Annika Carlson's Blog

Free Tibet Flags Made in China

Annika — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:29:53 EDT

Yeah, that headline pretty much says it all.

Friedman Pied During Speech

Annika — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:59:39 EDT

Everyone’s favorite mustachioed New York Times columnist received a less-than-warm welcome at Brown University this Tuesday. According to Inside Higher Ed,

Brown University is condemning the actions of two people — at least one of whom is a student — who threw a pie-like substance Tuesday night at Thomas Friedman, a columnist for The New York Times who was speaking on the campus. Friedman took a few minutes to clean himself up, but continued his talk…The Providence Journal reported that the incident involved paper plates with shamrock-colored whipped cream.

Shamrock-colored pie-like substance, eh? Along with the pie, protestors threw fliers in the air to explain their pastry-based attack:

Thomas Friedman deserves a pie in the face because of his sickeningly cheery applause for free market capitalism’s conquest of the planet, for telling the world that the free market and techno fixes can save us from climate change. From carbon trading to biofuels, these distractions are dangerous in and of themselves, while encouraging inaction with respect to the true problems at hand.

Fair enough.

UPDATE: Via Matt Yglesias, check out this video of the dastardly pastry incident.

It's less funny than the anonymous pie-from-the-audience scenario I pictured in my head, and decidedly less fulfilling than publicly besting Friedman's arguments.

Gourmet Dining Halls

Annika — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:27:42 EDT

The New York Times food section has a piece today on the proliferation of gourmet menus at American colleges and universities—apparently students increasingly demand lobster, London broil, and “spa water” in their cafeterias.

After a page of sumptuous description, the reporter tacks on the pricing info:

Of course, colleges that put a premium on food tend to have higher endowments and more costly meal plans. Bowdoin, which renovated its two dining halls for $13 million, charges $2,600 per semester, Yale $2,380.

The basic Virginia Tech meal plan is $1,155 per semester, but if a student wants the add-ons in quality or choice, he pays à la carte. A lobster at P.J.’s costs four times as much as the London broil, which may be a reflection of its real price at a college where in-state tuition runs just under $7,400, compared to Bowdoin’s $34,000.

Duh. I myself lived on Korean kimchi-flavored ramen in college. It’s really spicy, and is especially good if you add add an egg to it (al la egg drop soup)--you can’t even tell you’re eating ramen, and it's still really cheap.

Ok, ok, I still eat it all the time.

Who reads the Internet?

Annika — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 10:39:22 EDT

Check out this chart from Nielsen, a market research company that monitors television viewer and web user habits. They also survey users for demographic info like political ideology—below (click to enlarge), they display the constituency of popular political and news sites by the percentage of readers who identify as liberal or very liberal (in blue) and readers who identify as conservative, moderate or undeclared (in red).

It's hard to draw conclusions from the results, though, with readers divided up so shoddily. Lumping together moderate and undeclared readers with conservatives is decidedly unhelpful, and skews the chart considerably--on first glance, it appears that conservative readers dominate mainstream news sources, while liberals are sequestered on Mother Jones and The Nation.

Gold-plated Recession

Annika — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:41:36 EDT

This morning, the New York Times story reporting the loss of 80,000 jobs is flanked by ads for Tiffany & Co.'s "celebration rings." According to Tiffany, "There are times to celebrate...Maybe just because."

Right. Americans lost far more jobs in March than economists had predicted, and I'm going to commemorate the event with a $7,500 diamond ring.

Limbaugh's Latest Slut-Shaming

Annika — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:37:01 EDT

I can always count on Rush Limbaugh for a healthy dose of slut-shaming rhetoric, and his commentary on Hillary Clinton's candidacy is no exception.

Yesterday on his radio show, Limbaugh argued that "feminists and women" feel they're owed a Clinton II presidency. I'll let him speak for himself (emphasis mine):

These women have paid their dues. They've been married two or three times; they've had two or three abortions; they've done everything that feminism asked them to do. They have cut men out of their lives; they have devoted themselves to causes and careers. And this -- the candidacy of Hillary Clinton -- is the culmination of all of these women's efforts. And if it gets stolen from them, in their minds -- not actually stolen, but if the country or if the Democrat [sic] Party rejects this wonderfully great, lying woman in exchange for a rookie, radical black guy who can't tell the time of day, they are going to be so miffed. They are going to be so upset.

Right. Because feminism is all about having abortions, eschewing men and getting a bunch of divorces. Looks like I've been slacking.

Click here for more of Limbaugh's enlightened pontification.

Abortion and Mental Health

Annika — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:16:52 EDT

Late last week, the UK’s Royal College of Psychiatrists released a statement (PDF) saying that women who have abortions might be at risk for mental health breakdowns. The College recommended that women be told about potential mental health problems before choosing to have an abortion.

According to The Sunday Times,

Some MPs [Members of Parliament] also want women to have a “cooling off” period in which they would be made aware of the possible consequences of the abortion, including the impact on their mental health, before they could go ahead.

Right. This is one of many similar efforts that attempts to “protect” women from abortion. Women who are considering abortion should be presented with all relevant medical findings, including those about mental health. But such findings are often tied to a set of incredibly one-sided policy proposals, like this one, which strip the research of its objectivity and credibility.

Popularization of these “cooling off” periods, for instance, promotes the idea that a woman is not fit to make her own decision about abortion—she is emotionally confused, and her tiny girl-brain needs extra time to make such an important choice about her body.

Moreover, folding post-abortion depression into an inflexible argument against abortion reduces the likelihood that post-abortion counseling will be taken seriously. As Reva Siegel and Sarah Blustain write in this fantastic piece in The American Prospect,

The figure of a woman suffering abortion grief invokes a deep truth about mother love that, in different ways, is recognized by advocates across the political spectrum. But the anti-abortion movement is deploying this image to excite acts of public coercion that will not make women, or their families, more natural or loving or free.

Seriously, read this article. It’s a very compelling look at the way people pushing abortion restrictions—like those being advocated in the UK—paint women as helpless victims of biology and pro-abortion advocates.

Barack HUSSEIN Obama

Annika — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:52:10 EDT

A new poll by NBC and the Wall Street Journal shows, with a 3.1 percent margin of error, that 13 percent of Americans believe Barack Obama is Muslim.

Beyond my obvious dismay that Americans don't know much about the people they're voting for, I'm troubled that insinuating that a candidate is Muslim is the fodder of a smear campaign. Apparently operatives have moved on from the Swift Boat/illegitimate black baby breed of underhanded tricks and decided to degrade politicians by implying their connection to a religion practiced by over a billion people worldwide. Great.

via Faith in Public Life.

The Male Brain on Sex

Annika — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:38:55 EDT

Ezra Klein has a post up on the at-times disturbing effect of sexual arousal on male rationality:

Sometimes, the percent answering "yes" to a certain practice [while aroused] jumped by as much as 420 percent (sadly, that question was "would you slip a woman a drug t increase the chance that shed have sex with you?"). More often, kinks became more arousing (22 percent of masturbating males found cigarette smoke to be an aphrodisiac, while only 13 percent answer affirmatively in the cold state) and behavior grew riskier (lower adherence to condoms, etc).

It makes sense--arousal, like new love, essentially drugs us with a hot mess of potent hormones. Ezra made a graph comparing non-aroused and aroused answers to a couple of the questions. While the influence of sex on specific action is certainly troubling, I’m more concerned that when they weren't aroused, dudes in the study were more into sex with a 12-year-olds than sex with a 60-year-olds.

Update: Politician's gay-bashing

Annika — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 13:13:47 EST

I just spoke with someone who's close to the situation Rob just blogged about--turns out it's Sally Kerns, teacher and Oklahoma state rep, who told supporters at a county Republican meeting that gay people are more dangerous than terrorists.

Check out the recording here. Let Kerns know what you think of her hate speech by emailing her here, or contact the Oklahoma Speaker of the House.

Young Iraqis Turn Away from Religion

Annika — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 10:27:12 EST

The New York Times has a fascinating article up today about young Iraqis’ attitudes toward religion. Immediately after the war in Iraq started, the country saw a surge in religiosity—Shiites, who had been regarded as political insurgents under Saddam Hussein’s regime, were able to practice freely, and some soon translated their religious hierarchies into political power. But as the church moved more firmly into the public sphere, mosques and religious leaders became more known for their corruption and violent extremism than sagacity and piety.

Young Iraqis’ opinions on religion represent a profound but sad shift in beliefs:

“I hate Islam and all the clerics because they limit our freedom every day and their instruction became heavy over us,” said Sara, a high school student in Basra. “Most of the girls in my high school hate that Islamic people control the authority because they don’t deserve to be rulers.”

Atheer, a 19-year-old from a poor, heavily Shiite neighborhood in southern Baghdad, said: “The religion men are liars. Young people don’t believe them. Guys my age are not interested in religion anymore.”

Such disgust is, in one sense, a welcome change—young people in Iraq are starting to recognize the damage done by the inextricable tangle of religious extremism and terrorism, and their role as pawns in that system. But disillusionment with the whole of Islam and complete loss of faith in religious leaders is incredibly sad in a country that needs all kinds of healing right now.

Bachelor of Science in Pot Studies?

Annika — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 10:17:18 EST

A new trade school in Oakland, CA is preparing its students for a highly competitive career in a burgeoning field: medical marijuana. For $200, Oaksterdam University (clever, huh?) teaches students how to cultivate and cook with pot, and equips them to navigate the legal restrictions on the use of medical marijuana.

"My basic idea is to try to professionalize the industry and have it taken seriously as a real industry, just like beer and distilling hard alcohol," said Richard Lee, the activist and medical marijuana distributor who founded the school.

While Lee’s students seem excited about learning to “grow pot at home for fun, health, public service — or profit,” not everyone is thrilled. Though Lee’s school is totally legal, Michael Chapman, an assistant agent in charge with the Drug Enforcement Agency's San Francisco office, thinks it’s more of a detriment than a public service. "I think they are sending the wrong message out to the community and it's something that could only facilitate criminal behavior," he said.

Fun fact: According to Lee, entry-level workers at medical marijuana dispensaries earn over $50,000 a year on average, and managers and owners often make over $100,000.

Students Suspended for Advocating Sex Ed

Annika — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:43:51 EST

Two 9th graders in Illinois were suspended for protesting their junior high’s abstinence only sex ed by wearing t-shirts adorned with unopened condoms and the slogan “Safe Sex or No Sex.”

Cheyenne Bird, 14, and Tori Shoemaker, 15, felt that the abstinence-only sex ed their school mandates for 6th and 8th graders insufficiently prepares students for senior high. Shoemaker told a local tv reporter, “We're more mature, we're going up to the high school, and teenagers are going to do what they do.”

Their school superintendent called the shirts “a distraction at school” and “inappropriate,” and suspended the girls for two days. Mmhm nothing’s inappropriate like students asking for more knowledge and better education—and getting shot down. “We were supporting safe sex, it's something we believe in and we shouldn't get suspended. It’s freedom of speech,” said Shoemaker.

Although speech like theirs is far from protected in public high schools, these girls are on the right track. “Safe Sex or No Sex” is an excellent slogan for high school sex education; it straddles the line between encouraging contraception and encouraging sex. Young people who are going to have sex anyway need to know how to protect themselves from disease and pregnancy. As Vic Shoemaker, Tori’s dad, told reporters, “I'm realistic, I'd like to see them not do it at all before they get married, but look at all the teenagers coming up pregnant.”

Seriously—when 9th graders are asking for comprehensive sex ed, and they’re genuinely worried about their peers entering senior high ill-equipped, shouldn’t we give it to them?

via Jezebel.

Update: Peter Rotherberg also covered it here.

CO Rep: "Sluts" Should Be Ashamed

Annika — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:18:16 EST

Larry Liston, a state representative in Colorado, called pregnant teens “sluts” at a Republican caucus lunch yesterday:

“In my parents’ day and age, [unmarried teen parents] were sent away, they were shunned, they were called what they are,” Republican Rep. Larry Liston said during a GOP legislative caucus meeting in Denver. “There was at least a sense of shame.”

Liston continued: “There's no sense of shame today. Society condones it ... I think it's wrong. They're sluts. And I don't mean just the women. I mean the men, too.”

Classy. He was talking to health professionals from the area, convened to discuss the state’s poor adolescent health care system and teen birth rate. Colorado’s teen birth rate is ranked 36th in the nation, and apparently some of its lawmakers don't know the difference between making babies and protected sex.

Liston later noted that his real point was more about governmental permissiveness than sluttiness—he’s worried that there’s no government disincentive to deter teenagers from having multiple babies. Still, trying to “shame” young men and women into premarital abstinence seems less effective than providing them with quality, comprehensive sex education.

via Feministing.

Mourning Heath Ledger

Annika — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 10:42:10 EST

As Campus Progress’s self-appointed gossip blogger, I feel obliged to devote a few words to Heath Ledger.

The New York Times has an article up that pieces together Ledger’s life and filmography with statements from those who worked with him and watched him grow up. His role in “Brokeback Mountain” earned him notoriety in the film industry and catapulted GLBT issues into household discussions across the country. If you haven’t seen it, you really, really should. Add it to your Netflix queue asap—or better yet, just buy the dvd. The movie is visually stunning, and it’s a fitting tribute to Ledger’s life and career. For progressives mourning his death, there’s no better movie to cry over.

Update: Of course, progressives aren't the only ones taking time out to memorialize Ledger. In the wake of overdose rumors, the Bush administration is postponing an event discussing its ad campaign targeting prescription drug abuse.

Why I'm Pro-Choice

Annika — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 16:07:40 EST

I’ve been working on this post all day, trying to make my opinions on abortion rights sound cool or heartfelt or something. The point is: I’m pro-choice because some of my closest friends have had abortions. It’s an extremely difficult decision to make, and abortion is an ugly, ugly thing that they’ve spent a lot of time and heartache dealing with. Anyone who suggests that women take it lightly, or that women don’t comprehend the decision they’re making, needs to spend less time humanizing fetuses and more time talking to real women.

I’m all for political activism and the power of impassioned arguments—I blog about sexual politics all the time, I was the president of the Women’s Issues Organization in college, and I bring up sex ed approximately once every 5 minutes—but talking to a close friend about her abortion is an irreplaceable, undeniably jarring experience. And difficult though the decision is, none of my friends regret their abortions. Their circumstances are wildly different, but they all agree that they were not responsible enough, or ready enough, or prepared enough to raise a child.

Looking at other women I care deeply about—like my younger sister, who wants to go to law school in a couple years—I hope and pray that they never have to make the choice to have an abortion. But if they are, they deserve to have a safe, legal, unobstructed choice.

What Would Reagan Do?

Annika — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 10:59:05 EST

Check out this bizarre new Heritage Foundation website. It strives to answer Americans’ most important question: What would Reagan do?

The site quizzes its visitors about Reagan’s policy preferences—this week, you can cast your vote to decide “What did President Reagan believe government should do to restore the American Dream?” But to get the answer (hint: I bet it’s not “Expand government programs for middle-class Americans”) you have to sign up for emails from Heritage. Boo.

What Does Our Abortion Rate Say About Us?

Annika — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13:15:31 EST

A recently completed study by the Guttmacher Institute found that 1.2 million abortions were performed in America in 2005—the lowest annual rate since 1976. Abortion rates in the U.S. have been dropping fairly steadily since the early 1990s.

While the study doesn’t identify specific causes for the drop, its researchers have some ideas:

"It could be more women using contraception and not having as many unintended pregnancies. It could be more restrictions on abortions making it more difficult for women to obtain abortion services. It could be a combination of these and other dynamics," said Rachel K. Jones of the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive-health research organization, which published the report in the March issue of the journal Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.

While the report’s findings are promising for anyone interested in making abortion safe and rare, some of its specifics are less encouraging. 87% of counties in the U.S. lack an abortion provider—which means that 24% of women who live in metropolitan counties and 92% of women who live in nonmetropolitan counties face serious barriers to access.

I’m also curious about the age distribution of the study, which isn’t broken down in the copy I read. According to other info from Guttmacher, 33% of abortions are obtained by women aged 20-25, and 17% of abortions are obtained by teenagers. The teen birth rate jumped in 2005 for the first time in over 15 years, likely due in large part to the simultaneous promulgation and ineffectiveness of abstinence-only sex education.

So what do we make of these seemingly conflicted numbers? Fewer women are having abortions, but more young women are getting pregnant. It seems we’ve failed to provide young women with the tools they need to prevent unwanted pregnancy in the first place: sufficient education about and access to birth control. It’s time to give up on what we know doesn’t work—if this isn’t an argument for eschewing abstinence-only in favor of comprehensive sex ed, I don’t know what is.

First Black, Lesbian Mayor Elected

Annika — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:22:15 EST

Exciting news for a variety of historically marginalized groups: Denise Simmons, the country's first black, lesbian mayor, was elected this week to serve Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Simmons, a member of the council since 2001, is the second consecutive mayor who is black and openly gay. She is the first woman to serve as the city’s mayor since Sheila Russell held the office from 1996-1997.
...
“It feels really great,” Simmons said. “When I first came to the School Committee, one of the things I always said was that I wanted to be mayor.”

“Today is a day to celebrate another broken glass ceiling,” said Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Victory Fund, a national organization that supports openly GLBT candidates seeking national and local office. The Victory Fund’s blog, incidentally, has one of the best URLs I’ve come across recently: www.gaypolitics.com.

You'll Never Guess Who Chavez is Dating

Annika — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:00:56 EST

According to some South American newspapers, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been hooking up with temperamental supermodel Naomi Campbell.

Campbell recently flew to Venezuela to interview Chavez for GQ--papers are now reporting that they've been seeing each other for the past few months.

Even if this is totally untrue, it's totally hilarious to think about. High-maintenance supermodel meets socialist dictator? I smell a reality tv show!

Via Jezebel, naturally.