"Whazzat?"
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
Daily Dose of Cute
"Whazzat?"
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
In Things Trans* People Have Been Saying
[Content Note: Transphobia; self-harm; depression; cis gatekeeping; hostility to agency.]
Because listening to marginalized people speak about their own lived experiences is never considered good enough "evidence" on its own (although it should be), now we have a study confirming what trans* people have been saying about their own lives for many, many years:
A new study has found that when transgender young people are allowed to fully identify with their gender and take steps toward transition, it significantly improves their depression and anxiety.AND TO THE VOICES OF ALL THE MANY TRANS* PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS OVER AND OVER, while cis gatekeepers continue to deny them access to early and affordable healthcare, and continue to treat transitioning (whatever that looks like for any one individual trans* person) as some sort of "special" medical outlier, instead of the basic healthcare that any trans* person needs.
Forty-two patients participated in the study through Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego, California. Of those, 26 had depression, anxiety, and/or a history of self-harm, and 11 had other psychiatric or behavioral problems, like ADHD, Asperger's syndrome/autism spectrum disorder, and bipolar disorder. According to lead research Maja Marinkovic, many of the patients had suffered greatly from "bullying, discrimination, isolation, and lack of support or lack of insurance coverage for the necessary treatment."
Patients began puberty blockers at an average age of 12.5 years, and then hormone therapy at an average age of 16.5. Two female-to-male patients also had their breasts surgically removed at ages 16 and 18, but others wishing to do the same couldn't because their insurance plans did not cover it or they couldn't find an experienced local surgeon.
In all but two of the patients, depression, anxiety, and self-harm improved, and according to Marinkovic, none of the patients expressed regret or stopped therapy. She worries that families and school staff might not think to have a child assessed for gender dysphoria until they're already showing signs of depression or suicidal ideation. These results suggest that affirming their identities earlier could help prevent their mental health from ever deteriorating that far.
This study adds to the growing research showing that affirming transgender identities at a young age yields positive results.
Also: If you pay attention even a little to the justifications cis gatekeepers use for refusing to provide medical interventions to trans* people, you will have heard the old "oh noes what if they change their minds tho?" canard with regularly. And it's garbage. It's made-up concern trolling used to justify transphobic resentments about paying for other people's healthcare that doesn't look like healthcare the privileged population needs.
Cis gatekeepers will insist that they are genuinely concerned (of course they are) about the hypothetical straw trans* person who changes their mind and then gets all mad about being allowed to have agency. Okay. Fine. Let's take that at face value, for shits and grins. Then I have a perfect solution to that imaginary problem: Let trans* people be the gatekeepers of trans* care.
There, cis people. Now you can wash your hands of your terrible worry.
No takers? Huh.
That's just an unworkable solution, for reasons no one can articulate. Or, more honestly, won't articulate. Because it would mean admitting that withholding early and accessible and routine care is not actually about compassion for trans* people at all.
Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime
[Content Note: There is a strobe-light effect in this video.]
Dead or Alive: "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)"
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
[Content Note: Police brutality; racism] Hundreds of high school and college students and other local people rallied at the Wisconsin state capitol yesterday, seeking justice and accountability after black 19-year-old Tony Robinson was shot and killed by a Madison police officer Friday. Black Lives Matter.
This gal! That guy! Poll. According to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll of registered voters, a majority of respondents "see 2016 frontrunners Hillary Clinton (D) and former Fla. Gov. Jeb Bush (R) as a 'return to the policies of the past.' ...Fifty one percent of registered voters view Clinton's policies as retreads of the past, but she's viewed much more favorably with Democrats. Only twenty three percent hold that view, and 73 percent believe she'll provide 'new ideas for the future.' Bush's numbers aren't as strong. Sixty percent of registered voters, and 42 percent of Republicans, see his policies as leaning backwards." Welp.
[CN: War on agency] RH Reality Check, Young Invincibles, and Daily Kos have jointly launched a petition asking HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell to allow people who become pregnant to sign up for maternity care coverage outside of Obamacare's open enrollment period. "On February 20, the Department of Health and and Human Services (HHS) decided against allowing women who become pregnant to sign up for maternity care coverage outside of Obamacare's open enrollment period. Women lacking maternity coverage who become pregnant could face $23,000 in medical bills during pregnancy—and that is without complications. HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell can change this without Congress, and she should do just that." Yep.
[CN: Racist slurs; eliminationism] Today in post-racial America: "University of Oklahoma football players, head coach Bob Stoops, and athletic director Joe Castiglione were among a crowd that gathered on campus Monday to protest against racist chants from members of the university's Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity. The chants, which declared that 'there will never be a n***** in SAE' and referenced lynching—'you can hang 'em from a tree but they'll never sign with me,' the students chanted—were caught on a video that surfaced over the weekend. In what the team said was a 'captain's decision,' players, along with Stoops and other coaches, also linked arms in a protest during a scheduled spring practice time Monday afternoon." Rage. Seethe. Boil.
[CN: Attempted abduction and abuse] A ten-year-old boy in Ireland saved his sister from being abducted by a convicted sex offender: "The criminal, who was on bail for robbery, attempted to abduct the girl (12) on the side of a country road near the village of Cullahill in Laois. She was playing with her two brothers near their home when the man stopped and asked for directions to the local priest's house. He then jumped from the stolen vehicle and grabbed the girl. But her younger brother lunged through the driver's window at the would-be kidnapper punching him as the jeep began to drive away. The brave boy distracted the driver long enough so that his sister could jump from the moving vehicle." Amazing.
[CN: Fat hatred] Facebook is defending its "feeling fat" status and accompanying emoji, despite the fact that many, many, many people have spoken up to tell them that fat is not "a feeling." For fuck's sake. Get it together, Facebook.
[CN: Rape culture] Jesse Eisenberg, Bruce Willis, and Kristen Stewart are the latest assholes to sign up to star in a Woody Allen movie.
Husband and wife team Jason Da Silva, who has multiple sclerosis, and Alice Cook have created "AXSmap, a crowdsourced map to rate businesses based on how accessible they are. ...AXSmap functions as both a directory of accessible places and a way for people to leave their own reviews. Users can rate locations on a number of easy-to-understand metrics like how accessible the entryway and bathroom are, the number of steps to the front door, whether or not a place is guide dog friendly, how quiet it is, and more. All of AXSmap's rating are designed to be informative for people who have a wide variety of disabilities." Awesome. Totally awesome.
LOVE: "The Women of the Supreme Court Are Now Awesome LEGOs: Created by Maia Weinstock, these minifigures represent the first four female Supreme Court justices of the United States. Banded together under the badass name, 'Legal Justice League,' the LEGO versions of Sandra Day O'Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan work together at the legal justice library and interpret laws at the bench."
[CN: War; mines; images of rats at link] This story is absolutely spectacular: Bart Weetjens had the remarkable idea to train giant African giant pouched rats to sniff out landmines. "Though their forebears have already helped to reclaim millions of square metres of land in Angola and Mozambique—the latter of which is expected to be declared mine-free soon—this cadre of rats could find themselves deployed to Cambodia, where Apopo is working to clear up the explosive legacy of three decades of conflict. ...Not only are the animals intelligent and blessed with a sense of smell to rival that of dogs, they live for up to eight years and are—at an average weight of about a kilo—too light to set off pressure-activated anti-personnel mines." This whole story is just THE BEST!
And finally! Home Depot employees built a cart for an older dog with bone cancer. His guardian, Risa Feldman, went to the DIY store to see about having the cart built, and: "Employee Ernesto Moran said he’d think about it and give her a call. He and Coworker Justin Wadman designed a special wagon for Ike that would have a ramp to help him climb up on his own. And the best part? They did it for free. ...Feldman was overjoyed, and shared the kindness with local ABC station KABC. 'I just wanted people to know that there are still people out there who do good things, really.' She knows this will bring so much comfort to Ike. 'It's almost like a smile. His face–it lights up.'" BLUB.
Yawn
[Content Note: Misogyny.]
As you may recall, last month, original Ghostbuster Dan Aykroyd, who once played a character whose nose literally turns into a penis while eating a hotdog (#FunFacts!), said he was real appreciative that Paul Feig and some ladies are "reinvigorating" the Ghostbusters franchise and laying the groundwork for a "more conventional sequel." You know—one with men.
Well, Sony Pictures totally agrees:
Sony Pictures is broadening the Ghostbusters franchise and the first order of business will be an action-centric comedy that is a counterpart to the Paul Feig-directed film that will start production in June. The studio is simultaneously forming Ghostcorps, a new production company whose principals include original Ghostbusters architects Ivan Reitman and Dan Aykroyd; they will have offices at Sony with the mission to scare up branding opportunities based on the 1984 comedy classic.He's going to launch another Ghostbusters series. He is. The all-female reboot hasn't even been fucking made, and it's already being thrown into the dustbin, because NOW WE'VE GOT MEN.
Reitman is putting the film with a powerhouse brain trust [including] Channing Tatum and his partners Reid Carolin and Peter Kiernan, who are attached to produce. The hope is for Tatum to play one of the Ghostbusters in this film. Given his versatility and franchising success in 21 Jump Street and Magic Mike, he's a good cornerstone to launch another Ghostbusters series.
Never mind that there was zero interest in reviving this series until the all-female reboot was conceived by someone with the vision and talent to do it and the credentials to bring on an all-star female cast who trust him.
Forget those bozos. Channing Tatum is the real cornerstone of the relaunch! Jesus Christ.
This is being put together even as the studio moves to the start line with a Ghostbusters reboot that will be directed by Feig and star his Bridesmaids leads Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy, and Saturday Night Live stand outs Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon.So, here's the thing about this: Reitman and Aykroyd are now planning to flood the market with what will probably be a bunch of subpar shit, and oversaturation is death for franchises. And what that means for Paul Feig, Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Kristen Wiig is almost certainly fewer sequel opportunities for them.
..."We want to expand the Ghostbusters universe in ways that will include different films, TV shows, merchandise, all things that are part of modern filmed entertainment," Reitman told me. "This is a branded entertainment, a scary supernatural premise mixed with comedy. Paul Feig's film will be the first version of that, shooting in June to come out in July 2016. He's got four of the funniest women in the world, and there will be other surprises to come. The second film has a wonderful idea that builds on that. Drew will start writing and the hope is to be ready for the Russo Brothers' next window next summer to shoot, with the movie coming out the following year. It's just the beginning of what I hope will be a lot of wonderful movies."
You know—the people with enough current star power to have breathed life back into this project in the first place.
Reitman and Aykroyd are greedy, misogynist dirtbags, who don't think an all-female Ghostbusters is good enough, and who don't care if they shit all over the sequel potential of the women who are starring in it.
Fuck these guys.
Rand Paul Is Terrible
[Content Note: Homophobia; straight privilege.]
Last Friday, Republican Senator and presidential hopeful Rand Paul gave an interview to Bret Baier at Fox News, in which he discussed his views on same-sex marriage, which are exactly as terrible as you'd expect:
Baier: —gay rights?Insert here what could easily be a full dissertation on the comprehensive fuckery of even using the phrase "traditional marriage" as though there is a singular marriage tradition, no less defining it as simply as "between a man and a woman," as though both of those parties traditionally had equal agency in marriage agreements. Anyone who is ignorant—or cynical—enough to talk about "traditional marriage" at all, particularly in such simplistic and ahistorical terms, deserves nothing but contempt.
Paul: Well, I'm for traditional marriage. I think marriage is between a man and a woman. Ultimately, we could have fixed this a long time ago, if we just allowed contracts between adults. We didn't have to call it marriage, which offends, um, myself and a lot of people. But I think having competing contracts that would give them equivalency before the law would have solved a lot of these problems—and may be where we're still heading.
Besides that, I'm not sure which part of this I like (ahem) better: That Rand Paul can't even bring himself to say "same-sex couples" or "gay people," instead simply referring to "them" like he's got shit in his mouth; that he frames the entire debate about what "we" should or should not allow, which gives a pretty clear picture of who he thinks "we" are and who he thinks "they" are; that he's essentially proposing civil unions as a new idea, as if civil unions haven't been proposed as a solution and dismissed as separate and unequal to marriage; or that the Great Libertarian Crusader once again only to seem to have "libertarian principles" [sic] insofar as they apply to unfettered freedom for straight white cis men.
This fucking guy.
The GOP Is Ridiculous and Out of Control
[Content Note: Racism.]
Let us call this what it is: Racism. The Republican Caucus will swear from here to the moon and back again that they aren't pulling this shit because the man sitting in the Oval Office is black, but they are liars.
The fractious debate over a possible nuclear deal with Iran escalated on Monday as 47 Republican senators warned Iran about making an agreement with President Obama, and the White House accused them of undercutting foreign policy.Let us recall that the previous president, Republican George W. Bush, built his entire presidency around the unitary executive theory—the centralizing of federal power into the executive branch in defiance of the balance of powers and Congressional oversight—and the Republican Party cheered this authoritarian power grab all the way. Now that same party is trying to undercut the basic powers of the presidency, and undermine President Barack Obama's authority at every turn. That ain't just because he's a Democrat.
In a rare direct congressional intervention into diplomatic negotiations, the Republicans signed an open letter addressed to "leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran" declaring that any agreement without legislative approval could be reversed by the next president "with the stroke of a pen."
The letter appeared aimed at unraveling a framework agreement even as negotiators grew close to reaching it. Mr. Obama, working with leaders of five other world powers, argues that the pact would be the best way to keep Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb. But critics from both parties say that such a deal would be a dangerous charade that would leave Iran with the opportunity to eventually build weapons that could be used against Israel or other foes.
While the possible agreement has drawn bipartisan criticism, the letter, signed only by Republicans, underscored the increasingly party-line flavor of the clash.
But, hey, don't just listen to me.
Whether the Republican letter might undercut Iran's willingness to strike a deal was not clear. Iran reacted with scorn. "In our view, this letter has no legal value and is mostly a propaganda ploy," Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, said in a statement. "It is very interesting that while negotiations are still in progress and while no agreement has been reached, some political pressure groups are so afraid even of the prospect of an agreement that they resort to unconventional methods, unprecedented in diplomatic history."Now, of course Zarif has reasons why he wants this deal to happen, and thus reasons why it's in his own interests to categorize the letter as propaganda, but the most interesting part of his comment is that he calls the letter, rightly, "unconventional methods, unprecedented in diplomatic history."
The Republicans are trying to humiliate the President, but they are only humiliating themselves.
The Virtual Pub Is Open (+ Programming Note)
[Explanations: lol your fat. pathetic anger bread. hey your gay.]
Belly up to the bar,
and name your poison!
I have a speaking engagement this weekend, and I'm going to be traveling tomorrow and traveling home Sunday. Previously when I've had weekend speaking engagements, I just come right back to work on Monday, and then I'm a burned-out wreck, and that's when I haven't had the zombie flu for two months, lol, so I'm going to take Monday off and see you back here Tuesday. :)
Listen to Survivors
by Shaker Cafeaulait0913
[Content Note: Domestic violence; culture of abuse.]
During the Superbowl, the anti-domestic violence group No More partnered with the NFL to do a public service announcement on domestic violence:
Video Transcript: The camera shows a house, just after a fight. Things broken and out of place. The phone rings, and a masculine sounding voice answers: "911 operator, 911, where's the emergency?"The ad says to listen to what abuse victims are saying. To listen to our cries for help and to intervene. The NFL's message feels especially hollow, considering that they allegedly knew about abuse being committed by a number of their players and did nothing.
Woman: 127 Brinmere.
Operator: Okay, what's going on there?
Woman: I'd like to order a pizza for delivery.
Operator: Ma'am, you've reached 911. This is an emergency line.
Woman: Yeah, a large with half pepperoni, half mushroom.
Operator: Um, you know you've called 911. This is an emergency line.
Woman: Do you know how long it'll be?
Operator: Okay, ma'am. Is everything okay over there? Do you have an emergency or not?
Woman: Yes.
Operator: And you're unable to talk because...
Woman: Right, right.
Operator: Is there someone in the room with you? Just say yes or no.
Woman: Yes.
Operator: Okay, um, looks like I have an officer about a mile from your location. Are there any weapons in your house?
Woman: No.
Operator: Can you stay on the phone with me?
Woman: No. See you soon. Thank you.
The ad goes to black and the following text appears: "When it's hard to talk , it's up to us to listen. Help end domestic violence and sexual assault. Pledge to say nomore.org.
As the ad ends, we, as viewers, feel its emotional impact and promise to listen, to continue this conversation. We pat ourselves on the back for helping out with this important issue. When we do this, we ignore the fact that we've been having this conversation for years with little impact. We've had this conversation since Ike and Tina Turner, since Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston, since Chris Brown and Rihanna. The Battered (White) Wife has been a running staple on Lifetime Movie Chanel for years now. But little has changed. Abusers still abuse and leave a trail of victims in their wake. We, as a society, still blame victims, call them complicit in their own abuse.
The Superbowl ad focuses on the most dramatic and observable type of abuse, not the insidious verbal and emotional abuse that erodes a victim to his or her very core. In this way, the ad is dangerous, portraying abuse exclusively as a Lifetime movie kind of thing. This kind of portrayal makes many abuse victims discredit their own abuse, just as I did.
This ad offers nothing, and, to borrow a phrase from Liss, I expect more. I expected a promise to help, funding for shelters, information that people can use to help loved ones. This ad is nothing but a PR move to try to fix the fallout from the Ray Rice video.
"Listen to the victims," the ad says. But so many of us victims muffle our cries, so that they're more like whimpers. After all, we don't want to bother the neighbors with our silly fights. We're strong and tough, we can get through this. I can't call the police—this isn't abuse, and I really do love my partner.
On a personal level, this ad is hard to deal with for me as a survivor. The ad says to listen, and I've been talking for years, only to be silenced or told that I'm obsessing over the past. I know there are people out there still in abusive relationships and I hope that this PSA helps them get out.
But I can't handle the casual way people spoke about the ad. Like it was such a downer, and "can't we get back to the game?" People talked about this ad like it was an annoying commercial, not understanding that this is my life. It's not a casual conversation. It's not something I can idly speculate on and return to my day. Dealing with this guts me. And the worst part is that this ad tells people to talk about abuse, without teaching them how, setting them up to step all over the open wounds of survivors.
[Related Reading: No More; No More, Again.]
Yes, Please!
Fly me to the moon—or, you know, just "thrillingly close" to outer space:
Instead of rocket-powered sub-orbital flights like those of Virgin Galactic, could high-altitude ballooning become the most viable way of letting paying tourists experience space — or at least something thrillingly close to it?Okay, so I could never afford to do this in one million years, but IF I COULD, I would Bloon the fuck outta my fat ass right into the stratosphere!
Ballooning is already tried and tested technology: "It's the origin of space travel," explains Annelie Schoenmaker, external relations and legal officer for Zero2infinity, a Spanish company that plans to launch passengers to near space using balloons known as "Bloons" for €110,000 ($124,000) a time.
Of course, it's not actually space — balloons only travel to a height of between 30-40km, with 36km being seen as optimum; to reach what is defined as space, you need to travel to a height of 100km. "But it is pretty close and it gives you a totally different experience," says Michael Lopez-Alegria, former NASA astronaut and president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.So, the only question I have is: Given the opportunity, would you take a Bloon ride?
You are still high enough that you are above 99% of the Earth's atmosphere and although you don't experience weightlessness, you are able to see something that most humans haven't — the "Thin Blue Line" of the Earth's atmosphere. Passengers would also be able to see the Earth in the blackness of space, as well as the sun rise over the curvature of the planet.
...Balloons can in theory launch from anywhere in the world, as long as the weather is favorable. Unlike rockets, there is no big acceleration, with a balloon taking between 1.5-2 hours to reach maximum altitude. Once there, inside a capsule attached to the balloon, crew and passengers can bob along on the edge of our atmosphere for up to two hours. Once built, both the Bloon and World View cabins will have toilet facilities and you'll even be able to dine on board.
...To return to Earth, helium is vented from the balloon, then a ParaWing, which is already deployed, takes over the remainder of the descent. Schoenmaker explains: "For safety, we also have a further two back-up chutes." The descent back to Earth takes around an hour, meaning there is no big acceleration, with the capsule landing in a predetermined location, guided back to Earth by a pilot and the support of mission control.
...As with all forms of commercial space experiences, safety is a huge factor in determining when paying passenger flights will realistically take place. "We will not launch until we are completely satisfied and confident with our testing," explains [Jane Poynter, CEO of World View, which will offer near-space ballooning trips for $75,000]. In late February, World View announced it had successfully flown a parafoil from a height of 102,000 feet (31 kilometers). With extensive unmanned testing already underway, the hope for World View is that it could launch as soon as the end of 2016, with Bloon expecting to begin flights in the next few years.
Daily Dose of Cute
Matilda bats at Sophie's tail. Olivia yawns, unimpressed, in the background.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
Consent
[Content Note: Rape culture.]
Here is a man writing a garbage piece about how difficult consent is.
And here is a woman writing a terrific piece about how easy consent is.
The thing about consent is that it comes down to this: Everyone must be empowered with the right to say no—and, as Brienne of Snarth has been very eloquently talking about today on her Twitter timeline, the right to say yes—and everyone is obligated to hear and respect that no or yes.
Beyond that, all the discussion about the "murkiness" of consent, whether it's the invocation of "implicit consent" or intolerable thinkpieces about "drunk sex," is just a confluence of colossal horseshit that acts in service to the idea that consent is difficult to establish, in order to underwrite narratives about how rape is a crime committed by good-intentioned, gold-hearted boys who just made a mistake because of a perfectly understandable miscommunication.
Hostility to consent is not a bug of the rape culture; it's a feature.
And all of the nonsense about the alleged difficulty of consent is just a red herring to avoid talking about that fact. Rape doesn't happen by accident. Rape is an act committed by people who don't give a shit about consent.
Except, perhaps, insomuch as a lack of consent is central to their enjoyment of said act.
We need to stop pretending this is difficult. It is not difficult. It is a distraction, so that we don't talk about rape honestly. And, more importantly, so that we don't talk about rapists honestly.
Number of the Day
[Content Note: Racism; voter suppression.]
40: The number of years it has been since a Latin@ candidate was elected to the Yakima, Washington, city council, despite the city's population being one-third Latin@.
Why? Because: "Cities Are Quietly Reviving a Jim Crow-Era Trick to Suppress Latino Votes."
Yakima, WA is one-third Latino, but a Latino candidate has not been elected to the city council for almost 40 years. Santa Barbara, CA is 38 percent Latino, but only one Latino has been elected to its council in the last 10 years. And Pasadena, TX is 43 percent Hispanic, but the ethnic group is not even close to being proportionately represented in the city government.There is much, much more at the link.
All three cities have been or are currently being sued for allegedly using discriminatory at-large voting systems, a voter dilution tactic that has been recently and frequently been employed against Hispanic voters. In an at-large system, every city resident votes for each member of the governing body and the city does not divide voters into districts.
As the Latino population grows across the country, cities have employed at-large voting to dilute the Latino vote and maintain white control of local governing bodies. Instead of allowing each district to elect its own representative, an at-large system means that unless Hispanic populations reach a majority in the entire city, they will have no influence in electing their local members of government. According to Fair Vote, at-large systems allow 50 percent of voters to control 100 percent of seats, typically resulting in racially homogeneous elected bodies. The tactic used to be popular in the South to discriminate against neighborhoods with large African American communities but is now targeting a new threat: Latinos.
Remember this Quote of the Day from last week?
"The fundamental challenge for my side is the seemingly inexorable change in the composition of presidential electorates. And there's no reason to believe that that's going to stop magically."—Republican pollster Whit Ayres, discussing a new report co-sponsored by the Center for American Progress, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Brookings Institution, which found that "about 70 percent of the Americans eligible to vote are white, a decline of 15 percentage points since 1980."About which I said: "The GOP will continue to double-down on racebaiting, voter suppression, and gerrymandering."
Yeah. Well. This is what that looks like.
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
Another major winter storm is hitting large parts of the US: "Snow was falling from northern Texas to Connecticut on Thursday morning, as a storm system expected to badly affect travel stretched from northern Mexico to New England. The storm is likely to hit some of the busiest travel corridors in the country, dumping snow from Washington DC to New York City, before moving off the coast Thursday evening. ...On Wednesday evening the storm had already produced rare bipartisan agreement in Washington, where lawmakers scrambled to get out of town before government offices closed for the day on Thursday, the Associated Press reported." LOL. Sob.
[Content Note: Violence] Fucking hell: "U.S. ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert underwent two-and-a-half hours of surgery after he was slashed in the face by a Korean nationalist in an attack at a breakfast forum in Seoul on Thursday to discuss Korean reunification. Lippert, 42, was bleeding from deep wounds to his face and wrist but was able to walk after the attack. Doctors said later his condition was stable after 'very successful' surgery that required 80 stitches in his face. The assailant was caught and identified by police as 55-year-old Kim Ki-jong. ...The attack was a protest against joint military exercises by South Korean and U.S. troops, which Kim said interfered with reconciliation between North and South Korea, according to police following an interrogation."
Chief Justice John Roberts gives a possible clue as to where his thinking may be on the healthcare case before the Supreme Court: "Roberts, usually among the most active questioners on the court, scarcely said a word throughout the highly anticipated clash." He asked only one question, which "may turn out to be extremely important. ...Anthony Kennedy had asked about 'Chevron deference,' a doctrine of law that describes how much leeway the executive branch should have in interpreting laws. [Solicitor General Donald Verrilli], not surprisingly, said that the Chevron doctrine gave the Obama Administration more than adequate permission to read the law to allow subsidies on the federal exchange. 'If you're right about Chevron,' Roberts said, at long last, 'that would indicate that a subsequent Administration could change that interpretation?' Perhaps it could, Verrilli conceded. ...To limit the Obama Administration in this case would be to threaten the power of all Presidents, which Roberts may be loath to do. But he could vote to uphold Obama's action in this case with a reminder that a new election is fast approaching, and Obamacare is sure to be a major point of contention between the parties. A decision in favor of Obama here could be a statement that a new President could undo the current President's interpretation of Obamacare as soon as he (or she) took office in 2017. In other words, the future of Obamacare should be up to the voters, not the justices."
[CN: Racism; misogyny] To the fainting couches! "The Writers Guild of America West issued a new report this week on diversity in TV writers' rooms. The stats for women or for people of color are not good. Eleven percent of TV shows have no women writers on staff. Over one-third of TV shows have no minority writers on staff."
[CN: Animal abuse] In good news, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is retiring its elephant acts: "Feld Entertainment, the company that owns the circus, said Thursday that it will phase out the 13 elephants from its traveling circus performances. By 2018, the popular pachyderms will be relocated to a conservation center in central Florida, where they will join the rest of the Ringling Bros. herd of more than 40 elephants. ...'This is the most significant change we have made since we founded the Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation in 1995,' Feld Entertainment CEO Kenneth Feld said in a statement." Which is not totally out of the goodness of their hearts, but because of the work of animal activists advocating for "anti-circus" and "anti-elephant" ordinances, which are increasingly costly for Feld Entertainment to fight.
As has been well-documented, Lena Dunham is pretty much an asshole who resists all criticisms of privilege in the making and content of her show Girls, but the male protagonist of the show, actor Adam Driver, isn't making the same mistake: "I'm a straight, white male, and I've had more opportunities than other people have, unjustly. And I've been lucky on top of that. ...I see so many actors and friends who are so fucking good—but for one reason or another, because they're female or African American, there aren't as many opportunities for them. It's total bullshit. My wife is an actress. She's had to audition for, you know, 'Blonde Girl #3.' There's just such shitty writing and not as many opportunities."
This is not only a terrific headline, but a great story: "Police rescue young harbour seal taking leisurely stroll down middle of Halifax street." LOL aww!
And finally! I love this story for a number of reasons, not least of which is that a friend I've known since middle school is part of Lucky Dog Rescue: "The Shedd Aquarium [in Chicago] has adopted its fifth rescue dog, as part of its ongoing effort to demonstrate how to build strong relationships with animals. Kobe, a 3-year-old Dogo Argentino mix, was found thin and dirty in Kendall County in 2013, and was on the euthanasia list until he was taken in by Lucky Dog Rescue, a volunteer-run animal rescue group. It was suspected he was a junkyard dog, because of how thin and dirty he was, and because a rope was tied around his neck when he was found. After nursing Kobe back to good health, and training him, Lucky Dog Rescue found him a foster family, but he apparently had a little too much energy for them, and the Shedd ended up adopting him for their 'One World' program. At the Shedd, he'll get further training through positive reinforcement before joining the 'One World' show, which showcases human connections to animals." Blub!
Nope.
[Content Note: Sexual violence; disablism.]
Leonardo DiCaprio WILL win an Oscar, dammit, and he's pulling out all the stops to make sure it happens with what Kaiser hilariously (and accurately) calls "possibly the biggest Oscar-bait role in history." If we just give him an Oscar now, will that mean this movie will never get made, because it will be a garbage pile three miles high:
Leonardo DiCaprio is getting closer to playing a role he's eyed for nearly 20 years — that of Billy Milligan, who was the first person to successfully use multiple personality disorder as a defense in a court of law.Playing multiple characters? Check. With multiple accents? Check. Playing someone with a disability? Check. Playing a woman? Check. Playing an antihero? Check. Dramatic courtroom scenes? Check. Opportunity to film lurid sexual assaults of women? Check.
...Published in 1981, [The Minds of Billy Milligan, Daniel Keyes' nonfiction tome about Milligan, who had 24 personalities] chronicles Milligan's story, including his court trial in the late 1970s in Ohio after being charged with robbery and raping three women on the Ohio State University campus.
In the preparation of his defense, Milligan — who died in December 2014 — was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder. Pleading insanity, he and his lawyers contended that two of his alternate personalities committed the crimes without his knowledge. He was the first to use this defense, and the first to be acquitted for this reason.
Milligan's various personalities included Adalana, a lesbian taking responsibility for the rapes; Ragen, a Yugoslavian communist who admitted to the robbery; and Arthur, an uptight Englishman.
All with cool bonus messaging about a lesbian rapist who made this poor man rape those girls! Neato!
Seriously, I am begging the Academy to just give Leo the golden statue now and never, ever, let this shit see the light of day. I don't have even the tiniest shred of faith that it will (or could) be anything but a gross and problematic simplification of Billy Milligan and his case.
No word on how Milligan's victims feel about their stories being turned into a movie. But Leo hasn't been wanting to play any of them since 1997, so who cares.
Ferguson
[Content Note: Racism; police misconduct.]
On Tuesday, the Justice Department found a pattern of bias and excessive force in the Ferguson Police Department. As part of the report, released yesterday, the Justice Department highlighted seven racist emails, containing "jokes" about the President, the First Lady, and black people generally.
Yesterday, Ferguson Mayor James Knowles disclosed that "one police official had been fired and two others were on administrative leave" as a result of the racist emails.
"This type of behavior will not be tolerated in the Ferguson Police Department," Knowles said in an evening news conference, without taking questions from reporters.At least not while anyone's looking. And, not for nothing, but I suspect "administrative leave" isn't exactly what most people interested in meaningful accountability have in mind.
By way of reminder, Mayor Knowles once called civil unrest in Ferguson the "worst case scenario" if Officer Darren Wilson was not indicted (which he wasn't). The worst thing he could imagine was people exercising their constitutional right to protest, worse than communicating to white police officers that they can kill unarmed black people without consequence, and worse than communicating to black people that their lives don't matter.
So, I don't have a lot of faith in what this guy is willing to "tolerate," in the Ferguson Police Department or anywhere else in town.
Wow
Chalachew Seyoum, an Ethiopian graduate student at Arizona State, has found a fragment of jawbone which "is the oldest known fossil from an evolutionary tree branch that eventually led to modern humans."
The fossil comes from very close to the time that our branch split away from more ape-like ancestors best known for the fossil skeleton Lucy. So it gives a rare glimpse of what very early members of our branch looked like.That is truly remarkable. What a fascinating find.
At about 2.8 million years old, the partial jawbone pushes back the fossil record by at least 400,000 years for our branch, which scientists call Homo.
It was found two years ago at a site not far from where Lucy was unearthed. Africa is a hotbed for human ancestor fossils, and scientists from Arizona State University have worked for years at the site in northeast Ethiopia, trying to find fossils from the dimly understood period when the Homo genus, or group, arose.
Our species, called Homo sapiens, is the only surviving member of this group.
...Analysis indicates the jaw fossil came from one of the earliest populations of Homo, and its age helps narrow the range of possibilities for when the first Homo species appeared, Kimbel said. The fossil dates to as little as 200,000 years after the last known fossil from Lucy's species.
The fossil is from the left lower jaw of an adult. It combines ancestral features, like a primitive chin shape, with some traits found in later Homo fossils, like teeth that are slimmer than the bulbous molars of Lucy's ilk.
Despite that mix, experts not involved in the paper said the researchers make a convincing case that the fossil belongs in the Homo category.
And they present good evidence that it came from a creature that was either at the origin of Homo or "within shouting distance," said Bernard Wood of George Washington University.
...It's the first time that anything other than isolated teeth have turned up as a possible trace of Homo from before 2.3 million years ago.
