POLITICS - The Gay Agenda! Noooooooo!

CULTURE/SOCIETY - Transgender Day of Remembrance: An Angry Trans' View

I haven't seen anything about it on any Gawker sites today, but today is Transgender Day of Remembrance.

The mainstream feminist movement has, in large part, abjectly failed the trans* community, as has the LGBT movement (which has often been more about LG than B or T or Q or I or anything that's not attractive white couples).

When you look at any of the galleries of trans* people killed in the last year, and there are plenty of them, you'll notice that the vast majority of those murdered are trans women, and trans women of color at that. Trans issues ARE feminist issues, and they're not treated as such in many spaces that purport to be safe.

http://groupthink.jezebel.com/transgender-day-of-remembrance-1468606909

CULTURE/SOCIETY - Commentary: Why the Transgender Day of Remembrance Matters to Black People

The African-American transgender community disproportionately faces violence and homicide. 

Since 1998, November 20 has commemorated the International Transgender Day of Remembrance, which memorializes those who have been killed as a result of anti-transgender violence. This day is also aimed at bringing attention to the continued violence endured by the transgender community through out the world.

And while this day may not get the media attention that it deserves, hundreds around the country in places such as New York City, Kansas City, Boise and St. Louis will gather and hold vigils for those whose lives ended way too soon.

And while it’s easy for many of us to ignore this day, we have to face the facts: Violence against the transgender community is most definitely an African-American problem.

http://www.bet.com/news/health/2013/11/19/commentary-why-the-transgender-day-of-remembrance-matters-to-black-people.html

ENTERTAINMENT - You Know What “Pandering” Is in Superhero Comics? 75 Years of Straight White Dudes as the Default

Can we talk about the idea of “pandering” in Superhero comics? I’ve see the world tossed around a lot in the free wheeling world of internet commenting and I gotta say if I see it one more time, I’m going to punch as wall.

Marvel creates a set of comics with female leads? PANDERING!

Green Lantern and Batwoman are gay? PANDERING!

Characters of color getting their own comics? PANDERING!

Transgender characters in Demon Knights or Batgirl? Pandering!

It seems that anytime anything but a straight white male character is introduced there’s a certain part of the internet that balls up their little hands and screams “PANDERING!”

Because you know, why would comics reflect anything but the little bubble that surrounds their little world.

Lately I’ve seen the term pandering turned towards the comics community on Tumblr. Bleeding, channing and cbr’ing and stamping their feet that some comic creators and publishers are choosing to pay attention to NOT THEM!

http://dcwomenkickingass.tumblr.com/post/58001028889/you-know-what-pandering-is-in-superhero-comics-75

ENTERTAINMENT - Why we started swearing

Four-letter words, expletives, obscenities, insults, curses and cusses—there are almost as many euphemisms for offensive language as there are swearwords. But why? How has bad language retained its emotional valence in an increasingly liberal and secular society? Why do people still cringe when someone drops an f-bomb in front of a grandmother, or, worse, a toddler? These questions form the basis for Melissa Mohr’s new book, Holy Shit: A Brief History of Swearing. Mohr traces the history of English swearing back to its Latinate roots, through the Middle Ages, Reformation and Victorian era in order to explain its modern-day instantiations.

http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/blog/review-holy-shit-history-swearing-melissa-mohr/#.UbPQrpq9Kc3

POLITICS - There is no "too much, too soon"!

From Etoile Frank on Facebook -
https://www.facebook.com/etoile.frank/posts/579496355408780

With the Supreme Court currently hearing arguments on two major marriage equality cases, we all keep hearing the media and their talking heads going on about the worry that the the court could do "too much, too soon" to advance gay rights. There's apparently fear that giving too broad and sweeping of a judgement in favor of gay rights will cause a culture war that will put the furor over Roe v Wade to shame. I have news: that war has been going on for those of us with skin in the game for a very, very long time.

I, and people like me, have been second class citizens in this country since it's creation. We're members of a minority group that has historically been persecuted, prosecuted, murdered, mutilated, and tortured since civilization began.

There was a time, not so long ago, when the punishment for being gay in this very country was death. Then we got a reprive, homosexuality moved from mortal sin to mental illness in the early part of last century. And up until around 1973, gay men and women were treated for said disease with castration, lobotomies, pudic nerve surgery, and electroshock therapy.

It took until 1983 for the first state in the union to decriminalize homosexuality. And until 2003 for all states to finally make it so gay men and women couldn't be arrested in their own homes for the crime of sharing a bed and their lives. And that only happened because of a Supreme Court decision.

In 1993, brave gay men and women fighting for the freedom of their fellow countrymen were finally acknowledged...by being told they could serve, if they never let it be known that they were part of a lesser class of people. It took until 2011 for them to finally be able to die for their country without hiding their sexual orientation.

And so we get to the point of marriage equality. The question of whether or not gay men and women everywhere deserve the right to equal protection under the law. To things like hospital visitation rights, not being subject to thousands of dollars in estate taxes on property they share with their partner should they die (which their straight, married counterparts never have to worry about), to having their employer provide their family with health insurance, and about a thousand other rights and responsibilities that come with marriage.

And to add insult to injury, we gay folks work hard and pay our share of taxes for representation in the government that has, until relatively recently, used us as pawns in a political game. Our right to marry used a scare tactic to drum up arch conservative throwback voters. We serve our country in a time of war, and still get trotted out as the circus freak show to bring out the worst and most divisive in the general population come election time.

And people whose own lives will not be changed by the decision over marriage have the audacity to ask if it's too soon.

That question is beyond insulting, it's ignorant. Ignorant of the struggle gay men and women have had through history. Ignorant of the inexcusable treatment we've received for thousands of years. Yes, we've come a long way in this country, but that's no excuse to rest on our laurels and say that second class citizenship is "good enough" because some people may not be ready to let go of their prejudice and preconceived notions. The real question isn't if it is too soon... It's what took us so long to get to this point? Gay people being treated like people is long overdue.

ENTERTAINMENT: Man Of Tomorrow: Superman, Orson Scott Card And Me

If Card were writing any other character — Ant-Man, Matter-Eater Lad, Batroc the Leaper — even a high profile character like Iron Man, whom he did write for a while — you wouldn't see this reaction.

Because Superman is different.

Superman is not just a superhero. He's the superhero. He created the very concept of the superhero, and everything that's touched on that concept for the past 75 years — we are talking vast swaths of popular culture — exists because of him. Regardless of how you feel about Superman and superheroes, you can't deny the cultural impact the character has made, and continues to make.

http://www.npr.org/2013/02/17/172229592/man-of-tomorrow-superman-orson-scott-card-and-me

HISTORY: Iowa's place in school desegregation

http://www.iptv.org/iowastories/detail.cfm/alexander_clark

HUMOR: World's Jews Celebrate Christmas With Ceremonial Re-Murdering Of Christ

http://t.co/7dBEFKS2

CULTURE/SOCIETY: Thank God I Was A Racist

A fellow former Peace Corps volunteer sent me a link to this story.

It's not quite the same experience I had. The country I lived in was next door to South Africa, but had a long history of North American and European volunteers helping them out. So they were used to white people living among them.

But it's similiar enough for me to want to put it here. - OlderMusicGeek

Stories - Allow Rating/Comments Social
Thank God I Was a Racist

February 17, 2009 Hits: 22627 0

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Personal Info

Pen Name

Bruce Muzik

I pulled up to my new home and felt terror in the pit of my stomach. But, I knew I had to go through with this. I saw the same fear in Dad’s eyes. “Are you sure you really want to do this?” he asked. I nodded and got out of the car. Next door, two people sat on empty beer crates, drinking beer, on the otherwise deserted street. I wanted to move into my new home quietly, with time to adjust to my new surroundings. But it was too late. The beer drinkers came over to find out why Dad and I were unloading boxes from my truck.

Another local arrived to watch, and within minutes, twenty-five staring people surrounded us, faces as black as night. One of them, a woman, came forward, “Umlungu (‘white man,’ in the Xhosa tongue), what you doing?”

“I’m moving in,” I told her warily as I pointed toward the dilapidated “shantytown” house that was my home for the next thirty days. I sensed her confusion as she turned to the others and translated what I’d said into Xhosa, their native language. As if in slow motion, the looks upon their faces turned from curiosity to disbelief. The crowd murmured in unison as they grappled with the concept of a white man moving into their black community in the township of Guguletu, the African equivalent of a ghetto or shantytown. Unsure of my real motives, the woman introduced herself to me as Maureen, my new neighbor. “What do you mean you are moving in?” Maureen asked.

I decided to tell the truth, as difficult as it was for me to admit. “I recently discovered that I’m a racist,” I told her boldly, not wanting her to know how terrified I was, “and I’m moving into Guguletu to learn about your culture and conquer my fear of black people.” A look of shock crossed their faces....

Maureen looked visibly shocked to hear my admission of being a racist. She translated to the now-baffled and suspicious locals who, after a few seconds of silence, proceeded to laugh as if this was the funniest joke they had ever heard. I later found out that some of them suspected I was a part of a secret police operation sent to infiltrate and spy on them....

The next morning, I woke up with a familiar feeling growing in the pit of my stomach. The reality of my circumstance sunk in, and I wanted to hide away in bed all day. I forced myself to go outside and eat my breakfast sitting on the front steps of my house. As I watched the locals scurry off to work, a small child, dressed in a school uniform, walked past me. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw me, obviously shocked to see a white face eating breakfast in his township. “Do you live here?” he asked.

“Yes,” I replied.

He looked away, paused for a second, then turned to me and said with wisdom beyond his years “Welcome home.” He turned away and continued his walk to school. Tears rolled down my cheeks as thirty years of racial prejudice evaporated in that instant. I was home...

A link to the complete piece

CULTURE/SOCIETY: Our Hidden Prejudism

This is from me, not reprinted from elsewhere. - OlderMusicGeek.

NPR's Talk Of The Nation had this interesting show about our hidden prejudisms. It was inspired by an article from Scientific American. On their blog for the show, The Blog Of The Nation, they had link to two tests to check your hidden biases.

This is my results of the first test -

Your data suggest a moderate automatic preference for Us compared to Them.

Depending on the magnitude of your result, your automatic associations may be described as 'slight', 'moderate', 'strong', or 'little to no preference'. How implicit associations affect our judgments and behaviors is not well understood and may be influenced by a number of variables. As such, the score should serve as an opportunity for self-reflection, not as a definitive assessment of your implicit thoughts or feelings. This and future research will clarify the way in which implicit thinking and feelings affects our perception, judgment, and action.

A link to The Project Implicit that has the test
I have to admit that I'm embarrassed that it is "moderate" instead of "slight".

I mean I knew I had some prejudisms and bigotry. I mean how can one be in this culture - or any culture - and not have some.

I mean even if we don't talk about the obvious ones, like blacks. I know of some other ones I have. I know I have a tendency to look down on rural people. I look down on poor people even though I'm not that well off - but I grew up in a middle class household. And I have a tendency to think that fundamentalists Christians think in a certain or particular way.

So I guess the more I think about this, the more I think it may be right.


Below are my results of the second test where you decide if someone has a gun and if you should shoot them -

Your Score: 280
Average reaction time:
Black Armed:799.6ms
Black Unarmed:1035.84ms
White Armed:801.2ms
White Unarmed:849.44ms

A link to the test, Shooter Affect

Well, here my racism for all to see. My time for seeing them as armed was equal - yay to me!

Then we see how much longer it took me to decide if a black was unarmed compared to a white - almost 1/4 as long! And I'm the father of a half-black child! Yikes!

Guess I still have a ways to go to take care of my own racism!

A link to The Talk Of The Nation show about our hidden biases
A link to The Blog Of The Nation on our hidden biases
A link to the Scientific American article

CULTURE/SOCIETY: Robot Rights - A Poser for the 21st Century

Nothing new here for science fiction fans. But I'm printing it anyway. :)

This is from the English newspaper, The Guardian. - Why are the Europeans always ahead of us on trends? - I found this article through my home page from NetVibes. - OlderMusicGeek

Robot rights - a poser for the 21st century
James Randerson, science correspondent
The Guardian,Wednesday January 16 2008

The fight against discrimination based on race, gender, class and sexuality may not yet be won, but experts in artificial intelligence are warning that this century societies will have to tackle a new prejudice - against individuals with brains made of silicon.

Even the most enthusiastic promoters of robot rights admit that it is likely to be mid-century before humanity has to grant legal rights to our creations, but they say we should start considering the problems now.

Dr Nick Bostrom, a philosopher at the University of Oxford, said that even though present-day robots are not cognitively very impressive they should not be written off. "I don't think you should ever say never, especially with regard to technology. There's no good reason whatever for being confident that robots will not reach human-level intelligence and indeed pass human-level intelligence."

At a conference yesterday in London organised by the Centre for Bioethics and Public Policy, he predicted a time when robots become so intelligent they will need to be granted equivalent rights to humans. "If it has the same experience and the same capabilities we shouldn't treat it any differently if it is made of silicon rather than carbon." Those rights might include owning property and a bank account and the right not to be turned off.

But Professor Noel Sharkey, a robotics expert at the University of Sheffield, doubts that robots will ever achieve that sort of intelligence. "I can't deny that this is possible, but as a scientist there's absolutely no evidence for it."

A link to the article in The Guardian

HUMOR and ENTERTAINMENT: Funny Video

CULTURE/SOCIETY: Coming to Terms with My Daughter's Bigotry and Prejudice

If you got one of my letters, you've already read this, but I figured casual readers would get a kick out of it too. - OlderMusicGeek

It seems - I hate to say it- but I must admit it. It's hard to face the fact that my daughter is one. But there's no denying it. I just have to say it.

My daughter is an alphabetist!

There I said it - or at least wrote it. I tried to deny it for a long time. Pretend that it was just a coincidence, but I finally had to face the truth.

I was looking through the listings on my cell phone. My daughter was trying to find someone home that she could play with. And I came to realize that my daughter doesn't have any friends after the letter M. All of my daughter's friends are in the first half of the alphabet! All the names after M were my friends! M is as far as she goes!

There's no Nancy's, Pam's, Regina's, Sarah's, Tessa's, Veronica's or Wendy's! And certainly no Xavieria's or Yolanda's! And most definitely no Zee-Zee's or Zsa-Zsa's!

I told my daughter she was an alphabetist, but she tried to deny it. She talked about friends she had at school whose names started with the second half of the alphabet, but then I asked why they weren't good enough to play with outside of school. She said they were, but she hadn't got their numbers yet.

Yeah, right. Heard stories like that before.

My only comfort is that the son of my girlfriend, The Sassy Witch, is an even bigger alphabetist. It turns out he's had two girlfriends whose names started with A, and his current wife is an A name. Plus, her son's name starts with an A! The Sassy Witch and I were wondering if he might be an A-wannabe, wishing his name was Arthur or Alex, or something even closer to the front of the alphabetizing like Abe! Or even better, Aaron!

People, please let's work harder to wipe out alphabetism! I remember being a person with a last name that started with a letter near the end of the alphabet. And there were teachers who handed tests back alphabetically! Then to add salt to the wound, they would say you could go after you got your test! The only time I wasn't last was the year there was a person with the last name of Young in our class!

They wouldn't have done that if their last name was Zimmerman or one of those East European names that start with Zy like my poor college buddy!

Wipe out alphebetism in our time! People at the end of the alphabet (the omega-psi's as I like to call us) unite!