[C]alls for a reversal of the destructive turn toward austerity are still having a hard time getting through. Partly that reflects vested interests, for austerity policies serve the interests of wealthy creditors; partly it reflects the unwillingness of influential people to admit being wrong. But there is, I believe, a further obstacle to change: widespread, deep-seated cynicism about the ability of democratic governments, once engaged in stimulus, to change course in the future.—Paul Krugman, being smart. Again.
So now seems like a good time to point out that this cynicism, which sounds realistic and worldly-wise, is actually sheer fantasy. Ending stimulus has never been a problem — in fact, the historical record shows that it almost always ends too soon. And in America, at least, we have a pretty good record for behaving in a fiscally responsible fashion, with one exception — namely, the fiscal irresponsibility that prevails when, and only when, hard-line conservatives are in power.
...[I]f you look at United States history since World War II, you find that of the 10 presidents who preceded Barack Obama, seven left office with a debt ratio lower than when they came in. Who were the three exceptions? Ronald Reagan and the two George Bushes. So debt increases that didn't arise either from war or from extraordinary financial crisis are entirely associated with hard-line conservative governments.
And there's a reason for that association: U.S. conservatives have long followed a strategy of "starving the beast," slashing taxes so as to deprive the government of the revenue it needs to pay for popular programs.
The funny thing is that right now these same hard-line conservatives declare that we must not run deficits in times of economic crisis. Why? Because, they say, politicians won't do the right thing and pay down the debt in good times. And who are these irresponsible politicians they're talking about? Why, themselves.
Quote of the Day
On Kiera Wilmot and Consequences
[Content Note: Racism; guns.]
Last week, 16-year-old Florida high school student Kiera Wilmot was arrested and charged with [video begins to play automatically at link] possession/discharge of a weapon on school property and discharging a destructive device after "mixing household chemicals in a tiny 8-ounce water bottle, causing the top to pop off, followed by billowing smoke in an small explosion." No one was hurt. Wilmot, an honors student student who has never been in trouble, was expelled.
There are a lot of problems with the way this case has been handled, not least of which, as Rania Khalek notes here, is that Wilmot, a black girl, has been charged with two felonies for a failed science experiment in which no one was harmed, while 13-year-old Taylor Richardson, a white boy, has not been charged by the same prosecutor for the accidental killing of his 10-year-old brother with a BB gun. Writes Khalek: "I agree with [Assistant State Attorney Tammy Glotfelty's] choice not to prosecute Taylor Richardson for what was clearly an accident. But her decision is telling when compared with the harsh treatment dished out to Kiera Wilmot, whose misguided science experiment caused no harm or damage to anyone or anything."
Amidst significant criticism for its decision to expel Wilmot, who was immediately forthcoming about what had happened, the Polk County School administration released a statement justifying the expulsion:
Anytime a student makes a bad choice it is disappointing to us. Unfortunately, the incident that occurred at Bartow High School yesterday was a serious breach of conduct. In order to maintain a safe and orderly learning environment, we simply must uphold our code of conduct rules. We urge our parents to join us in conveying the message that there are consequences to actions. We will not compromise the safety and security of our students and staff.There are consequences to actions. Indeed. Let's talk about that. Specifically, let's talk about how no one seems especially concerned about the consequences of how Wilmot is being treated by her school and the prosecutor, who seem Very Concerned about the consequences of Wilmot's actions and not so concerned about the consequences of their own.
Wilmot's life has been thrown into utter disarray, and the long-term effects of expelling and charging her are a giant question mark—but it is a certainty that, should Wilmot be prosecuted as currently planned, the consequences to her life for a mistake, for an act that was not intended to harm and harmed no one, will be disproportionate to the act.
Wilmot's family's lives have been thrown into utter disarray, including the life of her twin sister, still attending the same school. "Someone asked her about it in class and she started crying and ran out." Consequences.
Her friends are in disbelief. Her classmates have not been made to feel safer, but now see that their lives can be ruined after one mistake. Consequences.
There are messages being conveyed about the value of a black girl doing science. Consequences.
These are consequences with which we're not meant to concern ourselves. Instead we are meant to shrug with resignation at the necessity of a "zero tolerance policy," which is the abdication of responsibility to engage critical thinking about context and consider nuance. The defense of "zero tolerance policies" with this line of bullshit about how tough decisions have to be made is an absurd façade. They are frequently, as in this case, a justification for cowardice to avoid making wise decisions that are harder to defend.
It is eminently reasonable that the school doesn't want kids doing potentially dangerous science experiments unsupervised on campus—but there is absolutely no reason why, given Wilmot's personal history and the fact that no one was harmed, there could not have been a conversation about consequences instead of sacrificing Wilmot's future.
Following Wilmot's experiment, the school could have held an assembly to talk about: 1. What happened; 2. How unsupervised chemical mixing can result in explosions that could potentially hurt someone; 3. How lucky we all are that no one got hurt; and 4. Moving forward, here are what the specific consequences will be if you engage in potentially dangerous science experiments, which is something we never anticipated until now, but, hey, we're all learning here together, so let's all move forward with a new understanding.
Of course, that would convey to young people in a school that they have the capacity to learn, no less that they have agency and can be trusted. Can't have that. Whatever would the consequences be?!
Support Kiera:
Change.org: State Attorney Jerry Hill: Drop charges against Kiera Wilmot.
ACLU: To Bartow Police Department and Polk County School Adminstrators: Please reinstate Kiera Wilmot as a student at Polk County School and drop all criminal charges against her immediately.
We're Back!
Welp, there was A LOT of news while we took a break, but I hope we can all agree that the most important news story of the last week is that Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, and Larry the Cable Guy are building a Blue Collar Comedy Tour theme park. That sounds PERFECT, and let's all get married there.
Also something about Syria using chemical weapons and Israel bombing Syria? Yiiiiiiikes. That doesn't sound good! But I'm sure the international war machine knows what it's doing! Everyone involved always makes the best decisions, for sure.
Maude help us all.
Happy Birthday, Spudsy!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
You like to sit in the dark eating braunschweiger
while watching bad mooooooovieeeeees…
And OMG Shoez I do, too!
I love you, Spudsy.
Thank you for being a friend.
Open Thread
Hosted by a jellyfish.
Since the last Open Thread was starting to get a little long, I figured I'd open a fresh one. Enjoy!
Quick Note on Elementary
[Content Note: Fat hatred.]
I just got around to watching the latest episode of Elementary, and there will be a full discussion thread about it upon my return, but I didn't want to leave it a full week without any comment at all. So I wanted to give everyone a heads-up that I just sent a series of tweets to the writers of Elementary, requesting greater sensitivity regarding fat characters, in case anyone wants to retweet them or add your voice to the conversation.
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!
Blog Note
I'm taking a holiday next week—nothing fancy, just a staycation to recharge my batteries and engage in some self-care, because I'm burned out like a used match.
There will be a Virtual Pub tonight, and an Open Thread tomorrow, which will stay open throughout the week and will be moderated. If it gets unwieldy, number-of-comments-wise, during the week, I'll put up a fresh thread.
See you soon.
Tom Hardy and a Puppy Visit Sapo National Park
"Tom," said the puppy, licking its nose, "do you ever think that it's strange that we're such good friends, what with you being a human fella and me being a puppy and all?"
And Tom said, "No, puppy, I don't think it's strange. I remember my friend Liss telling me a story once about her grandmother Mil, who was a passionate jigsaw-puzzler, with hundreds of the things crookedly lining overstuffed shelves in her cellar. Mil always kept a card table with a semi-completed puzzle on its top which she would carry from room to room, so she could do her puzzles while cooking dinner, and later while watching re-runs of Fawlty Towers. Sometimes her puzzles would have an extra piece that didn't go anywhere; the puzzle would be done, but there would be this one odd piece. It was almost always a middle piece, instead of an edge, so it wasn't until the puzzle was complete that the odd piece out revealed itself. Mil kept these odd pieces, throwing them all into an old canister, as if one day, perhaps, they'd all make a puzzle of their own."
Tom continued: "When Liss was maybe six, she tried putting all of her grandmother's odd puzzle pieces together. Mil told her: 'If you stick those together, they might not come apart, because they weren't designed to fit.' And Mil was right. They were tough to connect together, but even tougher to break apart. I think some people and puppies are like that. Odd pieces. Struggling a bit with making connections, which can be brutal—watching the beauty of connection lay itself across the faces of people to whom it comes so easily, over and over, and always just out of your reach. But once we connect, in our odd way, we stick."
And the puppy said, "I like being an odd piece. I'm glad you're an odd piece, too, Tom."
And Tom said, "So am I, puppy."
President Obama at Planned Parenthood
This morning, President Obama spoke at the 2013 Planned Parenthood National Conference. He was originally slated to give the keynote address last night, but he had to travel to Texas for the West, TX, memorial and the opening of the George W. Bush Presidential Library, so he spoke instead this morning. Below is the video of his address, and a full transcript of PP President Cecile Richards' introduction (done by me) and a transcript of the President's speech (provided by the White House) is below the fold.
I have the usual quibbles with exclusive and/or reductive language (which we can all discuss in comments), but, listen, I am super grateful the President did this. The timing was not great (not his fault), and it's too bad this won't get more attention.
I still hope, fervently, that he will give a national address on reproductive rights. Women and other people with uteri are half of this nation. We deserve dedicated time.
Discussion Thread: Favorite School Subjects
I was just catching up with an old friend on the phone, who was filling me in on what his kids are up to at school, and what they're studying, and it put me in mind of some of my favorite classes when I was their age.
What were your favorite classes and/or subjects at school? (Or in whatever environment in which you learned, if it was not a traditional school setting.) Are your favorite subjects related to what you're doing today, either professionally or as an active hobby/interest?
Daily Dose of Cute
Livsy, furry little bowling ball, asleep in her bed.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
Friday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by owls.
Recommended Reading:
Esther: Boston Magazine's Heart-Shaped Shoes: The Story Behind the Beautiful Cover [Content Note: The post at this link contains discussion of the terrorist attack in Boston.]
Erik: Workplace Safety and the Gilded Age Theory of Risk [Content Note: The post at this link contains discussion of the building collapse in Bangladesh, worker safety, and corporate malfeasance.]
Alexis: Black Female Lawmakers Walk out of Florida House over Racial Arguments Made for Abortion Bill [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of hostility to agency, race-baiting, and racial appropriation.]
Indian Homemaker: Panchayat Orders Girl to Marry Her Rapist [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of sexual violence and rape culture, including legal marital rape and retributive rape.]
Jorge: Two Women Shot at by LAPD During Dorner Manhunt Settle for $4.2 Million [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of gun violence and police malfeasance.]
Tressie: Race and Grad School, Redux [Content Note: The post at this link contains discussion of racism and classism.]
BYP: The League of Young Voters Launch #NoGunsAllowed Campaign [Content Note: The post at this link contains discussion of gun violence.]
Brian: On Fat Suits, Privilege, and Oppression [Content Note: The post at this link contains discussion of fat bias, racial appropriation, and hunger—unavoidable and self-imposed.]
Annalee: Whitewashing? KHAAAAN! [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of racism and whitewashing.]
Trudy: On Patricia Hill Collins' observation that "African-American women's oppression has encompassed three interdependent dimensions." [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of racism, misogyny, classism, and exploitation.]
Ana: Tropes: My Wife Left Me [Content Note: The post at this link contains discussion of misogyny and gender essentialism.]
Finally: Heads-up, Atlanta Shakers! There's a grassroots fundraiser for the Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition today!
Leave your links and recommendations in comments...
Community Note
I have made some updates to the Commenting Policy. Now would be a good time for everyone to reacquaint themselves with the policy and check out the additional info.
In The News
[Content note: Homophobia, bullying]
Friday:
Nike has signed sponsorship deal with out basketball star Brittney Griner.
A One Direction pop-up store ... uhh.. popped up in Boston.
Cartoon Network will air a special commercial-free presentation of CNN's half-hour documentary The Bully Effect.
New York is introducing legislation to ban gay conversion therapy.
Related: John Paulk is still gay.
Here is some awesome: The Sachal Studios Orchestra, from Pakistan, playing a cover of Take Five.
Quote of the Day
[Content Note: Guns; threats of violence.]
"Part of me feels that this betrayal deserves a quick implementation of my 2nd amendment rights to remove a threat domestic. Because no matter how much one group says it is inevitable to start down the road to socialism it isn't as long as we use our creativity and energy to creating solutions that don't take us that way. ...We need to let those who will come in the future to represent us [know] that we are serious. The 2nd amendment means nothing unless those in power believe you would have no problem simply walking up and shooting them if they got too far out of line and stopped responding as representatives. It seems that we are unable to muster that belief in any of our representatives on a state or federal level, but we have to have something, something costly, something that they will fear that we will use if they step out of line."—Chris Nogy, the husband of Benton County Republican Party Secretary Leigh Nogy, in the April newsletter of the Benton County, Arkansas Republican Party.
To be abundantly clear, this was a Republican threatening other Republicans.
Nogy, who says his letter was "misunderstood" and whose wife says it has been "taken out of context" by the media, has since issued a clarification: "While we most likely won't try to kill them or harm their families, they should be much more certain of our response than fearful of the actions of those who will not identify themselves."
Arkansas state police investigated Nogy, but decided not to pursue criminal charges.
I say again: Let's Get This Straight: Both Sides Are Not Just as Bad.
[H/T to Shaker Brunocerous, who got it from Taegan Goddard.]
