A Review on Bitchfest: Ten Years of Cultural Critism…

I am somewhat stunned by the excellent reviews I have found for this book.  Not that it wasnt a good book, it was.  Bitchfest is chalk full of interesting, eye opening and the occasionally predictable essays exploring puberty, gender identity, sex, beauty and pop culture to name a few.  However nobody mentions the collection of infantile essays it possesses along with it such as Audrey Bilgers essay regarding the use of “you guys” being a gender neutral term.(which I can make a whole ranty post on alone) So-the-fuck-what? These arguments often undermine what we are fighting for by arguing about something so unecessary instead of arguing about say.. equal wages.  If we are going to point out faults in todays culture, society and economy you might as well make the argument worth while in my opinion.  Fight for a real change, not some glossy make-over just to make things look prettier by restructuring the english language.

It seems to me that many feminists are just so ready to be spoon fed feminist quotes and ideas they swallow anything anyone of even the slightest popularity is willing to shove down their throats.. ready and willing to regurgitate it later onto the poor man who happens to stumble into this topic of conversation.  Which really isnt that hard is it? A simple kindness of opening a car door for a woman now days may accidentally provoke a tirade of vehemant feminist views and thoughts on how your act of kindness only reinforces our oppression.  Actions which are applauded in an article or two.

Now your thinking wait, I thought you said you were a feminist. Aha, got you confused didnt I?  Well I am, I strongly believe in the movement and the need to become EQUAL, that is a key word here, but I think many of the more radical feminists are not so much struggling for equality but finding small slights in every day things which in effect oppresses the opposite sex in return.

I find it humorous that the magazine, which is often called “the touchstone of hip, young feminist thought”, looks at the way pop culture informs feminism. When in fact the magazine and the book are all pop culture in and of itself.  Its stated that Bitch Magazine encourages their readers to think critically about the messages behind their favorite books, movies, music choices.. I applaud this and believe a critical examination of many of the things within pop culture  and advertisments is necessary.  However, do not forget that this book may need to be read with a critical eye as well.

Overall though, I do recommend reading this book Atleast in an effort to formulate your own opinions on many of the topics discussed. There are in fact several articles worthy of praise such as “Hot and Bothered:Unmasking Male Lust;by Lisa Jervis which not only questions female sexuality stereoptypes but the male stereotype as well along with many of the pop culture phenonemons which contribute to the views society holds today.

Al Gore for 2008?

Will Al Gore run in the 2008 elections? In the past he made statements that he was not planning on running, however he has been vary vague about his plans of late. He was recently featured on the cover of the Mays Issue of Time Magazine .

On another podcast done by Time, he discusses the problem of global warming. He was asked “How much time do we have to fix the climate crises?” His answer, “Leading scientists have begun to say as little as 10 years, The new evidence is alarming.” He also states that the melting is 3 times more rapid than computer systems originally predicted. It is later mentioned that many of the candidates have views on this growing crises, but the position doesn’t seem to dominate. Could this alarming new evidence influence his thoughts on running? Well, he is asked that at the end of the podcast and he vaguely answers “If I knew right now that I was definately not ever going to get back in to the political system, I would certainly say that – but I dont know that. I come out of a family that taught me the importance of being involved in the political process.” He then stated that he is not willing to rule it out.

Additionally, in another article featured in that issue of time called The Courage Primary, Al Gores views are mentioned quite often. Does Time know something we dont?

Are you a Gore supporter? If so, I found these sites that you should check out.

The Draft Al Gore Compaign, which has a petition to sign and also provides links to groups (possibly) in your area to get in touch with.

An additional draft Al Gore site is here http://www.draftgore.com/

The Al Gore 2008 Support Center has lots of information regarding Mr. Gore and his views on Economy, Health Care, Education and more. Worth a read.

And we complain about shaving (A short history of hair removal)

And we (yes both genders) complain about hair removal!

Acording to Archaeologists, there is evidence that men twenty thousand years ago shaved their faces with sharpened rocks and shells to scrape off the hair.
Ancient Arabians used string. (?) I didnt find more info. Did they actually tie a string to each individual hair and pull? How time consuming.
A method used by women as late as the 1940s involved rubbing off the hair by rubbing your skin with abrasive mitts the consistency of sandpaper. Ouch
Creams,such as today’s Nair, existed back then to disolve hair and were made of ingredients such as ass’s fat, she-goats gall, bat’s blood, powdered viper, lye and quicklime. Maybe those odd “witches brews” people always refer to were just to remove your armpit hairs. I wonder how you even find most of those ingredients.
Egyptian women beeswaxed their legs, sounds more like it. They also used depilatories made of starch, arsenic and quicklime.
An additional hair removal process existed, known as threading where women laced cotton string through their fingers and ran it briskly over their legs to encircle and pull out hair.
There were many alternative methods of hair removal, ranging from pulverized egg shells to a mixture of cat’s dung and vinegar.
Finally, in the 18th century, safety razors appeared.

Spyware Laws/Invasion of Privacy

I dont know about you, but I am sick and tired of spyware being installed in my computer. Sometimes to the point where the only way to get rid of it, is re-installing everything. If someone were to enter my home without my knowledge, put up a spy camera that monitors my computer screen and transmit that data to a marketing company, I could sue them. However there arent any legal areas to turn to when the same thing happens on your computer.
Curious about the legal ramifications to the companies who do this.. I looked up some information on what if any laws exist regarding this misuse of your property and information. Surpisingly, I did find some laws – and most importantly a new bill known as “H.R. 964: Securely Protect Yourself Against Cyber Trespass Act”. Currently, this bill has passed in the House on 06/07/07 and is scheduled to be voted on by Senate.
I am glad this bill was made, and one would think, I have nothing further to complain about. However we are talking about me here, I always have something to complain about.
The bill vests all enforcement power in the FTC and says that “no person other than the Attorney General of a State may bring a civil action” under the law. Private rights of action under state consumer protection laws are eliminated. So if you’re victimized by a spyware-like deception and want to sue the perpetrator, you have to convince the FTC or State Attorney General to take your case.. and most likely prove that these deceptive acts took place. Not something easy to prove, for most of us at least. Other than handing them our computer, saying “halp!”.
And, while many people may throw stones and call me a consipracy theorist.. one of the things that caught my eye was Section 5: Limitations, where it states that:
(a) Law Enforcement Authority- Sections 2 and 3 shall not apply to–

(1) any act taken by a law enforcement agent in the performance of official duties; or

(2) the transmission or execution of an information collection program in compliance with a law enforcement, investigatory, national security, or regulatory agency or department of the United States or any State in response to a request or demand made under authority granted to that agency or department, including a warrant issued under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, an equivalent State warrant, a court order, or other lawful process.

I think that “investigatory” is a pretty broad term, and yea, I may just be nitpicking here but what would be a conspiracy theory rant without an actual theory? Also, bear in mind I am not a lawyer. So here it is.. what if that omission of clearly defined terms in what the governement can search for.. allows them an open window to spy on us above and beyond what has been defined in the U.S. Patriot act? This law would then make it legal for them to gather as much information for “investigative” purposes as they wanted, under the guise of a law made to protect the public. Hmm..

And while its somewhat off topic and I know it isnt spyware, I am sick and tired of being accosted by, what I now dub the most annoying voice, telling me that I have won not one but TWO FREE I-Pods. I cant be the only one who hears this message on various websites atleast 3 times a day.

Who pays on the first date?

I found this poll while perusing the internet this evening.  I find the results interesting with the rise of feminism in todays society along with the constant comments you hear from women that “chivalry is dead”.  If any of the 2-3 readers that come across my blog would like to share their thoughts regarding this poll and/or who should pay, I would be interested in hearing more.

Who pays on a first date?
He pays. If you disagree, you’re a cretin. (34%)
He pays, She reaches, but doesn’t really mean it. The gold standard. (30%)
She pays. What’s the point of attaining equality if we’re not truly equal? (2%)
Agree to split: A little weak, but at least it’s fair. (19%)
Depends on who asked: Yeah, let me know when this one works. (16%)

Office Humor

Some mysterious person was leaving random notes around the office today.  Thought I would share.  I did not get a picture of the original or subsequent notes. 

The first note was over the printer and said “Please refer to the sign above the coffee maker for information regarding outgoing mail”  Later, that note disapeared and the below note showed up above the coffee maker:

Maybe the note person realized that we dont have a napkin dispenser.  Or maybe they wanted to see everyone trying to find said napkin dispenser. Either way, that note was later replaced with “Please refer to the note above the shredder bin for information regarding the printer and the coffee maker”

 Unfortunately, my day ended before I could watch the note-story unfold.  Whoever this was, I appreciate them bringing a little humor into the office =)

Trashy Art

New and interesting art made by shadows from trash sculptures.

Here are more pictures from the artists from the site I found these at.

This concept really interests me