Coldplay: "42"
The Wednesday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by footprints.
Recommended Reading:
Emily: [Content Note: White supremacy; privilege] True Confessions of a White Supremacist
Atrios: Radical
Monica: GENDA Overwhelmingly Passes NY Assembly for Ninth Consecutive Time!
Nicole: All-Gender Bathroom Bill Breezes Through California Legislature
Aunt B: [CN: Privilege] No
Alissa: Watch the First Full-Scale Demo of Hyperloop Technology
And here's another thing I wrote for BNR: Scary: Trump Strongman Manafort Says U.S. Presidency Is the Ultimate Reality Show.
Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!
Daily Dose of Cute
It's raining, so.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
What Is Sanders Even Doing? Today's Edition.
[Content Note: Misogyny.]
Hillary Clinton is fighting on two fronts: She's running against Bernie Sanders, who can't win the Democratic primary but continues to attack her, and she's running against Donald Trump, who is launching attacks on her so egregious that even Sanders calls them "ugly."
She is "the only candidate running two races at the same time—and she's winning both of them."
Trump has a legitimate reason to be fighting her (even if he chooses the most despicable means by which to do it). Sanders, on the other hand, has lost. And although he justifies his continued campaign by arguing that he wants to push Clinton to embrace his agenda, that's not exactly honest: Their agendas are already, and always have been, very similar; the real difference between them is, and always has been, their preferred strategies for enacting that agenda.
So Sanders keeps running, and, although he could very easily continue his campaign by pivoting to a focus on Trump, he's kept his focus primarily on Clinton, attacking her while incredibly claiming he's doing no such thing.
"As you well know, there are many areas that I could have attacked Hillary Clinton on that I have chosen not to attack her on," he said. "What I have done is run an issue-oriented campaign. That is what the American people want."This demonstrable absurdity was offered during an interview with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell, who asked him about the fact that Clinton now faces "attacks from both his campaign and Trump's as she looks ahead to the general election."
And this was his unbelievable response: "Andrea, in every state we have won, in 19 states we have had to take on the entire Democratic establishment. We've had to take on senators and governors and mayors and members of Congress. That's what we have taken on, so please do not moan to me about Hillary Clinton's problems."
Wow. WOW.
First of all, his having "to take on the entire Democratic establishment" is not a response to a legitimate question about the Democratic frontrunner having to fight on two fronts. Especially not when he stated, point-blank, to Mitchell's colleague Chuck Todd: "I will do everything that I can to make certain that Donald Trump is not elected president." There is no question, none, at this point that getting behind the presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is one of the things, one of the most critical things, he could and should be doing to prevent a Trump presidency.
Secondly, I find it really obnoxious that he framed a female journalist asking him a valid question as "moaning to him." Like she's a nagging wife, instead of a journalist doing her job.
A presidential candidate expressing exasperated condescension at a prominent female journalist is not an okay thing to do. And I do not understand why Bernie Sanders believes otherwise.
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
[Content Note: Terrorism; death; video may autoplay at link] Fucking hell: "Three separate car bombings in the Iraqi capital Wednesday killed at least 93 people and wounded at least 165. The Islamic State group later claimed responsibility for all three bombings. In recent months, the extremist faction has lost some of the Iraqi territory it conquered in a stunning 2014 blitz. But Wednesday's carnage demonstrates the group's lingering ability to launch significant attacks across the country and in the heart of the capital. In the largest attack of the day, a car bomb ripped through a commercial area in the predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City Wednesday morning, killing at least 63 people and wounding at least 85. Later in the afternoon, two more car bombs killed at least 30 and wounded 80, police officials said. One bomber targeted a police station in Baghdad's northwest Kadhimiyah neighborhood, killing 18, of whom five were policemen, and wounding 34. Another bombing In the northern Baghdad neighborhood of Jamiya killed 12 and wounded 46." I am so angry and so sad about the continued havoc and fear and injury and death that IS is wreaking in Iraq (and elsewhere). Fuck these people. My thoughts and sympathies and support are with the people of Iraq who are being targeted by this incomprehensibly cruel group.
[CN: Police brutality; white supremacy] Delrish Moss has been sworn in as Ferguson, Missouri's new chief of police. Moss "is the first Black person to run the department. Moss, 51, takes over the department as it works to implement the terms of its agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), which requires a major overhaul of practices that were found to violate the civil rights of the city's Black residents." Good luck to him. I mean that with all seriousness and hopefulness.
Vice-President Joe Biden says if he'd decided to run for president, he would have been aces! "It's an awful thing to say, but I think I would have been the best president." Yep, that's an awful thing to say!
[CN: Fat hatred] "Obesity may not cut your life short after all, a new study suggests." No shit! Gotta love the entire tenor of this article: Look, science, may be proving that fat doesn't actually kill you, but let's not get ahead of ourselves! Your life will probably be terrible! And also maybe science is wrong! In any case, let's not get ahead of ourselves with any kind of wild notions that we should stop hating fat people and bullying them constantly under the auspices of concern for their health.
[CN: Racism; displacement] Wow: "The remains of at least 10 Native American children who died nearly 2,000 miles away from their homes while being forced to attend a government-run boarding school in Pennsylvania more than a century ago could soon be repatriated under an effort taken up by a South Dakota tribe. The exhumation and return of the bodies of the children who as students of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School were stripped of their culture and left vulnerable to abuse won't be an easy undertaking. But leaders of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe hope that a meeting with representatives from the U.S. Army and other tribes scheduled for Tuesday will begin the negotiation process to repatriate the remains of the 10 children, and eventually, of the dozens more who died while attending the school as part of an assimilation policy intended to rid the children from Native American traditions and replace them with European culture. 'We are hoping that the United States government will say 'Yes, let's bring your relatives home,'' said Russell Eagle Bear, the historic preservation officer for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe."
[CN: Rape culture; familial sexual abuse] Ronan Farrow, the son of Woody Allen, has written a piece for The Hollywood Reporter about, essentially, the fact that the media and lots of famous people continue to ignore his sister's allegations of sexual abuse against their father. And I have a lot of thoughts about what he wrote, none of which I feel like detailing today, but I will point out this one incredible, painful irony: "But it hurts my sister every time one of her heroes like Louis C.K., or a star her age, like Miley Cyrus, works with Woody Allen." Louis CK, of course, has been accused of sexually harassing and/or assaulting multiple female comics. But no charges have been brought, so everyone feels free to ignore them. Like, yanno, Woody Allen. It's entirely possible (and likely) that Dylan and Ronan Farrow are among the many people who have simply never even heard of these charges.
[CN: Transphobia; typical bad media language and misgendering] "Portage transgender teen places second in prom queen contest." This is where I attended high school. There are problems with the article, but I'm really glad that Dakota Yorke was given a chance to speak for herself and I was pleased to see how many of her classmates are publicly supporting her. As well as the school! Good job, PHS.
[CN: Misogyny] OMFG this article about the Ghostbusters reboot. The subhead ALONE! "It's hard to believe geek culture 'sexism' is responsible for all the bad buzz aimed at Paul Feig's female-fronted remake. Now we need Bill Murray to save the day." Of course we do. Love how sexism is in scare-quotes, btw.
[CN: Video may autoplay at link] This tickles me endlessly: "Known for her grasp of policy, Mrs. Clinton has spoken at length in her presidential campaign on topics as diverse as Alzheimer's research and military tensions in the South China Sea. But it is her unusual knowledge about extraterrestrials that has struck a small but committed cohort of voters. Mrs. Clinton has vowed that barring any threats to national security, she would open up government files on the subject, a shift from President Obama, who typically dismisses the topic as a joke. Her position has elated U.F.O. enthusiasts, who have declared Mrs. Clinton the first 'E.T. candidate.'"
[CN: Video may autoplay at link] "Move over bald eagles, the bison are coming for you. While the bald eagle may be the national bird of the U.S., President Obama today officially made the bison the official mammal of the United States by signing the National Bison Legacy Act into law. It is the first time the U.S. has designated a national mammal." Congratulations, bison!
And finally! It's generally not a great idea to surprise someone by getting them a pet, lol, but this story is absolutely terrific: "A teacher in Texas was understandably distraught when her beloved 16-year-old cat named Blondie died. But Tonya Andrews' tears of sadness turned to those of joy when her caring students at Joshua High School, in Joshua, surprised her soon after with an extraordinarily thoughtful gift: two adorable kittens. ...Initially, the teacher thought they belonged to Hanhart and that the class was just going to play with them. 'Then she held them out to me and said they were mine. My heart was filled with joy,' she added, saying she'd 'never forget our sweet, sweet Blondie,' who they'd rescued from a warehouse in Fort Worth. 'But my heart can now experience happiness again.'" Blub!
Hillary's Long Game
Late last night, my BNR colleague Peter Daou wrote a lovely piece about "Hillary's Long Game."
From Hillary's admirers we hear about Hillary's discipline, resilience, compassion, experience and knowledge. From her detractors, we hear she is robotic, calculating, and dishonest.Click through to read the whole thing. And also to admire the perfect picture Peter chose to accompany his piece. He has a knack for finding the most moving images for our posts that explore the many positive things there are to write about Hillary.
What we rarely hear about from either side is her uncanny ability to play the long game, to see through the fog of news cycles, to hear through the cacophony of opinions, and to make decisions that are many steps ahead of her opponents.
...What Hillary also knows is that her voters are profoundly invested in her campaign and that their support gives her the capacity to withstand intense attacks and weather the most turbulent news cycles.
She is playing the long game...
His piece reminds me of a comment I left on a friend's Facebook page recently. (I never do politics on Facebook, but sometimes I dive in on this Clinton supporter friend's page to battle his Bernie Bro pals.)
Notice how Clinton keeps saying she'll release her transcripts when everyone does, even though Sanders has none to release? Well, Donald Trump has been getting paid to give speeches to various corporations since the '80s. If Clinton releases her transcripts now, she'll have no leverage in the general to get Trump to release his, which will be full of problematic shit.
It's almost like Clinton is good at politics or something.
Welcome to the long game, folks.
One of the things I most admire about Clinton is her ability—and her willingness—to stand there while Sanders gets his stupid applause lines for shouting "You want me to release my transcripts?! Okay! Here they are! There are none!" while he mimes throwing invisible papers into the air.
She takes the minor hit, because she's got a long game in mind that is way more important than capitulating to a gnat.
It can't be easy. She must desperately want to exclaim, "I have a plan, you fool!" But instead, she stands at her podium, chin slightly tilted upward, an inscrutable smile on her face, waiting. Waiting.
Playing the long game.
"What is takes is to be a woman who is extraordinary."
I've got a new essay up at BNR about wondering, when I was a child, what it would take for a woman to be president, and how I'm still wondering about that today:
When I was in fifth grade, I had to memorize the list of US presidents. At that time, there were 40 of them. To help me remember them, I looked at a series of their portraits contained in my parents' set of encyclopedias, as I sat cross-legged on the orange shag carpeting of our living room while a re-run of "Barney Miller" played on the telly.Click through to read the whole thing!
To this day, I can conjure the cross stare of Millard Fillmore and the Ichabodian visage of William Henry Harrison.
There was something about all those faces, first rendered in oil and then reprinted for my perusal, that made me ask my teacher how a person became president.
Something about the way I asked made her think I was asking what I might do if I wanted to be president someday. That was not what I was asking. I am criminally shy and despise being the center of attention; a position as visible as the presidency would be my worst nightmare. But I also wasn't really asking what it took to become president, either.
I was asking, without saying it, what it would take—was it even possible—for a woman to be president.
...I am getting a further education. My question is being answered, in simultaneously the most inspiring and disappointing ways.
What is takes is to be a woman who is extraordinary.
I'm So Thrilled Jon Stewart Popped Up Again Just to Remind Me Why I Don't Like Him
[Content Note: Misogyny.]
Jon Stewart's been getting a lot of attention for his searing insight that Donald Trump is a "man-baby." Getting significantly less attention are his comments about Hillary Clinton's "inauthenticity."
Jon Stewart on Monday weighed in on what he termed Hillary Clinton's "inauthenticity" during an interview with David Axelrod, comparing it to the "weird lag" of playing a PC game on a Mac computer.You know what? I never, ever, want to hear another dude comment on how Hillary Clinton is so terribly "inauthentic"—or its ugly cousin "calculating"—in response to visible evidence of the modulation she's obliged to practice as a result of decades of personal scrutiny so intense that it would lay waste to an average person without possession of her unfathomable reservoir of steely resolve.
The former host of "The Daily Show" told Axelrod that some politicians render "their inauthenticity in real time," while others do so with a bit of a lag.
"It's like when you have a Mac and you want to play a Microsoft game on it and there's that weird lag. That's Hillary Clinton," Stewart said during the taping of the interview at the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics.
"What gives me hope in that is that there is a delay, which means she is somehow fighting something," he continued. "I've seen politicians render their inauthenticity in real time, and that's where you go, 'That is a sociopath.'"
Like every woman, she must contend with the Can't Fucking Win List—that list of contradictory rules that ensures we can never fucking win. And, on top of that whimsy-obliterating nightmare that forces each of us to adopt a restrictive self-consciousness, she's measured against a standard of perfection while being relentlessly subjected to incomprehensible personal attacks on an impossibly grand scale.
And she has been doing this for her virtually her entire adult life.
Yes, maybe that does make her guarded and somewhat more hesitant than she might be otherwise. Which ought to evince profound sympathy from any decent person, rather than some smug repartee about how "inauthentic" she is.
West Virginia Primary Wrap-Up
Yesterday was the West Virginia primary, which both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders were expected to win, and they did. Who cares Donald Trump! Congratulations to Bernie Sanders, who is the first Jewish presidential candidate ever to win the West Virginia primary!
And congratulations to Hillary Clinton, who, by virtue of proportional delegate allocation, is still leading the Democratic nomination and remains on a historic path to become the first ever female Democratic presidential nominee. Not that you would know it from the media's yawning indifference to her remarkable trailblazing.
As of this writing, at some ungodly hour of the evening, Clinton has a substantial lead in the nonbinding Nebraska primary. Huzzah!
It's nonbinding because of course there was a Nebraska caucus in March, which Sanders won. Something something rigged! Something something undemocratic! Etc.
Turnout for the NE caucuses was about 22k -- Sanders won by 14.
— Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) May 11, 2016
In tonight's primary it's on pace to be about 70k -- Clinton up 22 points.
In related bloop news [content note: disablist language]:
This seems insane? https://t.co/ZgvUabjKYu pic.twitter.com/DPPtNljPTB
— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) May 11, 2016
This seems like the argument for closed primaries. https://t.co/oE96HyjcaE
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 11, 2016
And when I say "seems like," I mean "is the exact point that people have been making about who you want choosing the nominee of your party."
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 11, 2016
It's a good thing the Democratic primary is effectively over, because this is a perfect example of how open primaries leave lots of room for fuckery, especially when other party's nominating process is over.
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker Kathy_A: "What is your favorite film adaptation of a print work, be it book, story, poem, or graphic work?"
Yowza
I've got a new piece up at BNR about a remarkable new poll out of Florida's Miami-Dade County which finds Hillary Clinton drawing support from 20% of Republican voters in the likely presidential match-up between her and Donald Trump:
Not only are one-fifth of Republican voters prepared to support Hillary, but she’s taking so much support that Donald Trump now does not have majority Republican support in Miami-Dade. Only 48% of respondents indicated support for Trump, while nearly a third remain undecided.Naturally, she's got commanding support among Democrats, even having not yet officially secured her party's nomination.
...Anthony Reed of BNR's Benchmark Politics provides a statistical analysis, comparing the support Hillary is currently getting in Miami-Dade to what President Obama drew in 2008 election, to determine whether these numbers are significant.
Comparing Hillary's numbers (at this point) to then-candidate Barack Obama's in 2008, she has 1% greater support from Republicans than he did on Election Day. (During Obama's reelection, that number declined, as would be expected for a sitting Democratic president.)
Hillary's numbers may change before the election. But it's entirely possible, given Miami-Dade's large Latinx population and the high percentage of undecided voters, that her support among Republican voters will improve.
Blah blah election between two super unpopular candidates! Sure. Except, somehow, she's winning with her party and commanding an extraordinary level of support from the opposing party.
Maybe that's because Clinton is "unpopular" because of bullshit, while Trump is "unpopular" because he is a terrible human being who is liked less by women "than cockroaches, lice, traffic jams, and root canals." Just a thought!
Quote of the Day
[Content Note: Video may autoplay at link.]
"I feel confident that Hillary will be the nominee, and I feel confident she'll be the next president."—Vice-President Joe Biden, not exactly endorsing Clinton during an interview with Good Morning America's Robin Roberts, which will air tomorrow morning.
From your lips to Maude's ears, Mr. Vice-President!
This Is What a Feminist Presidential Candidate Looks Like
Hillary Clinton says over and over on the campaign trail that her entire career has been centered around helping children and removing barriers so that everyone can live up to their potential.
And this is a big, big way of proving that she puts her policy where her mouth is:
Hillary Clinton on Tuesday will sketch out an agenda for helping families with young children, including an ambitious promise to put high-quality child care within financial reach of all working parents.But, as always, those details will be forthcoming, because Clinton never puts out a policy without those details, since she's so competent I MEAN BORING OBVIOUSLY.
...The most concrete part of the agenda, the campaign aides say, will be the two narrow but potentially important proposals. One would bolster a highly regarded "home visiting" program designed to help low-income children at risk of emotional, intellectual, and physical harm. If Clinton has her way, the program, known as the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Initiative, would reach twice as many children as it does today.
The other initiative Clinton plans to introduce Tuesday would seek to boost pay for child-care workers, as a way to improve retention and attract educators with stronger qualifications. Clinton will call this the RAISE initiative, for "Respect And Increased Salaries for Early Childhood Educators," and it will be based on successful pilot programs now operating in several states.
But by far the most intriguing part of Tuesday's speech may be a promise that Clinton intends to make. According to the campaign aides, Clinton will say that the federal government should commit to making sure that no family ever pays more than 10 percent of its income on child-care expenses.
It's an audacious vow, given that many families now spend far more than 10 percent of income on child care, and one that's impossible to evaluate without details about funding and program design that the Clinton campaign has yet to provide.
This is just, truly, a remarkable set of proposals. Genuinely thrilling. And I'm not even a parent and will never be one! This is the sort of progressive and possible thinking that I really like.
Daily Dose of Cute
Zelly, in her sassiest pose.
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] "President Obama will make a historic trip to Hiroshima, Japan, on May 27, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to visit the site of the world's first atomic bombing. The White House formally announced the visit Tuesday after weeks of speculation that Obama would stop in the city after attending the Group of 7 economic summit in Ise-Shima. The president is expected to deliver a speech on nonproliferation of nuclear weapons. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will join Obama on the visit, where the president will 'highlight his continued commitment to pursuing the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons,' the White House said in a statement."
Oh for fuck's sake these Bundys: "Environmental groups have called on the government to round up Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy's cattle with a mass seizure of livestock that some fear could lead to a tense standoff between armed militia groups and federal authorities. A coalition of wildlife organizations wrote to the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on Monday urging the agency to remove Bundy's cattle in the Gold Butte area of Nevada where the 70-year-old has for years allowed his cows to graze freely on public lands in defiance of federal land-use restrictions. ...Although the Bundy men are locked up, the cattle are still grazing without restrictions in an area that the government and environmentalists say is critical habitat for the Mohave desert tortoise, a threatened species. ...BLM, however, currently has no seizure plan for the livestock, agency spokesman Jeff Krauss said in an email. 'Mr Bundy's cattle continue to be in trespass. There are no plans for a gather at this time as we continue to cooperate with the Department of Justice on the ongoing legal matter.'"
[CN: Police brutality; racism] "A police officer charged in the Freddie Gray case chose Tuesday to stand trial before a judge rather than a jury, eliminating a potential wild card in the divisive and emotionally charged case. Officer Edward Nero...one of six officers charged, faces assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office charges. His trial is scheduled to begin Thursday and is expected to last about five days. The trial is seen as a bellwether case for the other two arresting officers who face the same charges. They have all pleaded not guilty. Nero is the second officer to stand trial. Late last year, a jury couldn't reach a unanimous decision in the case against Officer William Porter, who checked on Gray several times after he was put in the police van."
[CN: War on agency; NB: Not only women need abortions] "A new Utah law that goes into effect on Tuesday will force doctors to shirk their promise to 'do no harm' by dangerously over-anesthetizing women who seek a later abortion. Informed by anti-abortion state lawmakers rather than by medical experts, the 'Protecting Unborn Children Amendment' requires physicians to administer an anesthetic to any women seeking an abortion at 20 weeks of pregnancy or later, to 'eliminate or alleviate organic pain to the unborn child.' Like many anti-abortion laws on the state level, Utah's law rests on the unscientific belief that a fetus can feel pain at 20 weeks of gestation. ...Utah physicians have strongly opposed the bill since its inception, arguing that unscientific opinions from state lawmakers have no place in a safe doctor-patient relationship—especially if they put a woman's life at risk." Rage seethe boil.
[CN: War on agency; anti-choice terrorism] Another must-read by Jessica Mason Pieklo: "This distinction—between spiritual violence and physical violence—is exactly the cover the radical anti-choice movement has sought from the law for decades. And that's exactly what the Dillard jury gave them when they found Dillard not liable for threatening Means out of providing abortions in Wichita. Although the circumstances of the cases are obviously different, the idea that being spiritually compelled toward the threat of violence should be enough to excuse that threat in the court of law echoes the reasoning used by other anti-choice extremists."
[CN: Rape culture; sexual exploitation and assault] My god: "An Arkansas judge has resigned his position after thousands of nude photos of defendants who appeared before him in court were discovered on his computer. Judge Joseph Boeckmann reportedly swapped sex with young, white, male defendants for reduced sentences of 'community service' at his home. At least one of Boeckmann's victims was under the age of 18. Beckmann allegedly gave his victims a hand-written note with his phone number accompanying the 'community service' sentence. Photos recovered from Boeckmann's computer show that Boeckmann had a penchant for paddling his victims before posing them for nude photographs." I take up space in solidarity with his victims. And with survivors in this community. Just more terrific encouragement for survivors to trust the justice system.
[CN: Islamophobia] Newly-elected London Mayor Sadiq Khan "has rejected US presidential hopeful Donald Trump's offer to make the new London mayor an 'exception' to a ban on Muslims travelling to the US. 'This isn't just about me. It's about my friends, my family and everyone who comes from a background similar to mine, anywhere in the world,' he said. Mr Khan also warned that Mr Trump's 'ignorant' views of Islam 'could make both our countries less safe.'" A+
[CN: Misogyny; objectification] This is polite, ahem: "Trump's crude talk on-air with Stern between 1990 and 2005 was part of an image the businessman cultivated as a Manhattan playboy who had so many women that he barely had time to sleep... That reputation was useful as Trump, in his 40s and 50s, built a brand designed to equate his name with success and the high life. But it is problematic as Trump, 69, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, tries to wash away his tabloid past and fashion a more dignified persona—as a potential commander in chief and leader of the free world." Problematic. Yes.
[CN: Misogyny; dehumanization] Good grief: "Mika Brzezinski and a panel of four men reinforced Donald Trump's disgusting attack on Hillary's marriage, with Brzezinski saying there were 'unanswered questions' and that Hillary should start acting 'vulnerable.' ...Mike Barnicle opined that Hillary is 'capable of real emotion.'" Can you even imagine being a dude who thinks it's his place to be the auditor of whether a woman running for the presidency is an actual human being? JFC.
[CN: Climate change; displacement] Yiiiiiiiikes: "Rising sea levels that submerge entire islands were supposed to be a distant possibility of an apocalyptic future. But in the idyllic Pacific, that future is here. Five of the Solomon Islands have completely disappeared under water over the past seven decades, one drawing its last breath as recently as 2011, according to a study published in Environmental Research Letters. Another six islands have lost more than 20% of their surface area, forcing communities to relocate as the shoreline closes in on their homes. 'The human element of this is alarming. Working alongside people on the frontline who have lost their family home—that they've had for four to five generations—it's quite alarming,' the study's lead author, Simon Albert of the University of Queensland, told CNN."
And finally! "Gentoo Penguins Hatch at Edinburgh Zoo." Sooooo cute! "Due to the decline in their populations, Gentoo Penguins are listed as 'Near Threatened' on the IUCN Red List. ...Penguins have been an integral part of RZSS Edinburgh Zoo for over 100 years and the Zoo has the largest outdoor Penguin pool in Europe. They were one of the first species that arrived, and the Zoo and the Society became world renowned when they were the first outside the southern hemisphere to breed King Penguins. The world famous daily Penguin Parade began in 1951 when a keeper accidentally left the gate open and the penguins went for a short walk and then returned to their enclosure; keepers still open the gate every day at 2.15pm and birds who voluntarily want to take part go for a short walk outside their enclosure."
Memo to the Media: Stop Talking About Women Like We Are Stupid
[Content Note: Misogyny.]
Now that Donald Trump is the presumptive GOP nominee, naturally talk has turned to who will be his running mate. One of the emergent themes in the corporate media is whether Trump will choose a female veep in order to neutralize criticisms of his misogyny and his low favorability with women.
Already, Trump is determined to make this election as difficult as possible for women, engaging in rank sexism toward Hillary Clinton, toward female critics like Elizabeth Warren, toward female reporters, and toward female voters.
It is not fun to be a woman who must navigate his constant disgorgements of misogyny just to follow this election.
And the media is not helping. They're not helping by uncritically reporting his sexism, and they're not helping by indulging sexist narratives about Clinton, and they're not helping by airing segments in which they speculate that Trump choosing a female running mate will somehow improve his fortunes among female voters.
There are, of course, some women who support Trump—but the vast majority of us do not. And the suggestion that we would forgive and forget his past misogyny, and overlook all his inevitable future misogyny, just because he chooses a woman to run beside him, is incredibly demeaning.
Women are not stupid. Women who oppose Trump do so for a number of reasons: Not just because of his sexism, but because of his racism, his Islamophobia, his categorical unfitness and unpreparedness for the US presidency.
And we are not easily fooled. A man who has spent decades being a famous chauvinist in both his personal and professional life does not magically become a friend to woman even if he manages to keep his sexism to himself for a couple of months, and even if he chooses a woman as a prominent colleague.
It's bad enough that we've got to listen to Clinton being constantly belittled on the basis of her womanhood, and bad enough that we've got to listen to Trump run his mouth about the "woman card" and brag about being endorsed by a rapist and accuse female journalists on being on their period if he doesn't like their questions.
We don't need endless media speculation about how he can win us over with a transparently cynical ploy that didn't work for John McCain and won't work for him.
Dear Media: Stop. Just stop. No Love, Liss.
[UPDATE: Meanwhile, Donald Trump has tapped his campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who was accused of assaulting a female reporter, to lead the hunt for his running mate. Because of course he has.]
BREAKING NEWS: Did you know that Hillary Clinton is THE OLDEST PERSON IN EXISTENCE???
by Shaker Alison Rose, a fierce queer feminist, avid book lover, and proud cat lady who lives in the northern SF Bay Area.
[Content Note: Ageism; misogyny.]
Or...not.
One of the (many) things about this election that has made me want to run screaming for the hills is the very odd and imbalanced way that age has been discussed and debated, especially among the voters, and most especially among supporters of Bernie Sanders.
Here are some facts: By election day, Clinton will have just turned 69 years old; Sanders will have recently turned 75 years old; 75 is a bigger number than 69. Yes, even when we are talking about a lady and her age! It's not like figuring out how old your pet is in "human years."
And yet, one of the consistent forms of "humor" and argument from Sanders supporters is that Clinton is old, uncool, unhip, out of touch, old, pathetic, embarrassing, old, old, old.
I first realized how prevalent this thinking was when those fake "Bernie or Hillary" posters started showing up in my Tumblr feed and Twitter timelines. The meme shows official portraits of Sanders and Clinton under the headline "Bernie or Hillary? Be Informed. Compare them on the issues that matter." The image is photoshopped to have a random topic as the "issue" and below each portrait is the candidate's supposed stance on said issue.
In nearly every iteration I've seen, the "issue" is something related to pop culture, and the statement attributed to Sanders shows a deep understanding of and affinity for the topic, while Clinton's statement reads like someone who has no familiarity with it at all and is painfully trying to pretend otherwise.
Amanda Hess at Slate had an article about this meme earlier this year, pointing out how weird and juvenile it is, in addition to being sexist, if you have a shred of comprehension of what sexism is and how it works. To assume that Sanders, for example, knows all the ins and outs of the Harry Potter universe while Clinton can't even get a single Hogwarts House name correct, or that Sanders has a hipster's expertise in 90s alt rock while Clinton simply grasps for a widely-known hit radio track, is to bestow automatic coolness on an older man while assuming inherent stodginess in an older woman.
Never mind the fact that I have no idea where Sanders' fans get this idea that he is, or at least probably is, some kind of human pop-culture encyclopedia. What has he ever said or done in the past to indicate this? I imagine that both Sanders and Clinton have about equal knowledge of Beyonce, Orphan Black, or Daniel and his ever-present white Vans.
Sure, part of this is simply that they like him more, so they want to believe him to be cooler. But that liking and that belief is inextricably tied to painting her as less cool, and the way we indicate "less cool" in someone who isn't young is by making them out to be oh so very old. It would be very easy to make the same out-of-touch jokes about Sanders, if people considered his age on an equal footing with hers.
I guess another perk one gets with a "woman card" is a ten-year penalty added to your birthday.
In the 2008 Democratic primary, there was a large age gap between then-Senator Barack Obama—47 years old prior to the convention—and Clinton, who was 61. Obama was certainly the more youthful one, closer to the "young voters" demographic in many ways. While it bothered me then too to see Clinton portrayed as "too old," at least the fact of her being the much older one wasn't bullshit.
To hear Sanders' supporters (or undecided voters) talk about her age and how it makes her dorky, not relatable, fake, etc., irritates the hell out of me because it requires a willful ignorance of reality, and again, a greater leniency shown to the man than to the woman. It's okay, and even great, and even awesome, for 75-year-old Bernie to be President, to be in power, to want support, to try to connect with younger people. But when 69-year-old Hillary does the same, it's just so sad and ridiculous.
In fact, age as a disqualifying factor seems to have only been used against Clinton, even though both Sanders and Donald Trump, who will turn 70 next month, are both older than she is. Many of these same voters were also eager for Vice-President Joe Biden to enter the race, Biden who will turn 74 just after the election. I could point out that cis men have shorter average life expectancies than cis women, but I guess that would make me a misandrist. Ahem.
It's also interesting (and by "interesting" I mean "annoying as fuck") to see the enthusiastic esteem many Sanders supporters have for Senator Elizabeth Warren, their favorite defense against accusations of sexism ("I can't be SEXIST, here's a lady I have deemed acceptable!!"). Warren will be 67 years old in a few weeks. So if she's terrific and they would totally have supported her as a Presidential candidate, it strikes me as just a bit disingenuous to focus so much on Clinton being an old old lady. If a woman has to fit into your narrow mold of Good Enough, Cool Enough, Progressive Enough, in order to be allowed to age in public, then I hate to break it to you, Sparky, but you're kinda sexist.
Advanced age in a man denotes experience and wisdom; in a woman it denotes staleness and deficiency. Older men who keep going at their work are admired for their tenacity and vigor; older women who do so are sneered at for their stubbornness. The physical signs of aging in a man are at worst gently teased, and more often seen as "distinguished"; those same physical signs in a woman seem to literally disgust a large portion of society, who are angry that a woman who doesn't sexually attract them has the audacity to still place herself in their line of vision.
None of this is new, but it will always anger me to see supposed progressives gleefully engage in overt misogyny made up largely of HA HA SHE'S SO OLD jokes against the first woman to have a clear shot at the presidency. If age is a concerning topic for you, it should concern you regarding all of the candidates. If it's only her age that concerns you, that speaks louder than a thousand memes.
Like a Boss
[Content Note: Misogyny.]
I've got a new piece up at BNR exploring how many of the negative narratives used about Hillary Clinton are the same ones we hear used about female bosses:
Ask some people who have never worked for a woman why they wouldn't want to and you'll hear a familiar litany of sexist tropes: Female bosses are unqualified; they're unlikable; they're too cold or too weak; they're bad for other women; they're moody; they're bitches. Many of the negative narratives about Hillary Clinton closely mirror negative narratives about female bosses.Click on through to read the whole thing!
...I've long noticed that the more I am warned about a female colleague before I meet her, the more likely I am to like her. A lot.
This was also my experience with Hillary Clinton, once I started getting to "know" her via deep-diving into her history and career. All of the narratives I'd heard about her, some of which I assumed to be true, fell away in fluttering confetti of discreditation.
When I have spoken to people who've worked for her—women and men, white and people of color, queer and straight—they have all told me the same, to a person: She is kind. She is an incredibly thoughtful boss. The monster of infamy never appears.
