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It’s an open thread! Pleeeeease feel free to chat, blogwhore, and link-share in the comment thread… 
So below is what my cartoon sockpuppet Bookworm Bob & I have been looking at so far this week.
• TMZ‘s Lil Mama: Sorry For Being a Lil Insensitive, the comments. For those who don’t get why language matters, read some of the freeper style comments on this entertainment site:
- I’m so sick of this….now we have to apologize to freaks of nature. FU to all you Fwads that want to call me a hater. This thing is a freak. End of story!!!! We live in such a PC society we have to say sorry to every whack job that’s out there.- I tend to be very liberal, but this whole transgender thing just does not sit well with me. The men-to-women transgenders never seem to look or act like real women, they are some gross characterization of women based on stereotypes!
I can’t blame Lil Mama for saying what most people think!
- Um, she should NOT have apologized. That is a freak! All she said is that she should act like a lady. Leiomy is butt ugly anyway!
- Lil Mama did not say anything wrong! The tranny dude is very disguesting indeed!
- Transgenders or whatever they are called are as confused as a person can get. How utterly sad. They need to come to Jesus in the worst way and stop living a life of confusion. GLADD demands respect but come-on, GLADD and it’s lot is a freak show.
- WTF- why did she apologize? It’s the truth- that man was acting a fool. If he wants to be a woman he better start behaving like a lady… I totally agree with that statement.
- She had to do the formal apology because going the PC route is expected of celebrities. But we all know she doesn’t mean it.
And I for one totally support her original statement. I’m so sick of flamboyant transgender queens.
- Now I think I’ve seen it all. Who wants to see a bunch of chunky, hairy men dancing around with scarves trying to look feminine…. whilst a man who wants to be a woman throws himself all over the stage. Later he has a tantrum and someone calls him on it and that person is made to apologize? It turns your stomach. I’m glad to see people speaking up on this board and calling this what it is. Let’s not stand dumb and salute while our country goes to hell.
Trans people battle words, just as lesbian, gay, and bisexual battle words. For those who think trans folk are battling a small thing when it comes to language, small things matter to me. Underneath the cultural insensitivity that Lil Mama apologized for are layers of other people who see no problem at all in referring to trans people as “freaks.”
Words mean things, words matter.
• Time‘s Why Michelle Obama’s Hair Matters:
When the First Lady attended a country-music event in July without a single strand of hair falling below her jawline, the blogosphere exploded with outbursts ranging from adoration to vitriol. Things settled down only when her deputy press secretary clarified that there had been no First Haircut. In the aftermath, a didactic post on MichelleObamaWatch.com proclaimed that anyone “familiar with the amazing versatility of black hair” would have known that the new summer look was simply “pinned up.”Many Americans have dismissed this hair hubbub as simply more media-driven noise – like the chatter about Michelle Obama’s sleeveless dresses, J. Crew cardigans, stocking-free legs or, for that matter, recent (shocking!) decision to wear shorts in the Arizona heat. But for African-American women like me, hair is something else altogether – singular in its capacity to command interest and carry cultural baggage. The obsession with Michelle’s hair took hold long before Inaugural Ball gowns were imagined, private-school choices scrutinized or organic gardens harvested. It’s not that she’s done anything outrageous. The new updo wasn’t really all that dramatic a departure from variations we’ve seen on her before (the “flip-out,” the “flip-under,” the long-ago abandoned “helmet”). Still, her hair is the catalyst for a conversation that begins with style but quickly transcends outward appearance and ultimately transcends Michelle herself – a symbol for African-American women’s status in terms of beauty, acceptance and power…
Lots of links in the story — such as links to pictures of Michelle Obama’s hair styles.
• ABC News‘ WA fights transsexual ruling:
The WA Attorney-General will appeal against a court decision which allowed two women who have changed their gender to be legally considered men, despite still having female reproductive organs.The transsexuals were denied legal recognition of their sex change, and appealed against the decision.
The WA Attorney-General, Christian Porter intervened, arguing that until they had hysterectomies, they could not be considered men under the Gender Reassignment Act.
The State Administrative Tribunal found the Act didn’t require reproductive surgery, and the pair could be legally considered men even with female reproductive organs…
• Los Angeles Times‘ Healthcare activist bites off finger of counter-demonstrator, authorities say:
Authorities today are searching for a healthcare reform activist who they said bit off the finger of a 65-year-old counter-demonstrator during a fight at a MoveOn.org rally in Thousand Oaks.“It all started with their difference in philosophy over healthcare reform,” said Senior Deputy Eric Buschow of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.
The incident occurred about 7 p.m. Wednesday at a “We Can’t Afford to Wait Vigil” organized by affiliates of the activist group MoveOn.org, which drew supporters of President Obama’s healthcare plan, Buschow said. The rally also attracted several counter-protesters, he said…
Eep!
• Wiener story of the day: Fox Tampa‘s Hot dogs from a hearse?:
Jim Belcher is looking to build one heck of a good business with his Hellacious Hotdogs. He sells his funeral-themed food from a cart that he hauls around with a big, black hearse.
His plain dogs are called “stiffs.” He also sells “cold soda from the morgue,” and “body bags of chips.”
Carolyn Hanes was stunned when she first saw it.
“I didn’t know what to think, because I saw a hearse and a hot dog stand and I said, ‘those two don’t go together,” Hanes told FOX 13, and laughed. “But it’s cool.”
Belcher’s stand sits in front of Kathleen Tires, just north of Lakeland.
“Everyone needs a gimmick, and that’s a good one,” said Pat Yohn, one of the store’s owners…
So anywho…It’s an open thread! What are you thinking about today, or what books or articles have you been reading the past few days? Wanna share?
And again, please feel free to chat, blogwhore, and link-share in the comment thread because…it’s an open thread! Woo-hoo!
37 Comments
Started to comment on FB a few minutes agothen decided to bring it here instead.
Autumn, I can’t say how much I admire your personal strength in continuing to shine a bright light on the “tr*nny” stories. They must hurt like hell (I know they hurt me to read them and I never miss a one, because YOU brought them here), yet you continue to raise awareness.
THANK YOU.
And because I refuse to be seriousCan you imagine what else he could do with the hearse?
Like get a liquor license and sell Zombies? Cadaver Colas?
Run specials on “Mummy’s Day”?
Another cool food storyBen & Jerry’s renamed “Chubby Hubby” as “Hubby Hubby”!
Love this:
Drag performer shot by cop during muggingOK I’ll include this.
I include it because often on the Blend we discuss police f***ups and the like. I’m also including it because I’m from Texas and I’ve seen this performer in Austin before.
Apparently it was an accident, perhaps cops need a little more gun training..
@AutumnWords do matter, and as calloused and hardened as many of us might give the illusion of being above or beyond it, sometimes words still hurt. Freak had a very different meaning in my teens, and was counter culture cool. it no longer has any positive conotation, and I’m sorry people spew it so casually in their comments.
The decision transmen can be declared male without surgeries is an important ruling. Even those considering surgery are required to live as men for a year, and that leaves them in a legal limbo, or maybe more accurately a Catch 22.
Anyone interested in kev and my two days of dance songs, they are on the last open threadyesterdays songs were what gets your a$$ on a dancefloor, todays were slow songs you like to hold your partner to.
My turn
I really encourage everyone to take a look at these two sites. We are gearing up for a long, difficult campaign in Kalamazoo Michigan and can use any help the great posters on PHB can provide.
One Kalamazoo
http://www.onekalamazoo.com/
Actblue
http://www.actblue.com/page/jh1k
Its important that everyone help, to make sure everyone is given the chance to earn a living and not be fired for being LGBT.
WienerI love your wiener things! Brightens my day.
I concur.Autumn really is an asset to have around here. She really does write some very compelling posts.
On the topic of “open thread”, Ben Stein is also a major homophobic asshole. I’m glad that I never bothered to watch his tv show and although I dumped Comcast because they are quite useless in other ways, I may call to ask them to take me off of their mailing list because with him as a spokesman, I’m never going back to them. I’ll leave out mentioning that they really do suck (more than the vacuum of outer space) on their own merits.
Thank you so much for saying that.
I so look forward to searching for those wiener stories, I have to tell you. When things get even slightly stressful for me, searching for stories about “wieners” (hot dogs, naughty bits, Dachshunds, particularly “bad” people, etc.) is a great stress relief for me.
I’m so glad you like this running segment of the This & That threads — now I know I’m not the only one who’s getting a bit of fun from these little stories.
Thank you……and you’re welcome.
I appreciate the comments. 
Thank you too……and you’re welcome.
I very much appreciate the warm comments. 
Oh, the alternate wiener story for today was this one……Flashy ’80s drug kingpin is now pushing hot dogs.
Great story about a Chicago coke dealer who now sells hot dogs at his own stand. Great redemption story, I think.
You’re a tough woman, AutumnMy sister-in-law’s partner, my friend of operative history, was over this eve and got on line, looked at this thread and simply turned off the monitor. She could not look at the comments about trans-people and how ‘sick’ they are, particularly since she is a reasonably prominent psychiatrist.
It has to be simply soul-wrenching to see such ignorance. Lesbians get abuse, but nothing like that vile ignorant cognitive flatulence that gets directed at trans-people.
smooching wienersI find it amazing that you can find a wiener story this often..
There’s even wieners in my local news:
October 17th.. we will be having our annual Wiener Fest here in town. It’s not about hot dogs, but wiener dogs. Last year they had a kissing booth, if you felt like paying a dollar to smooch a pup.
All proceeds go to the animal shelter, so it’s a cool deal
I pay close attention to your words, AutumnI’m a 56 year old straight woman, and I want to learn. Thank you for your honesty. Apologies in advance if I wound out of ignorance. Hugs to you.
What’s up in KalamazooOn The Czech:
Find out what’s going on in the non-discrimination ordinance fight in Kalamazoo Michigan.
Hey Czechhow are you doing?
You have GOT to email us links!If your local paper posts a story about it, that is a story we’d want to highlight!!!
BottomfeedersAfter reading the sampling of insensitive comments Autumn shared from TMZ, I have some observations from my own experience.
At different times, I have found myself settling in to a (temporary) hangout at one site or another.
Around 2001, I was a regular at Slate’s daily newspaper analysis. At first, I posted in somewhat of a stealth mode, and then at some point, I outed myself. At Slate, the reactions were fairly good. A few years later, I did the same thing with my local newspaper’s and cable news outlet’s comment sites – first just posting on issues of the day, and then at some point, outing myself. The idea was to develop normal reactions to my posts (coming off as a smart leftie/liberal among a pack mostly composed of sophomore troglodytes and neanderthals.
Unlike at Slate, outing myself resulted in a lot of reactions similar to those found among the troglodytic denizens of TMZ. On the other hand, there were also a number of the more thoughtful opponent types who realized that my status did not alter my intelligence.
I have occasionally returned to the local newspaper site. One time after a longish hiatus (those sites are incredible time sucks) when there was coverage of a high schooler who was transitioning in school, I was a couple days behind. Someone had already posted a somewhat wistful “Where’s Joann Prinzivalli?”
One might wonder why I outed myself. It was purely as an educational tool – I have learned, however, that for every one person who learns something, there seem to be three or four who turn out to be uneducable troglodytes.
Unlike Slate’s “Today’s Papers,” which had much higher caliber of commenters/denizens, both the local newspaper and local cable news comment sites have a large contingent of right-leaning dolts.
I must have made some impression on at least one of the dolts, since he wrote this about me on his blog in 2007:
at:
http://jewsyonkersislamiii-tc….
This particular nut’s rantings go on and on – the quote is from the last paragraph of his post #418
I noticed when the New York Times misidentified me in a November 2007 article, as “a man who has lived as a woman since 2000″ – that earned me all sorts of ignorant negative comments all over the world, including in an editorial from the troglodytes at National Review.
There is at least some comfort that derives from understanding that the kind of people who intentionally make this sort of insensitive comment – calling us freaks or intentionally using incorrect pronouns – are the ones who really are the insensitive freaks themselves. They are so ignorant of things, that actually think their sophomoric ranting makes them look good.
Needless to say, I am not impressed with these lightweights.
“Classic Transsexuals”I’ve managed to upset some of those on the extremist end of the post-SRS set with a piece that appeared first on my blog at: http://womenborntranssexual.com titled
http://womenborntranssexual.co…
which also appears in an expanded version on Lisa and Sharon’s TS-SI:
http://ts-si.org/guest-columns…
I am also continuing to agitate for the removal of GID from the DSM:
http://womenborntranssexual.co…
I have discovered that it is much easier for the various different communities described by transprefixed word to work for things that are of mutual benefit if we are not calling each other names.
I have also learned the power of apology for having said hateful things.
Can these right wingers get any worse? I watched Keith Olbermann to night and his number 4 story was enough to make my upset.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30…
This is just plain sick. I know this has become the face of the republican party. I find it amazing that none of the so-called christian groups would even stand up and denounce this kind of garbage.
This is just sad.
their mamma’s didn’t raise ‘em right.
Why else would anyone say such crude hateful things about complete strangers who’ve never done them any harm?
Same kinda people, BTW, who voted against the children’s bill of rights. Only two countries failed to ratify it: Somalia and guess who? SOMALIA & US!!!
[hangs country's head in shame]
So, don’t feel bad. They even hate children.
.
Cover Your Keyboards: People Of Wal-MartJust when you thought it was safe to wear clothes half your size on a bad hair day while shopping at Wal-Mart:
http://peopleofwalmart.com
In other Wal-Mart news, Georgia man slaps crying 2 year old baby in a Wal-Mart:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
People of Wal-MartI found a picture on there of a guy in my hometown! Unfortunate and embarrassing.
It’s like “love thy neighbor” was a dirty word or somethingIt’s a sick, twisted version of the “I got mine, so fuck you” attitude. Someone at Pandagon a while back likened this attitude to the that of poor white trash in the Jim Crow South. Everyone there who wasn’t a wealthy white elite had it bad, but the attitude was, “I don’t care if I have to live in mud, so long as the n***** have to live in shit.”
They don’t care that the states which pose the highest federal spending burdens, which consistently vote red, have the highest percentage of uninsured citizens. They honestly don’t get it, and if they did, they wouldn’t care. So long as it means someone else has to be just as miserable, so long as those fucking liberals and that black man in D.C. aren’t going to get any help passing their liberal commie fascist agenda, they’re perfectly fine with fucking over everybody. Just so long as it means they get to stamp their feet and harrumph at everyone else.
And I’ll tell you the same thing I told Petey about the response to Steven Anderson: the reason these so-called christian groups don’t stand up and denounce this garbage is because deep down, they agree with it.
What?No more gettin your freak on, baby?
3-part video series re our President’s “propagandizing” waysPart I: Pledge to … Barack Obama smacks of propaganda, stirs controversy at Utah school
Part II: The Gayle Ruzicka Show, Episode Umpteen: I Pledge … to be outraged at Obama
Part III: Utah 2004: “Don’t criticize the President!” vs Utah 2009: “Don’t listen to the President!”
OK, admittedly, the title of Part III is misleading. Actually, the folks interviewed for the third installment sound surprisingly sane. Know hope. But Demi Moore is still a dope.
Ben Steinis also a major jerk. They canceled his show because he didn’t “remember” to tell the network that he was also being paid to do those ridiculous commercials for the credit information companies. He has never been a good economist, yet for some reason, stations always had him on. I think they just laughed at his voice afterward!
VIVA la vie boheme
Freak I referred to was more Mason Profit, and less Rick JamesMason Profit….Two Hangmen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
Rick James….Superfreak
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
Although I’ve enjoyed BOTH….in the day.
wrong link above for Rick James …..Superfreak http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
and might I add Jerri Curls were every bit as hideous as I remembered….ick, ick, ick
I love Superfreak!I don’t want to say how old I was when this song came out, but it’s safe to say I was out of High School. D’oh!
In 1981, I was 28 yo…..and that was done in gay-years
Re primary/secondaryI am aware of the baggage there, but there are enough difference in the demographics to continue using some sort of terminology to distinguish early transitioners from late transitioners (while I will use “primary emergence and secondary emergence,erhaps “early transitioner” and “late transitioner” would carry less baggage). The main difference is that late transitioners spend a lot of time beating their heads against the wall trying to socialize in accordance with societal expectations, while early transitioners don’t spend decades fighting against their inner self.
To my way of thinking, the differences in sexual orientation statistics between the early and late groups (on the WBT side) is more likely to be due to the fact that it’s somewhat easier to try to cope with those societal expectations if one is attracted to women – if one is already going to experience social stigma from having what society might see as a same-sex attraction, there’s less of an obstacle to going with one’s nature for earlies, since the post-transition result is heterosexuality. (Of course, that’s overly simplistic.)
On the MBT side, the few that I know well are all late transitioners, and all of them are oriented toward women – in their cases, they found it easier to cope as lesbians until they finally realized that that was not what they needed to be themselves (and they sometimes delay transition because they don’t want to lose their conenction to the lesbian community). One of them transitioned twice – first out of a straight marriage after several children, into a lesbian relationship, and then transition to male, where as a man, he’s straight.
That was a nice column.
I had the Cassette of this Record Album……I’m living within my own WayBack machine.
If you looked at my dance songs including the Shirelles, and Otis ReddingMy way back machine goes WAY WAY BACK.
Not long ago I listed Old Cape Cod,(after Teddy’s death) and Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.
converting gramaphone disks to i-pod….welcome to my world