What Am I Missing Here?

This is a woman - just ask her

This is a woman yet she cannot define herself

 That certain men feel they are, at heart, women is one thing. That they go to the extent of having body parts added and removed to reinforce their feelings, well okay.  They're the ones who have to live with it. Hopefully, they are happy with their choice.

I covered the subject of them competing in sports with genetically true women in a previous post so I won't go there again.

Today, I'm concerned with those among us who are women not being able to define just what

 

that means. Have we become so enslaved to wokeism we can no longer speak the truth?

Actually, it is the everyday woman who is saying, that's not a woman, that's a man! Period. Discussion ended. I so admire them for their courage, but then I don't think they give a hoot about being canceled.  They're much too busy trying to live their lives and raise their families.

 

 It is disturbing that a woman, who is a woman, a supreme court nominee no less, cannot bring herself to describe just what a woman is. It seems to be if you can't make a decisive description of what you yourself are, in actuality, you have no business sitting on the Supreme Court. How are you going to make a decision on anything?

Funny, when I was a little girl, I was what was called a Tomboy. Mostly, I think, because most of the neighborhood kids were boys and that's with whom I played. I loved sports far more than baby dolls. I preferred blue jeans to frilly dresses. Yet somehow, I never thought of myself as a boy.  I know, I know. I just haven't been there.

What I do remember, though, is when I discovered boys as being something other than an irritant or a playmate. I also remember times when I deeply idolized older girls. There was no label for any of that at that age.  It was called discovering who I was and what life was all about. Confusion wasn't a consideration.  It was just me becoming myself. I didn't need to talk to teachers about it nor did they suggest I do something without telling my parents.  It would have been unheard of.

So I grew up from adolescence into a teen and onto adulthood. I am a woman. I am married to a man. We don't describe ourselves with pronouns any more than we do by race or religion. Neither do we fear being canceled. We are who we are and aren't afraid of offending anyone. I'd like that from the people we look to place in power.

Maybe it's time to revisit the old Helen Reddy hit from the '70s - I Am Woman - I am woman, hear me roar...

Don't remember it? Google it.

We Dilly Dally While They Die

 This is how I feel by the end of the day.  Mostly because I watch too much news during the evening, yet I cannot bring myself to ignore the news coming out of Ukraine.

The politicians are still dithering about what we can and cannot do or should or should not. It seems to me figuring out Putin and what he might do is pretty simple.  Just look at his history.  This isn't something new that he has just sprung on the world.

I'm not going to rant about this today, however.  I have a new topic! Tuesday is the International Day of the Woman. My heartfelt salute goes to those of us who are mothers.  Especially young mothers with young children. You, ladies, are a most formidable force and I think there just may be hope for the world as I watch you.

Never, ever, underestimate a woman who fears for her child. We began seeing it in this country with all this nonsensical wokism and critical race theory and gender identity, etc., etc. being taught in the schools. Parents, and especially mothers have been at the forefront of the war against it.  Oh, it doesn't compare to the war in Ukraine?  The children are not being killed by bombs. Perhaps not, but their minds are being killed.

Let's move on from that too. Let's look at the images coming out of Poland and Ukraine of the women and children fleeing the horror. They are mothers.  They are resilient.  They've left their husbands behind with little more than they can carry - and their children.  They have no idea where they will go nor what they will do or whether they will ever see their husbands and loved ones again. Will they even have a home to which they can return? Many will not.  And they know it. Yet still, they go - not to save themselves, but to save their children.

These children, both here and abroad, are the future of the world.  We all know it. Here, the parents are beginning to catch on to a country fraught with subtle dangers.  In Ukraine, the danger is blatant. I do believe the mothers will prevail. I hope the children surviving these experiences will look a whole lot more like President Zelensky than either Putin, Biden, or Trump. Those who put self-interest and/or ego before their nations and their people.

Tuesday will come and go with few realizing it's another declared "Day". But since it is, to those of us who do know of it, let us celebrate these women - these mothers. Those who provide the stiffness to the backbones being formed by not only the bad being experienced, but the good that comes from a mother's nurturing.

The "Full Measure" Of Women

I have a tough time finding news sources I  trust whats more respect.  It's probably because I don't read much on line but prefer actual newspapers or broadcasts which certainly have limitations.

That being said, I bit the bullet yesterday and watched the e-cast of "Full Measure" anchored by Sharyl Attkisson. What a good decision.

I was transported back to the time when a news broadcast actually did a story rather than merely a series of soundbites. I hope this isn't a kiss of death for the endeavor.  I'm sure my demographic isn't the one they seek but then we elders really shouldn't be discounted because we do tend to pay attention. And learn. And vote. The advertisers can figure it out.

Aside from the substance of her reporting, I must say I really admire Sharyl Attkisson.  For much the same reason I really like Carly Fiorina.  Though it may be merely superficial, it's their appearance and demeanor.  Both are the personification of professionalism.  No emphasis on cleavage, legs or impossibly high heels.

I often look at the women who scream the loudest about women rights and wonder if they ever look in the mirror. This is, of course, a generational thing instilled in mine at an early age.  We were taught by ladies to be ladies.  Somewhere along the line it seems to have gone out of style or just plain gotten lost.

Then again, many things are cyclical and I can hope the standards of professionalism are coming full circle.  I see it in Ms. Fiorina.  I see it in Ms. Attkisson.  Somehow when it shows that they care for how they appear in public and how they speak, it gives the impression they care about what they're doing and want us to care too.

That one of the better news programs I've seen of late and one of the more impressive presidential candidates is such a woman gives me confidence that the "glass ceiling" will be broken, the shards swept up, thrown away never again to see the light of day.

Both have had their struggles professionally.  Neither has succumbed to pressures exerted against them. They continue with grace and dignity; their success determined by  both ability and perseverance. I admire both.

I welcome the return of professionalism, class, a darn good investigative reporter and a candidate I can't yet count out.  Both women. Their roar is their substance and ability, not merely the sound of their voice nor their sense of entitlement.

Women Should Fight Their Own War

I was listening to Condi Rice comment on the liberal use of the race card and was taken by her statement, "I've been black all my life. I don't need anyone to tell me how to be black."

Might the same apply to women, the "victims" of the war on women?  I've been a woman all my life.  I don't need anyone to tell me how to be a woman.  Or what my wants and needs are.  Especially a male zealot.

Okay, I've taken it a bit beyond.  It's time, though, for women to fight their own battles rather than having men do it.  The same goes for abortion.  Why is it the spokespeople ranting about it are usually men? At least the ones who reap the most media attention. Where are the women?  If a single mother, she's the one who has to bear the child, feed it, raise it, educate and clothe it. Let's hear more female voices in the fight.

We don't have the voice?  Nonsense.  If that's true it's because we haven't worked hard enough to get it.  But we're gaining.  According to the Center for American Women in Politics there are 99 women currently serving in Congress.  That number will be increasing next year. Of those 99 women 11 are in leadership roles serving both sides of the aisle.  They also hold 10 committee chairmanships. Four hold state governorships. They need not stay so silent.

So it's not because women aren't electable.  It's because they don't run. I suggest we encourage those with the ambition to take on women's issues head on to run for office. Of course they can't be one issue candidates to succeed but they have to be willing to listen to all sides of an issue and decide the best course of action.  Something that has been missing in male dominated politics.

Does this mean I'm softening my stance on Hillary?  Not one bit. In looking at female Presidential prospects I'd much rather keep my eye on those more like Nikki Haley of South Caroling, Susana Martinez of New Mexico or newcomer Joni Ernst of Iowa. A woman will become President with the right woman at the right time.  There's no need to hurry and end up with less than the best.  We did that with race and it hasn't turned out so well.

I'm hoping we're beyond electing 'personalities'.  We need substance and dedication to the country.  Actually, the right woman would be ideal.  No one can better listen, negotiate and make a decision than a mother. Some would call it nourishing.  It is an inbred trait in women - mother or not.

You ladies who are still young enough, all I can say is go for it! Don't cry uncle and especially don't let a man make that decision for you!

Karzai - Neither The Man Nor His Country Deserve Our Support

It never ceases to amaze me how many things we just don't seem to get.  For instance, before Kerry, having women serving as National Security Advisors and Secretaries of State.

If in a perverse sort of way it was intended to rub their chauvinistic noses in it, it hasn't worked. Hillary accomplished absolutely nothing.  Nor did her female predecessors. So why are we now sending Susan Rice to Afghanistan to try to get Karzai to sign the agreement allowing our troops to remain after 2014.  Even the loyal jirga know they are needed to buck up their own troops, but no, Karzai has never felt beholden to the country who has made him a rich man and kept him in power.  Susan Rice isn't going to change that.

Why be so hard on the country?  Karzai will soon be out of office.  Because they are once more thumbing their collective noses at us by planning to reintroduce stoning as a punishment for adultery. That's for married adulterers.  The unmarried will only need to endure 100 lashes.  So much for human and women's rights.

This is who they are as a people.  A deeply ingrained lack of respect for women.  Just like Iran who holds a deeply ingrained disrespect for America.  Yet we continue to fall prey to their insidious schemes.  It's what happens when you have amateurs running your government.

What can Susan Rice possibly do to get Karzai to give up his obstinance?  Are any more American deaths warranted for these people.  Were the ones that have come before?  I think not.

What a way to spend Thanksgiving.  Trying to buck up the morale of the troops who remain and garner respect from a host who hates them and those who sent them.

We have a lot to be thankful for in this country but having leaders who sense of appeasement outweighs their sense of patriotism is not one of them.

Super Women - In Saudi No Less

For decades women in this country have been bemoaning the  inability to break through the glass ceiling.  Men, those evil creatures, have prevented it insisting women can't do it all and do it well. They, who don't have the burden of child bearing and rearing, are the most capable.

Of course women have tried and for every success there have been numerous failures.  I have no statistics, I just know.  I'm a woman and I know my limitations and those of my acquaintances. In this case there is some truth to that line of thinking.

So, how do women prove their capabilities?  Leave it to the Saudis to figure it out. Here is a country with a vast number of highly educated women who are restricted by their ultra conservative laws and customs.  Like not being able to drive nor mingle with men other than family.  The solution - at least on a trial basis - is women only cities!

Brilliant!  Within these cities women will rule by running the businesses and factories as well as being the workers. They will be able to prove their capabilities on a number of levels - like which are the businesses best suited for women.  More importantly, the women will be able to prove to themselves if they're really ready for prime time so to speak.

There are of course drawbacks.  They won't have men to blame and be sure, men will be watching.  They will be proving themselves against other women which in the world outside their cities won't be the case. Another aspect not discussed is the family unit over and above work.  Though they will live in areas adjacent to their cities, it can't be a true test unless they are solely responsible for home and family along with work.

If it does work well for them it has been suggested they enclose themselves within their little meccas of opportunity and let the men see what it's like without women to do their bidding.  Wouldn't we all like that at times!

Since this is an experiment being conducted in a middle eastern country perhaps it will provide real hope for the women residing in even more restrictive countries.  Those who not only cannot work, but are also denied education.  That doesn't necessarily mean they are without ability and there is nothing to say they couldn't band together, occupy their own piece of territory and fend for themselves.  No easy task to be sure.  If they fail they're likely to be stoned to death.

Never-the-less it's an experiment worth watching.  I think the close minded men will be shocked at what the women can do.  I think the women will find it's not as easy as they may think.  They both might learn the value of each to the other.

Wow.  Men and women complimenting one another rather than opposing one another.  What a concept!

To Be Or Not To Be - Gay

I've been watching the media agonizing over Supreme Court Justice nominee Elena Kagan's sexual preferences. Is she or isn't she? The same has been asked, without the fervor, of Janet Napolitano and Janet Reno. None have decided to say so everyone assumes they are. What does all this mean?

For one thing it dispels the myth that gays or lesbians are less able than the straight world! Heck, with the positions these three hold (or held) you might even say they are more able! I know, that's too much of a generalization. I also know it will be argued Ms. Kagan's sexual identity could influence her opinions on gay marriage and "don't ask, don't tell". Sure it will, just like Justice Sotomayor's ethnic background may influence her thinking on issues pertaining to Latinos. Or women's issues. Let's face it, who we are has a lot to do with how we think concerning just about everything. So why the big deal on sexuality?

It seems to me one's sexual preferences should be a most private matter unless the person wishes it known. It should not be a litmus test for anything. I've often felt the gay community would be a lot better off if they'd lay off the semantics and settle for substance but that doesn't seem to be their agenda. Equality at all cost. It's really all in a word.

I don't think even the "marriage is between a man and a woman" mantra holds the weight it once did when you have churches elevating gay clergy to high positions. The Episcopalians just ordained their first lesbian bishop!

Actually having gays and lesbians form marriage-like relationships isn't all bad. With the state of over population in the world, they are more likely to adopt than father or mother their own. Two mother and two father families takes a little getting used to, but if it's a loving family unit why not? It's happening so why not support it as you would an interracial family? The obstacles the children will face are not unalike!

Slowly the tide is turning and I expect it will continue to do so. What would be of great help is with all the DNA research that's being conducted, they would come up with a marker that identifies a homosexual gene. That would put the argument as to whether or not one is born "that way" to rest.

I happen to believe you are. I won't even begin to argue with anyone who disagrees. Until such a marker is found, either could be correct. In the meantime, why don't we just live and let live. It matters not if you're a potential Supreme Court Justice or the kid next door trying to figure it all out.

Not Another Book!

I thought Jenny Sanford, soon to be former wife of South Carolina governor Mark Sanford, might be different than other political wives caught up in their husbands indiscretions.

I applauded when she absented herself from his admission of sins press conference. I've always wondered why wives subject themselves to the humiliation they need not share.

Now, however, she has written a tell all book which has made her no better than the others. I've yet to read one that makes the woman look good. In most cases it makes them look weak and foolish rather than merely wronged. Why do they do it? I'm puzzled.

They must know they have to make the round of talk shows to promote the book. I saw Jenny being interviewed by Babara Walters, then she was on The View, later on Larry King. I think Jon Stewart comes tonight.

The woman I thought to be strong and a possible role model on how to deal with men such as her husband came across as a somewhat disheveled middle aged woman defending herself for staying with a man who was questionable from the start.

Had Hub told me he had trouble with the fidelity issue, as Mark told Jenny, it would have been full stop for me. Knowing the thought was in his mind would have meant his heart didn't belong to me, that he was still searching. Marriage would have been put on hold and probably would never have happened.

How do you forgive a man who wouldn't accompany you to the funeral of a family member or considered attending a Lamaze class with you a waste of time? The fact he had the Argentinian mistress should have come as no surprise. The fact he declared her, not you, his soul mate was just one more slap in the face.

She revealed more than I cared to hear in those interviews. She revealed not the strong, principled woman I had expected, instead one who has low self esteem that seems compelled to explain away her husband's boorish behavior after describing it in detail.

Why? Oh, why.

We're Tolerating This Why?

I really get angry every time I read an account of the violence against women in countries in which we are fighting. Another Dogwalk solution. Maybe I ought to change the name of my blog to Dogwalk Solutions. A simple, non-sensical way of problem solving! Either they outlaw their barbaric treatment of women or they can go it on their own. No aid. No troops. Nothing from the U.S.. Nada!

Late last week I read where there is a new Afghan law that makes it legal for a man to rape his wife. They have even put a time frame on it - the right to have intercourse every fourth night and that the wife is "bound" to respond to her husband's desires. No wonder the opium trade flourishes. Women probably indulge to escape the miserable existence they are forced, by law, to endure!

Politics? You bet. It is reported President Karzai, whose joke of a government we're trying to keep in place, signed the law to bolster his chances for re-election. How much more disgusting can it get?

Quite a bit. A video is making the rounds of a Pakistani woman being publicly flogged . Pakistan, the "ally" who is supposedly helping with the Afghanistan war. Pakistan, who just cut a deal with the Taliban to reinstitute Shiia law in the Swat Valley to keep the peace for themselves.

A spokesman for the Swat Taliban defended the punishment but conceded it should not have been done in public and should have been carried out by a prepubescent boy. Nothing like instilling acceptable behavior in the young!

Why do I write about such topics on Sunday? Maybe as we sit in church contemplating good and evil we might consider what is repugnant to us is law to those we would defend.

All I can do is repeatedly ask, "Why?"

Heros? Bully!

I listened to the noon news with a sigh of resignation as the story about a Dallas cop unfolded. It seems a car rolled through a stop sign in the wee hours of the morning in a rush to get to the hospital. He pulled it over - in the hospital parking lot. The occupants explained they had gotten a call that the woman's mother was near death and they were trying to get to her.

No dice. He refused to let them go, demanding the usual, drivers license, registration, proof of insurance. Flustered, the man had trouble finding everything and finally the woman fled into the hospital, arriving in the nick of time. The man did not.

I don't understand the mentality it takes for these jobs. The man in question was a member of the Dallas Cowboys. Did the officer want to make a score to impress his buddies?

How many of you as a kid wanted to be either a fireman or a policeman? What has happened to them as role models? Well, in Spokane they can get away with egregious behavior and lose little more than their jobs - if that. We just had a case wrap up where a drunken off duty officer chased a young man through a neighborhood ultimately shooting him in the head. He claimed the young man tried to steal his truck.

He was acquitted and will receive back pay. In the infinite wisdom of the judge, the jury was not allowed to be told the young man had already been found not guilty of trying to steal the truck in a previous trial! Fellow officers cheered the outcome. The chief declared she believes in the process.

Then just this morning there was a story about a former firefighter being convicted of assault. This is his second go round. The first, which cost him his job, was having sex with a sixteen year old in the firehouse and taking pictures of the episode to boot. To make matters easier for him detectives had him erase the photos from his cell phone.

The firefighter said the sex was consensual. In the firehouse? With a sixteen year old? I realize that everyone under the age of 60 looks 16 to me, but the offender was around 35 at the time! And married. The prosecuting attorney said he could not file charges because the evidence had been destroyed.

So. What did he do that finally caught up with him? He bought another 16 year old girl bras and asked her to model them in the adult care home run by his wife. He then fondled her, straddled her on a bed while giving her a massage. This time the charges stuck. His wife lost the license for her facility and he must have a psycho sexual evaluation. Do you think?

If soap opera writers ever get stuck for material for story lines they need but search the archives of the local paper for stories galore. This, unfortunately, is just one more in what seems to be a constant parade of deviant behavior.

Police and firemen are supposed to be our hero's! They're supposed to save lives, not ruin them!

As for the attorneys, the judges and the juries? That's another post after I get the distaste from this one out of my mouth!

Out Of The Mouths Of Babes

One reason I was so pro Obama during the election season was due to his age. No one knows better how old and tired those of my generation are then we members of it. I've felt for a long time new energy needs to be introduced into the process of running the country to the running of businesses large and small. Heck, energy period. A commodity which I find in short supply these days.

One of the more difficult aspects of adjusting to the generational difference is one of realizing attitudes differ. It is no longer taboo to have sex before marriage and children out of wedlock. In my day the guys had bragging rights and the girls were ostracized. Morality has a new definition. I don't even know what it is any more. It is a rite of passage of sorts. I well remember my Mom complaining about differences in thinking between herself and her care givers. "Why should I give up my standards just because they don't have any," she would grouse. I find myself having similar thoughts more and more often, but unlike her, I realize the realities of my generation are very different from today's.

Sometimes, though, the very young seem to have better heads on their shoulders then their parents. As in the case of Bristol Palin; she has come to realize the huge responsibility she now bears due to the loosening of what I would have defined as morality.

She is still young enough not to have had ambition and expediency take over truth and common sense. As her mother seeks constant face time in the media, Bristol has had time to reflect. While her mother is crusading for her Christian conservative principles, one of which is the teaching of abstinence for young people; young Bristol is saying, on FOX News no less, that abstinence is "not realistic at all".

When Sarah Palin said about Bristol's baby, "He's going to be just fine", she's probably correct. Because he has Bristol for a mom; not Sarah. I cannot help but wish both mother, father and son the very best. And please, continue to recognize and speak the truth.

Do You Know What's Under Your Bed?

I love skimming the headlines and finding two from unrelated stories that make a story of their own. Such was the case today when I read that newly appointed New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has removed two rifles she kept under her bed for protection. Maybe she feels living in Washington D.C. to be safer haven.

Widely criticized for her support of gun owners' rights when she was appointed to Hillary Clinton's seat, she may have been on to something. Representing an upstate New York district may have its perils.

Across the state in Orchard Park the police are investigating the beheading of a woman; the wife of an influential member of the Muslim community. The husband walked into the police station and reported that she was dead - at his place of business. He ran Bridges TV, designed to show the Muslim community in a positive light. Oops!

Of course she broke every rule in the book by filing for divorce and taking out a restraining order against him. The district attorney was quoted as saying, "Obviously this is the worst domestic violence possible." Do you think?

He has been charged with second degree murder. Second degree? Wow. Maybe it's because they have yet to find the murder weapon. I doubt it's under her bed!

I think if I still lived in upstate New York I might just have a rifle or two stashed under my bed too. You just never know who your neighbors might be!

With $3.3 Billion in U.S. Aid Is This The Best Iraq Can Do?

I've spent several of my recent posts lambasting our government and those who run it. It has been an outlet for pent up (or maybe not so pent up) frustration. Then a story comes along that makes me repent, knowing full well this is the best country in the world. Especially for women.

The AP tells us that Iraq's state minister for women's affairs has resigned. Nawal al-Samarraie's task was to improve the lives of women left poor or abandoned by the war. Calling it a "full army of widows", al-Samarraie estimates the number at around three million. This does not include children for whom they are responsible.

Lasting only six months on the job, this gynecologist and mother of five, came into it full of ideas like setting up regional offices and vocational training. But her office and staff of 18 was not a full ministry and had little authority and fewer financial resources. Soon she found herself dipping into her own pocket to try and help.

Making up 65% of the population, many of the most desperate have been successfully recruited as suicide bombers. They have nothing more to lose.

If this doesn't drive home the point that many cultures consider women as nothing more than chattel I don't know what will. Iraq. Into which we are pouring billions of dollars of aid!

We have given Iraq $3.3 billion in aid. Al-Samarraie's budget was cut from $7,500 to $1,500 per month! To care for three million plus citizens of the newly democratic Iraq!

I had concerns about a female President being effective in such a climate. I also have the same concerns about a female Secretary of State. Protocol officers will make sure everything is according to Hoyle for the photo ops, but where it goes from there is any one's guess.

At this point in time, I wish everyone success. Our new President. Our new Secretary of State and those who would help their own like Dr. al-Samarraie. This is one reason why I get so frustrated with our own politicians who seem to have lost sight of country for special interests.

We don't have three plus million war widows - yet. We should not ignore the fact that there are other countries with which we are involved who do. When we are the ones who in large measure created the climate in which this can happen we need be aware there is no gender gap when it comes to bitterness and the corresponding desperate measures. When one has nothing more to lose.

If The Shoe Fits!

We expend a lot of energy trying to get the rest of the world to see itself as we would have them. What we sometimes don't do well is lead by example. We're a very self indulgent people.

The news has been full of the story about a single mother of six who just gave birth to an additional eight - all conceived by vitro fertilization. The ethics issue involved here is a book yet to be written as well as the idea that we tax payers will undoubtedly foot the bill until the children reach the age of responsibility. The mother obviously has not at age 33!

Other countries in the world are concerned about their over population problems. China, for instance, one child per family. I am not an advocate of this degree of big brotherism but with economies suffering to the extent that children cannot be fed, housed, cared for nor educated, maybe the restrictions make some sense.

Now, it would seem the Brits are suggesting that couples having more than two children are creating a huge burden on the environment. A study claims each child born in Britain will burn carbon roughly equivalent to 2 1/2 acres of old growth oak woodland in its lifetime.

The global population is expected to be 9.2 billion by 2050. Multiply that out! Does the world have that much acreage in woodland? Are we killing ourselves here or what?

There has been a great deal of controversy about U.S. tax dollars going to support family planning efforts around the world if they include contraception and/or abortion. It's bad enough that teenage pregnancies are still outrageously high and that no matter what the country may be, someone other than the mother will bear the financial burden.

It's even worse when in this country an unmarried mother stockpiles embryos just because she wants babies! And she is able to do so! She's adding to the environmental problem on my dollar. Enough.

Use my tax dollars if you must but at least let them go to stem cell research! Not the old lady in the shoe.

Oprah Winfrey - Heavyweight

When I read the AP article about how upset Oprah is with herself I could empathize. So can just about every other woman in the world who has trouble maintaining a medically acceptable weight. So many of us belong to the "Sisterhood of the Yo-yo"!

The ads at the end of the article added insult to injury. They were Drop 13# with Acai, Dr. Oz Diet and Simple 2 Lose. Ha!

I had a health professional brighten my whole day awhile back. We were discussing my issues and the weight I've put on since vacation and Thanksgiving. "You're not going to obsess over losing a lot of weight are you?"

"Well, I'd like to shed 10 or so pounds and the first of the year brings my annual stint on the South Beach to accomplish that," I replied.

"Perfect." It's a good, sound plan, it works and it's easy.

It was music to my ears! Yes. I'd really like to lose more than that 10 pounds but realistically I realize I probably won't. And that's okay. Even that amount will help keep the blood pressure and cholesterol in check; the physical therapy and treadmill which is part of it, will help keep the old cardio vascular pumping at peak and I won't need to beat myself up.

I think the same goes for Oprah. As long as she's been a star she has had, shall we say, a zoftig physique. I think it bothers her far more than it does her fans. To confess that she's had to starve herself to achieve the weight losses she's had is no more healthy than being severely overweight. She worries that she's to be a role model and she let people down. Nonsense. Promoting something that is unachievable by most and certainly unsustainable isn't what role models are about.

All the special diets and pills in the world won't help anyone maintain their weight. Most of them don't work. If you already have high blood pressure you probably put yourself at even greater risk by taking them.

What does work is a modicum of discipline and realism. When you find yourself gaining, just stop and take it back off. Right away. I've done it and if I can anyone can.

True, as a "senior" no one expects me to look as I did in my 20s. The important part is that I don't either. Oprah, in her 50's is what she is. She doesn't have to get back into her Calvin Klein's to be healthy or please her fans. She doesn't have to look like Cher. All she has to do is be okay with herself and know that a whole lot of women like her just the way she is.

I'm always going to have those extra pounds I'd like to lose. So will Oprah. It's a female thing. We just need to be realistic, like ourselves and worry less about what we imagine others may be thinking. We're probably wrong anyway. That's another female thing. We're full of them!

Oprah is a heavyweight all right but it's for all the good she has done, her phenomenal accomplishments. That's a figure that cannot be measured in pounds!

It's Not JUST About Hillary!

As the drama of "will she or won't she" drags on, we ladies who are looking for some satisfaction, other than Sarah Palin, have been missing a bet!

Today's news seems to be filled with "she will" but there are so many other women being considered for top jobs we ought to be clicking our heels in glee!

Janet Napolitano, already Governor of Arizona, for Homeland Security; California Representative Jane Harmon for National Intelligence Director; Kansas Governor Kathryn Sebelius for Energy or Education or Inez Tenebaum or Linda Darling-Hamond. Sebelius again along with Jane Garvey for Transportation. EPA - Lisa Jackson, Mary Nichols and Kathleen McGinty. Commerce - Laura D'Andrea Tyson. Veterans Affairs - Tammy Duckworth. HUD- Renee Glover. Labor - Linda Chavez and Maria Echaveste. Counting Hillary that's fourteen women being considered for cabinet positions!

No small accomplishment. If I was a teacher I'd be assigning my students to Google each and every one of these women to find out who they are and how they attained the level of accomplishment necessary to rate such consideration. I'm willing to bet, too, that each and every one of them can name the periodicals from which they get their news!

One thing for sure, Obama is not sexist. On that note I'm going to borrow from the poster above and add it to the Obama slogan. This one is for the ladies. "We can do it. Yes we can!"