Helen Boyd Kramer's journal on gender and stuff
A remarkable, short column by Wick Allison, a former Editor of The National Review and current Editor in Chief of D Magazine, where this piece appears.
This sentence, especially, stood out:
It gives me comfort just to think that after eight years of George W. Bush we will have a president who has actually read the Federalist Papers.
Do read the comments and reactions; it’s a very interesting set of opinions, all pretty articulate.
Yesterday was Bisexuality Day. Who knew?
If we had given a damn about the people who couldn’t pay their mortgages & were being foreclosed upon, and had figured out a way to help them keep their homes, would we be in this mess now?
If you like what we’re doing here & can help us keep doing it, please donate. Thank you so much.
Found a useful bit of software for converting .m4a files (Apple’s bullshit) to the .mp3 format, and it’s called dB Power Amp, and it’s pretty easy to use. The only vital thing to know is that you need to install the codec you need – for the type file you want to transfer from – after you install the main program.
In my first round with iTunes, I didn’t know you had to tell it to rip from discs to .mp3; silly me, but I assumed they’d automatically rip to the most popular music file format. So I had a few thousand songs on my recently-deceased iPod still in .m4a format.
The good thing is that you can trade-in your iPod for a gift certificate toward your new player (or iPhone, or whatever) and I got me a Sansa Sandisk Fuze, 8 mg. I’m most pleased that it gives me (1) video (which my 4th gen iPod didn’t have); (2) a voice recorder (which makes it deductible!) and (3) the ability to delete songs from the mp3 player instead of having to do it through my computer’s software, like you have to do with iTunes, which always seemed incredibly stupid to me. (What was I supposed to do – keep a list of stuff I wanted to delete until I got home & made the time to do that? Silly.) After trade-in, and a J&R markdown, I got it for only $80. It’s also Consumer Reports “Best Buy” – which basically means it’ s the best bang for the buck.
So I’m pleased. The thing is so small it fits into that tiny little pocket on the front right bit of your jeans, which means it’ll be small enough for shirt pockets, too.
Betty White just gave out an Emmy along with Mary Tyler Moore, and she looks fantastic. I’m pretty sure she hasn’t had any work done, and honestly, she made Mary Tyler Moore – who’s had too much work done – look even weirder than she did already.
My opinion, only, but I really do feel that when women try to preserve their youth with too much plastic surgery, they kind of end up underlining that they’re old.
My guilty confession is that I’m a late-night Golden Girls addict, which is a genius show. Imagine, a comedy about four women over 50 who all have active sex lives! It seems like such a radical idea, even now. Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, Betty White and the late Estelle Getty were all exactly right for their parts, and the writing was corny in an 80s kind of way, but still funny.
& He can sing, too!
& Thank you, ACLU.
WASHINGTON, DC September 19, 2008 — Today the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of Diane Schroer, supporting her claim that she was wrongfully denied employment by the Library of Congress after she notified them that she intended to transition.
In 2004, while still living as David, retired US Army Colonel Diane Schroer was offered and accepted a job with the Library of Congress. When she notified her new employers of her intention to transition, the offer was rescinded. After a highly distinguished military career, Col. Schroer decided to fight once more to uphold American values of fairness and justice.
“True to form, Diane Schroer has once again demonstrated her bravery and her commitment to American democracy,” noted Mara Keisling, Executive Director of the National Center for Transgender Equality. “By fighting for her rights, she has defended the honor and rights of all transgender people who have been discriminated against on the job. NCTE congratulates her on this historic win and applauds the tremendous work of the ACLU in securing this victory for us all.”
In his ruling United States District Judge James Robertson stated, “After hearing the evidence presented at trial, I conclude that Schroer was discriminated against because of sex in violation of Title VII.” He went on to note, “None of the five assertedly legitimate reasons that the Library has given for refusing to hire Schroer withstands scrutiny.”
Judge Robertson concluded, “In refusing to hire Diane Schroer because her appearance and background did not comport with the decision maker’s sex stereotypes about how men and women should act and appear, and in response to Schroer’s decision to transition, legally, culturally, and physically, from male to female, the Library of Congress violated Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination.”
You can read the whole of the decision at the ACLU’s website (pdf).
Wow. John McCain has lost his mind. Today he blamed the Washington insiders and lobbyists for the economic woes of the country, which may or may not be the case. But THEN he pointed out that it’s Obama’s judgment was bad as a Senator.
Goddamn does that take balls. Balls or outright delusion. I wonder if he sleeps at all these days, but for one of the Keating Five to get up & say that shit – well, wow. He’s sunk to a whole new level.
For those of you who don’t know, the Keating Five was the group of senators who were accused of less-than-ethical practices when it came to the Savings and Loan bailout of the 1980s. (McCain has been called “the most reprehensible” of the five.)
Wow. What a piece of work. First Obama’s not in the Senate long enough to have enough experience to be President, and now he’s personally responsible to a global economic crisis. There’s actually this famous scandal pinpointing McCain’s ability to be swayed by lobbyists, and no such dirt on Obama, and he’s getting up there & righteously pointing the finger at Obama.
Wow.
Daily Kos has a state by state guide to voting rules, so you have no “I didn’t know when the deadline was” excuses. Go check now, and make sure you’re registered, or have your absentee ballot.
Women, VOTE! It gives me headaches to see the numbers Women’s Voices, Women’s Vote have listed for Election 2006, as in:
You need a better reminder to make sure you’re registered? Watch Iron Jawed Angels if you need to remind yourself of what it took for women to earn the right to vote.
And Democrats, remember: the more of us turn out, the more likely it is that the Democrat wins. So make sure you babysit for your Democrat friends with kids if they need you to, or give rides to people who need them. Just get them to the polls!