Here is your topic, suggested by Shaker RedPandamonium: Top Five Words You Wish Were in Common Usage. 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.
Top Five
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker kaydenpat: What movie do you never get tired of watching even though you've watched it a million times?
Today in Mitt Romney Is Terrible
Team Obama's got a new campaign advert out today: "Romney Style: How to Destroy Your Campaign's Credibility in Five Easy Steps."
Text Onscreen, over image of Mitt Romney standing in front of a US flag, accompanied by wacky music: How to destroy your campaign's credibility in 5 easy steps. Romney Style. Step 1: Take an article about a company and make false claims about it.This is a pretty nifty ad, but I am confused by one thing: Mitt Romney's campaign had credibility at some point?
Clip of Romney at campaign event: I saw a story today that one of the great manufacturers in this state, Jeep, now owned by the Italians, is now thinking of moving all production to China.
Clip of MSNBC's Chris Matthews: False, what he just said there. Chrysler, which was bought by Fiat, said it's not taking any jobs from Ohioans. It's adding jobs.
Text Onscreen: Step 2: Double down by turning those false claims into a TV ad.
Clip of Romney ad: Obama sold Chrysler to Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China.
Clip of Andrea Mitchell saying the story has been discredited "by just about every fact checker," followed by quotes from fact checkers saying his claim is false.
Text Onscreen: Step 3: Ignore the fact checkers and make the same false claims in a radio ad.
Audio of radio ad reiterating false claim, followed by clip of Ron Reagan, Jr. talking about the Romney campaign being dishonest.
Text Onscreen: Step 4: Ignore denials from the company you're making false claims about.
Clip of MSNBC news report about Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne's explicit statement that "Jeep production will not be moved from the United States to China. It is inaccurate to suggest anything different."
Clip from local Toledo news about the head of Chrysler having to email employees to assure them they aren't losing their jobs.
Text Onscreen: Step 5: Get called out by the publisher of the original article you claim to be citing.
Clip of Bloomsberg News Executive Editor Al Hunt calling Romney's claims "fraudulent" and "desperate."
Text Onscreen: Mitt Romney's closing argument: A lesson in desperation.
Quote of the Day
[Content Note: Racism.]
"Energetic in body but indolent in mind, Barack Obama in his frenetic campaigning for a second term is promising to replicate his first term, although simply apologizing would be appropriate." — That is the opening sentence in George Will's latest column for the Washington Post, which should be embarrassed to publish anything written by this deceptively unassuming villain.
Energetic in body but indolent in mind. In plain English, George Will just called the African American President of the United States "athletic but lazy."
"Strong in body but not in mind" is an ugly and pervasive racist stereotype, hundreds of years old and intimately weaved into the fabric of this nation—a contemptible argument used to justify slavery, and Jim Crow laws, employment discrimination, and all manner of marginalization.
It is unfathomable how the WaPo could justify printing this straight-up racist garbage.
Contact the Washington Post ombudsman.
Radical Bodies, Radical Love
[Content Note: Fat bias; diet talk.]
The other day, Therese Lee (@thereselee) and I had an exchange on Twitter that started out on basic fat activist definitions, and segued into a fascinating conversation about loving one's radical body. I asked Therese if she would mind if I shared those tweets here, and she graciously consented. So here we go (you can also read the whole thing on Twitter here):
Therese: @shakestweetz When you use the term "in-betweener" how do you define it in the context of fat phobia?
Liss: "In-betweenie" is a common term in FA (not something I coined), generally meaning someone who straddles plus-/regular sizes. Is that what you were asking, or did I miss the point of your question...?
Therese: Yes, that's what I was asking; so if u are a size 14/16 like me; many reg stores carry up to a 14, sometimes 16 or 18.
Liss: Right. And b/c sizes vary, you might be a reg size in one brand & a plus size in another.
Therese: Is the assumption that we can enjoy some aspects of thin privilege?
Liss: Personally, I wouldn't say "enjoy thin privilege" as much as have some relative privilege compared to people fat like I am.
Therese: What's weird is that when I describe myself as fat 2 thin ppl, they immediately correct me, trying to make me feel better. As though being fat is the worst thing u could possibly be! I just see it as a description like brown hair or blue eyes.
Liss: Right! I always say fat is a neutral descriptor. I am brunette, I have blue eyes, I am fat. I once referred to myself as fat in front of one of my (also fat) aunts, who replied, "You're not fat! You're pretty!" Yikes.
Therese: Yeah, they're not mutually exclusive! Fear goes away when I take negative assoc out of the word...I feel less crazed and can more easily resist dieting!
Liss: Looking at it as a neutral descriptor also steals its ability to insult. "You're fat!" "Your observational skills are stellar!"
Therese: LOL! I'm also very muscular, & there's a lot of muscle prejudice against women too, even muscular women w/low body fat. What is it about being female, large and/or strong that seems to freak ppl out so much?
Liss: Because women aren't supposed to take up space, metaphorically or physically. Big/fat/strong women are inherently transgressive.
Therese: So we challenge the patriarchy...just by merely existing, I love it! Makes me want to eat steaks & lift weights ;-)
Liss: Exactly! How can I not love my body when it's inherently radical?
* * *
That last bit, the bit about how merely continuing to live in my fat body is radical, as long as I am living in a fat-hating culture, was, when the thought first formed itself in my head, a key moment in learning how to love my body.
My fat body is transgressive. And loving my fat body, just the way it is, refusing to hate it or try to change its aesthetics, is a political act, an act of resistance against a culture that exhorts me in every conceivable way to hate myself.
If you are fat, and you can find no other reason to love your body, love it in protest. Love it to spite the people who tell who to feel otherwise. Love it because you are radical.
[Related Reading: Big Fat Love.]
Top Five
Here is your topic, suggested by Shaker hillevi: Top Five Things Guaranteed to Bring a Smile to Your Face. 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.
Daily Dose of Cute
Sophs, last night, curled up against my leg on the chaise. She is so ridiculously adorable, I don't even know what to do with her!
But my current strategy employs lots of snuggles and treats.
In The News
[Content note: Homophobia, rape]
News and Things:
Rabbi Noson Leiter of Torah Jews for Decency is blaming Hurricane Sandy on gays, calling devastation of New York divine justice for the city's marriage equality laws. Obviously.
LGBT asylum seekers fleeing from violence, persecution and death threats are being deported from United Kingdom despite repeated pledges by the government for fair treatment.
Larry Flynt offers $1 million to Richard Mourdock if he can prove that pregnancy from rape is "something that God intended."
Former Penn State president Graham Spanier has been charged with perjury, child endangerment and obstruction of justice today in connection with the Jerry Sandusky child abuse investigation.
A court in China has sentenced a man to eight years in prison for trying to form an opposition party and for online messages criticizing the ruling Chinese Communist Party.
Día de los Muertos: Border towns honor fallen migrants on Day of the Dead.
A Fox Business reporter thinks Mars wobbles (whatever those are!) may be causing climate change on earth. Science!
Presidential candidates make a 4-year-old cry. We've all been there, kid.
Ben Gibbard, the frontman for Death Cab for Cutie, explains why he supports marriage equality.
A terrible song and a terrible movie! Atlas Shrugged Part II Movie Still Slideshow with Music by Nomad. Neat!
Discussion Thread: Election Anxiety
This election is...getting to me.
Yesterday, Shaker GoldFishy and I were discussing by email how anxious we both are about this election, how emotionally invested we both are. I wrote to him:
This election feels like a referendum on every aspect of social justice to me: Are racists going to win the day and vote out our first African American president, not on his policies but his personhood? Are homophobes going to win the day and vote against marriage equality, in some or all of the places in which civil rights have been put to a vote? Are disablists/classists going to win the day and vote for Romney in the hope of overturning Obamacare and other key parts of the social safety net? Are misogynists going to win the day and vote to deny women agency and access to reproductive healthcare? Etc.Last night, I dreamt (for what felt like the whole night, as dreams sometimes do) that it was Election Day, and I kept calling Deeky to see how the marriage equality vote was going in Maryland (and, because it was a dream, he knew), and calling GoldFishy to see how it was going in Minnesota. Up, down, up, down. The vote total kept shifting back and forth in favor and against.
I would say it keeps me up at night, but instead it invades my dreams. I dream about meeting Mitt Romney and begging him not to repeal Obamacare. I dream about meeting President Obama and begging him not to abandon talking about women's and gay rights after the election. It is fitful sleep, and even in my dreams they are not receptive to my pleas.
I woke up feeling panicked, my hands clenched into desperate fists.
As much as I can't wait for this election to be over, the day after is going to be rough, because we're not going to win the day across the board. I just hope we manage to eke out a few victories.
But then there's the day after, and the day after... This is the third presidential election and fifth national election I've now covered, and, well, I don't normally feel this anxious about an election. It's a lot of different things, but I feel like I'm holding something slippery in my hands, and it's about to slide from my grasp and fall away.
Anyway. Many of my friends are anxious about this election, too, whether because they're stressed about possible voter disenfranchisement, or reliving some fucked-up nightmare reminiscent of 2000, or just straight-up electoral losses. So I thought maybe we could all use a thread to talk about how we're feeling.
Have at it.
Another Republican Genius on Incest, Rape, and Abortion
[Content Note: War on agency; rape apologia; hostility to consent; pregnancy risks.]
Santorum. Akin. Walsh. Mourdock.
And now to this illustrious list of reprehensible no-nothings we can add Washington State Republican Congressional candidate John Koster.
[Audio care of FuseWashington.org.]There ain't enough fuck you in the world for this guy.
Text Onscreen: "1st CD Republican Candidate John Koster Discussing Rape & Abortion | Everett Fundraiser with Congressman Tom Price (R-GA)"
Questioner (Male Voice): Is there any time that you would agree with abortion?
Koster: Um... When a mother's life is in danger, I'm not going to make that decision. You know, I know they go out and— Incest is so rare, I mean, it's so rare. But, uh, the rape thing— You know, I know a woman who was raped and kept her child, gave it up for adoption. She doesn't regret it. In fact, she's a—she's a big pro-life proponent. But, on the rape thing, it's like, how does—how does putting more violence onto a woman's body and taking the life of an innocent child that's not—that's a consequence of this crime, how does that make it better? You know what I mean?
Questioner: Yeah, but she has to live with the consequence of that crime.
Koster: Well, you know. Crime has consequences. But how does it make it better by killing a child?
1. Incest is not rare. One in 6 women and one in 33 men will be victimized by sexual violence: 44% of those survivors will be younger than 18, and 34.2% of attackers of juvenile victims are family members. Those are facts. This isn't a difference of opinion. It is not imagined victimhood. These are not cooked numbers in service to an agenda. This is reality, in all its ugliness. Incest is not rare.
2. "The rape thing." What a rank pile of contemptible dogshit. I wish I could Matrix an understanding of the experience of being raped directly into Koster's skull so he could comprehend how colossally gross it is to describe it as "the rape thing."
3. A fetus is not a child.
4. A woman who becomes pregnant as the result of rape is innocent, too. It's interesting, ahem, that Koster doesn't want the "innocent child" to have to suffer consequences for rape, but is totes fine with an innocent woman—who is, in fact, an actual sentient human that experiences pain—suffering consequences for rape.
5. The great thing about a pro-choice position is that Koster's friend (who whiffs vaguely of straw) who carried to term a pregnancy resulting from rape could still make exactly the same choice if abortion were legal, accessible, affordable, and without restrictions. The terrible thing about an anti-choice position is that a woman who wanted to make a different decision could not.
6. Once again, I will observe the irony of a man who agrees it's criminal to physically force a woman to do something with her body to which she has not consented, but Moral Values to legislatively force her to do something with her body to which she has not consented.
I'm sure Koster would be outraged and horrified to be compared, even obliquely, to a rapist.
As well he should be. I am horrified to have to make the comparison.
Of course, a man who holds the position that he should be able to legislate away my bodily autonomy and supersede my consent about what happens to my body shouldn't be too goddamned surprised by the comparison.
7. A person who chooses to terminate a pregnancy is not having "violence put onto her body." On the other hand, the anti-choice position which disallows a pregnant person control over hir reproduction, which forces a person to continue a pregnancy zie does not want, is inherently violent, no matter how politely it is stated.
If anyone else suggested that I should be forced to submit my body against my will to nine months of potential discomfort and pain, and a small but real chance of death, followed by an act that might include the skin and muscle between my vagina and anus being torn open or surgical breach of my abdominal wall and uterus, I don't think we'd mince words about whether they were using violent rhetoric. But because we can couch it in the bullshit terminology of "a pro-life position," we are meant to ignore the physical costs of pregnancy, which is to say nothing of the financial costs and personal inconvenience (to put it lightly) giving birth entails even before parenting begins, including the very real possibility of missing work for an extended period or losing one's job altogether.
Cis men like Koster talk about pregnancy and birth like it's nothing. Just like they talk about sexual violence like it's nothing. And the "consequences" of both like they're nothing. They are completely divorced from the experience of living as a woman or trans man, of living with the constant risk of sexual violence, with the potential for unwanted pregnancy.
Which is a pitiful commentary on male privilege in a patriarchal culture, that a cis man can live so much of his life being wholly disconnected from such fundamental parts of the lives of people with uteri. But is also profoundly infuriating, given that it is mostly men like Koster who make decisions about our agency and lives.
8. Finally: "But how does it make it better by killing a child?" Make it better for whom, Mr. Koster? I am intractably unpersuaded that I should have even the most infinitesimal interest in making anything better for anyone other than the woman who is pregnant by a rapist.
Whatever she wants regarding her pregnancy is what I want on her behalf. And my question for you, sir, is: Who the fuck are you to want anything else?
[H/T to Shaker Cat.]
Storm Sandy Open Thread
Power is slowly rolling back on in the region. The Space Cowpokes got power back yesterday—huzzah! There are, however, still about 650,000 ConEd customers who are without power.
Con Edison said it expects to make significant progress restoring electricity over the next two days with help from additional crews from around the country arriving daily from as far away as California.There will be a lot of people working 'round the clock to restore power, and my thoughts are with the women and men who will be doing the hard work of rebuilding as well as the people who await the return of their electricity.
That is consistent with the company's earlier expectations.
On Wednesday, the company said customers in Manhattan and Brooklyn served by underground equipment should have power back within three days and said it would take at least a week to restore all of those in areas served by overhead power lines.
Below, some of what I've been reading this morning. Please feel welcome and encouraged to share links, resources, and news in comments.
The Daily Beast: Hurricane Sandy Victim Jacob Vogelman's Mother Remembers His Life.
CNN: Katrina, Joplin Survivors Offer Advice to Sandy Survivors.
AP: Superstorm Sandy: A State-by-State Look.
CBS: New York's Subways Return to Service for First Time Since Superstorm Sandy.
Reuters: New York Commuters Walk, Bike, and Fume Amid Post-Sandy Snarls.
USA Today: NYC's LaGuardia Airport Reopens after Blow from Sandy.
Reuters: Fuel Shortages, Power Outages Hamper Sandy Recovery.
ABC: Sandy's Blackout Threatens to Destroy Trove of Medical Research.
NBC: Platelet Donors in Demand after Sandy's Wrath.
c|net: iTunes Now Accepts Donations for Hurricane Sandy Relief.
USA Today: Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Billy Joel Plan Sandy Benefit.
Washington Post: In the Wake of Hurricane Sandy.
Time: McKibben on Sandy: The World's Greenest Author Talks to Time.
Chait's Cases
I don't totally agree with everything in these pieces, but they're nonetheless interesting reading. Jonathan Chait makes his case for Obama and his case against Romney:
The Case for Obama: Why He Is a Great President. Yes, Great.
The Case Against Romney: At Heart, He's a [Profoundly Mistaken] One-Percenter.
[Image via.]
Photos of the Day
There are times I really, really love him, Shakers.
Pictures via The Obama Diary, where there are more photos, including some great ones of President Obama with Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. I read somewhere yesterday, on Christie's closely working with Obama in the aftermath of the storm and Republicans' resultant shock, the observation that the GOP should take note: President Obama has always been willing to be bipartisan; he was just waiting for someone to be bipartisan back.
Anyway. I have been very impressed so far with how President Obama has responded to the storm and the devastation it caused. It's so diametrically opposed to how Bush responded during Katrina that it makes me weep to think at how different things might be in NOLA right now if their president had been Obama rather than Bush.
Photo of the Day
From the Telegraph's Pictures of the Day for 31 October 2012: This red squirrel seems to be recreating Michelangelo's painting of the creation of Adam on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel as it reaches for a walnut. Photographer Stanislav Duben, 33, took the photo of his 16 year-old-sister, Aneta, as she fed the squirrel in a park in Mlada Boleslav in the Czech Republic. [Stanislav Duben/Solent News]Look at hir little handsies! Squeeee!
SparksTV
A year ago, I brought you the exciting news that America's Sweetauthor Mr. Nicholas Sparks was going to "create a smart, unconventional show about angels on Earth" for ABC. Obviously that sounded GREAT, and I'm not sure whatever happened to that fabulous project but I hope it is in production and making fully one million dollars an episode for Mr. Nicholas Sparks. I don't know what goes on over at ABC because the only thing I watch on that network is Shark Tank, which I can't even hear over Iain screaming, "TURN THIS SHIT OFF! IT REMINDS ME OF WORK!" and the sound of my resulting laughter.
But I digress.
The point is never mind that angel show because the poet laureate of barf, Mr. Nicholas Sparks, has three new television shows in the works!
Sparks, 46, has put shows into development at three cable networks through Nicholas Sparks Productions, the shingle he started in April with his longtime literary agent Theresa Park."We're gonna need more seagulls!"—Hollywood.
...At TNT, Sparks is developing a show based on his novel A Bend in the Road with Brandon Camp, who wrote and directed the 2009 feature Love Happens. The romantic drama focuses on a sheriff who must deal with problems in a coastal Georgia town that sees its population soar during the summer tourist season. The novel centered on the relationship between the recently widowed lawman and his son's second grade teacher.
...At ABC Family, Sparks is teaming with John Norris — who co-executive produced the channel's Jane by Design — on The Falls, a modern re-imagining of Romeo and Juliet.
...And for Lifetime, Sparks has set up Deliverance Creek, a post-Civil War drama that explores the lengths one woman goes to protect her family, as she is caught between trying to be good and surviving.
Obviously those all sound like perfect television shows, which will definitely provide lots of excellent casting opportunities for the sorely under-served acting demographic of attractive young white people.
I don't know about you, but I can't WAIT to not watch all of these shows!
I Want My Home to Embrace Me
by Shaker GoldFishy
[Content Note: Homophobia.]
Next week, Minnesotans will vote on Amendment 1: Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide that only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota?
I will vote NO.
I've lived in Minnesota for 40 of my 41 years (I did a brief stint 3 miles across the border in Faro, North Dakota in the early 90's). I began coming out at the age of 15. I grew up on a farm, and now live in a small town of 5,000 people in Southeastern Minnesota. I have a life I love, and I'm grateful for it.
And yet, in my state – a place I love and am proud to call home, the home of Paul Wellstone and so many other iconic progressive and liberal people – some people are trying to use this amendment to cement my status as a second-class citizen. I doubt you'd be surprised to learn that I think that's a bad idea. We hear all the usual arguments: "Children need two different-sex parents"; "Adam & Eve, not Adam & Steve"; "Marriage is for procreation"; "We shouldn't redefine marriage"; "Let the voters decide" (don't even get me started…); "What about religious freedom?" (indeed…what about that?); etc., etc., etc., ad infinitum. SRSLY. OMG-BBQ-STFU.
I am pretty sure that I don't need to fill space on this blog explaining why all the Usual Arguments are utter garbage (and ridiculously transparent veils for bigotry). It's obvious to me that most of the "arguments" are really just facades for "I think gay sex is icky," or some variation thereof. And that's not why I'm writing.
I'm also not writing because I think it's a sure thing that we'll defeat this amendment. It's not. Polls tell us that the two sides of this issue are tied. There's also evidence that suggests polling typically underestimates anti-equality sentiment in these races.
I'm writing because I Have Hope. Yes, I really do. Even though 30 out of 30 other states have approved a constitutional amendment of this kind, I do have hope that we'll break the trend. Many of us are working so hard, and we have to do so with a hopeful heart.
I have hope that this time that Minnesota will get it right because the circumstances seem a little different:
- A sitting President has declared his personal support for marriage equality.
- Public opinion is shifting, and quite rapidly at that.
- The campaign to defeat this amendment has focused almost exclusively on building a coalition that is talking about our values, not opposing bigots. They speak in positive, forward-looking terms, and by doing so have gathered nearly 700 community groups, businesses, and faith-based organizations on the side of equality and fairness. There has been very high-profile opposition to the amendment. From outspoken (and AWESOME!) Minnesota Viking Chris Kluwe, to former (Republican) Minnesota Governor Arne Carlson, to a crews of Catholic parishioners who are making phone calls and knocking on doors, Minnesotans are being reminded that this amendment is not in line with our state's rich history of fairness for all.
- The primary strategist who pushed the measure through the state legislature (and who has since been disgraced in a widely publicized sex scandal with the state GOP's former Speaker of the House) has now (a) come out against the amendment, and (b) admitted it was a ploy to get conservatives to the polls in a crucial election year.
Next week, it'll be over. Until then, I'll be working to get out the vote and help get a few more folks to see how hurtful this amendment is. Until then, I hold tightly to my hope. If we prevail, I'll be the happiest GoldFishy around. If not…well, I just don't know. I will most certainly be hurt, and sad, and perhaps temporarily inconsolable.
Either way, I'll try to remember the amazing things done by amazing people so that maybe someday I might be an equal citizen in my home state.
