Stop Being so "PC": Daniel Tosh and Rape Jokes

Not so funny Tosh, I wish I could give him a scumbag hat too.

On Daniel Tosh's rape joke: It's not a matter of being politically correct or "PC" it's about addressing the dynamics of power that go into a situation where you have a male asserting his dominance by retorting, "Wouldn’t it be funny if that girl got raped by like, 5 guys right now? Like right now? What if a bunch of guys just raped her…” Some people have argued that it all depends of how Tosh intonated the previous statement- that if he said it in a jokingly manner and not in a hostile one that it would be okay and acceptable. But it's not in this case because the words themselves are so threatening in carrying the intent of sexual violence against a womyn, not only by one man, but by a group of men- a criminal reality that is all too well within the possibilities of material realities for women to this day. However, the next and perhaps more significant issue is how can a statement of gang rape or rape in general be funny? Could it be imagined that if indeed that female or any other female audience member was gang raped right there, right then, in the past, or in the future by one or as Tosh suggested, five men, that could somehow elicit some comedic reflex? That sexual violence against a woman or women or actually anyone in that matter could be funny? I don't have to imagine that the female individual had to be someone I personally know in order to find Tosh's statement's not only insulting, but also threatening. And I bring in the word threatening because that is where the power analysis comes into play- that Tosh as a white straight cis male celebrity has more much power in a male dominated environment in both the bar where the incident occurred, but also in society over a single womyn, not to mention if she was a womyn of color- the threat of rape and gang rape does seem all the more possible to the point where I am not surprised that the female individual left in fear for her safety. Rape isn't something that Tosh or his male audience members for the most part have any material fears about (or even me as a male identified individual)- and it's about time that they recognize that male privilege and the oppression they impose through that privilege as misogyny and sexism. And so I bring it back to the initial point of political correctness by really challenging people to ask what does being PC mean? What is PC? What isn't PC? How far does PC go? Personally, I think its term that is ultimately a very superficial excuse used by people shielding themselves from their own privileges and the oppression of others and by those would either willfully or ignorantly assume to live in a power static world. By being either PC or un-PC is to disavow the history of violence that shapes both the present realities and future possibilities of society. In conclusion then rape isn't funny because it isn't "PC", rape is not funny because violence against womyn in a heteropatriarchal society isn't a joke or statement without consequences but is a material reality that scars the bodies and psyches womyn all over the world as a result of institutional structures of power.

For the original tumblr post: Click Here 
To sign Change.org petition to pull Tosh off the air: Click Here

High Maitenance

To the white guy who posted a

Newspaper clipping of

Vietnamese mail order brides,

Saying

This is for all the homeboys

With yellow fever who don't want

High maintenance

Americanized

Viet girls...

 To the white guy who

Astutely commented

With an emphasis on the

ASS in ass-tutely,

‎Although it still goes on today,

Pretty much almost everywhere else in the world

Where they haven’t adopted a

Western-type culture for their society.

To this white guy

This dipshit, I say:

You must have missed the memo

That "western culture" has been

Dominating, subjugating, and

Destroying societies since antiquity.

Cue fact,

That antiquity already automatically indexes

Greco-Roman-Western ancient society.

As if nothing else mattered.

You probably missed the other memo too,

About the horrific human trafficking

That goes on within the US

Apparently the epitome of western society

Just isn't western enough...

High maintenance

Americanized Viet girls?

What's really HIGH MAINTAINENANCE

Is dealing with dipshits like you

Who forget that

WE ARE HERE

CUASE YOU FUCKED IT UP

OVER THERE

And go on to spew garbage that is

Misogynistic as hell and

Perpetuates the continual oppression of

Communities not only in this country,

But also across the world.

For all the guys who said "YEAH"

Why don't you ask yourself

If you would still say that if it were

Your mother, your sister, your child who is

Trapped in that scenario?

What would you say to the other guys

Who would still be saying "YEAH"?

OR DOES ONE ALWAYS

HAVE TO GO SO FAR INTO

HYPOTHETICALS

WITHOUT REALIZING THE

SERIOUSNESS OF THE ISSUE,

WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO RECOGNIZE

THAT COMMUNITY IS IN FACT

AN EXTENSION OF YOURSELF?

THAT WHAT HAPPENS TO "OTHERS"

ALSO MATTERS TO YOURSELF?!

So before you start calling

Women who refuse to part of your

Fucked up orientalist exotifications

"High maintenance"

 Why don't you contemplate about how

High maintenance your

Ignorance is to others who have to

Deal with the pain of reading your

Stupid words and process it by typing up

A damned long response to it on Facebook.

Shit.

What's Up with Booker Texas: A Tale of Islamophobia in Post 9/11 America

Hey fellow bloggers, readers, or random people who happened on to this expecting pictures of pandas in not such a good mood- IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK! I should have posted about my hiatus, but I was too busy/lazy to do so- but it's all good now, The Angry Panda is back and that's that.
Finding things to blog about can either take a long time or no time at all- today is when a story hit me the second I went online: An Al Jazeera Journalist gets booted from a high school football game in Booker, Texas.
Though I wasn't too surprised by the reaction, I was curious as to why Al Jazeera correspondents would be in the small Texan town of Booker when they always hit me as a newsgroup that covered larger issues such as the Arab Spring or the War in Afghanistan.
But as the story goes, Gabriel Elizondo, a Brazil-based correspondent for Al Jazeera was traveling to random American towns to find out how 9/11 still impacts the American people ten years after the fateful string of attacks devastated a great number of people in 2001. So he goes to the most American thing he can think of: a high school football game with its bleachers, hot dogs, and all-American folk. He makes his way through and approaches the principal of the Fighting Kiowas and introduces himself to her and describes what his project is about. Of course, she is delighted to have media coverage put her school in the spotlight, that is until he shows her his business card with the "frightening" name of AL JAZEERA, which probably elevated her sympathetic nervous system to Terror Alert Level Red. Suddenly her Texan hospitality regressed into cold Islamophobia and she felt the need to contact her higher ups regarding the "situation". Then comes Superintendent Michael Lee on to the scene, who hands back Elizondo's business card back to him (like a psychic slap to the face), rebuffs him with the classic though non sequitur quote of "I think it was damn rotten what they did"- probably followed by something similar to a pirate "arggggh".

Pirates everywhere are offended. Sorry, Cap'n S'prrow.

Though Superintendent Lee didn't specify who "they" was referring to,  it's not too hard to figure who he meant- especially when this man's definition of diversity boils down to his school's annual "Fiesta Night" where they probably serve burritos and other foods that end in "o", which many Americans claim to be Mexican.
Though the reaction was not one he may have been anticipating, Elizondo ultimately did find out how 9/11 has impacted the American people ten years later and it's sadly, "We don't  take kindly to your kind over here."


For more on this story go here.

Kelly J. Thomas: The Face of Police Brutality

Many things have yet to be clarified about this recent case regarding the death of Fullerton man Kelly Thomas at the hands of the officers of the Fullerton Police Department. So far from what I have gleaned from various reports is that on the night of July 5th, the FPD was called to investigate the possible car thefts near the Fullerton bus depot. What happened next can be seen here (it's a heart wrenching scene, be warned):

 

Kelly Thomas was pronounced dead seven days later at the UCI medical center. From various reports it has been noted that the police department was familiar with Kelly Thomas and knew that he suffered from schizophrenia. In the aftermath of the situation friends and family have spoken out in protest. The only thing I am certain of at this point is that indeed this is a case of police brutality: the degree of force used in subduing Thomas is no where near what would have been necessary. 

Kelly Thomas, the victim of police brutality.

I will be keeping up with the story as there is an undergoing parallel investigation by both the Orange County D.A. and the Fullerton Police Department. But ultimately this should make us question the treatment of the homeless and mentally ill  and the extent of police powers in our society. For more regarding the incident, go here.

Conclusion to the Raquel Nelson Case? I don't think so.

Today Raquel Nelson, a Georgia mother being charged with three misdemeanors because another drunk driver killed her son in a hit and run accident, was "spared" from a jail sentence as the AP reports it. While she might not have to go to jail, the prosecution (in all its mercy, of course) still asked that Nelson be put on probation. The judge in her increasing magnanimity gave Nelson a year long probation (per prosecution request) and 40 hours of community service. Perhaps the one silver lining in this case for Nelson is that the judge has also given her the chance for a retrial to clear her name, and it is hopefully at this trial that Nelson will finally be able to have a jury of peers. Yet it is sad to think that I don't believe that justice will ever be served for Nelson, in light of the states hardball prosecution of her and the light sentence given to her son's killer.

All prosecutor Annamarie Baltz had to say was "the state is bound to uphold the law" (in charging Nelson) and that prosecutors never intended to send her to prison. 

1. Prosecution never intended to send her to prison? So the goal was to scare a grieving mother and her two young daughters by convicting her of second degree vehicular homicide? What a vindictive use of the law, prosecutors! Not to mention a waste of Georgian tax payer dollars that went to fun your little court circus to prove that what? You can use the law arbitrarily to threaten citizens?
2. Why is Mrs. Nelson forced to do community service when it was Jerry Guy that caused the community tragedy? 
3. Does anybody think that this comes off as strange following the verdict on the Casey Anthony trial? I wont go into the details, but think about it- it's so incongruous.

For more info regarding Mrs. Nelson's sentence go here.

Justice Gone Haywire: The Raquel Nelson Case

A day ago I received an email from change.org regarding a petition to tell a Georgia judge to not jail a mother who was grieving her son who had been killed in a hit and run accident. I was surprised that this could actually happen, so I went on google to find out anything I could about the mother and what had happened to her famiy. 

The Raquel Nelson Interview with the Today Show

The story starts off on the night of April 16. 2010 when Raquel Nelson and her three children had gotten off at the bus stop across from their home in Marietta, Georgia. As several others who had gotten off at the same stop began crossing the dark street, AJ, Raquel's son, took off with the crowd perhaps thinking that it was their turn to cross the street. Immediately Raquel ran after her son and in that moment tragedy struck in the form of a tan SUV that sped off after hitting Raquel, her daughter, and AJ. While Raquel and her daughter suffered minor injuries, AJ was not so fortunate and died a few hours after being admitted to the hospital.
Police eventually arrested the driver, Jerry Guy, who admitted to a "few beers", painkillers, and a being partly blind in one eye. So now not only was it hit and run, but also a case of negligent driving (though the ads say buzzed driving equals =  drunk driving, it looks like the law books haven't caught up yet). Originally Guy was charged with first degree vehicular homicide, cruelty to children, and hit and run, but in the end he was only found guilty of hit and run. Though this had been his third time being convicted with a hit and run, Guy served only 6 months of jail and was allowed to spend the remaining 5 years of his sentence on probation.
Ironically the charges that Guy were not convicted with were used by the Georgia Solicitor General's office in convicting Raquel. She was charged with reckless conduct, improperly crossing a roadway and second-degree homicide by vehicle. Each of these crimes is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum punishment of 12 months in prison, so in total Nelson  faces a maximum of 36 months, or three years, in prison during her sentence hearing tomorrow.
The circumstances of this case seem utterly bizarre to me in many different aspects.

1. Why was Guy given such a light sentence and then allowed to serve probation, this being his third time being the perpetrator in a hit and run?
2. Coincidentally Nelson was charged with her crimes after the Atlanta Journal Constitution ran a high profile article regarding jaywalkers noting that Nelson had not been charged with anything. Georgia DA saving face?
3. She's being charged with second degree vehicular homicide- so aside from the fact that she was not in a vehicle, and interpreting the crime as a crime of negligence, the charge still doesn't make sense. Indeed, she had not crossed at a cross walk (whose location about 3/10 of mile away has been source of previous complaints before this incident) but she did run after her son and was also hit in the process. I see no negligence in her effort to save her son.
4. Reckless conduct? Really? Really? Not to mention that even the hit and run driver had not been charged with reckless conduct, it should be the Georgia department of motor vehicles that should be charged with reckless conduct in allowing a person with such a bad driving record on the streets.
5. She was an African American single parent convicted by a jury of all middle class whites (jury of peers, anyone?) who did not use public transportation. While Nelson, herself has been very cautious about "pulling the race card" in regards to her trial- I think that the biases of jury, most likely their assumptions towards African American single mothers were clearly reflected in their speedy conviction of all three counts.
6. Probably the point of most contention is the fact that Nelson did not use a cross walk. First of all, I don't think the power of crosswalk would have prevented Guy from committing a hit and run while under the influence. Second of all, Nelson was just trying get her family home since it was dark and late outside- the dark cross walk 3/10 of mile away seemed just as bad if not worse, then just crossing the street in front of them. Third, SEVERAL people successfully crossed the street before the Nelsons did- and it was only the unfortunate chance that Guy happened to be drunk driving along the street that caused the tragedy.
7. Why is there so much focus on the mom? In all of the threads and comments regarding the story it seems like everybody is focusing on Raquel and how she failed to use the cross walk. Why isn't their outrage at how Guy is able to serve the rest of his sentence on probation? Why was he even allowed to drive in the first place with such a horrific record? Why do we put so much blame on the mother who has lost her son, and not on the actual man who killed him? Sexism, anyone?
8. How is putting a Raquel Nelson in jail for three years when she still has two young daughters to raise going to benefit society in any way? As an example to warn to people not to jaywalk if you're a single parent African American woman? Or that it will serve as legal precedent on how you can get away relatively unscathed if you kill a child in a hit and run after popping some pain pills and washing it down with beer? Or to show that justice is blind- completely blind to even common sense.
9. A commentator once said about the conviction of Nelson that "fairness has taken a backseat to justice"- to continue this car analogy I think fairness has not only taken the backseat, but has also been thrown out the window (letting Guy get out on parole), trampled once by justice reversing the car (charging Nelson with crimes), and run over once again by justice driving that car straight to sentencing.

One way to help out Raquel and the Nelson family is by signing the petition below that asks the judge to not sentence Raquel to jail. It also is requesting a new cross to be installed to prevent future tragedies from occurring. http://www.change.org/petitions/cobb-county-ga-release-grieving-mother-of-hit-and-run-install-a-crosswalk

For more on the story regarding the Nelson case go here and here.

I'll be waiting for the verdict tomorrow- hopefully it will be that Nelson can go back home to her little girls and move on with the loss of her son.

As they Say In CA: An Angry Panda Quote Round Up

Continuing on the unsure saga that is the present state and future prospect for the California public education system, I have rounded up the following quotes that I felt captured what was being said by all the characters in this unfolding story.

For your convenience the links to the quotes can be found here, here, here, and here.