On a city street, women begin unloading hurdles from the back of a truck. The women, wearing t-shirts reading "NOTUpForDebate.org," begin to set up the hurdles along a park path. The hurdles are numbered, and read, for example: "Law #49: Forces women to view an ultrasound." The hurdles are lined up in a long row. Passers-by stop to look at them and read them.Read the NWLC's press release announcing the campaign here. Sign the petition here.
In voiceover, a woman says, "In 2011, states across the nation passed the highest number of restrictions on abortion ever, creating dangerous new hurdles for women. More scenes of the labeled hurdles. A woman onscreen says, "Fight for your reproductive healthcare, before it's too late." More passers-by stop and look and read. Another woman onscreen says, "Start by signing the petition to tell our leaders your health is NOT up for debate." Stopping, looking, reading. Another woman onscreen says, "Visit notupfordebate.org."
Text Onscreen: My health is NOT up for debateTM | Protect Reproductive Health Care | NOTUpForDebate.org | National Women's Law Center."
My Health is NOT Up for Debate
Wednesday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by sarongs.
Recommended Reading:
Peter: The Global War on Women [Content Note: The post at this link includes statistics and stories of violence and hostility toward female autonomy.]
Autumn: Verizon: A Trans Friendlier Business Today
Melissa: Hunger Games Advance Ticket Sales Break Records
Andy: Poll: Support for Same-Sex Marriage Jumps in California
Kath: Thoughts on Being Othered [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of fat hatred and its various manifestations.]
Adrienne: Bon Iver's "Towers": A "Tribute to Native American Preservation Land"?
Angry Asian Man: WTF: Roundeye Noodle Bar
Mike: What Democrats Should Learn From the Auto Industry Bailout
Shannon: Quadriplegic Springer Spaniel Learns to Run
Leave your links and recommendations in comments...
Boom Goes the Secretary!
Yesterday, Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) questioned Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about the practical effects of cutting federal funding for international family planning, which Republicans are seeking to do. Below is a clip of their exchange, in which Clinton coolly calls out the hypocrisy of their opponents' position and, in her inimitable way, conveys her contempt for the idea that funding contraception is even controversial in this day and age. Enjoy.
Text Onscreen: At Senate Hearing, Lautenberg Exchange with Secretary Clinton on International Family Planning | February 28, 2012.Related Reading: This Is What a Feminist Secretary of State Sounds Like.
Senator Frank Lautenberg: In recent years, Congressional opponents of contraception have sought deep cuts to international family planning programs. What happens, Madame Secretary, if they succeed in cutting the family planning programs? What's the penalty—what's the cost of that in real terms?
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: Well, the cost is financial, the cost is in women's lives, the cost is to undermine what many of the very same opponents claim is their priority, namely to prevent abortions [wry grin] because—you know, we want to stay focused on improving maternal and child health, and there is no doubt at all that family planning services are absolutely essential to improving both maternal and child health.
Working through our government—with other governments, with NGOs with expertise, capacity, proven track records—we have made a big difference in women's health. You know, global estimates, Senator, indicate that, by helping women space births and avoid unintended pregnancies, family planning has the potential of preventing twenty-five percent of the maternal and child deaths in the developing world.
Family planning is the best way we have to prevent unintended pregnancies and abortion [wry grin] so I—I know that it—it is, um, a very, um, controversial issue [she seems barely able to spit the words out through her disdain and casts her eyes down then lifts them back up as she continues] but numerous studies have shown that the incidence of abortions decreases when women have access to contraception.
And therefore I strongly support what this administration is doing in trying to provide the means to improve the health of women and children around the world. [nods sagely]
[H/T to @PPact.]
"No matter who you are, love is love."
Would you like to read more about the two Marines whose adorable homecoming picture was Monday's Photo of the Day? I bet you would! So here is a neat article about them. They seem very nice!
It is terrible that there are people who look at that picture and see anything but love. What grim little lives they must lead.
Primarily Dreadful
Mitt Romney is BACK, baby! Last night, he won both the Michigan AND Arizona primaries, thus proving once again that he is the least barfiest of all the candidates! CONGRATULATIONS, MITT ROMNEY! Everyone hates you the least! GOOD FOR YOU!
In related news, Rick Santorum lost! Ha ha boooooooooo. Boo to you, Rick Santorum! You stink!
Personally, I am very glad that Rick Santorum did not win, for at least two reasons: 1. He is an epic garbage nightmare of vicious hatred who has an oily stink of sulfur where his empathy center should be; and 2. If he had won, he might have given a different speech, and then I never would have learned that there were female signers of the Declaration of Independence.
All of our economic plan is based on a very simple concept, based on what's worked for America from its very founding. I wave this Constitution at every speech, and I talk about it being the operator's manual of America. It's how America works. It's the "how" of America. But there's another document equally important, which is the "why" of America, and that's the Declaration of Independence. And in that declaration is these words, "We hold these truths to be self- evident that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights."Now, it's true that "America works best, from the bottom up" is definitely what she said, but the people who wrote and signed their names to the phrase "all men are created equal" were all men.
That -- that phrase was the most transformation phrase ever written in a government document. That phrase said that we are going to be a country with limited government and believing in free people to be able to form families, and communities, and churches, and educational institutions, and hospitals, and be able to build a great and just society, a free society from the bottom up.
That's how America works best, from the bottom up. And that's the solutions that we're going to propose for America, the bottom up.
The men and women who signed that Declaration of Independence wrote this final phrase: We pledge to each other -- we pledge to each other our lives, our fortune, and our sacred honor.
Rick Santorum, please report promptly to Seneca Falls for a nap.
Something something Ron Paul. Something else Newt Gingrich. Whatever yawn fart. These two are making my fingers tired.
In useful tools, here is a handy delegate count for the Republican primary! It's very neat and you should definitely look at it! Right now, Romney is leading with 146 delegates, and Ron Paul is losing with 18 delegates. Awwwwww ha ha. Hang in there, Ron Paul! You only need 1,144 to win!
Next Stop: Super Tuesday!
Talk about these things! Or don't. Whatever makes you happy. Life is short.
Question of the Day
What is your favorite portmanteau?
I'm rather partial to my recently coined kyriarchetype. Also, I do dearly love clusterfucktastrophe.
Who's Winning in Michigan and Arizona?
WHO CARES!
Let this thread serve for all your primary-discussin' needs.
Snowe Bails
Republican US Senator from Maine, Olympia Snowe, has announced she is retiring.
Maine Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe will not seek reelection in 2012, she announced Tuesday.It's amusing that Snowe would snark about the "partisanship" in DC while playing the consummate partisan in her retirement announcement. Snowe, who is pro-choice, has previously expressed her frustration that her party continues to focus on reproductive rights at the expense of economic issues. She's clearly disgusted with her party's legislative assault on women et. al., but instead of pointedly calling them out for driving her out of the party, she hedges it with a vague reference to partisanship, even while passive-aggressively underlining she is not retiring for reasons of illness or fatigue.
In announcing her plans, Snowe, 65, emphasized that she is in good health and was prepared for the campaign ahead. But she said she was swayed by the increasing polarization in Washington.
"Unfortunately, I do not realistically expect the partisanship of recent years in the Senate to change over the short term," Snowe said in a statement. "So at this stage of my tenure in public service, I have concluded that I am not prepared to commit myself to an additional six years in the Senate, which is what a fourth term would entail."
Snowe's retirement represents a major setback for the GOP's efforts to regain a majority in the Senate. As a moderate Republican, she may be the party's only hope to hold a seat in the strongly blue state.
And, well, that pretty much sums up Snowe's legacy in the Senate. Principled positions on lots of things, without the conviction to prioritize those principles above party loyalty.
Seeya, Senator.
P.S. If the Democratic leadership does not run a woman to replace her, they are even stupider than I imagine.
Quote of the Day
[Content Note: Reproductive rights; rape culture.]
"All can agree that rape is a horrific act of violence that no one should ever undergo. But abortion after a rape robs an innocent victim of a very beautiful life."—Jeanne Monahan, head of the Orwellian-named Family Research Council's Center for Human Dignity who testified today before Congress "on how mandatory contraceptive coverage is an affront to Americans' religious freedom."
Which is obviously TERRIBLE, while forcing women and other people with uteri to carry to term a pregnancy created via rape is just the decent thing to do.
www.fuckeverything.fart
Photo of the Day
Whooooooooops, Mitt Romney! You are such a terrible candidate
that you made Rick fuckin' Santorum a viable contender. Yikes.
[Photo via.]
Headline of the Day
Bloomberg: Wealthy More Likely to Lie, Cheat: Researchers.
Discuss!
[Note that finding is not: All wealthy people lie and cheat. Please bear that in mind while discussing why it might be (spoiler alert: money buys safety) that the wealthy are more likely to lie and cheat. Also: Do you think that wealthy POC lie and cheat less than their white counterparts? I bet they do! Because money buys safety, but it doesn't trump white privilege!]
Daily Dose of Cute
A tiny little wedgy head with wee Dorito ears
Atop a stocky neck festooned with many wrinkled tiers
Leading to a barrel chest and then a roundy gut,
Ending in a bushy tail upon a wiggly butt.
—Zelda's Song
Zelly, being a stray acquired from the pound, had a history that was unknown to us—not just in terms of the life she led before our paths crossed, but also regarding her genetic history. She was called a Rottie mix by the shelter, but there was never any rationale for that assignment except her color (which is common in many breeds)—she is only 45 pounds and has none of the traits of a Rottie. The vet said she was probably a Shar Pei mix, which seemed likely given her foldy triangular ears and her abundant neck wrinkles.
Guessing at her mystery history has always been great fun (and people are happy to join in, even when unsolicited; I have been told with certitude many times she is DEFINITELY a Rottie mix, when I have offered I think she's a cross of a Shar Pei and some foxy little herding breed). And if she hadn't likely had, as part of her background, some Shar Pei parentage, that guessing game may have gone on forever.
But. The thing about Shar Peis (and Shar Pei crosses) is that they are prone to what's known as "Shar Pei fever," which recently came knocking on our friend Van's door. He is doing better now, thanks to a very expensive medication, and the love and loyalty of his human family. We have lost other Shar Pei friends to amyloidosis. I suddenly longed to know for reasons other than mere curiosity what Zelda was made of. Was she half Shar Pei? Less would certainly be better.
So, I got a top-of-the-line doggy DNA test. Zelly was decidedly unthrilled about having the insides of her cheeks swabbed, but being the good girl that she is, she reluctantly complied. We sent the swabs off, and three weeks later, we had our results...
He-Man Sings 4 Non Blondes
Four minutes of undiluted awesome: The cartoon edition of He-Man singing a cabaret/techno version of 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up?"
Number of the Day
16%: The current unemployment rate for US workers under the age of 25.
The unemployment rate for workers under the age of 25 has improved to 16.0 percent since its peak of 19.6 percent in the spring of 2010, but, excluding the Great Recession and its aftermath, remains higher than it has been since the fall of 1983.Don't worry, everyone. Tax cuts will solve everything.
Evidence from past recessions of the effect on young workers who entered the labor market during a downturn shows that the impact is severe and long-lasting. In particular, entering the labor market in a severe downturn can lead to reduced earnings for up to 10 to 15 years. Young workers at all levels of educational attainment who enter the labor market during a downturn face higher rates of unemployment. With a scarcity of job openings, young workers are 1) less likely to land a stable entry-level job that will lead to advancement, and 2) more likely to experience a lengthy period of instability in employment and earnings.
Another Birth Control Recall
Weeks after Pfizer announced an oral contraceptive recall, Glenmark Generics is also recalling its pills "because of a packaging error that landed the pills in the wrong order."
"Select blisters were rotated 180 degrees within the card, reversing the weekly tablet orientation and making the lot number and expiry date visible only on the outer pouch," the company said in a statement released Friday, explaining the packaging error.[H/T to Shaker Jewel.]
The correct packaging aligns 28 tablets in four rows, with the white tablets containing norgestimate and ethinyl estradiol in the top row and light green placebo tablets in the bottom row.
The affected lot numbers are 04110101, 04110106, 04110107, 04110114, 04110124, 04110129 and 04110134.
"Patients who have the affected product should notify their physician and return the product to the pharmacy" and "begin using a nonhormonal form of contraception immediately," the company said.
Do Not Mess with Women's Birth Control, for Hobbying or Any Other Conceivable Purposes
Conceivable Purposes. See what I did there? Heh heh. I crack myself up.
My favorite dude on the planet, Ron Swanson, star of the kickass NBC documentary series Parks and Recreation, sometimes plays a character named Nick Offerman, so I have a Google alert set up to get Nick Offerman news in addition to my Ron Swanson news. And thank the maker for that, or otherwise I might never have found out that Nick Offerman convinced a bunch of Republican lawmakers he's one of them and got invited to their video about the Pill or whatever. At least I think that's what's going on. It's some real Baron von Sasha Cohen shit!
[Content Note That Liss Made Me Put In, But Which I Definitely Think Is a Good Idea, Although It May Just Be the Weed Talking: The below video contains misogynist jokes to underline that the people making these laws routinely express misogyny. There is also one racist joke and one rape joke, the latter of which briefly references a sexual assault and is of the sort that makes the point sexual predators are gross and wrong, and also underlines that the people making these laws are de facto sexual predators, but it is still a rape joke. YMMV on whether you find this effective, acceptable, upsetting, etc. I personally find it reasonably effective, although my opinion is that the inclusion of the racist joke was inappropriate and useless, and the inclusion of the rape joke was unnecessary.]
[Transcript for that shit below.]
It's weird, right? I'm totally the target demographic for this kind of politics—I'm a straight white dude, I'm middle-aged, I'm conservative, I've got a penis, I don't got a vagina, I love babies (even though I don't want to own one, ladies!)—but, as you hippies say, it just ain't resonating with me. I mean, some of that shit ain't even correct! There are definitely lady doctors. There's a lady doctor at the clinic where I went last time I stapled my finger to some plywood doing one of my artistic projects.
I'm not certain it's medicinally accurate that babies swim in tummy-pockets, either. Maybe that's true if you're a koala or some crap like that, but not if you're human. I'm no doctor, but that just don't sound right.
Also, my stepmom Cheryl and my ex-wife/fiancée Tammy are both PISSSSSSSSSSSSSSED about getting their pills taken away. And I don't just mean that figuratively! One time I was looking for something to use to build a cobblestone path in front of City Hall in Butchville on my major-ass train set in the garage, and I found a little round plastic thingy with some pills in it in the crapper, and another one in Tammy's purse, and I glued down them pills and painted 'em brown, and they made hella rockin' cobblestones for the precious feet of the Mayor of Butchville, which is me made out of marshmallows and my own mustache trimmings, but BOY OH BOY were Cheryl and Tammy mad at me! My dad was, too. I thought I'd never hear the end of it, man.
Anyhoo, the lesson I learned is: Don't mess with the ladies' birth control.
Finally: Ron Swanson rules. I rest my case, your honorable womenfolk.
Pornstache: Out.
The Walking Thread
[Content Note: References to violence and self-harm.]
Lori yells at Andrea for insufficient skillz in Being Dude Property.
(Spoilers lurch undeadly herein.)
Ugh, this show. UGH. I hate it so much now! I especially hate all the ways in which it tells me that ladies are property of men and should never be allowed under any circumstances to make decisions for themselves because THEY WILL INSTANTLY REGRET IT.
In case you were wondering if the makers of this show view women as nothing more than props, please direct your attention to the official web site's photos from this episode, which do not include a single image of any female character. Whoops!
I loved how the episode started with Grimes and Shane pulling up to a LITERAL CROSSROADS and getting out to have an Important Man Conversation. (Subtle.) In case you missed the fact that they were at a LITERAL CROSSROADS, there was an overhead crane shot or twelve to show you that they were manning it up in a manful way at a LITERAL CROSSROADS. Ugh, this show.
Deeks and I watched the episode together via text last night, and here are some fun highlights from our conversation...
