Hosted by an owl and a cigar.
Question of the Day
What's the worst movie you've seen in the last month?
It doesn't have to be a new movie, or even a movie you watched for the first time. Just whatever was the biggest stinker you've seen lately.
I cast my vote for Hugo—and, for perspective on how much I didn't like it, we recently rented The Zookeeper for Bad Movie Night, and I'm still casting my vote for Hugo, lol.
News from Shakes Manor
Scene: This morning, our bedroom, way too early. Iain has just gotten out of the shower and is getting dressed; I'm still lying in bed, awake and resentful for it.
Iain: We should build a city.
Liss: We totally should.
Iain: What do you think we should build it on?
Liss: I dunno—rock and roll?
Iain: [singing] WE BUILT THIS CITY!
Liss: [singing] Duhn duhn!
Iain: [singing] WE BUILT THIS CITY ON ROCK AND ROLL! WE BUILT THIS CITY!
Liss: [singing] Duhn duhn!
Iain: [singing] WE BUILT THIS CITY ON ROCK AND ROLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!
Liss: Have a good day, babe.
Iain: You, too. Don't forget to build a city on rock and roll.
Liss: Will do.
Video Description: The music video for Starship's "We Built This City."
Maybe It's Just Me
I didn't find this story about movers and police tasked with evicting a 103-year-old woman and her 83-year-old daughter from their foreclosed home "heartwarming" as much as I did anxiety-inducing and rage-making, with a side of relief for the temporary reprieve from a terrible fate.
This country is so fucked up.
Assvertising
High fructose corn syrup is good for me! Thanks for the non-biased info, government-subsidized corngrowers' association!
I am so tired of these commercials.
(Which I'm sure are available on YouTube, if you're inclined to watch them.)
Photo of the Day
This undated image provided by the Scottsdale Gun Club shows a woman posing with Santa Claus and several guns at the Scottsdale, Ariz. club. Ron Kennedy, general manager of the gun club, says the business got the idea for the photo op last year when a club member happened to come in dressed as Santa and other members wanted their picture taken while they were holding their guns. He says people have used the photos for Christmas cards and Facebook posts. [AP Photo]All right then.
I am not reflexively anti-gun; I have friends and family members who do target shooting, and I have family members who hunt for food, and, although it's not my scene, I'm pretty wev about it. I also respect that there are people who have ethical objections to gun ownership and hunting of any sort. This thread ain't about that debate.
It's about the fact that OMFG PEOPLE ARE POSING WITH SANTA WITH GIANT-ASS GUNS. Or, to be more clear, about an aspect of gun culture that has nothing to do with principled debates and everything to do with fetishizing deadly weaponry. Yikes.
Quote of the Day
"We've got real issues to talk about, not the latest bimbo eruption. ... Every time another accusation comes up, it diminishes our ability to stay focused on the issues that really do matter for the American people."—Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, attempting to smear Herman Cain as a distraction from a serious campaign, but succeeding instead in dismissing the women Cain sexually harassed and abused as "bimbos," categorizing sexual predation as something other than a "real issue" which "really does matter," and defining "the American people" and survivors of sexual harassment and abuse (and their allies) as mutually exclusive groups.
Wow, Jon Huntsman. Wow.
Wednesday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by hemp.
Recommended Reading:
Andreana: Solidarity, White (Male) Privilege and Occupation
Batocchio: Stop the SOPA and Protect IP Bills
Jed: White House Says Obama Considering Rolling Back Mandatory Insurance Coverage of Contraception
Andy: Evansville, Indiana Passes LGBT Non-Discrimination Ordinance
Jorge: SWAT Team Raids Home of Civil Rights Attorney Working on Voting Rights
Echidne: [TW for misogyny, gender essentialism, and disablism] This is one of the worst pieces of so-called science reporting I have come across for a very long time.
matttbastard: Time's Ongoing Cover Disparity Disgrace
Renee: [TW for bullying] Child Bullied out of School Because of His Appearance
Mattie: [TW for kyriarchy in gaming] Why I Don't Feel Welcome at Kotaku
Emily: Crass Warfare: Raunch and Ridicule on Whitney and 2 Broke Girls
Samhita: TLC's Virgin Diaries Comes to the US
Leave your links in comments...
It's Here! (Rearden Metal Edition)
Hey, remember that email from Atlas Shrugged Movie I posted about last week? The one that seemed to be advertising something, but was really not advertising anything? Well, the whole mystery has been cleared up with a new email from... drum roll please... REARDEN STEEL!
Yeah, so, the Atlas Shrugged marketing team is finally taking my advice and sending out emails from movie characters. I guess Rearden Steel is a character. As much as anyone or anything in the movie is. It's an entity. Like the Ministry of Love or the Lord of the Flies conch. Right? It would totally get its own Cliffs Notes page. Plus, it's actually clear this time what they are selling. (Cue up Pomp and Circumstance, they are ready to graduate my marketing class!)
They sent me this great email:
The copy in the email reads:
It's here. And, it's AWESOME.
Harmon Kaslow and John Aglialoro present this very Special Edition Atlas Shrugged Part I Blu-Ray packaged in an amazing one-of-a-kind REARDEN STEEL collectible case housing over 2 hours of incredible bonus material.
IT IS BEAUTIFUL.
PRE-ORDER NOW FOR DEC. 19-23 DELIVERY.
[There is also some stuff about Midas Mulligan's annual sale, whut? And the Canadian premier! Ha! Eat that, Canadians!]
Atlas Shrugged: Part 1: The Search for Spock on Blu-Ray! In a Rearden Steel metal case! Note, this is not actually made of Rearden steel because Rearden steel is fictional. But still!
You and all your friends can order this one-of-a-kind item, which kind of makes me wonder if the marketing team knows what one-of-a-kind means. But nevermind!
The Blu-Ray comes in three different versions (Oof, what's the total now, twelve? Twelve different versions of this DVD/Blu-Ray thing?) with a bunch of exclusive features like the "I am John Galt" fan video compilation which is on the regular DVD, too. This also makes me wonder if the marketing team knows what exclusive means. Ah, well, in marketing words can mean anything you want, dictionaries be damned!
So give yourself (obviously) the gift of Rearden Steel this Xmas! I know I will. (I won't.)
Speaking of Xmas (a non-denominational holiday, just FYI) this stuff is also on Blu-Ray this week:
One Day. Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess have sex once a year for twenty years. Special packaging: Comes inside a Page-A-Day Calendar.
Friends With Benefits. Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake have sex. Special packaging: Comes inside a No Strings Attached DVD case.
The Adventures of Tintin. Cartoon version of the books! Woo hoo! Special packaging: Comes inside a reproduction of Tintin's rocket.
Walk a Mile in My Pradas. Switcheroo Comedy™ about a homophobe who turns gay. Boat Trip meets Vice Versa and/or Like Father Like Son. Special packaging: Comes in a time capsule from 1986.
Conan the Barbarian Reboot! About muscles and swords and (probably) does not feature any Grace Jones. Special packaging: Comes in a faux-fur loincloth.
The Smurfs Reboot! Computer-generated blue wee people (are they people?) get into hijinx and shenanigans with Doogie Howser. Retro! Special packaging: Comes in a can of creative bankruptcy.
Get shopping, Shruggers!
Number of the Day
56%: The percentage of USians who believe that the Affordable Care Act (aka "Obamacare") includes a public option. Whooooooops it does not.
At the link, Igor makes the good point that "voters either like [the actual provisions in the law] or don't know about them," which creates an opportunity for Democrats "to build support for the measure by highlighting and campaigning on some of its best features, a task that will seem less daunting as a growing number of voters begin to actually benefit from the law."
The potential flipside to that, however, is that among the more than half the voting populace who believe a public option exists are people who will be disappointed to find out it doesn't.
It isn't just the socialism alarmists who erroneously believe in the existence of a public option. It's also people who desperately want and need one.
Cool Columnists. Totally Trenchant.
Two of the Washington Post's four opinion columnists have used their columns today to police the language of, respectively, a retiring member of Congress and a teenager:
It's contemptible enough that two prominent and privileged op-ed columnists have been given space by a major US newspaper to concern troll and language police a gay congressman and a teenage girl, but the fact that it's Dana Milbank, who has used in his professional capacity misogynist slurs against the Secretary of State, and Ruth Marcus, who thinks decency is telling people triggered by invasive security procedures to "grow up," imbues this little parade of sanctimony with an intense fuckery that would be hilarious if it weren't so profoundly grim.
[H/T to @ScottMadin.]
Whoooooooooops
During a campaign stop in New Hampshire, Texas governor and and Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry mistakenly said that the voting age is 21 (it's 18). He also mistakenly said that the date of the 2012 election is November 12 (it's November 6).
His spokesperson calls his repeated gaffes "misspeaking." I call them "evidence that he is a fuckbrain." Potato potahto.
I love this passage in Rosalind Helderman's coverage of Perry's latest whoopsery:
Perry would love to capitalize on conservative displeasure with Herman Cain, as the businessman reassesses whether to stay in the 2012 race following allegations that he engaged in a 13-year extramarital affair.LOL! Indeed!
But he will first have to convince voters that he has the verbal dexterity to go toe-to-toe with President Obama in a general election; repeated gaffes will likely hurt any effort to do so.
Economic News Round-Up
The password is: Shrinkage.
Businessweek—Ireland's Economic Growth Rate to Halve in 2012, ESRI Says: "Ireland's economic growth rate will more than halve next year as exports slow amid a deepening euro-region debt crisis, the Economic & Social Research Institute said. ... 'There has been a significant deterioration in the outlook for the world economy in recent months stemming from the uncertainty about the euro zone debt crisis,' the ESRI said."
Reuters—Brazil Poised for 3rd Rate Cut as Inflation Slows: "Brazil is seen likely to cut interest rates a third straight time on Wednesday, ramping up a bet that the euro zone debt crisis and a fragile world economy will brake inflation in Latin America's biggest country. ... A worsening debt crisis in Europe is clouding the global economy, inflation has begun to ease in Brazil, and recent indicators show the country's economy may have contracted in the third quarter."
AFP—China Eases Credit Controls Amid Slowing Growth: "China said Wednesday it will cut the bank reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points, as it seeks to boost lending and spur growth in the world's second largest economy. The move, which takes effect on December 5, is the strongest signal yet that the government wants to ease tight credit restrictions put in place to curb surging inflation and property prices."
Bloomberg—South Africa Economy Expands Less Than Forecast at 1.4% as Exports Slump: "South Africa's economy, the biggest in Africa, expanded at an annualized 1.4 percent in the third quarter, less than economists forecast, as manufacturing and mining output slumped. ... South Africa is struggling to meet employment and economic growth targets as the debt crisis in Europe, which buys about a third of South African manufactured goods, pushes that region close to recession."
Businessweek—Egypt's Rulers Face Unrest, Crumbling Economy as Vote Begins: "The unrest in Egypt has hurt the economy, as tourists have shunned the country and industrial production has been hit by strikes. Gross domestic product grew 1.8 percent in the fiscal year through June, the slowest in at least a decade. The country's long-term foreign sovereign credit rating was cut one level to B+, four levels below investment grade, at Standard & Poor's on Nov. 24."
Reuters—India's Economy Slows to Weakest Pace in More Than Two Years: "India's economy grew at its weakest pace in more than two years in the quarter that ended in September, revealing the heavy toll that stubborn inflation, rising interest rates and crisis-hit global capital markets are having on Asia's third-biggest economy. ... The economy has been hit by a confluence of factors. Inflation has been persistently high all year, policy inertia has hurt investment and industrial output and, now, capital outflows have pushed the rupee to new lows."
Bloomberg—Denmark's Economy Shrank More Than Estimated Last Quarter: "Denmark's economy contracted in the third quarter, after households spent less and the government cut expenditure, threatening to delay the nation's recovery as twin housing and bank crises persist."
Businessweek—German Economy to Shrink 0.2% in Fourth Quarter, Institute Says: "The German economy, Europe's biggest, may slide into a 'technical' recession at the end of the year as domestic and foreign orders drop, the DIW economic institute said. The economy will shrink 0.2 percent this quarter, led by a slump in industrial production, and may contract again in the first three months of 2012, the Berlin-based institute said today in an e-mailed statement. 'The euro crisis is affecting the German economy more and more,' DIW economist Ferdinand Fichtner said in the statement."
Bloomberg—Slovenian Economy Unexpectedly Contracted in the Third Quarter: "Slovenia's economy unexpectedly contracted in the third quarter from a year earlier as industrial output and export growth lost pace."
Etc. Shockingly, European confidence in the economic outlook has fallen to a two-year low. Huh. Go figure.
In good news, Poland, Canada, and Sweden have done slightly better than expected. And USians are inexplicably more confident about their economy, up 15 points to 56.0 from October's low of 40.9. Well aren't we the eternal optimists!
In other economic news...
CNN Money—Fed, ECB Offer Aid for Global Financial System: "The Federal Reserve, acting with five other central banks, took further steps Wednesday to make it cheaper for banks around the world to trade in U.S. dollars. The Fed—along with central banks of the eurozone, England, Japan, Switzerland and Canada—announced a coordinated plan to lower prices on dollar liquidity swaps beginning on December 5, and extending these swap arrangements to February 1, 2013. The effort is meant to 'ease strains in financial markets and thereby mitigate the effects of such strains on the supply of credit to households and businesses and so help foster economic activity,' the Federal Reserve said in a press release."
The Guardian—World Central Banks Launch Co-Ordinated Action to Fight Financial Crisis: "Federal Reserve, ECB, Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Canada and the Swiss Central Bank act to prevent liquidity drying up in the financial system." Live coverage will continue throughout the day at the link.
CNN—Study: Cyber Monday Was Biggest Online Shopping Day Ever in US: "Analysts have begun providing their final tallies for Cyber Monday sales, which found that people piled more in their virtual shopping carts than ever before. Monday was the highest-grossing online shopping day in U.S. history, with spending reaching $1.25 billion, according to market research firm comScore. That's up 22% from the previous record, which was last year's Cyber Monday."
The Guardian—Occupy Protests: Police Clear Activists from LA and Philadelphia Camps: "Hundreds of police officers are clearing protesters from Los Angeles and Philadelphia, arresting those refusing to leave and dismantling tents. ... [T]here were 200 arrests in Los Angeles alone, according to police. In Los Angeles around 1,400 officers wearing riot gear and biohazard suits were moving members of Occupy Los Angeles after they ignored a Monday deadline to leave the area. ... In Philadelphia, police began pulling down tents at about 1:20am (EST) after giving demonstrators three warnings that they would have to leave, which nearly all of the protesters followed. Dozens of demonstrators then marched through the street until they were stopped by police."
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to leave links to anything you're reading and/or writing in comments.
Question of the Day
Are you more likely to experience a fear of failure, or a fear of success?
Neither? Both?
Quote of the Day
"I repudiate, and I call on the President to repudiate, the concept of the 99% and the 1%. It is un-American, it is divisive, it is historically false."—Newt Gingrich.
lol your fuckbrain.
News I Don't Want to Write About
Here is the news I don't want to write about today!
There is the news of an alleged 13-year affair a woman named Ginger White had with Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, who is now reportedly "reassessing" his campaign. I find it deeply hilaritragic that it was not his total lack of qualifications, competency, or reasonable ideology that has rendered him unfit for the presidency in the estimation of conservative voters, nor even his being a serial sexual harasser, but the report that he may have had a consensual extramarital affair.
There is more depressing evidence that "Support the Troops" is a policy in bumper-sticker sloganeering only.
There is the revelation that iPhone4's virtual assistant Siri is anti-choice, refusing to direct users to abortion clinics. Womanly enough to sexually harass, but not womanly enough to be an ally to abortion-seeking women. (Not that all women are pro-choice, but a meaningful majority of them are.)
There is the ruling that Norwegian spree killer Anders Behring Breivik is mentally ill "and cannot be sentenced to prison or preventive detention, but can be confined to a mental hospital for the rest of his life."
There is the news that Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson's personal physician, who was recently found guilty of involuntary manslaughter by a jury in California, has been sentenced to four years. Okay. Because even contemplating the consumption of information about this case makes my brain short out from overwhelming relief that I am not a celebrity, I still know virtually nothing about it, but that sounds about right, I guess?
There is the fact that I agree with Ann Coulter about something. (Well, John McCain is a douchebag.) Now back to your regularly scheduled universe.
Talk about these things! Or don't. Whatever makes you happy. Life is short.
