In an email to friends Tuesday, Al and Tipper Gore announced their separation.
"After a great deal of thought and discussion, we have decided to separate. This is very much a mutual and mutually supportive decision that we have made together."
The Gores deny any infidelities, and say they've simply grown apart in recent years.
In a totally unrelated note, as I left McEwan Manor that very day, Liss was googling "Amtrak to Tennessee." I am sure that was just a coincidence.
Gores to Separate After 40 Years
Can Someone Please Explain This To Me?
Half-assed transcript:
Small group of women gathered around computer screen browsing the Zoosk dating site. One woman remarks how she'd totes like to bone one of the dudes. Cut to fantasy enactment of said boning. Man and woman bump into each other clumsily, knock over candles, break all kinds of stuff, man yells "ouch, my back!" Cut back to group of women gathered around computer screen. Woman says "let's just go to the movies instead."
Was that supposed to be funny? And if so, why? Is this the kind of thing that regularly happens on dates? I really don't get it. Maybe it is funny, but I haven't been on a date in so long that I just don't remember how hilarious and real this commercial is. Or not.
Any explanation would be appreciated.
[Cross-posted.]
Times blogger lurves Ray-cism
(TW for anti-immigrant racism, with a brief detour into combined contempt for, and erasure of the victimization of, undocumented women who are sexually trafficked.)
I found this inspiring bit of cultural criticism at the website of the NY Times. Unfortunately, what it is likely to inspire is either nausea or tears; possibly both. Dave Itzkoff commends to us a video by Ray Stevens of Stevens' song, Come to America, saying:
If there’s an upside to the polarized debate over illegal immigration in the United States, it’s that it has put Ray Stevens back in the limelight.I left this comment on Mr. Itzkoff's column
It's such a relief to learn that there is an upside to this "polarized debate"! I am a little disheartened to learn that it consists of a hack novelty-song writer putting brainless racism to music, though.That was all I could manage until I had a chance to recover after having the following piece of garbage slapped up against my brain. (transcript follows the video, beginning under the fold)
Stevens represents three "ethnic" characters in this video who are supposed to be illegal immigrants. One is clearly meant to be an Arab, one a Mexican, and the third, the one in the flowered shirt, I have interpreted as meant to represent a Cuban, owing to his "tropical" shirt, his being seen always with a cigar, the suggestion that he has arrived in this country by small boat across the ocean, and one scene in which he is represented as visiting his "home" which is illustrated, I believe, by Spanish Colonial architecture. The first two ethnicities are quite obvious; the third is my interpretation of the elements I just named.
Throughout the transcript, where I indicate that Stevens is singing, his voice is accompanied by a guitar. The song is kind of a bouncy, up-tempo ditty, with some tinkly piano in spots.
Be warned: this transcript is long. The video is just over three-and-a-quarter minutes, but there are very frequent changes of background.
[begin transcript]
Opening title: A Ray Stevens Production
(Music begins to play as a phone rings.)
(The scene changes to a very small office. Ray Stevens, who has a mustache and fairly short beard, and is 70 or 71 years old, according to Wikipedia, but looks younger than that here, is wearing a red check shirt, a bow tie, and what looks like a pork pie hat with the brim turned down. This character I refer to in the transcript as Bureaucrat Stevens. He is sitting between a filing cabinet and a desk, facing the camera. There is a globe at the left of the screen. Behind him is a window through which an office building is seen. Bureaucrat Stevens answers the phone.)
Bureaucrat Stevens (speaking): Hello. This is the I.I.A.P. . . .
(The scene changes to Stevens in a Navy baseball cap with some sort of insignia [it's roundish and gold around the outside, with some red, possibly red and white stripes, inside] an open-necked shirt, and a blue blazer with a red pocket square. He is listening to his cell phone, then pulling it away from his ear to stare at it in apparent disbelief. Behind him is a blue sky and [irony alert!] the Statue of Liberty.)
Bureaucrat Stevens (speaking): . . . the Illegal Immigration Assistance Program, a taxpayer-funded division of (inaudible).
(Back to the blue-blazered Stevens, who is supposed to be calling the I.I.A.P., and who sighs and rolls his eyes while listening to the list of languages)
Bureaucrat Stevens (speaking): For Spanish press 1, Portuguese 2, Arabic 3, Farsi 4 . . .
(Back to Bureaucrat Stevens at the I.I.A.P., who continues to list the language choices)
Bureaucrat Stevens (speaking): French 5, Swaa-HEE-li (exaggerated, drawn-out pronunciation of Swahili) 6, German 7, Italian 8 . . .
(brief cut to Stevens and Lady Liberty, then back to Stevens in the office)
Bureaucrat Stevens (speaking): . . . and if you insist on English, please stand by.
(The scene returns to blue-blazered Stevens in front of the Statue of Liberty. He begins to sing.)
Stevens (singing): If you're thinking about illegal immigration, be careful when you're choosin' a nation, 'cause breakin' the law in some countries is frowned upon.
(Stevens slaps the side of his face in disbelief)
Stevens (speaks): Imagine that!
(The scene changes to a background of hills and the Great Wall of China. In the foreground are Stevens in a flowered shirt of the kind referred to as "tropical", a straw hat and sunglasses, with a long cigar in his mouth, waving some people not seen toward him, while two men move past him with their heads down, one dressed in what looks like a white shirt and dark vest, and wearing what is meant to represent an Arab headdress, the other in a large sombrero and blue shirt. Both the men's headgear appears to be inauthentic, its cultural message directed at people who are not of the ethnicity being indicated.)
Stevens (singing voiceover): Sneak into China, they'll call you a spy . . .
(The scene changes to low, jagged hills, in front of which are two versions of Stevens: fake-Cuban Stevens (the flowered shirt and straw hat guy), and fake-Mexican Stevens in the sombrero. Both have wide eyes and mouths open in apparent shock)
Stevens (singing voiceover): . . . ship ya to Mongolia 'til ya die . . .
(The scene changes to desert, with a camel lying down in front of low hills behind which the sun is setting. In the foreground is Stevens again, in the dress meant to represent generic Arabishness.)
Stevens (singing voiceover): . . . and in the SU-dan they'll hang you and the camel you rode in on.
(Stevens chuckles on the voice track, and the fake-Arab Stevens on screen does what is apparently his only bit of "acting", but livens it up by slapping both hands against his cheeks; more "Oh, no!" than shock this time.)
(The scene changes to blue-blazered Stevens in front of Mt. Rushmore.)
Stevens (sings): Yeah, and don't go hiking and enter I-ran . . .
(Background behind blue-blazered, singing Stevens changes to a beautifully carved ivory-colored building, presumably in Iran, which is not identified, surrounded by a parking lot, several smaller buildings and signs, in front of which blue-blazered Stevens continues singing.)
Stevens (sings): . . . or you might never be heard from again, and in Mexico . . .
(Scene changes to Mexican official, who I think is the current President of Mexico, Felipe Calderón, standing at a podium with an insignia on it, in front of a Mexican flag and a large sign or banner on which, in large block letters, are the words PRESIDENCIA DE LA REPÚBLICA. Again, blue-blazered Stevens is in the foreground singing)
Stevens (sings:) . . . you might face a firing squad.
(Scene changes to what appears to be an old painting of several soldiers in dark uniforms, white belts and small hats shooting, at close quarters, a black man in a white shirt and dark pants. A light-skinned man in a sombrero, long grey jacket and grey slacks, and a darker-skinned man with a beard, in a white shirt and dark pants, stand in front of the soldiers also, and are apparently also to be shot. At the back is a high, grey stone wall, and in the foreground, blue-blazered Stevens glances over his left sholder toward the painting and grimaces slightly.)
(The scene changes again as the sound of the "firing squad" is heard, to what might be a studio with faux-brick walls on the sides, a purple and silver wall behind, and on the left of the screen an inset of Kim Jong Il. In front, blue-blazered Stevens sings. As he does so, Kim Jong Il is replaced by fake-Mexican Stevens, fake-Cuban Stevens [holding a boat paddle], and fake-Arab Stevens, all nodding in agreement with blue-blazered singing Stevens.)
Stevens (sings): Yeah, forget all about goin' to North Korea, that's a great example of a bad idea. So when it comes down to it . . .
(The scene behind blue-blazered Stevens changes to a large map of the Southern U.S. and Northern Mexico, showing highways, and with the border traced in green. Multiple large, printed black arrows appear on it, beginning in Mexico and crossing the border into the U.S., pointing north.)
Stevens (speaks/sings): . . . there's only one option you got! Yeah! . . .
(The scene changes to an ocean with the sun setting in the background. In the foreground is fake-Cuban Stevens holding a boat paddle; this changes to sombreroed Stevens beside the rickety barbed-wire fence; then changes back to fake-Cuban Stevens making boat-paddling motions and motioning as if to others to join him; which changes back to sombreroed Stevens singing back-up phrases - "USA" and price to pay" and "if you get caught illegally immigratin' " to the voiceover of blue-blazered Stevens singing the main part.)
Stevens' voice (sings over those scene changes:) Yeah, come to the USA. There's no penalty to pay if you get caught illegally immigratin'.
(Fake-Mexican Stevens is now holding a small American flag on a stick, sort-of-dancing along as he sings.)
Fake-Mexican Stevens (sings): Come to the USA . . .
(Scene changes to fake-Arab Stevens standing in the foreground, with a commercial airplane parked behind him which says, "CLYDE AIR" on it. An airline worker is walking in front of the plane's engine, and an airline luggage truck and luggage handler are near the front of the plane; the ocean is in the distant background. Fake-Arab Stevens looks a bit furtively to the side, then pulls a U.S. flag on a stick from his clothing and waves it with an expression suggesting he is stoked about getting away with something.)
Stevens' voice (singing): . . . 's it will be your lucky day . . .
(Scene changes to an open landscape which is mostly blue sky, with a line of hills in the distance, and a large, blue sign at front right which says 'ARIZONA' in white block letters at the top; below a white line is a large pattern of alternating red and yellow blocks of color radiating out from a big white star; below another white line, in white block letters are the words: THE GRAND CANYON STATE WELCOMES YOU.)
Stevens' voice (singing):. . . 'cause if you get in there's lots of goodies waitin'.
(Fake-Mexican Stevens, then fake-Cuban Stevens, followed by fake-Arab Stevens pop up one by one in front of the Arizona sign singing wordless syllables to another couple of bars of the music.)
Stevens' voice (singing): Like health care, welfare . . .
(The scene changes to blue-blazered Stevens standing in front of the U.S. Capitol building, singing.)
Stevens (sings): . . . free education, help with your voter registration, and . . .
(The scene changes to fake-Mexican Stevens beside the barbed-wire fence, smiling, his hand outstretched as someone off-camera puts money into it one bill at a time.)
Stevens' voice (sings:) . . . driver's license and credit cards and license plates for your car . . .
(Fake-Mexican Stevens turns to the camera with an expression of disbelief at the U.S. largesse which is being given him by the unseen hand.)
Stevens (sings): . . . and lots of jobs for you to do, and employers who'll turn . . .
(The scene changes to blue-blazered Stevens in front of the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., with the Washington Memorial in the distance, and behind that the Capitol building)
Stevens (sings): . . . a blind eye, too.
(Stevens looks upward and to the side, perhaps suggesting the employer looking away from the guilty knowledge of hir employee's being undocumented. The scene returns to fake-Mexican Stevens by the barbed-wire fence, waving his U.S. flag on a stick, moving from side to side in time with the music, and apparently miming singing along with the voiceover of Stevens singing, which continues.)
Stevens' voice (singing): Come to the USA.
Voices of female back-up singers (sing): USA
(The scene changes to the fake-Mexican Stevens standing beside the barbed-wire fence, now playing a red-and-white electric guitar for several seconds. He finishes with a smile as Stevens sings the next line in voiceover.)
Stevens' voice (singing): No need to worry 'bout the Constitution . . .
(The scene changes to blue-blazered Stevens, singing. Behind him is a pretty lavender-painted Craftsman-style house with a windowed-dormer. It has a railed porch; several steps up to the porch are flanked by columns which are red-brick to the top of the porch-railing, then narrower, lavender-painted wood above. There is some greenery along the porch railing and along the side of the house, where a white picket fence can also be seen. A very large, white sign on the roof, in front of the dormer, is lettered in red, "CAT HOUSE".)
Stevens (sings): We'll help you start a house of prostitution, if that's the kind of work you wanna do. You see, those gringo . . .
(The scene changes to an old, worn-looking stucco or adobe building with a balcony supported by columns framing five arches, with a smaller outbuilding and fields behind. In front of that is bare dirt, with blue-blazered Stevens singing in the foreground.)
Stevens (sings): . . . infidels are crazy; they'll give citizenship . . .
(The scene changes to fake-Mexican Stevens beside the barbed-wire fence, cradling a light-skinned doll with long dark hair in his left arm, while holding the small flag in his right hand. He turns and mugs at the camera happily.)
Stevens' voice (sings): . . . to your new baby. So ya see there's really . . .
(The scene changes to fake-Cuban Stevens, with his paddle, in front of the ocean; he shrugs as Stevens' singing continues.)
Stevens' voice (sings): . . . one choice for you. Ha - ha!
(The scene changes back to fake-Mexican Stevens beside the barbed-wire fence. Fake-Mexican Stevens fake-sings along with the voiceover being sung by Stevens.)
Stevens' voice (sings): Come to the USA.
The scene changes to fake-Arab Stevens walking in front of the "CLYDE AIR" plane somewhat furtively, as he is hunched over with his head down, then he straightens up, turns around and waves as if to motion others behind him to come along.)
Stevens' and female singers voice's (sing): S' there's no penalty to pay . . .
Male singers voice's (sing): Why should there be?
(The scene changes back to fake-Mexican Stevens by the fence, with his American flag, singing along as Stevens sings in voiceover.)
Stevens' voice (sings): . . . if you get caught illegally immigratin'.
(Male back-up singers, or Stevens himself on a separate track, I can't tell, here sing a line that I can't understand most of.)
Male voice (sings): Treat me (inaudible) illegally immigratin'. I said, come to the USA . . .
(The scene changes to fake-Cuban Stevens, who waggles his cigar at the camera.)
Stevens (sings): . . . 'Cause it will be your lucky day, 'cause . . .
(The scene switches to fake-Mexican Stevens at the barbed-wire fence, waving his U.S. flag.)
Stevens' voice (sings): Cause if you get in there's lots of . . .
(The scene cuts to the big 'ARIZONA' sign again, and fake-Mexican Stevens appears in front of it, followed by fake-Cuban Stevens, then fake-Arab Stevens pops up between them. All three sing along in wordless syllables.)
Stevens' voice (sings): . . . goodies waitin'. Yeah, you can get public housin' . . .
(The scene changes to blue-blazered Stevens standing in front of a giant TV satellite dish; behind that a building is partially visible.)
Stevens (sings): . . . and cable TV . . .
(The scene changes to blue-blazered Stevens standing in front of a supermarket meat case, over which is hung some red-white-and-blue, stars-and-stripes paper bunting.)
Stevens sings: . . . and food stamps . . .
The scene changes again. Behind blue-blazered Stevens is now a giant wedge of yellow cheese with bright orange chunks in it.
Stevens (sings): . . . and even government cheese.
(The scene behind blue-blazered Stevens changes to a country field, with low hills in the distance. Immediately behind Stevens a muddy track leads through a wide-open gate in a low fence.
Stevens (sings): The borders are a swingin' door. Go home for a visit . . .
(The scene changes again. Fake-Cuban Stevens, still holding his paddle in his left hand and his cigar in his right, sort-of-dances in a street. On the left of the scene are trees and a light pole, on the right is a large, old building, in the Spanish Colonial style, with a regular series of arches on the ground floor and wrought-iron railings in front of the windows above.)
Stevens' voice (sings): . . . and come back for more.
(The scene changes to fake-Arab Stevens in front of a high, chain-link fence, behind which two men in what appears to be a form of Middle Eastern or North African dress - long, white shirts and white pants, with white skullcaps - stand in front of a doorway, while another man in khaki pants and a light-colored shirt leans against the fence. The place is suggestive of some kind of detention facility. Fake-Arab Stevens looks over his shoulder at the fence and sort of skulks away, as Stevens' sings the next line in voiceover.)
Stevens' voice (sings): There's sanctuary and amnesty.
(The scene changes to blue-blazered Stevens standing in front of a large yellow sign which says, in black, block letters across the top: CAUTION. Below that are the silhouettes of a running family, led by a [presumed] man in pants, followed by a [presumed] woman in a skirt, who is pulling by the hand a child with pigtails. It is the kind of sign which has been erected at places where there has been a significant incidence of people who have crossed the border illegally attempting to cross highways on foot, risking significant injury and death. Dry hills are behind him.
Stevens (sings): Bring the whole fam damily, eventually. Yeah.
(The scene changes back to fake-Mexican Stevens waving his flag-on-a-stick along the barbed wire fence. He sings along with the voice over.)
Stevens' voice, along with female back-up singers (sings): Come to the USA.
(Scene returns to the tiny office where it started, with Bureaucrat Stevens in red-checked shirt, glasses and pork pie hat on the telephone.)
Stevens (speaks): This has been a public service message sponsored by (inaudible). . .
(The scene returns to blue-blazered Stevens in front of the Statue of Liberty. He has Bureaucrat Stevens on his cell phone. He nods ruefully as Bureaucrat Stevens finishes speaking.)
Bureaucrat Stevens continues speaking: . . . dedicated to the col-lapse of the American way of life. Uh, ha, ha, ha - yeah.
(The scene returns to the three cheesy "immigrant" Stevens' in front of the 'ARIZONA' sign. They sing along in wordless syllables as the song ends, looking pretty pleased with themselves. Fake-Cuban Stevens waggles his cigar, while Fake-Mexican Stevens lifts his shoulders and turns out his hands in a shrug, ending by slapping his hands together in apparent delight.
The final screen is black, with these words in white lettering: This Video and Song are dedicated to the hard-working American citizens who were born in other countries and chose to "Come to the U.S.A." the right way!
www.RayStevens.com
[end transcript]
What isn't wrong with this piece of garbage? Starting where it ends, with that smarmy dedication to American citizens born elsewhere, which is nothing more than a lazy attempt to produce a "get out of racism free" card.
Stevens allows that immigrants who came here "the right way" are hard-working. Yet he's sure that those desperate enough to risk life and liberty coming here "the wrong way" to have their labor* exploited for long hours, low pay, and no benefits, by employers who manipulate them with the threat of deportation, have only showed up with their hands out for all that free cash (and cable TV!) that the government is handing out to those lazy bums. This despite the fact that most of the benefits mentioned in the song are not available to undocumented immigrants.
Stevens also informs us that undocumented immigrant women who are sex workers have entered into that work because that's just the kind of work they want to do, and further that "we" will set them up in comfortable homes from which to conduct this business. The facts, of course, are otherwise.
And while it's true that entering either Iran or North Korea illegally is ill-advised, I can think of no reason why we in the U.S. should want to emulate either of those countries in our treatment of either citizens or immigrants. The suggestion that being undocumented in Mexico might bring you before a firing squad is simply bizarre.
Mexico has no death penalty. Their civilian court system hasn't executed anyone in over seventy years. Conservatives like to charge that laws against being in the country illegally are stronger in Mexico than in the U.S, but Mexico decriminalized illegal entry several years ago. It's still illegal, but the penalties are minor.
What is even more disturbing to me than the existence of this song and video is the fact that someone who writes for the Times thinks it appropriate to promote this dishonest, inflammatory piece of rubbish. We all know the line, of course. It's satire. No, it isn't. Satire punctures the pretensions of the powerful; it mocks their depredations. It does not invent depredations by the powerless.
Say it with me now: "It's only a gag." "But it's fun-nee." Humor is subjective. What is objectively true is that this song and video perpetuate a series of lies about undocumented immigrants which foment and exploit resentment against them.
It is also objectively true that that resentment, on occasion, erupts in violence against someone perceived to be an undocumented immigrant - or just an immigrant, Mr. Stevens pious disclaimer notwithstanding. People who write for the New York Times should know that.
Comments on the Times promotion of this drek can be left on the page where it is posted. Email, fax and snail mail info for letters to the editor is here.
*This link is to a page at the UFW.org website where individual farm workers talk about their working conditions. I have no reason to believe that any of the workers featured there are undocumented. I linked to that page as an illustration of the kinds of work and working conditions which many undocumented workers endure, because on that page workers are telling their own experiences in their own words.
Did Citibank Fire A Woman For Being "Too Attractive"?
From my e-mail box, a Shaker writes to point me to The Village Voice, and an article asking "Is This Woman Too Hot To Be A Banker?."
Now, before you rush over there, let me point out that the article uses some framing techniques that are fauxgressive at best, so be aware that this one may get to you on a couple of levels. For me, framing the entire aspect about the "hotness" of this victim of misogyny rings a fairly dissonant note. That note continues to clang along through the entire article, so it's not going to be an easy read.
But the issue itself is one of basic misogyny, and of a nearly breathtaking level of gall: Debrahlee Lorenzana, a woman who (per the article) identifies as part Puerto Rican- and part Italian-American, was fired because she was so attractive that her superiors at the bank couldn't work for the distraction. And not constructive dismissal, or any other sneaky method of firing someone for one thing and meaning another, oh no: that's what they told her they were firing her for.
Her bosses told her they couldn't concentrate on their work because her appearance was too distracting. They ordered her to stop wearing turtlenecks. She was also forbidden to wear pencil skirts, three-inch heels, or fitted business suits. Lorenzana, a 33-year-old single mom, pointed out female colleagues whose clothing was far more revealing than hers: "They said their body shapes were different from mine, and I drew too much attention," she says.I'm not sure whether Ms. Lorenzana identifies as a woman of colour, but I can't help but assert that it'd be foolish to imagine her externally-apparent ethnicity didn't play a part in this: bodies perceived as being of colour are incessantly hypersexualized in the kyriarchal culture, in particular those marginalized bodies which are viewed as most conforming to the white beauty standard, while retaining enough of their colour to be exoticizable.
As Lorenzana's lawsuit puts it, her bosses told her that "as a result of the shape of her figure, such clothes were purportedly 'too distracting' for her male colleagues and supervisors to bear."
So, let's recap, shall we? This woman goes to work in a bank. She is constantly criticized for her appearance, ordered to cover herself more than other women in the bank, and eventually fired from her job so that the men whom she worked for could avoid having to control themselves.
It's the ultimate expression of the dudebro culture, the rape culture, the kyriarchy, the idea that a woman can be so attractive that no man should be expected to, y'know, not force his unwanted attention on her. And it's only a short step from there to can't be expected not to force himself on her.
It is one of the bitter aspects of the kyriarchy and how it treats women's bodies, and women in general, that even those women who succeed most visibly at meeting the kyriarchy's expectations of them will end up being punished for being women.
It's also a reminder of the incessant genital-essentialist position that "penis-bearing people are visually oriented in their sexual desire, and vagina-bearing people aren't".
ô.ôP
Teaspoon time: I couldn't find a directly-applicable place at Citibank to which to direct messages, but did find their US contact page. Remember that generally in activism, letters are better than e-mails are better than phone calls.
Note: Please remember to consider the Shakesville comment policy before commenting. Comments which discuss what Ms. Lorenzana is wearing in the photos, or her appearance in general, are off-topic. I hope Shakers don't need to be told why "Look at what she's wearing" is problematic in a feminist forum anyway, but note that the article explicitly points out that other women employees were allowed to wear more revealing clothing than Ms. Lorenzana without issue, so it is clear that it was not "just the clothing" causing the problem; it was her managers' inability to behave like respectful adults that caused the problem.
It is also good to recall that feminism involves choice for women, and that some women choose to present themselves in ways which conform with traditional expectations of feminine beauty, and that on an individual level, it is not very good feminism to be criticizing a woman for doing so. While a useful discussion can be had about where the pressure to conform comes from, and about how women can subvert or invert that pressure, and all sorts of things, they're not really relevant to this post, which is about the misogyny of the managers, not the choices of Ms. Lorenzana about whether or not to conform to the beauty standard.
Teal deer version: Be good
Tip of the CaitieCap to my good friend and fellow Shaker, Hel M.
* I changed this because it's less awkward-sounding than the "feminists or womanists" which I had wanted to change it to; my apologies to womanists who were excluded by my original statement. Per usual, for "modeling that fucking up isn't the end of the world" reasons, I am leaving the error marked (or going to try to, anyway, hoping that I can use the strike tag) but not erased. I would like to request that, if you're feeling like saying that my posting this edit is awesome, you please remember that the only way I get to be "awesome" in the way you're suggesting is by starting off othering people, not something for which I much want to be lauded. Thanks for understanding.
The OFFS Awards: Oil Spill Edition
According to Reuters "James Cameron took part in a brainstorming session with scientists, academics and Washington officials on Tuesday on how to contain the six week-old oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico."
Officials from the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Energy, and James Cameron met as "part of the federal government's ongoing efforts to hear from stakeholders, scientists and experts from academia, government and the private sector as we continue to respond to the BP oil spill."
Cameron has directed lots of movies about water, so he's clealy a "stakeholder." Good for him.
Question of the Day
Do you have any phobias (that you're willing to admit to publicly)?
Please note that a phobia is an irrational or excessive fear response, which necessarily has a subjective component.
So, being afraid of bees, if you're allergic to them, isn't necessarily a phobia.
Of course, in my case, it is. I am deathly allergic to bee stings (and those of hornets/wasps/other WMD*), which would mean hey, no phobia if I'm just sort of intelligently cautious: keep my injector near, inform people of where it is if I can't carry it and am outside (e.g., when I play soccer, my handfasting), don't hang out in flowery gardens, that kind of thing.
But when one responds as I do, typically with a great deal of literal flailing about and tossing of nearby objects and shrieking and frequently much running and jumping and throwing of self into bodies of water and requesting of police officers to please shoot shoot shoot into my car which I have abandoned in the middle of the Bloor Viaduct because there's OMM ONE OF THOSE @*(&@(*ING THINGS IN IT SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT...well, what you've got there's a phobia, ma'am.
I literally sprayed the entire goal area of the soccer field I was playing on last year with some kind of keepaway spray, because there were a lot of bees around and I was standing in goal in a flourescent orange shirt with long sleeves and green highlights. And our backup keeper was even more scared than me. Never doubt my devotion to my teammates. :)
I like to call it apiphobia, because hanging out here, I'm clearly no melissophobe.
What's yours?
* Wingthings of Me Destruction.
Assvertising: McFail
I usually really, really dislike McDonald's advertisements. So when I first heard from a friend a few days ago about the new "gay ad" playing in France--as part of a "come as you are" campaign--I was skeptical but, well, one never knows, right? Here is the ad (it is subtitled/captioned in English):
My initial reaction was: "Huh, doesn't really seem very 'come as you are' what with the dad situation. WTF?". Rather seems like a fail on the whole theme there, McDonald's (which is why I put it in the Assvertising series). I thought it might be really positive but it just...wasn't.
I have read discussions that people hope this will be a narrative-series, not a stand alone ad. That may change the perspective entirely. What do you think of the ad?
[Assvertising: Parts 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, Thirty-Four, Thirty-Five, Thirty-Six, Thirty-Seven, Thirty-Eight, Thirty-Nine, Forty, Forty-One, Forty-Two, Forty-Three, Forty-Four, Forty-Five, Forty-Six, Forty-Seven, Forty-Eight, Forty-Nine, Fifty, Fifty-One, Fifty-Two, Fifty-Three, Fifty-Four, Fifty-Five, Fifty-Six, Fifty-Seven, Fifty-Eight, Fifty-Nine, Sixty, Sixty-One, Sixty-Two, Sixty-Three, Sixty-Four, Sixty-Five, Sixty-Six, Sixty-Seven, Sixty-Eight, Sixty-Nine, Seventy, Seventy-One, Seventy-Two, Seventy-Three, Seventy-Four, Seventy-Five, Seventy-Six, Seventy-Seven, Seventy-Eight, Seventy-Nine, Eighty, Eighty-One, Eighty-Two, Eighty-Three, Eighty-Four, Eighty-Five, Eighty-Six, Eighty-Seven, Eighty-Eight, Eighty-Nine, Ninety, Ninety-One, Ninety-Two, Ninety-Three, Ninety-Four, Ninety-Five, Ninety-Six, Ninety-Seven, Ninety-Eight, Ninety-Nine, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107]
Defensiveness as a Signpost of Privilege
This thought's been percolating through my brainmeatz for a while now, and I think it's reached a point I want to put it out there. I've been thinking a lot about defensiveness: why I feel defensive, when do I feel defensive, what am I defending, all of that.
And the single thread that's coming to me through all the times I can recall where I've felt defensive is this one: it was about defending my privilege.
Every. Single. Time!*
So a short post (a bit of a shocker from me, no?): if you find you're feeling defensive, and the person who's "making" you feel that way is someone over whom you could be defined as having some privilege, there's a very good chance you are** defending that privilege. That makes it the very best time to stop, put down the shovel, and examine what you're putting out, and what you're taking in from that person.
Defensiveness: a signpost of privilege.
* See, Sady does influence my writing!
** For this, read "You are almost certainly..."
Ted Haggard Opens New Church, Welcomes Gays
Ted Haggard, one-time leader of the Colorado Springs Evangelical megachurch New Life Church, since deposed following a buggery and methamphetamine scandal, has annouced the formation of a new church.
During a press conference today, Haggard announced "Everybody is welcome: Democrats, Republican, Independents, gays, straights, tall, short, addicts and recovering addicts." He added "St. James is a church for sinners, for people who have hit rock bottom and people who want to help people who have hit rock bottom. It is not a gathering for the righteous, except those who are righteous by faith."
That's nice. Nonetheless, The Advocate is reporting Haggard "will not perform same-sex marriages."
Former Florida GOP Chairman Arrested
Jim Greer, one-time Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, was arrested today, charged with bilking the party out of 125,000 bucks.
Greer resigned [as party chairman] in February after reports surfaced that he used party funds on ritzy hotels, gourmet restaurants and private jets.Oops!
Wednesday Blogaround
Brought to you by Shaxco, makers of the Shaker Trolling Motor - all the best for your fishing needs.
The FWord are doing a fundraising drive.
- If you've got it to spare, they're one of our feminist sister sites, and they could use the help.
Built on Facts: Zero-Point Free Lunches
- one of my favourite geekout blogs, this is a fairly typical example of their posts. I don't get most of the math, but the discussion and comments are totally cool.
Nnedi's Wahala Zone Blog: Some remaining thoughts on Avatar (CC: Cameron's, not The Last Airbender), and two new reviews of Who Fears Death
- the very talented Nnedi Okorafor, with a different (and thought-provoking) take on Avatar than largely seen from the progressive community, as well as two new reviews of her newest book.
Edit: I'm not sure what happened to this post, but I swear it was there yesterday. Anyway, Ms. Okorafor's blog is full of awesome (as is her writing), so go there anyway.
The Pursuit of Harpyness: Challenging the Dominant Story of Masculinity
- Harpy SarahMC on a youth development program aimed at challenging the rape culture and the construct of masculinity among young men.
The Feminist Agenda: Some Thoughts on Religion and Sexual Abuse and Patriarchy and Forgiveness (Trigger warning: sexual abuse)
- This is very hard to read, and very worth the effort. Take the trigger warning seriously.
Bird of Paradox: Malawi: Tiwonge Chimbalanga is reportedly missing (Trigger warning: post contains quotes from articles with transphobic language)
- I don't recall having seen this mentioned here, and I'm sorry I hadn't gotten to doing it myself (personal reasons, much going on this week): the couple in Malawi who'd been jailed for their reportedly "gay" wedding are in fact a hetero couple, where one of the partners is trans. The woman of that couple, Tiwonge Chimbalanga, has been missing for several days now.
What Tami Said: What Tami Said can save you $8 - my review of "Sex and the City 2"
- What it says on the package: a skewering review of the multiple intersecting empathy failures at the heart of the new movie.
K. Tempest Bradford: Thoughts on Jay Lake's Continued Ass-showing
- A post which touched home with me after the "A Girl Like Me" thread this week, showing concrete examples of exactly the sort of thing PlusSizedWomanist was trying so hard to push through my thickness. I do learn, eventually.
Womanist Musings: Woman Has Her Mobility Scooter Taken By Police
- Renee on an incident in Scotland, and the ablism involved in taking away a person's mobility.
Mongoose Chronicles: Newsclips and Quotes: Still Working on that Unexplained Stigma
- Mar with a wry take on the chairman of an AIDS foundation and his totally croggling statement about PWA and the "unexplained stigma" to which they are all too often subject.
Tiger Beatdown: Welcome to the Menaissance Festival
- Sady with a totally unusual (for her) very snarky post about the "menaissance", a portmanteau that (I feel, in my Totally! Unbiased! Way!) should die the same death as "bromance" and "metrosexual" and all the other sneering enforcers of traditional masculinity (that is to say, oppressive masculinity).
Drop your links in comments, Shakers, and get reading.
Photo of the Day
Runners up pose with the winner of Mister International Leather 2010, Tyler McCormick. (Some images at the link may not be SFW. Tread lightly.)
McCormick's win is very significant; not only is he the first trans winner of International Mr. Leather, he is (as far as I know) the first person with a physical disability to win. Congratulations, Mr. McCormick!
(Commenting Guidelines: This thread is about McCormick, his win, and the significance of his win; comments regarding the merits/ethics of the leather lifestyle and community will be considered off-topic. One of my coworkers, who is part of the leather community, told me there are, unfortunately and predictably, people in the community who are dismissing McCormick's win with transphobia and disablism; comments of that nature are, as always, off limits at Shakesville.)
Question of the Day
What's the last song you were passionately singing along to when someone "caught" you?
I saw Melissa and Deeky this past Saturday; on the way, I was really getting into Lou Rawls' "You'll Never Find (Another Love Like Mine)." The people in the car next to me were very amused.
Note: As a singer, I'm no Lou Rawls. Hell, I'm no Lou Grant.
Daily Dose o' Cute
Dougie: After the Bath. Human: The Lady Eve. Random Paw on Chair: Frobas the Cat.
Image description: Our black, white, and brown Cavalier King Charles spaniel just after his bath, wrapped in a beige towel, on my sister's lap. They are seated on a wooden slat chair on our front porch on a bright, hot day.
Here We Go!!!!!
I used to have a hair-dresser who I would allow to do all kinds of weird-ass things with my hair.
She loved me because I wasn't averse to ridiculous experimentation, and every time she started something really wild with me (I sported a leopard-spot crew-cut before anyone even knew what to call it), she would begin by running her hands through my locks and saying: "OK! Here We GO!"
In precisely that spirit, tonight I'm kicking off my new thrice-weekly Ustream show -- called MadWoman At Play.
I have no clear idea what the result will be, but I know what my intention is:
To express myself fully in a way that moves me (and everyone who wants to come along) to the world I want to live in.
I've been talking to 'Liss about this on the phone so long she probably thought I was NEVER going to do it, but -- tonight's the night.
(A note for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers, *or for those who have difficulty processing audio/video input -- I'm going to be getting captions up as soon as possible after the live broadcasts -- the video above is close-captioned, and a transcript is available at youtube just under the video, but Ustream hasn't mastered that yet, so captions and/or transcripts will follow the live broadcasts a few days later, when I post recorded shows on Youtube.)
If you visit the MW@P homepage, you can find links to follow the show on Ustream, Facebook, Twitter, and/or Myspace.
Hey! Come on over tonight and see me being weird-ass!
(If you can't make the live broadcast at 5 pm PDT, you'll still be able to watch the last recorded show until the next live broadcast.)
*Thanks to Dorian for pointing this out in comments.
