The Virtual Pub Is Open
[Explanations: lol your fat. pathetic anger bread. hey your gay.]
TFIF, Shakers!
Belly up to the bar,
and name your poison!
Breaking News: Romney Says Something Sensible!
Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney broke with Republican orthodoxy on Friday by saying he believes that humans are responsible, at least to some extent, for climate change.Romney went on to say he thinks the US needs to "break its dependence on foreign oil, and expand alternative energies including solar, wind, nuclear and clean coal.". He also said that it's a global issue and other countries need to get on board this train. Ok, well, moderately sensible anyway. Much more sensible than anything else being said by GOPers. Lest we forget:
"I believe the world is getting warmer, and I believe that humans have contributed to that," he told a crowd of about 200 at a town hall meeting in Manchester, New Hampshire.
"It's important for us to reduce our emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases that may be significant contributors."
At an event in Manchester last week, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, also running for president, said that climate change is "the newest excuse to take control of lives" by "left-wing intellectuals."Which is much more in line with the current (House) GOP, what with their extreme loathing of the environment.
I wonder when Romney will apologize for his egregious remarks? /snort
Of course, he couldn't end on anything remotely resembling not toeing the line as he said, in a question regarding abortion, that "decisions on abortion law should be returned to state jurisdiction.". Barf.
The Brightest Light, Out of Darkness
[Trigger warning for trauma and self-harm.]
I have written before about what it means to me to be a survivor who has rescued a dog who is also a survivor, so it will probably come as no surprise that my heart has been utterly melted into a huge gooey puddle over this story about an air force veteran with PTSD who sought out a fighting dog as a companion for his anger, but found unconditional love and healing instead—and then went on to found an org dedicated to pairing other vets and dogs who have survived trauma. Megablub.
[Transcript below. Video via Time.]
David Sharpe, USAF veteran and founder of Pets to Vets: [over images of Sharpe playing with Cheyenne, a brown and white pitbull, and another dog] Cheyenne is my savior. She's the love of my life. She has always been there for me through thick and thin. My name is David Sharpe, and I served for six years in the United States Air Force, Security Forces.
[over images of Sharpe in the military, seguing into video of Sharpe playing with Cheyenne, then to footage of Sharpe talking directly into the camera] It all started after 9/11, when we got forward deployed again, to Uzbekistan, and a couple of our buddies didn't make it back, and so, I came back finally in March of 2002, and I pretty much segregated myself from my family and friends. My friends—we would go out, and they would say, "Hey, Dave, do you want a beer?" I'm like, "No, I'm gonna cruise around this bar," and the first guy who looks at me longer than two seconds, I'm gonna pop him. They said, "We can't hang out with you anymore, Dave; you're out of control." And I was like, "Fine, I don't need you anyway."
[over images of Sharpe walking through a shelter, interspersed with footage of Sharpe speaking to camera] So, my friend came over, and he said, "Let's check out this pitbull rescue." I said, "Hell, yeah—I'm a fighter; I want a fighting dog." I go down there, and there's this one puppy that's not paying me any mind, but all the others are all around me. And then I remember, she came over to me and she licked my hand, sniffed it, and then left. And then she just laid back down in the dirt in the opposite side of that pen, and I said, "I'm gonna get her."
[to dog, who's off-screen] Cheyenne, you remember that? Come here. Come here. You bum! You're a bum. You are a bum. [leans down and picks her up, holds her and cuddles her like a baby] She's a baby. This is a baby! Big baby. This is her.
[over images of Sharpe and Cheyenne playing on the bed] I brought her home, and, a couple weeks later, she witnessed me punching holes in the walls and beating up the refrigerator door—and this was normal for me during this time. I see this little tail, out of the corner of my eye, and I look down at her, and she's looking at me [cocks head back and forth like a curious dog], you know, doing this, waving her head back and forth, and I looked down at her, and I just picked her up, and took her back to my bed, and just started crying, and talking about everything that had happened—what I experienced, what I'm going through. And [deep sigh] it felt like a ten thousand pound weight was lifted off my chest. It literally did.
Staff Sergeant Bradley Fasnacht, who has been diagnosed with PTSD and traumatic brain injury: [over images of him with his dog, Zapper, a multi-colored blue heeler mix] When I first got back from my deployment, I remember we were sitting at a coffee shop, and I just felt like everything was closing in on me, and I just wheeled myself out of the coffee shop as soon as possible, and I just sat back and waited for it to blow up—I was having flashbacks, just, it was crazy.
I ended up picking up Zapper from the P2V foundation. There's, uh, there's certain things that, you know, I only talk to Zapper about. Not that I don't think my family understands or want to hear—it's just that, you know, you always have that thing, "Will they judge me over this or not?" You know, you just really don't want to tell your story to just anybody— You got these doctors who, you know, they've heard it; but they haven't seen it. You know, so you just talk to your dog, man. Talk to Zapper. He just lets me get it off my chest and lets me get it out there.
Sharpe: [over images of veterans and dogs] Eighteen veterans commit suicide, each day in this country. Eighteen. Also on the other end of this spectrum, there's four million animals, sheltered animals, killed in this country every year. So that's what we do. We take four million, and we pair 'em up with the 6,500 per year—it's kind of like a Match.com between a shelter pet and a veteran or emergency first responder.
[over images of a scarred pitbull puppy] This little guy was used for fighting—he was a toy for other dogs to beat up on. And they don't have a choice. [getting choked up while looking down at dog, who is looking back up at him] Sorry. What better companion to have than a veteran, like us, or a firefighter or police officer, to help this little guy out, right? [sniffs] He has the physical scars on the outside, but we have the mental scars on the inside, so that's where we heal each other and meet in the middle of the road, you know?
[over images of him wrasslin' with Cheyenne at home, and then of Cheyenne licking his face, and then the two of them cuddling] I can share anything and everything with her—unconditional love. And so, really, like, I got a good family that loves me, friends that love me, and I got her.
Film Corner!
What—did you think I wasn't going to do a Film Corner! about the upcoming summer box office smash and renowned preposition hog Rise of the Planet of the Apes, starring Professor James Franco? You're so weird.
SCIENCE! People in hazmat suits handling Important Tubes in sterile environments. In voiceover, Professor James Franco, CEO of ScienceCorp says, "We're talking about huge potential for millions of people!" Cut to ScienceCorp HQ, where Professor James Franco explains that the potion in the Important Tubes is called The Cure (no relation) and it "enables the brain to cure itself." Of WHAT?! He doesn't say. I bet The Cure enables the brain to cure itself of the need for sleep.
David Oyelowo tells Professor James Franco to start testing The Cure on chimpanzees. A baby monkey arrives in a box. (Note: It is a baby chimpanzee. Chimpanzees are not monkeys, they are apes, but I am going to be calling them monkeys throughout this post, much to the chagrin of pedants everywhere, because monkeys is both a funnier word than chimpanzee and easier to type. If it makes you feel any better, pedants, they aren't real chimpanzees, anyway. They're CGI monkeys.) His name is Caesar, no doy, because he's going to be a monkey emperor and shit.
Caesar is growing up. He's very smart! Looks like The Cure enables monkey brains to cure themselves of their monkosity, because Caesar is totes humany. I also notice that Caesar the CGI Monkey looks very much like Gollum with monkey fur, and I make a funny joke inside my head that Andy Serkis is playing Caesar. Then I look at the IMDb listing and see that Andy Serkis is playing Caesar. :( "You are very good at playing CGI humanoids!"—Hollywood (cc. New Zealand). Is that what actors want to hear? That's definitely what actors want to hear. Right? I hope that is what actors want to hear, because Andy Serkis is a very fine actor, and it would make me sad if he is not flattered by being given lots of work as a CGI humanoid.
"What was that? I can't hear you over the jets in my 24-carat hot tub filled with rubies and champagne!"—Andy Serkis. Good point, Andy Serkis.
Anyway!
Freida Pinto wonders where Caesar fits in. (Ladies are so nurtury and empathetic!) David Oyelowo says, "Caesar fits in REAL NICE in this cage I got right here!" (I'm paraphrasing.) Professor James Franco has angst. Someone should cast that guy as James Dean. Caesar is, care of the thespian talentry of Andy Serkis, angry about being locked up, and, as one would expect a monkey who's "smarter than his human counterpart" to do, picks the shit out of a lock on his cage. Probably looking for beer, he finds a mini-fridge full of The Cure. He gives it to all the other prisoners in monkey jail.
"They are contaminated!" says David Oyelowo. "Put those apes down!" Professor James Franco is having none of that shit. He doesn't actually say, "If by contaminated, you mean AWESOME, then, yeah, THEY ARE!" but I can tell he's thinking it.
Uh-oh. Monkeys everywhere. They're ruining everything! It's a monkey war! HOLY SHIT!!!
"Evolution Becomes Revolution" says some text, even though evolution has fuck-all to do with this movie. Possibly that is just a ploy to ensure prominent placement in the Creation Museum.
Ahh! More monkey war! Your guns and helicopters are no match for smart monkeys! (What?)
Coming August 5 to a theater near your ass.
[Via Andy.]
Daily Dose of Cute
Sometimes, I say to Iain, "We should adopt another dog, so Dudley has a puppeh playmate." To which he says, "No way. That's too many legs in this house! There's a 20-leg maximum!" At which point I respond by pointing out that, irrespective of there being an entire house in which the cats and dog can hang out, they're always in the same room we are. We could live in a refrigerator box, and they'd be perfectly happy.
Right now, Dudley is lying on the floor beside me, Olivia is sprawled across the top of my desk, Sophie is draped across the top of the monitor, and Matilda is on a chair next to me. If I get up to take a piss, they will all follow me into the tiniest bathroom imaginable, and then follow me back to the office once I'm done.
And this is the scene in our living room on a typical night:
Big Couch
Little Couch
As you can see, the kitteh girls kindly left two seats open, so Iain and I would feel welcome to join them. I rest my case.
Quote of the Day
"I do not believe the Republican Party should focus only on our economic life, to the neglect of our human life."—GOP presidential contender Jon Huntsman, speaking today in DC at Ralph Reed's Faith and Freedom Conference, aka Another Iteration of Annual Fuckery by the American Family Values Children Christian Liberty Freedom Patriot Association Foundation Organization.
lol your assertion that the Republican Party cares about economics anymore. Or anything other than criminalizing abortion.
"I do not believe the Republican Party should focus only on eroding women's rights, to the neglect of EVERYTHING ELSE."—Me.
As governor of Utah, I supported and signed every pro-life [sic] bill that came to my desk. I signed the bill that made second trimester abortions illegal and increased the penalty for doing so. I signed the bill to allow women to know about the pain that abortion causes an unborn child [sic]. I signed the bill requiring parental permission for an abortion. I signed the bill that would trigger a ban on abortions in Utah if Roe vs. Wade were overturned.[Via.]
You see, I do not believe the Republican Party should focus only on our economic life, to the neglect of our human life. That is a trade we should not make. If Republicans ignore life, the deficit we will face is one that is much more destructive. It will be a deficit of the heart and of the soul.
An Observation
It is long past time for a national prime-time address by our ostensibly pro-choice Democratic president about the Republican all-out assault on reproductive rights across this country.
More than half the population is directly affected by the GOP's erosion of abortion rights. Needless to say, even people who cannot personally give birth are affected by the whims of the anti-choice brigade, too. This is a national issue.
If anti-choice legislation in all 50 states as well as the federal Congress doesn't warrant a Democratic president's attention, doesn't move him to address this full-tilt attack on every American's ability to control hir reproduction, which we consider one of the most fundamental rights of the modern world, doesn't cause within his gut a burning need to passionately defend every Uterine-American's access to basic medical care, including what is frequently a life-saving procedure, I can't imagine what will.
Speak up, Mr. President.
SPEAK THE FUCK UP.
Third Verse, Even Worse than the First
Not to be outdone by the rest of America, earlier this week the Louisiana House Health and Welfare Committee approved (by a 10-2 margin!) a bill that would ban all abortion, fullstop.
It gets worse. Remember Personhood USA? The legislation adopts their position that human life begins at fertilization, which raises all kinds of terrifying questions.
Under the proposed law, the state could sentence doctors who perform an abortion to fifteen years in prison.
As is the case with Indiana, if the bill becomes Louisiana law, it would do so it violation of federal law. While it's not clear what the federal government's response would be, it could put Louisiana's Medicaid funding at risk. Of course, given some prominent Republicans' views on Medicaid, I don't think it's a stretch to say that some conservatives are unconcerned, if not enthusiastic, about destroying Medicaid in their state.
This legislation in Louisiana, coupled with events in Indiana, is a key moment for reproductive rights in the United States. The Obama administration absolutely needs to respond with the full force of the federal government.
Indiana has denied women access to health care in direct violation of federal law. Louisiana is attempting to follow the Hoosier state's lead. Denying government funding to those who hate government is not a solution. It is long past time for the White House to take action to uphold the law of this nation.
Instead, I hear crickets.
H/t: Queen Emily
Friday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by Shaxco, proud publisher of the upcoming coffee table book, Deeky W. Gashlycrumb's 10,000 Pictures of My Butt.
Recommended Reading:
Andy: Same-Sex Couples Have 33 Civil Unions in Mass Chicago Event
crunktastic: [TW for rape/violence] "Man Down": On Rihanna, Rape, and Violence
Allan: [TW for sexual harassment] Rep. Anthony Weiner Was Shining a Light on Justice Clarence Thomas' Ethical Problems When He Was Suddenly Accused of Sexual Harassment
Tami: Stop Saying "X Is the Last Acceptable Form of Bigotry"
Peter: When Republicans Are Elected, Women Pay the Price
Jeff: Polls Show Huge Public Support for Gay and Transgender Workplace Protections
Robin: [TW for sexual violence] What Can You Say About a "Conceived in Rape" Tour?
STFU Celebs: [TW for sexual violence; rape jokes] Donald Glover Thinks Rape Is Hilarious
John: 10,000-Brick Lego Sandcrawler
Leave your links and recommendations in comments...
Edwards Indicted
Former Democratic presidential contender John Edwards has been indicted on charges that he used campaign contributions to cover up an affair: "Edwards, 57, was charged with conspiracy, illegal campaign contributions and making false statements, according to a 19-page indictment. Ahead of the expected indictment, his attorney denied any wrongdoing. An arrest warrant has been issued for Edwards according to court records filed in District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina."
You know, I'm angry at Edwards for a lot of things, but none so much as the fact that he was the most prominent credible commentator about the increasing divide between the poor and the wealthy in this country. He could have been the guy to eventually lead us out of this economic quagmire with compassionate rhetoric about a divided nation and progressive economic policies, and he pissed it all away.
We needed someone like you, John Edwards. We still do.
Obviously
Dudley is pro-choice, no doy.
He is, as it turns out, one of many dogs who are pro-choice (and a few cats, too), because dogs (and cats) know what's up.
Dudz also wanted me to pass on that he feels like greyhounds, along with dogs used for breeding in puppy mills or used for dog fighting, have a special role to play in the pro-choice movement, because they really understand the difference between a life in which you're forced to use your body in ways you wouldn't choose and a life in which you aren't.
"I've heard all those anti-choice people say that bodies with uteri are 'designed to have babies,' so that's what they should do," Dudley told me. "Okay, sure. Just like greyhounds' bodies are 'designed to run'—but there's a difference between being made to run and choosing to run. And, as far as I can tell, giving people reproductive choices is the same as being able to run, if and when I want to, just for the joy of it. Which is way better."
[Video Description: Scenes of Dudley running around the dog park, set to "Gonna Fly Now."]
Dogs4Choice.
(FYI: Dudz totes got SO many peanut butter treats for posing so nicely for such a good cause.)
Number of the Day
4%: The real private-sector wage growth over the past decade, which falls "far short of any 10-year period since World War II, according to Commerce Department data. In fact, if the data are to be believed, economywide wage gains have even lagged those in the decade of the Great Depression (adjusted for deflation)."
Two years into the recovery, and 10 years after the nation fell into a post-dot-com bubble recession, this legacy of near-stagnant wages has helped ground the economy despite unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus — and even an impressive bull market.To say the least.
Over the past decade, real private-sector wage growth has scraped bottom at 4%, just below the 5% increase from 1929 to 1939, government data show.
To put that in perspective, since the Great Depression, 10-year gains in real private wages had always exceeded 25% with one exception: the period ended in 1982-83, when the jobless rate spiked above 10% and wage gains briefly decelerated to 16%.
...The long dry spell for real wage gains tests the natural resilience of America's consumer economy.
There's a lot of blaming and shaming of USians for frivolous spending and living beyond their means and being recklessly avaristic consumers—and, you know, I'm sure there are people like that, but I sure don't know a hell of a lot of them. (Or any of them.) I know of a lot of people who get accused of being irresponsible when they lose their homes because of unemployment, or medical bills, or predatory lending, or some combination thereof.
And all of that finger-pointing masks the reality reflected in the above numbers: The average standard and cost of living in the US have changed dramatically over the course of a single generation.
I now live in the same town in which I grew up, on the other end of the same street on which I grew up, in a smaller house than the one in which I grew up, and in which my parents still live at the other end of the street. My dad was a public high school teacher, and, until I was 18, my parents, sister, and I (and a menagerie of cats, dogs, turtles, and birds) lived on his salary—and, although I never had expensive clothes and my parents never had the best cars or the nicest electronics, we did all right, and my parents managed to save money for retirement to boot. Iain and I have no kids, share one car, have no savings, and two full-time salaries.
There is simply no way we could have the same life that I had growing up in the same place 30 years ago.
That's the reality of wage stagnation in the US.
And it's the result of greed, but not on the employee side of the paycheck.
Question of the Day
If you were offered a biebillion dollars* to change your name to the name of a Very Famous Person—someone who, if not virtually a global household name, is at least super-famous where you live—and you couldn't ever tell anyone why you'd changed your name and couldn't ever change it again, whom would you choose and why?
For a biebillion dollars, I would become Rip Taylor, effective immediately, no doy.
---------------------------
* Or whatever sum of money would make this hypothetical worth your while. To be used in any way you see fit.
Route 2012
Willard makes it official. Palin steps on his toes. Pawlenty and Bachmann, despite spin to the contrary, are not BFFs, are not glad they met in English class, and do not wish each other tons of fun over the summer. Huntsman's getting the side eye from George Will. Herman Cain who? Gingrich is finished, or maybe not, yawn. Other people doing things. Fart.
Seen
From the "Great Reads: New in Paperback" section of People magazine: "STILL MISSING by Chevy Stevens: A young Realtor tries to reclaim her life after a crazed rapist holds her captive. Just enough chills to start your summer off right."
Do I need to explain what's wrong with this? Please tell me I don't need to explain what's wrong with this.
Indiana Farts in the Government's General Direction
So you recall that Indiana decided to defund Planned Parenthood by violating the rules of Medicaid? The government was all "Uhm, no." in response. Well, Indiana responds by telling the gov't to take its no and shove it:
Indiana officials said Thursday they will defy a federal order to continue funding Planned Parenthood and other clinics that offer abortion services.I see.
Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels signed a law in May that would cut off federal funding from Indiana clinics that perform abortions. The law is primarily aimed at the state’s Planned Parenthood clinics, which get federal family planning grants to administer services unrelated to abortion.
[...]
"The way the law was written, it went into effect the moment the governor signed it," Marcus Barlow, a spokesman for Indiana's Family and Social Services Administration, said in a telephone interview.
"We were just advised by our lawyers that we should continue to enforce Indiana law."
There is a hearing scheduled for next Monday (Planned Parenthood sued) before U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt. Judge Walton Pratt has stated she will rule on the issue by July 1st.
Quote of the Day
[Trigger warning for sexism; gender essentialism.]
"I feel more emotionally connected to this apple than I do to a person I've just slept with. Women reading that will think that's awful. But that's what men are made of."—Robbie Williams, Pop Singer and Professor of Manology at Science University.
As far as "men are just irrepressible sex-beasts" quotes go, this one is actually pretty tame. But that's kind of the point. It's just another casual reminder, another reductive assertion about monolithic mankind nonchalantly inserted into an interview with a grown-up boybander, that men are made of sex and indifference.
Once again, I will note that it is feminists who have the reputation as man-haters, but it isn't feminists who routinely talk about men like they're emotionless, exploitative garbage. It's Patriarchy enthusiasts like our friend Mr. Williams.
And, yeah, I can imagine a few women thinking that it's awful to say that all men use women (and/or other men?) for sex, but I know a few men who might not be thrilled with that assessment, too.
The real curiosity is why I don't know more of them.
Why I'll Never Vote for That Fucking Goat by Butch Pornstache
So, I hear some of you femifarts, queerbaits, gender-benders, fat chicks, and various other dinguses are all excited about that GOP Goat running for president. Well, let me tell you something as a long-time Republican voter: Ain't no way I'm voting for that fucking goat.
I don't care if he (or SHE, ladies) promises to 86 taxes altogether, turn Social Security into the Defense Department's piggy bank, appoint Chuck Norris the Secretary of Asskicking, and make Whitesnake vinyls the national currency. I don't care if my stepmom Cheryl promises to tell me where she hid my Best of Chico and the Man videos; I don't care if my ex-wife/fiancée Tammy promises to let me wear my favorite Hooters cap to our next wedding; I don't care if my brother Buck promises to give me back my copy of Guns & Ammo with that awesome Ted Nugent (NUGE!) interview in it. I still ain't voting for that fucking goat.
Because goats are assholes, man.
I know all you animal-loving hippies are already fixing to whine about how goats are awesome and shit, but hear me out! Here is my evidence:
1. This one time, a goat ate my entire stash of weed.
2. This other time, when I took my niece Sierra to a petting zoo, I saw a goat eating another goat's poop right as it was falling out of the other goat's butt. For serious. And when I reported that nasty business to the petting zookeeper by pointing and shrieking, "GOAT EAT GOAT POOP," he was all, "Oh, yeah—they do that all the time." Hell no. And don't even get me started on how creepy their little round turd-pellets are. P.S. The gumballs at petting zoos are actually goat food.
3. Another time, I was totally minding my own business in this field of goats, and one of them goddamn goats kicked the shit out of my shin, man.
4. One time, I caught a goat trying to hump one of the pink flamingo statues in my Aunt Trudie's front yard.
5. Oh, also—a goat ate my entire stash of weed. Again. Yeah, a totally different goat, man. That shit happened to me TWICE.
6. "Goats Head Soup" by the Stones. 'Nuff said.
7. Another time, a goat stepped on my laser disc copy of Universal Solider and broke the fuck out of it.
8. I barfed after eating goat stew at an Indian restaurant. (What—you think I never eat anything besides mac and cheese with hotdogs chunks in it? Just because that's my favorite meal doesn't mean I never try anything else! I'm married not dead, or whatever.)
9. I barfed after eating chèvre. That is the last time I use anything but American cheese to make Mac-n-Dogz.
10. Baby goats are called "kids." How fucked up is that? They're trying to be humans, straight scoop. You have no idea what they're capable of if we make one of them president.
11. One time at the beach, this goat totally kicked me in the nuts.
12. I once saw this documentary about mountain goats, and those fuckers can run straight up a cliff, man. I don't trust anything with less than six legs that can run straight up a cliff. That shit ain't natural.
13. This guy.
14. A goat ate my entire stash of weed. Twice. I know I mentioned it, but it bears repeating.
15. Goats live in herds called a "gnarl." Each gnarl elects a queen to oversee all goat business. A new queen is elected exactly three days after the death of her predecessor. That is some gnarly shit, and no I am not trying to be funny.
16. Like, half of my friends, when you ask them what animal they'd choose if they could be a human-animal hybrid, pick a goat. That's fucked-up, man. I don't know what right-minded dude would choose anything but a wolf, which gives me the suspicions that goats have the power of hypnosis, apart from all their other evil.
17. They're always judging you.
Welp, that's probably enough evidence for now. But I got a lot more where that came from, if you're still not convinced that goats are assholes. If the GOP really does run that goat in 2012, it'll be the first time I'm glad all you dumbasses are voting for Al Nader or whatever.
Pornstache: Out.
[Editor's Note: Although Shakesville disagrees with the GOP Goat on virtually every plank of its party's platform and respects Butch Pornstache's personal experience, Shakesville recognizes that goats are not a monolith and is officially pro-goat, generally speaking.]
One for the Ladies
Liss just pointed out a piece on HuffPo that asks a totally cromulent question: "What the Fuck is a Mom Cave?" (Technically, it asks "What the F*ck is a Mom Cave?", but I've never been hot on cryptoquips.)
According to credible sources USA Today and the Daily News the mom cave lives:
A mom cave is the place where the woman who nurtures everyone goes to nurture herself, said Elaine Griffin, New York City interior designer and author of "Design Rules: The Insider's Guide to Becoming Your Own Decorator." She coined the term mom cave with HomeGoods. (It's really a woman cave but mom cave sounded better, she said.)
It's a natural evolution from man caves, the saying "If mom's not happy, nobody's happy," and the idea that it's OK to have me time, she said. The next logical step was a space for the me time.
"We saw women all over the country beginning to take that space for themselves, whether it was an extra room they could actually dedicate to themselves or just a space they could carve out for themselves," she said.
"It's a space a woman can go to and say, 'All right husband and kids, when this door is closed I'm off duty.' "
It's not simply a room for doing nothing. Unlike men, women relax by doing things, so they need storage and a place to work, Griffin said.I didn't know drinking gin was a "thing" nowadays, but sure, why not? I did, however know that all women are moms, because no doy.
This is where Courtney Cachet's brilliant critique comes in [TW: ableist langauge]:
"Here's what I really don't get. Man Caves, which I have written about a few times, are a total home decor phenomenon. Why? Because they're bad ass. Tricked out media rooms with movie screens, stereo systems, pool tables and lots of liquor and sports. Awesome, right? Mom Caves, by contrast, are not entire rooms, but "nooks" and "little spaces", "even a closet will do nicely" one article on Mom Caves stated! Also, you better like pink, damask and Rococo. Maybe we'll do crafts or think up new Bundt cake recipes in there! Then we'll pipe in some meditation music so we can "chill out" or meditate in our "sanctuary". My sanctuary? Sanctuary?? My husband would be checking me into the psych ward in a hot minute.Fucking right they do. Worse yet, they don't find you and instead find sunblock to apply to their stuffed animals or an entire pile of clean clothes to dress said greasy animals.
What I find particularly irritating is The Man Cave gets entire rooms, entire floors or basements. He gets all the cool gadgetry, and fantasy like decor. Not Woman, but The Mom gets a closet or a nook where she can paint it pink, light scented candles, read Chicken Soup For The Mom's Soul or paint her toenails pink and listen to Yanni. Call me crazy, but I think I'd rather be a dude in this scenario. Wait, what about the single ladies? No cave for you, bitches! First you have to pop out a couple of bambinos and pack on 10 lbs. Only then are you worthy of your own pillow filled room!
The whole notion of this room works much better on paper. I live in a pretty spacious house. I work from home about half the work week. I have tried countless times to hide from my kids and guess what? They always find me. Always!"
What I find works is having my
All I'm saying is that I'm a lady who likes to drink gin and play Xbox. Sometimes this involves feeling like a failure as a parent, and sometimes this means waiting until my daughter's asleep to cull the plastic herd enough to allow me to park my butt on the couch. And during football season, I'm sorry sweetie, but the game is on. Maybe if you're good, we'll skip the Sunday night game in favor of Blue's Clues (especially if the Cowboys are playing).
Despite what this essay implies, my partner and I nurture our asses off like whoa. Yet in contrast to the implications of mom caves, part of this nurturing involves taking time to not care what other people think, even if this means doing the manly work of "doing nothing."
This is so the worst thing you're going to read all day.
[Trigger warning for sexual violence; rape apologia; victim-blaming.]
With depressing regularity, someone writes an article suggesting that women have to be more responsible about their drinking habits in order that they might avoid getting raped. It's exasperating enough when this shit is peddled as unapologetic victim-blaming in garbage rags like the Daily Mail, but when it's concern trolling with a "feminist" label slapped on it, it positively makes my teeth grind. It's just the same old victim-blaming horseshit re-spun with empowerment rhetoric.
To wit: The Frisky's "Girl Talk: Why Being Drunk Is a Feminist Issue," by Kate Torgovnick, who totes isn't a victim-blamer, she swears! It's just that we don't live in an ideal world, so because women "do not have control over what men, drunk or sober, will do when presented with our drunkeness," women should take control over "our side of the equation—how much we drink."
There is a lot wrong with that article (not least of which is the author's confusion about what actually constitutes rape), but I'm not going to waste my time fisking garbage. I'll merely note that the entire premise is fundamentally flawed in the same ways that every other piece in this despicable genre is, in addition to the evident issue that victim-blaming, even if cynically rebranded as "taking control," inexorably shifts responsibility from rapist to victim:
1. Asserting that women can avoid rape via sobriety only makes sense if the victim is drunk in the vast majority of rapes. That is not the case.
2. Asserting that women can avoid rape via sobriety only makes sense if the vast majority of women who drink are raped as a consequence. That is not the case.
3. Asserting that women can avoid rape via sobriety only makes sense if every rape that happens to a woman who's been drinking is committed by an opportunistic rapist who would not have otherwise raped her. That is not the case.
The ultimate value of this advice to potential rape victims is thus negligible, given that, in practical terms, it boils down to: "If you don't drink, it may or may not protect you from getting raped in some situations."
Very useful. (Nope.)
Supporters of this "don't drink to empower yourself" idea roll their eyes at people like me and demand to know how I can ignore that lots of women are raped after they've been drinking. The thing is, I'm not ignoring that. I know that happens. It has happened to women (and men) I love quite a lot. I'm just not of the opinion that it's good or decent or practical advice to tell people that not drinking will help them avoid rape, when every single person I know who's been raped after drinking has imbibed on other nights and not been raped.
For what is probably the hundredth time: Left to my own devices, I never would have been raped. The rapist was really the key component to the whole thing. I was sober; hardly scantily clad, I was wearing sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt; I was at home; my sexual history was, literally, nonexistent—I was a virgin; I struggled; I said no. There have been times since when I have been walking home, alone, after a few drinks, wearing something that might have shown a bit of leg or cleavage, and I wasn't raped. The difference was not in what I was doing. The difference was the presence of a rapist.
Enough blaming the victim. Enough.
[Via Jill.]
GOP: The FDA is for Suckers
So adding to the List of Things the GOP Hates: food safety regulation. Which makes sense since it's supposed to enhance public welfare and contains the word "regulation". On Tuesday, the House approved budget cuts to the FDA. These cuts affect legislation that was passed back in December (the first food safety overhaul since 1938).
...[T]he agency will not be able to meet many requirements of the new law, including increased inspections of food manufacturing plants, better coordination with state health departments, and developing the capacity to more quickly respond to food-borne illnesses and minimize their impact.That's not all, though! It also will:
[...]
States have had to reduce food safety inspections and enforcement because of budget pressures and have been counting on new funding at the FDA, Saunders said. The FDA routinely contracts with states to perform inspections on its behalf. Virginia conducts about 400 a year under contract to the FDA, in addition to its own inspections, Saunders said.
The proposed budget cuts [will] also hinder the FDA’s ability to increase scrutiny of imported foods, according to food safety advocates. The new law requires the FDA to create a system of third-party certifiers to ensure that food coming into the United States meets the same safety standards as food produced domestically. Without additional funding, the FDA cannot create that system, said Erik Olson, director of food and consumer product safety programs at the Pew Health Group, part of a coalition of public health advocates and food makers.
“These cuts could seriously harm our ability to protect the food supply,” said Olson, who is hoping the money will be restored by the Senate, which has not proposed its spending plan.
The House subcommittee also proposed a $35 million cut to the Food Safety Inspection Service at the Department of Agriculture, which is responsible for the safety of meat, poultry and some egg products.
...[C]ut about $650 million — or 10 percent — from the Women, Infants and Children program that feeds and educates mothers and their children.And you know what? That's not all. You see, the GOP have decided that the the Obama admin's push for healthier school lunches is not okay.
Under the guidelines, schools would have to cut sodium in subsidized meals by more than half, use more whole grains and serve low-fat milk. They also would limit kids to only one cup of starchy vegetables a week, so schools couldn't offer french fries every day.Oh but they didn't cut everything, no. They fully funded a program, the Market Access Program. What is that? Well, it is designed to allow farmers to compete in the global marketplace:
The starchy vegetable proposal has been criticized by conservatives who think it goes too far and members of Congress who represent potato-growers. They say potatoes are a low-cost food that provides fiber and other nutrients.
The program, managed by the Agriculture Department, awards grants to nonprofit organizations, small businesses and large grower cooperatives, such as Sunkist, Welch’s and Blue Diamond, to promote their agricultural goods in foreign markets.Priorities!
Last year, for example, the Cotton Council International, which represents the U.S. cotton industry, received $20.3 million through the program to help fund a popular reality television show in India featuring aspiring fashion designers.
Back the the hatred for regulations for a moment, an amendment was put forth regarding the FDA. Did you know that the Food and Drug Administration uses "soft science"? Who knew! Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT). He knew and decided to enlighten us all:
The most intense reaction was generated by a provision offered by Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) that would block the FDA from issuing rules or guidance unless its decisions are based on “hard science” rather than “cost and consumer behavior.” The amendment would prevent the FDA from restricting a substance unless it caused greater harm to health than a product not containing the substance.His rider amendment has to do with the proposed menthol ban in cigarettes and also the widespread use of antibiotics in commercial farming. Where, of course, both industries say "Oh ho, there's no problem here!".
“The FDA is starting to use soft sciences in some considerations in the promulgation of its rules,” said Rehberg, who defined “hard science”, as “perceived as being more scientific, rigorous and accurate” than behavioral and social sciences.
“I hate to try and define the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist, between a sociologist and a geologist, but there is clearly a difference,” he told the committee.
“This subcommittee has begun making some of the tough choices necessary to right the ship,” said Chairman [House Appropriations subcommittee] Jack Kingston.
Good News!
Good news for all you Huckabee Lovers out there in Shakesylvania: Although arch-conservative gay-hating racist misogybag Mike Huckabee has ruled out a run for president in 2012, he's still open to "accepting a spot as vice president on the Republican ticket."
Dipshit of the Day
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R-eprehensible):
Christie has proposed cutting Medicaid eligibility to absurdly low levels: from the current maximum income of $24,645 to $5,317 a year for a family of three. Apparently, the governor believes a family of three making $6,000 a year is simply too rich to receive Medicaid.I simply can't imagine what it must be like to be so lacking in human compassion and decency that you could even suggest something like this.
Monstrous.
(The comments at the linked post are filled with plenty of fat hatred; proceed with caution.)
Number of the Day
7.2%: "No American president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt has won a second term in office when the unemployment rate on Election Day topped 7.2 percent."
Meanwhile...
The economic recovery is faltering, and Washington is running out of ways to get it back on track.Spoiler Alert: Austerity doesn't work.
Two bright spots over the past few months — manufacturing and job creation by private companies — both slowed in May, according to new reports Wednesday. The data come amid other reports of falling home prices, declining auto sales, weaker consumer spending and a rising pace of layoffs.
...Just a few months ago, the economy seemed poised to finally strengthen. Business confidence was rising, and extensive government efforts to foster growth were underway. But those hopes are being dashed. Forecasters who once projected economic growth of 3.5 to 4 percent for the year have slashed their estimates with each round of disappointing numbers.
Instead of accelerating, the U.S. economy is puttering along at a growth rate of 2 to 3 percent — barely enough to bring down joblessness slowly, if at all.
Someone in the general vicinity of the White House had better develop an appetite for progressive economic policy—and fast.
Windows 8
Get your sneak peak here: "The fundamental goal with the new operating system, which is being shown for the first time at D9, is to create something that is equally well at home on an 8-inch tablet as it is on a powerful desktop attached to a huge monitor."
I know this is heresy to both Mac purists and PC purists, but I own Mac products and I own Android products and I own Windows products, and I'm glad they all exist in the world, because they keep making each other better.
The Perilous Consequences of Climate Change Denialism
Peter Daou's got a must-read post [TW for reference to sexual violence at the link] rounding up some of the recent sobering assessments of climate change and how denialism about climate change is akin to birtherism—but with more deadly consequences.
Daou also makes a good observation about the politics of climate change, and how the Democrats' unwillingness to challenge denialism head-on is allowing it to proliferate:
What's demoralizing about the entire climate debate is that President Obama and Democratic leaders have squandered a great opportunity to expose the Tea Party's dubious underpinnings. Anti-environmentalism is the GOP's Achilles' heel, since it has no basis in rationality and imperils humanity's future.In this reverberating silence, we witness the endgame of selling out the Democratic Party to the same corporate interests of which the Republican Party has long been a wholly-owned subsidiary: There is no one left to argue that policy changes and cultural shifts should follow in the wake of a catastrophic environmental disaster, because no one wants to hurt the fee-fees of the unethical but deep-pocketed megacorp that caused it.
...Democrats should hammer the GOP on the environment, pounding them on their irresponsibility, accusing them of endangering our children. The Gulf spill should have been a turning point, a powerful revival of the environmental movement. Instead, the White House worked with BP to bury the story, believing it would be a drag on Democrats' electoral prospects. The Gulf calamity wasn't something to run away from but something to use as an example of the recklessness of the right's embrace of ignorance.
Anyway, go read the whole post here.
Question of the Day
Thanks Anyway
President Obama has proclaimed June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month.
Look, it's not that I'm ungrateful for the proclamation; it's very nice, and compared to other administrations in the past, it's better than what we've gotten. Some presidents wouldn't even say the word "gay" or consider appointing an LGBT person to a position in their administration. And it's not that I don't welcome the support of political leaders; it's better than the alternative, where presidents openly campaigned for a constitutional amendment to ban us from getting married. And it's not that I mind a nice parade with a lot of nice people having fun. But I don't think I'm alone in saying that rather than having a parade or a week or a month proclaimed as Gay Pride, I'd rather have the basic rights that I'm entitled to, such as marriage, inheritance, adoption, insurance coverage, and all the other things that every citizen takes for granted.The story of America’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community is the story of our fathers and sons, our mothers and daughters, and our friends and neighbors who continue the task of making our country a more perfect Union. It is a story about the struggle to realize the great American promise that all people can live with dignity and fairness under the law. Each June, we commemorate the courageous individuals who have fought to achieve this promise for LGBT Americans, and we rededicate ourselves to the pursuit of equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Since taking office, my Administration has made significant progress towards achieving equality for LGBT Americans. Last December, I was proud to sign the repeal of the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. With this repeal, gay and lesbian Americans will be able to serve openly in our Armed Forces for the first time in our Nation’s history. Our national security will be strengthened and the heroic contributions these Americans make to our military, and have made throughout our history, will be fully recognized.
To quote Benjamin Franklin in 1776, it is "like calling an ox a bull. He's thankful for the honor, but he'd much rather have restored what's rightfully his."
Cross-posted from Bark Bark Woof Woof.
Quote of the Day
"All I can tell you today is what I've learned, what I have discovered as a person in this world, and that is this: You can't do it alone. As you navigate through the rest of your life, be open to collaboration. Other people and other people's ideas are often better than your own. Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life."—Amy Poehler, during her address to Harvard's Class of '11 grads on Class Day.
You can watch the entire address here. (If anyone can locate a transcript, please leave a link in comments.)
"Because I was afraid of worms, Roxanne! Worms!"
For the first time, scientists have found complex, multi-celled creatures living a mile and more below the planet's surface — raising new possibilities about both the spread of life on Earth and potential subsurface life on other planets and moons.Get a robot with a pickaxe to Mars, STAT! I will not be satisfied until there can be an actual documentary named The Worms from Hell from Mars!
Nicknamed "worms from hell," the nematodes, or roundworms, were found in several gold mines in South Africa, where researchers have also made breakthrough discoveries about deep subterranean single-cell life.
...The research is likely to trigger scientific challenges and cause some controversy because it places far more complex life in an environment where researchers have generally held it should not, or even cannot, exist.
...[One of the lead researchers, Gaetan Borgonie of the University of Ghent in Belgium] said that while nematodes are known to exist on the deep ocean floor, they have generally not been found more than 10 to 20 feet below the surface of the ground or the ocean bed. However, he saw no reason why they wouldn’t be found further down. The nematodes he ultimately discovered live in extremely hot water coming from boreholes fed by rock fissures and pools.
..."What we found shows that harsh conditions do not necessarily exclude complexity," Borgonie said.
[H/T to @peterdaou.]
I Write Letters
Dear Keith Mason,
I understand you & your group, Personhood USA, have the notion to make it so constitutions everywhere give full person-rights to fertilized eggs. Now, I can get behind the idea that "a person's a person, no matter how small". Shout-out to Dr. Seuss, yo! But. Your ideas? Unmitigated horseshit. So before you (and your supporters) go imposing your unscientifically-founded boilerplate into law: I have a few questions for you.
Won't hold my breath,
Me
P.S. I look forward to seeing you be the first one in line, if your laws pass, at the government's new Mandatory Organ Donation & Harvesting Office, since you obviously support such an idea, amirite?
Whoooooooooops
Good news: "The Health and Human Services Department is telling the state of Indiana that its Medicaid plan, which bans funding to Planned Parenthood, is illegal and must be changed. ... The notification comes after Indiana passed a law banning federal funding to Planned Parenthood, and as other states consider similar bans. Indiana can change its plan to conform with federal law, or the state could face penalties."
Well done, Obama administration.
Film Corner!
[Trigger warning for violence and sexual harassment.]
A year ago, I wrote about New Line's "workplace murder comedy" Horrible Bosses, which was billed as the story of "three best friends who, frustrated by their jobs, come to the conclusion the only solution is to kill one another's bosses." Obviously a hilarious premise, because workplace violence (particularly committed by entitled, aggrieved, disgruntled white men) is such an extraordinary absurdity that it's totes appropriate for a punchline.
Well, the garbage film has finally been made and is scheduled for release this summer.
Kevin Spacey is a horrible boss at CubicleCorp who forces his employee Jason Bateman to drink 18-year-old Scotch at 8:15am, because "if you want a promotion, you gotta earn it." Jason Bateman complains about his horrible boss to his friends Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day while they're out drinking. Charlie Day is a dental hygienist working for Jennifer Aniston, DDS, who sexually harasses him at work. Despite the fact that he is evidently distraught by it, his good pal Jason Sudeikis says, "You know, yours doesn't sound all that bad," because women sexually harassing men is totes hilarious. (No, it's not.) Heads up, Disgruntled Emailers!
Jason Sudeikis works for Colin Farrell (oh dear), whose horribleness is meant to be evident in his combover, at the Usedcaraporium, and he is told to "trim the fat" by firing all the fat employees, staring with a woman Colin Farrell refers to as "Large Marge." Jason Sudeikis is scandalized! Well, his character is. Jason Sudeikis the Actor actually requires plethoric fat jokes in any script he accepts. True fact.
Jason Sudeikis says to his BFFs, "You would have to admit our lives would be easier if our bosses weren't alive." So true! Except for how they'd probably just have to get shitty jobs at other garbage companies with other crappy bosses—which is, come to think of it, maybe a better solution to their conundrum than MURDER.
More evidence their bosses are horrible: Kevin Spacey passes Jason Bateman over for a promotion; Colin Farrell is ableist; Jennifer Aniston, DDS, has committed sexual assault against her employee while he was unconscious. The discovery of this impropriety prompts Charlie Day to quit, file a police report, hire an attorney, and start job-hunting. HA HA JUST KIDDING! He yells, "I'm in! Let's kill this bitch!"
The Three Murderteers discuss how best to murder their bosses. They hire Jamie Foxx as their "murder consultant." According to IMDb, his character's name is Motherfucker Jones. Sure. He tells them, "You want to pull off a brilliant murder, then it's gotta look like it's an accident." Solid advice. Classic inside-murderball stuff. This murder consultant is worth every penny already!
Montage of the Three Murderteers being inept at trying to do murders. If you think that Jason Sudeikis is attracted to Jennifer Aniston, DDS, sexual harassment vixen, you're WRONG! Just kidding. You're right. You're totally right.
Other stuff. Bachman Turner Overdrive's "Taking Care of Business." Obviously. Car chase. A car spin-out while everyone inside screams. Don't let anyone tell you that doesn't get funnier the forty-seventh time you've seen it. Cops. Jason Bateman is asked to explain why he was doing 61 in a 25mph zone. "I was drag racing," he says. "In a Prius?" asks Officer Ron "Tater Salad" White. "I don't win a lot," says Jason Bateman.
BAM! Comedy gold.
This is so the worst thing you're going to read all day.
Did I say worst? Whoooooooooooops. I meant most hilarious: Hollywood Hates Conservatives.
For now, I will set aside my continued amazement that, in spite of its being an unceasingly vomitous font of sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, ageism, ablism, fat hatred, and other sundry bigotries and hostilities, and in spite of the consistent examples that its major players will exchange all decency and conscience for a big paycheck, and in spite of its ubiquitous thinly-veiled version of the conservative veneration of Teh Market, merely substituting ticket-buying filmgoers for marketeers with the same intractable insistence on ignoring the commentary provided by who isn't participating in their rigged game, and in spite of the plethoric evidence that films like Norma Rae* are huge and notable exceptions, not the rule, and for every Norma Rae there are 100 The Hangovers, and for every Matt Damon there are 1,000 Dane Cooks, Hollywood is nonetheless yet regarded as a bastion of liberalism.
And I will merely make the observation that well-known conservatives like Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, Gary Sinise, Angie Harmon, Tom Selleck, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Drew Carey, and Clint Eastwood, who has actually held office as a Republican, don't seem to have any problem getting work.
Maybe, just maybe, some of the people whom Ben Shapiro interviewed for his book (which sounds great, by the way) are having problems getting work for reasons of talent (or one of the many other fair and unfair reasons actors are passed over), rather than their political views.
And, hey, if acting isn't working out, there's always NRA chief, US Representative, Governor of California, or Most Beloved Conservative President of All Time.
--------------------------
* Hello, that was made when I was five.
If Corporations Can Now Be People...
...can people now be corporations? Because I'd love to have an effective tax rate of less than zero.
Wednesday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by Shaxco, makers of Deeky's Cat-Proof Tie Racks.
Recommended Reading:
New Black Woman: [TW for sexual violence and body policing] General Admits "Virginity Checks" Done on Egyptian Women
Renee: What's in a Name?
Arturo: Race + Comics: DC Promises a 'More Diverse' Do-Over on Infinite Earths
Meowser: Goats Are My Heroes; Or, How What I Don't Know Keeps Biting Me
Andy: Cain, Palin See Big Gains in GOP Presidential Polling in Iowa
Resistance: Meet Ernestine Shepherd
Phil: Hey, I Published a Recipe
Leave your links and recommendations in comments...
Republican Logic
Obviously the best way to stop all those welfare hand-outs making people rich across the country is to punish the people who need a social safety net the most:
Saying it is "unfair for Florida taxpayers to subsidize drug addiction," Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday signed legislation requiring adults applying for welfare assistance to undergo drug screening.Shaming is not an incentive. It's a disincentive, and it's a totally ineffective one, at that.
"It's the right thing for taxpayers," Scott said after signing the measure. "It's the right thing for citizens of this state that need public assistance. We don't want to waste tax dollars. And also, we want to give people an incentive to not use drugs."
Under the law, which takes effect on July 1, the Florida Department of Children and Family Services will be required to conduct the drug tests on adults applying to the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. The aid recipients would be responsible for the cost of the screening, which they would recoup in their assistance if they qualify. Those who fail the required drug testing may designate another individual to receive the benefits on behalf of their children.Oh, good. That definitely sounds like a fool-proof system that will never be abused by people who take advantage of addicts at the expense of their children.
Shortly after the bill was signed, five Democrats from the state's congressional delegation issued a joint statement attacking the legislation, one calling it "downright unconstitutional."Excellent points. Btw, Reps. Alcee Hastings and Corrine Brown are both members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who no doubt are keenly aware of the implicit and effective racism in this bullshit legislation, in a state in which 38% of black children and 25% of Latin@ children live in poverty (versus 12% of white children).
"Governor Scott's new drug testing law is not only an affront to families in need and detrimental to our nation's ongoing economic recovery, it is downright unconstitutional," said Rep. Alcee Hastings. "If Governor Scott wants to drug test recipients of TANF benefits, where does he draw the line? Are families receiving Medicaid, state emergency relief, or educational grants and loans next?"
Rep. Corrine Brown said the tests "represent an extreme and illegal invasion of personal privacy."
"Indeed, investigating people when there is probable cause to suspect they are abusing drugs is one thing," Brown said in the joint statement. "But these tests amount to strip searching our state's most vulnerable residents merely because they rely on the government for financial support during these difficult economic times."
So what is it that could have convinced Governor Scott to break with the Republican Party's unwavering support of privacy and civil liberties (lulz) in order to sign legislation which is anathema to every professed tenet of personal liberty (lulz) his party espouses?
Controversy over the measure was heightened by Scott's past association with a company he co-founded that operates walk-in urgent care clinics in Florida and counts drug screening among the services it provides.Oh. Right.
Number of the Day
39%: The percentage of the world's wealth held by the top 1% of households, according to a study published this week.
The number of millionaire households across the globe increased 12 percent in 2010, according to The Boston Consulting Group report, increasing millionaires' share of wealth from 37 percent in 2009.Good thing there's no chance of implementing economic policies that would begin to address that inequity in this country!
Despite being at the epicenter of the global financial meltdown, the United States had by far the most millionaires last year, with 5,220 millionaire households, and increase of 1.3 percent from the previous year.
Japan was second with 1,530 and China third with 1,110.
The Weiner Thread
[Trigger warning for sexual harassment.]
So, I've been following this story about Rep. Anthony Weiner allegedly tweeting a picture of his (?) erect penis in his underwear to a 21-year-old college student in Seattle, a story first published by Andrew Breitbart's "Big Government" website, which, as noted by Raw Story, has "had serious credibility issues in the past." Weiner asserts that his Twitter account was hacked: "The wiener gags never get old."
I have no idea whether the story is true, although I will flatly admit that I hope it isn't. I'll also add that it doesn't make a whole hell of a lot of sense to me that a sophisticated and high-profile Twitter user like Weiner would use the medium to send out pictures of his schlong.
Anyway, here's a thread for discussion. Other links that may be of interest: This blogger asserts the photo was faked. The statement from Gennette Cordova, the recipient of the photo from Weiner's Twitter account, is here. And TPM's got a write-up of Weiner's media strategy.
Two Facts
1. When I wrote passionate criticisms of a Republican president who was at turns hostile or indifferent toward reproductive rights, I was a principled feminist progressive whose contempt was regarded as understandable, expected, and admired.
2. When I write passionate criticisms of a Democratic president who is at turns hostile or indifferent toward reproductive rights, I am a stupid ingrate who takes things too personally and whose contempt is regarded as exasperating, inappropriate, and unhelpful.
[Related Reading.]
Question of the Day
What word or phrase did you misunderstand as a child or even as an adult?
We've done this one before, but I was reminded this morning by Shaker Mary Moylan that, when I was a kid, I thought the idiom "going to hell in a hand basket" was "going to hell in a ham basket." I wondered for years WTF a ham basket was.
We're Thinking...Beige
According to Rolling Stone, Fox News chief Roger Ailes is so afraid of "those gays" that he made sure his corner office had extra security features to protect himself.
Barricading himself behind a massive mahogany desk, Ailes insisted on having "bombproof glass" installed in the windows - even going so far as to personally inspect samples of high-tech plexiglass, as though he were picking out new carpet. Looking down on the street below, he expressed his fears to Cooper, the editor he had tasked with up-armoring his office. "They'll be down there protesting," Ailes said. "Those gays."What is he so afraid of; that a band of gay terrorists are going to sneak into the place and redecorate it?
HT to TPM.
Cross-posted from Bark Bark Woof Woof.
Film Corner!
Know what's even worse than an insufferable dudebro comedy that objectifies women and treats having sex with them as a trophy for being a Nice Guy…? An insufferable Christian dudebro comedy that objectifies women and treats having sex with them as a trophy for being a Nice Guy. With what appears to be a budget of five bucks.
This, Shakers, is a real thing in the world:
It's all a big party set to "You Can't Hurry Love" as our protagonist, Jack, high-fives his office mates at CubicleCorp, and says, while lounging in his desk chair looking self-satisfied, "Do you realize what I've achieved?" Onscreen text informs us: "Jack saved himself for marriage." Back to the montage of Jack fist-bumping and dancing with his coworkers, because that's obviously something coworkers do. He says, in voiceover, "Only three percent of Americans have accomplished what I've done."
What—don't you and your coworkers keep tabs on what percentage of Americans do and do not have sex before marriage? You and your coworkers are so weird. They've got Excel spreadsheets for that shit at CubicleCorp. True fact.
Jack's sassy female coworker—who, because this is a Christian dudebro comedy for affluent white people, obviously cannot be black or gay and thus is the white conservative Christian equivalent: a white woman who is middle-aged and thus axiomatically meant to be read as unattractive and thus unfuckable—peeks around the border of her cubicle to quip, "And three percent of accountants haven't even kissed a girl!" I guess this is what passes for a "joke" among abstinence-promoting white conservative Christians.
Onscreen text informs us Jack "can't wait for the wedding night." He looks at himself in his dresser mirror and says, in what I think is supposed to be a movie voiceover voice, "He remains a virgin no longer." And then does some other dumb shit, like makes muscles at himself and recreates an iconic scene from The Karate Kid substituting "clothes on, clothes off" for "wax on, wax off." He also sings "Let's get biblical!" to the tune of Olivia Newton-John's 80's
Hey, makers of Christian cinema—you realize that inserting allusions to heathen films and songs in your pictures might make people seek out those films and songs, or remember them, and realize that they are SO MUCH BETTER, right? (P.S. Awesomely current references.) Anyway.
Onscreen text: "But on his wedding day…" This is followed by a scene of Jack being left at the altar. Onscreen text: "Jack is going to play…" Jack watches his bride depart with another dude, possibly one who isn't treating her virginity like a door prize, and says to his friend to the sound of a deflating erection, "I'm not going to do it tonight, am I?" Onscreen text: "The Waiting Game."
That is the game Jack is playing, and it is also the name of this shitty, shitty film.
Some more things happen. Jack—who is a GREAT ACTOR, by the way—goes all rebel sex fiend and complains to his friend, "I'm so frustrated. You know, I'm just going to do what I want to do anyway. It's not like it's going to wind up on the front page of the newspaper." But wait! Noted sex scandalist Ted Haggard is at the next table! He leans over and says, "Hey, buddy—I wouldn't do that if I were you." HA HA! Way to make lemonade out of snorting meth off a lemon's ass, Reverend Cameo.
Jack tells his friend about a series of terrible dates while they play Wii. Obviously he cannot fall in love with a woman who has hairy toes, or sings off-key, or doesn't act Christian in the One Right Way to Be Christian, of which Jack is the arbiter no doy. WHY WON'T GOD SEND HIM A PERFECT WOMAN TO FUCK?! DOESN'T HE DESERVE AT LEAST THAT—A PHYSICALLY PERFECT WOMAN TO BE HIS WIFE FOR ALL ETERNITY?! GOD!!!
Are you there, God? It's me, Jack.
Hang on a second! Jack bumps into a girl he knew from school. She is also a great actor, FYI. Montage of Jack falling for her and trying to make out with her, while she remains totally oblivious. Not like her attention matters: God has matchmade this perfect match for Jack, to reward him for not having sex with any other ladies, so her will is obviously totes irrelevant.
Montage of stupid garbage scenes, set to some barfy Christian music.
Also some awesome jokes, like two dudes hugging, and HEY YOU DON'T HAVE TO WAVE YOUR WII CONTROLLER AROUND SO WILDLY IF YOU'RE PLAYING CHESS! Jack, you scamp.
Onscreen text: "Abstinence never felt so good. TheWaitingGameMovie.com." Sure.
[Commenting Guidelines: Please refrain from making comments that treat being sexually active as "normal," or, conversely, being sexual abstinent for any reason as "abnormal." The topic of the post is not individual choices or orientations regarding sexuality. On-topic discussion for this post is how a specific flavor of Christianity, and, by extension, this film, treats women's virginity as (literally) God's gift to men who remain "virtuous" by practicing abstinence until marriage. Also on-topic: How much ass this movie sucks. H/T to Deeks.]
Update on Manal al-Sharif and #women2drive
by Shaker Moderator Aphra_Behn
[Trigger warning for misogyny, religious oppression, violence.]
Last week, I wrote about Manal al-Sharif, the Saudi IT specialist who was jailed for driving herself, and then uploading the video to YouTube. (You can watch a CNN story about the case here.
I'm very happy to report that, following a petition to King Abdullah, she has been freed and reunited with her 5 year-old son. She has signed a pledge to abandon the driving campaign, a pledge that, according to friend and fellow activist Wajeha al-Huwaider, was almost certainly a condition of release. Ms. al-Huwaider noted: "I am sure they told her we shouldn't continue with this issue. They told me that and the message was clear to me. I am sure for her it was even stronger."
It's unclear what will happen with the women#2drive campaign. Ms al-Huwaider said the fight will continue, "but in different ways." It's clear the issue isn't going away anytime soon, and it's also clear how laughably false the early reports were that Ms. al-Sharif had broken down in prison, repented of driving, and stated: "I advise girls of my generation to rally behind our leadership and Ulema. They know better than us about our condition. " And if you believe that, I have this awesome bridge to sell you. (Not surprisingly, her lawyer refuted the account.)
According to blogger Aseen Usmani, other, equally false rumors swirled around the country as Ms. al-Sharif waited in prison:
Many of those opposing women driving claim that it is a Zionist/Western/ Iranian/Shia conspiracy to disrupt Saudi society and corrupt the morals and honour of Saudi women. It is also said that any woman who speaks out for lifting the ban is not a pure Saudi but rather a woman who is nontribal or an immigrant, because "no pure Saudi woman wants to drive."
It speaks to how serious the problem is when the opposition simply cannot conceive that that many Saudi women have independently become frustrated at being unable to drive themselves. It speaks to how deep the prejudice runs when it is easier to believe in a foreign conspiracy than in mothers who want to take their children to the hospital, professionals who want to drive themselves to work, and students who want to transport themselves to university. It speaks to male leaders who are profoundly out of touch with the realities of women's lives when a cleric propses that women share breastmilk with their drivers (and co-workers) as a "solution" to the problem of women being alone with an unrelated man. (Breastfeeding children has long conveyed a familial relation in Islam, allowing men to interact with the milk-mother as if she were a close female relative.) Such suggestions aren't mainstream, for obvious reasons, but as the fabulous blogger Saudiwoman points out, the fact that this is even a topic of debate speaks volumes about the way that male clerics are not paying attention to women's realities:
The whole issue just shows how clueless men are. All this back and forth between sheikhs and not one bothers to ask a woman if it is logical, let alone possible to breastfeed a grown man five fulfilling breastmilk meals. As I’m writing this, I’m cringing at just the thought of it... Breastfeeding a baby is hard work and it takes a toll to be able to produce enough for a one year old, I can't even imagine how much a thirty year old would need. Women do not produce breastmilk on demand.
(I highly recommend her entire blog. Her reporting and analysis have been absolutely invaluable as an English-language source for Ms. Al-Sharif's case.)
Additionally, the reaction of some conservative religious leaders to the issue of women driving continues to be very negative. According to news reports, prominent cleric Abdel-Rahman al-Barak has said that women who drive in defiance of the ban are "opening (the doors) of evil." He elaborated: "they will die, God willing, and will not enjoy this." (More background on al-Barak and his resistance to change can be found here.) Although he is not a government official, he is described as a highly influential leader of the most conservative clerics, whose support the government needs. Of course, there are other clerics in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia who disagree , and women may legally drive throughout the rest of the Muslim world. It remains to be seen if Saudi conservatives will continue to win this argument, as they have for decades, or if times really are changing.
I don't pretend any expertise in Saudi politics, but those who do suggest that this is a potentially volatile period in which the Saudi government is actively working to counter the regional revolutions which are undoing the old alliance of "moderate" Arab states, and threatening to strengthen the position of Iran. What does this mean for #Women2drive?
Pessimistically, it could mean the end of the campaign. More optimistically, it could also mean that the government will seek a face-saving way to implement women's driving, if it were seen to strengthen the country internally. Writing an editorial in the Arab News, Ms. Tala Al-Hejilan makes this point, stressing that, while Saudis are not threatening mass protests, the legalization of women's driving would lead to a more peaceful and productive society. It would, she notes, lessen the number of foreigners (supporting a campaign for Saudization) by reducing the number of foreign drivers in the country, would help families save money, and increase the productivity of Saudi workplaces.
However things go, Ms. al-Sharif's official statement (English translation thanks to Zaki Safar) upon release was clearly designed to be non-inflammatory. While she may have personally abandoned the cause, she nowhere states that women driving is undesirable:
Concerning the topic of women's driving, I will leave it up to our Leader in whose discretion I entirely trust, to weigh the pros and cons and reach a decision that will take into consideration the best interests of the People, while also being pleasing to Allah, and in line with Divine Law.
Again, I'm not an expert, but it strikes me this is not an abandonment of her cause, but merely a politic relocation of it within a conservative discourse emphasizing respect for authority. Ms. al-Sharif also answers her critics, stating:
…never in my life had I been anything beside a Muslim, Saudi woman who aspires to remain in God's good graces and to safeguard the reputation of our beloved country....I was stunned to learn of the accusations hurled at my religious and moral beliefs especially that they originated from individuals I least expected to go down that route. I held my breath for those speaking in the name of religion and others-May Allah guide them rightly-to do me some justice, and that if I had done wrong to blame me only accordingly and fairly, without defaming my faith, creed, and moral system. For at the end of the day I'm everyone's sister and daughter. Yet how could they wound their sister and daughter with such charges?
Positioning herself as a sister and daughter, and specifying that she is not a foreign agent nor a non-Muslim woman, seem to me very carefully chosen words that emphasize this campaign is truly coming from the ground up.
For her actions, Ms. al-Sharif could have lost custody of her son, her job, and her freedom. For her own safety and the good of the cause, it seems that she will now choose to take the back seat (so to speak) in the #women2drive campaign. It's not clear what will happen next, but it is clear, from Facebook and Twitter, that Saudi women are not giving up on driving anytime soon. I've been reading women's accounts of learning to drive, right now, and it's clear that some, at least, are hoping for rapid action. I frankly admire the courage and enthusiasm these women express in the face of so much criticism and danger. One commenter in a pro-driving Facebook group even suggested a motto for the campaign: "Yalla (Let's go!)... drive!"
Yalla, indeed.
Note: While I was writing, this went up. It's pretty much the most recent English-language roundup of media relating to the case, including a subtitled version of Ms. al-Sharif's original video. Definitely give it a look if you're interested in this case.
