Technical problems?

I had someone post recently that one of her comments got eaten. That along with the nearly monthlong dry spell of no comments I'm wondering if people are trying to leave comments and they are lost before I ever see them. Drop a line at sanguinedream@gmail.com if you run across anything weird.

Way to be selective...

There is a post at Feministing today about the reversal on reversal of the Ricci v. DeStefano case. Regardless of how one feels about the first decision or this recent decision to reverse that first decision there is nothing wrong with wanting to talk about it. However when talking about it there is no need for a blatant disregard for past decisions on various -isms.

...why is racial discrimination only considered an offense when it is women or people of color being biased against whites?

What a nice way to disregard all the past lawsuits launched and won over sexist, racist, ageist, and who knows how many other discriminatory practices.

I find it very amazing how people can manage to remember to lump all whites or all males together when its time to blame them for something but then turn around and forget about them when it comes time to acknowledge their efforts. For this country to be run by rich old white guys that don't care about anyone that isn't like them there sure as hell someone out there helping these people get justice for being wronged.

Thankfully someone did call her out on this question (although I'm not sure if its a good thing or a bad thing that no one else said anything):

Denny's, Abercrombie, Apple computers, Morgan Stanley, Wal-Mart, and about a zillion other rightfully sued companies would beg to differ. I'm sure they wish you were right, but you're not and they were not.

Racial discrimination is wrong no matter who the perpetrator is and no matter who the victim is.(Links added by me.)

It's one thing to say that there is still a lot to be done but to ignore the fact that wrongs are being righted and injustices are being corrected (or compensated as best as possible) when it is convenient undermines the people in the system that are trying to make things right for those victims and it erases the victims that were wronged.

Well actually they are out there

I got pointed to this (via this) piece on how people should not be trying to dig gender based trench lines using the current economic situation as shovels. Courtney E. Martin, the writer of the article, touches on a lot of things. She touches on the very big fact that men and women need to come together and not let themselves be distracted by a pissing match over who has it worse while the elite Janes and Joes at the top sit and laugh. However she also manages a few misses.

He writes: "Let's think about men. It's about time we caught a break, and a he-covery would be just the thing." As if thinking about men would be a big societal shift. (He being David Zincenko and his Father's Day piece, "Great He-cession".)

Yeah contrary to what Courtney may think actually thinking about men as a whole class and not just the few powerful ones at the top would be a shift. This isn't the first time I've seen thinking like this (and I doubt the last). If men were the center of concern then the majority of the most dangerous jobs wouldn't be filled by men and the majority of workplace deaths wouldn't be incurred by men. We surely would not have a higher suicide rate than women. Then there is the life expectancy gap. A big societal shift indeed.

And crucially, men's involvement in activism in these areas must not be seen as community service -- empathic guys who just want to help out the women they love -- but serious work that will make men's lives better, too. Men have a real stake in feminism, and no, it's not just getting laid more often.

I agree that men and women should work together but with the state feminism is in these days (or moreso the people involved, that would be feminists) I can see why men aren't exactly rushing to join. It can be pretty confusing to tell someone that they need to join their side while at the same time constantly reiterating that they and their issues will remain on the back burner. Perhaps that is part of the reason why men have taken to start their own activist efforts. While women certainly have legitimate greivences its pretty unfair to think that men will push their own greivences to the side to come running to ally themselves with women's advocates (which in fact plays on the damaging male gender role of putting everyone else before himself even to his detriment).

The more men who "come out" at work as dedicated fathers, the more comfortable the next generation will be in advocating for family-friendly work policy.

Men's activists (MRAs) are starting to do just that. However two of the biggest road blocks they face are children's mothers/wives/ex-wives that refuse to allow them to take a bigger role in their children's lives and the court system that such women wield as a mighy hammer against those fathers. The people that will readily get on board with the idea of mom going out into the workplace people still think a dad (or any man for that matter) wanting to care for children is trying to brainwash them or wants to abuse said children. Hopefully over time things will get easier and ultimately that next generation will succeed but the fight on that front has already started. Remember women weren't just welcomed into the workplace with open arms at first, it took time just as this will take time.

Another area in which men must and generally haven't stepped up to the plate is in advocating for less sexism in the media.

Men are stepping up but I notice that most of the sexism they are speaking out against is the mass amount of rampant sexism against men in the media. This is not to say that media sexism doesn't target women however Courtney seems to think that we should just pay a bit of lip service to the sexism that targets men (kinda like how with all the sexism that targets men all she came up with is one comment about Obama's interaction with the Saudi king at the G20 Conference) and then focus all efforts on the sexism that targets women.



But I will say that she does touch on why men and women aren't coming together on issues that affect all of us:

Some feminists fear that bringing men into the fold will lead to men's demands and desires crowding out anything women have to say. I understand that this is a real concern, but I also believe that it originates in the same fear-based place from which Zincenko operates. It assumes that women and men have distinctly different issues, rather than recognizing that we share the suffering that results from gender inequity and injustice.

There are people on both sides that are concerned that joining forces would cause their own unique voices to be drowned out. Even though I notice she says that such fear is real for women after starting the article off with a snide comment about the men's concerns.

Ultimately, so much of this comes down to framing. As long we use the language of "women's issues," we will be separate and unequal. But when we talk about worker's rights, health care, media integrity, and freedom from violence as quality-of-life issues, we will all become less endangered and more enlightened.

True. People like to frame issues depending who should have the "right" to speak on them. I think this comes from the fear of being drowned out as she mentioned above. That is why you have some media sexism framed as a woman's issue and some is framed as a man's issue, neither side wants to risk being placed at second fiddle to the other but both have devastating effects on the other (like women are being told that men are stupid and men are being told that women are sex objects). This leads to (at least) two big problems. 1. When you have only one group speaking on something you run the risk of the discourse on that something becomingn an echo chamber in which any and all dissenting voices, no matter how legimate or respectful, are crushed. 2. People will get so caught up over whose issue it is that soon that discussion takes center stage over the actual discussion about the issue.



Like I said she hits on some good stuff (like saying that men and women really should come together) and she lands in some pitfalls (this article is almost worded as if to say that men need to learn that helping women will ultimately help themselves, that is true to an extent but to expect men to just ignore their own pain is playing right in to that old male gender role). In closing I'll borrow a line from Courtney:


"Newsflash: Men aren't from Mars and women aren't from Venus; we're all struggling to make healthy, meaningful lives on the same damn planet -- and it's time we started acting like it."

Weekly Menu June 29 - July 3

You may notice that I didn't have a menu post for last week. I was slumming and slumming cramps creativity. Well the wallet is (a little) better off so its back to cooking.

Breakfast:
I was looking for something to new to try and came across wheat pancake mix. Well new to me anyway. Never having seen such a thing before I just had to try it. Along with it I bought some smoked beef sausage (Lumberjacks) because I hadn't had any in a while. I followed the directions on the box of wheat pancake mix (cooked in a waffle maker) and for the sausage I split each piece in two and baked them in the oven for about 15 min. (400 degrees)

Lunch:
For lunch I decided to try some baked chicken. I baked eight short thighs in four pairs (remember chicken draws up when baked) with each pair spiced and wrapped in aluminum foil then placed in a greased baking pan (just in case the foil leaks) and placed in the oven at 400 degrees for about 1 hour 15 minutes. I got that time from the fact that I cooked mine for about 1 1/2 hr. and it was drying out. As for spices:

1. Honey
Leftover local store brand BBQ sauce
Vinegar
Black Pepper

2. Italian Seasoning (prepacked mix of Oregano, Rosemary, Thyme, and Basil)
Garlic Powder
Sea Salt
Vinegar
Crushed Red Pepper

3. Five Spice (prepacked mix of Fennel, Ground Cloves, Black Pepper, Cinnamon, and Ginger)
Chili Powder
Cinnamon
Black Pepper
Sage
Vinegar

4. Italian Seasoning
Five Spice
Crushed Red Pepper
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Black Pepper
Chili Powder
Vinegar

Along with them I'm munching on my usual assortment of bags of steamed veggies.


Well there you have it waffles and sausage for breakfast and baked chicken and veggies for lunch.

The Way You Make Me Feel Billie Jean, I Just Can't Stop Loving You

It's the end of the month and given the passing of the King of Pop I just went with it.


"The Way You Make Me Feel"





"Billie Jean" (My favorite Michael Jackson song of them all.)

...A king rejoins his ancestors.

Late yesterday Michael Jackson, one of the greatest musical performers of all time, passed away suddenly from a heart attack. With a grand music career that strated in his teens with the young group The Jackson 5 to his many years as a successful solo talent Michael Jackson was one of those people that nearly anyone, anywhere, at anytime regardless of personal opinion about him could spout off at least some of his lyrics. There are people who are active in the music industry for decades but there are very few who become the monarch of an entire genre of music. He may be gone but he will never abducate the throne.


Rest in Peace Michael

...An angel ascends the heavens...

Farrah Fawcett passed away on June 25 after a long battle with cancer. Pioneering actress. Pin-up model. Wife. Mother. Angel. These are only some of the words one could use to describe Farrah Fawcett. From gracing the best selling pin-up poster of all time to winning three Emmy Awards she was an icon and an inspiration for the better part of three decades.

Rest in Peace Farrah