Women’s rights – Lorin Duckman Today

Alan Arkin, Dead at 89

Alan Arkin died. He made 100 films, starred in theatre, improv and wrote books. Last seen by me and loved in The Kominsky Method with Michael Douglas. He was Alan Arkin to the end. Watch one of his movies,”Argo”, “The Russians Are Coming”, “In Laws”. He will make you smile.

My favorite Alan Arkin role, Yosarrian, the character in the movie, not the character in the book, Catch-22. There is always a catch 22, always some rule to enable the enterprise to survive. Truth dies. Dilemmas abound. And while you could have made it if you tried (complied), enemies lurking at every turn (uniforms don’t insure friendship) find you, because you didn’t become one of them, and you gotta go because you gonna get got.

May Yosarrian’s raft find an oasis and may he not die rowing to it.

I always wanted the system to offer me a deal like Yossarian was offered: we will give you a medal if you don’t tell the truth and say you love us. These are unforgiving people, no empathy, intolerant, unsympathetic, willing to lie, twist the law and facts, anything to stay in power. To this day, I don’t know if I would have taken it.

Like they said in the movie, “what’s good for M&M Enterprises is good for the country,” and “…, a contract is a contract.” Same for the courts, our systems most dangerous branch. Two tiered and two faced, killers of the innocent, incarcerators of the black, brown, and poor, oppressors of the under represented, rejectors of those who look or act differently, especially the mentally challenged and those discovering/exploring their sexual identities.

Like those who do magic, which we know isn’t real, but we like to be fooled into thinking it is, the jurists are actors, carefully chosen for the roles. They aren’t judges, they just act like judges. Keep an open mind. Leave your life at the courtroom door. Loyalty oaths in return for stipends, trips and in some cases, lifetime appointments.

But more importantly and more on point, the main reason for this rant, this Term, the Country took several steps back in our nation’s effort to secure liberty, justice and happiness for all of US. Women’s rights, civil rights, voting rights, affirmative action meant nothing to these 6 charlatans in black. Back came the Hanger for women exercising power over their bodies and Hanging or silence for those wanting their voices heard as they speak out against injustice by electing public servants who serve the public.

FUCK THEM, Alito, Roberts, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett and my favorite skeeve, Clarence, along with their ideologue Federalist originalist friends and those who have bought their services with plane rides, hunting trips, and business for their spouses.

DIANA, ACTAEON AND DONALD TRUMP AT THE NORTON MUSEUM IN PALM BEACH

Being museum rats that we are, Sharon Duckman and I went to an Atget show at the Norton Museum. Because of the construction of a new wing (a condition which makes it free), we entered through the main entrance, as opposed to the one near the parking lot, strange and true. As far as we know, Donny and the clan didn’t make a donation.

On each side of the door way, were two Paul Manship sculptures which I had never studied, let alone paid any attention to. You may be familiar with his work, if you ever visited Rockefeller Center and looked at Prometheus. Manship ranks at one of America’s most treasured sculptors on a par with Daniel Chester French.

So, while museum visits are part of our normal stretch, we have increased our visits to cultural sites to drown out the noise on TV and the words in print about our country’s Constitutional Crisis. Everything seems to turn into a discussion about Donald the Romanov and the royal family Trump. Why should this be any different?

The sculpture here features Diana. While bathing in the nude, she was observed by a mortal hunter, Actaeon. Sort of like being groped, eh. She turned him into a stag and let her dogs rip him apart.

I will get the dog’s picture on the next trip.

Penguin Plunge In April at North Beach

So, they say if you want to get a picture, find a place and sit there. Someone will come on the set to make it perfect. Photographers need patience and prayer. The camera has to be ready as does the confidence. Creativity on the run. Don’t regret not shooting. Always something happening. Keep seeing. Keep being creative. Sometimes, just the camera and the environment. Sometimes, angels from another planet.

I’m just siting around at North Beach this chilly April morning, with not enough clothes, seeing if I can shoot a selfie in not-so-good light. No one on the beach. No one on the swings. No one around. And then these women arrive. A photographer’s dream, I thought, a penguin and a zebra. Two beautiful babes on a beach in April, not drinking shots, rolling in mud or being ogled by post pubescent boys. Fellini. He would have understood. The light accompanied them, brightening up the sky, though not the temperature. Ancient aliens sans chariot. I pinched myself to make sure I hadn’t frozen to death. Life. There was life.

They were there on some kind of dare with a political flavor. Some guys challenged them to jump into the Lake, forgetting these are not the girls who went to college in the 50’s, and have every bit the courage, strength and wherewithal to do anything. And, there was something about nominating someone for something. They brought along a videographer, the type that carries a cell phone to document the action. They posed, nominated whomever for whatever and then ran into the water.

Water temperature had to be in the 40’s, maybe colder.

Not much time for or interest in a swim.

And then they were gone.

Doctors In VT Performing or Counselling Women About Abortions Can No Longer Be Criminally Prosecuted

So, in 1970, a year before Roe v. Wade, Jack Beecham, a resident at UVM counseled a woman seeking advice concerning an unwanted pregnancy, but refused to perform an abortion on the grounds he could be prosecuted for a crime. Under Vermont’s Penal Law at the time. a physician who counseled women about or performed abortions was chargeable with a crime carrying with it mandatory jail time. The woman asked the Court to allow her to seek out a doctor for advice and have the abortion by declaring that the law was unenforceable. The then Attorney General and later U.S. Senator James Jeffords and then Chittenden States Attorney, now U.S. Senator, Patrick Leahy, opposed the application, despite the fact abortion was not illegal in VT. The Supreme Court of VT agreed, saying that a law could not deny a woman the right to consult a doctor or have a procedure the Legislature had not made illegal by prosecuting the doctor. The woman went out of State for her abortion, something she would no longer have to do today. Dr. Beecham stayed and enjoyed a long career in OB/Gyn treating women with cancer.

Governor Shumlin signed a bill, yesterday at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, repealing that law. In his remarks, he stressed that Vermont would always protect the rights of its citizens, especially its women. Not that anyone would be prosecuted under the law, according to the present Attorney General, William Sorrell, who was also in attendance. But by taking it off the books, it creates a clear line between the people in need of counsel and treatment and those willing to provide it. No place to hide.

Meagan Gallagher, CEO of PPNNE, thanked the legislators in attendance who supported the bill, reminding everyone that the fight for women’s rights is far from over.

Proud members of the Legislature who supported the bill stand Meagan Gallagher and Nick Carter of PPNNE. Nick helped push the bill through the legislature.

Hadassah Burlington VT – Chai Tea

Hadassah of Burlington, VT, Sara Frank Chapter, celebrated Chai Tea at the home of Suzanne Brown in Shellburne. Kosher Katz, an A Capella group from the University of Vermont, sang three tunes, adding melody and nachas from the next generation of powerful Jewish women.

Tea was poured.

A Presidential message.

Honoring Chai Society, chapter benefactors.

A raffle.

Stella, 98 years old, heralds the past, present and future state of American Judaism and the satisfaction of contributing to Tikkun Olum.

A prayer from Rabbi Jan.

And too much cake and crustless sandwiches. So, what else is new?

Cassandra Parker in Greenfield MA

‘

‘
Photographers create beauty. To take beautiful pictures, a photographer needs a beautiful person. When the person loves herself and lets the camera see it, beauty reflects. The camera facilitates the observation, but without the committment of the model to sharing, it don’t happen.

David II Be Wrong

So David thinks, if he has some non-cloudy thoughts that I am the photo-journalist who has threatened the Market place, causing some to chase the errant shooter from the scene. He said, “I will break your camera and then kill you.”

Paul said, “he’s a friend; chill.”

Moved up the street. Pregnant again. “A mistake,” she said.

“I am proud of you, girl” Alicea said when I mentioned an abortion to Cheryl. Not like me to engage them in a discussion of their politics or closely held beliefs, even if they cannot pay for them or appreciate the effects of their decisions.

If looks could do more than get you laid, Andrew would be a star. He is just caught in the vortex. Life ain’t easy and bad things happen to good people. He has bad acts in his past, so cleaning it up cannot do it for him, here.