The Gabby Giffords Gun Raffle Debacle

Photo of Gabrielle Giffords

Somehow, the outrage I expected over the poor taste vis a vis the gun target looming over U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords’ district in light of the life-threatening injuries she received during a shooting never reached the heights I expected.  I mean, people shook their heads in disgust, yeah, but there was no real freak out.

Which is why I’ve been hesitant to get into the most recent insensitive action by Arizona’s Republicans.

Look, I’m not a hater of the right-wing, per se.  I’m not, like, “You’re a Republican?  Clearly you’re an uncaring moron.”

It’s just that, as …

Continue reading



You Might Also Like ...

Rape Victim Vindicated … But Does it Change Anything for Other Women?

Photo of Rapist Willis in Handcuffs

Rape is arguably the worst possible crime in existence.  While the physical damage generally heals, the emotional repercussions of a sexual assault are lifelong.  Perhaps the worst thing about surviving a rape is the intrinsic need to keep it secret.

It is very difficult to say the words, “I was raped.”  It is even harder, however, to must the courage to say the words and face a firestorm of people casting doubt.  Since sexual assault is often difficult if not impossible to prove (never mind define), there is a surprisingly high percentage of people (and some of them are regular Zelda Lily readers) that automatically assume a woman claiming rape is lying.

I was raped.  It happened in 1998, I was drunk, and it was unspeakable.  While the physical effects healed fairly quickly, I will never fully recover emotionally.  To this day, I am not able to …

Continue reading



You Might Also Like ...

Planned Parenthood as a Political Pawn: Not Progress!

Photo of Planned Parenthood Rally in Washington

Planned Parenthood is once again being used as a political pawn, and I for one am pretty annoyed about it. The group’s merits far outweigh the ugly birthmark some feel abortion services to be, and I do not get why anyone—anyone—would stomp all over the great good done by Planned Parenthood in terms of everything from cancer screenings to birth control … and that’s probably why I will never be a politician.

It is not my intent to bash Republicans here, by the way. I have a lot of close friends and family members that see the world from the right, and I fully respect their opinions. If they say, “I hate Barack Obama” and are able to explain this logically instead of spouting off racist rhetoric, I’m good with that.

I do at times, however, find myself biting my tongue because I want so badly to ask them how they feel about being identified by an increasingly ignorant vocal minority. Seriously, Republicans with a brain in your head, please take back your party! These nuts are reflecting badly on you.

And the recent stuff with the occasionally tacky Planned Parenthood, the basic arguments of which have been hashed out here before, is just one more drop of water in the bucket … but it’s a receptacle that’s getting dangerously close to the overflow point.

From NPR:

Just last Friday, for example, Republican Sen. John Kyl of Arizona said on the Senate floor that “if you want an abortion, you go to Planned Parenthood. And that’s well over 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does.”

In fact, just the opposite is true; well over 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does is NOT abortion. Kyl’s office later said his …

Continue reading



You Might Also Like ...

Did Your Home State Make the “Deadliest Eating Habits” List?

Photo of Overweight Woman Eating Fast Food
On a daily basis, weight conversations seem to crop up everywhere.  Try this pill.  Shoot for hypnosis.  Snap a rubber band around your wrist when the urge for Cheetos hits.  Weight Watchers.  Jenny Craig, Nutri-System.  And what about the frustrated naturally thin people that are epically sick of hearing about how dietary news should revolve around a bunch of overindulgent potato chip addicts?

What I find interesting, though, are the many and varied approaches the media goes with in order to make what’s really a very old story at least kind of fresh and exciting.

After regurgitating the fact that America leads the world in excessive BMI (and that “U.S. eating habits and diets have been exported,” leading to a 5% increase from 1980 to 2008 in the population percentage that fit the “obese” definition), Yahoo Finance explores causes for America’s excessive need to feed.

From Yahoo Finance:

Like so many other issues where data are collected in the public sector and the information is used to solve problems nationwide, the problems are local. 24/7 Wall St. looked at a number of factors which cause unhealthy diets and resulting obesity. These include income, access to healthy food sources, the ability to pay for healthy food, the concentration of fast food outlets, and the consumption of fruits, vegetables, sugar, fat and soft drinks. The levels of healthy eating defined with these parameters varies wildly …

Continue reading



You Might Also Like ...