What song's on your turntable (so to speak) at the moment?
Happy Birthday, Mr. President
Just in time to celebrate his birthday is a heretofore undiscovered daguerreotype of President Abraham Lincoln. Because I'm a huge nerd, I naturally think this is supercool, particularly all the details about the analysis done to confirm the identity of the young man who sat for that portrait so long ago.
He's very handsome. Kind of Jeff Goldblum-y. Maybe a bit Malan Breton-ish.
Via Amanda, who got it from Poputonian at Hullabaloo.
Initiative 957 Working Like an Ironic Charm
Or, as a Slog commenter put it, Welcome to Duh, Population: Don Webb.
Rape on the Inside
Ezra's got a pair of posts about prison rape that I recommend. It's an important issue, with lots of different angles; male prisoners are more likely to be raped by other prisoners, whereas female prisoners are more likely to be raped by male guards—but, in either case, rape (or the constant threat of rape) is an unspoken sentence rendered upon almost anyone who is convicted to spend time in an American prison.
It's interesting, by the way, to see how different the comments threads are from typical rape threads. No one is suggesting that rape victims in prison are "crying rape" for ulterior motives, for example.
Also, although no one is saying, "Hey—if people don't want to get raped, they shouldn't commit crimes for which they'll be sent to prison if convicted," unfortunately its absence isn't because that sort of victim-blaming isn't operative, but, instead, boasts such wide tacit agreement that it isn't even worth saying. There are plenty of people (including progressives) who simply don't blanch at the thought that rape is a likely part of any prison sentence.
I've heard that attitude ascribed to many things, from ignorance of the prevalence of prison rape to contempt for the rule of law, but I suspect the predominant quality which most closely tracks with holding the position is never having been raped oneself.
Eve's Quest
Jessica has a fun post about a classic board game for girls which offered its players six career choices—teacher, actress, nurse, model, ballet dancer, or airline hostess—and determined their ability to be a "career girl" by measuring things like "not being 'overweight,' being good at 'hairstyling,' and not wearing makeup that is 'too sloppy'." Ahh, the charm of vintage sexism.
Anyway, it put me in mind of a review I've been meaning to do for ages now, of a board game called Eve's Quest. Its makers generously sent me a free copy so I could play it and see what I thought—and I absolutely loved it. Mr. Shakes, who played it with me (a bit reluctantly, I think it's fair to say), loved it, too. The first afternoon we opened it, we just sat and played game after game after game—and even though it's not really designed for just two people, we made it work with no problems.
Stylistically, it's a cross between Trivial Pursuit and Cranium, as the game incorporates trivia, charades, singing, drawing, and intuition challenges, all of which cover a variety of topics, inclusive of all kinds of women, including women of different races, religious persuasions, and political leanings. One of the things that made the game most fun for Mr. Shakes and me was that it sparked all kinds of interesting conversations, often about some factoid that neither of us knew previously. Here are a few sample questions from four cards I pulled:
— What was the subject of most of the paintings of Frida Kahlo, one of Mexico's greatest female artists? (Herself)
— Dare I Draw Margaret Thatcher
— Who was the first woman to compete in the Indy 500 in 1977 and one of the first women inducted to the Women's Sports Hall of Fame? A) Serena Williams B) Janet Guthrie C) Sylvie Frechette
— What female singer has sold the most records in the history of modern music? (Celine Dion)
— Dare I Sing These Boots are Made for Walking
— What is the abortion rate in Chile, where both contraception and abortion are banned? A) 30% B) 40% C) 50%
— True or False: Most women who develop breast cancer have no strong family history of the disease. (True)
Occasionally, the cards will provide some additional information with the answer. For instance, the answer to the question "After Shirley Chisholm was elected in 1968 as the first African-American woman in Congress, how many other African-American women had served in Congress as of 2004? A) 22 B) 42 C) 82" read not just "A," but "A) 22, all Democrats."
That brief list may not sufficiently imply the breadth of topics Eve's Quest actually covers. Authors, artists, philosophers, archeologists, astronomers, politicians, designers, scientists, teachers, are all, however, in attendance, and then some. Suffice it to say, there's no question that there are more than six options for girls—and that there have been women throughout history carving out spaces for themselves in places where none had been offered.
The game is recommended for players age 14 and up. If there's a teen girl in your life for whom you'll be looking for a birthday present this year, I couldn't think of a better gift than Eve's Quest. I'd also recommend it to dads with teen boys as a gift for Mom on, say, Mother's Day. Giving the gift of Eve's Quest and the promise of a block of uninterrupted time to have some fun celebrating women is a gift I bet Mom wouldn't expect, but would probably be very happy to receive.
Iran Update
I've been reading about Iran—specifically, reactions to the "senior U.S. military officials in Iraq" who "sought Sunday to link Iran to deadly armor-piercing explosives and other weapons that they said are being used to kill U.S. and Iraqi troops with increasing regularity"—for much of the day, and the reaction I find most interesting certainly has to be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Peter Pace's, who "declined Monday to endorse the conclusions of U.S. military officers in Baghdad."
General Pace said he was not aware of the Baghdad briefing, and that he could not, from his own knowledge, repeat the assertion made there that the elite Quds brigade of Iran's Republican Guard force is providing bomb-making kits to Iraqi Shiite insurgents.Cernig, who gets the hat tip, notes, "That the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs seems to not only have been 'unaware' of the briefing yesterday and its contents but also feels himself unable to back its conclusions is, frankly, mind-boggling." Agreed.
"We know that the explosively formed projectiles are manufactured in Iran. What I would not say is that the Iranian government, per se (specifically), knows about this," he said. "It is clear that Iranians are involved, and it's clear that materials from Iran are involved, but I would not say by what I know that the Iranian government clearly knows or is complicit."
More skepticism at The Carpetbagger Report and at Drum's place. And a very serious question is raised by The Telegraph (more from Cernig and Jill on that angle).
Meanwhile, Think Progress tracks a scary bit of saber-rattling from a professional hoodwinker, and the pres yuks it up:
At a farewell reception at Blair House for the retiring chief of protocol, Don Ensenat, who was President Bush's Yale roommate, the president shook hands with Washington Life Magazine's Soroush Shehabi. "I'm the grandson of one of the late Shah's ministers," said Soroush, "and I simply want to say one U.S. bomb on Iran and the regime we all despise will remain in power for another 20 or 30 years and 70 million Iranians will become radicalized."An even more detestable lack of seriousness when you take a stroll down memory lane.
"I know," President Bush answered.
"But does Vice President Cheney know?" asked Soroush.
President Bush chuckled and walked away.
WTF of the Day
A bill introduced by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) would require ISPs to record all online activity of all users, including web pages visited, IM conversations, and emails. Oy.
Man-Haters
Shaker LC forwarded this article which discusses the recent case decided by Maryland's Court of Special Appeals which ruled that "when a woman says yes, she can't take it back once sex has begun—or, at least, she can't call the act rape." I've already written about the decision here, so I won't rehash that, but I was interested in one of the arguments offered in favor of the ruling.
Mel Feit, executive director of the National Center for Men, a male-advocacy group based in Old Bethpage, N.Y., says biology is a factor. "At a certain point during arousal, we don't have complete control over our ability to stop," he says. "To equate that with brutal, violent rape weakens the whole concept of rape."I'm interested in Feit's statement for a couple of reasons. Firstly, because his little biology lesson is a lie. Of course there's "a certain point" at which orgasm is unavoidable—that's true for men and women—but to suggest that men don't have physical control over whether to continue to penetrate a partner is ridiculous. As Lisae C. Jordan, legislative counsel for the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault, points out in the article, "Any one of us who's had a toddler walk in on them knows that that's not true. Or a teenager who's had a parent walk in—they stop pretty quickly." Indeed. Feit's insistence on defining men as helpless slaves to their genitals diminishes men, not defends them.
And, secondly, pretending that "brutal, violent rape" is the only kind of rape there is "weakens the whole concept of rape," not the other way around. Date rape—the kind of rape I've described before as the kind of rape "that we don’t like to think about, the kind in which the opportunity presented by a woman who can’t resist, or even say no, becomes irresistible to a man who wears no mask and carries no knife. He is in every other way an average man, who may even have been the focus of this woman’s friendly attention earlier in the evening. He may even feel guilty about what he’s done tomorrow, but it does not stop him tonight—and he does not consider himself a rapist. And what separates him from most men is that he chooses to abdicate his responsibility in not hurting another human being for his own fleeting pleasure."—is the most common kind of rape there is. Not the "brutal, violent rape" we associate with stranger rapes. Women are three times more likely to be raped by someone they know than a stranger, and nine times more likely to be raped in their home, the home of someone they know, or anywhere else than being raped on the street.
Rape is singularly defined by the absense of consent. To argue that rape is only rape if it meets some arbitrary threshold of brutality is, in reality, nothing more than a covert defense of rapists. He couldn't have raped her; she doesn't even have a scratch on her! Feit's "weakens the whole concept of rape" argument is the worst kind of concern trolling—purporting to care about rape victims and the minimization of the gravity of rape, while in fact caring only about its perpetrators and attempting to narrowly redefine the crime.
In no way does it honor men to provide excuses for rapists. In every sense does it suggest that "all men are (potential) rapists" to say that men (all men) are biologically incapable of stopping intercourse "at a certain point." Yet again, we see that the charges regularly levied against feminists are being lobbed in the wrong direction.
weekend QoTD
February is heavy on the birthdays in our house. Tomorrow is our oldest's (he will be seven). He picked out grilled ham & cheese sandwiches for his dinner (*sigh*) and, of course, chocolate cake with chocolate icing. And presents! He's elected to go see Night at the Museum since he is still reading Charlotte's Web. Very exciting day coming up tomorrow!
So...how did you last celebrate your birthday and/or how are going to celebrate this year?
The Republic Party
Giddy-up!
Via Chet, who I will quote in full: "Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee!!!!"
A tale of two senators
The senators from the Show-Me State are providing a clear contrast in leadership. Missouri's Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill is working to resolve an impasse over financing a new Mississippi River bridge with nearly a quarter of a billion federal dollars at stake, while Republican Kit Bond has decided to wash his hands of the whole thing.
Some of his colleagues have involved themselves in the Mississippi River bridge debate, but U.S. Sen. Christoper "Kit" Bond said Friday he'll continue to stay out of it.Bond, R-Mo., said his job was securing about a third of the $239 million in federal money in 2005 for more lanes between St. Louis and the Metro East area. And he said he'll fight to keep the money in place as financial talks between the Missouri and Illinois Departments of Transportation continue. But he won't step in, take sides or negotiate.
Bond takes due credit for having garnered a portion of the federal cash for the bridge project - though it should be noted that Illinois Dem Jerry Costello secured more - but apparently feels that his work is now done, even though contention between Missouri and Illinois transportation officials over coming up with the rest of the financing threatens to sink the deal in the Big Muddy.
Claire McCaskill is less sanguine about matters and has pledged to help break the logjam.
Sen. Claire McCaskill and several other area lawmakers said Wednesday that they were prepared to increase the pressure on Missouri and Illinois transportation officials to break the stalemate over financing a new Mississippi River bridge.Increasingly concerned that the St. Louis region stands to lose $239 million in federal money secured for the project, McCaskill, D-Mo., and three other area Democratic lawmakers met Wednesday to discuss ways to advance the project.
"There is no good reason this can't get done," McCaskill said after a meeting in her office with Reps. Jerry Costello, D-Belleville, and William Lacy Clay Jr. and Russ Carnahan, both D-St. Louis. "The political leaders in Missouri need to come together and try to work on this."
As Bond sits idle on an issue crucial to the continued revitalization of the St. Louis metro area, McCaskill is showing the kind of dynamic leadership long needed from the state's senatorial contingent.
(Cross-posted.)
The Virtual Bar Is Open
Belly up to the virtual bar
and name your poison, Shakers.
Cheers to the end of a long week.
Super Branch
"Cheney’s office seems to have declared itself some kind of fourth branch of the government. It’s legislative, it’s executive, it’s accountable to no one .. it’s the super branch…"
Read the whole thing. Steve says, "At the risk of sounding intemperate, this is insane." Yeah.
Homeless Dumping
Homeless Dumping has been a problem for some time in Los Angeles, with more than a dozen area hospitals, including L.A. Metropolitan Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente, and Hollywood Presbyterian, having been accused of dumping homeless outpatients on L.A.'s Skid Row. Now Hollywood Presbyterian is in hot water for a second time, after having "dropped off a homeless paraplegic man on Skid Row and left him crawling in the street with nothing more than a soiled gown and a broken colostomy bag."
Witnesses who said they saw the incident Thursday wrote down a phone number on the van and took down its license-plate number, which helped detectives connect the vehicle to Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.I can't really think of anything colder than that, either—except, perhaps, when the same thing happens in, say, Chicago in the dead of winter.
…"I can't think of anything colder than that," said Detective Russ Long. "There was no mission around, no services. It's the worst area of Skid Row."
The saddest part about this apparent habitual mistreatment of the homeless is, as the hospitals have often quite correctly pointed out in their own defense, that Skid Row (in L.A. and Seattle, and "skid row" in other cities) is often the only place where appropriate treatment and care centers can be found for people with no insurance, no income, not even a fixed address. It's always "last call" at major hospitals for the homeless—you don't have to go back on the street, but you can't stay here. One of just many reasons we need healthcare reform, of course.
All that said, why on earth a healthcare provider, who ostensibly is interested in doing no harm, would not make the modicum of extra effort to connect a patient in such physical dire straits directly with a suitable provider on Skid Row, as opposed to leaving him "crawling in the street with nothing more than a soiled gown and a broken colostomy bag," is beyond me. That's just unconscionable.
Q&A
Question: What is this?
If it weren’t for rape, Western Civilization might not exist as we know it today. When the Romans were faced with a disproportionate ratio of women to men in the early kingdom, they had to do something, lest their flidgling society die for lack of sons. To solve their little dilemma, they did what any reasonable man would do: they threw a festival for their Sabine neighbors, and then stole and raped their women. It’s quite logical; in fact I don’t understand why the settlers at Plymoth didn’t do the same to the local Indians–it certainly would have saved on shipping costs.Answer: Duh. Naturally, it’s the work of a gifted satirist whose intended message has, shockingly, fallen "on deaf ears."
…Rapes glorious advantages are not, however, exclusively found from 2,000 year old examples. In actuality rape advantages can very much be seen today. Take ugly women for example. If it weren’t for rape, how would they ever know the joys of intercourse with a man who isn’t drunk?
Another Prehistoric Shark Surfaces
Remember last month when a frilled shark, essentially unchanged since prehistoric times and rarely seen by humans because they live up to thousands of feet below the ocean's surface, surfaced and was filmed at at Japan's Awashima Marine Park before she died?
Well, another "prehistoric" shark surfaced in Tokyo Bay, and it quickly succumbed as well.
A rare goblin shark—a "living fossil" that closely resembles ancient shark species—was caught alive recently in Tokyo Bay, only to die within days.
Officials from the Tokyo Sea Life Park discovered the 4.3-foot-long (1.3-meter-long) creature on January 25 during an expedition with local fisherman. The shark had been tangled in fishing nets 500 to 650 feet (150 to 200 meters) deep.
But the animal died on the morning of January 27 after being put on display for the public.
Little is known about the mysterious goblin shark, which normally stays near the bottom of the ocean.
"Dead goblin sharks are caught from time to time, but it is rarely seen alive," a park official told the AFP news agency. "We were able to document the way the shark swims. After it died, we dissected the specimen for further studies."
H/T BlondeSense.
Friday Rat Terrier Blogging
I'm home sick today; Rory is rather chagrined that I'm not keeping her constantly entertained. Currently, she's moving sunbeam to sunbeam, like in this picture from our old apartment:
As soon as I warm up, I will return to destroying Mr. Wishbone.
Friday Cat Blogging
throw something? Time to play? Let's race!
Come on—you start down the stairs and I'll fly
past your feet and almost trip you so you risk
breaking your neck! Haha! That's my favorite
game! Do you like it, too? Let's go!"
Matilda: "Wev."
Scrabbling For Any Bit of Red Meat They Can Grasp
It looks as if the Big Edwards Blogger Brou-Ha-Ha (hereafter referred to as BEBB) has created a few unfortunate side effects in its wake. One of these is the apparent re-emergence of Tucker Carlson, human weasel, as yet another soldier in the wingnut battle to turn pointless alarmism into "news." I haven't been compelled to watch video of his smirking yapper on the teevee for a long time; I thought if I avoided his "show," I would see the last of him. No such luck. Apparently, after giving Bill "secular Jews" Donohue a chance to yowl his filth unchallenged, and when his name was actually mentioned in the media outside of his total vacuum of a show, he got the vapors and decided to pull an Ann Coulter.
Let's see... everyone on the Right seems to loathe this Barack Obama character... if I say something... completely absurd and asinine, and don't... listen to my guest... I just... might... break... free of this show! (Said in the original Shatner.)
Well, playing the religious card worked well once this week; how about twice?
Tucker Carlson on Obama's church: "[I]t's hard to call that Christianity"
Ah, I see we're completely ignoring the "thin ice" signs today! Into the drink with you!During the "Obameter" segment on the February 7 edition of MSNBC's Tucker, host Tucker Carlson criticized Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), a presumptive candidate for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, for being a member of a church that Carlson claimed "sounds separatist to me" and "contradicts the basic tenets of Christianity," a subject Carlson said he was "actually qualified to discuss." Carlson was referring to the "Black Value System" advocated by the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, of which Obama is a member. A February 6 Chicago Tribune article reported that "conservative critics have seized on Trinity's 12-point Black Value System, especially the portion relating to 'middleclassness,' as evidence that Obama is a divisive candidate who rejects mainstream American values and is primarily focused on the black community." Carlson pointed to the "disavowal of the pursuit of 'middleclassness' " in the church's tenets, calling the church's mission a "racially exclusive theology" and "a theology that ministers to one group of people, based on race." Carlson claimed that Trinity's theology is "racially exclusive" and "wrong," adding that "it's hard to call that Christianity."
I see that by my "Tuckometer," we've lifted above "smear," and gone into "throwing wild punches." When you actually look at the Black Value System, it isn't the big bugaboo that Carlson would have us think. Nowhere in the document does it state that its ethics should be adhered to while denying any other group the same opportunities. Carlson would have us believe that working to strengthen one's own community, a community that has been discriminated against and oppressed, is somehow separatist.
Check out how scaaaaaary this is:Commitment to the Black Community
Shriek! Scream! Run and hide!
The highest level of achievement for any Black person must be a contribution of substance to the strength and continuity of the Black Community.
Commitment to the Black Family
The Black family circle must generate strength, stability, and love despite the uncertainty of externals, because these characteristics are required if the developing person is to withstand warping by our racist competitive society.
Those Blacks who are blessed with membership in a strong family unit must reach out and expand that blessing to the less fortunate, especially to the children.
In a shocking move, Carlson actually had a guest on that could speak intelligently about this "controversy," and Carlson proves he's another expert in the fine Conservative club of television hosts that listen without listening.CARLSON: ...So Barack Obama is a member of a church called Trinity United Church of Christ. It's a predominantly black church in Chicago, that espouses something called the "Black Value System," which includes calls for congregants to be "soldiers for black freedom" and a, quote, "disavowal of the pursuit of middleclassness." Now, it would seem to me, Tom, not to make a broad sweeping statement here, but a racially exclusive theology, a theology that ministers to one group of people, based on race, kind of contradicts the basic tenets of Christianity, and is worth talking about. Wouldn't you say?
Wait for it... wait for it.... FACE!
ANDREWS: Well, let's look at what those values actually are. We're talking about hard work, self-reliance, belief in God, and if you have made it to the middle class, you have an obligation to those who have not. Now, those sound like pretty good values to me, black, white, or whatever, and I think that Barack Obama should not be ashamed of having those values and being part of a church.
CARLSON: Again, those are great values, that I, you know, that I hope I embody.
ANDREWS: Good.CARLSON: However, it's the word before them, black. It's making them racially specific. Again, Christianity -- this is something that I am actually qualified to discuss -- is, it seems to me, almost explicitly anti-racial. The idea is that we are all equal in the eyes of God. And when you espouse a theology that is racially exclusive, as this appears to be, it's hard to call that Christianity. I think it's pretty easy to call it wrong.
Oh, for the luvva crumb cake. First, how is Carlson "actually qualified" to discuss Christianity? Does he have a degree in religious studies that I don't know about? Or is it just that he goes to church? Second, is it really that difficult to understand that this isn't an attempt to be separatist, but to work on furthering your own community? If anything crushes the Obama bid for the Presidency, it's going to be the weight of strawmen.
Just smell the privilege:ANDREWS: Well, I don't think it's exclusive. I don't see anything exclusive about it. This is a church --
Well, Tucker... if you'd actually read the document you're sputtering over:
CARLSON: Soldiers for black freedom? How about -- what about soldiers for freedom for everybody. What does that mean?Commitment of God
Emphasis mine. Stupidity yours. Serenity now.
“The God of our weary years” will give us the strength to give up prayerful passivism and become Black Christian Activist, soldiers for Black freedom and the dignity of all humankind.CARLSON: I think this is fair, because I think this is -- trust me. I think a lot of opposition research, and I get a lot in my inbox -- it's crap -- but I ignore it, because who cares. But this is interesting because Obama has spoken so forcefully and so often about his own faith, and held up his membership in a Christian denomination as evidence of the pureness of his heart. He said, "Look, I'm a Christian, OK, period." So it's fair to take a look at his theology. And, you know, I like Barack Obama, and I don't think he's a scary guy, but this stuff sounds separatist to me, I have to say.
Fine. So take a look at his theology. Your own guest has pointed out that the values of this church are "great values" and "nothing to be ashamed of," which you agreed with, immediately after you stated that they contradict Christianity.
So what is it, Tucker? Is Obama not Christian? Or is he not the right kind of Christian?
Perhaps Carlson should be removing the speck in his own eye, before he begins digging in the sockets of Barack Obama.
And he just broke my Tuckometer.
