May 14, 2008
Go Home Already: Too Hot
>> Three "bottle bombs" were detonated at Friendly High School in Ft. Washington, Md. No injuries have been reported and three students have been arrested. The school was on lockdown but students were then let back into class. [AP via WTOP]
>> A fifth person has been charged in Sean Taylor's murder. [AP via NBC4]
>> Ben Stiller & Co. will be invading our streets to film the sequel, Night at the Museum II: Escape from the Smithsonian. It's the first time the Smithsonian has allowed its name to be used in a commercial movie title. [Modern Art Notes]
>> Security guards at Union Station still have no idea what the rules are surrounding photography, even after they supposedly received word from on high. [Andy Carvin's Waste of Bandwidth]
>> It's Wednesday, so that must mean that more news of something freaky and invasive is coming out about Facebook. [Gawker]
>> Boycott planned in D.C. and New York City to protest DeOnte Rawlings' and Sean Bell's murders. [City Desk]
>> With warm weather comes catcalling: "For me, anyone who interrupts my personal space to objectify me or make me feel uncomfortable or threatened is harassing me." We totally agree with the GWU grad student, but seriously, they'll give away master's degrees for just about anything these days, huh? [CNN]
Photo by Pianoman75
|
It hasn't been used in a movie title before because it doesn't sell tickets. No, literally. It's a free museum.
Exactly where did CNN find that image for their story on Cat Calls? I find it hard to believe that Getty Images has an image tagged as "group of sketchy guys leering at a girl in short skirt."
looks like a bunch of soccer supporters at a bar
Football fans.
Bottle bombs, eh? Has anyone even thought of contacting Professor Irwin Corey, the World's Foremost Authority?
For 7 days, during the week of Memorial Day ( May 25th to May 31st ), people in New York and Washington, DC should not spend any money: no restaurant outings, fast food purchases, no unnecessary traveling, no shopping trips, etc. It's time to take a stand and stop supporting a system that doesn't serve all people justly and fairly.
I'm joining the boycott. I will refuse to buy forties, blunts, bandanas, or bbq in DC until justice is served. That last one will be easy, since most of the 'que in DC isn't fit for thug consumption.
Wait, we used to put water and dry ice into 2-liter soda bottles and watch them "blow up" for the Fourth of July. That's a bomb now?
Why does everyone hate science?
"Science is like a blabbermouth who ruins a movie by telling you how it ends. Well, I say there are some things we don't want to know! Important things!"
A master's thesis on street harassment? Is that like the female equivalent of proving the Caine-Hackman theory?
Her thesis title: Direct Action, Education, Consciousness-Raising, Activism and the Internet: Methods for Combating Street Harassment.
WTF? Exactly what sort of career does this prepare one for?
Re: bottle bombs, today, Pop Rocks and Coke would probably be considered a terrorist IED, landing a kid a lifetime spot on the no-fly list. Also, regarding Fort Reno Park, it's probably safe unless you go around eating bushels of dirt, which would probably kill you for other reasons besides having arsenic in it.
We have become a society of weenies, obsessed with reaching perfection in safety.
Train station guards who misinterpret the rules? In this oh-so-literate city? Who'da Thunk?
Watch for my thesis that will prove the theory that Catcall Volume is inversely proportional to the length of my skirt. I will have a chapter devoted to the stocking influence.
I had a dowdy, granola biting, PC spouting in law who made the announcement over lunch one day that when you reach a certain age, no one will ever look at you again. The rest of us exchanged glances to say speak for yourself hagbag...
Actually, that thesis dovetails quite nicely with my senior seminar paper, "Divergent Patterns in Patriarchal Hegemony: Who Grabs their Junk More? Italians or Black Guys?"
I have to disagree with MrT. As anyone who has critically analyzed the works of Mssr. B. Springsteen, sneaking out to the park and f***king in the dirt is a pivotal moment in the development of the suburban caucasian teenager. This practice has never been limited to the "swamps of Jersey" by any means. A single indulges exposes said teens to amounts of arsenic far above FDA recommended limits. This would be the equivalent to eating several pounds of almonds in a single sitting, more if you're griding your partner's face into the grass.
"Also, regarding Fort Reno Park, it's probably safe unless you go around eating bushels of dirt,"
While ingestion is the most toxic route for arsenic, you can also get it through inhalation. Depending on the soil type and conditions, wind can blow soil dust into the air. Inhalation of arsenic dusts has been associated with increased risk of lung cancers.
You say weenies, I say better safe than sorry.. but if you're a smoker, there probably isn't any increased risk (cig smoke already has arsenic).
You say weenies, I say better safe than sorry.. but if you're a smoker, there probably isn't any increased risk (cig smoke already has arsenic).
Well there it is, make Ft. Reno Park a smoker's only venue.
Smoke 'em if You Got 'em,
HR
Best line from the catcalling story:
"A lot of men have no idea that women don't like being talked to in this way," she said.
I've already emailed her about buying the Brooklyn Bridge - if she acts now I'll throw in some Texas oceanfront property.
Obviously, lewd behavior is inexcusable. But what type of women are the ones drawing this attention. While not par for the course, why would Spring bring about a sharp increase in catcalling? Because as the weather gets warmer, women where more revealing clothing - tank tops, shorter skirts, etc.
The story or the blog in the story doesn't reflect any of that. It takes the approach that men catcall women, and women naturally take offense. But, it doesn't say whether or not these women are dressing provocatively, and drawing the attention. You can't have it both ways.
@drew in adams morgan: I got catcalled the other day wearing a t-shirt and jeans. It *doesn't matter*. What would you have women do, start wearing burkas if we get annoyed by catcalls when we wear a skirt or sleevelesss shirt, or, hell, a HOODED SWEATSHIRT? (For the record, yes, I've gotten catcalled while in sweatpants and a baseball cap. I hadn't showered that day either. It was not pretty.)
It does *not* matter what you're wearing. Catcalling is a gross objectification and power play between the men doing it and the women subjected to it. Your reasoning is also ridiculous and tantamount to blaming the women for these men's actions. Stop it.
Not to get all ranty (too late?) but if there's one thing I've learned in my discussions about street harassment is that most males They think 1) It happens very rarely 2) It's not that big of a deal. But, not so much. Women get catcalled about 100x more than you'd think, and it also sucks about 100x more than you'd think. If you're a man, unless you're speaking up to learn more about the phenomenon, or to tell other men to stop it, it may not be a bad idea to refrain from commenting.
@Drew...
"doesn't say whether or not these women are dressing provocatively, and drawing the attention. You can't have it both ways."
Just because a women wears short skirt and a tank top, it doesn't give men a right to harass them. And cat calling is sexual harassment. I don't mean to put words in your mouth but are you suggesting women who aren't covered head to toe "are asking for it" (not quoting you but a general phrase).
Yeah, nice rants, baby! Look at you type that thang. Wooh!*
* - that was my first and last attempt at comment catcalling.
Y'know, I think we'd all be better off if catcallers were just moved en masse to man caves where their behavior can be studied and a remedy developed.
Preferrably, somewhere in the Dakota Badlands.