- OH MY GOD REPUBLICAN PARTY, TODAY I HATE YOU SO HARD
Quoted from Organizing for America: In his opening statement, Barton, the top Republican on the committee overseeing the oil spill and its aftermath, delivered a personal apology to the oil giant. He said the $20 billion fund that President Obama directed BP to establish to provide relief to the victims of the oil disaster was a "tragedy in the first proportion."
WHAT. WHAT. WHAT? - CNN caught onto the race fail that is Hollywood. I wish I was surprised to see them actually debating whether or not it is okay to cast white actors in roles that call for PoC. But I'm not. Oh CNN, I have a whole bunch of links you should read...
- I saw Karate Kid today. It is fantastic. I don't have the energy to review it properly, but it is really good. I am really impressed with Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan. (brb fanboying Jackie Chan forever). I highly recommend it.
- Interdisciplinary classes. My college does exclusively interdisciplinary courses, and it works very well, but something I do feel a bit like this.
The Oil Spill Day #57
Jun. 16th, 2010 02:43 am- The oil spill continues to be horrifying and out of control, despite BP's assurances.
Oil estimate raised to 35,000-60,000 barrels a day
Government scientists Tuesday increased the estimate of oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico to between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels per day, up to 50 percent more than previously estimated. That translates into 1.5 million gallons to 2.5 million gallons per day.
Obama addresses the nation on the oil spill from the Oval Office
Gems include:
Tomorrow, I will meet with the chairman of BP and inform him that he is to set aside whatever resources are required to compensate the workers and business owners who have been harmed as a result of his company's recklessness.
And this fund will not be controlled by BP. In order to ensure that all legitimate claims are paid out in a fair and timely manner, the account must and will be administered by an independent third party.
Now, one place we've already begun to take action is at the agency in charge of regulating drilling and issuing permits, known as the Minerals Management Service.
At this agency, industry insiders were put in charge of industry oversight. Oil companies showered regulators with gifts and favors and were essentially allowed to conduct their own safety inspections and write their own regulations.
And so Secretary Salazar and I are bringing in new leadership at the agency: Michael Bromwich, who was a tough federal prosecutor and inspector general. And his charge over the next few months is to build an organization that acts as the oil industry's watchdog, not its partner.
Cherie Priest has a list of ways you can help - Meanwhile, the FDA says our seafood is safe. I don't know about you, but I find this hard to believe. I am a firm believer in the marvels of modern medicine, but there are all kinds of things we can't scientifically prove. And it seems perfectly clear to me, regardless of what any scientist may say, that eating animals that have spent weeks in oil-polluted waters is a terrible idea.
- Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword trailer. I am excited by this trailer because a. yay moar Zelda! b. it acknowledges the retelling, adding on to, and evolution of the Zelda story which is exactly the kind of thing that gets my academic penis hard.
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furiosity on claims that having to not be offensive is ruining fandom. - ETA 2:51am Adorable otters of pure adorableness. I AM DEAD OF CUTE.
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Jun. 11th, 2010 04:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
onlybythenight/xturncoatxiii: Occasionally Rook experiences emotions that aren't "punching people". - Help help, I am about to fall prey to the same thing I do ever summer: MMOs. ( ravings of a recovering, with occasional relapses, MMO addict )
- I never posted my
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kink_bingo card. ( Here it is ) - Required squee over Lady Gaga's Alejandro music video goes here. Favorite part: Lady Gaga fucking one of the men with a strap-on [presumably]. Super hot. Guh.
- Guess what I just signed up for? That's right, hc_bingo. ( My card! )
DDR is extremely distracting
Jun. 5th, 2010 01:11 pm- Tiwonge Chimbalanga, one of the individuals arrested and jailed for being in a gay relationship has gone missing after being released. And our media sources still continue to misgender her.
Edit: She's safe and sound. Thanks totorachan for the link. - Meanwhile, State-side, we have a report of increasing acceptance of gay and lesbian individuals.
For the first time, the percentage of Americans who perceive “gay and lesbian relations” as morally acceptable has crossed the 50 percent mark. - Much to my shame, I never finished watching Avatar: The Last Airbender. But I have been remedying that in the past few weeks. ( Slightly spoilery )
- I signed up for kink_bingo
More on the oil spill
Jun. 3rd, 2010 06:30 pmWhite House sends BP a $69 million bill.
The Obama administration is making BP financially responsible for the cleanup of the oil spill in the Gulf. While this is only secondary to the actually issue of stopping the oil flow and cleaning up, I'm glad that BP isn't getting off without additional consequences and leaving the burden on American residents.
Also, Obama in response to accusations that he doesn't care/isn't upset enough.
"I would love to just spend a lot of my time venting and yelling at people, but that's not the job I was hired to do," Obama said. "My job is to solve this problem and ultimately this isn't about me and how angry I am. Ultimately this is about the people down in the Gulf who are being impacted and what am I doing to make sure that they're able to salvage their way of life."
On a different note, here's some photos of what the oil spill is doing to our wildlife.
It's looking like all of BP's short-term fixes are failing. We may have to just wait until the relief well is finished in August and hope for the best.
The Obama administration is making BP financially responsible for the cleanup of the oil spill in the Gulf. While this is only secondary to the actually issue of stopping the oil flow and cleaning up, I'm glad that BP isn't getting off without additional consequences and leaving the burden on American residents.
Also, Obama in response to accusations that he doesn't care/isn't upset enough.
"I would love to just spend a lot of my time venting and yelling at people, but that's not the job I was hired to do," Obama said. "My job is to solve this problem and ultimately this isn't about me and how angry I am. Ultimately this is about the people down in the Gulf who are being impacted and what am I doing to make sure that they're able to salvage their way of life."
On a different note, here's some photos of what the oil spill is doing to our wildlife.
It's looking like all of BP's short-term fixes are failing. We may have to just wait until the relief well is finished in August and hope for the best.
- I've been meaning to put together a bunch of links regarding the oil spill, but somebody has already beaten me to it. Here's a brief overview of the situation. In addition, have some photos of the damage, and a ray of hope: the government has opened criminal and civil investigations regarding the spill. At least people will [hopefully] be held accountable. No definitive word on whether or not an end is in sight though. (Last two links via cheetahkeys)
- Apparently there have been many complains that Obama isn't doing enough on the LGBTQ front. I haven't heard much of this, although I have heard complains that Obama isn't keeping his promises on DADT and equal marriage rights. But anyway, here is a very heartening list of the many ways Obama has been fighting for our rights. He's been especially great about trans rights, given the current track record. (Please note that I don't necessarily agree with all the opinions voiced in this essay). via rm
- Save libraries. jbnowles has a wonderful essay on why libraries matter. Also, libba_bray has a list of things you can do.
- Sushi Cat. You will explode of adorable.
- Been watching White Collar. This show is turning me onto dom/sub so hard. Also Neil. Neil is my favorite ever. After Chrestomanci. And Caius. And- I have a thing for poncy, smartass, gay-ish gentlemen, can you tell?
- I HAVE AN ARC OF DRAGONSOUL BRB DEAD FOREVER. Thank you to Jen who is my favorite person in the entire universe.
- Canvasing is making me hate everybody ever. Grassroots Campaign is currently working on behalf of the ACLU and one of the pulls that we use is "Do you have a minute for gay rights?"
Do you know what I get at least half the time from people?
"No, I'm fine."
NO YOU'RE FINE? NO YOU'RE FINE? I KNOW YOU'RE FINE. BUT I'M NOT. I am so happy to hear that while millions of people are being treated unfairly at best and beaten and murdered at worst because of their sexual orientation, you are fine. Do you know what I hear when I hear "No, I'm fine."? I hear "I've never had to worry about being discriminated against because of who I love a day in life, so no I don't really care. I am so comfortable in all my cushy privilege and that's all that's really important to me."
Jesus christ rage. - The "Top Kill" plan, which involved pumping some kind of sludge into the pipes to block the flow of crude oil has failed. In case anybody had any doubts, the explosion was caused by negligence and BP willfully cutting corners, in the name of saving money of course.
- A college education with a private university is increasingly becoming a luxury. It boggles my mind that something as basic as an education is a luxury only for the very rich or those willing to drown in debt. Is this how America rewards its young people for working hard? By making college inaccessible?
I am one of the lucky ones. Although a degree from NYU is far beyond my means or that of my family, my father's employer happens to have a program which pays for part of my tuition, on top of some other lucky breaks my family has caught. Basically, somebody like me from a middle to upper-middle class family is only able to attend a private university through sheer luck. - Is the Malawi Couple Gay? via rm. This is really important. The couple in Malawi that was sentenced to 14 years of hard labor for being openly gay is not actually a gay couple. Tiwonge Chimbalanga is a trans woman and this fact has simply been erased by our news sources. No no no, they are not gay. Tiwonge Chimbalanga is a woman. This doesn't make what happened to them any less appalling, but it also makes our reporting on the issue appalling.
- After rigorous scientific scrutiny, I have come to the conclusion that this man is a real live wizard. What the shit. This is so cool and yet terrifying.
- sparkindarkness has a really great entry on how DADT is damaging the ability of the United States armed forces to work cohesively with other countries' troops and how it makes even soldiers from other countries feel unsafe.
- SO TIRED OH GOD MY JOB SUCKS
- I came home to this and it made my entire day. I was just out talking to people about how DADT is being voted on in the House of Representatives right now and lo and behold, it passed! Still a ways to go though...
- "Teen Werewolves". I am annoyed by the lengths the report went to other and sensationalize this. Anyway, the reason I'm linking to it because I was struck by how the young people talking about themselves sound so much like what the queer community has been saying for years. We are not trying to be intimidating. We are not harmful. We just want to live our lives.
- My job is so exhausting and stressful. Ugh. Today Greenpeace turfed me and then we had to deal with cops because a lady was crazy. The things I do for money...
- Sillies: Pokemon: Gotta Buy 'Em All
- My family is still making me sadface. And by sadface I mean systematically making me feel like I am making up my sexual orientation and gender identity because I have issues embracing my "true" feminine identity and am making everybody miserable because I can't get it together and be normal.
Link spam!
May. 22nd, 2010 12:11 am- slash bingo via rm
- Tourist and non-tourist sidewalks in NY. Again via rm. I wish this actually existed because holy crap YES PLEASE. I feel that disliking tourists is a fact of life in many big cities or tourist attractions where people actually live, but I think it's extra bad in New York. We're just not very tolerant of incompetence or people getting in our way. And by not very, I mean not at all. You know that facebook group, "I want to punch slow moving people in the back of the head"? I bet it was started by a New Yorker.
- FUCK YOU BILL O'REILLY. Trans people are not EWOKS. Can you be ANY MORE OFFENSIVE AND DOUCHEY? Brb punching is happening. I just. I hate how fucking dismissive he is of the opinions of the women who are telling him NO YOU ARE COMPLETELY IN THE WRONG. ARGH. And eff you American Eagle.
- What the fuck should I make for dinner?
- Ungghhh my job is exhausting. I want to curl up and sleep forever.
- I spent an hour in tears today because I miss my parents being nice to me.
- STEVE. TONY. AVENGERS #1. SO GAY. OH MY GOD. And so adorable. And sad. I am sad for them. Please hold while I wave my arms around a lot. Really, they just need to get over themselves and have angry makeup sex.
Also, THE YOUNG AVENGERS ARE ON THE AVENGERS SO HAPPY YAY
- rm on why warning for slash is not okay.
- So you want to be an ally?
- I know it's not funny to make fun of Tony's alcoholism but BAAWWW SO CUTE.
- I officially have a job. I fundraise for Grassroots Campaigns.
- Holy shit holy shit I am halfway through The Demon' Covenant (which just hit the shelves today, by the way) by the lovely sarahtales and I have SO MANY SHIPS. Oh god. (Please ignore the terrible cover. The cover makes me sad)
- I SAW VIENNA TENG LIVE IN CONCERT THE OTHER DAY AHSDLJAHSDKJA
If you haven't heard of her, go listen to her music now. Also the opening act was a musician I had never heard of before, Paul Freeman, but of whom I now heartily approve. Worth checking out. - My father just emailed me five minutes ago with yet another preachy speech. Jesus christ, he keeps trying to justify his intolerance via biology and culture and it makes me ill. When it doesn't utterly kill me. He said people will accept anything as equals, even spiders and worms, but never gay people. Which really means, I am less to him than an insect.
I wish I didn't love my parents so much. I wish my dad hadn't been my hero all my life.
Pinned ya again.
May. 4th, 2010 11:04 pm- bookshop is tired of justifying fanfic and really, so am I.
( In the past few weeks I've often found myself having to defend my participation in fandom. ) - I got my hands on a (beautiful) copy of The Man with the Knives, a new chap-book Ellen Kushner just put out that's a tie-in to her novel Swordspoint. I haven't read it yet, but I am so excited for it. I am waiting for the perfect moment to settle down with a cup of tea and something sweet to enjoy it. Certain stories just require a certain amount of ritual.
- On my last day of classes I lost my favorite pencil that has been my companion all year long. Weirdly symbolic.
Link spam!
Apr. 27th, 2010 05:30 pm- China lifts travel restrictions for HIV carriers I didn't even know this ban existed. Hooray for restrictions being lifted, but the whole notion makes my vision go swimmy with horror. We've come a long way here in the United States since the 80s, but that's not true for large swaths of the world. There's a shit-ton of ignorance and misinformation about HIV out there. I feel as if we've let ourselves grow lax on the issue when there's still so much to be done.
- Tory candidate Philip Lardner suspended for gay comment The really sad part is that I'm not sure if the same measures would be taken in the US.
- Oprah.com (I swear I don't normally partake in Oprah-related media) has an article by a woman engaged to a trans man about her experience. It's really sweet and positive and not full of fail. Sometimes the internet does have nice things.
- Oklahoma has passed new abortion laws. Now women who want to have an abortions have to get an ultrasound prior and hear a detailed description of the fetus. This is blatantly a shaming technique. It's disgusting and not okay to emotionally terrorize women like that. Oh and they don't make exceptions for cases of rape or incest. So their message is that even if you've been raped you should be keeping that baby. Fuck you, Oklahoma. Fuck you.
- On a lighter note, Dear World: Thank you.
That's right, tea is officially healthier than water. Never again will I listen to people [my mother] lecture me about drinking too much tea. Me and my six cups a day are very happy together, thank you. You may not understand our love, but that is not for you to judge.
Now I'm going to go have some tea and write my paper... - I am sick for the third time this calender year. Fifth or sixth time this academic year. What the fuck.
Link spam!
Apr. 17th, 2010 02:23 pmThere are a bunch of links I've been meaning to throw up here. By now several other people have already posted them, but I think they're important so I'm posting them anyway.
- I am transgender, and I want my voice to be heard. Hey check it out, CNN actually didn't fail for once! This is a really damn cool project. And hooray for more trans visibility!
Also, one of the people participating identifies as neither male nor female. Genderqueer visibility! Even more exciting! Maybe a few more people will feel curious and look up how can you can be both male and female or neither and learn some new words. - Obama Widens Medical Rights for Gay Partners
A little bit old, but still so good. I want to feel to my knees and say thankyouthankyouthankyou but I won't because this is a right, not a privilege.
I hear a lot of talk about gay marriage not being the fight we should be focusing on right now. I do think marriage is one of the rights we should be pushing for, it's not any less important than other rights and a lot of things will be under that umbrella. But I'm really happy to see steps being taken toward equal rights outside of the context of marriage. - You Belong With Me. So cute. Redeemed this entire song for me.
- Lady Gaga's Prison-Yard Girlfriend. So remember that really hot scene in Lady Gaga's new Telephone music video? Where she makes out with that woman in the prison yard? There's this awesome article about how she genderfucks.
I'm pretty sure she goes by female pronouns and whatnot, but let me know if I'm wrong.
- Homophobia in Armenia.
This is why I worry so much about coming out to my family. I can't even think beyond telling my mother, the only sane non-Armenian person in the family. (Oh and I guess there's my brother, but he knows.) And it's not like this is in my family's distant memory. My aunt's family left Armenia ten years ago. My father likes to lecture me about gay propaganda (they're converting little children and stealing their reproductive rights).
Oh Armenia. I wish I didn't find you so beautiful when you hate me so. - Abstinence only education
Part of the health care bill will provide more funding for "abstinence-focused" education. More kids are going to be sent out into the world potentially ignorant of safe sex practices. Great.
Why is this culture so terrified of sex? Goddamn. - I have a paper due in an hour. It's only about two thirds of the way done. Story of my life.
- Pokewalker freebie!. Excitement! Also, this is so true.
- You know what I wish? That I wasn't still coughing up all this nasty stuff. At least it stopped being bloody. =/
This icon also indicates stress
Mar. 31st, 2010 01:45 am- 'RapeLay' video game goes viral amid outrage. (Triggery) What the hell. I don't even have words for how inappropriate and outrageous this game is. You know what it's not okay to joke about? Rape. You know what it's not okay to turn into a lighthearted game? Rape. It makes me sick that somebody made this crap and others are playing it.
- On a more cheerful note: student loan reform. This is all kinds of good news for those on Federal Pell grants. It's also a nice break for those taking out other forms of student loans (including myself). Payment will not exceed 10% of your income. I've heard from some sources that educational loans might be forgiven if there's still an outstanding balance after 20 years, but I don't know how that works.
Education shouldn't be a luxury and it shouldn't turn people into paupers or force people to start their adult lives in debt before they're even off the ground. - I finally caved and actually bought Yellowbird and When the Bough Breaks, Andrea Gibson's two most recent CDs. Now I'm going to listen to them on my way to work and arrive extra-melancholy.
- To do list:
-Read manuscript + write reader's report for internship (Friday)
-Read Sindbad and Other Stories from the Arabian Nights (Wednesday)
-Read Books 1 & 2 of The Faerie Queen (Thursday)
-Write Brit Lit Paper (Thursday)
-Find coffee shop that isn't Starbucks. Inform Nance of change in place. Meet Nancy there. (Thursday)
-Read a buncha Freud (Wednesday)
-Linguistics final paper proposal (Monday)
-Intellectual Autobiography and Plan of Concentration (The sooner the better)
-Course Selection (The sooner the better)
Yes I am aware that it is already Wednesday. And I've read about twenty pages of Sindbad. Why? Because I spent all day playing Pokemon. I have spectacular self control. - Something to make you smile (via sythia)
- I just found out that supposedly the NYPL branches have free wifi. I know where I'm going when I want wifi on my DS now.
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Mar. 27th, 2010 04:53 am- I think I'm getting better? I was horrendously sick yesterday, but today is a vast improvement. I think I had a combination of the flu and a sinus infection.
- I never made an entry on turning 20. So here it is in brief: holy shit I'm 20 what the mother fuck. 20 is that age where you become one of the "grown ups". On one hand, ohjesusgod, on the other, hooray people will take me more seriously now.
My twin would be 20 now too. It makes me sad. I always wonder on my birthday what she would have been like. I wish she could have lived to be 20 and young and strong and beautiful. =/ - My friends are arriving to celebrate my birthday/Liz's birthday this weekend. One of them is already here and a few more are coming tomorrow. Plus the relatively large number of high school friends I have in New York makes for a merry band. It's mostly gonna be the old gang plus my roommates. Should be fun. Will attempt red velvet cake for birthday cake. Or pineapple upside down cake. Maybe both? We're celebrating two birthdays after all. Bottom line: CAKE.
- I made these fucking delicious blueberry turnovers the other day. Well, the recipe called them turnovers but they tasted a lot more like danishes. Either way, so making those again. They went really fast. Mm food.
I really enjoy baking. Cooking, not so much. But baking hell yes. - For the love of god make it stop
- I need to actually post about fandom shit. =/
Always I wanna be with you
Mar. 17th, 2010 07:36 pm- privilege: Intersectionality and centering of cultural discourse via bifemmefatale. A nice, succinct summary of why not feeling like you have privilege doesn't necessarily mean that you don't have it. I get really annoyed by that argument.
- Mean World Syndrome
A really interesting point. I think a lot of people are increasingly living in a fictional world full of bogeymen. Our world is sometimes dangerous and full of bad things, but crossing the street because there's a homeless person asleep on the sidewalk, or skirting around people who look Arabic is focusing on all the wrong things.
I had a conversation about this with my dad a couple of weeks ago, particularly pertaining to children. If today's children aren't even allowed catch the bus by themselves, how are they ever going to navigate the world competently and without fear? The blunders and scrapes are how you learn. And fuck, what the hell is childhood without climbing trees (and occasionally falling out of them)? I am afraid for the day when the kids I see on leashes today are going to be running our world. - Santa Cruz is beautiful, ya'll. It's sunny and warm in the afternoons, though it does get a bit chilly at night. (Disclaimer: My standards of cold are skewed). xturncoatxiii and I are staying at a windy Victorian house with stairs that lead to nowhere and perfectly coiffed sitting rooms. Our room on the third floor has a sloping roof and a divan by the windows. We wander around downtown and sit in cafes and clown around in awesome little vintage stores. Oh god we are so schmoopy. I could stay here for the rest of ever.
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Mar. 15th, 2010 05:18 pmThe most succinct rebuttal to Porn for Women I have ever seen.
Fuck yeah it's Monday and I don't have classes. Or my internship. In fact I'm still in bed. Life: So good.
Fuck yeah it's Monday and I don't have classes. Or my internship. In fact I'm still in bed. Life: So good.
- This, full body scanners at airports, genuinely freaks me the hell out. I understand that it's a security measure and had we had these in place earlier the (luckily failed) Christmas plane bombing attempt could have been avoided. At the same time, this is a gross invasion of privacy. There are all kinds of things that people do NOT want revealed about their bodies to strangers. Ugh. It makes me really uncomfortable that I might have to walk through one of those on my return flight. No. My body is my business. Stay the fuck away.
- I just wrote a paper about 1001 Nights. Which, looming deadline aside, was so much fun. Bonus, I wrote about storytelling as a means of power and life-giving. Hey does this sound like my senior project, anyone? Every once in a while I get a good assignment and I remember why I ever liked school.
- So effing awesome.
- For all you Hopkins people: Riley strikes again. I almost cried laughing because this was EVERY ASSEMBLY EVER. Stop talking about To Kill a Mocking Bird. Seriously. At least she didn't bring in 9/11.
- I am seriously considering saving for a PS3. So many games I want to play. I've fallen off the gamer radar entirely ever since the next-gen consoles came out and I didn't get one.
Must play list includes: Assassin's Creed 2, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy Versus XIII (whenever it comes out), Shadow of the Colossus (ps2 game), and probably a few I can't remember right now.
Oh and I've been feeling the overwhelming urge to play Ragnarok Online again. Or Aion. I'm doing my best to stop myself because I enjoy having a life and a relationship and friends. I have a substance abuse problem. With MMOs.
