Unfortunately Christie's withholding of Planned Parenthood funding happened a while back. I doubt Jez or Gawker would want to bring it up in a whole new post now. But yes, they should mention it whenever they're talking about how regressive Chris Christie has been. Christie has been a conservative ass not just to gays, but to women, poor people, unions and many more in his quest for the presidential ticket. His vetoing of Planned Parenthood is emblematic of that. Nevar forget! #tips
This is part of my governor's ongoing delusions of presidency. Chris Christie went out of his way to cut state funding to Planned Parenthood by not only vetoing the budget, but strong-arming moderate Republican lawmakers in the state to change their votes. This puts New Jersey, which is a liberal-leaning state, to the right of many more conservative states. The man is intent on keeping his conservative credentials intact for a White House run at the expense of New Jersey. His fuckery over Planned Parenthood is somehow not bigger news when it happened. But it needs to be. Spread the word, any Jezzies so inclined!
Canceling the entire contest is a lovely bit of passive aggressiveness. It's an invitation for people to get mad at those GLBT activists for rocking the boat and ruining it for everyone. Cue the cries of "p.c. gone mad!"
Thanks for the info! So she probably did know what she was doing. I still don't think it's conceived to be particularly edgy given her past efforts. At least no gingers were hurt this time.
You got me there.
Why do people think this is M.I.A. trying to be edgy? She's just doing appropriate choreography to a line in her verse. She's from England, where the censorship rules are considerably different, if you've ever watched live British TV (I just saw a docu on BBC3 where various cuss words slipped through, but some other words that I never figured out were bleeped). She probably didn't think anything of flipping the bird. When Maya wants to be edgy, she'll wear a full on abaya to an award show, praise the PLO in a song, or satirize xenophobia by singing the part of an immigrant who is going to shoot all the natives and take their money! I doubt she considered this significant at all.
Not as badass as the Bad Girls video M.I.A. just released, but then, what could top Maya filing her nails on top of a skiing car (4-wheeled car driving on only 2 wheels)?
P.S. Did you notice the ginger kid at the end? I think he's one of the refugees from her "Born Free" video. Glad to see some of them made it out alive.
I love that, too. And she shows the women driving (suck it, Saudi women driving ban). Not to mention the image of her filing her nails on a skiing car may be one of the most badass things in any music video ever.
That said, I do enjoy the Madonna video, too. It's just less innovative and political.
The new MIA video Bad Girls needs its own post to feature it. It shows Middle Eastern women driving and rocking it, a nice dig on the Saudi authorities.
The original article is inaccurate, or at least incomplete. After it's been reported, only 6% of rape cases result in a conviction in the UK. So really, the odds for a rapist in the UK are actually much better at .9%.
Oh my god, I didn't know they do webcasts now. Thanks for the heads up!
For those who don't know, the Prix de Lausanne is one of the most prestigious ballet competitions/showcases in the world, one specifically for young dancers. Being accepted alone is an amazing feat.
Don't forget that American David Hallberg joined the Bolshoi Ballet company as a premier (principal) dancer last month! It's totally unprecedented and a groundbreaking bit of cultural exchange in what used to be a very proprietary organization. It's the first time an American dancer joined the Bolshoi company permanently, never mind as a premier.
He made his debut as the prince in the Bolshoi's dreamy and lavish staging of Sleeping Beauty. The Russian audience broke into spontaneous applause as soon as he appeared on stage. They, too, appreciate this post-Cold War artistic crossover.
Hallberg, with his great long lines, is an amazing physical match for Svetlana Zakharova, who played Aurora. Zakharova, with her impossibly long limbs, is an unreal vehicle for ballet. I thought the two of them actually lacked a bit of chemistry. But they're such great dancers that there is still plenty to enjoy even if the romance takes a backseat.
Anyway, since the Bolshoi regularly broadcasts its stage shows on TV now, I highly recommend people hunt down this and other shows. In terms of traditional ballet, there is nothing better.
Girl Scouts East Louisiana's statement on their policy regarding transgirls is awful. But even that wasn't enough for the über-bigots...
It is not rude or icky to ask this question of someone is actively seeking the power to remove abortion as an option for all the daughters who may be raped. When someone plans to do something horrible, the least someone else can do is ask that person, "how would you like it done to you?"
That's 'cause Jezzies are awesome! My rant was more directed at the rest of the world and spurred by my increasing weariness at having to explain why Ron Paul's a cretin.
I don't understand why most people seem to think those awful newsletters are the main sign of Ron Paul's racism (and many other bigotries). The most glaring and incontrovertible evidence of his racism is that he voted against extending the Voting Rights Act, and wants to repeal the Civil Rights Act. He is on record as wishing to do away with almost everything that ended segregation and Jim Crow. This is why white supremacist groups support him and donate to him (and he happily takes their money, too). Regardless of his excuses and cries of "states' rights" and "that's not in the Original Constitution!", Ron Paul is the most vilely, openly, egregiously racist politician this close to the presidency in decades. That he has supporters at all scares and nauseates me.
Bowing to pressure from the Florida Family Association, Lowe's pulled advertising from the show All-American Muslim: [www.washingtonpost.com] By all accounts, the TLC reality show shows perfectly normal Muslims living perfectly normal and even boring lives. A very hateful boycott campaign, and an idiotic decision by Lowe's to capitulate to it.
Money quotes:
"The show profiles only Muslims that appear to be ordinary folks while excluding many Islamic believers whose agenda poses a clear and present danger to the liberties and traditional values that the majority of Americans cherish," the FFA’s letter says.
"We understand the program raised concerns, complaints, or issues from multiple sides of the viewer spectrum, which we found after doing research of news articles and blogs covering the show," said Katie Cody, a Lowe’s spokeswoman. #tips
Money quotes:
"The show profiles only Muslims that appear to be ordinary folks while excluding many Islamic believers whose agenda poses a clear and present danger to the liberties and traditional values that the majority of Americans cherish," the FFA’s letter says.
"We understand the program raised concerns, complaints, or issues from multiple sides of the viewer spectrum, which we found after doing research of news articles and blogs covering the show," said Katie Cody, a Lowe’s spokeswoman. #tips
Bowing to pressure from the Florida Family Association, Lowe's pulled advertising from the show All-American Muslim: [www.washingtonpost.com] By all accounts, the TLC reality show shows perfectly normal Muslims living perfectly normal and even boring lives. A very hateful boycott campaign, and an idiotic decision by Lowe's to capitulate to it.
Florence Welch in that skit! Genius!
