I think I have to blog about this anyway!

 

Well, actually:  https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/1316/BillText/Filed/HTML Proposed bill text...My takeaway: in short if you are PAID for a blog about an elected official it is a form of campaigning/advertisement and needs to be tracked due to campaign finance laws

But still, let's visit DeSantis' reign in Florida and all the wonderful things he hath wrought!

Ron DeSantis' White Boots Steal Focus As Ian Recovery Continues

"You're not allowed to pass a 'Don't say gay' bill then show up in public dressed like Nancy Sinatra," one late-night TV show host joked.

It's hard to keep up with the cultivated chaos Gov. Ron DeSantis is wreaking on Florida schools

Democratic AGs condemn DeSantis administration for asking Florida colleges for information on students receiving gender-affirming care

Update:

From Cops to Corn Syrup

Why cops don't often believe a rape victim.

The Republicans self-made straitjacket.

Rep. Issa is sad.  Aww.

The world's vegetation.

Moving into a new neighborhood?

Asteroid 1998 QE2 and its moon sailed within 3.6 million miles (5.8 million kilometers) of Earth on May 31, making their closest approach to our planet for at least the next two centuries. New radar images captured by the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico are revealing just how unique this binary asteroid is, researchers say. 

“Asteroid QE2 is dark, red, and primitive — that is, it hasn’t been heated or melted as much as other asteroids," Arecibo's Ellen Howell said in a statement. "QE2 is nothing like any asteroid we've visited with a spacecraft, or plan to, or that we have meteorites from. It's an entirely new beast in the menagerie of asteroids near Earth."

And NASA finds “unprecedented” black hole cluster near Andromeda’s central bulge. Sounds faintly pregnant?

Male/Female is no longer a binary selection....

Sneaking High Fructose Corn Syrup into our food.

The thing is...

These kind of quotes are piling up daily, as if a dam has broken and all the sexism and hatred is flooding out for all to see.  These attitudes didn't suddenly spring up, they have been seeping up from deep underground for decades.  Fear of losing imagined dominance, fear of being emasculated, fear of powerful women who do not need men to live their lives....  if only those damned hussies would just get back into the kitchen....



(via Steve Bates)

I read the news today, oh boy....

Harassing three year olds for gender bending.

Well... the one family, one child thing really really worked, didn't it? Estimated 96 million women missing from the population of Asia.

Redefining Capitol Hill speak.

Romney says his Massachusetts health care isn't like Obama's even though it is.

Dinna go to warp speed, Scottie!! It'lla kill yeh!

Growing low-oxygen zones in oceans worry scientists. ... It concerns a lot of regular citizens, too, you know.... as well as fish, crabs, shrimp....

Love wins.

I just don't see why Proposition 8 is so threatening to Mormons

The LDS First Presidency announced its support for Proposition 8 in a letter read in every Mormon congregation. Since then, California LDS leaders have prompted members to sign up volunteers, raise money, pass out brochures produced by outsiders and distribute lawn signs and bumper stickers. Bishops have devoted whole Sunday school classes and the weekly Relief Society and priesthood meetings to outlining arguments against same-sex marriage. Some have pointedly asked members for hefty financial donations, based on tithing. Others have even asked members to stand or raise their hands to publicly indicate their support.

Gary Lawrence, writing in the online Meridian Magazine, compared opponents of Proposition 8 to those who sided with Lucifer against Jesus in the pre-mortal existence. Others have questioned such members' faith and religious commitment, accusing them of undermining the prophet.

Literature written by Proposition 8 proponents is freely distributed in Mormon wards, giving the impression the church approves it, but much of it is "misinformation," said Morris Thurston, an LDS attorney in Orange County.
Thurston has circulated a point-by-point refutation to an anonymously authored document that has been widely disseminated by Mormons, "Six Consequences . . . If Proposition 8 Fails." Thurston argues that most of its arguments are either untrue or misleading.
He welcomes critiques of his analysis, but some have been hostile and many question his motives.
"I feel like I am entitled to my opinions, especially when they involve legal matters," Thurston said, "and I don't think I should be compared to Satan's minions."

From someone who was a Mormon:

My point is this: the Mormon Church is pulling out the stops. These kinds of wedge issues help them retain members by engaging them in "causes" that make people feel special and on God's side. There is no discussion in church or outside about fairness, the Golden Rule, and Unforeseen Legal Ramifications. Being part of a crusade is exciting... and never mind who gets hurt!

Update 10/27: Steve of SteveAudio has a wonderful post on the people who are against Proposition 8.

Update 10/30: Emptywheel of Firedoglake tells the story of her experience with Mormons and their hatred of gays.

John Aravosis of Americablog notes: Legal Adviser to Prop 8 Campaign Compares Gays Who Want to Get Married to Nazi Germany.

Update 11/3: Tengrain at Mock, Paper, Scissors posts a video.

Asking the question

Nobody else is asking:


by Mapaghimagsik of Taking Stock.

Women in refrigerators

Reader mapaghimagsik gave me a link to Women In Refrigerators, a view of women in comics. The question is why women superheroes seem to end up tragically horribly brutalized, raped, murdered, crushed. Are they more 'depowered' than male superheroes?

The writer Gail Simone interviewed a clutch of comic book writers and got some very intriguing answers. Most boil down to the statement that bosomy women sell comics to young adolescent boys, and the reason the women get the tar beaten out of them is the fear these young men have towards dominant and strong women. Yet there are some female writers (one that sticks out is Devin Grayson) who add a new perspective to the art of comic book writing.

Having read and collected hundreds of comics in my teens (back when they had very few ads and a lot more pages, a lot more plot!) I wondered about this. Did I just ignore the women being misused and abused? No. I think I recognized plot devices even then. I remember laughing about Spiderman's Aunt May who must have had superhuman strength to endure the multitudes of heart attacks that were thrown in whenever the plot grew stale.

The art has become truly more graphic now, and the sex and the brutality more raw; but is it any different from what people would get from tv or the net? I don't know. All women in comics seem to have very little in the way of clothes and extremely inflated breasts filled with helium. Must be written into the female super hero contract. Is it a put down of women? No, the men are covered with more muscles than can ever be achieved by the gym. They are the iconic male, female figures. Never ugly unless evil, never less than perfect in muscle and curves.
The difficulties must come from the mind or outside of the body.

Does it matter? Yes, the view that women are prey is hard wired into our society and the sooner we recognize it and begin to root it out the better. Can we get rid of it all? No.

But in the end, I think the writing will always be the make or break of the comic. If it is well-written, the reader will put up with much. If it is poorly written, the reader will go elsewhere, even if the art work is stunning.

Update: Slightly OT, but via Unrepentant Hippie, Yes but No but Yes offers the Top 15 Unintentionally Funny Comic Book Panels: