to the guy who made up the list of 20 ways to kill women, your online service has a record of ALL your messages to keep itself clear of potential lawsuits. ....................... * ........................ To receive Catt's Claws by email, write and in the body of the note No name, nothing else. ....................... * ........................ 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 three times a week: Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. This is NOT an interactive discussion net but an exchange of information and 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. Irene Stuber. PO Box 6185, Hot Springs, AR 71902.<<<<