Just thought I’d give you guys a heads up that Ms. Magazine now has its own blog! In honor of International Women’s Day, they decided to give all of us the opportunity to check out the latest news via the internet (win!).  Ms. began in 1972 with the help of Gloria Steinem and Letty Cottin.  Since 2001, it has been owned by The Feminist Majority Foundation.

One of the first posts– Mo’Nique, Bigelow + Oscar: Mixed Feelings– explores the combination of triumph and disappointment felt by women after Oscar night.  Many feel that Precious is contributing to wretched stereotypes of black motherhood.  Courtney Young also mentions the conflict of race in Hollywood films– a conflict that has multiple dimensions.

Sandra Bullock’s win for Best Actress, worthy as it may be, gives me pause when I  consider her recent filmography: The roles that have won her critical acclaim–Crash and now The Blind Side–are ones in which she plays privileged upper-middle-class White women who have brief or long-lasting encounters with men of color. The former film portrays blatant racism, the latter embraces a “savior” narrative, with those needing saving being poor and Black.

The blog post is an adequate query, daring to dig through the endless subliminal messages and ideals that we absorb while watching these movies.  Were these nominations and wins a triumph or a setback?  It seems this new wave of feminists (myself included) will have to decide for ourselves, and as always: forge ahead.

As promised, we have a few more pictures to share from the smut generator that is Chatroulette.  Late Saturday night delivered some pretty interesting characters, although the majority of the people we saw were doing things that we could never manage to blur out.

We ran into some gems, thankfully– there was a group of highly intoxicated and brash British men.  That conversation consisted of football talk (my favorite thing about CR– the ability to speak with folks who care about it) and then being called a “ginger jock cunt” by mister loud-mouth when I mentioned I was Scottish (bad move on my part, I know).  Then they unleashed one of the oldest taunts in the book– they mentioned William Wallace.   I love childish European cultural and racial grudges, if only for their humor.  But I digress– I prefer derogatory Cockney slang rather than wee wees. We also decided to let Lord Charles do his thing. Unfortunately, with the webcam focused on him, there were infinite “next”s in store.  He did manage to charm a few, and was met with a chorus of “aww”s and hysterical facial expressions.  Pictures after the jump– NSFW (kind of), as what kind of Chatroulette screenshot post isn’t?

it was 11am in london, and these guys were still drinking it up. all of it.

i believe this was right before the snot on the left made a comment about william wallace.

they got exponentially more drunk as the seconds ticked by.

charles and his new fan club.

actual quote: "awww, look at the little baby on chatroulette!"

this is charles and his internet girlfriend !

best reaction to charles. ever.

i don't think charles is willing to help you, mister.

folks in chi-town fell in love with charles and his pandering.

SUP CREEP

NOO, CSPAN!

PLEASE!

my expression says it all.

I AM A DOG

we thought this was hilarious.

again, my expression.

at least he wasn't naked.

i'm better at it.

this got a good laugh.

these guys were really, really drunk. the one on the left has makeup on. and apparently thinks he's sid vicious.

errr...

this is precisely WHY we made the "BOOBS?" sign.

...

...?!

...

had the spongebob voice and everything!

"WHAT DO YOU SAY TO YOURSELF?"

Check back later, as I am sure another post full of these will be coming soon.  Caio!

Glenn Beck, Vatican sex scandal, and Stupak after the jump.

The Vatican finds itself at the center of a gay sex scandal today.  Angelo Balducci was recorded by police in an unrelated “corruption investigation.”  These tapes included conversations Balducci had with a Vatican chorister, in which he was “negotiating…over the specific physical details of men he wanted brought to him.”  Eep.

Our BFF, Bart Stupak, is threatening to revoke his vote for the health care bill, citing that that language is not “strict” enough when it comes to reproductive rights. “We’re not going to vote for this bill with that kind of language.”  11 other members of the House are backing him up.  Fail.

…Is this real life? Liz Cheney (and her “Keep America Safe” advocacy group) is being SLAMMED  for calling the DOJ lawyers who represented Guantanamo detainees “al-Qeada seven“.  The group is also calling for the names of these individuals to be released.  McCarthyism?  I’d say so I know so.

And lastly, Glenn Beck compared the posters for the CA education rallies to Soviet Union propaganda.   Yes, I am serious.  From the Glenn Beck “blog’: “There is a concerted effort to indoctrinate your children with progressive propaganda, going on right now. It’s everywhere: the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, with the global warming agenda. And many of our nation’s schools are hitting our kids with the full progressive assault.” I don’t even need to make a comment on this one.

Good day, my children.  Don’t let your heads explode.

Another gender socialization flop in the media.  Are we surprised?  Yes Means Yes reported on a man’s r-a-p-e in Brooklyn, New York.  Michael Mineo alleges that he was sodomized raped back in October of 2008.  According to The New York Times:

On Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010, a criminal trial began at the State Supreme Court in Brooklyn against three officers charged in the case. Prosecutors said that one of the officers, Richard Kern, repeatedly shoved a retractable baton between Mr. Mineo’s buttocks, then told Mr. Mineo that if he revealed the attack to anyone or went to the hospital, he would be charged with a felony. Two other officers, Alex Cruz and Andrew Morales, helped to cover up the attack, prosecutors charged.

So what is the officer being charged with? The crime of sodomy.  Not rape.  He (allegedly) “repeatedly shoved a retractable baton between Mr. Mineo’s buttocks“. That sounds like rape to me.  However, the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR) and National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) classify rape as: “the carnal knowledge of a female against her will” (by a male).  Same-sex rape, or the rape of a male by a female are classified as “sexual assault”.

Chris Matthews put his foot in his mouth (again) for several moments following President Obama’s State of the Union speech.  The Atlantic’s Ta-Nehisi Coates eloquently responds with I Just Remembered Chris Matthews Was White.

This is why Obama will never be postracial–he can’t make white people face the lie of their ignorance, anymore than Jimmy Baldwin could make black people face the lie of our homophobia. It’s white people’s responsibility to make themselves postracial, not the president’s. Whatever my disagreements with him, the fact is that he is brilliant. That he is black and brilliant is pleasant but unsurprising to me. I’ve known very brilliant, very black people all my life. At some point that number of white people who still can’t get their heads around our humanity will have to accept the truth: the president is black, even if you don’t quite know what that means.

Chris Matthews did “clarify” the remark later on during MSNBC’s coverage of the State of the Union.  During the Rachel Maddow Show, he mumbled his explanation as Rachel seemed rather uncomfortable (giving the “what the hell are you talking about” look I love her for).  Sigh.

NOW urges the Department of Justice to investigate this network of anti-abortion terrorists. NOW leadership and our dedicated grassroots activists across the country, have been tracking and witnessing these terrorists at work for decades. Some of our own members have survived harassment and assault. NOW would be happy to share with the Justice Department any relevant evidence we might have that would help shut down this conspiracy to deny women their fundamental right to abortion through violence and the threat of violence.

I’ve now had an entire month to digest say anything’s self-titled album.  And yes, it has taken that long for me to fully absorb everything about the record.

Let’s start my saying a lot of things have happened to the band since their last release, “In Defense of the Genre” in 2007.   Firstly, frontman Max Bemis got married to Sherri Dupree of eisley in April.  Oh, and Max described himself as a “Christian” in a Myspace interview.  Their line-up changes befuddle me (Coby and Max are the only remaining original members).  And lastly, it seems that Max has finally found peace– he seems to be more stable than ever, and I believe he’s also (still?) sober.

Say Anything is almost a sentimental part of my music collection for many reasons.  Max’s ups and downs with Bipolar Disorder and drug abuse seemed to mirror mine.  he attended sarah lawrence and withdrew.  i visited sarah lawrence in 2002 and dreamed i’d attend, then spent time at georgia state… and withdrew.   the lyrics have always had a special poetic blur to them– always saying what i wanted to say but in a way i never would have said it.  and of course, i am a sucker for their sound– anything poppy and influenced by saves the day has earned a place on my music rotation.

the anticipation i had for this record is indescribable and monumental.   i was unsure about how i would react, as everyone was sure that this album would be very different.  when the video for “i hate everyone” was released, i was thrilled and can admit (without shame) that i watched it atleast once a day until i got a hold of the album.  it was all the assurance i needed when it came to the boys making new music.  the self-deprecating cynicism is obviously still greasing the gears.  and if there’s one thing i love, it’s self-deprecating and self-aware humor and words.  and after listening to the record several times, i noticed something different and (dare i say) fantastic…

while still maintaining sardonicism and skepticism, the album is full of hope.  it seems max has gone through a phase of self-discovery (see: falling in love and becoming interested in religion).  this does affect the music and lyrics he is producing– but not in a negative way.  many bands and artists go through absent periods (“hiatus” or not, they all do it) or have children, or get divorced, or go to rehab.  and their art is affected by it– that’s makes them artists.  however, being able to do this gracefully seems to be a tough thing to pull off.  say anything seems to have figured this out.

worth mentioning: the track “mara and me”.  it begins with “there are babies with guns beheading their friends in shopping malls around the world. yet, somehow the kings of leon still find time to write songs about girls.” cue giggle.  it’s the kind of pointed sarcasm max uses that has gotten him into trouble before (think the mike kinsella argument).  however, eight lines later, the music stops and bemis delivers one of my favorite things– the aptly-placed spoken sentence.  “wait a second!  i can’t write the same damn song over and over again.” anyone seeing the proverbial light bulb hanging in space?

podcasts:

• speaking of faith with krista tippett.  APR: speaking of faith.
• stuff you missed in history class. how stuff works blog
• the young turks. TYT: rebel headquarters

albums:

• ma rainey: black bottom.
• tom waits: glitter and doom.
• johnny cash : country christmas.
• buddy guy & junior wells: play the blues.