Okay, I had to write about this. My outrage meter hit its peak over the weekend and I want to make sure our readers didn’t miss the latest Supreme Court ruling. Last Monday, the five member male, religious (Roman Catholic) ideological Republican right wing majority of our pro-corporation U.S. Supreme Court said that private corporations have religious freedom rights and can therefore refuse to pay for contraception for its female employees within its insurance packages – a carve out from the Affordable Care Act. Hence, women’s private medical reproductive system choices are now subject to the religious sensitivity of a money making artificial legal entity. Never mind that contraception medications are often used for health issues beyond contraception. Women are now being denied health care freedom. Supposedly this is narrow ruling applied only to Hobby Lobby and other privately held companies. Or so they claimed. Surprise. Surprise. Corporations are now flooding our courts with religious freedom arguments so they don’t have to pay for any contraception – which is merely a ruse for profit makers to save money by denying women comprehensive health care coverage. One of the arguments in favor of denying women parity with men in the medical insurance world was that the government had other options to provide contraception for women, such as the taxpayer or other insurance customers paying for it through an established process. The Obama administration had established a way for religious institutions to opt out of contraception coverage for its employees that included filing a two page form (EBSA Form 700). Then – amazingly – on Thursday the 6-male majority of Supremes said …. oops, did we say that on Monday? We didn’t mean it. That two page form? It violates religious rights. So they granted Wheaton College’s request to deny all contraception coverage to employees and students without filling out any government form. Why no written request? Because the college doesn’t want to. Why not? Because if that form is filled out, it will mean the college is complicit in allowing its employees or students to obtain third party contraception coverage from another source and its religion doesn’t believe any woman should use contraception. This ruling is temporary until it makes its way through the court system. Any guess on how this one will turn out? “Fooled you,” said those men on the Court. When I was a little girl, John F. Kennedy ran for president. Protestants were having a conniption because JFK was Roman Catholic and it was feared the Vatican would be running the country through Kennedy. So, he gave an historical speech, and said “I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute.” How quaint. Since then, our religious institutions got politically sophisticated (with full tax exemptions from we the people), targeted our court system and wheedled their way into government power. Two of those five right wing ideologues on the Supreme Court sit there because the same institution handed the presidency to George W. Bush in 2000 by stopping the recount of the vote in Florida which, it was proven later, was won by Al Gore. So, dear readers, look no further than this past week and two U.S. Supreme Court rulings, and the one the week before that said protesters can get into the face of women who are entering clinics that provide abortion services. Did I mention in 2013 alone, 22 states successfully enacted 77 anti-abortion measures to further erode THAT legal health right of women, too? The U.S. Constitution guarantees the separation of church and state. While we’ve been distracted wringing our hands over religious prayer at government meetings, prayers in public schools, the teaching of creationism, the pledge of allegiance, religious statuary on government land, the “war” on Christmas and the like – government and religion were pulling up a chair in every woman’s doctors office and wagging their fingers at us. Now we can’t get either one of them out. For decades this nation has been on this slippery slope blurring the lines between religion and government by giving our taxes to private religious institutions through faith based initiatives. (Did you realize that $2 billion of Catholic Charities annual budget is provided by the taxpayer?) As a result, we’ve been lulled into thinking that religious institutions know best. Well, they don’t. Nearly every major religion is on a crusade to impose its teachings on each of us individually. They are doing it through the government because we’ve allowed them to do so. Issue after issue. Think the billionaire Green family (of Hobby Lobby) will go away because they’ve won that big court ruling on the basis of their Pentecostal Evangelical faith? Not a chance. The Greens plan to build a $700 million Bible museum near the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and they have developed a public school Bible curriculum they intend to install in every public school in America, starting now. Are you detecting a pattern here? Like the insatiable appetite of the religious and the supposedly righteous to impose themselves on us? According to polls, the fundamental religious are increasingly aligned with the Republican party. Those who are more secular lean more towards the Democratic party. Is this a Democrat versus Republican issue? It seems to be turning into one. Think it has to do with the “war on women?” Why, yes it does! And a minority of old tea partiers turning the clock back to the 1950’s, or maybe 1850’s. In a 2012 Gallup poll, 89% of respondents said contraception was “morally acceptable,” including 82% of Catholics. Yet, now Republicans say CONTRACEPTION is CONTROVERSIAL! I’m reeling from the blatant unfairness and discrimination aimed directly towards women. Any idea where this is going and what else is on tap for the women of America? ...read more

Are you tired of mean, hateful people? I know I sure am. This past week has shown the ugliest face of our country and, no surprise, those showing that face of hate are no strangers to Southern Nevada as well. Signs, T-shirts, flags and logos show that the anti-immigrant protest crowd gathered in ... ...read more