Mindy Newell: Single Jewish Woman?
“Mindy Newell (veteran of Wonder Woman, Daredevil, and just about everything else) noted that she originally thought ‘SJW’ stood for ‘Single Jewish Woman.’” • Comics for Causes: Planned Parenthood at the New York Comic Con • John Odum • Bleeding Cool, October 7, 2017
At my family’s celebration of Rosh Hashanah – Food! Lots and lots of food! And much imbibing of the alcohol of your choice! – shortly after 9/11, the conversation that we all had been avoiding finally arrived with the dessert and coffee. A lot of anger, a lot of sadness, a lot of fear, but no historical context until I opened my big mouth:
“This is what happens after nearly 100 years of the West treating the Middle East like pieces on a chessboard.”
Silence. My father is shaking his head.
“Hello,” I said. “The break-up of the Ottoman Empire? The Sykes-Picot agreement? Ignoring, discounting, millions of people with their own history, their own ethnic and religious and tribal identities?”
“You’re not excusing what they did, are you?” someone said in astonishment and horror.
“No fucking way! But, and I’m sorry, guys, we are not innocent in any of this, either.”
A fight was about to start, but someone, I think it was my cousin, quickly changed the subject.
Later on, driving home in the car, everybody else fast asleep in the back seat, my dad said, “When are you going to learn to keep your mouth shut?”
“You were absolutely right.
“So?”
“Just don’t say it at work or anywhere else. People don’t want to hear it.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I know.”
I’d like to say that I listened to my dad, who was a very smart man, but *sigh* I guess it’s still a work in progress. I have a very hard time “keeping my mouth shut,” even at work, especially when I get fired up.
And, oh, boy, was I fired up on Saturday at the NYCC, where I was part of the Comics for Causes: Planned Parenthood panel to inform and also celebrate the coming publication of the Mine!: A Celebration of Freedom and Liberty anthology put into production through fellow ComicMixers Joe Corallo and Molly Jackson to benefit the Planned Parenthood organization, which is now being attacked more brutally than I can ever remember, and is in very serious danger of being defunded by “you-know-who” and “you-know-who”’s administration and the Repugnanticans. (Just a week ago today, Tuesday, Oct 3, the Repugnantican-controlled Senate passed this, ignoring the law of the land that Roe vs. Wade has become.
Nobody counted, but my use of F-bombs might have set a record at this NYCC, and quite possibly every other comics convention on record. John Odum of Bleeding Cool even made note of it here. First time I’ve ever made it into Bleeding Cool… as far as I know.
I’m not apologizing. I meant every single one of those F-bombs. I meant every single thing I said.
My dad must be spinning in his grave. But I also know that he’s also proudly thinking:
“That’s my Mindela.”
…the Planned Parenthood organization, which is now being attacked more brutally than I can ever remember, and is in very serious danger of being defunded…
As I posted on Martha Thomas’ column on October 3rd, Planned Parenthood’s own annual report lists their assets at 1.8 billion dollars and their profits at 1.3 billion dollars. Why does a company with money like that need to get 500 million dollars from the government every year? There 20 times more comprehensive health care clinics than PP clinics that could make better use of that money.
And the 20-week abortion ban is a long-delayed but welcome piece of legislation.
Why is Roe v Wade considered inviolate? Supreme Court decisions and amendments, (Dred Scott, Prohibition), have been changed and repealed.
I have a very hard time “keeping my mouth shut,” even at work, especially when I get fired up.
Yeah, me too.
I know my posts are not appreciated by the management of ComicMix, but my Dad would be spinning in his grave if I just ignored the subject.
George, I would NEVER NOT allow your opinions on my page, and I DO appreciate them. Hope you know that!
Thanks Mindy. I appreciate your openness to other views.
George, I didn’t say that Roe vs. Wade is inviolate…I said that it is the law of the land–and I hope this doesn’t happen, though I know you disagree–until the decision is changed/amended. And Roe vs. Wade says that abortion is legal up to 24 weeks.
Personally, I think 24 weeks IS too late–unless there is a medical reason for aborting the pregnancy at that point, i.e., the mother’s health, or severe physical defects or genetic deficiencies that will not allow the baby to live outside the womb for very long, as in Tay-Sachs. (A terrible, heartbreaking decision for the parents, who will need all the support they can get.)
At 24 weeks, the fetus now weighs up to 600g (1.3lb) and is starting to fill the space in your womb (uterus). From head (crown) to heel s/he now measures about 30cm (11.8in), which is about as long as an ear of corn. Patterns of sleeping and waking are becoming more defined, although they may not happen when you’d like them to. You’ll probably find that when you’re trying to sleep, she’s alert and kicking.
The baby’s brain is growing rapidly, and the facial muscles are getting a workout as s/he tests out different expressions by raising his or her eyebrows.
Although the baby still has a lot of growing to do before she’s ready to be born, s/he’s now considered “VIABLE.” This means that if s]he were to be born this week, her lungs are developed enough so that she has a good chance of survival with extra care in a neonatal unit. Thankfully however, extreme prematurity is uncommon, so it’s unlikely you’ll be meeting your little one for a few months yet.
https://www.babycentre.co.uk/24-weeks-pregnant#ixzz4vEphEHgo