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Open Thread
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This week's open threads have been brought to you by candy.
Candy is delicious food - eat some today!
The Virtual Pub Is Open
[Explanations: lol your fat. pathetic anger bread. hey your gay.]
TFIF, Shakers!
Belly up to the bar,
and name your poison!
Two Facts
1. David Brooks has written yet another garbage column for the New York Times, who is still paying him exorbitant amounts of money for his peerless garbage column-writing services.
2. This column is THE WORST, even by Brooks' own garbage standards.
Seriously, what is he talking about?
America's brightest minds have been abandoning industry and technical enterprise in favor of more prestigious but less productive fields like law, finance, consulting and nonprofit activism.By contrast to what? To "Things That Are Embarrassing or at Least Countercultural"? David Brooks, what the everloving fuck are you talking about?
It would be embarrassing or at least countercultural for an Ivy League grad to go to Akron and work for a small manufacturing company. By contrast, in 2007, 58 percent of male Harvard graduates and 43 percent of female graduates went into finance and consulting.
The shift away from commercial values has been expressed well by Michelle Obama in a series of speeches. "Don't go into corporate America," she told a group of women in Ohio. "You know, become teachers. Work for the community. Be social workers. Be a nurse. ... Make that choice, as we did, to move out of the money-making industry into the helping industry." As talented people adopt those priorities, America may become more humane, but it will be less prosperous.Wait, huh? America will be less prosperous if people don't go into money-making industries, but literally two paragraphs earlier it signaled America's economic doom that people are going into "prestigious but less productive fields like law, finance, consulting and nonprofit activism" instead of pursuing "industry and technical enterprise."
Apparently, David Brooks imagines that there are tons o' lucrative jobs at small manufacturing companies in towns like Akron, Ohio, waiting to be filled by well-educated snobs who just can't be bothered to work there.
For someone who purports to be an expert on the American Heartland, he sure is mistaken on, well, pretty much everything about the American Heartland.
Then there's the middle class. The emergence of a service economy created a large population of junior and midlevel office workers. These white-collar workers absorbed their lifestyle standards from the Huxtable family of "The Cosby Show," not the Kramden family of "The Honeymooners."WHUT. Here, Brooks engages in one of the most annoying habits of elite conservatives: Pretending that everyone in between the wretchedly poor and independently wealthy are one, big, monolithic middle class.
Nope. The Huxtables were a well-to-do, upper-middle-class family living off the dual incomes of two highly educated and successful professionals. The Kramdens were a working-class family living off the single income of a working schlub. It is not to say that one is inherently superior to the other to note that they are fundamentally different.
And it is not to demean the Kramdens of this country to say that it's understandable they are not aspirational figures for midlevel office workers. Many midlevel office workers are the daughters and sons of Kramdens, who wanted their children to be Huxtables.
You are a mess of mind-boggling incoherence, David Brooks. Go lie down and be very, very still for awhile.
Daily Dose o' Cute
Video Description: Iain and Dudley play CHASE!!!WOO!!! when Iain gets home from work. Iain does this funny little shuffly dance, and Dudley flips in circles and runs around like an excited goofball. Set to Toy-Box's "Best Friend."
Sometimes, when either Iain or I is playing CHASE!!!WOO!!! with Dudz, he will actually pop off the floor like he's on springs and do a complete 180 in midair, falling right back into his play-crouch. It's amazing.
As I've mentioned before, this is a game Dudley won't play at the dog park—only in a small space, which apparently makes it much more fun!
As always, still pix are below the fold...
And the couch held dozing Matilda.
Lady Chubfuzzle of Bellysworth.
"Duuuuuuuude, I am soooooooo hungover."
"Um, if you're going in the kitchen, could you bring me back a treat, please?"
This is so the worst thing you're going to read all day.
Jon Hamm: The Last Alpha Male.
It's funny, ahem, how frequently being mature, oozing "adult-ness," inhabiting the body and mind and career of a grown-up, being one's authentic self, is implicitly synonymous with being a man.
Not in contradistinction to being a boy, but in contradistinction to being a woman.
Quote of the Day
"Last night a neighborhood exploded. ... Just like that. It was there one minute, gone the next, apparently the victim of a deteriorating 62-year old cylinder in the ground that wore out, blew out, and exploded after rupturing the ground above it. That cylinder is just one of many old, deteriorating lines. ... I wonder whether conservatives give a damn when an entire neighborhood spontaneously combusts. I wonder whether they have a fixed number of dead people in their minds before they actually treat our infrastructure problems in this country like something worth their attention."—Karoli, on the explosion in San Bruno last night, which sent up "a geyser of fire that killed at least one person and injured more than 20 others, and ignit[ed] a blaze that destroyed 53 homes and damaged 120 more."
This morning, when I was out walking the dog, I smelled gas about half a block away from my house. It was the third time I'd smelled gas in the same area. When I got home, I called the gas company and reported it.
They came out to fix it not long after I called. The air was filled with gas. Though the other three didn't seem bothered, Sophie was running around mewing pitifully and trying to hide inside a closet, presumably to get away from the smell of the gas.
Not long ago, they left. I don't know what they did. Put a patch on it, I guess. It's vaguely terrifying.
Sophie still hasn't come out from behind the couch.
Audacity-rific!
In my inbox (TW for ableist language, emphasis original):
Dear MoveOn member,
Remember what it felt like to watch Barack Obama back when he was Candidate Obama? Seeing him fired up and ready to go in front of a crowd of 20,000?
Well, as of this week, that Obama's back. On Wednesday, he gave a feisty, tough speech that showed just how irresponsible Republicans have been, how crazy it'd be to give them back control of Congress this fall, and what he proposes to do to get our economy back on track.
"Fired up and ready to go in front of a crowd?"
"Feisty?"
"Tough?"
Apparently Obama is getting ready to captain a team in next year's 'Pols vs. Pundits' roller derby bout at ECE. Hopefully he'll watch out for Helen Thomas-- I hear she throws a mean can opener*.
This newfound (as of this week!?! are you for realz?!?) ass-kicking through standing around saying things is neat n' all, but um... every tube on the internet is clogged with discussions of how unsatisfying Obama's inaction on his supposed campaign platform has been. I'm not even going to get into the things that Obama actually has done-- let's just say that I'm pretty indignant.
In conclusion, moveon.org, I think I'll keep the money I don't have. I know it's not a popular saying these days, but maybe you should quit while you're behind.
--
*A can opener is essentially a check where you squat down low, twist your torso and pop up to drive your shoulder into the chest of the skater directly behind you. Can openers are either very fun, or not fun at all.
Today's Edition of "Conniving and Sinister"
[Background.]
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.]
Emailing! With Liss and Spudsy!
Liss: Look at the callout quote in this piece (about Clinton's speech earlier this week at the Council on Foreign Relations).
[The callout quote reads: "What is so piquant here is not the fact that Hillary understands that Obama is president. It is the growing sense that Hillary would have made a much, much better president than Obama."]
Spudsy: YES. WE KNOW.
Liss: I love the implicit suggestion that there was a chance Hillary Clinton might not have "understood" that Obama was the president. Insert caricature of mouth-foaming Hillary Clinton, driven wild with unfulfilled ambition, sitting at an overturned refrigerator box in her living room with Mrs. President scrawled on it in crayon, barking at Chelsea to "get Tehran on the line STAT! I'll sort out that Ahmadinejad once and for all—if it's the last thing I do as president of this great nation!" and calling Bill "General Husbandton" while ordering a nuclear attack on Oslo (thus proving once and for all you cannot have a woman at the button).
Spudsy: OMFGLOL. My favorite comment from that thread, btw: "Palin will not be the candidate. She is a creation of the liberal media and a desperate, horrible candidate for President, not the GOP at large. " LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Liss: I love the first comment: "Could this be Hillary's first punt at the presidency?" Will that she-devil's drive for the presidency never end?! Just look at her—NOW SHE'S BEING GOOD AT HER JOB! SHE WILL STOP AT NOTHING!!!
Spudsy: I love how someone further down is still, STILL pushing the Vince Foster conspiracy. LOL. MURDEROUS HARPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Liss: "I heard that Hillary Clinton faked the moon landing."
Spudsy: "I heard that Hillary Clinton is actually some horrible half-woman, half-goat creature."
Liss: "I heard Hillary Clinton's vagina is Illuminati headquarters."
Spudsy: "I heard that Hillary Clinton is secretly working with the United Nations to bring about a universal currency and to abolish Christianity."
Liss: "I heard they tested Hillary Clinton's DNA and found out she's half katana."
Spudsy: "I heard she ate a live cat."
Liss: Well, that's probably true, since it's a standard part of the induction ceremony into the Cult of the Feminazi Cooter.
DADT Follow-Up
As a postscript to Liss' post below, Federal Judge Rules DADT Unconstitutional, Courage Campaign has sent an email with a message from Lt. Dan Choi. Lt. Choi says
I implore President Obama and his Justice Department NOT to appeal the ruling by Judge Phillips. Like Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown did by refusing to defend Prop 8 in California, the President and the DoJ can refuse to appeal this DADT ruling. They can refuse to lift a finger and not waste any energy, statements, or money defending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in the courts.Lt. Choi also links to the Courage Campaign's Keep The Promise page, where there is a video of Sen. Harry Reid being interviewed at last July's Netroots Nation by Joan McCarter, who hands Sen. Reid Lt. Choi's West Point ring.
Subsequently, Lt. Choi and Sen. Reid meet briefly onstage, and Sen. Reid, having agreed to keep the ring until DADT is repealed, is told by Lt. Choi that he will hold the Senator accountable. I urge you to watch the video. Have a tissue handy.
Then add your name to the letter on the same page, which Lt. Choi is sending to Sen. Reid. Lt. Choi is keeping his promise to hold Sen. Reid accountable, by asking the Senator to ensure that the Senate votes on the Defense Authorization bill containing the repeal of DADT during the week of September 20, which will be the last opportunity to do so before the November election — an election which could make repeal more difficult.
Friday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by Shaxco, publishers of I'm Getting Your Face Tattooed on My Leg, by Kenny Blogginz. Now available in Papyrus font.
Recommended Reading:
Blue Girl: We Do Not Want the Something That They Will Have to Offer
Lisa: Pain [TW for cissexism, trans hatred, and body policing.]
Metaneira: Naming violations in World of Warcraft [TW for sexual violence and marginalizing slurs.]
Audacia: Abstinence Only Programming Being Exported to China
Andy: Maryland Governor Will Sign Gay Marriage Bill If He Gets One
Phil: Lasagna Cupcakes
Leave your links in comments...
Nope
Currently on CNN.com's front page, smack in the middle of their "Don't Miss" video section:
"Gay TV characters cause debate."
Nope. It's not the existence of gay television characters that "cause debate." It's homophobia that "causes debate."
The link leads to this video segment, which is titled "Too gay for TV?" and subtitled "While many praise prevalence of high-profile gay characters in primetime, some critics say it's bad for society," by which we can discern that the nature of this so-called "debate" is the same old "two sides to every issue" codswallop about which I've written previously.
What passes for "debate" as far as the media is concerned these days is a marginalized group of people and their allies asserting their right to inch toward equality, and the American Family Values Children Christian Liberty Freedom Patriot Association Foundation Organization screaming bigoted nonsense cloaked in some mendacious justification designed to be just religious or jingoistic enough that it's meant to be considered unassailable.
"Your having human rights makes the baby Jesus cry and undermines national security" isn't a debate position. It's horseshit.
The media needs to stop providing a bully pulpit to every hateful creepazoid who has the wherewithal to put together a business card in Microsoft Publisher and the temerity to claim to be an "expert" on American Families and the Homosexual Menace.
Here's a tip: Anyone who talks about "American Families" and "Gay People" as mutually exclusive groups should automatically be recognized as someone who doesn't know what the everloving fuck they're talking about.
That's it and that's all.
The Best Thing You'll Read All Day
[Trigger warning for discussion of casual use of "rape" as a joke, threat, etc.]
Kira Cochrane, who is the women's editor for the Guardian and an all-around righteous lady, has written a great piece on the proliferation of "rape talk."
An example of so-called rape talk? Coming out of an exercise class recently, a guy turned to one of my friends, sweating and breathless, and heaved a sigh of satisfied exhaustion. "Wow, that was just like being raped, wasn't it?" he said. My friend stood motionless, blinking back at him. Another? In the July issue of UK Elle, the Twilight star Kristen Stewart talked about being trailed by the paparazzi, saying that when she sees the resulting photographs: "I feel like I'm looking at someone being raped." (Stewart later apologised for the comparison).Read the whole thing here.
Online, there has been a lot of talk about "Facebook rape": a term used to describe a third party getting access to someone's Facebook account and changing their details. Almost 1.3 million people are fans of the Facebook page "Thanks wind, you have totally raped my hair", where photos of windswept women are posted.
And the rightwing US shock jocks, always ahead of the crowd with vile, vicious language, have been using rape talk for years. In separate discussions of healthcare reform last year, Rush Limbaugh warned his listeners, "get ready to get gang-raped again", while Glenn Beck compared himself and his viewers to "the young girl saying, 'No, no, help me,'" while "the government is Roman Polanski".
Another part of this phenomenon is the popularity of out-and-out rape jokes. I had an idea there was a taboo against these, but I realised how wrong I was last year when I attended an amateur comedy showcase that a friend was compering. There were about a dozen acts, and almost all included material making light of attacks on women. It's never a good sign when an evening ends with you and your friends bellowing, "No more rape jokes! No more rape jokes!" from the back of a bemused crowd.
After the performance, my friend said the comedians had been amazed anyone would object. Everyone else they had delivered the material to had apparently found it absolutely hilarious, she said, a ribald delight.
It's not the best thing you'll read all day because it's easy or pleasant to read; it's the best thing you'll read all day because it's spot-fucking-on.
[H/T to Shaker ClumsyKisses.]
Federal Judge Rules DADT Unconstitutional
New York Times—Judge Rules That Military Policy Violates Rights of Gays:
Judge Virginia A. Phillips of Federal District Court struck down the rule in an opinion issued late in the day [yesterday].LA Times—Federal judge rules 'don't ask, don't tell' policy is unconstitutional:
..."The don't ask, don't tell act infringes the fundamental rights of United States service members in many ways," she wrote. "In order to justify the encroachment on these rights, defendants faced the burden at trial of showing the don't ask, don't tell act was necessary to significantly further the government's important interests in military readiness and unit cohesion. Defendants failed to meet that burden."
U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips said the policy does not preserve military readiness, contrary to what Justice Department attorneys and many supporters have argued, because evidence shows that the policy in fact has had a "direct and deleterious effect" on the armed services.Washington Post—Judge in California rules on military's ban on openly gay service members:
Phillips said she would issue an injunction barring the government from enforcing the policy. However, the Justice Department, which defended "don't ask, don't tell" during a two-week trial in Riverside, will have an opportunity to appeal that decision.
Thursday's ruling came in a case filed in 2004 by the Log Cabin Republicans, the largest gay GOP political organization. It is the first successful legal challenge to the policy since Congress enacted it in 1993.
Citing testimony at a two-week trial in July by experts and former service members, Phillips wrote: "All of these examples demonstrate that the act's restrictions on speech not only are broader than reasonably necessary to protect the government's substantial interests, but also actually serve to impede military readiness and unit cohesion rather than further these goals."Thank you, Judge Phillips. Way to go, Log Cabin Republicans. Feel the homomentum!
...Phillips criticized the government's defense in her ruling, writing, "It again must be noted that Defendants called no witnesses, put on no affirmative case, and only entered into evidence the legislative history of the Act."
On the other side, she said, the military was hurt by discharging servicemembers who had performed well in combat and other situations, and it had forced gays in the ranks to hide their true identities, denied their ability to have personal relationships and kept them from expressing themselves even in private communications.
Ugh: GLAAD Awards in Corporate Gayness Marketing
Via my inbox, I give you the GLAAD media awards in advertising.
I'm tired of Gay Inc., and I'm tired of advertising. Some advertising is clearly worse than others, but yeah, I'm not a market segment. When companies view "women" as a market segment, bad things tend to happen. I suspect the same thing will happen when companies catch on to the idea that white gay men (and occasionally white lesbians) buy things.
Speaking of market segments and already happening, one of the sponsors of the GLAAD media awards in advertising is Miller Coors. Pete Coors is the chairman of Miller Coors. Is 2004 the new fictional? What I'm trying to say is that I don't associate the Coors name with advancing civil rights. Then again, I suspect that Gay Inc., and I differ in our definitions.
Question of the Day
The obvious follow-up to yesterday's QotD is: What's your favorite internet meme of all time?
[Video description: The techno remix of Ted Stevens' famous "series of tubes" speech.]
