Shakesville

Chompy Q. McChomperton

It all starts out friendly enough, but then the CHOMPING begins…

Sophie is such a good player—she always plays with her claws in, and the cutest thing evah is that if I go, "Ow!" she stops and looks at me and then licks where she was just gnawing, until I say, "Get that hand!" and then she savages me all over again.

My hands look like mincemeat, but she's teething, and I have it on good authority (Matilda's and Olivia's) that it feels good to chomp on hands when one's losing one's milkteeth.

(And, in case you're wondering, yes, my hands are excessively lined.)

IMPORTANT MEMORANDUM

TO: The Cult of the Feminazi Cooter
FROM: Queen Cunt of Fuck Mountain
RE: Notes on Life in Post-Feminist America

Dear Bitchez:

As you are well aware, we are now living in a post-feminist society, which I realize has left at odd ends many of us who dedicated our lives to the comprehensive equality we've now achieved. It has recently been brought to my attention that some of you have questions about how to celebrate this newfound egalitarianism and how best to project images of the New American Woman.

I direct your attention to the cover of the current issue of Esquire in which the magazine's sexiest woman alive, Halle Berry, recreates their iconic Bill Clinton cover with appropriate changes to reflect the powerful equality of the New American Woman.

As you can see, the New American Woman asserts her equality by revealing her undergarments and not wearing pants.

Please be advised that "slutty chick" versions of professional garb are also recommended for Halloween. The Cult of the Feminazi Cooter will hold its annual fundraiser to buy "slutty nurse," "slutty doctor," "slutty teacher," and "slutty librarian" costumes for underprivileged women on Friday, October 17 at 8pm, at the Hooters just outside Columbia, Missouri. There will be door prizes, and one lucky feminazi will take home a gift certificate to Spencer's Gifts, the boob novelty emporium, for the "Slutty Sarah Palin" lookalike contest.

See you there!

Thank you for your continued dedication to The Cause.

Best regards,
M. McEwan
QCoFM

Addendum: By request of The Patriarchy^TM, "witch" costumes will also be purchased for the underprivileged fatties.

Of Course

GOP official sends out email trying to turn "That One" into a clever talking point.

It's President That One to You

My debate wrap-up piece for The Guardian's Comment is free America is now up.

Before Barack Obama and John McCain are even introduced, I am struck with wonderment at the staging for the event, which is being held in what appears to be an airtight, windowless bomb shelter gussied up with an ocean of cheap red carpet, a vivid blue wall, one jarringly incongruent purple podium, and risers bought from a Bozo Show firesale. When the senators walk out, I half expect them to chuck the debate and instead play the Grand Prize Game.

Which would actually be pretty fun for us all.

But, instead, we're treated to watching Barack Obama advocate change, John McCain invoke his record, and Tom Brokaw get snippy because the candidates didn't adhere to the rules and blocked his teleprompter.

Read the whole thing here.

Brokaw

So, I went into last night's debate knowing that John McCain and Tom Brokaw are personal friends—Brokaw has celebrated McCain's birthday with him and served as his personal advocate at NBC News—but giving Brokaw the benefit of the doubt that he wouldn't let his bias show.

Well, that was silly of me.

Brokaw laughed openly at McCain's various attempts at humor, and it appeared on at least two occasions that McCain was gesturing to Brokaw behind Obama's back as he spoke—neither of which would have bothered me nearly as much if his demonstrable preference wasn't made manifest in a glaring disparity between his graciousness toward each candidate.

Brokaw thanked Obama exactly twice: Once after he answered the question about who he has in mind for Treasury Secretary ("Senator Obama, thank you very much.") and once at the very end of the debate ("Thank you, Sen. Obama.").

Brokaw thanked McCain seven times: After he answered whether the economy would get worse before it gets better ("Thank you, Sen. McCain."), after his answer to the question about sacrifice ("Sen. McCain, thank you very much."), after his response about reforming entitlement programs ("Sen. McCain, thank you very much."), after he talked about American R&D ("Thank you very much, Senator."), after he spoke about the McCain Doctrine ("Sen. McCain, thank you very much."), after he answered the final questions ("Thank you very much, Sen. McCain."), and at the very end of the debate ("Thank you, Sen. McCain.").

It was enough that I noticed it during the debate. It was also enough that Iain, who had no knowledge of the preexisting friendship between Brokaw and McCain, noticed it, too. "Could that moderator get his heed any furver oop McCain's arse? Enough wif the fank-yous!"

None of the above actually matters—Obama won the debate handily. But I thought, for future reference, it was worth noting that Brokaw seemed unable to be totally respectful toward Obama.

No wonder he and McCain are pals. Lots in common.

Sacrifice

This was one of my favorite questions from the debate last night, not only because the question itself was good (thank you, Fiorra from Chicago!), but because the respective answers so perfectly represent who the candidates are as people and underline their differences so starkly. For all his complaints about how Obama wants government to solve all our problems, it was McCain who said that the sacrifice the American people will have to make is understanding that the government will have to cut programs and freeze spending—and it was Obama who addressed individual Americans and how we'll all have to pull together to make a difference.

Transcript below.

Brokaw: All right, gentlemen, I want to just remind you one more time about time. We're going to have a larger deficit than the federal government does if we don't get this under control here before too long. Sen. McCain, for you, we have our first question from the Internet tonight. A child of the Depression, 78-year-old Fiorra from Chicago: Since World War II, we have never been asked to sacrifice anything to help our country, except the blood of our heroic men and women. As president, what sacrifices -- sacrifices will you ask every American to make to help restore the American dream and to get out of the economic morass that we're now in?

McCain: Well, Fiorra, I'm going to ask the American people to understand that there are some programs that we may have to eliminate.

I first proposed a long time ago that we would have to examine every agency and every bureaucracy of government. And we're going to have to eliminate those that aren't working. I know a lot of them that aren't working. One of them is in defense spending, because I've taken on some of the defense contractors. I saved the taxpayers $6.8 billion in a deal for an Air Force tanker that was done in a corrupt fashion. I believe that we have to eliminate the earmarks. And sometimes those projects, not -- not the overhead projector that Sen. Obama asked for, but some of them that are really good projects, will have -- will have to be eliminated, as well. And they'll have to undergo the same scrutiny that all projects should in competition with others.

So we're going to have to tell the American people that spending is going to have to be cut in America. And I recommend a spending freeze that -- except for defense, Veterans Affairs, and some other vital programs, we'll just have to have across-the-board freeze.

And some of those programs may not grow as much as we would like for them to, but we can establish priorities with full transparency, with full knowledge of the American people, and full consultation, not done behind closed doors and shoving earmarks in the middle of the night into programs that we don't even -- sometimes we don't even know about until months later.

And, by the way, I want to go back a second. Look, we can attack health care and energy at the same time. We're not -- we're not -- we're not rifle shots here. We are Americans. We can, with the participation of all Americans, work together and solve these problems together. Frankly, I'm not going to tell that person without health insurance that, "I'm sorry, you'll have to wait." I'm going to tell you Americans we'll get to work right away, and we'll get to work together, and we can get them all done, because that's what America has been doing.

Brokaw: Sen. McCain, thank you very much. Sen. Obama?

Obama: You know, a lot of you remember the tragedy of 9/11 and where you were on that day and, you know, how all of the country was ready to come together and make enormous changes to make us not only safer, but to make us a better country and a more unified country.

And President Bush did some smart things at the outset, but one of the opportunities that was missed was, when he spoke to the American people, he said, "Go out and shop." That wasn't the kind of call to service that I think the American people were looking for. And so it's important to understand that the -- I think the American people are hungry for the kind of leadership that is going to tackle these problems not just in government, but outside of government.

And let's take the example of energy, which we already spoke about. There is going to be the need for each and every one of us to start thinking about how we use energy. I believe in the need for increased oil production. We're going to have to explore new ways to get more oil, and that includes offshore drilling. It includes telling the oil companies, that currently have 68 million acres that they're not using, that either you use them or you lose them. We're going to have to develop clean coal technology and safe ways to store nuclear energy.

But each and every one of us can start thinking about how can we save energy in our homes, in our buildings. And one of the things I want to do is make sure that we're providing incentives so that you can buy a fuel efficient car that's made right here in the United States of America, not in Japan or South Korea, making sure that you are able to weatherize your home or make your business more fuel efficient. And that's going to require effort from each and every one of us.

And the last point I just want to make. I think the young people of America are especially interested in how they can serve, and that's one of the reasons why I'm interested in doubling the Peace Corps, making sure that we are creating a volunteer corps all across this country that can be involved in their community, involved in military service, so that military families and our troops are not the only ones bearing the burden of renewing America.

That's something that all of us have to be involved with and that requires some leadership from Washington.

Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime

Morgan Freeman addresses the nation as President Beck in Deep Impact:

When this movie came out 10 years ago, I wondered how long it might be before we actually had a black president. Last night, while I watched Obama hand McCain his ass up, down, sideways, and backwards, I recalled that bit of progress promised by pop culture and got a face-cracking grin as I considered that real life may be just about to catch up.

I probably wouldn't have had quite the same reaction if I'd been looking at Alan Keyes, but there you go.

THAT ONE?!

Fuck you, McCain.

The Second Pres Debate Virtual Pub Is Open

Tonight's Feature:

In the Blue corner, for the Democrats, Barack "The Muslin" Obama!

In the Red corner, for the Republicans, John "Mavrick" McCain!

Drinks are on the house, Shakers.

We're gonna need 'em.

Question of the Day

Bouncing off of this morning's nostalgia sublime: What did you learn as a child from a children's book, movie or television show that stays with you to this day?

I suggested this question to Melissa but couldn't think of something right off the bat. She suggested learning to count to ten in Spanish from Sesame Street. Yep, I did learn that, but that didn't really affect the person I am today. Then I remembered Marlo Thomas' (and friends) Free To Be You And Me album, and while it's not perfect, I realized how much it shaped me.

From challenging gender stereotypes, to helping you deal with emotions (you have to love Rosey Grier singing "It's All Right to Cry"), from the awesome "Sisters and Brothers" song to Atalanta's decision about marriage, I learned a hell of a lot about making my own choices, not judging others, gender equality and stereotypes, and even a little bit about being queer (with the delightful "Don't Dress Your Cat in an Apron," which is, on the surface, about not judging others on the clothing they wear.).

So, what about you? Remember, boys can be cocktail waitresses too!

Cat and Mouse

And Diet Pepsi.

Bush: Legacy of Debt

As further proof that our country has shifted from exporting goods to exporting debt, the national debt clock in Times Square has run out of room for the full amount that is now in excess of $10 trillion. They'll have to put up a new clock next year with extra digits.

[H/T to ThinkProgress]

Radix Malorum est Cupiditas

(translation here)

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) has this to say about the recent bailout bill:

"If Wall Street does come back for another bailout, we must be prepared in advance to say NO," Kucinich said in a press release Monday. "The bailouts of Wall Street must stop. It will never be enough. When the Federal Government gets involved in picking winners and losers on Wall Street, we open up a financial whirlpool of insatiable greed."

The main problem I have with Kucinich's statement is that the ~~whirlpool~~ cesspool of insatiable greed has already been with us for quite some time. Even that lofty ideal known as the American Dream is based on greed:

an American social ideal that stresses egalitarianism and especially material prosperity ; also : the prosperity or life that is the realization of this ideal

Greed is what drives Bush's war in Iraq, high gas prices, pork-based incentives to pass a bailout bill, and good old fashioned lobbying. Greed is also what drove the economy off a cliff.

While people would like to point their fingers at the non-savvy consumers who should've known better than to enter risky loans, the fact of the matter is that the lenders are the ones who got the ball rolling. Banks are in business for one reason, and one reason only: to make money. That means they will keep coming up with ingenious methods (ATM fees, currency exchange fees, sneeze fees, etc.) of accomplishing that one task while simultaneously making the consumer feel great about doing business with them (toaster, shotgun, glass of wine). Subsequently, they figured out a way to lend money to consumers with the most risk by coming up with unbelievable loan structures, like the interest-only loans which look good the first few years but pack a might wallop when the principal kicks in. Should the consumers have thought about these deals more before taking them on? Sure, but for a bank that's in business to make money, it's in the bank's interest to not completely care if the terms of the loan aren't completely clear to the borrower. Perhaps the lenders should've been more forward thinking about the risks involved instead of shuffling the mortgages off to other institutions so that defaulting loans can have a ripple effect down the entire chain.

But that level of greed cannot compare to what's coming out at these bailout hearings. You have to stand in awe of that greed. As Spudsy pointed out earlier, the CEO of Lehman Brothers supposedly didn't see the storm coming, and "feels bad" about what happened while he's sitting with over $300 million in the bank. Add to that the chutzpah of Lehman's board throwing $20 million to departing executives during Lehman's request for a federal bailout.

Today, there was an interesting discussion with regards to what AIG did after receiving their government bailout: They spent a fuckload of money at a resort.

(Full invoice on The Gavel)

Have you heard of anything more outrageous - a week after taxpayers commit $85 billion dollars to rescue AIG, the company’s leading insurance executives spend hundreds of thousands of dollars at one of the most exclusive reports in the nation…Let me describe for some of you the charges that the shareholders, taxpayers, had to pay. AIG spent $200,000 dollars for hotel rooms. Almost $150,000 for catered banquets. AIG spent $23,000 at the hotel spa and another $1,400 at the salon. They were getting manicures, facials, pedicures and massages while American people were footing the bill. And they spent another $10,000 dollars for I don’t know what this is, leisure dining. Bars?

Maybe what the government should do is find a way to dump all of its newly acquired shares back on the market so these resort lovers can crash and burn. Seriously, where does this complete head-up-the-ass judgment on AIG's part come from?

Maybe from a society that values greed and power above all else.

Debunkapalooza

Boehlert debunks the claim that the Palin rape-kit story has been debunked. It has not.

Writing for The Huffington Post's Off The Bus, and crossposting at Daily Kos, [20-year-old blogger and junior at George Washington University, Jacob Alperin-Sheriff] posted by far the most specific and factual analysis of the rape-kit story in terms of Palin's role as mayor and the final say she had over the budget.

Combing through Wasilla's budgetary documents, which are posted online, Alperin-Sheriff showed that Palin had clearly signed off on a fiscal-year budget that reduced by three-quarters the amount of money the town set aside annually for rape-kit costs and that the rape-kit reduction was spelled out before the fiscal-year 2000 budget was approved by Mayor Sarah Palin on April 26, 1999.

Both Boehlert's and Alperin-Sheriff's pieces are worth a read.

SNTDBIDW -- Worry

(Installment #3 in a series)

When I was a kid, I was a bona-fide worry-wart.

Add to this the fact that I was a budding professional insomniac by age 7, and this guaranteed that the night before a big test, or an important school project, I would be laying in bed for hours and hours and hours with eyes so sanpaku that I could have auditioned for the part of mass-murderer in the 2nd grade pageant (of course, if I'd gotten the part, I would have laid awake for hours and hours and hours the night before the pageant, worrying about it).

On one such night, I wandered downstairs while my parents were watching Johnny Carson and announced that, since there was no way I was going to get to sleep ever, I should be allowed to stay up and watch the Tonight Show with them.

At which point, my dad gave me a piece of advice that, if advice could be worn out, would be nothing but bare shreds of advice by now (or perhaps, simply trace advice-residue), so often and so thoroughly have I applied it.

"If you're worried about something and it's keeping you awake, and there's something you can do about right now, then get up right now and do that something. If not, then remember that you've done all you can right now, and get a good night's sleep."

If I recall correctly, in that particular instance, the awful, haunting, worrisome thing was a Social Studies test, for which I had done all the studying I could have possibly done, so I went back upstairs and fell fast asleep.

Now, as regards Worrying being Shit Not To Do Because It Doesn't Work, I'm not going to hand you some simplistic "Don't Worry, Be Happy" shit.

I'm going to talk about the merits of refraining from -- or transforming -- Worry based on the original premise of this series -- that the best reason not to worry is that worry doesn't work -- it doesn't actually do anything.

Personally, I think that worry and guilt are two of the most useless pastimes in the world. (Sadly, this doesn't mean I don't engage in these useless pastimes.)

I do not even deign to call them "emotions", because I don't think that they are emotions. I think that they are mental exercises.

Worry is, essentially, a form of fear -- (for what's it's worth, I don't think that Fear is actually an emotion, either, but seriously, if this post is not going to be a nonillion characters long, we're just going to have to save Portly's Definitions of Real, True Emotions for another time, so bear with me for this one, 'K?)

My problem with worry is that, unless you actually harness it as a motivating force (which few people seem to do) I don't see what usefulness it has.

In fact, worry tends to be counterproductive for many (if not most) of us -- giving rise to a certain paralyzed, lethargic state in which the bulk of our energy is channeled into the worrying --and leaving very little energy left over for taking action.

I could go on and on about how this energy-misdirection results in the Worrier taking no action on the thing that's worrying them, thus deepening the cause for worry, but I won't.

Instead, I'm going to move directly into some suggestions about how to stop/refrain from/transform Worrying.

1) Part one of dad's advice has been very effective for me. If I'm laying awake at night worrying, and I can do something that would move the worrisome situation forward for me, I get up right then, and I do that something.

Sometimes, if this is in the middle of the night, this is drafting or even sending an email, sitting down to pay the bills (even if I don't have the money in the bank right at that moment, I actually write the checks out and show any negative balance to myself, so that I have an idea about the actuality of the problem, and have a goal to work toward), or typing out an imagined conversation that I can't actually have right at that moment (because that person would probably be pissed as hell if I called them at 3 am), but that I'm worried about having (this exercise often shows me what anticipated responses from the other person I'm worried about in the conversation).

2) If you're worried about something that you cannot do anything about right now, get that shit out of your head. Stop offering it massive real-estate in your brain. Easier said than done, you say? Well, of course -- but here are some tricks I use:

Make the "Oh-Shit-Oh-Fuck" list. When I'm truly worrying away about something over which I have absolutely no power (not that anyone might be having that problem right about now, I'm sure *ahem*), I actually follow my worry out on paper. I write down what I'm worried might happen -- I might write: "I'll lose my job". Then I ask the question: "Yeah, and then what?" -- which generally leads to something like: "Then I won't be able to pay my bills", or yours might be: "I'll lose my health benefits, and won't be able to pay for the medication I need". I ask again: "Yeah, and then what?" I follow those worries/fears down to the ultimate conclusion (which is usually something like "And then I'll die") to the greatest extent that I can. I put them on paper. If I discover some part of it that I can actually do something about, I write that on a to-do list. If not, I set the OSOF list aside, and if I come up with something else I'm worrying about, I add it to the list. Then, when the worries arise and seem about to eat me, I glance over at the list and think: "Yeah, I've heard that before" or "Oh -- hey! That's a new one! My! Aren't we creative!" *scribble, scribble scribble*. Sometimes, when I go to bed, I'll actually say: "Goodnight, list -- I know you'll probably still be here in the morning, but if not, sweet dreams!"
Talk to someone else about my worries (even small, seemingly ridiculous worries). Preferably someone who isn't likely to commiserate with me in the direction of more worrying.
Make a description of what's actually happening now in my life, and compare it to my worries list. Not as a way of negating the real concerns, or even the ridiculous worries, but as a way of balancing my perspective -- a way of saying: "Yes, I have this worry, and here's what's happening now".

These tricks seem to help me manage my worrying (and get some sleep). When I'm keeping my worries cooped up inside my brain, they tend to bounce off the walls with increasing speed and fury. Getting them metaphorically outside of my brain, while still acknowledging them, seems to be important for me.

For those of you who follow the idea that thought creates reality, and worry (oh no!) that these strategies will simply resonate the thing that you are worried about, well, this is how I look at it: The worry is already in my head. I can deny that and simply try to "think good thoughts", but I've found that that doesn't really work for me.

When I'm feeling worried, and I try to "talk myself down" with positive affirmations, it doesn't seem to work. I think that it's a way of "shushing" the worries, which just makes the worries more worried, because after all, if they were actually invalid, why would I shush them instead of simply hearing them out and saying "That's not a realistic concern" or "That's a completely valid concern and I'll do everything I can to address it"?

In my recent contemplations of the current economic situation (my own and the nation's/world's), I have come to the conclusion that, should it really all go to the worst kind of shit imaginable in a catastrophic, melt-downish manner that I have no control over, I would rather have spent this time feeling alive and engaged, rather than worried and paralyzed.

I'm not saying that you "shouldn't" worry, or that the worries people are entertaining are invalid or unreasonable -- I'm just questioning the effectiveness of turning a large amount of the rather formidable brain-power that exists amongst my friends and acquaintances to that activity.

I'm attempting to practice something other than worry because I've tried it before, and that shit does not work.

Your mileage may vary.

[cross-posted at Teh Portly Dyke]

Quote of the Day

"Treason!"—A McCain-Palin supporter at a rally today, after Sarah Palin repeated the mendacious charge in their latest campaign advert that Obama doesn't support the troops in Afghanistan.

Party of John McCain, bitchez.

Justice for All

Yowza—suddenly I live in a swing state:

In Indiana, 51 percent of likely voters say Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, is their choice for president, with 46 percent backing Obama. Indiana went for George W. Bush by 21 points four years ago; the Democrats have not carried the state since 1964.

Never in my lifetime has a Democratic presidential nominee even been genuinely competitive in Indiana. And I was excited when my primary vote actually counted…!

It's amazing to me to see the shift toward Obama because of the economy specifically in response to this crisis, because I'm an economy voter—and I've never viewed the American economy as not in crisis. So long as the vast majority of the wealth is concentrated among a very few people, so long as corporations are granted personhood and workers' rights given short shrift, so long as we don't have universal healthcare and the other fundamentals of a solid social safety net, our economy is not as strong as it could, or should, be.

I've always been, and always will be, an economy voter, in no small part because I genuinely believe with the whole of my being that the economy lies at the root of every. single. issue. that's important to me as a progressive.

If there were well-funded women's health clinics with affordable contraception, including emergency contraception, in every town in America, abortion would not be the compelling issue that it is. If poor white evangelicals weren't struggling to survive, same-sex marriage would not be the compelling issue that it is—and race- and gender-baiting wouldn't be the effective political strategies that they are.

Most people are most inclined to be generous when they feel like they have what they need. Contentment and personal security allows people to open their wallets, but it also allows them to open their hearts and their minds. Conferring cultural privilege—whiteness, maleness, straightness, able-bodiedness, cisgenderness, etc.—is a way of mitigating the insecurity bred by classism. When a poor white straight man has nothing else but his sense of entitlement, he is reluctant to yield equality to others. That's why wealthy conservatives tend to be way more socially liberal in their personal lives than their politics would suggest; it's why John McCain figureheads a platform of intolerance, but has an openly gay chief of staff.

Clearly, a more equitable and supportive economy would not alone solve every social problem, but it would render many of them virtually impotent, stealing away the frustrations and furious feelings of injustice in which support for intolerance is bred.

That's why I'm an economy voter. Because I am a feminist. Because I am an ally to LGBTQIs and POC. Because I am a progressive. Because I care passionately about social justice—which is tied in big and small and inextricable ways to economic justice.

So even though I'm amazed that economy voters only seem to emerge in times of crisis, I'm thrilled to see them nonetheless. In my state—and across the rest of the nation. They might not know it, but I do: They're not just voting their pocketbooks, as the saying goes; they're voting for justice for all.

Distance Isn't Merely Miles

by Shaker Sarah in Chicago

Being a Sociologist means you often come across material in both your research and your teaching that really resonates personally. National Coming Out Day 2008 is coming up at the end of this week, and while doing some research for a 100-level class I am instructing, I came across a pile of material on homeless LGBTQI youth; amongst it a study from the NGLTF, and an online documentary series from OurChart.

I often joke with my friends that I'm totally an HRC-lesbian (Human Rights Campaign) as I am thoroughly their demographic; I'm white, conventionally feminine, non-trans, professional, academic, living in a gentrifying urban dense gay neighbourhood, from an upper-middle class family background (we had two boats, a large swimming pool, and as I grew up, we had this large house looking down the main approach of the pacific ocean to my city in New Zealand, in a virtually all-white community ... privilege lived in the spare-bedroom).

However, what a lot of people don't know, is that about a decade and a half ago, I was a terrified teenager, sitting on the bonnet of her car at 2am in the morning, staring out at the pacific ocean, realising she was queer, knowing that her parents were going to implode, and having to come out nonetheless, and was almost homeless herself.

I first told my parents that I wasn't quite going to fit into their plan for me when I was 15, when I was forced out by my mother. That went down like a lead balloon, and I ended up being sent away to school and private board ... we never really discussed "why" per se, although there was some mention of educational opportunities. But then in my sophomore year of university my parents sat me down at the dinner table and grilled me. Apparently they'd been checking my mail, listening in on my phone conversations, and had gone through my room. Seems like WASP denial wasn't working as well as they hoped. They told me either I would "stop what I was doing" or I was "no longer going to be a member of this family".

What followed were some of the worst periods of my life.

I won't go too much into the details, but suffice it to say, having to pin your own mother up against the wall to prevent her from continuing to hit you, being sent to psych-professionals to cure you, being told you were naive for believing in unconditional parental love, and repeatedly staying till the university library closed late at night to avoid going home because you don't trust anymore, kinda rocks a child's world.

When a couple friends said they were looking for a third to get a flat together, I took the chance. Whether I jumped or was pushed is moot at this point, because 'home' had gotten to the point of being beyond intolerable, but it resulted in no contact for nearly 7 years with my parents. Luckily, in New Zealand, we have social welfare support for youth that are kicked-out, and that and a small part-time job allowed me to put myself through university.

And you know what? I'm one of the lucky ones.

LGBTQI youth make up 20-40% of all homeless youth, with the statistics suggesting we're closer to the upper-end of that range. But it doesn't stop there, as we're often assaulted and abused, often by our families, and then later, by others on the streets, and even the social services that in their, at best, ignorance and heterosexism, and at worst, outright bigotry, attempt to 'help' and so often just further alienate us. And that doesn't even begin to cover what it is for trans-youth, who over-represent even more than LGBQI kids, for whom I can only imagine the hate thrust upon them.

If they survive, anger is often the result. And drug and alcohol abuse to escape. The world is not a nice place to begin with, let alone when you're a kid, especially not a kid that is really different. Trust becomes an abstract concept that one can remember, but not really have anymore, as the scars run deep. Of course, so does the strength, as they are alive despite it all.

In 2006 the NGLTF released the study I mentioned above. There was also a documentary series done last year in 2007 on homeless youth at the Hetrick-Martin Institute in NYC, that is viewable online: Intro, Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5. (Possible trigger and blub warnings.)

I'm one of the lucky ones; I had a social network, and the social-welfare resources to not end up on the streets. But I really easily could have not, and so many don't. We die out there.

I particularly wanted to pop this up today, before the end of the week, given the economic news that's coming down. In the capitalist society we live in, the powerful benefit, but the more vulnerable bear the costs, and LGBTQI youth are some of the most vulnerable there are. They are among those who will particularly be the undiscussed faces of this recession, peering at you from alley-ways and youth-shelters, and schools if they are lucky, as you hurry to the office each day. Look into their eyes and you'll see the lifetime or more therein.

Distance isn't just measured in miles, and risk doesn't have to have a monetary value.

Off Limits

Forget getting Sarah Palin alone for an unprepped chat; now the McCain campaign won't even let the press talk to her supporters.

Constantly under the watchful eyes of security, the media wasn't permitted to wander around inside Coachman Park to talk to Sarah Palin supporters. When reporters tried to leave the designated press area and head toward the bleachers where the crowd was seated, an escort would dart out of nowhere and confront him or her and say, "Can I help you?" and turn the person around. When one reporter asked an escort, who would not give her name, why the press wasn't allowed to mingle, she said that in the past, negative things had been written. The campaign wanted to avoid that possibility Monday.

Somewhere, at some undisclosed location, Dick Cheney must be smiling.

HT to Andrew Sullivan.

(Cross-posted.)

Hah.

Edited: In comments, several people found the posted photo offensive, so I've taken it down. Considering the post I wrote below, that was a little stupid to put up, but I admit I'm feeling nasty this morning. I apologize. Here is the story that was linked:

The AP reports that Lehman CEO Richard Fuld admitted to Congress today that he has taken home over $300 million since 2000, “some $60 million in cash compensation.” Furthermore, “executives who feared for their bonuses in the company’s last months were told not to worry,” even as Lehman plead for a federal bailout. Waxman revealed that “the board give three departing executives over $20 million in ‘special payments.’”