likesunday

Well, damn, I AM a feminist

I came across a decently put together article (supported by, gasp, numerical facts) on how women's wages are slipping despite previous years of (moderate) increase. Naturally, I was interested, being a professional, working woman who has 1st hand seen all manner of sexism in the work environment (not necessarily towards myself). I took it as a social litmus test of how role shifts are settling and unsettling, basically re-shuffling into a new paradigm.

But I didn't honestly feel like I was hated because I had a innie rather than an outie until I read the comments. I really like the woman who suggested the word 'female' be replaced with 'black' to illustrate just how accepted it is to downgrade women.

Add to that the Muslim religion, even more debasing than Judeo-Christian role demands to females, has just overtaken as the world's largest following and...

And what? Can't stand on a mountaintop and shout inequalities, that would make me 'an angry feminazi'. Can't point out that women work full time AND STILL in the lion's share of cases play the primary parental role AND do on average 10 more hours of housework than their male counterparts regardless of work time outside of the home (meaning, all things being equal).

I don't know that anyone still gives a shit about lame jokes or typical ogling (and those that do are likely the very ones making it harder for the rest of us)- but the constant expectation that one should be silent and roll with it- hell, believe often times it's done as a test just to see if you can hang with the boys or if you're going to go 'tell' (like the veep comment)- is maddening. And to read bile indicating a woman should just feel privileged to have been let into the room instead of doing her civic duty by staying home and breeding and if she makes anything at all it's by the good grace of her male peers...

Well, damn, what century- or, all things considered- what decade are we dealing with?

Yep, just like that.

Stiches, I tell ya.

[source]

On a serious note- terrible things in Myanmar...can kvetch all we want about the current political situation here, but worlds away from this sort of oppression.

I don't hold much stock in these things, but for whatever the token's worth: Free Burma.

Guess a few days early, but Thursday, here's the idea (from the site):

Take part in this action for a Free Burma!

1. Publish a posting (Bulletin Board, Forum, Blog, Social Network, Static Website…) on the 4th of October with the header: “Free Burma!”

2. Tag it if you can with “Free Burma”

3. Choose a grafic from our Grafics page and

4. Link to www.free-burma.org there your readers will find some informations about the campaign and Burma and a participant list which you can join. Even if you're a webmaster of a bulletin board or social network you will find a special Group List to join.

5. Feel free to write any additional text you want

If you have no website or blog we need you even more: Please help us to spread the word while commenting on other blogs with our message/link, posting on forums, guestbooks and message boards, tell your neighbours, friends or kids and first of all: Sign our list of participants!

Hey- no one ever said spelling 'graphics' incorrectly limits one from being an agent of social change!

Head in the clouds

A stroll to Skippy, the Bush Kangaroo this evening has unveiled a pretty decent shaming of fellow bloggers on the 'left', in regards to the Jena Six story.

I admit, I saw maybe one tagline for it, thought 'interesting name', and never looked further. The fact that there was a significant protest with such small coverage is actually shocking, especially with the topic of latter day Jim Crow tactics.

The Asinine Tag Goes to...

Right now, at 8:11PM AZ time, msnbc.com has a video link entitled- I shit you not- "Is Obama Black Enough".

Some suggested titles for their roll out of cheap shot articles-

"Is Hillary menopausal enough?"

"Is Romney faithful enough to wear magic underwear while conducting affairs of state?"

"Is Guiliani dressing up in lace enough?"

"Is Mrs. Edwards close enough to dying to help her husband's campaign?"

Feel free to contribute your own 'hopelessly in bad taste and completely lacking in value" headline, I'm sure there are far better. However, it will be a feat beating the msnbc jackasses.

Free Speech- Common Sense- Asplodes

A straight-A student turns in his homework for a creative writing class. The content has shades of violence- but no threats against anyone- so the school does the sensible thing and kicks him out.

A 'creative writing' class. Kids can shank others walking to school, or directly torment or bully- but Lord forbid if a written character does anything unseemly.

So, beware all you authors who write of  stories with rapes and attacks and bandits and generally anti-social behavior. Are we really far from bestsellers turning into platforms for prison sentences?

See, "Brave New World" was about what not to do, you freakin' morons.

Want to stop kids killing each other? Police the schools- make them check their weapons at the door, not their thoughts. Not their creative outlets which could very well be saving them. Incent parents to be more involved in their children's education and after-school activities. Private schools generally do a very good job of this- must be that $$ factor, if you're paying for something you naturally look for that ROI. I don't hear about the St. Mary's School for Girls calling in for gun crackdowns or the Xavier Academy getting students ending up in tent city.

I just hope that's not just a matter of time. I've found a Great charter I want my son to go to- I'd like to believe it will be a vast improvement and tons safer than the local schools that have numerous gang problems and- from a decent amount of publicized feedback- disinterested parents AND teachers.

However, I want him to know how to think critically, not just to rely on rote answers. Part of that is awakening his creativity, and also a love for sports (it's difficult not to learn on your own how to handle a ball kicked- hard- in your direction or a softball lobbed at your head, with an audience to boot). A love for literature. Music.

And not just safe music, writings, sports.

People have lost their damn minds

Bus driver nearly fired for wearing Santa Hat while working. The issue? A little boy on the bus doesn't believe in Santa Clause, and his parents actually called and complained. Putting the "Bah" in "Bah Humbug". [from Fark]

All I want for Christmas is momma to stay locked up. How does one get the gall to appeal holding down your daughter so she can get molested so you can make $20 a 'session'? Shouldn't she have been shanked by now?

In local news- in my small-ish town, we have an online forum where people can post, lost pets and the like. Reading through the Pet forum (my dog had dug her way out from under the fence again and this is where one goes to see if the animal hospital or others have found your pet- she's happily back home), it turns out a few nights ago a family woke up about 3am to hear horrible screaming from a dog. By the time they got dressed and ran out to see what was going on (these guys were out in the country a bit, about 8 miles south of town), they sadly discovered they were too late. A greyhound dog, in a sack, dead but even worse, skinned. These bastards skinned the poor beast alive and dumped it off. The family did see a dark coloured pick up, extend cab with contractor rack, drive off, so the police have a lead. Maricopa (the city, not the county) is home to a number of Greyhound breeders, one of which has been cited in the past for killing un-needed dogs (un-performing).

It apparently isn't unusual that the dog be skinned; breeders are required by law to tattoo dogs with their brand or tag, so that is one extreme way to deal with that. The other, more common way (I've learned), is to cut the dog's ears off and dump them in the desert, dead or still living.

If the vets and others who post at this site can be believed (I haven't gone searching for statistics because I know I'll get too upset, angry), 30,000 Greyhounds are bred every year. Now I know very few who actually own these dogs so can only imagine what happens to those that aren't used for racing and those who are and turn out too slow.

I mention all this because I still meet people who don't think dog racing is evil. It shouldn't have to be, but with no checks in place for the treatment and care of these animals there's little onus for reform by those who skin dogs alive. 

Some educational links from same source:

http://www.grey2kusa.org/

http://www.greyhounds.org/gpl/contents/educate.html

http://www.hsus.org/pets/issues_affecting_our_pets/running_for_their_lives_the_realities_of_greyhound_racing/

http://www.hsus.org/pets/issues_affecting_our_pets/running_for_their_lives_the_realities_of_greyhound_racing/greyhound_racing_facts.html

So Life-like!

Get your own Disappearring Civil Liberties Mug!

As a case in point, learn what other goodies your new 'compromise legislation' affords.

Not a law?

Did you know that it is illegal to prevent (within the States) a U.S. citizen from boarding an airplane if they don't have  Gov't issued identification?

Interesting read. Not sure I'd ever have the balls to try it- and just as big a hassle for me as everyone else if I did- but vaguely gratifying in some way that I could.

Requiem.

"When the Levees Broke: a Requiem in Four Acts", currently in HBO programming for September, is simultaneously an indictment, a a funeral for a friend, a celebration (of culture), and ultimately heart-breaking.

An interesting tie to Big Oil in this story I did not know. I'm betting you don't, either, unless you are from there or you've watched this documentary. This could easily have been entitled, "The Rape of a People"...not just African-Americans (but as 70% of the pop. of NO, mostly), but of the citizens of the state of LA. That Big Oil tie may have you seeing this whole tragedy in a new light.

A couple of weeks ago, I was curious, and went searching for public accounts of how Katrina affected them. I was stunned. Sickened. Many of us watched terrible things unfold on our tv screens, helpless, even more helpless when accounts of rapes, of killings and other atrocities were reported. Then, about a week or so later, the Damage control team set in, reassured the Public at Large these were grossly inflated accounts. That the Superdome experience was not the horror reported, only one meal a day and babies dehydrating- myth, legend. These public accounts tell a very different story.

I'd try and go back, link some of these sites for you, but I'm heartsick at the moment and don't think I could handle the exercise. That does not mean I don't think you should take a bit of time to search these recants out yourself. You will know them by the anger, the grief, the loss of faith. Some pretty big names out there reporting these stories, with the same tales.

Why bother? Why, to make it better, of course. To not be the person to glibly decry that these people are 'making out pretty good'. To support the cause of rebuilding.

To vote with this in mind. Every Time.

Slippery Slope

All right, all you Constitutionalists- why am I reading the following only on liberal outlets [from the Washington Post]:

White House Proposal Would Expand Authority of Military Courts August 2, 2006

R. Jeffrey Smith

The Washington Post

A draft Bush administration plan for special military courts seeks to expand the reach and authority of such "commissions" to include trials, for the first time, of people who are not members of al-Qaeda or the Taliban and are not directly involved in acts of international terrorism, according to officials familiar with the proposal.

The plan, which would replace a military trial system ruled illegal by the Supreme Court in June, would also allow the secretary of defense to add crimes at will to those under the military court's jurisdiction. The two provisions would be likely to put more individuals than previously expected before military juries, officials and independent experts said.

The draft proposed legislation, set to be discussed at two Senate hearings today, is controversial inside and outside the administration because defendants would be denied many protections guaranteed by the civilian and traditional military criminal justice systems.

Phones wire-tapped without due process, citizens stripped of right to bear arms, and unconstitutional (if you consider the Supreme Court still having right to make that call- if left to the people, do you really think it would have been different?) detaining methods, all piling up in the last few months.

Whilst their civil liberties were eagerly beset upon by Bigger than Big Government, the people slept soundly in their apathy cocoons, confident that nothing could ever happen to them.

History books remained tightly shut, when they weren't surreptitiously revised.

All of them took care to read the same News feed approved by Administration propaganda denizens.

They rejoiced at the tightening rein on free speech on televison and radio programming. Making the culture 'kid-friendly' in every possible way equated to a safer World.

Those who showed the Truth, which has both darkness and light- and at times darkness prevailing- became either harbingers of treasonist intent or made into demi-gods of buffoonery.

This people needed a sanitized World, where only those unlike them deserved to die, where only their God deserved to win, and no one need inherit a better Earth to inhabit than their parents.

Imbed the chip, take your stabilizing pill, and think back how cute protest marches seemed through a historic filter of people actually giving a rat's ass.