I am giggly like a schoolgirl. The legendary Chuck D is speaking in Lincoln next month! Besides having a huge crush on him back in the day (those guns for arms, that booming voice), I've always liked what he says in his music. If I want to feel pissed off or worked up, I listen to PE.
It's a free symposium, Wednesday, Sept. 12 at Wesleyan. Who's in?
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I'm no big Jim Carrey fan (except for "Spotless Mind"), but I'm a HUGE fan of Aung San Su Kyi, the Burmese rights activist who has been imprisoned for some 20 years now. So I'm glad to see some mass support being organized to try and finally secure her release.
I can't get the YouTube video to post properly, but here's a link.
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Andrew Sullivan has a good blog at The Atlantic on the Larry Craig brouhaha.
What makes me so angry about Craig is that here is someone who typecasts gays as The Other, instead of supporting equality. He has built a career on promoting "family values" -- unless, of course, you're gay, because then you don't have a right to marry or share benefits or, really, come out of the closet (or the bathroom stall, as the case may be).
If he and others had used their congressional power to support equal rights for all, then perhaps repeated generations of men wouldn't feel so ashamed of who they are that they feel forced to resort to anonymous bathroom sex. Instead, he's perpetuating the exact stereotype that got him into the hot water in which he now finds himself.
While I hurt for those who feel they have to hide their real selves, I can't dredge up much sympathy for someone who held the power to change that, for himself and for others, and failed to exercise it.
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Couldn't' sleep last night (second night in a row), so I popped "Stranger Than Fiction" into the DVD player. It didn't get good reviews when it came out, but I found it enchanting. (Maybe because I was in and out of sleep/dreams as I was watching?) Definitely a film that captures the short story form. And not your typical Will Ferrell flick, though I like those, too ...
3 comments:
too bad...a public symposium at Wesleyan isn't exactly the kind of place where you'd get a chance to toss your knickers up on stage. i wish i could go with you! i'm hoping
great link on the Larry Craig issue. i'm SO over elected official believing they are above the laws they are supposed to create and uphold.
i hope November arrives quickly.
missing you tons!
hey, who says I'm above throwing my panties onstage at a scholarly symposium? Certainly not me!
The Craig debacle: It's not about being above the law; anti-gay laws are ridiculous to begin with. It's about USING the law to maintain the status of gay people as second-class citizens ... thus perpetuating the underground nature of encounters between gay people too ashamed (shamed by society, perpetuated by our government) to come out. And then to be one of those very people! I'd be sad for him if he hadn't caused so much harm via his political views/actions ...
We all fail to admit who or what we are at some level. The superior moral denial necessarily creates greater compensation. Unfortunately and unfairly entangling the innocent creates greater harm.
William
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