Hey, Shakers. Space Cowboy and I have finally finished the new template, and I'm going to be making the switch this afternoon. As with any update, there will be some glitches and bumps—you'll see some things getting republished (like the Contributors page), and there may be some interruptions in your ability to comment—so please bear with us.
But once we get everything on track, we will have author pix again, and I've finally finished the Shaxicon, which will be linkable from the navbar, as will a new and improved Comments Policy and a freshly updated Feminism 101 page.
As always, we have Space Cowboy to thank for doing all the coding and trouble-shooting to make this happen. Thanks, Space Cowboy!!!
UPDATE: We know comments aren't showing up. We're working on it.
UPDATE 2: A word on the new design: The header image, which is a collection of vintage typewriter keys, references a couple of things. The obvious is the metaphor for new media and technologies. The other is that I simply have a peculiar little adoration for old typewriter keys—my keychain is an old "M" key—and, much to friends' amusement, I have a habit of referring to any keyboard as a "typewriter." When Iain got a new phone recently, KBlogz and I were checking it out, and I sniffed, "I like the typewriter on mine better," sending Iain and KBlogz into gales of laughter.
UPDATE 3: Comments should be working now. And the number of comments is once again showing in IE. Woot!
Blog Note
Monday Blogaround
This blogaround is brought to you by Shaxco, makers of Shark-Fu's Marzipan Crab Cake Toppers: makes any cake into a chewy undersea fantasy. Coming soon: Marzipan Remoras!
Recommended reading:
Some links about the devastating floods on Madeira:
--BBC News: Madeira flood rescuers search streets and houses
--News24: Madeira in mourning after flood
--The Guardian: Ronaldo to play in charity match for Madeira
--The Rare Wine Co. Blog: Update on Madeira Flood
Sepia Mutiny: Bollywood on Ice
Thea Lim: Race in the Carnival and Mardi Gras Colour Face
Geelong Visual Diary: Trying to dance like an Aborigine!!!
Jeralyn at Talk Left: New Credit Card Rules: The Good and the Bad
Amy at Extreme Biology (a blog written by high school biology students): Fungi: A New Revolution in Violin Making.
despoke: Crafts Council Launches a New Way to Experience Contemporary Craft With Craftcube:
The first CraftCube:Research is developed in partnership with the Culture Lab, University of Newcastle, and will focus on the work of Research Fellow Dr Jayne Wallace. Her recent research into memory and memory loss with the Alzheimer’s Society has resulted in jewellery that uses digital technology not as a design tool but as a way to reflect the complexities of memory loss. Visitors will be able to interact with the objects on display giving them the opportunity to discover the important roles jewellery and technology can play in the lives of people living with this condition.
Sam Fromartz at The Fresh Loaf reverse engineers Jim Lahey's Pizza Patate from "My Bread"
Doc's Tavern: Making Malt/Beer Vinegar
Gorgeous Things: Pattern Review - Vogue 8593. A sewing pattern review and construction notes on Vogue Patterns' homage to the dress Michelle Obama wore on her first visit to the White House.
Primate Diaries: How To Prove Evolution is Fake - The Peanut Butter Test
Really?
Really, New York Times? You really found it appropriate to headline an article about a prominent lactation consultant "The Breast Whisperer"?
Because I—like most people, I imagine—associate that phrase with "The Horse Whisperer" and "The Dog Whisperer." (And maybe "The Ghost Whisperer.") Last time I checked, my breasts were not animals. (Nor were they imaginary phantoms.) In fact, they weren't actually a separate entity from me of any kind at all.
Breasts are not independent, sentient beings. They are part of the human anatomy. Lactating breasts are (generally) part of the female human anatomy only, but that doesn't mean that they are the sum total of a female human.
A professional lactation consultant is not a "breast whisperer." She is a resource for people. Female people. Who are more than the sum of their parts. And baby people. Who, as it happens, tend to be the ones who need the help.
Liberal Media Bias!!!1!!eleventy!!!
Digby on the awesome American national media:
Ron Fournier wrote in yesterday's WaPo about the lying rightwingers at CPAC and the equally dishonest liberal activists who hate them. His theme is that Real Americans are sick of all this lying by the partisans of both sides and just want the truth.Read the whole thing, as they say.
He then takes an example of each side's lies to illustrate this. The first is Mitt Romney, whom many people consider to be the front runner for the Republican nomination, at CPAC. He points out that Romney lied about the Democrats' policies on taxes, jobs, deficits, tort reform, and the treatment of terrorist suspects in his speech to the faithful. For the Democrats he used as an example an anonymous diarist at DKos who wrote that Dick Cheney was a "self-confessed war criminal," insisting that's a lie because Cheney has not been charged with a war crime, nor has he confessed to one.
Aside from the bizarre asymmetry of a top tier presidential candidate and an anonymous blogger being used as equal examples of bipartisan lying, he didn't even get it right. It's true that Cheney has never been formally charged with a war crime, but Dick Cheney did go on national television just a week ago and blithely admit, "I signed off on it; others did, as well, too."
I'm Shocked, Shocked, I Tell You
"A comprehensive new study on foreign militaries that have made transitions to allowing openly gay service members concludes that a speedy implementation of the change is not disruptive. The finding is in direct opposition to the stated views of Pentagon leaders, who say repealing a ban on openly gay men and women in the United States armed forces should take a year or more."
The report also found that allowing gay service members to serve openly did not undermine morale, did not cause widespread resignations, did not result in mass "comings out," did not provoke increased harassment, did not require "separate facilities for gay troops" or unique benefits for same-sex partners, and did not in any other way create significant disruption to the armed services.
It was not reported whether the final page of the report simply read: "Conclusion: You nincompoops at the Pentagon have literally no basis on which to justify the continuation of this ban besides your own tired bigotry."
And because we just can't get through any article on any major social justice issue without finding out what "the other side" thinks, the final paragraph reads: "Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, a potential Republican candidate for president in 2012, said that he continued to support 'don't ask, don't tell' because 'if it's not broke, don't fix it'."
That's privilege in a nutshell for ya: Heterosexual Tim Pawlenty is totally unable to even imagine that DADT is "broke" for gay and lesbian service members.
Huh?
I don't believe there's ever an age at which someone is "too old" to go back to school, so I'm not WTFing at the fact that this is a picture of an elderly fellow. I'm WTFing at the expression on his face! Does he look like a chappy who's excited about the prospect of going back to school? I vote no.
"Take your dagnabbit grant and get off my lawn!"
[Previously in user-generated ad picture fail: Huh? Huh?]
Healthcare Open Thread
Today's Big News: Obama to Urge Oversight of Insurers' Rate Increases.
President Obama will propose on Monday giving the federal government new power to block excessive rate increases by health insurance companies, as he rolls out comprehensive legislation to revamp the nation's health care system, White House officials said Sunday.Legislation that blocks excessive premium increases by healthcare companies would be a great thing. But that isn't actually what this legislation is designed to do.
...By focusing on the effort to tighten regulation of insurance costs, a new element not included in either the House or Senate bills, Mr. Obama is seizing on outrage over recent premium increases of up to 39 percent announced by Anthem Blue Cross of California and moving to portray the Democrats' health overhaul as a way to protect Americans from profiteering insurers.
Congressional Republicans have long denounced the Democrats' legislation as a "government takeover" of health care. And while they are likely to resist any expansion of federal authority over existing state regulators, they will face a tough balancing act at the meeting with the president to avoid appearing as if they are willing to allow steep premium increases like those by Anthem.
...The president's bill would grant the federal health and human services secretary new authority to review, and to block, premium increases by private insurers, potentially superseding state insurance regulators. The bill would create a new Health Insurance Rate Authority, made up of health industry experts that would issue an annual report setting the parameters for reasonable rate increases based on conditions in the market.
...The legislation would call on the secretary of health and human services to work with state regulators to develop an annual review of rate increases, and if increases are deemed "unjustified" the secretary or the state could block the increase, order the insurer to change it, or even issue a rebate to beneficiaries.
Happy Birthday, Shark-fu!
Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuuu!
Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuuu!
You're our favorite Angry Black Biiii-iiiitch!
Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuuu!
Open Thread
Hosted by Agent Dana Scully.
This weeks's open threads have been brought to you by fookin' kick-ass women of sci-fi.
The Virtual Pub Is Open
[Explanations: Pink Cupcake. lol your fat. pathetic anger bread. hey your gay.]
TFIF, Shakers!
Belly up to the bar,
and name your poison!
Books and Cupcakes and Shit
All right, you collection of tree-hugging limousine liberals, pinko Commies, dope fiends, queerbaits, ladyboys, fat chicks, feminazi castrators, and assorted freaks: Let's talk about books and cupcakes.
I don't know what you fairies have against Jack Ryan, but he is one of my favorite books. Now, normally, reading is for fags, but I make an exception for Tim Clancy Books. Because those are all about kicking ass and taking names, otherwise known as the things that make America the greatest country in the universe. YEAH!
My stepmom Cheryl keeps nagging me to read more, which is total crap because we had English together in high school, and she didn't read SHIT, but anyways, part of the reason I only read Tim Clancy is because he's about the only dude who meets Butch's Five Rules of Reading:
A. Only read books that ain't never been and ain't never gonna be on Oprah's dumbass book list.
B. Never read books that have a martini or a shoe on the cover.
3. Only read books by dudes who already have at least one book made into a major motion picture starring one or more Baldwin brothers.
4. I ain't getting a library card because I don't need some withered old bat telling me I need to be pipe down in the Tim Clancy section.
E. I sure as hell ain't gonna go in no Barnes and Freakin' Noble with all them coffee lesbos.
5. I pick up all my reading material at the gas station, 'cuz it's just about the only place you can find Oui Magazine nowadays, or at the pharmacy. Way I figure it, it if ain't for sale in the book aisle at Walgreens, it ain't worth reading. And it works out good because a book and a stick of Axe deodorant last me the same amount of time.
So those are the rules. And if you don't like Tim Clancy, you're probably queer.
Now, about cupcakes. I don't eat 'em. I mean, if you put some cake mix in a muffin tin and put some icing on that baby, I won't say no. But it better not have no goddamn Smurf on it.
Pornstache: Out.
[Previously by Butch Pornstache: Happy Taxes and Teabags Day, I'm a Proud Teabagger and Real American, Men and Trucks and Shit, Cats and Shit.]
Today's Edition of "Conniving and Sinister"
Strips One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119. 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.
Daily Kitteh
Cat in Hat
I couldn't stop giggling about how she looks like a little turtle here.
Awwwwwwwwww!
Tiger Woods
I couldn't care less about Tiger Woods' apology if you paid me; it's a physical impossibility for me to care any less about it and still be breathing.
Which doesn't mean I don't have an interest in the cultural narratives that play into many wealthy professional male athletes evidently regarding women as one of the entitlements and privileges of their success, or the way the media covers such stories, but apologies for infidelities that don't involve any kind of legal issue—creating a hostile work environment, for example—aren't my business.
Tiger Woods never took a vow to me to be faithful to his wife.
And there's seems to me something deeply disrespectful to Elin, his wife, when we clamor for him to give an apology to us, too. Especially after our usual months of speculation about how his infidelity was her fault. (With an added twist, this time, of falsely accusing her of domestic violence.) Now it's all, "Get in line, sister! We need to hear how sorry he is to us!"
And all the "well, he traded on a squeaky-clean image that was false!" in the world doesn't justify demanding some kind of public apology. That's between him and his sponsors, and if they want to drop his ass like a hot ton of bricks, so be it.
Speaking of which, it has occurred to me that he may well have been contractually obligated by one or more of his sponsors to make a public apology for breaching a character clause, which would make the whole thing even worse. Public contrition for cheating on my wife, sponsored by Nike!
Ugh. We're such a fucked-up country.
Tiger Woods is giving a 14-minute apology for marital infidelity, while, in other news, Roman Polanski's new film that he edited from jail is teh awesome!
I just...ugh.
Friday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by Shaxco, proud distributors of Butch Pornstache's Cakes Baked in Muffin Tins. "They're NOT cupcakes, Cupcake."
Recommended Reading:
Fannie: Average Joe Fails to See Rape Culture, Doesn't Like "Tone" of Women Who Do
Andy: Gay Adoptive Parents Win Birth Certificate Case in Louisiana
Resistance: I Know
Renee: The Olympic Flowers Represent Women's Activism
Ezra: Is the public option making a comeback?
meloukhia: Why I Am Not Riled About Every Instance of Crip Drag
(I especially love this line from meloukhia's post: "I'm also curious to know why it is that social justice activists are constantly being asked why they aren't critiquing something while at the same time they are informed that they are 'just looking for a reason to be offended'." Too. Fuckin'. True.)
Leave your links in comments...
My Book Report
My book report is on "The Bear and the Dragon", by a man named Tom Clancy. I thought it would be a story about a bear and a dragon, and maybe how they became friends and had adventures and stuff, but it totally wasn't.
Instead it's about how this guy named John Ryan (but who people call Jack, it's kinda weird) who is totally not the author or anything becomes Partisan of America and lives in the White House, and how he goes around solving everyone's problems like Superman does or something, and he always keeps saying how he's so ordinary and normal.
And in it there's this guy who almost gets killed by a rocket, but it hits this other guy by mistake, and then they do this murder CSI thing for a lot of pages, and it turns out the guys who killed the wrong guy got killed, and then they found out that it was spies from China who made the Russian guy try to kill the other guy (this was all in Moscow or something).
Anyway, then a bunch of other stuff happens, and then...this takes too long. I'ma just, like, write it out in short words, okay?
America good! Communism bad. Socialism very bad. Men like guns! Women like cooking! Strong manly men good! Weak women bad, except for sex! Sex good! Whores bad! Mommies good! Babies very good! Abortion bad. Both religions good: Baptists and Catholics! Other religions bad and wrong.
Taiwan good! Hong Kong sorta good! China bad. Chinese people different! Talk different! Look different! Different bad! Atheism very very bad. Can cause feminism. Feminists go to hell! HELL!
Black people live in America! They are pastors and army guys and football players! See their dignity? See their very white teeth? Black women also exist! They are wives, and sometimes mommies.
Later, lying diplomats bad. Uncouth jackass good! Guns in China bad. Guns in America good! Gun-haters bad. Gun-lovers good! Liberals bad. Newspapers bad, except when good.
China small penis! America big one! Show it to you! Bow to big American penis! BOW! Not bowing makes you Hitler!
Also, some wars and junk, and then it finishes with Superman making the earth spin around backwards or something, I don't know, I got bored and put it down.
Is that enough words yet? I hate these stupid reports.
Oh, and there were NO bears or dragons, except this one guy kept, like, shooting bears, and we're supposed to think he's awesome cause he did it with this old rifle from, like, a hundred miles away or something. As if.
English class sucks.
