The Primary Contradiction

The great State of North Carolina doesn’t pay for the cost of rape kits in hospitals, so hospitals are forced to send the bills to survivors and their insurers (for those who HAVE insurance, that is).

Can someone please explain why this thing was called an “economic stimulus package?” Economic stimulus for whom, I ask you?

While I’m usually not surprised at the level of hypocrisy that emanates from presidential candidates every four years, there is one thing I’ve learned that I did not know before about the “feminist” wife of the “first Black President.”

Yes—I’ve been gone nearly the whole of January. Real life is hectic, as you’re well aware, so I’ve been shying away from writing during this time. In the meantime, enjoy this video. (Song’s a classic!)

Hey there, folks! Have a safe, happy, and wonderful New Year. Wishing you much happiness and abundance in 2008!

This is huge.

Morrissey at the South by Southwest Festival, 2006.

The United States isn’t the only society plagued with xenophobia, as a recent controversy over a legendary singer’s remarks shows. And we sure aren’t the only society where white folks’ understanding of systemic racism is jawdroppingly low, nor is this great land the only society where most white folks will do anything to avoid discussing race. The latest racism scandal in the entertainment world involves not a tired shock-jock or stand-up comic, but the ethereal voice behind such classics as The Queen is Dead and Meat is Murder.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

An Army of Ex-Lovers:
My Life at the Gay Community News,
Amy Hoffman

Boston’s weekly Gay Community News was “the center of the universe” during the late 1970s, writes Amy Hoffman in this memoir of gay liberation before AIDS, before gay weddings, and before The L Word.

Best screen test ever, if you ask me.

If you’ve been wondering why this site hasn’t been updated in a while, there’s no need to worry. I’ve taken an unofficial hiatus from blogging for the time being.

A sister’s beautiful document of our work. Thanks Sudy.

Placards for the picket line (photo from Wikipedia)

Because of my love of movies and TV and because I’m a student of the struggle, I’ve been following the big writers’ strike going down in Hollywood with great interest.

From the Associated Press:

Lesbian sues NYC eatery, saying she was forced out of women’s bathroom

NEW YORK: A woman filed a civil rights lawsuit against a popular Greenwich Village neighborhood restaurant Tuesday, claiming a bouncer chased her out of the women’s bathroom because she looked too masculine.

What the fuck? Why would a judge send Mychal Bell back to jail when his damn conviction was overturned and supporters have paid his full bail?

From CNN

A black Louisiana teenager at the center of the racially charged “Jena 6″ case was ordered Thursday to spend 18 months in a juvenile facility, after a judge ruled he had violated his probation for earlier juvenile convictions, a source with knowledge of the court proceedings said.
art.bell.closeup.cnn.jpg

Portland, Oregon solidarity protest (from Wikipedia) 

The editors at Workers World assess the contradictory narratives of US media’s coverage of the popular uprising in Burma versus their coverage of the military dictatorship in Pakistan. While I don’t agree entirely with the paper’s assessment of the Burmese struggle (especially their position on the Burma/Myanmar naming question), their advice to progressive activists on the necessity of questioning Western media constructions of global politics is important.

I promise you—I’m not avoiding you. I haven’t stopped writing either, in fact I’ve been writing more in the past week than I’ve ever have. And no, I haven’t gone anywhere.

Talk to you later.