*Feminist – a person who supports women having equal political, economic and social equality.

 That being said, here’s what it doesn’t mean.

It doesn’t mean that I hate men. On the contrary, I married 4 of them and only hate 2 of my exes. That’s not fair, I don’t hate them, but I do dislike them. 

It doesn’t mean that I think men don’t have issues.  Men get beaten and raped and abused.

It doesn’t mean that I think all women are not capable of heinous acts.  Women are just as capable of beating, raping and abusing.  Feminist Andrea Dworkin let women off the hook when she said, men target women for not being men, but men don’t only target women. men also beat the shit out of each other. men rape each other. men kill each other. men treat each other like absolute shit. virtually all of the violence that occurs on this planet is committed by males, whether it’s committed against females or against other males. men tell us every day, in no uncertain terms, that they believe “equality” means “violence.” equality with these barbarians? I think not. 

I don’t think this is entirely true, or fair. 

Men definitely have it tough, what with being blamed for all the violence in the world. While men do commit the majority of the violent acts, women are guilty of violence towards each other, their partners, their parents, their children and pets. Think about the term domestic abuse. What comes to mind is likely this scenario 

Which is unfair because, often it means this scenario.   

Yes, ladies, we are violent too and we need to take responsibility for it.  No matter the gender, people are capable of shitty things. 

  I lived in the United States for 18 years and the only thing that has changed since Trump took the helm is this egregious behavior seems to be permitted in the minds of those who are racist and sexist. America has a very long history of both. White Liberals were so busy patting themselves on the back for electing the first black president, they failed to notice that the country didn’t change into a utopia of enlightenment during the 8 years Obama spent in his scandal free presidency.  There was a lot of push back from the right  (not correct, but right as opposed to left ). The thing that the left forgot is how well organized Republican voters can be when angry. And they were angry at the very idea of a black man being deemed worthy of running the USA. White American men never really got over their  slavery mentality when it came to people of any color other than white  (or orange tinted white ) or women being property… or the thought that they are entitled to whatever they want. America as a country is still very much a white man’s game. Any rights that people of color and women have were GIVEN to them by white men for reasons having very little to do with altruism.

The right thinks things have gone too far and hates being blamed for all wrongdoing, so they  elected an old white celebrity known for boasting and publicly firing other celebrities , many of whom were people of color and/or women . Make no mistake Trump had a plan all along. He told us as much.  Since 1987 he’s been testing the American public by saying casually, at first, that he would run. But it took 30 years for him to surround himself with the right bunch of miscreants and for the country to be nostalgic enough to be ready for him.

Trump has already taken away rights from women and people of color in less than 100 days in office. We now know what he means by his slogan,  Make America great again…

And it’s already begun.

The only real change Trump brings is legislative, like any president, just moving backwards in giant leaps opposed to moving the country incrementally forward. Just ask a black woman how much has changed in the way she’s treated since Trump. She will likely respond with  not a damn thing.

Last week, I was afforded a rare opportunity. I was able to try on and ride in the Tesla X SUV. The only one on the island upon which I live. 

This fully electric 7 seat SUV crossover has a sticker price of  $270,000 CDN and it shows. 

This review is from a physically disabled passenger’s perspective, so it will deal with getting into and out of the car, storage space and comfortabilitly of the ride. 

First I tried getting into the front passenger seat from my manual wheelchair. This proved quite difficult as the seat height needed a lot of  adjustment and the opening was quite tight . It took effort, but I was able to sit in the front seat, which seemed fairly comfortable. There is more than ample storage. My manual wheelchair fits nicely in the boot with room to spare. If more space is required, you can find it under the hood in what’s called the frunk.  At first, the gull wing doors seem like a gimmick, but after getting into and out of the back seat with ease I understand why they’re there. 

Once settled into the front passenger seat, the first thing I noticed was the huge computer screen easily accessible and easy to read. The next thing I noticed was the wind screen which extends above your head providing a panoramic view. 

Like other electric cars, the engine makes no sound, which takes some getting used to, especially while driving, as the road noise becomes impossible to ignore.  Thankfully, the sound system kicks ass. 

Sounds like a great car right?  Unfortunately, for me, this is a sport car masquerading as an SUV.  It hit every bump in the road like they were chasms and speed bumps felt like we got air and crashed down.  Because it’s an SUV, the center of gravity is higher putting all of the pressure on the neck. Each bump sends the head moving side to side causing me pain. I finally had a ride with my hand bracing my neck, to lessen the jostling. Riding in the second row was marginally better in that I could remove my hand occasionally. The suspension is super tight and it rides less smoothly than a Miata. I imagine driving the Tesla X would be a lot of fun for lovers of hot rods or go carts, but as a family car, it won’t provide a comfy road trip.  Even though it’s technically a luxury car, in that you’ll have to pay luxury tax on it,  the ride is anything but luxurious.  I have pain issues from my left shoulder going to the left side of my neck that were exacerbated by both the rough ride and the seat which seemed comfortable when the car wasn’t moving but became intolerable after 5 minutes of driving. 

The good news is, it doesn’t work for me and my disability and that’s great cause I can’t afford it 😉