Lost in Transition

NY Times had an article yesterday entitled: "The Trouble When Jane Becomes Jack." I'm fascinated by the complexity of sexuality. To hear right-wing religious groups, politicians, and most of the media discuss it, you'd think all us "queers" fit neatly into 4 categories: gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, and those that we don't want to know TOO much about because it's just downright freaky and uncomfortable: the trans community.

I'm on a mission lately to learn more about this big "T" in the LGBT term. I've had limited exposure to this group and therefore a limited understanding of them. I'm sure many of you feel the same way. This article may surprise you as it covers not only lesbians who migrated to the "other" gender, but the impact the transitioning partner had on the relationship.

Some lesbians view it as a kind of disloyalty bordering on gender treason.

“I am a lesbian because I am attracted to women, and not to men," said a 33-year-old woman who broke up with her partner of seven years, Sharon Caya, when Sharon became Shane. The woman, who asked to be identified only as Natasha, to protect family members who are unaware of her lifestyle, said that she was ultimately faced with the reality of her sexual orientation and identity. “I decided I couldn’t be in a romantic relationship with a man.”


Shane Caya

Among lesbians — the group from which most transgendered men emerge — the increasing number of women who are choosing to pursue life as a man can provoke a deep resentment and almost existential anxiety, raising questions of gender loyalty and political identity, as well as debates about who is and who isn’t, and who never was, a real woman.

The conflict has raged at some women’s colleges and has been explored in academic articles, in magazines for lesbians and in alternative publications, with some — oversimplifying the issue for effect — headlined with the question, “Is Lesbianism Dead?”

Obviously lesbianism isn't dead. The number of lesbians seeking a change in gender is miniscule, but imagine the impact on your relationship if your partner suddenly makes it known that she feels more comfortable being a he.

If you thought transsexuality was as simple as just being gay or lesbian, think again. Later (hopefully this week), I'm going to be publishing an interview I did with a transgendered person recently. If you're like me, and never really explored this aspect of human sexuality, gender identity, expect a revelation.

Imagine...

wrong finger, asshole!

" Imagine what the world would be like with [Hussein] in power."

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living in peace
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed nor hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

Cleaning up kiddie porn

I am moving this post back to the top after reading another piece in the New York Times today which I have linked to at the bottom...
---------------------------------------------------
The Led Zeppelin post below this with the album cover made me think of this article today in the New York Times. I started to tag it on the end of that post and realized what a bizarre segue that would be.

The model’s online name is Sparkle.
She is — at most — 9 years old.

Sparkle is one of hundreds of children being photographed by adults, part of what appears to be the latest trend in online child exploitation: Web sites for pedophiles offering explicit, sexualized images of children who are covered by bits of clothing — all in the questionable hope of allowing producers, distributors and customers to avoid child pornography charges.

I must confess. I have enjoyed looking at naked 8 and 9-year-olds. Let's see... I think I was about..... oh, 8 or 9. What the hell happens in the brains of some people to cause their arrested sexual development resulting in being turned-on by these images when they are adults?

Some of these pedophiles get their jollies from some kids much younger. Basically, as soon as a baby pops from the womb, someone would love to get their hands on it.

Do not be deceived into believing that all child pornography occurs under the radar. I personally feel that child beauty pageants are a disgusting mistreatment of children as well as providing a secure accepted environment in which pedophiles can flourish.




The link to the Newsweek web exclusive story has this photo of JonBenet Ramsey who was 6 years old at the time of her murder.



Parents who subject their children to this need counseling as much as the pedophiles. It is grotesque, perverse and obscene.

David W. Boles’ Urban Semiotic blog is a good read:

I am always amazed by parents who press their children into beauty pageants because there is an embedded perversion in wanting to help create an idealized image of a mature woman in the body of a five or six-year-old child.

Brilliant at Breakfast had this to say:

"Television networks only broadcast what people want. And the attention given to this one murder case and the heavy rotation of the child's beauty pageant footage proves that, we are, in fact, a nation of pedophiles."


The Orion opinion piece from 1999 is still quite relevant:

Children's beauty pageants make big bucks exploiting impressionable young girls.
By some estimates this is a $1 billion-a-year industry. And it's not the kids getting rich.

This is just sick!
========================================================

The NY Times has another interesting article today on the subject. The delusional rationale used by pedophiles to justify their actions is mind-boggling...

In the conversations observed by The Times, the pedophiles often discussed their personal lives. Their individual jobs were described as being a disc jockey at parties (“a high concentration of gorgeous” children, a man claiming to hold the job said); a pediatric nurse (“lots of looking but no touching”); a piano teacher (“I could tell you stories that would make you ...well... I’ll be good”); an employee at a water theme park (“bathing suits upon bathing suits!!!!!”); and a pediatrician specializing in gynecology (“No need to add anything more, I feel”).

The most frequent job mentioned, however, was schoolteacher. A number of self-described teachers shared detailed observations about children in their classes, including events they considered sexual, like a second-grade boy holding his crotch during class.

The man relating that story held up that action as an expression of sexuality; he was not dissuaded when another participant in the conversation suggested that the boy might have just needed to go to the bathroom.

Snakes on a....

...muthafuckin' paper airplane.



Our local Alamo Drafthouse in Austin held a "Snakes on a Day" endurance contest. The film was screened for 24-hours and anyone surviving all 11 or so screenings could then leave without paying for any tickets. Fines were involved for those leaving early to benefit a charity: Venomousreptiles.org, a non-profit dedicated to raising awareness of our poisonous friends and rehabilitating injured venomous reptiles.

If you bailed after the first screening, you forked over $1000. For each subsequent screening, the price was reduced down by 50%.

Had I participated, I can assure you I'd be $1000 in the hole.

(This post is dedicated to my fearless Sister of the Shakespearean underworld.)

Happy Birthday Robert Plant

Led Zeppelin


Robert Plant is 58 today.

I'm sure everyone remembers when this LP came out. Mine had a white paper sleeve about 2" high that slid onto the album to cover up that butt. Some of you may have Led Zep concert experiences to share. And it wouldn't surprise me if The Minstrel Boy hasn't played with them at some point!

Rove and Sheehan in Austin

Karl Rove appeared in our fair city for a Republican fundraiser yesterday and was met with some protests.

After protesters allied with anti-war demonstrator Cindy Sheehan rushed the ballroom doors and scuffled with police, senior White House adviser Karl Rove roused Republicans Saturday in Austin by suggesting that a strong economy and President Bush's course abroad will lead GOP candidates to November wins.

"If leading Democrats have their way, their policies would make our nation weaker and the enemies of our nation would be stronger. That is a stark fact of modern life, and it is the issue on which the forthcoming election should center," Rove said.

I wonder. Will we ever again have an election based on truth rather than lies?

More in the Austin American Statesman.

Saturday Night Virtual Joint

Fire one up and tell me what's floatin' through your gourd.

Say no more, say no more...

"We will defeat the terrorists and expand freedom across the world..." -- Bush

Ambitious little prick -- I'll give him that.

Define "freedom" while I see if I can pick the lock on these damned Chinese shackles that are making my ankles bleed.

So while that Walking Soundbite in Search of a Purpose is busy spreading freedom across the world, China, one of the most undemocratic and repressive regimes on the planet is making far more progress in winning the hearts and minds of Africa.

From the New York Times:

..China seems to be offering Africa something new, a straightforward business relationship between equals based on mutual interest and noninterference in the internal affairs of its allies. Or as the economist Jeffrey Sachs put it at a conference in Beijing this week, “China gives fewer lectures and more practical help.”

Wheeww, I think I smell a rat.

The other failed war

The New York Times today is reporting on the failure of the US to make a dent in Columbian coca crops:

The latest chapter in America’s long war on drugs — a six-year, $4.7 billion effort to slash Colombia’s coca crop — has left the price, quality and availability of cocaine on American streets virtually unchanged.

So basically, we've blown almost $5 billion dollars and have absolutely nothing to show for it.

Bravo. (And what do we have to show for the $300+ billion spent in Iraq?)

As much coca is cultivated today in Colombia as was grown at the start of the large-scale aerial fumigation effort in 2000, according to State Department figures.

Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, the leading sources of coca and cocaine, produce more than enough cocaine to satisfy world demand, and possibly as much as in the mid-1990’s, the United Nations says.

In the United States, the government’s tracking over the past quarter century shows that the price of cocaine has tumbled and that purity remains high, signs that the drug is as available as ever.

Despite these facts, John P. Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, somehow sees the situation in a different light:

“You see the remaining cultivation and trafficking in Colombia under pressure as you’ve never seen it before.”

Hell, give him another blank check. Keep up the good work!

Let's be clear: The $4.7 billion figure listed is only for the eradication program in Columbia. Absorb this figure:

Jon Caulkins, a drug policy expert at Carnegie Mellon University, echoing other analysts, estimates that the drug war has cost American taxpayers upward of $40 billion annually in recent years, though there is no comprehensive government tally of all its state and federal spending.

Which begs the question: Why the hell not?

Favorite Logos

This is going to be an odd post but I thought about it last night while watching "Broken Flowers." And since it is Friday night, anything goes.

What's your favorite corporate logo?



I'm not a real corporate type (as if you needed me to tell you that little tidbit), but I think the old Northwest Airlines logo was probably my favorite. I'm attracted to anything that messes with the head, and this does. Or did. Why the hell did they change it?

(And speaking of messin' with the head, for a real treat, go here: NWA. That's some high flyin' of a different caliber.)

I love the way it starts out looking like a big "W. " (Try not to think of that Dubya.) Then you can see the "N" with the compass pointing northwest. That's just how my brain sees it. You may see the "N" first, and then force yourself to see the "W."

Whatever.... just wanted to throw that out there. Anyone have any better ones?

Friday Racist Haiku

Hindu Macaca
Gibson hates the fucking Jews
And blacks cannot swim.

From Andrew's forked tongue
Jews, Arabs, and Koreans
Surely rip us off.

Wal-Mart doesn't mix
With a civil rights leader
Let's call it all off.

Crazy ass nigga
Don't drink the white man's Kool-Aid
You talkin' shit now.
------------------------------------------------------
Haiku by konagod... on the fly.
Is this week over yet? And what year is this again?
Sheee-yat!

More insight here.

Friday Pussy Blog: Loving Duets

Sissy (top) and Miss Samantha having a big nap on daddy's bed.




Elizabeth, a friend from high-school, sent in this pic of her two: Georgie & Lily (obscured by Georgie).



Rebecca sent in a link to The Hemingway Cats with those lovely polydactyls. Sissy is a member of that elite group!

Broken Flowers

We are notorious for hanging on to Netflix DVDs for 3-4 months sometimes before watching.

Last night I was in the mood for "Bad Education" but txrad wanted to watch "Broken Flowers" so that's what we settled into.

Jim Jarmusch is a brilliant director and the film was a treat with superb acting and visuals. However, I found the ending to be a huge letdown. Although it said a lot about confronting past relationships, it could easily have been his own delusional "what if?" scenario that never manifested itself. I wasn't sure if I'd spent an hour and 45 minutes watching someone else's daydream or an actual quest for something that just never quite worked out .

I'm not knocking the film as much as it seems. I highly recommend it -- but it's not what you'd call a "feel good" movie.

Rating: ,,,

The multitasking boob-tube

TV found to be a painkiller for children




Hmm, it usually has the opposite effect on me. Here's just a few that absolutely double me over in agony:

1. The O'Reilly Factor
2. Hannity & Colmes
3. Walker, Texas Ranger
4. American Idol
5. America's Funniest (fill in the blank)... home videos, pet tricks, whatever. Some of the most grueling pain ever inflicted.

Speaking of Idol, you gotta love this quote from Justin Timberlake about Idol winner Taylor Hicks:

"If he has any skeletons whatsoever; if, God forbid, he's gay, and all these people in Mississippi who voted for him are like, `Oh, my God, I voted for a queer!' It's just too much pressure."

Suspicious liquids force evacuation **Updated**

Just to make damn sure NO ONE feels safe, even in the smallest airports:

A West Virginia airport terminal was evacuated Thursday after two bottles of liquid found in a woman's carry-on luggage twice tested positive for explosives, a Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman said.

Airport manager Larry Salyers said the bottles would be moved by robot to a remote area of the airport where officials would attempt to detonate them. National Guard and State Police explosive experts will conduct chemical field tests to determine what's inside them, he said.
Salyers said he was told the woman was 28-year-old native of Pakistan who had moved to Huntington from Jackson, Mich.

Robots always get the shit jobs. Of course, I'm going to follow-up on this piece after they determine what is in the bottles.

Updated 8/19: As I expected, No explosive residue was found.

Jeff Killeen, special agent with the FBI, said secondary tests were conducted on the bottles Friday -- also showing no explosives or explosive residue.

"The FBI does not consider the bottles or the owner of the bottles to be a danger," Killeen said.
When asked what kind of test were performed, Killeen had no comment.
"I am not a chemist," he said. "I am not going to divulge anything."

wtf??

Bush spy program gets a...

...swift judicial kick in the cojones.

Meanwhile, over in Iraq:

"Leaving before we complete our mission would create a terrorist state in the heart of the Middle East, a country with huge oil reserves that the terrorist network would be willing to use to extract economic pain from those of us who believe in freedom," Bush said.

Ahh, so it IS about the oil now!

Crank up the android machine...

Like we don't already have enough to worry about in our future, now we have the dreaded robot rebellion.

(hat-tip to: The Disgruntled Chemist.)



"These intelligent machines will grow from us, learn our skills, share our goals and values, and can be viewed as children of our minds. Not only will these robots look after us in the home, but they will also carry out complex tasks that currently require human input, such as diagnosing illness and recommending a therapy or cure. They will be our heirs and will offer us the best chance we'll ever get for immortality by uploading ourselves into advanced robots."

Chance of super-intelligent robots in the next 70 years: High

Danger score: 8

I wonder if they'll pose a threat to the sanctity of marriage. Let's just pray they aren't manufactured by Diebold.

Ruk! Protect!

Fiona Apple

Fiona Apple - First Taste

I was busy at work today and never got to do as much blogging as I intended. So... enjoy some Fiona while you wait. :-)
I'll do better on Thursday!

Afghan opium cultivation up 40% from last year

Iraq is a bloody mess, Israel and Lebanon are unstable, but at least we've got something to show for several years of efforts in Afghanistan: opium cultivation hits a record.

"It is a significant increase from last year ... unfortunately, it is a record year," said a senior U.S. government official based in Kabul, who like the other Western officials would speak only on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive topic.

Has anyone else noticed how many quotes in the press now are accompanied by the line "would speak only on condition of anonymity?" I should start counting.

The Obligatory Madonna Post

Madonna is 48 today -

What kind of queer blog can this be if I've never posted anything about Madonna? So... let's get it out of the way.

Prosecutors in Germany will be monitoring Madonna' s weekend concert in Düsseldorf to see if she repeats the mock crucifixion scene that has drawn fire from religious leaders.

Madonna, on her worldwide "Confessions" tour, wears a crown of fake thorns while performing on a mirrored cross.

Johannes Mocken, a spokesman for prosecutors in Düsseldorf, said that could be construed as insulting religious beliefs -- which is illegal under German law.

Well, pardon the f*ck out of me... I thought it was artistic expression. I guess that's illegal if someone interprets it to be insulting of some religious belief.
Let me reiterate: This is in Germany, not China, Iran, or North Korea.