Mama-Loshen Is Born

Welcome to Mama-loshen!

I have started this blog as a Service Learning project for my Women's Studies class at the University of Central Florida. The purpose of this blog is to marry my studies in Advertising, Public and Media Relations with what I am learning about Feminism. My goal is to write about the stories that effect Women throughout the world that may never get out via mainstream media.

Now to this blogs name. I looked for a personal tie towards women and the spoken word. Lets see, I'm loud, I love to talk, I am Jewish, and I often refer to myself as mama. This led me to a work my mother uses often. Mamaloshen. In literal terms it means "mother tounge," but it can also refer to "the mother language aka. Yiddish" or the Jewish oral tradition. Either way I felt it fit rather perfectly.

I want this blog to feel cozy and comfortable.There may be the occassional curse word, but it will always be warrented and I will do my very best to be as respectful and PC as possible. I want others to comment as they see fit and to feel free to be as open as they would like to be. I would also encourage any readers to feel free to disagree or challenge. That provides us all with the chance to debate and learn.

Now, lets get down to business.

I would have liked to have started out with the blogger's code of ethics along with my personal code of ethics, but on election eve, there are more pressing topics at hand. My goal was to have posted my blog regarding the Florida election ballot much earlier, but it took a lot of research and I didn't want to half ass it. This is important stuff. Anyway, I researched the Florida ballot and tried to give a little guide to what it all means and how it will effect women, minorities, and the GLBT community. The following is just my humble opinion and yes, this blog consists of my personal feelings, so I cannot say it isn't biased.

President: I am sure you all know who's running. I personally feel that if you are concerned about womens rights, abortion, gay rights, education, foreign policy, and the environment, you should probably vote for Obama.

The next part of the ballot is for party affiliated congress members, state attorneys, senators. I am sure you know how to research a candidate.

The ammendments are the tricky part. Enter Lobbyists. According to my Public Relations proffessor, Lobbyists -research and provide info to elected officials
-write proposed legislation
-sork with staff in forming statements
-are VERY well paid for what they do
-are very influential in the scheme of things bc they know the system
-this is very dangerous for those of us who don't know legal jargon
So, since private interest groups often sponsor ammendments and paid lobbyists write then push them onto the ballot, this can all get a lil confusing. Here is my take on ammendments 1,2,3,4,6, and 8. Please refer to www.ocfelections.com for a full break-down.

1. Asks if we should delete provisions from allowing foreigners and illegal aliens to own property.
This is an ancient law and only a few other states still have it on the books. I don't think it is a threat to our economy in the slightest. I am voting No.

2. The Florida Marriage Protection Ammendment. This is the one everyone has heard about. It's straight up bigotry. I find it curious that there is already a Gay marriage ban on the books and that this ammendment is sponsored by a private marriage protection group. I am vehemently voting NO.

3. This is for not increasing taxes on homes that have been made more energy efficient or more hurricane resistant. Hello, lets not deter people from making their homes safer and better for all of us. Voting Yes.

4. This is for a tax break for owners who pledge not to build on "environmentally sensative" land. Voting Yes.

6. This allows waterfront property to be assessed for taxes at current value, not potential value. For example, a fishing dock won't get the same taxes as a 5star beachfront hotel. Sounds fair to me. Voting Yes.

8. This one is the trickiest. This ammendment seems to ask "Should counties have the ability to let their voters decide if they want to impose a sales tax to support community colleges?" Sounds fair right? Wrong. After talking with a teacher of mine and doing further research, I learned that if the decision to tax falls onto the community, the state may not have to fund community colleges. Considering that they fund 53% of them now, prices would skyrocket to go to schools such as Valencia and Seminole community colleges. I have also been informed that all the community colleges in the state are against it. Good job lobbyists, you had me fooled. Voting No.

Anyway, good luck at the poles tomorrow. Exercise your right tomorrow for millions have fought for it.