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.

And speaking of dogma

CNN reports that current, and maybe soon to be ex, RNC Chairman MIchael Steele needs to "ease concerns" with Republicans because he stated abortion is an individual's choice.
soever.

There must be a point in which we call the Republican party a religion or a cult and not a mere political organization.

Awesome Rhetorical Combat Between Chris Matthews and Ari Fleisher

The kind of clip that Harrogate has been given to understand is known as "Da's Turn" in the Solon household.

Lots to chew on here. Rhetorically speaking, from Harrogate's perspective this battle is a battle in two movements, with Matthews getting somewhat out-maneuvered in the first half (though it will surprise nobody that Harrogate still agreed with what Matthews was trying to argue), and with Matthews at least bringing things to a draw with Fleisher in the second half. Harrogate always said Ari Fleisher was a masterful shit-talker, and it is manifest here that once again, he's good with the demagoguery.

Mostly at stake on the level of substance is rehashing our entry into Iraq. But they also argue about other things that might make a few Situationers' and Readers' blood race, such as whether it is honest, and for that matter whether it is decent for the Bush people to keep bragging that we "didn't get hit again under Bush's watch."

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

For Bristol Palin: A Rambling, Somewhat Boring, but Nevertheless Heartfelt Post about the dangers of Dogmatism

About three weeks ago, Harrogate triggered a barn-burner of a thread in relation to Bristol Palin's interview on Fox, particularly regarding Rightist reactions to her candid statement that abstinence-only education was not realistic. What was at stake in that thread for Harrogate anyway, was the alacrity with so called moral values pundits were willing to throw Bristol overboard as having no credibility on the issue, because she is a teenager.

While numerous other epistemic issues were raised by Situationers, for Harrogate what remains most interesting about the Rhetoric surrounding Bristol is the extent to which these so called "values" pundits are willing to subjugate any and everything to ideology. They are the type of people Harrogate fears. NOT because they believe in abstinence before marriage. NOT because they are religious. NOT because they are conservatives. But because they pass conviction-town and integrity-ville and then keep right on going up the road to doctrine-istan.

There is a class of person--and you can find them as well on the Left as on the Right, as easily in the secular sphere as in the religious--for whom the actual world, including the myriad human beings occupying it, are like proverbial flies in an otherwise perfect ideological ointment.


But anywho. Now we learn that Bristol and Levi may well be breaking up. What will happen as a result of this, in the Right blogosphere? How will the decision of two high-profile human beings, not to have a shotgun wedding, be received in the ideological matrices that lie in wait? Time will tell.


In the meantime, and on a related note, Harrogate found this recent column by Rebecca Hagelin interesting. Unlike other talking heads that Harrogate has recently linked to on this blog, Hagelin's column has the ring on human authenticity: the "Spring Break" that she arranged for her two college Sons sounds absolutely awesome, and you can tell from, her tone that this is a woman who is writing from a place of joy.

Sigh. But the column is also Heavy on the Doctrine, so much so that much of the value of the piece is lost. For example:

Face it: When an adult in authority stands in front of the classroom and directs graphic discussions of sex in every form, forces boys and girls to sit by each other throughout the humiliating lectures, and then further violates the child's natural tendencies to be private or modest, then you end up with kids who follow what they’ve been taught. On the other hand, when kids are treated with dignity, taught the value of abstinence, and how to avoid placing themselves in compromising situations in the first place, the research shows that more of them do, indeed, respond by adopting a lifestyle of self-control and more responsible behavior than those drowning in "sex ed".

This column is rhetorically interesting to Harrogate because it shows how a compelling piece of writing can be ruined by a tedious effort to make everything "fit."

Tee Shirt of the Week® : 3/10/2009

Kind of the inverse of last week's featured tee. Except, with more of a pop culture {heh} thrust.

Five for Smoking but not for Breastfeeding

According to the Dayton Daily News, the Ohio State Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case in which a woman claims she was fired for taking extraand unscheduled restroom breaks to pump breast milk. The company claims that breastfeeding (or pumping) is not a medical condition or an illness.

The woman in question claims that her firing is gender discrimination as she was fired as she attempted to "relieve discomfort due to lactation, a condition exclusive to women." Further, the woman claims that others at her work take extra breaks "to relieve discomfort from menstrual symptoms or the need for frequent urination."

It is not known whether or not the woman spoke to her employer and made arrangements with the company to stay later or arrive earlier to make accommodations for extra time to pump while working.

According to the report:

Totes, which prevailed against Allen in a 2008 trial and a subsequent appeal, argues that the company didn't discriminate because breastfeeding doesn't legally constitute an illness or medical condition. The company says there is legal precedent showing that employers don't have to give extra breaks to breastfeeding women.

Allen, who was hired as a temporary worker through an employment agency, said she began taking the extra breaks at 10 a.m. after she found her 10-minute scheduled break at 8 a.m. was too short and she couldn't stand to wait until her 11 a.m. lunch break.

This should lead to a lively conversation.

Watchmen: A matter of form

This video does not make me comfortable with the big budget translation of Alan Moore's Watchmen from its shadow-throwing domination over the history of graphic literature to its mass-public-appealing new form. Look and see:

I posted this 35 minutes ago

2 funk E, I'm just

http://www.ronwinter.tv/drums.html

Wednesday Musical Tribute, and an Important New Label wherein Harrogate Hopes Readers Will Not Confuse "Country" with "Nation"

A new musical hero emerges in Harrogate's ever burgeoning pantheon. Pieta Brown. The song is "West Monroe." All Harrogate can say to this is Yes.

West Monroe - Pieta Brown

Academic Mothering and Fathering

I just wrote a post at Separation of Spheres about Academic Mothering and Fathering that I wanted to bring to the attention of the Situationers, as I feel it has some relevance to Paperweight's post on "Life as a Prof." I am interested to know what everyone thinks of my musings, as many of us who blog here are either academic mothers and fathers and all of us are part of an academic family.

Life as a prof

So I briefly saw Supa's non-TRS post referencing an essay on the Chronicle of Higher Ed and was curious about the subsequent conversation that followed in some email exchanges that I was not privy to. Part of my interest here is tied into my own experiences moving from a 4/4 load while writing to my dissertation to my current position teaching a 2/2. Although I'm in my first year at the new gig, I feel that I actually wrote more with the heavier course load (excpet of last year, after I finished and was on the market, and said f**k it I'm not writing--for the good or bad on that). There are many reasons why I feel this has happened but before I delve into a such a long diatrade I would be curious to know my fellow situationers perspectives on teaching, research, and even family in this respect??

Quote of the Day

I should be writing but instead I am reading Rush's speech CPAC. As of right now, this is all I have to say: Oh Rush:

"We want every American to be the best he or she chooses to be. We recognize that we are all individuals. We love and revere our founding documents, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. [Applause] We believe that the preamble to the Constitution contains an inarguable truth that we are all endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, among them life. [Applause] Liberty, Freedom. [Applause] And the pursuit of happiness. [Applause] Those of you watching at home may wonder why this is being applauded. We conservatives think all three are under assault."

I wonder: is this a deliberate mistake or does he not know the difference between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution?

But Rush, please know that it is hard for you to make the argument that other people are bastardizing the Constitution if you have no idea what the Preamble of the Constitution actually states. (Hint: "We the people.") This argument seems like you yourself do not know what is in the Constitution, which may explain why you never challenged the Bush Administration when they violated the Constitution.

Regarding the Rush Limbaugh Bruhaha

As everyone knows Rush Limbaugh has been much in the news recently--particularly following his appearance at CPAC this past Saturday. Television and print newspeople as well as boggers have bee intensely arguing ever since, over the merits of Rush, and even over whether or not he is currently the true leader of the Republican Party.


Certainly Rush's galvanizing impact opens myriad issues for consideration. Just recently Harrogate went to the Townhall bloggers to see just how deep up Rush's ass they have crawled at this point. The answer: pretty far.

Here is a clip one of the bloggers showed, wherein CNN's Bill Schneider lampoons Rush's tactics. But what Harrogate most wants to draw your attention to here, Readers, is less the clip, or even Townhall's Green-Blooded Bloggers. Nay. What Harrogate wants ye to see is this comment by one who calls herself (?) "lilly":

It is About Anger
I notice that the most popular Republican speakers on the right are those most gifted at turning a crowd into an angry mob. They get the most appreciation from the crowd by ridiculing, mocking, sneering, jeering, exaggerating, and misrepresenting. I heard Rush Limbaugh the other day pretending to lisp as he mimicked a certain person on the left; try to translate that fake lisp into words and see what the message is and answer the question, Why did the crowd love this? What is there about mocking that so delights them?

I remember at the Republican Convention 2004, Band-Aids were handed out that mocked John Kerry's Purple Heart. Sarah Palin mocked community organizers and all Americans who don't live in small towns or the countryside (not "the Real America"). Last week a Republican mayor entertained his friends by sending out an email showing the White House lawn planted as a watermelon patch. There seems to be something about Republicans that they can't get enough of mocking and sneering---they love it. And sneery mocking doesn't come from love, but from anger.

Are conservatives angry? Judging from what they say on townhall, I would say so: shoot Democrats, stockpile guns, go armed all the time, get ready for armed insurrection, hanging a noose isn't racist, send your kids to a school where they get beaten, load immigrants into trucks and dump them at the border, don't permit foreign languages to be spoken, pass laws to marginalize those you disapprove of. And be sure to make fun of those different from yourself.

This is one of the cleanest, most poignant articulations of what has happened to this nation's Republican Party, that Harrogate has ever seen. And so Harrogate wanted y'all to see it too.

Since Visual Rhetoric Recently Came Up In Another Thread

Presenting the Album cover for Led Zepplin's Houses of the Holy (1973).

Why Marriage Matters

I found this earlier today on Andrew Sullivan and I am still amazed: Annie Leibovitz took out a loan against her life's work to pay off her mortgage debt, not because she made poor economic decisions, but because she needs to pay up to 50% of what she inherited from her long time partner, Susan Sontag.

Meg's first response was, "Holy Sh!t... it is almost not fair that they were together as they are too talented." (As Meg's just pointed out, I am paraphrasing her as this sounds like something I would say, not her.) And, that is true.

Yet, this certainly is a profound argument as to why marriage equality needs to be granted for same-sex couples. Without protection, there will not be economic freedom and economic advancement for couples. Certainly individuals could still live alone; however, without protection, it is not rational to be in a same-sex couple. This perpetuates the problem: why would anyone want to be in a same-sex couple? In fact, it could be a major detriment to be in a same-sex couple. Instead, economically speaking, it would be much more viable to the financial benefit of the individual to remain single, which may perpetuate the of the promiscuous life-style.

Torso Apparel of the Week: 2 March 2009: The Roof Almighty's Even Awesomer TRS Contribution

Tee Shirt of the Week®: Monday, March 2nd: Harrogate's Newest TRS Contribution

A Lament

Harrogate tonight laments the disparate geography of TRS. And it will only get more disparate as time passes.

A statement from Harrogate

Kathleen Sebelius as the new Secertary of HHS. Harrogate is a big fan of this choice. He prefers her much to Daschle.

For what it is worth.

Sunday Night Musical Tribute

Harrogate, like a lot of Situationers, has not had much to give TRS, or much of anything else, these days. But onward we press even when low on fuel.

The record for which this song is the title track, Harrogate has now listened to every day for the last week and a half. Before the record arrived in the mail he posted another wonderful song off it, "Wreck."

Here is "Good Night San Francisco." This band is capturing Harrogate's mood right now, and so now he shares it with ye.

"Spontaneous" Propaganda

A few weeks back on CNBC, a non-descript reporter by the name of Rick Santelli called for a Chicago Tea Party to protest the economic legislation from our current Democratic Congress and the Obama administration. According to The Chicago Tribune, Santelli, who must be oblivious to the past eight years, stated:

"The government is promoting bad behavior," he said, insisting the public should vote "to see if we really want to subsidize the losers' mortgages." This plan, Santelli ranted, reminded him of Cuba, which "used to have mansions and a relatively decent economy" until it "moved from the individual to the collective."

After Santelli rallied against the machine, other conservatives picked up on the "Chicago Tea Party" trope, hoping to start an uber-patriotic grass roots movement.

There is only one problem: the "Chicago Tea Party" grass roots campaign may be nothing more than a top-down movement started by corporate conservative operatives. Showing that people may read the site for the article, the Playboy blog Backstabbers has an interesting take on the situation:

Let’s go back to February 19th: Rick Santelli, live on CNBC, standing in the middle of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, launches into an attack on the just-announced $300 billion slated to stem rate of home foreclosures: “The government is promoting bad behavior! Do we really want to subsidize the losers’ mortgages?! This is America! We're thinking of having a Chicago tea party in July, all you capitalists who want to come down to Lake Michigan, I'm gonna start organizing."

Almost immediately, the clip and the unlikely "Chicago tea party" quote buried in the middle of the segment, zoomed across a well-worn path to headline fame in the Republican echo chamber, including red-alert headlines on Drudge.

Within hours of Santelli's rant, a website called ChicagoTeaParty.com sprang to life. Essentially inactive until that day, it now featured a YouTube video of Santelli’s “tea party” rant and billed itself as the official home of the Chicago Tea Party. The domain was registered in August, 2008 by Zack Christenson, a dweeby Twitter Republican and producer for a popular Chicago rightwing radio host Milt Rosenberg—a familiar name to Obama campaign people. Last August, Rosenberg, who looks like Martin Short's Irving Cohen character, caused an outcry when he interviewed Stanley Kurtz, the conservative writer who first "exposed" a personal link between Obama and former Weather Undergound leader Bill Ayers. As a result of Rosenberg’s radio interview, the Ayers story was given a major push through the Republican media echo chamber, culminating in Sarah Palin’s accusation that Obama was “palling around with terrorists.” That Rosenberg’s producer owns the “chicagoteaparty.com” site is already weird—but what’s even stranger is that he first bought the domain last August, right around the time of Rosenburg’s launch of the “Obama is a terrorist” campaign. It’s as if they held this “Chicago tea party” campaign in reserve, like a sleeper-site. Which is exactly what it was.

ChicagoTeaParty.com was just one part of a larger network of Republican sleeper-cell-blogs set up over the course of the past few months, all of them tied to a shady rightwing advocacy group coincidentally named the “Sam Adams Alliance,” whose backers have until now been kept hidden from public. Cached google records that we discovered show that the Sam Adams Alliance took pains to scrub its deep links to the Koch family money as well as the fake-grassroots “tea party” protests going on today. All of these roads ultimately lead back to a more notorious rightwing advocacy group, FreedomWorks, a powerful PR organization headed by former Republican House Majority leader Dick Armey and funded by Koch money.

And the war came.

The End is Nigh

The Right plans a Civil War. I mean, they don't want it, but we must plan for the "Bubba-Militia Effect."

This War Room Strategy is totally plausible. Thanks Glenn Beck. Why do Militia's develop only when Democrats are in office even as Republicans create a government that takes away rights and relies on unconstitutional surveillance. More here.

It never ends. Life is a permanent state of war. It is only when Democrats control the government that the government is betraying the constitution.

Yet another movie.

"He gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark moustache. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exile from the loving breast! Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother."

And Glenn Beck: where does God stand on the issue of Civil War? I am not sure. Can you find a textual referent about God's position on an imminent Civl War in the U.S.?

DVR Question

So despite my vote for the Pres., do you think it is possible to program the DVR to skip all the standing ovations? Seems like these speeches would be much briefer and more enjoyable.

Sunday Song of the Day.....

Inspired by Supadiscomama as she attempts to grade and, in the process, reject literalism. Good Luck!!!

New Rule: Literally

People should no longer use the word "literally" unless they have passed a course in correct usage of that word--and have the certificate to prove it.

Quote of the Day...

From CNN: "Human rights cannot interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crises."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to China's foreign minister during her visit in China.

This is a haunting quote. According to Yahoo News, Amnesty International has condemned the remarks, as they should have.

Question of the Day: Saturday, February 21, 2009

Providing Presence to Domestic Violence or Invading the Privacy of a Recovering Human?

On Friday, the celebrity gossip site TMZ released the police photograph of Rihanna. (You can see the photo here if you wish.)

The photo reveals the bruises on her face after the pop singer was beaten allegedly by Chris Brown. According to TMZ, Brown received a text message from another woman about meeting later in the day and this text message started the argument between Brown and Rihanna. Brown turned himself in to authorities on February 8th.

The question, of course, involves the leak of the photograph. According to the Times (UK), which reproduced the photo in the story, the LAPD are investigating who leaked the photo of Rihanna to the press. When it investigates cases that involve domestic abuse, the LAPD attempts to maintain the confidentially of the victim of domestic abuse cases and does not release information about the person involved in the case.

It is unknown who or why a person leaked the photo of Rihanna though a reasonable guess would be to cash in on the ordeal.

The question: does the release of the photo violate the privacy of Rihanna or does the release of the photo provide more presence to cases of domestic violence, allowing for more women to come forward if they are involved in this case?

I am not asking about whether or not the release of the photo may alter the investigation in the case though I imagine it could. Rather, I am interested in knowing whether or not readers believe that these photos should not be published because Rihanna, celebrities, or women that suffer in these types of cases should be able to go through these cases without the pressure of the public spotlight; or, on the other hand, if this case is transcendent for the way in which it allows people to see what is kept behind closed doors.

Should a right to privacy cover these cases or does publicity bring of these cases bring something greater to the cause?

The New York Times Reports on Education

This story from The New York Times has been widely discussed but not here, until now.

A recent study by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, found that a third of students surveyed said that they expected B’s just for attending lectures, and 40 percent said they deserved a B for completing the required reading.

“I noticed an increased sense of entitlement in my students and wanted to discover what was causing it,” said Ellen Greenberger, the lead author of the study, called “Self-Entitled College Students: Contributions of Personality, Parenting, and Motivational Factors,” which appeared last year in The Journal of Youth and Adolescence.

Professor Greenberger said that the sense of entitlement could be related to increased parental pressure, competition among peers and family members and a heightened sense of achievement anxiety.

Aaron M. Brower, the vice provost for teaching and learning at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, offered another theory.

“I think that it stems from their K-12 experiences,” Professor Brower said. “They have become ultra-efficient in test preparation. And this hyper-efficiency has led them to look for a magic formula to get high scores.”

James Hogge, associate dean of the Peabody School of Education at Vanderbilt University, said: “Students often confuse the level of effort with the quality of work. There is a mentality in students that ‘if I work hard, I deserve a high grade.’ “

In line with Dean Hogge’s observation are Professor Greenberger’s test results. Nearly two-thirds of the students surveyed said that if they explained to a professor that they were trying hard, that should be taken into account in their grade.

In one of my classes, I am rather unimpressed with my students as most of the them are failing to put in any effort whatsoever. What concerns me most seems to be a total lack of curiosity, which develops even before the students decide as to whether or not they should put any effort into an assignment. They do not seem to read and I mean read anything-- whether it is The New York Times, the books for their course, or literature. [On a side note- I did not assign a textbook this Spring because I could give them notes and readings to avoid over-paying for a text that they would not open.]

The larger issue is cultural and structural: what is the best way to prepare students for higher education so they will develop a sense of curiosity? If you developed this then I do not think that grades would be the focus.

File Under: Do They Think This Will Actually Work?

From Politico:

Under the wise leadership of Michael Steele, the GOP wants to be the Party of Hip Hop:

Newly elected Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele plans an “off the hook” public relations offensive to attract younger voters, especially blacks and Hispanics, by applying the party's principles to “urban-suburban hip-hop settings....”

”There was underlying concerns we had become too regionalized and the party needed to reach beyond our comfort” zones, he said, citing defeats in such states as Virginia and North Carolina. “We need messengers to really capture that region - young, Hispanic, black, a cross section ... We want to convey that the modern-day GOP looks like the conservative party that stands on principles. But we want to apply them to urban-surburban hip-hop settings.”

Interestingly enough, Steele believes that if it uses new technology such as the internets, the party will be able to attract new voters. So, let's clarify: for over forty years, the GOP ran the Southern Strategy, appealing to racial attitudes in voters. Now, because of demographic shifts, bad ideas, and a complete and total governing failure, the GOP thinks it can reverse the past forty years, or completely forget they occurred, and try to reach out to a new audience.

Imagine the ad copy for one of these commercials: "For over forty years, we, as a party, have done everything in our power, to stop economic programs that would help you; to under-fund your schools and make sure your children could not advance in society; and. to label the opposing party as one that would that spoke for non-white minorities. We have told you that you are lazy and it is your own damn fault if you do not succeed like other, wealthier Americans who receive better educations and live in more prosperous neighborhoods and who can always get out of trouble. We have allowed crime to infect your neighborhoods and to make sure you are put in jail more often and for longer periods of time. Time after time, we have run political ads that make it appear you infringe upon what you should not have because we don't want you to have it. Just call Harold Ford to find out.

But times change. Because we have failed at everything we have recently tried, our voters have abandoned us. Now we need your help. Minorities: we will not like you and we will continue to under-fund any programs you need or want. We will continue to criticize your culture as, we believe, it denigrates society. But, please, when you enter the ballot box, remember how stupid you think we your are and vote for us. That is before we eliminate the Voting Rights Act."

I think that the GOP may have an issue with its initial credibility.

Opposing Non-Existent Legislation

I think it would be pretty embarrassing create a political movement in order to oppose legislation that didn't actually exist as the Catholic Church is doing with the Freedom of CHoice Act (FOCA).

Maybe instead of fighting legislation that did not exists, the good ol' Catholic Church could do something useful and oppose other forms of injustice that counters Catholic thought such unjust wars or the death penalty. Maybe it could do a better job of helping lower and middle class families through this time of economic uncertainty.

Instead, the Catholic Church continues to "fight the good fight" against bills that don't exist. Oh, and reinstate Holocaust denying Bishops that are extreme conservatives.

Remind me to never...

...have my picture taken at an event that Gwen and J.Lo are also attending. Everyone looks ugly compared to those women.

Handbaskets, The Middle East, and well, you know the rest. . .

I believe this article explains the title.

Ideology and the Classroom

Maybe Stanley Fish could write a coherent and useful story on an actual threat to Academic Freedom like this story from CNN.

Well, stop me if you heard this one before. Because of a massive budget shortfall-- I wonder who caused it, but I digress,--, State Republican Representatives from Georgia want to control the content of education at the University of Georgia and Georgia State. With the help of the Christian Coalition, the Reps desire to pull funding from programs in which professors cover oral sex, male prostitution, and Queer Theory. Well, professors don't actually teach classes in oral sex or male prostitution, and they especially do not teach these courses as a "how to" course, though those that object insist they may, but two state Republican representatives object to classes in Queer Theory and professors who research oral sex and male prostitution as these topics are not to be considered valid education, especially when there are economic problems.

While the reps cannot directly hire or fire professors, they believe that they can control knowledge through economic means. It does not matter to these reps that the research can produce important knowledge in areas such as HIV. Of course, Christianists don't really care about services or research that can help in an empirical world. According to one report, Reps:

Hill and Byrd were incensed to learn a University of Georgia professor teaches a graduate course on "queer theory." They also took aim at Georgia State University, where an annual guide to its faculty experts lists a sociology lecturer as an expert in oral sex and faculty member Kirk Elifson as an expert in male prostitution."

One of the reps stated:

"Our job is to educate our people in sciences, business, math," said Hill, a vice chairman of the budget-writing House Appropriations Committee. He said professors aren't going to meet those needs "by teaching a class in queer theory."

I am sure that, according to these reps, evolution in Biology is not valid science and should be removed from public universities.

Maybe we should give all students MBAs, that will help our economy recover. It is not as if business professionals, say those with MBAs, who got us into this mess that caused the shortfall. Oops.

A better idea: in order to close the shortfall, let's do something radical: since religion is so heavily connected to politics, especially in Georgia, I believe that we should tax churches and religious organizations. This way churches can continue to interfere in political debates, even if it is better policy to ignore those churches in the area of education, and the state can bring in more revenue by eliminating the tax exemptions churches believe they are entitled to as a price to stay out of politics.

Or maybe the state representatives can go through religious doctrine and pick and choose what is the best and what the people in the state should follow. If the Christian Coalition can know literature, sociology and biology, maybe a few literature professors or state law-makers can become experts in theology or, for some religious organizations, biblical literalism that these organizations employ instead of theology. I am sure that many English professors could provide a better, deeper reading of Leviticus or Job than some ministers and, most likely, these two representatives could.

This is your life GOP. And it is ending one minute at a time.

An Ideologue Responds to Bristol Palin's Interview, Declares it an Uncomfortable Experience

Recently, Supadiscomama celebrated Bristol Palin's handling of her first television interview--particularly Britol's refreshing acknowledgment that abstinence-only education is unrealistic, and her assertion of personal choice with regards to her own pregnancy.

As Sarah Palin remains a model for all that the Republican Party ought to be in the eyes of Townhall bloggers, it was only a matter of time before one of them would break the silence on Bristol's interview, and go into spin control mode.

Asserting that the interview was awkward and "painful to get through," Ericka Andersen today writes that:

In between eye aversions and like, not wanting to get into personal details, Bristol gave us no more insight than a typical confession segment on the Real World. She said she wanted to "prevent" teen pregnancy but called abstinence an "unrealistic" way to think because "its more accepted now" to have sex outside of marriage at a young age. Van Susteren reminded that Bristol's mother supports abstinence-only education. Bristol sounded just like herself -- a teenager who just had a baby out of wedlock.

The money component of all of this is of course the implication that a pregnant, unmarried teenager is hardly qualified to weigh in on the desireability or effectiveness of abstinence-only education.

"So Bristol Palin has spoken and Tripp has been seen by the world," Andersen concludes, compassionately adding: "Here's to hoping I avoid anymore cringe-worthy interviews like this one."

Rough when hard doctrine runs up against the human experience one supposes. If only there were no people out there, everything would be perfect.


FORTUITOUS UPDATE

The gates appear to have opened on denying Bristol Palin's credibility on the cultural issue which she has, largely through the efforts of people like Marybeth Hicks, come to emblematize. Hicks in this column disparages the notion of realism altogether when it comes to unmarried teen sex. She offers the totally applicable analogy of a parent expecting their kids to put their shoes in the desginated spot by the door, even with the full knowledge that kids will keep putting shoes where they want.

This snippet here perfectly illustrates Hicks' impregnable (heh) reasoning:

Miss Palin may think her parents' advice regarding abstinence was unrealistic, but I think that was the 18-year-old daughter talking.

The 18-year-old mother will soon discover that unrealistic expectations drive the parenting bus.

With time and experience, perhaps she'll discover that we parents have another name for those unrealistic expectations. We call them "ideals."

Again, the sheer doctrinal hubris of these people, their willingness to dismiss reality itself even as they insist the right to appropriate the ideals of "we parents," is simply stunning.

Needlepoint Rhetoric

This strikes Harrogate, first of all, as a manifestly true statement that this "craftster" artist has now immortalized, fittingly, onto a bedroom pillow.

Kenneth Burke would likely have no objections to it.

A friend, Harrogate will not reveal which one, just revealed the existence of this image, which by the way emblemizes a wondrous validation of the truth that ye must never assume things about a given Rhetorical Situation. Now and forevermore, we may associate Needlepointing and Orgies.

Tuesday Musical Tribute

"Train Song." Thick with Ethos. Take time listen. Ugh.

A follow-up for the ladies.

I think I might like Bristol Palin a little bit.

Fuck teen abstinence as a realistic plan to prevent teen pregnancy.

A gift for Oxymoron (and everyone else)

Summing Up the Bush Administration

If we consider all that has happened in the past eight years under the Bush Administration and, when it occurred, the GOP, I think that this may be the best phrase to describe what these people did to the country and the world: enhanced proctological examination.

For more read here, here, and here.

Committing to a Premise

Waiting 2: Still Waiting


Can even Harrogate find this funny?
Is the "shenanigans in a setting I'm familiar with" excuse strong enough to hold up against this mirthless soulbortion?

(And, for those as stuck in the auteur mindset as I am: same writer/director as the original. Apparently, there were questions left unanswered for a future generation.)

Now, I remember full well when Solon sent me out for Nazi scalps...

...and I find this premise welcoming and familiar.

Sunday Night Musical Tribute

Hello all. Unlike Roof Almighty Harrogate believes strongly in straight-up here's a cool song posts.

Here's a song Harrogate has listened to at least once a day since he discovered its existence early last week. This badass's name is Shawn Mullins. The record is Honeydew, the sublime song is called "Cabbagetown." Roof, you'll like this Song. Harrogate's gonna go ahead and chalk it up in the label, in fact,

Harrogate will be buying this record at the nearest opportunity.

This is one of those songs, you just sit back and let it happen.

Headline of the Day

From CNN: "GOP senators say Obama off to bad start."

I am quite shocked by the headline in the way I have been shocked to hear conservatives defend #43.

The article does have this gem:

"If this is going to be bipartisanship, the country's screwed," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, told ABC's "This Week." "I know bipartisanship when I see it."

Let's see is we can understand this. The GOP engaged in a process to bankrupt and break the company, er... country, which must have been deliberate as the actions of the GOP were so inept. However, when no one wants to listen to the GOP because they continue to adhere to their basic principles, they cry foul.

Lindsey Graham, man of principle.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Joe the Plumber's New Book is Out

It's called: Joe the Plumber: Fighting for the American Dream.



Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Question of the Day for 2/14/2009

National Review Online today released its list of the "25 best conservative movies of the last 25 years".

The list, and the brief writeup attending each installment, will be sure to provoke opinions from Situationers and our Readers. Of course, NRO is defining "conservative" according to the very crayon-colored binary that has been part of our political discourse for a while now. But Harrogate, at any rate, is willing to let that slide, and let them have their framing.

And so giving them their framing, Harrogate finds himself agreeing with almost everything on this list: that is, he agrees that almost all the movies listed are thoroughly invested in Traditional Right Wing rhetorics of Free Market worship, US Exceptionalism, and the notion that "Happy Days" was a documentary.

A slight quibble, though, with The Dark Knight, in which Harrogate identifies a lot of political ambivalence. Certainly not a "Liberal" movie, but not a "Conservative" one either. At least, not in a clean-cut way.

And Harrogate quibbles with the "Conservative" moniker for Juno--Although ironically Harrogate's disagreement has nothing to do with the Abortion issue, and everything to do with the movie's totally ridiculous, and predictably "Liberal" vindication of the self-serving, callow Jennifer Garner character.

Question of the Day is Open-Ended: What is your opinion of this list?

A Valentine's Day Tribute

One happy consequence of the endurance of TRS is that it has now established numerous sub-traditions, one of which is Harrogate's posting of "My Funny Valentine" for the last couple of years, on Valentine's Day. Two years ago it was Linda Ronstadt, one year ago Harrogate went with the double dip, breaking out the Matt Damon version, and as a bonus, Tom Waits' video for "Hold On."

Tonight, Harrogate returns to Damon. Because this counts in the category of Stuff Harrogate likes.

Happy Valentine's Day, Situationers, and loyal Readers too.

Musical sidebar

I don't play the straight "here's a cool song" game very often. So it is with great resignation that I offer this gem. I don't know what else to do with it.

This song has colonized me.



It has been this and The Lonely Island's "I'm on a Boat" all day.

Oh Harrogate...

Now, I want it.... The second generation Kindle.

This may make books obsolete. Not replaceable but obsolete, especially for urban dwellers.

At Amazon, we've always been obsessed with having every book ever printed, and we know that even the best reading device would be useless without a massive selection of books. Today, the Kindle Store has more than 230,000 books available, plus top newspapers, magazines, and blogs. This is just the beginning. Our vision is to have every book ever printed, in any language, all available in under 60 seconds on Kindle. We won't stop until we get there.

I believe them. It may be my next purchase, in September.

The Michael Phelps Discourses: An Assy McGee Award® as well as a Tip of the Hat

The Assy McGee Award® for February 9th, 2009, goes to Baptist Press staff writer and Townhall contributor Kelly Boggs, who is OUTRAGED at Phelps, both for his visit to Pete's Couch and for his past DUI.

A Righteous Snippet:

Kellogg's has already announced it will not continue its endorsement deal with Phelps. A company spokesman said that Phelps' recent behavior is not in keeping with the company's image. Any company that is forking over big bucks to Phelps has every right to expect him to behave in a fashion that will not reflect poorly on the company.

As for Kelloggs. What banality that cereal company has manifested. Hopefully the consumer backlash against these asshats will be strong. American public opinion on marijuana use in general is surprisingly removed from the draconian laws and from the stigma that some in the media wish to maintain. So we will see.

Unsurprisingly, Seth Myers nailed the right way of looking at the Michael Phelps Rhetoric on the most recent SNL.

A-ROD, MLB's Newest Scapegoat

Well. Beseball Phenom Alex Rodriguez has just admitted to, and apologized for, using steroids during his stint with the Texas Ranger, from 2001-2003. His primary apology is to the Rangers organization and to the Rangers fans. Hmmmm. So on the strength of this confession, the hysterics about A-ROD's tainted legacy can drop all petense of moderation and kick into full gear.

Witness Rangers owner Tom Hicks, who for one is shocked...shocked! that such a thing was visited upon his pristine organization and that he himself was thus dealt so duplicitously:

I feel personally betrayed. I feel deceived by Alex," Hicks said in a conference call, according to The Associated Press. "He assured me that he had far too much respect for his own body to ever do that to himself. ... I certainly don't believe that if he's now admitting that he started using when he came to the Texas Rangers, why should I believe that it didn't start before he came to the Texas Rangers?"

Ummmm. Okay Tom. Whatevs. Screech all the self-righteous screeching that ye will, and A-ROD can join the ranks of Bonds, Clemens, McGuire, Palmeiro, etc. as big name scapegoats. But as Harrogate has been saying for years, such protests from an MLB owner reek of ridiculousness.

Soon. Oh soon. It will become manifestly clear to far more people than Harrogate and a few others, that Jose Canseco has been the sanest high-profile voice by far on this issue. When Canseco's book first came out, the MLB powers were able to write him off as a disgruntled juicer. Well, he may be disgruntled and he may have been a juicer, but he has still nailed Baseball's proverbial ass to the wall:

In his 2008 book, "Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars, and The Battle to Save Baseball," Jose Canseco claimed he introduced Rodriguez to a steroids dealer. Canseco, who has admitted using steroids, subsequently said he had no knowledge of any drug use by Rodriguez.

"They are looking in the wrong places," Canseco said in a text message to The Associated Press. "This is a 25-year cover-up. The true criminals are Gene Orza, [union head] Donald Fehr and [commissioner] Bud [Selig]. Investigate them, and you will have all the answers."

When the money was good and the media was ignorant, the Baseball powers, still reeling from the 1994 Strike, had no problem with a practice that led to gaudy statistics and packed stadiums. So please, Readers, don't listen to any of them now when they wax concerned about the "integrity" of the game, or about the dangers of steroid use, or about "the children" who worship these players. Don't believe them, for verily and forsooth, they are the pigs at the trough who only squealed after getting real, real fat.

Harrogate is saddened by the fact that, as an institution, Baseball, a sport which Harrogate grew up loving and which he still on some level deeply loves, has been completely corrupted over the last 15 years. It is time to recognize this, rather than railing against individual ballplayers.

Monday Musical Tribute: Great Music is Happening Everywhere, Even if We Aren't Hearing It

So good to discover contemporary musicians you instantly love and want more of. The charts can be depressing at times, but if ye just explore the broader Rhetorical Situation a bit, ye realize that really great music is freighting the American pop scene, however so much of it may appear to only be operating on the fringes.

So this realization was for Harrogate, when he discovered James McMurtry, and recently celebrated the badassness of that guy on this very blog (Paperweight: Harrogate is still especially awaiting your weigh-in on McMurtry). And so it is with The Bittersweets, who definitely know something about the Rufusness. Here is a wonderfully intimate performance of "Wreck," off their most recent record.

RNC Chair Michael Steele: Government Jobs Don't Count

Harrogate is glad the RNC selected Michael Steele as its chair. This brief, humorous clip is a very clear articulation of the rigid doctrinalism that has long infested the Republican Party.

Sunday Musical Tribute

Happy Sunday, Situationers and Readers!

Gotta. Gotta. Gotta check this out. Paperweight in particular may flip his lid when he hears the manifest heat in this, one of Harrogate's new favorite songs.

Smells like dinner!

Killifer and the Impossibilities of the "Nanny Tax"

I have to admit I haven't been following the issues surrounding members and potential members of Obama's cabinet all that closely. I didn't even know who Nancy Killifer was or what the Chief Performance Officer was. But when I learned that she withdrew her name because she failed to pay enough payroll taxes for her nanny I became intrigued.

First, I did some research on Killifer and the position. As this Time article reveals, the woman is imminently qualified for this new position. Her profile on ZoomInfo.com, a site for potential head hunters, clearly reiterates the qualifications outlined in the Time article. Since the position of Chief Performance Officer is meant to streamline government efficiency, I think, given the little I've read about her, that Killifer was the right person for the job.

On to the Nanny Tax. A quick read of an article at Newsweek reveals the pitfalls of the Nanny Tax. This is, apparently, an impossible tax to calculate correctly, particularly for parents who choose to do it themselves rather than pay a payroll company a lot of money to do it for them. On one level, I think it is probably not a good idea for the average parent who hires a nanny to try to calculate this tax on her own. But then, I think about all the parents I know who use a nanny or a babysitter and end up paying them more than the minimum of $1,800 a year that these individuals can be paid without the employer having to pay payroll taxes. Sure, lots of these people pay their nannies in cash, which isn't traceable. But I know lots of moms who simply ignore this rule. And a lot more moms and dads who use babysitters and can't afford to pay their sitters a competitive wage AND pay payroll taxes.

I was employed by one such family the summer before I started working on my MA. The family paid me a base pay of $9 an hour to care for their 2 children a minimum of 40 hours a week; if I worked more than 40 hours, I was paid $15 an hour for any hours over 40. I typically worked 60 hours a week, so I was getting paid over $600 a week. Now, they paid me under the table, and they paid me so well because they wanted a college graduate who was certified in CPR to care for their children. But I also know that both parents rushed home every day from their jobs so that they wouldn't go over the 60 hours a week that I averaged--because they couldn't afford to pay me more. But given that I was employed for about 14 weeks, I clearly made more than the $1,800 I could legally make before they were supposed to pay payroll taxes on my income. These were not dishonest people by any stretch; they simply wanted to pay me a competitive wage because they wanted someone trustworthy, educated, and caring to look after their kids.

I think most parents are in a similar situation. They want to do the right thing by their employees, and often the right this is either paying the nanny more or complying with payroll tax laws. Now, clearly, Killifer can afford to pay these taxes, but nothing I've read indicated she didn' t pay these taxes. Rather, she just paid them incorrectly from time to time. It strikes me as incredibly unfair that a person who was highly qualified for a job had to withdraw herself from consideration for struggling to pay the correct amount of payroll taxes for her nanny. Let me emphasize that again: Killifer didn't fail to pay the taxes; she just didn't always get it right.

A Message on Inclusion, and One on Exclusion

Yesterday President Obama attended the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington. While there, he spoke about his path to Christianity and the importance of faith in his family life. He then quoted passages from the Quran and the Torah to underscore a point about the universality of the "golden rule." He also spoke approvingly of Buddhists, Hindus, followers of Confucius, humanist, and agnostics. (When Bush spoke last year, he did not praise any of these groups.)

Dr. Frank S. Page, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention had these things to say after the breakfast:

--"[Obama] was not my first choice for president." We figured.

--About the Quran reference, "I would rather that had been left off." Of course.

So Mock Me if You Must

So I have new TV show that I've gotten interested in, particularly because of the last two episodes, Grey's Anatomy: a broken cock and anal pleasure gone wrong. Although all of these problems are inflicted upon men during sexual acts, I cannot help but think that we should be writing for this show as I'm sure we can one up them with a knob of butter.

Can I Still Call Myself a Man?

Weekly Address #2

Better late than never:

Seriously

This is not Rodney Stanger. 

WTF?.....

And  I have grading to do.... And Failblog.org is the best site i've seen in years. 

And Oxymoron, this one is for you. 

Wait for the mugshot....

You now have me hooked on FAIL Blog, Roof.

Wednesday Musical Tribute

Sick of Irony but don't want Sappiness either? Hit play below.

Maths and You

I try to avoid FailBlog - based posts because, once started, I may never stop.

However, this is for the teachers in the room. Especially in this room of people who will protest that they aren't "math-people."

I have .002 dollars that says that we all subvocalize a scream at the same moment, at the same line, at the same illogical defense.

Assy McGee Award®: Richland County, South Carolina Sheriff Leon Lott

By now everybody knows that Michael Phelps, winner of Eight Gold Medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, was recently photographed smoking marijuana at a party that supposedly took place somewhere on the University of South Carolina Campus.

But now arrives this nonsense.

Michael Phelps could face criminal charges as part of the fallout from a photo of him inhaling from a marijuana pipe at a house party.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott told The State newspaper of Columbia, S.C., that he would file charges against Phelps if he determines the swimmer smoked marijuana in the county. The sheriff's office released a statement Tuesday saying it "is making an effort to determine if Mr. Phelps broke the law."

It really raises the question. Really. Do these people ever think about who and what they are and just feel overcome by a profound sense of embarrassment?

It could have been better....

Or worse, depending on your perspective.

If The Boss' bags were not enough, viewers in Arizona were treated to a real celebration after Larry Fitzgerald scored:

Seconds after Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald scored on a touchdown pass from Kurt Warner to put the birds in the lead, Tucson, Arizona based Comcast Cable subscribers expected an end-zone dance but received a money shot.

Officials at the cable provider’s headquarters explained that 30 seconds of full-frontal male pornography from Club Jenna, an adult cable television channel, were shown on the local Super Bowl telecast to families and children of all ages–a scarring that will surely confuse young boys into believing that every time Larry Fitzgerald scores, massive white cocks will be pulled out of jeans and tossed around like thundersticks at Los Angeles Lakers games

More from Bruce...

Forget Janet Jackson's nipple...

I just got teabagged by Bruce.

Britney Spears and Situational Rhetoric

Watching Bill O'Reilly last night, Harrogate learned about Britney's new song: "If You Seek Amy." Heh.

And a few Google searches since then shows that already, the song has the political Right screaming bloody murder. This is of course nothing compared to what is coming; it will not surprise Harrogate in the slightest if White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs winds up having to field questions about Spears' song.

Harrogate is no Libertarian, as ye all know, but he is enough of one to be a pure hater of the FCC--an organization which routinely winks at Media Consolidation but which remains angry at Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake. Thus, it is not so much on the merits of artistry or cleverness, but rather due entirely to the Rhetorical Situation at hand, that Harrogate declares Spears' song positively delightful, and pledges to buy the record at the nearest possible opportunity.

Weekly Address #1

I thought it might behoove us to have Obama's weekly address posted to TRS each week. This one's a little late and I'm sure we've all seen it, but if anyone has thoughts, please share.



(Oh, and if I forget to do this every week, feel free to pick up my slack!)

The ($3.8 Million) Question of The Day

And is it a good one, with a few sub-questions.

Meet Natalie Dylan, as 22-year-old Women's Studies graduate (BA) who will soon begin an MA in Marriage and Family Therapy.

Natalie Dylan is a unique individual. Natalie is selling her virginity to pay for her MA and a few other things. Well, auctioning it really through the Bunny Ranch's website. The Moonlite Bunny Ranch, of course, is a legal and licensed brothel in Nevada and the "act" will take place there.

So, why Natalie she doing this (--besides paying for Graduate work). At The Daily Beast, Dylan writes:

Like most little girls, I was raised to believe that virginity is a sacred gift a woman should reserve for just the right man. But college taught me that this concept is just a tool to keep the status quo intact. Deflowering is historically oppressive—early European marriages began with a dowry, in which a father would sell his virginal daughter to the man whose family could offer the most agricultural wealth. Dads were basically their daughters’ pimps.

When I learned this, it became apparent to me that idealized virginity is just a tool to keep women in their place. But then I realized something else: if virginity is considered that valuable, what’s to stop me from benefiting from that? It is mine, after all. And the value of my chastity is one level on which men cannot compete with me. I decided to flip the equation, and turn my virginity into something that allows me to gain power and opportunity from men. I took the ancient notion that a woman’s virginity is priceless and used it as a vehicle for capitalism.

The questions:

(1) Is Dylan correct about the nature of virginity or is this just more academic banality or is she just another capitalist, um, I won't say it?

(2) If Dylan is correct, would you encourage your child to do this, knowing that is could make your child financially secure for the rest of her, or his, life?

(3) Is this comparable to pornography, which some scholars, such as Catherine MacKinnon, argue is just another violent and oppressive act against women or does Dylan possess agency and does her auction "transcend" the oppression?

Yet another reason why I like Obama

I didn't need any more reasons; I really like our new president a lot. He's thoughtful, he's intelligent, he's funny, and he's serious. A little over a week into his presidency, he hasn't backed down from any serious issues, and so far, I'm proud of everything he has done. Frankly, it is nice to say that again: I'm proud to be an American. There was a long, long time I couldn't way that at all.

Today President Obama signed the Lily Ledbetter Equal Pay Act into law. While it doesn't do everything I want an equal pay act to do, it does make it infinitely easier for people to sue their employers on the basis of pay discrimination, effectively nullifying the previous Supreme Court ruling, which said employees had to sue employers within 180 days of a company's initial decision to pay an employee less than another. Obama seems to get what the Bush administration and event the Supreme Court didn't: this isn't only a gender issue. This is a family issue as pay discrimination makes it impossible for families to improve and to get ahead. Further, the bill is worded in such a way that employees can sue discrimination they suffered on the basis of gender, racial, religion, age, or nationality. This is a good day for America.

A Paradelle for Roof Almighty, Because Roof Once Indicated on Facebook That He Likes Paradelles

A lot of the scholarship on this poem, ranging from Collins' own words to a Wikipedia entry, suggests the poet was not being serious with this poem, but was rather Funning with Form. But hey. Make your own call.

"A Paradelle for Susan"

by Billy Collins

I remember the quick, nervous bird of your love.
I remember the quick, nervous bird of your love.
Always perched on the thinnest, highest branch.
Always perched on the thinnest, highest branch.
Thinnest love, remember the quick branch.
Always nervous, I perched on your highest bird the.
—
It is time for me to cross the mountain.
It is time for me to cross the mountain.
And find another shore to darken with my pain.
And find another shore to darken with my pain.
Another pain for me to darken the mountain.
And find the time, cross my shore, to with it is to.
—
The weather warm, the handwriting familiar.
The weather warm, the handwriting familiar.
Your letter flies from my hand into the waters below.
Your letter flies from my hand into the waters below.
The familiar waters below my warm hand.
Into handwriting your weather flies you letter the from the.
—
I always cross the highest letter, the thinnest bird.
Below the waters of my warm familiar pain,
Another hand to remember your handwriting.
The weather perched for me on the shore.
Quick, your nervous branch flew from love.
Darken the mountain, time and find was my into it was with to to.

Ashlee Simpson-Wentz makes an excellent point

This morning, as I was skimming the various news sites I keep up with, I counted no less than 3 stories about Jessica Simpson's alleged weight gain. Um, ok. I see images of Jessica Simpson everywhere, and frankly, she doesn't look like she's gained any weight to me. I am constantly miffed by the media's obsession with skinny women--as in emaciated women who look like they are about to pass out from lack of food. So, here's something I never thought I'd do: I'm vehemently agreeing with Ashlee Simpson-Wentz wrote on her blog about her sister's alledged weight gain. I wish everyone in Hollywood had as much sense about this particular issue.

Not Exactly a Musical Tribute, But....

This is a message Harrogate needed, today, and perhaps he isn't alone here.


One reason to be grateful for You Tube. You can get your fix on a song like this one.

Coolest picture ever....

This picture is from the Inauguration. You can click anywhere on the photo and zoom in.

For some reason, I love looking to the Supreme Court Justices. Justice Clarence Thomas looks like he is asleep. Justice Antonin Scalia looks constipated. Chief Justice Roberts looks as if he is thinking nasty thoughts, especially in regards to their upcoming Constitutional fights.

Congratulations to the New Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductees

Congratulations to three very different 2009 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductees: Run DMC, Jeff Beck, and Metallica.

One question never settled of course is what are the criteria for (Heidi Klum impersonation beginning now) who is in the Rock Hall, and who is out. Harrogate would appreciate thoughts from the floor, on this issue. Meanwhile, From the Rolling Stone Link.

For the Rap-o-Philes Amongst us, this will be of interest:

Run-DMC are the second rap group to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame, two years after pioneers Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five were selected for induction. "I can't even comprehend this is happening," Daryl "DMC" McDaniels tells Rolling Stone. "I want to let the world know that there are others receiving this honor with us. I'm talking about our heroes Afrika Bambaataa, Treacherous Three, the Cold Crush Brothers and DJ Kool Herc." The group's performance at the April 4th induction ceremony in Cleveland will be their since founding member Jam Master Jay was murdered seven years ago in Queens, New York.

Hopefully Harrogate and Oxymoron will not be the only ones, meanwhile, who will say "about time!" with respect to Jeff Beck finally getting in as a solo artist. In the process his elite status is exemplified:

Jeff Beck is joining an exclusive club of artists that have entered the Hall of Fame twice: The guitarist was first inducted in 1992 as a member of the Yardbirds, and now 17 years later he'll be honored for his solo career. (Coincidentally, Beck's Yardbirds predecessor Eric Clapton is the only musician to be inducted three times: With the Yardbirds, Cream and as a solo artist.)

Hmmmm. As for Metallica. The never-at-a-loss for words drummer, Lars Ulrich, spoke the way, well, that he tends to speak:

Metallica, who inducted Black Sabbath into the Hall three years ago, are one of the few metal bands to get the RRHOF nod. "I'm not going to give a whole schpeel about 'come back in 20 years or something,' " says drummer Lars Ulrich. "I'll fucking take it right now. I'm fucking psyched that anybody still gives a shit about this band."

Metallica, Harrogate enjoyed ye very, very much back in the day, and as a result of this induction, he may well celebrate by breaking out the old CDs. Metallica fans as a general rule seem largely comprised of two diametrically opposed contingents: the adherents to the old stuff ("hard core, man!") and everything from the Black Album forward ("it's just so much more complex, you see. they really grew musically"). Harrogate is one of the ones who celebrates it all.

And in that vein, here is a song that both honored the old and signalled the new, one of Harrogate's very favorites. It speaks to him, you see.

Enjoy, and as always, Harrogate will leave the light on for ye.