It's hard to choose the best part of President Mondo Fucko's farewell address last night, but I've got to go with this bit:
The battles waged by our troops are part of a broader struggle between two dramatically different systems. Under one, a small band of fanatics demands total obedience to an oppressive ideology, condemns women to subservience, and marks unbelievers for murder. The other system is based on the conviction that freedom is the universal gift of Almighty God, and that liberty and justice light the path to peace.
Wait—is he talking about the war, or the last election?
Our long national nightmare is almost over, Shakers.
What is the worst travel experience you've ever had?
I would have to give the Worst Travel Experience award to a bus trip that Iain and I took from Inverness to Edinburgh, the only other passengers on which were a group of young German dudez, each of whom took at least one gigantic smelly shit in the bus toilet during the trip, in between shouting highly offensive claptrap in German, obviously presuming (incorrectly) that neither one of us spoke German.
[This post will stay at the top of the page for awhile today. New posts are below.]
Remember a couple of months ago when a whole lotta Shakers said that it was important to them to support this blog? And how they'd appreciate a gentle nudge once a month to remind them to donate? Well . . . . here it is:
Here is another PortlyDyke Really-Old-But-Still-Painfully-Relevant standup routine -- this time, a song about Homos and the Holly Bibel (turn on close-captioning in the lower right if needed):
Notes about donations:
If you hate Paypal, or can't use it, contact Melissa about snail-mail donation options. Her email is on the contributor's page.
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Sometimes people say: "I donated my pennies -- I wish I could give more!" -- please know that your pennies add up! Shakesville gets an average of 10-12K+ visitors every day, but donors represent a fraction of 1% of that, and most contribute small amounts -- if every visitor contributed just one penny - once a month - our QCoFM might actually start approaching a living wage that supports her excellent writing, fantabulous blog, and all that she does to foster and sustain the Shakesville community. Take those pennies and pound them into teaspoons!
Notes about the Vid/Queer History Moment:
It's interesting to me that I referenced Harvey Milk in this routine, what with Milk recently-released and all -- even at the time this video was made (1991), a lot of queers had already forgotten (or were too young to remember) Harvey Milk's murder in 1978 -- and Dan White's "Twinkie Defense" (which reduced White's conviction from murder to voluntary manslaughter).
The vanishing of Queer History is an ongoing challenge for my community, and I, for one, am grateful that Harvey's story is being brought to light again.
I would be doubly grateful if the song I sang above was now hopelessly dated and pertinent only as a quaint cultural artifact.
Misty O'Misterton is just about to arrive for the weekend, and I'm just about to walk out the door to go collect her. It will be the first time we meet in person after knowing each other almost four years, and, as you can imagine, I'm very excited!
And Deeks gets here tomorrow! Wheeeeeeeeeee!
It's such a lovely thing, these series of tubes. I owe many of my closest friendships to The Internetz, and, of course, my partnership with Iain. At least two romances have bloomed around Shakesville, too, which just thrills me to pieces. Amazing, that.
Thank you, Al Gore!
Please use this as an open thread to discuss the awesomeness of The Internetz.
"I'm so thrilled by our foreheads. They're supposed to move. I'm very proud of that."—Kate Winslet, on her and Leonardo DiCaprio's non-Botoxed brows in Revolutionary Road.
A bunch of people have sent me this story about a man who allegedly arranged to sell his 14-year-old daughter to another man for "$16,000, 100 cases of beer and several cases of meat." The horrific twist is:
Police said they only learned of the deal after the 36-year-old man went to them to get his daughter back because payment wasn't made as promised.
Father of the Year has been arrested on suspicion of human trafficking and the man to which he sold his daughter has been arrested on suspicion of statutory rape.
And, yes, Yahoo naturally filed this story under Odd News.
President-elect Barack Obama's team reacted predictably to the disclosure that Timothy Geithner, the nominee for Treasury secretary, failed to pay a chunk of his federal taxes over several recent years. The script gets played out, with slight variations, whenever a presidential nominee gets in that kind of trouble.
On Tuesday, when Mr. Geithner's failures were first reported by The Wall Street Journal, the Obama transition office issued a statement calling his underpayment of taxes "honest mistakes." On Wednesday, Mr. Obama himself said it was "innocent." Those themes have been echoed by several of the senators who will conduct Mr. Geithner's confirmation hearing, which is now scheduled for next Wednesday.
I didn't like the "honest mistake" game when the Bushies played it, and I don't like it now.
Irrespective of whether something is genuinely an "honest mistake" or not, the reality is that there must be accountability at the highest levels of government. Ignorance of the law isn't an excuse for an average citizen, and it shouldn't be an allowable excuse for our representatives, either.
I'm not pleased to see what would be, for any regular person, an enormous issue treated like it's No Big Deal by our president-elect. At best, it's conferring an undeserved and improper privilege on his elite associates, and, at worst, it's a brick in the same road down which the last administration traveled, upon which the precious few allowed to tread were deemed above the law.
Have you ever had any cosmetic surgery? If not, would you?
I've never had any cosmetic surgery, nor considered any. I can't envision, failing a serious disfigurement, that I would consider it, although, as they say, never say never!
Depending on your generation, Ricardo Montalban was Mr. Roarke, or Khan, or Esther Williams's co-star in On An Island With You, or the man who praised the "fine Corinthian leather" in the Chrysler Cordoba. But no one doubts that he was a suave and classy man, and a fine actor.
I just sent out info to all the Shakers who indicated in comments or via email that they're in Chicago or could get to Chicago for the "Goodbye to Bush!" meet-up this Saturday.
If you didn't get an email from me, let me know. Sometimes bulk emails end up in junk mail or not getting through at all, so I want to make sure everyone gets the details.
Welcome to Shakesville, a progressive feminist blog about politics, culture, social justice, cute things, and all that is in between. Please note that the commenting policy and the Feminism 101 section, conveniently linked at the top of the page, are required reading before commenting.
Remember a couple of months ago when a whole lotta Shakers said 
