tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58924050962128582102023-11-16T12:33:41.824-05:00Grad School: The Final Frontier...or not.From home to grad school and back again - I escaped...now what?Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892405096212858210.post-78819722283085750152013-09-18T09:00:00.000-04:002013-09-18T09:00:11.626-04:00Just my Imagination...<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s funny how my lectures seem to align almost seamlessly
with what’s going on in the world. Or perhaps I’m just paying more attention
now. </div>
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Early Saturday morning, Jonathan Ferrell was shot, 10 times,
by a local police officer. You can read about <a href="http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/09/17/the-911-call-that-led-to-jonathan-ferrells-death/">here</a>, <a href="http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/09/15/4315751/police-shooting-victim-jonathan.html#.UjmS0ca1GaY">here</a>, <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57603126-504083/jonathan-ferrell-death-ex-florida-a-m-football-player-killed-by-n.c-cop-died-of-multiple-gunshot-wounds-report-says/">here </a>and <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/15/justice/north-carolina-police-shooting/index.html">here</a>. Or, ya
know, just Google the man’s name. Just two days before this young man’s death,
I had a conversation with my professor and peers about violence, particularly
how the state-sanctioned violence enacted abroad (via war, drones, etc) coincides
with the state-sanctioned violence enacted at home (via police officers, etc). </div>
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What I didn’t talk about – because I took a day off from being
“that girl” – was how the legacy of racism in the US generates fear of the
black and brown “other” and legitimates violence enacted against those bodies. How,
for instance, the value, or lack thereof, placed on innocent, civilian bodies
abroad in, say, any nation affected by drone strikes coincides with the value,
or lack thereof, placed on those non-white bodies here at home. Because, to be
frank, we’re not dropping bombs on terrorist groups in England, or France or
Ireland. And this isn’t the first time that the cops have used excessive force
in “self-defense” and it damned sure won’t be the last.</div>
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In this particular instance, I consider how the
criminalization of Black bodies legitimates fear of Black bodies which in turn
legitimates violence against Black bodies. And how all of that contributes to a
fundamental disregard for human life when that life is Black. What I find
interesting about some of the reports surrounding Ferrell’s death is the way that
Sarah McCartney, the woman who called the cops, has been characterized. I asked
my fiancé last night “I wonder how she feels about her role in this man’s
death?” MSNBC did a “report” on the call she made (linked somewhere above)
which immediately victimizes McCartney. “The young mother, alone with her
1-year-old son, rushed to the door thinking that something might have happened
to her husband. But the man standing there wasn’t her husband, <i>but a young black man</i>.” She can also be
heard telling the dispatcher that she couldn’t find any of her husband’s guns. Another
report from CBS, linked also above, states that Ferrell was knocking, I shit
you not, “viciously” on McCartney’s front door. </div>
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Oooooh. Scary, right. Imagine! Home. ALONE. <i>With a child</i>. Waking up to “vicious”
knocking and opening the door to see, of all <i>things,</i> a Black man. By George, I’d have run straight for my gun,
too. Because, people trying to break into my home and steal my things are
always polite enough to knock first. Viciously, of course.</div>
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I wonder how much the fear of aggressive, “vicious,”
violent, hypermasculine and hypersexual Black men played on her psyche in that
moment. I wonder how this continued fear and criminalization of Blackness
caused this woman to shut the door in this man’s face, without ever considering
if he was in need of help, and call the cops to report an attempted burglary –
a claim which I find both laughable and depressing. She opened the door, closes
it, then phones the police while Ferrell is <i>still
knocking</i> – and that constitutes attempted burglary? </div>
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Imagine where Ferrell and his family would be if we lived in
country that (shock and awe) characterized Black people as people, that simply
fucking valued Black bodies. Imagine a world where a Black man can knock on a
door in the middle of the night and ask for aid and not have to worry about
being killed by the cops. Imagine a world where I wouldn’t have to question if
McCartney would’ve called the cops, and if Ferrell would still be alive, if
Ferrell had been white, or presented as white. </div>
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Imagine. </div>
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Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892405096212858210.post-70358655652212943922013-08-28T11:13:00.000-04:002013-08-28T15:31:19.813-04:00Twerking to the Civil War Beat <div class="MsoNormal">
I’m taking a course this semester on American Realism and
Naturalism. To fully understand the genre we must first, of course, visit the
history that gave birth to it. My professor spoke a great deal about the Civil
War, the lives it cost, the landscapes it changed and the people it left behind
to rebuild the country. He says that we should visit a Civil War battlefield if
we’ve never done so. He says visiting these sites of destruction and violence
(my words, not his) always humbles him and brings him to tears (his words, not
mine). </div>
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I look around the classroom as my classmates nod their heads
and sound off: Gettysburg, Antietam, just to name a few. I am skeptical of this
seemingly fervent knowledge of the Civil War – as I have been since my
experience as a high school student in Virginia. Can they express the same of
plantations, I wonder. Can they or have they questioned how these sites of
bodily commodification, rape, violence, and destruction (in various forms)
became sites of expensive Southern Celebrations? </div>
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I must admit that I myself never considered these very
things until I read <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/19/opinion/williams-django-still-chained">Jesse Williams’ op-ed on CNN </a>quite a few months ago. I am
saddened by the fact that I know where the first shot of the Civil War was
fired (Ft. Sumter) and where it all came to an end (Appomattox Courthouse), but
that I don’t know the names of the plantations that Southerners fought so hard
to maintain, the very sites of bondage occupied by my ancestors. </div>
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My history, like yours, dear reader, is incomplete. </div>
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At some point, many of us reach an age when we begin to
realize that the history lessons we were taught were very limited, skewed in
perspective and deliberately light on narratives that reveal America for what
it is and has always been. I’m currently reading an article about the origins
of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. I read this
and wonder at the irony: how does a country that ignored WWII until it came to their
back door, that shoved thousands of Japanese/Japanese-Americans into internment
camps, that had its own Anti-Jewish sentiments to contend with negotiate that shameful history with the shining pride of a Memorial Museum? </div>
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I read this article alongside <i>The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn</i>. At the forefront of my edition of Huck Finn, Claire Boss
writes that Twain was “vigorously attacking racism” and that “the insults hurled
at Jim were intended to emphasize his nobility and integrity, in contrast to
his attackers.” She uses this as evidence for her claim that some critics just don’t
“get” that the book is an indictment against racism and that its use of the
n-word was just a reflection of the time. In a mere two pages she reduces
racism to a word, and ignores the very real instances of (hipster?) racism that
pervade the text. Namely – Huck’s constant objectification of Jim. He
consistently refers to Jim as though he is owned – as if Jim is an object.
Sure, Twain attacked slavery, perhaps in his mind even racism, but he, like Joseph
Conrad, does it in a manner that continues to objectify Black bodies. I read these works and place Twain and the USHMM in the context of a society that likes to shift gazes. In other words, it likes to ignore one bad deed because the other bad deed, by comparison, is worse. Objectification of black and brown bodies is okay because at least it is not slavery. Focusing on German concentration camps is more important than focusing on Japanese internment because, by comparison, the former was "much worse" than the latter. </div>
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What is the unit of measure for trauma to the human psyche? I forget. Is it grams? </div>
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Which brings me to Miley Cyrus – whose actions speak to a much
broader issue that people of color have been writing about and writing against
for decades. The objectification of "othered" bodies. But, I leave the task of unpacking this to Tressie Mc: </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">What I saw in Cyrus’ performance was not just a clueless, cult</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">urally insensitive attempt to assert her sexuality or a simple act of cultural appropriation at the expense of black bodies. Instead I saw what kinds of black bodies were on that stage with Cyrus.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Cyrus’ dancers look more like me than they do Rihanna or Beyonce or Halle Berry. The difference is instructive.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Fat non-normative black female bodies are kith and kin with historical caricatures of black women as work sites, production units, subjects of victimless sexual crimes, and embodied deviance. As I said in</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"> </span><a href="http://www.academia.edu/4165160/Reading_Hick-Hop_The_Shotgun_Marriage_of_Hip_Hop_and_Country_Music" style="border: 0px; color: #835504; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">my analysis of hip-hop and country music</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">cross-overs, playing the desirability of black female bodies as a “wink-wink” joke is a way of lifting up our deviant sexuality without lifting up black women as equally desirable to white women. Cyrus did not just have black women gyrating behind her. She had particularly rotund black women. She gleefully slaps the ass of one dancer like she intends to eat it on a cracker. She is playing a type of black female body as a joke to challenge her audience’s perceptions of herself while leaving their perceptions of black women’s bodies firmly intact. It’s a dance between performing sexual freedom and maintaining a hierarchy of female bodies from which white women benefit materially.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">."</span></blockquote>
You can read the rest of her awesome post <a href="http://tressiemc.com/2013/08/27/when-your-brown-body-is-a-white-wonderland/">here</a>. <br />
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I get that for some of you "twerking" is something best left ignored, but unpack Cyrus's actions in light of American history, more precisely the juxtaposition of White femininity against/with Black femininity, and see where you wind up.<br />
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As America gears up for yet another <a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/8/28/obama-s-syria-conundrum.html">war </a>that will cost yet more lives, I find myself wondering how all of these things intersect. How do US actions on/in Syria, Cyrus, The Civil War, American racism and issues of race/ethnicity all intersect to contribute to oppressive societies - both local and global? Nothing exists in a vacuum, as they say. Each thing informs everything else. And though I don't have the answer to my own question - I am indeed working on it because we must be able to have conversations about cultural appropriation and wars around the world in the same breath. They are both indicative and symptomatic of the might and "right" of colonizing powers.<br />
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Perhaps there is no connection between Cyrus and Syria - at least no connection that is neat. But there is definitely something to be said for the positioning of whiteness against blackness. Especially given that the mentality that goes into such privileging of one over the other is the very same mentality that goes into deciding to "wait and see" what happens in a war-torn country whose victims and residents are predominately brown.<br />
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Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892405096212858210.post-32912200660782188852013-08-20T22:02:00.001-04:002013-08-20T22:20:00.997-04:00Why don’t ovens come with pizza settings and other musings upon my return to Grad School<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s been over 1 year since I last wrote here. Two since I
left Purdue. It feels like not enough time has gone by. I won’t mince words – my departure from the Grad
School beta was fraught with highs and lows. Mostly lows.</div>
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Depression being the lowest. </div>
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No one talks about mental health and graduate school. If you’re
failing your classes – it’s because you can’t hack it. If you feel alienated
from your cohort – you didn’t try hard enough to make friends. If you cry,
sometimes for no reason – it’s because you’re emotional. And, when you sort of
bury all of that emotion under a thick layer of “let’s ignore this” and
practically live in your room for a month – CONGRATULATIONS. You’ve won. </div>
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No one talks about this shit. At least no one talked to me
about it. Then I met an amazing woman who became a mentor and, I think, is
becoming a friend. She was honest about her experiences as a graduate student.
And she was the first person, in 2 years, to be up front with me about the toll
that her graduate education took on her mental health. I’m hoping to be just as
honest with you, dear reader, whoever you may be. </div>
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I worry constantly that it’ll all come back – the depression,
the feelings of loneliness. And, trust me, doing this work – work that seeks to
open people’s eyes to the oppressive injustices that occur around them every
day – is fucking LONELY. The things I
study now and the things that I’m vocal about – racism, misogyny,
homo/transantagonism, etc – tend to alienate people. But I at least I’m
choosing it this time. </div>
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And I’m armed with the love of my life, with a mentor that
rocks, understanding of the importance of self-care (especially for Black
women) and a growing inner circle of support. I’m working out 3-4 times a week
now and doing some pretty meditative (and ass kicking) yoga. </div>
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Oh, and there’s the tequila. </div>
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Which, oddly enough, brings me to my next point. Raise a
glass. I made it through day one. I was anxious, sweaty even (though I’ll blame
the humidity for that). I was worried that people would see “graduate school
dropout” tattooed across my forehead when they looked at me. But, after a long
day of working my assistantship, running to and from class and running around
campus – I no longer have the energy or desire to dwell on past events that I
can never change. At least those things made me stronger and more equipped to
handle take 2. </div>
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Oh…and then there’s the tequila. </div>
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Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892405096212858210.post-77303910356930217342012-06-16T08:49:00.001-04:002012-06-16T08:50:19.549-04:00Seeing Yourself<br />
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I came in on the tail end of HBO’s “The Latino List” and had
the pleasure of hearing <a href="http://www.martamorenovega.com/bio.html">Marta Moreno Vega </a>share a story from her childhood. To
keep it short and simple, she saw her drug addicted brother in the street one
day and did not respond when he spoke to her. She “kept it pushin” as they say.
And like any true sibling he ran to their mother and tattled on her! When Vega’s
mother questioned her about it, and Vega admitted that she didn’t speak to him
because he was dirty and so on, her mother said “…that could be you, that could
be your brother, that could be your sister, that could be me. Don’t you ever…
don’t you EVER not recognize yourself in somebody else.” Vega ended her story
with “that’s being spiritual. My mamá taught me that.”</div>
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Of course this story gets added to the list of things that
made me want to cry this week because I thought of two things – how powerful that
statement is and how many things our parents teach us that we go on to share
with the world. </div>
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Could you imagine if we all took the time to see ourselves
in someone else? In the homeless, in those addicted to drugs, in the
brown-skinned innocents that US sanctioned drone attacks kill, in the young
black men being profiled (and stopped and frisked and harassed and violated
and, eventually, killed) in our streets every day? Would we stop and help them?
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Could you imagine if every single child saw him or herself
in not only those people, but in our business owners, our president, our
politicians? If our politicians saw themselves in the poor, in women, in we “voiceless”
marginalized folk, in those brown-skinned innocents that they voted to kill? What
a world that would create - politicians that actually begin to care about
people rather than their own agenda, their own beliefs, their own hatreds and
bigotry. We’d have children that would grow into adults who see themselves in
every single person. Those adults would run our country and I’d like to believe
they’d run it better. But, I digress. </div>
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Of the things that I learned from my parents, and still
learn every day – never take any shit off anyone. They probably didn’t say it
in exactly that way, but that’s how I’m taking it. </div>
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Never stop writing. </div>
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Never stop caring.</div>
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Never let anyone silence you. </div>
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Always treat others with the respect and dignity that you
yourself deserve. </div>
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And, now, I add to their list – always see yourself in
others; always recognize yourself in others. I’d like to believe this will make
me a better person, someone that has greater drive to help others inside the
classroom and out. I’ve made a real stink over women’s issues and minority
issues (in television) lately and I just know that it is my singular goal in
life to bring multicultural literature, film and television to students. I want
them to see themselves in those people – in those actors, actresses, directors
and writers. And maybe, just maybe, they’ll
leave my classroom and enter the world thinking about more than themselves.
When someone says “this is a race/racial issue” they’ll be more inclined to not
only listen, but <i>understand</i>. When
someone says, “this is a women’s rights issue” they’ll be more inclined to not
only listen, but <i>understand</i>. When
they enter the workforce and go on their paths to run our country, be
businessmen, police officers, etc, they’ll see a brown face and see their own.
They’ll see the poor and see themselves. They’ll see brown-skinned children
gunned down in the streets and they will see their own. </div>
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Think of the world we could create if something as simple as
“recognize yourself in others” was taught alongside the golden rule. It’s
unfortunate, but it’s true, people don’t want to care about an issue until it
affects them personally. Looking at the world this way, it does, doesn’t it? </div>Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892405096212858210.post-54084389186498569992012-06-12T13:18:00.001-04:002012-06-12T13:19:04.078-04:00Kenyetta, Brianna and me.<br />
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I’ve been on the feminist bandwagon for a few weeks now and
let me just say – or type, rather – that I am so glad I finally found something
that I can truly sink my teeth into. This world where race, sex, gender, class
and so many other things collide is quickly becoming my happy unhappy place. I
think about it constantly – how to make people understand, how to make it
better, how to teach it. Never been happier that I left biology for bigger,
brighter and better endeavors. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Margaret Bowland, Portrait of Kenyetta and Brianna (2008)" src="http://www.margaretbowland.com/artwork-painting_images/02murakami_wed-L550.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.margaretbowland.com/paintings/painting11.html">Margaret Bowland: Portrait of Kenyetta and Brianna</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I saw this on the internet today. It brought that itch to
the back of my eye that foreshadows tears. But they didn’t come. One, because I’m
at work. Two, because – dammit – I will not shed another tear over this. </div>
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I’ve focused a lot on identity and intersectionality over
the last year in my coursework – examining the layers of black identity and how
they are embraced, quelled and/or misunderstood. This image brought back all of
my own personal struggles with those very things. How can I be “more” black?
How can I be more…authentic? How can I be less me and more who you want me to
be? How can I not be the “little white girl” in my family and the “black chick”
amongst my friends? How can I be a strong, self-reliant and self-sufficient woman
without being the “black woman that doesn’t need anybody?” </div>
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I was probably halfway through college before I stopped
trying to be everyone else’s conception of me.
Before I stopped trying to figure out how I could be a little bit of
this definition and a little bit of that – an all-you-can-eat buffet of
identities. But, dammit, those little
girls in that picture. That *woman.* They bring it all back. They are me. I can’t
take my eyes off of them, off of the me that I see in them. And that itch is
back again. </div>
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That woman is who those little girls will become. We don’t
grow out of or away from our identity crises. We either overcome them or let
them overcome us. My heart breaks over this image, this “whiteface” and the
shame (and shaming) that it represents. The idea that being a different color
or a different shade of brown will make that shame – and the sense of pain and
ugliness that it breeds – go away. Who
among us hasn’t though that life would be easier if we were rich, white men?
That’s the shame I speak of. And the more I think about that shame, the more I
think about bell hooks’ analysis of black women being at the bottom of the
totem pole. She believed that we were the most marginalized of them all, having
no community of people to other in order to make ourselves feel superior. I
expand this concept to women of color in general. In my mind, because we have
no “other” of our own to hate, we turn it on ourselves and on each other –
denigrating other women (of color) when we really should be reaching out to
them and embracing them in solidarity. We point fingers and make crass jokes
about each other’s hair when we should really be saying, “hey, I may not like
it – but I love that you love it.” We order ourselves along some arbitrary
system – too black, not black enough – when each and every one of us is enough.
We fall victim to new school twists on old school light-skinned/ dark-skinned
stereotypes and classifications. </div>
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And my heart breaks every single damned time. </div>
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It breaks every time I think about how many of my own
experiences have been marred by these very things because I didn’t look the
part or didn’t fit the role. How can we rally against a society that promotes a
finite definition of beauty, damning those that do not fit, when we are doing
the same thing to each other? How can we continue to engage in this double
standard where it is unacceptable for society to tell women who they should be
and look like, but acceptable for individual woman to place those same
constraints on others? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I want all women to wake up and understand that I don’t have
to tell you that you are beautiful. *You* have to tell you that you are
beautiful. You don’t need to go outside of yourself to find beauty – it’s already
there. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I want those little girls, that woman…I want to tell them
that. I want them to understand that. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white;">My natural/permed hair, skin,
thick/thin/in-between thighs, my eyes, my feet, my toes, my
big/small/in-between butt, my small/large/in-between breasts, are beautiful
regardless of what black, white, [insert ethnicity here] men or women say</span>.
Period. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And there’s that itch again. </div>Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892405096212858210.post-26149279492856551012012-06-05T12:16:00.000-04:002013-04-20T17:55:28.426-04:00When your choice is no longer your own<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, in my morning perusal of tumblr I came across <a href="http://neopolitantambourine.tumblr.com/post/24470023902/can-i-just-be-a-guy-probably-going-to-delete-this">this</a>,
which made me say this: </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5FF97a7yP4sd_IDMkXRtPZxkzAG9JqERnh_3zhc6iEK868L77lC4JD_bOITHzlLRIBIcrHupqzdZNZN5m7beVsRxxCyHtHS-GSVaOX5P-LLbXWlyrqWZSa1XqnySOnZbhLwhSs4CNWvk/s1600/i-dont-want-to-live-on-this-planet-anymore-11372-400x250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5FF97a7yP4sd_IDMkXRtPZxkzAG9JqERnh_3zhc6iEK868L77lC4JD_bOITHzlLRIBIcrHupqzdZNZN5m7beVsRxxCyHtHS-GSVaOX5P-LLbXWlyrqWZSa1XqnySOnZbhLwhSs4CNWvk/s320/i-dont-want-to-live-on-this-planet-anymore-11372-400x250.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(Read it and you’ll understand why. Don’t worry. I’ll still
be here when you get back. I’m just that kind of dependable.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I, of course, just had to respond. The post has been excerpted
for your benefit. I don’t who this girl/woman is, or how much traffic her page gets (not that it matters), but I do know that sentiments such as those highlighted
below pervade our society. As a budding feminist, this both saddens and
frustrates me. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“[…]the quickest way
to set me on the warpath is to tell me you want to be a stay at home mom for
the rest of your life and not get an education and mooch off your
husband/partner completely by choice (ie: You have the ability/funds/everything
else required to attend school and better yourself) BUT THAT’S NOT BECAUSE IT’S
AN OPPRESSIVE FEMALE ROLE, it’s because it’s a waste of a brain[…]”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Going to college and having a career is indeed a wonderful opportunity
that countless men and women should be proud/thankful to have. But, what you
seem to be missing is the fact that white men have *always* had that
opportunity. What you’re failing to consider, or are just blatantly ignoring –
I’m not sure which – is that people of color and women as a whole were
historically denied the choice of getting a decent education and following that
up with a career. But, for now, I’ll shelve the class/race element for the sake
of brevity and focus solely on women.
Feminists fought for a woman’s right to attend college, graduate school,
etc and eventually pursue careers because women did not previously have the
option to do so. Our role was to grow
up, go to finishing school if our culture dictated, find a husband, have babies,
cook, clean and shut up and look pretty. We could not choose to operate outside
of this role. (Again, shelving the class debate, because Black women were
definitely working and raising families before white feminists began fighting
for a woman’s right to have a life outside of the home. This, of course,
informed a large portion of the debate between early feminists of color and
early white feminists.) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What we have now, in the 21<sup>st</sup> century, is the
ability to choose what we want to do. A
woman that chooses to stay at home and take care of her husband, wife,
significant other, [insert term of choice here] is no less intelligent than a
woman that chooses to pursue a career. And they are no different than women who
choose to pursue careers and take care of their families. There is no
difference between telling a woman that she has to go outside of the home to be
considered worthy and telling a woman that she must stay at home, barefoot and
pregnant in the kitchen, to be considered worthy. Why? Because both claims deny
her the right to make the choice for herself. They strip her of her choice. And
that’s what feminism is truly about – giving the women the authority to govern
their own damned lives. Got it? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, if you think
that being a stay at home wife/mother would be a waste of your personal brain
space, then that’s fine, but do not seek
to extend that belief to all other women in the country, or on the planet. Such
a job (and please believe it <i>is</i> a job,
an often thankless one at that) is a waste of brain FOR YOU. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Don’t get me wrong. The last thing on earth I want to be is
a stay at home anything, least of all a stay at home parent. But I would never
look down my nose and tell a woman (or man) that chooses to do that that s/he is
somehow inferior and stupid. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“You want equality?
You want to be respected? Well
then, the best solution is clearly to just lay on the floor and whine about how
disrespected you are. You wonder why women are seen as weak? Do I really need
to explain why? It’s because your response is to whine and complain rather
than getting out there and eating stereotypes for breakfast. Go out there, get
an education, and take over the freaking world..”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I agree that people simply whining about being disrespected
and marginalized does nothing to implement change. However, you seem to think
that “eating stereotypes for breakfast” is going to somehow show men that women
are equal to them. I see two problems
with this assessment. First of all, stereotypes persist because they make the privileged
majority (in this case bigoted men) seem superior. In fact, they are a set of inaccurate,
simplistic generalizations about a group that allows others to categorize them
and treat them accordingly (thank you <a href="http://www.dictionary.com/">www.dictionary.com</a>).
Stereotypes
continuously marginalize othered groups, making claims such as “women are the
weaker sex because they lack testosterone” and “women earn less because they
are less aggressive” seem normal and therefore acceptable. Secondly, you either forget or simply do not
know that a stereotype persists regardless of the evidence mounted against it.
Women don’t have the drive, don’t have what it takes to be scientists/engineers/politicians/pilots/[insert
career of choice here]. And yet, there are countless women who are scientists,
engineers, politicians, pilots and so on. And there are just as many stories by
women in those professions that detail how much sexism they’ve had to deal with
on their way to the top. Having a career and being educated does not
automatically mean that sexist men will no longer be sexist. “Herpderp, she has
a career now. I guess I have to stop thinking she’s a lesser being.” No. That’s
not how it works. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Suffice it to say – negating the stereotype does not destroy
the stereotype. So, the onus isn’t upon women to prove to men that they are
equal, the onus is upon bigoted men to stop thinking they are superior just
because they were born with a penis. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“The harsh reality is
that if you want respect you’re going to have to show men you deserve it. Yes,
just like any other human being.
Oh, you thought men just walked into a business environment and everyone
respected them?”</i> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, all of those women who are groped or on the receiving
end of disgusting sexual invitations when walking down the street (including
myself) need to show those men that they “deserve” respect? Or perhaps all of those
women who are CEOs, COOs and CFOs of companies both big and small and are still
treated like they are “just” women? Or maybe you mean those women who are legal
partners in major law firms, top surgeons in their medical field, or those
women who stay at home and raise the children that will become our future. What
you fail to understand is that imploring women to show men that they deserve
respect places them squarely in a man’s world and thereby at the mercy of what
men think a women should be or do. And it makes the fact that they aren’t
respected their fault. That’s like telling a black man that someone hurled the ‘N’
word at him because he had the audacity to have black skin. Let’s not play this
“blame the victim” game. It’s tired and
oh so boring.<i><o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I do not think men just walk into business environments and
immediately garner respect, but I do think women sometimes walk into business
environments and immediately get even less respect – from both sexes. Think
about what women who like to wear high heels and have their nails done often
have to face in the work place – in other words women who are conventionally
pretty. The stereotypes persist even then – you’re pretty so you must be dumb as a
rock. You assume that success (both academic and professional) somehow
affords women respect. It does not. When a person believes himself to be
superior to another human being, he will find a way to prove his point. Period.
It does not matter if I stay at home or if I go out and join the work force. I’ll
still be a woman dealing with real woman problems at the end of the day.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So get off your high horse and make decisions about your own
life and encourage other women to do the same. But do not tell them that your
way is the right way and that their’s is wrong. I mean this in the best way
possible - before you go on a rant about a topic such as this – perhaps pick up
a book and educate yourself. If you choose not to, that’s fine. But that’s
counterproductive and, dare I say it, lazy.</div>
Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892405096212858210.post-67288811990753423112012-06-04T18:28:00.001-04:002012-06-05T08:15:07.671-04:00Because anger doesn't preclude rationality. Irrationality, however, does.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
“As ‘objects,’ we remain unequals, inferiors. Even though
they may be sincerely concerned about racism, their methodology suggests they
are not yet free of the type of paternalism endemic to white supremacist
ideology. Some of these women place themselves in the position of ‘authorities’
who must mediate communication between racist white women…and <i>angry black women whom they believe are
incapable of rational discourse</i>.” bell hooks, <u>Feminist Theory: From
Margin to Center</u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The double standard here drives me up a wall. Literally. I’m
typing this from the ceiling. It’s cozy up here. I know this book is “old” by
today’s standards (even though it looks young enough to be 20) but that makes
it no less relevant. I read those words and my blood pressure immediately shot
up. We (all women, perhaps especially Black women) have been raging against this idea that emotion negates
rationale for decades, centuries even. The hormones, oh the hormones, preclude our
better judgment. (It’s why the War on Women is seeking to limit our access to
birth control.)<br />
<br />
Rather than arguing that I’m/we’re not angry – I’m choosing
to embrace it. I’m calling upon my non/anti-feminist counterparts to cease
invalidating my feelings/opinions/thoughts/ideas/existence on any issue just
because of my emotional, Black or (ugh, the horror) vagina-ized state. I’m calling on
my feminist compatriots who are melanin-deficient to help bring an end to this “angry
black woman” stereotype – and help everyone recognize that there is nothing
wrong with being angry and there is everything wrong with using a powerful tool of the patriarchy against other women. What is wrong is the marginalization of one socially, politically and economically "inferior" group by another, (slightly less) socially, politically and economically "inferior" one. I see this now not only as it pertains to the differences between black women and white women but the west and the non-west (i.e. Muslim women and non-Muslim women seeking to free Muslim women from their “shackles,”). </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course I'm angry. All the damned time and about so many things. But, I can be angry and know that 2 +2 = 4. I’m done
asking other people if I have the right to be in such an impassioned state. I'm embracing the fact that I do indeed own the right to live and feel as I choose. And I own that right in the face of men who think me inferior because of my impressive set of ovaries, and women who think me inferior because my hair is kinked and my skin has a year-round tan. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our myriad struggles with the perfect body, control over our baby-making and sustaining machinery (both before and after giving birth - breastfeeding anyone?) our varying battles with
Darth Patriarchy (Vader’s distant cousin), our fight against gaslighting and so on are points of unity, not division. Unity, of course, does not mean minimization
of difference. It means creating a world in which women have the authority to
govern their own lives, wear their own clothes and be angry any time of the month they damn
well please.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When a man got angry some time around September 2001, he
launched an entire war that cost us countless lives. But his act was “rational.”
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I get angry, I’m PMSing, I’m irrational and my thoughts
on the issue are thereby irrelevant. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Do you see where I’m going with this? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not saying
anything here that hasn’t been said before, I know this. But I guess this post
is really more for me and for those other women like me that get angry and then
second guess their anger as though there is something wrong with it. God gave
you anger. That’s how you know something is WRONG. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, I’m not saying that we should all go bat-shit crazy and
run over our significant other’s because they stole our twinkies and that made
us angry. I’m not saying we should all morph into Hulkina or Lady Hulk or
whatever the hell her name is. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What I am saying is that the next time someone tells you
that you’re “just angry” you should reply “And? Your point?” Because anger, or
any other emotion for that matter, doesn’t preclude or disrupt rationality.
Irrationality, however, does. </div>Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892405096212858210.post-40985715109628332472012-04-27T11:12:00.001-04:002013-08-28T11:18:22.291-04:00The Moment of Silence is Over<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
As I sit here on the last Friday before most of my major
final assignments are due, I think of all the ways in which female oppression
around the world is the same but different, instead. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20120423/NEWS07/204230341/U-S-woman-becomes-hero-in-China-as-she-fights-domestic-abuse?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs">A woman in Beijing, China</a> confronts the brutal abuse she
faced at the hands of her husband. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Beijing. I was just there. I left with this
euphoric feeling of how beautiful the city was, how it was different than the
US. But, it’s so much the same. Women – silenced because abuse is something to be ashamed of.
Something you aren't supposed to talk about publicly.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/26/world/americas/cnnheroes-villard-appolon-haiti-rape/index.html?hpt=hp_t3">Women in Haiti are still being raped</a>. Still being silenced, because girls are so
promiscuous… No help from the cops because girls always want it anyway. Men
raping women, raping children, raping babies….and it’s the victim’s fault? It’s
the victim’s fault that she was held down and violated? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_224490719"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfT9Iby1iG3PyUeUMLTRq11wSM-MLD2hXyoNIRB5RxC5wjzs-_jX11tU55O-TqdOGsOC0qQY5nJ9vncm7Lo2gQQZxnCez4o0-AJgutUPcMf8HdgMip5mDKDMY-u_ucZdBlHVWlaI3RuIU/s320/women_wear.jpg" width="239" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://freckledchimp.tumblr.com/post/19468498862">Source: FreckledChimp</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Silenced. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I live in a culture of women that think they’re free because
they get to walk out of their front doors without having to cover their hair or
hide their faces. They can show off
their legs and get into cars with men that aren’t family members. But, when (God forbid) they are raped – the question
lingers: well, what were you wearing? The judgment rises: maybe if you hadn’t
worn that tiny skirt…Why did you get into the car with him? Why did you go out
with him? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yes, because men can run the country and tell me what to do
with my womb, my reproductive organs, MY BODY, but they can’t control themselves
around a woman in a skirt. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Forgive me my Muslim friends if I get this wrong, but isn’t
part of the oppressive culture surrounding hijabs and burqas directly related
to the sexuality of women? And how women must cover themselves to avoid raising
the lusts of men? Please, correct me if I’m wrong.*</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Wholly different circumstances, but still so much the same. America likes to place itself on a pedestal,
pointing a naked finger at all of those <i>other</i>
countries that are so backwards and must be saved from themselves. “My, look at
how women are treated in Iraq/Iran/[insert <i>othered</i>
Middle Eastern country of choice here] we must liberate them so they, too, can
be free like our women!” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You throw too many stones America. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It seems that women, by their very existence, are responsible
for their rape, their abuse and their status as object, as less than in any country. And when we speak up against it – we’re
feminazis, we’re seeing things, we’re not working hard enough, or we work so
hard we’re bitches and ballbusters. When
I confront blatant sexism and misogyny I “can’t take a joke." We're liars because "stuff like that" doesn't happen "here." Or, we just don't understand because that's part of "culture." </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Whatever.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
STOP letting them silence you.<br />
<br />
*Note 8/28/2013: I meant in no way to disrespect women who choose to wear hijabs, etc. My comment was focused on the idea that how women are clothed, in form, is in anyway related to how they are or should be treated. I am still learning. Forgive me if I overstep or mis-speak while doing so. </div>
Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892405096212858210.post-9038250293599113482012-04-20T10:24:00.001-04:002012-04-20T10:24:40.237-04:00Marissa Alexander<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Wow. 3 posts in one week! I know I should be focusing on
final assignments/exams for the semester, but life just keeps distracting me. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was minding my on business this morning, taking down my
hair and attempting to style the lioness’s mane while listening to the
radio. The <a href="http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=tjms">TJMS </a>to be exact. This particular segment concerned the plight
of a young, black mother in Florida who is facing 20 years in prison for “defending”
herself against her verbally and physically abusive husband against whom she'd filed an <a href="http://www.womenslaw.org/laws_state_type.php?id=496&state_code=FL&open_id=497">injunction</a>. And I use the word “defending” loosely
because what she actually did was warn him.
She didn’t even touch him – but we’ll get to that later. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
From what I can tell, he entered her home and began to
attack her while she was using the, how shall we say, facilities. She managed to escape to the garage to her
car, at which point she realized she couldn’t get the garage door open due to
mechanical failure, she didn’t have her car keys and she didn’t have a cell
phone to call the cops. She had no other means of egress. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What she did have, concealed in the garage apparently, was a
gun – for which she had both a permit and training. According to her personal
testimony, <a href="http://justiceformarissa.blogspot.com/2012/04/lincoln-b.html">found here</a>, her husband and his two sons were supposed to be exiting
the house through the front door. She goes back into her home through the
kitchen only to find that her husband is still there. Her husband yells “Bitch, I’m going to kill
you,” and charges. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, if someone’s just physically assaulted <i>me </i>in my home, and screamed that they were going to kill me <i>while </i>they’re charging at me <i>in my home</i> – I’m going to fire the
weapon I’ve been trained to fire. I’m
going to protect myself. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And that’s exactly what Marissa did. She fired her weapon
into the ceiling in warning. Her husband (now ex) fled the domicile. She was
denied the right to have her case dismissed under the now notorious “Stand Your
Ground” law because, according to Judge Elizabeth Senterfitt she could’ve have
escaped through a window, the sliding glass door, or some other exit. Mind you, this woman had just given birth 9
DAYS ago. Do you really think it’s fair to ask her to slip out through a
window? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
More to the point, this man was in <i>her house</i>. He was the intruder, and he admitted to being the aggressor.
There was an injunction against him and he <i>violated
it</i>, thus committing a crime.<i> </i>There
is documentation of his physical abuse toward her. But Marissa had to flee? She
had a duty to retreat? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Under the “Stand Your Ground” law people who feel threatened
<i>have</i> <i>no duty to retreat</i>. Under this law, they have the right to defend
themselves. I’ve included the important bits of <a href="http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0776/Sections/0776.013.html">Stand Your Ground</a> as they
apply to this particular case: </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“<span style="color: navy; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A person
is presumed to have held a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great
bodily harm to himself or herself or another when using defensive force that is
intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm to another if:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: navy; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">(a)</span><span style="color: navy; font-family: "Cambria Math","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cambria Math"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: navy; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The person against whom the
defensive force was used...<b><u>had
unlawfully and forcibly entered</u></b>, a dwelling, residence, or occupied
vehicle...and</span><span style="color: navy; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: navy; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">(b)</span><span style="color: navy; font-family: "Cambria Math","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Cambria Math"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: navy; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The person who uses
defensive force knew or had reason to believe that an unlawful and forcible
entry or unlawful and forcible act was occurring or had occurred”</span><span style="color: navy; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: navy; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“A person who is not
engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he
or she has a right to be has <b><u>no duty
to retreat</u></b> <b><u>and has the right
to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force</u></b>
if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or
great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission
of a forcible felony.</span>”</div>
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Marissa is now charged with 3 counts of aggravated assault
with a deadly weapon with no intent to harm, and child abuse because she fired
a weapon with her child in the house because, according to Judge Elizabeth
Senterfitt, she had an opportunity and the means to escape.<br /><br />Once again, the victim is blamed. Once again, the victim is made out to be a criminal and once again - women's rights, especially in the face of violence directed at them, are abrogated. </div>
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If you do nothing else today, please follow this link to the <a href="http://justiceformarissa.blogspot.com/">blog </a>her family has put together for her and follow this link to sign the <a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/free-marissa-alexander">petition </a>in her honor. This woman does not deserve 20 years in jail for protecting herself, especially when Florida has granted her the right to Stand Her Ground. </div>Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892405096212858210.post-47889131231791115382012-04-19T16:40:00.000-04:002012-04-20T10:07:42.697-04:00The Conversation That Never Was<br />
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At this point in my life I've been told more times than I can count to 1.) think before I speak, 2.) think before I act 3.) do my own research and 4.) don't jump to conclusions about what I see on the internet. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_n7ij1dW5LGXAZgDzDW2cGxJEGg4fx1899phetJ8cThATPTzirLf0b1W7K_qQ1afWMt03eyH2K2T_jDlYiyp42ItzFB0GKKjgdvr8IkdVsXohyLtsCuLh57yqJioaK5ImImsf6A8MzbY/s1600/cake-makode.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_n7ij1dW5LGXAZgDzDW2cGxJEGg4fx1899phetJ8cThATPTzirLf0b1W7K_qQ1afWMt03eyH2K2T_jDlYiyp42ItzFB0GKKjgdvr8IkdVsXohyLtsCuLh57yqJioaK5ImImsf6A8MzbY/s320/cake-makode.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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By now, many of you have seen, read or heard about the Great
Swedish Cake Controversy of 2012. If you
haven’t, allow me to direct you to the only <a href="http://africasacountry.com/2012/04/18/swedish-cake/">article</a> I’ve read that makes an
effort to examine the facts and remain unbiased by the immediate assumption of
racism. <br />
<br />
I’ve seen the now infamous picture of a crowd of white people laughing as the
cake in the shape of a naked black woman’s body is carved for their
pleasure. I’ve seen the crumbs of red
velvet cake run like rivers of blood as slice after slice is made into her
body, a body that offers pleasure to those amassed to view her. I’ve thought
about the racism that such an image implies. </div>
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And, from that vantage point, it seems like another issue of
white vs. black, of racism in its most abhorrent, overt form. And if you take
that picture as the alpha and omega of things that occurred in a Swedish museum
that day, then you’ll see it that way too. But, what I’m going to ask you may
shock you to your very core, it may cause you to shiver in disgust, it may even
cause you to walk away from the computer screen to you get your sudden urge to
vomit under control. </div>
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What I’d like you to do is this. Take a moment to think
about what happened before and after that picture was taken. Think about the fact that this image that’s come
to represent “racism in its most abhorrent form” is merely a split second shot
in a timeline of events that most of us can never know much about….unless,
of course, <a href="http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/sweden-firestorm-over-cake-art-installation-0022178">we have a video</a>. </div>
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<o:p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rCK6zvWEN_Q" width="420"></iframe></o:p></div>
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I want to examine this work of performance/visual art, the
images that ensued and the anger it’s created.
Some have <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Dhl2rj8SAXc">attacked the artist</a>, believing that what he did was “racist,”
whatever the definition of that word in this context may be. I want to
ask, “did this piece of art do its job?”
Doesn’t the image make a profound statement about the pain and victimization of
women in any male dominated society? Doesn’t it give voice to the trial of
woman everywhere, the fight to have her voice heard in a room full of people
that would otherwise laugh, point and objectify her with their finger-pointing
and photograph taking? The act itself,
the cutting of the cake, the screaming initiated by the head of the cake whose
artist is housed therein – doesn’t it make a larger statement about
voicelessness and silence in the face of female gential mutilation (for the
artist), and women’s oppresion, racism, <i>othering
</i>(for the rest of us)? </div>
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I think it makes all of those statements when you take a moment to really think about it. </div>
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However, it seems that it failed in
generating the sort of conversation the artist seems to have sought. </div>
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What I’m really trying to get at here is that – while we’re
busy pointing fingers and getting upset over the <i>image</i>, we need to have the conversation about the issue that it’s supposed to be representing.
After all, isn’t that what we – the <i>othered</i>
– always ask people to do? To engage in dialogue about the nature of the issue?
Aren’t we always saying that problems such as these arise when people refuse to
have honest, open discourse? Why aren’t
we teaching people about female gential mutilation (FGM)? Why aren’t we talking about
what this image, what this cake, what the videos, etc, mean about the nature of
being subjugated as not only a woman, but a black woman? The artist has opened
the door, and we’re refusing to walk through it with him. </div>
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After watching the video, I can tell you that the visual
makes me uncomfortable to the point of cringing and it makes me think about how much my cringing pales in comparison to the screams and pain of girls that suffer from FGM. But the people in the video were obviously
not uncomfortable enough or aware enough of the stark reality of the differences between their own situation and that of FGM victims to forgo the temptation of some delicious red velvet
cake, even as the plated victim screams in agony with each slice. I want to ask these people – why were you
more concerned about cake than about what it was meant to represent? Why didn’t
the torment of the woman on the table and her screams speak louder than your
need to eat cake? (And, while we’re at it, doesn’t this say something about the
concept of “herd mentality?”) As you watch the woman approach in the beginning
of the video and ready her camera – think about how it seems to be one big
joke, one big assed spectacle.</div>
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The people in this video missed the point, and so, I’m afraid,
did the rest of us. So, to beat the dead
horse, why in the hell are we so busy <a href="http://crunkfeministcollective.wordpress.com/">pointing fingers</a> and not busy talking? </div>Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892405096212858210.post-75997745438156362452012-04-18T11:56:00.000-04:002012-04-18T14:16:54.164-04:00Why save for tomorrow, what you can do today<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%;">I
often post articles, blog posts, tumbler feeds that I find interesting to my
newsfeed to share them with my cyberfamily and generate discussion and debate. It
doesn’t always work, but, today, I had an interesting discussion about the lack
of color on my television set lately. It all started when I read <a href="http://www.boston.com/community/blogs/hyphenated_life/2012/04/girls_in_white.html">this article</a> [we'll take a break while you consider following the link, but in the end decide not to because you know it's about to be partially summarized] </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%;">which
discusses the lack of minorities on the show “Girls” – a new HBO show set in
Brooklyn, New York. The article pretty much hit the nail on the head for me. I’m
tired of not seeing black, Latina, Asian, gay, lesbian, transgender, bicurious/sexual,
male, female, twentysomethings on my television set, dammit. And I don’t think
it’s too much to ask that someone put them there.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'm not attempting to make this a
white v. non-white, gay v. straight issue.
What I'm really focused on is how few people in the television/film
industry make honest efforts to step beyond what they know and into new and
exciting communities. Take a step beyond the default white, male, straight
setting and experience some flavor so that you can write a new something that
you know. The sad part is, people in
those industries have the largest opportunity to do just that. They have the
opportunity to broaden the scope of the world in the characters they create and
the stories that they write - they just don't do it. James Cameron made millions of dollars off
the backs of blue people – <span style="color: blue;">BLUE PEOPLE</span> – and you mean to tell me we can’t put a
Chinese woman on mainstream, American television? Of course we can, she just
needs to be crouching like a tiger or hiding like a dragon. Black women have to
be loud and sassy, fat and matronly, or thick and sexual. They can’t exist in a
role in which their skin color, and the stereotypes that come with it, are afterthoughts.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%;">The people that create these fictional
universes, that create lives with a scratch of their pens or the swiftness of a
keystroke, have the best opportunity to include the faces of those identities that
we so rarely see. And when asked why their shows don’t include these people,
they too often say “well, I’d like to include them. We’ll have to examine if
there’s a place for that in the future.”
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">Do
I have to tell you that during the Civil Rights Movement, quite a few of its
detractors said they liked the idea of desegregation, of giving second class citizens
their rights as taxpayers in this great nation that is the United States, but
they thought the Movement was asking for too much, too soon.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">They wanted the movement to slow down, and
only change a little bit at a time.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">So, when I hear producers,
scriptwriters, show creators and the like telling me “we’ll have to examine
that in the future,” what I’m really hearing is the collective voices of all
those people saying, “yeah, we need it, but not. Right. Now.” </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%;">To quote “The Great Debaters” “The time is always, is ALWAYS, right now.”</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 32px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/CiHHQIWiwIU" width="560"></iframe></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> I can’t tell you how excited I am to
see Kerry Washington leading the cast on “Scandal.” And I can’t tell you how
much it saddens me that I don’t have another show to watch in which a minority
leads the cast. Still, minority actors in supporting roles definitely deserve their
respect – Sandra Oh and Chandra Wilson
on “Grey’s Anatomy,” Taye Diggs, Benjamin Bratt and, formerly, Audra McDonald
on “Private Practice.” (Notice, all three of those aforementioned shows are
created by a black woman – Shonda Rhimes). Gabourey Sidibe is holding it down
on “The Big C,” while Tamala Jones and Jon Huertas have appeared in nearly
every single episode of “Castle.” David Zayas and Lauren Velez on “Dexter.” (I
can’t think of any shows off the top of my head featuring LGBT characters). I
could go on, but the point here is that while so many people are saying “we’ll
look at it in the future,” there are those that are just doing it. Right now.
And the ethnic background of the characters I mentioned above rarely, if ever,
comes into play (with the exception of Sidibe on “C”). What does this mean,
Hollywood? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">It means that inserting racial,
ethnic, gender and sexual diversity into a show does not make the show about
racial, ethnic, gender and sexual politics. It means that you don’t have to figure
out if there’s a place for us in your script, you just put us there. What it
means is that the next time you issue a casting call for the next great female
lead – just ask for women or men of a certain age, of a certain height, maybe
of a certain build. Step beyond the boundaries of your cookie-cutter nation and
add some flavor to your melting pot. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><br />
Just DO IT already. <br />
<br />
</span>Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892405096212858210.post-21987541959759172092012-04-12T19:40:00.000-04:002012-04-12T20:14:03.904-04:00Reproduction 101 - It's elementary...or at least it should be.<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I’ve been away from the blog for a while (and should perhaps
stay away a little bit longer if my final assignments are any indication) but I
cannot endure the silence any longer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I got an e-mail from Mr. President (and co.) today. It was asking me to donate, as most e-mails
from politicians do, but what stood out to me was this:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">“</span>
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969);">We
can't afford an endless war in Afghanistan</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">, a return to policies that
hurt the middle class, and <i><u>a social agenda from the 1950s</u></i>.”</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Please
note, the emphasis is my own. I believe this "social agenda from the 1950's" is meant to refer to the current war on my right to have and maintain a blessedly empty womb. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">A
few days ago I was made aware of <a href="http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/50leg/2r/bills/hb2036s.pdf">Arizona House Bill 2036</a> which was sent up the
chain to the governor on April 10th. This bill makes
it illegal to perform abortions after the fetus reaches a gestational age of 20
weeks. According to this bill,
gestational age is calculated from the first day of the woman’s last menstrual
cycle to the current date. Let me repeat
that: the age of the fetus is to be calculated from the first day of the woman’s
last period. That makes sense…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Wait…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">No
it doesn’t. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I
immediately began to research, because biology is my bible (sorry, Ma!). Being a
woman of a certain age, I thought I understand menstruation. Based on that
understanding, I assumed that being on one’s cycle usually meant that one wasn’t
pregnant. But, under this bill, a woman
seeking an abortion would effectively be considered pregnant during a time that
she couldn’t have been pregnant. (I understand that there are exceptions to the
rule. As a rule, exceptions to the rule are usually considered minorities.) </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">According
to the <a href="http://www.umm.edu/ency/article/002367.htm">University of Maryland Medical Center</a>, gestational age is typically calculated
in this way, so Arizona didn’t just pull this out of its rather large ass. I mean, we can
trust doctor’s right? Right?!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">But,
this same page also says that “gestation is the period of time between
conception and birth…” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #222222;"><a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conception">Conception</a>:
</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">the process of becoming pregnant involving fertilization or implantation
or both.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">(Hang in there people, I know I’m getting academic on ya!)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://www.webmd.com/baby/guide/understanding-conception">Fertilization</a> occurs when a sperm wriggles its way into an
egg. Said egg is released during
ovulation. Ovulation <a href="http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/how-to-get-pregnant/PR00103">typically occurs 14 days AFTER</a> a woman’s <a href="http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/menstruation/FL00040/NSECTIONGROUP=2">period</a> begins. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">To summarize: the period is that time of the month when the unfertilized egg is excreted from the body. An unfertilized egg means that either your birth control did its job or the sperm didn't do his (or hers as the case may be). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">So, I ask ye newly educated citizens of Blogospheria, how in the
hell can a woman be pregnant on the first day of her period, a time when her body is getting rid of the very egg that was supposed to be invaded by sperm, but wasn't? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">How can a woman be considered pregnant a full 2 weeks before she can even biologically GET pregnant, ipso facto - when pregnant she ain't? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Think of the ramifications people! A woman is losing critical time to adequately enact her right to choose.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Arizona can hide behind the claim that their definition of gestational age is backed by medicine, but they, and their doctor cronies, are wrong. Doctors have been known to f*ck up before, and let's face it, how often does our government get it right? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Note: bills similar to Arizona's are planned in <a href="http://www1.legis.ga.gov/legis/2011_12/pdf/hb954.pdf">Georgia </a>and <a href="http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2012/HB1660.html">New Hampshire</a>, and have already passed in Nebraska. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NneTbcCad9k" width="560"></iframe></span></div>Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892405096212858210.post-71073714972702256842012-01-24T23:29:00.003-05:002012-01-24T23:30:37.188-05:00Hot Naked Bodies and Dollar Dollar Bills, Y'all<br />
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I have got to get out of this country. And I mean that
exactly the way it sounded in your head – with a nasally decorated “ugh”
followed by a pompous “I’m better than this” snort. </div>
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There’s a nasty little rumor (that happens to be true) floating
around about a bill that’s being pushed by some woman (Pam Dickerson) in
Georgia (state, not country) that clearly does not appreciate the beauty of the
naked human form (no parenthetical addendum needed). </div>
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Said bill will make it illegal for me to take Ye Olde Balle
and Chain’s head and photoshop it onto Johnny Depp’s hot, naked body. Something
that I would never, ever do – at least not in Georgia (country or state). </div>
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Actual bill is linked <a href="http://www1.legis.ga.gov/legis/2011_12/pdf/hb680.pdf">here </a>for your perusal. Read it,
internet, and laugh at the pure, delicious hilarity of it all. (Also, visit <a href="http://www.techdirt.com/">www.techdirt.com</a>. I'm learning a lot from this corner of the internet.)</div>
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Moral of this story, internet? Our elected officials have
way too much time on their hands. Because they’ve solved our deficit issues,
paid back our debt to China, fixed the oh-so-fair tax code, ended our
never-ending wars, and…oh, wait...</div>
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Yes, absolutely, please spend time on this bill Pam Dickerson of Georgia
(state, not country). </div>
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In other news, I’ve now officially been put on drugs to
lower my blood pressure after learning about how much Mitt Romney pays in
taxes. If you haven’t heard by now, just avoid the story altogether. Or, read
it and then sue Mitt for emotional distress. He can afford it. </div>
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It just amazes me that the rich blame the poor for being
poor, claiming that they have all that money because they “worked” for it.
Meanwhile, they benefit from a tax code that takes more money out of my pocket
and puts more money into theirs.</div>
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I guess they only like “spreading the wealth” in their
direction. </div>
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What’s more, it’s not like they understand the tax code any
more than we do. They just have a shit ton of money and can afford to pay the
poor saps that can. </div>
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I’m so proud to be an American. </div>
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<br /></div>Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892405096212858210.post-27261895595178336012012-01-23T09:58:00.000-05:002012-01-23T10:08:55.226-05:00Waaaaait! Oh, Never Mind. Carry on.I’m long past “missing” my MLK day post. I’ve been trying to write, re-write and beautify something that I did write, but it was awful. And MLK deserves much more than that. <br />
<br />
<br />
So, here I sit, a week later thinking about my future, my renewed course of life and what it all means. I’m having an existentialist moment, if you will. (I’m an English major now. I can say sh*t like that AND get away with it.) <br />
<br />
I’d decided at the beginning of the year that in an effort to reduce my newfound student loan debt as soon as humanly possible, I would take a job at the start of my final semester at UNCC and go to class at night. I would forgo pursuing an MFA in creative writing and work to pay my debts down. After a year, I would revisit pursuing an MFA – saving up money, paying down debts and having what I like to call guap in my pocket. <br />
<br />
Then I read <em><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/ideastour/civil-rights/king-excerpt.html">Letter from Birmingham Jail</a></em>, for my Black Arts Movement course (the only worthy course I’m taking this semester). <br />
<br />
We all know that the famous phrase “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” is taken from this letter (If you didn’t, YOU’RE WELCOME), so I’m not going to focus on that. What struck me about this letter is the power of his words. The way his argument is framed. The way it literally shook me to my core. <br />
<br />
Do you ever get that feeling when you read a truly magnificent work of literature (fiction or otherwise) that grips you and refuses to release you until you’ve read the last word? I get it when I read anything by Jacqueline Carey (notably anything in her Kushiel and Naamah series). I got it when I read Kenyon’s Acheron – which is one of the few books that made me cry. And I got it when I read Letter. <br />
<br />
“We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed…For years now I have heard the word, ‘Wait!’ It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity…when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you have seen the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society…” and on it goes until King says “then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait.”<br />
<br />
The word “chills” doesn’t even come close to what I felt when I read that. How much longer will I wait? Of course, my fight to hang on to and realize my dreams pales in comparison, is nearly invisible next to that of so many leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. But, the aforementioned words made me stop and ask myself – how much longer will I wait to be who I’ve always said I wanted to be? I’m not ready to be a starving artist, but I’m also not willing to wait any longer to write words that shake people to their cores, that make them cry, that urge them to act or even change their point of view. <br />
<br />
So, did a U-turn. MFA it is. PhD it is. Screw a corporate 8 to 5. Screw sitting in traffic. Screw working with people that never seem to close their mouths long enough to engage in actual work. The debt is scary, and like a vicious, drug-resistant fungus – it grows. But I want to be a better writer and I want to teach. Those are the only two things I desire more than Johnny Depp naked on a silver platter for Christmas. And, now, I’m willing to pay for it in more ways than one. <br />
<br />
People did not fight and die so I could sit around and twiddle my thumbs all day. <br />
<br />
How much longer will you wait? <br />
<br />Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892405096212858210.post-64821224737399761542012-01-01T10:08:00.001-05:002012-01-01T10:08:29.599-05:00Why hello 2012, it's nice to meet you.I've been dreading this year. I know, some of you out there are above it all and holding steadfastly to your belief that the world isn't coming to an end. BUT, what if it does? This year could be your last year to write that book you've always wanted to write, or call that one family member you've sworn off for [insert indubitably defensible reason here]. <div>
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<div>
I'm not taking any chances. I haven't really had the time, or inclination, to write for my blog the way I used to. I've been trying, but failing, to keep up with the political rat race and learn more about controversial bills that are being signed (<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/31/politics/obama-defense-bill/">defense authorization</a>, anyone?) or lobbied for (did you wash with <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5860205">SOPA </a>and water?). But that doesn't matter because you're on top of these things right? </div>
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Riiiiight....</div>
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So, rather than bitch and moan about all the political ish you are so familiar with, I just dropped in to say that I'm doing everything in my power to be bigger and better this year, because it might be my last chance. I'm 12,000 words into my manuscript and fresh off a week's worth of writing 2-4 hours a day - a biggie for me. I've got a busy semester planned chock full o' lit and feminism courses that I'm just bursting at the seams to begin. Once this hell beast of a semester is over, I'll hopefully be donating my time and writing abilities to a local LGBT friendly organization. I'm making sure that I get out and vote NO for North Carolina's gay marriage amendment in May. </div>
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Did I mention that my bank account is as dry as the Sahara because I drained my funds to take my ass to Beijing? If the world's going to implode in December, I want to see the Great Wall before I go. I might even just say screw it, take a few weeks off and drain my account again to backpack through Europe. Who knows!</div>
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I hope you do the same. Take the time to cross a few things off your bucket list - even if it's just eating escargot or some such. Happy New Year everyone. Embrace it...it could be your last! MUAH-HA-HA-HA-HA! </div>
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<br /></div>Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892405096212858210.post-70877627881119329552011-12-10T09:07:00.001-05:002011-12-10T10:31:00.681-05:00Save the Chickens!Why, Chik-Fil-A? WHY? [insert obnoxious wailing here]<br />
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Because I've apparently been living under a rock for the last year, I'm just now finding out that Chik-Fil-A is against equal rights for the LGBT community. If you've ever read my blog (and I'm sure you've read EVERY post), you know that I'm fiercely behind equal rights for the LGBT community. So this news, in short, pains me.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Now, people are trying to split hairs and say that the Chik-Fil-A organization, WinShape, is not anti-gay per se. They just donate money to organizations that happen to be against equal rights for the LGBT community. </div>
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Really, people? That's how you're going to spin this one? That's like saying the KKK isn't racist, it's just pro-white. </div>
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I guess it's perfectly acceptable to ignore the statements made <a href="http://news.change.org/stories/yes-chick-fil-a-says-we-explicitly-do-not-like-same-sex-couples">here</a>, <a href="http://www.goodasyou.org/good_as_you/2011/01/video-we-were-done-with-the-chick-fil-a-thing-but-then-the-prez-went-and-made-a-video.html">here</a>, <a href="http://www.goodasyou.org/good_as_you/2011/01/marriage-comission-summit-unlikely-to-serve-kfc-or-gays-pro-equality-interests.html">here</a>, <a href="http://equalitymatters.org/blog/201103220005">here </a>and...wait for it...<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/01/chick-fil-a-donated-anti-gay-groups-2009_n_1069429.html">here</a>. </div>
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Fine, let's ignore the VIDEO EVIDENCE and say that Chik-Fil-A and WinShape aren't anti-gay. Let's just say they're for marriage being only between a man and a woman. That's fine. You're still not getting a penny more of my hard earned money. Sorry. </div>
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I love Chik-Fil-A. Love their food, their service, even the cow. I go there at least once a week for breakfast, lunch, dinner, a medium to large sized Dr. Pepper with light ice. I'm so recognizable at Chik-Fil-A in the mornings, they know to put strawberry jam in the bag with my egg and cheese muffin. </div>
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I'm really going to hate to see you go, but I can't allow my money to be donated to organizations like those listed <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/01/chick-fil-a-donated-anti-gay-groups-2009_n_1069429.html">here</a>. It breaks my heart. Now I'm going to have to find a new place for my lazy morning breakfast AND deal with the nasty attitudes. I could just make my breakfast at home, but, dammit that's unpatriotic! Anti-American! Anti-Jobs! </div>
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So, dear reader, I implore thee - join me in saving the chickens, won't you. </div>
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<br /></div>Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892405096212858210.post-78633091550471637502011-11-21T12:15:00.001-05:002012-06-05T08:17:09.128-04:00Team BellaSo, I'll just come right out and say it. <br />
<br />
I, Grad School Escapee, am a Twilight fan. <br />
<br />
Don't judge me. <br />
<br />
I like the books that the hipsters love to like ironically. I've seen all of the movies to date, and I'm firmly on team Bella, though Jasper could easily sway me. I wasn't that excited about the wedding scene in the film, because, let's be honest - I'd already read about it. Twice. <br />
<br />
Why is this important? It's not, I just wanted to grab your attention. <br />
<br />
As the semester comes to a close I find myself having more spare time and doing absoultely nothing with it. I sit around, a lot, and think about how much I'd rather be sleeping. <br />
<br />
I've gotten lazy. And the realization of this doesn't sway me one bit. It's like I'm 12 a year old boy. I just want to sit around eating and playing video games. WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?<br />
<br />
Fear. That's what. Somewhere along the way I let the constant articles and news reports about the futility of graduate school and PhDs sway me. I let the statsitics for recent graduate employment get under my skin. I let the fact that my English prof told me she had to search for a job for two years after getting her doctorate before should could find one in academia bother me. She had to wipe the asses of small children and wait tables to make ends meet. <br />
<br />
Wipe. Asses. Children. No thank you. This is exactly why people should approve the genetic modification of fetuses. That way - they'll come out potty trained. I'm not wiping anybody's kid's ass. <br />
<br />
And you better pray you never get me as a waitress. Your order will be wrong, your silverware dirty. And, NO, you can't have any fresh lemon to squeeze onto a napkin to clean it off. You want clean dishes? EAT. AT. HOME. <br />
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Suffice it to say, I need to nip this laziness in the sparkling bud. If Stephenie Meyer can build a multimillion dollar empire with books about constipated, sexually repressed teenagers, dammit I can, too! <br />
<br />
Whether I decide to return to graduate school is beside the point, because it will not get me a job. I will. The MFA, or any other technical/terminal degree only serves to make you more knowledgeable of your field. At the end of the day, you get the job, not your degree. <br />
<br />
I never cared about all of those "once in a lifetime" opportunities before, or those "extremely competetive" programs. I applied and hoped like crazy that I would get them. But I was never so scared that I didn't even try.<br />
<br />
The fear is getting to me <em>now</em> because this matters. This writing matters. Being published matters. And the fact that I might fail at something that actually matters scares me shitless. Maybe I should see if my English prof has any friends that are in the adult wipery business. <br />
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And, on that note, adios compadres!Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892405096212858210.post-40972680139053267492011-10-23T19:05:00.000-04:002011-10-23T19:06:34.414-04:00ChangeI've been absent since my date with half naked gay men in Atlanta, and, because I know you were left with a void that not even vodka could fill, I came back.<br />
<br />
I'll pause while you rejoice and send in the clowns.<br />
<br />
Last week I had the pleasure of forcing myself to leave the lustful arms of my wanton bed and go to an Outspoken! seminar being offered at my shiny new campus. I'm glad I chose abstinence for the day - <a href="http://www.soapboxinc.com/jennifer-baumgardner/">Jennifer Baumgardner</a> was amazing.<br />
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She discussed very intimate details concerning her life as a woman that happens to be bisexual, including discovering who she was and her first experience with a gay woman - an experience that earned an exuberant "gay people rally are better at this stuff." And by "this stuff," you're old enough to know that I mean orgasms.<br />
<br />
Not a bad perk, eh [insert elbow nudge here].<br />
<br />
In all seriousness, the highlight of my night was when she said, "A movement based on love is eventually going to defeat a movement based on hate."<br />
<br />
I just thought I'd share that with you. I can't do an "<a href="http://www.itgetsbetter.org/">it gets better</a>" video, but I can share with you my thoughts on the subject.<br />
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I hate that we live in a country that likes to trot out its freedoms and unceasingly remind any American that speaks out against, well, anything how lucky they should be to even be here. I hate that I live within the confines of society that has created an environment where gay bashing/bullying is acceptable. Our leaders (politicians or otherwise) have created this situation by the mere fact that they continue to express how "wrong" it is to not like a member of the opposite sex.<br />
<br />
Regardless of how you feel about the subject of being gay, you have to recognize that a community that is based on discrimination and hate is wrong. You have to recognize that when teens are killing themselves due, in part, to gay bullying that something has to change.<br />
<br />
Teach your kids tolerance of people that don't look, act or think like them. Teach yourselves that the world isn't going to fit into your narrow worldview. Speak out against hate when you can and however you can. But don't just sit back and do nothing while the hateful create a world that goes against the basic tenets of love and acceptance.<br />
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We can all change the world if we first change ourselves.<br />
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<br />Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892405096212858210.post-4305239160844276862011-10-11T20:12:00.005-04:002011-10-11T20:13:41.331-04:00Would you like a bit of fairy dust with that?The beach gods thwarted Mr. Discovery's and my attempts to make it to Mexico this weekend. So, as a consolation prize, we went to Atlanta instead. I thought, we'll dine, we'll drink and we'll...well - there's really nothing that can top drankin now is there?<br />
<br />
So, we saddled up the horse, and made haste toward Hot-lanta. Sunday morning, I wanted brunch. I wanted waffles. And not just anybody's waffles - Gladys Knight's waffles.<br />
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I waited an hour for them.<br />
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It was not worth it.<br />
<br />
But, it was worth this<br />
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I must say that this </div>
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made me tear up a little. </div>
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Because I braved the 1 hour wait time at Gladys Knight's (cold and tasteless) chicken and waffles, I got to see this year's Atlanta Gay Pride Parade. It was my first parade, my first gay pride event, and my first time seeing a drag queen in person. It's fitting that I lost all those virginities on the Lord's day. I'm sure He's happy that my world is now complete. </div>
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I thought it beautiful to see so many men and women, straight, gay, lesbian, out and proud - supporting their community and supporting the people they love. Members of the armed forces marched <i>in uniform</i>. As a recovering Air Force brat, that makes me happier than I can ever hope to articulate. </div>
<br />
To see churches out supporting the unions, nay, the <i>marriages</i> of people who love each other restores my faith in religion a tiny bit. Notice that I did not say "restores my faith in <i>God</i>." My faith tells me that God and Jesus love and loved without exclusivity. Heathen that I am, sinner that I am, I find solace in that.<br />
<br />
I must say that my experience at Ms. Knight's restaurant was further sullied by the behavior of the gentleman that brought us our food. Seeing that I was enjoying watching the parade from the window (I'd even switched seats with ye olde balle and chain to get a better glimpse) his entire demeanor changed. He all but slammed my food down in front of me. And according to eye witness testimony from one Mr. Y.E.O Chain, he could be heard saying "so fucking sad," presumably in reference to the LGBT community marching within his field of vision.<br />
<br />
If we put half the energy we dedicate into hating those that are not exactly like us into creating a world of peace, acceptance and love - just imagine the sort of world we'd have.<br />
<br />
I wonder how that young gentleman would feel if he were somehow transported back to the 1960's and had white men and women saying the same things and expressing the same distaste if he were marching down the street, fist in the air proclaiming his own pride in being both beautiful and black. I wonder...<br />
<br />
As a black woman I can't fathom hating someone for something as simple as who they are attracted to. First, I've got more important things to do - like live my own f*cking life - than worry about what goes on in another person's bed. (Unless that other person's bed involves Mr. Y.E.O Chain. Then we've got WWIII on our hands. But, I digress). Second, I'm too aware of my own history, and how it is deeply mired in the struggles my people endured to simply be recognized as intelligent human beings deserving of a world that, if not accepting of them as a people, accepted their right to social, political, educational and occupational equality.<br />
<br />
Hmmm...now that sounds familiar.<br />
<br />
Seeing what I saw this weekend made me realize that I talk a "whole lotta shit" as the saying goes. So, I'm planning to offer whatever I can to the local LGBT cause to fight North Carolina's attempts to prevent marriage equality within this state.<br />
<br />
I leave you with this:<br />
<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/RnyRF9uqSmQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnyRF9uqSmQ">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnyRF9uqSmQ</a><br />
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Happy Coming Out Day everybody!<br />
<br />
<br />Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892405096212858210.post-3465899911057554782011-10-05T17:09:00.000-04:002011-11-22T10:30:34.500-05:00I had a baby...And its name is English.<br />
<br />
Dear God I never realized how much college was like having a baby.<br />
<br />
It cuts into your sleep (1-3 naptime included).<br />
<br />
It sucks up ALL of your money.<br />
<br />
It makes you wonder why it was ever a good idea.<br />
<br />
And you often consider giving it up for adoption.<br />
<br />
Closed adoption.<br />
<br />
BUT! I daresay I love it. I've been so busy that I didn't hear <a href="http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2011/09/28/tsr-cain-race.cnn">Herman Cain say that African-American voters are all brainwashed</a>. Which also means that I didn't say that he's a complete ass for implying that we colored folks (please note sarcasm) are somehow incapable of thinking for ourselves - someone must have planted all of these ideas about equal rights, healthcare for all, fair taxes, etc., in our heads. Because the only way to believe in such "socialist" ideals is to be brainwashed. And obviously, rejecting Republican politicians means that we are close minded. We clearly live in a world where being republican and open mindedness go hand in hand.<br />
<br />
Nope. I didn't say that at all.<br />
<br />
I've also been too busy to notice how the media (much to the conservative right's glee) pounced all over the Chris Christie (non)ordeal. While the world was so focused on this man's (nonexistent) potential presidential run, the republican's were doing....Oh, wait... We don't know because everyone needed Mr. Christie to say for the hundredth time that he would <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/chris-christie-will-not-run/2011/10/04/gIQAfQi4LL_video.html">not be running for president</a>. <br />
<br />
Nope. Didn't notice that at all.<br />
<br />
I didn't notice North Carolina's decision to put the<a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/09/carolina_amendment_vote.html"> gay marriage amendment</a> to the state constitution to vote in 2012. I also didn't say that it'll be a cold day in hell before NC gets any more of my tax dollars if that amendment passes.<br />
<br />
Nope. Not at all.<br />
<br />
Suffice it to say that I've been living in a bubble, content to ignore the world for a time as it falls apart around me.<br />
<br />
<br />Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892405096212858210.post-29026330485615862852011-08-24T10:18:00.000-04:002012-06-05T08:18:18.697-04:00Smells like Noob spirit.I never get used to the sweaty palm, NASCAR heart, gut clenching anxiety that the first day of school solicits. Especially when I’m the new kid in a sea of veteran “scholars.” Their faces scream “NOOB!” when I walk past. <br />
<br />
<br />
While dwelling on these thoughts I realize…I’m lost. Shit. <br />
<br />
Do I ask the prestige level veteran “scholar” or do I take out the dreaded map? <br />
<br />
Neither. I wander around, walking into and out of building after building in the molten swamp that is NC weather. <br />
<br />
Hot. Cold. Hot. Cold. Sweaty. Less Sweaty. Sweaty….<br />
<br />
Finally, I give up and with campus map in hand I seize a fellow soldier...soldiering on through the warzone. “For the love of God man! Tell me where the dwelling known as Denny should….dwell…”<br />
<br />
He points. “Go left.” And with a hook of his finger “left again.” <br />
<br />
I make it without dying. I’m the first person in the room. I find a seat in the corner, afraid that my Christopher Columbus routine has caused me to smell of perspiration. <br />
<br />
Sigh.<br />
<br />
Just another day as the new kid. <br />
<br />Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892405096212858210.post-11331811647339243182011-08-02T18:11:00.002-04:002011-08-02T18:13:21.742-04:00Remember: it's very important to button your pants<div class="MsoNormal">I know you all have been anxiously checking your phones, inboxes and Facebook pages – eagerly awaiting the arrival of the blog detailing my adventures as a newly minted member of the work force. Brace yourselves people – you are about to delve into the vast depths of a brilliant, nearly mind shattering…mind</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I give you: Newly Minted Member of the Work Force takes on office orientation module day!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">9:05 – What!? The radio doesn’t work? What the f*ck am I supposed to listen to now? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">9:10 – Begins humming most awesome theme song of all time – dum dum dum dum dadum dum dadum. [An octave higher now] dum dum dum dum dadum dum dadum. (There, now you’ll have it stuck in your heads all day).</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">(And by the way, the song is linked <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_rJ_tV0uFI">here</a> in case you didn't catch it)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">9:12 – Mmmm…Chai tea. Very robust, indeed. Note to self: try green tea at lunch.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">9:20 – Manager (who is perfecting her skills as a future assassin) scares the hell out of me by sneaking into my cube. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">9:21 – Note to self: if customer turns out to be wrong refer them to <a href="http://www.notalwaysright.com/">www.notalwaysright.com</a> Lessons must be learned. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">9:20 – Revelation! Office orientation modules always have pictures that follow the same recipe</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">1 person of color – black or Hispanic. Preferably female with curly hair to further ambiguity of race</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">1 Asian – male or female (most people think they all look alike anyway)</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">1 Nondescript brown person that draws the eye, forcing the viewer to ask him or herself – is he from the Middle East? Spain? Egypt? Did he just come back from a beach vacation? </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">1 -2 white people, usually (if not preferably) male. This does two things – ensures that women know they’ll never break the glass ceiling, while giving them some nice WASPy flesh to fixate upon. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">Note; Any person of color should be smiling. It creates a feeling of familiarity and rids the viewer of any initial feelings of distrust. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">9:25 – I begin to fantasize about gouging out my eyes with a hot spoon thereby preventing further torture at the hands of the diabolical office module device. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">9: 49 – Cicade flies into window. I briefly toy with the idea of pledging my immortal soul to one in exchange for his aid in my escape. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">9:54 – Have my pants been unbuttoned this entire time? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">10:00 – F*ck! It’s only 10!? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">10:25 – Thanks to inconsiderate employees who congregate outside of my cubicle for their daily (and extensive) water cooler chats I learned that placing a Dixie cup over your newborn boys… ahem, manlihood, will thwart his nefarious plan of peeing on you as soon as the diaper comes off. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">10:26 – I plot the demise of Water Kooler and the Gang.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">12:47 – Finally receive work from sneaky manager. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">2:15 – Random, nondescript, flour colored male walks over and introduces himself</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">2:24 – Tries to remember individuals name and figure out why he had such a funny look on his fa – OH MY GOD HAVE MY PANTS BEEN UNBUTTONED, IN PLAIN VIEW OF THE FREE WORLD, THIS ENTIRE FREAKING TIME!? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">2:47 – Remembers to try green tea. Thoughts: </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Holy Shit that’s green</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">Why is it so funky looking? Like split pea soup? Who the hell thought to split peas anyway? I guess the same person who thought of pulling on the dangly bits of a soy bean…..Wait, I was doing something.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">2:48 – Tea finishes. I sniff it. Thoughts:</div><div class="MsoNormal"> That smells like wheat grass and ass. </div><div class="MsoNormal"> Ass grass.</div><div class="MsoNormal"> Wheaty ass grass – yep, that’s it. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">2:49 – I taste it anyway. Thoughts:</div><div class="MsoNormal"> Oh God. That tastes exactly how I imagined wheaty ass grass would taste! </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">2:49.5 – I add sugar (A tablespoon or ten). Taste. Thoughts:</div><div class="MsoNormal"> Oh sweet Lord, now it just tastes like sweet wheaty ass grass. People actually drink this shit? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">2:53 – Douse mastication/consumption vessel in water. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">3:34 – Taste green tea again. Why do I keep doing this to myself. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">4:00 – Liberation of the weekend persuasion. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Moral of this story, readers? Be careful with post lunch gestation liberation (otherwise known as the release of the post lunch food gut) and never, under any circumstances, should you ever drink green tea. </div><div class="MsoNormal"> </div>Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892405096212858210.post-69908289866308425372011-07-31T13:23:00.000-04:002011-11-22T10:29:26.941-05:00The sheer size of the cojones on the US Government never ceases to amaze me.<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Debt ceiling. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ceiling of Debt.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Consider it to be the stop light on our government’s spending – more of a guideline than a real rule. Oh, haven’t you heard? You don’t REALLY have to stop at red lights. Those are more like yield signs. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course I’ve been reading all about the red light on spending, and getting up and watching the news to see how “talks” on Capitol Hill have progressed, and having debates with myself about it while in the car on the way to work. (Oh, haven’t you heard? I am now GAINFULLY employed – but more on that later.) </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course I’ve been watching MSNBC (gag), CNN (cough), and really any other news outlet that I can get my hands on. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why, as I’m sure you’ve heard, even <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/31/don-lemon-rand-paul-cnn-debt-ceiling_n_914246.html?icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl1|sec3_lnk1|82376">Don Lemon’s upset about the situation</a>. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As you watch this video, ask yourself a series of questions: do we want the truth from our news reporters? And, if so, why are we upset when they try to dig through the bullshit to get to said truth? We complain and complain and complain (just in case no one heard it the first 2 times) about politicians that beat around the bush so much that you forget what the actual question even was – but when someone comes along to try to Hulk Smash their way past that – they’re bad reporters. Screw that. Don Lemon – I tip my hat to you. Sure he was rude. But what's worse? A rude reporter, or a congressperson that sits on his or her ass all day doing absolutely nothing, but still taking home a 6 figure salary? I don't pay Don Lemon. I pay congress. I could give a damn about Mr. Lemon being rude. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He hit the nail on the head. The American people want something done. Period. At this point, I’m not even sure if any of us actually care WHAT gets done. We just want something to BE done. But that is, naturally, just my opinion. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They were hired to do a job. They positioned themselves as worthy candidates. They showed up to the interview, paid their dues and we chose them. Some of us weren’t happy with that choice – but, hey, majority rules and all that. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, they sit on Capitol Hill, day after day doing nothing. They’re leaned back in their chairs (chairs that WE paid for, mind you) with their feet kicked up on their desks, eating their foie gras and nurturing their principles. But they keep TELLING us that they’re hard at work. And we’re just supposed to be at ease with that. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They keep saying “we’re working for the American people,” but they aren’t! They’re working against us. They hear our complaints, our requests for compromise, our belief that it would be best to increase revenue AND cut spending – but still they’ve done nothing! Congressmen and women are supposed to listen to what WE are saying and transfer our grievances/desires to the Hill. They are not supposed to take them, parcel through and decide what they like the best and then transfer to the Hill. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are telling you to stop being pansy asses and cut spending and raise revenue, but somehow </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">our desires go ignored. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ignoring the voices of the people you claim to work for and calling it principles is like ignoring the will of God because you “know better” and still expecting to get into heaven. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Please stop doing what you think the Tea Party, the Republicans or the Democrats think you should do – and do what NEEDS to be done. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Differentiate between wants and needs. You’re adults; you should be able to do that. If you can’t, then resign. If you can’t, you clearly are not old enough for this job. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, America – stop blaming everything on President Obama. He had 535 people to help him get this country where it is. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can find their names here: <a href="http://www.house.gov/representatives/">http://www.house.gov/representatives/</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And here: <a href="http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm">http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm</a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If they don’t shape up, and do something about not only this debt ceiling, but every damned thing else – I say that we all go to our human resources departments, grab the pertinent tax forms and decrease our withholding to 0. </span></div>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><br />
If that doesn’t send a message, I don’t know what will.</span></span>Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892405096212858210.post-28942245071436389342011-07-22T21:17:00.000-04:002011-07-22T21:17:55.868-04:00When a good night's sleep just ain't enough.<div class="MsoNormal">If you listen closely you can hear my eyelids as they scrape shut over my sandpapery eyeballs. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I’m way too exhausted for someone that sits around and watches Golden Girls and 3<sup>rd</sup> Rock from the Sun all day. (In addition to <a href="http://www.hbo.com/the-no-1-ladies-detective-agency/index.html">The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency</a> and Breaking Bad). Watching TV (with a critical eye, of course, is SO tiring. Especially when you’re watching <a href="http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/wilfred/">Wilfred</a> – a show that I can only assume is some twisted person’s idea of what happens when Stewie Griffin grows up and replaces Brian. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But I digress. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I think I’ll blame my current bout with lethargy on the <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/20/usa-weather-idUSN1E76J0W320110720">heat wave</a> that’s gripping the country. I could fill a river with all of the water that’s been leached from my fleshy cocoon over the last few days. And, adding insult to aqueous injury - my AC doesn't work. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I could also blame it on the book that I haven’t worked on in weeks. I get tired just thinking about all the work I have to do to make the story make sense. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Or I could blame it on the fact that the people who we elected to run this country are running it straight into the f*cking ground. I read today that Speaker Boehner (pronounced bow-ner. Don’t<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>let him fool you, folks) <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/22/john-boehner-debt-ceiling_n_907452.html?icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl2|sec1_lnk3|80463">walked away from debt talks today</a>. Oh. That’s classy. Also, very adult of him. I love the message it sends – when you don’t get your way, walk away, pout, bitch and moan and all your problems will be solved. </div><div class="MsoNormal">I keep hearing about the fact that PRESIDENT Obama (notice the emphasis on the “president” there. Some of you seem to keep forgetting that he’s the president and should be addressed as such) hasn’t personally come up with a deal/proposal of his own. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I ask you, America (i.e. all 7 of my followers) what difference would it make if President Obama had come up with a deal of his own? How many deals have both sides walked away from? What’s one more? Would it make you feel better if Mr. President had come up with a deal just for congress to walk away from it? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I ask you, America – if both sides have walked away from multiple deals, multiple times, what makes you think that a plan that was devised by the President himself would be any different? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But, of course, I’m looking at this WAY TOO LOGICALLY. Let’s ignore the fact that in 11 days the United States’ credit is going to be as worthless as an education in Atlanta. Please, let’s focus on the fact that President Obama has yet to come up with a plan in the face of countless other (apparently) unacceptable plans. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Or, maybe I’m just exhausted because I’m tired of hearing about how tax laws and the current tax rates in this country are somehow stifling job creation. Jobs aren’t being created because employers have realized that they can get the same amount of work done with half the employees. “How have they done this?” you ask? It’s simple. People are scared shitless of losing their jobs. So they’re staying at work later, taking less pay, and doing double the work just to be able to feed the families they never get to see because they work so late. (Of course, I’m making assumptions. You can trust me though. I was almost a doctor). </div><div class="MsoNormal">Jobs aren’t being created for numbers of reasons – and I won’t catalogue them here. Why? Because all you have to do is turn on the news to find out why. Read a book. Read a newspaper. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just wish (which is something I do every single day) that our elected officials would stop making it seem like lowering/not raising taxes is somehow going to result in this explosion of new jobs. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It won’t.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Perhaps I’m exhausted because I’m tired of the hate in the world. My heart goes out to <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/events/2011/07/22/explosion-rocks-oslo/">Norway</a> today. I think of those families that got phone calls today. Phone calls that relayed messages of loss and heartbreak. </div><div class="MsoNormal">Why do we, as “civilized” human beings, as the “more intelligent” species, hate each other so much? Over things as simple as religion? Skin color? Who we love? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Is the value of a person’s life and happiness so negligible?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other – </span></i></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mother Teresa</span></span></div>Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5892405096212858210.post-67997105426569940982011-07-05T11:36:00.001-04:002011-07-05T11:37:30.647-04:00High on the sense of life<div class="MsoNormal">Okay.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I admit it.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I’ve started watching the news again. [Excuse me while attempt to give you the courtesy of looking ashamed]</div><div class="MsoNormal">I had the extreme pleasure of seeing Rick Santorum on <a href="http://www.cnn.com/video/#">CNN’s American Morning</a> (click the "On TV" tab CNN doesn't link you to the video directly). He talked about jobs, creation of jobs, President Obama, and – of course – gay marriage. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I hated everything he had to say. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I don’t want to start with references to how he skirts direct questions and blames everything on President Obama – because all politicians do that. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I don’t want to start with his discriminatory views on marriage. Besides, I don’t think I could do it better than Dan Savage. And we all know that Rick Santorum doesn’t like gay people and doesn’t want them to have the same rights that we straighties have. (Even if he has pulled the infamous “<a href="http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/06/13/rick-santorum-has-agree-friends">some of my closest friends are gay</a>” card. I think I’ve seen him hanging out with a few black people, too.)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I want to start with his take on job creation. Ugh. Job creation. It’s become a pop term. It’s like crack to the current presidential candidates. At a loss for what to say? Just sprinkle “job creation” liberally throughout your speech and everyone will be so high on the idea of a paycheck that they’ll forget that you’re a complete ass who has no idea how to run this country. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Luckily for me, I took some Benadryl this morning – it’s a special formula designed to block histamine and bullshit. I think I’m going to be pretty drowsy for the next few months.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Especially since Santorum supports a “0 rate tax” plan for business (more on that in a sec). </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">He feels that when the government “takes more and spends more the American people have less.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">How are we determine what “less” is? Sure, less money on my paycheck – I wholeheartedly agree. But let’s think about where that money goes – i.e what it’s spent on. It goes to social security, something we all benefit from. It goes to Medicare and Medicaid. It goes to repair the roads that I have to drive on. It goes to schools and the teachers in those schools. It goes to the men and women that have sworn to serve and protect, to preserve and fight for the fundamental rights that all Americans are granted. Oh, and those people with the water hoses that run into BURNING HOUSES to save lives. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I think I can give up a little extra in my paycheck for those services. Do you? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Santorum goes on to say that Obamacare should be repealed. That we should repeal the <a href="http://www.allbusiness.com/government/business-regulations/11410-1.html">Sarbanes-Oxyley</a> act (an act to protect American investors). That we should repeal “big chunks of <a href="http://banking.senate.gov/public/_files/070110_Dodd_Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_comprehensive_summary_Final.pdf">Dodd-Frank</a>,” (enacted to ensure consumer protection and greater accountability in big business). He further cites the EPA and FDA as being evidence of an “explosion of the regulatory process” on the part of the current administration. In short, he says there is TOO MUCH regulation and it’s encumbering business and its growth. </div><div class="MsoNormal">Whew. That was a mouthful. But, hold on to your butts, ladies and gentleman, we aren’t done yet. Santorum’s answer to fueling job growth in this country is to, you guessed it, CUT TAXES.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I’ll pause while the masses rejoice. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">He wants a 0% rate of taxation for corporations and individuals that manufacture in this country. What they’re manufacturing, I’m not sure. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Here’s my issue with this 0 rate taxation plan – well beyond the obvious ZERO FREAKIN DOLLARS IN TAXES. Job creation does not equate with job maintenance. What’s to stop these companies from opening a few manufacturing jobs on American soil, getting this tax break, and then firing these workers? I hope there’ll be a clause for that. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">What’s to stop them from creating (for arguments sake) 5 manufacturing jobs in the US and 35 in India? Wouldn’t they still qualify for the break since they’ve indeed created American manufacturing jobs? Will there be a clause for this? Or is that too much Regulation for Santorum?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">What’s to stop them from hiring American manufacturers, and firing American employees in a different sector only to ship jobs of said sector overseas? Sure, manufacturing jobs have been created – but other’s have been lost. AND this company still gets the tax break. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I’ll pause as the rejoicing ebbs. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Jobs have been created. Great. Incentives have been given to big business to create said jobs, great. But, our wonderful government has now lost out on a big chunk of tax revenue that would ordinarily (in a more perfect world) go toward bringing the budget deficit down. You’ve now lost out on money that’s used to fuel all of those wonderful programs I noted previously. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And, what’s possibly even more frightening – does this tax break apply to manufacturing companies or companies with manufacturing capabilities? For instance, companies that devote 100% of their time to manufacturing versus those that only devote 3% of their time to it. Will they only apply the 0 rate of taxation to that 3% of earnings? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I guess it doesn’t truly matter since companies that bring in BILLIONS of dollars are getting away with paying 1.1% in taxes (in addition to gratuitous Capitol Hill ass kissing, and quite possibly corporate murder). Those programs I mentioned before aren’t being funded by these guys.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But wait, unfortunately there’s more. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When asked how he felt about putting tariffs on imported Chinese goods, for example, he said that it would increase costs for workers and that what we need to do is engender incentives. Okay – I agree with him on this point (SHOCK! SHAME!). </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We all know that part of the issue of job creation in this country is demand. People aren’t spending because they aren’t working and big companies therefore cannot “afford” (as they say) to create more jobs. So, if we put tariffs on imported goods (especially those sorts of goods that can be (and are being) manufactured right here in the good old U.S. of A), the cost will go up and give American buyers an INCENTIVE to buy American products. Thereby fueling money into the economy and those businesses. Thereby giving said business the INCENTIVE to create more jobs. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I think I’m a little high on all the sense this is making. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Excuse me while I run off to locate some tasty treats.</div>Discoveryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17733699317840755733noreply@blogger.com0