Category: Arts & Entertainment

Today’s Quotes & Other Shit

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Time we stopped and smiled

Today’s Quotes & Other Shit

 

by D. S. Mitchell

I don’t usually talk about my ‘personal’ (real) self, but I am going to reveal a couple of small clues by posting the two following quotes. I have no idea who to give credit to, other than Unknown. Somehow these two quotes came up within moments of me going on the internet this morning.

I have been doing some recent reflection on past behaviors, not all of which I am proud of, HOWEVER, there’s a whole lot of shit that I am damn proud of. With that said, here are the two quotes for 3/10/2021.

“I don’t have to attend every argument that I’m invited to.”  (Unknown)

“Love yourself first because that’s who you’ll be spending the rest of your life with.”  (Unknown)

Hugs,

DSM

 

https://www.calamitypolitics.com/2017/03/29/quotes-on-courage/

30 Quotes Celebrating Women

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30 Quotes Celebrating Women

The International Day of the Woman

30 Quotes Celebrating Women:

International Women’s Day

D. S. Mitchell

March 8th is celebrated world wide as International Women’s Day. I thought it might be fun to just look at some famous quotes celebrating women.

1.) “Here’s to strong women: May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them.” –Unknown 

2.) “To tell a woman everything she cannot do is to tell her what she can.” –Spanish Proverb

3.) “Well-behaved women rarely make history.” –Eleanor Roosevelt

4.) “The best protection any woman can have is courage.” –Elizabeth Cady Stanton

5.) “Where there is a woman, there is magic.” –Ntozake Shange

6.) “You were given this life because you are strong enough to live it.” –Unknown

7.) “Women are the largest untapped reservoir of talent in the world.” –Hilary Clinton

8.) “Feminism is for everyone.”-Bell Hooks 

9.) “There’s nothing a man can do that I can’t do better and in heels.” –Ginger Rogers

10.) “Above all, be the heroine of your life. Not the victim.” –Nora Ephron

11.) “Girls should never be afraid to be smart.” –Emma Watson

12.) “Life is tough, my darling, but so are you.” –Stephanie Bennett-Henry

13.) “A strong woman looks a challenge in the eye and gives it a wink.” –Gina Carey

14.) “She wasn’t looking for a knight. She was looking for a sword.” –Atticus

15.) “A strong woman stands up for herself. A stronger woman stands up for everyone else.” –Unknown

16.) “Feminism isn’t about making women strong. Women are already strong. It’s about changing the way the world perceives that strength.” –G.D. Anderson

17.) “You can always tell who the strong women are. They are the ones you see building one another up instead of tearing each other down.” –Unknown 

18.) “The question isn’t who’s going to let me; it’s who’s going to stop me.” –Ayn Rand

19.) “I’m tough, I’m ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, okay.” –Madonna

20.) “A woman is like a tea bag: You can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.” –Eleanor Roosevelt

21.) “A woman should be like a single flower—not a whole bouquet.” –Anna Held

22.) “I know what I bring to the table… So trust me when I say I’m not afraid to eat alone.” –Unknown

23.) “Women are the real architects of society.” –Cher

24.) “When women wake, mountains move.” Chinese Proverb

25.)  “She’s a strong cup of black coffee in a world that is drunk on the cheap wine of shallow love.” –Unknown

26.) “Never be ashamed of a scar. It simply means you were stronger than whatever tried to hurt you.” –Unknown

27.) “I expect woman will be the last thing civilized by man.” –George Meredith

28.) “Women are made to be loved, not understood.” –Oscar Wilde

29.) “The age of a woman doesn’t mean a thing. The best tunes are played on the oldest fiddles.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson

30.) “In our society, the women who break down barriers are those who ignore limits” –Arnold Schwarzenegger

https://www.calamitypolitics.com/2017/03/29/quotes-on-courage/

 

31 Things To Make You Smile

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31 Things To Make You Smile

Things to make you smile

31 Things To Make You Smile

By D. S. Mitchell

Thank you, for visiting Calamity Politics, where we normally feed our reader’s the unadulterated red meat of liberal political news. But today, I am having one of my, “not today,” moments.

Ha, ha. Because it’s Monday, I changed my usual Sunday offering of “25 Things To Smile About” to “31 Things To Smile About” for today only.

1.) Parades

2.) Cannon Beach, Oregon

3.) Fresh baked Molasses cookies

4.) Music boxes

5.) Being on time.

6.) Deep sea fishing

7.) Introverts Anonymous

8.) Old time rock ‘n roll

9.) Big trees

10.) Being appreciated

11.) Hand embroidered 501’s

12.) Penguins, walking

13.) Herb gardens

14.) Chess

15.) Having my taxes finished by April 15th

16.) Double Caramel Mocha espresso

17.) Kayaking

18.) David Bowie

19.) The journey

20.) Oven fries

21.) Summer Solstice

22.) A plan

23.) The beach, after Memorial Day

24.) Rock walls

25.) Tile roofs

26.) High School

27.) Portland’s Old Town

28.) Food, Views and Piano at The Bridgewater Bistro, Astoria, Oregon

29.) Chips & dip

30.) The quiet, before the storm

31.) New York Times Sunday edition

That’s it.

Enjoy your Monday.

https://www.calamitypolitics.com/2017/11/19/27-reasons-smile/

 

Zitkala-Sa: An American Indian Voice

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Zitkala-Sa: An American Indian Voice

The legacy of Zitkala-Sa lives on as one of the most influential Native American activists of the 20th century. She left an influential theory of Indian resistance and a crucial model for reform. It was the activism of Zitkala-Sa that made possible crucial changes to education, health care, and legal standing for Native American people and the preservation of Indian culture.

Life Story: Zitkala-Sa - Women & the American StoryZitkala-Sa’s Literary Work

“Much of Zitkala-Sa’s work is characterized by its transitional nature: tensions between tradition and assimilation, between literature and politics. These tensions are most notable in her autobiographical works. In her well-known “American Indian Stories”, for example, she both expresses a literary account of her life and delivers a political message. The narrative expresses her tension between wanting to follow the traditions of the Yankton Dakota while being excited about learning to read and write, and being tempted by assimilation. This tension has been described as generating much of the dynamism of her work.” Wikipedia

Zitkala-Sa: An American Indian Voice

By D. S. Mitchell

Who was Zitkala-Sa?

Zitkala-Sa was an American Indian woman who was an influential voice for indigenous people. Red Bird was a writer, editor, translator, composer, musician, educator, and political activist.  She struggled with her cultural identity and took that struggle to the written page. She also wrote books about traditional Native American myths and stories. Her writings were well-known  to a white English-speaking readership. She is considered among one of the most influential Native Americans of the twentieth century.

Red Bird

Zitkala-Sa was born February 22, 1876 on the Yankton Dakota Reservation in South Dakota. Zitkala-Sa means “Red Bird”.  She was later given the missionary name of Gertrude Simmons.  Ellen Simmons, a Yankton Dakota woman whose Dakota name was Thate Ivohiwin (Every Wind or Reaches for the Wind) was her mother. Her father was a German-American man who left the family when Zitkala-Sa was very young. Gertrude later married Raymond Bonnin and is often known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin.

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You Might Be a Woman of a Certain Age

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HUMOR: You Might Be a Woman of a Certain Age

Humor: A Woman of a certain age

HUMOR:

You Might Be a Woman of a Certain Age…

By Anna Hessel

Barbie Blast From The Past

Well, ladies, I’ve been thinking a lot about women of a certain age.  What if we had Barbies to represent our generation:

  • Woman of a Certain Age Barbie – comes with a portable fan, itsy-bitsy tweezers, wrinkle cream, fashionable bifocals, AARP card, and a Dream Condo in a senior high rise. Pull a string and she has a hot flash.  This Barbie sports a few gray hairs in her blond tresses, maybe some stretch marks, fine lines, plastic cellulite (perhaps includes a tiny loofah and CQ-10 cream?), and her tatas are a bit lower.  Silver Fox Ken with grey at the temples and a middle-age crisis convertible, sold separately…
  • Botox Barbie – nothing’s different, her expression is still frozen…
  • Direct Marketing Maven Barbie – comes with BB cream samples and a pink Cadillac…
  • Journalist Barbie – comes with a tiny newspaper, folded to her favorite writer (I wonder who that would be?)…
You Might Be a Woman of a Certain Age…

All this talk of dolls brings thoughts of youthful memories from back in the day…

  • If you can remember crisp brown plaid dresses with Peter Pan collars and decorative buttons, purchased specifically for the first day of classes, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you can remember black patent Mary Janes, complete with white lace trim socks, and the blisters that accompanied them, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you went back to school sporting a summer tan from laying out in the backyard, courtesy of baby oil mixed with iodine, sipping a Tab in a webbed lounge chair beside a boom box, hair highlighted by Sun In, featuring oversize Foster Grants, and a wicker tote bag filled with a splash bottle of Jean Nate, a strawberry-flavored Bonnie Bell Lip Smacker, and a striped beach towel (mine was pink and white), you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you faced the first day of high school attired in Sergio Valente jeans and a ruffled blouse, resplendent with Great Lash mascara, Candie’s clogs, and a mood ring, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you put away your white shoes and purses after Labor Day, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you own a Wonder Bra and wonder what to do with it, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you have ever thrown a Wonder Bra at Englebert Humperdinck or Tom Jones, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you can remember the television going off late at night to the playing of our national anthem, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you ever ironed your hair with a small appliance made for clothes, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you ever used a Maybelline Kissing Potion rollerball, bubble gum flavor, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you call your nail tech a manicurist, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you ever used Jolene bleach, shaved your legs with a Flicker, or wore pantyhose from an egg, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you ever did a basic set with pink sponge curlers, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you know what Dippity Do did, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you ever wore strawberry or lemon perfume, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you ever wore a wide-legged jumpsuit with a puka shell necklace and platform shoes, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you own an original lava lamp and beaded curtain, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you know what Mr. Whipple squeezed, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you know that Charlie is a fragrance by Revlon, not just a faceless gentleman from a popular TV show about three angels, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you know who the Tidy Bowl Man is, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you are of the opinion that Spanx is just another name for a girdle, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you know who “Marsha Marsha Marsha” is, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you think regenerative hydration therapy serum is just a fancy name for a face cream, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you buy every wrinkle cream promising results in a week and you still look the same, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you know who Bobby Sherman is, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you look forward to commercials featuring Tom Selleck and Joe Namath, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If your favorite TV shows have commercials for Medicare Advantage plans and you can remember when the episodes first aired, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you fall asleep during those commercials, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you call the paramedics and expect Bobby Sherman, Randy Mantooth, and Kevin Tighe to show up, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you think Rick Springfield, Henry Winkler, Billy Dee Williams, Danny Glover, Anson Williams, Billy Dean, Barry Williams, John Stamos, Erik Estrada, Patrick Stuart, Jeff Foxworthy, and President Biden are still sexy, you may be a woman of a certain age (and have excellent taste in real men)…
  • If your dream car is a Mercury Cougar or you just are a cougar, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If your idea of a wild Saturday night is a “Golden Girls” marathon, you might be a woman of a certain age…
  • If you know who Bobby Sherman is, you might be a woman of a certain age… (Did I already say this?)
  • If you need those designer Depends while reading this, you might be a woman of a certain age… (and I did my job right…)

Ladies of a certain age, we may forget where we left our car keys or grocery list, our eyebrows might be over-tweezed, our bottoms may be a bit lower, but we will always have unique style…

*I’d like to say a special thank you to my favorite comedian Jeff Foxworthy, who was the inspiration for this article.

https://www.calamitypolitics.com/2020/09/13/humor-abolishing-age-appropriate-attire/

 

 

Women And Professional Sports

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Women And Professional Sports

OPINION: The Long Game

LPGA

Women And Professional Sports

OPINION: The Long Game

By Trevor K. McNeil and D. S. Mitchell

Professional Women Athletes

The idea of women’s professional sports is not new. For people of my generation and younger, the 1996 founding of the Women’s National Basketball Association was a long time ago. The WNBA is just one of a number of attempts at starting women’s professional sports leagues.

Big Disgrace

The world-wide lack of sustainable women’s pro baseball, hockey and soccer is an on-going and unaccountable disgrace. Particularly considering how well amateur teams have been shown to do, especially in hockey at the Olympics. An injustice underscored when former Canadian Women’s Hockey Team captain Hayley Wickenheiser went to play pro hockey in Finland, where the hockey federation voted unanimously to allow women to play for the existing men’s teams. This of course then raises questions of equal opportunity on an unequal playing field.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct

One of the major obstacles to the success of women’s teams are issues around publicity and sponsorship, at least partly based on the idea that there is a lack of interest in women’s athletics. There is without a doubt a shortage of attention given to women’s pro athletes. Star’s attract viewers. The media doesn’t make stars but it draws attention to them. Perhaps a priority should be to demand the media give the gals equal coverage.

A League of Their Own

One of the first professional women’s athletics leagues was the All-American Girl’s Professional Baseball League. Founded in 1943, when a baseball hungry nation cried out for satisfaction during the final years of WWII, the AAGPBL did surprisingly well. There were the usual cries of foul from arch conservatives, particularly at the beginning, but the league ended up lasting for 11 years from 1943 to 1954, drawing in up to 500,000 fans per season during its final years. Even after ‘the boys’ came home from the war.

Do It Yourself

A women’s professional association that not only survived but thrives to this  day is the LPGA. Founded in 1950, it is the oldest continuing American women’s professional sports association. Boasting champions such as Kathy Whitworth. The Texas native who won 88 titles over an over 40 year a career, from 1960 to her retirement in 2005. A tradition carried on by the likes of Lexi Thompson who at the age of 25 has already won 14 American and International golf championships.

In Her Court

Similarly, there have been strong women competitors in tennis for decades. The 1924 Olympics in Paris a prime example. A fact which finally calumniated in the formation of the Women’s Tennis Association in 1973. It gave a visible platform for the likes of  Martina Navratilova to compete on a professional level, destroying all competition put in her way, as well as being one of the first to play mixed-doubles against men. There have been controversies of course. One notable fact is that male winners got more prize money than female winners at the same event. Something that immediately changed once the governing body was challenged.

Going Backwards

In some ways it seems like we are going backwards. The current resistance and outright patronizing attitude shown toward women’s athletics is indicative of a distinctly retrograde attitude. There have always been idiots, just like there have always been politicians and lawyers, yet things seem to be getting worse. The objections, counter-arguments, and crude jokes, about women’s sports now, sadly reminiscent of those at the beginning of the AAGPBL in 1943. I truly hope we are better than this.

Third Wave

There is the erroneous idea that increased attention on women’s athletics and the push for more recognition is the result of feminist activism. While feminist ideals have certainly helped to push the idea along many other factors are at play. For one there is a major social and cultural reticence in terms of women’s sports. In the good old USA, being a Tomboy is okay until you are fourteen, but after that it is a time to drop the games of childhood and get ready to raise the next generation.  There is none of that pressure on the guys. It is okay for men to play for money until they die.  It’s time that the girls should be allowed to play for big money too.

 

David Shadrick “Ooops!”

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David Shadrick “Ooops!”

Here we are again,  Dave Shadrick is shaking the shit and throwing it out at the world. Lawsuits against Rudy, Fox News and an assortment of other Trump water carriers have been filed. Defamation can be costly. Enjoy here on www.calamitypolitics.com and on YouTube.

 

Benefits Of Working From Home

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There are numerous financial benefits from working from home

Benefits Of Remote Work

D. S. Mitchell

Pandemic Adjustments

The vision of going to work has changed for many of us during the COVID-19 pandemic. Working from home may continue for many workers as we move out of the pandemic and back to normalcy. A Harvard Business School study reported that more than one third of the companies surveyed believed that post-pandemic work environment will include an increase in remote work.

Savings Coming

The shift to at-home work can have long term positive financial advantages. Such possible benefits could include such things as:

  1. Reduced transportation costs. Over even a short time you can spend a lot of money commuting back and forth to the work place. The average commuter typically spends $2,000 to $5,000 annually. This includes gas, car maintenance, public transportation costs and other related costs according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
  2. Lower insurance premiums. Auto insurance premiums are partially based on miles driven. If you no longer travel from home to work and back again you should potentially save money.
  3. Lower lunch costs. Eating at restaurants, or visiting coffee shops while at work can add up fast. It is easy to imagine saving $50 to $100 per week by working from home.
  4. Lower clothing costs. I’m not suggesting you work in your skivvies but there are definitely ways to relax your wardrobe when working from home. Not to mention reducing laundry and dry cleaning expenses.
  5. Lower child care costs. Child care costs can be high. Working from home should reduce those expenses dramatically.
  6. Increased time. Working from home can save hours of time spent on the bus, train, subway or in your car. Spend it recklessly or wisely it’s your choice, but working from home should give you more of it.

It is not hard to imagine saving as much as $5,000 each year by working from home. If this new phenomenon becomes the norm you should think about saving or investing this potential windfall.  Edward Jones suggests two possibilities to make the most of this extra money. One, build an emergency fund containing at least one year of emergency cash. Two, an IRA or a similar employer-sponsored plan could provide an approximate $97,000 ($2,500) to $200,000 ($5,000) after 20 years at 6% interest.

https://www.calamitypolitics.com/2019/10/16/energy-saving-tips-that-cost-nothing/