...his total annihilation of American Idol from the inside out.
(If that one disappears, here's another.)
I mean, it's no "Ring of Fire," but it's pretty good. I love this kid. LOVE. HIM.
In Which Adam Lambert Continues...
(If that one disappears, here's another.)
I mean, it's no "Ring of Fire," but it's pretty good. I love this kid. LOVE. HIM.
More Abuse as Metaphor
[Trigger warning.]
Just yesterday, I noted famed conservative asshole Dr. Helen comparing the SAMHSA Guide to Getting Through Tough Economic Times to "an abusive spouse providing you with tips on how to cope with his or her abuse," and today I see at Think Progress that, last night on the Glenn Beck Show (of course), Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC), last seen kissing Limbaugh's boots, claimed that accepting the stimulus funds (which his state desperately needs) is tantamount to "fiscal child abuse."
SANFORD: Since we don't have any of this money that's now being dispensed from Washington, DC; since we're going out and printing money and we're issuing debt to solve a problem that was created by too much debt; since that's taking place, and since those costs will be borne by the next generation, in fact it is sort of fiscal child abuse to do what we're doing.Yes. Yes, of course. How obvious it is to such reasonable men—fiscal child abuse!
BECK: Yes.
Passing on future debt to children so they can have teachers now, and so their parents can have jobs in order to house and clothe and feed them now, is just like beating or neglecting them.
Wait. Actually...
Despite the fact that there's an argument to be made in the other direction, I'm not going to go there. Because, the truth is, using child abuse, which is intimate and personal and scarring, as a metaphor for political machinations that indirectly "abuse" children is fucked up. No kid has ever laid awake at night wondering if it's their fault that their governor refused stimulus funds.
And the problem with use abuse (and rape) metaphors, aside from the fact that they're triggering for survivors, is that they diminish the gravity of such profound violations, slowly inuring the culture to the language and to the very acts themselves. That abuse can be invoked so casually already is evidence enough that our horror at its ugliness is not what it should be, in a decent world.
This Can't End Well
Drag out the headless-fatty photo file*--a new dating show focusing on "curvy" women and "big" guys, called "More to Love," is in development at FOX! According to the Hollywood Reporter (which ran the story under the headline "FOX orders overweight dating series," as if the show was some kind of mandatory fat-sensitivity exercise), the inspiration for the show came from "the recent ratings success of 'Bachelor' and the popularity of NBC's 'The Biggest Loser,' which [show developer Mike] Darnell credits with shattering an industry assumption that TV viewers only wanted to watch highly attractive people." In an interview with Entertaiment Weekly (which is already billing the show as "The Bachelor" meets "The Biggest Loser," belying the idea that the show's producers won't aim to whittle contestants down to TV size) Darnell's partner Mike Fleiss said the show is about "embracing and loving yourself no matter your shape or size."
Call me a cynic, but I have my doubts that Darnell and his partner, Mike Fleiss, really have the best interests of "average-looking" women at heart. Reality dating shows like "The Bachelor" and "Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?"--Fleiss and Darnell's last foray into the reality-dating genre--trade in the currency of humiliation. People don't watch reality dating shows because they identify with the contestants; they watch them to see the contestants brought down to size. The whole point of "Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?" was to expose how petty and materialistic women could be; the big "twist" at the end was that the "multimillionaire" wasn't rich at all. (Ha, bitches are shallow, get it?)
My guess is that a show in which "average-looking" women are expected, per usual for dating shows, to parade around in evening gowns, drink champagne in hot tubs, and doll themselves up for "lavish dates," as one web site put it, will play the contestants' looks for laughs, not empathy. I hope I'm wrong.
*See, for example, here and here.
Question of the Day
When's the last time you had buyer's remorse?
You can translate that literally, as in regretting a purchase, or figuratively, as in regretting a decision, e.g. leaving one job for another, voting for a candidate, moving in with someone...
Cheney's Eels
Dick Cheney may have left office on January 20, 2009, but according to Seymour Hersh, who was interviewed by Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air, he left behind some assets that report to him on a regular basis.
The proper term for people inside an agency who are giving information to outsiders is "mole," but in this case, I'm more of a mind of something else.GROSS: Is investigating that any different for you as a journalist post-Bush administration than it was during the Bush administration? Are more people coming forward now, now that the president and vice president are no longer in power?
HERSH: You know, that’s a great question because I did think, I had a lot of people that had told me in the last year of Bush, “call me next, next February.” And, so far, even people who are out are still cherry because, you know, not so much Bush, but Cheney really is…he’s really smart.
[...]
GROSS: Are you saying that you think Vice President Cheney is still having a chilling effect on people who might otherwise be coming forward and revealing things to you about what happened in the Bush administration?
HERSH: I’ll make it worse. I think he’s put people left. He’s put people back. They call it a stay behind. It’s sort of an intelligence term of art. When you leave a country and, you know, you’ve driven out the, you know, you’ve lost the war. You leave people behind. It’s a stay behind that you can continue to contacts with, to do sabotage, whatever you want to do. Cheney’s left a stay behind. He’s got people in a lot of agencies that still tell him what’s going on. Particularly in defense, obviously. Also in the NSA, there’s still people that talk to him. He still knows what’s going on. Can he still control policy up to a point? Probably up to a point, a minor point. But he’s still there. He’s still a presence. And again, because of the problems this administration’s having filling jobs, a lot of people who served in the Bush Cheney government, particularly even in the White House people on most sophisticated staffs are still there. You simply can’t get rid of everybody, you may not even want to. Some are professional people. But Cheney is, I would never call it admiration, but, you know, formidable, yeah, this guy. This guy is the real McCoy.
You remember these little critters from Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan:
The Ceti eel is a burrowing desert animal native to the planet Ceti Alpha V, capable of surviving extremes in its environment. The Ceti eel was the only known native survivor of the orbital shift of Ceti Alpha V following the explosion of Ceti Alpha VI.None of this surprises me. As Mr. Hersh notes, Dick Cheney has been a Washington insider since the Nixon administration, and regardless of who won the election in 2008, he would have had his eels planted in just about every agency.
Ceti eels incubate their larvae within the plates of their jointed carapace. Upon emergence, the eel larvae can enter the ear of a larger animal, where it wraps itself around the cerebral cortex. This causes the host extreme pain and renders them extremely susceptible to outside suggestion. Over time, as the larva matures, the subject suffers from madness and eventual death.
Of course, the question is why? Why would Mr. Cheney want to still be in control and still want to know who's doing what? You can go all Tin Foil Hat and say he's Dr. Evil or Darth Vader with a megalomaniacal need for Absolute Power over Everything, or you can just chalk it up to the simple fact that he's a control freak. Either way, it's creepy and unethical. In other words, a perfect fit for Dick Cheney.
HT to Melissa.
UGH!
Former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy, last seen waxing romantic to the Indiana Family Institute about the special golden precious awesomeness of heterosexual marriage, has been invited to join the White House Faith Council:
The White House has invited recently retired NFL Coach Tony Dungy, whose outspoken Christian faith fueled his 2007 support for a gay marriage ban and has won accolades from evangelical leaders, to join its Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, U.S. News has learned. The invitation is likely to draw praise from conservative evangelical groups and criticism from liberals and gay rights activists.Ya think?!
Dungy has long been active with evangelical Christian charities like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Prison Crusade Ministry, along with other nonprofit groups, including Big Brothers Big Sisters and the United Way. Leading the Indianapolis Colts in 2007, he became the first black coach to win the Super Bowl.I'm having trouble finding contact info for the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Drop it in comments if you find it.
The White House press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Officials with the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships would not confirm the invitation to Dungy, but his publicist said rumors of the invitation in Washington were true. "I can confirm that Tony was contacted by the advisory council and asked to join," said Todd Starowitz, a publicist at Dungy's book publisher, in an E-mail message this morning. "He has yet to make a decision if he will accept the offer."
The White House is expected to announce the final 10 members of its faith council this week. It had announced 15 members of the council when it unveiled its Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships in February.
Random YouTubery: It's Shite Being Scottish!
[Transcript below.]
Train pulls away from a platform in remote Scotland, revealing Spud, Tommy, Renton, and Sick Boy.
Sick Boy: Now what?
Tommy: [shrugs] We go for a walk.
Spud: What?!
Tommy: A walk.
Spud: Where?
Tommy: [points toward mountain] There.
Sick Boy: Are you serious?!
Tommy walks away. The other three guys sit down on a platform. Tommy turns and sees them sitting there.
Tommy: Well, what are you waiting for?
Spud: Tommy, this is not natural, man.
Tommy: It's the great outdoors! It's fresh air!
Sick Boy: Look, Tommy, we know you're getting a hard time off Lizzie, but there's really no need to take it out on us.
Tommy: [gestures at beautiful landscape] Doesn't it make you proud to be Scottish?!
Renton: It's shite being Scottish! We're the lowest of the low! The scum of the fucking earth! The most wretched, miserable, servile, pathetic trash that was ever shat into civilization! Some people hate the English; I don't! They're just wankers! We, on the other hand, are colonized by wankers! Can't even find a decent culture to be colonized by! We're ruled by effete assholes. It's a shite state of affairs to be in, Tommy, and all the fresh air in the world won't make any fucking difference! [swigs booze]
Tommy walks back and they all leave.
Voiceover, Renton: At, or around this time, Spud, Sick Boy, and I made a healthy, informed, democratic decision to get back on heroin as soon as possible. Took about twelve hours.
First Khmer Rouge Trial is Underway
Kaing Guek Eav, aka Comrade Duch, is the first of five Khmer Rouge leaders to face trial for their parts in a genocide that killed millions of people. Interestingly enough, Duch started his testimony off with an apology, asking for forgiveness:
A key Khmer Rouge leader has admitted responsibility for crimes committed during the regime's brutal rule.This is a long time coming, and I'm glad that at least some of these assholes will be forced to face the music.
Speaking at a UN-backed tribunal in Cambodia, Kaing Guek Eav - also known as Duch - expressed "regretfulness and heartfelt sorrow" for his actions.
Duch is accused of torture, crimes against humanity and premeditated murder for his alleged role in the deaths of more than 10,000 people.
The Khmer Rouge killed two million people in their four years in power.
"May I be permitted to apologise to the survivors of the regime, and also the loved ones of those who died brutally during the regime," Duch told the court.
"I ask not that you forgive me now, but hope you will later."
The Ladies
Today was my maternal grandmother's birthday. She would have been 86, if she were still alive, but she died over a decade ago now. Still, I remember her birthday every year, for reasons I'm not quite sure I understand—although I think it has something to do with the fact that I shared my birthday with my paternal grandmother, so remembering hers seems only fair.
I really, truly adored both of my grandmothers, who liked one another very much, too. Recently, Mama Shakes scanned some old pictures for me, and I cannot get over how much I love this picture of my two grandmothers together in NYC, which Mama Shakes aptly titled "Fifth Avenue Babes."
My maternal grandmother, Mil, the lifelong New Yorker, is on the left, and my paternal grandmother, Fran, the Hoosier, is on the right. Mil doesn't look too happy there, but she had a great sense of humor, a great grin, and a great laugh. She was cheeky—which you can see here (I made everyone wear stupid things as hats when I was child):
And here's a random bonus picture of me when I was a wee thing laughing myself silly with my Aunt Lil:
I love that picture. Pure joy.
Quote of The Day
"I heard some top of the hour news and it made me feel uncomfortable. It's about the flooding in Fargo, North Dakota brought on by the melting snowpack and the icepack. [Reading from news item] 'As the Red River threatens to overflow, they're filling in the dikes.' Isn't there a more appropriate word? Do we have to say, I mean, we don't have any dikes here. The 'dykes' are over there...They're filling in the dikes. Couldn't we change that to 'they're filling in the contingencies' or something?...We really need to change that word."—Conservative Kingdouche Rush Limbaugh.
[H/T to Shaker Angelos.]
Beware the cute
For you shall melt into a puddle on the floor.
Numbers of the Day
19. The percentage by which home prices in 20 U.S. cities fell over 2008, "the fastest drop on record, as demand plummeted and foreclosures rose."
41%. The jobless rate in Mendota, California, where "the town's social fabric is tearing at the seams. Alcoholism and crime are on the rise. To save money, some mothers wash and re-use disposable diapers. Unemployed men with nothing to do wander the streets and sit on benches."
$12.8 Trillion. The amount of money the government and Federal Reserve have "spent, lent, or guaranteed," an amount that "approaches the value of everything produced in the country last year, to stem the longest recession since the 1930s."
Zero. The number of shits conservatives not personally affected by the crisis evidently give about the people who are.
Afghanistan Law Effectively Legalizes Rape
[Trigger warning.]
This is a dreadful turn of events in Afghanistan, and I have yet to find if there has been an official White House response, but it needs immediate action (emphasis mine):
Afghanistan's President, Hamid Karzai, has signed a law which "legalises" rape, women's groups and the United Nations warn. Critics claim the president helped rush the bill through parliament in a bid to appease Islamic fundamentalists ahead of elections in August.In this Telegraph article on the new law, opponents say the legislation, the full text of which has not been made public outside limited parts of Afghanistan's parliament, is "worse than during the Taliban" and reportedly stipulates that "women can only seek work, education or doctor's appointments with their husband's permission."
In a massive blow for women's rights, the new Shia Family Law negates the need for sexual consent between married couples, tacitly approves child marriage and restricts a woman's right to leave the home, according to UN papers seen by The Independent.
"It is one of the worst bills passed by the parliament this century," fumed Shinkai Karokhail, a woman MP who campaigned against the legislation. "It is totally against women's rights. This law makes women more vulnerable."
The law regulates personal matters like marriage, divorce, inheritance and sexual relations among Afghanistan's minority Shia community. "It's about votes," Ms Karokhail added. "Karzai is in a hurry to appease the Shia because the elections are on the way."
…The most controversial parts of the law deal explicitly with sexual relations. Article 132 requires women to obey their husband's sexual demands and stipulates that a man can expect to have sex with his wife at least "once every four nights" when travelling, unless they are ill. The law also gives men preferential inheritance rights, easier access to divorce, and priority in court.
A report by the United Nations Development Fund for Women, Unifem, warned: "Article 132 legalises the rape of a wife by her husband".
There's more at the Guardian here, including the depressing revelation that some female politicians are considering the law as passed a minor victory since the original proposal was even worse, and they at least succeeded in changing some details, like raising the minimum marriage age of girls from 9 to 16: "It's not really 100% perfect, but compared to the earlier drafts it's a huge improvement," said MP Shukria Barakzai.
Contact the US State Department and politely request swift action.
Oh, Dear
From one of the laughable "tea parties," which have to be some of the most crass examples of selfishness that I've ever seen. This is why you always have someone check your work.
Perhaps we can now replace that "Morans" photo; I'm a little bored with that one. Shouldn't these people be going Galt or something?
From, Via.
Of Course
Since Michelle Obama has stopped being visibly angry, issuing strong opinions, publicly expressing that her husband has flaws, being all pushy with her individualism and shit, and the rest of the stuff that makes me like her immensely, now the rest of the country likes her.
Oh, America. When will you learn to love a strong woman?
Happy Blogiversary...
...to my friend Driftglass, celebrating four years of trying to prevent the future. Blue Gal's got our present for ya.
Driftglass is one of the very few bloggers I've met out in the meatworld, and what I will say about him is this: He is a very good guy who makes me grin.
*terrorist fist-bumps Drifty*
So…
…the Obama administration puts up a "A Guide to Getting Through Tough Economic Times," because, as most sentient adults know, financial stressors can create serious strains on individuals, on couples, on entire families—and, as the acting administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Eric Broderick, notes: "By helping people remain resilient, we can help promote the overall recovery of our nation."
And, naturally, the rightwing thinks this is hi-laaaar-ious!
Drudge, who "broke the news" last night features a picture of Mount Rushmore after a rain, in which it appears George Washington is crying, over the headline: "Nanny State: Government website to warn of sadness/crying over economy." Michelle Malkin's post is titled: "The soul-fixer-in-chief is here to dry your tears." Don Surber announces: "We have become a nation of wussies in just one generation." Dr. Helen says: "Apparently, this emotional kit is to help people deal with the stress of the financial crisis. Isn't this kind of like an abusive spouse providing you with tips on how to cope with his or her abuse?"
File Under: Compassionate Conservatism.
Hope and Change
The number of Americans who believe that the nation is headed in the right direction has roughly tripled since Barack Obama's election, and the public overwhelmingly blames the excesses of the financial industry, rather than the new president, for turmoil in the economy, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.Hmm. Now it's one thing to say that Obama's not doing the right things, but what sort of slack-jawed morons say that Team Obama are to blame for the economy?
At this early stage in his presidency, Obama continues to benefit from a broadly held perception that others should bear the bulk of responsibility for the severe economic problems that confront his administration. Americans see plenty of offenders, but only about a quarter blame the president and his team for an economy that's in the ditch.
There is now a pronounced divergence between Democratic and Republican perceptions of the economy, a bigger partisan divide than the one that occurred 16 years ago after Bill Clinton took office. In early 1993, people in both parties were about equally likely to see the economy as improving, but now the number of Republicans who say it is souring is more than double that of Democrats.Oh, right.
Other findings: 42% of Americans say the country is on the right track, which seems pretty low, until you consider that it's the highest percentage to say so in five years "and marks a sharp turnabout from last fall, when as many as nine in 10 said the country was heading in the wrong direction." 66% approve of the job Obama's doing as president, 60% approve of the way he's handling the economic crisis, and 52% approve of the way he's handling the federal budget deficit.
