McSexist

I've got politics on the brain, so here goes:

John McCain has been pretty good at hiding is negative views of women and their rights and freedoms, but a few people are starting to call him out. Have a little read about these nasty views here, on me.

A few highlights:

"He opposed legislation requiring that abstinence-only programs be medically accurate and based in science.

n 2000, McCain begged Bush to amend language in the GOP platform, which calls for a human-life amendment banning all abortions and provides no exceptions for rape, incest, or danger to the life of the mother. This week he indicated that he won't work to change that platform.

In March 2007, the New York Times' Adam Nagourney asked McCain whether grants for sex education in the United States include instructions about using contraceptives, or if they should abide by Bush's abstinence-only policy.

After a pause, McCain responded, "Ahhh. I think I support the president's policy.""

Theres so much more!

Read on!

This one is good too!

Just Keep Your Mind Closed. All the Conservatives are doing it.

I guess one good thing about being a conservative is that you are allowed to admit you are ignorant, and proud of it. I've been sick of hearing conservative/Republican rhetoric bouncing all over the place for the last 19 months, and it just gets worse and worse.

I've been so hyped up the past couple days because of the incredible spirit of the Democratic National Convention. Watching the Tribute to Ted Kennedy video and then hearing him speak, watching Michelle Obama bring her husband and her family a personal, emotional edge, and last night, being audience to the awesome Hilary Clinton, who really has stepped up her game, acknowledge and be acknowledge for the great strides she has made for women.

All of these moments have been inspiring and exciting--and have left me in that cloudy bliss that makes me forget there are people out there who have no interest in making life better for others. People who don't mind that women don't make the same wages as men. People who don't think minorities are still at a huge disadvantage in this country, or just don't care about civil rights--or at least those who don't care to help. People who have no problem telling two people who love each other that that not only can they not get married, but that they shouldn't be able to--because at some point the government took on the role of moral and religious guide.

But then, when I am lost in this perfect liberal bliss, I am confronted with that lovely conservative ignorance--and this time I'm not just talking about John McCain. Today we discuss young conservative Ashley Herzog and her August 11th article on Townhall.com "College Classes for Conservatives to Avoid".

In this piece of work, Ms. Herzog recommends the following:

"Don’t register for English classes that revolve around the writings of some allegedly oppressed group, such as “Gay and Lesbian Literature” or “Women and Writing.”

If possible, avoid the sociology department, especially introductory-level classes. These are often crash courses in politically correct thinking.

Be skeptical of classes with words like “Non-Western” and “Multicultural” in the title."

...among other things. This is the kind of conservative/republican thinking that is somehow acceptable in those communities. For some reason I really cannot imagine, this gal actually thinks its ok to not make any effort to know about any non-white, non-American, non-heterosexual peoples. Talk about a whitewash. I'm ashamed to share the same gender as this woman. Ug.

via feministing.

This Reminds Me More of SVU Than DKNY

I've seen this covered in a few news outlets, but I had to mention it myself. The newest ad campaign coming from Wrangler (remember those jeans your brother wore in the mid-eighties?) is not only offensive and disturbing, but also kind of pointless and ridiculous. Check out the new "We Are Animals" campaign from Wrangler:



I mean in what world is this seemlingly dead woman supposed to make me want to wear Wrangler Jeans? There is something to say for an ad that depicts humans with animalistic behaviors or characteristics, but its another thing to depict women (not men!) as (what appears to me to be) victims of violence.


Is it just me, or do these women look dead? Theres a video out there too, thats strange as well. I don't get the campaign, do you?

Via Feministing and AfterEllen

Dos Corect Speling mater?

I have always been a horrible speller, something I blame on my brainedness (although I'm not totally sure if its the left or right brained folks that are supposed to be good spellers)--but it is something that I still, in adulthood, work hard to correct. I'm still teaching myself tricks to fix the errors I've been making for decades (definitely is spelled with "finite" in the middle), and try to beat out my spellchecker to correcting my mistakes. But, I can totally understand the perspective that correct spelling might not actually matter. I mean, does the spelling matter if you get the message across? Should folks be judged for making spelling errors? Is it primitive of us to not really view English as a changing language? A recent article on time.com investigates this issue:

"Good spellers, Smith says, should be able to go on writing as usual; those who find the current rules of English too hard to learn should have their spelling labeled variant, not wrong. Smith zeroes in on 10 candidates for variant spellings, culled from his students' most commonly misspelled (or mispelled, as Smith suggests) words. Among them are Febuary instead of February, twelth instead of twelfth and truely instead of truly — all words, he says, that involve confusion over silent letters. When students would ask why there's no e in truly, Smith didn't really have an answer. "I'd say, 'Well, I don't know. ... You've just got to drop it because people do,' " he says. Smith adds that when teachers correct spelling, they waste valuable time they could be spending on bigger ideas. "

Should the English language be more flexible?

Check out the full article before you make your decision.

Opossum-Foot?

Bigfoot Update:

I imagine these Bigfoot hunters are just cooking up some kinda crazy promotional scam, but an opossum? I could have pulled a better prank in 4th grade.

"PALO ALTO, California (Reuters) - Bigfoot remains as elusive as ever. Results from tests on genetic material from alleged remains of one of the mythical half-ape and half-human creatures, made public at a news conference on Friday held after the claimed discovery swept the Internet, failed to prove its existence.

Its spread was fueled by a photograph of a hairy heap, bearing a close resemblance to a shaggy full-body gorilla costume, stuffed into a container resembling a refrigerator.

One of the two samples of DNA said to prove the existence of the Bigfoot came from a human and the other was 96 percent from an opossum, according to Curt Nelson, a scientist at the University of Minnesota who performed the DNA analysis.

Bigfoot creatures are said to live in the forests of the U.S. Pacific Northwest. An opossum is a marsupial about the size of a house cat."

I guess they are going to do an autopsy on the remains, but I bet they won't find anything to fuel my cryptozoology frenzy. Plus, even if they did, the government would just cover it up.

Thats One Big Foot

It seems a couple of guys in Georgia have found Bigfoot. Well, actually. They are saying that they found the body of a Bigfoot.

" A clayton county Police officer says he and a friend have the body of a Bigfoot. The animal -- a legendary, hairy hominid that supposedly lives in remote forests -- is said to be dead, frozen, and "shocking." Matthew Whitton, a 28-year-old, who has been with the department for six years,and Rick Dyer, a 31-year-old former correctional officer, posted a video on youtube.com, last week, claiming to have the male Bigfoot corpse. Whitton and Dyer co-own
bigfoottracker.com, offering exploration expeditions in the North Georgia Mountains, On their web site Whitton and Dyer announced an alleged discovery: "We have located a family of Bigfoot, and besides the clear photos and video, we have something even more shocking, a BODY." Stay tuned... "

Our pal Bigfoot has been accused of a lot of crazy things over the years, but no one has ever had any proof of its existence. In this case, a lot of people (even believers) are skeptical about this find:

"The Bigfoot Field Research Organization, a California-based group claiming there have been 61 Bigfoot sightings in Georgia, officially described Whitton and Dyer as "idiots" and "clowns," and warned their claims are a scam to advertise their business."

The Bigfoot finders are holding a press conference on Friday to announce their discovery. But you can see some pictures here and read the groups full press release here. I'll let you know next week what the verdict is...

Wednesday Kitten Snack

These videos aren't new, but if you haven't seen them...you really should. If you have seen them, see them again!

Talking Cats:


Translation:

Chance Noble - Sexist Punk

I've done a little reputation ruining blogging before for jerks who choose to publicly demonstrate their stupidity, and here's a little more:

Courtney, a blogger at my favorite site feministing.com, published an op-ed in Metro the other day about sexual misconduct on the New York City subways. Here is one email Courtney received in response and her completely appropriate comments as well (sorry, some language might be a little offensive):

Dear Courtney,

I read your opinions about the MTA raising awareness about sexual misconduct on the subways and found it very naive and written from a very white-middle-class-women-studies-privaleged perspective. You are correct that women have been dealing with this kind of stuff from guys for years, but what about how women dress in the subways? Today (after reading your opinion) while on the subway, I saw a woman sit near me with a very low cut shirt and very large tits...she looked hot! I totally stared at her tits any chance I could get...which is probably why she wore the shirt right? I also see scores of women with those cotton summer dresses on and just a thong underneath, so you see their asses bobbling around under the skirt. That sounds like blaming the victim right? Well when you leave almost nothing to the imagination, it doesn't take much for it to run wild. This is not to say you whip your cock out at any moment or press your boner on any tart that wears a hot outfit, but where they "asking for it"? I know you are probably fuming by now, but from the looks of your picture you probably don't get sexually harrassed much, so maybe you are jealous of all of the hot-ass bitches with the big titties, shaved snatches and round asses that get some action underground.

hells to the motherfuckin' yeah!!!!

Chance Noble

I wanted you to know his name and his email address--snhca@exit3.com--in case you'd like to chat with him about this idea, and/or avoid ever dating/hiring him.

I repost this garbage mainly in efforts to smear his name.

Check out Courtney's full post on this here.

Why I'm Voting Republican

'Nuff Said.

POTUS or ANTICHRIST?

This little McCain ad has become the subject of some serious controversy. Check it out:


The ad claims to be a making a joke about how Obama thinks himself to be the Messiah, but this awesome Time.com article stresses that the ad doesn't really come across as a joke, and for a few really good reasons:

"The ad was the creation of Fred Davis, one of McCain's top media gurus, as well as a close friend of former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed and the nephew of conservative Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe. It first caught the attention of Democrats familiar with the Left Behind series, a fictionalized account of the end time that debuted in the 1990s and has sold nearly 70 million books worldwide. "The language in there is so similar to the language in the Left Behind books," says Tony Campolo, a leading progressive evangelical speaker and author.

As the ad begins, the words "It should be known that in 2008 the world shall be blessed. They will call him The One" flash across the screen. The Antichrist of the Left Behind books is a charismatic young political leader named Nicolae Carpathia who founds The One World religion (slogan: "We are God") and promises to heal the world after a time of deep division. One of several Obama clips in the ad features the senator saying, "A nation healed, a world repaired. We are the ones that we've been waiting for."

What is McCain trying to pull here? I'm not sure who said that politics and religion don't mix, but darn if its not true. Come on McCain, keep it off the pulpit, all right?

The best part of the whole thing is the hilariously low-brow comment left on the John McCain ad on youtube that said "John McCain is a desperate dinosaur." Haha.

McCain probably ran this ad as a favor to Moses. They went to grammar school together in their home town of Pangea.

For more great information about the venerable John McCain check out the Women For John McCain website.

Catastic!

Damn, I love me a good Cat Fashion Show:

"Earlier in the day, Matilda, a pedigreed ragdoll breed with long, silky, cream-colored hair, held court on a chaise lounge by the entrance."

You can see a few disappointing photographs here. I really hope that next months issue of Cat Fancy has a centerfold of this event. It would be almost as exciting as their annual "Kittens" issue. Sigh. I love cats and kittens, even when cruelly dressed in costume.