Pranks and the Rape Culture

[Trigger warning for bullying/child abuse, incest, sexual violence.]

Yesterday, I wrote about a school-sanctioned parental prank at a high school in Minnesota, in which sports captains were blindfolded and promised a special kiss from a classmate, but were instead kissed by their parents. In the video of the incident, parents can be seen planting big smooches on their kids; one parent-child couple rolls around on the floor, and one mom grabs her son's hand and puts it on her butt. The entire scene is played for huge laughs.

Shaker Demivierge dropped into comments the link to an editorial in the local newspaper, which runs interference on behalf of the school and parents. There's a lot of minimizing and excuse-making and finger-wagging at anyone who takes issue with the "prank," and then there's this pathetic admonishment not to believe your lying eyes:

The parents hammed it up as they played their part. At least, we assume nobody was making out as intensely as the video seems to show. [Rosemount High School principal John Wollersheim] and others who were there say they weren't, and we tend to believe them. Parents have taken the opportunity at many other RHS pep fests to make their kids a little uncomfortable, but we suspect they'd all draw the line at the kind of passionate kisses the video seemed to show.

Just casually assuming that every parent would "draw the line" at sexual intimacy with hir own child is absurd. I also wrote yesterday about the CDC survey which found that "Nearly 1 in 5 women (18.3%) and 1 in 71 men (1.4%) in the United States have been raped at some time in their lives," and, of those survivors, 42.2% of female victims experienced their first completed rape before age 18, and 27.8% of male victims experienced their first rape when they were 10 years of age or younger. Over half of all survivors reported being raped by someone they knew.

Some of those children who were raped by someone they knew were raped by their parents. And many more will have been subjected to inappropriate sexual contact that doesn't meet the technical definition of rape.

Do the editors of the Rosemount TownPages believe that a parent who sexually abuses hir child will self-select out of a public event at which they have been given license to make out with hir kid? Because that's not how abusers work. That there was even a chance that a parent who's sexually abused hir kid just got an official stamp of approval from mandated reporters to go for it should underline how incredibly inappropriate this incident was, irrespective of what it "looked like," or what we might like to assume.

And, listen, I'm not a parent (but I am a daughter), and it's my impression that most parents, even the best ones, sometimes forget what it's like to be a kid. That's not a function of parenting; it's a function of human nature. I forget sometimes what it's like to be a kid, inclined as are we all to cast our minds backwards and look out through the eyes of memory with perspectives and instincts formed in the intervening years.

But I suspect that what constitutes a not-passionate kiss to me now, as an adult woman, would be very different than what constituted a not-passionate kiss to me as a teenage girl. A standard good-night kiss with my husband would have turned my legs to jelly when I was an unsophisticated kid, so new to the world of sexuality that when the math teacher on whom I had a crush gave me an entirely appropriate kiss on the cheek at the end of the year, I nearly fainted. (Or jizzed in my pants. Or both.)

I guess I'm just not sure that what feels not-passionate to a parent who knows zie's kissing hir kid definitely feels the same way to the kid who doesn't know zie's kissing hir parent. And that's is, suffice it to say, a problem.

More Parental Prankery

[Trigger warning for bullying/child abuse and incest.]

If you thought the Jimmy Kimmel Christmas prank was bad (it was! it was sooooo terrible!), get a load of the cool parents at Rosemount High in Minnesota who pranked their kids by blindfolding them and then making out with them: "And these are not just innocent pecks on the lips. The parents are intimately lip-locking their children for several seconds. One even progresses to rolling around on the gym floor. In another instance, a mother moves her son's hand south so he's grasping her butt."

To be clear: The kids were blindfolded. The parents were not. They knew they were kissing their kids, and they laughed uproariously as the kids were further embarrassed by being interviewed about what they thought of the kiss. "Luscious lips," answers one young man, before it is revealed he kissed his mother. My god.

There is video at the link, which I am not going to embed here, and I was pretty skeeved out watching it (to put it mildly). It's terrible enough that these kids were obliged into accepting "a kiss" while blindfolded in the first place, no less that they were "pranked" into kissing their own parents (some of whom might have previously sexually abused their kids). What a horror.

I quite honestly cannot begin to imagine why any parent would participate in this activity.

Now that the video is getting attention, the school has apparently apologized for the prank. Except: Schools who are made aware of the abuse of their students are obliged by law to report it. An apology is not enough. The students of Rosemount High should have some assurance that their school won't help orchestrate their abuse. Remedial mandated reporting for everyone, please.

Today in Rape Culture

[Trigger warning for rape culture.]

The CDC has just released the results of a comprehensive national survey on rape and domestic violence. The study, The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, has found that nearly a million women are raped in the US every year.

One million women a year.

Here are some other key findings from the Executive Summary (pdf), none of which should come as any surprise to regular readers of this space:

Nearly 1 in 5 women (18.3%) and 1 in 71 men (1.4%) in the United States have been raped at some time in their lives, including completed forced penetration, attempted forced penetration, or alcohol/drug facilitated completed penetration.

More than half (51.1%) of female victims of rape reported being raped by an intimate partner and 40.8% by an acquaintance; for male victims, more than half (52.4%) reported being raped by an acquaintance and 15.1% by a stranger.

Approximately 1 in 21 men (4.8%) reported that they were made to penetrate someone else during their lifetime; most men who were made to penetrate someone else reported that the perpetrator was either an intimate partner (44.8%) or an acquaintance (44.7%).

An estimated 13% of women and 6% of men have experienced sexual coercion in their lifetime (i.e., unwanted sexual penetration after being pressured in a nonphysical way); and 27.2% of women and 11.7% of men have experienced unwanted sexual contact.

Most female victims of completed rape (79.6%) experienced their first rape before the age of 25; 42.2% experienced their first completed rape before the age of 18 years.

More than one-quarter of male victims of completed rape (27.8%) experienced their first rape when they were 10 years of age or younger.

The study also addressed something that we've discussed previously—experiencing multiple acts of sexual violence in one's lifetime. According to the CDC's findings, more than a third of women who had been raped as minors were also raped as adults.

Surviving sexual violence was also found to correlate with anxiety disorders and chronic health issues: "Both men and women who had been assaulted were more likely to report frequent headaches, chronic pain, difficulty sleeping, limitations on activity, and poor physical and mental health."

(Imagine if the amount of effort put into "ending obesity" because of its alleged drain on the healthcare system were put into dismantling the rape culture. But I digress.)

This news is being greeted with the usual shock and awe:

"That almost one in five women have been raped in their lifetime is very striking and, I think, will be surprising to a lot of people," said Linda C. Degutis, director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which conducted the survey.

"I don't think we've really known that it was this prevalent in the population," she said.

I hate the shock and awe response. Shock and awe is a loyal accomplice to the rape culture, its job to lay the tidy, irresistible pathstones to overwhelmed, where indifference justified by presumed defeat takes root.

I greet these numbers not with surprise, but with steely resolve. Yes, they are terrible. And I stare them in their ugly face and let them try to do their worst to my determination, and then I take a breath and get back to work.

On Rape Prevention Tips

[Trigger warning for rape culture.]

In the wake of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board's victim-blaming anti-rape campaign, and much ensuing debate, Salon's Tracy Clark-Flory has written a piece taking a look at the nature and usefulness of "rape prevention tips" directed at women. I was interviewed for and am quoted in the article.

I do understand the impulse among decent people who have no desire to preemptively victim-blame to nonetheless share "rape prevention tips," really, I do. I even understand the urge to defend the need to share "general safety ideas" with women, during discussions of rape prevention. It is, of course, "common sense" that tips to avoid being mugged are equally as useful to avoid being raped.

But to reiterate the point I made to Tracy: Even the "rape prevention tips" typically offered under the umbrella of "general safety ideas" aren't really practical rape prevention advice. Millions of people get home alone after drinking every night in this country, and the vast majority of them aren't sexually assaulted, so is it actually meaningful advice to warn women against walking home alone, or is it just advice that sounds useful in the void of effective rape prevention (i.e. advice directed at predators, potential predators, and their peer enablers)?

The truth is, there's no such thing as a meaningful "rape prevention tip" for potential victims, because the only surefire way to prevent being raped is to never be in the same space as a determined rapist, over which we often have no control, which is why most survivors have been raped in a familiar place by a person known to them.

Real practical rape prevention is dismantling the rape culture, but that's a lot harder than telling a woman to take a cab to her door, as if everyone can afford cabs—and as if cabbies don't sometimes rape people, too.

Read Tracy's piece here.

Quote of the Day

[Trigger warning for rape culture.]

"We were surprised that participants identified more with the rapists' quotes, and we are concerned that the legitimisation strategies that rapists deploy when they talk about women are more familiar to these young men than we had anticipated."—Dr. Miranda Horvath of Middlesex University, lead researcher on a study to be published in the British Journal of Psychology, which found that "when presented with descriptions of women taken from lads' mags, and comments about women made by convicted rapists, most people who took part in the study could not distinguish the source of the quotes."

[Horvath also noted:] "These magazines support the legitimisation of sexist attitudes and behaviours and need to be more responsible about their portrayal of women, both in words and images. They give the appearance that sexism is acceptable and normal - when really it should be rejected and challenged. Rapists try to justify their actions, suggesting that women lead men on, or want sex even when they say no, and there is clearly something wrong when people feel the sort of language used in a lads’ mag could have come from a convicted rapist."

Dr. Peter Hegarty, of the University of Surrey's Psychology Department, added: "There is a fundamental concern that the content of such magazines normalises the treatment of women as sexual objects. We are not killjoys or prudes who think that there should be no sexual information and media for young people. But are teenage boys and young men best prepared for fulfilling love and sex when they normalise views about women that are disturbingly close to those mirrored in the language of sexual offenders?"

He added that young men should be given credible sex education and not have to rely on lads' mags as a source of information as they grow up.

Anna van Heeswijk, Campaigns Manager for OBJECT, a human rights campaign group which campaigns against the objectification of women, said: "This crucial and chilling piece of research lays bare the hateful messages which seep out of lads' mags and indoctrinate young men's attitudes towards women and girls. When the content of magazines aimed at teenage boys mirrors the attitudes of convicted rapists, alarm bells must ring."

This is a perfect, horrible example of how the rape culture works: Mainstream straight men's magazines normalize the narratives of the rape culture using language indistinguishable from that of actual rapists, which not only communicates to sexual predators that their predation is normal (functioning the same way as rape jokes), but inures the rest of the male population to the horror of sexual violence and encourages sympathy with predators rather than victims, thus creating a culture disinclined to believe victims and hold predators accountable.

Frequently, people who object to the notion of the rape culture misunderstand that critics of the pieces of the rape culture, like objectifying lads' mags which undermine the concept of consent, are arguing: "Lads' mags cause men to rape."

That is not what I am saying.

What I am saying is that the misogynist content of straight lads' mags normalizes the attitudes and narratives that rapists use to justify raping women—and that as long as men who aren't rapists share those attitudes, they are much less likely to convict rapists, because to do so feels like indicting themselves.

[H/T to @scatx.]

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.

Sexual Abuse Also Happens Outside of Penn State

[Trigger warning for sexual abuse]

The day after the Penn State Board of Trustees fired Joe Paterno and PSU president Graham Spanier for covering up rape and sexual abuse by assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, a woman called the Syracuse police to allege that Syracuse assistant men's basketball coach Bernie Fine had molested one of her friends over an extended period of time. This set off a chain of events that has thus far led Syracuse University to fire coach Fine.

Authorities are closely examining the allegations against Fine nine years after this victim first contacted the Syracuse police and the Syracuse Post-Standard, eight years after he contacted ESPN, and six years after SU conducted an internal investigation. (Deadspin has a timeline of events.)

A few things have changed since 2002. Syracuse has a new police chief. In light of both the renewed interest in the allegations and events at Penn State, two more victims have came forward. As Fine allegedly abused one of these men in another state, the federal government still has time left under the statute of limitations to prosecute the coach. This was not the case with alleged abuse that occurred within New York. Oh, and also a pair of famous college coaches at Penn State are in deep trouble because one of them raped and otherwise abused some children, while the other one covered for him.

Now the police, media, and SU are suddenly very interested in finding out what happened.

Call me skeptical, but it seems like Joe Paterno has to get fired for folks with power to care about coaches sexually abusing children. This, in turn, discourages victims from coming forward.

Since Fine's first accuser came forward, he's been ignored for years and publicly condemned by legendary SU men's basketball coach Jim Boeheim (who subsequently issued a tepid quasi-apology). Meanwhile, after SU fired the abuser in light of substantial evidence that corroborates the victim's allegations, the Syracuse Post-Standard still seems unclear about nine years' worth of inaction. ("When the allegations first broke", SU did not "quickly [place] Fine on administrative leave" [emphasis mine].)

True to form, today's New York Times contains a lengthy story on Bernie Fine, much of which details what a great guy he is, despite getting fired for molesting boys.

As long as were swimming in a rape culture, sexual abuse will continue to be appallingly common and largely unprosecuted.

Once More, With Feeling

Again: 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.

I dedicate this to you, OccupyChicago.

Whoooooooops You Are Hugging a Rapist

[Trigger warning for rape culture; Polanski stuff.]

This is the worst thing I have seen all day. It's a picture of actress Kate Winslet hugging and kissing director Roman Polanski at the premiere of their new movie, God of Carnage, about which I wrote previously here.

It's not fair to hold women to a higher standard of principled intolerance of rape culture, and I really try not to do that, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't find it less comprehensible to me when women literally embrace an admitted rapist of other women.

And Winslet is, in truth, a particular disappointment to me because she has, in the past, been so vocal about issues surrounding body image, weight, and the industry tricks used to synthetically perfectify famous women. It's tough to see a woman who is so clever and outspoken on the artifice of beauty designed to make people feel awful about their bodies be so profoundly indifferent to a rape culture designed to facilitate the abuse of those same bodies.

That is my thoughtful, measured, intellectual response to looking at that picture. And this is my unthoughtful, visceral, lip-curling response to looking at that picture: You're gross, Kate Winslet. Yuck.

Quote of the Day

[Trigger warning for misogyny.]

"Ew, gross! Who the hell does this ugly bitch think she's fooling?"—Contributor MP at the website of the Herman Cain PAC, referring to Karen Kraushaar, one of the women who received a settlement in the 1990s after alleging that Cain sexually harassed her.

Because of course "ugly bitches" can't be sexually harassed. Gee, where have I heard that before...?

Here is a screenshot, in case they ever have the decency to take it down and the indecency to do so without acknowledgment that it ever happened.

[H/T to Lauri Apple.]

#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."

Open Thread: New Cain Allegations

[Trigger warning for sexual violence.]

Sharon Bialek, the fourth woman to make allegations of sexual harassment against Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain just gave a press conference detailing the alleged event, and what she described is more accurately called sexual assault:

Bialek says Cain took her to the NRA offices — she thought they were going inside, but Cain reached under her skirt to grab her genitals and tried to force her head down to his crotch. She says she said: "What are you doing? That's not what I came here for." To which she alleges Cain responded "You want a job don't you?"

Bialek says she didn't file a complaint because she didn't work for the NRA.

"I am coming forward to give a face and a voice to those women who, for whatever reason, cannot come forward."

There's going to be a lot of victim-blaming and a lot of rape apologia in the media. That will not be allowed in this thread.

I've got no more commentary than I had previously: I believe these women, and I have no reason not to believe them. Neither does anyone else.

Assange Loses Extradition Appeal

Well, this is some interesting news:

The WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, has lost his high court appeal against extradition to Sweden to face rape allegations.

Lord Justice Thomas and Mr Justice Ouseley on Wednesday handed down their judgment in the 40-year-old Australian's appeal against a European arrest warrant issued by Swedish prosecutors after rape and sexual assault accusations made by two Swedish women following his visit to Stockholm in August 2010.

Assange, who was wearing a navy blue suit, pale blue tie and a Remembrance Day poppy, remains on bail pending a decision on a further appeal. The judges ruled the issuing of the warrant and subsequent proceedings were "proportionate" and dismissed arguments that the warrant had been invalid and descriptions of the alleged offences unfair and inaccurate.

Assange gave no sign of emotion as the judges gave reasons for the decision.

...The judges rejected the appeal on all four grounds made by his legal team, opening up the possibility that Assange could be removed to Sweden by the end of the month.

Lord Justice Thomas said a date would be fixed in three weeks' time to hear any case by Assange that he should be allowed to take the case to the supreme court.

To appeal again, Assange must persuade the judges there is a wider issue of "public importance" at stake in the latest decision. If he is successful in persuading the high court of that, he is likely to remain on conditional bail until a hearing in front of the supreme court. This is unlikely to take place until next year.

If he is denied the right to appeal then British law enforcement officers will be responsible for arranging his removal to Sweden within 10 days.

Assange's lawyers will take 14 days to determine whether they will seek the right to appeal to the supreme court.

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

[Trigger warning for rape culture.]

I'm glad that the sexual harassment allegations against Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain are getting a lot of attention, especially because Republicans tend to get be held to a different (lower) standard than Democrats with a different (lesser) level of scrutiny, and sexual harassment is too important to be casually elided with the "boys will be boys" shrug of indifference it's so frequently given in politics.

But that gladness is cut through with a bolt of suspicion that the focus on Cain is not indicative of an awakened seriousness about sexual harassment, as much as it is evidence that Herman Cain is seen as a weirdo buffoon and sexual abuse of all sorts still the exclusive purview of weirdo buffoons.

That is, these allegations have been given an unusual level of credibility because Herman Cain seems like the sort of guy who might harass women, according to our awful cultural narratives about there being discernible sorts of guys who might harass women—not aggressive, entitled, privileged, powerful men (of which Herman Cain is also one), but weirdo buffoons.

Herman Cain is, of course, also a Black weirdo buffoon, and I imagine that has rather something unfortunate to do with the uncommonly fervent attention given to sexual harassment allegations against an unserious candidate, too.

[Note: This is not an argument that allegations against Cain should receive less scrutiny. If there is an argument being made, it is that allegations against other politicos should receive more.]