The primary speeches at the Democratic Convention, including those by by Christopher Reeve, Jesse Jackson, Mario Cuomo, and Hillary Rodham Clinton, are available at http://www.dncc96.org/ or at my website reference library which also has a lot of great feminist material: http://www.imageworld.com/vsp/istuber/ref/ <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> ........Catt's Claws # 121 ... August 29, 1996......... ........ A Feminist Newsletter by Irene Stuber......... <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> Trish sent us the following to be posted with author Roz Warren's permission: "On the topic of reading or not reading Ms Magazine. Another reason NOT to read MS. is that for the past two years they apparently have made a practice of not paying the free lance writers who write for them, including one writer who finally took them to court and won a $4,500 judgment for a cover story which they ran but never paid for. "I am not unbiased in this -- they owe my small press $l00 for a cartoon which they published two years ago but have refused to honor their agreement to pay for, despite repeated requests. "Although Ms has failed to pay many writers, we have kept silent in part because of our belief that Ms is doing a good job of promoting feminism and our trust that their failure to pay each of us must be some fluke or isolated incident. Now it seems as if this is a deliberate practice on their part. "Throughout the time that Ms. has failed to pay us, Ms. has been owned by a man (Dale Lang, of Lang Communications). Now this man has sold Ms. to another man (Jay MacDonald). MacDonald has apparently gone on record as saying that he *feels no obligation to make outstanding payments to the more than 200 unpaid free lancers*. "This being the case, several of the women who haven't been paid for work that Ms. published have banded together and are urging feminists to put pressure on Ms Magazine to pay these outstanding debts. "In a letter published in the last issue of Feminist Bookstore News: ""We are asking Ms. readers to fax/phone Jay C. MacDonald, the new owner of the magazine at 2l2-697-1971 or write: Jay MacDonald/ MacDonald Communications/230 Park Avenue 7th Floor/ New York, NY l0l69 and urge him to pay this debt before making contracts with other writers, photographers and illustrators. It would be helpful to point out to MacDonald that women will not buy his new publications if free lancers who have worked for his magazines are not paid." . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . Don't you just love it that the most prestigious feminist magazine is owned and its policies dictated by men? Don't you just love it when Patricia Ireland blasted Clinton and suggests women should stay home and not vote for him (abandon their basic right to vote) - and just a few days later, her muse/guru Jesse Jackson (ever notice whither Jesse goeth, Ireland is right behind, usually the required one step?). The Jacksons, father and son, are enthusiastically endorsing Clinton and blasting anyone who says voters should stay home. The protests should wait until after the election and then pressure Clinton to continue fixing the Welfare Bill - something he has started to do already. . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . Let me make something perfectly clear. Catt's Claws is not speaking for anyone except the author. Although CC has a huge circulation through direct email, forum, bulletin boards, and personal forwardings (I am constantly amazed at who gets this), I do not claim to speak for anyone except myself. And I don't like these people who claim to speak for all women. Cowhockey, Ms. Ireland. If you haven't noticed, you only got elected president of National NOW and can only speak for that dwindling organization. No one anointed you the spokesperson for the feminist movement, nor for women in general. Me thinks thou thinkest too much of thyself. You and General Hague (Reagan's chief of staff who tried to rewrite the U.S. Constitution). . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . I keep forgetting to ask - what does it mean when the palms of a woman's hand are very red. (Not me or mine, but someone I am acquainted with whose recent actions have me worried.) . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . We've been treated with the bimbo factor affecting the man from Arkansas with pictures all over the tabloids. Now how about a look at the bimbo who broke up Bob Dole's marriage? Dole lived apart from his wife of 23 years for more than a year before he asked for a divorce. Mrs. Dole never got child support nor alimony, the divorce was handled very quietly after hours, etc. Seems Dole's bimbo went to WORK at his Senate office in Kansas. She was evidentally paid with YOUR Tax Dollars for dear Bob to have sex with her. Where is HER picture? Let's see who broke up Bob Dole's marriage. We've already seen the pictures of two women who ATTEMPTED to break up Bill and Hillary's marriage and didn't succeed. Isn't fair fair? . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . The newest sex scandal appears to have been completely orchestrated and INVOLVED the Republicans, but of course the media is going to blame Clinton who is the victim. Dick Morris is a REPUBLICAN - and a Republican who broke national security trust at the highest levels. We won't be at all surprised to find out that the prostitute was hired and fed to Morris by his Republican "buddies." Morris was also was the political consultant for the new Republican governor of Arkansas, a Southern Baptist minister. . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . In her column of August 22, 1996, in the Boston Globe entitled "Baby Boomers Are In The Driver's Seat, and Dole Wants To Turn Back," the marvelous Ellen Goodman wrote: "The baby-boom generation is turning 50, and dad wants to take back the keys to the car." . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . Honest to GAWD, I went hurrah and tears formed in my eyes when I heard an American retail company was putting the health of this nation above its profits. Target stores are discontinuing the sale of cigarettes. And all we have here is Wal-Mart. Damn. Thank you Mr. President for setting into motion the political hot potato of having nicotine - as in cigarettes and cigars and pipes and chewing - declared an addictive drug. The move would give the Food and Drug Administration unprecedented powers to regulate cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, focusing on advertising, availability and education. When I was addicted to tobacco, DOCTORS were pimping the stuff as good for your nerves. Stopping was one of the toughest things I ever did in my life (birthing children was worse). But if I hadn't, I would be dead now. Stop smoking before you end up with lung cancer or with the gradual disability-leading-to-death called emphysema that I have. Watching people smoke today is akin to watching a junkie shoot up. . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . COLAGE is a broad-based support and advocacy organization run by and for daughters and sons of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender parents. For more info on COLAGE, email kidsofgays@aol.com, write 2300 Market St. #165, San Francisco, CA 94114, call (415) 861-KIDS or fax (415) 255-8345. . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . OH MY GAWD! Stop the presses. Bow down to science at high noon in the middle of the street. Write out checks and start campaigning to have medals struck for them. Scientists grabbed headlines a couple of weeks ago declaring that chocolate was a feel-good food ... and women all over the world have been ROTFLOAO ever since. These guyz get paid for this nonsense? . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . Rodney King is spending 90 days in jail for knocking his wife down with his car. Crystal King suffered head and arm injuries and was left bleeding on the pavement. Rodney countered saying that HE WAS THE VICTIM because his wife called him stupid for not being able to read a map. King was still on probation from a 1994 drunk-driving conviction when he ran down his wife. . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . A bunch of bleeding hearts, civil rights advocates have grabbed onto a headline that says a man was sentence to life in prison for robbing an 8- year-old Girl Scout selling cookies. "This is what is wrong with our modern society!" they posture. "Clinton is so wrong with his three strikes and you're out." Cleveland Johnson Jr., 29, was sentenced to life for his fourth conviction on a violent offense in accordance with Florida State law. How violent can it be, the bleeding hearted-civil rights advocates cry, when he was only robbing an 8-year-old girl --- of $67.50 with a GUN. . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . Our best wishes to Nancy Mace of Goose Creek, Kim Messer of Clover, Jeanie Mentavlos of Charlotte, N.C., and Petra Lovetinska who are enduring hell week at The Citadel. The women are being treated with human respect, at least on the surface, unlike the blatant sexual and downright filthy speech and actions that Shannon Faulkner suffered last year. The pushups the Citadel cadets performed in symbolic rape of Faulkner as the brass looked on was as disgusting as anything we've ever heard of. This year it is different but points out again how military men take orders, sieg heil! According to the Citadel, the women will be treated the same as men in most areas. But they have latches on their doors and blinds on their windows. And they will also have different physical standards (AND AIN'T THE MACHOS MAKING A BIG DEAL OUT OF THIS. OK, GUYZ, YOU GET DOWN AND DO IT: The women must run two miles in under 18 minutes, 54 seconds, while men who are generally 4 to 6 inches taller have 15 minutes, 54 seconds, a difference of three minutes. Women must do 18 push-ups and 50 sit-ups in two minutes each; men who have been trained to upper body strength all their lives must do 42 push-ups and 52 sit-ups. OK young coach-potato guyz, before you make any remarks, you do the 42 push-ups and 52 sit-ups ... NOW! . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . We hear a lot about women not being physically able to do certain feats of strength and therefore should not be allowed into certain jobs ... A January 26, 1996 report of the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine showed that it ain't necessarily so. According to an email post explaining the study, civilian women volunteers worked out for 90 minutes a day, 5 days a week, for 6 months. Before the program only a quarter of the women could do the most difficult test tasks of strength and endurance. At the end, 78% of the women were qualified for "very heavy" military jobs. The end-of-program tests that showed this included lifting 40-lb boxes 4 feet into the air, jogging with 75-lb packs, and performing dozens of squats while holding 100-lb barrels on the shoulders. The women averaged 78% faster march speeds than the Army norm of 2.5 mph. Their chest circumferences increased an average of 12 percent due to increased muscle. The lead researcher said that the women could maintain their current abilities by weight-lifting twice a week and running a half-hour three times a week. Earlier, attempts had been made to cancel this research program because it was believed that it could be used as a prelude to allow woman to engage in combat. . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . Mariopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio is going to put all-female chain gangs to work on the streets of Phoenix cleaning up trash. Alabama Corrections Commissioner Ron Jones was fired after he suggested putting women prisoners on chain gangs. A news story said there have been a lot of women prisoner volunteers for the outdoor work as a change from the dark, cramped over-crowded jail cells. The women will wear the traditional uniforms with broad black bands that have identified chain gangs in movies. Like the men, the women chain gangers will be guarded by big men with big bellies with big shotguns (that's the way they look in the movies). . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . LAWD almighty, I'm getting mighty sick of these sacred sperm scientific studies. The latest is reported in OB-Gyn. News. It says that cigarette smoke appears to cause abnormal genes in the EGGS OF FEMALE SMOKERS and is probably a leading reason for the failure of in-vitro fertilization or other things .... The abnormalities of a woman's eggs who lives with a smoker is supposedly on the same level as if she were a moderate smoker. The study completely, totally, absolutely ignores the damage that is done to male sperm from smoking by men. Shame! . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . Against Republican opposition, President Bill Clinton has proposed widening the law that restricts handgun sales so that people convicted of spousal or child abuse will be banned from buying guns. Do you know why Republicans try to avoid the subject of single mothers? They remind them of their first wives. (Hey, look at the list starting at the top: Dole, Gingrich...) . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . According to government sources in Peru, the number of pregnancies in girls under 15 rose to 20,000 in 1995. In a poll, 24 percent of male teenagers and 35 percent of female teenagers declared they had fathered or had a baby in 1993, which like in the U.S. leaves a statistical discrepancy that can only be answered by the fact that older men are raping young girls with impunity. They have done so throughout history in all lands by blaming the girls for their sins, by making women RESPONSIBLE for morals but not allowing them any authority. And you wonder why so many religious right men opposed equal rights for women and sex education? Would mess up their sand boxes. . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . Stephen Russell writes: "Back from my sally into the breach on behalf of the First Amendment, and I have brought the information you requested. "Kids Exchange, 503 W. 14th Street, Austin, TX 78701, (512) 472-3588 provides two services (acting as buffers between parents when the non- custodial parent has visitation rights and the custodial parent wants nothing to do or is afraid of the custodial parent): "1. drop-off by custodial parent for non-custodial parent and vice versa at 15 minute intervals to facilitate visitation. Will also relay messages regarding children for parents who are not speaking "2. Conducts supervised visitation on premises when ordered by a court. It is a PRIVATE entity, nonprofit, founded in 1986. No government funding, now or ever. Operating budget is c. 75% user fees and 25% grants and contributions. Not a member of United Way and no fundraiser position on staff. "Staff is 3 full time and 17 part time. Part timers mostly in the evenings and on weekends. Open 7 days/24 hours. About 200 client families at this time. "Executive Director is Mike Wilkinson, (512)478-6069, kxch@aol.com He wants to be a consultant on how to do this elsewhere. "There is an international organization (US, Canada, NZ, Australia) Supervised Visitation Network, 1101 N. 4th Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85705. . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . Sharon Bottoms threw in the towel and is no longer suing for the custody of her son Tyler. Sharon's mother Kay Bottoms who ACTUALLY raised a lesbian had won custody of Tyler by convincing Virginia judges that she was a better parent than Sharon, the lesbian Kay raised. Sure that makes sense... in Virginia, the home of the Christian Coalition, and Ollie North. Sharon will be allow to visit Tyler but her partner April Wade can not be anywhere around. There are NO restrictions placed on the grandmother and any of HER friends, lovers, etc., the environment that is a PROVEN lesbian nurturing situation. What a crock. Tyler's father is somewhere else and is not involved. . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . Robert James Acremant, who confessed to killing a lesbian couple in a robbery, has now changed his tale to conform with the raging hatred against lesbians being fomented in Oregon by right-wing, anti-women religious bigots. Acremant now says he killed them because he hates lesbians. Guesses are that he thinks he can get a more sympathetic response from the jury if he preaches against lesbians, implying justified homicide in exterminate perverts rather than just being portrayed as a garden variety robber-murderer. Acremant is also charging that his father molested him as a boy. Next thing we'll hear is that he was the TRUE victim and the women died just to make him suffer. (See Rodney King above.) . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . Think you're having a bad day? Think about Willie King who stalked a 94-year-old woman before grabbing her wallet as she entered her New York City home. Easy pickings, right? Well, someone (with REALLY good sense) stopped a "passing" patrol car and pointed out the fleeing suspect. Oh, poor Willie. That little old lady is the mother of Vincent "The Chin" Gigante, the reputed head of the Genovese crime family, the country's most powerful crime family. Poor Willie. . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . Poor Willie. . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . Well, of course it had to come ... pun intended. Men who have long played on Internet as a surrogate way to rape (through flaming) the uppity women who disagree with them now have home pages such as the World Sex Guide to help them find sex workers in any given town - "common" sex fetishes are covered...in detail. It also offers tips (no pun intended) on how to avoid vice cops. The guide gives etiquette advice also. "(Treat her with respect.) You'll both have a better time if you remember this. If she likes you (or at least feels comfortable that you are not a loonie) then she can relax and enjoy herself more." Relax and enjoy herself more? Do these guyz actually think prostitutes are having a good time? Talk about delusional heads ala crotch. ....................... * ........................ The URLs to the most current weeks' worth of Catt's Claws set up on the Web by Laurie D. T. Mann, the Feminist Webitor, are: http://worcester.lm.com/lmann/feminist/cattsclaws.html The FTPs for Catt's Claws being archived by William Affleck-Asch, are: ftp://ftp.eskimo.com/u/f/feminist/ (or NCFTP open ftp.eskimo.com cd /u/f/feminist/) The FTPs for Catt's Claws being archived by Dorothy Dean are: FTP.execpc.com ....................... * ........................ 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.<<<< To receive Catt's Claws by email, write and in the body of the note We thank Jennifer Gagliardi for handling the madding subscription list through her listserv. This episode of Catt's Claws has been proofread by Michelle. We thank you very, very much.