Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Press coverage of Susan Sontag; Supreme Court backs lower court: Pinochet Can Stand Trial; Alberto Gonzales has new critics

Just saw this from LA Times and remembered Marcia's question as to why the New York Times didn't address SusanSontag's same-sex relationship(s):
 
The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times found ample room to discuss Sontag's cancer and subsequent mastectomy, which were not seen as lurid details but as necessary information in understanding the work of the author of "Illness as Metaphor." The papers also included extensive discussions of Sontag's schooling, her early family life, how she met her ex-husband, even her thoughts on driving in Los Angeles. However, her relationships with women and how they shaped her thoughts on gay culture and the larger world of outsiders and outlaws (a Sontag fascination) were omitted.

There is, of course, a larger issue here: Continued silence about lesbians in American culture amounts to bias. Gay men seem to have settled into the role of finger-snapping designer/decorator/entertainers in the mass media. Meanwhile, most lesbians who achieve widespread fame — Ellen DeGeneres, Melissa Etheridge and Rosie O'Donnell — have to remain in the closet until they have gained enough power to weather the coming-out storm. This model victimizes those who are out and proud from the very beginning.

 
From the BBC online:
 
Chile's Supreme Court has ruled the country's former President Augusto Pinochet is fit to stand trial on murder and kidnapping charges.

It upheld a lower court move to throw out a defence motion arguing Gen Pinochet, 89, was not mentally able to defend himself.

The ruling brings the former military ruler one step closer to trial. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4146303.stm)

Also of interest is Dan Eggan's article in today's Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45727-2005Jan3.html):

A dozen high-ranking retired military officers took the unusual step yesterday of signing a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee expressing "deep concern" over the nomination of White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales as attorney general, marking a rare military foray into the debate over a civilian post.

And yes, a post did disappear again today.  (Actually a repost.)  I have no idea what's going on with the blog, no.


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