As I've briefly mentioned, I am way the hell into Adele at the moment. So is Iain, and when I put on her "Set Fire to the Rain" in protest of the bad weather on our journey east, she basically stayed in rotation through half of Ohio. We lurrrrrrve her.
Anyway, Tami's got a great post about Adele today, in which she expresses wonder at the number of people who try (and spectacularly fail) to cover Adele's stuff, especially "Rolling in the Deep." It's a sentiment with which I heartily agree; vanishingly few people are going to be able to tough Adele's version.
Meanwhile, Andy posts a video by three darling blokes (Alex Goot, Michael Henry, and Justin Robinett) who take on Adele with a sort of Glee-ified medley of "Rolling in the Deep," "Turning Tables," and "Someone Like You," and it's definitely one of my favorite covers of Adele's work so far. Enjoy!
UPDATE: Shaker erbie dropped into comments this video of PS22 Chorus singing "Rolling in the Deep," which is just ridiculously fantastic:
[Trigger warning for sexual violence; rape apologia; victim-blaming.]
Two weeks ago, I wrote about the New York Times abysmal coverage of a case in New York, in which a New York City police officer was on trial for raping a woman whom he had been summoned to help while his partner "stood guard." That article referred to the complainant in its opening sentence as "a drunken woman."
Today, the Timesreports that the two officers were acquitted of all charges except "official misconduct for entering the woman's apartment."
That article opens with: "Two New York City police officers were found not guilty on Thursday of raping a drunken woman who had been helped into her apartment by the officers while on patrol." Emphasis mine.
Even after the men who allegedly raped her have been acquitted of their crimes, the Times can't help but engage in victim-blaming and rape apologia, despite the fact that it's the proliferation of precisely such narratives in the media that is responsible for the biases that result in appallingly low convictions in sex crimes cases.
Email the Public Editor, Arthur Brisbane and/or submit a Letter to the Editor.
[Trigger warning for misogyny; body policing; colorism.]
Product Description, from the website (to which I'm not linking, but it's easy enough to find if you're so inclined): "My New Pink Button (tm) is a temporary dye to restore the youthful pink color back to your labia. There is no other product like it. This patent pending formula was designed by a female certified Paramedical Esthetician after she discovered her own genital color loss. While looking online for a solution she discovered thousands of other women asking the same questions regarding their color loss. After countless searches revealing no solution available and a discussion with her own gynecologist she decided to create her own. Now there is a solution!"
Comes in four shades: Marilyn ("the lightest of our colors; good for beginners who want to make a slight change fresh color change in their appearance or those who are very fair skinned"), Bettie ("This shade blends with a woman's own skin tones to bring out that 'sexy hot pink, I am fired up, look'"), Ginger ("will combine with darker skin tones to bring forth a real rosy tone"), and Audrey ("For the woman that loves to be daring, we bring you "Audrey"! This is the deepest, darkest color that we offer to give you a bold burgundy pink color. Perfect for everyone, and your own base color will determine the depth of this shade. Tonight its Show time!!").
What a wonderful way to honor our female icons—by appropriating their names to slap on a product designed to make women feel insecure about their vulvas.
I don't guess I need to mention that not every woman in the world has a pink vulva to begin with. (Or even a vulva at all.) There are many women—including many fair-skinned white women—whose vulvas are on the brown spectrum. Equating pink with whiteness and youth is flatly wrong.
But obviously a pretty common (and sinister) marketing ploy.
The U.S. Supreme Court has just upheld an Arizona law that sets statewide policies on immigrants' rights. The law penalizes companies who hire undocumented immigrants, and dictates how employers are to verify potential employees' eligibility to work. There are already federal laws covering all of this, but five justices didn't have any problem with individual states making their own regulations concerning the best way to restrict the rights of non U.S. citizens.
And in case you missed it, last Monday the court ruled that police officers didn't really need search warrants if they decided there was an emergency:
The case came from Lexington, Ky., where police pursuing a drug suspect banged on the door of an apartment where they thought they smelled marijuana. After loudly identifying themselves, police heard movement inside, and suspecting that evidence was being destroyed, kicked in the door. There they found Hollis Deshaun King, smoking marijuana. Police also found cocaine inside the apartment.
As it turned out, King was not the suspect police had been looking for, but the drug evidence in the apartment was more than enough to charge him with multiple crimes. King was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
But the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that the drugs found in the apartment could not be used as evidence because the only emergency circumstances were those created by the police loudly alerting those inside. The state court said that instead of banging on the door and letting the inhabitants know the police were there, the police should have requested a warrant, a procedure that usually takes only a matter of minutes.
The U.S. Supreme Court, however, disagreed with the state court.
Um, I get it that we all hate brown people and people who smoke pot (at least brown people who smoke pot), but uh, the broader implications of these two cases are pretty staggering.
Basically, the Supreme Court decided to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the freedom rides by expanding states' rights and limiting the right to due process. Whoops!
Not content to contain their anti-abortion crusade to restricting access to the procedure, the House GOP has now passed a measure that bans federal funds being used to teach health care providers how to perform abortions:
The House has passed legislation that would bar teaching health centers that receive federal funds under the new health care act from using the money to teach abortion techniques.
...[The] proposal was offered as an amendment to a bill that puts funding restrictions on a teaching program in President Barack Obama's health care act.
The amendment passed 234-182, over the objections of some Democrats who said it would prevent medical residents from learning a basic procedure in women's health care.
This piece of shit legislation was sponsored by North Carolina Republican Representative Virginia Foxx, who said it must be "crystal clear" that taxpayer dollars aren't being used to teach medical providers how to perform abortions—never mind that the majority of taxpayers support the continued legality of this standard medical procedure.
Hopefully this shit will die the quick legislative death it deserves in the Senate.
So "progressive" MSNBC host Ed Schultz called conservative commentator Laura Ingraham a "right wing slut." In response, MSNBC suspended him for a week, but not before Schultz used his show last night to apologize.
These, then, are the two takeaway lessons from this event:
1. Male commentators will probably only apologize for engaging in vicious misogyny against female public figures if they face serious consequences by their employer.
2. "Liberal" news network MSNBC will only threaten serious employment consequences if that vicious misogyny was directed at conservative women. But if youwant tohave at Hillary Clinton, go for it!
Chris Matthews has, of course, long been the most egregious offender in the MSNBC line-up of saying inappropriate things about Clinton (and other progressive women), but let us also recall that, during the last presidential campaign, David Shuster also went after Hillary Clinton with impunity, once playing with, on-air, a "Jabber Jaw Pen" of Clinton laughing, referring to the laugh as "the refrain of Hillary cackling," for example.
Another time, Shuster accused Clinton of "pimping" her daughter, Chelsea, on the campaign trail, for which he later offered an on-air apology, but only after Clinton's campaign staff had to call to complain and her communications director had to threaten to refuse future debates on the network.
President Obama, still on his British Isles "vacation," takes a break from chugging 40s to be introduced to garbage pop group Jedward, aka John and Edward Grimes. The look on his face is absolutely priceless, lol.
"All righty. What's going on up there?" his expression seems to say, as he gazes nonplussedly upon one of the Jedwardii's blond shock of standy-uppy locks.
Think Progress' Igor Volsky has posted a great video of Newt Gingrich promising to answer reporters' questions at an event, only to disappear and leave his aide to inform them, "No more questions!" Well, refusing to answer questions will make for a fun campaign!
I was even more interested, however, in Gingrich's response to a reporter who asks him (at 0:20), in reference to his six figure tab at Tiffany's, "Do you feel like working families will be able to relate to you when they hear about the Tiffany account?" Gingrich replies, "No, I feel like you are far more fascinated by that than most Americans. Normal Americans ask about jobs; they ask about energy; they ask about all sorts of things that affect their lives."
"Normal Americans." A group of which the press—at least members of the press who ask him questions he doesn't like—are not a part.
The Othering of ideological opponents, or responsible media, as "not real Americans" or "not normal Americans" is hardly a new habit, especially among conservatives, but Gingrich is truly audacious in his naked hostility toward anyone Not Like Him. And why not?—it's a keen and effective silencing strategy, especially for managing the Villagers, who fear not just discontinued access to highly placed sources but also being branded part of a liberal media, not a normal American, if they cross a power-player like Gingrich.
He may well be right that "normal Americans" don't ask about his extraordinary account at Tiffany's, though I daresay it's not because they don't care about such things, but because they virtually never hear about them—thanks to a media largely populated by people obliged to keep secrets in exchange for a place at the table.
Jared Loughner, the man accused of shooting Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and more than a dozen other people in January, leaving six dead, has been found not competent to stand trial by a federal judge.
Judge Larry Burns issued his ruling moments after U.S. Marshals dragged Loughner out of the courtroom because of an angry outburst. As survivors of the deadly January attack looked on, Loughner had lowered his head, raised it and said what sounded like "Thank you for the freak show. She died in front of me."
His words were loud but mumbled, and it wasn't clear who he was talking about.
Loughner will be hospitalized in a facility in Springfield, Mo., to receive treatment. He could remain hospitalized indefinitely if he does not get well but remains a danger to himself or others.
Video Description: Matilda tumbles around the floor of my office after some random bit of plastic garbage (i.e. BEST TOY EVER), looking like a complete goofball with her lion cut and fuzzy Uggs.
Representative Rob Woodall (R-Eallyclueless), part the first:
"Hear yourself, ma'am. Hear yourself," Woodall told the woman. "You want the government to take care of you, because your employer decided not to take care of you. My question is, 'When do I decide I'm going to take care of me?'"
Representative Rob Woodall (R-Eallyclueless), part the second:
"You take government-subsidized health care, but you are not obligated to take that if you don't want to," Democratic activist Ilene Johnson told Woodall. "Why aren't you going out on the free market in the state where you are a resident and buy your own health care?"
"It's because it's free," Woodall replied. "It's because it's free. The same reason I went out to Walgreens and bought Activon when I don't have any arthritis pain. Because it's free. Folks, if you give people things for free, don't blame them for taking them."
So I guess his platform can be summed up as: If you want government to pay for your health care, you're a no-good SOCIALIST leech who doesn't know how to take care of hirself. However, I rather enjoy my government health care because I don't have to pay anything. Wheeeeee!!
Oh - and for the record, Woodall, your health care isn't free. We all pay for it, asshole.
"I always thought he would be useful, but I had no idea he was going to be president."—First Lady Michelle Obama, on her first impressions of her husband, President Barack Obama. She really cracks me the hell up sometimes.
Just for the hell of it, once again here is one of my favorite ever pictures of the First Couple, whose relationship seems really cool:
The First Lady also had some excellent relationship advice for the girls to whom she was speaking about her husband: "Reach for partners that make you better. Do not bring people in your life who weigh you down. And trust your instincts. Good relationships feel good, they feel right."
Ten million points for the use of the gender nonspecific "partners."
I have no incisive commentary on the end of an era being marked today by Oprah Winfrey's last show. There are things I like and admire about Oprah (her strength, resilience, intellect) and things I don't so much like or admire about Oprah (her promotion of aspirational consumption, her promotion of the odious Dr. Phil), and her show was a sort of thing that's never held much appeal for me, so I'm not particularly lamenting its end. Nor celebrating its end, for that matter.
I stand in awe of Oprah Winfrey as a powerhouse trailblazer and juggernaut of professional success who carved out her own path and defined much of her career to this point on her own terms. But she's not disappearing off the face of the earth; she's just changing up her game.
So, I guess all I've really got to say is to wish Oprah well on whatever she sets her sights on in the future.
New Guttmacher research finds that abortion rates declined among most groups of women between 2000 and 2008. However, one notable exception was poor women (those with family incomes less than 100% of the federal poverty level).
...The authors suggest that the ongoing economic recession may have made it harder for poor women to obtain contraceptive services, resulting in more unintended pregnancies. In addition, when confronted with an unintended pregnancy, women who might have felt equipped to support a child or another child in a more stable economic climate may have decided that they were unable to do so during a time of economic uncertainty.
"That abortion is becoming increasingly concentrated among poor women suggests the need for better contraceptive access and family planning counseling. It certainly appears these women are being underserved," says study author Rachel K. Jones. "Antiabortion restrictions and cuts to publicly funded family planning services disproportionately affect poor women, making it even more difficult for them to gain access to the contraceptive and abortion services they need."
Of course Sam Raimi will be directing Oz: The Great and Powerful, because that is perfect director-choosing (no sarcasmo). And of course James Franco has been cast as the Wizard, no doy, because James Franco. He's practically a wizard in real life already.
Disney has staked out the weekend of March 8, 2013 to release the Sam Raimi-directed 3D Oz: The Great and Powerful. The film is still casting, but James Franco stars as the title character, with Mila Kunis playing Theodora, Michelle Williams in talks to play Glinda and Rachel Weisz in talks to play Evanora. The film begins production late July in Michigan. Franco plays the charlatan circus magician whose balloon is blown off course. It lands in Oz, where he's treated as a real wizard by the colorful citizens who see him as the man to rid the lands of a wicked witch.
I'll bet in this version, the Wicked Witch is a metaphor for SLEEPING.
Alexander Chee's essay "Fanboy" appears both at his blog and at The Morning News, where he is now a contributing writer. Racism, chronic illness, American imperialism—this piece covers so much so deftly that I couldn't find a pullquote sufficient to give a true taste of the whole. Just read it.
So, this guy married a lady and had a couple of kids. At some point, the guy and the lady got a divorce. These things happen. Then, at some subsequent point in time, the guy married a second, different lady. None of the guy's relatives much liked the second lady. The first lady shared this sentiment.
Anyhow, the guy died a tragic death, which what with the government and all, entitles said guy's family to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Normally, that money would go to the second lady, who is the guy's widow. However, other people think the money should go to the kids and OMG NOT TO THE SECOND LADY.
Lawsuits ensued.
The first court to hear the case recently ruled against Nikki Araguz, the widow.
Ms. Araguz had a vagina, and her late husband, Thomas Araguz III (presumably) had a penis, so you'd totally think that their property arrangement would be cool in the eyes of the State of Texas.
However, the couple married in August 2008. Ms. Araguz had a penis until October 2008. Since Mr. Araguz also had a penis during this time period (although I haven't seen the documentation for that little tidbit), the court ruled that the marriage between Nikki and Thomas was never valid.
Marriage is a property arrangement that implies sex. Because the State of Texas (along with most of the United States) is run by bigots, marriage is therefore not an arrangement that two bepenised individuals can enter into. This contrasts with, say, Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill Lynch.
Okay then.
According to this reading of the law: individuals do not determine their gender, but rather genitals do the work for them, there are precisely two genders, marriage is *special* (love you too, honey!) as property arrangements go, and people with reasonably similar genitals cannot enter into it.
I'm assuming you knew that already. However, if you were looking for a story to bring the arbitrary and hateful nature of those laws into focus, this would appear to do the trick.
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Of course Sam Raimi will be directing Oz: The Great and Powerful, because that is perfect director-choosing (no sarcasmo). And of course James Franco has been cast as the Wizard, no doy, because James Franco. He's practically a wizard in real life already.
