Catt's Claws 01-16-1996

      Sorry but I've been in the doldrums - somehow got off my

Vitamin D

and big doses of "A" supplements - Makes a helluva

difference.  I know, "D"

is supposed to be a given in our diets, but for women, it ain't

and especially

for us who spend long hours INSIDE and in front of

Vitamin-A-draining

monitors and fluorescent lights - and who gets sunshine in the

winter?

      And women naturally NEED MORE Vitamin D than men

- but of course the

government standards are set up for the guys.

            ....................... * ........................

      And while I'm doing the housekeeping chores, let me

make something

PERFECTLY CLEAR.

      Catt's Claws and Women of Achievement and Herstory are

linked on

Internet to a number of pages run by organizations. They did

it.  Many have

never notified me. 

      That is fine, but being linked does not mean membership

or support,

and there is one group that is implying that I BELONG to

them.  It is a good

group, but I'm not one of them. 

      My memberships are with the Virginia Clinton Kelley

Democratic Women's

Club, the League of Women Voters, and the National

Organization for Women -

PERIOD. I have been a member AND AN ACTIVIST with a

number of other

national organizations, but I dropped them to concentrate on

online services

for feminists which I began with more than six years ago. 

      I am a member of NO online organizations. I refuse to

belong to any

organization in which I can never have a voice.

      At the end of Catt's Claws since issue #1 (and I think we're

the oldest

with the largest readership of any online feminist newsletter)

we have plainly

stated that Catt's Claws is beholden to NO organization.

      Those who wish to link or re-use Catt's Claws or Women

of Achievement

and Herstory for NON PROFIT USE are encouraged to do so. 

HAVE AT IT !!!

      The point of all of this unpaid work on my part is to

educate, to spread

the word, to join hands, to cut through the bull and get to the

cows who, of

course, do all the good stuff. 

      Why can't we stop these attempts at self-aggrandizement

(don't you just

love that word?  Can't you just see the ego seeping into a room

three minutes

before the body?)

      We're in this together.

      Let our WORK speak for us ...

      ....................... * ........................

      There appears to be some revisionism going on regarding

the lack of

historical consideration of what the modern-day Roman

Catholic Church insists

on calling "unborn children."  

      According to Ms. Magazine, the "Catholics for a Free

Choice" and two

priests, including Father John Clemont of the Chancery

Office/Archdiocese of

New York, say there are no OFFICIAL rites or rituals for

baptizing or burying

miscarried fetuses.  They are not aware of any official practice

EVER being

established for miscarriages.  Daniel Maguire, professor of

moral theology at

Marquett University, confirms that "fringe" elements of the

Catholic Clergy

"do promulgate bogus ceremonies for the baptism of

miscarried fetuses."

      The comment was made in reply to a woman who had

suffered years of

"anxiety and guilt" regarding her miscarriages.  She wrote,

"The writing of

these men are the writings of woman-haters.  The rules and

rituals are

steeped with female loathing."

      Those who have drifted away from Ms. Magazine (as I

did) might like to

revisit it. Under the new editorship, Ms. appears to be more

grounded in

reality and less concerned with self-effacing theorists.

      ....................... * ........................

      Barbara Cochran Berry and writer-collaborator Joanee

Parrent have come

out with a MUST READ book _Life After Johnnie Cochran-

(1995-Basic Books)

about the PHYSICAL ABUSE and adulteries she had to

tolerate during the 18

years of her marriage.  No wonder Cochran and OJ got along

so well.

      ....................... * ........................

      In the Sept./Oct. issue of Mother Jones, it was reported

that in 1967

barely a fifth of Brazil's women worked outside the home;

now more than 70

percent do - and even so, abuse has risen. We have heard that

although

Brazilian women have obtained rights for child care leaves,

breast feeding

times (as reported by MoJo), the Brazilian woman's civil

rights still leave her

in the fifth century... in other words, have kids, take care of

them by

working for money outside the home, but don't expect

anything from the

machismo society.

      ....................... * ........................

      Jlerner wrote: "Parade Magazine on Dec. 31 had a

photograph of 189

"leaders of nearly every country on Earth" who had gathered

to commemorate

the 50th anniversary of the UN. I counted SIX women in this

group (approx. 3

percent). Yep, we've certainly come a long way."

      CC-->> This is a pop quiz:  Name the country and/or

names of the six

women leaders.  (One, I believe is already out.)

      And a SECOND pop quiz: What two leading

"democracies" have NEVER

had a female head of state? <-cc

      ....................... * ........................

      President Clinton's coup in taking over Haiti and returning

Jean-

Bertrand Aristide to power without the lose of life is NEVER,

but NEVER

mentioned in daily macho press/media.  Did you know that the

infamous

Quartier General, the military headquarters that masterminded

some of the

worst atrocities in Haiti, has been turned into a ministry for

women?

      ....................... * ........................

      My GAWD (God, a Woman Deity), how can anyone stand

around feeling

content when so much offal is coming down on women?

      ....................... * ........................

      A Nazi Swastika was painted on the door of a Jewish page

of the U.

S. House of Representatives (Newt Gingrich, speaker). The

area is open to

authorized personnel only. Yep, the kids do as the elders do.

      ....................... * ........................

      Regarding the murder-rape of Kimberly Ernest, 26, whose

body was

found at the intersection of 21st and Pine in Philadelphia,

Tom Menner reports

that her killers have been caught. According to news reports,

two men went

out that early morning with the expressed intent of stealing a

car (which is

apparently something they did on a regular basis).  While

breaking into a car

Ernest, on her morning run, apparently saw them and shouted

at them to

stop.  The younger man attacked her to shut her up; according

to the

account, though, she more than held her own and in fact was

besting him

when the other man came up and hit her with a tire iron.  They

then raped

her and beat her to death.  They were caught because the

younger man

told his stepfather (who himself was already in prison) who

promptly turned

his stepson in.

      HELP - Can anyone explain why men rape like this? What

is wrong with

these guys?  Why are we raising our boys to do such things?  

      ....................... * ........................

      A Gallup poll found that 1.3 million children a year were

sexually

abused. The poll did not ask parents whether they had sexually

abused their

children, but rather whether, as far as they knew, their

children had been

forced to have sex with an adult or older child, had been

forcibly touched

sexually by an adult or older child, or had been forced to

touch an adult or

older child sexually. 

      The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect in its

most recent

report (1992) said ONLY 130,000 children are victims of

sexual abuse, one-tenth

the Gallup numbers.     

      The difference is, of course, that the government figures

are based on

REPORTED abuse or abuse discovered by police and other

agencies.

      One point three million and there are those who claim,

from their knees

in church, that sexual abuse of children doesn't exist and fight

any attempts

to do anything about it.

      The NUMBER ONE priority, of course, is to TEACH

young children that a

person touching them in certain ways - even their daddies - is

wrong and

then having some place for them to go to and report the evil

being done

them.

      With all our "gender" blindness propaganda, we fail to

realize that we

are talking about MOSTLY GIRLS who are sexually abused -

only a relatively

small number of boys are, although even one of either sex is

too many. 

      So these figures translate to 1.18 million girls and 117,000

boys.

            ....................... * ........................

      In the late term anti-abortion bills both the House and

Senate bills

exempt abortions performed by Caesarean section or

hysterectomy.  But once

that fetus, even though horribly disfigured and unable to live

on its own,

gets forced into that "birth canal," namely the vagina by a

woman's own

contractions, it's MURDER.

      What is so sacred about a woman's vagina?

      Ummm ... And why the hell can't they call it a vagina and

not "birth

canal."  Sounds like a scene with gondolas and singing men

with large

mustacheos instead of screaming women going through a pain

that is worse

than ANY other kind of human pain. The only thing similar is

the passing of a

LARGE kidney stone.

      ....................... * ........................

      Well, well.  The boss of the Central Florida's largest

"Christian" TV

station WACX in Orlando is paid the holy sum of $119,550 a

year and is one of

the reasons the station was refused a religious tax break on its

land.

      It is seen by the county authorities as operating like a

commercial

broadcast station.

      Ah, could this be a precedent?

      These multi-millionaire enterprises with their

air-conditioned dog houses

are allowed to get away with hiding behind religious

exemptions while

condemning welfare mothers and the working poor who need

help with medical

and food.

      When we lived in Florida, the LARGEST SINGLE

LANDOWNER IN THE

STATE WAS THE MORMON CHURCH- TAX EXEMPT, of

course - and it is probably

the largest in your state too.

      ....................... * ........................

      One of the saddest news releases we've gotten recently is

that Johns

Hopkins Medical Institutions are backing a series of

conferences set up by the

False Memory Syndrome Foundation.

      According to *their* release, "False Memory Syndrome

(FMS) is a

condition in which a person's identity and relationships are

centered around

the memory of a traumatic experience which is objectively

false but the person

strongly believes it to be true."  

      CC-->> Note that they don't QUESTION whether the

memory of childhood

rape is false; they DECLARE it false. Almost every speaker or

sponsor of the

conferences which has dragged Johns Hopkins reputation into

this mess is a

member of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, many of

whom are accused

of abuse by their own children, or are making a hell of a lot of

money

attacking a woman's ability to suppress bad memories. (One of

our readers,

Lynn writes: "the False Memory Syndrome Foundation or as I

prefer it:

Frightened Molester Security Foundation.")

      It amazes us that a woman is not considered capable of

suppressing bad

memories but men subject to "flashbacks" 30 years after a war

incident are

treated with respect and given treatment.

      The FMSF is re-raping the women/girl by a medical field

that should be

helping her. And now Johns Hopkins' reputation is brought

into it.  

      One question: Have Dr. McHugh or anyone very close to

him been

accused of molestation?  What is his political and/or religious

affiliation?

      ....................... * ........................

      At the age of 96, Vi Brewer, even though in good physical

condition,

and even after eating about a pound of chocolate a day for

most of her life,

has retired at a chocolate dipper at the Idaho Candy Company

where she

worked for 72 years. "She's got the most nimble hands of

anyone I've ever

seen," said John Wagers, owner of the company. "She was the 

best dipper of

anyone they had."

      She started when she was in the eighth grade making $5 a

week for

nine hours a day, six days a week because her father had

abandoned the

family, her mother was sick, and there were three younger

boys. She took a

break from 1927 to 1937 to have four sons. 

      (One news release said 1927-1937 to RAISE four sons -

GAWD, I LOVE

men reporters...)

      ....................... * ........................

    A recent Newsweek poll showed that 21% of all Americans

and 43% of 

evangelical Christians believe that the gay rights movement is

an 

"incarnation of Satan."

      Observers fear this preaching of hate will lead to

wide-spread violence

in the "Name of God," as was recently seen in the murder of

Itzak Rabin.     

      Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays is a

national

organization that wants to expose the connection between hate

rhetoric and

anti-gay violence.  Recently, the organization produced two

30-second TV

spots that take aim at just this combination, showing the Revs. 

Jerry Falwell

and Pat Robertson are heard spouting their messages of hate. 

      We don't have the address ... anyone out there?

      ....................... * ........................

      Well, well, well.  The British are designing laws to punish

the organizers

of child sex tours. It would target people in Britain who

arrange foreign trips

on which adults commit sexual offenses against children, and

those who

encourage others to travel to sexually exploit children. 

      Other Western countries have introduced such legislation.

Earlier this

year, a Swedish pedophile was jailed for having sex with a

child while on

holiday in Thailand. 

      Thailand has been a center for such exploitation of girl

children for

decades.  The head of the International department at NOW

would was released

because of budget problems was one of those who were

VERY aware of the

fact that up to 90% of the girl children in Thailand are forced

into

prostitution as early at SIX.  

      We have been pained to find out that NOW president

Patricia Ireland

AGAIN made a pleasure trip to Thailand ... Please, V.  This is

not a good thing

to do, like Thai things or not.  

      And, V, IF we have your attention, we'd like to know

whether NOW still

employs the exploitive organizations to sort the returns on the

membership

mailings.  

      ....................... * ........................

From: Mary Kay: 

Subject: Re: China's orphanages -- killing fields for (girl)

babies 

      "I don't know how many of you might be aware of this, but

China 

dominates U.S. toy sales these days, so far as I can tell from

the 

consumer end of things.  Littlest Petshop and Polly Pockets

come 

immediately to mind.  So now, does one supply these products

to one's 

children and if not explain the terrible reasons?  Why is there

no press 

coverage of these matters?  U.S. parents might be able to

make a difference 

in this tragic situation.  How to do something?"

      Mary, of course is referring to the death by starvation or

killing by

abuse of thousands of girl children A YEAR in China in

orphanages.     

      Another reader wrote: "We have two (single women)

friends who just

adopted babies from two different orphanages via a Chinese

lawyer in Los

Angeles.  They were told that there were only girls available."

       The 331-page report by the New York-based Human

Rights Watch/Asia 

group supports its findings with figures published by the

Ministry of Civil

Affairs which show that in the Shanghai Children's Welfare

Institute the

annual death-to-admission ratio was 77.6 percent in 1991.  

       In orphanages in eastern Fujian province, 109 children

were admitted

in 1989 -- and 109 died. That far exceeds the notorious

orphanage death rate

in Romania, which was about 40 percent in 1989.  (Romania,

if you recall, had

strict anti-abortion laws with state inspectors questioning and

examining any

married women who did not conceive.)

       Sun Zhu was admitted in June 1989 and died two months

later "so

hungry that she was trying to eat the flesh off her hand."

       The report says one orphanage director raped young girls.

It alleges

torture, as well as physical and mental abuse, while children

who misbehaved

were certified as mentally ill and transferred to psychiatric

hospitals.  

      China only admits to a 100,000 orphan population - in a

nation of 1.8

billion and which is now limiting families to one child.  The

number of girl

children murdered at birth or thrown away staggers the

imagination since the

entire Chinese ethos is tied to males.

      Stop buying ANYTHING made in China - the pocketbook

is the only way

to stop them. 

      ....................... * ........................

      "We know, as do most NOW members and Americans in

general that

domestic violence, and all violence against women, is color

blind," Tammy Bruce

said in a statement following her censure by the national

Board of the National

Organization for Women.

      "Speaking on the horrors of domestic violence does not

make one a

racist, and ... not speaking against this epidemic is abandoning

thousands of

women who are (at) risk in this country, including women of

color," she said.

      Flo Kennedy who is celebrating her 80th birthday soon

said it back in

the 1960's: "The man does it to us all, honey."

      ....................... * ........................

      A reader sent this in:  Thomas Paine writes "I would not

dare to so

dishonor my Creator God by attaching His name to that book

(the Bible)."

"Among the most detestable villains in history, you could not

find one worse

than Moses.  Here is an order, attributed to 'God' to butcher

the boys, to

massacre the mothers and to debauch and rape the daughters."

"It is the

duty of every true Deist to vindicate the moral justice of God

against the

evils of the Bible."  

      ....................... * ........................

      Nikki Craft writes: "I had just gotten a quote that I added

to the

America On Line women's section censored. I didn't know

how restrictive the

lists were.

      "Btw, the AOL quote was John Wayne Bobbitt who said:

"I've had many

intuitions since I got my penis cut off." I thought it was a very

insightful quote, and since it was originally published in the

San

Francisco Chronicle (Dec. 31, 1995) I figured it would be

good enough for

the women's section at AOL. I was wrong. They yanked it the

next morning. I

put it back and they yanked it again. I was told in email later

that

children read the women's board and they have to be very

careful."

      ....................... * ........................

            *** Catt's Claws Monthly Reminder *** 

      Medical authorities are saying the use of two already

approved

drugs that induce abortions when used in combination 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. In years past, several doctors, including a woman

doctor released

the same information and after the first news story, it was

quietly

ignored/suppressed.

      Catt's Claws vows this time the information will stay

available.

      Methotrexate is FDA-approved for use against cancer;

Misoprostol is FDA

approved to treat ulcers.  Because both are FDA-approved,

they can be

prescribed by physicians today and together, they produce

abortions at a

better rate than the RU-486 pill. 

      Available today at your friendly M.D. 

      Also available for many years and never brought to

women's attention,

the drugs that produced abortions in women with ectopic

pregnancies.

      Hey NOW and Feminist Majority Foundation - How about

spreading the

news.  Although, we guess, if the two M's become well

known, the Feminist

Majority's big fund raisers on behalf of an abortion pill to be

approved

sometime in the future will not raise so much mulla ...

      Hey, wake up and smell the roses.  It's here now.

           ....................... * ........................

              Women's rights are young and tender and we must 

      protect them from the plagues of holy hypocrisy and

newts.

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