Stereo MCs: "Connected"
Quote of the Day
[Content Note: Sexual violence; silencing of survivors.]
"I'm at the point, that if I have to go to jail for my rights, I will do it. If they really feel it's necessary to throw me in jail for talking about what happened to me, as opposed to throwing these boys in jail for what they did to me, then I don't understand justice."—Savannah Dietrich, a 17-year-old survivor, who tweeted the names of the two teenage young men who sexually assaulted her, thus violating a court order imposing confidentiality after the two juvenile defendants pleaded guilty to felony first-degree sexual abuse and misdemeanor voyeurism, a light plea deal for sexually assaulting Dietrich while she was unconscious and circulating pictures of the assault.
Following the plea, [Judge Dee McDonald] admonished everyone involved not to speak to anyone about what had happened in the court or about the crime in general, according to Dietrich.Well, gee, we wouldn't want to ruin the lives of a couple of nice boys just because they raped someone.
"I was crying as she (the judge) was reading that," Dietrich said. "They got off very easy ... and they tell me to be quiet, just silencing me at the end."
Rage. Seethe. Boil.
One of the rape culture's greatest lies is how we will collectively take seriously those rape cases in which there can be no doubt of guilt, that all the one zillion metric fucktons of rape apologia and victim-blaming and disbelieving survivors and erring on the side of
Well, guess what.
It seems that no man is ever guilty enough of rape that he should be known as a rapist.
Denver Shooting Update
[Content Note: Gun violence; terrorism.]
There isn't much to update on the shooting that took place last week in a Denver-area theater during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises. President Obama visited some of the injured survivors over the weekend, and there is some information trickling out about how shooter James Holmes amassed his arsenal: "He received a large volume of deliveries over the past four months to both his home and work addresses, which police believe begins to explain how he got his hands on some of the materials used in the rampage and the subsequent discovery of his booby-trapped apartment, Aurora Police Chief Paul Oates told reporters Saturday. Holmes purchased four weapons and more than 6,000 rounds of ammunition in recent months, Oates said."
There's still no clear motive for the attack, or none that police are disclosing.
Iain and I went to see the film over the weekend, and, as we stood in line waiting for the theater doors to open, I overheard a lot of nervous jokes/comments referencing the shooting. People were thinking about it. Some people were openly scared.
The objective was terrorism. Mission accomplished.
Temporarily, anyway. For the most part, we will all, those of us not directly affected, go back to life the way it was before, the way we always do. We will resume our normal activities as the fresh horror of this latest "senseless tragedy" fades into the recesses of memory, cataloged alongside the other acts of terror perpetrated by white men with unfettered access to deadly weaponry.
And we will do that because we don't have a choice, because we live in a nation where it is considered radical and traitorous to assert that healthcare a right, but perfectly normal for one of our elected officials to say, without compunction or hesitation:
These are rifles that are used in hunting. Just the fact of the matter is this is really not an issue of guns. This is about sick people doing things you simply can't prevent. It's really an issue of freedom.The ability to own to 100-round magazines and semi-automatic assault rifles is an issue of freedom, and regular mass murders committed by people with access to that weaponry is something "you simply can't prevent." Like earthquakes or rainy days.
It is a fact of life in the United States that sometimes a heavily armed man will walk into a crowded place and kill people. So we go about our lives with the understanding that will happen and the belief that it won't happen to us—a collective fantasy that allows us to tolerate a life under threat in order to indulge people who speak the word "freedom" without understanding what it really means.
To be truly free would be to live a life without that threat at all.
Penn State Removes JoePa Statue; Faces Fines
[Content Note: Rape culture.]
The empty place where the statues of Penn State football coach and rape abettor Joe Paterno and four football players used to stand. Penn State decided to remove the statue. Photo via CNN.
Naturally, Paterno's family, who just can't seem to STFU, are moaning about Penn State's terrible decision, declaring in a statement: "Tearing down the statue of Joe Paterno does not serve the victims of Jerry Sandusky's horrible crimes or help heal the Penn State community. We believe the only way to help the victims is to uncover the full truth."
You know what? I think the Paterno family needs to get out of the "helping Sandusky's victims" business. By which, of course, I mean the "totally ignoring the safety and needs of Sandusky's victims in order to protect Joe Paterno's legacy" business.
Their insistent statements purporting to care about and know what's best for Sandusky's victims is an increasingly gross and shameful display. Apparently the exploitative rape apologist apple doesn't far fall from the exploitative rape apologist tree.
In other news, the NCAA is expected to levy "significant, unprecedented penalties" against Penn State today, which may include fines as much as $30 million. [See update at end of post.]
Some will argue that amount is excessive. Some will argue it's inadequate. The arguments will help everyone ignore that the only question that matters isn't being asked: Has Penn State learned to shine light on evidence of sexual abuse, or merely learned to bury it even more deeply?
UPDATE: The numbers are in, and: "The NCAA took unprecedented actions against Penn State on Monday in response to the Jerry Sandusky child sexual molestation scandal, fining the school $60 million, cutting scholarships for four years, imposing a four-year postseason ban and vacating all wins from 1998-2011. Vacating the wins means the late Joe Paterno no longer is the winningest major college football coach in history."
The fine, which is reportedly the equivalent of a single year of gross revenue from the football program, "will be used to establish an endowment to help child sexual abuse victims."
Sunday Shuffle
Yes, I really do own this song--I also have it as my phone ringtone! This was my most favorite show ever growing up and my childhood dream was to be a book reviewer on the show, lol.
How about you? Whatcha listening to?
Open Thread
Hosted by Mumm-Ra.
This week's open threads have been brought to you by cartoon villains.
The Virtual Pub Is Open
[Explanations: lol your fat. pathetic anger bread. hey your gay.]
TFIF, Shakers!
Belly up to the bar,
and name your poison!
Bonus Cute
My friend Ari's chihuahua Chico, who fell asleep halfway out of his bed.
Photo by Ari (aka Ms. A). Posted with her permission.
Chico is impossibly tiny, even for a chihuahua. He is so little that when I pet him, I can't even pet his head without accidentally petting his eyeballs when he moves around excitedly. The first time I did it, I was horrified and told Ari I'd pet his eyes, and she said, "Yeah, that happens all the time!" LOL!
(Don't worry—his eyes are fine.)
He's nine years old; Ari rescued him about five years ago. When she got him, he was poorly socialized and thus unfriendly, but Ari was patient and dedicated to his socialization, and, today, he is the sweetest little dog. He greets you excitedly when you walk in the door and is a total cuddle-buns. He loves snuggling against boobs, so I am, with my colossal rack, his totes BFF.
Because I'm so used to big dogs, everything Chico does is hilarious to me. I don't even know how something so tiny can live in the world!
I can't even deal with watching him play with Iain. "Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeco!" Iain growls at him, and Chico hops on Iain's lap and dances around excitedly, waiting for his eyeballs to be lovingly if inadvertently stroked.
Photos of the Day
I've seen all of these photos in the last 24 hours. I feel, I don't know, anxious and frustrated, though neither of those are precisely the right word, that I don't have the expertise to write about what's going on in the world right now, how to tease out what's "normal" from what isn't, and I'm not sure I'd know what to say even if I did. Anyway, I want to mark that this happening in some way; I want to document that people are struggling and succumbing and surviving. That's insufficient, I know, but it's all I've got.
A firefighter tackles a forest fire in Camacha, near Funchal, on the island of Madeira [EPA/Antonio Cotrim]
This picture taken on July 18, 2012 shows Somali women in a queue during a relief food distribution excercise at an IDP camp in Dollow, nothern Somalia. While famine was declared over in February, thousands have now fled to the Dollow region of southern Somalia, close to Ethiopia's border, a rare pocket of relative stability. However, many fear battles will intensify in coming months as African Union, Ethiopian and other pro-government troops push towards the last key bastion of the Al-Qaeda linked Shebab insurgents, the southern port city of Kismayo. [Getty Images]
Young people stand together to support themselves in anticipation of the coming bow wave from the oncoming bus, in deep water following heavy rain in Minsk, Belarus [AP/Sergei Grits]
Dry corn is pictured in a drought-distressed field near Edmond, Oklahoma, Friday, July 20, 2012. The nation's widest drought in decades is spreading. More than half of the continental U.S. is now in some stage of drought. [AP Photo]
Water flows under a collapsed bridge on the Akaishi River in Hita City, Oita prefecture on July 17, 2012. A typhoon skimmed past sodden southwestern Japan on July 18 dumping rain on an area already struggling to clean up after huge floods. [Getty Images]
Indian army personnel repair a dam damaged by flood waters at Milanmore village on the outskirts of Siliguri, northeastern India [AFP/Getty Images/Diptendu Dutta]
Rye grows on a farmer's field on July 16, 2012 near Diedersdorf, Germany. Analysts are predicting a drop in northern Germany grain production by 10-15% due to wet summer weather. Adverse weather, which many scientists attribute to global warming, is causing difficult conditions for grain farmers worldwide. [Getty Images]
Shooting at Denver Theater: Update
[Content Note: Gun violence; murder.]
My earlier post is here.
Authorities in Denver are reporting that shooter James Holmes' apartment is wired with an unknown number of explosive devices.
Police say that apartment of the suspect in an early morning movie theater shooting appears to be booby trapped with trip wires attached to plastic bottles that contain an unknown substance.There is more at the link.
Police Chief Dan Oates said the explosive devices were "pretty sophisticated."
"We could be here for days," he said.
Five buildings have been evacuated around the alleged shooter's apartment at1690 Paris St. in Aurora, and the bomb squad is preparing to send in a robot equipped with a camera, Aurora Deputy Fire Chief Chris Henderson said.
"We're not sure exactly where they connect to, but we can see several string-like contraptions," Henderson said.
Jim Yacone, special agent in charge of the Denver FBI, said they were working on "how to disarm the flammable or explosive material."
* * *
People has a profile on one of the victims, Jessica Ghawi, who was a blogger.
In the New Yorker, Adam Gopnik laments that "no one—really no one—anywhere on the political spectrum has the courage to speak out about the [destruction] of unleashed guns and what they do to American life."
Quoting Gopnik's piece, Digby adds: "We will mourn the casualties the way we mourn the deaths of those in hurricanes and tornadoes. Gun violence is now a 'natural' event in America, as unpredictable as the weather, and there's nothing we can do about it except gather together in the aftermath to help the victims. Indeed, the only enduring threat these events foretell is from those who would question a culture that deifies the gun as if it were a religious symbol rather than a lethal weapon."
Quote of the Day
"Save her. I don't care what it costs."—Arielle Tepper Madover, one of the producers of the Broadway revival of Annie, to animal trainer William Berloni, who showed her a picture of Sunny, a 2-year-old female terrier mix he subsequently rescued from a city pound in Houston, and who will star as Annie's faithful canine companion Sandy.
"The most talented animals are right there under your nose," said Berloni, who makes it a point of using shelter dogs in all his projects. "The message is: Animals in shelters are not damaged, just unfortunate."Love.
Sunny was only 24 hours away from being euthanized four months ago when Berloni spotted her photo online while conducting a nationwide search for Sandy. She had been mislabeled as male and given the name Bruno. Touched, he forwarded her photo to one of the show's producers, Arielle Tepper Madover, who wrote back, "Save her. I don't care what it costs."
"So I adopted her sight-unseen," said Berloni. "I didn't think she was a candidate for Sandy. Her description was so sweet and she looked very much like the original Sandy that we were just saving her to find her a home."
Sunny was shipped to New York and came muzzle-to-face with Berloni. "I met her and went, 'Wow, she could really be a candidate,'" he said. "She's going to be fantastic."
...Berloni, whose extensive Broadway credits include training animals for "Legally Blonde," ''Joe Turner's Come and Gone," ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," ''Awake and Sing" and "The Wizard of Oz," began working as an animal trainer when he plucked the original Sandy in "Annie" from a shelter in 1976 for $7 the day before it was to be euthanized.
He chuckles that his career has come full circle with the new "Annie" revival. "You hear of people ... being remembered for having a signature song?" he asks. "Well, I think I'm the only guy who has a signature dog."
The original Sandy, also a terrier mix, went on to play almost all 2,377 performances of "Annie" and Berloni supplied shelter dogs for all four national tours of the show, as well as the 10th, 20th and 30th anniversary productions. Sunny's understudy, Casey, was rescued from a shelter in Nashville, Tenn.
..."I always say anybody could have gone into a shelter and adopted any one of the animals that I've turned into Broadway stars the day before I did," he said. "And they would have been great dogs in someone's home. I just get the opportunity to show that they're great dogs onstage."
From left, Tony Award winning animal trainer William Berloni, Sunny, who will play the role of Sandy, and Lilla Crawford, who will play the role of Annie, in the new Broadway production of "Annie." Previews begin October 3 and opening night is November 8 at the Palace Theatre. [AP Photo/Boneau/Bryan-Brown][H/T to Shaker AC.]
Heads Up
Your grocery bill is probably about to go up. Again.
I fear the thing that will decide this election is rising food costs and increasing food insecurity. And the worst part about that possibility is that it will certainly throw the election to the guy who will endeavor to make things even worse.
Which guy is that? Both of them.
Because neither one of them has a meaningful plan to slow CO2 emissions at the rate they need to be slowed to prevent disaster.
Drill baby drill.
Today in Mitt Romney Looks at Something
Just a solid picture of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney pretending to look interested in a piece of equipment used by the working people who he believes should subsidize the high-income low-tax lifestyle enjoyed by him and his fellow moon mansionites.
Speaking of shit-tons of money: "Less than four months until Election Day, the battle for the White House already has crossed the $1 billion mark—as the presidential candidates, political parties and the two super PACs closely aligned with President Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney race to collect political cash."
Does it strike anyone else as TOTALLY FUCKING ABSURD the amount of money that is being spent on a presidential election either by people who hope to reelect someone because they think he will promote policies that help people in need of food or shelter or healthcare or education or other things money can buy, or by people who hope to elect someone because they think he will promote policies that allow them to keep more of their money?
This country. Yikes.
Daily Dose of Cute
Dudley
Matilda (and Livs, photobombing)
Olivia
Sophie
Zelda
Top Five
Here is your topic: Top Five Favorite Pieces of Music. (Classical piece, pop song, hymn, jingle, whatever.) 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.
Friday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by historians and plesiosaurs.
Recommended Reading:
Jason: Obama, Romney, and Rick Warren's Religious Test [Content note: this piece discusses Christian supremacy and religious discrimination]
Livius: Lost Silent Film with All-Native American Cast Found [Content note: This post refers to systemic racism against First Nations people.]
Renee: Brandy Should Know It's OK To Judge Chris Brown [Content note: this post addresses intra-racial violence, misogyny and DV apologia.]
Samuel: Monday 20 July 1663
Sue: A Mother of a Post on Mothers and Daughters and Superhero Comics [Content note: This post includes discussion of misogynistic tropes.]
Randy: An Answer for Alzheimer's?
Sarah: The Talbot Shrewsbury Book Goes Online
Monica: Transgender People Are Patriots Too [Content note: This post refers to anti-trans* harassment.]
Rebecca: Japanese Women Fly Coach while Men Get Business Class [Content note: this post describes gender-based discrimination.]
Peter: Eyewitness Account of Plesiosaurus
Leave your links and recommendations in comments...
Ode to Joy
Shaker JeanneMK sent this video of a flash mob, contracted by Banco Sabadell and comprised of 100 people from the Vallès Symphony Orchestra, the Lieder, Amics de l'Òpera and Coral Belles Arts choirs, performing "Ode to Joy" in Sabadell, Spain, which I am posting because it's beautiful, and, I don't know about you, but I need to gaze at something beautiful in the world right now. "Ode to Joy" is one of my favorite pieces of music, and I have a hard time hearing it any time without getting teary; this pretty much resulted in gale force blubbery.
Video Description: A bell chimes in a public square in Spain in which people are milling about. A male bassist stands in the square and begins to play. A little girl drops a coin into his hat. A female cellist joins him. As they start a duet of "Ode to Joy," people begin to gather and watch. Some people film them on their mobiles. A female bassoonist joins them. Then two male violinists show up. A group of violinists streams into the square. A man walks up and begins to conduct. Brass and percussion joins in. A group of spectators turns into a chorus. The music builds and swells. The square is full of music and spectators. Children conduct and dance. The music crescendos and reaches its dramatic conclusion, and the audience applauds.
