conuly

First, this one isn't really related to the others, but I'll link to it now anyway. Apparently the president gave a speech where he mispronounced one word out of many, he said "aks" or possibly "aksk" instead of "ask". Normally I'd give the "aks is a historically valid pronunciation of ask" lecture, but no worries, Rush Limbaugh gave it for me, saying:

“Obama can turn on that black dialect when he wants to and turn it off.”

This is because Limbaugh is one classy dude.

Now, the link above (and Language Log's second post on the subject here) take the view that this is the sort of speech error that people make all the time and that nothing more should be said on it.

I didn't see the original speech, so I'll just go with their interpretation but also add: Even if he was saying "aks" as his normal mode of speech (in the same way that Bush said "nucular" all the time), who cares? There's nothing wrong with it and we all understand it. And if he sometimes speaks in one dialect and sometimes in another, this is a bad thing? Since when? Having more than one way to speak can only help you in this world, how could it harm you in any way?

Of course, I'm missing the point, which was no doubt just a chance to go "Look, he's STILL BLACK, and I don't like that but if I say that outright people will think I'm an ass, because I am, so I'll pretend there's some reason for not liking him."

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Now, we've got two... well, interesting links.

So first we have Representative Trent Franks, who seems to think... well, let me let him speak

And yet today, half of all black children are aborted. Half of all black children are aborted. Far more of the African-American community is being devastated by the policies of today than were being devastated by policies of slavery.

Yes, he actually went there. And he's not just an isolated loon, no, let's look at this article from the Times:

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It's easy to try to brush off the promoted conspiracy theory as just that - a conspiracy theory. And you're probably right except that there were unethical and discriminatory practices not that long ago which did harm to black people (and poor people in general) and forced sterilizations did happen. This is no secret. So while I don't think there's any big conspiracy now, I can see why people can believe there might be.

Except, as always, the anti-abortion groups are taking this from the wrong angle. Look, I'm as happy as anybody to see a sweet little baby whose parents are glad to have him. But people don't have abortions just for fun, or just because they've been misled into thinking they can't take care of a child (when really they can). They have abortions because, hey, they can't take care of a kid. If they think they can't, they're probably right.

If there's a conspiracy here, it's not with the abortion providers. It's with the people who, time after time, enact laws which help the rich at the cost of the poor. It's with the people who set up and support the conditions which make it so that any one person will feel she cannot have a baby now, and needs an abortion (and chances are she's correct) and then go around insulting women for making this choice. People know this! They know this, but they fall for their lines anyway.

I don't see abortion as a moral issue at all. But if I did, and wanted to stop it, I'd go to the source. These same people who don't want you to have an abortion, you know they don't like you anyway. They're not going to help you when you need help, they won't help you keep your family together.

Incidentally, a special note about that OTHER guy, the one who made that comment about disabled babies being a punishment for abortion....

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Actually, I have nothing to say to him. But I'm tempted now to start a poll asking which comment was really more offensive.

It's the shocker of the century, I tell you.

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Of course, the comments are atrocious. A lot of people there blame affirmative action, citing studies (that they can't name) proving that black people get into college 100, 300, 500, or 800 points lower on the SAT than their white peers. At some number that might be true, I don't know what number that is. Of course, getting into Harvard at 300 points lower than everybody else is still a major accomplishment... especially when, on the other side, "everybody else" includes people who got in because Daddy went to school there and bought them a new building last year.

In the end, though, it doesn't amount to much. "Oh, their diplomas aren't worth as much because they got in at a lower SAT score!!!!" So? Look, it doesn't really matter if you got in because of the color of your skin or the color of your money - or heck, the color of your goddamn panties! What matters is staying in. Unless I'm mistaken, grading isn't typically done with affirmative action in mind (although bribes of cash or sex might be part of the equation, I guess), is it? If anything, I'd assume that the proportion of graders who think "oh, affirmative action!" and grade accordingly is about equal to the proportion of bosses and HR folks who think that and hire accordingly.

And then there are the comments that combine that line about affirmative action with "Well, the black people I've met don't dress right and don't know how to talk and I don't like them". Who the hell are they hiring? I've yet to meet the person (of any race!) who didn't understand that you talk and dress and act one way with your family and friends and another way at the office and at church. (Worst is the person who phrased that exact argument as "Unlike ME, black people insist on clinging to their ethnic identity in clothes and hair and speech". Somehow that contrives to sound even more offensive than "They dress like slobs and can't string one word in front of the other and are all going in to work drugged up and playing loud music at their desks all day".)

One on a personal experience of Forest Kindergartens, a must-read

One on racism and anger and "Not Being a Racist".

Hey, I'm not a racist* but I think that I don't need to use profanity and petty indignation to express that fact. (This may be the only way to end "I'm not a racist" without sounding like a twit, come to think....)




*At least I don't think I am, and consciously figure the whole thing makes no sense. And I do hope people will smack me (metaphorically) should I ever need it.

An article about a disability columnist.

A page on what would happen if we all just disappeared. Highlights include two days later (subways in NYC totally flooded) and one year later (lice go extinct - bedbugs, as we all know, keep on trucking for another six months. Maybe longer - some people hypothesize that during their "disappearance" they'd really just switched to another host. I wouldn't put it past them).

And, today's personal favorite - "Clowns Kick KKK Ass!" WHITE FLOUR! WHITE FLOUR! (Actually, I prefer wheat, but the sentiment is still there.) WHITE FLOUR!!!!!