Suggested by Shaker boutet: "What is your favorite tea? If you're not a tea person, what is your favorite other comfort beverage?"
I've only very recently developed a taste for tea (much to Iain's long-delayed delight), and I haven't even been drinking it long enough to know the difference between which teas I'm drinking. I drink whatever he puts in front of me, and I've enjoyed all of it!
Only hot tea, though. I still don't have a taste for iced tea.
Question of the Day
Number of the Day
[Content Note: Homophobia; Christian Supremacy.]
54%: The percentage of USian respondents to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll who say that businesses should not be allowed to refuse services on the basis of sexual orientation.
The poll found solid opposition to allowing businesses to refuse services or refuse to hire people or groups based on religious beliefs.27/28% is still far too many. But this just goes to show how wildly out of step with the majority these bullshit laws and their bullshit proponents really are.
Fifty-four percent said it was wrong for businesses to refuse services, while 28 percent said they should have that right. And 55 percent said businesses should not have the right to refuse to hire certain people or groups based on the employer's religious beliefs, while 27 percent said businesses should have the right.
All Right Then
Former Republican Senator and current Democrat Lincoln Chafee says he's considering running for president and will launch a presidential exploratory committee:
Chafee said he plans to spend the next few months in Iowa, the first caucus state, New Hampshire, which holds the kickoff presidential primary and "other key battleground states."He released this video, announcing his intention to explore a run for the presidency:
A decision on whether to pursue a campaign, Chafee said, will hinge on the level of support he can generate over the next few weeks and months and on how well a web-based fund-raising effort goes.
Lincoln Chafee, a 62-year-old thin white man wearing a white shirt, dark blue suit jacket, and blue-and-white striped tie, appears in a library, speaking directly to the camera.Lincoln Chafee is not exactly a charismatic dynamo, but he's got some integrity, which is always in short supply in Washington. He's a former Republican, so, suffice it to say, he's not exactly a transformative progressive, but he may be attractive to moderate voters, so this is a pretty solid run for a vice-presidential spot.
I'm Lincoln Chafee, and I am a Democrat considering a run for President of the United States.
The 2016 election is an important one, for the Democratic Party and for America. Campaigns are the time for debates about the vision for our future, and for voters to assess the character and experience of those offering ideas.
When the Republicans were last in power, they left the economy in shambles. Over the last six years, President Obama has led admirably. He has revived our economy.
As we look to the future, in this age of nuclear weapons, I'm alarmed by the international instability, especially in the Middle East and North Africa. I don't like where this is going. Americans want safety, stability, and sustainability. We will need fresh ideas, and the most skillful diplomacy in dealing with this ever-changing world.
Throughout my career, as mayor, governor, and United States Senator, I exercised good judgment on a wide range of high-pressure decisions—decisions that require level-headedness and careful foresight. Often these decisions came in the face of political adversity.
During the next weeks and months, I look forward to sharing with you my thoughts about the future of our great country. Thank you.
Because Hillary Clinton is presumed to be the front-runner for the Democratic nomination—presumed, in fact, to be the eventual nominee, despite the fact she has not yet even announced her candidacy—it's impossible to listen to this introductory statement without hearing the implicit jabs at Clinton.
Chafee might not have intended to imply that he would be "level-headed" where other candidates (ahem) would not, but implying that a female presidential candidate would be too emotional and irrational and ninny-brained to exercise good decision-making is perhaps not the "fresh idea" we need injected into this campaign.
Dispatches from the Conservative Legislation Lab
Hey, remember when I introduced you to Glenda Ritz, the Democratic (and democratically elected) Superintendent of Public Instruction for the state of Indiana, who the Republican state legislature and Republican governor are trying to get rid of, because she is trying to stop them from destroying the state's public education system?
Welp, here's a cool update:
Democratic schools Superintendent Glenda Ritz is one step closer to losing her position as leader of the State Board of Education.That's what happens when a Democrat gets elected to a prominent position in Indiana.
The House Education Committee voted Thursday to advance a proposal that would allow the board to choose its own chairman, most likely ousting Ritz from her current position.
Lawmakers also approved changes that would increase the board's size to 13 members, maintaining the 10 seats currently appointed by Republican Gov. Mike Pence. A similar House proposal would keep the current structure of 11 members.
Those in favor of the GOP-led push say the change is necessary to fix a dysfunctional education board, while opponents call the move a political power grab that undermines voters who elected Ritz in 2012.
The bill now goes to the full House for consideration.
People can yell at Hoosiers all they want that we need to vote for change, but when we vote in a Democrat to save our public education system, the GOP gets rid of her.
I know lots of public school teachers in Indiana, and all of them, irrespective of political affiliation, are super pissed about this. It's not even a Democrats versus Republicans battle. It's a people of Indiana state versus their rogue legislature battle.
Ritz was elected specifically to stop the aggressive dismantlement of the state's public education system. And she won her seat with a higher percentage of the vote than Governor Pence won his. But now he and his cronies are orchestrating her ouster, in contravention of the people's will.
As but one example of the mountainous fuckery Ritz is up against: The "pass a test, become a teacher" program to which Ritz objected? Means there are now public school teachers in Indiana with no training. Not even in special education classes. There are students with developmental disabilities being taught by teachers in Indiana with no idea how to teach or interact with them. And they're teaching alongside people who have master's degrees in special education, who are watching helplessly as students are essentially poorly babysat by instructors who have no idea what to do.
The Republican Party argues this is good for kids. It is not good for kids. The only thing it is good for is destroying the public education system.
And so they're literally just getting rid of the woman elected to stop them.
Daily Dose of Cute
The Nappingtons cordially invite you to take a nap with them.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
And Even More Chipping Away at Roe
[Content Note: War on agency.]
Just yesterday, I mentioned that Kansas had become the first state to ban dilation and evacuation (D&E), a common second-trimester abortion procedure.
Today, the Oklahoma legislature has passed a similar bill:
The state senate voted 37-4 on Wednesday for the bill by Tulsa Republican Pam Peterson. It now goes to Republican governor Mary Fallin, who has previously signed several anti-abortion bills.Naturally, "being pregnant against one's will" does not constitute a serious health risk, according to this or any other abortion restriction, despite the fact that there are steep emotional and psychological costs, along with all the typical pregnancy risks, attendant to forcible pregnancy.
Under the bill, doctors cannot use forceps, clamps, scissors or similar instruments on a fetus to remove it from the womb in pieces. Such instruments are used in a dilation and evacuation procedure performed in the second trimester.
The bill would ban the procedure except when necessary to save a woman's life or a serious health risk to the mother.
There are pregnant people who simply don't know they're pregnant until the second trimester. There are pregnant people who can't raise the funds for an abortion until the second trimester. Second trimester abortions must be legal, if Roe is not to be rendered an empty statute.
But that, of course, is the entire point.
Quote of the Day
[Content Note: Sexual assault; rape culture.]
"Victims who come forward to report sexual assaults often run up against a law enforcement system that writes off their accounts, and defers to the accused. Darren Sharper had an added element: he was a famous athlete who helped propel a team to the Super Bowl and who had a reputation for being a Nice Guy. This had an impact on how his cases were handled. Sharper raped a woman in September 2013 in New Orleans and, despite the officer in charge of the case gathering evidence, compelling Sharper to give a sample of his DNA, that DNA matching the rape kit, video evidence, and witness corroboration, 'it wasn't enough for the district attorney.' The reason, the report argues, is because 'prosecutors were hesitant to move too quickly on a local football hero with deep pockets and savvy lawyers' and so they held off an arrest warrant. They wanted a 'bulletproof case before they would sign off on Sharper's arrest.' He then raped another woman in Los Angeles the next month, two in Arizona the month after that, and then in a 24-hour period in January, two more in Los Angeles and another two in Las Vegas the following night."—Jessica Luther, in a chilling but important piece for Vice Sports about the case of admitted serial rapist and New Orleans Saints football player Darren Sharper, and how it is emblematic of why athletes get away with their crimes.
In her piece, Jess prominently points to this report by ProPublica, co-published with the New Orleans Advocate and Sports Illustrated, on how the police in multiple jurisdictions failed to stop Sharper's rape spree, and that report is also highly recommended reading.
Sharper's victims suffered the failures most. With Sharper, they encountered a man practiced in defense and deception. With police and prosecutors, they found deference toward the accused, and what often felt like disbelief concerning their claims.Rapists lie. And police frequently believe them. Especially when they are famous men.
ProPublica and The New Orleans Advocate contacted five of Sharper's alleged victims. Except for brief interviews with two women, none wanted to discuss the allegations. And none wanted their names used.
"It's pretty black and white," one woman said about the police. "They didn't do their job."
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
[Content Note: Racism; police brutality] The lengths to which this cop went in order to cover up his crime: "The police officer who shot Walter Scott radioed in to claim that Scott had 'grabbed my Taser', six seconds after firing his final shot, despite video suggesting the unarmed man was not in possession of the stun gun at any point, a Guardian analysis has shown." Fucking hell.
[CN: Weapons; sanctions] Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made his first public comment on Iran's nuclear deal being negotiated last week in Lausanne, Switzerland, and "demanded that all sanctions on Iran be lifted at the same time as any final agreement with world powers on curbing Tehran's nuclear program is concluded." Khamenei is not generally a man I'd describe as reasonable, but that seems like a very reasonable request to me, frankly.
[CN: Conversion therapy] In a statement posted by Senior Presidential Advisor Valerie Jarrett, the Obama administration has officially signaled its support of a ban on sexual orientation and gender identity conversion therapies: "As part of our dedication to protecting America's youth, this Administration supports efforts to ban the use of conversion therapy for minors." GOOD.
[CN: Misogyny; racism; violence against women] The BBC has a major feature on the alarming number of murdered or missing First Nations women in Canada. It's not a perfect piece of reporting, but it's definitely worth reading if only to listen to the First Nations women who participated in the article: "They just think no one is waiting for us, that nobody cares about us, that we're disposable."
[CN: Misogyny] Travis Waldron has written a terrific piece on the state of women's football/soccer in England: "'What's the fastest growing sport in England, or the UK, or Europe, or the world?' [Lord David Triesman, who chaired the Football Association from 2008 to 2010] asked me. He didn't wait for an answer. 'Cut the cake however you like, the answer is women's football.'"
Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul's rapport with the media continues to be amazing: "Paul grew testy when pressed in the interview on the question of [abortion] exceptions. 'I gave you about a five-minute answer. Put in my five-minute answer,' he said."
[CN: Transphobia; self-harm; carcerality] Cosmo profiles Chelsea Manning, and her fight to transition, and to grow her hair, while behind bars for leaking US government documents. Through a series of letters, Manning also talks about her personal history, her current life, her dreams, her correspondence with other people who are trans. Please note that Manning's birth name and an image of her as a child are included in the story.
Congratulations to Munira Khalif, a senior at Mounds Park Academy in St. Paul, Minnesota, who "was accepted into all eight Ivy League schools. She's one of only two students in the nation to accomplish that this year. 'I was completely surprised,' Khalif said. 'It took a couple of days for the news to sink in.' Khalif also got into Stanford, the University of Minnesota and Georgetown. In addition to an outstanding academic record and ACT score, the 18-year-old state speech champion also founded a social justice club at school." Blub. I love this girl. ♥
Heads-up if you buy/eat Sabra Hummus: "The presence of potentially deadly listeria in several samples of hummus has prompted a national recall by Virginia-based Sabra Dipping Co. of 30,000 cases of Classic Hummus."
Cool: "According to the 'giant impact hypothesis,' the moon formed about 4.5 billion years ago, when a planet-like object about a tenth of Earth's current mass slammed into our planet. Simulations and recent studies of moon rocks suggest that the moon should be mostly made from the remains of the impactor, nicknamed Theia. This would explain why the moon seems to be made of material that looks a lot like Earth's mantle, as seen in rock samples and mineral maps."
"One Kitten, One Family, Six Million Adoptions." Awwwww. I have my issues with PetSmart stores, but the PetSmart Charities really do great work with rescue. Their grant program is pretty great. Anyway, the picture of that guy with his tiny kitten! AHH! :)
False, and Indecent, Advertising
[Content Note: Classism; fat hatred.]
Rowena Lindsay at the CSM: "Why did DirecTV pull its Rob Lowe commercials?"
It turns out that it's because they were accused of false advertising. Not for the reason they should have pulled the campaign (or never launched it in the first place): Because the entire campaign is a gross piece of classist garbage.
If you're not familiar with the ads, they feature famously good-looking, talented, and successful thin, straight, white, cis actor Rob Lowe and various alter-egos, like "Super Creepy Rob Lowe" and "Peaked in High School Rob Lowe," representing DirecTV (Rob Lowe) and cable (alter-ego Rob Lowe), with Rob Lowe touting the superiority of DirecTV and admonishing viewers: "Don't be like this me. Get rid of cable and upgrade to DirecTV."
DirecTV is still trying to find a way to continue the campaign nonetheless: "Lowe may make an appearance in DirecTV commercials in the future, however, as the company was in the process of creating five new alter-ego characters for him, including 'total deadbeat' Rob Lowe, who gets surgery in a hotel room to save money."
Hahahaha he can't afford health insurance! Terrific!
*thatface*
The alter-egos are less than versions of Rob Lowe because they are poor, or fat, or balding, or underemployed, or awkward. Or because they're "creepy," which is definitely the same thing as being fat or bald. Ahem.
Qualities which are so hideous (AHEM) that comparing cable companies to them is one basis of the false advertising charge:
[The National Advertising Division, which is part of the Council of Better Business Bureaus and fact checks advertisements, suggested that DirecTV] discontinue the catchphrase "Don't be like this me. Get rid of cable and upgrade to DirecTV" because it "conveyed a comparative and unsupported superiority message."Comcast isn't like a poor fat person! And it's outrageous to suggest that it is! Because everyone knows fat poor people are garbage! Basically.
"Humor can be an effective and creative way for advertisers to highlight the differences between their products and their competitor's," the NAD said in a statement. However, "humor and hyperbole do not relieve an advertiser of the obligation to support messages that their advertisements might reasonably convey — especially if the advertising disparages a competitor's product."
The entire campaign relies on denigrating marginalized people: Even "Creepy Rob Lowe" is not merely "creepy" by virtue of his behavior, but also because he wears the look of a working-class biker.
Followed by a catchphrase that says don't be like them. Eww gross.
Cue the caterwauling about how I am oversensitive and shrill and Most Humorless Feminist in all of Nofunnington. Don't I get it that it's just a joke?
Sure. I get it. I get it big time.
Forgive me (or don't) if I still don't find the humor in calling marginalized people trash.
An Open Letter to the Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh
[Content note: transphobia, suicide]
On Tuesday, I returned my diplomas to the University of Pittsburgh, along with this letter to the chancellor. In time, I'll probably have more to say, but for the moment, I'm simply too drained. Here's the letter, with hyperlinks added for context.
Dear Chancellor Gallagher:Crossposted from A Cunt of One's Own
I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing today as a concerned alumna of the University of Pittsburgh. Recent news has made me aware of our university’s resolute failure to provide a safe and welcoming environment for its transgender students, faculty, and staff. This failure is symbolized by the Johnstown campus’s 2012 expulsion of Seamus Johnston, the subsequent announcement of a policy that forbids many trans students from using sex-segregated facilities that match their gender, and your administration’s April response to the ruling in Johnston vs. The University of Pittsburgh, in which you disingenuously asserted that it was “never [y]our intent to violate anyone’s rights.”
Our university’s actions have been reckless and wrong. My studies in biology and the philosophy of science inform my conclusion that your administration’s actions are informed less by a profound misinterpretation of science than they are by dated discourse on religion and social order.
I’m not merely concerned about the technicality of your administration’s failure. While at Pitt, I struggled (as most students do) to balance my academic development with my evolving sense of self. I did so on a campus that lacked visible role models for a young trans woman. My difficulties were such that in 1997, I briefly withdrew from the university following a pair of unsuccessful suicide attempts.
I do not blame the university for my past struggles. I raise them because it is important for you to realize the implications of your administration’s harmful policies. Eighteen years after my darkest semester, I unequivocally do blame your university for failing to create a space where all community members can balance professional development with healthy personal growth.
Thus, I write this letter for both you, and the LGBT community at Pitt. I desperately hope that your administration reverses its dangerous policies on gender-segregated spaces such that it recognizes the reality of trans lives within and beyond the gender binary. Additionally, I need your administration to change the tenor of its interactions with trans people from that of bureaucracy impatient with those who cloud its worldview to that of a university celebrating the accomplishments and potential of valued members of its family.
If your administration will not affirm the dignity of its transgender students, faculty, and staff, I will. I understand that there are trans and lesbian, gay, and bisexual people who are thriving at Pitt, but there are also those who are struggling. They have my love and support. I call for other members of the Pitt community to affirm the same.
Given your administration’s refusal to embrace Pitt’s transgender population, I cannot in good conscience continue my affiliation with my alma mater. Please find enclosed my diplomas (a Bachelor of Philosophy in Biological Sciences and a Bachelor of Arts for studies in the history and philosophy of science) along with the university pennant that adorned my previous offices in the academy. I would be more than happy to reclaim them at such time as the University of Pittsburgh sees fit to welcome people like me.
Respectfully yours,
Katherine Janet Forbes, PhD, Chancellor’s Scholar (Fall 1996 Freshman Class)
Enclosures: 3
Cc: Dr. Jem Spectar, President, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown
Dr. Edward Stricker, Dean, University of Pittsburgh Honors College
Dr. Paula Grabowski, Chair, Department of Biological Sciences (Oakland)
Dr. James Lennox, Chair, Department of History and Philosophy of Science (Oakland)
Rainbow Alliance, University of Pittsburgh (Oakland)
The Wednesday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by sparkles.
Recommended Reading:
Colin: [Content Note: Terrorism; death penalty] Guilty: Tsarnaev Convicted in Boston Bombing
Rafi: [CN: Racism; police brutality; images of violence] "That's why cops shoot to kill. If you shoot to injure, you leave a witness."
Kirsten: [CN: Rape culture; sexual assault] I Was Sexually Assaulted At UVA. I Don't Accept the Reporter's Apology.
TLC: [CN: Transphobia] Groundbreaking EEOC Ruling Finds the Army Discriminated Against Transgender Employee by Denying Bathroom Access, Pronouns
Qimmah: [CN: Racism] Are All YouTube Stars Created Equally?
Ragen: [CN: Fat hatred; weight loss talk] Perpetual Potential Thin Person
Mustang Bobby: [CN: War] Those Were the Days
George: An Extraordinary Photo of a Bobcat Fishing for Sharks
Leave your links and recommendations in comments...
Daily Dose of Cute
"Don't worry, Duckie—I'll protect you from whatever that noise is."
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
Let's Talk (More) About Sex
[Content Note: Discussion of consent and boundaries.]
One of the things that came up during the discussion of talking about sex during sex is the idea that some people don't feel okay talking about sex because they've been entrained to be ashamed of sex. That's something I addressed a little bit in my tweets on the subject, but I wanted to talk about it a little bit more.
We've discussed in this space how, despite our being grown-ass adults who don't actually need anyone's permission to live our lives how we want, or to dress how we want, or to make other personal choices, it's sometimes helpful, empowering, freeing, to have someone else just say: You have permission to do this thing.
So, in that spirit, here are a few things that we all have permission to do:
1. We are allowed to want to have sex. We are also allowed to not want to have sex. We are allowed to have the urge for sexual interaction with another person(s). We are allowed to not have any sexual urges.
2. We are allowed to enjoy sex.
3. We are allowed to ask someone if they are interested in engaging in sexual activity. We do not have to wait to be asked. We do not have to abide ancient rules established by the Sexuality Police about who should ask whom, how long we have to know someone before asking, how many dates we have to go on. We don't have to only ask people who look one way or another. We don't have to be married to have sex. We can ask whom we want, when we want, provided that there is no possibility for coercion (i.e. a student-teacher relationship), that the other person is capable of consent, and that we are willing to respect their answer, even and especially if that answer is no.
4. We are allowed to say no, if someone asks us.
5. We are allowed (and obliged) to talk frankly about taking precautions to have safer sex, to protect against sexually transmitted diseases and/or unintended pregnancy.
6. We are allowed to set ground rules and boundaries for sexual activity. What we like to do; what we don't want to do. We are allowed to establish safewords.
7. We are allowed to talk about relevant sexual history and/or abuse history that informs our sexuality and/or our feelings of safety.
8. We are allowed to ask a potential partner, straightforwardly, if they are willing to respect the concept of ongoing consent and make sure they understand that either partner is allowed to withdraw consent and stop sexual activity at any time by request.
9. We are allowed to talk to a potential partner about our expectations and our desires. We are allowed to say what we want.
10. We are allowed to not engage with sexual activity with anyone unless and until we feel safe. (And so do they.)
11. We are allowed to talk during sex, about what is happening. We are allowed to ask: "Will you do this thing to me?" We are allowed to ask: "Do you want me to do this thing to you?" We are allowed to want to be able to say, and to hear, "Yes." Over and over.
12. We are allowed, provided our partner is into it, to talk dirty during sex. Nasty, naughty, filthy talk, without shame.
13. We are allowed to get very, very good at weaving these two things together—consent talk and dirty talk. We are allowed to be turned the fuck on by giving and receiving enthusiastic, breathless, urgent consent.
14. We are allowed to tell our partner(s) during sex what feels good and what doesn't.
15. We are allowed to have whatever consensual kinks we want, without shame.
16. We are allowed to define "having sex" in a way that makes the most sense for us, depending on our partner(s) and our preferences. "Having sex" does not just have to mean PIV intercourse between a cis man and a cis woman.
17. We are allowed to make our sex lives look like whatever we want them to look like, without shame. And without any feelings of being "abnormal," if our sex lives don't look always or ever like some traditional "foreplay-intercourse-cuddling" routine. Maybe your whole sex life is what someone else calls "foreplay." That's okay. Maybe you want your entire sex life to consist of kissing, and nothing more. That's okay. Maybe your sex life centers around activities or role-playing or fetishes or toys that don't get talked about very much, or get called "deviant" when they do. That's okay. It's fine. It's cool. We're allowed. Find someone who wants to do your thing with you, and do it. Without shame.
18. We are allowed to want to do different things with different partners. What works with one partner might not work with the next.
19. We are allowed to have multiple partners. Successively, or concurrently. We are allowed to negotiate that in a way that keeps everyone safe.
20. We are allowed to talk about sex after having sex, to say what we liked (or what we didn't like).
21. We are allowed our sexual agency. We are allowed our own individual seuxality. We are allowed to own it without shame.
This is, obviously, not a comprehensive list. I could easily write all day, covering everything from masturbation to scheduling sex romps between long-term partners with mismatched libidos. But it's a start.
We are all allowed these things. (Though we are not entitled to them.) A lot of us are socialized in various subcultures that tell us in explicit and implicit ways that we are not allowed these things, and that we should be deeply ashamed if we want some or all of them.
And some of these things, some of us may not even want them for ourselves. That's okay, too.
The point is simply this: You are allowed to talk frankly about sex, to make sure that your sex life is safe and fulfilling.
* * *
I'm happy to field questions in comments, if anyone is starting out on a talking-about-sex sort of journey, or doesn't even know how to begin to start a consent-centered approach with a long-term partner, or any related issues. We are allowed to not be ashamed if we don't know how to do this on our own! There are not, after all, not a hell of a lot of good models for building this sort of sexual framework.
Please Support Shakesville
This is, for those who have requested it, your bi-monthly reminder to donate to Shakesville and an important fundraiser to keep Shakesville going.
If you value the content and/or community in this space, please consider setting up a subscription or making a one-time contribution.
If you have appreciated being able to tune into Shakesville for coverage on Indiana, for getting distilled news about politics or other topics, for a safe and image-free space to discuss rape culture and/or acts of public violence, for recaps of your favorite show, for recipes, for the Fat Fashion threads, or for whatever else you appreciate at Shakesville, whether it's the moderation, the community in Open Threads, Film Corner, video transcripts, the blogarounds, or anything else, please remember that Shakesville is run exclusively on donations.
I cannot afford to do this full-time for free, but, even if I could, fundraising is also one of the most feminist acts I do here. I ask to be paid for my work because progressive feminist advocacy has value; because women's work has value.
I would certainly be grateful for your support, if you are able to chip in. The donation link is in the sidebar to the right. Or click here.
Thank you to each of you who donates or has donated, whether monthly or as a one-off. I am deeply appreciative. This community couldn't exist without that support, truly. Thank you.
My thanks as well to everyone who contributes to the space in other ways, whether as a contributor, a moderator, a guest writer, a transcriber, and/or as someone who takes the time to send me a note of support and encouragement. (Or a cool drawing!) This community couldn't exist without you, either.
Please note that I don't want anyone to feel obliged to contribute financially, especially if money is tight. There is a big enough readership that no one needs to donate if it would be a hardship, and no one should ever feel bad about that. ♥
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
Democratic Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel won the run-off election with challenger Chuy Garcia. Boo. BOOOOOOOOOOO.
In other election news: "The Ferguson City Council will have three black members for the first time in the city's history, now that voters elected two new black members to the council on Tuesday, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported."
[Content Note: War on agency] Goddammit: "Kansas became the first state to ban a common second trimester abortion procedure when Governor Sam Brownback, a Republican, on Tuesday signed into a law an act to halt what lawmakers said are 'dismemberment abortions.' The law that goes into effect on July 1 prohibits the use of dilation and evacuation. The bill says the procedure can result in the fetus being extracted in pieces. Supporters in Kansas have called the procedure horrifying while women's healthcare groups have said it is considered the safest way to terminate a pregnancy in the second trimester." OH WELL TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY I GUESS.
[CN: Surveillance] "Human rights campaigners have prepared a federal lawsuit aiming to permanently shut down the bulk collection of billions of US phone records–not, this time, by the National Security Agency, but by the Drug Enforcement Agency. Human Rights Watch, represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, filed their lawsuit in Los Angeles federal court on Wednesday morning to stop the DEA from hoovering up billions of records of Americans' international calls without a warrant. The reach of the program, exposed by USA Today, lasted for two decades and served as a template for the NSA's gigantic and ongoing bulk surveillance of US phone data after 9/11." The "war on drugs," long supported by both Republicans and Democrats, has been used in countless ways to usher in a police and carceral state. And we are going to have a devil of a time unwinding the damage, if it can even be unwound at all.
[CN: Misogyny] Hey, remember when Rand Paul had that supercool interview with CNBC Anchor Kelly Evans where he yelled at her about being biased? Well, he did the same thing again, during an interview with Today show anchor Savannah Guthrie! Looking good, Mr. Presidential Candidate!
[CN: Homophobia] Tom DeLay, who is apparently still talking, says he has the right to refuse to serve a gay person, because "if he comes in and asks me to undermine my values, what I believe in, undermine my religious liberty, then I have the right to stand up for what I believe in and not serve him." Because: "We love people who have chosen to be homosexuals. The problem is, we abhor the sin." Okay. But all human beings are "sinners," and Protestant Christian doctrine says all sins are equally abhorrent in the eyes of their god, so this is bullshit. Even if it weren't just ethically indecent, it's unjustifiable rubbish.
Sarah Thomas has been chosen as the NFL's first female full-time game official. Congratulations to her, and may the NFL still go rot.
The Golden Girls Lego Set Might Soon Be Reality. THE GOLDEN GIRLS LEGO SET MIGHT SOON BE REALITY!!!
Awwwww, lol: Twin Peaks cast makes a video saying that Twin Peaks without David Lynch is like... And it is very sweet! (Also true.)
And finally! Chester the Shelter Dog was finally adopted after five years at the shelter, after a picture of him holding a sign asking why no one wanted him went viral. Joyblub forever.
Today in Rape Culture
[Content Note: Sexual abuse of a child; description of assault; rape apologia.]
A judge in Orange County, California, has significantly reduced the sentence of a convicted rapist and defended his ruling in the most heinous way: Kevin Jonas Rojano-Nieto was sentenced to the 25-year minimum sentence after being convicted of sexually assaulting a three-year-old female relative, but Orange County Superior Court Judge M. Marc Kelly reduced his sentence to 10 years in prison, saying the sentence was "too harsh" and a violation of "his constitutional rights."
Kelly further defended his decision by saying that Rojano-Nieto "did not appear to consciously intend to harm [the victim] when he sexually assaulted her."
"However, in looking at the facts of Mr. Rojano's case, the manner in which this offense was committed is not typical of a predatory, violent brutal sodomy of a child case," Kelly said. "Mr. Rojano did not seek out or stalk [the victim]. He was playing video games and she wandered into the garage. He inexplicably became sexually aroused but did not appear to consciously intend to harm [the victim] when he sexually assaulted her."This is not accurate. Rojano-Nieto did not "almost immediately" stop because he "realized the wrongfulness of his act." He sexually assaulted a child behind a locked door and covered her mouth when he heard her mother looking for her, and then he sexually assaulted her again.
The defendant "almost immediately" stopped and "realized the wrongfulness of his act," Kelly said.
It is incredible that any judge (or any human being, frankly) would argue with a straight face that someone who rapes a child didn't intend to harm that child. As if a rapist's intent is even remotely relevant, anyway.
Further, to make this absurd, contemptible argument, Kelly also deliberately misrepresents the facts of the case in a gross attempt to justify making it.
And he didn't stop there:
The judge went on to blame Rojano-Nieto's own "dysfunctional" upbringing for his "inexplicable" assault on the child.Okay. There are lots of people who fit that description. Very few of them rape children.
He noted that Rojano-Nieto's life had featured "family disruption" that made him "an insecure, socially withdrawn, timid, and extremely immature young man with limited self-esteem."
Rarely have I seen such a naked display of failure to empathize with a victim, and such a bold display of sympathy for a rapist.
There is already a movement to recall Judge Kelly from the bench. The Orange County prosecutor is meanwhile considering appealing Kelly's ruling.
I hope that the young survivor and her family have the resources they need to heal, and that they find something resembling justice and peace.
[H/T to Shaker S.]
Back |
