In October 2011, I signed up for the program through my work where they take pre-tax money out of your paycheck & set it aside to be used to pay for health care stuff ( Read more... )

Panel Description: Race and class are two identities that exist in tandem, one never really trumping the other. What are the ways they intersect, diverge, conflict? What happens when our internal race/class state differs from an external race/class assignment-and what factors go into forming internal/external states in the first place? This panel ( Read more... )

Panel DescriptionMadison, Wisconsin, home of WisCon, became the center of national attention this spring when newly elected Republican Governor Scott Walker introduced a "Budget Repair" Bill that eviscerated the collective bargaining rights of most state workers' unions. This sparked daily demonstrations of up to 150,000 at the Capitol and around ( Read more... )

The manga Saturn Apartments is about an orphaned window-washer who lives in the future. People have left the Earth and live in a big structural ring surrounding the Earth. Obviously, in order to see the Earth below, the windows must be washed. Usually, only the people who live in the top two classes of society can afford to do so - the window- ( Read more... )

I fail at keeping up with media reviews; here are the things I find worthy of commentary.

The Ozark Trilogy by Suzette Haden ElginResponsible of Brightwater lives in a different world, where the kingdoms are mostly named after the states that made up the Ozarks. I found 'the land of Marktwain' to be a bit eye-roll-y ( Read more... )

[My notes are very sparse. Feel free to use my notes + your memory/notes to make a For Reals Record. I'm just offering what I've got to the community at large.]

Panel Description: Of all the "isms" and oppressions in the United States, class is one of the least explored and least understood, and yet having an understanding of how class issues ( Read more... )

I really enjoyed the first season of Spice & Wolf, and would recommend it. The anime is based on a series of light novels originally written in Japanese (and the English translations put out by Yen Press are pretty fantastic - and I often dislike translations of Japanese fiction). Although there will be a second season, the first season definitely ( Read more... )

The last couple of days have been filled with anger, for me ( Read more... )

I've been reading all kinds of commentaries on the season finale of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and have added ones I like to my memories. My most recent favorite is here, by coffeeandink. I corrupted my boyfriend with this show! He watched the entirety of season 2 in the last week! Unfortunately, Ausiello reports that it won't be renewed for ( Read more... )