red fuzzy jesus

Sean Faircloth on Sex: Notes from Attack of the Theocrats (Chap. 4)

Great book: definitely on my to-read list...

 

Palestinian Mickey Mouse

This is old but always good for a laugh:

 

From BBC News:

Hamas 'Mickey Mouse' killed off

Farfur is making way for new programmes, al-Aqsa said

A Palestinian TV station has killed off a controversial Mickey Mouse lookalike that critics said was spreading anti-US and anti-Israeli messages to children.

The Hamas-affiliated al-Aqsa channel aired the last episode on Friday, showing the character, Farfur, being beaten to death by an "Israeli agent".

"Farfur was martyred defending his land," said the show's presenter Saraa.

Israeli critics had said the show was outrageous and some Palestinian ministers tried to get it shelved.

In the final broadcast an actor said to be an Israeli agent tries to buy the land of the squeaky-voiced Mickey Mouse lookalike.

Farfur brands the Israeli a "terrorist" and is beaten to death.

He was killed "by the killers of children", Saraa says.

Al-Aqsa television told the Associated Press news agency the show, Tomorrow's Pioneers, was making way for new programmes.

'Indoctrination'

The channel had ignored demands from Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti for the show to be stopped.

Mr Barghouti said it "was wrong to use a programme directed at children to convey political messages".

In an earlier show, Farfur had said: "You and I are laying the foundation for a world led by Islamists.

"We will return the Islamic community to its former greatness, and liberate Jerusalem, God willing, liberate Iraq, God willing, and liberate all the countries of the Muslims invaded by the murderers."

The Israeli organisation, Palestinian Media Watch, said Farfur took "every opportunity to indoctrinate young viewers with teachings of Islamic supremacy".

Killing Us Softly - Depictions of Women in Advertising

In this new, highly anticipated update of her pioneering Killing Us Softly series, the first in more than a decade, Jean Kilbourne takes a fresh look at how advertising traffics in distorted and destructive ideals of femininity. The film marshals a range of new print and television advertisements to lay bare a stunning pattern of damaging gender stereotypes -- images and messages that too often reinforce unrealistic, and unhealthy, perceptions of beauty, perfection, and sexuality. By bringing Kilbourne's groundbreaking analysis up to date, Killing Us Softly 4 stands to challenge a new generation of students to take advertising seriously, and to think critically about popular culture and its relationship to sexism, eating disorders, and gender violence.

Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D. is internationally recognized for her groundbreaking work on the image of women in advertising and for her critical studies of alcohol and tobacco advertising. In the late 1960s she began her exploration of the connection between advertising and several public health issues, including violence against women, eating disorders, and addiction, and launched a movement to promote media literacy as a way to prevent these problems. A radical and original idea at the time, this approach is now mainstream and an integral part of most prevention programs. Her films, lectures and television appearances have been seen by millions of people throughout the world. Kilbourne was named by The New York Times Magazine as one of the three most popular speakers on college campuses. She is the creator of the renowned Killing Us Softly: Advertising's Image of Women film series and the author of the award-winning book Can't Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel and co-author of So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids.

 

The President Surrenders

Great article from Paul Krugman explaining the consequences of losing in the budget battle. I can't help thinking that Hilary would have known how to fight (and I said that during the primaries when all my friends supported Obama).

A deal to raise the federal debt ceiling is in the works. If it goes through, many commentators will declare that disaster was avoided. But they will be wrong.

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

For the deal itself, given the available information, is a disaster, and not just for President Obama and his party. It will damage an already depressed economy; it will probably make America’s long-run deficit problem worse, not better; and most important, by demonstrating that raw extortion works and carries no political cost, it will take America a long way down the road to banana-republic status.

Continue reading...

Over The Moon

What can be said that hasn't already been said regarding marriage equality in New York. It's about damn time. I still can't believe it. I have to read a couple articles over and over again to believe it. Anyway, here is some of my favorite coverage of it. But before I get to that, the most significant thing to me were the tweets by my friends and comedians. They were clever and poignant at the same time. Here are some of my favorites:

And I LOVE this NY Daily News Cover. It really says it all:

And, just to make it pinch-yourself real, here are the NYTimes and Wapo stories:

 New York Allows Same-Sex Marriage, Becoming Largest State to Pass Law

New York legalizes same-sex marriage in win for gay rights advocates

 

It's Comedy, People

It's been a week since the news broke. I haven't written anything because I've got too much real work to do. But, I think it deserves some comment. Last week, Tracy Morgan said some controversial things about gay kids, particularly gay youth. I understand the condemnation. But I also understand that Tracy is a comedian and not a politician. His whole shtick is that he seems somewhat crazy, or drunk, or mentally challenged all the time. I also want to stick to my guns about soft censorship. Censorship involves a governing body restricting speech. That's not the issue. Soft censorship involves social coercion. And, here is a test of my principles, because even though I disagree with the jokes and don't find them funny, I still defend him against the humorless and the would-be censors. For a comedian, artist, actor, etc., nothing should be off limits. Everything is fair game for ridicule - even ridiculously cruel ridicule. That's comedy.

I like the Superficial's take on it:

"Friday morning, news broke that Tracy Morgan made some violent, homophobic comments during his stand-up act that become an instant scandal because apparently we’re considering comedy clubs churches now and treating everything at face value. (In related news, the National Fruit Administration has called for an end to Gallagher’s 30+ year Holocaust and demand he face a military tribunal.) Since Tracy’s comments were reported in the news vacuum known as Friday, it was only a matter of time until Hollywood weighed in because, again, jokes are serious business."

And this from Tyler Durden:

"Okay, again, Tracy Morgan is insane, and you can’t give him a microphone and put him on stage and then criticize him for saying insane things any more than you can yell at a kid with Downs for making faces. Morgan could have easily had said the same thing about stabbing his kid because he thought he was a dragon."

I'm not defending the ideas expressed, merely the medium. Morgan makes jokes about women giving head, black people, Jews, Asians, doing crack, punching people out, and generally being insane. It's not political advocacy. It's not scholarship. It's stupidity for laughs. It's what Spike Lee has labeled "bafoonery."

Two problems I do have involve a time and place consideration. 1. He said it in Tennessee, one of the hardest states on LGBT people. TN recently passed a law outlawing even mentioning gay people in school. Medieval! 2. This year there have been several suicides related to anti-gay bullying. And family rejection has always been a problem for gay youth. But, again, it's comedy told by a crazy guy. He's supposed to get on stage and say ridiculous stuff. That's his job. Gilbert Gottfried made jokes about 9/11/01 on 9/12/01. He was fired for making Tsunami jokes earlier this year right after the Japanese earthquake. It's comedy. It's okay if it's insensitive.

This is not the same thing as David Tyree participating in ill informed activism with the National Organization for Marriage.

Again, I like The Superficial's take on things:

Because Tracy Morgan actually realized homophobia is fucking retarded, or at least requires better comedic timing, former New York Giants receiver David Tyree has stepped up by joining forces with the National Organization of Marriage and reminded everyone that some black people are still really religious and surprisingly unable to remember when it was legal to blast them with firehoses for being different. And now to make Republican heads explode because, once again, the colored man has dominated another one of their pastimes. TMZ reports:

During the interview, Tyree is asked about the push to legalize gay marriage in the United States — and says if it happens, “This will be the beginning of our country sliding toward … it’s a strong word, but anarchy.”
To reinforce his point, Tyree says, “You can’t teach something that you don’t have … so two men will never be able to show a woman how to be a woman.”
And the kicker, Tyree — who’s black — says, “How can marriage be marriage for thousands of years and now all the sudden because a minority, an influential minority, has a push or agenda … and totally reshapes something that was not founded in our country.”

An agenda that “totally reshapes something that was not founded in our country.” Interesting logic because you know what else our country wasn’t founded on? Letting black people speak, vote, look at white women and/or generally walk around freely without a pair of shackles on. But, no, you’re right, they totally had it figured out back then.

Tyree is saying ignorant crap but it's not for laughs, it's for real. Two men will never be able to show a woman how to be a woman? What does that even mean? Studies showing kids turn out just as well with same-sex parents as opposite-sex parents are passé at this point. How do two people committing their lives to each other provoke anarchy? Seriously, explain these brilliant, sophisticated ideas. And, while you're at it, ignore that the same things were said not too long ago about interracial marriage.

But see, Tyree IS engaging in political advocacy. He has inserted himself into NY's marriage equality debate at a critical moment when the vote in the state legislature is going to be close. He doesn't rely on history, or academic studies, or any sort of scholarship. He just spouts animus. That is completely different than comedy.

I think you should be able to joke about anything, even if it touches on touchy subjects. In fact, I think there is a value to joking about touchy subjects. Humor is a way of processing and overcoming difficult times, at a personal level and a social level. Let idiots make jokes. For that matter, let idiots make political statements. Just shrug off the former and actively oppose the latter.

Perspectives on Turkey and Israel

I have been coming across a lot of information on Turkey in my research. Most of the academic or governmental materials are critical of Turkey for its treatment of minorities and spotty record on human rights. Denying Armenian genocide doesn’t help. However, in contrast, most of the pseudo-academic blogs and online journals take a stand that Turkey is beyond criticism and Israel is the most evil state in the world. I’m overstating it, but only a bit.

The contrast is startling. In ubiquitous “academic” circles the orthodox mantra is that Israel is bad and Turkey is a hero for challenging Israel’s military occupations and general hegemony. Reading the comments on some post – something one should never do really – we find that any defender of Israel or critic of Turkey is fed on.

I am one of those supporters of Israel. Supporting a state does not mean you agree with every single state action. It means I am happy with Israel being a Jewish state and comfortable with the steps it takes to defend its borders and security. Exercises like the Flotilla last year and the mass crossing of the border are intended for show and to provoke. And anyone can see through them. Any country – especially any country in the Middle East – carefully guards its borders. On a recent trip to Israel my friend, an American citizen who has lived in Amsterdam for several years, visited the American consulate three times in one week to gain the credentials to visit Jordan. Israel using verbal warnings, followed by warning shots, followed by shots with the intention to harm is hardly unusual or excessive. But, I digress.

As with most areas of discourse, I think it is important (in whatever small little way) that I add something to discussion I see as lacking. Put simply, Turkey is not perfect. And for all the cheering of Turkey’s flotilla and jeering of big, bad Israel, I think it is necessary to point out Turkey’s own human rights deficiencies. The idea is to provide a little perspective to the decidedly one-sided discussion. And, knowing that I might tick off some humorless Israel haters is icing on the cake for me.

On Eve of Elections, a More Upbeat Mood in Turkey - PM Erdogan Gets High Marks for Foreign Policy

“Opinions about the state of the country are strongly associated with religiosity. A solid majority (64%) of Muslim Turks who pray five times a day are satisfied with the direction of the nation. Among those who pray at least once a week but less than five times daily, only 41% are satisfied. And among those who hardly ever pray or only do so during religious holidays, just 32% express satisfaction.”

The most religiously fervent in Turkey are the ones most comfortable with its antagonistic policy toward Israel. Secularists and moderates are less enthusiastic.

Turkey’s Gay Problem

“When the country isn't busy policing the world to make sure that no one recognizes the Armenian genocide, Turkey has its hands full fulfilling a reputation as a toxic place for LGBT people. In the last year alone, there has been an increased campaign of discrimination and violence toward transgender people, a clamp down on LGBT rights organizations, and a father accused of murdering his gay son in broad daylight as an honor killing.”

Turkey: Kurdish Party Members’ Trial Violates Rights

“The prosecution of hundreds of officials, activists, and elected mayors from the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) highlights the problems associated with Turkey's overbroad antiterrorism laws, Human Rights Watch said today. The trial of the 152 defendants in Diyarbakir Heavy Penal Court for alleged links to the armed outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is set to resume on April 19, 2011.”

Turkey: Journalists’ Arrests Chills Free Speech

Some Had Done Critical Reporting About the Criminal Justice System

“The arrest of nine journalists and writers on March 3, 2011, in the absence of clear reasonable cause, will have a chilling effect on free speech, Human Rights Watch said. The nine were accused of links to the alleged "Ergenekon" coup plots against the Turkish government.”

Ignoring Rights in Turkey, and Its Cost to Everyone

“The European Commission's latest annual report of  Turkey's progress toward EU membership made one thing very clear: Turkey is not doing enough to improve its  human rights record.”

Turkey: Women Left Unprotected From Violence

Turkey's flawed family violence protection system leaves women and girls across the country unprotected against domestic abuse, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Life-saving protections, including court-issued protection orders and emergency shelters, are not available for many abuse victims because of gaps in the law and enforcement failures.

Jon Stewart’s classic and excellent skewering of those who cannot endure criticism or humor.

“Stewart himself is no stranger to mocking religions. After acknowledging how well each faith has handled the show's ridicule, he presented an epic reel of the show's religion jokes over the years.

And keeping consistent with the theme of the week, Stewart had one last thing to say to Revolution Muslim: "Go F--k Yourselves." And again, he did it through song. Nice way to close out a strong week.”

[For the knee-jerk haters, I'll point out that these links come from Pew Research, Human Rights Watch, and Comedy Central. So please spare me your condemnation that the sources cited are beneath your supposedly sophisticated intellect.]

BOO

 

NYT: A Tale of Two Moralities

I really like this article so I'm featuring it here instead of the right column. 

A Tale of Two Moralities
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: January 13, 2011
On Wednesday, President Obama called on Americans to “expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together.” Those were beautiful words; they spoke to our desire for reconciliation.

But the truth is that we are a deeply divided nation and are likely to remain one for a long time. By all means, let’s listen to each other more carefully; but what we’ll discover, I fear, is how far apart we are. For the great divide in our politics isn’t really about pragmatic issues, about which policies work best; it’s about differences in those very moral imaginations Mr. Obama urges us to expand, about divergent beliefs over what constitutes justice.

And the real challenge we face is not how to resolve our differences — something that won’t happen any time soon — but how to keep the expression of those differences within bounds.
What are the differences I’m talking about?
Continue to the full article…

Second Amendment Solutions?

Today, Gabrielle Giffords, a Democratic congresswoman from Arizona, was shot in the head while at a grocery store. 

Sarah Palin’s Facebook page has had an image with House representatives she would like to “remove from office.”  The map of the United States has gun sights on it depicting where each targeted House member's districts is. Defeated or retiring members of Congress have red crosshairs over their names. 
Giffords name appears fourth down on the left. 

Palin frequently used the word “Reload,” to stimulate supporters after the healthcare bill passed. 

On his Twitter feed today, Patton Oswalt tweeted, "Get on target for victory in November. Help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office. Take back the 20. Reload."

And months ago, Palin even lost her support from Elizabeth Hasselbeck on the view for her gun sights map.  Video below

In January 2010, during her Senate Race, Sharon Angle said,

"You know, our Founding Fathers, they put that Second Amendment in there for a good reason and that was for the people to protect themselves against a tyrannical government. And in fact Thomas Jefferson said it's good for a country to have a revolution every 20 years.
I hope that's not where we're going, but, you know, if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies and saying my goodness what can we do to turn this country around? I'll tell you the first thing we need to do is take Harry Reid out." [source]

I’m not sure the First Amendment covers these indirect threats toward politicians.  Regardless, Palin, Angle, and any other leader need to take responsibility for the things they say and consider the possible fallout. The words of Palin, Angle, and others use may just be metaphors for political competition and victory.  But, these women are not ignorant of who their core supporters are: ignorant, angry, white, Teabaggers.  There IS a responsibility to be careful with the imagery you use knowing who listens to you the most. 

 

Et Tu, FOX News?

If you are a conservative group and even FOX News is ridiculing you, you're way outside of the mainstream.  I like this conversation from last week on FOX News' Red Eye.  It's not really funny - though it tries so hard - but it has some valuable insight.  Recently SLPC certified hate groups, like the FRC and Peter LaBarbera of AFTAH, have made a big show on their websites about pulling out of CPAC because GOProud is a part of the conference.  Surprise surprise, no one at CPAC cares.  It's funny how quickly anti-gay groups are losing relevance even among conservatives.  It's a real sign of progress when even FOX News doesn't buy the anti-gay hate. 

 

What's even funnier is Peter LaBarbera is throwing a hissy fit.  He makes the tired old claim that, "Guilfoyle, with all her legal training and Catholic schooling, would have at least challenged Gutfeld’s sophomoric thesis of Moral-Opposition-to-Homosexuality = “Hate”.  No one - not FOX News, not the SPLC, not any gay rights activist - is equating moral opposition with hate.  They are calling hate hate.

I emailed Peter to correct him.  I know it won't do any good but it's catheratic to call him on his crap.  Here's an excerpt:

"Fox News' Red Eye did not equate moral opposition to homosexuality with hate.  There's a difference between the two.

Moral opposition to homosexuality looks like this:
I believe gay sex acts are wrong according to my religion.  Therefore, to please god people who are attracted to others of the same gender should remain celibate.  There's nothing hateful about that. 

Hate, on the other hand, includes things like this:
- Targeting an entire group of people with baseless stereotypes
- Advocating for civil and legal persecution because people do not adhere to your religious prescriptions
- Using bogus research like the work of Paul Cameron
- Supporting discrimination in housing and employment based on your "moral opposition."  That goes farther than mere moral opposition. 
- Designating an entire class of people as 'less than'.

"I morally oppose your "religious" viewpoints.  However, I do not advocate that you be fired (if you had a real job), excluded from the military, denied housing, denied hospital visitation rights, or treated unfairly by the law in ANY way based on my moral opposition to your religion.  If I did support unequal treatment under the law, that alone would be hateful, not my moral opposition." 

The use of hate - as opposed to so-called "moral opposition" - has been well documented by several different sources, including this.  I've started exploring the topic of What Is Hate in more depth and I hope to continue in the coming weeks, including examinations of things such as Islamophobia.  For now, I'll close with a funny video of Peter LaBarbera's local news calling him out for running a hate group. 

Anti-Gay Chicago Groups Make 'Hate List': MyFoxCHICAGO.com