<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^>^<^> .....................Catt's Claws # 85 December 5, 1995...................... ..................... A Feminist Newsletter by Irene Stuber...................... ................................................................................ To subscribe: email >listserv@Netcom.com< and in the body of the note type >subscribe Catts-Claws and your full name< -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The ridiculousness of this nation's laws is probably one of the things that makes a lot of Europeans laugh at us. But in this case, maybe cry FOR us. We have been mentioning the girl in Texas who killed two children when she was 12 and sentenced to a lengthy prison term. In Texas a judge will decide when she's 18 if she is to serve out the rest of her time. She was just in the wrong state. In Arkansas (where I moved to semi-retire), a boy of 13 years and 355 days shot his father's girlfriend in the face with a .410 shotgun from five feet away. The boy had told a school chum what he was going to kill her. Three years ago Clay Loyd, shot at his father's second wife (not the woman he killed) saying his father told him to keep her off the property. Clay was not prosecuted. (The father is all confused by the murder of his late girlfriend saying "I raised him the best I could.") Only a few days before he murdered, Clay slashed the tires of a teacher's car. Did this boy-monster know that he could not be charged as a adult in Arkansas until he was 14? Chances are that he did because he was placed with problem kids where that sort of information is exchanged. But he was not given any particular care. And no one, especially the father is explaining why a shotgun was left available to the boy when he had used a gun in violence before. No matter, Clay Loyd, a premeditated murderer ten days short of his 14th birthday, will go to a juvenile facility and be automatically released in four years and his record expunged. Look for Clay Loyd's name in the crime sections of the future for placing the name of some other woman next to that of Barbara Gardner's on a tombstone. He KNOWS he beat the system. Oh, we know we'll hear stuff from the men's rights association claiming we're picking on a boy and letting a girl off. No, we're saying that there's a lot of difference between 12 and 14 - and the boy had a record of violence with a gun. ....................... * ........................ We have been wondering which way to go with Catt's Claws. Stay as we are as in disseminating information that most women in this country can't get from their daily newspapers and on TV, or more become more activist oriented. For example, how about organizing a Post Office Task Force to find out why the Post Office ignores women on OUR stamps. We got some four cent stamps the other day with the picture of a Catholic priest on them, but there has never been a stamp to honor the women of this nation who have won the Nobel Prize. And no, we don't want one of those special series stamps that lump a lot of the prize winners together. We want a stamp to honor each one of the women who rose above alllll other humans beings in their field. And by GAWD (God, a woman deity) we don't want another monstrosity like the Suffrage Stamp. (How THAT mess happened we'd also like to know.) So, how about volunteering for the Feminists for Fair Representation on U.S. postage stamps? Meetings and plans will be made by email. AND STAMPS IS ALL YOU ARE GOING TO WORK ON. Doesn't sound like much? But between the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin and the Suffrage Stamp, it means a LOT. You don't think your daughters notice that they aren't representted? It is the attitude, unabated of the U.S. bureaucracy. We're sick and tired of "settling" for what "they" dribble down to us and witnessing the fawning "thank you" of those who should be spitting in their faces. Everytime a woman's organization sends me a letter with that suffrage stamp abomination on it, I throw the letter in the trash. For the love of decency, for the love of the sisterhood, how can you honor such an insult? I don't care what the intent was with the stamp - LOOK AT IT. My big complaint with the NOW leadership is that they have been conned into being caretakers of the ENTIRE world instead of just a small family (and calling that an improvement and feminism) while in actuality it is putting women's rights behind every one else's desires. Instead of being at the mercy of our family, feminist (because of the way our leaders are unable to focus) are at the mercy of EVERYONE with a problem except women. Yes, this is a racist nation, but it is by far a worse sexist nation because black, yellow, brown, and green men are just as sexist as white men. Femina - ladies - women - or whatever you want to call yourself - It is time for feminism to put women first! Let's start by licking the Post Office misogynists. This prejudice, this ignoring of women's accomplishments must be stopped. No, Catt's Claws isn't gonna stop kickin' ass when we see it offered... ....................... * ........................ Although our nightly TV news is a bastion of male supremacy, it doesn't surprise us that these fancy stuffed shirts are propped up by -- yep, women. NBC White House correspondent Andrea Mitchell filed 181 stories in 1994 making her the most active TV news reporter among the 158-evening news correspondents (male or female) for all the networks. And second was Rita Braver who filed 178 stories for CBS. ABC with that pretty-boy anchor person, not surprisingly, depends on male reporters. ....................... * ........................ Any word on the killer of jogger Kimberly Ernest, 26, who was raped and beaten to death Nov. 2 at the busy intersection of 21st and Pine in Philadelphia? The autopsy showed she had been brutally raped and beaten severely in the face and strangled. Indications are that she violently fought with her attacker-rapist-murderer. ....................... * ........................ Well, the church lost out by a small margin and divorce is finally legal in Ireland after a nationwide vote. It's amazing how the priests and bishops campaigned against freeing people from loveless or a violent marriages and still refuse to do anything about brutal rapes. Or is it strange. Both situations generally mean the woman has few choices and no chances. And the abuse of children seems to be something the church has historically turned its face away from when the priests are the ones doing it. Our buddy Ken Pope sent us an article about a serial rapist who was only jailed for 15 years - the maximum under Irish/Catholic law although the 36-year-old man admitted to four counts of unlawful carnal knowledge, six of indecent assault and five of sexual assault of rape including raping a FOUR YEAR OLD GIRL. The indictment against him listed a total of 210 offenses against girls aged between four and 14 years. He should be free to continue his filthy ways in a few years. No screams from the church about making the laws against child rape more stringent. Just screams about divorce. Of course the head of the Irish Catholic church had a mistress and a son he wanted no part of - tried to get his ladylove to abort it ... We have a GREAT admiration for truly religious people whether they attend church or comfort the sick, or help children, or just plain try to live a decent life. But the blood suckers who disguise their sickness under a guise as "men of god" make me wish with all my being that I believed in hell. ....................... * ........................ "The EEOC does a lot of stupid things in my opinion. The whole concept of Hooters would be undermined if they had to hire male waiters. The girls are basically what Hooters is about." So opined North Carolina Baptist minister James Posey who failed to identify himself as a "man of god" when he ogled women's breasts and gave a newspaper reporter his opinion. Posey was interviewed at a Hooters restaurant having lunch. Posey has since resigned his ministry saying that he was on his way to visit a shut-in when he stopped at the restaurant that features hardly dressed waitresses. Posey said his resignation was because he needs a ministry where there is a chance for growth. (Where are you going oh thee hypocritical man of god? Sodom and Gomorrah aren't around anymore, but maybe you'll like Bangkok where it is estimated 90% of the women are forced into prostitution to service the burgeoning Japanese, European, and American convention trade and sex vacations - and many die of disease, physical abuse or are murdered in their late teens.) ....................... * ........................ By the way, do you remember the real S&L scandal which cost YOU, the taxpayer some $200 BILLION (and the Bush family got away with at least $60 million in the Silverado S&L failure during daddy George's administration). Well Common Cause points out that "when the S&Ls were engaged in activities that lead to the failures, they poured more than $11 million into congressional and political party" coffers to prevent investigations. ....................... * ........................ Veena B. Antony, MD, writes: "In one of your newsletters you talked about the misery smoking cigarettes can bring to young people. I see this all the time in my work at a Pulmonary and critical care faculty at Indiana University. Not only do young women die with lung cancer, but they end up with emphysema and obstructive lung disease. I am saddened when I find big advertisements for American tobacco products in my country of birth (India)." I too am sickened that this great country would export slow death to other peoples for the god almighty profit dollar. Please kids - emphysema ain't no fun. The author of Catt's Claws is healthy, except her time to hassle the nasties is limited because of emphysema. Give yourself the best Christmas, Hanukkah, or Winter Solstice present you'll ever get. Stop smoking. It's tough. No one is denying that. But dying prematurely is even tougher. ....................... * ........................ "Give us a break! Must we have `hooter cancer survivors'? asked one woman on AOL following the Steve Cass' great fiasco in censoring a woman's essential body part as obscene. On AOL, breasts are obscene and hooters aren't? Hey, Steve. Ain't you read your bible lately? Breasts are mentioned all over the place. Oh, yeah, we forgot. The bible is also censored. Not only are there twenty thousand different translations which throw different interpretations on everything, there are big hunks of it that are censored out so little minds can't drool over the small print. We wonder if the Song of Songs, ole Solomon, - the bridegroom cometh, her breasts are like pearls - is in the bibles of those folks who think every word of that rambling saga of murder, slavery, incest, rape, etc., are words straight from god. Who censors the censors? Cass jumped the gun on the telecommunications bill that is still pending in a Republican controlled Congress that can't even get together on the budget. Have you ever seen such a group of diddlers? The AOL terms of censorship has been passed around on various usenets but for those who generally don't play with the teenage boy piglets on some of those nets, here are a couple of examples (yes, they ARE funny. The kids THINK they're naughty, but as one writer said, it's nothing any normal adult hasn't heard): -- AOL says: Gender should not be taken into account; if "men on men" is not allowed, neither is "women on men". Asterisks and other symbols cannot be used to "mask" a violation if any letters of the vulgarity are still present. "F--- you" is vulgar, but "my *** hurts" is okay. cc-->> I guess "woman on women" *IS* allowed since it wasn't mentioned although maybe the righteous Cass doesn't realize such things go on. <--cc -- AOL says: * who want *: If referring to people, this is not allowed in room names. For instance, "Men who want women" is vulgar, while " Men who want a car" is not. CC-->> Sexual desires with another human being is vulgar but car fetishes are ok? Sex is bad but weird is gooder? How about licking boots or licking an ice cream cone? <--cc -- AOL says: Dykes/Queers: This is OK if a member is referring to themselves. If it is used "against" someone then it is warnable. However, this word requires judgement. CC-->> AOL has set itself up as keepers of our morals but can't spell and doesn't use correct grammar. Oh, Ollie, who is going to censor the censors? <--cc And we saved the best for last: -- AOL says: For instance, a member may not create a room "Oral," but "Oral Roberts" is permitted. "Jimmy69" would be fine, but "I like 69" would have to be deleted. ....................... * ........................ A message to those who would censor: "The Lord's Prayer is 66 words, the Gettysburg Address is 286 words, there are 1,322 words in the Declaration of Independence, but government regulations on the sale of cabbage totals 26,911 words." -- From an article on the growth of federal regulations in the National Review. ....................... * ........................ Did anyone catch the TV evening news when the newscaster made all sorts of sad remarks about the hurting of Japanese-American relations because of the rapes of Okinawa women-children? He interviewed some servicemen who are unhappy about the stigma saying, rightly, that most servicemen are decent people. HOWEVER, we detected not one single irate whisker about the fact that U.S. men rape children and no one was calling for strict and enforceable punishment and education to try to teach those filthy excuses for human beings who would rape that such actions are despicable. How about the guys who say they didn't rape the girl, they just helped their buddy do it. Some people get their jollies one way, others get it another. When you assist in the commission of a crime, you are dirty too. ....................... * ........................ House Speaker Newt Gingrich now has SEVEN complaints against him before the Ethics Committee, and yet Ethics Committee chair Nancy Johnson and the Republican Majority does nothing, no prelims, no hearings, no nothing. Good government is not what the Republican majority is about. Please write Ethics Committee chair Nancy Johnson at the U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC and demand a special prosecutor be named. She needs to be reminded of her responsibilities not just her title. ....................... * ........................ I think animal testing is a terrible idea; they get all nervous and give the wrong answers. -- _A Bit of Fry and Laurie_ ................................................. Catt's Claws salutes volunteer Jennifer Gagliardi who has set up the Catt's Claws listserv to handle subscriptions in an efficient manner. ....................... * ........................ 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.<<<<