Here is some stuff in the news today...
[Content Note: Guns; death] A thirteen-year-old boy was shot and killed Friday in Gary, Indiana, by a neighbor who became enraged that the boy laughed at him. The man and his girlfriend were tearing through the neighborhood demanding to know who'd burglarized their home, and the teenager laughed, and so the man shot him nine times. What the everloving fuck is wrong with people?
[CN: Guns; death] A second victim of Jaylen Fryberg has died: 14-year-old Gia Soriano was shot in the head by her classmate, and has succumbed to her injuries. Zoe Galasso, who died at the scene, was dating Fryberg's cousin, Andrew Fryberg, who was also shot. Jaylen reportedly targeted Zoe and Andrew because he had a crush on Zoe and was jealous that she was dating his cousin. And still we are not having a serious conversation about violent male entitlement. Or gun access.
[CN: Misogynist terrorism; abduction; sexual violence] Human Rights Watch has issued a report, "Those Terrible Weeks in Their Camp," on the abductions of hundreds of women and girls in Nigeria by Boko Haram, which includes details of their horrific treatment and recommendations for the Nigerian government and police, Boko Haram, the international community, and the International Criminal Court moving forward.
[CN: War on agency] "All four of Tennessee's major papers have spoken out to oppose Amendment 1, a dangerous anti-abortion measure that will be decided by voters this fall." GOOD.
[CN: Appropriation; racism; fat hatred] Halloween is definitely in full swing: Here, a "fat woman" is suggested as a DIY Halloween costume representing "a woman who has it all": "Whether 'having it all' means not having to choose between a cupcake or a cookie — why choose when you can have both? — or not having to choose between having a child and getting that well-deserved promotion, you can taylor this costume to represent whatever the term means to you." The fuck. And here, Howa details being interviewed by police after talking to nursing students who "dressed up in hazmat tonight for their Halloween party. Ebola Nurses, they said. ...One of our student leaders calmly addressed the two young women and explained to them how offensive their costumes were. ...We left them and after half an hour we were approached by a police officer. A police officer (Officer H.) came into the center to talk to us. He informed us that the student Nurses called the police because we 'posed as a threat' to them." Good grief.
[CN: Class warfare] "7 things the middle class can't afford anymore." Yep.
[CN: Images at link may be NSFW.] I love these paintings of naked women of all ages by artist Aleah Chapin. Naturally, she's getting a shit-ton of pushback, basically for the deeply transgressive action of publicly displaying real naked female bodies doing things other than posing as sex objects.
[CN: Guns; death] This is a real headline: "Tired, Tense: Pistorius Survives First Night of Five-Year Jail Term." (A sentence his defense team is appealing.) I really don't give a fuck if Oscar Pistorius is not enjoying jail, y'all.
[CN: Animal abuse] The ASPCA, in conjunction with the US Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina and the FBI, has rescued dozens of dogs from a dogfighting ring. Those poor dogs. They're in good hands now, at least.
And finally! Here is a really nice story about young football players being exceptionally decent human beings to each other. KIDS THESE DAYS!
In the News
Childfree 101: The Non-Parent Trap
[Content Note: Reproductive and choice policing. This piece is about women who choose to be childfree; those who are not childfree by choice may also be caught in this trap, as well as men who choose and don't choose to be childfree, but their experiences may look different.]
Here is the Non-Parent Trap in a nutshell: Prove you're happy without kids; you're a bitch if you say you're happy without kids.
One of the constant refrains to which many women who choose not to parent are continually subjected is that we can't possibly be really happy without children.
Whether it's some variation on the narrative that [cis] women's biological destiny is motherhood; or some implication that we are selfish assholes with empty lives; or some commentary about our lives being incomplete because we'll never understand the special, incandescent love of motherhood; or being straight-up told that we're not really happy, or that our happiness is a false one.
Basically, we're constantly obliged to "prove" that we are happy (or content, or satisfied, or whatever) with our decision not to parent.
But if we actually try to do that, by saying, out loud, the heretical words that we're glad we don't have children, we are immediately punished with accusations that we are judging people who do choose to parent, and/or that we hate children.
This is a game we cannot win.
And, frankly, it's a game I would prefer to be obliged not to play, and not just because it's one I can't win.
One of the reasons I chose not to parent is because I didn't want my life to be defined by parenting, so you can only imagine my reluctance to have my life defined by not parenting.
Yet I'm nonetheless routinely defined by not being a parent. And the only people allowed to draw conclusions from that fact are the people who impose this definition on me.
I can't really be happy—and, if I say that I am, I'm a monster.
Because being happy in my choice is never viewed as being a commentary on my own choice, but a judgment of theirs.
Which is why the whole frame is "happiness," instead of something more closely resembling what I (and lots of other people who chose to not parent) actually feel: I am content not to parent. I am relieved not to parent.
If a parent can imagine that I didn't want children as much as they did want children, then it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that I am just as "happy" about my choice as they are about theirs.
It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that I don't miss something I didn't want.
It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that I don't regret a choice I had and have to be very diligent to make.
And I shouldn't be obliged to play this game that I can't win. If you are so concerned about policing my reproduction, and challenging my "happiness," then don't be pissed off when I tell you that I am actually indeed perfectly happy. That my life is fucking terrific without kids, because that's the way I wanted my life to look.
[Commenting Note: Please note that I am fully aware that this is not a thing that not all parents do to people who are not parents. If your instinct is to argue "not all parents!" don't. If the shoe doesn't fit, just don't wear it.]
Jeb 2016 Ugh
"Wocka Wocka Wocka!"
Former Governor of Floria Jeb Bush, younger brother of former President George W. Bush and son of former President George H.W. Bush, is almost certainly going to run for president in 2016, and no one could be more excited about it than Dubya.
"I didn't quite finish ruineding the country, so now you can finish the job!"—Dubya.
If Jeb Bush runs, there will be lots of arguments about dynasties and nepotism, and I understand entirely why those arguments are compelling. (I made them before myself, in the past.) But the truth is, there is always a ton of privilege, of different sorts, underwriting the career of anyone who can become a nominee for US President in this day and age, and family influence is just one among many of those potential privileges.
And I think arguing that Jeb Bush shouldn't run (or win) because of his family just takes up time and space that could be used to make arguments that he shouldn't run (or win) because he supports cruel garbage policies that are bad for most of the country.
Jeb Bush is part of a party that thinks people aren't entitled to food. That's much more of a problem than the fortunate circumstances of his birth.
What Is Even Going On?
[Content Note: Illness.]
In flagrant disregard of science to pander to public alarmism, Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie have enacted Ebola policy instating mandatory quarantines. Which, of course, went very wrong very quickly.
Kaci Hickox, a nurse who just returned from volunteering in Sierra Leone, was determined to possibly have Ebola by the most absurd standard, and was forcibly quarantined in abysmal conditions: An unheated tent wearing nothing but paper scrubs. In October. In New Jersey.
Hickox said over the weekend: "This is an extreme that is really unacceptable, and I feel like my basic human rights have been violated. ...I just feel like fear is winning right now, and when fear wins, everyone loses."
After seeing the response to Hickox's treatment in New Jersey, Gov. Cuomo has relented and said New York Ebola quarantines can be spent at home. But both governors are standing by their policies, despite the fact the White House has asked them to reconsider—and despite the fact that Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top official from the National Institutes of Health who is spearheading efforts to combat Ebola, warns the quarantines could backfire:
Fauci warned Sunday the requirements that returning health workers spend 21 days in mandatory quarantine could discourage health workers from volunteering in countries devastated by the Ebola crisis.Good suggestion.
..."I don't want to be directly criticizing the decision that was made but we have to be careful that there aren't unintended consequences," Fauci said on NBC's Meet The Press. "The best way to stop this epidemic is to help the people in West Africa. We do that by sending people over there, not just from the U.S.A, but from other places. We need to treat returning people with respect."
Open Thread
Hosted by Xena: Warrior Princess.
This week's Open Threads have been brought to you by the letter X.
(And I am very proud of myself that I made it through the whole week without using "x-ray," lol.)
The Virtual Pub Is Open
[Explanations: lol your fat. pathetic anger bread. hey your gay.]
Belly up to the bar,
and be in this space together.
Quote of the Day
[Content Note: Police brutality; police militarization; violence; racism.]
"The use of heavy-duty riot gear and military-grade weapons and equipment to police largely peaceful demonstrations intimidates protesters who are practicing their right to peaceful assembly and can actually lead to an escalation in violence. Equipping officers in a manner more appropriate for a battlefield may put them in the mindset that confrontation and conflict is inevitable rather than possible, escalating tensions between protesters and police."—From an Amnesty International report released today, "On the Streets of America: Human Rights Abuses in Ferguson," which details the killing of Michael Brown and the resultant police tactics in response to protests, and makes recommendations for meaningful change directed toward the Ferguson Police Department, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Governor of Missouri, the Department of Justice, and the United States Congress.
Today in Proving the Point
[Content Note: Misogynist terrorism.]
Hey, do you think anyone has pointed out to the Gamergaters that trying to convince people you're not just a bunch of misogynist shitlords by being a bunch of misogynist shitlords isn't a very good idea? Someone should mention that to them.
(Everyone has mentioned that to them.)
Prove the point more, assholes.
Actually, don't.
Shooting at High School Outside Seattle
[Content Note: Guns; shooting; self-harm.]
There has been a shooting at Marysville-Pilchuck High School outside Seattle. Right now, there aren't a lot of details. The school is currently in lockdown, as police assess what's happened. NBC News is streaming live coverage.
The Seattle Times is reporting that the shooter "is dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to two law-enforcement sources."
Reports are that as many as seven other students may have been shot, but those reports are unconfirmed. It's still very early, and students are still being escorted out of the building.
I will continue to update as more information becomes available. Please feel welcome to share resources in comments. As always, we ask that this remains an image-free thread. Thank you.
UPDATE: The shooter has been identified as Jaylen Fryburg. Many witnesses have confirmed that he was indeed targeting a girl who had rejected him; she and Fryburg were the only fatalities at the scene. Reportedly, Fryburg also targeted his cousins.
There are some reports that a member of the cafeteria staff or a teacher might have wrestled briefly with Fryburg before he shot himself.
I will updates again as and when more details become available.
Daily Dose of Cute
Olivia Twist.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
The Friday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by leaves.
Recommended reading:
Mannion: Our Good Friend Phil
Dr. V. Pasupathi: Phil Barron
PaKou Her: [Content Note: Police brutality; racism] Ferguson, Asian America, & Performative Solidarity: Showing Up, Staying Shown
Jos: [CN: Transphobia] Trans people need more than beloved celebrity spokespeople. We need equality.
Anita: [CN: Misogynist terrorism] Media Interview Link Round up for October 2014
Kyler: [CN: Homophobia] Utah Supreme Court Lifts Stay on Gay Adoptions
BYP: [CN: Police brutality; racism; death] Autopsy: Vonderrit Myers Shot 6 Times from Behind
Digby: [CN: Classism] This Is Why People Have No Respect for Rich People
Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
[Content Note: Guns; death; terrorism] The Globe and Mail has a comprehensive compendium of information about the Ottawa attacks and immediate political responses to the attacks: "Ottawa aftermath: What we know so far."
[CN: Illness] Dallas nurse Nina Pham, who contracted Ebola after providing care for Thomas Eric Duncan, "is now virus-free and will be discharged on Friday, National Institutes of Health officials confirmed." Hooray!
[CN: Terrorism; misogyny; abduction] This is so fucking awful: "Despite Nigerian military officials announcement last week that they had negotiated with militant group Boko Haram for the release of more than 200 schoolgirls who were kidnapped in April, it appears the girls have not be brought home—and residents say more women and girls have been kidnapped since." According to residents of the Wagga community in northeast Nigeria, members of Boko Haram went "door-to-door looking for young women and girls and abducted 40 of them. Lazarus Baushe, an elder of the Wagga community, said: 'They left 1,500 naira (£5.67) and some kola nuts in each home where they seized a woman, apparently as a bride price.'" An additional 20 women and girls were abducted from Gwarta, according to witnesses.
[CN: Misogynist terrorism] Prove the point MORE: "Actress Felicia Day Opens Up about GamerGate Fears, Has Her Private Details Exposed Minutes Later."
[CN: Police brutality; racism] Levar Jones, the South Carolina man who was shot by a police officer during a traffic stop for a seatbelt violation, speaks out about the incident, saying of the officer: "I really feel he needs to be charged with something that holds felony status. That way he will have to sign the Gun [Control] Act, will no longer be able to carry a gun, will no longer be able to be a police officer." YES.
[CN: Misogyny; harassment] This report by Meagan Damore on Marvel Comics' annual "Women of Marvel" panel at New York Comic Con last weekend is amazing. Kelly Sue DeConnick, writer of Captain Marvel, asked all the women in the audience who currently or aspire to work in comics industry to stand, then told them: "Before you sit back down, take a moment and look around at each other. You need community to do this. You need the support of one another. Writers, find artists. Artists, find writers. People who do the whole ballgame yourself, you need to get out of your room every once in a while, find a friend. Making a living in any creative endeavor is difficult. The most important bit of advice that we can give you is: You need to start; you need to start now. I am 44 years old and I have two children and I don't sleep enough… So those of you who are young, especially, but those of you who are even older than me, it is not too late. But you haven't a moment to spare. You have to start making comics... Be brave. Do it. We believe in you and we are here for each other. Most importantly, we need your voices."
[CN: Fat hatred; food policing; classism; privilege] Former model Twiggy goes off on how obesity is "a tragedy," blames it on people eating fast food, and, incredibly, in the same interview, says: "Some models starve themselves but I was just a naturally skinny kid. I used to eat everything, even big bars of chocolate, but I could not put on weight." It never ceases to amaze me how someone who can't put on weight, no matter what, can't imagine that there are people who can't lose weight, no matter what. BODIES ARE DIFFERENT. This is not a difficult concept. For fuck's sake.
Madeleine Albright 2, Conan O'Brien 0.
Wow: "Science Graphic of the Week: Spectacular, Twisted Solar Eruption."
I mean: A dog who survived Hurricane Katrina is now working in the Arizona Humane Society's kitten room as a nanny dog, to help kittens become comfortable around dogs. ♥
Poor, Misunderstood Chris Christie
[Content Note: Class warfare; worker exploitation.]
Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie says everyone misunderstood him when he said he was tired of hearing about the minimum wage.
The governor, speaking at a Garden State diner, explained that most people missed his point — and he's come to accept that.Hey, Republicans—you know who would make a terrific presidential candidate? Someone who says his comments are never interpreted the way he means them. Please nominate this guy immediately.
"My comments are never almost universally interpreted the way I mean them," he said. "But that's OK. I'll be very clear. I'll say it again."
The potential GOP presidential candidate reiterated his statement that nobody's parents were hoping for their kids to earn minimum wage.
"The President wants to focus (on minimum wage) because he's a class warrior," Christie said. "What he wants to focus on is the minimum wage. I don't believe that that's what our focus should be. Our focus should be on creating better paying jobs for everyone in our country."
Anyway.
Christie says he didn't mean exactly what he said, because what he really meant was that people like President Obama who want people to earn a livable wage are waging class warfare, but people like him who want to entrench the exploitation of low-wage workers to continually enrich the already-wealthy are not waging class warfare, because up is down.
And, like most of the mendacious shitlords in his reprehensible garbage party, he pretends that the redistribution of wealth upwards is not class warfare by masking his contemptible policies behind facile rhetoric about "creating better paying jobs for everyone in our country."
But literally the only way to actually do that is by raising the minimum wage, unless he is proposing to eradicate every minimum wage job in the country.
Let me repeat myself (again): What these insufferable, vainglorious, classist captains of self-aggrandizing bullshit seem never to grasp, or possibly just acknowledge, is that if you want to live in a capitalist society that gives you the opportunity to get nasty rich, then we can't all be wealthy. And if you want to be the kind of person who doesn't pump your own gas, or make your own sandwiches, or clean your own house, or manicure your own fingernails, or drain your own dog's anal glands, or build your own car elevator, then there are going to have to be people who fill all those jobs.
And most of those professional, hard-working people will put in at least 40 hours a week, or more, and even still, many of them won't be given healthcare benefits, and many of them won't earn enough money to feed a family, and many of them won't be able to save as much as they'll need for their retirement.
People who honorably dedicate their time, energy, and talents to jobs that might not pay well are indeed entitled to something—to not work their whole lives only to find themselves poverty-stricken, or hungry, or homeless after one small (or not small) financial crisis. And if we're not going to ensure that every job comes with a livable wage, access to affordable healthcare, and retirement benefits, then we've got to provide a robust and well-funded social safety net.
I don't think that's asking for much, in exchange for a lifetime of providing service to their chosen vocation.
But Christie does. His party does. They think it is asking too much for people to be paid a livable wage and to be guaranteed healthcare and food and shelter until they die, in exchange for their labor.
(Which is to say nothing of their contempt for people who cannot provide labor, for any one of a number of reasons, not least of which is prejudice and inaccessibility.)
And then they have the unmitigated temerity to accuse advocates for a livable wage of being the ones waging class warfare, while refusing to even be honest about the fact that their "solution"—CREATE GOOD-PAYING JOBS FOR EVERYONE!—is completely incompatible with their capitalist model, which is built on the foundation of innate exploitation and the fallacy that the market fairly determines the value of labor.
Even in the most generous interpretation of what Christie's saying, at best he intends to imply that minimum wage work should only be done by teenagers or part-time workers looking for a little extra cash, not people trying to support themselves and/or their families. Which is still a totally shitty position. No one should be exploited for their labor. No one's job should be treated like it isn't a real job.
"Our focus should be on creating better paying jobs for everyone in our country" just isn't an honest or meaningful or remotely reasonable suggestion.
It's appalling that our media does not push back, hard, on this rank nonsense, by asking one entirely simple question: "But what does that actually mean, Governor?"
Doctor in NYC Tests Positive for Ebola
[Content Note: Illness.]
Dr. Craig Spencer, who recently returned from treating Ebola patients in Guinea, has tested positive for the virus. After starting to feel sluggish Tuesday, he developed a fever yesterday, and, upon reporting his symptoms, was taken by people in protective gear to Bellevue Hospital Center and placed in isolation. There, tests confirmed he had contracted the virus.
At New York Magazine, Margaret Hartmann documents what we know about Dr. Spencer and his case so far.
Dr. Spencer is one of more than 400 healthcare providers who have contracted the virus while working on the front lines of the epidemic in West Africa.
The good news is that "there is reason to be optimistic that the disease will not spread."
I hope that no one else has been exposed, and that Dr. Spencer, who has access to extremely good care from well-prepared healthcare providers, will make a quick recovery.
I also hope that Dr. Spencer having fallen ill will not discourage volunteers from traveling to West Africa to help, because health workers are desperately needed there, where there is a severe crisis.
UPDATE: In related news, the first case of Ebola has been diagnosed in Mali. Mali is the sixth West African country to report a case of the virus. The two-year-old girl, whose family had traveled from Guinea, is one of nearly 10,000 people infected with Ebola so far this year, about 4,900 of whom have died.
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker plot_thickens: What is the most recent lovely moment you experienced?
How to Celebrate Halloween for Real Jesus-Loving and History-Hating Christians, by Kirk Cameron
[Content Note: Christian Supremacy.]
Hey, remember how in his new movie Saving Christmas, former teen TV hunk and current peddler of nonsense Kirk Cameron introduced us to the FACTS! about how Christmas doesn't have pagan roots and something something Christmas dancing? Well, he's got some FACTS! about Halloween for your faces, too:
In light of his new film "Saving Christmas," Kirk Cameron is also speaking out on Halloween celebrations, urging Christians to participate in the holiday this year.Yep. Just like it does every year, thanks.
..."The real origins have a lot to do with All Saints Day and All Hallows Eve," the actor told The Christian Post. "If you go back to old church calendars, especially Catholic calendars, they recognize the holiday All Saints Day, with All Hallows Eve the day before, when they would remember the dead. That's all tied in to Halloween."
..."Early on, Christians would dress up in costumes as the devil, ghosts, goblins and witches precisely to make the point that those things were defeated and overthrown by the resurrected Jesus Christ," Cameron continued. "The costumes poke fun at the fact that the devil and other evils were publicly humiliated by Christ at His resurrection. That's what the Scriptures say, that He publicly humiliated the devil when He triumphed over power and principality and put them under his feet. Over time you get some pagans who want to go this is our day, high holy day of Satanic church, that this is all about death, but Christians have always known since the first century that death was defeated, that the grave was overwhelmed, that ghosts, goblins, devils are foolish has-beens who used to be in power but not anymore. That's the perspective Christians should have."
Lastly, the "Fireproof" star urged Christians to use Halloween as an opportunity to inform others about God with the biggest celebration around.
"You should have the biggest party on your block, and you should have the reason for everyone to come to your house and before anyone else's house because yours is the most fun," he told CP. "Halloween gives you a great opportunity to show how Christians celebrate the day that death was defeated, and you can give them Gospel tracts and tell the story of how every ghost, goblin, witch and demon was trounced the day Jesus rose from the grave. Clearly no Christians ought to be glorifying death, because death was defeated, and that was the point of All Hallows Eve."
Halloween arrives on Friday, Oct. 31 this year.
If you're not familiar with the "gospel tracts" Cameron is recommending handing out on Halloween, you can explore two that my nephew got in his trick-or-treat bag one year. They're obviously terrific.
It's obvious why any person who understands FACTS! would easily see how handing out these masterpieces would definitely make your house the most fun on Halloween.
"Do you want to go to that Halloween party the McAtheistmonsters are having? Theirs is known all over town as the best Halloween shindig every year!"
"Heck no! I want to go the biggest and best party on our block, where they are handing out gospel tracts and celebrating Jesus rising from the grave!"
"Graves are very Halloweeny—but isn't Easter about Jesus rising from the grave already?"
"Yes, but SO IS HALLOWEEN! Learn your FACTS!"
Kirk Cameron's history of Christianity reminds me of the dad in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, who can tell you how the root of any word is Greek, including kimono. Give Kirk Cameron a holiday or tradition, and he can tell you how Christians invented it!
Given the success of prosperity gospel, it was only a matter of time before consumerist gospel: You are rich (or not!) because god loves you (or not!), and now you need to go spend all your money buying lots of shit from Walgreens! Just like Jesus instructed! FACTS!
[H/T to Amy McCarthy, who is the worst foolish goblin has-been.]
