The art from Loser Pet Shop allows you to root for the underdog. Well, there’s not actually a dog but there is a seasick goldfish, night blind owl and frog that fears the undead. All the prints are 8″ x 10″ and cost $20.00, though the cat and frog are also available in a  5″ x 7″ size for $12.00.

So I discovered the art of “Vintage by Crystal” at the SOWA Open Markets in Boston this past Sunday.  I was struck by the whimsy and the sense of intricacy, as well as adorable people with cat heads.  The different pieces beg to be bought to celebrate an occasion, as well as perhaps to befriend the photos you have gracing your bookshelves or to enliven a dresser.

I promptly bought a 4th of July cat girl for the mandatory strawberry and blueberry flag cake that my folks have on the 4th (its my Gramma’s birthday).  But these two others were hard not to purchase as well … the bee girl just makes it all 1997 and Blind Melon all over again, while the fox and wolf just look so wonderfully mischievous.  Check out her store for many many more.

$15

$15

$35

The right’s crazy train left the station shortly after the nomination was announced. They’ve latched on to Sotomayor’s comments that she would “hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life”. The quote was taken out of context and meant to serve as an inspirational message for other Latinas seeking high powered positions. But the right has taken it as an invitation to play pin the stereotype on the minority.

Which brings us to the National Review cover that packs in so many misinformed, below the belt hits that it almost takes your breath away. The most blatant head scratcher is the fact that Sotomayor is portrayed as Asian even as the bold headline below accurately attributes her heritage. There’s the overall implication that the right considers minorities interchangeable. But Neil Sinhababu takes a look at the other clues in this representation:

The Buddha-like pose and Asian features are tied to lofty pretensions of sagelike wisdom. And what sort of person is it who’s pretending to be some kind of sage? A Hispanic woman! As if.

The in-joke in this cover is for people who have already internalized a stereotype of Hispanic women as hotheaded and not that bright. Put one of them in the Buddha suit, and if you’ve absorbed the right racist stereotypes, the incongruity is hilarious.

I’d also offer the interpretation that Asians– particularly Asian women– carry a stereotype of quiet submission. The right’s arguments against Sotomayor have had an undercurrent of “she doesn’t know her place”. Combine these elements and you get what they see her as: a hotheaded, unintelligent woman who should know her place.

Update: I left this out of the original post because I thought it went without saying but there is also the problem that the cover also works in the Asian stereotypes of slanted eyes and buck teeth and placed them on a Buddha like image, which would normally not bear those features.

(click to enlarge)

What’s even more concerning is that fewer people are going to be finishing college as the costs skyrocket and the aid dries up. Much has been said about the economic crisis being caused, in part, by Americans carrying huge individual amounts of debt. But the system is stacked in such a way that this is unavoidable. If you want to have a job that has a better chance of surviving a recession, you need a degree that you’re going to be paying off for decades to come.

]]> http://www.mouemagazine.com/blog/2009/06/chart-of-the-day-unemployment-rate-and-level-of-education/feed/ 0 http://www.mouemagazine.com/blog/2009/06/dig-deeper-officer-down/ http://www.mouemagazine.com/blog/2009/06/dig-deeper-officer-down/#comments Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:59:35 +0000 [dave] http://www.mouemagazine.com/blog/?p=4280

On May 28th, Officer Omar Edwards was shot and killed while out of uniform by fellow officer Andrew Dunton.  Edwards is black, Dunton is white.  This places the killing third in a line of recent examples demonstrating the risks facing black NYC cops:

In January 2008, a Mount Vernon officer, Christopher A. Ridley, 23, was killed by Westchester County police officers in downtown White Plains as he tried to restrain a homeless man whom he had seen assault another person… And in February 2006, a New York City officer, Eric Hernandez, 24, was fatally shot by a fellow officer while responding to a 911 call about a fight at a White Castle restaurant in the Bronx.

I think that there’s definitely something to say about the role that race played in incident, a conversation that doesn’t finish just because Mayor Bloomberg thinks the events are “inexplicable.”  But none of that conversation includes the premise of Colleen Long’s musings on these events, put on my radar by the inestimable Sista Toldja:

NEW YORK — It’s a police officer’s nightmare scenario: Confronting someone who appears to be an armed suspect and opening fire, only to discover that person was actually an officer not in uniform.

Toldja’s response sums up my position perfectly:

No, you privileged idiot, you got that all wrong. Here’s a revision: It’s a Black police officer’s nightmare scenario: you are in plainclothes and confronting a suspect, only to discover that a White officer has also responded to the crime and assumes that you, too, are a criminal. If shooting innocent Black men was such a big fear for White cops, then it wouldn’t happen so often. They wouldn’t be so apt to shoot first, ask questions last.

A few places have started to drill down the layers of possible racial bias, here’s the Racialicious round-up.

Apparently Dunton has been put on desk duty.  He has had four previous civilian complaints in the last 4 years, two of which cited excessive force.  Edwards is survived by his wife, Danielle, and two children:  1 and a half year old Xavier and 7-month-old Keanua.  His funeral was yesterday.

Photo credit: Ruby Washington

Here’s the product/price breakdown available for each image;

Greeting Card: $5.65

Matted Print: $40.38 (11.4″ x 9.6″)

Lamenated Print: $24.22 and up

Mounted Print: $64.60 and up

Canvas Print: $96.90 and up

Framed Print:  $129.20 and up 

Poster: $32.30 (19.50″ x 16.50″)