...the thing I think I love most about the national debate about the TSA's new "enhanced screening" procedures are all the jokes. So many jokes! I was just thinking how highly privileged, straight, cis, able-bodied, never-assaulted white dudes were running out rape jokes, so it's really awesome they've got something new to HIGH FIVE! about.
Monday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by Shaxco, publishers of Space Cowboy's falconing memoir, America's Got Talon.
Recommended Reading:
Tami has a great post, "In Support of Feminist Bloggers," which I highly recommend for her commentary as well as the list of "kick-ass" feminist and anti-racism blogs she likes (on which I am hugely flattered to find Shakesville included). If you're looking for new reading material, check out that list. So much good stuff.
Tigtog: The Pope and Condoms—Don't Get Too Excited
Andy: Southern Poverty Law Center Updates List of Anti-Gay Hate Groups, Adding AFA, FRC, Others...
Adrienne: Navajo Potatoes: Not What I Was Expecting
Lesley: Bears Still Shit in the Woods... [TW for discussions of weight and eating]
Cuppycake: Facebook Games and Privilege
Aunt B: My Dog Turns Back to Smile at Me
Leave your links in comments...
Sending Big Love and Well Wishes...
...to Pam Merritt, aka Shark-fu, our beloved Angry Black Bitch, who is having a hysterectomy today.
and:
...to Pam Spaulding, who also had a hysterectomy and has, per her partner Kate, come through surgery okay and is in recovery.
To two of my favorite blogrrls: Get well soon!
I would insert a very clever joke about the Hysterics of the Radical Gay Feminazi Agenda here, but I'll save those for after the stitches are out.
Thanks, Republicans
Some States Weigh Unthinkable Option: Ending Medicaid.
Huge budget shortfalls are prompting a handful of states to begin discussing a once-unthinkable scenario: dropping out of the Medicaid insurance program for the poor.And here's a taste of the Mad Privatization Skillz the country will come to know if voters have the terrible idea to turn my garbage nightmare of a governor into their president:
Elected and appointed officials in nearly a half-dozen states, including Washington, Texas and South Carolina, have publicly [proposed] the idea. Wyoming and Nevada this year produced detailed studies of what would happen should they withdraw from the program. Wyoming found that Medicaid accounts for 63% of the state's nursing-home revenue.
The idea of abandoning Medicaid as a solution is so extreme that even proponents don't expect any state will follow through, but officials are floating the discussions because dire budgetary pressures have forced them to at least look at even the most drastic options.
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said he put a different proposal before the Republican governors assembled in San Diego: that they all band together to create a multistate insurance pool for the uninsured. But the states would do it, he said, only on the condition that the federal government agreed to eliminate some of the mandates embedded in the health overhaul.Just ugh.
In Case Anyone's Forgotten...
...Dawn French totally rules.
[Thanks ever so much to Shaker Gary for passing that along.]
Daily Dose o' Cute
Video Description: Dudz at the dogpark this weekend with greyhound friends Suzie and Triton, beagle Becky (I think that was her name; I may be misremembering), and basenji Hatchi. Also playing with a pack of shelties, and playing tag with Iain. Set to Michael Nyman's "Here to There."
That little beagle is the most adorable thing! And so brave! Dudley and Triton were chasing her around that little bridge for ages, and every time they'd stop, she'd run after Dudley to get him to chase her again. The original track on that video is just her owner, Triton and Suzie's owner, and Iain and me laughing uproariously while watching them.
Some still pix from the dog park below the fold (on most browsers)...
Dudley and Emma.
Dudley in motion.
It's really hard to get good pix of him in action! This is why.
Dudley and Sam.
All tuckered out.
Quote of the Day
"I am very happy doing what I'm doing and I am not in any way interested in or pursuing anything in elective office."—Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as 2012 rumors begin, including that she will mount a challenge to President Obama or replace Vice President Biden on the ticket.
Of course, that's just what a ruthlessly ambitious, diabolical harpy who will stop at nothing to be president like her WOULD say, isn't it?! [/2008]
Lost News
Jorge Garcia is returning to primetime, starring in a new show from J.J. Abrams, titled Alcatraz.
The project, described to be "about secrets and the most infamous prison of all time," centers on a group of missing Alcatraz prisoners and guards who reappear in the present day. It chronicles the efforts of a team of FBI agents to track them down and unravel the mystery behind their disappearance thirty years prior. Garcia will play the hippy geek Dr. Diego Soto, the world's foremost expert on Alcatraz.
Time travel, mysterious islands, Jorge Garcia: I am sooo there.
Today in TSA Traveler Abuse
[Trigger warning for general harm.]
Palm Beach Post—$11,000 fine, arrest possible for some who refuse airport scans and pat downs:
If you don't want to pass through an airport scanner that allows security agents to see an image of your naked body or to undergo the alternative, a thorough manual search, you may have to find another way to travel this holiday season.CBS News—Obama: I Understand Rage Over Enhanced Screening: "President Barack Obama has asked security officials whether there's a less intrusive way to screen U.S. airline passengers than the pat-downs and body scans causing a holiday-season uproar. For now, they've told him there isn't one."
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is warning that any would-be commercial airline passenger who enters an airport checkpoint and then refuses to undergo the method of inspection designated by TSA will not be allowed to fly and also will not be permitted to simply leave the airport.
That person will have to remain on the premises to be questioned by the TSA and possibly by local law enforcement. Anyone refusing faces fines up to $11,000 and possible arrest.
CBS News—Clinton: I'd Avoid Airport Pat-Down if Possible: "Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she would not want to submit to an airport security pat-down, one of the new 'enhanced' measures instituted by the Transportation Safety Administration ahead of the holiday season to screen airline passengers. ... 'I understand how difficult it is, and how offensive it must be for the people who are going through it.'" Clinton said there was a need for the procedures because terrorists are "creative," but suggested there ought to be a way to limit the number of people who are submitted to 'enhanced' screening. (Again, I will note how foolish it is to acknowledge the obvious loophole—emphasis on hole—to even the most intimate pat-downs. Unless people who refuse the scanner are going to be subjected to full body cavity searches, which I am not advocating, this shit is pointless.)
And reports of traveler abuse continue...
Raw Story—ABC producer says TSA agent felt inside her underwear: "One employee of ABC News who opted for the pat-down instead of the full body scan claimed that a TSA agent actually felt inside of her underwear. 'The woman who checked me reached her hands inside my underwear and felt her way around,' said ABC News producer Carolyn Durand. 'It was basically worse than going to the gynecologist. It was embarassing. It was demeaning. It was inappropriate.'"
LA Times—Young boy gets pat down from TSA. [Video at the link.]
MSNBC—TSA pat-down leaves traveler covered in urine:
A retired special education teacher on his way to a wedding in Orlando, Fla., said he was left humiliated, crying and covered with his own urine after an enhanced pat-down by TSA officers recently at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.San Diego Examiner—TSA airport screeners gone wild in San Diego (again):
"I was absolutely humiliated, I couldn't even speak," said Thomas D. "Tom" Sawyer, 61, of Lansing, Mich.
Sawyer is a bladder cancer survivor who now wears a urostomy bag, which collects his urine from a stoma, or opening in his stomach. "I have to wear special clothes and in order to mount the bag I have to seal a wafer to my stomach and then attach the bag. If the seal is broken, urine can leak all over my body and clothes."
..."One agent watched as the other used his flat hand to go slowly down my chest. I tried to warn him that he would hit the bag and break the seal on my bag, but he ignored me. Sure enough, the seal was broken and urine started dribbling down my shirt and my leg and into my pants."
...Humiliated, upset and wet, Sawyer said he had to walk through the airport soaked in urine, board his plane and wait until after takeoff before he could clean up.
"I am totally appalled by the fact that agents that are performing these pat-downs have so little concern for people with medical conditions," said Sawyer.
..."I am a good American and I want safety for all passengers as much as the next person," Sawyer said. "But if this country is going to sacrifice treating people like human beings in the name of safety, then we have already lost the war."
In what can only be described as TSA handlers gone wild, the San Diego Harbor Police arrested an area resident for refusal to complete the screening/security process yesterday. This is the same airport that created the TSA security catch phrase "don't touch my junk." John Tyner of San Diego started the airport screening firestorm last week as Americans head into the busiest travel week of the year in the United States.So now you can't even record yourself in order to ensure that you are not sexually assaulted and/or that you have demonstrable proof if you are.
This time the defendant, Sam Wolanyk says he was asked to pass through the 3-D x-ray machine. When Wolanyk refused, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) personnel told him he would have to be patted down before he could pass through and board his airplane.
Wolanyk said he knew what was coming and took off his pants and shirt, leaving him in Calvin Klein bike undergarments.
"It was obvious that my underwear left nothing to the imagination," he explained. "But that wasn't enough for the TSA supervisor who was called to the scene and asked me to put my clothes on so I could be properly patted down."
It was clear to Wolanyk that TSA only wanted him to submit to a pat-down and if they were interested in ensuring the safety of all passengers they would have rifled through his clothes, carryon baggage and acknowledged that he was not carrying any illegal paraphernalia on his person.
Once Harbor Police arrested Wolanyk, he was handcuffed and paraded through two separate airport terminals in his underwear to the Harbor Police office located inside a different terminal at the airport than Wolanyk had originally gone through during his TSA security process.
The incident was confirmed by Harbor Police Sergeant Rakos who said Wolanyk was arrested on two misdemeanors, "failing to complete the security process; violation code 7.01 and illegally recording the San Diego Airport Authority (they confiscated his iPhone); violation number 7.14 (a)."
Another confirmation came from Ronald Powell, director of communications, who said Wolanyk wasn't charged with any federal crimes, just the two misdemeanors. "The bottom line is that all our police officers did was enforce the law."
Powell also stated that there was another arrest of a woman who was allegedly illegally filming the x-ray, and TSA screening process with a video camera. The young woman's camera was confiscated and she was given a citation and released from Harbor Police custody.
The Overton Window: Chapter Twenty-Eight
A small fragment of his awareness saw everything clearly from a mute corner of his mind, but that part had given up trying to rouse the rest of him. Noah still lay where Molly had left him, not exactly asleep but a long way from consciousness.
Ah, yes, Noah. I was wondering what happened to him. He's been lying there, with a small fragment of his awareness seeing everything clearly from a mute corner of his mind. Whatever that means. He's kind of groggy?
Noah dreams he's drowning. And then hears the door kicked in. "People ran past, guns drawn and shouting."
There was a boom, a clattering much louder than the earlier sounds, then a grip on his shoulders, someone shaking him. He struggled against the pressure and somehow forced his eyes open.
A woman leans over Noah, a doctor, it seems. She sticks him with a needle, shines a light in his eyes, and generally gives him the Dixie McCall routine.
The doctor snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Noah? Can you tell me what year it is?"
Noah only asks "Where am I?", which annoys me. I have no idea what year this was supposed to be, but we've just been cheated out of the answer. As an aside, if there is a doctor (or other healthcare professional) in the house, but do they really ask people if they know what year it is when they wake up? I know they do it in the movies and on TV, but I was wondering if it happened in real life.
"What happened? How long have I been out?"
"It's Monday, about noon," the woman said. She snapped off her gloves and returned her things to the medical kit, then stood and turned to one of the men. "I'll take him now. Three of you come with me and the rest should finish up here, then be sure to call in."
Damn. Noah has been out all weekend? I guess that's a convenient way to move forward the timeline. Got him out of the way so we could enjoy The Kearns & Bailey Show.
Noah is helped to his feet and asks where they're going. "Your father wants to see you," is the ominous reply.
Well, it is supposed to be ominous, I guess, since we've heard how evil Darthur is. Not there we really have any sense of that. But it's a thrilling way to end a chapter, right? No? Maybe? Just a little? I dunno. Frankly, I am so past caring at this point.
So, yeah, if I may recap this chapter: Noah wakes up.
How many pages of this garbage are left?
Photo of the Day
Heidi Klum arrives at the 'Black Swan' closing night gala during AFI FEST 2010 presented by Audi held at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on November 11, 2010 in Hollywood, California. [Getty Images]Heidi is wearing the signature black-and-white dot dress from the collection of Project Runway runner-up (and Shakesville favorite) Mondo Guerra.
Where Everybody Knows Your Name (Is Liss and Deeky)
So, you may have heard, Liss and I recorded a little podcast earlier this week. First off, we wanted to thank everyone who downloaded it so far.
Secondly, we thought this would be a good time to remind everyone that it is out there for anyone who may have missed it. It's an easy and fun way to kill thirty minutes. And maybe you could use a laugh.
As Liss said, "what we really wanted to create, and I think we've achieved, is a show that feels like hanging out, like you've just pulled a chair up to our table in the middle of a rollicking conversation."
Anyway, click here to get your copy. It's only 99 cents.
Oh, and we're still looking for a name, so listen in and see how can help us with that. Thanks!
Open Thread
Hosted by yams.
This week's open threads have been brought to you by autumn vegetables.
(And fruits, and tubers...)
November 20
[Trigger Warning: transphobia, violence, including sexual violence]
November 20th is the Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day to acknowledge, publicize, and mourn the lives lost to transphobic violence in the past year.
I'm simply too tired to go into all the gory details. I'm afraid I didn't get to the local ceremony. Perhaps the local university never found someone to step up and organize an event. My bad.
At its base, I think the day of remembrance is about safety. As far as I'm concerned, one of the most basic human rights is having the ability to move about one's neighborhood without fearing the probability of violence.
At the moment, I don't feel that I have that freedom. I'm certainly not alone in this-- many of us who are able to get around cannot be certain we'll be able to do so safely. Many of us fortunate enough to have homes do not feel safe therein.
Transphobia is a major contributor to the violence many of us face (to say nothing of homelessness).
The day of remembrance is a time to bring transphobia front-and-center in discussions of violence. It was conceived of, and still is, a radical act-- the public commemoration of our dead in a world that trivializes our existence.
Everyone on this planet who cares to live in a safe world should care passionately about transphobic violence. If we send the message that 'you're trans?... and you're dead.' is anything short of a crime against humanity, we have failed.
'...and you're dead'
That's an attitude I feel surrounded by. I can think of few things more suffocating than living in a society where far too many people appear to take others' lives with reckless frivolity. Life has value.
Far too often, our culture mocks the humanity of trans and gender non-conforming people. This is the problem. When those among us have established that some people are less than, the precedent has been set: people can be disposable commodities.
It's not merely compassion and humanity that should drive our many allies in the fight against transphobia-- it's self-preservation.
'...and you're dead'
That's a possibility for many of us-- the poor, people of color, LGBTQ people, women, the disabled, the young, the people who are in the wrong place and the wrong time, and of course those of us who fit into more than one of those (or other) categories for any number of reasons. We cannot continue like this.
We need to establish, once and for all, that human life has worth. On this day, let us start by celebrating the courage, strength, and humanity of my trans siblings, while mourning the lives lost in pursuit of our simplest of goals.
As the months move on, we must all continue to address the violence of homicide, but also other interlocking forms of violence: sexual violence, discrimination, poverty. However, on this day, let us mourn the loss of our trans siblings, our friends, our family. We must fight on-- our family cannot endure our pain forever.
Crossposted
Transgender Day of Remembrance
And brothers.
Today marks the 12th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, which is set aside to memorialize those killed as a result of anti-transgender hatred or prejudice resulting from fear and ignorance. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998 spawned the "Remembering Our Dead" online project and candlelight vigil.
This year, we remember: Brenda of Rome, Italy, Wanchai Tongwijit of Phuket City, Thailand, Mariah Malina Qualls of San Francisco, California, Estrella (Jose Angel) Venegas of Mexicali, Mexico, Wong of Bernama, Malaysia, Myra Chanel Ical and Gypsy of Houston, Texas, Derya Y. of Antalya, Turkey, Fevzi Yener of Åžehremin, Istanbul, Dino Curi Huansi of Parma, Italy, Amanda Gonzalez-Andujar of Queens, New York, Toni Alston of Charlotte, North Carolina, Ashley Santiago Ocasio of Corozal, Puerto Rico, Azra of Izmir, Turkey, Chanel (Dana A. Larkin) of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Angie González Oquendo of Caguas, Puerto Rico, Sandy Woulard of Chicago, Illinois, Imperia Gamaniel Parson of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Victoria Carmen White of Maplewood, New Jersey, Justo Luis González GarcÃa of Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico, Irem of Bursa, Turkey, Stacey Lee of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Emanuelly Colaço Taborda of Parana, Brazil, an unidentified trans woman in Jakarta, Indonesia, an unidentified trans woman in Chihuahua, Mexico, an unidentified trans woman in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, an unidentified victim in Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico, two unidentified victims in Sheikhupura, Pakistan, and all the other trans women and men around the world who lost their lives to transphobia this year, whose faces we never saw and names we never heard, because they were living on the margins of societies who did not respect nor want them.
Julia Serano, a trans activist and author of the oft-mentioned Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity, has noted that transphobia kills not just by violent action, but apathetic inaction.Trans people are often targeted for violence because their gender presentation, appearance and/or anatomy falls outside the norms of what is considered acceptable for a woman or man. A large percentage of trans people who are killed are prostitutes, and their murders often go unreported or underreported due to the public presumption that those engaged in sex work are not deserving of attention or somehow had it coming to them.
Lacking federal employment protections, transgender men and women are at higher risk for lack of insurance, adding to the difficulty of securing routine medical care from welcoming practitioners. Transmen, for example, frequently have trouble locating accommodating gynecological services for annual pap smears, risking undiagnosed cervical cancer. The great 2001 documentary Southern Comfort spans the last year in the life of Robert Eads, who died of ovarian cancer after two dozen doctors refused him treatment.
Some trans people are killed as the result of being denied medical services specifically because of their trans status, for example, Tyra Hunter, a transsexual woman who died in 1995 after being in a car accident. EMTs who arrived on the scene stopped providing her with medical care—and instead laughed and made slurs at her—upon discovering that she had male genitals.
That's the kind of hate crime that doesn't make headlines. Or even federal hate crimes statistics.
We remember all the victims of violence and apathy today.
The rest of the year, we must always be fierce advocates and allies together, so that we may never add a new name on a victims list ever again.
[Photo via LA IndyMedia's coverage of 2006's Day of Remembrance.]
The Virtual Pub Is Open
[Explanations: lol your fat. pathetic anger bread. hey your gay.]
Pull up a chair and raise your glass.
To Maud.
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.]
This is so the worst thing you're going to read all day.
by Shaker scatx, a liberal, a feminist, a wife, a mother, a professional historian, and an optimist.
I nominate as So the Worst Thing You're Going to Read All Day this gem from the Today Show/MSNBC website (an article written by the Associated Press): British Brides Live in Fear of Royal Wedding Date. The title alone should be enough to make you gag a bit.
It is, as you may have guessed, about all the British brides who are getting married this coming spring and summer in London and cannot possibly imagine sharing their wedding date with Kate Middleton and Prince William (did you hear that they were getting married??? It's going to be magical!).
Important things to take away from the article:
1) Only BRIDES would care about this major, major problem. ("Britain is captivated by speculation over where and when their prince will wed — few are keeping their eyes peeled as much as British brides-to-be." Their only rivals? I'm gonna go with reporters.)
2) Only brides care because for them, it's the biggest day of their lives. (Old tropes make me yawn and yet they won't go away: "Planning the biggest day of your life is stressful enough.") Of course, for many women, their wedding day is the biggest day of their lives by virtue of its being the one day they are not marginalized by virtue of their womanhood, but instead centered because of it.
3) And I quote: "Fear and horror are spreading through British bridal circles — and a whole new batch of young women are ready to pitch a royal hissy fit." I'm glad that the author didn't succumb to using excessive, outsized hyperbole when making a misogynistic statement about brides and their "hissy fits." Because if there is anything in today's world that unleashes fear and horror, it's Bristol Palin winning DWTS sharing your wedding day with Kate and William.
4) If the royal couple marries the same day as you, people won't pay enough attention to you. Inevitably, you won't be the princess that day; Kate will (both metaphorically and literally, in this case).
"If their wedding was on my wedding day, I don't know what I would do!" said Anna Whitcomb, 28, trying on wedding dresses at a London department store. "I know all my family members and guests would want to watch the celebration and would be distracted."
5) Logistically, it may be a nightmare for flower delivery. (I'll admit, the only logical part of this entire article came when one bride expressed concern over travel into and out of the city.)
"I'm supposed to be the princess, and now I have a real princess to compete with," she added.
6) Don't forget about how much worse it will be for the elite, wealthy British brides who have the bad luck of matching up with the royal nuptials! Because it may not seem real unless I quote it, here is what this article actually says: "Brides with expensive tastes and elite social connections have further worries. Will their orders for hand-engraved invitations from royal stationers Smythson be delayed? Can they still get that 1,950 pound ($3,116)-wedding cake from the queen's grocery supplier Fortnum & Mason? Will the guest lists overlap?"
7) Finally, this is a major concern for the "less confident" bride. If you are worried that your guests will be upset about missing out on the royal wedding, feel free to record it for them and show it later. Unless you simply don't have the confidence to do so because you could not fancy having your dress or nuptials "compared to a much more glamorous, wealthy bride like Middleton." Note the assumption that no matter what, you will feel and look MUCH less glamorous than Middleton. Gee, why would any brides-to-be have confidence issues?
For the record, I am not saying that I have a problem with someone wanting their wedding day to be a big deal (I certainly did when I had mine). And I understand that planning for it can take many months. People in your life who you care deeply about may pay lots of money, take time off work, and travel long distances to be there for you on the day you get married. You may be holding out for a specific venue or a specific date or whatnot. Whatever. To each their own.
This article about weddings is disgusting, though, because it presupposes so many things not simply about brides but also about women. It, once again, paints a single narrative about weddings (but NOT marriages) that show women in a terrible light. It portrays them as shallow, anxious, materialistic, and prone to "royal hissy fits" when they don't get their way or think that their spotlight is being unfairly taken away (which they really only think because the media is telling them so - a vicious circle, really).
And the author of the article KNOWS this and wants to deflect blame away from themselves by pointing out that everyone already thinks these things about brides. Right near the end of the article, the author tells us, without a hint of irony, the following thing about brides these days (by which they mean heterosexual, western, monied, feminine, brides):
Brides-to-be have acquired a reputation as being unreasonable, intolerable perfectionists — so-called "Bridezillas" — partly thanks to such movies as "Bride Wars," in which two best friends try to outdo each other with vicious dirty tricks after both booked the same venue on the same day.
HAHAHAHHA! Or I mean, AAAAHHHH! As if reputations just appear or just happen to be acquired in the public arena. As if they don't function like stereotypes, created out of pieced-together anecdotes that function mainly to feed the dominant narrative, to make the idea that already exists appear natural and normal. As if the reputations of "Brides-to-be" are a result of the actions or behaviors of real-life bride-to-bes. Or as if real-life brides-to-be don't act the way that they have been instructed to act by their society (in order to show just how much these weddings mean to them so that everyone gets that they are both a good woman and a good soon-to-be wife), via things like the Today Show, AP articles, or TV shows and movies.
As if articles like this one are written in a vacuum that only allows in the truth and filters the bullshit. As if the author of this article only reflects back what they see instead of intentionally creating an article that they think will appeal to readers and play on their insecurities (are you a good enough bride/woman/wife? are you upset enough at the idea that the royals will get married on your day? have you double-checked with your cake maker about delivery times and possible conflicts? are you intense enough to show your dedication but cool enough not to be a Bridezilla?).
As if Bride Wars (BRIDE WARS, folks - re: Melissa) or "Bridezillas" are 1) real or 2) were not created and hoisted upon us by the same patriarchal, misogynist d-bags who red-light articles like this.
Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go read about how Kate and William having been living together for months. It's a downright scandal!
