Kingfisher Cove

Procrastinating

“Oh! I think I’ll blog!” Or, “Look at that! A shiny thing!” I’m even tackling a mountain of laundry to avoid dragging out the work-work that I absolutely must tend to this weekend. Gah. They have me for 40 hours every week (I actually calculate it as 60 hours directly attributed to work from rising at 6:00 a.m. to arriving home in the driveway at 6:00 p.m. day after day) — shouldn’t that be ENOUGH? Well, not when I’ve got a deadline looming…

At least this wet and dreary (again) morning was brightened by a brief Facebook chat with Navy Nate. I’m so thankful for Facebook and it’s wide use across generations that makes this possible. I’m always so astounded when Nate and I carry on these real-time conversations while he’s on his ship in the midst of the Arabian Sea and I’m plopped here at home at the dining table. I know I’ve mentioned that before, and I’m sure back in the day people said the same thing about the telephone. (Except long distance charges took some of the pleasure out of that). Anyway, it was great. He had another recent port of call at Oman – he said it was very elegant, but also very expensive! A bunch of sailors chipped in for a hotel room at a nice resort/spa and Nate drew the straw to sleep in the bathtub! (He said he got a discount because of that):

 

But he said he had a great time! (Maybe a little “too great…”)

Love this one:

~~~~~

So, did you buy Mega Millions tickets? I never had before, but I felt I had to this time around. Hell ya, I wanted a shot at that $700 million (or even a portion of it!) If I hadn’t bought any, there would have been no chance. As it was, there was still really no chance… Sigh. So, I really do have to work this weekend. Bub-bye, dream.

It has been SUCH a wet week (record-breaking), but last weekend was actually quite nice and so we spent it at Harstine. Still a bit on the chilly side, but such a relief to see some blue sky and blue water. Color! Mojo missed the bus, though, and I sure missed him!

 

It was a very quiet weekend – nobody around at all. The neighbors are either still at points south (where they winter), or else away for the weekend. We mostly just relaxed, which felt good after a long, hard work-week.

Guess I should get to work.

Unless I can find another shiny thing.

July 1st, 2015

What is that date, you ask? It just happens to be the date that John turns in his keys at Da Airplane Company. Retirement. Hooyah! (<—that’s the Navy hoot). Anyway, what that means for me, I’m not really sure. He has three years on me, after all. Could we “afford” for me to retire at the age of 59? Health care? And all? Hmm. (I’d certainly love to!) But-but-but…

And so there is this! Yesterday, after John worked his pants off these past several months to figure out, gather, jump through hurdles, organize, and download/fill out a gazillion forms and finalize our house drawings…he met with the County and delivered his uber-impressive package for obtaining our Building Permit for our Harstine house.

In fact, he was so organized and complete with everything that the permitting people were pretty much speechless. John spent two full hours with them going over everything and whenever they would good-heartedly try to trip him up on some little detail, he was able to come through with the answer and documentation for every one of those little details. The only thing left to do is to have the septic tank pumped (and documented), and we should be good to go. Which will likely mean having some trees cut down later this spring. Gulp. (I will cry). (I won’t be able to watch). Then grading. Then the foundation. It’ll be a slow-go, as we just have to show progress every six months. Slow-go is good necessary. And at some point we will have to (somehow) remove the camping trailer and our beloved deck. I have no clue how that will happen. And when it does, however it happens, I will cry. (And won’t be able to watch).

I just might be a little change averse.

I’ve also been rather blog-posting averse! Honestly, not really, but it’s just been such a slog lately with work and godawful weather (including SNOW!) and it just seems that every time I turn around I’m buying 10 cans of dog food and then all of a sudden I’m OUT OF DOG FOOD! In a blink of an eye! Sunrise, sunset. Except it’s been too godawful outside to even view them.

A few days ago, somebody posted a photo on Facebook from Nate’s ship and I fell in love with it! It’s such an awesome picture! Get a load of what all is going on – Nate in his element causing his shipmates to absolutely crack up, totally lose it. One of the lady sailors actually has her head planted on the desk! I swear I can hear the laughter! (Click on it for an enlargement).

I finally learned from Nate what this was all about. It was a “talent show” (they won!) and they were singing “A Whole New World” from Aladdin. Nate’s words: "We are awful. Just terribly dying cat-like. But that’s what made it great." I see that somebody took a video of it so I’m hoping that someday I’ll get to see that!

In other Nate-news, they are still in the Indian Ocean/Arabian Sea vicinity and they have some exercises to conduct in the next couple of weeks, but then they will head toward their next port-of-call — Australia! How cool is that?

Coming up: Sounds like the weather might be relatively dry this weekend, so we are finally heading down to Harstine. Haven’t been since the early part of February when we had those rare sunny mild-ish days that we haven’t seen the likes of ever since. AND…I have a date with Margaret to go see “The Hunger Games!” We both blasted through those books and loved them, and we’ve been so excited ever since we heard they were making the movie of the 1st installment. Can’t wait!

Robbed of an Hour

I know it will take me days to recover, and even though I’ll appreciate it being lighter later, I’m NOT going to appreciate the morning darkness. Yeah, I know, it’s temporary. Just not temporary enough.

Oh my, I’m so ready to emerge from this…whatever it is. Winter blues? The desire to have a l-o-n-g vacation? To see the sun and feel some warmth for more than one day (followed by days on end of cold and dreary and wet and windy and did-I-mention-cold?) Today is so typically March – what I’ve always called “the bipolar month.” Wind, rain, hail, quick sunbreaks, you-name-it. My favorite meteorologist posted on Facebook: “We’re in the midst of lumpy rain!” I knew exactly what he meant.

Today started out pretty great, though, because I had another brief but nice Facebook text chat with Nate. They just came off some R&R at the Seychelles Islands – absolute paradise, he said! Wow, is he ever “seeing the world,” just like he said he wanted to do. My kid is officially way more worldly than his mom. (Well, he was pretty much from the get-go of his Navy career). He stayed with sailor buddies in a nice hotel with a casino, although he said he didn’t “play.” Just kept the rum going and his bare feet in the sand. I saw a picture taken of a big group of them, all tan or naturally dark from diverse heritage, and here’s Nate totally AGLOW in the midst of them all! I had to laugh out loud. It reminded me of a picture taken many years ago when he was the youngest grandchild on his dad’s side, amongst his cousins who were half black and baby Nate in his walker was — yup, AGLOW.

Here’s another recent pic I grabbed from Facebook – get a load of those Popeye muscles!

Almost looks like he’s shaking Uncle Dave’s hand! (Albeit a bit younger Uncle Dave!) 

I’ve been having some fun with some smaller glass projects. Experimenting with dichroic glass, which is uber-bright and kind of crazy-luminescent (as well as uber-crazy-expensive) – plus my sort of signature hand-cut pieces. Here’s a few:

 

It’s been fun and also a learning experience. These small thangs are actually pretty challenging because my eyesight isn’t all that great and also I think I have arthritis or carpal tunnel or something that makes it difficult to do fine-motor activities on such a small scale. I do enjoy doing them, though. They’re relatively quick and usually pretty rewarding.

Oh! And at last count, the sponsors who have dropped Limbaugh are almost at 100! He’s been having DEAD AIR on his show because of the lack of sponsors! Did you see the SNL skit? (Bwahahaha!)

Just Go Away, Limbaugh

Rush Limbaugh’s sponsors continue to drop like flies, and I admit that I can’t contain my glee. When I said that this latest incident was the last straw, that the vitriol spewed at Sandra Fluke that burst the door down to such a roar of rage has been cumulative, here is what I mean.

Yes. It gives me pleasure to see firsthand what goes around eventually does come around.

Also? It’s clear to me that women who “support” Rush Limbaugh are like chickens supporting Colonel Sanders.

Limbaugh Further Denigrates Fluke, Saying She Has Boyfriends “Lined Up Around The Block. They Would Have Been In My Day”
March 02, 2012 3:33 pm ET

Limbaugh Says He’s “Gonna Button [His] Lip” On Obama Saying Fluke’s Parents Should Be Proud, Says He’d Be “Embarrassed”
March 02, 2012 2:20 pm ET

Limbaugh: Sex-Video Remark Was “Illustrating Absurdity Here By Being Absurd,” So “Lighten Up”
March 02, 2012 2:11 pm ET

Rush: Contraceptive Coverage Is Like Woman “Knocking On My Door” And Asking For Money Because She Has To Have Sex Tonight
March 02, 2012 2:06 pm ET

Limbaugh’s Misogynistic Attacks Defended By Right-Wing Media
March 02, 2012 1:32 pm ET

Limbaugh Defends His Attacks On Sandra Fluke, Claims Nobody’s Asking Her About “Backing Off The Amount Of Sex” She Has
March 02, 2012 1:31 pm ET

Limbaugh: Contraceptive Coverage Is “Welfare Disguised As Women’s Health” Or “Reproductive Rights”
March 01, 2012 4:40 pm ET

Limbaugh: Fluke Went To Georgetown As “An Anti-Catholic Plant From The Get-Go”
March 01, 2012 4:05 pm ET

Limbaugh: Five Dollars For A Month Of Birth Control? “That Makes PMS Almost Worth It”
March 01, 2012 3:58 pm ET

Limbaugh: Sandra Fluke Is “Having So Much Sex, It’s Amazing She Can Still Walk”
March 01, 2012 3:52 pm ET

UPDATED: Limbaugh’s Misogynistic Attack On Georgetown Law Student Continues With Increased Vitriol
March 01, 2012 3:26 pm ET

Limbaugh To Sandra Fluke: “Who Bought Your Condoms In The Sixth Grade?”
March 01, 2012 2:42 pm ET

Limbaugh Demands Women With Contraceptive Coverage Post Sex Videos Online “So We Can All Watch”
March 01, 2012 2:20 pm ET

Limbaugh Mocks Sandra Fluke With Baby Voice, Pretending To Cry: “I’m Going Broke Having Sex. … It’s Not Fair”
March 01, 2012 2:03 pm ET

Rush: Contraception Coverage Is “Flat-Out Thievery” Because Taxpayers Will Pay For “Personal Sexual Desires And Habits”
March 01, 2012 1:49 pm ET

Limbaugh: “I Will Buy All Of The Women At Georgetown University As Much Aspirin To Put Between Their Knees As They Want”
March 01, 2012 1:04 pm ET

Limbaugh: Student Denied Spot At Contraception Hearing Says “She Must Be Paid To Have Sex,” So She’s A “Slut” And “Prostitute”
February 29, 2012 2:46 pm ET

After Playing Clip Of Hillary Clinton, Limbaugh Says, “And People Ask Why The Divorce Rate In America Is So High”
February 27, 2012 5:30 pm ET

During Five Minute Rant On Social Issues, Limbaugh Claims “It Is The Democrats Who Are Obsessed With This Stuff”
February 24, 2012 4:22 pm ET

Rush Uses Sexist “Info Babe” Label To Refer To Detroit TV News Reporter Kam Carman
February 08, 2012 4:08 pm ET

Limbaugh Revives Attacks Against First Lady: “There’s A Reason She Is Called Michelle Antoinette”
January 18, 2012 1:56 pm ET

Limbaugh Explains WSJ Editorial Critical Of Republicans: Maybe Hillary Clinton Visited Paper With Her “Testicle Lockbox”
December 21, 2011 2:03 pm ET

Limbaugh On Chelsea Clinton: “What’s Her Degree In? History Or Makeup?”
November 15, 2011 2:04 pm ET

Limbaugh Refers To Cain Accuser Bialek As “The Woman That Uses Makeup By The Tub”
November 11, 2011 3:27 pm ET

Rush On Cain Accusers’ Joint Appearance: It’s Like “When One Woman Has To Go To The Bathroom. Bam, They All Get Up And Go”
November 11, 2011 1:40 pm ET

Limbaugh Asks If Cain’s Accusers Are Appearing Together Because “They Want To Synchronize Their Menstrual Periods”
November 10, 2011 1:01 pm ET

Limbaugh Attacks Cain Accuser, Saying She Has “A Pattern Of Whining” And Tried “To Use Being Offended For Personal Gain”
November 09, 2011 1:46 pm ET

Limbaugh To Women: “Why Don’t You Just Make It Official, Put On Some Burkas” If You Want Everybody To Leave You Alone?
November 08, 2011 1:59 pm ET

Limbaugh: New Cain Harassment Accusation A Sign That “Wusses” And “Pantywaists Run The World”
November 07, 2011 1:19 pm ET

Conservatives Respond To Cain Accusations By Dismissing Sexual Harassment As “Meaningless”
November 03, 2011 11:21 am ET

Limbaugh’s Latest Smear Of First Lady Michelle Obama: “The First Linebacker”
November 02, 2011 2:25 pm ET

Limbaugh: “Sexual Harassment Is A Political Tool Of The Left To Get Rid Of People Or To Score Money Gains”
November 01, 2011 4:36 pm ET

Limbaugh: “There Are Plenty Of Lard-Ass Women In Politics, And They Get A Total Pass On It”
October 04, 2011 3:24 pm ET

Rush To Caller Who Says Conservative Women Are More Attractive: Watch Cable News, And “The Conclusion’s Obvious”
October 04, 2011 3:15 pm ET

Limbaugh Notes AP Article On Obama Was Written By A Woman, Then Repeats Complaint About “The Chickification Of The News”
September 28, 2011 2:16 pm ET

Limbaugh Refers To Elizabeth Warren As A “Babe”
September 27, 2011 2:27 pm ET

Rush Limbaugh: President Obama’s Limousine “Weighs Eight Tons Without Michelle In It”
September 15, 2011 3:21 pm ET

Rush’s Sexist Theory: Women Support Romney Because Of “His Looks. What Else Could It Be?”
July 27, 2011 2:17 pm ET

Limbaugh: Justices Sonia Sotomayor And Elena Kagan “Look Like An Alien”
June 20, 2011 1:34 pm ET

Limbaugh: If “Too Much Testosterone Causes Divorce, How Is It Then That Hillary Clinton Is Still Married?”
June 16, 2011 1:22 pm ET

Limbaugh Suggests Hillary Clinton, Sotomayor Had To “Make Themselves Victims” As “Route To Power”
June 13, 2011 2:39 pm ET

Limbaugh: Unlike Palin, “You Really Think [Clinton] Might Castrate You If You Go Off The Reservation”
June 13, 2011 1:57 pm ET

Limbaugh: “Women Have Neutered The Business Of Politics,” So Men In Politics Must “Prove Their Masculinity”
June 13, 2011 1:53 pm ET

Rush: Both Conservative and Liberal Women May Vote Based On “Superficial And Emotional Things”
June 09, 2011 5:10 pm ET

Limbaugh: Feminism “Was Established To Allow Unattractive Women Easier Access To The Mainstream”
June 09, 2011 5:00 pm ET

Limbaugh’s Reasoned, Nuanced Take On Politico Article: “Chickification Of The News, Anybody?”
June 03, 2011 3:05 pm ET

Rush Limbaugh Takes Cheap Shot At Maria Shriver
May 17, 2011 12:35 pm ET

Limbaugh Compares Public Sector Employee Unionization To Raping The Public
May 16, 2011 2:24 pm ET

Limbaugh: Being Accused Of Rape Is “A Resume Enhancement For Liberals And Democrats”
May 16, 2011 12:39 pm ET

Limbaugh Staffer’s “Hood” “Translation” Asks If Obama Would Send “Bootylicious Homegirl Michelle” To Border
May 11, 2011 2:05 pm ET

Limbaugh Suggests China’s One-Child Policy “Angers The Feminazis” Because It Results In Parents Preferring Sons
April 19, 2011 3:04 pm ET

Limbaugh Still Citing Imaginary Study On Breast Size And Intelligence
April 13, 2011 1:37 pm ET

Rush: “So Much For the Feminazi Movement, What Women Want Is To Be Taken Care Of By Government”
April 04, 2011 1:44 pm ET

Limbaugh On Women National Security Advisors: “Somebody Has To Wear The Pantsuit In This White House”
March 23, 2011 1:31 pm ET

Limbaugh Calls Obama A “Siss[y]” For Listening To Women Advisors On National Security
March 23, 2011 12:58 pm ET

Limbaugh Dubs Obama And Male National Security Advisors “Sissies” And “The New Castrati”
March 22, 2011 1:15 pm ET

Limbaugh Describes “The New Castrati”: “You’re Like Geishas — You Gesticulate Like You’re Effeminate”
March 08, 2011 3:26 pm ET

Limbaugh Defends His Attack On Michelle Obama As “Highly Civil”
February 22, 2011 12:33 pm ET

So They’re Just Calling Michelle Obama Fat Now
February 14, 2011 11:53 am ET

Rush: “You NAGs Have A Long Way To Go” Because There Are “Way, Way Too Few Abortions Compared To The Number Of Births”
January 27, 2011 2:33 pm ET

Rush: Men Are Dropping Out Of College Because They’re Being “Turned Into Chickification Factories”
January 26, 2011 2:11 pm ET

Limbaugh Compares Conservatives Criticized Over Violent Rhetoric To Rape Victims
January 11, 2011 4:24 pm ET

Limbaugh: “If we were a woman, and the Congress were a man, we’re in the middle of being raped”
December 16, 2010 12:33 pm ET

Limbaugh Repeatedly Calls First Lady “Michelle, My Butt”
December 14, 2010 4:30 pm ET

Limbaugh still calling Clinton “Nurse Ratched,” wonders why WikiLeaks hasn’t released Obama’s birth certificate
December 06, 2010 2:57 pm ET

Limbaugh’s sexism backfires spectacularly
November 15, 2010 12:54 pm ET

Limbaugh: Obama “makes it clear he’s being nagged by women whenever he gets out and makes public statements”
November 08, 2010 1:34 pm ET

Saying “bye-bye Pelosi,” Rush plays “Ding, Dong the witch is dead”
November 03, 2010 1:05 pm ET

Limbaugh says the “nags” at the National Organization for Women are “a bunch of whores to liberalism”
October 14, 2010 2:13 pm ET

Limbaugh: “Mammograms are the covenant, the sacred covenant of feminazism”
October 11, 2010 2:59 pm ET

Limbaugh: “The feminazis should love” Secretariat, “except” main character “doesn’t have an abortion”
October 11, 2010 1:43 pm ET

Limbaugh: “[W]omen are the only genuine majority that get by as a minority”
October 08, 2010 3:47 pm ET

Rush: We should acknowledge “role of attractive women to bring us beer and wear sexy clothes while we watch” the NFL
October 08, 2010 3:42 pm ET

Rush: “Obama is going to act just like Hugo Chavez,” because he will “radicalize” after midterm losses
October 04, 2010 4:09 pm ET

Limbaugh: “It’s open season on attractive conservative women … if you’re a liberal Democrat”
September 20, 2010 4:55 pm ET

Schultz on Limbaugh: “With your history of racism, I’d steer clear of the KKK analogies”
September 14, 2010 8:06 pm ET

Limbaugh on alleged harassment by NY Jets: “The league is on this like white on a klansman”
September 13, 2010 3:50 pm ET

Rush: “Not qualified” Sotomayor, Kagan discuss “life experience” because “they’re women — that means they’re victims”
July 22, 2010 2:36 pm ET

Limbaugh suggests Kagan became Dean of Harvard Law School because she “reminds some people of Lou Costello
June 28, 2010 1:32 pm ET

Limbaugh forwards claim that “not even a girl” throws like Obama
April 06, 2010 1:49 pm ET

Rush says “girly-man” Obama “looks like a girl out there” and “Castro can at least throw a baseball”
April 05, 2010 3:07 pm ET

Rush: “Tiger Woods has put more women in orbit” than NASA; “I just hope they don’t need to breast feed up there”
April 05, 2010 1:11 pm ET

Rush again calls Hillary Clinton the “sex-retary” of State
March 10, 2010 2:47 pm ET

Rush on Canadian women’s hockey team: “I’ll bet you these are real women”
February 26, 2010 1:10 pm ET

Limbaugh refers to Katie Couric as “CBS anchorbabe”
February 03, 2010 12:42 pm ET

Limbaugh responds to criticism that he’s sexist: “I love the women’s movement. Especially walking behind it.”
February 03, 2010 8:15 am ET

Limbaugh blames “feminazis” for “gender war”, says some men are “marrying up” by “marrying other men”
January 19, 2010 3:26 pm ET

Limbaugh: “[F]eminazis have been working for years” to “chickifi[y]” colleges and “advance women by diminishing men”
January 19, 2010 2:58 pm ET

Limbaugh on Martha Coakley: “[I]f it weren’t for her varicose veins, she would be totally colorless”
January 18, 2010 12:44 pm ET

Limbaugh complains “chickification” of military is “turning people soft”; there’s “no room for that on the battlefield”
November 25, 2009 2:19 pm ET

Limbaugh smears women in organized labor: “Chickify the unions … no good can come of that”
November 11, 2009 3:10 pm ET

Rush: AP report on dejected gay marriage supporters is “chickification of the news”
November 04, 2009 1:43 pm ET

Limbaugh: The only people who want health reform bill are “women who have more than four cell phones in their house”
October 29, 2009 12:47 pm ET

Limbaugh to caller who contracted pleurisy: “Most women would blame their husband” for disease
October 08, 2009 3:02 pm ET

Limbaugh: “I know what Dr. Snyderman’s problem is … taking the pill … has put women off of masculine men”
October 08, 2009 2:38 pm ET

Limbaugh renames NOW “NAGS, the National Association of Gals”
October 01, 2009 4:02 pm ET

Limbaugh complains about the “chickification” of the government and news media, adds: “This is not anti-woman”
September 16, 2009 3:19 pm ET

Limbaugh proclaims “the whole culture’s been chickified,” explains Coulter’s argument against women’s suffrage
August 21, 2009 5:00 pm ET

Limbaugh on increase in women arrested for drunk driving: “it was already bad enough” on the roads “with women sober”
August 20, 2009 4:09 pm ET

Limbaugh refers to CNN anchor Heidi Collins as “anchorette,” “infobabe”
July 27, 2009 2:48 pm ET

Limbaugh: Obama “throws like a girl”; Bush “is a man”
July 15, 2009 2:04 pm ET

Limbaugh: “Liberal infobabes” “already in heat” reporting on Sanford affair
June 30, 2009 3:37 pm ET

Limbaugh says enviros have “pony-tailed fathers” and “hair-in-the-armpit mothers”
June 25, 2009 3:23 pm ET

Limbaugh: “[A] female researcher in a kitchen” “makes sense”
June 17, 2009 3:32 pm ET

Rush on Beck: Obama is “just a man who puts his pants on one leg at a time, like Hillary does”
May 21, 2009 8:18 pm ET

In discussion about college life, Limbaugh refers to female professors as “professorettes”
April 02, 2009 2:51 pm ET

Limbaugh airs clip of Hillary Clinton, asks his listeners, “Doesn’t that remind you of your first, and maybe your second, both, your ex-wives?”
March 11, 2009 3:27 pm ET

Limbaugh: “Troopergate” investigation is “pure sexism,” but Palin “didn’t bend over and let” Alaska politicians “have their way”
September 16, 2008 5:20 pm ET

Limbaugh on Dem primary: If “feminazis” had remembered to oppose “affirmative action for black guys … they wouldn’t face the situation they face today”
May 21, 2008 5:18 pm ET

Limbaugh: “[A] lot of these feminists and women … think they’re owed” a Clinton win; “they’ve had two or three abortions”
April 01, 2008 7:42 pm ET

Limbaugh returned to “testicle lockbox”; claimed Clinton “reminds men of the worst characteristics of women”
February 15, 2008 1:38 pm ET

Limbaugh: Other candidates don’t criticize Clinton because “you can’t hit the girl”
August 21, 2007 1:00 pm ET

Limbaugh on Pelosi: “Why, she can multitask. She can breastfeed, she can clip her toenails, she can direct the House”
January 05, 2007 7:36 pm ET

Limbaugh on Hillary Clinton: “She sounds like a screeching ex-wife. … Men will know what I mean by this”
March 07, 2006 11:22 am ET

Limbaugh on what women want: to be “hired as eye candy”
January 12, 2006 7:19 pm ET

Loaded for Bear

It has been a week of mind-blowing frustration. Check that. It’s been going on a lot longer than a week – with the Susan G. Komen debacle, and certainly over the past year since the republicans took over the House and instead of focusing on jobs, they opted to focus on women’s reproduction. It actually stretches back into the 1990s with all the Moral Majority crap. (Can you say, “Newt Gingrich?”)

But this week did it for me. It was the last straw. I am now officially an “activist.”

I’m not even of reproductive age any more, but  do I ever take exception to the stone-age (read: Neanderthal) attitudes that permeate in that alternative universe known as conservatism. And most of all, I take absolute umbrage with Rush Limbaugh. 

It started with this. A republican hearing about contraception and its supposed infringement on the rights of religious-based employers. Hmm, seems there is something missing in the photo. Like, perhaps, WOMEN?

 

The result was that President Obama agreed that religious-based employers didn’t have to pay for contraception, but that insurance companies would need to provide it – as they do for Viagra and for vasectomies.

A law student from Georgetown University, Sandra Fluke, was denied the right to testify at this hearing, where she later did testify in a lesser forum regarding a friend who needed the birth control pill for cystitis but couldn’t afford it – and so she lost an ovary.  (It amazes me how many people – men – don’t even realize that birth control pills are used for many many medical issues, not just for contraception. And it is expensive).

Cue Rush Limbaugh going ballistic.

“She feels that she must be paid to have sex! What does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute.”

And it continued on for three straight days.

“If we are going to pay for your contraceptives and thus pay for you to have sex... we want you to post the videos online so we can all watch.”

(You can see the mind-boggling coverage here. Boy do I recommend watching it, as it is eye-opening. The idiot doesn’t even understand how birth control pills WORK).

So. Any woman on birth control for any reason, is a slut? If you have a daughter, a sister, a mother, a wife, a girlfriend – do you really feel that way?

With my hair on fire, I hopped on that bandwagon to contact each and every one of his sponsors and encourage them to end their sponsorship with Rush Limbaugh. I was civil, professional, and persuasive. And with the power of social media, millions of us were. To date, seven companies have terminated their sponsorship. (I often do not agree with Michael Moore, but this was spot on):

 

And gee, all of a sudden, Rush Limbaugh got a bit nervous about that! And he issued an “apology.” You know, because suddenly his bread wasn’t being buttered! With the threat of said butter suddenly transforming into cheap ol’ (fat free – horrors!) margarine! When MSNBC asked for comments regarding his “apology,” this is what I wrote:

“In his apology, Limbaugh accuses Ms. Fluke of seeking free birth control “for personal sexual recreational activities” and asks “where is the responsibility and personal accountability?” Limbaugh never once mentioned that Ms. Fluke’s discussion about birth control centered on someone who needed the medication for an ovarian cyst, and as a consequence of not being able to afford the medication, lost an ovary. He is clueless that birth control pills are medications for numerous conditions for countless women. It is MEDICINE, and it is also the means for a woman to take charge of her life and decide when or if she procreates – certainly “responsible and accountable” behavior. In addition, it’s not asking taxpayers to pay for birth control, it’s asking insurance companies to treat it as equally as they treat Viagra and vasectomies. And finally, this was not a one-time slip of the tongue that Limbaugh supposedly “apologized” for. This was a venomous three-day tirade.”

I see comments all over the place saying, “Well, you know, Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer! This was a joke!” Right. When this man called Ms. Fluke a “slut,” he called every woman in this country a “slut.” And I can tell you that there is nothing funny about being called a “slut.” It’s “Mad Men” all over again – the guy slaps a secretary’s butt, she gives him the stink-eye, and he’s all, “What? Can’t you take a joke?” Been there. Hated that. And just when the “It Gets Better” movement is taking off and helping people, here is a major step backward toward that stone-age. Because I’ll tell you what.

This is bullying to the max. 

And we’re not taking it anymore.