The other day, Liss reported that Shaker Caitlin had managed to secure some time with Emma Thompson, with the goal of showing Ms. Thompson the petition she'd gathered several hundred signatures on. The petition expressed the signatories' outrage at so many celebrities jumping on board the Roman Polanski bandwagon, given that their object of support had been convicted of raping a child.
Today, the UK's The Independent newspaper has an article about their meeting, and about Ms. Thompson's decision to withdraw her name from the petition in support of Polanski.
Shaker Caitlin, you swing a mighty tablespoon, and are an inspiration for us all, and if I can add personally, I'm really proud to share a name with you.
Bravissima!
Tip of the CaitieCap to Shaker waywardtapper (who, I later find, is in fact the Wielder of Mighty Teaspoon herself, Caitlin!) for the heads-up.
How to Wield a Teaspoon: an Example from Life
Cheering news for a Saturday
You think you got problems? Hah.
Japanese Fishing Trawler Sunk By Giant Jellyfish
The trawler, the Diasan Shinsho-maru, capsized off Chiba`as its three-man crew was trying to haul in a net containing dozens of huge Nomura's jellyfish. ...
The crew of the fishing boat was thrown into the sea when the vessel capsized, but the three men were rescued by another trawler, according to the Mainichi newspaper. The local Coast Guard office reported that the weather was clear and the sea was calm at the time of the accident.
One of the largest jellyfish in the world, the species can grow up to 2 meters in diameter. The last time Japan was invaded on a similar scale, in the summer of 2005, the jellyfish damaged nets, rendered fish inedible with their toxic stings and even caused injuries to fishermen.
As you go through your day, remember, it could be worse.
This concludes our cheering message.
Carry on.
giant, jellyfish, Nomura's, Nemopilema nomurai
More Polanski Fail
by Shaker Faywray.
Hi Shakers, this is faywray. Liss has offered to let me turn a rambling I'm-about-to-explode e-mail I sent her into a guest post.
[Trigger warnings apply, especially for the external links.]
I found this article by Bernard-Henri Lévy (the creator of the original "Free Polanski" petition) on a French site the other day, and I wanted to translate some of it for you. Turns out the HuffPo has already taken care of that. It sickens me that the man gets a platform for the bile he is spewing.
In this new pile of utter bullshit, Mr. Lévy once more tries to educate the simple-minded on why arresting Roman Polanski should be a moral no-no. He should know. After all, his own website describes him as "dedicated to all struggles for human dignity."
For those who can bear to do so, let's have a look at some of his arguments. The gist of his text is that the way everyone is behaving in the Polanski affair is just shameful. He keeps repeating this word, over and over again, like he invented the anaphore.
Since we're at this point, since time is passing and everyone seems to find nothing wrong with the situation, since Roman Polanski's supporters are losing faith and, sometimes, are even starting to doubt [yay!], since the pack of gossipers have even succeeded, it seems, in convincing the French minister of culture that he spoke too hastily, and under the influence of emotion, though he only did his duty, I want to say again, once more, why this affair is shameful. [...] It is shameful to see the regulars of the global Café du Commerce [the French equivalent of bar-room politics], whose Pavlovian anti-Americanism never leaves them at a loss for words when lambasting America on any and everything, are suddenly silent, become gentle as lambs and, when it comes to Polanski, just repeat: "Ah, that's America... better not mess with American law... dura lex sed lex (the law is harsh, but it is the law)..."Those people (who are they, anyway?) couldn't possibly have come to the conclusion that he should be extradited, could they? No, they are suddenly, inexplicably intimidated by America, that's it!
It is shameful to see the intellectuals, whose role should be to calm the frenzy and cool popular anger [elitism anyone?], ratchet up, like Michel Onfray in Libération, the moment when "the worst are full of passionate intensity" (Yeats) and to indulge, in the name of abused childhood, in the most obnoxious amalgams [Onfray had said that if you think a pedophile sex tourist should be punished, you simply cannot say otherwise about Polanski].Right. Because Maude help us if the intellectuals aren't there to think for the masses. Also: I feel passionately about this issue. Does that make me one of "the worst"? Ouch.
[W]hy don't we hear these intellectuals denounce with equal ardor, the limitless outrage that is the martyrdom of child soldiers in Africa, or child slaves in Asia, or the hundreds of millions of children dead of hunger, according to the estimates of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), for the last...32 years?You want to bash your peers for willful ignorance of other people's suffering? Go right ahead.
I have to ask though, what the FUCK has this got to do with Roman Polanski? Why is there something worse, something more important that punishing someone for something he did to another human being? Oh, that's because, like dignity and human rights, justice is only available in limited stock, and we can't be going around handing it out to just anyone, now, can we?
It is shameful to see Luc Besson rush to television, cloaked in ingenuous probity, inveigh against Polanski, like in the worst era of the McCarthyist witch hunts, and denounce his friend.As a reminder, Luc Besson, when asked, basically said "I like him, but the law's the law."
It is shameful to keep repeating, like some are doing, that justice should be "equal for all" while, if there is indeed an "inequality," if there is a double standard, it is to the detriment, not to the advantage, of Polanski. I've tested it. Last October 2, on the NPR show On the Point, I confronted Geraldine Ferraro's refrain, which she repeated ad nauseum: "Polanski has had a lovely life; now, he has to pay." I sent out a challenge to listeners: "Show me a case, a single one, of an anonymous person, guilty of the same crime, who was tracked down thirty years after the fact." To this day, no one has found a single one.Point utterly proven. People who haven't gotten caught are still free, so even those who are caught should go free.
One minor correction, though: If you have a look at the NPR's comment section for that show, there are actually several people on the first page who have found cases of a "nobody" being brought to justice 30 years later.
But if not for justice, why is Polanski being arrested now? According to Lévy:
[Y]ou had to be Polanski, you had to be an artist renown [sic] over the globe for an elected prosecutor, soon to embark on an electoral campaign and starved for publicity, to resurrect the case from oblivion, to which, even in the United States, popular wisdom relegates the very old case files of non-recidivist delinquents.Non-recidivist meaning, in this case, never caught before or after. "Dating" a 15-year old two years prior is clearly something completely different.
Note how there is now a good thing called popular wisdom. Compare to popular anger above.
It is strange -- shameful, and strange -- to see how the same people who, intoxicated by suspicion and seeing conspiracies everywhere, spend their time investigating the secret agendas of the States, but do not seem at all bothered by the timing that is, undoubtedly, extremely bizarre...'Cause the decent thing to do would be to uphold your prejudices against all logic. This reminds me of a comment he made on the above-mentioned radio show to a caller who said that he was wrong to say everybody had forgiven Polanski during the last 32 years - she for one had tried to "boycott" him. Lévy's reply: "At least she's consistent. My problem is those people who not only gave him awards...and who suddenly organize this man-hunt." We are allowed to believe a rapist should be arrested, but we have to prove that we had this opinion for 32 years for it to mean anything.
Because it is shameful, finally, that we can't, when we talk about his life, evoke his childhood in the ghetto, the death of his mother in Auschwitz, the murder of his young spouse, eviscerated along with the young child she was carrying, without the prayers [I disagree with this translation. The original said "braillards". French-speakers, correct me if I'm wrong, but that sounds like howler, as in howler monkey, a very disrespectful description, but at least he is consistent in this.] of the new popular justice crying, "Blackmail!': even for the most abominable serial killer, the prevailing "culture of excuse" jumps to scrutinize the difficult childhood, the broken family, the traumas -- but Roman Polanski would be the only person in the world under judicial jurisdiction not to have the right to any kind of attenuating circumstance...Right, because people who mention his past suffering usually do so in an attempt to explain what "made him" rape a child.
Except they don't. They say he didn't, and besides, AUSCHWITZ. That is a very different line of argument, and Lévy fails to see the difference.
His closing statement:
I hardly know Roman Polanski. But I know that all those who, from close and from afar, join in this lynching will soon wake up, horrified by what they have done, ashamed.I've run out of words. Using the imagery of typically racially motivated mob-violence to describe not protesting the lawful arrest of a fugitive child rapist?!
I wonder if Mr. Lévy has felt shame lately. The kind that is physical, the pressure in your head, the lack of oxygen in your lungs, the lava in your bowels. I don't think he has. I think shame, much like morals, is an abstract concept to him that can be used in sophisticated arguments. His concern is not even really about Mr. Polanski, just about the "inconsistency" he perceives in the whole affair.
To Mr. Bernard-Henri Lévy, luminary, I'd like to repeat what caller Andy from Ft. Myers, FL had to say on the NPR show:
I have to say [...] I agree with Bernard in that I'm surprised he hasn't been brought into custody sooner. Beyond that, I'm sorry, Bernard, you may be an intellectual, I have to say I think you're an [asshole].Emphasis all mine.
This, too, is a real thing in the world.
Robert Pattertoningson eats corn.
Part of Vanity Fair's "Robert Pattinson: The Bruce Weber Portraits," from the December 2009 issue.
Another example of something that just made me LOL for its sheer absurdity. The vaguely nauseated look. The corn, dangling, not even being eaten in a cheekily phallic way. (Is it post-blowjob corn?) The lobster bib. The Rolling Rock bottle. The vague sense I'm meant to find it sexy, for some inexplicable reason.
When I showed it to Kenny Blogginz yesterday, he captioned it: "The dainty lord doth deign to masticate 'pon some maize with his precious porcelains." Which sent me into gales of laughter for, like, ten million years.
I Get Letters
My recent letter addressed to the Nation of Teabagia drew the ire of a certain individual who blasted my inbox with a truly wondrous screed. The highlights:
Space Cowboy,And now let's break this one down, shall we?
You're a stereotypical liberal, always wanting something for nothing, or something you didn't earn or work for, but glad to take from someone who did. ... Like most liberals, your [sic] condescending, self-righteous, pompous, a hypocrite. My guess is you don't pay any taxes (47% of Americans don't), so maybe you don't have a stake in the game. I do.
...Liberals claim to be the "tolerant". I say liberals are the most intolerant bunch of people I've ever known. Your [sic] referenced one person holding a sign you didn't like. So what. There were literally hundreds of signs. Who are you to say.
...You're a clown! PLEASE WAKE UP AND TELL OTHERS!!! I don't want Obama's HopeNChange, as a majority of Americans don't. Do you know what the unemployment rate is now nationally? 10.2%
Have a great Day!!!!
You're a stereotypical liberal, always wanting something for nothing, or something you didn't earn or work for, but glad to take from someone who didCategorically untrue. I paid good money for every Who and Floyd-related concert I've ever been to, and was damn happy about it.
My guess is you don't pay any taxes (47% of Americans don't), so maybe you don't have a stake in the game. I do.That's one hell of a leap. Too bad it's completely incorrect. According to my last paycheck and mortgage statement, tax has, in fact, been taken at every level. However, when I do figure out how to trick ADP into giving that withheld tax back to me, I'll be sure to let you know first, since you have a stake in the game.
But here's where I'm going to shock you. See, I am perfectly happy with my taxes going towards some form of publicly funded health care, because I feel that even a dipshit like you should have access to health care in this country as a fundamental right without your having to worry about how to pay for it or whether the really friendly profit-motivated insurance company will cover what you need.
Your [sic] referenced one person holding a sign you didn't like. So what. There were literally hundreds of signs. Who are you to say.Who am I? Who am I?! I'm Heeb Laureate of Shakesville, asshole!
By the way, there were plenty of people who didn't like that sign for the very plain reason I already stated: There is no valid comparison between a publicly funded health care system and the mass extermination of people. If you think that's a valid comparison, then there's not much I can do for you aside from suggesting you take a remedial history class.
You're a clown! PLEASE WAKE UP AND TELL OTHERS!!!You know, you got me there. In the right circumstances, I could be a right clown but I've never really admitted it to anyone before. I want to thank you for recognizing this so that now I can stand before all of Shakesville and declare, without fear:
I don't want Obama's HopeNChange, as a majority of Americans don't.Umm...actually a majority of Americans did. See, that's how Obama was elected President. I can see by that staggering number of people who showed up to your party (what was it? about 4,000?) how the majority are really worked up about things. I also found it interesting how willing some of those attendees were willing to accept true government health care from the Capitol's physician office. Why couldn't they stick to their principles and demand to only be cared for by private practitioners? Hypocrites!!
Do you know what the unemployment rate is now nationally? 10.2%Wow - you're a statistician too? That's great! (Maybe you can scan your credentials and send them to me.) Do you by any chance remember an economic crash that happened before Obama was even elected? Didn't think so.
But you know what? Don't feel bitter about all this. I understand you're scared of any kind of change that makes us equivalent in any way to European countries. It'll be ok. Really.
And you have a nice day too now!
This is a real thing in the world.
[Click to embiggen.]
Maybe I've just reached the point of maniacal slap-happiness on a troubled Friday afternoon, but I'm pretty sure this is genius.
Everything about it is making me weep with laughter. The fact that this story is an "exclusive." Jon says "namaste!" The yoga expert weighing in on what his form means. The related content, especially "Report: Jon Gosselin Avoided Jon Gosselin Lookalikes on Halloween." The baby back ribs ad. And the photo. Oh Maude, the beautiful, glorious photo. It's a fucking picture of Jon Gosselin doing yoga! OMG.
Even better? This exclusive photo gallery is linked from: "EXCLUSIVE: Jon Gosselin Does Yoga!"—a story which informs us that "The latest stop on his quest for inner peace was a yoga studio at a Los Angeles hotel Nov. 5," and quotes the yoga expert gravely noting, "I'm sure with all that has been going on in Jon's life, things are out of whack. He's got to let go of external distractions and tap into his spirituality."
Totes. Megatotes.
---------------------
[In case it's not evident, I'm not making fun of Jon Gosselin; I'm making fun of the media coverage. This is not an invitation to wantonly mock Jon Gosselin, or ridicule Kate Gosselin, or pass judgment on their reproductive choices.]
Friday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by Shaxco, makers of the Unbreakable TeaspoonTM!
(I'm switching it up today with) Recommended Action Items:
Shaker Michelle emails a request to support her yearbook students: "I am teaching yearbook for the first time this year. When I arrived I found many old cameras in the closet and a few digital cameras. Almost all of the digital cameras are broken. ...I know it seems frivolous to some people, but yearbook is very important for my students, and they are sad that they can't get any good pictures." I don't guess I need to elucidate for this crowd why providing funding to a feminist teacher who's teaching the next generation of potential journalists is, apart from just being generous, a wise investment!
Our friends at First Draft are having their annual fundraising drive.
Philippa recommends participating in the Amnesty International Greeting Cards Campaign: "Our Greetings Card Campaign brings people across the world in touch with each other in a simple way - by sending a card with a friendly greeting or message of solidarity to someone who is in danger or unjustly imprisoned. Below are 32 stories about people around the world who have suffered human rights abuses and would benefit from a card with a friendly greeting or message of support."
And (another) Melissa's got some ideas, too: Act On It.
Leave your links in comments...
Today's Edition of "Conniving and Sinister"
Strips One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63. In which Liss reimagines the long-running comic "Frank & Ernest," about two old straight white guys "telling it like it is," as a fat feminist white woman and a biracial queerbait telling it like it actually is from their perspectives. Hilarity ensues.
Another Shooting in Orlando
[Trigger warning.]
Orlando office building gunman on the loose:
Officials said at least eight people were hurt in a shooting at a downtown office building Friday and a gunman was on the loose.Police believe it is a single shooter. I will update the post as/when more information becomes available.
People streamed out of the high-rise building around lunchtime and some told local television stations they had barricaded themselves inside their offices.
Orlando Fire Department District Chief Michael Droege said an unknown number of people were still in the building and could be injured. He said the SWAT team was still trying to pull people out.
"The building is not secure now," he said. "It's still unfolding."
UPDATE: MSNBC reports that at least one person has been killed and at least 7 injured. (Elsewhere I'm seeing reports that two people have died.) "Police Sgt. Barbara Jones identified the suspect as Jason Rodriguez, 40, a former employee in the building who she said was believed to be at large and armed."
Today in Rape Culture
[Trigger warning.]
Rape culture is CNN anchor Rick Sanchez and a guest on his show discussing Anthony Sowell, the Cleveland man who raped and murdered at least ten women, and Sanchez saying:
I gotta tell you, you and I talked about this the other day but I'm still convinced. As a dad, I've got a little girl, and uh, I just keep thinking about people like this. Look, there's a difference, okay, between, um, date rape as we know it today, or sexual offenders, in some cases where you look at their cases, and go "uhhhh, okay" [makes a face and waves hands around], and a guy like this who's just a nasty human being. This is a back-alley rapist and what appears to be the worst variety.[H/T to Shaker Kira, who provided the transcript.]
Sanchez is right that there are different kinds of rapists, but they are not distinguished by where they commit rapes. Back-alley or bedroom, a sadistic rapist is a sadistic rapist, for whom the sadism of rape is not a bug but a feature.
To imply, however, that we might be able to distinguish between sadistic rapists and opportunistic rapists (whose acts are just as heinous but aren't compulsive, and thus might be deterred in a culture that promotes enthusiastic consent) by the location of their crimes, or the cost of their wardrobe, or whether they're good students or model employees, is utter balderdash.
As is Sanchez's qualification that one sort of rapist is "the worst variety." That is the sort of distinction which is lost on rape victims.
Regarding the deplorable appearance of seemingly suggesting there's a certain type of rape that would be "acceptable" for his daughter, I suspect (and hope) he's talking about statutory rape in which one teenager is just over the age of consent and hir partner just below. Note to Sanchez: That isn't "date rape." Date rape, better just called rape, denotes a lack of consent. And if you don't want to be rightly regarded as a total fuckneck, you'll keep any mentions of your daughter and "date rape" well away from each other during your loathsome rape apologia in future.
Meanwhile, Shaker Jha points to this story about two Chinese police officers getting lenient sentences because they committed "temporary rape."
Then this forum post by netizen (辽河鱼) with the title "Temporary Rape, the birth of new vocabulary" ("临时性强奸"，又一新名词诞生了) appeared on Netease. It was soon copied and reposed onto every BBS possible. According to Netease this post already had over 870,000 views, and 6,700 comments.I guess as long as cops are off the clock, it's totally cool to rape someone. Just a "temporary rape." Yeesh.Two police associates form Nanxun, Zhejiang province raped a woman while she was drunk and passed out in a hotel. Nanxun court considered the crime facts, taking into accounts that the two temporarily committed crime, with no prior planning, also turned themselves in willingly afterwards, and was forgiven by the victim, therefore giving lighter sentences of three years in prison. (China News Net)...According the crime facts Nanxun Criminal court determined the two rapists "temporarily committed the crime". I am confused, what does it mean? Searched all over the internet, I still could not find the term basis and the origin of "temporary committing a crime". "Temporary" means actions that are not official and in short-term. Can rape be differentiated by "unofficial" and short-termed? This "temporary committing the crime" should be a new vocabulary, filling up the gap of our country's judicial system creatively, indeed gratifying.
"I have to help my friend and I don’t know how."
[Trigger warning.]
Renee of Womanist Musings (who requested I blog about this) got a call from a close friend last night who had been raped in her own home. Renee, a sexual assault survivor herself, is struggling with how to help and seeking advice.
One thing that having been raped oneself doesn't do is magically imbue a person with the skills to be a rape counselor. Sometimes, being a survivor can help. Sometimes, it can make it even harder, as such counsel can be triggering.
I encourage you, if you have any words of advice, strength, or commiseration, to visit Renee and drop her a note.
What I advise, for the edification of anyone who will ever find themselves in a similar situation to Renee, tasked with counseling a friend who has been raped, is to listen. Listen hard. Let that person speak, long and at length, about everything they are feeling. Affirm what they are feeling. Make sure that reassuring them they aren't to blame and shouldn't feel shame about what happened doesn't come at the cost of silencing them.
"It is totally understandable that you feel that way" are some of the most important words any survivor of rape can hear, and they are almost never said.
It can be uncomfortable to listen to a rape survivor express feelings that we might viscerally respond to by thinking, "Zie shouldn't be feeling that!" There is a lifetime of living in a rape culture with which to contend, and it's very easy to inadvertently imply that the natural responses of someone conditioned to self-blame and shame are wrong.
It's not wrong to feel those things; there is no right or wrong about what to feel about being raped. That's why an ally must be gentle. "It is totally understandable that you feel that way. I understand why you are blaming yourself and feeling ashamed. You don't have to. It wasn't your fault, and you are are safe with me." Provide the room for a survivor to get past those feelings at hir own pace.
One of the worst things even the best-intentioned among us do is send those feelings underground, where they fester and linger. We so want to heal the hurt, but we can't.
The best way to help is to listen.
Shooting in Ft. Hood Open Thread
A place to talk about the shooting in Ft. Hood yesterday, share news reports, express frustration with racism and xenophobia you're seeing elsewhere, grieve, rage, whatever. The thread will be heavily moderated to maintain as safe a space as possible.
The biggest recent news is that the shooter, Major Hasan, is still alive. Most of the day yesterday, the media were reporting that he had died. My thought is that they were originally told the shooter was dead by the Army, because the Army wanted to be able to move him for medical care without anyone trying to seek some vigilante justice in the process.
The most disgraceful politicization of the event so far goes to conservative pundit Linda Chavez over at Commentary, who wrote yesterday:
We still don't know what was behind the killings at Fort Hood this afternoon, in which 11 soldiers and the killer died, but President Obama's rushed press conference was surprising in its flippancy nonetheless. Before he got to the issue on everyone's mind — namely the deaths of Americans in uniform — the president gave a "shout-out" to government bureaucrats gathered for a previously scheduled conference at the Interior Department, complete with appreciative chuckles. He treated the event like a pep rally rather than a tragic occasion with a wider audience than those gathered in the room. I wonder how many media outlets will compare Obama's performance to President Bush's "Pet Goat" moment on 9/11. I won't hold my breath.Good idea. Since the two are, y'know, nothing alike. When President Bush was told of the ongoing situation on the morning of 9/11, he was told the country was under attack and didn't move. President Obama, on the other hand, was yesterday told of a situation that was effectively already contained, and he immediately took the appropriate action, which was to make a statement to the nation.
Now, he may not have delivered it in the way Chavez would have liked (KennyBlogginz and I happened to be watching it together and both actually cringed at the "shout-out," too, and commented on the flippancy of it), but that doesn't make it a "Pet Goat" moment. Not at all. Not on this planet.
What The Hell? Halloween Edition
Deeks and sparkletoes
Misty, as a pear (not asparagus), 1985
Carleigh the Riveter
RachelB as a black widow spider
Silvas: The Death of Rats
FilthyGrandeur: King Rat
Temeraire as Christopher Molti-zombie
Orangelion03, the Gypsy/pirate
GoldFishy (right) and Apollo as SNL cheerleaders
sunflwrmoonbeam and child
Pmsrhino: Tank Girl
Lindsay as Lucille Ball
Jill (left) from Feministe as a viriginity pledger (and yes, she's posing with a pregnant Snow White)
Radelica = Medusa
Deeky (left), the Great Grape Ape, circa 1975
shadysexysadie as Hedwig!
Zombified laurenm and her father
The Lady Eve, ca. 1984
Skywind's son as Dr. Who (complete with sonic screwdriver)
Mama Shakes as... I dunno what
If you've an image of yourself all bedecked in a snazzy Halloween costume, email it to me at shakerwhatthehell_at_yahoo_dot_com. I'll add them to this thread. And please don't forget to include the name you comment under in your email.
Happy Birthday, Iain!!!
Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
You muckle flaheed ginger Scooootsmaaaaan,
I love you through and throuuuuuuuuuuugh!
Happy Birthday, my partner, my ally, my best friend.
I love you!
Question of the Day
What joke, scene, or moment from a movie or television show always makes you laugh yourself to tears, no matter how many times you see it?
There's this throwaway gag in Blazing Saddles that never fails to get me: When Mongo and his gang invade Rock Ridge and are wreaking havoc, there is a man that gets his foot caught in the stirrups on a horse. The horse takes off running, dragging the man through the mud and dirt in the road. The man says, matter-of-factly, "Well, that's the end of this suit." Slays me.
Shooting in Ft. Hood Open Thread
[Trigger warning.]
As many as 9 killed in Fort Hood shootings:
Two gunmen in military uniforms shot and killed as many as nine people and wounded as many as 20 at Fort Hood in Texas on Thursday, officials said.You can watch CNN's live coverage here.
One of the shooters has been apprehended, Fort Hood spokesman Sgt. Maj. Jamie Posten told CNN.
"At this point we're looking for the other shooter," Posten said. Asked for a description, he said, "we're trying to develop that information."
The shooters were wearing military uniforms, but it was unclear whether they were soldiers, said U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.
...Officials at Fort Hood, which is the Army's largest U.S. post, were asking people there to stay away from windows, CNN affiliate KXXV said. The incident took place at the sports dome, now known as the soldier readiness area, the station reported.
On the Fort Hood Web site, the word "closed" is posted with the statement, "Effective immediately, Fort Hood is closed. Organizations/units are instructed to execute a 100 percent accountability of all personnel."
I don't know what to say at the moment, besides offering my condolences to surviving friends and family of the victims, and healing thoughts to the injured.
[Sorry I didn't post this sooner, Shakers; I was out of the house for a couple of hours.]
UPDATE: President Obama is speaking about the incident now.
I Write Letters
[Trigger warning.]
Dear Teabaggers,
I'd like to give you the benefit of the doubt and not think the lot of you are one huge collective of dumbass dipshittery. However, when you walk around DC holding a sign that actually makes a completely asinine comparison of socialized medicine to genocide, I'm left thinking that none of you deserve to live in this country.
You can either secede and see how that works out for you, or feel free to go anywhere else on the planet but here. Of course, the ironic thing about that last suggestion is that you'd probably end up in a country that has some form of socialized medicine or publicly funded health care.
And you would love it.
Because then you can get the quality health care you need without having to take out multiple mortgages on your home. And when you go to a doctor or hospital, you won't be thrown into a gas chamber and then have your corpse thrown onto a pile for display.
You know why?
Because in every industrialized country in the world that offers some form of universal coverage, that shit just doesn't happen.
But hey - you know better than all of us, so why don't you show us some pictures of all the dead corpses in Britain, France, Finland, New Zealand, Austria, Germany, Canada, Sweden, Holland and all the other countries that kill off their citizens to advance their evil socialist health care agenda.
Better yet, just get the fuck out and open up your friggin eyes and ears for a change.
Love,
Space Cowboy
Today's Edition of "Conniving and Sinister"
Strips One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62. In which Liss reimagines the long-running comic "Frank & Ernest," about two old straight white guys "telling it like it is," as a fat feminist white woman and a biracial queerbait telling it like it actually is from their perspectives. Hilarity ensues.
Your Goat Sucks
At 1:23 in this trailer for The Men Who Stare at Goats, there's a clip of the experiment whence the film gets its name: George Clooney stares intently at a goat, which then falls over.
In a YouTube clip, the CGI of the collapsing goat doesn't look too bad, but on a TV screen, it suuuuuuuuuuuucks.
Last night, KennyBlogginz and I were watching Top Chef when we saw this trailer, and I commented on how awful the CGI is.
KBlogz: I know! I think the same thing every time I see the trailer. It's really terrible!
Liss: And how much did that shit cost?!
KBlogz: You know it cost like thousands of dollars.
Liss: However much it was, it was way more than the cost of hiring a fainting goat for the day.
Why Dick Armey is a Perfect Asshole
When Doug Hoffman was thrust onto the northern New York stage to win one for the teabaggers, it was very clear that his complete lack of familiarity with the district would pose some problems. In fact, when he met with the Watertown Daily Times' editorial board to talk about issues, all he could talk about was national issues:
In a nearly hour-long session, Mr. Hoffman was unable to articulate clear positions on a number of matters specific to Northern New Yorkers rather than the national level campaign being waged in a three-way race for the vacant seat of now-Army Secretary John McHugh.And guess who tried to help Hoffman out when it became clear he had no grasp of local issues? Lord of the Teabags, Dick Armey:
Mr. Hoffman spoke only generally about the need to improve the country's economy and to create jobs but provided no details, which were also lacking as well in his broadly stated willingness to help our military personnel. Help in what way he could not say.
Coming to Mr. Hoffman's defense, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, who accompanied the candidate on a campaign swing, dismissed regional concerns as "parochial" issues that would not determine the outcome of the election.So, now that Hoffman has been defeated (how he even got vote 1 is beyond me), take a look at what Armey has to say about the cause of his defeat:
"The fact of the matter is, he didn't pay enough attention to the local concerns, and they were able to tag him as being unaware of the local needs and concerns," Armey said.That's really profound of you to say that, Lord Teabag, considering you didn't give a rat's ass about that district's concerns to begin with.
Then again, Armey has made it clear that he really only gives a rat's ass about doing whatever is necessary to obtain and keep power, at the expense of anyone and everyone. And that, Dick Armey, makes you a perfect asshole.
[H/T to ThinkProgress]
Hey Look—Principles!
No Doubt sues Activision over Band Hero:
Rock band No Doubt has filed a real-world lawsuit over its virtual role in the just-released Band Hero edition of the Guitar Hero video game series, claiming that the game has "transformed No Doubt band members into a virtual karaoke circus act," singing dozens of songs the group neither wrote, popularized nor approved for use in the game.It's not unheard of for a band of No Doubt's stature to prioritize message over money, but it is rather extraordinary to see a band, even a female-led group, consider misogyny a message they are unwilling to even obliquely endorse.
...The game, which was released Tuesday, puts the group members' images, collectively and individually, into more than 60 songs, "many of which include lyrics, contained in iconic songs, which are not appropriate for No Doubt and have not been and would not have been chosen by No Doubt for recordings or public performances."
Specifically, the suit notes that through the game's Character Manipulation Feature, Stefani's image can be induced to sing the Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Women."
"While No Doubt are avid fans of the Rolling Stones and even have performed in concerts with the Rolling Stones," the complaint states, "the Character Manipulation Feature results in an unauthorized performance by the Gwen Stefani avatar in a male voice boasting about having sex with prostitutes."
..."Activision has deceived and confused the public into believing that No Doubt authorized the use of its name and likeness for the Character Manipulation Feature of Band Hero and that No Doubt approves and endorses the appearance of its members individually performing songs that are wholly inappropriate and out of character for No Doubt," according to the complaint.
It's a pretty grim reality that No Doubt's stance is both impressive and notable.
RIP Claude Lévi-Strauss
Claude Lévi-Strauss, known as the father of modern anthropology, has died. He was 100 years old.
Cultural anthropology was my field of study at university, and Strauss always loomed large as a revolutionary figure to be both admired and challenged. I was deeply affected by his work, including and perhaps especially the parts of his work with which I disagreed. Every time I stumbled across one of his plethoric dichotomous juxtapositions, my intellect would instantly rebel with an expansive notion of spectrum.
It is nonetheless probably not hyperbole to say there would be no Shakesville if there had not been a Strauss.
The New York Times has a great obituary here, although my favorite thing I've read comes from Maurice Bloch's obit for the Guardian here:
Of course, his theories have been much criticised, and few would now subscribe to them in the way that they were originally formulated, but nonetheless many anthropologists, including myself, are continually amazed and awed by the fact that, through the use of a theory that many consider flawed, or at least rather vague, Lévi-Strauss gained the most illuminating and unexpected insights in almost all fields of social and cultural anthropology.Indeed so.
[H/T to Space Cowboy.]
In News from GOP HQ
Energized G.O.P. Looking to Avoid an Intraparty Feud: "Republicans emerged from Tuesday's elections energized by victories in Virginia and New Jersey, but their leaders immediately began maneuvering to avoid a prolonged battle with conservative activists over what the party stands for and how to regain power."
To that end...
Lindsey Graham warns GOP against going too far right: "The morning after Republicans lost an upstate New York House seat, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) warned that conservative activists will bring destruction to the Republican Party if they drive out moderate candidates across the country."
Again I'll note that when Lindsey Graham is your voice of reason, you know your party has gone off the rails.
Speaking of off the rails...
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-LOOKATME!) fancies herself a Fawkes-style insurrectionist:[Bachmann] hopes to lead a small army of right-wing activists around Capitol Hill, in the hopes of derailing health care reform. But let's not lose sight of the context here—Bachmann has already referred to anti-reform activists as "insurgents" and "freedom fighters." Last night, she went a little further, encouraging conservatives to try to "scare" federal lawmakers.
Meanwhile...
...And when has Bachmann scheduled her Capitol Hill soiree? This afternoon—November 5—a date widely known as Guy Fawkes Night. (You know, "Remember, remember, the fifth of November.") In other words, Bachmann wants to rally right-wing activists, label them an "insurgency," and encourage them to roam the halls of Congress deliberately "scaring" members of Congress, on the infamous date that marks an attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament.
Republican voters currently view Mike Huckabee as their best chance for regaining the White House in 2012, with 71% saying they would "seriously consider" voting for him.
Why do I suspect that if Fox News had given a bag of vintage bologna its own nightly show, 71% of Republican voters would be "seriously considering" going bologna in 2012...?
We're Fancy
RedSonja and I discussing the RSVPs for the upcoming meet-up (sonja1023-at-gmail-dot-com if you want to come!):
Liss: Todd and his boyfriend Ken are definitely coming. KennyBlogginz is definitely coming.
RedSonja: I'm glad to hear Todd and Ken and Kenny are coming. (Is it weird to have a partner with same name as your little brother? I think it would weird me out. But I'm just like that.)
Liss: KennyBlogginz's real name is [TOP SECRET], lol.
RedSonja [mock dramatically]: Are you shitting me????? Now I have to try to remember to call Deeky [NO WAY] and call KennyBlogginz [YEAH RIGHT]???
Liss: And Paul the Spud's real name is Sergeant Wilhelm Paulicus Spuddington III.
RedSonja: Just for that, I'm totes calling you Vivian Smith-Smythe-Smithe for the duration of the meetup.
Liss: The second one is pronounced with a long I. The other two aren't.
RedSonja: Thank you for clearing that up. I'd hate to mispronounce the mocking name I gave you.
Liss: Absolutely. It clearly saves us both a hand-basket of embarrassment.
Top Chef Open Thread
Chef Tom Colicchio will drink. your. milkshake!!!
He will also be happy to give you a taste of his spicy meatballs and famous Italian sausage. If you're hungry.
Question of the Day
What do you see? I see two beasts passing in the night. Liss said she sees rabbits debating.
Photo of the Day
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton poses at the 6th edition of the Forum for the Future in Marrakesh November 3, 2009. Clinton offered aid on Tuesday to boost ties with the Muslim world and urged Israel, the Palestinians and Arab countries to move beyond recrimination in the search for peace. REUTERS/Jean Blondin
Quote of the Day
[Trigger warning.]
"Battered Presidents Syndrome: It's like Battered Wives Syndrome, except President Obama is the bride with the black eye and Ayatollah Khameini is the abusive husband. And Obama keeps coming back for more."—Michael Goldfarb, online editor for the conservative rag The Weekly Standard.
Oh HELL no.
You know, Goldfarb, who served as the deputy communications director for John McCain's 2008 failed presidential bid, once wrote in that role that liberal bloggers were nothing but a "pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd" who "disparage[d] a fellow countryman's memory of war from the comfort of mom's basement."
Now, I'm actually not a role-playing dork living in my mother's basement—my mother doesn't even have a basement! (and would that she did; it would be a great place to play D&D)—but, if I were, and inexplicably considered that something of which to be ashamed, I'd still be able to say: "At least I'm not a conservative wankstain who thinks discussing foreign policy using domestic violence analogies is appropriate."
Asshole.
Daily Kitteh
Me and Juni, Halloween night.
As Temeraire suggested, if you've an image of yourself all bedecked in a snazzy Halloween costume, you should email it to me at shakerwhatthehell_at_yahoo_dot_com. I'll put them in a special Halloween What the Hell? thread, hopefully at the end of this week. And don't forget to include the name you comment under. Thanks.
A Treat for My Feminist Geeks
[Click to embiggen.]
I actually dreamed this pun, and the associated design, the other night. I woke up laughing, and then I made it so.
Once I'd made it for my own amusement, I wondered if I should post it, knowing that's some pretty esoteric humor, even for me. And then I figured those who get it will really love it. So here it is.
You Go, Grrl: Gabrielle Union
[Trigger warning.]
Actress and anti-rape activist Gabrielle Union, blogging about her reaction to commentary about the Richmond rape case and about her own rape (ellipses original):
I'm sad more than anything. After googling the gang rape story in Richmond and reading comments on blogs, it just leaves me sickened and really sad. The fact that race and socio-economics have been used to explain away a brutal gang rape...just sad...maybe I just have seen every kind of rapist and survivor...every race, color, religion, socio-economic status group...it's all the same...a lack of regard for violence against women. Tolerated, and in this case encouraged by the mob surrounding the perps...laughing, joking and taking pics.Blub.
When I was 19 years old, I was raped. I was working at a shoe store in California, and the store was robbed. The person robbing the store ended up putting a gun to my head and raping me. As he was raping me, I felt as though I was floating over myself, thinking, 'This isn't happening.' I blanked out and had an out-of-body experience, like I was hovering above seeing this horrible thing happen to someone else...not me. I was fortunate enough to go the UCLA rape crisis center after this horrific ordeal. It gave me my life back. My dignity and self-esteem were gone and they helped me find them again.
That's why I now lobby for state legislatures across the country and the federal government to help raise funds and awareness for rape crisis centers, and I speak to all different kinds of people across the country about what happened to me. My goal is to never hear the words 'me too' from someone after I say 'I was raped.'
More on Maine
I've got a new piece up at The Guardian's CifA:
Sometimes the stragglers at the tail end of this slow march of progress need a boot to get them moving forward. When the legislatures haven't provided it, it has been the judiciary's job to deliver it instead, as marginalised groups were never meant to have no recourse against discriminatory practices, even if the will of the majority is to extend the codified biases in perpetuity. Just because something is popular doesn't make it right.Read the whole thing here.
And so came the howling about "activist judges". But in Maine, it was not left to a judge to decide the fate of same-sex marriage, but instead to the state legislature. And then – what a surprise – that wasn't good enough, either. It still had to be brought before Maine's voters, so that every straight person in the state would be allowed to cast their own opinion on whether their gay neighbours should be allowed their rights, which is only fair. On some planet where "fair" means "deferential to the tyranny of the majority so as not to hurt their precious wee feelings".
This country is not, and never has been, well-served by leaving the civil rights of the minority in the hands of the majority. Putting that up to a vote which is subject to deeply held prejudice is ruling not by democracy, but by mob mentality.
Fabulous
Steve Martin & Alec Baldwin to Host the Oscars.
For a moment there, I thought there wouldn't be a misogynist asshole involved, but luckily they were able to secure someone who called his then-11-year-old daughter "a rude, thoughtless little pig" who doesn't have "brains" or "decency," and then "joked" two years later (on Letterman's show, ahem):
I see why, in these films where they represent the Mayan culture or any tribal cuture or Hawaiian culture, they always throw the teenage girl into a volcano. They always say, oh, it's their hormones, and I really don't care. They should be sent to some kind of Chinese re-education camp in the mountains for five years.And racist to boot. What a charmer!
Wednesday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by Shaxco, supporting justice for all since 2004.
Recommended Reading:
Echidne: Of Special Interest: Wimminz
Cory: Secret copyright treaty leaks. It's bad. Very bad.
Melissa: What race was the Richmond rape victim?
Andy: White House Suggests NY Dem Congressman Needed to 'Man Up'
Dumi: Dear Old Morehouse
Resistance: Speaking of Which
Meloukhia: Dear Imprudence: How Not to Give Advice
Kathy: Love Embraces All
Jorge: Did I Ever Tell You of the Time
Leave your links in comments...
SYTYCD Open Thread
[Spoiler warning if you don't know who was voted off last night.]
Legacy and Kathryn got my vote for best performance again last night. This Stacey Tookey-choreographed piece was just amazing; Legacy and Kathryn danced it beautifully, and I found it incredibly moving (and personally meaningful). It was Iain's favorite, too.
As regards the eliminations, I was sad and disappointed to see Bianca go. I strongly suspect she was a casualty of Channing needing a stronger partner. Phillip was definitely going home (and deservedly so); if they'd sent Noelle home, Channing would have been partnered with Russell, who probably wouldn't have been strong enough for her, either. Victor, on the other hand, is probably big and powerful enough to successfully partner Channing. I think their decision came down not to whether Bianca was better than Noelle, but whether she was better than Channing.
None of which changes the fact that they've now sent home four people of color and none of the white contestants.
Bianca looked hella pissed, and I don't blame her—even though I think partnering Channing with Victor instead of Russell will keep Russell in the competition longer, which I count as a good thing, since he's one of my favorites.
Today's Edition of "Conniving and Sinister"
Strips One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61. In which Liss reimagines the long-running comic "Frank & Ernest," about two old straight white guys "telling it like it is," as a fat feminist white woman and a biracial queerbait telling it like it actually is from their perspectives. Hilarity ensues.
Made In Iran
I saw this on TV the other night.
For those who can't see it, here's a recap of the commercial.
In an average, everyday house and average, everyday man inspects his (presumably) belongings. Vaguely Johnny Cash-esque music plays over the scene. Everything he comes across is labelled with distinctly non-Made-in-America wording. Made in Mexico. Something in Chinese. Made in Malaysia. Made in Iran. One by one the man drags these items out of his house and dumps them onto his lawn. A woman sits in the living room and looks on disapprovingly. Who is she? The man's spouse? Mother? It's not clear. She knits. Until he drags her out and puts her on the lawn too. Finally he comes upon a rifle hung above the mantel. Stamped in (ridiculously) large letters on the barrel: Made in America. The man smiles and places the rifle back on the wall.A lot of things struck me about this commercial. Besides its aggressive stupidity (buying something then throwing it out isn't really a boycott, not that that is the advertisers intended message), I found the Made in Iran bit quite interesting. Made in Iran? Really? Is Iran a big exporter of cheap clocks to the U.S.? Is Iran a big exporter of anything to the U.S.? I am pretty sure, in all my life, I've never seen a single item marked Made in Iran.
In spite of its weird and jingoistic message (sloppily delivered though it is) the ad did inspire me to wander around my house and attempt to determine the origin of ten random items. Just FYI, I purposefully picked things that A) I didn't know the origin of and 2) I assumed would be labelled. I knew the toothy, grinning crocodile head on the nightstand was from Florida, where I acquired it, but was likely not labelled as such, so I skipped that item. Same for my Maltese Falcon, which I am pretty sure was actually made in America too. (Take that, Malta!)
But I did look at the telephone, a frying pan, a peppermill, a plate (like the guy in the commercial), a nightlight, my laptop, a few other things. I did not check my firearms, because I don't own any. Here's what I found out: One item was from Taiwan. Three were actually unmarked. Three came from China, and one from France. The plate was from Sri Lanka. The frying pan was marked with Wisconsin, but I'm not sure that is where it was actually manufactured.
Not one thing was marked Made in Iran. Know why? Because most trade with Iran is prohibited. So why include this mendacious little moment in the commercial? Aside from trying to connect with racist, jingoistic douchnozzles who may be your target audience?
Emma Update
As you'll certainly recall, after a popular Shaker favie Emma Thompson signed the Roman Polanski petition and broke our hearts, Shaker Caitlin put together a petition asking Thompson to remove her name, which she intended to deliver to Thompson during a brief meeting.
This morning, Caitlin emailed with this update:
Dear All,I'll reserve my grateful blubbing for when I see her name actually peeled off Bernard-Henri Lévy's petition, but, in the meantime: Thanks for being willing to listen, Ms. Thompson.
I have just returned from meeting Emma Thompson. While I would love to dwell on the experience – how friendly she is, how compassionate and how incredibly driven she is, there is a more important issue I need to address.
I took Emma the petition I had drawn up about Roman Polanski, with the 410 signatures and everyone's comments. Any comments that I was aware of that didn't show up on the petition, I took as a separate document. I also took the wording of the petition she had signed, and information about another petition (to be found here) which has over 3,000 signatures supporting Polanski's arrest.
Emma did not have much time between meetings, but she gave me all of the time that she had. I asked her why she had signed the petition, and she explained about how well she knows Polanski, how terrible his life has been, and how forgiving the survivor of the rape all those years ago now is. She said she thought the intentions of the judge were unclear, as were the intentions of those who arrested him recently. She told me that a lot of her friends had rung her up asking her to sign the petition, so there had been a certain amount of pressure. She said that she had already been thinking a lot about the petition, as others had expressed their dismay at her signing it.
I handed her our petition and the comments. She read them both through thoroughly, and came back to me. She said, while she supported Polanski as a friend, a crime is a crime. I don't know whether she had realised the extent of Polanski's crime, but she is now fully aware. She will remove her name from the petition – in fact, she said she would call today and sort it out. Even though, she stressed, Polanski has had some truly terrible experiences in his lifetime, experiences that we couldn't even imagine and which should not be taken out of the equation, she agreed that she could not put her name to a petition asking for his release.
Assuming that she will be true to her word, her name will be removed in the very near future. Hopefully the press will pick up on it.
She left me with this, to pass on to everyone who has signed the petition/raised awareness of this issue: "Know that I will remove my name because of you, and all of the good work that you have been doing. I have read your petition. I have heard you. And I will listen."
I hope that this will encourage others to do the same, as I really do believe that many of those who have signed the Polanski petition did so not knowing what it was that they were signing.
Yours, with a teaspoon salute and a sigh of relief,
Caitlin
And I'd like to offer Caitlin a resounding cheer and a fist-pumping teaspoon salute, for what was some mighty fine teaspooning. Thank you, Caitlin.
I'll Play You Out on My Tiny Violin
Keith Bardwell, the Louisiana Justice of the Peace who refused to marry interracial couples, has resigned. Awwww. Hey, don't let the door hitcha where the good lord splitcha on your way out, asshole.
Bardwell, speaking to CNN affiliate WBRZ, said he was advised "that I needed to step down because they was going to take me to court, and I was going to lose."Yawn. Good riddance.
"I would probably do the same thing again," he said. "I found out I can't be a justice of the peace and have a conscience."
...[Bardwell] told CNN affiliate WAFB that he had no regrets about the decision. "It's kind of hard to apologize for something that you really and truly feel down in your heart you haven't done wrong," he said.
..."I'm not a racist," he said. "I do ceremonies for black couples right here in my house. My main concern is for the children."
[H/T to Shaker TinaH.]
What the Hell?
Shaker sevenhelz
Who is cheering me up with her goofy but authentic smile.
(If you've a ridiculous and/or embarrassing photo of yourself from your youth, please send it to shakerwhatthehell_at_yahoo_dot_com. I'll post them up as part of our series called What The Hell? so everyone can laugh
[See also: Deeky, Liss, evilsciencechick, katecontinued, ClumsyKisses, Mistress Sparkletoes, Liiiz, Reedme, Mama Shakes, Mustang Bobby, RedSonja, MomTFH, Portly Dyke, SteffaB, Icca, Christina, Orangelion03, Car, Siobhan, InfamousQBert, Maud, Rikibeth, MishaRN, CLD, Cheezwiz, MamaCarrie, Temeraire, somebodyoranother, goldengirl, Liss (again), summerwing, yeomanpip, Susan811, bbl, Deeky (Part II), A Daily Shakesville Fan, Sami_J, liberalandproud, Temeraire: Redux, Mama Shakes II, Bonus Deeky, OuyangDan, J.Goff, Iain, Talonas, The Great Indoors, gogo, kiwi_a, em_and_ink, Tik_bev, phdintraining, Deeky Freakhands, busydani, Jenny Anne, rowmyboat, DesertRose, Steve/Pido, Anne Onymous, phredrika, The Last of the Famous International Deekys, Iain, Another Mustang Bobby, mkp-hearts-nyc, Arvan, Norbizness, Electrasteph, SteffaB, molliecat, Aestas, catvoncat, Filthy Grandeur, Shelly, Mighty Doll, and IraeNicole.]
