I thought I'd muscle in on Olivia and Matilda's turf and bring all of you dog loving Shakers a little Friday fluff. Presenting... RORY! Dog Of... the FUTURE!!!
Rory would like you all to know that the purple gorilla was like that when she got there.
Friday Rat Terrier Blogging
I'm Shaken, Not Stirred
I'm not the world's biggest Bond fan. I'm one of those "I like the Connery movies," people; will watch a Bond film if it's on, but don't rent or buy the movies, and I'm not necessarily going to catch a new Bond film in the theaters.
That said:
Great day in the morning! *Dials moviefone*
I've got to say, I find it rather amusing that Casino Royale was originally a screwball comedy. Woody Allen and flying saucers!
march of the dumbasses
Tomorrow is a book fair at my son's school and I will be going to pick up some gifts. One of the books I hope to find there is And Tango Makes Three. This lovely true story, however, won't be on the shopping list for some people in Shiloh, IL. You see, they're trying to get it banned from the school library:
SHILOH, Ill. - A picture book about two male penguins raising a baby penguin is getting a chilly reception among some parents who worry about the book's availability to children — and the reluctance of school administrators to restrict access to it.
The concerns are the latest involving "And Tango Makes Three," the illustrated children's book based on a true story of two male penguins in New York City's Central Park Zoo that adopted a fertilized egg and raised the chick as their own.
Complaining about the book's homosexual undertones, some parents of Shiloh Elementary School students believe the book — available to be checked out of the school's library in this 11,000-resident town 20 miles east of St. Louis — tackles topics their children aren't ready to handle.
Ummmm, bullshit. Kids are perfectly able to "handle" the fact that there are different kinds of families. These parents apparently believe that saying to a child "some families have two daddies" means they have to say "Mr. Smith likes to deep throat the other Mr. Smith's giant cock". Which, of course, isn't true. I've had the "there are all kinds of families" conversation with my kids and not once did sex come up. Love, of course, did. But the people who object to books such as Tango can't comprehend that.
Anyway, the school district Superintendant thinks these parents can go pound sand:
For now, "And Tango Makes Three" will stay put, said school district Superintendent Jennifer Filyaw, though a panel she appointed suggested the book be moved and require parental permission to be checked out. The district's attorney said moving it might be construed as censorship.
Filyaw considers the book "adorable" and age appropriate, written for children ages 4 to 8.
"My feeling is that a library is to serve an entire population," she said. "It means you represent different families in a society — different religions, different beliefs."
Rock on, Ms.Filyaw. And boo to that panel. Tango has "raised concern" at a school in Missouri as well. The librarian decided to call two zoos and a university's zoology department to check on penguin behavior to see how much fact or fiction the story holds. She got confirmation that it's a common occurance so she moved it to the nonfiction section so "no one would be blindsided by it".
Bloggy Loveness
Warmest congratulations to my friend Sean, who, before he skipped town for California, was the physicist-in-residence at the Shaker Meet-Up at which we saw An Inconvenient Truth, and his new fiancée Jennifer.
As part of a duo who also found each other across thousands of miles (and an ocean) in a way that was heretofore impossible, I have a special affinity for the brave and crazy souls who also manage to turn a series of 0s and 1s into Xs and Os, too.
Coming soon to a radio station near you…
Presidential propaganda!
GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital, a private equity firm, has just bought Clear Channel, the #1 radio station operator in America. They bought it in conjunction with Thomas H. Lee Partners, which is “involved in a lot of other media properties.”
Chris Bowers: “To prepare for their 2008 runs, most potential candidates stock up on staff, a Leadership PAC, and support from party leaders, advocacy organizations, and grassroots groups. Mitt Romney buys a media empire.“
Shakes: I can’t believe this shit is legal.
Steers and queers
This actually surprised me: Dallas is courting gay and lesbian tourists.
"Big D" is a diverse metropolitan area that "has left behind stereotypes of big-haired women and rowdy cowboys -- that is, unless you count sassy drag queens and strapping gay rodeo champs," according to a Web site operated by the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau."Our Secret is Out" proclaims the site, which features images of same-sex couples enjoying the local sights.
"It's not about being politically correct, it's about being economically correct," said Phillip Jones, president and CEO of the tourism bureau. He said gay travelers spend an average of $100 more per day than other travelers and plan four to six trips a year.
Homophobes and other dedicated traditionalists will tear their hair out over this, but they don't have a cash-strapped municipality to run. Gays and lesbians represent a desirable demographic for savvy marketers. The 2006 LGBT population was projected to have a aggregate purchasing power of $641 billion. That kind of figure can do more to open some doors than a raft of legislation. It's all about the money, honey, and Dallas is officially laying out the welcome mat. It will interesting to see how long it takes other major metros to figure it out (I'm looking at you, St. Louis).
Hey - it's not exactly the Voting Rights Act. But it's a step in the right direction.
(Cross-posted.)
Accountability, Bitchez
As you probably recall, Laura Ingraham, the human nasal passage, was indulging in a little election day tomfoolery on the 7th. Apparently, she wasn't worried about anyone calling her out on election tampering.
Well, guess what?
Boy, it would be nice to see her and Coulter sharing a cell. It's time for these wingnut pundits to be held to the same standard as everyone else in the country.
"They Want Ignorance to Rule So They Can Have Control"
The "Education President" strikes again. If the youth of Iraq have one thing to cling to, it would be the prospects of a good education for themselves. And now, even that possibility is beginning to crumble.
Iraqi Students Fear Death of Education System
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Maha Nidal's voice is tinged with bitterness and sorrow as she looks around the campus courtyard at her fellow students milling around. The sight is a blend of Iraq's various religious sects --some girls in headscarves, others looking like they walked out of the pages of a fashion magazine.You'll definitely want to watch the video.
"The future? The future is a dream. We only live in the now. There is no future," the 21-year-old student says.
This university, with its sprawling green campus, once was abuzz with activity. Now it is covered in the layer of grime and dust that seems to blanket all of Baghdad.
Like most of the students at Baghdad University, Maha lives in fear. But now, after the mass kidnapping at the Ministry of Higher Education this week, she lives not only in fear of the violence, but in fear of losing the one thing that will determine her future -- her education. (Watch Maha describe the lack of hope Iraqi students have -- 2:17 Video)
When she heard that the education ministry was thinking of shutting down the university, her world -- already shattered -- crumbled.
"You can't imagine what we felt, I saw our future destroyed," she says. "How do you know that a future of a country ... has been destroyed? It's when there is no justice, no security, and no education, if you reach the stage of no studies and no education. And when you lose that, that's it, the people are finished.
"There is no future."
[...]One does not have to look further than the empty hallways and deserted classrooms to see the toll that the violence is taking on Iraq's educated moderate minds. The students say that on a good day, 40 percent of their classmates show up. More often than not, their professors are not around. Most of the senior professors have fled the country or have been killed.
"The head of my department was killed last year," Maha says. "Gunmen came to his house and killed him. And that was hard for us. He was like one of the students; he kept us strong."
He also gave her hope.
Many of the students here are aware that extremist elements want to divide Iraqi society and drive out secular moderates.
"This is what they want -- the gunmen, the terrorists, any force right now with its hands in destruction wants this -- no education," Maha says. "No learning, no future, for ignorance to rule so that they can have control."
The impact of the academic destruction, as one Iraqi education official put it, could kill this struggling nation.
So, everything that could possibly bring "freedom" to Iraq is being systematically destroyed. If you're not being shot in the street, you're losing the possibility of building a future for yourself with higher education. It's becoming more and more obvious that Bush's idea of "freedom" rests on a "free election" or two, it has nothing to do with infrastructure, protection, or education. The idea that a man who made it into Yale due to his family name, and then systematically pissed away his higher education, could then go on to destroy the educational future of thousands of people is maddening.
(What do you do with a drunken cross-post?)
A-Courtin’ the Conservatives He Shall Go…
”I’m wooing. Are you wooed yet? Because I’m wooing, baby.”
In his quest for the Republican presidential nomination, Arizona Sen. John McCain courted Thursday the group that vets conservative judicial nominees, the Federalist Society.Touché, le Maverique! Even his insults directed at the Democrats are stunningly individualist. The Democrats are incoherent—how does he come up with such astounding zingers?! This guy’s a genius.
The powerful lawyers’ group, which is holding its annual convention in Washington this weekend, has spawned such conservative nominees of President Bush as appeals court Judge William Pryor and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.
…In his speech to a packed ballroom at a Washington hotel, McCain assured the group that despite last week’s sobering election returns for Republicans, “the election was not an affirmation of the other party’s program. Try as hard as I could, I couldn’t find much evidence that my Democratic friends were offering anything that resembled a coherent platform.”
He spoke of the importance of judges who would strictly interpret the Constitution.“Activist judges are totally wack, yo,” he added. “Can I get a whoop-whoop?”
“They should be people who respect the limited scope afforded federal judges under the Constitution,” he said.
This source called McCain’s decision to speak to the Federalists “an attempt to improve his credibility” with conservatives and “a chance to demonstrate his commitment to and knowledge of the judges issue.”The source, a white-haired man reeking of desperation and complaining of jaw ache from what he described as “honoring the president,” also noted that McCain would soon introduce a campaign slogan designed specifically for the social conservatives he hopes to successfully woo in coming months.
From the You Can’t Make This Shit Up Files
Remember the Pentagon document that classified homosexuality as a mental disorder? Well, the Pentagon has made amends, and now classifies homosexuality as one of many reasons for retirement or discharge, alongside fear of flying and bedwetting.
The guidelines outline retirement or other discharge policies for service members with physical disabilities. The rules include sections that describes other specific conditions, circumstances and defects that also could lead to retirement, but are not physical disabilities.Thanks a bucketload, Cynthia.
Among the conditions are stammering or stuttering, dyslexia, sleepwalking, motion sickness, obesity, insect venom allergies and homosexuality.
"More than 30 years after the mental health community declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder, it is disappointing that the Pentagon still continues to mischaracterize it as a 'defect’,” said Rep. Marty Meehan, D-Mass., a member of the House Armed Services Committee.
Pentagon spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said "homosexuality should not have been characterized as a mental disorder. A clarification has been issued."
Methinks the only people wetting the bed in the military are those who completely lose control of their bodily functions at the mere thought of A GAY!!!
Ooga-booga, Sergeant Sister!
*pssssssssssssssss*
D’oh!
Btw, how many people do you think have been discharged in Iraq for stuttering?
McCain Calls for Common Sense!
Johnny-Boy just lurrrrves him some common sense:
Sen. John McCain, casting himself as the embodiment of the Republican Party's future in the vein of Ronald Reagan, said Thursday the GOP has lost its way and must return to "common-sense conservatism."*shiver* Good lord almighty. The last thing we need after Bush is another freaking Reagan! Yes, let’s run up the deficit even more and send the economy right over the bloody cliff as we hand out more tax cuts and spend wantonly on defense. What a splendid idea!
…The same day he launched a committee to explore whether to run in 2008, McCain invoked the legacy of Reagan, who won the presidency four years after leading the rebirth of a dispirited GOP following the Republican defeat in the 1976 presidential election.
"We can do it again if we lead and inspire as he did," the four-term senator told party loyalists.
"We lost our principles and our majority. And there is no way to recover our majority without recovering our principles first," McCain [said].Hmm, lost principles, you say? I think I know just the chappy who can help you. He’s good at looking for missing things.
Question of the Day
We’ve done this one before, but I always love reading through the answers—and, if you’re anything like me, your answer isn’t necessarily static, as life goes on…
What’s your favorite book?
I never can pick a single favorite, so I usually just cite the first one, of the many I adore, that comes to mind. At this moment, that's A Prayer for Owen Meany. Love that book.
Marines Retreat
On Tuesday, I reported that the Marines had declared war on Christmas by refusing to accept 4,000 talking Jesus dolls for their Toys for Tots program. Well, today they waved the white flag.
The Marine Reserves' Toys for Tots program has decided to accept a donation of Bible-quoting Jesus dolls, reversing course after saying earlier this week that it couldn't take them.Merry Christmas to all, and to all a battery-powered Jesus.
"The talking Jesus doll issue has been resolved," the organization announced on its Web site Wednesday. "Toys for Tots has found appropriate places for these items. We have notified the donor of our willingness to handle this transaction."
The short note on the Web site did not explain what it would do with the dolls.
Gross
A few people have sent me this story about a UCLA student tasered by police; the incident was captured on video:
Honestly, I don’t even know what to say about it. It’s fucking ridiculous. And I absolutely believe that we’ll continue to see more and more of these kinds of abuses of power so long as we, as a country, continue to move in a direction where civil rights are treated as a joke and the notion we shouldn’t torture people is considered quaint. Wrapped up within all that is the culture of fear and suspicion generated specifically so our government can convince us to give away our rights and freedoms. This incident is a direct result of the obsession with security and associated de facto distrust of our fellow citizens that has become the American norm. We’re becoming crazy and rash and aggressive because of our fears, and such behavior is sanctioned all the way to the top of this nation’s leadership.
Maybe One Day...
Recently, I’ve been writing a lot about masculinity being defined in contradistinction to the feminine, how that affects women’s and LGBT equality and associated issues like sexual abuse, and addressed the need for a progressive men’s movement. I’ve said many times in the course of this ongoing discussion that it’s time for progressive men to become active participants in the equality movement, not only because the men who most need to hear a message of equality simply don’t listen to women and gay men, but because many of the issues feminism has sought to address—like violence against women—are predominantly problems with men. It’s that last bit which has been particularly contentious, as men rush to defend themselves against the inferred charge that the problem is with all men.
Clearly, this is not true. Not every man, or even most, are abusive toward women. Nonetheless, that most sexual and domestic abusers are men makes it a men’s problem. And, more importantly, that most men have long regarded the problem as something with which they don’t have to be actively engaged, the overwhelming belief that not doing anything wrong themselves is enough, makes it a men’s problem. Indeed, it is the failure to take collective responsibility for prevention that makes it a problem with men beyond those who actually commit the violent acts.
Enter Stephen McArthur of Orwell’s Grave, with a call to arms:
Every 15 seconds in America, a man beats his wife or girlfriend. Every 45 seconds, a man rapes a woman or girl, most often one he knows -- a wife, a girlfriend, a co-worker, or a family member.The thought of it gives me shivers. How wouldn’t things change?! From the shame associated with being a victim of sexual or domestic abuse to how such victims are treated by the police and the legal system, everything would be different. We wouldn’t be talking about the ubiquitous straw-woman who invented her rape in a petty act of revenge, but the very real women, millions upon millions of them, who have been attacked—and we’d be talking about their attackers. Suddenly, the onus to avoid abuse would not be exclusively placed on women, creating a belief that rape and violence are preventable. Suddenly, when I ask a Question of the Day inquiring what people have been told about rape, the most popular answer, from both men and women, wouldn’t be nothing:
…Women have led the way in America working to bring the issue of violence against women to the attention of our media, our community organizations, our governments, our schools, and our religious institutions. The time has come for men to stop being bystanders.
Most men in this country are not violent, most do not beat their wives and girlfriends. Despite that fact, domestic violence is really a gender issue. Men commit 90 to 95 percent of domestic violence acts. I think most men instinctively know this is true, but most men find it really hard to talk about it, think about it, or much less do anything about it. Some men believe that because he is not violent or it's not happening in his family, he needn't do anything. Some men believe it is a "woman's" issue, so he can really ignore it. Some men can't imagine talking about this issue with other men, some of whom he might suspect are abusing women in their lives.
Let's face it. This is an embarrasing issue for men. It's much easier for us to simply let women try to take care of this problem. It's really hard for most men to admit that this is our problem. Violence against women is men's violence. Can we find a way to help men own this problem and work together to solve it? How can we end the pervasive silence? How can we help our communities get past the attitude that this happens someplace else, certainly not where we live?
Given the prevalence of male violence against women, why has this not been a very public men's issue. Isn't it really in men's self-interest to address gender violence? Don't most of us really care about the women and girls in our lives?
Most men have a woman or girl in his life who has been a victim of male violence, a mother who was beaten, a co-worker who was abused, a sister or daughter who was raped or killed, a friend whose daughter was attacked, a friend whose wife was battered in a previous marriage. How would things change if our male governmental leaders, our male religious leaders, our male media leaders, our male teachers, our male business leaders, all of us began to speak out, identify male violence around them, and begin working to end it?
“As a man, I can say that I don't think I was ever taught anything formally about rape, ever.”
“I never heard word *one* about rape growing up.”
“I don't remember being taught about rape.”
“I can't recall ever being taught anything about rape in a formal way.”
“As for guys talking about rape, no. Not to my knowledge.”
“Men are taught nothing.”
“What have I been taught about rape? Growing up in the 70s and 80s: nothing.”
“My personal experience: talking with female friends when we were all young and restless. Out of six, all six, with whom I ever talked about it, all of them had been raped. None of them, not one, had reported it.”
“what was i taught about rape? more than most guys of my age group. i was raped (fuck the euphemism molested) by a priest when i was 10.”
“I got my own crash course in rape when I was barely a teen via molestation..”
“What was I taught about rape? I was taught not to go out alone without a guy to protect me. I was taught I'd get hit if I tried to go out without a bra when I was 10 because "you never know what'll happen." I was taught I'd better learn self-defense, not go out while it was dark, not look guys in the eye, not drink in bars. I was taught that if I were raped, it would be because of something I did.”
“What was I taught about rape? Abso-fucking-lutley nothing.”
How can we end the pervasive silence? Stephen asks.
In answer to my question, ”Shaker Men: Do men talk about rape amongst themselves?” answered one man, simply, “It has never come up.”
To a woman whose every post on sexual assault and domestic abuse has prompted untold numbers of women (and some men) to share their stories of having been raped or otherwise violently abused, that the subject could never come up among men is simply astounding. And yet I am assured by the men in my life, it does not. Of the issues with which they concern themselves, sending them into tumbling debates about what should be done and how best to solve the problem—the environment, poverty, encroachments on civil liberties, etc. etc. etc.—the fact that one out of four women will be raped in her lifetime, and many more yet victims of domestic abuse, rarely, if ever, makes the list. How can it be that so many men and women live such different lives?
I dream of the day when we don’t. And so does Stephen:
Maybe one day enough men will say that letting a ten-year old boy take a baseball bat and beat to death a black female prostitute might not be something we want in our video games. Maybe one day enough men will say to boys that calling each other names using denigrating terms for women and female body parts is not creating a good image of women in their heads. Maybe one day enough men will know that it takes more strength and courage to speak out than it does to remain silent.Maybe.
Kumbaya, Bitchez
Sometimes people complain that the Left is a loose conglomeration of special interest groups with no discernible focus. Trying to organize us is often referred to as "herding cats," and Will Rogers famously quipped, "I don't belong to any organized party. I'm a Democrat."
The thing is, I don’t believe that’s true. There is a discernible focus—and it’s caring about the American people. Our various issues are all connected.
Labor may focus on jobs and fair wages, while feminists focus on reproductive rights, while poverty advocates focus on housing and hunger, while environmentalists focus on clean air and water, while healthcare advocates focus on affordable and accessible healthcare, while social groups focus on equal opportunity—but they all merge into the shared goal of making sure that every American, irrespective of sex, race, sexuality, or class, has a decent shot at living a healthy, productive, and fulfilling life.
It’s all related, and we should stop pretending like it’s not, stop playing into the erroneous identification of our collective as a disjointed medley of competing interests. When one sector of the Left argues that, say, the economy is more important than reproductive rights, they’re missing the line that connects those two dots. Reproductive rights affect the economy, and the economy affects how women view reproduction, and, hence, how they individually manage it.
Today’s news provides a perfect example of how our issues are totally and inextricably linked: We put an anti-choice, pro-abstinence doctor in charge of the funding meant to provide access to contraception and reproductive health information to low-income Americans, and inevitably, as has been repeatedly demonstrated by studies done on restricted access to contraception, abortion, and comprehensive sex education, this will result in more unwanted children—especially in families who can’t afford more children. Meanwhile, more than one out of every ten American households experienced very low food security last year. More mouths to feed; greater food insecurity.
There’s little point to arguing that one issue is more important than the other. They are intimately and inseparably tied to one another, and thusly must their advocates be intimate and inseparable allies.
The tie that binds us is our vision of America as a place of equal opportunity and genuine equality, our belief that a society at the mercy of ill, unemployed, destitute, disenfranchised, or otherwise struggling masses is not a strong society, and there but by the grace of the fates go any of us, so its prevention is incumbent upon us all.
Liberals argue that America’s greatest strength has always been her progressiveness, her awkward struggle for egalitarianism, her existence as a melting pot where all people are meant to be free. The liberal view is about personal freedom and finding the balance that ensures the expression of one person’s right doesn’t infringe on another’s—my rights end where yours begin. As we move forward into a new era which will, one hopes, desperately hopes, see the end of the conservative rule which has sought to replace the optimism of the American Dream with their ugly brand of social Darwinism and upward redistribution of both wealth and opportunity, I hope also that the liberal view includes finding a new appreciation for our collective vision, that we may see a spectrum of special interests creating one cohesive and beautiful rainbow under which we all march shoulder to shoulder.
