With Lord Alfred taking up a lot of attention these days, Feather has obviously been getting short shrift. So, it's only fitting that after spending the whole day with her working from home yesterday, I pay homage to my little girl who always knows when and how to strike the perfect pose.
So, MTV has this show called "16 and Pregnant," which features teenage girls who are pregnant and carrying the pregnancy to term, most of whom also go on to parent the children themselves once they're born. Across several seasons, rarely has abortion even been discussed, and only two girls (that I know of) have chosen adoption, one of whom surrendered the baby to her aunt and uncle. The show has spawned a spin-off series, "Teen Mom," which has had two seasons, and a "Teen Mom 2," featuring new teen mothers originally featured on "16 and Pregnant" is set to begin after the new year.
The shows are all about Having Babies.
A young mother featured on the most recent season of "16 and Pregnant" is now the star of a follow-up stand-alone feature called "No Easy Decisions," in which she terminates a second pregnancy. Naturally, because one show about an abortion exists in association with seasons upon seasons of footage of young women carrying pregnancies to term, giving birth, and raising their babies, anti-choicers are OUTRAGED about how MTV is "promoting abortion."
Markai Durham, who was first seen last month on "16 and Pregnant," discovers she is expecting again and must decide whether to have the baby.So not only is this a single incident of a pregnant teenager choosing abortion among seasons of teenagers not choosing to terminate, but MTV is airing the show as a separate episode, broadcasting it at a later time, and generally treating abortion like a fucking scandal, yet still this is somehow "promoting abortion."
Her decision to terminate the pregnancy is the centerpiece of "No Easy Decision" and has pro-lifers up in arms.
The show is so unusual, MTV scheduled it to air at 11:30 p.m. -- well past the bedtimes of the network's youngest fans.
MTV did not make the show available to the media before it airs and has forbidden Markai to give interviews about the subject.
In recent months, MTV has promised to tackle "all sides" of the hot-button teen pregnancy issue.Just LOL. Yeah, birthing babies has really been buried beneath the weight of MTV's unwavering support of abortion. Yeesh.
But pro-life blogger Jill Stanek says she expects a one-sided portrayal.
"This apparently means the pro-life perspective will simply get tackled," she writes.
[Trigger warning for sexual violence and rape apologia.]
Actual Headline in the New York Times: Is It Rape? It Depends on Who Is Asking.
No. No it doesn't.
[H/T to @GABblog.]
Bob Herbert hits another one outta the park:
I keep hearing from the data zealots that holiday sales were impressive and the outlook for the economy in 2011 is not bad.Read the whole thing here.
Maybe they've stumbled onto something in their windowless rooms. Maybe the economy really is gathering steam. But in the rough and tumble of the real world, where families have to feed themselves and pay their bills, there are an awful lot of Americans being left behind.
...There is a fundamental disconnect between economic indicators pointing in a positive direction and the experience of millions of American families fighting desperately to fend off destitution.
It's really too bad that the Washington Post decided to run this important article about the erosion of Roe on the state level, with SCOTUS' help, during a week that's essentially one long newshole. But I guess all the good days were already taken up with whitewashing profiles of anti-choice terrorists. Ahem.
[Related Reading: The discussion following Point 3 here.]
Do you speak more than one language? What languages do you speak? Are there any languages you'd like to learn?
English is my first language. I had five years of German, from eighth to twelfth grade, and I remember enough that I can have a totally awkward conversation with a native German-speaker who knows as much English as I know German, lol.
I also learned the alphabet and a few key signs in ASL when I was a kid; fingerspelling has come in very handy (pun unintended) on several occasions.
I had some Spanish in elementary school, and I can't speak a lick of it (aside from a handful of random words and phrases), but I can usually suss out what's being said if I'm listening/reading Spanish. I'd like to become fluent in Spanish, at some point.
I must have also seen this Tide commercial ten thousand times in the last week:
Email Tide.
I must have seen this Vizio commercial ten thousand times in the last week:
Contact Vizio.
I am passing on this article about Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor leveraging her position on behalf of prisoners for two reasons: 1. Because she is awesome. 2. So we can all gaze contemptuously upon the continuing double standard that makes Antonin Scalia "aggressive" and Sotomayor "demanding."
If your reflexive reaction is to argue that "demanding" doesn't play into misogynist tropes, consider the difference in what "a demanding questioner" versus "a rigorous questioner" actually convey, especially regarding a woman.
For the third consecutive year, President Barack Obama is Gallup's Most Admired Man of the Year: "Obama first became Americans' Most Admired Man in 2008, shortly after his election as the nation's 44th president, and has held the title since then."
For the ninth consecutive year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is Gallup's Most Admired Woman of the Year: "Clinton has dominated the Most Admired Woman title for most of the past two decades, earning 15 No. 1 rankings since her first appearance on the list in 1992."
Let us recall with bitter irony that the most pervasive meme about Hillary Clinton during the 2008 election, even among liberals, was that she is unlikable.
This blogaround brought to you by Shaxco, makers of Spudsy Brand Bowling Balls.
Recommended Reading:
Tami: Sandra Lee's Kwanzaa Cake and the Problem with Being Inclusive
For those who don't know much about Kwanzaa, but are interested in learning, I encourage you to visit Renee, who's got a good primer and links to further resources here. (Please note that is an encouragement toward listening and self-education, not a recommendation you go to Renee's space and demand that she personally educate you.)
Autumn: On Transgender Servicemembers and DADT; On Community Activism Ahead
Steve: DC Cardinal Says Catholic Church Won't Evaluate DADT
adurhamtamu: Do we need a body count to count?: Notes on the serial murders of Black women. [TW for violence, dehumanization, and racism]
Brad: New Science Committee Chair Ralph Hall Praises 'Tremendous' BP Spill
Echidne: On Ballerinas and Football Players
Fannie: Lady Director Thingy
rho: AaAaAA!!! – A Reckless Disregard for Feelings [TW for sexual assault]
Leave your links in comments...
Buried deep in a CNN article about the "new political reality" Obama and Congressional Democrats will face now that Republicans have recaptured the House majority (that new reality, I suppose, being that Obama will have to capitulate HARDER, or something), is this priceless tidbit:
Republicans have made clear that cutting spending is their top priority. Incoming House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, is promising weekly votes on spending cuts, and conservative Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma warned of a national catastrophe if the deficit doesn't get reduced.LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!! Yes, EVERYONE will be called on to sacrifice, and the wealthy will have to sacrifice to a greater extent, says the man who vociferously advocated extending the Bush tax cuts to the wealthiest USians and who now wants to pay for them by slashing social programs that serve the poorest USians.
"There will not be one American that will not be called to sacrifice" under the needed spending cuts to deal with the deficit, Coburn said on "FOX News Sunday."
While acknowledging that "those that are more well-to-do will be called to sacrifice to a greater extent" -- a traditional Democratic stance -- Coburn said the increased spending of the past decade under both Obama and former President George W. Bush required immediate and significant cuts to show financial markets and investors here and abroad that the United States is serious about balancing its books.
So, as I've mentioned previously, we're fighting a not-war in Pakistan as an outgrowth of the war-war we're fighting in Afghanistan. And I'm increasingly reading news, care of the ubiquitous Anonymous Officials Who Are Not Authorized to Speak to the Media, about all the people we're killing in our not-war in Pakistan via remotely-controlled drone strikes. Like this one, for instance:
Two suspected U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal region killed 18 alleged militants Monday, intelligence officials told CNN.Of course not. That might entail having to comment on the fact that we're AT WAR IN A THIRD COUNTRY.
It was the latest in a series of aerial assaults targeting insurgents in North Waziristan, one of seven districts in Pakistan's volatile tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
In one attack, a suspected drone fired four missiles on a militants' vehicle in the Mir Ali area of the district, two intelligence officials said. Six people died in the attack.
In the second attack, a suspected drone fired two missiles at a militant hideout in the same district, killing 12, officials said.
Based on a count by the CNN Islamabad bureau, Monday's suspected drone strikes bring the number to 108 this year, compared with 52 in all of 2009.
The intelligence officials asked not to be named because they are not authorized to speak to the media. The United States does not comment on suspected drone strikes.
