Doesn't that title just imbue dread? Fear not! This is A Good Thing™!
luceo non uro
Yesterday I got my first tattoo! I've been wanting one for years upon years but the timing was never quite right in the past. I've always liked tattoos, in general; the body as a canvass is such a beautiful concept.
As far as my tattoo, it says (in Latin): luceo non uro. Which means: I shine, not burn.
The color will lighten just a bit to resemble the deep, rich color of henna. I was really anxious about the pain aspect but I was so surprised to find that, for me, it barely hurt. It was uncomfortable but actual pain was very, very little.
So, if you've read the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, you probably recognized it right off. They are some of my absolute favorite books and the Clan Mackenzie motto (which it is in real life, as well) struck a chord with me the first time I read it a few years ago. So my tattoo is, in part, a literary reference to the books I love so very much. I've also adopted the saying as a sort of my own personal motto. As for the timing now, I'm leaving Oregon here in about four weeks and this was, in part, a way of taking my adopted home with me.
While the reprobates and miscreants known as the Republican Congressional delegation obsess about Ben Gazzara's tax returns or whatever, rotating between cable news shows who devotedly indulge their alarmist declarations about impeachable offenses worse than Watergate, daily life at Gitmo continues to degenerate.
Detainees on hunger strikes continue to be force-fed against their wills during their endless detentions without charge or trial, and the young guards tasked with maintaining the prison must navigate verbal and physical abuse as part of their jobs. (And I suspect the abuse goes both ways, in many cases, though of course that won't be reported.) The guards have no influence over the policy that keeps the detainees in this garbage hell prison, but they are the only representatives of the government who has condemned the detainees to whom they have access.
What the fuck are we doing? Benghazi? The IRS? Are you fucking kidding me? Get it together, D.C., for chrissakes.
Here's a hot tip, Congress: The people languishing at Gitmo don't hate us for our freedom. Some of them certainly hate us because we spend more time and energy talking about some minor-league fuck-up at an IRS outpost than we do having a serious conversation about murdering people with drones and throwing people in a dungeon for a fucking decade without any promise or glimpse of justice. And, quite frankly, I hate us for that, too.
"Touch his face. Hold his hand. Look into his eyes. Talk to him. ... Make a home so wonderful that he doesn't wanna wander."—Pat Robertson, offering some TERRIFIC advice to a woman whose husband cheated on her and asked for help on how to forgive him.
There is so much wrong with this claptrap, I hardly know where to begin.
There's no objective, universal "correct" response to infidelity. If a couple (or multiple-partner group) can work through it and stay together, good for them. If the cheated-on partner in a couple (or group) cannot get past it, for any reason, and needs to move on, best of luck on your journey. The only thing that doesn't work is stasis—existing in a suspended state of grievance and mistrust. It's not fair to anyone involved.
Also not fair? Telling a betrayed spouse that it's society's fault and her fault that her husband cheated and definitely not his fault. Making wild-ass assumptions about the nature of the cheating, and pretending that having sex "with a stripper in a hotel room ten years ago" is no biggie. Exhorting women to prioritize attendance at their (maybe existent?) kids' baseball games over their own emotional health. (As if a father couldn't attend Little League games after a divorce.) Suggesting it's possible to have a "happy family" when one of the partners is wracked with discontent over a profound betrayal. Telling that insecure and resentful and sad and hurt partner that it's her responsibility to fix everything. Good grief.
This fucking guy.
Kristi Watts, 700 Club co-host, a young black woman, reading a viewer email: Ivy writes in and says: "I've been trying to forgive my husband for cheating on me. We have gone to counseling, but I just can't seem to forgive, nor can I trust. How do you let go of the anger? How do you trust again? God says to forgive, but it's been so hard to do. I want to forgive, so we can get on with our lives."
Pat Robertson, 700 Club co-host, an old white man: So, what you do think?
Watts: Well, that's a good question. I think forgiveness can be one of the most difficult things in the whole wide world to do, and, especially when it comes to a spouse, because that's one of the ultimate betrayals.
Robertson: All right, here's the secret.
Watts: Okay.
Robertson: This is the secret: Stop talking about the cheating! He cheated on you. Well, he's a man. Okay, so, what you do is begin to focus on why you married him in the first place. On what he does good. [counts off on his fingers] Does he provide a home for you to live in? Does he provide food for you to eat? Does he provide clothes for you to wear? Uh, is he nice to the children? Do you have a happy family? Does he take the kids to sporting events? Does he go out and watch their Little League games? Um, does he share with you stuff that's going on? And, uh, is he handsome? Or is he—you know, what is he? Start focusing on those things and essentially fall in love with him all over again.
And I recommend that you reach out and touch him. Touch his face. Touch his face! Hold his hand. Look into his eyes. Talk to him. But it's you—you're praying: "Oh, God, keep me not to hate him for what he did when he was with that stripper in that hotel room ten years ago, and I'll never forgive him kind of thing, please help me." So what are you focusing on? You're focusing on the thing that makes you mad. Stop that! Start focusing on the good stuff. And—he must have something, or you wouldn'ta married him. So think about those things, and give him honor instead of trying to worry about it.
But recognize also, like it or not, males have a tendency to, uh, wander a little bit. And what you wanna do is make a home so wonderful that he doesn't wanna wander. But think of the temptations that're out there—the, the internet is filled with pornography; the, uh, magazines are filled with pictures, salacious pictures, of women. You look—anywhere you turn around, there's some solicitation to the senses to entice a man!
And so what you have to do is say: "My husband was captured. And I wanna get him free. But reach out and think of the good stuff. And then begin to thank God that you have a marriage that is together and that, you know, that you live in America and good things are happening.
56 percent of Virginia voters support same-sex marriage, up from 46 percent just two years ago.
This new anti-Monsanto app might be useful to some people.
Seven people are missing and at least six are dead after overnight tornadoes struck North Texas.
10 schools in Southern California are on lockdown after a caller threatened to go on a shooting spree at one of them.
François Sagat has announced his retirement from gay porn.
Nerd fight!: Police were called to a science fiction convention after an argument between two rival groups of fans.
There was no winner of the Powerball jackpot last night, and the prize has now grown to $475 million. That would buy a lot of vintage Star Wars action figures.
David Beckham has announced his retirement from football: "I'm thankful to PSG for giving me the opportunity to continue but I feel now is the right time to finish my career, playing at the highest level." Becks and his current club, Paris Saint-Germain, just won the French title, so he's going out on a high note.
I am not a huge sports fan, although football is one of the few sports I enjoy. But I have long been a Becks fan as much, if not more, because of what he does off the pitch as what he is capable of doing on it.
Anyway. In his honor, let us (re)watch Surprise Becks, still one of my favorite things in the history of things.
Text Onscreen: adidas presents
Image of a photobooth labeled "Great Britain #takethestage".
Text Onscreen: We invited a bunch of people to take the stage and support Team GB."
Cut to a group of three football fans, two black women and a black man, doing a footie chant while taking pictures in the booth. Suddenly their expressions turn to surprise.
Text Onscreen: We also invited someone else...
Cut to two black young men in the photo booth; David Beckham peeks his head into the booth and they react with shock and delight. Becks laughs.
Cut to a montage of Becks taking pictures and grinning with lots of different groups of people, who are all surprised and grinning. He genuinely looks like he's having fun, throwing his arms around their shoulders and posing for pictures with them in the booth. He hugs people and lets women and men kiss his cheeks. He shakes their hands and says, "Nice to meet ya." With a group of two white men holding props, he is offered a prop microphone. "I've got the rubber duck!" he says, holding up a Union Jacked rubber ducky. He surprised a young white woman and asks, "Can I get in?" She squeals, "Yes!" and waves him into the booth. He hugs a little white boy who is weeping with being overwhelmed. "Should we do some pictures?" Becks asks him.
Cut to people who've had their pictures taken with Becks leaving in an elevator. They are all excited. "Best thing ever!" enthuses a black woman. "That was wonderful!" says a white woman. "Wow," whispers a black man. The little boy wipes his tears.
Text Onscreen: #takethestage / adidas / official sportswear partner of the 2012 London Olympics
Thanks for letting us watch you play, Becks.
[H/T to Jess. Note: I am not saying that David Beckham is perfect! I am sure he has all kinds of human flaws, like unexamined privilege or forgetting to put his stinky socks in the hamper! I am just saying he's PRETTY GREAT!]
Last week, I wrote about the expulsion and arrest of Kiera Wilmot, the 16-year-old Florida high school student who was arrested and charged with possession/discharge of a weapon on school property and discharging a destructive device after mixing chemicals in an unauthorized science experiment that caused a small explosion in which no one was hurt.
The overzealous prosecutor, who became the subject of a national campaign of urging to back the fuck off, has now dropped the charges against Wilmot. The office of State Attorney Jerry Hill says it extended "an offer of diversion of prosecution to the child," which "typically means a probationary-like program that allows the youngster to perform community service or meet other conditions and then avoid a criminal record." Meanwhile, the school now claims she merely "faced an expulsion," but was suspended for only ten days, although her attorney says Wilmot "is now attending classes at an alternative school."
So: Lots of backpedaling. But no apologies—at least no public apologies. I mean, gee, imagine what the consequences of that would be.
So, the President asked for the resignation of the acting IRS Commissioner last night, in what will be probably be a futile attempt to extinguish the "IRS Scandal" that conservatives are calling worse than Watergate and which consists of two dipshits in Cincinnati giving extra scrutiny to applications for charitable designations from Tea Party groups and then approving their applications, anyway.
[This first part of the full transcript is not on the video] Good afternoon, everybody. I just finished speaking with Secretary Lew and senior officials at the Treasury Department to discuss the investigation into IRS personnel who improperly screened conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status. And I look forward to taking some questions at tomorrow's press conference, but today, I wanted to make sure to get out to all of you some information about what we're doing about this, and where we go from here.
[Video starts here] I've reviewed the Treasury Department watchdog's report, and the misconduct that it uncovered is inexcusable. It's inexcusable, and Americans are right to be angry about it, and I am angry about it. I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency, but especially in the IRS, given the power that it has and the reach that it has into all of our lives. And as I said earlier, it should not matter what political stripe you're from — the fact of the matter is, is that the IRS has to operate with absolute integrity. The government generally has to conduct itself in a way that is true to the public trust. That's especially true for the IRS.
So here's what we're going to do. First, we're going to hold the responsible parties accountable. Yesterday, I directed Secretary Lew to follow up on the IG audit to see how this happened and who is responsible, and to make sure that we understand all the facts. Today, Secretary Lew took the first step by requesting and accepting the resignation of the acting commissioner of the IRS, because given the controversy surrounding this audit, it's important to institute new leadership that can help restore confidence going forward.
Second, we're going to put in place new safeguards to make sure this kind of behavior cannot happen again. And I've directed Secretary Lew to ensure the IRS begins implementing the IG's recommendations right away.
Third, we will work with Congress as it performs its oversight role. And our administration has to make sure that we are working hand in hand with Congress to get this thing fixed.
[Video ends there; the full transcript continues] Congress, Democrats and Republicans, owe it to the American people to treat that authority with the responsibility it deserves and in a way that doesn't smack of politics or partisan agendas. Because I think one thing that you've seen is, across the board, everybody believes what happened in — as reported in the IG report is an outrage. The good news is it's fixable, and it's in everyone's best interest to work together to fix it.
I'll do everything in my power to make sure nothing like this happens again by holding the responsible parties accountable, by putting in place new checks and new safeguards, and going forward, by making sure that the law is applied as it should be — in a fair and impartial way. And we're going to have to make sure that the laws are clear so that we can have confidence that they are enforced in a fair and impartial way, and that there's not too much ambiguity surrounding these laws.
So that's what I expect. That's what the American people deserve. And that's what we're going to do.
Thank you very much.
I'm still not convinced I find giving extra scrutiny to certain groups (and apparently some liberal groups got extra scrutiny, too) before approving their applications particularly scandalous, but, okay, so shitcan the people who were doing it and move the fuck on. That would be the reasonable thing to do. But, instead, conservatives, with the helpful assistance of our bored garbage media, have tried to turn this into an "impeachment-level event."
The same assholes who totes believed that President Bush had NO IDEA that someone in the goddamned White House had outed Valerie Plame, and had NO INVOLVEMENT in outing (and endangering the life of) a covert operative in order to get back at her husband for being critical of the administration, now believe that President Obama is personally aware of every action of every IRS staffer in every field office. PERFECT.
Meanwhile, it's a national scandal that some conservative groups got extra scrutiny of an application that was approved, and we're just gonna need to talk about this FOREVER to make sure it NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN, because it is AN OUTRAGE, but let's diligently ignore the national campaign of anti-choice terrorism, and the rolling back of women's basic rights of agency and bodily autonomy, and the gun violence devastating black communities, and the rising number of hate crimes against Muslims and Latin@s, and the rising number of violent hate groups who target multiple marginalized populations, and on and on and on.
Violent fucking oppression.
Where are the Republican Congressional hearings about that? Where are the presidential statements about that? No political capital in being outraged about violent fucking oppression. Not like there is in grinding the government to a halt over partisan bullshit in an IRS field office.
"Tom," said the puppy, cocking its head to one side, "you know that phrase 'you teach people how to treat you'?" And Tom said, "Uh-huh." And the puppy said, "I kind of don't like it. Sometimes, no matter how nicely I ask, there are people and puppies who treat me in ways I ask not to be treated." And Tom said, "I know what you mean. It reminds me of the conversation we had about the word 'normal.' Its application is useful only insomuch as it helps an individual person define boundaries with people in their lives who want to respect those boundaries, but when it's used as a general rule for dealing with people in general, it quickly turns into some real victim-blaming codswallop." And the puppy said, "Exactly. If someone breaches my consent, they have to be accountable for that—it's not about whether I am failing to be my own best advocate." And Tom said, "Right, puppy. All you can do is clearly define your boundaries, and remember that you don't owe anything to anyone who refuses to respect them." And the puppy said, "Thank you for always treating me kindly, Tom." And Tom said, "Thank you for always treating me kindly, puppy." And then someone hushed them, because they were talking in the Abbey, and they giggled.
God, James Spader's mullet in sex, lies & videotape was fucking gorgeous.
Thank you, Al Gore, for personally inventing the technology that allows me to gaze upon James Spader's glorious 1989 sex mane ANYTIME I WANT. Love, Liss.
"If large financial institutions can break the law and accumulate millions in profits and, if they get caught, settle by paying out of those profits, they do not have much incentive to follow the law."—Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Ha ha yup.
This stuff is so muhfucking evident it's truly remarkable that she's the only one saying it.
And by "truly remarkable," obviously I mean "truly indicative of how deeply beholden to financial institutions virtually every one of our elected officials is in this farce of a representative democracy."
The top advisor to last year's Republican nominee predicted Wednesday that if Hillary Clinton runs for president in 2016, she will lose in a Democratic primary.
...Stu Stevens, the senior advisor to Mitt Romney's failed presidential bid, told reporters at a breakfast sponsored by National Review that Clinton wouldn't survive a Democratic primary.
"I would predict that if Hillary Clinton runs, she'll lose the primary," he said.
First of all, that is possible! Clinton was widely thought to be capable of strolling straight from the announcement of her candidacy right to the Oval Office in 2008, but her "inevitable" presidency was derailed by a senator from Illinois named Barack Obama. There is no guarantee the same thing couldn't happen again, but I'm guessing no one is more aware of that possibility than Hillary Clinton.
A lot of privileged progressives easily get on board when I make an economic argument about how bootstraps narratives—and the associated conservative economic policies that are based on the fantasy of equal opportunity unaided by privilege—task individuals with finding solutions to systemic problems.
They intuitively understand it isn't fair to expect a person acting within a system of intersectional oppression to singlehandedly overcome systemic inequity by sheer force of will.
But many of the same privileged progressives will obstinately resist the idea that marginalizing language cannot be ripped from its history and rebranded as context-free words that exist in a void.
And yet. Admonishing marginalized people to not "give power" to words used to demean us is tasking us with an individual solution to a systemic problem. We do not give those words power. The institutional oppression of which slurs are mere currency give them power.
I have control over whether I allow slurs to harm me. I do not have control over the harm done to me by people who are empowered by those slurs. And they are empowered irrespective of my personal reaction, as long as the culture privileges their attributes and marginalizes mine.
Tara: No, You Cannot Substitute 'Sex' for 'Rape' [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of sexual violence and media language around sexual violence.]
Joanne: A Dietitian's Road to HAES [Content Note: The post at this link includes discussion of fat bias, dieting, and medical malfeasance.]
Yesterday, Dudley had to go the vet for some dental work. Greyhounds have notoriously terrible teeth, so he needed to get a deep cleaning and have any rotten teeth removed. They have to be put under anesthetic for this procedure, so I was a nervous wreck all day yesterday, waiting for the call that he was okay. He came through fine—and only had to lose two little teeth in front, which is pretty great for a greyhound about to turn 5. Yay!
When I brought him home late yesterday afternoon, he was soooooooooo stoned, lol.
"What planet am I on?"
Zelda, for all her gentle empathy when I am sick or hurting, greeted Dudley like a bulldozer at the front door upon his arrival. She figure-eighted underneath his belly around his wobbly legs, practically knocking him down, and rammed his sore jaw with her grinning head. As I tried to help an indecisive Dudley make his way to a comfy spot on the couch, Zelly ran and jumped into every space I cleared for him, spinning in circles. She could not contain herself.
Eventually, she calmed down and took position on the floor beside where Dudz finally laid down on the couch, keeping watch over her groggy brother.
"DUDLEY'S HOME! IT'S A DAY!"
These dogs. ♥
Dudley, of course, is already back to his usual self. By which I mean: Eating everything in sight between naps.
* * *
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
[Content Note: Violence; murder; medical malpractice.]
On Monday, Kermit Gosnell—the Philadelphia doctor who, despite having no certification in gynecology or obstetrics, was offering abortion services to low-income women, including illegal terminations well beyond the legal limit of 24 weeks, inducing labor in his unsanitary clinic staffed with people who had no medical training and killing viable newborns by severing their spinal cords; he also left many women maimed and several dead—was convicted of first degree murder.
Yesterday, he agreed "to serve two life sentences and waive his right to an appeal in order to avoid the possibility of being condemned to death."
I'm pleased he was convicted. What he was doing was criminal. Not just metaphorically, but literally: He was breaking the law.
Beyond that, I will simply reiterate why it is that I believe the Gosnell case does not support even narrower abortion restrictions, but rather the opposite: It is because of the increasingly limited access to safe, affordable, first-term abortion, as well as safe, affordable, late-term therapeutic abortion, that a heinous anomaly like Gosnell exists. He is an unethical opportunist who made lots of money exploiting desperate women without a better alternative.
Places like Gosnell's clinic will not be prevented by limiting abortion and contraception (including emergency contraception), but by making a full spectrum of reproductive control options more widely accessible. There is a terrible irony in the argument to limit abortion in response to his vile practice, because limiting access only ensures that clinics run by unprincipled and untrained people will proliferate.
A person who doesn't want to be pregnant will do anything zie can to not be pregnant. Including going to a charlatan in a filthy clinic. That is a reality. The only serious conversation to be had is how we address that reality in a way that preserves the safety of breathing patients.
Anything else is just rubbish. And talk of limiting access to abortion as an effective response to Gosnell-style butchery is truly the stuff of fairy tales.
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