(no subject)
* Re: Chen Guangcheng. I was following earlier than average as the BBCA was following a corruption scandal in the same province. When they first started reporting he'd escaped I didn't mention it, as I didn't realize how important it would turn out to be. at that point, the heroic details of the escape weren't known, that he's climbed multiple walls, swam a river, and hiked to the car, grueling enough for any one, miraculous given his blindness. We knew he was brave to defy the Chinese government, but the extent of his toughness and physical courage? I have no words. When he turned up t the US embassy, I was worried. Given the timing, I had suspicions he'd have been better off picking Canada or some other country more civilized than mine. I thought about writing, but was uncomfortable voicing it before we'd actually betrayed him. Maybe we'd live up to our ideals rather than down to my expectations. Right. Down to my expectations it is. Poor brave bastard trusted us, and we gave him to the people who'd been torturing his wife. They are arresting anyone talks to reporters over there and censoring the news so Chinese citizens don't know what's going on. It's shameful. I wanted to desperately to be wrong in my misgivings, and it's tragic that someone who believed in us would be betrayed this way.
* Is anyone surprised that state Sen. Russell "papers please" Peirce hangs out with NAZIs? This isn't a Godwin's Law thing. When I say NAZI here I mean the American Nazi party, as Hitler venerating white supremacists parading around in SS uniforms and the like who are virulently anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, etc.. One of his NAZI friends, J. T. Ready, just murdered his family and himself. It disgusts me that the second most powerful man in the Arizona Republican Party knowingly pals around with filth like this and that the National Republican party holds him in respect and wants to use his racist legislation as model for the whole country. This is the republican mainstream now, and the sooner we adjust, the better for everyone.
* Rumor control: In the introduction to Dreams of My Father, the President put a disclaimer saying that he compressed several people into one character in several spots to simplify things. Recently, he mentioned that one of the characters that was a compression of several was "New York girlfriend." The right Wing press is screaming "I got you!" and calling him a liar. Saying that one is going to compress people into a single character and then doing it doesn't look like lie to me. He did what he said was going to do. I am confused why this is meant to be a scandal when Romney lies nearly every day in public and no one at FOX is upset about it. It seems to me that they should debunk actual lies like made p economic figures before going after non-stories like this.
* Romney hired a foreign policy advisory a couple of weeks ago, then forced him outyesterday for being gay. It turns out mysogyny is just fine with republicans, but not being out. He is being labelled an "activist" despite no sign of activism for LGBTQ rights whatsoever. It looks like just being an openly gay person by itself makes someone an activist all by itself. Antigay hate groups involved in the pressuring are celebrating this as a huge win. Of course.
* Remember that elderly African American Vietnam Vet that was gunned down in his home by police for the crime of accidentally triggering his medical alert system? They have decided not to indite anyone for murdering him. After all, if it's an African American believed to have a medical emergency, it's completely reasonable to send a SWAT team to kill him instead of paramedics. Riiiiiight.
* Re: The Florida A & M Drum Major beaten to death by teammates: As I've said before, hazing is organized institutional bullying and I think we should treat it according to the crimes it entails, such as assault and manslaughter. I also think it's in everyone' best interest to come down hard early on before it escalates to these levels. Human nature being what it is, escalation is inevitable, as you remove responsibility from the individual and pack behavior kicks in, people who have sadistic streaks will keep taking it further and further each iteration, reinforcing and egging on even more ugly behavior. It's incredibly hard to weed out, so best to stop it before it becomes tradition.
Brutally beating someone to death is never okay and should be treated as the rime it is. at the same time, I get why it's being charged as a felony hazing death instead of manslaughter. It'd be impossible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt which particular person gave the killing blow, especially since it was te accumulated blos that ensured he would die and there is no footage of them murdering him so they can't establish who hit in vital areas or who hit last. Similarly, do I think they hit harder consciously or unconsciously because of his sexual orientation? Hell yes. Do I think they could prove a hate crime in court? Alas no. There is no footage. There is no witness testifying they used anti-gay slurs while they bet him to death.
My heart breaks for what he must have suffered as a gay black band nerd growing up in the south. I've never been to Decator, but I've been to other parts of Georgia and I'm thinking just surviving to grow up in itself is heroic. I can't help but weep for him and for the family that clearly loved him. I am not convinced true justice is possible here, because the only true justice would be for Mr. Champion still to be alive. All there is to hope for now is that the folks who murdered him do real time for it, that the adults who stood by and let it happen be held accountable, that the schools that allow hazing come down like a ton of bricks on offenders before more people die.
* This is insidious: Pharmacies Respond Inaccurately to Teens Seeking Contraception: http://www.myhealthnewsdaily.com/2149-pharmacies-respond-inaccurately-teens-seeking-contraception.html
* Greenwick found, "DEA apologizes to student left unattended in cell for 5 days:" http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dea-apology-20120503-14,0,2852415.story
* Brave Republican lawmaker comes out and speaks against the Missouri "Don't say Gay Law" designed to protect anti-gay bullies from any repercussions or even being asked to stop by teachers: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45755883/vp/47289559#47289559
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
* In a related note, the Daily Show dis a peice highlighting Missouri Republican hypocrisy in pushing legislation to protect people who aren't being discriminated against in employment, but refusing to protect people actually being discriminated against: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-may-3-2012/free-at-last--free-to-blast
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook
* Seanan McGuire discovers something icky going on with gendered survival comics for kids: http://seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com/441050.html
* Hector howled for an hour, then randomly went sane and bedded down with the clowder for sleep. Progress! Sleep! I failed at one errand today (I tried, but the shop I went to was no help), but everything else on the list got done. I need to make a foray into Fairhaven in the near future, as well as buy stamps, and do serious groceries/meds shopping soon, but things are mostly under control. It was raining, so no walk for beasts, poor things.
* As I've mentioned before, I live near the border and listen to a Canadian radio station as a result. I have been having fun watching the fast food chains one after the other start serving poutine after one chain got the idea. Today it was Wendy's. It's retrospect, it's a clever idea and likely easy to implement. I've never personally had poutine as it's it's a pain in the ass to make or get vegetarian gravy and I'm not sure what sort of cheese is authentic, so I have no dog in this race. Mostly, I love the idea of Canadian culture invading something like McDonald's.
* I was partially wrong about the soap. It is better with the sharp edges worn off, but there is also that horrible exfoliating grit in there. I's the tiny grained ones, rather than the pebbles, but still distressing.
* BPALers: Metamorphosis jut dropped.
* Ooooo! The woman who made the brilliant Persepolis has a live action movie out called chicken with Plums! I hope it comes here.
* I always forget how extravagantly good looking Sydney Poitier was in his prime, until I watch one of his movies and am startled all over again. (I'm picking at the tangle that is The Heat of the Night again). When I first saw it as a kid, I got the obvious stuff, but as an adult, I'm am fascinated by all the things it's saying about what had and hadn't changed in the most backward state in the US by 1967. How ought one feel about it now in terms of where we are in 2012 as regards the position of women and People of Colour in what is still the most backward state in the US? I don't know, so I poke at it.
* Is anyone surprised that state Sen. Russell "papers please" Peirce hangs out with NAZIs? This isn't a Godwin's Law thing. When I say NAZI here I mean the American Nazi party, as Hitler venerating white supremacists parading around in SS uniforms and the like who are virulently anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, etc.. One of his NAZI friends, J. T. Ready, just murdered his family and himself. It disgusts me that the second most powerful man in the Arizona Republican Party knowingly pals around with filth like this and that the National Republican party holds him in respect and wants to use his racist legislation as model for the whole country. This is the republican mainstream now, and the sooner we adjust, the better for everyone.
* Rumor control: In the introduction to Dreams of My Father, the President put a disclaimer saying that he compressed several people into one character in several spots to simplify things. Recently, he mentioned that one of the characters that was a compression of several was "New York girlfriend." The right Wing press is screaming "I got you!" and calling him a liar. Saying that one is going to compress people into a single character and then doing it doesn't look like lie to me. He did what he said was going to do. I am confused why this is meant to be a scandal when Romney lies nearly every day in public and no one at FOX is upset about it. It seems to me that they should debunk actual lies like made p economic figures before going after non-stories like this.
* Romney hired a foreign policy advisory a couple of weeks ago, then forced him outyesterday for being gay. It turns out mysogyny is just fine with republicans, but not being out. He is being labelled an "activist" despite no sign of activism for LGBTQ rights whatsoever. It looks like just being an openly gay person by itself makes someone an activist all by itself. Antigay hate groups involved in the pressuring are celebrating this as a huge win. Of course.
* Remember that elderly African American Vietnam Vet that was gunned down in his home by police for the crime of accidentally triggering his medical alert system? They have decided not to indite anyone for murdering him. After all, if it's an African American believed to have a medical emergency, it's completely reasonable to send a SWAT team to kill him instead of paramedics. Riiiiiight.
* Re: The Florida A & M Drum Major beaten to death by teammates: As I've said before, hazing is organized institutional bullying and I think we should treat it according to the crimes it entails, such as assault and manslaughter. I also think it's in everyone' best interest to come down hard early on before it escalates to these levels. Human nature being what it is, escalation is inevitable, as you remove responsibility from the individual and pack behavior kicks in, people who have sadistic streaks will keep taking it further and further each iteration, reinforcing and egging on even more ugly behavior. It's incredibly hard to weed out, so best to stop it before it becomes tradition.
Brutally beating someone to death is never okay and should be treated as the rime it is. at the same time, I get why it's being charged as a felony hazing death instead of manslaughter. It'd be impossible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt which particular person gave the killing blow, especially since it was te accumulated blos that ensured he would die and there is no footage of them murdering him so they can't establish who hit in vital areas or who hit last. Similarly, do I think they hit harder consciously or unconsciously because of his sexual orientation? Hell yes. Do I think they could prove a hate crime in court? Alas no. There is no footage. There is no witness testifying they used anti-gay slurs while they bet him to death.
My heart breaks for what he must have suffered as a gay black band nerd growing up in the south. I've never been to Decator, but I've been to other parts of Georgia and I'm thinking just surviving to grow up in itself is heroic. I can't help but weep for him and for the family that clearly loved him. I am not convinced true justice is possible here, because the only true justice would be for Mr. Champion still to be alive. All there is to hope for now is that the folks who murdered him do real time for it, that the adults who stood by and let it happen be held accountable, that the schools that allow hazing come down like a ton of bricks on offenders before more people die.
* This is insidious: Pharmacies Respond Inaccurately to Teens Seeking Contraception: http://www.myhealthnewsdaily.com/2149-pharmacies-respond-inaccurately-teens-seeking-contraception.html
* Greenwick found, "DEA apologizes to student left unattended in cell for 5 days:" http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dea-apology-20120503-14,0,2852415.story
* Brave Republican lawmaker comes out and speaks against the Missouri "Don't say Gay Law" designed to protect anti-gay bullies from any repercussions or even being asked to stop by teachers: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45755883/vp/47289559#47289559
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
* In a related note, the Daily Show dis a peice highlighting Missouri Republican hypocrisy in pushing legislation to protect people who aren't being discriminated against in employment, but refusing to protect people actually being discriminated against: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-may-3-2012/free-at-last--free-to-blast
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook
* Seanan McGuire discovers something icky going on with gendered survival comics for kids: http://seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com/441050.html
* Hector howled for an hour, then randomly went sane and bedded down with the clowder for sleep. Progress! Sleep! I failed at one errand today (I tried, but the shop I went to was no help), but everything else on the list got done. I need to make a foray into Fairhaven in the near future, as well as buy stamps, and do serious groceries/meds shopping soon, but things are mostly under control. It was raining, so no walk for beasts, poor things.
* As I've mentioned before, I live near the border and listen to a Canadian radio station as a result. I have been having fun watching the fast food chains one after the other start serving poutine after one chain got the idea. Today it was Wendy's. It's retrospect, it's a clever idea and likely easy to implement. I've never personally had poutine as it's it's a pain in the ass to make or get vegetarian gravy and I'm not sure what sort of cheese is authentic, so I have no dog in this race. Mostly, I love the idea of Canadian culture invading something like McDonald's.
* I was partially wrong about the soap. It is better with the sharp edges worn off, but there is also that horrible exfoliating grit in there. I's the tiny grained ones, rather than the pebbles, but still distressing.
* BPALers: Metamorphosis jut dropped.
* Ooooo! The woman who made the brilliant Persepolis has a live action movie out called chicken with Plums! I hope it comes here.
* I always forget how extravagantly good looking Sydney Poitier was in his prime, until I watch one of his movies and am startled all over again. (I'm picking at the tangle that is The Heat of the Night again). When I first saw it as a kid, I got the obvious stuff, but as an adult, I'm am fascinated by all the things it's saying about what had and hadn't changed in the most backward state in the US by 1967. How ought one feel about it now in terms of where we are in 2012 as regards the position of women and People of Colour in what is still the most backward state in the US? I don't know, so I poke at it.