As promised, a blogaround to celebrate International Women's Day. Here's some good links from Feministing to get you started on your celebration. Don't forget to check out all the women-run blogs listed in my Bloglines subs (accessible from the sidebar, right above my Top Six) and my regular reading listed in the sidebar!
• It's not only IWD, it's Cathie's birthday! Hurray Cathie, eh!
• What Avedon said. Especially "It's not the support or supporters I object to, it's the enthusiasm and the fanatics.... it's not as if either Clinton or Obama are exactly FDR incarnate; they are both fairly average "liberal" politicians who are thoroughly schooled in the arts of serial triangulation. They ain't radical; nor are they idealist; they are simply better than any Republican alternative." I think her much-wished-for moment of believing again probably won't happen in our lifetime, based on the hour and a half of brain-leakage I suffered at the auto shop today which had their TV tuned to Fox Noise. These people actually believe Clinton and Obama are "far left" and that populism is dangerous and will drag us "back to the Carter years" (and I'm thinking "what was wrong with the Carter years?") and health care for all would be a fate worse than death (I guess they prefer people without healthcare to die as they're doing now) and omigod I can't remember what else because it was all so relentless and myopic and reality-denying and wrong wrong wrong but, hey, at least I now know whatever happened to Wayne Rogers so it wasn't a total waste I suppose. I now seriously want to see a Wayne Rogers-Mike Farrell "Alda Co-Star" political debate. I would pay money for it.
• What Digby said, too. She starts with "The idea that sexism is politically incorrect is laughable" and it gets even better from there. To me the anti-Clinton hysteria (yes, I use that word ironically) is, as Digby points out, utterly irrational. Just like the anti-Clinton hysteria was in the last decade. Her conclusion is pretty much the same as Avedon's -- we're likely not going to see this mentality fade away any time soon. Too many people have invested too much time and emotion into it to ever admit their entire attitude is erroneous.
• Also at Hullabaloo, dday gives the real reason why the Bush administration wants to coddle telecoms on this FISA thing, quoting Glenn Greenwald: "Bush is finally being candid about the real reason the administration is so desperate to have these surveillance lawsuits dismissed. It's because those lawsuits are the absolute last hope for ever learning what the administration did when they spied on Americans for years in violation of the law." They don't care about the telecoms, they care about covering their own tracks. This entire administration has been about breaking the law then covering it up. I like to believe that history will see justice done if only because they're so incompetent at everything else that this will all have to come out during the next Democratic administration, the one that has to clean up everything. But of course the Republicans will then begin the chorus (they're already gearing up for it) that "it's old news, it doesn't matter any more, let's put it all behind us and move on" so that the cycle of law-breaking and covering up can begin again once they're back in power.
• I don't need to read the Charlotte Allen "tee hee, women are so stupid and by the way I work for the IWF which claims it's non-partisan but everyone knows is about as conservative as the Heritage Foundation" spew in the Washington Post, because I derive far more pleasure and information from the responses to it. And thank goodness there are so many articulate women (and not a few men) with enough energy to tackle this nonsense in such an amusing way! My favorite has got to be Jessa at Bookslut, with this zinger and this follow-up.
• PortlyDyke at Shakespeare's Sister reminds us that Patriarchy Hurts Men Too.
• I can't believe anyone still cares what Chris Hitchens thinks of anything, particularly women. But comedy writer Julie Klausner takes him on in HuffPo.
• I'd been anticipating Bryan, whose blog is currently the place to go for Iditarod updates, putting in his two cents about the "Confederate flag" version of Florida's license plate, since he does a regular Passing the Plate feature. Suffice it to say I was not disappointed.
• Is there some sort of weird epidemic of fake autobiographies again? I thought we were done with that nonsense when Oprah shamed James Frey for A Million Little Pieces, but I guess not. Now comes news that not only was Misha Defonseca not Jewish and not raised/protected by wolves 60 years ago, but Margaret B. Jones was never raised by a black family in south central L.A., but by a white one in Sherman Oaks. Ooh, so close! Some of us are far too trusting, I suppose. Deep down, maybe we all Want To Believe. The Telegraph has a good bit on "the literary tradition of the fake memoir."
• Oh good, I'm not the only one who's noticed the change in Keith Olbermann of late. I'm inclined, of course, to believe it's not really a change, it was there all along and we just didn't notice it until he started, like everyone else at his station, obsessively indulging in horserace speculation to the near-exclusion of any other real-world news.
• It must mean something when various liberal blogs are accusing the Clinton camp of running an ad in which they claim Obama's face is digitally darkened to, um, I guess make him more scary-looking?, and meanwhile some voices in the feminist comics blogosphere are having a very interesting discussion about the lightening of skin color in black female comic book characters. Cheryl Lynn in particular brings the goods. I'd love to get a colorist's take on this!
• Melissa Krause makes a compelling case for why you can't always (or ever?) separate a person's publicly-held opinions from their creative endeavors, using Dave Sim as her example. Although I think the fact that she's never read Cerebus shouldn't prevent her from spelling the title correctly.
• Ampersand links to the new Bad Cartoonist blog and their example of the ultimate in laziness, an editorial cartoonist using the same exact drawing twice in a month and just substituting a different caption.
• Hanan Levin posts the following video of Tony Bourdain interviewed at Google HQ, which I'm swiping because I want more hits. :) Seriously, Hanan's always worth repeated visits, so peruse his blog too! Here's the video:
• Lastly, I really like Lis Riba's links to typing tests, as I like to keep timing myself during my job search. Last time I tested at a prospective employer and actually received my score, I think it was 104.
That's all; don't forget to sprint those clocks forward an hour tonight, my fellow Americans, to begin Daylight Savings Time! Aw geez, I have to redo my AeroGarden's timer again?
• It's not only IWD, it's Cathie's birthday! Hurray Cathie, eh!
• What Avedon said. Especially "It's not the support or supporters I object to, it's the enthusiasm and the fanatics.... it's not as if either Clinton or Obama are exactly FDR incarnate; they are both fairly average "liberal" politicians who are thoroughly schooled in the arts of serial triangulation. They ain't radical; nor are they idealist; they are simply better than any Republican alternative." I think her much-wished-for moment of believing again probably won't happen in our lifetime, based on the hour and a half of brain-leakage I suffered at the auto shop today which had their TV tuned to Fox Noise. These people actually believe Clinton and Obama are "far left" and that populism is dangerous and will drag us "back to the Carter years" (and I'm thinking "what was wrong with the Carter years?") and health care for all would be a fate worse than death (I guess they prefer people without healthcare to die as they're doing now) and omigod I can't remember what else because it was all so relentless and myopic and reality-denying and wrong wrong wrong but, hey, at least I now know whatever happened to Wayne Rogers so it wasn't a total waste I suppose. I now seriously want to see a Wayne Rogers-Mike Farrell "Alda Co-Star" political debate. I would pay money for it.
• What Digby said, too. She starts with "The idea that sexism is politically incorrect is laughable" and it gets even better from there. To me the anti-Clinton hysteria (yes, I use that word ironically) is, as Digby points out, utterly irrational. Just like the anti-Clinton hysteria was in the last decade. Her conclusion is pretty much the same as Avedon's -- we're likely not going to see this mentality fade away any time soon. Too many people have invested too much time and emotion into it to ever admit their entire attitude is erroneous.
• Also at Hullabaloo, dday gives the real reason why the Bush administration wants to coddle telecoms on this FISA thing, quoting Glenn Greenwald: "Bush is finally being candid about the real reason the administration is so desperate to have these surveillance lawsuits dismissed. It's because those lawsuits are the absolute last hope for ever learning what the administration did when they spied on Americans for years in violation of the law." They don't care about the telecoms, they care about covering their own tracks. This entire administration has been about breaking the law then covering it up. I like to believe that history will see justice done if only because they're so incompetent at everything else that this will all have to come out during the next Democratic administration, the one that has to clean up everything. But of course the Republicans will then begin the chorus (they're already gearing up for it) that "it's old news, it doesn't matter any more, let's put it all behind us and move on" so that the cycle of law-breaking and covering up can begin again once they're back in power.
• I don't need to read the Charlotte Allen "tee hee, women are so stupid and by the way I work for the IWF which claims it's non-partisan but everyone knows is about as conservative as the Heritage Foundation" spew in the Washington Post, because I derive far more pleasure and information from the responses to it. And thank goodness there are so many articulate women (and not a few men) with enough energy to tackle this nonsense in such an amusing way! My favorite has got to be Jessa at Bookslut, with this zinger and this follow-up.
• PortlyDyke at Shakespeare's Sister reminds us that Patriarchy Hurts Men Too.
• I can't believe anyone still cares what Chris Hitchens thinks of anything, particularly women. But comedy writer Julie Klausner takes him on in HuffPo.
• I'd been anticipating Bryan, whose blog is currently the place to go for Iditarod updates, putting in his two cents about the "Confederate flag" version of Florida's license plate, since he does a regular Passing the Plate feature. Suffice it to say I was not disappointed.
• Is there some sort of weird epidemic of fake autobiographies again? I thought we were done with that nonsense when Oprah shamed James Frey for A Million Little Pieces, but I guess not. Now comes news that not only was Misha Defonseca not Jewish and not raised/protected by wolves 60 years ago, but Margaret B. Jones was never raised by a black family in south central L.A., but by a white one in Sherman Oaks. Ooh, so close! Some of us are far too trusting, I suppose. Deep down, maybe we all Want To Believe. The Telegraph has a good bit on "the literary tradition of the fake memoir."
• Oh good, I'm not the only one who's noticed the change in Keith Olbermann of late. I'm inclined, of course, to believe it's not really a change, it was there all along and we just didn't notice it until he started, like everyone else at his station, obsessively indulging in horserace speculation to the near-exclusion of any other real-world news.
• It must mean something when various liberal blogs are accusing the Clinton camp of running an ad in which they claim Obama's face is digitally darkened to, um, I guess make him more scary-looking?, and meanwhile some voices in the feminist comics blogosphere are having a very interesting discussion about the lightening of skin color in black female comic book characters. Cheryl Lynn in particular brings the goods. I'd love to get a colorist's take on this!
• Melissa Krause makes a compelling case for why you can't always (or ever?) separate a person's publicly-held opinions from their creative endeavors, using Dave Sim as her example. Although I think the fact that she's never read Cerebus shouldn't prevent her from spelling the title correctly.
• Ampersand links to the new Bad Cartoonist blog and their example of the ultimate in laziness, an editorial cartoonist using the same exact drawing twice in a month and just substituting a different caption.
• Hanan Levin posts the following video of Tony Bourdain interviewed at Google HQ, which I'm swiping because I want more hits. :) Seriously, Hanan's always worth repeated visits, so peruse his blog too! Here's the video:
• Lastly, I really like Lis Riba's links to typing tests, as I like to keep timing myself during my job search. Last time I tested at a prospective employer and actually received my score, I think it was 104.
That's all; don't forget to sprint those clocks forward an hour tonight, my fellow Americans, to begin Daylight Savings Time! Aw geez, I have to redo my AeroGarden's timer again?
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