remember all those rapes at Tea Parties?

Yeah, me neither.

But a bunch of self-proclaimed feminist pacifists all working for social justice and fighting for human rights and equality are reportedly, at least in some small way, condoning rape?* What? How? This cannot possibly be true!

But no, it's not fake - and it seems to be a trend. The organizers of Occupy Cleveland (where there has been a documented rape) are planning to "reach out" and offer counseling so that another such incident will not occur.

So, yeah - the Occupiers' answer to rapists in their midst seems to be holding hands around the drum circle chanting, "Rape is bad, mkay?" while passing a bong, crapping on police cars and begging for someone else to pay off all those student loans (that they voluntarily took on, mind you) for their womyn's studies/interpretive dance degree. Oh, and they also insist that rapists will not be "welcome" at Occupy events. Shunned by hippies, that'll teach 'em.

The 99% does not speak for me.

* Rape-rape, you know.

you go, girl.

I'm not sure I know who Ann Barnhardt is, but I think I love her.

Also? this is her rifle:

Yes, really.

yardstick

This image has been making the rounds on facebook:

And it is annoying me.

Being able to recognize Carl Sagan is now the way we measure for intelligence? Really? Both of those people were made famous by television, correct? Being able to name some old turtlenecked astronomer you saw once in college on PBS while stuffing Cheetos in your face and stoned out of your gourd means you're smart now. Well, okay.

But I guess I must have different standards than some sci-fi hipster geek making LOL Sagans in his mother's basement. Allow me to demonstrate:

If you don't know who painted this (AND, for bonus points, the subject of the painting!)

But you do know who painted this:

Congratulations! You're what's wrong with the world!

(See how this works, internerds?)

David & Goliath

(via The Daily Mail)

happy now, Allen Schulman?

Good thing neither of these women in Canton, Ohio were carrying a gun - someone could have really gotten hurt.

welcome to Ohio!

Where men like Canton City Council President Allen Schulman would rather see me dead than let me carry a gun.

(oh, and for the record, Mr. Schulman? The only person that seemed like any sort of threat in the original video was the policeman threatening to execute someone for being stupid. Not exactly the guy I'd trust to keep me "safe.")

You lost me

While watching the film Law Abiding Citizen -

Good Guys #s 1 & 2 (the DA and a detective), breaking into a storage unit owned by Bad Guy.

Good Guy #1: "What about his civil rights?"

Good Guy #2: "Fuck his civil rights."

Breda: "..........I really hope that guy's dead by the end of the movie."


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

without all due respect

A photograph of me (taken by my husband, with my iPhone) has been saved and reproduced by a member the GunUp Blogger Network and 2011 winner of the Luckygunner Up & Comer Gunnie Award. I'm sure he thought himself clever to title his post "Breda Porn" and began salivating over all the traffic, and resulting blog revenue, certain Google searches might bring him. In short, he is using my copyrighted material for monetary gain, without my permission.

And now, if that's not bad enough, my photograph is one of the first things people will see if they search for that specific term (please don't) - something I find totally unacceptable.

I have asked that this blogger remove the post because I daresay he wouldn't blog a photo of his mother, his sister, his daughter or his wife under a similar title. Yet my (multiple) requests have been ignored. My husband Mike left a comment on the post expressing his displeasure, but it seems to have been deleted.

So. What to do?

gunbunnies

Our customer base is pretty heavily male as you can imagine. I’d guess 85% male. So the forward facing person for the website is a woman named Heidi. Blonde, cute, knows a lot about guns and so from a . . . the guys love her essentially. And all the emails that go out they come from Heidi. So you build a brand there’s a hot chick over here on this site who’s talking about guns and ammo, which I love, versus this site over here that doesn’t even have the stuff in stock and I’m going to come over here, look at the hot chick and buy guns and ammo. Which is perfect. We want them here on our site, which is the one with the hot chick, guns and ammo. That’s cool.  -Brian Crane

And that actually is cool - as a money making scheme, anyway. I mean, how many bottles of crappy "lite" American beer have been sold only because some half-drunk knucklehead in a dive bar saw an ad with a smiling blonde holding a frosty amber brew conveniently next to her brand new pair of rock hard knockers*, right?  Marketing to the basest nature of your customers' humanity is a winning sales strategy, I guess. 

So, sure...I understand gunbunnies. Or Sniper Babes, or Hot Shots, or Ammo Girls...or whatever you want to call them. Paid to be the pretty giggle and jiggle that will hopefully hypnotize gun nuts into forking over cash. If a little tits and ass makes a guy buy more bang and brass then hooray, capitalism! I get it. Really. But I don't have to like it.

Companies that employ this tactic perpetuate the "guns are a guy thing" myth that for so long has kept women away from the gun culture and, consequently, the most reliable self defense tools available. A company that hires gunbunnies to work a highly publicized blog shoot creates an optics problem for those of us trying to convince potential new (& sometimes nervous, sometimes reluctant) female shooters that, no, really, you'll be comfortable at the range, it's not like a boys' club at all, I promise.**

And so we are working at cross-purposes.

But, of course, gunbunnies are women too and for many of them working events such as these might be a first, wonderful taste of the gun culture - I just hope the next time one of them picks up a gun isn't because some guy paid them to do it in a miniskirt.

_________________

*I like to call this "shitty titty beer"

** Also, really? Is possibly alienating a large and powerful portion of American consumers a wise business decision, especially when an unprecedented number of women are purchasing firearms?

OC QotD

"If you are going to openly carry your pistol please don't openly carry that chip on your shoulder."

- Matthew, Straight Forward in a Crooked World

(Wonderful blog. If you don't read him, you should. But if you don't, at least read this post. It's one of the ones that has changed my life.)

last word

One final thought for douchebag extraordinaire Eric Heyl -

If you ever find yourself single or unemployed you better hope to hell that no potential dates or employers Google your name because, buddy, the internet is forever.*


*friends, do me a favor - click that link and then click over to my original (Eric Heyl is a sexist jerk) post. Thanks!

Eric Heyl is a sexist jerk.

Given the disdainful misogyny presented in this article, one would have to assume that Mr. Heyl is a pathetic, insecure little excuse of a man with a serious case of mommy issues. He probably doesn't get out much, is still secretly bitter that the head cheerleader wouldn't date him in high school, and eats lonely microwaved meals while standing over the kitchen sink in his bachelor pad.

See? I can make generalizations too! (although mine are far more likely to be true.)

Guest Article Rejection

I had the funniest email exchange just now and I thought I'd share:

Dear Breda,

I am writing to you with a great interest in composing a guest blog for your website. I am a health, safety, and political advocate with a passion for economics and our nation's fiscal responsibility. I believe that under our current administration, budgets have become lopsided in favor of trendy "green" environmental policies. In light of the recent push by the House GOP to curb some of the overzealous EPA regulations, I feel that I could write a compelling article that would be of great interest to the readers of (http://www.thebredafallacy.com/).

Please feel free to email me back if this interests you.

Best Regards,

Scott

NScott.QA@gmail.com

Has this guy even read my blog? I don't understand these emails at ALL. What, exactly, are they trying to accomplish? Are they looking for advertising? I don't get it.

Anyway, I responded with a single word:

No.

And figured that'd be the end of it. I was wrong. 2 minutes later, Scott emails me back with:

You're hot.

Huh. I guess he clicked my link after all. After a momentary WTF, I decided Scott deserved some sort of response. After all, it's not every day that a small town librarian receives such a lovely, well considered compliment from a complete stranger on the internet. (right?) So I wrote back to my new-found penpal/weirdo stalker. I thanked him for the potential blogfodder, saying:

Okay, now THIS I may blog.

I still haven't heard back. Phooey.

sexism in sheep's clothing

Women...

• are more conscious than men
• have been subjugated and oppressed by men
  
• have been barred from political and religious office
• are relegated to subservient chores
• have a more inclusive spirituality
• have a deeper connection to the earth
• have a better intuition about how to preserve and heal our planet
• have a profound capacity for feeling
• have wise hearts
• are better at peaceful resolution of conflict
• have a greater ability to apologize and forgive
• do not instigate invasions or wars
• need food, rest, and playtime*
• have a greater sense of compassionate justice
• have a natural sense of nurturing and abundance

At least, according to this "Dear Woman" video we are.**

For someone whose feminism looks less like this:

And a lot more like this:


this pantywaist "apology" is an insult. This video is condescending in the extreme. It says, "Oh, you poor victims of the evil Western patriarchy. We'll step aside now so you little ladies can feel powerful and teach us your peaceful babymakin' earthmother ways." They might as well have made a video saying that all women are whores and bimbos and good for nothing but gyrating on a pole or birthin' babies, it'd invoke just about the same reaction in me.

And, for the makers of this video, know this...

My light will always shine, whether you are conscious of it or not. My power does not depend on any man relinquishing his own. My strength never required anyone's permission.

This truth may make you feel small, it may make your masculine energies feel weak.

But, for that, I will never apologize.

____________________
*WTF?
** Alternate title: "Video of men who make Breda feel like she either needs to bathe or go shooting." Alternate title #2: "Years of therapy have not made us alpha males, so we're just going to roll with it." Alternate title #3: "I don't care how sensitive you think you are, you're still not getting in my pants."

getting my Breda back

I had to go out and get an exercycle because it seems every fat cell in my body has decided to relocate to my middle.

Now, I'm not making excuses here but take into account the fact that I've reached the dreaded mid-30s metabolism slowdown, add in almost year's worth of general couch potato-ness due to my accident related neck injury (and the fear of the resulting OMGPLEASESOMEBODYENDMYMISERY headaches if I dared to do too much), and toss in a lot of that relatively cheap and easy to acquire muscle relaxant (beer) and you have the perfect storm of things that will make Breda squishy in places that she doesn't like being squishy.

I also had to buy new pants. Being 5'0" tall and having curves made me hate shopping for pants for as long as I can remember. Most of the the petite section is either designed for stickfigures, have elastic waists for tiny arthritic grandmas, or are still too long, dammit. There are few choices for a woman with both an ass and a ridiculously short inseam.

So, being forced to go shopping because I've gotten squishy? Talk about incentive. I pedal, pedal, pedal until I'm sweaty and my heart is trying to pound through my sternum. Then I do some weights, some push-ups, some leg lifty type motions and then I pedal again until I just can't do any more. I listen to music, drink a lot of water, and think of the guy who rear ended me (twice). It's actually a perfect outlet for that particular rage - I think, "RAWR! I'll fight you!" type thoughts and they spur me on. That, and not having a muffin top hanging over the waistband of my jeans.

So there you have it - my "You Can Stop When You're Wobbly" workout system. I figure it's better than nothing.

advice best avoided

via wrongcards, which are somehow oh-so right.

One thing before I go...

I just wanted to say that Tracee Larson is no gunchick, but a low-down lying astroturfing lefty liberty-hating shill.

We're on to you, sweetcheeks. Time to start contemplating the ol' memory hole.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

it's not me, it's you

Okay, well, not you specifically (probably) because, as a general rule, the people who inhabit my blogoverse are decent, kind (& intelligent! & supportive! & witty!) people who tend to be far better to me than I probably deserve for simply sitting around in my pajamas posting stuff about my cats on the internet.

Speaking of...



Anyway. Let's get something straight right now. I'm not quitting blogging and I am not depressed. And despite suggestions to the contrary, I tend to think that most of the rest of the world needs counseling, not me.

See, I've had a rough year physically, emotionally and financially and it's recently been topped off by the death of one of the most beloved and important men in my life. Add in the fact that I deal with serve a sometimes rude, frequently obtuse public for less per hour than I'd make doing, oh...probably anything else I'm qualified for and you have the perfect equation to make my tolerance for other people's shit and getting shit on by other people fairly low. Imagine that. (Shocker, I know.) The year (almost year and a half, actually) I've had, there'd probably be something seriously wrong with me if I felt anything else. But believe me when I say I am using the term "you" in a very general "people in general" sort of way. Not you. Never.

So, I am okay, okay? You can stop worrying now. (yes, YOU.)

this was once for me

Oh, I suppose I could write about how I bought my mom a pink camo case for her new pistol and how excited she was when she unwrapped it Christmas day, or about how I've rediscovered my love for lamb and the amazing (and easy!) crockpot recipe I used, or about my awkward misadventures with Bollywood dance, or perhaps about the brand new crazy lady at the library, or maybe I could write about that blank canvas on my easel taunting me and how I've been craving color like a drug, or about how when I'm feeling sad or anxious I calm myself by imagining the view through a rifle scope and the mindfulness of breath that it requires.

But I won't.

Tender and thin skinned, tears brimming at random nonsensical moments, I find myself unable to bear the argumentative comments that somehow appear even on my most uncontroversial of posts. The sheer tediousness of undeserved snark and the weight of scrutiny have crushed my desire to write.

This, combined with 2010: Breda's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year has made blogging a struggle, even on my best days.

Please stand by.

First they came for the gimps...*

For the past week, there has been a lot of talk on the news and in blogs about the TSA, opting out and full body pat downs. The entire country is offended that, suddenly, they are being forced to choose between being ogled by perfect strangers with x-ray vision or being felt up by perfect strangers with questionable fetishes in order to fly the friendly skies.

Well, welcome to our world - where the only opt out, ever, has been to not get on an airplane at all.

(Did you think you wouldn't be next?)

_______________________

*wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came...

(and for your reading pleasure, my TSA experiences: part 1 & part 2)