Thursday, June 28, 2018

America the Broken: We Carry On

I don't have as much optimism and faith as President Obama does in our political system, given that it was designed, rigged, and established from the get-go as by and for white male supremacy.

I grieve, in advance, for what Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's impending retirement means for the USA, the people in it, and the rest of the world. If you're scared and angry, I'm with you.

Three years ago, I sat in my office crying tears of joy that the US Supreme Court effectively legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Now, of course, we know that rightwing groups like NOM are rarin' to have Obergefell overturned. Plus Roe, and more.

What does it mean that a historically-unpopular man who lost the 2016 popular vote, who is under investigation for colluding with a foreign entity in that election, has already picked not one but now two members of the nation's highest court that, in theory, is a check on executive power?

It means the legitimacy of our democracy and political system further erodes.

Previously, I've written:
"Donald Trump is the inevitable Republican politician for a rotten-to-the-core Republican Party that has condoned the use of any means necessary to win. To enact their regressive, cruel agenda, they have enabled a man to become President who is not only temperamentally-unsuited and unqualified for the office he holds, but whose very presence there is a daily, stark reminder of their contempt for both democracy and the people of this nation."
Republicans, operating by a different set of rules altogether, will win by any means they can with whatever power they can amass even if via foreign entities, while Democrats will wag their fingers at each other about opposing Republicans in an appropriately civil manner.

In 2017, Melissa McEwan aptly described the 2016 election as "a catastrophic failure to listen to women." When you think about it, that's actually a pretty good encapsulation of our nation's history, as well.  Women, and marginalized people, speak. And white men simply don't listen. Over and over and over again.

That doesn't strike me as very "civil," but that system of assumed white male superiority has long been the standard of "civility" in the USA.

I don't know what else to say that doesn't sound completely cynical or fatalistic. But, the way forward absolutely must involve (a) a clear understanding of the circumstances in which we've found ourselves and (b) a validation of our fears, anger, and anxieties.

Because, goddess knows, the maintsream media, still giving daily handjobs to Trump voters, isn't going to do either a or b very well.

That is to say, no one else is going to save us.


As a related point, achieving justice is never a "one and done" thing. Yes, I mourn for the legacy that the US Supreme Court and the Trump/Pence Republican Administration are going to leave for future generations. But, we also didn't start this dumpster fire. The system was broken and rigged when we got here. We are where we are because of the mistakes, struggles, terrors, misdeeds, and victories of previous generations.

As I tweeted not too long ago, simply waiting for the old bigots to "die out" or "the children to grow up and save us" isn't an actual strategy. Remember, rightwing Trump advisor Stephen Miller is just 32. Young white men aggrieved by feminists, women, people of color, and Muslims flock to alt-right and MRA message boards, with the worst of them shooting up public places.

The struggle for justice is a lifelong one in which every generation is going to have stay engaged. With hope, they will read about our struggles (from the perspectives of the marginalized) and learn from our mistakes and victories.

I'm not here to tell you everything's going to be okay. For many people, it won't be. But, I'll never stop trying.

Friday, June 15, 2018

Zero Fucks Friday

Between Hillary's "But my emails" tweet regarding James Comey's use of a private email account to conduct FBI business and Amy Poehler's responses to a recent interview I hereby declare today Zero Fucks Friday.



Zero fucks refers, of course,to an abiding disgust at the white heteropatriachy, not to a lack of concern about the shithole world it has created.





Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Dispatches From the Queer Resistance (No. 7)

Today, over at Shakesville, I have written a Pride Month edition of Dispatches From the Queer Resistance, a regular run-down of recent LGBT-related news.

Check it out!

Thursday, June 7, 2018

Today In Internet

Via Newsweek, this seems fine:
"Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) trained an artificial intelligence algorithm dubbed 'Norman' to become a psychopath by only exposing it to macabre Reddit images of gruesome deaths and violence, according to a new study."
After exposing the AI to violent images, the researchers then tested it with Rorscach inkblot tests:

"Among the Rorschach inkblots used to test the now-tainted AI, Norman said an image showed a man being 'shot dead,' while a standard AI looked at the same image and saw 'a close up of a vase with flowers.' In another, Norman said he saw a man being shot 'in front of his screaming wife,' while the AI not exposed to sordid, disturbing images saw 'a person holding an umbrella in the air.'"
...The MIT researchers in this study redacted the name of the specific subreddits used to train the AI. The researchers said the AI 'suffered from extended exposure to the darkest corners of Reddit' to illustrate 'the dangers of Artificial Intelligence gone wrong when biased data is used in machine learning algorithms.'"
Imagine what sadistic, sociopathic, and psychopathic web content is doing to actual human beings. What is the mental health impact, not just of violent web content, but of trolling, harassment, and microtargeting of Internet users?

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Recap: Supergirl 3.12 "For Good"

So, we begin with Alex putting Sam in an MRI machine (as one does) to see if she can figure out what's going on. Who caught Alex's reference to her past job "in Seattle"? (ha ha snort)

Alex doesn't see anything wrong with the scans. Then she gives Sam a pep talk about how she's not a burden to anyone and, in fact, would she like to get dinner sometime, just the two of them? Okay, I might have made that last part up. But a girl can hope, right?

Meanwhile, Lena and James are hanging out and they run into that douchey guy whose name I never remember. Sledge? Hedge? Whatever.


He says something snarky about "the liberal media" and then drives away in his car. It turns out the car is rigged with a bomb and he almost dies. Sledge storms into L Corp because I guess this major media company has zero security and accuses Lena of trying to kill him. Lena seems genuinely perplexed, even though they do actually hate each other. I dunno. I just don't care about this dude.

Like 3 minutes after Sledge leaves L Corp, an assistant comes into Lena's office with some coffee that no one ordered. Spoiler alert: it's actually poisonous coffee which, importantly, means that Kara has to quickly fly Lena to the DEO to get her to an antidote.

Interestingly, Kara actually flies "as Kara" rather than as Supergirl, which seems fine.


Kara and Little Grey then save Lena from the poison, and they all know that it was Sledge who was responsible for the poisonous coffee.

Lena's mum shows up, offers to kill Sledge, and mocks L Corp. Just part of my ongoing theory that the CW DC-verse hates mothers (Related: Women Over 40 Are Evil). Lena then enlists Kara's help in thwarting her mum's plans. She convinces Edge to confess to trying to kill her and, in return, she'll help save his life.

This plan works and the point of this episode is therefore that Lena is a Luthor who is a schemer but not evil.

Deep Thought of the Week: Supergirl flying with women.


Note: CW/Supergirl Executive Producer Andrew Kreisberg has been fired after a sexual harassment investigation. 


Friday, June 1, 2018

ICYMI: Brandi Carlile Performs on Ellen Show

It's always good to see our presidents* on stage together, isn't it? What a nice way to kick off Pride Month.

In other news, I've been watching The Real L Word, which originally premiered in 2010. I have so many thoughts, some of which I may even share at some point, because it's only the most breaking pop culture news here in Fannie's Room. I guess for now, I'll just observe, with zero judgment, that some sort of tiny dog appears in approximately 87% of scenes in Season One.

Talk about stuff if you want!


*In some parallel universe far far away, wherein they lead together by consensus, and Tig Notaro is Chief of Dry Observational Humor and they all meet Wanda Sykes and Kate McKinnon at Lezzies for lunch once a week. How do I find the wormhole to get to there?