You Go, Grrl: Cmd. Sgt. Mgr. Teresa King
Command Sergeant Major Teresa L. King has become the first woman to ascent to the top drill sergeant spot in the US Army:
On Tuesday, the Army will make [King], 48, commandant of its drill sergeant school here. It is a first. No woman has run one of the Army's rigorous schools for drill instructors.Why that's particularly notable is available only in the audio slideshow that accompanies the story. King says of her philosophy: "The difference between yelling and instructing and mentoring soldiers, soldiers learn better when you coach and mentor them. And if you have trained them, why are you yelling? The drill sergeants I train will be running the Army in ten years, so I gotta get it right."
...The eighth of 12 children, the sergeant major is the daughter of a sharecropper who grew cucumbers and tobacco near Fort Bragg, N.C. Her first job in the Army was as a postal clerk, a traditional position for women in those days.
She says she regrets not having been deployed to a war zone during her 29-year Army career, though she has trained many soldiers who were. And now, in her new job, she will have significant influence over the basic training of every enlisted soldier.
[H/T to Shaker Kirsaram.]
Bread and Teaspoons Seven
Good morning (unless it isn't where you are, in which case I wish you Good $TIME_PERIOD), and welcome to this week's installment of Shakesville's networking post, Bread and Teaspoons*.
There are hundreds of us here, maybe thousands, all over the US and Canada, and out into the rest of the world. We work in all kinds of fields, doing all kinds of different things, and most of us tend to be online creatures: we roam the Toobz constantly, and in doing so, encounter many opportunities.
This is a weekly post, usually Mondays, providing a spot for Shakers to network a little with one another, see if we can help each other out some.
Please note my apologies for the non-appearance and current lateness; as some of you know, I got married this past weekend, and have been oddly preoccupied with that bit of business recently. All done now, and next week's B&T will have some changes I've been wanting to make.
Also, I'm pleased to announce we have our first big success story: a Shaker recently informed me that they were able to locate new employment, leaving behind a workplace full of right-wing nutbarness of the first order, through a connection made right here. Huzzah for Shakers finding better work!
Here's how it works: There should be three sorts of comments here.
1) You comment here with any details of work you're seeking: where, what, that sort of thing. You give an e-mail address at which you can be reached - feel free to set up a special e-mail for it, if you don't want to post your regular one for the world to spam - and if another Shaker has a lead, they can contact you directly to pass it along.
A work-seeking comment should include:
Please do NOT include information such as your full name or telephone number, as this is and will remain a public post, and once posted, there's no taking it back (because it'll be spidered by a search engine, not because we don't want you to).
It is explicitly alright to comment to this each week with similar info.
For example, I might post a comment saying:
I'm a professional translator of French, German and Russian, with nearly 17 years of experience. I'm looking for basically any translation job, academic, commercial, personal, genealogical, you name it, with one exception: I do not currently have certification, so if you need a certified translator (usually for legal docs: birth certificates, divorce decrees, wills), you need someone else.
I am also available as a writer or editor, for academic, journalistic, creative, marketing-oriented or any other type of written communication. Basically, if you'll pay me, I'll write or edit it.
You can contact me for business purposes through my business address, translatey.caitie@translateycaitie.com.**
2) The second type of comment would be task offering: if you've got a job you think might suit someone here, consider posting it as a comment. Use the same guidelines as above: give general information here, and specific information when you exchange e-mails. An offered task might look something like this:
I have a doctoral thesis which needs proofing and editing by Thursday, is anyone available? You can reach me at ABDShaker@shakesville.miskatonic.edu.
I'd like to be clear: only offer tasks which you have explicit permission to offer. If you come across something that isn't yours, but think some Shakers might want to know about it, either ask permission of the offerer, or offer it privately to someone whose comment says they might be interested (based on their skillset). For instance, you're on some other site, you see someone asking for, say, help in designing their new website. Don't come here and offer the job as a comment, unless you have that person's explicit permission. What you could do is go through the comments, and send an e-mail to anyone with the right skillset.
3) The third kind of comment I'd love to see is success stories! We’d love to know when this works out, and people actually find some employment through our efforts. If you feel like sharing, tell us how it worked out for you. :)
So, that's what we'd like to see.
What we do NOT want to see:
So there. Have at it, Shakers, for Bread and Teaspoons!
Important disclaimers: Shakesville makes no endorsement or claim as to the capabilities of anyone commenting to this post, and anyone considering hiring someone should be prepared to treat it like any other business situation: DO YOUR DUE DILIGENCE. We're not doing any screening of this, so you'll want to make sure you check references, use safe-payment procedures (e.g., ask for a deposit), all the things you'd do when working with any stranger on the Internet. While this is intended for Shakers in general, remember that there is no real obstacle to being able to comment here, and do the things you need to do to keep yourself safe.
* As might be evident, this is an intentional reference to Bread and Roses, a longtime slogan of the left. In this case, though, my hope is that if we achieve steady bread, we will use it to power our teaspoon use.
** Now, don't go writing to that one yet, because that's not my actual domain name (which I've not got running yet, but should soon), and I'm only using it as an example (though it happens to be true). The e-mail listed for me under Contributors works just fine for now, if you've got something for me.
The last several Bread and Teaspoons: One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six.
But Does God Hate Trucknut'z?
Grammatically challenged witness lists all the very bad and possessive groups who should repent and believe in Jesus. Take that, Catholic's! (Via god hates protesters.)
Also, the look on this woman's face is priceless:
(Plus, sign me up for fag church!)
[H/T to InfamousQBert.]
Come On, Libs!
Looks like House liberals are serious about pressuring Nancy Pelosi and the House leadership to stand firm behind a real public option.The letter, which you can read here, also requests a meeting with Pelosi to "to discuss how we can work together to include a robust public plan that will increase competition, bring down costs, and provide the necessary savings to ensure robust subsidies to those who need help paying for health insurance."
...[A letter sent by two top House progressives, Democratic Representatives Lynn Woolsey of California and Raul Grijalva of Arizona] makes this point by noting that the version of the public option in the House health care proposal negotiated by Blue Dogs — the version that emerged from Henry Waxman's Energy and Commerce committee — pales beside the ones created by two other key House committees, which have a more robust public option. ... They write flat out that the version negotiated by Blue Dogs is "unacceptable" to them, because it results in far less savings than the two other versions.
Consider this an open thread on healthcare.
Speaking of Which...
The Republicans want to be the party of inclusion, and that means including not only people of all races, but including racists as well. That can be, as you may have noticed, a wee bit problematic.
And so Ivan Marte, chair of the Rhode Island Republican Hispanic Assembly, has quit the Republican party.
In his letter to RI GOP chairman Giovanni Cicione, he wrote:
I do hope that my resignation served as a sign, that the Republican Party in this Nation need to reevaluate their position in a Society that it strength and sovereignty depend on the unification of our peoples and not the division that we had build and that we should concentrate our efforts on our simlarity and not on our differences.In other words, "all your racist bullshit is getting old."
Good on ya, Ivan, I'm sure those socialists on the other side of the aisle will welcome you with open arms.
Marte claims his resignation was prompted, in part, by Joe Wilson's recent outburst. "I do not want to continue being a member of a party in which the members of the party express themselves in that way." He reportedly described Wilson's behavior as "shameful" and "uncivilized."
[Via Think Progress.]
Barf
South Carolina Rep. Joe "You lie!" Wilson has now raised over $2 million since shouting at the president like a disrespectful git. If you'd like to donate to his Democratic opponent, Iraq veteran Rob Miller, and help him try to defeat Wilson (whose politics are as stinky as his manners), you can do so here or here.
o.oP!
Today's Edition of "Conniving and Sinister"
Strips 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. In which Liss reimagines the long-running comic "Frank & Ernest," about two old straight white guys "telling it like it is," as a fat feminist white woman and a biracial queerbait telling it like it actually is from their perspectives. Hilarity ensues.
Obama w/ Letterman
President Obama was on "The Late Show with David Letterman" last night, and Dave asked him if he thinks some of the opposition to him and/or his policies is rooted in racism. Bearing in mind that if the president had said "yes" in any fashion, it would have run for the next six weeks as "Obama says opposition are all racists!!!1!eleventy!" he went for the savvy political side-step (with oblique dig at Joe "You lie!" Wilson)—and almost made it, except for where he tripped yet again over his insistence on pretending that Ronald Reagan wasn't bad for America, the irony being that if Reagan hadn't dismantled the Fairness Doctrine and turned the race-baiting Southern Strategy into the central Republican strategy, a savvy political side-step probably wouldn't be required and this segment might not even exist. Sigh.
Anyway, here it is, with full transcript below…
Letterman: I started noticing when they would have these, the town hall meetings, and there was vitriol and general animosity and anger and shouting and pushing and just unsavory behavior reported, and I don't know if it was generally speaking, but it would be reported here and there. And then, within the last week, a coupla days ago, Jimmy Carter started talking about this behavior, and speculating that, perhaps, this unease or poor decorum was because people—uh, was rooted in racism. Is he onto something there, or is that just something to talk about?
Obama: Well, first of all, I think it's important to realize that I was actually black before the election, so— [audience laughter and applause]
Letterman: Really?
Obama: This is true. This is true. So—
Letterman: And how long have you been a black man? [audience laughter]
Obama: [laughs] And so the American people, I think, gave me this extraordinary honor, and that tells you, I think, a lot about where the country's at. I actually think that what's happened is that whenever a president tries to bring about significant changes, particularly during times of economic unease, then there is a certain segment [makes "tiny" gesture with fingers] of the population that gets very riled up, and it happened—FDR was called a socialist and a communist, JFK, there were all kinds of names hurled at him, Ronald Reagan, when he came into office, he was moving in a different direction and people were sure that he was bringing the country down, and so, this is not untypical. You know, one of the things you sign up for in politics is folks yell at ya. [Letterman laughs.] But, but I think what has been missing from the conversation is that the overwhelming majority of people, Republican or Democrat, I think they just want to see some common sense; they want to see some honesty and integrity in Washington; I think they're turned off by the shouting and the yelling; and they expect more from their public elected officials. [audience applause]
Chuck Norris Wants You To Buy A Flag
I learned two things reading Chuck Norris's latest commentary at WND. First, Chuck has a thesaurus. ("George Washington advised…", "Thomas Jefferson counseled…", "Patrick Henry taught…", "John Adams declared…") Secondly, he is very, very dumb. (Everything else.)
He also wants you to... ummm... Am I the only one experiencing a very vivid moment of déjà vu?
Oh, yeah, you know what? I already wrote this post. Six months ago.
And apparently Chuck is still using the same thesaurus and same patriotic quote compendium (and who says right-wingers hate books?) and is still blaming the ills of the country on Obama.
And he wants you to buy a flag.
Preferably one from the WND gift shop, maybe that lovely 13-star number designed by Betsy Ross, a woman who wasn't allowed to vote. These flags are perfect for Regular Folks who yearn for a simpler time when one group of people were property belonging to another group of people, and those distinctions of class and commodity were made by something so simple and honest as the color of one's skin.
Shit... déjà vu again.
Okay, fuck it, I'm outta here. If you need me I'll be out back in my action jeans practicing with my ninja throwing stars. That, I know, will at least be something new.
Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime
When my BFF Todd and I wrote an underground newspaper in high school, my pen name was Jasmine Guy.
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker Esme: Who's your favorite TV pet?
I've been watching Due South all this week, and every time I see Diefenbaker, I just want to pull him out of the tv, feed him a donut, and play with him.Heh.
Personally, I'm going to have to go with Cringer aka BattleCat.
I mean, come on. He rules.
Sage Advice
When a friend is feeling grouchy on a Monday afternoon, they really like it and totally won't reply "I hate you" if you email this to them:
"Sounds like somebody's got a case of the Mondays!"
Especially if that friend is Deeky.
Today's Edition of "Conniving and Sinister"
Strips 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. In which Liss reimagines the long-running comic "Frank & Ernest," about two old straight white guys "telling it like it is," as a fat feminist white woman and a biracial queerbait telling it like it actually is from their perspectives. Hilarity ensues.
Oh Dear
What happens when you take a very complex and unusual memoir about repeated abortions and give it to a for-profit media whose bottom line is served by making stories as reductive and sensationalist as possible?
This.
Note that even though Dr. Lauren Streicher, clinical assistant professor at the Northwestern University School of Medicine, is quoted astutely observing, "This book really isn't about using abortion as birth control. [Irene Vilar] is unconsciously sabotaging contraception for self-mutilation. It's a way of escaping feeling empty," and even though Vilar herself is quoted saying, "Women have a deep need for agency, for purpose and direction and society is not providing natural and healthy channels for creative action. …Are many of the repeat abortions in part an embodiment of this mixed message [to mother; to not mother]? A lost, ambivalent attempt at an act of agency that cannot find its proper vessel?" the headline of the story is:
Sigh.
[H/T to Shaker niemaodpowiedzi.]
Lady Lawyer, Lady Engineer...
My mother still occasionally uses such sexist constructions as "lady lawyer" and "lady engineer". Last night she came into the living room and said, "I just watched a really good Criminal Minds. It was the one with the lady Jack The Ripper."
I am still laughing.
Of course, I am not laughing at Momma. My mother and other women in my family have told me that when they were growing up in the 1950s, they did not wish to be referred to as "women". "Woman" implied "that kind of woman". One wanted to be called a lady. Furthermore, my mother knew few if any female engineers or lawyers, so the totally unnecessary sex marker in occupation titles seems relevant to her.
Given that so few serial killers are women, and that Jack The Ripper was male, one could argue that "female Jack The Ripper" would be a relevant phrasing. But lady? LOL!
My mother's internalized sexism frustrates me on a near-daily basis, but this particular one-liner is comedy gold nonetheless.
Update: I have changed the title of this post because my original title was offensive. There is more discussion on that in comments. Again, my apologies.
High Times
Mama Shakes just sent me this email, which I am posting with her permission:
I was just up at Curves and one of the other women who is probably close to my age came in wearing a black T-shirt, decorated with green sequins forming the shape of a spiky, six-lobed leaf. I recognized the leaf from some of my more "artistic" students' notebooks ("Honest, Mrs. [MamaShakes]! I just drew that because I really like maple trees!" Uh-huh and you've been smoking too many "maple leaves" if you think I believe that.)
The leaf on the shirt had a green sequin smile and big, round eyes made of red sequins. Under the leaf were the words "High Everybody!"
When someone asked her about the shirt, she said, "I bought it at Shipshewana. I had no idea what it was; I just thought it was cute. My friend told me it was supposed to be marijuana, but I wear it anyway because it's still cute!"
Damn!
Buzzfeed: "A surveillance camera at a bank in Wisconsin captured this customer surprising a masked bank robber and tackling him. Stick around for the second angle to watch the old lady kicking him while he's down."
The 54-year-old man who tackled the would-be thief kept him pinned until police arrived and explained he went after him "because he feared for the safety of his wife who was standing near the suspect."
[Note to Iain: Don't get any ideas.]
The Gender Binary: We're Soaking In It
Shaker Susan S. emails an example from a textbook she's currently using, the fifth edition of Statistics for Managers Using Microsoft Excel, with the note: "The context is that the authors [four college-educated, upper-middle class, white, cis men] are providing examples which illustrate the concepts they are trying to teach us. First, they mention the obvious example of a coin toss. Then they move on to utter bullfuckery."
"Being male and being female are mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive events. No one is both (the two are mutually exclusive), and everyone is one or the other (the two are collectively exhaustive)." (154).Yeah. Not so much.
