Observations from the Coffee Shop 7.8

One thing the protests in Egypt, Brazil, and Turkey, actually protests anywhere, have in common is the prodigious use of American made tear gas. Sometimes I look at photos from these protests and I wonder something. I wonder how it feels to go to work somewhere in the U.S. and make the tear gas that governments seem to fire with abandon. Do you honestly feel like you're doing something constructive? Protecting freedom maybe? I don't understand it at all.

With all the news about this or that Republican anti-abortion bill it's easy to lump them all together as a Republican 'War on Women' and politically that may be true but in the wider world it all starts to look like good old fashioned sexism. I'll give you a few examples.

Of the 320 most expensive artworks sold in auction between 2008 and 2012 only 1 was created by a woman. In Stone Harbor I was talking about this with a gallery owner, I shall refrain from saying who, and her response was that "galleries are in the business of making money and the perception is that works created by men will be worth more than those created by women." The owner is in no way shape or form a Republican.

When Marissa Mayer became CEO of Yahoo writers and pundits everywhere claimed it was just another sign of how women had broken though the 'glass ceiling' in the tech world. Well in 1985 37% of computer degrees went to women while today only 18% of them do and only 19% of the country's programmers are women. In Silicon Valley a woman only makes 47 cents for every dollar a man makes.

Last week NASCAR announcer and former driver Kyle Petty, who at one time was my dad's favorite driver, said of Danica Patrick; "She can go fast, but she can't race. I think she's come a long way, but she's still not a race car driver. And I don't think she's ever going to be a race car driver." I suppose this means it doesn't take a 'race car driver' to lead the Indianapolis 500 or win the pole for the Daytona 500, one only has to go fast. In his defense I must say Petty did win 8 whole races in his 30 year Sprint Cup career. Well his dad won 200 races, that has to count for something.

By the way, I really despise the term glass ceiling.

At the moment I have no idea how I went from the topic of tear gas to sexism but I did. I'm so damn proud.

Observations 6.13

A short post brought to you by the Republican Party. Yesterday the House Judiciary Committee met yet again to pass an antiabortion bill. The committee includes 23 Republicans, all men. They passed a bill that is unconstitutional as it bans all abortions after 20 weeks, would never make it though the Senate, and would be vetoed by the President if it did. They did it anyway. They banned all abortions and allowed no exceptions as they voted down every amendment the Democrats proposed. The health of the mother doesn't matter, incest doesn't matter, rape doesn't matter.

I leave the balance of my post to Republicans. First up is Rep. Trent Franks who is a Republican from Arizona, a member of the Judiciary Committee, and the chief sponsor of the bill. During debate of the rape exception he said this, "The point I was trying to make, Mr. Nadler, is that, you know, before my friends on the left side of the aisle here tried to make rape and incest the subject, because, you know, the incidents of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low."

Gabriel Gomez is a Republican running for the Senate from Massachusetts. When asked about the Franks' comment he had this to say; "I think he is a moron and he proves stupidity has no political affiliation. I have no idea what goes on in a moron like that, these kind of comments only come from a moron."

I couldn't have said it any better, even if it came from a Republican.

For the record 32,000 women get pregnant from rape every year.

Observations on the 2012 Election 11.12

Gloat: to exhibit a conspicuous sense of self-satisfaction, often at an adversary's misfortune ....

I started to gloat but as we know I never finished, than I was reading an article about the movie Lincoln and saw a quote from Daniel Day-Lewis that changed my mind about gloating. "There’s a tendency now to deconstruct and analyze everything and I think that’s a self-defeating part of the enterprise." Although it was about his acting style, and not politics, I decided to trash what I had started to just sit back and enjoy the moment. Instead of gloating I thought I'd just share some results.

President Obama was elected with 51% of the popular vote making him the first Democratic President to win two Presidential elections with over 50% of the vote since FDR. I have been reminded that Bill Clinton is the only other Democrat who has even won two elections since FDR, it still sounds good. Obama also won the electoral vote by a wide margin (332-206) so the wingnuts have no possible argument on the results. By the way, have you noticed that a Democrat has won four of the last six presidential elections?

Until now a marriage equality referendum had never passed by a popular vote but this year it did in three states (Maine, Maryland, and Washington) and in Minnesota a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage was defeated.

Some firsts; Tammy Baldwin will be the first openly gay person to serve in the Senate, Mazie Hirono the first Asian American woman to serve in the Senate, Iraq War veteran Tammy Duckworth the first disabled woman to serve in the house, Tulsi Gabbard the first Hindu American to serve in Congress, and Kyrsten Sinema the first openly bisexual woman to serve in the House. As I have mentioned before there will be a record twenty women Senators in the next Congress, only four will be Republicans.

In another first the state of New Hampshire's entire Congressional delegation (2 Senators and 3 Representatives) is made up of women and as a bonus the state elected Maggie Hassan as its Governor. Also in New Hampshire Stacie Laughton was elected to the State House, the highest office ever held by an out transgender person.

In something not totally related to the election MSNBC beat Fox News in the ratings game each of the three nights following the election. Who knows the reason, maybe the Fox News meldown on election night or a Fox anchor calling Rachel Maddow "an angry young man" that same night. As with the election results and the failure of every member of the GOP's rape caucus results sometimes speak louder than words.

I never even got to Karl Christian Rove and his millions of lost dollars.

Finally all too sweet quote from Speaker of the House John Boehner. When asked if, given the election's result, his goal was still the repeal of President Obama's healthcare reforms he answered simply;
"Obamacare is the law of the land."

No, I have no possible reason to gloat.

Observations on the 2012 Election 11.9

The record twenty women who will be serving in the U.S. Senate at the start of the 113th Congress with the newly elected in bold:

Kelly Ayotte (D-NH)
Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
Susan Collins (R-ME)
Diane Feinstein (D-CA)
Deb Fischer (R-NE)
Kirsten Gillbrand (D-NY)
Kay Hagen (D-NC)
Heidie Heitkamp (D-ND)
Mazie Hirono (D-HA)
Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Claire McCaskill (D-MO)
Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Patty Murray (D-WA)
Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)

Observations on the 2012 Election 11.2

The election is only days, literally hours, away now but it really hasn't been on my mind much. I know, I must be ill, but somehow living in the dark zone seems to do that to you. Still I'm still breathing ....

Yesterday, in a totally surprise move, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg endorsed President Obama in Tuesday's election. Bloomberg had stated all summer long that he wouldn't endorse anybody, probably because he thinks the best person for the job is Michael Bloomberg. In all honesty sometimes, especially after the past few days, I think the same thing.

On his website Bloomberg, who is both an ex-Democrat and an ex-republican, said this; "One sees climate change as an urgent problem that threatens our planet; one does not. I want our president to place scientific evidence and risk management above electoral politics." Also important in his decision were education, marriage equality, and women's rights. Bloomberg added that if the Willard of old were running for president he would have voted for him, but he isn't, well not today, maybe he will be tomorrow.

Full Endorsement

Observations from the Window 10.20

I was going to write this earlier but I thought it would be better if I waited till I wasn't quite as irritated as I was. Irritated isn't the right word, I was totally disgusted. At Tuesday night's debate Katherine Fenton, a 24 year old kindergarten teacher, had the gall to ask Willard what he would do about the gender wage gap. In his answer Romney explained how hard it was to find qualified women to serve in his administration in Massachusetts and dropped the now infamous "binders full of women" line. For her efforts, and like Sandra Fluke before her, Fenton has now had her name trashed from coast to coast by the neanderthal press.

Nobody has of yet called her a slut but they have called her a feminazi, a party girl, and a member of some phantom left wing conspiracy to destroy the American dream by making women equal partners in it. They scoured her Facebook page and Twitter account, which has since been deleted, and discovered that, omg, she liked drinking and sex. She wasn't ladylike enough, she likes manly things, and to top it off she wrote about in public when she should have at home cooking dinner. The wingnuts love to talk about terror and well they should because they win more elections on pure fear than anybody has since the Civil War. Isn't something like this just terrorism in a different form? When it's a man it's a "pointed question" but when it's a woman asking it suddenly becomes personal, your'e just a slut.

I've never really thought of myself as a feminist, I don't like having to 'be' anything, but maybe it's time I did. Seriously if the wingnuts and angry old white men are so scared of the term it must be good for something. Just think about it, if women were to trash a man for asking a simple question there would be hell to pay. But they are allowed. Don't dare call fat Limbaugh fat but somehow Candy Crowley's weight can be an important issue for post-debate discussion. They are allowed. Think women are equal in today's America? Like many minorities they may feel equal but under the nice calm surface of equality a woman is one pointed question away from being just another slut.

I was going to leave a link to the article that totally disgusted me but I changed my mind, why give them the traffic, and after my rave review you probably wouldn't read it anyway. Instead I'll leave a link to a Raw Story article on it and finish with a paragraph from the same.

"The article, published anonymously, alleged that Katherine Fenton’s Twitter account “reveals that purple Joose is her choice to get blackout drunk and she has a history of getting wet at happy hour.”
The article also highlights sexually suggestive messages Fenton allegedly sent from her Twitter account. The Twitter account cited in the article no longer exists."

Published anonymously, fucking cowards.

Observations 10.13.1

This week in the Party of Lincoln, Part 2 ....

In Thursday night's VP debate the final question from moderator Martha Raddatz was on abortion. At one point during his answer Paul Ryan said; "We don't think that unelected judges should make this decision; that people, through their elected representatives and reaching a consensus in society through the democratic process, should make this determination." My translation would be 'we don't think what is constitutional, legal, or what a woman chooses to do matters. We think conservative, religious, wingnut men should decide this issue.' Suckit Ryan. For the record ABC's Raddatz was totally awesome.

To Ryan's credit earlier in the week he revoked his endorsement of Wisconsin state Rep. Roger Rivard after Rivard's challenger, Stephen Smith, revealed that 10 months ago Rivard had said "some girls rape easy." Rivard claims his comment was taken out of context.

Now, for the main part of this post, I give you Republican Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri who is running for the Senate seat held by Democrat Claire McCaskill. After Akin made his comments about the female body being able to shutdown in cases of "legitimate rape" Republicans all called for him to drop out of the race. At the time McCaskill stayed away from the issue unless she was asked. Anybody who follows politics knew why, she was waiting for the day McCaskill could no longer drop out and the GOP was irrevocably stuck with him as their candidate.

Wednesday was a day all political freaks were waiting for as McCaskill dropped the proverbial hammer and released three new ads in a 'it ends now' moment. All three ads feature women who were raped, two of which say they are pro-life, and one who says she is a Republican. The videos speak for themselves so I'm posting one video here with links to all three below it.

link Diana
link Rachel
link Joanie

Published on Oct 10, 2012 by ClaireMcCaskill2012

Margaret Atwood, the Canadian novelist, once asked a group of women at a university why they felt threatened by men. The women said they were afraid of being beaten, raped, or killed by men. She then asked a group of men why they felt threatened by women. They said they were afraid women would laugh at them.

Observations on the 2012 Election

A video that needs no introduction or commentary from me. 

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Observations on the 2012 Election

Today was a totally weird day in my little empire. Among other things I posted a photo on the flickr that wasn't meant to be and I began a blog post on the auction houses and their just ended spring auctions that is beginning to look more like papers I wrote in college. So for purely entertainment purposes I give you a public service message from Kate Beckinsale.

There may be some other women in the video, I didn't notice.

Republicans, Get In My Vagina! from Kate Beckinsale

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Observations from Amerika 4.7

So you think you don't need to vote. It doesn't matter, it doesn't count. It's raining, snowing, cold, you don't have time, the voting location is out of my way, they all lie anyway. If that sounds like you watch this clip from Thursday's Rachel Maddow Show. Or, if it's too long for you, just read the transcript of the last few minutes that is just below it. After you do please, seriously please, leave me a comment explaining why you don't need to vote. I need to know.

I'll be drinking a beer while I wait for the Reichstag to burn. Google it.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

"On Monday, a county judge issued a temporary injunction ordering Michigan House Republicans to follow the law, to follow the constitution, to let the minority vote even though the minority are Democrats. The court put on hold several bills that Republicans have passed using this kind of technique. Passed what appears to be illegally, including about that one about the grad students union.

Republicans are appealing the judge`s ruling. Their arguments boil down to, A, they say no court can interfere with the legislature, and, B, they say this is dog bites man. This is standard operating procedure. There`s nothing to see here. This is totally normal. Keep moving. This case has implications for what happens in Michigan over the next few months and to some extents what happens nationwide. Michigan Republicans are now considering a law that would make it much harder to register to vote in the state. If that passes, under immediate effect and goes into effect right then, that will become a factor in 2012 race in Michigan.

Also, Michigan voters voting on a bill that makes it harder to get a referendum on the ballot. That could affect the current drive to put the Rick Snyder emergency manager law up for appeal. Do you think Rick Snyder and his fellow Republicans would like repealing his law to be a harder thing to do? And does anybody else get a say in that? The 2010 elections ushered in a lot of radicalized Republican legislatures and governors across the country and have done a lot of radical things. Scott Walker is famous for a reason.

But what`s happened in Michigan is the most radical thing Republicans have done anywhere in the country. They have eliminated democracy. They have eliminated voting rights at the local level in their state. They have tried to eliminate Democrats` voting rights in the state legislature. Whether you`re on the left or you`re on the right or you`re in the center or if you don`t particularly care about politics, if all you care about is that we have a form of government in this country called democracy, we vote. If you care about the idea that we still use voting here, we still use democracy, if you care about the Constitution -- frankly ...

Michigan ought to have a flashing red light siren on it right now."

*link to video

Observations from the Edge 4.6

"Help defend women's rights and pursuit of equality. Join Americans all across the United States on April 28th, 2012, as we come together as one to tell members of Congress in Washington DC and legislators in all 50 states, "Enough is enough!" UniteWomen.org strongly supports diversity and welcomes men and women of all ages without regard to their race, color, creed, political affiliation, disability, religious or spiritual beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, education or income level, marital status, employment status, or immigrant status. Everyone is invited to join, plan, and rally as we unite to demand that every person be granted equal opportunities, equal rights, and equal representation."

UniteWomen.org

More to come ....

Observations from the Coffee Shop 3.19

My notes, along with my mind, are such a clutter right now that I find myself trying to remember what I did last week and failing. I thought I would dump some thoughts here in a sort of spring mind cleaning post. Perfect time as I'm sitting outside, it feels like a summer day, and I can see tulips blooming. First a few belated messages starting with Happy St. Patrick's Day. Than a happy six month anniversary to Occupy, though I would't use the word happy to describe one having one's head smashed and being thrown in jail, which is what happened Saturday night.

In no particular order some non-art related memories from art week. The Crosby Street Bar is a spot I have to remember, huge bar, gorgeous garden, and a patio to die for when it's finally summer. A proverbial oasis in the city. My first ever taste of absinthe at the same bar, quite possibly my last. The visiting freckle faced vq and her amazing knowledge of German vampire movies. My new unofficial gallery title, the reveur.

To my utter amazement I found myself agreeing with Ann Coulter a few days ago. “I think our party, and particularly our movement, the conservative movement, does have more of a problem with con men and charlatans than the Democratic party,” Coulter told a crowd in Florida. Nobody in the Republican Party is running for President for love of country but simply for themselves. Willard, who turned 65 a few days ago, has all the money a man could ever want but is just bored with it. Willard is running because he has nothing better to do. It seems Santorum is running for god and church, Santorum isn't running for President of the United States but to be Pope. I won't even bother with the other two.

For that matter what does the GOP stand for today? Not for voter rights, gay rights, women's rights, minority rights, or even the right to be healthy. Seems it's now not even for the Violence Against Women Act  if that violence is committed against women who happen to be in the country illegally. All I can think of that they actually stand for is the right of the wealthy to get wealthier. Maybe you can help me out with that.

Final note, In April J&J CEO William Weldon plans on retiring at the old age of 63. The value of his retirement package? $143.5 million.

Observations from the Road 3.18

The official beginning of spring is still a week away but yesterday I decided to declare the season early with a spur of the night before Saint Patrick's Day road trip to my dad's. I hadn't seen my sis since she left for her new school and with her spring break coming to an end I thought it would be a good time to catch up. That and sometimes I just have the urge, hell the need, to get out of the City if only for a couple days. I feel it in my blood, just climb in Foxy and drive before I totally lose it.

Now I find myself in Rick Santorum's Pennsylvania, or is it Governor Tom Corbett's now? The Tom Corbett of "just close your eyes" during your pre-abortion ultrasound. I swear between the two of them it's getting to be so embarrassing to admit at all you're from Pennsylvania. Yes the state that gave you Gertrude Stein, Grace Kelly, and Governor Ed Rendell now gives you Santorum and Corbett. Sad to say the very least but this isn't a political trip so fuck em.

I've missed spending time with my family and what's fun is as we get older the news seems to get more interesting. Over a dinner of barbecue we all discovered that the baby of the family has, unlike the beer drinking rest of us, developed a taste for red wine. At times I might be accused of acting like the baby of the family but for now that title still belongs to my sister. The sis likes her new school, her political science major, and it seems now her red wine. I still think the girl has the brightest future of all of us but I have to get that camera back in her hands sometime soon.

Than you have my environmentalist brother who spends his days mapping wetlands in the wilds of northern Pennsylvania. He loves what he is doing but in the end he is paid by a contract with Shell Oil and it's fracking operations in the state which he doesn't love at all. I know, a total contradiction, but he is doing something he wanted to do and I'm happy as hell for him. Before I leave the kid promises to show me why he is so totally into HBO's Game of Thrones. We might need to have two TVs on because my dad has some NCAA basketball watching planned too.

As luck, or karma, would have it Occupy returned to Liberty Square last night a thousand strong. Sadly NYPD returned too.

Spring is in the air.

Observations

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Observations on the 2012 Election

Today is Super Tuesday in the GOP nominating race and I have no clue what is going to happen. The leading polls and pundits point to a big Willard win and the beginning of the end of this pathetic race. All that means is watch carefully tonight because something totally unexpected is going to happen.

Meanwhile President Obama seems to have slipped back into his campaign form of four years ago. During a press conference today he scolded the GOP for its easy talk about war with Iran. It seems two wars weren't enough to completely bankrupt the country so they would like a third while at the same time they bellow about the price of gas and how it's all Obama's fault while ignoring what a war with Iran would do to the that same price. The President said of the Republican hopefuls and their casual talk of war, "Those folks don't have a lot of responsibilities."

A new NBC/WSJ poll finds President Obama leading Willard 55-37 among women and another poll has unmarried women backing him 65-30. Which brings me to somebody I always referred to as America's tard in chief, Rush Limbaugh. As I write this 30 sponsors have now left his radio show after his verbal attack on 30 year old Georgetown student Sandra Fluke whose only crime was testifying before Congress. I won't get into what he said here but I will say I am totally enjoying his spectacular fall, even if he himself doesn't realize how fast the end is approaching. The man who once called Chelsea Clinton the family dog finally went to far. In personally attacking Sandra Fluke over and over again he attacked everybody. Men and women alike see her as their daughter, sister, or lover. He attacked us all and for that deserves whatever cesspool history chooses to drop him into.

Which brings this all back to Super Tuesday. President Obama, who personally called Sandra Fluke, said he did so because he thought of his daughters. If they ever chose to speak out on a topic he didn't want them to be "humiliated in this way." In comparison all the Republican candidates, these men who would be President and are so ready to bomb Iran, cower at the mere thought of condemning Limbaugh's calling a young law student a prostitute and a slut. When Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner was asked today if the GOP was afraid of Limbaugh he answered, "I think his words were inappropriate. Next."

I'll finish with parts of an email sent to all the faculty members of Georgetown University by its President John J. DeGioria.

"In recent days, a law student of Georgetown, Sandra Fluke, offered her testimony regarding the proposed regulations by the Department of Health and Human Services before a group of members of Congress. She was respectful, sincere, and spoke with conviction. She provided a model of civil discourse. And yet, some of those who disagreed with her position, including Rush Limbaugh and commentators throughout the blogosphere and in various other media channels, responded with behavior that can only be described as misogynistic, vitriolic, and a misrepresentation of the position of our student....

If we allow coarseness, anger, even hatred, to stand for civil discourse in America, we violate the sacred trust that has been handed down through the generations beginning with our Founders.  The values that hold us together as a people require nothing less than eternal vigilance.  This is our moment to stand for the values of civility in our engagement with one another."