3.7 x 10-99: The odds of 327 consecutive months of the temperature of the entire globe exceeding the 20th-century average by chance.
From Bill McKibben's "Global Warming's Terrifying New Math" for Rolling Stone. I cannot recommend enough you read every single word of this piece.
Number of the Day
Shooting at Denver Theater
[Content Note: Gun violence; murder.]
Last night, at a midnight screening of Batman: The Dark Knight Rises, a gunman reportedly wearing a bullet-proof vest and riot mask opened fire on the audience with four guns, killing 12. (The police originally reported 14 deaths, but that number was revised this morning.) At least 20 people are still being treated at local hospitals. Let us hope the death toll does not rise.
The suspected shooter has been taken into custody and has been identified as a 24-year-old man named James Holmes. No motive has been released. When his mother, who lives in California, was contacted by ABC News, she had not yet been notified by authorities, but "immediately expressed concern that her son may have been involved."
"You have the right person," she said, apparently speaking on gut instinct. "I need to call the police...I need to fly out to Colorado."Which suggests that, once again, there were red flags about this potentiality. I suspect that we are going to be hearing a lot about how James Holmes is "crazy" today. I want to note, again, that even if he is mentally ill, that does not discharge us of collective responsibility. This, too, does not happen in a void.
I will update this post as/when information becomes available. In the meantime, here are news articles with further details about the shooting and/or related news:
Denver Post: 12 Killed, 50 Wounded at Aurora Movie Theater.
CNN: 12 Dead, 50 Wounded in Shooting at Colorado Theater.
ABC: Aurora 'Dark Knight' Shooting Suspect Identified.
AP: 14 Dead in Colorado Theater Shooting.
The Hill: Obama, Romney Offer Support to Victims of Colorado Shootings.
My sincerest condolences to the families, friends, and colleagues of the victims. My sympathy and best wishes to those sitting vigil over the wounded.
UPDATE 1: I will also note that the FBI has stated Holmes is not known to be affiliated with any terrorist group, which is quickly turning into, "This isn't terrorism." Holmes is white, and thus in typical fashion is being treated as a "lone gunman," rather than a terrorist, despite having committed a terrorist act.
UPDATE 2: CBS Denver reports that a thirteenth person has died.
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker startledoctopus: "What is your favorite self-soothing/self-nurturing activity?"
Honestly? Trichotillomania. I try not to do it, because I give myself bald patches, but it's an unconscious habit, and it is definitely my go-to self-soothing behavior.
When I consciously want to nurture myself, meditation. Outdoors with the dogs, if possible.
Quote of the Day
"He's a very generous person. We give 10% of our income to our church every year. Do you think that is the kind of person that is trying to hide things, or do things? No. He is so good about it. ... We've given all you people need to know and understand about our financial situation and how we live our life."—Ann Romney, on how Mitt Romney ain't releasing no stinking tax returns for you people.
[Video via TPM.]
Tweet of the Day
@mittromney -- You give me your tax returns, I give you who was shooting from the other outrigger.DM me.
— Damon Lindelof (@DamonLindelof) July 19, 2012
Phone a Friend
This is the thing about Deeky's and my friendship: We never talk on the phone.
As has been well documented, we are obsessive texters and emailers, and we send each other ridiculous pictures, have ridiculous conversations, and watch garbage TV together regularly. We also have some very meaningful conversations about important things, but who the fuck cares, and, even if someone else besides us did, there are some things too precious to share.
But what we don't do is call each other.
There's no particular reason, apart from the fact that we're both socially awkward dorkbags. You'd think two people who spend inordinate amounts of time conspiring to make each other laugh would want to occasionally hear that laughter, but LOL 4 REALZ! seems to suffice.
So when I texted Deeks one night recently, "I need to call you," he answered his phone with alarm. "Are you okay? Is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine," I assured him. "This is the stupidest phone conversation you will ever have in your life."
He laughed, with mirth and relief. Deeky has a great laugh. "Okay," he said, knowing for sure that my prediction would be true. "What is it?"
"There's a piece of film stuck in my head and I can't place it," I told him. "You are my only hope." This, I need to tell you, is not hyperbole. We have a pop cultural frame of reference so similar and so vast that I can make virtually any obnoxiously obscure allusion and he immediately gets the joke. And vice versa. I can quote half a line of dialogue or half a song lyric that the writers of the words themselves don't remember, and Deeky will finish it without hesitation. If there's some bit of detritus stuck in the lint trap from which only identification will aid its extraction, no one else has the requisite psychological spelunking skills besides Deeks. "It's playing on a loop and I can't think what film it's from."
"You are such an asshole," Deeky said, laughing even harder. And of course getting curious. "What's the scene?"
"Okay," I began, my voice already cracking with laughter because I knew the true stupidity of what I was about to share. "It's this scene, of this guy, this actor, and I can't think of his name—I mean, I don't think I've ever known it—but he's like a character actor who's been in a few things, nothing I can name, and he's about our age, and he's got red hair and a sort of weepy face—"
"A weepy face!" Deeky laughed. "Ohmigod. Go on."
"Yeah, like a real weepy wehhhhh sort of weepy face," I laughed, "and in this scene, he's like wearing a robe or a cloak I think? And he's part of a male-centric group, like a priesthood or a boys' school, like there's a feeling in the scene like from Dead Poets Society, but it's definitely not from Dead Poets Society, and he's just done something cowardly—"
"The weepy face guy?"
"Yeah, he's just failed to act to save someone, or he's been a traitor, or something like that," I continue, "and the protagonist, whoever it is, maybe like pushes by him and kind of shoves him, and he collapses like his spine's made of jelly, and his weepy face is all wehhhhh as he falls over. Do you know what I'm talking about?"
Now after years and years of saying vague nonsense to each other and having the other know precisely what we mean, I half expected Deeky to come out with the name of a movie that placed this random image into its context and soothe my looping brain. But that did not happen.
"So, what you've got is a weepy-faced red-haired guy who might be wearing a cape—"
"Not a cape! A robe or a cloak! Maybe a vestment!"
"—wearing MAYBE A VESTMENT who falls over because he's a coward."
"Yep! What movie is that from? It's driving me up the wall that I can't place it!"
At this point, I was laughing so hard that tears were running down my cheeks. Deeky was laughing. Iain, listening to this exchange and showing me pictures of random red-haired actors, from Robert Redford to Carrot Top, was laughing.
"I have no idea what the fuck you're talking about!" Deeky informed me, crushing my hopes for getting the scene out of my head, where it runs on a loop still, like a fingerprint on a computer screen in a crime series, while millions of databased prints scan past, trying to find a match.
"I find that hard to believe," I replied, "given the quality of the information I gave you."
We LOLLED 4 REALZ some more, and then we hung up the phone, and texted each other about how we should really phone each other more often.
Top Five
Here is your topic: Top Five Favorite Board/Tabletop Games. Go!
Please feel welcome to share stories about why your Top Five picks are what they are, though a straight-up list is fine, too. Please refrain from negatively auditing other people's lists, because judgment discourages participation.
So, George Zimmerman Granted an Interview to Sean Hannity…
by Shaker BrianWS, who may or may not become a full-time contributor someday based on the roll of a 20-sided die, the other 19 sides of which all inexplicably feature images of Robin Williams characters. What will happen if he rolls Mork? What will happen if he rolls Patch Adams? What will happen if he rolls Mrs. Doubtfire? NOBODY KNOWS!
[Content Note: Racism; eliminationist violence.]
Sometimes I can be thoughtful when I guest post, and sometimes I just need to RAGE. This is one of the latter times.
George Zimmerman, who murdered Trayvon Martin in late February, gave a disgusting, pathetic, and self-serving interview to Fox News' Sean Hannity last night, and, outside of sharing with us how killing Martin was all just part of "God's plan" (yeah, I'll come back to that), it was mostly Hannity asking leading, provocative questions, and Zimmerman doubling down and digging in on the racist fuckery. Not much groundbreaking material, but too gross to ignore.
Because I don't have a full eleven hours to detail every nuance of Zimmerman's contemptible self-pity and excuse-making, I'll just mention a few of the worst parts and leave it to Shakers to have at the rest of it in the comments. I mean, literally, every answer Zimmerman gives can be ripped to pieces.
1.) When asked by Hannity what made him think Trayvon Martin was suspicious, Zimmerman answered: "I felt he was suspicious because it was raining, um, he was in between houses, cutting in between houses...he was walking very leisurely for the weather. Um, it didn't look like he was a resident that went to check their mail and got caught in the rain and was hurrying back home. He didn't look like a fitness fanatic that would train in the rain."
Really? Let's make short work of this one.
Personal story time: To be honest, I like walking in the rain. I find the notion of it very romantic, even when I'm alone. I have been known to go for walks in the rain all by myself just because I want to. Because it makes me feel good and it calms me. Not to check the mail. Not to increase my fitness. Just because.
Yet, anyone who would suggest that Zimmerman would've called the police after seeing me leisurely walking through the rain that night is being disingenuous at best. People can walk through the rain for any infinite number of reasons, but the catch is that Martin was a young black man. In George Zimmerman's neighborhood.
2.) When asked what he would tell Trayvon Martin's parents: "I'm sorry. My wife and I don't have any children. I have nephews that I love more than life. I love them more than myself. And I know when they were born, it was a different unique bond and love that I have with them, and I love my children even though that they aren't born yet. I am sorry that they buried their child. I can't imagine what it must feel like. And I pray for them daily."
Look at how neatly he removes himself from responsibility for Martin's death: "I am sorry they buried their child." Listening to that, you wouldn't even know Zimmerman is the one who murdered that child. It's such a passive voice, bullshit answer, centering his feelings about his future fucking unborn children as some sort of comparison to the love that Martin's parents felt for their son, who was a living, breathing, existing person until George Zimmerman killed him.
3.) Then: "But I do wish there was something, anything I could have done that wouldn't have put me in the position where I had to take his life....(addresses camera head-on) I hate to think that because of this incident, because of my actions, it has polarized and divided America."
I can think of literally a thousand things that Zimmerman could've done that wouldn't have put him in the position to kill Trayvon Martin—but I think I only need one: How about not being a racist fuckhead who, because of Martin's "suspicious" blackness, stalked him, confronted him, and killed him? See how easy that was?
And note, too, that he hates to see that his actions polarized America. Not sorry that his actions ended the life of a teenager, but that the nation's racists were obliged to out themselves in his defense. "Sorry I blew your cover, Racist of America!" What a jerk.
4.) Last, but so very much not least, when asked by Hannity about whether he had any regrets (spoiler alert: Nope!): "I feel it was all God's plan."
Well, FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK YOU!
This whole interview made my skin crawl, with Hannity taking his Very Serious Issues tone of voice, and the two of them going back and forth looking like it was taking every bit of willpower they had to not interrupt the interview to high-five each other.
And I couldn't stop thinking about the exacerbating injustice of Zimmerman getting to tell the only side of the story there is to hear, owing to the fact that he murdered Trayvon Martin.
Have at it.
Random Nerd Nostalgia: Jerry Lewis and Wonder Woman. OF COURSE!
[Description: An advertisement for an issue of the Jerry Lewis comic book (ed--yes---THAT Jerry Lewis). The cover of the comic shows a red-haired, bearded white man clad in skins holding a sword and a club, smashing another sword in half--the sword held by skin-clad, sneaker-wearing Jerry Lewis. Wonder Woman, in a red and white classical chiton-looking outfit, stands behind Jerry and reassures him: "Don't worry, Jerry! I'll help!" Jerry responds: "So help me OUTTA here---FAST!" The byline reads "CAN YOU BELIEVE? Wonder Woman and Jerry Lewis--Together! On Sale Jan. 20]
No. No, in fact I cannot believe. And I feel much better for that decision.
Scanned from Wonder Woman # 187, April 1970.
Daily Dose of Cute
This is just a terrific video of Zelly using my iPad as a pillow while chilling out and watching a show about mammoths:
Video Description: Zelda the Black-and-Tan Mutt lies on the couch with her head on its arm, where my iPad is sitting. She blinks sleepily. As she breathes, her exhalations steam up the screen of the iPad.
It's hard to believe this didn't get nominated for ALL THE EMMYS.
"What? Don't act like you didn't know I'm a weird little dog!"
Veepstakes!
Mitt Romney still hasn't decided on a running mate yet, because it still isn't the Monday following the Friday news hole into which he's going to dump his tax returns, but in case you were fretting that he was going to pick some kind of LIBERAL, or even some kind of MODERATE, ha ha, don't worry he's not!
Mitt Romney welcomes all the distracting chatter about his potential VP pick, but he confirmed today what many have already concluded: He actually won't be making the announcement anytime soon. On Wednesday Ann Romney said he's "not quite there yet." Later on the campaign trail Mitt said, "I have not chosen the person who will be my vice-president," but assured a concerned tea partier, "That person will be a conservative. They will believe in conservative principles."PHEW! Are you relieved? I am so relieved!
Also! You know what that means! There is still hope for Deeky's wildest political dreams to come true!
FINGERS CROSSED!!!
[H/T to Shaker Brunocerous.]
This is a real thing in the world.
[Content Note: Ableism; dehumanization; appropriation.]
Advice columnist Dan Savage has branched (back) out into theater, writing and directing "gay-drag reworking/re-imagining of The Miracle Worker," the biographical play about Helen Keller, a blind and deaf feminist, anti-war, and workers' rights activist, and the teacher, Anne Sullivan, who facilitated Keller's communication skills.
Savage's "irreverent" camp version differs from the original in some key ways, like, for instance, the addition of "simulated sex acts" and "disgusting language," about which a posted sign outside the theater warns/entices. The play is also, as noted in this review, "awash in Keller jokes." Because if there's one bitch who needs to be taken down a peg, it's Helen Keller.
Director-writer Savage, noted author and gay activist, twists the saga of the untamed, disabled Keller and devoted teacher Annie Sullivan into the taming of a deaf, blind and mute drag prodigy, Helen Stellar (Jonathon Pyburn), by butch therapist Annie (a strong Hannah Victoria Franklin).Oh, well, as long as it's got a sentimental heart as it exploits Keller's life story and milks disablism for a laugh!
The more ludicrous gags, as when little Helen stumbles and bellows in her pathetic act, score big laughs — and big winces. And some bits (undescribable here) are just gross-outs.
But "Miracle!" can be less crudely amusing, and it has a sentimental heart. As dicey as the dexterous Pyburn's mocking of Helen's spastic pratfalls is, the show pulls for the kid's rehab.
Cue the accusations I just don't understand campy humor, I'm humorless, I don't get satire, blah blah yawn. Except that Chicago is an amazing theater town, and that includes amazing camp/drag theater. There are brilliant camp/drag companies in Chicago: I've been to countless performances and have known people who performed, sometimes for years, in camp and/or drag shows. A lot of their material was genuinely edgy and challenging and subversive. Some of it was problematic. But none of them ever had to mock a person with disabilities to get a laugh.
[H/T to Deeky.]
Today in Mitt Romney Stands in Front of Something
"Mitt Romney is sooooooo terrible and his policies are a garbage nightmare and you should definitely not vote for him!"—Erica.
Well, you heard the man! Believe Erica!
True Story: When I was a kid, and CHiPs was all the rage, I'd hear adults talking about its sexy, sexy star, Erik Estrada, and I thought they were talking about a lady named Erica Strada. I was always disappointed that the episodes I saw always had two dude cops and this Erica Strada was nowhere to be found.
ANYWAY!
Mitt Romney still hasn't released any of his tax returns because fuck you. There was some speculation that maybe part of the reason he's being such a d-bag about this is because there was a year when he paid no taxes at all, but his campaign refutes that possibility. Which means that he probably just paid an exceptionally low tax rate care of elaborate financial schemes that include offshore accounts, which all the highly-paid pundits of professional punditry say won't sit well with voters.
Except for how it's fucking July, and most voters are barely even paying attention to the election yet, and most of those who are will forget all about Romney's tax shenanigans by November, and, ha ha, Republican voters don't LIKE paying taxes and will probably think Romney's a goddamn hero for dodging them, plus, by the way, if you don't already think Romney's an unethical, self-interested, avaristic scoundrel, is his 2008 tax return going to fundamentally change your mind? I dunno.
But then again, I'm no Wolf Blitzer.
So I'm not sure why Mitt Romney won't release his tax returns, except for the obvious fact that he's a terrible candidate who is very bad at politics.
In other news: "President Obama and Mitt Romney are effectively tied in the race for the presidency, according to a new CBS News/New York Times survey." Of course they are.
Recommended Reading
[Content Note: War.]
The MoJo News Team: What's Happening in Syria Now. "The situation has grown increasingly dire since Assad's regime began a violent crackdown in March 2011, with many thousands killed."
A great primer on the situation in Syria, which continues to deteriorate.
Photo of the Day
Official White House photo from December of last year by White House photographer Pete Souza. This is just a very adorable reminder that our President is kind to his canine companion.
Unlike some other jerkos I could mention.
Episode VI: Return of the Douchebags
[Content Note: Rape culture; misogyny; objectification; victim-blaming.]
The other day, Courtney Stoker, who writes quite a lot on cosplay, called out Simon Pegg on Twitter for his obnoxious behavior regarding women who dressed as Leia-in-metal-bikini at Comic-Con. And what happened to Courtney was everything that always happens: "geek celeb" mocks critic, then sics horde of fans on critic, then horde inundates critic with abuse.
Yesterday someone tweeted at me (when I had made a general remark about incident):
If the Leia cosplayers want to be taken srsly, why do so many go 4 the metal bikini outfit? Leia wore much more in most of SW.Which I rolled my eyes at and ignored. However, today I thought I'd address the general concept that tweet was getting at: women who dress "like that" are "asking for it". The following is a series of tweets I made on that topic:
* Dude tweeted at me "if they wanted to be taken seriously, why did they dress like that"? RE: Pegg & Leias. (1)To which the person who had originally tweeted at me responded with:
* (2) So much wrong in that, it's hard to know where to start. Let's count the ways, shall we?
* (3) What women are wearing should not be the gauge for which they are "taken seriously", going with a general concept here.
* (4) What women are wearing should not be the gauge for which they are treated as public property for someone else's pleasure. #rapeculture
* (5) What a woman wears does not make her responsible for someone else's bullshit, sexist, and/or violent & criminal behavior.
Unless she wears it for that exact purpose. You don't think any women EVER dress like that to attract male attention?This person goes on to be insistent on if a woman chose to dress in the metal bikini costume and not any other Leia costume choice, she was obviously looking to be objectified. And that "male attention", like Pegg's commentary that reduced the women to objects for his consumption, is the normal default of what a woman is "asking for". This person rather obviously does not seem to get that "male attention" does not have to be sexist, gross, or violent behavior. Attention in the form of appreciation and respect can be flattering. But, anyway, I'd rather not get into questioning the motives of any woman who chooses the famous bikini costume, as as Wm. Caylee Hogg pointed out on Twitter:
so the thing that fascinates me is that allowing the "but she *wanted* the attention" excuse even *if* true in one case...The whole motive discussion is just a victim-blaming tactic and a wholesale distraction from the actual issue in the same vein of how Tosh's incitement of rape has become about how feminists are humorless hacks.
acts as a kind of back door to putting the burden on women for their motives, what was going on in their head at that moment
which, of course, is exactly the mechanism we see in place during prosecution of rape cases
I also noted:
* (6) "Slave Leia" being taken less seriously as "fully clothed Leia" (as suggested by dude) shows a failure of culture, not of the women.Which is part of the heart of this issue, one that Courtney was also getting at when she said:
* (7) Phenomenon of "Leia in gold bikini = sex fantasy for dudes" doesn't mean wmn shld be looked down on. Says more abt the dudes than wmn.
* (8) Re: #7. Says more abt the dudes who look down on/"not take seriously" women who are their sexual fantasies (culturally or in reality).
This kind of attitude [of Pegg's] is really common and really destructive. It reduces cosplayers down to objects, and suggests that they are NOT fellow geeks, but actually decoration. They are only there to serve as fantasy fodder for male geeks.Exactly.
Have you seen the Comic Con documentary? At the end (during credits, I think...I saw it months ago), Kevin Smith talks about the chances of dudes getting laid at Comic Con and that the fourteen year old cosplayers? Well, "in five years they'll be sluts".
Geekdom, we have a problem and it's not the women cosplayers in metal bikini costumes.
