As a follow-up to yesterday's QotD...
To what answerable question would you like a different answer from the universe?
Too many. But, for now, I'll go with: "Are these really the only people with a realistic chance at the US presidency this year?"
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William House of Huntsville, Alabama, waits for Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to arrive during a campaign stop at the US Space and Rocket Center, Tuesday, March 6, 2012, in Huntsville. [AP Photo]It is possible that William House of Huntsville, Alabama is waiting to see Newt Gingrich because he, Mr. House I mean, is a conservative who loves Newt Gingrich and everything for which he, Newt Gingrich I mean, stands. Or it is possible that William House of Huntsville, Alabama is waiting to see Newt Gingrich because he is a progressive who wants to give Gingrich a piece of his mind, or because he is a moderate and, hey, free candidate!
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[Content Note: Serious injury.]
Among the extreme weather happening in many parts of the US right now, we're getting tornadoes all over Indiana. The tornado warning sirens have gone off in town several times today, but luckily nothing serious has materialized. In southern Indiana, Henryville was not so fortunate. Stephanie Decker was home with her two children when two tornadoes within a matter of minutes of one another leveled their home. This is the awesome, in the very real sense of the world, story of how she saved them and managed to survive.
Drew Douglas, a white male reporter, walking near utterly flattened home: Here's all that remains of the Deckers' home, after the two tornadoes whipped through Henryville. Just before the devastation struck, Stephanie Decker put herself on the line for her kids. She grabbed a large comforter and wrapped them inside and then rested herself on top of them to shield them from all the debris.
Stephanie Decker, a 37-year-old white woman, from a hospital bed: I was reaching around holding them and trying to keep everything away from them, so it didn't hit them.
Douglas, in voiceover, over images of the wreckage of the Deckers' home (which underlie his voiceovers throughout): The wreckage that piled on Stephanie broke seven of her ribs and almost completely severed both of her legs.
Decker, from hospital bed: I had two steel beams on my legs, and I couldn't—I couldn't move. I was stuck.
Douglas, in voiceover: Decker told her eight-year-old son Dominic to make sure the coast was clear before getting help. Stephanie's fear was confirmed: A second twister was headed right for her family.
Decker, from hospital bed: And they're screaming, "Mommy, I can't live without you. I don't wanna die. Please don't let me die."
Douglas, in voiceover: Despite being pinned down by the steel beams, Decker covered her two children a second time with the comforter. After two tornadoes, just minutes apart, leveled their home, Dominic and five-year-old Reese didn't suffer so much as a scratch.
Joe Decker, Stephanie's husband, a white man, at her hospital bed side, choked up: Anybody that knows her has no doubt that's what she'd do.
Douglas, in voiceover: Unable to remove the heavy debris lying on top of their badly injured mother, Decker's young son went for help. The phone lines were down, so Stephanie used her cell phone for something else.
Decker, from hospital bed: And then I—I took my phone and I made a video to my husband [chokes up, looks at her husband] telling him I love him…and my children that I love them.
Douglas, in voiceover: After what seemed like a lifetime, a neighbor and four others finally arrived for the thirty-seven-year-old mother writhing in pain.
Decker, from hospital bed: He came down and I looked at him and I said, "I'm dying—you've got to save me!"
Douglas, in voiceover: Tourniquets were made to prevent her from bleeding to death. She was eventually taken to the University of Louisville Hospital, where she continues to recover. Both of her legs—casualties from the massive storm.
Decker: But if I can make it through that, I can live through anything.
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70%: The percentage of students "involved in school-related arrests or referred to law enforcement [who are] Hispanic or black," according to "the Civil Rights Data Collection's 2009-10 statistics from 72,000 schools in 7,000 districts, serving about 85 percent of the nation's students," despite the fact that "black and Hispanic students [constitute only] 44 percent of the students in the survey."
That is an alarming disparity. Or should be, to anyone who has a functional sense of decency.
At some point, we're going to need to stop dismissing as tinfoil-hat conspiracy theorizing observations about the public school system serving as a de facto subsidiary of the for-profit prison system, and have a serious national discussion about this deeply entrenched racist fuckery.
I strongly encourage you to read the entire article, which illuminates additional disparities.
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Because Shakers are awesome, I frequently read comments that deserve wider attention, so I'm starting a series called Promoted from Comments.
Two Things:
1. I will seek permission in comments or via email before posting comments to the main page, and no one should ever feel obliged to say yes or feel like they have to offer or have any specific reason for saying no. "I don't want to" is a legitimate reason.
2. Please don't begin "nominating" comments for promotion. I don't want this series to end up making people feel bad because their comment gets nominated and I don't want to post it for whatever reason. Well-intentioned nominations could also feel like peer pressure to say yes if asked. Just "Like" comments that you enjoy, as always, to show your support for any individual comment.
Anyway! Here is the inaugural promoted comment, care of Shaker Ana Mardoll:
I ended up yelling at Husband in the car the other night about this, with regards to birth control. Husband said, "You can't expect him to be controversial in the middle of an election." I said, in all caps:Indeed.
NINETY-EIGHT PERCENT OF WOMEN IN THIS COUNTRY HAVE USED BIRTH CONTROL.
THAT'S FIFTY PERCENT OF THE VOTING BLOCK.
MOST OF THOSE WOMEN USED BIRTH CONTROL WITH AN APPROVING PARTNER.
SO THAT'S ANOTHER, WHAT, THIRTY PERCENT?
EIGHTY PERCENT -- EIGHT-ZERO PERCENT -- OF AMERICANS APPROVE OF BIRTH CONTROL.
IF HE CAN'T COME OUT IN SUPPORT OF THAT, HE CAN'T COME OUT IN SUPPORT OF **PUPPIES**.
BIRTH CONTROL IS LITERALLY MORE SUPPORTED IN AMERICA THAN PUPPIES.
Husband blinked a few times and said he hadn't thought of it that way before. I just wish someone would transmit that message to my president.
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Auntie Eastsidekate and Auntie Westsidebecca and Cousin Miss A recently sent Dudley and Zelda a present, which they asked me to open for them with my enviable opposable thumbery. I was happy to comply, and the dogs were thrilled to be gifted a plushy tree-trunk filled with three squeaky plushy chipmunks! (True Fact: Rory the Spud has the exact same toy.)
Zelda immediately removed all the chipmunks and began squeaking them with vigorous enthusiasm!
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