From rq. Gorgeousness, all the way around. Click for full size.
© rq. All rights reserved.
Affinity
Art, Fun, & Nonsense.
From rq. Gorgeousness, all the way around. Click for full size.
© rq. All rights reserved.
A wet Daddy Robin, getting back to the business of feeding youngsters. Click for full size.
© C. Ford. All rights reserved.
Ignorance isn’t good, and in this case, it’s spreading.
A recent study on heterosexual anal intercourse suggests that couples feel that it is a safe way to avoid HIV and other STIs. The study was presented at the 2016 American Congress of Obstetricians & Gynocologists (ACOG) annual meeting by a team of physicians from the University of Washington in Seatle. One of the authors of the study, Dr. Lyndsey Benson, talked with Plus about the study, its results, and what it means.
The study, named Survey of Motivations for Anal Sex among Heterosexuals (SMASH), surveyed 5,000 American men and women aged 15-50 years old. The study began after a previous study by Benson highlighted “many knowledge gaps” in regards to what Americans knew about anal sex, including information about condom use, frequency of engaging in anal versus penis into vagina (PIV) sexual practices, and knowledge of HIV risks. Benson, the lead researcher, explained that this study was particularly important, as the majority (84 perccent) of new HIV cases in women can be “attributed to heterosexual contact.”
[…]
The researchers also discovered that a disconcerting number of Americans were engaging in hetero anal sex as a way to avoid sexually transmitted infections including HIV. More than 70 percent of adults in the study incorrectly believe that vaginal intercourse is higher risk than receptive anal intercourse. Among those that had anal sex, 10 percent reported they had done so as a form of contraception at least once.
The Advocate has the full story. This goes right back to Siobhan’s recent post about Canadian Blood Service’s new policies. Heterosexuals continue to be seen as low risk when it comes to blood donation, but gay men and transgender women are still being restricted and banned.
Shock jock radio host Howie Carr mocks Elizabeth Warren with the hand-over-mouth war cry at a Trump rally on June 29 in Bangor, Maine.
Trump’s bigotry seems to know no bounds, and as bigots go, he’s on the equitable side of being bigoted against most everyone. Within that however, Trump remains focused on bigotry and perpetuating nasty stereotypes when it comes to indigenous people. Trump has a history of hating on Natives, and I imagine he was thrilled with the whole Warren business so he could unleash his vituperative venom. As usual, people have no problem picking up such nastiness, doing what they think are Indigenous war cries, like ignorant children playing cowboy, with no thought at all to the real harm and damage they are doing.
While many Americans today are boldly leaning into social consciousness, other pockets of American society remain stubbornly swathed in the white supremacist cloaks of 1950 – an era when racism and bigotry were the celebrated norm.
Enter, Boston-based radio show host, Howie Carr, who recently opened up a Donald Trump rally in Bangor, Maine, with an all-too American mockery of Native Americans while referencing Elizabeth Warren, who claims Cherokee ancestry.
And the crowd loved it. Men turn toward each other laughing in amusement, while someone in the crowd even cheers with a loud whistle of support. A racist rally is a good ol’ time for those Trump Republicans.
But let’s just be clear – this particular critique of yet another charade at the Trump circus isn’t about Trump the Clown or his clown accomplice, Howie Carr. Nor is this critique about Elizabeth Warren, who has failed to adequately address her questionable Native American identity.
Rev. John Butler Book of Christian Viewpoint Ministry (Photo: Screen capture)
John Butler Book is all upset about women. Those women who happen to be parents, especially. Seems you aren’t staying at home, cooking enough apple pies or something.
Those celebrating the sweet land of liberty and thankful for soldiers who fought and died to protect American freedom are all wasting their time according to Rev. John Butler Book of Christian Viewpoint Ministry.
“We have a future leadership in our country of young people that have been devoid of that all important ingredient in the home called mother. That male ingredient called father,” Butler Book said.
[…]
The reason he concluded is because family values aren’t what they once were. “The home has literally been destroyed.”
The Equal Rights Amendment, which never passed the necessary states by the 1982 deadline, enslaved women, according to Butler Book. “They left the home, left their children, left their husbands, divorce rates skyrocketed,” he said. Women then continued the decline of society by listening to “fashion artists,” many of whom “are homosexuals,” and “began to dress like men.” It wasn’t long before lesbianism caught on and became popular.
Instead, Butler Book believes our society should be more like the “Andy Griffith Show,” where Aunt Bea and Andy’s girlfriend were both wearing dresses.
“But you see, we have created an atmosphere of brainwashing and accepted it without any knowledge that we are a part and parcel of the problem because the missing link of the home is more than a prevalent stink in the nation, and that is mom,” he closed.
A thought, Reverend – if you are so terribly concerned about what goes on in the home, and, as you say, are a part and parcel of the problem, how about preaching to the men who are parents about the joys and rewards of being a SAHD? Some of that there prevalent stink might up and disappear.
Via Raw Story.
Niles Aserat, a Navajo veteran, would like a little help to see that Code talkers receive the honour they more than earned, and deserve.
As so often happens in our American history books, the contributions of a group of volunteer Native servicemen called code talkers, has been severely understated. Code talkers were our warriors doing what they have always been inspired to do – protect their homeland, families and culture. Despite having often been harshly treated for speaking in their Native languages, these warriors valiantly served for the United States and by using their beautiful Native languages these hero soldiers became pivotal in helping to win two of the most crucial wars in U.S. history – World Wars I & II.
The buzz this 4th of July is a petition to get a National Native Code Talkers Day on the radar of the U.S. Senate. The campaign was begun by Vietnam Veteran and Navajo Elder, Niles Aserat. Now a resident of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Niles grew up on the Navajo reservation in Sanders, Arizona. Niles joined the Army in 1966 and saw firsthand the brutality of war. He and only one other man in his brigade of 178 men, survived a vicious ambush at the infamous battle of Hamburger Hill.
After reading a book about code talkers, Aserat found himself inspired to spread the word about their amazing contribution and self sacrifice which turned the tides of war in the favor of the U.S. During WWII, military Marine Corp recruiters visited the Navajo reservation and understanding the threat facing their homeland from foreign invaders again, the first group of 29 brave warriors volunteered and developed a sophisticated code which was never deciphered by the enemies.
The story at ICTMN is here. The Petition: National Day for All Native American Code Talkers. The website for the petition: Native Code Talkers.
William Howard Taft took office in 1909, the same year America’s first permanent movie studio opened in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
William Howard Taft took office in 1909, the same year America’s first permanent movie studio opened in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
Champion Film Company, the precursor of Universal Studios, used its location along the Jersey Palisades to film scenes from the “Wild West,” launching a movie genre that from its beginning proved problematic. Years before Hollywood was established as America’s film capital, more than a dozen companies made movies from Fort Lee, transforming local scenery and historic buildings into scenes from the stereotypical West.
These early westerns often portrayed Indians in derogatory ways, prompting a delegation of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians to travel to Washington in early 1911. Concerned that Indians were “discreditably depicted in moving pictures,” the delegates sought an audience with Taft and Robert Valentine, the commissioner of Indian Affairs.
As part of their visit, chiefs Big Buck and Big Bear accompanied a Washington Post reporter to a local theater. The movie they watched followed the story of an Indian woman who, after falling in love with a white man, stabbed the man’s wife with a poison arrow, the Post reported in February 1911.
“If the white people would only take the pains to study Indian characteristics … he could possibly produce something worthy of presentation to the public,” Big Buck told the Washington Post. After viewing the movie, he and Big Bear planned to ask Taft to “close up” the movie house.
“It is bad to be lied about to so many people (and to be) helpless to defend yourself,” Big Bear told the Post.
Valentine was sympathetic and said that he had “seen productions wherein the Indian was pictured as a cannibal, thief, and almost every evil thing one can imagine,” the Post reported. Yet Taft did not respond to requests from Big Bear and Big Buck, and the National Board of Censorship continued to approve the films.
[…]
Throughout his presidency, Taft contended with the rise of the Native American Church and its sacramental and medicinal use of peyote, which the Bureau of Indian Affairs viewed as a threat to Christianity. In 1909, the BIA began investigating peyote meetings and in 1912, the Board of Indian Commissioners lobbied Congress for a law criminalizing its use.
“The danger of the rapid spread of the habit, increased by its so-called religious associations, makes the need of its early suppression doubly pressing,” commissioners wrote in their annual report.
In his final message to Congress, in December 1912, Taft spoke of the government’s role as guardians of the Indians and its responsibility for their “condition of health.”
“In spite of everything which has been said in criticism of the policy of our government toward the Indians, the amount of wealth which is now held by it for these wards per capita shows that the government has been generous,” Taft said. He called on Congress to allocate funding for Indian health “in order that our facilities for overcoming diseases among the Indians might be properly increased.”
Two weeks before leaving office, Taft broke ground with a silver shovel on the proposed 165-foot National American Indian Memorial, to be built on Staten Island. Although Congress set aside the federal land for the project, it did not receive funding and was never constructed.
Full Article at ICTMN.
Amelia Fais Harnas turns stains into an art positive, something I truly admire. You can see her work at trulyamelia.com.
Sour Cherry, from rq. I just want to reach out an pick one. Click for full size.
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Eurasian Collared Dove, click for full size.
© C. Ford. All rights reserved.
“I think we have to be very clear, Donald Trump is just a symbol for an antiquated outdated mode of thought that unfortunately still exists.”
Gyasi Ross, ICTMN’s Editor at Large, appeared on All In With Chris Hayes last night to address Donald Trump’s candidacy and, specifically, Trump’s 1993 quote, “They don’t look Indian,” as part of the presumptive Republican Presidential Candidate’s reoccurring shtick.
Hayes opened the segment by bringing up the opening of Foxwoods resort and casino in Connecticut, which presented competition to Trump’s casinos in Atlantic City. “Under federal law,” Hayes went on, “Native Americans don’t pay taxes on casinos located on their land.” In 1993 Trump sued the federal government by arguing that the law gave an unfair advantage to a certain class of citizen.
Trump was called to testify before Congress and got into a heated exchange with Representative George Miller. That’s when Trump delivered his infamous phrase, “They don’t look Indian.”
Hayes followed the video clip of the exchange by soliciting comments from Ross, and referred to Trump as the “great determiner of who has what ancestry.”
Ross, a Blackfeet Nation citizen, responded, “This is not a new script at all. … In many ways Native people have historically served as the canary in the coal mine in regards to racial relations and this is no different.
ICTMN has the full story, video below.
https://youtu.be/8_GKkst6tM0
Wikimedia Commons.
History News Network has a good article up, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” by Anne Pastore. It’s good reading for Colonial Day. Here’s just a bit:
African-American attitudes leading up to the Civil War toward Independence Day itself were perhaps best expressed by Frederick Douglass in his 1852 speech named after its most famous line, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Asking the crowd why they have asked him, a black man, to speak on this occasion celebrating freedom in a country where his people are not free, his oration demands acknowledgement of slavery, “the great sin and shame of America.”
“Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought light and healing to you has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.”
I learned a few things I didn’t know, and I have yet more reading to do. Wherever there’s a declaration of independence, there’s often a pile of bodies under that declaration, and it’s important to remember the cost to all peoples, not just the spoils of the victors.
There’s a great need for such reflection, because the March of American Stupidity stomps on:
The one-time Florida representative and retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel GOP Rep. Allen West is extremely concerned by his observation that Americans use the phrase “Happy Fourth of July” to greet each other instead of “Happy 240th American Independence Day,” or better yet, “Steadfast and Loyal, Happy 240th American Independence Day.”
West is afraid that the country is not only becoming less Christian, but also less patriotic.
“I’ve noticed something as it relates to today and that which it represents,” West wrote on his blog. “We’ve seen our move away from Merry Christmas to Happy Holidays, and even Happy Winter Solstice. We’ve become so damaged by the talons of political correctness that it now threatens the very existence of our Republic. And I mean its very founding.”
[…]
He concludes, “On June 14th 1775 our Continental Army was formed, the motto of today’s U.S. Army is ‘This We’ll Defend.’ Let us all defend these free and independent states from a new tyranny and make a stand for Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness…not charlatans who believe they can promise our individual happiness. Steadfast and Loyal, Happy 240th American Independence Day!”
Mr. West, you can take your Steadfast and Loyal, Happy 240th American Independence Day and shove it. Full story here.
Ken Burns speaks to CBS (screen grab).
In an interview with the Daily Beast on a retrospective of his films, acclaimed documentarian Ken Burn spent the majority of his time discussing the candidacy of presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and what it says about America.
[…]
Discussing Burns’ film The Central Park Five — about five black teens who were wrongly convicted of assaulting a white woman in New York City — Burns recalled how Trump reacted at the time.
“He shamefully took out a full-page ad in all of the New York dailies asking for a restoration of the death penalty for two 14-year-old, two 15-year-old, and one 16-year-old innocent children,” Burns explained. “While New York State laws would not have permitted their execution, just the fact that there was a rush to judgment ought to be complete evidence of how temperamentally unsuited he is for the office he now seeks.”
Burns makes an excellent point here, in regard to Trump’s volatility. Trump is con man, always ready to twist in the wind, willing to change views in a heartbeat. All his viewpoints are on the repugnant side, which should be enough to scare people away, but it isn’t. Given that, people should seriously consider Trump’s eruptions into temper, and how that would translate in an office of high power.
“I find Donald Trump more of a super-predator. This idea that he can attack and attack and attack whole groups of people, and that we live in a media culture where that’s permitted to be tolerated—it’s the spectacle and not the truth of it,” he said. “An amoral internet permits a lie to travel around the world three times before the truth can get started, and we live in a place where lying is OK—where a lassitude develops where it doesn’t matter what the truth is—and that’s how it’s possible for someone like him to be advanced who is so clearly temperamentally unsuited and has no idea about governing.”
“The Republican Party has been extraordinarily successful at getting many groups of people to vote against their self-interest,” he continued. “Evangelicals are voting for Donald Trump. What part of Donald Trump reminds you of Jesus Christ? Trump lusts after his own daughter on national radio, talks about women’s bodies and breasts in such a disparaging way, and mocks them. How is this in any way Christian? When you make the ‘other’ the enemy, how is that Christian?”
Okay, that last question is silly. Christians are all about othering, it’s the lifeblood of their belief. If you don’t other, how you can get your self-righteous judgment on? (Yes, I know, #notallchristians.)