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Jana Beagley
Member since May 9, 2014
Recent Comments
Re: “'Mister Sister' Controversy Leads to Pride Center of Vermont Resignations”
I confess, I know very little about trans history and have usually buttoned my lip and felt ignorant rather than make my trans friends suffer my impertinent questions. I thought the name was charming and had no idea it had a history as a slur. But honestly, if it was me, I'd mourn my clever name and sigh a little over my good intentions, then pay the $50 to register a new name. Because really, how many tears will it cost me? And how much will it matter to embattled trans folk who just want to feel like they matter? That decision just sounds pretty easy to me.
Posted by
Jana Beagley
on 02/28/2017 at 9:16 PM
Re: “Gun Control Supporters Concede Defeat on Background Checks”
To Brian: what it tells me is that gun advocates enjoy ludicrous hegemony and blind fanaticism in our society, a fact which you seem to acknowledge but not find deplorable. Which is sad, really.
Posted by
Jana Beagley
on 02/25/2015 at 4:27 PM
Re: “Gun Control Supporters Concede Defeat on Background Checks”
I don't understand. I had a criminal background check to become a teacher. I paid for Drivers' Ed and pay my car registration every year. I purchase a fishing license to fish with my son in the summer. If I get pregnant, in many states, I need to drive 300 miles, pay for a hotel, pay for child care, lose wages, get an invasive exam in my vagina, and wait 72 hours to get a legal medical procedure.
I don't understand what is so prohibitive about a background check that costs $45. Especially when the consequences stand to be so dire. I don't understand why this would even be a noteworthy inconvenience, let alone infringe upon anyone's rights. Seriously, if you're not responsible enough to scrape together $45 to handle a deadly firearm, maybe...
Posted by
Jana Beagley
on 02/25/2015 at 12:35 PM
Re: “Burlington Seeks Alternative to Clinic Buffer Zone”
I'm glad that the Burlington protesters are mostly polite. While I don't agree with them, appealing and offering literature while well-behaved (as irritating, in poor taste, wrong-headed, and offensive as it may be) is still protected speech. I support reasonable buffer laws and deplore people who harass and intimidate women getting health care. Harassment and intimidation are illegal activities, and the history of terrorism at abortion clinics does indeed imbue protesters with the potential to intimidate.
While I have not had an abortion, I rely on Planned Parenthood for many things, some of which are painful or expensive, and I do not appreciate strangers presuming to talk to me at all, let alone about my health care, let alone about my reproductive health care. I think they're jerks. If I'm in a bad mood, I might even give them an spiky earful about what jerks they are. But unless they're belligerent or harassing, I wouldn't consider them criminal.
Posted by
Jana Beagley
on 09/11/2014 at 3:37 PM
Re: “A Cabot Family Makes the Case for 'Unschooling'”
This sounds like a nice and romantic idea, but easy to abuse and with many pitfalls. I've met a few kids "unschooled" via severe neglect, and crippled by their inability to navigate modern life. It is possible to do this well, as these parents seem to, but the lack of checks and balances makes it a poor choice for an entire society.
Posted by
Jana Beagley
on 09/10/2014 at 3:15 PM
Re: “Soundbites: Mister Disaster”
That's the way the cookie crumbles in business. I was actually hoping this owner was a secret amoral genius and would change the name at the last minute, reaping all the gratitude and catharsis of the generated controversy. I'm actually pretty disappointed that he was actually just kinda stupid and stubborn. *shrug*