by Vyckie

Throughout my labor with Hazelle ~ yes, that long horrible, absolutely miserable 4th pregnancy and delivery ~ I kept thinking that, while I really did not want to have another c-section delivery, I wasn’t exactly excited about going through labor and delivery either.
I would often say to anyone who might be listening (usually my sister, Sandy), “There’s got to be another way …”
When my water broke, I was so exhausted from all the complications of that pregnancy combined with eight days of flu ~ all I wanted was to sleep. I really could not get it in my head that, if I didn’t want the baby to be delivered surgically (as her three older sisters had been), then I was going to have to be the one to push her out.
Oh … but I was so tired. There had to be another way.
Continue reading »
by km

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
Most everyone has heard by now about the Blackwater corporation (recently renamed Xe due to bad PR) and the staggering criminal enterprise that it has perpetuated in the name of the U.S. War on Terror. Even such farcical news establishments as Fox have been unable to ignore the veritable shitstorm that has erupted in the wake of the Bush administration over Xe’s unholy alliance with the United States government. One thing that has not been widely reported, however, is Xe’s Dominionist allegiance, up to and including the fact that its former CEO—and now chairman—Erik Prince, is the biological heir apparent to the U.S. Dominionist community.
The son of Edgar Prince, whose family fortune funded such early Dominionist organizations as the Moral Majority and Focus on the Family, Erik Prince grew up hobnobbing the wealthy and powerful of members of the Dominionist Christian Right. Always his father’s son, Prince left his White House internship with the George H.W. Bush administration because he felt that it was too secular—and too liberal. Influenced by the politics of RJ Rushdoony, Prince felt that it was wrong for White House officials to have any contact with LGBT and feminist groups, including run of the mill lobbying meetings and focus groups.
Continue reading »
by hillary
When Jesus Weeps—The Parable of She
“Break her will,” they said
and broken, She
weeps silently.
But sometimes She forgets
how to weep at all . . .

The Girl-Soul sighed deeply and rubbed her eyes. Such a long road, her way, filled with pebbles and holes and scary places. I need to stop soon, whispered heart. Shoulders burned with tension. The lumpy bag of rocks She carried banged against her legs; purple bruises crept up skin. But I can’t give up now; I’m almost there!
Anticipating a grateful smile from the Giant and Grandfather, She pressed up the ancient path. Why they needed heavy rocks, She did not know, yet vowed to bring the best She could, and labored night and day, without rest, food, or water, to gather them.
But at last! The Girl-Soul mounted final peak. As the Giant came forth, a smile crossed her weary, grimy face.
Continue reading »