Bitter Harvests

Ala.: Inmates can replace Hispanic farmhands - Mackenzie Weinger - POLITICO.com:

In other words "They'll have their barely paid, possibly coerced labor system one way or another, damnit!!!" Be it chattel slavery, illegal immigration or this proposal of forcing prison inmates to work the fields...the imagery and the similarities overall seems entirely the norm for the deep south.

The latent functions and social fallout from this legislation seems to be having more sweeping real world  implications than the mavericks in Georgia and Alabama intended (not that any of that is surprising in and of itself).

What does it say about the local economies of areas like this that they cannot function without exploiting or compelling its workforce to do so for either pennies on the dollar and the threat of deportation or as a contingency of their punishment? Either way, they seem insistent on making sure brown people (especially given the sky high incarceration rates for black men in these states) line their fields one way or the other...
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Wellsprings of Venom- The AFA and "Family Values"

Joe. My. God.: Star Parker: Gay People Make Us Sick:

The only political event that I've ever heard that approaches this sort of language is this "Family Values Summit", which frankly seems to have more in common with an Oi band performance than it does with the more...cautious rhetoric of a nonpartisan function. This is the AFA when it thinks its preaching to the chior. This is what they think and believe. Full stop. Its been unadultrated hatred and undistilled bigotry...but its been very informative... ahhh the internet. It really does have uses outside of pornography. Seeing the coded "family values" misdirect for what it is? May actually be something to thank them for. At the very least, the pretense of civility has at least evaporated in a spate of hate speech and righteous indignation. The Summit has proven to be a wellspring of such.

Its a fascinating notion that the Southern Poverty Law Center has categorized the American Family Association a hate group (explanation from the link), solely on the fact that it uses consistent disproven rhetoric and hate speech to further its anti-gay agenda, is so in line with right wing ideology that numerous GOP candidates for the presidency of the United States have shown up currying favor.The soundbites from its figurehead Tony Perkins (Right Wing Watch has compiled quite a list of inflammatory statements from the guy) are far from partisan and...only rarely deviate from the idea that gay people are going to destroy the world. How he's not advocating gas chambers yet speaks to incredible self control. These orginizations are not as benign as they position themselves to be. The National Orginization for Marriage may have once claimed that its merely interested in preserving marriage, the AFA may suggest its just about "family values", but more and more when one pays attention to the tone, language and frequency of anti-gay hostility in the interests of what they perceive "family interests" to be...their pretense that they're not homophobic and purely interested in politically advancing  that marriage is between a man and a woman (tm) evaporates. 

And now for some theme music. The National- Afraid of Everyone. Apt, no?

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Twinkie Defenses- Blaming the Victim Never Goes Out of Style.

Joe. My. God.: Jurors Discuss Lawrence King Trial:

This is pretty difficult to watch. There are so many mixed messages in society but the one here is pretty clear. Nobody misses another kid who "experiments with sexuality". I think of the hatchet job Ramin Setoodeh Newsweek piece and the defense attorney's "gay panic" defense and am blown away by how often we tolerate it when kids who are or seem gay get stabbed or shot to death in our country because they made some straight person who can't control themselves uncomfortable.

The twinkie defense is alive and well. Its exasperating how ideologically speaking our culture can clamor for "personal responsibility" ...unless someone you encounter deviates from prescribed gender roles (or dresses too provocatively). Then its "Look what you made me do!" The number of slap on the wrist convictions and mistrials indicate that much of society seems comfortable looking the other way, because regardless of how a 14 year old who "experiments with sexuality" makes us feel, there ought to be a million more tolerable ways to deal with this than justifying his being shot twice execution style and then blaming him for being too provocative.

The Best Interview You'll Never See on Fox News.

New York Observer: Exclusive "Occupy Wall Street" Unaired Fox Footage - YouTube:

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Its late, but I want to bring this clip to your attention. This. Is how you keep conservative media on point. The entire clip is pretty much worthy of being quoted verbatim, but a few points stand out; "We find that we can't get conversations about the ongoing investigation about Newscorporation in which you are an employee, but we can certianly ask questions about why we're 'engaging in class warfare'."

I want to have this gentleman's ideological puppies. No more blithely allowing the talking points to be dictated by those with vested interests in maintaining control. The clarity with which he eviscerates the interviewer is quite important here. There've been very few people who have held anyone to task for the misdirects and partisan fabrications on "birthers" and "death panels" and "special rights demanding gays" , when these claims have yet to be proven legitimately. They're distractions that have been allowed to keep the public from dealing with the realities of outsourcing, golden parachutes ,economic freefall and deregulation for too long. The time for polite conversations may be passing us by...but then its not as though the Koch brothers and the other 1% consider us "people" in the first place...

That Which Stays With You- Bon Iver

Bon Iver Takes It to the Greek | Mother Jones: "

"You know when you're a kid, and you're shooting hoops in your driveway, and you imagine what it would be like to hear the sound of people cheering for you? Well, this is what that sounds like," he told the cheering crowd."--Justin Vernon

Bon Iver came to my awareness in a round about way, crammed in part of a indie music download stream. I remember hearing Lump Sum, and in a fit of compulsion that often reminds me of my father, found myself playing it over and over and over. Bon Iver's recent follow up has been an equally vulnerable, thought provoking and sentimental journey. So much so that its a difficult, if not Herculean task to pick out the proverbial best in show from the lot.

I'm pleased others have been giving Bon Iver's unique, layered and hearty sound the love it deserves. Can't say enough good about their work thus far. Its a nice feeling to see people and things you like celebrated for the right reasons.

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Superhero Sausage Fests- Gender Bias and the Comic Book Media

Comics A.M. | Should feminists give up on superhero comics? | Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources – Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment:

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It appears that the burning question in all of mainstream comicdom has (thankfully) become "are comic books sexist?". Granted asking this question is incredibly valid, as all male dominated and male geared industries need to honestly evaluate such questions...but I wonder if this self-consciousness is a bit late in the day.

 One doesn't have to do much digging to find evidence of how women are depicted in comics, especially in the 90s  (otherwise known as the dark age of comic books). This was the age of the super heroine "bad girl", oversexed, little in the way of characterization, even less in the way of clothing. Believe me when I tell you the costumes get more and more stripperific.  Use cases in point like Witchblade, Lady Death, Psylocke and well...you can see the point. Why would a woman or girl find exhibit A heroic in the slightest? Many a new reader looking at superhero comics assumes that all women have the most common superpower.

Here's Hoping the Majority Actually Votes.

Positive news for those of us who don't like our state constitutions to be enshrined in discriminatory policy. Recent polls put the notion of putting the ban of same-sex marriage in NC's constitution in a similar light according to WRAL and Elon University's recent data.

 Fifty-six percent of North Carolina residents oppose a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would ban same-sex marriages, according to a poll released Friday.
The Elon University Poll, which surveyed 594 adults statewide between Sunday and Thursday, found support for recognizing gay marriages growing in North Carolina. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points

 Its important to note that this legislation is simply putting the ban in the constitution to further ensure that same sex marriage will be a long term impossibility for the state. Its an abstraction to think that same sex marriages are legal or possible in North Carolina otherwise. This measure is a misdirect and a waste of resources that will serve to divide the state further and marginalize a group that already has little chance of what the ballot initiative seeks to prevent. Salt in wounds, and wedge issue politics that would make Ken Melhman proud. 


Still, its refreshing that the public isn't as gullible as Forrester seems to think we are. If the majority in the sample is representitive of the rest of the state, and that majority goes to the polls, we'll be in good shape. (Or at least not taking steps backwards on civil rights based on bias and poorly articulated conjecture)

 "It must be in the air here..."