[cross-posted from Aiken Area Progressive]

DAYTONA BEACH -- Mauricia Grant, 32, has sued the number 2 sport in America for a quarter-billion dollars, saying that she has was discriminated against because of both her race and gender, was sexually harassed and slut-shamed, and that she was wrongully dismissed in October 2007. Here is some of what she said:

"I loved it. It was great, exciting adrenaline-filled job where I worked with fast cars and the best drivers in the world. But there was an ongoing daily pattern of harassment. It was the nature of the people I worked with, the people who ran it, it trickled down from the top.

It's just the way things are in the garage."

In the lawsuit, Mrs. Grant says that she was referred to as "Nappy Headed Mo" and "Queen Sheba". She was also frightened by one official who made references to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).

That's not all. Mrs. Grant says that she was also subjected to sexual advances from male co-workers, two of whom exposed their penises to her and made graphic, lewd jokes.

In all, 57 incidents of sexist and racist allegations are listed in a New York area District court.

Benedict P. Morelli is Mrs. Grant's lawyer. He compared Mrs. Grant's fight to Anucha Browne Sanders, who won $11,500,000.00 in a sex harassment lawsuit ironically enough, in October 2007, the same period in which Mrs. Grant was terminated.

Joe Balash, the Nationwide Series director, and assistant Series director Mike Dolan (no relation to the idiot who owns Cablevision and MSG) were among 23 NASCAR officials named as defendants.

As a fan of the sport, I am thoroughly appalled at what these men were doing to her. I hope that Brian France will make some major changes in the future to prevent another incident like this from ever happening again. Seems like every sport has asshats in them nowadays.

Posted by jovan29853 at 10:12 PM EDT

Updated: Monday, 16 June 2008 10:20 PM EDT

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[Cross-posted from Aiken Area Progressive]

SAN FRANCISCO -- As of 8:01 p.m. EDT, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon were offically the first LGBT couple married in the state of California. The lesbian couple have been together for at least 51 years.

Congradulations and good luck to Mrs. Martin and Mrs. Lyon and all of the other couples across the Golden State who will given the right to marry the person they love, regardless of sexual orientation.

Posted by jovan29853 at 9:41 PM EDT

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Since Maxim has its "Hot 100" and other feminists have their "Real Hot 100", I've decided to do a "Hot 106":  the 106 sexiest (and badass women).  This is the bottom 20 women on this list.

106.  Ellen DeGeneres: this woman dresses in men's clothes and still looks hot.

105.  Pat Benatar: this classic rock singer may have sex appeal, but she also puts men on notice.  Think "Sex as a Weapon", a top 40 song from 1986.

104.  Beyoncé: she would have been higher, had it not been for her clothing line trying to cater to underage girls.

103.  Lil' Kim: still fresh out of jail, this hip-hop artist made a splash in 2001 cover of Patti Labelle's "Lady Marmalade".

102.  Carly Ormerod:  00 is magic at University of Kentucky.

101.  Katherine Heigl: wish we would see more of her after 2009.  But after slamming Shonda Rimes, don't count on it.

100.  C. Vivian Stringer: This Rutgers coach smacked down Don Imus and his sexist remarks about her players.  That alone makes her hot in my book.

99.  Tila Tequila: The queen of myspace is also the queen of real dating.

98.  Kelly Finglass: she is the director of the Dallas Cowboys' cheerleaders, aka America's cheerleaders.

97.  Rachael Ray: this chef/talk show host is an Iron Chef.

96.  Charlize Theron: she hasn't been in the spotlight lately, but she has been a strong supporter for LGBT rights.

95.  Whoopi Goldberg: The View's newest person has been laying the smack down on the pro-birth movement.  She made Hasselbeck an example.

94.  Gloria Allred: the mother takes on anyone and everyone who harasses and abuses women and other traditionally beleaguered groups.  Hotness, indeed!

93.  America Ferrera:  She is not an ugly person.  Her critics are.

92.  Jennifer Love Hewitt: calling out the pro-anorexic asshats is hot.

91.  Paris Hilton: nothing much to say.  That's hot! Then again...

90.  Lindsay Lohan: well...

89.  Kim Kardashian: a victim of slut-shaming in my opinion with the sex tape and all.

88.  Kim Gordon: wonder why she is ageless?

87.  Cat Osterman: this softball player also has mad game.

Posted by jovan29853 at 5:22 PM EDT

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[Cross-posted at Aiken Area Progressive]

The National Organization for Women's Kim Gandy has this urgent announcement for everybody:

Anti-contraception action is on the rise. On June 7, anti-woman forces will stage a national protest against birth control and NOW will be there to counter their campaign of misinformation and lies. Here is what the American Life League and the the "Pill Kills" campaign is saying:

"Because the pill weakens the immune system, it can cause bacterial infections and can make a woman more susceptible to the AIDS virus."

"...the most popular form of birth control, the pill, can kill innocent preborn children. If there is a chance that human beings are going to be murdered, I am going to do everything in my power to help prevent that from happening."

"[T]he condom's biggest flaw is that those using it to prevent the conception of another human being are offending God." It continues, "furthermore, each and every act of marital intercourse must be both unitive and open to procreation. Any action, including condom use, which has as its purpose to render procreation impossible is intrinsically evil."

Visit The Pill Kills website to learn more about the lies.

The NOW National Action Center is calling on you to mobilize a local protest to tell the truth and protect birth control.

WHEN: Saturday, June 7

WHERE: Local clinics that will be under siege by the terrorists in the American Life League: 1289 Broad Street in Augusta, Georgia; 2712 Middleburg Drive in Columbia; and 44 B Lee Boulevard in Savannah.

For more on which clinics are under siege by the terrorists outside of the CSRA, look at the map here.

Posted by jovan29853 at 5:54 PM EDT

Updated: Thursday, 5 June 2008 5:59 PM EDT

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[Edited and Cross-posted from Aiken Area Progressive]

NEW YORK CITY -- "EliteXC Saturday Night Fights" as you all may well know aired on CBS on Saturday night and I have to say that it was very inappropriate to air an event that violent on broadcast TV before 22:00.

And it seems like some people agree with me on this one.  Brian Burwell has an editorial up blasting the program's airing on broadcast TV.  Here is some of what he wrote:

The MMA apologists call that its appeal. I call that its fatal flaw. Mixed Martial Arts wants the world to sanction its underworld barbarism as legitimate. But no matter which form of this "sport" you look at, it ought to be hard to stomach for anyone with even the faintest grain of civility.

This crazed, unrestrained violence allows men with thinly padded leather on their fists to pummel each other nonstop, even when your opponent is on the ground. It allows you to knee your opponent in the groin, then while he's prone on the ground, pound him in the head, choke him, or squeeze his torso with your legs locked around him, attempting to rupture kidneys and squeeze the air out of lungs.

I've complained about this before, and predictably the MMA loyalists say I'm a hopelessly behind-the-times boxing apologist who couldn't stand the idea that the sweet science had been replaced by a better action sport.

Not exactly. Boxing's decline has nothing to do with a lack of raw action. It has more to do with a void in the great talent that once dominated the sport. All I want is for someone to realize what a distasteful freak show mixed martial arts is in this bastardized form. What I want is for sane folks to slow down this gradual slide into a post-Apocalypic haze in which the worst elements of human nature are sanctioned and celebrated. What I want is for us to stop glorifying the most deviant aspects of our own personalities, the ones in which pit bulls, roosters and human beings can be gored, gouged and brutalized for sport, and where intelligence is a fault and the dumbing down of our society is considered a point of pride.

But sadly, instead of halting the slide, CBS is driving the bus directly into the cultural abyss by putting this on national television for the first time, instead of allowing it to wallow in a corner on cable TV with all the other cartoonish "reality" fare.

Ultimate fighting and all the other ultimate fighting leagues want the world to embrace their bloody human cockfighting as a replacement for boxing as a real combat sport, and now they have CBS as a co-conspirator in this fraud. They reason that the world has proclaimed them as legitimate, simply because their barbarism is now on network television.

Television doesn't automatically legitimize you. It's the electronic version of the ladder. The higher you climb, the more of your rear end we can see.

Mr. Burwell described society's problem exactly down to the nitty-gritty: blatant violence on TV. Which is why I have a problem with CBS airing this. Which is why I have an even bigger beef with people who complain about the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show -- a very harmless fashion show -- yet they don't have a problem with stuff like this. How many people have died during the six VS Fashion Shows? Zero. How many men have been stilettoed in the nuts by the VS supermodels in the six airings of the fashion show? Zero. How many people have died from MMA in the last 12 years? Two. Go figure.

Viacom could have done better by airing this on MTV, BET, Spike or CMT. But by choosing CBS to air this, they have lost all credibility.

Unlike the Janet Jackson Super Bowl from four and a third years ago, this is definitely deserving of an FCC fine.

Posted by jovan29853 at 4:11 AM EDT

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NEW YORK CITY -- Either you love it or you hate it.

And no, it is not a chick flick, because it is rated R (all chick flicks are rated either PG or PG-13).

Sex and the City is based off the HBO series of the same name, which ended at about this time in 2004 after six successful seasons.  It revolves around four single Manhattan-area women: Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Charlotte (Kristin Davis), and my favorite Samantha (Kim Catrall).

Most of the things in the movie is what you seen on the television show.  Among the new things that happen is that the characters get married (I won't tell you when that happens in the movie, you'll have to see that for yourself).

I don't know why my gender is so turned off by this movie.  I think it is a must-see for everyone here in America.

FINAL RATING: Five stars out of five stars.

Posted by jovan29853 at 8:26 AM EDT

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NEW YORK CITY -- And then there were ten.

The Montel Williams Show ended on Friday after 17 years of syndication.  Mr. Williams covered just about every topic over that time frame.  This included war, economy, terrorism, women's reproductive rights, LGBT rights, domestic violence, sexual assault, immigration, child abuse, animal abuse, sports, and other topics covered over the ten talk shows still in syndication: Ellen, Dr. Phil, Keith Ablow, Steve Wilkos Show, Jerry Springer, Oprah, Martha, Rachael Ray, Maury and Tyra Banks Show.  His guests were legendary -- they included nativists like Lou Dobbs, burlesque dancers, political pundits like Paul Krugman, athletes, leaders of the 527 political groups (the interest groups) and political leaders themselves.

Mr. Williams is a former member of the military who began by talking to kids in schools and arenas across the nation.  Then his talk show was what shot him up to stardom.  Mr. Williams set the bar for giving us the scoop on current events, and it is now up to the ten remaining hosts to keep us informed of what is happening on such a critical election year.

Goodbye, Mr. Williams.

Posted by jovan29853 at 12:37 PM EDT

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I know I am a day late, but I am going to cross-post this Blog for Equal Pay from Aiken Area Progressive.

It is a sad state of affairs that women are still paid ONLY 19 cents for every quarter a man makes. That's 76 cents women make for every dollar a man make. And May 2007's Ledbetter v. Goodyear ruling truly showed how much contempt for female workers our government have by chipping away at the Equal Pay Act of 1963. This new ruling means that women can no longer wait 181 days to sue their employer for pay discrimination, even if she doesn't detect the disparity until the 181st day. This is a travesty to justice. If I was working, I would gladly give a woman 24 cents of every dollar I make just to send notice about the disparity.

Lilly Ledbetter is contacting the leaders of the 110th Congress to get them to do the right thing and pass a bill that would allow for women to file lawsuits at any time for pay discrimination. Join Ms. Ledbetter and support equal pay.

Posted by jovan29853 at 8:03 PM EDT

Updated: Saturday, 19 April 2008 8:11 PM EDT

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I know that this was yesterday, but I have to add my two cents into this thing.

First and foremost, the types of sexual assaults.  Sexual assault can be physical, verbal, or even written.  Rape is the most common form of physical sexual assault.  An example of verbal sexual assault is catcalling.  And an example of written sexual assault are laws that ban abortions.

And women are the primary victims of all three types of sexual assault.  In fact, as many as one out of every four coeds (and other women in college) will be sexually assaulted in their lifetimes.  Between 17-20% of women overall are sexually assaulted from birth to death.  They account for 92% of all victims of sexual assault.  And around 10% of all women who have been sexually assaulted were sexually assaulted by another woman.  That may not sound like a large percentage, but that is significant, considering how this particular aspect is mostly ignored.

Speaking of ignored, men are the most often ignored group of rape victims.  While men are the rape victims only 8% of the time, as many as one out of every six male college students will be sexually assaulted in his lifetime.  Unless you've been living under a rock, then you know that men are more likely to be raped by a woman.  But those reports hardly ever see the light of day, due to the huge stigma society puts on men who are sexually assaulted by a woman.  Let's not forget that men are also raped by other men -- and this is the majority of sexual assaults of men that make it into our newscasts, despite the fact that only a very small percentage of men are raped by other men.

Children are also sexually assaulted.  This is called statuatory rape or child molestation, depending on the age of the boy or girl.  A whopping 9 out of every 20 children under the age of 14 are victims of sexual assault.  Over 97% of all people suspected of sexual assault of a child are adults 21 and over.

Posted by jovan29853 at 11:38 AM EDT

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For those who may not know it, today is International Women's Day.  Before 1987, this day was the most observed day in the month of March.  And for women across every single one of the 195 or so countries, this day cannot be even more special.

Currently, women are being given second class citizenship across every country, and the United States is certainly no exception.  In the past seven years, US women have been given second-class status by the Bush Administration.  The Bush Admin has waged a war on women all over the world.  From denying women the right to abortion services in Charleston to denying women the right to basic birth control in Addis Ababa, the Bush policies have been atrocious and a gross violation of basic human rights.

And it isn't just George Bush that has expressed utter contempt for women all over the world.  Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega has an extreme anti-choice law that is estimated to have killed more than 12,000 pregnant women thus far in that country.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban -- one of the most misogynist groups around the world -- is making a comeback and I find that an astonishingly sad situation.  We had this group on the ropes back in 2001.  In Iran, crackdowns on what women wear have been happening annually since 1980.  In Saudi Arabia, women still (at last check) can't even drive.  An American woman was temporarily on death row in Oman.

In Canada, it is a criminal offense to work in the sex industry.  It has been this way for the past 16 years, thanks to Catherine MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin.  That means that women who willfully work in the sex industry in Canada are committing a criminal offense.  A similar ban on the sex industry is being sought in Australia.  In the United Kingdom, they are attempting to ban nearly all abortions.  And some people in Brazil are pushing for constitutional amendments that would allow its government to treat women like property.

This list is just some of the things in various countries that have hurt women.  And by getting rid of these laws, we will make women free.

Posted by jovan29853 at 12:59 PM EST

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