Brexit, Nexit, Frexit…

Marine Le Pen with Heinz-Christian Strache of Austria's far-right Freedom Party (AFP Photo/Vladimir Simicek)

Marine Le Pen with Heinz-Christian Strache of Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (AFP Photo/Vladimir Simicek)

Brexit, Nexit, Frexit, Fuck it. The chain has begun, with far-right, racist leaders all over* cheering Brexit, and whipping up similar sentiments all over Europe. I’ll just give you one small quote, and you can go read the rest, I hate beginning the day with despair.

— And the leader of Germany’s right-wing populist AfD Frauke Petry said in a Facebook post the Brexit was a warning that “if the EU does not abandon its quasi-socialist experiment of every greater integration then the European people will follow the Brits and take back their sovereignty.”

Yeah! Can’t have that whole humans being compassionate and caring stuff going on, oh no.

*Including American racist moron, Trump.

Full Story Here.

Stonewall: Where [White] Pride Began.

Last year, I was excited to hear a movie was going to be made about Stonewall. I wasn’t so excited when I heard it would be directed by Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Patriot). Then I thought to myself, well, how bad could even Emmerich do, it’s a great story, filled with amazing people. Optimism really doesn’t pay off. After last September, I heard many negative noises about the film, and promptly forgot about it.

Did you see Stonewall? Based on its abysmal box office performance, it seems safe to assume you did not. The terrifically abominable thing — just a badly-planned and shoddily-executed work from start to finish — premiered last September and grossed just $187,674.

Stonewall is offensive on two counts: Not just for being a lousy movie, but also for whitewashing history. The 1969 Stonewall riots, as has been well-documented, was a landmark event for LGBT rights; two of the most prominent protesters were trans women of color, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.

But Stonewall director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Patriot) wanted his movie to appeal to the masses, he explained to Buzzfeed, and in order to get that mainstream appeal, he created a fictional protagonist, Danny. Danny is gay but, in Emmerich’s words, “very straight-acting.” He is cis and he is white. He moves from Indiana to New York City and, in the film, is the brick-throwing rebel that incites the riots that sparked a movement.

:Gobsmacked: So Emmerich thought a white, cis-het appearing, apple pie and mom guy would magically appeal to the ‘mainstream’. Who did he think was going to be the major audience for a movie about Stonewall? This reminds me of the often blank reaction people get when they realize that indigenous people are still around – Stonewall was in 1969, and no, not everyone there and involved is dead, let alone long dead.

Perhaps it will not surprise you to know that many, many LGBT individuals and allies objected to this act of erasure — Johnson makes little more than a cameo, Rivera is M.I.A. — and over 20,000 people signed a petition promising to boycott the movie altogether.

No, that doesn’t surprise me at all.

One might think that Emmerich, nearly a year out from his film’s release and subsequent commercial and critical failure (Rotten Tomatoes rating: 9 percent) would, upon reflection, realize his errors. Or not! In an interview with The Guardian pegged to the release of sure-to-be-cinematic-masterpiece Independence Day: Resurgence, Emmerich “sighs at the memory of his passion project’s reception.”

“My movie was exactly what they said it wasn’t. It was politically correct. It had black, transgender people in there,” Emmerich said. “We just got killed by one voice on the internet who saw a trailer and said, this is whitewashing Stonewall. Stonewall was a white event, let’s be honest. But nobody wanted to hear that any more.”

Stonewall was a white event. Did I say I was gobsmacked before? No, Stonewall was not a white event. It wasn’t even close to a white event. Titus Montalvo, a Stonewall vet, put the crowd at 70% Hispanic and Black. That’s not overwhelmingly white, but I suppose to an Independence-minded Emmerich, that constitutes a white event. Mr. Emmerich, please, stick with your idiot pleaser popcorn flicks, and consider staying very, very quiet about events such as Stonewall. No one appreciates your continued whitewash.

Full Story Here.

Cool Stuff Friday: Kid Stuff!

Sometimes, the very best stuff is kid stuff. Now, this first is something I would just love to do, but I don’t have the equipment, know-how, or understanding of how to do this, and do it safely, buuuut, if any of you enterprising science-y people can pull this off, please please take a photo and send it to me.

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Tasha Sturm, of Cabrillo College did this hand print on a large TSA plate from her 8 1/2 year old son after playing outside. Is that cool, or what? You can read more about that at Microbe World. I so wish I could do this.

Next up, a kickstarter for a book about a dog and her owner moving to a new place, because everyone knows that moving to a new place can be very unsettling, especially when you’re a child. There’s a bit of a twist…

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Vivian the Dog Moves to Brooklyn by Mitch Boyer + Vivian the Dog.

And yesterday, Siobhan blogged about a new children’s book, Introducing Teddy.

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Starting as a Kickstarter project, this picture book features Thomas the teddy and Errol who are best friends. They do everything together, riding bikes, playing in the garden, and eating in the tree house. But one day, Thomas doesn’t feel like playing. Even a visit to the park won’t cheer him up. When Errol asks what is wrong, Teddy says that he is worried that if he tells Errol that Errol won’t want to be his friend any more. After Errol reassures him, Teddy admits that he has always felt in his heart that he is a girl teddy, not a boy teddy. When the two meet Ava, she demonstrates that girls can be anything they want, including inventing robots and wearing their hair without a bow. It’s a gentle look at gender identity.

This is Walton’s first picture book and it is inspired by her father’s transition from male to female. In the picture book, she makes sure to keep everything at a level that small children can understand. It’s a book that speaks to gender and will also work for children who may not be transgender but feel that they don’t fit into the limits that society puts them into. It’s a book that celebrates being who you are and not being afraid to tell others what is in your heart.

You can read more about the book here.

Bees Gain Congressional Allies.

Shutterstock.

Shutterstock.

Pollinators are under huge amounts of stress, struggling to survive as habitats are destroyed, systemic pesticides are applied to crops, and climate change throws off once-reliable weather patterns. Now, a new bill hopes to give these essential insects and animals a boost.

The bill, introduced Thursday by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), would increase funding and improve cooperation among federal agencies that are working on getting pollinator numbers back up. If signed into law, the bill would set a goal for the USDA and other agencies of conserving, restoring, or enhancing 3 million acres of forage habitat — i.e. fields of flowering plants and shrubs — a step towards the goal of 7 million acres of pollinator habitat set by the White House in 2014. It would also create more financial incentives for farmers to plant bee-friendly plants — including wildflowers, sunflowers, buckwheat, and native grasses — and using natural predators, instead of pesticides, to ward off pests. And it would create grant opportunities to fund programs that monitor pollinator health and numbers.

“It’s easy to forget about the critical role pollinators play in our food systems,” Merkley said in a statement. “But if we’re not careful, we will only realize their importance when it’s too late and our agricultural industry has been decimated by their disappearance. Let’s take action now instead.”

Merkley is right: Pollinators play an essential part in getting food on the plates of Americans — and people around the world. According to a report released earlier this year, 75 percent of global food crops depend on pollination, and $235–$577 billion worth of these crops are affected by pollinators every year. Some crops depend on highly specialized pollinators, and would cease to exist without them: The chocolate midge, for instance, is the only insect that can pollinate the cacao plant.

[…]

This week in particular — dubbed National Pollinator Week by the USDA and Department of Interior — has been a major one for pollinator activists. On Wednesday, Minnesota beekeeper James Cook parked a truck full of millions of dead bees outside of the Environmental Protection Agency, a stop that marked the end of the bus’s country-wide tour. He and other activists also delivered a 4-million-signature petition to the EPA, urging the agency to ban neonicotinoids and other bee-harming pesticides.

Protesters rally outside the EPA on Wednesday, June 22, 2016.

Protesters rally outside the EPA on Wednesday, June 22, 2016. CREDIT: courtesy of Friends of the Earth.

The Keep the Hives Alive tour truck arrives at the EPA, carrying millions of dead bees. CREDIT: courtesy of Friends of the Earth

The Keep the Hives Alive tour truck arrives at the EPA, carrying millions of dead bees. CREDIT: courtesy of Friends of the Earth.

“We are, I think, uniquely in the history of the human species blind and deaf to signals that nature is giving us that things are going haywire,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said at a briefing on pollinators Wednesday, where a shortened version of the movie was shown. “We need to learn to pay attention.”

We best stop being blind to this particular problem, or we’re all going to smack right into the “hey, there’s no food!” wall. Full story at Think Progress.

EC Statement, Richard Carrier.

The FtB Ethics Committee has released an official statement on the departure of Richard Carrier from our network.

Freethought Blogs unequivocally condemns any behavior that threatens the safety of atheist community members, including particularly marginalized groups. Freethought Blogs also recognizes the role of sexual harassment as one of numerous barriers for women that limits access to and participation within atheist conferences and spaces.

When the recent allegations against Richard Carrier were made public, Freethought Blogs initiated a process to investigate these claims and formalize its policy concerning the conduct of its members. The FtB Ethics Committee received several reports of Carrier’s behavior and was in the process of reviewing them when Carrier chose to leave the network. A thorough review of the allegations against Carrier cannot be completed by Freethought Blogs without his cooperation.

As part of our commitment to equitable access to freethinking spaces for all, Freethought Blogs members who violate our commitment to social justice by creating or maintaining barriers to participation will be removed from the network as a matter of policy. All reports submitted to us in furtherance of this policy will be kept in the strictest of confidence, unless the accusation was made publicly or in the event we have express permission to reproduce the complaint.

-The FtB Ethics Committee

ETA: For those just wondering why this post has not gone up on every blog? Two things: posting was not made mandatory, and time zones, how do they work?

Ownbey’s Final Solution.

Oklahoma state Rep. Pat Ownbey, R-Ardmore, in 2013. CREDIT: AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki.

Oklahoma state Rep. Pat Ownbey, R-Ardmore, in 2013. CREDIT: AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki.

An Oklahoma lawmaker personally propagated an article over the weekend calling for a “final solution” regarding “radical Islam,” arguing that the 1,400-year-old faith is not a religion and should not be protected under the first amendment of the Constitution.

On Sunday, Oklahoma State Rep. Pat Ownbey re-published an article to his Facebook page entitled “Radical Islam – The Final Solution.” The article was originally published on the personal blog of Paul R. Hollrah, an Oklahoman who touts himself as a “retired government relations executive,” but Ownbey appears to have copy-pasted the piece and reposted it in its entirety, citing Hollrah.

The author is seemingly unaware that the phrase “the final solution” was used by Adolph Hitler and Nazi leadership to describe the horrific genocide enacted against Jews by the Third Reich during World War II, also known as the Holocaust. Instead, the article Ownbey shared purports that in light of the recent massacre of 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando by an ISIS-affiliated shooter, Islam should no longer be categorized as a religion in the United States — or in any western nation.

I really find it difficult to believe that Ownbey is in any way unfamiliar with the phrase the final solution or its meaning. It’s just another alt-right move: “hey, it won’t be like that, we can do a final solution right, you betcha!”

“…if we in the west are to protect our children and grandchildren from the horrors of a worldwide Islamic caliphate, we must first dispense with the cruel fiction that Islam is just another religious denomination, subject to all of the legal protections afforded legitimate religious sects,” Hollrah argues. “Islam is not a religion, subject to First Amendment protections, as we in western cultures understand the term. Rather, it is a complete political, legal, economic, military, social, and cultural system with a religious component.”

Hollrah — who, like presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, appears to be opposed to Muslim immigration into the United States — goes on to blast Christian traditions such as the Catholic Church that take a welcoming approach to Islam, accusing them of being naive. He then defends Trump’s Muslim ban by citing the Communist Control Act of 1954 before insisting that the West “quarantine” all Muslims.

“And since the 95% of Muslims who are described as either ‘moderate’ or ‘un-radicalized’ appear unwilling to play an active role in keeping their radicalized brethren in check, we have no long term alternative but to quarantine them… prohibiting them from residing anywhere within the civilized nations of the Earth,” he writes.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Not even wrong. As for prohibiting them from residing anywhere within the civilized nations of the Earth, once again, we see an American asshole who thinks America runs the world. This point of view is so damn pervasive, and so very poisonous. How do we rid ourselves of this cumbersome and meddlesome belief?

The author of the article at Think Progress goes on to debunk all this ineffable, but dangerous twaddle. A good read.

Tennessee: 5 Million Lost.

CREDIT: Shutterstock/City of Angels

CREDIT: Shutterstock/City of Angels

The American Counseling Association was planning to hold its 2017 national convention in Nashville, but after Tennessee lawmakers passed a law allowing for religious discrimination in counseling, the organization decided not to reward the state with its business. Last week, the ACA announced it would instead be heading to the “inclusive and inviting city” of San Francisco.

The new Tennessee law ensures that any counselor or therapist can decide not to provide services to a client if doing so violates their religious beliefs. A lawsuit challenging its constitutionality points out that it flagrantly violates the ACA Code of Ethics, which the state had previously embraced as the standard for its counselors and therapists.

Back in May, ACA officials announced that after hearing complaints from many members, they would move the convention somewhere else. “Of all the state legislation I have seen passed in my 30 years with ACA, the new Tennessee law based on Senate Bill 1556/House Bill 1840 is by far the worst. This law directly targets the counseling profession, would deny services to those most in need, and constitutes a dilemma for ACA members because it allows for violation of ACA’s Code of Ethics,” CEO Richard Yep said at the time. “By relocating from Tennessee, ACA is standing up to this discriminatory law and we remain committed in the battle to ensure that this law does not become the national standard.”

Way to go, ACA! Let’s all hope this economic hit might knock some sense into Tennessee lawmakers.

Full Story Here.

New York: Pink Tax Legislation.

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Gabriella Penuela/FUSION

New York City will likely become the first city in the U.S. to guarantee access to free menstrual hygiene products to women and girls in public schools, homeless shelters, and jails.

The legislation, sponsored by New York City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras-Copeland, passed with a unanimous vote of 49-0 on Tuesday. The bill is now awaiting approval from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is expected to sign it into law next month.

The bill is a big win especially for the women and girls across the city who may find it difficult to afford menstrual hygiene products — 49 percent of public school students in New York come from low income families, according to a 2015 study by the Southern Education Foundation. In addition, out of the 300,000 students in New York City public schools, 48 percent are female. Incarceration also disproportionately affects people from low income and disadvantaged communities, and homeless women face the added stress of not always being able to afford pads or tampons.

[…]

This historic legislation presents a victory to women who have been fighting to rid their states and cities of the “pink tax,” the extra cost that subjects female-branded hygiene products, such as tampons, to a sales tax. The additional charges on these products can add to staggering amounts for women — the cost of managing periods alone cost an estimated $18,000 over a woman’s lifetime, and tampons alone cost a women about $1,700.

According to research conducted by Fusion, only five states in the U.S. do not place taxes on tampons. Most states place tax exemptions on items that are considered necessities, but the products that constitute a necessity vary by state — with tampons usually not falling under this category.

I no longer have to feed money into this particular pink tax, but it is an outrage that in the 21st century, people continue to be punished because menstruation. Perhaps if people who do menstruate just start freely bleeding all over the place, the idea will get across that yes, tampons and pads are indeed necessities, not ‘pink fripperies’ no one needs.

Think Progress has the full story.

Gay Superhero: Union Jack.

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Marvel’s increasing knack for inclusivity is going multi-platform, spreading to the popular mobile game Avengers Academy with their “British Invasion” which includes gay superhero Union Jack.

The cartoon video game, which appears to be geared toward a younger audience, reimagines the Avengers crew as students at a school under the tutelage of Nick Fury.

[…]

In the world of Marvel comics, Union Jack has been around since 1976, and was dating fellow super hero Dyna-Mite when he came out.

Out has the story.