Just boys having some fun

I can think of few things more disgusting than the rape and sexual assault of females. But, as Pinko Feminist Hellcat points out, there really is something more disgusting--the tacit approval of rape and sexual assault, and the blaming of victims. The cases presented here remind me, yet again, how outrageously irresponsible so many parents are, and how scornful our culture is of females.

In my practice, I frequently hear of girls being sexually (and physically) assaulted, and their parents do nothing, sometimes because "she didn't want me to." The schools do nothing, and often, the police do nothing, but many parents do not even bother to go to the police, or--if they do--they do not demand justice.

Old Montreal

We spent the day in Old Montreal today, and I'm not sure I've ever seen a more attractive urban area. There are a few buildings that were strongly reminiscent of Paris, but the overall look and atmosphere still does not make me think of the French city. Rather, Old Montreal has a look and a feel all its own. The weather remains very cold and sometimes windy, and late this afternoon, it began raining again. We visited some churches, hung around the old port, and just enjoyed strolling through the colorful streets.

The street lights have already been decorated for Christmas, which is really jarring, and there are a few Christmas decorations on buildings. We did some Christmas shopping, which is a vacation tradition since we always travel in the fall. It is a bit awkward to be toting hats, gloves, scarves, extra layers, and raincoats, and we have heard more than one Montreal resident complain about the weather. My cold entered phase 2 today, which means that I am no longer totally miserable, but I know that the bitter cold and precipitation here isn't helping.

It's expensive, but the service is bad

That would be an accurate description of the bus service in Montreal. How we came to learn this is unfortunate. We decided to go to the Botanical Gardens, so we strolled to the Metro station, only to discover that the trains were not running, due to "complications." "Take the bus" the woman told us. That sounded sensible until we tried to take the bus. The bus did not come. And did not come. When it finally did come, we had to pay a lot of money. Then we had to transfer to another bus, which never came, so we walked and walked and walked in the freezing weather.

The Botanical Gardens were not in bloom, but there was plenty to see, nonetheless. Both the Japanese Garden and the Chinese Garden are beautiful, especially the Chinese Garden. We didn't make it to any of the greenhouses, to our dismay, but we did see a wonderful First Nations garden, and we visited the insectarium. I could have spent the entire day there, looking at the social insect exhibits and the scarab beetles. This was an amazing museum.

But the best was yet to come. As the sun set, we walked along a lantern-lit path to the annual festival, "The Magic of Lanterns." This year's theme is "Chinese Celebrations." "The Magic of Lanterns" is too stunning to even describe. Hundreds of lanterns, made in Shanghai and shipped by boat to Montreal, represent everything from acrobats to penguins. Most of the lanterns are placed over water, so the view is of both the lanterns and their reflections.

It is hard for me to get a feel for Montreal, and I'm sure that part of the reason is that I have been so ill since I arrived here. It is hard for me to function with this cold, and cold medicine is doing very little for me.

But I think there is more to it than that. All that I have ever heard is that Montreal is "like Paris." Not. Yes, many people speak French here, but that is about the only similarity I have found so far. Montreal is lovely, but not in the way that Paris is. What could be?

We have encountered some odd stairways here; they seem to have been designed for snakes rather than people. There is also a scarcity of trash receptacles (but a minimum of litter), a bigger scarcity of pharmacies, and no right of way for pedestrians. The trees are beautiful, and many of the apartment buildings are very attractive.

Greetings, dear readers, from Montreal

After a very rough day of flying--our plane could not take off because of the weather in our initial destination, Philadelphia; our flight from Philadelphia was delayed an hour (that worked in our favor), our luggage was not put on our flight, and someone at Louis Armstrong International failed to re-lock my luggage--we arrived, much later than anticipated, in Montreal last night.

During the flight, I came down with a cold. Despite bombarding my body with a variety of substances designed to halt the illness in its early stages, the cold just kept escalating. By the time we landed, I had a sore throat and annoying sinuses. This morning, we awoke to low temperatures, harsh wind and rain. The snow flurries came later. I suppose I would have gotten a cold, anyway. I now have some body aches and sneezing, and am taking it easy and ingesting a lot of cold medicine. Getting sick on a vacation is one of my worst fears, and here I am.

We are staying in a lovely little hotel in the Latin Quarter; here is our street. Since the weather was so bad, we thought today would be a good day to visit Montreal's underground city. Here is a tip: If you go to Montreal, skip the underground city. Yes, it is the world's larget underground shopping area, but it is totally boring. The food court is small and undistinguished, almost all of the shops are clothing shops, and they are almost all standard American mall stores. The one bright spot was an upper level restroom, done in a wonderful contemporary design with gleaming stainless steel and beautiful tile designs.

And speaking of restrooms, it had been a long time since I had flown out of Louis Armstrong (we usually fly out of the Biloxi/Gulfport airport), and it was enjoyable to have the Louis Armstrong International Airport restroom experience. The restrooms there are lovely-smelling, shiny clean, and--best of all--have constant New Orleans r&b piped in.

After we emerged from Montreal's experiment in underground tackiness, we visited the lovely Musee des Beaux-Arts, where we saw a lot of Canandian art, including Inuit art, some contemporary art, some French paintings--mostly Impressionist--and a fascinating exhibit of Germaine Krull's photography. Krull, born in Germany, lived in many places, including Thailand and India. The Montreal exhibit showcases several periods of her photograhpy, but most of the silver gelatin prints are of artists, dancers and actors in Monte Carlo, where Krull was the official photojournalist for the casino for several years. Her photographs, many of which are engagingly dreamy in tone, fall into the photojournalism-as-art category.

There is a museum of contemporary art in Montreal, and--here is a strange fact--it is the only major contemporary art museum in all of Canada.

NBC changes "Shut Up & Sing" to "Shut Up"

According to distributor Harvey Weinstein, NBC is refusing to air a promotional spot for the Dixie Chicks' new documentary, "Shut Up & Sing," because it is "disparaging of President Bush." The ad, which can be seen here, contains clips from the documentary that are familiar to many people. Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines tells a London audience that she is ashamed that Bush is from Texas, and Maines also pronounces Bush as dumb.

(Continue reading at MoJo Blog)

Friday cat blogging--demonic edition

Once again, I need to know what century we are in

Nancy Rapoport, posting at Feminist Law Professors (a blog you need to read), writes about comments that were made on Dallas Blog, as part of a discussion of a debate between Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and her opponent, Barbara Ann Radnofsky. Check this out:

Radnofsky has always seemed to be very full of herself; maybe that's why, though she is married [to someone, who is nameless and basically invisible in this campaign.....], she still appears to use her maiden name.

Where to start? How can someone "appear" to use her maiden name? And then there is the fact that the phrase "maiden name" is about as offensively sexist a term you could utter. But beyond these matters, it is stunning that the reasons this commenter comes up with for Radnofsky's use of her family name are that her husband's name is useless to her, and she is "full of herself." It couldn't possibly be that she uses her family name because it is her name, no? And using the commenter's own "reasoning," it follows that men, the vast majority of whom use their family names, are all "full of themselves."

I will never forget the time that a friend and I were discussing a colleague's marriage. I'm going to make these names up so as not to identify the actual people, but the conversation went something like this:

"Her name is Mary Ford Benson now."

"So is he now Richard Ford Benson?"

"Well, no. She just added his name to hers."

"Then why didn't he add her name to his?"

"But Diane, he has had that name his entire life!"

"And she hasn't had 'Ford' her entire life?!"

"Well, I just like tradition..."


This woman, by the way, was an identified "liberal" and "feminist." But she was absolutely clueless that the woman in question had just as much right to her name as the man had to his.

Hutchison, by the way, identifies with feminism, so it just goes to show you how that word gets bandied around. It is evil one moment, and the next moment, it is something that even a Texas Republican can claim.

A nasty by-product of the Bush administration

Because Cheney, his puppet Bush, and their minions are so dishonest, so blind, so greedy, and so totally lacking in character, it has become easy for liberals of all stripes to want to do anything to get rid of them or to compensate for them. I am all for that, but I know a price will be paid. A big part of that price will be women's rights and gay rights, which I expect to be shoved aside to some extent in order to tend to "important things." And of course, the suffering of non-humans will remain something only "those animal rights people" are interested in (even Al Gore somehow mangaged to forget about factory farming when he stepped forward with his latest book and film on the environmental crisis).

I could possibly be tempted to vote for a Democratic ticket, but it would have to be some ticket. Two white males would be the kiss of death for me. Now Obama is being pranced around as a likely candidate, but he is unacceptable to me because he does not support all civil rights for gay citizens.

So-called liberals have shown us what cowards (and often, what racist and sexist people) they are in the past six years. I think we can expect more of the same.

Blogging to slow down

I am taking a vacation, so blogging--at least about political issues--will be sporadic for a while.

Governor Blanco stands up to Feds--Round 1 goes to Louisiana

In July, Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco filed a lawsuit against the federal government, in an attempt to stop a scheduled offshore lease sale. The suit alleged that the federal government's environmental assessment of the sale failed to include damage done by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Blanco had already threatened to stop any lease sales until the federal government began paying royalties to Louisiana, something it has never done.

(Continue reading at MoJo Blog)

U.S. seeks to restrict attorney-client communication at Guantanamo Bay

Inmates at Guantanamo Bay will have significantly less communication with their attorneys if the U.S. government has its way. Government officials claim that attorneys are providing prisoners with "inflammatory information," e.a., reports of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison.

(Continue reading at MoJo Blog)

I have Moved On

I have always been uncomfortable with the philosophy behind MoveOn.org's existence. I didn't think we should "move on" after the 2000 election was stolen. I have received emails from the organization for a long time, and am usually too busy to read them. Today, however, I was able to take my name off MoveOn mailing list and take a stand at the same time. I received two MoveOn emails in a row from Sen. Obama, and when I removed my name, the reason I gave was that I support only candidates who work for the civil rights of all people.

Civic organization hacks into Chicago voter database

The Illinois Ballot Integrity Project has successfully hacked into the 1.35 million-Chicago voter database, it was announced last week. Social security numbers, birthdates, and other information was revealed, and the hackers say they could easily change voters' addresses or change someone's voting status from active to inactive. Hackers could also change the location of voters' polling places.

(Continue reading at MoJo Blog)

Some thoughts on--and questions about--"Carnivale"

When "Carnivale" appeared on HBO in 2004, I thought it was the most interesting show I had ever seen on television. But it confused me, and I had trouble taking in all the plot details and the barrage of symbols. Though the show mesmerized me, it also frustrated me and made me feel a bit stupid.

I waited and waited for the second season, then forgot about it. Then, later, I tuned in and discovered I'd missed the first two episodes. I decided to watch them via On Demand, but managed to miss it again. Missing five minutes of "Carnivale" sets you back hopelessly, so I had nothing to do but wait until the second season was available, in toto, via On Demand. When it became available, I watched the first four episodes, but waited too long to watch the next four (our On Demand system has since changed, giving us warnings about how long a show will be available). So I rented the last eight episodes.

"Carnivale" was so hard to follow (for me, anyway), and to watch it with such lengthy delays between seasons and episodes, as I did, made matters much worse. Last night, I watched the unintentional last episode (the show was abruptly cancelled after two seasons), and came away more confused than I was before.

If any of you is a "Carnivale" fan (and I am very much a fan--I love this show), perhaps you can help me out. Why did Sofie kill Jonesy? (Was it because she knew she had a mission and could not return to the Carnivale?) Why did the corn die when Sofie touched Brother Justin in the corn field? Was Sofie's being named the Omega a feminist statement?

"Carnivale" was originally conceived as three "books," each lasting two seasons. So we were treated to Book I, but we will never see Books II and III. War and nuclear testing were on the horizon, but all that is never to be.

If you have never seen "Carnivale," I highly recommend you rent both seasons (twelve episodes each). It is one of the best shows I have ever seen. Though discussions of the show always tend to center around the Knights Templar (something else I know little about), I think Gnosticism is the major framework for the story, which takes place in the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. The characters in the Carnivale are unforgettable, as are Brother Justin and his sister Iris (played by Amy Madigan). Some of the episodes are visually stunning, the soundtrack is very effective, and the writing is first-rate.

Some officials may not be that upset over a North Korean nuclear test

What doesn't make the news (for example, that Senate investigators recently accused Grover Norquist of major fraud) is more significant than what does, these days. Think Progress points out today that a little bombshell buried in a Washington Post story has gone unnoticed: "Some senior officials even said they were quietly rooting for a [North Korean nuclear] test, believing that would finally clarify the debate within the administration."

(Continue reading at MoJo Blog)

How much email is "a lot"?

That's a question for Chris Wallace.

Bush administration takes extraordinary measure to keep us safe

By protecting us from Vitamin B.

The U.S. government has banned Vegemite. No kidding.

What a relief

To learn it is okay, in the 21st Century, to call women men because Webster's says it is okay. Or so I was told by Radar.

Instead of condoning the horrible lives of factory farm turkeys, you can adopt one

Farm Sanctuary is conducting its annual Adopt-A-Turkey campaign, and I urge everyone to adopt one. Last year, I adopted Pumpkin, and this year, I have adopted Sunflower. You can read about the project here, and you can adopt a turkey here.

Maybe if someone had blown up the hotel...

Today on NPR's "All Things Considered," while E.J. Dionne was suggesting that Democrats vote more than once, Rich Lowry, editor of The National Review, decided to use the film, Lost In Translation to make an analogy. An important aspect of this construction was Lowry's declaration that "nothing happened" in the film, and therefore he dislikes it.

I am not asking anyone to like Lost In Translation (though I did); there are reasons to not like it. But to say that nothing happened in it just goes to show you how far you can get in journalism and still be a clueless yahoo.

Let's see...two marriages disintegrate, a long-running film storyline barrier is broken when a middle-aged man develops a close friendship with a young babe but decides that sex is forbidden, the funniest prostitution scene in film history takes place, an actor whose role is an important symbol in the film turns in a memorable comic performance. Nothing much happens, I guess, if you are the car crash type.

Quote of the week

"Democrats will want to vote as many times as possible, legally and otherwise."

E.J. Dionne, Washington Post columnist, today on NPR's "All Things Considered"

In fairness, I should put this quotation into context. Dionne did not mean that Democrats will actually desire to vote more than once. He said it with a somewhat different meaning, as in "You'll want to turn left when you get to the light." But putting the remark in its rightful context makes it only slightly less distasteful.

Friday cat blogging--sister tete-a-tete

This, horrific as it is, speaks for itself

In the current issue of Harper's, Ken Silverstein has a feature called "The Kids Are Far Right," about the American conservative student movement. Silverstein attended the banquet of the National Conservative Student Conference, and across the table from him, a young man from Alabama described an alleged late-term abortion procedure in which the doctor delivers the fetus intact, then drives a knitting needle-like object into its skull. The young man then talked about how he wished he could rescue these fetuses.

Seated next to the author was another young man, this one from Oregon, who described how he and his friends like to have fun--bunny bashing. The kids borrow someone's pickup truck and take along some cudgels. When a jackrabbit freezes in the truck's high beams, someone hops out of the truck and bludgeons it to death. They then take the rabbit's head off and impale it onto the truck's antenna, leaving it for the truck's owner to find in the morning.

Why is Congress even bothering to pass laws?

George W. Bush has already made it clear that he may ignore parts of the 2007 Defense Authorization Act. To be exact, he has listed two dozens provisions in the act which he may trash, including the budget requirements for the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

(Continue reading at MoJo Blog)

New wrinkles in the Foley case

Suddenly Congresswoman Heather Wilson of New Mexico, who sits on the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's caucus (Mark Foley's former project), is facing charges that her husband inappropriately touched an adolescent boy and that she hid the evidence. According to The Raw Story, three days after Wilson became New Mexico's Secretary of the Department of Children, Youth and Families, she removed a working file containing the allegation against her husband. She denied moving the file, then apparently reversed herself.

Also, in 2001, Wilson began a three-year term on the U.S. House of Represenatives Page Board, but says she never heard anything about Foley's behavior until recently, when an ABC News story prompted Foley to resign from Congress. Bear in mind that practically everyone else within lunch delivery distance of the Page Board knew about Foley.

Then there is the matter of the priest. After Foley said he had been sexually abused by a priest, there was a loud demand for him to reveal the priest's name. That man is the Rev. Anthony Mercieca, who denies that his relationship with Foley was in any way sexual, but who just happend to be sitting naked in a sauna with him. Now, I realize that men sit naked in saunas, but priests sitting naked in saunas with 13-year-old boys is quite another thing.

Foley claims that Mercieca massed his nude body. Mercieca, though he denies that anything sexual occurred (and he may be using definitions from the Bill Clinton dictionary of sexual terminology), also maintains that he was in a drug-induced stupor during one night when there was an "incident that might have gone too far." In other words, Foley's accusations are credible.

Minnesota taxi drivers seek religious exemptions

It's hard enough to get a taxi in some places if you are not Caucasion, but it's becoming even harder, in some cities, to get one if you do not fit the driver's religious ideal of a passenger. For example, in London, two Muslim taxi drivers were fined for refusing to pick up a blind customer. The same thing has happened repeatedly in Melbouren. The reason? The customer's seeing-eye dog was "unclean." In Minneapolis, Muslim taxi drivers have refused to pick up a transgendered customer. And throughout Minnesota, taxi drivers are seeking a two-tiered system that would permit them to refuse to pick up certain fares because of their own religious beliefs.

(Continue reading at MoJo Blog)

Moving toward "niggardly" territory...

Maryland Congressman Steny Hoyer has apologized for saying that his Republican opponent, Michael Steele, has "a career of slavishly supporting the Republican Party."

Steele took offense, saying that "It goes to just the sheer craziness of some in the Democratic Party who think they can use racist terms and infer things about me just because I'm an African American Republican."

No, Michael--it goes to show the sheer madness of deciding Hoyer cannot use a perfectly appropriate word in the context in which he used it. Hoyer, in my opininon, is a wimp for apologizing.

A sex shop near a boat shop in Tangipahoa Parish?

How dare they...

"We want to send a message to those people that Tangipahoa is a safe place to bring your family, build your home, set your children in school because we're not going to tolerate this type of business," said Pastor Lewis Husser with the Christian Community Network.

Right...I forgot about that. Won't tolerate it.

California Hispanics told it is a crime to vote

A letter, written in Spanish, has gone out to some Hispanic citizens of California, telling them that it is a crime for immigrants to vote, and that voting could cause them to be jailed or deported. The letter also warns that the state has a computer system that can track down the names of all Hispanic voters.

(Continue reading at MoJo Blog)

Finally, the WTA addresses a major problem

When top players constantly withdraw from almost every tournament, there is a serious problem. Finally, it is being addressed.

Your fall-down laugh of the day

George W. Bush has declared this week "National Character Counts Week."

It is always a good idea to demonstrate to the children what character is. However, that would probably preclude blowing frogs up with firecrackers, driving drunkenly through your closed garage door, not showing up for military duty, committing insider trading, lying compulsively, executing record numbers of people, appointing liars and rapists to high government offices, poisoning the air and water, manipulating funds so that thousands of African women and babies die, systematically removing the civil rights of citizens, and blowing up a country that poses no threat to our own.

Just a thought.

Dueling infidelities--the latest Republican plan

According to a short piece in The Raw Story, those in Washington who think Newt Gingrich would make a good presidential candidate believe that his marital infidelity is a "nothing burger," especially in light of a possible opposition from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who "whose hubby had her own problems she'd rather forget."

(Continue reading at MoJo Blog)

Every aspect of life has been affected by Katrina

Some of you may recall that we took in some foster kittens that were rescued from a feral colony and turned out to be tame. Under normal conditions, someone else would have fostered the rescued kittens, but because of the massive post-hurricane rescue mission, kitten foster families were already very busy. And under normal conditions, the kittens would have probably remained in their foster home for a few weeks. But these kittens have been here for three and a half months because there have been no adoption cages available. This, too, is because of Katrina.

Finally, we understand, some cages will be available at two retail outlets within the next few days. Of course, in the meantime, we have become very attached to the kittens, and it will be very sad when they go. As much trouble as they are--and they are a lot of trouble--I hate to see them go because now I know them so well and am so fond of them. We are the only humans they have ever known and they are attached to us, too. They are wonderful kittens and will make great pets, but I will miss them a lot.

Then there is the matter of some other, less attractive, creatures--the pine bark beetles. After Katrina, thousands of dead, dying and weak trees were left on the ground, and they attracted large colonies of every type of pine bark beetle known to Louisiana. They ate their way through the wooded area in our front yard, and totally consumed the pines in our back yard, and in our neighbors' yards. The good news is that we now have sun in our back yard (we have very little in the front, which makes gardening difficult), and we can also clearly see the specimen trees back there, which include a wild magnolia and a very attractive palm tree. It is also easier to see the camellias and azaleas. Two poorly performing hydrangeas have also been transplanted back there

We have also created a bed where we will grow daylilies, a large ginger, and some other perennials, yet to be determined. Soon we will edge it and add some stepping stones leading from our deck. Eventually, the bed should look very nice, but who knew we were going to suddenly have this bare space in the back? Alongside the deck, we plan to put some Louisiana irises where there used to be a stand of bamboo. If the bamboo comes back, that's okay, too.

We had no way of knowing how many activities would be affected by Katrina, or that there would be this many changes occurring in our environment.

Almost 14 months after Katrina, people live in trailers--if they are lucky

Those empty trailers everyone used to talk about that are parked in Mississippi are still parked there. Some say there are more now. And there are a lot of homeless people who have never gotten FEMA trailers and are living at relatives' houses or wherever they can in other states. The Louisiana Recovery Authority's "The Road Home" program is just that. People who were forced to gut their houses or sell their houses (because they insisted on doing things like eating) and who have moved to other states will not get a dime. And while it makes sense that a program called "The Road Home" would provide money to people who are willing to return to Louisiana, it also makes sense that people who were forced out of state by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should get some type of compensation, even if they have no plans to come back or cannot come back. But those people are out of luck.

New Orleanians say their neighborhoods are full of trash and more unsafe than ever. The school system is once again in trouble. Congress couldn't be bothered to deal with the revenue sharing issue. The Saints are winning, and that's about it.

Talk about dumb

Though I do not agree with all of Radar's choices for its "10 Dumbest Congressmen" list, I am more upset that of the ten, four of them are not Congressmen. Feel free to drop them a line.

Quotes of the day

The New Orleans Times-Picayune generally has a few very intelligent letters to the editor in it, and one or two that are ridiculous. Today, there are a couple of doozies with passages that just have to be shared.

First quote of the day:

"Why would you put teenagers in the realm of congressmen anyhow? We all know what elected officials are capable of."

And then there was this:

"Christians must do whatever it takes to defeat our enemies."

Senate accuses Norquist of fraud, no one says a word

Notice how silent the news media is about this?

RNC recognizes the "Muslim race"

Stone Court has an interesting tidbit from the New York Sun concerning a Republican National Committee slip-up. The RNC accidentally emailed a list of names of top party donors, complete with their social security numbers and identification of their race. A stupid mistake, yes, but here's the horrible part: The donors' races were identified as Caucasian, Asian and...Muslim.

So the Secret Service is an idiot, but hey what else is new?

Julia Wilson, a typical 14-year-old who didn't realize it was against the law to threaten the president of the United States (and apparently, the ersatz president, too) used to have a MySpace page dedicated to a group called "People who want to stab Bush" or something like that. The page included a collage graphic of Bush being stabbled in the hand. When Julia learned in her civics class that threatening a president is illegal, she changed the title to "So Bush is an idiot, but hey what else is new?"

Too late. The Secret Service already had her in their system, and she received a visit from them on Wednesday. They pulled her out of her biology class at McClatchy High School to question her about her MySpace participation. First, the agents went to Julia's house, and was told by her mother that she didn't want to pull her daughter out of class. Julia's mother asked the agents to return in an hour, then sent a message to Julia to come home right after school. But by that time, the agents had yanked Julia from her class.

Ann Brick, an ACLU attorney, said "The courts have to distinguish between political rhetoric and hyperbole and a real threat. A reasonable person would have to interpret what was said as indication of a serious intent to commit harm." If Brick is poking around Homeland Security for a reasonable person, she is out of luck. Assuming that those of us who are reasonable see the statement for what it is, Julia Wilson's words are protected by the First Amendment.

As for Julia, she had already taken the page down because she decided that her MySpace participation was "juvenile."

How about "farmerette"?

Did anyone notice how difficult it was on last night's Real Time for Bill Maher to come up with a "name" for a female person who tills the land and grows crops for a living? He showed a photograph of a farmer whose crops went unharvested because there were no Mexican workers to pick them. "Here's a farmerwoman," he said, somewhat hesitantly, then stumbled over a few more attempts to identify her.

Finally, Ben Affleck--bless him--leaned over and told Maher that the word he was looking for was "farmer." "Yes, but--she's a woman," Maher replied, still totally clueless. In the next segment, he went on to talk about how much we value gender equality in the U.S.

Maher's sexism leaks all over the place, but you can't confront him about it.

"Guys Gone Wild"--further complicating the discussion

I've been watching the Logo network lately (because you cannot see Queer As Folk too many times), and one of the recurring commercials is for "Guys Gone Wild," a knock-off of the infamous "Girls Gone Wild" videos. Like "Girls Gone Wild," "Guys Gone Wild" promises a series of peeks at actual college boys who are just hanging out, doing very sexual things. The videos and DVDs include such titles as Heat Stroke, Frat Boys and my favorite, Dude, Where's My Pants?.

Does objectifying young men in any way make it less horrid to objectify young women? Before we can attempt to answer that question, it is important to realize that by far, the overwhelming purchasers of all of these videos and DVDs are men. I cannot imagine any self-respecting lesbian or bisexual woman being turned on by the women in "Girls Gone Wild," and I doubt if many straight or bisexual women are going to buy DVDs showing young men in obviously gay situations (which is not to say that women cannot find gay male encounters erotic, e.a. Queer As Folk).

From what I can tell, the DVDs do not fall into the Gloria Steinem-defined category of pornography, so they are, shall we say, uninspired erotica. Tasteless erotica, to me, is in its own category, and more related to pornography than to real erotica since it relies on stimulation via exploitation. On the other hand, I do not know of any suggestions of submission or humiliation in these DVDs, so the exploitation is perhaps more of the yuk-yuk variety than anything else.

America is a very prudish society, and I, for one, do not want to encourage prudery. On the other hand, America is also a very sexist society, and I do not wish to encourage the exploitation of women and girls, either. Discussions of pornography invariably get tangled up in discussions of prudery, which is why I like to make a distinction between pornography and erotica, as Steinem did.

"Girls Gone Wild" and "Guys Gone Wild," however, present us with further complications in this never-ending discussion. One of the aspects of the fallout from the Mark Foley scandal is that some homophobic people have suggested that "gay men like boys." I can assure these people that, in the privacy of their homes, heterosexual Congressmen are not downloading pictures of Helen Mirren and Susan Sarandon. Rather, they are downloading pictures of Britney Spears and Fergie. Both the gay and the straight worship youth, and that is unlikely to change.

Police in Virginia threaten to arrest anti-marriage amendment canvassers

Pam Spaulding notes that people canvassing houses in Warrenton, Virginia in an attempt to educate citizens about the dangers of passing the proposed marriage amendment are being threatened by police. Members of local law enforcement are dragging out an ordinance meant to control door-to-door sales. There is no evidence that the ordinance is being used to threaten candidates going door-to-door--only opponents of the marriage amendment.

(Continue reading at MoJo Blog)

Friday cat blogging--lazy day edition

Senate investigators accuse Norquist of fraud

In a report issued today, Senate investigators say that five conservative non-profit groups, including one headed by Grover Norquist, sold their clout to Jack Abromoff and thereby perpetrated a fraud on taxpayers.

(Continue reading at MoJo Blog)

Positively K Street--only when Rove says so

According to The New Republic, a friend of former Congressman Mark Foley's reports that by early 2006, Foley had planned to retire from Congress and set himself up as a lobbyist. The problem, according to this source, was that Karl Rove wanted otherwise. Rove allegedly made it clear to Foley that if he did not run for re-election, his future as a lobbyist was uncertain.

(Continue reading at MoJo Blog)

Who decides what a dual-use item is?

Robert M. Thorson, a Connecticut geologist, has traveled throughout his career to conferences and conventions, and for the last three years, he has taken with him one of his favorite rocks, a banded piece of the Hebron Gneiss, which he describes as resembling "a broken slice of layer cake composed of licorice and cream cheese." This is one of Thorson's favorite rocks, and, he says, a touchstone for those who have attended his lectures.

(Continue reading at MoJo Blog)

Dogs used to both intimidate and bite prisoners

This sounds like another Guantanamo Bay or Abu Ghraib story, but the practice of using dogs to both terrify and bite uncooperative prisoners is one that takes place in Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, South Dakota, and Utah. According to Human Rights Watch, in these five states, dogs are used on prisoners who refuse to leave their cells. First, the dogs are used to intimidate the oppositional prisoners. If the intimidation does not work, the dogs are instructed to bite.

(Continue reading at MoJo Blog)

If they're so liberal, where are the women?

Harper's and The Nation are considered two of the most liberal publications in the U.S., if not the world. But look at the male to female writer ratio. Don't even suggest the women writers are not available.

With $90,000 in his freezer, what's not to love?

New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin has endorsed the candidacy of Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson, the man who gave a new meaning to the term, "cold hard cash." Jefferson is the target of a federal bribery investigation. Those he has not been charged, one of his aides and a Kentucky businessman have already pleaded guilty. During the course of the investigation, agents found $90,000 in cash hidden in Jefferson's freezer.

(Continue reading at MoJo Blog)

We've come a long way, baby?

If you believe that, take a look at this.

Today is a government holiday

To celebrate a man whose methods of mass slaughter and torture were so terrible, Saddam's rape rooms seem like small-time evil in comparison.

A man who, of course, did not discover America.

And who thought he was somewhere else when he got here.

What a country...

Bartoli and Nakamura to make WTA history on Sunday

Marion Bartoli will play in the final of the AIG Japan Open tomorrow

Many years ago, the great Chris Evert changed tennis for both men and women forever by gripping her racquet with both hands when she made a backhand shot. Now it is unusual to find someone on the women's tour with a one-handed backhand (though two of the best backhands in tennis belong to Justine Henin-Hardenne and Amelie Mauresmo, both of whom hit one-handed).

In the late 80s, along came Monica Seles, who used both hands on both sides. This unusual shot-making technique did not catch on the way Evert's two-handed backhand did, and only a few women use it. The Chinese player Peng Shuai hits double-handed on both sides, as did the just-retired Maria Sanchez Lorenzo of Spain.

However, tennis history will be made tomorrow at the AIG Japan Open, when two women who hit double-handed on both sides will meet for the first time in a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour final. Top seed Marion Bartoli of France will play Japan's Aiko Nakamura, a tournament wild card who fought her way to the finals.

Bush objects to new FEMA director qualifications

Velma, a Katrina evacuee, shown here at the Bailey Hotel in Bunkie, Louisiana, says she believes that the absolute minimum qualification for FEMA directo