Hosted by ugli fruit.
This week's Open Threads have been brought to you by the letter U.
Open Thread
Hosted by ugli fruit.
This week's Open Threads have been brought to you by the letter U.
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker catvoncat: "When you really like or dislike a food, is it more about texture or taste for you? Examples?"
For me, sometimes it's texture and sometimes it's taste, and sometimes it's just about having had a bad experience that I associate with the food (e.g. stomach upset). And, very occasionally, it's dislike just on principle: Like anything artificially banana-flavored: That shit doesn't taste like banana!
Just NO!
Photo of the Day
[Via Zooborns. Photo Credit: Ron Magill/Zoo Miami]
Zoo Miami is celebrating the birth of a critically endangered Somali Wild Ass. The male foal arrived July 23 and is the 5th of his kind born at Zoo Miami. New mom is 17-year-old Lisha. The new baby is healthy and seems to be integrating well into their small herd.There is much more about the Somali Wild Ass and many more ridiculously adorable pix of the new foal at Zooborns.
[H/T to Shaker RedSonja.]
Shaker Gourmet
Whatcha been cooking up in your kitchen lately, Shakers?
Share your favorite recipes, solicit good recipes, share recipes you've recently tried, want to try, are trying to perfect, whatever! Whether they're your own creation, or something you found elsewhere, share away.
Also welcome: Recipes you've seen recently that you'd love to try, but haven't yet!
Democrats' Debate Schedule Announced
MORE! EXCITING! PRIMARY! NEWS!
The Democratic National Committee has announced that the Democratic presidential candidates will participate in six debates, starting October 13th in Nevada:
A total of six debates are scheduled, with six different sponsors: Oct. 13 in Nevada (hosted by CNN); Nov. 14 in Des Moines, Iowa (CBS/KCCI and The Des Moines Register); Dec. 19 in Manchester, New Hampshire (ABC/WMUR); Jan. 17 in Charleston, South Carolina (NBC/Congressional Black Caucus Institute); and two scheduled for either February or March in Miami, Florida, and Wisconsin, hosted by Univision/The Washington Post and PBS, respectively. The DNC said it would release additional details about debate dates, locations and partnerships soon.Only four of the debates will happen before the ALL-IMPORTANT IOWA CAUCUS, so already the complaints have begun:
...The DNC said on Thursday that to qualify for a debate, candidates must get at least 1 percent in three credible national polls within the six weeks before the debate — a threshold that could make Webb, Chafee, and O'Malley's camps nervous.
Sanders sent a letter to [DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz] in June asking for more events, sooner — including some that involve Republicans — and O'Malley railed against the process while campaigning in Iowa on Wednesday.Honestly, I think six debates is more than enough, provided that the topics are varied enough that the candidates aren't obliged to repeat the same talking points.
"To those in Washington who think they can limit the number of debates that we're going to have before the Iowa caucuses, can circle the wagons and close off debates: I think they're going to have another thing coming when they talk to the people of Iowa," the Marylander said in Cedar Rapids, telling The Hill newspaper that he had personally complained to Wasserman Schultz last week.
O'Malley's campaign went further on Thursday morning, when chief strategist Bill Hyers circulated a statement accusing the DNC of making the process "less democratic" by limiting the number of debates. The campaign then sent out a fundraising email to its supporters carrying a similar message within minutes.
A few hours later, Sanders chimed in: "I am disappointed, but not surprised, by the debate schedule announced by the Democratic National Committee," he said. "At a time when many Americans are demoralized about politics and have given up on the political process, I think it's imperative that we have as many debates as possible — certainly more than six."
And if O'Malley and Sanders are really concerned about the primary process being more democratic and engaging more people in the political process, then they'd do better to direct their energy at criticizing the fixed primary schedule that allows the same disproportionately white and rural states to have an outsized influence on the primary process every damn election.
It's long past time that we did away with the fixed primary schedule and started a rotating primary that allowed other parts of the country, and other demographic groups, to have a bigger influence on who the Democratic nominee is.
People complained mightily about the protracted 2008 primary, in which Obama and Clinton fought it out until the bitter end, but people all over the country were super engaged because millions and millions of us who'd never had an opportunity to cast a meaningful vote in a primary finally did, often for the first time in our lives.
Anyway. I'd be more impressed if Sanders and O'Malley would raise their concerns about this tradition, and just endeavor to make the six debates they have worth watching for those of us who intend (or are obliged) to watch all six of them.
Quote of the Day
[Content Note: War on agency. NB: Not only women need access to abortion and other reproductive healthcare services.]
"Our movement is losing because we act like losers who are truly, deeply sorry. We apologize for abortion. We accept the opposition's premise that the only way to fund other forms of health care is to defund abortion. We celebrate every time President Obama offers a new 'compromise' on birth control; contrast this to leading LGBT movement funder Tim Sweeney, who has put out a goal to shut down the religious liberty debate in three years. We reinforce the lie that abortion, birth control, and sexuality are matters of naughty behavior that can be corrected, and we fail to stand up for the dignity of women and all people. That's not proactive. That's a blushing and stammering apology."—Erin Matson and Pamela Merritt, of the soon-to-launch Reproaction, arguing that we need to stop being apologetic about abortion—a position with which, of course, I resoundingly agree.
Daily Dose of Cute
"Yeah I'm fluffy as hell. What are YOU gonna do about it?"
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
[Content Note: War; bombing; death] You won't see much about this in US media sources today, unfortunately, not nearly as much as it deserves, but today marks the 70th anniversary of the US' atomic bombing of Hiroshima, in which 140,000 people died, 80,000 of them instantaneously, and many more were injured and suffered lifelong effects. We have all kinds of narratives about why this mass extermination of civilian humans was necessary in order to end the second World War, but there is no justification for what is surely what of the greatest shames in this nation's history.
[CN: Voter suppression] In good news: "One day before the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, one of the most conservative federal appeals courts in the country wielded that law to strike down a Texas voter suppression law. A unanimous panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in an opinion written by a George W. Bush appointee, held that Texas's voter ID law violates the Voting Rights Act and must, at the very least, be significantly weakened. Though the court did not accept every argument raised against the state's voter ID law, and its opinion does not go nearly as far as a trial judge's decision which also struck down this law, it is a significant blow to the state's efforts to make voting more difficult." By way of reminder, however, the Supreme Court upheld Indiana's voter ID law in 2008, so this surely isn't done.
Further on the subject of voting rights: "Rep. John Lewis and Sen. Patrick Leahy: Restore voting rights." YES.
[CN: Violence; death; disablism] Another white man, this time brandishing a hatchet, a pellet gun, and pepper spray, assaulted people in a movie theater, before being shot and killed by police. The theater was showing Mad Max: Fury Road, another movie loved by lots of women this summer. The man, we are duly informed, "had been committed for mental health issues four times in 2004 and 2007." Fortunately, no one (besides the attacker) was seriously injured physically.
[CN: Police misconduct] A Rohnert Park (California) Public Safety officer pulled a gun on a guy filming him, who recorded the interaction, and now "Rohnert Park Mayor Amy Ahanotu and City Manager Darrin Jenkins said in a statement that an internal review will be conducted to determine if the proper protocols were followed." If there is any way that this incident doesn't violate "proper protocols," those protocols need to be changed. For fuck's sake.
[CN: War on agency] Long heaving sigh: "Despite the absence of evidence that Planned Parenthood violated any laws, Colorado State University (CSU) officials have suspended the school from acquiring fetal tissue from entities linked to Planned Parenthood until 'Congressional investigations are concluded.' CSU President Tony Frank made the decision in the wake of pressure from anti-choice Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado Springs), who demanded in a July 17 letter that the university stop the 'purchases of aborted babies' body parts' for use in research."
[CN: Misogyny] Rolling Stones undead legend Keith Richards has found a whole new way to blame women for the break-up of the Beatles: "Those rabid female fans were the wedge that drove apart the Beatles, according to Richards. There were 'no PAs. And 3,000 screaming chicks could just wail you out of the whole place. Just looking at the crowd, you could see them dragging the chicks out, sweating, screaming, convulsing. Astonishing, even at that age. At the same time, a whole roomful of chicks yelling at you is not so shabby, either. Because the year before, nobody would look at you. But they talk about us—the Beatles, those chicks wore those guys out. They stopped touring in 1966—they were done already. They were ready to go to India and shit.'" I barely even know what this guy is talking about, but at least Yoko Ono is getting a break from the Blame Game. At least singularly, since apparently the fault lies with ALL OF WOMANKIND.
The moon photobombs the Earth. LOL.
I loooooooove pinball, and I totally want to go to Pinburgh now!
Congratulations to B-52's singer Kate Pierson and her longtime partner Monica Coleman who got married in Hawaii. Yay!
[CN: Moving gifs at link] And finally! This video of happysillyfunny baby goats playing in a barn while an unimpressed cat (who looks EXACTLY like Olivia!!!) looks on is the best!
DEBATE DEBATE DEBATE!
[Content Note: War on agency; racism; class warfare.]
Tonight is the first GOP primary debate, featuring the top 10 bozos in the clown car. At Think Progress, Kira Lerner shares "11 Things You'll Probably Hear During the First GOP Debate That Are Totally False." Which is a good primer on what to expect from this collection of reprobates, but also steel yourselves to hear plenty of other rhetoric scraped from the bottom of a dumpster, too.
I can't decide what I'm looking forward to the most, but I think it's hearing a stage full of TEN MEN discussing how Planned Parenthood needs to be defunded. What a great day for America!
Are you gonna watch? About what are you most excited omg excited so excited you can barely contain your enthusiasm? Ahem.
Nope
[Content Note: Racism; homophobia; misogyny.]
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has announced that he will be speaking at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University:
Sanders will join religious figures, comedians, athletes and lawmakers at the ceremony, billed as "North America's largest weekly gathering of Christian students."And this is the problem with Bernie Sanders, right here: It's easy for him to casually say that he and the university's community merely have differences of opinion on some key issues, without any acknowledgment of the extreme privilege he has that allows him to be so magnanimous about policy positions that don't personally affect him.
"Liberty University was kind enough to invite me to address a convocation and I decided to accept," Sanders said in a statement on Wednesday night. "It goes without saying that my views on many issues -- women's rights, gay rights, education and many other issues -- are very different from the opinions of some in the Liberty University community. I think it is important, however, to see if we can reach consensus regarding the grotesque level of income and wealth inequality in our country, about the collapse of the middle class, about the high level of childhood poverty, about climate change and other issues."
In the statement, Sanders said he looked forward to meeting with the students and faculty at Liberty.
"It is very easy for a candidate to speak to people who hold the same views," he stated. "It's harder but important to reach out to others who look at the world differently."
Sanders doesn't have to weigh the cost of speaking at a university that is explicitly anti-feminist, or explicitly anti-gay, or has a Civil War "mourning room" that contains among its decorations a cross made from the hair of dead Confederate soldiers. (No, I'm not joking.)
He doesn't have to worry about sacrificing his dignity and checking his humanity at the door the way his fellow candidate Hillary Clinton would, or our current sitting president Barack Obama would.
There's no personal cost of entry for Bernie Sanders—and, on top of that, he gets to frame himself as doing something brave and tough and not taking the "easy" way out of avoiding people "who look at the world differently."
But it is one thing to be a straight white cis man who has policy disagreements with the Liberty University community, and quite another to be a person from a marginalized population(s) whose very identity is considered less than by the Liberty University community.
Further, I'm not thrilled about the fact that Sanders is lending credibility to Liberty University with his presence. Once an unacredited joke, now the place boasts an acredited law school with the explicit purpose of training students in law with an eye toward filling the judiciary with conservative Christian judges who take a "Biblical view" of the law: "The school, which says its mission is to train 'ministers of justice,' is part of a movement around the nation that means to bring a religious perspective to the law and a moral component to legal practice."
Again: This is not reflective of a mere "difference of opinion." This is about training people in case law in a way that seeks to deny civil rights and equality to people from marginalized populations, and to codify an extremely reductive and exclusionary and privilege-entrenching version of Christianity into law.
Honestly, I don't want any Democratic candidates tacitly legitimizing that shit by appearing at Liberty University. Leave that space to Ted Cruz and his terrible friends.
Sanders says he hopes to "reach consensus regarding the grotesque level of income and wealth inequality in our country" with people who subscribe to the notion that god gives people what they deserve, who refuse to acknowledge basic principles like privilege, and who will never see access to abortion or job protections as key components of financial stability for millions of people.
So what would it even mean to reach consensus with these people? At whose expense would that consensus come?
Certainly not at brave Bernie Sanders' expense.
Hotbed of Liberalism
[Content Note: Misogyny; racism; transphobia; homophobia; ageism.]
We often hear conservatives lament the liberal slant of "Hollywood"—that is, the mainstream US/UK movie industry—which is pretty rich, considering that, aside from delicate-sensibility offending stuff like teens fucking pies or whatever, "Hollywood" tends to have extremely conservative values:
Inequality in 700 Popular Films, created by the Media, Diversity, and Social Change Initiative at the University of Southern California, examines data from the 700 top-grossing films between 2007 and 2014. USC professor Dr Stacy L Smith, author of the study, said: "By examining the trends over time, it is clear that no progress has been made either on screen or behind the camera when it comes to representing reality. This report reflects a dismal record of diversity for not just one group, but for [women], people of color, and the LGBT community."As far as I can tell, the study also didn't delve into representation of disability and fat. Which, as I'm sure we can all agree, would be about as well represented as women over 45.
The key findings are divided into sections for gender, race or ethnicity, and LGBT.
Just 30.2% of the 30,085 speaking characters in the top 700 films from 2007 to 2014 were women, and that in 2014's 100 most popular movies, only 21 featured a female lead, mirroring the 20% found among the top films of 2007. Behind the camera, the gender gap is even more alarming: only two of the top 100 films in 2014 were directed by women; in 2007, there were three.
The race and ethnicity findings paint an even uglier picture. According to the study, among the top 100 movies last year, a whopping 73.1% of all speaking or named characters were white, and only 17 featured a lead or co-lead from "an underrepresented racial and/or ethic group" – meaning other than white. Minority directors are no better off: only five of the 107 directors behind last year's top 100 movies were black; one of those directors helmed two pictures.
Despite the celebrated LGBT representation on the small screen with shows like Orange is the New Black and Transparent, USC found that not one transgender character was portrayed in the top 100 films of 2014. Only 19 out of the 4,610 speaking characters in those movies were lesbian, gay, or bisexual.
Although age doesn't get its own section in the study, USC does note that in the 100 top grossing films of 2014, "no female actors over 45 years of age performed a lead or co-lead role".
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker RachelB: "What fictional character do you most wish you could meet for a day in real life? And what would you do on that day?"
An Observation
[Content Note: War on agency.]
I realize Planned Parenthood provides way more services than abortion, but even if the only service they provided was abortion, I'd still support them.
I have no inclination to feel icky that Planned Parenthood provides abortions. I am pro-choice, and I support and value abortion providers.
Among the many reasons I support Planned Parenthood is because I am pro-abortion for any person who wants and/or needs one.
![screen cap of tweet authored by me reading: 'When I see '@PPact also provides health services,' all I can think is: Abortion [clapping hands emogi] IS [clapping hands emogi] a [clapping hands emogi] health [clapping hands emogi] service [clapping hands emogi] !'](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/shakespeares_sister/apix/tweet44.jpg)
Homan Square: Buried "Under the Rug of Denial"
[Content Note: Police misconduct; civil rights violations; racism.]
Spencer Ackerman and Zach Stafford have another update for the Guardian on Homan Square, the secret detention facility used by Chicago police. This time, they detail how the interrogation site was disproportionately used to interrogate black people picked up by police and how their civil rights are routinely violated:
More than 82% of the Homan Square arrests thus far disclosed – or 2,974 arrests – are of black people, while 8.5% are of white people. Chicago, according to the 2010 US census, is 33% black and 32% white.I highly recommend you read the whole thing.
...Lawyers and former police officers say that lack of access to a lawyer after the arrest and before booking – particularly during any interrogation, and particularly people from poor minority communities – puts a suspect’s rights in jeopardy.
...Despite the quadruple-digit number of arrestees held at Homan Square, the Chicago police proffered only three arrestees receiving visits from lawyers between 3 September 2004 and 1 July 2015. Two of them occurred on the same day in January 2013.
Unless approximately 3,500 people in custody waived their right to counsel, the revelation complicates – if not contradicts – the police's March statement that "any individual who wishes to consult a lawyer will not be interrogated until they have an opportunity to do so."
Former Homan Square detainees, lawyers and activists whom the Guardian has interviewed since February have claimed the majority of people held at Homan Square are black and Hispanic. Since the police did not disclose data on race for the vast majority of the 3,621 acknowledged detentions, the Guardian conducted its own review of arrestees' records.
In the tranche of detention records, more than four out of every five people taken to Homan Square are black; about 6.7% are Hispanic.
..."The only reason you're brought to Homan and Fillmore is to extract information," [Charles Jones] said in an interview at his home, surrounded by his three small children and referring to the cross streets of the facility. "The police probably feel they need those covert operations because that's the only way to get the intel they need instead of doing the good work – the hard work.
"It's easy to just go grab someone, throw 'em somewhere – no food, no water, no access to the outside world, intimidating and threatening 'em," he said.
The Wednesday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by fizz.
Recommended reading:
Helena: [Content Note: Misogyny; misogynistic violence] Obama's Trip to Africa Marks a Turning Point for Adolescent Girls
Andrea: [CN: War on agency; moving GIFs at link] Planned Parenthood Attack Videos: And the GIF Goes On
TLC: TRUTH Campaign Launches to Build Storytelling Movement for Trans Youth and Supportive Families
Kenrya: [CN: Misogyny; racism; class warfare] People of Color and Women More Likely to Be Bosses, But Still Overwhelmingly Work Lower-Paying Jobs
Femma: [CN: Fat hatred; thin privilege] Ungrateful Fat Bitch
Ria: This Is What They're Doing with Their Expired Food in Sweden
THV: Tom Hardy and His Dog Woodstock
Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!
Quote of the Day
[Content Note: War on agency. NB: Not only women need access to reproductive healthcare.]
"He's got no problem giving billions of dollars away to the super wealthy and powerful corporations, but I guess women's health isn't a priority for him."—Hillary Clinton, putting Jeb Bush on blast after he said yesterday, "I'm not sure we need half a billion dollars for women's health issues."
Clinton also tweeted at Bush: "You are absolutely, unequivocally wrong." BOOM.
Bush has since said that he "misspoke." Uh-huh.
Daily Dose of Cute
"Why, yes—we certainly would be interested in some treats!"
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
