Agents of Change

Some of us are born to be catalysts. It’s not what we do; it’s what we are. We don’t mean to be. For the most part, we’d really rather not. It would be so much more comfortable to blend, fit in, and just go along with the program. Or at least, we imagine that it would be.

But then we walk into a room and people react.

Interaction is not required.

We don’t mean to make you angry, uncomfortable, or discontented. Not on purpose. We’re not really all that interested in your feelings, except insofar as they move YOU. We’re not attached to outcomes. We’re not attached to you.

The good news is that you don’t have to deal with us for long. We’re not here for the long haul. We don’t hang around to see how it all plays out. We shake things up, sometimes just by showing up, and then we drift away, caught up in another moment with other images, other people, other touchstones that may or may not reveal the value of things. Value, for us, is in the dynamics of interaction. Not the outcomes. Don’t let that make you feel unimportant. It’s only that we value the dynamic more than the static. It’s nothing to do with YOU.

If you’re looking for a warrior, look beyond us. We’re not interested in conflict, except insofar as it sparks a rebellion that may or may not be valuable. All rebellion is internal, and is only played out in external, where the subject can observe more clearly. All value is dynamic. We aren’t likely to remain fixated on your response for long. It’s not our nature. It’s not our function. We aren’t here to be fixed objects; reference points for your conflict. It doesn’t interest us. We are catalysts. Change agents. Change is good. Change is growth. Change is uncomfortable.

We’re not loyal to a point of view.

We won’t be your BFF.

We aren’t really interested in predicting what will happen next.

We are very interested in seeing what may happen next.

Every once in a while, we get caught up in the illusion ourselves. When we remember that it’s just an interaction, we drift away. It’s not because we think YOU aren’t valuable. You are incredibly valuable. Without you there would be no exchange and nothing would ever move at all.

You are priceless.

You are beautiful.

You are interesting.

Even when you hate us and throw heavy glass ashtrays at us, you are brilliant. We love you. Your ability to love us, even in the face of your fury, and maybe even because of your fury, interests us. But at the end of it all we aren’t here to make you comfortable, happy, or content. If you can be those things, we are pleased for you. With you, even. But it’s not necessary. Or even terribly interesting, except when it is. In moments. It’s not the object of the interaction. Change, and all of its kaleidoscopic images, is the object.

Don’t ask us to fix this.

We didn’t come here to fix anything.

Don’t ask us to stay.

We didn’t come here to stay.

Don’t ask us to be content and comfortable.

We didn’t come here to be content and comfortable.

We came here to change things.

If you can change with us, observe the effect, revel in the dynamic, appreciate the shift in perspective, and not attach to the outcome, you can ride alongside us forever. If not, don’t ever think that we don’t remember and appreciate our moments with you. Even when you threw that ashtray at our heads. We connected with your rage, your terror, and your love in that moment. Yes, your love. We got that. Without that, there is nothing.

Without you, we are nothing.

But don’t expect us to attach to the end. There is no end.

You have no end.

God bless you in your perfection, but you have no end.

Events in Florida

I think it’s really kind of fascinating that the RNC decided to hold their convention in Florida, aka The Scene of the Crime, 2000. And also the Scene of the Crime a la Zimmerman. These might seem, upon a cursory glance, to be unrelated bits of data.

But that’s only because no one has starting firing. Yet.

It’s hard to think of a place more welcoming to aging and angry nutbaggers with at least ONE loaded weapon tucked into their pants. And quite honestly, the guy voted most likely to have a chip on his shoulder and a concealed carry license is not exactly a big fan of the guy voted most likely to win the nomination.

The Secret Service must be having an entire litter of kittens.

Just imagine it: Impassioned speechifying (Yah, I know. But Romney won’t be giving ALL of the speeches), excessive drinking, low critical reasoning skills, HIGH emotional reactivity, chronic frustration, and loaded weapons at hand are a particularly volatile combination. And that’s just in the parking lot.

Can you imagine what would happen if some joker threw a cherry bomb on the floor of the convention? Or even a snapper? Jesus, just yelling “Bang!” could spark a bloodbath.

Not that I’m hoping for such an outcome, mind you. But if a white guy goes off and starts shooting people, the RNC can just forget about attracting any more minorities. Ever. That shit is OVER.

But the real tragedy will be that irony is generally wasted on Republicans.

Mark Stevens, Victim de Jour

The Liberal Damned Media is NOT reporting the terrorism being perpetrated upon wealthy, middle-aged white guys by “All the Usual Suspects”. They never do, y’know. You have to go to Tox News to find out what’s REALLY going on:

Varney & Co.’s Mark Stevens is the victim of a terrorist attack. Yes, that’s right. So about now you are wondering “Why did I not hear about this on the news???” right?

Because it didn’t happen, that’s why.

See, being offended at being called a “woman-hater” is not *exactly* the same thing as being victimized by terrorists, even when it’s a LOT of people calling you a woman hater. I’m sure there is a universe where being called names is identical to being blown up, but this is not that universe. Kindergarten, maybe.

There are a lot of people “blowing up” his inbox, but that’s kind of a euphemism. A virtual email bombing run is unfortunate, to be sure. But somehow it lacks the “punch” of a Twin Towers event.

Now, if you want to be associated with the likes of a racist, woman-bashing, lying, drug-addicted, gluttonous mountain of pigshit like Rush Limbaugh, that’s your business. You’re well within your rights to advertise on any program that you please. No argument there. But you should know that demographics are NOT on your side. According to at least one top industry executive, the average age of the AM Hate Talk Radio listener is “dead”. So really, those extremely pissed off women who are “blowing up” your inbox are doing you a favor. They’re giving you one last chance to abandon a loser’s market. And I mean that in the kindliest way possible.

But the one thing that you should know above all others is this: #boycottrush is NOT the usual suspects.

It’s the world.

NOBODY really likes Rush, except for a few hopelessly paranoid birthers and massively overarmed paramilitary types. You know who I mean. The self-appointed “guardians of the republic” who think white males are being denied the titty that everyone else is suckling. As if. Even Republican women don’t like him. And there are a lot more women out there than angry old bigots who think that they didn’t get a big enough handout because the n****** shoved ahead of them in the line. Seriously. Limbaugh’s market share is dwindling with every obituary column. Mike Huckabee’s gonna kick his portly ass all the way to China. And as much as I may think he is hopelessly mired in a mythical 1950’s Norman Rockwell painting, Huckabee is at least someone I would sit next to at dinner and actually enjoy the conversation.

So if you want to “double down” on supporting Rush because the terrorists must not win, suit yourself. We are going to keep on telling you what we think, so you may as well just stop checking that mailbox. We’re not going away, and not because we’re particularly well-organized or funded. We’re just fed up with assholes like you and your friends making $ off of the misogyny that is currently being codified into LAWS that our daughters will suffer under long after we are dead and gone.

You and your ilk are done. Evolve or die. That is the rule.

Hijabs and Hoodies and Herding on the Hate Crime Bandwagon

Why do I get the feeling I’m being HERDED onto a bandwagon here?

I know there’s a note near the body that looks rather like the note that this family received a month ago (and ignored) suggesting that they are being targeted by racial/religious haters. I know. But does anyone else wonder why this woman’s killer has left TWO notes pointing away from the most likely suspect? Who else in this community – this very LARGE Muslim community – has received such notes in recent weeks? Anyone? Just the new family? Anybody know these folks really well? Any idea why the killer would go after only ONE woman in this family? One woman out of the entire Muslim population in that area?

I mean, who did she piss off?

Does anyone find it interesting that the killer waited until after the husband left for the entire day? That she was almost certain to be found HOURS after this home invasion and attack? That her husband would have a daylong alibi and the killer(s) would have a safe and quiet place to do their worst? That no one is intimately familiar with the family dynamics, routines, or habits of this family? That the killing was so… PERSONAL?

And there are TWO notes. Two notes suggesting that the police should look for a stranger. That the most likely suspect is actually a victim. Does anyone else really dislike having the statistically-most-likely-suspect point to *two* notes telling everyone which way the bad guys went?? And what their motive was?

It’s certainly possible that a woman wearing a hijab would be targeted for a vicious beating, in her own home, after careful surveillance has shown that she’s vulnerable once hubby goes off to work and the kids are at school. It’s entirely possible. It’s even possible that the attacker would leave notes all over the place. But when was the last time you heard of a hate crime like this? One so selective, so personal, so carefully planned? Sounds more like BTK than your average skinhead.

San Diego has been described in the press as the 2nd largest Muslim community in America. So if there’s enough racial/religious animosity to leave this ONE woman dead, there should be plenty of evidence that others have been at least threatened. I’m waiting to see it. Because I can’t quite understand how the NEW family – the unknown quantity in this community – suddenly became the target of that rage. It just seems more likely to me that the haters would have encountered a longtime resident on the street, in a store, at a gas pump, or in the workplace, and had a grievance to nurture. But no, it’s just this woman who hasn’t had much time to make enemies anywhere but in her own home; the same place where she’s attacked and murdered.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying that a woman wearing a hijab cannot be the target of racial/religious hatred. Not at all. There is PLENTY of racial and religious animosity out there that ends in violence and murder.  I’m just saying that there are a lot of reviews of phone records, bank records, computer files, and interviews that have NOT been conducted yet. And no evidence offered yet that this woman, this one lone target of all the rage that provokes an up-close and personal and messy kind of murder, ever did anything to attract that very special kind of retaliation. Since when do Kluckers and skinheads engage in selective home invasions and targeting of random scarf-wearing women? Are you telling me that no one else in that LARGE Muslim population wears a hijab? Just the new kid? Sorry, I’m not ready to buy that story just yet. Not just yet. There are questions that have not been answered here, and the police will need time to ask and get answers.

Let’s not assume the worst just yet. Someone wanted Shaima Alawadi to die. But I could use a little more than two notes saying “look over here” before I reach any conclusions about who that was.

Disturbance in the Force at UC Davis

Freedom of thought and speech died on the UC Davis campus, under Chancellor Katehi’s watch. As she secluded herself from the actions taking place on her campus, she endorsed the deployment of military grade chemical weapons on the very students whose welfare she is charged with protecting. She must resign, and now. She has betrayed the trust of her students, her staff, and the very tenets of her authority. But worse, she has betrayed the very principles of a free society, and the core values of any institution of higher learning.

It does not matter that the students posed no immediate danger as they sat, heads bowed, refusing to move. They were not threatening anyone, but that doesn’t matter. They disobeyed her orders according to their own consciences, and for that she sanctioned the use of physical force against them. That act was both illegal and shameful. That matters.

It does not matter that the pepper spray in question is designed to be deployed in bursts of 1-3 seconds and was used in a much more concerted attack. It does not matter that the pepper spray in question is to be deployed from a distance of at least 15 feet, and was instead sprayed from a distance of less than 2 feet, and in some cases directly down their throats and into their faces at 2-3 inches. Those students were burned by that chemical. That matters.

It does not matter that the spray in question is to be used for crowd control. It matters that the crowd was in fact controlled and doing nothing more than being where she did not want them to be. It matters that Chancellor Katehi finds her preferences to be of more value than the physical safety and integrity of her students. That matters very much.

Chancellor Katehi should not convene or be in any way associated with a task force to determine whether she or her officers were complicit in an illegal act of violence or excessive force. She MUST resign now so that a real investigation can commence. The entire force deployed that day must answer for their actions *and* for their failure to take appropriate action, as Chancellor Katehi was not physically present to direct those actions. She certainly *should* have been. But she wasn’t. So they must answer, each of them, for their own decisions. Chancellor Katehi may not be permitted to oversee or respond in any way to that process, except under questioning. She is ultimately the very *cause* of this action, and therefore she must take responsibility in a meaningful way and not merely pay lip service to it. Her association with that process pollutes it.

Chancellor Katehi is no longer in a position of respect or authority on the UC Davis campus by her own design, and for that reason alone she MUST resign. But if that were not enough cause, Chancellor Katehi has revealed through her actions that SHE is the principal threat to the safety of students and faculty on the UC Davis campus. At present, the only thing that matters here is that Chancellor Katehi thinks that clubbing and gassing her students and faculty is appropriate. The consequence of that attitude and the poor decision-making resulting from it, is that she must resign immediately.

But Were They Any Good To Begin With?

http://www.antipornmen.org/2011/11/05/internet-porn-makes-men-bad-in-bed/#.TrnfGWBgO76

I didn’t read the article. Let’s just get that right out front. The truth is that I just don’t care. That’s two minutes I’m never going to get back, and it’s about somebody else’s sex life.

But truthfully, do you NEED to read it to know what it says??? I’m willing to bet my daughter’s college fund that I can tell you what it says. I mean, I *have* heard snatches of this conversation here and there over the last few months. I think Bill Maher mentioned that sex with a partner is becoming increasingly rare and no one in the room even looked up. But still. The only real problem with me exercising my psychic powers, however, is that the exercise is going to take even longer than the two minutes I refused to share with the original author. But it’ll be more fun. And probably more important. So what the heck, here we go…

It says that someone has done yet another study proving the obvious. It says that the more men focus on a hyperfantasy that pleases JUST THEM, they become fairly lousy at pleasing anyone else. It says… young men, starting increasingly in their early teens, are becoming desensitized to sexual arousal because… blah blah blah… portrays women as objects not partners… blah blah blah… constant stream of arousing images… blah… leading to increasingly extreme images… blah blah blah… aggressive male domination… blah… porn all about male sexual gratification… blah blah blah… leading to discomfort and fear of women in real life… blah blah blah… performance anxiety… blah blah blah…disconnection from actual social and sexual interaction… blah… sex becoming an increasingly isolated and isolating internal event rather than a shared or mutually enjoyable activity. Barf.

Well, hell. Your grandmother could have predicted that. The porn industry has always been about portraying women as both sexually voracious *and* needing nothing more than the vicarious thrill of making themselves submissively available to any man who happens to wander by. In your dreams, right? Exactly. But we live in a society where WOMEN are putting wigs and false eyelashes on 4 year old toddlers, and teaching them to wiggle and mince around like miniature porn queens. Aspiring teenage pop singers are pretty much required to expose their breasts and/or genitals on camera in order to get any attention at all. No ad campaign for cosmetics features a woman. Nope. They enlarge her eyes, shorten her chin, plump her lips, add an extra pound or two of hair, and that shit sells mascara to… women. We are photoshopping images of models who are wearing a Size 2 dress, to make them even more Barbie-like. Size 0. No. Size 00. And now we have some pretty sophisticated pixels on our screens. Virtual models walking virtual runways without an actual human in sight, and delicately re-proportioned to be – you guessed it – inhuman. This is the most ludicrously sexually oversaturated culture the world has ever seen. No wonder the men are lousy lovers. You think the porn industry is to blame? We keep tossing baby sex monsters and computerized non-women at them and they are going to develop some serious issues.

We are hardwired for contact, intimacy, and deeper stuff than 2-D images of anxious women desperate to whatever is necessary to please any man in the room. Can you just imagine the pressure on any guy who has overdosed on that??? God help him if he’s already gotten so deep into the weird that nothing short of full bondage regalia and the sight of blood causes his neurons to so much as flicker. But I have a certain amount of faith in the species to self-correct here. Eventually, most men are going to come face to face with the self-loathing that has GOT to be the natural by-product of indulging that kind of hostile, alienated, isolated fantasy. The vast majority of them will decide they’d rather come home and see if there isn’t some interesting conversation in the living room. It beats scaring yourself to death. I’m just wondering how far it goes before we start that process? Because I just delved into the content of an article that I still haven’t read. I got exactly 9 syllables into it, and delivered an analysis.

So you go ahead and read the article. I’m just going to disconnect for minute and go talk to a person. This shit is getting scary.

Wait. They Told Me Life Begins at Forty

Did ANY of you guys read The Handmaid’s Tale????

Holy Moses on a mountaintop. We have entire states turning into fiction.

Of course, Mississippi always did have a fictional sort of aura. I always blamed it on Faulkner, but maybe there’s a scientific explanation for it. Like maybe too much swamp gas is causing an optical illusion and making them fade in and out of focus like Avalon. Or maybe they are inhaling the stuff and it’s making them a little wonky. But honestly, this fiction thing is getting a little out of hand. You guys need to buy an encyclopedia or something.

Fertilized ova are now human beings. Gotcha. And U.S. Congressmen are now Little Caesars? Speaking of which, proponents of this ridiculous law are using ITALY to prop up their argument. Now you know a thesis is weak if Mississippi is looking to the Pope for backup. Italian lawmakers have limited doctors to fertilizing only 3 eggs for IVF, and required them to implant all 3. This has had the proven effect (I know, that’s sort of like science being all rational and whatnot, but bear with me) of reducing the number of successful implantations and increasing the number of triplet births. Which is a serious health risk to both the worthless mother *and* the precious zygotes. So even if they had it figured out, and even if you could make me believe that the swamplanders are suddenly fond of anything the Catholic Church has to say (like for instance, “end the war”, or maybe “no more capital punishment”, or even “feed the poor”) I’m just wondering why Italy is allowing women to undergo IVF at all? Isn’t that God’s business, determining who breeds? Or did he suddenly start screwing up? Are all these infertile women the devil’s work? And if so, shouldn’t they be drowning them or something?

Whatever, I just want to point out that the Constitution of the United States says that you cannot enact laws that require people to conform their behavior to YOUR belief in Easter bunnies, fairies, or messiahs. Fortunately, it also means that the government can’t force you to take the medication that would make all the voices stop bothering you. So if you prefer magic apples and talking snakes to mathematics and logic, you are free to scare yourself silly. But the rest of us don’t have to start sacrificing obviously living humans to the monsters in your closet. Yes, women are actually human. Observe: walks upright, opposable thumbs = most likely exhibiting a DNA structure composed of 23 pairs of chromosomes routinely classified as Homo sapiens sapiens.

Meanwhile, we all know that there has been a push on within the Anti-Woman movement to outlaw all abortifacients, including IUDs and Morning After pills. I have even heard some of the most extreme factions claiming that all birth control pills should be outlawed since we don’t really *know* how they work. Sort of the same way we don’t really *know* that evolution and global warming are real, and we aren’t even sure that the Earth really orbits around the Sun. It’s just a theory. Presumably we should include church-approved Ptolemaic system (look it up, ya illiterate yahoo) in the classroom instruction, as well as point out that there is some photographic “evidence” that humans kept dinosaurs as very large pets. Look, guys. Just because we don’t really *know* how anything works doesn’t mean we should revert to sending smoke signals instead of using the phone. Isaac Newton put us on the Moon, for cryin’ out loud. It’s possible that one or two people since Abraham have had a good idea. Just sayin’.

All the same, I do have a few real questions here:

1.) If a woman is seen smoking or drinking alcohol, shouldn’t she have to pee in a cup to prove that she isn’t endangering a baby?

2.) What about KoolAid? All that sugar can’t be good for a fetus.

3.) Can I still go horseback riding, or could that be considered criminal negligence?

4.) If my husband beats me up and I miscarry, will the courts finally consider it a crime?

5.) If it’s my fault that he got mad, will I be charged as well?

6.) If I take a pregnancy test every morning to prove that I’m not potentially murdering anyone, will my insurance cover the cost?

7.) If I have multiple miscarriages, does that make me a suspected serial killer?

8.) If I miscarry in another state does it become a federal investigation?

9.) If my baby is genetically different from the norm, is it still a human?

10.) If I have a hysterectomy will you fuck off? Or is that a form of passive murder now?