...will be named Avocado Accordion.
That is all.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
The Cause of My Insanity
Reports like this one bring up the question about why certain cities and communities have more public sexual harassment than others. H/T.
I think it's entirely about a city's culture. I'll bet my bottom dollar that Egyptian society is turning away from typical third world restraint and politeness, but also hasn't caught up with first world acceptance of women's autonomy and equality. So, you have a perfect storm of almost all Egyptian men hating women and the breakdown of norms that previously kept that shit behind closed doors.
New York is also really shitty in the public harassment arena. I'll add, however much I don't like to bring it up, that most of the harassers in New York are black. Soon after I moved to Seattle, I moved into the city's majority black neighborhood. Not once was I harassed. Not once. The problem isn't black folk, as I might have been made to believe after living in New York for several years. The problem is the culture of New York. A high proportion of New Yorkers are rude and aggressive (and the rest are sheep too scared to acknowledge what's going on, let alone stand up for themselves). They see no need to restrain themselves or mind their own fucking business. Consequently, a significant minority of men in that city behave like sleazebags. Seattle, with its far more restrained culture, simply doesn't tolerate that shit.
I am so glad I don't live in New York anymore. Of course, that city succeeded in making me so aggressive and pissed off, if I returned, the harassers would be the ones running for cover.
I think it's entirely about a city's culture. I'll bet my bottom dollar that Egyptian society is turning away from typical third world restraint and politeness, but also hasn't caught up with first world acceptance of women's autonomy and equality. So, you have a perfect storm of almost all Egyptian men hating women and the breakdown of norms that previously kept that shit behind closed doors.
New York is also really shitty in the public harassment arena. I'll add, however much I don't like to bring it up, that most of the harassers in New York are black. Soon after I moved to Seattle, I moved into the city's majority black neighborhood. Not once was I harassed. Not once. The problem isn't black folk, as I might have been made to believe after living in New York for several years. The problem is the culture of New York. A high proportion of New Yorkers are rude and aggressive (and the rest are sheep too scared to acknowledge what's going on, let alone stand up for themselves). They see no need to restrain themselves or mind their own fucking business. Consequently, a significant minority of men in that city behave like sleazebags. Seattle, with its far more restrained culture, simply doesn't tolerate that shit.
I am so glad I don't live in New York anymore. Of course, that city succeeded in making me so aggressive and pissed off, if I returned, the harassers would be the ones running for cover.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Doctors are Assholes
Seriously.
Fortunately, as someone who is a "healthy" weight, I've never had to face that kind of shit from doctors. But, when it comes down to it, most doctors are dismissive bastards with massive God complexes who never bother listening to their patients. I'm the type of person who hates admitting weakness and, thus, pain. And even I've dealt with the smug doctor who can't find anything wrong, even as he or she hasn't fucking bothered looking.
I hate to imagine what fat people have to deal with.
Fortunately, as someone who is a "healthy" weight, I've never had to face that kind of shit from doctors. But, when it comes down to it, most doctors are dismissive bastards with massive God complexes who never bother listening to their patients. I'm the type of person who hates admitting weakness and, thus, pain. And even I've dealt with the smug doctor who can't find anything wrong, even as he or she hasn't fucking bothered looking.
I hate to imagine what fat people have to deal with.
Doom and Gloom
I greatly enjoy reading Jim Kunstler's Clusterfuck Nation. His pessimism and apt descriptions of the decline of American culture tickle me pink.
For example:
The fashion and body language of male youth in 2007 comes from three sources: prison, the nursery, and the pimpmobile. It's an old story now that many conventions of gangster fashion come out of the jail experience, where they take away your belt and shoelaces so you won't hang yourself... Jail being a kind of accreditation device these days, the message may be: I passed the entrance exam.
Less obvious is the contribution of the nursery. Pants that are ambiguously neither long or short, worn with XX-large T shirts, tend to make grown men look like babies. Babies have short legs and large torsos compared to grown men. They also make big awkward gestures and touch their sex organs a lot...
The pimp connection is too obvious to belabor -- meant to mock normal executive attire while signifying an existence of total leisure and the enjoyment of unearned riches. The trouble is that the worship of unearned riches -- based on the belief that it truly is possible to get something for nothing -- has now become normal at all levels in American life... The catch is that men who live by this code almost always come to a bad end. They get their throats cut with razors, or go to prison, or manage to lose all their unearned riches (and the investments of many strangers, too).
The portrait of the young American male in 2007, therefore, is of an impotent, infantalized being lost in grandiose fantasies of power and importance. It's a picture of men without real confidence, and no idea how to achieve it, who wish to project a transcendently ferocious image complete with odds-and-ends of manner taken from comic books and movies based on comic books, in order to be taken seriously.
I have not seen a better description of people, namely men, of my generation. Perhaps that's the real source of my pessimism about the fate of humanity. Those fuckers are going to be running things someday.
I do find his doom and gloom message to be somewhat tiring. Kunstler's predictions, while correctly timed, are a hundred times worse than what actually happens. Last summer, he predicted the market meltdown. Based on that prediction and my own observations, I cashed out most of my investments. And it just so happens that I cashed out at the top of the market. Of course, we still haven't hit the Depression that Kunstler predicted back then and is still predicting today.
I think we're at the beginning of a long, slow decline of the American empire, if not the American experiment in general. With energy prices soaring and no hope of sustained relief, lots of hard choices will have to be made and Americans will see a gradual shrinking of their wealth and quality of life. Nevertheless, we're not on the brink of catastrophe (yet).
For example:
The fashion and body language of male youth in 2007 comes from three sources: prison, the nursery, and the pimpmobile. It's an old story now that many conventions of gangster fashion come out of the jail experience, where they take away your belt and shoelaces so you won't hang yourself... Jail being a kind of accreditation device these days, the message may be: I passed the entrance exam.
Less obvious is the contribution of the nursery. Pants that are ambiguously neither long or short, worn with XX-large T shirts, tend to make grown men look like babies. Babies have short legs and large torsos compared to grown men. They also make big awkward gestures and touch their sex organs a lot...
The pimp connection is too obvious to belabor -- meant to mock normal executive attire while signifying an existence of total leisure and the enjoyment of unearned riches. The trouble is that the worship of unearned riches -- based on the belief that it truly is possible to get something for nothing -- has now become normal at all levels in American life... The catch is that men who live by this code almost always come to a bad end. They get their throats cut with razors, or go to prison, or manage to lose all their unearned riches (and the investments of many strangers, too).
The portrait of the young American male in 2007, therefore, is of an impotent, infantalized being lost in grandiose fantasies of power and importance. It's a picture of men without real confidence, and no idea how to achieve it, who wish to project a transcendently ferocious image complete with odds-and-ends of manner taken from comic books and movies based on comic books, in order to be taken seriously.
I have not seen a better description of people, namely men, of my generation. Perhaps that's the real source of my pessimism about the fate of humanity. Those fuckers are going to be running things someday.
I do find his doom and gloom message to be somewhat tiring. Kunstler's predictions, while correctly timed, are a hundred times worse than what actually happens. Last summer, he predicted the market meltdown. Based on that prediction and my own observations, I cashed out most of my investments. And it just so happens that I cashed out at the top of the market. Of course, we still haven't hit the Depression that Kunstler predicted back then and is still predicting today.
I think we're at the beginning of a long, slow decline of the American empire, if not the American experiment in general. With energy prices soaring and no hope of sustained relief, lots of hard choices will have to be made and Americans will see a gradual shrinking of their wealth and quality of life. Nevertheless, we're not on the brink of catastrophe (yet).
Friday, July 11, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Apropos of...
...my post on June 30. This is an interesting read. I think it goes a long way to explain why a black man wouldn't take issue with hurling racist and sexist epithets at black women, while probably taking great issue of being the victim of racist slurs himself.
My only issue is the idea that many black men only hate black women. I'm sure they reserve their worst resentment and bad treatment for their female peers, but I highly doubt that, if these guys had access to white women, they'd treat us any better.
Ultimately, when a man is low status, whether due to race or class or both, he clings to the last shred of dominance and alleged superiority he has -- that piece of meat swinging between his legs.
My only issue is the idea that many black men only hate black women. I'm sure they reserve their worst resentment and bad treatment for their female peers, but I highly doubt that, if these guys had access to white women, they'd treat us any better.
Ultimately, when a man is low status, whether due to race or class or both, he clings to the last shred of dominance and alleged superiority he has -- that piece of meat swinging between his legs.
Agreed
Babies stink.
But seriously. Young babies either reek of spoiled milk or shit and oftentimes the two at once. It also doesn't help that they're fugly. I helped my sister bathe her youngest several months ago. There were all these folds, especially around the torso and under the arms. Apparently, you have to clean those areas real well lest cheese develops and an infection ultimately festers. Ugh. It would seem that babies are like small morbidly obese people. And I don't mean clinically morbidly obese. I'm talking 500 pounds morbidly obese, Gilbert Grape's mother morbidly obese.
Those things aren't cute until they're at least two years old.
Ugly:
Cute:
But seriously. Young babies either reek of spoiled milk or shit and oftentimes the two at once. It also doesn't help that they're fugly. I helped my sister bathe her youngest several months ago. There were all these folds, especially around the torso and under the arms. Apparently, you have to clean those areas real well lest cheese develops and an infection ultimately festers. Ugh. It would seem that babies are like small morbidly obese people. And I don't mean clinically morbidly obese. I'm talking 500 pounds morbidly obese, Gilbert Grape's mother morbidly obese.
Those things aren't cute until they're at least two years old.
Ugly:
Cute:
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Manufactured Outrage
Some female opponents of Obama, who oppose him for no other reason than he's not the female candidate, are looking for any excuse to hate on him. It's getting to the point of being half-hearted. I'm not even really feeling it anymore. Obama says something. OMG! Outrage, outrage, outrage. He hates women, even though he shares the exact same positions as the female candidate and talks about abortion pretty much exactly the same way. It doesn't matter. He's not a woman, only the woman is allowed to take nuanced views of abortion.
The most recent manufactured offense: Obama says he doesn't support an "emotional distress" exception for late-term abortion.
Let's see some of that fake outrage.
What he meant is that he doesn't think all those irresponsible, fickle, ninny-brained straw-women who decide willy-nilly they want abortions in their third trimester shouldn't be allowed to get one by claiming "mental distress" swoon swan get thee to a fainting couch. He's breathing life into the damnable lie that there are legions of women who seek out late-term abortions just because they've changed their silly little minds and make up lies about "mental distress" to get them.
Jesus, where do I begin?
1. The third trimester is a generally accepted cut-off point for abortion. It's at that point that a fetus becomes effectively viable and aborting a fetus that can survive outside its mother's womb kinda smacks of infanticide. (And this would be real infanticide, not the fake shit that anti-choicers have made up.) People who support abortion rights fully accept this cut-off point, with the exception of a few loonies (who you'll find in the comments of that blog post). Other countries where abortion rights are codified into law (as compared to being decided by the courts) often cut off elective abortions even earlier, such as after the first trimester. Those countries have the same prohibitions and exceptions for late-term abortions that we have had for the past 35 years.
2. "Emotional distress" has often been used by women in countries where abortion is illegal. Wealthy women in those countries shop around for a doctor willing to give them an exception and essentially buy access to a safe abortion. This has been the case in Spain for a long time and is a major reason why Portugal won't allow abortion under any circumstances. They've seen how the mental, and even general, health exception works in practice. Allowing women late-term abortion for something as nebulous as "emotional distress" is the same thing as having no prohibitions on late-term abortions at all. Anyone who knows something about abortion and the history of abortion would know this to be true. (You'd think these guys had at least seen Vera Drake.) It's amazing to see such die-hard proponents of abortion rights acting like such ignoramuses, but I suppose that's necessary when you're manufacturing outrage.
3. Obama's position is necessary to preserve abortion rights in this country. Americans barely support abortion rights. Most of those who generally support abortion rights are squeamish about it. They like to see limits on it. They like to see parental consent laws. They don't like to see government money spent on abortion. They want to make sure that late-term fetuses, which are pretty much babies, aren't being aborted at all or at least are being aborted for only the best of reasons, such as the health of the mother or the death or severe ill health of the fetus. Taking the position of "Fuck it. Women should be able to have abortions whenever, for whatever reason." hurts the cause. It alienates people who would otherwise support us. It makes the anti-choicers' lies about fetal organ farms and the profitability of Planned Parenthood that much easier to believe. And, yes, most Americans who support abortion rights will worry that some women will seek late-term abortions for superficial reasons. Even if only one woman does it, that could very well be enough to turn many Americans against abortion rights.
It's so frustrating to see this garbage, particularly when combined with the other criticisms of Obama's statements on abortion. He thinks women should only have "some" control over our bodies. He thinks women should have to consult with our religious leaders and fathers of our babies before we can get abortions. He thinks abortion is a tragic choice.
It's all bullshit and it's all manufactured.
We finally have a candidate who knows how to talk about abortion. John Kerry demonstrated how not to do it. When asked about abortion at a debate, he said that, as a former altar boy, he understood what the questioner was feeling, but there was just nothing he could do about it. Translation: I know that abortion is wrong, but I'm too much of a mendacious, power-hungry coward to take a stand against what I and my religion consider to be murder.
Obama comes along and talks about how he's not sure about the morality of abortion. Maybe it's ok, maybe it's not, but there's no way to be sure. Therefore, he's going to leave that decision in the hands of the people who are directly affected by it. He's also going to pursue generally good public policies that have the bonus side effect of lowering the abortion rate, and he's going to pursue sensible policies vis a vis late-term abortion since that's a less uncertain moral quandary. No one wants to see a 6- to 9-month-old fetus/baby die unless absolutely necessary.
He is an incredible candidate. His nuanced stand on abortion will cement pro-choice Americans' support of it (even among those who are squeamish about it), and he may even draw some anti-choice voters who are eager to no longer see abortion used as a wedge issue.
I predict Obama will win in a landslide, and I can't wait to see it happen.
The most recent manufactured offense: Obama says he doesn't support an "emotional distress" exception for late-term abortion.
Let's see some of that fake outrage.
What he meant is that he doesn't think all those irresponsible, fickle, ninny-brained straw-women who decide willy-nilly they want abortions in their third trimester shouldn't be allowed to get one by claiming "mental distress" swoon swan get thee to a fainting couch. He's breathing life into the damnable lie that there are legions of women who seek out late-term abortions just because they've changed their silly little minds and make up lies about "mental distress" to get them.
Jesus, where do I begin?
1. The third trimester is a generally accepted cut-off point for abortion. It's at that point that a fetus becomes effectively viable and aborting a fetus that can survive outside its mother's womb kinda smacks of infanticide. (And this would be real infanticide, not the fake shit that anti-choicers have made up.) People who support abortion rights fully accept this cut-off point, with the exception of a few loonies (who you'll find in the comments of that blog post). Other countries where abortion rights are codified into law (as compared to being decided by the courts) often cut off elective abortions even earlier, such as after the first trimester. Those countries have the same prohibitions and exceptions for late-term abortions that we have had for the past 35 years.
2. "Emotional distress" has often been used by women in countries where abortion is illegal. Wealthy women in those countries shop around for a doctor willing to give them an exception and essentially buy access to a safe abortion. This has been the case in Spain for a long time and is a major reason why Portugal won't allow abortion under any circumstances. They've seen how the mental, and even general, health exception works in practice. Allowing women late-term abortion for something as nebulous as "emotional distress" is the same thing as having no prohibitions on late-term abortions at all. Anyone who knows something about abortion and the history of abortion would know this to be true. (You'd think these guys had at least seen Vera Drake.) It's amazing to see such die-hard proponents of abortion rights acting like such ignoramuses, but I suppose that's necessary when you're manufacturing outrage.
3. Obama's position is necessary to preserve abortion rights in this country. Americans barely support abortion rights. Most of those who generally support abortion rights are squeamish about it. They like to see limits on it. They like to see parental consent laws. They don't like to see government money spent on abortion. They want to make sure that late-term fetuses, which are pretty much babies, aren't being aborted at all or at least are being aborted for only the best of reasons, such as the health of the mother or the death or severe ill health of the fetus. Taking the position of "Fuck it. Women should be able to have abortions whenever, for whatever reason." hurts the cause. It alienates people who would otherwise support us. It makes the anti-choicers' lies about fetal organ farms and the profitability of Planned Parenthood that much easier to believe. And, yes, most Americans who support abortion rights will worry that some women will seek late-term abortions for superficial reasons. Even if only one woman does it, that could very well be enough to turn many Americans against abortion rights.
It's so frustrating to see this garbage, particularly when combined with the other criticisms of Obama's statements on abortion. He thinks women should only have "some" control over our bodies. He thinks women should have to consult with our religious leaders and fathers of our babies before we can get abortions. He thinks abortion is a tragic choice.
It's all bullshit and it's all manufactured.
We finally have a candidate who knows how to talk about abortion. John Kerry demonstrated how not to do it. When asked about abortion at a debate, he said that, as a former altar boy, he understood what the questioner was feeling, but there was just nothing he could do about it. Translation: I know that abortion is wrong, but I'm too much of a mendacious, power-hungry coward to take a stand against what I and my religion consider to be murder.
Obama comes along and talks about how he's not sure about the morality of abortion. Maybe it's ok, maybe it's not, but there's no way to be sure. Therefore, he's going to leave that decision in the hands of the people who are directly affected by it. He's also going to pursue generally good public policies that have the bonus side effect of lowering the abortion rate, and he's going to pursue sensible policies vis a vis late-term abortion since that's a less uncertain moral quandary. No one wants to see a 6- to 9-month-old fetus/baby die unless absolutely necessary.
He is an incredible candidate. His nuanced stand on abortion will cement pro-choice Americans' support of it (even among those who are squeamish about it), and he may even draw some anti-choice voters who are eager to no longer see abortion used as a wedge issue.
I predict Obama will win in a landslide, and I can't wait to see it happen.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Incidentally
When I searched Google images for hot+guy+beach, this came up:
Not quite what I had in mind.
Not quite what I had in mind.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
My Job...
...at this point is an 8-hour time suck. Something I have to endure until I can get around to my real life. What the fuck is the point of any of this?
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