Here is a nice article about three people who are fighting hunger in the US. What I like about these stories, apart from the fact that they are generally uplifting and faith-restorative, is that the people featured have a deep respect for the agency and dignity of the people they're helping.
One of the best ways to empower people is to empower them. That sounds like the most obvious statement in the world, but a lot of charitable organizations have not historically been particularly interested in providing decision-making opportunities to the people they're helping.
There has been a whole lot of trying to be a savior rather than being a partner, a whole lot of behavior policing rather than listening.
That habit of many traditional charities, by the way, is a big part of why conservatives assert that a robust social safety net will "entrench dependence," or some variation thereof—because that's what old-school moralizing charities do, when they fail to empower people with choice. And when our state welfare programs get cluttered with work requirements and dictate how money can be spent, we get similar results.
Most people, given the opportunity to make decisions for themselves, will make the best decisions for themselves.
Good Morning! (Or Whatever.)
Open Thread
This week's open threads have been brought to you by doggie toys.
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!
Film Corner
There is a movie. It is called Europa. It is about a "crew of international astronauts [who] are sent on a private mission to Jupiter's fourth moon." It is coming to a theater near you in 2013. This is its trailer.
You want to see Europa now.
* * *
Video Description: Techno-y music. Thumping. Big metal thing in outer space. Not as big as the Death Star, but bigger than Space Jump pod. It rotates. It has solar panels. There are two people in it. They wear grey suits. Planet. Pod to planet. Thumping. The pod opens. Arm. A lady astronaut smiles. Planet. Thumping. A dude astronaut grimaces? Planet. Astronaut. Skipping video. FOUND FOOTAGE? FUCK YOU! NO MORE FOUND FOOTAGE MOVIES! THIS LOOKED COOL BUT IT'S JUST THE BLAIR ALIEN PROJECT! GO TO HELL!
Makes Perfect Sense
So...the new film with Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren is about how Alfred Hitchcock's wife Alma Reville, despite being his creative partner and an integral collaborator in his film-making process, was routinely and casually disappeared behind him and a towering narrative of individual genius that yet lingers to this day, and this film is called Hitchcock? Okay then.
Friday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by aluminum.
Recommended Reading:
Courtney: Story Time [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussions of funding abstinence-only sex ed and bullying.]
Spectra: 4 Powerful Documentaries about African Women Everyone Should Watch [Content Note: The descriptions of the films contain references to misogyny, classism, and sexual violence.]
Tracy: The Invisible War Exposes the Banality of Misogyny and Sexual Violence in the US Military
Samhita: Dominique Strauss-Kahn to Settle out of Court with Nafissitou Diallo [Content Note: Sexual violence.]
Jorge: Study Finds Negative Portrayals of Muslims Get More Media Attention
Atrios: The Only Votes That Matter
Brian: Elizabeth Warren and Otis [Content Note: Pet loss.]
Letters of Note: With Deepest Sympathy, Fido
Leave your links and recommendations in comments...
Attack at Casper College
[Content note: mass shooting, deaths]
There are reports of a shooting at Casper College in Wyoming. Although information is still unclear, recent reports indicate that three people have died as a result. It is being reported as a bow-and-arrow attack. According to updates from the college's Facebook page, a lockdown has been lifted, but personnel not involved with the attack have been encouraged to go home and counselors are available for those who need them.My thoughts and sympathies are with the family and friends of the deceased, as well as with the campus community who are dealing with this horrible situation.
Please feel free to use the comments as a place for discussion, taking care with content notes and other measures to maintain this as a safe space.
Update: The local newspaper has an update here which confirms the attacker is among the deceased. (h/t Shaker Teaspoon, in comments.)
The Parks and Rec Open Thread
Eagleton! *shakes fist*
(Spoilers are frolicking in pocket parks herein.)
This was a weird episode for me, because I didn't love the whole park arc, AND I never love the episodes where everyone is all split up. (Plus, I just didn't buy that Leslie wouldn't have found a way to be part of Tom's store launch.) But that said, there were a lot of funny lines, it gave me one of my biggest laughs from any episode ever (I'll come back to that), and I loved some of the sweet, subtle peeks into relationships between characters: April gently nudging Andy forward; the gang raising money for Tom; Ron helping out Chris by teaching him woodworking. So: MIXED BAG!
(But a mixed bag from Parks & Rec is still about a million times better than pretty much any other show on TV, lol.)
Here are other things!
"Your show last week on dolphin lactation was just riveting radio." "Worm Park. I'm Guilty." "Much like women in '90s stand-up comedy routines, Tommy be shoppin'. … So if you see a 14-year-old kid wearing a Louis Vuitton cravat, you know who to thank: Me. And Louis Vuitton—for making some dope-ass cravats." "Chris gave me this great job as a weekend security guard at City Hall. Only one problem: It's a terrible job." "Leslie, look what Reston commissioned from the balloon artisan—it's us!" "Say what you want about Pawneeans, but we never give up!" "We have a mural called The Many Surrenders of Pawnee." "I think what's important is that we all had a goal, and we achieved it." "So you like the place?" "Oh no. It's quite terrible." "If there were more food and fewer people, this would be a perfect party." "Wow, you made those losers very happy." "I've never met two people more passionate about their hometown." "Oh, I'm actually from Minnesota." "Why do you know so much about Pawnee?" "Well, I'm in love with a woman from here—a strange, passionate, goofball of a woman." "You were in the FBI." "I hate all of this. Which probably means it's good for your business." And this, which made me laugh SO HARD (I must've watched it 12 times): "How are there palm trees here?" "Well, Eagleton lies on top of a hot spring, which creates a micro-climate zone. We are, uh, heh, truly blessed."
Amazing. Adam Scott is a national treasure.
Discuss.
Garbage Treasures: Now with extra Chester A. Arthur!
As you may recall, Deeky collects and saves useless garbage like we're beyond Thunderdome and useless garbage is now a form of currency and he's a garbageaire. Then, instead of throwing it away, he throws pieces of his fancy detritus collection into an envelope and pays money to ship it to me, at which point I put them in plastic treasure chests and put them out by the curb every week to be collected by the "treasure man," who buries them at the "treasure dump" for me for safe keeping.
But not before taking a picture of the bounty so that I can post it, natch.
[Click to embiggen.]
Counter-clockwise from top left: An ad for $30/month of unlimited yoga at Charm City Yoga; three b-movie trading cards for Robots on the Run, Earthmen Land on Mars, and Lord of the Fleas, obviously; a giant magnet of Chester A. Arthur; and a burned DVD copy of the 1986 horror classic Trick or Treat, starring Marc "Skippy Handelman" Price.
There were also some Flula stickers, but I already stuck 'em on stuff.
In The News
[Content note: Homophobia, violence, rape culture]
Friday News:
A state ethics commission in Maine voted unanimously to fine the antigay National Organization for Marriage for violating campaign finance law.
DNA evidence proves Big Foot is real! Maybe.
Trans woman wins custody battle in Australia. yay!
The death penalty portion of Uganda's kill-the-gays bill may or may not still exist. It is unclear.
What is clear, however, is that Family Research Council's Tony Perkins loves the bill either way!
Romney really did believe he was going to win. (See also.)
Why I hate sports: part 2,963,630.
African lions may now deserve protected status under the Endangered Species Act.
Quote of the Day
"On Election Day, The Boston Globe reported, Logan International Airport in Boston was running short of parking spaces. Not for cars—for private jets. Big donors were flooding into the city to attend Mitt Romney's victory party. They were, it turned out, misinformed about political reality. But the disappointed plutocrats weren't wrong about who was on their side. This was very much an election pitting the interests of the very rich against those of the middle class and the poor. ... So keep your eyes open as the fiscal game of chicken continues. It's an uncomfortable but real truth that we are not all in this together; America's top-down class warriors lost big in the election, but now they're trying to use the pretense of concern about the deficit to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Let's not let them pull it off."—Paul Krugman.
The Puppy Room!
For many university students, faculty, and staff, it's the Most Not-Wonderful Time of the Year: Finals! This year, Dalhousie University has a solution: the Puppy Room.
Dalhousie University in Halifax is turning to some big, slobbery experts to help students deal with the stress of upcoming exams.The student union is opening a Puppy Room on Tuesday where students can hang out with several dogs, including Roc, a St. Bernard who happens to be a therapy dog.
"They can come in and sit down, they can pat the dogs, talk to the dogs," said his owner, Mark Grant. "That's our hope – that the dogs will bring as much comfort to the individuals that we're going to meet as the individuals will bring to the dogs."
Roc will be joined by other dogs, including a Dalmatian and a golden retriever.
"A lot of the folks that we're going to have the pleasure of seeing probably have dogs back home. They miss their dogs, and just want to hug a dog," said Grant.
I hereby decree that all schools and workplaces should have a Puppy Room. Universe: make it so!
(Until we get that thing going, though, here is a virtual version. No final exams required.)
The Whistling Puppy!
Food-Seeking Counter-Jumping Beagle!
Tap-Dancing Corgi!
An Extremely Excited Basset!
The Great Beagle Escape!
Submitted Without Comment
A new study that found a higher prevalence of diabetes in countries with a high level of fructose corn syrup in their food supplies came under attack before it was even released Monday, highlighting the rising controversy over sweeteners and the role they play in the nation's health.Related Reading: Well, Well, Well.
The study found that type 2 diabetes occurred 20 percent more often in countries where high-fructose corn syrup was in common use, compared with countries where it was rarely — or never — added to food.
The study's authors reached their conclusion by evaluating existing statistics on body mass index, diabetes rates and global food consumption. But the correlation increased after adjustments were made for country level differences in body mass, population and gross domestic product.
"We're not saying that high-fructose corn syrup causes diabetes or that it is the only factor or even the only dietary factor with a relation to diabetes," said Dr. Michael I. Goran, a professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and an author of the study. "But it does support a growing body of evidence linking high-fructose corn syrup and diabetes." [Link]
BFF! LYLAS! HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!
Zeke Miller at BuzzFeed: White House: Obama and Romney "Pledged to Stay in Touch."
President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney "pledged to stay in touch," after a lunch meeting today, according to the White House.According to my sources, President Obama then signed Mitt Romney's yearbook: "It was great meeting you in English class this year!" Mitt Romney reportedly signed the crease in the front cover of the President's yearbook: "Hey Barry I wanted 2 B the 1st 2 sign ur crack!"
According to a read-out of the meeting, Romney congratulated the president on his victory and wished him well in the coming four years.
"The focus of their discussion was on America's leadership in the world and the importance of maintaining that leadership position in the future," the administration statement said. "They pledged to stay in touch."
In his news conference after winning reelection, Obama said he looked forward to sitting down with Romney because "there are certain aspects of Governor Romney's record and his ideas that I think could be very helpful."Like, you know, if President Obama ever feels like he needs to throw a golf game, because Mitt Romney's the biggest loser he knows and obviously has great ideas about losing.
Fiscal Cliffery: The Latest
Well, the Obama administration's opening salvo in Fiscal Cliff talks (insert my repeated objection to this bullshit premise here) was a pretty significant departure from the crap they were agreeing to a year ago. To put it bluntly: This is good stuff.
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner presented the House speaker, John A. Boehner, a detailed proposal on Thursday to avert the year-end fiscal crisis with $1.6 trillion in tax increases over 10 years, $50 billion in immediate stimulus spending, home mortgage refinancing and a permanent end to Congressional control over statutory borrowing limits.BOOM.
The proposal, loaded with Democratic priorities and short on detailed spending cuts, met strong Republican resistance. In exchange for locking in the $1.6 trillion in added revenues, President Obama embraced the goal of finding $400 billion in savings from Medicare and other social programs to be worked out next year, with no guarantees.
...Amy Brundage, a White House spokeswoman, said: "Right now, the only thing preventing us from reaching a deal that averts the fiscal cliff and avoids a tax hike on 98 percent of Americans is the refusal of Congressional Republicans to ask the very wealthiest individuals to pay higher tax rates. The president has already signed into law over $1 trillion in spending cuts and we remain willing to do tough things to compromise, and it’s time for Republicans in Washington to join the chorus of other voices — from the business community to middle-class Americans across the country — who support a balanced approach that asks more from the wealthiest Americans."
That's a pretty strong play—in policy and rhetoric—from the Obama administration. (These ARE the Democrats we've been looking for!) David Dayen has more on the details of what he quite rightly calls the administration's "aggressive opening bid" here.
Two observations:
1. It appears that maybe Team Obama has at long last given up the fantasy of bipartisan compromise with the Republicans. Or at least the notion that bipartisan compromise can be reached by concession as a starting position. I hope this signals a change for the rest of the President's second term; it would be a huge relief.
2. It appears that maybe Team Obama is willing to embrace its legit electoral mandate. Elections matter.
So: How did the Garbage Obstructionist Party react to this bid? Ha ha guess! Go on! I bet you won't need more than ONE GUESS!
USA Today: GOP Calls White House Cliff Offer a Non-Starter.
The Weekly Standard: McConnell 'Burst Into Laughter' as Geithner Outlined Obama's Plan.
The Hill: Boehner Rejects Obama's Opening Bid.
Et cetera.
Republicans might do well to heed public polling which has found: "If the two sides fail to find common ground on reducing the deficit, 53% said congressional Republicans will be to blame while 29% said the responsibility falls on President Barack Obama."
If only voters were as stupid as Republicans think they are!
Anyway. This is good news for now, but Scott Lemieux wisely notes: "This first bid is encouraging, but until there's an actual deal skepticism and political pressure from the left are very much in order." It would not be a terrible idea to submit some encouraging and grateful words here to let the administration know that their progressive base wants them to stick with an aggressive approach and framing that puts the onus on the Republicans to compromise.
