What's the worst movie you've seen in the last month?
It doesn't have to be a new movie, or even a movie you watched for the first time. Just whatever was the biggest stinker you've seen lately.
I cast my vote for Hugo—and, for perspective on how much I didn't like it, we recently rented The Zookeeper for Bad Movie Night, and I'm still casting my vote for Hugo, lol.
Question of the Day
News from Shakes Manor
Scene: This morning, our bedroom, way too early. Iain has just gotten out of the shower and is getting dressed; I'm still lying in bed, awake and resentful for it.
Iain: We should build a city.
Liss: We totally should.
Iain: What do you think we should build it on?
Liss: I dunno—rock and roll?
Iain: [singing] WE BUILT THIS CITY!
Liss: [singing] Duhn duhn!
Iain: [singing] WE BUILT THIS CITY ON ROCK AND ROLL! WE BUILT THIS CITY!
Liss: [singing] Duhn duhn!
Iain: [singing] WE BUILT THIS CITY ON ROCK AND ROLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!
Liss: Have a good day, babe.
Iain: You, too. Don't forget to build a city on rock and roll.
Liss: Will do.
Video Description: The music video for Starship's "We Built This City."
Maybe It's Just Me
I didn't find this story about movers and police tasked with evicting a 103-year-old woman and her 83-year-old daughter from their foreclosed home "heartwarming" as much as I did anxiety-inducing and rage-making, with a side of relief for the temporary reprieve from a terrible fate.
This country is so fucked up.
Assvertising
High fructose corn syrup is good for me! Thanks for the non-biased info, government-subsidized corngrowers' association!
I am so tired of these commercials.
(Which I'm sure are available on YouTube, if you're inclined to watch them.)
Photo of the Day
This undated image provided by the Scottsdale Gun Club shows a woman posing with Santa Claus and several guns at the Scottsdale, Ariz. club. Ron Kennedy, general manager of the gun club, says the business got the idea for the photo op last year when a club member happened to come in dressed as Santa and other members wanted their picture taken while they were holding their guns. He says people have used the photos for Christmas cards and Facebook posts. [AP Photo]All right then.
I am not reflexively anti-gun; I have friends and family members who do target shooting, and I have family members who hunt for food, and, although it's not my scene, I'm pretty wev about it. I also respect that there are people who have ethical objections to gun ownership and hunting of any sort. This thread ain't about that debate.
It's about the fact that OMFG PEOPLE ARE POSING WITH SANTA WITH GIANT-ASS GUNS. Or, to be more clear, about an aspect of gun culture that has nothing to do with principled debates and everything to do with fetishizing deadly weaponry. Yikes.
Quote of the Day
"We've got real issues to talk about, not the latest bimbo eruption. ... Every time another accusation comes up, it diminishes our ability to stay focused on the issues that really do matter for the American people."—Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, attempting to smear Herman Cain as a distraction from a serious campaign, but succeeding instead in dismissing the women Cain sexually harassed and abused as "bimbos," categorizing sexual predation as something other than a "real issue" which "really does matter," and defining "the American people" and survivors of sexual harassment and abuse (and their allies) as mutually exclusive groups.
Wow, Jon Huntsman. Wow.
Wednesday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by hemp.
Recommended Reading:
Andreana: Solidarity, White (Male) Privilege and Occupation
Batocchio: Stop the SOPA and Protect IP Bills
Jed: White House Says Obama Considering Rolling Back Mandatory Insurance Coverage of Contraception
Andy: Evansville, Indiana Passes LGBT Non-Discrimination Ordinance
Jorge: SWAT Team Raids Home of Civil Rights Attorney Working on Voting Rights
Echidne: [TW for misogyny, gender essentialism, and disablism] This is one of the worst pieces of so-called science reporting I have come across for a very long time.
matttbastard: Time's Ongoing Cover Disparity Disgrace
Renee: [TW for bullying] Child Bullied out of School Because of His Appearance
Mattie: [TW for kyriarchy in gaming] Why I Don't Feel Welcome at Kotaku
Emily: Crass Warfare: Raunch and Ridicule on Whitney and 2 Broke Girls
Samhita: TLC's Virgin Diaries Comes to the US
Leave your links in comments...
It's Here! (Rearden Metal Edition)
Hey, remember that email from Atlas Shrugged Movie I posted about last week? The one that seemed to be advertising something, but was really not advertising anything? Well, the whole mystery has been cleared up with a new email from... drum roll please... REARDEN STEEL!
Yeah, so, the Atlas Shrugged marketing team is finally taking my advice and sending out emails from movie characters. I guess Rearden Steel is a character. As much as anyone or anything in the movie is. It's an entity. Like the Ministry of Love or the Lord of the Flies conch. Right? It would totally get its own Cliffs Notes page. Plus, it's actually clear this time what they are selling. (Cue up Pomp and Circumstance, they are ready to graduate my marketing class!)
They sent me this great email:
The copy in the email reads:
It's here. And, it's AWESOME.
Harmon Kaslow and John Aglialoro present this very Special Edition Atlas Shrugged Part I Blu-Ray packaged in an amazing one-of-a-kind REARDEN STEEL collectible case housing over 2 hours of incredible bonus material.
IT IS BEAUTIFUL.
PRE-ORDER NOW FOR DEC. 19-23 DELIVERY.
[There is also some stuff about Midas Mulligan's annual sale, whut? And the Canadian premier! Ha! Eat that, Canadians!]
Atlas Shrugged: Part 1: The Search for Spock on Blu-Ray! In a Rearden Steel metal case! Note, this is not actually made of Rearden steel because Rearden steel is fictional. But still!
You and all your friends can order this one-of-a-kind item, which kind of makes me wonder if the marketing team knows what one-of-a-kind means. But nevermind!
The Blu-Ray comes in three different versions (Oof, what's the total now, twelve? Twelve different versions of this DVD/Blu-Ray thing?) with a bunch of exclusive features like the "I am John Galt" fan video compilation which is on the regular DVD, too. This also makes me wonder if the marketing team knows what exclusive means. Ah, well, in marketing words can mean anything you want, dictionaries be damned!
So give yourself (obviously) the gift of Rearden Steel this Xmas! I know I will. (I won't.)
Speaking of Xmas (a non-denominational holiday, just FYI) this stuff is also on Blu-Ray this week:
One Day. Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess have sex once a year for twenty years. Special packaging: Comes inside a Page-A-Day Calendar.
Friends With Benefits. Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake have sex. Special packaging: Comes inside a No Strings Attached DVD case.
The Adventures of Tintin. Cartoon version of the books! Woo hoo! Special packaging: Comes inside a reproduction of Tintin's rocket.
Walk a Mile in My Pradas. Switcheroo Comedy™ about a homophobe who turns gay. Boat Trip meets Vice Versa and/or Like Father Like Son. Special packaging: Comes in a time capsule from 1986.
Conan the Barbarian Reboot! About muscles and swords and (probably) does not feature any Grace Jones. Special packaging: Comes in a faux-fur loincloth.
The Smurfs Reboot! Computer-generated blue wee people (are they people?) get into hijinx and shenanigans with Doogie Howser. Retro! Special packaging: Comes in a can of creative bankruptcy.
Get shopping, Shruggers!
Number of the Day
56%: The percentage of USians who believe that the Affordable Care Act (aka "Obamacare") includes a public option. Whooooooops it does not.
At the link, Igor makes the good point that "voters either like [the actual provisions in the law] or don't know about them," which creates an opportunity for Democrats "to build support for the measure by highlighting and campaigning on some of its best features, a task that will seem less daunting as a growing number of voters begin to actually benefit from the law."
The potential flipside to that, however, is that among the more than half the voting populace who believe a public option exists are people who will be disappointed to find out it doesn't.
It isn't just the socialism alarmists who erroneously believe in the existence of a public option. It's also people who desperately want and need one.
Cool Columnists. Totally Trenchant.
Two of the Washington Post's four opinion columnists have used their columns today to police the language of, respectively, a retiring member of Congress and a teenager:
It's contemptible enough that two prominent and privileged op-ed columnists have been given space by a major US newspaper to concern troll and language police a gay congressman and a teenage girl, but the fact that it's Dana Milbank, who has used in his professional capacity misogynist slurs against the Secretary of State, and Ruth Marcus, who thinks decency is telling people triggered by invasive security procedures to "grow up," imbues this little parade of sanctimony with an intense fuckery that would be hilarious if it weren't so profoundly grim.
[H/T to @ScottMadin.]
Whoooooooooops
During a campaign stop in New Hampshire, Texas governor and and Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry mistakenly said that the voting age is 21 (it's 18). He also mistakenly said that the date of the 2012 election is November 12 (it's November 6).
His spokesperson calls his repeated gaffes "misspeaking." I call them "evidence that he is a fuckbrain." Potato potahto.
I love this passage in Rosalind Helderman's coverage of Perry's latest whoopsery:
Perry would love to capitalize on conservative displeasure with Herman Cain, as the businessman reassesses whether to stay in the 2012 race following allegations that he engaged in a 13-year extramarital affair.LOL! Indeed!
But he will first have to convince voters that he has the verbal dexterity to go toe-to-toe with President Obama in a general election; repeated gaffes will likely hurt any effort to do so.
Economic News Round-Up
The password is: Shrinkage.
Businessweek—Ireland's Economic Growth Rate to Halve in 2012, ESRI Says: "Ireland's economic growth rate will more than halve next year as exports slow amid a deepening euro-region debt crisis, the Economic & Social Research Institute said. ... 'There has been a significant deterioration in the outlook for the world economy in recent months stemming from the uncertainty about the euro zone debt crisis,' the ESRI said."
Reuters—Brazil Poised for 3rd Rate Cut as Inflation Slows: "Brazil is seen likely to cut interest rates a third straight time on Wednesday, ramping up a bet that the euro zone debt crisis and a fragile world economy will brake inflation in Latin America's biggest country. ... A worsening debt crisis in Europe is clouding the global economy, inflation has begun to ease in Brazil, and recent indicators show the country's economy may have contracted in the third quarter."
AFP—China Eases Credit Controls Amid Slowing Growth: "China said Wednesday it will cut the bank reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points, as it seeks to boost lending and spur growth in the world's second largest economy. The move, which takes effect on December 5, is the strongest signal yet that the government wants to ease tight credit restrictions put in place to curb surging inflation and property prices."
Bloomberg—South Africa Economy Expands Less Than Forecast at 1.4% as Exports Slump: "South Africa's economy, the biggest in Africa, expanded at an annualized 1.4 percent in the third quarter, less than economists forecast, as manufacturing and mining output slumped. ... South Africa is struggling to meet employment and economic growth targets as the debt crisis in Europe, which buys about a third of South African manufactured goods, pushes that region close to recession."
Businessweek—Egypt's Rulers Face Unrest, Crumbling Economy as Vote Begins: "The unrest in Egypt has hurt the economy, as tourists have shunned the country and industrial production has been hit by strikes. Gross domestic product grew 1.8 percent in the fiscal year through June, the slowest in at least a decade. The country's long-term foreign sovereign credit rating was cut one level to B+, four levels below investment grade, at Standard & Poor's on Nov. 24."
Reuters—India's Economy Slows to Weakest Pace in More Than Two Years: "India's economy grew at its weakest pace in more than two years in the quarter that ended in September, revealing the heavy toll that stubborn inflation, rising interest rates and crisis-hit global capital markets are having on Asia's third-biggest economy. ... The economy has been hit by a confluence of factors. Inflation has been persistently high all year, policy inertia has hurt investment and industrial output and, now, capital outflows have pushed the rupee to new lows."
Bloomberg—Denmark's Economy Shrank More Than Estimated Last Quarter: "Denmark's economy contracted in the third quarter, after households spent less and the government cut expenditure, threatening to delay the nation's recovery as twin housing and bank crises persist."
Businessweek—German Economy to Shrink 0.2% in Fourth Quarter, Institute Says: "The German economy, Europe's biggest, may slide into a 'technical' recession at the end of the year as domestic and foreign orders drop, the DIW economic institute said. The economy will shrink 0.2 percent this quarter, led by a slump in industrial production, and may contract again in the first three months of 2012, the Berlin-based institute said today in an e-mailed statement. 'The euro crisis is affecting the German economy more and more,' DIW economist Ferdinand Fichtner said in the statement."
Bloomberg—Slovenian Economy Unexpectedly Contracted in the Third Quarter: "Slovenia's economy unexpectedly contracted in the third quarter from a year earlier as industrial output and export growth lost pace."
Etc. Shockingly, European confidence in the economic outlook has fallen to a two-year low. Huh. Go figure.
In good news, Poland, Canada, and Sweden have done slightly better than expected. And USians are inexplicably more confident about their economy, up 15 points to 56.0 from October's low of 40.9. Well aren't we the eternal optimists!
In other economic news...
CNN Money—Fed, ECB Offer Aid for Global Financial System: "The Federal Reserve, acting with five other central banks, took further steps Wednesday to make it cheaper for banks around the world to trade in U.S. dollars. The Fed—along with central banks of the eurozone, England, Japan, Switzerland and Canada—announced a coordinated plan to lower prices on dollar liquidity swaps beginning on December 5, and extending these swap arrangements to February 1, 2013. The effort is meant to 'ease strains in financial markets and thereby mitigate the effects of such strains on the supply of credit to households and businesses and so help foster economic activity,' the Federal Reserve said in a press release."
The Guardian—World Central Banks Launch Co-Ordinated Action to Fight Financial Crisis: "Federal Reserve, ECB, Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Canada and the Swiss Central Bank act to prevent liquidity drying up in the financial system." Live coverage will continue throughout the day at the link.
CNN—Study: Cyber Monday Was Biggest Online Shopping Day Ever in US: "Analysts have begun providing their final tallies for Cyber Monday sales, which found that people piled more in their virtual shopping carts than ever before. Monday was the highest-grossing online shopping day in U.S. history, with spending reaching $1.25 billion, according to market research firm comScore. That's up 22% from the previous record, which was last year's Cyber Monday."
The Guardian—Occupy Protests: Police Clear Activists from LA and Philadelphia Camps: "Hundreds of police officers are clearing protesters from Los Angeles and Philadelphia, arresting those refusing to leave and dismantling tents. ... [T]here were 200 arrests in Los Angeles alone, according to police. In Los Angeles around 1,400 officers wearing riot gear and biohazard suits were moving members of Occupy Los Angeles after they ignored a Monday deadline to leave the area. ... In Philadelphia, police began pulling down tents at about 1:20am (EST) after giving demonstrators three warnings that they would have to leave, which nearly all of the protesters followed. Dozens of demonstrators then marched through the street until they were stopped by police."
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to leave links to anything you're reading and/or writing in comments.
Question of the Day
Are you more likely to experience a fear of failure, or a fear of success?
Neither? Both?
Quote of the Day
"I repudiate, and I call on the President to repudiate, the concept of the 99% and the 1%. It is un-American, it is divisive, it is historically false."—Newt Gingrich.
lol your fuckbrain.
News I Don't Want to Write About
Here is the news I don't want to write about today!
There is the news of an alleged 13-year affair a woman named Ginger White had with Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, who is now reportedly "reassessing" his campaign. I find it deeply hilaritragic that it was not his total lack of qualifications, competency, or reasonable ideology that has rendered him unfit for the presidency in the estimation of conservative voters, nor even his being a serial sexual harasser, but the report that he may have had a consensual extramarital affair.
There is more depressing evidence that "Support the Troops" is a policy in bumper-sticker sloganeering only.
There is the revelation that iPhone4's virtual assistant Siri is anti-choice, refusing to direct users to abortion clinics. Womanly enough to sexually harass, but not womanly enough to be an ally to abortion-seeking women. (Not that all women are pro-choice, but a meaningful majority of them are.)
There is the ruling that Norwegian spree killer Anders Behring Breivik is mentally ill "and cannot be sentenced to prison or preventive detention, but can be confined to a mental hospital for the rest of his life."
There is the news that Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson's personal physician, who was recently found guilty of involuntary manslaughter by a jury in California, has been sentenced to four years. Okay. Because even contemplating the consumption of information about this case makes my brain short out from overwhelming relief that I am not a celebrity, I still know virtually nothing about it, but that sounds about right, I guess?
There is the fact that I agree with Ann Coulter about something. (Well, John McCain is a douchebag.) Now back to your regularly scheduled universe.
Talk about these things! Or don't. Whatever makes you happy. Life is short.
Austerity in the UK: The new civil service
In case you haven't heard about it (and even if you have), British civil servants are planning a major one-day strike for tomorrow. They're protesting the conservative government's proposed austerity measures. More specifically, public employees are indignant about substantial increases in the contributions they must make to their pensions, and an increase in the retirement age. In order to save the UK government from a manufactured crisis, its employees will be working later in life for less pay. Where have I heard that before?
The Guardian has been providing tons of coverage from multiple perspectives. This includes quotes from workers, and analyses of why teachers will be striking.
By a moderate coincidence, a few days ago I got my annual statement from the New York State Teachers' Retirement System (TRS). Gold-plated it was not. New York State is constantly reducing the value and harshening the terms of its public employees' pension. (At the moment, NYS classifies its employees into one of five tiers based on their first date of service. The later one starts, the higher the tier and the less generous the pension.)
New York State employees are also looking at a pay freeze for multiple years (just like UK public employees), and required unpaid furloughs.
Anyhow, I thought I'd take this opportunity to express solidarity with workers in Britain while simultaneously beginning to explore why I chose to leave the public sector.
For me, my pay and benefits weren't as much of an issue as the lack of respect they represented. Don't get me wrong, there's all sorts of disrespect in the private sector. However, I think there's a fundamentally different dynamic to the abuse public employees deal with.
Let's say you're an employee in the private sector. If you refuse to work long hours, don't have the resources you need to do your job, are doing the work of multiple people, have incompetent coworkers or supervisors, you could cost your employer money, which could lead to you losing your job. Likewise, your boss might (also) be an asshole and/or cheap, and fire you for whatever. If you don't have a union, you're pretty much out of luck. If you do have a union, you still may be out of a job.
If you get fired or laid off under such circumstances, a lot of folks will conclude that your boss is an asshole. To hell with hir. What an isolated and unfortunately awful person.
Let's say you teach. You will most certainly be working long hours, doing the work of several people. It's pretty much a given that you won't have the resources available to do your job well.
These working circumstances fly in the face of a culture that claims that universal education is an important, fundamental right.
Some of your students will drop out or perform badly on standardized tests, or be unhappy with the education they received. This may be because the system sets up teachers and students to fail. It may be because some of your students do not have adequate food, shelter, and medical care, and are somewhat distracted from their studies.
It won't matter. Someone, somewhere will notice you or your institution, and you and/or your institution will be faced with pressure to "step up your game" or else. Every. Single. Night. you'll hear politicians and pundits talk about how lazy, inept, and overpaid you and your colleagues are. A lot of your neighbors, the same people who depend on your hard work, will agree with the pundits and they'll elect politicians that will continue to attack you.
And why, do you ask, would politicians attack teachers? Because teaching is one of the most important professions in the world. A lack of educated workers is what keeps the economy in shambles. The lack of quality education causes poverty, crime, and otherwise destroys our bootstraps.
In this line of reasoning, the key to social mobility (or the lack thereof) is education, not reckless speculators and wealthy tax scofflaws. After all, in this narrative the rich got where they are by virtue of their intelligence and education, not by virtue having vast amounts of privilege.
Teaching is important. Its something I enjoy immensely, and consider myself reasonably good at. In my job search, I applied for a lot of positions teaching and/or writing in public and private, for-profit and non-profit settings. They all paid a lot less than the job I'm ending up with, because I'll be working in a position that society agrees involves technical skills.
Thus, teaching is the most important job in the world yet anyone can do it. (See also: writing) Despite this, just about everyone who tries it fails miserably, because they are bad, lazy, incompetent people, which explains why teachers don't get paid squat.
Mixed messages, anyone?
Without going into the specifics of my job, my mental health has declined precipitously during the three-and-a-half years I've taught for the State University of New York. I'm not alone. When I started, my colleagues warned me this would happen. Apparently my profession breaks up families and destroys lives.
I couldn't take it anymore. My family couldn't take it anymore. I'm taking my Ativan (among other things) that I take for my multiple daily panic attacks and going home. I love teaching, but I grudgingly engage in occasional acts of self-care.
Here's one last thing. Three quarters of my teachers' union (which covers K-12 and SUNY teachers) are women. I suspect that many other sectors of the government workforce are heavily female (provision of health care and social services, for instance).
Throughout Europe, Canada, and the US, governments have also been at the forefront of hiring workers based on merit. I don't care what lies people have told you, modern governments tend to hire qualified candidates, even if they're not temporarily able-bodied, straight, cis, white, Protestant guys who are related to their supervisor. It's an open secret that the civil service is one of the places you go to get work when other people are too bigoted to hire you.
That the composition of the civil service doesn't mirror that of corporate boardrooms or government cabinets is not immaterial. In numerous times and places, meaningful public sector employment and the services that public employees provide have been important in aiding upward social mobility. Despite their talk, most of what has come to be termed "the 1%" isn't interested in social mobility or in paying taxes to support it.
The double talk, aggression, and hatred aimed at public employees from our bosses (ostensibly, our neighbors) takes a huge daily toll on us. This is why I standard in solidarity with the workers in Britain.
Daily Dose of Cute
Lord Dudlington takes his breakfast on the settee.
Dudley—who, as previously documented, is One of Those Dogs who constantly has to be taken to the vet for something, whether it's eyeball drama or butt hullabaloo—was limping pitiably this weekend after hurting his front left paw while zooming around the backyard. Now, Dudz routinely tears his paws to pieces, because he is not only a beastie capable of running 45mph but also a total glaik, so we're used to cleaning cuts and removing thorns and not getting totally alarmed every time he has a little limp. But this was a serious limp, and we feared a broken or dislocated toe (to which greys are prone), so it was off to the vet. Again.
Luckily for Dudz (and us), it was not a broken toe; it's merely the equivalent of a sprained ankle. So he's been prescribed an anti-inflammatory and bed rest.
Zelda keeps watch on the floor in front of the settee: "I got this."
Trying to keep Dudz and Zelly from playing together is the hardest part, although I shan't complain about having two playful dogs who love each other.
At the animal clinic, the vet noticed that Dudley had some bruising on his belly and the inside of his back legs, easily noticeable since those areas are pink and hairless. "Um, that's where our other dog bumps him with her head when she runs underneath him," I told the vet. "It's, like, the best game ever." The vet and the vet tech laughed. Of course it is.
Yesterday, after we got home, I was watching Animal Cops: Phoenix and a mixed-breed dog that clearly had greyhound in him whimpered onscreen. Zel almost never reacts to anything on the television, but that greyhoundy whimper sent her tearing up the stairs to the loft where Dudley was resting, to make sure he was okay.
"Let me know if you need anything, buddy." BFFs.
Sexual Abuse Also Happens Outside of Penn State
[Trigger warning for sexual abuse]
The day after the Penn State Board of Trustees fired Joe Paterno and PSU president Graham Spanier for covering up rape and sexual abuse by assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, a woman called the Syracuse police to allege that Syracuse assistant men's basketball coach Bernie Fine had molested one of her friends over an extended period of time. This set off a chain of events that has thus far led Syracuse University to fire coach Fine.
Authorities are closely examining the allegations against Fine nine years after this victim first contacted the Syracuse police and the Syracuse Post-Standard, eight years after he contacted ESPN, and six years after SU conducted an internal investigation. (Deadspin has a timeline of events.)
A few things have changed since 2002. Syracuse has a new police chief. In light of both the renewed interest in the allegations and events at Penn State, two more victims have came forward. As Fine allegedly abused one of these men in another state, the federal government still has time left under the statute of limitations to prosecute the coach. This was not the case with alleged abuse that occurred within New York. Oh, and also a pair of famous college coaches at Penn State are in deep trouble because one of them raped and otherwise abused some children, while the other one covered for him.
Now the police, media, and SU are suddenly very interested in finding out what happened.
Call me skeptical, but it seems like Joe Paterno has to get fired for folks with power to care about coaches sexually abusing children. This, in turn, discourages victims from coming forward.
Since Fine's first accuser came forward, he's been ignored for years and publicly condemned by legendary SU men's basketball coach Jim Boeheim (who subsequently issued a tepid quasi-apology). Meanwhile, after SU fired the abuser in light of substantial evidence that corroborates the victim's allegations, the Syracuse Post-Standard still seems unclear about nine years' worth of inaction. ("When the allegations first broke", SU did not "quickly [place] Fine on administrative leave" [emphasis mine].)
True to form, today's New York Times contains a lengthy story on Bernie Fine, much of which details what a great guy he is, despite getting fired for molesting boys.
As long as were swimming in a rape culture, sexual abuse will continue to be appallingly common and largely unprosecuted.
The Walking Thread
"You should definitely use this gun to shoot me, because I am terrible."
Sunday night's episode was the mid-season finale, a new concept that means "We will be back when our ratings won't be torched by the holidays, i.e. February," and it was definitely the best (and THE WORST!) episode in quite some time. OMG that ending! Walking Dead, you are just lucky I ALSO watch Dexter, so I saw an EVEN SHITTIER reveal on the same night. Oy these shows.
Anyway! Let us commence discussion of the last episode that FOR SURE I'm absolutely positive about this felt exactly like a zombie munching on the contents of my brainpan.
(Spoilers lurch undeadly herein.)
Economic News Round-Up
The password is: Unemployment.
LA Times—On the US: "Despite the nation's 9% jobless rate, Republicans have grown increasingly uneasy with providing additional unemployment benefits beyond the 26 weeks most states offer. More than 2 million jobless Americans will exhaust those benefits in the early weeks of the new year. The federal government has been supplementing the states to provide up to 99 weeks of benefits. Congress will need to devise a way to pay for the estimated $55-billion cost of the extra aid that will draw GOP support without alienating Democrats."
Belfast Telegraph—On the UK: "The UK's economy will slip back into recession in the coming months, a bleak forecast from the OECD revealed. The economic think-tank said the UK's GDP will shrink in the final quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012—the first time it has predicted a double-dip recession for the UK. ... The OECD also said unemployment, which currently stands at 8.3%—its highest since 1996—will rise to 9% in 2013 as jobs figures take a worse hit than in the recession following the banking crisis."
ABC Melbourne—On Australia: "A study looking at youth employment has found young people make up almost a quarter of Australia's long-term unemployed. ... Since 2008, the percentage of young Australians without a job for a year or longer has almost doubled."
AP—On Japan: "Government figures released Tuesday showed the unemployment rate adjusted for seasonal variations had jumped to 4.5 percent from 4.1 percent in September. Other recent indicators show slowdowns in exports and industrial production in the face of a strong yen and a sputtering global economy."
China Daily—On France: "The number of jobless people in France grew by 1.2 percent in October from a month earlier, as sluggish economic activities slowed job creation in the eurozone's second largest economy, official figures showed on Monday. According to labor ministry figures, France registered 34,400 more jobless people last month, which pulled up the country's total number of jobseekers to more than 2.814 million in France's mainland."
Asia One News—On Thailand: "The Office of the National Economics and Social Development Board (NESDB) said yesterday that Thailand had 260,000 people out of work in the third quarter of this year and the flood had significantly affected workers' quality of life. The unemployment rate was expected to increase to 700,000-920,000 people, with household debts also rising."
NASDAQ—On Italy: "Italy's economy will contract by 0.5% in 2012, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Monday in a new set of forecasts, sharply slashing projections of 1.1% growth made in May. ... Italy's new government needs to 'fully implement' emergency fiscal measures it inherited from its predecessor and 'undertake important structural reforms to spur growth,' doing so even as unemployment rises, the OECD said."
Bloomberg—On Spain: "Spain's economy is struggling to recover from a three-year slump as households spend less to pay off one of the largest private-debt burdens in the euro region. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development cut its 2012 growth forecast for Spain to 0.3 percent from 1.6 percent yesterday, and said it sees unemployment peaking at 22.9 percent next year."
The Globe and Mail—On Greece: "In October, Greece's million-strong unemployed outnumbered the county’s 750,000 public sector workers as the country edged to the close of its fourth year of recession."
Not good. Meanwhile, the Eurozone crisis remains a primary global concern...
The Guardian's live coverage is here.
CBS News—EU leaders seek Hail Mary for the euro: "The 17 finance ministers of the countries that use the euro converged on EU headquarters Tuesday in a desperate bid to save their currency—and to protect Europe, the United States, Asia and the rest of the global economy from a debt-induced financial [disaster]. ... Even countries outside the eurozone were ratcheting up pressure on the ministers to find a solution. President Barack Obama, meeting with top EU officials on Monday, said a European failure to resolve its debt crisis would complicate his own efforts to create jobs in the U.S. And even Poland, historically wary of German dominance beyond its borders, appealed for help. 'I will probably be the first Polish foreign minister in history to say so, but here it is,' Radek Sikorski said in Berlin. 'I fear German power less than I am beginning to fear German inactivity. You have become Europe's indispensable nation.'"
ABC News—Obama says US 'stands ready to do our part' for Eurozone crisis: "As the European debt crisis continues to escalate, President Obama urged European Union leaders today to act quickly to resolve the eurozone crisis... 'This is of huge importance to our own economy. If Europe is contracting or if Europe is having difficulties, then it's much more difficult for us to create good jobs here at home,' [the president said]. While Obama did not say what kind of assistance the U.S. would be willing to provide, earlier today the White House ruled out any financial contributions from U.S. taxpayers. 'We do not in any way believe that additional resources are required from the United States or from American taxpayers,' White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters. 'This is a European issue, that Europe has the resources and capacity to deal with it and that they need to act decisively and conclusively to resolve this problem,' Carney said."
So, basically, we're going to "help" by lecturing other countries to get their shit together while failing to get our shit together. Awesome. Austerity for everyone!
Reuters—Euro zone crisis biggest threat to global economy—OECD: "The euro zone's debt crisis has become the biggest threat to the global economy and a break up of the currency zone can no longer be ruled out, the OECD said on Monday, slashing its forecasts and urging the ECB to play a bigger role in defusing the crisis. ... A worst case scenario of continued inaction in the euro zone and the failure of U.S. lawmakers to agree a spending-reduction plan would usher in a devastating downturn for the world economy, the Paris-based OECD said."
Speaking of the Congressional Supercommittee, they have yet to do fuck-all, naturally. And Republican Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, is leading the charge on making it All President Obama's Fault, despite the fact that Republicans accuse him of railroading Congress when it suits their narrative, and now accuse him of, essentially, not railroading Congress. (As if Congressional Republicans could be railroaded, anyway.) Good fucking god, this country's national discourse is infuriating.
In other random economic news...
IndieBay: Interview with Scott Olsen about his injury from the police attack on Occupy Oakland (video).
Bloomberg: Moody's considers bank debt downgrade in 15 European nations.
Wall Street Journal: Facebook targets huge IPO.
CNN Money: American Airlines files for bankruptcy.
Bloomberg: How Paulson gave hedge funds advance word. And related to that: Paul Krugman's "Mission not accomplished."
New York Times: In gloomy economic times, Santas learn to help by curbing expectations.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to leave links to anything you're reading and/or writing in comments.
Freedom of Tweet
Last week, 18-year-old high school senior Emma Sullivan got in Big Trouble after tweeting that she had "made mean comments at" conservative Republican Governor of Kansas, Sam Brownback, who was addressing a Youth in Government program, and told him that he "sucked." Sullivan actually had not done those things; her tweet was a joke to her then-65 followers, comprised of her friends. But Brownback's office, who fiercely monitors social media sites to document (and apparently whine about) criticism of the governor, ratted on Sullivan, whose principal ordered her to send Brownback a letter of apology. Sullivan refused, saying "she isn't sorry and doesn't think such a letter would be sincere."
Sullivan received a scolding at school and was ordered to send Brownback an apology letter. She said Prinicipal Karl R. Krawitz even suggested talking points for the letter she was supposed to turn in Monday.This is a man who ran for president of the United States, and we're meant to believe that he can't have a dialogue with a teenage girl who criticizes him with indelicate language, because it offends his delicate sensibilities? Yikes.
...She said she thinks the tweet has helped "open up dialogue" about free speech in social media..
"I would do it again," she said.
...Sullivan said she disagrees with Brownback politically, particularly his decision to veto the Kansas Arts Commission's entire budget, making Kansas the only state in the nation to eliminate arts funding. Brownback has argued arts programs can flourish with private dollars and that state funds should go to core government functions, such as education and social services.
"I think it would be interesting to have a dialogue with him," she said. "I don't know if he would do it or not though. And I don't know that he would listen to what I have to say."
Sherriene Jones-Sontag, the governor's spokeswoman, told The Star previously that Sullivan's message wasn't respectful and that it takes mutual respect to "really have a constructive dialogue." Brownback's office didn't return calls or emails Sunday from the AP.
Again I will note with amusement how it is progressives—and feminist ladies in particular—who are constantly cast as "oversensitive," but I have engaged in dialogue on many occasions with people who have said much worse to me than that I "suck." And I am not a public official whose paycheck is drawn from a government which ostensibly guarantees the right to freedom of speech.
Sullivan's mother, Julie, said she isn't angry with her daughter, even though she thinks she "could have chosen different words."Rock on, Mama Julie.
"She wasn't speaking to the 3,000 followers she has now," Julie Sullivan said. "She was talking to 65 friends. And also it's the speech they use today. It's more attention grabbing. I raised my kids to be independent, to be strong, to be free thinkers. If she wants to tweet her opinion about Gov. Brownback, I say for her to go for it and I stand totally behind her."
After Brownback and his staff tried to bully Emma Sullivan into silence and capitulation, and she and her mother were having none of it, guess what happened?
Brownback did announce this afternoon: "My staff over-reacted to this tweet, and for that I apologize."Still no apology for using taxpayer dollars to monitor Twitter for any hint of criticism of the governor in direct contravention of free speech laws, though. Huh.
Seen
On the bumper of a van in front of us on the road, on the way to dinner with friends Friday night: "If you can read this, you weren't ABORTED. Call your MOM and thank her."
Capitalization original.
I tried to get a picture of it at a stoplight, but our headlights' reflection off its gloss rendered it unreadable. Sad trombone.
Given the fact that Indiana has the most abortion restrictions of any state in the union, it might make more sense to call Mitch Daniels and thank him.
If you're the sort of person inclined to thank people for your lack of abortedness, that is.
Sunday Shuffle
You?
Bonus Foo just because:
The Virtual Pub Is Open
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the US, and, although not all of our contributors are USian, most of us are, so we're all going to take a long weekend. We'll be back full-time next Tuesday, and there will continue to be moderated daily Open Threads in the interim.
To everyone who will be marking Thanksgiving...Happy Thanksgiving!
To everyone who won't be...have a nice weekend!
In acknowledgement of what I will inadequately describe as the complicated history of this holiday, I recommend (re)reading Renee's great guest post, "What Are We Really Giving Thanks For?"
And in acknowledgement of the part of this holiday which is worth celebrating—that is, taking a moment to give thanks for that for which we are grateful—I would like to say that I am thankful for you, Shakers.
It's Interesting...
...how much conservatives suddenly care about "flip-flopping" when it's a Mormon who's doing it.
Funny, that.
Daily Dose of Cute
Video Description: Zelda the black-and-tan mutt chases Dudley the white-and-red greyhound around the back of the garden. When he gets too far ahead of her, he slows down to let her catch up, but never actually catch him. They stop, and I tell her, "Zelda, get him! Go get him!" She runs after him some more. Repeat.
* * *
As I mentioned, we recently had to have our back garden fenced in, as the two-years-and-counting increasingly FUBARed construction project on our street is set to leave us without sidewalks in every direction for possibly six months. So, since we live in a place that doesn't give a fuck about basic amenities, but do ourselves give a fuck about providing our dogs with regular exercise, we had to spring for a fence.
(To give you some idea of how absurdly mismanaged and chronically stupid this project is, they are spending today tearing out the street in front of our house. Great idea, because who needs access to their driveways on a holiday weekend? I'm sure no one was planning on having people over for Thanksgiving.)
Anyway! Although it was highly irritating to be obliged by local incompetence to put ourselves in debt, the dogs are convinced we've gifted them with their own private dog park, and their joyfulness makes me happy.
Dudley has also been inspired to invent a new game which I call Bump. Basically, the game consists of Dudley bumping me, lol. I stand in the middle of the yard, and he walks over and flops against the back of my legs as hard as he can, and then I say, "BUMP!" and he curls around me then flops against the front of my legs, then the sides, and around and around, looking up at me and grinning like a fool while I say, "BUMP! BUMP!" and pet him and give him kisses.
He is 70 pounds, and this game will definitely put me on the ground someday. But probably not before Zelda's new game of "RUN AT TWO-LEGS AT TOP SPEED THEN LAUNCH MYSELF THROUGH THE AIR AT HER WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" does.
Seen
In case your Thanksgiving needs a little more excitement, try adding some Bieber Febver!
Quote of the Day
"What is this 'mac and cheese'—is that a black thing?"—Pat Robertson, Professor of Huh at LOL University.
Kristi Watts, a black woman, on video, interviewing former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, also a black woman: What's that one thing at Thanksgiving you just have to have?Personally, I enjoy my mac and cheese with some emeffing iced tea.
Rice, grinning: It's mac and cheese.
Watts: [claps] Sister, that is my dish!
Rice, nodding and grinning: Yes. Yes.
Watts: That's the one thing that I can rock!
Rice: But only once—once a year.
[edit back to studio at The 700 Club, where ancient white man Pat Robertson, a professional Christian Supremacist asshole, sits with Watts]
Robertson: Good interview, Kristi. Congratulations.
Watts: Thank you, Pat. [claps]
Robertson: What is this 'mac and cheese'—is that a black thing?
Watts: It is a black thing, Pat! It is! Listen, and you guys, other people, the world needs to get on board with macaroni and cheese. Seriously! I just—okay, Christmas and Thanksgiving, we have to have macaroni and cheese, and it just, it trips me out that you don't!
Robertson: I really don't! I don't and I have never!
[They both laugh.]
In my experience, mac and cheese isn't "a black thing," so much as it is a class thing, i.e. poorer folks tend to eat more mac and cheese (and other variations on pasta + dairy/protein, like tuna casserole). What a splendid example of ignorance and privilege that Pat Robertson, introduced to an unfamiliar tradition, just assumes it must be "a black thing," because obviously there can be no tradition shared among many people on which he, Super-Privileged White Dude, isn't an expert. Must be "a black thing" if he doesn't know about it. Yiiiiiiikes.
[Via.]
Shit.
I had something important that I was going to post, but I totally forgot what it was. I hate it when that happens. If I remember it, I'll drop it in the comments. In the meantime, here's some stuff I cut-and-paste from other feminist blogs:
Many disagree on the place of feminism in the contemporary world. Dzodan (2011) argues that "MY FEMINISM WILL BE INTERSECTIONAL OR IT WILL BE BULLSHIT!....My cats would be delighted to pee on you." While this is a belief, it has also been said that "Goats are assholes, man. [Emphasis mine]" (Shakestown, Porn)
However, "After a while one miraculously learns (from a parallel universe, most likely) that girls' knickers!!!!!1!! are not available at the fish counter of the local supermarket!" [Emphasis Awesome!] (Snakes, The Internet)
In light of this, [Benjamin Grumbles, Esq.] exhorts us to remember that "The lady-brain is a highly delicate instrument that must never be taxed with complex thought, lest it overheat and cause a dreadful case of the vapors, requiring a cooling period in repose upon a fainting couch, preferably on a shaded veranda, during which the swoonful lass must be cautiously revived with a steady influx of mint juleps. The lady-brain cannot be stressed writing for web windows! Complete uterine collapse will not be far behind such wanton willynillying!
Such fragility is precisely why no one of the female persuasion is allowed on the airship! Not only can I not abide the exploitation of gentlewomen by the unnecessary strain of their pitiable mental facilities, but I cannot fit a fainting couch in the infernal contraption, anyhow—not with Bruce's enormous collection of classic gentlemen's calendars and physique magazines lying about!"
And yet, "Uninspected bacon" (Gashtoncrumblesworthton).
In conclusion, the Internet is a land of contrasts.
Wednesday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by stripes.
Recommended Reading:
Ragen: [TW for fat hatred] I See Fat People…They're Everywhere
eeshap: [TW for war and violence] Conflict Is Forever: Can We Change Attitudes About Diamonds?
Simba: [TW for racism] Ethnic Hatred Taints Liberated Libya
Monica: [TW for racism] Beckham Calls for End to Racism in Soccer
Victoria: On Women, Psych Meds, and the Rape Culture
Tigtog: Quote of the Day: Racism, Diversity, & Meritocracy
The Heretik: Scream in My Coffee
Andy: UC Davis Pepper Spray Officer Also Homophobic and Racist
Leave your links and recommendations in comments...
FIFA's Sepp Blatter Puts Down Shovel, Hires Mechanical Digger
(TW racism)
Last week, I wrote a pair of posts about FIFA president Sepp Blatter, the white man who said that racism during games was inevitable, and should be forgotten after handshakes.
Understandably, reaction around the world was fiercely negative, with a number of prominent figures in the game, and many, many fans, calling for Blatter's resignation.
Speaking at the opening of the executive committee meeting of the Asian Football Confederation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Mr. Blatter asserted that he now considers the racism row to be over, and that his feelings were terribly hurt that we all think him a racist. Why, he began his career in FIFA working in Africa, he adds, blithely failing to recognize how appalling it is to suggest that simply having worked in Africa means that racism is over.
I don't know how much more clear he can make it, that he has absolutely no business being in charge of a world organization, one with a serious and ongoing problem with racism. More news from this weekend, as Norwich City forward James Vaughan was the target of racist abuse on Twitter, reported to police by his club, and an accusation of racism against Dutch legend Johann Cruyff in his role with Ajax Amsterdam - that he told Black ex-player Edgar Davids that he was only on the board for his skin colour. These are only the incidents from the last weekend, and only those reported in the media.
Time to step down, Mr. Blatter. Step down, go home, and nurse your wounded feelings, and just keep telling yourself how not-racist you are. Just please do it somewhere else than as the leader of the so-called Beautiful Game.
To finish on a more upbeat note, there's a new film coming out about Arthur Wharton, the first Black professional footballer, signing for Rotherham Town in 1889: The Rise of the North Star.
Update to Women Gaming Post
(TW sexual violence)
Yesterday, I posted (TW sexual violence) an e-mail that I'd written to a friend in my gaming group, asking him to speak up for me in asking our fellow gamers (a group of white cis men in their 40s) to stop making references to sexual violence around me.
My friend wrote back last night, after the session (which I couldn't attend), and I share the response with his permission:
I spoke to the guys, they all said pretty much the same. No offense meant and if something is said, just let them know. It has been mentioned to them now.Teaspoon raised, and a bit of bailing done.
ô,ôP
Number of the Day
32.8%: The percentage of the 4,342 speaking characters from the top 100-grossing movies of 2009 who were female; 67.2% were male, and the percentages remained unchanged from 2008, according to the study done by the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism.
"We see remarkably stable trends," said USC Annenberg associate professor Stacy L. Smith. "This reveals an industry formula for gender that may be outside of people's conscious awareness."Marginalization is a snake eating its own tail: The more any non-privileged group is marginalized, the more they're marginalized.
It's not just the ratio of female to male characters that continues to be imbalanced but the manner in which they're depicted, according to Smith.
The USC study determined that women were still far more likely than men to wear sexy clothing in movies, such as swimwear and unbuttoned shirts (25.8% versus 4.7%), to expose skin (23% versus 7.4%) and to be described by another character as attractive (10.9% versus 2.5%).
Revealing clothing and partial nudity was just as prevalent among 13- to 20-year-old female characters as it was among those 21 to 29, suggesting that females are sexualized on-screen at young ages, Smith said.
Behind the camera, the gender inequality is just as dramatic: only 3.6% of the directors and 13.5% of the writers on the top-grossing films of 2009 were female, according to the study.
Researchers found that the sex of the storytellers had a significant effect on what appeared on-screen. In movies directed by women, 47.7% of the characters were female; in movies directed by men, fewer than a third of the characters were female. When one or more of the screenwriters was female, 40% of characters were female; when all the screenwriters were male, 29.8% of the characters were female.
More on Hair
by Shaker GoldFishy
[Trigger warning for brief mention of surgical procedures.]
Hi all, Shaker Goldfishy here...
After I commented on Liss's post about my own recent change of hairstyle, and how it required me to overcome some internalized judgements of a different flavor, Liss invited me to open a thread for further discussion based on my experience.
I'm 40 years old, and my hair has been thinning quite noticeably in the last 5-10 years. I've always loved the look of very short hair on men, anyway, and, once it became clear that as time marched on, it was planning to take my hair with it, I wanted to closely cut my hair. (If you know about hair clippers, I've wanted the #1 setting, which is 1/8 inch.) My hair wasn't very long to begin with, but the texture of my hair and the thinning always left me feeling like it was a mess and not very flattering.
But I had one big hesitation: When I was much younger, I had a series of surgeries to remove a birthmark. The birthmark straddled my hairline on my forehead and was of a type that could eventually become malignant. When I was 13, doctors surgically removed the birthmark (then about 2.5 inches wide and 3.5 inches long) and replaced it with a skin graft from my leg. At age 18, I underwent a series of surgeries to "expand" (i.e., stretch) the skin and tissue around the graft so that it could be removed. A small amount of the skin graft remains at the top of my forehead and the final surgery left scars around the "crown" of my head. I was worried that if I cut my hair too short that I'd draw unwanted attention to them. The scarring includes a couple "bumps" that to my fingers feel HUGE but I think in appearance are all but invisible. I don't think I look awful, but I know that my scars are noticeable and I sometimes feel self-conscious about that.
My partner, The Captain, has been cutting his hair very short for a little while, and I loved it so much I felt more determined than ever to take the leap. So this fall, I finally took a chance and got a "#1 all around." I figured that the worst that could happen is I'd have to wear a hat for a few weeks while it grew back in.
Well, I LOVE it!!! A couple folks have commented on the scarring, but if people are noticing, most of them aren't indicating so.
Left, with Liss, before haircuts. Right, after haircut.
The Captain and I were in Chicago last week (while Liss was so terribly sick...talk about unfortunate timing!) and I felt so terrific with my new style. It just feels...right. (What you see in the photo is me with a couple weeks' growth...I'm due for another trim this weekend.)
Liss suggested--and I agree--that my little story might present an opportunity for other lines of discussion about how insecurities impact our hairstyle choices. I acknowledge that a great many factors affect one's choices (or lack thereof) about hairstyle, and I value that Shakesville provides a safe space to discuss topics that affect us personally.
Hells Yeah News
True facts:
1. I am a lady
2. I like teh sports
3. I like teh sports video games
I'm a particularly big fan of hockey, because I grew up in Minnesota and hockey is part of my religion. :cough:
Stop me if you've heard this one before, but sometimes the people who design video games (always) forget that I exist. So, if you're playing EA's hockey game, you can create an avatar, provided that avatar represents a dude.
Lexi Peters, a 14-year-old girl from Upstate, was all like 'What the fuck, yo?' So, she wrote to EA.
In a show of savvy public relations, EA decided to add an option for a female avatar, using Peters' likeness as the model. Score.
Via @ShelbyKnox
So the Republicans Had a Debate Last Night
And it was garbage no doy. Anyway, it aired on one of the cable news networks, but I just can't remember which one:
[Click to embiggen.]
Oh well nevermind that. Wolf Blitzer was the moderator, and the subject was
Blah blah debate national security. "It's a president's most important and daunting responsibility, to protect and defend the United States of America. Millions of lives in the hands of one commander-in-chief. It's what legacies are made of." Blah blah Reagan. "The National Anthem performed by Mauricio Perez, from the Tony Award winning musical, Jersey Boys," lulz. Blah blah we're all definitely straight and married. Blah blah terrorism. Blah blah Patriot Act. Blah blah Constitution. Blah blah war. "We are a nation of values." Blah blah targeted identification.
It is at this point in the debate that Herman Cain responds to a question posed to him by moderator Wolf Blitzer: "No, Blitz. That's oversimplifying it." LOL. He then babbles a bit more national security nonsense before correcting himself: "I'm sorry, Blitz, I meant Wolf, okay?" To which Wolf Blitzer replies, "Thank you, Cain." LOL. Oh my god.
Blah blah Al Qaeda. Blah blah Pakistan. "And I also think that Pakistan is a nation, that it's kind of like too nuclear to fail." Blah blah Afghanistan. Blah blah pull out. (That's what she said.) Blah blah Osama bin Laden. "You tell the Pakistanis, help us or get out of the way, but don't complain if we kill people you're not willing to go after on your territory where you have been protecting them." Blah blah radical Islam. Blah blah Iran. "We need a strategy of defeating and replacing the current Iranian regime with minimum use of force." Blah blah sanctions blah.
And more endless blah blah blah peppered with belligerent posturing from a bunch of aggressive defense hawks who are under the foolish impression that the United States is still a thriving empire, and of the ghastly opinion that the role of an empire is to put on big boots and stomp all over the world. The end.
[Previously in Debate-a-Thon 2012: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven.]
Happy Birthday, Deeky!
Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuuu!
Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuuu!
You're forty-one and that maaaaaaaakes meeeeeeeee
Four years younger than you!
Happy birthday, asshole!
P.S. I love you.
Happy Birthday, Elle!
Happy birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuu!
Happy birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuu!
You look like a radical kyriarchy-smashing feminiiiiiiiist!
And you smell like one toooooooo!
(Mmmmm...lavender!)
Happy Birthday, Elle. I love you, grrl.
Question of the Day
In light of Fox News host Megyn Kelly's absurd, horrifying, and utterly indefensible proclamation that pepper spray is "a food product, essentially", what food(s) would you most like to see available in aerosol form?
Note: In case it's not evident, I'm not making light of the pepper-spraying itself; I'm contemptuously mocking the 'it's just a food!' defense or what I view as an indefensible use of pepper spray.
Krissy Bates Update
[Trigger warning for violence; transphobia.]
Arnold Waukazo, the killer of Krissy Bates, a trans woman who was murdered in January of this year, has been convicted of second-degree murder.
Waukazo waived his right to a jury trial and Hennepin County District Judge Allen Oleisky presented the verdict today.Nonetheless, Judge Oleisky apparently bought the defense's argument, which doesn't appear to have been an explicit "trans panic" defense, i.e. Waukazo murdered Bates upon discovery she was trans, but instead some variation that cast Bates as a potential threat to Waukazo.
Defense counsel had argued to downgrade charges from First Degree, Pre-Meditated Murder to Manslaughter as a result of "heat of passion" and self defense. Waukazo and Bates had been involved in a relationship prior to Bates' death. The prosecution repeatedly argued that the aggressive and deliberate attack which resulted in Bates' death at the hands of Waukazo, in fact, the antithesis of self-defense and a passionate response.
"This is cold blooded murder," states Mike Freeman, Hennepin County Attorney, in his summation. "This was a premeditated planned committed action... he killed her and left her to die."
I can't comment much on the case without further details, but I did want to pass on that Waukazo has at least been held accountable for his crime.
[H/T to Shaker GoldFishy. Previously: RIP Krissy Bates, Krissy Bates Update 1, Transgender Day of Remembrance.]
Once More, With Feeling
Again: If your revolution doesn't implicitly and explicitly include a rejection of misogyny and other intersectional marginalizations, then you're not staging a revolution: You're staging a change in management.
I dedicate this to you, OccupyChicago.
Post-Feminist Entertainment
[Trigger warning for misogyny.]
I've been really excited to see the previews for this awesome new show, coming next week to Fox:
Male Voiceover: Just because you have a teenage daughter doesn't mean you're not all that.HA HA! Perfect. Definitely what this post-feminist world needs is some post-feminist programming with edgy narratives about how women are jealous bitches who resent their own daughters as they age disgracefully and mourn their lost youth. WELL DONE, FOX.
Blond White Woman working behind counter at cafe, to Conventionally Attractive White Man: I am definitely a cool parent. I'm always online, networking socially. [canned laughter]
Auburn-Haired White Female Friend, leaning against counter: I'm a cool mom, too. LOL. Whatevs. Justin Bieber. [canned laughter]
Male Voiceover: I Hate My Teenage Daughter. Wednesday, November 30th, on Fox!
And what a title! Goooooooooooood one. In this post-feminist world, where there is definitely no concern about the emotional health of teenage girls and bullying is not a problem and misogyny is FOR SURE a thing of the past, where no one uses "girl" or "schoolgirl" as an insult, where no one accuses anyone of throwing like a girl or crying like a schoolgirl, and companies would never do something like conflate a teenage girl with mayhem, where teenage girls are all totally secure in their worth as full and equal beings and their humanity is never diminished by objectification or exploitation or marginalization or myriad narratives that daily communicate you are less than, in this amazing new world where feminism has been rendered moot, this is obviously a perfect show that is super funny.
Thank Maude we live in this remarkable new frontier of undiluted equality, because can you even imagine the horror of being a teenage girl in a misogynist world and having to hear I Hate My Teenage Daughter played for laughs week after week after week...? Shiver. I don't even want to contemplate it.
Fuck you, Fox.
Neat!
Sarah Posner: Both Sides Expect Obama to Side with Bishops on Contraception Coverage
Pro-choice advocates... say they expect imminent action from the Obama Administration to broaden the exemption [from birth control coverage for employer-sponsored insurance plans] beyond churches and other houses of worship. That action could come as early as tomorrow.That's just super.
Atlas Emails!
I got an email a little while ago from Atlas Shrugged Movie. That's really the name in the from field. It is really from the movie's marketing department. I must have signed up for email alerts from them at some point. Whoops. Personally, I think this should have come from "John Galt." That would have been neat. "Hey, Mom, John Galt just sent me an email!" See? Marketing 101.
Anyway, misery loves company (so says that Goo Goo Dolls song), so I thought I'd share:
The copy in the email reads:
THIS FRIDAY, GIVE THE GIFT OF KNOWLEDGE.
Mark your calendar. This Friday, November 25, is the special one-day Gulch Store shopping event. Visit us online and give the very special blu-metal gift of lasting knowledge to your friends and family.
Browse the Gulch Store now for great gift ideas.
I don't really know what this means. It references a one-day event on Friday, but the online store is open now and will, free-market willing, be open Saturday and I see nothing about special Black Friday discounts. Marketing 204 (an elective class) I bet teaches: Be sure your message is clear. Whoops.
I guess, maybe, if you're going to buy an Atlas Shrugged: Part I: The Undiscovered Country DVD do it on Friday? It's now available in nine (NINE!) different editions. Oof. To be an Atlas Shrugged: Part I DVD completist: Sad face.
See you Friday, Shruggians!
Quote of the Day
"He did say the words. That's his voice."—Tom Rath, senior adviser in New Hampshire to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, on the Romney campaign's bullshit ad that quotes President Obama out of context.
In the ad, which goes up Tuesday in New Hampshire, Mr. Obama is heard saying "if we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose."And in their defense, all the Romney campaign's got is: "He did say the words. That's his voice."
But when Mr. Obama made that statement, he was actually quoting an aide to John McCain, his 2008 rival for the presidency. "Senator McCain's campaign actually said, and I quote, if we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose," Mr. Obama said.
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.
Sad News
This past Sunday night, a massive fire broke out at a convention of trans* women in Delhi. At least fifteen people were killed, and over thirty-six were injured. I haven't seen a lot of details in the press, but NPR reported that an electrical short may have caused the fire.
NPR also quoted a witness who said it took the local fire brigade an hour to arrive.
My heartfelt condolences to everybody affected by this horrible tragedy.
I think it goes without saying (but here I go!) that gender non-conforming people around the world are seriously oppressed. In the case of hijra and other Indian trans* people, I imagine they might have held their gathering in a more opulent, less deadly venue had that been an option.
Uppity
[Trigger warning for racism; misogyny.]
As you may have heard, over the weekend, First Lady Michelle Obama and Second Lady Jill Biden made an appearance at a NASCAR event at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where they were serving as grand marshals to promote their Joining Forces initiative on behalf of veterans and military families—and during the event, they were booed.
The booing incident itself was bad enough, reflective of an unusual lack of the respect typically afforded the holders of the First- and Second Lady offices, irrespective of their individual politics. But yesterday, the odious Rush Limbaugh took to the airwaves to defend the booing and justify it by explaining that NASCAR fans, i.e. Real AmericansTM, understand that First Lady Michelle Obama is "uppity."
Citing the 2008 incident where then-Sen. Obama was secretly recorded at a fundraiser describing small town Pennsylvanians in hard economic times as getting "bitter" and "cling(ing) to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations," Limbaugh said "people that go to NASCAR races are the very people her husband called bitter clingers."Emphasis mine.
Limbaugh also said "we don't like being told what to eat; we don't like being told how much to exercise; we don't like being told what we've got to drive; we don't like wasting money; we don't like our economy being bankrupted. We don't like 14% unemployment. The question is, what the hell is there to cheer for when Miss Obama and Ms. Biden show up?"
The host then took it one step further. "I'll tell you something else," he said. "We don't like paying millions of dollars for Mrs. Obama's vacations. The NASCAR crowd doesn't quite understand why when the husband and the wife are going to the same place, the first lady has to take her own Boeing 757 with family and kids and hangers-on four hours earlier than her husband, who will be on his 747. NASCAR people understand that's a little bit of a waste. They understand it's a little bit of uppity-ism."
It was promptly, and rightly, noted by a number of people that "uppity" is a racially loaded term, used by white people to describe people of color, especially black people, who don't "know their place."
Conservative pundits/bloggers/apologists of various vocation are, as per usual, attempting to rip the word from its evident roots in order to claim it's not a racist sentiment. Suffice it to say, we're not going to debate that in this space. It is unequivocally a racially loaded term with a racist history, and only white privilege and/or a bullshit agenda could allow anyone to argue otherwise.
I want to note that, in addition to being a racially loaded term, "uppity" is also a misogynist dog whistle, used against women of all colors to indicate that we don't "know our place." Limbaugh, progenitor of the charming portmanteau "feminazis," was certainly playing not just to his listeners' nasty opinions about the Obamas as "uppity blacks," but their prejudices against "uppity women" who think they've got business at a manly event like NASCAR.
It isn't just that First Lady Obama was being demeaned as a black person; it's that she was being demeaned as a black woman.
Is that important? Of course it is. Just as it's important to understand that women of color cannot wrench pieces of their intersectional identity apart, tearing their race from their womanhood, it's important to understand the way that marginalizing narratives also work on multiple levels against women with intersectional identities.
Shaker Gourmet: Thanksgiving 2011
Yes, yes it is: the annual (American) Thanksgiving post! Going to do something slightly different this year and I hope you all will help out. While I normally post a big recipe post, this year I think it would be great if everyone would be willing share their favorite recipe to make/take for this (or any other) holiday.
If you're stuck looking for something new to make or take this year (or really, for whenever), hopefully you'll find something great in comments here!
That said, here is one of my staples for Thanksgiving:
I've made this for the past several years, after a friend gave it to me, and it's delicious.Ginger Apricot Cranberry Sauce
* 1 tbsp. unsalted butter
* 2 tbsp. finely grated ginger
* 16 oz. fresh cranberries
* 2/3 cup sugar
* 1 cup orange juice
* 1/2 cup apricot preserves
In a saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter. Add ginger and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Add crans, sugar, oj and preserves. Cook, stirring occasionally, until crans burst and sauce thickens, about 20 mins. Transfer to bowl and serve warm.
And another yummy one:
You can dust the top of the marshmallows with cinnamon before putting in oven, too.Roasted Yam Casserole
* 3 medium jewel yams
* 1/4 cup orange juice
* 2 TB melted butter
* 1/2 tsp cinnamon
* 2 TB brown sugar
* 2 cups mini marshmallows
Heat oven to 350. Roast yams in oven for one hour. Let cool. Peel off skin.
Mash yams in 8x8 casserole dish or deep-dish pie plate. Put in all other ingredients and mash them all together (or mix, with spoon if you'd rather). Smooth out top. Bake (at 350) for 15 minutes. Take out of oven and put marshmallows on top. Put back in oven until marshmallows are puffed and slightly toasted (only takes a couple minutes). Serve warm!
Pie tip: Crush up gingerbread cookies to use as a crumb crust with pumpkin pies or cheesecakes. If you have a food processor, this is soooo easy.
Ideas from previous years:
Thanksgiving 2010: Cocktail Weenies, Herb-Scented Roast Turkey, Apple-Onion Stuffin' Muffins, Sweet Potato Casserole, Toffee Apple Pie.
Thanksgiving 2009: Jellied Cranberry Sauce, Spinach Madeline, Pumpkin-Apple Streusel Cake.
Thanksgiving 2008: Good Eats Roast Turkey, Basic French Bread, Sweet Potato Balls.
Thanksgiving 2007: Bruschetta, Brie Mashed Potatoes, gravy & gravy tips, Old Fashioned Dinner Rolls, Herb Bread & Dipping Oil, Bavarian Apple Torte.
For a non-pumpkin, non-apple, super easy dessert: Peanut Butter Pie.
