Or, rather, one picture that’s been floating around the Internet for a long time now.
I really just hate this more than I can say (which is why it only gets a thumbnail). It’s racist and sexist at the same time… (and a friend of mine has it on his myspace profile. Boo.)
Who do I stab for this?
Sphere: Related ContentEveryone else: ‘Not so much.’
I really hope Clinton realized how ridiculous this sounded as she said it:
Mrs. Clinton, in an appearance before a Hispanic business group in Washington Wednesday morning, argued that the delegates should be seated based on the results of the Michigan and Florida primaries, which were held in January in violation of Democratic Party rules.
…
“The results of those primaries were fair and should be honored,” she told the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce here.
Okay, for those of you who haven’t been following this saga: Florida and Michigan wanted to move their primaries earlier in the year, probably to garner some of the huge amounts of cash that visiting and commercialing politicians leave in their wake.
The DNC told them, ‘don’t do that, or we will strip you of your delegates.’ They did it, and the DNC stripped them of their ability to put up delegates for a candidate at the nominating convention.
Since we were punishing them, all the other (major) candidates removed their names from the Michigan ballot. Except for Clinton. And no one campaigned in Florida. Kind of:
Clinton won after all the Democratic candidates agreed not to campaign in either state because they violated the party rules. Clinton, who flew into Florida on primary eve but did not hold a public rally, tried to argue that Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois had violated the pledge by airing a national ad campaign that also showed on Florida television stations.
Not to mention that this same AP article is mostly about Howard Ickes, now a Clinton campaign delegate counter, arguing that the two states’ delegates should be put back into play. Ickes is one of the DNC members that voted to strip the delegates in the first place.
To be fair, Clinton went on to say yesterday that an alternative to seating the ‘fair’ delegates would be to hold a new primary, probably by mail-in ballot. This is being discussed, but no one seems to think it’ll really work. And is it really fair, they’ve never done a mail-in vote, etc., etc.
Basically, this is really stuffed up. Whether or not Clinton saw this coming months ago - because that Michigan thing is hard to justify - she can’t really think that Obama’s going to say, ‘Oh sure, let’s seat the delegates from a state in which I was not even a choice.’
Clinton won Michigan 55% to ‘Uncommitted’s’ 40% - and you have to assume that many Obama and Edwards supporters just stayed home that day.
Her campaign (and campaign strategy) gets more ludicrous every day. I mean, does no one read these things out loud before talking?
Links:
Clinton and Obama Split Over Florida and Michigan [NYT]
Clinton Aide Changes Mich., Fla. Stance [AP/MyWay]
Fla. Presidential Primary Re-Do Unlikely [AP]
This, right here, is why people in Australia look at me and say, ‘What is wrong with your country?’
In response to recent campus shootings, State Senator Karen S. Johnson has proposed a bill to allow concealed weapons on the campuses of Arizona’s public colleges and universities.
The police, she said, respond too slowly to such incidents and, besides, who better than the people staring down the barrel to take action?
She initially wanted her bill to cover all public schools, kindergarten and up, but other lawmakers convinced her it stood a better chance of passing if it were limited to higher education.
“I feel like our kindergartners are sitting there like sitting ducks,” Ms. Johnson said last week when the bill passed the committee by a 4-to-3 vote.
To Johnson’s credit, she described herself to the NYT as ‘right-wing wacko.’
Australians frequently ask me, ‘Why does America think its gun problems can be solved with more guns?’
I don’t know, but stories like this give me an itchy bridging-visa finger.
Arizona Weighs Bill to Allow Guns on Campuses [NYT]
Sphere: Related ContentHe probably saw them frequently, perhaps as he and his parents gathered around the breakfast table each morning. But we’ll leave the incest jokes for a moment, as I urge you to watch at least the first minute and a half of the video below.
The backstory on this is that Florida’s Board of Ed just approved classroom materials containing the world ‘evolution’ for the first time. Previously, the ’science’ taught to Florida schoolchildren simply referred to ‘changes over time.’
When you think with quiet rage about what has been passing for education in Florida, the fact that right-wingers got the Board to refer to evolution simply as ‘a theory’ really doesn’t seem so bad. It’s like they’ve finally been given math - the fact that they aren’t learning calculus is small beans.
To clarify: there are generations of Floridians who apparently never heard the word ‘evolution’ during their K-12 schooling.
Anyway, the man above is clearly the product of such an excellent system. Even given the primary source material, he’s failed to grasp its salient points.
Ps - I love the look on the Board member’s face about eight seconds in. Rarely does one see ‘what the fuck?’ so honestly personified.
h/t to Wonkette and ThinkProgress
Sphere: Related ContentUm, there’s a film in preproduction right now called Dali & I: The Surreal Story.
Who would be bold enough to take on the part of everyone’s favorite artistic crazy man? Why none other than Hollywood’s favorite crazy man: Al Fucking Pacino.
Al Pacino is playing the part of Salvador Dali in a film.
To clarify, Salvador Dali is being played by Al Pacino.
These are the things I learn stalking Cillian Murphy on IMDB. Sunshine was pretty weird, but oh, oh so worth it.
Um, so I have to go to Asia now. Bye.
Sphere: Related ContentIt appears I’m already in Iowa, sporting my old haircut:
Seriously, what is this about?
Ps - Call me, dopplegangtrix.
Sphere: Related ContentAnother day, another story of worldwide respect for women, as demonstrated by their treatment when most vulnerable.
A 15-year-old, 80-lb Brazilian girl was incarcerated for 26 days for petty theft… in a cell with 34 men. No medals for guessing how that went down. She was raped, tortured and had to trade sex for food. Her head was shaved by guards to make her look more like a boy.
Meanwhile, details from a complaint by another former Halliburton employee allege that she was raped by an unknown fellow employee. He got the key to her apartment from the unlocked box where all the keys were kept, as you do.
Jessica at Jezebel sums it up for us:
The Florida woman also maintains it was non-consensual sex, though Halliburton (apparently) internally determined it was consensual, while also protecting the identity of the alleged rapist from her, which is sort of doubly insulting if you think about it; not only are they alleging she consented to sex but they’re alleging she consented to sex with someone she did not know.
Meanwhile, Australia is looking into another case of child rape in Queensland. And - wait for it - some are calling for extension of the Intervention into Queensland! Hurrah. I’m sure those girls will feel better when companies are mining on their traditional lands.
It’s, like, so symbolic.
Plus! Real, live discussion in yesterday’s comments about rape and defense contractors. Is capitalism or misogyny to blame? Also, proof that upwards of three individuals read this blog. Is a slow work week or an ice storm trapping you in the house to blame?
Links:
Rape of Girl, 15, Exposes Abuses in Brazil Prison System [NYT, h/t Jezebel]
Defense Contractors: If It Wasn’t For Diplomatic Immunity-Protected Rape, They’d Never Get Laid [Jezebel]
Step in over rape debacle, Macklin told [the Age]
You get new breast implants after they rupture during your gang rape by fellow employees!
Jamie Leigh Jones, a former Halliburton/KBR employee, now 22, has filed a complaint against the company alleging that several men, also employees, drugged and violently gang-raped her. She woke up twice during the encounter, covered in blood (Complaint, 8). Ultimately, her breast implants ruptured and her pectoral muscle was torn.
After reporting the rape and her subsequent medical examination, Jones alleges that she was locked in a trailer without a phone, and requests to call her family were denied. She says she was told she could either ‘Stay and “get over it”‘ or ‘return home without the “guarantee” of a job on return’ (Complaint, 22).
Jones likely understood what this meant as she had been transferred to (I can’t believe this) Camp Hope, Iraq after sexual harassment, intimidation and retaliation from a supervisor in Texas.
She eventually convinced someone to let her call her father, who had to enlist the aid of his congressman to get her the hell out of Camp Hope.
As pointed out by Moe at Jezebel, the second paragraph of the complaint opens with ‘For clarification, this case is not about a pinch on the backside, or a few politically incorrect jests at the office’ (Complaint, 2).
That’s like saying, ‘Don’t worry, we know that women sometimes get all uppity about that low-level sexual harassment and abuse. But this is the serious stuff - you know, conspiratorial drugging, violent and repeated rape, and physical and mental damage.’
Maybe if companies like Halliburton/KBR (and, oh I dunno, US culture) took those pesky complaints seriously, they wouldn’t currently be in civil court defending themselves.
Yep, I said civil court. Her contract said any ‘complaints’ had to go to arbitration. No criminal charges have been filed against the men involved.
I’m really over this week’s theme.
Links:
h/t to Jezebel/Wonkette.
Jones, Et Al v. Halliburton Company et al - Complaint
Victim: Gang-Rape Cover-Up by U.S., Halliburton/KBR [ABC News]
Eight Werribee teenagers pleaded guilty today to sex crimes involving a 17-year-old girl. For their plea, the will variously receive ‘rehabilitation’, supervision, and probation. They’re not going to get any jail time because boys will be boys, right?
I mean, all they did was: set her hair on fire three times, urinate on her, throw her clothes into the river, poke her with a stick, drop a lighted cigarette down her pants, and force her to perform oral sex as she pleaded with them. Oh, and also videotape it all and burn it onto DVDs that they then sold for $5 at local schools.
Why should these upstanding young men receive jail time?
Boys point to the girl, calling her “the victim” before laughing mockingly. One boy walks to the lens and declares: “What the f—, she’s the ugliest thing I have ever seen.”
Did I mention she has mild developmental disabilities?
The boys also filmed themselves dropping flares on a homeless man amongst other typical teen behaviors like making chlorine bombs.
Don’t worry, some of their parents knew, and clips were available on YouTube for at least some time.
Sentences get a bit tougher if you’re an adult. A man who kidnapped and raped a woman got a whole eight years for the act, despite his contention that a bite from a funnel-web spider’s what made him do it.
Unfortunately, there are no funnel-webs in Victoria, so the boys couldn’t use that as an excuse.
Good thing they didn’t need one.
Links:
DVD Teens Escape Jail Term [The Age]
Outcry Over Teenage Girl’s Assult Recorded on DVD [The Age]
Spider Bite No Excuse for Rape, Court Says [Yahoo News]
I generally prefer keeping bigots like Fred Phelps’ Westboro baptist church* off the radar. Any media presence, be it praise, derision, or just insanity, fuels the fire of these kinds of people.
It’s like the KKK - I respect their right to exist, but I’m down with their marginalization. Or like dog training; they’re not totally rational, so the best way to stop their bad behavior is through calm ignoring.
So view this post instead as a shout out to the American justice system, which today ordered Westboro to pay $11 million to the father of a dead soldier. Those familiar with the church will no doubt guess why - they protested the kid’s funeral because we’re all going to hell and Iraq is about gays. Or something.
Anyway, according to the judge, the award “far exceeds the net worth of the defendants,” which sounds like good news to me. Even posterboard and tempra paint can be pricey when you’ve got $11 mil to pay back.
* - I’m not using proper nouns for those two words because I think the church perverts the teachings of Baptists beyond recognition as part of the faith. That’s my own personal opinion, though - others would probably disagree.
Church ordered to pay $10.9 million for funeral protest [CNN]
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