The District, My Manuscripts, and COFFEE!

Baracka is SUCH a celebrity, last night on t.v. I saw his new commercial promoting his stimulus plan, and I thought, wait, isn't the campaign over already? Now turns out he has his own reality show, The District! Awesome! Thanks Dub for the heads up.

For some reason I put together a manuscript time line (and shared it with my mentor) that has me submitting 3 papers in March. Ha! What was I thinking? Maybe I need my own reality vlog to document my own fall from grace. But the good news is.....I FINALLY SUBMITTED ONE OF MY DISSERTATION MANUSCRIPTS! To a top tier journal!

And most importantly, and quite possibly explaining the sheer freneticness of this post, is the following exciting revelation. How long have I worked here? Since October? And how many sleepy afternoons have I passed where I had no hope for a caffeinated kick in the pants other than a Diet Coke? Well, had I moved two feet to the right I might have noticed THIS (ok I wanted to put a picture link here but I'll have to take my own, apparently the internets aren't as enamored with it as I am) a little earlier. Oh yeah, a high class Wolfgang Puck "Crappy Cap" coffee vending machine(i.g. automated caffeine-pusher, which typically produces crappy cappuccinos.) This one, though, WOW, you can specify your degree of desired "STRENGTH" "LIGHTENER" and "SUGAR." (My favorite is the "lightener"--I ordered this extra strength!) And it it is gourmet--with options for vanilla, berry, chocolate, coffee, or combos of any of the above. WOW!! After just one cup: GO ME!



outtie~

What's in a Speech?

Wow, yesterday was a cross between a wedding and Miss Universe pageant, wasn't it?

Below is a word cloud of the most common words in Obama's speech. Check out Read Write Web to see how drastically different Bush's inaugural speech was in 2005, and to see the clouds from Clinton, Reagan, and Lincoln.



As for me, I hope I can capitalize on this sense of new beginnings and hope and actually get some of my own work done. I'm floundering.

Heartstrings A Flutter, I Can't Wait for the Inauguration

Next week we will witness the end of the Bush presidency and the end of an era marked by war, financial crisis, and the erosion of our civil rights.

Fortunately with every end there is a beginning. On Tuesday, President Obama (and kickass Secretary Clinton) will begin ushering in a new era of....(dare I say it as I abhorred it during the campaign).....hope.

For some pre-inaugural pulling of your heartstrings and a glimmer of the hope and dreams of our incoming president, read the
letter Obama wrote to his daughters Malia and Sasha. But before you do, get the tissues.

Reactions to the Election

As thrilled as I was watching the returns of the election, I am almost more thrilled by the response. The entire world was watching and now is filled with hope...and plans! NPR has had a lot of coverage of international response and yesterday I heard people from across Africa, South and East Asia, Europe, and the Middle East with their hopes and dreams about just what President Elect Obama will accomplish. In addition to turning around the U.S. economy, he is expected to end the genocide in Darfur, broker a 2-state solution in Israel and Palestine, and also to cure the common cold. Let's see how he does with these types of expectations. Personally I prefer less pressure. But maybe that's why none of y'all voted for me.

Even Nelson Mandela has plans for our man.

Also moving was Angry Professor's reflections about how it feels to move from a racist upbringing as a white descendant of slave owners to a proud voter in the recent election.

Just a shout out to those of us who who helped to make this possible: Young voters, college-educated whites, Hispanics, African Americans, and women. Keep it up people!

On Not Voting For a Woman Vice Presidential Candidate

At least one person has asked me what I think about having a female vice presidential candidate. I'm guessing I was asked because I was a Clinton delegate early on and because well, I think chicks are cool and sadly underrepresented in politics.

I think this picture sums up my feelings quite well(thanks stewgad).



We have waited a long time in this country to have a woman in the white house and as for now, I'm content to keep waiting. For now, I'm ready for Obama and Biden--two outstanding advocates of women....even if they are lacking any actual ovaries.

Black President

This is truly a new and promising era for America.

I wanted to share with my remaining handful of followers of this mostly dead blog the video and lyrics of a song by Brenda Fassie about Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first president elected in a representative election. I love this song and everytime I hear it I am inspired by the extraordinary journey of Madiba.

I am hoping and praying that with the election of Obama, the U.S.A. is now--finally--back on track and about to undergo it's own extraordinary journey. A journey from a unilateral bully with widening inequalities and a sinking economy to a prosperous democracy working toward diplomacy and justice in a peaceful world.




BLACK PRESIDENT by Brenda Fassie

The year 1963
The people's president
Was taken away by security men
All dressed in a uniform
The brutality, brutality
Oh, no, my black president
Him and his comrades
Were sentenced to isolation
For many painful years
For many painful years
Many painful years
Of hard labour
They broke ropes
But the spirit was never broken
Never broken
Oh, no, my, my black president

Hmm maa (3x)
Mama
Hmm maa (3x)
Mama

Hmm maa (3x)
Madiba
Hmm maa (3x)
Madiba
Ahh, nyu ye uyee huu

He broke ropes
But his spirit was never broken
Never broken
Oh oh oh, my president

Now in 1990
The people's president
Came out from jail
Raised up his hand and said
'Viva, viva, my people'
He walked the long road
Back, back to freedom
Back, back to freedom
Freedom for my black president

Let us rejoice for our president
Let us sing for our president
Let us pray for our president
Let us sing, let us dance
For Madiba give us freedom
We thank you Lord
For listening to our prayers
Night and day
Oh oh oh, my president

Madiba

Zulu /Xhosa lyrics

My president
I will die for my president
I will sing for my president

I will stand and say
Viva, viva, viva, viva, viva, viva

Guns: This Is Why

I live in Texas, a big gun-loving state. Just a few days ago when discussing the recent Supreme Court decision, I missed my opportunity to get on my soapbox when someone baited me by asking, "What, you wouldn't allow me to protect myself?" This is why, dumby: You are far more likely to blow yourself away than to protect your precious dvd collection.

When people talk about guns, the words they use include "rights, freedom, American, 2nd amendment, protection, safety, etc." But somehow suicide, accidental gun injuries and death, and domestic violence never rise to become part of that conversation. For the life of me I don't know why. Is it that we are confronted daily with images in the media of heroic gunfights between the bad guys vs. the good guys? But what about the good guy vs. himself? Or the bad guy grabbing the good guy's gun and using it against him? Or the good guy's young child accidentally shooting her foot off? Why do we never talk about these things?

clipped from www.cnn.com ATLANTA, Georgia, (AP) -- The Supreme Court's landmark ruling on gun ownership last week focused on citizens' ability to defend themselves from intruders in their homes. But research shows that surprisingly often, gun owners use the weapons on themselves. Public-health researchers have concluded that in homes where guns are present, the likelihood that someone in the home will die from suicide or homicide is much greater. Studies have also shown that homes in which a suicide occurred were three to five times more likely to have a gun present than households that did not experience a suicide, even after accounting for other risk factors. One public-health study found that suicide and homicide rates in the district dropped after the ban was adopted. More than 90 percent of suicide attempts using guns are successful, while the success rate for jumping from high places was 34 percent. The success rate for drug overdose was 2 percent, the brief said, citing studies.

And what's better is that the article concludes with some controversial statistics about guns and mentions that both sides agree that research about gun violence has dropped sharply in the last decade. Apparently the CDC (the main funder of research on gun-related injuries), cut back in 1996 when Congress ordered that none of the agency's appropriations be used to promote gun control.

This is a classic case of the Bush administration's famous policies on scientific research.

Michelle vs. Hillary, or Shift vs. Pantsuit

After watching an almost 10 long of discussion of Michele Obama's arms (no, I am not kidding you, and please don't assume that I care for Ann Althouse because I do not.), I now know why Hillary lost to Obama. If only she had instead worn sleeveless shifts a la Michelle instead of her infamous pantsuits!

Or, as good journalists do, Althouse and Givhan propose an alternative theory by revisiting cleveage as the possible deciding factor--for another 6 whole minutes of internet vlogarbage.

The Post-Election Feminist Rift

I just read a blog post about sexism in regard to Clinton's campaign that directed me to Dahlia Lithwick's article about repairing the feminist gender rift that reared its ugly head in the recent Democratic nomination process.

[Disclosure: I was a state delegate for Clinton and, while saddened at her loss, will nevertheless happily vote for Obama in November.]

I have always been a bit annoyed by the ceaseless divisiveness in the feminist movement. Do generational changes in the feminist movement really need to be codified into hard and fast feminist typologies like the second and third waves? Sure things have changed in the movement...for example in regard to the treatment of race. But these divisions only serve to accentuate the differences between the movements and lead to a finger pointing and stereotyping. Witness the recent Rebecca Walker tell all and the (absurd and polarizing) motherhood-is-superior backlash against the generation of second wavers. (Not to mention that the use of sequentially numbered "feminist movements" seems to imply a hierarchy of achievement in our ways of thinking and being--a fundamentally non-feminist sort of thing to do.) But I digress.

The feminist "generational rift" in election 2008 politics is a sad reality of a movement that frequently loses touch with it's fundamental principles and too easily descends to reactionary blame games. de Beauvoir had it right the first time around (well, some of it) when she asserts, "For women it is not a question of asserting themselves as women, but of becoming full scale human beings."

Those who supported Obama are not any less feminist than those who supported Clinton. They haven't "let women down." They aren't minimizing the great accomplishments or turning their backs on previous generations of feminists. In fact, some would argue that Obama is in some ways more of a feminist than Clinton. Conversely, those who supported Clinton didn't necessarily "do the right thing" by supporting a woman. The highest glass ceiling of all is an alluring, symbolic, and important target...but a reactionary vote for a woman just for the sake of her gender or sex--even for the first viable female presidential candidate in the history of this country--isn't a feminist action.

Despite the undeserved baggage of the movement and all the sexist garbage in the media, feminism is alive and well and feminists of all generations should be proud. Millions of women and men across America recently made independent decisions about two historically underrepresented and qualified feminist presidential candidates. What an achievement....so why all the finger pointing?

Sexism in the Media

The video is from the Women's Media Center and includes some really shocking examples of sexism in the media during this presidential campaign, most of it specific to Hillary of course. Note the high percentage of clips from Fox News. My favorite part is when the female anchor is so overwhelmed by Bill O'Reilly's sexist sleeziness that she can't help but roll her eyes in disgust.

On another but related note, since when did news anchors provide their own damn opinions?! Whatever happened to the objective journalism?

Seen on Wicked Anomie and Feministing.

Where I've Been and Also A Gender Thing

Well, I've been gone on vacation for a few weeks now. A "vacation" involving 3,950ish miles of driving with hubby. Yes, driving. What was I thinking?! Why didn't we just go sit on a beach somewhere for 2 weeks? Anyway, improbably, we had a lot of fun, saved some money and gained some smug by driving a borrowed one of these, (I want one! I want one!) and saw a lot of friends and family. We also got to scope out our future city and managed to eke out some some beach time on
Orcacoke Island.

Other than that, I am gearing up for my state's democratic convention. I don't plan on wearing a bullet-proof vest, but that is only because I do not own one.

In that regard, it's good to be back in the blogosphere for the conclusion(?) of the democratic nomination process. I'm glad I didn't miss Wicked Anomie's very smart and accessible summary of the role of McCain and Obama's masculinities in this campaign. Although as a caveat on this one, I'm not totally comfortable analyzing these anonymous allegations re: comments by McCain.

Change, Hope, Blah, Blah

I just came back from seeing Chelsea Clinton at Cyclone Anaya's in Houston. She was great--very poised, attentive, and very direct and specific in her answers to questions. Better than that, I got to talk to her myself and ask her some questions. She worked the room like a master, taking questions and soliciting suggestions for the campaign.

When I told a nameless person that I was off to see Chelsea, she replied, "Thank God somebody is still in support of Hillary!" (Dear interested reader, just FYI, I am actually still undecided.) "After all this talk of hope and change. I mean, what is hope anyway?! Is this disenchanted? Maybe. Is it a valid point? Definately.

Along these lines, in reference to Obama-rama, the friend who took me to the event exclaimed, "Change, change, change! What I want to know is: change what, by how much, and by when? Ha! Yes, for those of you who are wondering, this is the quote of an academic.

Overall it was a great night. I got some good ritas. And then I came across
this. Is this a joke? I'm still not sure. Thoughts?

World AIDS Day

I was pretty pleased to see a decent
Houston Chronicle editorial today, World AIDS day, calling for an end of requirements that a third of U.S. HIV prevention dollars be spent on abstinence-until-marriage programs. Their other recommendations, for once, I also support: increased attention to the comorbidity of TB and AIDS and a call to end the mandate that funded groups sign anti-prostitution pledges.

Yes, it's no joke. The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) announced with such fanfare by Bush four years ago at his State of the Union address, requires all grantees who wish to receive money to have comply with what has been called “The Prostitution Pledge. Hopefully my 2-3 loyal readers will immediately understand why this is a bad thing.

Of course it immediately brings to mind the
Mexico City Policy,
the policy that prevents global health organizations receiving USAID funding from providing or counseling for abortion or even advocating for abortion law reform in their home countries. While it's been rolled back a little recently relative to PEPFAR, the question now is: will it stay or will it go?


On the lighter side today, let's be thankful that there are people out there, that while honestly trying to change risky behaviors and reduce the incidence of HIV without the use of bullshit mandates, can still remind us that ultimately, those little latex things are actually....well, just funny.

Politics vs. Science, Again

Even given the "unnamed sources," I can't say that this sort of censorship would really surprise me.

clipped from blogs.wsj.com More allegations this morning that the White House is muzzling top docs in the administration. Julie Gerberding, the physician who runs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testified before the Senate yesterday on health and climate change. But her prepared remarks were “severely edited” by the White House, the Associated Press reported, citing two unnamed sources.