Let's Put the ERA in the Constitution

ERA campaigners are arguing that the Congressional deadline for ratification isn't enforceable because it's not in the amendment text that states actually ratified. But we can't count on the courts to uphold that interpretation.

 

The Equal Rights Amendment would definitively put an end to the male-only draft, ideology-driven "Duluth model" batterer intervention programs, and other forms of sex discrimination by government. Please join me in acting to put it in the Constitution!

 

https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-on-lets-put-the-era-in-the-constitution

 

 

I got a couple unexpected social strokes at the Erotic Literary Salon the other night. As soon as I arrived, someone came up to me to tell me she loved the song I sang last month, which she called "really sweet." Later, someone thanked me for having announced last month that I'd be performing at the Philly for Bernie Variety Show Fundraiser. She said that because of this she'd also attended it and was now getting involved in the campaign, and thanked me for having gotten that started.

These Go to Eleven

Last night I came up with two new spanking-themed song parodies, bringing my total to eleven. If you throw in my filk song "Trinity," which isn't kinky but is also a parody, that makes an even dozen.

A Fine New Publication in Philadelphia

I recently read Volume 1, Issue 2 of Root Quarterly, a new review of "art and ideas from Philadelphia," which someone handed me a couple months ago right after I'd delivered an open mic performance at the Erotic Literary Salon.

I'm very favorably impressed. This issue's theme is monsters, and the core pieces are a personal essay and an analysis concerned with call-out and cancel culture. As Lauren Leonard writes in the essay on why she "choose[s] not to cancel Ryan Adams," "What we're really cancelling when we blanketly and spontaneously disappear art is critical thought and argument. We cancel reflection and hindsight.... We cancel choice." And the analysis by Walter Foley and Heather Shayne Blakeslee uses the case of James Damore to examine how the current business model for media feeds moral panic, calling it "outrage as profit center."

As soon as I have a little disposable income, I intend to subscribe.

Never Think You Can't Change Someone's Mind

You just have to know how. This from Philly DSA for Bernie:

Surprising no one, Bernie Sanders did not get the New York Times editorial board endorsement (which went to someone called “Klobarren”) and CNN’s debate moderators weren’t singing his praises, either. We’re not bothered, though, because Bernie received a much more important endorsement: a working-class swing voter in East Kensington who spent forty minutes talking to Steve and Leslie during our January 4 canvass.

“We talked a lot about his dad who was a mechanic and is now unemployed with no insurance living down in Virginia. He was also uninsured. The focus of our conversation was on economics. He voted for Trump because he sold himself as a working class champion. We sold him on Bernie being the actual working class champion. He said he had never felt so informed about a candidate.”

Singing at Two Upcoming Events

Tomorrow night I'll again be taking part in the open mic portion of Philadelphia's Erotic Literary Salon, as I've done every month (save one) since last March. This time I'll be performing my parody of Nick Lowe's "Cruel to Be Kind."

On Friday the 31st of January, I'll be first up at the Philly for Bernie Variety Show Fundraiser, starting at 6 at The Field House. I'll be performing a couple satirical antiwar songs from Fred Stanton's 1969 album Hey, Hey, LBJ.

Representing at the Women's March on Philadelphia

I spent some time today at the Women's March on Philadelphia. Below are pictures of the sign I carried. Reactions to the serious side were mixed. Some people seemed to be bothered by it but others said things like "Thanks for your support!"

From the Friendly Atheist at Patheos: Missouri Bill Would Jail Librarians Who Let Kids Check Out “Inappropriate” Books

https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2020/01/16/missouri-bill-would-jail-librarians-who-let-kids-check-out-inappropriate-books/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=BRSS&utm_campaign=Nonreligious&utm_content=361

 It should be noted that "age-appropriate" is nothing but a pseudo-scientific euphemism for whatever attitude happens to prevail in any given community. Judith Levine discussed this in depth in her book Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex.

At my writing Meetup today, I read from the screenplay I'm working on, of which I've done about a page. People said it's well-written.