Boys Club

Galliano Faces Judge

Designer Galliano Says He Can’t Recall Speaking Slurs NYTimes

The NYTimes report on the courtroom proceedings of today’s trial is a very sad story for such a talented designer.

At one point, the presiding judge, Anne-Marie Sauteraud, asked his current profession.

“I have none,” he said, almost inaudibly.

Then he issued a plea to the judge to take note of his work, inspired by his travel to diverse countries.

“I know what it feels to be discriminated against,” Mr. Galliano testified, noting that his real name is Juan and that his mother is Spanish. “We moved to south London when I was 6 years old and aware that I was gay. I was sent to a difficult English boys school and you can imagine that children can be cruel.”

The court’s decision will come on Sept. 8.

Designer Galliano Faces French Court for Racist Tirade France 24

About 100 French and foreign journalists are waiting for John Galliano’s Parisian court appearance today. The former head designer for Christian Dior will answer charges surrounding his alleged anti-Semetic tirade in a bar located in the Parisian bar.

According to Aurélien Hamelle, Galliano’s lawyer, there is “doubt over what was said” in the altercations, because Galliano was intoxicated and cannot remember the incident. He continues to believe that the words attribute to him “in no way reflect what he thinks”, Hamelle said, adding that “he is neither anti-Semitic nor racist”. As for the filmed evidence published on the Web site of The Sun, Galliano’s lawyer told Agence France-Presse that his client was “shocked” by what he saw.

Apparently a letter of recommendation from American Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour will be presented attesting to John Galliano’s character.

Galliano is facing a prison sentence today, but France 24 reports that jail is rarely the sentence in a hate speech case. His accuser Géraldine Bloch is seeking damages of one euro. The fine, if Galliano is convicted, is $32,000.

Update: Bloch’s male friend and fellow plaintiff is pursuing compensation of 220,000 euros ($316,272) writes Fashionologie. The prosecutor recommended a guilty sentence and a fine of up to 5,000 euros ($7,188) for both the Feb 24 incident and a similar incident — with the damning video — from Oct. 8.

France 24 also writes that Galliano’s friends feel that he hasn’t honestly connected with the gravity of his life situation, which is not to suggest that he feels no remorse.

Articles about case

Smart Sensuality Checklist for New Dior Designer

Simon Doonan Not So Crazy

What Was Galliano Thinking? Slate

Barney’s Creative Director Simon Doonan reflects on the extent to which Jews have backed his career. Anne seconds the motion. She would be nowhere without the support of Jews, who have always backed her — far more than her own family.

Google Image search: Cecil BeaconDoonan shares another unmentionable historical tirade, this time by Cecil Beaton, in the February 1938 issue of ‘Vogue’.

In the February 1938 issue of Vogue, the fashion photographer Beaton bizarrely included the following hate speech into an illustrated border: “Mr. R. Andrew’s ball at the El Morocco brought out all the dirty kikes in town.” Condé Nast recalled 130,000 copies of the magazine and Beaton resigned. It was, as my Jewish in-laws would say, “A total shonda!” Redemption eventually followed. And then recidivism. Beaton is alleged to have told upper-class Brit pals decades later that he was “glad he did it.”

Financial Stats That Mean Something

The Return of the Misery Index Forbes

Those of us of a ‘certain age’ remember the ‘misery index’ from 1983. The ‘misery index’ was compputed by adding the inflation rate to the unemployment rate. We have some good old-fashioned homework here, regarding CNBC posting the misery index at its highest point since 1983.

9.1% unemployment + 3.6% consumer price index = 12.7% misery index

John Williams at ShadowStats.com picked up the number, pointing out that the calculation wasn’t apples to apples. The government has changed the calculation game in the last 28 years. People who’ve given up looking for work no longer count as unemployed. Statisticians make the rising price of steak go away by assuming you buy less steak and more hamburger. And so on.

Williams was able to restruct the ‘misery index’ the old-fashioned way.

22.3% unemployment + 11.2% consumer price index = 33.5% misery index

The peak ‘misery index’ in America that is recorded is 22% in June 1980. Shadow Stats is one newsletter we will be buying today.

RedTracker

Lesbians in Women’s Soccer

In African Women’s Soccer, Homophobia Remains an Obstacle NYTimes

Eucharia Uche, coach of Nigeria’s highly regarded women’s national soccer team, a self-described Catholic mom with two children, says she uses religion to insure that her women aren’t lesbians.

“The issue of lesbianism is common,” says the coach. “I came to realize it is not a physical battle; we need divine intervention in order to control and curb it. I tell you it worked for us. This is a thing of the past. It is never mentioned.”

Pentecostal ministers pray regularly with her players, and they read the Bible together.

In South Africa, an openly lesbian team of black players in Johannesburg called the Chosen Few is challenging the prohibition against lesbian women. Players told The New York Times in interviews for a video made during the 2010 men’s World Cup.

A so-called ‘corrective rape’ was administered to one player, Tumi Mkhuma, who was left pregnant by the attack. The Chosen Few was a second family, she said, describing losing her baby and then trying to kill herself twice. Reflecting on those events Mkhuma still says ‘Sometimes, I wish I was dead.’

AOC has tracked the role of US evangelicals stirring up homophobia in Africa and well before Uganda’s gay activist David Kato was hammered to death. All articles

The World Wakes Up to Evangelical Support for Uganda’s Draconian Law Against Homosexuals

Fears Grow That US Evangelists Ignite Anti-Gay Hatred in Africa

Brainiac

7000+ TED videos now tagged by topic!!! Hear the greatest minds in the world for free. TED Blog

Hip, Hip — if Not Hooray — for a Standstill Nation NYTimes

Early in June, President Obama and House Republicans met at the White House to bridge differences. Republicans complained that Mr. Obama was demagoguing their Medicare plan. The president said he knew a little about demagoguery as the “job-killing, death-panel, probably-wasn’t-born-here president.” Seventy-five minutes later, they parted no closer to agreement.

Dissident Chinese Artist Is Released NYTimes

Chinese legal authorities have released the dissident artist Ai Weiwei after detaining him for nearly three months on suspicion of tax evasion, likely ending a prosecution that had become a focal point of criticism of China’s human rights record, according to a report on Wednesday night by Xinhua, the state news agency.