Malcolm Middleton: "Fuck It, I Love you"
The Friday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by pie.
Recommended Reading:
Sean: Hillary Clinton Outlines Her Goals for LGBT Equality in Historic Op-Ed for LGBT Newspaper
Kenrya: [Content Note: Police brutality; racism] Judge Dismisses $41.5 Million Civil Rights Suit Against Ferguson, Cops
Media Diversified: [CN: Victim-blaming; rape culture] Stand Up to Racism: Stand Up to Rape Culture
George: [CN: Moving gif at link] Desperate Whale Calf Tries to Free Its Mother from a Sandbank [Spoiler alert: She's free!]
Fannie: Quote of the Day
THV: [CN: Moving gifs at link] Tom Hardy on Not Doing It Alone
Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!
Number of the Day
Zero: "With just a little over a month until election day, Donald Trump has racked up zero major newspaper endorsements, a first for any major party nominee in American history."
Welp.
Photo of the Day
Button Game: ON POINT.
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
Whooooooops! "Trump has declared that he has a 'winning temperament.' He argued in the first debate that 'my strongest asset, maybe by far, is my temperament.' Surveys, though, suggest it is one of his biggest political weaknesses. A Fox News poll taken after the first debate, for instance, found that just 37 percent of likely voters believe Trump has the right temperament to be president, compared to 67 percent for Clinton."
Further to that point, this is a great piece by Joy Reid: "If Donald Trump Wins, the GOP Will Rein Him In, Right? Uh, Yeah."
[Content Note: Disablism; antisemitism; racism; threats; harassment] "How Donald Trump Supporters Attack Journalists." Yep. As I've said previously, "basket of deplorables" was generous.
From my colleague Matthew at Shareblue: "Reminder: GOP continues to obstruct Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland."
[CN: Misogyny] "Girls spend 40% more time performing unpaid household chores than boys, according to a new report from the UN children's agency. Unicef said the difference in time spent working amounted to 160 million extra hours a day worldwide. Two out of three girls cook and clean in the home, and almost half collect water or firewood. They also perform more 'less visible' domestic work like childcare or looking after the elderly, the report says. It also found that the extra workload increased with time: between ages five and nine, girls spend 30% more time on chores—by 14, it rises to 50%."
Whoa, this looks so good: "Jordan Peele's Horror Film, Get Out, Gets An Amazing Trailer."
If you like Sarah Paulson (I do!), you might like this interview with her (I did!). "In terms of my [Emmy acceptance] speech, I wanted to say I love you to the person I love. Everyone else does it, so should I not do it because the person I love is a woman? And so I thought, you know what? I'm just gonna do it. I wasn't worried over it. It was a flashing thought—'should I do it?'. And I thought to myself, 'The fact that I am having this thought is wrong in the first place.' The idea that I would have to take a moment before I say this to consider what impact it might have that could be negative, is an asinine thing to engage with mentally, and I refuse to do it. So I just said what I wanted to say."
What have you been reading?
Daily Dose of Cute
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
Quote of the Day
[Content Note: Bullying; bigotry.]
"If we accept Donald Trump's behavior, if we vote for him, then what exactly are we teaching our children? That it's okay to be disrespectful, racist, to make fun of disabled persons, to use vulgar language, to promote people to beat up others? In short, to be a bully."—Denise Kennedy, president of Pennsylvania State Education Association's Southeastern Region, on why members of that organization held a press conference "to condemn the bullying ways of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump," as part of National Bullying Prevention Month, marked by schools across the country every October.
"If we saw this kind of behavior in our children, we would take action to reduce it with a goal of stopping it," said Kennett Consolidated School District teacher Korri Brown. "Yet, every insulting outburst seems to bring Mr. Trump more attention."BOOM.
..."So I am here to say, we cannot allow Mr. Trump to win on Nov. 8, as educators, as parents, as people invested in our communities, we have a better, stronger option," said Brown. "Do we really want Mr. Trump serving in this highest office in the land, an office that, without question is a role model for our young people?"
..."In working with children, we teach academics, but more importantly, we teach and model love, kindness, empathy, tolerance, acceptance, and respect. This is how we build character and strong children," she said.
Hurricane Matthew Update
[Content Note: Extreme weather; death; video may autoplay at link.]
Hurricane Matthew was deadly in Haiti, with an official there saying 283 people have died, and that number is, unfortunately, expected to rise. Now, the storm approaches the United States:
Hurricane Matthew is blasting eastern Florida's Space Coast, and is poised to deliver a punishing combination of storm surge flooding, rainfall flooding, and destructive winds in northeast Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and southern North Carolina into the weekend. Some areas near the coast in Georgia and South Carolina may see flooding comparable to last October's event.President Obama has declared a state of emergency in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.
Wind gusts as high as 107 mph have been clocked at Cape Canaveral, Florida, prompting a rare NWS "extreme wind warning", as the hurricane's western outer eyewall scrapes the Space Coast.
Matthew's precarious track in which the eyewall may scrape the coast with destructive hurricane-force winds will spread north through Saturday along the northeast Florida coast, Georgia coast, and parts of the South Carolina coast.
Of more concern is the storm surge. According to the National Weather Service in Jacksonville, Florida, Friday morning, "Barrier islands are likely to be breached and it is extremely possible that new inlets will be cut off in the worst affected areas." The NWS office in Charleston, South Carolina, said Friday tide levels at both Charleston, South Carolina, and Ft. Pulaski, Georgia, could approach or even surpass those seen during the October 2015 epic flood event.
Hurricane warnings extend from Sebastian Inlet, Florida to South Santee River, South Carolina. This includes locations such as Orlando, Jacksonville, Florida, Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina. Jacksonville had not been under a hurricane warning in 17 years, until now.
If you are in the affected areas, and you need shelter, Airbnb is offering free shelter for evacuees.
In related political news, Republican Florida Governor Rick Scott has refused to extend voter registration due to the storm, saying at a press confernece: "Everybody has had plenty of time to register."
Except: "86,000 Floridians registered in the final 5 days of the voter registration window in 2012."
And Democrats' field operations meant that they were quickly out-registering the GOP in new voters, especially Latinx voters. So Scott is essentially using the storm for political gain. Which is pretty gross. And, frankly, pretty typical.
People are going to be hurt and displaced and harmed by this storm; they really don't need to have their rights taken away, too.
"It's Good to Be Ambitious."
I've got a new piece at Shareblue about Hillary Clinton's interview with 11-year-old Marley Dias, the creator of #1000BlackGirlBooks.
"It's good to be ambitious." Those are five deceptively powerful words. They are words that girls and women rarely hear, and to hear them from a woman who is on the precipice of breaking into the biggest, baddest boys' club on the planet is quite special.As always, there's more at the link!
...She knows the creeping self-doubt that springs forth from seeds of discouragement, planted by sinister opposition. And thus she knows how important it is not just to help blaze the trail, but to call to those behind her: It is good to come this way.
This election is terrible. And also? IT IS AMAZING. I feel like every day there is a precious gift to appreciate, a gem buried in all the ash spewing forth from Mount Trump.
I have waited a very long time for this election, and it isn't going exactly how I'd hoped, to put it mildly, but I'll be goddamned if I'm gonna let Trump overwhelm my capacity to enjoy the good stuff. The great stuff. THE BEST STUFF.
Chicago Ain't F#@king Around
[Content Note: Bigotry.]
A group of Chicago aldermen have introduced an ordinance that would rescind Donald Trump's honorary plaza in the city:
[A]t a City Council meeting Wednesday, Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd, introduced an ordinance that would strip Trump's name from the small plaza in front of his River North hotel on Wabash Avenue.Damn. You shouldn't have messed with the Windy City, Donzo.
The move would punish Trump for "painting a distorted caricature of Chicago" on the campaign trail and for "comparing our great city to a decimated, war-torn country," said Reilly, in whose ward the Trump Tower stands.
He was backed by eight other aldermen who agreed with Reilly's statement that "honorary street signs are meant to honor special Chicagoans who've made a positive contribution to our city."
The proposed ordinance also states that Trump has run a "hateful, racist campaign against immigrants and minorities," and accuses him of a "complete disregard for civil liberties dating back to the 1970s."
It could take about a month to be enacted, Reilly said, adding that "there are millions of people who live and work here who are very proud of our city, and given his actions in recent months, he doesn't warrant an honorary street sign."
Especially not after you built that hideous monstrosity on the riverfront and slapped your name on it, which everyone hates so much you can't even rent out the prime retail space on the ground floor. Loser.
Worst. Advice. Ever.
And I sure hope Donald Trump listens to it!
Fresh off his strong performance in Tuesday night's vice presidential debate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence said he is not pushing Donald Trump to follow his lead but instead wants the Manhattan billionaire to "be himself."Trump "being himself" in a townhall-style debate, where he's interacting one-on-one with ordinary people is a terrific idea. For Hillary supporters.
"I'd encourage Donald Trump to do what he did in his first debate, and that is be himself. Speak from his mind and speak from his heart, and I know he's going to do that," Pence said Thursday morning on Fox News' Fox & Friends.
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
[Content Note: Extreme weather] "Hurricane Matthew Nears U.S., and States Brace for Impact."
YES: "Inside Planned Parenthood's $30 Million Ground War to Stop Trump-Pence."
Jamil Smith on LeBron James' endorsement of Hillary Clinton: "The King Is with Her." This is such a great piece, like everything Jamil writes. And, not to direct attention away from Jamil's central argument, which is great, but this is why I love him: "...James — arguably America’s greatest male athlete..." Such a little thing, and such a huge thing.
[CN: Disablist language] Maude help me, this election has me agreeing with Mark Cuban: "Mark Cuban slams Donald Trump: Not paying taxes is greedy, not 'smart'."
[CN: Video may autoplay at link] Another must-read from Kurt Eichenwald on Trump's shady business practices: "How Donald Trump Ditched U.S. Steel Workers in Favor of China." The key takeaway here is that, because Trump's business is privately owned, he doesn't even have shareholders to which he's beholden. When he takes his business abroad to save money, it's literally only to enrich himself.
[CN: Sexual violence; rape culture; harassment] Rage seethe boil: "[Lawyers for the woman who alleged gang rape against NBA star Derrick Rose and two of his friends] argued the alleged rape was trauma enough without the world Googling her and rummaging through personal details laid bare in court. They said justice did not demand stripping her anonymity. They lost. The 30-year-old's name appears in the federal court calendar, a public document, and was cited in court on Tuesday even before the jury was selected. On Wednesday, as lawyers made opening statements, she hung her head and quietly cried." I am so fucking angry about this.
"American singer Andra Day and a variety of Latinx artists will stand up against xenophobia and fear-mongering when they perform at a historic Univision- and Fusion-produced concert on the U.S.-Mexico border later this month. Rise Up As One is set for October 15 at the Cross Border Xpress, an airport terminal and bridge on the outskirts of San Diego that provides access to Tijuana. Besides Day, performers include Colombian singer Juanes, Mexican singer Julieta Venagas, and norteño band Los Tigres del Norte."
Good dog! "Jack sensed something was wrong, alerting his owners in the wee hours of the morning to a fire in the home's utility room. The 2-1/2 year old Irish Wolfhound's actions were timely enough the owner was able to put out the fire with the garden house prior to the arrival of the fire department."
What have you been reading?
Daily Dose of Cute
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
Beneath Contempt
Over at Shareblue, I've got the latest unfathomable grossness from Donald Trump: Video plus transcript of Trump "jokingly" telling a crowd during a campaign event that people who are terminally ill need to hang on to Election Day so they can vote for him.
No, I am not making that up. It really happened.
Photo of the Day
Someone tell this lady that there's supposed to be LOW ENTHUSIASM for Hillary Clinton in this country! Hahaha just kidding. She is awesome and her hat is THE BEST! The end.
Oh, We Go High All Right!
[Content Note: Video may autoplay at link.]
President Obama's approval rating has hit a new high:
President Barack Obama's approval rating stands at 55% in a new CNN/ORC poll, the highest mark of his second term, and matching his best at any time since his first year in office.And deservedly so. President Obama has turned out to be a truly extraordinary president.
The new rating outpaces his previous second-term high—reached just after a Democratic convention that extolled the successes of his presidency—by one point, and hits a level he's reached just twice since the end of his first year in office: In January 2013 just before his second inauguration and in January 2011.
The new poll continues a streak in which Obama's approval rating has been at 50% or higher in CNN/ORC polls since February, a seven month run that is his longest since 2009. And taken together, Obama's approval ratings in 2016 average 51% so far in CNN/ORC polls, his best mark since that first year in office.
A year ago at this time, Obama's approval rating was about 10 points lower than it is today. The improvement in his numbers has come across age groups and gender lines, and from all geographic regions.
Happy 12th Blogiversary to Us!
Yesterday was Shakesville's twelfth blogiversary! Whooooooops! Even if it's a day late, let's all lift a glass and toast to this community. To teaspoons! To the mods! And to the most colossal collection of the most Humorless Feminists in all of Nofunnington! CHEERS!
When I first started this blog, because George W. Bush was making me so angry that I couldn't contain it in my head anymore, I did so without any hope or expectation that it would ever mean anything to anyone other than me.
I'm surprised and thrilled that it has. And I feel really grateful that Shakesville, the blog and/or the community here, means something to so many people. I'm honored to mean something to you.
I've said this before and I'll say it once again: This is the hardest and best job I've ever done. I am a better person than I was when I started. I know more about myself, both the good things and the things that need changing. I've made great friends, the greatest, and had expansively generous teachers, from whom I've learned more in this space than I ever could have imagined. I am forever changed because of Shakesville, and the people who visit or come to stay.
My thanks to this community for their support. My profound gratitude to the other contributors and mods, for everything you put on the page and everything you do for me behind the scenes. And my thanks and appreciation to Iain, who first suggested I start this blog and always believes in me.
And now, back to work.
