March 30, 2012

Homophobic dog whistles

Repost from my blog

Yes I own a dog - two, in fact, with possibly a third on the way if it works out. No, I don't own a dog whistle. In my younger years I could hear dog whistles but age and too many years in rock bands has dulled my hearing and I can't pick them up any more. That's not what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about hidden messages in ordinary speech. If some young lady dressed like she's in the 50's; long skirt, conservative shoes, high-necked blouse, strides up to me while I'm minding my own business and loudly demands "are you a Christian?", she's not asking whether I'm a member of one of the many Churches making up the panoply of Christendom. She's asking whether I'm a literalist "Bible believing", "born again", Evangelical Fundamentalist Christian. I'm not. I'm Anglo-Catholic, a particular practice of the Anglican Church. She would not consider me "Christian" and would likely start to proselytize and I'd call her a heretic (my priest says I should have been a Jesuit and I've actually taken part in an Inquisition) and it would go downhill from there.

A number of years ago I was sitting in the staff break room and a colleague gestured towards my ankles. I gave him a blank look. He gestured a little more firmly. Bear in mind that I'm considered to be somewhere on the autistic spectrum so I don't necessarily get some of the subtleties of non-verbal speech, so I just said "wha?" "Don't cross your legs like that." "Why not? It's comfortable." I suffer from bursitis and my joints have their good days and bad days, mostly bad. I've got a bad hip that gives out at the worst possible moment making me scream in pain and fall, my ankles crack and hurt like hell and I've got enlarged joints in my toes and hands either from cracking them, or because they were already swollen and cracking them makes it feel better, at least temporarily. I'm a piano player so that probably doesn't help any, especially how I pound the keys. Hence, only certain seating positions are comfortable and leaning back with my ankles crossed low down is one of them. Another one is half-cross-legged with my left ankle up high. I can't do the right or I'll start screaming. "Don't do that either." "Why not?" "It looks faggy." At that point we didn't have a sexual harassment policy in place so I blew it off and ignored him. When I came out a few years later he wandered around for days looking lost and confused. He knew me as a "good person" and now this. He got over it.

Remember how my hands hurt most of the time? What's with people and their damn "firm handshakes". I've had people do it to me to the point where I've fallen to the floor crying and haven't been able to type or play keyboards for the rest of the day. One guy did it to me and I damned near fainted on him. He caught me on the way down then apologized profusely. When I asked "WTF??" he said "weak handshakes are faggy - businessmen have firm grips".

Then there's the whole "light in the loafers" thing. In the back of the office we have a metal staircase. The "real men" stomp their way up it, clanging deafeningly, disrupting the entire office. You can't hear someone on the phone. I weigh 183 pounds, but I've always have been a light walker. If I "stride manfully" it shocks my ankles which then hurt like hell and swell up and I'm in agony for the rest of the day. Hence, I sort of tiptoe around at the best of times but especially on the stairs. I don't make much noise walking and I'm constantly scaring people who aren't paying attention (dude, get a hearing aid and learn what peripheral vision is all about) but if I hear mutterings about "light in the loafers" they're really calling me a fag. That's a dog whistle.

Now Santorum has entered the fray. Santorum tells young man not to use pink bowling ball on camera . That's right. A pink bowling ball.

I like bowling. Up here in Canada we have 5-pin bowling which is a lot more challenging that 10-pin. You have to know what you're doing to knock down any pins, never mind all of them. I also like it because it's easy on my hands - the balls are lighter. Nevertheless, I like 10-pin for a bit of a change and when I go to the alley, they've got a selection of balls in the carousel and I usually pick the "ladies" pink one because it's a bit lighter and the holes are a bit closer together. I've got big hands, but it's still a bit of a stretch to fit a "manly" ball without straining my knuckles. It doesn't have quite the power of a heavier ball but I'm more accurate with it and I can hit the strike zone easily and do a strike or pick up the spare and get a fairly good score and by the end of the evening I'm not in too much pain. Santorum is calling me a fag.

OK, fly me down there and let's go at it "man to man". I'll use my faggy pink ball and Santorum can use whatever he wants (likely the heaviest ball the carousel). I'm betting I'll beat the pants of him (not that I'm sure I want to see him without his pants).

Are we on?

March 16, 2012

White Pride March expected March 24th in Edmonton - counter-protest group formed on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/events/336712919707737/337398162972546/?ref=notif&notif_t=plan_mall_activity

http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/local/article/1124994--whyte-avenue-to-be-home-to-white-pride

White supremacists are marching into Edmonton.

For the first time, the group Blood & Honour is holding its white-pride rally here, inviting participants from across Canada to “openly express racial pride.”

The event is slated for March 24, according to a stormfront.org blog post.

An organizer first said Edmonton’s will replace Calgary’s march — which has lost steam in recent years — but later told Metro the event status in that city is “complicated.”

A blog post on Anti-Racist Canada's website (anti-racistcanada.blogspot.com) gives details about a counter-rally planned for at noon at End of Steel Park on Whyte Avenue, in conjunction with The International Day Against Racial Discrimination.

March 14, 2012

Two interesting comments to Doonesbury cartoons

If you go to the Doonesbury main site, there's a section called Blowback, allowing user comments. It's a mixed bag, most favourable, a few "I'm cancelling my newspaper subscription because of you" sort, but two stuck out for me.

SHOCKED
Dr. Priscilla O'Connell | Franklin Square, NY | March 13, 2012

I am shocked that you would equate an ultrasound to rape. Mothers need to have full knowledge of what they are contemplating doing when they go for an abortion. They are taking a human life. If they could see their baby they would probably not abort. Some will choose not to look and that is their right.

A doctor (medical??), but completely missing the point.

DISTURBING
Jill Lee Williams | Owensboro, KY | March 13, 2012

I read your cartoon which suggests that Old White Men are in no way able to make laws concerning women. I personally find it disturbing that men such as yourself want to keep women dumb and in the dark. A woman having an abortion deserves to have all the facts! For some reason men like yourself seem quite uneducated when it comes to women's health, but boy do you love a soap box. As for making fun of the men that pass the laws so women can have all the facts, it was Americans that voted them into their positions. I'm hoping you'll take some time to help women, instead of trying to keep us uneducated about our own bodies.

Again, completely missing the point. If a woman wants the facts, all she has to do is ask. Planned Parenthood is a good source of information, but Mitt Romney wants to get rid of it.