"We consider [birth control] an elective drug. Married women can practice periodic abstinence. Other women can abstain altogether. Not having sex doesn't make you sick."—Deirdre McQuade, assistant director for policy and communications at the Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities.
Quoted in a piece by Dana Goldstein about "The Coming Birth Control Battle: Health-care reform raised the possibility that birth control could soon be free for most women. But not if conservative activists have their way."
Quote of the Day
Today's Edition of "Conniving and Sinister"
See Deeky's archive of all previous Conniving & Sinister strips here.
[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 (Liss) and a biracial queerbait (Deeky) telling it like it actually is from their perspectives. Hilarity ensues.]
I Write Letters
Dear US Media:
You're the same US Media who wouldn't widely and regularly report on how unpopular George W. Bush was during his regrettable tenure as president until his unfavorables reached like 28%, right?
Just checking.
Love,
Liss
164 Days
With nearly six months to go until Christmas, why the hell am I walking into stores and seeing this?
[Image of a manger-load of Xmas baubles and lights and trees in a local retail establishment.]
What is this? A pre-emptive strike in the War on Christmas® 2011? Because July 13th is too damn early for Christmas decorations. Isn't there some sort of rule that you put out the Christmas stuff after the Thanksgiving stuff after the Halloween stuff? If not, there certainly should be.
[Cross-posted.]
Number of the Day
1.5 The estimated percentage of the Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) community that is female, as seen at Ubuntu Women.
Swell
Beyond Guns: N.R.A. Expands Agenda:
Fresh off a string of victories in the courts and Congress, the National Rifle Association is flexing political muscle outside its normal domain, with both Democrats and Republicans courting its favor and avoiding its wrath on issues that sometimes seem to have little to do with guns.Superb. If there's one thing I've always said about the NRA, it's: I wish they could branch out into other areas!
The N.R.A., long a powerful lobby on gun rights issues, has in recent months also weighed in on such varied issues as health care, campaign finance, credit card regulations and Supreme Court nominees.
In the health care debate this year, for instance, the N.R.A.'s lobbyists worked with the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, to include a little-noticed provision banning insurance companies from charging higher premiums for people with guns in their homes.
The N.R.A. worked out a deal last month exempting itself from a proposal requiring groups active in political spending to disclose their financial donors. Its push this spring for greater gun rights in the District of Columbia served to effectively kill a measure — once seemingly assured of passage — to give the district a voting seat in Congress.
With a push from the N.R.A., a popular bill last year restricting credit card lenders came with an odd add-on: It also allowed people to carry loaded guns in national parks. And the gun lobby put potential supporters of the Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan on notice this month that a vote for her would be remembered at the ballot boxes in November.
The N.R.A.'s expanding portfolio is an outgrowth of its success in the courts, Congressional officials and political analysts said. With the Supreme Court ruling last month for the second time since 2008 that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual the right to have a gun, the N.R.A. now finds that its defining battle is a matter of settled law, and it has the resources to expand into other areas.
If It's Tuesday, It's Boxcar Willie!
Classic Boxcar Willie commercial, circa 1988.
Two LPs or two cassettes just $12.98!
Update: Iroquois Nationals lacrosse
[Update 4:35 Central Time/ 21:35 GMT, Tuesday 13 July Here's a fresh report from the AP. It looks as those there's still hope that the team will make in to Manchester in time. IMO, DHS's spokesperson is still looking embarrassingly hostile.]
It now appears that the Haudenosaunee lacrosse team will miss its flight to the 2010 World Lacrosse Championships in England.
In short, the United States has indicated that it will not allow team members to re-enter the United States without US passports. Several team members are hoping to travel with Haudenosaunee passports, as they have in the past.
I'm not aware of anyone asking the Haudenosaunee to produce any identification when entering the United States from tribal lands. I don't know of anyone asked to produce identification upon entering Haudenosaunee land. I happen to travel through the Onondaga and Seneca nations on a semi-regular basis, using highways the State of New York constructed for my convenience, and I sure don't remember any checkpoints.
One hopes that the Justice Department will eventually get this one right, but given that they've had over 200 years, I'm not placing any bets. Of course, eventually won't get this lacrosse team to England by Thursday.
I'm also curious as to who is making the decision to deny re-entry. Homeland Security? (Their name seems to come up a lot.) The DoJ? Given that this issue involves the autonomy of members of sovereign nations, one would think that the Secretary of State or the President could (and would) step in and tell their employees to do their jobs and honor our nation's commitments. The longer this doesn't happen, the more I worry about (another) intentional effort to undermine tribal sovereignty.
Rights cease to become rights when you're only afforded them at someone else's convenience.
ETA: Here's the transcript of a press briefing with Philip Crowley, assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Two comments: 1) WOWOMGWTF?!? 2) It appears that the US' stated reason for denying re-entry involves REAL ID/the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.
My Great Review of Twilight: Eclipse
How's it going, you collection of tree-hugging limousine liberals, pinko Commies, dope fiends, queerbaits, ladyboys, fat chicks, feminazi castrators, and assorted freaks?
So, my niece Sierra's birthday was last weekend, and all she wanted was her old Uncle Butch to take her to the movies to see that new Twilight film. Now, you know I would have just preferred to buy her a damn Barbie doll or whatever 14-year-old girls like, but she wanted to go to the movies. It worked out okay, since my friend Dick Balzac just traded me some gift certificates to the cineplex for some weed.
Anyways, so I picked her up on Saturday afternoon and we head over there. First up, we hit the snack bar, because Sierra wanted some Jar Jar Beez, and I just had to get me a hot dog, 'cuz you know how much I love wrapping my lips around a footlong. It wasn't too long before I was pissed off, though, because some dumbass kid bumped into me and spilled his diet Mt. Dew all down my Jordaches. Hey, this shit is vintage! Then the Matre D wanted to see our tickets. How the hell am I supposed to balance a tub of popcorn, two drinks, my 'dog, and nachos and whip out my fucking tickets? Shit like this is why I don't go to the movies anymore.
We get inside the theater and it's a total clambake in there. The only free seats we could find were in the front row, which made the movie like IMAX but without any dolphins or Keanu Reeves. The trailers start and some of them look good enough that I'm almost starting to rethink my hatred of theaters. Sorcerer's Apprentice with American legend Nicolas Cage looks totally kick-ass. And I frankly can't wait to see Piranha 3-D. I have a soft spot—hard to believe, I know (Butch ain't all muscle, ladies)—for piranha; I used to raise them back in the 80s. There was also some trailer for a Will Ferrell/Marky Mark action epic. Also, that dude who made all them Batman movies made some shit about bending buildings. I don't know what the fuck that is supposed to be about. There was also something about a German Shepherd with a jetpack. Probably sucks.
But anyway, the movie finally starts and most everyone shuts up and I can finally eat my nachos in peace.
Now, I hadn't seen the first two movies, and I sure as shit ain't read the books, so I had no goddamn idea what was going on. Best I can tell, Rod Stewart plays a teenage girl who's caught in a love triangle with a dog and a 600-year-old corpse. And the dog is all getting up in her grill when she doesn't want him to, which is bad enough, but the corpse is all, "Let's get married even though you're like twelve, and I'll turn you into an immortal and shit."
Now, listen, my ex-wife/fiancée Tammy will be the first one to tell you that I don't know shit about romantical stuff, but one thing I do know is that becoming a corpse because you want to spend the rest of all heckified eternity with some other bozo is a stupid fucking idea. The only thing even stupider is picking that person when you're a teenager and your hormones are racing around like Dale Earnhardt, Jr. on methamphetamines. If I'd settled down all eternal-like with my high school sweetheart, I'd be with a woman who, if Classmates.com can be trusted, now works for the son-of-a-bitchin' DEA. No thank you!
I mean, don't get me wrong—I dig her mullet and all, but if I'd got all corpsed-up for her in freaking high school, I never would have met my soul mate Tammy.
The point is this: You do lots of embarrassing crap when you're a kid. You wouldn't believe the stuff I did when I was young and stupid.
And I'm pretty sure that still ain't as regrettable as permanently hitching yourself to a 600-year-old glittery corpse who's probably a huge fag.
Anyways, also in this movie Rod Stewart has a bunch of goth angst about whether she should do it with Corpse Boy. It's so stupid and fake—and I'm not even talking about the sparkly gay vampires. I'm talking about the fact that every red-blooded American broham knows it ain't the goth girls who equivocate (word-a-day calendar! HIGH FIVE!) about doing it. They either do it or they don't, man. It's the weirdo Christian chicks with their high-falutin' ideas about purity and premarital sex being the work of the goddamn devil who whine all the time about whether they should do it. This movie got it all wrong.
The factual inaccuracies were making me real agitated, so I decided to go out to the lobby for a smoke. And wouldn't you know it!—those liberal fascists on the city fuckin' council have banned smoking in theaters or some shit. DAMN that secondhand smoke hoax really burns me up. So this kid comes up to me and tells me to put my shit out. Oh just because you have a uniform and name tag on, Cody, doesn't make you better than me. Like I haven't seen you doing doughnuts in the Aldi's parking lot like 200 times.
Anyways, I put my cigarette out because I don't want to go to jail because I was with Sierra and I didn't want to ruin her birthday and shit. Punk don't know how lucky he got. I still gave him the Eye of the Tiger, just for good measure.
You know, if I was on the city council, crap like this wouldn't happen.
Anyways, I go back into the theater and they hassle me again about my ticket. Dude, I was just here! You know that guy remembers me from before. Hope you enjoyed your little power trip, loser! Don't forget your BAGGAGE!
So, also in this movie, that dog keeps mooning over Rod Stewart, and she's all, "I don't love you. Wait, now I love you. But I love Corpse Boy more. Kiss me. Don't kiss me! I love you, but I'm dumping you." I need a neckbrace to deal with this chick and the dog's relationship, because bitches are giving me whiplash!
And, honestly, I don't know if you femifarts are rubbing off on me (that's what she said!) or what, but all's I could think was that it was kinda fucked up my teenage niece was watching a movie that sort of made it look like all of this fucked-up relationship stuff was, like, cool and kinda sexy. It made me uncomfortable.
I'm gonna have to talk to my brother Buck about letting Sierra see shit like this. I really think she should be watching good, old-fashioned teen fare like Porky's.
After the show, I decided to take Sierra to McDonald's for a birthday dinner. Kids like that crap, right? Anyways, we get there and I can't find my wallet, so I have to go back to the theater. Good news is I find my wallet. Bad news is I spilled nacho fucking cheese all over it. Are you fucking kidding me?
Just FYI, nacho cheese will stain alligator leather.
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, Books and Cupcakes and Shit, Ron Swanson Kicks Butt, Dale Peterson is a Great American, I'm a Man and I Enjoy Mancations. Pamela Gorman is a Great American, Fireworks and Shit.]
Doctor Who Open Thread: S5E11: The Lodger
Alright you Whosiers (even the ones what ain't from Indiana), time for the yakfest on the latest episode.
Please note that this is episode 11 of the fifth season of reboot ("The Lodger"), and avoid spoilers for episodes later in the season. Any and all Doctor Who media before that episode are open for discussion.
An interesting episode, we don't often get one that focuses on the Doctor alone when there's a Companion around. More in comments, to avoid big spoilers in the post.
Legal Challenges In Response to G20 Policing in Toronto
Good $TIME_PERIOD, Shakers. The fallout continues to come from the shocking behaviour of Canadian police around the G20 summit in Toronto a couple of weeks ago.
For today, we have good news. A lawyer in Toronto (David Midanik) has put his firm to taking on some of the task of instigating legal challenges around the violations of the Canadian Constitution and Charter of Rights, and he's looking for help in making the case. He's asking for help from the public with reports of violations of the Charter, media recordings (video, stills, and/or sound), and most especially people willing to testify to their experiences.
Also, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association has posted an article explaining the various means by which Charter violations and complaints can be reported (Charter rights which are not, by the way, restricted to Canadians; anyone in Canada is entitled to protection under the Charter).
If you have any other links by which people can file complaints or take action over violation of Charter rights, please drop them in comments.
* Cette article est aussi disponible en français.
Tip of the CaitieCap to Eric L.
NY Times Transphobic, Also, Water Wet, Fire Hot
I don't think this needs a long post. I will point out that the article should carry a trigger warning for transphobic language.
NY Times "Ethicist"* Randy Cohen says that trans people not outing ourselves on the first date with someone is "discreditable".
I say that encouraging trans people to out themselves to strangers is "discreditable", in much the same way that encouraging two-year-olds to play on major highways at rush hour is "discreditable".
I trust Shakers don't need to be told about the murder rate for trans people (and especially trans POC), or how that murder rate is driven by the "panic" defence, or how repellent it is to suggest that it's appropriate to "panic" when confronted by someone's trans-identified past.
Opposing Views has a response here; Dr. Jillian Weiss has a response here.
You can write to Randy Cohen, the alleged "ethicist", at ethicist@nytimes.com. Letters to the Editor of the Times can go to letters@nytimes.com.
* Please note, column author is not an ethicist by definition.
Tip of the CaitieCap to the lovely and talented eastsidekate. :)
Addicted to Love
[Trigger warning for stalking.]
So, I'm reading this article about new research (yay, new research!) which purports to have found that "the brain may treat love as an addiction" after researchers discovered that photographs of people by whom participants were recently dumped triggered increased activity in the same part of the brain "associated with profound cocaine addiction, as well as in a region associated with nicotine addiction."
Having not read the study report, I don't know why the presumption is that the brain treats love like an addiction, rather than that the brain treats cocaine and nicotine addictions like love.
I do know, however, that a headline about people being "addicted to love" is sexier, as they say in the news biz, than a headline about addicts' brains mimicking feelings of romantic love to sustain the addiction.
Anyway, halfway through we do get a boring old caveat from one of the study authors about how even being "addicted to love" doesn't inevitably cause "unhealthy behaviors."
Other issues, such as impulse control, would feed into disruptive actions such as stalking.I'm not sure I've ever heard stalking described in a nicer way than a "disruptive action" done by people who can't handle rejection.
Some people handle rejection better than others, and research should be done to see what differentiates those people, Fisher said.
And to further normalize obsessive behavior, the story then relates an anecdote about 38-year-old Mel Brake of Springfield, Pennsylvania, who has "been saving voice mails from his former girlfriend since their breakup four years ago but didn't feel completely comfortable hearing her voice on them until last week."
The study is about people who got jilted, but Mel did the breaking up.
Mel's story is offered as evidence that love is a lot like addiction. Um.
The story then ends with an anecdote about another dude, which includes this line: "As for the girl who turned him away so long ago, Dailakis doesn't hold any grudge today."
As if, you know, it's normal for a man to "hold a grudge" against a woman who has the unmitigated temerity to decide she doesn't want to be with him.
Yikes.
You know, it's not even like I particularly care about this specific article, but it's just that there are dozens of articles published like this every day, each of them eminently willing to uncritically (or deliberately) reinforce the vast and varied and vicious narratives of the rape culture, normalizing the obsessions and entitlements that underlie sexual violence.
One of these things is not like the others
[Trigger warning for sexual assault]
This morning, the website of my local newspaper has this:
[Caption: A section of a website titled "Entertainment", featuring four stories, the most prominent being "Attorney denies John Stamos had fling with 17-year-old (His accusers conspired to extort $680,000 from the actor)." [Stamos picture!] The three other stories are: "Fewer people are watching late-night talk shows", "In new tape, Mel Gibson allegedly admits hitting ex-girlfriend", and "Swiss reject US extradition request for Roman Polanski."
Note that Gibson "allegedly" admitted to hitting a woman, whereas accusers most definitely conspired to extort money from Stamos.
Don't you go changin', Syracuse Post-Standard. [Maybe you should change.]
Overheard
The guy in line next to me at Subway™ last night: "Throw some of those yellow peppers on there, too. Lots of 'em. I love that nonsense."
Well. This is hugely depressing.
[Trigger warning for Polanski stuff.]
The Quick Vote currently featured on CNN's front page asks: "Do you agree with Switzerland's decision not to extradite Roman Polanski to the U.S.?"
68% no. 32% yes.
Rare Barbary Lion Cubs Born in Pennsylvania Animal Park
Here's some Tuesday Morning Cute for yinz:
Two 1-week-old barbary lion cubs nestled in their blankets.
From KDKA News:
The newest residents of Living Treasures Wild Animal Park in Lawrence County are attracting quite a crowd. Three rare Barbary lion cubs – one male and two females -- were born on July 7th.
Barbary lions, also known as Atlas lions, were once native to the Atlas Mountains on North Africa; but unfortunately that's not the case anymore.
"The reason these cubs are so special," Adam Guiher from Living Treasures explained, "is Barbary Lions actually are extinct in the wild since 1921."
"They were basically hunted to extinction," Guiher added. "They were sought after because they had a big thick mane that was impressive to the hunters and that's just what did them in."
Male Barbary lions are unique because of their rich, dark mane. They can only be found in a handful of zoos around the world.
The new cubs will be hand-raised over the next few weeks. When they're old enough, the folks at Living Treasures will relocate them to a zoo.
The photos on the KDKA site are shot through the glass and so are pretty dark and fuzzy. Here is a clearer picture of a 5-week-old barbary lion cub from Animal Planet:
