Saturday: Beyonce, Bridesmaids, and Big Business
Posted: May 28, 2011 Filed under: morning reads | Tags: Abby Leach, campaign finance, Cornel West, DISemployment, Fukushima, gender politics, Hillary Clinton, James Carville, Leonora Carrington, Obama's Republicanism 30 Comments
Morning, news junkies…hope you are off to a nice, relaxing Memorial Day weekend. I’m going to keep my two cents brief this Saturday, so grab a cup of whatever and let’s go!
Is Beyonce’s New Video Feminist?
I saw this item on AlterNet the other day and found the discussion in the comments interesting. I have to say, the author of the article itself didn’t put forward very compelling arguments for her stiletto feminism (and I love my purple suede stilettos), but her piece did alert me to NineteenPercent’s response to Beyonce’s “Run the World (Girls),” which I recommend checking out.
What ‘Bridesmaids’ Can Tell Us about Small Businesses and the Recession
New Deal 2.0’s Mike Konczal uses Kristin Wiig’s storyline–her character loses a bakery she started during the recession–as a teachable moment on Keynesian economics, complete with nifty graphs. He concludes that “Full employment is the friend of new business owners. It would be great if either of our political parties would emphasize that in a time of 9% unemployment.” Amen to that. (I did get to see Bridesmaids last weekend, btw. It lived up to the hype!)
Why the Rich Love High Unemployment
Mark Provost’s guest post at George Washington’s blog, outlining precisely why neither of our political parties is emphasizing full employment. (See also lambert at corrente… DISemployment: Letting the Rattner out of the bag.)
Judge strikes down corporate donations ban
The oligarchy racks up another win, just in time for 2012. As ThinkProgress noted yesterday:
Today’s decision extends beyond the egregious Citizen United decision because Citizens United only permits corporations to run their own ads supporting a candidate or otherwise act independently of a candidate’s campaign. Cacheris’ opinion would also allow the Chamber of Commerce and Koch Industries, for instance, to contribute directly to political campaigns.
Chernobyl Times Ten: Fukushima and the Radioactive Sea
Via Counterpunch. Highly depressing but important read from Harvey Wasserman:
“When it comes to the oceans, says Ken Buesseler, a chemical oceonographer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, “the impact of Fukushima exceeds Chernobyl.”
“The greatest living surrealist has left the planet“…RIP Leonora Carrington (1917-2011)
I enjoyed this brief but thoughtful blog post on Leonora Carrington’s passing, and the LA Times blog posted two neat photos–one of a bronze sculpture by Carrington exhibited along Mexico City’s Avenue Reforma in 2008, and another of Carrington celebrating her ninety-fourth birthday earlier this year. Also from an essay last year by art historian Alan Foljambe:
Rather than rebelling in a violent way against those who would control her, Carrington creates a parallel reality in her paintings in which, represented by animals and female deities, she is in a position of strength where she is not in danger of being used as a vehicle for the schemes or motives of someone else. Rather than confronting reality and attempting to overcome it, Carrington retreats from the struggle and creates another reality in which she feels more at home.
The gendered expressions of mental illness and violence
This is a topic that I think relates back to much of the dynamics underlying gender politics. Teaser from Historiann’s commentary:
There are of course seriously mentally ill women who suffer from similar paranoid delusions and fixate on individuals the way the Tucson gunman did. For example, a story in this week’s The New Yorker by Rachel Aviv (sorry–subscription wall) offers a nuanced, tragic description of the progress of mental illness in a woman whose disease sounds quite similar to Loughner’s. Yet, she didn’t pick up guns and kill a crowd of people. Instead, she retreated into a New Hampshire farmhouse and slowly starved to death.
James Carville: Obama is looking like a 2008 Republican…
In 1992, Bill Clinton famously proclaimed himself to be an Eisenhower Republican. By that measure, I’d say President Obama is a pre-2008 John McCain Republican.
But this much is sure: The policies of the eventual Republican nominee, that is, anybody left running for it by the time of the vote, will be right in line with those of Sarah Palin. It’s pretty remarkable that the next election is going to boil down to a competition between the 2008 Republican presidential candidate and his vice presidential nominee.
It’s not that Obama is a socialist born somewhere other than Hawaii, or that he possesses a Kenyan anti-colonial mentality — but that some Republican needs to stand up and say, with some legitimacy, that Obama is taking all of the GOP’s ideas.
Well, there you have it. NOTA 2012.
How Cornel West Did the Obamites a Favor
BAR’s Glen Ford hits it out of the park once again. Excellent analysis of the situation. I myself have always preferred to focus more on Obama-the-politician and leave Obama-the-man for his family and friends to concern themselves with.
Hillaryland
Pic of the week (to the right, click for larger view): Hillary peeks out of Buckingham Palace.
- Clinton Calls for More Education for Women and Girls (“No society can achieve its full potential when half the population is denied the opportunity to achieve theirs,” Clinton said.)
- BBC’s Kim Ghattas on Clinton’s surprise visit to Pakistan: “no smiling, no chit chat.”
-
Hillary Clinton welcomes Christine Lagarde’s IMF candidacy (or as Still4Hill puts it, “Clinton Favors Female Leadership in the Wake of Male Failure.”)
- Hillary fielded a question in Paris about continuing her advocacy for women after she leaves the Obama admin.
- Dipnote: Welcome to Shelbyville (Welcome to Shelbyville airs this week on PBS; check your local listings. It’s also being streamed for free through May 31st on PBS’s website.)
Just a quick geek link before I wrap up…NYT: Evidence of Water Beneath Moon’s Stony Face
…throwing a wrench into the Giant Impact hypothesis.
This Day in History (May 28)
Pioneering woman scholar Abby Leach was born in 1855:
In the 1870s, there were many more opportunities for women in education than there had been a decade earlier–Vassar, Mt. Holyoke, Smith, and Wellesley had been all been founded by 1878. Still, the major men’s colleges of the day entertained no thoughts of educating women. Harvard held annual entrance examinations for women in New York City, but they only told the women who took them whether they would have gotten into Harvard were they men. Abigail Leach changed all that, however, when she arrived on the doorstep of three Harvard professors—William W. Goodwin, James B. Greenough, and Francis J. Child—in 1878 and asked them to instruct her in Latin and Greek. The men were so impressed by her courage and persistence that they agreed. Soon they would be impressed by her intellect as well.
Also see Abby Leach vs. Grace Harriet Macurdy.
What’s on your blogging list today?
[originally posted at Let Them Listen; crossposted at Taylor Marsh and Liberal Rapture]
peej
Carissa
ecocatwoman
mablue2
Mama Lopez
peggysue22
quixote
skydancingguestblogger
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
Yves Smith has a pretty good BNN video on housing status and Obama vulnerability.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/05/we-speak-on-bnn-about-the-us-housing-market.html
I knew when Obama attacked McCain on HOLC (which McCain copied from Hillary) that we were in big trouble.
RIP Gil Scott-Heron:
Gil Scott-Heron: We Beg Your Pardon…
We also lost Jeff Conway this week:
Jeff Conaway – Telegraph
Iinteresting, because he looked so much like my dream man of the 50’s………..R.I.P Jeff.
Definitely one black man who represented the 60’s and 70’s and 80’s. R.I.P.
RIP
Excellent roundup. I’m not sure where to start. Maybe I’ll go check out the Glenn Ford piece first. I dread reading the one about Fukushima…
Oh I know, right? I’m expecting a new twist on the show Deadliest Catch. (That’s the Discovery series about crab fishing in Alaska.) The crabs will be “Godzilla” size, with claws that can send out bolts of radioactive green lightning and can knock a fisherman off the boat.
That piece on Fukushima is a tough one, but it’s a must-read… it’s very comprehensive and ties a lot of different developments on Fukushima and on the global nuclear industry together.
Yes, indeed and the Beyonce Women Run The World Lies video was priceless. I am sooooo glad their are more young women like you out there WONK…you know I am your biggest fan.
Oh, and this made me laugh:
…I needed a laugh and yes, it is sooo true.
Coffee…am still not awake…hip keeps me up.
The scariest part is the media blackout and you have to wonder why countries aren’t trying to help more there by making it a learning experience.
The US corporate media follows our govt’s lead…
From the Wasserman piece:
I am not too sure about this one:
Human Rights Campaign endorses Obama for second term (ChicagoPride.com : Washington, D.C. News)
It is like the Nobel Peace Prize…don’t you think?
Yup, considering that after all the media efforts, even Bloomberg has now said he is for Gay Marriage.
Marching orders are being sent out already ! Perhaps it’s Obushama Inc. who is jumping the gun…someone tell them it’s next year! lol! But that modern corporations for you : doing stuff too soon or too late .
Jumped the gun? Who cares?
Lost their damn minds? Definitely.
This is not a surprise… a couple weeks ago LGBT donor elites signaled they’d be backing O for 2012. It read like a propaganda piece coordinated with OFA.
A must read article by Kevin Drum entitled “Why the Democratic Party Has Abandoned the Middle Class in Favor of the Rich” (http://tinyurl.com/3j2na7m). Bottom line: labor unions used to represent a strong enough economic populist institution to counter congressional wealth-favoring tendencies. When unions split with Democratic groups pushing for social change (civil rights, feminism), the party faithful became fragmented and the Dems began courting the business community instead of the voters.
I have heard from two friends with membership in large unions and they are not happy with the health insurance increases and other issues and many say they won’t vote for him for a second term. I noticed the media isn’t mentioning this and wondering why?
I have seen an MSNBC personality mention the Public Option that Obama blocked, and wondering if the lie of Obama supporting it will pop up in a couple of months.
Thanks for the link, grayslady.
Kevin Drum has been an enabler in the Dem sellout, but it’s good if he’s catching on.
Update: Deadly bomb blast hits Pakistan
A bomb attack in northwest Pakistan has killed at least eight people.
The attack happened as Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, wrapped up her visit to the country.
The terrorist just can’t contain themselves…..I hope Hillary is ok, and pray for her safety.
I think the trip by Kerry didn’t do the trick and since the operation the Taliban has been killing people in Pakistan. Perhaps they need a media campaign that lets the Pakistani people see that the Taliban kill Pakistanis and that they don’t bring good to any region they occupy. Also, the corruption needs to be addressed and the monetary aid sent needs to actually reach those in need. Until the latter happens, those living in poor areas will continue to fall victims of ideology to the Taliban.
I go to the gratefulness candle site she has her own group the HRC group and light candles for her.it may not help but it makes me feel better. 🙂
gackk…This is brief? This is hours of concentrated reading and thinking, WTV.
Just like you!
Although, I had read BAR’s assessment of West and agree that it was spot on.
Lol! I said my two cents (on each item), not the roundup itself 😉
That video response to Beyonce was AWESOME. Thanks for linking to it!
You’re welcome! I’m glad you (and Woman Voter) saw it.