My two minute hate

White privilege and the election

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:23:15 GMT

So, I'm posting this just about everywhere, because....just wow.

http://www.alternet.org/rights/98915/

What Privileges Do McCain and Palin Receive Because They're White?

For those who still can't grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.

White privilege is when you can get pregnant at 17 like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because "every family has challenges," even as black and Latino families with similar "challenges" are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.

White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin' redneck," like Bristol Palin's boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their fuckin' ass," and talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.

White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.

White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-size colleges, and then governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don't all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. senator, two-term state senator and constitutional law scholar means you're "untested."

White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me," and not be immediately disqualified from holding office -- since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the "under God" part wasn't added until the 1950s -- while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school, requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.

White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you. White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was "Alaska first," and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she's being disrespectful.

White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do -- like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the eight-hour workday, or an end to child labor -- and people think you're being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small-town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college -- you're somehow being mean, or even sexist.

White privilege is being able to convince white women who don't even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women and made them give your party a "second look."

White privilege is being able to fire people who didn't support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.

White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the United States is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God's punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you're just a good churchgoing Christian, but if you're black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you're an extremist who probably hates America.

White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then having people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a "trick question," while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O'Reilly means you're dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.

White privilege is being able to claim that your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it, a "light" burden.

And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising and the United States is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren't sure about that whole "change" thing. Ya know, it's just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain.

White privilege is, in short, the problem.

Defending my fourth choice candidate.....

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 13:52:00 GMT

Can someone please explain to me why it's perfectly acceptable for political pundits on both sides of the aisle, reporters, and even some of her fellow candidates (one in particular does it consistently) to refer to Hillary Clinton by her first name in articles/interviews/during debates? I don't buy the argument that it distinguishes her from her husband...we all know which one is running for president this time around; there's no need for clarification when we're talking about the field of current candidates. It's diminishing and offensive...and yet another indication that misogyny is alive and well, even in the 2008 Democratic Party.

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 02:52:41 GMT

Just so I don't lose it...."Bob Dylan reciting "The Night Before Christmas.""

Happy Birthday Leitha!!

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 19:54:34 GMT

Note the Hostess cupcake w/the candle!!

I love your funny face....

Sat, 27 Oct 2007 01:01:03 GMT

Yeah, so I never post anymore. But Elizabeth passed out in the chair with half of her Halloween costume still on is funny. OK, to me it is...to you...maybe not so much. Anyway, she was a bee and once you took the bee-body off, she looked like a little blonde Audrey Hepburn in "Funny Face" with her all black getup. (Consequently, I've had Gershwin running around my brain all night) She absolutely refused, however, to take off the bee hat...

Craigslist--keeping me entertained at work!

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 14:17:30 GMT

Yeah, so I never update anymore, but this is just something I had to save. And share, I guess.

Free - Ass Kicking
Reply to: sale-397545160@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-08-15, 10:02AM EDT

I'm a 40 year old stocky Filipino fireplug, willing to provide free ass kickings any time of the day or night to anyone who wants it. Open to both men and women. Your picture gets mine so I know what I'm up against. I'm willing to travel and make house calls, however, I'm also willing to split travel costs if you head my way.

* Location: Hilliard
* it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 397545160

For David.....

Mon, 21 May 2007 16:22:18 GMT

who asks "Why don't you update Live Journal anymore?"

Taking the cue from your last post:

I have this fantasy that Season 4 of "The Office" opens up with a solemn-faced Pam talking head in which she breaks it to the documentary crew that Jim Halpert was hit and killed by a bus while re-enacting the scene from "Say Anything" where Lloyd, basking in the afterglow of his first date with Diane, stands in the middle of her street taking bows. Pam then reveals that it's her first day back at Dunder Mifflin after a 60 day stay in the loony bin, having witnessed the accident from her apartment window.

What? That's not funny to you?

Fri, 19 Jan 2007 14:18:19 GMT

It's finally snowing!
Like real live snowflakes that might actually stick to the ground for awhile!

Yeah, I'm happy now, but I will be bitching about it later, as everyone in town will have forgotten how to drive in the stuff...

And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance...

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 03:42:51 GMT

So, the good news is that I haven't passed out. The bad news is that after nearly two blissful, period-free years, my endometriosis has come back and apparently holds some kind of grudge.

I hate my uterus.

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 13:22:43 GMT

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?
So, here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend your cool... and alot of the songs fit with the setting

Opening Credits:
Ed Harcourt- Apple of My Eye

Waking Up:
Matthew Sweet- Sick of Myself

First Day At School:
Gnarles Barkley-Transformer

Falling In Love:
Twilight Singers- Teenage Wristband

Fight Song:
The Pixies- Here Comes Your Man

Breaking Up:
Beastie Boys- She's Crafty

Prom:
Split Enz- History Never Repeats

Life:
David Bowie- Space Oddity

Mental Breakdown:
Guided by Voices- Glad Girls

Driving:
Jeff Buckley- Your Flesh is So Nice

Flashback:
The Cure- Friday I'm in Love

Getting back together:
Bauhaus- Bela Lugosi is Dead

Wedding:
Public Enemy- Party for Your Right to Fight

Birth of Child:
Queen- Fat Bottomed Girls (HA!!)

Final Battle:
David Bowie- Rebel Rebel

Death Scene:
Sonic Youth- Schizophrenia

Funeral Song:
Spoon- Sister Jack

End Credits:
Modest Mouse- The World at Large

In real news, I'm in love w/my new car. It makes me almost as happy as looking at pictures of my high school reunion (that I didn't attend) and seeing that the inner ugliness of a certain someone has made its way to the outside. The girl is sporting a she-mullet, and that's really all I need to say on that matter....

Room 006

Fri, 22 Dec 2006 22:47:30 GMT

Room 006
Originally uploaded by Joycamp.

This is what Elizabeth thinks Mother Nature should kiss for keeping her Aunt Leitha away this Christmas!

It's Christmas time in Hollis, Queens, Mom's cooking chicken and collard greens

Mon, 11 Dec 2006 15:24:44 GMT

Not that this journal would reflect it, but I really do have a lot to say about things. General state-of-the-world things, personal things, complaints and grievances galore, even the occasional moment of contentment....however, I find that I lack the time and energy to put them into words these days, let alone type them out.
I do, however, find time to videotape Elizabeth doing her thing....and since this journal seems to have become a repository (or dumping ground, if you will) for all things Ms E, I present you with:

Elizabeth getting a kick out of the creepy elf from Run DMC's "Christmas in Hollis" video
Invalid video URL.

Screw it.....link won't work.
The rhymes that you hear are the rhymes of Darryl...."

Santa 2006

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 23:53:05 GMT

Santa2006
Originally uploaded by Joycamp.

Much like last year Elizabeth wailed when handed over to Santa.

As for Santa, I have only one thing to say: Santa Claus should never, under any circumstances, have hollow cheeks. I like my Santas fat and jolly, damnit.

Stolen from jenni_knightess

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 12:54:08 GMT

OK, I cheated. But the first quote that came up was "Nobody puts Laura in a corner." And me and Dirty Dancing? Well, we're not friends; Dirty Harry, on the other hand....

Go to this site & enter your name in the box & hit the Quotatebutton. DON'T CHEAT, KEEP THE FIRST ONE THEY GIVE YOU. Add your sloganto the bottom of the list and repost.

http://thesurrealist.co.uk/movie.php

1. That will do Jusca, That will do.
2. Keep your friends close, but your Kristie closer.
3. All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my Jenn.
4. First rule about Josh club, you don't talk about Josh club.
5. One Alecto's too many, and a hundred's not enough.
6. I feel the need, the need for the Josef Von Brosef
7. Mama always said life was like a box of Christy
8. First rule of King Dave Club, you do not talk about King Dave Club!
9. Oh, no, it wasn't the airplanes. It was Miranda killed the Beast.
10. When there is no more room in hell, the Chris will walk the earth.
11. Play it, Sam. Play "As Nick Goes By."
12. You can't handle the Yvonne! (So true.)
13. The first rule about Krystle club, is you don't talk about Krystle Club.
14. I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Krishna on fire off the shoulder of Orion.
15. Lions and tigers and spatula, oh my!
16. I've got a feeling we're not in Mark Nathan anymore.
17. Watch the Kenneth, everywhere, keep looking! Keep watching the Kenneth!
18. One Inga's too many, and a hundred's not enough.
19. A boy's best friend is his lili.
20. The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world Renee didn't exist.
21. Ben Lawley! Why did it have to be Ben Lawley?
22. I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take Tommy anymore!
23. First rule of Karen Club is - you do not talk about Karen Club.
24. I'm here to fight for truth, justice, and the American Tom.
25. All work and no Marie makes Jack a dull boy.
26. Your gonna need a bigger Holly (from JAWS!!!yeah boi!)
27. Remember, you're fighting for this woman's Lexey, which is probably more than she ever did
28. If you build it, Shaughnessy will come.
29. Why don't you come up sometime and see Gabriella?
30. After all, tomorrow is another Mikki.
31. If you are a minority of one,the Legion is the Legion.
32. If I was a Bonnie, a perfect Bonnie, how would you know it was really me?
33. When there's no more room in hell, the Saice will walk the earth.
34. I ate his Kami with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.
35. You had me at "Greg"
36. Round up the usual Alia.
37. Go ahead, make my Karen.
38. We'll always have Jenni.
39. You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel Laura?' Well, do ya, punk?

Election Day Hangover

Wed, 08 Nov 2006 13:35:07 GMT

I woke up in a blue--and soon to be smoke-free-- state this morning.
God, does it feel good.
Now, if only Mary Jo Kilroy can pull a few thousand votes out of her ass and send Deborah Pryce packing, it will be a great day.

I was a total hypocrite, however, and voted for Issue 2. If the far right can hijack the state constitution for their own morally reprehensible, anti-gay reasons, I can hijack it for a pet cause of my own.

And a special note to those in the South-Western School District: do you hate your kids that much?

Thank you Aunt almostwhitemeat

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 22:05:45 GMT

tutu 001
Originally uploaded by Joycamp.

Elizabeth modeling her new outfit from Aunt Leitha....it's a little too big, but she'll grow into it soon enough!

I've been proselytized

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 04:47:47 GMT

My oldest and closest friend says I'm going to Hell

My belief system in a nutshell: I do believe in God, or whatever name you'd like to ascribe to a Higher Power. That's about it. I do not believe that the Bible is the unquestionable Word of God. I think that much of its contents were more politically motivated than divinely inspired. Not to mention the fact that it was written, edited, and translated many times over by Man. As in men. As in XY chromosomed human beings. With power and a strong desire to hold on to that power (the editors and translators more so than the writers, I would surmise.) I don't think that the Bible is without merit, but I also think it's a mistake to not read it in historical context.
And, most importantly, I can't fully comprehend the notion that acceptance of Jesus Christ is the only ticket to heaven. As it is, I struggle with the idea of Christ's divinity....and to be honest, I can't come away with a true feeling of what I believe in that respect because I can't separate what I think now and what I'd been taught growing up. Maybe it's faith, maybe it's indoctrination, but I can't outright reject the idea, so it would appear that I'm at a standstill on that one.
In the end, I can only reach the conclusion that we, as human beings, don't have the capacity to truly understand. It shouldn't stop us from trying, as I think examining religion forces us to examine ourselves (and in theory makes us better people) but I simply don't believe that any one religion has gotten it 100% right. Some might call that a lack of faith, and to be truthful, I really don't have a better way to describe it myself....so I'll go with that, though I stop short of seeing that lack of faith as being necessarily a negative.

I just spent an hour talking to Betty on the phone about this. She's been going to a Baptist (and I mean really Baptist) church and totally threw me for a loop when she laid the "Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?" on me tonight. I tried explaining to her how I felt about religion in general and she countered with Bible passages. Eventually she admitted that quoting a source that I found dubious wasn't the best way to get me to see her point of view, and at this point I thought we had agreed to disagree. But no...she wants to send me a book. Which explains the Bible. From a Baptist point of view. And asked me to promise to read it.
At that point, I had to put her on hold to investigate a loud noise outside my window. No really....there really was a loud noise. A convenient loud noise, but a very real one. When I got back to the phone, we moved on to talking about one of her kids, so I'm thinking that I've dodged a bullet. However, when we finally said goodbye she said "Be on the lookout for that book...."

I really, really miss the days of drunken ramblings from her. Now, those? Much easier to wrap my head around.

Posing

Sat, 28 Oct 2006 02:27:49 GMT

trick or treat 005
Originally uploaded by Joycamp.

The picture quality is craptastic, but I love this pose and expression from tonight's Halloween outing....

Thu, 26 Oct 2006 15:54:54 GMT

Hecate went in yesterday for bloodwork and to give a urine sample. She was fine when we got home, but when we all went to bed it was another story. Howling. All night. Like cat-in-heat howling. Did I mention that she did this ALL NIGHT? And that I didn't sleep as a result of said howling?
I shudder to think how she'll react to surgery (assuming that she has is) if a simple blood draw and urine collection gives us this amount of feline-angst.

(On the other hand, I'm really liking this vet. The next time one of our cats has an exploding tumor, we'll definitely take them to her. Or, you know, for shots and regular check ups and stuff....)

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 02:51:00 GMT

I thought that a dead fish in the tank would be the worst thing I found when I got home from work on Friday. One of the fish had been acting nearly dead that morning, and I fully expected to find it belly up by that afternoon. Unfortunately, before I could get to the tank, I found something worse: a reasonably sized pool of blood on the living room floor. After ensuring that it hadn't come from David or Elizabeth, I went looking for Hecate. She's had some issues the past few months w/a growth on her chest area and she's been pulling fur (sometimes tinged w/blood) out around it for the last week or so. While we searched, David found several more bloody carpet areas in the office, and I found Hecate under our bed, with a bloody belly. After a few phone calls, we end up at the animal hospital nearby and are told that the lump would have to be surgically removed. She's scheduled for blood work on Wednesday, and surgery to follow soon afterward. I'm not sure from whose ass we're going to pull the estimated $700 the surgery will cost, but it really is the only option. It doesn't appear to be causing her any pain, but we really can't be going around cleaning blood from the carpet....
We bandaged her up on Friday night, only to have her remove the bandages, aggravate the lump and bleed some more. This time she had the courtesy to bleed over tiled floor, which made clean up a little easier. We added a bandana, tied at the top like a tourniquet, for extra security yesterday. That seems to be working, as she's unable to weasel out of it and has remained blood-free since then. Silly looking, but w/clean, blood-free fur. With all of the stressing over the cost, getting the blood out of the carpet, Hecate's general comfort, etc, I've not really sat down and thought about what happens if the blood work, or the biopsy after the removal, shows something serious. Frankly, I don't want to.
So, yeah...that kind of put a damper on our weekend plans. Not just in a gloomy kind of way, but in a we-just-spent-most-of-our-money-til-payday-so-now-we're-broke kind of way. Good times.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the fish did, in fact, die.
It wasn't a good weekend to be a pet in the Lewis household...

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 15:56:31 GMT

Remember when you were like 10 and you looked up "ass" in the dictionary and giggled like an idiot?
Well, that's kind of how I felt when I pulled up Google News a few minutes ago and saw the second headline under U.S.News:

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 23:25:03 GMT

Is it too much to ask of the weather people to expand upon statements such as "A caller reporting a funnel cloud on Galloway Road?" Call me kooky, but some of us who live near Galloway Rd might want to know if that is happening now or, I don't know, maybe it happened 25 minutes ago when it was mighty ugly outside....
I'm not asking for much, just a point of reference or two....

Holy Crap

Tue, 10 Oct 2006 01:23:05 GMT

OK...I shared this with mst3kgirl this afternoon, and we had a laugh at how paranoid I am. Now that I've done some research, I'm thinking it's not so funny:
The Steelers are sucking a bit so far this year. And because I tend to have irrational thoughts and take things a little too personally, I can only assume that it's because the Mets are doing so well and God just wants to fuck with me. Now, as I said this afternoon, I think God has far more important things to deal with; Dawn and I both agreed that it was silly. But what if....what if I'm right and God doesn't want me to see more than one of my teams do well at the same time? Wouldn't it be funny to check (purely out of curiosity, of course) what the Steeler record was at this same point in the season during the last 2 times the Mets were in the World Series?
Well, in 1986 the Steelers were 1-3 at this point in the season. In 2000 they were standing at....1-3.
Four games into this season, and the Steelers are, um...1-3. Again.

The Steelers missed the playoffs both years.
In 1986, when the Mets won the Series, Pittsburgh finished a dismal 6-10. In 2000, when the Mets lost, Pittsburgh finished at 9-7.

So all of this proves one of 2 things: the existence of God (along w/the troubling fact that he's got a problem with me) or the non-existence of my own sanity. Any way I look at it, things aren't looking so good for the black and gold.

But, hey: GO METS!!

The Bus stops in Scranton

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 18:18:07 GMT

You have to scroll past a lot of crap about Kobe Bryant to get there, but...HOW FRIGGIN' COOL IS THIS???

From the paranoia files and other random tidbits

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 14:13:22 GMT

So, I answered an ad on Craigslist from someone wanting maternity clothes. Since mine are sitting in a basket on my bedroom floor waiting to be bagged up and taken to Goodwill (and have been for...oh, nearly 11 months now), I wrote her and told her she could have the lot. We're in the middle of arranging (via email) a meeting. And I suddenly had a thought: what if she's one of those crazed baby snatchers? Odds are in my favor that she's not...but how messed up is the world today that the thought even crossed my mind???
*****
Yesterday after work, I had to go out to the garage and took Elizabeth with me.
(and, crap----as I typed that I realized that I forgot to bring into work the item I'd gone to the garage for in the first place. I suck...mst3kgirl, I'll bring it tomorrow!!)
Anyway, once outside, the neighbor kids asked if they could play w/Ms E. She had a blast....chasing around a ball and crawling after the kids as they pretended to run away from her. She's always been a stare and smile kind of girl, but this is the first time she's shown any real interest in playing with other kids. As luck would have it, it's come at the end of our warm weather days!
*****
Speaking of the neighbor kids, one of them calls me Mommy every time he sees me. When I come home from work and he's outside, he'll come running up to me saying "Mommy!!" His name is Anthony and he's around 6. It's very, very weird. He's a cute kid, but it's just weird.
*****
Finally....I hate my car. Monday morning I'm ready to leave for work and it won't start. Dead battery. Triple A comes out that evening and gives me a jump. YAY! It's running. But then it doesn't start on Tuesday because I apparently didn't let it run long enough after the jump. And we can't jump it ourselves because....my trunk key doesn't work and for some stupid reason, I have BOTH sets of jumper cables in my trunk. Our neighbor, Anthony's real mom, pulls up and sends one of the guys she lives with (it's probably not how it sounds, but we've not been able to figure out who this guy is in relation to everyone else there---not that it's any of our business, anyway! What matters is that they're really nice people who do things like retrieve our patio umbrella when it gets blown away in a storm, or knock on my door to tell me that I'd left the garage door open---twice, and help us jump my piece of crap car) and he offers his jumper cables...only to discover that my battery is totally, unequivocally, thoroughly dead. We'll deal with that this weekend.