I’d Rather be Single for Life than “Date Down”

I’m fortunate to have a man in my life that’s not threatened by the fact that I make good money. But if I were playing the *shudder* dating game, I would rather be single for the rest of my life than downplay my professional success in order to catch some insecure idiot.

But I don’t believe for an instant that the bullshit in the aforelinked-to Times Online article is true. I’ve never met a single man that would complain if his partner made more money than he did. I think this latest spate of fearmongering over high wage-earning women is little more than a reiteration of the “a woman over 40 has more chance of being attached by a terrorist than she does of getting married” scare.

We women need to stop paying attention to this stuff. The goal of articles like this is to make us think that we need to apologize for our success in order to find a good man when the reverse is true. The truly good men flock to smart, successful, intelligent, hardworking women.

To top it off, the Times Online misquotes and distorts the writings of one of my favorite feminist bloggers. Jessica Valenti of Feministing writes:

If I ever refer to men’s “hunter instincts” in a non-sarcastic way, you have my full permission to take away my feminist card.

She then goes on to correct the de-contextualization of her arguments.

Girls Have Voices, and We Should Listen

I saw this on PostSecret this morning. I wonder, when was the last time you really listened to a girl?

President Bush On Education

A few years ago, President Bush asked the question “Is our children learning?” Well, after slashing the education budget and replacing recess, art, music, pe, and creativity with rigorous testing, President Bush informed America that, “Children’s do learn.”

This statement took place in a 3rd grade classroom where Bush held a press conference to announce the success of his educational program, No Child Left Behind. You can’t make this stuff up.

In other news, Jon Stewart left the Daily Show today, saying “my job is no longer challenging. The President has made it far too easy to make fun of him. I can’t even take the situation out of context to make him look more ridiculous.”

Keep Transgendered Americans Washingtonians Protected at Work

The Democratic leadership in the Washington State legislature Congress has proposed changing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) to remove gender identity from the list of protected statuses. This is supposedly in the spirit of “compromise” to get the legislation passed.

There are 31 states where it’s still legal to fire someone because they are gay, and 39 states where it is still legal to fire them if they are transgendered. Please don’t let Washington be one of those states We can end that practice today with one Federal act, please contact your representatives today.

Update: Silly me. I misread the article and concluded that this was a Washington State issue. Then I realized that this was going on at the Federal level and the stakes got much higher. No matter where it’s taking place, action to protect people from discrimination is key, so be sure to contact your representatives.

links for 2007-09-29

• MY COMMITMENT 101
  Bill Cinton’s global initiative to get people to do more.
  (tags: Bill_Clinton Clinton_Global_Initiative)
• Mistake costs dishwasher $59,000
  It’s hard not to empathize with this poor guy. Illegal immigration or not, they took away his $59,000.
  (tags: immigrants)
• Misogyny on the Web
  When someone with a feminine username joins your community and you say, “OMG a Woman on the Internet” and “jokingly” ask for naked pics. You are being an asshole…You are the number one reason women are so rare on the Internet.
  (tags: feminism gender internet sexism technology)
• Why Did Edwards Do This? Pros and Cons
  Why did John Edwards accept Federal matching funds?
  (tags: John_Edwards politics presidential_election)
• Campaigns Must Do More Than Use MySpace and MTV to Capture Young Voters | Future Majority
  Too many campaigns get sidetracked and think there is a magic tactic or umbrella issue for capturing the youth vote. Right now that magic tactic seems to be new media tools including Facebook, MySpace, blog posts, text messages and online debates. None of
  (tags: Facebook MySpace politics political_campaigns)
• Election Central | Talking Points Memo | Hillary Reiterates Opposition To Torture
  This has prompted some people to point out that back in October of last year, Hillary outlined her openness to writing torture exceptions into law in an interview with the Daily News. If you want to hear audio of that interview, Ben Smith has it right her
  (tags: hillary_clinton torture politics)
• Think Progress » Matthews To Dodd: ‘Do You Find It Difficult To Debate A Woman?’
  Matthews’s post-debate analysis is often colored by his personal views on gender. After an August Democratic presidential forum, Matthews said he was astonished that Clinton said, “I’m your girl.” “It’s post-feminist,” said Matthews. “You
  (tags: sexism Chris_Matthews)
• Burmese Haze
  (tags: Burma Myanmar monks protest democracy)

Money Quote: Andrew Sullivan on Democracy in Burma

God I love Andrew Sullivan and his readers:

What I find amazing, is the stark contrast between real democracy in action (Burma) and the staged theater in Iraq. For those of us who witnessed Tiananmen and the fall of the Wall…not to mention Ukraine, etc., the lesson is that true democracy is an organic event that arises from the people. It can not be bestowed, bequeathed or imposed.

Bill Clinton On Giving

4 Years After Iraq Invasion, US Starts Paying Attention

Well, it may have taken 4 years, but it seems that the Secretary of Defense is actually paying attention to things in Iraq. While it would have been preferrable that we start doing things right in 2003, instead of now, we have to take what we can get. If we start questioning Bush, the terrorists win.

The most recent wake-up call to the Bush Administration is the Blackwater USA contractors who have operated out of the law since 2004. A few days ago they shot up some people, and now Defense Secretary Robert Gates has sent a team over to review them. It seems like this is something we should have done in 2004, but at least we’re doing it now.

In other news, President Bush congratulated the Red Sox today for their World Series victory over the St Louis Cardinals, ending 86 years without a championship.

I Just Wanna Be Famous

This is just an awesome music video some guy on YouTube made.

Ahmadinejad Visits Columbia University, Makes Bush Look Intelligent

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave a speech at Columbia University today. I was hoping he would sound intelligent and I could stop worrying about Iran. He did not sound intelligent. Here’s the most outrageous things he said:

1) There are no homosexuals in Iran*.
2) Women in Iran enjoy the highest levels of freedom**.
3) Very little research has been done on the Holocaust or WWII, and we’re not really sure what happened***.
4) The people of Palestine should be allowed to vote to decide if the state of Israel should continue to exist****.
5) Iran’s nuclear activities have peaceful intentions*****.

* Except in jail.
** Allowed by the strictest possible interpretations of the Quran.
***Except for the hundreds of thousands of books, research papers, movies, documentaries, and articles on the subjects, as well as the millions of witnesses. Oh, and all those people who have serial numbers permanently tattooed on their arms who watched their friends die in the camps.
****By people I mean non-Jews. And non-Christians. Oh, and Sunni’s shouldn’t get to vote either.
***** Unless you’re a Jew, Christian, Sunni, Hindu, or Buddhist. Or if you’re a Shiite who’s not Iranian. Or a woman or gay. Screw it, we’re nuking fucking everyone.

In other news, Israel may have bombed Syria and may be considered bombing Iran! And for some reason this hasn’t been covered by any major media outlet!!!

Britney Spears Visits Iraq

Britney Spears made a surprise visit today to Iraq. While she only stayed for a few hours for a quick meet-and-greet with the troops, her visit made national headlines and was the top story on most local and national new shows every night of the week.

It was also the headliner on such “bottom-feeder” media outlets as TMZ, People Magazine, and Perez Hilton, therefore raising conscience about Iraq among millions of Americans who care more about Britney Spears ‘wasteline than President Bush’s troop ’surge.’ Britney said she hopes that she can use the fact that 90 percent of Americans care more about her social life than anything else in the world to raise awareness about important issues.

Okay, so none of that happened. But it should. Most people do care more about Britney Spears than Baghdad Shiites. In fact, more people can tell you the difference between Britney pre-2003 and Britney post-2003 than between Iraq pre-2003 and Iraq post-2003.

So Britney, if you can hear me, go to Iraq. Just for a few hours (our President only stayed for six). You can just have a layover there on your way to Amsterdam. At least then some people might know the difference between Iraq and Iran.

links for 2007-09-22

• George Bush the Texan is ’scared of horses’ - Telegraph
  President Bush is apparently terrified of horses, says former Mexican President Vincente Fox. He recalls Bush “backing away” when offered a ride during a 2001 meeting between the two leaders.
  (tags: Bush horses cowboy image)
• YouTube - New York Times vs. Wall Street Journal
  Hilarious parody of Mac. vs. PC.
  (tags: conservative liberal new_york_times wall_street_journal mac_vs_pc)
• Student Groups Question Bollinger on Ahmadinejad | Columbia Spectator
  “A girl came up to me after [a College Democrats meeting last night]—she was an Iranian student, an Iranian refugee, and she was near tears. She said, ‘I came to Columbia just for this moment, and I can’t believe the event is closed off before I c
  (tags: Columbia Ahmadinejad Iran)

More Evidence that Gays and Lesbians are No Different From Straight People

MTV’s Engaged and Underage covers the family drama when barely legal teens set out to tie the knot. This episode about two nineteen year old lesbians has exactly the same angst and drama as any other episode of the show.

links for 2007-09-21

• Sullivan Hits it on the Nose Once Again
  “For the United States to invade a country and then allow it to be destroyed - against our interests, against their interests - remains one of the more unforgivable acts of governmental negligence in modern times.”
  (tags: Andrew_Sullivan Bush Iraq No_End_in_Sight negligence)
• The American Idea: 150 Years of Writers and Thinkers Who Shaped Our History
  I really want to read this!
  (tags: America American_Idea Atlantic_Monthly)
• I Don’t Support the Troops..oops, there, I said it
  It’s irrational doves like this that give the anti-war movement a bad name. The black and white moral distinctions made by the writer rival the worst of that kind of thinking coming from the radical right. Radical liberals scare me just as much as radical
  (tags: liberal radical Iraq anti_war anti_troops)
• Media: The YouTubeization of Andrew Meyer
  Fast Company sounds off on the “don’t tase me, bro” phenomenon.
  (tags: Fast_Company Andrew_Meyer taser John_Kerry)
• Is America Ready for a Woman President?
  Samantha Bee asks the question, Carrie Bradshaw style.
  (tags: woman_president feminism Daily_Show Samantha_Bee)
• Arnold Schwarzenegger’s lesbian chief of staff called on to resign
  Schwarzenegger’s recent upholding of prop 22 forces the gay marriage debate in California into the courts. Some activists are calling for his lesbian chief of staff’s head. Do you think she should resign?
  (tags: Schwarzenegger gay_rights)
• Bush v. Choice: Wisconsin tramples on rape victms’ rights
  A bill in Wisconsin would allow emergency workers to refuse emergency contraception to rape survivors if it goes against their religious beliefs.
  (tags: christianism wisconsin rape feminsim anti_choice emergency_contraception reproductive_rights)

Money Quote: Einstein on Why Bush’s Iraq Policy Will Never Work

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” - Albert Einstein

Speaker Pelosi Signing the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007

Thought you all might like to see this. Glad to hear that President Bush is expected to sign the bill.

How Does Your Moral Perspective Orient You Politically?

My favorite conservative blogger Andrew Sullivan wrote today about the University of Virginia Moral Foundations Questionnaire:

Of the moral systems that protect individuals, one is concerned with preventing harm to the person and the other with reciprocity and fairness. Less familiar are the three systems that promote behaviors developed for strengthening the group. These are loyalty to the in-group, respect for authority and hierarchy, and a sense of purity or sanctity…

They found that people who identified themselves as liberals attached great weight to the two moral systems protective of individuals — those of not harming others and of doing as you would be done by. But liberals assigned much less importance to the three moral systems that protect the group, those of loyalty, respect for authority and purity…

Extreme liberals, Dr. Haidt argues, attach almost no importance to the moral systems that protect the group. Because conservatives do give some weight to individual protections, they often have a better understanding of liberal views than liberals do of conservative attitudes, in his view.

Andy and I took the same test. How we all stack up after the jump:
Read more

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