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Open Thread
Hosted by another recycled tire sculpture.
This week's open threads have been brought to you by art made from recycled things.
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!
Blogcation
As we're quickly approaching the next presidential election season (seriously? I'm barely over the last one yet!), which tends to be a very intense time at Shakesville, all of us are effectively taking next week off so we can get a good breather. We will be posting daily Open Threads, which will be moderated, but otherwise there will be no new content.
I feel pretty bad that this announcement was preceded by two days where, owing to Blogger's tech issues, we weren't able to post very much, but this has been scheduled for some time. I haven't had a full week off from the blog, during which I didn't work at all, in more than six years, and I really need a break desperately. The timing is unfortunate, but it is what it is.
In any case, have a great week, Shakers. See you soon!
Welcome to Indiana, Home of Garbage Law
Indiana, my beautiful home state which was once a pretty damn nice place to live, has turned into the national seat of garbage law, whether it's our garbage governor signing bills passed by our garbage legislature into garbage law, or our garbage state Supreme Court making garbage law:
Overturning a common law dating back to the English Magna Carta of 1215, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Hoosiers have no right to resist unlawful police entry into their homes.Well, that makes three of us.
In a 3-2 decision, Justice Steven David writing for the court said if a police officer wants to enter a home for any reason or no reason at all, a homeowner cannot do anything to block the officer's entry.
"We believe ... a right to resist an unlawful police entry into a home is against public policy and is incompatible with modern Fourth Amendment jurisprudence," David said.
...Justice Robert Rucker, a Gary native, and Justice Brent Dickson, a Hobart native, dissented from the ruling, saying the court's decision runs afoul of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
"In my view the majority sweeps with far too broad a brush by essentially telling Indiana citizens that government agents may now enter their homes illegally -- that is, without the necessity of a warrant, consent or exigent circumstances," Rucker said. "I disagree."
I don't even know what else to say about what's going on in this state at the moment. All I can say is this: I am a Hoosier, and I am pissed.
What the Frack?
Via PBS:
The students of New York University’s Studio 20, a journalism course that focuses on blending reporting with new media, collaborated with the investigative unit ProPublica to create a new kind of explainer to introduce the public to ProPublica’s three-year investigation on hydraulic fracturing – “fracking” – and the potential dangers it poses to communities’ drinking water supply.You can find the lyrics here.
The Bestest of Birthdays
[Click to embiggen.]
Of Course He Was
George W. Bush Eating Souffle When Obama Called About Osama bin Laden.
Sounds about right.
In Other Presidential Barf News...
Huckabee to Announce Decision on Presidential Run Saturday:
Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, will announce on Saturday whether he will run for president, the producer of his show on the Fox News Channel said Friday.Gee, that would be too bad said no one.
"Governor Huckabee will announce tomorrow night on his program whether or not he intends to explore a presidential bid," Woody Fraser, the executive producer of "Huckabee" said in a statement. "He has not told anyone at FOX News Channel his decision."
Senior political aides to Mr. Huckabee also said Friday they do not know what he will decide, raising suspicions that Mr. Huckabee will take a pass on another campaign.
I really love all these announcement announcements, by the way. Good idea to ALERT THE MEDIA that some bozo everyone knows is considering running for president will make a statement about his decision in two-to-three days, because otherwise the media that has been slavering over who will run in 2012 since Nov. 5, 2008 MIGHT NOT COVER IT.
Also: Daniels closer to deciding on presidential bid. Oh, goody! I can't wait for the news of his announcement announcement where he pre-announces when he might be announcing the announcement of the announcement of his decision.
Go to hell, Mitch Daniels. And take Mike Huckabee with ya.
Quote of the Day
Dear Representative Bachmann,Via the Minnesota Independent, where Andy Birkey notes: "Politifact rated Bachmann's statements about the U.S. Constitution's census requirements in 2009 as 'Pants on Fire' false. CNN's Anderson Cooper dinged Bachmann back in January for her revisionist history regarding the U.S. Constitution's racist past."
My name is Amy Myers. I am a Cherry Hill, New Jersey sophomore attending Cherry Hill High School East. As a typical high school student, I have found quite a few of your statements regarding The Constitution of the United States, the quality of public school education and general U.S. civics matters to be factually incorrect, inaccurately applied or grossly distorted. The frequency and scope of these comments prompted me to write this letter.
Though I am not in your home district, or even your home state, you are a United States Representative of some prominence who is subject to national media coverage. News outlets and websites across this country profile your causes and viewpoints on a regular basis. As one of a handful of women in Congress, you hold a distinct privilege and responsibility to better represent your gender nationally. The statements you make help to serve an injustice to not only the position of Congresswoman, but women everywhere. Though politically expedient, incorrect comments cast a shadow on your person and by unfortunate proxy, both your supporters and detractors alike often generalize this shadow to women as a whole.
Rep. Bachmann, the frequent inability you have shown to accurately and factually present even the most basic information about the United States led me to submit the follow challenge, pitting my public education against your advanced legal education:
I, Amy Myers, do hereby challenge Representative Michele Bachmann to a Public Forum Debate and/or Fact Test on The Constitution of the United States, United States History and United States Civics.
Hopefully, we will be able to meet for such an event, as it would prove to be enlightening.
Sincerely yours,
Amy Myers
To be fair to Bachmann, she is wrong about everything, not just the Constitution.
[H/T to Shaker GoldFishy.]
In Case You Give A Shit...
...Ron Paul is running for president.
"Time has come around to the point where the people are agreeing with much of what I've been saying for 30 years. So, I think the time is right," said the 75-year-old Paul, who first ran for president as a Libertarian in 1988.I guess all those other times he ran the time wasn't right. But this time it's different. Okay then.
Blogger Update
Well, as you've probably noticed, Blogger's been totally fubared for the past two days. It's allegedly fixed, and all content restored, although all of the content we had pre-scheduled is gone, so I'm not sure if there's still work being done that may continue to affect the blog.
Anyway, my apologies for the interruption.
Also: For future reference, if there's something funky with the blog, and you're wondering what's happening, check my Twitter feed, where I'll post information when I can't post here. Some of the other contributors have Twitter feeds, too, and they were also posting status updates.
Please forgive me if you emailed to ask what was up and I didn't reply: I think I managed to respond to everyone who emailed, but I may have missed one or two.
This Is Cause For Celebration!
Blogger is back! Sort of. So I thought we should celebrate! Sort of.
Donny Osmond as Luke Skywalker, Marie Osmond as Princess Leia, Kris fuckin' Kristofferson as Han Solo, C-3PO as C-3PO, R1-D1 as R2-D2, and Chewbacca as himself! Surrounded by singing and discoing Imperial Stormtroopers! What the hell is this? I don't know! Welcome back, Shakers!
You Know What You Need?
Tom Jones just singing the fuck out of Amazing Rhythm Aces' "Third Rate Romance" on The Midnight Special in 1976. If you've ever wondered why women used to throw their panties at Tom Jones (and maybe they still do), just watch this video. Tom Jones is undiluted, raw sexual energy. That belt buckle. Those gyrating hips. The ruffled shirt. And the devilish twinkle in his eye? Yeah, Tom Jones just made me gay.
Chipping Away at Roe: Missouri Edition
Another day, another setback.
The Missouri Legislature has justed passed new restrictions on access to abortion. The margins weren't even close (121-33 in the state House, and 28-5 in the Senate). This means that even if Democratic Governor Jay Nixon vetoes the legislation, there are more than enough votes to make the bill law anyway.
Missouri already prohibits aborting fetuses after doctors determine they are viable, except to protect the health of the parent. The new legislation takes things further:
State legislators have decided that all fetuses are potentially viable after 20 weeks of gestation (typically fetuses are viable after 22-24 weeks). If a parent is 20 weeks or more into pregnancy, ze'll need to have two doctors sign off that the fetus isn't viable.
Making another medical judgment, the Legislature defined what constitutes the health of the parent. Once the bill becomes law, the only health exceptions after 20 weeks will involve abortions the risk of death or "permanent damage to a major bodily function because of the pregnancy." Once again, the parent will need two doctors to attest to this.
About these two doctors: they can't have a "legal or financial affiliation or relationship [that] is a result of being employed by or having staff privileges at the same hospital as the first physician." This only serves to underscore that this bill isn't about medical professionals' judgments, it's about stopping "big abortion" ("financial affiliation"? really?), the fictitious entity that supports cis women and trans men's bodily autonomy.
Doctors who perform abortions in violation of these restrictions will be felons, potentially going to in prison and paying substantial fines.
Regular readers may know that I have a 3-year-old daughter. At the time of my partner's pregnancy, we:
1) Were both employed
2) Had jobs that allowed us to take plenty of time off during the day
3) Were living in a metropolitan area (with multiple health care options)
4) Had reasonably good health insurance
4) Owned not one, but two cars
Getting to the OB/GYN's office was still a major hassle. Even for a relatively uneventful pregnancy, it seemed like we were always going to or coming from the doctor. Getting an appointment was a major pain in the ass, too. Usually we'd be told the exact date and time to show up, unless we wanted to wait a bazillion weeks, which we were advised against because OMG BABY!
Of course, we didn't need an abortion, which would have been even more of a logistical nightmare.
Now consider the proportion of parents who don't have health insurance that covers abortion (if you recall, that number may soon be going up). For that matter, think of how many people don't have health insurance at all. Then there are the people that live a long ways from one, let alone two different clinics. And so on...
Remember, there's also a time-crunch here. This law accords the 20-week mark with magical powers. If you find out at 18 or 19 weeks that the fetus might not be viable, or that health complications are developing, you don't have very long to make a decision, find a doctor, and come up with a way to pay for an abortion. This is already difficult, and that's precisely the idea.
This time-crunch contrasts nicely with all the legislation requiring parents to wait prior to getting an abortion. Anti-abortion activists want cis women and trans men to take their time in considering whether to have an abortion, but only if they've already decided to have one.
It's transparently obvious that this bill (sponsored in the House by a man who describes abortion in graphic and largely fictional terms) is an attempt to make it harder for anyone in Missouri to get an abortion. Yet there are Democrats in Jefferson City who were willing to talk about "compromise." Given that there 56 Democrats in the state House, it would appear that plenty of Democratic Representatives who voted for the legislation.
As per usual, President Obama is silent.
Number of the Day
[Trigger warning for sexual violence.]
More than 1,100: The number of women raped every day in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Every. Day.
A new study published in the American Journal of Public Health yesterday found that "more than 400,000 women and girls between the ages of 15 to 49 were raped in the war-ravaged country in central Africa during a 12-month period in 2006 and 2007," which "is 26 times more than the 15,000 women that the United Nations has reported were raped there during the same 12 months."
As bad as those of us watching this epidemic of sexual violence rage on, unconstrained, for years, thought this problem was, it is actually 26 times worse.
And these numbers still do not even include the sexual violence done to girls younger than 15, women older than 49, or any boys or men.
"Our results confirm that previous estimates of rape and sexual violence are severe underestimates of the true prevalence of sexual violence occurring in the DRC," Amber Peterman, lead author of the study, said.I quite genuinely cannot begin to put into words the furious rage and the howling sadness I feel.
"Even these new, much higher figures still represent a conservative estimate of the true prevalence of sexual violence because of chronic underreporting due to stigma, shame, perceived impunity, and exclusion of younger and older age groups as well as men," she said.
..."Although the burden of sexual violence among these groups is uncertain, a review of the records of 4,133 women attending Panzi Hospital in Sud Kivu showed that six per cent were younger than 16 years and 10 per cent were older than 65 years," the study said.
"In addition, Human Rights Watch reported that sexual violence in 2009 doubled in comparison with 2008. If this assessment is accurate, then the current prevalence of sexual violence is likely to be even higher than our estimates suggest."
Please, I beg you, lift a teaspoon on behalf of the survivors and potential victims of sexual violence in DR Congo.
USians, contact the State Department and ask Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to direct attention and resources to this devastating epidemic. My sample letter is below, which you are free to borrow.
Dear Secretary Clinton:Also contact your Senators and Representative and make your voice heard: Tell them you are thinking about the women in DR Congo and want them to be thinking about the women in DR Congo, too.
As you are almost certainly aware, the American Journal of Public Health published a study this week detailing the unfathomable scope of sexual violence being done primarily to women and girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo. More than 1,000 acts of rape, and possibly as many as double that number, are committed every single day.
I am aware of and resoundingly support your dedication to addressing the issue of sexual violence worldwide, and I am hopeful that you will commit as much attention and as many resources as possible to the survivors and potential victims of sexual violence in DR Congo.
Although I recognize the US State Department cannot fix every problem with its finite time and resources, I strongly encourage you to take decisive and effective action to support UN efforts to address what can only rightly be recognized as a national terror campaign against the women and girls of DR Congo.
Sincerely,
Melissa McEwan
Indiana
(If you're not in the US, please feel welcome to leave links for contacting MPs or other government officials in other countries in comments.)
Our teaspoons have to be our weapon of war against rape.
[H/T to @Daniel_Moyer. Previously on the DR Congo Rape Epidemic: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven.]
