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Why Tell the Truth When You Can “Mischaracterize”?

August 16th, 2012 by Suzanne | 2 Comments | Filed in Asshole idiots, evil, other rants, What is wrong with people?

My aunt, who was a dedicated teacher serving very low-income children in the Chicago area before she retired this year and is now an amazing activist to preserve quality public school education in the face of the insane attacks of the right-wing (and even super left-wing) nutters, sent me a link to a post by NYC Educator. NYC Educator had the privilege of interviewing Micah Lasher, the voice of Students First NY on Twitter. (Students First NY is a group that somehow believes that eliminating teachers’ unions will magically solve all the problems in public education.) Here’s what my pal had to say:

“It’s our policy to mischaracterize union positions, but to do so in a straightforward fashion… Furthermore,” Lasher continued, “the attack on Campbell Brown is overtly sexist. Brown is a woman, and it’s clear that anyone who criticizes her must hate women. Furthermore, Brown is a parent, so anyone who questions her motives hates parents too.”

So, it seems that it is the policy of Students First NY to lie so that people will endorse their position. That sort of says something about how not compelling their arguments are to most people. Pretty much when I want to convince people to agree with me, I just lay out the facts. I don’t need to alter the information. It speaks for itself, and if it doesn’t, well, then maybe whatever I am arguing should not be done. Right? How is lying to get your outcome ever acceptable?

The next statement is so over-the-top hilariously fucked up I’m not even sure I should bother saying anything. however, it reminds me of a disturbing conversation I had recently with a friend who is a “socially liberal” Republican. After I fretted about three horrendous laws that are severely restricting women’s access to abortion and birth control services (and if you ever want to meet a group of people who outright lie to get people to vote their side, just check out the anti-choice movement, but that is another story…), he told me that there is no Republican War on Women because some of the Republicans who passed the evil laws were women.

Really? If I have learned anything in my 36 years on this earth, it is that women often do things that hurt other women, but benefit themselves. Period. The idea that women cannot perpetrate harmful acts against women is ludicrous. Same goes for parents.

I suppose if all this were true, there would be no need to “mischaracterize” other people’s statements and actions “in a straightforward fashion,” would there be? Actually, just reading that they think they can misconstrue what was said or done and call it straightforward would be hilarious if this was not the predominant mode of nutjob political discourse these days.

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COYOTE C (Cast Off Your Old Tired Exercise Clothes)

May 6th, 2012 by Suzanne | 1 Comment | Filed in fashion Suzanne-style, other rants, random, What is wrong with people?

Two posts ago, I wrote about my idea for a fundraiser that I think would be great for early childhood programs in New York. Then, while folding my laundry this afternoon, I had another idea: I should forget working in the nonprofit world and start my own women’s fitness clothing line.

Certainly there are many options out there for women’s exercise clothes. Yet somehow none seem to be made to meet my needs. A long time ago, I wrote a rant about how fitness pants and shorts for women rarely have pockets. I continue my quest to find bottoms that have pockets that can fit my keys, emergency cash, ID, Kleenex, and gels. Men’s bottoms, unless they are tiny jogging shorts, always come with deep pockets. I still do not understand why women’s do not. Forget my long list of things I need when I run – doesn’t everyone at minimum need a place for keys and ID? Sometimes women’s shorts have key pockets or I’ve found a rare pair of pants with a pocket that could fit key, my ID, and cash. Yet most women’s bottoms have no pockets at all.

Also, the length of women’s shorts tend to vary between super short and pretty short. I need some serious fabric between my thighs or they chafe. Why are shorts always so damn short? Men not only get pockets, but they have a number of lengths to choose from when selecting shorts. (I did notice a few pair of what I consider normal length shorts at Title IX, but of course only one pair had pockets. Also every pair was over $50, which reminds me that men’s shorts also tend to be around $30 or less. And include pockets.) Since I am short, sometimes I can get away with extra large boys shorts. Incidentally, those are fairly cheap and come with pockets, since obviously boys have important things to carry when exercising but women do not.

Which brings me to tops. Men’s tops can be form fitting or boxy. Almost all women’s tops, especially the kind that are supposed to wick away sweat, are form fitting. I seriously do not need my pooch revealed through these tops. I don’t want to feel super self-conscious when I run because my gut is bouncing around for the world to see. I want to hide the damn thing is a loose shirt. Supposedly, the tops are tight to help wick the sweat away, but Husband buys moisture wicking shirts all the time that are not meant to cling to his body and they seem to work just fine. Uh huh.

So, while folding my laundry, I thought I should start my own line of women’s fitness clothing. All damn bottoms will come with pockets. The pockets will be deep or have zippers. They will come in a variety of lengths and sizes. Nothing will be form fitting, just loose and comfy. The company will be called COYOTE C.* I just need a shitload of capital and a manufacturer and someone who knows how to design clothes (with pockets)…

*(Cast Off Your Old Tired Exercise Clothes, which I admit is a total rip off of the amazing sex workers’ rights organization, COYOTE – Cast Off Your Old Tired Ethics, but I like it. It sounds inspiring. Coyotes are fast and not to be trifled with. They will bite your face off if your fuck with them. And I understand that they are fond of pockets.)

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“One Prozac to Go, Please”

January 12th, 2012 by Suzanne | 1 Comment | Filed in random, What is wrong with people?

This project of retyping entries I made in a journal I kept for my AP Political Science class when I was 18 is definitely interesting in terms of seeing how things have not changed so much in almost two decades, including me. Oy vey!

March 29, 1994

OK, I’ve been bad – I admit it! I just haven’t been keeping up too much on current events outside the high school social circuit. But, if you want to hear any of the latest gossip, I could easily fill you in on many juicy tales!*

At any rate, a couple of weeks ago (I think – maybe it was earlier?), Newsweek had another cover story about Prozac. What scared me about it was the frequency in which it is prescribed, especially by general practitioners. I don’t want to imply that family doctors don’t know what they’re doing, but why are they writing prescriptions that psychiatrists should? What’s the point of having a psychiatrist when you can go to you GP and get a drug to “solve” your problems?

The problem with Prozacmania is manifold. First of all, if one is clinically depressed, he should see someone in addition to taking a drug. That’s why family doctors shouldn’t be giving them out like candy, and those types of doctors can’t help in that way. Second, Prozac will NOT work unless you are depressed because of chemical deficiencies. What happens in depressed people is the tips of the nerves in their brains often become less stunted and less sensitive; they are therefore less able to receive neurological transmissions. Psychiatrists aren’t sure if this imbalance causes depression, or depression causes this imbalance. (The result is the same, so I suppose it doesn’t really matter.) What Prozac does is fix the tips of the nerves so that they can receive impulses and transmissions again. Hence, a Prozac patient is now at a neutral level; he is not happy nor depressed as a result of medication.

People, however, somehow have the idea that Prozac will make them happy all the time. It won’t. All it does is even out the chemicals in the brain. If a person is depressed, not as a result of a chemical imbalance, but just depressed because everyone gets depressed sometimes, Prozac doesn’t help. Besides, Prozac takes about 4 weeks before it can “work.” It also stays in your system for several weeks after you stop taking it.

I can’t understand why so many people love Prozac so much. I used to take Prozac and it did NOTHING for me. As far as I know, I did not have any chemical imbalance but I was depressed because my life sucked. Now, how was a pill supposed to change that? If I wanted a drug to make me happy, I would have used cocaine or marijuana (why aren’t those prescribed?) or something, not Prozac. I’ll tell you what Prozac did do – it helped erase a large part of my short-term memory. While I was on it, I could barely have a coherent conversation with anyone; my mind was completely unfocused, and I tended to ramble from one subject to the next. Even now, almost 2 years later, I can’t remember things that the short term memory is supposed to keep track of.

I just don’t understand why so many people WANT to get on Prozac. I was forced into taking it and eventually just refused to keep taking it when it didn’t help. People are only asking for trouble when they take such strong drugs for no good reason. I urge greater restraint – and more restrictions – in using such a powerful drug.

*My teacher’s comment: “Oh brother!”

Since You’ve Been Gone

January 7th, 2012 by Suzanne | No Comments | Filed in Asshole idiots, bad puns, What is wrong with people?

I kind of liked Kelly Clarkson. Her songs are snappy. She didn’t have anything handed to her on a silver platter. She’s cute. She weighs a little more than your average lady pop star and when critics snipe at her weight, she ignores them. I find that very admirable. And then…

She said she loves Ron Paul.*

Why, Kelly Clarkson, why? She later defended her statement, noting that she doesn’t agree with everything Paul stands for. She said, “I do not support racism. I support gay rights, straight rights, women’s rights, men’s rights, white/black/purple/orange rights”. That is all very nice except that Paul kind of is adamantly opposed to all of those things (minus the men’s rights). Clarkson may like that he stands for less government interference, except that he stands for the highest levels government interference in the most private of realms. So I just don’t get it. It makes me think that Clarkson just doesn’t want to pay her fair share of taxes to support a fair and just society. If that’s the case, I’m super disappointed.

Once Ron Paul and his dangerous, fundamental-minded ilk are gone, I will breathe for the first time in a long time. Until then, Clarkson is gone from my list of neat celebrities.

*Although for a little while I was confused and thought she endorsed Rick Santorum, which would be even worse since we opposes all forms of birth control, but still…

“Never Again”

December 14th, 2011 by Suzanne | 3 Comments | Filed in Asshole idiots, evil, other rants, those were the days, What is wrong with people?

From the AP Poli Sci journal:

Feb. 6, 1994

At the end of World War II, someone promised that “never again” would there be a holocaust like the one that just ended. At the end of World War II, someone invented the word “genocide” to describe what had happened. Yesterday, 68 Bosnians were killed and 200 more injured when a market was bombed. “Ethnic cleansing” the Serbs and Croats call it. Not very much is being done to stop it.

Steven Spielberg has come out with his masterpiece “Schindler’s List.” He said in an interview that he hoped that people would be moved to action by it. He said that what is happening in Bosnia now, this “ethnic cleansing,” is genocide. “Never again” doesn’t mean that we will never allow another JEWISH holocaust, it means that we should never allow genocide again. Period.

Someone – a priest I think it was – wrote a poem. He said, “When they came to take away the Jews, I said nothing.” It continues about how they kept coming back to take more and more groups, and still he said nothing. It ends with, “Then they came to take away me, and nobody said anything.” The Talmud says, “He who saves one life saves the world entire.” Spielberg said that he hopes that “Schindler’s List” would wake the world, or just one person eve. Because one person makes a difference sometimes.

When I think about what happens in Bosnia, I cry. I see my family’s experience. I see people in trouble and the world turning their backs on them. When I think about Bosnia, I get angry. There people want democracy. The world claims to fight for democracy. When Iraq invaded Kuwait, a NONDEMOCRATIC country, we wasted no time getting our asses over there to “defend democracy.” Huh?!? Nice try. We just needed to defend our oil interests. We then stood by as the Iraqis slaughtered the Kurds, even though we provoked it. Ah, but silly me! I forgot that oil means more than human life. (Where are all the “pro-life” forces now?)

Silly me! I forgot that some people count more than others. I forgot that “never again” meant, “Well, only if we stand to profit from it.” What a beautiful world we live in!

I AM PRO-LIFE

December 13th, 2011 by Suzanne | 2 Comments | Filed in Asshole idiots, Damn, evil, other rants, those were the days, What is wrong with people?

From the journal I kept for AP Poli Sci, and I am glad that my thinking is a little more sophisticated now…

Feb. 3, 1994

19 kids found living in horrible conditions, fighting for food with the dog, crawling with cockroaches, etc.* The DCFS did nothing. My [relative] is a teacher in [a low-income suburb]. She told me that she knows of other children who live in similar situations. She told me that it recently took DCFS over SIX MONTHS to get one of her students removed from the CRACK HOUSE he lived in with his crack-addicted parents. What is going on here?!?

I’m so angry. I am also very bitter. So many issues are relevant, even contributing to, this disgusting abuse and neglect of kids. My relative pointed out two things. First, she said, DCFS is stuffed with too many burned out workers and people “who just don’t give a shit.” Second, she thinks that many families are not adequately taken care of because they are black. She feels the DCFS lets more bad things happen because they don’t care what happens to black children. I think that a lot of the mistakes DCFS makes is due to the screwy philosophiy that some members hold. I read a quote from a DCFS caseworker in some magazine (for the life of me I can’t remember which one) a while ago. He said that they feel it is more traumatizing for a child to be taken out of an abusive situation than to leave him with the ones he loves and is familiar with. Hmmm… when people who are in charge of protecting children from harm think such perverse, backwards theories, it’s amazing that anything gets done!

What makes me angriest, however, is the so-called “pro-lifers.” If they are so concerned about protecting life, where are they when children are forced to live under the poverty line, in misery, surrounded by drugs, gangs, prostitutes, and god knows what else?!? Are they down there working to clean up the neighborhoods? Are they clamoring for more health care benefits for these kids, better schools, better standards of living? Are they fighting for day care so that the women forced to bear children they don’t want can go to work to earn a living? Do they want to provide welfare so that mothers can stay home and care for their unwanted children? Are they adopting every single child who is born unwanted? If so, why are there more than 500,000 kids available for adoption that no one is taking? If 1.5 more children, unwanted by anyone, hated by society, are born EACH YEAR, where are they going to go?

Yes, all of this ties in to the 19 children who were found in their own hell. Because until our society is ready to care for every child who is born, we have no right to demand that women bear them.

PS – let’s not forget that poor women should not be able to have abortion because they can’t afford it. After all, they are the least able to raise children – with no resources, no education, small housing, etc. Women who can afford abortions are unaffected by the Hyde Amendment are allowed to plan their families. They can stop having children whenever they choose. (They also have better access to birth control.) Oh, never mind! I’m so frustrated!!!

*http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/1994/04/24/why-leave-children-with-bad-parents.html

The ‘Gates of Hell

December 12th, 2011 by Suzanne | No Comments | Filed in Asshole idiots, evil, other rants, those were the days, What is wrong with people?

From my AP Poli Sci journal:

Jan. 31, 1994

I am so damn sick and tired of reading about “Whitewatergate.” The whole thing is SO blown out of proportion that it’s not even funny. Yes, fine. Maybe the Clintons did a little financial dance or maybe they didn’t. I don’t care. I can think of many more people who screwed around with money in the ’80s and weren’t punished. The catch phrase of that sick and decadent ear was aptly coined by Michael Douglas in the movie “Wall Street”: “Greed is good.” A lot of people, then, deserve to be punished for the ’80s.

At any rate, this is nothing compared to the corruption of Ronald Reagan. This man is the ultimate evil.* If he didn’t have a role in the Iran Contras, my name is Bob Dole. This man is responsible for the bad shape of our country today. (Actually, I’m getting off the subject.) Why are there no special prosecutors investigating Reagan and Bush for their roles?!? Why are we wasting time on a stupid and annoying issue (Whitewatergate) when these people are getting away with murder? And good old Oli wants to run for Senate?!?! Excuse my language, but these crooks can just kiss my ass.

Another thing that annoys me about this whole every-scandal-from-now-on-must-end-in-the-word-”gate” thing, is that it really undermines what Watergate was about. It was about the President believing that he was above the law – he’s the President and can do what he wants. Nixon deliberately subverted the laws he was supposed to defend. How can one compare Clinton to Nixon? One (Clinton) works to make life better for people, while the other (Nixon) used his powers to make his enemies’ lives a living hell.

Clinton is a good, for the most part. This “Whitewatergate” (say in dumb guy voice) is just a pathetic effort by Republicans to discredit him. Truly, they’ve stooped to new lows by biting at every “scandal” that just suddenly conveniently pops up. If I were (stupid enough to be) a Republican, I would be quite embarrassed by my party’s desperate measures.**

*Oh man. If only I had known back then what was to come with George W. Bush….
**Ah, the good old days. I almost look back on that level of interaction with fondness. Yeesh.

Seriously, Who Doesn’t Find Rape Hilarious?

September 1st, 2011 by Suzanne | 2 Comments | Filed in Asshole idiots, What is wrong with people?

It seems that there was a comedy festival at the Upright Citizens Brigade a few weeks ago. I love the UCB and have been to many, many of their shows over the years. As always with improv, you never know if you are going to get comic genius (“The Real Real World” – which had a cast that included Nancy Drew and Mayor Giuliani which I must have seen 6 times – and a fake wrestling show that I forgot the name of that I adored and also saw a lot) or serious dud material. Since the most awesome Amy Poehler, feminist extraordinaire, is a UCB founder, I would never expect a whole monologue about raping someone. Yet that is exactly what the audience was treated to on August 14.

This “performance” is on tape. I decided that I already hate people enough that I don’t need to watch it. (An excellent post by Balancing Jane has the link to it if you feel the need to see it.) I can’t even imagine what I would do if I were in the audience, subjected to his vile story told as a hilarious romp.

I went to an amateur stand up show the week after this incident. Some of the jokes were raunchy and misogynist. I didn’t say anything. Some were racist. I didn’t say anything. Some were anti-Semitic (told, of course, by people who claimed to be Jewish). I didn’t say anything.

Audiences are in many ways captive to the performers. Certainly it is possible for the audience to turn against the person on stage and revolt, as I read happened here. But there’s also a risk that if the whole audience is not with the objector, then the person who objects will get double the wrath.

I don’t know. The whole thing makes me sick.

The Hipster

August 13th, 2011 by Suzanne | 1 Comment | Filed in Asshole idiots, Damn, fun trips, hilarity, I love New York, Off the (Beaten) Subway Track, oh happy day, random, What is wrong with people?

For the last few years, I’ve meant to head out to Ft. Tilden, a former military base turned park in the Far Rockaways section of Queens.  A friend at work highly recommended it.  I finally semi-made it there today with Husband and some friends. 

Since my preferred method of travel, subway and/or bus, would have taken us about 2 hours, we decided to drive.  The park website had car directions, but when we arrived, we learned there was no parking without a permit in the summer.  Then, after ditching Augustus Gloop (our car) at the parking lot for neighboring Jacob Riis and walking along the concrete boardwalk back to Ft. Tilden park, we learned you cannot have a picnic there without a permit halfway through our picnic.  (The ranger let us finish, though.)

As came back from the trash after cleaning up, I passed by a woman sitting under a tree to my right.

“Hey hipster!  Go to the beach,” she hissed.

I looked behind me to see who she was talking to.  There was no one there.  I looked to my left.  Also no one there.  I looked back at her.  She had a straw hat pulled over her face so I could not see who she was looking at.

“Hey hipster!” She hissed again.  “Go to the beach!”

I realized that she was directing her comment to me.  This made me want to laugh, as I am about as close to a hipster as Snooki to a Greek scholar.  I wondered if she thought of all white people as hipsters, although I thought she was white, too.  She hissed at me a third time.  Then I felt awkward and weirded out.

The day was not a total bust, though.  After having our picnic rushed, not being able to use the hiking trail with the cool wood stairs, and being called a hipster, we headed over to the nearby Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.  It was gorgeous and not even the osprey circling the air seemed to mind our presence.  Or maybe birds of prey like fake hipsters.

What Just Happened?

June 12th, 2011 by Suzanne | 3 Comments | Filed in I love New York, random, What is wrong with people?

Earlier this afternoon, Dr. H, Dr. P, and I were walking down Columbus Avenue. We just passed Lincoln Center and I was telling the good doctors about how my building needs its boiler replaced.

“That sounds expensive,” Dr. P said.

“Yeah, it is not going to be pretty,” I replied.

Dr. H had wandered off to toward the curb, where a small black Honda SUV was pulled to the side. The passenger window was rolled down. Dr. P and I stopped walking.

“What’s she doing?” Dr. P asked.

“Giving directions?” I guessed.

A few seconds later, Dr. H rejoined us. She was frowning slightly. “That was weird,” she said. “I heard a woman’s voice saying, ‘Excuse me, excuse me,’ so I went over the the car, thinking that she needed directions. But when I approached the window, she asked me if we were New Yorkers.”

“What?” Dr. P and I said.

“Yeah, she asked if we were New Yorkers. I said, ‘Yes, we are New Yorkers. Are you lost? Can I help you find something?’ Then she said no, giggled, and pulled away.”

Paula and I concurred that was very weird. “Was someone in the car with her?” I asked.

“No, she was a small Asian woman who was alone.”

We shook our heads and continued to walk. You never really know what will happen in New York.

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