Debra Leigh Says

                                  Where to start? I guess with the fact that, for years, because of my excruciatingly low wages as a professor hired on adjunct contracts, I was unable to afford the obscene costs of the for-profit medical insurers in the U.S.  So, I went without health insurance; on the rare occasion when I needed a doctor (which was all of about twice in the last decade), I paid out of pocket.  Then, the Obama campaign came along, promising to reform the horrible medical system we had.  He promised a public option where citizens could opt into the program that, up until then, was offered only to seniors – the Medicare system. But once Obama was elected and the healthcare “reform” was underway, what we were told immediately was that the public option was no longer on the table.  It was claimed that the reformed system would work, instead, by forcing through law, all those citizens who did not carry insurance (and shouldn’t we be ashamed for how irresponsible we

Since this blog languishes for long periods between entries, I've decided to re-think the way that I want Debra Leigh Says to operate.  As my bio indicates, I work in a lot of different areas - academia, the arts, activism, world religions and spirituality.  But so far, this blog hasn't really served as a centralized location for those areas of activity, instead being more focused on the political realities, the current events of our times. So, I have decided that I'll be sharing a lot more in this space, with a kind of restructuring of the formations, mirroring the passions and concerns and activities of my life. There will be blogs about arts and creativity, which will link and relate to our arts blogs, Hidden River Arts and Cabaret Divas .  There will be blogs about exploration, learning and wisdom. These will link to our Guerilla U blog and our soon-to-be-launched Isidore Internatioal website, as well as to the 'Junct Rebellion site where you'll find lots o

(Photo from http://usslave.blogspot.com/2012/11/facts-about-slave-trade-and-slavery.html) In Part One of this essay, I wrote that a country born of genocide, built by slavery, grown by exploitation and cruelty, with its society fueled by racism and intolerance, may not be capable of being saved.  I begin Part Two here by saying that, if such a country cannot be saved and reformed, then it should cease to exist.   Such a country is a danger to everything that is life-affirming, and should be challenged, both from within by its citizens and from without by countries who are more committed to the well-being of their people. Stefan Zweig , an émigré from the Nazi terrors in Europe, was deeply miserable in the United States, where he and his wife had landed after escaping first the continent, and then England.  He watched in horror as fascism and violence consumed everything he once knew of his life.  Europe, he wrote, was committing suicide.  It was only from a distance that he was

When my daughter was about four years old, she took it into her head to hide from me in a children’s clothing department at a Macy’s Department store.  For what only could have been about 2 minutes, I searched for her, called her name, enlisted the help of the saleswomen in the department.  The terror I felt was indescribable, fueled largely by the fact that this department was right near a triple set of glass doors leading out of the store and into the parking garage.  I was shaking with fear that my little girl had been taken, abducted.  My ordeal ended when a very tall man, who was walking through the department, saw us searching.  Being very tall, he was able to see down into the center of a circular clothing rack, and asked, “Is your little girl wearing a purple sweater, does she have long dark pigtails?” as he leaned in and scooped her out in one quick motion. His action terrified my daughter, who had no idea that a stranger could so easily hold her in his grip.  Once he h

                                               It’s 3 in the afternoon on one of the first really gorgeous spring days in Philadelphia.  I’ve opened my windows for the first time in a few weeks because the tree pollen count is horribly high, there are trees beneath my bedroom window, and I have terrible allergies.  Last week, I had a singing performance to give, and was being extremely careful guarding my voice – so no dairy, no alcohol, no outdoors exposure to pollen, lots of steaming with eucalyptus, drinking throat coat.  This week, with the performance behind me, I have returned to enjoying some dairy.  Okay….a LOT of dairy at first – a cheese board, ice cream, more cheese, more ice cream -- which has since modulated itself. I’ve determined to enjoy the outdoors, or at the very least, enjoy letting the outdoors in at times when I have work to accomplish at my computer.  So, this morning, I opened my windows wide, after checking the tree pollen count and being informed that

(Photo from cast of "Hook") UPDATE:  I wrote the original post in 2014, and am reviewing and updating it largely because I am struck by how the situation of 4 years ago has, in some ways become worse and, in others, is finally being addressed by large and very vocal populations of women who are at long last seeing overdue consequence happening to some of the worst of these predators. The original article, updated: I begin with a warning.  This writing pulsates with hostility for which I do not apologize.  I started with a desire to acknowledge the recent discussions of the ways in which women in 2018 are still harassed, disrespected, molested, raped, and generally brutalized. The #YesAllWomen movement of a few years ago has morphed into the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, all of which have raised the issues of misogyny, sexual predators, and continued female struggles powerfully and revealed what most women already know, but seldom descry so loudly – that this abuse o