A True Innovator

Muktar Mai scores another one for Pakistani women. I am in utter awe of her courage, determination, and general bad-ass-ness.

Proving Once Again that Obama Is Good For Gay Rights {And a Label Harrogate Could Not Resist}

From the AP:

The Associated Press has learned that the Obama administration will sign a U.N. declaration calling for the worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality that President George W. Bush had refused to endorse.

U.S. officials said Tuesday they had notified the French sponsors of the declaration that the administration wants to be added as a supporter of the declaration. The Bush administration was criticized in December when it was the only Western government that refused to sign.

The officials said the administration had decided to sign the declaration to demonstrate that the United States supports human rights for all around the world.

Music for a Tuesday

Just like the cover of Macy here. Makes me want to get a good recording to run through B&Ws.

Monday Musical Tribute

Sit back, sip the coffee for a few minutes, and reflect on Beauty.

"The case against breast-feeding"

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The article, "The Case Against Breast-feeding," by Hanna Rosin (from this month's The Atlantic), has been discussed elsewhere various members of TRS. I found this interview with Dr. Nancy Snyderman and Hanna Rosin, which was on this morning's Today Show, really interesting. For the record, I like Snyderman a lot. Each time I see an interview with her, I think she gives really practical advice, especially about medical issues associated with kids, often saying things like "Here is what I'd say to do as a doctor, and here is what I have done as a parent." I like that she recognizes that there is often a disconnect b/w the medical science and parenting.

As for Rosin's argument that breast-feeding may not always be the best choice for mothers, I agree. I find her argument that few people consider the time commitment associated with breast-feeding really compelling. I devoted a lot of time to breast-feeding Wild Man, especially in the first year of his life. It became less time consuming the older he got, and I'm glad I was in a position to breast feed exclusively. Not all mothers are, and not all mothers want to. And rather than continue the debate (which I find to be remarkably like the working mom vs. the stay-at-home mom debate), we should accept that this is a highly personal decision.

Oh, and for the record, I also agree with Rosin that the scientific evidence touting the medical benefits of breast-feeding isn't particularly compeling. For more on this, read articles by Joan Wolf, including this one.

Cheney To The Rescue

If you just look at it in terms of what has actually happened, it is quite amazing that he just comes out and does John King's show on CNN, and King treats him with all this respect and everyone acts like its normal, a Vice President with a vast store of experience and a perspective to give.

As opposed, say, to a corporate mouthpiece with blood on his hands.

But anywho. Check out this little framejob by Powerline, a Rightist web site that consistently shilled for President Bush throughout.

The money line:

The contrast between Cheney's lucidity and the babbling brook who now serves as Vice President is painful.

Geez. Harrogate's not a big Biden fan, but that statement right there, that's just embarrassing writing Powerline. Even for you guys, this is caricature.

Oxy?

Before we handle the annual APB for Harrogate, we must address this question, which deserves to be taken seriously:

Oxy? Where are you?

Newswriting & Public Humiliation: How Many Different Ways Can One Guy Get Messed Up Anyway?

After a string of highly serious posts (perhaps most emblemized by Harrogate's Walter Egan tribute) it is time perhaps for some fun, if slightly mean-spirited, celebrity gossip.

The first two words of the headline, "Madonna wins in custody row with Guy", are the most important words in this story.

In that context you gotta love the last sentence in the story. Hmmm. Which reminds Harrogate, A-ROD nowhere to be found in the sublime world of Madge these days. Maybe she discovered that the rumors about steroids "side effects" are not only true, but also not really what one would call a "side effect."

Stop the Prison Rape Jokes

One of the saddest aspects of our popular culture is the ubiquity of the prison rape jokes. The reference to prison rape for comedic effect operates as a blight on several standup comedic acts, songs, sitcoms, and a range of "harmless," fun movies including Mallrats and Office Space.

As all theory heads know, the ubiquity internalizes, normalizes prison rape, when reason dictates it would be no more common to joke about this than it would to joke about any other kind of rape. It is after all rape.

Which brings us to this little piece by Doug Giles, one of Townhall's resident "Tough Guy Conservatives." You know the type he styles himself to be: he's a man's man, he hunts and kicks butt and takes names and he doesn't truck with them there elitist intellectuals. No sirree.

Anyway. The column is about what a bad guy Chris Brown is and by extension how bad the "hip-hop culture" is and by extension how much better conservatives are than liberals since after all, chances are very low that the makers and purveyors of "gangster rap videos" vote Republican.

But here's the snippet on prison rape. Harrogate read this and realized that during the existence of this glorious blog, he has never yet used it to express his disbelief that the culture is still okay with speaking of prison rape cavalierly.

Affect-Loaded Snippet:

Where I hail from (the great nation of Texas) men don’t do that to women, but the guys dumb enough to usually get the stuffing beat out of them by the girl’s dad or brothers—or both. After that near-death butt kickin’ administered to the girl-abusing loser by chivalrous men who love the women in their lives, the wussy would then proceed on to prison where he’d become the abused girlfriend of several randy inmates. It’s called jailhouse justice. And I like it.

This has nothing to do with "political correctness," though a professional neanderthal like Giles would probably try to put it in that category. Just a simple reminder for those who needed it, rape isn't funny. That's all.

Bombers

So as times get worse economically, let the fear tactics begin again: kids with guns in college and nuclear bombers in Cuba and Venezuela??? WTF???

Did Russia not learn that spending ridiculous amounts of money of weaponry of fear, invading countries to institute your regime, and etc. in an effort to spread your ideology globally gets you no where and broke???

Hmmm, sound familiar?

Friday Night Waits

From the inestimable Real Gone record: "How's It Gonna End."

Assy McGee Award® for 3/13/09: Paul Edwards

The piece is entitled "How I'm Praying for the President."
Just. Wow.

Representative Spewage:

Based on the policy positions alone, there is solid evidence that Barack Obama has made himself an enemy of God and the enemy of God’s people.

Update: Rhianna and Chris Brown...

...did not record a duet together. Whew. Now I can stop worrying about the personal drama being experienced by people that I don't know.

I might become a Radiohead fan, after all.

Because I now heart Thom Yorke.

And they think grade inflation is bad *now*...

Republican senator Jeff Wentworth (San Antonio, TX) has introduced a bill to the Texas Legislature that would permit people to carry concealed weapons on college campuses. His reasoning is as follows:

"I don't want to wake up and read in the paper that Texas students were mowed down like sitting ducks on campus because they weren't allowed to defend themselves," said Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, who is filing the "campus carry" bill this week. "It's a matter of personal safety and self defense." (from the Dallas News 2/24/09)

As a college instructor, I find this bill to be quite terrifying. I would feel very uncomfortable knowing that my students may be armed--I wonder if the schools would issue bullet proof vests to the faculty and staff? And what about the intimidation factor? Some students are a little frightening in their responses to a bad grade *without* weapons.

Plus, the idea that we'll be "safer" if everyone armed and able to properly defend themselves from mentally unstable attackers makes no sense to me. Sounds like a lot of freaked out people running around campus with guns to me.

Late, Late Thursday Musical Tribute

Harrogate has always liked this song.

To borrow the language of metaphor, it is almost as though the song were a magnet, and Harrogate steel.

Fun With Vanity Fair: What Arguments Are Being Made in these Pics, and Which Do Ye Like Best?

Tip of the Hat to Supadiscomama, who moments ago drew Harrogate's attention to the existence of the following Rhetorical Siuation.

March 2006. Scarlett Johannson, Tom Ford, Kiera Knightley (annotated as FORD'S FOUNDATION):




March 2009. Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel and Jonah Hill (annotated as The Pretty Young Things):

And we're supposed to take all the posturing about economic cut back seriously?

Congress is still slated to get automatic pay hike.

Do they really need to make more than $174,000 a year?

Seriously?

From CNN:

Singer Chris Brown has recorded a song with his reported girlfriend, Rihanna, just days after charges were filed against him for allegedly assaulting her, the record's producer said Thursday through a publicist.

What should be the name of the song? "(Even though I should) I can't quit you babe."

Other suggestions?

College Courses in America

Here is a list of the Fifteen Strangest College Courses in America. They are:

15. Arguing with Judge Judy: Popular ‘Logic’ on TV Judge Shows, University of California, Berkeley

14. Underwater Basket Weaving, University of California, San Diego

13. Learning From YouTube, Pitzer College

12. Philosophy and Star Trek, Georgetown University

11. The Art of Walking, Centre College (a philosophy class on Immanuel Kant)

10. Daytime Serials: Family and Social Roles, University of Wisconsin

9. Joy of Garbage, Santa Clara University

8. The Science of Superheroes, University of California at Irvine (about physics)

7. Zombies in Popular Media, Columbia College, Chicago

6. The Science of Harry Potter, Frostburg State University (no lab work required)

5. Cyberporn and Society, State University of New York at Buffalo

4. Simpsons and Philosophy, University of California-Berkeley

3. Far Side Entomology, Oregon State

2. Myth and Science Fiction: Star Wars, The Matrix, and Lord of the Rings, Centre College

1. The Strategy of StarCraft, University of California, Berkley

Only one of these is a rhetoric class, the class on Judge Judy. Yet, even though it is on Judge Judy, it is a very smart class, especially for freshman. According to the description:

TV "Judge" shows have become extremely popular in the last 3-5 years. A fascinating aspect of these shows from a rhetorical point of view is the number of arguments made by the litigants that are utterly illogical, or perversions of standard logic, and yet are used over and over again. For example, when asked "Did you hit the plaintiff?" respondents often say, "If I woulda hit him, he'd be dead!" This reply avoids answering "yes" or "no" by presenting a perverted form of the logical strategy called "a fortiori" argument ["from the stronger"] in Latin. The seminar will be concerned with identifying such apparently popular logical fallacies on "Judge Judy" and "The People's Court" and discussing why such strategies are so widespread. It is NOT a course about law or "legal reasoning." Students who are interested in logic, public disputation, argumentation, and popular notions of fairness will probably be interested in this course. This is NOT a law course or even a pre-law course. This seminar is part of the Food for Thought Seminar Series.

After reading about this, I may try a clip or two next week when we continue to examine reasoning.