summer_jackel

There will be more posts about dogs and spiders...y'all even have spider PORN to look forward to, woo-hoo!...but I'm sharing this bit of politics because I find it hopeful and inspiring in its size, the cooperation and above all its lack of violence. Go you, Oakland. Let's hope it stays that way.

Wish I could have been there; it would have been a great dog walk...

So, have dramatic photos of Occupy Oakland march being peacefully successful---and huge! and shockingly, a positive, uplifting story about cops, protesters and free speech.

So, I'm going to vent a bit of frustration regarding gender stuff, because a couple of minor things that happened this week irritated me and are still nagging. I know I'm preaching to the choir, but it would be really cool if people regularly noticed and made efforts to curb gender biases as they crop up, at least the really obvious ones.

( hey look, there's a whole totally too-long rant about gender issues under the cut! )

I found this article about class division and online social behavior fascinating enough to share; thank you, edge_of_within.

Social stratification in this country is not cleanly linked to race or education or socio-economic factors, although all are certainly present. More than anything, social stratification is a social networks issue. People connect to people who think like them and they think like the people with whom they are connected.

First of all, wow, she gave that as a speech? This is little jackel, rolling on her back showing all four paws and whining happily in intellectual submission. That there is some fiiiiine rhetoric.

The piece pointed out an area of unconscious privilege I wasn't even aware of. Of course, I'm doing exactly what the paper talks about and participating in the social fora my friends do. I have a Myspace page I haven't looked at for three years and a new Facebook that I will probably never use. Livejournal and FA satisfy my desire for online socialization, and they take up enough time that I wouldn't care to maintain another site. I can't even seem to keep my DA account active.

It's kind of embarrassing to admit, actually, but I joined Facebook because I wanted to make a page for Coba. Yeah, yeah, I'm a geek. it would have been really funny, and I would have used it to journal all of his training/showing/glam pictures etc. Alas, Facebook doesn't seem to work that way. And...oh hey, that article does apply to me...getting my dog a MySpace page is less appealing, since most of my friends are on Facebook. Irony!

Oooooh! KRXQ replied to my polite but oh-so-pissed email:


Thank you for your feedback regarding the May 28th and June 3rd, 2009 broadcasts of “The Rob, Arnie and Dawn Show.” I understand the seriousness of the issue, and want to share with you a copy of a notice that has been posted on our website, www.krxq.net.



During these shows, Rob and Arnie made what we, and they, recognize were completely unacceptable remarks concerning members of the transgender community, especially children. Accordingly, this Thursday, June 11th, 2009, the show will be dedicated to what we anticipate will be a forum to promote a better understanding among all listeners of the issues involved.


John D. Geary

Vice President / General Manager

...but this is a lovely article about it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-rowe/krxq-sacramento-radio-hos_b_210637.html

This was a radio station fairly close to me, no less. Perhaps I should supply an angry email; I'm sure they are receiving several zillion thereof, but they still deserve some more. Apparently, some ads have been pulled from the station over this, which is a very nice start. I can only hope the whole show is pulled, because anyone who advocates violence against five year olds...well, doesn't deserve a radio show, to begin with.

Between this and the apparent fact that the state apparently has decided against extending equal marriage rights to little ol' gay me (for the time being, anyhow) I am Not Pleased with California right now. Not that we don't have some progressive wonderfulness, of course. On a brighter note, go New Hampshire.

EDIT: Polite but Very Distinctly Pissed email sent.

Circuit CIty going out of business is, I know, a very bad sign of a chilling economic crisis...although I must admit that I boycotted the place because they were rotten to their employees, and I am kind of glowing about their death. Regardless of whether I should be scared or chortling about the chain's demise, however, I have been making out like a bandit on scavenging its bloated carcass. New scanner, external hard drive (to back up my data, because I know that eventually this aging computer will die and lose all my stuff), and a prize toy I've been coveting for years: an actual camera of the type where you can change the lenses, etc. It's a Sony DSLR-a200, it was very cheap (relative to its usual price, not my budget...ow), it is bewilderingly shiny and I have no idea how to use it in a competent fashion. Photographers out there, feel free to give helpful input. Please.

Oh yeah, that reminds me of something I meant to rant about. During some downtime at work, I was reading through the manual for this new scary electronic thing I inflicted on my life. After awhile, my mystified cohort says "wow, I've never seen anyone actually read one of those before." We both have a few laughs over this (me thinking of that T-shirt Thinkgeek sells which says 'RTFM,' as well as all of the computer experts/tech support people I know who I can easily visualize snarling, "yes! Read the *&^! manual! PLEASE"). Cohort then follows up with, "yeah, I usually just get a man to explain these things to me."

I must have given her kind of an eloquent look (I didn't intend it, I swear), because when I looked up from my manual, her eyes went huge and she started backpedaling like crazy. Keep in mind that this is a smart, reasonably well educated and self-sufficient 30something woman who I somewhat enjoy as a friend, and that I'm convinced she was totally serious when she said this.

Face, meet desk. Oh, so much feminist fail.

So anyway, feel free to give me pointers on how to use my new device. I did actually read the manual, but I remain full of amatuerish lack of clue. I am inviting advice from men too, although of the three semi-pro/professional level photographers who I know read this journal, two are women.



( I have gotten to the point where I can take pictures with it. )

This bit comes via eclipsegryph. Our governor is apparently coming out against Prop 8. Perhaps not in the most articulate of ways, but...in this moment, I'm really proud.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/11/09/Calif_gov_We_will_maybe_undo_Prop_8/UPI-22871226279859/

Alright, so I am tired, sick and cranky right now, so this is probably not the moment to go into heavily charged political waters. But. Vis. the Prop 8/gay marriage issue, a couple of points become clearer. Firstly, there apparently exist some issues regarding whether Prop 8 can legally amend our state's constitution. I certainly hope this is true, since legally it seems counter-intuitive and sloppy as hell (what? You mean, we can amend the *constitution* based on such a narrow margin of the popular vote? Somehow this seems far too easy). Mind you, I am not and never want to be a Constitutional lawyer, and I have no expertise here. I plan to research it some because boy am I ever interested in this.

The second point, again as an attorney, is that in my opinion the gay marriage ban violates our Federal Constitution, and significantly. I could do this in a far more detailed way, but here are the bullet points:

We have this thing called the Fourteenth Amendment in our Constitution. It grants equal protection under the law to all U.S citizens, and abolished slavery. Text here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

The right to make contracts is protected by the law, one of those things the fourteenth says we all get to do. Contracts are one of the major areas of law, in fact. Marriage is a contract, and a common one. (I ranted on that piece a few posts down). The fourteenth amendment applies. It was applied specifically to marriage contracts in Loving v. Virginia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loving_vs_virginia, which overturned Virgina's statute banning interracial marriages. And if you want to see how far we've come, and how quickly, go read that one, guys.

The Fourteenth Amendment has been applied to gays in the past, specifically in the large area of employment discrimination law, in which gender is a protected class. Gender in this context is very broad, and includes pregnancy (you can't fire her because she got pregnant, or him because his wife did and he needs leave) and sexual orientation (can't fire you 'cos you're gay). There's a lot of case law on this. Much of it came from California. Much of it was both chilling and exhilarating to read, as was Loving.

Put all of this together, and gay marriages should be protected under the Fourteenth. We batted this around a lot in my Con Law classes (which are not missed, but in some cases fondly remembered. I had a fabulous Con Law prof). My professors were very much of the opinion that the question of whether gay marriage was protected under the fourteenth had to eventually go to the Supreme Court, and that they would have a heck of a time denying equal protection and equal marriage. There is no legal grounds to deny gay marriage that I've ever been shown (legal folk in the audience, feel free to play devil's advocate here and come up with a sound constitutional argument against).

Gays are a protected class, marriage is a legal contract, the line's easy to draw. It seems so damned obvious, but it's going to be a big, emotional thing and an enormous uphill battle, for no other reason than that homosexuality scares a lot of people, and is not the traditional mating structure in our country. People tend to hate that which they think they aren't, or don't know: human tribalism at its worst, and the root of bigotry. That and we've conflated spiritual and legal marriage, which muddies the issue so much in the mind of the average person that half the time neither side even knows what it's talking about.

In my con law classes, there was a lot of speculation and talk about when this issue was going up to the Supreme Court. The Supremes need a conflict at the state level to bring an issue up, and, well, we have one right here in CA right now. If Prop 8 doesn't get overturned as being somehow contrary to the proper way to amend CA's constitution (and I certainly hope so) and decided on those grounds, I suggest that we are about to see this thing go up for decision.

It's not a certain outcome, even though it certainly looks like it should be, and we can't be complacent. But I have hope...I mean, if Arnold, of all people, is expressing regret over the constitutionalized bigotry that is 8, anything can change, right? To look back at the facts of Loving is to understand how incredibly fast social change can happen, and the place of the law in that cultural process. We've just seen some of the fruits of our country's long move away from bigotry in this election. I will be watching the coming process with fear, and excitement, and hope.

The below-linked article discusses how "Palin, as mayor, signed off on the initiative that forced rape victims or their insurance companies to foot the bill for the post-assault exam kits."

http://mediamatters.org/columns/200810070007

I know that I'm mostly preaching to the choir here, but we can't elect these people. I don't use the term 'evil' lightly, but this is an example of it, guys. There are so many more reasons than this to vote against McCain, but with this one on the table we don't really need them. Share the link as needed.

FYI for those of you not in CA: Measure 8 is the bit of evilness on the ballot now that would nullify same-sex marriages and prevent future ones in our beautiful state. I'm tucked away in a happy little liberal oasis and so I have been spared seeing the vomit-worthy 'Yes on 8' signs anywhere near my home until today. *

I'm trying to decide whether stealing all of these signs I can find and burning them is immature and beneath me or whether I should let Pryderi pee all over them first.

Phone-banking against it would probably be more useful, and I'll more than likely start doing so later this week. I hate politics, I loathe initiating conversation with strangers. I have a serious telephone aversion. I'm going to do it anyhow. Someone ought to suffer for this.

While we're on politics, I just watched a bit of last night's debate (yawn) and was very impressed...in the most unfavorable possible way...by his scowling and grimacing-faces during Obama's speechifying. To say nothing of his even worse behavior previously. starchy Does a better job than I would of explaining why I'm pissed on a level that goes beyond my personal liberal politics about what's passing for a conservative worthy of respect these days, and why I think you all should be too. When a serious candidate for office behaves like a surly and ill behaved fifth grader, I become concerned. Anger tends to find its source in fear or pain, after all.


* My personal stance on marriage, that it's a kind of distasteful and outmoded legal/social concept, hasn't changed. The probability of me ever ending up in a legal marriage is incredibly slim. Who knows, though, maybe if the right girl was wanting it. Why I care about this issue nonetheless ought to be pretty obvious).