Horrible Governor Does Horrible Thing

Back in 2010, now-Governor Scott Walker campaigned on a pledge to keep the federal government from giving Wisconsin money to improve its rail infrastructure. The government shouldn't be in the train business, or some such nonsense.

This morning, the Walker administration decided that Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin can't use mostly federal monies to screen poor, uninsured women for cancer. The government shouldn't be in the keeping women from dying of cancer business, or some such nonsense.

From the Appleton Post Crescent:

Since 1995, Planned Parenthood has coordinated a breast and cervical cancer screening program for low-income and underinsured women ages 45 to 64 in Outagamie, Winnebago, Fond du Lac and Sheboygan counties.

Though funded primarily with federal dollars, the $1.8 million program — known as Wisconsin Well Woman — is a state and federal partnership.

Tanya Atkinson, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin, said state officials informed the group by phone earlier this month that the state Department of Health Services would not renew the $130,000 contract at the end of the year.

State law already prohibits the use of state and federal funds to cover abortions, except in cases of rape or incest, or if the life or long-term health of the mother is at risk.

The state budget further prohibited organizations that provide abortions, refer women to abortion services or have "affiliates" that do the same from accessing "women's health funds."

In 2010, two full-time coordinators from Planned Parenthood served 1,260 women in the four counties, according to [its advocates].

In other news, today the PAC United Wisconsin announced that it has gathered over 500,000 signatures towards recalling Walker.

Time Selects Non-Woman of the Year

You may have already heard that Time has selected its person of the year: "The Protestor." Despite Time's clever use of the singular (The Protestor sounds like a kinda cool superhero), once again time has avoided naming an individual person of the year.

Why, you ask, should I care?

I asked that same question to 2010 Liss:

Time has not selected an individual woman as its "X of the Year" since then-president of the Philippines Corazon Aquino was named Woman of the Year in 1986. In 1999, Time changed the annual year-end honorific, which had almost exclusively been a "Man of the Year" since its inception, to "Person of the Year," but it merely created an illusion of parity. Still no individual women.

"Person of the Year," my ass. If Time doesn't believe there's been a single individual woman deserving of the title in 24 years, then the least they could do is be honest and go back to calling it what it really is: "Man of the Year."

In 2009, Kate Harding made a familiar observation:

Jeff Bezos, George W. Bush, Rudy Giuliani, Vladimir Putin, Barack Obama and, as of yesterday, Ben Bernanke have all earned solo “Person of the Year” covers since the language was changed — as have Mikhail Gorbachev and Bill Clinton (twice each), George H.W. Bush, Ted Turner, Pope John Paul II, Newt Gingrich, David Ho, Andy Grove and Kenneth freakin’ Starr, since Aquino’s win. I am detecting a pattern.

This year Time named four runners-up. True story: the only woman among them is famous for marrying a famous dude.

I know that Time's person of the year is a gimmick designed to sell magazines, but gimmicks matter, particularly when the media make them major stories. As important as global protests have been (even when they've upheld key parts of the kyriarchy :ahem:), they're not exactly the work of a person. Time, I suggest you find a better name for your crappy award.

An Observation

So, I watch a lot of cooking shows. Especially various cooking competitions, like Chopped, Iron Chef, The Next Iron Chef, 24 Hour Restaurant War, Chef Hunter, Top Chef, Top Chef Masters, Top Chef Just Desserts, and Top Chef We're Just Fucking with You Now. And one of the things I've noticed (I am such a good noticer of things!) is that a lot of the male chefs—who outnumber the female chefs by probably at least 2-1 across all these shows, especially when you include all the chef judges—tell really cool stories about how they were inspired to be culinary artists by their mothers and/or grandmothers.

So many awesome stories about mama's signature greens and nonna's homemade gnocchi!

And then many of these same male chefs with the terrific stories about their female influences turn around and treat their female colleagues with sneering contempt, without a trace of irony.

Evidently, women are meant to cook exclusively for free to inspire men, who then go cook professionally for lots of money.

If they're talented they're lucky their grannies passed on the best recipes.

I guess a woman's place is in the kitchen, unless and until a man decides he wants to be there.

It's Like They Took My Life and Put It On Television

[Trigger warning for misogyny, LGB-phobia, and transphobia]

Remember Bosom Buddies? It was this awesome show about two dudes who dressed up as chicks so that they could live in this cheap building for ladies. The show's title was pretty funny too, in that bosom is another word for tit.

Anyhow, Sara Rue and the CW have a great idea for a new show. Basically, it's just ripping off Bosom Buddies, only with a twist! Two (totes real, cissexual) ladies will pretend to be lesbians so that they can live together in New York City, because that's totally how things work in The City. Plus, the ladies will so get the perks of being domestic partners in a state that allows gay marriage.

I can't wait for the awkward second episode when one of the ladies has to explain to a really hot guy that even though she's a lady who (pretends she) likes other ladies, she (also) likes dudes! That's so strange! How do the writers presumably come up with this stuff?

Don't worry though, the entire purpose of the show is to empower real lesbians, in that it will show their plight or some such bullshit.

(Also, "faux-lesbian" is the greatest term ever. From now on, I'm referring to myself as "nouveau-lesbian." I love French shit.)

Speaking of bosoms, ABC's got a great new show coming up. It's about two dudes who pretend to be chicks so they can get a job, because that's totally how things work in the world.

I can't wait for the awkward second episode when one of the "ladies" has to explain to a really hot chick that he's a (pretend) lady who likes other ladies! That's so strange! How do the writers presumably come up with this stuff?

Don't worry though, the entire purpose of the show is to empower real ladies, in that it will show their plight or some such bullshit (e.g., when you are a lady, you can get a job easily!). Some people might claim the show is transphobic, but since these guys are dudes pretending to be ladies, it's clearly not about trans* people, in that trans* people want The Surgery or some such nonsense.

Now I've you'll excuse me, I'm off to buy a TiVo. They still make TiVo, right?

Priorities!

[Trigger warning for sexual assault]

I've been chewing on this for a day, and I still don't have much to say.

AP:

The Wisconsin Justice Department has warned organizations that help sexual assault victims to expect drastic reductions in state aid next year, a surprise move for an agency that has prided itself on capturing sexual predators.

Justice Department officials informed service providers around the state this month it plans to cut grants from its Sexual Assault Victim Services program by 42.5 percent this year. The announcement blindsided service providers who rely on the grants to pay for therapy, crisis intervention and education. They expected cuts, they said, but never thought they would be so dramatic.

Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault (WCASA) [pdf]:

At a time when events around the country have focused attention on sexual assault, Wisconsin’s only grant program devoted to direct services for sexual assault victims is slated to be cut more than 40 percent in 2012.

The Sexual Assault Victim Services program (SAVS) grants are the sole state source of funds and therefore vital to sexual assault service providers’ ability to provide direct services to victims and their families including: 24-hour crisis response, victim advocacy, and criminal justice, legal and medical advocacy.

Unlike comparable programs in other states, SAVS has never received general purpose state revenue; it is only funded through a surcharge paid by perpetrators upon prosecution. A decline in the number of prosecutions has led to lower surcharge revenue.

A number of other state programs which fund critical services have been appropriately protected from these
budget cuts and lapses. [Interim WCASA Executive Director Pennie] Meyers contends SAVS needs to be added to that list.

That certainly seems like a reasonable suggestion.

Did I mention that the Republicans responsible for this garbage nightmare are largely pro-life? Because they want to protect the children and other traditional values? Traditional values like silencing rape victims? And protecting people who sexually assault the children (and adults) they're protecting? Did I?

Quote of the Day

"We've got real issues to talk about, not the latest bimbo eruption. ... Every time another accusation comes up, it diminishes our ability to stay focused on the issues that really do matter for the American people."—Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, attempting to smear Herman Cain as a distraction from a serious campaign, but succeeding instead in dismissing the women Cain sexually harassed and abused as "bimbos," categorizing sexual predation as something other than a "real issue" which "really does matter," and defining "the American people" and survivors of sexual harassment and abuse (and their allies) as mutually exclusive groups.

Wow, Jon Huntsman. Wow.

Number of the Day

32.8%: The percentage of the 4,342 speaking characters from the top 100-grossing movies of 2009 who were female; 67.2% were male, and the percentages remained unchanged from 2008, according to the study done by the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism.

"We see remarkably stable trends," said USC Annenberg associate professor Stacy L. Smith. "This reveals an industry formula for gender that may be outside of people's conscious awareness."

It's not just the ratio of female to male characters that continues to be imbalanced but the manner in which they're depicted, according to Smith.

The USC study determined that women were still far more likely than men to wear sexy clothing in movies, such as swimwear and unbuttoned shirts (25.8% versus 4.7%), to expose skin (23% versus 7.4%) and to be described by another character as attractive (10.9% versus 2.5%).

Revealing clothing and partial nudity was just as prevalent among 13- to 20-year-old female characters as it was among those 21 to 29, suggesting that females are sexualized on-screen at young ages, Smith said.

Behind the camera, the gender inequality is just as dramatic: only 3.6% of the directors and 13.5% of the writers on the top-grossing films of 2009 were female, according to the study.

Researchers found that the sex of the storytellers had a significant effect on what appeared on-screen. In movies directed by women, 47.7% of the characters were female; in movies directed by men, fewer than a third of the characters were female. When one or more of the screenwriters was female, 40% of characters were female; when all the screenwriters were male, 29.8% of the characters were female.

Marginalization is a snake eating its own tail: The more any non-privileged group is marginalized, the more they're marginalized.

Post-Feminist Entertainment

[Trigger warning for misogyny.]

I've been really excited to see the previews for this awesome new show, coming next week to Fox:

Male Voiceover: Just because you have a teenage daughter doesn't mean you're not all that.

Blond White Woman working behind counter at cafe, to Conventionally Attractive White Man: I am definitely a cool parent. I'm always online, networking socially. [canned laughter]

Auburn-Haired White Female Friend, leaning against counter: I'm a cool mom, too. LOL. Whatevs. Justin Bieber. [canned laughter]

Male Voiceover: I Hate My Teenage Daughter. Wednesday, November 30th, on Fox!

HA HA! Perfect. Definitely what this post-feminist world needs is some post-feminist programming with edgy narratives about how women are jealous bitches who resent their own daughters as they age disgracefully and mourn their lost youth. WELL DONE, FOX.

And what a title! Goooooooooooood one. In this post-feminist world, where there is definitely no concern about the emotional health of teenage girls and bullying is not a problem and misogyny is FOR SURE a thing of the past, where no one uses "girl" or "schoolgirl" as an insult, where no one accuses anyone of throwing like a girl or crying like a schoolgirl, and companies would never do something like conflate a teenage girl with mayhem, where teenage girls are all totally secure in their worth as full and equal beings and their humanity is never diminished by objectification or exploitation or marginalization or myriad narratives that daily communicate you are less than, in this amazing new world where feminism has been rendered moot, this is obviously a perfect show that is super funny.

Thank Maude we live in this remarkable new frontier of undiluted equality, because can you even imagine the horror of being a teenage girl in a misogynist world and having to hear I Hate My Teenage Daughter played for laughs week after week after week...? Shiver. I don't even want to contemplate it.

Fuck you, Fox.

#mencallmethings

Yesterday I mentioned the #mencallmethings hashtag that Sady Doyle of Tiger Beatdown had started on Twitter so female bloggers could share some of the vitriol they receive from a seemingly never-ending cavalcade of thunderfucks in their inboxes and comments sections. It's still going strong, and, again, I encourage you to check it out and participate, with the note that much of the stuff people are submitting is triggering.

For those who aren't on Twitter and/or can't view Twitter from work, I've published below the fold (on most browsers) my contributions in chronological order to #mencallmethings. If you can't (or don't want to) participate on Twitter, but have experience(s) you'd like to share, please feel welcome and encouraged to submit your own experience(s) in comments.

[Trigger warning for rape culture, threats, violence, misogyny, fat hatred, disablism.]

● Everything @sadydoyle has already said, plus every variation on fat, ugly, and unfuckable under the sun and the moon. #mencallmethings (link)

● [TW] Also unrapeable, despite the fact that I have been raped. #mencallmethings (link)

● [TW] Here is Shakesville's famously unmoderated Opie & Anthony thread, for a breathtaking example of #mencallmethings: http://bit.ly/txe8KM (link)

● My most recent post on the subject of #mencallmethings: On Keeping On Keeping On. http://bit.ly/tzgdVf (link)

● [TW] "id have to rape her with 3 Popsicle sticks taped to my flaccid wang" http://bit.ly/tYspMG #mencallmethings (link)

● A "dumm bith." http://bit.ly/s45ah7 #mencallmethings (link)

● [TW] "No one wants to rape you, Shakes. Sorry to inform you." http://bit.ly/ltrQKM #mencallmethings (link)

● A steampunk abortion robot: http://bit.ly/uBoLLA #mencallmethings (link)

● [TW] "only tragedy is that a bullet didn't rip through ur brainstem after u were used 4 ur 1 & only purpose in this world" #mencallmethings (link)

● My "I Get Letters" section is a plethora of fun correspondence from anti-feminists: http://bit.ly/tbq5YN #mencallmethings (link)

● "What a raging, lunatic, hypocrite u are. And despicable. What a despicable person u are." This, b/c I criticized a movie. #mencallmethings (link)

● "gigantic feminazi pig" -- The subject heading on an email the entirety of which read, "How much do you weigh?" #mencallmethings (link)

● "Why you lazy dope smoking fat hog, sitting on your fat ass every day writing bullshit, you're so opressed." [sic] #mencallmethings (link)

● "wretched cum dumpster" / "rape-murder fail" / "cunt bucket" / "fat whore" / These are all from recent emails. #mencallmethings (link)

● "The problem is this there are soooooooo many liberals…and so few bullets." Sent by a gov employee from his gov email. #mencallmethings (link)

● When I start compiling this stuff, I do find it slightly worrying how inured I've become to vicious bullying & threats. #mencallmethings (link)

● "Oh, well, just another day being wished raped and killed, and called a fat stupid cunt! Totally normal job, I'm sure!" #mencallmethings (link)

● [Like @KateHarding] I've also gotten emails imagining in vivid detail my sex life, while calling me disgusting/unfuckable & pitying my husband. #mencallmethings (link)

● Wonder passingly if it's the same guy, then realize I don't actually care. #mencallmethings (link)

● An "anti-Catholic, vulgar, trash-talking bigot." http://bit.ly/v9XBVe #mencallmethings (link)

● "I know where you live." Also: My street address used as a commenting handle. #mencallmethings (link)

● [TW] "If you can look at her without wanting to punch her in the face, you're not looking hard enough" http://bit.ly/tYspMG #mencallmethings

● [TW] "she is just hoping someone will get pissed enough at all her feminist shit & revenge rape her." http://bit.ly/tYspMG #mencallmethings (link)

● "Please die, PLEASE??????????????????????? Fat and Ugly is noway to go through life." http://bit.ly/t3mK18 #mencallmethings (link)

● [TW] "I hope you whiny cunts find your way on top of a pinball machine in the near future." http://bit.ly/t2VER8 #mencallmethings (link)

● [TW] "too bad that terrible rapist didnt kill your fat ass…. Cunt" http://bit.ly/s3ZNGr #mencallmethings (link)

● [TW] "guess the guy who raped you somehow left his dick behind b/c you have a major pole up your ass." http://bit.ly/s09Ygk #mencallmethings (link)

● [TW] "lying pinko-commie-feminist-bitch complains abt the 1 time in ur life where u served a purpose!" http://bit.ly/samGyw #mencallmethings (link)

● [TW] "If you stopped being such a stupid bitch & accepted the raping, you wouldn't have gotten beaten" http://bit.ly/vIVuDD #mencallmethings (link)

● [TW] "Oh and that guy that raped you. Fucking owned your ass." http://bit.ly/t60iIp #mencallmethings (link)

● Also, I have been called a liar by rape apologists. Over and over and over. #mencallmethings (link)

● @mistyclifton was the 1st Shakesville mod (besides me). We could write an entire #mencallmethings book from deleted comments alone, lolsob. (link)

● A member of The Weaker Sex. LULZ. #mencallmethings (link)

● I do so love the irony of the women who put up with this shit day in and day out being called "oversensitive." #mencallmethings (link)

● Weak! Hypersensitive! Reactionary! Hysterical! Easily offended! Possessor of delicate lady fee-fees! LULZ. #mencallmethings (link)

● Whoooooooooooops turns out we're not weak or oversensitive; we do not crumble, even under 10 metric fucktons of harassment. #mencallmethings (link)

● [in response to @SadyDoyle tweeting: "'Self-absorbed/bragging/self-involved' thing might be my favorite #mencallmethings. Makes it clear that you liking yourself is the problem."] Liking and respecting other women seems to be a pretty big sticking point with these harassers, too. #gofigure #mencallmethings (link)

● #mencallmethings: Stupid. At least, that is the implication when people feel obliged to inform me "not all men are like that." (link)

● #mencallmethings: Unfair. That, too, is the implication when people feel obliged to inform me "not all men are like that." (link)

● #mencallmethings: Mean. That, too, is the implication when people feel obliged to inform me "not all men are like that," as if I don't know. (link)

● It's not that I'm asserting "all men" harass women. I'm reporting that all the harassment I've received is from men. #mencallmethings (link)

● Deliberately eliding that distinction in order to call ME stupid, irrational, reactionary, etc. is a rich irony indeed. #mencallmethings (link)

● #mencallmethings just since this hashtag started: Head hog / Fat bitch / Cunt / Ugly / Whore / Liar / Evil / Hysteric / Easily offended (link)

● #mencallmethings just since this hashtag started: Hypersensitive / Toad / Unfuckable / Unrapeable / Every variation on fat imaginable. (link)

● Oftentimes, it's not that #mencallmethings. It's just that they don't link to me or support my work because they quietly agree [with the harassers]. (link)

● There are men who are ostensibly political allies who quietly call me "too strident, too hysterical, too FEMINISTY." #mencallmethings (link)

● They fancy themselves fundamentally different from trolls who want to silence by shouting, but silencing by marginalization is different only in that it lacks the honesty of its misogynist convictions. #mencallmethings (link and link)

Quote of the Day

[Trigger warning for sexual violence, medical malfeasance, racism, misogyny, disablism, and victim-blaming.]

"I'm crushed. They cut me open like I was a hog. ... I have to carry these scars with me. I have to live with this for the rest of my life."—Elaine Riddick, who was a 13-year-old girl when she was raped and impregnated by a man who was never held accountable, then legally sterilized without her consent after giving birth nine months later.

Riddick's records reveal that a five-person state eugenics board in Raleigh had approved a recommendation that she be sterilized. The records label Riddick as "feebleminded" and "promiscuous." They said her schoolwork was poor and that she "does not get along well with others."

Riddick, who is black, is one of 7,600 people sterilized in North Carolina between 1929 and 1974, 85% of whom were female, and 40% of whom were people of color.

She is one of the estimated 2,000 survivors, many of whom are bravely telling their stories as the state tries to figure out reparations, even though as Governor Beverly Perdue rightly notes: "There isn't enough money in the world to pay these people for what has been done to them."

#mencallmethings

Sady Doyle started a hashtag on Twitter so female bloggers could share some of the vitriol they receive from a seemingly never-ending cavalcade of thunderfucks in their inboxes and comments sections. Check out #mencallmethings, where I direct you with a trigger warning. It ain't pretty. And it's almost certainly worse than you even imagine.

I've contributed a bunch of stuff already, and will continue to submit as time allows.

Occupy Everywhere & Economic News Round-Up

Demonstrators wearing V-masks sit in front of a Commerzbank branch as they take part in a protest march as part of the 'Occupy Frankfurt' movement in Frankfurt am Main, on October 29, 2011 to protest against the financial system. Inspired by the US Occupy Wall Street movement and Spain's 'Indignants', the 'Occupy Frankfurt' protesters have erected in October around 50 tents in the city-centre park next to the ECB's Eurotower headquarters. [Getty Images]

Here's some of what I've been reading this morning [trigger warning for sexual violence]...

Yesterday, scatx and I had the following exchange on Twitter about increasing reports of violent misogyny and sexual violence at various Occupy locations, which I'll just reprint here for those who aren't on Twitter:

Me: RT @CathElliott Woah: RT @SW9Red: So for the third time of asking...Will @OccupyLSX apologise for retweeting this misogynist shit. [The link goes to an image of Occupy Finsbury Square's "Carve a Feminist Pumpkin Competition" winner, which is a pumpkin roughly carved to look like it's got a dick in its mouth.]

scatx: @shakestweetz Also, this: [TW] RT @xeni: #occupyGlasgow assault reported to have been a gang rape of a pregnant woman. bit.ly/uLGrSG [The link leads to a blog post which details reports of the event.]

Me: @scatx Oh god. We need to start an Occupy Rape Culture.

scatx: @Shakestweetz Yes, true. It's fucking depressing. I've been meaning to blog about this since Josh Harkinson tweeted a couple weeks ago about a sexual assault at ows in NYC and progs on Twitter were like, "Be quiet or it will hurt the movement!"

Me: @scatx Without a trace of irony. Uh, no: Silencing sexual assault survivors hurts the movement.

Again, I will note my consternation that so many of these "radicals" continue to be held in thrall by the most conservative of kyriarchal prejudices and ancient tactics of oppression. Listen, if your revolution doesn't implicitly and explicitly include a rejection of misogyny and other intersectional marginalizations, then you're not staging a revolution: You're staging a change in management.

* * *

First up in news: The MF Global meltdown, the 7th largest bankruptcy in US history.

Bloomberg/Businessweek—MF Global, Beacon Power, Real Mex, Lehman, PPI, NEC: Bankruptcy: "MF Global Holdings Ltd., a New York- based holding company for commodities and derivatives brokers, filed for Chapter 11 protection yesterday in New York after the New York Federal Reserve suspended the company from doing new business as a primary dealer. Later in the day, the Securities Investor Protection Corp. initiated a liquidation proceeding against the brokerage subsidiary, MF Global Inc. A finance subsidiary named MF Global Finance USA Inc. is also in Chapter 11 alongside the parent."

Reuters Video—MF Global files for bankruptcy.

Reuters—Traders try to limit damage from MF Global collapse.

Henry Blodget at Business Insider—Wow, Jon Corzine—Way to Fly Your Company into a Mountain: "Well, this one's right up there with the most spectacular CEO disasters ever. Yesterday, 18 months after Jon Corzine took over the helm of MF Global with the goal of building it into a real investment bank, he flew the company into a mountain. Why? Because part of becoming a real investment bank, apparently, is betting the company. Jon Corzine bellied up to the global market tables, bet MF Global, and lost. Specifically, the former head of Goldman Sachs and governor of New Jersey authorized his traders to scarf up $6 billion in bonds issued by Spain, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, and Ireland. The bet, presumably, was that the powers-that-be in Europe would bail out these and other bondholders to the tune of 100 cents on the dollar, because in our global bailout spree, that's what powers-that-be do. Oops."

Atrios comments that the MF bankruptcy is "a reminder that the current International Great Casino is almost entirely about betting on just who will or will not be bailed out by governments and central banks. Betting on what central banks are going to do is always a part of this stuff, but in 'normal times' (remember them? me neither) that's about betting on whether they're going to raise or lower rates by 25 basis points. But now the bets are about just where the free money howitzer is going to be aimed."

And Yves Smith takes a look at the reports that customer accounts were pilfered at MF Global.

Next up: Domestic News!

CNN Money—Home prices heading for triple-dip: "The besieged housing market has even further to fall before home prices really hit rock bottom. According to Fiserv, a financial analytics company, home values are expected to fall another 3.6% by next June, pushing them to a new low of 35% below the peak reached in early 2006 and marking a triple dip in prices. Several factors will be working against the housing market in the upcoming months, including an increase in foreclosure activity and sustained high unemployment, explained David Stiff, Fiserv's chief economist. Should home values meet Fiserv's expectations, it would make it the third (and lowest) trough for home prices since the housing bubble burst."

The Hill—Larson: More needs to be done on housing: "Echoing a growing number of House Democrats, Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) warned Tuesday that the Obama administration's new anti-foreclosure strategy alone won't solve the housing crisis. Larson, who heads the House Democratic Caucus, said the administration's new housing reforms are 'a good step' toward stabilizing the volatile housing market but more needs to be done to help struggling Americans keep their homes. 'Our caucus is pleased to see the president come up with his program,' Larson said during a press briefing in the Capitol, 'Our caucus would like to see more done, as well.'"

AnnArbor—Eric Cantor criticizes 'wealth redistribution' and Occupy protesters during University of Michigan speech: "Inside the University of Michigan League, U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, spoke of the opportunity of Americans to move up 'the economic ladder.' Outside, a group of about 70 students and Ann Arbor residents protested a perceived economic inequality that they say makes it too difficult to climb that ladder."

The Hill—Supercommittee panelists would take hit if they fail to get debt deal: "Three weeks out with no deal in sight, the risk of failure is mounting for members of the congressional supercommittee on deficit reduction. ... Washington's political establishment has looked to the panel's Nov. 23 deadline as a pivotal moment in the national debate over federal deficits. It is the culmination of the year's battles in Congress, which almost resulted in a government shutdown in April and a national default in August. To fall short of the $1.2 trillion minimum goal necessary to avoid automatic cuts would come as an overwhelming letdown that would likely roil the stock market as well as the political landscape."

CNN Money—20 biggest CEO pay raises.

Meanwhile, in Europe...

Reuters—UK factory sector contracts at fastest pace in 2 years: "The manufacturing sector contracted at its fastest pace in more than two years in October as new orders plummeted, adding to signs that the country is teetering on the brink of recession, a survey showed on Tuesday. ... The numbers provide grim reading for policymakers and politicians, coming just ahead of data expected to show the economy grew a lacklustre 0.4 percent last quarter having basically flatlined in the previous nine months."

New York Times—Markets Slide After Surprise Referendum Is Set by Greece: "European markets slid dramatically on Tuesday after Prime Minister George A. Papandreou stunned the continent's leaders with a surprise announcement late Monday that his government would hold a referendum on a new aid package for Greece. The proposed ballot measure would put Greek austerity measures—and potentially membership in the euro zone—to a popular vote for the first time, risking Mr. Papandreou's political future and threatening even greater turmoil both among the countries that share the single currency and further afield. His announcement sent tremors through Europe's see-sawing markets on Tuesday, with bank stocks taking a particular hammering because of their exposure to Greek debt."

And globally...

The Guardian—Jobs crisis threatens global wave of social unrest, warns ILO: "The International Labour Organisation has warned that a jobs crisis caused by the slowdown in the global economy threatens a wave of widespread social unrest engulfing both rich and poor countries. ... [The organisation's World of Work study] found that only half the 80m jobs needed to return employment to its pre-crisis levels were likely to be created over the next two years, and that the stalling of the global recovery was already leading to an increase in joblessness. ... In a new 'social unrest' index, the ILO said there was growing unhappiness over the lack of jobs and anger over perceptions that the burden of the crisis is not being shared fairly. It noted that in over 45 of the 118 countries examined, the risk of social unrest is rising, with particular signs of tension in the EU, the Arab region and to a lesser extent Asia."

An Observation

It is amazing to me how many companies, in the year 2011, will not talk to me even if both Iain's and my names are on the account.

If Only Women Could Think for Themselves...!

Then we wouldn't need laws like this:

One of the nation's most restrictive abortion laws went into effect Wednesday in North Carolina after a federal judge temporarily halted the law's most controversial requirement — that a woman getting an abortion must first view a narrated ultrasound image of the fetus.

U.S. District Court Judge Catherine Eagles ordered a preliminary injunction late Tuesday, ruling that the ultrasound requirement likely violates patients' First Amendment rights.

She upheld other sections of the law, including a 24-hour waiting period to provide information on abortion risks and alternatives.

Because adult women are actually ninny-brained infants who need forcible help making decisions about their own bodies, and not autonomous rational actors who have already made a considered choice for themselves to terminate before they make an appointment for the actual medical procedure.

Well, at least the mandated ultrasound portion has been blocked, and the ACLU is on the case.

The American Civil Liberties Union and four pro-choice groups contended in a lawsuit filed last month that requiring women to view ultrasound images and providing an opportunity to hear the fetal heartbeat promotes government-mandated ideology. Proponents of the law, passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature in July over the veto of Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue, say the requirement would promote childbirth and protect women from emotional trauma.

...Eagles said the provision is "likely to harm the psychological health of the very group the state purports to protect."

Indeed.

Again I will note—as I do each time one of these mandated ultrasound bills is being debated with the inevitable justification that its supporters are just trying to Very Helpfully "provide women with more information"—that if an altruistic helpfulness were the authentic motivation, then women would be offered a choice as to whether they want to get the ultrasound.

But, of course, these paternalistic scolds are not offering anything kind or decent; they are merely demanding the legal right to try to shame women into not getting abortions, because they believe, wrongly, that women seeking abortions are in denial about being pregnant, or detached from their natural desire to mother, or some other nonsense, and if only they see a picture of the BABY! they will change their fickle and delicate minds.

Being forced to view an ultrasound does not, however, change the reality for a pregnant woman—and there are few minds less persuadable than the mind of a woman who does not want to be pregnant. Which is why even straight-up criminalizing abortion doesn't stop women from getting them.

Forcing a pregnant person to look at an ultrasound will not change the circumstances that made her seek an abortion: If you don't want a child, if you can't afford a child, if you had a contraceptive failure, if you were raped, if you just lost your job, if you found out the fetus will die as soon as it's born, if you're pregnant by someone who became abusive, if you've been diagnosed with a life threatening illness, or a non-life threatening but life-changing illness or disability, if your existing child has become ill, if your spouse has become ill, if your parent has become ill, if your psychiatric medication is incompatible with pregnancy, if you lost your health insurance, if…if…if a million other variables, if any of a million reasons why women seek abortions, looking at an ultrasound will not matter.

The Ultrasound Gang just can't conceive that there are women who make the measured, rational, self-interested decision to terminate a pregnancy. "But there's a BABY in there!" they insist, and they don't understand that there are millions of women who will reply, with or without regret, "Yes, I know. That's the problem."