ASK Musings

No matter where you go, there you are.

Monthly Archive: August 2008

Sunday

31

August 2008

0

COMMENTS

Huh. Just, Huh

Written by , Posted in Feminism

So, Friday morning I was in a meeting when I got the CNN breaking news e-mail about Sarah Palin. Of course, my first reaction was ACK. Then, my reaction was well, at least no matter what happens it will be a first. But, as I read more, I went back to ACK. 


Most women I know are not as virulently anti-choice as Sarah Palin, and most women I know are not as virulently anti-science as she is. The “any woman is better than no woman” argument doesn’t work for me, as evidenced by the fact that I didn’t vote for Hillary Clinton in the primaries. I’d love for a woman to be president, or vice president. I’d also love for that woman to share my ideals. In the case of this election, Obama was closer to my views than Clinton. 


Now, it seems, some conservatives think that women will just drop their support for Obama (or, if they hadn’t yet gotten on board, just not choose him) in favor of McCain. As my dear friend Reagan put it on Friday, how stupid do they think we are? “She has a vagina, I have a vagina! I’m going to vote for her!” Even ignoring the fact that her positions are not good for me personally, I also think they are bad for the nation as a whole.


I’d love to support her because she’s a woman. But my alliance lies with the vast majority of women who would suffer if McCain and Palin are elected.

Sunday

31

August 2008

0

COMMENTS

Feminist

Written by , Posted in Feminism, Reviews

Two weeks ago I went to Barnes and Noble to buy some books. I left with quite a few – including “The Whole Woman” by Germaine Greer. I’ve heard of her, but hadn’t read anything by her. I took one Women’s Studies class in college (Women in Law and Literature), but I haven’t really thought through the issues of misogyny and women’s rights in a serious way. The treatment of Hillary Clinton during this campaign made me think about it a little more, so I’ve been doing some reading. Greer’s book is, on the whole, really good and interesting. She has some ideas I don’t agree with, especially with respect to her view of trans-gendered individuals. However, it’s pretty rare that I agree with everything anyone says, and I’d rather educate myself.

After that one, I finally bought and am in the middle of reading “The Beauty Myth” by Naomi Wolf. I find her ideas to be well supported and researched, and she has a very vivid way of framing the issues. The section on “holy oil” and aging especially caught my attention. So much is about power, and it’s amazing to think about the unconscious decisions I make every day that I’ve adapted to make myself fit into what I think a good woman is. But beyond that, I think it’s amazing to think about how damaging women are to themselves when we let society as a whole get away with what it does on a daily basis. 

For example, I’ve always found it disturbing that it’s fine to show a naked woman in almost any situation, but more than a glancing image of a penis is the stuff on NC-17 ratings. Why is that we accept the notion that a penis is so powerful that we must be shielded from it? It’s stupid. It creates a division that is unnecessary, and it reinforces the false idea that men are more worthy of protection from exploitation than women.

Next up on my list is “bitchfest”, a collection of articles from Btich magazine. In between I’m reading “Speaking Treason Fluently,” a collection of essays by Tim Wise, a white man who writes about racism. The book was just released, and so far I’m enjoying it and the way it makes me think. I guess the DNC just got me pumped about politics and the state of the nation again!

Sunday

31

August 2008

0

COMMENTS

Two Calamities for the Price of One

Written by , Posted in Random

Okay, so this is interesting to me. Hurricane Gustav (which I can’t say without a German accent) is heading to Louisiana, and a few different things are going on. Deja vu for one, as I’m watching Anderson Cooper standing in New Orleans. But this time around, three years after Katrina, I have a different perspective. Now I sit here, watching CNN and MSNBC, I have a better understanding of what goes into emergency planning, and what an amazing undertaking it really is.


I am excited to see that evacuation seems to be going better in New Orleans than before. The organization of buses to get people without transportation out of town is heartening, as is the fact that evacuation started so soon. I am, however, a little concerned about Nagen. The poor guy probably can’t win no matter what he says, but he used SUCH strong words yesterday, and now that the storm is predicted to come in at a level lower than before, I worry that the next time, if it’s worse, people won’t believe him when he says move, because hey, Gustav wasn’t that bad.


The political implications are intriguing as well. The RNC looks to be significantly downgraded, with just the call to order on Monday. Bush and Cheney won’t be attending. McCain and Palin are going to visit the Louisiana command center, and may speak via satellite, I think. I’m happy that they recognize that partying might not be the best thing to do right now, although I also wonder about the motivation. If they come through with calls for assistance, and that helps the Red Cross, then great. Of course, I was looking forward to watching the speeches and throwing things at the television. The DNC laid out such specific concerns and plans – how would the RNC speakers respond?


The next question for me is how this will effect the campaigns. Will it? I know there are bumps in the polls after conventions, but those tend to go away. So by (effectively) not having a convention for the RNC but having one for the DNC, does anything change? Are there people out there who watch the conventions and base their votes on that? Or are they both just events where they preach to the choir?


We shall see . . . 

Tuesday

26

August 2008

0

COMMENTS

I Feel Kind of Naive

Written by , Posted in Random

This is really only the third presidential election I can vividly picture. I somewhat remember 1996, but I think that consists mostly of me sitting on the couch in Danville watching the states change color.


In 2000, Renee came over (with some fabulous seven layer dip, I believe) and we watched the east coast returns come in. That was the best part – being able to watch what was going on across the country. Of course, we didn’t have a President for awhile. I wasn’t a huge Gore fan (I voted for Bradley in the primary), but, well, y’know.


2004 was shocking to me. I really thought Kerry was going to win. I was a bit more tuned in then – I even got to go to the DNC, which was awesome. It was fun to go to the convention, sit with the New York delegation, and wander around to parties and discussions.


Now it’s 2008. I was somewhat surprised Clinton didn’t get the nomination – I voted for Obama, but still, I kind of thought that was a forgone conclusion. I should have known that people would be more willing to vote for a man than a woman. 


I watched the convention last night, and I really enjoyed Michelle’s speech. I actually found it, well, a bit inspiring. And then – the media weighed in. They’ve been focusing on Clinton, and trying to find a story in the fact that some of her supporters are a bit near-sighted. The “I feel naive” part comes in here. I’d just love for there to be serious analysis of the issues and not the personalities. I’m seeing ‘liberal’ journalists talking about McCain like he’s been some bastion of consistency, when in reality he’s changed his positions many times. I see them focusing on Clinton losing without spending any real time on the misogynistic undertones of the media coverage. And I don’t see real coverage of the actual issues. It’s driving me nutty. 


I read The Times Magazine article about Obama’s economic philosophy and it was really quite interesting. If you haven’t, check it out.

Friday

22

August 2008

0

COMMENTS

I.O.U.S.A.

Written by , Posted in Reviews

Last night I attended a great event. In theaters across the country, I.O.U.S.A. premiered with a special live broadcast of a panel discussion between some pretty interesting folks. If you saw Tropic Thunder last weekend, you might have seen the preview for the event.


It started with a brief intro by a CNBC host, then they showed the 90 minute documentary (no previews – appropriate, probably). After that there was an hour-long discussion broadcast into the theaters taking place live from Omaha, featuring Warren Buffet, Former US Comptroller Dave Walker, Peter Peterson, the head of the Cato institute (ugh) and the head of AARP (heh, and kind of ugh).


The movie is about not just the US national debt (9 trillion), but about the future obligations that lead us to really be in debt about 55 trillion. It’s amazing – the people who put it together did a really great job of describing fiscal and monetary policy in a way that people without an economics background can really grasp. They lay out the history of debt in the country, and the situation we’re in now. It’s really well done, and raises some interesting questions / points.


First off (and maybe everyone else knows this, but I didn’t), Social Security really isn’t the biggest problem. There are a few different ways to fix it, but even if we don’t touch it, people my age and younger can expect to get about 70% of what folks retiring now get. Not great, but certainly not as terrifying as it seems. The big problem, though, is because we’ve had a surplus, we’ve been taking from it to pay for other costs. Soon we won’t be able to do that.


Second, our debt is increasingly owned by foreign markets. At first I thought the filmmakers were going to get all isolationist and over-patriotic, but in reality they were pointing out that in the past nations (the US, actually) have used their controlling power in other nations’ debt (England, France) to influence political issues (Suez Canal). It’s a kind of freaky prospect.


Third, even if we stopped all military spending, it would still only account for about 3% of the problem. I’m not a fan of the war in Iraq, and I think I’ve been assuming it’s eating up more money than it is. 3% is a TON of money, don’t get me wrong. It’s just not the number I expected.


The panel discussion was really interesting. The moderator did at one point mention that AARP is often seen as the problem, and the AARP guy of course disagreed. Pete Peterson (he has a foundation, not sure what else he’s done) kept pointing out that special interests are an issue (ahem, AARP, I’m looking at you). The Comptroller was really interesting – he’s got some ideas and clearly is not happy with the way things are going. The Cato institute man of course was humorless and very conservative, pointing out that people need to stop expecting the government to insure them against every possible thing. Of course, if one can afford insurance for everything, they aren’t the problem. 


It was a great movie – I hope you get a chance to see it when it makes it to your town.

Tuesday

12

August 2008

0

COMMENTS

Dun, dun, da dun dun dun dun, dun dun da dun dun dun dun dun da dun dun dun (It’s the Olympic Theme!)

Written by , Posted in Reviews

Saturday I saw “The Wackness.” I wanted it to be better. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great, you know? After, I did something I’ve been wanting to do for awhile – got my nose pierced again. In 2002 in L.A. I got it done, but it fell out in 2003 and the hole closed pretty quickly. I got it done in NYC, but then took it out for job interviews. I’ve been at my current job for three years, and a couple of other employees either have or have had facial piercings, so I figured it would be fine. It hurt a little, and is still sore when I clean it (ick, I know), but I’m so happy with how it looks. I missed it.

Saturday night a friend had a BBQ to celebrate her birthday. It was nice, although kind of odd, in that there was clearly some tension between a few people. But I got to spend time with good friends, so that’s all that matters.

I feel like everyone seems to think summer is winding down, but I have to say that I think it’s still going strong. The weather has been lovely lately, and tonight I got to hear a band at its first gig. NYC is good!

Monday

4

August 2008

0

COMMENTS

Overwhelming

Written by , Posted in Adventures, Reviews

Does everyone already know about Buckminster Fuller? Am I a few decades behind the curve? Oh well. I mentioned to Justin that I enjoyed the exhibit I saw at MOMA a couple of weeks ago of manufactured homes. He suggested I’d probably like the Fuller exhibit at the Whitney. He’d mentioned his stuff before, and it sounded cool, but I didn’t really do much with the info. 


On Sunday, I checked out the exhibit. Um, yeah. I spent about an hour there, and I was floored. It was really cool. And I wanted to know more about everything I was seeing. Usually when I see art or such things with which I am unfamiliar, I kind of look at it, appreciate what I understand, and move on. But this? It was more. It was inspiring, but I couldn’t really figure out in what way. I’m still not totally sure. But I signed up for a membership at the Whitney so I could go back a few more times, and bought a book on Fuller. I’ve read about 100 pages in the past day, and I’m totally sucked in. It’s really interesting to read about him and his work and the impact he made. And I keep just wanting to learn more. 


But, moreover, I just want to talk about these new ideas with people. Not that college, or even graduate school, provided the dialogue and interesting discussions I was hoping to get out of higher education, but I’d love to have the idealized version of that. You know, hang out in a cafe and talk about things I know very little about to try to explore these different ideas. I know I could talk about it all with Justin, but the poor guy probably doesn’t want to spend his evenings explaining concepts like getting four triangles out of one drawn on the ground.


Now that I have a day job and spend my evenings with good friends (and the occasional guitar or ballet lesson), I want to figure out how to incorporate these things into my life. I love the fact that I’ve found success in my career and my friendships. I sometimes can’t believe that I can afford to live on my own in NYC without resorting to eating top ramen every night. But there’s more to think about than just the shelter/food aspect of things. I want to challenge my mind more.