It's dark. The only light is coming from the Xmas lights around the stage and the exit sign. It's been forever since I've been here. Maybe even longer. Right now I can't remember why.
Then it comes to me as I scan the crowd for him. It's the possibility that he will be here. That I will be confronted with the past that I yearn daily to obliterate. That perhaps just maybe after all this time he will recognize me and start to cross the crowd to say hi. How are you. And the hatred on my face will be visible or I will start to cry.
Or maybe, just maybe, I won't feel a thing.
And we will be civil, like adults should be in these situations.
Luckily the situation doesn't present itself.
11.23.2009
10.27.2009
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33486372/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/27/california.gang.rape.investigation/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
http://www.contracostatimes.com/top-stories/ci_13644237?nclick_check=1
A lot has been said about how to prevent rape. Women should learn self-defense. Women should lock themselves in their houses after dark. Women shouldn't have long hair and women shouldn't wear short skirts. Women shouldn't leave drinks unattended. Fuck, they shouldn't dare to get drunk at all.
Instead of that bullshit, how about:
If a woman is drunk, don't rape her. If a woman is walking alone at night, don't rape her. If a women is drugged and unconscious, don't rape her. If a woman is wearing a short skirt, don't rape her. If a woman is jogging in a park at 5AM, don't rape her. If a woman looks like your ex-girlfriend you're still hung up on, don't rape her. If a woman is asleep in her bed, don't rape her. If a woman is asleep in your bed, don't rape her. If a woman is doing her laundry, don't rape her. If a woman is in a coma, don't rape her. If a woman changes her mind in the middle of or about a particular activity, don't rape her. If a woman has repeatedly refused a certain activity, don't rape her. If a woman is not yet a woman, but a child, don't rape her. If your girlfriend or wife is not in the mood, don't rape her. If your step-daughter is watching TV, don't rape her.
If you break into a house and find a woman there, don't rape her. If your friend thinks it's okay to rape someone, tell him it's not, and that he's not your friend. If your "friend" tells you he raped someone, report him to the police. If your frat-brother or another guy at the party tells you there's an unconscious woman upstairs and it's your turn, don't rape her, call the police and report him as a rapist.
Tell your sons, god-sons, nephews, grandsons, and sons of friends that it's not okay to rape someone.
Don't just tell your women friends how to be safe and avoid rape. Don't imply that she could have avoided it if she'd only done/not done x, y, or z. Don't imply that it's in any way her fault. Don't let silence imply agreement when someone tells you he "got some" with the drunk girl. Don't perpetuate a culture that tells you that you have no control over or responsibility for your actions. You can too help yourself. Rape is not about sex, it's about control and power, and what kind of power comes from taking advantage of others? No power anyone should ever desire.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/27/california.gang.rape.investigation/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
http://www.contracostatimes.com/top-stories/ci_13644237?nclick_check=1
A lot has been said about how to prevent rape. Women should learn self-defense. Women should lock themselves in their houses after dark. Women shouldn't have long hair and women shouldn't wear short skirts. Women shouldn't leave drinks unattended. Fuck, they shouldn't dare to get drunk at all.
Instead of that bullshit, how about:
If a woman is drunk, don't rape her. If a woman is walking alone at night, don't rape her. If a women is drugged and unconscious, don't rape her. If a woman is wearing a short skirt, don't rape her. If a woman is jogging in a park at 5AM, don't rape her. If a woman looks like your ex-girlfriend you're still hung up on, don't rape her. If a woman is asleep in her bed, don't rape her. If a woman is asleep in your bed, don't rape her. If a woman is doing her laundry, don't rape her. If a woman is in a coma, don't rape her. If a woman changes her mind in the middle of or about a particular activity, don't rape her. If a woman has repeatedly refused a certain activity, don't rape her. If a woman is not yet a woman, but a child, don't rape her. If your girlfriend or wife is not in the mood, don't rape her. If your step-daughter is watching TV, don't rape her.
If you break into a house and find a woman there, don't rape her. If your friend thinks it's okay to rape someone, tell him it's not, and that he's not your friend. If your "friend" tells you he raped someone, report him to the police. If your frat-brother or another guy at the party tells you there's an unconscious woman upstairs and it's your turn, don't rape her, call the police and report him as a rapist.
Tell your sons, god-sons, nephews, grandsons, and sons of friends that it's not okay to rape someone.
Don't just tell your women friends how to be safe and avoid rape. Don't imply that she could have avoided it if she'd only done/not done x, y, or z. Don't imply that it's in any way her fault. Don't let silence imply agreement when someone tells you he "got some" with the drunk girl. Don't perpetuate a culture that tells you that you have no control over or responsibility for your actions. You can too help yourself. Rape is not about sex, it's about control and power, and what kind of power comes from taking advantage of others? No power anyone should ever desire.
10.22.2009
AlterNet: Rape Is a Pre-Existing Condition? The Heartlessness of the Health Insurance Industry Exposed
Ok, now this is just downright insane. I cannot believe that the insurance companies can do this. And if the reforms don't put a stop to it, I think I am going to move abroad.
-------------------------------------
Rape Is a Pre-Existing Condition? The Heartlessness of the Health Insurance Industry Exposed
http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/143426
By taking anti-AIDS medicine after a rape, Christina Turner discovered that she had made herself all but uninsurable.
-------------------------------------
-------------------------------------
Rape Is a Pre-Existing Condition? The Heartlessness of the Health Insurance Industry Exposed
http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/143426
By taking anti-AIDS medicine after a rape, Christina Turner discovered that she had made herself all but uninsurable.
-------------------------------------
GIST: 38 of 365
1. OUR HEAT WORKS NOW!!
2. Picking pumpkins with Alexis and Louisa yesterday.
3. The color gray.
4. Emails from abroad.
5. Dinner with a good friend.
2. Picking pumpkins with Alexis and Louisa yesterday.
3. The color gray.
4. Emails from abroad.
5. Dinner with a good friend.
10.19.2009
just decide already
Why is it that I cannot make a decision, be done with it and be content?
Instead, I spend countless hours fretting over whether I have made the right choice. I become anxious about each one, lest I do the wrong thing and end up disappointing someone else. And instead I am constantly disappointed.
So my life is full of regret. Every decision analyzed and re-analyzed. Always looking back, poring over past decisions, wondering what my life would have been like if I had gone in another direction.
If only I had fought to be a biology major instead of giving up and studying art.
If only I had made better choices with the men I have dated.
If only I hadn't stayed so long in doomed relationships.
If only I had been more willing to work on others whose flaws I allowed to overshadow their strengths.
If only I had been more aggressive in job searches instead of taking the first ones found and offered.
If only I had learned how to live within my means instead of getting so far into debt I can't see out of the hole.
An I know that there is nothing I can do about the past. I can only look forward and try to make better choices in the future.
Which is a problem in itself.
I just cannot seem to live in the present. To take things as they come. To stop wishing that my life will start and live in the moment. Carpe diem and all that. And while I know a lot of things about myself, I don't know why this is. And I don't begin to know how to figure it out.
Instead, I spend countless hours fretting over whether I have made the right choice. I become anxious about each one, lest I do the wrong thing and end up disappointing someone else. And instead I am constantly disappointed.
So my life is full of regret. Every decision analyzed and re-analyzed. Always looking back, poring over past decisions, wondering what my life would have been like if I had gone in another direction.
If only I had fought to be a biology major instead of giving up and studying art.
If only I had made better choices with the men I have dated.
If only I hadn't stayed so long in doomed relationships.
If only I had been more willing to work on others whose flaws I allowed to overshadow their strengths.
If only I had been more aggressive in job searches instead of taking the first ones found and offered.
If only I had learned how to live within my means instead of getting so far into debt I can't see out of the hole.
An I know that there is nothing I can do about the past. I can only look forward and try to make better choices in the future.
Which is a problem in itself.
I just cannot seem to live in the present. To take things as they come. To stop wishing that my life will start and live in the moment. Carpe diem and all that. And while I know a lot of things about myself, I don't know why this is. And I don't begin to know how to figure it out.
10.14.2009
10.13.2009
GIST: 37 of 365
1. Big Bang Theory!
2. Sending back the Dollhouse DVDs to Netflix and...
3. Getting the first three of Supernatural: Season 3 next.
3. My haircut is still making me happy. Thanks Doug!
5. The crisp fall weather that we're having.
2. Sending back the Dollhouse DVDs to Netflix and...
3. Getting the first three of Supernatural: Season 3 next.
3. My haircut is still making me happy. Thanks Doug!
5. The crisp fall weather that we're having.
10.12.2009
GIST: 36 of 365
1. Contemplation of the past in order to make better choices in the future.
2. I thought about what I would want to study if I went back to school.
3. I looked into the federal student aid I can possibly receive if I go back to school.
4. Red Velvet Cake Balls!!
5. I do not have a migraine today (as of right now) unlike the past two days.
2. I thought about what I would want to study if I went back to school.
3. I looked into the federal student aid I can possibly receive if I go back to school.
4. Red Velvet Cake Balls!!
5. I do not have a migraine today (as of right now) unlike the past two days.
A brief history of me.
Jobs Wanted, Any Jobs at All
This piece made me think about how I felt when I graduated from college and how I still feel about myself and my "career."
I don't remember receiving any career advice along the way. I had next to no idea about what I was going to do to support myself. I stayed on over the summer after my graduation working nights in the Public Safety office and sleeping the days away in a basement dorm room that had no air conditioning. I had very little human contact, but I planned a roadtrip. I tried, studiously, to avoid thinking about a future beyond that. I surfed the internet, I pored over maps and I pretended that everything would just fall into place when it was supposed to.
Then the summer ended and I had to go home. I hated home. So, I drank too much. I still hated home. I worked for a few weeks as the secretary of my parents' church and I was hung over every day.
I went on my roadtrip. I drove from the east coast to the west coast and back with my best friend.
At times it was liberating... and frustrating... and joyful... and depressing. But, mostly it was painfully beautiful. And I wanted so badly to never come home, to never have to make a decision about what to do with my career or anything else, and to stay out there in the great wide open. We camped under the stars and in the snow, wandered around National Parks and big cities, visited oceans and lakes and rivers, hiked in deserts, mountains and forests.
And sometime during the trip, I think that it was in New Mexico, I decided that I wanted to be a park ranger.
This piece made me think about how I felt when I graduated from college and how I still feel about myself and my "career."
I don't remember receiving any career advice along the way. I had next to no idea about what I was going to do to support myself. I stayed on over the summer after my graduation working nights in the Public Safety office and sleeping the days away in a basement dorm room that had no air conditioning. I had very little human contact, but I planned a roadtrip. I tried, studiously, to avoid thinking about a future beyond that. I surfed the internet, I pored over maps and I pretended that everything would just fall into place when it was supposed to.
Then the summer ended and I had to go home. I hated home. So, I drank too much. I still hated home. I worked for a few weeks as the secretary of my parents' church and I was hung over every day.
I went on my roadtrip. I drove from the east coast to the west coast and back with my best friend.
At times it was liberating... and frustrating... and joyful... and depressing. But, mostly it was painfully beautiful. And I wanted so badly to never come home, to never have to make a decision about what to do with my career or anything else, and to stay out there in the great wide open. We camped under the stars and in the snow, wandered around National Parks and big cities, visited oceans and lakes and rivers, hiked in deserts, mountains and forests.
And sometime during the trip, I think that it was in New Mexico, I decided that I wanted to be a park ranger.
Meet The Barry Twins, New York City's Newly Famous Job Seekers [Big City Liv...
Sent to you by Sadie via Google Reader:
via Jezebel by hortense on 10/10/09
Kristy and Katie started out at Marietta College in Ohio , N.R. Kleinfeld of the Times tells us, but transferred to Rutgers' Newark campus during their junior year. They hoped to obtain journalism jobs in New York City after graduating in May or 2008, but the job market has made that virtually impossible, and the twins are now in the same position as many of their peers; straddled with thousands of dollars in student loans and a degree that isn't taking them where they'd hoped it would.
Kristy currently makes $800 dollars a week as a bartender. Katie, on the other hand, was fired from her bartending job "after landing in Cancun to begin a vacation. Her boss said she played the music too loud." Times commenters, reading the piece, seemingly wanted to fire her from this article for taking a vacation in the midst of what is played up to be the job search of her life, which I suppose is a somewhat fair argument.
At one point, Kleinfeld notes that "their dream is to work together in sports reporting or have a TV show, but they are flexible. They talk of teaching piano, or inventing, say, a lipstick-case microphone." The first time I read this, I laughed, hard. The second time I read it, I rolled my eyes. The third time I read it, I just sighed and felt a bit sad. It's not bad to have dreams, mind you, but these women are 24 years old, and the lack of reality in their grand plan strikes me as a bit tragic. Not only because it seems like their family is somewhat rooting for them to fail and come home to Ohio, but because, in many ways, they represent the lack of preparedness that many students have upon leaving college and striking out on their own for the first time.
There should be a required course for everyone during senior year of college called "Nobody Owes You Anything," wherein your professor informs you that the economy is terrible, the job market sucks, and your degree is no longer an instant ticket to a dream job. The course should also force students to come up with a backup plan (or several) should they find themselves in a position where they have to make ends meet while waiting for their big break to arrive. The Barry twins are trying to do this on their own, and while the article makes them sound enthusiastic and creative (Katie plays her sax in Times Square for business cards), they don't come across as terribly well-prepared. "I need a life coach to come in and tell me what I'm doing wrong," Katie admits.
And so the Times leaves us with this tale of two suburban girls, still struggling to find their way, paying nearly $3,000 a month in rent (along with their brother and his roommate), drinking Starbucks at every turn, and trying to figure out how to make it in the big city. It's a piece that pokes a little fun at everyone who watched a romantic comedy about makin' it in the big city and believed every word of it. It should be good for a few laughs, at least, but in the end, the reality of it kicks in, and suddenly it doesn't seem so funny after all.
Jobs Wanted, Any Jobs At All [New York Times]
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10.09.2009
GIST: 35 of 365
1. I brought my lunch today.
2. I made it to work on time.
3. I have an easy desk today.
4. Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize.
5. My cousin Jeff commented on a post I made and put up on facebook yesterday.
2. I made it to work on time.
3. I have an easy desk today.
4. Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize.
5. My cousin Jeff commented on a post I made and put up on facebook yesterday.
Barack Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize - NYTimes.com
Sent to you by Sadie via Google Reader:
via www.nytimes.com on 10/9/09
OSLO — In a stunning surprise, the Nobel Committee announced Friday that it had awarded its annual peace prize to President Obama "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." "He has created a new international climate," the committee said in its announcement. President Obama's name had not figured in speculation about the likely winner until minutes before the prize was announced here.
Likely candidates had been seen here as including human rights activists in China and Afghanistan and political figures in Africa.
The committee said it wanted to enhance Mr. Obama's diplomatic efforts. "We are awarding Obama for what he has done," the committee said. "Many other people and leaders and nations have to respond in a positive way" to President Obama's diplomacy.
The announcement noted the special importance the committee attached to President Obama's vision of a world without nuclear weapons. "Obama has as president created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play," the committee said.
Walter Gibbs reported from Oslo, and Alan Cowell from London.
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10.08.2009
Mind - When a Parent’s Love Comes With Conditions - NYTimes.com
Mind - When a Parent’s Love Comes With Conditions - NYTimes.com
I can't remember whether I read this and it spoke to me regarding my own parents or it was to be a lesson for me to take with me into parenthood (whenever that might come) but it was a great read.
I can't remember whether I read this and it spoke to me regarding my own parents or it was to be a lesson for me to take with me into parenthood (whenever that might come) but it was a great read.
Books - One Injury, 10 Countries - A Journey in Health Care - Review - NYTimes.com
Books - One Injury, 10 Countries - A Journey in Health Care - Review - NYTimes.com
looking for presents to buy me? look no further.
looking for presents to buy me? look no further.
Maps of the Seven Deadly Sins | FlowingData
Maps of the Seven Deadly Sins | FlowingData
While this is definitely not an accurate representation of the "seven deadly sins" it is still an interesting interactive.
While this is definitely not an accurate representation of the "seven deadly sins" it is still an interesting interactive.
The 50 best foods in the world and where to eat them | Life and style | The Observer
The 50 best foods in the world and where to eat them | Life and style | The Observer
Just what it says. I need to start traveling.
Just what it says. I need to start traveling.
Following Trash on Its Journey Through the Waste Disposal System - NYTimes.com
Following Trash on Its Journey Through the Waste Disposal System - NYTimes.com
This was a really interesting article about tagging solid waste and finding out exactly where it goes.
This was a really interesting article about tagging solid waste and finding out exactly where it goes.
9.18.2009
on community and my atheism
I have to say that "community" is the one thing that I miss about being an atheist. I cannot abide organized religion for the hypocrisy that members and leaders show (or the belief in deities) but losing the community they provide might be just as bad. There really isn't anything else like a congregation to espouse love of your fellow man. I am not saying that I need a God to fear to make me act in a moral manner, just that not having a stake in a community can have the same result.
We are way too isolated with our Blackberries and our computers and our iPhones and our video games. Online community is all well and good, but I think that we need actual face to face time as well. You cannot empathize if you haven't had contact with that to which your empathy should be directed and I think that there are too few online communities that translate themselves into flesh and blood groups.
We are way too isolated with our Blackberries and our computers and our iPhones and our video games. Online community is all well and good, but I think that we need actual face to face time as well. You cannot empathize if you haven't had contact with that to which your empathy should be directed and I think that there are too few online communities that translate themselves into flesh and blood groups.
Joe Wilson is Your Pre-Existing Condition
I had an interesting gchat with my roommate the other day about the use of mockery in politics after she sent me a website horribly mocking Joe Wilson and linking to the contribution page for his opponent. Now, I in NO WAY endorse what Rep. Wilson did, but to mock him and call HIM names for doing it does not further the discourse at all.
I have come to believe that in this day and age that mockery has no place in politics. When either side is calling the other a fool and much worse, there is no way that we will ever close the gulf between the two sides. There is no repect anymore for the other side's opinion. So why in the world would anyone deign to listen to what the other side has to say.
I have come to believe that in this day and age that mockery has no place in politics. When either side is calling the other a fool and much worse, there is no way that we will ever close the gulf between the two sides. There is no repect anymore for the other side's opinion. So why in the world would anyone deign to listen to what the other side has to say.
9.17.2009
9.11.2009
The idea of the "almighty market" is one of the great fallacies of American life.
And yet, criticize the "almighty market" and you get called a socialist, a communist, or a facist which evidently all mean the same thing.
I have no problem with being called a socialist. I think I am. I think that it promotes more equality than capitalism and I am with TJeff on the "all men are created equal" and "life liberty and pursuit of happiness" stuff. I just happen to think that "all men" means all people. I think that if more of us understood what socialism really meant then more people might identify with it.
Oh, wait, of course they wouldn't because we all want to live the American DreamTM. Which actually translates once again to make as much money as you possibly can, damn the consequences. And not that "citizens of every rank feel that they can achieve a 'better, richer, and happier life.'"
It has only helped to foster a classist society where the rich get richer and the poor die younger in larger numbers because they can't afford healthcare.
I'm sorry if this is ranty but the more I think about this whole healthcare "debate" the angrier I get. While society as it is with the privileged white man reaping all of the benefits may have been technically what was written into the Constitution, I would have hoped that as a society we woudl have gotten to a point where we coudl actually embrace the wider meaning of "men" by now.
(title taken from Charlie's comment on this post on It ain't all pizzas and cream.)
I have no problem with being called a socialist. I think I am. I think that it promotes more equality than capitalism and I am with TJeff on the "all men are created equal" and "life liberty and pursuit of happiness" stuff. I just happen to think that "all men" means all people. I think that if more of us understood what socialism really meant then more people might identify with it.
Oh, wait, of course they wouldn't because we all want to live the American DreamTM. Which actually translates once again to make as much money as you possibly can, damn the consequences. And not that "citizens of every rank feel that they can achieve a 'better, richer, and happier life.'"
It has only helped to foster a classist society where the rich get richer and the poor die younger in larger numbers because they can't afford healthcare.
I'm sorry if this is ranty but the more I think about this whole healthcare "debate" the angrier I get. While society as it is with the privileged white man reaping all of the benefits may have been technically what was written into the Constitution, I would have hoped that as a society we woudl have gotten to a point where we coudl actually embrace the wider meaning of "men" by now.
(title taken from Charlie's comment on this post on It ain't all pizzas and cream.)
9.10.2009
expectations
I watch a lot of tv. My therapist seems to think maybe I watch too much tv.
She's probably right.
I like the escape. I think it's better than my life.
My favorite shows are aimed at teenagers. Kids who have their lives ahead of them and will meet all of the expectations that they, and their parents, have laid out before them. Whether it's the job or the partner or whatever.
I am constantly wishing that I could go back and do it over. That I hadn't fucked it up then. That I could take advantage of the world of possibilities open to me. That I'd taken a different path, a better path. That I'd been charmed too.
And so, I think I have completely unrealistic expectations when it comes to the course my life has taken.
I desperately want to have the dream job that I can't wait to get to every morning and perfect children who do cute and funny things that I record meticulously on my blog which has thousands of readers. I want a sister and/or a brother who is insufferably witty and loves me for who I am and does everything to help me follow my dreams. I want grandparents who are richer than Donald Trump and want nothing more than to spend their every dime on me and a mother who is my best friend and a father who is fantastically successful at all he does. I want a huge extended family that loves and supports me no matter what. I want to be skinny and beautiful and wear all of the right stuff and mento find me incredibly attractive and smart. I want to be successful at everything I try.
None of these things is reListic on it's own, but all together? No one had that.
But, I feel like I EXPECT that these things can and will magically happen with little or no effort in my part and when they don't I feel like a failure.
So, I spend a lot of time feeling like a failure.
I compare myself to everyone around me. They all seem to have the things I want and don't know how to get. .
And then I think that I have this horribly mediocre life. Albeit with some pretty great friends but rhen there are the overpretective parents who can barely get by and want to know every derail of my life, four dead penniless grandparents, no siblings to count on, nor loving partner, and a job that is boring but just tolerable on the best of days.
Oh, yeah, and no motivation or ambition and a heavy dose of depression to boot.
So here I sit. Feeling old and hopelessly inadequate. All because of pop culture and my own lack of a feeling of self. And you would think that all of this would turn me against the teen comedies and dramas. But it's like a train wreck and I can't stop watching.
She's probably right.
I like the escape. I think it's better than my life.
My favorite shows are aimed at teenagers. Kids who have their lives ahead of them and will meet all of the expectations that they, and their parents, have laid out before them. Whether it's the job or the partner or whatever.
I am constantly wishing that I could go back and do it over. That I hadn't fucked it up then. That I could take advantage of the world of possibilities open to me. That I'd taken a different path, a better path. That I'd been charmed too.
And so, I think I have completely unrealistic expectations when it comes to the course my life has taken.
I desperately want to have the dream job that I can't wait to get to every morning and perfect children who do cute and funny things that I record meticulously on my blog which has thousands of readers. I want a sister and/or a brother who is insufferably witty and loves me for who I am and does everything to help me follow my dreams. I want grandparents who are richer than Donald Trump and want nothing more than to spend their every dime on me and a mother who is my best friend and a father who is fantastically successful at all he does. I want a huge extended family that loves and supports me no matter what. I want to be skinny and beautiful and wear all of the right stuff and mento find me incredibly attractive and smart. I want to be successful at everything I try.
None of these things is reListic on it's own, but all together? No one had that.
But, I feel like I EXPECT that these things can and will magically happen with little or no effort in my part and when they don't I feel like a failure.
So, I spend a lot of time feeling like a failure.
I compare myself to everyone around me. They all seem to have the things I want and don't know how to get. .
And then I think that I have this horribly mediocre life. Albeit with some pretty great friends but rhen there are the overpretective parents who can barely get by and want to know every derail of my life, four dead penniless grandparents, no siblings to count on, nor loving partner, and a job that is boring but just tolerable on the best of days.
Oh, yeah, and no motivation or ambition and a heavy dose of depression to boot.
So here I sit. Feeling old and hopelessly inadequate. All because of pop culture and my own lack of a feeling of self. And you would think that all of this would turn me against the teen comedies and dramas. But it's like a train wreck and I can't stop watching.
I was just reading a post over at It ain't all pizzas and cream and it got me to thinking again about the lack of empathy shown my so many people in this healthcare debate.
I've been thinking about this a lot recently. And while I think that a lot of what Charlie says is indisputable (esp. re: racism), I think that a large part of the problem is the overwhelming and incredibly misplaced belief that the market is king. We seem to believe that regulating industry, any industry, will compromise capitalism.
What follows is that we are taught, from birth, that us that we are, each of us, THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON ON EARTH and come hell or high water we are not going to let anyone or anything impinge upon our "god-given right" to a. assert this in any way possible and b. make as much money as we possibly can. And while we are all special, none of us has more intrinsic worth than another.
As much as I loathe to say this, I think that part of the problem is also the displacement of church, or more accurately, community and fellowship, as a mainstay of our life. I don't mean a belief in god or Jesus because I really don't think that there are really that many more non-believers than there ever were, but a gathering place where people meet one or more times a week for their entire lives. The fact that we don't know our neighbors means that it's easier to blame them than a corporation, which many times we see daily on TV or in print ads and may identify, due to marketing, as a friend, or at least as having our best interests at heart.
I've been thinking about this a lot recently. And while I think that a lot of what Charlie says is indisputable (esp. re: racism), I think that a large part of the problem is the overwhelming and incredibly misplaced belief that the market is king. We seem to believe that regulating industry, any industry, will compromise capitalism.
What follows is that we are taught, from birth, that us that we are, each of us, THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON ON EARTH and come hell or high water we are not going to let anyone or anything impinge upon our "god-given right" to a. assert this in any way possible and b. make as much money as we possibly can. And while we are all special, none of us has more intrinsic worth than another.
As much as I loathe to say this, I think that part of the problem is also the displacement of church, or more accurately, community and fellowship, as a mainstay of our life. I don't mean a belief in god or Jesus because I really don't think that there are really that many more non-believers than there ever were, but a gathering place where people meet one or more times a week for their entire lives. The fact that we don't know our neighbors means that it's easier to blame them than a corporation, which many times we see daily on TV or in print ads and may identify, due to marketing, as a friend, or at least as having our best interests at heart.
9.09.2009
MoveOn & R.E.M. Video: We Can't Afford to Wait
It's no secret that I love REM... and politics. This is one of my favorite songs, You Are the Everything. It's on Green, which was the first REM tape I bought, back in 7th grade, when I was desperately trying to be cool by pretending to like the bands the cool kids liked. Who knew that I would actually fall in love with their music.
Regardless, I found the audio and the accompanying video to be very powerful.
Regardless, I found the audio and the accompanying video to be very powerful.
How true this is
Times Columnist, Bob Herbert, hits the nail on the head in his latest Op-Ed column, It's Time to Get Help.
It seems like this happens all of the time with the Repubs when they aren't in the majority. They act like little children and refuse to participate in the conversation because it isn't going their way.
And unfortunately, even if the well informed spoke the truths loudly and clearly, the opposition would just dig in further and cover their ears, screaming "I can't hear you, I can't hear you," over and over again.
I find the lack of cooperation, while in no way new, to be dismaying and the blatant misinformation by members of the opposition to be downright alarming. The country seemed so very sure of what it wanted last November when it elected Democrats in such high numbers. It saddens me to see how the machine, perfected by Karl Rove, is disseminating such lies.
"There is no end to the craziness. The entire Republican Party has decided that it is in favor of absolutely nothing. The president’s stimulus package? No way. Health care reform? Forget about it."
It seems like this happens all of the time with the Repubs when they aren't in the majority. They act like little children and refuse to participate in the conversation because it isn't going their way.
"The wackiness is increasing, not diminishing, and it has a great potential for destruction. There is a real need for people who know better to speak out in a concerted effort to curb the appeal of the apostles of the absurd."
And unfortunately, even if the well informed spoke the truths loudly and clearly, the opposition would just dig in further and cover their ears, screaming "I can't hear you, I can't hear you," over and over again.
I find the lack of cooperation, while in no way new, to be dismaying and the blatant misinformation by members of the opposition to be downright alarming. The country seemed so very sure of what it wanted last November when it elected Democrats in such high numbers. It saddens me to see how the machine, perfected by Karl Rove, is disseminating such lies.
9.08.2009
Health Care Reform
I don't usually write posts like this and I feel a little weird doing
it now, but this subject is one that is very important to me...
I don't know how many of you feel on the subject of health care reform, whether you are for or against it, whether you believe there should be a single payer system or a public option or if we should just leave it alone and let the market do what it's been doing. However, I do know that you are all intelligent, caring adults who may have something to gain and much to lose if we don't change the way that we approach and pay for health care in this country.
Some facts:
If you have time, read one (or all) of these stories or go to the President's page on health care for more information...
Then, if any of this makes you angry or changes your mind about reform, please, do something about it.
And, if after reading any or all of this, you still don't think the need for reform is necessary and urgent, then think about me.
Because I am pretty uninsurable in the individual market.
I have Rheumatoid arthritis, which is pretty much under control, but which once on my health record, won't allow me to purchase a policy of any type for any price in most states. The only option for me then is individual state run insurance, if that is available to me in the state I am living in. In DC, CareFirst has a program through the city that will insure me. For a price. If not, my only other options are to be uninsured or make so little money that I qualify for Medicaid. I can't begin to think about leaving the "traditional" workforce to freelance my photography or start my own business, to go back to school full time, or to consider working for a very small business which does not carry insurance for its employees. I, and millions like me, am hindered in the pursuit of jobs and dreams because we can't afford to be uninsured and can't get or afford adequate insurance on our own.
Thanks for reading my rant. If nothing else, I hope you'll be better informed than you were ten minutes ago.
I don't know how many of you feel on the subject of health care reform, whether you are for or against it, whether you believe there should be a single payer system or a public option or if we should just leave it alone and let the market do what it's been doing. However, I do know that you are all intelligent, caring adults who may have something to gain and much to lose if we don't change the way that we approach and pay for health care in this country.
Some facts:
- A report from the American Journal of Medicine found that in 2007, 62 percent of declared bankruptcies were by people with staggering medical bills—even though 80 percent of them actually had health insurance.
- A report issued by the Department of Health and Human Services found that only 48 percent of working women are able to get health coverage at work compared with 57 percent of men. (That's mainly because women are more likely to work part time, which leaves them ineligible for insurance.)
- A recent national survey estimated that 12.6 million non-elderly adults5 – 36 percent of those who tried to purchase health insurance directly from an insurance company in the individual insurance market – were in fact discriminated against because of a pre-existing condition in the previous three years.6
- In most states’ individual insurance market, insurance companies can retroactively cancel the entire policy if any condition was missed – even if the medical condition is unrelated, and even if the person was not aware of the condition at the time. Coverage can also be revoked for all members of a family, even if only one family member failed to disclose a medical condition.10
- Seven falsehoods about health care reform
- Information about a single payer system though the whole site seems like a good resource.
- The President's page. There is a lot of information here as well as more personal stories.
If you have time, read one (or all) of these stories or go to the President's page on health care for more information...
- About a woman who had leukemia and how she became uninsurable...
- About a man who thought he was insured whose kidneys started to fail and how his "insurance" was able to deny his claims for treatment...
- About how individual insurance policies are written to deny specific types of care that they claim to cover...
Then, if any of this makes you angry or changes your mind about reform, please, do something about it.
Talk about it.
Blog about it.
Write or call your congress person or senator.
Blog about it.
Write or call your congress person or senator.
Write or call ALL of the congress people and senators.
Attend a town meeting.
Attend a town meeting.
And, if after reading any or all of this, you still don't think the need for reform is necessary and urgent, then think about me.
Because I am pretty uninsurable in the individual market.
I have Rheumatoid arthritis, which is pretty much under control, but which once on my health record, won't allow me to purchase a policy of any type for any price in most states. The only option for me then is individual state run insurance, if that is available to me in the state I am living in. In DC, CareFirst has a program through the city that will insure me. For a price. If not, my only other options are to be uninsured or make so little money that I qualify for Medicaid. I can't begin to think about leaving the "traditional" workforce to freelance my photography or start my own business, to go back to school full time, or to consider working for a very small business which does not carry insurance for its employees. I, and millions like me, am hindered in the pursuit of jobs and dreams because we can't afford to be uninsured and can't get or afford adequate insurance on our own.
Thanks for reading my rant. If nothing else, I hope you'll be better informed than you were ten minutes ago.
9.04.2009
What Makes Us Happy
This is a fascinating article in The Atlantic about a very long term study done on a group of Harvard graduates (unfortunately all male) over the span of 70 years.
Currently run by George Valliant who took over from Arlie Bock who began it in the 30's, the study “attempt[s] to analyze the forces that have produced normal young men.”
Currently run by George Valliant who took over from Arlie Bock who began it in the 30's, the study “attempt[s] to analyze the forces that have produced normal young men.”
ScientificAmerican.com: Depression's Evolutionary Roots
Depression's Evolutionary Roots
By Paul W. AndrewsJ. Anderson Thomson, Jr.
Two scientists suggest that depression is not a malfunction, but a mental adaptation that brings certain cognitive advantages
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=depressions-evolutionary&SID=mail&sc=emailfriend
© 1996-2009 Scientific American, Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
"Al Franken talks an anti-healthcare-reform mob down" on YouTube
Why can't the other senators and reps talk to their constituents with the same candor and respect and ACTUAL TRUE FACTUAL INFORMATION that Senator Fanken uses in this video?
9.02.2009
Cannot Find My Senator
To The Honorable Eleanor Holmes Norton:
I cannot find my Senator. I know why. I live in the District of Columbia. We don't have a Senator, let alone two, like everyone else in the country. So I am wondering, who do I write to in the Senate to voice my opinions about proposed legislation? Do the other Senators have a responsibility to listen to me and count me as one of their constituents? And not to be insulting, but who am I supposed to write to in the House of Representatives as you do not have a vote?
As I only recently became disenfranchised by moving into the District from Virginia (and before that I was a Marylander from birth), I am at a loss as to what to do. I suppose I could move away again, but that really wouldn't solve the bigger problem.
The city's unique status creates a situation where citizens in the District do not have full control over their local government, nor do they have voting representation in the body that makes such decisions.
Why is it that Congress get to make decisions that clearly could and should be made by the citizens of the District and we cannot even have the three votes every other citizen in the United States has to give us a say in that.
Thank you for your time, Congresswoman. I look forward to hearing from you on this issue.
Sarah Gray
--
Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker.
(What does not kill me, makes me stronger.)
I cannot find my Senator. I know why. I live in the District of Columbia. We don't have a Senator, let alone two, like everyone else in the country. So I am wondering, who do I write to in the Senate to voice my opinions about proposed legislation? Do the other Senators have a responsibility to listen to me and count me as one of their constituents? And not to be insulting, but who am I supposed to write to in the House of Representatives as you do not have a vote?
As I only recently became disenfranchised by moving into the District from Virginia (and before that I was a Marylander from birth), I am at a loss as to what to do. I suppose I could move away again, but that really wouldn't solve the bigger problem.
The city's unique status creates a situation where citizens in the District do not have full control over their local government, nor do they have voting representation in the body that makes such decisions.
Why is it that Congress get to make decisions that clearly could and should be made by the citizens of the District and we cannot even have the three votes every other citizen in the United States has to give us a say in that.
Thank you for your time, Congresswoman. I look forward to hearing from you on this issue.
Sarah Gray
--
Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker.
(What does not kill me, makes me stronger.)
The Public Option Prevents DIVORCE
via Jack & Jill Politics by CPL on 8/31/09
You read the title correctly, JJPers. And yet, it's not what you're probably thinking.
I'm thinking about those who are married and get the vow of "in sickness and in health" sorely challenged when one of the partners gets sick and his or her illness has major catastrophic consequences. Once again, hat tip to Nicholas Kristoff of the New York Times, via Crooks and Liars, where I found the following excerpt about a couple who are facing humungous medical bills and no health care coverage to pay for it:
My friend M. — you'll understand in a moment why she's terrified of my using her name — had to make a searing decision a year ago. She was married to a sweet, gentle man whom she loved, but who had become increasingly absent-minded. Finally, he was diagnosed with early-onset dementia.
The disease is degenerative, and he will become steadily less able to care for himself. At some point, as his medical needs multiply, he will probably need to be institutionalized.
The hospital arranged a conference call with a social worker, who outlined how the dementia and its financial toll on the family would progress, and then added, out of the blue: "Maybe you should divorce." (emphasis mine, WTF?)
"I was blown away," M. told me. But, she said, the hospital staff members explained that they had seen it all before, many times. If M.'s husband required long-term care, the costs would be catastrophic even for a middle-class family with savings.
Some of you have hollered that there's no legislation that's been signed yet, so we shouldn't worry about whether or not the Public Option is included until the bill is actually SIGNED INTO LAW.
To which I contend that if the Public Option is not included in the bill, by the time the bill is signed INTO LAW, IT WILL BE TOO LATE. And in the wake of the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy, what better time to press for the public option than RIGHT NOW?
Since I have worked in Federal Agencies and have interacted with people on the Hill who actually write legislation for a living, I sought out some of them to ask about the Public Option and when it should be included. All have said that waiting for the public option to be included after it becomes law IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN (Got this straight from John Conyers' office). All proposed legislation has to have what its going to have in it before it becomes law. Before it goes to a process known as "Mark Up", where the committees decide what's going to be in the bill and what's coming out of the bill. So, if the Public Option on Health Care Reform is not included at the time of Marking UP the Bill, it's not going to happen, people.
Therefore, we should consider that the Public Option is one way of protecting people from going into bankruptcy or home foreclosure, or being forced to get a divorce, because they are trying to cover medical bills of a catastrophic nature. The Public Option allows for preventative health care maintenance - being able to see your physician on the regular so they can catch those little hiccups before they become major medical issues. The Public Option may afford you a visit to a nutritionist so you can make low-fat versions of Big Mama's peach cobbler or sweet potato pie and low-sodium versions of Fried Chicken or collard greens, so you can be healthy while eating well.
Consider that if your spouse is diagnosed with early-onset dementia, like M's husband, the Public Option may help you stay married so you can care for your spouse, thereby honoring the marriage vow, "In Sickness and In Health".
I think we all agree that the Public Option is worth fighting for, because it benefits All of US. Those who fight so hard against it; instead of name-calling, I want you to tell me why you're against something that benefits All Americans, and be articulate about it, because the scary Sean Klannity/Lou Dobbs/Glen "I see scary Black People" Beck-talking points are not going to cut it anymore.
What kind of a nation we live in when those who need health care coverage the most, are going to be DENIED?
Who Owns Your Favorite Organic or Natural Food Company?
Check out this post on Eat. Drink. Better.http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2009/08/29/who-owns-your-favorite-organic-or-natural-food-company/
On the Death Penalty
Here is an story in the New Yorker about Cameron Todd Willingham. Read it with a hanky close by.
Click here: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/09/07/090907fa_fact_grann
'Katrina's Hidden Race War' from The Nation
Katrina's Hidden Race War by A.C. Thompson
This article can be found on the web at: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090105/thompson
This article can be found on the web at: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090105/thompson
8.30.2009
Two Anti-Health Care Reform Fallacies
Go read this on blurbomat.com
Two Anti-Health Care Reform Fallacies
8.29.2009
National Briefing | Midwest: Ohio: No Immigration Charges
National Briefing | Midwest: Ohio: No Immigration Charges
Federal authorities say there will be no charges against a Chicago food company whose southwest Ohio plant was the site of a major immigration raid in August 2007.National Briefing | Southwest: Texas: Agents in Raid Are Fired
National Briefing | Southwest: Texas: Agents in Raid Are Fired
The Texas liquor authorities fired two agents and a supervisor after a raid on a Fort Worth gay bar in which the agents roughed up several people.8.28.2009
8.27.2009
UConn Replaces Cheerleaders With Less Athletic "Spirit Squad" [No Cheers]
I'm not sure how i feel about this. isn't cheer-leading a legitimate sport (or as legitimate as say golf). This doesn't say whether a mostly women's varsity team was disbanded for a team of what seems to be smiling, friendly non-athletes. While there isn't anything WRONG with the replacement, per se, if it nixed a collegiate sport, that seems kinda wrong.
Sent to you by Sadie via Google Reader:
via Jezebel on 8/27/09
Christine Wilson, assistant vice president for student affairs and director of student activities, told The Hartford Courant that the school replaced the cheerleading team with the Spirit Squad because "we want people formerly called cheerleaders to focus in on building spirit at UConn, on spending time working on ways to engage fans and to really spread Husky spirit." The new team will wear outfits similar to what the cheerleaders wore, but will focus on leading crowds in interactive cheers and spend time in "tailgating areas handing out spirit buttons and other kinds of spirit supplies," at football games, men's and women's basketball games, and other school events. According to the Spirit Squad's website, "You will not need to have gymnastics, dance, or cheer experience to be eligible for the Spirit Squad."
Twenty-four men and women were recently selected to be on the Spirit Squad, but many of former cheerleaders didn't make it. Alanna Ferguson said she was selected to be a cheerleader as a freshman last year because of her gymnastic skills, but feels she wasn't picked for the Spirit Squad because the new team isn't looking for people with athletic ability. She said creating the Squad is like, "reverting back to the 1970s or 1980s, when cheering was more about getting with the fans and dancing around... They are disrespecting cheerleaders in general by doing this."
Many cheerleaders have fought to be seen as athletes rather than just sex symbols in recent years as cheerleading has come to involve more physically demanding stunts. (Especially since recent studies say that among female athletes cheerleading is now the leading cause of catastrophic injuries, including death, head trauma, and paralysis.) Neal Kearney, who resigned as UConn's cheerleading coach in June, said that in his 22 years on the job he saw cheering become much more physically demanding and it became harder to make the squad. "A lot of people came to the first day, saw how competitive it was and it dissuaded them from trying out," he said. "They needed to be grounded in gymnastics. You had to be able to do at least a round-off back handspring."
A statement released by the university explained the creation of the Spirit Squad saying,
"By changing the style, and not requiring gymnastics experience, we will be able to offer the opportunity to participate to a broader pool of students. Students who did not have a chance to 'cheer' previously, or students who are not gymnasts, can represent their college as 'spirit ambassadors.'"
According to an article published earlier this year in The Daily Campus, UConn's student newspaper, the cheerleading squad was facing a tough season in 2009-2010 because all six male cheerleaders graduated. While the author seemed most concerned that the female cheerleaders wouldn't be able to hurl free t-shirts past the first few rows of fans, he noted,
Stuntin' will no longer be a habit for UConn cheer. In fact, with such inexperience at the the base positions, it will be awfully hard to pull off the aerial stunts that have defined the squad in the past.
Some have suggested that the school wanted to open up the team to "a broader pool of students" because they couldn't find enough men who were strong enough and wanted to join the squad. But, Michael Downard, a former captain of the cheerleading team who graduated in 2005, said he believes having less emphasis on strength and athleticism will actually make men even less interested in joining the Spirit Squad. Plus, a simple solution to not having enough men to fill the base positions in stunts would be to recruit or train stronger women to do the job, as thousands of squads around the country perform stunts without male cheerleaders. Even if school officials weren't solely motivated by wanting to see less gymnastics and more dancing in skimpy uniforms, the decision was still sexist. Rather than than making the team even more physically challenging for female recruits and those already on the team, they decided that the spirit of UConn has nothing to do with showcasing the abilities of female athletes.
UConn Replaces Cheerleaders With 'Spirit Squad' [The Hartford Courant]
Spirit Squad FAQ [UConn.edu]
Cheerleading Is Leading Cause Of Catastrophic Injury In Young Women [Science Daily]
Looking Ahead For The UConn Cheerleaders [The Daily Campus]
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8.26.2009
Tim Wise breaks down the health care teabaggers and their racism game
Thank you Mr. Wise. I really wish I lived int he post-racial society that I was told about around the inauguration. That CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES are spewing this sort of racism and general hatred without being taken to task is a big way is reprehensible. Where is the MSM on this? Where are they on anything anymore? It seems to be all entertainment and lies. Where is s commitment to facts? To real reporting?
Sent to you by Sadie via Google Reader:
via Pam's House Blend - Front Page by Pam Spaulding on 8/26/09
Tim Wise, author of "White Like Me," and well-known anti-racist activist and member Anti-Racist Action calls out the obvious gigantic elephant in the room about these over-the-top, hysterical reactions from the winger/teabagger/birther crowd that hates Barack Obama with such a passion that they can't contain their racism as it oozes out of their sleazy pores with abandon. CNN's Don Lemon put him on and Wise didn't hold back.
WISE: Well, you know, not everyone who opposes the president's plan or him as an individual obviously is acting on the basis of racism. My argument is that there is a background noise of the hostility, that is, I think, about what I guess I would call white racial resentment.
Let me give you an example. We know in Missouri the other day, a white man goes, assaults a black woman, rips up her poster of Rosa Parks and then receives a huge ovation from literally hundreds of white folks in attendance for doing that.
And then as they haul her away, the police in the room, the security, haul her away, these white folks are applauding. She was assaulted, a picture of Rosa Parks ripped up. Meanwhile, there are white folks in the room with posters that refer to the president by the "N" word. No one seemed to care about that.
Secondly, we've got right wing radio talk show hosts who for months now have been playing the white racial resentment card to get their forces revved up. You have Glenn Beck saying just the other day on two occasions that the health care bill is really not about health care, it's Obama's way to get reparations for black people.
Now, that's absurd. What kind of reparations do you have to get sick first in order to get paid?
But when you say that and then you send these folks out there or Rush Limbaugh back at the end of May saying that Obama hates white people. Pat Buchanan saying that white men are, quote, "experiencing exactly what black people experienced during segregation" which is, of course, absurd. That kind of rhetoric underlying this opposition makes it very hard for me to think that race is not in the picture.
Have you noticed the MSM has been slow to hold any of the Republican leadership accountable for this outrage? John McCain feebly tried to shut down the crazies at his town hall, but these people are rabid. I mean come on, when is someone going to ask Michele Bachmann or the rest of her birther caucus agrees with their fellow elected birthers that the President needs to disclose whether he's circumsized or not -- as some of their Base has called for.LEMON: OK. So then if we're going to put blame on anyone's shoulders, whose fault is it anyway? Is it -- is it people just buying into the rhetoric? Or is it some of the people that you mentioned, some of the conservative talk show hosts there. Should they be more responsible with their language because people may be buying into what they're saying and not realizing that it's coded racism?
WISE: Well, words have consequences. And I think if you're going to have a microphone and you're going to speak to millions of listeners every day, you have a responsibility to, first of all, do your homework so you don't tell lies about the health care bill and act like they're going to kill grandma and then send Sarah Palin out there with a head full of nothing to tell lies to the American people.
And when you do that, don't be surprised when folks show up at these events and are throwing around buzz words like socialism, fascism, comparing Obama to Adolf Hitler. See, that too, I think, is very telling. Because when you portray Obama as Hitler, as some of these folks at these rallies have done, what you're saying, and this is very interesting, think about Hitler. We think of Hitler as not just a fascist, but a racial fascist.
So if what they're saying is, this man, Obama, is a racial fascist, the question that gets begged in a lot of white people's minds is, hmm, I wonder what race he's going to come for. Oh, yes, us, because Glenn Beck said it's reparations and Rush Limbaugh said Obama hates white people.
It gins up this type of hostility and really white racial paranoia and white racial resentment at a time when we need to be seriously talking about issues that face us as a nation and not being engaged in this kind of racial politics, but that's what's going on.
LEMON: And here's the thing, and what I think many people don't get is that just because you're on the side of the camera that I'm on doesn't mean that you're always going to be objective.
WISE: Right.
LEMON: And I don't mean -- you know, and a lot of people are. But it's a racket. It's a gimmick for some people who are into it to make their names bigger or make money for themselves. And the people who are buying into this stuff may not exactly realize that in this process.
WISE: It's a good point, Don. You know, there's about 40 years of research, for example, which has found that whenever we talk in this country about social program spending for the have-nots or those who have less in our society...
LEMON: Like I had one guest last night, said that it was -- said that it was health care welfare, which was an odd...
WISE: It is. It seems odd, but, see, that's the problem. Whenever we talk about any type of social spending, whether it's income support, housing support, nutrition support, or now health care support, there is a large percentage of white America, again according to 40 years of research, which hears black people. They hear Mexicans. They hear immigrants.
There is a perception, it's often very wrong, but there is a perception that when we talk about government spending for the have- nots, we're talking about taking from hard-working white people and giving to lazy black folks.
I would recommend that folks read Martin Gillen's book from the mid-90s called "Why Americans Hate Welfare," where he shows that the hostility to social program spending of any kind began in earnest in the early '70s which was precisely the moment where the media representations of poor people switched from being mostly white folks during the Depression, Appalachian poor during the Dust Bowl, to being mostly black folks. There is a racial component to that.
LEMON: Tim, I've got to run here, but just real quickly. I was at a town hall yesterday and I really had to take some people to task. They're very nice people, but they're using those buzzwords that I don't think people realize all the time like "real Americans" or "Give Me Back my America" was one of the songs or "Take Back America." It's like where has -- I don't -- what do you mean by that?
WISE: Well, when you stand up and you wax nostalgic and say things like I want the country that the founders envisioned, when the country the founders envisioned was a formal system of white supremacy, excuse me if I found it a little hard to think that race is not perhaps playing a pretty big role.
Hat tip, Racialicious.
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Teddy
I am greatly saddened by the death of Senator Kennedy. I can only hope that this will galvanize Congress to pass a healtchcare bill in his honor.
Teddy, as he was known, was privileged, in every sense of the word. And he made liberal use of his privilege, in ways I admired and ways I did not. The terrible bargain we all seem to have made with Teddy is that we overlooked the occasions when he invoked his privilege as a powerful and well-connected man from a prominent family, because of the career he made using that same privilege to try to make the world a better place for the people dealt a different lot.
Twice, Teddy did despicable things with his privilege, very publicly.
On Chappaquiddick Island, he drove his car off a bridge and made his way to safety; his female passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, drowned. I won't pretend to know if Teddy could have saved her, though I believe he would have if he could. What we all know, because he told us so, is that he fled the scene and did not call authorities until her body was discovered the next day, making it impossible to determine the extent of his responsibility with regard to alcohol consumption. His attorneys argued, and the Massachusetts Supreme Court agreed, that the inquest into Mary Jo's death would be held in secret. In the end, Teddy faced a two-month suspended sentence for leaving the scene of an accident, and no more.
In Palm Beach, Florida, two decades later, Teddy threw around his weight on behalf of his young nephew, William Kennedy Smith, with whom he'd been drinking the night William was accused of sexual assault. Though William had been accused of sexual assault multiple times before (and has been accused again since), Teddy vociferously protested his nephew's innocence and participated in the smear campaign against his accuser, who found herself pitted against the entire Kennedy clan and the enormous privileges its membership carries. Smith was found not guilty of all charges. His accuser's identity was made public.
Teddy's privilege allowed him to pull strings on his own behalf and on his nephew's behalf in criminal situations where one woman ended up dead and another raped. That is one of the many things the sort of limitless privilege like Teddy's allows—and he made use of it.
And I cannot forget it.
I can also not forget the myriad ways in which Teddy used his limitless privilege for the betterment of others, as Mustang Bobby so eloquently detailed. He quite genuinely cared about the poor, the sick, the needy, the dispossessed. He was an authentic progressive, who could acknowledge his own privilege and could stand in front of the Senate and talk about the privilege he had that people of color, LGBTQIs, and women lack. He was a great goddamn Senator—and would that the entire Senate, or even just the Democratic Caucus, was filled with people who were as passionate and progressive as he was.
It is much discussed that he felt burdened by being the torch-carrier for his fallen brilliant brothers, whose deaths and truncated potential haunted the entire nation. He had to do more than any other individual man, because he was living the life of three.
I suspect that Teddy, who knew himself well and could stare his flaws in the face, who carried the shame of his misdeeds in the furrow of his brow that never totally lightened even with a smile, also felt burdened by his own abuses of the privilege he knew he hadn't earned. It was there; he couldn't help himself using it, even when he knew he shouldn't have. And it hung on him, as well it should have.
He'd made a terrible bargain with himself, too.
Teddy's legacy, then, is complicated. A man of privilege, who used it cynically for his own benefit. A man of privilege, who used it generously to try to change the world and. And maybe to salve his own conscience. Even as he believed fervently in the genuine rightness of his endeavors—and certainly would have, even if there wasn't a scale to balance.
I have no tidy conclusion. It is what it is.
RIP Teddy. Thank you for your excellent service in the United States Senate.
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via Shakesville by noreply@blogger.com (Melissa McEwan) on 8/26/09
Senator Edward Kennedy was a tough guy. He was smart, tenacious, opinionated, strong in body, mind, and spirit. And I think because he was such a tough guy, he won't mind if I don't share my real and uncensored thoughts on the occasion of his passing.Teddy, as he was known, was privileged, in every sense of the word. And he made liberal use of his privilege, in ways I admired and ways I did not. The terrible bargain we all seem to have made with Teddy is that we overlooked the occasions when he invoked his privilege as a powerful and well-connected man from a prominent family, because of the career he made using that same privilege to try to make the world a better place for the people dealt a different lot.
Twice, Teddy did despicable things with his privilege, very publicly.
On Chappaquiddick Island, he drove his car off a bridge and made his way to safety; his female passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, drowned. I won't pretend to know if Teddy could have saved her, though I believe he would have if he could. What we all know, because he told us so, is that he fled the scene and did not call authorities until her body was discovered the next day, making it impossible to determine the extent of his responsibility with regard to alcohol consumption. His attorneys argued, and the Massachusetts Supreme Court agreed, that the inquest into Mary Jo's death would be held in secret. In the end, Teddy faced a two-month suspended sentence for leaving the scene of an accident, and no more.
In Palm Beach, Florida, two decades later, Teddy threw around his weight on behalf of his young nephew, William Kennedy Smith, with whom he'd been drinking the night William was accused of sexual assault. Though William had been accused of sexual assault multiple times before (and has been accused again since), Teddy vociferously protested his nephew's innocence and participated in the smear campaign against his accuser, who found herself pitted against the entire Kennedy clan and the enormous privileges its membership carries. Smith was found not guilty of all charges. His accuser's identity was made public.
Teddy's privilege allowed him to pull strings on his own behalf and on his nephew's behalf in criminal situations where one woman ended up dead and another raped. That is one of the many things the sort of limitless privilege like Teddy's allows—and he made use of it.
And I cannot forget it.
I can also not forget the myriad ways in which Teddy used his limitless privilege for the betterment of others, as Mustang Bobby so eloquently detailed. He quite genuinely cared about the poor, the sick, the needy, the dispossessed. He was an authentic progressive, who could acknowledge his own privilege and could stand in front of the Senate and talk about the privilege he had that people of color, LGBTQIs, and women lack. He was a great goddamn Senator—and would that the entire Senate, or even just the Democratic Caucus, was filled with people who were as passionate and progressive as he was.
It is much discussed that he felt burdened by being the torch-carrier for his fallen brilliant brothers, whose deaths and truncated potential haunted the entire nation. He had to do more than any other individual man, because he was living the life of three.
I suspect that Teddy, who knew himself well and could stare his flaws in the face, who carried the shame of his misdeeds in the furrow of his brow that never totally lightened even with a smile, also felt burdened by his own abuses of the privilege he knew he hadn't earned. It was there; he couldn't help himself using it, even when he knew he shouldn't have. And it hung on him, as well it should have.
He'd made a terrible bargain with himself, too.
Teddy's legacy, then, is complicated. A man of privilege, who used it cynically for his own benefit. A man of privilege, who used it generously to try to change the world and. And maybe to salve his own conscience. Even as he believed fervently in the genuine rightness of his endeavors—and certainly would have, even if there wasn't a scale to balance.
I have no tidy conclusion. It is what it is.
RIP Teddy. Thank you for your excellent service in the United States Senate.
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Just a stone throw from LA :: Color Me Green Nail Salon gets you off on the ...
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via The Organic Beauty Expert by Andrea Kane on 8/19/09
Money may be tight for some, but that hasn't stopped us ladies from making sure our hands and feet look good for sandal weather. Those of us out here on the left coast, know that every month is sandal month and luckily for eco savvy chicas in Manhattan Beach, CA there's Color Me Green Nail Salon.
Let me spell this out for you so you can your purse can understand... right now I spend $20 bucks for a pedicure where I bring my own nail polish, lotion and accessories. All this to insure that I have a green experience. You could say that I could simply do my own nails at home... unless you've seen the tragedy that are my feet after I wield the savage nail brush. Not pretty!
So what I wouldn't give to be able to pay $27 bucks for this salon's Fresh treatment. Matter of fact, their whole service menu is so reasonably priced and offer such wonderful treats, like soaking in bubbles of comfrey, aloe and chamomile, soy bamboo scrubs or a green tea foot masque... Oh baby, oh baby!
Sisters and Co-founders of Color Me Green, Helen Shelby and Sandra Miller, created a uniquely relaxing and environmentally conscious nail salon so you could pamper yourself while keeping your body and the earth just a bit safer. If thinking green means getting pampered by the world's best nail technicians, in a nail salon that resembles your living room, while you drink tea and eat fresh homemade cookies, why not?
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diy project: casey’s wallpaper file cabinet
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via Design*Sponge by grace on 8/26/09
casey at fossil (who is responsible for these great sneak peeks!) sent over this fun office-related diy project. looking to spruce up her drab file cabinet, casey used new handles and a wallpaper sample and a little mod podge to create a chic home-office friendly file cabinet. file cabinets are definitely an area designers have yet to really tackle, so it's great to have a fun way to spruce them up until we start seeing cuter options on the market. thanks, casey!
CLICK HERE for the full project after the jump!
Design*Sponge, 2009. | Permalink | 15 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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Islay to be entirely powered by tides
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via Environment news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk by Tim Webb on 8/26/09
Exclusive: ScottishPower is to build turbines in the Sound of Islay that will generate enough electricity for the island's 3,500 inhabitants – and its famous distilleries
ScottishPower is planning a tidal energy project that will supply all the electricity for one of Scotland's most famous islands, the Guardian can reveal.
The company is close to signing a supply contract with Diageo, the drinks group, to provide electricity from the project to eight distilleries and maltings on Islay – including the makers of the renowned Laphroaig and Lagavulin whiskies.
The 10MW tidal project, one of the world's largest, will provide enough electricity for Islay's 3,500 inhabitants for 23 hours a day.
ScottishPower will submit a planning application in the next couple of months and expects the ten 30-metre underwater turbines to be operational in 2011. The turbines will cost about £50m to install.
The tidal waters in the Sound of Islay, the channel dividing Islay from the Jura, move at up to three metres a second.
Energy companies and representatives from the Scottish government will publish on Wednesday a "marine energy roadmap" outlining how to reach the target of generating up to 2GW (2,000MW) of electricity from tidal and wave power by 2020. It will call for more grants and revenue support to enable developers to build commercial scale demonstration projects, such as the Islay installation, over the next two years.
The renewable energy industry admits the techniques to generate electricity from marine energy are in their infancy. Morna Cannon, from Scottish Renewables, said: "This makes it very hard to pin down the costs of the technology at the moment."
Alan Mortimer, head of renewables at ScottishPower, admitted tidal energy is more expensive than offshore wind, which costs up to £3m for each megawatt built and itself is only barely economic. Tidal developers earn more subsidies under the Renewable Obligation Scheme than offshore wind, but only once schemes are operational.
Marine energy developers such as Martin Wright, managing director of start-up company MCT, complain that few investors want to risk their money. But the Islay project has heavyweight backers. ScottishPower is owned by Spanish group Iberdrola and has teamed up with Norwegian oil firm StatoilHydro to develop and finance the project.
There is also strong support on the island, although it is by no means universal. Kevin Sutherland, manager of the Islay group of Diageo distilleries, works at the Caol Ila distillery, which overlooks the Sound. The distillery, like the rest of the island, gets the majority of its electricity from the Hunterston nuclear reactor on the mainland. But the reactor is being decommissioned in 2016 and the distillery suffers frequent power cuts in stormy weather when pylons are blown over.
When the tidal project is built, the distilleries on the island will enjoy a much more secure electricity supply, confounding critics of renewable energy – primarily wind power – who say it is intermittent and unreliable.
One of the biggest obstacles for renewables in Britain has been planning permission. Onshore wind applications are frequently rejected because locals object to the visual impact. Because the Islay generators will be on the seabed, no one can see them and the Scottish government will have the final say on planning.
Operating underwater brings its own problems, says Cannon from Scottish Renewables. George J Gillies is a local fisherman who fishes for crab and lobster at either end of the channel in winter. He complains that his lobster nets could get tangled in the turbines and says the project threatens the livelihood of eight local fishing families. But he seems resigned: "If it's going to generate money, it will get the go-ahead."
The Islay Energy Trust, a community organisation chaired by Philip Maxwell, has been helping to lobby local politicians and opponents of the project. In return, it will receive a small slice of the revenue to fund community projects on the island, such as a swimming pool.
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8.24.2009
"We’ll continue to have this kind of blatant discrimination against all women (even those that don’t plan on having children) until it’s equally possible and likely that a man will take parental leave as a woman is to take it. Sweden is on such a path. Couples get to split 18 months of leave any way they see fit. It’s part of the culture in Sweden that men should have just as much responsibility for raising a child as women (they’re not exactly there yet in practice, but they are making significant progress). It’s refreshing, it’s fair, and I think it makes the lives of families here that much better.
Trying to get the birth rate up may be one reason that European family policies are so generous, but it’s certainly not the only concern. Since WWII, most European citizens have come to a consensus that its the state’s responsibility to improve people’s quality of life and to provide a generous safety net. As their country’s get richer, their lives become tangibly better (more vacation time, more leave, shorter work days, free higher education, not to mention health care). In the U.S., our country has become richer and richer, yet it seems that only businesses and the already wealthy in our society benefit. The rest of us work longer and longer hours, pay outrageous amounts for health care (or are tethered to our employers just for the health benefits), pay more and more for higher education, make do with 10 days of vacation, if that, and take almost no parental or sick leave.
You can continue to believe that all of this self-sacrifice is what makes America so prosperous. But what exactly is prosperity if we have a much higher poverty rate in this country than almost any country in Europe? What does prosperity mean to the average worker, if in America you get 10 days off to enjoy that prosperity, but in Europe you get at least 4 weeks? How much better off are we, really, if American men almost never get the opportunity to nurture their own children at the very beginning of their newborn’s lives? I think we can do better."
From a commenter, Yelizavetta Kofman who works for the Lattice Group, on this entry at Matthew Yglesias's blog at ThinkProgress.
Trying to get the birth rate up may be one reason that European family policies are so generous, but it’s certainly not the only concern. Since WWII, most European citizens have come to a consensus that its the state’s responsibility to improve people’s quality of life and to provide a generous safety net. As their country’s get richer, their lives become tangibly better (more vacation time, more leave, shorter work days, free higher education, not to mention health care). In the U.S., our country has become richer and richer, yet it seems that only businesses and the already wealthy in our society benefit. The rest of us work longer and longer hours, pay outrageous amounts for health care (or are tethered to our employers just for the health benefits), pay more and more for higher education, make do with 10 days of vacation, if that, and take almost no parental or sick leave.
You can continue to believe that all of this self-sacrifice is what makes America so prosperous. But what exactly is prosperity if we have a much higher poverty rate in this country than almost any country in Europe? What does prosperity mean to the average worker, if in America you get 10 days off to enjoy that prosperity, but in Europe you get at least 4 weeks? How much better off are we, really, if American men almost never get the opportunity to nurture their own children at the very beginning of their newborn’s lives? I think we can do better."
From a commenter, Yelizavetta Kofman who works for the Lattice Group, on this entry at Matthew Yglesias's blog at ThinkProgress.
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