Sunday, July 26, 2009
From Jay O'Neil of WCW:
Lina and Mars Caulton won first prize in this year's Bughouse Square Debates (http://bloghousesq uare.blogspot.com/2009/07/list-of-soapbox-debaters.html) with their contribution on Abortion on Demand & Without Apology!
Lina & Mars ripped apart the hypocrisy of the "pro-life" reactionaries and made a powerful case for the centrality of women's right to abortion on demand. They drew a big crowd and the loudest, most vicious hecklers of the afternoon, who didn't succeed in pulling them off track or off message. So they deserved first prize--it was great to see them get it!
From Lina:
Thanks to everyone who came out to be a part of that scene. It was way wilder than I expected (apparently it's not just retired book-readers who come out to this thing!!). Thanks especially to Mars for her totally unrepentant, bold and fearless speech, taking on a restless crowd and not backing down an inch. It was awesome to stand beside someone able to think on her toes that quick!
Thanks too to Coco, who kept up a steady stream of religious lunacy in the background with the help of her "Buy Bull" that was so convincing she had everyone from people on our side moved to argue with her, to icky christian fascists moved to hit on her ("I'd like it if you could be MY vessel!" ick ick ick!!!)
And thanks to Gregory for putting together video of the "party." If we ever do this again, it would be cool to get footage of the crowd going nuts too... you get a sense from us yelling, but you can't really hear how noisy and obnoxious people were. Let me tell you, it took some concentration!
Let's spread this around and try to inspire some similar raucousness in other areas!
From Don at Revolution Books:
Those hecklers had no idea what they were fucking with did they?
So proud of you! - sailing right into the storm and carrying the day.
Maybe y'all can seize the moment - i bet a whole lot of doors could open to take this to broader audiences, unleash a whole lot of "silent-no-more"
Lina and Mars Caulton won first prize in this year's Bughouse Square Debates (http://bloghousesq uare.blogspot.com/2009/07/list-of-soapbox-debaters.html) with their contribution on Abortion on Demand & Without Apology!
Lina & Mars ripped apart the hypocrisy of the "pro-life" reactionaries and made a powerful case for the centrality of women's right to abortion on demand. They drew a big crowd and the loudest, most vicious hecklers of the afternoon, who didn't succeed in pulling them off track or off message. So they deserved first prize--it was great to see them get it!
From Lina:
Thanks to everyone who came out to be a part of that scene. It was way wilder than I expected (apparently it's not just retired book-readers who come out to this thing!!). Thanks especially to Mars for her totally unrepentant, bold and fearless speech, taking on a restless crowd and not backing down an inch. It was awesome to stand beside someone able to think on her toes that quick!
Thanks too to Coco, who kept up a steady stream of religious lunacy in the background with the help of her "Buy Bull" that was so convincing she had everyone from people on our side moved to argue with her, to icky christian fascists moved to hit on her ("I'd like it if you could be MY vessel!" ick ick ick!!!)
And thanks to Gregory for putting together video of the "party." If we ever do this again, it would be cool to get footage of the crowd going nuts too... you get a sense from us yelling, but you can't really hear how noisy and obnoxious people were. Let me tell you, it took some concentration!
Let's spread this around and try to inspire some similar raucousness in other areas!
From Don at Revolution Books:
Those hecklers had no idea what they were fucking with did they?
So proud of you! - sailing right into the storm and carrying the day.
Maybe y'all can seize the moment - i bet a whole lot of doors could open to take this to broader audiences, unleash a whole lot of "silent-no-more"
On May 31st, Dr. George Tiller was shot and killed in the foyer of his church by a well-known anti-abortion "pro-life" activist. This doctor was one of 3 late abortion providers operating publicly in the United States who had treated thousands of patients from all over the US and from around the world. He was a caring, courageous person who saw a great need and filled it, saving thousands of women's lives. He was a hero and his death must mark a turning point away from the politics of compromise and moral capitulation that have left women in this country on the defense.
We are up against a Christian fascist movement that seeks half of humanity's total submission to the other half. These forces have escalated their rhetoric, violent attacks, and mobilization in the past few months and we must recognize the moment we are in and act accordingly.
But to go back to the basics, why is this about women, and not fetuses? There is hardly a single person in this country who hasn't had pictures shoved in their faces of bloody gore, supposedly the result of abortion, or serenely floating fetuses in a glowing bubble, appearing as if inhabiting another universe from us…rather than inside of a woman! The anti-abortion movement always focuses on the fetus, fetus, fetus.
Why is this actually about the woman instead? Because for one thing, women's oppression is real. In the US alone, every single day, 3 women are murdered by her partner. Every 6 minutes a woman is raped. Every 15 seconds a woman is beaten. Everywhere we look we see women and our bodies degraded and commodified. This is the world in which we make our choices.
Even more than that, though, abortion is not murder because fetuses are not babies! They exist within, are dependent on, and biologically integrated into the woman's body. Over 90% of all abortions happen when the fetus is smaller than the tip of my pinky, a clump of barely differentiated cells. But even after that, the fetus is still a fetus; not a socially distinct "person" and not a human being whose rights trump the woman's. When I asked the president of "Feminists for Life" (Serrin Foster) why a clump of cells that small should be more important than the rights of the woman in which it existed, she responded, "Toulouse-Lautrec was also a very short man. Are you saying his life didn't matter?" This is the sort of anti-scientific nonsense these people promote. To really understand their agenda, we have to recognize that there is not a single anti-abortion organization out there (Feminists for Life included) that believes in the right to birth control. This is not about saving fetuses for them or preventing unwanted pregnancies! This is about birth control, sex, and whether women are human beings or just walking, talking incubators.
I went to Kansas in 2001 to be a part of defending Dr. Tiller's clinic from the onslaught of hordes of Bible thumping zombies from around the country organized by "Operation Save America." Even then, I don't think I truly understood how precious Dr. Tiller was.
Now, seeing the fascists of this country appointed to the highest offices of the government (such as the Catholic activist Alexia Kelley who was appointed by Obama to the Department of Health and Human Services), guiding policy, reshaping the culture of the armed forces, preaching both on street corners and from the largest megaphones of cable news shows, hearing them time and again scream, "whore!" when I and other women stood up in public against their hatred, seeing the pictures of women in Afghanistan confronting crowds of men also screaming, "whore!" because they werer marching against the legalization of rape (which is what has happened under the US-selected President Karzai just this past year), after sitting in a tiny crowded waiting room in a clinic myself, looking around at the tense and anxious faces, and feeling so angry that so many women my age were burdened by such needless guilt…after all this, hearing that Dr. Tiller had been taken from us… hit me really hard.
Now, when we in World Can't Wait speak out against the mass use of torture and bring out enlarged pictures of the atrocities that are carried out in our names onto the streets, we always meet people who repeat after Dick Cheney: "you can torture as many people as it takes to keeps me safe." Literally, this is what we hear, every single time.
But we women who want to control our own bodies and decide what happens to us are the ones with a morality problem?
In 1993, after Dr. Tiller was shot in both arms, he said, "It is not unplanned pregnancy, it is unwanted motherhood that shipwrecks people's lives. Make no mistake, this battle is about self- determination by women of the direction and course of their lives and their family's lives. Abortion is about women's hopes and dreams. Abortion is a matter of survival for women."
This is the reality of the situation, and these are the terms on which we have to fight for our rights. We will never be able to emancipate ourselves if we seek common ground with the forces that are organized for the explicit purpose of subjugating us. I've been at these clinics when they mobilize. There is no common ground with someone yelling, "one way or another YOU WOMEN WILL KNEEL!" Right now, in 2009, supposedly at the dawn of a new progressive enlightenment led by Barack Obama, there is less access to abortion services than ever before. The violence and threats have skyrocketed since Bush left office. And fewer and fewer medical students are even learning how to perform this procedure. So what difference does it make if Roe is upheld in name if there are no doctors and no clinics?
The week before Scott Roeder assassinated Dr. Tiller he was caught twice gluing the locks shut on Kansas abortion clinics. He was well known to the authorities as an anti-abortion activist. They knew what his license plate was. They knew what his phone number was. They even had his address. And yet, even though Roeder was caught committing 2 felonies, violating the Freedom to Access Clinic Entrances Act, that week, the FBI and the local police departments chose not to apprehend him. And as a result, Dr. Tiller was murdered. As a result of Tiller's death, women will die. All this shows that there is no "referee" for us to rely on. It is way past time for us to stand up, speak out and mobilize to say WITHOUT THIS BASIC RIGHT, WOMEN CAN NEVER BE FREE! ABORTION ON DEMAND AND WITHOUT APOLOGY!
We are up against a Christian fascist movement that seeks half of humanity's total submission to the other half. These forces have escalated their rhetoric, violent attacks, and mobilization in the past few months and we must recognize the moment we are in and act accordingly.
But to go back to the basics, why is this about women, and not fetuses? There is hardly a single person in this country who hasn't had pictures shoved in their faces of bloody gore, supposedly the result of abortion, or serenely floating fetuses in a glowing bubble, appearing as if inhabiting another universe from us…rather than inside of a woman! The anti-abortion movement always focuses on the fetus, fetus, fetus.
Why is this actually about the woman instead? Because for one thing, women's oppression is real. In the US alone, every single day, 3 women are murdered by her partner. Every 6 minutes a woman is raped. Every 15 seconds a woman is beaten. Everywhere we look we see women and our bodies degraded and commodified. This is the world in which we make our choices.
Even more than that, though, abortion is not murder because fetuses are not babies! They exist within, are dependent on, and biologically integrated into the woman's body. Over 90% of all abortions happen when the fetus is smaller than the tip of my pinky, a clump of barely differentiated cells. But even after that, the fetus is still a fetus; not a socially distinct "person" and not a human being whose rights trump the woman's. When I asked the president of "Feminists for Life" (Serrin Foster) why a clump of cells that small should be more important than the rights of the woman in which it existed, she responded, "Toulouse-Lautrec was also a very short man. Are you saying his life didn't matter?" This is the sort of anti-scientific nonsense these people promote. To really understand their agenda, we have to recognize that there is not a single anti-abortion organization out there (Feminists for Life included) that believes in the right to birth control. This is not about saving fetuses for them or preventing unwanted pregnancies! This is about birth control, sex, and whether women are human beings or just walking, talking incubators.
I went to Kansas in 2001 to be a part of defending Dr. Tiller's clinic from the onslaught of hordes of Bible thumping zombies from around the country organized by "Operation Save America." Even then, I don't think I truly understood how precious Dr. Tiller was.
Now, seeing the fascists of this country appointed to the highest offices of the government (such as the Catholic activist Alexia Kelley who was appointed by Obama to the Department of Health and Human Services), guiding policy, reshaping the culture of the armed forces, preaching both on street corners and from the largest megaphones of cable news shows, hearing them time and again scream, "whore!" when I and other women stood up in public against their hatred, seeing the pictures of women in Afghanistan confronting crowds of men also screaming, "whore!" because they werer marching against the legalization of rape (which is what has happened under the US-selected President Karzai just this past year), after sitting in a tiny crowded waiting room in a clinic myself, looking around at the tense and anxious faces, and feeling so angry that so many women my age were burdened by such needless guilt…after all this, hearing that Dr. Tiller had been taken from us… hit me really hard.
Now, when we in World Can't Wait speak out against the mass use of torture and bring out enlarged pictures of the atrocities that are carried out in our names onto the streets, we always meet people who repeat after Dick Cheney: "you can torture as many people as it takes to keeps me safe." Literally, this is what we hear, every single time.
But we women who want to control our own bodies and decide what happens to us are the ones with a morality problem?
In 1993, after Dr. Tiller was shot in both arms, he said, "It is not unplanned pregnancy, it is unwanted motherhood that shipwrecks people's lives. Make no mistake, this battle is about self- determination by women of the direction and course of their lives and their family's lives. Abortion is about women's hopes and dreams. Abortion is a matter of survival for women."
This is the reality of the situation, and these are the terms on which we have to fight for our rights. We will never be able to emancipate ourselves if we seek common ground with the forces that are organized for the explicit purpose of subjugating us. I've been at these clinics when they mobilize. There is no common ground with someone yelling, "one way or another YOU WOMEN WILL KNEEL!" Right now, in 2009, supposedly at the dawn of a new progressive enlightenment led by Barack Obama, there is less access to abortion services than ever before. The violence and threats have skyrocketed since Bush left office. And fewer and fewer medical students are even learning how to perform this procedure. So what difference does it make if Roe is upheld in name if there are no doctors and no clinics?
The week before Scott Roeder assassinated Dr. Tiller he was caught twice gluing the locks shut on Kansas abortion clinics. He was well known to the authorities as an anti-abortion activist. They knew what his license plate was. They knew what his phone number was. They even had his address. And yet, even though Roeder was caught committing 2 felonies, violating the Freedom to Access Clinic Entrances Act, that week, the FBI and the local police departments chose not to apprehend him. And as a result, Dr. Tiller was murdered. As a result of Tiller's death, women will die. All this shows that there is no "referee" for us to rely on. It is way past time for us to stand up, speak out and mobilize to say WITHOUT THIS BASIC RIGHT, WOMEN CAN NEVER BE FREE! ABORTION ON DEMAND AND WITHOUT APOLOGY!
Saturday, July 04, 2009
America is free today
Centuries of singing praise to
Victories gone its way
Throw a pig on the grill and taste today that
Fear of our dark side
Other jealous lands, best wring hands and hide
If you’ve ever nicked our stride.
And I hear Freedom
Ringing round the corner
41 city bullets evade a New York coroner
Ringing through the air
You’ll uncover proof of innocence but in the new regime
If the trial was clean, we no longer care
My mother always says don’t
Waste your time complaining.
Life here isn’t fair.
America ain’t cheap today
Your pension is the gold you trade
For the meat you marinade before it
Feeds the family for an hour
Fear the children’s confusion
You taught them to believe illusions
So they feel nothing as they hack down weeds,
Plant no seeds
And they hear Freedom
Singing through an iPod
Gadgets are the trusted voice of their god
Singing in their proud, dirty hands
Running off with a paycheck earned by an old man
Never looking down at the heads on which they stand
You always say
All’s fair in love and war
And that’s the only rule that lasts in
America
7/4/2009
~~~~~~~~~~
So I’m deleting my Soundclick page tomorrow. Time to lighten my load and make my web presence easier to maintain. I’ll still have a Myspace, a Twitter, and a Blogspot -- but these will largely be updated automatically by my new main site:
www.reverbnation.com/marscaulton
I hope that you’ll sign onto the new mailing list there, if you haven’t already. (It asks for more info than it needs -- in case I want to chart my demographics! But just your email address will work.) If you enjoy the site overall and join it, please Fan me!
I don’t wish to gather or hoard old + uninterested email addresses: so I’m NOT automatically sliding the Soundclick email addresses over. You could write me and say “Let’s Keep In Touch, Mars!” and I’ll add you myself.
Reverbnation also set up a small Facebook page for me, so if you are on Facebook, please see my artist page and put your email on my new mailing list at
http://apps.facebook.com/reverbnation_fb/artist/marscaulton?current_active_tab=tab_songs
Clean break, fresh start, new methodology. New work (hey, this poem above is one hour old. Not edited or named yet -- look for a finished version at ReverbNation sometime.) New everything. You’ll even hear a love song every once in a blue moon.
This is what happens when a stellar, young lion of a folk singer enlightens you without trying.
Then you lose 12 years worth of music -- every recording or drumbeat you ever made.
Then they assassinate a doctor for the crime of offering me, and you, an abortion if we need one.
Then you get welcomed into the Burning Man community -- complete with a hug from a naked stranger.
Welcome to my Late-Life Redemption…
Love, Light, Justice.
ONA MOVE
Mars Caulton
Friday, July 03, 2009
Who is the "Pro-Life" Action League? And what are they doing in Evanston?
PLAL is a violent band of Christian fascist thugs that have been at the core of the anti-abortion movement for decades now, based right here in Chicago.
They spend each summer spreading their culture of shame and misogyny through what they call the "Face the Truth" tour. 30-50 of them at a time will line major streets throughout the area for weeks with giant enlargements of gruesome bloody images and pictures of Jesus to spread their message that women are nothing more than incubators.
These people are emboldened and celebrating that they have seen Dr. Tiller taken away from us. Take a look at their website and their list of plans.
They must not go unopposed!
Join us Saturday July 11th to counter-protest at each of their stops. Contact us about arranging transportation at chicago@worldcantwait.org or 773-227-2453.
This is what PLAL has announced for their plans on July 11th:
9:00-10:30 Niles
Touhy Avenue and Milwaukee Avenue
11:30-1:00 Evanston
Davis Street and Ridge Avenue
3:00-4:30 Lincolnwood
McCormick Boulevard and Touhy Avenue
Save the date: July 18th when they will be mobilizing against the new Planned Parenthood clinic in Aurora.
Life Begins When You Stand Up To Christian Fascists!
On May 31, 2009, after decades of harassment and death threats from the anti-abortion movement, George Tiller, the prominent doctor based in Wichita, KS, was gunned down while serving as an usher and standing in the foyer of his church. Dr. Tiller was known throughout the country for vocally defending the right to abortion as well as saving countless women's lives by performing procedures unavailable in most of the country. With his assassination, only 2 doctors who perform late abortions now continue to operate publicly.
1 in 3 women will have an abortion in her lifetime; 46 million women have had abortions in the U.S. This common secret must not continue to be hidden! Women must speak out and proudly tell their stories, stand up for their rights, and fight to be treated as human beings!
For decades now, a Christian fascist movement has been growing in strength and boldness right here in the US. This aggressive movement's central focus has been against abortion, birth control, and the fundamental rights of women to control their own bodies and destinies. This has gone hand in hand with attacks on lesbian/gay/bi/trans people, including to the basic right to marriage (case in point: Prop 8); as well as often bloodthirsty support for US wars of aggression, especially since 9/11. This fascist movement has a grassroots base of support in the millions, widespread reach throughout the military, and connections to the highest levels of power. Their foothold in the government and policy making has not dissolved with a new president. In fact, they are the very same people with whom President Obama says we should seek "common ground."
Who are the Christian fascists? There are too many to list them all, but check out these organizations and individuals to start:
Operation Rescue, God Hates Fags, Operation Save America, Army of God, Pro-Life Action League, James Dobson, Randall Terry, Frank Pavone, Flip Benham, Troy Newman, Rick Warren, Mike Huckabee
Every single anti-abortion organization is against birth control also!
What does that tell you about their agenda?
Find articles and books by these anti-fascist writers and educate yourself and others:
Sunsara Taylor Chris Hedges
Esther Kaplan Jeff Sharlet
PLAL is a violent band of Christian fascist thugs that have been at the core of the anti-abortion movement for decades now, based right here in Chicago.
They spend each summer spreading their culture of shame and misogyny through what they call the "Face the Truth" tour. 30-50 of them at a time will line major streets throughout the area for weeks with giant enlargements of gruesome bloody images and pictures of Jesus to spread their message that women are nothing more than incubators.
These people are emboldened and celebrating that they have seen Dr. Tiller taken away from us. Take a look at their website and their list of plans.
They must not go unopposed!
Join us Saturday July 11th to counter-protest at each of their stops. Contact us about arranging transportation at chicago@worldcantwait.org or 773-227-2453.
This is what PLAL has announced for their plans on July 11th:
9:00-10:30 Niles
Touhy Avenue and Milwaukee Avenue
11:30-1:00 Evanston
Davis Street and Ridge Avenue
3:00-4:30 Lincolnwood
McCormick Boulevard and Touhy Avenue
Save the date: July 18th when they will be mobilizing against the new Planned Parenthood clinic in Aurora.
Life Begins When You Stand Up To Christian Fascists!
On May 31, 2009, after decades of harassment and death threats from the anti-abortion movement, George Tiller, the prominent doctor based in Wichita, KS, was gunned down while serving as an usher and standing in the foyer of his church. Dr. Tiller was known throughout the country for vocally defending the right to abortion as well as saving countless women's lives by performing procedures unavailable in most of the country. With his assassination, only 2 doctors who perform late abortions now continue to operate publicly.
1 in 3 women will have an abortion in her lifetime; 46 million women have had abortions in the U.S. This common secret must not continue to be hidden! Women must speak out and proudly tell their stories, stand up for their rights, and fight to be treated as human beings!
For decades now, a Christian fascist movement has been growing in strength and boldness right here in the US. This aggressive movement's central focus has been against abortion, birth control, and the fundamental rights of women to control their own bodies and destinies. This has gone hand in hand with attacks on lesbian/gay/bi/trans people, including to the basic right to marriage (case in point: Prop 8); as well as often bloodthirsty support for US wars of aggression, especially since 9/11. This fascist movement has a grassroots base of support in the millions, widespread reach throughout the military, and connections to the highest levels of power. Their foothold in the government and policy making has not dissolved with a new president. In fact, they are the very same people with whom President Obama says we should seek "common ground."
Who are the Christian fascists? There are too many to list them all, but check out these organizations and individuals to start:
Operation Rescue, God Hates Fags, Operation Save America, Army of God, Pro-Life Action League, James Dobson, Randall Terry, Frank Pavone, Flip Benham, Troy Newman, Rick Warren, Mike Huckabee
Every single anti-abortion organization is against birth control also!
What does that tell you about their agenda?
Find articles and books by these anti-fascist writers and educate yourself and others:
Sunsara Taylor Chris Hedges
Esther Kaplan Jeff Sharlet
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