tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post9058812399455664416..comments2023-07-15T04:20:16.543-05:00Comments on Almost Diamonds: Tell Me a (Political) StoryStephanie Zvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15182490110208080002noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-20115125968677754242009-12-20T08:56:33.525-06:002009-12-20T08:56:33.525-06:00Here you, DJ:
http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/01/c...Here you, DJ:<br /><br />http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/01/car-bomb-cupcakes/Stephanie Zvanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15182490110208080002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-84276471729824298552009-12-20T07:56:18.972-06:002009-12-20T07:56:18.972-06:00Stephanie...
I can haz cupcake recipe?!?! :)Stephanie...<br />I can haz cupcake recipe?!?! :)DJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-33384046353265371922009-12-19T08:06:18.868-06:002009-12-19T08:06:18.868-06:00D.C., chocolate stout is yummy (when done right), ...D.C., chocolate stout is yummy (when done right), but my favorite is a good imperial.Stephanie Zvanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15182490110208080002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-6258092195188626952009-12-18T23:56:22.197-06:002009-12-18T23:56:22.197-06:00I can't say anything about what it's like ...I can't say anything about what it's like to be brown-skinned, or visually identifiable as a "minority." (I use scare quotes because I grew up in a city that's 80% Hispanic, making white people the actual minority locally.) I can easily talk about what it's like to be hassled by the cops, though. I can do so at great length. I can expound upon how they treat the "other" for hours upon hours, likening them to grade-school bullies given guns and told explicitly that the rules do not apply to them. I can sympathize with being attacked by thugs wearing badges because I've been there, and I'm honestly not sure why they didn't tack on a felony assault against an officer on top of it.<br /><br />This isn't about race, and trying to make it about race takes attention away from the actual issue. Too much "authority" and not enough oversight encourages abuses and thuggery. This is a serious problem, and pretending it's a different problem won't make it better.<br /><br />Oh, and yes, there are racist cops (border guards, detention officers, etc.), probably lots of them, and I'll readily concede that they often hide their racism and bigotry among the more general thuggery going on. Stop the abuse of power, and they won't be able to hide in plain sight so easily, will they?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-4418648127818172762009-12-18T20:31:19.623-06:002009-12-18T20:31:19.623-06:00I'm normally not that big on cupcakes, but any...<i>I'm normally not that big on cupcakes, but anything made with chocolate and stout is automatically good.</i><br /><br />How about stout made with chocolate? (Young's Double Chocolate Stout: Mmmmmm.)D. C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06515125525097163604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-75441025474118826632009-12-18T19:14:00.309-06:002009-12-18T19:14:00.309-06:00I'm normally not that big on cupcakes, but any...I'm normally not that big on cupcakes, but anything made with chocolate and stout is automatically good.Greghttp://www.scienceblogs.com/gregladennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-28248967726531267142009-12-18T12:33:55.360-06:002009-12-18T12:33:55.360-06:00Not cupcakes made with chocolate and stout? That&#...Not cupcakes made with chocolate and stout? That's what I've been making this Christmas.Stephanie Zvanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15182490110208080002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-51371417296698272442009-12-18T11:47:54.984-06:002009-12-18T11:47:54.984-06:00U aaqbt ciijues!!!
Oh, sorry, fingers on the wron...U aaqbt ciijues!!!<br /><br />Oh, sorry, fingers on the wrong keys.<br /><br />I want cookies!!!Greg Ladenhttp://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-90425409463745243892009-12-18T07:33:28.946-06:002009-12-18T07:33:28.946-06:00It's not that they are upset that only the &qu...<i>It's not that they are upset that only the "white d00ds" get attention, it's that they themselves don't notice when the very people they call out on a regular basis for not doing something about the margin cases, do something about the margin cases (e.g. Greg talking about endemic racism in Minneapolis).</i><br /><br />No cookies!D. C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06515125525097163604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-58827870389865666852009-12-18T07:31:49.170-06:002009-12-18T07:31:49.170-06:00I think we need to consider where this gets us.
A...<i>I think we need to consider where this gets us.</i><br /><br />Asking about objectives and where our actions lead is just proof that you're part of the problem.D. C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06515125525097163604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-8437379760838012832009-12-18T05:39:07.188-06:002009-12-18T05:39:07.188-06:00"...they're asking for more consistency f...<i>"...they're asking for more consistency from others than they're giving themselves."</i><br /><br />I can't say that I haven't seen them do exactly this in the past. On more than one occasion. <br /><br />It's not that they are upset that only the "white d00ds" get attention, it's that they themselves don't notice when the very people they call out on a regular basis for not doing something about the margin cases, do something about the margin cases (e.g. Greg talking about endemic racism in Minneapolis). And they should be taken to task for this, but they're the ones that do the screaming excoriation, not "us". (Whoever "us" is.)<br /><br />Frame of reference is everything, apparently. There are very few visible minorities around here, but the majority of them are in positions of privilege -- the trailer park in which my house is presently parked is full of "white d00ds", and the clinic in Wolfville has the one Indian I can think of immediately. Many of the professors at the university are of various descents. And I can't think of the last instance of any sort of endemic racism that I've seen or heard of, or even the last time any of the older folks said anything outright racist. This province isn't perfect, but it seems at least a hell of a lot calmer with less simmering below the surface going on than some areas of the States. <br /><br />So, when I heard the news of Peter Watts getting roughed up at the Canadian border crossing, it played on my sense of the ever-ratcheting-upward paranoia evident on that border. I was terrified that something similar was going to happen when we crossed the border to visit Georgia last year for Jodi's sister's wedding, and I'm terrified that something similar is going to happen when we try to make CONvergence next summer. And I'm sorry that I felt only slightly more safe being white -- this whole instance proves to me that one shouldn't feel safe at all when those alarm bells are ringing in your head, just because you're the "right race" entering into a country with as many racial issues as the States.Jason Thibeaulthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01595673310069068735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-87179840645057897182009-12-17T22:11:07.211-06:002009-12-17T22:11:07.211-06:00What can I do about that Greg? Besides get pissed....What can I <b>do</b> about that Greg? Besides get pissed.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10786829016247211845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-10806566147907204062009-12-17T21:13:13.661-06:002009-12-17T21:13:13.661-06:00... asking for a kind of consistency that itself i...... asking for a kind of consistency that itself is a bit problematic.Greg Ladenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04857616630819182647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-33700791447565225672009-12-17T20:42:11.414-06:002009-12-17T20:42:11.414-06:00More likely, Abbie, they do care, but they're ...More likely, Abbie, they do care, but they're asking for more consistency from others than they're giving themselves.Stephanie Zvanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15182490110208080002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-52807249603228813972009-12-17T20:36:59.190-06:002009-12-17T20:36:59.190-06:00So either they dont give a shit about 'brown&#...So either they dont give a shit about 'brown' people and using 'RACISM!' to be attention whores, or theyre racist and dont give a shit about 'white' people.<br /><br />Fantastic!ERVhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02070086354372691880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-49800683269961253652009-12-17T20:18:07.845-06:002009-12-17T20:18:07.845-06:00Abbie, nobody follows links any more. If you'd...Abbie, nobody follows links any more. If you'd put "brown" in the title, or said "Chinese" in the post, it would have been fine. Otherwise, everybody is just assuming a post-doc is a white guy.<br /><br />Anonymous, they walk the talk in that they explicitly point out the connection between policies that enforce a hierarchy and extra trouble for minorities. It isn't their main gig, but they do it.<br /><br />Greg, I had dinner and picked up some groceries in those two hours. It doesn't help those kids in any way except that I live in the same neighborhood and help keep a couple of jobs here. I didn't even get the chance to give any police hassling anyone the hairy eyeball. I didn't see any. Luckily, it's winter, which means not even the cops want to get out of their cars.Stephanie Zvanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15182490110208080002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-67997749045117700542009-12-17T19:58:28.178-06:002009-12-17T19:58:28.178-06:00OK, is this thing on? ... good.
I think we need ...OK, is this thing on? ... good.<br /><br />I think we need to consider where this gets us. Where does the original news story get us, where does PZ's post get us, where does the critique of PZ get us, where does this post get us. And by "us" I mean humanity including any portion thereof. <br /><br />I know these two kids who live in South Minneapoolis. They are very thug-like (according to the nomenclature of the present conversation) in that they insist on wearing typical urban 20 something clothing and they refuse to leave the house without their black skin on. As soon as the curfew times start (the curfews start at 7 and go to midnight, for different ages) the cops are legally able to stop them and search them with the assumption that they are 15, 17, 18 years old (though they look their age ... 19 and 21). These days it is routine for them to go to classes (at NAU, the one down at The Mall) by a bus provided by the county, because they are going there from the reform house instead of from their house. What did they do to get a room in County? They left the house with their black skin on. and stayed outside after the curfew for kids five years younger than they are. Stupid fuckers.<br /><br />PZ's post does not help them directly but questioning the behavior of the police does, a little. PZ gets one tenth of one point. Telling PZ to shut up because he did not use Kliqueon approved language has disctracted us long enough this evening to go through two curfew changes. The Minneapolis cops are pissed right now because 20 recruits were laid off today by the mayor. The mayor is a boy from South. So there will be kids picked up in South and charged with posession of burgulary tools (their shoelaces) tonight, maybe a dozen. Maybe 20. For some of them it will be the thirty or fortieth time this year. Eventually they'll end up in County as well, no matter what else they were doing with their lives, or trying to, anyway. <br /><br />Yay for the police. They are keeping us safe. From ourselves. While we blog. <br /><br />Fuck us.Greg Ladenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04857616630819182647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-58872318326955352212009-12-17T19:44:45.850-06:002009-12-17T19:44:45.850-06:00testing your comment systemtesting your comment systemGreg Ladenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04857616630819182647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-78077791341140200692009-12-17T18:59:59.819-06:002009-12-17T18:59:59.819-06:00Now, to be clear, I'm not saying that either T...<em><br />Now, to be clear, I'm not saying that either TT or Isis isn't walking the talk. They both do. But what they're both doing in this situation is responding to white-guy story with minority-inclusion critique, and critique just isn't as powerful as story.</em><br /><br />I am not sure that Isis walks the talk. Or fully understands the talk.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-20713357782764608002009-12-17T18:46:13.426-06:002009-12-17T18:46:13.426-06:00Um, I wrote about this happening to a Dark Skinned...Um, I wrote about this happening to a <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/erv/2009/05/canadian_scientist_smuggles_st.php" rel="nofollow">Dark Skinned With A Scary Foreign Name</a> guy months ago.<br /><br />Isis/DM/Zuska didnt give a shit about this guy.<br /><br />So...ERVhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02070086354372691880noreply@blogger.com