You are currently browsing the monthly archive for May 2010.
So much news, so little time!
Grassroots Oil Clean-up Efforts
Seeing a complete lack of action on the part of the US government or BP, some Louisiana residents take control as oil washes ashore. Some even commandeered idle BP-hired boats!
Men, Masculinities, and Peacebuilding
Gender Across Borders discusses an awesome new manual for men against violence and sexism. International case studies included!
Drug bust or racist revenge for Louisiana Jena 6 victory?
Uh oh.
At 4 a.m. on July 9, 2009, more than 150 officers from 10 different agencies gathered in a large barn just outside Jena, Louisiana. The day was the culmination of an investigation that Sheriff Scott Franklin said had been going on for nearly two years. Local media was invited, and a video of the Sheriff speaking to the rowdy gathering would later appear online.
The Sheriff called the mobilization “Operation Third Option,” and he said it was about fighting drugs. However, community members say that Sheriff Franklin’s actions are part of an orchestrated revenge for the local civil rights protests that won freedom for six Black high school students – known internationally as the Jena Six – who had been charged with attempted murder for a school fight.
One thing is clear: The Sheriff spent massive resources. Yet officers seized no contraband. Together with District Attorney Reed Walters, Sheriff Franklin has said he is seeking maximum penalties for people charged with small-time offenses. Further, in a parish that is 85 percent white, his actions have almost exclusively targeted African Americans.
The Hutchinson News in Kansas, via my friend Julie, brings the world this amazing gem fail of a wordsearch.
I’m sorry that it’s blurry. Just do your best. The strange cartoon in the corner is saying “Anne’s diary really moves me!”
Don’t trivialize it by calling it a “trend”, but it looks like some women are getting a little sick of the paternal faux-piety of the morality police, aka the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
In the first incident, according to the Saudi Gazette, a young couple “appeared to be acting in an inappropriate manner” in an amusement park. A commission member who spotted them suspected they were not married or related and were therefore breaking the law. As the commission member approached them, the young man collapsed – presumably out of shock or fright – but the woman showered him with punches. He was taken to a medical centre to be treated for bruises. In the second incident, which the LA Times calls an unprecedented outburst, a woman caught in “illegal seclusion” with a man shot at the religious police when questioned.
Some other interesting signs of change:
Princess Basma bint Saud, “a social activist and a prominent supporter of women’s issues in Saudi Arabia”, published a strong critique of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
King Abdallah appeared in a photograph with forty women with naked faces! “Most observers took it as a pointed message from the royals on the subject of men mixing with women…”
Earlier this month Education Minister Prince Faisal bin Abdullah declared that women could teach boys’ primary school classes.
Mecca cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Ghamdi publicly “declared that nothing in Islam bans men and women from mixing in public places like schools and offices.”
Last December Saudi journalist Nadine Al Bedair published the article Me and My Four Husbands, a tongue in cheek critique of sexism and unequal polygamy laws.
In 2009 Nora Al Fayez became the first female deputy minister in the Saudi government.
The Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1st. You know what that means: Hurricane versus Oil Spill! The battle of the millennium! Man-made disaster versus natural disaster! Grab some cold ones and a seat in front of the couch, because the news media is going to have a ball with this one. Unless, of course, you happen to live in one of the affected areas. Then you’re screwed. You’re probably poor, and even if not you are at least a living reminder of capitalism’s screw-ups, and Big Oil and the government wish you would just go away! This is one problem they’re not going to solve by… solving it. I can’t even imagine Obama or BP planning ahead and having emergency and or (god forbid) preventative measures in place in advance of this collision of terror.
Obama and BP, et al, may get lucky though. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts a possible outcome of Hurricane v Oil Spill to be that: “The high winds and seas will mix and disperse the oil which can help accelerate the biodegradation process,” or that “A hurricane passing to the east of the slick could drive the oil away from the coast.”
Somehow, Hurricane v. Oil Spill does not strike me as a combo deal that will make the Gulf Coast’s problems magically disappear, though I’m sure that won’t stop our administration from sitting on its hands. No sir, I find some of NOAA’s other predictions more likely:
Storms’ surges may carry oil into the coastline and inland as far as the surge reaches.
Debris resulting from the hurricane may be contaminated by oil from the Deepwater Horizon incident, but also from other oil releases that may occur during the storm.
Hey if this goes on long enough, the “Deepwater Horizon incident” might just turn into “Obama’s Katrina” after all.
I’m sure the MSM will let us know when that happens.
Thanks to the dominance of the machine, to books and bayonets, to printed calicos and missionary pocket-handkerchiefs, to brummagem jewelry and cutlery and beads, a layer of this civilization began to spread like a film of oil over the planet at large: machine textiles supplanted hand-woven ones, aniline dyes eventually took the place of vegetable dyes locally made, and even in distant Polynesia calico dresses and stove-pipe hats and shame covered up the proud bodies of the natives, while syphilis and rum, introduced at the same time as the Bible, added a special physical horror to their degradation.
That was all only one sentence! Just saying.
Wherever this film of oil spread, the living fish were poisoned and their bloated bodies rose to the surface of the water, adding their own decay to the stench of the oil itself.
-Lewis Mumford, Technics and Civilization, 1934
Obama administration conflicted about relying on BP to stop gulf oil spill
With the realization that images of spoiled beaches and oil-covered animals are likely to become much worse in the coming weeks, the administration is torn between a political imperative — that it take a hard line with the oil giant — and a practical one — that it has no choice but to rely on the company to stop the flow.
Hasn’t an oil spill always been a known possibility with off-shore drilling? So why is there no plan? I find the government’s do-nothing response unconvincing. Yes, it is likely they do not have the expertise and technology of an oil company. But can the government not convene experts to advise them? Can the government not find contractors to hire who do have the expertise and technology?
Here’s a plan: 1. Locate experts. 2. Find contractors to carry out their recommendations. 3.(a) Ban BP from drilling in American waters forever. 3.(b) Fine the hell out of BP. Oh, and 4. Ban all off-shore drilling.
There, how hard was that?
Police looking for a murder suspect on May 16th threw a “flash grenade” into 7-year-old Aiyana Jones’ home, which they apparently followed up with bullets, because she ended up dead from a police bullet wound. There were three other young children inside.
How reasonable were these police actions? How avoidable was this killing? A relative outside the home told police before the violence that there were children inside. There were children’s toys strewn across the front lawn. Also, police had been surveilling the home for several hours, and surely would have noticed that it was occupied by four children.
It also appears that the residence under suspicion wasn’t even Aiyana’s… it was her upstairs neighbor’s.
Detroit Mayor Dave Bing’s response is to ban television crews from filming police raids. I’m assuming that’s because he is concerned that there is incontrovertible evidence about Aiyana’s slaughter, and so police involvement cannot be covered up. Priorities, priorites. Let’s get this mayor an award!
Sign a petition demanding a civil rights investigation into Aiyana’s killing.
There’s a war against information being waged by the West. We Westerners love to look down at “other” countries and scoff at their censorship—it’s a sign of repression, of a backwards government or culture, of out-dated religious or cultural intolerance, it’s anti-science, anti-education, anti-truth.
We turn a blind eye to censorship in our own societies because it doesn’t fit with our narrative of superiority or exceptionalism.
Perhaps we are actually getting more censorious or repressive than we were in the past. I personally think that we are only now learning about a long-present censorship in the West due to the extraordinary efforts of certain individuals, and the pressures exerted by groups of these individuals coming together and pointing out wrongs.
Because we love censorship in the West. America tolerates a large amount of it, and it appears that Australia emulates this shining example. We tolerate it, and we deny its existence. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. Our capitalist economy is supposedly based in part on an equal access to information. That’s supposed to be how consumers make their choices, based on truthful and complete information about products. That’s supposed to be how voters make their choices for who leads the government. So the benefits of misleading the people are very high.
Information wants to be free. Here are some examples of the Western struggle to obtain information in the face of governmental and corporate repression.
Australia Confiscates Passport of Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange
The first government to really take action against a truly pro-democracy website, which reveals government lies, militarism, and human rights abuses perpetrated by powerful people. Australia understands the necessity of cracking down on such an unrestricted flow of “state secrets”. Because if a state needs to keep something secret from its people, you better believe whatever it is would make the people pissed, thereby challenging the people with the power and the money.
Glenn Beck Rails Against Local Input, Diversity at Radio Stations
Some activists have finally pushed the FCC into considering decisive action to break the corporate take-over of the public airwaves. Beneficiaries of corporate near-monopoly are very angry. Might local people be able to decide for themselves what issues they care to hear about, what music they care to listen to? Might marginalized groups have more access to the airwaves? THE HORROR!
The AP Discovers News Readers Like Fact-Checking
After a few intrepid outsiders began calling out mainstream media in America after it became essentially a government and corporate propaganda arm during the Bush years, some news outlets took the charges semi-seriously. Greg Sargent talks about how the AP came around to implement FACT-CHECKING into their reporting. Hilarity ensues as blatantly false statements made by powerful people are publicly called “false”.
If you haven’t read this yet, please avail yourself now: The Far-Right Movement Behind Arizona Copycat Bills
Short answer: Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and their legislative network State Legislators for Legal Immigration, aka white supremacists.
Image from Colorlines.
Wanna be depressed to be an American?
Ten percent of Americans believe environmentalists intentionally sabotaged the oil rig Deepwater Horizon off the Gulf Coast according to a poll released Tuesday, apparently as part of a ploy to reduce Americans’ support for offshore drilling.
What a strange thought. It wouldn’t have even crossed my mind, what with it being completely nonsensical. How is it that 10% of Americans all came up with and believed in the same fanciful tale?
The surprising finding was contained in a poll released Tuesday by Public Policy Polling. Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh floated the idea on his nationally syndicated talk show.
I see.
Also notable in the poll was that almost a fifth of Americans said they were more likely to support offshore drilling after the oil disaster.
Emphasis mine.
Do almost a fifth of Americans HAVE NO BRAIN?? Rush Limbaugh poses a greater threat to this country than most second rate ‘terrorists’. These responses don’t even start to make sense. Americans are outdoing themselves in gullibility. A national disaster is created by a careless corporation seeking crazy profits in an incalculably dangerous manner. And one fifth of Americans want corporations to take more of these chances, because, I can only assume, they want to spite liberals at the expense of sustainable fuel, the environment, and the livelihoods of those affected by the spill. I am so glad I am hanging out with more cows than people these days.
From Raw Story.
What the fuck is THIS:
“I’ve known her for most of her adult life and I know she’s straight,” said Sarah Walzer, [Supreme Court nominee Elena] Kagan’s roommate in law school and a close friend since then. “She dated men when we were in law school, we talked about men — who in our class was cute, who she would like to date, all of those things. She definitely dated when she was in D.C. after law school, when she was in Chicago – and she just didn’t find the right person.”
What a vomitous piece of insulting “good guy” homophobia.
Kagan’s friends’ desire to “out” her as straight has been complicated by their hope to avoid offending gay friends by implying that there would be any problem if she were a lesbian.
Well, they failed. Some ‘friends’.
BTW, in 1999, Andrew Sullivan made the point I can’t quite articulate:
There comes a point, surely, at which the diminishing public stigmatization of homosexuality makes this kind of coyness not so much understandably defensive as simply feeble: insulting to homosexuals, who know better, and condescending to heterosexuals, who deserve better. It’s as if the closet has had every foundation and bearing wall removed but still stands, supported by mere expediency, etiquette and the lingering shards of shame. Does no one have the gumption to just blow it down?
This is something I wrote back in 2003, and recently unearthed on an ancient website. It’s very college-essay-y but I wanted to rebroadcast it anyway. SO WHAT.
“By disrupting stereotypical codes of gender and sexuality through a parody of artifice and masquerade that challenges patriarchy, these artists remind us that music can function as a key vehicle in deconstructing fixed notions of gendered identity in everyday life.” –Stan Hawkins
“It’s avant-garde, it’s honest, it’s taking chances and most of all it’s original.” –Tiga
A post-modern stage on which every possible Western conception of gender confusion and ambiguity is flaunted: this is Electro. The music genre of electro (originally extant ~1978-89), a term I will use that also includes its younger sibling electroclash (~1998-present), is home to gender-meaningful displays, interpretations, and interactions in nearly its every aspect. There is enough material to analyze from a gender perspective to write at great length, and so I have narrowed my peripherals to concentrate on a unique aspect of electro: its proclivity towards and acceptance of androgyny. Gender ambiguities of all varieties have been accepted since its birth, and continue in the resurgence of electro-styled music at the turn of the twenty-first century. My examination of electro music will point out signs of androgyny and gender confusion and search for possible explanations. However, examples of androgyny in lyric and dress are as prolific as the possible causes that originated them.
Read the rest of this entry »
I don’t really have anything to add to this masterpiece of hospitality and fraternity.
You go, ACS! You let homophobia trump your own mission statement!
No Relay for Life for gheyz!
From Watermark:
[O]rganizer Bobby Poth was enthusiastic about its potential success. However, officials within the ACS were concerned about an LGBT-focused fundraiser within its organization.
“Shortly after we began to promote this event we encountered hesitation from a few people within the organization,” Poth said in an e-mail. “They were worried about how the general public would react to an LGBT-targeted event [and] allowed personal beliefs to play a role in that fear, etc.”
The American Cancer Society nixed the event.
I’m too upset to write my own post, so I’ll let the AP do it for me! (FYI as of the posting of this piece, Governor Jan Brewer has neither signed nor vetoed this bill.)
[HB 2281] targets an ethnic studies program from a Tucson school district. It would prohibit classes that advocate ethnic solidarity, that are designed primarily for students of a particular race or that promote resentment toward a certain ethnic group.
The Tucson Unified School District program allows students to take history and literature courses that include information about the influence of a particular ethnic group.
…Arizona’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, Republican Tom Horne — who’s running for attorney general — has been trying for years to pass a bill limiting the program after learning that Hispanic civil rights activist Dolores Huerta told Tucson high school students in 2006 that “Republicans hate Latinos.”
Horne said he believes the district’s Mexican-American studies program teaches Latino students that they are oppressed by white people. Public schools should not be encouraging students to resent a particular race, he said.
“A fundamental American value is that we’re all individuals, and what race we were born into is not relevant,” Horne said.
What I like about this scenario is that Mr. Horne, a white Republican, is pissed off that a particular school district is teaching classes that challenge his racial superiority, and even once had a speaker who criticized Republicans! Being obviously disinterested, Mr. Horne, a white Republican, lobbies aggressively for a bill that will ban ethnic studies for the whole state, just to shut down a particular program that he doesn’t like because it challenges his prejudices. But his not liking it had nothing to do with this sensible, racially-neutral law, I’m sure. You know what else I’m sure of? That this has nothing to do with Mr. Horne’s search for more personal power as he runs for AZ attorney general. He is definitely not pandering to the obviously large segment of the white population who is racist.
What’s weird(ish) here is that the language of HB2281 isn’t, on the surface, too controversial. The bill bans classes that:
• Promote the overthrow of the U.S. government.
• Promote resentment toward a race or class of people.
• Are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group.
• Advocate ethnic solidarity instead of treating pupils as individuals
But apparently Arizonans in the know are well aware of Mr. Horne’s true intentions. Something to do with comments about ethnic studies promoting “ethnic chauvinism” or that Mexican-American studies at Tuscon Unified School District promote “racial warfare“. Also, it seems Mr. Horne has made it rather clear that he is punishing TUSD for “a defiant finger gesture“, i.e. continuing to have Mexican-American studies inspite of the fact that Mr. Horne has a personal problem with such classes. You know what I see here? Good governance.
So what we’ve learned here is:
A) Arizona is particularly good at re-proving that race is “not relevant”. To anything.
A.1) …and therefore Arizona wins the post-racial prize.
B) White makes right.
B.1) History focusing on the accomplishments of whites is nonracial and truly American.
B.2) History focusing on the accomplishments of latin@s promotes racial resentment and anti-Americanism.
POST RACIAL!!!
Global Comment puts it this way:
Observing Arizona right now is like looking into America’s future after the next terrorist attack, should reactionary parties prevail and the police state completely take over. The state possesses a radically right-wing agenda that is openly hostile to gays, women, and ethnic minorities. A rogue sheriff has set up a camp tent city for prisoners, leaving them to bake in 110 °F weather. Police are permitted to harass citizens on the suspicion they might be illegal immigrants, even though the governor herself admitted she has no idea what an illegal immigrant looks like.
Take a gander at the Tuscon Civil Rights Coalition call to action.
Oh, and here’s two more post-racial actions going on in Arizona government. SB 1097 would establish mechanisms for denying school funding for non-citizen students. Also, “The Arizona Department of Education recently began telling school districts that teachers whose spoken English it deems to be heavily accented or ungrammatical must be removed from classes for students still learning English.” Guess who’s in charge of the DOE!
Brilliant, isn’t it? Figure out ahead of time who will commit the crimes, and punish them now as a preventative measure!
From Yahoo Finance:
[The] Florida Department of Juvenile Justice will analyze key predictors such as past offense history, home life environment, gang affiliation and peer associations to better understand and predict which youths have a higher likelihood to reoffend.
With that information, the organization can more effectively place specific segments of juveniles into the best programs for rehabilitation.
Guess who is providing the helpful (helpful like a big brother!) analytical software that determines who to punish for future crimes? IBM of course!
…Deepak Advani, vice president of predictive analytics at IBM, said, “Predictive analytics gives government organizations worldwide a highly-sophisticated and intelligent source to create safer communities by identifying, predicting, responding to and preventing criminal activities. It gives the criminal justice system the ability to draw upon the wealth of data available to detect patterns, make reliable projections and then take the appropriate action in real time to combat crime and protect citizens.”
Jesus Diaz at Gizmodo responds: “I don’t know about how reliable your system is, IBM, but have you ever heard of the 5th, the 6th, and the 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution? What about article 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?”
My Orwellian nightmares are coming true! Go to IBM subsidiary SPSS to find out where else these enchanting “predictive analytics” are turning up. Hint: everywhere.
Well, time to go live off the grid somewhere and never have contact with democratic capitalism again. Later!
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