What's the frequency, Shakers?
Recommended Reading:
Shayera: 50. Days.
Marcella: Carnival Against Sexual Violence 51
Lauredhel: Child Rape Victims Are Just Cranky, Says Bishop
Eric Boehlert: Obama and McCain coverage: "Nuts" or a "disgrace"?
Tata: All My Love and You Showed No Mercy
Mrs. O: Because Belittling Women Is So Much Fun!
Meg: Duck Darwin Awards
Leave your links in comments...
Wednesday Blogaround
In Good News...
[Note: Okay, basically I'm an idiot. I scheduled this to post before I went to bed last night, which is why it's right above MB's post on the same topic. Not because I didn't think he did it justice or something, lol. Sorry, MB!]
Gays, Massachusetts has got your back!
The Massachusetts Senate today passed a bill that would repeal a 1913 state law that prevents gay and lesbian couples from most other states from marrying in Massachusetts.Right on. Every little bit of ammunition helps, so this is an unalloyed good for marriage equality advocates.
...The law originated when lawmakers in many states were trying to prevent interracial couples from crossing state lines to marry. It fell into obscurity for decades. But it received new attention in 2004, when Republican Governor Mitt Romney invoked it after gay marriage was legalized in Massachusetts to prevent out-of-state gay and lesbian couples from marrying here and forcing their home states to consider recognizing Massachusetts marriage law.
Btw, I just love that the GOP has got to turn to laws enacted almost a century ago to justify their antiquated bigotry. How quaint.
[H/T to Shaker Roramich.]
Another Step Towards Equality
Massachusetts has repealed a 95-year-old law that was being used to forbid same-sex couples from out of state from getting married there.
On Tuesday, the State Senate voted to repeal a 1913 law that prevents Massachusetts from marrying out-of-state couples if their marriages would not be legal in their home states. The repeal, which passed with no objections on a voice vote, is expected to pass the House later this week. Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat and a supporter of same-sex marriage whose 18-year-old daughter recently disclosed publicly that she is a lesbian, has said he will sign the repeal.The law was originally passed to prevent interracial couples from getting married, but Mitt Romney -- remember him? -- cited it in 2004 as the reason he spoke out against the state becoming the first state to allow same-sex marriage. In his mind, and apparently that of the rest of the keepers of the Radical Homophobic Agenda, is that what was once good enough for racial discrimination is good enough for gay bashing.
The repeal of the out-of-state marriage ban would come more than four years after Massachusetts became the first state to allow gay men and lesbians to marry, and same-sex marriage advocates said the timing was carefully calculated to catch the prevailing political — and economic — winds.
Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, said the repeal “will open up a Pandora’s box of lawsuits to challenge the marriage requirements in other states.”Actually, it affirms the need for these ignorant tightass busybodies to get their minds off sex and start thinking about ensuring that everybody in this country has the same rights as everybody else. Do I need to list the reasons again?
Mr. Mineau added, “And one thing for sure, it will affirm the need for a federal marriage amendment.”
(Cross-posted.)
Fallen Star
Never has a wanker been so perfectly named. With every error, the plaintive and desperate gurgle of my gag reflex called his name: Uggla! Uggla!
Woe is me.
[Mannion valiantly made a futile pretense at live-blogging the All-Star game. The first 11, anyway.]
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker Linkmeister, and after the last three heavy posts, it's suitably light: How do you like your popcorn? (Or do you not like it at all?) Sayeth LM: "Heard a story on NPR about popcorn prices and the question occurred. I'm lazy these days, so I microwave."
We don't have a microwave, so I suppose if we ever made popcorn at home, we'd go for range-top or get an air-popper. But neither of us are huge popcorn fans. When we do eat it, we both like it plain—no butter, no salt. When I want something like that, I tend to snack on a rice cake, which I prefer stale. (Yeah, I've heard that's weird.)
Bullied to Death by Misogynists
[Major trigger warnings. Major recommendations to male feminist allies to read this one.]
Rarely do stories sent to me about the real world effects of misogyny upset me as much as has this one, sent to me by Shaker Helen (who hat tips Hell on Hairy Legs). It was only after a rather extensive session of blubbing that I was able to start in on a post, not that I've got much brilliant to say, aside from: FUCK.
The piece tells the story of an Australian woman who was subjected to such intensive, long-term bullying at her job as the only female ambulance officer at her station, that she committed suicide, leaving behind a husband and three-year-old daughter.
Almost certainly, there will have been other contributing factors (untreated depression, as one possible example), but the abuse she sustained at the hands of her co-workers, and the indifference of management, over six years is just unimaginable:
She could not even leave her car at work because the tyres were let down, her toilet at work was urinated "all over" and she was constantly ridiculed by fellow officers in front of patients...Her family found her after she'd hanged herself in the backyard from her daughter's swing.
Christine Hodder had lodged two formal complaints, one in 2001 and another a few months before she died, about bullying and harassment by several officers and had twice been on stress leave.
In a five-page complaint dated February 20, 2005, which has been made public, Christine Hodder said she felt she had never been accepted there because she was a woman.
"In the past six years I have been badly treated as other staff members collectively bullied, belittled and intimidated me," she said. "The staff in this station has constantly alienated and attacked my character and physical appearance since my arrival."
Her husband, who says he's "only just survived" the ordeal himself, has been told by managers "that bullying was a problem but [they] were not prepared to speak publicly or put it in writing for fear of litigation."
"Every high-ranking ambulance person I spoke to was quite happy off the record to say this is really, really bad … and told me that they don't see that much is going to happen [change]," Mr Hodder told the Herald. "This is why it nearly took me as well … I've only just survived."No officer who made Christine Hodder's life a fucking misery was, anyway. The one colleague who took Christine's side and provided evidence that her victimization by other male colleagues was ignored by management, Phil Roxburgh, was bullied just for supporting her. So, in truth, an officer was "disciplined"—the one who tried to do right thing.
...In July, 2005, the chief executive of the NSW Ambulance Service, Greg Rochford, wrote to Mr Hodder and said an investigation had been completed.
The letter, also made public, reveals the service began the investigation three days before Christine Hodder died and found a culture of male dominance... It recommended staff receive training in workplaces free of harassment and bullying, that the service should explore how to change the behaviour of staff, and that no female officer be appointed to Cowra for six months.
No officer was disciplined.
We would all do well to remember this story the next time we are silent in the presence of bigotry, harassment, bullying, whether it takes the form of sexism or racism or homophobia or any kind of hostile bias. Just not doing it yourself is not enough. We've got to be all in.
We make a difference in this world, for good or ill. There is no neutral. There is no Switzerland. There is only saying no to the indignities one human visits upon another—prejudice, hatred, humiliation and pain—or saying yes. And silence, the craven averting of one's gaze so the offense may take place out of view, is not a no. It is not ambiguous. It is a yes. Yes, go ahead, just don't do it to me. It is a permission, and a plea. I'll sacrifice her if you'll let me on my merry way. We routinely cede our expectations of goodness for guarantees of safety, but only our own, and we can no longer fool ourselves that men like these are aberrations; they are, in the void of unyielding solidarity our self-interest has left, inevitabilities.
There is no neutral. You're in or you're fucking out.
I'm all in.
And I'm so sorry, Christine. RIP.
Wordless
[Major trigger warnings.]
Shaker JMonkey just sent me the link to this article, detailing the newly released video of an interrogation session of a 16-year-old at Gitmo, with the note: "I have no words to express the depth of rage and loathing to which this story and video drives me."
I don't, either.
Guess Who Else Thinks Rape Is Hilarious?
Reportedly, John McCain. Tedski at Rum, Romanism and Rebellion unearthed an article from the Tucson Citizen, written in 1986 during then-Arizona Rep. McCain's first Senate run, in which it is alleged that he told the following joke during a conference of the National League of Cities and Towns in Washington, DC that March:
Did you hear the one about the woman who is attacked on the street by a gorilla, beaten senseless, raped repeatedly and left to die? When she finally regains consciousness and tries to speak, her doctor leans over to hear her sigh contently and to feebly ask, "Where is that marvelous ape?"Says Tedski: "At the time, McCain's spokesperson (Torrie Clark, yes, that one) alleged that this was story was some manipulation by [his opponent's] campaign. Yep, it's always the other guy's fault." Indeed.
Naturally, there were denials that McCain had told the joke, despite multiple accounts of his telling it.
The article also notes that Clark "said McCain did not offer any comment on his attitude toward the 'joke'," which I find just amazing. If I were accused of saying something so viciously ugly, I'd damn well have something to say about it, starting with the bear minimum I don't think that shit's funny.
Even if he didn't say it, the fact that he refused to condemn it is appalling. Maude forbid he alienate the all-important rape joke lovers vote.
He's such an asshole.
H/T to Shaker Ryan, who I suspect nudged Tedski to add a PDF of the original article for me. Thanks, R!
[Rape is Hilarious: Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty-One, Twenty-Two.]
Looks Like the Press Conference Went GREAT This Morning
The many faces of Bush, spanning the emotional spectrum from "Who the fuck do you think I am?" to "Where am I? Whozit? Huh?"
Quote of the Day
"I think the system is basically sound, I truly do."—Economics supergenius and US president George Bush, offering an awesome reassurance on the troubled American economy.
LOLsob
Currently on Comcast's front page:
Accuracy Lost in Brangelina Baby Rush. Indeed. I wasted at least three bottles of champagne because of inaccurate reports that the christchildren had arrived when they really hadn't!
I hope the media learns its lesson from this Brangelina Babiez fiasco. If they lose accuracy over a story this important, imagine what they might do next. Like publish a bunch of shit that helps start a war or something.
SYTYCD news
Jessica is out for the season due to an injury and Comfort will be coming back to take her place in the competition.
Also, according to this site:
Also of note: The Top 10 dancers will be swapping partners this week, and Nigel revealed that Courtney and Joshua will be paired together.That should be interesting.
Denied Transplant Update
Last week, I wrote about a mentally disabled 15-year-old boy who was being denied a liver transplant because he was in foster care. But today, the Miami Herald reports that he has undergone a transplant after all and is recovering well.
A 15-year-old foster child who was removed from an organ transplant list because he lacked a stable home for recovery quietly received a new liver Sunday at Jackson Memorial Hospital and is recuperating well from the eight-hour procedure. ..."The operation was successful, and [the doctors] are very optimistic," the Department of Children & Families' assistant secretary, George Sheldon, said Monday afternoon.Great news that he got the transplant. Truly.
...Shands officials have declined to discuss the case, citing patient confidentiality. They have said that, in general, it is wrong to "perform an organ transplant on a patient who has a high probability of an unsuccessful outcome," partly because another needy patient would not get the liver.
After The Miami Herald reported on his plight, the teenager was driven by his foster care caseworker to Miami last week so JMH doctors could evaluate whether he was a suitable candidate for a new liver, child welfare administrators said. The surgery was performed unexpectedly when a liver became available Sunday, said Nick Cox, who heads DCF's Tampa Bay region.
"We knew this happened very quickly. I didn't find out until this morning," Cox said Monday.
But let's be honest here: This "resolution" just raises more questions. Like, if it was such a concern before that he didn't have a guaranteed stable environment for recovery, why was it suddenly not a concern after a newspaper wrote about it? There's no indication that issue was resolved, nor any note that the assessment guidelines were maybe wrong in the first place. Instead it just seems like this kid was whisked off to get a liver to avoid more bad publicity, and without the knowledge of the DCF regional director. (How can his wards best help with his recovery, when they don't even know what's going on?!) The whole thing is just kind of nutty.
I hope that it's taken as an opportunity for the Florida welfare system to reevaluate its whole process, and sinerely fear that it won't be, instead ending up swept under the rug with so many other things just like it.
[H/T to Incertus.]
Question of the Day
What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done while laughing?
This stems from a conversation Paul the Spud and I had on the phone the other day, and I shant reveal his most embarrassing laughing moment (I'll leave that for him, should he be so inclined). I will, however, admit that I once swallowed my girlfriend's drool because we were both laughing so hard.
C and I were about 14 years old, and we were at Six Flags Great America, where we decided to take a ride on the Scrambler—a ride that's essentially a collection of small cars that whip around a central pole so fast, while also spinning in smaller circles, that they push the riders to the outside of the car.
Because I was bigger, I sat on the outside, and as soon as the ride started, C was fighting for dear life not to crush the everliving fuck out of me. And every time she'd manage to pull herself a bit away, the ride would change direction and throw her back on top of me. It just sent us into an absolute fit of howling laughter, and by about halfway through the brilliantly long ride, her mouth was just fixed wide open in a silent laugh, with drool streaming out the side. Which, like the rest of her, headed in my direction. My mouth being similarly frozen in a breathless, soundless laugh, I could do naught but welcome her Scrambler-induced spittle into my own gaping maw.
We recreated this event many times in years after.
Obama Racism/Muslim/Unpatriotic/Scary Black Dude Watch, #69
Someone tell me what the fuck year it is again, because I just got an email from Shaker rrp linking to an article about veteran political and cultural journalist John McLaughlin calling Senator Barack Obama a motherfucking oreo, like that's some kind of appropriate shit for a nationally-televised discussion in the year 2008, which makes me think I must've entered some kind of time warp.
Referencing [Jesse Jackson's assertion that Obama has been talking down to black people], McLaughlin said Obama "fits the stereotype blacks once labeled as an Oreo — a black on the outside, a white on the inside."For the record, even his question is offensive, even without the epithet, given that it ignores the realities of what being "black on the outside" means in terms of an individual's need for the protections secured by the civil rights movement, and the fact that it effectively casts Jackson as not giving a shit about POC who aren't black. (It's called the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, dumbass.)
"Does it frost Jackson, Jesse Jackson, that…an Oreo should be the beneficiary of the long civil rights struggle which Jesse Jackson spent his lifetime fighting for?" McLaughlin asked his panelists.
Meanwhile, I don't know what the hell CNN wanker Roland Martin is thinking defending that shit:
"If John McLaughlin was an African American and who had made the comment, people would have said, well, he probably understands what he's talking about."No, if John McLaughlin were an African-American, (some) people would have said he has the right to use the epithet in that context—an argument based on the idea of reclamation and ownership of oppressive language by and of the people it potentially oppresses. That's not language for anyone to use in any context, which would be painfully obvious if the word had been only slightly more incendiary.
[Obama Racism/Muslim/Unpatriotic/Scary Black Dude Watch: Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty-One, Twenty-Two, Twenty-Three, Twenty-Four, Twenty-Five, Twenty-Six, Twenty-Seven, Twenty-Eight, Twenty-Nine, Thirty, Thirty-One, Thirty-Two, Thirty-Three, Thirty-Four, Thirty-Five, Thirty-Six, Thirty-Seven, Thirty-Eight, Thirty-Nine, Forty, Forty-One, Forty-Two, Forty-Three, Forty-Four, Forty-Five, Forty-Six, Forty-Seven, Forty-Eight, Forty-Nine, Fifty, Fifty-One, Fifty-Two, Fifty-Three, Fifty-Four, Fifty-Five, Fifty-Six, Fifty-Seven, Fifty-Eight, Fifty-Nine, Sixty, Sixty-One, Sixty-Two, Sixty-Three, Sixty-Four, Sixty-Five, Sixty-Six, Sixty-Seven, Sixty-Eight.]
