Dude, where's my solar panel?

Like most of the population of the greater DC area I watched President Obama’s State of the Union speech Tuesday night. I watched it in a bar, because that’s what we do here, politics are a sport in this town. And because the bar I watched it in wasn’t in Georgetown it was a pretty pro-Obama crowd.

We made fun of the Republicans (especially John Boehner, how drunk was he?). We professed our love of Michelle Obama. We cheered Elizabeth Warren (at least I did). We cheered John Kerry. We cried at the fact that Gabrielle Giffords can no longer clap her hands. We hissed at Paul Ryan. We had a good time. But we also booed some things. Yelled rebuttals and made pessimistic comments to our friends. Because, let’s face it, Barack Obama is no progressive (and I and my friends are…mostly).

For me, the most bi-polar moments of the speech was when he was talking about climate change.It was refreshing to hear whole paragraphs devoted to the subject, but at just over 10% (741 words out of 6,867) of the speech, I still feel it wasn’t enough. This is a global issue. It’s going to change the way life on Earth exists. It will potentially completely change entire countries. Some South Pacific Island nations are already planning mass migrations off of their islands. And, as we are beginning to definitively see, it will intensify and increase the chaotic effects of weather patterns (look at the pictures of the recent snow storm in the Northeast, that was a hurricane...with snow).

So, let’s take a look at what Obama did say in the limited amount of space he used to address the issue.

“Today, no area holds more promise than our investments in American energy. After years of talking about it, we're finally poised to control our own energy future. We produce more oil at home than we have in 15 years.”

He starts off sorta ok. This is almost entirely an energy problem, so, good to point that out. But then,  face/palm. Ugh, we are not going to be able to drill our way out of this. Also I’m not sure how producing more oil than we have in 15 years is much of a boost. We were producing a drop in the pocket before. We couldn’t have ramped up production enough to really make a difference.

“We have doubled the distance our cars will go on a gallon of gas”

We have? A 1908 Ford Model gets 13-21 mpg, a 2013 Ford Taurus gets 19-29 mpg. I know, I know, apples, oranges, blah, blah, but 2013 CAFE standards (that’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy)

 are 37 or 28.5 mpg for cars (split into small or large) and 31 or 22.5 mpg for trucks (again, small or large). I guess you could say we’ve doubled gas mileage for small cars over 100 years ago. Woo-hoo.

“…and the amount of renewable energy we generate from sources like wind and solar, with tens of thousands of good, American jobs to show for it.”

Ok, I like that. Renewable energy = American jobs, that’s good, we need that. But, I don’t know, doubling some very small number isn’t going to do much to wean us off fossil fuels. We need more, massively more.

“We produce more natural gas than ever before, and nearly everyone's energy bill is lower because of it.”

Oh, FFS, producing more natural gas or, as it should be called, geologic methane, is nothing to brag about. It’s still fossil fuel and extracting it and processing it and burning it is as bad  as coal or petroleum. Yes, it may burn a bit cleaner than coal, but the extraction method for geologic methane is just as bad. Instead of cutting off the tops of mountains and letting the toxic processing chemicals flow into our streams and rivers as we do with coal, geologic methane extraction involves forcing toxic chemicals underground to break up the underlying bedrock and then leaving the chemicals in place to go wherever they like. Dirty.

“And over the last four years, our emissions of the dangerous carbon pollution that threatens our planet have actually fallen.”

Really? Ok, yay us. I will need to see the numbers on that.

“Now, it's true that no single event makes a trend. But the fact is, the 12 hottest years on record have all come in the last 15. Heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods, all are now more frequent and more intense. We can choose to believe that Superstorm Sandy, and the most severe drought in decades, and the worst wildfires some states have ever seen were all just a freak coincidence. Or we can choose to believe in the overwhelming judgment of science and act before it's too late.”

BAM! And he brings the hammer…well, not so much a hammer as a really disdainful look of “you can be ignorant and think that all this evidence that we can see is a coincidence or you can come to a logical conclusion.” The logical conclusion being that science is right, climate change is occurring and we are making it happen.

“Now, the good news is, we can make meaningful progress on this issue while driving strong economic growth. I urge this Congress to get together, pursue a bipartisan, market-based solution to climate change, like the one John McCain and Joe Lieberman worked on together a few years ago.”

Ugh, market-based solution. The “market” is not going to do anything on its own, at least not anything that requires it to change or take what it perceives as a risk or that will cost it money. But I think corporations are beginning to see that the light at the end of the tunnel is not the exit or even another train but a mirror reflecting their own self-created demise…unless they change. So, maybe, maybe, the market could be motivated to help itself, but I’m very skeptical that it will actually create a solution without some pushing.

“But if Congress won't act soon to protect future generations, I will. I will direct...”

Oh, yeah, and if you are expecting anything substantial to come from the bumblefuck-brahs, McCain and Lieberman, you’re up excrement flowing body of water without an adequate means of propulsion.

“I will direct my cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take, now and in the future, to reduce pollution, prepare our communities for the consequences of climate change, and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy.”

Ok, this is fine. Reduce pollution, sure. Prepare communities for disasters, ok, well and good. Speed up the transition to other energy sources, yup. It would be nice if there was at least a hint as to how each of these things would be done.

“Now, four years ago, other countries dominated the clean-energy market and the jobs that came with it. And we've begun to change that. Last year, wind energy added nearly half of all new power capacity in America. So let's generate even more. Solar energy gets cheaper by the year. Let's drive down costs even further. As long as countries like China keep going all-in on clean energy, so must we.”

Yes. And what would be even better is if we actually WENT all-in. How is your administration going to do that? Let's hear about energy industry incentives, let's hear about more R&D money, let's hear about alternative energy subsidies to match the fossil fuel subsidies, let's hear about feed-in tariffs like those in Germany which produces 5 times the energy from solar than the U.S. despite having Alaska levels of sunshine.

“Now, in the meantime, the natural gas boom has led to cleaner power and greater energy independence. We need to encourage that.”

No, no, no! We need to discourage that. The idea is that natural gas is a bridge energy source between coal/petroleum to renewables. But encouraging it is going to lead to it supplanting coal/petroleum at the expense of developing renewables. Bad Barack.

“That's why my administration will keep cutting red tape and speeding up new oil and gas permits.”

AHHHH! F you! This is like giving candy to a kid when they act out. It's encouraging behavior we want to stop. Not only that, but the red tape they are cutting is directed toward making it easier to do this dirty, extractive process on our public lands. I guess the argument for doing this is that it is being done for the public good but my take is that this ruins or, at least, degrades these lands for other uses. Again, bad Barack.

“That's got to be part of an all-of-the-above plan. But I also want to work with this Congress to encourage the research and technology that helps natural gas burn even cleaner and protects our air and our water. In fact, much of our new-found energy is drawn from lands and waters that we, the public, own together.”

Son of a... Yeah, we own it together and you're saying you get to decide how it's used. How is my voice being heard? I don't think this is in OUR best interest. And “all-of-the-above” is code for more fossil fuels. It's code for more fossil fuels. Sheesh.

“So tonight, I propose we use some of our oil and gas revenues to fund an Energy Security Trust that will drive new research and technology to shift our cars and trucks off oil for good. If a nonpartisan coalition of CEOs and retired generals and admirals can get behind this idea, then so can we.”  

Energy Security Trust, I'd like to hear more about that. Would the oil/gas/methane companies contribute to that? Or would the money come entirely from the lease fees you are probably going to reduce? Who would the money go to? The car companies? What would be the demonstrable goals? And, I'm sorry (not really sorry at all) but a coalition of CEOs and retired generals/admirals is not at the top of my list for whose advice I would want to follow on this subject. Where are the environmentalists, climate scientists, economists, social justice advocates, engineers, alternative energy businesses?

“Let's take their advice and free our families and businesses from the painful spikes in gas prices we've put up with for far too long.”

Um, gas prices don't really have anything to do with what you're talking about? Regardless of how much gasoline we produce locally it's not going to be enough to affect prices at the pump. Even if it was, does anyone think companies like BP would actually reduce the price? It's a lovely bridge, do you want to buy it, it goes nowhere.

“I'm also issuing a new goal for America: Let's cut in half the energy wasted by our homes and businesses over the next 20 years. We'll work with the states to do it. Those states with the best ideas to create jobs and lower energy bills by constructing more efficient buildings will receive federal support to help make that happen. America's energy sector is just one part of an aging infrastructure badly in need of repair. Ask any CEO where they'd rather locate and hire, a country with deteriorating roads and bridges or one with high-speed rail and Internet, high-tech schools, self- healing power grids. The CEO of Siemens America -- a company that brought hundreds of new jobs to North Carolina -- has said that if we upgrade our infrastructure, they'll bring even more jobs. And that's the attitude of a lot of companies all around the world.”

Crap, man, lead with this! It's a job producer and directly addresses the issue! D'oh!

“And I know you want these job-creating projects in your district; I've seen all those ribbon- cuttings.”

I think this was the only bi-partisan laugh line of the speech. Ah, yes, let's laugh at the fact that all of our legislative incentive is to bring money to our districts so we can get re-elected. But that's a rant for another time.

Women, humor, property, and taboo

Women are funny. Despite Christopher Hitchens yawning article about the evolutionary biology of female funniness, women are actually very funny, and even, on their own terms.  Cultural norms dictate a large part of what we humans claim is natural, normal, right, pure, heavenly, factual, and so on. Watch any television commercial with humans, I dare you. All of advertising is a play on our cultural expectations, usually the worst of it: women are sex objects, idiots, irritating, very very tidy, and either slightly mousy or female models; men are sex-starved, smart, arrogant, messy, and either slightly pudgy or male models. And clearly, women are only funny if we make fun of them.

Not true. Humans come in all shapes, sizes, and levels of irritating-ness, regardless of gender. Also, anyone can be funny, regardless of gender. But there are trade-offs involved in bucking those pesky cultural norms.  Phyllis Diller, a very curvaceous, sexy woman (ask Playboy editors from the 1960s), hid herself in tablecloths and costume makeup on stage, because clearly, no one would have been able to concentrate on her jokes if she was remotely attractive. Breasts! This is all anyone would have been thinking.

Joan Rivers explains candidly how cultural expectations defined her career, or more specifically, the male chauvinism of a very powerful Johnny Carson. She was passed over for years, asked to do the same work as men but not acknowledged as such, and then slandered for daring to pursue her own career.  She characterizes the mentality as “I found you, and you’re my property,” which makes my skin crawl and blood boil, and other Shakespearean shenanigans. Thankfully, I think we’ve moved past that stage, as a society. The waters are still murky though, and filled with opinion-operating-as-fact, and sadly, few stories about the adoring male groupies of female stand-up comedians.

But that is not why women go into stand-up comedy. Just like men, they love being on stage. They feel at ease, natural, happiest, when they are making people laugh, even if being on the road can be excruciating and lonely. And they produce some of the most profound comedy that I’ve ever seen: raunchy, taboo, honest, and transformative. This includes Tig Notaro, who took a diagnosis of cancer with her on stage and invited the audience to process its gravity with her, and made them laugh, cry, and wonder at her courage. I’ve never heard anything like it, and neither has one of the best comedic minds of our time, Louis C.K. Very powerful, and very funny. 

The S Files: asking for it?

LITERALLY.

So. Stubenville, eh? A town that cares more about high school football than justice or women's rights. A town that conspired in the drugging, kidnapping, gang rape, sodomisation and urination upon a female minor because she had the gall to dump the team's quarterback. A town that fosters the kind of misogyny that not only allows this sort of thing to happen, but also affectionately calls its perpetrators the Rape Crew – high school students who are given so much privilege that they can take an unconscious rape victim to not one but two coach's homes and still not be charged. (For a full report, see the ongoing report at LocalLeaks, driven by Anonymous cell KnightSec. A trigger warning probably goes without saying, but it might also make you lose faith in humanity.)

But as one of the coaches told the New York Times, the rape was just an "excuse", because "what else are you going to tell your parents when you come home drunk like that and after a night like that? She had to make up something. Now people are trying to blow up our football program because of it." Exactly. This high school football team and its 19 coaches conspired to drug, kidnap, and gang rape a girl because she dumped one of the players and now, gawd! People are expecting this institutionalised criminality not only to stop but also to pay for what it's done? There is just no justice! Don't we know who these high school athletes are?! Well, we do now.

The key issue here has to do with the entitlement the perpetrators felt they had. Putting aside whether she was inebriated, it does not change the fact that these guys still raped her, and thought it was a perfectly acceptable thing to do. Knight Sec managed to obtain a 12-minute video of one of the Rape Crew discussing the incident. As reported by LocalLeaks:

The video was shot so soon after the attack, that one person present becomes disgusted and actually leaves to go check on the condition of the victim. It is important to also note that despite this strong evidence, [he] has yet to be arrested or charged in this brutal attack.

(Incidentally, if you feel that someone who admits to at least being an accessory to these crimes – and finds them hysterical, no less – shouldn't receive an athletic scholarship to the university whose t-shirt he is wearing while being so bloody offensive, why not sign this petition? You know what's gonna be "dead", dude? Your professional football career.)

Mmmkay?

It is sobering that despite all the people aware of what was happening – including a 'friend' of the victim, who was the catalyst for the evening's atrocities, and two authority figures – no one really stood up to say "this is not okay. What you are doing is not funny, it is not just, it is a crime and a violation". Maybe the town of Stubenville, its bumbling sheriff and its prosecuting attorney (the mother of one of the rapists and whose home the crime took place in, no less) can rally together to delete images from cell phones, scare the victim into not pressing charges, and even sue a local blogger for defamation, but shouldn't they instead be teaching their sons that hey, when a girl breaks up with you, you don't exact revenge by orchestrating a 12-hour gang rape, videoing it and posting it to the internet?  And no, this isn't about just not sharing it on social media because you might get caught, it's about NOT DOING IT AT ALL. You get dumped, go get a thing of Chunky Monkey and watch some John Hughes films like everyone else. You want a taste of vigilante justice? Well, Anonymous heard you. 

The coaches can say whatever they want about how the victim had it coming or what did she expect, but what they are not doing is denying that she was raped. They are instead implicitly saying that it is right that she was raped. That it's okay the high school football team gang-raped and sodomised a fellow student, because she was drunk. This is the logic. If a girl gets drunk, she should be raped. That's what happens when girls drink. She had it coming. And so it goes with rape culture: the responsibility lies only with women. To teach women to Not Get Raped is to not only presume all men are rapists, but to give them permission to be rapists.

A woman's body is not public property. No one is entitled to it. It doesn't matter how she chooses to dress, how she behaves, what she says: if she is raped, she did not have it coming. No one has a rape coming. Not even the rape crew.

A Magic Binder Full of Women

During university, a particularly awe-inspiring upperclasswoman who lived down the hall from me had fine-tuned a feminist, tri-colored Magic the Gathering deck by Wizards of the Coast. All of the cards, whether creature or enchantments, featured powerful female images.

Jiminy Christmas did I want one just like it.

However, my geek-lust for that deck has nothing on the Magic Binder Full of Women's, selection of politically charged cards, which has sprung up in response to the birth of the "Binders full of Women" meme following Romney's quickly quipped gaffe in the second presidential debate.

You can bulk out your deck with choices like:

• Nancy Reagan (artifact) - All of your undead units creatures in play gain the text "regeneration".
• Michell Obama (angel) - Flying, Vigilance. Target creature gain flying until end of turn.
• Jan Brewer (legendary harpy) - Return target creature to owner's hand. 

Now some of you may be complaining that Internet memes detract from the real issues, in what is, essentially, a deadly serious political contest. But in my opinion, memes actually draw attention to the issues. While I didn't have access to live television coverage for the second presidential debate while I'm in London, I knew exactly what I'd missed first thing in the morning during my daily in-bed Facebook/Twitter scan. And it was impossible not to notice that equal pay for equal work and women's rights were at the heart of this meme.

Also, it sticks because it is damn funny.

You can submit your own ideas for the cards here.

Bully for you, Mittens

I guess the news cycle has washed away all traces of the Mitt Romney Is A Bully story that commandeered headlines for about 10 minutes in May. Many people argued that Romney being a bully in high school isn't that big a deal because he should be judged on what he does now.
I disagree. (And not because there isn't anything to judge him on now, because there is. Lots.)

When I was in sixth grade, I was bullied repeatedly to the point that I started skipping school for weeks at a time. Because I was bullied, I bullied others I perceived to be weaker than me when I got the chance to, because that's how I thought things went and how I thought I had to survive. (That's how it works; it's a cycle. You might notice this now in how Romney treats the middle and lower classes in regards to tax and healthcare.) This reaction-bullying resulted in the worst thing I think I have ever said to another human being.

His name was Chris and he was having a more difficult time adjusting to middle school than I was. I'd heard from someone that he wanted to commit suicide. So after school one day when we were the only two students left at the bike rack, I said: "Hey, is it true you wanted to kill yourself?"
He said "yeah". Defensively. Like, you wanna-make-something-of-it.
So I said: "What are you waiting for?"
And he snorted in a "yeah, good one" manner and rode off.
He disappeared before the year was out.

I have regretted this for years and never told anyone this story. Ever.
But I remember it. I carry it with me and I would apologize to Chris if I even knew how to find him, if he was even still alive.

In 1965, Mitt Romney bullied a classmate who had the audacity to style his hair. His "long" hair that draped over one eye. In 1965. Okay, the Beatles happened already, Mitt. Even at Cranbook. But that didn't stop him from corralling his gang of Crabbes and Goyles to physically restrain John Laubner and cut his hair off.

Are there worse things? Yes. Like telling a student to go kill himself, maybe. But I was 11. Mitt was 18. I was a disturbed child and Mitt was a grown man ready to take up his place in the 1%. And while I remember my horrible act, Mitt apparently does not. Oh, his classmates remember it, feel bad about it, and even made an attempt to atone for it before Laubner died. But Mitt, in a startlingly heroic move worthy of any American President, does more than just deny it ever happened, he rubbishes the entire issue by saying he doesn't remember it.

For some reason, electing a President has become a popularity contest instead of the job interview it actually is. Voters, if you elect this bullying dickwad asshole President of the United States of America, you have just made the villain of every John Hughes film ever Prom King. And that is not how we want to be known in the global community. It really isn't.

Hef comes out swinging for women in GOP war

It may seem hard to believe but Playboy founder and pajama enthusiast Hugh Hefner actually likes women. According to Politico, Hef published a rare editorial in the magazine's May issue, condemning the Republican war on women and attempting to stoke what he called a "new sexual revolution":

"If these zealots have their way, our hard-won sexual liberation — women’s rights, reproductive rights and rights to privacy — lie in peril. We won’t let that happen."

This undoubtedly will be criticised as self-serving; if women are shamed into keeping their legs together, Hefner is less likely to get laid (let's not dwell on logistics or visuals). But having lived through the glorious decade(s) these comparatively whippersnapper politicians laud as some kind of lost golden age – and considering he started publishing the magazine in 1953 – Hef is in a unique position to call bullshit.  I have a fondness for Playboy; maybe it's because I grew up in Chicago in the 70s, when sexual liberation reached the suburbs and The Playboy Club seemed so glamorous (my dad was a member).

I appreciate the magazine is responsible for a lot of damage when it comes to sexism and objectifying women. And although many feminists will regard his editorial as suspect, Hefner has undeniably had a unique insight into womens' sexuality during the past six decades – our sexual liberation was absolutely in Playboy Enterprises' best interest.

The magazine reaches an audience that has little crossover with... say... Jezebel, and its readership is more likely to listen to Hef than a feminist movement that might come off as unapproachable or has been misrepresented by its enemies. Without strong women, Playboy is nothing: Hef started his empire on a $1000 loan from his mother and his daughter ran the company from 1982-2009. 

 I'm pleased to see Hefner add his voice and influence to the cause. Men are less likely to gaslight other men and as ridiculous as Hefner has become, it's a lot harder for old rich white men to rubbish another old rich white man's opinion as 'hysteria'.

Rickrolled

I was going to write about the Chrysler/Clint Eastwood Super Bowl ad that won re-election for President Obama. Instead I'm going to write about the giant rickroll the Romney campaign just experienced. Last night Rick "Man-on-dog, dead-baby-cuddler, anti-blah-people" Santorum won all three Republican  primary events in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado.

And he won them quite handily with 55% of the vote in Missouri, 45% in Minnesota and 40% in Colorado. Those are pretty big numbers in a 4-way race (don't forget Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich are still in this thing). Couple that with the fact that Ricky actually won Iowa as well and it means he has won half of the contests so far.

What does this all mean? Well, not much really, but maybe a lot.  You see, these little contests are a bit misleading, their purpose is not to actually elect the Republican presidential nominee but to determine the makeup of the delegates who will go to the Republican National Convention in late August to nominate the Republican presidential candidate. And every state does it differently with varying degrees of importance to the overall nomination. For example, as the Romney campaign will undoubtedly point out often over the next few days, the Missouri primary meant absolutely nothing, no delegates were assigned in any way. And Romney is still easily winning the delegate count with more than half of the currently assigned delegates.

But, he also has less than 10% of the delegates required for the nomination, meaning this race is still very much up in the air. And therein lies the problem, in poll after poll Republican voters have shown that they would kinda like someone other than Romney. First it was Michele Bachmann, then it was Rick Perry, then Herman Cain, then Newt Gingrich. Now it's Rick's turn. It's unlikely that he can translate his audition as the not-Romney candidate into anything substantial just as the others couldn't but yesterday certainly takes the wind out of Romney's sails.

Because the longer this internal Republican slugfest goes on the more difficult it will be for Romney to pivot into the general election. And the longer his Republican opponents attack him, the longer President Obama can grow his campaign coffer and hope for the economy to continue improving. So hang in there Ricky, Newt and crazy old coot, Ron Paul. You all are fighting a losing battle, Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee. But I like to see the contest, it makes me giggle.

Best reality show EVER.

It's possible that you've missed it. The best reality show ever created. Wisconsin governor Scott Walker's recall petition verification webcam. You would think a webcam of people reviewing petition signatures would be boring, uninteresting, pedestrian. I mean check out the blog. Recall cost estimates this, scanning update that, morning web training this, new webcam angle that. But you would be wrong. Behold the Recall Cam Twitter feed.

As you can see the Twitter feed hasn't been updated since January 25, which makes me sad. But start at the beginning and read it all the way through (gonna take a few hours, I'll wait). Hilarious, no? Better than 90% of the crap you could watch on network/cable TV. It's MST3K for the political set. Or just people who love good snark. Which I do. Which is why I've watched about 4.5 hours of people WORKING... possibly while at work. Seriously, if someone hasn't pitched this to some TV exec by now we should just nuke Hollywood and be done with it. Here's the pitch:

"Sir, I have an idea. What if we had a live feed of some mundane office space with no sound and then we allowed the viewing audience to create the characters, dialog and plot? We crowd source the entire show except for the video. It would be The Office, but not the lame(ish) American version, but the British version, only we wouldn't have to guess what people like, they would literally tell us what they like."

"Johnson, that's brilliant, I already envision a spin-off show about the major contributors."

Anyhoo, I stumbled upon this bit of brilliance via a Wonkette post. What? You don't know Wonkette? Blasphemy. It's only the best political snark on the planet. I mean, the Library of Congress wouldn't include the entirety of its posts for no reason, would it? Maybe, it also archives Twitter.

Housekeeping 1: This is my first... second guest blog spot. I hope I passed the audition. (Old person pop culture reference, look it up).

Housekeeping 2: If the boss clears it I'd like to point out that I have my own blog. Actually I have 7 other blogs besides that one but I'm not going to talk about them until I have more than 1 or 2 posts on them. So, never, probably.

Housekeeping 3: Photo courtesy of Wonkette via Recall Cam, who I think is the originator of it.

John Stewart speech at Rally to restore Sanity

Herein lies the full text of John Stewart speech at the "Rally to Restore Sanity," as brought to you by the Examiner. Why do you care? Because he skewers the press without political motive:

"The press can hold its magnifying up to our problems bringing them into focus, illuminating issues heretofore unseen or they can use that magnifying glass to light ants on fire and then perhaps host a week of shows on the sudden, unexpected dangerous flaming ant epidemic."

Then decries sensationalism as the real evil in America:

"There are terrorists and racists and Stalinist and theocrats but those are titles that must be earned. You must have the resume. Not being able to distinguish between real racists and Tea Partiers or real bigots and Juan Williams and Rick Sanchez is an insult, not only to those people but to the racists themselves who have put in the exhausting effort it takes to hate."

The examiner also carries darn good pictures. See above.

Ain't That A Shame

Author Justine Larbalestier writes Young Adult fiction and has written a letter to her fans regarding the outcry over the cover of her latest novel, "Liar". You see, the novel's protaganist, Micah, is a young black girl with nappy hair, while the the cover features a young white girl with straight hair.

Justine explains that, "Authors do not get final say on covers. Often they get no say at all." but goes on to lambast her puplisher, bloomsbury for whaite-washing its covers. Moreover, the book is about a pathological liar, and a cover with a girl looking nothing like how the protaganist describes herself, the meaning and truthfulness of the story is called into question.

You can read Larbalestier's entire response at her website, Justine Larbalestier: writing, reading, eating, drinking, sport.

Ursula Le Guin complained over the same white-washing of her covers in (one of my personal favorite responses to this kind of thing), "A Whitewashed Earthsea: How the Sci Fi Channel wrecked my books" on The Slate, where she describes publishing the orginal Earthsea trilogy thirty years ago:

I had endless trouble with cover art. Not on the great cover of the first edition—a strong, red-brown profile of Ged—or with Margaret Chodos Irvine's four fine paintings on the Atheneum hardcover set, but all too often. The first British Wizard was this pallid, droopy, lily-like guy—I screamed at sight of him.

Gradually I got a little more clout, a little more say-so about covers. And very, very, very gradually publishers may be beginning to lose their blind fear of putting a nonwhite face on the cover of a book. "Hurts sales, hurts sales" is the mantra. Yeah, so? On my books, Ged with a white face is a lie, a betrayal—a betrayal of the book, and of the potential reader.

I remember reading the trilogy in middle school and when I realized Ged was not white I scrutinized the cover fitfully. Ged was so small, I could have hardly been able to tell if he were purple.

Finally, I encourage you to take the time to read, "Shame," a short essay from Pam Noles about growing up black and loving science fiction and fantasy, while being black. One of my favorite tidbits is condensed below while she talks about Star Wars.

Then "Star Wars" came out. I was 11...I spazzed all the way through the screening, my first science fiction movie on the big screen and with everything so huge, it made a big difference...Han Solo had this ship that he flew upside down! Darth Vader even breathed scary!! And there were robots!!! And Luke had to fly into the canyon on the Death Star with the other ships shooting at him and he had to get the bomb into a tiny hole and then he turned off the machine thing and he prayed to Obi Wan and bomb went in. And then they got medals. Also there was a giant teddy bear with stringy hair and a gun.

He said it sounded as if I liked it. I said I mostly thought it was absolutely great. And it was, really. Don't get me wrong. But it was like most of the other stuff I had seen. I explained to him about the planet where Luke came from, a desert with two suns? And how here, where we only one sun, in the desert the people are black. I told him how there wasn't even one black person in the whole movie, even in the background, and I had looked.

Just reminding movie producers, book publishers and video game marketers that we are want our stories as stories. And we are watching, all of us, the black, white, yellow, female, male, straight, gay, Christian, Islamic, Jewish, martian all of us. And we don't like everyone in our heads to be white and male. Even the white males don't like it. So you got a lot of catching up to do. Bozos.

The Cost Conundrum

In Atul Gawande's article, "The Cost Conundrum," for the New Yorker, Gawande examines the peculiarities of McAllen,Texas a small border town just outside of El Paso which also happens to have the most expensive health care costs in the United States (sans Miami, a thriving, population gobbling metropolis). Kickbacks, pay days for more expensive tests, unnecessary procedures, unessential operations, anti-collaboration culture, all contribute to worsening health care in this example of the broken foundations in America's "health insurance" culture.

Gawande likens the current conventions of the industry to constructing a house with an independent electrician, plumber and carpenter, each paid by how many (respectively) outlets, faucets, and cabinets he puts in. Without a contractor to pull a team together and keep them coordinated, the house would be filled with unnecessary bits and pieces all unrelated to the house general well-being. Getting the country’s best electrician isn’t going to help, neither will changing the person who writes him the check (as certain members of congress would lead us to believe).

Hey, the last time I asked for a copy of my records from my endocrinologist the first thing she asked me was, "Is this to go to another doctor? Because there is a forty dollar fee." The "copying fee" mysteriously evaporated when I explained the GYN who recommended me never received a copy. The two doctors, by the way, have practices in the same medical office building, but have never spoken to each other. My GYN, in fact relies on me to relay information from the Endocrinologist.

NPR also covered the story in a broadcast, "Spend More Get Less, the Health Care Conundrum."

The speed of change - 140 characters

Photo by Getty Images

Twitter has been around since 2006, allowing users to update the mundanity of life 140 characters at a time. 2009 may well mark the point at which it went from a toy to a powerful communication tool. Trendhunter has put together a list of 13 ways Twitter enables activism - whether it's fans trying to save their favorite TV show, or voters in Iran struggling to preserve their rights and make their voices heard. Tweet, tweet.

The King is Dead

Who can but watch numbly for hours the media frenzy that ensued after Michael Jackson's death. It seems that even this is but fodder for their gossip mills. Thank goodness for Boing Boing. I direct you to, "The King is Dead: Lefsetz on the passing of Michael Jackson," their article by music industry writer, Bob Lefsetz, showing the sympathetic side of a man who'd been on the world's center stage since the age of five.

Semi-Civillized

Just finished reading Sheri Tepper's "The Margarets" (Oh Sheri, why must your magnificent morality tales always peter out at the end) where future Earthians aren't passing muster as an intelligent or civilized species under the guidelines of interstellar trade organizations that classify newly discovered organisms, thusly in order to conserve the limited amount of habitable planets:

• Civilized - Those who know, care about and protect their living environment to sustainability
• Semi-civilized - Those who know and care about their living environment but are prevented (by public apathy, commercial interference, religious opposition, governmental corruption and the like) from protecting their living environments
• Barbarians - Those who know but don't care about their environment (<-- Ann Coulter)
• Animals - Those who do not know

It got me thinking (in a powerfully ruthless than mildy disconsolate sort of manner, thanks science-fiction, that I am wont to do), about all polices rooted in our regular life that we don't agree with but feel powerless about and therefore make ourselves powerless about (semi-civilized), or numbly pretend we can't do anything about until we no longer care (barbarian).

Thanks to Boing Boing, I found Skin Deep which is a non-profit database listing all the toxic ingredients in your cosmetics and personal care products (Hey start at the bottom, work your way up). Skin Deep is non-profit because the FDA doesn't require companies to test their products for safety (Barbarian? Semi-civilized?). Use their database, like I am, to horrify yourself on a daily basis, or perhaps to find out what you are allergic to in Maybelline's Great Lash. Now start composting.

... leaves its impress upon the soul of man

Herbert Glacier

I've spent the last week in Juneau, Alaska, and it is an immensely beautiful place. According to this recent New York Times article, global warming is affecting the area in an unusual way.

Relieved of billions of tons of glacial weight, the land has risen much as a cushion regains its shape after someone gets up from a couch. The land is ascending so fast that the rising seas — a ubiquitous byproduct of global warming — cannot keep pace. As a result, the relative sea level is falling, at a rate “among the highest ever recorded,” according to a 2007 report by a panel of experts convened by Mayor Bruce Botelho of Juneau.

Kristin White, a 28-year-old schoolteacher who grew up in Haines, a town north of here, is from another family in the area whose real estate grew as land rose. But for Ms. White, who has vivid memories of visiting the Mendenhall glacier as a child, the gain in acreage has been bittersweet. Seeing the glacier retreat, she said, is “as if you lived in the Smoky Mountains and you were used to seeing certain peaks — and they disappeared. It’s just totally, totally sad.”

Hulu Set for September UK Launch

It's a little late since I purchased the last two episodes of the "Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles" from itunes, but better late than never. Hulu is flinging the barn doors open and giving international access in September 2009, according to the Telegraph's, "Hulu set for September UK launch".

Are you listening, music companies? I've always had the impression that not hooking international audiences on your shows to guarantee DVD sales was a huge miss for the networks, and I hope this means that they agree with me. Divided for just three weeks from my television, I was beginning to forget why I needed one in the first place. Oh well, back to the glass teat.

Why Anthony Hopkins May Be Playing Charles Nesson in Ten Years

Doesn't he just look like like your cute, crocthety granpa? Harvard Law Professor Charles Nesson is set to argue on behalf of grad student and alleged file-sharing user Joel Tenenbaum. His defense alleges that file-sharing is within the bounds of fair use and that even when a file-sharer is convicted, statutory damages should be equivalent to actual damages and the statutory damages in such cases amount to zero because there is no provable harm caused by non-commercial file-sharing.

Even more worrying for record labels, Nesson plans to argue that non-commercial file-sharing satisfies the “four factors test” of fair use legislation on intellectual copyright. And, as zmogo reports in the article, "To the Rescue of File-Sharing Tenenbaum", the band and music innovators, Radiohead, are preparing to speak on Tenenbaum's behalf that file-sharing can be an asset to members of the music industry.

Geek.com has the in-depth story, "Harvard professor to testify P2P file sharing is legal under “Fair Use”" including Rick Hodgin's scintillating opinion. But as far as I'm concerned, its a thrilling David and Goliath story. Go, David, Go!

How to Hang a Clothesline

Since my new digs have no dryer, (silly Europeans) I am faced with the task of figuring out how to hang a clothesline in the wilderness of my back garden. So I bought a pulley, a plastic green line, and something called a "line tightener" that looks more like it belongs in the Tower of London.

There is a lot of crap internet guides out there regarding this subject, mostly detailing how to hang the clothes, (really, people?), but few and far between on how to build a good (or easy) clothesline where you use screws and eyehooks and pulleys and whips and such (okay, I'm exaggerating with the whips). Look no further, Fun In The Making has a good one (with pictures!) for a quicky-poo dealy using a cleat (also it has recycled sweater pillows, and beer can slug traps, and other crafts made from recycled materials!), but if you're serious enough to buy lumber, Homeschooling 101 has the definitive guide (pole diggers!).

Though clothesline are a good idea for the environment, they are also almost impossible to get away with in the United States. Check out the recent New York Times article, "To Fight Global Warming, Some Hang a Clothesline," to see why your neighborhood probably prohibits the practice.

Otherwise, remember to hang clothes by the seams, use liquid fabric softener (or be fit for a nasty, cardboard -like surprise) and pray for no rain.

Please Say Something

David O'Reilly has created innovative animated short films using a raw, stripped down aesthetic (perhaps you will remember some of his animation for the "guide" sequences in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy). Xeni Jardin of Boing Boing described his style as "somewhere between Kubrick, Kaufman and Ketamine".

His short film "Please Say Something" won the Golden Bear for best short film at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival and is a moving tale of love, self absorption and domestic abuse involving a digital cat and mouse.

Check out the question and answer segment with O'Reilly from Boing Boing, where the artist describes his work exploring the production of "emotion and authenticity with something blatantly artificial and unrealistic. You can even do it without facial expressions."

Article I, Section 8, Clause 17

A constitutional conundrum 200 years in the making - the issue of DC voting rights - may finally have a resolution. And a no less august body than the New York Times editorial board has weighed in on the topic. They're for it.

In other DC news, 25% of respondents to a recent Pew Research Center survey said they would like to live in the District. That puts the city at the same desirability level as Atlanta, New York, and Chicago. I wonder if my potential neighbors are aware they won't be able to vote. At least, not yet.