Ordinances and Obituaries

Andrea Dworkin, feminist and censor extraordinaire, died April 9th. So why can I only locate one obituary in the news [the Guardian's]?

Her official website has a memorial all set up, but -- as far as I can tell -- the U.S. media has been silent. Nothing in the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, CNN...you get the picture.

I'm getting the distinct impression that either the media is abandoning her now that she has no more controversial quotes to offer, or they're waiting to get the results of her autopsy. I like mysteries; her cause of death seems to be one. I guess we'll have to wait until the news media decides to report on her to find out what happened.

[Update: This morning the Post and the Times had obituaries. Perhaps I was being too impatient last night?]

Speak Up!

Come on, my sister bloggers, let's show these boys what we've got! [Of course, the much larger issue that's been circulating lately is on women's [lack of] representation on editorial pages, not in the blogosphere, but this article offers up at least one good strategy for increasing our influence in any contest of opinions.]

At the "Women and the Media Conference" this past Saturday in Cambridge, Mass., hosted by The Center for New Words, Nelson said the solution is
"cross-pollinating" efforts with a continued push for space for women in the
established press as well as in Internet news outlets and blogs.

The Web blogs so popular with Generation Y--and now deemed worthy of press credentials by the White House--are the cyberspace answer to individual
newsletters, cable-access shows and ham radio. All of these offer a wide-open
range for opinion makers to bypass gate-keeping editors who seem to "just say
no" to the women who come along...

..."Given how corporate media is, for us to expect The New York Times to change is not going to happen," said AlterNet's Chaudhry. "We need to empower ourselves with blogs. Not only will we have our voices heard but we have access to the kind of women we want to read it."

Female bloggers need to link to each other and other outlets of women's opinions, print journalists need to support each other's editorial efforts and keep making noise by sending in queries, well-researched and written columns and knocking on the big doors at least as often as do the men.

Instead of disappearing into the back of the room again, we must push the issue. Though many female journalists are opining 1,000 illuminated points of view in the media galaxy, unless we cluster our stars together into a fireball, we will not be seen by the major telescopes.

--From a Women's eNews story by Michele Weldon

Controlling Clock Skew

Apparently clock skew has something to do with generating randomness. Don't ask me what; I just like how the term rolls of my tongue. But in honor of controlling clock skew, here are some random items I came across today:

• It's National Sleep Awareness Week! Activities include a "Public Policy and Sleep Leadership Forum" and a "Healthy Sleep Community Award" competition. No mention of skewering any alarm clocks, however.
• Emily & CJ have their own blogs, which are now in the Blogs sidebar located to your right. Word on the street is they're getting married.
• Mark got a little cheeky about the Schiavo uproar.
• Lesbians and bisexual women are underestimating their risk for contracting sexually transmitted diseases, according to a Guttmacher Institute report.
• The Washington Post has an extensive feature on the D.C. Police Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit. Did the recent murder of Wanda Alston, a local GLBT activist, have anything to do with prompting this article? Probably, and that's a shame that it took a murder to bring public notice to the Unit and its work.
• An Idaho Planned Parenthood chapter can declare victory after a District Court affirms a lower court's decision about a vicious law concerning abortion and parental consent.
• And, finally, everybody's favorite Willy Wonka publishes an autobiography.

Disgruntled Doctors Rock

When did Tuesday night TV get so good? Not since the days when Rescue 911 graced TV sets across the nation have I been so eager to sit in front of the tube on Tuesday nights. [Thinking about William Shatner declaring in his deep voice, "We begin on a cold night in November in suburban Milwaukee..." still makes my heart jump. Will the robber realize she's hiding under the blanket? Will the boy's leg get removed from the drain before he drowns?]

And now on Tuesday we have American Idol. No need to dish about that here because enough gets said about that show already. [Go Bo Bice!]

Everyone knows the real draw on Tuesday nights, though, is House, M.D., starring the ever-so-captivating Hugh Laurie. Not only has his portrayal of House captured the hearts of those of us who can't help but love brainy curmudgeons, but he's also a bestselling author and a former classmate of Emma Thompson and Stephen Fry at Cambridge. Oh yeah, and I hear his performance in Blackadder is something to check out.

People keep saying House is the best hospital drama since ER. Well, folks, ER wasn't that great, so I think you mean it's the best hospital drama since Chicago Hope. I'd like to see you pit Adam Arkin, Mandy Patinkin, and Hugh Laurie against George Clooney, that bespectacled guy, and that doctor with the cane, and you just see who wins.

P.S. Tuesday night TV is closely followed by Thursday night TV in awesomeness. The O.C. vs. House is increasingly becoming less of a competition in my book. Don't tell Alex.

Republican March Madness

Some junior staffer in the House Democratic office got a little creative. Check out the second annual GOP March Madness bracket to pick which "special interest priority is the biggest outrage."

If You Build It...

For all other architect junkies out there, check out this fantastic web resource: The Great Buildings Collection. They even celebrate a "Building of the Day" and some "Greatest Hits"!

The site also has a great search function, which you can use to search by architect, building, or place. Or you can browse by any of those categories, which is what I did to find the above beautiful geodesic dome designed by Buckminster Fuller and Shoji Sadao for the US Pavilion at Expo '67, which is located in Montreal. Sweet.

Who Are You Inclined to Believe?

The United States has said soldiers at a Baghdad checkpoint "attempted to warn the driver to stop by hand and arm signals, flashing white lights, and firing warning shots in front of the car," it said. "When the driver didn't stop, the soldiers shot into the engine block which stopped the vehicle, killing one and wounding two others."

But Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini told his parliament Tuesday that the car was not speeding and was not ordered to stop by U.S. troops at a checkpoint.

[Click here for full Washington Post article.]

I know who has my vote.

Pit Stop Jacket

For all Red Sox fans who want to look sharp and have an extra $100 lying around, click on the picture to order this swell jacket. Maybe Kevin Millar will don one when he appears on Queer Eye.

P.S. For all Red Sox fans who want to look sharp, want me to look sharp, and have an extra $200 lying around, I'll take a Small.

I Like This Band

Yeah, that's right. I like Guns N' Roses. A whole lot, in fact. "Mr. Brownstone," "Patience," and "Sweet Child O' Mine" -- some of my all-time favorite songs. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and "Since I Don't Have You" -- two of my all-time favorite covers. I even own The Spaghetti Incident. Yeah, I'm that big a fan.

So, what's prompting this sorta defensive spiel about G N' R? Well, see, I'm a feminist. And G N' R is one of the most notoriously misogynistic bands to have ever existed. "Have you not heard the lyrics to 'I Used to Love Her'?" I am frequently asked. Actually, yes I have, and it's a goddamn funny song. ACK! Did I just say that?

See, I've been tagged (correctly) as someone easily incensed by anti-women sentiments. Thus, I often have to justify my love of a band that seemingly spews such sentiments from their very pores. But good music is good music, and I can't deny that G N' R and all their blessed mid-song transitions make me wonder in amazement and awe. Sure, some of their lyrics make me want to hurl, but only while my eyes are simultaneously glazed over in music-lover heaven. And I sure as hell will not stop listening to them no matter how our views on women clash.

Which brings me to my next point...and I do have one.* Thanks to Jon, I now definitively possess the knowledge that my beloved "Idiots" love Bush. (And not the good kind, FYI.) Sure, we all knew about Schilling, and, let's face it, Timlin was no surprise, but the rest of the guys? Couldn't someone have leaked their disgust about having to meet the guy? I guess I'm still holding out hope that Millar and Damon were just being polite, but I'll admit that's a long shot.

So I'm ready to renounce my Red Sox loyalty, right? Nope, not even if the team holds a parade in Bush's honor on International Women's Day. As I may have indicated before, in my mind baseball and politics don't mix. Am I happy that my team is Republican? Obviously not. But that doesn't diminish the love that's steadily grown for them over 24 years. And I doubt anything could.

Which brings me to a third and final recent instance when I wanted to forget any social conscience I may have: Million Dollar Baby. Since I'm on so many listservs, I've been "treated" to a slew of passionate discussions about this movie, mostly surrounding the gender and disability-rights elements. It's a movie, kids. With characters and plots and perspectives you may not agree with, but it's still a movie. Creative license and all. Can't we just leave it at that?

OK, so maybe this discussion isn't fair of me. After all, can I really expect to have it both ways? Is it fair to be an uber-feminist when it suits me, and then want to forget my politics when it's time to enjoy music, sports, or film? Maybe not. These are important issues and perhaps I should be consistent.

But sometimes I want a song to be just a song; a baseball team to be just a baseball team; and a movie to be just a movie. No strings attached. No longwinded discussions. And no defensive explanations for why burying your wife in the backyard can be supremely funny.

[*That was a nod to Ellen, for those of you not in the know.]

Where I Hang My Hat(s)

Woonsocket, RI
Condotopia in Woonsocket: Editorial from the Providence Journal - Friday, February 18, 2005

Things are bursting out condos in Woonsocket, and one reason may not be hard to find -- a few miles to the northeast, housing prices are booming in the Boston metro area. That's good news for Woonsocket, and all of Rhode Island.

Four completed projects have produced 287 condominiums, three projects with up to 42 condominiums are being built, and four projects with 148 condominiums are being planned. None of these condos are "affordable" units, subsidized by the state's taxpayers -- although to many refugees from the housing crisis in Massachusetts, they may seem that way. More than two-thirds of the completed condos have been sold to former Massachusetts residents -- newly minted Rhode Islanders...

...The infusion of residents downtown should support more and better shops and restaurants than the current tattoo parlors and other small enterprises. This, in turn, will make the city even more attractive to potential Rhode Islanders from north of the border.

It should be noted that 10 of the 11 projects are rehabs of old mills or other historic structures, including a courthouse and a police station. Several of the developers either have secured or are applying for state historic-preservation tax credits, without which the developments -- and their expected local and state economic spinoff -- might not be financially feasible...

Well, thank goodness none of the new units are "affordable"! It would be a real travesty to have low income residents living in beautiful new apartments, wouldn't it?

Also, note the comparison of "better shops and restaurants" to "tattoo parlors and other small enterprises," in which I read "local, ethnic, and struggling businesses." I've heard ProJo was conservative; this editorial proves it.

Minneapolis, MN
This looks to be an awesome event on March 3rd, found through OutFront MN:

Quadriga and Workplace Alliance sponsor "Is your Passport Current? Societal Reactions to GLBT People from the Holocaust to the Present", featuring discussion and a presentation by GLBT historian J. Nicholas Tretter, GLBT Collections Specialist at the U of M offering a historical examination of the plight of GLBT people during the Nazi Holocaust, and how the extreme bigotry of that time may inform our current situation, at Trikkx Nightclub, 490 North Robert Street in downtown St. Paul from 5-7 p.m. Free and open to the public. Contact: (612) 822-0127 x111 or wpa@outfront.org.

I can personally vouch for the expertise and sheer generosity of J. Nicholas Tretter and the Tretter Collection at the U of M. He helped me with a research project, producing a fantastic male shower room scene lunchbox from the Vietnam War era.

Check out the always fantastic "Feminist Finds Issue" of the Minnesota Women's Press.

Washington, DC
As always, the National Building Museum provided an entertaining visit on Saturday. I've never seen it so crowded, especially with energetic tykes so into science and engineering. It almost made me not hate kids.

And, finally, my local record stores churned out a pretty good selection this past weekend. Herman's Hermits and the Distillers top the list.

Take Your Testimony and Shove It

From a Press Release:

Today, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (NY) was denied an opportunity to speak or submit testimony at a public hearing held by the Justice Department that was scheduled to gather public comment on its National Protocol for Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Examination. Instead of accepting Congresswoman Maloney’s statement or written testimony, she was asked to leave by an official who suggested that if she did not leave security would be called.

Congresswoman Maloney was at the meeting to call attention to the glaring omission of Emergency Contraception in the Justice Department's first ever national protocol on treatment for victims of sexual assault.

Unfortunately, Maloney was not allowed to speak, even though she was the only Member of Congress present. Rep. Maloney was also refused the right to submit or even leave her written testimony at the site. A representative of the Justice Department threatened to call security if Rep. Maloney did not remove herself from the room.

Yes, Rep. Carolyn Maloney is rather threatening looking, isn't she:

Cure for Insomnia:

A concert featuring Minnesota's own beloved band, Low.

"Sing me to sleep..."

Hardscrabble City

It's a special day when your middle school French teacher and drama club coach is quoted in the New York Times. One question: which are we - "hardscrabble" or "sleepy"? Is it possible for a city to be both?

"The Dangers of the Hour"

In light of our fair leader's arresting speech last evening, I offer a rebuttal (of sorts) from Matilda Joslyn Gage, a suffrage movement leader in the late 19th century, a spokeswoman for Native rights, and an avid supporter of a REAL separation of church and state. [Read the entire amazing speech here.]

For one hundred and fourteen years we have seen our country gradually advancing in recognition of broader freedom, fewer restrictions upon personal liberty, and the peoples of all nations looking towards us as the great exemplar of political and religious freedom. But of late a rapidly increasing tendency has been shown towards the destruction of our civil liberties. The work has been stealthily carried on for a number of years under names and purposes which have prevented a real recognition of the design in view...

...Personal freedom is now threatened by two foes, alike in character although differing in name, centralization and clericalism, ever the great antagonists to liberty. The control of questions which should be entirely left with the respective States in being gradually assumed by the United States.

It has been said that the war proved one thing — our nationality; it seems likely to prove much more — the destruction of local self‑government, which is becoming gradually lost. This general tendency towards centralizing power in the nation is a vast help to those persons who wish to incorporate certain religious dogmas in the Federal Constitution. The Constitution is superior to all statutory enactments and for this reason the Christian party in politics is not content that laws favoring it should be enacted by Congress alone, but aim to secure a constitutional amendment of like character...

...There is an impending struggle greater in its influence upon humanity than the one fought for freedom thirty years since. The government is undergoing changes which are signs of danger. The red signal is out, if you are color blind and cannot see it the more the pity for you. An unreasoning confidence is the chronic state of the people. To them it does not seem possible there is danger to their free inheritance. They forget that liberty must ever be guarded. They forget the hereditary enslavement, the bondage of the human will to the church, and thousands bound do not heed this enslavement — to them it seems liberty...

...We are told the country is in a dangerous condition with tens of thousands uncultured emigrants yearly pouring onto its shores; we are told our flag is hissed by anarchists who have 25,000 drilled men at their command; we are told the experiment of free government in towns and cities is a failure, but what danger from ignorant emigrants so great, what peril from anarchists so near, what experiment of free government such an utter failure as the admission of four new States largely populated by native-born American citizens, men and women of eastern birth, the young, the cultured, wide-awake business men and business women, under denial of the first principles of Dakota.

The danger menacing our country does not lie with the foreigners, nor the Anarchists, nor in municipal mismanagement. Free institutions are jeopardized because the country is false to its principles in the case of one-half of its citizens. But back of this falsity away down to the depths of causes deep in the hidden darkness of men's minds, must we look for the source of this perennial wrong...

...Yes, it is daybreak everywhere; we see its radiance in Europe, in South America, in Africa. Peaceful revolutions are rapidly taking place on two hemispheres, yet just as a dark cloud shadows some parts of the earth even at break of day, heralding a coming storm, so while it is breaking day in many countries, yet over our own beloved land the fell shadow sweeps, — over it falls the pall of a coming storm. Amid so much liberty, people fail to see the gradual encroachments of organized power either in the church or in the state. But so sure am I of the coming storm that I cannot believe it will pass over us without the possible shedding of blood. The struggle will be fierce and bitter; a man's enemies will be of his own household, for this storm will not be, as some surmise, a warfare between Catholic and Protestant; it will be a battle of the liberal element against the church and its dogmas of whatever name or nature. After a time liberty will triumph, and then and not until then shall we see a true Republic upon this soil. As the battle for political liberty began here so will that for full religious liberty end here. The conflict we were sure had gone by will again arise; the decisive battle has yet to be fought. It seems to me when that hour has passed there will be no more church forever, for science and the spirit of free thought will have destroyed its very foundations.

He Didn't Throw Stones

R.I.P.

Roe Turns 32

If you're in DC tomorrow, check out the rally at the Supreme Court to commemorate the 32nd anniversay of Roe v Wade. Also, the DC Metro Planned Parenthood clinic will be open 24 hours in celebration of the anniversary, providing free counseling and testing. [Thank you, Sarah Weddington.]

Summers in Hot Water

Well, hasn't Harvard president Lawrence Summers managed to stir up a little trouble? In a speech given at a National Bureau of Economic Research conference, Summers made allusions to the possibility that innate differences between men and women may be responsible for their unequal performance and representation in the sciences. Having been asked to "be provocative" during his speech, Summers opted to forgo wearing lace panties and instead spouted off about the need for more research into essentialist ideas about men and women and their respective scientific aptitudes.

Luckily for Summers, there is no transcript of his remarks, so the debate is turning into a "he said/she said" kind of thing that is making both sides look petty. This is what Summers has admitted to saying (from a Globe article):

''It's possible I made some reference to innate differences. . . I did say that you have to be careful in attributing things to socialization. . . That's what we would prefer to believe, but these are things that need to be studied."

Summers said cutting-edge research has shown that genetics are more important than previously thought, compared with environment or upbringing. As an example, he mentioned autism, once believed to be a result of parenting but now widely seen to have a genetic basis.

In his talk, according to several participants, Summers also used as an example one of his daughters, who as a child was given two trucks in an effort at gender-neutral parenting. Yet she treated them almost like dolls, naming one of them "daddy truck," and one "baby truck."

Well, obviously if his daughter anthropomorphizes trucks, then girls must be genetically predisposed to not want to pursue or excel in science!

Now, I know I'm one of the many who are up in arms about his comments without actually hearing the context in which they were made. So, take my criticism with a grain of salt. But, do think long and hard about what it means for a college president to be open to the possibility that women do not pursue science as much as men due to genetics. He is not some biological theorist - he crafts and implements educational policies at one of the most prestigious colleges in the country. The implications of his personal beliefs on this issue could be huge.

Additionally,

Summers' third point was about discrimination. Referencing a well-known concept in economics, he said that if discrimination was the main factor limiting the advancement of women in science and engineering, then a school that does not discriminate would gain an advantage by hiring away the top women who were discriminated against elsewhere.

Because that doesn't seem to be a widespread phenomenon, Summers said, "the real issue is the overall size of the pool, and it's less clear how much the size of the pool was held down by discrimination."

Yes, and how often has this "well-known concept in economics" been used to justify discrimination? I've heard it used plenty of times to explain why discrimination will not happen in the labor market (or at least why it won't be sustained), and have never been convinced that this popular economic principle is put into practice in real life.

I certainly empathize with MIT biologist Nancy Hopkins' statement about why she had to leave Summers' speech:

I would've either blacked out or thrown up [if I hadn't].

Haphazardous Material

• A damaging memo on Social Security and privatization from President Bush's director of strategic initiatives, Peter Wehner, was leaked to the press. Nice strategy, Peter.


• OutFront Minnesota has scheduled its Lobby Day for April 7th, which - not to get too tangential - is also the 25th anniversary of an asymptotic birth.


• Mary Liz Holberg & Co. are back to their old tricks in St. Paul, introducing a bill to amend the state constitution to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.


• A Minnesota Women's Press article covers a presumably awesome photo exhibit at the Minnesota Center for Photography, set to open January 15th.


• Advocates for Youth presents an absolutely hysterical puppet show about over-the-counter emergency contraception.


• Illinois State House passes gay rights legislation; Supreme Court says it's okay that Florida State House won't.


• The Crime Fiction Dossier and feminist reprise will soon be added to my blog links. The dregular, The Ghost of Gordon Sumner, and Prince Precise are other recent additions.

If Not for Hitler

The ingenious creator of everyone's favorite baking dish - the Bundt pan - died last week at the age of 86. Not only did he create the pan that has made monkey bread and Tunnel of Fudge cake possible, H. David Dalquist was also responsible for the rotating platter in your microwave. To think, if not for Hitler, we'd all be eating Bund cake.

Spoiled, Putrid Pork Butts

Yet another reason to quit eating meat, from a U.S. Attorney's Office Press Release:

Court records reflected that Shamrock is a meat and poultry trader that buys salvaged, damaged and otherwise distressed product from insurance companies in salvage sale situations for subsequent resale. In May 1998, Shamrock purchased 162,000 pounds of product from Stoner and Company, Inc. The product was part of a salvage operation resulting from a refrigeration failure at Bruno's, Inc. of Birmingham, Alabama, a retail store distributorship. On May 14, 1998, Shamrock sold 660 cases (41,807 pounds) of pork butts to R.W. Zant, a Los Angeles, California distributor, via Lighthouse Trading, a Newton, Iowa meat broker. Two hundred cases were sent directly to R.W. Zant, while the other 460 cases were delivered to a Los Angeles cold storage warehouse. Soon after its receipt of the 200 cases, R.W. Zant and Lighthouse notified Shamrock of complaints that the pork butts were spoiled and had a sour odor. Though Shamrock had been notified of this spoilage, it caused the other 460 cases to be delivered to Professional Food Systems, an El Paso, Texas retail store distributor. Professional Food Systems, in turn, sold some of the 60 cases of spoiled, putrid pork butts to New Mexico retail stores prior to learning the meat was adulterated. Importantly, the adulterated pork butts were recovered before they were sold to retail customers.