Jack & Jill Politics

Morphus' discussion of the Tatchell 'Malcolm was a homo' thread in the Guardian makes me want to throw up this completely unrelated thread:

"Morehouse College Bans Cross-Dressing Because of Five Students 'Living a Gay Lifestyle'"
http://www.towleroad.com/2009/10/morehouse-coll...

Two pages of sorrow, teeth gnashing and eye tics......... for me. I don't know how representative Towleroad's homosexual community (and specifically it's non-black homosexual community) is of all homosexuals. I suppose it's like wondering how representative jack and jill is of all middle class blacks. And whether that's ever fair.

But damn.

Other reactions:
http://www.thegrio.com/2009/10/morehouse-colleg... (89)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/236331... (56)

http://rodonline.typepad.com/rodonline/2009/10/...

http://www.queerty.com/morehouse-college-just-b... (31)

http://queerblackness.blogspot.com/2009/10/do-c...

And finally old school (2008) Racialicious blog on Morehouse and homosexuality:
http://www.racialicious.com/2008/06/12/la-times...

what happened between 2008 and Morehouse as gay maybe-over-friendly ..... and 2009 and Morehouse as gay-hating and gay self-hating and/or still within its rights? Or is it McClurkin (homosexuality having its own color line) all over again? What's really happening here, since cross dressing and homosexuality are mutually exclusive in the first place? Or is Towleroad, and its legion of Levi Johnston fappers, just 'different'?

And apologies if this was written up in a different Open Thread. :(

we've had discussions, off and on, about the dress code. I do fail to see how it's 'homophobic'.

It's homophobic and transphobic. Homophobic because some of the men who wear "womens" clothes are gay. Transphobic b/c some of they students who wear women's clothes may be trans. Not allowing them free gender expression is oppressive.

If they want to have codes for dressing, let them say that men who wear women's clothing should, for example, not wear tube tops to class, but may wear blouses and knee length skirts, or capris but not short shorts, if that's what they deem not provocative. Dress codes can be applied without gender performance discrimination.

Oh, lord...

Yeah, I know my fashion references are hopelessly out of date. Or so my teenage daughters tell me. What college kids wear capris these days? But the theory is sound.

has anyone read ' The Man' by Irving Wallace?
thinking about buying it.

No Rikyrah and I have a friend who read it. They were pretty pleased.
But GO NEW YANKEES!!!!!! one more and then it's Philly -vs- New York!

YES!!!

Did anyone watch Obama's special message to OFA tonight? I was trying to watch it, but my connection kept buffering.

if you get a good link, please leave it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar...

Kent Conrad sees the potential for a compromise that would get some form of a public option in the bill. It won't be one that progressives want, but considering that Conrad been pushing coops and being against a PO, that's significant progress. A month ago, it seemed that no PO would pass the Senate in any form, now it appears that a version will pass.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33406355/ns/politic...

Another dynamic is the announcement tomorrow that the combined house bill would cost 871 billion which is below President Obama's limit, it has a strong public option, it covers 96%, which is more than the Senate Finance bill, and it reduces the deficit. Especially if it has better subsidies and bends future costs, it would give the house the upper hand.

OBAMA GETS FLU SHOT, BUT NOT FOR SWINE FLU

Hmmm...I get that he's not in the high risk group but doesn't being leader of the free world but him in his own special group? Doesn't sound like any of the first fam got the H1N1.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/10/20/...

I really don't remember hearing this much about Bush's personal life, did I just miss it? Or did no one care?

I think they were better at not allowing much info to escape the confines of the WH. And really, on some level the first family are A-list celebs. It shouldn't be a surprise that every move they make is chronicled.

Why are you guys squabbling over a pretty straight forward article?

We weren't until someone decided they needed to start a ruckus.

I wouldn't call it a ruckus. I would prefer to call it a counterpoint to the ill informed snark.

Is this the latest black liberal attack, the President didn't get the Swine Flu shot?

Well, it is good for the Republicans (snark).

I think maybe you're becoming a bit cynical. It's a rather innocuous piece that has nothing to do with partisan politics. It's an observation. Whether Democrat or Republican, it makes one think considering the government is pushing so hard for the public to get innoculated and hiring a raft of lawyers in anticipation of vaccine litigation. What caught my eye is that it appears that the girls -- who are in a high risk group -- also appear not to have gotten the vaccine.

Can you cite any facts to support your conclusion that the girls have not gotten the vaccine?

who's attacking him?

There was no attack.

There was nothing in the burb about the president or the first family recieving H1N1 shots. You inferred that he did not, as did Mothsmoke and you both tried to portray it a negative, without the basic facts.

From mothsmokes reference:
"The first lady and Obama girls had received their seasonal flu vaccines previously."

Do you see dead people, too?

...all the time... (snark)

"OBAMA GETS FLU SHOT, BUT NOT FOR SWINE FLU

Hmmm...I get that he's not in the high risk group but doesn't being leader of the free world but him in his own special group? Doesn't sound like any of the first fam got the H1N1. "

Those are your words not mine. The article did not mention H1N1. You were trying to start some bullshit, so don't put it on me about seeing dead people.

You either jumped to a conclusion without reading the article or can't read.
"The seasonal flu shot does not vaccinate against the H1N1 swine flu virus, and Obama is not in one of the groups -- such as pregnant women, health-care workers and those under age 24 -- designated as high-priority for receiving the scarce H1N1 vaccine."
from article cited by Mothsmoke

No, actually it is you who started the BS. Before you entered with your bias, the thread was a pretty civil discussion. You'll find that most people are happy to engage in debate as long as it remains a civil discourse -- If you enter the room with a flame thrower, no one really cares what you have to say, they just want you to leave.

When is asking a question considered flame-throwing?

The "question" was really not a question, it was a suggestion that it was a black liberal attack on Obama. The black liberal being me --- FYI, the author of the blurb, Rob Stein, is not black. The "question" was similar to being asked "Do you still beat your wife." Absolutely nothing in the post suggested an attack on the president and I made that clear in my initial response -- Alexander2 took an innocuous post and comment to a whole other level.

if I don't believe in vaccinations, and am suspicious of them, HOW in the hell can I have portrayed it as a NEGATIVE?

Touche! If you don't believe in science, why aren't you a republican?

believing in science, and believing in Big Pharma vaccinations are two entirely different things.

Please explain. On second thought, please don't.

I don't presume to speak for Rikyrah, but I think she's saying that vaccinations aren't necessarily NECESSARY to keep you from getting sick.

I do believe in vaccinations, but I've never taken a flu shot, I don't think I need to, and I've never had the flu.

Some people prefer to stick to homeopathic/natural remedies. There was this one time when I was sick, and none of the "cold" drugs were working to make me feel better, but I took some echinacea and orange juice and was all better when I woke up the next morning. Now I recommend that to anyone who's sick.

so it's basically a "different strokes for different folks" thing.

People are dying from the swine flu. I think its irresponsible for anyone to take a knee-jerk anti-vaccine position without looking at the available evidence about the efficacy of the vaccine as opposed to the risk profile.

Its ignorance, nothing more, nothing less.

Alexander, people die from the regular flu too. Yes, I realize that Swine Flu is the big scary Flu of the moment, but if someone honestly doesn't believe in taking vaccinations what is so bad about THIS particular flu that they should go against their belief?

Death to young people who have no capacity to decide for themselves.

Rush is giving vaccinations?!

Oh, hell no! :-(

LOL

Non, mon ami! Where is that vauted critical thinking you were talking about? She didn't say that she didn't believe in science, she said she didn't believe in vaccinations. There is a fundamental difference. Truth be told, she has cause not to. Many people don't.

With respect to your quip re Republicans, it demonstrates that you are laboring under the misapprehension that all Republicans do not believe in science. That's akin to saying that all Democrats are pro-choice -- also a false assertion. Really makes it difficult to credit what you have to contribute to the conversation.

Republicans have made it clear that they do not support the conclusions of science on a host of issues, including vaccines.

You are right. I don't have anything to contribute to this conversation. You Obama-hating, vaccine-hating folks belong here.

I don't.

Don't let the door knob hit ya'

WEE SEE YOU!

He can't win. If he takes it - you are not in the risk group..

Oh well, they are not forcing anyone to take it

However all i want there to be is a law that allows me to sue anybody that infects me with the Swine flu LOL, just saying

if it's optional for the rest of America, then it can be optional for the First Family

What evidence do you have that the President's kids did not recieve the the Swine flu vaccine? The blurb talks about the first family and the seasonal flu shot. Period.

Again, you jump to knee jerk conclusions w/o minimum critical thought.

right now, I just have to believe that you're being trifling and reading anything I write as a negative against the President. If what I write bothers you, then maybe you ought to filter me out, because YOUR conclusions are ridiculous and without critical thought.

In the clear light of day, I can see that your comments were not negative against the first family. My comments to you on this issue were off base. I apologize.

Please point to SOMETHING in the article that indicates that the first family did not recieve a Swine flu vaccine. If there is nothing, how can you conclude that it is optional for the First Family?

Yes, I get what you're saying, but in light of the controversy surrounding the vaccine, that "option" is perceived very differently when the first fam doesn't get the vaccine vs. Bob and Maryjo Citizen.

This caught my eye because I read that the DOJ is hire attorneys left and right to handle vaccine litigation.

I'm not taking it, so I can't be remotely bothered if the First Family has CHOSEN not take it either.

I'm not a big fan of vaccinations, but then again, I'm paranoid like that.

I'm not hot on them either. You'll probably do just as well with eating well, exercising, washing your hands, and hand sanitizer.

I've gotten the flu shot, and will get the swine flu shot if I can find a doctor giving the swine flu shot.

If I start grunting and squealing in my posts...you'll know I got it. :-)

LOL!

How long has it been since you've been to the "bad chair"? :)

I see you and Justice 58 have been talking
(she ALWAYS wants to put me in "the bad chair" (cue eerie music & maniacal laughter)...but I didn't do it :-)

Senior Citizens League Mailer The Holy Grail Of Elderly Scare Tactics
First Posted: 10-20-09 03:53 PM | Updated: 10-20-09 05:15 PM

A new mailer being sent to senior citizens warns that Democratic-considered health care reform would result in the rationing of care and the creation of a massive database that would endanger the privacy of personal medical information.

Authorized by the Senior Citizens League, the piece seems tantamount to the Holy Grail of health care reform scare-tactic mailers.

Sent out under a cover letter from former Congressman David Funderbruk (R-N.C.), the literature starts by raising the frightful specter of private medical data become widely accessible to the public.

"How would you like it if your doctor, your clinic, or other healthcare providers -- without either your knowledge or consent -- gathered up your, along with your family's medical history, and sent your most intimate conversations to a central data bank in Washington D.C. to become a part of the largest computer network ever created?" Funderburk writes.

The piece, which was passed along to the Huffington Post from a concerned recipient, goes on to make other dubious claims about health care reform. The author -- Senior Citizens League Chairman Dan O'Connell -- warns that doctors will have to consult the massive new database before they can provide care for seniors. "The theory," the mailer reads, "is that this new approval system will enable Medicare to deny claims because it will allow government experts to disapprove treatment, prescriptions, surgeries and other care they feel is inefficient or inappropriate -- and approve care they believe is appropriate."

The accompanying, seven-question survey, pushes many of these same points: warning seniors that their private medical information will be hacked, their care rationed and their medical priorities handed over to government bureaucrats.


Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/20/senior...

I guess the "killing grandma" bullshit didn't work.

Sanders Begs Obama: Help Keep Dems United Against A GOP Filibuster


President Obama should lobby individual Senate Democrats to make sure they don't join Republicans in filibustering health care reform, Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, told HuffPost Tuesday.

His plea comes amid frustration on Capitol Hill that Obama has yet to take charge of the health care debate, even as support for the public option surges. "It's not in his DNA to do the prescriptive lobbying on the details here and I'm not going to try to change his style at this stage. We'll take what--he's certainly made it clear he wants this bill done and his people are sitting in all the meetings," said Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.). "I'm not going to second-guess the president. He's been very successful to date."

Senior White House health care aide Nancy-Ann Deparle huddled with Senate Democrats Tuesday for the weekly caucus lunch and Obama's campaign operation bombarded the Capitol with phone calls in support of health care reform, but the president has so far refused to actively lobby individual members.

"I would hope that he would remind every member of the Democratic caucus that the function of the Republican Party -- which the American people are very clearly seeing -- is obstructionism and is saying no in the midst of a terrible, terrible health care crisis. So what the president -- and all of us -- should be asking is every member of the Democratic caucus to vote yes to stop Republican filibusters," said Sanders.

"And if later on," Sanders said, "people in the Democratic caucus -- a few of them and they're a minority; I don't know how many there are: two, three, four -- choose to vote against the public option later on, let them do so."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) are merging two bills passed by committees led by Dodd and Baucus. Dodd's includes a public health insurance option; Baucus's doesn't.

The strategy advocated by Sanders -- pressuring Democrats not to join a GOP filibuster - underscores the importance of including a public option in the bill that emerges from the current negotiations.

That bill will need 60 supporters to proceed to a vote on the floor, where it can be amended. It's harder for a Democrat to oppose leadership on the entire bill than it is to oppose a single amendment.





Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/20/sander...

The Huffington Post is pushing a particular meta-narrative --- the President should be demanding a public option now from the senate. Booman and others suggest a competing meta-narrative --- pushing for a public option now would stall rather than further progress. In their view, the time to push for a public option is after the House and Senate bills are reconciled, not now.

All of it is a big energy sap. What is the point of reading tealeaves? If we want a public option, its not just on Obama and the senate, its on us. Why aren't our voices being heard like the Fox teabagging folks?

How many of us called today to support a public option and health care reform in general?

I'm not angry. I'm just tired. But there is one thing I know to be true. The President is not tired.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-uptown-c...

"Uptown has seen attrition in its community response. Nearly 100 people showed up at the first Friday night loitering event, after a community policing meeting launched the idea in August.

"Many of us didn't know each other before doing this," said resident Joe Gray, whose video of the brawl was broadcast on the news and Web. "It's more than showing force. We have a community here of people who care."

A core group gathers at the corner every Friday night to serve as positive loiterers. The residents exchange neighborhood gossip, drink free coffee provided by a cafe down the street and bring their pets. They say hi to passers-by, even those who look like they may be up to no good.

"We've had some gangbangers come around and see what we're doing. We always say hello," said one of the organizers, Richard Thale. "It's as much about community-building as it is about quelling the crime situation in our own neighborhood."

Sen Reid will help his state and their health insurance problems. The rest of us.......

Would a windfall profits tax interest anyone? Yeah or nay?

http://www.apparelnews.net/news/fashion_news/10...

"The designer said he was inspired by first lady Michelle Obama"

"L.A. Fashion Week Spring 2010: Louver by Louis Verdad
October 20, 2009

That was the look the designer sent down the runway for his Louver by Louis Verdad collection, shown on Oct. 13 at Downtown L.A. Fashion Week at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. Verdad, who has been on hiatus, made his return to the runway with a classic and timely collection.

The designer said he was inspired by first lady Michelle Obama when creating the collection, which is made up of classically chic silhouettes and an all-American nautical flair. He explored the contrasts of black and white by using all black models and a cream palette. “I’m really inspired by Michelle Obama—really, truthfully. I’ve been looking at her. I felt that it’s an amazing time for African-American women. I wanted to relate it to the hope that we all Americans have,” Verdad said.

The collection was also an exploration of his own black and white side. “I know that I can be rough and exuberant, but then I can also be sweet and dramatic but classic and timeless,” he said.

Silhouettes had a vintage flair with styles such as high-waisted pants, ruffled blouses and chic sheath dresses. There were plenty of sportswear, including pants suits, flirty skirts and jumpsuits, as well as dramatic red-carpet gowns. Verdad’s focus on classic elegance was also an effort to keep the collection economically feasible. He worked in a monochromatic palette in fabrics such as lightweight wool gabardine, silk crepe, silk charmeuse and striped silk chiffon and experimented with details such as pleating, lace and corset-like waist treatments. The look was accented with navy and a touch of gold including lame gloves and belts draped with chains. Shoulder treatments, drop-crotch pants and a sexy bodysuit modernized the look.—N. Jayne Seward"

October is Black History Month in Britain – a wonderful celebration of the huge, important and valuable contribution that black people have made to humanity and to popular culture.

It is also worth celebrating that many leading black icons have been lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT), most notably the US black liberation hero Malcolm X. Other prominent black LGBTs include jazz singer Billie Holiday, author and civil rights activist James Baldwin, soul singer-songwriter Luther Vandross, blues singer Bessie Smith, poet and short story writer Langston Hughes, singer Johnny Mathis, novelist Alice Walker, civil rights activist and organiser of the 1963 March on Washington Bayard Rustin, blues singer Ma Rainey, dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey, actress, singer and dancer Josephine Baker, Olympic diving gold medallist Greg Louganis, singer and songwriter Little Richard, political activist and philosopher Angela Davis, singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman and drag performer and singer RuPaul.


Malcolm X was bisexual. Get over it

---

First I heard of this. True?

As commented over in the Fark thread about this:

"Aren't these people American? Have the Brits no Nubians of their own to honor?"
-- Keypusher, 2009-10-20 08:28:27 PM
http://www.fark.com/cgi/comments.pl?IDLink=4713...


Among other comments about the make up of that list (specifically the universal head-scratching over Louganis' inclusion), and whether sexual orientation should matter in the first place. But I wish Keypusher's point had been discussed more. October is black history month in the UK? then its important to discuss the importance of UKers in black history. I don't know Peter Tatchell's history. I don't know if he's a troll or if he's sincere. The headline says he's a troll.

Really? I clicked the link for the previous article the author wrote on Malcolm X's alleged bisexuality and he suggests that it was alluded to in Perry's autobiography and in Spike Lee's Malcolm X. I've never read Perry's autobiography and can't recall anything like that in Malcolm X -- I'll have to Netflix it. If anyone knows the truth, it's the FBI.

I read brother Malcolm's autobiography and seen Spike's movie. Never seen or read any hint of him being bisexual.

I call bullshit on this.

first I've heard of it too

...and he's a Republican, too, I'll bet.

Can't even imagine how this will go.....will Oprah be restricted on questions so the show ends up being a total Palin promo..... yuck, I'll pass.

http://www.examiner.com/x-10201-Oprah-Examiner~...

"Oprah Winfrey did it! She landed a whopper of an interview. The talk show diva will interview former Alaska governor Sarah Palin for an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, which is scheduled to air on Monday, November 16, 2009. This is Palin's first interview about her upcoming book, Going Rogue: An American Life, and she will discuss it on Oprah's stage on the eve of its release"

More First Family stuff

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2009/...

"Curriculum Matters

Obama Keeps Track of What His Daughters Are Reading

President Obama keeps tab of what Sasha and Malia are reading, according to a report by pool reporter George Condon of CongressDaily about the president's visit to a Maryland elementary school yesterday.

Here's an excerpt:

He asked each kid what he or she was reading. One kid said "Diary of a Wimpy Kid." The president said, "Sasha and Malia loved that. They think it is hilarious."
In addition, the president told students at Viers Mill Elementary School that he had read the Harry Potter books with Malia and thought they were "pretty good."

Loving v. Virgina
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaHhZ4IbVYY

Interesting in light of the Justice refusal to marry the interracial couples. Sometimes we move 10 steps forward but take 5 steps back, that's life i guess

who really knows, this could all be bogus or not.

http://www.s2smagazine.com/node/1907

"Peek inside Malia and Sasha's White House bedroom
Tue, 10/20/2009 - 12:42 — whitney

One item that we know is featured in the First Daughters' bedroom? A recycled chandelier worth almost $5,000.














While no one really knows how Barack and Michelle Obama decided to decorate their young daughters' White House bedroom, there are clues.



CasaSugar reports that one item definitely made the cut for Malia, 11, and 8-year-old Sasha: this $4,800 Magpie Chandelier from Anthropologie. Who knew those little ones had such expensive taste?

The decoration was handmade in South Africa and using "found objects, trinkets and cast-offs," according to the Anthropologie Web site. Word had it back in January that their stylish mom planned on buying from Pottery Barn and Anthropologie, in addition to bringing their family's collection of African and Asian art, for the White House.

The fixture might be a little extravagant for a children's bedroom, but it's fine considering that the Obama's refused the $100,000 presidential decorating budget and chose to furnish their new digs out of their own pocket. Not to mention, it's a great example decorating green.

What do you think about the furnishing: exotic or too extravagant"

Hey now!

Where the Che Guevara posters at?

I think Michelle Obama should have decorated Sasha & Malia's rooms with that fake French country bedroom set from SEARS, complete with forks and spoons on the walls and plastic slipcovers on the rest of the furniture. You know how we're supposed to do.

this goes under TOO MUCH INFORMATION...

or

NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS...

but, maybe it's just me.

We all know that none of the children of first families bedrooms are ever publicized....so it is all speculation and you know what...even if it is for one the daughters room I say, so freaking what. PLUS, the Obama's are paying for it out of their own pocket and they can do whatever they damn well please.

Why does it have to be in the kids room? Itsn't the white house huge. Jesus christ these people, leave them kids alone. Damn, did they see the bedroom just speculation upon speculation.

ditto

Ladies imagine you have a C section. Gentleman your told your wife/lover/mother can't have health insurance unless she becomes sterilized.
How much more does the American public require to understand that healthcare insurance companies are totally against their interests?

you know that domestic violence has been considered a ' pre-existing condition' to some insurance companies.

The Earth was already there when God created humans and animals, says academic

Professor Ellen van Wolde, a respected Old Testament scholar and author, claims the first sentence of Genesis "in the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth" is not a true translation of the Hebrew.

She claims she has carried out fresh textual analysis that suggests the writers of the great book never intended to suggest that God created the world -- and in fact the Earth was already there when he created humans and animals.

Prof Van Wolde, 54, who will present a thesis on the subject at Radboud University in The Netherlands where she studies, said she had re-analysed the original Hebrew text and placed it in the context of the Bible as a whole, and in the context of other creation stories from ancient Mesopotamia.

She said she eventually concluded the Hebrew verb "bara", which is used in the first sentence of the book of Genesis, does not mean "to create" but to "spatially separate".

The first sentence should now read "in the beginning God separated the Heaven and the Earth"

According to Judeo-Christian tradition, God created the Earth out of nothing.

The notion of God as the Creator is wrong, claims a top academic, who believes the Bible has been wrongly translated for thousands of years

Cool!