tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36986232024-02-19T00:42:35.043-07:00Plucky Punk's Happy Land...Grr...Spit...UBI DUBIUM <br>IBI LIBERTASVanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.comBlogger1314125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698623.post-14955778610951579562011-04-27T10:29:00.011-06:002011-04-27T13:04:41.008-06:00Real Americans: A Rant.So the president <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obama_birth_certificate;_ylt=AjNrfiZ3yOmCgeCx1DXv1NCs0NUE;http://www.blogger.comhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif/img/blank.gif_ylu=X3oDMTNxNXBjYmdvBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTEwNDI3L3VzX29iYW1hX2JpcnRoX2NlcnRpZmljYXRlBGNjb2RlA21vc3Rwb3B1bGFyBGNwb3MDMQRwb3MDMgRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDb2JhbWFyZWxlYXNl">released his birth certificate</a>. The extra-special long-form one that even <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orly_taitz">Orly Taitz</a> wanted him to release. Unfortunately, this will not please his "critics" who don't think he's American enough to be president because, well, <span style="font-style:italic;">he's still black</span>.<br /><br />That's right, I said it. The only reason this is happening to Obama - wait, no, let me not use the passive voice - the only reason the "birthers" are assailing Obama's parentage is because he is black, and they are racists. Can we talk about that, please? Can that <span style="font-style:italic;">fact</span> be on the nightly news?<br /><br />And I can't believe he actually had a press conference on this. Seriously, look.<br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="510" height="299" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QM2GJn6hpJE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />(added: <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/04/27/remarks-president">transcript here</a>)<br /><br />I would have a billion times more respect for Obama, politics, and America in general if the current cultural atmosphere had been such that the president could have spoken plainly here, and said, "We are only talking about this because I am black and American society is still deeply racist." I recognize why he couldn't say this, I guess. I just wish it could have happened.<br /><br />These people, the "birthers" are so transparent you'd think they would be embarrassed if they could just hear themselves. To quote a friend on Facebook, psychologically, it's fascinating. It's also textbook. A first year psych student could make up something more complex. They're like the racism version of mustachioed villains from a bad silent movie melodrama.<br /><br />The conspiracy talk around his mother is also interesting/not surprising at all to me. She's <a href="http://www.snopes.com/photos/risque/dunham.asp">a slut who posed nude</a> and the Kenyan guy <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/politics/birthers/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/04/27/worldnetdaily_responds">probably isn't even the father</a>. <blockquote>It seems altogether possible that the progressive and adventurous 17 year-old Dunham was impregnated by a black man while the family was still living in the Seattle area.</blockquote> White women who fuck black men: "adventurous" (read: slutty) race traitors who will fuck anyone.<br /><br />These people, they sound like cartoons.<br /><br />Now it only took about 2.5 seconds for a new conspiracy to form. Before the press conference above even began, Donald Trump (the "carnival barker" I believe the president was talking about) now wants to see Obama's school records, because the only way a black person could have gotten into Harvard is because white people let him in through the pity of affirmative action.<br /><br />That's rich, considering the legacy Yalie C student who was our last president. But I forget, Bush was a white guy, and clearly an American Success Story of Pulling One's Self Up By The Bootstraps after some Youthful Mistakes. <br /><br />Silly me.<br /><br />I really hope people in the media call it like it is now - people think Obama is not American enough because he's black and has a "funny" name. No amount of documentation he releases will change that. Let's please stop using euphemisms like "cultural unease" to describe the reasons why the GOP base doesn't like Obama.<br /><br />There are plenty of reasons not to like Obama, ones I even agree with. But this nonsense? It's racism, pure and simple. American society is so deeply racist not even getting elected president is enough to make you immune.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698623.post-84954443685040966912011-04-27T10:21:00.003-06:002011-04-27T12:53:49.061-06:00Hey therePoor old neglected blogger, a relic of my life in the aughts. I've been <a href="http://grrspit.tumblr.com/">posting over at tumblr now, if you're interested</a>. I like the social networking aspects of tumblr, but I must say I think blogger is better at long-form, ranty style posts. And I definitely feel a big one coming on.<br /><br />Stay tuned.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698623.post-38867615247935791672010-11-14T08:57:00.005-07:002010-11-14T09:59:26.809-07:00I have a question for fans of the “Hipster Indian” look.(This is a more thought-out and in-depth version of a post I first put up on Tumblr this morning.)<br /><br />If the reason that you feel the need to dress this way is just that you “appreciate the culture” and “think its beautiful” why don’t I ever see fashion spreads of Native Americans dressed in the attire as it was meant to be worn? Why is it always shirtless white ladies in the desert with a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of whiskey in the other?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4AnHfXRJs-iI3ZDU-tVQGnlwpPW8rDO7Onb8SI_ThKloKtpecl6L5lUgN9FfI19PDI00aAIv-2K1raDWMp9uqm1KQYoiN1A282VvPNejnyIZ8TJsZBPYyPA45nSJaSKhw3shZ/s1600/hipster+headdress.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4AnHfXRJs-iI3ZDU-tVQGnlwpPW8rDO7Onb8SI_ThKloKtpecl6L5lUgN9FfI19PDI00aAIv-2K1raDWMp9uqm1KQYoiN1A282VvPNejnyIZ8TJsZBPYyPA45nSJaSKhw3shZ/s320/hipster+headdress.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539437554865497234" /></a><br /><br />(picture of a young white woman with straight brown hair wearing a war bonnet, is seemingly shirtless, with "warpaint" that looks like lipstick and smoking a cigarette, standing around in a forest)<br /><br />Seriously, you don't need an advanced degree in semiotics to figure out what's wrong with this image.<br /><br />My theory? These people don't give a shit about any particular Native American culture. They feel fine and dandy "appreciating" these images because the culture being appreciated is not any particular Native American culture. It is the culture of middle class America from 30 years ago, back when if you dressed your kid up as an “Indian Princess” for Halloween no one would think twice about it (I’m looking at you, mom). Back when you sent your kids to summer camp and they made wallets with fringe and plastic beads on them to "appreciate" Native culture. Or when you could take your family on road trips to reservations and buy a bunch of plastic tomahawks and fake arrowheads made in China (my husband is looking at you, mother-in-law).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiHdHOpRJgaTgn1UShiXSTz2RA063EHCfzU7rYh_bdy8eNdvnzgR15RwOan1NQTAg1xNMHDQA6i3KQYjZ4i96spYZzsWq47VEUm-n5y_EcAqP4jxxPppF8oAvD6nrT1wdjMPG9/s1600/season_3_lookbook-251.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 202px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiHdHOpRJgaTgn1UShiXSTz2RA063EHCfzU7rYh_bdy8eNdvnzgR15RwOan1NQTAg1xNMHDQA6i3KQYjZ4i96spYZzsWq47VEUm-n5y_EcAqP4jxxPppF8oAvD6nrT1wdjMPG9/s320/season_3_lookbook-251.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539444035171774034" /></a> <br /><br />(picture of three young white women wearing costumey feather headdresses, blackened eyebrows, and those cheesy 70s-ish clothes so popular with kids these days.)<br /><br />You can tell because all these pictures also often exhibit artifacts of the 70s, like feathered hair and tube socks pulled up to your knees, or have orangey red faded color palettes or excessive lens flare like a flashback in a Wes Anderson movie or something.<br /><br />The “more innocent time” these images are hearkening back to is not to some imagined time of pre-Colombian noble savagery but the time from my childhood when middle America felt free to stomp all over Native American culture without guilt.<br /><br />That time has come again, apparently.<br /><br />And let's go a little bit deeper. <a href="http://radicallyhottoff.tumblr.com/post/1572249131/one-question-for-fans-of-the-hipster-indian-look">BFP on tumblr</a> notes: <br /><br /><blockquote>when you literally don’t care or it never crossed your mind what is happening to native peoples today—what their struggles are, what is happening to their children while you are admiring how pretty their headdress looks (if you dye it orange and green first) with blue eye shadow and blue jeans—when you write passionate defenses of your right to wear native dress instead of passionate pleas to people to donate money so that elders and children don’t get their fucking HEAT shut off in the middle of winter (because, yeah, that whole thing about having to pay somebody exorbitant rates for the use of minerals found on your own land sorta sucks ass)—then you can judge yourself as not having the right to wear native clothes of any sort.</blockquote> I’m from New Mexico, the phenomenon of the rich white (or Hispanic) lady from Santa Fe who is fond of Navajo jewelry and Navajo art but not so much, you know, <span style="font-style:italic;">actual Navajo people</span> is well-known to me.<br /><br />Which is not to say that you can’t have a beautiful turquoise bracelet or something. Just don’t wear sacred items and always buy it from local Native artists so that the economic power stays with the people whose culture is being commodified.<br /><br />That, I think, is at the heart of what makes this sort of thing so offensive (to me, at least). White people make money selling this crap to other white people while the people whose culture this comes from deal with some of the worst poverty in the US. <br /><br />If I may nerd out for a moment, it's something I spent some time studying in school. There was a similar pattern with African art in the 1920s and 1930s, and Australian Aboriginal art in the 1980s. Cultural Anthropologists (which, while it is my chosen field of study, has a lot to answer for) would "gather artifacts" from communities and then sell them to art galleries for a jillion dollars.<br /><br />Recommended reading: <a href="http://hipsterappropriations.tumblr.com/">Hipster Appropriations</a> and <a href="http://mycultureisnotatrend.tumblr.com/">My Culture Is Not A Trend</a> on tumblr. I got the pictures in this post from these blogs. <br /><br />And, for those with an anthro bent, read anything by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Price">Sally Price</a>, especially <a href="http://www.richandsally.net/primitive_art_in_civilized_places_8372.htm">this book</a> and <a href="http://www.richandsally.net/paris_primitive__jacques_chirac_s_museum_on_the_quai_branly_62188.htm">this one</a>.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698623.post-78379632306778435542010-11-09T15:48:00.002-07:002010-11-09T16:00:45.229-07:00Happy Halloween, Bitches!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL6uoz1QyL6yRYuRSkRAjacKeyz3BPPX4dqvQlvzhWEOcZLJflxBTv2DMRp3yjT-7VQj-obUpCSVSeFbNxHc6ajTXqhNa2V7OFIIE1NH_N0BwdQd5NGBtO8-0ayyjFccsYXCTq/s1600/73090_126254364099984_100001462629967_171684_2834169_n.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL6uoz1QyL6yRYuRSkRAjacKeyz3BPPX4dqvQlvzhWEOcZLJflxBTv2DMRp3yjT-7VQj-obUpCSVSeFbNxHc6ajTXqhNa2V7OFIIE1NH_N0BwdQd5NGBtO8-0ayyjFccsYXCTq/s320/73090_126254364099984_100001462629967_171684_2834169_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537688672289119074" /></a><br /><br />Welcome to Valhalla, motherfuckers.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698623.post-64181142398241694772010-10-20T11:15:00.002-06:002010-10-20T11:26:15.045-06:00I stayed up all night reading Octavia Butler's "Kindred"And I’m not even tired. Holy shit, that’s a good book.<br /><br />It was very good at making me think about - well, not so much the reality of slavery, because I’m sure no mere book would be enough to convey the experience of what chattel slavery is like - but the reality that <span style="font-style:italic;">my ancestors were slaves</span>.<br /><br />I got a similar feeling when I went to DC for the Obama inauguration - that the buildings all around me had been built by black slaves, and now a black man was being elected president. I was seriously on the verge of tears almost the whole time. (Not so much out of happiness at the election, although back then I was much more on team hopey-changey stuff than I am now, but out of horror of the past).<br /><br />I grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in a neighborhood where the oldest buildings dated to maybe the 1950s. Black chattel slavery is distant here.<br /><br />To have my stepmom (who is from there, and who is biracial just like me) point out buildings and say “That’s an old slave auction house,” or “That tunnel is where they brought slaves in from the docks,” and whatnot was completely upsetting to me.<br /><br />"You're very sensitive," she said to me, not unkindly.<br /><br />My family is from Cuba, so the likelihood that any ancestor of mine walked through those tunnels or stood on those particular auction blocks is probably low. But they walked through tunnels, they stood on auction blocks. And there were similar ones, right in front of me. Meanwhile, a black man was getting ready to be President. <br /><br />It was the same feeling I got when a white friend of mine explained to me that her grandmother, who I had spent the previous afternoon chatting pleasantly with, was actually a horrible racist and said mean things about my daughter. Betrayal, shame, embarrassment, anger, fury. Pride that I wasn't what her grandmother thought I was.<br /><br />That feeling - that's what it's like to be black in America.<br /><br />Thinking back about my week in DC two years ago, I remember a conversation I had about the whole thing with a man who was a friend of my stepmom’s family. “I don’t think white people understand,” he said. <br /><br />I agreed.<br /><br />Also, I’m pissed at myself that I haven’t been reading Octavia Butler this entire time. Next up - <span style="font-style:italic;">Fledgling</span>.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698623.post-72383152089544872432010-08-24T08:12:00.003-06:002010-08-24T08:23:28.266-06:00Yes, I am a Muslim-American<span style="font-style:italic;">(eds note: My father, who has been increasingly horrified by the growing tide of bigotry apparent on the nightly news lately, emailed me this last night and asked if I would post it on my blog. Of course I would, I said.)</span><br /><br />Am I an American? Why am I asking myself this question again? Yes, I am an American, a Muslim African American. <br /><br />Why am I asking that question again? It is because the monster is trying to once again rear its ugly head. A monster who once tried to trick me into believing that I was not an American because of the color of my skin and because of the origin of my parents and the first language that I spoke (Spanish) as a child. <br /><br />The ugly beast who snapped at the heels of my parents, with its white only bathrooms and diners, and the black only seats at the rear of the bus or train, and the inequality and lack of justice that permeated its presence, breathing the fire of hate for those who dared to be different than it. <br /><br />The horrible looks and words of hate that frightened a child and young adolescent, emanating from the mouths of pale skinned creatures that looked as human as I; and breathed the same air that filled my lungs, and walked the same earth that I walked upon. I a child not really understanding the disease that filled the hearts and minds of these men and women, some who called themselves the follower of Jesus (peace be upon him) as I was, the prophet of peace and love.<br /><br />Why I said as a child why, why do you hate me so, the answer always being you are the other, not like me, apart from me. Yet in my heart I always knew this to be a lie, knew that the other was as human and fragile as I was. He or she was just sick in the head from some blow of a hammer that must have once fallen upon their heads.<br /><br />Then as I grew into adolescence, came the words and actions of Martin, words of freedom, equality, respect, the transformational words of Malcolm demanding respect as a man and as a human being and servant of God. The demand for the implementation of the eternal principles that I knew permeated the hearts of all men and women who know the truth and that submit to the one and only Lord and Creator of the universe. <br /><br />These waves of change passed through our country transforming hearts and minds, as they always have when the creature appears. Men like Mandela, Gandhi, Muhammed, Jesus, and Moses and so many others. Who chase the monster away; if not for a little time, making him hide in slumber for another day.<br /> <br />Here is that day, today when I ask myself again, am I an American? The monster stares in my face, I now a grown man a Muslim-African-American. <br /><br />The beast once again looms in our presence, again staring at me with eyes aglow. It basks in its own self-indulgence of ignorance, hate and accusations of being the other. The same old story just another time and another place. <br /><br />Know this oh beast, I will stand firmly on this sacred ground that I call my country, my home, my place of birth. A place called America; I stand here with no fear of you in my heart. Knowing with surety who I am and why I am. <br /><br />I am a Muslim American, a servant of Allah, born in the home of the brave the land of the free. <br /><br />I am a red-blooded American. <br /><br />You can screech your words of being the other, of there is no room for Muslims or mosques, or adhans in this land. I tell you we are here to stay, over nine million of us strong and growing, most born American Muslims and true believers in our hearts. <br /><br />I stand here wrapped in the cloth of freedom made by the blood of my ancestors and yours. The promise of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness not a dream but a reality made true by the following words:<blockquote>We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union,<br />establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense,<br />promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.</blockquote>This is my birth-right, a covenant made to every citizen of this country born or naturalized. <br /><br />Your disease of the heart has made you blind and ignorant to the beauty and guarantees encased within those words. So beware oh beast, the sword of justice looms over your head, and no matter how loudly you screech, justice and freedom always prevail as God our Lord and Creator has promised. Watch your neck because the sword of Damocles hangs over your ugly head. You will consume yourself in your own self-hatred and ignorance. <br /><br />We stand as brothers and sisters together Muslim, Christian, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and all the other paths of life that exist in this world. <br /><br />For we stand with the Creator who has given us love and compassion the most powerful forces in all of creation. Beware and be aware, because we have the Niyat (intention) to us this force of love and compassion to its maximum effect. <br /><br />We wish to change your heart, to cure you of the ancient disease of hate and ignorance. Your brothers and sister call to you to join us in peace (salaams), to join us and to become part of the human family once again. <br />We await your decision.<br /> <br />Salaams always,<br /> <br />Imam Abdur’Rauf Campos-Marquetti<br />TaHa Mosque-Islamic Center of Santa FeVanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698623.post-91314015838115889442010-08-22T18:43:00.001-06:002010-08-22T18:44:55.151-06:00How little things have changed.<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/x2Jr03ADQmk?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/x2Jr03ADQmk?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />It's really depressing, but not entirely shocking, to see how little things have changed since this speech was given.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698623.post-23676271730268187932010-08-16T23:20:00.004-06:002010-08-17T00:33:29.249-06:00It's not us and them. It's just us.The hysteria surrounding the not-a-mosque, not-at-Ground Zero interfaith community center that an Islamic group wants to build in Manhattan has gone on longer that even I thought it ever would.<br /><br />The objections to it are so ridiculous, so reactionary, so based in hatred and fear that I don't even know where to begin taking them apart anymore. <br /><br />The fact that you have representatives of the Muslim community on the news having to make statements like "<a href="http://www.salon.com/news/ground_zero_mosque/index.html?story=/opinion/greenwald/2010/08/16/cnn">American Muslims were not behind the terrorist plot</a>," is totally fucking Twilight Zone-scary.<br /><br />David Vitter, the Republican senator from Louisiana, <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/08/16/angle_vitter_orly_ground_zero_mosque/index.html">says that</a> the not-at-Ground-Zero, not-a-mosque is "a slap in the face to the American people." If that's the case, then I backhand slap the American people right in that stupid, afraid, bigoted, unthinking face. Twice.<br /><br />9/11 was not an attack by Muslims against America. 9/11 was an attack by those who embraced a theocratic view against the forces of democracy and capitalism (there's a reason they targeted the World Trade Center, it was a <span style="font-style:italic;">financial</span> center). Those Muslims who committed almost 3,000 murders that day were also attacking other Muslims. Many of the office workers, restaurant employees, firemen, police officers, and paramedics who were killed for the "sin" of living in New York (or D.C., let's not forget the Pentagon was also attacked) were...Muslims.<br /><br />It doesn't work to say that "Muslims attacked us" when "Muslims" and "us" are two groups that overlap. This, despite the best efforts of many, is a cosmopolitan nation. Muslims are not others, they <span style="font-style:italic;">are</span> us. As are Catholics, Jews, Baptists, gays, blacks, asians, hispanics, Dallas Cowboy fans, Sarah Palin fans, and even (gasp!) atheists.<br /><br />I say again, this, despite the best efforts of the worst amongst us, is a cosmopolitan nation. You can't change that no matter how hard you try. It's the whole fucking point of our country. To think otherwise puts you on the losing side of history.<br /><br />I mean, Jesus, even W. said we were not at war with Islam.<br /><br />President Obama finally <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/14/us/politics/14obama.html?_r=1&hp">weighed in on the subject on Friday</a>, saying “Al Qaeda’s cause is not Islam — it is a gross distortion of Islam,” the president said, adding, “In fact, Al Qaeda has killed more Muslims than people of any other religion, and that list includes innocent Muslims who were killed on 9/11.” <br /><br />To which I add, No shit, Sherlock. Really? Does this even still have to be said? I get the feeling my poor dad (who is an imam now) is going to have to <a href="http://pluckypunk.blogspot.com/2009/11/just-rant.html">go on another "Muslims don't all have claws and fangs" tour of local churches</a>.<br /><br />Usually, I find Keith Olbermann just this side of shrill and histrionic, but this time I think he hit just the right note.<br /><br /><object width="420" height="245" id="msnbc24cc6b" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=10,0,0,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" /><param name="FlashVars" value="launch=38731398&width=420&height=245"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="opaque" /><embed name="msnbc24cc6b" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" width="420" height="245" FlashVars="launch=38731398&width=420&height=245" allowscriptaccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="opaque" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object><p style="font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 420px;">Visit msnbc.com for <a style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com">breaking news</a>, <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507" style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;">world news</a>, and <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072" style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;">news about the economy</a></p><br /><br />Right now, (during Ramadan no less) millions of Pakistanis, the vast majority of them who are probably Muslim, are <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38719815/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia">dying because of horrific flooding</a> in that country. Wouldn't our energies (and our 24-hour news cycle) be better spent helping -or at least <span style="font-style:italic;">paying attention to</span>- these people? (*cough* <a href="https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=214&hbc=1?ref=main-menu">Donate to Doctors Without Borders</a> *cough*)<br /><br />To conclude, I like the point made in <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/scocca/archive/2010/08/14/new-york-city-is-not-a-nazi-death-camp.aspx">this blog post</a>.<blockquote>In the real world, New York is rebuilding. The site of the ruined World Trade Center is the site of the new World Trade Center, 20 stories high and rising. Get rid of the Islamic center and the alternative will not be a memorial park, but a fitness center, an American Apparel, a Pinkberry.</blockquote>Maybe I'm naive in my patriotism, but the reason I think that so-called "Ground Zero" is sacred ground is because <span style="font-style:italic;">all of America is sacred ground</span>, because the principles laid out in the Constitution (although, historically, actually following those principles has always been a bit <span style="font-style:italic;">touch-and-go</span>) protect the inalienable rights of the people who live here.<br /><br />Well, for now anyway.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698623.post-84124049590822004592010-08-14T00:02:00.009-06:002010-08-14T00:14:42.615-06:00Chuchu the sock monkey.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs298.snc4/41226_420629171108_570761108_5165090_1267834_n.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 453px; height: 604px;" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs298.snc4/41226_420629171108_570761108_5165090_1267834_n.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Why yes, I did just spend the last 10 hours or so making two socks into a monkey, why do you ask?<br /><br />Discoveries along my journey across the sock monkey learning curve: use thicker socks, use longer socks, use smaller stitches, use more interesting socks, and most of all, don't explain to your child what a sock monkey is because you're certain to spend the next ten to twelve hours making one, much to your chagrin.<br /><br />But then she named it Chuchu and gave it a big hug and loved it despite all the obvious flaws I saw. Which is why she is wonderful and I am a jaded former punk rocker.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=194374&id=570761108&l=6b480ea996">Full evolution of Chuchu here</a>.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698623.post-63968256459533489512010-08-02T17:27:00.002-06:002010-08-02T17:49:01.626-06:00A challenge.I don't know what I was thinking. I ventured into the comment sections of <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2262495/">this</a> and <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/ground_zero_mosque/index.html?story=/news/feature/2010/08/02/ground_zero_us_them">this</a> (much better) article on the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque" (which is neither at Ground Zero nor a masjid) and I think I've been driven to the edge by the complete rejection of both reason and reality on display by many of the commenters.<br /><br />So, I issue a challenge.<br /><br />I challenge anyone to explain to me why this community center shouldn't be built at this location, using 500 words or less. You must (unlike anyone I've read or heard who so far who objects to this) take these five actual, factual points into account:<br /><br />1) The proposed building is not just a mosque, but a community center that will include a restaurant and a gym.<br /><br />2) The proposed site is not at "Ground Zero" but in fact several blocks away, and you can't even see it from the WTC site.<br /><br />3) Dozens of the New Yorkers (and, if I recall correctly, at least one of the people on the planes) murdered on 9/11 were Muslim, and their families deserve the same respect as the other victims.<br /><br />4) It's private property owned by this group, and as long as all proper building codes are followed they're allowed to build whatever the fuck they want.<br /><br />5) Republican politicians (and celebrities like Sarah Palin) are using this as a wedge issue to motivate their base to vote for them in November, as a distraction from the successes of the Obama administration and the previous eight years of Republican failures.<br /><br />Seriously. 500 words or less. I'll send you a free <a href="http://www.cafepress.com/vikingfish/">Viking Fish t-shirt</a>.<br /><br />I don't expect any takers, because a) no one reads my blog anymore, but more importantly b) once these five points are addressed you don't have much of an argument beyond, "I hate Muslims because television and the Internet said I should." <br /><br />Hm, I kind of like this idea. Maybe I'll try it next for those who oppose gay marriage.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698623.post-3027146733918322052010-07-30T09:21:00.004-06:002010-07-30T11:20:55.594-06:00The power of images<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ08kBOsQklP_CbTxGYxcBpRLO4Qj-k88DC7zAIA5qM8E5yPCDdyKtcvXDtXr1wcuEo_SmwJ9EWTWjrczPdD_YAtjWsRZ04c1bhHPFSaxZl7vmKWmYXwpvTbH15o4NWjSmrbi6/s1600/Time.cover.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 259px; height: 306px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ08kBOsQklP_CbTxGYxcBpRLO4Qj-k88DC7zAIA5qM8E5yPCDdyKtcvXDtXr1wcuEo_SmwJ9EWTWjrczPdD_YAtjWsRZ04c1bhHPFSaxZl7vmKWmYXwpvTbH15o4NWjSmrbi6/s320/Time.cover.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499736390831417490" /></a><br />I've been kind of haunted by Time magazine's most recent cover image ever since I saw <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/afghanistan/index.html?story=/mwt/feature/2010/07/29/time_afghanistan_cover_shock">this Salon piece on it</a> yesterday. In it, a striking beautiful young Afghan woman stares defiantly at the camera. The woman, an 18-year old named Aisha, has been brutally mutilated by her own husband, her nose and ears cut off. But the way the photographer Jodie Bieber captures the fire in her eyes shows that even this brutal act did not defeat her.<br /><br />Or, at least, that's what the photo says to me. I have to idea how Aisha actually feels about her situation and the horrific crime that her husband and the people of her village, who enabled him to do this, enacted against her. But I appreciate the decision Bieber made to not photograph her as a broken victim.<br /><br />What I don't appreciate, what in fact drives me up the wall, is the headline Times chose to place with her picture. The cover reads, "What Happens if We Leave Afghanistan." Nice try, Times, but I'm not buying it. This isn't what happens when we leave Afghanistan, it's what's happening <span style="font-style:italic;">now</span>. Aisha was attacked <span style="font-style:italic;">last year</span>. <br /><br />In what, as Daisy on Facebook mentioned, appears to be a bald attempt to engage in a propaganda war with Wikileaks (and what I think is more of a cynical attempt to sell magazines), Times has hoped that the arresting nature of this image will make your brain skip over this fact. <br /><br />Not to mention that, with the addition of that text, the image becomes yet another Muslim woman is the "ultimate victim" needing rescue from the West. Boy, does that trope not ever get old. <br /><br />You can't solve problems like violence against women with a war. If anything, our presence, and the money we're funneling to all the wrong people, is merely fueling top-down corruption that is probably making situations like this worse. Watch this segment from Rachel Maddow's recent trip to Afghanistan to see what I mean.<br /><br /><object width="420" height="245" id="msnbc20a3bd" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=10,0,0,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" /><param name="FlashVars" value="launch=38286884&width=420&height=245"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="opaque" /><embed name="msnbc20a3bd" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" width="420" height="245" FlashVars="launch=38286884&width=420&height=245" allowscriptaccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="opaque" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object><p style="font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 420px;">Visit msnbc.com for <a style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com">breaking news</a>, <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507" style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;">world news</a>, and <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072" style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;">news about the economy</a></p> <br /><br />I don't have a solution for how to make it that another woman never gets mutilated for attempting to escape abusive situations. I don't even know whether or not I actually feel like we should withdraw from Afghanistan, really. I mean, I recognize all the good reasons to do so, but there is a part of me that feels like its kind of amoral to destabilize a country and then just leave.<br /><br />What I do know is that you can't use what happened to this woman as a reason to stay. Because our presence there couldn't keep it from happening in the first place.<br /><br />And also because the suggestion that we're in Afghanistan to protect the lives of the women there is laughable. If this were the case, how come it took us so long? I was reading about <a href="http://www.rawa.org/index.php">RAWA</a> and the oppression of Afghan women years before the war (in, if I remember correctly, <span style="font-style:italic;">Jane</span> magazine). What about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_the_Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo">women in the Congo</a>? <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_homicides_in_Ciudad_Ju%C3%A1rez">Women in Juarez</a>? <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Darfur">Women in Darfur</a>?<br /><br />And if you're looking for arresting images, how about <a href="http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2007/04/17/civilians-the-main-victims-of-conflicts-in-afghanistan.html">the image of this child</a>, burned after a NATO bomb attack? <br /><br />War is a complicated issue, there are no easy answers. Let's not be swayed by an (admittedly powerful) image, but try to actually <span style="font-style:italic;">think</span>.<br /><br />**Edited some for clarity. It's hard to blog when a four-year-old is also seeking your full attention**Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698623.post-77697282090167879652010-07-28T23:56:00.002-06:002010-07-28T23:58:12.388-06:00HousekeepingIf I really am going to pick up blogging again, which I seem to be doing, then I need to update my blogroll. There are blogs I don't read, dead blogs, dead people on it, and blogs that I do read (lurk at, mostly) that aren't on it. I'll be doing this over the next few days.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698623.post-53092105866550486932010-07-27T16:07:00.000-06:002010-07-27T16:08:33.828-06:00New Fridge!!!Motherfucking <span style="font-style:italic;">iced</span> tea in the house, yo!Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698623.post-68235789200541544142010-07-27T09:27:00.003-06:002010-07-27T09:52:20.569-06:00We were snookered! Wait, what?Last night, Jon Stewart returned from a two-week vacation and unleashed his sharp knives of satire on those on the left who were "snookered" by a re-edited tape released by Andrew Breitbart that supposedly demonstrates racism and corruption on the left.<br /><br /><table style='font:11px arial; color:#333; background-color:#f5f5f5' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='360' height='353'><tbody><tr style='background-color:#e5e5e5' valign='middle'><td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;'><a target='_blank' style='color:#333; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com'>The Daily Show With Jon Stewart</a></td><td style='padding:2px 5px 0px 5px; text-align:right; font-weight:bold;'>Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c</td></tr><tr style='height:14px;' valign='middle'><td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;' colspan='2'><a target='_blank' style='color:#333; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-july-26-2010/lost-in-race'>Lost in Race</a></td></tr><tr style='height:14px; background-color:#353535' valign='middle'><td colspan='2' style='padding:2px 5px 0px 5px; width:360px; overflow:hidden; text-align:right'><a target='_blank' style='color:#96deff; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/'>www.thedailyshow.com</a></td></tr><tr valign='middle'><td style='padding:0px;' colspan='2'><embed style='display:block' src='http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:341186' width='360' height='301' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' wmode='window' allowFullscreen='true' flashvars='autoPlay=false' allowscriptaccess='always' allownetworking='all' bgcolor='#000000'></embed></td></tr><tr style='height:18px;' valign='middle'><td style='padding:0px;' colspan='2'><table style='margin:0px; text-align:center' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='100%' height='100%'><tr valign='middle'><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/'>Daily Show Full Episodes</a></td><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.indecisionforever.com/'>Political Humor</a></td><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/videos/tag/Tea+Party'>Tea Party</a></td></tr></table></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />(Also, Comedy Central, your embed code is crappy. I had to go in and close like three tags to get it to work. In case I screwed it up, the <a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-july-26-2010/lost-in-race">link to the video is here</a>.)<br /><br />Which is something I would have thought way more awesome, if <a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-september-15-2009/the-audacity-of-hos">this</a> hadn't been Jon Stewart's response to Breitbart's <a href="http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0615/preliminary-report-clears-acorn/">completely fraudulent ACORN tapes last year</a>.<br /><br /><table style='font:11px arial; color:#333; background-color:#f5f5f5' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='360' height='353'><tbody><tr style='background-color:#e5e5e5' valign='middle'><td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;'><a target='_blank' style='color:#333; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com'>The Daily Show With Jon Stewart</a></td><td style='padding:2px 5px 0px 5px; text-align:right; font-weight:bold;'>Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c</td></tr><tr style='height:14px;' valign='middle'><td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;' colspan='2'><a target='_blank' style='color:#333; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-september-15-2009/the-audacity-of-hos'>The Audacity of Hos</a></td></tr><tr style='height:14px; background-color:#353535' valign='middle'><td colspan='2' style='padding:2px 5px 0px 5px; width:360px; overflow:hidden; text-align:right'><a target='_blank' style='color:#96deff; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/'>www.thedailyshow.com</a></td></tr><tr valign='middle'><td style='padding:0px;' colspan='2'><embed style='display:block' src='http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:248916' width='360' height='301' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' wmode='window' allowFullscreen='true' flashvars='autoPlay=false' allowscriptaccess='always' allownetworking='all' bgcolor='#000000'></embed></td></tr><tr style='height:18px;' valign='middle'><td style='padding:0px;' colspan='2'><table style='margin:0px; text-align:center' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='100%' height='100%'><tr valign='middle'><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/'>Daily Show Full Episodes</a></td><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.indecisionforever.com/'>Political Humor</a></td><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/videos/tag/Tea+Party'>Tea Party</a></td></tr></table></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />(<a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-september-15-2009/the-audacity-of-hos">Link here</a>.)<br /><br />Hm. Did you get snookered, too, Jon? Were you so eager to demonstrate that you treat the left and the right equally that you were willing to throw poor, black, (and in that clip, mostly females) under the bus?<br /><br />I had sincerely hoped that someone in the media would be willing to revisit the ACORN tapes, just to throw light on the extreme injustice done to this now-defunct organization at the behest of the crybabies on the extreme right. I kind of thought it might be the Daily Show. Oh well.<br /><br />The beard is dead sexy though.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698623.post-5547223497659880702010-07-25T12:56:00.001-06:002010-07-25T12:56:47.083-06:00Someone get this man a cape.Because <a href="http://www.daddyfiles.com/2010/07/13/abort-protesters/">he is a superhero</a>.<br /><br />Just sayin'.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698623.post-28104350089861182522010-07-22T23:49:00.006-06:002010-07-23T01:22:47.847-06:00On Shirley SherrodIt's hot and humid (well, humid for Albuquerque) and my fridge is still broken. I'm grumpy and I promise you, this post will have <span style="font-style:italic;">problems with tone</span>.<br /><br />This whole Shirley Sherrod scandal has really gotten me all perturbed. In case you've been living under a rock these past few days, here's what's happened. <br /><br />The NAACP finally had the gumption to say out loud what has been obvious to everyone else with half a brain: the Tea Partiers willingly and knowingly harbor racists in their midst and should, if they're wanting <a href="http://other98.com/">the other 98 percent of America</a> to take them seriously, cut that shit out.<br /><br />Proving that calling a white person a racist is a bigger insult these days than calling a black person nigger, professional crybaby and total douchebag liar Andrew Breitbart (who was also behind the totally fake prostitution ring tapes that got ACORN disbanded) released a tape of a black woman named Shirley Sherrod who works for the USDA, giving a speech to the NAACP about being annoyed at a white farmer who came to her for help, "proving" that the NAACP specifically and black people in general are the real racists.<br /><br />Of course <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/2010/07/20/us_usda_racism_resignation/index.html">Sherrod was forced to resign</a>. The NAACP also immediately renounced her, calling her actions "shameful."<br /><br />Now, even before this tape was even proved to be maliciously re-edited in a deliberately misleading way, I was put out. Maybe it was just that coming so close on the heels of <a href="http://colorlines.com/archives/2010/07/oscar_grant_verdict_merhserle_guilty_of_involuntary_manslaughter.html">the slap-on-the-wrist verdict</a> given to the white cop who shot Oscar Grant (an unarmed black father of a girl my daughter's age, shot in the back while handcuffed and having his face shoved into the ground with a knee on the back of his neck in front of a dozen witnesses all holding cell phone cameras) but I just wasn't impressed by the degree of "oppression" on display here. <br /><br />Oh, a black authority figure was less than respectful to you, and sent you somewhere else? Boo fucking hoo. Try getting <a href="http://pluckypunk.blogspot.com/2009/01/on-expendability-of-brown-people.html">shot in the back while face down and handcuffed with a cop's knee pressing down on your neck</a>.<br /><br />Not to mention the man what seeking help from an organization specifically set up as a co-op for black farmers (the incident actually occurred back in the 80s, before Sherrod even worked for the USDA), and was not a dues-paying member. Not to mention that the man was being snooty towards her. And not to mention that she did actually help him anyway during that first encounter, sending him to a white lawyer who could assist him.<br /><br />But come to find that douche Breitbart had edited out the last part of the story. The <a href="http://www.naacp.org/news/entry/video_sherrod">full video shows</a> that when she realized her initial reaction was perhaps related to lingering bitterness surrounding the fact that <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/Hosie_Miller_Shirley_Sherrods_dad_and_a_casualty_in_a_forgotten_war.html">her father had been murdered by a Klansman</a> (go ahead, grow up black in the south of a few decades ago after your father was murdered by the Klan, and see how you feel about white people, <span style="font-style:italic;">I dare you</span>) and that she should overcome these feelings if she's going to have any luck making the world a better place. <br /><br />She realized that the real problems in this country are between the haves and the have-nots, and while that's often overlaid with the matrix of the social constructs of race, it's not always. And then not only did she go on to personally help this white farmer, but she probably saved their farm and the two are friends to this day.<br /><br />I agree with Joan Walsh. <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/joan_walsh/politics/2010/07/21/what_shirley_sherrod_said/index.html">Shirley Sherrod is a hero</a>.<br /><br />But that's not where the irritation ends, oh no.<br /><br />I'll let Professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell speak for me for a moment here. She said <span style="font-style:italic;">exactly</span> what I was thinking on Countdown with Keith Olbermann the other day.<br /><br /><object width="420" height="245" id="msnbc220987" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=10,0,0,0"><param name="movie" value="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" /><param name="FlashVars" value="launch=38353188&width=420&height=245"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="opaque" /><embed name="msnbc220987" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" width="420" height="245" FlashVars="launch=38353188&width=420&height=245" allowscriptaccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="opaque" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object><p style="font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 420px;">Visit msnbc.com for <a style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com">breaking news</a>, <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507" style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;">world news</a>, and <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072" style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;">news about the economy</a></p><br /><br />Nice <span style="font-style:italic;">Crash</span> reference, by the way. Agreed about that movie as well.<br /><br />So Shirley Sherrod was thrown under the bus. But after the tapes vilifying her were revealed to be an embarrassingly transparent fraud perpetrated by a huckster who is already known for releasing racially-tinged frauds to the media, everyone from the president on down apologized and jumped all over themselves to show how wrong and falsely quick to judge they were. <br /><br />Tom Vilsack, the head of the USDA, even offered her a new special job. What is the new special job? An "outreach" position that would deal specifically with racial discrimination issues within the USDA.<br /><br />This is the part that <span style="font-style:italic;">really</span> got to me.<br /><br />It is really annoying how mainstream white America wants black people to be, like, cultural envoys about race or something. I don't think Shirley Sherrod should have to leave her old, chosen job helping poor farmers and take a new job teaching the USDA not to be racist. <br /><br />And, although I don't find him blameless in this situation (seriously, stop reacting to right-wing blowhards like their opinions matter!)I also don't think the Obama administration has some sort of obligation to "start a conversation" on race because he is black. I resent it when white people expect people of color to help them learn not to hate us.<br /><br />Figure it out yourselves, already. Real life is not a movie with Morgan Freeman in a supporting role. No <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_negro">magical Negroes</a> are coming along to help you overcome your own faults and teach you about love and friendship with their earthy wisdom. Deal with it.<br /><br />Sigh. I'm sure this post makes me sound really bitchy and mean and violates the suggestions in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0Ti-gkJiXc">this video</a>. Until I have a working freezer so I can put some ice in my beverage and maybe cool off for a moment, I don't really care.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698623.post-83926736846673356542010-07-17T18:42:00.002-06:002010-07-17T18:44:34.854-06:00My fridge is broken.The fridge broke. So I had to eat everything.<br /><br /><object style="background-image:url(http://i2.ytimg.com/vi/Mq_FvfqPji4/hqdefault.jpg)" width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Mq_FvfqPji4&hl=en_US&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Mq_FvfqPji4&hl=en_US&fs=1" width="425" height="344" allowScriptAccess="never" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object><br /><br />If only I had some attractive wealthy roommates to help me pay for it.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698623.post-45356279293582873782010-07-14T20:36:00.004-06:002010-07-14T21:27:15.924-06:00Immigrants.<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/us/15utah.html?_r=3&src=twt&twt=nytimes">The news that</a> some group of serious xenophobic assholes has made a list of 1300 people, including children and pregnant women (with, most creepily, mentions of their due dates) and tried to have it made public, with no care or feeling of responsibility to what might happen to those people, has freaked me out way more than a little.<br /><br />I mean, <span style="font-style:italic;">come on</span>. <br /><br />It's got me thinking about my own past.<br /><br />I, like most Americans, am descended from other places. On both sides of my family, I am descended from lower-class immigrants, people who worked back-breakingly hard for what little they owned, and whom the American system of living consistently disenfranchised politically and socially. <br /><br />My mother, second youngest in an Italian Catholic family of 13 surviving children, never had her own bedroom. My father, oldest child of two Afro-Cuban immigrants, famously states that his first bed was a box (and whether or not this was true or merely his own brand of constructed folklore I have never properly established).<br /><br />In any case, my immigrant family members found themselves left out of the American political process. This may be why the political figures that exist in my family have always been elevated to near-legendary status.<br /><br />For me, the political has always been personal. A friend once nicknamed me "Political Spice." It's in my genes I guess.<br /><br />On my father's side of my family, a man named Generoso Campos-Marquetti was the first black man to hold a political office in Cuba, and played a key role in the Race War of 1912. On my mother's side of the family is her uncle Frank Rizzo, the 1970s Philadelphia mayor with mob ties. During their many knock-down, drag-out fights my mother often invoked her familial mafia connections the way a woman in an ancient Greek play might invoke the furies.<br /><br />Also, I really want to see this movie.<br /><br /><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/I16020r--oM&hl=en_US&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/I16020r--oM&hl=en_US&fs=1" width="480" height="295" allowScriptAccess="never" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object><br /><br />I'm not sure what my point is, I guess. Most of America is descended from immigrants. Property crime and violent crime in border states is down. Undocumented immigrants form a crucial part of the nation's economy. Also, a generation or tow ago, I might have been in the shoes of those 1300 people in Utah. And political power is hard to come by, and is treasured for generations after.<br /><br />So, what's the problem? If your big beef is that these people are here illegally, then make it easier to come to the United States legally, problem solved. (I have a friend who works in immigration law, and trust me, it's a seriously difficult process.) It would take care of the human smugglers and the drug runners who control the process now. <br /><br />But it wouldn't deal with the problem of their being so many brown people, which is increasingly more obviously the anti-immigration crowd's real issue.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698623.post-91774698791015152312010-07-10T18:50:00.002-06:002010-07-10T19:06:54.394-06:00Another Abbie SummerThere are eleven foot tall sunflowers in my yard this year.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pluckypunk/4781617312/" title="2010-07-10 14.35.25.jpg by plucky punk, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4118/4781617312_636afb2079.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="2010-07-10 14.35.25.jpg"></a><br /><br />Abbie is four now, and still retains a hint of babyness, as when she falls asleep, sweaty in the summer sun.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pluckypunk/4781634464/" title="2010-06-08 19.34.50_Albuquerque_New Mexico_US.jpg by plucky punk, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4080/4781634464_65706c083d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="2010-06-08 19.34.50_Albuquerque_New Mexico_US.jpg"></a><br /><br />But she's also sort of a badass, as when she won her match at a recent judo tournament.<br /><br /><object style="background-image:url(http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/pmNLyxSOiXo/hqdefault.jpg)" width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pmNLyxSOiXo&hl=en_US&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pmNLyxSOiXo&hl=en_US&fs=1" width="425" height="344" allowScriptAccess="never" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object><br /><br />(Hilarious slo-mo and soundtrack courtesy of my father, who also took first at the same match.)<br /><br />It's another Abbie summer.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698623.post-20483794394189899162010-07-08T20:57:00.002-06:002010-07-08T20:58:10.639-06:00Comment moderation onI'm turning comment moderation on, just because I'm tired of deleting spam comments. If you're one of the three people who still check in here occasionally, I do check the comments on a daily basis.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698623.post-55339891254250789082010-07-07T10:11:00.003-06:002010-07-07T10:35:19.667-06:00Stupid e-mail forwardsSo I frequently get unwanted email forwards from several members of my family. How do people deal with those? I usually just grit my teeth and delete sight-unseen, especially if they come from in-laws, but this one from my very own mother was particularly galling.<blockquote><br />Subject: DON'T BUY PEPSI IN THE NEW CAN!<br />Don't buy Pepsi in the new can. Pepsi has a new 'patriotic' can <br />coming out with pictures of the EmpireStateBuilding, and the<br />Pledge of Allegiance on them.<br />However, Pepsi left out two little words on the pledge, <br />'Under God.'<br />Pepsi said they didn't want to offend anyone. In that case, we don't<br />want to offend anyone at the Pepsi corporate office, either! <br />So if we don't buy any Pepsi products, they will not be offended<br />when they don't receive our money that has the words <br />'In God We Trust' on it. <br />HOW FAST CAN YOU FORWARD THIS ONE?<br /><br />Pretty darn fast!!</blockquote>Not being a huge fan of Pepsi even in my soda-guzzing heyday (as i often put it when I was still a brash obscene punk-rocker, Pepsi is Coke for pussies), I have no idea as to the veracity of this, but like all stupid e-mail forwards it's probably completely false. In any case, here was my reply. <blockquote>Just fyi, the Pledge of Allegiance as originally composed by Frances Bellamy in 1892 did not contain the words "Under God." Those words were only added in 1952 during a particularly shameful, jingoistic, xenophobic period in American history riddled with extreme fundamentalism and fear.<br /><br />The separation of church and state is an American value which I feel our founding fathers held sacred, protecting not only the state from the church's influence but the church from the potentially corrupting influence of state power. I would happily toast the country that I love with a glass of Pepsi, but I don't drink soda anymore actually, it's terrible for you.</blockquote>Also, Frances Bellamy was a big-time socialist who briefly considered adding "equality" and "fraternity" as well as "liberty" to the pledge.<br /><br />I almost hit "reply all" on that one, but decided not to out my mother as having a weirdo commie pinko child who doesn't even drink high fructose corn syrup. I'm too nice, I know.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698623.post-41354568274085716422010-04-26T17:45:00.001-06:002010-04-26T17:46:55.389-06:00So Arizona's a police state now...I hereby invite all Hispanics of Arizona to move to my home state of New Mexico. The weather's nicer, the tourist traps are less cheesy, the food is better, and the rent is cheaper.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698623.post-20321991388494199322010-03-20T12:05:00.003-06:002010-03-20T15:59:59.481-06:00What Jesus Wouldn't DoI know I'm an atheist, so I might be way off base here, but I'm going to go ahead and make the assumption that the Teabaggers in this video, like every other Teabagger I've met or heard of, are God-loving Christians.<br /><br /><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6ik4f1dRbP8&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6ik4f1dRbP8&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object><br /><br />Jesus said "Blessed are the meek," not "Blessed are the red-faced and screaming." Jesus <span style="font-style:italic;">healed</span> the sick and infirm, he didn't threaten and humiliate them. Jesus said the best way to get into the kingdom of heaven was to sell all of your possessions and give the money to the poor, not to greedily hang on to every last dime while people are dying around you for lack of what you take for granted.<br /><br />I seriously recommend these people go home and read about Jesus for awhile.<br /><br />People, often these same Teabagger people, usually say, "We are a Christian nation, with Christian values," but either I'm confused as to the true nature of Christian values or these people are acting in a seriously fucking un-American way. (Or, at least, what <span style="font-style:italic;">should</span> be an un-American way, but you know, despite everything I somehow manage to retain a mild patriotism about my country.)<br /><br />Or, who knows, I shouldn't assume, maybe they're another religion. In which case I'm pretty sure they should also go home and study for awhile, because I'm not familiar with any religion that advocates behavior of this nature.<br /><br />Maybe they're atheists like me. In which case they should seriously shut the fuck up because they're making me look bad.<br /><br />Although bully for the guy wearing the baby. <br /><br />The guy in the video has a pretty eloquent response.<br /><br /><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MfvnNzgQy7Q&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MfvnNzgQy7Q&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object><br /><br />This health reform bill is a universe away from perfect, or even good. It's not even really health-care reform but health-insurance reform, and a pretty weak attempt at that, even. It's a step, though. At least it would show that we're willing to take some action. I hope it passes, and that the result is as Bob in the video says, more families crying with happiness at good outcomes than crying out of sadness and worry.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698623.post-89104418963330686082010-03-13T12:48:00.001-07:002010-03-13T12:50:26.115-07:00I've seen this movie.<object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nFicqklGuB0&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nFicqklGuB0&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object><br /><br />I think Ron Howard directed it.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3698623.post-32837453833506430372010-03-07T03:06:00.003-07:002010-03-07T03:18:41.547-07:00Flying while Muslim and forgetfulI just had to share this story because I laughed so hard I almost peed when I heard it. I just hope I tell the story as good as my dad did.<br /><br />My father is Muslim, not conservative or anything, but fairly observant. He wears identifiably Islamic dress. Being black, he more often gets "read" as "friendly African" than "scary Muslim" by those inclined to do such "reading." That is, until the whole Nigerian underwear bomb thing happened. <br /><br />He is, incidentally, also a scientist and as such is a bit of a gadget tech nerd geek kind of person. He also does a lot of business travel. <br /><br />Naturally he has an iPhone. Naturally he also has a "call to prayer" app for his iPhone. And, being a bit on the daffy forgetful side and oddly inept with technology for a techie guy (I get a lot of pocket calls from this same iPhone), naturally he also forgot to turn off his iPhone before getting on a plane during his last business trip.<br /><br />Literally, my poor father took one step onto the crowded plane and his call to prayer app went off, turned all the way up, blasting "Alllaaaaahhhhu Akbar, Allllaaaaaahuuuu Akbar!" in front of all the passengers and crew. <br /><br />Everyone gasped, turned to look at him, eyes wide. The lower lip of the flight attendant standing next to him started to quiver. With the strains of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adhan">adhan</a> filling the cabin and images of getting tackled by some <span style="font-style:italic;">Soldier of Fortune</span>-reading Teabagger Militiaman running through his head, my dad slowly took the iPhone out of his pocket and silenced it, saying, "Sorry, it's just my phone!"<br /><br />Hearing his New York accent must have relaxed everyone and they all audibly exhaled at once. A Hispanic man in front of him started cracking up laughing. Oh, just a regular American dude, no worries. <br /><br />I wish I could have seen their faces! I would have cracked jokes the entire flight.<br /><br />"You thought he had a bomb! My <span style="font-style:italic;">dad</span>! The Star Trek nerd! You almost peed yourself in fear because a phone made a noise you heard once in a movie!"<br /><br />Hehe.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897350435770099399noreply@blogger.com3