Here is some stuff in the news today...
The results of Nigeria's election are in: "Muhammadu Buhari beat outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan by 2.5 million votes. Mr Buhari, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), became the first opposition candidate to win a presidential election in Nigeria."
[Content Note: Homophobia; Christian Supremacy] Memories Pizza in Walterton, Indiana, has become the first business to promise to deny service to gay customers: "'If a gay couple came in and wanted us to provide pizzas for their wedding, we would have to say no,' says Crystal O'Connor of Memories Pizza. ...'We are a Christian establishment,' says O'Connor. The O'Connor family prides themselves in owning a business that reflects their religious beliefs. 'We're not discriminating against anyone, that's just our belief and anyone has the right to believe in anything,' says O'Connor." Have fun going out of business!
[CN: Description of airline crash] A video recovered from the Germanwings crash wreckage confirms what the investigation has suspected about the final moments of the flight, as does "the information from the 'Cockpit Voice Recorder,' one of the A320's two black boxes," on which the captain can be heard shouting, "For the love of God, open this door!"
Senator Elizabeth Warren on not running for president and Hillary Clinton's possible campaign: "No. I'm not running and I'm not going to run. I'm in Washington. I've got this really great job and a chance to try and make a difference on things that really matter. ...I think we need to give [Clinton] a chance to decide if she's going to run and to lay out what she wants to run on." I like her.
[CN: Rape culture; guns] I don't even know: "National Rifle Association News host Cam Edwards lashed out at a Daily Tar Heel editorial that argued guns are not the solution to campus sexual assault by claiming that the 'burden' of stopping sexual assaults and other violent crimes as they occur 'is on the victim.' According to Edwards, 'it is the truth that if you are the victim of violent crime or the victim of an attempted violent crime, it is not the patriarchy that puts the burden on you to defend yourself, it is not rigid gender roles, it is—it's a fact of life.'" He seems nice.
[CN: Anti-choice terrorism] These fucking people: "Anti-choice activists staged a protest Sunday that included large graphic images outside of Jackson, Mississippi, churches during Palm Sunday services. ...Protesters held graphic images of supposedly aborted fetuses and attempted to hand out pamphlets and shouted at church members as they arrived for Sunday services." Why? Because Jackson is home to the state's last abortion clinic.
Fascinating: "Solo planets may be surprisingly common: Out among the stars, toward the constellation Capricornus, a red sphere floats freely through space. It doesn't have enough mass to fuse atoms for fuel, as stars do, and it's too small to be a failed star. In nearly every way, this drifter, known as PSO J318.5-22, is like a planet. Except it fails one key test for planethood: It does not orbit a star. PSO J318.5-22 is homeless. With no parent star to give it heat or light, it drifts in eternal darkness, a rogue of the Milky Way."
And finally! This cat really wants a hug, y'all. ♥
In the News
A Thought
[Content Note: Antisemitism; misogyny; fat hatred; domestic violence; regionalism.]
So, the new host of The Daily Show, Trevor Noah, has a history of tweeting shitty "jokes" about Jewish people, fat women, domestic violence, and people in "flyover" states.
(As an aside, I've watched one of his stand-up specials, much of which was fairly solid, so it's pretty crappy to know he's capable of punching up but is happy to punch down in other spaces.)
And many people have reacted by accusing The Daily Show of failing to properly vet Noah.
Except that sort of ignores the fact that the The Daily Show is pretty much fine with xenophobic, fat-hating, misogynist, regionalist humor.
Imagining this was a vetting problem is contingent on forgiving disablism, fat hatred, mockery of intersex bodies, reproductive policing (with more fat hatred), jokes about how feminists are so scary and violent, etc. That's hardly a complete list. The Daily Show, with Jon Stewart at the helm, did a lot of punching down, when it should have always been punching up.
Maybe this isn't a vetting problem. Maybe this is a decency problem.
Arkansas to Pass Similar "Religious Freedom" Bill
[Content Note: Christian Supremacy.]
Fucking hell:
Amid intense criticism of Indiana's religious liberties law, which has prompted lawmakers in that state to vow to fix the legislation, another state charged ahead with a similar measure. Arkansas lawmakers on Tuesday passed their own religious freedom bill, putting the state on the verge of formally adopting a law that could lead to another firestorm.That is, of course, bullshit. Like Indiana's law (and unlike other states' "religious freedom" laws), Arkansas' legislation grants companies the same rights as individuals to claim religious discrimination based on personal belief.
On Tuesday afternoon, after some debate in the state House of Representatives, lawmakers signed off on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The law now heads to the desk of Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R), who has said he intends to sign it into law.
"This legislation doesn't allow anybody to discriminate against anybody, not here," State Rep. Bob Ballinger, a Republican who sponsored the bill, said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "The bill does just the opposite. It focuses on the civil rights of people believing what they want to believe, and not letting the government interfere with that."
"It's substantively different from other laws that are on the books in other states, and it's right in line with Indiana's," Adam Talbot, a spokesman for the Human Rights Council, said Monday. "Indiana and Arkansas both grant 'personhood' to all corporations."I am so sorry, friends in Arkansas.
One of the arguments I heard over and over made by outsiders supporting the boycott of Indiana was that the boycott of my state would stop this from happening elsewhere. Welp. How's that working out for you?
I will reiterate my suggestion not to abandon Indiana, or Arkansas. Arkansas doesn't need progressive divestment any more than Indiana does, and needs progressive investment every bit as much.
Pranks Are the Worst. Don't Prank People.
[Content Note: Pranking; hostility to consent.]
Today is "April Fools' Day," a terrible day dedicated to pranking. I have mentioned once or twice or fully one million times that I hate pranks. Pranks are the fucking worst. And April Fools' Day can go straight to hell.
Anyway. I don't have anything to say about pranking that I haven't said a dozen times before (PRANKING IS TERRIBLE), so here's a thread to talk about pranks you see played today, previous April Fools' pranks you hated, or whatever.
In conclusion: Fuck pranks.
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker lightbird: "If you had a chance to take a long vacation (1 month plus), what would you do/where would you go?"
Good Grief
[Content Note: Homophobia.]
Republican Senator Rand Paul doesn't believe in the concept of gay rights "because I don't really believe in rights based on your behavior." Does believe in the right to bear arms. Is total asshole.
Quote of the Day
[Content Note: Homophobia.]
"When a CEO of a corporation makes a decision that irreparably harms the company that he or she runs, they oftentimes step aside voluntarily or are asked to by the Board of Directors. If Governor Pence can't even answer a simple question on national TV and defend our state and Hoosiers everywhere, he needs to look himself in the mirror and ask whether he has the leadership that Indiana needs right now. If Indiana was a corporation we'd be asking the Governor to step down. It's too late for clarifications. For the good of Indiana Governor, please step aside and let new leadership fix the harm that you've caused all of us that are proud to call ourselves Hoosiers."—Democratic Mayor of Hammond, Indiana, Thomas M McDermott, Jr., in a statement released today.
Damn! Shorter Mayor McDermott: "GTFO, Pence."
Right on.
The thing I love about this statement is that Pence wants Indiana run like a corporation. He wants to privatize everything and decimate all public services. So, yeah, let's hold him to account like Indiana is run like a corporation, exactly the way he wants.
He'll never step down, but I still love this. A lot.
Daily Dose of Cute
Sophie in her favorite cuddling spot: Right in my face.
(I'm not complaining! ♥)
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
On the Trans Day of Visibility
Today is the sixth annual Trans Day of Visibility, which many trans* folks are marking on social media by posting selfies and telling their stories.
If you're on Twitter, you can follow the hashtag #TransDayOfVisibility.
Visibility is important. It is everything. It is an invitation, a proclamation, a demand. It is safety. It is action. It is personal and political.
When you are part of a marginalized population who is excluded, whose images in popular media are few and far between, it is radical.
It is strength and it is vulnerability—making oneself seen, and asking to be seen.
To my trans* family, friends, and colleagues: I see you.
And to those who do not yet feel safe enough to be seen, I will listen to what you need, in order that you might someday feel safe.
The Creative Endeavors Thread
by Shaker Socchan
Hello, all! Time for the next Creative Endeavors thread! As promised, hosted by Terry Crews!
As a reminder, this is a post dedicated to Shakers discussing creative things that they're doing. This can be traditional medium arts (painting, drawing, etc), writing anything, composing, performing, or recording anything, fibercrafts (anything with thread/string/yarn), coding, fannish stuff, whatever! As long as it's creative and it's something you're working on, I want to hear about it.
So how about it? Have you started or finished any projects since the previous thread? Have you made any progress on something you've been working on? Pictures, excerpts, and descriptions are all more than welcome!
For discussion this time around: Has anyone ever asked you to do work for them? What do you tell them? (Inspired by a similar discussion in Monday's Open Thread.)
Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime
Cole Porter: "Anything Goes"
This week's TMNS features performers from Indiana.
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
News from the Nigerian election: "Partial results from Nigeria's election give ex-military ruler Muhammadu Buhari a substantial lead over the incumbent, President Goodluck Jonathan. With only five states left to declare, Gen Buhari's All Progressives Congress (APC) is ahead by almost three million votes. ...BBC Nigeria analyst Jimeh Saleh says that Delta and Edo are the only pro-Jonathan states still to declare, so it is hard to see how he can overturn Gen Buhari's lead."
[Content Note: Homophobia] LGBT rights attorney Mary Bonauto and former assistant US solicitor general Douglas Hallward-Driemeier have been chosen as the attorneys to present marriage equality arguments to the Supreme Court on April 28: "Bonauto will present arguments for DeBoer v. Snyder on Question 1, 'Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a State to license a marriage between two people of the same sex?' ...Hallward-Driemeier will present oral arguments on behalf of plaintiffs in Ohio and Tennessee for question 2, 'Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state?'"
[CN: Misogyny] Annie Lowrey on "Ellen Pao and the Sexism You Can't Quite Prove." Otherwise known as: The Sexism That People Who Don't Want to See Sexism Refuse to See.
[CN: Racism; carcerality] Fucking hell: "Sixteen states have more people in prison cells than college dorms." Which can be traced to a legacy of both institutional racism and, I would argue, progressive institutional neglect. Because it's not like there isn't profound racism in the north, too.
[CN: War on agency] Oh dear: "Pro-Choice Advocates on Radical Kansas Abortion Law: 'We've Never Seen This Language Before': The bill redefines the D and E procedure as 'dismemberment' abortion, language that is key to NRLC's strategy, as anti-choice advocates push similar bills in other state legislatures, many controlled by Republicans. The NRLC strategy is to pack the bills with graphic, medically inaccurate language describing the D and E procedure. 'We've never seen this language before,' Elizabeth Nash, senior state issues associate for the Guttmacher Institute, told the Kansas City Star. 'It's not medical language.'" The bill has already been approved by the Republican-majority Kansas house and senate.
[CN: Death penalty] This is A Big Deal: "A leading association for US pharmacists has told its members they should not provide drugs for use in lethal injections—a move that could make carrying out executions even harder for death penalty states. The declaration approved by American Pharmacists Association delegates at a meeting in San Diego says the practice of providing lethal-injection drugs is contrary to the role of pharmacists as healthcare providers. The association lacks legal authority to bar its members from selling execution drugs but its policies set pharmacists' ethical standards. Pharmacists now join doctors and anaesthesiologists in having national associations with ethics codes that call on members not to participate in executions." Which doesn't mean that health professionals don't still participate in executions, but making it an ethical violation certainly matters. A lot.
[CN: Worker exploitation; class warfare] A landmark labor case against McDonald's moves forward: "Monday marked an important step in a landmark labor case that could bring greater corporate accountability and worker protections, as a federal agency moved to consider whether McDonald's should be held responsible for what employees call poor working conditions. More than 300 unfair labor practice charges have been brought against the fast food giant since November 2012... The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decided in December to move forward with about 80 of those charges by bringing complaints against the company, and on Monday the board took up consideration of the consolidated case. The case is notable because the NLRB will be for the first time treating McDonald's as a 'joint employer,' meaning that the corporation can be held liable for labor law violations committed by its franchises."
Noooooooooooooo! Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is opening his lead on challenger Chuy Garcia. Fucking fuck.
I barely even understand what this means, but I'm sure it's very exciting for people who understand it! "IBM Investing $3B in Internet of Things."
And finally! This video of a cat and dogs eating watermelon might be the cutest thing you see all day!
Fat Hatred Is Unhealthy for Fat People
[Content Note: Fat hatred.]
This is something I—and other fat activists—have been saying for a very long time, and now there is research to back it up: Fat hatred is unhealthy for fat people.
Weight discrimination is linked to significantly lower quality of life, and accounts for approximately 40% of the negative psychological effects associated with obesity, finds new UCL research funded by Cancer Research UK. The study, which analysed data from 5,056 UK adults, found that those who felt discriminated against on the basis of their weight had a 70% increase in symptoms of depression, a 14% drop in quality of life and 12% lower life satisfaction relative to those who did not perceive weight discrimination.Emphasis mine.
To assess weight discrimination, participants were asked whether they experienced day-to-day discrimination that they attributed to their weight. Examples of discrimination include being treated disrespectfully, receiving poor service in shops, and being harassed. Psychological wellbeing was assessed with standard measures of quality of life, life satisfaction and symptoms of depression.
The data come from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), a study of adults aged 50 or older. The researchers analysed the results to check whether the known association between obesity and poorer psychological wellbeing could in any part be explained by weight-related discrimination. They found that when perceived weight discrimination was accounted for, differences in wellbeing between obese and non-obese individuals were reduced substantially, suggesting that discrimination may be an important cause of low wellbeing for obese people.
Lead author of the study, Dr. Sarah Jackson, UCL Epidemiology and Public Health, additionally notes that there are no legal protections from discrimination for fat people, equivalent to protections from discrimination "on the basis of age, sex, race, disability, religion of beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, or gender reassignment," which "might send the message to people that weight discrimination is socially acceptable."
Maybe!
In fact, "weight discrimination"—also known as fat hatred—is not merely considered "socially acceptable," but is often cited, even by health and ethics professionals, as an effective tool to promote weight loss. This is, of course, rank garbage—and senior author of the study, Professor Jane Wardle, director of the Cancer Research UK Health Behavior Centre at UCL, reports that they have done previous work "showing that weight discrimination does not encourage weight loss."
"Weight bias has been documented not only among the general public but also among health professionals; and many obese patients report being treated disrespectfully by doctors because of their weight. Everyone, including doctors, should stop blaming and shaming people for their weight."Because it does not promote health at all. To the contrary, it is profoundly damaging to fat people's health.
[H/T to Shaker K.]
Fix This Now
This was today's cover of the Indianapolis Star, not exactly known as a bastion of liberalism:
Here is the full editorial, in which the editors argue: "Only bold action—action that sends an unmistakable message to the world that our state will not tolerate discrimination against any of its citizens—will be enough to reverse the damage. Gov. Mike Pence and the General Assembly need to enact a state law to prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, education and public accommodations on the basis of a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. Those protections and RFRA can co-exist. They do elsewhere. Laws protecting sexual orientation and gender identity are not foreign to Indiana. Indianapolis, for example, has had those legal protections in place for nearly a decade. Indy's law applies to businesses with more than six employees, and exempts religious organizations and non-profit groups."
In fact, yesterday, Republican Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard and the City-County Council "called on the Indiana General Assembly to either repeal the divisive Religious Freedom Restoration Act or add explicit protections for sexual orientation and gender identity in state law. Ballard also issued an executive order that anyone who receives money from the city government must abide by its human rights ordinance, which has had such protections in place for a decade."
"Our city thrives because we have welcomed and embraced diversity. And RFRA threatens what thousands of people have spent decades building," Ballard said.Republican and Democratic Hoosiers are coming together to put pressure on Governor Mike Pence and the state legislature to ensure that the RFRA does not become, as it was clearly intended, a license to discriminate.
"Discrimination is wrong. And I hope that message is being heard loud and clear at our Statehouse."
Fix this now, we are requesting. Fix this now, we are demanding.
#WeAreIndiana
* * *
Two pieces of recommended reading:
Samantha Allen: "Don't boycott Indiana. Boycott bigots."
Tom Watson: "Trending Yes, But Does Indiana Boycott Make Tactical Sense as Citizen's Movement?"
Indiana Is Not a Lost Cause
So, one of the common responses I'm getting to my suggestion that what Indiana is needs is external progressive investment is that Indiana is a "lost cause." That there's no point to progressive investment in Indiana, because it will just be wasted on the state and its people.
Indiana is not a lost cause.
Since 1940, the only presidential election in which Indiana went blue was 1964—until 2008. We went blue for Obama.
What was the difference?
Well, not to take anything away from President Obama, who was a terrific candidate, which played a big role, but the most crucial difference was the long, extended, Democratic primary, which gave Hoosiers the opportunity to vote in a Democratic primary for the first time in my life.
Because our votes suddenly mattered, the Democratic candidates visited the state. They, and liberal orgs, ran ads in the state. There was a huge influx of liberal cash.
I saw then-candidate Barack Obama speak at night in the glow of floodlights at a park in Hammond, Indiana, surrounded by other voters from Northwest Indiana—a diverse crowd of black, white, and Latin@ Hoosiers; of LGBT and straight/cis Hoosiers; of poor and working class and middle class and wealthy Hoosiers. The deep diversity of that crowd is not what the people who write off Indiana picture when they think of our state.
I saw then-candidate Hillary Clinton speak during a sunny afternoon at a union center in Portage, Indiana, surrounded by union steelworkers who vibrated with excitement. That day, a man died at the mill. The event was started by remembering him, and talking about how difficult and dangerous steel work is, and why the union is so important. Clinton mourned him with us.
I saw Clinton a second time, in East Chicago, Indiana, in front of a mostly Latin@ crowd. She spoke about immigration, and jobs, and equal rights, and we cheered for them all.
Before 2008, the last Democratic presidential candidate who spoke in this area was Bobby Kennedy.
We were treated like we mattered, because our votes mattered. We felt like we mattered, and we did. We weren't written off, as we are every year by both the Democratic and Republican candidates—the former because we're seen as a lost cause, and the latter because we're seen as a sure thing.
Democratic politics was all the fuck over this state. And we went blue. For the first time in my life.
2008 is a case study in how progressive investment works.
I'm not suggesting that presidential candidates come to Indiana, when resources are precious. I'm using this example in how progressive investment fundamentally matters to "red states." (And maybe I am suggesting just a little that the presidential primary calendars should rotate, ahem.) That investment can come in many forms—and should. Sustainably so, for lasting transformation.
Indiana is not a lost cause. Except when we're treated like one.
Breaking Clown Car News
Former Republican New York Governor George Pataki (remember him?) (I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't!) is fixing to run for president—MAYBE!
George Pataki, the former three-term New York governor, has a tip for gamblers: Place your chips on his running for president.Lucky us!
Pataki has traveled to New Hampshire six times since September and two weeks ago appeared at the Republican National Committee's donor retreat in Boca Raton, Florida. In an interview with Rita Cosby on WABC in New York, Pataki said he'll probably run, suggesting that the only hold ups are campaign-finance laws that would limit his fundraising once he formally declares.
"If you care about the country, it's very hard to sit on the sideline if you believe you have the ability to run a government like this country's well," Pataki said Sunday. "At this point, I am strongly inclined to do it."
Pataki has grappled with running in the last two presidential races. He said he's closer to entering the field than ever.
"If I were a betting person, I would bet that I'd make the decision to go," Pataki said.
Pataki was marginally pro-choice and marginally pro-gay rights, so it'll be fun (by which I mean profoundly depressing) to see him do the Dance of the Socially Moderate Republicans during the primary, should he throw his dunce cap into the ring, in order to distance himself from positions that are far too decent for the extreme social conservatives who comprise a large portion of Republican primary voters.
"Ha ha, no no no—I promise I HATE people who need access to basic healthcare and basic rights!"
Sigh.
The Make-Up Thread
Last time I asked if y'all would like this to be a regular feature, and many of you answered you would, so it shall be!
Do you have a make-up product you'd recommend? Are you looking for the perfect foundation which has remained frustratingly elusive? Need or want to offer make-up tips? Searching for hypoallergenic products? Want to grouse about how you hate make-up? Want to gush about how you love it?
Whatever you like—have at it!
I will note this week that, since the last thread, I tried applying liquid foundation with a brush for the first time and OMG IT WAS REVOLUTIONARY. The coverage was so much better! Yayayayay!
Between deep moisturizing before applying make-up and using brushes, my make-up game is 100% improved, lol.
What's up with you?
* * *
Please note, as always, that advice should be not be offered to an individual person unless they solicit it. Further: This thread is open to everyone—women, men, genderqueer folks. People who are make-up experts, and people who are make-up newbies. Also, because there is a lot of racist language used in discussions of make-up, and in make-up names, please be aware to avoid turns of phrase that are alienating to women of color, like "nude" or "flesh tone" when referring to a peachy or beige color. I realize some recommended products may have names that use these words, so please be considerate about content noting for white supremacist (and/or Orientalist) product naming.
