4.30.2006
Speaking truthiness to power*
Alright, I'm not sure exactly when I turned this into a video blog, but sometimes you just find things that are too good not to share. Like Stephen Colbert speaking at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. I enjoy Colbert, he's not as consistently funny as Jon Stewart, but he fakes wingnut better than anyone else...even the wingnuts.part 2
part 3
A big thank you to Rich for pointing out that the video was already up on YouTube...apparently I was too busy watching more Derren Brown episodes to notice.
*Title shamelessly stolen from Editor & Publisher
Labels: Men We Love, Politics
annamaria at 8:45 PM
4.25.2006
Fool me — you can't get fooled again
Apparently, things need to be obviously satirical in order to bypass my inherent gullibility. Stupid StillFree douchebags.
Via Punkassblog.
And while we are on the subject of things I know to be hoaxes (sort of), check out the fabulous Derren Brown, mentalist extraordinaire:
And finally, an apology in advance of really, really light posting this week. Since Psycho quit, I've had to take on the responsibilities of her job as well as mine until we get a replacement for her. Not that her paranoid narcissism could ever truly be replaced.
Labels: Douchebags, Men We Love
annamaria at 7:43 PM
4.23.2006
Tagging Air Force One
This is probably one of the scarier things I've seen this year. While there is a part of me that takes a macabre satisfaction in having Air Force One tagged (particularly with "Still Free"), I'm still a little uneasy with the idea that someone could actually get close enough to the damn plane to do it! Christ, I know Bush doesn't give a shit about keeping me safe from terrorists, but you'd think he'd maybe, I don't know, heighten security around his own damn plane!
Ted Leo is yet again my hero for sharing the video...
And while I'm sharing videos, check out this one--the Westboro Baptist Church has decided that despite a longstanding prohibition against openly gay Americans serving in the military, dead soldiers are somehow "fag enablers" because they, um, fight for the freedom to be a closeted marine? I think? C'mon, it's Phelpsian logic, I can hardly be expected to keep up. At any rate, it's vile and disgusting, so be forewarned. (Courtesy of the newest member of our blogroll, Empires Fall).
annamaria at 8:50 AM
4.21.2006
Friday Random Ten
Damn, it’s been a busy week. Not only was I responsible for playing chauffeur to Oldest Brother and the family when they were in town (and constant shopping trips to Target only sound like fun in the abstract), but work has been a joy this week as well. Today is my manager’s last day, which is kind of bittersweet. I really like the guy, he’s been fun to work with and I know he appreciates me, which is nice. Of course, New Manager and I have a pretty good relationship as well, so I’m looking forward to working with her. I just hate change. I’m fairly recalcitrant, so it’s important that I have a good working relationship with management, otherwise I’m apt to tell them to fuck off and quit because the coffee wasn’t strong enough this morning. Luckily, both managers make a mean cup of joe.
Oh, and I haven’t even told you the best news! Today is Psycho’s last day! She turned in her two weeks notice last Monday, and has taken a job elsewhere. Apparently she decided that there is more honor in quitting than sticking around and getting fired. I’m not feeling bittersweet about this, just pure, unadulterated joy. Yeah, it will suck having to do both her job and mine next week while we wait for her replacement, but that is a price I am willing to pay if it means never having to see her again. I only hope that her new bosses have an even more lax attendance policy, otherwise I fear that Psycho will crawl back here and beg for her job back.
Did I mention that she turned in her notice and promptly missed two days of work? Yeah.
Anyway…it’s Friday! We’re having a party at work to celebrate our manager’s promotion and finally ridding ourselves of Psycho. High spirits all around. And even better than a party is the Friday Random Ten! Okay, it’s really not better than the party, but since y’all aren’t invited to that, this will have to do!
- Dogs Were Barking - Gogol Bordello
- Burn - Pink Nasty
- Duchess - Scott Walker
- Central Booking - Bishop Allen
- Head - Prince
- Sunshine - The Decemberists
- Life's What You Make It - Talk Talk
- The High Party - TL/Rx
- Panic - The Smiths
- Penny for a Thought - Saul Williams
Your turn!
Labels: FRT
annamaria at 8:13 AM
4.20.2006
Why don't we just ban parenthood?
So, Kerri said something in the comments a few days ago that had me thinking about Identity Politics and the way that sexuality has been co-opted by those who view “who you fuck” as something other than just that—who you fuck. It reminded me of a discussion I had with a classmate in an intro-Women’s Studies course in college, where I argued that gender always means woman. Men have no gender, at least in the common parlance, because their gender is the norm. Only women, being deviant by patriarchal standards, are the defined by gender. Race is a similar construct. Referring to yourself as a member of the white race is often a pretty clear indication that you are an unrepentant racist asshole. At the very least, that is how you will be perceived. Constructs like race, gender and sexual orientation are social markers used to identify those who do not live up to the cultural norm—white, male, heterosexual.And, as is the nature of patriarchy, what begins as a tool of identification becomes a tool for oppression. Take for example this account about a woman who testified before the Massachusetts Judiciary Committee about being raised by a gay father:
I’m not a psychologist, but I have a feeling that any psychological scarring this woman experienced had more to do with “lack of affection, domestic violence and sexual abuse” and the revolving door of daddy’s sexual partners than the fact that said partners were men. If this was truly going on in this child’s home, then Canadian social services failed her. They allowed her to remain in a home where abuse and violence were the norm, and I am sickened that any child could be treated so cruelly by her own parent. But so far as I know, child sexual abuse and domestic violence are not the sole province of homosexuals. Actually, I’m fairly sure that’s the case, since the vast majority of pedophiles are heterosexual men. And kids were routinely abused in homes prior to the Stonewall Rebellion, so I’m pretty sure we can’t blame that on “teh gays” either. But, from a sociological perspective, it is paramount that we conflate this father’s actions with his sexual orientation. Ms. Stefanowicz’s father was, by her account, a monster who never should have been allowed near children, but in a world were sexuality were simply defined by “who you fuck” his sexuality would barely be a footnote in this story.The Massachusetts government heard testimony last week from a young Canadian woman, Dawn C. Stefanowicz who had been raised from infancy by her homosexual father and his various “partners” in a “gay” household. She told the Massachusetts Judiciary Committee that her life submerged in the homosexual subculture had left her scarred psychologically and morally.
Stefanowicz made her statement during hearings, held April 11 by the Massachusetts government to consider establishing an amendment to the state constitution that would define marriage as being between one man and one woman.
Describing her father’s homosexual lifestyle as a culture without “boundaries and principles of morality and monogamy,” Stefanowicz said her upbringing was characterized by confusion and lack of affection, domestic violence and sexual abuse.
To use one woman's account of abuse at the hands of a gay father to justify the denial of basic rights to an entire segment of the population is, at best, a terrible means of determining public policy, and at worst, an offensive means of codifying hatred. But let's assume that the Massachusetts Judicial Committee's intentions are pure, and they just want to protect children from abuse--why not ban heterosexual marriage* then? Since most pedophiles are straight men and I'm sure that most kids in foster homes came from heterosexual parents, why not use that statistical evidence (as opposed to Ms. Stefanowicz's anecdotal evidence) and ban straight people from getting married or having kids? If protecting children is really your concern.
______________________
*And can we stop with the ridiculous argument that the only justification for marriage is to make lots and lots of little babies? Seriously, it's getting on my nerves.
Labels: LGBT
annamaria at 1:00 PM
4.19.2006
I look like a million bucks
PZ Myers not only snagged an invite to the Geek Prom, but he's worth nearly two of me. According to Humans For Sale, I would likely net $1,641,360 if I were to put myself up for sale. Is it just me, or is that really fucked up? My asset breakdown was fairly strange as well--my red hair earns me $10k, which is exactly how much my worth was decreased by having size-9 shoes. What the fuck? Was this quiz created in China?annamaria at 7:50 PM
Detroit Sucks
I should totally be responding to all of your comments on the other post, but I’m really tired! Oldest Brother and his kids finally flew back to
- South of 8 Mile Fear. I’ve said it before—get the fuck over yourselves, people! 8 Mile is not some mythical divide that separates Fabulous Ferndale from the ghettos of
- People who cannot navigate a Michigan Left. I know, I know, oh so fucking difficult to turn around in the median when you could just risk life and limb crossing eight lanes of divided highway traffic during rush hour in a city where red lights are optional. Here’s a hint—inside lane turns into the inside lane, outside lane turns into the outside lane. Don’t come tearing out of the turnaround like a fucking idiot and try to cut me off so that you can hang that right turn real quick—I’ve got damn near 90,000 miles on my car, and I’m not afraid to sacrifice a front bumper to prove a point.
- People who pronounce Lahser as Lasher. H before S, assholes. Lah-Ser. And on the subject of grammar—Ford, Meijer and Kroger are singular pronouns.
- People who say “If you don’t like the weather in
- Speaking of weather, people who complain about the snow in
- Large, expensive buildings named after corrupt
- The fact that coney dogs, Vernors and Better Maid potato chips are the Detroit equivalent of haute cuisine. And we wonder why this is the fattest city in the country.
- Mike Ilitch. I shouldn’t even have to justify this one. The man owns like half of the buildings in
- People who drive Hummers with “Sportsman for Bush” bumper stickers on them and have the fucking audacity to complain about paying $2.87 a gallon at the BP. If your oil tanker got more than 9 miles per gallon, buddy, pumping gas wouldn’t be such a nerve-shattering experience for you.
- Auto Industry employee & family discounts which make purchasing a Hummer affordable. If nine out of every ten people in
- Local news traffic correspondents who insist on calling the I-96/I-696/I-275/M-10 interchange “The Mixing Bowl” and the guileless sheeple who mimic them. The Mixing Bowl? Entirely too banal a nickname for the sheer terror of crossing traffic through 28 different permutations of people merging on roads that resemble a Vietnamese landmine field on a good day.
And finally:
- Goth kids who roam Main Street in Royal Oak, hanging out on stoops and smoking Djarums, and who have the unmitigated gall to sneer at me when all I want is to buy that cute pair of shoes at Incognito without you little wankers getting all up in my shit. I was rocking the black nail polish and sour expression when you were a mere glint in your mama’s eye, kid, so don’t turn your Hot Topic-bought, no-holes-required nose ring up at me.
Labels: The D
annamaria at 6:25 PM
4.16.2006
Still think Pharmacists are all about saving lives?
And what better evidence for the fucked up priorities of the fundie-pharms than this:
Cedar River Clinics, a women's health and abortion provider with facilities in Renton, Tacoma, and Yakima, filed a complaint with the Washington State Department of Health this week alleging three instances where pharmacists raising moral objections refused to fill prescriptions for Cedar River clients. The complaint includes one incident at the Swedish Medical Center outpatient pharmacy in Seattle. According to the complaint, someone at the Swedish pharmacy said she was "morally unable" to fill a Cedar River patient's prescription for abortion-related antibiotics. Cedar River's complaint quotes its Renton clinic manager's May 17, 2005, e-mail account: "Today, one of our clients asked us to call in her prescription... to Swedish outpatient pharmacy. [We] called the prescription in... and spoke with an efficient staff person who took down the prescription. A few minutes later, this pharmacy person called us back and told us she had found out who we were and she morally was unable to fill the prescription." (Cedar River thinks their client eventually got her prescription filled.) [emphasis mine]
Labels: Keep Your Rosaries Off My Ovaries
annamaria at 10:15 PM
4.14.2006
Friday Random Ten
Ah! I'm late again! I have a good excuse, though. See, I don't have to work today, so I only just woke up about ten minutes ago. Fabulous! :)
Oldest Brother and his family are in town from Boston. Niece A has proven herself a true Genovese--she's a little cardshark that managed to score $5.00 off my mom playing Texas Hold'em for nickles. Good girl! Nephew N, meanwhile, has become obsessed with the lake behind my parents' house, and is catching carp in a bucket as we speak. He's being good, though, and letting them go back to their mommies when he's done.
Today I'm driving the entire family up to beautiful Grand Blanc, Michigan to visit Favorite Brother and his family. Should be fun, although being around all of those kids is going to be trying on this childless girl.
So, here's the random ten, hot of the presses:
- Pyrite Pedestal - Pretty Girls Make Graves
- Making Friends Has Never Been So Easy - Sure Juror
- Hello? Is This Thing On? - !!!
- The One Who Got Us Out - TL/Rx
- Lovey Dovey - Otis Redding
- London's Brilliant Parade - Elvis Costello
- Go Your Own Way (live) - The Decemberistss & DCFC
- All My Little Words - The Magnetic Fields
- A Sight to Behold - Devendra Banhart
- The Rat - The Walkmen
Labels: FRT
annamaria at 12:08 PM
What do you mean, there's no market for wrestlers on the speaking circuit?
Oopsies.
Seems the good folks in Utah need to get better PR contacts - or just some PR contacts in general?
Instead of booking Jon Stewart, fake-news anchor, they booked Jon A. Stewart, Illinois Republican candidate for Congress in 2000/motivational speaker/part-time pro wrestler, pictured above as the person "winning the match."
He even wrote the school back, asking if they were sure they had the right Jon Stewart. When the DaVinci Academy teacher corresponding with him told him he was indeed their man, the married father of three agreed to speak for free and booked an airline ticket and rental car for $421.Come on, people. You don't think Jon Stewart gets some green for speaking engagements?
And, further, I guess that this wasn't a quick error and that negotiations went on for months and the school still didn't realize they had the wrong JS.
Fucking Utah. What is it with that state?
(My fav.: In Salt Lake City, no one may walk down the street carrying a paper bag containing a violin.)
Labels: Douchebags
Anonymous at 10:20 AM
4.13.2006
He said/She said and Why I'm a feminist
There’s an interesting debate going on over at Amp’s place about the he said/she said nature of rape investigations, and why it does not occur in other trials where there is a conflict of testimony between two principle witnesses. Amp uses the example of a defendant who claims that drugs found on his person were planted there by a police officer—since only the defendant and the officer know what really happened, there should be some controversy over whose word to believe. But, overwhelmingly, there is not. Juries are socially conditioned to believe an authority figure over a defendant, and therefore, the case is likely to result in a conviction with little debate over the relative credibility of the witnesses. Certainly society never states that since none of us were in the room when the drug deal went down, we cannot prosecute based on the mere testimony of one person over the other.
But, when confronted with sexual assault, suddenly the testimonial controversy is paramount. Since lack of consent is difficult to prove after the fact (all physical evidence can be used as an affirmative defense of consensual rough sex), the tendency is to assume that women who allege rape are liars. It’s not uncommon for people to argue that there is a high false-accusation rate for sexual assault. Of course, this isn’t true: false claims of rape are roughly 2% of the total accusations—the same percentage for all violent crimes. I know it’s obvious, but I’m going to spell it out anyway—that means that a man who claims to have been mugged is just as likely to be lying as a woman who claims to have been raped, yet I can’t recall a single instance wherein society has come to the immediate and vociferous defense of all accused muggers in the court of public opinion. But time and again we are admonished to remember that rape is a charge “easily to be made and hard to be proved.”
So, why the disconnect? Why don’t we hold all crime victims to the same impossible standard—prove a negative, and while doing so, please refrain from having a past that in anyway indicates that you may have given money or a gift or a black eye to anyone in the past because this would seriously negate your ability to claim to the be the victim of theft or assault in the future. If I gave Ian $20 three weeks ago ‘cause he was low on cash and needed to eat does that mean that he can take another $20 three days from now because I said yes in the past? Does that negate my claim of theft? What if I had given Rich the $20, but Ian was just as hungry and felt that he had as much of a claim to my money? Does my generosity paint me with the same degree of skepticism as a non-virginal rape victim? What if that $20 was pinned to the front of my jacket, tempting Ian and Rich with its seductive availability? Do I bear responsibility when one or the both of them forcibly removes the bill because if I didn’t want to give it up I wouldn’t have been dressed like that anyway?
It seems that for crimes where women are the primary victims—rape, domestic violence—there is a greater burden of proof placed on the victim to prove that the crime even took place. Women who are raped are asked to account for every minor action that might have “incited” men to rape. Women in abusive relationships are asked “Well, if it was so bad why didn’t you leave?” Women’s actions in the face of violence are called into question at all turns in a way that would be shocking and offensive if turned on other crime victims. And even more insulting, when women fight back from abuse they are punished more severely than their attackers—up to 90% of women in prison for homicide killed the men who battered them, even though only 4% of male murder victims are killed by current or former intimate partners (compared to one-third of women) and murder is still the leading cause of death for pregnant women in the United States.
And that is why I’m a feminist. Not because I want to form some kind of gynocentric enclave or forcibly castrate men in retaliation for my lack of phallic power (stupid Freud), but because I believe women. I believe women because 98% of the time we are not lying. And I know that the only thing that separates me from a rape victim or battered wife is dumb fucking luck. Nothing I have done in my life in has anyway protected me from sexualized violence because there is nothing I can do to protect myself in a society that fails to recognize women’s inherent humanity. And I am simply not willing to sit back and rely on something as fickle as luck when it comes to protecting half of the planet from harm.
Labels: Feminism
annamaria at 2:00 PM
4.12.2006
Someone has discovered my evil plan
Labels: Feminism
annamaria at 9:36 AM
4.07.2006
Friday Random Ten
First, allow me to apologize for the light posting this week. End of month/end of quarter business and all that jazz. Work has been insane. Add to that the news that my manager, with whom I get along swimmingly, has just been promoted and will be leaving our office at the end of the month. That means breaking in a new manager--luckily, I know this person and she and I have a good working relationship already, which means that I can continue at work with the proper amount of slacking off without any major issues. Thank goodness for that! Can you imagine if I actually had to work at work? I would have to find a new job forthwith!
Oldest Brother is also coming for a visit next week, which should be interesting. He had the foresight to leave Michigan fifteen years ago, and has never looked back. He's an inspiration to us all! Particularly since his adopted state of Massachusetts has just announced plans to have near universal health care for all of its citizens. Hmmm...free health care, gay marriages, funny accents—Massachusetts is looking more and more like Canada everyday.
And while I’m using this time to talk about things that I should have dedicated entire posts to had I not been so busy this week, have you all heard about Russ Feingold? Mr. President-of-my-dreams has done what few Democrats these days have the spine to: announce his support of full marriage rights for all American citizens. I know, I know, lots of Democrats probably believe in marriage equality in private but I can't name another one who's actually dared state the obvious in public. Good on you, Russ! You make me proud to be a midwesterner, even if I have to live in Michigan.
Meanwhile, Democrats have decided to join the 20th century and are proposing a new and exciting program to decrease the number of abortions: comprehensive sex ed and access to birth control! Hey, what a great idea! I'm surprised no one has ever thought of this before! Perhaps Senator Feingold can nudge his party into the 21st Century by the midterm elections.
I won’t hold my breath.
I will, however, share with you my Friday Random Ten, which is all over the place this week. I’ve got mod-rock, new wave, Swedish pop and a couple of Canadians. And not a single Decemberists song in sight!
- Black Coffee in Bed (live) - Squeeze with Ben Folds
- The Invisible Man - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
- The Laws Have Changed - The New Pornographers
- Marquee Moon - Television
- Under the Milky Way Tonight - The Church
- Video - Ben Folds Five
- A List of Sound - Matt Pond PA
- I Die - The Magnetic Fields
- Avalon - Roxy Music
- My Favorite Game - The Cardigans
Your turn!
Labels: FRT
annamaria at 8:52 AM
4.06.2006
Marching forth toward Gilead
Via Feministing, Rachel Maddow interviews New York Times Magazine’s Jack Hitt on Air
Hitt describes the process by which the State collects evidence of the crime:
When a doctor does a pelvic exam on a woman and sees evidence of an abortion, police are called and then if there’s any ambiguity in the doctor’s assertion, the State has the right to essentially get a search warrant for the vagina, and to have a state-sponsored forensic gynecologist come and essentially examine the scene of the crime.
I second Jessica: Listen to this now.
Also in the piece, Maddows mentions that Human Life International, an anti-choice group based in
Labels: Keep Your Rosaries Off My Ovaries
annamaria at 7:34 PM
4.03.2006
Where's my invite?
annamaria at 5:15 PM
4.02.2006
Look at the diamonds!
I love YouTube! I stumbled across this video at Bitch|Lab about two men who are emphatically not gay (seriously not work friendly). Which reminded me of this video that Rich sent me ages ago: meet Bruce B, Canadian gangsta-extraordinaire.I'll fuckin' peel your banana back and mash your potato, boy!
You know this guy's tough, 'cause he's from Windsor. And that's, like, right across the river from Detroit!
Labels: Douchebags, The D
annamaria at 7:54 PM
