Drinking Liberally is a weekly social gathering where progressives talk politics and get to know one another. In Center City Philadelphia, we meet on Tuesday nights at José Pistola's upstairs bar, where there are drink specials from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. And the more we tip the bartender, the more frequently he hands out free dishes of chips and dips. I hope to see you there!
José Pistola's is at 263 South 15th Street (15th and Spruce) in Center City, near the Kimmel Center and the Academy of Music. There's a parking garage across the street, but as filthy liberal hippies naturally we suggest public transit; both SEPTA and PATCO will get you there in two shakes of a lamb's tail.
This week's topic: I wonder how much money I would have to donate to WXPN to get them to quit playing Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros forever and ever.
"Come for the beer, stay for the check"
27 July 2010
23 July 2010
Competitive cheering does not fall under Title IX
Competitive cheering is not a "college sport" for Title IX purposes, and I don't disagree. Here's what I wrote to a pal who asked me about it.
On the other hand, it's not a college sport the way that gymnastics, football, tennis, baseball, track, volleyball, etc., are. (And it's not a fine art, like dance.) There may be men who participate -- the original cheerleaders were, after all, all-male pep squads -- but it's a female ghetto. It's not a game, but then neither is a track and field meet. Now, there's a chicken-and-egg problem there, of course: how can it be a college sport if Title IX doesn't recognize it as such, and how can it get Title IX recognition unless it's a college sport? The answer, I think, is that more colleges need to have cheer squads. Right now, it looks as though there are only 8 schools in that cheer organization, the National Competitive Stunts and Tumbling Association (formed only in January of this year) -- out of how many schools with cheer squads? And out of how many American colleges and universities that fall under Title IX? I think Title IX will be more likely to consider cheering a "college sport" once there are more competitions between schools.
I wonder if NCAA recognition is a touchstone. Even the school that the court ruled against seems to think so. Dig the press release from Quinnipiac University, linked above: it states that "[t]he goal of the NCSTA is to usher stunts and gymnastics into NCAA emerging sports status and eventually, a NCAA fully sanctioned varsity sport with a NCAA sponsored national championship."
I'll give the school the benefit of the doubt and say that it's likely they were happy to have a cheering program on campus as a sports scholarship opportunity for women, and that they weren't trying to weasel out of Title IX requirements by eliminating volleyball over cheering. But I have to agree with the ruling. Until cheering is, say, an Olympic sport, or there are NCAA rules about it, then it's not a "college sport" for Title IX purposes.
Which is not to say that I think it could never be a college sport: if track and field sports and gymnastics are college sports, then cheering could be, too. Cheering requires athleticism, training, and rigorous practice; there are rules; and you score and judge the cheer routines in as objective a way as you can for this kind of thing. Clearly, it's a sport. (In Wisconsin, it's legally a "contact sport" (PDF).) Develop it into more of a national program first (and, yes, Title IX "subsidy" would help that along), and then I'll allow that it's a college sport. It's merely premature now to expect competitive cheering to get Title IX recognition.
Am I crazy, or does this sound like a good thing? Universities can't just say "well, we've got ladies in short skirts cheering on our football players, so we've got parity."Well, on the one hand, competitive cheering is very much an athletic endeavor. The participants have to be very fit. The routines are like a combination of gymnastics and dancing. Your squad can reasonably be called a "team." Also, there are national competitions.
On the other hand, it's not a college sport the way that gymnastics, football, tennis, baseball, track, volleyball, etc., are. (And it's not a fine art, like dance.) There may be men who participate -- the original cheerleaders were, after all, all-male pep squads -- but it's a female ghetto. It's not a game, but then neither is a track and field meet. Now, there's a chicken-and-egg problem there, of course: how can it be a college sport if Title IX doesn't recognize it as such, and how can it get Title IX recognition unless it's a college sport? The answer, I think, is that more colleges need to have cheer squads. Right now, it looks as though there are only 8 schools in that cheer organization, the National Competitive Stunts and Tumbling Association (formed only in January of this year) -- out of how many schools with cheer squads? And out of how many American colleges and universities that fall under Title IX? I think Title IX will be more likely to consider cheering a "college sport" once there are more competitions between schools.
I wonder if NCAA recognition is a touchstone. Even the school that the court ruled against seems to think so. Dig the press release from Quinnipiac University, linked above: it states that "[t]he goal of the NCSTA is to usher stunts and gymnastics into NCAA emerging sports status and eventually, a NCAA fully sanctioned varsity sport with a NCAA sponsored national championship."
I'll give the school the benefit of the doubt and say that it's likely they were happy to have a cheering program on campus as a sports scholarship opportunity for women, and that they weren't trying to weasel out of Title IX requirements by eliminating volleyball over cheering. But I have to agree with the ruling. Until cheering is, say, an Olympic sport, or there are NCAA rules about it, then it's not a "college sport" for Title IX purposes.
Which is not to say that I think it could never be a college sport: if track and field sports and gymnastics are college sports, then cheering could be, too. Cheering requires athleticism, training, and rigorous practice; there are rules; and you score and judge the cheer routines in as objective a way as you can for this kind of thing. Clearly, it's a sport. (In Wisconsin, it's legally a "contact sport" (PDF).) Develop it into more of a national program first (and, yes, Title IX "subsidy" would help that along), and then I'll allow that it's a college sport. It's merely premature now to expect competitive cheering to get Title IX recognition.
22 July 2010
WashPost opinion page thinks it's neato burrito to get more women on SCOTUS
David Broder at the Washington Post has figured out what I blogged three months ago, that is, you can't get a fully informed decision, reflecting the effect of laws and their interpretation on all Americans, from the Supreme Court until you get more women on the Supreme Court.
Broder:
Glomarization back in April:
Now imagine that oral argument before a SCOTUS with zero women on it.
A man will never, ever have to decide whether to continue or terminate a pregnancy, but almost half of the American population does face that decision during their lifetimes. Unless and until the Supreme Court has more women on it, our country is at a very real risk of going back to an era where that decision involves seriously considering the risk of dying like Gerri Santoro.
Broder:
[When women started entering into journalism in large numbers 20 and 30 years ago, they] changed the culture of the newspaper business and altered the way everyone, male or female, did the work.Eureka! You get a more complete story when you have a more complete representative demographic thinking about the issue and asking questions about it!
The women who came onto the political beat asked candidates questions that would not have occurred to male reporters. They saw the candidates' lives whole, while we were much more likely to deal only with the official part of it.
Glomarization back in April:
The question here is why we need more women on the Supreme Court rather than settling for more male liberals. Pardon me from pointing out the obvious: men can never join either of those categories [i.e., the two categories women can fall into: women who have had to decide whether to get an abortion, or women who haven't had to make the decision]. But on average, most American women bring at least one child into the world before they leave it themselves (Census.gov PDF). Thus, most American women are now or will eventually be in that first category.A 13-year-old boy (and the adult male judge he may become) will never have to have his bra and panties removed for a strip-search for ibuprofen. During oral argument before the Supreme Court, the male justices could not seem to understand how such a search was any different from changing clothes in the school locker room -- until Justice Ginsberg intervened, reminding them that the girl had had to "stretch the top of [her] pants and shake that out," and though both parties stipulated that the girl wasn't forced to get completely naked, it's one hell of a thin reed to hook your argument on to assert that she wasn't naked because, in the end, you know, she was allowed to keep her panties on when she had to show everybody what was (not) inside them.
Abortion is an integral part of women's reproductive health care. The right to a safe, legal abortion at any time during a pregnancy should be solely in the hands of the woman and her doctor, just as any other aspect of an American's healthcare decisions should be.
When abortions are outlawed, women will still get abortions, because most women are now or will eventually be in that first category. When abortions are outlawed, no men will die in pools of their own blood on filthy motel room floors (graphic).
And this is why we need more women, not just more liberal men, on the Supreme Court.
Now imagine that oral argument before a SCOTUS with zero women on it.
A man will never, ever have to decide whether to continue or terminate a pregnancy, but almost half of the American population does face that decision during their lifetimes. Unless and until the Supreme Court has more women on it, our country is at a very real risk of going back to an era where that decision involves seriously considering the risk of dying like Gerri Santoro.
How to get a loan nowadays
Want to hire some more staff or expand your business, but can't get a loan or line of credit from your local bank? Try asking your local legitimate businessmen:
The mafia has cranked up money laundering activities in Italy after the credit crunch prompted banks to stop lending, leaving a funding gap that criminal capital has filled, according to the Bank of Italy.Criminal organizations will be happy to launder their funds through your shop!
20 July 2010
Driberally tonight
Drinking Liberally is a weekly social gathering where progressives talk politics and get to know one another. In Center City Philadelphia, we meet on Tuesday nights at José Pistola's upstairs bar, where there are drink specials from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. And the more we tip the bartender, the more frequently he hands out free dishes of chips and dips. I hope to see you there!
José Pistola's is at 263 South 15th Street (15th and Spruce) in Center City, near the Kimmel Center and the Academy of Music. There's a parking garage across the street, but as filthy liberal hippies naturally we suggest public transit; both SEPTA and PATCO will get you there in two shakes of a lamb's tail.
This week's topic: "How getting Glomarization a steady boyfriend blows her blogging schedule to pieces."
"Come for the beer, stay for the check"
José Pistola's is at 263 South 15th Street (15th and Spruce) in Center City, near the Kimmel Center and the Academy of Music. There's a parking garage across the street, but as filthy liberal hippies naturally we suggest public transit; both SEPTA and PATCO will get you there in two shakes of a lamb's tail.
This week's topic: "How getting Glomarization a steady boyfriend blows her blogging schedule to pieces."
"Come for the beer, stay for the check"
13 July 2010
Driberally tonight
Drinking Liberally is a weekly social gathering where progressives talk politics and get to know one another. In Center City Philadelphia, we meet on Tuesday nights at José Pistola's upstairs bar, where there are drink specials from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. And the more we tip the bartender, the more frequently he hands out free dishes of chips and dips. I hope to see you there!
José Pistola's is at 263 South 15th Street (15th and Spruce) in Center City, near the Kimmel Center and the Academy of Music. There's a parking garage across the street, but as filthy liberal hippies naturally we suggest public transit; both SEPTA and PATCO will get you there in two shakes of a lamb's tail.
This week's topic: Did they contain the oil gush yet?
"Come for the beer, stay for the check"
José Pistola's is at 263 South 15th Street (15th and Spruce) in Center City, near the Kimmel Center and the Academy of Music. There's a parking garage across the street, but as filthy liberal hippies naturally we suggest public transit; both SEPTA and PATCO will get you there in two shakes of a lamb's tail.
This week's topic: Did they contain the oil gush yet?
"Come for the beer, stay for the check"
09 July 2010
Because when I think "vacation," I think North Korea or Iran
I've been arrested for civil disobedience, and yet I still do not understand why in god's holy name Americans go to North Korea or Iran illegally on purpose. It's one thing to make a statement in the U.S. by kumbayah-ing Fort Benning and spending a night or a week in a federal detention facility. But it's a whole different ball of wax to risk a dozen years' hard labor or solitary confinement without ever being charged just so you can say you entered one of these countries, or decided to explore an uncertain border area.
06 July 2010
Driberally tonight
Drinking Liberally is a weekly social gathering where progressives talk politics and get to know one another. In Center City Philadelphia, we meet on Tuesday nights at José Pistola's upstairs bar, where there are drink specials from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. And the more we tip the bartender, the more frequently he hands out free dishes of chips and dips. I hope to see you there!
José Pistola's is at 263 South 15th Street (15th and Spruce) in Center City, near the Kimmel Center and the Academy of Music. There's a parking garage across the street, but as filthy liberal hippies naturally we suggest public transit; both SEPTA and PATCO will get you there in two shakes of a lamb's tail.
This week's topic:
"Come for the beer, stay for the check"
José Pistola's is at 263 South 15th Street (15th and Spruce) in Center City, near the Kimmel Center and the Academy of Music. There's a parking garage across the street, but as filthy liberal hippies naturally we suggest public transit; both SEPTA and PATCO will get you there in two shakes of a lamb's tail.
This week's topic:
"Come for the beer, stay for the check"
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