Nov 19

from Joel Bakan’s The New Corporation

“There are no limits in the [Paris] accord on continued exploration and drilling or on tar sands exploration (which experts say could alone defeat Paris targets), pipeline construction, or hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”).  The accord contains no legally binding emission targets, no timeline for emission reductions, no enforcement mechanisms, no concrete regulatory proposals, and no plans to end fossil fuel subsidies.” p44

“The Economist notes ‘a single jarring truth: Demand for oil is rising and te energy industry, in America and globally, is planning multi-trillion-dollar investments to satisfy it.’  Oil and gas companies are boosting producing and creating new fossil fuel megaprojects.  By 2025, for example, ExxonMobil expects to have pumped 25 percent more oil and gas than in 2017.”  p45

“Nestlé created a direct-sales force of pushcart vendors in poor and remote regions of Brazil.  The company says the program helps remedy hunger and malnutrition by making food available to underserved populations.  But the bulk of sales from its pushcarts are of high-calorie, low-nutrient products like Kit Kat …” p50

“Corporations are breaking the law ‘on a grander scale than anything we’ve seen,’ says Robert Weissman.” p57

“… 80% of farm subsidies are directed to large-scale farms producing commodity crops for the processed-food industry …” p75

“… 28 liters of water [are needed] to grow beets for the sugar used in half a liter of Coke …” p86

“One undeniable result of big business’s assault on the social state is spiraling inequality, now magnified by the devastating economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.  As corporations lined up for bailouts—having spent the cash they earned form record profits and tax cuts on stock buybacks to enrich their shareholders—tens of millions of ordinary citizens fell hard through the cracks, losing jobs, using up meager savings, lacking sick leave and in many cases medical insurance, and getting—if they were lucky—a one-time $1,200 check.” p134

“[F]rom 1980 to 2016, the share of national income going to the top 1 percent jumped from 34 percent to 47 percent …  Between 1980 and 2016, the ratio of CEO pay to that of the average work in the United States grew ninefold, from 42 to 1 to 361 to 1 (thirty-three major U.S. companies have ratios above 1,000 to 1).” p135

“[C]orporate capitalism … is killing us.  It’s killing whole species.  Killing the air, water, and earth.  Killing compassion and justice.  Killing our human values and democracy.” p182

“They pushed for impunity to fuel climate change, pollute the air, clog oceans with plastics, and destroy forests and species …” p182  [my emphasis]

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Nov 15

Some great lines from Luke McKinney

Luke McKinney’s “The 8 Stupidest Defenses Against Accusations of Sexism” is worth the read, but a few lines stand out:

“Of course, most of us don’t need special tactics to get laid. It turns out “not being an asshole” and “meeting other people” both work pretty well.”

“Being a straight male is tremendous fun and sexuality’s lowest difficulty setting: You know what you want and everyone else in your demographic will praise you for being able to do it. No one else on the spectrum of sexual orientation can say that.”

“Atomic Robo features women who kick ass and wear clothes at the same time …”

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Nov 10

re outdoor advertising – EXCELLENT POINT

“But there are other loopholes on French pavements. In Lille, as in Paris, shops are considered private spaces, and not subject to local advertising rules. So all kinds of shopfronts – from chemists to hairdressers and tech shops to trainer emporiums – can put up screens just behind their windows, beaming digital video into the street.

“’It’s crazy,’ said Fabien Delecroix an IT teacher from the Lille branch of anti-ad campaigners Résistance à l’Agression Publicitaire. ‘If someone stood naked at their window right on the street deliberately showing their body, you wouldn’t say: Oh that’s fine, they’re technically not exposing themselves because they’re in their own home.’”

Excellent point.

from https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/dec/23/advertising-breaks-your-spirit-the-french-cities-trying-to-ban-public-adverts

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Nov 05

Misconduct of the Heart, Cordelia Strube – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

(No, it’s not a love story/romance.)

It’s a must-read for “knobs [who] lose their shit over phones dying” (p5).

(And anyone who even thinks of joining the military.

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Oct 30

Three Rules, Phyllis Chesler

Three Rules:
  • The measure of your success is the resistance you encounter. Embrace it.
  • You can’t be a bystander without being complicit.
  • We don’t need a room of our own. We need a very large continent of our own.
Read the whole piece at https://4w.pub/our-feminist-revolution/.   Share

Oct 30

Out with the literary canon?

I used to think that ‘Out with the literary canon altogether’ was going too far, but now …  Name one work conventionally considered part of the traditional literary canon that does not subordinate women—their existence, their presence, their importance, what they say, what they do … And so by continuing to grant the work such esteemed status, such legitimacy, we continue to grant women’s subordination legitimacy. And so the traditional literary canon should be studied—only in a course dedicated to exposing their misogyny. Share

Oct 27

And there it is again … this time in Rob Grant’s Colony

And there it is again, this time in Rob Grant’s Colony: the belief that babies just … happen (they’re brought by a stork or found in a cabbage patch, perhaps?).

“Everyone finally agrees that global warming is a serious problem, now they’re up to their necks in water.  And as the land masses shrink, as resources drown under the swelling waters, the world population has exploded.  There are more people alive now than ever lived in the whole of human history.  Billions and billions trying to scrape a life from the receding land and its dwindling supplies.  More born every day.” (p25).

That SHOULD be “And as the land masses shrink, as resources drown under the swelling waters, men continue to impregnant women. … More made every day.”

‘Now’ is not the time to suddenly deny agency, control, power–all the thing you men so love.

 


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Oct 25

“Straight White Male: the lowest difficulty setting” – a brilliant metaphor by John Scalzi

Straight White Male: The Lowest Difficulty Setting There Is

If I’d read this before I wrote Jess, I certainly would have mentioned Scalzi’s metaphor and given huge applause and thanks to him for it! (Actually, I might not have written Jess, because Scalzi’s metaphor achieves the same purpose with such … economy.)

The piece is WELL WORTH the read, as are many of the comments.

One of the most common objections is, understandably, something along the lines of this: ‘I’m a SWM and I’ve worked hard for everything I’ve got–I deserve what I have!’

That may well be. But here’s the thing (and another definition): privilege is getting what you deserve.



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Oct 23

The Privilege of Men, Judith Mazzucco

The Privilege of Men by Judith Mazzucco starts as an unremarkable novel about the meat industry, but then WHAM! the metaphor in chapter 16—  At least I think, I hope, it’s a metaphor and not something that’s actually happening somewhere right now.  Though—and I’m not sure whether this is Mazzucco’s point or whether she’s ‘just’ making a point about the meat industry—it would be completely logical for it to BE happening, given what is ALREADY happening, with respect to trafficking women for sexual services (i.e., surrogacy and prostitution).  Worth the read if only for that chapter.  And that point.


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Oct 20

Apologies Women Need to Make (McSweeney’s List)

Brilliantly done! https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/apologies-women-need-to-make-sorry-its-true Share