Sorry, I am on a serious anti-media jag today. And Keyser is still out of the country, so the internet is my only available repository.
The headline: Shrinking Snacks Concern Consumers.
The story: food prices are climbing in sort of a scary way. Rather than raising the cost of individual items, producers are often decreasing the package sizes, e.g. selling a 45 oz tub of butter with the same design as the old 48 oz tub for the same price. The article claims that most consumers don't notice the small decrease in the amount of product they receive, but would notice a price hike for a package of the same size.
It's an interesting and important story, frankly. Unfortunately the reporter chose to frame the story with a four paragraph introduction about ice cream, and a title that resonates with the weight / diet / obesity crisis meme rather than the actual issues at stake. The cost of eggs and milk are sky rocketing. These are staples. Expensive ice cream is a little sad, but won't negatively impact the lives of millions of Americans. And this has nothing to do with "snacking," a term only used to sell you things or lambaste you on "The Biggest Loser."
Dear media: I promise to read you even if you report things the boring old accurate way. Leave the spin to O'Reilly and the bloggers. I want the news. And that means reporting difficult and scary stuff too, like how hard it is for real people to make ends meet.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Sex and the City: you can't come unless you like the penis
Boy, I am getting mighty tired of this kind of article. Did you know: Sex and the City is for WOMEN? And HOMOS? And if you have a penis but don't like to interact with other penises, there's no excuse for you to be at this movie.
Listen, I know SatC is far from perfect as a woman-oriented film. But how long is the media going to keep feeding us this bullshit line about men's stories being universal, while women's are a special interest draw? More than half the population is women! That is not a niche, that is your audience! Cut it out with the hemming and hawing over whether you can "afford" to put your massive resources behind protagonists who look like the majority of your audience. It's just embarrassing.
And furthermore, you'd think it's plain old bad marketing to so blatantly push men away from the theaters. Why yes, we are still invested in a notion of masculinity that is directionally proportional to Things Blown Up in the movies we enjoy. If a dude wants to watch vapid characters make fools of themselves onscreen, by all means he should be encouraged to do so.
Listen, I know SatC is far from perfect as a woman-oriented film. But how long is the media going to keep feeding us this bullshit line about men's stories being universal, while women's are a special interest draw? More than half the population is women! That is not a niche, that is your audience! Cut it out with the hemming and hawing over whether you can "afford" to put your massive resources behind protagonists who look like the majority of your audience. It's just embarrassing.
And furthermore, you'd think it's plain old bad marketing to so blatantly push men away from the theaters. Why yes, we are still invested in a notion of masculinity that is directionally proportional to Things Blown Up in the movies we enjoy. If a dude wants to watch vapid characters make fools of themselves onscreen, by all means he should be encouraged to do so.
Friday, May 23, 2008
HOLY SHIT WHY IS THIS NOT ON THE NEWS
A HUGE NUMBER OF WOMAN-HATING DOUCHE BAGS WORK TO INSTITUTE A DOMESTIC GAG RULE
If you aren't familiar with the global gag rule (shame on you), it's a matter of foreign policy instituted under every Republican presidency since Regan which denies any US aid to international organizations who counsel women on issues of sexual health and make any mention of abortion. It applies not only to abortion providers, but educators and doctors whose job is to disclose a full range of options to women in a bind. As a result of this policy, vital services for women run out of funds and become unavailable.
AND NOW THEY ARE TRYING TO APPLY IT HERE. IN AMERICA.
Family planning clinics would be absolutely fucked without the federal and state money that keeps their doors open. I don't understand why I am reading this a week later on a blog when I read the paper every damn day.
If you aren't familiar with the global gag rule (shame on you), it's a matter of foreign policy instituted under every Republican presidency since Regan which denies any US aid to international organizations who counsel women on issues of sexual health and make any mention of abortion. It applies not only to abortion providers, but educators and doctors whose job is to disclose a full range of options to women in a bind. As a result of this policy, vital services for women run out of funds and become unavailable.
AND NOW THEY ARE TRYING TO APPLY IT HERE. IN AMERICA.
Family planning clinics would be absolutely fucked without the federal and state money that keeps their doors open. I don't understand why I am reading this a week later on a blog when I read the paper every damn day.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
[in which we consider the merits of the Scientist Church of Christ]
SOMETHING THAT IS NOT GREAT DURING TECH WEEK
I am 98% sure that I have mono. I have not swallowed properly in a week, and three days ago I started to feel like someone had drained all the blood from my body and replaced it with slightly heavier blood. I'm sure this will make five hour marathon rehearsals all the more enjoyable, especially when I am passing out after trying to stand for more than five minutes at time.
Three people a day, give or take, try to send me to the doctor. There is no reasoning with these people. Why yes, it does make perfect sense to drop serious cash so a dude with a degree can tell you what you already know and offer nothing by way of treatment, why didn't you put it that way before. Also, doctors are TERRIFYING and I do not like it when they touch me.
SOMETHING THAT IS GREAT DURING TECH WEEK, AS WELL AS ALWAYS
I took the kitten to the vet today to get her sutures removed. Apparently she threw such a tantrum last time she was in, they sewed her up with dissolvable ones so they would never have to touch her again. My daring warrior cat had those vets and nurse-vets so shock-and-awed, they would not even take her out of the cage. They just shook it a little 'til Sadie showed her belly and they could see that she's healed. 'Atta girl, Sadie. You know how we feel about doctors in this house.
I have a number of ranty, ranty half-written posts about backlash-y articles that may or may not ever make their way into the interwebs, depending on if I survive my various ailments of body, patience, and dignity. The clamouring of a hungry public for this sort of discourse, however, will surely steel my determination to Get Them Up.
(If you live in or around Evanston, you are cordially invited to see this staged reading I directed. It is on Friday. It is about robots. One of them loves to garden. It's pretty charming.)
I am 98% sure that I have mono. I have not swallowed properly in a week, and three days ago I started to feel like someone had drained all the blood from my body and replaced it with slightly heavier blood. I'm sure this will make five hour marathon rehearsals all the more enjoyable, especially when I am passing out after trying to stand for more than five minutes at time.
Three people a day, give or take, try to send me to the doctor. There is no reasoning with these people. Why yes, it does make perfect sense to drop serious cash so a dude with a degree can tell you what you already know and offer nothing by way of treatment, why didn't you put it that way before. Also, doctors are TERRIFYING and I do not like it when they touch me.
SOMETHING THAT IS GREAT DURING TECH WEEK, AS WELL AS ALWAYS
I took the kitten to the vet today to get her sutures removed. Apparently she threw such a tantrum last time she was in, they sewed her up with dissolvable ones so they would never have to touch her again. My daring warrior cat had those vets and nurse-vets so shock-and-awed, they would not even take her out of the cage. They just shook it a little 'til Sadie showed her belly and they could see that she's healed. 'Atta girl, Sadie. You know how we feel about doctors in this house.
I have a number of ranty, ranty half-written posts about backlash-y articles that may or may not ever make their way into the interwebs, depending on if I survive my various ailments of body, patience, and dignity. The clamouring of a hungry public for this sort of discourse, however, will surely steel my determination to Get Them Up.
(If you live in or around Evanston, you are cordially invited to see this staged reading I directed. It is on Friday. It is about robots. One of them loves to garden. It's pretty charming.)
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
April was not the cruelest month, not at all.
Things that are dumb:
1. Reusing Cardboard Postal Boxes Illegal
2. Shell President: Produce More Gas in U.S. to Cut Oil Prices
3. Smith College Students Drown Out Anti-Gay Speaker
I feel compelled to comment only on the last item, which turns my stomach. The lecturer was accomplishing nothing but spewing hate speech, which is obviously despicable, but the day that our side starts suppressing dissident voices is the day I want out. I can even commiserate with the argument that Smith is one of few truly safe spaces for queer youth in this country -- I have been realizing recently how much I have internalized the instinct to censor myself for fear of harm or simple, debilitating disdain from people I respect. But holding rally that did not drive out the speaker could have created the same assurance of safety, of community, of support, without compromising the value of an open society. Let's do better.
Things that are at least kind of awesome:
1. Ecuador to Legislate Good Sex for Women as Inalienable Right
2. This lady's artwork
3. Combing the internet for old, forgotten livejournals of acquaintances. It's priceless, really.
My economic stimulus check should cover the damage I did to my car in a fender bender almost precisely. Too bad my darling Honda is Japanese made. Poor planning, U.S. government, that money is not staying here to stimulate the market even a little bit, but at least it is not going to China? Many factors in my life are conspiring to give me mono. I should just give in to the inevitability of the disease*, as it would give me a convenient excuse to drop a miserable class. So far I have been very good about abstaining from pleasant things like sharing ice cream cones and making out, but neither of those is a sustainable abstention.
I watched a video of a bear cub falling asleep today and got so sad and hopeful all at once, there was nowhere to go but to bed for a nap.
*It is a disease. Not an illness or a bug or whatever. That shit is a strain of herpes and it never leaves your body once it enters, like a bad memory of a stupid thing you once did, it just sits and incubates and flares up at inopportune moments to make you hate living in your own skin.
April was overall not that bad, despite that cryptic and horrible footnote. I only wish that my life was a little busier, and that my friends communicated better, but spring continues and I am open to life being good.
1. Reusing Cardboard Postal Boxes Illegal
2. Shell President: Produce More Gas in U.S. to Cut Oil Prices
3. Smith College Students Drown Out Anti-Gay Speaker
I feel compelled to comment only on the last item, which turns my stomach. The lecturer was accomplishing nothing but spewing hate speech, which is obviously despicable, but the day that our side starts suppressing dissident voices is the day I want out. I can even commiserate with the argument that Smith is one of few truly safe spaces for queer youth in this country -- I have been realizing recently how much I have internalized the instinct to censor myself for fear of harm or simple, debilitating disdain from people I respect. But holding rally that did not drive out the speaker could have created the same assurance of safety, of community, of support, without compromising the value of an open society. Let's do better.
Things that are at least kind of awesome:
1. Ecuador to Legislate Good Sex for Women as Inalienable Right
2. This lady's artwork
3. Combing the internet for old, forgotten livejournals of acquaintances. It's priceless, really.
My economic stimulus check should cover the damage I did to my car in a fender bender almost precisely. Too bad my darling Honda is Japanese made. Poor planning, U.S. government, that money is not staying here to stimulate the market even a little bit, but at least it is not going to China? Many factors in my life are conspiring to give me mono. I should just give in to the inevitability of the disease*, as it would give me a convenient excuse to drop a miserable class. So far I have been very good about abstaining from pleasant things like sharing ice cream cones and making out, but neither of those is a sustainable abstention.
I watched a video of a bear cub falling asleep today and got so sad and hopeful all at once, there was nowhere to go but to bed for a nap.
*It is a disease. Not an illness or a bug or whatever. That shit is a strain of herpes and it never leaves your body once it enters, like a bad memory of a stupid thing you once did, it just sits and incubates and flares up at inopportune moments to make you hate living in your own skin.
April was overall not that bad, despite that cryptic and horrible footnote. I only wish that my life was a little busier, and that my friends communicated better, but spring continues and I am open to life being good.
Friday, April 25, 2008
I am a grumpy, grumpy girl right now.
A PROBLEM WHICH NOBODY ELSE HAS:
On a scale of one to responsible, I'd say I score a "generally on top of my shit." Meaning if there is rain in the forecast, I almost certainly have an umbrella with me. My friends, however, get significantly higher marks in flakiness. Three times in the past two days it has rained, and I have found my walking companion to be without an umbrella. And I can't very well leave them to walk a few feet away, hovering just outside my circle of dryness. So when they ask to share I always say yes. But I am very short. So my companion always feels the need to hold the umbrella. Meaning at the end of the day, the umbrella gets held a solid foot above my head, in such a position as to keep me dry not even a little bit. And I arrive at my destination sopping wet, and my dry friend hands me back the drippy umbrella with a grin. Tall people, you do not know the hell you put us through.
Something in my room smells like cat pee. There is no way to figure out what; once one thing smells like cat pee, absolutely everything is vaguely infected. The only option is to wash everything I own. But I am feeling despondent and generally hopeless, and that is a very daunting process so for now I think I'll just go sleep on the couch or something. Fuckin'... fuck.
A PROBLEM WHICH NOBODY ELSE HAS:
On a scale of one to responsible, I'd say I score a "generally on top of my shit." Meaning if there is rain in the forecast, I almost certainly have an umbrella with me. My friends, however, get significantly higher marks in flakiness. Three times in the past two days it has rained, and I have found my walking companion to be without an umbrella. And I can't very well leave them to walk a few feet away, hovering just outside my circle of dryness. So when they ask to share I always say yes. But I am very short. So my companion always feels the need to hold the umbrella. Meaning at the end of the day, the umbrella gets held a solid foot above my head, in such a position as to keep me dry not even a little bit. And I arrive at my destination sopping wet, and my dry friend hands me back the drippy umbrella with a grin. Tall people, you do not know the hell you put us through.
Something in my room smells like cat pee. There is no way to figure out what; once one thing smells like cat pee, absolutely everything is vaguely infected. The only option is to wash everything I own. But I am feeling despondent and generally hopeless, and that is a very daunting process so for now I think I'll just go sleep on the couch or something. Fuckin'... fuck.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
no, this campaign is not about gender, not even a little
So, check this shit out:
McCain Opposes Equal Pay for Women
McPain doesn't like the Senate legislation because he thinks it is designed to create all these new law suits to clog up the justice system. Let's follow this logic a moment. Statisticians are in agreement that women still earn circa 77¢ on the male dollar. McSame is not debating this. In fact, the implication is that SO MANY women perceive themselves as being paid unfairly that McNasty fears the courts will buckle under the weight of the caseload. Which obviously means the problem should not be dealt with.
This actually may be the most disjointed logic I've seen in a while. It concedes the problem of pay equity, and explicitly says it is not important enough to grace the dockets of judges who are also not busy hearing cases on domestic spying or denial of habeas corpus rights or whatever. Freedom and justice for... huh? Sorry, we got distracted by John Edwards chasing some ambulance, our country is just so full of frivolous law suits. Dear women, John McCain does not think your work is important enough to be paid for in a fair manner. Unless your work consists of cookin' and not aborting babies, in which case you should be paid the overgenerous privilege of being allowed to suck his cock (alongside the media -- wait your turn).
The text of the bill is also perfectly logical and reasonable, for the record. It's not like it opens up any huge loopholes. It just repeals the 180 day limit on claims, so that if your employer covers up their criminality effectively for a while you can still sue him/her/it. Statutes of limitations don't make a lot of sense to me in general, as I haven't heard a great argument for receiving a get out of jail free card for keeping quiet about your criminal activity for long enough. But in this case it seems pretty unreasonable to assume that employers will make their illegal pay practices obvious enough to be discovered within six months. Fuh fuh fuh, this country is going to the dogs. Well it's throwing its women to them, anyway.
McCain Opposes Equal Pay for Women
McPain doesn't like the Senate legislation because he thinks it is designed to create all these new law suits to clog up the justice system. Let's follow this logic a moment. Statisticians are in agreement that women still earn circa 77¢ on the male dollar. McSame is not debating this. In fact, the implication is that SO MANY women perceive themselves as being paid unfairly that McNasty fears the courts will buckle under the weight of the caseload. Which obviously means the problem should not be dealt with.
This actually may be the most disjointed logic I've seen in a while. It concedes the problem of pay equity, and explicitly says it is not important enough to grace the dockets of judges who are also not busy hearing cases on domestic spying or denial of habeas corpus rights or whatever. Freedom and justice for... huh? Sorry, we got distracted by John Edwards chasing some ambulance, our country is just so full of frivolous law suits. Dear women, John McCain does not think your work is important enough to be paid for in a fair manner. Unless your work consists of cookin' and not aborting babies, in which case you should be paid the overgenerous privilege of being allowed to suck his cock (alongside the media -- wait your turn).
The text of the bill is also perfectly logical and reasonable, for the record. It's not like it opens up any huge loopholes. It just repeals the 180 day limit on claims, so that if your employer covers up their criminality effectively for a while you can still sue him/her/it. Statutes of limitations don't make a lot of sense to me in general, as I haven't heard a great argument for receiving a get out of jail free card for keeping quiet about your criminal activity for long enough. But in this case it seems pretty unreasonable to assume that employers will make their illegal pay practices obvious enough to be discovered within six months. Fuh fuh fuh, this country is going to the dogs. Well it's throwing its women to them, anyway.
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