Trendlist: Althouse

Monday, July 11, 2022

Althouse

Why should any man becumber himself with a cucumber?
"The idea that some hapless, well-meaning person would put up a poster like this, thinking that they had a cat..."
Can we — most of us — come together and agree to allow access to abortion in the first 15 weeks of pregnancy — or at least the first 10?
"Except the T has interests that are diametrically opposed to those of the LGB. How so? By denying that homosexuality is same-sex attraction..."
Sunrise — 5:28, 5:30.

Why should any man becumber himself with a cucumber?

Posted: 11 Jul 2022 06:51 AM PDT

I wonder, reading...

becumber v.
Brit. Hear pronunciation/bᵻˈkʌmbə/
,
U.S. Hear pronunciation/bəˈkəmbər/
,
Hear pronunciation/biˈkəmbər/
1550 M. Coverdale tr. O. Werdmueller Spyrytuall & Precyouse Pearle xxi. sig. Hvjv Why shulde any man..becomber hym selfe about that thing?

I'm reading the Oxford English Dictionary, specifically the entries under the second definition of the prefix "be-," which is used "Forming intensive verbs, with sense of 'thoroughly..., soundly, much, conspicuously, to excess, ridiculously,'" and which arose this morning — as these things do — in the context of "bepenised."

I had blogged a quote that referred to "the spectacle of bepenised straight heterosexual males." Quite aside from the context — go back to that post if you care about context — there was some clamor over the word "bepenised."

My dear husband Meade commented:

To bepenised or not to bepenised…

Bespectacled. Bepenised. Bemused.

And now, I'm very proud and happy to present one of my newest and nicest friends:

"The idea that some hapless, well-meaning person would put up a poster like this, thinking that they had a cat..."

Posted: 11 Jul 2022 06:02 AM PDT

"... it just seemed so funny to her. So it was obvious that it was a joke. She really didn't expect the calls."

I highly recommend "The Possum Experiment," the new episode of "This American Life," which is centered on the question whether people are basically good and can be trusted.

All the segments were high quality, not just the part about the possum experiment. There's also a part about a black male comedian who went blind:

Here's something that I philosophized this little trip. It's a trip for me. This fucks with my head a little bit. My blindness is diffusing the scariness of my Blackness. That was one of my secret weapons to be a big brother, and people get nervous. Oh, fuck. There's a big Black guy. Watch out. That shit is powerful. It was a thrill. Once people find out that I can't see, my Blackness is out the window. They treat me like I'm a Make-a-Wish baby. Uh oh, watch out. There's a big Black guy. Oh, he just walked into the broom closet. OK, no worries.

And the last part is about the alternative endings to "Clockwork Orange."

According to [the novelist Anthony] Burgess, when the book was published here in the States, the publisher told him they wouldn't put it out unless they could cut chapter 21. This was way before the movie was optioned. It was still just a novel. They said the optimistic ending was Pollyanna-ish, naive, and bland. They were like, we Americans are tougher than you Brits. We can handle a nihilistic ending. Some people are just beyond hope. That's more realistic.

But the story wasn't so simple, and Burgess seems to have been bullshitting.

Can we — most of us — come together and agree to allow access to abortion in the first 15 weeks of pregnancy — or at least the first 10?

Posted: 11 Jul 2022 05:30 AM PDT

I'm seeing this at Twitter this morning:

Roughly 15 weeks was a popular, consensus position Roe prevented for 50 years. Many on both sides will still disagree with it, but it's likely where many states will land, and STILL more liberal than most European countries. https://t.co/JFrU63AWTl
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) July 11, 2022

And it's something I'd discovered on my own, independently. In a post on July 2, I discussed a little unscientific poll of mine called "What sort of law protecting access to abortion do you think Congress should pass?" I'd noticed the problem with the polls I was seeing: They were just asking if there should be statutes establishing a right to abortion. But:

There's such a wide range of things Congress could do, notably protect a short period of entitlement to abortion. I don't expect Congress to take advantage of the opportunity to come together and do something practical and helpful, and obviously my little unscientific poll shows an overwhelming preference for Congress to do nothing at all, but I just wanted to suggest that it would be sensible for Congress to create a statutory right to abortion in the first 10 weeks, leaving the rest of the legislative choice to the states. I'd like to see some proper polling of this question. I understand why Democrats in Congress are concentrating on the "viability" line that the Court had identified. But I wish they would consider an earlier point, in order to get a modest time-limited right in place to meet the real needs of women in states, like mine, who now have no right to abortion.

"Except the T has interests that are diametrically opposed to those of the LGB. How so? By denying that homosexuality is same-sex attraction..."

Posted: 11 Jul 2022 05:18 AM PDT

"... and attempting to replace it with 'same-gender' attraction. Whence the spectacle of bepenised straight heterosexual males who identify as 'trans' (and thus consider themselves 'lesbians') browbeating actual lesbians into considering them as sexual partners, with the inevitable accusations of 'transphobia' raining down on lesbians who insist that they are only attracted to women. Think I'm kidding? Google 'cotton ceiling.' Or have a look at this: https://twitter.com/Rocio_Arias_/status/1490314002295046150."

Writes Banjopotato, commenting on the Washington Post article, "Bette Midler and Macy Gray upset trans advocates. Here's why."

Banjopotato gets some pushback from BuffaloGal78:

Trans people are not transitioning so they can pass as gay or straight. Trans people transition because of who they ARE. Are you trying to say that no one is actually gay or lesbian? Or that only non-trans people can be gay, and everyone who transitions is doing so to trick their potential partners? That's not how any of this works.

Banjopotato responds:

I am saying that lots of people are gay and lesbian. And being gay or lesbian means being exclusively same-sex attracted. And that intact straight male "trans" "lesbians" accuse lesbians, especially, who insist that they are same-sex attracted and therefore not interested in the male-bodied, of "transphobia" as a way of intimidating them into compliance. All of this is very well documented and one needn't look far to find examples. Or, to put it succinctly, being gay is same-sex attraction. A male who is attracted to females cannot be a lesbian: he's straight, regardless of how he feels or thinks about himself. I haven't speculated about motivations, but there is some evidence that older "trans" males mostly transition after decades of transvestic fetishism (autogynephilia) and that sexual gratification is the driving force in that urge to transition. See, for example: https://quillette.com/2019/11/06/what-is-autogynephilia-an-interview-with-dr-ray-blanchard/

Sunrise — 5:28, 5:30.

Posted: 10 Jul 2022 06:55 PM PDT