Shannon Burke Hates Dogs and Women

If you don't know about my Animal Safehouse Program, check us out at www.myspace.com/safepets. Donate via PayPal at animalsafehouse@gmail.com. I find the comments to this article to be the most disturbing part of this whole thing.

Shannon Burke fallout: Domestic violence, animal abuse often go hand in hand, experts say

By Anika Myers Palm

Sentinel Staff Writer

May 9, 2009

For domestic-violence and animal-abuse experts, the case of radio personality Shannon Burke, accused of shooting his wife and dog, sounds very familiar.

Without referring to the specifics of the Burke case, they noted this week that there's often a relationship between abuse of animals and that of their owners.

"Once or twice a week, we have someone call Harbor House who wants to come in but is afraid to leave their animal behind because they know if they leave it behind, it'll be killed," said Carol Wick, chief executive officer of Harbor House, a local shelter for victims of domestic violence.

Batterers often will use animals to torture and terrorize their human victims, "to basically say, 'If you don't do what I say, this will happen to you,'" Wick said.

Shannon Burke remains in the Seminole County Jail after a chain of events triggered by accusations that he shot his wife's small dog and grazed his wife, Catherine Burke.

Shannon Burke, 43, faces charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and animal cruelty, accused of firing a .40-caliber bullet that passed through the dog's leg and grazed the side of his wife's head the night of April 30.

He is being held without bail after he was accused of violating terms of his pretrial release after his arrest last week.

Meanwhile, Burke's arrests and the allegations against him have triggered strong reactions across Central Florida.

Fans have accused the media of unfairly demonizing the former radio personality. Others have denounced Burke, saying he deserves the harshest punishment imaginable.

Now the aftermath of his arrest includes emotional reactions from Burke's fans directed at his wife. A profane message was left on the voice mail of Catherine Burke's attorney, Michael K. Rathel. The voice mail — an edited version is at OrlandoSentinel.com — was time-stamped late Thursday.

"That [expletive] deserved what she got," the message said.

"I had her home-phone and cell-phone numbers changed," Rathel said, so calls are coming into his Orlando office.

Catherine Burke isn't the only woman to accuse Burke of abusive behavior. His ex-wife, Susan Pendergraft, 47, of Winter Park, and former girlfriend Deanne Schulz, 39, of Heathrow both won court orders this week that effectively ban Burke from contacting the women or their children.

In a petition filed in Orange County, Pendergraft wrote that Burke was erratic and volatile and that he had once held a gun and threatened to kill himself. Pendergraft and Burke divorced in 2004.

Schulz's petition, filed in Seminole County, said Burke had bitten and choked her, and fired a gun in her presence.

Neither petition mentions animals.

Dog got out

In the incident involving Burke and his wife, dogs play a key role. According to her petition, Burke came home upset that his dog Waco had escaped a fenced area by digging himself out and that Catherine Burke did not know where Waco was.

That's when Burke threatened to shoot his wife's dog Charlotte, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, according to her petition. Then, according to his statement, his gun accidentally discharged.

The correlation between animal and personal violence is so strong that local agencies have sought to increase awareness of the problem.

In fact, domestic-violence and animal agencies generally accept statistics showing that 71 percent of women in shelters reported they'd had an animal battered or killed by their molester, and that three of four animals in homes where domestic violence occurs will be tortured and abused.

Harbor House is emphasizing the subject this year, and Orange County Animal Services has launched a program called Cruelty Hurts to focus on the connection.

The American Humane Association, a Denver-based network of child- and animal-protection agencies, has encouraged domestic-violence shelters to consider the needs of pet owners. The group launched the Pets and Women's Shelters program in February 2008 to provide standards for shelters housing domestic-abuse victims and their animals.

Help for pets

Harbor House personnel hope to break ground soon on a kennel for the animals of the people who stay at the shelter.

"As soon as we raise enough money for it, we'll be breaking ground," Wick said.

The shelter's kennel would be the first of its sort in Central Florida.

The only PAWS shelter in the state is in Naples, according to the American Humane Association Web site.

Currently, the Orange County shelter tries to find temporary foster homes for the animals.

Animal Services personnel have received training to work backward from cases of animal abuse, paying attention for hints of domestic abuse. If abuse is suspected, the Animal Services officers will contact Harbor House or the Department of Children and Families.

"We're out there investigating these kinds of situations all the time," said Kat Kennedy, a spokeswoman for Animal Services. "We did over 4,000 investigations of cruelty, neglect and abandonment last year."

Rene Stutzman and Gary Taylor of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Anika Myers Palm can be reached at apalm@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5022.

Copyright © 2009, Orlando Sentinel

for E-Crit presentation (Marcel O'Gorman)

Head in Vice Scene from Casino (Flintstones style)


Links:
Marcel O’Gorman’s website:
http://www.marcelogorman.net

Stephen Gibbs’ MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/gibb_art

Screening Coffin
http://www.marcelogorman.net/screeningcoffin.html

Gibberish
http://artsweb.uwaterloo.ca/~marcel/gibb/gibcover.html

A Non-Textual Book Review of E-Crit
http://www.rhetoricsoup.com/id2.html

Running the Numbers
http://www.chrisjordan.com/current_set2.php?id=7%20size=2%20width=%22100%25%22%20align=center

Eve Ensler on Sarah Palin's Crazy Ass

Drill, Drill, Drill
September 17, 2008

Eve Ensler, the American playwright, performer, feminist and activist
best known for “The Vagina Monologues”, wrote the following about
Sarah Palin

Drill, Drill, Drill

I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last night that she was a
member of a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of
drowned and starved polar bears around their necks. I have a
particular thing for Polar Bears. Maybe it’s their snowy whiteness or
their bigness or the fact that they live in the arctic or that I have
never seen one in person or touched one. Maybe it is the fact that
they live so comfortably on ice. Whatever it is, I need the polar
bears.

I don’t like raging at women. I am a Feminist and have spent my life
trying to build community, help empower women and stop violence
against them. It is hard to write about Sarah Palin. This is why the
Sarah Palin choice was all the more insidious and cynical. The people
who made this choice count on the goodness and solidarity of
Feminists.

But everything Sarah Palin believes in and practices is antithetical
to Feminism which for me is part of one story — connected to saving
the earth, ending racism, empowering women, giving young girls
options, opening our minds, deepening tolerance, and ending violence
and war.

I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous
choices of my lifetime, and should this country choose those
candidates the fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so
many areas that America may never recover. But what is equally
disturbing is the impact that duo would have on the rest of the world.
Unfortunately, this is not a joke. In my lifetime I have seen the
clownish, the inept, the bizarre be elected to the presidency with
regularity.

Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor.
In her world and the world of Fundamentalists nothing changes or gets
better or evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The melting
of the arctic, the storms that are destroying our cities, the
pollution and rise of cancers, are all part of God’s plan. She is
fighting to take the polar bears off the endangered species list. The
earth, in Palin’s view, is here to be taken and plundered. The wolves
and the bears are here to be shot and plundered. The oil is here to be
taken and plundered. Iraq is here to be taken and plundered. As she
said herself of the Iraqi war, “It was a task from God.”

Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion. She does not believe women
who are raped and incested and ripped open against their will should
have a right to determine whether they have their rapist’s baby or
not.

She obviously does not believe in sex education or birth control. I
imagine her daughter was practicing abstinence and we know how many
babies that makes.

Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. From what I gather she
has tried to ban books from the library, has a tendency to dispense
with people who think independently. She cannot tolerate an
environment of ambiguity and difference. This is a woman who could and
might very well be the next president of the United States. She would
govern one of the most diverse populations on the earth.

Sarah believes in guns. She has her own custom Austrian hunting rifle.
She has been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip. She has shot hundreds
of wolves from the air.

Sarah believes in God. That is of course her right, her private right.
But when God and Guns come together in the public sector, when war is
declared in God’s name, when the rights of women are denied in his
name, that is the end of separation of church and state and the
undoing of everything America has ever tried to be.
I write to my sisters. I write because I believe we hold this election
in our hands. This vote is a vote that will determine the future not
just of the U.S., but of the planet. It will determine whether we
create policies to save the earth or make it forever uninhabitable for
humans. It will determine whether we move towards dialogue and
diplomacy in the world or whether we escalate violence through
invasion, undermining and attack. It will determine whether we go for
oil, strip mining, coal burning or invest our money in alternatives
that will free us from dependency and destruction. It will determine
if money gets spent on education and healthcare or whether we build
more and more methods of killing. It will determine whether America is
a free open tolerant society or a closed place of fear, fundamentalism
and aggression.

If the Polar Bears don’t move you to go and do everything in your
power to get Obama elected then consider the chant that filled the
hall after Palin spoke at the RNC, “Drill Drill Drill.” I think of
teeth when I think of drills. I think of rape. I think of destruction.
I think of domination. I think of military exercises that force
mindless repetition, emptying the brain of analysis, doubt, ambiguity
or dissent. I think of pain.

Do we want a future of drilling? More holes in the ozone, in the floor
of the sea, more holes in our thinking, in the trust between nations
and peoples, more holes in the fabric of this precious thing we call
life?

Eve Ensler
September 5, 2008

Save Bitch Magazine!!

McCain/Palin: The Next Apocalypse

Bush calls U.S. "evil"

I was getting ready for school and heard our asshole president speaking on CNN about Times Square and endorsing John McCain. Of course I was annoyed; he tends to do that to me, especially when he's promoting the continuation of the war, using fear tactics, and basically being full of shit. But something he said stood out. He referred to "the terrorists" as evil, then clarified his statement:

"I call them evil because if you kill innocent people to achieve a political objective, you're evil."

Oh really...? What about all those innocent civilians in Iraq? What about the thousands of young American soldiers? What about this:

http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/

and this:

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/mar2008/iraq-m06.shtml

Who are the terrorists?
Who/what is evil?

And why is it even legal for the current President to endorse a Presidential candidate? It's so inappropriate. Par for the course...

Happy Thursday

Thanks to Annie for posting this, so I can bring you a kick-ass grrl power "Happy Thursday"! xoxo

Robin Morgan on Hillary Clinton (awww shit!)

Goodbye To All That (#2) by Robin Morgan

February 2, 2008

“Goodbye To All That” was my (in)famous 1970 essay breaking free from a politics of accommodation especially affecting women (for an online version, see http://blog.fair-use.org/category/chicago/).

During my decades in civil-rights, anti-war, and contemporary women’s movements, I’ve avoided writing another specific “Goodbye . . .” But not since the suffrage struggle have two communities—joint conscience-keepers of this country—been so set in competition, as the contest between Hillary Rodham Clinton (HRC) and Barack Obama (BO) unfurls. So.

Goodbye to the double standard . . .
—Hillary is too ballsy but too womanly, a Snow Maiden who’s emotional, and so much a politician as to be unfit for politics.
—She’s “ambitious” but he shows “fire in the belly.” (Ever had labor pains?)
—When a sexist idiot screamed “Iron my shirt!” at HRC, it was considered amusing; if a racist idiot shouted “Shine my shoes!” at BO, it would’ve inspired hours of airtime and pages of newsprint analyzing our national dishonor.
—Young political Kennedys—Kathleen, Kerry, and Bobby Jr.—all endorsed Hillary. Senator Ted, age 76, endorsed Obama. If the situation were reversed, pundits would snort “See? Ted and establishment types back her, but the forward-looking generation backs him.” (Personally, I’m unimpressed with Caroline’s longing for the Return of the Fathers. Unlike the rest of the world, Americans have short memories. Me, I still recall Marilyn Monroe’s suicide, and a dead girl named Mary Jo Kopechne in Chappaquiddick.)

FOR THE FULL ARTICLE: http://www.womensmediacenter.com/ex/020108.html

It was long so I cut it and am sending you to the link (since I've had it up in-full for awhile...)

girl votes for woman, feels good

i just voted for the first viable female presidential candidate ever. it was more “wow” than i expected, especially because i’m also thrilled at the prospect of obama. but personally, i had to vote hillary. and it’s not JUST because she’s a woman, because i would never vote for a republican female candidate (as if we’d ever see that anyway), but i support most of her policies and think backlash against her is like backlash against feminism—media constructed and then picked up by the masses without much critical thought or engagement. if you oppose her because of foreign policy issues, i “sort of” understand. if you think she’s a little flip-floppy, whatever. her voting record is relatively consistent (relative to politicians). her health plan makes sense. she has a withdrawal plan for the war. she has experience. she’s pro-choice. she’s feminist. AND she’s a woman.

if she wins, it will be a tougher road for the democrats, because sexism is still socially accepted. if obama wins, it will also be tough, but he generates more excitement and will increase liberal voting. thankfully, all the republicans suck (as usual), but mccain has draw and it looks like he’ll be the one to beat. maybe it’s the activist in me or maybe it’s because i just watched iron-jawed angels for the millionth time (i show it in my Intro to Women’s Studies classes every semester), but i know that if everyone votes, particularly young people, women, and minorities—we will not have to suffer another four years of Republican rule. whether progressive woman or progressive man—we need progress, we need change, and we really, really need a revolution. if you haven’t voted yet—go!! whether you plan to vote obama or clinton, you must vote. and if you plan to vote huckabee, we can't possibly be friends. sorry.

happy saturday

from Planned Parenthood's Wall of Protest

Planned Parenthood's Wall of Protest: http://www.wallofprotests.com/wall.php

Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait

A must-see!
"This new series looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on."
Link Here:
current work

Women are Never Front Runners by Gloria Steinem

You'll probably have to copy and paste the link, but it's a great article.

Op-Ed Contributor
Women Are Never Front-Runners
By GLORIA STEINEM
Published: January 8, 2008
Gender is probably the most restricting force in American life, whether the question is who must be in the kitchen or who could be in the White House.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/opinion/08steinem.html?ex=1357534800&en=9f6d8783ff1b15c9&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

new years glitterati

new year’s eve/day was never my favorite holiday. perhaps because of the general chaos, sudden cover charges for free bars, heightened expectations, intensity of endings and beginnings, or that one underage year we gave some guy $40 to buy us booze and he never returned (go figure—what a busted new year’s that was). aside from the most incredible year when alison and dakota married (and liz and i reunited, sorta), it’s always been underwhelming—not worth the hangover or money.

this year i decided to revolve my new year celebration around family instead of madness, and skip the lost phone, wasted money, dangerous travel, and morning-after-“where am i?” confusion. i was with my lover, my family, and my family friends. i drank too much wine, danced it off, then passed out in my gold sequin dress.

my year still started with a hangover, but i was surrounded by people i love and people who love me and woke up at my sister’s to the best bloody marys and breakfast in town, followed by a good-luck dinner and beer. we played Rock Band all day (a la Guitar Hero fame—but with the whole band; i hope you’ve seen the Guitar Hero South Park); i’m a rockstar on guitar, a disgrace on the drums, and a funny joke on mike. but it was awesome.

and i love(d) new year’s.






thanks to my sister and brother-in-law for their stellar hosting skills and hospitality (xoxo).

re-revision update

current mood: triumphant

Leandra,
The co-editors of Radical Teacher's Teaching About and With Alternative Media cluster liked your recent revisions and would like to publish your article. We now need a short three or four sentence Contributor's Note from you and any suggestions you might have for graphics to help illustrate your article. We have an Art Director who takes care of choosing and creating graphics, but we also like to have our authors offer selections of their own which they think will enhance their articles.

Leonard Vogt, Bob Rosen, Pepi Leistyna
Cluster co-editors

Festivus Among Us

current mood: jubilant

I'm so festive this year. And it mostly has to do with my fabulous living situation and partner who actually appreciates-- participates in--such frivolity with me. It's my first year with a Christmas tree since moving out from my sister four years ago. Various excuses have kept me from going through the trouble (or fun) of decorating my house, including a roommate who didn't care about the holidays much, the fact that no one ever visited, the cost and consumerism of it all, and a general lack of joy and passion around the holidays because of too-much-work-to-do and long-distance relations...

But this year is different. I love him and I love holidays and I love our first Christmas tree. If I can break through my two jobs and intense December workload, we might even have a holiday party...so look out. Ho ho ho...

revising (and then revising again)

Current mood: over it

For those of you blessed enough NOT to know what trying to publish an article entails, I'm including the following sample.

Over a year ago, Alison Smith and I presented a pair of papers at a MAPACA (pop culture association) conference. The presentation went well, but apparently our papers functioned better together in that very specific context, b/c when it came time to revise mine for publication (since such subject matter has such a short life), I found it more difficult than anticipated.

I first revised for Feminist Teacher (academic journal) but never heard back from them. So rather than let it go, I responded to an appropriate call from another journal, Radical Teacher--which required another set of revisions. Then more. And now more.

It's promising that they took the time to give me such specific recommendations (whereas generally you either don't hear back or receive a simple "thanks but no thanks"), but by now I'm just SO OVER IT. And I have SO MUCH TO DO otherwise! Like grade 130 papers, revise another paper and write a personal statement for my PhD application (another blog entry altogether), and (yes) study for the GRE, again... all in a month.

But off I go to revise this paper--again. Revision is about the "again" which I've come to know so well. Too well. Wish me luck...

FIRST RESPONSE UPON SUBMITTING TO RADICAL TEACHER:

Leandra, We may be interested in publishing your article "A Space of Our Own: My Space and Feminist Activism in the Classroom" in the Radical Teacher cluster on Teaching About and With Alternative Media. The idea of relating to MySpace and getting students to post things there about political issues seems worth pursuing. This could be an interesting and useful article on MySpace technology as a pedagogical and political tool.

However, before we could consider publication, we would like you to revise with more focus on the words "Feminist Activism" from the title of your article. We feel too much of the article is quotes from authorities or talk of what MySpace means to you personally. Instead, we would like a greater focus on specific political content students learn or express on MySpace and if and how the use of this alternative media fosters "Feminist Activism in the Classroom."

We like the relationship between feminism and MySpace that your article discusses, and we hope that you are willing to revise in order to include more focus on students and their responses to this alternative media. Would it be possible to hear back from you with revisions by around November 25?

Sincerely, Leonard, Bob and Pepi

Co-cluster editors for Teaching About and With Alternative Media

AFTER SPENDING THREE WEEKS ON REVISIONS:

Leandra, We would like to be able to publish your article "A Space of Our Own: MySpace and Feminist Activism in the Classroom" in Radical Teacher's cluster on Teaching About and With Alternative Media. However, before we can make a final publishing decision, we have some suggestions for revision which we hope you are able to make.

We find your article at its best when it is concrete and offers specific examples. We would like more of that in your revision.

[INSERT MANY SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS] (which i do, i really do appreciate)

We hope these suggestions for revision are useful and that you are interested in working with us towards publication.

Leonard, Bob, and Pepi Cluster co-editors of Teaching About and With Alternative Media Radical Teacher


Waaahhhh.

The Business of Being Born (changed my life)

Current mood: outraged

Last night, UCF hosted a screening of this film, followed by discussion with two midwives, an ob/gyn hospital nurse, directors from the Orlando chapter of the International Cesarean Awareness Network (http://ican-online.net/), and women who have had cesareans followed by vaginal births. I didn't know most of the information provided, and thought I was fairly educated. Almost 1 in 3 women have C-sections for low-risk labors--not necessarily by choice, but because giving birth has been co-opted by the medical industry, who forget that having babies is not a pathology, but a natural process that doesn't need medical intervention except in cases with serious complications. Healthy women are jacked up on Pitocen (which induces labor) to speed up contractions (can't have women taking too long to give birth), which makes labor more painful. Women are then encouraged to take (or beg for) epidurals, b/c of the increased levels of pain (and the fact that childbirth is painful, and many women are scared). The epidural consequently slows labor down, and b/c of the pre-determined timeline hospitals impose on women between the time of water breaking to labor, women are prematurely ushered into C-sections.

This is only a small piece of ONE issue related to "the business" of being born. The film blew my mind (and my students' minds--I brought my entire class to the screening) and if you have had or plan to have children (and even if you don't), the film will change your life. It's not available to a general audience yet, though they're pushing for it--but it will be available through NetFlix very soon. I'm going to ask the UCF Library to purchase it, as well. If I've ever encouraged you to see anything--you must see this.

http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/

helping women help themselves

I recently read about the Animal Safehouse Program in Rancho County http://www.rchumanesociety.org/programs/safehouse.php and began to research programs locally because I know we have a need for such a resource in Brevard county.

I am currently working to establish a foster network for pets of women fleeing domestic abuse, in transitional housing/shelters/etc. I hope to link up with local animal shelters, and have scheduled a couple appointments at the SPCA and Humane Society shelthers in Melbourne and Titusville. I would like to provide neuter/spay services and eventually etablish a fund to pay for vet bills, pet deposits, etc.Extensive discussions with the domestic violence advocacy community have established a strong need for such services. Many women stay in violent situations because they don't want to leave their animals behind. Clear links have been established between domestic violence and animal abuse and abusers often use pets as tools of control in abusive situations. This service could remove the final barrier to a woman escaping her abuser. Fostering the pets of women in crisis as they try to create better lives for themselves and their children is another step to ensure successful transitions.

I am trying to identify potential foster homes, preferably in Brevard County, but anywhere in the Central Florida area to start. If you know anyone or you are willing to potentially foster animals for the program, email me at goleandra@gmail.com. I am in the very early stages, but feel that identifying potential fosters is a first step. Of course there would be a screening process and specific guidelines, but we are starting out, so for now I just want to identify interested parties. If you can provide any resources, input, or know of similar programs (I have contacted the SPCA F.A.I.T.H program coordinator), please share! Any feedback is appreciated.

Update (if you care about my life at all, b/c it is not very exciting...)

Current mood: quixotic


Life is coming together.

My chin is healing nicely, relatively speaking--though it is difficult to keep it out of the sun enough, even with sunscreen. It still looks a little frankenstein, but I'm an incredible healer, if I may say so myself. It's been less than a month and most people don't even notice. Of course, it's all I see when I look at myself, but whatever.

Moving-in progress: kick ass. Everything is in place and looks good. Painted the living room yellow, the bathroom lime green, kitchen red, and a random orange wall. Sounds ridiculous, looks awesome (even if slightly ridiculous). I'll post pictures sometime. If anyone wants to tell me how to insert pictures into my blog, please write me. The living together thing is going swimmingly. Being this content scares me. But I'll just love it while I can.

Just did the first laundromat visit and it sucked. It's a hassle not being able to multitask as effectively as when you do laundry at home. But I'll get used to it. Wanted to ride my bike to do laundry but it wouldn't all fit in my basket (which I found since my bike accident), so maybe next time. Sold my stackable on Craig's List for $80 (posted $100 but the guy talked me down) and am getting ready to sell the full size set for $150-$200. Too expensive to store and no hookups here. I've sold a few items on Craig's List, which rules. Super easy. It's my first time and I am a certain Craig's List addict now. I'll buy my next washer/dryer that way, no doubt. If you need a full-size bed or outside table/chair set, I have them for cheap. Sad to get rid of things I know I'm going to need again one day, but for now I'm simplifying. And it feels nice.

Living by the beach provides an energy that makes life beautiful, even if you're just working. But I do need more girlfriends in Cocoa Beach. I need a girl who I can call to come have wine with me while I paint. I need my girlfriends closer to me or my sister to come over sometime. While I am thrilled with my male company, he works most evenings and me and Bell need some girl energy. My Cocoa Beach girlfriend went back to drugs and her abusive partner, so that's out. My two best girlfriends out here have kids so they need me to come to them (which is fine, but not when I'm painting). So that's a goal, I guess. Girlfriends.