Month: October 2012

I’m writing from Manhattan, where the winds are roaring and we’re awaiting the full-on arrival of Hurricane Sandy, which has already flooded parts of the city, this photo of Red Hook Brooklyn shows, as well as New Jersey. As any responsible president would do, President Obama has declared a state of emergency in 7 states and DC, allowing them to receive federal funds for emergency disaster assistance. But WWRD? What Would Romney do? Probably not a whole lot.

During a June GOP debate, when asked about federal disaster relief for tornado and flood victims, Mitt Romney said that Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) should be privatized. It is, Romney argued, actually “immoral” for the federal government to spend money to provide disaster relief.

See the video at Feministing

Thank God. I mean, literally, you can thank god for bringing on Hurricane Sandy. Of course god isn’t just some sadistic schmuck, wreaking havoc for the sake of it. He’s trying to wake us up to a danger that is infinitely greater than any natural disaster you could imagine: homosexuality. I can’t take credit for this insight into god’s motives. It comes from author and Chaplain John McTernan, who also moonlights as a meteorological analyst.

During Hurricane Isaac,  McTernan hypothesized, “It could be that God is putting an end to this city and its wickedness,” since “New Orleans is still hosting Southern Decadence with open homosexuality manifesting in the streets of the city.” And he warned “Let’s all watch this very closely, because if New Orleans is destroyed, it is a sure sign that the final judgment for the national sin of America has arrived.” New Orleans survived, so that wasn’t the final judgement.

Read more at Feministing

Lesley Gore, of “It’s My Party” fame, is letting us know that the GOP is most definitely not her party. Sarah Sophie Flicker, Tavi Gevinson, Maximilla Lukacs, Tennessee Thomas, Leith Clark, Alexa Chung, Karen Elson, and Erika Spring, produced a PSA in which they, along with Tracee Ellis Ross, Lena Dunham, Miranda July, Rachel Antonoff and more lip sync to Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me.” The song uses text cards to criticize Mitt Romney and the War on Women and urge women to vote.  (See the transcript of the video after the jump.)

Gore, who I’m now following on twitter,  appears in the video and states: “I recorded You Don’t Own Me in 1964. It’s hard for me to believe but we’re still fighting for the same things we were then.”

Watch the video at Feministing

Before last night’s debate, I created a little drinking game for myself and anyone who wanted to join. The instructions were to drink every time Israel was mentioned and drink twice every time the candidate emphasized how close he was with Israel and/or its Prime Minister or criticized his opponent for not being close enough. I had no idea how intoxicating and expensive this drinking game would be. Because it turns out that during the debate, Israel was mentioned 34 times!

I was too trashed from all the Israel mentions to keep track of how many times the candidates praised Israel or accused each other of not hearting Israel sufficiently, so I had to check the transcript.

Read more at Feministing

Why would anyone oppose a vaccine that could protect people from the human papillomavirus and, ultimately cervical cancer? Well, there’s intellectual heavy weight and amateur scientist Michele Bachmann, who claims the vaccine causes mental retardation. But a more widespread fear among some conservatives is that it will lead to “promiscuity.” And at the end of the day, having a lot of sex with a lot of people is way worse than dying of cancer.

Read more at Feministing

I’m interviewed by Nancy Gunn on Narco News TV. Check it out!

Once again, women are suing Wal-Mart for discriminating against them based on their gender, seeking  “to end Wal-Mart’s discriminatory practices regarding the pay and promotion of female employees.”

Tuesday, Three women from Tennessee claimed they were denied training opportunities and were paid less than their male co-workers and are seeking class-action status for current and former female employees at stores in Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and Mississippi. One of the women suing, Bobbie Millner, accidentally received the paycheck of another worker who was male and earned thousands more a year, although he was less experienced.  A Wal-Mart manager explain the discrepancy by saying “men needed to earn more.”

Read more at Feministing

We all remember Allen West, the Congressman, who compared himself to Harriet Tubman, liberating African-Americans from the slavery imposed on them by the Democratic Party. And who can forget West’s claim that Marxists and Communists infiltrating Congress (I wish!). Well, it turns out, Mr. West is as shocking off the record as on the record. In a recently leaked letter written when West was on duty in Iraq, the now Congressman informs his wife that upon his return, she must engage in certain sex acts that will be “the standard and it is non-negotiable.” He also states:  “From now on, you will wear two-piece swim suits when on vacations.” But the real romance comes out here: “Angela, I need to know, are you committed to being my porn star?…. I do not want to hear ‘no’ or ‘we’ll see about that.’ I want my fantasies to be with you. God has authorized you and you only as my partner for intimacy and that is what I want.”

Read more at Feministing