Sunday Blogbord

by matttbastard

Enjoy the following celebration of tasty links from a variety of textural chefs:

Daisy’s Dead Air: Dead Air Church: May 4, 1970

Elle, PhD: On Double Standards and Women Paying for Men’s Actions

cripchick: the terp from helllll

Hoyden About Town: Blogging Against Disablism: Mental Illness, Stigmatisation, Coming Out

Wheelchair Dancer: BADD: Disabled People Aren’t Human, Are They?

Alas, a Blog: On Making Argument: Disability and Language, by Wheelchair Dancer

Feline Formal Shorts: “Special Needs”

Dawg’s Blog: West Bank apartheid: 2008

A Creative Revolution: Fable of the Evangelicals

mirabile dictu: Regime Change in America and Dion Silent on Bill C-484

Birth Pangs: Anti-VAW Expert: ‘Pregnant women don’t need C-484′

unrepentant old hippie: Another non-answer to the question

A Womyn’s Ecdysis: Surveying the Damage: Part I (h/t Thomas)

WOC PhD: Feminist Reading Tools for Recognizing and Countering Racism

The Apostate: Withdrawing From The Third Wave and On objectification and how bikinis can be radically feminist

A Secret Chord: A Ramble Through Objectification and Why Anti-Sex Work is Objectifying

Renegade Evolution: !@#!?!

Muslimah Media Watch: ‘Chay’ is for What?

Jack @ Feministe: Feminism without fragmentation

Orcinus: Things Americans don’t like to talk about

AngryBlackBitch: By request – Debunking Acceptable Blackness through the second coming of the Rev. Wright drama…

the regina mom: MAYDAY! MAYDAY! Bills 5 & 6 are anti-woman!

zunguzungu: Some Uneducated Speculations on “The African Novel” in Tanzania

Burning Words: Why I could never join the Labor Party and The end of the line

Scriptoids: Working hard for the money

Saying Nothing Charmingly: Now Taking Donations

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Ceaseless Wonders

by matttbastard

(originally uploaded by Granny Miller)

Not to be all “I toldja so“, but I’m in no way surprised that The Good Doctor is actually a Neo-confederate-rightwing populist-JBS-fluffin’-tinfoil-true-believer (ZOMG! WET WATER!) What has me utterly flabbergasted is that uber-lazy junior Neocon Jamie Kirchick—Marty Peretz’s golden gopher–actually put forth a well-researched piece of hard-hitting investigative journalism. Am awaiting the inevitable sound of distant hoofbeats–no doubt hastened by this latest missive from the vast Zionist conspiracy.

(Oh, and Glenn Greenwald owes Dave Neiwert a BIG apology. *Crickets*)

Enjoy the fun @ Memeorandum (a day late and a Liberty Dollar short–mea culpa for succumbing to illness at such an inopportune time).

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Saturday Blogwhoring

by matttbastard

Dedicated to those who are trying to empty the ocean. Whether with teaspoons, shotglasses, or buckets, it counts.  Much love.

(Shakes deserves a new silverware set.)

Birth Pangs: The Sacred and the Profane and UPDATE: RealityWorld v. Lying Fetus Fetishists

Culture Kitchen: Global Warming: Nukes Are NOT the Answer

Racialicious: The Veil Does Not a Prison Make (h/t Kevin) 

A Creative Revolution: Throwing stones. and Sisters 

Slant Truth: The (Natural) Psychology of Gender Stereotypes, With no Attention Paid to PoC Whatsoever (Evo-psych makes me wanna smoke crack.  Blame my Nubian ancestry. Or the shape of my jaw. Or something.)

Orcinus: Huckabee’s 120 Days 

Creekside: Afghanistan – We are so-o-o-o-o past 3-D

Politics’n’Poetry: Tar Sands Time Out! and The Uranium-Backed War on Indigenous Peoples or Why Canada Did Not Support the UN Declaration on Indigenous Peoples

Black Looks: It is women who are being raped  

unrepentant old hippie: Fetus Fetishists park Fetusmobile© at contractor’s home

pogge: They don’t really think Harper delegates, do they?

The Francis L. Holland Blog: Color-Aroused Decision Making Is Central to “Obama’s Fate” (Posted at MyDD) (h/t Tom)

AngryBlackBitch: Pander first…govern never… and The take away… 

Fetch me my axe: World AIDS day, belatedly

mnemosyne: rants, musings (& some link love) b4 the end of yr

Women of Color Blog: A small post (h/t b. medusa)

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Shifting Paradigms

by matttbastard

– speech by Naomi Wolf, author of “The End of America: Letter of Warning To A Young Patriot,” given October 11, 2007 at Kane Hall on the University of Washington campus.

– interview with Naomi Wolf re: “The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot”

Related: Naomi Wolf on Blackwater and the “newly created thug caste” (h/t LadyBroadoak).

Flashback: David Neiwert: Rush, Newspeak and Fascism: An Exegesis and The Rise of Pseudo Fascism: An essay (both PDF format); Chris Hedges: The Christian Right and the Rise of American Fascism; Matthew N. Lyons: Is the Bush Administration Fascist?

Recommend this post at Progressive Bloggers

A Shotgun Divorce?

by matttbastard

I’ve been following the increasingly acrimonious Ron Paul-related blogspat between David Neiwert and Glenn Greenwald with great interest. Not particularly concerned with the substance of the dispute, though I will admit to being sympathetic with Neiwert’s position. With that said, as the battle lines continue to be drawn I believe there are broader implications at play.

From what I’ve read, Greenwald has always identified as a (left-leaning) libertarian, and to many libertarians RP represents the first viable presidential candidate since, well, the last time Ron Paul ran for the Executive. Still, the erroneous notion that Glenn Greenwald is a ‘liberal’ has become stone-set conventional wisdom among many on both sides of the aisle. Seems if one expresses a deep and abiding dislike for the Cheney Bush administration one might as well be a goddamn Commie (Pat Buchanan and Gary North: once far-right anti-Semitic isolationists, now objectively Maoist–just add 9/11.)

So, one shouldn’t be surprised to see Greenwald side with Paul in this particular dispute. Neiwert, a journalist who specializes in covering the USian far right, is an ardent proponent of Federal hate crime legislation. Greenwald, a former constitutional law attorney, is a genuine free speech absolutist (according to Wikipedia, white supremacist Matthew Hale was one of his more famous clients). Any affiliation Greenwald has with the USian ‘left-blogosphere’/netroots (read: partisan Democracts, though I wouldn’t place Neiwert in this category, either) should be considered a shotgun wedding of (in)convenience, much like that of Jim Henley or Arthur Silber, than indicative of a genuine ideological convergence (indeed, as Silber has noted, a number of USian progressive luminaries have been content to repeatedly play the useful idiot role on behalf of imperial Donkeys in Congress).

It will be interesting to see if Ron Paul proves to be the catalyst that hastens a schism among anti-Bush forces who share little in common besides a respect for civil liberties and the rule of law, along with a recognition of how much (perhaps irreparable) damage to civil society the War on Terror has wrought. As the specter of lame-duck Dubya (and Deadeye Dick) continues to fade, there appear to be a number of fundamental policy barriers separating liberals and libertarians that are, in all likelihood, insurmountable. At this point, it seems more and more apparent that, contra Markos Moulitsas, the ‘Libertarian Democrat’ will ultimately prove to be the jackalope of contemporary American politics.

Recommend this post at Progressive Bloggers

Thursday Blogwhoring

by matttbastard

“And the whole world dragged us down
Not a sonnet not a sound
And the whole world turned aside
The cruelest hand just turned an eye”

(Turn all eyes towards tha one Melissa McEwan, y0. But save the cruelty for someone less awesome.)

The Gimp Parade: Mail with Mom and The next Ashley X

Kill Bigotry!: 18th Erase Racism Carnival (h/t belledame)

Blue Gal: Something is wrong…

Birth Pangs: Religion, Science, and the Law

Red Jenny: Interesting maps of income and voting patterns in the USA and Tories say “nanner nanner” to Scary Veiled Women

AngryBlackBitch: Just jokes? – A dream-based exploration… (Money quote: “[C]alling a woman the N-Word six times in a rant about how she may expose your frequent use of the N-Word is the verbal equivalent of taking out a I’M A FUCKING RACIST ad on the A&E television web site.”)

Oh No a WoC PhD: What is Violence against WOC?

Jack and Jill Politics: The Right Discovers The Jena Six

Tiny Cat Pants: The Bitchass Tyrant Addresses Her Critics

The Galloping Beaver: Harper’s Conservatives and the Death Penalty (Pierre Trudeau’s corpse must be glowing by now from the rotational friction)

A Creative Revolution: Myths. A Rant.

The Newshoggers: Bush’s Derangement Syndrome

Sly Civilian: Concern

William K. Wolfrum: WSJ: Murder of two female sailors proves media’s anti-war bias

PoliTits: Cherish Is the Word (I shore do loves me sum DCup)

The Heathlander: Losing the fight on Iran

Who Is IOZ?: It’s All Just a Little Bit of History Repeating (Wow. Must read IOZ more often.)

M.LeBlanc @ Bitch Ph.D.: Baby, You Sexy: Equal Opportunity Edition (boom, you really need to read this one)

The Republic of T.: The Evolution & Diffusion of Gay Culture (Coulda sworn Terrance was on the ‘roll already. An unfortunate but easily remedied oversight.)

Cosellout: It’s Not Steve Nash’s Fault!: A Study in White Privilege and It’s STILL Not Steve Nash’s Fault: A Response to Jack McCallum

Lock The Bedroom Door: Come On, Boys. I Think We’ll Go to the Little Donkey’s Room. (h/t Bitch Ph.D.)

Orcinus: The spiral tightens and The Two Evangelical Futures

The Vanity Press: The 2007 Right-Wing Awards

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On Innocent ‘Pranks’

by matttbastard

Brother Peacemaker: ‘Nooses Are More Than Just Pranks‘. Bookmark for Koufax season. (They are going to happen this year, right?)

h/t The Thin Black Duke (get well soon – and thanks for the skate down memory lane).

Related: Classic David Neiwert posts on lynching here and here; Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America.

Recommend this post at Progressive Bloggers

Jena 6 Update: Memo To Alanis – THIS Is Ironic (I Really Do Think)

by matttbastard

x-posted @ Comments From Left Field

Jena, LA Mayor Murphy McMillin: not the sharpest fishhook in the tacklebox:

McMillin has insisted that his town is being unfairly portrayed as racist—an assertion the mayor repeated in an interview with Richard Barrett, the leader of the Nationalist Movement, a white supremacist group based in Learned, Miss., who asked McMillin to “set aside some place for those opposing the colored folks.”

“I am not endorsing any demonstrations, but I do appreciate what you are trying to do,” Barrett quoted McMillin as saying. “Your moral support means a lot.”

(H/T Peek)

(FYI, This is the same Richard Barrett who also interviewed Justin Barker, after allegedly fudging his racist pedigree when questioned by Barker’s family).

Oh, and remember when I predicted that the noose is going to experience a resurgence in iconic significance among the white power set? I can sure call ’em, sometimes. More details on the ongoing pushback are provided by David Neiwert (who also offers incontrovertible evidence that my old buddy John Gibson is indeed an odious sack of sea lion shit – if there was ever any doubt).

Elsewhere: via The Thin Black Duke, M (aka The Blogger Formerly Known As Sylvia) guesting @ Kai Chang’s place:

Very simply, the Jena Six is not a matter of guilt or innocence. If you think this case is about dancing and singing with Al Sharpton in Jena while wearing black, go home or bury some soap or something. If you view this case as a stepping stone for your own self-aggrandizement here there and everywhere, sit at home and think a few seconds before stepping back out again. If you think this case is only about freeing these young men, you’re half-steppin’. If you view the Jena Six incident as uppity newcomer Negroes wanting to start some ruckus, then please go back to your guard post under your bridge. Denial about a person’s criminal actions in a case is unwanted. This fight is not about what we can do to stop people from being criminals (though there’s no denying that goal is important); it is about what happens when those people are already within the criminal justice system and cannot afford an OJ-style legal Dream Team.

Kevin also points to this post by elle, phd, who notices history repeating in the predictably (and pathetically) defensive reaction of the (white) blogosphere after it was justifiably called out for collective indifference towards Jena (remember: Race is tough!).

Related: David Margolick looks back at Elizabeth Eckford, Hazel Bryan and the photo that captured what became an iconic moment in the civil rights movement.

Recommend this post at Progressive Bloggers

Mychal Bell To Remain Imprisoned; Pushback Gets Ridiculous

by matttbastard

x-posted @ Comments From Left Field

So tell me again why Mychal Bell is still in jail (other than his complexion)? As Carmen D. points out, “He has been in jail since DECEMBER 2006“. Kevin’s right: “The Jena Courts seem intent on giving the middle finger to any notion of decency. ”

Speaking of a distinct (and disturbing) bird-flip to decency, CNN also reports that “the FBI said it was looking into an online posting by a neo-Nazi white supremacist group that published the home addresses of all six of the African-American teenagers, as well as the phone numbers of some. The group said on its Web site it is calling on followers to “let them know justice is coming.””
This sort of response, (and more asinine varients, such as this) are hardly unexpected, alas. I have a feeling the noose is going become a rejuvenated icon of hatred for the racist far-right.

Related: via Hatewatch, skinhead style goes haute couture; David Neiwert offers a mea culpa for going AWOL on Jena:

None of the top-tier liberal bloggers paid the Jena situation much attention in the weeks leading up to the march, and those of us on the left dedicated to civil-rights and race issues — like myself — tended to let it slide. The bloggers who made this happen were all “bloggers of color” whose own burgeoning network turned out to be truly potent.

Fortunately, their energies made the difference in Jena, and now the whole world is watching and paying attention. That includes those of us who should have been doing so in the first place.

Update: Earl Ofari Hutchinson: enough with the tears; show Mychal the money.

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