I Really Doubt There's An Audience Who Would Be 100% With Me On This One

Hi, I'm Tim. I'm engaged to be married to Cari, who posts for this blog much more regularly than I, but offered access to it for me for when I feel the need to pontificate in long, rambling entries about stuff that few people care about. For those of you who start reading this and have no idea what I'm talking about (probably most of you), I've made seven footnotes that refer to songs in a companion mix at the end of the post. Feel free to listen to the songs to help make sense of my rambling.

I used to have a blog of my own to put these entries, but when I realized it takes me a forever to make an entry (I started this one on October 26th) I felt defeated and shut down the blog. But here's a taste of what might have been if I kept it going:

...And Our Mascot is an Egret: A Nick Hornby Ripoff in Five Parts

Whatever comes before the prologue (or) Remember when they did this gag at the beginning of episodes of "Rocky & Bullwinkle?"

Every once in a while, I'll come across a certain item in my life that just seems to be connected to me in a seemingly random set of ways. Sometimes it's a person who has a lot of mutual friends/connections, sometimes it's finding out that two films I loved as a child were connected by their creators. In the past ten to fifteen years, I've noticed quite a bit of these odd connections with bands. Usually it's because I've tended to stick with certain labels/regions/scenes for extended periods of time. I think I bought my first release on K records about 12 years ago. Since then, I haven't ever stopped paying attention to their current and back catalogs.

In the past year or so, however, I've recently come back around on some music that I hadn't thought about in years and I'm making connections between bands and labels which I thought were not connected in any significant way. Since the whole nature of this post is about roundabout connections, I'll start my story on a completely unrelated tangent. That tangent is mid-90's twee-electronic act Land of the Loops. But to get to that point, I first have to talk about Kurt Cobain and Lollapalooza:

Prologue: Passing the torch of fandom to a generation too young to be trusted with anything flammable

The summer of 1995 changed my life. That year, the summer between my freshman and sophomore years in high school, my dad took me to Lollapalooza. Over the course of '93-'94 a friend had gotten me big into Nirvana. Anyone big into Nirvana at that time knew that Kurt Cobain glew with an aura of positive PR for his favorite bands, a glow that only intensified upon news his suicide. After Cobain's death, it became difficult as a 14 year old to listen to Nirvana records. Death is just not an issue a 14 year old boy wants to deal with. So what did we do? We scoured interviews, magazine articles, noted cover songs during radio-broadcasted Nirvana concerts. We learned what Cobain's favorite bands were and made them our favorite bands. My friend at the time sided with Mudhoney, I with Sonic Youth. My pilgrimage to the altera-rock festival a mere 15 months after Cobain's demise was by no means a luxury, it was my duty. By that time, a pretty significant portion of my CD shelf was filled with Sonic Youth discs. It was quite the feat, especially for someone who had no tangible income and financially struggling parents. The jury is still out as to whether I shoplifted any of the discs. If I did, I honestly don't remember, but I wouldn't put it past my teenage self. The act of obtaining these discs was obviously really tough for someone that young, especially in the pre-internet suburbs. This was why that when attending the Lollapalooza festival, I was just as excited to get a stack of CD catalogs as I was to see a bunch of my favorite bands.

For about the next year and a half, I only really existed between the pages of these catalogs. I'd estimate that 75% of the page space was taken up by t-shirts. Seeing the Pavement "Sunny Side Up" and "Pavement Ist Rad" shirts in so many catalogs probably did more to get me to the record store the day of Brighten the Corners' release than actually seeing the band at Lollapalooza. Each of these catalogs had a small area in the back dedicated to selling CDs, CDs that I never saw in the record stores I frequented. And they sold vinyl records, too.

Chapter 1: Multi-family mailorder (or) Singles for singles (couples dance only)

Most of my early time spent with these catalogs was mere window shopping. I knew that these periodicals were a gateway to something exciting, something alien to my entire current set of family and peers. Unfortunately, I had no means to meet the end of a significant order. I eventually took on a job as a paperboy, delivering a weekly free paper that no one ever wanted. I delivered papers on Wednesday evenings, a process that took about four hours, but only paid fourteen dollars every two weeks. But this was my mailorder money. My parents encouraged me to get my own checking account, so they wouldn't have to cash the checks themselves. My allowance at the time was just about the exact same amount (our system was fifty cents per week for every year old you were, hence $7/week in 1995), but that money was always spent before I even got it, it's a small amount to compete with what was becoming an ever-increasing standard for commercial goods within my circle of friends.

The paper route money was untouchable, though. It rarely was converted to cash, I just kept it in the account for purposes such as my first few mailorder purchases. I believe my first attempt were some budget-priced discs out of the back of a less than savory looking catalog. When I got the discs I realized the CDs I had were probably bootlegs made in some unidentified country in Asia, hence all the writing on them that I didn't understand. The one disc that stands out from this order was L7's Bricks Are Heavy, mostly because I was already familiar with the placement of the infamous Tipper Gore stamp on the front, which was oddly replaced with a black box and some catalog number on my copy.

Regardless of my less than stellar first order results, I soldiered on. A few months into the catalog game, I made my most successful mailorder purchase. It was directly from Sub Pop, the infamous seattle label who originally signed Nirvana. By this time it was either very late in 1995, or already the spring or so of '96 (aahhh, some of these release dates are revealing that it was definitely early '96). The first highlight of the order was my Sub Pop "Winner" T-Shirt: A short-lived variation on the now ubiquitous (ok, probably then, too) "Loser" shirt. That one was black with white print, this one was a horrendous orange with even more cringe-inducing purple print. I think I wore this shirt roughly 36 hours a week until it fell apart sometime in 1999. I also got a free CD compilation from the order called Spring Lineup that was my holy grail when it came to the then-current Sub Pop roster for the remainder of the year. I also ordered a stack of 7" singles, because 1) They were cheap and 2) I had just obtained a rickety old turntable. The most notable of these singles was Land of the Loops' "Multi-Family Garage Sale."² I wasn't really into any sort of electronic music at the time, and even this, in retrospect, is just sample based indie pop. But at the time, it just blew me away. To this day, I still really love that song. That single is the only thing left from that order that I still own.

Chapter 2: I've never been wrong, I used to work in the record store

American suburbs in 1996 were brewing in anticipation, we were on the cusp of a new millenium. As each household got their first internet-ready PC, households began to experience a revolution first-hand, from the dark dusty corners of their family rooms where the fish tank used to be. My reading material switched from dog-eared catalogs to sketchy newsgroups and lo-fi fanpages. My tastes stagnated for a while, until I got a job in a record store in early 1998. At that point, I branched out from my favorite bands to their side projects, labelmates, bands who supported them on tour, and any other possible connection. I picked up a few more Land of The Loops releases and even made a homemade t-shirt by scanning album art and using inkjet iron-on transfers.

This paragraph is right around the time where I actually get to the topic that I had originally intended to write about. I found out that Land of the Loops started out on a small northwestern label called Slabco, run by Steven Nereo, longtime friend of LOTL's Alan Sutherland. I quickly submersed myself in Slabco's catalog, which was very similar in approach to what I was doing in music at the time... simply documenting my own musical adventures and those of my close friends. Slabco admittedly was a lot more successful and had a lot higher quality output. I really got into Steven's own project called Volume All*Star, which was essentially an ever so slightly more twee version of Land of the Loops.³

Meanwhile, I was also branching off into experimental electronic music. Being a record store employee in 1998 meant that you inevitably heard a ton of Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, and a bunch of other catalog items from little holier-than-thou labels across the pond. This music had a huge impact on me, especially my own musical ventures. The catalogs of british labels Warp and Rephlex were either too expensive or too overplayed for me to spend a lot of time on them, so I quickly went to their American counterparts. At the time, this American experimental electronic scene was on the cusp of completely blowing up, but with no labels to release their music on. Some early adopters like Kid606 and Matmos affiliated themselves with noise labels such as Vinyl Communications.⁶ Kid606 and co-conspirator Cex ended up aligning themselves with Boyracer's Steward, who ran the 555 label, which mostly just put out 7"s by mostly indie pop bands, but Steward was in the same boat as me in the late 90's, he loved the new sounds coming out of laptops.⁴

Even meanwhile, I picked up a copy of Short Poppy Syndrome by The Cannanes out of a used bin at work and gave it a couple of spins.⁵ Something about my late 90's mind couldn't get past the shoddy looking packaging to actually hear the really solid pop goodness on the disc, I don't think it stayed on my shelf for more than a couple of weeks. At the time, little did I know that an album cover by an art student did not make for a great album.

So this is where all these divergent loose ends end up in the middle of a rubber band ball in my head. Sometime in 2000, Boyracer's Steward collaborated on an album with The Cannanes. The resulting album was called Communicating at an Unkown Rate and it's great, especially if you have a sense of history of the collaborators, who both were about a decade into their respective projects and thriving more than ever at the time. All I knew at the time was that "Savage," the final track on the album, was a complete jam, but I didn't really 'get' the rest of the album.⁷ I think this was largely due to the Cannanes album that followed in 2002... a collaboration with Slabco recording artist Explosion Robinson. The album was chock full of lo-fi hip-hop beats, the likes of which at that point had been abandoned by the mainstream rappers roughly seven years previous. The album eschewed a lot of what The Cannanes were supposed to be, and made them into a cookie-cutter Slabco band. For some reason this amused me more than any of their previous work.

Chapter 3: The digital age and the damage still being done

My record collection hates me for what I did to it between the years of 2003 and 2005. It was a rough time in my life... I was fired from the record store. I spent the next three months unemployed. I got a job I hated and had to work there for five months. I had to move back in with my parents because I had no money. I attended my first four funerals in the span of two years. My personal relationships were strained, severed, and left in random dark places to rot. Most tragically of all, I had to sell of several hundred CDs to make ends meet. All in all, it was just a really sucky time.

Somehow, I managed to bounce back from this dark time pretty quickly. I got a decent job. I got my finances in order. Unhealthy relationships were replaced with thriving new ones. I was back on my feet in every sense possible, but the large portion of my record collection that I sold off to pay bills wasn't going to come back by just having a positive outlook. (yeah, I'm definitely calling out anyone who believes in that "The Secret" bull****. Have it out by emailing me at TimothyScottThornton@gmail.com)

A couple of the casualties of this huge 2-year CD sell-off were my two remaining Cannanes albums. They really weren't missed until I made a revelation. In my collecting of all things from the 1990's northwest indie scene, I had picked up a compilation called Projector, put out by Pat Maley's Yoyo label, which is credited for putting on some legendary concert festivals in Olympia, WA in the 90's, or so I'm told. He's also a hero for the home recording crowd, recording a lot of bands' albums in his studio for free in exchange for them recording an exclusive track for one of his compilations. This particular compilation included a perfect pop song. All hyperbole aside, if I were going to make a desert island compilation of songs I would consider to be perfect pop songs, this one would be track 1. The track is by a band called Ashtray Boy, it's called "Koala Boy."¹ It's an extremely silly, cheeky song, but it just works on every level. I've included it on countless mixes and playlists in the past decade, but never thought to research the band. A recent trip to Columbus' Used Kids Records had me looking at an Ashtray Boy album in their budget bin. It was called Macho Champions, and it has probably the worst cover art of all time (posted here for your perusal). I bought the album, it's ok. I think when you hear what you consider to be a perfect song by a band, it's hard for that band to live up to your expectations. But interestingly enough, the purchase of this album inspired me to do some research on the band. There were two versions of the band, one in Australia and one in Chicago (Macho Champions is by the American version of the band, natch). Both bands are led by a man named Randall Lee, who (drumroll please) was a member of The Cannanes.

So the story ends back in Columbus just a couple days before I started writing this post. I finally tracked down a copy of The Cannanes & Steward's Communicating at an Unknown Rate for $5 at the ever reliable Used Kids and re-bought it, just like the dozens of other records I've gotten rid of and regretted. It's way better this time around, as is Short Poppy Syndrome that I bought on the same trip (along with their debut full-length Caveat Emptor and a handful of 7" singles, yeah I've got issues). Please don't let me sell them off.

I guess that's the end of the story, or at least where it ends for now, as it has taken me from 1995 to the present. The odd thing is that this is just one of several streams of consciousness that lead me from then to now, I could probably write a book with all the different ways, but alas, I'd never finish it.

Footnotes: A Companion Mix

1. Ashtray Boy - "Koala Boy" (Appears on: Projector: Another Studio Compilation - Yoyo Recordings, 1999)
2. Land of the Loops - "Multi-family Garage Sale (Bargain-bin Mix)" (Appears on: Land of the Loops - Bundle of Joy - Up Records, 1996)
3. Voume All*Star - "Alpoboy" (Appears on: Volume All*Star - Close Encounters with the Bump and Grind - Slabco Records. 1997)
4. Cex - Get In Yr Squads (Appears on: Cex - Starship Galactica EP - 555 Recordings of Philadelphia, 2001)
5. The Cannanes - Sydney 2000 (Appears on: The Cannanes - Short Poppy Syndrome - Ajax, 1995)
6. Kid606 - Matmos Are The A-Team Of Electronica (Appears on: Kid606 - Don't Sweat the Technics - Vinyl Communications, 1998)
7. The Cannanes & Steward - Savage (Appears on: The Cannaes & Steward - Communicating at an Unknown Rate - Yoyo Recordings, 2000)

Download Link
Download Link 2 (In case the first one doesn't work for you)

Thank you Judge Cindy Lederman!

Miami Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman ruled against the Florida Gay Adoption Ban!  She said the ban had "no rational basis" for preventing gays to adopt children.  Florida has one of the strictest bans on gay adoption in the United States.  In September, a judge in Key West ruled the ban unconstitutional, but that ruling had little impact.  State attorneys said they will appeal Lederman's ruling; this appeal would decide the fate of the ban in place since 1977.

Gays and human rights activists around the United States should say bring it!

End Violence Against Women Day!

I had no idea today was the United Nations' End Violence Against Women Day.  So, to celebrate no one hit the women in their lives!  I heard about this on Jezebel.com, and of course they had a disturbing fact about half the married women in Egypt having been abused by their husbands.  

Rape for Sport

In Cambodia a new study has shown that women and girls are increasingly at risk to be sexually assaulted.   Men are treating it as sport in some of the more remote areas where the police can offer little protection.  It is not entirely abysmal though, a growing number of Cambodian believe it is unacceptable for a husband to abuse his wife.  The solution as in most cases is education.  Hopefully, things will turn around before too many women and girls are abused.  

Flash Pornography?

Why is unwilling sexual representation the most sought after?  On Salon.com this morning I was reading an article, Porn in a Flash.  This was about the plague of "upskirt" photography.  It is when you stick a camera or phone up a woman's skirt to photography her underwear while she doesn't know.  Apparently, the demand is for the women who don't know.  Aside from this being creepy and weird it is WRONG, just plain as day WRONG.  

People are being tried for it now, and of course getting off or receiving a punishment no where near the crime.  After all this is a form of sexual assault.  At least it is to me.  The level of entitlement of these people is astonishing to me.  The whole reason the people doing this are getting off without a punishment is because the women being photographed have "no expectation of privacy" because they are in public.  Well, of course, not I get it.  Don't want to be photographed?  Don't leave your house or if you have to take a man with you preferably a relative.  

The people doing this are bastards, and deserve what they get.  And yes some getting theirs.   One group taking on men who harass on the street is called HollarBack NYC.  Women who are harassed are encouraged to take photos of their assailants and post them online.  I think this is brilliant and should be a national thing.  According to the article one woman chased the man who photographed up her skirt down, confiscated his camera, and turned him over to the police.  He of course was later released because the law just hasn't caught up.  

Corporate Irresponsibility

Alternet had an article on the "10 Worst Corporations of 2008." These are the kind of corporations that prove they will do anything for money including destroy themselves for profit.

1. AIG: Money for Nothing

2. Cargill: Food Profiteers

3. Chevron: We can't let little countries screw around with big corporations

4. Constellation Energy: Nuclear Operators

5. CNPC: Fueling Violence in Darfur

6. Dole: The Sour Taste of Pineapple

7. GE: Creative Accounting

8. Imperial Sugar: 13 Dead

9. Philip Morris International: Unshackled

10. Roche: Saving Lives is Not Our Business

Read the article it is kind of amazing. This group will do anything for a profit, and amazingly WalMart didn't make this list, but hey there is always next year, and they did make Human Rights Watch's list.

Who Gets Punished? Yet another Double standard

Feministing posted these, Cheerleaders Gone Wild?, on their site.  Regardless of what the girls did or didn't do the theme of this story isn't girls took their clothes off and were photographed.  You can make your own assumptions about that.  The bigger picture here is the girls were punished by the boys who circulated the photos were not.  Reinforcing the theme we see over and over again, Johns and pimps, people who abuse women are rarely punished.  Were the girls in the pictures somehow more of a threat than the boys who took them and distributed them?  It seems to me that the boys are the bigger threat. 

Saudi Girl Rock Band

This group of girls decided they wanted to be a rock band. Doesn't sound to hard. Except they can't perform in public or pose for album covers. Accolade's first song has become an underground hit with hundreds downloading it from their My Space page. The group's lead singer admits it is a bit of a challenge, but they decided they were going to do something different. Women in Saudi are rarely allowed out without their faces covered so for girls to be singing angry lyrics about a failed relationship is very new.

A rock scene is emerging in Saudi, but slowly. Some bands are no longer afraid of the religious police, the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, and are even selling tickets to their shows. 60% of the Saudi population is under 25, and they put on pressure for more freedoms. I'm going to go home tonight and check out their sound. Expect an update, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to like any all girl rock band fighting against the social constraints of society.

Obama picks Tim Geithner for Secretary of the Treasury

Anyone know anything about this man?  Geithner is supposed to get us out of this mess.  Good luck!  Geithner is the guy from New York's Federal Reserve Bank.  He was my fantasy pick so over all I'm kind of happy about this.  

Citigroup Bailout?

Ok, really I'm for the bailouts generally.  The workers shouldn't suffer because the guys on top are screwing them.  However, after the Auto Workers get shot down last week the Government is ready to bailout another bank?  Don't get me wrong, they should, but why are we just bailing out the banks?  What about the other guys?  Citigroup is getting $20 billion, and the Auto Workers nothing.  The $20 billion comes from the $700 billion dollar package.  

Apparently, there is some apprehension about bailing out Citigroup, "Critics worry the actions could put billions of taxpayers' dollars in jeopardy and encourage financial companies to take excessive risk on the belief that the government will bail them out of their messes." 

I can't see the logic here.  Really what am I missing?  Bailing out the banks who got us into this.  The Auto Workers aren't innocent, but by comparison.  

As if obesity wasn't a big enough problem in this country...

So, this is probably old news but I heard about this restaurant last night called "The Heart Attack Grill" and the name is no joke. They cook all their fries in lard and they actually spread lard on the burger buns before they cook them. I think I became a vegetarian just looking at these pictures:

I think this one pisses me off the most:

Oh, and of COURSE their waitresses dress up like slutty nurses. Ugh.

Sometimes people just disgust me.

Slavery in DC

Shocked?  Not really.  A creepy man, Soripada Lubis of Falls Church, held seven to eleven women in his home forcing them to work as domestics in Montgomery County.  The man took the women's passports, threatened to kill their families in Indonesia, and alert immigration if they tried to leave him.  The women lived with him on the weekends and worked through the week.  Though many women who are trafficked into the United States are forced into sexual slavery, in Washington many diplomats hire illegal immigrants as domestics, and then trap them.  Montgomery Country passed a law earlier this year protecting domestics by allowing workers to form contracts with their employers.  The non-profit organization Fair Fund was part of stopping this.  

Cleveland Gun Buy Back

Recently (over the weekend perhaps?) Cleveland had a gun buy-back where they gave out food vouchers, gas vouchers, and Cavs tickets for every gun turned in. They actually received 324 guns, which is absolutely great. I wonder how many people opted for the Cavs tickets rather than the vouchers...

I refuse to feel bad for this man!

Apparently there is a wave of pity for President Bush.  I felt bad for this man when we first discovered his inability to master his native language.  I'm not going to be sympathetic just because none of the other world leaders like him.  This is like when the bully cries in movies or books I don't but it.  No one ever believes when Nelson is sad on the Simpson's!  

Attention Bush Administration faking illness will not get you out of trouble

Attorney General Michael Mukasey, the replacement of Roberto Gonzalez, passed out during a conference at the conservative Federalist Society on Thursday night.  Mukasey declined commenting; fears are he may have had a stroke.  He was in good spirits after, and hopefully will be fine.  

Some shows just get me...

...and I think Kath & Kim might just be one of those shows. This show has probably the most groan-worthy humor of any show on television and I totally love it because of that. I find myself giggling like a madwoman everytime it is on.

You've done it again NBC.

Also, I think I fell in love with Steve Martin all over again thanks to 30 Rock last night.

Questions for Sarah

This is actually brilliant; over at Jezebel, they complied a list of the things they would like to ask Sarah Palin.  If only...anyone else thinking this should be a talk show?  The questions over the ridiculous to the very serious such as charging rape victims for rape kits.  I'd add a few more like why in God's name did she name her kids the way she did.  What are her feelings on executive orders?  And of course what constitutes as God opening a window?

Bush Trying to Push through Midnight Rules

Bush has a few more things planned before he leaves office.  According to an article on Politico, Obama's administration could spend a great deal of time trying to undo everything Bush is trying to get through.  Of course there are about twenty things Bush wants to get done; they cover the whole spectrum. 

Federally funded institutions could turn down abortion requests for moral or religious reasons.

Sex trafficking victims could lose aid funds.

Labor rule limits employee access to medical and family leave time.

There are many others several of which include the relaxing of environmental standards.  

Sex Tourism in Columbia's Caribbean Not Suffering in the Recession

Apparently sex tourism is doing well in Columbia's Caribbean. The article acknowledges the seedier side of tourism, noting the workers are getting younger working more. This coast is becoming know as a place where you can purchase adults or children for sex. The article estimates that 650 children are involved in sex tourism.

Video Games and Women

So, I'm kind of hard on video games and those who play them.  I was relentless on my ex about not having a life because of the video game habit.  Honestly, I don't dislike them.  I play Call of Duty with my brother-in-law, and even entertained the thought of getting one, but figure I should wait till the new one comes out.  I get that it can be a social tool, and using your television as a computer screen is kind of awesome.  However, the games aren't really meant for women.  I've been the only girl in the comic shop, and either gets looked at weird or mean spirited comments which can be reduced to a female degrading guydom.  I'm not looking to do it again even if shooting my brother-in-law in the head is satisfying on many levels.  

In both cases comics and video games, they just haven't caught up.  They are jut beginning to market to women, and most of the time don't have developed female characters.  I know in comics the women are created to be pleasing to a male audience, and though you can often pull out awesome feminist traits they often get lost.  The same can be said for female video game characters: Croft or Valentine.  

This all stems from an article I read on Salon.com, "A Real-Life Video Game Heroine."  The article discusses the future of gaming and home women could and should play a role in it, the interview was conducted with Mary Flanagan.  Not only should games in designed for girls, but women should become involved in the programming.  Can't say I disagree with that.

I watched some movies.

Over the past week, I watched a few movies while I was on hiatus so here are some thoughts...

I have been trying to see the movie Seven since I was a freshman in college and I have never had any success. I tried drunk one night and fell asleep (well, past out) and then attempted to watch it the next day hung over and fell asleep again. While I was sick over the past week, I gave this a third try and fell asleep (thank you NyQuil) yet again! SO, I woke up the next morning and FINALLY FINISHED! I got really excited when I heard Kevin Spacey's voice on the telephone before they showed him as a character because he is totally my Hollywood older man crush. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised by this movie because it was generally entertaining throughout, but I did not expect the twist at the end. 4/5

We also rented Be Kind Rewind, which was just really cute and not at all what I expected. It had me cracking up into many coughing fits while laying snot-ridden on the couch. I half expected it to take a turn for the Spike Lee and have some sort of race riot, but I was glad when it didn't. 4.5/5

And finally, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I really didn't expect a whole lot from this movie going in to it because I heard a bunch of grumpy reviews from friends, but it was really entertaining. Shia LaBeouf was hilarious with his greaser hair, Harrison Ford was cute as ever, and the action kept me awake (despite the NyQuil!). It actually really made me want to rewatch the older Indiana Jones movies that I remember loving so much as a kid. 4.5/5

Mitt Romney is Projecting

According to Romney, if Detroit knows what is good for it, it will go bottom up and then restructure.  Sound familiar?  Yeah, that's right; that is the same thing that is happening to the Republican Party.  Incredible the two have several things in common: losing, out dated, a desperate need for fundamental restructuring.  

Romney's argument is that Detroit needs to restructure not a check...He makes valid good points about the way things need to change.  The management has been harmful, and it should be cast off (note the irony that a Republican is calling for the casting off of executives doing a bad job).  However, he says nothing about the laborers.  Theoretically that is what the bailout should be about.  It should be about saving the jobs of people who aren't directly responsible for the companies loosing money.  I don't think the autoworkers should get a blank check, but they do need something.  Like I said yesterday, we need to help, but need to do it in a way that promotes change and growth.  Romney seems to think any governmental help will directly lead to the American Auto Industry going under.  

Nerd Crush!

Nate Silver, sigh.  Silver has a blog, FiveThirtyEight.com, and was asked by John Ziegler to conduct an interview with him concerning the Zogby Poll, Ziegler was conducting.  Silver considered the Zogby Poll to be a "push poll," meaning the person in charge of the poll, Ziegler, had an argument he was looking to validate.  Ziegler is a documentary filmmaker who built the website HowObamaFotElected.com.  For example Silver asks Ziegler about a question which there is no right answer to in the multiple choice survey.  Here is the transcript of the interview from Silver's website. Might I add the man kept his cool very well.  Clearly Ziegler is an ass.

Nate Silver [NS]: Were only Obama supporters interviewed for the [Zogby] survey, or was everyone interviewed?
John Ziegler [JZ]: The reason why I interviewed Obama supporters only is because I’m doing a documentary on the media coverage of the campaign and how the media coverage of the campaign impacted what Obama supporters knew or thought they knew about the campaign. I had planned from day one because I knew that no one would take seriously any random sampling of interviewees that I was going to commission a scientific poll of these questions. I also knew that it would be a lot cheaper for me to do a nationwide survey of Obama voters than the nation as a whole because basically I’d only have to do half the number of people to get a representative sample. When I went on FOX last night, I made a deal that if anyone on the left -- you're more than willing to take me up on this -- wants to ask the exact same deal of the McCain supporters and you get examples that are equal to or worse than the Obama supporters, then I’ll pay for your expense. The point here was not to show that Obama supporters were idiots -- there are plenty of idiots on both sides of the aisle -- but what information they got from the media that they were able to consume.

NS: Do you stand by all the statements in the survey as being unambiguously true?
JZ: I stand one hundred percent by the notion that there is absolutely zero ambiguity as to what the right answer is to any of the questions. With the one exception of the Palin-Russia-Alaska question which we asked the way we did for a very specific purpose which was to try and gauge the Tina Fey Effect which I think we did in a very effective manner which was what was actually said by Tina Fey, everyone attributed to Sarah Plain. But for purposes of scoring Obama supporters’ answers we counted Palin as a correct response.

NS: What was the right answer to that [Palin] question?
JZ: The technically accurate question [sic] is that none of the four people said that, but we counted it as correct if they said Sarah Palin.

NS: Why would you commission a survey question with no correct response?
JZ: The purpose of the question, you pinhead, was we wanted to determine the Tina Fey Effect.

NS: Were the interviews conducted by telephone or online?
JZ: How can you ask a question like that and pretend that you have any clue what you're writing about! That's unbelievable that someone could write what you did! That is unbelievable that you wouldn't know that it's a telephone or an online poll and that you went on my summaries of the questions before the questions were even released!

NS: We’ve heard reports from our readers that very similar questions had been asked in an online format. There was no online component at all?
JZ: That is correct, which you would have known if you had looked at the information. Before you called this a push poll -- you don't seem to know the definition of a push poll. How do you have this website?

NS: Is the complete interview available anywhere -- complete results for the interview?
JZ: Yeah if you had done your research it is all online, every question, all the cross-tabs. Man, you're never going to post this [transcript], are you?

NS: Were the respondents informed of the 'correct' response during the telephone interviews?
JZ: No.

NS: Did Zogby have a chance to preview the questions before agreeing to accept your business?
JZ: John Zogby himself or the company?

NS: Either/Or.
JZ: I am quite certain that if I asked a question they deemed inappropriate they would have not allowed the question to be asked.

NS: What questions were removed from the survey?
JZ: We didn't remove any, we edited some.

NS: What questions were edited?
JZ: Nothing was substantially edited but there was some wording on some that we went over with them. For instance, I think I had inadvertently said “See Russia from my home” instead of “See Russia from my house”. There was a distinction about Obama talking about energy prices versus electricity prices so we corrected that. That’s all that I can recollect.

NS: What did Zogby charge you -- what did you pay for this survey?
JZ: I'm not going to tell you that, I'm not a fucking idiot.

NS: Did he charge you at his usual rates or did he ask you for extra?
JZ: You'll have to ask them. I'm not going to respond how much money I paid for this. It was substantial but I’m not going to say anything more than that.

NS: In the Youtube video, how were the Obama supporters identified for the Youtube video? 
JZ: I had nothing to do with it. I had a person who was working with me who happens to be a black female since you seem to think I’m a racist who was the one that chose all of the respondents based on conversations we’d had prior, people who were well-spoken, thought they were informed, willing to come on camera and [who] voted for Barack Obama.

NS: What was the location of the polling place where the interviews were conducted?
JZ: They were both in Los Angeles.

NS: Okay, that's what I kind of guessed. How many Obama supporters did you speak with in total?
JZ: All twelve we spoke with are in the video.

NS: Was there any significance to the fact that in the YouTube video, seven of the twelve Obama supporters were black?
JZ: [Laughs]. The reason why we had more black supporters – that might surprise some of the people that we spoke to -- if we go by your apparent ability to determine race -- the first location happened to be in a black section of town and we were able to get our interviews faster there because of they way that was set up, because of the logistics. We had a second location but it got dark and we didn't have any lights. So, that's it, it was no grand racial conspiracy.

NS: How did you represent yourself to John Zogby?
JZ: As private company, Death-of-Free-Speech-dot-inc which is the name of a book that I wrote.

NS: Did Zogby give you sign-off on the press release that he released on his website?
JZ: I'm not sure what you mean by sign-off. The press release I had input into, yes.

NS: Did you have financing for the project or was it paid for out of pocket?
JZ: It is not self-financed.

NS: Who paid for it?
JZ: You think I'm going to tell you that? When you've already shown yourself to be the enemy?

NS: Was it paid for by the RNC?
JZ: [Laughs]. In your world, the question that I would ask you is what question [in the survey] is there any ambiguity as to what the answer is?

NS: Well, that Obama 'launched his career' at the home of two former members of the Weather Underground --
JZ: That happens to be one of the questions that Obama supporters did the best on! They did better on that question than on any other Obama-related answers! And here you’re telling me that it’s not true?

NS: What do you mean by "launched his career"?
JZ: The first campaign as told by the person whose position he took in the State Senate, as told by her admission, his first campaign event was in the home of Bill Ayers and his wife. [Laughs] Unless you live in the Obama kool-aid world! That is astonishing to me that you would not accept that! And by the way, when you're given four responses to that question, what else was the response going to be? Sarah Palin?

NS: Well, her husband was a member of a secessionist party.
JZ: You are such a hack! That's a very good analogy.

NS: Do you think that certain types of voters are less well informed?
JZ: I think anyone that looks rationally at these poll results would have to conclude that Obama voters are incredibly poorly informed about major issues that occurred during the campaign -- my guess is because McCain voters got their information from different types of media than Obama voters did.

NS: What types of media would you consider credible?
JZ: I think you need a variety of sources, but I do not accept the notion that if it's not in the New York Times it's not true and if it is in the New York Times it is. Just because Sean Hannity says something doesn't mean it’s not true.

NS: What is Barack Obama’s religion?
JZ: You'll have to ask him. But I do know that he never claimed to be a Christian until he met Reverend Wright. And I do believe -- and I’ve never held this against him -- that it would have been highly unlikely for him not to have been registered as a Muslim as a child in Indonsesia but who cares. He did change his website based on that reality –- he was far more ambiguous about that issue on Fight The Smears. I’m an agnostic so I couldn't care less what his religion is. I just care that he lied about it.

NS: When do you think Obama was a Muslim?
JZ: I think he was likely -- registered as a Muslim between the ages of 6 and 10 while he was going to school in Indonesia. It would have been highly unusual for him not to be.

NS: But would you personally consider Obama a Muslim? 
JZ: No, because he was a child. We're talking about two totally different things. There's what religion you're born into and there's what religion you become because of your own decisions

NS: Would you consider Obama a Christian?
JZ: You'd have to ask him. There was never any evidence that he was a Christian until he decided to join the church of a racist hate-monger for political purposes.

NS: Would you not believe Barack Obama if he told you he was a Christian?
JZ: Does he believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God who died and was raised from the dead later?

NS: Do you think he’s a believer in Jesus Christ? 
JZ: I have no way of knowing that. I don't think there's any evidence that he is, either.

NS: Do you have doubts about Barack Obama's birth certificate?
JZ: I couldn’t care less about that. I accept he was born in Hawaii.

NS: Would you consider yourself well-informed
JZ: I’d consider myself extremely well-informed.

NS: Who are the two senators from South Dakota
JZ: Thune and, uh, Johnson.

NS: Very good. South Carolina?
JZ: Go fuck yourself. I'm done with this interview if you're going to ask me stupid questions like that. Obviously I know who Lindsay Graham is.

NS: Well, since you’re running a website calling people misinformed, I’d like to see if -- there are certain things you’ve said that I would consider misinformed.
JZ: Misinformed? You're a piece of work! You are never going to have the guts to post a representative transcript on your website! I thought you actually ran a legitimate website!

NS: Thank you, have a good day.
JZ: Go fuck yourself.

Italy's Anti-Rape Campaign

Italy's new anti-rape campaign is making waves.  I have seen this all over the web, but specifically pulled this off feministing.com.  The picture reads: "Who pays for man's sins? Only four percent of women who suffer sexual violence report their assailants."  I actually like the poster and the message.  Of course I can understand why some would, actually I can't.  What is offensive about this picture?  Anything?  I don't think so.  

Woman Steals Purse Back from Teens

A woman in New York was hit and had her purse stolen by three teens, but the story doesn't end there.  She apparently chased after the youths, grabbed one, and took her purse back.  While she had the one the other teens pleaded that she let him go.  In the end two of the kids were arrested, and she received her purse back.  The NYPD does not support chasing after assailants.

I guess, I don't understand attacking random people on the street because particularly in New York you never know who you're going to attack.  Those kids didn't.  

Poor Stevens, even in Alaska they know you're an asshole

Ted Stevens has lost his seat in the Senate...wow Alaskans voted him out of office.  And it only took him being a convicted felon.  Ken Layne, the author of before mentioned piece, points out that at 85 years old Stevens is signaling the end of "white man America."  Stevens came to power when things around were changing...silly people, like women and minorities wanting rights, and he did what was expected: he sent money back home.  It is one hell of a tragedy after all not only has the Dems taken another seat, but God closed the window on the possibility of Senator Sarah Palin.  

UK to Charge Men who Treat Women as Slaves

According to Times Online, UK, later today UK law is going to change.  Man using prostitutes who are controlled by a pimp or those trafficked into the country will face criminal charges.  They say the law will target men who "treat women as slaves."  Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, is concerned about the women who have "not made the free choice to do this;" the law will protect the large number of women forced into prostitution.  Under the new law lap-dancing clubs will fall under the same regulations as sex-shops.  Smith hopes the law makes men think twice about the women they are exploiting, and that for most of them it is forced.  

Hey there friends...

So, it's been a little over a week since I've been here (miss me?) and I jokingly told Kari yesterday that I would try and read her 30 blog posts soon and she said it had not been 30 posts since my last one, and she was right. It's been 38! What a super star.

Anyway, my grandma died last week due to complications arising from dementia and Alzheimer's disease and while it was a generally sad affair, there were a lot of beautiful things that came from it as well. Over 400 people showed up to the wake on Friday night and almost 200 came to the funeral on Saturday morning. Seeing all these old friends and family members all gather together to tell stories and laugh and mourn for my grandmother was really more heartwarming than anything. I had expected the entire day to be nothing but tears and quiet, but after only about 30 minutes of mourning at the wake, there were people walking through the doors laughing with my family at pictures of my grandma making silly faces, or dancing with a rose chomped between her teeth. It really was a great way to remember her and I'm glad everything is over now and she is at rest.

Hopefully I will have some time today to post more, I've got thoughts in this head that I've not been able to express this last week.

I can't wait till I'm done with this man...

President Bush apparently wants to make the transition of power over to Obama as easy as possible by pass HHS regulations on women's health.  Of course the regulations would hurt poor women the most, and even if Obama could reverse it, it could take up to six months.  Those of you who oppose the federal government meddling in your personal lives here is your chance.  And the rest of you who just think this is disgusting.  

And this is why Dems always think things blow...

My roomie said that if the dems couldn't win this after the Republicans handed it to us then we couldn't win anything.  I am likely to agree with her on some accounts.  G.W. is ridiculous to follow except that a number of people in this country are racists.  And by attributing Obama's win just to Bush's inadequacies attempts to diminish that he deserved the win through innovative campaigning and just being awe inspiring, did I mention he is Christ? (What the Conservative blogs get to do it!)

Naturally I digress...Lieberman gets to keep his seat on the Homeland Security Committee.  Call me fussy, but damn it I wanted some kind of payment.  I saw that little smug jack-ass on McCain's jet to Phoenix, and frankly it frustrated me.  I don't care who he voted for; I care that he said he would be scared if Obama were to become President.  Feeding into the fear tactic the GOP has been pushing down our throats for seven years.  However, even when we win I feel dejected.  Harry Reid claims he trusts Lieberman, well I'm glad someone does.  I still think we should send him home to Connecticut for the ass kicking he deserves from his constituency.  Hey Joe, forget you represent New England?

About time someone is thinking about the middle class

Thanks, David Brooks!  After all this time you finally acknowledge the middle class.  Soon everyone will look back on it fondly.  Because according to Brooks, the middle class is dying off, and soon it won't exist at all.  This is of course the middle class which was created during the 1990s...wait what?  The middle class was a product of post-World War II America...industrial jobs, suburbs, every family with a car, you know the Cleavers.  Then with Reagan and deregulation we say the stratification of the classes stretching the middle class into upper middle class and lower middle class.   This is ridiculous; Jezebel is right the article is almost twenty years out of date.   

Stupidity Spotted: Anti-Choicers

Generally I believe you can have your opinions about anything you want provided those opinions do not violate my rights.  And though Anti-Choicers would violate my rights that isn't why they are the recipients of Stupidity Spotted this time.  Apparently, logic isn't high on they list of things to be concerned about.  

One would think that after a Obama was elected President-Elect the Anti-Choicers might reevaluate their approach, but of course not.   Some have by supporting legislation which would cut down on the number of abortions needed by improving women's health care, providing poor women with health care, child care, and money for education.  But the hard-core anti-choicers think this is selling out, because according to Joe Scheilder, founder of Pro-Life Action League, "We don't think it's really genuine.  You don't have to have a lot of social programs to cut down on abortions."  

Another gem: Judie Brown, the president of the American Life League, "You don't work to limit the murder of innocent victims.  You work to stop it."  Brilliant!  Guess they haven't figured out the two, supporting bills and good old fashion yelling, aren't mutually exclusive.  Many anti-choicers have figured this out though and are working developing new strategies when the ones which have been used for years fail.  

Of course, the Catholic Church and the Pope don't agree.  The Church having been a pillar of rationality for so long.  The Vatican is getting a little nervous about Obama signing the Freedom of Choice Act.   This act would undo some of the restrictions to abortion, and the Church would see it as a declaration from Washington that they are unwilling to work with the Church.

Interesting, isn't to have a President more interesting in nations and foreign policy than religion.  I'm giddy.  

Where my girls at?

Women appear to be lacking in Obama's cabinet.  Now I know it is still early, but some women's groups are getting a little nervous.  Hilary Clinton is great, if she takes Secretary of State, but that is one...two when you count senior advisor Valerie Jarrett.  I guess I was a little optimistic hoping for at least proportionally representation in Obama's cabinet.  I know it isn't over yet, and Obama could place more than 14 women in his cabinet, Bill Clinton set that record.  Of course most of the well known people in Washington are white men; it is only a matter of time before minorities and women make it.  

Bailouts, Bailouts for Everyone!

So my problem is that I love unions.  But I don't know if the American Automakers deserve one.   I don't think the United Automobile Workers (UWA) should make any concessions because they keep having to give things up, but I don't know if a bailout will change anything or if we'll be right back here in a year.  

The New York Times thinks that Detroit has become a dirty word because of their lobbying for lack environmental standards, and attempts to block legislation which would improve the quality of the car produced by the auto industry.  A friend of mine, S.,  works in Detroit with the unions, and S. doesn't know if the bailout will change anything either.  After all even if they big three get a bailout who will be able to afford these cars?  Not the people making them.   

Bush opposes cutting the automakers in on the bailout...guess just those hard working white collar workers get a share, and Obama said on 60 minutes the Detroit needs something, but the bailout "can't be a blank check."

Anti-Abortion Law: Delayed!

Oklahoma passed an anti-abortion law, but due to a temporary injunction the law, Senate Bill 1878, did not go into effect on November 1.  This law would require doctors to perform an ultrasound and provide the woman with a detailed description of her fetus an hour before receiving an abortion.  The injunction was filed by Nova Health Systems, the parent group of Tulsa's Reproductive Services.  The injunction claimed the law violates a "woman's right to privacy because it would force her to listen to unwelcome, government dictated language in a private setting."  The Attorney General's Office has no objection to the injunction provided the process moves forward.  The injunction is in effect through March 27, 2009.

Also, from MsMagazine.com.

Sex Trafficking Pleads Guilty in the UK

Ten people involved in an Internet based sex trafficking network plead guilty to money laundering and prostitution charges.  They were sentences in the United Kingdom last week.  Forty women were recovered during the raids; many of the women were illegally trafficked into England.  Like usually in trafficking, the women were bought and then told they would have to work off their debt with their earning.  The women rarely if ever see these earning.  

I read about this on MsMagazine.com.  

Of Course I was on Feministing.com

and I heard this little number, Mother of Pearl by Nellie McKay. Brilliant! Feminist just need to find a man, because feminist and vegetarians complain too much. Some advise to live by screw with everyone, but Nader.

Raise Hope for Congo

Ok, so this was also featured on PerezHilton.com: Raise Hope for Congo.  The site is designed to raise awareness and money for those in the Congo.  It focuses heavily on the victimization of women and girls in the area.  Anyone see The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo?  Rape and the abuse of women is a regular tactic of war in the Congo like it often is.  These women are often physically abused to the point of death or permanent disfiguring.  The site is kind of awesome as an educational tool; one of my favorite articles is the "Ten Reasons Why Eastern Congo is the Most Dangerous Place on Earth for Women."  

Chosen One? Ted Kennedy is back Bitches!

I couldn't help it.  I love him a little; actually part of me falls in love with anyone named Kennedy.  Ted Kennedy is back from brain surgery!  And ready to kick ass and take names.  Anyone else excited about this?

Anyone else think Prince's anti-gay marriage stance is weird?

So, I have a confession...no I didn't kiss a girl, but it would be ok if I did.  Part of me always thought Prince was a little gay?  I mean it was me buying into stereotypes as a kid, but still later I thought he just protests too much.  Not that it really matters; every one's entitled to their opinions, but a man who made his living for the better part of his career selling the idea of sex saying, "God came to earth and saw people sticking it wherever and doing it with whatever, and he just cleared it all out.  He was, like, 'Enough'."  I mean I interpreted this comment not only as anti-gay, because it was in the context of Prince's opinion of gay marriage, but also as anti-promiscuous sex.  Those cities weren't just destroyed because of sodomy; other "bad things" were going on too: theft, usury, prostitution, promiscuous sex...and without those things where would Prince's career be?

Apparently, Prince's PR people are claiming he was misquoted, and isn't against gay rights.  I thought I would post this too to be fair.  Again, I don't really care what his opinion is, but find celebrities fascinating when they don't make sense.

How many countries think violence against women and girls is ok?

Well, there is the UK, the U.S., and now Australia to be added to all those countries where stoning is still a legitimate way to execute women.  But perhaps it is important to note that these three countries are "first world," evolved countries telling a great deal of the world how to behave.  A third of boys in Australia believe it is ok to hit girls, and to make a girl have sex with you if she is flirting...yes, that is rape.  One of the surveys concluded that one in seven young women had been the victim of sexual assault.  

Bitch and Ditz

I think New York Magazine got this right.  Hilary Clinton and Sarah Palin reinforced gender stereotypes about women.  For good or bad, whatever you may think of either of them.  Hilary gets to be the bitch which sets her up for a fall, and Sarah looks like a ditz which means she is no threat.  So what does this mean: be a threat and be a failure or be no threat and still be a failure.  Don't get me wrong I stand by previous statements about these two having limited things in common.  It is just an interesting argument for women in politics.  Obama won, and defied racial stereotypes in the process.  The argument is that for a woman to do the same she will have to defy stereotypes as well.  Unfortunately neither Hilary or Sarah does.  

I Love You But...

I saw this on current.com, and absolutely love it.  I love you but..., is an interesting yet true observation.  Often people fall out of love for something small.  Not that I am saying everything one the website is insignificant for example on is "I love you, but you believe in God."  That is kind of a big deal at least for me.  I completely agree though that people fall in and out of love over those stupid little things people do like opening the car door...I love that.  Or imported tennis shoes...I hate those.  Of course neither are big enough to begin or end a relationship, but maybe after a long while who knows.

So Proud

Sometimes there are moments when I can't wrap my mind around things our country does.  Like holding minors as detainees in Gitmo for five years.  During which one of the minors killed himself.  This is clearly the best way to combat terrorism: torturing kids.  According to MSNBC, the U.S. disclosed they had eight children in custody back in May, and released them.  Of course the other four weren't so lucky, and amazingly adults now which means we can try them for war crimes.  Another military secret: arrest kids and hold them long enough till you can try them as adults.  If there are people out there not outraged by this then there is something wrong with you.  

Well...

So I saw this blog about how Obama and the Left are going to destroy the United States with their liberalness.  I find these arguments particularly entertaining because of the last eight years.  Actually they kind of piss me off too because these groups tend to us the fear tactic: "what if we're attacked?!?"  Well kids, on September 11, 2001 we were attacked.  A lot of people died who shouldn't have, and our nation responded.  This response consisted of civil liberties violations and a fly by the seat of your pants military response.  As a result even more people died, but many of them weren't Americans and according to this administrations actions in respect to their foreign policy those lives don't matter, which is why we should not run into military conflicts and stay in them when their is no point or reason.  

Anyway the blog I saw was posted to current.com, but it http://axisofright.com/.  I left the link here because when I first saw it I thought it said Axis of Fright, which could also be a accurate title.  

Clinton may be Secretary of State!

Yeah I said it.  Dare I dream?  They are calling it the ultimate "Team of Rivals" like that book by Kearns.  It was a tactic employed by Lincoln, and not a bad model for Obama to emulate.  I am a huge Hilary fan and thus would jump at this, but still I'm on the fence for her because she is kind of shit in the Senate right now.  The Dems are the controlling party, and she has a decent amount of experience in the Senate now, but then again Secretary of State!.  

Fr. Roy Bourgeouis is threatened with excommunication

This makes me so sad.  I love Fr. Roy; he is the man responsible for the protest at the School of the Americas.  It takes place every year in November outside of Fort Benning; this year it will be held November 21-23.  Fr. Roy is a Maryknoll, and anyone familiar with the Catholic Church knows that Maryknoll and Jesuit are synonymous with bad ass.  Fr. Roy is being threatened with excommunication because of he supports women's ordination.  Fr. Roy is an awesome individual, and hopefully he won't recant and the Church will withdraw this complaint.  However, my aunt (Humility of Mary Sister) was accused of "not being a real Catholic" once and that is a difficult accusation to dodge especially if you don't want to take back actions.  

Violence Against Girls on the Way to School

CNN.com has this article, "Two schoolgirls blinded in acid attack in Afghanistan."  Of course the men who did this got away, and at least two of the girls are blinded.  Women were prohibited from attending school under the Taliban regime, but after they were removed from power women began attending school.  Obviously, educating women was not well received.  This is a very unfortunate story.

F-You Justice Antonin Scalia

In the LA Times, David G. Savage wrote an article, "Domestic Violence Abusers Could Get Gun Rights," investigating the flaw in federal law which could result in thousands convicted of a misdemeanor for threatening or assaulting a spouse or girlfriend could own guns.  My favorite Justice Antonin Scalia was unswayed in the arguments and sided with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. under the interpretation that the law was written to apply only to domestic violence measures, not the more common laws against assault and battery...though many prosecutors plead down domestic violence cases as assault and battery.  Of course, on Monday Scalia did refer to a wife-beating charge lodged against a man from West Virginia as "not that serious an offense" so what could we really expect?

Apparently, an individual's Second Amendment right to own a gun shouldn't be taken away for a misdemeanor.  So what if that right infringes on another individual's right to LIFE.  

New York Magazine and Obama

New York Magazine features an article called, "Obamaism."  It is a niffy little article about the election being an historic event, and a few slights to the current administration, "the misadventures of the Bush administration."  I liked that one.  The article ends with pictures of babies born on November 4.  I actually read the article because of the magazine cover; see picture to the left.  

This man is still in the news...

Josef Fritzel is back in the news now charged with murder.  I can't help but read about this very scary person.  The charges stand as: slavery, rape, and now murder of the seventh child because he refused to take the child to a doctor though he knew it could die.  If found guilty the slavery and rape charges could get Fritzel 20 years, and the murder charge an addition 10 to life.  I hope this man spends the rest of his life in prison...his short life.  

I'm Scared

Joe Biden is to meet the Cheney's.  This make anyone else uncomfortable?  I have a special fascination with Dick Cheney because it is my goal to be able to shoot friends in the face and nothing come of it except the person I shot apologizes to me...damn right they should never have got in front of my bullet, or near me with a gun.  Dick wants a "smooth and graceful transition of power."  Maybe you and G.W. should have thought about that before you ran this country in the ground.  If this turns physical I hope Biden get a few punches in before Cheney shoots him in the face.  The article was found in the New York Times and then discussed on Wonkette.

Uruguayan Senate wants to decriminalise abortion.

According to the BBC News, the Uruguayan Senate has voted to decriminalise abortion, which currently only allowed in the case of rape or when the woman's life is in danger.  The new legislation would allow women to terminate their pregnancies with in the first twelve weeks for the previous reasons and other circumstances such as poverty.  The President Tabare Vazquez is expected to veto the bill.  The Roman Catholic Church in Uruguay has warned the lawmakers that voting for the bill would result in excommunication.  Polls show that most Uruguayans are in favor of easing the restrictions on abortion.  Currently, Cuba and Mexico City allow abortions without restrictions in the first twelve weeks.  However, many Latin American countries only allow abortion in the case of rape, danger to the mother, or when the fetus would be deformed.  

Wait I didn't Mean That...

CNN ran an interview with President Bush this morning.  My roomies and I are DVRing it so no fear.  However, the BBC News has a little write up about about it.  Apparently there are things that President Bush has said in the past eight years he would like to "unsay."  The article didn't mention the key phrases my roomie and I were looking for: "Go to war." or "weapons of mass destruction."  There were a few good ones featured though.  Also the article ends with the possibility of President G.W. Bush writing a book?  I sincerely hope this man writes a book so we can read more things he wishes he never said and the way he mangles the English language.  

Expect that book review.

Got to Love Financial Fraud!

This man's life is like watching a ping-pong match.  Dov Charney, CEO of American Apparel, is being sued yet again for unlawful dismissal.  A former employee is claiming he was dismissed after he refused to inflate American Apparel's books.  Got to love financial fraud!  Just an average run of the mill case until Charney pulls out the former employee's former lover, who also happens to work at American Apparel.  You got that?  Anyway, apparently this former lover has information about the reasons the finance guy was let go which is...tardiness and personal problems. 

Gawker.com has this right, "Let this be a lesson: Fuck with Dov Charney and he will make sure that that one girl at work that you banged in the stock room will come forward with incriminating information about your attendance record."

"Suck It World" says the World Bank

According to the Washington Post the World Bank is ready and willing to increase what they give, wait I mean lend, to the third world.  What does this mean?  Well, the already lofty goal of Jubilee to get the World Bank to forgive third world debt which keeps specific nations impoverish, undereducated, and starving will become even more unlikely.  Instead of forgiving the debt, the World Bank will increase it under the guise that these loans will help the population.  Sounds great, give people money to feed the people, but then you have to remember these nations will not be able to pay back these loans...hear something like this before?  Sound it out, Housing Crisis.  

Excuse me?

Apparently Sarah Palin believes her and Hilary Clinton fell from the same feminist tree...Because you know they are both women, married, political, and have kids.  After all they have nothing else in common.  They couldn't be farther away on issues that actually matter like reproductive rights, labor, foreign policy, and everything else.  I guess Sarah Palin is the kind of person the Republican Party was targeting with her nomination for VP: people who believe two women are interchangeable just because they are women.

This is Beautiful

I saw this on current.com: Keith Olberman speaks out against the passage of Proposition 8. The man puts it beautifully. He mentions interracial marriage, the inability of slaves to marry, and the hypocrisy of religions prohibiting marriage.

giggles

It isn't perfect, but it is a start.

Finally, the beginning of the end of shameful American policies.  The Huffington Post is reporting that Obama will close Gitmo!  I'm excited, but the plan isn't perfect.  The simplified version: bring detainees here for trial, freeing others who can not be prosecuted, and the creation of a new court to deal with the remaining group which involve highly classified information.  This plan receives props from legal scholars and some in both parties.  However, the left argues the new court would provide few rights to the detainees, and the right oppose bring terror suspects to the U.S.  This will probably take a while particularly the development of a new court system, but this is one spot we can get out.  

A Change Will Do You Good...

Thanks Sheryl Crow for those lyrics.  The Global Gag rule is featured on Feministing.com this morning.  This "rule"  is one of several on Obama's list of Bushies he wants to overturn and fast.  This "rule" prohibited international organizations from receiving U.S. dollars if they counsel women on abortion, provide referrals, or even discuss the hazards of illegal/unsafe abortions.  Thousands of women die from unsafe abortions, and the number will decrease if women are informed.  The Global Gag Rule was reinstated by Bush on his first day in office...could we have Obama throwing it out on his first day?

Decemberists Salute President Elect Obama

I caught this on Venus Zine's website: Decemberists Salute the President Elect in NYC. The article specifically mentions the song "Sons and Daughters," when this song was performed the crowd sing along, "hear all the bombs fade away."

Missouri Blues

My roomie just found out that all her hard work in Missouri was worth it! Missouri was announced as blue as in it went for Obama! My roomie is amazing, and all the incredible work she did on the campaign for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.

Paradox of Prostitution

I am the first to admit there are two sides to prostitution. Some women look at it as an opportunity and it is everything they thought it would be, but most aren't that lucky. CNN.com has an article, My Real Life as a Call Girl by Maya Dollarhide, portrays both sides of this issue. The first story is about a girl who got everything she ever wanted with the exception of a brief prison sentence. The second story is far darker and depicts the situation as one which no one should find themselves in. I believe this is both a workers' rights issue and a women's issue. In a perfect world women would be treated with respect in these positions, and they would not be raped, trafficked, or abused. Unfortunately, this is a women's issue because all of those things happen regularly. Reuters also posted an article today about the sex trade. Craigslist is going to start cracking down on ads in which prostitutes solicit online. This is in conjunction with a pact they struck with 40 states.

Seriously...

So it's official: the right has criticized Sarah Palin to the point where the left can't believe it.  We don't even like her!  The Daily Show last night introduced Sarah Palin is so dumb... jokes.  Hopefully this will be an ongoing skit on the show, but who knows.  I just thought I would point out Fox News broke this story with an "unnamed McCain aide."  I think the "unnamed" are as sketchy as the next person, but seriously...the conservative press is going after her as a scapegoat.  Wonder if that was in the "what a VP does" handbook? 

Oh Joe...

Yep, it was bound to happen soon or later, and it looks like it is going to be sooner.  Senator Joe Liberman will be having "the talk" with Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid.  I can't help but agree with Wonkette; Liberman needs a good ass kicking from Obama and the state of Connecticut.  The entire time I wanted the election coverage on Tuesday night I was never as angry as I was then Liberman was on the McCain plane behind McCain (this includes the petty, ridiculous McCain/Palin followers who booed during McCain's speech).  I get that Liberman is an Independent, and I like the idea of a third party system.  However, those of us who supported Liberman during his Veep nomination in 2000 feel betrayed.  Technically the McCain/Palin campaign until the end was appealing to the conservative base...who support G.W.; you remember him Joe...the guy you ran against in 2000.  A swift ass kicking is in order, and it will be less painful from Obama than the state of Connecticut.   

Sometimes the internet can be so fantastic

So, I'm getting married next summer and I was googling save the date cards when I discovered this great blog called The Offbeat Bride. Basically, the premise of this site is "do whatever the hell you want to do, and also use independant vendors!". Needless to say, I freakin' love it! The site really got me thinking about the small details of my wedding that I haven't really gotten to yet (since it isn't until late July 2009) and now I'm getting ridiculously excited again. I was originally tossing around the idea of all my bridesmaids wearing different style dresses and then I found a dress that I really loved that I wanted them all to wear. But when I was reading Offbeat Bride yesterday I came across this and realized that really, when it comes down to it, people look nice when they are dressed up and I could give a crap if they all look the same. Also, as a feminist I support a woman's right to choose (what she wears), so now all my ladies can choose whatever dress they want as long as it is comfortable and they like it (oh and also purple please!).

By the way, I feel like I could seriously rock some sparkly blue shoes like this bride. Please also note that her bouquet is made of Christmas ornaments. Love it!

Anyway, I will try and keep the wedding madness posts to only one a week (if that) so I don't bore all of you.

Pretty inspiring, eh?

I love this picture. I made it the desktop on my work computer because it reminds me that our country is capable of evolving in a way many didn't think possible.

Obama Has a Chief of Staff

According to MSNBC, Obama has offered Rahm Emanuel the position of White House Chief of State, and I believe Emanuel has accepted.  

But of Course Boys Will be Boys

Yep another horrifying report about the behavior of boys; this one was found in the Daily Mail and is out of the U.K.  Like in the United States, boys in the United Kingdom believe it is acceptable to use alcohol and pressure to get women into bed.  Anyone surprised by this?  Not really right, which is unfortunate.  Apparently, double standards are alive and well around the world: boys should sleep with as many people as possible, but girls who do are sluts, boys who aren't ready for sex are gay, and a boy should do anything to obtain sex.  Once again we hear about boys attitudes toward rape.  

It took me long enough to find, but Prostitution is still illegal in San Francisco; Proposition K failed.  I have stated my feelings on prostitution in the past, and I do agree it is a workers' rights issue in theory, but as long as people are forced into this work then it should be illegal.  The people doing the forcing should be punished not the victims.  

Sweet Victory and What It Means

"Obama's Victory Ushers in a New America", Joe Klein, Time

"Indeed, there are — an army of them, untold thousands of young organizers operating out of more than 700 offices nationwide. And they have delivered a message to Rudy Giuliani, who sneered during the Republican National Convention that he didn't even know "what a community organizer is." This is who they are: they are the people who won this election. They were the heart and soul and backbone of Barack Obama's victory. They are destined to emerge as the next significant generation of American political operatives — similar to the antiwar and antisegregation baby boomers who dominated the Democratic Party after cutting their teeth on the Bobby Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy campaigns of 1968, similar to the pro-life, antitax Reaganauts who dominated the Republican Party and American politics from the election of 1980 ... until now. They are a preview of the style and substance of the Obama Administration."

"It is no longer a "white" country, even though whites remain the majority. It is a place where the primacy of racial identity — and this includes the old, Jesse Jackson version of black racial identity — has been replaced by the celebration of pluralism, of cross-racial synergy. After eight years of misgovernance, it has lost some of its global swagger ... but also some of its arrogance. It may no longer be as dominant, economically or diplomatically, as it once was. But it is younger, more optimistic, less cynical. It is a country that retains its ability to startle the world — and in a good way, with our freedom. It is a place, finally, where the content of our President's character is more important than the color of his skin."

The only thing left to talk about is the white working class voters that gave this election to Obama.  Just so we're clear the people who have been largely ignored in the past handed this election over to Obama.  The community organizers, marginalized groups of minorities, and the working class (or the working poor as they are now).   These are people ignored or trampled on by the last eight years, and victory is sweet.  It is time to focus on staff and the Supreme Court, and most importantly the possibility of witnessing greatness opposed to the destruction of the last eight years.   I'm not naive enough to think it will be easy or perfect, but things are pretty bad to start with.  Racism and hate still exist.  But this signals there are enough people here who have had enough and are ready for those ideas to fade away.