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The Single Mother Stigma

http://www.npr.org/2011/02/24/134031175/For-Single-Mothers-Stigma-Difficult-To-Shake?sc=emaf

Why Google Why?

In an average day of my life, I am already faced with a multitude of decisions, a fact that leaves me feeling quite weary on most days. I come home today, looking forward to a relaxing evening that includes a new potato recipe, a new episode of Awkward, and a few chapters of some Stephen King. No big decisions tonight, no siree Bob. The last choice I plan on making tonight was how long exactly to stay on the treadmill. Feeling fortunate as I swing by mail box on the way home, I truly believe life is going my way when my issue of Entertainment Weekly is here a day early. I reach that fabulous part of a rare day where I can sit out on my porch and read through my weekly Entertainment News (void Cruise and Holmes) and SLAM! WHACK! BANG! KAPOW! A pie right to the face. There it is, a choice that I don't want to have to make, "Google's Turn for a Tablet" is the article's title. I read through the tech update because I am now confident than a Mac or an iPad2 is in my near future only to discover that Google, the great maker of the only browser or search engine I will use; the place I travel to SEVERAL times every day, no matter what is happening in my life; the word itself has daily found itself in my conversations, them, yes GOOGLE is introducing their Nexus 7, their version of the growing popular tablet. Yes, it is already being hailed as having "all the makings of a hit: It's thin and extremely light (three-quarters of a pound-or half the weight of Apple's new iPad), has a seven inch screen (just like Amazon's Kindle Fire, but in HD resolution), and packs serious processing muscle." The price is extremely tempting as well, $199, which is $300 less that the iPad starts at. So at this point, I am sure you are wondering, 'What the hell is the problem then? Go for it!' Well, here is the problem. Nexus 7 is more than just Google's pad, it is a sign that Google is expanding their influence in the tech game. What Apple has done so well over the past few years, with iPhone's,iTunes, Mac Books, and iPad's syncing up so nicely and working so harmoniously with ones another, Google is mimicking, and they are doing it well. Google has "revamped cloud-based content store, Google Play...[and] Play will use the cloud to create a consistent experience across Android devices." The intro of the Nexus Q which streams content from the Play account to a TV or stereo using Android devices, but is a bit pricier than Apple TV, but...It is "Born in the USA" and made here as well. In an era where we import way more than we export, some home grown technology rouses the patriotism in me and I think, 'I would pay for that little added benefit.' And herein is where the problem lies, "in the end, users aren't just buying a device but the entire ecosystem," where, up until this point, Apple has cornered the market on. I love Google, I can afford Google, but I have already taken steps down Apple lane, and I can't imagine not having my iPhone.

So as our old ecosystem is being destroyed all around us, and I live in an age where I get to choose my new one, I just really didn't want to have to make such a big decision- will they never end?

Google vs. Apple...let the battle begin!

All God's Children have Fathers...right?

When did we become a society where the best interests of the child are usurped by the rights of the father? So, if a man ducks out and moves around a lot, then he can avoid having to support his offspring in any manner….

Look at this way, even the first homo-sapien clans had a family structure that included a father who was the ‘provider’ of food and protection for not just the child and its mother, but for the small group as a whole. If the man went out in search of food, hunting, he brought back meat, as well as the other supplies made from animal leftover parts; hides, tusks, fat for oil. Anyways, he helped ensure the survival of his family, the women and children of the group. If, and this was a much larger risk than we can imagine today, the father, hunter, man were to die while in the line of duty, it was customary that another member of this family either ‘marry’ his wife or take over the responsibility of her welfare as well as any children in her care. A man need never let the fear of someone being able to provide for his family stand in the way of his duty.

So, as a hunter-gatherer more animalistic, more primitive human society, we took better care of our children. As it stands today, a man can father a child and then evade any and all responsibility for the children, and the laws established by civilization have enabled this to become the rule rather than the exception. In my case specifically, because he is receiving his income through VA disability, my child is not entitled to any of that money because it is like “welfare” as I was told by my case worker. But, if we were still kept house together, that income would go to help provide for the child’s everyday necessities, so why would that money not be considered a way for the man to help with the child?

I asked my case worker that if my ex-husband were to die, my child would receive Social Security benefits, right? She agreed, that she most certainly would, around $1000.00 a month. So, if my ex is dead, the child can receive the resources to survive and thrive, but if the father lives and does not work, the child is left to suffer. Am I the only one who thinks that there is something that is incredibly wrong with this picture? Civilization has evolved indeed, and in the process (I imagine it has something to do with the patriarchal infrastructure of our society) managed to remove the responsibility that a father has toward his child to be what he has always been throughout human history; a provider. 

It's a great time to be me...

The Game of Thrones season 2 finale is tonight; Joss Weadon has scored huge with Avengers, meaning the mind that created Firefly is going to have an open ticket to allow his creative genius to run loose; Once Upon a Time on ABC continues to surprise me week after week as it interprets the fairly tales of generations into interesting plots that are fun to watch week after week; and this summer movie season, I have hit the mother load of my favorite types of movies, comic book superheroes and Disney's second movie featuring a bad ass female who does not need to be rescued by a prince; BBC's Sherlock just knocked my socks off and is begging to be watched again; The Long Walk reminded me is Stephen King's Hunger Games, only it came first and is, in the King fashion, a wonderfully gruesome mind fu8%; and American Gods is just sitting there, waiting to be read. My whole life, I belonged to an eclectic group that lived in a world of magic and advanced science, a group that was labeled 'nerds' and 'geeky' by society for their affinity for believing that the force was really with them and that 'He who controls the spice, controls the universe.' A group who knew that as " The man in black fled across the dessert," the gunslinger was close on his heels. I loved Michael Keaton as Batman and Farukah was the Worst Witch and Aunt Em's niece to me before she was Bobby Bouche's girlfriend.

It has occurred to me that now is a very good time to be me. All my sci-fi and fantasy cravings are being lavishly indulged these days; what was once eclectic has now become trendy and popular. I can only thank ka that I am alive to be a part of this ka-tet style surge in society.

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