Category: Media and Culture,

5 Things Society Oddly Enough Will Not Take Women’s Word For

On By peanutgallerynhIn Chick Stuff,Leave a comment

#5 – Women Want To Be Believed About Medical Problems

People (men and women) are conditioned to think of women as worrywarts and hypochondriacs, making a big deal about every little cough, so that women have to complain twice as much about something to be taken half as seriously. 

…Let me be clear: When I say “Believe women,” I don’t mean let them override medical expertise and self-diagnose their condition from WebMD. I mean believe their reported symptoms. If they say “unbearable pain,” take it as “unbearable pain” instead of trying to translate it from “woman-ese” into “mild pain I am making a big deal about.”

#4 Women Want To Be Believed About Harassment and Threats

…So a lot of people who genuinely believe they too “get harassed all the time” are actually imagining that the woman has been experiencing what they’ve previously experienced — name-calling and embarrassment — whereas the woman is looking at death threats, rape threats, “I know where you live,” and “Hey everybody on the internet, here’s where she lives”.

…When we say “Believe women” on harassment, we are not demanding that you take a woman’s side on whatever issue started the harassment — a political statement, lover’s quarrel, whatever. Many, many women would consider it amazing progress to just hear “Yes, the death threats are real” (without a following “but”). That’s all, man. If we can ever get there, we can talk about the rest.

[Peanut gallery wonders if some people – who have the tendency to sound the alarm at, well, everything – might be doing that because after a lifetime of harassment and threats that no one believes them about, the entire world might start to look hostile and threatening. Because not all people might be doing the threatening, but if it seems like no one cares or thinks it is wrong/bad then wouldn’t it start to seem like everyone -the whole world- is culpable for letting it continue??? The peanut gallery digresses….]

# 3 – Women Want To Be Believed About Rape And Sexual Assault

…when a woman first claims she has been raped, we should give her the same credibility as a typical car theft victim.

When someone says their car has been stolen, few people respond, “Alright, I want to believe you, but let’s wait for all the facts first,” or “Let’s hear the car thief’s side of the story.” You usually go, “Oh shit. Are you okay? Do you need a ride?” …If it comes out in the news that someone lied about a car theft, you go, “What a weird twist!” and not, “You can’t trust car theft victims!”

…I just feel like unless you are a cop or a prosecutor or a claims adjuster, it shouldn’t really be our main job to catch the few liars in a vast ocean of genuine victims. Or alternatively, we should be consistent and also grill everyone who claims to have been in a car accident.

#2 – Women Want To Be Believed About Their Specialties

…For most people, it’s probably totally unintentional. We’ve all spent our lives absorbing TV and movies in which women are rarely portrayed as smart, and when they are, there’s always a smarter male character not too far away. It’s easy to slip into that pattern. It should be a simple fix. When someone does this, anyone who notices can point it out, and the explainer …can quickly change course. No conflict needed.

Unfortunately, the person who notices it is usually a woman (being the target and all), which is where we run into a bigger problem …

# 1- Women Want To Be Believed About Not Being Believed As Much As Men Are

…”credibility gap,” wherein every statement a woman makes gets 70 percent (or less) of the credibility of a man making the same statement. A man complains of excruciating pain? It’s probably excruciating. A woman complains of excruciating pain? Well, wait, we need to run that through the hysterical woman filter to find out how much pain she’s REALLY in. Because you know how they get.

…This pushes women to use stronger and stronger language to get their issues on the radar (“complain more,” as the doctor advised my mom [when he didn’t believe her when she said she was in pain and a simple condition that – because he didn’t take her seriously and didn’t test for or treat it – nearly killed her]), which skeptics just use as “proof” that women blow everything out of proportion and you have to mentally dial back everything they say.

The 5 Things Women Want You Won’t Believe They Don’t Have

Al of that seems pretty legit.

Texas Driver With Anti-Trump Car Sticker Threatened With Criminal Charge

On By peanutgallerynhIn Media and Culture,, UncategorizedLeave a comment

In a Facebook post, Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls said the owner of a truck with a “F–k Trump and F–k you for voting for him” sticker could violate a disorderly conduct law.

…”If you know who owns this truck or it is yours, I would like to discuss it with you. Our Prosecutor has informed us she would accept Disorderly Conduct charges regarding it,”

…The sheriff also posted a photo of a portion of the Texas law for “Disorderly Conduct” in the comments section of the post “for the point of discussion.”

…”.@SheriffTNehls, you can’t prosecute speech just because it has the word “f–k” in it. (And the owner of the truck should feel free to contact @ACLUTx.) #ConstitutionalLaw101 #FreeSpeech,” the tweet from ACLU Texas read.

At a Wednesday news conference, and following severe backlash and numerous reactions on social media, Nehls seemed to back down from the idea of pressing charges on the driver, saying he supports freedom of speech. He also acknowledged a 1971 Supreme Court case, Cohen v. California, that overturned the conviction of a man accused of disturbing the peace for donning a jacket with an expletive as part of an effort to protest the military draft and the Vietnam War.

Texas Driver With Anti-Trump Car Sticker Threatened With Criminal Charge

oy…..

FBI Investigates: 60 Russian Payments “To Finance Election Campaign Of 2016”

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

After discovering the $30,000 transfer to the embassy in Washington, Citibank launched a review of other transfers by the Russian foreign ministry. It unearthed dozens of other transactions with similar memo lines. Compliance officers in Citibank’s Global Intelligence Unit flagged them as suspicious, noting that it was unable to determine the financial, business, or legal purpose of the transactions.

Much as checks include a memo line, wire transfers often include a note that states what the money is for. The note on this set of transfers does not indicate what election the money was to be used for, or even the country. Seven nations had federal elections during the span when the funds were sent — including the Duma, Russia’s lower house of Parliament, on Sept. 18, 2016. Russian embassies and diplomatic compounds opened polling stations for voters living abroad.

…Following the congressional requests, Citibank turned over a range of financial documents. The material includes more than 650 suspicious transactions between November 2013 and March 2017 totaling about $2.9 million. That money was sent to four Russian accounts operating in the US: the embassy; the Office of Defense, Military, Air and Naval Attaches; and Russian cultural centers in Washington and New York City.

Most of these wire transfers were not related to the election, sources say, but are the subject of FBI scrutiny for their possible ties to Russian corruption and money laundering.

Secret Finding: 60 Russian Payments “To Finance Election Campaign Of 2016”

Congress has a sexual harassment problem, lawmakers and staffers say

On By peanutgallerynhIn Chick Stuff,, Domestic Affairs,Leave a comment

Be extra careful of the male lawmakers who sleep in their offices — they can be trouble. Avoid finding yourself alone with a congressman or senator in elevators, late-night meetings or events where alcohol is flowing. And think twice before speaking out about sexual harassment from a boss — it could cost you your career.

These are a few of the unwritten rules that some female lawmakers, staff and interns say they follow on Capitol Hill, where they say harassment and coercion is pervasive on both sides of the rotunda.
There is also the “creep list” — an informal roster passed along by word-of-mouth, consisting of the male members most notorious for inappropriate behavior, ranging from making sexually suggestive comments or gestures to seeking physical relations with younger employees and interns.
Congress has a sexual harassment problem, lawmakers and staffers say – CNNPolitics

The “Crying Indian” Ad That Got the Environmental Movement Off Track

On By peanutgallerynhIn Environment,, Media and Culture,Leave a comment

KAB needed to propagandize without seeming propagandistic and [counter] the claims of a political movement without seeming political. At the moment the tear appears, the narrator, in a baritone voice, intones: “People start pollution. People can stop it.” By making individual viewers feel guilty and responsible for the polluted environment, the ad deflected the question of responsibility away from corporations and placed it entirely in the realm of individual action, concealing the role of industry in polluting the landscape.

…The shift to the throwaway was responsible, in part, for the rising levels of litter that KAB publicized, but also, as environmentalists emphasized, for the mining of vast quantities of natural resources, the production of various kinds of pollution, and the generation of tremendous amounts of solid waste.

The “Crying Indian” Ad That Fooled the Environmental Movement | Essay | Zócalo Public Square

hmmm

White House Pressed Unsuccessfully to End Immigration Program

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Race,Leave a comment

The White House unsuccessfully tried to pressure the Homeland Security Department to end a program that allows hundreds of thousands of people from countries affected by natural disasters or violence to live in the United States without fear of being deported, according to people familiar with the discussions.

John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, made an 11th-hour plea to Elaine Duke, the acting Homeland Security secretary, ahead of a deadline this past Monday to decide about the status of immigrants in the program from Honduras and Nicaragua.

White House Pressed Unsuccessfully to End Immigration Program – The New York Times

WTF???

The Paradise Papers Data Dump: What’s Been Reported So Far

On By peanutgallerynhIn Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

The rich may be richer than you thought:
…[X has] more than $7.5 billion in a previously undisclosed, four-decade-old fund set up in Bermuda.
…{x used] used a Bermuda-based family trust to reduce his tax bill and conceal his interest in a payday lender under U.S. scrutiny.
…More than a dozen members of President Donald Trump’s inner circle …held undisclosed offshore companies.
…[X]used other offshore firms to shelter money his family funneled to political causes.
…Bank of Utah manages more than 1,390 aircraft trust accounts that obscure the identities of the jets’ (largely foreign) owners,

The Paradise Papers Data Dump: What’s Been Reported So Far – Bloomberg

hmmmm

 

About 2,500 Nicaraguans to Lose Special Permission to Live in U.S.

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Race,Leave a comment

…the effective date of termination would be delayed one year, until Jan. 5, 2019, to give about 2,500 individuals time to leave the country or adjust their immigration status.

The program allowing them to stay, Temporary Protected Status, was enacted by Congress in 1990 to protect foreigners, particularly Central Americans, fleeing war, natural disasters or catastrophes and was extended to Haitians after the 2010 earthquake.

…Many of the more than 300,000 people shielded from deportation under the program have lived in the United States for years and bought homes, embarked on careers and given birth to children who are American citizens.

…Democratic members of Congress and immigration advocates called the move inhumane.

About 2,500 Nicaraguans to Lose Special Permission to Live in U.S. – The New York Times

sigh….

 

Donna Brazile’s Curious Account of the 2016 Election – The Atlantic

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Media and Culture,Leave a comment

For anyone who watched the 2016 campaign, it’s surreal to see Brazile’s overtures to Sanders and to see her complaining that the DNC had been in the tank for Hillary Clinton. Brazile is not a product of the Clinton machine…

…But by the 2016 race, she was ready to join the Clinton bandwagon. As hacked DNC emails would later show, she even passed Democratic primary-debate questions—obtained through her position as a CNN political analyst—to Clinton. When this was revealed, it earned Brazile the heated enmity of many Sanders backers. Given that she was a vice chair of the DNC, it also fed the already-strong impression that it heavily favored Clinton.

…The fact that the Democratic Party apparatus would lean toward Clinton—a former senator and first lady, the wife of a former Democratic president, and part of a family whose patronage had largely shaped the current party—over Sanders, who didn’t even serve as a Democrat in the Senate, was not a shock. Even so, Sanders’s campaign had been blowing the whistle on the Victory Fund for months. 

…While it’s hard to argue with Brazile’s position that “Debbie was not a good manager,” or to disagree that Wasserman Schultz should have kept officers better in the loop, this hardly exculpates Brazile. As a DNC officer, she should have been asking more questions of both the chair and other top officials, and she apparently didn’t.

Donna Brazile’s Curious Account of the 2016 Election – The Atlantic

Still haven’t seen anyone call Ms. Brazile out on having waited so long to share this very, very pertinent information about the inner orchestrations of the DNC with voters. Am I the only one who finds it striking that could have attempted to right the ship and instead she prioritized book sales?

Brazile on Clinton Campaign’s Influence DNC 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

Gary [Gensler, the chief financial officer of Hillary’s campaign] said the campaign had to do it or the party would collapse.

“That was the deal that Robby struck with Debbie,” he explained, referring to campaign manager Robby Mook. “It was to sustain the DNC. We sent the party nearly $20 million from September until the convention, and more to prepare for the election.”

…Officials from Hillary’s campaign had taken a look at the DNC’s books. Obama left the party $24 million in debt—$15 million in bank debt and more than $8 million owed to vendors after the 2012 campaign—and had been paying that off very slowly. Obama’s campaign was not scheduled to pay it off until 2016. Hillary for America (the campaign) and the Hillary Victory Fund (its joint fundraising vehicle with the DNC) had taken care of 80 percent of the remaining debt in 2016, about $10 million, and had placed the party on an allowance.

…The party chair usually shrinks the staff between presidential election campaigns, but Debbie had chosen not to do that. She had stuck lots of consultants on the DNC payroll, and Obama’s consultants were being financed by the DNC, too.

…I knew that Debbie had outsourced a lot of the management of the party and had not been the greatest at fundraising.

…When the party chooses the nominee, the custom is that the candidate’s team starts to exercise more control over the party. If the party has an incumbent candidate, as was the case with Clinton in 1996 or Obama in 2012, this kind of arrangement is seamless because the party already is under the control of the president. When you have an open contest without an incumbent and competitive primaries, the party comes under the candidate’s control only after the nominee is certain. When I was manager of Al Gore’s campaign in 2000, we started inserting our people into the DNC in June. This victory fund agreement, however, had been signed in August 2015, just four months after Hillary announced her candidacy and nearly a year before she officially had the nomination.

Inside Hillary Clinton’s Secret Takeover of the DNC – POLITICO Magazine

hmmm

Miss Peru contestants accuse country of not measuring up on gender violence 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Chick Stuff,, Media and Culture,, The Americas,Leave a comment

Latin American beauty pageants are [criticized] as sexist and patriarchal in their portrayal of women. But the 23 Miss Peru contestants agreed with [a suggestion from] the pageant’s [organizer,] former beauty queen Jessica Newton, to dedicate the event to empowering women in a country with an appalling record for gender violence.

Miss Peru contestants accuse country of not measuring up on gender violence | Global development | The Guardian

Whoa… Nicely done, ladies.

Fossil fuels help prevent sexual assault in Africa 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Media and Culture,Leave a comment

Since taking the helm at the Energy Department, Perry has said he doubted the scientific consensus that carbon dioxide was causing climate change.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry suggested on Thursday that increasing fossil fuel use to spread electricity across Africa would help prevent sexual assaults there.

…from the standpoint of sexual assault. When the lights are on, when you have light that shines — the righteousness, if you will — on those types of acts,” he told an Axios event.

Perry was implicitly responding to a protester who yelled that fossil fuels were causing climate change and killing people in poor countries.

“Let me tell you, where people are dying in Africa is because of the lack of energy they have there, and it’s going to take fossil fuels to push power out into those villages in Africa.”

Perry: Fossil fuels help prevent sexual assault in Africa – POLITICO

Good lord, he is such an idiot.

Awaiting Trump’s coal comeback, miners reject retraining

On By peanutgallerynhIn Infrastructure and Transportation,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

Despite broad consensus about coal’s bleak future, a years-long effort to diversify the economy of this hard-hit region away from mining is stumbling, with Obama-era jobs retraining classes undersubscribed and future programs at risk under President Donald Trump’s proposed 2018 budget.

…Hundreds of coal-fired plants have closed in recent years, and cheap natural gas continues to erode domestic demand. The Appalachian region has lost about 33,500 mining jobs since 2011, according to the Appalachian Regional Commission.

Although there have been small gains in coal output and hiring this year, driven by foreign demand, production levels remain near lows hit in 1978.

…“The coal industry has stabilized, but it’s not going to come back,” said Blair Zimmerman, a 40-year veteran of the mines who is now the commissioner for Greene County, one of Pennsylvania’s oldest coal regions.

… Coal miners are resisting retraining without ready jobs from new industries, but new companies are unlikely to move here without a trained workforce. The stalled diversification push leaves some of the nation’s poorest areas with no clear path to prosperity.

…They say mining pays well; other industries are unfamiliar; and there’s no income during training and no guarantee of a job afterward.

…Coal jobs are preferable to those in natural gas, they said, because the mines are close to home, while pipeline work requires travel.

Awaiting Trump’s coal comeback, miners reject retraining

hmmm

 

 

There was a massive study on racism, and the media only focused on the part about white people 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Media and Culture,, Race,Leave a comment

If you’ve ever wondered whether black people fixate about racial discrimination too much, the reporting surrounding the study of African Americans’ attitudes toward race in America is a horribly revealing example of how white privilege reshapes, refocuses and recalibrates African American concerns to a subordinate place, elevating fake-news reactions of white people to pinnacle of the national conversation. Indeed, even when there’s supporting evidence, as in the case of this study, to demonstrate just what black people are shouting about, their opinions are easily and routinely drowned out by cries of nonsensical white fears.

There was a massive study on racism, and the media only focused on the part about white people – ThinkProgress

sigh…