Here is some stuff in the news today!
Federal district judge Richard J. Leon has ruled that the NSA's "program that is systematically keeping records of all Americans' phone calls most likely violates the Constitution." Ha ha ya think?! Over at Think Progress, Ian Millhiser highlights what he calls the most important paragraph in Judge Leon's decision.
National security expert Jeh Johnson will replace Janet Napolitano as Homeland Security chief.
[CN: Misogyny] Brandi Kostal, a graduate student at Logan College in Missouri, who was "two weeks away from completing her masters and doctorate-level classes when she began having medical issues with her pregnancy and required an emergency C-section," prompting the college to tell her "that its policy did not excuse pregnancy or childbirth-related absences" and fail her on the exams she couldn't take, has reached a settlement with the college. "The discrimination suit was settled last week when Logan College agreed to adopt policies for pregnant and parenting students under Title IX that excuse pregnancy-related absences, include the policy on its website and student handbook, and hold an annual training on the issue. It will also remove the F's from Kostal's transcript and allow her to complete the courses at no cost." It really shouldn't have necessitated a discrimination suit to make that happen.
About 15% of USians lacked health insurance last year, including 5 million children. Conservatives don't want to fund national health insurance for all kids, because they say people shouldn't have kids if they can't afford them, even as they pursue policies that limit reproductive choices. So fucking gross.
Mike Huckabee is launching his own publication called the "Huckabee Post" next January. Sounds terrific! I can't wait to not read it!
Science takes on the mystery of cat domestication: "Bones recently discovered in a Chinese village add weight to the idea that felines took on pest-control duties in ancient times, says researcher Fiona Marshall of Washington University in St. Louis." Look, we all know how cats got domesticated: Because they chose to domesticate themselves! And they will undomesticate themselves if they feel like it, too!
I love this story about the friendship between Elizabeth Taylor and Colin Farrell at the end of Taylor's life. I remember reading how they had become friends/companions, and it's neat to get to hear Farrell talk about it a little bit.
In the News
The Advocate's Person of the Year
[Content Note: Homophobia; war on agency.]
I guess it was so much fun when Time did it, that The Advocate decided to name Pope Francis their Person of the Year, too. Complete with cover of the Pope with "NO H8" photoshopped onto his cheek.
Last night, via text...
Deeky: OMFG the Advocate's Person of the Year.
Liss: Don't tell me it's Dan Savage.
Deeky: WORSE.
Liss: Who?!
Deeky: THE FUCKING POPE!!!!!!!
Liss: Whut. WHUT.
Deeky: I don't even.
Liss: They do realize he actually thinks gay people are going to hell for eternity, right?
Deeky: I would assume they know that but maybe not!
Liss: I mean.
Deeky: I mean. Come on. The Pope?
Liss: Like, if they wanted to be all "edgy" by nominating someone who isn't gay, literally any one of the millions of straight people who actually support gay rights wouldn't been good.
Deeky: LOLOLOL
Liss: Person of the Year: Kevin Mahoney of Rancho Cucamonga, California! He "liked" all his gay brother-in-law's supergay FB posts last year, and most of them were sincere!
Deeky: LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!
Liss: ALL THE POPE SAID ABOUT GAY STUFF WAS THE SAME SHIT GOP OPERATIVES ARE SAYING!!! DON'T BE SO BLUNT ABOUT HOW PEOPLE ARE TOTALLY GOING TO HELL, MAN! What a goddamn hero!
Deeky: Fuck me. I can't even with this pope.
Liss: EVERYONE LOVES HIM!
Deeky: Macklemore should write a song about him.
Liss: LOL! Macklemore! I could use a little MackleLESS of that guy.
Deeky: LOLOLOL I bet he was runner-up.
* * *
Did no one at The Advocate, at any point, suggest that maybe the fact they had to use the first six paragraphs of their story to explain why Edie Windsor isn't the Person of the Year might be indicative of a problem with their choice?
Edie Windsor, they explain, is merely "a powerful symbol for the many others behind the scenes," so they "couldn't possibly" have chosen her as their Person of the Year. Which, you know, might be a more compelling argument if they hadn't chosen the Pope, pretty much specifically because he is perceived to be a symbol of change within a colossal international organization that is one of the key underwriters of global homophobia.
And, in the sense that Pope Francis has marginally shifted the papal rhetoric from "hate the sin; hate the sinner" to "hate the sin; who am I to judge the sinner?", he's deserving of credit. As much as anyone should be credited for a position that still marginalizes the queer community.
But is that really enough to ignore that the Pope upheld Pope Benedict's criticism of US nuns for their support of same-sex marriage; that he still supports discrimination against women (The Advocate knows there are queer women, right?); that he values fetuses more highly than the people who carry them; that he has nothing to say about Catholic hospitals who refuse to give life-saving abortions, and refuse to dispense emergency contraception to rape victims, and refuse to allow unmarried same-sex partners to visit one another in the hospital?
Not being a total dirtbag is not supposed to be the high bar for ally work. It's the bare minimum.
Progressives' fascination with Pope Francis is mystifying. It is beyond the soft bigotry of low expectations. It is an epic failure to expect more.
* * *
Liss: Did you see the cover? They photoshopped NO H8 onto his cheek.
Deeky: I know. Because they had to FAKE his support.
Question of the Day
What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Not necessarily the thing you eat most frequently, but the thing you love most to eat to start the day. Or, if there's no "love to eat" in your life, the thing you best tolerate.
Revolving De Niro
Video Description: Jimmy Fallon and Robert De Niro bump into each other outside the front entrance of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, and say hi. De Niro walks into a revolving door, and does five revolutions through it. On the sixth, a random dude goes through the door, and, when he exits, De Niro gives him a WTF look. He does two more revolutions, then comes back out into the plaza. "The fucking door's broken," he says, and walks away.
Feminist Selfies: Doctor's Office Edition
[Content Note: Healthcare anxiety; fat shaming. Previously: Selfies; On Visibility. The following shared with Aphra_Behn's consent.]
This morning, Aphra_Behn and I coincidentally had doctor's appointments at the same time. As both of us (and others) have written, doctor's appointments can be super fraught experiences for fat women. (Which is not to suggest they aren't fraught for other people as well!) Both of us have been fat-shamed by doctors, and so even a routine trip required to access meds we both need to stay alive can be a nightmare.
So, this morning, I decided the best way to combat our mutual anxiety was to send Aphra a selfie of myself while I waited in the examination room, making a funny face. To which Aphra responded with, naturally, a selfie of herself in the exam room, making a funny face.
Hundreds of miles apart, we both chuckled, and felt a little less alone and a little less anxious.
When, a few minutes later, a nurse asked me, as usual, about whether I was watching my diet (yes) and whether I was getting exercise (yes), then followed up by telling me, "It's all about portion control, then!"—because obviously I'm eating HUGE AMOUNTS of food if I'm eating "right" and taking exercise but am STILL FAT—I just thought of Aphra's grinning visage, and I laughed and said, "Okay! Will do!"
Because one of my grrls was with me, at least in spirit, and giving me strength. Care of selfies.
We are obviously the worst feminists ever the end.
#thanksalgore
Affluenza My Ass
[Content Note: Driving while intoxicated; killing; class warfare; privilege; racism; fat hatred; violent imagery.]
Last Friday, I mentioned the case of Ethan Couch, the 16-year-old wealthy white Texas teenager who received probation after killing four people while drunk driving, because he suffers from "affluenza," i.e. being a privileged shit who's never held accountable for his actions.
First, I want to direct your attention to this piece Jessica Luther wrote about the case, because it is brilliant and please read it. It also provides a lot of good background information on the case and the double-standard in sentencing.
Second, Anderson Cooper interviewed Dr. G. Dick Miller, the defense psychologist who coined the garbage term which he presented in court as a legit defense, even though it is not a recognized mental disorder, and good fucking lord. Here is the interview in three parts:
[A full transcript will be here, when available.]
On the one hand, I agree with Dr. Miller that the worst way to deal with a lot of criminalized behavior is sending people into our terrible for-profit prison system. On the other hand, this doctor is a nightmare who refuses to acknowledge the realities of racism, class, and the colossal problem of a two-tiered justice system that offers rehabilitation only to people who can buy it. No less the part he is playing in perpetuating it.
A few other thoughts:
One: I love how his go-to example of people who suffer "affluenza" that may not be wealthy are fat people. At 0:43 in Part One: "Actually I believe that affluenza's not exclusively for the rich. I think it's for anyone, and you see it in our society in eating and all sorts of ways." And again at 5:23 in Part Two: "I think we've all done that. The people who are obese, and feed you and offer you food. That's—you got more food than you need? Let's eat it!" Sure. That's exactly the same as killing four people because you stole alcohol and then drove while intoxicated.
Two: I also love the good doctor's explanation about how this $450,000/year rehabilitation center with cooking classes, equine therapy, and yoga classes is not a luxury resort for this kid. At 6:12 in Part One: "I'm not interested in how much punishment he gets. I'm interested in taking away things that are important to him and replacing them with things that are in his best interest. And I believe that this facility, with the ratio that they have, that because they only have seven young men there, and they're isolated from women, they're isolated from their Xbox, they're isolated from television, they're isolated from all the things that they're accustomed to having." Women. One of the many things that young men are accustomed to having.
Three: He didn't intend to kill anyone! At 5:56 in Part Two: "When you use the word 'killed'—and people out in America hear that—it implies that there was some motive, that the motive was not good. You know, I think these parents, I think this kid, I think the people in my—all of my patients, about 90% of 'em, their motive is totally honorable." To which Cooper responds by asking if it is not true that Couch killed four people, and the doctor responds, "Four people died." Way to hold him accountable, Doc!
Four: This shit from Miller, in response to Cooper noting that the families of the people killed by Couch were hoping he would serve time in a juvenile prison facility, at 7:21 in Part Three: "Well, we have a system of justice in the United States where we don't take the people that have been offended and have them string you up or lynch him or whatever you want to choose to do." This white fucking guy equating this white fucking kid having to serve time in exchange for killing four people with being lynched.
Again: I don't really want anyone to serve time in the US prison system as it is. (Example. CN: Rape.) I really don't. But I also don't think that "rich white killers get probation and rehab" constitutes meaningful prison reform, either. And every single thing this doctor is saying is indicative of someone who doesn't get, and frankly doesn't seem to give a fuck about, the systemic inequalities and privileges that mean this case will entrench injustice rather than serve as some sort of clarion call to comprehensive prison reform.
Transcript Chart (12/13/2013)
[Previously.]
So it hit me today that I could probably convey these updates more clearly to ya'll WITH PICTURES. (Why did I not think of this months ago I swear I have dust where my neurons should be.) So here is a picture!
Record | Splice | Transcribe | Proof (Vol.) | Proof (Prof.) | ePubify | ePublish | Paper Layout* | Paper Publish* | |
SB5 Video | complete | complete | complete | complete | complete | not started | not started | not started | not started |
HB2 Video | complete | complete | working | working | not started | not started | not started | not started | not started |
SB1 Video | complete | complete | working | working | not started | not started | not started | not started | not started |
Citizen (1) | complete | working | working | not started | not started | not started | not started | not started | not started |
Citizen (2) | complete | working | not started | not started | not started | not started | not started | not started | not started |
This is also a good time to announce that my editor (who is an angel, a literal angel from heaven to listen to 15+ hours of this over her December holidays) has finished the proofing for SB5, which is a major milestone for this project. Like, I am so happy that I'm pretty much on the verge of bawling happy tears all over my keyboard.
If you just said to yourself, "Self, I would like to help Ana with this... but how?", then today is your lucky day because we are still very much in need of transcribers and proofers. So drop me an email and I will hook you up with work to do and I will also send you copious amounts of thankyouverymuchIcannotthankyouenough love. Because it's true. :)
Also, I realize that looking at that image, it doesn't look like a lot, but believe me it is HUGE. We are so far along, it's not even funny. Ya'll are amazing to have got us this far. Thank you. Thank you.
* Paper Publishing is very much a "stretch" goal and will probably not be feasible, but it definitely won't happen until after literally every other column is green. Maybe we'll do a Kickstarter or something.
Daily Dose of Cute
Zelda, sitting at my knee yesterday, giving me her best "Am I not cute enough to deserve a treat?" look. OF COURSE YOU ARE, ZELDA! All the treats for the good girl!
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
The Monday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by snow.
Recommended Reading:
Jamilah: Beyoncé's Surprise Album Sells 430k in Less Than 48 Hours
Crunktastic: [Content Note: Discussion of misogynist epithets, racism, choice policing] 5 Reasons I'm Here for Beyoncé, the Feminist
Lauren: [CN: Racism; violence] One Billion Rising Canada: February 14 Is Reserved for Indigenous Women
Flavia: The Language of Solidarity
Fannie: [CN: Homophobia] NOM Offended by Legal Realities
Angry Asian Man: [CN: Violence; racism; Islamophobia; xenophobia] Man Sentenced in Hate Crime Attack on Sikh Cab Driver
BYP: Parents of Trayvon Martin to Write Book about Slain Son
Trudy: No Fucks (LOL FOREVER. I love Trudy with ten million hearts.)
Leave your links and recommendations in comments...
Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime
[Content Note: There is a strobe-light effect in this video.]
Cutting Crew: "One for the Mockingbird"
Tweet of the Day
[Content Note: References to genocidal regimes and terrorists; racism.]
He seems like a neat guy.
After people took issue with his contention that the President's initiative to give millions of people access to healthcare insurance is worse than some of the worst atrocities of the last century, Senator Rucho followed up with a second tweet reading: "Those that tweeted, put your thinking caps back on: 'The PEN is mightier than the SWORD.' Edward Bulwar-Lytton, 1839. But surely you knew that."
CASE CLOSED, YOUR HONOR.
I haven't bothered to look, because I've got better things to do, like watch paint dry and stub my toe on the piano leg for the one billionth time, but I'm guessing that either Senator Rucho and/or a number of his supporters have already made it very plain that the Senator "is no racist!" That he's just criticizing this President in the same way he would criticize anyone.
Sure.
I believe that Senator Rucho, and all the rest of the members of his totes not racist party, would indeed criticize any Democratic President for health insurance reform legislation that was originally a Republican proposal and is essentially a huge corporate handout to for-profit insurance companies. And I believe this because there is ample evidence that Republicans have no goddamn integrity. So, I definitely believe that part!
What I do not believe is that this level of hyperbole, this extremist violent rhetoric, would be aimed at a white president. And then defended. Over and over and over.
In any case, Senator Rucho and the rest of the Republican Party, come to me with your criticisms of this President's expansions of the social safety net once you have a healthcare plan of your own that's even marginally more sophisticated than: "Don't have insurance? FOAD."
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today!
RIP Joan Fontaine.
RIP Peter O'Toole.
[Content Note: Terrorist threat] "Four buildings at Harvard University were evacuated and morning final exams were canceled Monday after the school said it had "unconfirmed" reports of explosives." There have been no explosions, and the university is providing updates while wisely proceeding with an "abundance of caution."
[CN: Medical malfeasance] This is a very long but very interesting article about the intersection of medicine and Big Pharma and marketing. The article uses ADHD as a case study, but it's merely one example of the potential problems with a for-profit healthcare system.
[CN: Clergy abuse; please note that video begins playing automatically at link] Five Philadelphia priests have been removed and one has been placed on leave following allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct that resulted in an investigation following a grand jury report in Feb. '11.
[CN: Misogyny] Ross Douthat wrote another terrific (not terrific) column, this time on "The Daughter Theory." Sure.
[CN: Class warfare; exploitation] Maybe there are things more important than hot sauce. Like people.
[CN: Misogyny] In news that will shock no one who pays the slightest bit of attention to the world, a study "conducted by University College London's Infectious Disease Research Network has found that U.K. female scientists working on infectious diseases are far less likely to receive grants than their male counterparts. And when they do receive funding, they get significantly less of it than their science bros."
[CN: Homophobia] Mary Bishop and Sharon Baldwin are still waiting for a hearing date nine years after filing suit to challenge Oklahoma's ban on same-sex marriage.
The NSA is considering offering whistleblower Edward Snowden amnesty in exchange for a promise to stop leaking documents.
Neat! "The detection of a primordial B-mode polarization signal in the microwave background would amount to finding the first tremors of the Big Bang."
Open Thread
This week's open threads have been brought to you by novelty ice cube trays.
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: Godzilla
You know how you were definitely just wondering the other day, "When the heck is there going to be another Godzilla movie?" because you'd just watched the Matthew Broderick Godzilla movie from 1998 on Blu-Ray and it reminded you how terrific that movie is, especially the way Godzilla keeps changing in size depending on what the plot demands her size to be? Well, guess what? You're in so much luck, because there is a new Godzilla movie coming out very soon! Just for you.
Ha ha just kidding it's FOR ALL OF US.
David Strathairn's very recognizable and pleasant voice says, to a group of folks in fatigues: "Gentlemen, you are being sent in via HALO jump."
In case you are wondering what a HALO jump is, but don't care enough to go look it up on Wikipedia yourself (and who could blame you), it's a High Altitude Low Opening parachute jump: "In the HALO technique, the parachutist opens his parachute at a low altitude after free-falling for a period of time... In typical HALO insertions, the troops are dispatched from altitudes between 15,000 feet (4,600 m) and 35,000 feet (11,000 m). ...In a typical HALO exercise, the parachutist will jump from the aircraft, free-fall for a period of time at terminal velocity, and open his parachute at a low altitude. The combination of high downward speed, minimal metal and forward air-speed serves to defeat radar as well as simply reduce the amount of time a parachute might be visible to ground observers, enabling a stealthy insertion."
So now we all know what a HALO jump is, and that it is pretty much not applicable to dealing with an angry murder-lizard, unless that angry murder-lizard comes equipped with radar or is like 12,000 feet tall. But it IS applicable to looking cool onscreen, so.
(I'm sure everyone will tell me why I am totally wrong about HALO being the best idea to fight angry murder-lizards in comments. So let me just apologize in advance for the lack of technical accuracy in my review of this garbage trailer.)
General Strathairn continues: "Now, I realize not all of you have had hands-on experience; frankly, none of us has ever faced a situation quite like this one before."
Cut to the belly of an aircraft, where a bunch of paratroopers await HALO deployment. There's a loud beep and the hatch opens. They run out in a big mass and jummmmmmmp, each of them leaving a trail of red smoke.
General Strathairn continues, over footage of the plummeting parachutists: "I would not be asking any one of you to take this leap if I did not have complete faith in your ability to succeed. Your courage will never be more needed than it is today."
We watch them plummet for fully thirty seconds. Just before they encounter the angry murder-lizard, cut to: MONTAGERY!
Tense music. Bryan Cranston goes running down a hall. Hi, Bryan Cranston! Classic scene of a kyriarchetypical military dude in combat fatigues slowly lowering his gun as his mouth drops open at the sight of something in front of him that we can't see. A commuter train is destroyed and people tumble. A pretty thin blonde white girl (Elizabeth Olsen, the Olsen who is not an Olsen twin) hugs her little brother. Confused military folks. An explosion. Jumping. Bumping. A big missile being lowered in front of a US flag. Running schoolchildren. Gasping. Hi, Juliette Binoche! So many people looking upwards with their mouths hanging open! The tense music crescendos then cuts out abruptly.
Cut to the classic monster reveal. Slo-mo. The sound of a crumbling mountain as the monster slowly turns. So much rubble. So grey. The camera pans up, and the CGI murder-lizard, barely distinguishable from the CGI smoke, lifts its heads and scream-roars. Cut to black.
Godzilla. Coming soon.
