"The Administration believes the public interest is best served by permitting the court's judgment to go into effect, thereby restoring the right of same-sex couples to marry in California. Doing so is consistent with California's long history of treating all people and their relationships with equal dignity and respect." — California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, asking Judge Vaughn Walker not to grant a stay in his ruling on Prop 8.
One Million Pounds of Ground Meat Recalled
WASHINGTON, August 6, 2010 - Valley Meat Company, a Modesto, Calif. establishment, is recalling approximately one million pounds of frozen ground beef patties and bulk ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.You can get a complete list of recalled products at the above USDA link.
FSIS became aware of the problem on July 15 when the agency was notified by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) of a small E. coli O157:H7 cluster of illnesses with a rare strain as determined by PFGE subtyping. A total of six patients with illness onset dates between April 8 and June 18, 2010 were reported at that time. After further review, CDPH added another patient from February to the case count, bringing the count to seven. FSIS is continuing to work with the CDPH and the company on the investigation. Anyone with signs or symptoms of foodborne illness should contact a health care provider.
[...]
The products subject to recall bear the establishment number "EST. 8268" inside the USDA mark of inspection as well as a production code of 27509 through 01210. These products were produced between the dates of Oct. 2, 2009 through Jan. 12, 2010 and were distributed to retail outlets and institutional foodservice providers in California, Texas, Oregon, Arizona and internationally.[...]
Viral Assvertising
(TW for ablist language, paternal virginity policing, multiple references to teacher/teen-student sexual contact, and very brief suggestion of potential violence which is evocative of anti-trans violence)
Jason Bateman and Will Arnett have a couple of videos infecting the internet — oh, wait, I guess the term is "viral videos", isn't it? Nah, I think I'll go with infecting. They are ads for Orbit gum. They are edgy. Edgy gum commercials. How can they fail to be a laff riot? Here is the first (transcript below the fold):
[The logo of Dumbdumb, Will Arnett and Jason Bateman's venture flashes on the screen, follow by “Dirty Shorts Presents” (Orbit logo)]
[An exterior shot of a quiet suburban home. A dog barks]
Mom: I wanted to come up here [inaudible] to show everyone [inaudible]
[Mom (Rachael Harris), Dad (Jason Bateman), and Teen (Aubrey Plaza) are in Teen's bedroom as she prepares for prom]
[On Screen: “The Prom Date”]
Teen: [Mom and Teen futz with Teen's dress] stop, stop
Dad: When did my beautiful girl turn into such a beautiful young woman?
Teen: [rolls eyes] Um, I don't know, it happened about four years ago, Dad. [Mom nods] Please don't talk like that in front of Skip, okay? This is my senior prom and I don't want my date to totally freak out.
Dad: Okay
Teen: I don't even want him to meet you.
Mom: Now I've spoken to him several times, and he seems very polite
Dad: I know honey, but these days, these boys know how to act all polite, and before you know it, they've got their facebook all up in your twitter.
Teen: Ugh, Is this a joke? Am I on America's Lamest Parents?
Dad: Nope.
Mom: [places hands on Teen's back] Your father and I care very much about you.
Teen: [shows disgust] Mom, your hands are sweaty.
Dad: We do, we care a great deal, we care that you're dating a boy that's worthy of our little angel, okay? Not some boy who only...
Teen: [interrupts] He's not some boy. He's my soulmate. [plays with hair] I've learned so much from him.
Dad: Hmm. I had a soulmate once. [Turning to mom] Did you meet Karen?
Mom: Yep.
Dad: The sole thing I wanted to do with her was mate.
Teen: [looks disgusted, interjects] What?!?
Dad: Do you understand what I'm saying? Ok, I had one thing on my mind that's all, and I guarantee you the only thing on this guy's mind is the same thing. So, let's honor the curfew, let's make sure you're in bed by 8 o'clock tonight.
Teen: Dad, the prom starts at 9.
Dad: Then you're not going.
Mom: Okay, well that does sound a little overprotective, sweetheart.
Teen: [under her breath] Sound overprotective? It's being overprotective.
Dad: Let's go with 10.
Teen: Ten?!? No way!
Dad: A solid hour. [Mom nods, annoyed with Dad but backing him up.]
Mom: Honey, relax. Here, have a piece of Orbit.
Dad: I don't care if I seem overprotective, [Mom is unwrapping a pack of Orbit] I'm your father for heaven's sakes. [Mom: I know, I...] I'm a father for heaven's sakes, [Mom finally opens the package of gum. A chime chimes.] You know [Dad holds a piece of gum in his hand] what I mean? [doorbell]
Dad:There's Skip!
Mom: Here we go!
Teen: God. [Starts to fix her hair]
Mom: No hairspray, please.
[Dad, Mom and Teen walk down a hallway]
Dad: Nothing good happens after 10, Katie. Sally, tell her.
Mom: Okay, well there was a man in a very [Dad: Not now] attractive van
Teen: What are you talking about? Mom, that's weird!
[Dad opens door]
Dad: Skip!
[Skip (Will Arnett) appears, wearing a tuxedo and what appears to be a fake moustache. He reaches out his arms, makes a creepy sound and heads to embrace Teen]
Teen: Mom, Dad, this is Skip.
Skip: Hi.
[Mom and Dad look annoyed]
Dad: That's Mr. McGovern from social studies.
Mom: Yeah.
[Skip shuts the door]
Skip: Skip McGovern! [Teen futzs with Skip's bow-tie] We are in the same social studies class.
Dad: [Mom stands next to Dad with her mouth agape, incredulous] You teach that class. I met you at parent-teacher night; you told me you were giving my daughter excellent marks.
Skip: Now nothing that a good set of leggings can't cover [wink].
Mom: Katie did say that the two of you were in school together. I just assumed it was a student.
Skip: That's a two-way street. Sometimes she does let me play student too. Isn't that right, kittykat? [Holds Teen]
Teen: [Quietly] Yeah.
Skip: Lines do get blurred, though. Sometimes it's kinda hard to know who's.. teaching.......is it who or whom?
Teen: I don't know.
Skip: Who gives a crap, right. What's important is...
Dad: I'm gonna stop you right there, Mr. McGovern.
Skip: Please, do call me Skip.
Dad: No. You seem very mature for my daughter.
Skip: Oh, thank you! I'm barely forty. This is a fake mustache, actually.
Dad: [uninterested] Is it?
Skip: It is. Truth be told, I'm kinda in the middle of a dicey breakup right now with a gal who... [loud, annoyed, incredulous] is suddenly shocked to find out that I don't want to move to Michigan with her and watch her go to college. It's like, I'm not in this for the long haul! [You're so.] Never have been! I've a free f**king spirit, man!
Dad: Here's the way the rest of this night's gonna go...
Mom: Jerry, take it easy Jerry. [places pack of gum in front of Dad's face, harp harps]
Dad: Thank you. You're gonna get inside your car, [puts gum in mouth] you're gonna drive away from here.
Skip: Boy, I'd like to get my paws on some of that gum, [creepily draws circles around mouth with finger] freshen up the old kisshole.
Mom: Sorry, it was the last piece.
Dad: Sorry, that was the last piece.
Teen: Did you bring the corsage?
Skip: No I did not. [rushes of to elsewhere in the room] Because I'm making you one!
Dad: I gotta tell you, honey. [music picks up in tempo, intensity] I've never felt so much... uncontrollable......
[music reaches crescendo, Mom and Dad turn to camera, teeth flicker, chime chimes]
Mom: Pride.
Dad: Yeah.
Mom: Yeah.
Dad: Yeah. In a school filled with immaturity, and piercings, and tattoos [mom flinches], she has chosen a man. Not a boy, okay. He's got an education, he's got a salary, he's got his own car.
Mom: A top-of-the-line mustache.
Dad: She's making such good decisions for a girl who's just recently turned 18. Could you feel any safer?
Mom: I know that I will sleep like a baby tonight. [Dad kisses Mom on the forehead.]
Dad: That makes two of us. [contented noise] And the twins in the crib.
Skip: Oh! What time to I need to bring recently legal back? [winks]
Mom: Huh. She may be our daughter, but she's your student, so...
Skip: Whenever I'm done teaching her huh...[laughs] By the way, for brekkies, I like a fresh muffin, [covers side of his mouth and talks under his breath while pointing to Teen] and somebody's addicted to sausage [laughs].
Teen: Hey. [Teen and Skip start to go through the door to the yard]
Dad: Ooh! Skip! Look what Jerry found. [Hands skip a piece of gum.]
Skip: [Looks amazed and deeply pleased] Now that is what I call getting lucky.
Teen: Come on.
[Skip and Teen are walking together on the lawn.]
Skip: I'm joking, would I call getting lucky what it actually... [unintelligible] [chime chimes, Skip and Teen stop dead in their tracks, Skip drops his arm from around Teen] Let's go to that prom and finding you a nice boy your own age to dance with.
Teen: Ewww.
Skip: [looking at Mom and Dad in the doorway] Don't you worry. I'll call when we get there, just to let you know that we got there safe.
Dad: Aw, Skip, you're the best.
Skip: You're the best.
Dad: You're the best.
Skip: You're best. You're doublin' besties. [laughs]
Mom: He called us the besties!
Dad: He did.
[sigh]
Dad: Maybe one day if we're lucky, he's gonna call us Mom and Dad.
Mom: Oh-ho-ho.
[Screen fades to black, displaying text: A good clean feeling no matter what. Then there are psychedelic backgrounds, presumably matching Orbit's new packaging. The new text reads: Orbit. A good clean feeling no matter what]
He's her father, for Heaven's sake. That means he owns her most significant aspect, her reproductive organs. They are his, dammit — he spawned them. And no other male is going to get his nasty hands on them!
Well, we've all seen this before, eh? Oh, but clever plot twist! Her date isn't just any reproductive organ-filching guy — he's daughter's predatory, middle-aged teacher! Now the lulz can begin for realz!
Fortunately, lest this rampant competition between middle-aged men over teen-aged reproductive organs in a prom dress get messy, Orbit gum appears to instantaneously have all the effects of a powerful narcotic, without slowing you down a whit!
What's more, it also has the Jerry Maguire make-ya-wanna-be-a-better-man effect, too, so the predatory teacher breaks off his droll running commentary on the sexual acts he intends to engage in with his student, and decides to find her a nice boy her own age to dance with — whether she wants to or not. She is, after all, nothing but a set of reproductive organs in a prom dress, and therefore unfit to make any decisions for herself.
I hope you've recovered your breath after that Lol-a-thon, because here is the second quiet gem in this masterwork:
Transcript:
[The logo of Dumbdumb, Will Arnett and Jason Bateman's venture flashes on the screen
There is techno/porn-ish music playing. The screen shows the back of a pig-tailed woman in a red robe walking to a back stage area. Overlaid is the text: “Orbit Dirty Shorts presents”.]
Off-screen announcer: Whoo! Already boys! Can I have your attention for a young lady who's making her debut. [Text on screen: “The Dancer.” The crowd sounds raucous.]
[In a dressing room]
Stripper in Blue Robe: For a lunchtime crowd, those guys are out of control. You must be the new girl. [laughs quietly, cruelly] Tough crowd for your first dance. Hope it's not your last.
Stripper in Red: Actually [We hear a low voice. Stripper in Blue turns, confused and disgusted.]... [Suddenly we see the Stripper in Red. Surprise! It's Jason Bateman wearing some sort of cowgirl outfit and a tacky wig.] that's the plan.
Blue: Good luck.
Bateman: [plays with wig] Thank you, but it's not needed, because my gun [reaches to belt, pretends to pull out a gun] is loaded. [Bateman turns to the camera, showing that he's pulled out a pack of Orbit. There's some kind of funky westernish gunny sound.]
[Visual of someone in a tacky fur-ish robe coming through the curtains on to the stage. The crowd sounds excited. We see Bateman riding a child's hobby horse.]
[Guys at the bar are yelling woo-hoo and trying to make lasso motions with their hands. They seem pretty drunk. Bateman hops around on the toy horse.]
[Bateman grabs one of two stripper poles, and begins to kiss the horse. The guys yell approvingly.]
[Bateman taps the guys at the bar on the head with the horse and smiles. The guys are excited. They cheer and clap as Bateman continues to dance.]
Dude 1: [holding some money] I'm gonna get some kisses tonight, boys!
[Bateman takes of his vest. There's a close up of his legs in fishnets. The dudes continue to leer and yell.]
[Bateman puts his hat on Dude 2 and touches his nose.]
Dude 1: Hey cowgirl, why don't you and I hit the bridal path together?
Dude 3: I wanna hold your horses! [slaps dude on back]!
Dude 4: Hey honey, you got me posse-whipped! [Bateman bends down and shakes his chest.]
Back of room dude: She can corral me back to her bedroom anytime! [Dudes erupt: yeah!!!]
[Bateman crawls towards guy with cowboy hat as if to kiss him, pulls back and fans her nose as if guy's breath smells, flirts similarly with the other three dudes at the bar. The crowd approves.]
[Bateman lays with his back to the crowd and pulls out a pack of Orbit. As he unwraps various parts of it, a whip cracks]
[Close up as Bateman holds a piece of Orbit in his teeth for a dude to grab, she continues with other guys. There's a close up of Bateman's foot in red fishnets and high heels, as a guy grabs a piece of Orbit out of the shoe with his teeth. More gum for more dudes]
[[Bateman points her fingers at the crowd as if they were guns.]
Close up of smiling guy with sparkling teeth, a chime chimes.]
First Dude at bar: Oh, you must be cold. [takes of his sweater] Is it the air-conditioning? Hey, sweetheart, here, please, this is cashmere. [hands sweater to Bateman]
Third Dude: [Second dude at bar looks confused, suddenly there's lighter piano music and the dude does that Orbit teeth thingy, puts $100 bill on the bar] You don't have to worry about dinner tonight.
First dude: Tonight? What about the rest of the year? [lays huge gold watch on the bar]
Back row dude: [Back row dude does same tooth thing] Hey Lucy, do you have a car?
Bateman: [In falsetto, coyly] Barely
Back row dude: This is parked out back. [Bateman drops to knees as guy hands him car keys] Or if you don't like $150,000 cars, no big deal, just use that as a down payment on a house, okay.
[Bateman is outside backing up a silver convertible]
[Dudes yell stuff and wave: So long Lucy! Lucy! Take care of yourself! Thank you! Bye!]
[Bateman blows them a kiss, they seem appreciative.]
Bateman: Bye!
Hat dude: Lucy! Lucy! [Dude with cowboy hat is running after the car] Lucy! I felt bad, so I ran across the street and got you something I know you need. [pulls out a pack of Orbit] You gave us all your Orbit.
Bateman: [looks surprised and happy] Oooh!
Hat dude: [pulls gum back, hold out his finger] This time, I get to feed you.
[Bateman looks concerned, then terrified, looks shiftily at the guys fawning over him]
Bateman: [In an even higher falsetto than before] I'll have to leave right away, okay, no long good byes. Just the gum and then off I go. [Music turns ominous]
Hat dude: Okay [gets out gum]
Bateman: Alright?
Hat dude: Yeah
Bateman: Ok. [Bateman takes gum in his mouth makes yum sound. He speeds off as the guys clap and cheer and wave goodbye.]
[There's a chime sound, and the car stops. Bateman steps out.]
Bateman: [In a typically Batemanish voice] Alright, come and get your keys, your sweater, your cash and your watch.
[Dudes look confused]
Dudes in unison: Lucy?!?
[Bateman pulls off wig]
Bateman: It's Larry. Let's do it. [music gets tense, guys stare and smile and chew gum]
First dude: Ah! It was a gag! [music is soft and happy, dudes fall over each other in appreciative laughter] This [unintelligible] was playing around with us.
Bateman: I don't know how to undo, whose watch is this, is this yours?
Some dude: This guy! [laughter]
Bateman: Tough clasp. [hands watch back]
[Screen fades to black, displaying text: A good clean feeling no matter what. Then there are psychedelic backgrounds, presumably matching Orbit's new packaging. The new text reads: Orbit. A good clean feeling no matter what]
Now, this is just sweet. These menfolk are looking at Bateman-the-stripper as nothing more than an object of lust, until the gum has its magical character-building effect on them and, as eastsidekate (who sent me these links) said, they "fall over themselves to respect him (by giving him their property)". Because that is what respect is all about to the ladies, right? Give us your stuff!
The sweetness is ever-so-subtly, um, spiced with that leetle moment after Bateman takes off the wig and confesses he's Larry, not Lucy, which suggests the possibility that the five men, having been deceived by this man-in-a-dress into finding him-in-the-guise-of-her sexually attractive, may do something . . . unpleasant to Bateman. But thank all that is good and holy in the world for gum! Because vigorous chewing makes that moment just pass right on by, and they and we can all have a good laugh!
The sad thing is, some people have no appreciation for humor, especially humor of the edgy and ironic variety. They will totally overlook the fact that it's cis, heterosexual men behaving crassly in these videos, get their panties in a twist and start hysterically seeing "misogyny" and "transphobia" in them. You just can't win with some folks, because they are irrational and brainless, being nothing more than sets of reproductive organs, whether of the "right" kind or the "wrong" kind, and reproductive organs are notoriously irrational and have no sense of humor whatsoever.
Pity the poor edgy marketing person. Gum is not a very edgy product. Gum is kind of . . . gummy. So you try to have a little fun with sex, being all 21st century and edgy and shit, and these humorless, sex-hating prudes predictably start freaking out (which is just part of the fun, innit?)
Except these purveyors of gum and video infection are not having a little fun with sex. There's no sex in these videos. None whatsoever. That would be edgy. You want to be funny and bold and actually take some risks, rather than make fun of the risks less powerful people have no choice but to live with? Put some actual sex in your videos, and get creatively funny about it, rather than exploitative.
There's plenty of room for that, because unlike playing for laughs the male struggle for ownership of female sexuality, predation by male authority figures on young girls, the lying, gold-digging sex worker who has all the power over men oblivious in the grasp of sexual desire, and the "natural" cis-het male instinct to murder one of those deceptive-guys-in-a-dress-if-you-know-what-we-mean-no-what-did-you-think-we-meant-it's-just-a-joke-it's-Jason-Bateman-for-Chrissake, combining genuine human sexuality with genuine humor has not been the basis for some raggedy-ass joke somewhere on this planet approximately every five seconds since the emergence of the patriarchy.
Oh, but you don't really want to take any risks at all yourselves, do you, you tired makers of tired ads? You just want to make fun of the same old same-old, i.e. women and those who you have deemed are supposed to be guys but are too much like ladies or wanna be ladies or some fucked up non-guy-being thing.
I dunno. Did those videos leave you with "a good clean feeling"? Me, not so much.
Transcripts by eastsidekate.
Speaking of constructive debate in the media
[Trigger warning for bigotry]
Have I mentioned lately that my local newspaper blows chunks? :Beevis Laugh: I stole that from the first comment on a thread at the Syracuse Post Standard's website.
Last October [TW: violence, including sexual assault] I wrote them a letter about how I thought it was kinda uncool to allow public, largely unmoderated comments on articles about criminal acts. They basically told me that if I wanted to spend 24 hours a day helping them moderate their website, they'd be willing to listen. I passed, BTW.
Now they've got this new-ish feature where they highlight a selected edgy quote of the day, giving it prominent placement on the paper's website.
Some of the latest hits include:
Russian people like vodka ha ha ha..
Gay marriage is pointless because I hate my wife or some such nonsense.
Global warming is a hoax blah blah blah
You're only pointing out homophobia because you're a bunch of queers.
The Tea Party people are not Whack O's[sic]
It's like that one USDA lady that might eat white children, I guess, in that it's all debatable. Huge platforms for everybody! Free speech, equality, and freedom pie for all! Oppression for none! Except maybe for those whiny queers and drunk Russians, amirite?
I understand that "my" paper highlights all sorts of opinions, including ooga-booga librul ones. That's not my point.
My point is that I'm a tired, tired, intellectual. Call me an elitist, but I really do think that some ideas are better than others. Like, there are observations, from which one can infer (debatable) facts, which, in conjunction with logic one can use to put forth and defend a position. It doesn't even need to be a position I agree with, it just has to follow some sort of internally-consistent logic based on some small aspect of pseudoreality.
Maybe it's the professor in me, but I'm pretty sure anyone can just make up random hateful shit that has no basis in anything (aside from, perhaps, other equally irrational and hateful shit). It takes skill to take and defend a worthwhile position. It takes effort, even practice.
Guess whose job it is to distinguish between making shit up and making a good faith effort? Among others, teachers and journalists (say, newspapery-types). If folks in these professions don't actually examine arguments, then those professions become meaningless.
There are massive consequences to not recognizing that there's a difference between those two types of rhetoric. Guess who bears the brunt of blurring the lines between unhinged hate speech and semi-reasoned debate? Me and every other underprivileged person in society. But really, what do you think?
Give this guy a Nobel Prize!
Oh, right.
In his latest column, Paul Krugman is on to this wacky idea that US conservatives are making shit up, and rather than challenging them, major media outlets are largely hailing these liars as geniuses.
I know, I know, but hear him out:
[US Representative Paul Ryan, R-youkiddingme?]’s plan calls for steep cuts in both spending and taxes. He’d have you believe that the combined effect would be much lower budget deficits, and, according to that Washington Post report, he speaks about deficits “in apocalyptic terms.” And The Post also tells us that his plan would, indeed, sharply reduce the flow of red ink: “The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan would cut the budget deficit in half by 2020.”
But the budget office has done no such thing. At Mr. Ryan’s request, it produced an estimate of the budget effects of his proposed spending cuts — period. It didn’t address the revenue losses from his tax cuts.
[Ryan's plan] wouldn’t reduce the deficit. All it would do is cut benefits for the middle class while slashing taxes on the rich.
And I do mean slash. The Tax Policy Center finds that the Ryan plan would cut taxes on the richest 1 percent of the population in half, giving them 117 percent of the plan’s total tax cuts. That’s not a misprint. Even as it slashed taxes at the top, the plan would raise taxes for 95 percent of the population.
Good times. Damn good times. I remember the 80s, when the music had hair and the right was telling original lies. Now those were the days.
Friday Blogaround
Leave your links in comments, folks!
Renee: Death in the Family We Need Your Help
On Thursday August 05, I received a phone call to inform me that my 20 year old nephew had died. His name was Jesse James Cox and he was known as the gentle giant. He was 6'5 240 lbs. He was much loved by his mother, father, two brothers and extended family. Jesse always had time for everyone and a bear hug for everyone that needed it. As a family, we are absolutely devastated by his loss and this is magnified by the fact that we are unable to pay for his funeral. At the side bar you will find a donation box which I have placed to ask for help.
Grrlscientist: Foldit: Innovative Biology for Gamers
Guessing how a protein will fold up based on its DNA sequence is often too complex for even the most powerful computer programs. Now biochemists and computer scientists at my alma mater, the University of Washington, have collaborated to create Foldit, a free online computer game where online gamers do the work.
Arturo R. GarcÃa: Race + Comics: How Open is Marvel's Runaways Casting Call?
Skeptifem: most dangerous jobs
John McKay: The First Trilobite
In their early days, scientific journals were much more generous than they are today about publishing letters from experimenters and collectors in all walks of life. The hard wall between scientists and amateurs had not yet been built and all literate people were, in theory, entitled to participate in the discussion.
Ladysquires: Grad Student Employment and Institutional Batshittery
If other graduate students are willing to do this sort of work for free and just be “thankful,” STOP. The truth is that if I hadn’t appealed to all of these people, if I had just sucked it up and worked essentially for free, it would be sending the message that universities can get away with this sort of thing. NO. STOP.
Sociological Images: Romanticizing Ancient Chinese Wisdom and BP's Oil Leak and Perceptions of Risk
HBO's fall documentary lineup includes an adaptation of Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking, Spike Lee's If God Is Willing & Da Creek Don't Rise, and Martin Scorsese's Fran Lebowitz doc Public Speaking (Via)
Ideas in food: Ice Spheres and Aromatic Eggplant
Flickr Blog: Ninja Cat
Blog Note
Just an FYI, Liss is taking a personal day today. She should be back here Monday.
In the meantime, posting may be a little light. And, as always, remember, with her gone we're down a moderator, so take a little extra care when commenting. Thanks!
This is a real thing in the world.
Poster for upcoming Yogi Bear 3D movie, featuring a beaming Yogi behind an ecstatic Boo Boo, and the lone line of copy: "Great things come in bears." Click to embiggen, if you're into that type of thing.
[Cross-posted.]
Dramatic Lit
For you theatre fans, I've been posting reviews of the plays I've been seeing while I'm at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario, at my literary blog, Bobby Cramer.
So far we've seen The Tempest, Dangerous Liaisons, and Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living In Paris. Tonight we'll see Evita.
Like my annual trip to the William Inge Festival, this is one of the few times that I get to assume my secret identity as a theatre scholar.
[TW on Dangerous Liaisons for rape and brutality allusions.]
Question of the Day
What food could you not abide as a child, but can't get enough of now?
My five-year-old niece M. J. made tomato soup with me yesterday, and her only stipulation was that she not have to touch the raw tomatoes; I gathered them into a bowl for her to dump in the pot. She loves tomato soup, mind you, and pizza sauce, spaghetti, and ketchup. But she politely declines even to touch a raw tomato.
When I was a kid, I couldn't stand the slime of a raw tomato either. Now, give me a bushel of fresh in-season tomatoes and some sea salt and pepper, and watch me go.
Today in Religious Bigotry
News out of Sudan that after last year's floggings of women arrested for wearing trousers, 19 young Muslim men have been publicly flogged after being arrested "dressed in women's clothes".
I haven't called it Today in Transphobia only because we can't tell from the article whether the victims of this "justice" identify themselves as trans people or not, though it's fairly clear that the implications of this for trans people in the Sudan are...not positive*. In any case, it's another instance of religious beliefs being privileged over people's rights to identity and, y'know, not being fucking flogged for being yourself.
As usual, I recommend letters to the Sudanese embassy near you, politely reminding them that the world is watching. I recommend politeness because embassies will basically ignore, or report to the police, any threatening or profanity-filled letters.
You could also consider your country's ministry of foreign affairs, or whatever they call the people who do your country's diplomacy.
* FSV of "not positive" to mean "completely fucking appalling".
Tip of the CaitieCap to MzR.
Senate Confirmed Elena Kagan
The Senate confirmed Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court, giving President Barack Obama his second appointment to the high court in two years while leaving its ideological balance unchanged.Congrats to Justice Kagan!
The vote of 63-37 today was largely along party lines, with five Republicans supporting the nominee and one Democrat, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, opposing her.
Kagan, 50, a former Harvard Law School dean, will be the nation’s 112th justice, fourth woman and just the sixth member of the court who isn’t a white male. For the first time, the nine-member court will have three women as she joins Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Obama’s first appointee, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Related: Elena Kagan and Flagg 2.0; Swell; Speaking of Bipartipoop...; Quote of the Day; OFFS; Elena Kagan is Obama's SCOTUS Nominee
You Can Not Make This Shit Up
Fortunately, you don't have to. The TeePee'ers will do it for you.
I remember when the only vehicles the U.S.'s suspiciously right-wing were afeared of were black helicopters. But the menace is spreading. Now we must fear . . . bicycles. Shared bicycles. Bicycles themselves may be benign, of course. You could buy one for your kid, and no harm done.
But sharing? It is the bête noire of the right wing in the U.S. It . . . it's so communal!
First, they socialized our medicine, and I said nothing, because I wanted a free government hand-out. Then, they began to establish municipal bike-sharing programs, and still I said nothing, because, um, good exercise, cheap, environmentally-friendly, maintenance-free transportation? But
that’s exactly the attitude they want you to have.Dun-dun-DUN!!!
Target CEO Apologizes
From The Associated Press:
Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel wrote employees to say the discount retailer was "genuinely sorry" over the way a $150,000 contribution to MN Forward donation played out. Steinhafel said Target would set up a review process for future political donations.
"While I firmly believe that a business climate conducive to growth is critical to our future, I realize our decision affected many of you in a way I did not anticipate, and for that I am genuinely sorry," Steinhafel wrote.
I'd still like to see Target make a matching contribution to The Matthew Shepard Foundation or someplace similar to make up for it. But an apology is a start.
(See also here and here.)
Multisource Fail
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (yes, him again! sorry, Minnesotans), in a little chat with reporters this week, described why he feels immigration enforcement is so necessary:
It's analogous in some ways to what was happening in New York not long ago. If you allow people to pee on the sidewalks, next they're snatching purses.See, those scary brown people believed to be pouring across the border are hitting our country like streams of pee hitting the sidewalks of New York. If you don't put a stop to it, you're just encouraging the S.B.P. to start snatching stuff! And you know those people don't need any encouragement!
U.S. News and World Report's Paul Bedard seemed to find Pawlenty's remarks a bit distasteful. Oh, not the part where he invoked the image of people who travel far from home in a desperate search for work as peeing on our country before snatching our stuff — nothing objectionable there! But, Pawlenty wants to be President, and . . . he said pee! And suck! Street talk, U.S. News calls it.
It's because he's one of this younger generation of politicians, Bedard tells us. (Dang twittersnappers!) Pawlenty's but a lad of 49. We can only hope that as he matures, he'll learn to serve his casual, callous disparagement of those people — whoever they may most conveniently be at the moment — with a bit more dignity.
Today's Edition of "Conniving and Sinister"
From the archives.
[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 (Liss) and a biracial queerbait (Deeky) telling it like it actually is from their perspectives. Hilarity ensues.]
Today in !!Free Markets!!
Remember that net neutrality bullshit that Liss et al., have been prattling on about since forever?
The end is near.
Rumor has it that Verizon and Google have just signed (or will in the near future... it's all super-secret and free-markety ATM) an agreement over giving certain material preferential treatment on the internet. The Times reports that this would only apply to the wireless portion of the interwebs, so it's only a gradual erosion of the fundamental character of the web. Also, it only applies to content associated with Google (more to come I'm sure, but again the negotiations are all dark and free-markety), which is mostly totally worthless stuff like YouTube videos of skateboarding cats and blogs that advocate against rape culture and fat hatred.
We're right around the corner from powerful corporations controlling the cost of accessing and making accessible specific types of information on the internet. The digital divide is very real, but it's about to get far, far worse.
Want to access your favorite social justice blog? You may have to pay extra if you want to get it to load in a reasonable amount of time (especially if you're already prone to a slow connection). How about online support and information of the kind that saved my life? That may soon cost you extra, too. Alternatively, it may cost you more if you want anyone to actually be able to load your radical feminazi blog.
One imagines a basic internet package consisting solely of Wal-Mart presents re-runs of Family Guy sponsored by Target. We're not there yet, but once we decide to let corporations sign agreements on how they'll run the internet, all bets are off.
As Liss said, it's either net neutrality or it isn't. This Google-Verizon deal isn't.
Today in Transphobia
[Trigger warning: Transphobia]
In a charming interview with Seth MacFarlane in this month's Details, the rag asks the Family Guy creator why he thinks the queer community didn't take kindly to his "very sympathetic portrayal of a transsexual character" (his words) in a recent episode.
The interviewer suggests "Maybe the fact that Brian barfs his guts out when he realizes he's had sex with a transsexual" was the problem.
MacFarlane responded: "If I found out that I had slept with a transsexual, I might throw up in the same way that a gay guy looks at a vagina and goes, 'Oh, my God, that's disgusting.' It's just the way we're biologically wired."
Oh, for fuck's sake.
As a gay guy, let me state emphatically, I've never looked at a vagina and said "Oh, my God, that's disgusting." Regardless of how I may be biologically wired. In fact, I find them quite fetching. I've even gone down on a few (two, if you're keeping count) in my time.
So, as for the talk of biological wiring and vomiting when sleeping with one of those tricksy transsexuals, well, let me just say, Seth MacFartlane, you're an asshole and a douchebag.
[Via.]
Quote of the Day
"The president does oppose same-sex marriage, but he supports equality for gay and lesbian couples, and benefits and other issues, and that has been effectuated in federal agencies under his control." — David Axelrod, senior adviser to the president , in an interview published today in The Hill.
Two Minute Nostalgia Sublime
Twisted Sister: "We're Not Gonna Take It"
Starring Liss' new boyfriend, Dee Snider, he of the heavy metal taint.
Top Chef Open Thread
[Image from last night's show: Chefjudicator Tom Colicchio gives Cheftestant Ed his best what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you look.]
Last night's episode will be delicately brunoised, so if you haven't seen it, and don't want any spoilers, pack your knives and go...
More Equal
I got back from the theatre last night just in time to hear Maggie Gallagher from the National Organization for Marriage, an anti-marriage equality group, say on CNN that the ruling yesterday by Judge Vaughn Walker in the California Prop 8 case was (paraphrasing here) "granting a whole new right" in the Constitution for gays and lesbians to get married. This voice added to the chorus of other conservatives who accused the judge of "extreme judicial activism" and "judicial tyranny" in finding that the ban on same-sex marriage in California denied gays and lesbians equal protection under the law and due process, and that the proponents of the ban could not make the case for the ban on fact.
This is the kind of reaction that I expected from the anti-gay-marriage contingent if the court had ruled the way it did. They are not responding at all to the ruling itself and the facts that were presented when both sides had their chance to make their case. The proponents of the ban were given ample opportunity to prove that same-sex marriage is bad for California or harms straight people. Beyond voicing disapproval of gay people in general and basically saying that they're icky, the proponents could not cite a single case in which it could prove that granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples was harmful and therefore the state had the right to single them out for exclusion. Judge Walker wrote, "Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gays and lesbians for denial of a marriage license."
That's the whole argument right there. Since they cannot make the case based on fact, they are going for the emotional and bigoted approach, claiming that gays and lesbians want "special rights." Brian Brown, another spokesperson for NOM, told Kathryn Lopez of the National Review: "You know what real equality is? One man with one woman, that’s equality." Gays and lesbians are not, in his view, equal to straight citizens under the Constitution of the United States. Therefore they are not worthy of its protection. Gays and lesbians can be singled out for discrimination in employment, in housing, in adopting children, in receiving spousal benefits, and the idea of allowing them access to such fundamental rights would disrupt the entire social fabric of America. The fact that neither Mr. Brown, Ms. Gallagher, or the proponents in the trial before Judge Walker could cite any evidence of this is irrelevant. Gays and lesbians are second class citizens. What Judge Walker found is exactly the opposite: gays and lesbians are entitled to all the same rights and responsibilities as every other citizen under the law and that fundamental rights are not subject to the whim of the electorate.
Seeing as how the gay and lesbian community has been denied equal rights in the matter of marriage, granting them the same rights as everyone else is not a "special right." It is bringing them up to equality with everyone else.
Crossposted from Bark Bark Woof Woof.
Blog Note
I'm dealing with some family medical issues (not Iain), so I won't be around for most of the day again today.
Please remember that when I'm not around, we're down one moderator, so take extra care in commenting, and be patient with and respectful of the other mods who will be picking up my slack.
See you soon.
Happy Birthday, Maud!
Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuu!
Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuu!
You look like a purveyor of the radical feminazi cooter agendaaaaaaa!
And you smell like one, too!
(patchouli)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAUD!
Question of the Day
It's Shark Week. That's, for those of you who don't know, is Discovery Channel's week-long tribute to the wily fish. It's been a thing of theirs for, oh, I dunno, like 9000 years. (In ancient Egypt, Shark Week was on papyrus.) Anyway, it's a week of all-things-shark. It's cool, if you like sharks.
But suppose you don't.
If you had your druthers, what other animal would you rather had its own week?
I pick nutria.
Another Possibility
With respect to Liss' suggestion, I think I've a good candidate too for the worst thing you'll read today, if you live in or travel to the US and have any privacy concerns.
My Google-fu is weak today, so I can't find the link, but I'm pretty sure I wrote about this before, with particular attention to the problems of this technology for trans-identified people, as well as for the public in general. For trans people, this software could lead to a dangerous "outing" in a place where the person cannot avoid it, and with the person unable to even determine whether information has been kept, let alone by whom or for what purpose.
Combine it with the part where trans people are not infrequently killed* after being outed...yeah.
I wonder how much more evidence we need that the "rituals of security" atmosphere in the US has become corrosive of rights to dignity and privacy. And note this isn't just airports: this tech is being used in government buildings, courthouses, all sorts of places that the average public - and disproportionately with courthouses, POC, due to the racism of the justice system - need regular access to.
* Reinforcing the importance of intersectionality, my siblings who die in this way are highly disproportionately POC living with poverty.
This is so the worst thing you're going to read all day.
Stop the people you love from making you fat.
Submitted without comment.
Prop 8 Struck Down
Via Andy:
In a 136-page ruling, Judge Vaughn Walker has declared Proposition 8, the measure banning same-sex marriage in California, unconstitutional under both the due-process and equal-protection clauses.
Says the ruling:
"Because Proposition 8 is unconstitutional under both the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses, the court orders entry of judgment permanently enjoining its enforcement; prohibiting the official defendants from applying or enforcing Proposition 8 and directing the official defendants that all persons under their control or supervision shall not apply or enforce Proposition 8."
Awesome. Totally awesome.
SNN Breaking News
Karl Rove is still a lying sack of shit, which goes to prove that we really do need to change the word we use to categorize these Republican fucknecks:
No, using the word "hypocrite" should really be stopped altogether. It’s become a meaningless insult like "Nazi," "bias," or "environmentalist." It actually has some spray back onto its user anyway. Basically pointing out someone is a hypocrite makes you sound like an angsty emo tween. It’s a word we learn in junior high to apply to grownups.
Instead of "hypocrite" I recommend the word "fraud." It sounds bad. Fraud is illegal. Fraud is immoral. And it’s an accurate way of describing hypocrisy without sounding like an irate Justin Bieber fan.
Today's Edition of "Conniving and Sinister"
See Deeky's archive of all previous Conniving & Sinister strips here.
[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 (Liss) and a biracial queerbait (Deeky) telling it like it actually is from their perspectives. Hilarity ensues.]
Wednesday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by K. Blogginz & Co., entirely legal though potentially shitfaced purveyors of the finest in jello beer cubes and rental vehicles, though never to the same customers. We're not that shitfaced. Really, we just kind of have a buzz on.
A father, interviewed by Melissa Jeltsen at the Children's Hospital Boston's pediatric health blog, discusses the change in his understanding necessary for his transition from the father he was raised to be, to the father his daughter needs and deserves in Father of a transgender tween speaks out.
The story of that father's daughter and her treatment to halt puberty until she is old enough to decide on what further medical steps she wants to take in her transition, is here: Children’s gives transgender tween new hope
(H/T to Helen Boyd, via FWD)
Womanist Musings — Guest poster Lisa invites submissions for "an anthology of letters and other works created for survivors of sexual violence, from other survivors and allies" which she is editing. Call For Submission - Dear Sister
Womanist Musings — Sparky took a nasty spill at work, and needed the comfort of his Beloved to soothe his pain. Naturally, his colleagues and the hospital staff immediately set about bringing them together. Oh, wait — they're gay. Spark of Wisdom: Gay Men Have Husbands as Next of Kin.
Womanist Musings — Renee combs through the many layers of fail which have been piled on to a story of a woman who was attacked and the brother who came to her aid. Brother Saves Sister From Rapist and Now Antoine Dodson is an Internet Sensation.
Consortiumnews.com — Big Oil has been threatening the coastal Louisiana homeland of Native Americans for years. Dennis Bernstein talks to members of several tribes about their struggle to protect their homes and sacred sites from the BP spill and the maneuvering of outsiders: BP Oil Spill Threatens Bayou Tribes.
Forward/FWD — s.e. smith writes about the vulnerability of impoverished communities to HIV: CDC Study Reveals Poverty as Major Contributing Factor for HIV Infection.
Forward/FWD — s.e. also encourages us USians to urge our Senators to support HR3101, the House version of legislation which will move us closer to the provision of captions on video content generated for the internet. s.e. provides an explanation and a sample letter for guidance. US Action Item: Encourage the Senate to Adopt HR3101
What sort of thought process goes on in the minds of evo-psych cultists proponents, you may have asked yourself on occasion. Then, if you're like me, you have concluded that those are dark and scary caverns which you don't care to venture far into. But Shaker Flewellyn is more intrepid, has followed the intellectual droppings as far as the cliffs of reason, and lived to tell the tale in Late night thoughts: Evo-psych in a nutshell
(H/T to CaitieCat)
Please leave links you'd like to share, to your own posts or others', in comments.
Today in !!Free Markets!!
The New York Times reports that the GAO is set to release a terribly unsurprising study of the US' for-profit colleges and universities. It turns out that a lot of them are in it for the financial aid. A lot of financial aid.
Here's the abbreviated version:
For-profit colleges place recruiters under pressure to deliver consumers, er, students, or face being fired. In order to increase market share, er, enrollment, counselors help fudge financial aid forms. Or they make shit up without students' knowledge. The colleges then collect massive amounts of tuition, er, taxpayer money. Students are frequently left with debts accumulated from attending overpriced institutions of questionable rigor.
This is what happens when you treat education like a commodity.
I don't think that US society properly values education. Politicians talk about the need for everyone to get a college degree, but they don't talk about why. Education is good, I suppose, but what about content? In an economy where employers frequently demand that job candidates have a degree, any degree, there's a huge incentive to get a quick degree in whatever.
Focusing on quick degrees over content devalues the development of skills like writing, reading, and critical thinking. These things take time. The humanities are all about time. Feminism, for that matter, is all about time. Intellectual development is time consuming, and while it need not take place in a classroom, it does take resources.
And what of technical education? Insistence on college degrees devalues traditional methods of apprenticeship and worker-led training.
Community colleges can provide both liberal arts and technical education, but only if they have the money to do so. Despite speeches from the likes of President Obama, US community colleges are serving more students than ever while attempting to balance shrinking budgets.
This is what happens when you treat education like a commodity.
Needless to say, non-profit colleges are in on the action, too. Recruitment is big business. Colleges spent top dollars on housing, rec centers, and other aspects of student life. Not that there's anything wrong with this. But there is something wrong with cutting programs in the social sciences and humanities. Frequently, colleges' focus appear to be giving students what they want: quick, easy degrees in a fun environment. If these students have fond memories of fun times at the stadium, they'll make potential donors to alumni associations.
The US' elite colleges do have a one-up on some for-profit institutions: research. Patentable knowledge brings huge dollars to university-affiliated research foundations and their corporate partners. Overhead from government grants fills university coffers, paying administrative salaries and plugging huge budgetary holes caused by shrinking public funding.
Actual education? It's not so much a priority when money is the driving force.
Have I mentioned that it doesn't have to be this way? There are plenty of nations on Earth (most of them?) where education isn't treated as a commodity.
Does this sort of entitlement program lead to fraud?
No.
Do you know what entitlement fraud looks like?"At one college in Texas, a recruiter encouraged the undercover investigator not to report $250,000 in savings, saying it was 'not the government’s business.' At a Pennsylvania college, the financial representative told an undercover applicant who had reported a $250,000 inheritance that he should have answered 'zero' when asked about money he had in savings — and then told him she would 'correct' his form by reducing the reported assets to zero, a change she later confirmed by e-mail and voicemail." NYT
This.
---
Frontline's college, inc. was an amazing documentary on this subject. I thought about working bits of the (transcribed) interviews into this post, but I can't do them justice.
Today in Fat Hatin'
[Trigger warning for fat hatred, discussion of dieting and body image, and dehumanization of fat people.]
Sometimes people ask me why I don't fund the site with content-driven advertising, and I explain that content-driven advertising is incompatible with maintaining Shakesville as a safe space. Below the fold is an example of the would-be-hilarious-if-it-weren't-so-tragic content-driven advertising that is served to my email.
[Click to embiggen.]
On left, the black silhouette of a fat woman whose body is not totally dissimilar in shape to my own. Over the silhouette, across the torso, is printed in white text: "30+ Pounds Overweight?" Next to the silhouette is text reading: "Lose 30 lbs during summer? Try [redacted] free. Thousands of Women are dropping pounds with [redacted]! Try it free! Click to lose." On the right, is the image of a thin, young, white woman, smiling. She appears after a flash animation wipes away the fat silhouette, leaving her in its place.
Now, apart from the fact that there is significantly more than a 30-pound difference between those two figures, and the fact that this is an advertisement for some weight loss product that doesn't work and/or will do damage to the bodies of its users, and the fact that the "free" has an asterisk next to it, indicating that women will end up paying money for the privilege of potentially destroying their bodies with this product (remember Fen-Phen?), let us just take a moment to appreciate the message here: Fat women are just shadows, just monstrous shapes, not even human, and they only become real people with faces and smiles and clothes and happiness if they stop being fat.
This is the ad content I get served because I talk about fat people being deserving of love and respect, from themselves and everyone else.
lolsob.
Prop. 8 Ruling Expected Today
U.S. district chief judge Vaughn Walker will file his decision in Perry v. Schwarzenegger between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. (Pacific time) today.
Prop 8 is the "controversial" (i.e. fucked up) ballot initiative that stripped gay and lesbians in California of their marriage rights.
Regardless of whether or not Walker overturns the law, it is likely to be appealed.
[Via.]
Happy 21st Birthday, Kenny Blogginz!
Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
You can now get legally shitfaced!
And you can also rent a car, too!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
What It's Like To Have ADHD
And I want to be clear here: while this is funny, it's also (for me) very much what it's like to have serious ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder - I don't have the H for Hyperactive bit, but wow do I have the rest). Try having a brief one-topic (LOL!) conversation with me sometime, it's like trying to get from Uxbridge to Woolwich Arsenal on the Tube in the morning rush: I'll get there, but it takes a while and I have to change trains a few times.
The actor is veteran Canadian comedian Rick Green. From my brief perusal, the site appears to be a legitimate resource centre for people with ADD (and for parents of children with it). I have no association with the site, but I'm all for resources being available to people to deal with this - though I do welcome any news about the organization if I'm mistaken, of course.
Transcript below the jump.
(A garden scene, with an older white apparently cis man actor wearing a black t-shirt with the letters AD/HD in an AC/DC - the rock band - style, and a towel wrapped around his waist in parody of the Old Spice ads; title is "Old Spice meets ADHD"
Man: Hello ladies. Look at me. Now look at your man. Now look at me. Now look at your man. Now look at that red bird.
Man indicates small plastic bird on birdbath behind him
What is that orange circle?
pan to orange paper circle hanging from tree
Now look at me and oh, look, there's another bird down there, that's what it's like to have ADHD.
pan back to second bird beside first bird
Does your man have ADHD?
man holds up two tickets
If he does, then here are those tickets he bought to that thing you love but then he forgot about them and never gave them to you because he got interested in model trains.
man holds up model train box
He didn't find them again until a year later when he took up welding.
man holds up some sort of welding apparatus
Now he's thinking 'I should go out in the back yard and seed things a little!'
man indicates wheelbarrow with bag of seed, then picks up gift box and shakes it
I have ADHD and I could never wait at Christmas to open things, I'd always want to know what things are.
pan to fez on top of push lawnmower
Oh! Did you know that the fez comes from Turkey?
man exchanges fez for canoe paddle
This year at the cottage, I want to go paddling, and I should remember to bring my guitar.
man indicates purple guitar leaning against something behind him
I don't play it very well, but I should exercise too so I can be in shape when I'm there.
at "exercise", he begins using some sort of arm exercise thingy
And how come they don't make pasta in different colours?
man is sprayed with - silly string, maybe?
And I'm behind in my tax paperwork but I've become interested.
man shuffles paperwork and throws it aside, before mounting recumbent bicycle
I'm also interested in bicycling and I spent $2000 on a recumbent bicycle, it's interesting, but uh-oh -
man is handed ice hockey stick
- the hockey season's started so I'll never go biking on it.
Fade to black, text on screen: GOT ADD?
We're okay with that.
Man offscreen: How did I get on a bicycle, did I buy this? Y'know what's a great movie? Mumford.
meanwhile, the screen text changes to the website logo for totallyadd.com.)
Tip of the CaitieCap to she who sent it to me with great and genuine fondness, my ex, J.
Question of the Day
What is your least favorite euphemism/slur for "woman"?
There are a lot I don't like (and some I do: I have a ridiculous love for "broad," especially when another womanist/feminist woman refers to me affectionately as a broad), but the one that makes my teeth absolutely grind is the dog/fox dichotomy, i.e. an ugly/unsexy woman is a "dog" and a beautiful/sexy woman is a fox. Ugh.
Rachel Zoe
This is so the worst thing you're going to read all day.
'Sugarbabe' favors negotiated infidelity.
I don't guess I will surprise anyone here by saying I wholly and enthusiastically support every person's right to define the unique boundaries of their relationship(s), and I do not subscribe to the notion that there is one "right way" to do romantic and/or sexual relationships. I don't even believe romantic partnerships need to be sexual to "count," nor do I believe that romantic partnerships that are sexual need to be monogamous.
But are you shitting me with this shit?
Hill says, that of course it's every woman's right to refuse to have sex when she's not in the mood or has a headache. However, expecting men to cope on their own with no outlet whatsoever is shortsighted and cruel, says Hill.Huh. Now, see, I would argue that having a relationship "according to your man's biology" (sure) is an "outdated social norm." But I'm just kooky that way.
..."If you're talking about sexual needs honestly with your partner, you get better at communicating with each other, you get better with honesty," says Hill. "Everything is out in the open and you have an honest relationship according to your man's biology, not according to some outdated social norms."
Impossibly Beautiful
[Trigger warning for discussions of body size, body hatred, and image manipulation.]
[Click images to embiggen.]
On the left: Singer Katy Perry holding a media conference on Aug. 2 in the rooftop pool of the Marina Bay Sands SkyPark in Singapore, where she's performing at the open-air music festival Singfest 2010. [Reuters] On the right: Katy Perry on the cover of Rolling Stone. [Image via.]
The airbrushing out of her "belly" is not merely terribly done; it's also just the most ridiculous body-hostile bullshit. I can't count the number of female friends I have seen grabbing at their waists while sitting down and lamenting, frequently with unbearably sad expressions of self-loathing, that they were "fat" because their slender stomachs pooched almost imperceptibly when they sat down, like human bodies are designed to do.
These pictures are lies. They are not images of women whose bodies are "better." They are images of women whose bodies have been Photoshopped.
The real Katy Perry is beautiful. The Rolling Stone covergirl Katy Perry is Impossibly Beautiful.
------------------------
Please note: There are quite obviously legitimate criticisms to be made about Perry's work, but that is not the subject of this post and such comments will be considered off-topic.
By way of reminder: Comments that try to suss out what changes, exactly, were made, and even comments noting that, for example, the removal of laugh lines because they are ZOMG wrinkles actually robs a face of its character or humanity, are welcome. Discussions of how "she looks handsomer/hotter/better in the candid picture" and associated commentary (which would certainly make me feel like shit if I were the person being discussed) are not. So please comment in keeping with the series' intent, implicit in which is the question: If no one can ever be beautiful enough, then to what end is the pursuit of an elusive perfection?
[Impossibly Beautiful: Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40., 41, 42, 43.]
Mavericky!
John McCain is a courageous maverick with an unwavering commitment to concrete principles. And he'll tell you how he feels about repealing the 14th amendment as soon as he knows which way the wind is blowing:
In the final moments of a morning press conference about the stimulus, cohosted by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), McCain asked for one final question from reporters...which happened to be about the 14th amendment and birthright citizenship. McCain abruptly ended the press conference.That heady mix of bravery, patriotism, steadfast principles, and Old Spice you smell...? It's John McCain. Get a whiff of that, bitchez.
"We're talking about the stimulus right now," McCain said, before darting off to the elevators down the hall from the Senate studio, where he again declined to take a question. Reporters eventually caught up with McCain in the basement of the Capitol, where he was walking toward to the man-operated train connecting the Senate with the Russell office building.
TPMDC asked, "Do you support the Minority Leader's push for hearings into the repeal of birthright citizenship?"
"Sure, why not?" McCain said briefly.
"Do you support the idea itself?"
"I support the idea of having hearings," McCain said.
"Do you have a problem with the 14th amendment?" another reporter asked.
"You're changing the constitution of the United States," McCain said. "I support the concept of holding hearings."
"I support the concept of holding hearings," McCain repeated, turning to the rail car conductor.
"Let's go!" he snapped.
"I don't have anything to add to that."
Propaganda 101
Senate candidate Sharron Angle (R-NV) on freedom of the press:
We wanted them to ask the questions we want to answer so that they report the news the way we want it to be reported.Excuse me, Ms. Angle, we have Granma holding on Line 1.
Melissa McEwan at Portly's "Madwoman at Play"
Hey Shakers! Just a heads up -- tonight on my Madwoman at Play Ustream program (5 pm Pacific), I'll be talking with Melissa about our respective wacky newspaper features (mine, the Port Townsend Leader Police Blotter, and hers, the Gary Post-Tribune "Quicklys") -- plus fun-facts about Melissa and pigeons with poop-nests.
You can watch the show live tonight at 5 pm, or see the recorded version until Friday at www.madwomanatplay.com (I'll be posting a transcript of the show here sometime tomorrow afternoon).
Today's Edition of "Conniving and Sinister"
See Deeky's archive of all previous Conniving & Sinister strips here.
[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 (Liss) and a biracial queerbait (Deeky) telling it like it actually is from their perspectives. Hilarity ensues.]
Quote of the Day
Glenn Beck, very smart historian:
Divine Providence leads one to be humble. Manifest Destiny leads one to be arrogant. It leads one to say, "Get the hell out of my way; I'm on a mission from God!" And that's what this country is going through. That's what this country—from Andrew Jackson, it led to us wiping out the Indians; it led to, um, the Democratically-led, Democratically-led, Reconstruction; it led to the Democratically-led, um, uh, separation of the races—Woodrow Wilson, I will not drink out of a drinking fountain with a black man, um, that's a—that's quite an amazing story.[Commenting Guidelines: The usual. Disablist comments musing about Beck's psychological state or outright calling him crazy, nuts, deranged, delusional, unstable, a lunatic, in need of commitment, etc. are both unwelcome and not on-topic. I have a mental disorder, for example. It doesn't make me a lying rightwing dipshit.]
It's been the story from the beginning with progressives. That arrogance was already in America, and then they added the European arrogance, and then they added a little bit of socialism, and then they added a little bit of Fabian Society, and they came up with this great progressive idea which led to eugenics, which led to, uh, Davenport, working—an American! Trying to tell people here that "This is where we're going. We gotta just weed out the stupid people." It led to Walter Lippmann (?), a guy who is absolutely studied by every journalist and praised by every journalist in America—and as a great man! Saying that the American people are stupid! Now if we could just weed some of the stupidity out; if we could just breed a better voter.
Davenport took it so far that even during World War II, while we were fighting the Nazis, he kept lines open to the Nazis to help them with their eugenics! Translation: The Holocaust. American progressives did it. Arrogance.
You Have Died of Dysentery.
Transcript below...
[Opening montage of 'frontier' people working]
Dramatic Movie Trailer Voiceover: Their dreams were dying in Independence, Missouri.
Man in Blue Flannel Shirt (talking to another man in black hat): Folks 'round here are takin' the trail to Oregon. (close up to Blue Flannel Man) I reckon' we ought to do the same.
(cut to close up of man in blue shirt, black suspenders & blond woman)
Man in blue shirt and suspenders: (exclaims) Oregon Trail?!
Man in black hat: (sarcastic and unenthused) We could die of boredom.
Woman in white bonnet: We could LEARN a thing or two.
Blond Woman: You won't learn anything.
[Scene Change]
[People packing up wagons]
Dramatic Movie Trailer Voiceover: They packed up and left the only home they've ever known.
Man (used to have black hat): Paw (referring to man in blue flannel) thinks he knows everything. I can't WAIT to start my new life in Oregon.
Woman: (snotty and derisive) What new life? You're going to be a carpenter. Just. Like. Him.
Man: (yelling) NOBODY WANTS TO BE THE CARPENTER!
[Scene Change] Opening credit.
Blue Flannel Man:(to shopkeeper) I'll take four oxen and all the bullets sixteen hundred dollars will get me.
Shopkeeper: Want any food or spare parts? Each person will consume--
Blue Flannel Man: (cuts him off) No, Shopkeep. Just the bullets. Just. the. bullets.
[Goodbye Montage]
Dramatic Movie Trailer Voiceover: Now they'll learn quickly that the trail is no game.
[Running in the dessert]
Dramatic Movie Trailer Voiceover: (ominous) It's survival.
Man by Fire: (evil laugh) This trail is filled with thieves. (shot of man in prison) Injuns. (people on horses in stereotypical outfits) And horror I dare not say. (stampeding buffalo) You will die on this trail...just like Ol' Poop Face. (Poop Face's grave marker) (evil laughter)
[Scene Change]
(Man shoots buffalo)
Man: (excited) Paw! I shot me another one! That's over fourteen hundred pounds of meat!
Paw: (shaking something disgusting) But son. We can only carry back ten pounds.
[Dramatic Movie Trailer Voiceover: Ride the adventure!]
Woman: (running over to man shitting in the bushes) Get outta that brush! You're going to get a snakebite!
[Dramatic Movie Trailer Voiceover: Ride the DRAMA!]
Blue Flannel Man: Get down here and help me concoct this [garbled]--
Man White Shirt: Dad I told you, I don't want to be a carpenter! I wanna be a BANKER!
Blue Flannel Man: (shrieking) A BANKERS NOT GONNA HELP ME FORD THIS RIVER!
(fighting)
[Scene Change...rafting]
[Dramatic Movie Trailer Voiceover: Ride the trail!]
Woman in red shirt: (exasperated) How did your brother get dysentery?!
Man sitting on a fence: Ow! (farts) Ow! Ow!
[Montage]
Dramatic Movie Trailer Voiceover: In the first film based on the educational video game...
[More montage]
Dramatic Movie Trailer Voiceover of Blue Flannel Shirt Man: We knew that this would be difficult. Not many people would get there. (Mac & Cheese's grave marker pan)
(up close) Blue Flannel Man: But we will make it!
[More inspirational montage]
[Title and credit]
Dramatic Movie Trailer Voiceover: The Oregon Trail.
[Man walking off with hat held high]
Dramatic Movie Trailer Voiceover: Coming Soon.
[End credits]
Rep. Eric Cantor is a mendacious, obfuscating jerk.
Not news. Still, it's amazing to watch the linguistic contortions here as he tries to evade acknowledging that extending the Bush tax cuts to the wealthy continues to worsen the deficit. Quite genuinely, at this point Republicans are having to defend their policies by denying basic math.
Savannah Guthrie: Well, well, look, I mean, Democrats may not want to do spending cuts, and Republicans don't want to touch taxes; would you acknowledge, though, it may be a policy judgment you have made—but will you just simply acknowledge that passing these tax cuts worsens the budget deficit problem? I mean, you can't deny that, right?
House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA): Savannah, Savannah, let's look at it through the prism of the working families who are seeking jobs and the small businesspeople who are creating them. It's not—it's not a tax cut they're looking for, they don't want a tax hike.
Guthrie: But that wasn't my question.
Cantor: And that's the situation—the prism, the prism through which these people are looking at it. I mean, come on now, you can't hike their taxes and expect them to create jobs.
Guthrie: Right. Yeah, we get that. I just—I just was wondering if you had a—if you had any dispute with the notion that it does exacerbate the deficit picture.
Cantor: What I—what I said in the beginning is, um, if you have less revenues coming into the federal government, and more expenditures, what does that add up to? Certainly you're gonna dig the hole deeper. But you also have to understand, if the priority is to get people back to work, is to start growing this economy again, uh, then you don't want to make it more expensive for job creators. You don't wanna hike their taxes so that they won't hire people. I mean, that's the fundamental, uh, decision here. Do you wanna make it more expensive for small businesspeople right now, and no, I don't think you do.
