Or Oiran to be more specific. (that really is me, above)
The oiran arose in the Edo period, 1600 - 1868. At this time, laws were passed restricting brothels to walled districts set some distance from the city center. In the major cities these were the Shimabara in Kyoto, the Shimmachi in Osaka, and in Edo (present-day Tokyo), the Yoshiwara. These rapidly grew into large, self-contained "Pleasure Quarters" offering all manner of entertainments. Within, a courtesan's birth rank held no distinction but there arose a strict hierarchy according to beauty, character, educational attainments and artistic skills. Among the oiran, the tayū (太夫 or 大夫, tayū?) was considered the highest rank of courtesan and were considered suitable for the daimyo or Lord. Only the wealthiest and highest ranking could hope to patronise them. To entertain their clients, oiran practiced the arts of dance, music, poetry and calligraphy, and an educated wit was considered essential to sophisticated conversation.- wikipedia
A number of years ago, in my early days in Japan, I was asked to do a favor for the small town I was living in. The town had been holding a festival every October. for years. Celebrating the Edo (samurai) period and the history of the town. The festival was called The Oiran Douchu and was sponsored by all the town businesses especially a local sake brewery. But in recent years the festival attendance had fallen off. A friend of mine at the time, a wonderful Japanese man, was the owner of his family’s grocery store (a small shop.) And he had an idea that having a foreigner, or Gaijin be the Oiran featured in the festival, might spark some renewed interest as it would be a first ever and quite unusual.
He was right by the way, but more on that later.
This was no small deal. To be the Oiran meant months of dance training, meetings, and then the festival itself which would be more arduous than I realized at the time. But the town had been good to me and my husband, and I wanted to give back, so I agreed. It was a pretty amazing experience.
In a lot of ways.
I had the rare chance to really feel-- be inside the skin and the trappings of a woman as geisha. And I had the chance to do this as a strong, feminist, western woman from a very different cultural tradition.
I am not a fussy person (have never Hooshed-up in my life though I am fascinated by it) I don’t wear makeup, do little with my hair. I like pretty clothes but I want to be comfortable too. I hate stockings, heels and other inhibiting accessories. And I don’t wear a lot of jewelry. Now put that person in full geisha makeup which took more than 1 hour to apply, on geta which are the very high geisha style wooden shoes, wearing about 30 lbs of multiple layers of kimono fabric, AND a katsura or wig that weighed close to 15 lbs. which gave me one of the worst headaches I have had in my life.
I was transformed.
Everything about the whole get up made me feel gorgeous, and restricted, feminine and trapped. The dichotomy of what I experienced through the day was so striking. I had attendants who carried a parasol over my head and fanned me because though it was October it was about 75 degrees that day. There were men who literally helped me walk up the stairs to get on stage. I was pampered and I was completely dependent on those around me.
I learned a lot that day and I truly had an unromantic sense of what it would have been like to be a geisha in the Edo era. I had an extreme realization of what restrictive ideas of beauty and costume can do to suppress a woman’s potential, then and now. But I also enjoyed being the center of attention, enjoyed feeling beautiful. I was quite conflicted, and wouldn’t trade the memory of the experience for all the green tea in Tokyo.
The Gaijin Orian scheme worked. There was record turn out for the event and throngs lined the street that we paraded along. There were TONS of amateur photographers snapping my photo. Closest I will ever get to the feeling of paparazzi, thankfully. And the town was very happy with the result. The following year, a few other non Japanese friends of mine participated as male attendants in the festival. They had fun but more in just a costume or cos-play kind of way. Not anything so surprising as the way I felt during my transformation from liberal western woman to trapped porcelain doll.
It was unforgettable-- truly gave me a different perspective on female fashion and beauty ideals. What women have put themselves and been put through over the course of history is pretty amazing. (Not that there have not been some weird guy things too) I was always suspicious of over-fussed-fashion… but I really deepened my thinking after my Orian-for-a-day experience.
If I were to play an Edo-period role again, I think I would prefer the casting of female warrior. My feet would certainly be more comfortable.
Bush signs anti-abortion law November 5, 2003. photo White House.
“I TRUST WOMEN.”
Say it with me. I know you can.
How hard was that?
The below article is true.
I wrote it eight years ago as an op-ed for the Seattle Times which danced around putting it up and then didn't.
The incident happened to my then best girl-friend.
This is the horror men whom have never been in the same room with a woman who has aborted her own fetus without benefit of medical help, would visit on us all.
“You belong to the State, bitch, and so does the fruit of your loins.”
Steve published this November 10, 2006 in The News Blog. It was the first time I'd been front-paged and I was over-joyed. Thank you Gilly.
IT'S THE SUPREME COURT, STUPID
August 10, 2000 Seattle, Washington
George Bush and Dick Cheney would let my best friend die.
Melinda’s my best friend* – Twenty-nine, married, two-year old son, five months pregnant, works at Boeing.
When a routine screening test for neural tube birth defects came back positive, her doctor did a special ultrasound. Melinda’s five-month fetus is missing its abdominal wall, and basically has no viable organs below the heart and lungs – no kidneys, no liver, no stomach, no intestines, no sexual organs, no bladder, no pancreas, no gall bladder.
There is no chance this baby could live. There is no chance this baby could be delivered alive. Sometime during the pregnancy, this fetus will inevitably die. If this were forty years ago, Melinda would also die.
Dick Cheney has voted against abortion no matter what – rape, incest, even to save the life of a mother. George Bush and Dick Cheney have made it clear they plan to stack the United States Supreme Court with anti-abortion justices.
Bush/Cheney and the GOP support a constitutional amendment outlawing abortion. And even though there is absolutely no hope for Melinda’s child to be born alive, a Bush/Cheney Supreme Court would let the states make laws which would have my best friend die instead of allowing her an abortion – as a matter of moral principle.
By the time you read this, Melinda will no longer be pregnant. Tomorrow morning, August 11th, her physician will perform a late-term Dilation and Extraction, the so-called “Partial-Birth” abortion. By removing a fetus with no chance for survival, a mother’s life will be saved.
Melinda has this choice because the United States Supreme Court says she does. But what the Supreme Court gives, it can take away. Because Melinda still has a right to choose today, tomorrow a two-year old boy will still have a mother, a husband will not be a widower, and a grandmother won’t be grieving over the death of her daughter.
A large majority of US citizens support abortion if necessary to save the life of the mother, with only the real zealots disagreeing. And a majority of citizens support a women’s right to choose an abortion during the first trimester. But a majority of state legislatures do not. All that is stopping them from outlawing abortion is a 5-4 United States Supreme Court, with at least two of the majority justices likely retiring during the next presidential term.
This election is not about our thriving economy, and it is not about Bill Clinton. It is about the Supreme Court and the direction of the United States for the next twenty-five years.
If Bush and Cheney are elected, abortion will become a felony in states throughout America, because Bush’s appointments to the Supreme Court will make it so. And as the religious right rejoices over another fetus saved, families throughout America will grieve as their loved ones die from the complications of pregnancy and back-alley procedures – all in the name of a loving God.
I understand many people believe abortion is morally wrong. I also understand many people want abortion to remain legal, yet still have qualms about late-term procedures.
What I don’t understand is how anyone could condemn Melinda to death, in the name of respect for life, in the name of God, to uphold a principle.
But then what do I know about principles? I’m just someone who loves my best friend.
ABSOLUTELY NOT SAFE FOR WORK. (Bleeped version here.) Last Christmas I said you would never hear this word here again. That the "C" word was simply inappropriate to what we're attempting to create here at Group News Blog.
*sighs*
John McCain has made the word newsworthy. I'm sorry.
In this thread only, you may use the "C" word in comments. 'Cause, duh. We're using it, and some of you will likely want to also. This is a one-time exception, folks. In future threads, please just use ****, or c***. Thank you.
Also note the word is used in this post. If that isn't safe for your work, please bail out now.
[R]eports an angry exchange between McCain and his wife that happened in full view of aides and reporters during a 1992 campaign stop.
Three reporters from Arizona, on the condition of anonymity, also let me in on another incident involving McCain's intemperateness. In his 1992 Senate bid, McCain was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett. At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, "You're getting a little thin up there." McCain's face reddened, and he responded, "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt." McCain's excuse was that it had been a long day. If elected president of the United States, McCain would have many long days.
The man who was known as "McNasty" in high school has erupted in foul-languaged tirades at political foes and congressional colleagues more-or-less throughout his career, and his quickness to anger has been an issue on the presidential campaign trail as evidence of his fury has surfaced.
As Schecter notes, McCain's rage is not limited to the political spectrum, and even his family cannot be spared the brute force of his anger.
Last month my oldest daughter, Avian (21), and I were driving to Gig Harbor. She was talking politics, and mentioned she kind of liked McCain's position on this and that. Even telling her he was against abortion made no difference.
I told Avian that McCain had called his wife a cunt. She was shocked. "He did what?! Oh... that's wrong! I mean, my girlfriends and I might say that joking around, but no guyever gets to call us that."
McCain is over for her. And she's telling her girlfriends.
People vote on emotion.
McCain is an:
old
angry
George Bush hugging
war-loving
white guy
who called his own wife a cunt.
Know it. Share it. Use it.
(Again, you may use the word in the comments for this thread only. It's news, and it's on point. So we're covering it. But our standard policy remains that the "C" word is the one word we do not allow at GNB.)
There's more...
Well, this isn't exactly the party I'd planned, but I sure like the company.
I want to start today by saying how grateful I am to all of you – to everyone who poured your hearts and your hopes into this campaign, who drove for miles and lined the streets waving homemade signs, who scrimped and saved to raise money, who knocked on doors and made calls, who talked and sometimes argued with your friends and neighbors, who emailed and contributed online, who invested so much in our common enterprise, to the moms and dads who came to our events, who lifted their little girls and little boys on their shoulders and whispered in their ears, "See, you can be anything you want to be."
To the young people like 13 year-old Ann Riddle from Mayfield, Ohio who had been saving for two years to go to Disney World, and decided to use her savings instead to travel to Pennsylvania with her Mom and volunteer there as well. To the veterans and the childhood friends, to New Yorkers and Arkansans who traveled across the country and telling anyone who would listen why you supported me.
To all those women in their 80s and their 90s born before women could vote who cast their votes for our campaign. I've told you before about Florence Steen of South Dakota, who was 88 years old, and insisted that her daughter bring an absentee ballot to her hospice bedside. Her daughter and a friend put an American flag behind her bed and helped her fill out the ballot. She passed away soon after, and under state law, her ballot didn't count. But her daughter later told a reporter, "My dad's an ornery old cowboy, and he didn't like it when he heard mom's vote wouldn't be counted. I don't think he had voted in 20 years. But he voted in place of my mom."
To all those who voted for me, and to whom I pledged my utmost, my commitment to you and to the progress we seek is unyielding. You have inspired and touched me with the stories of the joys and sorrows that make up the fabric of our lives and you have humbled me with your commitment to our country.
18 million of you from all walks of life – women and men, young and old, Latino and Asian, African-American and Caucasian, rich, poor and middle class, gay and straight – you have stood strong with me. And I will continue to stand strong with you, every time, every place, and every way that I can. The dreams we share are worth fighting for.
Remember - we fought for the single mom with a young daughter, juggling work and school, who told me, "I'm doing it all to better myself for her." We fought for the woman who grabbed my hand, and asked me, "What are you going to do to make sure I have health care?" and began to cry because even though she works three jobs, she can't afford insurance. We fought for the young man in the Marine Corps t-shirt who waited months for medical care and said, "Take care of my buddies over there and then, will you please help take care of me?" We fought for all those who've lost jobs and health care, who can't afford gas or groceries or college, who have felt invisible to their president these last seven years.
I entered this race because I have an old-fashioned conviction: that public service is about helping people solve their problems and live their dreams. I've had every opportunity and blessing in my own life – and I want the same for all Americans. Until that day comes, you will always find me on the front lines of democracy – fighting for the future.
The way to continue our fight now – to accomplish the goals for which we stand – is to take our energy, our passion, our strength and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama the next President of the United States.
Today, as I suspend my campaign, I congratulate him on the victory he has won and the extraordinary race he has run. I endorse him, and throw my full support behind him. And I ask all of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me.
I have served in the Senate with him for four years. I have been in this campaign with him for 16 months. I have stood on the stage and gone toe-to-toe with him in 22 debates. I have had a front row seat to his candidacy, and I have seen his strength and determination, his grace and his grit.
In his own life, Barack Obama has lived the American Dream. As a community organizer, in the state senate, as a United States Senator - he has dedicated himself to ensuring the dream is realized. And in this campaign, he has inspired so many to become involved in the democratic process and invested in our common future.
Now when I started this race, I intended to win back the White House, and make sure we have a president who puts our country back on the path to peace, prosperity, and progress. And that's exactly what we're going to do by ensuring that Barack Obama walks through the doors of the Oval Office on January 20, 2009.
I understand that we all know this has been a tough fight. The Democratic Party is a family, and it's now time to restore the ties that bind us together and to come together around the ideals we share, the values we cherish, and the country we love.
We may have started on separate journeys – but today, our paths have merged. And we are all heading toward the same destination, united and more ready than ever to win in November and to turn our country around because so much is at stake.
We all want an economy that sustains the American Dream, the opportunity to work hard and have that work rewarded, to save for college, a home and retirement, to afford that gas and those groceries and still have a little left over at the end of the month. An economy that lifts all of our people and ensures that our prosperity is broadly distributed and shared.
We all want a health care system that is universal, high quality, and affordable so that parents no longer have to choose between care for themselves or their children or be stuck in dead end jobs simply to keep their insurance. This isn't just an issue for me – it is a passion and a cause – and it is a fight I will continue until every single American is insured – no exceptions, no excuses.
We all want an America defined by deep and meaningful equality – from civil rights to labor rights, from women's rights to gay rights, from ending discrimination to promoting unionization to providing help for the most important job there is: caring for our families.
We all want to restore America's standing in the world, to end the war in Iraq and once again lead by the power of our values, and to join with our allies to confront our shared challenges from poverty and genocide to terrorism and global warming.
You know, I've been involved in politics and public life in one way or another for four decades. During those forty years, our country has voted ten times for President. Democrats won only three of those times. And the man who won two of those elections is with us today.
We made tremendous progress during the 90s under a Democratic President, with a flourishing economy, and our leadership for peace and security respected around the world. Just think how much more progress we could have made over the past 40 years if we had a Democratic president. Think about the lost opportunities of these past seven years – on the environment and the economy, on health care and civil rights, on education, foreign policy and the Supreme Court. Imagine how far we could've come, how much we could've achieved if we had just had a Democrat in the White House.
We cannot let this moment slip away. We have come too far and accomplished too much.
Now the journey ahead will not be easy. Some will say we can't do it. That it's too hard. That we're just not up to the task. But for as long as America has existed, it has been the American way to reject "can't do" claims, and to choose instead to stretch the boundaries of the possible through hard work, determination, and a pioneering spirit.
It is this belief, this optimism, that Senator Obama and I share, and that has inspired so many millions of our supporters to make their voices heard.
So today, I am standing with Senator Obama to say: Yes we can.
Together we will work. We'll have to work hard to get universal health care. But on the day we live in an America where no child, no man, and no woman is without health insurance, we will live in a stronger America. That's why we need to help elect Barack Obama our President.
We'll have to work hard to get back to fiscal responsibility and a strong middle class. But on the day we live in an America whose middle class is thriving and growing again, where all Americans, no matter where they live or where their ancestors came from, can earn a decent living, we will live in a stronger America and that is why we must elect Barack Obama our President.
We'll have to work hard to foster the innovation that makes us energy independent and lift the threat of global warming from our children's future. But on the day we live in an America fueled by renewable energy, we will live in a stronger America. That's why we have to help elect Barack Obama our President.
We'll have to work hard to bring our troops home from Iraq, and get them the support they've earned by their service. But on the day we live in an America that's as loyal to our troops as they have been to us, we will live in a stronger America and that is why we must help elect Barack Obama our President.
This election is a turning point election and it is critical that we all understand what our choice really is. Will we go forward together or will we stall and slip backwards. Think how much progress we have already made. When we first started, people everywhere asked the same questions:
Could a woman really serve as Commander-in-Chief? Well, I think we answered that one.
And could an African American really be our President? Senator Obama has answered that one.
Together Senator Obama and I achieved milestones essential to our progress as a nation, part of our perpetual duty to form a more perfect union.
Now, on a personal note – when I was asked what it means to be a woman running for President, I always gave the same answer: that I was proud to be running as a woman but I was running because I thought I'd be the best President. But I am a woman, and like millions of women, I know there are still barriers and biases out there, often unconscious.
I want to build an America that respects and embraces the potential of every last one of us.
I ran as a daughter who benefited from opportunities my mother never dreamed of. I ran as a mother who worries about my daughter's future and a mother who wants to lead all children to brighter tomorrows. To build that future I see, we must make sure that women and men alike understand the struggles of their grandmothers and mothers, and that women enjoy equal opportunities, equal pay, and equal respect. Let us resolve and work toward achieving some very simple propositions: There are no acceptable limits and there are no acceptable prejudices in the twenty-first century.
You can be so proud that, from now on, it will be unremarkable for a woman to win primary state victories, unremarkable to have a woman in a close race to be our nominee, unremarkable to think that a woman can be the President of the United States. And that is truly remarkable.
To those who are disappointed that we couldn't go all the way – especially the young people who put so much into this campaign – it would break my heart if, in falling short of my goal, I in any way discouraged any of you from pursuing yours. Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in. When you stumble, keep faith. When you're knocked down, get right back up. And never listen to anyone who says you can't or shouldn't go on.
As we gather here today in this historic magnificent building, the 50th woman to leave this Earth is orbiting overhead. If we can blast 50 women into space, we will someday launch a woman into the White House.
Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it. And the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time. That has always been the history of progress in America.
Think of the suffragists who gathered at Seneca Falls in 1848 and those who kept fighting until women could cast their votes. Think of the abolitionists who struggled and died to see the end of slavery. Think of the civil rights heroes and foot-soldiers who marched, protested and risked their lives to bring about the end to segregation and Jim Crow.
Because of them, I grew up taking for granted that women could vote. Because of them, my daughter grew up taking for granted that children of all colors could go to school together. Because of them, Barack Obama and I could wage a hard fought campaign for the Democratic nomination. Because of them, and because of you, children today will grow up taking for granted that an African American or a woman can yes, become President of the United States.
When that day arrives and a woman takes the oath of office as our President, we will all stand taller, proud of the values of our nation, proud that every little girl can dream and that her dreams can come true in America. And all of you will know that because of your passion and hard work you helped pave the way for that day.
So I want to say to my supporters, when you hear people saying – or think to yourself – "if only" or "what if," I say, "please don't go there." Every moment wasted looking back keeps us from moving forward.
Life is too short, time is too precious, and the stakes are too high to dwell on what might have been. We have to work together for what still can be. And that is why I will work my heart out to make sure that Senator Obama is our next President and I hope and pray that all of you will join me in that effort.
To my supporters and colleagues in Congress, to the governors and mayors, elected officials who stood with me, in good times and in bad, thank you for your strength and leadership. To my friends in our labor unions who stood strong every step of the way – I thank you and pledge my support to you. To my friends, from every stage of my life – your love and ongoing commitments sustain me every single day. To my family – especially Bill and Chelsea and my mother, you mean the world to me and I thank you for all you have done. And to my extraordinary staff, volunteers and supporters, thank you for working those long, hard hours. Thank you for dropping everything – leaving work or school – traveling to places you'd never been, sometimes for months on end. And thanks to your families as well because your sacrifice was theirs too.
All of you were there for me every step of the way. Being human, we are imperfect. That's why we need each other. To catch each other when we falter. To encourage each other when we lose heart. Some may lead; others may follow; but none of us can go it alone. The changes we're working for are changes that we can only accomplish together. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are rights that belong to each of us as individuals. But our lives, our freedom, our happiness, are best enjoyed, best protected, and best advanced when we do work together.
That is what we will do now as we join forces with Senator Obama and his campaign. We will make history together as we write the next chapter in America's story. We will stand united for the values we hold dear, for the vision of progress we share, and for the country we love. There is nothing more American than that.
And looking out at you today, I have never felt so blessed. The challenges that I have faced in this campaign are nothing compared to those that millions of Americans face every day in their own lives. So today, I'm going to count my blessings and keep on going. I'm going to keep doing what I was doing long before the cameras ever showed up and what I'll be doing long after they're gone: Working to give every American the same opportunities I had, and working to ensure that every child has the chance to grow up and achieve his or her God-given potential.
I will do it with a heart filled with gratitude, with a deep and abiding love for our country– and with nothing but optimism and confidence for the days ahead. This is now our time to do all that we can to make sure that in this election we add another Democratic president to that very small list of the last 40 years and that we take back our country and once again move with progress and commitment to the future.
Thank you all and God bless you and God bless America.
UPDATE: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama has apologized to WXYZ reporter Peggy Agar for calling her "sweetie" during a campaign stop Wednesday in Sterling Heights.
Obama apologized in a voicemail he left on Agar's cell phone at 3:16 p.m:
"Hi Peggy. This is Barack Obama. I'm calling to apologize on two fronts. One was you didn't get your question answered and I apologize. I thought that we had set up interviews with all the local stations. I guess we got it with your station but you weren't the reporter that got the interview. And so, I broke my word. I apologize for that and I will make up for it.
"Second apology is for using the word 'sweetie.' That's a bad habit of mine. I do it sometimes with all kinds of people. I mean no disrespect and so I am duly chastened on that front. Feel free to call me back. I expect that my press team will be happy to try to make it up to you whenever we are in Detroit next."
LISTEN TO THE VOICEMAIL IN VIDEO PLAYER RIGHT (Voicemail is followed by video clip of the "sweetie" exchange)(GNB NOTE: To hear the voicemail/watch the clip, you have to go to the linked page.)
In a posting on the New York Times Political Blog titled "Obama: Hold On, Sweetie," reporter Jim Rutenberg pointed out this wasn't the first time Obama used the word: "Back in Pennsylvania in early April, Senator Barack Obama took some heat for calling a female factory worker 'sweetie,' in Allentown."
Obama casually refers to grown women in adult jobs as “sweetie,” then lets himself off the hook for doing so: “That's a bad habit of mine. I do it sometimes with all kinds of people.”
Really? What other “kinds of people” do you you call “sweetie,” Senator? Male reporters for The New York Times? Football players? Children? I can get young children. Grown women? Yep, we know that one already.
Who else?
This is sexism on its face with NO commitment to change.
What, it isn't sexism? Oh... it's just a “bad habit.”
Here. Let me change it around for you...
“Second apology is for using the word 'boy.' That's a bad habit of mine. I do it sometimes with all kinds of people. I mean no disrespect.”
If Hillary Clinton said that on the trail to a grown black male television reporter at the same Detroit auto factories, it would LEAD THE FUCKING NIGHTLY NEWS ON EVERY NETWORK IN AMERICA: “Hillary Clinton called a black reporter 'boy' today.”
But Barack Obama calling a grown woman “sweetie” while patting her on the shoulder and turning away, well, that barely rates a mention. It's funny. He issues an apology. An obviously insincere apology at that, one in which he makes zero commitment to changing his behavior, excusing it as a “bad habit” and whamo, he's off the hook. Not to mention way too few liberal blogs calling him on this obviously sexist bullshit.
(Incidentally, note that Obama didn't even have the ovaries to call the reporter directly. He called her voice mail, which is what you do when you want to make sure your “apology” sounds totally sincere on her tape, leaving her the tape to play for everyone as proof of “like totally” how sincere you are, and most important, making certain you don't have to confront in any way the woman whom you demeaned, overlooked, and made less than, her male counterparts. Don't actually deal with the issue; this way, you can keep your “bad habit.”)
This isn't about Clinton, by the way. I see no realistic path for her to the nomination. This is about holding our candidate presumptive to account. Someone must.
This is about sexism. What Obama did makes all women (and men, and children, because feminism impacts all of us) less than. It was a sexist act.
Men don't get to call women "sweetie", "honey", or "darling," and they sure as hell don't get to do so as nominee presumptive for POTUS. Obama doesn't get to slide on this as a "bad habit." He wants to smoke? Fine. That's his bad habit; I don't care. He uses sexist language, it damages all women, men and children, which means he gets to clean up his act. Starting with calling women by their names.
It's a matter of respect.
Women are people. They vote.
Sometimes, when treated with respect, women even vote for Democrats.
Ms. Tucholsky plays softball for Western Oregon University, but in her high school and college careers, the 5-foot-2 player had never hit a home run. On the last Saturday in April, in a game against Central Washington University, she hit her first home run over the fence. But as she began to run the bases, a misstep resulted in a torn knee ligament and she couldn’t continue.
The umpire mistakenly ruled that a team member couldn’t run in her place or assist her around the bases. A member of the opposing team, first baseman Mallory Holtman, the career home run leader in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, asked the umpire if she and her teammates could help Ms. Tucholsky run the bases. He said they could, and Ms. Holtman and shortstop Liz Wallace carried her around the field as she gently tapped her uninjured leg on each base.
The senate could not get to 60 + votes to even get this important legislation to the debate phase, upholding the Supreme court's "You snooze, you lose." decision against Lilly Ledbetter.
Cloture Motion; Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007 - Vote Rejected (56-42, 2 Not Voting) The Senate fell short of the sixty votes necessary to proceed to debate on H.R. 2831, a bill that effectively overturns a recent Supreme Court decision concerning pay discrimination litigation.
H.R.2831 basically takes on the recent Supreme Court decision that railroaded Goodyear Tire employee Lilly Ledbetter after she had been subjected to years of pay discrimination. That the discrimination had occurred does not seem to be in question at all. But finding a loophole in the 1964 civil rights act was the order of the day for Justice Roberts and Co. All this in support of hallowed corporate America. The Legislation:
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other anti-discrimination laws to clarify at which points in time discriminatory actions qualify as an “unlawful employment practice.” According to the legislation, unlawful conduct occurs when: “(1) a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice is adopted; (2) an individual becomes subject to the decision or practice; or (3) an individual is affected by application of the decision or practice, including each time compensation is paid.” The law further states that individuals may receive back pay as compensation for discrimination that occurred up to two years preceding the filing of a charge.
Americans need the protection of strong anti-discrimination laws to ensure that they are treated fairly by employers. But the mere existence of these laws is not sufficient: the practical ability to enforce them in a meaningful way is crucial. By clarifying a technicality in employment discrimination law, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act deters discriminatory practices in the workplace and ensures that when discrimination does occur, wronged employees can receive fair compensation.
This legislation clarifies that employment discrimination law should be interpreted the way courts have traditionally understood it – until the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a more restrictive interpretation in the 2007 Ledbetter V. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. decision. In this case, the Court ruled that plaintiff Lilly Ledbetter was not eligible for compensation despite years of being paid far less than her male peers and even some male subordinates. According the Court, unlawful discrimination had occurred only when her employer first set the discriminatory pay rate, even though Ledbetter had no way of knowing about it until years later. Under this ruling, since Ledbetter’s employer was able to conceal the discrimination for years and she did not find out about the discrimination until it was too late to file a complaint (within 180 days of the first discriminatory paycheck, according to the Court), she had no legal recourse.
By reaffirming that a fresh discrimination offense occurs each time an individual is impacted by a discriminatory practice, including each paycheck that includes unfair compensation, this legislation effectively reverses the Supreme Court’s harmful decision and ensures that people subjected to discrimination in the future will continue to have effective recourse to the law.
That we need to even have this clarification is a tragedy and symbol of the weakening of the middle class, the disparity of wealth and more importantly power, and the need for a democratic president ASAP. Most experts think that the next president will be replacing 2-3 justices. Do we want Sen. McSame making those choices? Can any of us afford that? "Uniquely American " will mean working 3 jobs where employers can treat you unfairly and you have less and less of a chance to fight back.
A little more on Lilly's case;
Year in which Ledbetter received a “Top Performance” award from the company: 1996
Amount Lilly Ledbetter was paid per month in 1997, the last full year she worked for Goodyear Tire Co.: $3,727
Amount the lowest paid of the 15 men doing similar work for the company was paid per month in 1997: $4,286
Median annual earnings for U.S. full-time, year-round, male workers in 2006: $42,261
Median annual earnings for U.S. full-time, year-round, female workers in 2006: $32,515
My industry is run by men. Chefs and GM's are mostly men, and women have a hard time moving up in the hotel and restaurant business. But this kind of thing affects all of us, and our daughters. If you haven't checked out middleclass.org yet, give it a look- great for researching and reading more about this and all other legislation your congresscritters are voting on.
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Sunday in Motegi, Japan, [...] Patrick, now 26, became the first woman to win an Indy car race. She defeated the two-time Indy 500 winner Hélio Castroneves by nearly six seconds in the Indy Japan 300.
“I feel way too young to be giving life advice, but this is a great platform to have,” Patrick said Sunday night in a telephone interview from Los Angeles, where she had landed after a virtually sleepless flight from Japan. “This reaches outside racing. This is about finding something you love to do, and following through with it.”
There was a time when Patrick could not have competed in Sunday’s race. A few years before Janet Guthrie, an aerospace engineer and road racer, became the first woman to qualify for the Indy 500 in 1977, women were not allowed in the press box, the garage area or the pits.
As Guthrie wrote in “Life at Full Throttle,” an account of her career in racing, women were dismissed as lacking the strength, endurance and emotional stability to compete against men. Even a driver with Guthrie’s credentials as a road racer was seen as dangerous.
“A woman might be a reporter, a photographer, a timer/scorer, she might own the race car — but she couldn’t get near it at any time for any reason,” Guthrie wrote. “A woman on the track itself was unthinkable.”
On Sunday, Guthrie showed little surprise at Patrick’s victory.
“Anybody who didn’t think she had a chance of winning just hasn’t been paying attention,” Guthrie, 70, said in a telephone interview from her home in Aspen, Colo. “She’s been in the hunt for a long time. It was just a matter of time, as far as I’m concerned.”
An IndyCar Series official said in 2006 that Patrick’s merchandise outsold that of any other driver, 10 to 1. The series said that the name Danica jumped to No. 352 from No. 610 on the list of most popular baby names from 2005 to 2006.
Castroneves had enough fuel to finish the race without making a pit stop, but he had to conserve what little he had. Patrick, who lost the 2005 Indy 500 because she had to stretch her fuel supply, took the lead with two laps left on Sunday and won easily.
“In recognition of Danica’s talents, she did a good job,” Castroneves said in a postrace news conference. “She passed me fair and square. I didn’t have enough fuel, even if I wanted to, to fight with her.”
By the sacred ovaries of Penélopê, wa-fracking-hoo!
Congratulations to Danica and Team Andretti.
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Jamie Lynn Spears Pregnant at Sixteen Jamie Lynn Spears, sixteen, star of the Nickelodeon show Zoey 101, has announced she is twelve weeks pregnant with the child of her boyfriend, student Casey Aldridge, nineteen.
Sister Britney tonight denied Wednesday night her baby sister is pregnant. TMZ has the video.
I can't count as a paramedic how many teenage moms I've had in the back of my rig. Or how often I've referred someone to Planned Parenthood for birth control. In fact, I referred a teenager there last week.
What isn't surprising to me is this child getting pregnant. Her home life is well known to not be of especially high quality. Born in McComb, Mississippi, just on the borderline of Louisiana, she was raised Baptist. Her sister is an addict. Her family life has been white trash with money. None of this is the recipe for being taught to use birth control religiously.
If she weren't the sister of a train-wreck of a major star (once renowned for her claimed virginity) or staring in her own television show, this would mean precisely nothing. It isn't as if teens don't get knocked up daily.
Don't think however it will force any Wing Nuts to deal honestly with pregnancy or birth control. As Sara has pointed out repeatedly at Orcinus -- read her Cracks in the Wall and Tunnels and Bridges series, and search for her articles on Mark Foley -- the fundies are quick to forgive their leaders human failings, knowing as they do that we are all born sinners.
The Wing Nut mothers will sigh a sigh over poor Jamie, make their daughters promise not to have sex. The daughters will all, "Of course Mommie. I'd never." And then on Friday nights with their boyfriends it'll be "Oh, Lance. That feels so... good."
The red states have a vastly higher teen pregnancy rate than the blue. It isn't an accident. Thanks to their fundy parents, the red states are filled with good girls.
The problem with being a good girl is, you can't use birth control. To have birth control is to admit you were prepared for sex, and to admit you were prepared for sex is to say what a little slut you are. That's worlds apart from being swept off your feet and onto your back, carried away in the moment by how good it feels, than to cold-bloodedly, like, you know, do it.
'Cause only sluts do it.
Good girls sometimes get carried away and make love. That can happen to anyone; who can help being overcome by loooove and passion. But just doing it?
Slut.
Jamie Lynn was raised a Baptist. She's a good girl.
Ending years of silence, Jodie Foster came out last week at the Hollywood Reporter's Women in Entertainment when she thanked her partner, "my beautiful Cydney."
Not that this was a large shock to anyone in show business. Cydney Bernard and Jodie Foster have been together for over fourteen years and have two children. What is news, is this is the first time Jodie Foster has said anything publicly.
Way to go Jodie.
At #9 on the current list of most highly payed actresses, we will see if this impacts her career, but I'm guessing not so much, especially as she's also doing much more directing and producing. But as an actor, Jodie's shown over and over again she can open a movie, not to mention her two Academy Awards. Plus people like her. She's Jodie Foster. We've watched her grow up from Tom Sawyer to Taxi Driver to Freaky Friday, The Accused and The Silence of the Lambs, to Contact and Panic Room.
Wow, Here I am posting on one of my most favoritest corners of the Blogosphere, the GNB. I once saw a Japlish T-shirt here in Japan “Mount Fuji the Most Highest Mountain in Japan!”
So, who the hell am I?
I am a long time reader and supporter of the NB and GNB -- even helping with “Kimono-fairy” duties back in the day (sad sniff and warm hugs to Jen). It is an honor to be asked to come and write on occasion- (as one of the leaves- not the tree - doc)
Introductions are in order—
Some of my more colorful and interesting current and past creds are;
Serving the public tasty food and beverage Writing and publishing my first book in Japan Climbing around volcanoes and looking down into gorges Teaching at the elementary school that Noam Chomsky graduated from Sneaking away with my honey to various and sundry islands in warm locales Knowing the difference between good and bad sangria And being adored as my alter ego-- at the tea altar of the “Mighty Chang.”
I hope to write and share with you a bit of my thinking on the world as we know it and the world as we hope it to be. My passions are writing, running a restaurant, travel and trying new things. I have a passion for food politics, and progressive action (with a stress on the ACTION part) And I believe we CAN make it better. (stronger-faster... )
Happy to be here and looking forward to sharing a virtual cup of tea or a glass of wine with all of you wonderful GNB-ers past, present and future.
More soon, brewing up a pot now and will be back to the table in a few.
Apologies in advance for my over fondness of ellipses and dashes. Much to my editor’s frustration-- these are habits I am not yet willing to kick.
Amanda and Abby are partners in life (since 1999), as well as comprising the Ditty Bops. Amanda also is a really, well, tall, comedian (who's damn oh so funny in addition to the whole being tall deal), and can be seen doing awesome sketch comedy in the group Pretty Things. Here is some more stuff about Abby who while she seems overshadowed by Amanda (cause Amanda's tall; try and keep up please), but if Abby weren't to be there, you'd miss her about as much as oxygen. Yeah, she's that wonderful. Plus talented. I love Abby's voice.
On August 12 at the Portland show, Abby tried to pull out her niece Lucy's loose tooth during the show. On camera.
Have you ever had a demo that went well? Imagine throwing in your six year-old niece Lucy, a live audience, a background piano accompaniment in mocking counterpoint to Lucy's laughter. And an audience hysterical on the floor.
Lucy's Tooth
Lucy -- A Day Later (Waiting for the Tooth Fairy)
Oh! And they also have their own video channel. Yea them!! They grasp THE AGE OF SHIFTING IDENTITIES (an entire additional post I wrote tonight right here for several hours yes, right here inside this very post. And then I pulled it so Sara and Hubris wouldn't scold me for writing too long [and The Littlest Gator too *waves*], 'cause really this other post, it's unrelated to the goodness of The Ditty Bops. Coming soon, and yes, I know I said I wouldn't promise more posts. Bad Jesse. *sighs* But it's like, 80% done. And you'll like it, it's even got most of the Trust stuff I've been promising you inside it! Just remember: "The Age of Shifting Identities." You heard it here first. Mine, mine, mine! But now I must go to bed. Because of the whole being needing to sleep business.)
Anyway, here is the link to The Ditty Bops TV Show #02: Exercise Routine. Where we see Abby teach us advanced jump-rope, and Amanda do jumping rope (she's a beginner), but then Amanda shows us her famous Parking Lot Workout. Hysterical. And very, very much them.
Literally a woman, 19, a Howard University sophomore, went to Howard University Hospital in Washington, District of Columbia with two (count them, one, two, that's TWO witnesses) and said she had been fucked. Raped to be precise. By virtue of a date-rape drug at an off-campus party in December 2006 that knocked her half out. "One of the hosts then took her to a room where he allegedly anally penetrated her at around 3 a.m."
She was fucked in the ass while half-unconscious because she got slipped a mickey. Allegedly.
A mickey. A drug which knocks you out, can scramble memory and leave you unable to move or fight back, even as your assailant is doing you while you lie there in horror being penetrated.
There is no correct response to rape.
There is no correct response to rape.
There is no correct response to rape.
This Howard University sophomore (and two friends) got herself, still massively out of it due to the date-rape drug, to Howard University Hospital, to the freaking Rape Crises Center for Howard University.
She went to the rape center with two friends as fast as she possibly could, even though she was vomiting, stumbling, and her ability to think clearly was massively compromised.
She said I'VE BEEN RAPED. HELP ME.
MALE DOCTORS TURNED HER AWAY. "SHE'S DRUNK," THEY SAID
As if drinking had shit to do with having a penis stuck in your mouth, your rectum, your vagina, without your consent.
When you've been drinking, lack of consent is MORE likely. D'oh!
The GW Hatchet
A Howard student is suing the University for negligence and medical malpractice because she said she was raped and denied proper care at GW Hospital because she allegedly appeared intoxicated, according to documents filed in D.C. Superior Court.
The plaintiff, a 19-year-old sophomore, also filed suit against the District, Howard University Hospital and several local doctors. The complaint states she was given a date-rape drug at an off-campus party near Howard and was then denied a rape kit at several hospitals - including GW.
GW Hospital allegedly denied her treatment because doctors at Howard said she appeared intoxicated, according to court documents.
She is also suing the University and its hospital for negligent hiring.
The plaintiff is asking for compensatory damages, a court order to have her case properly investigated and revision of GW Hospital's rape treatment policies.
"There is no legitimate reason why it was handled this way," said Bruce Spiva, her attorney. "She has really been hurt by this and is reluctant to speak out publicly."
David Garofalo, a spokesperson for the Medical Faculty Associates, said the allegations against Christopher Lang, a GW physician named in the lawsuit, are "without merit."
"When a young woman comes into a sexual assault center, she ought to be given a test for date-rape drugs," Spiva said. "She ought not be denied or questioned as if she'd done something wrong."
Immediately after the alleged assault, she sought medical assistance at Howard University Hospital, accompanied by two witnesses, according to the complaint.
Court documents also add that she appeared intoxicated and was therefore denied a rape kit and sent home. It also states she was drifting in and out of consciousness and vomiting.
The plaintiff returned to Howard University Hospital the next morning and was again denied a rape kit - at which point the Metropolitan Police Department was notified, according to the complaint. They also said they felt a rape kit was unnecessary, according to court documents.
"A sexual assault kit is for police to recover evidence," said Sergeant Ronald Reid of the MPD Sex Assault Unit. "So if we don't have reason to believe a crime happened we wouldn't administer a rape kit."
The plaintiff then drove to GW Hospital, where Lang examined her according to court documents. The complaint states he also denied her a rape kit because both the police and Howard's hospital had already refused. Lang, who is listed as a defendant, did not return several calls from The Hatchet.
The complaint states "(the plaintiff) has been violated twice: first by an assailant who likely drugged and assaulted her, and then, by the defendants … which refused to take her seriously and which refused to provide her the reasonable care she was owed."
Went to one hospital. Rejected. #1.
Went back to the hospital the next morning. Rejected again. #2
Called the cops, sex crimes unit. They refused to run a rape kit. #3
Went to yet another hospital. The second hospital didn't even check her out, rejecting her because the first hospital and the cops had bounced her. #4.
What the hell do you have to do to get a guy to get between your legs in Washington, DC? Apparently, take a date-rape drug.
And just in case you didn't already know...
Howard University where the 19 year-old sophomore woman who was raped goes to school, is a historically black university, the number one producer of African American Ph.D.s in the United States.
We don't know of course what race the young lady is. But if -- if -- she is black, I'm certain white male doctor -- and again, we don't know if GW physician Christopher Lang is white -- turned away a girl wanting a rape kit because Howard University Hospital and the cops said she was drunk, because she was a "drunk black girl", because he was going off shift and wanted some rest, or maybe because he genuinely thought she didn't need one. And we may never know.
What we do know is, this was her fourth attempt at a rape kit, and GW turned her back away into the street.
Spiva said he hopes to prevent this type of treatment in the future. "The complaint speaks for itself in terms of the outrageousness of what happened," Spiva said. "We're partially doing this so that nobody else gets treated this way."
He added they hope to go to trial soon, and that the amount of potential damages will be determined by the jury.
I hope the Washington, D.C. jury opens their hearts to this young girl. And the stock-funds, bond-portfolios, real estate departments, the freaking Department of the Treasury for every single one of these entities.
Go deep-pocket on their ass, all the way down.
As for the doctors. *sighs*
People make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes.
Doctors kill people in their careers and we do not end their careers over fatal non-intentional non-recurring errors. This was fucked, not fatal. Jesse's Judgment(TM): The insurance company pays this off, the docs spend a semester each back in med school (not regular CEUs, actual med school with med students) studying medical ethics.
This was bad. This was truly fucked. It's fixable with money, and training. And someone with a nose for it, needs to sniff very carefully, because all the way from the West Coast, I smell institutionalized racism.
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