Hosted by Frosty. Happy Birthday! And Merry Christmas, to those of you who celebrate.
Daily Dose of Cute
Video Description: Dudley plays tag in the snow with Iain at the dog park, earlier this week. Set to Yann Tiersen's "La Boulange."
Since I can't yet access any recent pix of the furry residents, below are some classic shots from DDOC's past, in ascending age order:
Dudley
Sophie
Olivia
Matilda
Madwoman At Play Call-In Show
Hey there, Shakers -- Tonight (12/24/10) at 5 pm Pacific, I'm doing my first-ever live call-in show at my tri-weekly Ustream offering, Madwoman At Play. If you're wondering what to do with yourself tonight, tune in at www.madwomanatplay.com or my ustream channel.
(A note re: transcription/captioning for MWaP -- I've been trying for the last six months to figure out how to easefully close-caption or transcribe these shows without success -- despite hours of training attempts, Dragon Naturally Speaking seems to hate my vocalizations, and the task of hand-transcribing 90 minutes of shows/week is beyond my typing skills and time-constraints right now. If anyone has a suggestion or tech-fu to help me make this happen, please leave them in comments! Until I get this problem licked, my apologies to those who can't access the show.)
"Happy Solstice/Christmas/2010-Is-Almost-Freaking-Over-Finally!" They Said
Yesterday, a package arrived at my door.
I went to the door, and I dragged in the box, and I sat on my couch in front of it, and I cried, overwhelmed with joy and gratitude and surprise and relief and a rush of affection for my friends and colleagues—Scott Madin, Spudsy, Deeky, Misty, Portly Dyke, Space Cowboy, Eastsidekate, SKM, CaitieCat, Elle, and Mustang Bobby—who had bought me a new computer after my old one imploded.
Deeky, knowing me well, texted to tell me I had to accept it. "Happy Festivus!" came the message from Misty. She, I would find out, like several others, had been tracking the package all day, eagerly awaiting its arrival. Spudsy called, and then Space Cowboy. I thanked them, and everyone else, for the lovely gift, in the typically awkward manner of someone who isn't certain they deserve such kindness and generosity, and they forgave my awkwardness yet again, as they are kind to do on a regular basis.
Naturally, it is, by extension, a gift to Shakesville, too—and I hope you will thank them as well.
It is a gift for community, because of community, and of community. It is a teaspoon, and it is tangible evidence that, despite what cynics may say, what happens on this series of tubes we call the internets can be real and valuable and wonderful.
To Scott, who conceived the plan, and to Spudsy, Deeks, Misty, Portly, Space Cowboy, Kate, SKM, Cait, Elle, and Mustang Bobby, who helped him realize it, once again: Thank you so, so much. You are truly the family that everyone should be lucky enough to have.
P.S. The cats also say thank you for the new box.
[Video Description: Footage of Matilda, Olivia, and Sophie investigating, rubbing, hopping on and off and into and out of the box in which the CPU arrived.]
Just Like Jesus Would Bake
Last weekend, as a holiday gift, one of our friends invited us over to decorate cookies. The results were predictable:
[westsidebecca proudly displays the gayest. cookie. ever.]
Happy December, everyone.
See the rest of the photo documentation here.
The NQDTR Discussion Thread - F101224
Hiya, Shakers, time for another Discussion Thread for the Not Quite Daily Teaspoon Report!
This is the thread in which you may offer congratulations or admiration for a teaspoon or teaspooner. If you're posting with just congrats or admiration, though, do take a moment and check the thread to see whether other people have said so a number of times already. Remember that no one is required to read here just because they posted over there, so there's no guarantee you'll get a response to a given comment.
The Not Quite Daily Teaspoon Report - F101224
Well past time for another Teaspoon Report, I think, no? Today's My-What-A-Big-Teaspoon-You-Have Report is brought to you in honour of Sady the Indomitable, Queen of the Tiger Beatdown, and of a woman who's taught me an enormous amount in the time I've known her: Liss.
Leave comments here that describe an act of teaspooning you encountered or committed. They don't have to be big, world-shaking acts; by definition, a teaspoon is a small thing, but enough of them together can empty the ocean.
If you would like to discuss the teaspoons here reported, or even offer congratulations or your admiration to a fellow Shaker, we ask that you do so over here in the Discussion Thread for today's NQDTR.
Shaker bgk has been kind enough to get a Twitter-pated version out there for you young twittersnappers (and by the way, get off my lawn, you meddling kids! *shakes cane*). You can find the details about the Tweetspoons project right here. That runs all the time, as far as I'm aware (*grumblenewtechnologygrumble*), and we encourage you to let other people know that there's at least one tweetstream talking about just going out and doing good things for the human species.
Teaspoons up, let's hear 'em, Shakers!
ô,ôP
(For those wondering where I've been, I've simply been on a business trip to VeryBusyLand; dwindling fundage meant I had to take on day-work alongside my own business of translating, which has meant for the last few weeks - and a few more to come - I'm working long hours, and have few spoons left to spare when I get home. I don't have MS to live with, but my chronic pain condition has some similar obstacles, and that really is a brilliant essay on how it feels. Anyway, missing you all and can't wait to have some spare energy/time again to get back. I've got a queue of things-to-write-about that's getting as long as my cane.)
Oh, The Horror!
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) responds to a question from a reporter from a conservative news service about the ramifications of the repeal of DADT in the military. (His reaction at 0:33 is classic.)
Transcript below the fold.
CNS Reporter Nicholas Ballasy: Democratic Congressman Barney Frank spoke to CNS News dot com here on Capitol Hill about the implications of the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the law banning homosexuals from openly serving in the armed forces.
[Begin video replay]
Reporter: I have question for you about the, uh, the Working Group that Secretary [of Defense Robert] Gates put into effect, he appointed, the Defense Department Working Group; they recommended that, uh, straight military personnel will have to shower with homosexuals --
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA): [GASP] Showering with homosexuals? What do you think happens in gyms all over America? What do you think happens in the House of Representatives? Of course people shower with homosexuals. What a silly issue. What…what…what..what do you think goes wrong with people showering with homosexuals? Do you think the spray makes it catching? I mean, people shower with homosexuals in college dormitories, in gyms where people play sports, in gyms elsewhere. It is a complete non-issue.
Reporter: So that recommendation you think is a non-issue?
Rep. Frank: I…To accept the principle that homosexuals can’t shower with other people is a degree of discrimination that goes far beyond this. I mean, we don’t get ourselves dry-cleaned. We tend to take showers when we go to the gym, when we play sports. The notion that there’s somehow anything new, in the first place, about showering with homosexuals; remember under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, by the way, the policy was that you would be showering with homosexuals; you just weren’t supposed to know which was which, so there was no change in that. The notion that knowing that someone is gay or lesbian as opposed to knowing that there are gay and lesbian people there but you don’t know who they are, that that somehow makes a difference, is a bit silly.
Reporter: And do you think that if that…that is the case and they are; they must shower with each other… what do you think about female military personnel and male personnel; should they be able to….
Rep Frank: Shower together? No, that would disrupt people, and I… I know you’re looking for some way to discredit the policy. Do you think that gyms should have separate showers for gay and straight people? I’m asking the question because that’s the logic of what you’ve done me; you seem to think that there’s something extraordinary about, uh, gay men showering together. You think gyms should have separate showers for gay people and straight people?
Reporter: I’m just quoting the recommendation…
[Crosstalk]
Rep. Frank: Don’t be disingenuous; you’re quoting those that may cause us a problem. You’re entitled to do that; you shouldn’t hide behind your views; you’re trying to talk about the difficulties, and I’m asking you, in response to your question, do you think that there ought to be separate showers at gyms? If not, then why are you in the military?
Reporter: So that’s the question you’d pose to people who had an issue with that part…
Rep. Frank: [unintelligible]
Reporter: …with that part of the recommendation…
Rep. Frank: It’s … it’s… Well, I don’t have a problem with that part of the recommendation. If people don’t want to shower with gay people, then they’d better not play sports, they’d better not belong to gyms, they’d better not go to, uh, colleges where not everyone has their own bathroom.
Top Chef Open Thread
[Image from last night's episode: Cheftestant Carla cooks in a tennis stadium for some reason.]
Last night's episode will be julienned, without kitchen implements, so if you haven't seen it, and don't want any spoilers, pack your knives and go...
And More #Mooreandme
[Trigger warning for sexual violence.]
Amanda Marcotte in Slate on the Assange rape allegations.
Glucose Test Strips Recalled
According to NPR:
FDA and Abbott, the giant health products company, are announcing a recall today of up to 359 million blood testing strips used with several of the company's blood glucose monitoring systems.You can check here to see if you have an affected item.
The problem? The strips may be giving patients a false sense of security by making blood glucose levels look lower than they really are.
The company says the tests in the lots being recalled just aren't absorbing enough blood to give a precise read. And, strips exposed to warm weather or stored for a long time in the medicine cabinet are more likely to give a false result.
"FDA and Abbott are reviewing the cause of the manufacturing defect to avoid this problem in the future," said Alberto Gutierrez of FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health.
The strips being recalled are used with Abbott's Precision Xtra, Precision Xceed Pro, MediSense Optium, Optium, Optium EZ and ReliOn Ultima blood glucose monitoring systems. They were manufactured between January and May 2010 and are sold in retail stores around the country. They are used by both consumers and health care professionals.
All the Miserable Bastards
"I just know there wouldn't be this many people in the room if we were chasing a woman's record. The reason everybody is having a heart attack the last four or five days is a bunch of women are threatening to break a men's record, and everybody is all up in arms about it. All the women are happy as hell and they can't wait to come in here and ask questions. All the guys that loved women's basketball are all excited, and all the miserable bastards that follow men's basketball and don't want us to break the record are all here because they're pissed. That's just the way it is." -- Geno Auriemma, coach of UCONN's women's basketball team at a press conference.
Now, I don't follow sports, really. I had no idea UCONN women's team was about to break a UCLA men's streak record until I started seeing rumblings about it on teh internetz. Can we guess who was rumbling? If you said "all the miserable bastards", give yourself eight meeeellion liberty dollars. These grumblings I've seen have had to do with the apparent differences between men's and women's basketball. Apparently, according to these detractors, since the women play with a ball that is about an inch smaller (to compensate for women generally having smaller hand sizes--also, the weight difference in the ball is minute) and that in the women's game, if the defender is within three feet of the player a five-second-rule is applied (as compared to the men's game, the defender has to be within six feet), that the women aren't playing real basketball. They're playing ladyball or some such thing and cannot possibly beat a real basketball record. Here enters Mark Potash, candidate for Misogynist Douchcanoe of the Year, waxing assholish on Monday:
Here’s a news flash for Auriemma: You’re not chasing UCLA’s record of 88 consecutive victories under John Wooden. You didn’t tie it and you’re not going to break it. That’s a men’s basketball record. You coach a women’s team. A women’s team can’t break a men’s record any more than a men’s team can break a women’s record.Hostile much? Way to prove Coach Auriemma right there, Mark. Miserable bastard indeed. Pro tip for you Mark: try not to trip over all that bitter misogyny you're standing in up to your knees.
Nobody’s having a heart attack over your perceived ‘‘threat’’ to UCLA’s record. The only reason people are writing about it, if they are at all, is in response to others who are trying to convince themselves that you’re breaking it.
[...]
Auriemma should be happy that established media are buying the idea that UConn is breaking UCLA’s record and giving him a soapbox to whine about the lack of respect women’s basketball receives in the sporting world.
Women’s basketball gets what it deserves. Probably more than it deserves if you include a professional league that is attached to the NBA like an oxygen machine.
It’s not as popular as men’s basketball because it’s neither as good nor as entertaining. All you have to do is watch five minutes of a women’s game to know that. It’s basic physiology, Geno. Basketball is a game that emphasizes jumping ability and quickness. Women — no offense, of course — can’t match the jumping ability or the quickness of elite men’s players.
[...]
But if Geno wants to continue the charade of breaking the men’s record, he’s going to have to start playing some men’s teams. I think he knows how ugly that would get. There are probably 10 high school teams in the city that could beat the Connecticut women. [...]
UCONN by the way, did in fact win. From ABC Sports:
No. 89 came and went as effortlessly as nearly all their previous games. This season. Last season. And the season before.Sounds rather like Mark Potash and his ilk need to pull some heads from dark crevices.
UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma, never at a loss for words, was close Tuesday night.
"It's pretty amazing. It really is," he said.
No exaggeration there.
His No. 1-ranked Huskies topped the 88-game winning streak set by John Wooden's UCLA men's team from 1971-74, beating No. 22 Florida State 93-62. Playing with the relentlessness that has become its trademark — and would have made Wooden proud — UConn blew past the Seminoles as it has so many other teams in the last 2½ years.
[...]
Maya Moore had a career-high 41 points and 10 rebounds and freshman Bria Hartley added 21 points for the Huskies, who have not lost since April 6, 2008, in the NCAA tournament semifinals. Only twice during the record run has a team come within single digits of UConn — Stanford in the NCAA championship game last season and Baylor in early November.
When the final buzzer sounded, UConn players sprinted across the floor to shake hands with the student section as fans held up "89" signs and "89" balloons bobbed in the stands behind center court. Two other fans raised a banner that read "The Sorcerer of Storrs" — a play on Wooden's nickname, "The Wizard of Westwood."
[...]
It is one more chapter of history for UConn, and perhaps the grandest.
Asked what he would recall from the incredible run, Auriemma mentioned a pair of experienced stars on this team: "I'll probably remember Maya Moore and Tiffany Hayes. And how incredibly difficult it is to play that many games in a row and win 'em all."
Connecticut long ago established itself as the marquee program in the women's game, the benchmark by which all others are measured. The Huskies already own seven national titles and four perfect seasons under Auriemma, and they've produced a galaxy of stars that includes Rebecca Lobo, Diana Taurasi, Jennifer Rizzotti, Sue Bird and Tina Charles.
The streak, though, takes it to another level, certainly raising the profile of women's basketball and maybe all of women's athletics.
Two days after beating No. 11 Ohio State to tie UCLA, UConn toppled the mark in front of a sellout crowd of 16,294 at the XL Center that included Wooden's grandson, Greg, attending his first women's game.
"My grandfather would have been thrilled. He would have been absolutely thrilled to see his streak broken by a women's basketball team," the 47-year-old Wooden said. "He thought, especially in the last 10 years, that the best basketball was played at the collegiate level — and it wasn't by the men."
[...]
There was a festive atmosphere throughout the city, where building lights gleamed blue and white, and it was as electric as any Final Four inside the arena. Charles and UConn men's star Kemba Walker sat behind the Huskies' bench, and football coach Randy Edsall was there, too. Former NFL star Warrick Dunn, meanwhile, was cheering for his alma mater, Florida State.
[...]
The Huskies have beaten 16 top-10 teams during the latest streak — four more than UCLA did during its run — and five of those wins came against the No. 2 team. It's been more than 17 years since UConn lost consecutive games.
The Huskies have won by any average of more than 33 points during the streak and rarely found themselves in trouble. They have trailed for 134 minutes, including only 13 in the second half. They've won back-to-back national championships, and are now one short of Tennessee's record for overall titles by a women's team.
Even before UConn tied UCLA's record, the two programs were linked.
Auriemma acknowledges that his team runs the same offense that Wooden perfected 37 years earlier. But it's not just the Xs and Os. The top block of Wooden's pyramid of success reads: "Competitive Greatness: Perform at your best when your best is required. Your best is required every day."
That's been Auriemma's mantra all along.
Greg Wooden, who lives in California, said he came East because, "I kind of thought that somebody should come here from the family and show support."
He also was aware that "certain players have said they're not really supportive of the streak."
But he came knowing "my grandfather would have loved to have been here to see this."
The day Notre Dame broke UCLA's streak, John Wooden was asked how long it would be before somebody surpassed it.
"I have no idea how long it will be before somebody else wins that many. I know it takes at least three years," he replied.
Try 36 years, 11 months, and 2 days.
Good work, Lady Huskies!
Quote of the Day
(Chuckling) "There's much for them (Democrats) to be angst-ridden about. If they think it's bad now, wait until next year."- Professional obstructionist and buttfor Mitch McConnell (R-eally?) laughing it up about how he and his fellow Republicans are ruining American's lives just for the hell of it, with no intention of stopping.
Bonus buttfor:
...in a last minute effort to derail the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) tried to subvert today’s great civil rights achievement. McConnell tried to attach an amendment to the stripped-down National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would have required the Service Chiefs to certify that implementation did not compromise military readiness or unit cohesion. The amendment would have likely extended the current certification process — which already includes the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and President Obama — and undermined the intent of the legislation and the wishes of military leadership.
Liberals are from Mars, Conservatives are from Uranus
Oh hey look it's Time Magazine!
Really? Even the late Henry Luce is [TW: sexual violence and rape apologia] getting embarrassed.
So Time has devoted an entire article to exploring the science of whether there's any biology behind our political affiliations. Go ahead, read it. I'll even link to the story again.
Let me state for the record that I'm a transsexual woman with a Ph.D. in the biological sciences. I have had it up to here (I know you can't see me, but I'm pretty tall) with the false dichotomy between nature and nurture. I'm still a punk kid, but oh if you only knew the shit I've learned and experienced.
Anyhow, to varying and sometimes substantial degrees, biology effects everything. So of course it's slightly behind politics. It's also slightly behind why I like campy sci-fi movies. Slightly.
Culture is also everywhere. It too has a role in things. Sometimes a pretty big role.
You know whose stuff everyone should read? Julia Serano. Her Ph.D. is in biochemistry, but I won't hold that against her. She's really, really good at exploding the myths that either biology or culture is solely responsible for explaining human behavior.
But I digress. First off, I want to congratulate Time on interviewing researchers with even shoddier scholarship than I read about in "The Strange Link Between Winning Elections and Online Porn." (I can't wait for this to pass. I'm gonna load Time so fast on my cell phone!)
Here's the thing, the pornographic elections people had something of a story. Election, caveman, fight, testosterone, erection, naked lady. I mean, that doesn't make it science, but it's certainly something, right?
This business with the biology of politics doesn't even have that. As far as I can tell, the rationale seems to be that people have beliefs, and there's probably other things that correlate with believing in stuff, and biology can cause correlations.
Look, it's cool and all that Time talked to another political scientist in order to give the story a sense of balance, but HEY WAIT, WTF I thought we were making stuff up about BIOLOGY?!? Anyhow, that guy used the word phrenology. This means that either the other side of the story is a huge asshole, because that's a really, really mean thing to bring up, or maybe, just maybe, it's time to rethink the story. I suppose it could be both, but the dude's right about the phrenology. Phrenology. Heh.
I know the American century was hard on all of us, so I'm not going to belabor the point (or am I?), but there are usually cultural implications underfoot when someone's making grand reductionist claims.
For example, there are folks who are excited about the prospect for finding a gay gene. Some folks are jazzed about using science to "fix" (or otherwise eliminate) queer people, while others are hoping to use genetics as proof that gay people have rights because OMG we can't help being inferior to other people. If you can't tell, I'm not hot on either argument. Also, the gay gene? It does not exist.
And then there's things like "election, caveman, fight, testosterone, erection, naked lady." If I had a nickel for every time I read a study about how men are programmed (by science!) to treat women poorly and women are designed (by science!) to love it, I'd be throwing up in a very expensive claw-footed bathtub.
All of this reductionism absolves people from having to worry about trying to change things. Conservatives aren't selfish or ignorant or privileged, they've just got the genetic structure of stage coach tippers. And liberals (is that my other option?), well, they're just a bit heavy on the guanine.
Anyhow, culture doesn't effect politics. (Did you know that Karl Marx, the Marxist Karl Marx, died poor? It's shocking, but true!) Let's not worry about political economy or feminist analysis or sociology or giving a fuck in general.
Instead, let's write a giant computer program to run the US. I mean, if we can ignore culture and focus on biochemistry when discussing politics, it'd be awfully efficient.
It's been a while, but let's see....
for year=2010:3000;
lastday=365;
if (year/4)==(abs(year/4));
lastday=366;
end;
for day=1:lastday;
if eig(ANGST) > 1;
BOMB IRAN
end
if day==abs(day);
DESTROY SOCIAL SAFETY NET
end
end
end
I'm not a very good programmer (and I'm writing this after midnight and I can't get blogger to let me properly indent stuff), but I'm sure we could put brilliant folks on this.
Feel the Homomentum!
And the dinosaurs groaned at more evidence of their impending doom:
President Obama signed the landmark repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy Wednesday morning, handing a major victory to advocates of gay rights and fulfilling a campaign promise to do away with a practice that he has called discriminatory.Hold my feet to the fire, he said, once upon a time. And so we shall.
Casting the repeal in terms of past civil rights struggles, Obama said he was proud to sign a law that "will strengthen our national security and uphold the ideals that our fighting men and women risk their lives to defend."
He added: "No longer will our country be denied the service of thousands of patriotic Americans who are forced to leave the military - regardless of their skills, no matter their bravery or their zeal, no matter their years of exemplary performance - because they happen to be gay. No longer will tens of thousands of Americans in uniform be asked to live a lie, or look over their shoulder in order to serve the country that they love."
The signing does not immediately implement the repeal but instead begins the process of ending the ban on gays serving openly in the military.
The law will not actually change until the Pentagon certifies to Congress that the military has met several conditions, including education and training programs for the troops.
"In the coming days, we will begin the process laid out in the law" to implement the repeal, Obama said. Meanwhile, he cautioned, "the old policy remains in place." But he pledged that all the service chiefs are "committed to implementing this change swiftly and efficiently," and he vowed, "We are not going to be dragging our feet to get this done."
Photos of the Day
President Barack Obama signs the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010, Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2010, at the Interior Department in Washington. [AP Photos]
Lt. Dan Choi, right, arrives at Interior Department in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2010, before President Barack Obama signs the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010, into law. At left is Petty Officer Autumn Sandeen. [AP Photos]
President Barack Obama smiles at the Interior Department in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2010, prior to signing the "don't ask, don't tell" repeal legislation that would allow gays to serve openly in the military. [AP Photos]Thank you to all the brave LGBT servicemembers who spoke out about their experiences. Thank you to their allies. Thank you, Congress. Thank you, President Obama.
Question of the Day
This one is always fun...
What's for dinner?
I've got some leftover ham; trying to figure out what to do with it. I think it's Breakfast for Dinner time.
It'd be a shame if the employees I supervise didn't go to strip clubs together.
[Trigger warning for homophobia]
This news cycle the media is revisiting "the other side" of Don't Ask, Don't Tell-- the large minority of military personnel that aren't so hot on teh gayz.
In a sense, the stories annoy me: The military's got combat troops who the Defense Department has selected to not be women or (openly) homosexual and bisexual men, and the military's cultivated that bigotry with official policy. We're supposed to be surprised that a little more than half of these troops are bigots? All-and-all, I'd say I'm more impressed by the just less than half of those troops that are supportive of a more inclusive military.
I see why this is an important story, however. The selected quotes I hear from selected troops give a glimpse of a culture that has to either change or collapse under the weight of its contradictions.
Here are some real winners from a story that ran yesterday in The New York Times:
"There’s no doubt in my mind that openly gay Marines can serve, it’s just different in a combat unit. Maybe they should just take the same route they take with females and stick them to noncombat units.”
And we're off!
"Concerns about the ability of combat units to integrate openly gay troops has also been raised repeatedly by the commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. James Amos, who told reporters recently that having gay Marines in combat units would be a 'distraction.'
'Mistakes and inattention or distractions cost Marines’ lives,' General Amos said."
Uh-huh. Distractions like bigotry.
“Showers will be awkward”
Do tell. I don't take showers with in public places (mostly because I don't want to get arrested). That makes it pretty awkward for me. I don't really care how awkward/educational/hawt is the for anyone else. Don't mind me, I'm mostly about cleaning my epidermis.
“Being gay means you are kind of girly. The Marines are, you know, macho.”
Totes! We want macho, macho men in the Marines, not some sort of overplayed gay stereotype. By the way, if gay means you are kind of girly, what does that say about lesbians on the front lines? I guess I already know the answer to that one-- women are all diminutive and weak. They all totes cry like some sort of Boehner.
“'They were kicking people out for being homosexual, and now they will be kicking people out for picking on homosexuals,' [an anonymous] sergeant said."
I think that's the idea. I know it's confusing, but so is war.
"An Army officer who is now leading troops in Afghanistan said he expected that swift and stern disciplinary measures would stamp out harassment. But he said he still anticipated that many openly gay soldiers would feel alienated at first from their straight colleagues.
'They will not be going to all of the events, strip clubs and bars that the other soldiers attend, and soldiers will almost certainly not be going out of their way to sample the gay culture.'"
Sure, good point. Gay soldiers might feel uncomfortable in a workplace where going to strip clubs was an expectation. This could be a problem. Also: You have got to be fucking kidding me.
I'm not sure what sampling the gay culture entails. I'm thinking of using tongs to sift pull a John Waters video out of a vat of glitter, but maybe I'm wrong. I guess it for some gay guys it might involve getting together with a bunch of guys to watch the game and then taking your pickup trucks out to play paintball. You know,
This whole "culture" thing strikes me as an issue. You've got a group of people who are living and working together in a stressful environment. There's going to be a culture. One would think that focusing on one's job, one's role as part of a team, and respecting one's colleagues would be part of that culture.
Yes, there are going to be cliques, but in my experience in healthy, successful communities people are allowed to express their differences as long as those differences do not directly conflict with the mission. Perhaps this has never been a strong point for a military that strikes me as suppressing diversity in the name of protecting freedom. Which is a minor problem when one starts unpacking the whole "protecting freedom" thing.
Net Neutrality Fail
President Stooge of the Corporations strikes again: Bye-bye net neutrality.
Senator Al Franken explains.
As a source of innovation, an engine of our economy, and a forum for our political discourse, the Internet can only work if it's a truly level playing field. Small businesses should have the same ability to reach customers as powerful corporations. A blogger should have the same ability to find an audience as a media conglomerate.The FCC is meeting today to discuss the current proposal. It is likely they will approve it as is.
This principle is called "net neutrality" -- and it's under attack. Internet service giants like Comcast and Verizon want to offer premium and privileged access to the Internet for corporations who can afford to pay for it.
The good news is that the Federal Communications Commission has the power to issue regulations that protect net neutrality. The bad news is that draft regulations written by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski don't do that at all. They're worse than nothing.
...Here's what's most troubling of all. Chairman Genachowski and President Obama -- who nominated him -- have argued convincingly that they support net neutrality.
But grassroots supporters of net neutrality are beginning to wonder if we've been had. Instead of proposing regulations that would truly protect net neutrality, reports indicate that Chairman Genachowski has been calling the CEOs of major Internet corporations seeking their public endorsement of this draft proposal, which would destroy it.
Additional reading:
New York Times—F.C.C. Is Set to Regulate Net Access: "The Federal Communications Commission appears poised to pass a controversial set of rules that broadly create two classes of Internet access, one for fixed-line providers and the other for the wireless Net."
Guardian—Net neutrality: US expected to ratify new rules on internet access: "The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is today expected to formally approve controversial new rules on how internet users access content such as YouTube and Skype. Dubbed by one US senator as 'the most important free speech issue of our time', the rules drawn up by the country's media and telecoms regulator would effectively create two levels of internet access – one delivered by traditional fixed-line broadband, and another by wireless and mobile providers."
Reuters—US FCC set to back Internet traffic rules: "The rules would ban high-speed Internet providers like Comcast Corp and Verizon Communications from blocking lawful traffic, while recognizing the need to manage network congestion and perhaps charge based on Internet usage. The rules, to be somewhat looser for wireless Internet, could help cable companies in competition with plans by Microsoft Corp , Google Inc and Amazon.com to deliver competing video content over the same Internet lines the cable companies run to customers' homes."
This is so the worst thing you're going to read all day.
by Shaker AnnaAnastasia
[Trigger warning for sexual assault and rape apologia.]
Even the title is awful: Assange, Morality, and Desire.
The article is positively craptacular. It's from yesterday's Chronicle of Higher Education, which, for those who don't know, is the premiere journal for higher education professionals.
The author, a recently tenured professor, basically attempts to make the case that Assange shouldn't be faulted for rape because of cultural and age differences with his victims. Because older Australian men have different sexual ideas than young Swedish women. Or something. Plus, Assange was "seduced" by the Swedish summer at the time.
I can't even write it without shaking my head.
The Chronicle is aimed at higher ed professionals, many of whom work with students 18-25 who are at residential campuses. I'm sure I'm not the only Chronicle reader who has worked with far too many students who have been recently raped, and no doubt a few who have raped someone, because it's easy to get away with rape on a residential college campus.
How will this article shape, change, or even reinforce the views of higher ed professionals who so often deal with rapists and their victims...?
Question of the Day
What is your favorite mythological creature?
In addition to literal answers like "unicorn," cheeky retorts like "a genuinely progressive US president" are also welcome.
Quote of the Day
"You're trying to paint the governor as a racist. And nothing could be further from the truth."—Dan Turner, spokesperson for Gov. Haley Barbour (R-Acist), who recently waxed nostalgic for the Citizens' Councils which were "the respectable face of white supremacist political activism" preceding and during the Civil Rights Era, which Barbour recalls as a time that wasn't "that bad."
So nothing is further from the truth than "Haley Barbour is a racist"? Cool! Let's think of some things that are closer to being true than "Haley Barbour is a racist." I'll start...
Haley Barbour is an alien from Planet Yeahright.
Haley Barbour is totes into eating poop sandwiches every afternoon at 3pm.
Haley Barbour's favorite show ever is Saved by the Bell. He hearts Screech.
Haley Barbour is half komodo dragon.
Haley Barbour's head is filled with garbage farts.
What I'm Listening To
Video Description: Aloe Blacc performs "I Need a Dollar" with The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last week. (The video should start right at the beginning of the musical segment, but, if not, jump to minute 37.)
Or, watch the music video here. The music video ends with "Life So Hard," the lyrics for which don't seem to be available online, but are:
The key to everything, everybody, here in America is the money / Some say that it's the root of all evil / Brings wars and [can't make this out] / These families in the street, with nothing to eat / These baby boys and girls with no shoes on their feet / All the men who leave or die in a war zone / And the women do it all on they own / It reminds me of the ghettoes right here and the hoods that I see / Everywhere that I've been in this country / Stop bailing out the banks and give the [?] to me / I guess my piece of the pie ain't free.Lyrics to "I Need a Dollar" are available here.
Daily Dose of Cute
Video Description: Olivia plays with everyone's favorite toy in Dudley's bed. Dudley snoozes on the adjacent couch, completely unaware of Olivia's Epic Battle with the Fuzzy Thing going on in his bed. Set to a section of Aaron Goldberg's "OAM's Blues."
Dudley and Sophs (and Iain's sugar-free cookies)
Dudley and Matilda
Olivia in Dudley's bed. Which is, of course, only fair.
Monday Blogaround
Today's blogaround brought to you by Shaxco, publishers of Iain McEwan's Guide to the Olive Garden, Best Restaurant in the Multiverse.
Recommended Reading:
Sady: #MooreandMe, Five Days and Running: Run It All The Way Down (A Timeline of Relevant Quotes) [TW for sexual assault and rape apologia]
Arturo: Epic Fail Of The Week: Youth Football Coach Says Racist Rants Were 'Taken out of Context' [TW for racism]
Tasha: What I Learned About Fat and Feminism in 24 Posts or Less [TW for fat hatred]
Historiann: "I'm Not a Feminist, But..."
Fannie: Another Wise Latina Takes Bench: Immediately Ensures All She's Not Racist, Sexist, or Heterophobic [TW for intersectional privilege]
Andy: Citing States Rights, Virginia Lawmaker Seeks to Ban Gays from National Guard [TW for homophobia]
Leave your links in comments...
Just LOL
Actual Headline: Obama reaches out to liberal groups to shore up Democratic base after tax deal.
Much of the White House's interaction with liberal groups has taken place at a weekly Tuesday meeting at a downtown Washington hotel. The "common purpose" gatherings are closed-door sessions between top Obama aides and officials from dozens of left-leaning interest groups such as unions, youth voting groups, women's organizations, gay rights advocates and civil rights activists. Attendees are required to keep all proceedings secret and off the record.Reach out and shove someone.
Some liberals have criticized the gatherings, saying the White House uses the sit-downs to steer the left instead of taking its advice. Jane Hamsher, publisher of the liberal Fire Dog Lake blog, has likened the meeting to being in a "veal pen."
I'm no highly-paid Democratic strategist, but it seems to me that the administration's constant need to "reach out and shore up the base" would be significantly diminished if the president stopped governing like a Republican.
Today in "Special Rights"
[Trigger warning for homophobia and violence]
So there's this story on the AP's tubes. And it's depressing. The events the story covers are depressing, but from my perspective, so is the story.
Here are the opening paragraphs of the story as of this writing:
"A culture war has broken out at the United Nations over whether gays should be singled out for the same protections as other minorities whose lives are threatened.
The battle will come to a head on Tuesday when the General Assembly votes to renew its routine condemnation of the unjustified killing of various categories of vulnerable people.
It specifies killings for racial, national, ethnic, religious or linguistic reasons and includes refugees, indigenous people and other groups. But the resolution, because of a change promoted by Arab and African nations and approved at committee level, this time around drops 'sexual orientation' and replaces it with 'discriminatory reasons on any basis.'" [Emphasis mine]
There's a difference between "making explicit" and 'singling out.' Singling out implies, well, singularity, uniqueness. 'Singling out' is part of the narrative of specialness, of special rights, of special, and therefore presumably undeserved and extraneous rights.
I can think of a variety of reasons for holding various positions on the wording of this particular resolution, (although IMO it's pretty clear that removing the reference to sexuality is a way to erase and ultimately justify violence against the sexually underprivileged). But that's not what's at issue here.
The UN resolution explicitly condemns the killing of members of a significant number of groups. Confusing the explicit inclusion of "[having a] sexual orientation [that society oppresses]" to a list of reasons the UN really abhors seeing people persecuted with a singling out of "gays" supports a culture that sees civil rights for LGBTQ people as extraneous.
And let's be clear about where we stand-- this resolution is about condemnation. If the UN can agree upon that, then maybe they'll be able to start discussing protection.
Senate Passes Food Safety Legislation
I don't know a hell of a lot about this bill, but I'd be more impressed if it didn't appear to be yet another of the increasingly popular pieces of regulation legislation that requires and relies heavily on self-policing (because government is icky, or whatever):
The legislation would affect all whole and processed foods except meat, poultry and some egg products, which are regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.Um, okay.
...Unlike the current system, which relies on government inspectors catching contamination, the new measure would require manufacturers and farmers to come up with strategies to prevent contamination and then continually test to make sure they work.
Now how about a "food safety" bill that stops the US government from subsidizing corn to the tune of billions of dollars every year, thus insuring high-fructose corn syrup is in everything, from yogurt to pasta sauce to bread?
Blog Note
Posting will be light this week, as many of our contributors/mods are traveling or preparing for holidays, sick, or just need a much-deserved break. Iain's off this week, so I'm going to try to take some time, too, here and there, and we're going to be sorting out my computer situation.
Please remember that at times when we're short-staffed, it may take longer than usual to clean up hairy threads.
Open Thread
Hosted by rye bread.
This week's open threads have been brought to you by bread.
Bread: it's what's for dinner.
