Crises of capital

XPAC 2010: Epic.

Today is the first day of XPAC, the CPAC for people under 30. At least, I think it is. Their website lists the dates as February 18-20, and today is the 18th. But this promo thing (above) says "Friday 2.20.10." Friday (tomorrow) is the 19th. So who knows?

This stuff just writes itself

Who had the best tie?

Joe Biden had the best tie tonight. It was a gorgeous, shimmery, green stripe. Obama's tie was a red and white stripe that looked like a crappy-ass, store-brand candy cane that was lying in a puddle for three days.

SOTU

For a week or so now, I've been planning to post a long, ranting tirade about how Obama has disappointed me. I knew when I voted for him, and when he won the Presidency, that he would annoy and disappoint me a lot—I'm a Democrat with a serious capital D. But I didn't expect to feel so discouraged and deflated as I have lately. When Thom Hartmann asked on his radio program this morning, "What would you yell at the president during tonight's State of the Union address?" I yelled (in my car) "DO SOMETHING!"

Okay. Speech over. All I can say is, I am so very thankful that Barack Obama is not my abusive boyfriend. After only 75 minutes of smooth talk, he's made me fall in love all over again.

Remember the ERA?

There was a huge push to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in 1982, when I was in high school. I remember it as a giant controversy, but I was 15, and didn't pay much attention. Did I just assume it was the logical next step? Who knows? My memory is unreliable.

At the time, it had been ratified by 35 states (only three shy of the 38 required for national ratification!). It has been reintroduced into every Congress since, with very little fanfare. Did you know that? I didn't! After it was defeated in 1982, it was as though the country considered the matter settled for all time, and just moved on to other things.

As a teenager, I assumed it failed because there was something extreme about it, something that was really beyond the pale, something abhorrent not just to the fundamentalist who believed in strict gender roles, but to mildly conservative Americans, too. (With hindsight, I'd say "average Americans," but at the time I didn't realize that I wasn't an average American, that my political views were what would be considered leftist.). I was all for equal rights, and still am. But it wasn't like I ever READ the amendment.

Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.

Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

That's it. That's the whole thing.

Fuck you, Phyllis Schlafly.

FGM/C, MGM/C...how about NO GM/C?

I'm not a proponent of circumcising baby boys. I'm not in favor of circumcising ANY boys before they reach the age of consent. Of course, if a male over the age of 18 decides he wants to have his foreskin removed, then what business is it of mine? I'd sooner tell him not to get a tattoo he might later regret.

Because I'm a woman of European descent who lives in the United States, it goes virtually without saying that I do not condone female circumcision.

The debate over genital cutting of either sex is about as complex and multi-layered as the debate over the death penalty (more on this in a future post). I could write thousands of words about it, but that's not why I brought it up in this post.

I brought it up because of some startling research reported in 2007 in The Journal of Sexual Medicine. One of the most compelling arguments against female circumcision is the claim that it renders the victim incapable of feeling sexual pleasure, or, if she does feel pleasure, of experiencing orgasm. This research indicates that this is is not the case.

This is good news for the millions of women who have already undergone genital cutting, and not such good news for those girls whose culture prescribes it. It's also bad news for people who argue that male circumcision is a trifle when compared to female circumcision because men can still orgasm without a foreskin.

Thanks, Adrian Colesberry.

Meatri dish

I read an interesting article today about a Dutch lab that's succeeded in growing strips of pork from stem cells.

There was a similar story about cultured meat (it was beef) a few years ago. The comment section for that article was dominated by people who were thoroughly disgusted by the idea. Not me. What's disgusting is killing an animal and eating it.

Don't get me wrong—I am an avid meat eater. I even eat organ meats and feet and blood sausage and headcheese and stuff. But there's no getting around the fact that meat has a high gross-out factor. Add to this the fact that factory farms and feedlots are arguably inhumane, and certainly disastrous for the environment, and you have a pretty good argument for going veg.

I, for one, would be delighted to do away with these ethical issues and eat hot dogs, burgers, chicken nuggets, and fish sticks that came from a lab.

Finer cuts of meat are another story. It's well known that an animal's diet and lifestyle have a significant effect upon the flavor and texture of its flesh. Not to mention milk. And eggs. And honey. Et cetera.

But I have faith in science. If scientists can figure out how to grow meat in a petri dish, surely they can eventually figure out ways to tinker with its more ethereal qualities. Presumably it's just an extremely complicated transfer of molecules that happens when an animal eats something and converts it to flesh and bone.