It's Almost Over
The dog just farted. My thoughts exactly.
"The most objective sources I have are the people on my staff." Somehow that's a perfect ending to a Fox News Interview.
Monday, September 22, 2003
And We're Back
His desk is clear. Shouldn't they have attempted to make him look busy? I work at a tiny not-for-profit organization and my desk is never that clear.
"Man o'peace."
Mr. President, sir, could you please point out Yemen on a map for me?
Whoever produced this should lose their job. Even Leni Riefenstahl is spinning in her grave. Why am I watching this?
My mom: "He blinks twice when he lies."
Okay so we weren't exactly sure. We only sorta had an idea.
Brit Hume wants Bush to bomb Syria. He's egging him on!
"We believe in getting rid of people by peaceful processes." Um hello, Uday and Qusay.
I can't wait till the directors cut of this interview comes out.
His desk is clear. Shouldn't they have attempted to make him look busy? I work at a tiny not-for-profit organization and my desk is never that clear.
"Man o'peace."
Mr. President, sir, could you please point out Yemen on a map for me?
Whoever produced this should lose their job. Even Leni Riefenstahl is spinning in her grave. Why am I watching this?
My mom: "He blinks twice when he lies."
Okay so we weren't exactly sure. We only sorta had an idea.
Brit Hume wants Bush to bomb Syria. He's egging him on!
"We believe in getting rid of people by peaceful processes." Um hello, Uday and Qusay.
I can't wait till the directors cut of this interview comes out.
Cont'd
He doesn't read the papers himself. Why am I not surprised?
Hurray! He remembers everybody's name.
If you do something every single day, shouldn't it be easier to remember?
That was the most awkward segway ever. From the War On Terror to interior decoration. I'm guessing they were going for the symbolism of decisions of the past influencing the decisions of the present. It's really not working.
"Lincoln kept it united." Um actually, sir, Lincoln's election precipitated the Secession, starting the Civil War. That's pretty divisive, wouldn't you say?
"Serve something greater than ourself."
I need a drink.
He doesn't read the papers himself. Why am I not surprised?
Hurray! He remembers everybody's name.
If you do something every single day, shouldn't it be easier to remember?
That was the most awkward segway ever. From the War On Terror to interior decoration. I'm guessing they were going for the symbolism of decisions of the past influencing the decisions of the present. It's really not working.
"Lincoln kept it united." Um actually, sir, Lincoln's election precipitated the Secession, starting the Civil War. That's pretty divisive, wouldn't you say?
"Serve something greater than ourself."
I need a drink.
Sunday, September 21, 2003
Broken Windows has great take on the Friedman vs. France piece. Ever notice that these people who say things along the lines of, "Violence is the normal in (insert war-torn area here)," get to go home at the end of the day to suburbs, gated communties, buildings with security cards, etc.? Here's the thing; if one can get used to violence why are you so unwilling to live in a dangerous part of town? Conversely, if the term violence in a particular area has gone on so long as to make it the new normal, haven't we failed somewhere?
Saturday, September 20, 2003
Friday, September 19, 2003
Good piece on Krugman today. He's been in France so he'd better avoid Tom Friedman. I'm late in commenting on this but I now have an idea of what kind of lovechild Ann Coulter and Christopher Hitchens would produce.
I shouldn't have written that. Now I'll have nightmares.
I shouldn't have written that. Now I'll have nightmares.
I’m Just A Girl
If you haven’t heard about the latest push to make abstinence sexy to teenaged girls Mark Morford is on the case (via Tbogg).
In a way, you have to admire the dedication. Despite the best efforts of the Vatican, Martin Luther, Jerry Falwell et al, sexual liberation has managed to take hold and gain ground, a few setbacks notwithstanding. Call it what you will-- tenacity, self-delusion, whatever. When you’re getting your ass kicked it takes a lot to come back swinging every time. But that’s not really what I want to talk about.
Yes, this latest stunt is both hilarious and disgusting. Take this particular line:
Hie ye blackheads! To Hell ye go! But setting aside for a moment the question of whether anybody will actually take this crap to heart, is “Revolve” the really the problem?
Let’s face it. When it comes to teenage sexuality, particularly female teenage sexuality, we’re pretty schizophrenic. It’s easy to see why. In the melee of STD awareness, pregnancy prevention, rape hotlines, and lesbian-gay-transgender empowerment groups it’s understandable that something might be missed. But it missing it we’ve left out something I believe is key in understanding how girls grow up into women. When it comes to sex, we are very conscientious about telling girls that it’s okay to say no, to wait, to ask for protection, and (for the more progressive) to say yes only when it feels right. What we don’t tell them is not only is okay if the want to say yes, it’s also okay if they want to have sex period.
This was at least my experience with sex education in junior high, and high school. There was a lot of information, there were a lot options, even the grudging admission that yes sex indeed feels good. But if you were a girl the implicit message was that you are the one who will be desired, not the one who desires. Boys get erections and have wet dreams about the babysitter. Girls get breasts, a menstrual cycle and the ability to get pregnant. But don’t they get to dream about the babysitter too? (Hey I never specified gender)
The last three years have seen an explosion of women taking control of their own sexuality with The Vagina Monologues, Sex And the City, among other things. This is thrilling but exasperating. It’s easy to say that professional women in their 20s and 30s should feel free to masturbate and experiment. But we still can’t quite bring ourselves to make that same message a little more teen friendly. The prevailing opinion seems to be, "It's bad enough that teenage boys are sex crazed and irresponsible. What if we start egging the girls on too?"
But what about messages we are giving to girls? Take the latest issue of Rollingstone Magazine featuring ex-virgin Brittany Spears. Spears' career epitomizes the schizophrenic nature of teen sexuality. When she first came out what bugged me most (aside from her screaming lack of talent) was her image as the sexy jailbait virgin. The sexy jailbait thing was annoying enough, but the virgin element created a creepy kiddy porn context to it. Here was this girl who created this image of knowing nothing of her own desires but was able and willing to play upon male desires. When she finally did drop the virgin act it was almost a relief. At least her new sexy song lyrics have a veneer of truth to them. But now she's fallen into the Christina Aguilera trap of declaring her sexual liberation by emulating a stripper. The message has changed from, "I know nothing of my own sexuality but I can play up an image," to "I define my own sexuality by being the object of desire."
It's not that I don't believe that there aren't women that don't get off on being desired in that way. But it confines female sexuality to what men want, without asking what women want. This is why you have so many women who have sex when they don't want to, who've never had an orgasm, who are afraid to masturbate, and who don't know why they are so neurotic about sex.
STDs and teen pregnancy make the idea of sexual liberation in teenage girls more than a little alarming. And I'm not just saying we should liberate them now so they won't need it later. If anything, helping girls first understand that they have desires too could go a long way in helping them navigate their teen years without getting pregnant or contracting an STD. If she can identify what she wants in terms of a sexual relationship she might be less likely to have sex out of pressure or feel ashamed.
Of course I don't expect the visionaries behind "Revolve" to take my argument into consideration. There's no point in arguing with people who believe that Jesus will hate you if you wear low-rider jeans. It's easy to laugh at that kind of cluelessness. It's harder to admit that in a lot of ways, the rest of us are pretty clueless as well.
If you haven’t heard about the latest push to make abstinence sexy to teenaged girls Mark Morford is on the case (via Tbogg).
It's called "Revolve: The Complete New Testament" and it's apparently racing up the Amazon.com sales charts -- whatever that means -- as it sucks up all the accoutrements of a teen fashion rag and rams them through the cute Christian grinder of humorlessness and sexual rigidity and homophobia, and regurgitates them as kicky dumbed-down slightly numb virginal tidbits of advice and admonition and, yes, Biblical storytelling.
In a way, you have to admire the dedication. Despite the best efforts of the Vatican, Martin Luther, Jerry Falwell et al, sexual liberation has managed to take hold and gain ground, a few setbacks notwithstanding. Call it what you will-- tenacity, self-delusion, whatever. When you’re getting your ass kicked it takes a lot to come back swinging every time. But that’s not really what I want to talk about.
Yes, this latest stunt is both hilarious and disgusting. Take this particular line:
"The fire of God's love burns out the sin the same way the hot steam routs the dirt out of your pores. This kind of relationship with God will do more to improve your looks than any amount of facials," reads the part on "Spiritual Facials."
Hie ye blackheads! To Hell ye go! But setting aside for a moment the question of whether anybody will actually take this crap to heart, is “Revolve” the really the problem?
Let’s face it. When it comes to teenage sexuality, particularly female teenage sexuality, we’re pretty schizophrenic. It’s easy to see why. In the melee of STD awareness, pregnancy prevention, rape hotlines, and lesbian-gay-transgender empowerment groups it’s understandable that something might be missed. But it missing it we’ve left out something I believe is key in understanding how girls grow up into women. When it comes to sex, we are very conscientious about telling girls that it’s okay to say no, to wait, to ask for protection, and (for the more progressive) to say yes only when it feels right. What we don’t tell them is not only is okay if the want to say yes, it’s also okay if they want to have sex period.
This was at least my experience with sex education in junior high, and high school. There was a lot of information, there were a lot options, even the grudging admission that yes sex indeed feels good. But if you were a girl the implicit message was that you are the one who will be desired, not the one who desires. Boys get erections and have wet dreams about the babysitter. Girls get breasts, a menstrual cycle and the ability to get pregnant. But don’t they get to dream about the babysitter too? (Hey I never specified gender)
The last three years have seen an explosion of women taking control of their own sexuality with The Vagina Monologues, Sex And the City, among other things. This is thrilling but exasperating. It’s easy to say that professional women in their 20s and 30s should feel free to masturbate and experiment. But we still can’t quite bring ourselves to make that same message a little more teen friendly. The prevailing opinion seems to be, "It's bad enough that teenage boys are sex crazed and irresponsible. What if we start egging the girls on too?"
But what about messages we are giving to girls? Take the latest issue of Rollingstone Magazine featuring ex-virgin Brittany Spears. Spears' career epitomizes the schizophrenic nature of teen sexuality. When she first came out what bugged me most (aside from her screaming lack of talent) was her image as the sexy jailbait virgin. The sexy jailbait thing was annoying enough, but the virgin element created a creepy kiddy porn context to it. Here was this girl who created this image of knowing nothing of her own desires but was able and willing to play upon male desires. When she finally did drop the virgin act it was almost a relief. At least her new sexy song lyrics have a veneer of truth to them. But now she's fallen into the Christina Aguilera trap of declaring her sexual liberation by emulating a stripper. The message has changed from, "I know nothing of my own sexuality but I can play up an image," to "I define my own sexuality by being the object of desire."
It's not that I don't believe that there aren't women that don't get off on being desired in that way. But it confines female sexuality to what men want, without asking what women want. This is why you have so many women who have sex when they don't want to, who've never had an orgasm, who are afraid to masturbate, and who don't know why they are so neurotic about sex.
STDs and teen pregnancy make the idea of sexual liberation in teenage girls more than a little alarming. And I'm not just saying we should liberate them now so they won't need it later. If anything, helping girls first understand that they have desires too could go a long way in helping them navigate their teen years without getting pregnant or contracting an STD. If she can identify what she wants in terms of a sexual relationship she might be less likely to have sex out of pressure or feel ashamed.
Of course I don't expect the visionaries behind "Revolve" to take my argument into consideration. There's no point in arguing with people who believe that Jesus will hate you if you wear low-rider jeans. It's easy to laugh at that kind of cluelessness. It's harder to admit that in a lot of ways, the rest of us are pretty clueless as well.
General asshats
Circle I Limbo
Militant Vegans
Circle II Whirling in a Dark & Stormy Wind
DMV Employees
Circle III Mud, Rain, Cold, Hail & Snow
Libertarians
Circle IV Rolling Weights
Saddam Hussein
Circle V Stuck in Mud, Mangled
River Styx
Rednecks
Circle VI Buried for Eternity
River Phlegyas
Scientologists
Circle VII Burning Sands
Republicans
Circle IIX Immersed in Excrement
George Bush
Circle IX Frozen in Ice
Wednesday, September 17, 2003
I weighed in on Clark back in May. For the most part my opinion still stands. You can download that Oxford American article here.
Monday, September 15, 2003
Okay. No.
There is much I don't understand about performance art as there is also much I don't understand about Yoko. I am quite sure Yoko--like much performance art--is very often treated unfairly. I have seen good performance art. I know that Yoko has done good things. But when bad performance art collides with Yoko's darker self-aggrandizing side...eeewwww.
Please Yoko. Hasn't the anti-war movement been demoralized enough?
John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, is set to strip for peace tonight on a stage in Paris in her one-woman art show in which members of the audience were invited to cut off pieces of her clothing.
There is much I don't understand about performance art as there is also much I don't understand about Yoko. I am quite sure Yoko--like much performance art--is very often treated unfairly. I have seen good performance art. I know that Yoko has done good things. But when bad performance art collides with Yoko's darker self-aggrandizing side...eeewwww.
Please Yoko. Hasn't the anti-war movement been demoralized enough?
New Blog
My friend has decided to "join the crowded fray" and start her own blog about life as a Yank-in-exile in New Orleans.Should definitely be interesting. Anyway head on over and check out Broken Windows: Tales From New Orleans. New Orleans from what I understand has the combined problems of the rural south and a third world country. She can explain it better than I.
My friend has decided to "join the crowded fray" and start her own blog about life as a Yank-in-exile in New Orleans.Should definitely be interesting. Anyway head on over and check out Broken Windows: Tales From New Orleans. New Orleans from what I understand has the combined problems of the rural south and a third world country. She can explain it better than I.
Saturday, September 13, 2003
$87 billlion: Item #1
(snip)
Have coffee before you read the whole thing.
The Bush administration is calling for an additional $2.1 billion to repair the Iraqi oil industry, a sharp increase from previous estimates that underscores how the sabotage of pipelines and the electricity grid has throttled the flow of oil for export and into domestic refineries.
(snip)
A spokesman for the Corps of Engineers said that it had not been contacted by the administration to develop the new estimate, but it remains unclear whether Mr. Bremer's administration spoke to the Corps of Engineers staff in Iraq. The congressmen have asked the budget office for a detailed explanation of how the estimate was derived and a list of the projects involved.
Have coffee before you read the whole thing.
Thursday, September 11, 2003
It's been two years and I've got nothing.
I have no answers, no insight, no direction. Just a blog, a little anger, a little too much time. Not exactly nothing I guess, but still not nearly enough. I don't see the point of rehashing the day-- where I was, how I felt --because when you get right down to it, you were either there or you weren't. And I wasn't. I was outside pressing my nose up against the TV glass, horrified and helpless, but still not inside. And if you weren't there it really doesn't matter much to anyone else where you were.
I'm not trying to belittle the catastophe. Nay, I'm admitting that in the end it's too big for me and my blog. So here's a list of required reading,
because what we don't know can hurt us,
because what they could know might,
and
because it's not just our day.
I have no answers, no insight, no direction. Just a blog, a little anger, a little too much time. Not exactly nothing I guess, but still not nearly enough. I don't see the point of rehashing the day-- where I was, how I felt --because when you get right down to it, you were either there or you weren't. And I wasn't. I was outside pressing my nose up against the TV glass, horrified and helpless, but still not inside. And if you weren't there it really doesn't matter much to anyone else where you were.
I'm not trying to belittle the catastophe. Nay, I'm admitting that in the end it's too big for me and my blog. So here's a list of required reading,
because what we don't know can hurt us,
because what they could know might,
and
because it's not just our day.
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
Tuesday, September 09, 2003
The Other Shoe
Is it really necessary to write another post about Bush's inability to tell the truth? Well if Bush didn't lie I wouldn't have to write yet another shrill screed bitching about what a liar he is. But he does lie, and so I have no choice. So what am I all bent out of shape about now?
There are plenty of reasons to grumble about the $87 billion dollars Congress is being asked to cough up for Georgie's latest failure but I'm going to leave that alone for a little while to talk about something else. On Sunday night Bush said:
This is to counter criticism that the force currently on the ground is not large enough.
Well he's not expanding the force but:
Okay, so apparently the current number of ground troops is only appropriate if we don't let the reservists go home at their appointed times. Now to me this reads as our military being stretched a little thin over in Iraq which really makes me worry. And Bush did not mention that because to say that the reservists tours of duty were to be extended would fly directly in the face of his statement that the current number of troops is "appropriate."
A lie of omission is still a lie.
Is it really necessary to write another post about Bush's inability to tell the truth? Well if Bush didn't lie I wouldn't have to write yet another shrill screed bitching about what a liar he is. But he does lie, and so I have no choice. So what am I all bent out of shape about now?
There are plenty of reasons to grumble about the $87 billion dollars Congress is being asked to cough up for Georgie's latest failure but I'm going to leave that alone for a little while to talk about something else. On Sunday night Bush said:
Our military commanders in Iraq advise me that the current number of American troops, nearly 130,000, is appropriate to their mission.
This is to counter criticism that the force currently on the ground is not large enough.
Well he's not expanding the force but:
The Army is telling National Guard and Reserve troops in Iraq they will be there a full 12 months, apparently surprising some who had believed the clock started ticking on one-year tours once they reached mobilization stations in the United States.
Counting time they spent getting ready before they went and to demobilize after their tours, many reservists now in Iraq probably will find themselves on active duty and away from their civilian jobs for well over a year, officials said Tuesday.
Okay, so apparently the current number of ground troops is only appropriate if we don't let the reservists go home at their appointed times. Now to me this reads as our military being stretched a little thin over in Iraq which really makes me worry. And Bush did not mention that because to say that the reservists tours of duty were to be extended would fly directly in the face of his statement that the current number of troops is "appropriate."
A lie of omission is still a lie.
Monday, September 08, 2003
I abstained from Bush TV this weekend and looks like I didn't miss much. Here's all you need to know about Showtime's big wet kiss to the Bush administration.
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