So the House Passed HR358 Last Night...

Fortunately, President Obama has already pledged to veto the bill in the unlikely event it passes the Senate and arrives on his desk, but it is terrifying and infuriating that this contemptible legislation even passed the US House of Representatives.

Today the GOP-led House of Representatives, with the blessings and encouragement of the United States Council of Catholic Bishops and extremist religious groups such as the Family Research Council, passed a bill in a vote of 251 to 172 that would, among other things, allow doctors and hospitals to "exercise their conscience" by letting pregnant women facing emergency medical conditions die.

Yes. Die.

This is what the Republicans called the "Protect Life Act." And no, I am not kidding.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called it what it is... "a savage assault on women's health."

Fifteen Democrats voted for what women's groups are calling the "Let Women Die" Act. These include anti-choice Congressmen Jason Altmire (PA), Sanford Bishop (GA), Dan Boren (OK), Jerry Costello (IL), Mark Critz (PA), Henry Cuellar (TX), Joe Donnelly (IN), Tim Holden (PA), Dan Lipinski (IL), Jim Matheson (UT), Mike McIntyre (NC), Nick Rahall (WVA), Mike Ross (AR), Collin Petersen (MN), and Heath Shuler (D-NC).

"Extremists prevailed today in the House of Representatives," said Debra Ness of the National Partnership for Women and Families, "proving again that they are badly out-of-touch with the majority of Americans who want lawmakers to focus on economic recovery, jobs and promoting, rather than restricting, affordable, quality health care ­-- not [on] an extreme, anti-woman agenda."

Were there any remaining uncertainty about how truly extreme and profoundly misogynist the GOP House majority's agenda is, the passage of HR358 should eradicate every last trace of doubt.

Not only does HR358 give the loathsome Stupak amendment a new lease on life, thus attempting to control even whether women can use their own money to buy health insurance with abortion coverage, but it also "contains other provisions revealing complete disregard for women's health and lives," most notably:

[H.R. 358] overrides protections for pregnant women under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. EMTALA was enacted in 1986 to ensure public access to emergency services regardless of ability to pay, including women in active labor. Under EMTALA, hospitals must stabilize a pregnant patient who, for example, is facing an emergency obstetric condition or life-threatening pregnancy and either treat her--including an emergency abortion--or if the hospital or staff objects, to transfer her to another facility that will treat her.

H.R. 358 overturns decades of precedent guaranteeing people access to lifesaving emergency care, including abortion care and says its ok that a pregnant woman fighting for her life be left to die.

This is not hyperbole: The Republican Party—and a sizable portion of the male contingent of the Democratic Party—believes that it is morally acceptable to let a woman die rather than give her a life-saving abortion.

Which they justify by saying it's because they want to "protect life." Sure.

You know, I'm beginning to think it's a bad idea that only 16% of the elected officials in the Congress of our "representative democracy" are women. Ahem.

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Dispatch from the Lost Generation

by Shaker Meghan

You don't need me to tell you that the economy stinks right now, or that unemployment is ridiculously high—9.1% as of August (pdf). However, one aspect of the economy that has been discussed, but with no real understanding or analysis of the consequences, is unemployment among young adults.

New 2010 Census data was released recently that put unemployment among young adults (16-29) at the highest level since World War II. Student loan debt is skyrocketing, and college degrees are no guarantee of a job. I should know—I graduated in May and have had no luck in the last 4 months.

So, what does this mean? What does it mean that media articles about youth unemployment are already calling my generation "The Lost Generation," with experts noting that our careers will see long-term effects? What does it mean that I graduated from an excellent university, and of all the fellow 2011 graduates I know, there are only a tiny handful who have secured full-time permanent jobs, many of whom hate those jobs, because they are not in their field and/or because of the stressful working conditions plaguing US workers (like understaffing and other abuses of employees who fear losing income and health insurance)? What does it mean that we, like many other workers, are being exploited at work but keep those hated and dead-end jobs anyway, because bills and loans must be paid? What does it mean?

To me, at least, it means I'm terrified.

I'm terrified for my own job prospects, my friends' job prospects, and the long-term effects on career advancement. I'm terrified for those who weren't as fortunate as I was to get a scholarship to college, allowing me to graduate without loans—because if I'm scared now, you can bet it would be so much worse if I was staring $80,000 of student loan debt in the face. I'm terrified, and I also feel guilty, because I know I'm so lucky, compared to those who didn't get to go to college at all, those who have families to support and have been jobless for many months more than I, those who don't have families able to help.

I'm not just terrified because of these problems. Rather, I'm terrified because it seems as if no one in power really knows, or cares—because our Congress is controlled in one house by far-right ideologues and in the other by millionaires, none of whom really seem to have any concept of what the average American faces right now; because our government, the media, and so much else is influenced or outright controlled by corporations and billionaires; and because I'm 20 years old, and I am already struggling to hold on to my optimism about my own future.

I care deeply and passionately about this world and the people in it. I care about feminism, anti-racism, progressivism, social justice, economic equality—and I want desperately to work towards making this world better for everyone. Not just hope that it happens, but be an active part of institutional change. I'm not unusual either—lots of young people I've met share my ideals. I know so many people who are smart, passionate, and motivated by many of the same things as me—and right now, a lot of those people are unemployed, working unpaid internships, or working low-wage jobs to make ends meet.

I don't know what the consequences will be of this widespread unemployment, astronomical debt, alienation from the political culture many of us are already trying desperately to change, and inaction on the part of those who are in a position to make a difference right now, but I can't imagine they're going to be anything but disastrous.

Recently, I was talking with a friend, who is working at an unpaid internship for the fall, and Occupy Wall Street came up, unsurprisingly. Both of us had been thinking about it a lot, and both of us agreed that we have such complicated feelings about it. I am exhilarated by the protests—by the messages, the diversity of people involved, and by the growing media attention. It speaks to so much of what I am concerned about, and what I have hoped for, for a long time.

However, we both agreed that we are only cautiously optimistic—we think this really could be the start of something big, but we are worried about politicians co-opting the message, about the voices of the young and the less-privileged being marginalized, about the protesters not being radical enough to challenge the kyriarchy which underlies systemic inequities. Occupy Wall Street inspires me, and gives me hope that thousands of people share my concerns—but that doesn't erase my feeling that something even more massive has to happen for there to be lasting, measurable change in my life and the lives of people who share my struggles, if not my exact circumstances.

I'm fundamentally an optimist, and I believe in my generation—in our hopes, our dreams, the things we've already accomplished, our visions for a better tomorrow. I believe in the capacity of people to unite, and the power of unity. I just don't know if I believe that our society and government will give us anything resembling a fair chance to put into action the dreams we share.

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Occupy Wall Street: News Round-Up

Today's Big News: Bluff, Called.

A member of the Occupy Wall Street movement cleans a staircase in Zuccotti Park near the financial district of New York October 13, 2011. [Reuters Photo]

The New York Times City Room—Cleanup of Zuccotti Park Is Postponed:

The cleanup of the Lower Manhattan park that has been occupied by protesters for nearly a month was postponed Friday shortly before it was supposed to begin, averting a feared showdown between the police and demonstrators who had vowed to resist any efforts to evict them from their encampment.

The announcement was made by the Bloomberg administration around 6:20 a.m., about 40 minutes before workers were scheduled to enter Zuccotti Park, which has been the home base for the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators angered by what they see as an unfair and corrupt financial system.

"Late last night, we received notice from the owners of Zuccotti Park — Brookfield Properties — that they are postponing their scheduled cleaning of the park, and for the time being withdrawing their request from earlier in the week for police assistance during their cleaning operation," Deputy Mayor Caswell F. Holloway said in a statement.

"Brookfield believes they can work out an arrangement with the protesters that will ensure the park remains clean, safe, available for public use," Mr. Holloway said, "and that the situation is respectful of residents and businesses downtown."

As news that the cleanup had been called off rippled through Zuccotti Park, cheers erupted among demonstrators who had been preparing for a possible confrontation.

"I did not come here to look for a fight," said Steve Sachs, of Highstown, N.J. "I've never been in a fight in my life. I've never been arrested. But I was ready to be arrested over this."

Late last night, Shaker rowmyboat sent these images of the planning that was being done for nonviolent resistance in case of a confrontation:



Here, via Matt Browner Hamlin, is an "awesome video of Occupy Wall Street getting the news of Bloomberg backing down on eviction."


Video Description: People shout and cheer as they receive the news.
Mayor Bloomberg continues to say that he believes cold weather will cause the natural end of the protests, and the new rules which prohibit tents and sleeping bags are clearly designed to make withstanding cold weather much more difficult. But I think he's underestimating the determination of these protests, or, maybe more importantly, the desperation underlying them.

Shaker TeaHag said in comments yesterday: "This reminds me so much of Greenham Common in the UK where women protested the location of nuclear weapons. Nobody ever thought that they could hold out, especially in wintertime... but they did.... for 19 years."

Solidarność.

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Open Thread

Hosted by a Jawa Sandcrawler.

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Question of the Day

Who is your favorite philosopher?

With philosopher to be defined as broadly as you see fit.

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Photo of the Day

From We Are the 1 Percent; We Stand with the 99 Percent.
[H/T to Shaker Princess Rowan.]

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HR358 Open Thread

The House is currently debating the ironically named "Protect Life Act," which you can watch live on C-SPAN here, and follow related live-tweeting here.

I don't even know what to say anymore. The economy is a fucking mess, and Congress is busily debating what adult women should be allowed to do with their own bodies.

I'd rather listen to Nero fiddling than this shit.

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Yikes

This morning, I noted that NYC Major Michael Bloomberg's whole "we need to clean Zuccotti Park" thing sounded both ominous and dishonest, a passive-aggressive bid to quash the protests, threatening to force the protesters into taking action that will then be used to discredit them.

Throughout the day, protesters have reacted by cleaning the park themselves, rendering moot the justification for removing them from the park for this allegedly necessary cleaning.

The city then began circulating new rules for the protest, which "prohibit camping equipment, sleeping bags, and other material that have so far been necessary to keep the occupation going."

This clearly forces the protesters' collective hand: If they leave the park and have to return to abide those rules, the entire occupation could be in danger. So now they have said they will not leave the park for cleaning:

Facing the prospects of being moved out of Zuccotti Park for a cleaning of the area and the establishment of new rules that may end up killing the occupation, Occupy Wall Street protesters have announced that they plan to stand their ground tomorrow morning. "We have decided that at 7 o'clock tomorrow, we will not leave the park," said OWS spokesman Tyler Combelic, adding, "We are not opposed to cleaning it ourselves."

That is thrilling and scary.

Call New York City's complaint line at 212.NEW.YORK (212.639.9675) to register your support for the protesters and ask that they not be ejected from the park.

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Come in Close

by Shaker BrianWS

Hey Shakers!

A couple of weeks ago, without too many details, I asked for some help from the community for a project that would celebrate the love that Shakers share with the one(s) we hold dear, and I asked for your favorite photographs to help build it. Below is the finished product.

[Lyrics below.]

My original post was (deliberately) a little bit cryptic, so here's the story: I send Liss music all the time. Some it is awesome (The Rescues; Ellie Goulding), and she likes it, and some of it is less awesome (Ke$ha), and she still likes it because if there's one thing we all know about Liss, it's that she has no standards. The day I wrote the guest post asking for photos, I sent Liss the most recent song I had recorded, and it was the first song I had recorded in a few years—it's been a long time since the days of being a huge star on the coffee house/pizza shop/Barnes & Noble circuit!

Liss loved it, and wrote back saying, "If I had more time, I would solicit pictures from Shakers and their partners, and make a video to this song." I thought that was an amazing idea, and offered to do it myself, because she and I are always blubbing over shit like that together.

The song comes from kind of a funny place—I wrote it eight days after meeting my boyfriend (we're pictured in the final slide of the video). I was living at home for the summer, and he was still living at home, so we were sort of forced into building a relationship from the ground up with few options besides spending our time at restaurants, movie theaters, friends' houses, etc, while sustaining our time apart through hundreds of text messages a day, usually ending with him falling asleep while texting me at 1am in his bed.

I came home from one of those first nights at a bar, opened a bottle of wine that I almost surely didn't need, and this song came spilling out—a moment so early on where I just knew that it was perfect and that through all the fuck-ups, bad decisions, mean boyfriends, etc, in my past, that this was the person that was just bound to walk into my life someday and forever change it for the better. And he has.

That was my story. The coolest part of this project for me was that I only asked for photos, yet so many of you sent me amazing, joyful stories along with the photos explaining either what the photograph was and what it meant to you, or stories of how you met, who you are, and how long you had been together. I didn't expect that, and I can say it was truly an amazing privilege to be able to read those personal stories and memories that you freely shared with me, allowing me for just a moment to share in that joy—and naturally, several of you left me blubbing my face off.

It was unexpected but perfect, because those little stories and those moments are exactly what this song is about, and your photos and memories fit it so well despite the fact that none of you had any idea what the final product would look like or even what it would be. And the final product shows that those moments can be shared by all different types of people—not just the perfect young, thin, able-bodied, white, straight, cis, good babymaking Christian couple that's held up as the model of romantic love in our culture—and that was really the goal all along.

I can't thank you all enough for sharing your moments with me—and now, with all of us.

Also, I have some photos left over, so if there are more people who would like to share their favorite photos, I'd be happy to put together a part II if there is enough interest. Just send pictures to me at ShakerBrianWS@gmail.com.

[Note from Liss: If you would like to propose a community project on which you're willing to take the lead, email me.]

* * *

COME IN CLOSE

There's so many things in life that I've ripped apart at the seams
And this wine can only fix me one night at a time
I get so crazy when I think, a heart so heavy when I drink
I'm driving around and singing along to another Edie love song

It's a perfect storm of timing, of tears, and trying, and you

Maybe someday I will be falling fast asleep on the couch
As we both forget the end of another sad movie
And since I let it go and just let it be, amazing how easy it is to see
That this is the life that's been waiting for me
Come in close and live it with me
Won't you come in close and live it with me?

And I can take so much once I've had enough
There's always room for one more little disaster
Every one comes faster than the one that came before
And I got so tired of him dragging me out on the floor
And then saying he don't wanna dance anymore
It's a perfect storm of timing, of tears, and trying, and you

Maybe someday I will be falling fast asleep on the couch
As we both forget the end of another sad movie
And since I let it go and just let it be, amazing how easy it is to see
That this is the life that's been waiting for me
Come in close and live it with me
And I've waited so long
To write the best mix CD
In just one song
And then you came along

Maybe someday I will be falling fast asleep on the couch
As we both forget the end of the same old sad movie
And since I let it go and just let it be, it's amazing how easy it is to see
That this is the life that's been waiting for me
Come in close and live it with me
Won't you come in close and live it with me?
Just come in close and live with me
It's just a little dream

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DSK News

[Trigger warning for rape]

CNN: Prosecutors drop attempted rape complaint against former IMF head

Paragraph 2: "Strauss-Kahn admitted to "sexual aggression" against Tristane Banon at the time."

Paragraph 6: "In an interview with French TV station TF1 earlier this month, Strauss-Kahn said he met with Banon recently and 'I said the truth to her in this meeting. There was no act of aggression, there was no violence. ... The version that was presented was imaginary.'"

Paragraph 4: "He has filed a counter-suit alleging slander."

Nothing to see here, move along.

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I Write Letters

by Shaker Moderator Aphra_Behn

[Trigger warning for misogyny, gender essentialism, implied violence.]

TO: Mr. Jim Trebilicock
Executive Vice President of Marketing
Dr Pepper-Snapple Group
U.S.A.

Dear Mr. Trebilcock:

I have been reading about your new marketing campaign for Dr Pepper Ten, titled "It's Not For Women," which includes such items as a Facebook-based "Ten Manments" dictating which unmanly behaviors the drinkers of your soda should avoid, a game where players may shoot feminine items like lipstick and high heels, and a video spot in which a sneering man informs "ladies" that Dr Pepper 10 is "our [men's] drink." I also read with interest your statement that this campaign is intended to encourage discussion:

"'Is this really for men or really for women?' is a way to start the conversation that can spread and get people engaged in the product."

And so, in the spirit of discussion, I have a few questions I am hoping you'll clarify.

One: Do you think that emphatically declaring the product off-limits to women is the fastest way to get women "engaged in the product"?

I know that emphasizing men's inherent superiority and declaring certain things off-limits to women has in the past actually encouraged women to "get engaged" with things like literacy, voting, wages, and the right to their own bodily autonomy. But it usually takes a long time before women actually enjoy those off-limits things—we're talking centuries, here. Is that a normal advertising cycle in business, or are you more hoping lots of people will buy this in the next month?

Admittedly I am not part of your crack market research team, but even a multi-decade suffragist-style campaign to get women "engaged" with your brand seems sort of inefficient to me.

Two: Does your product need a boost in the key misogynist asshole demographic, and if so, is labeling that entire demographic "men" really wise?

It's been my observation that not all men, in fact, hate women. I don't know if your crack market research team picked up on this, but a number of bi- and heterosexual men, for example, actually fall in love with women. I have also heard (might just be a rumor) that there exist gay, straight, bisexual, asexual, and other-sexualities of men who are sometimes friends with actual women. Those are just a couple examples of men who might not appreciate being lumped in with women-fearing misogynist assholes who have to make sure that their soft drinks are sufficiently manly in order to avoid a fatal dose of cooties.

So I guess you're not worried about marketing to them, which is cool and all, but it seems like you're really limiting yourselves.

Three: Did you pay an advertising team to label certain behaviors as "manly" and "not-manly" based on research done on another planet?

I watched your video, and I learned from it (among other things) that women apparently hate movies with explodey-actiony-science-fictiony-thingies going on. I also learned from your Facebook campaign that men hate kissing, sharing pictures of their pets, and using emoticons. I take from this that your crack market research team did not attend any Earth movies, nor read any Earth social networking sites, but rather teleported to some other M-class planet by mistake. (Did it look like California? Those planets always look like California.) Because pretty sure when I caught Captain America and Thor this summer I did see actual Earth-women in the theatre. And I am also fairly certain that I know Earth-men who would not be caught dead seeing those movies. And in my observations, both Earth-men and Earth-women actually display a range of attitudes about kissing, emoticons, puppeh/kitteh pictures, and the like.

So I'm thinking, you paid them a lot of money for research that isn't relevant to life on Earth. Plus you got stuck with the teleporting bill. Suxxors!

Four: Did someone in your advertising team tell you this campaign was hip, edgy, or original?

If so, I think you should pay closer attention to the grades your clever marketing minds got in their history classes. An obsessive fear of women and the feminine (and the need to establish masculine superiority by denigrating the same) isn't new, nor fresh, nor original. In fact, it rather made me wonder if you were planning to re-release the entire campaign in dactylic hexameter, because it would appeal so well to the key dead Homeric Greek dude demographic.

(Just kidding! We all know dead Homeric Greek dudes drink Coke Zero.)

Five: Do you think that re-enforcing misogynist attitudes could maybe just possibly have any real-world negatives?

Now, I want to make this clear. I don't think that your advertising campaign, in and of itself, will directly lead any misogynistic assholes to commit violence against women, harass them in the workplace, or harm men they deem insufficiently "manly." But ( I'm just brainstorming, now), maybe putting a "game" on your FB page that encourages players to "shoot" feminine things like lipstick and high heels isn't the best way to say that Dr. Pepper stands against anti-woman violence. I'm just wondering, if (maybe) reinforcing the tired, ancient stereotypes that some things are ultra-masculine and therefore off-limits to women (and required for men) isn't the best way to say that: "Dr Pepper has always remained original, showing its appreciation and commitment to diversity by sponsoring multicultural programs." (That's from the Dr Pepper Facebook page, FYI.) I'm just wondering if you think that an advertising campaign apparently designed to appeal to deeply misogynist assholes could lead some audience members to think that you and your advertising team are, in fact, deeply misogynist assholes yourselves.

Or maybe it's just me.

Eagerly awaiting your response,

Dr. Aphra Behn
Associate Professor of Historical Ladybusiness
Southern Gothic University
U.S.A.

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An Observation

When I am sneeringly called "strident," it is usually by someone who deeply resents that I have cottoned on to the fact that they will inevitably use any concession or compromise against me.

Funny, that.

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Daily Dose of Cute

Zelda and Matilda are arch-nemeses. This is because they are exactly alike, and both want to be sitting on top of me in exactly the same spot at all times. Zelda loves to antagonize Matilda by doing leaping play-bows at her, which she knows Tilsy hates, and Matilda loves to antagonize Zelda by hissing at her and punching her in the nose, which she knows Zelly hates.

This ongoing battle for mutual destruction results in many amusing stand-offs.

Tilsy: I hate you, mongrel.

Zelly: You can hate me all you want. I'm the one on the couch in the BEST SPOT EVARRRR! Mwah ha ha ha!


Tilsy: Whatever. I don't even want to sit there, anyway. You'll probably catch cooties from Two-Legs.

Zelly: I'll risk it. Seeya!


Tilsy retreats to the kitchen to plot her revenge.
A few days ago, the two of them were both jostling for position under the desk and got into a proper fight. (At least a proper fight for them, which means a lot of noisy, dramatic wrangling but no actual damage.) Ten minutes later, I was on the couch and they were both on top of me, one on either side of my lap, sound asleep.

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Quote of the Day

"A woman president? I don't know when we'll get there. I'd like to think we'll get there in my lifetime. I don't mind living a long time to make sure that happens."—Anita Hill.

I hope that Anita Hill lives a long time, and that she has the opportunity to enjoy multiple female presidents in those years.

From the second part of Anna Sterling's interview with Anita Hill, marking the 20th anniversary of Hill's famous Senate testimony during the confirmation hearing for then-nominee and current US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. The first part of the interview is here.

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Destroying Your Mythology With Q-Tips

The other day I was buying Q-tips (technically, store brand cotton-tipped mini batons), and I had a Lee Greenwood moment. As it turns out, a package of 500 Q-tips was cheaper than a package of 375. It's not merely a matter of "saving money" by buying in bulk. It's more like somebody at Target was like, "Hey assholes, we'll pay you sixty cents to take this extra 125 Q-tips off our hands. These things are fucking worthless."

As it turns out, I'm not the first person to have noticed this.

This sort of thing doesn't happen in a rational economy involving rational actors. So there's that.

Crossposted.

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Probably Not the Last Woman Barfing

[Trigger warning for misogyny, homophobia, Islamophobia.]

The other night, Spudsy called me and, in a grave tone, said, "I need to talk to you."

"Sure," I said, mildly concerned. "What's up?"

"I'm really concerned about something," he said. "I'm concerned that you've forgotten that Last Man Standing premieres tonight."

I burst out laughing. "You asshole!"

I did not watch the premiere of Professional Misogynist Tim Allen's new show, about which I've previously written here and here, because I suspected that it would be full of misogynist, homophobic, transphobic, racist, and disablist humor. Which isn't really my thing. Ahem.

This morning, I read Linda Holmes' review of Last Man Standing, and it turns out I was totally wrong: Last Man Standing is an enlightened treatise on the evolving definitions of masculinity in modern Western culture.

Just kidding! It's hateful garbage.

There is a sense in the pilot that someone sat around a table and said, "We need to make a show for people who are really upset about the fact that sitcoms don't make as many jokes about women, gay men and people from other countries as they used to." And so, in the first episode, Allen's character:

— Snarls in response to his wife's request that he drive their daughter to soccer that soccer is "Europe's covert war for the hearts and minds of America's kids."

— Tells a kid named Kyle that he has a good "man's name," only to be crushed when he learns it's the kid's mother's maiden name. [...]

— Says he likes where he works because it "smells like balls in here."

— Laments boys who play soccer and use hair gel.

— Doubles over in agony about his daughter's boyfriend going to a tanning salon.

— Laughs hysterically at the idea that his wife could drive his truck for a day and he could drive the minivan.

— Encounters a weak, "unmanly" day care provider who doesn't let him call his grandson "champ" because it "implies victory over another person." Said unmanly man invites Mike to meet another kid's "two dads" who are inside making flax and pumpkin muffins. ("Please tell me that's not [the dads'] names," says Mike derisively of "Flax" and "Pumpkin.")

— Directly after hearing about the "two dads," is asked to take his shoes off because they're "building a mosque out of pillows." When he hears this, he grabs his grandson and removes him from the daycare and takes him to the ball-smelling workplace for the day.

— Tells his daughter that her son can't go to that daycare anymore, because he'll wind up "dancing on a float," which Allen follows with an imitation of, I guess, a gay man dancing. ... At press tour, when asked whether that apparently homophobic joke would stay in the final pilot (it did), Allen had nothing except that it wasn't meant to be offensive.

You know, the thing that always amazes me about this shit is that its fans sincerely believe that this sort of humor honors men. Straight white Christian men, that is. (As if there's any other kind in their paradigm.) And they think that Tim Allen is some kind of macho folk hero built out of spare carburetors with Old Spice coursing through his veins, but he's just an opportunistic huckster who saw a niche on the comedy circuit and filled it by grunting like a gorilla.

Two weeks ago, Allen was on Jay Leno's garbage fart of a show, to which Kenny Blogginz and I tuned in just to be horrified (and we were, since Scotty McCreery was on the same episode singing his putrid tune "The Trouble With Girls"). And what little of the segment there was during which Leno wasn't teasing Allen about getting manicures and pedicures (Jay Leno, you are so gross!), the two men discussed rebuilding old cars, and Allen actually had the temerity to say he was rebuilding some old car, while casually admitting he pays some dude to do the actual work for him.

Allen's just a pampered dipfuck with epic privilege, who probably spends his time in his manicurist's chair conceiving the bigoted jokes to pander to the lowest common denominator among patriarchy aficionados who are ultimately done no favors by a show that suggests they're total douchebags.

Which, of course, is to say nothing for the harm those jokes, such as they are, do to the marginalized people who are their targets.

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Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime

Blue Öyster Cult: "Burnin' For You"

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Occupy Wall Street: News Round-Up

Here's some of what I've been reading this morning...

CNN—Mayor visits NYC protesters, orders cleaning of park:

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg met with Occupy Wall Street protesters Wednesday evening and informed them that the private park where they have been staying for nearly four weeks will be cleaned on Friday, according to a statement from the Deputy Mayor for Operations Cas Holloway.

The owners of Zuccotti Park have voiced their concern about the current "unsanitary conditions and considerable wear and tear on the park," the statement said.

"The Mayor is a strong believer in the First Amendment and believes that the protesters have a right to continue to protest," Holloway said in the statement. He added that the current situation in the park is "not in the best interests of the protesters, residents or the City."

The cleaning will be done in several stages, and when certain areas are cleaned, protesters will be able to come back to the park if they obey the rules set forth by the owners Brookfield Properties, the statement said.

Zuccotti Park was built for the general public.

"I'm glad that he finally found what we were doing important enough to visit after dismissing it for several weeks," Tyler Combelic, a member of the press relations work group for Occupy Wall Street told CNN. "I'm hoping that the city will be willing to work with the Occupy Wall Street occupiers in arranging a way to get the cleaning done, which both does not disturb the encampment nor does it too greatly impede on the cleaning process," Combelic said.

This whole "cleaning" thing strikes me as vaguely ominous. I hope this is not, but fear that it is, a mendacious opening salvo in passive-aggressively ending the protests while crowing disingenuously about supporting First Amendment rights. It's that kind of nonsense that escalates peaceful protests into conflagrations. And it's always the protesters who get the blame, not the bullies who use horseshittery like "the park is dirty boo-hoo" to justify their insidious silencing agenda.

NY Daily News—Lech Walesa, former Polish president, to visit New York in support of Occupy Wall Street:

Solidarity hero Lech Walesa is flying to New York to show his support for the Occupy Wall Street protesters.

"How could I not respond," Walesa told a Polish newspaper Wednesday. "The thousands of people gathered near Wall Street are worried about the fate of their future, the fate of their country. This is something I understand."

A former shipyard worker who led Poland's successful revolt against Soviet communism, Walesa said "capitalism is in crisis" and not just in America.

"This is a worldwide problem," he told the Lublin-based Dziennik Wschodni newspaper. "The Wall Street protesters have focused a magnifying glass on the problem."

Wow.

Bloomberg—Buffett's Son Defends Occupy Wall Street:

Howard Buffett, the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) director and son of Chairman Warren Buffett, said Wall Street protesters were provoked by abuses from corporations amid a widening disparity between rich and poor.

"I think it takes that to make things happen sometimes," Howard Buffett, 56, said of the demonstrations in an interview yesterday in Des Moines, Iowa. Over the past 15 years, "we saw large corporations really screw people."

...Warren Buffett, the world's third-richest person, has said he is concerned about inequity in the U.S. The younger Buffett, a farmer and philanthropist, said obtaining enough food has become more difficult for more people.

"There has never been a larger gap between earnings in this country," said Howard Buffett, who was in Des Moines to deliver a speech at the World Food Prize conference. "There has never been a time in my lifetime when the government is going to cut an incredible amount of programs that support poor people and feed them."

..."There has been class warfare going on," [Warren] Buffett, 81, said in a Sept. 30 interview with Charlie Rose on PBS. "It's just that my class is winning. And my class isn't just winning; I mean we're killing them."

Reuters—Poll: Most Americans aware of Wall Street protests: "A strong majority of Americans are aware of the Occupy Wall Street protests against U.S. economic inequality and a majority either view them favorably or do not have an opinion about them, a Reuters/Ipsos poll said on Wednesday. Eighty-two percent of Americans have heard of the protest movement, and 38 percent feel favorably toward it, the poll found. Thirty-five percent are undecided, and about one-fourth—24 percen—are unfavorable."

News from Occupy Cincinnati: Politicians weigh in on Occupy Cincinnati.

News from Occupy San Francisco: Police arrest Occupy San Francisco protesters at Wells Fargo headquarters.

News from Occupy Austin: Four arrested as protesters moved away from City Hall.

News from Occupy Minnesota: Occupy Minnesota Protesters Take Aim at Twin Cities Banks.

News from Occupy Indianapolis: Occupy Indianapolis protests Perry event.

News from Occupy Boston: Occupy Boston Protesters in It for the Long Haul.

News from Occupy Omaha: Occupy Omaha calls for 'End to Corporate Greed'.

News from Occupy Atlanta: Mayor says Woodruff Park occupation can continue until Monday afternoon.

News from Occupy Chicago: Robin Hoods Storm Mortgage Banksters Conference in Chicago.




That is hardly a comprehensive list. There are Occupy events all over the country. It's beautiful.

Meanwhile, David and Echidne highlight exactly what it is that these protests are all about. Privileged cluenessness in the extreme.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Whooooooops Your Video Game Is So Terrible!

Iain [via email]: Have I found the video game for you!!!

Liss: LOL!!! OMFG. I hope the Evil Witch's possessions are self-esteem and a copy of Our Bodies Ourselves.

Iain: When even Kotaku starts making fun of your gender stereotypes you know you're in trouble, lol.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Top Chef: Just Desserts Open Thread

I don't have cable, and have no idea when I will. But, as a public service I will continue to bring you the Top Chef: Just Desserts open thread. For all the hardcore Desserties out there.

Last night's episode will be discussed in detail, so if you haven't seen it, and don't want any spoilers, pack your nunchucks and go...

Open Wide...

Shut Up!