April 27, 2012

Momma Earth has an upset tummy caused by hydrofracking.

I really, really hope hydrofracking doesn't make momma throw up.

I think we should stop the filthy motherfracking corporations that are making our momma sick.

April 27, 2012

Ron Brown is everyone that ever hated black people just because they were black.

Jackie Robinson vs Ron Brown

Jackie Robinson


Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972)....As the first black man to play in the major leagues since the 1880s, he was instrumental in bringing an end to racial segregation in professional baseball, which had relegated black players to the Negro leagues for six decades.[2] The example of his character and unquestionable talent challenged the traditional basis of segregation, which then marked many other aspects of American life, and contributed significantly to the Civil Rights Movement.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Robinson

Ron Brown


Ron Brown, University Of Nebraska Assistant Football Coach: Being Fired For Anti-Gay Views Would Be An 'Honor'

In March, Brown, 55, testified against an Omaha anti-discrimination ordinance that extended protections to gay and transgender people...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/26/ron-brown-nebraska-football-coach-anti-gay-views_n_1455712.html?ref=gay-rights

The difference between a decent, brave person, and a weak, bigoted, hateful asshole.

"Robinson was the target of racial epithets and flying cleats, of hate letters and death threats, of pitchers throwing at his head and legs, and catchers spitting on his shoes."
http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016431.html

Robinson was not just about baseball. He was about equality, about decency, about morality, about injustice, about ending a wrong with a right after more than 60 years of America and Americans in and out of the game suggesting a kid born with a black skin could not be a big leaguer.
http://www.evesmag.com/robinson.htm

Ron Brown, University Of Nebraska Assistant Football Coach: Being Fired For Anti-Gay Views Would Be An 'Honor'

In March, Brown, 55, testified against an Omaha anti-discrimination ordinance that extended protections to gay and transgender people...

What's in your head, zombie?

April 27, 2012

Assuming that you are a woman, try to imagine yourself waking up tomorrow

morning with a male body. Try to imagine that you have no culturally induced or external experiential concept of your gender identity as you've always known it, but you are still you, your essential core identity is intact. Were you born a woman, were you made a woman, or some of both?

Consider the ramifications of this scenario, internally and externally, and how you would negotiate the role oriented minefield of this world, particularly how you would relate to men and women individually and collectively from that point forward. You'd probably feel very substantial dysphoria over your situation.

This may give you a hint of an idea of what many trans folks feel like fairly soon after they exit the womb, and as they begin their wade through the muck of self and social existence.

As awareness grows, there's that first "something's really wrong here" moment in infancy. Maybe the next total "Huh? What the heck?" moment often comes when a transperson begins to express their essential core gender ID relative to the gender group with whom they perceive they identify, when they are old enough to self-present themselves as who they are. Often as toddlers, whose first experience of coming out may literally be coming out of the closet - mom's closet, at 2 1/2 yrs old, dressed in mom's stilettos, pearls, lipstick, and the prettiest dress she could pull down. Or vice versa, with dad's stuff, in the case of transmen.

"What do you mean I'm not this? I most certainly am this. How can you tell me I'm not, when I know I am?" (And, possibly, a very shocked, and why are you beating me because of this?&quot .

To deny the existence of collective social groups, women primarily socializing and relating to other women, in many situations, based on their perceived gender identity, and men primarily socializing and relating to other men based on their perceived gender identities, is not realistic. So, why would a transperson not feel internal and external pressures to relate, socialize, and normalize in the same way that the rest of the group that they identify with does? For example, why wouldn't a transwoman feel the imprinting of her mother, essentially feel the same societal pressures as that of other girls, and later express the consequences of sexualization that most other women experience? :

Sexualization of Girls

Or reject sexualization as much as is consciously possible, tell society to frack off, and work on finding out who she really is and who she wants to be and defining herself on her own terms to the greatest degree that she is capable?

Something I have often found distressing and frustrating is the tendency (from my POV) of how many women consciously, or unconsciously, generally buy into the ingrained cultural social schtick that men are somehow overall superior to us and have more value and therefore it is more acceptable and desirable for us to be more like them. It drives me up the wall.

From that standpoint, it appears to me that far too many women often wish they could be a lot more like men, and, therefore, may possibly attempt to extinguish and subsequently deny their essential core female gender identity, because, as you very well know, almost every woman in our society has relentlessly had it driven into them since birth that all women are intrinsically inferior to all men. At the very least, I believe that this is certainly something valuable for any woman in our society to ponder when assessing her essential core identity as a human being.

Conversely, I have little conscious definable experience of observing men attempting to extinguish and subsequently deny their gender identity. IMO, very few of the men that I have interacted with have exhibited any discernible serious conflict/doubt regarding their own gender identity, at least in the respect of presenting themselves as solidly rooted in their male self-identity/persona and their understanding of themselves as men, with little or no thought of being genderless or gender conflicted, because they are already a privileged part of the dominant culture, and see mostly, or only, negatives to being "more like a woman". From their personal perspectives of what "like a woman" means to them of course.

I don't want to be a man. I don't want to be more like a man. I like some men, some I don't. They're the dominant group right now. I hope to help change that. I like being a woman. But that only relates to my core identity. My mode of external stereotypical gender presentation is whatever I choose. I'm an athlete. I can often fix cars. I sometimes dress in somewhat stereotypical men's apparel. Sometimes I may wear a dress and plant flowers. I may love a man. I may love a woman. The point is, no matter what I do, it does not alter my core identity as a woman or my cognizance of my core identity as a woman one whit.

So, in answer to the question, "from a bigger society institutional point of view, does the societal gender dichotomy cause many transgendered people to feel that they have to be transgendered?"

The answer to your question is the same answer you would arrive at by answering this question:

From a bigger society institutional point of view, does the societal gender dichotomy cause many womaned people to feel that they have to be womaned?

I can only relate here, and try to help answer your question, by relating what I feel is true for me, based upon my own experiences/genes.

You may find these links and terminologies valuable/helpful:

Transgender or Transgendered?

DUer Evasporque's classic explanation of transgender vs. transgendered

Transgender 101: 15 Things to Know
☮☮☮☮☮☮
.

April 24, 2012

I really don't like the idea of the personal culpability

of malicious and deadly law enforcement personnel

(unfortunately I have no videos of the two incidences where I was beaten by police)

being replaced by *unfortunate machine malfunction*

C.I.A. Drones Kill Civilians in Pakistan
The civilian death toll appeared to be among the worst in the scores of strikes carried out recently in Pakistan’s tribal areas by the C.I.A., which runs the drones. Local residents and media reports said as many as 40 people had been killed in all, though the intelligence official disputed that.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/world/asia/18pakistan.html?_r=1

and I never really have trusted the government/corporations to abide by the Constitution

New Occupy Crackdown Documents Just Obtained by the PCJF (DHS, SS, FBI, etc.)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002593059

or always use surveillance devices for lawful, ethical reasons,


because, from my POV as a student of history, knowing the horrible things that governments and private enterprises, separate or in conjunction, have done to innocent people, frankly...

..."I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it."
Thomas Jefferson

Caught on Camera: 10 Shockingly Violent Police Assaults on Occupy Protesters
http://www.alternet.org/story/153134/caught_on_camera:_10_shockingly_violent_police_assaults_on_occupy_protesters/?page=2

April 23, 2012

It's the Third Way. Essentially a relatively new prominent US political party.

Some might call them new Democrats.

I don't.

Since they came into national prominence, the country has, indisputably, gone down the toilet, and is in now in the worst shape, or very close to the worst shape, since the Great Depression.

Whether you call them new Democrats or Third Way, the indisputable truth is that since the Third Way infiltrated the Democratic Party, working people and the Middle Class have steadily lost civil rights, economic power, status, and mobility, electoral control, and democratic autonomy, wealth has polarized beyond comprehension, etc. etc. etc Everybody reading this, except maybe for some rich folks (and maybe a few republican trolls), knows what I'm talking about here. Or they should.

There have been very few plusses for working folks since 1984. So what's to like for a Democrat?

At least the Third Way are better than republicans?

Republicans can't govern worth a shit, and Democrats that adopt republican ideologies, are, (let's see...how should I put this?)...also significantly challenged in this area.

This idea that Democrats had to become their enemies in order to win elections hasn't really worked out all that well. We lost an election to an actor, and Democrats decided to sell the farm cheap. And the Third Way bought it.

Literally.

What can I say? The country has totally gone to hell in a handbasket since the Third Way assumed power. Am I wrong?

Hopefully, we can elect more Democrats than Third Way to office this year, otherwise, it could be a long, long decade for working folks.


https://secure.elizabethwarren.com/?sc=ad_g_nat_s_sl_contribute&gclid=CK-TlMD3y68CFckZQgodOGrvfg

peace

April 20, 2012

Well, (essentially) 59 Dems to 41 republicans is

a large majority in my estimation. That's an 18% advantage, + the VP Senate president.

(Before I go on, I just want to make it very clear that I plan to vote for every Democrat on my ballot, and I have voted for every Democrat on every one of my ballots in every election since I became of voting age.I have never voted for anyone that was not a Democrat, unless it was a non-partisan contest).

The filibuster can be eliminated by the majority in the Senate at any time, by simple majority vote.

(Here's a recent piece on Senate filibusters that I found interesting)

Anyway, instead of doing what was right for the country and just steamrolling republicans, they chose to allow the republicans to filibuster at will. A huge foolish, (or deliberate?) mistake, from my POV.

(Fact: Republicans will never allow the passage of any legislation that is not in the interests of the 1%, if it is anywhere within their power to prevent such legislation).

Consequently but predictably,, we got slaughtered in the 2010 elections. I'm no rocket scientist, but I could plainly see, (and screamed about) what was going to happen if the filibuster was not quashed for the sake of passing necessary constructive legislation, and preserving the Dem majority in both Houses.

There's no question that there's a whole lot of money brokering power in our political system. To me, that means the game is indisputably rigged according to the interests of the 1%. This is not acceptable to me, nor is it acceptable to any Occupier, that's pretty much what Occupy is about. And we completely understand that since money brokers power, there will never be enough progressive democratic voices in Congress to bring about the changes necessary to remove the 1% from power, and create a just and equitable system.


I totally want the Dems to win enormous majorities in both Houses. I want President Obama to remain in the WH. I believe that this is by far the best possible US electoral outcome for the planet, 2013.

At the same time, I can't let a rigged game prevent me from taking steps to rig the game in my favor. So I'm gonna strike, boycott, and protest on Mayday. I'm going to continue to advocate for, and participate in, as many Occupy direct actions as I can, in order to play outside of the rigged game, and in order to try and rig the system, the game, in favor of those who the game is supposed to be rigged in favor of --

We the People.

Solidarity. We are the 99%


☮ccupy

Peace, and best of luck, Scuba, I believe we basically have the same goals; we just maybe have some different ideas of how to attain them.

April 17, 2012

Another good question. Transgender is simply a general, blanket term

for a wide spectrum of gender alternatives to being exclusively male or female. Many folks who identify themselves as transgender, such as, for example, a weekend cross dresser, never take any steps at all to physically and/or legally transition.

Transsexual, on the other hand, is a much more specific term, and while it falls under the general category of transgender, transsexual folks almost universally desire and undergo physical and legal transition.

(So the short answer to your question,

"Not every body goes through the whole process - but they are still Trans?"

is, IMO, yes, as far as "trans" can cover both transgender folks and transsexual folks. I believe I'm going to start using trans as a general descriptor also, unless new info changes my mind.)

Websters Dictionary illustrates a difference in meaning between the words sex and gender:

sex

: either of the two major forms of individuals that occur in many species and that are distinguished respectively as female or male especially on the basis of their reproductive organs and structures

gender

: the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex

Anyway, in order to complicate the subject even more, here is kind of a caveat to all this that many folks are not aware of:

A substantial number of transsexual folks do not particularly care for being referred to as transgender. This is because transsexuals know that they were born as the gender that they know they are, and identify as. They do not ever change or alter their gender. Transsexuals do not transform from one gender to another. Transsexuals usually alter their physical sex characteristics, but sex characteristics are not at all the same as gender/gender identity. Transsexuals may change, transform, their bodies, but they don't, and can't, transform the spirit/soul/mind that they were born with/as.

Transsexuals desire to, and most often do, change their sex characteristics in some way, to conform their bodies to the gender to which they were born. FTM transsexuals were born with a male spirit. MTF transsexuals were born with a female spirit. Their bodies, at birth, simply didn't conform to their minds/spirits/souls (speaking from the context of what is considered "normal" in the perception of many modern societies). This is an extremely distressing condition for most transsexual folks, as you can imagine. (Think about some poor two year old kid trying to process this in this society). Many transsexual folks attempt suicide. Not only do transsexual folks get bullied like other members of the LGBT community do, they also constantly carry with them an awareness of having to reconcile total complete disparity between their bodies and their mind/spirit/soul.

A tough gig in this Judeo-Christian influenced society. The current Director of the Kinsey Institute said to me many years ago, "Being transsexual and transitioning are often among the most difficult things a human being can experience". (That's actually paraphrased, but it's close to the original, it was a long time ago).

This is from the American Psychological Association:

What does transgender mean?

Transgender is an umbrella term for persons whose gender identity, gender expression, or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth. Gender identity refers to a person’s internal sense of being male, female, or something else; gender expression refers to the way a person communicates gender identity to others through behavior, clothing, hairstyles, voice, or body characteristics. “Trans” is sometimes used as shorthand for “transgender.” While transgender is generally a good term to use, not everyone whose appearance or behavior is gender-nonconforming will identify as a transgender person. The ways that transgender people are talked about in popular culture, academia, and science are constantly changing, particularly as individuals’ awareness, knowledge, and openness about transgender people and their experiences grow.

http://www.apa.org/topics/sexuality/transgender.aspx

From Transsexual.org:

What Transsexuality Is:
Definition, Cause, and History

SUMMARY DEFINITION:

Gender Dysphoria, literally a misery with regard to gender, is the condition of being in a state of conflict between gender and physical sex. A transsexual is a person in which the sex-related structures of the brain that define gender identity are exactly opposite the physical sex organs of the body. Put even more simply, a transsexual is a mind that is literally, physically, trapped in a body of the opposite sex.
---
Gender and Sex are very separate things, though the terms are often considered interchangeable by the less aware. Sex is physical form and function while Gender is a component of identity. There can be considered to be some legitimate overlap in that the brain is structured in many sex-differentiated ways, and the brain is the seat of identity. However, with regard to the dilemma of the transsexual, the difference between sex and gender are at the very core of the issue.

A transsexual person, born to all appearance within a given physical sex, is aware of being of a gender opposite to that physical sex. This conflict, between gender identity and physical sex, is almost always manifest from earliest awareness, and is the cause of enormous suffering. It is common for transsexuals to be aware of their condition at preschool ages.
---
Transgenderism can refer to those who crossdress, those who are intersexed, those who live in the opposite societal role of their physical sex, those who play with gender expression for any purpose whatsoever, and transsexuals as well. While there is potentially great survival benefit in this mutual association labeled as 'transgenderism', the primary function is social and political, and not clinical, despite the efforts of some to legitimize this essentially meaningless term.

http://transsexual.org/What.html

(If that last sentence seems kind of snarky, it may, again, be because some transsexual folks don't particularly care for the term transgender).

Realistically, every individual has a different overall experience of being, and labels we attach to human beings such as transgender and transsexual, are often incomplete general concepts used for facilitating communication.

So, some folks will surely disagree with what I've written here, some may even get pissed off at me, but this is the best I can do to in a short period of time to try to convey what I perceive from personal experience, discussion, research, and some very serious contemplation of this subject over a long period of time.

April 15, 2012

Very often, here at DU, we encounter homophobic/transphobic posts written by

DU members believing themselves to be liberals.

We deal with them almost every day, it seems like.

All too often, DU juries, supposedly comprised of liberals, allow these h/t posts to stand after they are alerted on.

Sometimes these posts are written by RW trolls.

And sometimes, they are posts written by ignorant Democrats who are so thoroughly inundated by doctrinally/culturally induced and accepted anti-lgbt sentiment that they don't even have a clue as to how and why their posts are homophobic/transphobic until some time after we very adamantly drill it into their head and force them to confront their prejudice. That is, if they ever really do manage to overcome this religious and/or culture instilled prejudice.

As an LGBT person, I don't feel that I can afford to eternally castigate any person that has apparently made great strides in shedding her or his homophobia. I need and want allies, and, because I understand the intensity of the historical religious and cultural consciousness that creates pressure to hate and mock LGBT persons, I am readily willing to forgive anyone that has admitted that they were wrong, and who has made a visible effort to change and support LGBT equality.

A) The last thing in the world I ever want to be is a hypocrite. I've fucked up in my life more than once and I've changed because of it. I'm not going to refuse to forgive anyone that fucks up and appears to have genuinely changed for the good because of it, or because of new information/understanding.

B) I prefer to trust and stay positive whenever reasonable/possible.

If I'm wrong, I don't really lose anything.

If I'm correct, instead of alienating an ally, I retain an ally that will willingly, possibly actively, help me, and my LGBT family, gain equality.

It's a win-win for everybody.

April 11, 2012

Grass? Grass good! Eat grass! Grass good! We follow!

Not grass! Not Green! Not eat grass! You trick us! 1% baaaaad!


Baaaaaa-aaad! You baaaaa-aaaad!


Meanwhile, resistance continues to train and organize...


☮ccupy

April 11, 2012

lol! Actually, "Comrade Zorra"

sped by that milestone at 120 mph about 2 months ago.

Karl is like a sweet old conservative uncle to me now.

Go beyond left, and then head straight into the past, to where the path ends at remember the future. Rest there as long as you need, and then continue forward through the woods until you get to alter the present.

We'll meet you in the next world; don't be late!

☮