The Good, The Bad, and The Silly

Posted on January 14, 2011 by lisafindley

The Good

Older news now, but Obama’s Administration has changed the rules for all hospitals participating in Medicare and Medicaid: people can now choose their hospital visitors, including same-sex partners.

Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor is making public her objections to the Court refusing to hear appeals from criminal defendants. She’s laying the groundwork for the Court to hear such appeals in the future.

Jimmy Johns, a tasty sandwich company with awful political connections, has been trying to block its employees from forming a union, but the workers have just won a big legal victory in getting the company-rigged union elections nullified so they can continue organizing. The best part about this is how the union is focusing on a “10 Point Program” to improve worker conditions across the fast food industry as a whole. I know a lot of people are wary of unions, and much has been made of abuses by union bosses and the like, but the fact is that every study done of union versus non-union workers in comparable industries shows a much higher quality of life for union workers, and that is an American dream we should all be able to get behind.

An organization called Common Ground is making huge progress to eliminate homelessness in major cities across the nation. It’s an exciting project and one that works because they get out on the street and talk to homeless people as if they’re people, rather than numbers, which is the only way to do it.

I vaguely knew that the 14th Amendment was fought over by white feminists and abolitionists, but I did not know the greater context of the legal implications of using “he” but never “male” in the Constitution. Maria Bustillos has a great piece up on how the lack of a gender-neutral pronoun in English figures prominently in American history, and how that figures into Scalia’s repugnant discussion of the 14th Amendment today. (Also, by the way, I disagree that “he” should be the gender-neutral pronoun norm, but I’ve never heard of academics using “she” instead. What’s wrong with “s/he,” which is what I was taught to use?)

The Bad

You know, the Illinois legislature is passing a huge state income tax increase so that we can find money for the basics, but somehow the state of Kentucky, which is surely in dire financial straits as well, has found $43 million for creationist theme park.

The Wall Street Journal published an upsetting article about “why Chinese mothers are the best kind,” and Latoya Peterson and other authors take the whole thing apart brilliantly.

97.5% of women with HIV/AIDS in Brazil have experienced violence, which is a staggering and sickening number. Feministing has some links to actions you can take to help.

I forgot to include this in last week’s G, B, S segment about the plutocracy we live (as opposed to the democracy we think we live in): Nicholas Kristof wrote about it from his perspective as an international journalist back in November.

The Silly

Who knew an interview with a lawyer about island law and the history of bird poop could be so fascinating?

A fun imaginary game: what would season 2 of Freaks and Geeks have looked like? I love the Nick-as-minor-local-celebrity-for-a-week idea; I can totally see him thinking it’s bigger than it is and buying a new jacket to fit his new cool rock star persona, only to be crushed when his popularity fades.

Here’s an interesting read on how comedy is the only effective remedy for one writer’s depression. The healing power of humor, etc. Here’s the longer cut of the interviews she did with stand-up comedians.

The Good, The Bad, and The Silly

Posted on January 7, 2011 by lisafindley

The Good

It wasn’t all bad last year! Feministing rounds up some good news from 2010.

Michelle Obama’s new chief of staff sounds pretty cool. Congrats, Tina Tchen!

Two major anti-racist groups file a formal complaint with the US Department of Education against the curriculum standards of Texas. Texas’s curriculum standards unfortunately affect much of the country, since they buy so many textbooks that whatever textbooks they buy become the main ones in the US. I hope the Department of Ed takes action.

The Bad

A cop assaulted a transgender woman, and when she defended herself, she was arrested.

I got an email from Barack Obama’s Organizing for America group saying we must stand firm on the health care bill and not let it get repealed on the same day I read this article, in which Obama preemptively caves on the end-of-life planning part of the health care bill. Sounds to me like caving and I don’t like it.

An older and a newer piece on the plutocracy we’re living in — it is just mathematically true that the rich now are far richer than the poor than ever before in American history. Disgusting.

Forget everyone’s “Kanye’s record is #1!” top ten lists; his video for “Monster” is terrifying, and not in a ghosts n ghouls kinda way.

The Silly

Here’s a great piece on a man living with schizophrenia who prepares daily for the apocalypse he can see unfolding in his mind. Also, scary effects of LSD!

Here’s a wonderful round-up of some hilarious humor pieces from 2010. I especially like “Et Tu, Brooklyn?” and “Funny Women #1.”

The Good, The Bad, and The Silly

Posted on December 17, 2010 by lisafindley

The Good

I don’t think I noted it when he said it, but George Bush made headlines when he said that the lowest moment of his presidency was when Kanye West said “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” Not the government’s, disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina, not the devastation Katrina victims experienced, but being called out in public for his incompetence — THAT was his lowest point. Kanye has since recanted, but Jay-Z rightfully says he shouldn’t have had to.

Here’s a great account of one woman’s sex ed (or lack thereof), and how we can explain sex better to kids, rather than keeping it hushed up and being surprised when young girls get pregnant and STI rates soar.

Tami Winfrey Harris has a wonderful piece that clarifies a point it seems far too many of us forget: freedom of speech is not equivalent to exemption from criticism. You can say what you like, but everyone else gets that right too. So if you’re selling reprehensible “antique” soaps that appeal to that lucrative racist market, don’t be surprised when people call bullshit, and don’t try to paint yourself the victim in this scenario.

Towson University and a few other colleges around the country succeeded in closing the graduation gap between blacks and whites, largely because they acknowledged there was a problem and that they could do something about it, unlike most colleges in the country, which shrug and say it can’t be helped (sadly, MSU is among the latter group).

The Bad

This is a chilling account of how one billionaire couple has bought up the rights to water in huge chunks of California and Fiji — and how the people who work on their farms are denied access to that very water. The Awl article is a good summary, but the longer Alternet article it’s based on is definitely worth a read as well. It is terrifying to me that this is possible in the year 2010, but I know it’s not uncommon.

I will never understand why a police department works so hard to frame someone for murder — don’t they want the actual killer caught just as much as the rest of us? And why do we still sanction state killing when this kind of thing is possible? (Via.)

Nope, saying everybody knows everybody’s position is not the same as saying, “This man is full of BS and we don’t agree with it here at the White House.” Guess which one of those things the press secretary is saying and which one he should be saying.

It would have been bad enough if this government employee had harangued Amber Yust while she was visiting the DMV, but the fact that he sent materials to her home address and gave her personal information to his church is a frightening breach of trust we put in public employees and a clear case of harassment. I agree with Melissa McEwan: why is he not fired or arrested?

The Silly

Should anyone be looking for a last-minute Christmas present for me, please feel free to make these fake covers a delightful reality! (Thanks to Oona for the link)

The Good, The Bad, and The Silly

Posted on December 10, 2010 by lisafindley

The Good

I didn’t even know there wasn’t an official US stance against child marriage before, but at least there is now! (And PS, how fantastic and lovely are the girls in that photo?)

I wish stories like this would get more press: Obama rights some past wrongs on behalf of the US.

Another terrific Sady Doyle piece, this one on women action heroes and just how important they are for young girls and women alike. I dream someday she will read my Headley Surprise series and we will become friends and talk about books and movies and the power of the all caps function.

A community organization in Ohio is making huge strides in saving homeowners from foreclosure, and saving banks money in the process. A good model that lending agencies across the country would be wise to look to. (Thanks to Mike for the link.)

Remember how last week I shared a link that highlighted more excellent activism from Rosa Parks? Here’s a quick piece on a teenage girl who, several months before Rosa Parks and with none of her community organizing backing, refused to give up her seat on a bus. And it turns out it wasn’t her first time standing up against injustice, either. Kudos to Claudette Colvin of Montgomery, Alabama.

The Bad

The House voted to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, but the Senate did not, despite a couple key senators previously having stated they would vote to repeal and then changing their minds at the last minute. That kind of trickery isn’t just bad politics, it’s bad faith to show your constituents that you can’t be trusted to do as you say. Reid may bring up the vote again in this lame duck session, so fingers crossed senators’ consciences kick in and we can get this vile piece of law outta here.

The dire economy continues to hit people hard the nation over: Arizona is now dropping people from organ transplant lists if they can’t pay for the operation themselves. There has got to be a better way to deal with funding cuts.

Our tax dollars paid for child prostitution in Afghanistan. Sure, there are a few more steps along the way in there, but when shady companies like DynCorp get hired over and over again despite charges of serious misdeeds and criminal behavior, you have to start phrasing it in the starkest terms for people to pay attention. Just because it’s veiled in backroom negotiations and technically legal moves, doesn’t make it right. (Via.)

The Silly

No words, just an actor, black and white film, and a score that’s aiming for Hitchcockian: the results are a mix of moving scenes and slow-mo Oscar bait.

Here are some cool aerial shots of cities around the world. I can’t wait to visit them! Thanks to my dad for the link.

The Good, The Bad, and The Silly

Posted on December 3, 2010 by lisafindley

The Good

The Illinois legislature has passed a bill approving civil unions. Governor Quinn is expected to sign it into law by the end of the year. Hurrah Illinois! One step closer to actual equality for LGBTs.

The Pope has made a tiny concession to people who use condoms — they may no longer be headed straight to hell! Baby steps, I guess, although as tigtog points out, there are a lot more steps to go toward making the Catholic Church the loving kind of body it purports to be for members and non-members alike.

This news is very late, but Aung San Suu Kyi has been released from her house arrest in Burma. That Feministing article has links to her speech, which is definitely worth checking out. This woman is a human rights hero and has been a vocal activist for decades, not to mention a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Amnesty International has been advocating for her release for years. Congratulations and I wish her a safe and productive future.

The Bad

Instead of extended unemployment benefits as they usually do, members of Congress have got into the Grinchy spirit and stalled in partisan politics. A lot of people are going to lose their homes (aren’t we done with that yet?) and more from this.

It’s no secret that the intersectionality of identities and abuses based on those identities is a huge part of the discussion of human rights among contemporary social justice groups. Being black isn’t worse or better than being a woman, and vice versa, for example. Unfortunately, mainstream organizations and the government haven’t caught on to this idea yet, and so it is that one group’s needs is determined as less important than another’s. This kind of bargaining is what resulted in black women’s concerns being shunted aside in the 2nd wave of the feminist movement, and it’s what makes many civil rights historians look at the civil rights movement from one angle only, instead of taking into account women’s particular experiences. This great article takes a quick look at how many white men raped and abused black women, and how recent attempts to rectify past wrongs do not allow for pursuing justice in those cases. Also, check it out — Rosa Parks was the main NAACP investigator in the case study presented in the article. Rosa Parks did an awful lot of amazing things!

The Silly

Sessily sent me this cool link: posters made up of the text of a book! I don’t see any book on there that I want in poster form, although The Wizard of Oz and Moby-Dick look really cool. I think an Ursula K. LeGuin novel would be great — Shevek boarding the spaceship in The Dispossessed or just about any scene from the Earthsea series.

http://www.thegrio.com/black-history/how-abuse-of-women-was-overshadowed-in-civil-rights-movement.phpT

The Good, The Bad, and The Silly

Posted on November 19, 2010 by lisafindley

The Good

When I heard that the fanatical and hateful group Westboro Baptist Church was going to picket my high school in Michigan, I was dismayed. What were they doing there and why? They still haven’t said why, although considering founder Fred Phelps’ daughter was in town for a panel discussion at MSU, it seems it was a protest of opportunity. The community of East Lansing really rallied ’round. Members of the local Episcopal and Unitarian Universalist churches held a joint meeting that all East Lansing High School students were welcome to attend rather than go through the protesters and hear their hate speech. Hundreds of counterprotesters lined the streets and held up signs advocating love. And turns out only THREE members of that so-called church turned up with their “God Hates Fags” and “America is Doomed” BS. Love wins again!

The National Labor Relations Board may be moving toward once again allowing graduate students to unionize. Collective bargaining for all!

As Mike, who passed on this link, said, “Every once in a while, some fraudulent asshole does get his due.” This is especially encouraging, since all too often organizations that are meant to monitor their professions just end up protecting badly behaved members of those professions.

The Bad

Earlier this month, the white cop who shot an unarmed, restrained black man at a train station in San Francisco was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to two years in prison. The many people who found this a miscarriage of justice for the slain Oscar Grant led a peaceful protest march against racism and police brutality — and they encountered, whaddya know, police brutality. If you want to donate to the legal aid fund set up for some of those protesters, go here.

Washington State Penitentiary has hit upon a cost-saving measure: as Choire Sicha writes, lockdowns once a month drive home the point that prisons are increasingly being used solely for incarceration, and not for rehabilitation at all.

The TSA chief has been testifying in a Senate committee meeting this week that the new body scan machines or full-body pat-downs are totally worth it to stop terrorism — but as this Newsweek article points out, this doesn’t take into account the many survivors of sexual assault who want or need to fly and will find these procedures genuinely traumatic. The last time I flew, they had a regular metal detector set up next to the body scan machine but they were sending every passenger through the body scan machine, and when I asked the TSA officer if I could just go through the metal detector, he said no, he’d have to get someone to do a pat-down search of me if I wasn’t doing the body scan. Then why have the metal detector at all? Seems that actual policy is to only send some individuals through the body scan machine, so why didn’t a TSA officer at a major airport like O’Hare know that? None of this makes me feel more secure about flying. Does it make anyone feel secure? (Via Shakesville)

The Silly

Sessily sent me the link to this t-shirt, which shows the part of Illinois that is Chicago, and the part of Illinois that all the suburbanites claim is part of Chicago so that when they meet people they can say “I’m from Chicago.” Dig it! There should be one for Detroit too (Grosse Pointers, Bloomfield Hillsians, etc., I’m looking at you!).

The Good, The Bad, and The Silly

Posted on November 12, 2010 by lisafindley

The Good

Okay, it’s not good that these wanted posters for abortion providers are making a comeback. But it is good that Flip Benham is being found guilty in a court of law for posting these dangerous, vile things.

Michelle and Barack get down in Indonesia! Love it.

I know I read in some Forster novel (I think it was Howards End) an argument among hoity-toities about the foolishness of just giving money to poor people, instead of attaching strings to tell them how to spend it. But those characters may have been on to something — apparently giving people even a dollar a day that they can spend any way they like is more effective than any other program at getting more poor kids in school, for example. Sure, some people will spend that money on drugs or drink, but so will some people who work in an office, and you don’t see us stipulating how salaries are spent. Most of the time, though, people just want money to feed, shelter, and clothe their families, and this is one way to help them do that.

The Bad

Damn it, government officials who knowingly destroy evidence of government wrongdoing should be prosecuted for their crimes, not given a free pass. But the Obama administration disagrees.

This is a month late, but it’s still worth seeing this compilation of hateful, untrue, and dangerous things that Tea Partiers have said. You know they’ll be back in 2012. Know your enemy, etc.

Oh don’t worry, John Shikmus (R-IL), who hopes to chair the House Energy Committee, reassures us, “The earth will end only when God declares its time to be over. Man will not destroy this earth. This earth will not be destroyed by a flood.” I’m so very comforted.

The organization that Thurgood Marshall called the “uptown Klan” is funding some schools in Mississippi. Take action to ask the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools why it accredits those schools and encourage the corporations that donate to the MAIS to make sure their donations aren’t being funneled to white supremacist, anti-gay schools.

Ask the Obama administration to change its policy on not sending condolence letters to the families of servicemembers who died by suicide. (I especially like Melissa’s point that there are many deaths in the military that are called suicide that may be anything but.)

The Silly

Here’s a cool interview with Brian Eno, a man more equipped than most to coax new and interesting sounds out of any machine on hand. I like what he says about how different forms of listening to music affect how we listen to music and also the music itself, and how he’s getting more and more interested in studio sessions that don’t sound quite so perfect.

Leave your interesting links in the comments, as usual, and have a great weekend!

The Good, The Bad, and The Silly

Posted on October 29, 2010 by lisafindley

The Good

Several friends on Facebook posted this (author self-acknowledged) rant about how atheists have every right to be angry. I don’t identify as atheist, but I sure could agree with every single point she brought up (it’s kind of long but has pictures and is well worth a read).

No wonder so many Episcopalian bishops didn’t want to confirm Gene Robinson — the man has important, church-shaking things to say, like “It’s time for ‘tolerant’ religious people to acknowledge the straight line between the official anti-gay theologies of their denominations and the deaths of these young people.” I’m happy to see a higher-up from the church of my youth speak up so strongly. (Of course, presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has had some great fighting words and controversial stances as well.) (Via.)

Things one straight, cis, white man doesn’t have to think about today. Glad he is!

The Bad

Here’s a great breakdown of some of the many reasons women find themselves seeking abortions very late in the pregnancy — and how laws like Nebraska’s ban on abortions after 20 weeks will be devastating to so many.

Clarence Thomas’s wife has the cruel audacity to ask Anita Hill to apologize for all the pain she caused the Thomases. Ms. Hill demurs. By the way, a mid-Michigan group called Second Opinion sang “The Ballad of Anita Hill” (which may have been their song or a cover, I’m not sure) with a fiery passion. It included the lyrics “It wasn’t that she didn’t feel pressure. It wasn’t that she didn’t feel spite. It wasn’t that she stood to gain a damn thing, she just did what she knew was right.”

This week a woman was mobbed by Tea Partiers at a Rand Paul rally, and one of them stomped on her head — and Paul didn’t even condemn them. The Awl notes also the completely nonsensical position the Tea Partiers are taking; Lauren Valle doesn’t want big corporations running the government (or, you know, funding the supposedly grassroots Tea Party) but even though that seems to be exactly in line with the Tea Party’s half-baked positions, they hate her and she deserves to be stomped on.

And of course the latest, which is a story from NPR on just how intricately for-profit prison companies work with legislators and lobbyists to pass things like SB 1070. Guess who wins in this bleak situation? (Past posts on this topic here, here, and here.)

The Silly

This is a funny little flowchart on explaining the Internet to a street urchin in 19th century London. Hint: You often end up stabbed.

The Good, The Bad, and The Silly

Posted on October 22, 2010 by lisafindley

The Good

Good for Sheriff Dart here in Chicago — he’s suspended enforcing foreclosures (as he did two years ago) until banks can prove they actually have everything in order. Some banks admitted they approved foreclosures without even reading the documents in question. How can you sleep at night knowing you’re making people homeless — and you didn’t even take the time to check if you had the legal right to do so? (Never mind the moral right.)

The Democratic Republic of Congo has one of the highest rates of rape and sexual violence in the world, and this past week, thousands of women there marched against sexual terrorism. Kudos to them for taking a bold stand in a terrifying environment.

I am 100% for finding a cure for breast cancer, just like everyone else. But this Breast Cancer Awareness Month, let’s all be a little more aware of just how dangerously corporate and anti-research the whole pink products campaign is. All that stuff you buy that’s colored pink “for breast cancer”? Half of it may be part of the environmental causes of breast cancer that aren’t getting researched, lest corporate research funders get upset. The fantastic Barbara Ehrenreich was all over this back in 2001 (it’s a really good read).

The Bad

Since when do bodyguards get to handcuff people, let alone reporters entering a public event on public property? The Anchorage DA had sure as hell better prosecute. This is your Tea Party, America.

“We’re becoming a plutocracy” — and no one in America believes it. (Via Shakesville, but I can’t find the exact link, sorry)

The FBI spied on an Arab American student for months (by GPS tracking his car without a warrant, which is now somehow legal), but they didn’t find anything. Too bad he did! He found the GPS tracker and now the FBI wants it back because it’s so pricey.

The Silly

The best blind job application ever, from Mr. Hunter S. Thompson. This is how I’m applying to all jobs from now on.

A girl wrote Johnny Depp and asked him to teach her and her fellow students how to be pirates so they could mutiny against their teachers, and he showed up to do just that.

The Good, The Bad, and The Silly

Posted on October 8, 2010 by lisafindley

The Good

Elizabeth Goodyear outlived all her family and friends, but in the last seven years she made more, a host of twentysomethings who read to her and brought her chocolates. Hurrah for the human spirit and community! (Via.)

Renee Martin talks about the many ways in which this photo of a young Muslim woman in New York is beautiful.

Here is a helpful way to think about tax brackets, which really matters when we talk about tax breaks and who is affected.

The Bad

Senator DeMint of South Carolina outright says what a lot of people seem to believe (judging by their voting records): Gay people and unmarried women living in sin shouldn’t be teachers. Think of the children, etc. Dear lord.

Sady Doyle breaks down a loathsome editorial. I like her point about “I might be a jerk but” being an opener to a despicable comment that you can’t argue with, because hey, he already admitted he’s a jerk; no need to rub it in! It’s kind of like how “no offense, but” always precedes something really offensive.

Greg Sargent explains to the White House why all their moaning about the left’s “whining” is not only unhelpful but inaccurate besides.

US Border Patrol agents are charged with rape and assault of undocumented immigrants. I like poster Cara’s question: “How can we expect Border Patrol agents to reasonably respect the human rights of undocumented (or even suspected undocumented) immigrants when the denial of their humanity is the name of the game?”

For anyone who thinks we can always trust law enforcement to pursue justice, read this article about how BIA agents lied, saying they’d caught a serial rapist when they knew they hadn’t. It’s not just your department budget or reputation that suffers when you don’t genuinely close a case, it’s the women who men continue to rape.

The Silly

My favorite part of this photo is that it is the same pose teenage girls use at the beach. Check out the whole slideshow of the European Beard And Moustache Championship.

Another slideshow — this one of some delightful gender-bending.

How do you improve that slightly blurry vacation shot of you and your friends at the bar? Stick in an explosion and some fire with the Bayifier (playing on the explosiosity of Michael Bay films)! My Christmas party just got even better: