For September 28
deke \DEEK\ verb
Meaning : to fake (an opponent) out of position (as in ice hockey)
Example Sentence
With a quick move to the left and then right, the forward deked the remaining defenseman and was left one-on-one with the goalie. Hawt.
Did you know?
"Deke" originated as a shortened form of "decoy." Ernest Hemingway used "deke" as a noun referring to hunting decoys in his 1950 novel Across the River and into the Trees ("I offered to put the dekes out with him"). About a decade later, "deke" began appearing in ice-hockey contexts in Canadian print sources as both a verb and a noun ("the act of faking an opponent out of position"). Today, "deke" has scored in many other sports, including baseball, basketball, and football. It has also checked its way into more general usage to refer to deceptive or evasive moves or actions. However, this general application of "deke" has never made it past the defenders. It occurs too rarely in English to merit its own sense in the dictionary.
[Cross-posted.]
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
Happy Monday!
How about a little evo-psych gone haywire?
Sent to me by Iain, who accompanied the link with a single word: "Ouch."
RIP William Safire
William Safire, Political Columnist and Oracle of Language, Dies at 79:
William Safire, a speechwriter for President Richard M. Nixon and a Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist for The New York Times who also wrote novels, books on politics and a Malaprop’s treasury of articles on language, died at a hospice in Rockville, Md., on Sunday. He was 79.RIP Bill.
...There may be many sides in a genteel debate, but in the Safire world of politics and journalism it was simpler: There was his own unambiguous wit and wisdom on one hand and, on the other, the blubber of fools he called "nattering nabobs of negativism" and "hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history."
...[F]rom 1973 to 2005, Mr. Safire wrote his twice-weekly "Essay" for the Op-Ed page of The Times, a forceful conservative voice in the liberal chorus. Unlike most Washington columnists who offer judgments with Olympian detachment, Mr. Safire was a pugnacious contrarian who did much of his own reporting, called people liars in print and laced his opinions with outrageous wordplay.
...And from 1979 until earlier this month, he wrote "On Language," a New York Times Magazine column that explored written and oral trends, plumbed the origins and meanings of words and phrases, and drew a devoted following, including a stable of correspondents he called his Lexicographic Irregulars.
...Mr. Safire called Hillary Clinton a "congenital liar" in print. Mrs. Clinton said she was offended only for her mother's sake. But a White House aide said that Bill Clinton, "if he were not the president, would have delivered a more forceful response on the bridge of Mr. Safire's nose."
Mr. Safire was delighted, especially with the proper use of the conditional.
Vloggin' with Blogginz, Episode 4
In which we discuss the horrorfest that is the film Good Luck Chuck, starring Dane Cook, which was our most recent Bad Film Night Flick, and Sophie keeps distracting us (mostly me). Episodes One, Two, Three.
[Also available at Daily Motion. Full transcript below.]
Title Card: Vloggin' with Blogginz…& Sophs!
Liss: Are you ready for some sweet Mike Isabella action on Top Chef?
KBlogz: Mike Isaballa is a lot like this character in the film Good Luck Chuck—
[Liss bursts out laughing]
KBlogz: —he was the friend—
Liss: Yeah…?
KBlogz: —and he's all like [flaps arms around and puts on caveman voice] "Gettin' pussy! Yeeeaaaarrrggghhh!"
Liss: Oh my god. Was that the worst movie ever?
KBlogz: It got 5% on RottenTomatoes.com.
Liss: [laughing] Is that accurate?
KBlogz: Yeah!
Liss: Oh my god.
KBlogz: Yeah, it's true. It got 5%.
Liss: I mean, I know, like, we watched a lot of bad movies together, deliberately, because we like watching bad movies, like…Blart…and—
KBlogz: Yeah, but Blart wasn't offensive like this one.
Liss: Well—
KBlogz: It was kind of, but—
Liss: —it was kind of offensive.
KBlogz: It didn't make me sick.
Liss: Remember all the "Ha ha, fat people are funny" stuff?
KBlogz: Yeah, "Oh, fat people are funny" and then Good Luck Chuck is like [flaps arms around and puts on dudebro caveman voice] "Fucking dumb sluts! Yeeeaaaarrrggghhh!"
Liss: [laughing] I know! That was—
KBlogz: [waves arms around wildly while Liss laughs] He's like leaping around; he's like doing all this Dane Cook impersonation.
Liss: It was actually— Yeah, Dane Cook was doing a Dane Cook impersonation?
KBlogz: Well, his friend [in the movie] was like Dane Cook's stand-up—
Liss: YES.
KBlogz: —he was like moving his arms around [flaps arms around and puts on caveman voice] and going, "Pussy!"
Liss: Yeah, I'm surprised he didn't do a t-rex impersonation, you know how—
KBlogz: [impersonating Dane Cook's t-rex impersonation] Rrrrahhh!
[Liss bursts out laughing]
Liss: Um— Can you fix those blinds behind you? Like, that Sophie messed up again? [KBlogz fixes blinds, which he's done like 90 times before.] Thanks, it was irritating me.
KBlogz: You're welcome.
Liss: Um—
[KBlogz puts hand under chin; pulls cute face; Liss laughs]
Liss: You're very helpful. Um, what was I gonna say about Good Luck Chuck? That was actually offensive on every level.
KBlogz: Yeah.
Liss: Like, it wasn't funny, it was—there was gratuitous nudity constantly… [Sophie jumps up by where the blinds had been messed up.] Look, right back to fucking with the blinds.
KBlogz: [faux angry] Goddammit.
Liss: Lucky she's cute, I tell ya.
KBlogz: I know. [melodramatically rolls eyes and shakes head]
Liss: But for that she's getting out of the shot. [Zooms in on KBlogz, who chuckles.] It was completely absurd, and it made no sense—
KBlogz: Very poorly written.
Liss: —it was misogynist, homophobic, transphobic, racist—
KBlogz: Anti-Wiccan.
Liss: —anti-Wiccan, probably anti-penguin.
KBlogz: Probably.
Liss: Um, it had a stoner for laughs, which is just—
KBlogz: Yeah.
Liss: —so tired.
KBlogz: Anti-stoner, right.
Liss: [laughs] And unoriginal and lazy.
KBlogz: Yeah, plus that.
Liss: Derivative, um—
KBlogz: Yeah, it had a "Dane Cook going down on a plush penguin" scene at the end.
Liss: That was tragic!
KBlogz: Ya ever wanna see Dane Cook make love to a plush penguin? Watch Good Luck Chuck! It's a real movie.
Liss: [pans over to Sophie, who had pushed her head through the blinds] Look at this shit over here. Look.
KBlogz: [faux angry] Goddammit!
Liss: [laughing as Sophie pulls her head out and looks at them, then licks her back] Look at the innocent look!
KBlogz: [faux angry] Goddammit!
Liss: "Oh don't mind me! I'm just cleaning myself! I'm not fucking up the blinds!"
KBlogz: Look at her—
Liss: Good Luck Sophie.
[Liss and KBlogz pretend to be exasperated, then Liss laughs as Sophie sticks her head back out of the blinds.]
Liss: What could be going on out there? Look at her! [KBlogz looks and laughs.] Just watching the neighborhood!
KBlogz: Bobby! Bobby!
Liss: What else? It was millions of dollars that could have been spent feeding people.
KBlogz: Mm-hmm.
Liss: Or—
KBlogz: Or making just a better movie.
Liss: Yes! [They both laugh.] That's also, like, an option. Oh my god, um—
KBlogz: It could have gone towards, like, cool sweaters for us.
Liss: Yes. It could have gone to an actual, real penguin habitat.
KBlogz: It could have gone towards getting us a Dodge Viper—
Liss: Mm-hmm.
KBlogz: —with nitrous.
Liss: Yeah.
KBlogz: For our blogging.
Liss: And also our surp—supor—ssss— Let's try that again. Also for our superheroing that we do on the weekends.
KBlogz: Yep.
Liss: 'Cuz, like, um, my Ford Fusion ain't that cool.
KBlogz: Not at all.
Liss: Your Scion's a little cooler.
KBlogz: It's a little bit cooler.
[Sophie goes crashing through the blinds. They laugh.]
Title Card: The End!!!
Shaker Thumbs
Your opportunity to give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to a product or service you'd recommend to other Shakers or warn them away from. Previously: One, Two, Three, Four.
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This week, I'm going to recommend something a little different—a program to which I've made a donation: Adaptive Eyewear.
Reporting from the Clinton Global Initiative (to which I was invited, but unfortunately could not attend), my friend Mannion shared yesterday that President Clinton had announced a commitment from Adaptive Eyewear, a British non-profit which aims to address the global problem of uncorrected vision problems.
The World Health Organization estimates that more than a billion people are in need of eyeglasses they cannot afford or access. A billion. This is the epidemic of neglect that Adaptive Eyewear is seeking to address.
[Transcript below.]
This issue is hugely important to me, because, without my glasses, my life would be completely different. My vision is severely impaired without them; they have enabled me to do things I never would have been able to do otherwise. This is not to suggest a life with compromised or no vision is less a life, but only to underline the impact of correcting vision problems that can be corrected.
It is a huge privilege that I have access to and can afford eyeglasses, and it shouldn't be. There's no reason we can't make sure everyone in the world who needs corrective lenses has them.
Donate to Adaptive Eyewear here.[Video opens with a montage of "life" scenes in African with music overlay. Title card: "Adaptive Eyewear—Solving an Invisible Problem."]
Voiceover: [over video montage of street scenes in African city] An estimated 40% of the world's population needs glasses to see clearly. Even so, looking at this busy street, no one is wearing glasses. What's going on here? The World Health Organization has declared that upwards of a billion people need, but lack, eyeglasses. Adaptive Eyewear, a British nonprofit, is trying to solve this invisible problem.
In much of the developing world, basic eyeglasses cost one to two months' earnings, making clear vision unattainable. In the United States, there is one optometrist for every 4,500 people. In the United Kingdom, there is one per 6,000. In India, there's only one per 100,000. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the average is one optometrist per one million people.
Faced with such impossible odds, Adaptive Eyewear introduced a revolutionary solution—adaptive eyeglasses. Adaptive eyeglasses let users figure out their own lens power with assistance from a local facilitator. No eyecare professional is necessary to fit adaptive eyeglasses. They work for near, far, and for reading.
The process is simple and intuitive: Users adjust the power of the fluid-filled lenses until they can see clearly; then, just seal and cut, instantly making a good pair of glasses, anywhere, anytime.
Dr. Graeme McKenzie, Researcher, Vision for the Developing World, Oxford: When you prescribe glasses, you have to carry thousands of lenses to meet the needs of just a few hundred people, so it's very expensive. The end result of this is that optometrists are usually based in cities, and they expect people in need to come to them. So, the adjustable spectacle design is unique and very exciting, in that you can take the product to a person, and a single pair of spectacles could cover a very large range of powers.
Julian Lambert, CEO, Adaptive Eyewear: So, for the first time, with fluid-filled adjustable spectacles, we have a solution for the estimated one- to two-billion people in the world who have undiagnosed, uncorrected vision defects.
Voiceover: Attention to vision improves development program outcomes. In Ghana, the World Bank provided over ten thousand pairs of adaptive eyeglasses to adult literacy programs. Trained teachers coordinated the distribution effort.
Samuel Salifu Mogre, Executive Director, Non-Formal Education Division, Ghana: Eyeglasses is a component that is very vital to the success of our literacy program.
Amala Martin, District Coordinator, Non-Formal Education Division: If I come to the class, and I can't see the chalkboard, tomorrow I won't come out again. Or if I am given the book to read and I can't see the letters there, tomorrow I won't come out. So, those who had these problems, and their visions have been corrected with the Adspecs, they are very regular and punctual, and it has enhanced their learning.
David Awuni, Teacher/Facilitator: Some of the students, particularly there is a woman here—she never used to see the alphabets clearly. So, after writing, she will ask, "Is this F?" Then I will take the chalk and print a deep, very big F for her to see, or a very big letter for her to see.
Hajia Fati Musah, Student: Now that I have the glasses, I am able to read the writing on the board. That's how the glasses helped me.
Male Student: During classes, I had problems reading from my book because the writings looked very small. But when I got the glasses, it has helped me with my reading. Now when I wear the glasses, I see everything clear.
David Awuni: So, in fact, it has helped us a lot—and the strain, the nervous, the nerve problem we used to have [rubs temples], headaches, all this gone. So, we are grateful for these spectacles.
Agnes Addo Mensah, Head of Special Education, Non-Formal Education Division: Generally, they say it has improved their lives, and even some of them are so proud—they use it in reading Bible in their church, and they are so happy. The fishermen say now they can mend their nets, and one day go to the fishing they are able to catch more fish. And it's improving their economic life.
Dr. Graeme McKenzie: Seventy percent of the Ghanaians who had basically self-prescribed their glasses, um, prescribed a pair of glasses of nearly the same power as the optometrist's prescription.
George Bentil, Deputy Director Field Operations, Non-Formal Education Division: Something that we appeal to donors, to support financially for us to be able to supply these eyeglasses to our learners.
Voiceover: Adaptive eyeglasses have also been tested all over the world, and thousands have been distributed by the US military on humanitarian missions. So far, there has only been one complaint.
Amala Martin: They're a bit big and heavy.
Voiceover: Adaptive eyewear is introducing a thinner, lighter version, offering the same functionality in a smaller package.
Adaptive eyeglasses have the power to make a difference in almost any human endeavor. They're also the most cost-efficient way to distribute glasses after a major disaster.
For one billion people, the problem is urgent. Access to adaptive eyeglasses means a chance to read, to write, to see a beloved grandchild, and to generate critical economic development. The world can't wait—and the time is now.
[Text card: "Adaptive Eyewear—Vision for the World. www.adaptive-eyewear.org"]
This Cannot End Well
I just went down the street to the grocery store to get a bite to eat for lunch.
A few doors down from my office, I saw lying in the street...
Another banana.
Leave me alone, Kirk Cameron!!
Donna Sachet to sing National Anthem!
by Shaker Spryte
Donna Sachet, a drag performer, singer, writer and activist in San Francisco, will make history when she sings the national anthem at the San Francisco Giants baseball game on Tuesday, September 29. Donna has quite a resume – she's been Grand Marshal of the SF Pride parade, a board member of Equality California, a long-time member of the SF Gay Men's Chorus, and was named "First Lady of the Castro District" by California Assemblyman Mark Leno (and that's just a drop in the bucket of her fabulous life) – and this will be a very exciting and unique bullet point to add to it:
Donna and Pat Gallagher, President of the Giants, met last year while working on a video for the SF Convention & Visitors Bureau annual luncheon. Donna mentioned her dream of singing at a game and Mr. Gallagher encouraged her to apply, suggesting that a demo CD would be a plus. Being the good Girl Scout that she is, Donna just happened to have a CD on her with a few songs she had prepared some time ago. Shortly thereafter, Donna received a call with an offer to sing, but was unable to attend the scheduled event due to a prior engagement. The season ended without another offer. Donna didn't give up though, and she decided to try out again this season.This time, Donna received an email invitation with plenty of notice and was happily able to accept. As she said, "I was hoping that the Giants weren't like the White House where once declined, another invitation was not to come." LOLsob!
Personally, I'm a die-hard soccer hooligan, but I've always been a baseball fan too, and as a resident of San Francisco, the Giants are naturally where my affinity rests. I am so proud of them for being so progressive and awesome, and for embracing the diversity and love that defines the city they represent, the city I love so dearly. This won't be the first time they've made progressive waves – as Donna mentions in the article above, in 1994 the Giants became the first professional sports team to host an AIDS benefit game, which has become an annual event and has raised $1.3 million for AIDS education and research.
It's refreshing to see a team challenge the sadly prevalent attitudes of homophobia and intolerance in the sporting world. If you follow the link to the Examiner.com article, there's a poll asking if readers think people will cheer Donna on, or if they'll boo because they're "not ready" for this. In my opinion, there's nothing to be "ready" for, unless you're a closed-minded, bigoted jerk – and for fuck's sake, this is San Francisco! If a drag performer singing the national anthem at a baseball game is too much for you, something you're "not ready" for…well, tough crap. The rest of us are thrilled, as is Donna, I'm sure, and your narrow-mindedness and prejudice is not going to change that.
Snap
I think your mom probably did.Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) to Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) after Mr. Kyl proclaimed, "I don't need maternity care. So requiring that on my insurance policy is something that I don't need and will make the policy more expensive."
Crossposted.
What the Hell?
Mustang Bobby
From the motion picture Snow Job, Falcon Entertainment, 1983.
(If you've a ridiculous and/or embarrassing photo of yourself from your youth, please send it to shakerwhatthehell_at_yahoo_dot_com. I'll post them up as part of our series called What The Hell? so everyone can laugh
[See also: Deeky, Liss, evilsciencechick, katecontinued, ClumsyKisses, Mistress Sparkletoes, Liiiz, Reedme, Mama Shakes, Mustang Bobby, RedSonja, MomTFH, Portly Dyke, SteffaB, Icca, Christina, Orangelion03, Car, Siobhan, InfamousQBert, Maud, Rikibeth, MishaRN, CLD, Cheezwiz, MamaCarrie, Temeraire, somebodyoranother, goldengirl, Liss (again), summerwing, yeomanpip, Susan811, bbl, Deeky (Part II), A Daily Shakesville Fan, Sami_J, liberalandproud Temeraire: Redux, Mama Shakes II, Bonus Deeky, OuyangDan, J.Goff, Iain, Talonas, The Great Indoors, gogo, kiwi_a, em_and_ink, Tik_bev, phdintraining, Deeky Freakhands, busydani, Jenny Anne, rowmyboat, DesertRose, Steve/Pido, Anne Onymous, phredrika, The Last of the Famous International Deekys, and Iain.]
Friday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by Shaxco, proud distributors of Deeky's Giant Gloves.
Recommended Reading:
Cara: Rape Apologism and the Response to Mackenzie Phillips
Fannie: Indian Women Get Their Own Lady Train
Skud: Open Letter to Mark Shuttleworth
LeMew: "Revisionism"
Resistance: The Browning of Disease
Melissa: Sexism Alert: The Catfight Begins
Leave your links in comments...
Talent Is Universal, But Opportunity Is Not
As many of you know, I have advocated for many years that women are the key to progress and prosperity around the world. I believe that. I know that many of you do as well. And the evidence increasingly supports that assertion. We know that investments in women yield very big dividends, and we want women to be given the tools so that they can make the most out of their own lives – run for office to be president or prime minister, work your way up to be appointed to a position of foreign minister, so many opportunities, because we know there is so much talent.—Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, yesterday, at the Female Heads of State and Foreign Ministers Luncheon.
But what I have concluded over the years is that talent is universal, but opportunity is not. And in many places, opportunity is still out of reach for women, no matter how smart they are, how hard they work, how much encouragement they might be given even by their own families, that it is still a very difficult task.
Yet there are so many wonderful examples of women leaders like yourselves and organizations around the world that are making a real difference. And women's voices are now heard in every debate that is going on, in the public sector, of course, but increasingly in the civil society and in the private sector. I've seen examples on every continent of women banding together, organizing themselves, using microfinance, fighting to get an education, working to get healthcare, protecting their daughters, doing what is necessary to build a better future.
And I would very much like us to have some time today in this limited period we have to explore what we can do together, how we can support each other, but more importantly, how we can make girls and women a top priority.
And next week at the Security Council, we're going to be taking steps to improve the United Nations' response to sexual violence committed during armed conflict. I will be speaking next Wednesday on behalf of a U.S.-sponsored resolution to better implement the commitment that we should have to the role that women and girls should play in their lives, in their communities, and their countries, and in particular, to appoint a special representative of the Secretary General to lead, coordinate, and advocate for efforts to end sexual violence in armed conflict. I think we have to elevate that no matter what country we're from. Those of us who have traveled, as I think all of us here have done, have seen the consequences, and some of you have lived the consequences and your families have suffered the consequences as well.
So we intend to make this a centerpiece of my term as Secretary of State. There are people who say, well, women's issues is an important issue, but it doesn’t rank up there with the Middle East or Iran's nuclear threat or Afghanistan and Pakistan. I could not disagree more. I think women are key to our being able to resolve all of those difficult conflicts, as well as provide for a better future.
So let me just … and ask each and every one of you to think about any ideas you might have, any concerns you have that you would like to share before all of us. But mostly, let me just thank you for being here and for being in the positions that you are in and making a difference by setting an example and providing the role-modeling that is so necessary for not only girls and women to see, but for boys and men to understand there have to be changes in attitude, not just in policies and in law, in order for us to achieve the kind of equal rights and equal responsibilities that is our birthright.
I had a dream the other night that I met Hillary Clinton. I asked her, "What can I do?" And she told me, "Everything you can."
[H/T to Shaker TinaH.]
Open Thread
Hosted by a whale shark who totes wants to make out with you.
A few people have mentioned they like having a general open thread to just hang out and chat in during the day, and I can accommodate that! So here it is. Enjoy.
In Words and Phrases Not in Common English Usage
I now pronounce you woman and husband.
You may kiss the groom.*
Ms. and Mr. Hername Lastname.
They walked together over the threshold.
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* This is common at weddings where there are two grooms. But those are, thanks to shitty laws, themselves not common for most Shakesville readers in America and most places in the world.
[One, Two, Three.]
Get Well Soon, Justice Ginsburg
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was admitted to Washington Hospital Center on Thursday when she fell ill at the court after being treated for an iron deficiency.[H/T to Shaker Anitanola.]
Ginsburg, 76, "developed light headedness and fatigue" in her chambers about an hour after receiving an iron sucrose infusion, according to a statement from the court. A court physician determined that Ginsburg's blood pressure was slightly low and administered fluids. Ginsburg's symptoms improved, the court said, but the justice was taken to the hospital as a precaution. (link)
Oh, Stevie, Stevie, Stevie...
...what are we gonna do with you?
Reading the Globe and Mail today, at a suggestion from a friend (thanks, James!), I came across this article, wherein Mr. Harper (the Canadian Prime Minister) and his anti-intellectual cronies promise us a safer country by means of longer prison sentences.
Yah. Because that's worked so brilliantly well for our neighbours, by all means, let's try it here.
Nothing quite like seeing a set of policies fail so utterly in another very similar country to make those policies attractive to the Bush-worshipping douchebag who currently lives at 24 Sussex.
As noted in the interview, our ReformaTories are not quietly anti-intellectual: they trumpet it, are proud of it, revel in the stupidity of their policies:
Mr. Harper told a partisan audience in January, 2008, that critics of his crime policies “try to pacify Canadians with statistics.Indeed, because what the country needs is a good deal more anecdata in our governance. None of that bullshit proof is needed here; no, what we need are some uninformed opinions of "ordinary Canadians", for which read "people who are old, white, Christian, straight, xenophobic/homophobic/misogynist douchebags" - i.e., the Tory voter base.
“Your personal experiences and impressions are wrong, they say, crime is really not a problem.”
Election NOW! Get the party of proud anti-intellectualism out of the halls of government!
