Make it snow in Miami

Can I bum a fag?

Those who speak the Queen's English may want to read on, if only to unconfuse themselves.

We are afflicted with yet another example of stars speaking ill of some subsection of our society and, yet again, I'm gonna go there. I'll restrict the merciless mirthfulness to the title this time. There's a serious matter in this minor incident, though not necessarily what you might imagine.

Our attention, drummed up towards ire, has been directed at a disparaging term among co-workers, an illocution whose employment resulted in an inadvertent outing and reinforced the general stigma on homosexuals. (Did it contribute to a hostile work environment? Considering it was ancillary to a actual physical scuffle involving McDramamine, I'd say it wasn't the only contribution.)

The offender issued his predictably rotund and deluded denial, following up with an equally predictable and legalistic admission/apology. The fulfillment of this now-mandatory ritual of contrition has, predictably, not calmed anything down, though a Gibsonian reading of recent history suggests the furor will die down shortly--if it is not soon redirected by a fresh atrocity.

What has offended and upset me in this incident is how much the righteous are relying for their rhetorical force on how many people are offended and upset by the uttering of the epithet.

Don't get me wrong: I consider disparaging people, individually or by class, because of an aspect of their identity despicable and wrong. Period. Shouldn't that be sufficient moral fortification, if not the primary means by which we confront prejudice: that it's wrong? Why do we need to invoke an aggrieved right-thinking majority?

Bear in mind that I study humans as social creatures for a living. I'm well aware of and quite comfortable pointing out the symbolic, institutional, and interpersonal tools that groups have for bringing their members into line. I have felt them acting on me on numerous occasions. There's no intrinsic harm in being normative or reinforcing "community standards," particularly if we are more self-aware than doctrinaire in so doing.

I simply want to point out the logical and, not inconsequentially, moral problems in using the percentage of a population and their degree of offendedness as your major argument against truth claims. Because there is a tacit truth claim in likening a gay man to a bundle of sticks: not all of us are equally self-evidently human, and the majority decides who they are.

Now, the majority decides de facto what is and is not acceptable. ( I study cults and ufologists; I'm well aware of this.) But I can think of plenty of instances where what the majority of a society at time X reject as the wrong/false/bad beliefs of a minority has by time Y become unquestioned common sense. There's more than enough scholarship on how that happens, concretely and abstractly.

If you accept, as it seems the majority of Americans do, that there are such things as objective, mind-independent facts--and they're not always obvious--do you think taking a poll is any sure way to Truth? If you're really OK with deferring to the majority on epistemological or moral matters, consider what the majority of Americans thought of ethnic, racial, or religious minorities in 1870. Or 1960. Or now.

Not sure I'm cool with that.
Got a light?

Free Association

F-----------------Ebadd2--Bb-----------Csus4
Who's peekin' out from khaki-clad Crocmen,
F--------------Ebadd2----Bb--------------Csus4
Called by a name that sounds like a dot?
F-------------------Ebadd2-Bb--------Csus4
Who's bending ears a--cross US airwaves?
F-----------Ebadd2----Bb/C-F
Everyone knows it's Bin--di!

F----------------Ebadd2-Bb-----------Csus4
Who's tripping out on your ad--u--la--tion,
F--------------Ebadd2------Bb------------Csus4
Smilin' and spankin' her small, fuzzy friends?
F----------------------Ebadd2-Bb-----------Csus4
Whose mom per--sists in poking alli--gators?
F------------Ebadd2---Bb/C F
Everyone knows it's Bin--di!

------------------Gm7-Gm7/C-Fmaj7
And Bindi's e--nor--mous eyes
-------------------------Gm7 Gm7/D C7sus4
Cause pedophiles' wangs to rise.
------------------Gm7 Gm7/C Fmaj7
And Bindi rips wings off flies.
-----------------Gm7/C
Don't tell the crowds.
-----------------Gm7/C
Don't tell the crowds...

[Apologies to Andrew Rogers and A-Z Chords]

Irresolutions

Like many of you, I am taking the opportunity of the new year to make some self-improving promises. Unlike the rest of you, I know I'm going to backslide. I'm counting on it. I've programmed it into the promises. Hence my New Year's Irresolutions, the beginning of an annual tradition...perhaps.

#1
Looking ahead to spring semester, I am resolved to motivate my students through more sophisticated and powerful pedagogical methods. I had up to this point mainly relied on the regular wearing of a tie. Laugh if you must; the fact that I'm the only one in class with a tie, when combined with being the only one standing and (for better or worse) the only one talking, is still a pretty good source of symbolic authority. But it's hollow, particularly if I want to encourage students to motivate themselves rather than rely on the Authority Figure to tell them what to think/do.

Resolved: to relax my wardrobe and intensify my teaching efforts.

(Who am I kidding? The ties aren't going anywhere.)

#2
Speaking of the effective management of wayward youth, I'm beginning to see the necessity for disciplining our cats...better...or at all. On several behavioral matters, sweet little Shoggoth and Tsathoggua have lately been leaning toward the feral end of the feline spectrum. They (and when I use the plural I'm mostly referring to Ms. Tsathoggua) have discovered that acting out gets them instant attention. It's not so bad as a distraction from waking responsibilities. But even the most solicitous affection at 03:00 is obnoxious--doubly so when it doesn't persist after a feeding, indicating it was a means to an end.

Resolved: the cats get a good dose of tough love, starting with a digital contraption that will take over early-AM meal doling duties.

(Will I still pet a fuzzy, purring beast crouching on my chest in the wee hours? As long as it's one of the cats, probably.)

#3
Thinking of ways to spruce up the living quarters, one way that I have debated, considered, dreamt about, and yet found reasons to avoid is now at the top of my list. It's cheap, it's versatile, it's readily available, and a near-essential for hosting visitors. All it would take is getting off my butt and rounding it up.

Resolved: I'm going to have more alcohol around the house.

(And yet, if stocking up still involves spending money and making choices--my two arch-nemesiseses--do you think it's likely to happen?)

#4
Finally, making a clean break with the old ways and starting fresh, I resolve: to keep the promises and carry out the plans I make during 2007.

(Any bets on how long this lasts?)