October 2013 archive

Gloria Steinem does a 180

 photo MonicaR11_zpsc5b732e7.jpgIn late September TransGriot writer Monica Roberts took Gloria Steinem to task for her writings in the 1980s about transpeople.

You long time TransGriot readers know I’m not a feminist and I cringe when I hear Black women even say the term because of its history of marginalizing women of color to the point they left the movement.

And don’t even get me started on its outright hostility to trans women, which is why I identify as a womanist.

And yes, it’s time to unmask another one of the feminist icons, Gloria Steinem as a transphobe.

–Roberts

Steinem wrote at the time, “At a minimum, it was a diversion from the widespread problems of sexual inequality.” She writes that, while she supports the right of individuals to identify as they choose, she claims that, in many cases, transsexuals “surgically mutilate their own bodies” in order to conform to a gender role that is inexorably tied to physical body parts.  She concludes that “feminists are right to feel uncomfortable about the need for and uses of transsexualism.”

–Roberts

Steinem concluded the article with the famous quote:

If the shoe doesn’t fit, must we change the foot?

2013 Junior League Division Series: Rays @ Sox Game 1

I have to be forgiven for having the Sox as my sentimental favorite, I live in the heart of Sox country.

That said I’m not a Yankee hating Sox fan.  First the Junior League plays a game more similar to rounders than to cricket and second, I flat out admire the Yankee commitment to winning.

Boston is clearly superior to the Rays in every respect and I suspect this will be a lopsided affair.

The Sox will be sacrificing Jon Lester (15 – 8, 3.75 ERA L).  Lester went all wobbly in the middle of the year but seems to have settled in now.  He’s won 7 of his last 9.

The Rays will counter with Matt Moore (17 – 4 3.29 ERA L) who has a walking problem.

And then there are the Red Sox bats.

The Great God Citgo says Sox in 3.

2013 Senior League Division Series: Pirates @ Cards Game 2

Meta

So here’s the deal- I’m away.  TheMomCat is also away.  Consider these Open Threads rather than live blogs.  I’ll come back later and fill in the inning by inning detail.  Don’t be afraid you’re jumping the Tip Jar.

I don’t need mojo here.

Senior League Division Series: Pirates @ Cards Game 2

There is no denying the Pirates got a good thumping last night, but as a Manager you say “Just a W.  We’ll kick their ass today.

Well, will we?

The Cards looked very strong, just as you always do in a 9 – 1 rout.  The Pirates had other flaws besides the melt down of A.J. Burnett, they also committed 3 errors. Carlos Beltran seemed like the reincarnation of Reggie Jackson, but Reggie wasn’t that good either.

Today they put up Lance Lynn (15 – 10, ERA 3.97 R) against Gerrit Cole (10 – 7 3.22 ERA R) So it looks more even.  Remember, if you can steal a single victory in the away park it gives you an advantage going on.

On This Day In History October 4

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette

This is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.

Find the past “On This Day in History” here.

October 4 is the 277th day of the year (278th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 88 days remaining until the end of the year.

On this day in 1883, the Orient Express commences its first run.

The Orient Express is the name of a long-distance passenger train, the route for which has changed considerably in modern times. The first run of The Orient Express was on 4 October 1883. The train travelled from Paris to Giurgiu in Romania, via Munich and Vienna. At Giurgiu, passengers were ferried across the Danube to Ruse in Bulgaria to pick up another train to Varna. From here they completed their journey to Istanbul by ferry.

The Orient Express was the name of a long-distance passenger train originally operated by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits. Its route has changed many times, and several routes have in the past concurrently used the name, or slight variants thereof. Although the original Orient Express was simply a normal international railway service, the name has become synonymous with intrigue and luxury travel. The two city names most intimately associated with the Orient Express are Paris and Istanbul, the original endpoints of the service.

The original route, which first ran on October 4, 1883, was from Paris, Gare de l’Est, to Giurgiu in Romania via Munich and Vienna. At Giurgiu, passengers were ferried across the Danube to Rousse in Bulgaria to pick up another train to Varna, from where they completed their journey to Istanbul (then called Constantinople) by ferry. In 1885, another route began operations, this time reaching Istanbul via rail from Vienna to Belgrade and Nis, carriage to Plovdiv and rail again to Istanbul.

In 1889, the train’s eastern terminus became Varna in Bulgaria, where passengers could take a ship to Istanbul. On June 1, 1889, the first non-stop train to Istanbul left Paris (Gare de l’Est). Istanbul remained its easternmost stop until May 19, 1977. The eastern terminus was the Sirkeci Terminal by the Golden Horn. Ferry service from piers next to the terminal would take passengers across the Bosporus Strait to Haydarpasa Terminal, the terminus of the Asian lines of the Ottoman railways.

The onset of World War I in 1914 saw Orient Express services suspended. They resumed at the end of hostilities in 1918, and in 1919 the opening of the Simplon Tunnel allowed the introduction of a more southerly route via Milan, Venice and Trieste. The service on this route was known as the Simplon Orient Express, and it ran in addition to continuing services on the old route. The Treaty of Saint-Germain contained a clause requiring Austria to accept this train: formerly, Austria allowed international services to pass through Austrian territory (which included Trieste at the time) only if they ran via Vienna. The Simplon Orient Express soon became the most important rail route between Paris and Istanbul.

The 1930s saw the zenith of Orient Express services, with three parallel services running: the Orient Express, the Simplon Orient Express, and also the Arlberg Orient Express, which ran via Zürich and Innsbruck to Budapest, with sleeper cars running onwards from there to Bucharest and Athens. During this time, the Orient Express acquired its reputation for comfort and luxury, carrying sleeping-cars with permanent service and restaurant cars known for the quality of their cuisine. Royalty, nobles, diplomats, business people and the bourgeoisie in general patronized it. Each of the Orient Express services also incorporated sleeping cars which had run from Calais to Paris, thus extending the service right from one edge of continental Europe to the other.

The start of the Second World War in 1939 again interrupted the service, which did not resume until 1945. During the war, the German Mitropa company had run some services on the route through the Balkans, but partisans frequently sabotaged the track, forcing a stop to this service.

Following the end of the war, normal services resumed except on the Athens leg, where the closure of the border between Yugoslavia and Greece prevented services from running. That border re-opened in 1951, but the closure of the Bulgaria-Turkey border from 1951 to 1952 prevented services running to Istanbul during that time. As the Iron Curtain fell across Europe, the service continued to run, but the Communist nations increasingly replaced the Wagon-Lits cars with carriages run by their own railway services.

By 1962, the Orient Express and Arlberg Orient Express had stopped running, leaving only the Simplon Orient Express. This was replaced in 1962 by a slower service called the Direct Orient Express, which ran daily cars from Paris to Belgrade, and twice weekly services from Paris to Istanbul and Athens.

In 1971, the Wagon-Lits company stopped running carriages itself and making revenues from a ticket supplement. Instead, it sold or leased all its carriages to the various national railway companies, but continued to provide staff for the carriages. 1976 saw the withdrawal of the Paris-Athens direct service, and in 1977, the Direct Orient Express was withdrawn completely, with the last Paris-Istanbul service running on May 19 of that year.

The withdrawal of the Direct Orient Express was thought by many to signal the end of Orient Express as a whole, but in fact a service under this name continued to run from Paris to Budapest and Bucharest as before (via Strasbourg, Munich, and Budapest). This continued until 2001, when the service was cut back to just Paris-Vienna, the coaches for which were attached to the Paris-Strasbourg express. This service continued daily, listed in the timetables under the name Orient Express, until June 8, 2007. However, with the opening of the Paris-Strasbourg high speed rail line on June 10, 2007, the Orient Express service was further cut back to Strasbourg-Vienna, departing nightly at 22:20 from Strasbourg, and still bearing the name.

I still have my compartment key

Cartnoon

Late Night Karaoke

Let the Victims Speak

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette

It seems that the Obama administration’s state department does want the Pakistani victims of the US war on terror to speak to Congress

Shahzad Akbar, a legal fellow with the British human rights group Reprieve and the director of the Pakistan-based Foundation for Fundamental Rights, says the state department is preventing him from taking his clients to Capitol Hill next week. The hearing would mark the first time US lawmakers heard directly from drone strike survivors.

Akbar’s clients, Rafiq ur-Rehman, his 13-year-old son, Zubair, and his nine-year-old daughter, Nabila, are from the tribal regions of north Waziristan. The children were injured in the alleged US strike on the village of Tappi last year. Their grandmother – Rehman’s mother, Mamana – was killed.

Rehman and his children have spent months making preparations to visit Washington after being invited by US representatives to testify in the ad hoc hearing on drone strikes.

According to Akbar, his clients’ visas for the trip have been approved, but his has not. He believes the hold-up is political.

House Rep. ALan Grayson (D-FL), who was assisting the Rehman family coming to the US, stated that without their lawyer, said that the family would not be able to come without Mr. Akbar. He also told The Guardian that the State Department had not given a reason

“I don’t know why the State Department has taken this action, but I think it’s extremely important that when it comes to a national security matter like drone attacks, we hear not only from the proponents of these attacks, but also from the victims,” Grayson said.

“We have a chronic problem in Congress that when the administration is involved in one side of the issue, we rarely hear about the other side of the issue.

“This is true with regard to NSA domestic spying. This is true with regard to proposed military intervention in Syria. And it’s also true with regard to the drone attacks in Pakistan and in Yemen.”

He added: “I think Congress and the American people simply need to hear both sides of the story, and that’s why we invited these witnesses to come and testify.”

The Rehman family was devastated by a US drone attack on October 14, 2012 and the American people need to know what is being done in our names. You can sign the petition to issue Shahzad Akbar a travel visa so the Rehman family can be heard.

2013 Senior League Division Series: Dodgers @ Braves Game 1

This shapes up to be a classic display of hitting vs. pitching.  The Dodgers unquestionably have superior pitching with their 2 aces, Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke.

Kershaw (16 – 9, 1.83 ERA L) is considered the top Cy Young contender in the Senior League and has tonight’s start.  He’ll be opposed by Kris Medlen (15 – 12, 3.11 ERA R).

But the Braves are the marginal favorites because of their hitting and they have a great bullpen.  There will be a game 3 at Dodger Stadium and neither Kershaw nor Greinke will pitch it.

Now as bad as the history of the Dodgers is (and it’s very dodgy) and regardless of the fact that the Braves have been a clearly superior organization, reliably getting into the post-season for over 30 years now, I just can’t bring myself to root for Atlanta.

But you can’t rule them out, they’re a great team.

2013 Senior League Division Series: Dodgers @ Braves

This shapes up to be a classic display of hitting vs. pitching.  The Dodgers unquestionably have superior pitching with their 2 aces, Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke.

Kershaw (16 – 9, 1.83 ERA L) is considered the top Cy Young contender in the Senior League and has tonight’s start.  He’ll be opposed by Kris Medlen (15 – 12, 3.11 ERA R).

But the Braves are the marginal favorites because of their hitting and they have a great bullpen.  There will be a game 3 at Dodger Stadium and neither Kershaw nor Greinke will pitch it.

Now as bad as the history of the Dodgers is (and it’s very dodgy) and regardless of the fact that the Braves have been a clearly superior organization, reliably getting into the post-season for over 30 years now, I just can’t bring myself to root for Atlanta.

But you can’t rule them out, they’re a great team.

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2013 Senior League Division Series: Pirates @ Cardinals Game 1

Baseball will always break your heart.  This Series pits the Pirates (Argh) against the Cards (Squirrels!, Squirrels!) and I sure hope the eventual League Champion emerges from this bracket instead of the Dodgers (traitors), Braves (evil opponents of my Mets) one.

The Cardinals clinched their Division with 2 to go in the season and rode a 6 game winning streak to the end.  As you can tell by the seeding they’re considered the best on the Senior circuit.

Adam Wainwright (19-9, 2.94 ERA R), tonight’s starter, is generally considered the best pitcher left playing, though both team have outstanding staffs.  He was 1 – 0 with a 3.00 ERA in three starts against Pittsburgh this season.  He’ll be available on full rest for a deciding Game 5 if necessary.

The Pirates won the season series 10 – 9, but were swept at home by the Cards in early September.

They’ll start A.J. Burnett (10-11, 3.30 ERA R), late of the Yankees.  He’s 3-1 with a 3.67 ERA in his career against the Cardinals, but the last time they faced each other he was chased after 5 runs in 3 innings.

Pirates fans should not be discouraged, these teams are very evenly matched and pitching ought keep the games very close.

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