Author: Ruby Sinreich

I guess it was just a matter of time before these disparate cultures met. The Friendly Gangstaz Committee are “Keepin’ it real in the Light.” Shit, they’re playing today in Snow Camp! Maybe I should go.

When are these conservative ninnies going to get over themselves? Last year, Rush Limbaugh and hundreds of his teeming minions got up in arms about UNC’s summer reading, a book called Approaching the Quran. UNC administrators received hate mail from around the country about their effort to expose some young minds to a major world religion. This year, UNC has assigned Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed, and Carolina’s newest crop of young republicans just won’t stand for it. I have read this book myself and I can assure you that students should be celebrating such an easy assignment. It has some good moral lessons, but it’s fairly devoid of big-picture conclusions and so easy to read that it could be completed quite handily in a day or two at the beach.

If these students (and their right-wing backers) are uncomfortable about dealing with the experience of someone not of their own economic disposition – well that’s the point, kids. Welcome to education.

You know, it occurs to me that if people would just read instructions, I would probably be out of a job.

Blogathon

If you sponsor me in the 2003 Blogathon, I might actually do it! My charity is Internationalist Books and Community Center.

Vote for choice
OK so it’s not exactly “voting,” but anyway Texas Monthly is conducting a poll on this complicated question: Do you think abortion should be legal?. Results so far: yes, 56 % (22,426); no, 43.78 % (17,466). I reckon if Texas can give us our “President,” we can give them a peice of our mind to thank them for the favor.

I love being pigeon-holed
The last time I seriously took a Myers-Briggs test was almost ten years ago. I was ENTJ, with a soft J/P score. I have often wondered if the result would change as my personality has matured. I’ve heard M-B junkies claim that it doesn’t change since it reflects who you really are in some fundamental, core sense. Well, according to this significantly less scientific Bloginality test, I’m now an ISTP. This analysis says this means I’m now “quiet and reserved” whereas I used to be “driven to lead.”

Gosh, it just feels so affirming to have my entire identity boiled down to this simple formula! I actually think this stuff is interesting and occasionally useful or insghtful, but it obviously calls for a BIG grain of salt.

Fix yo’self girl!

You just don’t hear the word “UTERUS” on pop radio enough. I totally fell out when I heard this lyric on the radio in my new car (!) yesterday:

Walking down the street
Something caught my eye
A growing epidemic
That really ain’t fly
This middle aged lady
I gotta be blunt
Her spandex biker shorts
Were creeping up the front
I could see her uterus
Her pants were too tight
She musn’t own panties
There were none in sight
She walked right by
The poor woman didn’t know
She had a frontal wedgie
A Cameltoe

Umm Hmm, That’s right, Uh Huh, Oh No
Fix yourself girl, You got a Cameltoe

Apparently, the artist’s name is Fannypack.

And the winner is…?
MoveOnPAC released the results of it’s first primary today at noon. No candidate crossed the 50% threshold required to get their endorsement, although the Big Three pretty much smushed everyone else, not surprisingly with Dean at the top. In order, it looks like this:

DEAN	139360	43.87%
KUCINICH	76000	23.93%
KERRY	49973	15.73%
EDWARDS	10146	3.19%
GEPHARDT	7755	2.44%
GRAHAM	7113	2.24%
BRAUN	7021	2.21%
UNDECIDED	6378	2.01%
LIEBERMAN	6095	1.92%
OTHER	6121	1.93%
SHARPTON	1677	0.53%
total	317647	100.00%

MoveOn also aked which candidates the voters would “enthusiastically support,” but what this really means is “if it means beating the incumbent President, who could could your hold you nose and vote for?” 28.47% said they would support any Democrat in the race. Only three candidates scored less than 50% on this question: Graham, Lieberman, and Sharpton. Also note that Leiberman and Sharpton got less votes than undecided.

Thousands of protesters : a tree falling in the woods?
If 5,000 people protested at a Bush fundraiser in New York City on Monday do you think it would be covered in any major news media, or at least the seemingly-balanced New York Times? What if it was organized by a groundbreaking coalition of labor, peace, feminist, and economic justice activists? Apparently not. (Here are some good photos of the demo.)

Remember this noncoverage the next time you don’t hear about murder in the Middle East, corporate scandals, or the slow and steady death of the U.S. economy. At this point, I feel comfortable just assuming the worst and enjoying the rare opportunity to be proven wrong.

Help! I’m addicted to Friendster.com
Y’know, I saw it once a few months ago and didn’t think much of it. But a few days ago a cool friend of mine from Austin invited me to be her “friend,” and now I’m a Friendster junkie! Brian accused it of being a popularity contest, which it is. But then he got hooked too!

According to their site, “Friendster is an online community that connects people through networks of friends for dating or making new friends.” It’s not like I even have enough time for the friends I have, but giving and receiving all these glowing testimonials feels so good!