Yahoo usually has terrible reader comments, but this one on Chaz Bono is really great:
"The "tolerant" people amuse me. I notice that they feel like we should be "tolerant" towards Chaz as regards his choice to change gender, but the call for tolerance ends when Chaz's weight is discussed. In other words, his being transgendered is off limits, but his being fat is fair game!"
Living day-to-day being fat or or short or in a wheel chair, or having acne, as well as being queer or trans or a person of color should make us more determined to stamp out prejudice everywhere. In an ideal world, we might. But the world isn't ideal. We still fear for our safety somewhere down in the lower levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Not blending in is dangerous, and when we don't fit in one way, we sometimes do our best to fit in with others.
Joining with the mob gives us safety for the moment, but makes us hypocrites. However, it takes courage for someone who has been bullied to call out bullies. The fear, and danger, is real.
What to do? We can't be that one brave person all the time in every situation.
When we are not, I hope we can use the experience to better understand those who hold back when we are the targets. They might be struggling and afraid as well, and as hard as this is, we should forgive them, just a little bit, just as they might forgive us in turn.
And in those times where we must be brave, I hope that we are all somewhat equal to the task.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
The Adventures of Science Dog and Chemistry Cat
It was a rough day in Bowserville. Traffic was really bad, and the pizzas were cold. Tempers were short, and there was a distinct feeling in the air that something very bad might happen if things didn’t get better fast.
Now, Bowserville, you have to understand, was a town that loved its pizza. Mayor Grigs Duquesne, in fact campaigned on a platform saying that, “a vote for her was a vote for extra cheese.” But now, Mayor Duquesne was desperate.
“My God, Man! The traffic is bad and the pizzas are cold!” Mayor Duquesne cried.
“Well, is this one related problem, or two separate ones?” asked her deputy mayor, Cruz Bustamante. Cruz was completely unrelated to Cruz Bustamante, the former Lieutenant Governor of California, but resembled him in some ways. Though not in others.
“My God, Man! How can you be so dispassionate when our town is in trouble?” Mayor Duquesne cried.
Suddenly the phone rang. “HAHAHAHAA! Hey Grigs! This is your nemesis speaking. I am calling to tell you that unless you pay me $2 million by the noon tomorrow, the traffic will be completely snarled. I will bombard your town with road construction vehicles and orange cones. I will have unruly families crossing the streets at yellow and red lights. I will make every beat-up Chevy truck drive lose the mattress that is loosely tied in its bed, and flood the streets with Lexus and Volvo drivers who come to a complete stop before making a right turn on a green light. HAHAHAHAA!”
“My God, Man! What about the pizza?” Mayor Duquesne cried.
The voice on the other end faltered… “W-what do you mean about the pizza?”
“Didn’t you know? The pizza is getting cold. We ordered a pizza and it was cold—and it happened again.”
“O-oh no… um—I’ll see what I can do—“ the voice hung up.
Suddenly, all the traffic lights in the city turned green.
Then there was a huge crash.
The phone rang.
“S-sorry!” said the voice at the other end.
* * * * *
“Hrpmph, why do I even read the paper anymore!” growled Science Dog, over her cup of chai tea.
“What’s wrong, Science Dog?” asked her friend, Chemistry Cat.
“I hate when statistics are misused. I’m reading that in Bowserville the temperature of pizza has gotten progressively colder. They say that if the trend continues, the pizza will reach absolute zero in just six months.”
“That’s pretty cold pizza.”
“The coldest pizza there is,” snorted Science Dog. “But as you know, nothing reaches absolute zero. In fact, I can’t see their pizza falling below the ambient air temperature.”
“Well, thermodynamics is thermodynamics,” agreed Chemistry Cat.
Now, Bowserville, you have to understand, was a town that loved its pizza. Mayor Grigs Duquesne, in fact campaigned on a platform saying that, “a vote for her was a vote for extra cheese.” But now, Mayor Duquesne was desperate.
“My God, Man! The traffic is bad and the pizzas are cold!” Mayor Duquesne cried.
“Well, is this one related problem, or two separate ones?” asked her deputy mayor, Cruz Bustamante. Cruz was completely unrelated to Cruz Bustamante, the former Lieutenant Governor of California, but resembled him in some ways. Though not in others.
“My God, Man! How can you be so dispassionate when our town is in trouble?” Mayor Duquesne cried.
Suddenly the phone rang. “HAHAHAHAA! Hey Grigs! This is your nemesis speaking. I am calling to tell you that unless you pay me $2 million by the noon tomorrow, the traffic will be completely snarled. I will bombard your town with road construction vehicles and orange cones. I will have unruly families crossing the streets at yellow and red lights. I will make every beat-up Chevy truck drive lose the mattress that is loosely tied in its bed, and flood the streets with Lexus and Volvo drivers who come to a complete stop before making a right turn on a green light. HAHAHAHAA!”
“My God, Man! What about the pizza?” Mayor Duquesne cried.
The voice on the other end faltered… “W-what do you mean about the pizza?”
“Didn’t you know? The pizza is getting cold. We ordered a pizza and it was cold—and it happened again.”
“O-oh no… um—I’ll see what I can do—“ the voice hung up.
Suddenly, all the traffic lights in the city turned green.
Then there was a huge crash.
The phone rang.
“S-sorry!” said the voice at the other end.
* * * * *
“Hrpmph, why do I even read the paper anymore!” growled Science Dog, over her cup of chai tea.
“What’s wrong, Science Dog?” asked her friend, Chemistry Cat.
“I hate when statistics are misused. I’m reading that in Bowserville the temperature of pizza has gotten progressively colder. They say that if the trend continues, the pizza will reach absolute zero in just six months.”
“That’s pretty cold pizza.”
“The coldest pizza there is,” snorted Science Dog. “But as you know, nothing reaches absolute zero. In fact, I can’t see their pizza falling below the ambient air temperature.”
“Well, thermodynamics is thermodynamics,” agreed Chemistry Cat.
After a night with Rogaine in your Vaseline and your wiener looks like a hippie Herve Villechaize bonged out at a Grateful Dead concert. You shout hey look, there’s a plane, a plane, but he’s just lying there limp and stoned and he’s not getting up to point anywhere and you can just go fuck yourself, but that’s what got you here in the first place.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
And now....
Notice Lutz is the same guy from 2006?
Lutz: After restructuring, GM 'in good hands'
Alisa Priddle/ The Detroit News
Dearborn — The new culture of excellence at General Motors Co. today is self-sustaining, said Bob Lutz, the former vice chairman of the automaker who continues to serve as a consultant.
GM has restructured since its bankruptcy two years ago and has seen a series of management changes at the top. But Lutz, who spoke at the Ward's Auto Interiors Conference here today, said having outsiders as chief executive and chief financial officer means management has "no history of running the auto industry in the U.S. the wrong way."
"I think the company is in good hands," said Lutz, who has a book on his GM experience coming out next month.
Previous members of the management team "thought they were working on the right things," Lutz said, but unfortunately, they were not.
But he begrudgingly agreed with the decision to kill four of GM's eight brands as part of the government-ordered restructuring.
The Hummer brand had to go: "It was the environmental anti-Christ."
From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110517/AUTO01/105170443/Lutz--After-restructuring--GM--in-good-hands-#ixzz1NVnspedl
Lutz: After restructuring, GM 'in good hands'
Alisa Priddle/ The Detroit News
Dearborn — The new culture of excellence at General Motors Co. today is self-sustaining, said Bob Lutz, the former vice chairman of the automaker who continues to serve as a consultant.
GM has restructured since its bankruptcy two years ago and has seen a series of management changes at the top. But Lutz, who spoke at the Ward's Auto Interiors Conference here today, said having outsiders as chief executive and chief financial officer means management has "no history of running the auto industry in the U.S. the wrong way."
"I think the company is in good hands," said Lutz, who has a book on his GM experience coming out next month.
Previous members of the management team "thought they were working on the right things," Lutz said, but unfortunately, they were not.
But he begrudgingly agreed with the decision to kill four of GM's eight brands as part of the government-ordered restructuring.
The Hummer brand had to go: "It was the environmental anti-Christ."
From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110517/AUTO01/105170443/Lutz--After-restructuring--GM--in-good-hands-#ixzz1NVnspedl
Ah Memories....
Remember this?
GM exec: We need more new Hummers
September 28 2006: 5:39 PM EDT
Paris (Reuters) -- General Motors Corp.'s Hummer brand needs to double its product lineup by adding two or three more models, the executive charged with GM's product planning told reporters on Wednesday.
"Hummer needs some more products. It needs two or three more products to give it sufficient market coverage," General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz told reporters at the opening of a Hummer dealership in Paris.
Lutz said making a Hummer-branded pickup truck, which would have ample passenger seating, remained an "option."
Earlier this year GM (Charts) faced pressure from activist investor Kirk Kerkorian to consider spinning off Hummer, which began as a high-mobility vehicle produced for the U.S. military.
But GM executives have argued that the brand is central to the automaker's strategy as it moves to cut costs, shore up market share and return to profitability in the U.S. market.
Sales of Hummer were up almost 50 percent in the first eight months of this year. By contrast, GM's overall sales were down 12 percent.
Hummer currently has three models: the H2, H2 SUT and H3. GM announced earlier this year it is stopping production of the original H1 Hummer, which was larger than the full-size H2.
The H2 SUT has short pickup-style truck bed.
The H3, which is built on GM's midsize pickup truck platform, accounts for about three-quarters of the brand's current sales. It is similar in size to a Nissan Pathfinder or Toyota 4Runner and is powered by a 5-cylinder engine.
GM executives have said previously that a smaller vehicle, similar in size to a Jeep Wrangler, is also being considered for the brand.
Hummer, which GM bought in 1999, has acquired both fervent fans like California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and outspoken critics, who see the brand's heavy SUVs as a symbol of American consumer excess and dependence on foreign oil.
Find this article at:
http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/28/news/companies/gm_hummer/index.htm
GM exec: We need more new Hummers
September 28 2006: 5:39 PM EDT
Paris (Reuters) -- General Motors Corp.'s Hummer brand needs to double its product lineup by adding two or three more models, the executive charged with GM's product planning told reporters on Wednesday.
"Hummer needs some more products. It needs two or three more products to give it sufficient market coverage," General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz told reporters at the opening of a Hummer dealership in Paris.
Lutz said making a Hummer-branded pickup truck, which would have ample passenger seating, remained an "option."
Earlier this year GM (Charts) faced pressure from activist investor Kirk Kerkorian to consider spinning off Hummer, which began as a high-mobility vehicle produced for the U.S. military.
But GM executives have argued that the brand is central to the automaker's strategy as it moves to cut costs, shore up market share and return to profitability in the U.S. market.
Sales of Hummer were up almost 50 percent in the first eight months of this year. By contrast, GM's overall sales were down 12 percent.
Hummer currently has three models: the H2, H2 SUT and H3. GM announced earlier this year it is stopping production of the original H1 Hummer, which was larger than the full-size H2.
The H2 SUT has short pickup-style truck bed.
The H3, which is built on GM's midsize pickup truck platform, accounts for about three-quarters of the brand's current sales. It is similar in size to a Nissan Pathfinder or Toyota 4Runner and is powered by a 5-cylinder engine.
GM executives have said previously that a smaller vehicle, similar in size to a Jeep Wrangler, is also being considered for the brand.
Hummer, which GM bought in 1999, has acquired both fervent fans like California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and outspoken critics, who see the brand's heavy SUVs as a symbol of American consumer excess and dependence on foreign oil.
Find this article at:
http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/28/news/companies/gm_hummer/index.htm
Friday, April 8, 2011
As Japan Rises Again
I have been listening to people asking if Japan will come back from these recent disasters. Short answer: Yes. The industrial complex is largely untouched; areas of industry are largely spared, and Japan does most of its business overseas now, anyway.
The more pressing question is HOW Japan comes back. Somehow, somewhere, someone or some party will find the secret sauce to marshall the Japanese people, tap into their pride and identities as Japanese and use this unity to rebuild. If this message stresses building coalitions with other nations and taking pride as a model member of the international community, wonderful. We should foster this, all of us, with messages and gestures of genuine support.
If, however, the unifying message contains isolationist elements, or how Japan has lost its prestige, and has become somehow weaker, then Japan might become more nationalistic and militaristic. If messages from neighboring nations are threatening or bullying, this type of message will become more and more appealing. Most of us can't remember such a Japan, but no one should underestimate how such a development would destabilize the region.
As Japan rebuilds, we should think about what we would place in its new foundation. Do we place fear and betrayal and calls to arms? Or do we place reassurance, and community and, above all, trust?
Sunday, April 3, 2011
QPOC Conference UC Riverside: Ryka Aoki To Join La Maricolectiva at Opening Perf...
QPOC Conference UC Riverside: Ryka Aoki To Join La Maricolectiva at Opening Perf...: "Ryka Aoki will share her spoken word talents at the opening performance of the Queer People of Color Conference at UC Riverside, April 8-10,..."
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