Guns, Sex(ism), and Hugs

What a week.  One shooting at Fort Hood, then a second shooting in Orlando…a bit closer to home (Portland, OR), the 3rd shooting of the week…because she filed for divorce??  And a fourth shooting and a fifth shooting in the Portland-metro area.  In all five cases the perpetrators are men.

UPDATE (11/18):   A sixth shooting…

In the last three four intimate partner cases, it is the same old story…

1. man believes he has a right to control women

poem: free trade 071609

Sex service users create the demand that moves pimps to provide supply women and young girls.  Without demand, there would be no pimp, no sex slave.  We need to go after the users, most of whom are men, many of whom are white and/or economically privileged.    ’nuff said…here’s the trick…

Cartoon: A Concise History of Black-White Relations in the United States

oh, you know it’s true…

poem: somatic analogies 061909

I just learned about Tim Wise a couple weeks ago.  Watching the above immediately reminded me of “somatic analogies” (below).

HAVEN: Hip Hop Against Violence Everywhere Now

Who is Diezel P?

DiezelP is one of many talented up and coming emcees who are involved in the beginning stages of a collaborative project entitled “HAVEN:  Hip Hop Against Violence Everywhere Now”

just a joke: white man gets black man to do manual labor for him

here is the video URL: http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/baylis-revolution/4505-6490_7-33357756.html

Below is my letter. Don’t know if I’m over-thinking it, but I am going with my gut on this one…

revelling in discovery

Here’s the word, I won’t ask why:
It all started yesterday with
Senbei’s Shikata Ga Nai (V.II)

I know I’m sick and I need
to get up early tomorrow and work
from first light until day’s end.
But I’m going to sleep more soundly
and work harder having heard
what I’ve heard tonight and
shared it with anyone willing
to read and wanting to listen.

So check it out:

It’s that time of year again…

That’s right, it’s time for the Super Bowl. Again. Although I bet the festive atmosphere will be somewhat muted by the dismal state of the economy, there will always be…the entertaining commercials. And this year, they’re gonna have to try extra hard to get what little cash or credit we have left.

Slam Adams

I am disappointed in Sam Adams.  What he did creeps me out,  like it normally does whenever anybody does it. That is, have a relationship with

1. Someone who is 18 when he is 42 (less than half his age!!)
2. Someone who is a lowly [legislative] intern when he is the relatively powerful commissioner of the state’s largest city, and a favorite mayoral candidate.

I don’t think there ever should be exceptions to #2 above, but #1 is a generalization which has, in my opinion, some legitimate exceptions to account for the relative maturity level of the people involved.  But those exceptions grow pretty rare when the one person is over twice as old as the other.

It’s creepy, alright.  But let’s clear the air about some stuff:  creepy isn’t grounds for calling for someone’s resignation from public office.  Nigel Jacquiss insists in his OPB interview that this story was never “about sex and sexuality,” but that he wasn’t “satisfied” that Sam was “being completely straight” with him, and he had a hunch that Sam wasn’t someone he could “get behind.” (yes, I’m quoting from Jacquiss’ interview on OPB) Hmm, sounds to me like the only person in the closet here is Nigel.

Dan Walters: “blame Prop. 8 on the darkie”

Props to the good folks over at FiveThirtyEight.com.  Not only did they construct an incredibly accurate model of the 2008 election — they use their statistical acuity for good and not evil.

Here’s the latest example:  Dan Walters of the Sacramento Bee wants to blame Latinos and black people for the passage of Proposition 8.