Inspired by my anticipation for Julie & Julia and Amelia, the upcoming biopic of Amelia Earhart starring Hilary Swank, and my continual frustration with the general dearth of female-centered biopics: What woman's life would you like you see made into a feature film?
Here are my top five:
1. Shirley Chisholm. First black woman elected to Congress, founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus, first major-party black candidate for president, first female Democratic presidential candidate…what the hell does a woman gotta do to warrant a freaking biopic already?
2. Edith Stein. Jewish atheist philosopher whose fascination with Catholic mysticism prompted her conversion to Catholicism; she later became a nun. Brilliant and fascinating writer. Penned "an impassioned and extraordinarily prescient appeal to Pope Pius XI in 1933, urging him to galvanize the church against the Nazi persecution of the Jews." Stein's warning was not heeded; she was later arrested and died at Auschwitz. (I can't even write that without blubbing.)
3. Lola Montez. Irish-born dancer and famous European courtesan, whose rather amazing life of art, sex, and political intrigue took her around the world. There was a French-German film made of her life in 1955, but none since that I know of.
4. Renée Richards. Author, athlete, and activist. Famously denied entry into the 1976 US Open by the United States Tennis Association, who invoked a "women-born-women policy," prompting Richards to sue and eventually win her case in the New York State Supreme Court. The decision was hailed as a landmark in the struggle for trans equality. There was a TV movie made about Richards in the '80s, starring Vanessa Redgrave, but her story certainly belongs on the big screen—especially now.
5. Indira Gandhi. I'm honestly not sure how it's possible that there hasn't been a serious biopic made of India's first (and still only) female prime minister who was fascinating, controversial, and brutally assassinated. I mean, really?—Aileen Wuornos gets a film before Indira Gandhi? And how many films about Queen Elizabeth I do we really need? Come on.
Question of the Day
Quote of the Day
"I hope people can see that we're just people. Everybody should have an equal place somewhere, even if it's in a yearbook or getting married. We all should get the same rights as everybody else."—Deoine Scott, one-half of a lesbian couple recently voted "Best Couple" by their classmates in the graduating class at Mott Haven Village Preparatory High School in the South Bronx, NYC. [Via.]
Deoine Scott and Victoria Cruz
You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me
Disgraced Republican Dipshit and Professional Racist George "Macaca" Allen is trying to launch a political comeback with a book due out next year called The Triumph of Character: What Washington Can Learn from the World of Sports:
In The Triumph of Character, Allen brings together two all-American passions—politics and sports—and reveals what Washington could learn from the enduring principles found in athletic competition and team sports. Having spent the better part of his life with one foot in both the world of sports and the world of politics, Allen will draw parallels and contrasts between the two arenas. Using his own engaging and entertaining personal stories, Allen will illustrate how "characters with character" in the meritocracy of sports can provide principled, competitive examples of the ways to surmount challenges facing America.I hope he intends to include the anecdote about the time he and some of his friends, the day before their predominantly white high school was set to play a big game against a predominantly black high school, spray-painted racist graffiti on schoolgrounds—and, in quite the clever twist, made the graffiti appear to be the work of the black students from the opposing school by using phrases like "Die Whitey" and "Burn, Baby, Burn."
There's a lot to learn from that story about George Allen's character, methinks.
I Have No Explanation
Recently, in response to CaitieCat's QoTD about the klutziest thing you've ever done, I responded with a fine example of klutzwank with an exacerbating caveat: "Only adding to the world-class klutzery was the fact that I was wearing at the time a bright purple bathing suit bearing a cheetah that looked like it had escaped from a black velvet canvas or the back of a 1970's stoner van."
Evidence of this alleged fashion travesty was requested...
Oh yeah. Ernie, me, and my cheetah bathing suit at Sesame Place in Pennsylvania, circa 1984. HAWT.
Thanks very much to Mama Shakes for scanning this work of art.
Is It Just Me…
…or does anyone find it a little rich that there are Republicans trying to make hay out of the fact that, yes, Al Franken used to be a comedic actor? I mean, this is the party who's had among its House members this guy:
…and this guy:
…and ran this guy as a presidential candidate:
…and worship the star of Bedtime for Bonzo as their ZOMG Greatest, Most Awesomest, Totes the Best Statesman of All Fucking Time, Dood!
Bedtime. For. Bonzo.
'Nuff said.
I Get Letters
your not fareThat, Shakers, sent under the header "dumb fat Chick" (capitalization original), was the entire message. And, I have to say, it really brightened my day.
Thanks, Mr. Emailer Who Shall Remain Anonymous Even Though You Inexplicably Sent Your Missive from a Work Account with Your Full Name and Complete Footer Including Telephone Number!
Failywood
When I was complaining last week about the four-studio bidding war over a film adaptation of the video game "Asteroids," Kenny Blogginz told me that they were making a View-Master movie. I thought he was kidding!
He was not.
"Hello. My name is Viewy McMaster. I've come to entertain your family—TO DEATH!"
I anxiously await with heaving bosom and glistening brow the imminent release of Martin Scorsese's timeless masterpiece, Cement: The Movie.
[H/T to Shaker Constant Comment.]
The Telegraph's Pro-Rape Agenda
If that sounds like an inflammatory headline, well, it's not intended to be. It's quite literally the only excuse I can conjure for the Telegraph publishing an article headlined "Women who dress provocatively more likely to be raped, claim scientists" and subheaded "Women who drink alcohol, wear short skirts and are outgoing are more likely to be raped, claim scientists at the University of Leicester," based on a press release titled "Promiscuous men more likely to rape," summarizing incomplete research done for a dissertation project that found the exact opposite of what's blared as if fact in the Telegraph headline and subhead:
I rang Sophia Shaw at the University of Leicester. She was surprised to have been presented as an expert scientist on the pages of the Daily Telegraph, as she is an MSc student, and this was her dissertation project. Also it was not finished. "My findings are very preliminary," she said.Emphasis mine.
She had been discussing her dissertation at an academic conference when the British Psychological Society's PR team picked it up, and put out the press release.
…Shaw spoke to about 100 men, presenting them with "being with a woman", and asking them when they would "call it a night". The idea was to explore men's attitudes towards coercing women into sex.
"I'm very aware that there are limitations to my study. It's self-report data about sensitive issues, so that's got its flaws, and participants were answering when sober, and so on," she said.
But more than that, she told me, every single one of the first four statements made by the Telegraph was an unambiguous, incorrect, misrepresentation of her findings.
Women who drink alcohol, wear short skirts and are outgoing are more likely to be raped? "This is completely inaccurate," Shaw said. "We found no difference whatsoever. The alcohol thing is also completely wrong: if anything, we found that men reported they were willing to go further with women who are completely sober."
And what about the Telegraph's next claim, or rather, the paper's reassuringly objective assertion, that it is scientists who claim that women who dress provocatively are more likely to be raped?
"We have found that people will go slightly further with women who are provocatively dressed, but this result is not statistically significant. Basically you can't say that's an effect, it could easily be the play of chance. I told the journalist it isn't one of our main findings, you can't say that. It's not significant, which is why we're not reporting it in our main analysis."
So who do we blame for this story, and what do we do about it?
Shaw said: "When I saw the article my heart sank, and it made me really angry, given how sensitive this subject is. To be making claims like the Telegraph did, in my name, places all the blame on women, which is not what we were doing at all. I just felt really angry about how wrong they'd got this study."
Despite the inaccuracies having been brought to their attention, the Telegraph continues to run with the same misleading (to put it charitably) headline and subhead, satisfyingly confirming the prejudices of rape apologists and victim-blamers. They have, however, subtly made changes to the article's text since its original publication.
Even as the dangerously erroneous title still stands—a deliberate error that speaks to a dark agenda.
[H/T to Jess.]
You Go, Grrl: Rebecca Berry
I love this story:
Male Anchor: Well, you know, an eighty-year-old great-grandmother shouldn't have to work for a living anymore. And now Rebecca Berry—she won't have to.Berry's (soon-to-be-former) employer is a US district court judge in Honolulu, for whom she works as secretary. She's one of only four winners who have become instant millionaires playing Wild Cherry progressive slot machines.
Female Anchor: No, she's not coming to Tim's house, either, unfortunately! Last night, though, Berry hit the jackpot—on a dollar progressive slot machine at the Mystic Lake Casino; she takes home more than one-point-three million dollars. She looks so calm there! Berry lives in Hawaii; she comes to Minnesota a couple of times a year to visit her daughters. She says she just had a feeling about that machine.
Berry: I would play, walk away, play, walk away, and I kept coming back to the same machine for two days. [giggles] I was planning on retiring at the—early next year, but I'm going to call him and say, "I quit!" [laughs]
Female Anchor: Well, at eighty, she certainly deserves that. Berry says she plans to use the money to make repairs on her home and also to help out her children.
I'm so not a gambler; I've never even played a slot machine in my life, and I've been to Vegas (for a trade show, my attendance at which was required by an old job). "The house always wins" is just too compelling an argument for me to put down my money—but I love it when other people gamble and win. Congrats, Ms. Berry!
Q&A
Ezra Klein interviews the great Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), who's just written a book, The Waxman Report, which "offers an inside view of how Washington really works—and how it can work better." Ezra asks good questions:
Even with a popular new president and a large House majority and 60 Democrats in the Senate, it seems unlikely we'll actually solve these underlying problems. We might get legislation. But it's not likely to avert the existence-level fiscal threat from health-care reform or the existence level environmental threat from climate change. But if not now, then when? And if Congress can't respond to challenges of that magnitude, doesn't it suggest that something is quite wrong?And Rep. Waxman gives good answers:
When I came to Congress, if you were the senior member, you became chairman no matter how competent you were, no matter how in sync you were with the majority caucus. That was enormously advantageous for many of the Dixiecrats who remained Democrat for that reason, to take advantage of the seniority, but who aligned themselves on policy with the Republicans, and created a situation where even when Democrats had large margins, there was this sort of Southern Democrat-Republican coalition that ruled.The whole interview is well worth a read.
The fight by Sam Rayburn to allow the Rules Committee to be controlled by the leadership was an enormous and brutal fight, but a necessary one. The chairman before that time was Judge Smith from Virginia, who wouldn't let civil rights legislation go to the House floor because he was a segregationist himself. That meant that even when the Judiciary Committee proposed a bill for civil rights, members of the House couldn't vote on it.
Predictable; Infuriating
Last week, I wrote about the murder of gay Seaman August Provost, and I noted: "What breaks my heart even beyond the loss of Provost's life is that, if it turns out that he was killed because he was gay, there will be people who cite his death as justification to retain the DADT policy."
Cue Time to draw the connection between the murder and the military's DADT policy, but take the "the murder last week of an apparently gay sailor at California's Camp Pendleton has raised new questions over the readiness of the armed forces to accept openly homosexual personnel" route.
As I said last week, it isn't openly gay servicemembers who are the problem; it is the DADT policy: "The reality, of course, is that the forced association between being gay and secrecy, shame, and silence, the suggestion that being gay is something so bad that it should and must be hidden, created by DADT is precisely what feeds the dangerous homophobia that leads to the mistrust and harassment and harm of gay soldiers. If anything, Provost's death, if indeed a hate crime, argues for DADT's repeal, cries plaintively for a policy that does not tacitly encourage suspicion, contempt, violent hatred of the Other."
Aside from that, asserting that the murder raises "new questions over the readiness of the armed forces to accept openly homosexual personnel" (and what "new questions," btw?) is contingent upon ignoring that there are loads of openly gay soldiers (at least with their peers) who are being accepted without issue—and it is only one, or possibly two, of Provost's peers who didn't accept him. His partner said he was open with friends on the base who he trusted; what about their readiness to accept openly gay peers?
Meanwhile, let us also recall that two weeks ago, I wrote about white supremacists infiltrating the US military care of the increasingly lax regulations on extremism in the ranks. Not to put too fine a point on it, but white supremacists aren't generally known for their tolerance of the queers.
And then there's the evangelicalization of the American military, particularly the Airforce Academy, via shit like "Christian Embassy," an evangelical group affiliated with Campus Crusade for Christ, which has as one of its objectives recruiting members of the military. (Recommended viewing: Constantine's Sword.)
Call me kooky, but throwing wide the military's doors to white supremacists and conservative evangelicals just might deserve some attention, if we're looking at agents of intolerance in the military's ranks. Just sayin'.
[H/T to Memeorandum.]
Palin Not a Quitter, Totes a Martyr, Still Unfit for National Office
In an interview on the shores of Dillingham, Alaska, yesterday, soon-to-be-former Governor Sarah Palin said, despite quitting her office 18 months before her first term was up, that she's not a quitter—and reasserted that she's leaving office because it's the best thing to do for Alaska.
"I am not a quitter. I am a fighter," Palin told CNN on Monday while on a family fishing trip, on the heels of her Friday bombshell announcement that she was resigning as Alaska's governor.She noted that the multiple ethics complaints against her costing not only Alaskan taxpayers, but also her family.
...She resigned because of the tremendous pressure, time and financial burden of a litany of ethics complaints in the past several months, she said. The complaints were without merit and took away from the job she wanted to do for Alaskans, Palin said.
"You know conditions have really changed in Alaska in the political arena since Aug. 29, since I was tapped to run for VP. When that opposition research -- those researchers really bombarded Alaska -- started digging for dirt and have not let up. They're not gonna find any dirt," she said. "We keep proving that every time we win an ethics violation lawsuit and we've won every one of them. But it has been costing our state millions of dollars. It's cost Todd and me. You know the adversaries would love to see us put on the path of personal bankruptcy so that we can't afford to run."Given what I know of the politics in Alaska and the Palin administration specifically, I'm guessing that while part of the reason for the series of complaints since she came to national prominence might be political animosities, another part of it is that people who knew their complaints wouldn't be vigorously investigated before the nation's eyes were on Alaska finally felt like their legitimate complaints might get taken seriously.
But as for whether another pursuit of national office, as she did less than a year ago when she joined Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in the race for the White House, would result in the same political blood sport, Palin said there is a difference between the White House and what she has experienced in Alaska. If she were in the White House, she said, the "department of law" would protect her from baseless ethical allegations.Oof.
"I think on a national level, your department of law there in the White House would look at some of the things that we've been charged with and automatically throw them out," she said.
There is no "Department of Law" at the White House.
While I'm well aware that sort of shrugging, folksy, whatever!-you-know-what-I-mean shtick is actually quite appealing to lots and lots of people, it really, truly makes me cringe down to my freaking spleen.
If It's Tuesday, It's Boehlert!
Palin, the press, and her "no más" moment:
Palin herself led the utterly predictable anti-press charge over the weekend, claiming on her Facebook page that "[t]he response in the main stream media has been most predictable, ironic, and as always, detached from the lives of ordinary Americans who are sick of the 'politics of personal destruction.'"Read the whole thing here.
...At National Review Online's The Corner, Jonah Goldberg insisted that The New York Times, among others, has "gone after Palin and her family in ways that I think are particularly egregious." (Goldberg didn't bother to cite any evidence of egregious Times behavior to support his media critique.)
Meanwhile, unveiling an unlikely coalition, The Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol announced that the liberal media were in cahoots with the "GOP establishment" to bring Palin down. (I kid you not.)
And just days before Palin announced her exit, The National Review's Jim Geraghty and conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt huddled to discuss why liberals hate Palin so much; what is it about her that drives them to distraction? (It's because Palin's so pretty, Geraghty posited.)
So the familiar outlines were all in place and the pity party hummed in high gear: the unhinged liberal media had it in for Palin and wanted to drive her off the national stage. Liberals were smearing her.
But then a funny thing happened -- scores of conservative commentators broke ranks with the "liberal media" brigade and decided Palin's political problems were of her own making.
In other words, the beloved liberal media meme completely fractured under the weight of the Palin story. The front-line, knee-jerk troops were ready and eager to lob the ever-ready accusations, but it turned out that lots of Noise Machine generals weren't buying it, and instead of blaming the liberal media for Palin's disastrous weekend showing, they blamed ... Palin.
Fat and Wordy, yo
Inspired by a (surprisingly) brief e-mail-based conversation I shared with Liss on the topic of our shared blogorrhea (the obsessive need to fill the blank space - ever and always renewing blank space, curse you, computers! - with words, words, beautiful words), and with an apology to a certain Mr. Yankovich:
Fat & Wordy
They see me scrollin’
My blog roll
I know they’re all thinking I’m so fat and wordy
Think I’m just too fat and wordy
Think I’m just too fat and wordy
Can’t you see I’m fat and wordy?
Look at me, I’m fat and wordy
I wanna roll with
The blogstas
But so far they all think I’m too fat and wordy
Think I’m just too fat and wordy
Think I’m just too fat and wordy
I’m just too fat and wordy.
Really really fat and wordy.
First in my class here at Shakie-V
Can write, I’m a champion at speechin’ free
MC’Ewan - that’s my favorite MC
Now I’m 40, and my face is all liney
My mug’s never thin, to the contrary
You’ll find that it’s plump like a berry
None of my theory tomes are cherry
Favourite book is my dictionary
My ref’rence shelf is all totally pimped out
Got people diggin’ my neologizin’
Yo, I drop words in a thousand places
Can’t leave the lure of the empty spaces
I can hang in a comment thread for days and days
I’m a whiz at arguments – my words just raze
Once you read my sweet words you’re gonna stay amazed
My fingers movin’ so fast I’ll set the Toobz ablaze
There’s no takedown that I haven’t done
At critique, well I’m number one
Feminist analysis just for fun
I ain’t got a joke but I can kill with a pun
Bella Ciao is my fave protest song
I could sing it out if you want to sing along
I’ll take down neo-cons who bring on
Any fallacies – and I can do it in Klingon
They see me bikin’
With my big ass
I know in my heart they think I’m fat and wordy
Think I’m just so fat and wordy
Think I’m just so fat and wordy
Can’t you see I’m fat and wordy
Look at me, I’m fat and wordy
I wanna scroll with
The blogstas
Because it’s apparent I’m so fat and wordy
Think I’m just so fat and wordy
Think I’m just so fat and wordy
I’m just so fat and wordy
I’m so glad I’m fat and wordy
I’ve been bloggin, interjectin’
Comment threads, you know I inspect ‘em
Dust jackets on my books, I must protect ‘em
My little laptop keyboard
Never leaves me bored
Cruisin’ online for things I can write about media
LOL at Conservapedia
I memorized Female Eunuch so very well
I could recite it right now
And have you say “Caitie well what the hell?”
I got a business doing edits (edits)
When my friends need some words, who do they call?
I do the spellcheckin’ for ‘em all
Even made a personal ranty blog
Yo, I got myself an open mind
Seems they’re really not hard to find
Spend my nights with a keyboard tap-a-tap
Hit “Post”, hope someone reads me
Look, “Fuck’s-sake” from Deeky!
I’m wordy in the extreme
And writin’ feminist themes
I ain’t no Repub, hate the G-Dub, cause yah, “I have a dream”
Yah the question is
Which of them’s the worst
Cause Billy O’s bad
But Limbaugh comes in first
Spend every weekend at my laptop over here
Got my byline, it’s way up there
They see me scrollin’
Blog-rollin’
Cons shakin’ in their boots ‘cause I’m so fat and wordy
Just because I’m fat and wordy
Just because I’m fat and wordy
All because I’m fat and wordy
You know I’m fat and wordy
I wanna scroll with
The blogstas
And I will, cause I’m obviously fat and wordy
Liss and I so fat and wordy
We're so glad we're fat and wordy
We're both so fat and wordy
Look at us, we're fat and wordy
Sigh
White House Open to Deal on Public Health Plan. Of course they are.
It is more important that health-care legislation inject stiff competition among insurance plans than it is for Congress to create a pure government-run option, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said Monday.So, the relevant comparison is the ginormous gift to Big Pharma that was the '03 prescription drug plan? That piece of shit legislation resoundingly cited as one of the US government's biggest sell-outs ever to its corporate bankrollers? The one that it was just reported less than a week ago has increased out-of-pocket spending on drugs? Awesome.
"The goal is to have a means and a mechanism to keep the private insurers honest," he said in an interview. "The goal is non-negotiable; the path is" negotiable.
...Mr. Emanuel said one of several ways to meet President Barack Obama's goals is a mechanism under which a public plan is introduced only if the marketplace fails to provide sufficient competition on its own. He noted that congressional Republicans crafted a similar trigger mechanism when they created a prescription-drug benefit for Medicare in 2003. In that case, private competition has been judged sufficient and the public option has never gone into effect.
Mr. Obama has pushed hard for a vigorous public option. But he has also said he won't draw a "line in the sand" over this point.
Digby says wryly, "It's always possible that Emanuel is playing 45 dimensional chess. Gosh I sure do hope so." Snort. Yeah, gosh, me too.
What The Hell?
Shaker Reedme
What the hell is up with those undies? What the hell is that white stuff on your pants?? What the hell are you smiling about??? What the hell????
[See also: Deeky, Liss, evilsciencechick, katecontinued, ClumsyKisses, Mistress Sparkletoes and Liiiz.]
Question of the Day
What's the most unintentionally hilarious movie of all time?
Hands down, I gotta give this one to Battlefield Earth.
"I can assure you that I was not groomed since birth to have some cushy job that even a moron like you could perform! While you were still learning how to spell your name, I was being trained to conquer galaxies! To do anything less is a disgrace to my entire family line!" (6:35) Awesome. Totally awesome.
Quote of the Day
"I believe we need to spend a little more on illegal immigrants. Get them the hell out of our damn country and close the borders down. We can do it. We've got the greatest military in the world and you're telling me we can't close our borders? That's just ridiculous."—Joe the Plumber, Great American Patriot, celebrating the best July 4th in human history with a little nonpartisan opinionating on the pressing issues of the day. He added that he would also like to see the US government "pull its head out of its butt."
In Which I Substitute an Email Exchange for an Actual Post
Between me and Melissa this afternoon:
MB: I'm all fired up hearing Ross Douthat and Pat Buchanan et al saying that in 2012, Sarah Palin's quitting will all be forgotten and she’ll be the rock star. They really think we’re all idiots.
MM: The scary thing is that they could be right. Because they know themselves well enough to know that, given the right circumstances, they'd happily turn her into a rock star. Sigh.
MB: Yeah, but instead of getting Bruce Springsteen, they’re giving us Milli Vanilli.
Julie & Julia
I've been looking forward to Julie & Julia for quite some time—and not just because, as Iain put it this weekend while we looked over a list of the remaining movies to be released this year, "Our Excitement List is at zero." But I have to admit, the trailer is making me a little nervous:
Amy Adams fat? Even her face? "Risking [her] well-being" for the "deranged assignment" of cooking foods that must be eaten in small portions? (Do I hear a message that women can't possibly control themselves when rich food is put in front of them?)
I fear that I will like only half of this movie. I hope the marketing is just bad. *crosses fingers* I can't imagine that Nora Ephron would go to the trouble of making a movie about Julia Child and have its message be one of self-denial and self-loathing. Please Maude, no.
Fun with Site Meter
What's Funny Here?
Audra Shay, vice chairwoman of the Young Republicans, finds racist slurs about the president LOL-worthy.
Shay posted something dumb about health care, on her Facebook, and one of her friends responded, as anyone would, with an angry string of slurs.Oops. Shay later backpedaled, claiming ignorance (heh), then quickly moved to de-friend her critics.Two minutes later, Piker posted again saying "Obama Bin Lauden [sic] is the new terrorist… Muslim is on there side [sic]… need to take this country back from all of these mad coons… and illegals."
Eight minutes after that, at 2:02, Shay weighed in on Piker's comments: "You tell em Eric! lol."
So, even if you buy her story about not knowing what she was laughing at (which I don't) what else is funny about the comment? Equating the president with a Bin Ladin and calling the president a terrorist? Othering Muslims? The swipe at "illegals"?
Riots in China Leave Hundreds Dead
The death toll in riots in China's northwestern Xinjiang region rose sharply Monday, with state media saying that 156 people had been killed in what appears to be one of the deadliest episodes of unrest in China in decades.Sounds a lot like last year's uprising in Tibet, which was also a result of heavy-handed Chinese government intervention in an ethnic minority region. (Also reminiscent of the 2007 uprising in Myanmar/Burma, which was the result of similar oppressions.) I am by no means an expert on this subject, so I leave it to those more informed to provide context and commentary in comments.
Police said at least 828 other people were injured in violence that began Sunday in Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital. Witnesses said the conflicts pitted security forces against demonstrators, and members of the region's Turkic-speaking Uighur ethnic group against members of the country's Han Chinese majority. Many among the predominantly Muslim Uighurs have chafed at Chinese government rule.
...Uighur activists said hundreds of Uighurs, many of them students, had gathered Sunday to protest racial discrimination and call for government action against the perpetrators of an attack last month on Uighur migrant workers at a toy factory in southern China. In that incident, a group of Han Chinese broke into a factory dormitory housing Uighur workers. State media reported that two people were killed. Uighur groups say the death toll may have been higher.
The protests appear to have spun out of control late Sunday, with clashes between protestors and police as well as ethnic violence around the city.
...Uighurs have long complained about restrictions on their civil liberties and religious practices imposed by a Chinese government fearful of political dissent in strategically important Xinjiang, which covers one-sixth of China's territory and is also an important oil-and-gas-producing region.
Crazy Like a Fox
I've got a new piece up at The Guardian's CifA about Palin's recent resignation and the widespread contention that it's evidence she's crazy:
At some point – if all goes as planned and Palin finds herself a hot commodity on the rightwing small-time talk circuit, but nowhere else – she will discover that [Alaska is not a microcosm of America]. And, at that time, she will once again be faced with a steep learning curve, like and unlike the one she has diligently avoided, the one referenced last week by conservative commentator Charles Krauthammer on Fox News: "She is not a serious candidate for the presidency. She had to go home and study and spend a lot of time on issues in which she was not adept last year, and she hasn't."Read the whole thing here.
Learning how to navigate the politics of the Lower 48, understanding how they are different from the quirky politics of Alaska, is like the take-home test of policy details she has cast aside in its magnitude, but unlike it in its potential appeal to Palin. She's not a wonk, has no interest in being one, and has quite possibly no talent for it – but she loves playing politics. Studying textbooks isn't her gig, but studying a new playbook is right up her alley.
And the shrewdest political players don't need textbooks. Bush was evidently a bumbling, fact-challenged doofus in 2000, and, in a 2004 presidential debate, played off ignorance about his own interest in a timber company with: "I own a timber company? That's news to me. Wanna buy some wood? Heh heh heh." He was also a two-term president.
10 Reasons Why the BMI is Bogus
Just a little one* this time:
From NPR, the Top 10 Reasons the BMI is Bogus.
Yah. What They Said.
Signed,
The "Morbidly Obese" girl who plays midfield in soccer twice a week
* Liss reminded me, I don't have to get all blogorrheic just because there's white space on the monitor.
Honduras coup turns lethal
Shaker Blank has been carefully updating me on the situation in Honduras (Blank is in Venezuela, and is an hispanophone, so has been providing insight into the non-governmental news sources).
President Zelaya tried to return to his country yesterday, but was prevented from landing by the army and police, occupying the airport and literally blocking the runway to prevent the aircraft from landing. It diverted to Nicaragua instead, where President Zelaya is meeting with several other regional leaders. The various international organizations - EU, OAS, and so on - have all denounced the coup, and insisted that the return to the rule of law be swift.
Unfortunately, the people who've gathered en masse to protest the army's seizure of power came into clashes with the army yesterday, and at least one was killed.
At Twice Immigrant, I've posted a link to the locations of Honduran consulates and embassies all over the world. I encourage you to take a moment to write an e-mail or a letter to your nearest Honduran diplomatic representative, urging them to calm the situation, and return power to the civil authorities. There are notes in the post about how to approach writing to diplomats, if you've never done it before.
A "government" slaying its own citizens in the name of democracy doesn't deserve to rule: "We had to destroy the village to save it" was nonsense then, and it's nonsense now.
Pondering the HBO documentary Shouting Fire: Stories from the edge of Free Speech…
Crossposted from AngryBlackBitch.com.
Happy Monday, y’all!
Shall we?
This weekend I watched the HBO documentary Shouting Fire: Stories from the edge of Free Speech and it was beyond thought inspiring. As someone who writes an opinionated blog I’ve certainly experienced the backlash of speaking freely, but some of the stories were downright frightening! This doc is a must see regardless of your political inclinations…it goes beyond the usual “free speech is important” spin and delves into the reasons why we must protect the right to free speech, when and how those rights were defined and why even offensive speech needs to be protected.
Good stuff!
I thought about that shit for a spell and how it fits into our Independence Day celebration. It amazes me that folks can freak out and race to their local gun store on a rumor about gun control but they can’t be bothered to stand up to those who actively seek to take away their right to speak freely.
Sigh.
Anyhoo, Shouting Fire was a timely reminder about the powerful weapon of speech we each have…
…and why we need to protect the hell out of it.
Monday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by Shaxco, makers of Benjamin H. Grumbles Brand Band-Aids, for dim-witted crumblebums and over-eager rapscallions who celebrated our glorious Day of Independence by burning their digits with an irresponsible use of pyrotechnic entertainments!
Recommended Reading:
Stargazer: 14th Down Under Feminists Carnival
Stephanie: Pay Discrimination in Hollywood, Who Knew?
Echidne: We Can Do It!
Angry Asian Man: The Stupidest Thing I've Ever Seen
Kevin: The Epic Struggle of Good Against Argentine Hotness
Sady: Shut Up, Cunt! The Cultural Logic of 97th-Wave Feminist Band Millionaires
mzbitca: Congrats, Serena
Leave your links in comments...
Lose-Lose. As Per Usual.
Shaker Radelica sent me this article in the Boston Globe about a study done by researchers at West Point and Wisconsin-Milwaukee, British Columbia, Michigan, and Washington universities, who found that "white males got higher customer satisfaction ratings than women or people of color, whether they were doctors, university bookstore employees, or staffers at a golf course."
I don't know the details of the study, so I can't speak to its methodology or merits, but I did find a couple of things interesting. First, the article's focus on how Obama became president if the findings are true, as if one of the key features of any institutional bias is not exceptionalism. Secondly, this:
Co-author Karl Aquino, who is of Asian descent, said, "What's unsettling about our study is that when women and minorities perform better, they actually get lower performance ratings and are perceived more negatively. And we don't yet really know why. They even judged the overall environment [of the doctor's office, bookstore, or golf course] more negatively."It's easy to have a bit of a giggle at "we don't yet really know why," since "endemic misogyny and racism" is such an obvious retort—but Aquino's asking a serious question about why it is that misogyny and racism specifically manifest in lower ratings for higher performance. Bias alone doesn't account for that in a readily discernible way, especially when many of the study's participants were women and/or POC reflecting internalized biases.
I suspect the answer lies within a particular aspect of privileging white maleness, which is treating it as "the norm." Our expectations are set by the way white (straight, cis) males do something (doctoring, retail service, caddying, etc.) just because examples of their doing it are ubiquitous. We thus tend to interpret a deviation from that established "norm" as a failure, even when it benefits us.
So if a woman provides a service in a different way—something that would not be remotely improbable, given the vast divergence in male and female socialization around servitude—most people will axiomatically interpret that as less than, because it defies their expectations. Even if they're ultimately served better.
Tangentially, we have expectations of how women and/or POC will behave in various roles, and if they are not sufficiently deferential—that is, if they behave exactly as a white male would in the same situation—most people will axiomatically interpret that as less than, because their expectations have been defied in a different way.
If you're paying attention, that means woman/POC (and, I would argue, identifiably queer men) cannot win. If they do things differently than white men because they are different than white men, they are judged negatively for being different. If they do things the same as white men despite being different than white men, they are judged negatively for not being different.
Lose-lose. Huzzah.
This, btw, is precisely why progressives must be willing to acknowledge differences among people without fear of implying innate inequities—"equal" does not have to mean "the same," nor should it—and why progressives must actively discourage judgment, both of which I've written about previously.
RIP Robert McNamara
Former US Defense Secretary Robert McNamara has died at age 93.
Robert S. McNamara, perhaps the most influential defense secretary of the 20th century, who helped lead the nation into the maelstrom of Vietnam and spent the rest of his life wrestling with the war's moral consequences, died early Monday at his home in Washington, the Associated Press reported, citing his wife, Diana. He was 93, and according to the news agency, had been in failing health for some time.A complicated legacy, to say the least. McNamara was an unrivaled patriot and a strong supporter of civil rights; he also owned the Vietnam War, once saying he was "pleased to be identified with it," before changing his mind, profoundly and lastingly. He was haunted by the war for the rest of his life. He tried to make amends.
Serving Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1968, Mr. McNamara oversaw hundreds of military missions, thousands of nuclear weapons and billions of dollars in military spending and foreign arms sales. He also enlarged the defense secretary's role, handling foreign diplomacy and the dispatch of troops to enforce civil rights in the South.
He concluded well before leaving the Pentagon that the war was futile, but he did not share that insight with the public until late in life.A complicated man, from whose life there are lessons for all of us, I suspect. I strongly recommend The Fog of War, if you've not seen it.
In 1995, he took a stand against his own conduct of the war, confessing in a memoir that it was "wrong, terribly wrong." In return, he faced a firestorm of scorn.
...By then he wore the expression of a haunted man. He could be seen in the streets of Washington — stooped, his shirttail flapping in the wind — walking to and from his office a few blocks from the White House, wearing frayed running shoes and a thousand-yard stare.
He had spent decades thinking through the lessons of the war. The greatest of these was to know one's enemy — and to "empathize with him," as Mr. McNamara explained in Errol Morris's 2003 documentary, "The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara."
"We must try to put ourselves inside their skin and look at us through their eyes," he said. The American failure in Vietnam, he said, was seeing the enemy through the prism of the cold war, as a domino that would topple the nations of Asia if it fell.
In the film, Mr. McNamara described the American firebombing of Japan's cities in World War II. He had played a supporting role in those attacks, running statistical analysis for Gen. Curtis E. LeMay of the Army's Air Forces.
"We burned to death 100,000 Japanese civilians in Tokyo — men, women and children," Mr. McNamara recalled; some 900,000 Japanese civilians died in all. "LeMay said, 'If we'd lost the war, we'd all have been prosecuted as war criminals.' And I think he's right. He — and I'd say I — were behaving as war criminals."
"What makes it immoral if you lose and not immoral if you win?" he asked. He found the question impossible to answer.
RIP, Mr. McNamara.
Bread and Teaspoons
Good morning (unless it isn't where you are), and welcome to a new feature at Shakesville: Bread and Teaspoons*. (Edit: this week only, feel free to comment with, well, y'know, comments. After that, we'll try and keep it to just directly-relevant comments.)
What's the idea, you're asking? Well, I'm gonna tell you. Consider this one as in honour of the US' Independence Day, in hopes of helping a few more Shakers achieve their own independence, from someone who grew up calling it "the American Rebellion". ;)
It occurred to me a couple of weeks ago that I'd noticed a number of Shakers mentioning that they were struggling to find work, to make ends meet, to keep the teaspoons full. And I bethought me, now Caitie, how could we find a way to make a difference in that? What resource can we put in reach of Shakers wanting to be in a place where they can spare a little to help others?
And the resource I hit on is: us. We're that resource. There are hundreds of us here, maybe thousands, all over the US and Canada, and out into the rest of the world. We work in all kinds of fields, doing all kinds of different things, and most of us tend to be online creatures: we roam the Toobz constantly, and in doing so, encounter many opportunities.
So my plan is to have a weekly post, Mondays, providing a spot for Shakers to network a little with one another, see if we can help each other out some.
Here's how it works: There should be two sorts of comments here.
1) You comment here with any details of work you're seeking: where, what, that sort of thing. You give an e-mail address at which you can be reached - feel free to set up a special e-mail for it, if you don't want to post your regular one for the world to spam - and if another Shaker has a lead, they can contact you directly to pass it along.
A work-seeking comment should include:
Please do NOT include information such as your full name or telephone number, as this is and will remain a public post, and once posted, there's no taking it back (because it'll be spidered by a search engine, not because we don't want you to).
For example, I might post a comment saying:
I'm a professional translator of French, German and Russian, with nearly 17 years of experience. I'm looking for basically any translation job, academic, commercial, personal, genealogical, you name it, with one exception: I do not currently have certification, so if you need a certified translator (usually for legal docs: birth certificates, divorce decrees, wills), you need someone else.
I am also available as a writer or editor, for academic, journalistic, creative, marketing-oriented or any other type of written communication. Basically, if you'll pay me, I'll write or edit it.
You can contact me for business purposes through my business address, translatey.caitie@translateycaitie.com.**
2) The other type of comment could be task offering: if you've got a job you think might suit someone here, consider posting it as a comment. Use the same guidelines as above: give general information here, and specific information when you exchange e-mails. An offered task might look something like this:
I have a doctoral thesis which needs proofing and editing by Thursday, is anyone available? You can reach me at ABDShaker@shakesville.miskatonic.edu.
I'd like to be clear: only offer tasks which you have explicit permission to offer. If you come across something that isn't yours, but think some Shakers might want to know about it, either ask permission of the offerer, or offer it privately to someone whose comment says they might be interested (based on their skillset). For instance, you're on some other site, you see someone asking for, say, help in designing their new website. Don't come here and offer the job as a comment, unless you have that person's explicit permission. What you could do is go through the comments, and send an e-mail to anyone with the right skillset.
So, that's what we'd like to see.
What we do NOT want to see:
So there. Have at it, Shakers, for Bread and Teaspoons!
Important disclaimers: Shakesville makes no endorsement or claim as to the capabilities of anyone commenting to this post, and anyone considering hiring someone should be prepared to treat it like any other business situation: DO YOUR DUE DILIGENCE. We're not doing any screening of this, so you'll want to make sure you check references, use safe-payment procedures (e.g., ask for a deposit), all the things you'd do when working with any stranger on the Internet. While this is intended for Shakers in general, remember that there is no real obstacle to being able to comment here, and do the things you need to do to keep yourself safe.
* As might be evident, this is an intentional reference to Bread and Roses, a longtime slogan of the left. In this case, though, my hope is that if we achieve steady bread, we will use it to power our teaspoon use.
** Now, don't go writing to that one yet, because that's not my actual domain name (which I've not got running yet, but should by tomorrow), and I'm only using it as an example (though it happens to be true). The e-mail listed for me under Contributors works just fine for now, if you've got something for me.
In Movies You Should See: Away We Go
Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski in Away We Go
Directed by: Sam Mendes / Written by: Dave Eggers & Vendela Vida
Talking about what this movie isn't seems somehow more appropriate: It is not a Man-Child Makes Good film, although it is a little bit about growing up. It is not a pregnancy/baby film, although it is a little bit about expecting a baby. It is not a romantic comedy, although it is both romantic and funny, a lot of each. And it is not perfect, although it is very, very good.
John Krasinski is great. Maya Rudolph is extraordinary.
Open thread for those who have seen the film. Here be a SPOILER WARNING for the comments...
What The Hell?
Shaker Liiiz (pictured far right)
What the hell is with that disapproving look on your face? What the hell are you trying to do, escape?? What the hell are they drinking??? What the hell????
[See also: Deeky, Liss, evilsciencechick, katecontinued, ClumsyKisses and Mistress Sparkletoes.]
Radio Shakesville
The Glorious Fourth
I first posted this here last year, and I thought it was worth repeating.
When I was a kid I was very outgoing in putting up displays for the holidays -- Memorial Day, Christmas, the Fourth of July -- I liked the flags, the lights, the stuff. It was cool to make a big splash. But as I grew up I grew out of it, and today I don't go much for things like that. I don't have a flag to fly on national holidays, and the most I'll do for Christmas is a wreath on the door because it has good memories and the scent of pine is rare in subtropical Florida.
I suppose it has something to do with my Quaker notions of shunning iconography -- outward symbols can't show how you truly feel about something on the inside, and more often than not they are used to make up for the lack of a true belief. This is also true of patriotism: waving the flag -- or wrapping yourself in it -- is a poor and false measure of how you truly feel about your country.
There's an old saying that there is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come. As Benjamin Franklin noted, no country had ever been formed because of an idea. But when the Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in 1776 and passed the resolution embodied in the Declaration of Independence, that was what was being done. To create a nation not based on geographical boundaries, property, tribalism, or religion, but on the idea of forming a new government to replace the present form because the rulers were incompetent, uncaring, and cruel. The American Revolution wasn't so much a rebellion as it was a cry for attention. Most of the Declaration is a punch-list, if you will, of grievances both petty and grand against the Crown, and once the revolution was over and the new government was formed, the Constitution contained many remedies to prevent the slights and injuries inflicted under colonialism: the Bill of Rights is a direct response to many of the complaints listed in the Declaration.
But the Declaration of Independence goes beyond complaints. Its preamble is a mission statement. It proclaims our goals and what we hope to achieve. No nation had ever done that before, and to this day we are still struggling to achieve life and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness goes on with no sign of let-up.
That is the true glory of America. Not that we complain -- and we do -- but that we work to fix those complaints. To put them right. To make things better than they were. To give hope to people who feel that they have no voice, and to assure that regardless of who they are, where they come from, what they look like, who they love, or what they believe, there will be room for them to grow, do, and become whatever it is that they have the capacity to be. It's a simple idea, but the simplest ideas often have the most powerful impact.
This nation has achieved many great things. We've inspired other nations and drawn millions to our shores not to just escape their own country but to participate in what we're doing. And we've made mistakes. We've blundered and fumbled and bullied and injured. We've treated some of our own citizens with contempt, and shown the same kind of disregard for the rights of others that we enumerated in our own Declaration of Independence. We have been guilty of arrogance and hypocrisy. But these are all human traits, and we are, after all, human. The goal of government is to rise above humanity, and the goal of humanity is to strive for perfection. So if we stumble on the road to that goal, it is only because we are moving forward.
I love this country not for what it is but for what it could be. In my own way I show my patriotism not by waving a flag from my front porch but by working to make things work in our system and by adding to the discussion that will bring forth ideas to improve our lives and call into question the ideas of others. It is all a part of what makes the simple idea of life, liberty, and that elusive happiness so compelling and so inspiring, and what makes me very proud to be a part of this grand experiment.
Go forth!
(Originally posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof on July 4, 2005.)
The Virtual Pub Is Open
Happy Fookin' Fourth (Observed), Shakers!
Belly up to the bar, and name your poison!
Shaxco's Michael Bay Brand Super-Sparklers
(Now with Extra Sparks!)
are available for purchase behind the bar.
Palin Resigns as Governor of Alaska
UPDATE: Moving this to the top of the page for a bit. New commentary below.
CNN: "Gov. Sarah Palin announced Friday that she will step down as Alaska's chief executive by the end of the month. She will not seek election to a second gubernatorial term in 2010."
[Transcript below.]
My quick and immediate thoughts: The framing here is laughable. First of all, not all second-term executives are lame ducks from the get-go. Many governors (and presidents) remain effective long into their second terms, so the idea that Palin is doing the people of Alaska some kind of favor by not serving a second term is merely an unflattering commentary on her own talents, dedication, and efficacy—not the courageous statement of a universal political truth, as she'd have us believe.
Secondly, not finishing her term isn't doing Alaskans any favors, either. It's merely a strategy to effectively create a Republican incumbent where there would be none if she finished our her term.
That this is a self-serving maneuver is manifestly obvious; she is departing her office in Alaska because she's too far away from the national stage where is where she wants to be ever since getting a taste as the veep candidate in the last election. She can't easily make herself available to give crappy speeches to anti-choicers in the heartland when she's immersed in the day-to-day of running Alaska in the hell-and-gone.
I understand her thinking, but the problem is that she needs to make herself more popular with the party leadership and conservative think-tankers, i.e. "In the aftermath of the November election, the conventional wisdom among Palin's supporters in the Republican establishment was that she should go home, keep her head down, show that she could govern effectively, and quietly educate herself about foreign and domestic policy with the help of a cadre of experienced advisers. She has done none of this."
At best, whatever she's got planned is likely to increase her popularity only among those with whom she's already popular. They're not enough to win an election.
Steve has more on this angle.
TRANSCRIPT: As I thought about this announcement, that I wouldn't run for re-election, and what that means for Alaska, I thought about, well, how much fun some governors have as lame ducks. They maybe travel around their state, travel to other states, maybe take their overseas international trade missions, so many politicians do that, and then I thought: That's what's wrong—many just accept that lame duck status, and they hit the road, they draw a paycheck, and they kinda milk it? And I'm not gonna put Alaskans through that.
I promised efficiencies and effectiveness. That's not how I'm wired. I'm not wired to operate under the same old politics as usual. I promised that four years ago, and I meant it. That's not what is best for Alaska at this time. I'm determined to take the right path for Alaska, even though it is unconventional, and it's not so comfortable.
With this announcement, that I'm not seeking re-election, I've determined it's best to transfer the authority of governor to Lieutenant Governor Parnell, and I am willing to do this, so that this administration, with its positive agenda and its accomplishments and its successful road to an incredible future for Alaska, so that it can continue, without interruption and with great administrative and legislative success.
My choice is to take a stand and effect change and not just hit our head against the wall and watch valuable state time and money, millions of your dollars, go down the drain in this new political environment. Rather, we know we can effect positive change outside government at this moment in time on another scale and actually make a difference for our priorities, and so we will, for Alaskans and for Americans.
This May Well Be the Most Hilaritragic Thing I've Ever Seen
Pauly Shore, who I'm fairly certain found his way back from the wilds of oblivion by following the scent of this post, just showed up back in civilization in order to consult with an attorney about suing Sacha Baron Cohen for, I shit you not, allegedly stealing Shore's idea of adopting an African baby as a plot device. (No word on whether Shore will also be suing Madonna.)
In any case, this story was reported at, among other places, the gossip site In Case You Didn't Know, where the accompanying picture of Shore was emblazoned by a pop-up ad...
...for Brüno, featuring an image of the titular character holding, natch, his adopted African baby.
I'd almost feel sorry for Shore, almost, if he weren't, ya know, effectively arguing: "Hey! That totally racist joke was mine first!"
lolsob
If I hadn't already quit the world today, I would now.
We Love Dreidels, We Swears It!
In the last few years, the rightwing Christian supremacist brigade, who used to refer (and often still do) to America as a "Christian" nation, has taken instead to referring to America as a "Judeo-Christian" nation and waxing nostalgic about its "Judeo-Christian" traditions. Partly that's a reflection of the rightwing's special interest in Israel, from the neocons' regard for it as an important Middle Eastern ally to conservative evangelicals' rapture-related fondness for the prophesied state of Jesus' return—but mostly it's just a cynical attempt to mask their naked bigotry behind the illusion of (limited) tolerance.
Rarely, however, is the utter speciousness of its use laid as hilariously bare as in this ridiculous op-ed in the Freeport, IL Journal-Standard, in which the Rev. Patrick Vandenburgh calls for "a Christian Revolutionary War."
It is time for a new Christian revolutionary war. It is time for Christians all over the United States to stand up for our Judeo-Christian heritage.Really? Just the Christians? Not the Jews, lol?
Once the good reverend really outlines what he wants, it's pretty clear why the Jews might not be interested:
The true church of Jesus Christ must arise in this desperate hour and storm heaven with our prayers. We must not relent until our Christian heritage is established again in every aspect of society.Even the Jewish aspects! In fact, especially those!
We are and will always be a Christian nation that serves Jesus Christ and His kingdom.So…what, then, does that "Judeo" part in "our Judeo-Christian heritage" actually cover?
Oh, right. Your ass.
Against charges of intolerance, exclusion, and prejudice in front of coffers-filling followers too stupid or scared to look too closely at what they're really supporting, or too shameless to care.
[H/T to Caitie.]
No terrorism here, nope, just us Republicans
ETA: There's a good analysis of a similar topic at City of Ladies from a few weeks back.
A lot changed on September 11, 2001. It is, I think, fair to wonder, in the idle speculation sense, whether the world would be a different place if the President of the US had been a different person, but that's not where I'm going today.
After 9/11, Bush and his handlers walked a very strange line, twisting in and out of the truth like a...well, like a very twisty thing.
They had two competing goals, and meeting them both meant a balancing act. Goal one was to keep America well-terrified: cue the Department of Homeland Security and their endless threat-level colour code porn. "What goes with orange? Why couldn't they pick something a little easier to coordinate with?" I don't know who said that, but someone ought to have.
Anyway, goal two was the seemingly opposite task of making America feel safe - but not too safe. So, he made numerous pronouncements about how there'd been no domestic terrorist incidents since 9/11 - but claimed that they'd been prevented by his sheer devotion to iron-willed security.
Uh-huh.
I invite you to remember the joke about the person walking along the street making strange gestures and shouting randomly. When asked why, the answer is, "To keep the tigers away." When it is pointed out that there aren't any tigers in this area, the person looks satisfied, and carries on performing their random preventatives.
The narrative was, and is to this day, that terrorism is solely an external threat, and that racial profiling is a sensible response to this "threat"; the focus on xenophobic reactions and practices has become a set pattern of the DHS and the various wingnut factions, and has resulted in nonsensical situations, such as the people on the "no-fly" list who are nevertheless able to easily purchase firearms, and the discommodation of and prejudice against innocent legal residents of the US who have the nerve to live there while brown (and I'm not even touching the whole "people can be illegal" meme that's grown out of this, though it's important to remember).
But what if it turned out that the greatest threat to peace and order in the US wasn't external terrorists - there's no credible contention that any foreigner has made a serious attempt to attack the US in the last eight years - but the homegrown kind?
Let's take a moment to find out what terrorism is, shall we? This definition comes from a source with some relevance to the discussion: (From U.S. Code Title 22, Ch.38, Para. 2656f(d))
Note definition (2), which allows for the possibility that terrorists might be Americans: "premeditated, politically-motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets..."
(d) Definitions
As used in this section—
(1) the term “international terrorism” means terrorism involving citizens or the territory of more than 1 country;
(2) the term “terrorism” means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents;
(3) the term “terrorist group” means any group, or which has significant subgroups which practice, international terrorism;
What I've been leading up to is this list from the Southern Poverty Law Centre. 75 terrorist incidents, each one planned or perpetrated by Americans against Americans.
And before you start saying, well, hey, that means Bush's random dances and pronouncements were working, note the date split. 40 of the incidents happened in the six years before 9/11; 35 in the eight years since. 16 Americans were killed before 9/11 in these attacks; 11 more have died since. Whee, what a great improvement - instead of 3 Americans a year killed by terrorists domestically, it's dropped all the way to 1.3 per annum. Well, I guess those billions were well-spent, then, huh?
Now, what's the key factor linking all of these plots, attacks and conspiracies together? Can anyone spot it? That's right! They're all right-wing extremists, frequently racist, and in each case, they were trying to achieve political goals through violence and terror attacks against noncombatants. If only we had a handy name for this kind of thing!
That is to say, just about the only people committing terrorist attacks against Americans inside the US these days? They're almost all white. They're right wing. They're anti-immigrant, racist, religious zealots, often homophobes as well.
I eagerly await the response of conservatives to this: I'm sure we'll get some more twisted logic about how everybody but them are really the threat.
But the face of terrorism in America doesn't have brown skin, and it doesn't speak Arabic, and it isn't a Muslim face. By far the majority of attacks are plotted and/or carried out by straight white Christian men.
So tell me...who should we be profiling again?
Friday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by Shaxco, makers of Michael Bay Brand Super-Sparklers, now with extra sparks.
Recommended Reading:
Meowser: OK, D00d Nation, THIS Is What I Want From You
Kevin: Nuns Gone Wild!
Renee: The Convenience of "Super Crip"
Clio Bluestocking: Abolition as a Self-Help Movement
Lauredhel: Whitewashed!
Tracey: When "Sexism" is a Dirty Word
Shayera: Part of the Reason Murdoch's Minions are Whining So Much about Franken's Win
Leave your links in comments...
I'm Shocked, I Tell You. SHOCKED!
Cheney orchestrated public response to Plame leak:
A document filed in federal court this week by the Justice Department offers new evidence that former vice president Richard B. Cheney helped steer the Bush administration's public response to the disclosure of Valerie Plame Wilson's employment by the CIA and that he was at the center of many related administration deliberations.And here's more SHOCKING news: Former Bush administration officials assert that the contents must remain secret, and—surprise!—the Obama administration agrees! Hopey changey!
...A list of at least seven related conversations involving Cheney appears in a new court filing approved by Obama appointees at the Justice Department.
In the filing, the officials argue that the substance of what Cheney told special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald in 2004 must remain secret.Exactly. How can someone who wants to be a leader of the free world be expected to withstand being teased by Jon Stewart?! Oh, the HUMANITY!
No such agreement was reached between Fitzgerald and Cheney at the time of their chat, according to a 2008 Fitzgerald letter to lawmakers. But the Bush administration rejected requests by Congress and a nonprofit group for access to two FBI accounts of the conversation, saying the material was exempt from disclosure under subpoena or the Freedom of Information Act.
The Obama administration has since agreed that the material should not be disclosed. A Justice Department lawyer at one point last month argued that vice presidents and other White House officials will decline to be interviewed in the future if they know their remarks might "get on 'The Daily Show' " or be used as fodder for political enemies.
I officially quit the world.
Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime
Please note: Since today is Fourth of July (recognized) in the US, posting will be light today.
Question of the Day
Given the below post... What's your favorite movie featuring dancing?
This could mean a musical, or it could be a movie whose central theme is dance, like Girls Just Want to Have Fun or Stomp the Yard.
Welcome to "The Ledge"
This week in Chicago, the Sears Tower opened a series of glass balconies suspended 1,353 feet in the air and hovering four feet out from the 103rd floor Skydeck. I can't wait to go visit these stinking things! I'm even willing to sit through the required "Blah Blah Chicago Blah" movie to which visitors are subjected before hitting the Skydeck for 'em.
If you're scared of heights, I sincerely recommend against watching the below video, because you might actually throw up your spleen or shit out your lower intestine. But, if you're like me, and heights give you a heady rush of vertigo that's equal parts thrilling and terrifying, this video is like a drug:
Iain nearly faints when we go to the Signature Lounge at the Hancock Building and I lean my head against the glass and look straight down to give myself a delicious case of the woozies. I couldn't get him into one of these things for love nor money, and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't even be able to watch me get in one without puking or passing out.
Quote of the Day
"No one noted all the white chicks covering Laura Bush."—Washington Post reporter Robin Givhan, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and African-American woman, to Howard Kurtz, who, despite noting in his piece that "no one raises questions when an Irish American male reporter covers a pol named Murphy," nonetheless wonders: "Are [African-American female] reporters inadvertently invested in [Michelle Obama's] success?"
Without a trace of irony.
Feel the Homomentum!
The Mo Train stops in Allegheny County, PA:
Twenty years after its county seat of Pittsburgh passed a similar law, Allegheny County is banning discrimination in employment and housing based on sexual orientation.Of course it does.
The Allegheny County Council passed such a bill by a vote of 8-6 on Wednesday night. County Executive Dan Onorato says he will sign it.
The bill contains an exemption for fraternal, religious, charitable and sectarian organizations.
[H/T to Andy.]
Today In Bad Ideas
Old Yeller Dog Food
Old Yeller, as you may recall, is a film that ends, quite memorably (in fact, it's arguably the one thing everyone knows about the movie), with the titular canine going rabid and being gunned down by his weeping lad of an owner. And this is supposed to sell pet food how?
In Thanks for Those Who Get It
by Shaker Ali_K
As progressives and progressives in training, we see a lot of shit in the world that most people seem to be blind to. It can be incredibly frustrating, but every so often we happen across someone who just gets it. Maybe it's someone we don't expect to get it, maybe it's someone who consistently (or almost consistently) gets it but it's still refreshing to see every time (the Shakesville crew, Sarah Haskins, Jay Smooth, etc.), maybe it's someone who gets it even when we don't, maybe it's someone we just hope gets it but we dare not hope too much for fear of disappointment. Whatever the case may be, when someone does get it, it's as if the angels sing and kittens frolic in rainbows. It's beautiful.
So thank you to those who get it. Thank you to the (small town in a conservative state) jury in my attempted rape trial who heard my testimony and then asked if the defendant was charged with attempted murder also, and if not then why the hell not?* Thank you to the judge in that same trial who sentenced my attempted rapist to 80 years, for me and for the women and girls who came before me. Thank you to the friends who actively booed the sexist commercials during out last Super Bowl watching party. Thank you to the league organizers who took seriously our complaints about the sexist comments coming from another team. Thank you for getting it.
What about you, Shakers—what examples of getting it have you seen recently?
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* OK so I might be paraphrasing a bit.
Alexis Arguello fought the good fight in and out of the boxing ring
The brilliant Nicaraguan boxer Alexis Arguello has died of an apparent suicide. From ESPN:
MANAGUA, Nicaragua -- Alexis Arguello, who fought in one of boxing's most classic brawls and reigned supreme at 130 pounds, was found dead at his home early Wednesday.In a two-week stretch that has seen a spate of celebrity deaths, the death of Arguello is the only one that has left me with an ache in the pit of my stomach. While I often credit Sugar Ray Leonard as the man who drew me in to boxing, it was Arguello who truly made me love the sport.
Coroners were conducting an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Sandanista Party's Radio Ya and other local media were reporting it appeared to be a suicide.
The La Prensa newspaper reported that Arguello -- elected mayor of Nicaragua's capital last year -- was found with a gunshot wound to the chest.
The 57-year-old Arguello retired in 1995 with a record of 82-8 with 65 knockouts and was a champion in three weight divisions. He was perhaps best known for two thrilling battles with Aaron Pryor and fights with Ray Mancini, Bobby Chacon and Ruben Olivares.
"I'm kind of in a daze right now," Pryor told The Associated Press. "Those were great fights we had. This was a great champion."
Nicknamed "The Explosive Thin Man," Arguello was inducted in 1992 into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, where flags were flying at half-staff in his honor Wednesday.
Hundreds of people lined up to say goodbye to Arguello Wednesday night at a memorial service at the Palace of Culture in the capital of Nicaragua.
The 1980s was a high time for boxing, as all three major networks featured amazing boxing matches every weekend. And no boxer was more of a deserved darling of these boxing shows than Arguello. His boxing style imitated his personal style - pure class. And his right cross was one of the most beautiful and devastating punches the sport ever witnessed. Arguello beat several respected champions throughout his stellar career, including Ruben Olivares, Bobby Chacon, Rafael Limon and Ray Mancini.
It was the victory over Mancini that truly showed many U.S. fans the brilliance and class of Arguello. Mancini was a huge fan favorite, and even though he was brutally dispatched by Arguello in a tough fight, the respect and caring Arguello showed Mancini and his family was unprecedented. Arguello went on to fight two amazing - albeit losing - battles with the mercurial Aaron Pryor, but showed the same strength of character in losing as he did winning.
More than just a boxer, Arguello long battled political corruption and civil strife in his beloved Nicaragua, and at the time of his death was the mayor of Managua. Despite the fact that his nation had stolen his life earnings and made his life hell, Arguello - who literally battled the Contras alongside his fellow Nicaraguans - was one of Nicaragua's most respected ambassadors.
Alexis Arguello was a champion in nearly every way a man can be a champion. He was a gentleman who was a credit to boxing, and to Nicaragua. Arguello always fought the good fight, and the world is a better place for his being part of it.
--WKW
Note: This is a guest post, and I appreciate Liss allowing me to share my thoughts about a man whose actions encouraged me to be a boxing fan, as well as a man who showed me to always fight for your convictions.
Crossposted at William K. Wolfrum Chronicles.
Gay Camp Pendleton Sailor Found Dead in Suspected Homicide
Blub:
A person was being held in connection with the suspected homicide of a 29-year-old sailor who was found in a Camp Pendleton guard shack, Navy officials said yesterday.What breaks my heart even beyond the loss of Provost's life is that, if it turns out that he was killed because he was gay, there will be people who cite his death as justification to retain the DADT policy.
The body of Seaman August Provost of Houston was discovered about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday on the western edge of the base, said Doug Sayers, a spokesman for Navy Region Southwest. An autopsy was completed yesterday, but authorities were waiting for results of toxicology tests to determine the cause of death. A "person of interest" was being held in the brig at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station. No charges have been filed.
The death has local gay activists calling for an investigation into whether Provost was slain because of his sexual orientation. "We're definitely monitoring this, and trust and hope the military will investigate this in the professional way it should," said Nicole Murray-Ramirez, chairman of San Diego's Human Rights Commission.
…Provost's partner, Kaether Cordero, said Provost was openly gay but kept his private life quiet for the most part. "People who he was friends with, I knew that they knew," Cordero said from Houston. "He didn't care that they knew. He trusted them."
Provost had recently complained to family members about a person who was harassing him, so they advised him to tell his supervisor, said his sister, Akalia Provost of Houston.
The reality, of course, is that the forced association between being gay and secrecy, shame, and silence, the suggestion that being gay is something so bad that it should and must be hidden, created by DADT is precisely what feeds the dangerous homophobia that leads to the mistrust and harassment and harm of gay soldiers. If anything, Provost's death, if indeed a hate crime, argues for DADT's repeal, cries plaintively for a policy that does not tacitly encourage suspicion, contempt, violent hatred of the Other.
RIP Seaman August Provost.
