Sometimes, It Takes A Village

Maybe I’m just in a foul mood, looking forward to the weekend. Or maybe, I’m growing increasingly incensed by the omnipresent “Political Correct Police.” Whatever the case, all I have to say at this point is: for real, Rhode Island?

The school system in Cranston, R.I., announced it is banning traditional father-daughter and mother-son activities, saying they are a violation of the state’s gender discrimination law, the Providence Journal reported late Monday.

Superintendent Judith Lundsten told the newspaper the decision was in response to a complaint from the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a single mother who said her daughter was not able to attend a father-daughter dance.

“This is 2012 and they [public schools] should not be in the business of fostering blatant gender stereotypes,” Steven Brown of the Rhode Island ACLU told WPRO News.

According to the Providence Journal, Lundsten said that while federal law banning gender discrimination gives an exemption for such gender-specific events, Rhode Island law does not.

A few things immediately came to mind here:

(1)  A lady goes to bed with a loser and now the kid has a deadbeat dad. So everybody has to suffer the consequences? Is that how it works?

(2) I’ve never been to a father-daughter dance, not having any children myself (and, um, obviously not being a daughter. C’mon. I’m trying to use some comedy relief here. I need this.). But I know at least one female friend who has been to one of these functions with her dad. The whole point of the dance is for the father to socially introduce his daughter as a young lady. These kind of dances are about as sacred as the father giving away his daughter during her wedding. I totally understand why parents are outraged. I’d be mad, too.

(3) This lady couldn’t find one positive male role model to be her daughter’s date? A brother? A friend? A neighbor? A teacher? Not a single person? Seriously? For the sake of example, consider my ex (relax, I’m not bashing her here. I’m using this example because I was directly involved in the situation). Her son’s biological dad had zero interest in him. As a substitute, she relied on her father, her brothers, one of her close male friends, and – before our breakup – me as support systems for her son. We all stepped up at one point or another. Men don’t have to be tied to a child through biology to be considered a father-like figure. Isn’t that the message we convey every Father’s Day? By our logic, there is a significant difference between a “baby daddy” and a person willing to step up and be a real father (or father figure). How is this any different?

(4) I do feel bad for the young girl. Not only does she have to deal with the hardship of not having a father, but she now also has to carry the cross for her mother at school. Imagine that your mother single-handedly ruined an event the entire school was looking forward to. How do you live that one down?

(5) Gender discrimination? Really? If a girl at this school preferred, I dunno, to play ball over going to the dance, then let her play ball. She doesn’t have to go to the dance. Plain and simple. If you don’t want to say “One nation, under God”, don’t say it. Even if public prayer is not allowed in schools, pray silently (which is what you should be doing anyway). If you don’t want to celebrate religious holidays, don’t celebrate them. My point is simple: we all have freedom in whether or not we choose to participate in certain events without reprisal. Unless we get to a point where institutions are forcing activities on you, please lighten up. This political correctness nonsense is going much too far. As one of my old teachers used to say “having too open of a mind makes your brains fall out.”

OK, I’m done with my rant. I’m sorry I didn’t intellectualize this better. But I tend to get this way when I’m in a pissy mood.

Anyway, what say you? Do you think this school did the right thing by banning the father-daughter dance, or is this another head-shaking moment of political correctness gone awry? Is this an example of gender discrimination or just a few uptight people with nothing better to do with their lives than to make everybody else’s miserable? (OK, my bias is clearly showing here. Sue me. Better yet, please don’t.).

- ACL

Firestarter

Sickness, macabre, and madness coming out of Alaska (for once, it’s not Sarah Palin related):

An Anchorage woman is being held on $1 million bond after being accused of setting a gasoline-fueled fire to kill her boyfriend.

Gina Virgilio, 25, was arraigned Monday on first-degree murder, reckless endangerment and assault and two counts each of arson and criminal mischief.

She’s charged in Friday’s death of her live-in boyfriend, Michael Gonzalez, 24.

“Sure,” Virgilio said when asked if she would like an attorney appointed to represent her. She appeared behind glass in the jail courtroom at the Anchorage Correctional Complex. She wore a yellow jail jumpsuit and her hands were shackled behind her back with metal cuffs during the hearing, which lasted just over three minutes.

According to charging documents, police claim Virgilio’s mother, Michelle, and a registered nurse at an Anchorage hospital both claimed she confessed to them that she committed the murder.

The judge on Monday ordered she have no contact with potential witnesses, including her mother.

“I’m like shocked, hurt that he said she couldn’t contact me,” Michelle Virgilio told reporters following the hearing. “She is my world.”

According to the charging documents, police allege Gina Virgilio went to a nearby convenience store and bought gas in a container, even though her vehicle was not working and tagged for towing in the apartment complex.

She returned to the apartment early Friday morning. Her boyfriend was asleep on the couch and she sat next to him and looked at him. According to the charging documents, she then doused the couch and the area around it, positioned herself at the front door, lit some paper and threw the burning paper into the apartment.

She then fled, walked to a nearby elementary school and borrowed someone’s cellphone to call her mother, the charging documents say.

Read the rest of this sick story here.

I can see how this is going to play out in court: “I was depressed. On my period. And he was abusive.” She walks. To be fair, I haven’t heard anything about her defense strategy. And men are just as capable of doing despicable stuff. But I can see temporary insanity or some victimization defense being used here and giving her a legitimate chance of going free. Just as there is a reality of disparate conviction rates and sentencing between black and white men, so to is there a disparity in violent crime sentencing between men and women. To put it frankly, female defendants are much more likely to receive lenient sentence outcomes than their male counterparts. Sympathetic juries, I guess.

I hop this case proves my theory wrong. Because, regardless to what sins this man committed, he was killed in the most brutal way possible. Unless he was Satan incarnate, this horrific crime can’t go unpunished.

- ACL

The Latest Video From Eryk…uhhhh?

Uh boy. Erykah Badu is back to being weird again (warning: NSFW):

 

 

Somewhere between the glitter, the blood, and the…um…semen (?) a message is found, I suppose. I just can’t tell what I’m supposed to take away from this. I didn’t lose myself in this video. The only thing I lost was my lunch.

I hate postmodernism.

- ACL

*A Moment of Silence For My Shattered Childhood*

Most boys who grew up in the 90′s are quite familiar with Lark Voorhies, otherwise known as Lisa Turtle from the hit show “Saved By The Bell.” Kelly and Jessie were a’ight. But Lisa stole the show and, indeed, the heart of your intrepid hero along with countless other bruhs I knew. But unfortunately, time (and bad plastic surgery) has a way of catching up to a person.

Lark Voorhies (then):

Lark Voorhies (now):

My response:

- ACL

Cookie-Gate

Ah, yes. It’s election time once again. You can tell by some of the stories making the news. If it’s not Obama sampling an exotic dog-based cuisine as a child, it’s this bulls***:

Mitt Romney, even at 65, is known for his handsome face and slim waistline — qualities he likely has not maintained by gobbling desserts. But his refusal to eat cookies made by a beloved Pittsburgh bakery is drawing not admiration but ire from locals and Democrats.

At a campaign event on Tuesday, Romney joked with a woman about a plate of cookies on the table where they were sitting.

“I’m not sure about these cookies,” Romney said to the woman. “Did you make those cookies? You didn’t, did you? No. No. They came from the local 7-Eleven bakery or wherever.”

In fact, the cookies came from Bethel Bakery, a popular Pittsburgh pastry shop.

“We wanted him to be welcomed with the best in the ’burgh, and he had no idea,” the bakery’s owner, John Walsh, said on local television. “This guy has no idea how beloved this institution is that provided these cookies.”

Walsh later told The Wall Street Journal that he believed Romney was only kidding, and a 7-Eleven spokeswoman said the company was not offended by the likely Republican nominee’s remark.

The incident has actually helped business, Bethel Bakery reported.

But the Democratic National Committee jumped on Romney’s comment, tweeting “Mitt Romney disses a beloved local bakery in Pittsburgh — and 7-Eleven.”

Others also have taken to Twitter, teasing Romney with the hashtag #cookiegate.

Source

Though opponents have worked assiduously to make this a reflection of Mitt’s out-of-touchness (and the case against Mitt might be strong enough), c’mon people. This is a non-story. Much like discussions about Romney’s wealth, Obama’s religion, or hundreds of other pointless things, we are concocting controversies out of the most insignificant storylines; all serving to distract us from where our attention should truly lie – on issues. Policy, more than all this other nonsense, is what matters.

Still…

…this is yet another example of why a good political strategist is needed when a person is running for an office with as much profile as the Presidency. A good strategist would’ve told Romney (not assuming they did and he just ignored them) to eat the damn cookie, smile, and give a thumbs up. Even if the cookie tasted like complete crap, the key to being a politician is to have an ability to connect with people. In the political climate, you connect by making people feel appreciated. It was for this very reason that I used to tell my ex that I liked her cooking or acted like I wasn’t offended by her unkept house. It’s the same reason why I pretend to care about what my boss and his friends did last weekend. You carry on the appearance of being interested to avoid hurting the feelings of people who may matter. In doing so, you protect your own interests. That’s the game, Mitt. You need to learn how to play it if you seriously want to win this thing.

Besides all that, what harm would it do to your campaign if you just nibbled on a damn cookie for all of three seconds? Could Obama really say “My opponent eats butter cookies. He hates America.” I guess he could, if he didn’t care about being publicly ridiculed by everybody with at least half a brain. But with this snub, Democrats have yet another opening to attack. “Mitt Romney is out of touch with small businesses, even those considered iconic in their communities.” See, Mitt? That’s how quickly it can start. And all I have is a measly blog. Give me a talk radio show or a half hour slot during primetime, and I could go to work and do some real damage.

Make no mistake: this election won’t be won or lost due to #CookieGate. Obama faced infinitely more challenging obstacles in 2008 and managed to win it all. But, come on candidates. Play your cards right, like a good politician should, and make this race about things that matter most.

- ACL